And For This Gift I Don't Deserve To Get
I'll Make Damn Sure I'll Earn This
comfort in concrete
Posted on: Monday, July 6, 2009
Posted at: 11:05 AM
alright since the last post, well a couple of interesting things happened in my life, not that anyone actually bothers about really.
lets start with the vacation. 26
th june,
friday. woke up 5am in the morning since flight was at 745am and we had to check in the terminal an our before the flight. i was on a vacation with my mom, 2 of my aunties, my uncle, my assistant manager and his wife; not the best of company. its been some time since i took a flight out of the country so i was a little excited. last i went was a trip to
langkawi when i was 10? we got through security and customs and were free to roam inside the terminal. i wondered around the duty-free shop (
DFS) where they had some different blends of
dunhill cigarette not sold in the streets of
singapore and of course my favourite lucky strikes. and it was cheap as
fxck even for a carton. the one i saw wasn't really in a carton, rather in a huge
cylindrical tin. pissed off i went to the free
internet access station just to change my current
facebook/
myspace status at that time. after confirming our boarding passes, we had to wait while the flight attendants called out for people to enter according to their designated seats. meanwhile it was there when it showed on
cnn that
micheal jackson passed away. RIP. my turn came and i had a window seat. i was seated away from anyone i came with.
moments later, we were about to take off. i didn't know how it was gonna feel, whether i was going to throw up or panic. i guess a little fear struck me besides the
anticipation. but everything turned out good except when i thought i felt that the engines were
noticeably revved down and as though the plane was moving forward only by momentum. i could not sleep and the only thing i could do was stare out into the blank space or try to make out the cloud shapes since i did not bring my iPod along.
roughly an hour later we reached Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. got a cab, a driver rather, to drive us off to Grand Hyatt somewhere in the heart of Jakarta. the trip took some time because of the consistent jam. plus, the hotel we were staying at was beside a round-about with a big fountain in the middle, a very strategic place where demonstrations and rallies were often held. there was a demonstation already before we got there. something about stopping slavery or abuse something like that. i left the flyer they handed out at the hotel. the demonstration lasted the whole day where a group of them held up signs that spelled out their cause and at night candles were lit up around them. other than that they handed flowers and notices out to the public. got to the hotel. checked in. checked the room out. had the room with a view of the on-going demonstration. non-smoking floor. smoking uncle. ^^
washed up and left for lunch. explored the mall. stupid high-end mall with louis vuitton, prada, armani exchange, tods, coach, burberry, franck muller and alot other stores like that. went down to the supermarket and got myself a pack of lucky strikes original lights and smoked away outside. returned back to the room when it started getting dark. and left for dinner at the grand club lounge at the hotel. everything was free flow. the food and the drinks. the alcohol also; absolut, red label, black label, jack daniels, henessy, smirnoff, wine and beer. the liquor just help yourself. pour out as much as you want. if the bottle empties, they'll take out another one. the beer in in the fridge just take out and drink; heineken and bintang. no comments. went back to room after that and waited for uncle to smoke in the toilet and come out while i got in and pretended to shower but actually smoke. hahaha.
over there, honking seems to be an everyday thing. you could not walk down the street peacefully without hearing horns honking; culture shock :/
the next day woke up early again and went to the lobby to wait for the driver who was gonna drive us to bandung. a very, very long drive. without cigarettes. speeding and overtaking. two-laned roads. visited a dormant volcano site. had organic strawberries and raspberries which were awesome. went shopping. had lunch. drove past a skate shop which sold macbeths footwear and apparently we couldn't stop because we had to be some place else. drove around somemore. had dinner. and the long drive back home with massive jams. smokes.
third day. stupidest plan ever. to see the rich peoples' houses and villages. can't elaborate much because i fell asleep in the van. finally went to a mall that has sogo in it. wondered around sogo and was stoked to find looserkids and macbeths in it. like not expected at all. nothing that suited me, really. walked around, had lunch. and another massive jam back to the hotel. finished my lights and bought lucky strikes original filters. smoked. sleep.
last day of vacation. just wondered the mall opposite the hotel. had lunch alone at pepperlunch. waited in hotel room. off to airport. checked in. starbucks. back to singapore.
relatively jakarta had nothing instore for a kid like me. krispy kreme was nice. sushi sucked. coffee soda was addictive; product of F&N beverage. late night HBO and MLB match between yankees and the mets throughout the stay kept me entertained. 1 out of 3 of my indonesian friends replied when i texted them. i texted him on the morning of the third day. he replied an hour before my flight back. did not get crooz clothings. the "ceweks" there are seriously (Y).
well maybe on my part i didnt look for it at the right places. shortage of time? i should try going there with friends next time. maybe i'll change my mind. just maybe. haha.
on a slighty heavier note. last thursday or friday, i can't recall, at 7:20am i was sleeping in my room. my room was next to a corridor on the tenth floor. i heard a commotion outside. i also heard my dad's voice talking to one of my neighbours. so i walked out in my boxers to see whats going on. everyone on the corridor was looking down. so i looked down at the pavement flooring beneath. i did not see anything except for a guy looking up. so i thought someone from above was attempting suicide. i asked my dad fo confirmation. he said to look down near the drains near our lift. so i did. and i saw a body posed in a D.R.I. stance with blood around it. i could not tell if it was a man or a woman but judging by the clothes it was someone old. obviously i was shocked but rather disgusted at thinking why would someone want to end their own life. i went back in and tried to sleep. but couldn't. i went back out and by then the body was already covered with white canvas and the cops already showed up. mom was already at work. so i just watched tv until i had to leave to meet my friends. it wasnt until 2 days after did i get a chance to talk with my mom about that incident. it turned out it was a 94 year old woman. jumped from the 18th story corridor. the police found her walking stick and keys by the ledge. the story was actually my dad was waiting for the lift at the ground floor. the lift arrived and my neighbour's son from the 12th floor went out while my dad got in. moments later a loud thud and the kid was traumatised and rushed back to the lift. luckilly the door had not yet closed and my dad had to bring him back up to his place. took him two hours to calm down. i was surprised she did not try to make stories about me coming home late and you get the drift~ but my block has been prone to suicide attempt. there's been a couple of cases whereby the police and civil defense have to turn up and even once where may dad had to talk it out with somone attempting to jump from our corridor ledge, only to see her at the opposte block the next day.
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