Concert for D

Yesterday.. Okay, yesterday I was absent. Caught flu. Bersin2 spanjang hari dan bener2 ga fit. Secara selama di Bandung gue pulang malem terus, dan angin2an. Bandung lagi dingin, not to mention every movie theater I entered selama dua malem berturut2, dan mantel gue tipis. Good. Jadi seharian kemarin I stayed at home, watch TV, play The Sims, sembari nyicil monthly report gue.

So, kemarin Starworld nayangin konser ultahnya alm. Lady Di, tagged 'Concert for D'. 6 hours non-stop concert, dan performernya bagus2. Ditayangin tunda dari Wembley Stadium, London, dan itu megah banget. Salah satu pertunjukannya bahkan ada Swan Lake Ballet, from Act Finale, bagian di mana Odette diselamatin Prince Sigfrid. Keren banget, they performed ballet in an open stage. Bersama dengan pasukan2 angsanya, they looked fantastic dengan point shoes dan tutu klasik warna putih, with full orchestra playing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. I never watched ballet. Too expensive. Kaum proletar :) padahal gue suka banget ballet. It's a high class dance.

Lalu ada lagi serangkaian performance yg gue juga suka banget. Musicals, from Andrew Lloyd Webber. Mulai dari Jesus Christ Superstar, trus ada Music of The Night brought by Andrea Boccelli (it was awesome!), All I Ask of You brought by Sarah Brightman and Josh Groban (it was even better!), and the peak was from 'Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat', Any Dream Will Do dibawain sama 3 orang pemeran Joseph.. one of them is Jason Donovan!

Transformers The Movie

Last Friday we went to the movie Ciwalk XXI. There were me, Terry, Rini, Satriya, Sisca, Lambas,Feddy, and Hariyanto. We used Mandiri Debit Card as promoted that buy 1 get 1, yang mana satu kartu bisa dipake untuk 2 kali transaksi. So, with 2 cards we can get 8 tickets, @Rp12,500. Perfect.

I thought the movie is the kind of imaginary (yah emang iya juga sih) and frankly I wasn't really like on something robotic or imaginary science-fiction movie. Kayak model2 alien, atau laba2 yang tiba2 bisa jadi gede, or mutants.

So you know bahwa gue tadinya agak malas nonton Transformers, tapi toh ga ada ruginya nonton Rp12,500.

2 and a half hours from the time I entered the theater, I got out with a totally different thought. I have changed my mind. I must say that this movie is great. I really like this movie. Bahkan untuk ukuran gue yg sama sekali ga suka film2 fantasi - yg kadang2 suka kelewat berfantasi - gue suka banget film ini. Mungkin karena gue suka pesawat n futuristic cars. Can you imagine even a new Camaro and Pontiac can turn into an incredible robots?

I like when they transformed and the way they transformed.. So cool! Keren banget! Dari pontiac mewah abu2 jadi Kamerad Jazz, trailer merah-biru jadi Optimus Prime, camaro kuning jadi Bumblebee..

Experience and angels

All things happened will be stored in my memory and will be my precious experience. Experience is still my best teacher. Good or bad, those won't happen again, ga ada harganya, ga bisa dinilai dengan apapun. Ga bisa ditukar dengan apapun. Experience will give you lessons, and teach you to be a better person.

Talking about angels, don't you think that everyone around us is an angel? Orang2 yang selalu ada saat kita membutuhkan.

There were two angels we met in Paris last year. Two girls helped us to find a taxi to go back to our place, in the middle of the night. Kalo ga ada dua cewek itu, dan kita berada di saat yg ga tepat dan di tempat yg ga tepat, I really don't know what would we be right now.. :) Pas banget kita pas lewat situ dan pas banget mereka baru pulang kerja dan turun di apartemen itu. They were our angels. And many angels we met during our trip in Europe, in Jakarta, in every step of our life..

No need to mention friends and family lah ya.. Mereka sih udah pasti malaikat2 kita. Sadar atau ga sadar, mereka selalu ada buat kita. Entah disengaja ataupun enggak.

Have it crossed in your mind that even a passing-by-people also could be an angel? Seseorang yang nyebrang sembarangan dan menunda perjalanan kita, could be an angel. Mungkin dia menunda kita ketemu dengan sesuatu yang ga kita harapkan di depan sana? Kalo ga ada dia, mgkn kita harus berhadapan dengan 'sesuatu' itu? Mungkin aja, kan? Dan kita akan menemui mereka pada saat2 yg ga kita sadari, pada waktu2 yang kita ga sadari, di tempat yg bahkan menurut kita aneh, atau bahkan too familiar places.

So I thank all people that have touched, is touching, and will touching my life. They are all angels.

And makes me wonder, am I your angel? :)

Au revoir!

Yesterday, my family lost a friend.

We have known him since back then in the early 1990, since I was an elementary student. He once come to our place in Tawangmangu, Solo, West Java, visited an herbal drug plantation managed by my father. In the mean time, my father still the head of this institution, before promoted to National Food and Drug Administration in Jakarta in 1996.

This man was a person we really respect. He shared and gave my father a lot of great thoughts, helped my father in developing his career path, and in Indonesia’s health world, he did bunches of contributions.

He even once used our-sold-red-kijang to go around the town! Can you imagine that? :)

Both our families become friends and we kept maintaining the good relationship. He and his wife, as well as their children, always asked me and my sister about our study, and very care about us. My father once even had a business trip to China with one of his sons. Then, the relationship was no longer become a business matter. It had expanded to a friendship. It was also because in the middle, we had a link to each other made by… How should I mention it? My ‘Pak De’. My Pak De had become his colleague first, which at first also in a business matter. Then, one of my cousins married to his niece. So, no wonder we getting close to each other. Not to mention sent Christmas greeting and Ied greeting. I like his wife’s cakes handmade. Sering juga ngirimin Samosa- kinda martabak but filled with curry..yummy – and batagor.

During my father’s last times, he visited my father regularly, supported us to keep strong and optimistic, even at last my father finally should gone to a Lovely Place up there :) but after all, he always nice to us.

Yesterday at 10.30 he passed away. I was called to be told about the shocking news. He passed away after collapsed and fell when opened a seminar in RSPP Jakarta.

Goodbye, Professor Sujudi, we will never forget you. You’ve been a very helpful, a very great person, a low profile man even you was an Indonesia’s Health Minister. You are a person we highly respect and admire. We have lost you, but this is God’s will; He will give you an even better and lovely life.

I always have this funny thing in my mind: When a person passed away, someone we know, I always imagine that my father up there, helped by angels, has set up a welcoming party, and the person to enter The Place will be welcomed by all people who have gone there first :)

Thoughts in my mind..

• Kenapa ya ladies parking lot di mall2 harus ada? Itu kan namanya diskriminasi berat.. Belum tentu cewek2 lebih bodoh parkirin mobil. Buktinya sampe sekarang gue masih jago parkir mundur sekali jalan aja! Cowok2 belum tentu bisa! Dan yang lucunya, happened to me twice, sekali di Ciwalk sekali di Plz Senayan, seolah ada yg bisa baca pikiran gue, ladies parking lot lebih susah posisinya! Hahaha..

• Tadi malem nonton discovery channel, programnya Air Crash Investigation. Betapa mengerikannya akibat yg timbul gara2 puntung rokok. Jadi ternyata ada passenger ngerokok di toilet, dan waktu matiin rokoknya, tnyata ga mati banget. And the panic began.. Smoke came out from the room, and the plane should lands immediately. Ga kebayang deh paniknya penumpang dan crews di sana. It ended up with 23 from 46 died. Ngeri ga sih?? Thanks God berpuluh-puluh kali gue naik pesawat, mulai sejak gue masih sangat kanak2 sampe udah ga inget lagi kapan (maybe when I was less than a year-old?) sampe tahun lalu gue naik pesawat, gue selamat. Tiga kali sih pernah ngalamin sedikit yg agak serem. Pertama waktu 1997 to Sydney, pesawat kena turbulensi. Yg kedua waktu berangkat ke Linz, 2000, ended up I vomited :P Yg terakhir waktu ke Taipei, berdasarkan cerita anak2 sih gue sampe pias. Kita nembus awan calon taifun :P Jadi berpikir waktu cowoknya temen gue meninggal gara2 kecelakaan Garuda recently. Ngeri banget ya..

• Kemarin gue baca Reader's Digest English version, and there was an article about falling for someone before you meet the person. Okay, in other word, online dating. Sometimes crossed in my mind to do such thing, but I think I'm not that kind of person. Sounds classic, or even maybe because I'm too choosy, for me it's kinda impossible. I know, few of my friends met their soulmate online. Tapi akal gue belum bisa nerima hal2 kayak gitu. For me, it is still a fairy tale. Sangaaaaat jarang terjadi. More over, I'm a choosy person.. I want to date someone with good looking. And I know many girls have same thoughts as me. Cuma pada ga mau ngaku aja kali. Ntar dibilang ga 'open'. But I'm an open minded person kok.. I only choose not to do it. Ga nyepet siapa2 loh yaaa :)
  

• I took a quiz, titled "What kind of single are you?" and the answer is: I'm a choosy person! Gue seorang pemilih! Hahaha.. I don't mind. This is who I am. What so wrong about being single? Single itu enak.. Sometimes I do need someone who I can call my own, but so far I enjoy myself being single. Jadi kenapa ada orang yg sepertinya bingung banget being single? I know.. Haram hukumnya menyamaratakan kemampuan orang. Tapi toh kadang2 terpikir juga kalo gue bisa, why others can't? I can survive by my own. I bravely face the world on my own. Again.. Ga nyepet siapa2 loh yaaa :)

• Last night I saw travel n living channel. Globe trekker. Tau jalan2nya kali ini ke mana? Italy! Waaaaaaahhhh.. Mulai dari Colosseum, Piazza Navona, Piazza Spagna, trus jembatan yang banyak patung2 malaikat kiri kanannya -I set the picture I took by myself as the FS' background- dan di sana kita berempat foto bayangan! Foto bayangan aja kudu pake senyum paripurna! Hahaha.. Trus museum yg ada kudanya di tengah kota, yg ada api dari mangkuk, trus kita ga boleh ke atas oleh satpam yg cewek itu karena udah terlalu sore! Trus ada jalan2 ke kota lama tempat kita wkt itu foto sama Napoleon, the last but not least, Fontana di Trevi! That what I miss!

• I just read Cosmopolitan Men. Dan isinya nggak banget nget! Cosmopolitan Female aja gue cela2 setengah mati, yang ini gue cela2 tiga perempat mati! Isinya cuman tentang cewek2, but an 'easy' one, sex, dan narsisme pria. Bener2 deh tuh majalah. Mungkin target marketnya cowok2 young executive gitu, yang sadar fashion dll. I admit gue suka cowok yang metroseksual dan fashionable, tapi kalo cowok itu bacaannya Cosmo men.. Aduh, nilainya langsung jatuh deh :P Kenapa sih bacaannya ga sedikit smart seperti Business Week, Globe Asia - sedikit? Hahaha.. Itu majalah yg sangat smart.. Even I like those magz. Eksmud harusnya lebih demen lagi dong - yah apa kek! Times kek, Gatra, Tempo, apa kek!
  

Good article!

Last week I got this article from The Wall Street Journal.
Funny, it felt like I got an acknowledgment from what I have known during these times.

I always said, "A smile in the morning when you start your day, would lead you to a a more even better day that day."

Agak sakit mata sih bacanya, but I think from the title you could have a description about what it said.

Legnano (part 3)

Ambulance itu warna putih, dengan garis merah di sampingnya. Seukuran ambulance pada umumnya. Tapi ga kayak di Indo yg bentuknya ga ada idungnya, ini kayak model2 mobil yg ada idungnya. Sama kaya di film (again). Kayak kotak sabun gitu.

They drove slow and gently, dan suara sirene nembus malem. Abah was told not to let me sleep, and I know as well bahwa gue ga boleh tertidur. Padahal ngantuknya gila, sakit mulai berubah jadi rasa ngantuk. If I fall asleep, I might not wake up ever.

Jadi sepanjang jalan Abah ngajak ngobrol, he said it was alright to close my eyes if I feel dizzy, but try not to sleep,and keep my ears open. Sesekali gue buka mata, coba liat ke luar, tapi karena gue berbaring jadi yg gue liat cuma pohon n lampu2 jalan. Gue liat2 dalem ambulance. Lengkap banget bo! Jangan harap deh ambulance di Indo kayak gini. Believe me, I know it. Dulu waktu bokap masih ada, beberapa kali dia pernah diangkut ambulance dan gue ikut di dalemnya. Ga kaya gini deh!

Sebelah kanan gue ada tabung oksigen kecil, ada masker oksigen, tensimeter, anything you need for first help. Lupa apa aja sih, tapi semua yg penting untuk pertolongan pertama ada di sana. Sebelah kiri gue ada jok kecil, which now Abah sat on there, dan berbagai perlengkapan paramedic.

Finally we got to the hospital, where they immediately took me to the ER. Abah cuma boleh nganter sampe ruang depan, masuk ke pintu selanjutnya I must go and fight by myself. He encouraged me, he said he will wait right there if I finished. Beneran, gue takut. I didn’t know what would happen in there.

Gue dibawa ke satu bilik, ada ranjang n ada dokter udah nunggu gue di sana, lengkap dengan pasukan nurses. Gue dibantu turun dari ranjang untuk naik ke ranjang satunya (honestly I forget the detail. Apakah gue diangkat pindah atau gue disuruh bangun dan pindah?). Dan di ranjang itu, penderitaan selanjutnya dimulai.

What made me more afraid adalah bahwa di situ gue sendirian. I didn’t know these people. They even speak in different language, a language I really don’t understand.

They surrounded me and took away the ice bag. Udah cair juga lagian. I was told to stay calm, not to panic. Mungkin itu ya yg mereka bilang. Secara ngomong bahasa Italy. Tapi mereka juga baik, walau cerewet tapi mereka dgn bahasa mereka berusaha nenangin gue, encouraging me.

Sekian detik kemudian, I never know that kind of pain before. They shaved my hair, dan tentunya itu kena lukanya, dan area sekitarnya yg memar. Pake silet bo. Omigod. Spontan teriak dong. Rambut gue bagian itu dicukur abis, dan kerikan silet itu perih banget. Belum cukup itu semua, setelah bersih dari rambut, mereka nyiram lukanya dengan alkohol. Dan diseka pake kapas dengan ga pelan2. Please deh. Gimana gue ga teriak2?

Yang bikin tambah kesel, tau dokternya bilang apa? “Miss, I know that you are so much in pain, but please keep quiet!” Lah lu mana tau sih ini sakit kayak apa?? Kalo ga inget lagi di’beresin’, gue pasti udah bangun dan maki2 tuh dokter.

Sebaliknya, gue berusaha tenang. Kalo ga tahan, baru deh gue sedikit ngerang. Sisanya? Gigit bibir. Jadi, selama luka gue dijahit - tadi tuh belum dijahit lho - I tried so hard not to scream. Tears fell down, Omigod sakitnya.. I got five stitches. Tanpa bius. Gue merasakan dengan syaraf gue sendiri, yg bangun 100%, jarum itu keluar masuk kulit kepala gue, benang yg kasar keluar masuk kulit kepala gue. Sampe lima kali. Tajam, sakit, perih, sereset waktu benangnya ditarik..

Setelah itu salah satu dari perawat bilang, “Ok!” and I knew it was over. Thank God. Dibersihin sekali lagi, this time gently, dan lukanya lalu ditutup perban putih besar. Setelah itu kepala gue dibungkus sesuatu seperti topi yg melekat di kepala, kayak yg dipake atlet sepeda di dalem helm mereka. Putih, jaring2, dan dikalungin ke bawah dagu supaya ga geser2.

Satu perawat tersenyum sama gue, dan dengan bahasa Inggris yg seadanya dia nanya apakah gue masih kesakitan. Yeah, of course, tapi gue cuman senyum n ngangguk. She then asked me to change my position to get injection. Kapan sih gue terakhir disuntik? SD?

Setelah disuntik, dokternya nyamperin – kali ini dia baik bo – dan bilang 10 hari lagi gue harus kembali untuk lepas jahitan. Sebaiknya gue juga cek ke dokter pribadi gue (yeah, right, di Indonesia?). Besok gue harus kembali ke sana untuk foto radiology dan lain2. Now I may go home.

Dituntun perawat, gue jalan pelan2, agak sempoyongan. Pintu ngebuka, and there they were.. Berenam. Ida, Dody, Wimam, Ivan, Didut, Abah. I sat on the chair, Ida n Abah makein jaket. Baru gue liat saat itu piama gue banyak noda darah.

Semua pada ngelilingin gue. Relieved, atau emosi segala macem, tiba2 ga bisa dicegah gue nangis. Hehehe.. Akhirnya lewat juga ya.. And I was not alone :)

Seseorang dari rumah sakit berbaik hati nganterin kita pulang ke hotel. Susah cari taxi. Apalagi jam 3 pagi kayak gitu. Jam 3?? Yup.. Sayangnya dia cuma bisa ngangkut tiga orang. Jadi yg pergi gue, Ida, Abah. Maap teman2 :P apalagi, gue belakangan diceritain, mereka baru banget aja nyampe.. Took 20 minutes to get there, and they were walking.

Sampe hotel, belakangan gue diceritain bahwa pihak hotel ga mau nanggung kejadian tersebut. Haha..ya sudahlah, toh gue juga selamat kan..Si concierge yg tadi nganterin secangkir hot tea. Ida bantuin gue siap2 tidur, benerin posisi dll. Minum teh, dikasi ponstan (punya Dody), dan ngobrol2 bentar.

Beberapa menit kemudian anak2 nyampe, langsung pada ke kamar. The next thing was: Taking a picture! Momen2 kaya gini harus diabadikan. Won’t happened again :D
Gue mulai ngantuk, efek suntikan n ponstan, dan anak2 juga pada cape. Satu2 mulai balik ke kamar masing2.

Begitulah kita mengakhiri hari. I closed my eyes on Sunday, 12 June 2006, 03.45 a.m.

What a day. What a night.
Thank you, my friends, thank God.