Last Weekend Was Fun
Status: Confirmed
Apparently, Ketty has been looking forward to calling me but I forgot to tell my office new number. When we could finally talk over the phone, she confirmed me about the end-year vacation program.
It was a program held by AFS Indonesia national office as a tribute to those volunteers who have been active in AFS committees performing many programming - including selection of Indonesian exchange students, sending them to their host countries, and hosting foreign students.
This time I did my gig for free - just say it's in exchange for the vacation and the ride and also the fun of meeting new people in a villa located in uphill Cisarua, a couple kilometres just below Taman Safari Indonesia.
Friday night, I packed my keyboard, along with some lyric books and clothings and went to my cousin's in Cipinang from where it would be closer to our meeting spot in Rawamangun. It was almost midnight when I arrived, and although I was past my bedtime so that it was very hard to push eyes to attain rest, I managed to control my mind to relax and finally dozed off all night.
A Cab to Remember (and to Avoid in the Future)
In the cloudy saturday morning, I woke up half-rested after a mere 5 hours of slumber. But rather than giving way to crankiness, I took my bath and had a simple breakfast, and just after 7 pm, took a cab to Rawamangun.
The taxi driver was my first test of patience that day. Although there was a much shorter way from Cipinang to Rawamangun, instead he took a longer winding route via Jatinegara, Matraman and Pramuka. I gave him my words of disagreement, but he told me he had no idea of the shorter route. It was already too late to take a U-turn and I was too mad to argue, so I just gave him a bitter silent treatment. If only I hadn't so many stuffs to carry, I would have make him stop the car and hopped into another taxi. Next time I better wear my glasses when hailing a cab: that time the blue color deceived me into thinking that it was one of my favorite Blue Bird cabs.
Past 8.30, I arrived in Rawamangun. Trying to release the cabby-iniatiated anger out of my system, I put the story into a self-deprecated joke of how silly I was to let myself in that BlueBird-alike cab. Finally I got something to cheer up the morning: a cup of coffee and friends to laugh with.
The traffic to Puncak was light. With only a little bit of congestion near Pasar Cisaru, we finally made it to Villa Arar. The others hadn't arrived yet so we were free to pick our own bedroom. Later, the calmness of the hilltop villa turned into a hilarious crowd.
Into The Night
The case of discovering a vanishing Diva was hot on TV. As most of modern Jakartans, even in this vacation "to escape from it all" we couldn't shunt ourselves from the celebrity news. That afternoon we spread out the news of Reza's reappearance over dining table, ping-pong table, basket-ball court, and boggle board.
Bored with the gossips, I set up my keyboard, plug a microphone and started playing a couple of notes to entice the audience to come and sing. The fish caught the bait. Soon I was overwhelmed with song requests, some regular and some other irregular.
It began to feel like a showcase where I performed my all-genre repertoire ranging through the decades. Other than the top 40 list, my AFS friends didn't hesitate to ask me to play children tunes, national marches, dangdut, even christmas carrols. Of course, most of the time they didn't even care to finish the whole song. I found myself juggling my hand over the keyboard's buttons to change the accompaniment and voice every time a new request came up.
Most of the volunteers are returnee or alumni of student exchange program who once experienced the holiday season in the western world. So when they asked me for "Jingle Bell Rock", I said why not as long as I could keep it secular. I was kinda familiar with that joyous tune from "Mean Girls", where the plastics performed for a show in santa suits, dancing and spanking their hip to the melodies.
The Tribute
The highlight of the night was actually the speech from AFS director which emphasized on how grateful the office is to have hardworking volunteers throughout this year. After handing out participation certificates, we prayed solemnly for a better new year. I was playing some intro tunes of Josh Groban's "You Lift Me Up" when some unpredictable AFS returnees changed it spontaneously into "Bagimu Negeri".
The karaoke session started again and continued after past 2 am.
I had just finished pumping an air mattress - a literal "make a bed" action, when I suddenly lost my will of sleeping. Most people took their car to Puncak Pass to look for late night coffee but I chose to stay in the villa and chat with some new friends by the pool. Without my sweater, I tried hard to fight the cold breeze but the conversation was worth it. It brought me new ideas about insider's view of AFS.
Lazy Sunday
I woke up late just to find people talking about rising fuel price over breakfast table. Surely not to miss the hot topic and the delicious fried rice, I took a bath and soon joined them in a conversation about what was going on in the last 12 hours after we left Jakarta.
Another karaoke session. Crazy games. Safari Trekking. Photo Shoots. Sumptuous lunch which included deep-fried Gurame. Time seemed to fly until it was time for us to part. See you next time.
Apparently, Ketty has been looking forward to calling me but I forgot to tell my office new number. When we could finally talk over the phone, she confirmed me about the end-year vacation program.
It was a program held by AFS Indonesia national office as a tribute to those volunteers who have been active in AFS committees performing many programming - including selection of Indonesian exchange students, sending them to their host countries, and hosting foreign students.
This time I did my gig for free - just say it's in exchange for the vacation and the ride and also the fun of meeting new people in a villa located in uphill Cisarua, a couple kilometres just below Taman Safari Indonesia.
Friday night, I packed my keyboard, along with some lyric books and clothings and went to my cousin's in Cipinang from where it would be closer to our meeting spot in Rawamangun. It was almost midnight when I arrived, and although I was past my bedtime so that it was very hard to push eyes to attain rest, I managed to control my mind to relax and finally dozed off all night.
A Cab to Remember (and to Avoid in the Future)
In the cloudy saturday morning, I woke up half-rested after a mere 5 hours of slumber. But rather than giving way to crankiness, I took my bath and had a simple breakfast, and just after 7 pm, took a cab to Rawamangun.
The taxi driver was my first test of patience that day. Although there was a much shorter way from Cipinang to Rawamangun, instead he took a longer winding route via Jatinegara, Matraman and Pramuka. I gave him my words of disagreement, but he told me he had no idea of the shorter route. It was already too late to take a U-turn and I was too mad to argue, so I just gave him a bitter silent treatment. If only I hadn't so many stuffs to carry, I would have make him stop the car and hopped into another taxi. Next time I better wear my glasses when hailing a cab: that time the blue color deceived me into thinking that it was one of my favorite Blue Bird cabs.
Past 8.30, I arrived in Rawamangun. Trying to release the cabby-iniatiated anger out of my system, I put the story into a self-deprecated joke of how silly I was to let myself in that BlueBird-alike cab. Finally I got something to cheer up the morning: a cup of coffee and friends to laugh with.
The traffic to Puncak was light. With only a little bit of congestion near Pasar Cisaru, we finally made it to Villa Arar. The others hadn't arrived yet so we were free to pick our own bedroom. Later, the calmness of the hilltop villa turned into a hilarious crowd.
Into The Night
The case of discovering a vanishing Diva was hot on TV. As most of modern Jakartans, even in this vacation "to escape from it all" we couldn't shunt ourselves from the celebrity news. That afternoon we spread out the news of Reza's reappearance over dining table, ping-pong table, basket-ball court, and boggle board.
Bored with the gossips, I set up my keyboard, plug a microphone and started playing a couple of notes to entice the audience to come and sing. The fish caught the bait. Soon I was overwhelmed with song requests, some regular and some other irregular.
It began to feel like a showcase where I performed my all-genre repertoire ranging through the decades. Other than the top 40 list, my AFS friends didn't hesitate to ask me to play children tunes, national marches, dangdut, even christmas carrols. Of course, most of the time they didn't even care to finish the whole song. I found myself juggling my hand over the keyboard's buttons to change the accompaniment and voice every time a new request came up.
Most of the volunteers are returnee or alumni of student exchange program who once experienced the holiday season in the western world. So when they asked me for "Jingle Bell Rock", I said why not as long as I could keep it secular. I was kinda familiar with that joyous tune from "Mean Girls", where the plastics performed for a show in santa suits, dancing and spanking their hip to the melodies.
The Tribute
The highlight of the night was actually the speech from AFS director which emphasized on how grateful the office is to have hardworking volunteers throughout this year. After handing out participation certificates, we prayed solemnly for a better new year. I was playing some intro tunes of Josh Groban's "You Lift Me Up" when some unpredictable AFS returnees changed it spontaneously into "Bagimu Negeri".
The karaoke session started again and continued after past 2 am.
I had just finished pumping an air mattress - a literal "make a bed" action, when I suddenly lost my will of sleeping. Most people took their car to Puncak Pass to look for late night coffee but I chose to stay in the villa and chat with some new friends by the pool. Without my sweater, I tried hard to fight the cold breeze but the conversation was worth it. It brought me new ideas about insider's view of AFS.
Lazy Sunday
I woke up late just to find people talking about rising fuel price over breakfast table. Surely not to miss the hot topic and the delicious fried rice, I took a bath and soon joined them in a conversation about what was going on in the last 12 hours after we left Jakarta.
Another karaoke session. Crazy games. Safari Trekking. Photo Shoots. Sumptuous lunch which included deep-fried Gurame. Time seemed to fly until it was time for us to part. See you next time.
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