Life, Stories

Boy Friends

I stumbled back to this site today and realized the last article I wrote (shamelessly) was in 2012. All these years I’ve been wanting to write, dream to be writer, and never acted as one. What happened? I thought. Life. Life happens.

I remember to have a pen pal back then. When I was younger. Much much younger. Since I could not remember his name, let’s just call him Eddie (this name just popped up in my head). Eddie is my friend’s boyfriend. I mean, he is a boy, and a friend of my friend. Literary. I think he lived overseas for quite sometime, Australia or something, and we’ve been exchanging letter for sometimes. I was the one who first took the action to send him a letter, saying I wanna be his friend. He is actually an Indonesian. With all black hair and black, kind eyes, and a nice smile. I knew this because he sent me his picture on the 2nd letter (I sent him first my picture, a picture of me laughing from a far). As you can imagine, this happened when internet era has just began and a letter (yes, on paper, and you need to write your thoughts using pen or pencil, and then send it through post office) is one of the ways to communicate in those days (mobile phone was very rare, enormous size, and expensive). I never thought someday I would meet him in person. Until it really happened. And that is when I realize, life is happened.

I don’t remember what day it was. But Eddie said he is coming back to Indonesia, Jakarta to be precise, and would like to meet me. At my house (well technically it was my parent’s). I, being a girl with no experience to meet a special friend, who is a boy, don’t know what to do. At that age, which is about 17, I choose to stick with my most comfortable side of me. Which led me to appear as a 17th boyish girl, with short pants, worn out t-shirt (which I thought OK), and a big smile. He sat there, in front of me, in my humble living room, looking nervous. He brought me a gift, and we had a small talk (I could not remember what was the conversation all about but I probably messed up there, such as asking him so many questions) and I happily received his gift. I think he was there for about an hour. After he left, I felt like I just thrown away my chance to get closer to someone who I’d think already a friend. Or maybe all this time I’ve been lying to my self about having a friend. He never called or write a letter or contact me whatsoever again.

I think I have several boy friends back then when I was a teenager. Literally friends, who are boys, with no romantic feelings at that time, but for me they made good memories. I admired some of them who I thought very talented and inspiring. One of them is Data. Yes, his name is Data. Or perhaps that was the name I could remember. He is tall, with a goofy smile, and brilliant in making music. I did not remember why me and couple of my friends got to know him and later on almost regularly coming to his house just to listen to him playing the piano, showing his new Yani’s music (if you don’t know who Yani is, google him, but he is a famous composer, maybe one of the first electronic musicians, back then), and his Mom made us all a nice healthy lunch. On the 2nd thought, I think lunch was one of the factors we loved to visit his house back then. I don’t remember whether Data and I went to the same junior high school, but we probably were. My house is only about 10-15 minutes walking range from the school. And for some reasons, Some of my classmates (and other non class mates, I guess, because Data and I were in a separate class) know my house. I probably have a kind heart or looked like a friend who will support this friend, but one day Data came to my place after school, and I was surprised. He never visited me before. Data was smiling so wide with his goofy smile and we talked about many things that I could not remember. Maybe music. And of course, me being just me, asking him loads of questions, like an interviewer. And after a while, he probably feel that it was the time to tell me the truth, or he was just so hungry because lunch time is over. He said that the only reason he visited me was because he was out of cash. And he thought that he can borrow some cash so he can go home. Now please remember that it was in an era where we go by small public transportation and almost everything is in cash. There was no gojek, gopay, gocar, etc. Traditional gojek was available but very expensive for a student (junior high), and I fortunately was able to go to school 15 minutes away from home, so I did not know (at that time) the struggle in taking public transportation. But here is my friend, Data, visited me for he first time, and I felt very special back then. And I guess it was God’s will to make me learn about empathy, more sensitive to others, and that not everything is about me. Data taught me that. He bluntly said his reason to visit me. And I was trying to be his good friend, so I gave him the money he need. I think I never saw him again after that. I’m glad that he thought me as a friend during the emergency situation. Even though deep down my heart, I think I probably hope I could still be a friend afterwards.

To be continued

Learning, Life

Crazy Little Things Called Love

Mungkin itu sebabnya Queen menciptakan lagu Crazy Little Things Called Love.

Karena yang membuat kita merasa hidup, merasa sayang, cinta, tidak selalu hal-hal besar.

Seperti merasakan nikmatnya harum seduhan kopi panas di pagi hari.

Atau suara rintik hujan.

Menemukan Ibu bebek dan ketiga anaknya di selokan sewaktu berjalan kaki menuju kantor.

Senja.

Membaca buku kesukaan.

Merasakan hangat dan beratnya si kucing yang duduk di pangkuan.

Dijemput di bandara oleh anggota keluarga atau orang yang kita cintai.

Mendapatkan sms atau bbm yang bertanya apa kabarmu? Kangen!

Sepertinya daftar hal-hal kecil yang membuat hati ini ringan dan garis  bibir melekuk ke atas tidak akan pernah habis ditulis.

Tapi kalau dipikir-pikir, banyak juga kemarahan yang dirasakan ternyata bermula dari hal-hal kecil.

Seperti pandangan mata, yang terjadi pada cerita berikut ini (Jreng..jreng…jreng…#backsound).

Saya sangat menyayangi kakak dan adik saya, Mila dan Linda. Biarpun jarak kami kata orang cukup jauh, sekitar tujuh tahun dengan kakak dan lima tahun dengan adik, dalam pandangan saya, hubungan kami termasuk sangat baik. Kami semua suka musik, sushi, dan nonton. Kami juga saling tahu apa kelebihan dan kekurangan kami dan menerima tanpa syarat bahwa itulah masing-masing dari kami. Kakak saya kidal dan hobi mendesain website serta segala hal berbau Korea, sangat ramah dan cenderung kekanak-kanakan. Sering saya atau adik saya jadikan sasaran protes, tapi ia paling sabar di antara kami semua. Sementara saya total mencintai buku, tertarik dengan segala yang berbau budaya terutama Jepang dan pendidikan, dan entah mengapa banyak orang yang mengira saya anak sulung. Mungkin karena suka merintah-merintah (haha) dan kadang-kadang dijadikan tempat bertanya (ehem, kalo emang lagi normal). Adik saya? Menurut saya dialah yang paling pintar dalam keluarga kami. Ia berjiwa paling sosial, suka crafting, backpacking, serta menjadi magnet dalam dunia persawahan…eh…pertemanan. Perbedaan menjadi sudah biasa dalam kehidupan keluarga kami dan tampaknya sejak kecil kedua orangtua kami membiarkan kami tumbuh apa adanya. Mungkin itu sebabnya tidak ada satu pun dari kami yang masuk ke SMU bahkan universitas yang sama. Kami pun tumbuh dengan kondisi cukup terbuka mengenai pendapat masing-masing, bisa saling tarik urat leher kalau sudah tidak setuju, tapi setidaknya kami selalu berusaha menjaga satu sama lain.

Namun biarpun saya merasa sangat mengenal kakak dan adik saya, setiap kali pasti saya merasa belajar hal baru mengenai mereka. Kadang saya merasa mengapa saya tidak mengetahui hal itu? Atau mengapa ia tidak memberitahu saya mengenai hal ini? Hal-hal yang kadang membuat saya bertanya-tanya apakah saya sudah cukup mengenal mereka. Saya rasa pembelajaran mengenai orang-orang yang kita kenal dan cintai akan berlangsung seumur hidup. Dan penting sekali mempelajari hal-hal kecil, karena di sanalah awal mula hal-hal besar.

Tadi malam saya belajar cukup banyak mengenai hal kecil yang menurut saya penting, namun sering saya lupakan.

Awalnya pembicaraan kami ringan-ringan saja. Saya sedang membaca (ehem…yah…namanya juga hobi…jadi di mana pun saya berada, kecuali sedang tidur dan di kamar mandi, umumnya saya akan ditemukan dalam kondisi…membaca) buku fiksi ketika melontarkan sekelumit impian saya untuk memiliki toko buku. Toko buku yang bukan sekedar jualan buku. Namun sebelum saya selesai berkicau panjang lebar tentang toko buku idaman saya itu, adik saya, yang saat itu sedang melakukan sesuatu pada wajahnya di meja rias pun merespon dengan bertanya, emang budgetnya berapa?

Ketika menulis ini tampaknya percakapan kami biasa saja. Tidak ada yang aneh dengan perkataan saya maupun pertanyaan adik saya. Normal.

Tapi saya belajar bahwa kata-kata yang kita ucapkan memang jauh lebih sedikit artinya dibandingkan dengan bahasa tubuh dan emosi yang kita rasakan. Cara adik saya bertanya, pandangan mata, posisi alis dan dagu, dipadu dengan perasaan saya saat itu, membuat saya menginterpretasikan pertanyaannya menjadi: emang serius mau bikin toko buku? Emang bisa untung? Emangnya berani keluar duit berapa? Investasi yang kecil aja mikirnya berkali-kali, sok-sok mau bikin toko buku.

Dan saya pun mulai menjawab dengan nada sengit bahwa yang penting itu konsep dulu. Budget bisa dicari. Kalau apa-apa dimulai dari budget tanpa jelas konsepnya, maka itu namanya sekedar jualan. Hasilnya seperti dua toko buku di Balikpapan yang baru-baru ini tutup. Mereka, menurut saya, sekedar toko. Tidak terlalu peduli tentang komunitas pembaca, tidak peduli pentingnya ada toko buku yang menjual buku-buku bermutu yang variasinya tidak hanya karya lokal tapi juga internasional bagi penduduk kota Balikpapan.

Sebenarnya kalau saja saya berhenti di situ, maka perdebatan panjang yang membuat dada ini panas tidak perlu terjadi.

Tapi salah satu kekurangan saya adalah cenderung mengatakan apa yang saya pikirkan. Jadi saya teruskan pendapat saya mengapa konsep itu penting dan saya ingin bahwa saya selesai dulu berdiskusi tentang konsep, baru bicara budget.

Kalau kami ini kucing, mungkin sudah saling mendekatkan kepala dengan telinga memipih, bulu-bulu kami tegak dan ekor kami kaku, saling mengeong keras siap untuk mencakar.

Tapi seperti ada seseorang yang menyiramkan air, masing-masing dari kami mengerti saatnya untuk saling tutup mulut dan menahan diri.

Perdebatan itu ditutup dengan kesimpulan bahwa saat itu kami berdua belum bisa melakukan bisnis bersama dalam dunia perbukuan. Ada banyak getaran penuh tegangan di sana, rasa panas di dada saya masih terasa. Saya yakin adik saya pun demikian.

Tapi satu yang pasti, saat itu kami tidak merasakan titik temu.

Rupaya jualan saya kurang laku.

Kalau di kantor dan adik saya adalah Bu Boss, she’s not buying it.

But you know what?

Ini terjadi juga dengan adik saja.

Ia menekankan pentingnya budget dulu, supaya bisnisnya realistis dan bisa langsung jalan.

I was not buying it.

Bukan karena argumen saya ataupun adik saya salah. Saya yakin betul bahwa tujuan dan konsep yang baik dan jelas sangat penting dalam memulai suatu usaha, kegiatan, tindakan, apa saja. Strategi serta taktik supaya misi bisa tercapai adalah yang berikutnya. Saya dan adik saya sama-sama mempelajari marketing dan pola pikir seperti itu bukan hal asing bagi kami. Dan budget? Sudah pasti penting. Apalagi dalam bisnis.

Tapi mengapa ide dan perkataan saya mental? Dan mengapa jualan adik saya tentang pentingnya mulai dari budget supaya suatu bisnis itu realistis juga tidak masuk ke kepala saya (atau setidaknya saya tidak setuju hal itu jadi yang utama)?

Setelah merenung-renung, mengalihkan pembicaraan dan memutuskan untuk menyimpan apa pun perasaan saya sampai esok harinya,  akhirnya saya berkesimpulan, penyebab utama jualan saya maupun adik saya kurang laku adalah bukan karena isi kata-katanya, tapi lebih karena cara mengatakannya.

Kami berdua sama-sama menggunakan cara yang kurang tepat ketika menjual ide kami.

Cara tersebut mungkin hanya tersirat, tidak terucap kata ataupun suara keras, dan dalam durasi yang bisa lebih cepat dari langkah kaki. Namun hal itu dapat mengungkapkan segalanya. Termasuk penghinaan yang meremukkan hati.

Seperti…pandangan mata.

Kerut di kening yang membuat kita menangkap maksud bahwa “Anda meragukan saya”.

Dengusan kecil.

Gerakan mengangkat bahu.

Atau sekedar membuang muka.

Saya percaya masyarakat Indonesia secara umum memang memiliki bahasa yang lebih banyak tersirat daripada tersurat. Saya pribadi cenderung lebih suka tersurat. Apa yang saya ucapkan itulah yang saya rasakan. Tapi ternyata dalam menjalin hubungan, saya tetap harus menghormati pilihan dan kebiasaan orang lain yang lebih suka menyimpan perasaannya. Dan salah satu cara paling efektif dan strategis ketika menghadapi perbedaan pendapat kadang-kadang justru dengan diam, mulai mendengarkan lebih banyak.

Saya belajar hari ini bahwa kita harus lebih menghargai dan waspada terhadap hal-hal kecil.

Menghargai dan mensyukuri hal kecil yang sifatnya menyenangkan hati. Waspada dengan berusaha sekuat tenaga untuk menguatkan hati agar tidak bertindak ceroboh ketika menghadapi hal kecil yang sifatnya menggoda kerut dahi, pedasnya lidah, ataupun kerasnya kepalan tangan.

Mencoba bersungguh-sungguh membuat orang lain menjadi penting.

Karena mereka memang penting.

Karena saya cinta.

Dan saya ingin mereka pun merasakan hal yang sama.

Maka untuk sesuatu yang penting, untuk sebuah cinta, saya belajar hal-hal kecil dan detil itu harus diperhatikan dan tidak boleh terlewatkan.

Karena hal-hal besar, berasal dari hal kecil.

Sebatang pohon cinta, haruslah disiram, diberi pupuk, dan didoakan agar terus tumbuh besar dan tetap hidup.

Selamanya.

@Bandungwithmyfamilywaitingforthespanishdish

Paella Negroz. Masakan Spanyol yang terdiri dari nasi goreng tinta cumi, dikasih topping cumi goreng tepung, udang, sayur-mayur, ikan dori, jamur.

Life

Burning the Bridge (NOT) at Bukit Bangkirai

Meet one of the most beautiful and rare Canopy Bridge, 2nd in Asia, 8th in the world: Bukit Bangkirai, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan District, Indonesia.

I’ve been living for more than 3 years in Balikpapan and the guilt of “not really knowing” the town is starting to sicken me. So when my little sister came for holiday and asked me to take her to see Balikpapan especially this famous (not yet?) canopy bridge, without any doubt I say agree.

Well that’s before we settle some issues that almost got in our way.

Bukit Bangkirai is located in Kilo 38, so I guess it is 38 kilometers from Balikpapan?

We rent a car and departed at 6 a.m. Guess what. We arrived there at 7:30. The first visitor on Sunday morning. Yay.

If anybody asked me whether it is save to go there, I would say, yeah…it is, as long as you use a proper car. I did not use a 4 wheels car, and so far it was OK. You will feel more comfortable if the AC in your car works properly, since you are in a most tropical area in Indonesia. Humidity is high and you will sweat easily.

The road is not a toll quality, but it is basically OK. Some parts are damaged, but I think it will not stop you from the ride.

Oh, better to get there during a sunny day. Balikpapan is naturally shaped as peak and valley so you want to watch your road there.

Another thing: no cellular phone signal.

You know what to do (just inform someone you knew where you are going…OK, just in case).

So, we arrived at the reception area. There are several little cottages there that you can actually rent, and I would love to if we have more time. But we have a plane to catch in the afternoon so we did not rent it.

You only need to pay IDR20,000/person for the ticket.

At that time, it seemed that the tour guide was still asleep, so we just went by ourselves.

Of course not (who do you think we are? Malls we dare, woods we scare)!

Fortunately that our driver has visited Bukit Bangkirai for more than 5 times. He was so kind & agreed to take us there. We need around 500m tracking (that is walking through the forest, up and away folks!) to get to the canopy bridge, and we need to cross 1 little canopy bridge in the first 5 meters.

It was a new experience for me so I felt excited. I was sweating a lot because the humidity level is like million degrees (or any measurement tool it should be), but the huge and surprisingly clean forest has just blown me away.

It was beautiful.

You can see huge and tall trees and it was so tight between them you start to wonder what’s inside (maksudnya tuh pepohonannya rapet bener). I saw two birds walking (yes, I meant walking, as using feet to make steps) down the steep land of forest.

It took us perhaps around 20-30 minutes, until we got to the Canopy Bridge gate. The road is not yet over, because we need to climb a 30 meters ladder attached to the trees used to tie the bridges. I was out of breath immediately after 10 steps (and regretted why I stopped exercising since…oh well…5 years ago I think), but I kept going until finally we arrived at the top of the ladder.

The view was breath taking. I can tell you.

And to take a step onto the bridge was…scary.

The thought of falling down was rushing through my brain. The article I read says that this bridge was built to last around 15-20 years of time. And it’s has been what, 14 years after the first time they attached it to the trees? And what if the man’s calculation is wrong? Does the government take care the maintenance for safety? Did they do a good job so the case of Tenggarong Bridge falling down will not happen to this one? Have I paid all of my debts? Before I die?

Bismillah.

I took a step on the first bridge. Then another step. The wind was blowing slowly. The canopy bridge was waving and shrieking. I don’t fear heights. That’s an advantage. But I weighted almost a ton. 90 Kg to be exact (there, I said it). With a 5 kg handbag on my left shoulder (why should I brought it?).

It only took less than 5 minutes to cross the bridge.  I was successfully crossed it.

Yay!

Not so fast.

There were 3 long bridges to be crossed.

And the 2nd is the longest.

You see, the 1st and the 3rd bridges were connected. So I can start from 3rd bridge then ended on the 1st, vice versa. Each tree was being attached by ladders. But the 2nd bridge, I don’t have any idea why, WHY the founder decided not to put a ladder on the tree for the 2nd bridge. It does not have any ladder to go down. So you will need to cross the 2nd bridge 2 times, back and forth.

For about 1 full minute I’m thinking not to cross it because it looks so long, no ladder to go down, and it was windy.

My hands are sweating and it was not because of the weather.

I thought, Dear Allah SWT, I would like to cross this bridge because it is the longest one and seems I can learn a lot from this experience. Please save me because of it.

I crossed the bridge.

I WANNA GET OUT OF HERE AS FAST AS I CAN!

I screamed fearfully when I was crossing it.

Only in my mind.

My fingers clamped the ropes so tightly it turned all white.

It was the helpless feeling you have when you were on a plane. The difference is on the plane you sit on a comfortable chair, get a meal (for some) and can decide to sleep so you don’t need to think about heights. While on a canopy bridge, you are walking, taking it step by step in order to cross it. If you don’t do it, nobody is going to do it for you.

It was then I understood, again, we human, is nothing to our Creator. But we can be so arrogant because of only small things. Like money. Position. Good looking face. Good body. High education degree.  The royal blood (we think) in us (they are all red for God’s sake). Winning an election. Living abroad. Not living abroad. Able to work and earn a living by yourselves. Has a talent to write. Or in sport or music.

Finally I was able to cross all the canopy bridges and went back to the reception area (another 500m tracking).

The three of us (me, my little sister, the driver  aka “temporary guide) felt hungry so we decided to order hot noodles (yummy).

It felt good.

Able to understand that ALLAH SWT IS THE MOST INCREDIBLE, ALL MIGHTY.

By only looking to His creation.

The forest. The wind. The trees.

The canopy bridge is built by an American, but who creates man?

I recommend to all of you, if you have time and spirit to learn, go to Bukit Bangkirai.

It’s worth it.

We need to get through this gate to go to Bangkirai’s reception (not there yet).

Main Gate. Welcome to Bukit Bangkirai

Rented cottage. Looks nice, but I did not see the inside.

This is the 1st canopy bridge that we need to cross, the shortest one, but not (yet) at Bukit Bangkirai. Good enough for familiarization though! 🙂

We walked under these fine trees…

Tracking for about 500m. Up and Awaaaay!

Ini sebelum treking.

My Lil Sister (Linda) in action. Final Gate. sampe juga….NOT! Masih kudu manjat dulu….

Nah ini dia…starting point sebelum menyebrangi Canopy Bridge Bukit Bangkirai. The notorius ladder. Abis jaraknya 30 meter ke atas bok. Mayan olahraga hehehe…

Ready for the 1st canopy bridge. Go Rika Go! *sambildidorong-dorongLIndadaribelakang

2nd and Longest bridge. Anginnya kenceng. Jalan kayak siput. Kudu bolak-balik kalau mau turun, karena tidak ada tangga di sebrang sana.

Abis nyebrang canopy bridge ketiga terus turun. Foto dulu ah.