Andrea Hirata

Have you ever been swept away by series of words written together making number of paragraphs which then turned into chapters that made up a book. Well, I have. And it is very recent. These past two weeks have seen me making faces out of emotions I have gained by reading the master pieces by Andrea Hirata. A sudden phenomenon from Indonesia who has rocked the world of literature in his homeland and beyond. Not one but three of his books have made me captivated and kept me awake throughout my journey to work and back. All at once and right there, that very ride in that very train is an event I can’t wait when woke up in the morning and when rushing out of the office in the afternoon. If you were paying attention to me, (well, it might happen that there is one or two person actually been checking me out), you can actually saw a smile, a smirk, holding back tears, touched and many more emotions written all over my face, and it was due to the magical work of Andrea Hirata. Okay, coming from me who seldom read Malaysian’s authors work in Bahasa Melayu, and if I ever read them, I tend to browse through very fast only to know what’s the ending right there and then, no thrill whatsoever, I may exaggerate the work of Andrea, but he did and boy! did he take me in his shoes, look at things from his perspective, and dream the same dream he has. He certainly inspired me to be in love again with what I always have such passion in; writing (at least at my own level of literalism), art, people, culture and dream, dream away…


Laskar Pelangi
Although I am glad to that God give me an average urban life from childhood till now, reading Laskar Pelangi assured me that I will appreciate everything any kampung life gave me. People living near paddy field will laugh at how outsiders be amazed by such view, but if I happened to be those people living in that very vicinity, among the mountain, or by the sea, I would want to be like Laskar Pelangi who appreciates the beautiful life of their own village, their own native soil. With the opportunity given, I would surely hope I strive the hardest and be that very one from the kampung to enroll in Oxford pursuing one knowledge to another. It was so inspiring.


Sang Pemimpi
Like The Alchemist, in this book, Ikal gave me hope that anything can happen if we were determined to ensure dreams do come true, and as cheesy as it sounds, it does come true to them in the most sweetest memories one can ever experienced. And with the Dad Ikal has? I will kill to have one just like Pak Seman. The friendship and devotion showed by Arai made me craved for one soul I can always depend on for anything and everything. Though the love towards someone is portrayed beyond leniency and full of compassion, it is indeed and I won’t mind to have it in my world one day. I will always and never want to stop dreaming.


Edensor
The world of Europe and its surroundings never sound closer like Andrea presented in this book, he made it more beautiful, made it more desirable to travel. He reminded me the sweetness of the first love, of highest ecstacy in reaching the dreams and in the end, closing it with such gratifications towards faith and pure satisfaction one will ever savored. Oh and I hope one day I will, travel around the world.

Those two books were the best buy I got from Jakarta (one being already bought earlier), now I can't wait for Maryamah Karpov. And yes, Andrea Hirata will be that other person in my list of people I want to meet. Among Oprah and Sarah Jessica Parker. Hehe.. ahh.. mabuk kepayang aku...

Tentang aku?

This coming from a friend based on our chat conversation....

""1. kamu kadang kala tertutup
2. kalem
3. dibilang pendiem juga tidak, karena kamu pribadi yang menyenangkan kalau diajak bicara
4. kadangkala suka bercanda
5. berani
6. penuh pertimbangan
7. Kurang Pede... kadang sih
8. Smart
9. Sepertinya kamu punya rutinitas atau kegemaran yang jarang orang ketahui tapi menurutmu itu sangat menyenangkan
10. Sepertinya kamu tuh tipikal romantis
11. Mudah bergaul
12. suka traveling
.........................semoga saya salah""

Seems ok to me? what about you?

My Indonesia's Adventures

As if what I have told everybody isn’t enough, I have to write about it? I guess I just need to… Feel a bit off these past two days… gotta let something off my mind. So, where do we start? Hmm…

The capital
Jakarta is a very hectic town indeed. The worst traffic jam I ever been to. Lots and lots of people everywhere, crowded by the side of the road, the middle of the road and even on the divider. No space whatsoever to breathe. Okay a bit exaggerating. Despite all of it, to me: it was all very interesting to experience in another country. The crazier it gets the wider smile I have on my face thinking about it. And there in Jakarta, I score some good food, good shopping, good walk or rather run around town, and a very good SPA session… ahh, what a way to end 12 day trip that very last day. The best experience there was when we had a ride on the 'mikrolat' (a public transportation in a van) that were driven in reverse in a very heavy traffic with intention to avoid it during a peak hours. The driver managed to piss many people off, and we glad we arrived in location in one piece. Phew…

The Love Stop
Bandung. As you all know it is a town among mountains in Java, it is also a hectic town, a shopping haven and good food all around, too bad my stomach failed on me on my first two days in Indonesia, yet; we still managed to go from one café to another, enjoyed every delicacy Bandung has to offer, yeay! The sick feeling in my stomach also caused an uneasy feeling during our shopping spree with Joj and Teteh Felis and has only caused me to not be able obtain enough things for my family and friends, sorry ya. Second day, after a visit to Tangkuban Perahu with Pak Agus, Felis and Joji, I continue the journey with another friend. And even with me not really fond of motorbike, I rode on one there with that very guy who was the focal point for me coming to Bandung. Suprisingly, not a single awkward moment felt throughout the journey, and it only make sense to travel by bike to the mountain and back rather than any 4 wheel automobile or It will take forever (or so I thought). The view of bandung and its vicinity from the top? Breathtakingly amazing! The exhilarating journey to the top gives me peace at its peak, and savour every minutes of the cold air and the beautiful scenery , eventhough with not much conversation conveyed, as there was a busy snapping session. The hot coffee and banana with cheese made a great companion, and the guy I finally got to meet face to face after being acquainted for years made the experience one I will never forget. Been so deep into it since the day back from Bandung, but now I am down to not to think about it so much. It was a weird feeling but it was good while it lasted on my mind and in my heart. *sigh*

The Backpacking
Now, this is the most important part of the journey, the one that made me captivated with the idea brought by Joji, so thanks Joj, for made me coming with you to this trip. It started with us anxiously driven through a traffic jam to the train station to catch the 4.45 pm train to Semarang. After successfully crawling out of traffic we then came across another obstacle with the law who said we took the wrong turn, (I didn’t really understand, maybe it’s Indonesia’s traffic violation or something). Rp 40.000 and without caring whatsoever in the world later, we found ourselves dashing to the platform (forgetting we do not have a good stamina) only to find out the train was late. Phew…

Everybody was touching their heart which beats like crazy and started to laugh it all out after boarding the train when it arrived. Imagine us missing that 7 hour ride train? Mbak Yuni will need to make a major reschedule to our trip and it will not be cool.

Semarang
After spent a night in Mbak yuni’s borther’s house, we started early for that day activity, we went around town, visit the famous temple, famous church and a very old and ruined office building which were used during Dutch-Japanese invasion. We then went to the famous Candi Gedongsongo which seeing me only managed to go up to the Third candi, Joj, Mbak Yuni and Mbak Adwi went all the way to no 4 and 5 and back. Candi number 6 to 9 is mysteriously invisible. Anyways, to my defense, I stopped to accompany Cici who were not feeling very well and had to go back down after the third (I am not tired ok, just lazy). Hehe. The view again… amazing! We ended the trip in Wonosobo, staying in a very low budget hotel; PARAMA. Joji demam at this point. Felt sorry for her, and all I can do is be as motherly as possible and took care of her so she can at least enjoyed the rest of the journey at her pace.

Wonosobo-Dieng
We started the second day with a new driver, Titus as our guide, and were off scaling Wonosobo and Dieng. Visited Telaga Menjer, Telaga Warna, Candi Arjuna and Banjarnegara. We also managed to watch a half hour history of the volcanoes’ site at the theatre. Had not so nice lunch, checked out and rush to Borobudur.

Borobudur-Magelang-Jogjakarta
Unfortunately, the borobudur was closed when we arrived, so the sunset view plan is cancelled and off to Magelang and had a very nice dinner, with o God, I forgot the name, something tauhu, kinda like our Tauhu Bakar in Johor Bahru but bigger portion and lots of tahu (then again, Indonesia is very generous with their food portion, all large, made for two). We spent the night in Mbak Adwi’s hometown home, which is the best place to rest for me throughout our 5 days backpacking journey. Ibu Mbak Adwi is so tiny but a very powerful hardworking old woman I ever met. The house is huge and immaculately tidy for a one person living in it. I was so happy; I slept like a baby in the living room, in front of the TV. Yeah… me and tv, inseparable.

After a good night sleep, we had another new driver, and off to Jogjakarta. On the way, we went back Borobudur and to Magelang to scale Ketep Pass, planned to see Merapi mountain from a top, unfortunately, it was raining, we can only see fog from the peak, few pictures snapped, a bowl of noodle soup and a jagung bakar later, we off to scouring the rest of Candi and Beaches before finally went to long awaited Jogjakarta. Arrived very late in the afternoon, managed to visit Mbak Yuni’s friend, Mbak Adwi’s brother and finally spent the night at Mbak Adwi’s cousin’s home in long awaited and the very final town in our trip itinerary, JOGJAKARTA.

Mbak Indah, Mbak Adwi’s cousin took us cruising Jogja town at night, we had supper in a much dimmed lighting café at the roadside where most of University’s undergraduates always hang out. Had a very nice pulut bakar and Nasi kecil? (similar to nasi lemak), yes I ate both. Gosh! The great entertainment for the night, a man dressing like a warrior dancing with his very loud Indonesian traditional music on the road by the café… the highlight of our very tiresome day indeed. Unfortunately, I didn't capture it on camera, I am such a bonehead in the camera capturing area, I tend to not quickly snap a good moment as I usually captivated too much by a certain moment I tend to rely it on my brain to capture it in my mind, which is a no-no lately when the memory have been down to 2MB. Gosh! anyways, gave the guy Rp1000 and off to cruising Jogja again before heading home for a good night sleep.

The next and the very final day of backpacking, we finishing off with a ride on a horse carriage, visited the famous Kraton and shopping spree for souvenirs at the Malioboro. It was crush time before catching the 4:45 pm flight (another 4:45). The purchase again all go haywired and I hadn’t had the slightest clues what I bought. Let just say, I ended up not giving anybody anything as souvenir… hehehe.. (Again, to my defense, this is not an attempt to ask for forgiveness for not getting you guys anything ya…)

After a gruesome long drive climbing up hills, mountains, winding road for five days, the only time I remembered breathing is when we landed back at Mbak Yuni’s house. But it was all worth it. I fell in love with Jogjakarta. I think I can settle down there. ;-)

The return
Phew… the trip was awesome huh. I hope I do justice with the story telling. I wouldn’t want to write the names wrongly and have the wrong memory written in here but I do have to put this in writing so I can have this in written as another proof of my attempt to scale the earth and witnessing amazing place starting at our very own Asia. I know I have a LONG way to go, but this is a heck of a start. I fell in love, fall out of love, met a lot of good people of Indonesia starting with Mbak Yuni. Their hospitality is ridiculously amazing, I felt weak with all the care and aid bestowed upon us, Joji and I. Thanks also to Mbak Adwi, Cici, Teteh Felis, Hanny, Corey, Jersey, Mbak2 lain yang aku lupa namanya.. maaf ya, for being so friendly and made us feel so close to home and smiling at all time. I apologize in advanced should your visit to our country won’t promise a first class service equally to what we received in your homeland. I cherished the friendship and forever have you all close to my heart. Thank you for the amazing journey I will never forget.