About Dad

"The way your Dad speaks, it is as if he's not sick at all. I'm really inspired by it," said the young man to me in a muffled voice. I just arrived at the ward, not really knowing what that was all about, but I nodded and returned his smile. Then my Dad told me the who's who story. The young man on the right side of his bed was a policeman from Pekanbaru who suffered from some form of throat cancer, which explained why his voice sounded like that. On the left was an unconscious, bedridden man who used to do works related to liquid petroleum gas, which could be the reason why he was there on his bed now. A man with no wife and children, her sister took care of day and night.

Then I looked at the man who was allegedly so strong and firm, as declared by the young man next to him. He wasn't half the man he used to be. He was almost bald now due to the side effect of the medicine. He lost around 10kg drastically it made him look almost fragile. The light in his eyes was still shining bright, though. His smile and the tone of his voice also remained the same.

Dad has always been a fighter throughout his life. A tough man for himself, his family and his friends. But cancer wasn't like anything he had ever fought before. It almost broke my heart when he showed me a protruding tumor on his shoulder, which was even more visible now that he slimmed down quite a fair bit. That tumor was a sign of cancer eating him inside out, but if he took it in his stride, I'd put on my brave face, too.

Cancer was like the worst news ever. It wasn't exactly something that you knew how to immediately respond to. It was easier to pray that it was something else but, no, it wasn't. It was as real as it got. I was lucky that Dad, and especially Mum, could laugh about it, albeit bitterly. We let the reality sink in, then we did what we could to figure it out.

Those trying months were mentally and financially draining. We were asked to go through many procedures only to be told the doctors didn't know what that was all about. How frustrating. Eventually a senior doctor told us the verdict. Not exactly things we would like to hear, but at least it gave us the direction on what to do next. We went back to Indonesia, where progress was slow and things were done differently.

One day before the first chemo started, Dad called me and he sounded confused. "What was the doctor in Singapore telling us again? The doctor here said the cancer actually can't be cured."

When I heard that, I remember that the doctor conversed with me in English. I told Dad that I might have inadvertently left him out of important details such as this. Upon hearing that, Dad laughed and said, "that's alright. I just want to confirm."

I feel awful and relieved at the same time.

Months after that fateful phone call, there I was, accompanying him to go through the fourth cycle of his chemotherapy. Ever an optimistic person, he told me his plans to get back to work when this is over.  I ordered a good dinner for him as he disliked the tasteless hospital food. Just us, father and son. Then, as I sat with him, I remember the conversation I had with him after he finished his third cycle.

At that time, we were waiting at the hospital lobby for my friend Muliady The who was on his way to pick us up. There were many patients came and went, passing us by. I asked him how he felt after going through all this. He pondered a while and told me that when he first heard of it, he found the news unsettling. However, his point of view changed after he was admitted to the hospital. After he saw those who were in worse shapes than him, he thought what he went through was nothing as compared with others. He was thankful that he could still do things normally. As for death itself, everybody would die eventually, so what was there to worry about?

I smiled when I heard that. The way the hard truth was revealed to me, that was just very Dad. The young policeman was right. In the state he was in, Dad was still a fighter, inspiring all of us. It is a hell of a fight, this round, but we're half way there. We just have to carry on. We'll live to tell the story, that as dangerous as cancer ever was, it was not a battle that one couldn't win. Cancer is scary, but not to be afraid of. If cancer is ever anything in our life, it serves its purpose by giving us perspective that in this mortal life we live in, there are things that money can't buy: The time, the togetherness in our family, the support from friends, the laughter we had, the tears that we cried and, of course, the memories...

The man I would call Dad six years later. Dad in 1974.

Tentang Papa

"Waktu saya dengar Papamu ngomong, saya tidak menyangka dia juga pasien di sini. Suaranya bersemangat, saya terinspirasi untuk sembuh jadinya," ucap pria muda dengan suara samar tatkala melihat saya. Berhubung saya baru tiba di kamar pasien dan tidak tahu-menahu apa maksudnya, saya hanya mengangguk dan tersenyum padanya. Setelah gorden ditutup kembali, Papa lantas bercerita tentang pasien-pasien yang sekamar dengannya. Pemuda itu adalah seorang polisi dari Pekanbaru yang menderita semacam kanker tenggorokan yang mungkin telah menyerang pita suaranya sehingga ucapannya susah didengar. Di sebelah kirinya adalah pengidap kanker yang sering kali tak sadarkan diri dan senantiasa tidur di ranjang. Pria yang sudah berumur ini dulunya seorang pekerja di bidang yang berkaitan dengan tabung gas Elpiji, yang mungkin saja menjadi penyebab kenapa dia tergeletak tak berdaya sekarang. Pria ini tidak memiliki istri dan anak. Kakaknya berjaga di situ, siang dan malam.

Kemudian saya menatap pria di hadapan saya, yang disinyalir penuh semangat, seperti yang dinyatakan oleh tetangganya yang lebih muda. Papa tidak lagi sama seperti dulu. Rambutnya hampir rontok semua akibat kemo. Berat badannya pun turun hampir 10kg, membuatnya nyaris terlihat ringkih. Akan tetap sinar matanya masih tetap sama. Demikian juga senyum dan suaranya.

Papa sedari dulu adalah seorang petarung. Dia adalah seorang pria tangguh, baik untuk dirinya, untuk keluarganya, maupun untuk teman-temannya. Mengingat semua itu, sangat mengenaskan rasanya bila melihat kondisinya sekarang. Pedih rasanya hati ketika ia memperlihatkan tonjolan di bahunya yang kini terlihat jelas karena berat badannya berkurang drastis. Tumor itu adalah bukti bagaimana kanker itu menggerogotinya dari dalam. Kendati begitu, jika dia tabah melewatinya, maka saya pun tidak akan terlalu terbawa emosi.

Kanker memang sebuah berita buruk, begitu buruknya sehingga kita tidak tahu bagaimana merespon berita seperti ini. Akan lebih gampang jika kita berdoa dan berharap bahwa berita ini salah, tapi sayangnya tidak ada yang berubah. Realita itu sungguh nyata. Yang bisa kita lakukan ada bersikap menerima dan ketika kenyataan itu mulai bisa diterima, kita pun berusaha sedaya upaya. Saya beruntung bahwa Papa, dan juga Mama, bisa tetap tegar dan tertawa, betapa pun pahitnya tawa tersebut.

Dan bulan-bulan setelah vonis kanker tidaklah mudah, baik dari segi tanggungan mental dan juga biaya. Setelah Kuching, kita berobat di Singapura. Setiap kali kita memiliki sedikit harapan setelah menjalani prosedur yang dianjurkan dokter, di kali itu pula kita dihadapkan pada jalan buntu. Dokter ini tidak mengerti dan mereferensikan kita untuk bertemu dokter lain yang kemudian menganjurkan prosedur medis lainnya. Siklus seperti ini terus bergulir, sampai akhirnya satu dokter senior membeberkan hasil diagnosanya dan menjelaskan pilihan yang ada. Kita akhirnya dianjurkan untuk kembali ke Indonesia dan menjalani kemoterapi di sana, sebab obatnya sama dan akan lebih murah biayanya.

Suatu hari sebelum kemo pertama dimulai, Papa menelepon dan bertanya dalam nada bingung. "Masih ingat apa penjelasan dokter Singapura? Dokter Noor berkata bahwa Papa tidak memiliki peluang untuk sembuh sepenuhnya meski menjalani kemoterapi."

Ketika saya mendengar pertanyaan itu, saya langsung teringat kalau percakapan dengan dokter di Singapura berlangsung dalam bahasa Inggris. Saya hanya bisa berucap bahwa sepertinya ada penjelasan yang terlewatkan secara tidak sengaja dan saya mohon maaf. Papa hanya tertawa dan berkata kalau ia menelepon hanya untuk memastikan tidak ada kekeliruan di sini.

Berbulan-bulan setelah percakapan tersebut, di situlah saya berada, menemani Papa untuk menjalani kemoterapinya untuk kali keempat. Dia bercerita tentang banyak hal, tentang masa mudanya dan rencananya untuk kembali bekerja setelah kemoterapi selesai. Saya pesankan dia makan malam yang lezat karena dia tidak suka makanan rumah sakit yang tawar rasanya. Hanya kita berdua di malam itu, ayah dan anak. Sambil mendengarkan dia bercerita, saya pun menerawang kembali ke hari di mana kita berdiri lobi rumah sakit setelah kemo ketiga selesai.

Di kala itu kita menunggu seorang teman yang datang menjemput. Banyak pasien berlalu-lalang melewati kita. Saya pun bertanya, apa yang ia rasakan setelah menjalani semua ini. Ia berpikir sejenak, lalu menuturkan bahwa ia serasa tidak percaya saat divonis mengidap kanker. Perasaannya bercampur-aduk, tapi semua itu sirna ketika dia menjalani kemoterapi di rumah sakit. Setelah menyaksikan begitu banyak penderita kanker yang lebih parah kondisinya, dia bersyukur bahwa apa yang ia alami tidaklah menghentikannya untuk tetap beraktivitas seperti biasa. Tentang kematian, pada akhirnya semua orang akan meninggal, jadi kenapa mesti dikhawatirkan?

Saya tersenyum mendengar penuturannya. Kenyataan itu diutarakan dengan lugas dan apa adanya, sesuatu yang mengingatkan saya kembali bahwa seperti itulah karakter Papa. Polisi muda itu benar. Dalam kondisinya yang seperti ini, Papa tetaplah seorang petarung yang menginspirasi kita semua. Pertarungan kali ini adalah yang paling sulit, tapi kita sudah separuh jalan dan kita akan melanjutkannya sampai selesai. Setelah itu kita akan bercerita, walaupun kanker itu berbahaya, penyakit itu bukannya tidak bisa dikalahkan. Kanker memang menakutkan, tapi tidaklah menjadi alasan untuk kehilangan semangat hidup. Jika ada makna kanker dalam hidup ini, maka kanker adalah peringatan bagi kita bahwa di dalam kehidupan yang fana ini, ada hal-hal yang tidak tergantikan oleh uang: waktu, kebersamaan dalam keluarga, dukungan dari teman, canda, tawa dan air mata, dan tentu saja kenangan demi kenangan yang pernah kita alami...

Negara Impian Yang Belum Menjadi Kenyataan

Negara impianku
Politisi bersih dan melayani
Bersih tanpa korupsi
melayani tanpa pamrih

Namun negara impianku masih jauh
Jauh dari harapan yang menjadi impian
Sebagian besar politisi memang bersih
Tapi hanya bersih pakaian berdasi
Namun penuh dengan korupsi

Negara impianku
Ketika seorang politisi bersih tanpa korupsi
Berjuang melawan arus korupsi
Namun disiksa dan dicaci
Oleh ribuan politisi yang merasa risih
Karena ladang korupsi tereliminasi

Dewan yang terhormat
Menggadaikan kehormatan demi bersenang-senang
Dewan namun mengganggap diri mereka dewa
berkoar-koar atas nama rakyat, tapi menuduh dan menipu
Bahkan rela membunuh hanya untuk menjaga agar korupsi tetap utuh

Negara impianku
Walau pun masih jauh, entah di mana dan kapan
Namun optimis menhampiri karena lahir politisi-politisi bersih
Walaupun difitnah dan dicaci
Mereka dengan kepala tegak tetap berdiri

Banyak politisi mengaku dirinya bersih
Namun saat dipanggil polisi
Malah terkencing-kencing bersembunyi
Saat di jalan, suara paling lantang
Berteriak kayak Satria Baja Hitam
Tapi hanya otaknya yang hitam legam

Politisi yang bersih
Saat masalah menghampiri
Dia tanpa takut datang menghadapi
Namun politisi yang mengaku bersih
Saat masalah menghampiri
Ribuan alasan dan siasat dibuat untuk menghindari

Ketika politisi bersih dihargai rakyatnya sendiri
Politisi yang mengaku bersih mulai merasa risih
Karangan bunga nan indah
Difitnah berasal dari sanak saudara
Memang kenyataan rakyatnya dianggap saudara
Tidak seperti politisi yang mengaku bersih
Atas nama rakyat selalu berkata
nNmun kita tidak tahu atas nama rakyat yang mana

Negara impianku
Pilihlah politisi yang otaknya pas berada di tempatnya
Bukan politisi yang otaknya terletak di pantatnya
Tercampur tahi keluar lewat kata-kata
Pasti bau busuk tak tertahankan

Mereka yang berkisah lewat bunga
Image credit: kompas.com

The ASEAN Tour: Thailand

If you come from Indonesia and the only countries you already visited are Malaysia and Singapore, then Thailand surely feels different. The culture, the food, how smiley the people are and their unique greeting of sawadee krap/ka, the combination of all these form a whole package of experience that feels alien and yet very welcoming. That's how charming Thailand is.

My first taste of Thailand was Bangkok. From the moment we landed, I must say I was impressed. The airport was much better than Soekarno-Hatta in Jakarta and they even had a railway that linked to the city! Bangkok already had a train system called BTS 10 years ago whereas we are still trying to build one in Jakarta today. The water transportation had also been effectively used then. The traffic jam was bad, but nothing if compared with Jakarta (and if this was called winning, then I didn't feel proud about it). I remember coming up with a pecking order, albeit begrudgingly, that in Southeast Asia, Singapore was right on the top, followed Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and then Jakarta.

At the Thai massage parlour, as recommended by Mr. Bank, our Teochew speaking guide
From the left: Andy, Markus, Yours Truly, a guy called Jetstar, Endrico, some other guy, Setia

The first trip to Bangkok that I had with my then-housemates, Alfan, Sudarpo and Markus, was kind of weird but memorable, because we toured the city at the back of a lorry. Markus had a friend or two there and that was how we ended up on the vehicle. We visited the Chinatown as well and on the next day, as part of the package deal (Markus purchased our ticket from a travel agency), we had a boat ride cruising the Chao Praya river for half a day, a feat we would repeat four years later. I also remember going to Chatuchak area, the one and only time I ever visited the bustling weekend market. Once in a lifetime of madness swirling around me is more than enough, I reckon!

Bangkok is lively and very relax at the same time, but don't be fooled by it! I had this very interesting experience where my Malaysian friend and I fell for the elaborate scams. In hindsight, I think it was very well played: we bumped into random people in front of Central World Mall and they told us about some sort of celebration happening at Lucky Buddha temple. After few encounters, the event caught our attention and we were led into one of the tuk-tuks nearby. The ride to the temple was as cheap as 20 baht. It was, as we were informed, a discounted price in honor of that day's celebration. When we reached there, we looked around because the temple actually seemed rather quiet. After exploring here and there, we met a Thai guy who said he had stayed in Singapore for a while and, once he finished describing about Ang Mo Kio, he told us that he just made a fortune by purchasing sapphires at a very low price. Then we were driven to Yindee Lapidary, a jewelry store, where an honest looking elderly woman patiently answered our questions while making her sales pitch. By the end of it, my friend bought two and out of solidarity (and greed), I bought one, too.

The scene at Yindee Lapidary.
Photo by Benny.

I remember laughing bitterly at my stupidity in Jakarta when I was told that apart from the gold plated ring, the jewelry was worthless. I thought of it as a life lesson, but my friend was clearly pissed. He made an effort to file a complaint at the Thai Embassy in Singapore and his hard work paid off. He told me and I followed suit. Eventually, thanks to the swift action taken by Thai government, both of us were fully reimbursed for the losses we suffered. In a way, we were actually being conned for free, a rare turn of event that allowed us to laugh after being bluffed! When I saw the jewelry shop Yindee Lapidary appearing at the background in the movie Hangover 2 less than a year later, I couldn't help texting my friend just to remind him of the old time sake. Oh, who am I kidding? I just loved to hear him cursing about it.

Anyway, that self-inflicted unfortunate event aside, Bangkok is always fun. I went back again a year after the jewelry fiasco, again with Markus and some other friends such as Endrico and Setia, with the same old arrangement made by Markus. This time we had a Teochew speaking tour guide, a very funny fellow who showed us around. At night, we went for a drink or two. As Bangkok is known for its nightlife, we went to watch the Thai Girl show, too. It was... unusual. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Setia and Andy, after the drinking session.
Photo by Endrico.

The last time I went there was for the Standard Chartered Marathon event. My father-in-law was a keen participant and he would have opted for a full marathon, but as I was traumatized by the long wait that I had during his last run, I registered him only for the half marathon. He was a bit upset by the fact that the medallion was given immediately, together with other goodies that we collected before the run. He expected to receive it at the finish line. Nevertheless, being a good sportsman he was, he participated and finished it. For all I know, he could be the only 72 years old man from Tasikmalaya who ever ran in Bangkok Marathon 2013, so it must be an achievement by itself.

As fun as Bangkok was and will ever be, it is just one of many cities in Thailand. Let's not forget that it is a big country with a lot of destination one can go to. I was in Nong Khai, the Thai border just next to Mekong river, as I traveled from Vientiane to Bangkok. I also went to Hat Yai, a city felt less Thai than any other places I went before. It was more like a town in Malaysia for the fact that I could hear people speaking Hokkien language there. It was also very uncomfortable to have people on the street asking if we would like to pick up girls, as Hat Yai was notorious for such indulgence.

Benny, aiming for the right angle to capture the elephant.

I had better memories about Phuket, thanks to its laid-back atmosphere. My wife and I stayed at Millennium Hotel that had a direct access to the adjacent shopping mall, Jungceylon. It was real nice, very encouraging for us to do exactly nothing, haha. If you've been to Bali, what Phuket offers is like the subset of Bali's attractions, with its exception of Simon Cabaret. We also took a two or three hours ferry ride to a nearby island, Ko Phi Phi. Those who love corals can do snorkeling here. Personally, if there was one thing about Phuket that I remember well, it must be the tsunami signage. It was like a reminder that tsunami happened before and was really an act of God that one didn't want to mess with. Scary, indeed.

Overall, Thailand is a very recommended place to be. The tourist spots are aplenty, the people and the food (from pineapple rice, tom yum soup, pork basil rice, pad thai to the rich and tasty Thai ice tea) are good, but most importantly, it is budget friendly...

Nuryani, as we headed to Ko Phi Phi.

Tur ASEAN: Thailand

Jika anda datang dari Indonesia dan negara-negara asing yang baru anda kunjungi hanyalah Malaysia dan Singapore, maka Thailand akan terasa sangat unik. Budayanya, makanannya, orang-orangnya yang penuh senyum dan sapaan sawadee krap/ka yang unik, kombinasi dari semua ini membentuk sebuah pengalaman yang terasa berbeda namun ramah. Itulah pesona Thailand. 

Kesan pertama saya tentang Thailand adalah Bangkok. Di tahun 2007, bandaranya jauh lebih bagus daripada Soekarno-Hatta di Jakarta dan mereka bahkan memiliki jalur kereta menuju kota! Bangkok juga sudah memiliki sistem transportasi kereta yang disebut BTS (kurang lebih sama seperti MRT di Singapura) sejak 10 tahun yang lalu, sedangkan kita masih sibuk membangun sarana yang sama hari ini di Jakarta. Metode angkutan sungai juga sudah digunakan dengan efektif oleh mereka. Macetnya Bangkok cukup parah, namun tidak seburuk di Jakarta. Saya ingat bahwa saya pernah membuat urutan kota-kota termaju di Asia Tenggara: Singapura jelas duduk di urutan pertama, kemudian disusul oleh Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok dan barulah Jakarta.

Dari kiri: Setia, Anthony, Andy dan Soedjoko, saat menyeberangi Chao Praya.
Foto oleh Endrico.

Perjalanan pertama ke Bangkok saya lakukan bersama teman-teman serumah saat itu: Alfan, Markus dan Sudarpo. Petualangan perdana itu agak aneh, namun akan senantiasa diingat, sebab kita tur keliling kota dengan cara duduk di belakang lori. Markus memiliki teman yang bekerja di sana dan saat mereka datang menjemput, kita pun diangkut di bak mobil ke sana kemari, termasuk singgah di Pecinan. Keesokan harinya, sebagai bagian dari paket yang dibeli oleh Markus dari agen perjalanan di Singapura, kita mendapat tur sungai Chao Praya selama setengah hari. Kita juga mampir ke pasar Chatuchak, sekali-kalinya saya pernah mengunjungi tempat yang luar biasa sibuknya ini. Cukup sekali saja dalam seumur hidup, saya kira!

Bangkok adalah kota yang hidup dan juga bernuansa santai, tapi jangan sampai pernah anda terlena oleh suasana ini. Saya mengalami satu kejadian menarik dimana saya dan rekan Malaysia saya terkecoh oleh penipuan yang sangat terencana. Kalau saya lihat kembali, prosesnya dilakoni dengan sempurna. Di tengah keramaian di depan Mal Central World, kita bertemu dengan berbagai orang yang memberitahukan bahwa waktu itu sedang berlangsung festival di kuil Lucky Buddha. Setelah mendengarkan hal yang sama berulang kali, kita pun berpikir bahwa mungkin kita perlu melihat-lihat ke sana. Karena kita tampak berminat, orang yang kita jumpai ini pun mengantarkan kita ke pangkalan tuk-tuk. Perjalanan yang cukup jauh ini cuma seharga 20 baht. Katanya ini adalah harga diskon di hari festival. Tatkala kita tiba, kuilnya terasa agak sepi. Setelah mengitari kuil tersebut, kita bertemu seorang pria Thai yang bercerita bahwa dia juga tinggal di Singapura dan, setelah dia bercerita tentang kawasan Ang Mo Kio di Singapura, dia berujar bahwa dia baru saja untung besar karena membeli batu safir dengan harga yang murah. Kemudian dia mengatakan kepada supir tuk-tuk untuk membawa kita ke Yindee Lapidary, sebuah toko perhiasan, dimana seorang ibu-ibu tua yang ramah dengan sabar menjawab pertanyaan kami sambil menawarkan berbagai perhiasan. Pada akhirnya, teman saya membeli dua dan sebagai wujud solidaritas (dan rasa tamak), saya juga membeli satu.

Benny di depan Mal Central World, sesaat sebelum kita ditipu.

Saya ingat bahwa saya tertawa pahit di Jakarta saat pegawai di toko perhiasan memberitahukan saya bahwa selain cincinnya yang disepuh emas, batu safir itu sebenarnya hanyalah kaca. Saya sempat berpikir bahwa ini adalah pelajaran agar jangan serakah dalam hidup, tapi teman saya benar-benar emosi. Dia melaporkan penipuan ini ke kedutaan besar Thailand di Singapura dan upayanya membuahkan hasil. Saya pun mengikuti caranya. Berkat kesigapan pemerintah Thailand, kita mendapatkan pengembalian sepenuhnya dari harga yang kita bayar, yakni sekitar SGD 1.000 per cincin. Dengan kata lain, kita ditipu secara gratis sehingga mendapatkan pengalaman, tetapi tidak rugi secara finansial. Ketika saya melihat toko Yindee Lapidary muncul di latar belakang film Hangover 2 kurang dari setahun kemudian, saya segera mengirimkan SMS pada teman saya untuk mengingatkannya tentang kejadian tersebut. Dan dia langsung mengumpat, haha. 

Selain kasus yang kurang menyenangkan itu, kunjungan Bangkok selalu terasa asyik. Saya kembali lagi di tahun berikutnya bersama Markus, Endrico, Setia dan teman-teman lain dengan paket kunjungan serupa yang diatur oleh Markus. Kali ini kita mendapatkan pemandu wisata yang bisa berbahasa Teochew. Orangnya cukup jenaka. Di malam hari, kita sempat pergi minum hingga hari menjelang pagi. Karena Bangkok terkenal dengan kehidupan malamnya, kita mampir untuk menyaksikan Thai Girl Show. Ini bukanlah pertunjukan biasa. Mungkin tidak cocok bagi yang belum siap.

Bapak mertua mencapai garis finish.

Terakhir kali saya ke Bangkok adalah untuk acara Standard Chartered Marathon. Ayah mertua saya adalah seorang pelari yang antusias dan dia suka maraton, tapi setelah penantian yang lama di depan garis finish maraton Singapura, saya jadi agak trauma untuk membantunya mendaftar maraton 42km lagi. Sebagai gantinya, saya hanya mendaftarkannya untuk setengah maraton. Dia agak kecewa karena medalinya sudah dibagikan saat pengambilan kaos, namun sebagai orang yang sportif, dia tetap mengikuti lomba maraton hingga selesai. Setahu saya, dia adalah satu-satunya pria berumur 72 tahun asal Tasikmalaya yang menjadi peserta maraton Bangkok di tahun 2013, jadi itu harusnya menjadi prestasi tersendiri, hehe. 

Bangkok bukanlah satu-satunya tempat tujuan wisata di Thailand. Jangan lupa bahwa Thailand adalah negara yang cukup besar. Saya berada di Nong Khai, perbatasan Thailand dan Laos yang berada tepat di sebelah sungai Mekong saat saya menempuh perjalanan kereta dari Vientiane ke Bangkok. Saya juga sempat mampir ke Hat Yai, kota yang kurang terasa seperti Thailand karena budayanya yang bercampur Hokkien. Kota ini terletak di dekat perbatasan Malaysia sehingga banyak orang berbahasa Hokkien di sana. Selain itu, banyak orang di tepi jalan yang menawarkan gadis penghibur karena Hat Yai memang terkenal dengan hal yang satu ini.

Sarapan pagi di Millennium Hotel.
Foto oleh Nuryani.

Saya memiliki kenangan yang lebih menyenangkan di Phuket. Istri dan saya tinggal di Millennium Hotel yang memiliki akses langsung ke Mal Jungceylon yang berada di sebelahnya. Suasananya sangat santai, cocok untuk bermalas-malasan. Jika anda pernah ke Bali, Phuket menawarkan wisata yang kurang lebih sama dengan pengecualian Simon Cabaret yang menampilkan pertunjukan banci. Kita juga menyeberang ke Ko Phi Phi yang bisa ditempuh dalam waktu dua atau tiga jam. Mereka yang menyukai terumbu karang bisa menyelam di sini. Secara pribadi, jika ada yang saya ingat betul, maka itu adalah penanda jalan untuk bencana tsunami. Saat melihat rambu di tepi jalan, saya langsung membayangkan betapa mengerikannya bila diterpa ombak yang sedemikian tinggi.

Secara kesuluruhan, Thailand adalah tempat yang layak direkomendasikan. Orangnya ramah, dan makanannya, mulai dari nasi goreng nenas, sup tom yam, nasi basil dan daging babi, pad thai dan es teh Thailand, enak semua. Tapi yang paling penting adalah betapa harganya ramah terhadap uang di saku, haha...

Bersama Nuryani dan Linda di Bangkok.

The Concerts

What is life without music? Less rockin', I guess, haha. Truthfully speaking, music changes life. It eases the pain, it heals the soul and it gives hope. It cheers us up, it makes us smile and yet it also reminds us about the reality in the most subtle and sophisticated way. If you think I just made it up, rest assured that I didn't, because I spoke from my experience.

The Beatles changed my life. They were cheeky, smart and, hey, that eloquent British accent, it was just inspiring. Growing up in a country where spoken English was almost unheard of, I studied the language for the longest time with no significant improvement. Things changed when I got to know the Fab Four. I always like the way John and George spoke and I remember wanting to speak like them, too. Motivated, I picked it up real quick since then.

As for the music, when I found myself in times of trouble, I listened to Let It Be just to hear Paul singing that there would be answer and I would just have to let it be. When life was difficult, I would listen to John telling me it was easy and all I need was love. There was this confidence and optimism in his voice that I knew it was going to be alright. When I got help in the time of need, I remember Ringo telling me that we all got by with a little help from our friends. When I set my eyes on my then girlfriend, it was just like there was something in the way she moved, attracted me like no other lover. George was right, and that girl is now my wife.

The experiences above blend in seamlessly with others, such as there will be miracle when you believe or imagine all the people living life in peace or sometimes love just ain't enough. I can quote you all the brilliant lines until the cows come home, but what I'm saying is, there's no way one can really separate music from their lives. I believe music plays a crucial part in our daily lives. It brings me to where I am today.

Music is just that important, but it is also surreal at times. I mean, back in the days where you couldn't download or stream your music, when you were still holding a cassette or CD and reading the booklet that came with it, I thought that pretty much defined the relationship between the fans and the musicians. Coming from a small town, I was under the impression that this was as far as it could go, ie. there'd be me listening on this side of the speaker and there'd be them in the pantheon of rock and roll, wherever that might be.

Mr. Big - Pontianak, 25 Jan 2000
Image credit: @boriz13

What I once assumed as the unbreakable myth was eventually broken when Mr. Big came to Pontianak. Yes, you read it right! Mr. Big, the band from Los Angeles, with hits such as Wild World and  To Be with You, came to my hometown to play at a university auditorium for only IDR 40K (SGD 4) per ticket. That was affordable, so there we were on 25/01/2000, my friend Ardian and I, despite the fact that I knew only two hit songs. Oh, three, including Goin' Where the Wind Blows.

To this day, I still have no idea where Mr. Big learned the name Pontianak from or why they even decided to come and play, but it was a revelation for sure: so this was how a concert was like. Gone were the differences we had, all united by the music. The rock band played all out, despite the fact that it was small town with less crowd. The audience sang to their hearts' content. The excitement was in the air. That two hours in my life was great.

And I felt like coming back for more. When I moved to Singapore, I had better chances than before, watching Air Supply just to see them performing Goodbye, All Out of Love and Making Love Out of Nothing at All or attending a Firehouse concert to enjoy the live versions of When I Look into Your Eyes and You Are My Religion.

I was also there when a legend such as Don McLean performed at the Esplanade. Stuff like Vincent and And I Love You So are gold. They've been around long before I was born and I'm sure they'll still be around after I'm gone. To be able to hear these songs sung by their writer as they were originally intended to be was quite a privilege, really. On top of that, as if that still wasn't good enough an experience, the concert was closed with, as expected, American Pie. That was like the best pie ever!

Same goes for the Eric Clapton concert. Eric wasn't much of a lively performer. During his concert, he seldom spoke. As far as I could remember, he just sat there, played his guitar and let his music speak for itself. Then came the most memorable moment when he got many to dance slowly with Wonderful Tonight and brought people up to their feet immediately with the guitar intro of Layla.

Eric Clapton - Singapore, 13 Jan 2007
Image Credit: polscoecottage.co.uk 

It'll be overrated, of course, if I said all concerts I attended were good. Take Backstreet Boys for example. The songs were alright, but to see those four (yes, there were only four of them at that time) performing as Backstreet Boys and doing As Long as You Love Me when they no longer looked boyish... that just didn't feel right. Oasis had their own problems, too. Liam's antics were fun to watch, but the songs, after a while, they all sounded alike. 

The biggest and the most unexpected disappointment, however, was Bon Jovi. My friends and I flew to Jakarta just to watch the show. Prior to that, we had acknowledged the fact that Richie Sambora wouldn't be there. We were okay with that, but nothing would have prepared me from being surprised when I saw Jon Bon Jovi on stage. Under the bright lights, I couldn't find him at first, until I realized that the white haired man who was panting behind the microphone was him! He was sweating profusely and seemingly out of breath. I was nervous for him because it was as though he would collapse any time soon. I also felt cheated when he shoved the mic to the audience for the high notes chorus he was once famous for. He got better when the show almost ended, performing Keep the Faith frantically. The last song, Livin' on a Prayer, was a saving grace.

Guns N' Roses - Singapore, 25 Feb 2017
Image Credit: www.bandwagon.asia 

After Bon Jovi, you can imagine how worried I was when I saw how fat Axl Rose was. I know how punishing Guns n' Roses' songs could be, so I thought that was it, we'd been Bon Jovi-ed again. Much to my delight, Axl really delivered. He was a hell of a performer. When he sat on piano for November Rain, it was as if my youth was replaying on my mind. How I wish Hardy, the guitarist in my old band, was there watching it, too. He would have loved it so much as he was the one who performed that song in our band. By the way, not to be sidetracked, Slash stole the thunder from time to time. His guitar playing was fierce, reminding us again why they are one of the best rock and roll bands out there.

Now, after attending quite a few, I realize that a concert is best enjoyed when we know all the songs. This is why the Michael Learns to Rock concert is still ranked quite high on my list. Say what you like about their songs, but the band opened the concert confidently with Sleeping Child, they interacted with audience and, after pampering us with the singalong of hits after hits, they closed it with an all time favorite, That's Why (You Go Away). That was what I called fun!

Who tops the list, then? That is, without doubt, a Paul McCartney concert in 2015 at Tokyo Dome. Best concert ever. To be in the same room with an ex-Beatle, that was magical! I mean, here was a long time hero of mine, in a country where people couldn't speak or spoke broken English (trust me, I was there, trying to communicate with a nice gentleman who went the extra mile to buy me a keychain when he knew I came from afar just to watch the concert) but the moment the music began, the Japanese, including my neighbour, they all went hysterical, and, much to my surprise, they knew all the lyrics and sang them all! Japan loved Paul and the affection was not in vain. Ever an entertainer, I could see Paul savoured the moment. He loved playing and didn't hold back. He had so much fun and so were we!

Paul McCartney, Tokyo, 23 Apr 2015
Image Credit: japanconcerttickets.com 

The Europe Trip: Bonjour, Paris!

It was supposed to be Dublin instead of Paris. Originally, as I wanted to depart from Liverpool in order to get the passport stamp of John Lennon airport, I was actually thinking about Ireland as our destination then. Perhaps we could just go there, doing nothing but enjoying a pint of Guinness in the evening and, if we were lucky, may be we could meet our favorite writer, Sinéad Moriarty. However, my wife said Paris would be a better choice. She was okay to go to Liverpool with me, so it was only fair that I accompanied her to Paris, too.

Once confirmed that we were going to Paris, we needed to apply for Schengen visa. This is the visa required for us to enter Schengen area, which is the subset of EU. Don't take my words for it, though. You better read the fine print to ensure that you can actually enter the country that you'd like to go, haha. Anyway, since we were going to Paris, the application had to be submitted at the French embassy. After filling up the UK visa application form, this felt just like a piece of cake.

Oh, talk about UK, we planned to go to Paris by Eurostar train from London. This meant we had to obtain UK visa first before proceeding with Schengen visa. Apparently we had to purchase the train tickets and hotel voucher beforehand as part of the required documents. I didn't have them during the submission, so the documents were attached to email and sent later on the same day, right after I booked them.

Eurostar departs from Saint Pancras railway station in London. Both UK and EU checkpoints are located there, so by the time we got into the waiting room, technically we already left UK and entered the Euro zone. There was no further checking when we reached Gare du Nord in Paris. It was roughly a two-hour ride and we didn't get to see anything when it traveled under the sea. I thought it would be quite a view and probably we could catch a glimpse of a whale swimming above the train, but no, all I could see was the ceiling and and the wall of the tunnel.

Paris was certainly different. It wasn't very welcoming, if you asked what my first impression was. Could be due to the language barrier, I guess. The fact that there were gun-toting soldiers patrolling around only amplified the sense of insecurity that I already had (prior to the visit, I had lunch with Christophe, a French man in Singapore, and he had cautioned me to always look around and be careful). On a hindsight, though, it wasn't that bad. Paris has its fair share of problems, but not without its charm.

From Gare du Nord, we went to Rome station by taking the rapid transit system called Paris Métro. We stayed at Hotel Cervantes, a tiny but decent hotel between Europe and Rome. A very strategic location! On the first day we were there, we walked from the hotel to Galeries Lafayette Haussmann. We explored the city purely by intuition, without any help from Google Map, and after some time, suddenly we were in the midst of Asian looking crowd. It was quite a surprise to me as I certainly didn't expect this unusual sight in Europe. I found the answer when I looked across street. So the story of the Chinese invading the branded stuff was real after all.

At the junction.

The first destination on the following day was Champs-Élysées (only God knows how to read the word, so I resorted to my own pronunciation in Bahasa Indonesia: cam-di-u-li-si). It was grand, really, a straight and long stretching avenue, with Arc de Triomphe at one end and Obelisk of Luxor at the other. We had a detour to Eiffel Tower from there. We covered quite a distance, but the weather was fine and the scenery was beautiful, so it was worth it.

I had this strange encounter nearby the tunnel where Princess Diana had a deadly car accident, though. There was this young girl who forced me to sign something on a paper. I remember reading this sort of scam before (yeah, I do read the Stay Safe section after the Bangkok incident), so I told her no and walked away. Around noon time, we alighted at Bourse station to meet my Parisian friends. In a city with a language so alien to me, it was good to see some familiar faces and speak English again. We collected our Paris Pass and began our Big Bus city tour afterwards.

Stopped for wefie as we approached Eiffel tower.

Let's talk a bit about Paris Pass. It has the Big Bus city tour that was good for a day (remember Quasimodo? The bus would bring you to Notre-Dame) and on top of that, you got a boat ride cruising River Seine (this, in our case, was a bit redundant as we already walked along the riverside earlier that day). The pass also allowed us to access many museums, but it's important to note that I was oblivious to how big a museum in Europe could be. The Louvre was so huge that after Mona Lisa and some other paintings that I ever heard of, I got sick of it and looked for the exit door instead. In the end, it was the train ticket that was the most useful among all. Free rides for two days was not a shabby deal for frequent commuters.

At the pyramid.

We also visited the Versailles. It was a small town, but I remember being impressed by its peaceful atmosphere as we walked from the train station to the Palace. Now, I'm not a royal family and the only exposures I had about castles and palaces were the Grand Palace in Bangkok and Kraton of Yogyakarta, but Château de Versailles was nothing like what I ever saw before. It was a beautiful, gigantic palace with a garden that was bigger than the Palace itself, so big that I couldn't see where it ended. As I stepped into the Palace and saw how the rooms were kept intact as they used to be, I couldn't help thinking about those who had lived there in the past, the people that I only read in history books before, including the infamous Marie Antoinette. It was breathtaking, a fine legacy from a bygone era that shows how brilliant their civilisation was. 

It was also at Versailles that I noticed how different the western omelette was. I immediately regretted ordering spaghetti when I saw it being served at the next table. It looked good and came with a generous portion! Being a big fan of fried rice, I thought the food in Europe would be challenging, but I was surprised by how well I could adjust. The French menu didn't really have anything with rice, alright, but their food was good. Their salad was good, their AAAAA sausage was good (I was thinking that sausage with a lot of 'A's couldn't go wrong) and their omelette, which I finally ordered at a cafe nearby Moulin Rouge, was delicious.

The garden inside Château de Versailles.

Moulin Rouge was the last tourist spot we visited, although we didn't enter it as we preferred to have our dinner instead. As we walked back to our hotel, I remember what Christophe told me and he was right. Paris was not much difference than Singapore in the sense that we could walk around from one spot to another. If we were only a few stations away from our destination, walking was the better option because not only we'd see how beautiful (or dirty, depending on which direction we turned to) Paris was, but it would also mean cost-saving (once again, let's not forget that everything here is charged in Euro).

The next morning, as the price was reasonable, we engaged the service of Hotel Cervantes to arrange for an airport pick up for us. We traveled to airport at dawn, when Paris was still glimmering. That was the last time I saw Paris, the city of lights. We eventually flew from Charles de Gaulle airport to Liverpool...

The Parisians!

Perjalanan Ke Eropa: Paris

Awalnya saya ingin ke Dublin, bukan Paris. Rencana saya adalah berangkat dari Liverpool ke negara lain, supaya saya bisa mendapat cap paspor di bandara John Lennon. Saat itu saya berpikir bahwa tujuan berikutnya adalah Irlandia. Mungkin kami bisa ke sana, bersantai menikmati segelas bir hitam Guinness dan jika beruntung, siapa tahu kami bisa bertemu dengan penulis favorit kami, Sinéad Moriarty. Akan tetapi istri saya merasa bahwa Paris merupakan pilihan yang lebih cocok. Karena dia bersedia untuk menemani saya ke Liverpool, jadi saya pun menuruti permintaannya untuk ke Paris. 

Setelah kami menetapkan Paris sebagai tempat tujuan, kami pun mengajukan aplikasi visa Schengen. Ini adalah visa yang diperlukan untuk mengunjungi daerah Schengen, bagian dari Uni Eropa. Untuk jelasnya, mungkin anda perlu cek sendiri visa yang anda butuhkan bila ke Eropa. Karena tujuan kami adalah Paris, aplikasinya dilakukan di Kedutaan Besar Perancis. Setelah apa yang dilalui untuk visa Inggris, visa ke Paris ini tergolong gampang.  

Oh, bicara tentang Inggris, kami pergi ke Paris menggunakan kereta Eurostar dari London. Ini artinya kami harus memperoleh visa Inggris sebelum memohon visa Schengen. Prasyarat yang dibutuhkan ternyata mencakup tiket kereta dan bukti pemesanan kamar hotel. Saya belum memilikinya saat mengajukan aplikasi, namun dokumennya bisa menyusul lewat email.

Di St. Pancras, London, saat menanti keberangkatan ke Paris.

Eurostar berangkat dari stasiun St. Pancras di London. Loket imigrasi Inggris dan Perancis berada di sana, jadi setelah kita melewati keduanya dan masuk ke ruang tunggu, kita sudah terhitung meninggalkan Inggris dan masuk ke zona Eropa. Tidak ada pemeriksaan lebih lanjut lagi ketika kita tiba di stasiun Gare du Nord di Paris. Lamanya perjalanan kira-kira dua jam, namun tidak ada yang bisa dilihat saat kereta menyeberangi Selat Inggris. Saya mengira kita bisa melihat paus berenang di atas kereta, tapi terowongan bawah laut itu bukan terbuat dari kaca.

Paris terasa beda suasananya. Entah kenapa ada kesan kurang ramah. Mungkin karena kendala bahasa, saya kira. Fakta bahwa kita sering menjumpai beberapa prajurit yang membawa senapan mesin dan patroli di jalan juga menambah kesan was-was (sebelum berangkat, saya sempat makan siang dengan Christophe, orang Perancis yang saya kenal, dan dia sudah mewanti-wanti bahwa saya harus senantiasa berhati-hati selama di Paris). Setelah saya lihat kembali sekarang, Paris memang kurang aman, tapi tidak berarti sama sekali tidak menyenangkan. 

Dari Gare du Nord, kita ke stasiun Rome dengan menaiki sistem transportasi kereta Paris Métro. Kita tinggal di Hotel Cervantes, sebuah hotel kecil yang terletak antara stasiun Europe and Rome. Lokasinya sangat strategis! Di hari pertama, kita berjalan dari hotel ke Galeries Lafayette Haussmann. Kita berjalan berdasarkan insting dan tanpa bantuan Google Map. Setelah beberapa saat lamanya, tiba-tiba saja kita berada di tengah-tengah orang Asia. Saya terkejut karena kita sedang berada di Eropa. Setelah saya lihat ke  seberang, barulah saya temukan jawabannya. Jadi cerita bahwa orang-orang Cina yang memborong barang bermerek di Paris bukanlah dongeng belaka.

Pagi hari di Champs-Élysées.

Keesokan harinya, kami menuju ke Champs-Élysées (hanya Tuhan yang tahu bagaimana membaca nama jalan ini, jadi saya menggunakan lafal Indonesia: cam-di-u-li-si). Jalan ini bukan saja megah, tapi juga benar-benar lurus, dengan Arc de Triomphe di satu sisi dan Obelisk Luxor di ujung lain. Dari Arc de Triomphe, kami memutar sedikit ke menara Eiffel Tower. Perjalanannya cukup jauh, tapi cuacanya bagus dan pemandangannya pun indah, jadi tidak masalah.

Ada satu kejadian aneh saat saya berada di dekat terowongan dimana Putri Diana mengalami kecelakaan tragis. Ada seorang gadis muda yang memaksa saya menandatangani surat. Saya ingat bahwa saya pernah membaca penipuan seperti ini sebelumnya (oh ya, saya pastikan membaca bagian Stay Safe di wikitravel.org setelah insiden di Bangkok), jadi saya katakan tidak padanya dan pergi meninggalkannya. Menjelang siang, kita turun di stasiun Bourse untuk bertemu dua kenalan Perancis yang bekerja di Paris. Di kota dimana bahasanya terdengar aneh di telinga saya, senang rasanya bisa bertemu dengan wajah-wajah yang saya kenal dan berbahasa Inggris lagi. Setelah makan siang, kami pergi mengambil Paris Pass dan mulai keliling kota dengan Big Bus. 

Saat mengunjungi gereja Notre-Dame.

Mari berbicara sedikit tentang Paris Pass. Kartu ini mencakup tur keliling kota dengan Big Bus yang berlaku untuk satu hari (ingat Quasimodo? Bis ini akan membawa kita singgah ke Notre-Dame) dan selain itu, kita juga bisa naik kapal untuk menikmati Sungai Seine (walaupun hal ini terasa seperti déjà vu karena saya dan istri baru saja berjalan menyusui tepi sungai di pagi hari). Kartu ini juga menyertakan akses gratis ke berbagai museum, tapi perlu diingat bahwa museum di Eropa itu besar dan ekstensif koleksinya. Louvre sangat luas dan setelah melihat Mona Lisa dan beberapa lukisan lain yang pernah saya dengar, saya menyerah dan mencari pintu keluar. Pada akhirnya, yang paling berguna itu justru karcis Métro. Bagi yang sering menaiki kereta, karcis gratis selama dua hari lumayan bermanfaat.

Kami juga berkunjung ke Versailles. Ternyata ini nama sebuah kota kecil dimana istana terkenal itu berada. Suasananya terasa damai. Sebelum saya sampai ke istana, pengalaman saya sejauh ini hanyalah istana di Bangkok dan Keraton di Yogya, tapi Château de Versailles melebihi apa yang pernah saya lihat sebelumnya. Istana ini besar dan tamannya bahkan lebih luas lagi, bagaikan tak berujung. Ketika saya berada di dalam, saya bisa melihat bagaimana setiap ruangan masih tertata rapi, membuat saya berpikir tentang orang-orang yang dulunya tinggal di sana, termasuk Marie Antoinette. Sungguh menakjubkan, sebuah warisan dari era yang telah lampau, yang menunjukkan seperti apa kehidupan bangsawan itu sebenarnya.

Di kota Versailles. 

Saat berada Versailles, saya juga mengamati betapa telur omelet mereka terlihat lezat dan berbeda. Begitu saya melihat omelet yang dipesan oleh orang di meja sebelah, saya langsung menyesal karena telah memesan spaghetti. Pesanannya terlihat menggiurkan dan besar porsinya!

Sebagai penggemar nasi goreng, saya sempat mengira bahwa makanan Eropa akan susah diterima, tetapi saya terkejut sendiri saat menyadari bahwa saya ternyata bisa menyesuaikan diri. Menu Perancis mungkin tidak disertai nasi, tapi makanan mereka terasa sedap. Salad mereka enak, dosis AAAAA mereka juga enak (dari sejak awal saya berpikir bahwa menu dengan banyak huruf A harusnya terjamin kualitasnya), telur omelet mereka, yang akhirnya saya coba di kafe di dekat Moulin Rouge, pun enak!

Moulin Rouge adalah tempat turis terakhir yang kami kunjungi, namun kami berbalik arah dan menuju ke kafe untuk makan malam. Setelah itu, dalam perjalanan kembali ke hotel, saya jadi ingat apa yang Christophe ceritakan pada saya. Paris tidak berbeda jauh dengan Singapura dalam konteks pejalan kaki. Destinasi dari satu titik ke titik lain bisa ditempuh dengan berjalan kaki, bukan saja karena dekat jaraknya, tetapi juga karena kita bisa menikmati pemandangan sekitar dan juga berhemat (jangan lupa bahwa semua pengeluaran di sini dibayar dalam mata uang Euro).

Keesokan paginya, karena harganya yang terjangkau dan masuk akal, kita menggunakan transportasi hotel untuk ke bandara. Saat itu hari masih gelap dan Paris masih bermandikan cahaya lampu, persis seperti juluka yang disandangnya. Setelah itu kita akhirnya terbang dari bandara Charles de Gaulle airport ke Liverpool...

Di bandara Charles de Gaulle, sesaat sebelum berangkat ke Liverpool.

The Europe Trip: London Calling

I was reminded by Facebook that it's been a year since I last visited London. It was a nice experience, though the preparation was quite a nightmare, especially for Indonesian passport holders who chose the free and easy option (funny that they come up with such term because nothing is free and easy here). Coming from that angle, I think it'll be an interesting topic for me to write.

First of all, let's get the right idea that London is very far from Asia. It's very important to acknowledge that, because 14 hours flight is definitely not a joke for those who dislike flying, me included. How I did it was, I intentionally chose the flights that stopped in Dubai. The flight duration was ideal, so I got a chance to walk on a solid ground after seven hours of flying, then boarded the plane and endured another seven hours in the air (as a comparison, seven hours is roughly the time needed for one to fly from Singapore to Tokyo). Emirates was a great choice. If I only got one word to describe it, then this is it: impressive.

Now, back to the Indonesian passport, we need tourist visas to enter almost all foreign countries and UK is not an exception. The UK visa application form was the most complicated and tedious one. It was so challenging with a lot of details to be filled up that, if not for the thought that I'd be visiting the world famous zebra crossing, I would have abandoned the whole plan. Once the forms were done, I did the online payment (this doesn't guarantee that you'll get the approval) and the next thing I knew, I was at the visa application center with a stack of documents comprised of payslips, marriage certificate, employment letter and many more. Once verified, the documents were collected together with our passports. Then we went to a room to get our photos taken.

As we walked away from Harrods...

After all the steps above are done, we're pretty much at the mercy of the immigration officers. To this day, I'm still not sure if this is some sort of dry British humour or not, but the confirmation email that was sent to me few days later didn't confirm anything at all! In my case, I just had to wait until I received my passport and opened it to figure out whether I obtained the visa or not. When I did that, I saw a visa that was issued by the British embassy in Manilla.

Unlike the single entry visa to China, UK visa is good for multiple entries and valid for six months, so this gives you the flexibility to plan your trip, ie. go to London, then explore Europe and travel back to UK again. Once visa was confirmed, I browsed expedia.com and agoda.com for flights and accommodation. Both websites are good and never give me any problem so far, so I'd say they are recommended.

My first impression of London was Heathrow airport. It had a long queue, cold and nowhere near to Singapore's efficiency, but the immigration officer did smile and was quite friendly. This being UK, he spoke with the eloquent British accent. It was good to hear that.

The gloomy London weather greeted us when we left Heathrow by the Tube. We changed to another train at South Kensington and, as we headed to Bayswater, the sun rose slowly. I couldn't help thinking about Here Comes the Sun and this, together with the pleasant encounter with old folks that talked to us, were just brilliant. Once we reached to our destination, the view there was quite similar with the scenes from Notting Hill. I fell in love with London immediately.

A different angle of Abbey Road...

Bayswater is a bustling place with convenience stores, post office, hotels, telco shops and a lot of good food. Now this may sound ridiculous, but of all the food worth trying there, the most famous one happens to be the Peking roast duck! Yes, a Chinese food, and we ordered ours at Gold Mine. We actually had to queue for it and, by sheer of luck, we had the last portion available for that night. A good place, Bayswater is. Right at the corner of the street, there's also another station called Queensway, so the area is very strategic.

Harrods is also only a few stations away, so we went there on our first evening in London. It looks like an old-fashioned Takashimaya, I think, and the price tags are not exactly friendly, haha. From there, we went to Hard Rock Cafe. It might be spring, but it was still very cold and my Uniqlo hoodie didn't offer much protection against the weather, so I picked up my first leather jacket ever in London. It did wonders and I wore it throughout the holiday.

By the way, the train system there is known as the London Underground, nicknamed the Tube. If you are used to Singapore's MRT, well... this one is nothing like it. The Tube, together with some of the stations, look rather ancient. It also has no fence between the platform and the railway, so if you ever fall down, God bless you, then. You may also want to watch out for the strikes, because there won't be any train operating for that particular line if that happens. I was lucky that I checked it out the night before our departure to Gatwick Airport. Oh, while in London, it makes sense to buy the Oyster card, too. It can be used not only for the trains, but also for the buses and ferry rides.

The musicals: Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables.

If you look at the Tube map, you'll notice that it has some sort of numbering. Most of the tourist spots are inside zone 1, but Abbey Road (nearest train station is St. John's Wood) is within zone 2, so I guess we paid a higher fee to get there. It was worth the money, of course. I remember getting nervous as we approached the legendary studio where the Beatles recorded their music. It was like every step was bringing my dream nearer to reality. Finally, 47 years after the Beatles took the iconic picture at the zebra crossing in 1969 and inspired many fans around the world, I had my turn. It was a mixed feeling, really. As I crossed, I recall the day I was in my room, looking at the album cover 20 years ago. Little did I know then I would make it here one day.

From Abbey Road, we took a bus to Oxford Circus and had a stroll to Tottenham Court Road just to have a glimpse of Primark, the big store with cheap apparels, then we rushed to Buckingham Palace to see the guards changing shift. Months later my wife had our picture in front of the palace framed and hung proudly on our dining room, but as I had my dinner, I was wondering why it had a caption saying Birmingham Palace. It was funny, alright, but my wife would have none of it. The photo was eventually relegated to one corner, haha.

Anyway, I won't bore you with the story of the historical sites any further. You go yourself one day and decide if you like them or not. One last thing that I'd like to share is this wonderful place called West End at Piccadilly Circus. It has many theatres nearby and we went there to watch Phantom of the Opera, right where it belongs. I thought it was great, but we went again at the end of our trip, this time for Les Misérables. I was astounded. That was the best musical ever, even better than Phantom, and I was totally in awe. Songs such as Look Down, I Dreamed a Dream and Do You Hear the People Sing? are awesome!

In the event that you don't really get what  was saying or just in case you are from a small town in Asia just like me, I can understand that musicals may sound alien. It's not like something that we ever did before as it wasn't exactly part of our culture. However if you are into performing arts, I'd suggest you to go try it out. The atmosphere, the fact that this people are singing and acting live on stage with a little to no room for mistakes, it's definitely worth every penny.

Apart from London, we actually had an excursion to nearby places as well such as Stonehenge and Bath, but my wife had written about it, so I'm not going to invalidate her writing with mine, haha. If you are interested, you can click here. Next stop: Paris!

PS: What's my favourite food in London? Pret a Manger!

Good morning, London!

Perjalanan Ke Eropa: London

Saya diingatkan kembali oleh Facebook tentang perjalanan saya ke London setahun yang lalu. Liburan tersebut adalah sebuah pengalaman yang menyenangkan, meski persiapannya bagaikan mimpi buruk, terutama bagi pemegang paspor Indonesia yang berniat mengurus tiket, visa dan akomodasi sendiri. Mari kita lihat seperti apa prosesnya. 

Pertama-tama, perlu dipahami bahwa London sangat jauh dari Asia. Anda harus mengerti bahwa 14 jam di pesawat itu bukan perkara enteng, terutama bagi yang tidak menyukai perjalanan udara seperti saya. Untuk mengatasi hal ini, saya memilih penerbangan yang transit di Dubai. Dengan demikian durasinya menjadi tujuh jam kali dua dan saya bisa berjalan kaki sejenak di bandara Dubai (sebagai perbandingan, tujuh jam itu jarak tempuh dari Singapura ke Tokyo). Emirates adalah pilihan yang bagus. Benar-benar mengesankan. 

Bagi pemegang paspor Indonesia, kita memerlukan visa Inggris. Aplikasi visa ini luar biasa kompleks. Banyak detil yang mesti diisi dan dokumen yang musti disediakan. Jika bukan karena ingin melihat tempat penyeberangan pejalan kaki yang paling terkenal di dunia, saya sudah ingin membatalkan kunjungan ke sana. Begitu formulir selesai diisi, saya harus melakukan pembayaran lewat internet (dan ini tidak menjamin bahwa permohonan visa saya pasti diterima). Setelah itu saya harus membawa setumpuk dokumen, mulai dari slip gaji, sertifikat pernikahan, surat keterangan kerja, dan masih banyak lagi. Setelah diverifikasi, dokumen-dokumen ini dikumpulkan bersama paspor. Kemudian kita masuk ke sebuah ruangan untuk difoto.

Di Piccadilly Circus. 

Setelah menjalani prosedur di atas, kita hanya bisa menanti keputusan dari kantor imigrasi. Sampai hari ini, saya tidak sepenuhnya paham apakah ini adalah gaya humor Inggris atau apa, tapi email konfirmasi yang saya terima sama sekali tidak memberikan konfirmasi apakah aplikasi saya sukses atau ditolak! Pada akhirnya saya hanya bisa pasrah dan menunggu sampai paspor saya dikembalikan. Setelah saya buka paspor saya, saya melihat visa Inggris yang dikeluarkan kedutaan Inggris di Manila. 

Tidak seperti visa Cina yang biasanya hanya berlaku untuk sekali pakai, visa Inggris bisa dipakai berkali-kali dalam masa enam bulan. Ini memberikan kesempatan bagi kita dalam merencanakan liburan, misalnya pergi ke London, lalu lanjut ke Eropa dan kembali lagi ke Inggris. Begitu saya mendapatkan visa, saya lekas membuka expedia.com dan agoda.com untuk pesawat dan hotel. Dua situs ini bagus dan sampai sejauh ini tidak memberikan saya masalah, jadi saya suka menggunakannya. 

Kesan pertama saya tentang London adalah bandara Heathrow. Antriannya panjang, ruangannya dingin dan tidak seefisien Changi di Singapura, tapi petugas imigrasinya tersenyum dan sangat bersahabat serta berbicara dalam akses Inggris yang enak didengar. 

Cuaca London yang murung langsung terasa begitu kita keluar dari bandara. Dengan menggunakan Tube, sebutan kereta bawah tanah di sana, kita bertolak ke South Kensington dan berganti kereta ke Bayswater. Matahari terbit dengan perlahan selagi kita menempuh perjalanan, mengingatkan saya pada lagu Here Comes the Sun. Cuaca yang membaik dan ditambah lagi percakapan ringan bersama orang London di kereta sungguh saya nikmati. Ketika kita hampir sampai di tujuan, terlihat pula pemandangan yang mirip dengan film Notting Hill. Saya segera jatuh cinta dengan London.

Bebek panggang Beijing di Bayswater. 

Bayswater adalah tempat yang sibuk. Ada toko 24 jam, kantor pos, hotel, kedai telkom dan tempat makan di sana. Yang lebih unik dan lucu lagi, dari sekian banyak makanan di sana, yang terkenal justru bebek panggang Beijing! Ya, makanan Cina, dan kita sempat mencobanya di restoran Gold Mine. Khusus untuk bebek panggang, kita harus antri dan kebetulan kita mendapat porsi terakhir untuk malam itu. Saya suka kawasan Bayswater. Di ujung jalan, masih ada lagi stasiun lain yang bernama Queensway, jadi ini memang daerah strategis. 

Harrods terletak tidak jauh dari Bayswater, jadi kita ke sana di malam pertama kita di London. Ternyata Harrods mirip seperti Takashimaya, namun kelihatan lebih tua gedungnya. Harga barangnya pun kurang bersahabat, haha. Dari sana kita beranjak ke Hard Rock Cafe. Meski sudah memasuki musim semi, cuaca masih terasa sangat dingin di London dan jaket Uniqlo saya gagal menunaikan tugasnya, jadi saya membeli jaket kulit pertama saya di Hard Rock Cafe. Ini sungguh investasi yang bermanfaat dan saya memakainya sepanjang liburan.

Oh ya, sistem transportasi kereta di sana bernama London Underground, namun lebih dikenal sebagai Tube. Jika anda sudah terbiasa dengan MRT di Singapura, maka... yang satu ini tidak terlalu mirip. Tube dan beberapa stasiunnya terlihat kuno. Tidak ada pembatas antara tempat menunggu dan rel kereta, jadi senantiasa ada resiko terjatuh. Anda juga harus memperhatikan kemungkinan terjadinya mogok kerja, karena tidak akan ada kereta pada jalur tersebut. Saya beruntung karena sempat mengecek kereta di malam sebelum kita berangkat ke bandara Gatwick. Saat berada di London, lebih masuk akal jika anda membeli kartu Oyster. Kartu ini bisa digunakan untuk kereta, bis dan juga feri.

Di London Underground. 

Jika anda melihat peta jalur kereta, anda akan melihat zona yang ditandai dengan nomor. Kawasan turis kebanyakan berada di zona 1, tapi Abbey Road (dan stasiun yang terdekat adalah St. John's Wood) berada di zona 2, jadi ongkosnya pun lebih mahal. 

Dari Abbey Road, kita naik bis ke Oxford Circus dan berjalan santai ke arah Tottenham Court Road untuk melihat-lihat sejenak di Primark, pusat perbelanjaan yang menawarkan tas dan pakaian murah. Dari sana, kita bergegas ke Buckingham Palace untuk melihat pergantian penjaga istana. Beberapa bulan kemudian, istri saya membawa pulang bingkai foto kita yang berpose di depan istana. Ada tulisan Birmingham Palace di bawah, sehingga saya pun heran dan bertanya. Ternyata salah tulis! Saya rasa lucu juga, tapi tidak demikian halnya menurut istri saya. Bingkai foto tersebut pun akhirnya disimpan di pojokan.

Di depan Buckingham Palace. 

Saya tidak akan bercerita panjang lebar dan membuat anda bosan dengan bangunan bersejarah di London. Jika anda ke sana, anda putuskan sendiri apakah anda menyukainya atau tidak. Yang mau saya ceritakan lebih lanjut adalah West End, tempat istimewa yang terletak di Piccadilly Circus. West End memiliki banyak gedung teater dan kita ke sana untuk menonton Phantom of the Opera. Di penghujung liburan, kita kembali lagi ke sana, kali ini kita beli langsung tiket di loket dan menyaksikan Les Misérables. Saya benar-benar terpana. Les Mis adalah musikal terbaik yang pernah saya tonton, bahkan lebih bagus dari Phantom. Lagu-lagu seperti Look Down, I Dreamed a Dream and Do You Hear the People Sing? sangat menggugah!

Selain London, kita juga sempat mampir ke Stonehenge dan Bath, tapi istri saya sudah menulis ceritanya. Jika anda berminat, bisa baca di sini dalam versi bahasa Inggris. Tempat tujuan berikutnya: Paris!

PS: Makanan favorit saya selama di London? Pret a Manger!

Makan salad di Pret.