Indahnya Jazz, Merdunya Gunung (Jazz Gunung 2017)

Alam, jazz, dan Maliq and d'essentials serta Monita yang membuat aku tidak pikir panjang untuk langsung cari informasi lebih lanjut soal Jazz Gunung 2017. Dan, pada akhirnya... there I was, sitting on the amphitheater at Jiwa Jawa resort, sumringah lebar sekali menonton semua artis favoritku, menyanyi gila-gilaan dengan lagu-lagu yang aku suka, dan merasakan dingin 12 derajat celcius di Indonesia.


Aku bilang konser Jazz Gunung itu seperti pertunjukan Magic. Semuanya terasa ajaib. Mulai dari background panggung yang dihiasi gunung-gunung dari jauh, pohon-pohon tinggi, burung atau kupu-kupu yang sesekali terbang melintas, dan musik. Aku nggak tahu mereka bikinnya gimana, tetapi aku mau kasih 10 jempol untuk krunya. Sound konser hari itu flawless. One more time, it was FLAWLESS. Tidak ada gaung, tidak ada missed, tidak ada adegan suara ngilang, dan hello, kita di alam terbuka, di gunung. Belum lagi kalau aku sudah sebut satu-satu artis yang tampil di konser dua hari satu malam itu.

Tidak perlu waktu yang lama untuk aku langsung mutusin bahwa tahun 2017 is my year to experience Jazz Gunung. Tahun ini line upnya adalah
Dewa Budjana
Indra Lesmana
Ring of Fire
Charged Particles,
Monita
Dira Sugandi and Trio Sri Hanuraga
Glenn Fredly, dan Maliq and d'essentials.
Done, I am done here.

Aku paling excited untuk Maliq. Udah lama tahu kalau live performance dari one of my favorite Indonesian band ini emang topcer. Dan oh my, exceeded my expectation indeed!
Monita is another thing. Nggak tahu kenapa albumnya yang terakhir (Dandelion) is the beauty of music. Sungguhan. I love every single song in it. Very cheerful and couraging.
Dira Sugandi and Trio Sri Hanuraga is my hidden gem this year. Dira Sugandi is famous of her great vocal and I was once bumped into their covers of Indonesian traditional songs, seperti Kicir Kicir, Manuk Dadali, Ayam Den Lapeh, and so on, and traditional song with jazz? oh yes, I am in.
Dan Glenn Fredly oh Glenn Fredly. Because of his performance back in 2003 I then finally knew that Indonesia has great singers.

Tapi, kalau mau jujur aku cukup penasaran dengan penampilan Ring Of Fire arahan Djaduk Ferianto. Tiap tahun selalu menggandeng banyak musisi dari berbagai macam background. Tapi, yang pasti selalu mengawinkan musik jazz dan irama tradisional. Pernah aku lihat projeknya jazz campur gamelan Bali. Elemen musik tradisional dicampur dengan jazz. Kapan lagi bisa lihat saxophone dimain barengan dengan seruling sunda.

Semuanya udah cukup buat aku untuk niat ke Jazz gunung 2017. Begitu nemu informasi, ternyata dapat deal yang cukup bagus. Nggak hanya Jazz Gunung, aku akhirnya beli paket wisatanya juga sekalian. Ke air terjun Madakaripura, gunung Bromo dan teman-temannya.Bisa cek Berangan tour

Day 1, 18 August 2017.

Jam 4 sore, kami (me, my cousin, and two other companions) memasuki daerah Jiwa Jawa Resort tempat konser Jazz Gunung diadakan. Dari jauh, kita udah bisa dengan para MC udah membuka acara sore itu. Setelah dapat tempat duduk, langsung aku terpukau sama semuanya. Kita nontonnya di amfiteater terbuka dengan panggung yang membelakangi pucuk pohon-pohon tinggi, dan bisa lihat jajaran pegunungan dari kejauhan. Opening act hari itu adalah Surabaya All Stars, and amboy! Never underestimate the power of local artists. Surabaya All Stars adalah salah satu grup musik yang udah lama wara wiri mencoba merawat jazz di Surabaya. Para musisinya memang sudah sedikit berumur, tapi yang namanya musik jazz emang nggak pernah mati. Lagu-lagu klasik Jazz seperti Cheek to Cheek, LOVE, dan lain-lain ramai disambut para penonton, dan nggak cuma itu aja, lagu dangdut alamat palsu sukses dibuat jazz tapi nggak meninggalkan warna dangdutnya. and the star of that opening act is lagu "It's My Life"nya Bon Jovi yang dibawain dengan gaya jazz! But, please... please picture this in your head, yang membawakan lagu tersebut adalah laki-laki berperawakan tidak begitu besar, dengan rmabut gondrong sedada, dikuncir, ada kumis tipis, dengan jaket kulit. Tampang boleh rock, tetapi jiwa tetap jazz.

Lalu disambung dengan Charged Particles dari America. I could say, it was a very typical American JAzz group. Lumayan menarik. Jadi, biasanya tiap hari konsernya akan disuguhkan pertunjukkan musik jazz pure atau penyanyi *bintang tamu. Menurutku konsep ini bagus. Karena namanya saja konser Jazz. Walaupun Maliq lebih cenderung mau dipanggil musik pop, Monita juga tidak pure jazz, apalagi Glenn Fredly, tetapi tetap saja esensi musik jazz masih ada di gaya musik mereka.

Nah, yang ditunggu-tunggu akhirnya datang.

Matahari sudah di penghujung petang, 
kulepas hari dan sebuah kisah
tentang angan pilu yang dahulu melingkupiku. 
Sejak saat itu langit senja tak lagi sama....
- Memulai Kembali, MOnita

Matahari sudah bener-bener tenggelam. Langit sudah benar-benar gelap. Lampu panggung sudah mulai beraksi. Monita memulai pertunjukkannya dengan lagu Rayuan Pulau Kelapa dengan (tentu saja) irama jazz. Disambung langsung dengan lagu Hai. Ah, dan seterusnya seterusnya, dan seterusnya. Pertunjukkan 1 jam lebih 10 menit itu nggak kerasa. Hanya saja, ada sensasi aku di dimensi lain. Musiknya keterlaluan indah. Cuma ada kontra bass, gitar, piano, dan drum, dan suara Monita. Suaranya Monita juga terlalu kece untuk ukuran live. I can say better than recording. Dari jaman dia Indonesian Idol, I have put my eyes on her, and when she released her first album in 2009 or 2010, I set my ears for her, and then the last album and that very performance on the mountain, I set my heart and soul for her.

Diikuti dengan Dewa Budjana Zentuary. Kalau menggambarkan musik Dewa Budjana ini, seperti musik etnik yang dibaluti elemen rock dan sedikit jazz etnik. Highlightnya adalah si pemain seruling bambunya. Tidak ada vokal. Kalau aku bilang, aku suka. Cukup enjoy. Tidak begitu urakan untuk ukuran pertunjukan pure music

I have to close my eyes and repeat all the tunes, the lights, the ambience, and the heat I felt in the midst of cold night. I believe Maliq is one of those awesome live performer. The know how to have fun. They know how to make us have fun. Kita diajak nyanyi bareng, dan aku suka banget sama kekompakkannya mereka. Beneran bikin panggung terasa lebih wow. Maliq bisa bikin malam jadi lebih romantis. Dia minta kita nyalain flashlight di HP, dan mereka nyanyi lagu Untitled. Bikin merinding. They did save some excitement until the very end of the performance. Indah bisa nge-rap. She killed it. Funk Flow dibuat lebih funky dari lagu originalnya. Ah, really! Surpassed my expectation.

Day 2, 19 Agustus 2017
As I previously mentioned, aku ngambil paket wisata Bromo juga. Hari kedua, kami bangun pagi dan melihat pemandangan depan kamar kami yang mungkin harnya di film-film. Jajaran pegunungan, sedikit tiang pemancar, sawah, dan matahari pagi. Aku benar-benar nikmati setiap detiknya. Kami minum kopi ditemani lagu-lagunya Sri Hanuraga Trio, dan akhirnya siap 'bertempur' di air terjun Madakaripura.

Nama air terjun Madakaripura sudah nggak asing sih sebenarnya. Beberapa kali teman ada yang ke sana, tetapi nggak pernah terpikirkan bahwa air terjun itu bisa jadi tempat yang menyenangkan. Konon, air terjun ini adalah tempat Gajah Mada bersemedi dan menghembuskan napas terakhir. Jujur, aku sedikit skeptis. Apalagi, pas lihat foto-foto teman, aku pernah melihat air terjun yang lebih bagus. Tetapi, ternyata bukan air terjun yang di foto yang jadi highlight. Melainkan air terjun yang berada di sekitar dinding tebing, dan juga perjalanan ke sana yang lebih menyenangkan.
Kami berangkat dari penginapan, menempuh sekitar 1 jam, baru masuk ke pelataran parkir. Dari situ, kita harus siap-siap dengan sendal jepit dan jas hujan di tas. Yes, jas hujan saudara-saudara. Melewati air terjun-air terjun kecil untuk ke tempat Gajah Mada semedi yang menurutku lebih asyik haha. Sebelum ke jalan untuk menuju air terjunnya, kita harus naik ojek, dan ini juga sebuah pengalaman lain. Sekitar 50an pemuda berumur 18-22 atau 24 siap dengan motor masing-masing, sedikit berdebu, dan berkendara tanpa helm. Perjalanan dari tempat parkir ke gerbang air terjun sekitar 4 km. Lalu, dilanjutkan dengan berjalan kaki sedikit menanjak sekitar 1.5 KM. Cukup bikin napas tersengal-sengal, but was still OK. Apalagi pemandangan sepanjang naik ojek itu lumayan menenangkan. I was really enjoying the heat of sun rays in the morning, sedikit debu jalan, dan gronjalan membuat perjalanan makin asyik.

Sekitar 30 menit kemudian terdengan bunyi air jatuh. Masih skeptis. Lalu kami memakai jas hujan kami dan menggulung celana. And I loved it!!!
Begitu keluar dari jeratan guyuran air, aku senyum lebar sekali. Rasanya memang aku dan air tidak bisa dilepaskan dari satu sama lain. Bahagia itu sederhana juga, hanya diguyur air sejuk aja sudah bikin senyum lebar. Begitu aku membalik badan, aku terpukau dengan air yang jatuh di latar belakangi dinding batu berbenalu dan lumut. Bagus sekali.

Keseruan belum selesai sampai di situ, jika ingin melihat tempat semedi si Gajah Mada, kita harus melewati gundukkan bebatuan yang menonjol di sisi dinding gunung. Agak seram juga, karena cukup tinggi, berbatu, dan sedikit licin. Tapi, pura-pura berani, ikut aja si guide dengan merangkak pelan-pelan. Begitu di atas, kita makin excited dengar bunyi suara air terjun yang deras. Alam memang nggak bisa ditandingi.

Kami pulang untuk bersiap-siap konser hari kedua. Jujur, lelah. Tapi, it was worth it. Really.

Pertunjukkan hari kedua tidak dimulai dengan bagus menurutku pribadi. Terlalu salah, haha. Sana Seni Ensamble yang membuka konser hari itu. Mereka bilang kalau musik mereka itu Kronch Wrong which was a bit off. Ide musik keroncong dicampur jazz harusnya menarik, tetapi mungkin karena aku bisa dibilang bukan penggemar jazz murni, jadi agak sedikit terganggu. Untungnya setelahnya ada Dira Sugandi dan Sri Hanuraga Trio. Another exceeding expectation performance. Air mata sedikit meleleh ketika dengar kita nyanyi lagu Rayuan Pulau Kelapa bareng-bareng. Dira juga sampai sedikit nangis. Pertunjukkan sore itu sendu, namun tetap indah. Hari itu, kita dapat tempat sedikit depan. I could see Sri Hanuraga's fingerss dancing wildly on the piano. Gila. Orang jenius.

Berikutnya Indra Lesmana. Ok, he's pretty stiff as a performer I guess. Dan musiknya terlalu ketebak, jadi sedikit membosankan. Tapi, ya sudahlah. Di Jazz Gunung, orang bebas masuk keluar arena. Hanya sayangnya tempat jajannya terbatas. Jadi, tidak begitu banyak yang bisa dilakukan di luar konser. Anyway, akhrnya RIng Of Fire tampil. Kali ini mereka menggandeng Soimah. Iya, Soimah yang itu. Yang menor dengan suara pecah. But wait, she can sing. She can really sing! Really really well. Pertunjukkan RIng of Fire hari itu dimulai dengan lagu Dangdutnya Soimah diiringi big band style orchestra lengkap dengan kolintang melodi, gendang, dan saxophone. Disambung dengan lagu jazz classic yang dinyanyikan dengan gaya karawitan. My oh My, Soimah's voice is a true gem. Never underestimate penyanyi dangdut. Their vocal range, and the technique itu nggak main-main. Dengan penampilan Soimah dan Ring Of Fire Project, konser hari kedua berhasil diangkat lagi moodnya. Then, the star of our show, the man who portrays broken hearted really well, who gets the eastern music swirling in Indonesian music, yep Glenn Fredly.

As expected, lagu-lagu yang dinyanyikan Glenn adalah lagu-lagu yang sering ia bawakan saat konser. Rasa Sayange, medley Timur, You are My everything, Kisah Romantis. Sedikit kasih surprise, Glenn memanggil bang Idang Rasjidi untuk special showcase. Pianisnya Glenn hanya memainkan 3 bar lagu yang mau dinyanyikan Glenn, bang Idang langsung serta merta memainkan tuts tuts piano seakan jariya mengenal lagunya. Padahal, dia nggak dikasih tahu sebelumnya, dan mungkin aja nggak tahu lagunya. It was a real magic show. That's the power of Jazz. Blending in. Setiap jenis musik jika di syncopated, diberi chord kromatik, sudah bisa jadi musik jazz. Siapa bilang jazz itu musik exclusive, menurutku... semua musik bisa jadi jazz. Jazz itu musik universal, tapi mungkin susah dimengerti dibanding pop atau rock.

Aku suka jazz. Menurutku Jazz bisa menjadi musik romantis, fancy, atau mellow, bahkan dansa. Bisa dimainkan untuk jadi score dari sesi kehidupan kita. Aku selalu enjoy dengan tunes Jazz yang kadang sedikit off. Itulah seninya. Jazz di gunung? Dingin-dingin? Amazing experience. Aku mau salut untuk penggalang konser Jazz gunung yang tetap menjaga esensi ke-jazz-an. Konser jazz yang paling jazz walaupun ada banyak elemen jenis musik lain dilempar ke situ, tetapi tetap terasa esensi jazznya, dan mampu membuat para penonton terhibur. Aku bangga menjadi jamaah Al-jazziah di konser Jazz Gunung ke-9 ini. Terima kasih sudah bertahan, dan makin bagus tiap tahunnya. Terima kasih Djaduk Ferianto, Butet Kertarajasa, dan Sigit Pramono yang tiap tahun rajin membuat jazz Gunung semakin bagus, dan bagus lagi. Untuk tahun ini, tiketnya sold out loh!!!Padahal di pekan yang sama ada dua konser "Jazz" lainnya yang juga sedang berlangsung, di Jogja, dan di Surabaya.



Menarik juga ketika mengetahui yang tonton itu dari segala kalangan. Pas konser hari kedua, lebih banyak tante-tante dan om-om usia kira-kira di atas setengah abad, datang menjadi penonton. Memang konser ini sedikit lebih exclusive dibanding konser yang lain, karena untuk ke sana butuh effort lebih. Harus naik kereta api dulu, atau driving berjam-jam. Harus nonton konser dengan berbalut jaket tebal bahkan sarung tangan dan topi. Di situlah daya tariknya, apalagi mengingat betapa besarnya antusias penonton. Beberapa klip di youtube tentang Jazz Gunung terdahulu, banyak yang datang dari luar Jawa Timur untuk menikmati jazz. Jazz Gunung ini memang membuat kita menyadari Indahnya Jazz, merdunya Gunung.

Tahun ini, temanya yang diusung adalah Merdekanya Jazz, Bersatunya Indonesia, karena dibuat tepat sehari setelah hari Kemerdekaan.
Konser tahun ini membuktikan bahwa jazz itu musik yang bebas, merdeka. Mau dimainkan dengan gaya apapun tetap bisa disebut musik jazz, mau dimainkan dengan seruling sekalipun. Dan, aku jadi sadar bahwa Indonesia itu emang kaya. Jenis musiknya, para artisnya, alamnya, orang-orangnya.

Konser ditutup dengan gemilang tepat tengah malam. Itu berarti kita cuma punya 2 jam sebelum melanjutkan perjalanan utnuk melihat sunrise di Bromo. Terus terang, aku lelah luar biasa, karena pagi-pagi sudah menguras tenaga di Madakaripura, but hey we were there anyway, dan apa artinya kalau bilang ke Bromo tapi belum melakukan ritual di sana; nonton sunrise, ke bukit teletubies, pasir berbisik, dan kawah Bromo.


Kami dibawa ke Penanjakan satu, dan tempat itu terlalu touristy, too packed. I was more annoyed then enjoyed the sun rise. Nggak bisa dipungkiri emang bagus bangettt, tapi aku udah terlanjur kesal dengan orang-orang yang ribut dan tongsis sana sini. Kenapa nggak diem aja dan menikmati perubahan warna alam? Mulai dari semburat tipis membatasi di tengah cakrawala, pelan-pelan tambah besar, membuat gradasi paling cantik di langit. Lalu pelan-pelan menampakkan pegunungan Tengger.

Selepas berkutat dari kerumunan orang-orang dan melawan angin dingin, kami berhasil turun dan istirahat sejenak di warung dekat situ sebelum melanjutkan perjalanan ke kawah Bromo. Lumayan, mengisi energi sebelum ber-adventure ria dengan jeep. Oh iya, sensasi naik jeep gelap-gelap pas mau nonton sunrise itu seru juga. Jeep-jeep dari berbagai arah ketika memasuki taman Nasional Tengger itu dengan gagahnya tanpa ada rambu-rambu.. Tinggal stel lagu soundtracknya Indiana Jones, udah bisa jadi film petualangan seru. Benar-benar gelap, hanya ada lampu-lampu sorot dari jeep-jeep yang berlari kencang. Yang nyupir saat itu tidak lebih tua dari 20 tahun, tapi tangkasnya bukan main. Seru. haha. Jadi, hilang kantuknya sedikit.

Lanjut, ke kawah. Rencananya tidak ingin naik kuda, tetapi semuanya mau naik kuda dan karena perginya berkelompok daripada pacenya nggak sama, akhirnya aku bersedia untuk naik kuda juga. Lumayan, pengalaman menunggang kuda di tengah gurun pasir.Kudanya cantik-cantik. Naik ke kawah sama sekali tidak melelahkan. Disediakan anak tangga, dan sudah dipisah antara yang naik dan yang turun, hanya satu antrian panjang untuk masing-masing arah. Begitu sampai di atas, ternyata cukup packed dan jalanan yang tersedia cukup sempit. Aku sempat gemetaran, nggak tahu mau langkah ke mana, karena takut licin, apalagi sebelah kiri udah jurang, sebelah kanan udah kawah yang masih aktif. Sempat takut banget. Bingung mau ngapain haha, mau maju salah, mau diam salah. Menariknya, ada banyak orang lain yang melenggang jalan begitu saja di tepi-tepi jurang tanpa rasa takut, seakan itu trotoar biasa. Akhirnya beranikan diri untuk jalan dan mendekati kawah. Amboy, kaki sumpah gemetar, mau noleh ke arah kawah itu pelan-pelan. Jadi, geli mikirin hari itu. Kawah Bromo mengeluarkan suara mirip pesawat jet. Ini memang masih Bromo, seperti stage 1 untuk yang namanya petualangan dengan alam. Papa mamaku pernah memanjat gunung Bawakareng berkali-kali dengan medan yang lebih sulit. Ini sih nggak ada apa-apanya, and by going to Bromo, I felt inspired to do more hikings, or more nature traveling. Beneran deh, yang namanya jalan-jalan ke alam itu can push us to the other limit. Yang tadinya takut, ternyata bisa juga melintasi medan yang nggak pernah kita mikirin sebelumnya. Pas ngelewatin sungai, kita menyentuh batu-batu di situ, tiduran di padang rumput. I felt so happy.

Lanjut ke padang rumput, alias Bukit Telletubies, aku langsung serta merta merasa amat sangat excited. Jadi inget, pas aku ke Vermonth 2015 silam. Waktu itu ke daerah Lodgenya Von Trapp Family, letaknya sekitar 2 jam dari kota Burlington, Vermont. Pas lihat hijau-hijau langsung senyum-senyum sendiri. Waktu ke bukit Tawangmangu juga gitu. Langsung pengen nari-nari ala Maria Von Trapp sambil nyanyi

"The Hills are aliveeee with the sound of music"

Aku merasa beruntung banget, perjalanan alam ini ditemani dengan orang-orang yang sevisi. Yang berani push their limits too. Tahu gimana caranya having fun dalam keterbatasan. Tahu gimana caranya enjoy tiap momen, menghargai tiap momen itu, dan mau belajar tentang alam. Pada nggak takut kena matahari, atau debu, siap dengan toilet ala kadarnya, siap kotor-kotor, siap basah-basah. Karena, di situlah serunya.

Alam itu seperti stage, di mana matahari menjadi lightingnya, suara angin, burung, kawah, adalah lagunya, dan segala yang terjadi saat kita mau dekat sama alam, adalah aksinya.
What should we do, only enjoy it.

Kalau aku mau rangkum, pertunjukkan Monita itu adalah mood booster banget. Seperti energy bar, langsung energi level full, dan siap menghadapi segala realita hidup. Maliq di satu sisi seperti fire works performance, bikin hati sedikit kejut dengan ledakan-ledakan kecil, dan nonstop. Dira Sugandi dan Sri Hanuraga Trio itu ibarat Royalty. Very elegant. Tapi, kalau boleh jujur the star of the show was Ring of Fire and Soimah. I was so into their performance! Aku beneran kagum dengan cara mereka meng-aransemen musik, mengawinkan musik timur dan barat, memadukan ketukan tak beraturan dengan lenggok suara khas karawitan. Gendang dan saxophone bisa juga disatukan. I just love it. Soimah, you are my queen!

Dan alamnya. Aku harus ke Bromo lagi, pada saat lebih sepi, naik sampai ke kawahnya lagi, duduk di pinggir kawah. Lalu, mau lihat sunrise yang lebih sepi juga.But anyway...
Jazz Gunung?
checked
Bromo?
checked

Smile?
checked
Happy?
oh yes... super checked.

Akhir kata,

Sampai bertemu di Jazz Gunung 2018!!!!

#28goingstrong
.
CVB

Sweet Seoul - a Korean Drama

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Shoot.. it's been like a year-story-ago, but I haven't got a chance to write about it. Life in 2016 is super hectic with all the unexpected things. Literally!
I am speechless. 2016 is really something. Making me cringe and smile at that time. Making me clench my teeth and laugh at the same time. Especially November. I couldn't express November in a word since there have been so many things happened. Nonetheless, this post will be entirely about my trip to South Korea... :)
Yes baby! Finally I MADE IT! Even though, it was not without a drama lol

Before we dig into a deeper passage, let me remind you that I am going to come back stronger in 2017. Expecting more exciting posts in Strawbearies or in Let's Talk. I know I owed you a loooot in the last 3 months of 2016. But hey, it was worth it. :) More details will be revealed in some other time.

Meda

First thing first, this has been my dream since long ago. Maybe even before I graduated from college. I was serious about it in 2014, and joined my dream is a friend of mine; meda. We had an innitial talk back in 2014 about meeting in South Korea. Both of us are the victims of K-Wave; however, what's more special about us is we love the underdogs. Forget the big names; we love 10cm, Sweet sorrow, etc etc. Therefore, in 2015 we seriously thought about it, and set November 2016 to be the best time. First reason was autumn, and second reason was my work load would not be so much. Frankly speaking, I had a doubt in the middle of 2016 because I had so many spending. Many unexpected travellings.








There I was with my cousin, Gina travelled all the way from Surabaya and Makassar, met in Jakarta hours before our departure to Incheon! All hyped up. We all worked on our visa by our own. Our visa were granted a week before our departure. Thumbs up eh?

Nov 21st and 27th of November was the period of joy and devastating part in my life haha. Now, which one first, I need to reveal?  Chronoligically?

Anyway, we arrived in Korea in the morning of 21st, Monday. We loved our place. We lived in airbnb near by Hongdae, very conviniently across Hongdae Station exit 5. It was a lofted officetell, was clean and neat. We were excited of our new place, and we were ready for our very first adventure in Seoul that very Morning.
Hongdae, Shinchon, and Edae, the golden triangle of universities. I personally love Universities and the surrounding. That was why we picked Hongdae as our staying place. As I have predicted, I fell in love with Seoul! That's it. That very first day, I claimed my self liking the place so much. We went there in the end of Fall season, yellows and reds were still around. Our first adventure was Ehwa University and the Gwanghamun gate and Cheongyecheon river. I always wanted to go to Ehwa University. It has the unique architecture, and I was amazed that Universities in South Korea was influenced by European style of architecture. Lovin it.

Ehwa Univ

When in the heart of Seoul, the road was still having the mark of ancient Korea, not to mention tha grand mountains behind the panorama. The dried river, the old shrine, and so on. It was lovely. On top of that, in front of the statue of Lee Sun Shin *the great general, there was a conselebrated mass held for the Sewol Ferry victims back in 2014. Me and Gina were excited over the simple coincidence. We got to see a national event.

Seoul

Seoul, Requim Mass

Malaysia Bersama Kugy

Warning!: it is going to be a mixed language post ya.. Continuity of Malaysia euphoria where I spoke mixed languages; three! English, Melayu and Indonesia. Well, Melayu and Indonesia sama saja. lol

me and the malaysian guy, payung man is obvious

Setelah dari petualangan Batman 2 di Malaysia tahun 2014, aku dan sahabatku Kugy berencana untuk ke KL di bulan April tahun 2015, tapi seperti yang sudah diketahui, aku malah ke US. Rencana itu terpaksa ditunda walaupun tiket sudah kebeli. It was pretty sad, since our main point was to meet our friends in Malaysia, and it would be my first adventure with Kugy. Me and Kugy are in the group that we call Malindo 101 :) It contains my friends from University of Minnesota and Kugy who is my neighborhood friend. In short, we both agreed in the end that it was not a good time to go anyway since she had something come up as well,  We couldn't go last year, and we did not think when we could go anytime soon. The thing that we did not know that there is always another good time for it.. Well, it is just postponed. Until this year!
Exactly couple of days before my birthday, Kugy told me that one of our friends in the group was getting married, dan lucunya lagi, aku sudah membatin pada diri sendiri kalau si teman itu get married, I should go! LOL. What a conspiracy! He's my college friend, kupanggil dia Payung Man! Hehehe karena dulu, kami pernah dalam satu show ketika PERMIAS Minnesota mengadakan Indonesian Night. Kami harus mempertunjukkan tradisi pernikahan adat ala Padang. I became the mother of the bride, payung man became a payung man lol. He needed to hold an umbrella for the groom. Bisa dikatakan jadi dayang-dayang hehehe. Kita dekat jauh sebelumnya. Mahasiswa Indonesia saat itu hanya sekitar 50an, sedangkan pelajar Malaysia jumlahnya paling tidak 150an. Jadilah, kami sering meminta bantuan mereka saat kami mengadakan event. Aku pun akhirnya sering diundang saat mereka juga ada event. That's how we got closed.

It took me and Kugy only three days to decide to go to KL in the end of April. Everything went so perfect. I got a pretty decent air fare, and there we were on the April 29th met at the airport. But, before we went far into our adventure, there's always a pre-story to be told.
Tiap tempat selalu punya cerita. Oh My! And why! I have to have a drama with my flight story, at least ONCE a year, and it is the first in this year (I hope it is the last). I bought a ticket from Air Asia in April. You know what, I just got a text message at 6PM on Thursday 27th April! A day before our departure time. My original schedule was at 3.45PM an hour before Kugy's and I was supposed to arrive an hour before Kugy as well, but it turned out that I was rescheduled to the later time at 6.25 PM. Meaning I would arrive at least 1.45 hour after Kugy which was nearly midnight. It was quiet a hassle since we needed to take taxi to our place. Note, that place that we stayed is in Selangor, another state from KL. Took about 30 minutes from KL. So, I was pretty upset. I slept not really peacefully. My mind was so focus for getting an earlier flight. I arrived at Juanda (surabaya airport) at 1 PM, I rushed to Air Asia office and explained my situation. Thank God, I could be rescheduled to earlier time; 2PM! lol! 1 hour before departure. wew. But, anyway... I got through everything and finally arrived at KLIA 2 hours before Kugy's. I was Ok with it, I already prepared with a book with me, so I waited for her and finally met Kugy!! And guess what!!! the plane scheduled on 6,30PM, the one that I was supposed to take because of rescheduling, was DELAYED hahaha. Bless air asia.
Yeaay! It is my second time travelling with a friend and woo another Pisces lol. Anyway, we both arrived safely at our hotel. And our adventure was started at that very night.

Kami dijemput salah satu teman kami dan itu kali pertamanya Kugy mendengarkan aksen Malaysian English. LOL He was surely speaking pretty fast, yang terjadi I translated for both party. LOL! We slept at 2.30AM and decided to just straight going to KL for shopping. woohooo...

Malaysia is always special for me. Because it is so the same yet so different. I feel I can easily understand anything about it. The simplest thing is language. Aku nggak perlu susah-susah cari penjelasan dalam bahasa Inggris kalau misalnya cuma ada petunjuk dalam bahasa Melayu. Walaupun penggunaan kata yang dipakai tentunya berbeda, tetapi aku masih bisa paham apa maksudnya. Misalnya nih DEPARTURE alias KEBERANGKATAN jadinnya Balai Pelepasan. Food Court yang kita juga nggak pernah punya kata yang pas, dalam bahasa Melayu itu Gerai Santap. Kata-katanya masih bisa kita mengerti. Seru kan? Apalagi semua kata-kata pokok seperti jalan, kanan, kiri, tempat, dan lain-lain itu sama persis. Hanya ketika aku ngobrol sama teman Malaysiaku, aku lebih memilih kata-kata yang bukan adaptasi dari bahasa Belanda seperti kata persis itu berasal dari bahasa Belanda, tentunya orang-orang Melayu yang dijajah Inggris ini nggak ngerti hehe. Mungkin di sini aku akan lebih banyak berbicara soal sharing culture antara Indonesia dan Malaysia.
Pernikahan adat Malaysia juga tidak jauh berbeda dengan pernikahan/resepsi adat Indonesia. Akad nikahnya tentu saja sama dengan punya Indonesia. Pakaian mereka juga mirip. Pestannya sendiri lebih diisi musik bernuansa islami, dan berpantun :)



Dulu sewaktu kuliah, aku sering diundang ke acara Hari Raya (Idul Fitri)nya mereka. Jauh di tanah orang, makan nasi dengan tangan? Heaven haha. The food is similar. But, I am a big fan of their roti jala and ayam rendang ;)
Malaysia is always interesting for me. Three big races living together. They claim themselves as 'pretty racist' among themselves, lol. I used to make Malaysian anthropology as my topic paper. Our lingua franca (sharing language) is also interesting. I truly have no trouble communicating whether using Indonesian words or hearing Malaysian words.

Ah Malaysia, I am falling in love. I have promised myself to explore you more. I still have to go to Batu caves, Merdeka Square, Melaka, and Penang.
It is on my to-go-list. Perjalanan kali ini, kami lebih fokus ke temu kangen dan pernikahan sahabat kami itu. Oh and shops hehehe.Kali ini kuliner experience aku itu makan di tempat tongkrongan ala-ala food court punya anak muda yang buka sampe malam tapi makannya Bengkoang! hahahaha. Enak tapiii. Mereka bilangnya 'Sengkuang', di potong hampir berbentuk pizza mini dengan diolesi gula melaka atau gula jawa dan ditaburi irisan kacang tanah. Enak loh. Seger ala-ala rujak (sori, waktu itu ga sempet poto karena batere habis).

Curry

 Terus, pengalaman berikutnya itu makan Banana Leaf. Ini sih kebaiasaan Indian Mamak, atau Indian muslim kalau makan kari. Aslinya, kita beneran makan di daun pisang di atas meja, nasi dan kari dan lauk dicampur semua dan makannya pake tangan. :) Nah yang ketiga itu Rojak ala Penang. Nah, ini yang menurutku agak interesting. Latar belakang aku adalah Makassar dengan banyak influence dari Maluku karena orang tua aku semuanya berasal dari Maluku. Kalau kami bilang rujak ya di pikiran kami itu adalah rujak buah yang rasanya manis. Nah, setelah di Jawa baru aku tahu kalau rujak itu juga bisa digunakan untuk rujak cingur yang dimana lebih savoury. NAH, kalau di Malaysia juga begitu. Rojak a.k.a. rujak itu lebih asin.Isinya irisan mangga muda, bengkuang, gorengan, dan bisa milih mau pake telur atau ayam. Nah loh! hahaha Mereka juga ada rujak manis yang mereka specially sebut rujak manis. Sekilas Rojak ala Penang ini mirip banget sama Ddeukboki nya Oppa oppa . lol

Rojak

 I am so blessed. Karena setiap perjalanan itu aku selalu dibantu banyak orang. Punya banyak teman di mana-mana emang sangat menyenangkan. Aku beruntung banget punya teman sampai di KL. Kami jadinya sangat 'terpelihara' gagal travelling ala backpacker hahaha. Terima kasih Malaysia,
till we meet again.

with Shasha

Malindo 101 minus Jfarghali

Next on my to-go-list. Penang and Melaka :) Wait for me!
Till we meet again


CVB

My Flight Story - December Series number 8

Oh it is so amusing for there were so many things happened in only one flight. Yes ONE FLIGHT.

:)
It might be more common to see this kind of situation if you are travelling in Indonesia (domestic flight). so here we go.
Firstly, it is amusing to see a girl, perhaps in her senior high school year brought so many boxes. I counted, it was 5 boxes including one looked like a full speaker (imagine a home theatre speaker). Obviously, she needed to pay for more extra baggage. Other than that, when I was on queue for checking in, I saw many people were kinda illiterate. It was written very clearly on te screen that those particular counters were opened for NO BAGGAGE Passengers only and still you would see people with trolley full of their big luggages went to those particular counters.
Secondly, again, it was written clearly "Please stand behind the yellow line." It was me who stands behind the yellow line, there's a guy behind me but his trolley was already besides me :) And of course when it was my turn, he also went front. Again, he was behind me but his luggages were besides me. I also carried a trolley and he needed to be back a little bit for me to put on the scales. So, I took conclusions; 1. He is color blinded
2. He likes to do some extra work like moving backward and forward.
3. Or maybe he was really in a rush because he needed to go to the toilet. LOL
Thirdly, I was in the waiting room. I read a book as usual and when I moved my head up from my book the only scene I saw was people with their phones. 80% of them, and it was only me who held a book besides a phone. There were only 4 types of people in the room. Majority was with their phone, second majority was just day-dreaming (doing nothing), one or two were with their laptops or tabs, and me who's the only one who bothered to read. I found it was quite an amusing scene.
Fourthly, and I thought it was the most amusing thing I saw on my trip. We were on the queue to board on the plane. It was not a new story to see two big FAT lines from two different directions (imagining an L shaped line), and then there's one man rushed came to te CENTER of the lines, 'shouted' in silence to be served first. He got served finely, but the funny thing was... he was actually with a group and he rushed to get all of them got trough the plane fast, unfortunately his group was wayyyyy behinddd the lineeee. And I was just laughing out loud in my heart. Oh poor man, his effort was useless because he ended up waiting the rest of his company. Lonely and looks like a fool hahahahaha. The moral of the story;
1. You should have communicated with your party before you did some cheated thing like cutting the line
2. Or, you just have to stand in line like everybody peacefully, your seat in the plane won't be taken unless you sit on the window seat. Which is actually my next amusing story.
Number five, it was pretttyyyy normal to see that your seat on the window side was taken already although that person knows very well that it was not his/her seat. So, I gave up my window seat, but the amusing part was the reason I heard from that person... with a wide smile she said.. " hhehehe, it was the same number anyway... hehehehe" hadeh bu... yes tht's the same number, but your husband (who sat on my seat) has to change his name temporarily becoming CHendani Budhi and I became ur husband's name. Ok, I let it go.
Number six, it is similarly like number four. When we got trough the gate, there was an airport crew who said clearly "number 16-30 please go trough the stairs". "NUmber 1-15 can go straight." Maybe, they don't put a sign because people here don't bother to read like the point in number 1 and number 2. Anyway, my seat was in 6F, so I went straight and I sat nicely on 6D instead. Then, the flight attendance was asking a man who just got into the plane with his little box.
FA: "Which number sir?"
The man: "Number 30" and I couldn't help my self not looking at the man. He needed to go all the way back and struggled a bit because people were coming from the back (his seat was near the end of the plane, BAH). hehehehehe I could only laugh. THe moral of the story;
 Go through the procedures and you will just find your seat in 5 minutes, yes you need to go down and go up to the plane, but at least you don't need to go across all the passengers in reverse direction with your little box.
Number seven, I caught a girl looked at me amusingly because I was reading a book and I smiled while reading it. Perhaps, she never seen one strange girl with a slanted eyes reading in a plane and smiling. She might have thought that I was a bit crazy? Well, I did not mind since I saw her quiet an amusing girl as well. She was wearing earmuffs in the plane, and I believe the temperature is not even hitting 10 degrees. But, well... I am a strange one myself, so I have no right to judge eh? hahaha...
Lastly, amusing is not the right word, it was more an admirable.
The wife and husband who sat next to me were doing shalat during the plane. It was my first time seeing it, and it gained my respect to them even tho the husband took my seat lol. But, sincerely admire them. They did it silently and in rhythm. It was a beautiful scene.

I might have been in silence for a long time considering I lived alone, I rarely had someone that I could communicate, so all of these were caught on my attention. But, it made my trip had a story to begin with haha. It surely gave me a lot of laugh. At the same time, I felt saddened. That's the society becoming right now. Illiterate, ignorant, and can't live without their phone. Sad, but well... not many people got to experience an early introduction to reading like myself. So, I am not blaming anyone. I am typing this merely because it is an event happened in December, and oh I was so amused.

Btw, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I am glad to be home for Christmas. In these two days, I had a conversation with my opa, slept with my papo, cuddling with Gassing and Echong, and went out with my super cousin. More to come of course.

Once again, Merry Christmas...

CVB

#48HoursAway - second December Series

It has happened in November, but I include it as my second story of December Series because it has a significant impact on me. That particular event is the reason why I feel so excited and ready for December.

These past few days, you have seen none other things than this hashtag - #48HoursAway on my social media! Yes! I got too excited about this trip because it turned out to be.... a ultimate series of answers, a thanksgiving getaway, and surely a big reunion frenzy. It is all because of Mr. Anton again! Why on earth he got an idea to have "thanksgiving dinner" while we are in Indonesia. We don't celebrate thanksgiving in Indonesia. But, he did host this party. And I think only him could think something as ridiculous like this. Additionally, I also think I was a bit crazy to agree to this whole idea.
One fine day, there was a message via facebook messanger, a group message to be precised. It was about this whole gathering. From 8 people down to only 5 people who agree to meet. I did agree because I thought it was the chance for me to meet up with Sara and spend time in Bogor. We have been talking about meeting up for months. The chance were never come until that message came in. So, I grabbed it, said yes, found a ticket, and bam... I was in the plane ready for my weekend getaway. . FYI, Sara and Anton and I were united because of one odd thing; alcohol. But, don't get me wrong, we are a responsible drinker ;) and devoted Catholic as well.

Anyway... days after I told everybody else that I bought the ticket, Sara told me that Atay is getting married! Atay is one of "petinggi" of Mudika Seattle. Both me and Sara knew each other from Mudika. The wedding would be held on Friday 27th when I arrived. Initiative planning was we went to the holy matrimony because Sara was concerning about her 3 years old baby had to stay up late two consecutive nights for our 'thanksgiving dinner' would be held on the Saturday the 28th.
D-1 she told me that it was OK for us to go to the reception instead. It had a bigger chance to meet up with everybody else. Therefore, there we were greeted everybody. Had so much fun meeting familiar face once we were in Seattle. It's been about 5 or 6 years I haven't met them. The night went out and the morning came.

As a die hard fan of Dee, me and Sara decided to pay a visit to Filosofi Kopi, Melawai. Of course we visited a local coffee shop at Bogor called Imahnini gallery and coffee shop. I love that place! Vintage and cozy. Even the TV is still black and white, and it has a rustic piano which still could be played. Yeyeyeye. Had a little jam with Sara ( we were in the music group of Mudika for a while).

Then, we went to Melaway. To be honest with you, I think I would not go back there again. The ambience was a bit off, like everybody was in rush, the coffee was OK, but the churros was one of the best I would say.Well, the coffeeshop is very photogenic






Then, the night was coming. We arrived at Hang Lekir street just at the same time with the other party, Bejo. Gosh, I haven't met Bejo for 5 years. Anton btw I met by coincidence before, and me and Sara managed to meet him again earlier this year (story is here)

Proceed to the dinner, instead of turkey and pumpkin pie, we had ayam bakar, casserole, mie goreng, and kare ayam, don't forget rice and kerupuk of course. Desserts were chocolate pudding, banana bread, and crispy almond. And yes... booster.

Ah, that night was one of the happiest moments ever. Added as one of the high lights in my 2015 fanfare. It's been a while I haven't felt the joy of gathering with friends. I have been moving around too much, and only went out with a person or two. We had a lot of fun. We reminisced some old times, gave updates of each other, brought new member (spouse, brother, and kid), and had a lot of fun.

Do you know the feeling of meeting the right people in the right moment?
I want to say that I met them because I needed to meet them, the universe has made us to meet so. Ah.. I wish I really can express this well. Let me just use the words; impulsive and intuition. I hope this can lead you to the idea I am trying to share here. This trip was one of an impulsive action. I could say that it was lead by an intuition that I did not realize at first.
It turns out this journey has helped me to solve one little problem that I have. Sorry, but I think I have to add word in Bahasa for the sake of writing.
Sadar nggak sadar, I have been struggling with one particular case that myself has no courage to really step in and solve it. Parts of myself knew the answer already. A guess. Maybe that's why I did not dare to even ask about it. I let it settled in the bottom of my consciousness. However, this whole trip has helped me to put a period in it. Case closed.
I've been thinking that the whole universe was in conspiracy. I knew from the beginning that this trip was no ordinary trip. Impulsive trip has its own charm. It turned out to be finding answers. It is indeed 'a series of answer.' Every event happened, out of what I have been wondering. I was asking myself when I would be in a wedding where I could meet friends that I haven't met before. You know that I kept moving around so sadly I got little wedding invitation from my circle because they knew it would be hard to me to travel. But hey, Atay got the jackpot (or I may say, I got the jackpot). I was asking myself when I could meet my fellow Mudika Seattle peeps, and hey... there was the wedding night. I was asking myself when I could go to Bogor, and you knew the answer already.
One last miracle, I also got a chance to meet my friend from Minneapolis at the very same night :)
How blessed I am

I am glad that this fragile heart has a strength to shout out, to be listened. I am glad that I chose to listen to it. To let it lead the way.
This is always fascinating. I am glad that my heart still has its ability to show me the right way just  like before. Precisely, this year, I have so many events that was absurd but turned out to be 'I got what I needed'. It's been done.

I also realize one thing. My #48HoursAway trip is a thanksgiving trip.
Yes, I am grateful for this trip.

Enough said :)

More to come in other December series. Stay tune


CVB