Waking Up and Smelling The Coffee

I just had my birthday almost a week ago. Celebrating it by buying myself a ticket to the Cranberries concert. It was the best 280K IDR I ever spent on a concert. You can say that I grew up with The Cranberries songs around me. Who could forget their greatest hit Zombie? I might never really remember the lyrics word by word, but it was definitely haunting.
So The Cranberries warmed up the crowd with “Analyze”. It was just what I needed. I guess as we all grow older, we are becoming more of a dry sponge. Hard, stiff, resistant. And this song reminds me to be free. Free your mind, open up, be a sponge! Jamming my head while chanting words from the song, the midnight sky witness how I and other thousands Cranberries fans free our soul that night.
Don’t analyze, don’t go that way, don’t lead that way, that would paralyze your evolution.

Sometimes, we do overthink everything that happens to us. Because we know whatever we do today, will affect whatever will happen to us tomorrow. We worry too much, that we cease to live. We fear the future too much, that we chose to pause, think and do nothing instead. What’s keeping me away from whatever it is that lay in front of me is only the fear to make mistakes. Realizing that, now I’m just trying to embrace every moment. Happiness, sadness, troubles, way out, problems, whatever that is, I’m opening up my mind. I am not afraid.

I’m free to decide. And I choose to wake up and smell the coffee.
As the night turns darker, and the concert grew thrilling, I discover another song by this band. An old song I never notice. This one goes to whoever you are who’d be the one. Trust me, when it's out there, it's not coming back.
I’ll be here. I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you. And there’s no other place. That I’d lay down my face. I’ll be dreaming my dreams with you.
And the concert ends with another hit by The Cranberries which is also another favorite of mine, "Dreams". It's the only video I can get of the band that night. I was too busy singing along that I forgot to recorded them LIVE. And you know what I kinda understood why they put this as a closing song. Because Cranberries treated their fans as a dream to them. That the fans are everything to them. And it was the sweetest closing score they could ever give us.
ROCK ON CRANBERRIES!! IT WAS MY BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!! v(^^)v

p.s. pardon the blurry, shaky, and too much hand blocking videos. It was recorded using my not-so-smart phone, while dancing through the song though trapped between three giants who refuse to give me some space and let me have a clearer vision to the band.

Another Visit to Kep. Seribu (The Thousand Islands)

A friend of mine, who'd be going back to Aussie to continue her study is begging me for a trip to Kep. Seribu. I figured I've been to Tidung before, what are the other islands I can visit this month. With a little googling I found a travel agent website, who response really quick to my questions. So without second guessing, immediately transfer a down payment to book a trip to Pulau Pramuka for 10 people.

For 450K IDR, we got facilities as follow :

• Public boat ticket Muara Angke - P. Pramuka - Muara Angke
• Cottage
• 4x Meal
• Snorkling equipments
• Small boat for island hopping (P. Semak Daun & P. Air)
• A visit to hawksbill sea turtle conservatory, Silver Pompano Farm

P. Pramuka is the centre of government for the other islands at Kep. Seribu, therefore you'll find this island more well arranged. The cottage/homestay is better than when that in Tidung. However electricity is still a scarce source in this island. Electricity is only on from 6 PM to 6 AM. So when the night comes, don't forget to charge your mobile and camera battery, as it is the only chance you got.

The snorkling trip was what the price really worth. Even if you're not visiting P. Pramuka, you really got to snorkle at P. Semak Daun & P. Air. I rank it 3.5 out of 5, plenty of fish around *you don't need to feed them to see them*, old and big coral reefs, really tranquil current. Actually the sea is very calm that I decided not to use the lifevest for help. Will visit again? definitely,, right after I see the other islands,, :)

Cerita Gila : The Last Girl Standing

Prologue : Mungkin isi postingan kali ini agak gak nyambung antara judul dengan isi, tapi mungkin juga sedikit2 nyambung. Anyhow,, sebuah cerita gila,, di akhir minggu yang juga gila.

Hari ini saya menghadiri pernikahan salah satu sahabat karib saya sejak jaman putih abu2 dulu. Pulang dari hajatan tiba2 teman karib saya yang lainnya menyodorkan sebuah undangan pernikahan tertanggal 3 minggu lagi. Saya tidak kaget *karena sudah mengira*, but the invitation practically makes me The Last Girl Standing.

Seperti halnya pernikahan sahabat2 saya sebelumnya, ajang resepsi pernikahan akan selalu dijadikan ajang reunian teman2 satu geng. Maka acara kumpul2 pun kemudian berlanjut ke mall2 atau restoran terdekat, dengan pembahasan terhangat : when will the last girl standing send out the invitiation, and how the others met the one. And they all say the same thing, that one day it could happen over a really small and simple thing. Hanya karena sebungkus asinan, hanya karena sebuah pertemuan di siang hari bolong, hanya karena niat membantu, dan hanya karena hanya karena lainnya yang begitu halusnya sehingga tak kasat mata, namun membuahkan jawaban pada waktunya. And here are the tips from first hand experience.

I. Nawaitu "Cari Jodohi" Lillahi Ta'ala

Apapun yang kita lakukan, baik dalam hal berkarier, studi, romance, intinya apapun yang dilakukan dalam hidup ini haruslah diawali dengan N.I.A.T. Niatkanlah untuk melakukan sesuatu, kemudian lakukan niat itu seperti halnya kita bernafas setiap detik. Sudah pasti niat kemudian akan menjadi bagian dari hidup kita, dan apapun yang kita cari akan menjadi lebih dekat. Namun sebelum berniat untuk mencari sesuatu, ada baiknya kita mengetahui apa yang kita cari. Which brings us to the next tips.

II. Determine what you've been searching for

Mungkin untuk yang ini saya akan sedikit menyinggung-nyinggung training seven habits yang dulu saya dapatkan. Tujuh kebiasaan Mr Covey ini sendiri dibagi menjadi dua bagian, satu untuk menjadikan diri lebih independen (self mastery), dua untuk bisa saling bekerjasama dengan orang lain. And the rule of thumb is kita tidak bisa bekerja sama dengan orang lain sebelum kita memahami diri sendiri. So in this term, please "Begin with the End in Mind". You gotta know what you need, before trying to fulfill it.

III. An-Nur : 26

Tidak hanya satu atau dua orang yang selalu menyitir ayat ini untuk saya. Dan mungkin kemarin ke seribu satu kalinya saya mendengar wejangan ini dari teman saya. :)

I guess *bersandarkan pada pemahaman saya yang cetek* we can put it this way, that it always takes two to tango. And a good team work is only as good as your weakest player. So in order to be perfectly in sync both players need to be on the same league. Dan disinilah introspeksi diri memainkan peranan. We want it, we are seriously looking for it, then we gotta be it first, in times someone who's it will be atrracted to your it. *does this start to confuse you??*

IV. Ikhlas

Mendengar kata-kata ini saya langsung ingat filmnya Deddy Mizwar : Kiamat Sudah Dekat. Di bagian terakhir film, Kang Deddy mensyaratkan si Fandy untuk bisa ikhlas jika mau menikahi putrinya. Sesuatu yang begitu mudah untuk diucapkan tetapi begitu sulit untuk dijalankan.

Saya jadi inget juga pengalaman saya waktu kuliah dulu. Tempat pensil saya yang isinya sangat komplit mulai dari bolpen warna warni, pensil, hingga kalkulator scientific yang gress itu pernah ketinggalan di salah satu ruang kuliah. Begitu teringat dan dicari kembali sudah hilang, tanya sana sini gak ada yang liat. Akhirnya saya buat selebaran abal2, sambil mengucap bismillah saya tempel di pintu masuk ruang kuliah tersebut. Kemudian saya pulang, sambil menghitung ubin di lantai saya membatin dalam hati "kalau memang harus hilang, ya hilang, semoga lebih bermanfaat buat yang menemukan". Untungnya tujuh hari kemudian, tiba-tiba tempat pensil itu kembali ke tangan saya. Mungkinkah itu ikhlas?? Atau hanya ikhlas abal2?? *abis keliatannya cuma sebates tempat pensil gitu,, hehe,,*

Tapi mungkin bener juga kata suami sohibulbatun saya *yang juga temen saya dari es-de, yang berdasarkan permintaan istrinya harus dibikinin quotationnya katanya*

Ikhlas adalah hal yang paling bisa mendekatkan diri kepada apa yang kita butuhkan ~Satriyo,2011

Jadi,, *niat cari2 alesan niy* paling gak udah bisa ngikhlasin tempat pensil *yang waktu dulu sangat2 dibutuhkan untuk kepentingan studi*, nah sekarang tinggal belajar untuk mengikhlaskan yang lainnya,,

Akhirul kalam : mm,, rasanya saya bingung untuk menutup cerita gila yang satu ini,, :P

Bagaimana kalau kita biarkan cerita gila ini tanpa kesimpulan dan kita biarkan waktu yang memberikan kesimpulannya nanti,, *loh?!?!*