20 Dec
Looking Back (a bit)
2009 Messiest Packing Moment (Bacan, May)
The last few days in Bacan were:
Messy
Funny
And messy again
One of those craziest moments. Yet one that we shall never forget 
20 Dec
2009 Best Two-Day Recuperation
I posted this collage to remind myself that friends come from many places and that friendships come in many shapes. Some gave you a call out of the blue just when you needed someone to talk with. Some helped by making you a nice meal. And some provided you a nice room to crash at the end of a long duty trip–and a great conversation that followed (Tugu Hotel, Malang). Thank you, Pak D!
13 Dec
Adversity
Adversity has its way of revealing things. It brings out the deepest feeling of devastation, helplessness and sometimes anger, too.
But adversity can also raises the biggest strength in people. It brings people together to help and comfort and pray for each other. Adversity, more often than not, shows the real quality in people.
In early 1997, I lost my father to an illness. Twelve years later, I lost an aunt for the same fate. In the same hospital. At the same ICU room.
She was one of the very few relatives that often called when I was living in remote places. Many many phone calls we did. The phone calls that more often than not, served as remedy when I was homesick. The laughter we shared. The news we exchanged, about her son and daughter–one of them-she said-is really keen to work like I do.
Last October, after two years, we met again in Jakarta for a family gathering. And one of the things that I vividly remember is how eager she was in asking me how I was doing. And her laugh and broad smiles–some that I was lucky to capture in a few photos.
In the 13 days she was hospitalized, we had our hopes up, crushed, up and up again, and finally shattered. The time we spent waiting–sitting outside the ICU room–was a testament how much love we share for her. Her old friends, right from elementary school up to her college years, came visiting just to see her.
All through the days, watching my aunts and uncle and cousins, I realized how we all have grown. The very same aunts and uncle who were there, at the exact same spot, twelve years ago. Now it was our turn, the nieces and nephews, to take care of them. To be there and be strong for them. To comfort them. The very people who used to comfort (or scold) us when we’re kids, now we need to hold their hand when they just need a good cry.
She died at five to six on Friday afternoon, December 11th–the very day her beloved son turned 19. The burial was held the next morning at Tanah Kusir cemetery, a few hundred metres away from my father’s grave.
Nothing can cure the loss of one’s parent, sibling and/or spouse. It’s the togetherness and letting go that can gradually lessen the void. And above all, knowing and hoping that this, too, shall pass.
Good bye, Tante Nana. Thank you for everything.
11 Dec
Another Successful Event
…resulted in many many media coverage,
compliments,
heart-warming encouragements,
and the likes.
The subsequent three-day bed rest order almost seemed worth it.
Well, not really.
Lesson learnt (the hard way): no use of doing a great gig if you’re dead afterwards.
21 Nov
The “Smiles”
If all goes well, I will be attending a five-day training in January 2010 in One of My-Places-To-Go-Before-I-Die list. Dreamy as it sounds, I am dreading the trip, mainly because to be able to actually go there, I need a passport–that Little Green Book that in the past almost always gave me hard times going through customs.
Because of that, and because its expiration date is almost due, I decided to have the passport renewed. The “journey” to My-Places-To-Go-Before-I-Die began on Thursday (19/11).
That day, I went with two female colleagues who happened to have the same thing to do to the nearest immigration office from our office–the invention of fire and wheel and on-line system these days supposedly can help us process the Green Books from any branch, anywhere in Indonesia. We were quite clueless about what the process is like, but been told that “it’s easy and doesn’t cost a lot of money (around 300 thousands rupiah for a 48-page passport).” With that conviction, we stepped our feet out into the World of Passport-Making, thinking that The Power of Three will guide us.
Upon our arrival at the crowded office, we were greeted by a man who, smiling a very friendly smile, asked us whether we would like his “assistance” to take care of our business. A broker, obviously. Thanks, but no, thanks.
So in we went to the waiting hall, and get our numbers in line. 335, 336 and 337. The on-going number being processed? 254. The numbers crept up a tad faster than human evolution, but still, we were concerned about the time. After some mulling over the situation, we decided that it was neither the right time nor place to do it. That immigration branch is one of the busiest branches in Jakarta and we should have come early in the morning to get smaller number.
One colleague and I decided to change the strategy: choose a different branch which is closer to our houses. The other colleague immediately decided that she’ll use an agent to take care of her business.
Friday morning, the colleague and I met at the immigration office in our area and got ready with our documents in order. Naturally, there’s something wrong with mine. According to the officer handling the documents, there’s still a bit of time before I really need to change my passport. I said that if I can do it now, I would prefer to have it changed now.
Another officer then approached me, smiled, and asked what’s wrong with it. He then referred me directly to the division head’s room who is in charge of passport renewal ‘for a consult.’
When I entered the room, the said division head smiled and asked me to sit down. You all know what happened next. He smiled. Oh no. Not only did he smiled, but he also offered to ‘process the documents using another lane.’ A more expensive lane, of course. Thanks, sir. But no, thanks.
Those people. Those smiles. I wonder if they all get all the wrinkles on their faces from too much smiling. You know, like Bridget Jones did. But then again, Bridget Jones didn’t even work at an immigration office, right?
I decided, if I do still have time before my passport expiration date is due, I’ll do it when the time comes.
The whole day wasn’t really all that bad. My colleague and I went to Bogor by public bus and train and had fun. Bogor is always nice to visit, with the old houses and the botanic garden and small businesses that is –essentially a change of scenery from Jakarta. Then we went to a late show to watch ‘2012′. Not exactly the kind of movie that brings smiles to my face, but this time, at least I know it’s not real.
