So after three months of travelling, I finally made it "home" to Jakarta, Indonesia. Coming back here is always bitter sweet for me, since so many painful memories from the past comes flooding back to me, but (thank God) intermingled with the memories of great friends and amazing adventures.
Since the invention of
Facebook, (if you're not on it, GET ON IT) I've been able to catch up with long-lost friends from high school (the
Jakarta International School). We've been able to mobilize and organize mini-reunions all over the place, including some in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bali, London and in Vegas in 2008. I came back to Jakarta this time around for a small reunion which takes place at
Bakmie GM, an awesome fast-food noodle joint we frequented in our adolescence.
Being back here is hard, and I can tell because there are many people, places and events that I seem to have blocked from my memory. It's a dark place to revisit, but I think it's important - because so much of my past has molded me into the woman I am today. (Yeah, this is going to be a heavy post, deal with it.)
I was back here about
a year and a half ago, but wasn't able to deal with the buried emotions - everything seemed different, but more importantly, there was no one around who could really share in that lost innocence. This time around though, I'm in Jakarta with the people who I grew up with. In our minds, we can reconstruct Garuda (a great pool hall that I used to visit after school with Kris Saunders) before it burned down, talk about Bayu (a crap club I used to go to during 9th, yes I said 9th, grade) before it shut down and about our lives after
the riots, which I know transformed our lives forever.
There is something about growing up here, something about our school - something about our friendships that I cannot, for the life of me, ever explain to people. It's this common denominator that binds third culture kids like
Karen Chuan, Ben Nolan, Amanda Drosten, Joel Staples, John Boomgard, Danielle Townshend and Kris Saunders etc together.
For example, John Boomgard came to pick me up at the airport here in Jakarta. I haven't seen this kid since we were 14 years old, when I was taller and bigger than him - and we feel strangely close even though we never hung out in high school, or kept in touch through the years. But we've been running around making a ruckus like old friends, with little but a common heritage to bind us together.
I guess when it comes down to it, these people are home to me. They are sancutaries for spontaneous hugs without fear of rejection or explanation, temples honoring our unique individuality and champions for our collective differences. In a sense, they are my family.
Alright, enough with the deep, gushy crap. There are guys that read my blog and I don't want to lose my (small but devoted) group of readers. I promised, hot almost naked women in another post... really. (no really, I went to a lingerie brand launch party.)
Here are a few awesome pictures I took, and cute stories to accompany them - it'll take your mind off the battle that rages internally in Riani's head and heart.
Selamat Datang! John and I "playing bowling" if you translate the Indonesian term literally into English. John was five-foot short the last time I saw him, but now he's a healthy 6 feet tall and heavy enough to kick my ass... So I'll be nice to him.
At my fave restaurant, Cafe Tamani in Kemang. As a child, my father never let me blow bubbles in my drinks. So now, as an adult, I do it all the time. Every chance I get, until the bubbles pour over the sides and onto the table. Take that dad! (Memo to me, when I have kids, I'm letting them blow bubbles - so they can get it out of their system before they mature. If they mature.)
The view of the
kampung from John's apartment. That river rose 7-8 feet during the
flash floods that hit Jakarta in January. Jakarta is a sprawling city with many back alleys and confusing streets. The concept of City Planning was evidently never popular here... it would give the
Palace of Knosos a run for its money. (Quick history lesson, the palace, which is located in
Crete is one of the sources of the term
Labariynth.)
John and I went for sushi, and I managed to dump a full mug of hot green tea all over myself. Boomgard would like to point out, that it looked like I peed my pants. ("You DID pee your pants, Riani" he says, over my shoulder.) When the hot liquid finished spilling, we looked at each other and said, "damn, if it were the states,
we could sue."
Some chick named Carla put a Perfume scent sample on the sushi conveyor-belt thingy... We responded, and then she wished us well. I loved random things like this! =)
Anyway, that's really it for now. I have a lot of posts coming up in the next couple of days, so please stay tuned!
At one of the local malls, the escalator was a giant red shoe...
At one of the local malls, the escalator was a giant red shoe...
