Easter Weekend Fun

Hello, everyone. It feels like a long time ago since I post an update here. My laptop is having problem to get connected to internet when the internet connection itself is actually fine. So I'm using my mother's laptop, but of course it's not as good as using your own stuff. But thanks Mum, for letting me using your laptop. And you thought I'll be a bit more productive without the Internet distracting me. Well, I made some drawing on my sketch book, some minor editing on Photoshop, and a short story which is sadly still not finished (oops) but other than that, not so much.

First of all, let me just say happy birthday again to the sweet baby Elodie (March 29) and Kristen Stewart a.k.a BabyStew (April 9). Hehehe. I'm so happy that when I checked Aura's blog, I saw a new post. She posted it on Elodie's birthday and I'm late to have only checked it yesterday, but gosh, it's beautiful. Over a year ago I got my eyes teary when Aura posted photos of Elodie just a few days after she was born. Now that I saw the photos and video I feel like an aunt, longing to meet a niece who lives far away. I'm an aunt for my cousins' kids myself, so I kinda know how it really feels like... which brings us to the last Easter weekend with them.

Having days off we went to Bandung to visit my cousin and his family at their new house. They moved there on November and honestly it's been a very long time since I saw them. Last time, they've only have two children. Now they have three and I haven't seen the littlest one since she was born. She cried at first when she saw us, strangers in her eyes. But after awhile, she's stuck in my mother's arm. How cute. Her big brother and sister have grown up so fast, too. I used to feel upset when older family or relatives see me and they're like, 'You grown up!' Duh, I'm a human, of course I do. But now I understand why I heard that cliché a lot. 
Because it feels like yesterday when I hold my little niece in my arm and she was still this toothless, chubby baby who didn't like to sit still, and now she's in kindergarten, jumping around, showing me how to write down her name with pink marker, and looking so pretty. Her big brother did pretty much the same, only he's a bit consumed in finishing his Angry Birds Space levels.

 

It's fun to look at their drawing and trying to figure out what it is. Look at those drawings, my nephew asked (and then answer it himself) why megalodon was the biggest shark ever and there's Titanic just above the megalodon... I'm quite impressed with their walls. Same thing didn't happen to my mother and aunt. And a conversation goes like this.

My aunt: Why are you drawing on walls?

Nephew: Because you can't cut it out if you do it on walls. 
(Maybe this happened when he make drawings on paper and he's not happy about it?)

My aunt: But look at this! It's dirty now!

Nephew: You just have to repaint it.

And I laughed on their face. Haha, not really.

I once saw it on a show about home decor and one day when I have my own home, I'm gonna have this one wall that my kids can draw anything they like. Maybe it's gonna made from chalkboard, so I can erase it for them to draw some more. Yep, save that idea for future home.

They have shelves and shelves of books. Everywhere. They have this wild cat coming regularly. But this cat scared a dog off only by giving the dog a fierce look, so I guess they'll let it stays. There weren't so many other houses around theirs. My cousin asked me if I want to live like that, surrounded by ricefields, with the nearest house is probably reachable in 5 minutes. He confused when I said yes. I mean, live without neighbors, why wouldn't I want to? *evil grin

 

My niece with a pirate sticker-tattoo. She's officially cool like me.

We waited for my other aunt and uncle. They were surprised to see us. But then it's late afternoon and we have to find a place to stay for that night. My aunt almost begged for us to stay a bit longer. But we went anyway, even though my mother already planned to spend some more time with them on the next day. We find this pretty neat hotel, refresh ourselves a bit, hunt for dinner, drive around, went back, and crashed to bed. Well, I fell asleep while I really want watch Paul on cable TV until the end. But hey, I think I have this movie on my laptop and so I was drowned into the darkness.

The next morning, my cousins and I just can't hide our excitement. We planned that Saturday on the previous night and it sounded pretty good. Except for the part where my mother kidnapped my camera, which wasn't on the plan at all. It's more than enough to make me mad. But other than that it was still fun.

 

After breakfast we hunt for some shoes and snacks. And then I slept with Batman. I mean, this Batman.

   

Then we separated. They dropped us, the 'kids', in this indoor theme park where we played all day long, while they spent even more time with my cousin and his family. My mother was worried like, 'We'll pick you up in the afternoon. You kids are gonna be okay?' Are we gonna be okay to spend the whole day playing? Yep, most definitely. 

And I love theme park more than ever now. Thanks for standing in line for so long, I guess, I have time to observe the amazing details on the decor. I imagined it must be fun being a decorist; starting from imagination until working out with materials and start to build up a set... 

 

The broom stick shop was weird for me. Why would any witch or wizard want to ride on a brush-like broom? Must be wizard like Xenophillius...

There was also a Dracula. I was thinking to take a picture with him, but posing like I pretend to choke him. But he was gone after I got my camera back. So maybe he can read my mind and not so happy about how I planned to photographed him... hhmm :/

 

 

The Magic Corner instantly became my favorite. Not only because they have Harry Potter on the pond, but also because the decor in here is the best, in my opinion. Look at these street lights, they have this Gothic style and just really cool. 

 

Dragon hates bad jokes. That one still made me laugh. Hahahaha

 

Ugh, this ride. I hate waiting. And after waiting for 90 minute that felt like a lifetime to me, I just can't say it's worth it. So, we really played all day long. We laughed, we screamed, we had a good day. 

 

We had dinner before drive back home. I fell asleep listening to Tegan and Sara, shivering because the air conditioner in the car suddenly feels a lot colder than before. I didn't take most of the moment there. There were honestly a lot more pictures I wanted to take if only my mother didn't take my camera from me. Anyway, it was a good weekend.

And then I got a haircut. It's only been three months since I cut it but I really want to have this hair right now. I thought I shouldn't give a damn and cut it right at that moment, especially before they grow even longer which will make it harder for me to let them go. And I'm happy about it! My Mum, of course, told me to cut it even shorter. I got some various reactions from my friends. There are ones that were like It looks good on you. Others were like Why can't you let them grow? And then there's one that was like Why did you cut it? Why?? 

Hahaha well, hair grows so don't worry be happy... :D

Okay, fellas, I have other things to do (like install new fonts, have snacks, and stuff), so bye now. Have a nice day!

Rangkuman Liburan

 

Hai, Blog! Akhirnya sempat nge-blog lagi. Kesannya gue sibuk banget ya? Yah, memang itulah kesan yang sengaja gue ciptakan (halah). Padahal guenya aja yang nggak bisa duduk diam selama beberapa saat dan fokus membuat satu postingan baru di blog ini. Harap dimaklumi.

Jadi, semester 6 sudah dimulai dan selain merasa sangat tua, gue juga merasa cukup bersemangat walaupun masa depan itu masih berkabut dan selalu menakutkan buat gue. Waktu masih kecil, gue pengen cepat besar. Ketika sudah besar, gue heran kenapa waktu cepat sekali berlalu dan tiba-tiba gue udah semester 6... [hening sejenak]

Yah, mudah-mudahan semangatnya nggak cuma di awal semester aja ya... *ngomong di depan cermin

Hari ini nggak bisa dibilang buruk sepenuhnya, tapi jelas bukan hari favorit gue sepanjang masa. Tadi pagi waktu mau berangkat ke kampus gue ketabrak motor waktu mau nyebrang. Tapi gue masih hidup, sehat sentosa, dan cuma luka memar di bagian samping kaki kanan di dekat betis. Kejadiannya waktu gue mau menyeberang. Susah sih dijelasinnya. Yang pasti gue terpaksa nyebrang disitu karena walaupun ada lampu lalu lintas, tapi nggak ada zebra cross. Pokoknya gue melihat situasi udah aman waktu gue mau menyebrang ketika motor itu tiba-tiba nyalip dengan cepat dan mencium kaki gue. Kejadiannya cepet banget dan gue nggak terlalu ingat detailnya. Pokoknya waktu gue masih shock sampai kaki gue itu gemetar, orang itu langsung ngeloyor pergi dan nggak bilang apa-apa. What a gentleman. Sementara pengendara motor lain yang emang udah ngeliat dan ngasih gue kesempatan untuk menyeberang sebelum motor rese itu nyalip, tampak khawatir ngeliat gue. Gue nggak ingat mereka ngomong apa, yang pasti muka mereka cemas. Ampun deh pasti muka gue pucat karena kaget setengah hidup kali ya. Hahaha. Yah gue doain aja deh supaya tuh orang jadi ganteng. Amin. Gue bersyukur bahwa gue nggak jatuh dan mungkin aja ketabrak kendaraan lain (naudzubillah, saya masih mudaaaaa) dan bahwa yang kena itu bukan bagian tulang kering karena rasanya pasti alamak-sakit-nian.

Tadinya gue nggak mau bilang ke Mama tapi karena dia nggak perhatian dan sebenarnya gue mau dia tahu kalau kaki gue sakit (cari perhatian :p), gue bilang juga deh akhirnya. Dan reaksinya tepat seperti yang gue perkirakan: "HAH? KETABRAK DIMANA????!!" Nggak santai.

Baiklah, cukup dengan cerita menyakitkan ini. Menyakitkan dalam arti sebenarnya.

 

Bagaimana kalau cerita tentang kejadian-kejadian waktu libur kemarin? Yah, sejujurnya kalian nggak bisa bilang nggak setuju dan harus terima aja apa yang mau gue ceritakan disini. Mwahahaha

 

Di suatu sore waktu gue iseng-iseng menengadah ke langit waktu liburan kemarin, gue menemukan pemandangan ini. Kalau nggak salah namanya 'awan halo' dan sempat terlihat di beberapa tempat. Gue sering mendengar halo karena sering melihatnya di malam hari. Kalau lagi duduk-duduk di teras di malam hari dengan Mama dan langit sedang cerah, kami akan mengamati bintang-bintang dan bulan. Seringkali bulan dilingkari halo dan Mama akan menunjuk ke arah bulan dan berkata 'Ada halo-nya!' seakan gue belum melihatnya. Ini kali kedua gue melihat awan halo. Tapi pada kesempatan pertama gue nggak sempat mengambil fotonya karena kejadiannya waktu gue di dalam bus  menuju ke kampus yang sedang melaju cukup cepat dengan kaca yang kotor pula. 

 

Kemudian, liburan kemarin gue makan banyak rambutan. Wadah di foto ini cukup besar sebenarnya dan gue makan dua kali lipat rambutan di foto di atas. Untungnya radang tenggorokan gue nggak kambuh. *ahem

Jadi ingat... suatu waktu Mama beli rambutan dari tukang rambutan (ya iyalah masa dari tukang bakso) yang lewat. Rambutannya emang manis dan besar-besar. Saking manisnya sampai semut-semut pun ikut. Akhirnya begitu transaksi jual-beli selesai dan si tukang rambutan akan pergi, Mama langsung menyuruh gue untuk memetik rambutan itu satu persatu dari tangkainya sambil diketuk-ketuk sampai semutnya pergi. Si tukang rambutan juga mengusulkan hal yang sama. Dan karena semutnya banyak banget, gue disuruh melakukan itu semua di teras rumah supaya semutnya nggak masuk ke rumah. Gue melakukan hal itu cukup lama, gue rasa sekitar hampir setengah jam ketika kemudian si tukang rambutan lewat lagi. Dia mengayuh sepedanya dengan lambat waktu lewat depan rumah gue dan mengamati apa yang sedang gue lakukan. Kemudian dia berkomentar... 'Belum selesai juga, Neng...?' 

Sial. Malah ngeledek dia, padahal kan semut-semut itu dia juga yang bawa. Bantuin kek, Bang... -__- 

 

Kalau di postingan sebelumnya gue membuat es kopi dengan oreo, kali ini gue meminum kopi dari toples. Hahaha pengen aja karena di Pinterest dan beberapa blog lain gue sering melihat foto minuman yang disajikan dalam toples-toples lucu, seperti toples selai. 

Dan ngomong-ngomong oreo, kenapa ya Mama selalu salah pilih rasa oreo? Mungkin dia harus pakai kacamatanya kalau lagi belanja.

"Ma, beliin oreo yang vanilla, ya."

Kemudian dibeliin oreo rasa peanut butter & chocolate cream. Untungnya enak (banget).

"Ternyata enak juga, Ma. Nanti beliin yang rasa ini lagi, ya."

Dan dibeliin oreo rasa ice cream flavor orange, sodara-sodara.

Jadi Afika dong gue...

 

 

Sempat bosan juga waktu liburan. Walhasil, lihat aja betapa gue segitu kurang kerjaannya sampai mewarnai kuku-kuku gue seperti itu. Gue juga corat-coret kaki gue dengan pulpen setelah sebelumnya melihat tato serupa, tapi lebih bagus dan realistis pastinya, di sebuah blog. Mama mengamati waktu gue lagi serius corat-coret di kaki. Gue pikir dia akan marah sambil bilang betapa kurang kerjaannya gue. Nggak tahunya dia malah menyarankan supaya gue beli aja tato temporer berbentuk stiker supaya gue nggak susah-susah dan buang-buang waktu untuk gambar sendiri. Saran yang bagus.

 

Karena nggak ada bacaan baru, berhubung buku yang pengen gue beli nggak bisa gue temukan di Gramedia, gue membaca ulang dwilogi Padang Bulan dan Cinta Di Dalam Gelas nya Andrea Hirata. Gue nggak pernah bosan rasanya baca buku ini. Deskripsinya itu begitu sinematis. Setiap baca, rasanya gue bisa membayangkan tiap adegannya seakan gue udah melihat adegan-adegan  itu di dalam film... 

Dan akhirnya pergi ke pameran buku juga with the girls. Disana ada lomba menari yang diikuti anak-anak TK yang lucu-lucu ini. Dan akhirnya gue menemukan buku yang gue cari-cari. Aaaahh...! :D

 

A perfect afternoon.

 

Kemudian rumah heboh karena ada arisan RW yang diadakan di rumah gue. Ampun deh. Pagi-pagi gue udah disuruh ini-itu. Berhubung acaranya setelah makan siang, menu yang disiapkan nggak terlalu banyak, tapi tetap ribet. Selain kue, agar-agar, dan buah, menu utamanya cukup sederhana, yaitu sayur Laksa yang terdiri dari lontong, ayam, bihun, tauge, daun kemangi, telor, bawang goreng (ew), disiram dengan kuah yang kabarnya cukup rumit proses pembuatannya, ditambah sambal, dan emping kalau suka. 

 

Sambil menyiapkan semuanya, ibu tetangga yang ikut membantu berkomentar bahwa kolesterolnya bisa langsung naik begitu acara arisan ini selesai. Ampun, lihatlah kuah di dalam panci superbesar itu.

 

Nah, kalau sambel ini gue yang bikin loh... *bangga. Tapi nggak diulek, ya. Soalnya buanyak banget, bisa patah pergelangan tangan gue ngulek segitu banyak cabe yang akhirnya menghasilkan dua mangkuk sambel. Waktu gue lagi menghaluskan cabe dan seisi dapur mulai bersin dan batuk-batuk kepedesan, si ibu tetangga berkomentar bahwa karena dosa guelah mereka batuk-batuk. Lah, yang suruh bikin sambel siapa? Hahahaha

Yah, acaranya cukup lancar. Err... nggak tau juga sih. Gue tidur soalnya. Mama menyuruh gue menemaninya di tengah-tengah kehadiran banyak ibu-ibu itu tapi tidak, terima kasih. Dan begitu acaranya selesai gue dibangunin untuk bebersih rumah. Gile, pada hari Minggu itu gue merasa seperti pembantu rumah tangga. Sekarang gue akan jauh lebih menghargai Inem. :p

 

Baiklah cukup sekian. Saatnya santai sejenak sambil menikmati jus apel.

Have a nice weeekend, folks!