Saturday, April 11, 2009

when the kuda lumping stole the limelight

Man! I have so many things to tell you and now I am just stuck with the fact that there's a kuda lumping performance down there near the flat I am staying!!! At first I was quite interested. I wanted to go down but I wasn't confident (nggak pd) so in the end I just watched from the kitchen window like many other people who then I realized was doing the same. It's been going on for 3 hours plus now! My interest and curiosity has now turned to my head getting dizzy with the gamelan and the occasional whip slashes that can be heard :( I don't know why it is there though! At first I thought it's for a wedding, though I don't understand why there would be a kuda lumping show in a wedding though Starfish did once mention that only rich family can afford a kuda lumping performance. Anyway then I thought perhaps it's to celebrate a boy's circumcision, which will mean that the family is totally rich indeed. Now I wonder if they are still going on because they still cannot get the people who are in trance back to normal. I really have no clue and since I'm not keen on seeing people being possessed, I normally watch this kinda thing (if I have the chance) from a good distance away. I am highly amused with the fact that here I am in a normal neighborhood in Singapore and yet I can see a kuda lumping performance. This is seriously not something that Jakartans like me see often. In fact I wonder if I have ever watched a kuda lumping performance live before. It's of course a different story if you live in Java, where I think these things are common. Oh I can hear people clapping now, I wonder if their performance now has some story or better choreographed tricks because when I watched it hours ago, it wasn't so.

Okay let's move on to other news. Last Thursday was Indonesia's election day - round 1 to pick members of the parliament. We will have another one to vote for the president. I opted to vote by post because I didn't want and didn't necessary have the time to go to the embassy and queue. I'm kinda really happy to be voting because for as long as I live here, I had actually never voted. So this was the first time and I'm kinda glad to be voting again. Talked to dad just now and found out that he voted for a different party than mine. He said my bro wasn't willing to share what he was voting for. I guess our family has different political views and I feel it's kinda cool that way.

Today, I spent a lot of money which will cause me to go through instant noodles diet for the next 2 weeks. Even so I don't know if I can survive. Merda! Got myself a new toy which in the end caused me S$2000 plus. My dad was kinda stunned to know how expensive this toy was when he converted the amount to Indonesian rupiah but surprisingly he said, "it's okay" which in turn stunned me because my dad is the strict frugal kind. Mommy wasn't around so I didn't talk to her, I wonder what she would say. Yesterday she didn't get why I need this new toy :P Yeah to be fair, I don't need it actually but I just want it. Anyway, there's so much to learn about this new toy :P

Then I also enrolled myself in a new activity which supposed to fill my Saturdays which are now free from Italian classed. Now for this one, my dad has an opinion :P Anyway darn it! I couldn't get into the Saturday sessions! So I will end up burning my Friday evenings. After it's done and paid for, I was left wondering sadly if I will be able to make it through and the fact it's on Friday will cause many people to perhaps hate me, aaarrrrggghhh!!! It was accidental though. You see, the receptionist was Indonesian so I think she was kinda distracted when we started talking about stuff that she didn't really hear me when I said I want a Thursday instead. I really hope I will not get too much problem because of this, anyway, it's only for 8 weeks. I hope everyone will just be okay and not judge me :S

On a more secretive note. This week I found out something. Rista asked me if I was feeling sad when I heard it. I said, yeah kind of. I did wonder which one made me sadder, the content of the information or the fact that I wasn't really told about it personally. I kinda knew it accidentally. I realized that the content of the info was what made sad but then I also realized I wasn't moping in "sorrow" :P Then I realize that you cannot help how you feel, feeling just comes but you kinda can control how it affects you. I guess it's like being scared and yet still march on to face the unknown or the uncomfortable. It's like being extremely overjoyed by your achievement and yet still feeling cool enough to be humble. I realize that I have issue with stress, sadness, and fear. All these negative feeling do paralyze me often but last weekend when I decided to just surrender it all to God, I realize that I can also just be positive and be happy. I'm not saying it's been an easy and enlightening week to adopt this point of view. I'm still trying and I know I will still have to learn for a long time. One journey home in the bus, I realized that this is how it will be about me, I will see the glass as half empty and yet I can deal with it as such that it doesn't bother me or just realize that a half empty glass is enough for me. I don't know if this mind set is wrong but I think so far, this is what I can live with :)

Okay peeps, the kuda lumping is still going on. However there is a Singapore rule to shut down all noise and performance by 10 pm right??? I really hope so. Take care peeps!

:) eKa @ 9:25:00 PM •