Skiing - II

When it comes to skiing, unless you have a terminal illness that can only be miraculously cured by rolling on snow as long as possible while trying to slide downhill, it is generally inadvisable to:

- Pick a ski resort that took 10 hours to get to and 11 hours to get back from.
or,
- Pick a ski resort that has little or no information in English (or any other language you master).

Particularly if you are:

- A total beginner in snow-sport.
- Have an irrational fear of heights.
- Speed averse, or generally risk averse.
- Forgot to pack any Counterpain or similar medication.

But if you prefer not to heed my friendly advice, then:

- Be prepared to pay 15800 yen for transport, lodging, and ski board+clothing rental, plus 1400 yen for gloves and goggles and insurance for the ski equipment, plus however much you want to spend on drinks from vending machine and other food (in my case, 600 yen for 3 bottles of drinks from vending machine, and 625 more for food on before the bus return to Kyoto).
- Pack a DSLR, because everyone has them, just so you can say "Mau hunting foto dulu." and generally feel cooler. (Me? I didn't even bother to bring any camera at all). But handphone is OK to snap some decent pics for posterity's sake. Like below

- Either use your glasses or leave it in your bag. If you thought that you need perfect vision, you don't. And if you realized that only later, do not put your glasses inside your pocket. particularly if you're going to fall a lot and leave your glasses a mess like this:

- Refrain from the urge to bitchslap the person sitting next to you on the 11-hour bus ride because he is taking up a lot of space by refusing to put his backpack on the luggage and insisting on window seat and consequently awaken me on the aisle seat everytime he wanted to get out.
- Take into consideration that when you arrive back at the (Kyoto) station at 5am you might need to wait some time (30mins) before the first train is operational. all while enduring aches on your ass, arm, neck, leg, and back.

In my case, after finally aboard the local train to Obaku, I realized that it would be much more convenient if I used a taxi from Obaku to the International House. Trouble is: I have no idea how to spell my address in Japanese. And just my luck, as I exited the gate, the only taxi available was already got a passenger and seconds later speeding away.

Leaving me in the rain. Aching. With 1 kilometers to walk before I got to my room.

Beloved

I know I'll be parting ways with you soon. But I'll always have you in my heart.

Bandung - Klaten - Jogja - Surabaya - Mataram - Jakarta - Lembang - Bandar Lampung - Denpasar - Singapore - Bangkok - Osaka - Kyoto - Uji - Nagoya - Kobe - Nagano

2008-2010

Skiing

When I was in my final year in high school, every morning was like clockwork. I will wake up at 600 or 605, and then take a bath, get dressed, locate missing clothing uniform article, have breakfast, ensure I bring the right book for the day, locating keys, wallet, and registration, and I have to be out on my motorbike at latest by 630.

School started at 650, which means only 20 minutes available to cover 13-or-so km from home to school.

Along the way, there's a train crossing, which means I need to time it accurately so I didn't stuck on the wrong side. Also, other people whose school started at 700.

My best time was 17 minutes, and because there are turns and intersections and sloping road with paddy fields on my right and left, my speed varies along the way. Precisely for that reason I always tried to speed up to 80-100 km/h where available to make up the lost time.

I am proud to say that I had zero accident on my way going to school at that year. The only accidents I had when I was in high school happens one and two years before that.

Both alone, just me on the road trying to get home and to a additional physics lesson, respectively, when for no particular reason my minds drifted off, spacing out and then..

WHAM! BLAM!

Hey, I was on the road and my motorbike is 2 meters away from me! Some bleeding then got involved, and after I got home, rest for a day, and I will ache and feel sore all over where my body meets asphalt.

This is how I feel right now. after the skiing. Which shouldn't be a surprise because I am never good at sports. So I fell a lot.

The difference? On a single bike accident, there was only one instance where the forceful impact happen. on two-day ski trip? I didn't even bother to count. I fell on my ass, on my right shoulder, left, back, leg, face, gut, chest.

And for that I paid almost 20000 yen.

Every time I eat with a westerner, inevitable someone will say some comments on how we pay the restaurant to let us cook the food on the table (sukiyaki, okonomiyaki, and pretty much every food there is) before we eat it is a very fascinating concept.

What about paying money to let us hurt ourselves?

Now that's fascinating.

The Talk About Pork - II

While we're at it, I found a really-really-really good story about it. Best of all, it rhymes. What else can you ask for?

Thursdaypeople.com - Babi

You bet there'll be more talk about pork to come.

The Talk About Pork

Born, raised, and butchered in a moslem-majority community means that the cows, goats, and chickens in the hood never meet pigs in all their lives. Be it during their quacking and mooing live-lives, or during their shelf-life.

happy piggy, pic from here

And because they have never been introduced to one another, while I know beef, chicken, and goats pretty well (Yum!), the first time I meet pork was when I was in Ukraine.

Let me tell you how it was memorable.

For the major part of my life, unlike other normal people out there, my taste buds are pretty much binary, able to recognize only hot-pedas and "other" food. I can never tell what's inside my food.

So back then in Ukraine, during the first time we have our meal that's provided by the org comm, we were all sitting in a table together, ready to eat whatever meager portion is served. All of a sudden, the older gentleman from Dikti announced to the table that the meat were pork.

So forks and spoons and knives halted in mid-air. Well, save for one set of eating utensils that belongs to the only non-moslem in the contingent.

But uh-oh. Next to our table was the table of the Iran contingent, mostly tall young girls with scarves, eating happily. So that gentleman told them that it was pork.

A moment of silence followed. And then you can see their faces turn an instant shade of blue. It was the highlight of our evening. Gossiping about other people always make for a memorable evening, no?

Two days later, we explored the area, and boy! A convenience store! So we bought ourselves chips and chocolates and ice creams. We were kinda rich, I guess, what with the outrageous rate of conversion from Euro to Hryvna.

Back to the lodging, basically just chatting around with the TV airing some weird-language program, just to give a background noise.

Then out of nowhere, the guy without pork restriction pointed out, "Isn't that chips bacon-flavored?"

And in an instant, uneasiness. If memory served, then the chips were unfinished.

I have to admit, it's kinda fun watching the repulsion against pork. *Grins*

And I'm not the only one. During the last session of YLI program, there's this one speaker talking about corruption, and he said that the mindset against corruption should be shaped to achieve the repulsion that moslem has against pork. You know, the part that whenever a good moslem is offered pork then he'll go, "Hiiiii, daging babi!"

The List Of Things To Do Before Dying

Some would call it Life Targets. Me? I prefer to have a To-Do List Before I Die.

In no particular order:

Create. To be decided: raise a pet, plant a tree, have kid, or build an intelligent robot.
Destruct. Literally destroy something big in pieces or win a sword fight; preferably non-lethal one.
Dive. Confront fear of height and depth with something rewarding.
Tell Mom I love her in person.
Get completely wasted.
Go to Kings of Convenience, The Boy Least Likely To, and/or Earlimart live.
Be in a place where the sun don't set/rise for more than 24 hours.
Sleep on a grassfield underneath the stars , or sleep on a beach with a fire nearby.
Learn to play at least one musical instrument.
Implant adamantium claw. Ha!
Change the world for the better. To be decided: How.

Euphoria

ITB C won IVED! Now I can be euphoric at least for a day.

Being the host is already a challenge, and to top it off, winning the whole thing. One thing I don't like is I can't be there. But still a hearty congratulations for Marsha, Kirana, and Dito!
On another note, I'd hate to be called superstitious, but save for NEO, where I was present, all ITB victory announcement seems to require my absence? JOVED, I was en route to train station. NUEDC, I was already in the train station. IVED, I'm miles away. The list is fairly populated. While I'm there, if I am in the finals representing ITB, it seems to require me losing. One, two, three tournaments. Oh well. at least I can be euphoric for the day.

Free Thinkers

"Are you a free thinker then?"

Duh berat yah labelnya. Terus terang saja, saya agak kesulitan menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan seperti ini. Jelas tidak mudah mengkondensasi hidup belasan tahun (setelah dikurangi tahun-tahun awal) menjadi jawaban dengan durasi 30 detik yang bagus, menjelaskan dan mencerahkan.

Nampaknya ini juga yang membuat saya tidak tertarik sama sekali dengan formspring.me, situs tempat orang-orang bisa mampir dan menanyakan pertanyaan apapun secara anonim. Rasanya saya sudah dapat cukup pertanyaan selama SMA dan di dunia nyata. Yang saya butuhkan adalah kebalikannya: psikolog gratis, tempat saya bisa bertanya mulai dari hal-hal remeh sampai yang tidak terlalu remeh. Tempat yang beda dengan kolom salam tempel Lampu Hijau. Kalau misalnya ada calon psikolog yang nyasar ke sini, tolong digarisbawahi bagian gratisnya.

Misalnya: mendingan saya panjangin rambut, mencoba ke barbershop, atau botakin aja sekalian? Atau bereksperimen sendiri? Mendingan saya nonton Passion Pit dan Phoenix sendirian atau nabung duitnya aja? Mendingan saya bertahan di astronomi atau mengejar apapun itu yang ada di luar astronomi?

Tapi kembali ke pertanyaan awal: waktu saya mencari di wikipedia, ternyata saya dibawa ke laman ini. Nantilah saya bikin tulisan sendiri tentang hal-hal semacam ini (baca: cari bahan copy-paste untuk membahas blogpost orang lain, niatnya sudah dari dulu, tapi...) . Jadi memang judul post kali ini memang tidak ada hubungannya dengan isinya.

Dan untuk sementara waktu, blog ini akan bebas dari rant tentang frustrasi. Kalau Crocs di Pearls Before Swine punya Box O' Morons, saya punya Box O' Frustration and Sadness di Posterous.

------

P.S. Susah juga ternyata menulis dengan bahasa Indonesia.

P.P.S. Merasa ada yang beda? Dari hitam ke abu-abu ke ochre, dan sekarang: putih. Paling tidak template ini membuat dimensi tulisan menjadi lebih lebar.

Tweet Proklamasi

Ever wonder how we'd read our independence history had Twitter been around in 1945? But if you are easily offended please save ourselves some time and don't read this. In no mean I intend to disrespect our founding fathers, but had Twitter been around when I was in high school, this may give the re-enactment drama assignment more flavor. Also, this is the result of a caffeine overdose, please forgive the accuracy (though some events are re-interpreted to fit the short burst nature of microblogging service)

Soekarno RT @bbc Breaking News - Fat Man Dropped on Nagasaki http://bbc.co.uk/2de43S
On Aug 9th 9pm from web
Soekarno Ha ha! RT @bbc Breaking News - Japan Surrenders http://bbc.co.uk/2Fr2DD
On Aug 15th 10pm from web
Hatta Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rojiun RT @bbc Hundreds of Thousands Dead in Little Boy and Fat Man's Trail http://bbc.co.uk/4sdg3W
On Aug 15th 10pm from web yellowdoorknob.blogspot.com
DarahMuda otw ke rumah bung karno. awas aja kalo dia masih banyak bacot ga mau proklamasi #idmerdeka
On Aug 16th 11am from mobile web
Soekarno Kayak rame di depan ada apa ya?
On Aug 16th 12pm from web
MrsSoekarno Wah banyak tamu nih. Mudah-mudahan gulanya cukup buat bikin teh manis.
On Aug 16th 12pm from Snaptwo
Soekarno Bah! Anak muda jaman sekarang! Ga bisa ditolak dikit langsung main culik aja!http://myloc.me/2nn3R
On Aug 16th 1pm from Twitter for BB
DarahMuda @Maeda Bang, kita maen ke tempatmu ya.
On Aug 16th 1pm from mobile web
BonekSBY @DarahMuda WOI nyetir yang bener! Malah twitteran
On Aug 16th 1pm from mobile web
DarahMuda @BonekSBY mpret. ada juga lu jagain si sukarno di belakang biar twitter dia ga pake location service. Ketahuan ntar kita.
On Aug 16th 1pm from mobile web
MaedaJR @Maeda pah, ada temen-temen papah di rumah. Katanya mau pinjem tempat buat nyekap oom soekarno.
On Aug 16th 3pm from web
Maeda @DarahMuda bilang maen doang, taunya bawa-bawa anak orang. Gue ga ikut-ikut ya.
On Aug 16th 3pm from keitai web
Maeda @DarahMuda Awas aja kalo lu ngabisin cemilan gue.
On Aug 16th 3pm from keitai web
DarahMuda @Maeda sip bos! makasih ya.
On Aug 16th 3pm from mobile web
Soekarno Primbon praktis untuk Gemini, Jumat legi adalah hari baik untuk memulai usaha baru, melamar calon... http://prmb.on/re3I
On Aug 16th 5pm from Primbon Praktis Serbaguna Service
Soekarno Udah diculik, disuruh bikin teks proklamasi lagi. Pokoknya harus gue yang bacain besok.#idmerdeka
On Aug 16th 9pm from Twitter for BB yellowdoorknob.blogspot.com
DarahMuda @Soekarno jangan narsis dulu lu. Besok proklamasi #idmerdeka sama @hatta juga.
On Aug 16th 9pm from mobile web
Hatta Teks proklamasi cuman secuprit gini alamat bakal jadi figuran doang nih. #idmerdeka
On Aug 16th 9pm from Snaptwo
smelik Alhamdulillah, kerjaan ngetik malem ini cuman sedikit #idmerdeka
On Aug 16th 9pm from web
Soekarno @MrsSoekarno bune, kita jadinya besok proklamasi #idmerdeka. Tolong jahitin bendera buat dikerek ya. Merah-putih aja gpp.
On Aug 16th 10pm from Twitter for BB
DarahMuda @BonekSBY lapangan ikada udah keburu dibooking buat senam SKJ. ada ide tempat baru ga buat proklamasi? #idmerdeka
On Aug 17th 5am from web
BonekSBY NOOOOOO!!!! RT @DarahMuda @BonekSBY lapangan ikada udah keburu dibooking buat senam SKJ. #idmerdeka
On Aug 17th 5am from web yellowdoorknob.blogspot.com
Soekarno Dibs on the prez! #idmerdeka
On Aug 17th 11am from web
Soekarno Proklamasi beres, tinggal jumatan trus makan. #idmerdeka Bune @MrsSoekarno bikin tempe bacem lagi ga ya?
On Aug 17th 11am from web

Gion

If you're in a hurry basically the following happened:

I came. I saw. I went home. 

But if you have time to read my rants, here's what happened:

The day before yesterday. Onta told me I need to go out, and I concur. I googled what people would do at new year's eve. Turns out that people either go to Shito shrine, or Buddhist temple. Out of the various places mentioned in the articles, I can only found one in the map. Yasaka shrine, at the end of 4th avenue, around the area called Gion.

Yesterday noon. I looked it up some more. Being lazy that I am, my google maps research told me that the last train available from 4th avenue to my dorm is exactly at midnight. During the remainder of the day I tried to study, but it really was feckless. 

The new year's eve. After much deliberation, I decided to go out and see the atmosphere. To really understand what transpired then, you need to know that the village where I live is served by two lines of trains from two different railway companies: JR and Keihan. As it happened, JR station is closer by around 300m than Keihan station to my dorm. So I took the JR line to Kyoto Station. At the Kyoto station, this was usually one of the busiest place in Kyoto with so many people, but at 9pm, this place was oddly deserted. I checked out the schedule, and it confirmed that the last train from Kyoto station to Obaku, the nearest station to my dorm is at 23.59. So I stepped outside to see that even the Kyoto Tower is closed. I decided to walk from Kyoto Station (which was close to 9th avenue) to 4th avenue. 

So I walked. And I walked. And the roads are practically deserted along the way to the 4th avenue. No traffic jam as there was basically no vehicle on the road. And I saw places I have yet to see before and made a pact to myself to get around this place again sometime. And at 5th avenue, it started snowing. But just so you know, this paragraph actually has nothing to do with the narrative that I wanted to tell, which is at the next paragraph. Oh, by the way, no pictures here. I was too lazy to bring my camera. And it's not like I have company.

I arrived at Yasaka Shrine a few minutes before 11, and the place was already packed. At the entrance, there were so many stalls and booths selling various foods (takoyaki, yakisoba, apple caramel, even frankfurter), oracles, and some sort of string--for lack of better word--to let you bring an ember home. And boy, there was a lot of people. 

I was, again, alone. Illiterate of japanese culture, both in its traditional and the more popular one. So I was just following along, and suddenly I was in the middle of a massive queues. I waited and waited, feeling really out of place, shortly after 11pm I get out of the queue and decided to start walking to the nearest station. As I get out of the exit, I saw that the whole 5 lanes of 4th avenue has been closed for vehicles and there was people, throng of thousands of people on the street. Which means that I actually was in a good position of the queue. 

But I was thinking that if I missed my last train to my dorm, it will leave me almost 20 km away from home and no place to stay for the night. And there I was, heading home, going against the direction of thousands of people.

The nearest station is Gion station on the 4th avenue (Gion Shijo station) of the Keihan line. So I waited for my train home, and at the platform, I saw the announcement that Keihan's operation hour was reversed during the holiday. Instead of having the first train at 5am and the last train at 12pm, their schedule now listed the first train at 7pm and the last train at 10am. But I was already on the platform. and now did not really see the point of returning to the shrine. And so i decided to go home. 

Home, no sound of a single firecracker, no sight of any fireworks, away from the throngs of people, undisturbed by blaring trumpets, retreating from the cold wind to the warmth of the bed. Let the day pass and we can start anew.