Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Musim Gugur dan Kisah Menyeramkan

Danau Guntersville
Sesungguhnya tidak terpikirkan oleh saya untuk menorehkan kisah ini dalam blog saya. bukan karena penggunaan Bahasa Indonesia, yang berbeda dari biasanya ketika saya menulis untuk blog ini. Bagi pembaca setia saya, teman-teman pasti tahu bahasa pilihan saya untuk blog ini adalah Bahasa Inggris. Tapi ketika saya hendak menuliskan kisah ini, saya pilih penggunaan Bahasa Indonesia karena kekuatan bahasa ini sy anggap dapat merepresentasikan apa yang ingin sy ceritakan.

Minggu malam sy dan pasangan berkendara sekitar pukul 12 malam dari Gulf Shore menuju Guntersville. Perjalanan dimulai dari jam 3 siang dan 12 malam kita sudah hampir sampai ke Guntersville. Rumah di Guntersville adalah rumah yg kemungkinan besar akan kami tinggali selepas kami menikah nanti.

Malam itu, udara musim gugur lebih terasa dari hari-hari biasanya. Ketika jendela mobil sy buka, dinginnya udara malam menusuk kulit sy. Seketika sy tutup lagi jendela mobil dan tak lama kemudian perjalanan kami dihiasi kabut tebal. Hal ini mengingatkan sy akan film "The Mist" yg merupakan karya penulis Horror handal, yakni Stephen King.

Jalanan kosong selain mobil kita. Memang biasanya malam musim gugur jauh lebih sepi dari musim panas dan semi dikarenakan udara semakin mendingin. Kadang kami berpapasan dengan satu atau dua mobil lainnya, tapi tidak banyak.

Perasaan sy sudah tidak enak. Tapi sy tidak utarakan pada pasangan, karena pasangan sy bukan orang asli Indonesia. Dia tidak percaya tahayul maupun kisah mistis. Bulu tengkuk sy berdiri setiap kabut semakin menebal. Sy pun khawatir karena jalanan semakin sulit dilihat.

Jalanan menuju rumah yg akan kami tempati harus melewati banyak pepohonan dan hutan. Rumah tersebut memang dibangung di sekitar Danau Guntersville. Lingkungannya masih asri dan dikelilingi hutan, bahkan rusa pun masih berkeliaran. 
Jalanan kecil menuju Rumah (diambil esok hari-nya)
Kami pun sampai tidak lama kemudian. Rumah yg kami tinggali berukuran sangat mungil dengan dua kamar dan satu kamar mandi. Ruang duduk dan dapur menyatu. Semua dekorasi dalam rumah terlihat sangat menawan dan membuat sy nyaman. Sy merasa lega seketika sy sampai di rumah ini. Tidak ada aura yang tidak mengenakan dalam rumah ini, yg membuat sy tidak nyaman adalah perjalanan menuju rumah ini.

Rumah kecil yang kami tempati di Guntersville
Pemandangan Musim Gugur dalam perjalanan kami.
Esok harinya sekitar pukul 5 sore menjelang maghrib, selepas memasak dan makan malam yg dipercepat, kami memutuskan untuk berjalan-jalan di sekitaran hutan-hutan kecil dan pondok-pondok terpencil di sekitar danau. Sy puas rumah kecil kami terletak di sekeliling banyak rumah lainnya. Tetapi pondok-pondok yg sy lewati nampak seperti pondok sunyi dan terpencil. Walaupun belakang rumah kami dihiasi pohon-pohon dari hutan kecil.

Kami melewati perkemahan atau biasa disebut Girl Scout's Camp Site. Saat itu Camp sangat kosong dan sepi. Mungkin musim gugur yg dingin bukan musim yg tepat untuk berkemah. Saya melihat ada beberapa ayunan kecil dan perosotan yang nampak sudah lama tak digunakan. Angin sepoy mengayunkan satu atau dua ayunan tersebut. Sy segera merapatkan diri ke pasangan sy. Angin dingin seakan meniup tengkuk sy. Sy pun menyegerakan pasangan untuk berjalan lebih cepat agar kami tidak terlalu lama di lokasi tersebut. Perasaan sy dihiasi banyak bayangan aneh dan mungkin ini hanya paranoia sy semata. Karena sudah terbukti teman-teman sy yg katanya dapat melihat dan merasa, bahwa sy ini cukup tumpul. Sy sih cukup berbahagia dianggap tumpul dalam hal Indera keenam. Tidak terima kasih, sy tak mau melihat atau merasakan hal-hal tersebut.
Rumah burung di Camp Site, bahkan burung pun tak ada.
Tempat bermain yang telah ditinggalkan. Lihat ayunannya tengah berayun..mungkin angin, pemandangan danau dapat dilihat sedikit dari arah pepohonan.
Suara anjing menyalak kencang ketika kami melewati rumah kecil di dekat danau. Sy ketakutan dan pasangan mencoba menutupi badan sy dari anjing yang hendak mendekati kami. Kemudian pemilik si anjing keluar dari pondok dan memanggil si anjing. Kami meneriakan ucapan terima kasih, si orang tua tersebut hanya melihat kami dan melambaikan tangan menyuruh kami meninggalkan propertinya. Dia terlihat seperti pria tua kesepian tapi galak dan tidak ramah.
Pondok kecil milik Pria tua dan anjing galaknya

Kami pun menyegerakan langkah kami menuju hutan-hutan kecil agar memotong jalan kembali ke rumah.



Semakin dekat menuju rumah kami, sy meminta pasangan untuk mengambil beberapa photo sy untuk menunjukan hutan-hutan kecil di atas bukit yang menuju rumah kami.
Sy agak ketakutan ketika mendengar suara-suara, mungkin hanya pine jatuh dr pohon atau rusa dan kelinci bergerak.


Rasanya, mungkin photo ini cukup menggambarkan ketakutan-ketakutan yg kerap sy rasakan.


Pohon sudah mulai berganti warna


Pasangan sy menyemangati untuk berjalan lebih cepat bila kami ingin sampai rumah sebelum malam menyeruak.
Perjalanan kami yang hanya sekitar satu jam itu, memberi sy banyak cerita dan inspirasi film Horror. Sy banyak teringat lokasi-lokasi pembuatan film Horror seperti pada film The Conjuring, Amtyville Horror, dan lain-lain. Sy pikir, sy ingin berbagi ketakutan sy dengan pembaca. Semoga foto-foto yg sy upload ini dapat memperkaya imaginasi teman-teman. Hati-hati tidur nanti malam, jangan sampai memimpikan mahluk yg hidup di dalam hutan sana.

Selamat menikmati.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Trip to Alabama: Day 2 (Thrift Shopping)

On my 2nd day of my trip to USA, boyfriend wanted to introduce me to Thrift Shopping experience. I already googled a lot about Thrifting before. So, for those who doesn't know what is 'thrifting' and 'thrift store', you can also try google for it. I think 'thrift store' is a place where people sell 2nd handed stuff for charity or other for other purposes. It is probably similar to Pasar Gedebage in Bandung. Tho, I think right now Pasar Gedebage has become more overprice because of all the ads.

Bf took me to the biggest Thrift Store in Huntsville, Thrift mart. In a shopping centre close to Dollar Tree and Indian Food Restaurant and snack. I didn't realize about the Indian restaurant until my 3rd day here. It will be for another blog post.

I was super ecstatic inside the Thrift Mart. It is a huge store. Unfortunately I only have less than an hour or so, because we are on our way to Maker Shop (Bf's place to hangout with all his nerdy mates). 




However, during that 45 minutes, I managed to buy plenty stuffs. I was very satisfied with my thrift findings.

Things I bought:

Baby clothes for my new nephew and toddler clothes for my cousin





 Skirt, cute top, short jeans all for me

 And oh the boots is absolutely gorgeous. I love it.





All those stuffs that I bought might cost me around $150 or 1.700.000 rupiah if it is new. But all this only cost me $35 or 400.000 rupiah or so.

Of course, you need to clean everything up/wash it clean before you wear it. But, I don't mind second handed stuffs if they look nice and not so out of date style. I am very happy with the boots and the flare skirt.

We went to Korean restaurant named Garam on our way to Maker Shop. It was such a let down. The decoration is way too western for Korean Restaurant, already lost touch of it's indigenous interesting culture and tradition. We ordered Dosot Bibbimbbap. Also a let down, it looked like a home cooked bibbimbbap, instead of a restaurant cooked meal. Usually Korean has a knacks for detail. They make sure to pick the best of the ingredients, precise cuts on the vegetables, and artistic food arrangement. This one, it was a 'meh'. Indonesia has a lot more and a better professional Korean Restaurants.

I asked one Korean lady from the Zumba class in Huntsville, if there is any good Korean restaurant in Huntsville. She said there is no such thing like that. They don't have a high standard Korean restaurant here. Too bad. I love decent Korean food.

After a huge disappointment, we went to Maker shop to meet his friends during the Retro Gaming Night. It was fun even for me 'a muggle' on a 'nerd world'. I got to play some of the games and had a small competition with Bf. I won the first round, but he won the 2nd round which resulted on me getting a piggy back and him getting a back massage. Well it was a win-win.


Sunday, October 26, 2014

Trip to Alabama; Day 1


After 30 hours of flight from Jakarta to Narita to Houston (Texas) and arrived in Huntsville (Alabama), I got to meet my LDR boyfriend and his family. I arrived there around midnight time, so I didn't get to chat a lot with his family that first night. I went to sleep immediately eventho thanks to Jetlag, I can only sleep till around 3a.m and stay awake the rest of the night.


the room I slept in
On my first day there, his mom invited a lot of people to come to the house on lunch time. She wanted to introduce me to everyone, so I won't feel lonely next time I move there for good. I think they really wanted me to move there. They tried so hard to make me feel comfortable there. it was very nice of them.

Right before lunch time, I took several pictures outside of the house because it was a very bright day, despite the cold weather.


Happy face

First Selfie in America

The shy selfie mode

Windy Morning
I met with their nice neighbor, super friendly. He said he was also invited to the lunch gathering later on the afternoon with his partner. 

They both came to the house for lunch with a lot of other people from the neighborhood, and mom's friend from the Fitness Center.
They were all nice and so kind. They all welcomed me. Some of them were actually bringing gifts specially for me. An Ethiopian lady brought me a red rose bouquet, she is so lovely. The neighbor guy's partner brought me 2 travel size pouches with travel size make up stuffs from American Eagle brand, his place of work.

There were plenty of foods in the house that day, from American foods to Indonesian foods. The most popular one that day was the gado-gado (salad with peanut sauce, Indonesian style) and emping (Indonesian Melinjo cracker). Glad a lot of people here also appreciate Indonesian food.

I was surprised to actually find Indonesian foods all the way there in US. His mom, being Indonesian, might be the ultimate cause of that..lol

The only think that I was somehow suddenly craving for is bakso (Indonesian Meatball soup), since it was pretty cold that day. I could totally imagine hot spicy bakso. I am still craving bakso up till now. There is no way babang/mamang bakso will pass through the neighborhood with his food cart. 

Conclusion:
1. I love taking pictures
2. Everyone is super nice
3. We have Indonesian foods in America
4. I got jetlag
5. I miss bakso
6. Autumn is pretty cold for my equator skin.
Helping out with the Gado-Gado

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Trip to Alabama, USA Part 1 (The Flight)

On 17th October 2014, I had to go to the airport early because I had a flight to catch. I went to the airport with taxi around 4.30am and reached airport around 5-ish in the morning. My flight was around 6.30am.

I am going to go to Alabama, USA. My first flight was All Nippon Airlines or known as ANA from CGK JKT to Narita. Then after 3 hours of layover I took United Airlines to Houston, Texas and another 3 hours layover in Houston then took a small flight to Huntsville, Alabama. The same goes for flights coming back to Indonesia later on early November.




That was me waiting for ANA to depart from Jakarta.
The stewardess added this sticker to my seat because I specially ordered Indian food through email for all my flights.



Satisfied with the in-flight entertainment


Got a seat next to window..yeay



This is actually Indian food, but they name it Hindu Meal because mostly those who ordered this is Hindu who doesn't eat beef or meat. I had to specially ordered the food because I am super picky when it comes to food. I don't eat dairy product and plain taste food. I prefer it to be rich taste and spicy. Thankfully it was free to order this from email.


Satisfied with my meal.


Touch down Narita with the sleepy looking face. Barely able to sleep on the plan thanks to 2 passengers behind me who kept gossiping loudly.
I was so happy to find USB plug in and Power outlet available almost everywhere in the Airport. I had to charge my phone.



 I saw Gundam in Narita and it reminds me of my college best friend who is a big fan of stuff like this. The picture next to it is the power outlet that you can use. It is available in most of the gates.

I didn't took much picture on United Airlines. I was too sleepy. Oddly I can't even sleep. Next to me, sitting a newlywed couple going on their Honeymoon to Miami. They are both Indonesians. So we got to chat a little bit in Indonesia.

In Narita, they had to do secondary inspection on me out of random order of numbers and I was the unlucky one. It doesn't take long tho and when I asked a lot of questions to do the Inspection lady..she was so confused as to why I seem to enjoy the inspection and so curios about all the process. Unfortunately her English was not so good. She couldn't answer most of my questions. The guy who had been checking me out was also getting secondary inspection. He was surprise that we both got it. He said usually being American, he never had to get such treatment. He was also surprised because I look so harmless. I told him "Oooh maybe they find me dangerous with all the pink stuff attach to my body!" I was wearing pink sweater, red pinkish polkadot pants, pink backpack, and super girly sling bag, listening to pink mp3 with pink cord and my nail polish is also pink. There you go, I am such a pink monster...raaaawr


Finally touch down in Houston and had to get Starbucks coffee. Super sleepy.

The plane that took me to Hunstville from Houston was super small. It is as small as (probably) Syahrini's private jet. There are only 3 seats on each line and there are 24 lines. I got 24C. They only have one stewardess on the plane. What a cute small plane.

Before we depart, the stewardess asked us on line 24 if we wouldn't mind exchanging our seat for family of 4 (with a baby and toddler). We didn't mind. So I got seat 19C instead. I sat next to a very nice middle aged man.

He helped me out with my carry on. We got to talk a lot about the book he was reading, about how he just move to Huntsville, how he used to live in Philippines, about the possibility of job for me in Huntsville, and so on.

It only took an hour and half and we arrived in Huntsville. A very nice young looking man who previously sat on line 24 offered to help showing me the bag carrousel, since they didn't put the number on it. But then I saw my boyfriend and his mom. I said bye to him immediately. Sorry man, I am taken. lol

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Anna Sui Perfume Launching Event


16th October, a day before I had to go to the States, I went to Anna Sui Perfume Launching Event. It was a very fancy looking perfume and EDT. They launched 2 types of perfume, the black one and the gold one. They both looking gorgeous.

Who would have thought that a carefree Bohemian could also look stunningly gorgeous, luxurious, and classy. They nailed it. I was actually wasn't convince that Bohemian carefree spirit can come out as classy style too. But I am glad I was proven wrong.

1. Anna Sui La Nuit De Bohème EDT (Eau De Toilette) Gold
La Nuit de Bohème Eau de Toilette – A wonderful, magical miracle of the night.
Contains:

It smells like a fresh start. A smell that will remind you of fresh scented flower and morning dews. The flowery scented morning buds of summer fading away and welcoming the autumn. Cold and warm in the same time. Very girly and definitely suit my taste. I love this kind of romantic scented perfume or EDT. It suits my character very well. And for your information, I am not even a Bohemian. My character is a girly, sweet, ambitious girl. To think that I have high ambition, the black one might suited me better. But, I came from countryside, the smell of this EDT just reminds me a lot of my hometown. It brings back a lot of good memories when I was a kid and playing in rice fields, waterfall, flower gardens, etc.

2. Anna Sui La Nuit De Bohème EDP (Eau De Parfum) Black
La Nuit de Bohème Eau de Parfum – Dep, mysterious, and magnetic.
Contains:

Like I told you before, this perfume also suits the ambitious side of me. Still have a little hint of subtle carefree and mysterious sexiness too. It is suitable for night out with girls, a flirtatious adventure with a very good looking stranger, a sexy weekend after a long hard week, a naughty role playing side of you, and many more enchanting events.

This black series also contains a little bit of the rare 'black rose'. I was impressed. I know how rare is black rose and I have never ever laid eyes on it too. The smell of strong sexiness was come out as the result of all these ingredients. 

If you are interested in these 2 perfume, you can get it available in Metro Department Store for these prices:

Prices :

Ana Sui La Nuit De Boheme 75ml :Rp. 975.00,- 
Ana Sui La Nuit De Boheme 50ml :Rp. 760.00,- 
Ana Sui La Nuit De Boheme 30ml :Rp. 55.00,- 

Some pictures from the launching event.
In the process of creating Flower Head

Had a big flower head made with the help of the flower arrangement guy.

The big flower head

smelling sample

samples

Gold and Black Beauty

A man getting a card reading.