Just reflecting

Hari-hari gua di Sydney hanya tinggal sesaat. Cieeee laganya kaya udah divonis kanker stadium 4. Hush ngaco.

Tapi gua emang ga bohong, bentar lagi gua bakal cabut lagi. Perasaan baru kemaren malem nyampe di airport. Keluar dari baggage claim, jalan ke bus stop (soalnya gak ada nyambut dengan karangan bunga beserta boneka teddy bear, dan gak ada pula yg nanya, "Eh ntar ada yang jemput gak?") dan nongkrong disono nungguin bis 400 sambil dengerin Organ Donor-nya DJ Shadow.

Terus terang, gua lumayan sedih juga bakal ninggalin tempat ini beserta isi-isinya (termasuk adik gua yang nyebelin). Karena gua merasa, walaupun so pasti gua bakal datang lagi ke Sydney, gua gak bakal balik lagi 'kesini'. Karena lembaran-lembaran hidup gua disini sudah habis. Sudah waktunya gua tutup buku - walaupun mohon jgn disamakan dengan gulung tikar.

Dan ortu gua pun semakin tua. (Rada-rada ga nyambung emang paragraf ke-4 ini, tapi ya semau gua dong.)

I guess all these things + the fact that I'm unemployed and using up my savings fast are making me a little bit melancholic right now.

Mood Update (because I want to)

After all those miserable (bordering on desperate) entries in the last couple of weeks - many of which have been taken offline since because they have the potential to ruin my cool chick reputation - I am pleased to announce that I'm no longer miserable (nor bordering on desperate).

Ternyata kita berdua tuh emang gengsinya segede gentong (walaupun gentong gua jauh lebih kecil dan imut).

Yang lucu hari ini

Karina says: lo ngapain aja nih
Yao says: kerja, poker, kerja, poker
Yao says: n kerja sambil poker
Yao says: hihi..
Karina says: online apa beneran?
Yao says: fesbuk
Karina says: ohh yg itu
Yao says: lo ga?
Karina says: hahaha mendingan ngga de
Karina says: ntar gw jadi candu jg
Yao says: saking addictive nya gua boker aja maen poker
Karina says: GROSS DUDEEEEEEEEE

Dan pada saat itu, gua baru nyadar... BOKER ITU NGE-RHYME SAMA POKER <--- asal ngucapin 'poker'nya dimirip-miripin sama pas ngucapin 'boker'.

Yang bikin gua ngakak hari ini

Karina says: Eh loe mo ketemu si Joni* gak?
Karina says: sapa tau makan dibayarin hauhauhua
sumiPan says: males gw nanti dicium dia jadi kodok
Karina says: hauhuahuahua apa coba
sumiPan says: gw ga kenal jg sama dia
sumiPan says: bibirnya kan kaya empal

*nama samaran

Sejak kapan bibir orang kayak empal jadi alasan untuk nggak mau ketemu? Kejamnya manusiaaaaaaaa :P

The greatest love story (is not mine)

My boy of the moment
is not that great with words
he belts out one-liners
even when I've written him a prose

What am I supposed to do
when you are there and I am here
words are all we've got
and you can't even give me that

Yesterday you said you weren't feeling well
I say... "RASAIN LO! Nyebelin sih!"

TGIF

Pasti deh. Tiap kali keluar sama anak-anak Challenger pasti pulang-pulang gua udah gak utuh. Sekrup-sekrup di badan pada copot sana sini. Asli tadi siang gua shitfaced banget. Jalan sempoyongan, isi perut pada muter-muter seperti di mesin cuci, dan yang paling bikin gua mau gantung diri... di dalam kepala serasa lagi ada marching band. Sengsara! Derita! Malapetaka!

Tapi yang pasti... semalam gua senaaaaaaang ;)

Definitely leaving on the 10th

Paid for my ticket today. One-way ticket to heaven. Ecstatic is how I am. And impatient. All the things I need are already inside the suitcase. I'm almost ready to go (again). This time I probably won't be back for a long long time.

Dreamer

Last night I had a dream.

I was back in Montréal, in my room preparing my CV to apply for a job. A dull dream in any case.

Still, waking up from it was so uncool.

Oleh-oleh dari Kanada

Tiga bulan dua minggu di Kanada. Karena gua pulang dengan tangan hampa, dalam artian gak bawa oleh-oleh yang biasanya berupa gantungan kunci, magnet kulkas, atau t-shirt, oleh-olehnya dalam bentuk cerita aja ya?

Gua sampai di Montréal hari Kamis, bulan Oktober 2007. Hari itu di Boston subuh-subuh banget gua udah bangun (subuhnya gua tuh jem 6...). Dari rumah temen gua jalan kaki sekitar 15 menit ke stasiun Harvard Square. Di luar masih semi gelap dan sedikit berkabut. Tas beroda satu, tas laptop satu. Kali ini gua lebih pinter ngatur barang bawaan biar ga heboh sendiri kayak pedagang kelontong keliling versi taon lalu di Eropa.

Perjalanan pakai bis dari Boston ke Montréal memakan waktu sekitar tujuh jam. Pertama-tama melalui highway - sedikit bosan - tapi gak lama kita udah meluncur di jalanan yang kanan kirinya hutan yang cantik banget pohon-pohonnya, berhubung waktu itu musim gugur. Sibuk deh gue potret sana sini dari balik kaca jendela... gak pernah sih ngeliat pohon yg warna daunnya pink semua! Sayangnya si supir bis rada ngebut jadi kebanyakan foto-foto tersebut akhirnya berakhir di tong sampah juga. Yang penting memori dong memori...

Berbekal instruksi dari Lana (flatmate gua disana), dari stasiun Berri-Uqam gua pun naik metro ke Place-des-Arts, dan dari sono naik bis 80 sampe ke rumah. Ada kejadian nyebelin disini. Pas gua naik bis, si supir kagak punya kembalian, padahal duit gua cuma $5, dan tiketnya $2.75. Siake. Mau gak mau turunlah gua dan dua anak gua, masuk lagi ke stasiun, dan nyari duit kecil.

Rumah gua disitu terletak di Avenue du Parc (atau bisa juga disebut Park Avenue). Gua sih lebih suka nyebut dengan nama yang pertama, biar kedengeran lebih sexy. Parc ini panjang banget dan, menurut instruksi si Lana, gua mesti pencet bel setelah ngelewatin Rue St-Viateur. Kedengerannya gampang kan? Iya gampang emang sebenernya... kalo elo bisa baca jauh. Masalahnya, gagang kacamata gua bengkok dan gak bisa dipake secara layak. Mesti dipegangin. Jadinya tiap kali gua ngeliat bakal ada nama jalanan di depan baru gua pake itu kacamata. St-Viateur bukan nih? Oh bukan. Copot lagi. Ulangi kira-kira sepuluh kali.

Gak lama akhirnya gua nyampe juga. Reaksi gua pertama kali (dalam hati) pas masuk ke rumah adalah, "Walah gua masuk ke sarang hippies!" Di salah satu sudut ruang tamu ada sekumpulan tanaman berbagai jenis. Di salah satu sudut yang lain ada berbaris-baris piringan hitam. Di atas kulkas ada patung kepala Elvis yang sorot matanya rada... nyeremin. Namanya juga Elvis, and Elvis is dead! Untungnya kamar gua ga nyeremin. Untuk pertama kalinya dalam hidup gua, gua punya ranjang loft! Seneng banget gua. Pasalnya waktu gua masih ingusan, gua sering banget melobi bokap nyokap untuk beli ranjang susun. Yang lebih oke lagi, di atas ranjang sono ada tempat kecil untuk membaca, dimana ada rak buku kecil-kecilan dan lampu. Imut banget deh, serasa di rumah pohon.

Malam pertama di Montréal gua pergi ke semacam Poetry Reading Evening di Sala Rosa, sebuah restoran Spanyol di Blvd St-Laurent, bareng dua flatmate baru gua. Yang bikin acara itu adalah anak-anak dari University of Concordia. Walhasil disana gua cuci mata.

Malam itu cuaca di Montréal menyenangkan, sekitar 20 derajat. Dalam perjalanan pulang kita mampir di dépanneur (istilah lokal untuk convenience store) dan Chesky's, toko kue milik orang Yahudi yang bikin cheesecake enak banget.

to be continued...

This blog is turning into one big soppy diary

There was a snow storm the day before I left. A big one. The kind that discouraged people from driving. So you and I trekked from your place to mine. It was Friday afternoon.

We went through this park near your house. The snow on our sides has piled as high as my knee.

I said, "Let's race!" So I started counting... three, two, one, go!

You were about two metres in front of me when I saw you suddenly turn around, ran back, and in what seemed like a flash, pushed me into a snow bank. I screamed in protest. "How could you!" And you laughed your ass off.

It was a cruel re-enactment of a David and Goliath fight, only this time the writer decided that luck wouldn't be on David's side. Finally, you pulled me out of the snow and then... you put your arms around me and we stayed there for awhile.

If there was ever a moment I want frozen in time, I would vote for that one.
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(Geez I need to get out of the house)

Clean Up My Room Day

You don't really know yourself until you have to... pack your life.

In preparation for the move to Montréal next month, I have started to clear out my room, which will be occupied by a new person tomorrow. It's not a big room but it sure can hold a lot of things, a fact that I have been discovering minute by painful minute today. It's not the room's fault, of course, but I wish there had been a device that screamed, "Throw that out!" everytime somebody (mostly me) placed some innocent-looking potential junk in it.

The good thing about today's cleanup is that I haven't found it difficult to throw things out. Gone are those clothes that I have not worn for at least two years. Gone are those undies that don't look like undies anymore (don't ask). Gone are those piles of papers that told a story about my past life (among others outdated CV's, payslips from eight years ago, boarding passes, and greeting cards from the nearby video rental store - wow they remembered my birthday... I must've been special!).

I am still twiddling my thumb over my massive collection of accessories though. I have tons of earrings... awww my pretty little babies, but I think I have to let you go!

So the onslaught continues tonight. Who will go? Who will stay?

Giant swimming pool with waves

Just because I'm leaving Australia doesn't mean I don't like it anymore. The place itself, is beautiful beyond words. I mean look, I live 10 minutes away from this.

Did I get the date right?

Hahaha gua baru nyadar kalo di post sebelomnya gua bilang "baru tanggal 16 februari" padahal tanggalan post-nya menunjukkan 15 februari. Bingung deh lo pada! Bukannya gua salah baca kalender, tapi gara-gara date settingnya di blog ini belum disesuaikan balik sama waktu Sydney.

Ya udeh, gitu doang, I just thought I'd better clear that one up... ga tenang gua kalo ngga.

Pake bhs Indo biar tu org ga ngerti

Barusan ngeliat kalender. Ya ilah, baru tanggal 16 Februari.

Kangen bo, kangen.

Today...
the minutes seem like hours
the hours go so slowly
and still the sky is light...

Ceileh pake nge-quote2 dari West Side Story segala. Padahal cuman kangen geblek a la anak abg, there's nothing Broadway about my silly little fling. Yah begini deh nasib gua. Jauh-jauh ke Kanada untuk menemukan (dan mengukuhkan!) kebebasan, tau-taunya kecantol sama lebah lokal.

Ya sud sud... that's it for now... lagi ga ada bahan pembicaraan yg lebih menarik, cuma lagi pingin ngoceh2 aja somewhere, somehow.

Happy Valentine's Day, suckers

It seems that everytime I read an Indonesian news website, I am reminded as to why I probably will never go back to that country to live. There are just too many idiots trying to call the shots there. And usually, about unimportant matters.

Like Valentine's Day, for example.

Here are some quotes which will either piss you off or make you laugh (or both).

"To celebrate this day that's called "love one another" day is against the principles of Islam." 'Cos like... Islam preaches hate?

"Valentine's Day is not compatible with our culture, [because] during such celebrations usually there are people kissing and hugging, which is sinful." Almost everything in Indonesia is sinful. Except spitting in the streets and taking a dump in the river.

"We have asked mosque officials to hold religious lectures for teenagers on Valentine's Day evening." Lame, dude! With our raging hormones we'd rather go somewhere else to, you know, kiss and hug.

"Our version of Valentine's Day should fall on the 28th of October because it was on that day that a bunch of young people declared their love for this nation." This suggestion could only have come from a nerd who never had a girlfriend and who took their primary school history books seriously.

*Indonesia's national day to commemorate a declaration made in 1928 by young Indonesian nationalists, proclaiming their nationalist principles.

That country is seriously fucked.

Home is where... my junk is

As we were flying closer and closer to the ground, I spotted a very familiar-looking brown tower on the horizon. Though not legible from where I was sitting, I knew that the tower bore the letters U, N, S, W.

The longest holiday of my life has officially ended.

Everything at home was still where it was when I left it four months ago. Including that picture next to my bed. But that's so insignificant compared to what has changed. And I don't ever want to go back to where I was. The worst is over and I can only look forward to better times ahead. Better times, indeed! And no one... not even some wonderful, handsome, funny, tall, short-haired dude with glasses (and commitment issues), can ruin that. I will take care of myself this year very well.

I just wish these coming 3 weeks will disappear tonight while I'm asleep.

Be afraid... be very afraid.

While browsing on the internet, fate stepped in (through an uninvited pop-up) and presented me with that sinister-looking plastic cup.

The Mooncup Menstrual Cup.


I wonder how many women have ordered that thing online, given that the woman in the picture does nothing for their advertising campaign. I mean look at her, her smile is screaming, "I've got a foreign object stuck in my canal and it ain't cool!"

Hate list V.1

1. Magazines that publish articles like "10 Signs He's Into You". The problem is that such guides usually leave us women more perplexed than ever. What if my man only shows 9 of the 10 signs? Does that mean I shouldn't marry him?

2. Singapore Airlines flight attendants who are extra nice to white men. I swear it's a brothel up there.

3. Men who pee carelessly in aeroplane toilets and leave their traces behind all over the seat and the floor. Fine I know the turbulence makes it harder to aim, but those paper towels are there to be used. If you happen to be one of those, here's a big fuck you to you.

4. People taking a dump in public toilets who wait until they're finished to flush the whole thing down, by which time their floating babies have had plenty of time to stink up the room. If your objective is to save water, copy the dogs and do it in your backyard.

5. People who update their status on Facebook every half an hour. Nobody cares that much about you, seriously.

It seems like yesterday

Once we were at this wine & cheese party. I complained to you that I didn't like wine. I said, "I'd much rather have beer". You asked me what my favorite beer was. "Corona," I replied. Then you left. A few minutes later you came back. With a 6-pack of Corona.

You probably do that to all your friends (because you're lovely like that), but still, that gesture will never be lost on me.

I miss you. Tu me manques. Saya kangen kamu.