Parno And Friends

It's another Jakarta trip with Parno! The last time we did that together was probably right after my college graduation, when we were young adults trying our luck in Jakarta. 23 years had passed since then! So we left Soekarno-Hatta with the same excitement we had. It was always fun traveling with Parno. He was like our Ringo, minus the talents, wahaha.

Landed in Jakarta!

First stop, Pamulang. We went there to meet BL at his computer shop. What we saw when we arrived was the offloading of computers. Stocking up, a sign of good business, I reckon. As we said it in our group, biggest orders in Indonesia! That's how he made it to Europe. And BL was kind enough to buy us a Sundanese breakfast.

Brunch with BL.

Next destination was Bakso Ikan Telur Asin Ahan. Parno had to make his cuttlefish delivery, but once done, it was a couple of old friends hanging out. Junaidi, a former bandmate and a travel buddy to Bandung, came to join us, too. We had a bowl of fishballs and chit-chatted until it was time for me to do what I came to Jakarta for: the meetup with my ex-colleagues from Kalbe.

With Hardy, Henny and Junaidi.

Once I was done with the lunch (my third meal in my first four hours in Jakarta), Jun and Parno picked me up. Hardy and wife, the owners of Bakso Ikan, had already made their way to Bogor for the half marathon. As for us, we headed to Alvin's place for some chiropractic. All three of us needed it and it felt good afterwards. And it got better with home-cooked fried rice from Alvin's wife! A perfect end for the rainy day!

Alvin in action.

Our next day began with donuts and coffee at Dunkin' that was within walking distance from Yello Hotel. When we returned to our room, we made a video call to Ardian. Endrico joined us not long after that. Just four old friends talking nonsense. Probably what we needed!

Breakfast at Dunkin'.

Then came the time for us to make our way to Alu for some hometown flavours. Oh yes, Alu's chicken rice is an authentic Pontianak cuisine. Best eaten while it's hot, we ate it fast and furiously the moment it was served. The food that made me, so delicious and nostalgic. For about 10 minutes, I was once again that little boy from my dear hometown.

At Alu.

Friends started coming after we finished our meal. In no time, there were 12 of us. Someone suggested that we have taken up the seats meant for business, so we moved to somewhere meant to be occupied for a long period of time: Starbucks. And long we did stay, from about 1 PM till dinner time. 

At Starbucks.

That was close to five hours of hanging out. What did we do, you might ask? Well, we were bunch of old friends. The chemistry just worked. And we hadn't seen each other for a long time. There were a lot of things to talk about. Anything. And I enjoyed being there, either getting engaged in a conversation or simply as a bystander watching the togetherness unfold. The atmosphere, the laughter, the happy faces, it was just beautiful.

Waiting in front of Tio Ciu 78.

While we were at Starbucks, Yardi, Muliady The and Yoviana came while Cicilia and Hendra returned home. As day turned into night, we made our way to Tio Ciu 78, an eatery opened by my primary school friend. The place was packed and patrons had to queue. As BL said it correctly, the food had a taste of hometown flavours, too. 

Dinner time.

Eventually, there was just a few of us left. We had our dessert at Happy Day before calling it a night. When we were back to Yello Hotel, I asked Parno, "do you realize that we spent the whole day just around our hotel?" It was a time well spent. 

McD with Parno.

The next morning, Parno and I walked to McDonald's. The outlets in Indonesia have Paket Panas, a menu consisting of rice, scrambled egg and fried chicken that I like. We also made a couple of short video calls with Lui Hong in Brunei, Hendri Muliadi who happened to be in Singkawang and Hartono in Jogja. When all things were said and done, all good things must come to an end. Parno and I headed to the airport, parted ways to return to where we came from...

Heading back!

Parno Dan Teman-Teman

Saatnya untuk petualangan di Jakarta bersama Parno lagi! Terakhir kali kita bersama ke Jakarta mungkin terjadi setelah wisuda, ketika kita mulai merantau dan mengadu nasib. Jadi kita pun keluar dari Soekarno-Hatta dengan berseri. Perjalanan bersama Parno selalu menyenangkan. Dia seperti Ringo generasi kita, tapi tanpa bakat serupa, wahaha.

Mendarat di Jakarta!

Pemberhentian pertama, Pamulang. Kita mengunjungi toko komputer BL. Sesampainya di sana, kita melihat barang-barang yang sedang diturunkan dari mobil. Bisnis bagus, stok baru. Seperti yang sering kita bahas di grup SMA, order terbesar di Indonesia. Makanya bisa ke Eropa. Dan BL dengan senang hati mengajak kita sarapan makanan Sunda.

Ditraktir BL.

Tujuan berikutnya adalah Bakso Ikan Telur Asin Ahan. Parno datang mengantarkan pesanan Hardy dan begitu tugasnya selesai, kita nongkrong di situ sebagai teman lama. Junaidi, mantan pemain bas di grup saya dan juga teman seperjalanan ke Bandung dulu, datang dan turut bergabung. Kita makan bakso dan mengobrol sampai tiba waktunya bagi saya untuk bertemu dengan teman-teman Kalbe. 

Bersama Hardy, Henny dan Junaidi.

Setelah kelar makan siang (porsi ketiga saya dalam empat jam pertama di Jakarta), Jun dan Parno datang menjemput. Hardy dan istri, pemilik Kedai Bakso Ikan, sudah dalam perjalanan ke Bogor untuk perlombaan setengah maraton. Kita akhirnya melaju ke tempat Alvin untuk pijat. Sedap rasanya setelah diurut. Dan makin sedap lagi karena kita ditraktir makan nasi goreng buatan istri Alvin. Makan malam yang pas di senja mendung menjelang hujan. 

Alvin beraksi!

Keesokan paginya dimulai dengan donat dan kopi di Dunkin' yang terletak tak jauh dari Yello Hotel. Ketika kita kembali ke kamar, kita menelepon Ardian. Tak lama kemudian, Endrico pun turut bergabung. Empat teman lama berbincang santai. Sesuatu yang sungguh kita butuhkan, saya rasa. 

Sarapan di Dunkin'.

Selanjutnya kita pergi ke Nasi Campur Alu. Oh ya, ini menu otentik Pontianak. Paling baik disantap selagi hangat, kita langsung makan dengan lahap begitu disajikan. Lezat dan juga penuh nostalgia makanannya. Selama 10 menit itu, sekali lagi saya merasa seperti bocah dari Pontianak. 

Makan di Alu.

Teman-teman mulai berdatangan setelah kita menghabiskan sepiring nasi. Tak lama kemudian, ada 12 orang memenuhi tempat makan. Karena tidak baik bagi kita untuk menempati kursi yang seharusnya dipakai untuk berbisnis, kita lalu pindah ke tempat yang lebih cocok untuk nongkrong jangka panjang: Starbucks. Dan kita berada lama di sana, dari sekitar jam satu siang sampai waktu makan malam. 

Di Starbucks.

Jadi kira-kira lima jam lamanya kita berkumpul. Apa yang saja kita lakukan? Jadi kita ini sekumpulan teman lama. Pokoknya ada kebersamaan. Dan kita sudah lama tidak berjumpa, jadi ada banyak yang bisa dibicarakan. Dan saya suka berada di sana, melibatkan diri dalam percakapan ataupun menyaksikan indahnya kebersamaan. Suasananya, tawanya, wajah-wajah yang gembira, memang indah. 

Menanti giliran di Tio Ciu 78.

Sewaktu kita berada di Starbucks, Yardi, Muliady The dan Yoviana datang sementara Cicilia dan Hendra pulang ke Karawang. Ketika malam tiba, kita pergi ke Tio Ciu 78, sebuah tempat makan yang dibuka oleh seorang teman SD. Tempatnya ramai dan pengunjung mesti antri. Seperti yang dikatakan BL, makanannya memiliki cita rasa Pontianak. 

Makan malam.

Pada akhirnya, hanya beberapa di antara kita yang tersisa. Kita lanjut ke Happy Day untuk minum sejenak sebelum bubaran. Dalam perjalanan pulang ke Yello Hotel, saya bertanya pada Parno, apakah dia sadar bahwa kita baru saja menghabiskan waktu seharian di sekitar hotel. Memang tidak terasa kalau waktu tepat guna. 

McD bersama Parno.

Di pagi berikutnya, Parno dan saya berjalan ke McDonald's. Ada Paket Panas di McD Indonesia yang menunya adalah nasi, telur goreng dan ayam goreng. Saya suka ini. Seusai makan, kita kembali ke hotel dan menelepon Lui Hong di Brunei, Hendri Muliadi yang kebetulan ke Singkawang dan Hartono yang berada di Jogja. Setelah tiba waktunya, kita pun berangkat ke bandara dan pulang ke tempat masing-masing... 

Pulang ke tempat masing-masing!