LET'S GO KARAOKE!!

So last Friday Mrs. Kamui, Kamui & I went karaoke!! Yatta!! (^__^) Just a month before we did the same thing with another friend, but 'the other friend' actually didn't have the same or similar taste with the 3 of us. So whatever song she chose made us go: "Ha???" ha3x And, so we decided to go just the 3 of us. We enjoyed it so much that we already planned to do it again soon.

Actually, the 3 of us didn't choose the same songs all the time, everyone has their own taste of music. Take Mrs. Kamui for example, she realy likes duet such as Always - Atlantic Star or We Could Be In Love - Lea Salonga & Brad Kane. We liked those songs too, so we didn't mind. She always sang the woman part and either Kamui or I sang the guy part. What I mind was, sometimes she picked a good song that she already forgot in some parts, but still insisted to go on until it ends!! Can you imagine listening to something like this: "La la la... forever... we'll be together... la la la..." and then interrupted with: "Eh!! How could I forget this part? Ha? Already this part?" In the end, Kamui & I were always the one who yelled: "ENTER!! ENTER!!" Enter meant skip the song and move to the next one (^___^).

Kamui and I had a similar taste... aside from her choice of Indonesian songs such as Peterpan, Dewa 19 & Samsons, we both liked the 80's & 90's rock ballad. So whatever we picked we usualy could sing it together. Last Friday our pick of the session was Wasted Time - Skid Row. Just when we shouted the part: "In the name of desperation..." the door opened and the karaoke club guy asked if we want to extend our stay hahahaha we said no, because we're already been there for 3 hours!! We were hungry, we were thirsty (the drinks suck in that place!) and a bit sleepy... though we still had a couple of songs in the list, we already agreed that those will be the first on the list next time we go karaoke again. Well, it seems that our minimum time is 3 hours. Since we usually start at 6pm (after office hour) it'll be too late if we add the time, maybe if we do it in the afternoon we could take up tultil 4 to 5 hours? Hehehe

But last Friday especially was the night of boyband songs... From New Kids on The Block to The Moffats & Backstreet Boys. Ooooh, we also did a crime... smuggling Starbucks & Breadtalk inside the booth!!! LoL Since food from outside are not allowed while the drinks & food there suck (not to mention the super expensive price!!), we hid the drinks and the breads inside Kamui & Mrs. Kamui's large bags! In the booth we just ordered 2 drinks and didn't open our "ransom" until the drinks arrive... after that we hid them under the table hahahaha

Oh boy... can't wait for the next time we go karaoke again... I enjoy karaoke because I can shout as loud as I want, I can sing whatever I want and don't have to sing it perfectly, and nobody cares about how I sing. Well, at least the other 2 won't tell others how bad I sing cause I'll share their story in the karaoke booth too (^__^) LET'S GO KARAOKE!!!

JOGJA TRIP

A veeeeerrrry late report… but, better late than never (^__*)

Friday, June 16, 2006

Left church by car at 09:00pm. There were 4 of us: KK, Echa, Patriot and I. We took the Pantura (Pantai Utara) way to get to Jogja. After we passed Cikampek, the challenge begun… we have to compete to get a better side of the road with intercity busses, trucks and containers. Fortunately, our main driver was familiar with it. But still, Patriot who just lived in Jakarta for 4 months and never been outside town was shocked with the traffic. He was glued to his seat and finally moved to the back seat after a few hours (^__^). After we passed the critical area, it’s KK’s turn to drive and Echa rested for a while. I couldn’t sleep very well in the car, but there’s nothing else I could do about it. Everytime we stopped by a gas station to pee or fill in the tanks, we also check the score for the latest game of World Cup! Ha3x

Saturday & Sunday, June 17-18, 2006

We arrived at Jogja at 09:30am, fast enough according to locals. We went straight to the church (GPdI Sosrowijayan) that’s going to help us to distribute the aids. After we got to know to the pastors, our friend Ika took us all to her home to have some breakfast and freshened up. And after that, we went back to church and ready to leave. There were our car, a minibus contained the pastor and some other church people and another minibus to carry the aids.

We managed to visit and distributed aids to 4 villages and there was no single house standing in those places!! In Cabean Village, a plastic of rice fell and women were desperately trying to pick up what’s left even though it’s already mixed with sands and dirt… Then we passed a very dirty tent, and it was so quiet in there but there were adults standing outside in uniforms. When we’re getting closer we saw a sign above the tent’s door which said: “PLEASE BE QUIET. CHILDREN ARE TAKING FINAL EXAMS INSIDE.” We were stunned. They lost everything and they didn’t even have a school building anymore but yet they didn’t wanna miss the exam to get a better education.

On our way out from one village we saw a group of children playing in front of a ruined school building. We stopped by to give them money (just Rp 2000/kid, though) and then suddenly a man showed up and asked them to sing for us after receiving our money. It was great!! The song said something about: “This is the time to share, no matter what we’re going to through, we have to learn to share and keep smiling.” The man standing with them introduce himself a teacher places by a social foundation to help the children get over their fears and trauma of the earthquake. He’d been there for a week. When we left, the children were shouting THANK YOU loudly and kept waving their hands to our car until we’re out of sight.

We finished our visits around 5 and by 6 already headed to my brother’s place. We planned to rest there. When we got his place, Echa & KK fell asleep right away without even changing their clothes! I promised earlier to take my brother and his boarding house’s 2 sons for dinner. So now it’s Patriot’s turn to drive. Patriot & I just ate some salads and a piece of Pizza, I could hardly keep my eyes open. We returned at 9 and I fell asleep until KK woke me up at 3.45am to get ready to return to Jakarta. When I checked my mobile phone there were already several text messages… Some told me how wonderful the youth service that night and my cousin asked me to bring some local snacks for him. And where could I buy traditional snacks at 4am??? Fortunately, 1 hour from Jogja we found a 24 hour store that sold traditional Central Java snacks. So I bought some for my parents too. We only stopped for some breakfast at Semarang. And then we drove non-stop until Cikampek highway to have lunch. We arrived at my house at 4pm. I slept like a baby after taking care of my stuff and took a bath.

Really, after seeing people losing their houses, all of their possessions and even family members, you thought that nothing good would come out of it. But I was so wrong. I saw love and compassion everywhere I go. The people who helped us to get to the villages were victims of the earthquake too. But they didn’t demand us to help them, they took us to other places that were in worse condition instead. People of every religion helped each other for a better refuge. Children were still going to study even in very poor conditioned places. God’s love worked everywhere. God’s love showed on many things. And I believe through all this people will return from their evil ways and seek God even more.

GOD BLESS YOU, EVERYONE!!