The ASEAN Tour: Vietnam

My one and only trip to Vietnam so far was easily my least organized trip, but it also turned out to be the most adventurous one. I remember checking some info on the internet. That, however, might be related to the fact finding of how to travel from Vietnam to Cambodia, with the Vietnam leg being badly neglected, haha. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that this trip was the first to involve multiple cities and countries crisscrossing, the granddaddy of many similar trips to come.

Come to think of it, perhaps the trip was so poorly planned because we thought we got some Vietnamese friends to rely on. Well, they were Vietnamese, alright, but they were actually from Hanoi. That was like more than 1500km from our destination, Ho Chi Minh City. When we got there, only then we realized that apart from the language advantage, they were just as clueless as us.

Setia and Markus, when we were approaching the famous Bến Thành Market.
Image credit: Endrico Richard.

There were three things that I learnt (from my then girlfriend) before I went to Ho Chi Minh City: stay in District 1, try the abundant Phở24 and go to Bến Thành Market. Other than that, I had no other preparation. I don't even remember how we ended up with the hotel we were staying at. It was this one star hotel in District 1, not very far from Bến Thành Market. There was also a Phở24 nearby, so it was as good as using up all I knew about Ho Chi Minh City on the first day of our trip. The rest was really up to our Vietnamese hosts.

In all fairness, the Hanoi chaps did try their best. They brought us to eat some local delicacies, which turned out be a rather bizarre culinary affair ranging from duck blood to grilled prawn covered with a mountain of salt. After that, we explored the city on foot without any clear direction. It was basically just a sightseeing and getting ourselves impressed by the number of motorbikes on the streets. It was extraordinary, I must say. I mean, being Indonesians, we are no strangers to this two-wheeled vehicle, but Vietnam really got more motorcycles than anywhere else on planet earth. Crossing the road was very challenging!

At the duck blood restaurant.

While we were there, we booked a coach trip from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh. When we asked our so-called tour guides to join us, the reply was rather amusing. The guy called Hai, a Bruce Lee lookalike who wore sleeveless T-shirt the whole day, nonchalantly replied us, "I still treasure my life."

With such an answer lingering in our mind, we began our six hours road trip on the following day. I fell asleep not long after the ride began, so I can't really tell you how the view was like. We eventually stopped at this place called Mộc Bài, a border crossing.

Exploring the city on foot.
Image credit: Endrico Richard.

It was interesting to see how the whole process was conducted. It was like finding order within chaos. The immigration officer collected our passports and there we were, loitering around, waiting for our names to be called. And it's not exactly easy for the Vietnamese to pronounce Indonesian names, apparently. When it came to the name Setia Budiyono, the officer simply gave up. He lifted up the passport, hoping for the owner to notice his travel document.

That last bit above officially ended the first leg of our trip as we were off to the neighboring country, but we would fly back again few days later from Siem Reap. I couldn't remember the reason why, but we checked in to the same hotel again when we returned.

The return to Vietnam.
Image credit: Endrico Richard.

The hotel was memorable for few reasons. It could have been a shop house converted into a hotel, hence the one star. For us whom stayed downstairs, the room was quite spacious, big enough for four people to fit in comfortably. It also provided breakfast, which was actually ordered by the receptionist from the stall next door, once he took our orders. We figured this out when my friend Endrico tried to change what he had ordered to phở after seeing how tempting the food was. He was told off by the chubby receptionist guy in broken English (which made it even funnier, as it sounded like a very authoritative command) that not only he couldn't change it, but he also better ate his breakfast immediately.

Then of course it wasn't a Vietnam trip if we didn't try the roadside coffee. We sat on tiny stools, forming a circle on the pavement, talking while drinking coffee. A very surreal experience! It was a hell of a job to order a cup of coffee with milk, an attempt that involved many locals before we managed to get the message conveyed properly. And we signed off not long afterwards. Until we meet again, Saigon!

Setia, Nuryani and Hady, enjoying the roadside coffee.
Image credit: Endrico Richard. 

Tur ASEAN: Vietnam

Satu-satunya perjalanan saya ke Vietnam sampai sejauh ini adalah liburan saya yang paling buruk perencanaannya, tapi lumayan seru dan berkesan. Saya sempat membaca-baca di internet sebelum berangkat, tapi lebih pada topik bagaimana caranya menyeberang dari Vietnam ke Kamboja. Alhasil, liburan selama kita di Ho Chi Minh sama sekali tidak ditentukan rutenya, haha. Akan tetapi menarik untuk dikenang bahwa kunjungan ke Vietnam ini menjadi liburan pertama saya yang melibatkan beberapa kota dan negara, suatu hal yang kelak menjadi kebiasaan saya.

Mengabadikan keramaian di Ho Chi Minh.
Foto oleh Endrico Richard.

Kalau dipikirkan lagi, mungkin perencanaan yang buruk itu disebabkan karena kita mengira bahwa kita bisa mengandalkan beberapa teman dari Vietnam. Masalahnya adalah, meski mereka adalah orang Vietnam, tapi mereka sebenarnya berasal dari Hanoi. Ibukota Vietnam ini berjarak kira-kira 1500km dari tempat tujuan kita, Ho Chi Minh. Ketika kita berjumpa di sana, barulah kita sadari bahwa selain keunggulan dalam berbahasa Vietnam, mereka sama sekali tidak tahu apa-apa tentang Ho Chi Minh.

Ada tiga hal yang saya pelajari dari teman wanita saya tentang Ho Chi Minh: harus tinggal di District 1, coba makan di Phở24 dan pergi ke Bến Thành Market. Selain itu, saya tidak ada persiapan apa-apa lagi. Saya bahkan tidak ingat bagaimana kita bisa memilih hotel bintang satu yang berada di District 1 dan berada tidak jauh dari Bến Thành Market. Di dekat sana juga ada Phở24, jadi semua yang saya ketahui langsung terpakai habis di hari pertama. Sisa perjalanan kita bergantung sepenuhnya pada tuan rumah kita. 

Di depan toko phở.
Foto oleh Endrico Richard.

Saya rasa para pemuda dari Hanoi ini juga sudah berusaha semampunya. Mereka membawa kita menikmati makanan lokal seperti darah bebek dan sate udang yang ditutup dengan tumpukan garam. Setelah itu, kita berjalan kaki mengelilingi kota tanpa tujuan yang pasti. Bisa dikatakan kita hanya melihat-lihat dan sesekali terkagum-kagum dengan banyaknya jumlah motor di sana. Sebagai orang Indonesia, tentunya saya tidak asing dengan motor, tapi Vietnam benar-benar memiliki lebih banyak motor dibandingkan negara mana pun di planet ini! Menyeberang jalan adalah kegiatan yang sangat menantang!

Sewaktu berada di sana, kita memesan tiket bis dari Ho Chi Minh ke Phnom Penh. Ketika kita bertanya pada para pemandu wisata kita ini, jawaban mereka cukup mencengangkan. Pria yang berperawakan mirip Bruce Lee dan bernama Hai ini menjawab, "saya masih menghargai nyawa saya." 

Markus dan Hai, si Bruce Lee asal Vietnam.

Setelah mendapatkan jawaban seperti itu, kita pun memulai perjalanan darat selama enam jam pada keesokan harinya. Saya tertidur tidak lama setelah bis berjalan, jadi saya tidak bisa bercerita tentang pemandangan di sepanjang jalan. Kita lantas berhenti di perbatasan bernama Mộc Bài.

Proses imigrasi yang berlangsung di sini menarik untuk diceritakan. Suasananya terasa kacau-balau. Paspor kita semua dikumpulkan oleh petugas dan kita pun bebas ke sana kemari saat menunggu paspor dicap. Sesudah itu kita pun dipanggil satu persatu. Ternyata tidak mudah bagi lidah orang Vietnam untuk mengucapkan nama Indonesia. Ketika sampai pada nama Setia Budiyono, petugas itu menyerah dan mengangkat paspor tersebut, berharap bahwa pemiliknya melihat dan datang mengambil.

Setia dan Endrico, melepas lelah setelah berjalan kaki. 

Setelah paspor diambil, maka berakhirlah kunjungan kita di Vietnam dan kita pun memasuki Kamboja. Kendati begitu, beberapa hari kemudian kita terbang kembali ke Ho Chi Minh dari Siem Reap. Saya tidak ingat apa alasannya, namun kita lagi-lagi kembali ke hotel yang sama di District 1. 

Hotel tersebut unik karena beberapa alasan. Pertama, hotel ini mungkin dulunya adalah sebuah ruko yang kemudian beralih fungsi menjadi hotel, karena itu hanya satu bintangnya. Bagi kita yang tinggal di bawah, kamarnya cukup luas dan terasa leluasa untuk empat orang. Hotel tersebut juga menyediakan sarapan pagi yang sebenarnya dipesan oleh resepsionis dari toko sebelah setelah dia mencatat pesanan kita. Kita mengetahui hal ini karena Endrico mencoba mengganti pesanannya menjadi phở setelah melihat kita makan. Resepsionis tembem itu langsung menolaknya dengan bahasa Inggris yang terbata-bata dan mengingatkannya kembali untuk segera menyantap sarapannya.

Setia dan Darto di ruang makan hotel.
Foto oleh Endrico Richard.

Dan kunjungan ke Vietnam tentu saja tidak lengkap apabila kita tidak mencicipi kopi di tepi jalan. Kita duduk di bangku kecil dan membentuk lingkaran di trotoar, mengobrol sambil minum kopi seperti layaknya orang Vietnam lokal. Pengalaman yang unik! Tidak mudah untuk memesan secangkir kopi susu karena kendala bahasa. Kita bahkan harus meminta bantuan orang lokal untuk menjelaskan kepada ibu penyeduh kopi itu setelah ia gagal memahami bahasa isyarat kita. Sesudah itu, kita pun ke bandara untuk pulang ke Singapura. Sampai bertemu lagi, Saigon!

That Tiny Little Artist

Being a visual artist is an obscure choice in Indonesia, especially when you are a Chinese and a girl. In a country where majority of the people go to college and become part of the workforce once they are graduated, being an artist is to walk a path full of uncertainties. It is so anti-mainstream that even the closest ones to you won't know what to advise. This is a story of a talented young woman who followed her heart. She didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but she faced it all and, against all odds, she made it to where she is today.

Her name is Leny Margiani, the youngest of four strong-willed sisters. She is a natural when it comes drawing, an artistic flair that is likely to be inherited from her father. She has a keen interest in oil pantings. Coloured pencils are also her personal favourite tools. For the longest time, she thought drawing was a hobby, until she had to decide what to do with her life. By the time she enrolled herself into art college, she embraced her destiny as an artist.

One day in Nanning.
Image credit: Leny Margiani.

What interesting about art is, it doesn't discriminate. When you are good at it, people will acknowledge it. Leny was a friendly and helpful young girl with a raw talent waiting to be polished. The lecturers recognized this and when there was a student exchange programme, she was nominated as one of the candidates. A young Chinese that barely knew any words in Mandarin other than xièxiè soon found herself learning the art of drawing and painting in China.

A capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning is definitely less well-known than other cities such as Guangzhou or Shanghai. Even the nearby Guilin is heard more often than Nanning. Leny spent a couple of months here, together with two other friends from Bandung that were studying at the same university. Always a good natured and smiley person, she also befriended some locals there and picked up some broken Chinese language that was enough to allow her to order some decent meals, including the renowned Guilin mǐfěn (rice noodles).

The whale and a submarine.
Image credit: Leny Margiani.

By the time she returned to Bandung and was about to join working society, things were rather bleak for the young artist. While the family understood that this was what she wanted to do, it was not exactly easy to wholeheartedly support a profession that didn't look promising at all, especially when it was compared with the nine-to-five jobs. As far as they were concerned, there wasn't any example of a successful local visual artist, so how it could be a profession for one to make a living was incomprehensible. As if that wasn't bad enough, deciding the price of her masterpiece for a sympathetic buyer was another headache as even the most supportive person might not be able to appreciate her art, thus might be unwilling to pay if she quoted too high.

She didn't give up, though. In order to make ends meet, Leny would take up whatever opportunities that she could grab, from becoming a wedding organizer crew member, selling bags online to giving private drawing lessons. At the same time, she also sharpened her skills by practicing, getting involved in exhibitions and attending the art community events.

Getting ready to "attack" the ship.
Image credit: Leny Margiani.

The beauty of Bandung is how unique the cafés and restaurants are. The need of being unique eventually created a niche market of mural paintings. That was when Leny's fortune changed for the better. Together with her fellow artists, she worked hard on every project, literally. It was no bed of roses for the tiny little girl whom had to carry and shift the ladder all the time during the work. When the project was nearing the deadline, she would need to either stay overnight with the rest of the team to finish the painting or go home at wee hours. However, it was rewarding and satisfying.

Things seemed to be looking up now. In whatever spare time she has, Leny is taking up orders for something she calls gipaws (it seems to be a local term, because the internet doesn't return any matching results). It is an art of painting dogs or human faces on the wood and, as it has a whole lot of cuteness, it can be a perfect gift for loved ones. Leny also understands that she still can go further, so she plans to get a master degree scholarship to study fine art.

Gipaws, the allegedly local art.
Image credit: Leny Margiani.

How about her dreams? She imagines that one day she will come up with something that reflects her style, an art she can proudly call her own. Looking back, she has no regrets of never working in office. She has paid her dues and she's an artist now, just as good as any other jobs and, most importantly, it's a job that she loves and excels at. Looking forward to the future, she knows it still can get better for her...

Posing in front of her art.
Image credit: Leny Margiani.

Pelukis Mungil Itu...

Menjadi seorang pelukis adalah pilihan yang langka di Indonesia, apalagi ketika yang memilih adalah seorang gadis Tionghoa. Di negara di mana mayoritas penduduk yang melanjutkan pendidikan di universitas biasanya menjadi tenaga kerja kantoran setelah lulus, menjadi seorang seniman berarti melangkah di jalan yang penuh ketidakpastian. Seniman adalah profesi yang sungguh tidak lazim, yang sering membuat keluarga terdekat tidak yakin harus memberikan nasehat apa. Berikut ini adalah cerita dari seorang wanita berbakat yang mengikuti kata hatinya. Dia tidak tahu apa yang akan terjadi esok, tapi ia hadapi semuanya dan perjuangannya dalam melewati suka-duka hidup seorang seniman mengantarkannya pada hari ini.

Namanya Leny Margiani, paling muda dari empat bersaudari. Melukis adalah sesuatu yang alami baginya, sebuah bakat seni yang mungkin diturunkan dari ayahnya. Dalam melukis, ia lebih cenderung memilih cat minyak dan pensil warna. Awalnya dia berpikir bahwa melukis adalah hobi, namun semuanya berubah ketika dia harus memutuskan apa yang ingin ia lakukan dalam hidupnya. Di saat ia mendaftarkan diri ke perguruan tinggi, Leny pun menuruti panggilan nuraninya untuk menjadi seniman. 

Di depan kampus Nanning.
Image credit: Leny Margiani.

Yang menarik dari seni adalah bagaimana seni itu tidak mengenal diskriminasi. Ketika seseorang memang berbakat dan bisa, yang lain akan mengakuinya. Leny adalah seorang yang ceria, bersahabat dan memiliki bakat yang menunggu untuk diasah. Dosen-dosen yang sering berdiskusi dengannya bisa melihat potensi ini. Oleh karena itu, tatkala ada program pertukaran pelajaran, dia pun direkomendasikan untuk berpartisipasi. Gadis Tionghoa muda yang lancar berbahasa Sunda tapi hampir sama sekali tidak mengenal Mandarin (kecuali xièxiè, mungkin) ini akhirnya mendarat di Cina untuk belajar seni lukis.

Bersama dengan dua temannya, Leny belajar di kampus Nanning selama beberapa bulan. Bagi yang belum pernah mendengar tentang kota ini, Nanning adalah ibukota Daerah Otonomi Guangxi, sekitar 3,5 jam dari Guangzhou bila menggunakan kereta cepat. Selama berada di sana, Leny juga berteman dengan penduduk lokal dan belajar beberapa patah kata Mandarin yang berguna baginya dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, misalnya untuk memesan makanan (salah satunya adalah Guilin mǐfěn atau mie Guilin).

Salah satu lukisan dinding
Image credit: Leny Margiani

Sewaktu ia kembali ke Bandung dan bersiap-siap untuk terjun ke dalam masyarakat, ia menemui banyak rintangan yang menghadang. Dari pihak keluarga, semua mengerti bahwa berkarya di bidang seni adalah sesuatu yang ingin dia kerjakan, tapi di satu sisi, tidaklah mudah bagi orang tua dan kakak-kakaknya untuk mendukungnya menekuni sebuah profesi yang sama sekali tidak jelas. Bagaimana seorang seniman bisa membiayai hidupnya adalah sesuatu yang tidak bisa mereka pahami, sebab tidak seorang pun pernah menjalaninya. Dari Leny sendiri, ia juga mengalami banyak kesulitan, misalnya saja dalam menentukan harga hasil karyanya. Semua itu bergantung sepenuhnya pada apresiasi seni pembeli.

Kendati demikian, ia tidak menyerah. Untuk membayar kebutuhan hidup sehari-hari, Leny mengerjakan apa saja yang bisa ia dapatkan, mulai dari ikut serta menjadi anggota wedding organizer, menjual tas secara online sampai memberikan kursus menggambar. Untuk mengembangkan diri, ia juga terus berlatih serta hadir dalam pameran lukisan dan acara komunitas seniman.

Melukis kapal.
Image credit: Leny Margiani.

Dan kesempatan pun tiba. Salah satu hal yang unik dari Bandung adalah kafe dan restorannya. Semua berlomba-lomba menghiasi tempatnya dengan disain yang tiada duanya. Kebutuhan akan lukisan di dinding pun menciptakan pangsa pasar yang hanya bisa diisi oleh pelukis seperti Leny. Bersama teman-teman sesama seniman, Leny pun mengerjakan proyek demi proyek. Tidak gampang tentunya bagi seorang gadis kecil bekerja sambil memindahkan tangga sepanjang waktu. Belum lagi ketika ia harus bekerja sampai larut malam untuk menyelesaikan proyeknya sebelum hari-H. Meski melelahkan, semua kerja keras itu ada nilai kepuasan tersendiri dan juga cukup menghasilkan.

Dengan adanya pekerjaan yang berkesinambungan, keadaan pun mulai membaik baginya. Di kala ia memiliki waktu senggang, Leny juga menerima pesanan gipaws (sebuah istilah lokal, sepertinya, karena internet tidak menjelaskan apa pun tentang ini), lukisan anjing atau wajah manusia di atas bahan kayu. Karya yang menggemaskan ini seringkali dipesan untuk dijadikan hadiah. Leny juga menyadari bahwa masih banyak yang bisa ia pelajari, karena itu dia lantas berencana untuk mendapatkan beasiswa gelas Master di ITB untuk jurusan fine art.

Gipaws, karya "Giani".
Image credit: Leny Margiani.

Apa cita-citanya sekarang? Pelukis yang gemar melukis wajah manusia ini berharap bahwa ia akan mampu menciptakan karya yang khas dirinya, yang bisa langsung dikenali oleh penikmat seni sebagai karyanya. Ketika ia melihat kembali, tiada rasa sesal karena tidak bekerja di kantor. Dia telah bekerja keras membayar harga dari sebuah impian dan dia seorang seniman sekarang, sebuah pekerjaan yang sama baiknya dengan yang lain. Lebih penting lagi, ia menikmati apa yang ia kerjakan dan memiliki kelebihan sendiri di bidangnya...

Mengerjakan taman bermain para malaikat.
Image credit: Leny Margiani.

Children Of The World

The beauty of reading is the new things that we discovered by the time we finish it. The previous article, Feel the Point, was written by Brick. I always like his writing style as I find it witty and sharp with a tinge of deadpan humour. However, what I loves most is how different it is as compared with, let's say, mine. His writing is very American. I mean, if you read his story, which was about the cancer awareness event, it was a great experience that only Americans go through.

I'll tell you why I find it inspiring and refreshing. I often joke with my friends that we never get to see a Chinese being featured on a documentary channel for catching crocodiles in the name of science or whatsoever. Another great example is, if we leave it to the Chinese, I'm pretty sure that bungee jumping wouldn't be invented. Those activities are just so out of characters for us.

This, I believe, is the result of the our culture, upbringing and surrounding. It may be changing now, but back then, being a Chinese Indonesian meant I just listened to our parents. No questions asked or there'd be a severe punishment. In my case, I was being told that I should study well so that I could get a good job later on in life. I should also scrimp and save, so that I would have enough saving for a rainy day.

There is nothing wrong with that, of course. Parents, with their own limitations (and they didn't even have Google back then), only ever want the best for their children. Such upbringing, however, may or may not contribute to the fact that Indonesian Chinese, or Chinese in general, tends to be more reserved and less adventurous as compared with others. This also explains why Chinese normally excels in study and does well financially. With what little chances we have, we make do and work hard towards our goals. The result, more often than not, is fruitful.

It's worth emphasizing that it doesn't make us more superior than others. On the contrary, being good in the few things mentioned above is not without any downsides, if you asked me. Such exclusivity can lead to a very cautious mindset and in extreme cases, people end up being petty. When I have casual talks with friends, I can see that stereotyping does happen. From their point of views, some complained about how lazy the non-Chinese are and so forth, the comments that were made based on few unlucky encounters. I disagree with all this because it's never about the whole race, but rather about certain individuals. Who's to say that there isn't any bad Chinese or good non-Chinese, anyway?

That's why staying in melting pot countries like Singapore is enlightening. We learn how to coexist here. Getting to know other cultures is a humbling experience, really.

I once had an Italian lunch with a French and he told me about how he grew up in a small village of a few hundreds people where they almost knew each other. His activities back then included horseback riding. That was fascinating, because in the place where I came from, riding a horse was unheard of. Another French brought me to a Middle Eastern restaurant, which was my introduction to this rather exotic cuisines such as hummus and kebab. I grew to like it since then. My family and I were also invited by a very down-to-earth French to his son's birthday party. It was quite the same as any other Asian boy's birthday party, apparently.

Another time, I met this soft spoken British guy for coffee. We talked about work, we talked about life. It was amusing that worlds apart though we were, literally, we could talk about stuff like Oasis, the famous band from Manchester. On a different occasion, I had lunch with an American who was old enough to have a memory about the day John Lennon died.

Then there are the Indians, people with a culture as old as civilization itself (let's not forget that Indonesia was heavily influenced by the Buddhism and Hinduism). They are charming and those that I normally drink with (be it beer or masalah tea), they are really smart. Usually I would bring up a subject and let them share their opinions. We discuss about anything, from Hindu Gods, Gandhi to corruption that happens in both countries (only Indians can relate with this topic!). I discovered that Indians can't really differentiate Chinese, Japanese and Korean, just like how I can't really differentiate Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Indian and Nepalese. Oh, much to my surprise, they also don't know Doraemon.

Talk about Sri Lankan, I was invited to a traditional wedding last December. It was held in a temple where people would touch fire as a cleansing act (if you are Catholics, imagine the holy water you dip your hand into when you enter the church). The attendees were in traditional attires. The procession had the blessing and chanting, with the music from some sort of trumpet blaring loudly while percussionist was tapping his drum frantically. A mind-blowing experience, I must say.

Even the Chinese from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Mainland China can be so different. I'm always impressed by how well the Singaporeans are in expressing themselves in a meeting and making a speech. It comes naturally for them whereas it's a struggle for me (as students back in Pontianak, we were not groomed to do so). That only means I have to try harder. My ex-boss always told me to speak slowly and clearly, an advice that I always remember and practice.

Now, back to Brick's story, I love reading it because his stories broaden my horizon, that there are other people doing things differently out there and some are surely good things that I can learn from others. Some people will have characters that are the exact opposite of ours, but once you get past that, most of the time it'll be alright. In life, you either get to know others or misunderstand them (them as in normal people, not the extremists, fanatics, radicals and nutcases). The differences we have, they are good differences that are going to stay for the fact that we are all the children of the world...

Children of the World: Indian, Singaporean, Malaysian, Indonesian and Chinese
Image credit: Ong Hock Siong

Anak-Anak Dunia

Hal yang paling menarik dari kebiasaan membaca adalah pengetahuan yang kita dapatkan setelah kita selesai membaca. Artikel sebelumnya, Feel the Point, adalah sebuah tulisan orang Amerika bernama Brick. Saya selalu menyukai tulisannya yang tajam dan bergaya humor cerdas, namun yang paling menarik dari karyanya adalah betapa berbedanya tulisan Brick dan saya. Jika anda baca artikelnya, anda akan menemukan bahwa tulisannya sangat khas Amerika. Ceritanya yang mengisahkan kegiatan amal tentang kanker adalah sesuatu pengalaman unik yang tidak lumrah di Asia, namun biasa bagi mereka di Amerika.

Saya akan jelaskan lebih lanjut kenapa tulisannya sangat menginspirasi. Saya sering bercanda bahwa kita tidak pernah melihat orang Tionghoa menangkap buaya di film dokumenter. Saya juga berpikir bahwa hal-hal seperti bungee jumping tidak akan pernah dicetuskan oleh orang Tionghoa. Aktivitas seperti itu bukanlah sesuatu yang akan kita coba lakukan, jadi kita tidak akan pernah mengikat kaki dan melompat ke jurang, lalu menciptakan bungee jumping.

Karakter kita terbentuk dari budaya, cara kita diasuh dan lingkungan kita. Saya rasa kondisinya mungkin telah berubah sekarang, tapi orang Tionghoa di Indonesia dulunya sangat menuruti perkataan orang tua. Kita tidak banyak bertanya pada ayah, sebab kebanyakan bertanya bisa menyebabkan kita dihukum. Bila saya menggunakan diri saya sebagai contoh, saya seringkali dinasehati untuk sekolah baik-baik supaya nantinya memperoleh pekerjaan yang baik pula. Saya juga harus berhemat sehingga mempunyai tabungan di saat tak terduga.

Tentunya tidak ada yang salah dengan bimbingan seperti itu. Orang tua kita, dengan segala kekurangannya (zaman dulu tidak ada Google), membesarkan kita tanpa pamrih dan hanya menginginkan yang terbaik buat kita. Didikan seperti itu mungkin secara tidak langsung membuat kita lebih menutup diri dan tidak terbiasa dalam mengekspresikan diri bila dibandingkan etnis lain. Hal yang sama juga mungkin menjadi alasan kenapa orang Tionghoa biasanya lebih berhasil dalam sekolah dan finansial. Karena tidak banyaknya pilihan yang tersedia, kita berupaya sebisanya dalam mencapai tujuan dan hasilnya cenderung sukses.

Perlu ditekankan pula bahwa ini tidak berarti orang Tionghoa adalah etnis yang paling unggul. Justru sebaliknya. Bila tidak hati-hati, kita justru bisa terjebak dalam pola pikir yang tidak sehat. Sebagai contoh, saat sedang berbincang, terkadang saya merasa bahwa ada lawan bicara yang cenderung mengelompokkan etnis lain dalam pandangan negatif, misalnya yang non-Chinese itu malas adanya. Saya tidak setuju dengan sudut pandang demikian karena kemalasan itu bukanlah sifat satu etnis, melainkan individu tertentu. Siapa yang berani menjamin bahwa semua Tionghoa pasti baik dan etnis lain pastilah buruk?

Inilah alasannya kenapa tinggal di Singapura adalah suatu pengalaman yang membuka wawasan. Di negeri yang memiliki berbagai etnis ini, kita belajar untuk saling toleransi dan menghargai. Kesempatan untuk mengenal kebudayaan asing adalah suatu pengalaman yang membuat kita bersahaja.

Sebagai ilustrasi, suatu ketika, saya pernah menikmati masakan Italia bersama orang Perancis. Dia bercerita tentang masa kecilnya di desa berpopulasi ratusan orang yang saling kenal satu sama lain. Salah satu kegiatan yang digemarinya ketika itu adalah menunggang kuda. Betapa mencengangkan, sebab tak seorang pun yang tumbuh besar di Pontianak seperti saya berpeluang untuk berkuda di kampung halaman. Seorang Perancis lainnya membawa saya ke restoran Timur Tengah dan memperkenalkan saya pada masakan yang eksotis seperti hummus dan kebab. Di lain kesempatan, saya dan keluarga juga sempat diundang oleh Perancis lainnya ke ulang tahun anaknya. Hampir sama dengan ultah anak Asia, ternyata.

Saya juga pernah berbincang sambil minum kopi bersama orang Inggris. Kita berbicara tentang pekerjaan hidup di Singapura, sampai hal-hal seperti Oasis, grup musik terkenal dari Manchester. Di waktu yang berbeda, saya sempat makan siang dengan orang Amerika yang bercerita tentang kenangannya di hari John Lennon ditembak mati.

Dan ada lagi orang Indian yang memiliki budaya setua peradaban itu sendiri (jangan lupa bahwa Indonesia sangat dipengaruhi oleh Budhisme dan Hinduisme). Mereka ini orang-orang yang menarik dan seringkali kita berdiskusi tentang beraneka topik, mulai dari dewa-dewi Hindu, Gandhi sampai korupsi yang merajalela di India dan Indonesia. Saya juga menyadari bahwa Indian tidak bisa membedakan orang Cina, Jepang dan Korea, sama halnya seperti kita tidak bisa membedakan orang Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka dan Nepal. Oh, satu hal yang agak mengejutkan saya, mereka juga tidak tahu apa itu Doraemon.

Berbicara tentang orang Sri Lanka, saya juga sempat diundang ke pernikahan yang diadakan di pura. Seperti halnya tradisi Katolik yang mencelupkan jari ke air untuk tanda salib saat masuk gereja, mereka mendekatkan dua tangan ke api sebagai tanda pembersihan diri. Para undangan datang dengan pakaian tradisional. Pernikahan mereka diiringi dengan musik trompet yang membahana dan penabuh genderang yang luar biasa sibuk. Sungguh suatu pengalaman yang mengesankan.

Bahkan orang Tionghoa di Singapura, Malaysia, Indonesia dan Cina pun berbeda karakter dan budayanya. Saya selalu kagum dengan kemampuan orang Singapura dalam mempresentasikan idenya pada saat rapat. Mereka melakukannya dengan alami sementara saya tidak pernah terbiasa dengan hal ini (sebagai murid sekolah di Pontianak dulu, kita tidak pernah dibiasakan berbicara di depan orang banyak). Ini berarti saya harus berupaya lebih keras. Mantan bos saya selalu mengingatkan saya untuk berbicara lebih pelan dan jelas, suatu hal yang senantiasa saya ingat dan terapkan saat memimpin rapat.

Kembali lagi ke cerita yang ditulis Brick, saya suka membacanya karena dari ceritanya, saya tahu bahwa ternyata orang lain di belahan bumi ini melakukan sesuatu dengan cara yang berbeda dan tentu saja saya bisa ambil sisi baiknya. Tidak setiap orang memiliki karakter yang sama dengan kita. Tidak sedikit yang justru bertolak belakang karakternya, tetapi jika kita bisa menerima perbedaan ini, biasanya hubungan yang harmonis akan terjalin. Di dalam hidup ini, penting bagi kita untuk saling memahami atau salah paham akan terjadi karena perbedaan yang ada. Namun perlu diingat bahwa perbedaan harusnya indah karena kita semua hendaknya saling melengkapi...

Feel The Point

Growing up in a loveless, broken home as I did, moving from town to town - I've naturally become a pretty distant person. I never wanted to get too involved in anything because there's always a cost I wasn't willing to pay. I love being able to say, "I did my part. I got the job done; so what if I didn't smile or make friends?" Once again my beautiful girlfriend taught me there can be more to life. She hit me up the other day...

GIRLY

Hi baby, I have a favor to ask. Can you please donate to the American Cancer Society in honor of me losing my Nena to cancer?

BRICK

Sure thing, babe. Just let me know how.

GIRLY

Thank you baby! I'll send you the link. Also I'm putting together a team for the twelve hour relay they are having at Baldwin Park High School. It's this Saturday. Put on your walking shoes!

BRICK

Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Twelve hour relay?

GIRLY

Yeah, basically we need to have at least one member of our team walking around the track from 9:00 AM till 9:00 PM.

BRICK

What? Babe I have better things to do on a Saturday than walk around a track for twelve freaking hours!

GIRLY

Baby, don't be like that! It's for charity. And you won't be walking the whole time; that's why we have a team.

BRICK

Sorry, I'm just not down to walk around a track all day. I'm already donating. That's the important part. That's how they find a cure. Me walking around in a circle all day doesn't help anyone. So what's the point?

GIRLY

Please Brick! You know it's important to me.

BRICK

*Sigh* alright fine. Sign me up. 

So I woke up on Saturday, put on my "walking shoes" as instructed, and headed to BP High. Though I wasn't in the best mood on my drive over, I lightened up once I met up with our team. I had already met most of the people on our team through other functions my girl had had before. We joked around, ate some snacks, and put in miles taking our turns walking around the track. My fitbit loved me that day. This wasn't so bad. I thought to myself as the day wore on.

Then about 5:00 PM the event organizers put out lunch bags all along the track. The bags had personal messages written in honor of those who passed away by the loved ones who survived them. This time around the track there was no joking. I observed the tears roll down my girl's cheeks as she saw the lunch bag she made in honor of her Nena. I rubbed her back in silent support.

Next, they put out pictures of all the loved ones that had passed away. There were so many faces from all walks of life. "Cancer doesn't discriminate," one of my girl's friends observed. The pictures of children broke my heart the most. They would never get the chance to live out their full potential. Once the sun went down, they lit the candles they had placed on the bleachers. They spelled out the simple yet profound message, "HOPE."

At the event's end, all the participants did one more lap around the track with glow sticks in hand. It was sad yet beautiful to see all these people brought together by tragedy. They wrapped up the event with a speech from the head organizer. She could not hold back the tears as she recounted how her little cousin ended up in the emergency room. She died of cancer a mere two weeks later. "Get yourselves tested. Tell your family; tell your loved ones. It's important."

On my drive home I got to thinking about how valuable that message was. How it never would have hit home had I just donated without participating like I originally intended. What I had said was the "most important part" was perhaps the least. It was similar to when I used to ask my mom why we had to go to church if God is everywhere. We are human; we are tactile in nature. To get involved is to be alive.

This post is dedicated to the memory of Alda "Chrissie" and Gilbert "Tats" Loera

Also dedicated to my beautiful babygirl who gives me life and helps me grow to be a better person. I love you baby, thank you for being you.

Check out my book: Moby Brick's Unshuffled Deck, and my blog: They're All Against Me! 

Our Favorite Author

If you ever read the story of our Paris trip, I did mention that the original destination was supposed to be Dublin. When I planned it, I thought of going to Ireland (the basic idea was either to depart from or arrive at John Lennon airport because I'd like to get the passport stamp) and, while we were there, I was hoping that with a little luck and effort, we could meet our favourite author.

Her name, if you still remember, is Sinéad Moriarty. How did we get to know her again? Well, years ago, we were at the National Library in Singapore, browsing around, when my then-girlfriend picked up a novel titled In My Sister's Shoes. To think that it could be any other book but no, she took that one instead. Pure luck? May be, but we fell in love with Moriarty since then.

After reading that book, I did a little bit of research and realized that this was actually her fourth book. The first three were a trilogy about a married woman who tried very hard to get pregnant, then decided to go for adoption and eventually had another baby of her own. Very funny. In fact, these were ones of the few with a lighter mood and, with the exception of In My Sister's Shoes, I have been collecting every single book written by her from that moment on.

The thing with Sinéad Moriarty is, she is very good in making people care about the characters she wrote and she's pretty generous in her effort. Those supporting characters were well developed and there were also times when she actually had several main characters in one novel. This made a rich story but yet didn't feel like overcrowded. Brilliant, indeed. When I read her books, it was as if I couldn't stop before I finished it. The only other time I had the similar feeling was when I read Harry Potter.

Moriarty also did a good job in depicting illnesses like cancers, autism or anorexia, real things in life that we may hear before, but never really understand. Such topics, wrapped in a family drama that came with all sorts of other problems in life, ie. money, sex and so forth, resulted in very engaging stories that one surely could relate with. Personally, I love reading it once in a while (or rather once a year, whenever there's a new release from Sinéad Moriarty) because it's a good reminder that I've been blessed with a good wife and two lovely kids. Yeah, sometimes we are so busy that we forget to appreciate what we actually have.

Her latest novel, The Good Mother, was rather heavy and sad. It had its good moments, but as I went along with it, I knew something awful was inevitable. I'm not exactly the toughest man ever, so this book, admittedly, got me teary quite a fair bit. If you also have problems holding back your tears, you've been warned! The ending was beautiful, though. I would say this is one of her best ones, but then again, most of them are pretty enjoyable. 

Except Pieces of My Heart, perhaps. The story was alright but the ending, if I remember correctly, was rather a cliffhanger. Quite a disappointment, really. 

A personal favourite? That must be the novel from last year, the one called The Way We Were. It was very unique, unlike any other subjects she touched before. It was actually about a husband who was presumed dead and came back three years later only to find that his family had moved on. A very delicate situation! Definitely worth reading it!

Anyway, if you are keen on reading, you may want to add her books into your catalogue, too. And, if this is ever read by Moriarty one day, I'd just like to say, "keep writing because we'll be waiting! You got at least two fans from Indonesia, a place far, far away from Ireland!"

Our collection...

Penulis Favorit Kami

Jika anda pernah membaca cerita saya tentang perjalanan ke Paris, tempat yang ingin saya kunjungi sebenarnya Dublin, bukan Paris. Ketika saya membuat rencana perjalanan, saya berpikir bahwa kita bisa ke Irlandia (untuk mendapatkan cap paspor di bandara John Lennon, intinya kita harus terbang dari luar ke Liverpool atau sebaliknya) dan kalau beruntung, mungkin kita bisa bertemu dengan penulis favorit kami.   

Namanya adalah Sinéad Moriarty. Bagaimana kita bisa sampai membaca karyanya? Bertahun-tahun silam, kita berada di Perpustakaan Nasional Singapura dan pacar saya mengambil sebuah buku berjudul In My Sister's Shoes dari rak buku. Kebetulan? Mungkin saja. Tapi sejak saat itu kita jadi menyukai karangan Moriarty. 

Setelah membaca buku tersebut, saya melakukan sedikit riset dan menyadari bahwa buku yang kami baca adalah judul ke-4 yang ditulisnya. Tiga buku pertama adalah sebuah trilogi tentang seorang istri yang berusaha untuk hamil, kemudian mencoba untuk adopsi dan akhirnya memiliki bayi sendiri. Lucu ceritanya, boleh dikatakan yang paling bernuansa komedi bila dibandingkan dengan judul-judul lainnya. Saya mulai membeli bukunya sejak saat itu dan selain In My Sister's Shoes, saya punya semuanya.

Hebatnya Moriarty dalam menulis adalah kemampuannya dalam membuat pembaca peduli dengan karakter-karakter yang ditulisnya. Dia bahkan memberikan peran dan latar belakang untuk para pemeran pembantu. Di beberapa bukunya, dia memiliki lebih dari satu pemeran utama sehingga unik ceritanya. Hal ini membuat ceritanya padat, tapi tidak berkesan ramai. Ketika saya membaca bukunya, seringkali saya tidak bisa berhenti sampai saya selesai membaca. Ini perasaan serupa yang saya alami saat membaca Harry Potter.

Moriarty juga luar biasa dalam mendeskripsikan penyakit seperti kanker, autisme atau anorexia, hal-hal nyata yang mungkin pernah kita dengar, tapi tidak begitu kita mengerti. Topik-topik seperti ini dikemas dalam drama keluarga yang disertai berbagai masalah seperti uang, sex dan lain-lain sehingga ceritanya terasa seperti sesuatu yang bisa kita terima dengan mudah. Secara pribadi, saya suka membaca cerita seperti ini karena secara tidak langsung saya diingatkan kembali bahwa saya memiliki seorang istri dan dua putri yang baik. Ya, kadang kita mungkin terlalu sibuk sehingga lupa menghargai apa yang kita miliki.  

Karangan terbarunya, The Good Mother, agak berat dan sedih. Walau awalnya terasa riang, namun saat saya terus membaca, saya tahu bahwa sesuatu yang buruk tidak akan terelakkan. Saya bukan tipe pria tangguh, jadi buku ini membuat saya terbawa cerita dan turut bersedih dengan apa yang terjadi. Jika anda tidak sanggup menahan air mata yang berlinang karena perasaan sedih, anda harus siapkan tisu! Akhir dari ceritanya sangat menyentuh. Saya rasa ini adalah salah satu tulisan terbaiknya, namun rata-rata tulisannya memang enak dibaca. Satu-satunya pengecualian adalah Pieces of My Heart. Ceritanya lumayan, tapi akhir ceritanya agak menggantung dan mengecewakan.  

Favorit saya adalah buku yang diterbitkan tahun lalu, The Way We Were. Ide ceritanya sungguh berbeda dengan buku-buku sebelumnya. Novel yang satu ini bercerita tentang suami yang dikabarkan meninggal di Afrika. Ketika ia kembali tiga tahun kemudian, ia menyadari bahwa keluarganya telah menerima fakta bahwa dia meninggal dan menyesuaikan diri tanpa kehadirannya. Situasi yang luar biasa dan menarik untuk dibaca!

Singkat kata, jika anda suka membaca, anda mungkin ingin menambahkan buku karangannya dalam koleksi anda. Dan jika tulisan ini dibaca oleh Moriarty, saya hanya ingin berkata, "tetaplah menulis karena kami akan menunggu! Anda memiliki dua penggemar dari Indonesia, sebuah negeri yang jauh dari Irlandia! 

Imagine

A friend of mine suddenly wrote about how Indonesia seemed to have a hope, but it is now fading away due to the bombing. Social unrest and racism that are rampant these days clearly don't help, so he is pondering where the country is led to. He seldom posts anything on Facebook, so it must have been boiling inside for quite some time before he decided to vent his frustration out.

And his thought lingers in my mind. It brings me to Imagine, both the song and the album. I remember some people telling me that the lyrics were radical as it begins with, "imagine there's no heaven." I beg to differ. If you read the whole lyrics, you'll understand why my friend's Facebook status reminds me of Imagine. It's provocative, but never radical. Imagine is as literal as it gets, which is to encourage you to imagine.

Imagine there's no religion, nothing to kill or die for. What good does the religion bring if we always end up fighting for what we believe? Will it be more peaceful without it? Imagine all the people, living life in peace.

Religion is alright, that's without doubt. However, if you are not thinking straight due to it, then something must have gone wrong along the way. If humility isn't part of it, then the interpretation is questionable. Faith is good, but not to the extent that you're are blinded into believing that you are allowed to harm or kill others in the name of God. That's rather sick, I would say.

I'm not against any religion. I believe one myself. It's something to hold onto when your whole world is shaking. It's something for you to refer to, so that you know if you are on the wrong. Most importantly, it gives you peace, because it's a personal relationship between oneself and the One above.

Personal, not something that you shout about on the street. If you are still doing otherwise, if you only care about how you dress but not the way you behave, let's not forget that one thing you can't hide is when you're crippled inside. How do you sleep at night?

Playing Imagine.

Imagine

Seorang teman tiba-tiba menulis tentang bagaimana ia merasa bangga dan berharap Indonesia bisa maju seperti Singapura ketika S&P (the Standard & Poor's 500) menaikkan peringkat investasi Indonesia, namun harapan itu sirna karena bom di Kampung Melayu. Demo dan rasisme merajalela, mau jadi apa negeri ini? Mengingat betapa dia jarang menulis status, mungkin saja perasaan ini sudah lama dipendam sebelum ia akhirnya memutuskan untuk mengungkapkan rasa frustrasinya.

Buah pikirannya itu menggelitik dan mengingatkan saya kembali tentang Imagine, baik lagu maupun albumnya. Pernah ada beberapa orang berkomentar bahwa ini lagu yang radikal karena liriknya mulai dengan, "bayangkan seandainya tidak ada surga." Saya cenderung memiliki sudut pandang yang berbeda. Imagine itu provokatif, tapi tidak radikal. Imagine secara harafiah mengajak kita untuk berimajinasi, melihat dari sudut pandang yang berbeda dari apa yang selama ini didoktrinkan kepada kita.

Bayangkan jika tidak ada agama, tidak ada yang membunuh atau mati demi agama. Apa yang bagus dari agama jika pada akhirnya kita selalu bertikai? Apakah akan lebih damai bila tidak ada agama? Bayangkan semua orang hidup dalam damai.

Semua agama tentu baik adanya. Akan tetapi, jika anda tidak bisa berpikir dengan jernih karenanya, mungkin ada yang sesuatu yang salah di sini. Apabila kebersahajaan bukan dari bagian yang diajarkan, sepertinya ada yang keliru dengan penafsirannya. Iman itu baik, tapi tidak berarti anda harus membunuh atas nama Tuhan. Itu pola pikir yang sakit, saya kira.

Saya tidak menentang ajaran mana pun. Sebaliknya, saya percaya dengan agama sebagai pegangan hidup yang teruji, terutama di kala segalanya tampak labil. Saya percaya agama sebagai referensi, supaya saya tahu di kala saya salah. Lebih dari itu, ada rasa damai di hati, sebab pada hakikatnya beragama itu berarti memiliki hubungan pribadi dengan Yang Maha Kuasa.

Sifat dari beragama itu pribadi, bukan sesuatu yang digembar-gemborkan dengan teriakan di jalan. Jika apa yang anda lakukan adalah sebaliknya, bila anda hanya percaya pada penampilan luar, apa yang anda pakai, tapi bukan perbuatan anda, jangan lupa bahwa kebusukan di hati itu tidak akan tertutupi. Bagaimana caranya anda bisa tidur nyenyak kalau begitu?

Imagine
Image credit: wikipedia.com

The Legend Of Zelda

It's amazing that people can just pull out their phones and play games these days. They are playing games that are either native to the phone such as Angry Birds and Candy Crush Saga or those that are retrofitted as mobile games like Sonic and Super Mario. That wasn't always the case, though. And there was a good reason behind it. Perhaps I'm just being old school or biased here, but the real gaming experience is never as simple as tapping the touch screen repeatedly to play a never ending game without a proper storyline.

There were times when playing games was a mind blowing adventure, not just some activities to pass time. I'm not sure if it's still the same today, but those who went through the ancient era from Atari, Sega to Nintendo would understand this. If you ever played the boring Centipede from Atari then progressed to the likes of Double Dragon, Super Mario or Mega Man, you'll know what I mean. But while they were good games with memorable soundtracks, they paled in comparison to the Legend of Zelda.

Let's not forget that we're talking about the 80s here. Gaming was still in its infancy and Nintendo Entertainment System was the state-of-the-art home video game console. Every game was preloaded into a cartridge which, in turn, would have to be inserted into a NES console. These cartridges generally came in a dull grey color, until one day, I spotted a gold colored one. Very striking and stood out from the rest, it looked like no other. It also introduced a feature that was never seen before: the ability to do save.

And it was a game like no other, too. Before Zelda, what we had was a game play in a restricted environment and there was only so much you could do. Take Super Mario Bros for example. You could grow into Super Mario, jump or go into the pipes, but the game play was pretty standard, ie. for the player to run till the end and raise his flag. With Zelda, you had to solve the puzzles, find your way, uncover secrets, interact with other characters and so forth. In order to do that, you had a seemingly endless world to explore, from mountain, forest, seaside, graveyard, etc. Along the way, you'd obtain items and weapons. You'd fight monsters and dragons. You had a mission, to gather the Triforce and save Princess Zelda. It was a grand adventure worthy of its name and it had a signature soundtrack that couldn't go wrong.

I fell in love with the Legend of Zelda the moment I played it for the first time. It was very engaging but, alas, it was also poorly understood as the clues were all in English (and it could much worse if they were all in Japanese), so playing it was as good as going around with little or no idea at all on what to do next. That would last for few hours until I was told by my parents to stop playing or else there'd be consequences. The fact that the cartridge was rented also didn't help (there was this rental called Asia Video, owned by a Chinese man named Ah Sia, and he charged us IDR 1,500 for two days and one night per cartridge).

I only managed to complete the game much later on. Looking back, it was quite a feat. Imagine a small backwater town where the kids barely knew English. There was no internet or access to any Zelda's walk through then. Yet by exchanging information with one another during the hangout sessions with friends, I finally beat Ganon (remember the Silver Arrow, anybody?). One of the best days in my life, I reckon.

The legend didn’t end there, though. Soon after the original, Nintendo released the Adventure of Link. It was so different than its predecessor and much more difficult, one that would have driven away the fans. Luckily, the next one, A Link to the Past, brought back the game play we were familiar with and it did more by expanding the universe. I was in awe with the game and would bug my friend Leo to play the game (for all I know, he could be the only one in Pontianak who owned it). That was the last Zelda game I played until more than a decade later.

By the time we reached 2010-ish, gaming was already pretty advanced, portable and affordable. I must be feeling a bit nostalgic, therefore I got myself a Nintendo 3DS and picked up the Zelda series again. I started with Spirit Tracks, then took a step back to play its prequel, Phantom Hourglass. Both were brilliant and they made full use of the handheld device. For example, it was brilliant that one had to literally close the 3DS to make the imprint on the map or blow into the microphone to play the Spirit Flute. Quite amusing, really.

After that, there was the re-release of two classics, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. I never played the original versions, but I remember being totally impressed by these two. I could only imagine that when it was first released, Ocarina of Time must be light years ahead of its time. Then along came A Link Between Worlds, a full circle to me. It was A Link to the Past remade into an entirely new game altogether.

The thing with the Zelda series is, if we exclude the horrible Triforce Heroes that doesn't feel like a Zelda game at all, it keeps spawning one legend after another. Final Fantasy is fine, but in the gaming world, there's only one legend, and it's about Zelda and our hero, Link...

The Legend of Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda 

Kita sering melihat orang mengeluarkan telepon genggam dan bermain game sekarang, mulai dari game yang dibuat khusus untuk telepon genggam seperti Angry Birds dan Candy Crush Saga sampai game tempo dulu yang dirancang ulang untuk telepon genggam seperti Sonic dan Super Mario. Walau kebiasaan ini terlihat lumrah sekarang, saya tidak begitu menyukainya. Mungkin saya agak kuno dan bahkan bias, tapi menggesek dan menekan layar telepon berulang kali untuk sebuah game yang tidak jelas ceritanya bukanlah pengalaman bermain game yang sesungguhnya. 

Ada suatu kala dimana bermain game adalah sebuah petualangan, bukan sekedar menghabiskan waktu. Saya tidak tahu apakah masih seperti itu sekarang, tetapi mereka yang memulai dari Atari, Sega sampai Nintendo akan mengerti apa yang saya bicarakan. Jika anda pernah bermain Centipede dari Atari dan kemudian berpindah ke game seperti Double Dragon, Super Mario atau Mega Man, anda pasti tahu maksud saya. Tidak diragukan lagi bahwa yang baru saja disebut tadi adalah game yang bagus pada zamannya, namun hanya ada satu yang benar-benar berbeda dan layak dikenang: the Legend of Zelda.

Jangan lupa bahwa periode yang kita bicarakan di sini adalah era tahun 80an. Game pada saat itu masih sederhana dan Nintendo Entertainment System adalah mesin game yang paling canggih pada saat itu. Di Pontianak, semua game berbentuk seperti kaset berwarna abu-abu dan tiba-tiba ada satu yang berwarna emas! Game ini juga memperkenalkan sebuah fitur yang belum pernah dilihat sebelumnya: kemampuan untuk menyimpan data sehingga kita tidak perlu lagi untuk mulai dari awal. 

Dan game ini juga berbeda permainannya. Sebelum Zelda, semua game yang ada terbatas ruang lingkupnya dan kita hanya perlu bergerak maju. Sebagai referensi, mari kita lihat Super Mario Bros. Sebagai Mario, anda bisa berubah menjadi Super Mario, melompat atau masuk ke dalam pipa, namun permainannya sangat standar: anda cukup berlari sampai akhir dan menaikkan bendera. Zelda jauh lebih kompleks. Anda harus memecahkan teka-teki, mencari jalan yang tepat, menemukan rahasia serta berinteraksi dengan berbagai karakter lainnya. Petualangan ini membawa kita mendaki gunung, menerobos hutan, melewati laut dan sebagainya. Selagi berkelana, kita akan mendapatkan berbagai perlengkapan dan senjata. Kita juga akan bertarung melawan monster dan naga. Misinya pun jelas: kita harus mengumpulkan Triforce dan menolong Putri Zelda. Singkat kata, ini adalah sebuah petualangan kolosal dengan aransemen lagu yang sepadan dengan judulnya. 

Saya menyukai the Legend of Zelda sejak saya memainkan game tersebut untuk pertama kalinya. Permainannya menarik, namun karena semua petunjuknya berbahasa Inggris (akan lebih sulit lagi kalau dalam bahasa Jepang, haha), saya tidak mengerti apa yang harus dilakukan. Permainan tanpa tujuan jelas ini akan berlangsung selama beberapa jam sampai orang tua saya menyuruh saya berhenti. Fakta bahwa kasetnya disewa di Asia Video seharga Rp. 1500 per malam kian memberikan tantangan bahwa game ini harus ditamatkan dalam dua hari. 

Saya baru berhasil melakukannya bertahun-tahun kemudian. Kalau dilihat kembali, ini adalah sebuah prestasi yang cukup mengagumkan untuk anak dari kota kecil yang tidak mengerti bahasa Inggris. Saat itu belum ada internet dan akses lain untuk mencari tahu tentang jalan yang harus ditempuh untuk mencapai istana musuh yang tersembunyi. Kendati begitu, di dalam komunitas kecil sesama teman dan pemain game, kita saling bertukar informasi dan akhirnya saya berhasil mengalahkan Ganon dengan Panah Perak. 

Legenda game ini tidak berakhir begitu saja. Tidak lama setelah the Legend of Zelda, Nintendo merilis the Adventure of Link. Game kedua ini sangat berbeda dengan pendahulunya dan jauh lebih susah. Untunglah episode berikutnya, A Link to the Past, mempersembahkan kembali pola permainan yang dikenal baik oleh penggemarnya. Saya terkagum-kagum dengan game ini sehingga saya sering meminta teman saya Leo untuk bermain Zelda (sejauh yang saya tahu, dia adalah satu-satunya orang di Pontianak yang memiliki kaset ini). A Link to the Past pun menjadi game Zelda terakhir yang saya mainkan hingga satu dekade kemudian.

Menjelang tahun 2010, game sudah berkembang pesat, lebih praktis untuk dibawa ke mana-mana dan juga terjangkau harganya. Saya mungkin terbawa oleh perasaan nostalgia sehingga saya membeli Nintendo 3DS dan kembali bermain Zelda lagi. Saya mulai dengan Spirit Tracks, kemudian mundur selangkah dan memainkan episode sebelumnya, Phantom Hourglass. Dua-duanya adalah game yang luar biasa dan sepenuhnya memanfaatkan kapasitas Nintendo 3DS, seperti menutup 3DS sehingga peta bisa tercetak dengan sempurna atau meniup ke arah mikropon untuk memainkan Spirit Flute. Sungguh mengesankan. 

Setelah itu, Nintendo merilis ulang dua game klasik dari serial Zelda, Ocarina of Time dan Majora's Mask. Saya tidak bermain game ini sewaktu dirilis di Nintendo 64, tapi saya terpukau oleh dua game zaman dulu ini. Di saat pertama dirilis, Ocarina of Time pastilah sebuah game yang melampaui zamannya. Kemudian, ketika A Link Between Worlds, dirilis, saya pun terkenang lagi dengan masa lalu. Game ini adalah A Link to the Past yang dibuat menjadi sebuah game baru dengan alur cerita yang baru pula.  

Terkecuali Triforce Heroes yang sama sekali tidak terasa seperti sebuah game Zelda, serial ini senantiasa menelurkan game terbaik sepanjang masa. Final Fantasy memang mantap, tapi di dunia game, hanya ada satu legenda. Kisahnya adalah tentang Putri Zelda dan pahlawan berbaju hijau, Link...

Koleksi pribadi.