all at once
i had it all
but it doesn’t mean anything
now that you’re gone

Lantunan Doesn’t Mean Anything by Alicia Keys sukses nemenin masa rileks gue di kantor sore ini. Mungkin karna gue tipikal setia, cukup satu lagu itu aja yg ada di playlist gue. Entah udah berapa kali Alicia Keys nyanyiin lagu itu di kuping gue, hmmm….spertinya dia butuh minum. Nah, berhubung ini lg santai, ga ada salahnya gue nulis sebait dua bait buah pikiran gue.

As you knew, I went back to Jakarta 2 weeks ago for 9 days. Cuti, refreshing, jalan-jalan, ketemu keluarga, melepas kangen, ketemu gebetan, whatever…call it as you want.

The next question is, why do we need to take our leave??

Gue dulu sih lebih demen cuti diganti uang aja. Karna buat gue waktu itu, uang adalah sesuatu yg secara fisik nyata. Dengan uang, gue bisa dapatkan sesuatu, as simple as that. Tapi sekarang, gue lebih memilih cuti itu diambil, seandainya-pun engga diabisin, setidaknya disimpan buat nambah jatah cuti tahun depan. Seriously….There’s something that money can’t buy.

Hasil obrolan gue dengan kolega di sini-pun juga ngehasilin pendapat yg sama bahwa cuti itu penting buat diambil. “Taking a break is also part of your job”, gitu katanya. Karna menurut dia, perusahaan itu berharap karyawannya punya pikiran yg fresh, karna mereka tahu bahwa pekerjaan itu pasti menghasilkan stress. Seberapa besar?? Tergantung se-enjoy apa pekerjaan itu buat karyawannya. Syukur-syukur kalo karyawannya punya stress threshold level yg tinggi, lah kalo yg gampang panikan, cemberutan, manyunan…habislah sudah.

Stress tadi itu, ibarat sampah yg menumpuk di emotional bin kita. Semakin banyak, semakin bau. Semakin bau, semakin ga enak. Semakin ga enak, semakin semakinlah jadinya. Makanya dengan cuti tadi, diharapkan di “empty your trash bin” lah kita.

Sekarang gimana caranya mengisi cuti yg baik dan benar?? Berdasarkan pengalaman cuti gue yg baru pertama kali, the first step is, shutdown all your communication line to your work. Hehehe, kalo buat yg ini sih rasanya susah bgt yak. Secara aja ada gitu kasus emergency, dan biasanya company-pun juga ga mau ambil resiko. “Gile luh, kalo nanti kenapa-kenapa masak gue cuma bisa manyun ampe lu selese cuti. Kan bukan elu bosnya!!”, gitu katanya. Makanya step ini optional, tergantung keihklasan aja. Tapi emang lebih baik lo standby on-call.

Setelah itu, do something. Pokoknya bikinlah kegiatan, dan jangan kegiatan tidur, itumah kewajiban kaleee (tidur bareng masih bisa masuk itungan). Bikin kek kegiatan sperti “3 days to hit my neighbor” misalnya. Atau kalau mau yg standar, jalan-jalanlah. Jangan cuma bengong plangak-plongok bego di rumah. Sayang…Hidup kan ga sekedar makan tidur kaskus doank. Kalo bisa isi dengan kegiatan yg bisa nambah pengalaman juga, bukan belajar ya. Misalkan buat yg belom pernah snorkeling, boleh juga dicoba, buat yg belom pernah camping, boleh juga dicoba, buat yg belom pernah belanjong, nahhh….usahakan jangan dicoba, tetaplah di jalan yg benar Anakku!!

Trus langkah selanjutnya, punya istirahat yg cukup 1 hari sebelum kembali kerja. Misalkan lo masuk hari Senin, diusahakan hari Minggu-nya untuk istirahat yg cukup. Jadi nanti pas balik ngantor, mukanya rada beda alias cerahan dikit (walopun lo ngisi cuti dengan liburan di Bali sambil sun bathing dari jam 11.00-14.00). Entah kenapa, kalo lo cutinya sukses, ada aja kecerahan dibalik wajah kusam mu…ceile.

Langkah terakhir, kalo bisa bawa buah tangan, jangan buah dada terlebih lagi buah zak*r. Siapa yg ga senang kalo dikasih oleh-oleh?? Waktu itu gue sendiri sempat bingung musti bawa apaan kemari, selain deterjen, shampoo, sabun, obat-obatan, ama rexona. Akhirnya setelah tanya ama bokap, dianjurkanlah gue untuk beli Dodol apa Lempuk Durian gitu. Secara katenye sih asli Betawi (emang Betawi bikin dodol/lempuk ye??)..jadi bisalah gue bangga-banggain dimari. “Hallo Mr/Ms X, this is for you. This is Dodol/Lempuk Durian, original Indonesian food. Enjoy!!”, gitulah kira-kira template gue.

Khusus buat point ke 2, ada golongan orang yg kalo liburan musti ke tempat yg belom pernah dia kunjungi, dan notabene ga boleh yg deket, ke luar negri jadi pilihan yg tepat buat mereka. Seolah-olah ada daftar checklist “daratan yg pernah gue injak” buat mereka. Dan itu bagus, ada pencapaian di sana. Cuma buat kite-kite yg duitnya ngepas ama ukuran celana, yaaaa dikondisikan aje. Kalo gue sih ga peduli gue ngider kemana. As long as I’m happy, that’s all I need. Sperti liburan gue yg barusan, planningnya sih udah kemana-mana, tapi ujung-ujungnya Bandung-Lembang. Ya ya ya…Laugh as you want, but for me, it doesn’t matter where I go, but how and with whom I spend it, are what matters most.

All at once
I had it all
But it doesn’t mean anything
Now that you’re gone

From above,
Seems I had it all
But it doesn’t mean anything
Since you’re gone

Dan lagu itupun benar-benar berakhir. Saatnya gue pulang…Jogging menanti..

May I have your attention please.

We are here to celebrate the marriage of our beloved friend, Gilang, with Ms. X…..Erm, I’m sorry Miss, I dont know your name. *big smile*

This guy, *pointing my finger to Gilang*, is an old friend of mine. Well, it’s all begin in 2003. I was very cute at the time. *emotionless face*. I just entered college. To me, I’m just a little boy from small village who about to start his big journey in a big city, very dramatic. In short, in New Student Orientation, I saw this man. *pointing my finger again to Gilang*. There he was, waiting for me in the corner, alone, like a cute lost little puppy, waving his tail to me. His eyes, that will make every heart melted, keep looking at me from a far, as like calling me to him. And then, I went to him and said, “Hi, I’m Riki, where’s your Mom??”. *my friend throws a glass at me*

Ehm, that’s not what actually happened. Since both of us from small village, both good looking, both sexy, both funny, and we have a common ideology, we just clicked. In just 1 week, we decide to live together, in one same roof, unfortunately in different room. *unidentified flying object was thrown at me*

As you all know, we both took IT as our major. But at the time, phiuhhh, it was like heaven and earth. I know nothing, meanwhile he seems to know everything. God is being nice to allow me to meet him, so I can learn a lot from him, making beautiful memories with him. I swear to God, Dude, if you have vag*na, I definitely will marry you right now. *I believe, a hand grenade is thrown at me*

Our journey together in college was amazing. Too many stories written. Countless of stupid things happened. I remember the way you taught me. I remember all the inside jokes, “efek radiance”, “tragedi gayung”, “dia yg namanya tak boleh disebut”. I remember all the fights we had. I remember all rounds of CS, dotA, Diablo, Age of Empire we’ve played. “affirmative”, “fire in the hole”. *njrit…gagah betul kita dulu*

I remember all of our flirts to a DVD sales. Our breakfast, lunch, dinner, sahur, buka together, you name it. Our struggles, our laughs, our cries. Maaannn….Are you sure you don’t have vag*na down there?? *a crosshair is aimed to my forehead*

And we close our college journey by burning down all of our thesis documents. What a fabulous journey!! Oh yeah, I remember when we saw a wallpaper of a park or street where the leaves are fallen, “That’s definitely a place where I’ll propose to my girlfriend”, that’s what you said. Hehehe, Ms. X, I know you didn’t get that chance.. *smirk*

After graduation, we stick to our idealism, well, actually our laziness. Untill we ran out of money and started looking for a job. Try to be a real men. And then….we separated *usher mode on*

So why don’t you go your way….

And I’ll go mine….

Live your life….

And I’ll live mine….

You went to Bali, and I was still jobless here in Jakarta. But hey, what can I say, God have a different way for us. Again, you offer me a huge opportunity which lead to where I am now. I owe you so much, bro.

Everybody, this man, *another finger pointing*, brings out the better of me.  If he can make me, which just a friend of him, better, I believe he will make the best of his family. So Lang, this is the least I could do for you, from the bottom of my heart, I pray for your happiness, may a great and wonderful journey lies upon you.

To Gilang….cheers!!! Btw, you look nice babe!!

*I’m sorry I can’t attend your wedding bro*

I’m sorry to leave you such a mess. I was hoping I can organize things more as a gift for your welcoming party. But hey, what can I say, he’s the boss. When he says no, he’ll do no. Yeah I know, sometimes, he can be such a jerk, especially lately, he can be such a pain in the ass, but mostly, he is a nice guy. He’s funny, sometimes doing some stupid things, asking weird questions.

So here I am writing you some notes, hints and wishes. I personally hope that your 1 year journey with him will be such a journey, coz that is what he gave to me.

About his job, hmm, this is the best part of my journey with him. And compare with the 23rd’s journey, it still trending up. I don’t know if he earns it or he’s just damn lucky. But I personally like to keep it as lucky. I don’t like to see him feeling so proud of him self. Well, I’ve seen him pretty narcissistic before and it kinda funny for other things, but for his job, I’d like to keep him humble. Remember attitude is very important!! “Sky upon sky”, that’ll do the trick.

His health is quite good, even though he ate more Mister Potato lately (start reducing it ok). He does sport more than ever, 2-3 times a week. His braces is getting more and more annoying, I think it’s time for you to remove it. The only downside is his far-sighted, it’s getting worse. Maybe you can try contact lens. Well, I was pretty afraid with that thing, but I don’t know about you. And one more thing, be patient while he’s eating. It may takes longer, and there’s nothing you can do about that. Just bear with it..And please take a good care of his hair.

He stops reading book. We both know that book is the window to the world. By stop reading it, means stop seeing the world. I understand he’s been so busy lately. He put his everything on his works, so no time for it. But please explain to him that he needs to keep reading book. No matter what. And you know, the book is not has to be a technical one. You should broaden his knowledge. Ask him to buy books out of his common topic. Heck, you can ask him to buy cooking/parenting/feng-shui books, anything. And don’t forget to force him, yeah, I repeat, force him to read it afterwards.

Ask him to improve his English. I don’t see any significant improvement on this side. He’s still having problem understanding other people conversation, and the other way around, he’s still having problem telling other people about what he means. The good thing is we start to remove the english subtitle while watching tv-series for the last 3 months. Even though it’s hard, but…he’ll make it. Keep doing this ok. And his pronunciation  still sounds funny. Maybe try to teach his tongue to do more acrobatic maneuver or eat more cheese. I heard that will do the trick..kekeke

He is financially stable. We did a pretty good job on this one. He is aware of his expenses. He understands the difference between what he wants and what he needs. Well, the iPhone is exceptional, and…….Mister Potato..kekekeke. But overall, we did good. But I wonder if you could find out more about financial planning. Reducing your expense is one thing, increasing your income is another thing, but making a financial planning is something. Especially about his plan on taking master degree, you should start allocating for it. I really hope he’ll make it on that one.

About love…ah, there’s nothing much I can tell. Because my journey is less romantic compare with the 23rd’s journey. But I do hoping you can put this one in your work plan, “find someone for him”. He has that much love inside him. A woman once told me that he was once a romantic guy. He knows how treat a woman, he can make such a beautiful poem, caring for her so gently and for all of his pureness acts, he really makes her smile and wondering if he could be the one. But that is what the 23rd told me, I never saw him that way. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to see it by yourself. Bu no rush anyway..hahaha

Do more refreshing activity!! In weekend, force him to go out. Force him to visit a new place. Do not let him sleeping all day long again. Ask him to grab his camera and vamoose to somewhere….anywhere. Or going to cinema with friends. Do not download all that new box office movies via torrent again. Feel the vibe in cinema dude!! Or try that Mexican taco!! Just….be more creative about this ok!!

He sometimes feels confused about his life. Wondering whether this is the right path for him or not, try to find out what is his meaning to all of this. Sometimes he feels so lonely in his darkest time, but the good thing, he doesn’t do anything stupid. In fact, he doesn’t do anything at all. He just that. I’m not hoping you can make it stop, but I do hope you could reduce the period length. Or sometimes he just can not decide, afraid to take a wrong decision. I’ve taught him to accept that wrong decision and do some learning from it for the future, but maybe you can do better about that. And for God’s sake, just use a coin if one day you can’t help him decide. And try to make his life balance!! I honestly don’t know how to do it, because I’m a “to-gain-something-you-must-loose-something” kind of guy. Just do your best on this one. And please do teach him how to let go…

Last thing, could you please be more strict to him about his prayer time?? Lately, he’s been taking this things lightly. Please tell him that he should be thanking Him more than ever for all the kindness and opportunities that He gave. Oh yeah, could you find out more about Him?? Because lately, he’s been asking things about Him that I can’t answer. Maybe you can read more book about this. Give him that understanding, so he can consciously aware about who He is and why He asks for it.

Finally, keep him save, healthy and happy.  Have a wonderful journey and please kindly send my warmest regards to the 26th.

Sincerely yours,

The 24th.

Sebelumnya gue mau cerita dikit, gue di sini tinggal dengan keluarga Malay-Singaporean, keluarganya Mr. Jufry. He has 1 son and 2 daughters, the oldest one is the son, and also his wife, Mrs. Wardah, ooo, she is such a nice person, very nice indeed. *thanx for the free food Mam*

Anyway, before I go any further, this is not a funny story. I might tell somepart of it in funny way, but as a matter of fact, when it happens, no way I can laugh.

So in short, Mr. Jufry got cancer, stage 4. I remember that night when his wife told me. It was 11 something at night, but Mrs. Wardah knocked my door and said that she brought food from someone wedding party, Mutton Briyani, and it’s not good if we reject someone kindness right??? God will be mad at us. *smirk*

So there I was, sitting together with Mrs. Wardah at the kitchen…eating.

And suddenly, I kinda forget how, then she told me Mr. Jufry got cancer, stage 4. I was very surprised, I mean literally surprised. I stop eating, and I can’t even swallow my food at the time. We just sit there, doing nothing for awhile, until Mrs. Wardah continues her story. But from her calm face…….no, from her emotionless face, I can see the pain screaming through her eyes…out loud!!

But somehow, Mr. Jufry looks just fine, like a normal person. I will never know that he has cancer if Mrs. Wardah never told me that. He’s still working, still walking, still watching football, still eating durian, and hell, he’s still smoking. So I was a little bit confused at that time.

Anyway, a week before 25th April, Mrs. Wardah told me that they will have somekind ceremony, Marhaban for Mr. Jufry, more like “pengajian” to us. So they’ll invite some Majelis for praying, and after that, of course, eating…again!!

So at 24th April, the house became quite hectic. Other families were coming to help Mrs. Wardah, most of them are women. They were busy cooking. My nose is kinda hurt by the smell anyway. So mostly, at that day, I just slept in my room until 4, then went out until 9.

And when I got back, I saw Mr. Jufry kinda pale. He’s just laying on the floor, doing nothing. And he looked different. Anyhow, I went to sleep at 11 something, almost midnight. And, when I was about to sleep, I hear his youngest daughter screaming, “BAPAK JATUH, BAPAK JATUH!!”

Asli gue kaget. Gue langsung keluar kamar, walopun masih rada sempoyongan. Ternyata, anaknya teriak dari dalam kamar Mr. Jufry. Gue masuk ke dalam, dan ngeliat Mr. Jufry udah ga sadarkan diri. Tangannya mengepal, spertinya kram. Bola matanya putih total. Kakinya melipat. Dan badannya kejang-kejang.

Ga lama setelah itu, Mrs. Wardah masuk, anak-anak masuk, tante, mbak dan entah siapapun itu juga masuk ke kamar. Tiba-tiba ruangan 3x4meter itu jd penuh dengan hawa panik. “Riki, tolong Bapak!! Tolong Bapak!!”, kata Mrs. Wardah panik. Berbekal pengalaman gue nonton House MD & Grey’s Anatomy, gue coba lurusin dulu badannya, coba sanggah kepalanya, dan…..susah bgt. It is not as easy as it looks, with the pressure, oooo, the scream, we just don’t know what to do.

Suddenly, I remember to call paramedic. So I asked his son to call the hospital. The weird thing is, after he dialled the number, he gave the phone to me and with that look, the look of “Ok, now you talk to them!!”. “Ok…..he’s panic!!”, that’s all I can think about.

When  I heard “hello” from the other side, I asked for ambulance. Then she, -the operator is a she-, asked me what happened, then I told her, “I don’t know. Maybe stroke!!”. Then she asked where the address is, and somehow, I forgot where I lived. I only remember the building number, 218. I don’t know which street, which floor and which number. So I looked for his son again, and gave him his phone again. “Tell them the address!!”, I said.

Udah itu gue balik ke dalam kamar dan ngeliat Mrs. Wardah lagi megang tangan Mr. Jufry. I can see Mr. Jufry in such pain. I can see his pants getting wet. And when I think about “Maybe he’s going to die”, his mother, I don’t know from which side, is Mr. Jufry’s mom or Mrs. Wardah’s mom, told us to whisper Syahadat to Mr. Jufry.

Jadilah gue & Mrs. Wardah ngebacain Syahadat. Trus gue panggil anak-anaknya buat duduk di dekat Mr. Jufry. Just in case that this is his last time. Saat kita semua lagi pada sibuk begituan, tiba-tiba datang tetangganya. Gue ga tau siapa namanya. Tapi dia juga ngelakuin hal yg sama, dia usap-usap kepala Mr. Jufry sambil nyebut “Allah….Allah….Allah”.

He is going to die!! He is going to die!! I keep screaming it in my mind. I can see clearly his face in such pain. I can hear him speak randomly. And I can see him moving around, left and right, shaking. “Sperti inikah sakaratul maut??”, tanya gue dalam hati..it is SCARY!!!

Setelah  hampir 10 menit, paramedic datang. Mereka langsung ambil sampel darah, cek denyut jantung, trus ngobrol ama Mrs. Wardah. Waktu itu gue langsung ke kamar ganti baju. Entah kenapa juga gue ganti baju, tapi yg pasti waktu gue mikir kalo kita semua bakal ke RS dan ga mungkin gue ke RS pake baju ginian. Selese gue ganti baju, gue bareng paramedic ngegotong Mr. Jufry ke lantai 6 (kita di lantai 5), biar dia bisa dibawa turun naik lift dari lantai 6.

Setelah gue sampai ke lantai 6, gue turun lagi ke lantai 5, trus ketemu Mrs. Wardah, dan dia bilang, “Riki kamu temani Bapak ke hospital”. Ok, prediksi gue benar soal ke rumah sakit, tapi salah total kalo ttg gue yg nemanin Mr. Jufry di ambulance ke RS. Kebetulan di situ ada anaknya, gue minta ambilin HP gue, -yes my beloved iPhone-, di kamar. Setelah itu, gue langsung lari-lari turun tangga ke bawah ke mobil ambulance.

Ga lama, setelah gue sampai di bawah, rombongan paramedic + Mr. Jufry juga datang. Mereka langsung bawa Mr. Jufry masuk, trus Mrs. Wardah datang dan ngasih map + dompet + sandal Mr. Jufry. Yes, sandal!! I can’t stop thinking about it, why SANDAL?? Anyway, trus Mrs. Wardah bilang, “Disana sudah ada keluarga yg menunggu. Ini medical record + dompet Bapak. Mungkin nanti butuh. Ibu nanti dengan yg lain menyusul”.

Dan gue pun duduk di ambulance di sebelah supir menuju Changi Hospital. Sedikit bangga karna nambah 1 lagi pengalaman first time gue, naik ambulance. *nepok-nepok dada*

Di perjalanan paramedic nanyain gue ttg apa yg terjadi. Gue bilang dia jatuh & selama ini punya cancer. Trus si paramedic nanya lagi ttg penyakit cancernya. Sampe di situ, gue bingung. Pengetahuan gue ttg penyakit cancer Mr. Jufry minim abis. Pas gue bilang ga tau, paramedicnya malah bingung. “How come you don’t know??”, tanyanya.

“I don’t know. I’m just his tenant!!”, jawab gue. “You are his what??”, tanya paramedic balik. “I’m not his family. I’m just his tenant. I’m living at his house!!”, jawab gue balik. Mendengar jawaban gue, sontak mereka pada kaget. Trus cuma bisa diam. Dalam hati mungkin mereka mikir, “Lah mas, kok malah ente yg dimari, nape kaga keluargenye??”….mungkin.

Sesampainya di Changi Hospital, di sana udah ada abangnya Mr. Jufry, Mr. Abudullah. I met this guy before. So we run to emergency room together, well, only until in front of emergency room exactly. After that, the paramedic asked us to fill the registration form. Setelah 5 menit, dokternya keluar, trus bilang kalo Mr. Jufry udah sadar and he is looking for his wife. I told her that his wife is on her way. So I sent Mrs. Wardah a message, telling her that her husband is awake and looking for her.

10 menit setelahnya Mrs. Wardah datang bareng keluarga yg lain. Tiba-tiba suasana di depan pintu masuk ER jadi rame. Semua pengen tau keadaan Mr. Jufry. Trus Mrs. Wardah masuk ke dalam, 5 menit kemudian balik dan bilang ke kita, “Bapak sudah sadar. Bapak pesan apapun yg terjadi, Marhaban besok tetap harus dilanjutkan.”…. *speechless*

Akhirnya, pagi itu, jam 2, gue pulang dianterin anggota keluarga yg lain. Sesampainya di rumah, gue cuci muka, masuk kamar, kunci pintu, duduk di samping tempat tidur, trus merhatiin tangan + kaki gue yg gemetar. “What a night!!”, bisik gue dalam hati.

*Update: Mr. Jufry udah balik dari RS. Kata dokter cancer-nya mulai spreading ke otak. Mungkin bakal di laser biar ga spread lebih jauh. 3 hari setelahnya gue liat Mr. Jufry udah makan durian di dapur. Hehehe… Semoga Mr. Jufry diberi kesembuhan oleh Allah SWT, kalaupun itu terlalu muluk-muluk, setidaknya semoga dimudahkan jalannya. Amin…

Gue bukan orang yg gampang akrab dengan orang lain, flamboyan, ato supel. I choose my own friends, and trust me I don’t have alot of them. Well, you can see my Friend list at Facebook, but I guarantee, I knew only a few of them. Gue juga bukan orang yg bisa langsung berbaur dengan lingkungan, langsung kenalan, make a funny joke or something else. Setidaknya, gue belom jadi orang sperti itu.

Rumus sederhananya,

if ketemu > 2:
    try:
        kenalan()
    except:
        pass

As simple as that. Tapi, yg namanya rumus, pasti ada pengecualian….rasanya kalo buat yg itu lo udah pada tau ceritanya yg mana.

Ok gue lanjutin ceritanya, belakangan gue sering jogging di taman deket rumah. Di situ ada jogging track-nya plus peralatan olah raga sederhana. Dulu diawal-awal, gue bareng temen gue sering jogging di sana. Tapi karna kesibukan yg makin menjadi, akhirnya tinggal gue aja yg masih jogging di sana.

Di sana, gue sering merhatiin orang-orang yg jogging. Mulai dari orang Jepang, India, Chinese, Malay ampe Western juga ada. Secara prinsip orang di sini, yg setau gue ya, mind-your-own-business, aktifitas gue ya cuma sekedar olah raga. Datang, warming-up, jogging, work-out, cooling down, trus pulang. Yaaahhh, paling duduk-duduk di bench, sambil ngeliatin orang jogging ato baca tweets.

Sampe satu ketika, pas gue lg duduk-duduk nyante, di sebelah gue ada bapak-bapak yg sering gue liat work-out di sana. He’s a malay Singaporean. Agak ragu buat gue ngajak kenalan, secara bisa aja ni bapak jutek mampus. Tp secara dia udah masuk dalam rumus kenalan gue, akhirnya gue berdiri, jalan ke bench tempat dia duduk, trus sodorin tangan, “Hi..I’m Riki..”, sapa gue.

Akhirnya kita ngobrol-ngobrol. Btw, namanya Jo, ermm….mungkin Joe,  dan ternyata ni orang ramah bgt. Dan anehnya, dia ingat temen gue yg kemarin-kemarin ikut jogging bareng di sana, “Where’s your other friend??”, tanya dia. Prang….patahlah prinsip orang disini yg gue aminin dari kemaren. Not everyone is a mind-your-own-business kind of person.

Dan setelah gue perhatiin lebih lanjut, ternyata dia banyak kenal dengan orang-orang yg jogging di sana. Mulai dari yg muda ampe yg udah bangkotan juga dia kenal. Dan dari dia, gue juga baru tau ternyata juga ada orang Indo yg jogging di sini.

Trus gue tanya, “How do you know all these people??”. Trus dia ketawa, dan bilang, “Just say ‘hi’, don’t be so arrogant.”. Jleb jleb jleb…

Ke-3 kalinya gue ketemu dengan dia, dia mulai ngasih tips ttg cara work-out yg bener, in fact, plenty of them. Dan dari situ, dia kenalin dengan orang-orang yg dia kenal yg kebetulan lg di sekitaran kita. Ada cewe architect, ibu rumah tangga, suster, guru dll. And it turns out, one of them is a maid from Indonesia. Yeab, PRT, namanya Ida. Mbak Ida ini, gue bisa bilang lucu. Setau gue dia orang Jawa, logatnya masih kerasa medok-nya, tp ngotot pake loe-gue ama gue karna berasa sama sama dari Jakarta. Akhirnya malam itu, gue ketawa-ketawa di sana.

Dari dia juga, gue baru tau ternyata banyak penggemar band Indonesia di sini, salah satunya Wali. Gue sendiri waktu itu ga mudeng band Wali yg mana. Ampe akhirnya dia puterin lagunya yg dia simpan di hape dan ibu kos gue juga muter lagu yg sama pagi-pagi, gue baru percaya ternyata emang banyak penggemarnya.

In short, gue jadi nyadar, kalo aja waktu itu gue ga nyodorin tangan bilang “Hi, I’m Riki..”, mungkin ampe sekarang gue masih ngelakuin rutinitas yg sama dengan kadar yg benar-benar sama. Cuma datang, warming-up, jogging, work-out, cooling down, trus pulang. It’s amazing to see how a simple thing like that can affect your life.

Sampai disini, gue jadi teringat cewe yg sering papasan ama gue di jembatan penyebrangan deket Wisma Dharmala. Hahaha, jadi ketawa ingat gimana gue pagi-pagi ngepas-ngepasin berangkat dari kosan biar bisa papasan ama dia di jembatan penyebrangan. Tapi sampe akhirnya gue berangkat kemari, gue ga punya nyali buat bilang, “Hi, I’m Riki”…

Yeah, akhirnya gue jalan-jalan juga. Berkat anjuran Mas Mige dari 3 minggu lalu, gue bareng temen kantor, Joash & Rendy sepakat buat pergi ke tempat ini. Konon katanya, ini kampung terakhir yg ada di SG. Secara SG umumnya maju dan techy, rasanya bakalan aneh ngeliat anjing ga dirante seliweran, ato kedai yg gubuk bgt dan jalan setapak. Lumayan lah buat ngelepas stress, ngirup udara yg lebih segar dan pastinya narsis.

* Warning, heavy loading images

Dimana sih Pulau Ubin?? Pulau Ubin itu letaknya di arah timur SG, deket perbatasan dengan Malaysia. Untuk kesana, gue musti ke Changi Village dulu. Ga ada transportasi darat dari Changi Village kesana. Mau ga mau, gue musti naik bumboat. Apa itu bumboat?? Kata wiki, “Bumboat is a small boat used to ferry supplies to ships moored away from the shore”. Biasanya, bumboat diisi ama 12 penumpang, dan tarifnya SG$2.5/orang. Dari Changi Village ke Pulau Ubin makan waktu sekitar 10 mnt.

Sesampainya di sana, gue langsung nyewa sepeda. Well, sebenarnya bisa aja ga nyewa sepeda, tapi rasanya gue ga bakal kuat ngider-ngider pulau jalan kaki. Harga sewa sepedanya SG$10. Mungkin bisa lebih murah, mungkin bisa lebih mahal. Soalnya gue ga liat-liat ke tempat lain dulu. Bawaannya pengen langsung nge-gowes. Jam pemakaiannya buat seharian. Dan eksplorasi pun dimulai…

Eit, tapi tunggu dulu, namanya orang Indonesia mah, dimana-mana perut jadi urusan nomor 1. Isi ‘bensin’ dulu lah ya…

Jadi gini ceritanya, 3 hari lalu, Jumat, akhirnya gue ditemenin kantor, Keyne, buat beli ni barang. Sebenarnya rencana belinya udah dari akhir January kemarin…tapi karna 1 dan lain hal, jadi sedikit tertunda.

Sebenarnya hari Jumat, jam pulang kantor jadi lebih cepat, jam 5 sore udah bisa pulang. Tapi karna temen gue ini lagi dapat ‘pencerahan’, jadinya dia kerja terus ampe jam 7. Setelah itu baru cabut ke Tampines Mall. Nyampe jam 7.30, baru sekitar jam 8.30 aplikasi gue bisa diproses, soalnya ngantri euy.

Nah, ada hal seru kemarin itu (apalagi kalo bukan soal cewe). Ceritanya, ada promosi Multiline Saver, jadi kalo lo register berdua, dapat potongan biaya bulanan 20%, kalo bertiga, dapat potongan 30%, udah mentok sampe 3 doank. Dulu niatnya, gue mau register bareng temennya temen gue, tp karna dia ga jadi, ya terpaksa deh register sendiri.

Sesampainya dibagian registrasi, di depan gue ada cewe yg sepertinya juga mo beli iPhone. Ngerasa aji mumpung, kali aja bisa register bareng, gue amatin terus cewe tadi. Well, sebenarnya dari awal juga udah gue amatin sih, hehehe, cakep gitu loh, walopun udah ada yg ‘jagain’, tapi mengagumi kan ga dosa…wehehehe.

Setelah dapat nomer antrian, gue confirm ulang ama Keyne, kalo emang promosi tadi beneran, soalnya, gue lihat sekeliling ga ada brosur, pengumuman ato apapun ttg Multiline Saver. Setelah dia liatin buktinya, maka pede-lah gue buat nyamperin cewe tadi. Trus nanya, “Cowo itu abang, adik ato tetangga lo?”, hahaha…optimis bgt dah gue.

Singkat cerita dia setuju buat nyoba register bareng. YES!!!! Mayan ada penghematan. Setelah lama nunggu, akhirnya nomor antrian cewe tadi pun tampil di layar. Gue, Keyne, cewe tadi, dan cowo tadi akhirnya maju ke counter-nya. Langsung aja gue bilang ke sales-nya, “We want to get married. We have our witnesses here. So would you do the honour??”, hahaha… benar-benar optimis bgt dah gue.

Ok, ternyata promosi itu beneran ada. Lucky!! Akhirnya sales-nya minta data-data kita, dimulai dari cewe tadi. Oh iya, cewe ini bukan register new line kaya gue, tapi re-contract. Jangan tanya gue detail re-contract kaya apa, secara ini baru pertama kalinya gue beginian. Setelah blah blah blah, trus kayanya cewe tadi bingung, ngeliat dia bingung, gue langsung sigap nanya, “Don’t you want us to be together eternally??”, hahaha…akut bgt optimistis gue.

Ternyata dia bingung karna dia itu ambil corporate-plan, sedangkan Multiline Saver cuma berlaku buat plan yg biasa. AHHHHHHH, hilang sudah 20% gue. Tapi ngeliat dia minta maaf dengan manisnya, GAPAPA DEH NENG, abang ikhlas…moga eneng bisa dapatin yg lebih baek dari abang. AHHHHHHHHHH…..

Akhirnya gue register sendirian, as I planned before….So in short, just don’t let your hope flies high…

*masih senyum-senyum ngeliat iPhone tergeletak di samping laptop*

Downside-nya, banyak toko-toko yg pada tutup. Dan buat gue, warga pendatang, yg cara ngisi perutnya musti ke warung makan, jadi sedikit rada kesulitan ketika punya uang, tapi ga ada yg jualan. Contoh, hari Sabtu kemarin, gue bangun jam 9, trus berangkat ke kantor. Bukan…bukan karna gue rajin, tp karna charger laptop gue ketinggalan, dan secara laptop onlen semaleman donload torrent, otomatis begitu gue bangun, laptop gue udah ga bernyawa. Setelah tralala-trilili di kamar mandi, berangkat ke stasiun Tampines, tp singgah dulu ke Old Chang Kee buat beli sarapan, porridge….tp tutup. Cari-cari tempat jajanan lain, juga tutup. Astaga…

Akhirnya gue naik MRT, turun di Expo, setidaknya di sana ada BK. Setelah ngider dikit, karna BK letaknya ujung-ujungan dengan keluar stasiun, tp tutup juga. Arghhh…Liat warung-warung yg lain juga tutup. Akhirnya dengan terpaksa, singgah ke Subway, yg notabene mahal bgt. Kalo di BK, S$6.5 bisa dapat meal set, tp kalo di Subway, cuma dapat 1 Roast Beef Sandwich tok!!

Pulangnya, setelah gue cek, ternyata di deket rumah, ada warung makan, Afganistan, yg ga tutup. Ini warung Malay ato India gitu, jadi ga begitu ngepek dengan CNY.

Btw, ada cerita lucu waktu pas pertama kalinya beli makanan di situ. Setelah ngecek daftar menu, akhirnya gue mesen yg rasanya masih bisa gue akrabin, Beef Martabak. Terjadilah percakapan singkat antara gue dengan kasirnya:

Gue: 1 beef martabak small please.

Kasir: What??

Gue: 1 beef martabak small.

Kasir: What??

Gue: (mulai merasa ada yg salah). 1 beef martabak small (sambil nunjuk-nunjuk papan menu di atas)

Kasir: How come you order big and small martabak together?? Which one do you one, big or small??

Gue: (ketawa, antara dua, menertawakan kupingnya dia ato lidahnya gue). Beef martabak…beef…

Kasir: Ooo, ok…

Ok, back to CNY, tadi gue makan siang juga di Afganistan. Menunya ganti, Chicken Briyani. Makannya sih biasa, tapi pas pulang ke rumah yg sedikit luar biasa. Pas gue mau naik lift, kebetulan di dalamnya ada orang Malay/India (belakangan gue rada susah ngebedain antara Malay dan India), trus nanyain mau ke lantai berapa. “Sixth floor”, jawab gue singkat. Trus, tiba-tiba dia bilang, “Happy new year..”, sambil nyodorin tangannya..Gileeee…ramah amir..

Entah karna gen chinese dari keluarga nyokap gue, ato emang ni orang baik bener. Ato emang CNY emang dirayain ama seluruh ras di sini, gue ga tau. But who cares?? So Happy CNY, guys…

As you guys know, gue mulai pindah ke SG, for God’s sake, Singapore is way too long, dari tgl 18 Jan. Dan pas bgt dengan minggu-minggu sibuk di kantor. Dengan sibuk, maksud gue beneran sibuk. So many things to do in so little time. Kenapa?? Well, setau gue dalam 2 minggu ini bakalan ada cut-over dengan salah satu airline company dan yeah, another urgentcy task from the higher up. They called it, a task that would put the ink to the pen to sign the contract!! Damn, too many ‘the’!!

Anyway, tgl 18 malamnya gue masih disediain hotel ama kantor. Tapi mulai 19-22, uhuk-uhuk, gue musti bayar hotel sendiri, secara gue kan blm dapat tempat tinggal gitu. Daaaaaan, cari tempat tinggal di SG susah-susah gampang. Enaknya, mereka punya website-website yg menjembatani hal ini. Jadi buat lo yg mau memasarkan tempat atopun yg nyari tempat, bisa silaturahmi di website-website tadi. Ga enaknya, agent-nya dimana-mana euy!!

Agent disini mirip makelar kali ya. Jadi dia yg nyariin/ngiklanin tempat buat yg butuh. Dan karena ini peluang bisnis, ga jarang website-website tadi justru penuh spam ama agent-agent ini. Jadinya, kitanya yg bingung sendiri. Blm lg, agent fee lumayan looohhh!!

But I trust my luck for finding a place to stay. Dari dulu, alhamdulillah gue selalu bisa dapatin tempat tinggal bagus tanpa musti seribet cerita orang. Dulu waktu kuliah, dapat. Dulu waktu kerja di Bali, dapat. Dulu waktu kerja di Jakarta, juga dapat. Masa sih sekarang ga dapat??  Hehehe, berkat doa dari emak gue, hanya dalam 2 hari gue bisa nemu tempat bagus dan agent yg bagus. Gue tau dia bagus karna dikasih tau temen gue juga sih. Secara gue ga ada agent pembanding.

Dia nunjukin tempat tinggal di daerah Tampines (baca Tampenis, karna kalo dibaca Tam-pines, dengan English sebagai bahasa yg common di sini, it may sounds verrrrryyyy wrong!!), common room HDB, fully furnished, air-conditioned, very clean, dan tinggal dengan Malay-Sing family. Nah, apa itu HDB??

Sebenarnya agak rancu sih buat gue, tapi HDB itu kepanjangan dari Housing & Development Board, dan kalo disebut rumah HDB, ato flat, itu kaya’ rumah susun di Jakarta. Agak aneh sih pertamanya, secara gue biasa tinggal di kos-kosan yg isinya total kos-er, sekarang musti sharing dengan keluarga. Kamar mandi di sharing, ruang tamu di sharing, meja makan di sharing, kulkas di sharing, mesin cuci di sharing, ampe jemuran juga di sharing.

Omong-omong ttg jemuran, secara SG itu luasnya seuprit doank, makanya harga tanah jadi mahal, dan setau gue, lo ga bakal pernah bisa beli tanah, yg selamanya bakal jadi milik lo, tapi musti perpanjang kepemilikan tiap, kalo gue ga salah, 90 apa 100 tahun gitu, makanya ga ada yg namanya lahan buat jemuran di HDB. Jadi cara mereka ngejemur, pakaiannya dijepitin ke semacam galah kayu, trus galah kayu tadi tanceping ke slot yg mereka bikin sendiri di dinding luar di bawah jendela. Asli, pertama kali gue ngejemur cara beginian, gue khawatir galahnya bakal jatuh kebawah, dan dibawah itu, parkiran mobil!!

Ok, back to the agent story, kalo lo pake jasa agent, pastinya ada fee donk. Nah, fee-nya ini biasanya 1x biaya tempat tinggal. Jadi kalo misalnya harga kamarnya S$500, berarti fee-nya juga S$500. Tapi, lo bayarnya juga tergantung kesepakatan, bisa 100% lo yg bayar, ato 50-50 dengan si pemilik rumah. Pas di gue, alhamdulillah, 50-50 euy. Dan, 1 lg peraturan yg rada aneh disini, lo musti bayar deposit 1 bln. Kalo di kita mah, masuk ya masuk aja, tapi kalo di sini, mereka minta jaminan sejumlah 1x pembayaran. Jadi kalo diitung-itung, total cost buat tempat tinggal diawal….well, lumayan gede euy!!

Ok, sekarang soal izin kerja. Bagian ini gue juga ga begitu jelas secara yg ngurusin ya pihak sponsor, alias kantor gue sekarang. Mulai dari proses pendaftaran sampe….sekarang. Hehehe….Dan kalo lo liat cara apply-nya, sumpah gampang bgt. Beda jauh dengan proses administrasi yg musti ditempuh kalo di Jakarta. Kita tinggal klak-klik via website mereka, dan submit. As simple as that. Oh iya, ada beberapa izin kerja, 2 diantaranya yg gue pernah dengar, ada S Pass dan ada Employment Pass (EP), gue EP. Ada spesifikasi tertentu yg ngebedain SP dengan EP, salah satu yg paling gue tangkap sih gaji.

Nah, begitu EP lo di approved ama MoM (Ministry of Manpower), lo bakalan dapat In Principal Approval Letter (kalo gue ga salah), semacam bukti bahwa lo udah terdaftar dan bisa lanjut ke proses lebih lanjut, nyetak EP-nya. Dan, secara nyetak EP ga bisa sehari jadi, lo bisa pake In Principal Approval Letter tadi buat yg lain, contoh, sebagai bukti ke pemilik rumah. Mereka, inlander-inlander ini, ga mau dan ga bisa dan ga boleh menyewakan tempat ke orang yg ga punya izin tinggal di SG, alias imigran gelap. Kalo ketauan, hak kepemilikan mereka atas rumah, flat, kondo ato apapun itu bisa di-revoke ama pemerintah. TEGAS bgt dah.

Lalu, untuk memproses EP-nya, lo musti ngisi formulir yg MoM kirimin bersamaan dengan In Principal Approval Letter tadi. Kalo gue ga salah ada 10 halaman, 5 halamannya cuma halaman kosong. Dan salah satunya adalah formulir pernyataan dari RS bahwa lo dinyatakan sehat. Untuk itu, lo musti medical check-up. Standarlah, cek darah, ada HIV apa engga, rontgen paru-paru, kena TBC apa engga, gitu-gitu lah. Nanti RS-nya bakal bikin surat keterangan, sekaligus ngisiin formulir yg tadi (khusus bagian kesehatannya doank), dan baru bisa diambil dalam 3 hari.

Kalo udah beres, lo musti bikin appointment dengan pihak MoM-nya yg menyatakan bahwa hari ini jam segini gue mau datang ke sono buat ngeproses EP gue. Caranya, sama kaya tadi, masuk ke situs mereka, bikin deh appointmentnya di sana. Jangan coba-coba langsung datang ke sono tanpa bikin appointment dulu, karna sesampenya di sana lo bakal disuruh bikin appointment lg, minimal buat besok, ga bisa hari ini.

Ok, sesampainya gue di MoM, erm, baru nginjakin langkah pertama ke kantornya, ada mbak pegawai yg langsung nyamperin gue. Nanyain dengan RAMAH-nya keperluan gue apa. Setelah dia minta bukti appointmentnya, dia minta passport, plus dokumen yg lain, trus gue di PERSILAHKAN duduk di sofa di dalam sembari nungguin dia memproses dokumen gue. Alhasil gue duduk plangak-plongok bego di dalem.

Sekitar 5 menit kemudian, si mbak pegawai tadi nyamperin gue, trus bilang kalo nanti bakal ada petugas lain yg ngelanjutin. Bener aja, 5 menit kemudian, ada mbak pegawai lainnya yg nyamperin trus NGANTAR gue ke kasir buat bayar biaya administrasinya. Trus dari sana, dia bilang, “You can go now to front desk again, and pip-pip-pip-pip, and wait for your name at the display.”, bagian pip-pip-pip-nya ga begitu kedengeran ama gue.

Ok, gue dengan pedenya balik ke sofa tadi, trus ngeliatin monitor guede di atas, nungguin nama gue nongol di situ. But after 5 minutes, still nothing. Dan kebetulan, ada mbak pegawai lain yg ngelintas di depan gue, trus nanya, “Have you done your check-in, Sir?”. Ups, langsung bingung gue, maksudnya  check-in yg mana?? ternyata bagian pip-pip-pip tadi ya ini. Gue musti check-in dulu ke front desk.

Gue langsung berdiri, trus nanya front desk-nya dimana. Eh ga taunya, si mbak pegawai tadi bilang, “It’s ok, Sir. Let me do the check in for you.”. WOW. Itu baru namanya pelayanan. Setelah dia check-in document gue, bener aja, nama gue langsung kepampang di monitor tadi. Blah blah blah dengan pegawai di counternya, trus dikasih tanda bukti, trus diminta kembali setelah 3 hari kerja, tgl 2 Feb. Sesaat gue langsung membandingkannya dengan proses admistrasi dan pelayanan di Indo, hummmh, kita masih butuh belajar lg.

Oiya, sekarang gue nambahin 1 kegiatan rutin loh, lari. Ya, olah raga yg paling simple sedunia. Pertama kali ikut sih hari Senin kemarin. Di komplek perkantoran di sini, tiap Senin ada jadwal lari bareng, bisa 3-5-7-10 K. Ada instrukturnya juga. Nah, saking semangatnya gue, di hari pertama kalinya tadi, gue langsung ngikutin pace-nya mereka. Alhasil, gue batuk-batuk mao muntah, dada sakit dan kaki kejang. Hahaha, ketauan kalo selama ini ga pernah olah raga.

Tapi, kedepannya, gue bakal ngebiasain lari 3x seminggu. Senin di komplek perkantoran, Jumat malam dan Sabtu malam ngelilingin blok rumah. Biar rada segeran dikit. Lagipula, lari malam di sini nyaman bgt. Selain lingkungan yg bersih terawat, aman pula. Jujur aja gue jiper kalo musti lari malam jam 9-10 di kawasan Karet-Sudirman, selain bingung mo lari dimananya, kurang aman juga kali ya..Yaaah, intinya kita musti banyak belajar lah.

Yak…segitu dulu aja berbagi ceritanya. Gue balik dulu. Mo liat sale di Expo, kemarin sih Robinson lg sale gede-gedean…See you soon!!

Lilly: Hi Riki
Riki: Hi Lilly
Lilly: Your EP is approved. You can prepare to come to Singapore
Riki : Great…and when would it be???
Lilly: What is your email address?
Riki: riki.pribadi@xxx.xxx
Lilly: When is your travel plan?
Riki: I still havent figured that out, no news from either Herlina or Pauline
Lilly: Ok…I’m sending out an email. You follow up with them. How about 18 Jan?
Riki: It’s ok with me
Lilly: I will let Pauline & Herlina know then
Riki: Ok, thank you very much Lilly
Lilly: No worries…looking forward to you joining us ya.
Riki: Haha…looking forward too
Lilly: So better be a good mummy & daddy boy this weekend ok. bring them out for lunch or dinner …
Riki: Will do…hahaha

So in short, I’ll be working at Singapore for at least a year. Yeab, kalo semua lancar, tgl 18 ini gue udah mulai pindah kesana. Aaah, rasanya masih ga percaya, tapi akhirnya niatan gue kesampaian juga. Alhamdulillah.

Naah, giliran sekarang gue mulai panik. Antara kosan yg belon pindahan yg notabene barang-barangnya numpuk bgt, belon photo, belon beli ini-itu, belon cari tempat tinggal buat di sana, aaaaaaahhhhh, masih banyak, jadi kepikiran euy. Tapi, kepikiran yg menyenangkan…hehehe

And thank you bgt buat orang-orang yg udah membantu memberikan jalan ke gue. Tanpa bantuan lo semua, rasanya ga bakalan semulus ini. Big hug!!

Just want to share the good news, and wish me luck. 2010 ROCKS!!!