i'll stop the world and melt with you, you've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time

Time for 2009 year in review!

- Got into a quarrel with someone significant. It was prolly my lowest low of 2009. But then things were patched up, and we're still learning to make it work. It's all about making it work.

- Several Kota Toea trips in 2009. Let's recap. First one was when Ima was in town. Took pictures, rode old bikes, and wasted money on the pretentious Kafe Batavia. Second one was the night tour with Gem, Imel and Achel. Visited old buildings and had some late afternoon tea on the rooftop of Bank Mandiri museum, overlooking the giant-jukebox-like Stasiun Kota. Third one was the bike tour. This one was held during a hot, sunny day, but it was less tiring because we were on bikes. And the last one was the rijstaffel thing. Dinner and watching fireworks from the rooftop. Super nice.

- Concerts of 2009: Jason Mraz at the Java Jazz Festival. Good, but pretty forgettable. And I still can't say that I've found a soft spot for Java Jazz. Then there was Coldplay in Hongkong. This one was one of the highest highs of 2009! Beautiful, beautiful night! Next was Jamiroquai at Sentul...something. Pretty good, but still so-so. Last ones were Mew and Third Eye Blind at the Javarockinland Festival. Mew was mesmerizing. Stephen Jenkins was kinda idiotic, but he had me at "I'm packed and I'm holding" so I was smitten.

- Nilam gave birth to the mischievous-looking Eijaz!

- Organizing a welcome-back, mustache-themed hoopla for Sindro!

- JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton bombings in July. Very uncalled for. One of the lows of 2009. I had to give up my long weekend to work 8 days straight! Juggling journalists, policemen, and one evil boss.

- The Department of Foreign Affairs recruitment. I flunked the 1st test. But Imel passed all tests! Hooray! I'm so going to make her save a spot for me there! Hahaha.

- The Kampung Utan clan tradition of pesta liburan on the 3rd day of lebaran.

- Cooking and baking and concocting a Monas picnic for Gem's birthday. Fun!

- Turning 25. What the...

- Reuni geng komplit. Twice. For 5-45 minutes at people's weddings.

- I need one more reconfirmation, but according to one doctor, I am cured from that... lung-infecting disease. Yay!

- Watched Teater Sastra UI performed Macbeth at Taman Ismail Marzuki. One of the longest 4 hours in my life. Thank god, meeting some people made it worth the while.

- Watched the oriental circus at Margonda! Happy pills in the middle of the week.

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Overall, 2009 was full with ups and downs. I had some highlights but can't help feeling like I haven't done enough. Howeverrrrr. I did have the best closure for 2009 and a good start for 2010.

I spent last week backpacking to this beach in West Java called Ujung Genteng, then off to Jogjakarta. To be honest, I also brought a quite large travel bag aside from my backpack. But still.

There were obstacles, like people cancelling on us and trying to get a permission from mom. But eventually, on Tuesday, Gema and I ditched this tired town and off we went.

We took a bus to Sukabumi from Lebak Bulus, but we got off in Cibadak, because supposedly it was easier to get a bus to Surade. See, Surade is the closest thing you get to civilization around Ujung Genteng. The bus to Surade showed up about an hour after we got to Cibadak. But it was lunch time anyway, so we knew what to do to kill time. The bus to Surade was AC-less, and jampacked. We had to sit on a cushion, on the floor. Yep. Just cushion. On the floor. For four hours. Fortunately, I still had some energy and excitement to get me through the ride. The rollercoaster-like ride, if I might add.

When we got to Surade, it was already late in the afternoon, and the minibus to Ujung Genteng was nowhere to be found. Soooo, ojek was our chariot to get to Ujung Genteng. I never thought I'd say this, but turned out, traveling more or less 20 km on a motorcycle with the wind and subtle drizzle on your face, with no dust and no exhaust from metro minis, plus the promise of a beach not far ahead, felt really liberating.

We finally got to the hotel, Pondok Hexa, and checked in to the cheapest room we could get. It was Rp 200,000/night, peak season. To tell you the truth, it was crappy. No blankets, there was only one light in the room--which was dimmer than a candle, I think, no trash can, and the bathroom was... meh. But I had expected the worst and I was pretty gutsy then, so it was the Bahamas Hilton for me.

A little tip, don't eat at the hotel's restaurant. We spent Rp 60,000 on too-sweet fried rice, fried noodle and very weird-tasting calamari dish. From that moment on, we chose to eat at some warung across the street from the hotel. It cost us Rp 13,000-22,000 for tasty homecooked meals.

There were many offers from the local guides-slash-tukang ojek to go to the near tourist spots. But since we were on a budget, and there was no ATM around, we had to carefully picked our destinations.

Confused from figuring out how to spend our money, we took a walk on the beach. And man, a very long walk it was! The beach was very serene and the water was very clean. You can see small fish swimming below the surface! Prettyyy.



Later that day, after my constant nagging, Gem and I almost agreed to watch a turtle laying an egg that night. You see there was a turtle park not far from my hotel. But then, our plan changed when we learned that aside from watching turtles laying eggs, we could also release turtle babies to the ocean that afternoon. So we opted for the latter.

And maaan, are turtle babies cute or what. I've grown attached to my turtle baby during the 3 minutes I held it--and the name is Kuri, by the way.



The next day, already we should pack up to hit the road once more. But first we made a quick stop at the Cikaso waterfalls. That was my 1st time seeing actual waterfalls, so I was totally in awe. It was like a vast wonder! Now waterfalls enthusiasts kinda make sense for me.



To get to the waterfalls, we needed to take a 5-min boat ride through this wide river with nothing but trees and highlands around it. Again, serene and very relaxing. And there were butterflies! They practically fluttering around everywhere. Very, very nice.

Afterwards, it was back on the road again. Motorbikes, busses... Sucky schedules and timing, sucky busses and ugly traffic made us go to Bogor-Jakarta-Magelang, and everything in between before we finally reached Jogjakarta the next day. My uncle and his family were there, so they took us in their hotel rooms. Yay, free accommodation!

However, our time in Jogja was very limited. So we had dinner at this warung oseng-oseng mercon (good food on a budget). And afterwards, we went sightseeing around on a becak and finally settled on the Vredenberg fortress. Too bad it was closed already. Luckily, there was this Jogja Biannale thing. So we got to see some art installation here and there. There were also street shows! God, I love the atmosphere.

On the last day, we only had time to go to this silver shop with the nicest shopkeepers. And. Thanks to Gema's Jogja-based friends, Ahmad and his girlfriend, we got to see the Prambanan temple! Beautiful and again, a real wonder. Seeing the temples, thinking about the myth behind it and imagining its haydays were magical.



Anyways. Time to go home. This time, we booked a travel minibus, thinking the driver would deliver us back to my home. Not so. There were a problem with the car, and we had to take more bus rides.

What I conclude from the holiday is, after 5 days--including more or less 36 hours on the road, 7 bus rides, 2 distant ojek rides, and 2 minibus rides, my mood was still much, much better than after my daily 45-min comfortable car ride home from the office. Go figure.

As for the last minutes of 2009, I spent it on a bus to Jogja, half asleep.

*20 minutes to midnight*
Me: Is it new year yet?
Gem: In 20 minutes.
*Back to sleep*

*10 minutes to midnight*
Me: Is it new year yet?
Gem: In 10 minutes.
*Back to sleep*

Finally,
Me, awake once more: Is it new year yet?
Gem, looked at the time: It's 12.10, happy new year.
Me: Happy new year.
*And we went back to sleep*

...

But still. Couldn't be happier =)

Here's to the fabulous 2010 to come! *cheers*