trip # 2 : Sintang Regency, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

So this was my first trip to Sintang after years, 11 or 12 years something…

this is my Sintang story…hehe.

My first encounter with Sintang was years ago, when i was in Kindergarten, and now i am 26 going 27…we lived in this regency for 2 years. due to my father’s placement as an official for the Agricultural Department we moved to this small city. There were only me, Veny, and Winy who was born there… our family was somewhat ‘beginning our life’… so life was bit hard…especially when i saw surviving images from our years there, i noticed how past was somewhat nice there although my family had to deal with things faced by a young and struggling family, if u know what i mean…

this trip to Sintang was made possible due to my duty as an assigned official for a group of students who will compete in an art Olympic for junior high students called Olimpiade Seni sastra, in the past u might heard the term Porseni, that’s the present way they call the competition.

my group, those students i mean, they will compete for the traditional music subject…it’s actually out of my competence, since the group actually was trained by a colleague of mine, but that colleague of mine was handling a dancing group which was also going for the same Olympic. so, the best i could do was to provide guidance and using my small skill of musicality for the group…i mean, i love singing, but notes, bars, beats, somehow they do not ring in my senses, yet…hahahah. i need to learn more about this musical things. good for the students cause they actually are involved in a school band, so shifting from a set of modern instruments to a set of traditional instruments was actually not a hard thing to do, that’s what they said…i was a bit relieve cause these kids now what they did and they seemed care free of anything…winning or losing they did not seem to care…but the pressure was on me…hahaha. weird…

we left to Sintang from Bengkayang by mid night, using the darit to Sidas route..a faster and shorter route than taking the anjungan route, it will save our group hours to reach Sintang. the whole group from our Regency consist of 105 people, that numbers include students who compete and officials. i drove my own car since my sister also going for the writing competition, apparently she has what i have…hehehe. my mom, abel, ela, an assistant and my uncle were inside the car, while the rest of our group took 4 buses to take them to Sintang.

the road to Sintang was awful…and my past memories about the road was actually gone, so i did my best to grab those memories back inside my head by trying to stay awake and keep my eyes open to see our way through Sintang. again, the road was awful…anyway, we had the chance to visit my auntie, Lili, who live in Sekadau Regency, a fresh new Regency, with her husband and family. from Sekadau we continued our trip and finally reached Sintang by 9 something in the morning…hours of driving and sitting inside the car really exhaust me and the other inside the car, even abel look exhausted

yet, instead of those exhausting feeling…only 4 hours after reaching Sintang and left our stuffs at my uncle’s house in Baning area in Sintang we continue our trip to Kelam Hill. one of Sintang most acknowledge tourism spot. apparently the local Government has improved the spot and enhanced the tourism object with a religious tour by the slopes of the hill. this religious object provides visitors with Gua Maria, a place of adoration for Mother Mary, the kind of religious spots which can be found across the globe in every country.

my eyes were amazed by another site next to this Gua Maria. the government also build a pathway of Jesus Crucification complete with the diorama of concrete statues painted in gold…awesome and hilarious. just see the images down here…i only take some of them due to my cell phone’s decreasing capabilities of maintaining the battery power..hehehe.

back to the competition. my main objective. hehe.

my students schedule was 2 days after the arrival. from all 14 regencies in West Kalimantan Province only 8 enrolled for this traditional music competition. the Olympic was officially opened by The Governor of West Kalimantan Province, Cornelis. anyway, during our 3 days something stay in Sintang me and the group stayed in a school prepared especially for this Olympic. so me and the rest stayed in this biology lab which was set in a particular way so that us and our stuffs can lay back for night sleep or day time rest.

shockingly, we WON!!!!

we were shocked and burst in laugh, we could not believe that we won, considering our minimal preparations, exercise, and we did not even wear nice costumes, i mean we did not prepare decent costumes for the kids…but again, we WON!!!

with this winning, my students will leave to Bandung this 20 of July for the National Olympic in Art and Literature for the Junior High level, representing West Kalimantan Province…

anyway, my students had to perform once again for the closing ceremony…an unwell organized closing ceremony, a really messy one…so after performing we packed our instruments and leave, cause somehow the committee did not notice or probably even showing to the public that the group that perform that night and playing the music along the show was actually the representative for the Province..i sense arrogance and ignorance, but my students and me were tired enough to complain, cause only an hour after that performance the Bengkayang group decided to go home.

and by 10pm the whole 4 buses left to Bengkayang. another exhausting trip, and we reached Bengkayang by 7.30 in the morning…while everyone probably run to their bad due to their excessive exhaustion i took my bath and immediately went to office…

a traveller’s notes

in the past 2 weeks i have been indo-tracking…i flew to Jogjakarta for a week, and then back to Borneo and did my public servant chores… i took many pictures, which i really love to do this past several months… well, considering that as public servant you will not always have the allowance to travel and some of the times, weirdly, there are always many things to do in the office that it is hardly for you to take leisure activities into your agenda…so the images are the tools to bring instant recall of those rare traveling gigs you made, which is fun…

so let me start with Jogja…

the words for Jogjakarta is endless, this cultural city has a unique vibrant for everyone who’s been there…the kind of city which always calls you where ever u are, what ever u do for living, there’s always an urge to comeback, to see the city, how much it has evolved, what kind of new things appear on the city…strangely…though new buildings keep coming in, new sights enter, the city always smell the same, for me Jogjakarta has a weird yet tasty smell…that quirky cultural greenish, blackish smell, the smell that brings you those traditional musics within your ears…i love those visions

it’s been 6 months since the last time i stepped my feet to Jogjakarta, and that is how long i have not meet my closest friends…anyway, the plane ticket was rising almost twice of the actual price, thanks to the wrong timing i took to travel, it’s holiday anyway…yet, who cares…hahaha

my plane was delayed like two hours, and eventually i approached Jogjakarta’s horizon by 4 something in the afternoon…i stepped down from the plane, and suddenly this weird and strong emotions came over me…feeling of being home, feeling of coming back to such place like Jogjakarta is always acceptable, is always a lovely and heart breaking at the same time, remembering that u cannot always make this trip, ait…unless you are this philanthropists who does not need to think about any spending you make and you have this red master card, red visa what so ever and fly wherever you want just like that…

my sister veny picked me up that afternoon, we had a short lasagna time at Oh lala in adisutjipto airport where i noticed several hunks dressed charmingly in batik…a nice sights for such a beautiful afternoon…i look for cheap hotel around dagen and sosrowijayan area in Malioboro, where i always love to stay when i travel to this city…malioboro has unique vibrant that look like no other place i ever been, being 24 hours awake with diverse kinds of sights, just perfect for a person like me…

i found this cheap room in dagen inside a small inn that cost me like 10 dollars a night…the room was not that good, the bathroom is way out of class, yet…there is this dazzling balcony that gave me the view to the whole length of dagen alley… in dagen, the whole directions are made up of small inns and hotels…especially during this holiday months staying in one of those inn’s room and having that kind of sight that i have from my balcony is such a treat…

i get to see becak here and there, i get to see the locals…the foreigners, my neighboring hotels and various people that stay there…in the morning the view is most adorable, not to mention that Jogjakarta in the morning is like nowhere else in the world, well…probably the only morning that can compete that is the morning in bali…hehehehe

after i checked in, a quick bath, i immediately drove to mailbox, my favorite distro around gejayan area, i bought several new fashion items for myself and my sister, well, living in Borneo somehow made u less update compare to friends who live in Java area, thats the truth, for my case…

from mailbox i drove to Kedai Kopi, me and my friend’s favorite coffee shop, the coffee shop which also appeared in my novel…i text budi and asked him to come…he’s my best buddy and brother, ever…i text melly and nina to come too, they re my best sisters and buddies ever, too…hahaha

budi did came by, yet a little late…we catch up things, as usual, and then came melly with a girl who apparently going out with adi, my other friend, it’s nice to know that adi eventually dating somebody.,.hahahaha, that girl finally left, and not long after that came nina and dius, her boyfriend, also from my department, we chit chat like hours till midnight until everyone decided to stop and have to take their night sleep, yet after that…me, melly and budi went to this gudeg stall not far from Kedai Kopi, probably my first gudeg since…i cannot remember…that gudeg dish was perfect…thats how i love it served…many students and night living enthusiasts around, such Jogjakarta’s sights…

2am, i went back to my hotel and took my beauty sleep…

the next day…

i went to Klaten, to take care of my teaching license…i got back to Jogjakarta again, around mid day time, before picking melly up at her work i had the time to visit one of my favorite day time coffee stop in Jalan Kaliurang, Coffee break, a nice coffee house with loads of books and surely cozy space to chit chat around with ur buddies…i used to go to this place with Renny before she left to Australia…there i had the chance to sip my fave drink there, that juicy guava juice, a thick and sweet guava juice…yummm

i picked melly up at her working place, and later on we drove to this costume renting house where i rent a set of beskap, that Javanese traditional dress…yep, i meant to take a picture of myself wearing that cool dress, and i am going to put that picture in my second book…well, the photo shoot is going to be the next day anyway…
from that place we drove to Vredeburg, to see the annual FKY, Festival Kesenian Yogyakarta, an event that you never want to miss…especially for those of you who love cultural festive like this. the whole extravaganza of cultural amusement are there, cool stuffs, cool people, cool events are around to be sucked into your awareness and your sense of art, culture, festive and the whole nine yards…

i manage to buy several batik for some friends back in kalimantan, i also buy some cool shirts for myself…and this shopping extravaganza ended around 6pm. after a short orange squash session at a cafe inside FKY that afternoon we went to mas Munir’s place…the place where i had my first tatoo ever…and Munir was the person who did it on my body, to be exact behind my neck..

i asked munir to draw this Chinese calligraphy for my first tattoo…the word means tranquility, a state that i am urging to have within these past few moments…sigh.

shockingly, the process was not as frightening as i thought it would be…the process was undescribeable, and somehow…i want more…hahahaha. well, i want more drawings on my body…yet, Munir told me to think about it seriously cause those drawings will stick on my skin like forever, so it has to be beautiful, and i have to love it, really love it…so, i postponed and thinking of having more of those drawings when i come back next time…

me and melly went home from Munir’s tattoo studio around ten that evening…after a long chat with Munir and his wife, mbak ajeng…the visit to that tattoo studio was something i have never imagined…well, i used to have this image in my mind that tattoo studio would be horrid and frightening, meeting big stocky men with long hair and bad tattoo around their body…but Munir’s studio was like some sort of a kindergarten playground except for all the syringe, weird drawings, piercing stuffs, and inks in the shelfs…i definitely will come back and have another drawing on me…heheheh

the next day…i took my javanese photo session at vera’s working office, Kayona…at first it was going to be at the Keraton, south part of Jogja…but after considering all the mess, all the procedures to enter the Keraton and not to mention all the people who will stop and stare at me wearing a complete beskap in the middle of hot day for a confusing photo session, i decided to do it in Kayona…well, the result is not that bad anyway…instead, i am satisfied. i am surprised how charming i look inside that beskap…hahahahaha.

after that photo shoot i went back to my hotel, checked out, and moved into another nice room now located in sosrowijayan area, one block from dagen…i forgot the name of that nice inn, but this latest one is much bigger than the one i had in dagen…much cleaner, much more service, much more nice rooms…a bigger parking space…a completely wide inn with many selections of rooms…it cost me around 29 US dollars a night…i thought to myself that it’s my last night in Jogja so i somehow deserve a more expensive room, a more decent sleep…hahahahahaha.

after a nice nap inside my new room. i went to meet melly at his brother’s photo studio where he works as an editor, the same job as vera’s. after an hour or so chit chat, me and melly went to Mirota Batik for another shopping session…

as what i have predicted, Mirota Batik was full with people, i mean really full…they must be coming from around Indonesia, cause i noticed several dialects and traditional languages coming from as diverse as from east to west…and since Batik is hot this year, those people, including me, were hunting for this cute Batik for like hours, we dig into piles of Batik, hanged or dumped, literally, even the expensive ones were put just like that…dumped, gathered with another cheaper pieces…weird, yet still acceptable…

after a tiring walk inside Mirota Batik and spend almost 35 dollars for the whole gifts we drove to Ambarukmo Plaza, for another shopping session…hahahaha.and after an hour of walking inside that huge shopping spot i only buy one piece of green skinny tie for myself. skinny tie is hot this season.

after that we went to VR. a coffee house located near by Affandi’s museum. a nice place. nice service.and what made it more interesting were the work of art hanging on it’s walls. many cool paintings and stuffs. me and melly were welcome by this small shot of coconut mix with lime drink. a refreshing one…

i text budi to come along, i text vera too, melly text nina but she could not come since she’s already in Kopi Kopi, a coffee house in Sagan…then Melly text mbak iut, my other senior from the department, a long time no see sweet friend who now working as a cosmetic retailer…

we finished talking around 1 in the evening…tiring, but i am craving for more….daa.

my flight to Pontianak was earlier than it used to be…the flight to Pontianak with Batavia was usually around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, but now it shifted to 9am… it felt really hard and burdensome to leave this lovely city…as always, did not want to leave, but still got to leave…