The New Energy

I slept tight and sound. It’s perfect sleep after a very long day yesterday. My first day out after bounced back. How I had wanted to avoid going out but of course I could not because my very good girlfriend was ready to be off again for four weeks. If not because of her, I might be in cocoon again for another day. So I thank her.

We met up in a new huge luxurious mall in the center of CBD. I thought I could get haircut in Pieter’s new place but he took a day off so okay… visited the mall was still good for me. It was my first time of course. People had started to talk about the mega things inside. When finally I found my way inside the mall, I felt like a tiny person in Gulliver world. Not just of the size, but of the mega magnitude, the ambience,… It washed over me. I deeply felt like orang kampung (naïve and ignorant).

I observed huge stickers on the still-undergoing-construction shops, trying to figure out what would be available in this mega mall. Some shops have opened with bright light. I stopped in some places and studied the layout while tuning in the place. I tested my want. I used to like shopping in malls: huge and small. Hey, what’s wrong with me? I don’t have want. I just stared at the brands and could not imagine myself needing something from the shops. What a good news! Been dieting for years, I could feel my want has shrunk significantly. I don’t even enjoy looking at good things. I just passed the shops.

I decided to get nice bath towels from a brand I use for long time while waiting for the girls to come. When they came, they took me around to select our lunch. They said I’m shrunken. Yea, I stepped on weight scale in the morning only to find I have lost two kilograms! It must show that I become tinier. I chose Chinese food for I needed warm chicken broth.

My girlfriends shared me their experience in Cirebon after I left. They shopped batik a bit and had a nice train back. It was hot and raining hard after I left. So it’s good that I made the decision, my body would not take such weather. It was fun chatting with girlfriends. I often felt I don’t need to chat but once I’m in, I know I need to be away from my own world sometimes. Expanding.

We expanded our horizon though. We had coffee in other mall! We moved as my friend needed to see other good friend in the mall and I also needed to be there for my evening program. Good the traffic wasn't bad. Time flew since we started late. Good for me, I didn’t have to wait the evening too long. My good friend from a dance company met me in the mall and we went to see World Music December at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta. My Ubud favorite, Balawan, played.

I was tired but good music never fails me. I enjoyed every beat. Balawan always has new way to present his music. He is so creative. The other ensemble that played jam with him was also good. It’s so nice to see talented persons playing music. Thing that I’m not good at. I ended my first day out happy. Twelve hours!

Today I felt sleepy since morning, not of ill, but of feel good more. My appetite is back so my strength. I went to bank and got hair color. I enjoyed myself. I bought Elie Wiesel’s Night finally. Yes, it’s a slim but powerful book about Auschwitz survivor. It reminds me of what my girlfriend told me last night. She suggested me to write a memoir of my life the past fourteen years. I once thought about it but my life is nothing compares to Wiesel’s experience. It might be nothing to me but many thought that I had led life near crazy. Hm. Having read a few pages of Night, I will think about it.

Photo of Panoramic Soaps, my creation.