Friday Night

I have been not feeling well since Thursday night and woke up several times in the middle of the night. This head felt so terrible and this stomach felt like hell. I knew I could’ve decided not to go to work tapi kasian partner gue karena tengah bulan itu biasanya transaksi agak hectic.

Jumat pagi, di kereta gue udah pasrah. Ngeliat banyak orang bikin tambah pusing. Gue merem aja di kereta jadi makin tambah pasrah didorong dari depan dan belakang tapi kereta di hari kemarin itu jauuuuuuh lebih better dibanding biasanya. Masih ada ruang lega sedikit.

Benar seperti dugaan gue. Hari itu inquiry banyak, bikin hectic, banyak yg harus di follow up, sedangkan telepon krang-kring terus. Bingung ngerjain yg mana dulu, mana perut rasanya gak enak banget. Gue sudah berniat hari itu harus pulang cepet, maksimal jam 5. Ternyata hujan dong jam 5. Alhamdulillah sih turun hujan tapi gue kejebak hujan gak bisa pulang :(

Jadi posisinya gue masih di dalem ruangan. Tau sih hujan dari temen-temen tapi gak tau kalo sederes itu. Gue pesen gojek lah karena gue gak mau balik naik kereta. Gak kuat diri ini terdesak di kereta fix banget. Sempet susah nyari gojek tapi akhirnya dapet. Gue turunlah tapi kata temen gue hujannya deres. Dalem hati gue, sederes apa sih? Pas nyampe di lobi terjawab sudah :(

Entah sistemnya yg error apa gimana ternyata gojek yg gue dapet itu merasa dia gak dapet orderan gue. Yaudah gue males ngejelasin akhirnya langsung gue cancel. 20 menit nunggu di lobi gue gak kuat tapi mager ke atas lagi akhirnya turun ke bawah ke mushola basement numpang boboan sambil nunggu maghrib. Selesai shalat maghrib, ketemu temen dan dia ngajak ke InterContinental Hotel. Dia mau sholat di mushola InterContinental tapi akhirnya dia ke mushola, gue duduk di lobi hotel. Gue pesen gojek deh tu. Ternyata dapet padahal tadinya gue pikir gak ada yg mau hujan-hujan nganter 11 km. Tapi si abang gojek nunggunya di pintu masuk mobil hotel sedangkan gue di lobi. Gue tanya ke petugas hotel namanya Pak Hashim Mahmudi kalo gak salah. Dia bilang “Wah mba kalo pintu mobil mah di samping, ini deres lho mba.” Gue tanya kan  bisa gak lewat pintu lain biar gue gak kehujanan nyamperin gojeknya tapi dia bilang gak bisa. Satu-satunya jalan ya melipir dari lobi ke samping. Dia nanya gue bawa payung atau jas hujan gak trus gue bilang enggak. Nah, gue kan baru mau sms abang gojek mohon tunggu dulu eh si Pak Hashim-nya nyalain walkie talkie trus nanyain temennya “88, 88 pak disitu ada gojek nunggu gak?” Gue yg lagi ngetik sms langsung berhenti dan mikir “Gils gue gak kepikiran, bapaknya pinter juga koordinasi sm temennya”. Trus kata temennya ada dan ternyata dia abang gojek gueeeee. Trus si Pak Hashim tiba-tiba bilang “Pak, tolong ini orangnya suruh ke sini bawa jas hujan ke lobi. Kasian ini mbanya gak bawa payung.” Sumpaaaaah baik banget bapaknyaaaaaaaa. Savior gue. Gue bilang makasih berapa kali aja tuh ke Pak Hashim. Semenit kemudian datanglah si abang gojek dengan membawa jas hujan ke lobi. Gils gue tersanjung banget. Abangnya so sweet, bikin baper. Hari Jumat malem itu gue dikelilingi sama savior-savior lah pokoknya. Pas sampai di motornya bang gojek, dia nawarin gue mau pake sandal jepit apa enggak. Gue bilang mau lah mas tapi dia minta maaf sendalnya kotor. Yaelah gue gak peduli yg penting gue pake jepit. Trus gue copot sepatu dan dia masukin sepatu gue ke plastik dan menggantungkan plastik itu di motornya dia. Sweet banget kan :")

Jadi di pintu masuk mobil hotel kan ada juga petugas yg dihubungin sama Pak Hashim tadi. Dia bilang “Mba ini abangnya udah nunggu daritadi ini, lama” Trus gue merasa bersalah trus gue minta maaf mulu ke abang gojeknya.

Iya, semalem banyak keluhan di path pada kejebak hujan. Gue juga diajak temen untuk nunggu dimana gitu kan tapi kemarin diri ini udah gak kuat lagi. Pusing banget, rasanya dingin banget. Satu hal yg cuma mau dilakuin, yaitu tidur. Merebahkan kepala. Beruntung sih naik gojek karena kata temen-temen, kereta ke bogor sempet gangguan semalem jadi penumpang numpuk di sudirman. Jalanan juga macet. Gue sempet mikir naik taksi karena kondisi kepala yg begini kalo naik gojek hujan-hujanan bisa jadi tambah parah. Tapi akhirnya mikir naik taksi pasti macet dan cuma akan bikin gue tambah pusing. Pas sampe di rumah, diomelin nyokap katanya kenapa gak naik taksi. Nyokap semakin merasa menang setelah tau habis itu gue makin drop.

Tapi hari ini janjian main ke kampus.

Wassalam.

Temporary Phase

If maybe there is somebody who by any chance saw me going through the street or saw me on train or any other public transportation, you probably thought that I was such a weird robot with no intention to speak or smile even only a little bit. Don’t know why I’ve been too lazy to speak, to smile, and to laugh maybe since last week. Not bcs of work, really. Work is all fine. I know this is just a temporary phase I have been getting used to.

Sometimes I am feeling so stupid and foolish. Let’s clear this game. When you have two different groups, let’s say. You gather all things you know which are already clear. On the other side, you put the rest of them which you think it’s still unclear in the other group. This is really a simple game but you just think it too deep and sometimes think out of human brain can probably tolerate (sorry, overreacting). I mean, oh come on you just have to count which one is worth, which one can prove you better to make a decision and that’s it. Let it goes along your way and take it further. But the problem is, sometimes you just wanna belong to another group. Well, my reality is not actually as complicated as you think it is.

Ah, today is a big day and everyone has a day off from work. I used this day to do the laundry by myself and go out alone as usual. I am still not changed kok. Masih suka random main nyari wifi, nyari tempat sepi just to escape. Didn’t even plan it but when I found myself too bored being at home at noon, I just simply went away as usual.

Since work begins, I feel so good bcs I drink mineral water a lot more than I was. Kalo biasanya kuliah beli minuman selalu berwarna dan semaunya, walaupun sekarang masih bisa minum semaunya juga sih cuma lebih prefer to put a tumbler contains of mineral water on my table. I drink iced tea when I am home. Still yah. Entahlah, lagi pengen random aja nulis. Write everything I wanna write. Well, I am addicted to smell of Sea Island Cotton right now. You know what? While I am typing this, I always grab that lotion, spin the bottle cap until it’s open and put my nose closer and inhale. It smells so good. I am a goddamn weird these days. Biasa juga nyium tiap hari tapi kenapa hari ini pengen nyiumin itu setiap saat. Aneh bet. Gue sebel juga dari kapan tau nyariin warna lipstick sama kutek yg sejenis burgundy gitu or dark red. I have been looking out at some shopping centers but I got nothing, not even closer. Terus bete. Sekarang juga lagi suka beli pastel dan kue sus di jembatan penyebrangan Sudirman karena cukup enak buat sarapan. Not too light but enough to wake me up until lunch. For addictive song to me recently, it can belong to Kodaline. I keep playing Moving On from its newest album. It’s always helpful taking me into my sleep every night. Now, I am listening to a playlist from 8tracks. It is made by KloeLee. She names it Pencil Lead and Lined Paper. These songs are so into meeee!!!!!

Now I know how the workers feel when they face a day off. It feels so amazing!!!! Yeah, you can imagine that we work everyday without even knowing what time we can come home. Everyday we struggle leaving home and do the same thing when come back. Train makes us sick. A minute we’re late, that’s when we risk ourself worse to get another train which we never know whether we could get in. You know some workers area which I always think it’s cool to work there but you have to struggle more, even makes you in pain. Udah seminggu ini sakit di tangan gue tak kunjung sembuh. Pergelangan tangan lebih tepatnya. Gue gak inget gue diapain di kereta yg pasti minggu lalu, sempet kedapetan beberapa kereta heboh. Udah keretanya panas bikin gue pusing, ditambah dorongan dan desakan dari segala penjuru membuat gue semakin pasrah di dalam kereta. Pas sampe rumah, pergelangan nyut-nyutan -_-

But yeah, you struggle to work, you work to survive. Then, tomorrow is…………………

Thursday

Means

Go back to work

After

Islamic New Year’s day off

Bye..

A Jail Restaurant

Most come in black

I am here again decided to hide somewhere out of home. All things I've planned finally messed. I thought I had two options whether going to Woot Coffee around Gunawarman, which is the same place as Martabak Boss or a popular coffee shop in Sudirman. Ok, I opted to go to Citywalk Sudirman for Common Grounds. The coffee shop located right in the right side near the main gate and I could see many people were having good time there with fellas. Though I saw some sofas available inside the shop but I decided to leave for another option, which I actually still didn’t know :D. I saw Starbucks but hell it's been out of my list. I don't know why I always find it too crowded in almost all of its locations.

Headline of Old Town Post

Then on the ground floor, I just have to decide between Bengawan Solo or another which is where I am sitting right now. This is Bong Kopitown. They write at the front that this is gonna be a jail restaurant. Yeah, from the hope that visitors would be pleasure to visit jail at a restaurant or maybe restaurant in jail? Wkwkwk, this is it Bong Kopitown found by Bong Chandra. They have had some branches in Jakarta and one in Yogyakarta.

Seen from the menu, they don’t have any special kind of foods or certain drinks. All are same just like the other kopitiam. They serve Iced Chocolate, Teh Tarik, Lychee Tea, carved Mango iced drink. I am ordering Lychee Tea and fried fish meatball a.k.a otak-otak kalo dari rasanya sih. Another option you can choose is like Kaya Toast, French Fries, Fried Banana with Kaya, or some light meals such as Fried Rice and variants of noodles. Something different is about the concept. They have three jails. Each can fill up to 5 people. While its menu list served in a newspaper. The headline contains of information about Bong Chandra and the profile of Bong Kopitown. Then when you try to turn other pages, it’s where you can see all the menu. Price is really reasonable, don’t worry. Waiter and waitress here are wearing uniform just like most of prisoners do. They come in a white and black striped shirts.

Iced Lychee Tea and Otak-Otak

If you ask me whether this is cozy, I think I’d still prefer to be in a real coffee shop which is not at mall. It’s gonna give me less crowd, more serene, and not having much people come back and forth passing by the place. This place playing some of my fucking favorite songs recently and I always skipped the time to put my headset on bcs I realized there’s gonna be a good song after that. Indonesian romantic songs which make me think deeply and just throw a wide smile bcs I really feel it. Great ti! Great banget!

See The Jail

Glad that tomorrow is the Independence Day so off from work for one more day. I am still trying to look for appropriate job. Yaudah lah ya kalo rejeki mah gak kemana. Santai aja karena biasanya the good things happened unexpectedly and it’s where the happiness usually come from. When you expect nothing but you’re given more. Yah setidaknya ini untuk bikin diri gak stress-stres amat tapi usaha dan berdoa tetep.

Last night, some friends invited me to the deep conversation about future, especially about marriage. About the right time for us to get married, about finding the right guy we deserve, and the bla bla bla. Oh please! I am out. Bye!

Central Jakarta says hi to you, folks!

What John Green Says

I think I do agree when John Green says that “Pain demands to be felt”. While some people say that love will come along with pain. Is that even true?

Nobody hopes to feel the fucking pain but sometimes pain forces us to be strong and even stronger. I know it sucks and fuck about pain. Pain makes you cry, pain makes you fall down, and it sometimes makes you just want to give up. Maybe for someone who’s too dramatic to feel the pain, he/she just wants to end life so that the pain would be dead too. Fuck it! They’re too weak You think death is just the only way to end your pain? Fuck no!

Everybody hates pain but sometimes you forget to realize that it forces you to be strong and even stronger. Maybe this will sound too classic but for whatever you think fuck with pain, just believe that it would be a door step to find your happiness. If you’re in pain or when you worry about something, you can cry. It’s not only woman should cry but so does a man. Don’t ever think that man should look strong so that he should hide his tears. Man even cries sometimes and when he does, you have to believe that man will cry for something really matters for him. Sometimes he feels so weak, he can’t even fix problems, he worries about future, he’s afraid to lose somebody he loves, and stuffs. 

Yes, it’s true that pain demands to be felt, to be felt by anybody. Just find somebody you think he/she is strong enough. They must be ever feeling that fucking pain. I bet!

You don’t know when you’re happy when you never even feel pain, right?

A Day Off

Two days ago, when I wasn’t in charge for work. It’s been such a fucking long time I didn’t sit at coffee shop, having solo quality time. I intended to do the translation given while look for the job from online website at the same time. Kopikina wasn’t my target in the first place but Casa Verde right across Fat Bubble in Tebet. I arrived at 11 pm and the found it was closed. Shit! Therefore I should look for another place and Kopikina came firstly to my mind.

Wooden Homey Chairs and Tables

I wasn’t their first customer. There were two guys in separate table, spending time also with only their gadget or idk if maybe they were waiting for friends or something. I told mas asong days before that I was dying to grab a glass of cappuccino but we didn’t have time. Well, I thought I planned to be on diet bcs I was scared that kebaya I’ve paid wouldn’t fit enough on August 28 but hell this is completely hard. So, yeah who cares when I am having a normal portion of meal and added by hot cappuccino which is having so many calories, I can tell. 

Noon and Traffic Doesn't Wanna Leave

I should say this more like a coffee house. I just simply feel like being at home or maybe more like into a coffee house out of town. Nothing seems so fancy or modern. No sofa, No advanced coffee machine, nothing like a good and great smell toilet. It’s far from what it should be. Like, you know it is located near the central business district, people will pass it by when they go to their offices around Tebet or Kuningan. This is located in your left side near flyover before Kota Kasablanka if you are going from Tebet Train Station. God, I remember almost everyday I pass this place in morning when I trapped in traffic jam bcs I have to go with all the workers in the office hour. But at that moment, I could easily and simply just sit down, enjoy my cappuccino, open youtube which I have left for quite a long, and of course surf about the job I was interested to. I thought a lot about career. Oh come on! Most of my friends have applied at least to one company while I still do nothing? Not even try to look for it. Terrible, isn’t it? Makanya kemaren mulai masa pencarian. Alhamdulillah ya punya kesadaran akhirnya untuk serius nyari kerja. While the updated info is that this almost fixed I am not gonna submit my journal. Alasannya, SIAK gue udah ada tulisan lulusnya, toga dan undangan wisuda udah di tangan, trus apakah gue salah kalo gue mager buat jurnal? :")

Hot Cappuccino in a Hot Day

Kopikina actually provides variants of original coffee from Indonesia. I can’t name it all but almost everything is named based on the area it is coming from. There is also kind of green tea latte and I wonder how they can cost it only 25k. Remember that I’m there bcs of cappuccino so stick to the plan. 

Thank You

I have posted on my tumblr after I have done presenting my thesis. It's been almost a month since that day then I just randomly take a look at pictures on this little laptop and I remember that I've shared this picture with words which I wished it wouldn't be too much. I am just gonna make the the same caption as what I posted on facebook. 

Two of us, ladies in black, closing the great week

It’s forgivable when sometimes we feel so afraid, anxious, worried, or maybe sometimes we don’t believe that we can do something. It’s all there because we’re only human but the thing is, we really need something to get us up when we fall down. Here they are, my special something. People who always know the best way of how to listen, how to make me laugh, how to give support, how to pray for each other, how to say “you can do it”. They always have shoulders to cry on for something which burdens me. Their hug is such a warm place which can comfort me. Their laughter is my favorite sound so far while not being with them is the only thing I hate for God’s sake. Glad that I found this little heaven.

Thank you for finally bringing me here. Thank you for the uncountable beautiful moments we've made. Congraduations my girls. Effort and prayer can always lead us to the great thing, right? I love you guys to the moon and back! 

Should We?

I always tell my friends to just keep the things that make them happy. We find different meaning of happiness, we seek for happiness in different ways. That’s why if two people are treated the same way, it doesn’t mean that they both will feel the same way. The point here is like when you find a piece of puzzle and it actually belongs into the top right corner of the board, then you can’t simply put it on the other side of board because you know it will never fit and it will never work.

It’s hard to find things which can make us happy and the worst thing goes into the time when you know where you can get that but you already know that it’s not legal, it breaks the rule, and it’s not appropriate. So, should we keep going for that happiness? Should we still keep for that kind of thing?

Confusion

If people said confusion we’d feel after graduated would be so much more than when we were struggling to graduate, is actually what I feel now. My parents, especially my mom really wanted me to continue this study a.k.a take master degree. God, it has never been crossing my mind. I mean not this quick right after I get my bachelor. I think my dad is more liberal somehow. He once offered me to go abroad for seeking the job. So, some months ago I told him that Sarath and Chrisna would move to London on June or July and they said I could always come to them as if I come back home. They even offered me to be my sponsor so that I didn’t have to worry to get the permit and visa. That was when my dad told me “when you’re done with college, you have graduated, why don’t you take their offer? I can buy a ticket to London. You can work there”. Goal!!! I was feeling so happy at that time. I mean, dudeeeee London! Who the hell doesn’t wanna be there? But then I know I haven’t belonged there yet bcs when I can be as near as possible with my parents, why do I have to leave them just for my ego?

I honestly still don’t know where to go. I feel like I have nowhere to go. I’m still not sure about my passion, I am still not sure about me able to do something, I am still lack of confidence, I still feel like I can’t fit any job requirements. On the other side, I think that I mustn’t be so desperately in finding the appropriate job for myself. For how hard I feel desperate to get a job, I don’t wanna get master in the short future too. There are only two options, take master or have a work. I am gonna stick to the plan.

Thank God, I get a chance to work as freelancer with some close friends at one of commercial bank. I know it might be only a month but at least I can still take my time to think and to decide what things I will do next. Working as a freelance at one of the sharia bank which forces me to wear hijab during the office hours. I remember a prayer from a friend when I was having 21st birthday last May. He said, “pesen gue, semoga cepet berkerudung” Dhuarrr!!! That message makes me think, seriously. Wearing hijab has actually ever crossed my mind before but then so many considerations which I think, I can’t still take its consequence. It’s not about my society or environment don’t support me. Oh please, they really do but it’s just myself still wanna go wild *loh* wkwkwk gak lah gue gak se-wild itu. A prayer from a friend of mine, finally seems to be granted yah though it will be just for temporary.

Maybe this already proven that God loves me so much. Gue gak kebayang gimana rasanya habis wisuda, ditinggal bapak ibu haji sebulan, sedangkan gue plonga-plongo doang di rumah just sitting in a lap, feeling lonely, doing nothing, no gaining any salary, just spending money for sitting at a coffee shop, buying clothes or shoes or bags I found at a mall just because I feel bored. God, just bury them. I prefer to feel exhausted and worn out than feeling sick, bored, and headache because there is nothing to do.

Doa setelah shalat itu gak pernah berubah dari dulu. Cuma selalu bilang lancarkan kuliah, karir, dan jodoh buat gue sama mas asong. Pastinya setelah doa buat orang tua. Doa makin terelaborasi ketika bulan-bulan menjelang pengumpulan skripsi, apalagi menjelang sidang. Sekarang, doa spesifiknya lebih untuk mas asong semoga dia bisa dipermudah, dilancarkan pengerjaan skripsinya, dan semoga seluruh pembimbing maupun pengujinya selalu terbuka hati mereka untuk bisa mendukung mas asong lulus secepatnya. Lebaran kemarin juga udah gak peduli deh mau dibilang pemburu doa kek atau apapun, whatever. The thing is I keep asking for prayer from the whole family especially from the old ones. Kalo habis sungkem sama yang tua gitu ya, pasti selalu bilang "mbah, minta doanya biar aku cepet dapet kerja dan lancar jodoh ya". I bet they were so happy to pray for the young generations. 

I might tell God about what I want and I always tell God about what I feel but one thing for sure is that I always pray for everything best because I still believe that God is such the best director ever. Don’t you believe it too?

Pesan

My mom and I just stopped at Seven Eleven Gambir Station this evening. We came too earlier to catch Bima train at 5 pm. Well, actually just my mom wanted to go to Solo. We just sat around inside Sevel while talking about some of our family, job, and till finally we changed the topic into the future. The point was, my mom finally pontificated me with this advice:

“Dek, if you’ve known a guy that you might thing he is so special to you, just pick someone faithful for what he believes, someone who never lets you to do nothing. You have to stand making something for living. Just find someone who can let you doing your job. We can’t just stay at home nurturing the kids. For no matter how much you’re gonna make, please make it”.

Discussing about future sometimes makes me scared. Mom, I can’t promise you to find it out soon but I promise you that someday I will. I’m gonna find someone who loves me for whatever I am, someone who will love you, dad, mas asong, and all part of our family, someone who will be responsible for my future. I promise it mom so that you don’t have to worry about my future at the end. Help me always through your prayer and blessing. *tibalah saatnya gue mikir jauh ke depan akibat wejangan dari nyokap tadi till finally I can’t even resist these tears*

      Wednesday, January 01, 2014 at 10.35 pm

I didn’t know how much tears have fallen lately just because I am scared. God, suck that fear. I didn’t prepare much for the presentation. I know I would have blamed myself at the end if I couldn’t pass that. Somehow I’m feeling so grateful and blessed, really. Being surrounded by good people that I love so much. The ones that always know how to make my smile getting wider and wider under this fear that I assume it’s only a shadow which trying to hide my spirit. There are always families and friends saying positive things to me and make me sure that I really can do this. They also guarantee that their prayer have been sent to me.  Dulu mikir kata “semangat” itu hal yang klasik tapi seketika banyak yang bilang “semangat” di saat gue butuh, itu bikin gue terharu for sure and yes can never hold this tears as usual :")

Monday, April 6, 2015 at 00.09 am

A Wrap For Vietnam

Something I felt less about getting fun when I realized I hadn’t had bubble drink as usual. My friends always know how many times I have bubble drink in my daily life. Well, it is bad actually for my pocket but Matcha Tea Latte seems to always say hi everytime I pass through its stand. Anyway, maybe I have said it before that I was thinking about having bubble drink in Saigon but when I asked my friend, she didn’t know. It was finally solved when I could find it by myself when I was going to Benh Thanh Market. After I grabbed some souvenirs from the market, I really took my time to sit and enjoy the drink. My choice fell into a kind of Matcha Tea Latte, sorry I couldn’t remember the name. I couldn’t lie that the sun at that day was blazing deeply into my skin. Maybe I’m overreacting but that was what I felt. In the middle of the day when it was about 12 am. So, what could be the better idea to boost my mood if it was not bubble iced milk tea? 

Hoa Huong Dong Bubble Tea is located in 103 Pham Ngu Lao Street. You can easily recognize it since it is painted in bright yellow color while it also has a cute sunflower symbol as its icon. Hoa Huong Dong has 2 floors but I just chose to sit in the first floor bcs I was afraid that there would be so many people in the second floor. I was sitting while staring at the busy street in the office hours. I could also see the flower market in front of these eyes. The glass wall of the shop couldn’t even avoid my sight into those beautiful flower garden while I kept thinking when would I get some? I just need a bouquet of it. Oemji, how bitch! :”)

Another way of understanding perspective

I took out my note and wrote some words a.k.a diary. Masih destinasi pertama masih rajin nulis diary tapi percayalah semakin hari tangan makin capek buat nulis. Suddenly I recalled about what I did last night with my friends when I gazed at the different sight from the upper floor. When the night sky was fulfilled by thousand of lights from every corner of the city. While at this moment, I was forced to get closer to the society, most of them were in the lower middle class who still has hope and try to encourage themselves to have a better life with whatever the good way. Then I realize that everything in this world always has two different sides. You choose which one is good for you and which one you prefer to happen in your life. Though sometimes, you are forced to only face one thing without any other choice. Choices sometimes make you confused but people sometimes also grumble when there is nothing to choose. Yeah, people because we're human and we're not perfect. 

Free iced tea

Anyway, while I was sitting and having my drink, I called mas asong just wanted say hi and told him how I was. I said to him kalo gue pengen eek banget dan dia bilang ”yaudah lah eek kapan lagi lo eek di luar negeri, ye gak?” Wkwkwkwk trus gue ngakak sendiri.

This place could provide moment when I could think. I thought a lot about how I could survive for the next 10 days. I still got 3 destinations to go while I have missed my friends. Some friends asked me to take a selfie and sent the picture for them. Did I have an option? So yeah I just gave them. At least they knew I was completely fine in abroad. Sat there at Hoa Huong Dong for more than one hour, finally a waiter gave me a glass of iced tea! I was confused at the first time and I said “I’m sorry, I didn’t order any more drink” but then he said “free free, for you”. God, what was it from you? Another good thing for me? :”)

I googled this pic

Evening has come and I decided to go back to my hostel. Alhamdulillah bisa bobo ciang kan lumayan before I met Ly for dinner. At 6 pm sharp, she picked me up at my hostel. Have been ready with the helmet and her lovely motorbike. She took me to a supermarket to buy some local snacks. I told her to show me place where I could get local snacks bcs I kinda wanted to bring it home. Since I remembered I still had to visit 3 countries so I didn’t buy much. Only a box of cashew,  cheese peanuts, and some packs of green tea cake for my office friends. After that Ly promised me to have Pho. She took me to a famous Pho restaurant called Pho Hung. She said this restaurant served the best taste of Pho so far. So, I completely believe her hehe. Sebenernya gak tau sih dia halal apa enggak dan salahnya gue, selama di sana cuma menghindari pork aja tanpa pernah nanya itu halal atau enggak. Kayaknya sih gue udah pernah makan yang gak halal. Ya Allah, I am sorry I didn’t mean to. 

This is good, trust me

Ly and her Pho

Ly was also waiting for his friend. I didn’t know if he was her boyfriend like having relationship or not haha bcs she didn’t wanna confess. This guy unfortunately couldn’t speak English. Not even a little. So, hardly to have conversation with him. Damn when knowing Ly couldn’t accompany me until late bcs she’s got a plan to go somewhere with this guy but well it’s fine of course :D

And it’s been part of my luck to find people like them. I mean they are really kind of lovely people, they are nice, they are very helpful, and I can always feel safe with them during my stay in Ho Chi Minh. Thank you so much for people who have helped me when I asked for some favors. I don’t know, I might have got lost somewhere if I wouldn’t meet you guys. So, this is a wrap for my trip in Vietnam bcs the next morning I gotta move to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Watch out!

May, 9th 2015

Kalo weekdays minggu ini dihabiskan dengan bulak-balik naik elf ke Sumedang buat wawancara, pas giliran weekend tiba gue bingung harus kemana. Jatinangor terlalu kecil untuk dijelajahi alhasil gue ke Bandung sekalian nyari jeans atau celana lah intinya berhubung gue cuma bawa celana satu doang yang udah gue pake dari berangkat. Sebenernya bawa baju banyak tapi lupa bawa jeans -_-

Akhirnya jam 12 gue berangkat dari kosan. Gue turun angkot di gerlam. Sebenernya sih damri bakal lewat situ cuma possibility gue dapet duduk kecil. Shit, gue lupa akan hal itu akhirnya di tengah cuaca yang terik sangat gue jalan kaki ke gerbatama unpad. Hampir sampe di tempat mangkalnya, gue masih bisa liat tuh bempernya si damri. Pas udah ngejar, eh damri ke dago nya jalan. Siakek kan akhirnya kata orang-orang gue disuruh ngejar ke pos yaudah lah gue balik ngelewatin jalan tadi berangkat untuk sampe ke pos polisi, lari ya bo lari. Lelah gue. Akhirnya nunggu 5 menit datenglah tuh damri. Ngehe pertama adalah ketika damrinya panas, AC nya didn’t work, mana diri lagi gue zzzzz. Pas sampe di ujung Jalan Supratman lumayanlah dapet duduk dan cuaca waktu itu mendung jadi adem ayem gimana gitu. Pas di kolong Dago turunlah gue. Itu berdasarkan rekomendasi mas asong mending ke BIP dulu. Yaudah deh gue ikutin. Sebelum naik gue bilang abangnya minta turunin di BIP. Pas ngelewatin electronic center apaaaa gitu, kalo gak salah sih BEC, gue udah curiga sih soalnya disitu rame orang. Ngelewatin juga Lotte Mart tapi gue gak yakin soalnya kecil. Mas asong pernah tuh ngajak gue kesitu, at least pernah lah ngelewatin situ. Tapi berhubung abang angkotnya belom ngasih tau yaudah gue santai aja. Lama-lama gue panik juga kan pas gue tanya BIP dimana eh abangnya sekip. Dor!!!! Ngehe kedua itu ya. 

Itu posisi zonk gue lagi di depan sebuah mall kecil gue lupa namanya apa. Intinya gue cuma harus naik angkot balik sekali nanti turun di BIP, well gak di depannya sih nanti tinggal jalan dikit. Setelah nanya mbak-mbak di angkot akhirnya gue turun di depan Lotte Mart. Posisi udah ujan tuh Berhubung belom tau harus kemana akhirnya gue nyebrang aja masuk dulu ke Lotte Mart. Setelah hujan reda, akhirnya nyebrang lah ke BIP. Masuk keluar outlet sampe akhirnya nemu jeans yang pas juga.  

Dari situ gue niatin ke PVJ. Sekalian cuci mata pemandangan yang lebih oke. Hasil nanya security disuruh naik angkot pas dari depan PVJ ke arah Ledeng. Gue bilang ke supirnya lagi dengan penuh senyum paling cakep hari itu, tolong saya mau ke PVJ jadi nanti turunin di tempat yang ada angkot ke sana. Akhirnya melewati macet yang super sekali sepanjang Jalan Cipaganti. Di dalem angkot ada empat orang mahasiswi UPI fakultas mipa, gue tau jurusannya tapi yaudahlah ya gak usah disebut. Intinya gue tau banget mereka maba. Pertama taunya, gaya mereka ngomongin cowok, kontennya, pemilihan diksinya masih ala-ala anak abg tapi mereka udah kuliah, yaudah berarti maba. Kedua, taunya mereka masih ada matkul agama. Ketiga, ada satu yang ngomongin tentang bayar kosan deh intinya udah setahun aja jadi musti bayar lagi. Dang! I was completely right.

Setelah berjam-jam di angkot, sampailah ke titik terdekat tuh angkot bisa mengantarkan gue (apaan sih ti). Dari situ gue jalan kaki lah soalnya gak ngeliat ada angkot dan macet banget sepanjang jalan menuju PVJ. Laper bingit karena terakhir makan paginya Cheetos sama segelas White Coffee French Vanilla, sungguh perpaduan yang terrible. Pada saat itu pengen banget nasi goreng dan es teh manis yaudah apalagi kalo bukan Solaria. Dari PVJ gue nanya seorang petugas pake seragam kuning ada corak batiknya di lengan. Gue nanya kalo ke Braga naik apa trus kata dia “susah teh udah gak ada angkot kalo mau naik taksi.” Yaudah gue tanya lagi “kalo ke Baltos a’ bisa naik angkot gak?” trus dia jawab “sama aja teh gak ada angkot langsung ke sana lagian udah malem gini gak ada angkot mending naik taksi aja, tuh ada langsung.” Udah gak respect, gue bilang makasih trus gue tinggal. Iyalah gue baru ngeh dia pegawai salah satu penyedia taksi.

Akhirnya gue jalan ke pertigaan. Gak mungkin lah udah gak ada angkot, itu baru jam 19.30 ya. Gue juga ngerti gak bakal ada angkot langsung ke Baltos tapi at least gue kan bisa nyambung angkot lagi nanti. Gue nanya ke satu supir angkot katanya mending naik angkot biru jurusan Sukajadi. Sip, pas banget ada angkot biru, naiklah gue. Lagi-lagi pesen ke supirnya, gue bilang mau ke Baltos jadi nanti turunin ya. Kata dia oke dan dia bilang dia gak lewat depan Baltos-nya banget jadi gue harus jalan kaki sedikit. Gue bilang gapapa. Itu udah jauh tuh jaraknya sejak gue di angkot. Gue curiga juga kan lama-lama kok gak nyampe-nyampe. Gue tanya lah si abang eh dia lupa ternyata. Anjir, kampret lah pokoknya. Gue disuruh naik angkot balik dari sebuah perempatan nanti tinggal nyambung angkot lagi sekali (katanya). Ngehe ketiga tuh.

Ngehe keempat adalah ketika dari perempatan itu ada angkot tapi ngetem dan belum ada penumpang satupun which is going to be so long nungguin dia. Gue tanya aja deh arahnya dan harus ganti angkot kemana. Dia bilang gue harus ke perempatan yang di depan sana. Buset deh dari situ aja belum keliatan sama sekali ya. Gue jalan cepet lah itu posisi udah setengah 9. Emang gak ada 1 km sih  tapi tetep aja gempor. Sampai di perempatan gue bingung akhirnya ada mbak-mbak berkerudung lagi nungguin angkot keknya. Gue tanya lah kalo mau ke Baltos, katanya mesti naik dua kali. Dia malah bilang “bareng saya aja kalo gitu nanti naik mobil ke Dago.” Alhamdulillah emang there is always a way. Gue turun duluan kan dan gue gak henti-hentinya bilang terima kasih. She saved my night! Turun di sebuah perempatan lagi dan pokoknya udah dijelasin sama mbak-mbaknya dimana gue harus nunggu angkot. Ternyata dari situ deket banget semenit doing kali gue duduk eh nyampe Baltos, cuma mesti bayar 2rb (pesen si mbak hero gue).

Sampe travel Arnes, shit banyak yang ngantri gue udah feeling gak enak tuh. Ternyata kalo gue mau, gue harus nunggu 4 mobil lagi. Jadi pas gue dateng, baru berangkat mobil ke-7 sedangkan gue dapet mobil ke-11. Mammmmaaaammm!!!!

Gue buru-buru telpon mas asong, Kesel juga dia kebiasaan ditelepon Line gak diangkat, ditelepon manual dialihkan. Baru pas gue message “angkat plis” baru deh dia ngangkat pas ditelepon lagi. Disitu udah mau mewek tuh. Gue ceritain kejadiannya kalo gue dapet mobil ke-11 trus gue mendengar kayaknya dia bunyi “ckkkkkk gimana dong mana kosan gue ditutup jam 11, aduuuh bentar deh gue bilang temen gue dulu.” Gue pikir dia bete. Gak dapet jawaban gue harus beli tiket apa enggak dan di sisi lain kalo gue gak cepet beli itu keburu gue dimasukin mobil ke-12. Sambil nelepon langsung gue kodein pake jari kalo gue mau beli 1 tiket. Sumpah pas banget gue terakhir soalnya habis gue itu udah mobil ke-12.

Disitu gue mau mewek tapi malu. Kenapa ya? Mungkin karena lelah dan karena tertekan kondisi dimana gue harus ngejar waktu tapi harus nunggu, dan memikirkan back up plan di sisi lain. Udah kaki gempor, panas dingin, haus, trus mas asong terdengar bete. Itu mata udah berkaca-kaca sebenernya. Akhirnya gue ceritain ke temen-temen gue yang lagi chat. Bodo lah random-random deh gue curhat. That’s what friends are for, right? Listen to you everytime you need them.Pengen cerita unek-unek semuanya dari awal tapi kepanjangan. Bahkan pas cerita ke seorang temen gue cuma kirim capture-an gue cerita keluh kesah di grup wa saking mager ngetiknya tapi pengen cerita. Somehow I realize that I still have friends I can randomly tell stories to everyday. At least, there is always a place to make me relieve.

Jam 9 lewat belom dateng juga tuh mobil sampe mas asong nyuruh naik taksi aja. Pokoknya gue harus udah keluar dari Baltos sebelum jam 10. Tapi gue sabar menanti kok hingga akhirnya dateng juga :”)

Di jalan, posisi udah ngantuk dan lelah lagi-lagi pake sangat. It was when I realized I couldn’t be that strong just like I thought I always could be. All the plans yesterday finally being thrown away since I felt tired and I just couldn’t make the plan happened. Lo tau gak sih? Tadinya gue berencana untuk gak balik ke Nangor. Gue berencana untuk berdarah-darah ngerjain di sebuah kafe 24 jam maybe di Bandung. That’s why gue udah bawa segala macam perlengkapan untuk stay awake at a coffee shop but hell this body couldn’t lie when it already felt such a wreck. I am so sorry dear, I just always think you are strong enough to let me going everywhere I wanna go and doing everything like I planned it. Then, sorry that I was wrong.

Setelah beberapa tahap ke-ngehe-an hari kemarin, gue sampai kosan dengan selamat pukul 10.46 pm. Dari gerlam sayangnya harus jalan kaki karena angkot udah jarang banget. Mungkin itu jadi ngehe kelima. But for whatever happened, Thank God for always keeping me safe :”)

G. Koentji

Yesterday, I got a chance to visit one of the tourist places in Sumedang, West Java. I was actually looking for something more challenging and thinking about paragliding in this county. I had been there in Toga and almost took Ojek to go uphill but when I asked the driver whether paragliding was available up there, they said no. It doesn’t have a definite schedule. As time might tell that it is lack of public’s enthusiasm and ends up with slight of visitors. I think there are so many factors. Maybe lack of publications, maybe it is quiet exclusively only for them who really like sport while on the other side, it also costs us a little bit expensive for one glide, around 300,000/400,000 idr and it is normal for paragliding. 

I found peace and quiet

Take a break, seeing the main road from above

So after I got nothing in Toga, I decided to take plan b which is visiting Gunung Kunci. I only had to walk a little bit passing through the intersection around Toga and took 03 which directly brought me to Gunung Kunci. It is not also far from the center of local government offices while it also only takes 5 minutes from Alun-alun Sumedang. I could see even before I walked through the main gate that this place still saves some peacefulness and quietude in surrounding. The entrance fee is really cheap, only 3,000 idr. There are some level of stairs I have to walk through until I could find this little good seat for taking a rest a little bit. It was really tranquil being there. Just sitting and wondering if there was a perch echoing some birds singing something perhaps . I only had mineral bottle and I skipped breakfast either lunch today. How terrible!

It's written G.Koentji,
 a reason why this place is called Gunung Kunci

It is actually not that damaged

Then I tried to walk slowly and found the gate of the fortress which being the power of attraction why I was there. It is the fortress defense made by Netherlands during World War I, 1914-1917. Caves and bunkers are here built to protect Dutch military from attack. They also put up a cannon facing straightly into the center of government.  The fortress defense deliberately built over the hill so that Dutch could easily monitor all the movements from above. I know it was quiet scary to go around the bunker just by myself but then when I arrived in front of the gate which was written” G.Koentji”, three teen girls called me and asked me to join them went inside the cave. It was really dark I’m not lying. I couldn’t see anything around just totally darksome so I had to turn on flashlight from my phone. Maybe we were too afraid to explore the whole rooms and spots so we just passed it so quick, not even a minute. Actually we could also check the rooms we saw on our right and left and it was leading us maybe to somewhere darker inside but I didn't think I should go there without any guide, it might be bad for any reason. I remembered that it once ever became a place for Uji Nyali or in English perhaps it could be like a gut’s test of kinda supernatural things or something like that. Before we went out, we gotta pass through some stairs and finally found some disorganized stones. This place might not have any guide so I don't know what happened to the messed up think behind the cave. Maybe it is something remain related to the destruction. The fortress are really well built even after it’s stacked by hundreds of pine trees and mound of soil. But then it was finally destroyed right before Dutch left Sumedang. A version says it was bombed by Japan while the other says even done by Dutch itself. Some debris still there just so we know that Sumedang can’t be just left behind.  It has been a part during fight history.

Keep moving!

Yes, these foot have been so worn out to walk but I gotta keep moving. I’m being chased and I don’t have any power to turn back and don’t even have time to turn around. All is about chasing back another stuff which I can call it goal, dream. Sometimes I wanna be just sit around, avoid anybody, have a cup of drink, and watch what’s happening around me but now, I think I’m feeling enough. I miss home, I miss my friends, I miss laughter. That’s all. 

Dua Minggu Lalu

Sorry when I always tell about what's happening with me recently but trust me this is just because I am dying of being alone here. No friend, not even acquaintance. While I am too lazy to start writing chapter 5 of that shitty paper you-must-know. Before I start to write about how I am for these couple days, let me tell you what happened two weeks ago. So, two weeks ago, I had been here for only one night. I was leaving Jakarta in the morning to Bandung. Something I had to take care in Jalan Supratman, then I had to go to Jalan Riau and ended up at Gedung Sate. Noon was the last time I had something to eat itu juga bakso barbelnya Agung Hercules di Jalan Riau sebelah Disparbud Jabar. Ngejar Damri terakhir dari DU jam 5 karena gue harus ketemu mas asong yang mau menyerahkan kunci kosan karena dia harus balik ke Jakarta. Kebetulan dia sama Sani udah dapet tiket kereta ke Yogya besok paginya jadi mau gak mau harus pulang ke rumah malem itu. Pas masih di Damri gue Line mas asong nanyain dia mau mamam malem gak kan di Nangor ada Giggle Box tuh baru nah maksud gue kita ketemuan aja di Giggle Box biar gue gak mondar-mandir eh dia gak bales2. Ditelepon gak bisa kan ngehe ye. Yaudah gue berasumsi bahwa dia gak mau gue traktir.

Pas gue nyampe kosan baru dia bilang, "Lah lu gak jadi ke Giggle Box?" Preeeet gue bilang mamam tuh Giggle Box. Line gak dibales, ditelepon via Line gak diangkat, ditelepon manual dialihkan. Katanya "sorry tadi gue lagi di kamar temen gue, hape gue tinggal di kamar." Kupreeeeet -_-

Doi tetep berjuang buat jadiin tuh makan di Giggle Box berhubung doi anak kosan kalo mau makan disitu mikir dulu ampe botak. Di sisi lain, gue disanguin lebih sama ibu bapak jadi ya tenang lah mau beli yg paling mehong juga gue bayarin.

Pokoknya disitu agak kompleks deh. Dari yang gue males keluar jalan kaki, trus pas mau pinjem motor kendala juga karena mas asong mikir nanti dari Giggle Box agak ribet karena harus balikin motor dulu ke kosan trus dia jalan kaki keluar gang trus naik angkot ke balik ke arah Cileunyi. Pas gue bilang biar gue yg bawa motornya kata dia jangan berhubung jalan raya Bandung-Sumedang itu ya isinya truk-truk gitu sedangkan gang kosan mas asong masuknya kudu nyebrang dulu. Dia ngajak naik angkot tapi gue males. Bukan males naik angkotnya sih masalahnya jalan dari gapura ke kosan mayan jauh dan gue waktu itu dalam posisi lelah pake sangat. Gue bilang ke dia gue mending gak makan deh daripada harus jalan kaki. Akhirnya dia rela nyari pinjeman motor ke temennya eh tapi ternyata temen-temennya yg punya motor di kosan lagi pada keluar semua *zonk* dan disaat yang bersamaan Ipul minta transfer uang buat beli tiket balik mudik yang harus kudu banget gue transfer malem itu karena jam 12 malem Ipul bakal perang. Masalahnya, duitnya ada di atm bokap dan kita berdua gak tega ngebiarin bapak keluar cuma buat transfer doang. Toh kalaupun ada e-banking doi gak mudeng -_-

Karena takut mas asong sampe rumah lebih dari jam 12 malem dan Ipul bakal gak dapet tiketnya, yaudah akhirnya mas asong transfer ke Ipul pake duit yg ada di atm gue dulu sebelum balik ke Jakarta. Jadi doi bawa atm bni gue ampe Jakarta karena daripada ribet mondar-mandir. Udah gue wanti-wanti jangan sampe tuh kartu lupa dia bawa ampe Yogya. Mampus gue gak makan seminggu nunggu dia balik.

Alhasil itu malem gue gak jadi makan. Besok paginya, mau beli bubur dulu tapi mager yaudah langsung lah ke Alun-alun Sumedang. Habis itu baru ke Pemda sampe siang baru deh balik lagi ke Nangor. Sebenernya pengen banget bubur ayam tapi kata mas asong adanya cuma pagi doang. Alternatif kedua yang bisa masuk ke lidah gue pada saat itu ialah lumpia basah. Padahal mah belom pernah nyobain ya gue sok-sokan aje bisa nebak gimana rasanya. Akhirnya, gue ke kosan dulu, tidur sejam, habis ashar baru cabut balik ke Jakarta. Sebelumnya, mampir dulu di Gerbang Lama a.k.a Gerlam buat beli lumpia basah. Ternyata baru makan setengah udah mager lagi buat makan.

Duh coba pola makan gue begitu terus yah. Seneng gue bisa kurus lama-lama.

The Happening

Remember when I arranged some kinda poetic line years ago. I never blame anyone for not appearing to adjust the comforting time I always wished. Until a day told me the exact happening when it always felt so into the line. 

That hiss of wind outside the door successfully bringing up something I’ll always miss, well perhaps wish.While the touch of fresh air finally be my favorite kind of weather and leading me into lovable new unexpected whiff. The perfect time for me to actually hope but then I didn’t because who the hell of this self?

Thank God, rain is not yet showing up. People say the smell of rain can actually calm me down but I’d rather have my new favorite scent. After piling in and out of thousand places and hundred cups I had seem to be getting paid off. Something which could always make me avoid the hatred in this crisis. I really like adjusting around with that something.

Shall be appropriate but shan't be the way.

Everybody should know where to stand at the end. 

It's Simply This

Folding up the legs, enjoying the ambience, no one fortunately saw me. Sipping favorite as having really great companion. I’m scatty about when I breathed really fine. I missed that somehow. Why was my adorable tick gone? Why? Did my eyes not tell enough that I begged the situation to stay? 

Benh Thanh Market And Its Around

Day 3 in HCMC, I was left by two friends of mine to Da Lat so I could arrange my time easily, I could wake up late at the noon, and just went everywhere I wanted to go. The truth was, I could still wake up in the morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. Gosh! I was about to join any roommate to go anywhere they planned but then they already left earlier. I have asked some travel agents the night before with Ly. I asked about one day trip to Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple but hell the price cost more than 200,000 VND. It excluded the entrance fee so I gave up. I only plan to let myself went anywhere my steps told me to go. Only wanted to enjoy my time for a while without having to be rush for something or ran after by the prepared itinerary. I went out from the hostel and headed to Benh Tanh Market. I haven’t bought stuffs for my friends. They would kill me for that haha. Looking for things I could easily handle along my journey. Remember that I still have 3 countries to go so I really didn’t wanna burden my shoulders. 

An old street sketcher

I enjoyed walking, just ambling, seeing what locals do in their routine. Left hostel at almost noon, I walked passing through the flower market to go to Benh Tanh Market. I found some street sketchers and I stopped at this old man. He was trying to make a sketch of the lady in red shirt. He seemed done with her eyes, nose, and mouth but still continued to polish it to be better. When I was passing through the flower market, I also found out a bubble drink on my right side, crossed the street so I promised myself to go there on the way back home since I have told my friends before that I wondered why I couldn’t see any bubble drink around HCMC. You know I am addicted to this kind of stuff.

Capturing what people do in a new place is somewhat interesting. You never know that people do different thing in different place. Pete has told me to always keep myself safe when crossing the street. I know it’s quiet alike with Jakarta where most people are rude in the street. They tend not to follow the rules and just break it like those streets belong to their grandparents. I had the opportunity to record a spot near Benh Thanh Market. This is just across the gate in of that area. You can see that it seemed too crazy about the intersection where people seem not able to wait for their time to run their vehicles. This is so common in HCMC I can tell. 

Inside the market, I looked for something I could bring for my friends. I have told you I didn’t wanna carry anything heavy. I came to some stalls with lot of choices which made me confused. Once you came into a stall, the seller must be asking you to buy. So, my tips you gotta make them sure from the beginning that you only wanted to know the price or you could say “I just wanna go around” as the excuses. Some of them were really annoying. I came to a stall and there was a young girl, I didn’t know if she owned it. I only wanted to check out the priceof some stuffs but she kept asking me “how much you want?” and “I give you cheap”. Only there for 1 minute and when I was about to go, she held my hand saying that I mustn’t go. She kept offering me what she selling. I got no word but she still detained me. Then I left her and she was mad at me. I forgot about her words but she said why I only looked around and  didn’t buy anything and she called me a liar bcs of me asking the price but not buy anything at the end. Oh please -_-

Then I came to another stall. I saw she had what I looked for. I asked the price and sure it didn’t even make sense. I bargained it more than 50% lower and she was shocked. Her face was terrible while saying I was crazy then asking me “are you okay miss? I think you are not okay”. I left her and I answered “of course, I am fucking okay”. Finally, I moved and I swear I could get the same price with what I bargained her in another stall.  For God’s sake. So, who’s crazy who think I am that one?

Some food stalls inside Benh Thanh Market

Benh Thanh Market is actually having not much different with traditional market in Indonesia. There are spots for them to sell fabrics, souvenirs, and something like that. Another side, it has place to sell vegetables, fruits, and many kind of meats. There is also an area for selling cooked foods. Just like in Indonesia, small stalls are surrounded by small tables and seats to make people possible dine it in. Most are like street foods, the traditional one but I never try any. Not sure if they’re halal. 

I read forums on the internet. Some experiences told that you gotta be careful buying foods in Benh Thanh Market. Sometimes, the seller gave you the menu list with the price shown on it but then they would cost you different price at the end. Be careful too with the charge of wet wipes here. Some naughty seller will charge the wet wipes for you. You are not supposed to pay for wet wipes, for anything’s sake. It should be given as a service. I didn’t experience any bad thing but long as I remembered, everytime my friends and I went to have meals in local restaurant, my friends just simply suggested me to use the hand wet wipes provided and they never told me it excluded the free service. 

Another street sketcher

On my way back home, I saw a street sketcher again. Now, it was a girl. She looked so serious making sketch of a young man. It was interesting to see her hand moving step by step and really trying to make the drawing so alike with the real man. No wonder if some people stopped there for a while just to see her doing her job. She was surrounded by, at least, seven curious people. Maybe some of them were lining up to be drawn next. Maybe, well I didn't know.

Love is A Simple Thing

I woke up at 3 am and randomly wrote this after watching a new short from Phillip Wang. I have actually thought about this for so many times. I have tried to observe everything around my environment about how love works and when it doesn’t. I have told you that love is a fragile thing which you have to handle with care and yes perhaps it’s true.

Love is when we care so much about something. When we realize that we are too afraid to loose it. Maybe those are only some of the symptoms. I am not even an expert to explain about love and everybody must be really having different explanations about this stuff. Sometimes love scares me, sometimes love forces me to understand it deeper, sometimes I hate when love makes me have to cry, sometimes it also asks me to believe in something, but sometimes love never gives me chance to realize that it’s really them coming. You can never predict love. I have even thought about this so long before what Ed Sheeran simply wonders about how people fall in love in mysterious ways.  Love is a mystery and love mostly comes through the unexpected way

Once, love is much more complicated than I thought it could be but then I realize that maybe love is not that complex but its people who make it too complicated. Love is a simple thing actually. True love is built when two people finally know they belong into each other. My friend even says, love is not when you try to seek for each other but love is when they finally find each other. Somehow, people also say that they never have a reason to fall in love but unfortunately, they have lot of excuses to break it at the end.

Building a perfect relationship is not easy, I know. Beside, there is nothing perfect for anything in this world. A natural born nature of human being who will never be satisfied about something should be remembered too. Darling, it is actually not hard to feel love but to keep it is so much harder. You once must know a line saying taking care of something existed is harder than constructing it from the very beginning. I am just always confused why some people have more reasons to surrender than try to make it stay. Well, I never blame them because somehow love can’t always stay, sometimes better for us to find another way. It is not because we give up on it. We just try to steer the paddle into the other way which we think it’d be more worth it.

How many people in this world finally give it up at the end while they firmly said “I love you” thousand times at the beginning? And then they realize that “I love you” which is enough in the first place but unfortunately it is not anymore. How could you know that it is enough?  The answer says we can feel enough when we choose it is. It’s all only about choice. You choose to be enough or you choose to be not.

So, love is a simple thing, right?