The Broken Heart Songs

I read Dadan's entry about his broken heart song. I remembered mine. I have four official theme songs for each time my heart was crushed, shattered and broken into pieces. (Well, it’s not as bad as it sounds.)

So, to the people whom I had the privileges of having my heart broken and healed, I sincerely thank you. Thank you for growing the seed of love that if only nature shall be more kind, perhaps that seed shall produce a love story that was worthy of a fairy tale. Or,… may be not.

I bestowed thee the songs of love that had accompanied me during the heartbreaking days of healing. Songs of remedy for a broken heart.

1998
One True Friend
Bette Middler

“Though love may break, it never dies.
It changes shape, through changing eyes.
What I denied, I now can see.
You always were the light inside of me.”

The first time my heart got broken was, well, the easiest to heal. Why? I think that was because I never lose ‘the one’ I fell in love with, in fact our relationship became one of the most precious relationships I possess, till now. We still love and care about each other so much (I hope you do feel the same, you know who).

They say, first love never dies, I think I believe so. It simply changes shape. So did my love. from the beginning I knew all along that I was doomed to fall in love even when we hadn’t met. Just talking over the phone and exchanging emails were enough for me to be too comfortable I was ready to try for anything, even a long distance relationship. Reality bit hard. But I was healed fast for I know that though we may never become lovers, our bond is too strong to deny and I need not be scared to be left by my object of affection. We simply change the way we see each other and everything is great ever since. Eight years and stronger than ever. My dearest, I love you for being tremendously kind to my heart. Thank you for being the wiser soul.

1999
I love you
Sarah McLachlan

"and I forgot to tell you I love you
and the night's too long
and cold here without you
I grieve in my condition
for I cannot find the strength to say
I need you so"

The second one took the longest time to heal. Perhaps because it was the first intense relation I ever had and I simply didn’t know how to manage the feeling after the break up. But we’re still together, and we are still the best of friends.

It happened one night when we were parted for a month. I was told from a long distance call that my lover found someone else who cared, and I was so far way and the situation, the choices, were so confusing. I pretended to be strong and made the decision to break up for both of us. Inside, I was crumbled slowly. And as I was driving along Sabang Street a month after the break and listening to the lamenting voice of Sarah Mclachlan, I gave in and let the grieve took hold of me. After a month in denial. I parked my car on the street side, broke down and cried. Alone, in the middle of the day. Stung by the heat of an aching heart.

2003
Broken Vow
Lara Fabian

“I let you go
I let you fly
Why do I keep on asking why
I let you go
Now that I found
A way to keep somehow
More than a broken vow”

I have to admit that I hate to talk about the third one. The one relationship that, if I have a power to undo things, I wish to undo this one. The only relationship that becomes, if I may use the word, ‘meaningless’. The year I was stamped as a total fool. Fool. Fool. Fool. How could I be such a fool? I have no idea. I still wonder sometimes, how I could, within those eleven months of intense, and I really meant ‘intense’, relationship, fail to learn and understand the sort of person that I was in love with. It was like having a relationshop with an imaginary lover that was the creation of my own delusion. Man, I was such a fool in love.

And this person became the only person that once I was in love with, but I don’t care the whereabouts now. For me, the so called relationship had gone to oblivion. And I never wish to have anything to do with that person. I just don’t see the point. Not that I was still upset or angry, gosh no! I never stay mad long to others, but it was the other way around. I was the one who could still find it a little bit hard to forgive myself. I who believe in logical explanation and reasoning could fall for such a cheap trick, for living in the disguise and pretense of a deceiving relationship for such a long time. I should have known better. But I failed myself, and I still learn to forgive myself for such terrible mistake. Till the very day.

And the song that gave me the chill was actually not a brand new song, but rather an old one I’ve already liked but during August 2003, provided me with the most appropriate emotional outlet. And the following morning after our last conversation that ended with accusation, three weeks after the breakup, I sat alone at the office listening to the cry of Lara Fabian. Looking out of the window and the greenery of Manggala’s park with skycrappers touching the sky at afar, my heart was plunging down and shattered into pieces.

2004
Songbird
Eva Cassidy

“For you there'll be no crying
For you the sun will be shining
’Cause I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright, I know it's right

And the songbirds keep singing
Like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before

To you, I would give the world
To you, I'd never be cold
‘Cause I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright, I know it's right

And the songbirds keep singing
Like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before
Like never before”

The last time I fell in love, well, it was another thing I couldn’t see coming, just like any other love. I blame it on the work of ‘x factor’, a catalyst of a chemistry reaction at work, something magic that you can never fathom its logic. But circumstance, personal indictment, self-assessment, and a thousand obscure reasons I yet to grasp the meaning of, plotting against me to try and make a story of love to materialize.

The story of the fourth broken heart went on like the first one. I fell in love, it wouldn’t work, yet we become friends. This time, it was for reasons I could not yet to fathom. I mean, I understood the part-I-fell in love-I-expressed-it-I-got-rejected-thing. What I failed to truly understand, or refuse to accept, is the reason. How can you reject someone for being ‘better’ than your expectations? (I hope I’m not mistaken in interpreting the reason) I never feel that I’m such a ‘better than the rest’ kind of person. I love a person for what that person is, nothing less nothing more.

But alas, I didn’t fight back. My previous relationship taught me that, well yes, it got purpose after all. So yes, I learn something alright. I don’t want to have a relationship with someone who is not comfortable of being the real person with me and sees me as competitor or someone who has too much to handle. It will lead to a disaster. My ex-lover used to have that sort of ‘unworthy’ feeling but yet arrogantly hide behind the phrase, “I am what I am, take it or leave it” and never let any wind of change breezes through the vein and brings new perspectives. And the relationship flowed into the gutter.

The song that snapped me from realizing that I fell in love with someone I could never have belongs to the lovely late Eva Cassidy. Her voice brought new realm in that cold morning in February. A realm where a love is lost before it has ever begun. But I know, it’s alright for even I can only love from afar, it’s a love worth nurturing. Just like the first time I fell in love, I simply need to change the way I see the person, and the love shall take the form of the way the eyes do. For love is like water and the eyes are its container.

But now, we have become friends, dear friends—at least the way I see it, that I shall cherish in days to come. And though sometimes I have to admit, a tingle still pricks on my heart and left me ponder, “what if,” I am content with what I got.

Until I love again.

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TWILITE ORCHESTRA: A Night at the Opera

I was having dinner with Isna before the performance of Twilite Orchestra commenced at 8pm. It was in some obscure new fast food in the basement of Plangi that offered some cheaper packages, New York something, the name of the joint. I ordered pizza and soft drink. It was a huge slice of pizza with nothing on top of it but four small thin slices of salami. Isna and I laughed at the ridicule portion of meat topping the pizza. Isna joked that it was good for my diet. Oh, please, can anybody stop telling me to diet and instead giving me the best-cheap doctor who can perform a miraculous liposuction?

Then, my cell vibrated. It was from Toto, a friend of Pram and Iwan whom I already met during the last Hajj Day.

I read the sms, “Roy, kamu jadi nonton? Udah ada di mana?”

Roy? Arundhati Roy? Sigmund Roy? Roy Marten? Who the hell was Roy? I forwarded the sms to the two people who know him, Pram and Iwan, and I sent my reply to the dyslexic guy.

“Kalo Roy nggak tahu deh, tapi Rio sih nontonJ,” my charming reply.

Isna laughed after I read the sms. I got a reply, quick, of apology. Ok, no problemo, what is in a name for a rose is still a rose, right Bill? (I refer to William ‘the Bart’ Shakespeare, ya).

So we met Toto at the front door and got inside. I was here a few days ago and, boy how different it was. No screaming little women and no lines to get in. Candles everywhere and they smelled like aromatherapy. Not so good an idea, I don’t like the smell, it smelled like a cemetery. Creepy, eh?!

Anyway, upon sitting in a rather empty hall, I found the first disappointment: there was no program book for virtuoso class—meaning the lowest-cheapest-pariah class in the show. But this pariah paid 100 thousand rups deh! So irritating! I took the 200 something program book laid on an empty chair. Ten minutes before eight and it was still rather empty, especially compared to Indonesian Idol I previously saw. So a missing program book wouldn’t be such a scandal, would it?

Second disappointment took place right after Addie MS began flaunting the baton. The photographers who were standing behind us felt like they needed to take part in the prelude of the showcase. They created another section to bring fresh nuance to the song. The camera section. It sounded “click, click, click,” without any sense of rhythm and ignoring the flaunting hand of the conductor.

The break after the first song was frantic as people scrambled to find their seat after being held back outside in the first song. We stole an opportunity during the hectic situation when people tried to find their seat in the free seating arrangement. The three of us seek comfort in the second best class of the show.

Now, the highlight of the show. Mbak Aning Katamsi was always sweet and melancholy and that night she was not at her best, nevertheless she could still soar. She still beat the higher notes in ‘Casta Diva’ smoothly although at times, she seemed a bit out of breath. Err… shall we jog together around Senayan, mbak? You, to improve your breathing, as for I, well, you know, to trim my tummy.

Christopher Abimanyu was my third disappointment. He was simply awful. Little power, uninspiring interpretation, unfit condition (he coughed several times), in short, he simply failed to entertain me. But boy, I love Rosario La Spina. His voice was powerful and impressive. And he was also a good actor, he didn’t just stand as most tenors would, but moved around with his huge body on the stage. A true entertainer. Anyway, what is all that about with tenors? Why are there so many of them fat? Luciano, Placido, and now, Rosario. (Yeah, I’m sure Mas Wisa would comment, they were also Javanese).

As for the orchestra and choir of Twilite, they were good but not so good lah. Not their best performance. I remembered once I was truly entertained when they performed in the concert called Musicademia. That night, playing mostly opera songs, TO was not in their peak performance, but I had a good time, though. I enjoyed the probably mediocre performance because perhaps, I haven’t seen a classical performance for quite some time, I long for any performance. All in all, it was good to go to an affordable classical concert once in a while.

Such a treat to the soul.

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Mak, aye masuk tivi, mak!

Jumat malam itu gue dapet kejutan yang gue nggak tahu bakal jadi kejutan yang nyenengin ato nyusahin gue. Gak lama kelar Nania nyanyi dan iklan, gue nerima sms dari dua orang temen yang bilang kalo wajah gue menghiasi layar kaca. Hehe…nggak mungkin banget ada yang nulis sms gitu ke gue, carmuk amat.

Pokoknya, waktu Nania nyanyi, muka gue disyut sama kamera. Gue lagi tersenyum lebar gitu (Ok, ok, temen gue pake kata cengengesan, tapi kan gue nggak suka cengengesan. Tersenyum lebar iya) Dan gue tentu nggak sadar kalo lagi disyut kamera karena kalo sadar, gue pasti udah dadah-dadah, hehe… nggak mungkin lagi, gue kan jaim.

Yang ada, kalo gue tahu kamera ngincer gue, gue bakalan pura-pura ngelengos dong ah. Gue kan lagi jadi pelarian dari kantor, gitu lhooo... Gue takut bos gue yang udah gue ‘kibulin’ itu lihat juga. Gawat kan? Sapa tahu di kantor dia asyik maenin remote dan mantengin Idol.

Sabtu besoknya, waktu gue masuk kantor jam 11, sekretaris bos gue yang dateng buat ngerjain tugas kuliahnya langsung teriak, “Mas Rio! Gue liat elo di tivi! Pertama-tama gue nggak ngeh kalo itu elo, tapi BATIK lo itu lho! Ya ampun, gue tahu ini orang, hehehe....! Lo ajaib deh pake batik nonton konser ABG.”

Dug! Ketohok dong gue. Aduuhh... sekarang aib nambah deh, udah ketahuan bohong, eh sekarang ketangkep basah pake batik nonton Indonesian Idol. Emang sih, batik gue tangan pendek, tapi apapun kan teuteup batik. Sangat tidak funkee buat acara seperti itu. Tapi mo diapain, gue kan nggak sempet balik ke kos, dan itu hari Jumat, gue emang suka pake batik. Namanya juga kerja buat kantor pemerintah, biar status konsultan juga kan tetep aja gue nggak mungkin pake kaos, jins dan kets andelan gue. Batik jadi pilihan biar nggak bosen pake kemeja itu lagi, itu lagi.

Ato... jangan-jangan kamerawannya emang sengaja ngesyut gue karena dia ngelihat, ih, ada orang aneh nih! Nonton Idol pake batik! Kalau gitu bodo amat, yang penting gue masuk tivi!

Banceh tampil.

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INDONESIAN IDOL: Joy to the world

It was five o'clock in the afternoon. My boss still demanded me to finish updating the English part of the website. I anxiously looked at the time and the amount of work yet to be done. I promised Isna to come to Sarbini at the latest, 19.30. Hmm... two hours left to finish everything, if I didn't say a Maghrib prayer, I could pull it off. Ooops... I don't do Maghribs, so problem’s solved.

The time moved so fast and I finished editing and translating all the materials at 18.55. What’s left was uploading. I didn’t have to do it myself, we got a webmaster for it, but I usually had to supervise the process. My Boss was still working and waiting for the result of the uploading process. He seemed like he wanted to stay longer so I figured why not let he did the supervising of the whole uploading-thing for me. For a change.

So, I asked for permission to leave the uploading process unsupervised, and left my Boss in charge, for a ‘family affair’. He asked what if there were troubles in the process and he needed me to fix things. Easy, I was ready with an answer. I told him that in the event of emergency, call me or message me, I’d be back at the office that night if I had to. He gave his consent, grumblingly, I could tell.

I have already prepared myself so I ran to my cubicle and grabbed my backpack and walked as fast as I could before he, or anyone, would ask anything else from me. How to go? Taxi, in the midst of three-in-one? Bad choice! So I hailed an ‘ojeg’ driver and asked him to take me to Plangi, fast. He did, I think I shouldn’t’ve encouraged an ojeg driver to go fast, it’s like salting sea water! They don’t do slow!

I got there in one piece, thank God, and frantically searched my cell to call Isna. Damn! she was still on the way. I waited and bought some breadtalks. I met Rommy and Adit while waiting—they got the tickets from Arya. I also spoke with Dan who had already got in and saved some seats for me.

Fifteen minutes before eight, Isna came from behind my back and dragged my arm and we ran inside. Once got in with a balloon for purposes I got no clue about, we looked for a seat. Pheeww... there was only one seat left on blue side, the color of ‘client’ ticket. So we sat together on that one seat.

O boy, how was I irked when the show was about to commence! The screaming of pubescent girls was deafening my ears. They screamed “Bona! Bona! Bona!” like those Hawaiians screamed “Tora! Tora! Tora!” upon the coming of Japanese Kamikaze! Crazy teenagers!

I looked at Isna and pleaded, “Please, tell me that you were never like one of these abatutets (anak baru tumbuh t%$^) who screamed and screamed aggravatingly?” (For Mas Wisa, this is the actual dialogue, “Plis deh, Na, jangan bilang lo pernah jadi abatutet yang suka teriak-teriak kayak orang gila gitu?”)

She poked me with her balloon, “Gilingan!” (Well, you don’t need translation for this sort of language ya, Mas)

The show began. The chorus of the Power of Eight sang the theme song of Indonesian Idol opened the show before Irgy and Ata and Guy “Kribo” Sebastian showed up and greeted the audience, in Sarbini and at home. The theme of the night was ‘Romantic Songs’. Hmmm… nice, I guess. Isna was excited and I wondered whether she preferred to be with his fiancée listening to these romantic songs instead of me.

Anyway, Bona came out first singing Mandy flatly and I cursed all these teenage girls who couldn’t stop screaming and screaming. Despite his sweet voice and for being so cute, Bona provided no chill in my back except. The same cuteness-but-no-thrill-performance came from Delon who tried his best to give ‘How do you heal a broken heart’ the sound of a heart-breaking. Err… Delon, honey, bad choice, with a look like yours, you’re doomed to break so many hearts but your own.

Michael, on the other hand, gave a better performance than his cute competitors. His voice was, as Isna put it properly, “laki banget”. And he wore this white shantung (I just learned about the textile from my dear-bride-to-be-friend) jacket that was soooo cool. Sooo Dan Johnson circa Miami Vice with a hint of Puff Daddy or P Diddy or whatever name that J-Lo ex boyfriend is using these days. Lucky was the best male performer that night—my abang in Bandung said his look was so obviously “pendekar”. He has the best voice material in male category as Nania does in girls’. No-contest. He chose a too familiar material sung by another wonderful singer, Glenn, his recent hit, ‘Januari’. He couldn’t make it sound better than Glenn, but he pulled it off nicely, though a bit slow.

That night, Nania was rather disappointing by her own standard. She’s good as usual, with a voice like hers, even yawning, she would sound lovelier than say, me trying my best to sound like err… Josh Groban (Heck, I can compare myself with whomever I please ya! Remember this is my blog, you siriq people). It was another case of bad choice for Nania. As for another female Idol-to-be, Helena, she gave a ravishingly confident performance. I like her stylish way. She’s the best performer that night in terms of making the stage as her playground. She seemed so at ease. But again, she chose a not-so-popular song for Indonesian to relate to, ‘You make me feel like natural woman’. Another contestant, Karen, chose a familiar song’ Cinta jangan kau pergi’, but she just simply didn’t have the heart to sing it. She competed Bona in flat singing. She’s simply out (and she was).

But the star of the night was none other than the rubber face, Joy! O my God! She blew my pants off, although of course, I wish… oops, I daydreamed a bit. Joy overjoyed me! Joy ruled the night! She rocked! She sang ‘To love you more’ from Celine Dion with her heart in and out, her voice high and low, and that face, that used-to-be-irritating-face twitched only when necessary! She gave the chill I looked for. And she drew audiences crazy, even those screaming abatutets now screaming for Joy, and thumped their feet. It was ecstatic. She’s the best! Watch out Nania!

Enough said.

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Ulang tahun

Setahun lebih tua
Adakah dua belas kali lebih bijak,
Lima puluh dua kali lebih sabar,
Tiga ratus enam puluh lima kali lebih pemurah?

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Nonton Indonesian Idol, siapa takut?

Pengumuman penting dengar hai dengar!
Pengumuman penting bagi kawan semua!

Tertama buat Mas Wisa yang lagi mudik dan paling baru baca pengumuman ini kalo balik ke peradaban, hehe ....

AKU DAPET TIKET NONTON INDONESIAN IDOL malam ini!

Siriq ya? Sori deh, abis gimana dong, kamu jauh, dan kalopun deket, nggak ada tiket lebih. Gini ceritanya:

Pagi-pagi dapet offline message dari Isna, my angel, "udah siap?"

Gue bingung dong, "siap apaan?"

"Nonton Idol," katanya.

Isna emang pernah ngejanjiin gue tiket kalo dia dapet gratisan lagi dari kliennya, Nokia. Dia nonton waktu Idol Spektakuler 1 langsung di Sarbini sama tunangannya, Roman. Tengs Gad malam ini si Roman ada acara orang iklan laen jadi tiket dia buat gue! Gak papa, dapet tiket cadangan, yang penting gratis, gratis, gratis!

Dan ... ini bakal jadi Spektakuler pertama yang gue tonton dan Indonesian Idol kedua yang gue tonton setelah Workshop kedua yang dimenangin si 'muka karet' Joy, Andhika, dan Winda. Konyol ya, lagak gue udah kayak fan berat tapi nonton aja baru dua kali, hehe ....

Cuman, gue takut ada meeting ntar sore, hiks ... aduh, plis deh semuanya, gue udah janji ngantor kan Sabtu-Minggu ini nongkrong di percetakan biar Senen majalah rese itu kelar. Plis ... kasih izin gue pulang sore ini ya, pliiiiisssssssss ...

(Duh, Rio, kesian deh lo, yang baca blog lo kan teman lo, bukan bos lo! Nggak nolong banget deh mohon-mohon juga! Udah ah, balik kerja lagi, biar sore kelar dan nggak ada yang bisa ngelarang gue nonton!)

Tapi, coba aja berani ngelarang, gue kepret mejret ntar!

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Sleepless (Begadang) II

It's five in the morning. Another sleepless night at work. This time, even not sleeping can't help me make the deadline. Help.

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Hadiah

Gue baca di blog-nya Wisa soal kesibukan dia beli hadiah buat keponakan-keponakannya yang berprestasi bagus di sekolah. Dan ini bikin gue inget pengalaman gue waktu sekolah dulu sehubungan sama urusan nilai di sekolah yang diterapin sama Nyokap gue. Dia punya cara unik untuk menghargai prestasi anak-anaknya. Cara ini adalah cara yang dipake ayahnya, kakek gue, dalam mendidik dia dulu dan diterapin ke gue, kakak, dan adek-adek gue.

Gue nggak pernah dapet hadiah setiap kenaikan kelas. Dari SD sampe SMA, nggak pernah sekalipun gue nerima hadiah atas nilai bagus dan gelar juara yang gue dapet. Sementara kakak dan adek-adek gue selalu dapet hadiah padahal nggak ada satupun dari mereka yang juara. Masuk sepuluh besar pun nggak pernah rasanya. Gue protes karena merasa diperlakukan nggak adil. Alasan gue, semua orang yang nilainya bagus dikasih hadiah oleh orang tuanya, tapi di rumah ini aneh, yang nilainya jelek yang dapet hadiah. Seperti biasa, gue menuduh nyokap pilih kasih, gue berantem heboh sama nyokap (O yes, I'm such a drama queen!), seperti kasus ngepel ato nyapu itu (lihat entry: A long-delayed laugh)

Nyokap pun menyabarkan gue dengan bilang bahwa Ayah—gue dan adik-kakak juga ikutan manggil kakek gue ayah seperti nyokap—bilang bahwa kalo kita dapet nilai bagus, apalagi jadi juara, maka seharusnya kita seneng. Nilai bagus dan gelar juara adalah hadiah dari kerja keras kita belajar yang nilainya jauh lebih berharga daripada seribu mobil-mobilan yang biasa didapet adek-adek gue. Dan kalau kita udah seneng, seharusnya kita nggak usah dikasih hadiah lagi. Beda dengan adek-kakak gue yang nggak pernah juara dan masuk sepuluh besar, mereka udah usaha tapi masih tetap belum berhasil. Mereka pasti sedih dan kecewa, makanya mereka dikasih hadiah biar mereka tetap senang dan semangat belajar tahun berikutnya. Logika SD gue nggak pernah bener-bener paham kenapa nyokap gue mendidik dengan cara begitu berbeda dari orang tua temen-temen gue yang lain. Logika 10 tahun gue bilang, semestinya hadiah buat gue lebih bagus daripada yang diterima adek-kakak gue.

Tapi waktu gue lulus SMA dan diterima di UI, gue baru paham betapa bijaknya nyokap gue. Seperti biasa, gue nggak terima hadiah apa-apa waktu lulus SMA. Tapi begitu pengumuman UMPTN keluar dan gue diterima di UI, nyokap sujud syukur terus ngomong ke gue, "gimana kalo kamu mama kirim kursus bahasa Inggris sambil nunggu masuk kuliah ke Australia?"

Gue kaget, karena gue tau keluarga gue bukan orang yang cukup mampu buat ngirim anaknya ke luar negeri, bahkan untuk sekedar kursus. Kami nggak kaya, walaupun nggak miskin, keluarga yang berkecukupan tanpa berkelebihan. Gue pun nanya sambil becanda, "Hah? Nggak salah nih, Mama abis ngerampok Bank ato Babe korupsi?"

Nyokap ketawa dan cuma bilang bahwa itu adalah tabungan pendidikan dia buat gue. Dia udah nyiapin dana kalo gue nggak lulus UMPTN dan harus kuliah di universitas swasta. Gue emang udah diterima di Trisakti yang, uang kuliahnya, dari dulu juga mahal. Dan karena sekarang gue diterima di UI dengan uang kuliah 180 ribu per semester dan uang sumbangan yang cuma 250 ribu—dibanding 4 juta di Trisakti—Nyokap punya uang lebih buat gue. Dan itu hak gue, katanya.

Asli, gue diem dan saat itu mata gue terbuka bahwa nyokap gue selama ini ngajarin hal yang sangat penting. Nyokap gue ngajarin untuk menghargai usaha sendiri tanpa harus diiming-imingi hadiah karena penghargaan, apapun bentuknya, akan datang tanpa kita minta. Ketika gue udah terbiasa nggak menerima hadiah untuk semua prestasi akademis gue dan terbiasa untuk nggak berharap apa-apa, Nyokap memberikan penghargaan yang, gue tahu, sebetulnya di luar batas kemampuan dia.

Gue cuman bisa nyium kening nyokap dan bilang, “Makasih ma, tapi simpen aja deh duitnya buat yang lain. Yoyok nggak perlu hadiah, diterima di UI aja udah seneng kok.”

She cried.

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Weekend recap

FRIDAY
20.30 Hijacked by Eric to stay over at his place. Diner @temuku first.
23.30 Eric's boarding room, Lippo Karawaci. Supposed to work on the editing of the translation, but too tired to make much progress. I haven't had enough sleep for the past week but Eric's loud snore kept me awake, damn!

SATURDAY
03.00 Finally, my eyes shut off. The bed is as hard as wood.
07.00 Woke up. My body ached. How could Eric sleep in this wood for a year? It's 'curhat' time, Eric poured his heart out.
10.30 Leaving on a shuttle bus.
11.30 Got to boarding room at almost midday. Try to work a bit. Little progress.
15.30 Went to Mayestik accompanied by Dedek A to buy brocade material for 'kebaya' - yes, kebaya, you read it right - for a wedding gift.
17.45 Went to Djakarta Theater to buy tickets for the 10pm "Spidey 2".
18.15 Off to Starbucks at Setia Budi Building to meet Isna and her fiancee, Roman and gave the gift. Thanks God she liked the off white French brocade I bought her.
19.15 Back in boarding room -- watched 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire', an old internet friend was on the hot seat.
19.45 Dedek A and Z came. Gotta take a bath.
20.30 McCafe, Miko's been waiting. 15 minutes later Iwan came.
21.15 Pram showed up.
21.25 Spidey 2. Cool movie!
23.30 Late supper @Hot Planet

SUNDAY
02.00 Home. Dreamland.
09.00 Wake up. Someone turned the air conditioner off! Babe, I supposed. Got up and arranged the day.
10.00 My young cousins came. 11 and 9 yo.
11.00 My four nephews came. Miss them.
11.30 Off to Plaza Semanggi to see 'Shrek 2'.
12.00 Oh, the line, thanks God, people are watching Harry Potter. My brother and his daughter showed up.
12.30 Lunch @Hoka-hoka Bento with seven noisy kids. My youngest baby nephew cried when I hold him. My sister said, "You gotta come and hold him often if you want him to get to know you." Gosh, I'm a pariah, turned down by my own nephew as if he can sense that I'm not a kid-person. But I love you, nephew!
13.45 Shrek's a delight. My 3 yo niece went out during mid-show. My brother took her out.
15.30 Plangi playground. Fay is soooo funny and naughty, I think he's the naughtiest-funniest-most-adorable little boy I know (well, I consider other kids except my nephews and niece just plain naughty and annoying, huehue .... Talk about a lack of fatherhood.)
18.00 Home, at last. I need adult conversation! No baby talk please!
19.00 Ratu Plaza, met Dedek A, shopped some DVDs and toiletteries @Carre4. Eric was upset I didn't go out with him!
21.00 Diner with Rinto and Iwan @Chandra, Chinese Restaurant in Karbela. Messaging with Yudi and Ewin.
21.30 Hijacked by Yudi and Ewin. Went to boarding room first. Then off to McD. Gosh, I soooo need another 24 hours place around Thamrin. Been to Starbucks, McCafe and Hot Planet wayyyy too many times. Pram and Iwan joined shortly.

MONDAY
02.00 Home. My Dad, brother, nephew and cousin were all up to see the final. I chose sleeping of course.
07.00 Woke up. Tried to work.
08.00 Still trying.
12.00 Trying some more.
14.00 Went back to boarding room.
17.00 Tried again.
21.00 I was still persistent.
24.00 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Old posting and comments

Anniversary Song Contemplation

Today

An anniversary is celebrated

Lovers rejoice their existence

For time has been kind

This hour

An anniversary is commemorated

Lovers celebrate their love

In each other’s arms

A minute ago

Love knocked on one’s heart

To find the door’s locked tight

A second before

The door’s opened

But it’s a minute too late

And chance has gone

Another chance of anniversary is lost

Another year of less happiness

To Eva

My muse

My angel

The voice

HUMMING: Anniversary Song

Composed by Steven M Digman

Sung by Eva Cassidy

Today has been a special day
An anniversary, a request
That you play your piano
As the evening sun slowly sets

I never thought I’d get this old dear
Never had a reason to live so long
And the Lord’s been like my shadow
Even when I was wrong
No I never thought it would turn out this way

A birthday with apologies
For all the tears and the rest
And I’ve always saved your poetry
For those years when you forget

I never thought I’d get this old dear
Never had a reason to live so long
And the Lord’s been like my shadow
Even when I was wrong
No one never thought it would turn out this way

So sing with me softly
As the day turns to night
And later I’ll dream of paradise with you
I love you and good night