TUKANG POLES

Traditional Loom

2012-01-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

I went to Klaten district in Yogyakarta to see the implementation of clean batik production and found out that there are weavers there, who make lurik fabrics with traditional techniques, i.e. using traditional looms. I'd like to post the pictures here.

working while the children are watching

luric fabrics with their pretty colours

Candi Prambanan - The Prambanan Temple

2011-10-16T06:06:00.000-07:00

Candi Prambanan is Indonesia'scultural heritage which amazes me most. Borobudur is of course majestic insize. But I hold Prambanan dear in my heart. This temple compound isdistinctively pretty. Each temple was delicately created, as if it was specificallybuilt for a woman (I have had this thought even before I heard the story ofLara Jonggrang, you see). Unlike Borobudur, the spiritual vibe here is alsostronger. Many ghost stories revolve around Prambanan. In fact, a photographerwho is a friend of mine, had his camera broken when he took a picture of DewaWisnu in one of the major temples in Prambanan. A local said that my friend wassupposed to whisper the word "amit" --which means 'excuse me'-- firstbefore he take pictures of the sculpture. That's how you give courtesy to thespirits there. Prambanan also keeps some tragic stories --the sort of storythat I fancy.

The story which is believed bythe locals live around Candi Prambanan is that the temple was once built for avery beautiful princess named Lara Jonggrang. We can find a sculpture of herinside the main temple in Prambanan, that is the Candi Siwa. If you arewondering about how pretty Lara Jonggrang was, that someone can build a hugetemple compound to please her, the answer is in her name. Imagine LaraJonggrang in her heyday as someone who has a rockin body as RosieHuntington-Whiteley. This is because Lara Jonggrang means 'Slender Virgin' (Ihighly doubt Ms Whiteley is still a virgin though). Men seemed to be willing togo beyond the distance, no matter how far just to make the slender virgin smileat them.

Lara Jonggrang was once livedin Keraton Boko, a small kingdom within the authority area of a powerfulkingdom named Kerajaan Pengging. The prosperous Pengging Kingdom ruled by awise king named Prabu Damar Moyo who has a son named Bandung Bondowoso.

Lara'sfather, Prabu Boko, the ruler of Boko kingdom was the opposite of Prabu Damar Moyo in termsof character. He was a cruel king with physical appearance resembles a flesh-eatinggiant rather than a human. Funnily, his genes didn't passed on to his daughter. Lara Jonggrang grew up as a very beautiful lady which thelocals refer to as 'an angel sent from heaven'.

Prabu Boko had long desired to revolt against the Pengging Kingdom andoverthrow Prabu Damar Moyo from his throne. On a one fine day he ordered hiswarlord, Patih Gupolo (who is said to also has an appearance resembles a giant) to gather forces. Patih Gupolo quickly trained young men to fight andforcefully confiscated any property he can get from the Boko kingdom's citizensto fund the war.

Once the preparation hadcompleted, Prabu Boko led his troops marched to the Pengging Kingdom for war.The war cost many lives on both sides. When Prabu Damar Moyo found out that hispeople started to suffer from hunger and poverty because of the war, he senthis son, Bandung Bondowoso to fight Prabu Boko to end the battle.

The war between Bandung Bondowoso and Prabu Boko was fierce. Unfortunately for Prabu Boko that Bandung had asuper power that he couldn't match. The king ended up killed by thePengging prince.

Patih Gupolo ran away when he saw his king slayed. Bandung chased him to Keraton Boko, determined to eradicate all usurpers alive. At the Bokokingdom, Patih Gupolo went straight to see Lara Jonggrang and told her that her father died in battle, killed by a Pengging warrior named Bandung Bondowoso. Theprincess was devastated by her grief.

Prince Bandung Bondowoso, who didn't expect to see such beauty possessed by Lara Jonggrang, was shaken upon arrival in Keraton Boko. It didn'ttake long for him to ask her to be his wife. Lara Jonggrang wasn't willing to accept his proposal of course, knowing the prince as the murdererof her father. But she couldn't sayno as Bandung had conquered her kingdom. Lara Jonggrang tried to find tricks toescape the prince's marriage proposal. She came up with two challenges that thePrince should fulfilled. She will marry the prince if Bandung can build her1,000 temples in one night. She also wanted the prince to make her a well.

Bandung accepted thechallenge. He made the well first, which was named the 'Jala Tunda' well. Hecalled the princess to look at the well when it finished. The princess came,unimpressed and asked the prince to go down the well (No local knows why theprince did what she asked. Did the princess say that it was so he can tell herabout the depth of the well?). As Bandung reached the bottom of the well, LaraJonggrang told Patih Gupolo to fill the well with stones. The prince wastrapped inside. Lara Jonggrang and Patih Gupolo thought that they have successfullykilled Bandung Bondowoso. What they didn't know was that Bandung was a specialman with amazing super power. Bandung was still alive and he meditated to getout from the well. He made it.

Bandung went to see Lara in huge rage. But Lara's beauty was so extraordinarythat he couldn't help but to forgive her. Lara asked Bandung about the templesthat he had promised her. And just like any man who is in love, Bandung didwhat his lady told him to do. He started to work on the temples.

Bandung called a large number of supernatural creatures to help him build 1,000temples in one night. This was worrying the princess. Afraid that BandungBondowoso can meet her challenge ontime, she ordered the girls around thePrambanan area to pound rice in mortars and burn the hay to create light –from thefire--, thus as if the morning has come. The roosters were also somehow startedto crow.

Hearing the roosters crow, rice pounded and a bright light in the East, thesupernatural creatures stop their work. They told Bandung Bondowoso that theycouldn’t continue to work on the last temple as the morning has arrived. However,Bandung Bondowoso had the feeling that those were fake signs.

He called the princess to come and count how many temples have been built. Thetotal was 999. There was only one more temple left unfinished. Lara Jonggrangmade this as an excuse to refuse his marriage proposal. Bandung Bondowoso feltcheated and tricked that he went mad and cursed Lara Jonggrang into a statuewhich he placed inside the last temple. As if that wasn’t enough, BandungBondowoso cursed the girls around the Prambanan area into spinsters, as they tookpart in the princess’ trick.

Today, the myth has grown into a belief that a young couple will have theirrelationship end sooner or later after they visit the Prambanan compound.

Several months ago I visited Prambanan for my travel article. It was not long after the Merapi eruption. Prambanan was not affected much by the disaster though. But it has not fully recovered from the series of earthquakes happened years ago. Here are some photos which i took while i was there.

Candi Apit

stairs...i love stairs

inside one of the temples...i can't remember which one

Candi Siwa, the biggest in the compound. Visitors weren't allowed to go inside. The temple was still under restoration.

at the bottom left: a top part of the temple which perhaps fell during one of the earthquakes

more ruins

Prambanan is situated in a very windy area. I don't know if it's an area with great thunder storms. But i can see lightning rods in some of the tallest temples.

a cable to connect the lightning rod to the ground

the name sign of each temple is put on the ground like this. there's no money to make more appropriate name signs? i don't know

this looks like a temporary stage meant for visitors who would want to take pictures of the whole Prambanan compound

the greatest thing of being a president (even the bad one as Soeharto), you would have your name engraved in lots of important places. My mom would die to see my name on one of Indonesia's cultural heritage sites!!

ruins

more ruins...restoring a Hindu temple is like solving a very difficult puzzle. It must be hard to find which stone is right to be put in which order.

I challenge every genius out there to come to Indonesia to solve this puzzle for good. And maybe I can entertain you afterwards with a fine story about what happen if someone can remove Bandung Bondowoso's curse on Lara Jonggrang, and she comes to life in the 21 century.

Out of Love

2011-10-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

It's scary how people can go so far because of love.

A mother can put aside her dignity and accept money from any man who receive her service, so she can feed her kids.

A desperate, unemployed man looking for money for his family jumps right away at the chance of making money, even if it means that he has to sell drugs to teenagers.
A religious fanatic man can kill other people who mock his god.
A husband corrupts to pay for his pretty wife's fabulous lifestyle.
A woman with children decides to stay with a man who occasionally beat her up everytime he is upset just because he provides money for the family.
A girl decides to surrender to a lonely life, to remain single all her life so she can take care of her sick father. A doctor helps his severely-ill patient to die, when the patient has repeatedly said that he can't take the pain anymore.
A father beats a young boy to death because he harassed his daughter.

There's a lot more of such stories that can give you the chill down your back and that can make you think.

On certain saturday evenings, when my fate treating me bad by making me go into the office to work instead letting me stay at home watching tv and indulge myself in excessive eating, I curse at every sight of human being that I would meet on the street. I hate them as there are so many of them! Imagine a Saturday evening when I have to be at work, and it doesn't feel that suck as at least after my work is finished, I don't get to be trapped in a traffic when I am tired and angry. But it never works like that. Everytime I go to work on Saturday, I can always expect a horrible journey back home, thanks to all people that fill the streets going to somewhere just because it's a Saturday evening.

Looking at the buzzing crazy vehicles, I would automatically think of ways to reduce the bugs in number. Maybe I should be a president, I'd think. And I will make a law in which every wrongdoings conducted by a citizen will receive a death penalty. Even if it's just a tiny case as pickpocketing. Or maybe I have to become a filthy rich business woman just so I can pay the government to conduct a massive killing to reduce the number of useless people on the planet.

I feel extraordinarily happy everytime I can think of something that might successfully be a solution to how to cut the number of people living in this world. Maybe I should work for George W. Bush.

But I lost this thought of doing a massive killing at that day when my taxi passed the WTC building at Sudirman. I saw a man in the middle of the street went down on his knees and bent his body down to the ground, just as when a Moslem is praying. There was a lot of blood on the street from his head. The man was dying. But everyone on the side of street were only looking at him, doing nothing. One cop was focusing on organising the traffic caused by that event. I was wondering what has the man done that he receive such inhuman treatment. Why there was nobody that help him and take him go to hospital. The taxi driver answered to my question that perhaps the man was a pickpocket thief. "He's lucky that people don't burn him alive...", he said.

It struck me that cruel punishments have existed already within the society. I knew that people can go as far as beating a pickpocket thief to death. But how horrible it is to actually witness such event. I am not so sure anymore that I can be the person that promote death penalty for criminals. Instead, whatever that man has done, I think he deserves to be saved.

Yesterday, there was a pengamen when I took an angkot to Pasar Minggu. Very unlikely, his voice was one of a kind as well as his song. He reminded me of Iwan Fals with a collection of songs about humanity. This pengamen touched me with a song about a prostitute. I remember a part of the lyrics and out of curiousity, I looked for it in the internet and found out that it is a song of Iwan Fals'. The title is Doa Pengobral Dosa.

"Di sudut dekat gerbong yang tak terpakai
Perempuan ber make-up tebal dengan rokok di tangan
Menunggu tamunya datang
Terpisah dari ramai
Berteman nyamuk nakal dan segumpal harapan
Kapankah datang tuan berkantong tebal

Habis berbatang-batang tuan belum datang
Dalam hati resah menjerit bimbang
Apakah esok hari anak-anakku dapat makan
Oh Tuhan beri setetes rezeki
Dalam hati yang bimbang berdoa
Beri terang jalan anak hamba
Kabulkanlah Tuhan..."

I took a good control of myself for not to cry inside the angkot. It's a sad song, it is.
And the song took me back to that day when I passed the pickpocket thief in front of WTC.
Maybe it was a desperate man with hungry children at home.
Maybe he didn't know what else to do to make money to buy them food.
And I remember Al Pacino as Dr Jack Kevorkian in You Don't Know Jack...

People can go so far because of love

And how the right punishments should be created for people like that?

Imagine this scenario:

A wealthy man owns a huge company. He's a good man who's doing lots of charity work. He is a good provider for his family. He enjoys a very comfortable life. Then there's this man who has just lost his job. He lost his job many times. Fate is kinda cruel to him. He's a nice man with good work ethic. Too good that he let people mess with him at work. For him, office politic is not something he can deal with. At the end, his family falls apart due to financial difficulties. His wife threatens if he's not going to find a job soon, she will take away their children. Out of desperation, he apply for a job everywhere, including to the company owned by the wealthy man. He don't get the job. The wife left as promised and he's so upset that in rage he goes to the wealthy man's house. He doesn't understand why a company that big doesn't need a good employee like him. And he thinks with some money in his hand, he can have his family back. He needs money fast and he think by taking a little from the wealthy man won't hurt the man. What he doesn't know is that the wealthy man is at home when he comes to steal at the man's house. He gets panic when the wealthy man attacks him trying to get him down. He eventually kill the wealthy man.

What do you think as the right punishment for the man? Does the man deserve to be punished? He desperately needed a job, but the wealthy man's company said no. He only need a little money, but the wealthy man attack him. And what do you think of the wealthy man's death. Is it the right punishment for him as he doesn't realise that he has neglected other people in needs? Does the wealthy man, who has enjoyed a comfortable life since the day he was born, deserve to receive death as the punishment for being happy all his life while other people are suffering?

The court tries to bring justice by giving the man a life sentence. But is it a justice really? The wealthy man's family is in great grief after the lost. But after three years, they move on with life. His wife find a new wealthy husband and the family enjoy an even more comfortable life. On the other hand, the killer's wife lives a hard life as a waitress in a restaurant with a very small wage. People look at her as an unfortunate wife of a murderer. Her children are unhappy at school. Other children can't stop to mock them about their father. They feel embarrass about their father situation. They don't get dinner when their mother come home with small tips from the restaurant guests. The books they use to study are second hand items that their mother got from other parents. They wear old clothes and worn-out shoes. No one in the family is happy. The mother doesn't even know until how long the children can study at school as education fee is very expensive for her.

Where's the justice in this situation?

There's no justice in life, I tell you. What's there is a balance. If a human has a hypothalamus which controls the body to remain as it is and fights any changes inside the body (that's why fat people find it hard to go on diet), so is the world. The world has something which is more or less functions as human's hypothalamus. Things need to be in balance. So if the world has set that among 100 poor people there's only one wealthy man, somehow we have to believe that it's for a balance in life. Perhaps if all people rich, the world ends faster and that's not what the hypothalamus want, is it? So some people have to be sacrificed.

Now whenever I see too many people on the street, I take a deep breath and hope for many more natural disasters to happen as I believe that that's how the world 'detox' itself from the unhealthy human being. I'm imagining that human is more or less like white blood cell. Too few and too much is not good for the human body. This means, too few or too much people is not good for the future of the universe.

I won't dreaming of myself being a massive killer as Hitler or George W. Bush anymore as I am a human and I don't know exactly how to bring balance in life. How many people should i kill or should I let alive. Let the world decides.

I can only go this far for my love to the universe.

Foto Kamar Ngga Penting

2011-09-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

I don't feel like I have the mood to write anything for these last few months, but I have these pictures of Hyatt Regency Yogyakarta which I took when I stayed there.


The outdoor lounge

scenic view from the outdoor lounge

morning dew

too big for me

wish i can have this table and lamp and everything in my own room at home

habis diberantakin

Too bad that I stayed only for a night here and didn't have much time to explore the hotel. Next time if I stay here again, I'll post more pictures of the golf course and the amazing pool. Yes, from every hotel i've ever visited, this hotel's swimming pool is the prettiest.

And hope I can get a bigger room next time. This is the smallest room, I guess.

God, I'm males banget to write anything but I don't like my blog neglected.

What Is It says "Allow Me To Ridicule Myself" and It Is What answers, "Okay"

2010-12-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

For several days I have been thinking about it.

It's an ability that people are born with.
It almost like a lighter for smokers.
As long as they have it, they see Hitler as Santa Claus.

But the thing is, it's always managed to disappear.
Just like your lighter. You try to keep it safe in your pocket, but you will forget where you put it or who borrowed it.

And when it lost, at worst, you will mistakenly recognised Taylor Swift as Sadako from Japanese horror movie, Ring.
That won't be fun.

People learn to be a finder, so they can always get it back after it's lost.
They think it's better to see Santa Claus rather than bump into Sadako each time.

But there are people who aren't finders.
These people have lost it forever and even Sadako will lose interest to scare them.

What will happen to these people?

They rationalised everything.

When they smile, it's because they know what they are going to get with that smile.
When they put a sympathetic facial expression, it's because they know that that's what people expect from them.
They are unable to feel sad or jealous as they don't know what will they get from that.
When they heard news about volcano eruption and the number of its victims, they can't relate, let alone sympathize, as they think the world is better with less people live.
When they heard gossip, they need to match it first with the fact before they response to it.

And they stay like that with the assumption that what they're doing make sense.

Until their long-time best friend said, "My boyfriend proposed to me, so I may be moving out soon"

And the first thing they say to her is, "Will you have your own house after you're married? It's better than to rent one."

Emotionless, as they don't feel a thing.

Just until that time that each of them starts to questioning...

Am I okay?

I Wish I Can Have One Of These Creatures

2010-11-09T02:21:00.000-08:00

Do you know what makes an attractive guy?

First, he doesn't seem to realise that he's god damn gorgeous!

He doesn't notice that people notice him.

He's dark and cold and weird

and he can smile

One-Day Trip To Manado

2010-11-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

I went to Manado several weeks ago, for the first time in my life, own my own.
Here's a brief story of the very brief journey (cuma 1 hari ajah)!

Perjalanan dari Jakarta ke Manado itu makan waktu 3,5 jam. Gw brangkat dari Soekarno Hatta jam 6 sore dan nyampe di Sam Ratulangi jam 22.30. Seharusnya sih sampe sono jam 21.30, tapi perbedaan waktu di Manado sama Jakarta sama kayak perbedaan waktu Bali & Jakarta. Manado lebih maju 1 jam dibanding Jakarta.

Begitu sampe Sam Ratulangi, gw sempet cengo soalnya yang jemput dari Novotel (hotel tempat gw bakal nginep) belom dateng. Waktu masih di Jakarta, gw cuma dikasih tau namanya dan nomer hp-nya. Dan gw belom pernah ketemu orang itu sebelumnya. Makanya dengan bekal pengetahuan kalau orang yang jemput gw namanya Stefi, maka gw berasumsi dia itu perempuan. Waktu sms Stefi untuk tanya dia dimana, gw ketik, "Bu Stefi, saya sudah sampai bandara. Ibu di mana ya?". Eh sms-nya ngga dijawab, makanya terus gw telpon (gw mulai parno gara-gara orang2 yang agresif nawarin taksi, mulai pada ngeliatin dan nyoba maksa gw lagi karena mereka ngeliat orang-orang yang satu pesawat sama gw udah pada bubar dan hampir abis, tinggal gw doang)

Waktu telpon diangkat gw kaget, soalnya yang jawab ternyata bapak-bapak, dia bilang "Aduh maaf saya tadi ketiduran, Bu. Ini saya lagi otw ke bandara. Ibu tunggu di mana?"

Dan begitulah, di tempat yang asing dan jauh, gw nunggu di depan outlet makanan yang jual bakso di bandara, nunggu dijemput sama bapak-bapak yang gw kira tadinya mba-mba, sambil pura-pura cuek padahal takut sama orang2 yang berseliweran di sekeliling gw.

Seperti janjinya, Pak Stefi cepet sampai, soalnya jarak dari novotel ke bandara ternyata less than 10 minutes dan menado ga kenal yang namanya macet. Sepanjang jalan menuju hotel, gw sama dia ngobrolin rencana travelling buat besoknya dan ternyata emang Pak Stefi yang ditugasin juga buat nganterin gw kemana-mana selama gw keluyuran di Manado.

O iya, mungkin perlu gw ceritain dulu kenapa ujug-ujug gw bisa naik pesawat ke Menado. Well, I'm a journalist dan ada kota mandiri di Manado (semacam BSD-nya Jakarta) yang minta diliput dan mau membiayai biaya menginap di sana. kabar bagusnya, mereka ga pengen gw cuma ngeliput proyek mereka, mereka pengen gw menulis soal menado secara luas. jadi gw 'harus' jalan-jalan keliling-keliling manado buat promosiin pariwisata kota itu. so there i was, went buat liputan travel. sayangnya cuma sehari aja. tapi ternyata cukup mengesankan.

Kesan pertama yang gw suka adalah arsitektur hotelnya. Begitu turun dari mobil jemputan dan bilang "Daah Pak Stefiii, sampai besoookk...", gw langsung suka sama Novotel-nya. Bener-bener spacious, langit-langitnya tinggi dan punya banyak ruang terbuka. Kayak gini:

Kalo pagi-pagi kayak gini:

Dan ini kamar gw:

Liat kamar mandinya? transparan. "cocok buat newlywed", kata fotografer gw setelah gw pulang dari manado.

Ini teras di luar kamar tempat gw ngerokok dan leyeh-leyeh. Udara manado enak dan bersih banget, gw sama sekali ngga kena alergi "flu pagi dan malam" yang selalu nyerang gw di Jakarta, plus ga ada upil sama sekali!

Besok paginya, gw mulai inspeksi apa aja fasilitas yang ada di kota mandiri yang gw liput itu. salah satu yang mereka banggain adalah lapangan golf, yang sayangnya masih 9-hole, sedangkan standar international itu 18-hole. Mereka bilang mulai awal tahun depan akan direnovasi menjadi 18-hole dan selesai tahun 2012. When that happen, sudah pasti lapangan golfnya akan jadi salah satu magnet yang bikin upper-class people mau berkunjung ataupun menetap di area kota mandiri itu.

Yang di bawah ini satu-satunya convention centre yang ada di Manado. Gedung ini tepat dibangun di depan Novotel tempat gw nginep, dan khusus dibangun untuk memfasilitasi World Ocean Conference yang pernah diadain di Manado, yaitu di tahun 2009 to be exact. Sampai sekarang gedung ini dipakai untuk meeting-meeting perusahaan, pameran, sampe resepsi nikah. Kata GM hotel waktu gw interview dia, convention centre ini yang sejauh ini menyumbang visitor terbesar bagi Novotel dan area sekitarnya. Karena kota mandiri ini dibangun agak jauh dari pantai (termasuk bunaken), jadi kebanyakan yang stay di area kota mandiri itu karena untuk urusan bisnis.

Kalo yang di bawah ini monumen kenang-kenangan dari World Ocean Conference 2009, yang dibangun di entry area of the convention centre and Novotel compound. Tulisan di monumen-nya lumayan bagus, "To understand and to cherish are the key to unlocking the hidden knowledge of our vast ocean". B-E-A-U-TIFUL!!! dan gw jadi mikir, seharusnya di Jakarta ada banyak monumen yang ngingetin orang akan, misalnya, "dengan membuang sampah pada tempatnya, kita membangun kota yang sehat untuk anak-anak"...yaaah kira-kira kayak gitu lah, yang menginspirasi, biar orang-orang ga mikir negatif terus dan mau berubah.

Pas jam makan siang (sebelum makan terlebih dulu dan rencana mau lunch di luar hotel aja), gw langsung jalan-jalan keluar hotel, tapi kali ini ga cuma dianterin Pak Stefi. Gw juga ditemenin seorang bapak (udah lupita namanya) dari tour agent di Novotel.

Tujuan pertama adalah patung Yesus Memberkati.yang dibangun sama Ciputra di komplek properti-nya dia, which is Citraland Manado (Betul, Ciputra yang gw maksud adalah Ir. Ciputra yang punya mall Ciputra). Gw ngeliat patung ini dari 'viewing spot' yang khusus disediain di area itu. Katanya 'pemandu' gw, patung ini merupakan bentuk harapan Pak Ciputra agar Yesus terus memberkati kota Manado.

FYI, 75% orang Manado adalah umat Kristiani. Di kota ini daging babi adalah menu wajar untuk dijual di tempat-tempat umum dan di sepanjang jalan elo bakal nemu gereja setiap beberapa ratus meter. Bahkan di 'desa' terkecil yang penduduknya cuma sekitar 200 kepala keluarga, gereja yang dibangun bisa sampai empat gereja. Terus pemandu gw cerita soal kejadian lucu pas ada orang Malaysia dateng ke Novotel. Waktu ditemenin jalan-jalan mereka kaget kenapa ada gereja dimana-mana. soalnya mereka taunya orang Indonesia itu mayoritas Muslim. mereka bilang, "Pakcik, salah tempat kita..." hehhehe, dasar orang Malaysia bego! akhirnya dijelasin deh tu sama pemandu gw bahwa ORANG INDONESIA ITU MAJEMUK. SANGAT SANGAT SANGAT MAJEMUK DAN HIDUP DENGAN RUKUN. Amin.

Patung ini patung Yesus kedua terbesar setelah patung yang dibangun di Rio de Janeiro

Habis ngeliatin patung super gede itu, perjalanan dilanjutkan ke arah Tomohon. perjalanan berasa kayak mau ke puncak, naiiiiikk terus dan muter-muter. karena Tomohon itu adalah kota yang sejuk di gunung, yang uniknya juga kota yang sibuk. Apalagi kalo pas lagi ada festival bunga Tomohon, orang dari segala penjuru indonesia dan negara tetangga bakal dateng buat nonton dan untuk bisnis jual beli bunga. I'm serious. Kata pemandu gw semua jenis bunga tumbuh di Tomohon! Gw masih penasaran sih ini bener semua ato mayoritas aja.

Jadi siang itu, waktu kita bertiga lagi nyari tempat makan 'khas' Manado di pinggir jalanan di gunung untuk lunch, gw gak boleh kaget pas ngeliat banyak banget mobil yang diparkir di depan restorannya. Semua mobil itu adalah mobil orang-orang yang sibuk mondar mandir melakukan bisnis dari Tomohon-Manado atau sebaliknya.

di dalem restoran, ada banyak banget orang. Bahkan ada beberapa bule gendut yang makan sampe keringetan. Pemandu gw bilang, "setiap kali saya ajak tamu, bahkan yang dari luar negeri, saya selalu ajak mereka ke sini. dan biasanya mereka jadi ketagihan. maunya ke siniiii terus." Gw sih percaya-percaya aja. Karena alasan kenapa orang sebanyak itu mau berjubel di restoran pinggir gunung yang agak dodgy, sampe cuma nyisain gw, Pak Stefi dan Pak pemandu satu sudut meja kecil buat makan, adalah "pasti makanannya enak banget!!".

Dan bener! Enak banget. Menu yang terdiri dari variasi masakan babi ini enak banget dan gw agak ngerasa familiar dengan sistem penyajian mereka. Elo pasti tau gimana tata cara makan di restoran Padang kan? Begitu kita dateng, nasi putih langsung disajiin bareng sama teh hangat tawar dan air untuk cuci tangan. terus dateng deh tu pelayannya sambil bawa berpiring-piring lauk. Nah, di restoran ini juga persis begitu. Cuma sistem ngitungnya yang beda (dan tentunya di restoran Padang ga ada babi hehehe). Kalo di restoran padang kan yang diitung jumlah lauk yang kita makan. kalo di restoran manado ini, lauk yang disedian jumlahnya disesuaikan dengan jumlah pemesan. Jadi pas gw dateng sama geng gw, bermangkok-mangkok lauk yang ditata di meja emang buat diabisin kita bertiga. Sate babi tiga, keong porsi bertiga, babi kecap porsi bertiga, tiga sate ayam, dst. Gw udah bayangin mungkin untuk gw sendiri bakal habis seratus ribu lebih, soalnya kalo makan di resto padang, ngambil 2 lauk aja bisa cost you 27 ribu. Apalagi ini, lauk dan sayurnya sampe lebih dari 8 macem. Ternyata eh ternyata...makan bertiga sampe ga kuat makan lagi...masing-masing orang cuma bayar 20 ribu rupiah! ANJROT MURAH BANGET!!! Gw masih suka geleng-geleng kepala kalo inget itu lagi.

Cuma satu yang aneh, elo ga boleh bawa pulang makanannya kalo ngga abis, walaupun udah bayar 20 ribu untuk porsi satu orang yang berlimpah itu. Kalo ketahuan, bakal kena denda. kayak ibu-ibu yang duduk di meja sebelah gw waktu itu, dia nyelundupin sate ke tasnya. eh waktu bayar di kasir, kasirnya udah dapet kisikan dari pelayan yang ngasih tau. dan akhirnya ibunya disuruh bayar lagi. cuma gw ga denger pastinya berapa. hahahahha...weird rule.

Habis makan kita pergi ke Vihara Budhayana di desa Kakaskasen, Tomohon. Gue seneng ngeliat ada tempat ibadah yang beda di antara begitu banyak gereja. Bangunannya menonjol banget, lagi. Dari bawah bukit udah bakal keliatan. Berdiri menjulang, seakan bangunannya (dan para pembangunnya) bilang, "Saya ngga takut untuk menjadi berbeda. Karena di sini, perbedaan dihargai"...yah kira-kira gitulah.

Dari gerbang masuk sampai di depan vihara, elo bakal dibuat kagum sama 18 patung "orang suci" yang berjejer bagai pagar yang melindungi elo jatuh ke lembah. orang-orang ini dulunya adalah kriminil terkenal, tapi akhirnya tercerahkan dan menjadi baik. FYI, someday bakal ada patung dibuat untuk mengenang gw.

Di samping Vihara Budhayana, ada Pagoda Ekayana, tempat penganut Tao beribadah. Tao yang berasal dari Tiongkok itu beda dengan Buddha yang asalnya dari India/Nepal. Kata mas yang jaga kompleks ibadah ini, dulu waktu kepercayaan lain belum diakui selain 5 yang udah ada, penganut Tao ngga punya tempat beribadah. Jadi vihara Budhayana bikin pagoda untuk tempat sembahyang mereka. Pemerintah taunya pagoda ini adalah bagian dari kompleks vihara untuk umat Buddha, padahal....Pokoknya orang Buddha di Manado ini pastinya baik hati banget! dan sampai sekarang baik vihara maupun pagodanya tetep aktif dipakai oleh dua pemeluk keyakinan yang berbeda. Such an example! READ THIS EVERYBODY!

Pagoda Ekayana terdiri dari 8 tingkat. Karena gw buru-buru jadi ga sempet melihat pemandangan dari lantai paling atas pagoda yang seharusnya bakal bagus banget.

Selesai potret-potret kompleks vihara, the trio heading for Bukit Doa atau The Prayer's Hill. Pilgrim dari seluruh Indonesia udah banyak yang datang ke sini untuk menjalani Via Dolorosa (Jalan Salib). Tempatnya spektakuler banget buat gue. Dulu gw pernah ikut jalan salib di Kuningan sama nyokab bokap gw, tapi tempatnya kalah jauh sama Bukit Doa. Kata pemandu gw, yang punya area Bukit Doa (lokasinya nyaris di puncak gunung) namanya Ronald Korompis. Gw mikir, "Buseet tajir banget!!!" Memasuki area bukit doa, ada satu spot yang dijadikan tempat outbound dengan permainan flying fox, dll. Makin ke dalam area Bukit Doa, lahan makin menanjak dan pemandangan makin bagus. Dan di depan gerbang masuk area doa, mobil harus diparkir dan kita masuk dengan jalan kaki.

Gw melongo waktu lihat ini:

Ini bukan bunker, kawan, hehehe...ini kapel (chapel). Dan bukan dibuat dari kayu seperti kelihatannya, tapi dibuat dari logam entah apa. dan pemandu gw gak reckon siapa arsiteknya. Kayaknya lain kali dia musti cari tahu soal ini.

Ini kalau dilihat dari depan

Pas gue dateng ke sini, ada pasangan lagi foto-foto buat prewedding, eh gw ikutan aja untuk foto-foto mereka, hehehe...ceprett!!!

sama exact location when the couple has gone

Ini favorit gue, bagai berada di Eropa, tepatnya di Alpen di Swiss minus saljunya (yang jelas bukan di Indonesia)

Terus ada amphiteatre yang bakal keren banget kalo pas gw dateng ternyata lagi dipakai untuk pertunjukan drama tragedi semacam opera atau yang romantis lengkap dengan orkestranya.


Ini patung bunda Maria. Karena kebawa suasana, untuk saat yang amat sangat jarang buat gw, gw berdoa dengan tata cara yang udah diajarin ke gw sejak masih kecil. Dan gw berharap coba ada bokap nyokap gw pada saat itu. Mereka berdua maniak jalan salib dan bisa histeria kesenengan kalo pergi ke gua-gua Maria kayak begini.


Ini jalan menuju imitasi kuburan Yesus. Lokasinya tepat di seberang Gua Maria. Area "makam" ini dipisahkan dari Gua Maria dengan kolam air yang bisa diseberangi menggunakan balok-balok beton sebagai pijakan.


Ini ujung lain dari makam. Waktu di dalam makam, gw pengen sih ngambil beberapa foto untuk dipamerin di sini, tapi gw cuma pake camera pocket yang ga sensitif kalo untuk motret di tempat gelap. Jadi...

Masih kebayang-bayang soal amphiteatre dan kapel di Bukit Doa yang menurut gw keren, kita lanjut ke Lake Linouw. Danau ini dikenal karena juga punya 'tiga warna' kayak Danau Kelimutu yang ada di Flores. Gue penasaran gimana sih warnanya. tapi rasa penasaran itu agak ter-distract saat gw menginjak lokasi danau ini pertama kali. Cihuuuuyyy!!! Ada viewing spotnyaaaa!!! Keren lagi, kayak gini:

"Ada kembang sepatu warna putih, jarang banget gw liat!" (Norak, biasa lah kan turis)

Ada jalan setapak yang bisa ditelusuri untuk melihat komunitas burung yang tinggal di deket danau atau sekedar untuk melihat danaunya lebih dekat.


Tiga warnanya kayak gini, terdiri dari hijau muda, yellow ochre dan biru tua. Mengutip tulisan gw sendiri di majalah waktu describing danau ini, "It's a highly sulphurous lake consisting of three different colour that constantly changes depending on the activities inside the Mahawu volcano". Danau ini agak sedikit bau belerang, tapi ngga se-menyengat kalo elo pergi ke Tangkuban Perahu.

Cafe tempat gw bisa pesen makanan berat atau kecil, soda, teh atau kopi atau minuman yang lain, sambil menikmati pemandangan lake Linouw

very...very...nice viewing spot

Pak Stefi duduk jauh-jauh dari gue padahal gw punya kue dan kopi dan gw gak gigit loh!

helo camera!

Dan inilah pemberhentian terakhir gue di Manado sebelum ke bandara dan take off ke Jakarta:

Voila! Inilah Desa Woloan. Terkenal karena mereka produsen rumah panggung Minahasa knock-down. Jadi rumah-rumah ini bisa dicopot-copotin kayak lemari merk Olympic, dan dibawa ke Jakarta dan dipasang lagi (kalo in case you are interested to have one). Ada cerita menarik kenapa rata-rata rumah panggung Minahasa punya dua tangga di depan rumah yaitu di sisi kiri dan kanan. Dalam kepercayaan lama Minahasa, mereka percaya roh jahat masuk ke dalam rumah dan keluar dari rumah melewati tangga yang sama. Jadi kalau ada orang yang berniat jahat, secara tidak sadar dia akan naik ke dalam rumah lewat tangga yang entah kiri atau kanan dan keluar dari rumah dan turun menggunakan tangga yang sama dengan saat dia naik. That's how you recognise if that's a bad guy. Ini menurut pemandu gw loh. Such an interesting info!

Kalo yang ini udah modern kali ya, jadinya tangganya cuma satu.

Setelah dari Woloan, gw langsung balik ke hotel, terpaksa menolak undangan dinner di restoran Jepang-nya Novotel (sial sial sial seharusnya gw nginep lebih lama!), beres-beres secepat kilat, check out dan langsung lompat lagi ke mobil bareng Pak Stefi ke bandara.

And that's the end of my journey in Manado.

Anyway...

Elo perhatiin satu hal yang keren banget dari setiap foto? KOTA MANADO BERSIH BANGET. Ngga ada yang namanya sampah dibuang sembarangan. soalnya kalo elo buang sampah sembarangan, hukumannya elo disuruh nyapu jalanan sepanjang satu kilometer. HAHAHHAHAHA!!! That's cool.
Di daerah yang agak "kota", pokoknya daerah yang dihuni sama manusia, daerah itu pasti bersiiiih banget. Nah orang-orang pendatang yang suka bandel buang sampah sembarangan dengan melempar sampah ke luar mobil. Kalo itu terjadi di kota, pasti dibersihin sama orang yang tinggal di situ. tapi kalo di jalanan yang mau ke gunung, ngga ada orang yang tinggal di situ, maka sampah-sampah kayak botol minuman plastik, kantong plastik, tisu, ngga ada yang bersihin. tapi sekotor-kotornya area-tak-terjamah-manusia ini, masih jauh lebih kotor Jakarta. Waktu di jalan berliku-liku ke Tomohon, gw notice ada sampah jujur aja karena pemandunya yang bilang. if he didn't tell me that, I just won't notice it.

dan...oh yeah, ga ada yang namanya pengemis! dan pedagang kaki lima cuma ada sedikiiitt. seperseribu-nya Jakarta.

Gw however jadi inget Bali dan inget kondisi Kuta yang kotor dan tempat-tempat wisata lain yang banyak dikunjungin wisatawan domestik, dan gw langsung bersyukur karena untung Manado jauh dari Jakarta.

Jadi orang luar Manado ngga gampang untuk bisa dateng ke sini. dan karena ga gampang, yang tega buang sampah sembarangan masih sedikit. bayangin kalo manado udah gampang diakses kayak Bali. Kotoran bakal nongol dimana-mana.

Gw benci wisatawan norak yang ga bisa buang sampah di tempat sampah!

I Shall Have Nothing

2010-11-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

One’s heart is supposed to be free and unattached, in order to reach a tremendous height when soaring within understanding of humanity

I'LL SHOUT THIS UNTIL I LOSE MY VOICE

2010-09-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Makin lama negara gw makin ngga beres and what sucks, ini karena orang-orang kita sendiri.

Capek gw, di mana-mana, media dan orang-orang ngomongin soal umat HKBP yang diserang waktu mereka berdoa di gereja.

Kita udah kejebak di kotak-kotak “status” yang membedakan kita dari saudara-saudara kita sendiri segitu dalem. Segitu bencinya sama saudaranya sendiri sampe ngeliat saudaranya berdoa aja ngga suka. Padahal kalo ada orang mau berdoa ya kita dukung aja apapun agamanya. Doa is good. Jadi kenapa ada saudara yang mau berdoa malah jadi benci, cuma karena cara berdoanya beda, dan saking bencinya, mungkin ngga akan mikir dua kali untuk coba bunuh saudaranya andai ngga ada hukum berlaku sama sekali di Indonesia.

I say all of us, Indonesians are related. Many of us perhaps blood related. We have ancestors yang udah sejak dulu hidup di Indonesia. Bisa jadi dulu sebelum perang, mereka keiket dalam hubungan pernikahan, ada yang jadi saudara ipar, ada yang sahabatan, temenan. Bisa jadi waktu perang kemerdekaan mereka lari bareng-bareng di barisan paling depan nyambut bedil Belanda.

That kind of bonding…is supposed to make us as brothers and sisters in nowadays Indonesia. But we forget that.

We forget that Indonesia, our identity, was once built with a national motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika”. It means “walaupun berbeda tapi tetap satu” or “Unity in Diversity”. This is our identity from the first time the nation is declared! But who would remember this now? Who would want to? We prefer untuk hidup dengan norma-norma tertentu dan kita ingin orang lain ikutin kita. Kalau mereka ngga mau, bantaiiii!!! We forget that basically kita memang udah beda.

Bhinneka Tunggal Ika is the foundation of our nation. We are different people with different background who unite to built one hell strong nation….but today this dream is forgotten.

Eyang gw pasti lagi nangis di kuburnya bareng-bareng temen-temennya sesama pejuang 45. Maaf ya Eyang, I wish there are lots of people who still remember semangat generasi Eyang…

Indonesia is all we have, we have the world’s largest archipelago, and we inherit this from our ancestors. During the colonial era, many of them lose their life and blood shed in every part of the country. During the fight for freedom, the sacrifices are ever greater.

They did that because they want keturunannya untuk terus ada, bukan dikurung di tempat penangkaran kayak orang-orang Indian di Amerika sama suku Aborigin di Australia –terancam punah kayak binatang.

They want us live as people who have pride and dignity sebagai manusia bebas, something yang diambil dari mereka selama lebih dari 300 tahun.

They want us to own our own land and kekayaannya.

They lose their blood and their own life for us to live.

Bukannya untuk bunuh-bunuhan kayak sekarang.

We are supposed to unite with only one status, “INDONESIAN”. Because this is the only way we can defend ourself, warisan kita dan status merdeka kita. Coba sekarang, saking sibuknya mikirin golongan-golongannya sendiri, solusi apa yang udah dipikirin biar Malaysia lebih respek sama batas wilayah negara kita? Siapa yang mikirin caranya gimana biar Indonesia bisa jadi macan asia lagi..at least…sebelum terus jadi salah satu negara kuat yang diperhitungkan, yang ditakutin, di antara negara2 PBB yang lain. Siapa yang mikirin ini??

Kenapa kita justru musingin kalau kita beda sama orang Indonesia lainnya karena misalnya dia bukan Kristen, karena dia bukan Islam, karena dia Hindu, karena dia bukan Chinese dan bukan Buddha, karena dia Konghucu, karena dia Katolik???

Why???? WHY??????????

Emangnya kalau kita Kristen dan memperjuangkan itu dengan musuhin agama yang lain, kalau nanti kita diserang sama orang Malaysia, negara Eropa dan Amrik yang mayoritas Kristen bakal langsung nyelamatin kita???

Emangnya kalau kita Muslim dan memperjuangkan itu dengan musuhin agama yang lain, kalau nanti kita diserang sama orang Malaysia, negara Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, dll yang mayoritas Muslim bakal langsung dukung kita??? Inget loh, Malaysia juga Muslim.

Emangnya kalau kita Hindu, dan memperjuangkan itu dengan musuhin agama yang lain, kalau nanti kita diserang sama orang Malaysia, negara India bakal kirim laskar berani mati ke kita???

NOOOOO. Pada akhirnya, kalau negara lain serang kita, tetep kita yang akhirnya harus nyatu despite of agama yang beda-beda, because no countries will help us mati-matian cuma karena di negara kita ada orang-orang yang agamanya sama dengan di negara mereka.

Cuma kapan sih kita sadarnya??

Kapan??

Nunggu dijajah lagi secara terang-terangan sama negara lain kali ya, baru nyadar...

GILA!

Am I Socially Maladjusted?

2010-08-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I look to www.astrology.com. I knew this web from my editor, she loves ramalan so much, walaupun dia ga bakal ngaku kalo ditanya.

A contributor who writes for my magazine, Mba Susie, just like my editor, wanted to know about my Mayan astrology and the characteristic of people who born at 3^rd November 1982. So there we read the description of my traits according to Mayan prophecy.

In the characteristic description, it is said that “at worst I can be socially maladjusted*”. Mba Sus, the contributor laughed at this description but I ignore it. Although honestly the description irritated me. What does that mean? When I found the answer through google, it struck me.

Just in two sentences --socially maladjusted--, I find the answer of one of the biggest questions I have in life, which explain why it’s difficult for me and for other people to understand me.

Orang paling sering bingung waktu tahu walaupun gw tahu apa yang mereka nilai baik and what’s expected from me, sometimes I can’t help myself to neglect or ignore, if I don’t want to.

And I can’t tell them that it’s beyond my control, can I?

Selama ini gw agak nganggap enteng. Gw pikir, emang sih gw punya habit jelek, tapi karena ngga mood aja kali. Ternyata...

I’ve never thought that I was born with such character, which can be a great threat for my future if I think further about it.

Lately, Simpati Freedom’s TV commercial with Sherina as the model tickles me. She sings, “geregetan jadinya geregetan bila hidup tanpa pilihan”…

I have given a thought of the commercial. Kalo bener karakter irresponsible yang gw punya udah disetel dari gw lahir, would I have other choice on how I live my life? I don’t want to live as a lousy person as my only choice.

Gw gak bangga loh jadi orang yang punya karakter dasar sebagai “orang yang ga bisa diandelin”. Ada orang yang tanya, ”Elo tu kenapa sih rebellious?”, ato bikin statement, ”Elo kan rebellious, Res.”

That’s annoying and irritated me. People don’t know that I always struggle to follow the rule, to deliver what people expect from me. I never consider myself as rebellious. It’s not me. Gw nurut & berusaha untuk keep begitu.

All my life I’m battling with my inner self. I’ve been fighting --which is almost like an endless effort-- to try to understand why, compared to other people, gw susah banget menerima yang udah ada, kayak aturan masuk kantor jam berapa, idealisme cewe harus berperilaku tertentu, ajaran agama, dan kenapa big deal banget kalo gw belom pernah nonton Schindler’s List dan kenapa gw harus tertarik nonton Schindler’s List, kenapa gw harus tertarik sama berita di koran dan kenapa gw harus baca koran, kenapa gw harus peduli waktu harga BBM naik, dll, dan akhirnya depressed because the difference on how I perceive things and do things will make people reluctant to accept me. And at the end, I have to regularly adjust to different kind of people, understand what they expect and play from that. It’s tiring.

If you want to know how weird I am, these are the things that I find different to other people way of thinking and more than often I’d take seriously which then lead to massive confusion and sometimes depression (and I am not proud of this):

I don’t understand why people can perceive and implement total obedience easily towards their beliefs, social customs and idealism on life. For example in religion, isn’t God supposed to be something beyond our understanding? So why the hell should people determine what ideal about God? And expect other people to believe to that? I think that’s just sick and scary.

I don’t understand why at certain time and certain point, I would find myself ignore the rules, don’t think of it seriously and authorities won’t scared me. I know the objectives of why there should be rules. And I know the consequences from violating them. Yet, I don’t want to understand nor feared the consequences.

I don’t understand why I can easily neglect my responsibilities when I don’t feel that I like doing it.

I don’t understand why violating a promise can trigger an outrage from someone so bad. If someone promised me to accompany me to buy a new laptop and she/he cancelled it becoz of she’s/he’s lagi males or have something else to do. It’s okay, we have another time next time or I can simply go find it on my own. No hard feeling. But if I find out that the cancellation is due to she/he is avoiding me, that’s a huge insult for me and can end up really really bad for the relationship.

I don’t understand why I can’t compromise at all with a person who take advantage of me, not sincere, and who violated my idealism of loyalty even it just happen once. It means end of the relationship. Totally no connection whatsoever. Ever.

I don’t understand why in this world where it’s already over populated, a concept of marriage, which result is legalised procreation, is still implemented and still perceived as an ideal. Why can’t the ideal be: “humans need to stop to procreate”?

I don’t understand why at some point, I’ll ruin my chance to have close long term friendships, close love relationship, or firm relationship with my family. And then won’t feel so bad about it as I always think there’s still so many fish in the sea.

I don’t understand why I can think that at the end, I’ll always be saved and can always get away from everything bad, including from the consequences of what I’ve done.

I don’t understand why I really really really HATE the fact that the world is overpopulated and I hate crowds and I constantly wish people to extinct.

I don’t understand why people fight so bad just to continue living, though if they ask themselves, they will realise that they are just a bunch of useless parasite for other people and the universe. For example: My late relative. She died three weeks ago, due to gagal ginjal. She needed to cuci darah every week which cost a lot of money. And she had been through such medication for over half a year. Meanwhile, she has three children who are still at school and her husband is jobless just like her. Since her hubby (my cousin) lost his job about two years ago, only God knows how this family was surviving. I heard they depend on their close relatives a lot after the job incident. When she’s gone everyone went to her funeral. But not like the other, I didn’t feel bad of her leaving even a slightest bit. I keep thinking if I was her, I’ll just let myself die since the beginning I know I was sick, as I don’t contribute anything to my family surviving. The money for cuci darah can be used for my children school fee. That will be more acceptable. I don’t understand why these people, who have no use for anybody, can still being so selfish about going on living by other people expenses.
Etc…

You see, all these thoughts can irritate people and make me appear as a mean and disturbed person. Sometimes I thought maybe I’m lacking of love and passion for other people. But other time I think that maybe I’m just trying to be practical and fair.

Reading my Mayan astrology, even though I don’t know how accurate it is, but I think I found the explanations I am looking for.

I can’t help myself of being different.

And perhaps I should just stop thinking whether it’s bad or good, or whether it’s wrong or right, as the astrology won’t totally define me. If it is true that I was born with unusual traits, I still can fix it.

Can I?

*) Maladjustment without manifest psychiatric disorder, as that occasioned by an inability to cope with social situations.

Hotel Majapahit - Part II

2010-07-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

Hotel itu kan hospitality business. Majapahit runs this business beyond well. Elo bisa liat Mba-Mba dan Mas di meja resepsionis di bawah ini. They are the most helpful staff ever!

Gue sempet "hampir" ketinggalan pesawat gara-gara salah gw.

Lahir dengan bakat berimajinasi dan berasumsi, gw ngerasa "inget banget" kalo pesawat dari Surabaya ke Jkt take off jam 8 dari Bandara Juanda. Dan berdasarkan anggapan ini, gw dengan pedenya bilang, "Besok sore saya check out jam 6 ya Mba", tanpa ngecek tiket lagi, waktu resepsionis nanya untuk mastiin lagi kapan gw check out.

Besoknya, setelah sesorean makan di luar hotel, nonton bioskop di plaza tunjungan, gw baru nyampe hotel jam 5.45pm. Terus beres-beres sampe jam 6 dan turun ke lobby buat check out. Pas check out feeling gw ngga enak. Salah satu dari Mba-nya tanya, "Naik pesawat apa Bu?", gw jawab, "Oh saya naik Batavia". Trus gw iseng-iseng cek tiket yang gw simpen di amplop. Mendadak gw deg-degan, "Jam 8 itu pesawat berangkat ato pesawat sampe ya...??"

Pas tiket gw buka, eng ing eeeng...ternyata pesawat berangkat jam 7!!! Sementara jam udah nunjuk ke angka 06:10pm!! Gw langsung PANIK! Gw tanya ama Mba-nya, "Mba, dari sini ke Bandara berapa lama ya?? Kayaknya saya ketinggalan pesawat deh, gimana ya...???"

Mbanya kaget waktu gw bilang pesawatnya ternyata brangkatnya jam 7, bukan jam 8. Mereka langsung recommend gw naik Blue Bird lewat tol. Pas gw bilang boleh, bell boy yang lagi di deket gw langsung lari keluar cari taksi blue bird. Mba-nya langsung buru-buru selesein proses pembayaran gw. Drama banget deh pokoknya. Sementara gw udah bayangin "Ngga mungkin sampe bandara sebelom jam 7. Kalopun gw nyampe pas jam 7, belom tentu dibolehin naik. Minimal check in di bandara kan 45 menit sebelumnya. Terus limit kartu kredit gw masih berapa ya? Cukup ngga tu buat beli tiket lagi ke Jakarta. Kalo ngga boleh pake kartu kredit gimana? I don't have cash. Jangan-jangan gw musti tidur di bandara. How should I tell the office about this?? Ini salah gw...jadi kalo gw mesti beli tiket lagi, pasti ngga boleh rembeurs. Should I tell my family? But my cellphone's battery off. And I forgot to bring the charger..." --All these thoughts were running and spinning and filling my almost crazy head.

Sambil nunggu taksi, gw ngerasa staf-staf yang ada di lobi care sama gw...huhuuhu...mereka ngajak ngobrol sambil pasang muka simpati yang menurut gw genuine banget. Pas taksi dateng, gw langsung rush in masuk taksi.

The driver managed to arrive in Juanda airport at 06:50. Such an awsome Blue Bird driver, eh? I gave him quite a big tip.

Di airport gw jadi tipe penumpang yang bikin orang lain kesel, sikat sana sikut sini sambil bilang, "Maaf, maaf, saya ketinggalan pesawat..maaf permisi..permisiii..."

Pas gw terengah-engah ke meja check in, it turned out...the plane got delayed!!! Jadi gw masih boleh check in! Horeeee!!! Malahan pesawat yang ke Jakarta belom datang pas gw check in, baru dateng jam 07:30pm dan berangkat jam 08:45. Penumpang lain pada kesel. Gw?? Senyum-senyum bersyukur, hahahhaha. Gw hampir lupa soal punggung gw yang sakit gara-gara di taksi ngga bisa duduk senderan ke belakang gara-gara parno. Overall, it was a huge luck for me. Bahkan ada sebagian diri gw yang ngerasa ini semua berkat staff Majapahit...hahahaha...yeah I believe they bring me good luck, though I don't know how.

Anyway...back to Majapahit, hotel yang berasa banget kayak rumah gw sendiri ini (ngarepnya someday gitu) punya area-area yang gw suka banget!

Ini selasar yang orang lewatin kalo habis dari Restoran Indigo dan mau balik lagi ke lobby. Liat tangganya ngga? I am obsessed with stairs. I love stairs. Terutama yang dibangun pake kayu tua, masih asli dan rapiiii kayak gini. Kesannya mahal tapi ngga secara flashy (kinclong norak kayak tas Gucci man I hate it). Kalo yang di bawah ini adalah kanopi yang menghubungkan area lobby sama ballroom. Klasik eh? Gw suka aksen sulur-sulur besi tipis yang dari kuningan ituuu.

Waktu gw sempet sarapan di restoran Indigo, ada anak cewe kecil nyamperin, padahal gw baru aja duduk. Selalu kayak gini loh. Anak-anak kalo ngeliatin gw bisa ampe lamaaa...gw bingung tu anak orang tuanya di mana. Karena dia ngga pergi-pergi jadi gw foto aja. Halo dedeeeekk...cetret!!!

The fact that I'm in Surabaya thrills me, as I've never been here before. Tapi kenyataan kalo gw dateng ke sini untuk alasan kerjaan dan gw dateng sendirian, plus ga ada temen di Surabaya, huhuhu, made me sad actually. Jadi waktu itu sambil sarapan di Indigo, gw ngeliatin ke jalanan di luar. This is another fact that amazes me. Maksud gw, Hotel Majapahit kan bukan hotel sembarangan. Yang nginep di sini orang2 penting (termasuk Megawati!). Tapi sama sekali ngga dipagarin tinggi-tinggi in a secluded area dengan staf sekuriti super ketat kayak hotel-hotel di Jakarta. Malahan, pas di luar jendela restoran Indigo, kita bisa liat orang jalan-jalan di trotoar pas di luar jendela.

Nah, restoran Indigo-nya sendiri kayak gini bentuknya:

Kalo yang ini Sarkies restaurant:

Masuk Majapahit tu kayak masuk museum yang dirawat banget! Banyak barang-barang tua masih cakep-cakep, I Love it! Dan dia punya sejarah. Being here you can have sooo many things to tell, which makes you kind of proud. And I love it!

Dan ngomong-ngomong soal "things to tell", toko Deli yang ini nih yang sebenernya supplier pastry enak-enak yang dijual di...hehehehe...the most sought-after international coffee shop yang di Jakarta juga populeer banget. My favourite! (Ask me in private about this, pal, won't tell further about it here)

I want to go there again...to Majapahit Hotel in Surabaya...

Hotel Majapahit - Part I

2010-07-07T20:17:00.001-07:00

This is one of the loveliest places I've ever visited. It's Hotel Majapahit. I've written an article about it. Yet, here I give the details that weren't put in the article at that time due to the limited space. Man, Surabaya is so lucky!

Hotel Majapahit lebih "wow" di bagian dalam dibanding di bagian luar kalau dilihat dari jalanan. Mereka punya 3 taman. Tapi yang paling besar yang ini:

Yang keliatannya megah banget itu Presidential Suite-nya Hotel Majapahit. It is said to be the biggest in South East Asia. Gw sempet masuk dan emang gede banget. Suitenya 2 lantai. Masuknya lewat pintu ganda. Begitu masuk langsung ketemu tangga mewah ke lantai 2. Di lantai 1 ada akses ke ruang tamu, dining room, dan ruang meeting. Di lantai dua ada ruang kerja yang bisa untuk terima tamu juga, ruang tidur, dan kamar mandi yang bathtub-nya oh my god banget. Untuk masuk ke bathtub musti naik beberapa anak tangga. Dan ada jendela yang bisa kebuka menghadap ke taman selama kita mandi (lumayan kalo elo termasuk exhibitionist). Terus banyak bagian di kamar mandi dan perlengkapan mandi yang dilapisi emas beneran. Kayak pegangan tangga menuju bathtub; "pegangan" di bathtub; bathtub plug, shower, keran, dll. Terus presidential suite ini punya butler sendiri yang bakal ready service elo 24 jam. Dia punya kamar sendiri di lantai 1, dan punya koridor-koridor rahasia yang bisa dia lewatin kalo mau ke tempat loe pas loe panggil pake bel. Jadi misalnya elo bunyiin bel "tring tring tring", terus tau-tau "whooosshh!!" si butler dah ada di deket loe entah nongol dari mana. heuhehehehe...

Waktu nginep di Majapahit, gw tidur di ruangan ini:

Kamar gue namanya Garden Terrace Room. Ada balkon kecil private buat gw yang menghadap taman. Tapi berhubung gw nginep sendirian jadi nongkrong di balkon ngeliatin taman just like a total idiot, so i spend my time wathing indovision di tempat tidur sambil ngemil burger majapahit. hahahahha...

Ada yang bilang Majapahit banyak hantunya. Tapi waktu gw ke sana, setannya kayaknya cuma gw doang. ahahhahaha...makhluk kecil keriting makan chicken nuggetnya majapahit sambil nonton tv terus ketawa-ketawa sambil minum jus sama ngemil kacang Mr P.

Walaupun akses masuk ke kamar gw agak gelap, tapi gw gak ngerasain apa-apa tuh.

Ini pintu kamar gw. Tiap pagi dapet koran gratis.

Gw sempet ngintip kamar lain yang ukurannya sedikit lebih gede dari kamar gw. Jenis kamar ini ngga punya balkon tersendiri, tapi dalemnya lebih "berwarna" dan dari perabotan kesannya ngga se-"dark" kamar gw.

Dari Majapahit, gw paling suka selasar-selasarnya. Ubin di selasar ini, dari 100 tahun yang lalu masih tetep pake yang sama. Terus selasarnya putiiihh, romantiiiisss...jalan nyusurin selasar berasa kayak bukan di era sekarang. Semua yang gue temuin, kayak kursi-kursi di kamar, lemari, tempat tidur, lampu gantung, semua barang lama. Oldies. Udah berumur. Tapi semua masih dalam kondisi baik.

Terus gw juga suka tangga utama yang dipakai tamu untuk ke lantai 2. Kayu-kayunya masih baguuus. Padahal itu kayu yang sama dengan waktu tangga itu dibuat pertama kali. I've been told that this hotel spend much...so much...untuk preserve semua yang ada di hotel biar tetep asli. Makanya yang kesini yang bener-bener don't think about money. I was lucky to be invited here. Mehong booo...!

Bersambung...

Too Late For Awakening

2010-05-11T01:42:00.000-07:00

The hollow cries to be filled and that's when the rain falls. And who says water is the source of life as there's still nothing grows out of the creature's wet surface. She's died years ago.

Hey, are you wartawan bodrex??

2010-05-04T23:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Blue Bird's event, that talks about the end of this year, of when 50.000 blue bird's employees (including drivers) will wear Blue Bird's Batik, specially made by Danar Hadi. Well, I think Blue Bird is sooo rich that they can give their employees new Danar Hadi Batik --3 pieces every 9 months, which everybody knows rather expensive (though if I am one of their employees I will ask for Allure Batik instead, which is more stylish and young, hehehe)

Nevertheless, at this event I've (finally) found out a figure of a "wartawan bodrex".

You know, I've been accused as one before, by the lousy Datascrip, at their event, just because there was no name of mine listed in the press list, and I didn't bring the invitation. Though it was clearly a human error on Datascrip side (at the end it's revealed), but I'd been hugely insulted. I know that at that time, less people know the magz of where I work for as it has only been published for a year. For that, I paid the price by getting a humiliation of not being allowed to come inside an event of which I was actually invited to. (I always bring invitation everywhere since that horrible incident).

And back to the "bodrex" predicate, i must honestly confess that I have no idea of what they are and how they would look like. So yesterday, having to found out one just right in front of my face, I was totally thrilled.

On the characters, I have to say that this "bodrex" journalist is one of the most confident fellow I've ever met. He walk in the lobby very domineering in his attitude, with his backpack, camera (looks better than my photographer's), press ID, hat, jacket outside his shirt, jeans...simply he looks like professional and very serious journalist (not like us lifestyle magz writers who cares a lot about our looks).

Anyhow, he walk in and with loud voice he ask the busy receptionist of where the press conference is taking place. The helpful receptionist told him to wait (just like me and this other journalist from Sindo). But instead of joining with us journalists, he make comments loudly such as, "Gila, udah kayak di Istana Negara aja nih. Mau press conference aja musti nunggu. Hebat juga ya Blue Bird..ckckck...!!" And we just look at him, annoyed. Kinda rude, I guess. But then I think..well, perhaps this is the character of most koran journalist. You know, these people have to be aggresive in getting news. So perhaps, it is their style.

But when we already inside the room waiting for the press conference to start, a girl sit next to me and we started to get to know each other, and I remember that I made comment about a tagline printed in the back of a media company's car (don't know if it was Sindo's or SCTV's), which says, "Apapun resikonya demi kebenaran berita". I was truly impressed by this tagline. So I said to this girl, "I really admire you guys. You seem to be so dedicated and aggressive with your work. Just like that fellow over there..." and I pointed to the "bodrex" journalist (i haven't found out that he's bodrex yet). Unexpectedly the girl laughed. She said, "well not that person...". And then of course I ask, "why?" Then she spilled it out.

According to her, bodrex journalists don't get salary as they are nobody's employees. So they make up fake media companies with weird names, which are mostly online such as cipayungonline.com and even sometimes use someone else's company name (that's why we have to be really careful not to give our namecard to these journalists) as pass ticket to events to get free meals, goodie bags, and sometimes ask for money from the event organisers/news sources. The bodrex journalist I met at the event told everyone that he's working for a website (which then the girl-next-to-me said the website is actually dedicated for reporters who would like to upload their writing there, but obviously this website doesn't have any reporters who work for it). It's KABA**NDO. (just guess the name yourself, I'm afraid of getting a mess by putting it boldly).

So cut to the chase, I was WOW-ed. Surprised. Amused.

I asked the girl then, "how do you know that he's fake?"

She says, "We (koran journalists) always meet him at events like this, and we already know who he really is."

I am still surprised, "But he's so confident and seems to know and close with everyone?"

She says, "That's the way they are.."

If I was a cartoon, my repeatedly-open-and-closed-mouth must already sounded "clang clang clang clang..." I mean...such an info!! And I was accused as one (God that makes me even madder to Datascrip).

I was taking my time then to have a little look on the bodrex journalist and think a bit about him. And you know what, I feel kinda sorry for him. I mean, he must have been so eager to work as journalist until he can do such thing, although nobody hire him as employee. See? It's perseverance. And dream requires perseverance. Perhaps all that he needs is a chance.

But then on second thought, I kinda feel suspicious of whether he choose to be bodrex as it is promising more income? Well...guess I'd never know.

The End Of Men

2010-04-05T04:36:00.001-07:00

Lately, I am reading on The Kite Runner, and thinking of how can a lovely neighborhood as Afghanistan could change into such a messy place filled with inhuman-barbaric violence and stupid wars.

Yet, Afghanistan is not the only country who experienced war and suffering from it, unfortunately. The world in general knows war very well. It has gone through ages and experienced a lot of wars.

If we tracking back to the names of who-hold-the-responsibilities (read: trouble maker) for all the famous war ever happened on earth, well here is the list:

1. Wars for power in the Ancient Rome happened in generation initiated by Romulus, Gaius Marius, Julius Caesar, Pompey, Crassus and Octavian –http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome

2. In 1009, Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and then Pope Alexander II gave his blessing in 1063 for Christians to battle the Moslems in the Crusade which then last for 200 years.

3. Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia

4. On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian-Serb student and member of Young Bosnia assassinated the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo, Bosnia, which then lead to the World War I.

5. September 1, 1939, Hitler with his crazy Nazi invaded Poland and begun the World War II.

6. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who claimed himself as “The Mother of all Battles” invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990, which then started the Gulf War.

7. George Bush with his “War on Teror” doctrine, initiated the war in Afghanistan and then Iraq.

Can you see the similarity from all of those names? Yes, those are men’s names.

M-E-N.

Well there are numbers of violence done by other men in lot of other parts of the world, including violence done by Taliban to their own Afghan people, violence in South Africa, war in Darfur, and including Majapahit kingdom who invaded Asia back then. But it will be too long to be mentioned here.

I really don’t understand of how human misery always started by men's initiative (except in natural disaster), which I never know whether it is out of his wounded ego or simply madness. And in every war, you can see that the violator (either the aggressor or the defender) are always men. From the top level of politician to the lowest rank of soldier, all are men. And in Africa or Afghanistan, these men make and teach children to kill!!

These men kill, shoot, beat, stab, burn, explode and do a lot more of horrible deeds to their human fellow, for nobody knows what for. And women and children always stuck in the middle of the chaos they have created, as the most suffering victim in this situation.

“EXTINGUIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSHHHH!!!”

Uuurrrggghh, how I want to scream it as loud as possible out of my lung, while I’m spraying infectious viruses around the globe which kill only men.

Don’t blame me to think that as far as men rule the earth, there are no real period of peace, as violence can always be found through “penjajahan ekonomi”, capitalism, corporate takeover, etc, although when there’s NO war. As it is of their destructive nature that they make damages as long as they live. They born with an easily wounded ego. They always need to feel superior, aggressive, always want more and ready to take over everything and possessive.

Hence, men are not important for the future of the human species.

(I am not recommending female ruler right now, it just that tragedy is unavoidable as long as there are men)

“EXTINGUIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSHHHH!!!”

On Saying Goodbye

2010-04-01T03:09:00.000-07:00

There are things that hurt which I wish I will never have to encounter:

1. Bad thing happen to my mom/dad/sisters
2. Having a chauvinist as a husband
3. Into labour
4. Getting old and experience paralysis
5. Fell and experience fractures
6. Being kidnapped and tortured alive
7. Live with an ugly face
8. Stabbed by something sharp
9. Bitten by a snake
10. Addicted to drugs
11. My brain stops working
12. ...and saying goodbye

I have lived with these fears haunting me for, well...for 27 years of my life.

Today, at lunch, my editor said something about a death note from Alexander McQueen –that gay designer. He died only a week after his mom passed away. The police found McQueen’s dead body in his own house, hanging inside his wardrobe on 11th February 2010 afternoon. On 3rd February 2010 McQueen tweeted, “I’m letting my followers know my mother passed away yesterday if it she had not me nor would you RIP mumxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...”

And you know what, if it is true that his reason of ending his life is because of his lost, I don’t think that what he did by ending his own life is too much. I can completely relate.

People said that committing a suicide means you are giving up. But how if there’s no worthy reason of living?? Honestly...how if you are simply hate your life??? And the only thing matter is your mom as she’s the only one that you know will never leave you (as long as she lives)???

I love my family so much and I honestly don’t give as much care to the others. But I know that someday they will leave me. My mom and dad will go to heaven and my sisters will both be with their husbands.

And me???

As I know that I can’t married since I hate the idea of it.
I can’t have and be with my own child as I will never let myself into labour.
I don’t want to grow old, physically degrading and have an ugly face.
I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me and help me for the rest of my life.
I don’t want to say goodbye to persons who are willing to love me without asking of anything in return (read: my parents)
And I can’t die from any mishaps like in my fears number 5,6,8,9,10,11, as long as my parents live, as I know they are going to need me to support them which I am going to do soooo willingly.

But what am I going to do when their gone???
What should I do???
I am deadly serious...what should I do???

Unavoidably Old

2010-02-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

I am going to mark this day, as today I gained significant input about my physical outlook.

All my life, I always think that the size of my body and the structure of my face will give me a privilege of time...that I won't get old that fast.

But today i was asked by a very lovely woman, "do you have young children?"

This was a shock.

Speechless ---i was wondering, "Do I look like someone who already have children? Or does she think that i look like someone that should already have older children, so she asked me whether if I have younger ones?”

Whatever this means...for me, this is a sign to prepare for a botox.

TERNYATA GUE PESCETARIAN

2009-09-25T01:33:00.000-07:00

Ternyata habit baru yang lagi gw jalani belom sepenuhnya vegetarian. Based on Wikipedia, I am a Pescetarian...

also called pesco-vegetarianism

karena gw masih makan seafood dan produk-produk yang dihasilkan oleh hewan seperti telur, susu, keju, madu.

Jadi veg...eh salah...jadi pescetarian aja udah susah gini, ternyata jadi vegetarian lebih susah lagi.

Makan sayur, kacang-kacangan, umbi dan makan buah terus tiap hari. Terakhir kali, gw makan buah seharian dan malah diare. Terus gw kan ngga boleh nelen sari pati ayam ato sapi ato apalah, jadi makanan gw gak boleh ada masako-nya. Dan setiap ngeliat pop mie, gw selalu ngingetin diri sendiri kalo ITU DILARANG, NGGA BOLEH, hehehe...

Untuk bikin gw tetep di jalur pescetarian, sejak liburan lebaran kemarin gw belajar masak di rumah. Bikin nasi goreng kuning, bikin bolu, bikin bubur sumsum, bikin indomie ngga pake bumbu indomie yang hasilnya caur gila, bikin bola-bola coklat. Sementara kalo bikin telur dadar dan ceplok sih...hah...gampang!!

Nyokab gw bilang, kalo gue bisa masak sendiri, makanan gw justru lebih sehat. Dan karena pescetarian ngga se-strict vegetarian / vegan, nyokab bokap gw masih mendukung upaya disiplin ini.

Kalo gw vegetarian, mereka justru kawatir nasib gw bakal kayak om gw yang pernah niat jadi vegan dan masuk rumah sakit, hahahhaa... Kalo gw bilang sih, itu gara-gara dia kurang strategi aja. Kan ada banyak menu vegetarian, tergantung kita kreatif ato ngga. Cuman berhubung gw belom terlalu jago masak dan bumbu-bumbu yang tersedia di pasaran masih banyak yang dibuat dari saripati ayam, sapi, udang atau ikan, jadi gw pescetarian dulu aja.

Someday kalo gw udah punya uang banyak, gw bakal fokus jadi vegetarian dan sanggup biayain diri sendiri untuk sering makan di Te-He (restoran vegetarian mahal gila) ato bikin variasi makanan vegetarian dengan bumbu-bumbu asli dari tumbuhan (tanpa campuran makhluk hidup di dalamnya) yang sekarang masih susah didapet di supermarket.

Now while I'm a pescetarian, I still definitely have to learn how to be a vegetarian without getting ill, starve, menderita malnutrisi, menderita bosan, dll.

***

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Pescetarianism, also called pesco-vegetarianism, is the practice of a diet that includes seafood and excludes mammals and birds. In addition to fish or shellfish, a pescetarian diet typically includes some or all of vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, beans, eggs, and dairy. The Merriam-Webster dictionary dates the origin of the term "pescetarian" to 1993 and defines it to mean: "one whose diet includes fish but no meat."^[1]

I AM MY SOUND

2009-09-25T00:12:00.000-07:00

U can more or less understand people character from their choice of music. I’ve found these typical…

Classic

This is the sound from those who never take things easy. They think, feel, and see everything with deeper, wider and further sense beyond ordinary. Every of their creation leaves us wondering wow. They are the people we might call genius, gifted, talented…

Jazz

This is the sound from those who appreciate rules, who lives passionately, who are kind, snob in taste, respect discipline and totally embrace their melodious life.

Pop

This is the sound from those who live as lightly as they could…those who we should envy most, those happy-go-lucky people with their have-fun-go-mad spirit mode on. They don’t care if the world calls them common, average, shallow, and maybe…stupid…but hell, just hear their sound, this people know how to get fun.

R&B

This is the sound from those who realize they got HUGE talent in music, who think they have to stand out. These people will aggressively climb for popularity and yeah…don’t get on their cocky way, or their sharp words will kick your sorry little ass out of the way.

Rock

This is the sound from those who feel themselves unheard and misunderstood, those who have so many rage and disappointment inside. Once they let it out, they let it out loud for the world to hear, to see, that they are surviving.

Folk

This is the sound from those who take a really long time to understand and to accept people and circumstances around them. They don’t care if people understand them or not. These people have already fulfilled with themselves, occupied with their own amusing minds, character and personality.

Dangdut

And this is the sound from those who need more education…a lot more of education. Seriously…

Becoming Vegetarian

2009-09-07T05:58:00.000-07:00

It has been two weeks and I'm still surviving. Amazingly, this second time around being a vegan feel much more easier than my first time. Last time I was a vegan, I could only hold the discipline for 2 months. :D Now I expect to do this longer and maybe hopefully for the rest of my life.

There's no significant reason why I choose this kind of discipline. I just feel like it. Although deep down, I really wish I could do more like stop smoking, but I guess at least I have to start a discipline from an easier step: don't eat meat. I hope someday, my mind will finally straighten enough and it will call the initiative to stop smoking. So when that time come, I can write this sentence: "I don't know why I choose to stop smoking. I just feel like it." :D

When I write this, I actually am thinking of my cavendish banana in the refrigerator downstairs. I really want to eat it but my stomach is full enough by tempe bacem, hahahhaa...Tantri and Lala hold the effort to make those for "Buka Puasa Bareng" this evening. They're so kind, and I guess they have ready enough to go to the next step becoming a wife and a mom. While I...well I still need to be taken care of somebody. :D

I have great happiness this evening. Maybe this is the reason why I could come up with normal diary-style-writing for this blog right now, not blue poetry like I used to make in my ordinary days. :D

10 minutes meditation

2009-07-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

A relationship doesn't need much thought
It doesn't require emotion
But it lives when there are hearts in it
Now I won't ask if you have the gut to have one
cause you certainly has...
...but do you have the heart, Resti?

I want to make a new mainstream

2009-05-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Sometime I heard people ask, “is it mainstream?”, when they’ve told about new song coming up, a new book coming up or new film coming up, as if it is a sin to hear, read or watch one from such kind.

Sometime I see people brag about them being indies. Proudly acknowledge that they shown only their pieces just to some people who “understand” / “accept” it.

They seem to reject the effort to make their work known by mass audience.

How pity.

Have they given up, since they’ve already tried?
Or do they underestimate commoners, by thinking these people won’t understand their work?

I do believe, become a unique is good. But become uniquely-known is better. Don’t you think?

When we are confidence with our talent, why should we keep it to ourselves or to our group? While most of our works are excellent, why don’t we do something about it? Why should we reject popularity?

I don’t understand.

Me myself, I want to make a new mainstream.

And why not, when I think I have the talent and the gut. And I don’t think this dream as a form of my pride.

True pride I think, hides inside those who keeps their talent to themselves. How it would be such a waste while a lot of people might get inspired or have the chance to grow by knowing such talent is exist.

I pitty this people who despise mainstream, while they are having the chance to make a new mainstream.

Why don’t they?

And while they buried their talent to themselves, I’ll share mine to the world.

I have ready

2009-04-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

to live…

not by just waking up to wake up someday,
and expecting myself not to be empty...

But to live of no longer irony...

The soul I’ve thought has broken,
has been toughen up.

I see people come and go,
yet, reality never gives me nobody.

Many somebody appear to be found
in every corner of life, in every second I spend.

I am no longer scared.
My heart would just have to recognize them.

And despite the severity,
I am reminding myself everyday,
That my life is not measured by who I have,
but from the effort I give to everyone I’ve now had.

So let the sincerity from the smile comes out.
Every year.
Every week.
Every day.
Every minute.
Every second.
Above everything.

Not The Best I’ve Ever Had

2009-03-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

This is the punishment for being such an unprofessional cunt!

I can’t believe I’m the fool again, after all those nightmares happened 5 years ago. Sometimes I guess, I have to upgrade the level of my ignorance more. So I won’t have to deal with messed up emotion on tiny useless matter ANYMORE!

God! Perhaps I have never known love. But I can tell where’s the limit of somebody’s love/ care/ attention to me, from the reason they get angry at me. And now, because of too much involvement in other’s insignificant life, I always have to remind myself of where I stand in their life.

:(

Trust me, from now on, I am going to be very professional, or let’s say, just decided to be an ignorant bloody bastard alive.

An easy going, funny, ignorant bloody bastard alive. There.

TEORI ACCEPTANCE

2009-03-20T02:37:00.000-07:00

Kenapa orang bisa punya alasan untuk benci dan nyakitin orang lain?

Tukang poles yang dulu, punya banyak alasan untuk mikir jelek soal orang lain, untuk sakit hati dan untuk bales mereka. Tukang poles yang dulu, ngga nyadar kalau semua itu cuma parno yang ada di kepala. Dan kalo inget dulu sering benci, nyakitin orang lain (sekarang juga masih sih, dalam kadar kuantitas dan kualitas jauh lebih sedikit), masih suka nyesel sampe susah tidur.

Sekarang kalo dipikir-pikir, saat tukang poles nyakitin orang lain, ternyata cuma gara-gara takut lebih dulu disakiti. Tukang poles was simply scared of rejection. Tukang poles was scared of humiliation.

Kebencian itu ngga penting!

That's why, harus disingkirin jauh-jauh. Ditumpas. Diinjek-injek. Terus dilupain. Ngga susah kok! And um pastinya ngga perlu jauh-jauh belajar Tantrayana ke Dalai Lama yang ada di Tibet untuk bisa ngontrol emosi ke orang lain.

Rumusnya, inget-inget ini aja:

Mendem perasaan benci itu ga enak dan bisa ngerusak diri sendiri. Benci bisa numbuhin stres, penilaian tentang hal yang dibenci jadi ngga obyektif, hati ngga tenang, mimik muka jadi ngga enak diliat (orang yang memendam benci punya ekspresi muka ngga enak - otomatis orang lain jadi ogah deket-deket) dan plus plus... penyakit nyebelin di kepala (khusus di kasus tukang poles). Sumpa yang kayak gini paling bikin males!

Sekitar 5 tahun lalu tukang poles belajar yang namanya “acceptance”. Acceptance yang ngga berarti pasrah ini bikin tukang-poles jadi susah untuk mikir jelek, ngerasa benci / marah / ngerencanain hal jahat ke orang lain.

I would like you to have a bite of acceptance.

(Ada yang mau? Ada yang mau dijejelin?? Hehe…)

Dari praktek lapangan yang udah tukang poles jalanin, kira-kira kayak gini deh langkah-langkah untuk bisa hidup full acceptance:

Smile
1st bite of acceptance.
Sebentuk senyum ato cengiran ternyata efektif buat nge-boost mood paling jelek sekalipun buat kita dan buat orang lain. Jadi pastiin kita senyum yang tulus setiap kali bertatap muka sama orang lain, ato kalo perlu nyengir sekalian. Selebar-lebarnya.

Eye Contact
2nd bite of acceptance.
Dengan senyum mengembang di mulut, hal kedua yang perlu dilakukan adalah melakukan kontak mata. Berani menatap orang yang kita temui atau orang yang sedang bicara dengan kita, berarti kita siap untuk jujur sama dia. Lagian, lewat mata kita jadi tahu apa yang lagi dia rasain atau pikirin saat itu. Kita bisa dapet pemahaman lebih tentang dia.

Listening
3rd bite of acceptance.
Demi kebaikan, walaupun kita punya focus disorientation syndrome, kita harus bisa dengerin orang lain sepenuhnya saat mereka bicara sama kita. Untungnya dengerin orang lain waktu ngomong banyak kok. Selain buat ngurangin “telmi”, “mendengarkan” bisa bikin orang yang berbicara dengan kita merasa diterima. Relasi kitapun jadi kerasa lebih dekat dan kita bisa lebih enjoy ada bareng mereka.

Selanjutnya? Sudah pasti mulus jalannya... hehehe...

Teori acceptance udah tukang poles buktiin selama bertahun-tahun. Ampuh! This makes everything easy and light.

But sometimes, hatred could be very sneaky. Kalo ngga hati-hati kita bisa terjangkit!

Selalu akan adaaa aja orang-orang / hal-hal yang kayaknya hadir di dunia cuma buat ngetes bates kesabaran kita. Salah satunya adalah orang-orang yang, misalnya:

* Orang yang mikir kalo ngomong sama orang bodoh itu harus dengan nada keras biar cepet ngerti.
* Orang yang mikir bahwa orang pinter itu harus pendiem dan keliatan ”mikir”.
* Orang yang susah banget buat bilang, ”Iya ngga papa, elo gue maafin”, yang hobinya memperpanjang masalah.
* Dll.

Orang yang berbeda visi dan berbeda pola pikir kayak gini (entah sama tukang poles atau sama kamu), percaya deh NGGAK BAKAL PERNAH bisa ada di satu tempat yang sama dengan kita.

Sedangkan untuk bisa getting along dengan orang-orang macem ini tanpa kita sendiri terjebak dalam kebencian, ”mengalah” maupun ”kompromi” bukan solusi yang pengen tukang poles rekomendasiin di sini, di sono, di manapun atau sampe kapanpun.

Sejauh ini, cara paling efektif untuk bisa rukun sama mereka ya dengan mengisolasi diri, memutuskan keterikatan emosional dengan mereka. Cara kongkritnya adalah bicara seperlunya, ketemu seperlunya.

Soalnya, menjalin hubungan berkualitas itu justru harus dengan orang-orang yang terbuka menerima pemikiran kita / dengan orang-orang yang punya pemikiran sama dengan kita. Bareng-bareng mereka, baru deh kita bisa ngembangin diri, explor something yang baru bareng-bareng, saling mengkritisi pemikiran atau tindakan masing-masing. Cuma bareng orang-orang terbuka ini, kita kayak terjamin untuk terhindar dari sakitnya dihakimi / dilecehkan. Dan pada akhirnya, menjamin kita bebas dari penyakit ”benci orang lain / benci diri sendiri” karena mengalami perasaan ditolak.

THIS WHAT MAKES A HUMAN

2009-03-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

When you can’t claim someone as yours,
you can still always take a good care of him / her.
Make sure he / she is alright.
At that time,
smile will appear on your face.
And you will recognize the pain you feel inside
is just some ego.
Which is there just to remind you that,
at the end, you’re only a human.

At Nights When I Can't Shut My Eyes To Sleep...

2009-02-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

An eagle who lives on top of the cliff,
knows well the meaning of solitude.

If you think she chooses it, boy how you’ve misunderstood!

On the sky, people look at her as a heartless strength.
What they don’t see, there’s insecurity in her searching.

I’m the only one who knows her better.
I’ve watched her.

More than sometimes, she would move so fast,
together with the wind, her only companion.

Like this afternoon,
a day when all people say a good day,
where none of the clouds are around,
I hear her scream – loud and painful.

She looks up straight to the sun
And move towards it, as fast as if she goes for a hunt.

But this time, I don’t see the perseverance in her eyes.
I see despair.

My heart goes the same speed she’s in.
“Does she choose today to finally throw all of her fences - who she is - what she is - or how she is all this time? Is this how she would admit defeat?”

Should I know now - nothing kills greater
than a confirmation of life failures?

I look above and hope she would look me back.
Buat I only feel a tiny splash of water on my palm.
It’s her tear…

In the end, she doesn’t see that I’ve watched her,
as the sun grabs her and burns her good.

I weep and weep and weep and weep… maybe for eternity.

…cause there’s gone a beauty of solitude sadness…

Has the world a humble mercy…?

She only misses her husband.
She only wants her son.

TUKANG POLES HOBI ICIP-ICIP

2008-12-23T02:12:00.000-08:00

Enakan mana – makan atau icip-icip?

Well, kalo menurut tukang poles sih lebih enak icip-icip. Karena lidah tukang poles amat sangat bosenan.

Makanan yang ”normal” porsinya, ngebosenin buat dikunyah terus-terusan. Mungkin ini yang bikin tukang poles belom pernah bisa ngabisin makanan, dalam waktu makan yang menurut orang lain ”reguler” – 1 jam.

A better way to eat on tukang poles version is tasting a lot of flavor from each-small-portion-of food. Dan karena restoran yang konsepnya kayak gini belom ada, jadi tukang poles cuma bisa berimajinasi, hukhukhuk…

Siang-siang gini, yang tukang poles pikirin adalah, “Andai semua makanan bentuknya kayak finger food. Jadi ada semur daging kecil udah sekalian ditempelin pake nasi, ayam asem manis udah ditempelin nasi, steak dipotong kecil sekali suap abis, brokoli dilelehin cheese porsi sesuap, salmon panggang porsi sesuap, mashed potato cuma sesendok, kacang merah dilumurin saus daging porsi sesuap, dst. Dan itu semua dihidangin di satu piring. Jadi variatif banget rasanya dan ngga ngebosenin dimakan dan dikunyah.

Hehehe...

Mungkin someday tukang poles bakal bikin restoran yang konsepnya ”Plate of Taste” ato "Finger Food Specialist". Jadi di restoran ini ada ribuan menu makanan. Di satu piring, elo bisa milih makanan apa aja yang elo mau, dengan porsi sesuap-sesuap. Asik kan...?

Huh laper...!

Kapan tukang poles bisa mewujudkan mimpi tolol yang kayaknya asik ini? Hmmph.

TUKANG POLES BENCI PEMIKIRAN KOLOT

2008-09-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Alasan-alasan di balik kebencian ini sebenernya udah mengendap di otak cukup lama dan ”efek rasanya” udah meradang di dada. Kayak racun. Mikirin topik ini selalu bikin marah, putus asa, sedih, sampe balik jadi marah lagi. Bertahun-tahun marah-marah begini, mungkin sekarang kalo dada tukang poles dibelah, isinya gumpalan hati yang berdarah-darah (jangan dimengerti secara literal ya – hmmph!).

Hari ini tukang poles menyuarakan “ENOUGH!” untuk kekolotan yang degil.

”kolot” is nothing more than just a filthiest character someone could has

Here are the “kolots” from tukang poles perspective:

1. Ngga suka cewe ngerokok (tapi ngerasa biasa aja sama cowo ngerokok)
2. Berpendapat dan memegang teguh keyakinan bahwa manusia harus menikah dengan manusia lain yang seagama.
3. Berprasangka kalo cewe yang bertato berarti bukan cewe baik-baik.
4. Ngga suka cewe yang nge-kos, tanpa bisa memberikan alasan rasional di baliknya, selain ucapan penuh prasangka bahwa cewe yang nge-kos = pergaulan bebas. (yeah right – nyinyir mode on).

Well, here are tukang poles explanations of why-oh-why all those “kekolotan” are truly irrelevant and therefore – unaccepted:

1. Ngga suka cewe ngerokok.

Tolol banget untuk mikir “gue ngga suka cewe yang ngerokok, soalnya ngga pantes. Yang pantes cowo aja yang ngerokok”. (what the fuck???) Di mana rasionalisme-nya?

Jangan dibedain deh.

Cowo dan cewe yang ngerokok itu sama-sama brengsek. Sama-sama ngga bermoral, sama-sama buat dosa (menyakiti diri sendiri, menyakiti orang lain, menyakiti alam). Sama-sama beresiko impoten.

Jadi tolong kasih tahu tukang poles, kenapa ada diskriminasi image pada female smoker?

2. Berpendapat dan memegang teguh keyakinan bahwa manusia harus menikah dengan manusia lain yang seagama.

Orang udah lama terjebak dalam lingkungan pergaulan yang dikotak-kotakkan oleh agama. Agama udah jadi barrier sosial. Padahal agama tuh apa sih? Some religions are total shit - agama yang antipati sama agama lain dan ngerasa agamanya sendiri paling bener - they just shit (coba aja telusurin dan kulik-kulik kenapa ada agama di dunia. religion is all about politic.)

Makanya bener-bener ngga masuk akal ngeliat (dan mengalami sendiri) bahwa ada orang-orang yang menerapkan agama sebagai tembok yang ngehalangin dia untuk menyayangi seseorang yang sebetulnya layak disayang. Bener-bener ngga masuk akal.

Penting mana – agama atau manusia?

3. Berprasangka kalo cewe yang bertato berarti bukan cewe baik-baik.

Boleh deh, mikir kayak gini, kalo definisi “baik-baik” itu adalah: orang yang berpikiran sempit dan berselera terbelakang terhadap karya seni.

Soalnya menurut tukang poles - tattoo is simply a form of art – yang bisa disejejerkan dengan seni beradab lainnya. Dari mulai filosofi, pemilihan gambar, proses pembuatan sampai hasil jadi, they’re all remarkable and fascinating experience indeed.

Cuma bedanya tato dengan lukisan dan pahatan adalah medianya, yaitu kulit manusia. Yang gobloknya akhirnya diartikan sebagai bentuk perusakan terhadap tubuh yang udah diberikan Tuhan.

Padahal, kalo bikin tato dibilang merusak diri sendiri, jawabannya adalah “how stupid is that thought”. Tato justru merupakan bentuk apresiasi pada tubuh dan hidup. Pada orang-orang yang berotak waras, tato yang bermakna dan bagus bikinnya, bisa memperindah tubuh.

Jadi kesimpulannya, tato di tubuh seorang cewe adalah seni. Bukan stempel yang meneriakkan, “HELLO WORLD, HEREBY I AM A WHORE”. (for those who think like this, get a grip!)

4. Ngga suka cewe yang nge-kos, tanpa bisa memberikan alasan rasional di baliknya, selain ucapan penuh prasangka bahwa cewe yang nge-kos = pergaulan bebas. (yeah right – nyinyir mode on).

Buat orang-orang yang punya opini kayak di atas, pernah ngga – mikir bahwa mungkin ada alasan keluarga yang sangat pribadi yang ngga bisa diumbar, yang mengharuskan seorang cewe untuk ngekos?

Pernah ngga – mikir kalo seorang cewe ngekos for the sake of a closer access to a better living?

Pernah ngga – mikir kalo seorang cewe ngekos untuk buktiin ke orang tuanya kalo dia bisa mandiri dengan profesi halal yang dia pilih?

Pernah ngga – mikir kalo seorang cewe ngekos dengan kesadaran bahwa keputusannya mengakibatkan romantic relationshipnya perlu biaya besar – soalnya ngga diijinin pacaran di kos sama owner yang strict banget nerapin disiplin? Therefore – dia selalu pacaran di luar dan jadinya ngga pernah bisa (dan ngga mau) macem-macem.

Buat orang-orang yang punya pemikiran kolot nomer 4, just…just try to look deeper from what it seems on the surface. Then you can tell everyone that you’ve found the truth.

***

Tukang Poles Ngga Ada Kerjaan

2008-07-01T23:39:00.000-07:00

Hahahahaha....!!!!
Tukang poles ngga tau hari ini mau ngapain aja. Tumben banget ngga ada kerjaan di kantor kreatif kecil yang bersemangat, tempat tukang poles kerja. Dari tadi pagi, kerjaan tukang poles cuma ngecek email, liat http://www.malesbanget.com/ yang ide-idenya keren canggih (baru tau hari ini kalo ada website beginian), sama ngapdeit gosip acha yang jerawatan di malaysia lewat detikhot. Huhuhu...I don't have a life!

Terus nyoba nginget-nginget lagi kalo dulu pernah punya blog di multiply sama di friendster, tapi akhirnya bosen nerusinnya dan dianggurin aja gitu, sampe sekarang. I'm wondering then, what would happen with this one.

However, seperti blogger pada umumnya, tukang poles ngarep banget bakal ada yang baca ini blog yang sori mayori... ngga penting. Makanya, biar blog menyedihkan ini banyak yang baca dan suka, tukang poles ngga bakal ngisi blognya dengan poetry gelap, atau pengalaman-pengalamannya yang lutchu hari itu (tapi boong, wek!), melainkan mengisinya dengan mengulas film-film kesukaan tukang poles, tempat makan, dan iklan-iklan yang menurut tukang poles keren abeeess!!!

Ya gitu deh...(ngga tau kapan mulai ngerjainnya...)