Oleh-Oleh Bali: Hari # 1

Bali, 25-28 Desember 2012.
5 tahun setelah kunjungan wisata terakhir.
16 tahun setelah masa kuliah berakhir.

Berawal dari ajakan liburan keluarga beberapa bulan yang lalu, rasanya males banget ikutan. Pertanyaan yang sama selalu muncul: Apalagi sih yang belum gue liat di Bali selama gue tinggal empat tahun di sana? Belom bosen apa ya? Paling perginya ke Kuta lagi, Kuta lagi.  Tanah Lot, Bedugul, Kintamani, Ubud .. lagi.

Dan liburan ke Bali, berarti buang uang .. banyak! 

Gue bukan backpacker. Gue punya standar tinggi buat kenyamanan dan keleluasaan selama liburan. Dan untuk menikmati tempat wisata yang sekiranya sesuai dengan standar gue di Bali (dan di Indonesia pada umumnya) hampir sebagian besar harus dibayar mahal. Jadi buat gue yang ga mau jadi turis gembel, liburan begini bisa bikin pusing kepala before AND after the holiday.

Ditambah lagi kalo yang namanya jalan-jalan, mau ga mau, penting ga penting, harus belanja.

Betul begitu? Hmmm.

Airport
Selepas dari kenyamanan Bandara Soekarno-Hatta Terminal 3 yang sekarang jadi terminal udara favorit gue di Jakarta (biarpun kecil .. dan hanya buat budget airlines), penerbangan Jakarta-Denpasar siang hari berlangsung mulus, setelah sebelumnya terancam meledak karena ada penumpang yang membawa bola ke dalam kabin pesawat.

Heh. Gue ga ngerti kenapa bola itu bisa lolos pengawasan di bandara. Sempat terjadi perdebatan antara si pembawa bola dengan salah satu stewardess. Itu sih memang bola plastik untuk mainan anak-anak. Tapi bola ya bola, ada tekanan udaranya lho ya .. Stewardessnya bilang, "Maaf, Pak. Hanya mengikuti peraturan. Kalau meledak kan kasian .."

Kasian? Kasian?? Sederhana amat pemilihan katanya. Gue mah udah siap-siap mau turun pesawat kalo si bapak ga mau melepas bolanya itu keluar kabin.  Aku masih mau hidup, maaaaan.  

Kenapa juga mesti bawa bola jauh-jauh dari Jakarta, memangnya di Bali ga ada yang jualan bola?

Setelah diminta menghadap keputusan wasit .. eh .. pilot .. akhirnya kemelut bola di mulut gawang dimenangkan oleh maskapai. Dan tenanglah hati ini.

Selanjutnya karena angin AC di atas kepala ngegeber, gue jadi turis kesasar dalam kabin. Pake topi dan kacamata hitam, terus .. tidoooooor. I admit I just couldn't stand the art of doing nothing on a moving transport. 

Sekitar setengah jam sebelum landing, gue terbangun dan melihat semua jendela di sebelah kiri tertutup. Silau? Kok gue ga merasa silau ya? Eheheh .. lupa .. kan pake kacamata hitam. Gue nengok ke jendela kanan gue .. hanya ada beberapa yang masih terbuka.

Dan inilah pemandangan yang tersaji ..



Tiba di Bandara Ngurah Rai yang ternyata lagi di renovasi .. haizzz .. semerawutnyaaa .. penuhnya .. panasnya .. 

Mau cari tempat yang nyaman buat nunggu pesawat Andri dan Mat yang jadwal tibanya masih 1.5-2 jam lagi, ga adaaaa.  Starbucks or Burger King udah tumpah ruah, turis pun banyak yang lesehan di koridor bandara .. Bau rokok dimana-mana .. hadoh.

Akhirnya gue memutuskan buat ke hotel dulu aja. 


Taksi
Setelah gue tinggal sekian tahun lamanya, Bali masih belum berubah dalam hal armada transportasi umumnya. Di sepanjang koridor, setiap langkah gue diikuti oleh tawaran jasa taksi, baik dalam bahasa Inggris maupun Indonesia. Padahal gue udah pasang muka cuek bin bebek jutek berkacamata hitam.

Di beberapa titik, gue tantang para sopir taksi monopoli itu ..

"Taksi, miss?"
"Argo?"
"Ga ada argo. Mau kemana?"
"Sheraton Kuta. Berapa?"
"Tujuhpuluhlimaribu."
"...."

"Taksi, Bu?"
"Sheraton Kuta. Argo?"
"Ga bisa, Bu. Tujuhpuluhribu aja."
"...."
"Enampuluh."
"...."
"Limapuluh dah."
"...."

"Taksi, taksi?"
"Saya mau yang pake argometer."
"Di sini semuanya ga ada argo."

Eh, ada beberapa taksi Blue Bird Group nurunin penumpang. Langsung gue kasih sign buat stop ..

"Wah .. ga boleh naik taksi itu, Bu!! Itu cuma boleh turunkan penumpang!"
"Saya mau taksi yang itu. Di mana pool-nya?"
"Ga ada. Harus jalan ke depan. Jauh."
"Oke."
"Ya jalan aja dah sana."

KAMPRET!!! 

(dan ribuan kelelawar di Goa Lawah Klungkung sana pun mungkin terbangun panik mendengar namanya dipanggil).

Beraninya gue balik ditantang. Geplak blak! Lo bisa menang lawan turis asing, tapi lo ga bakalan bisa menang lawan gue dengan koper gue yang seberat 18.5 kg, plus tas gantung gue yang seberat 3 kg.

Mantap separuh geram, gue seret koper nyebrangin parkiran dan jalanan bandara. Ga sampe 3 menit gue jalan, ada taksi Blue Bird berhenti di depan gue. 

Nah. So that's how I did it.


Macet
Ditemani sopir taksi yang kelewat ramah, perjalanan dari bandara ke hotel yang seharusnya bisa ditempuh dalam waktu 10 menit berkembang menjadi 45 menit .. karena macet, Mak. Yaelah. Lepas dari mulut singa Jakarta, langsung masuk ke mulut buaya Kuta.

Trus karena macet, argometernya jadi berapa? Tigapuluhribu rupiah saja.


Hotel
Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort terletak pas di seberang Pantai Kuta. Lobi-nya berada di Lantai 4 dan mempunyai view outstanding ke pantai. Gue belom punya kesempatan melongok ke sana karena terburu-buru check-in dan melepas koper gue yang berat itu. Sempat ada miskomunikasi yang nyaris mengharuskan gue bayar deposit sebesar 3 juta rupiah untuk free night redemption (Ogah!!!). 

Setelahnya gue turun ke kamar di Lantai 2. Hal pertama yang selalu gue lakukan setiap kali gue masuk ke dalam kamar hotel atau penginapan: Bathroom Inspection .. dan gue melongo melihat kamar mandinya yang punya dinding kaca berbatasan langsung dengan kamar tidur. Wooooooooaaahhh .. Maybe it's no surprise at all to find this kind of thing in Bali hotels, seperti gue pernah nemuin bath tub tergeletak di dalam kamar tidur di salah satu suite mewah di kawasan Ubud. Tapi tetep aja ya ..


Kafe Pantai
Rencana gue balik ke bandara buat gabung sama Andri, Mat dan rombongan gagal total karena kembali kejebak macet di sepanjang Kuta-Legian. Akhirnya janjian ketemuan langsung di Jimbaran Beach Cafe  buat makan malam. 

Kayaknya semua turis lokal (atau turis asing yang diantar guide lokal) ga akan melewatkan kesempatan makan di Jimbaran Beach/Bay. Seafood-nya nya sih enak dan segar. Tapi gue sendiri ga gitu tergila-gila makan ditemani taburan pasir pantai, apalagi gue pake sepatu, secara sandal gue masih dipak rapi dalam koper kabin yang dbawa Andri.

And to call those humble restaurants "Cafe" .. ehm. Over-rated. 

Anyway, I was so happy to see my family. They looked happy too to finally have a vacation together in Bali lhooo.


Macet, Taksi, Hotel .. Lagi
Karena lokasi villa tempat rombongan menginap jauh di daerah Canggu, ditambah macetnya jalanan, kita bertiga harus cari taksi balik ke pusat keramaian Kuta. Susahnya ya, tolong! Gue bersyukur atas keputusan gue buat check-in hotel dulu tadi sore, jadi ga perlu bawa-bawa koper gede di pinggir jalan. Seburuk-buruknya kalo harus jalan kaki sambil gendong Mat .. hhhhh.

Ketemu Blue Bird Taksi, tapi sopirnya ga mau. Alasannya: Macet, Pak! Perasaan kalo di Jakarta, asalkan bukan karena banjir ato huru-hara ato major force, taksi biar macet mau aja narik penumpang.

Ketemu beberapa taksi non-Blue Bird, yang pastinya juga non-argo, pada ga mau berhenti biarpun lampu taksi di atasnya menyala. Ini jual mahal, ga butuh duit, ato gimana ya?

Ketemu satu taksi bobrok yang bagasinya mencicit serta bau rokok, borongan 40ribu. Ya sudah. Angkut! Sopirnya ga tau Sheraton Kuta di mana pula. Udah dibilang di Jalan Pantai Kuta, masih aja bingung.  Udah dibilang, hotelnya pas di seberang pantai, deretan Beachwalk, gue tau jalan ke sana, ikutin aja terus .. masih ga yakin juga. Halah. Kalo yang diantar turis asing, ngkali bisa dibawa nyasar sampe balik ke negara asalnya.

Untungnya sopir taksi sopan dan ramah. Jadi gue juga ikutan easy lah. Lagi liburan hari pertama gitu lho.

Mat seneng banget begitu taksi masuk ke gerbang hotel. Di pintu masuk dia juga seneng pas dikasih kuntum bunga kamboja sama penyambut tamu. Dan begitu masuk ke kamar .. sama seperti gue, hal pertama yang dia bilang: "Ada bath tub! Yaaaaaaay!! Mama, Mat2 mau berendam!"

Dan begitu kran air bath tub dinyalakan .. banjir lokal terjadi di dalam kamar mandi sampai luber ke foyer. S.O.S! Mayday, mayday! Maintenance dan Housekeeping pun datang. Ternyata drainage seal bath tub yang bermasalah. Jadi acara rendaman terpaksa ditunda untuk sementara waktu ..

.. kita belanja aja dulu.

Keluar hotel cari mini market buat beli beberapa keperluan esensial, seperti susu kotak dan sereal buat Mat, cemilan dan minuman ringan buat Andri. Kuta was still very alive at this hour. Hard to recall Christmas Day was not over yet.

Balik ke kamar hotel, semua udah rapi kembali. Time for Mat to spend time as a merman in the tub. Mantabs!

Dia juga yang nemuin rollerblind yang ternyata dipasang buat nutupin dinding kaca kamar mandi. Wokeh. We did have some decency after all.  


Day 1 - wrapped.




And with this Heavy Heart ..

Last Saturday morning.

My weekend activity had just started when I heard a devastating news of 20 children and 6 adults were gunned down by a 20-year old young man at Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut, U.S.A.

It was not the first school mass shooting I heard happened. But this one was all too senseless because the target was .. an elementary school.

I managed to avoid TV news for the whole day (and the day after). Couldn't resist the internet though. Once I opened a related link, my fingers couldn't stop clicking every single news posted on the net, reading every words, just to find answers ..

.. on how, why ..

My heart was heavy.

Some people might think that I overreacted. It happened in a country far away from where I stood. How it could affect me this much while in my own country, murders happened almost everyday. Some caused children's death too. I would never want to compare it with thousands of children died in the path of wars around the world. Or died by accidents, hunger, sickness and neglects. Nothing was fair.

President Barrack Obama's speech was written beautifully. Aside from the issue of his fake emotional display, it was a very moving deliverance, reflecting all parents' fear, love and loss. He cried. I cried.

My heart was too heavy.

It was 11 days before Christmas. At this time of year when holiday is coming. When trees are decorated and all lit up. Where peace on earth should never be ruined by evil formed in human. When the air should be filled with children carolings. Not with the sound of gunshots, screams and cries. Not with the sound of death.

Their pictures gave me another blow. First-graders and dedicated teachers who had to face minutes of terror and enduring piercing bullets. I found myself embracing their beaming smile, the twinkles in their eyes showed on my screen. Once again I cried for their sweetness taken away tragically.

Blame it on my sappiness. Blame it on my hormones or whatever.

.. and with this still very heavy heart, I'm posting ..


For the lost innocent little angels, for the families who have to spend Christmas in grief, for the unopened gifts under the tree .. 



Thank you for all of the teachers, who read to her class during the mass shooting, for their shields, for their lives protecting their students. For their acts of courage and love ..



I am a mother of a son, who is at the same age with the youngest victim. Words may have been lost in me, but my heart is mourning together with you ..



I look at Mat while he's playing happily in his youth. I watch him sleeping at night. Every second of it I feel blessed and grateful .. for I'm still allowed to touch his face, to hug him tight and to kiss him.  To see him smiling, to hear him laughing. The feeling is too enormous.



Newtown, Connecticut, 14th December 2012 ..

One child's death is one too many.

You are in a much, much better place. Rest in peace. 

A Brand New Angel

This morning I woke up,
looked at the Connecticut sky.
I had a good feeling
I can't tell you why.

I kissed Mommy goodbye,
and told Daddy I love you.
And before we separated at the sign,
I told sister see you soon.

The bell rung,
we all rushed inside.
It was warm and loving
like a campfire light.

The teacher smiled,
my friends waved hello.
We started class,
but before you know..

The door busted open,
a man with a gun.
I was scared and broken
I looked at the sun.

The same sun I saw
with so much love.
Now brought me worry
but I'd stay tough.

I felt a pain
go through my whole body.
I saw a light
and an awful goodbye.

I saw Mommy's face,
her beautiful, soft lips.
I kissed her this morning,
she was something I'd miss.

I smelled Daddy's cologne,
when he hugged me today.
He left for work,
not knowing what life would take.

Sister was only a few blocks away,
in a classroom, I could see
I'll never get to say
how much she means to me.

My 6th birthday was coming soon,
I was dreaming of ponies
dolls
and shoes.

Then I felt a hand
touch my face.
I was overwhelmed
in an amazing grace.

God said to me,
"Don't be worry, child.
you've been here before.
it's just been a while."

I looked on my back,
where I found wings.
I felt a halo
and clouds under my feet.

With me, when I looked,
were my friends by my side.
That man sent us here,
but I"m alright.

Maybe he was sick,
maybe he was crazy.
Maybe he hurt us
because he was hurting, maybe?

I watch the tears
all over the country.
Over the few years
their pain because of me.

I watched my family
break apart.
but they knew
I was in their hearts.

I don't know much,
but I know this;
my mommy should've never
had to bury her own kid.

Although it's tough,
although it's hard
I think God would want us to forgive
the killer in our hearts.

What you don't know,
but what I'll tell you,
is I'm just fine.
in this heaven of mine.

Maybe this will teach you
to never regret a thing.
Be happy with what God gave you,
because you could've been me.

Now, maybe I was young,
maybe I didn't deserve it.
But maybe I taught a lesson,
now please...learn it.

Love with everything,
always smile a lot.
Remember this lesson,
that I taught.

Wipe the tears,
enjoy the years.
Time goes by fast,
you don't know which day is your last.

Pray for my family,
for my friend's family, too.
I'm sure they'll be grateful,
and thankful to you.

I'm an angel,
all brand new.
I came up here
this afternoon.

I would be 6 years old,
but God has a plan.
Remember this feeling of distraught,
remember this lesson that I taught.
 
~ a poem quoted from SandyHookRIP ~
 
 
Graston's image on windsorstar.com soon went viral worldwide, with 84,649 views Saturday and as of Sunday night, it had another 40,033. It's been liked more than 14,000 times on Facebook and has more than 300 comments, the majority reflective, thankful and thoughtful.
 

Life, Love and the Evening Sky

.. continued from Pulau Putri trip ..

It was 4.30 pm when we got into our car.  Ancol area was still pretty much alive, and the late afternoon sunshine was just nice.  I looked above and saw a clear blue sky.

So why wouldn't we want to hang around till sunset, and perhaps could catch dinner in the area too?

We tried our luck heading off to Segarra Restaurant, at Carnaval Beach area. The restaurant was already packed with guests, or packed with reserved tables to be exact.  I demanded to get a table for 4 at beachfront which was reserved for 8 pm.  Heh.  They couldn't say no to me.

Here's the picture stories - watching life and love happening under the evening sky.
 
I'm awesome!

Daddy's Little Girl. I took this pics because I love the kiddie's pants.  So cute.

Bali Hai Beer and Segarra Sunset.  Mine.  I was really thirsty.

Mat and sands in slow motion.



Mat and Matthew, reviewing the picture catch.

 
A bride and groom having their wedding pictures. Unaware of the whole world watching, as they belonged only to each other, as the moment was all theirs to take.
(The guy with camera at the left side, was Matthew. I stole these pics from a distance.)


"Once in awhile, right in the middle of an ordinary life, 
love gives us a fairy tale."

  

"Love transcends the world and those in it, for it is sparked in the soul that can never be lost."


 
"Faith makes all things possible; Love makes all things easy."



"Marriage is the golden ring in a chain whose beginning is a glance and whose ending is eternity."


Catching the sunset, with an iPad.

Silhouette













"Never waste any amount of time doing anything important 
when there is a sunset outside that you should be sitting under." 

And so we did. 

Visit here for Mat's pics on the sunset.