Wew... It's been a while since the last time I post something on this blog. Kinda miss it anyway... hohoh... Since I have no idea about what to do tonight, I think I'm gonna post something here. Let's start with the story of me attending Soulnation, shall we?

Finally... Setelah tahun lalu cuma bisa mupeng buat dateng Soulnation, tahun ini kesampean juga. Beli tiket dari jauh-jauh hari bahkan pas masih murah meriah...

Day 1 (30 Oct)
Hampir aja gw ga dateng di hari pertama ini gara-gara bingung gimana bawa barang yang sejibun *biasa anak kosan mau pulang bawa baju kotor*. Untung Mita dengan baik hatinya menawarkan untuk mengantar gw pulang sampai ke rumah dengan syarat gw nemenin dia sampai Tortured Soul selesai. Heheh... She totally saved my day.

Dateng udah jam 8an klo ga salah karena si Mita mesti ke Mabes Polri dulu... To be honest, hari pertama ini ga ada yang gw 'incer' banget buat ditonton. Well, paling JFlow doang.

Performance yang kita tonton pertama adalah Pandji. He was great actually. Better than I expected. My favorite performance of him that night was when he performed "I Hustle" FULL TEAM! Woohoo! Kyriz, JFlow, and Rayi joined him on the stage! It was awesome... love it! :D

Abis itu lanjut ke... mana ya? gw lupa. bener-bener lupa.. hahah! Klo ga salah sih abis itu nonton B-Boy battle bentar. Dan di sana, pastinya, gw mulai mencari orang-orang tertentu. Hahah! Sayang dari 3 yang gw cari, hanya ada 1.

Moving on to Arrested Development. Yang dateng ga lengkap ah. Ga seru... Gw juga ga tau lagu-lagunya selain Honeymoon Day sama ada satu lagi gw ga tau judulnya. Jadi gw nonton cuma numpang joget. hahah... Gw ga nonton Arrested Development sampai selesai karena mau nonton JFlow di stage lain. Jadilah gw dan Difa pindah lokasi...

Ternyata keputusan gw untuk meninggalkan Arrested Development buat JFlow ga salah... He put a very good *and provocative* performance. Esp. when he criticize JFP. Hohoh... I love his performance. Talented rapper I might say.

Last show I attend that day was Tortured Soul. Pas nonton Torture Soul kaki gw udah pegel aje. Udah ga sanggup goyang lagi. hahah... But the performance was good tho.

Pulang diantar oleh Mita yang dengan sangat baik hati rela ke daerah Jakarta Timur yang tidak dikenalnya sedangkan rumah dia di dekat Lebak Bulus sana. Jam setengah 2 gw pun terkapar di tempat tidur.

Day 2 (31 Oct)
Day 2 gw sangat excited karena banyak yang mau gw tonton! hihiy... Inceran utama: Musiq Soulchild!

Nyampe Senayan sore karena mau nonton Maliq. Abis nonton Maliq kita nonton Indonesia Unite di mana performers nya ada BLP *woot for the drum guy! lol!*, Pandji, Glenn, Dewi Sandra, JFlow, Neo *woot buat si muka bad boy! lol*, Raz Mohammad *woot for the coolness :D* etc etc...

Kita juga nonton Jessica Mauboy sama DMC. I really love DMC actually. Ya gimana ya... To be honest, this year Soulanation is lack of 'real' hiphop international artist. Thank God for DMC for showing how hiphop really is. OLD SCHOOL BABY! :D

Dan akhirnyaaa... gw nonton Musiq Soulchild! woot woot! di kala temen-temen gw ga ada yang semangat pas nonton, gw menggebu-gebu. What can I say... I'm a fan! :D Sayang gw ga kebagian di festival gara-gara udah penuh banget pas masuk. Sial. Akhirnya dari tribune deh... Tapi biarin deh. Yang penting enjoy. huhuh...

Abis nonton Musiq Soulchild, gw langsung chao pulang karena sudah dijemput.


Overall, I had fun at Soulnation. Tapi gw kecewa sama beberapa hal. Pertama, gw sebel banget gara-gara lis artisnya bener-bener berubah dari yang pertama dicantumin di wishlist. Gw bener-bener kecewa banget sama hal ini. Gw merasa ditipu jujur aja. Kedua, gw kecewa karena acara yang seharusnya berkonsep hiphop, R&B, and Soul ini ga merealisasikan konsep ini bener-bener. Special show nya masa TingTings? Seriously? Gw padahal sangat mengharapkan Soulnation sebagai hiphop, R&B and soul music festival. Tapi kenyataannya malah agak mengecewakan.

It's gonna be a long one I guess because so many things to be written. Here we gooo...

Setelah melewati perjuangan yang berat dalam membuat visa yang rempong, akhirnya seminggu sebelum tanggal keberangkatan, kami bertiga (gw, nyokap, sama adek gw... bokap sayangnya kaga ikut) berhasil mendapatkan visa! Ahooooyyy...

The Air Trip(s)
Berangkat dari Soekarno-Hatta siang-siang dianter papa (hukshuks), check in bla bla bla... dan boarding lah kami ke pesawat menuju Taipei. Our 1st flight. Kenapa kita transit di Taipei? Karena kita naik EVA AIR yang adalah maskapai penerbangan Taiwan. Perjalanan dari sini ke Taipei kurang lebih 5 jam. Ya dapet makan malem lah ya di pesawat... Sampai di Taipei, nunggu 2 jam-an buat naik pesawat selanjutnya. Ngapain gw selama 2 jam itu? God bless that airport in Taipei *gw lupa namanya*... We got free wi-fi! Hahay... Oh ya, ada satu hal yang 'eye catching' selama gw di airport itu. Bukan... bukan cowok yang mirip Restu Sinaga yang pernah gw ceritain. Bukan... bukan gw ketemu F4. Jadi mulai dari gw turun pesawat mau jalan ke tempat tunggu, orang-orang di sana tuh pada pake masker semua! Parno kan gw jadinya.

Time for our 2nd flight. Setelah 2 jam menunggu, akhirnya kita naik pesawat menuju Seattle! Yay yay yay! Di pesawat rencananya sih langsung tidur gara-gara udah malem dan udah ada batal sama selimut... tapi apa daya, gw ga bisa langsung tidur karena lagi-lagi waktunya makan! My 2nd dinner of the day. Gila. Gendut di pesawat lah eik. Abis makan, baru deh tidur... Dan guess what, gw ga bisa tidur. Leher gw sakit banget gara-gara kursi pesawat. Maklum, gw kan cuma di kelas ekonomi. Setelah menempuh perjalanan yang jauh aje menyebrangi lautan yang luas dan ga punya pemandangan karena jendela di tutup selama perjalanan *kecuali 10 menit pas mau mendarat* sampailah kami di Seattle!

Wahooo... Akhirnya, setelah bosen tingkat tinggi selama 10 jam perjalanan melayang-layang di atas awan, nyampe juga di Tacoma Airport. Nyampe situ mesti lewat custom, interview lagi *FYI, kita orang terakhir di line*. Perjuangan blom berhenti sampai di situ. Kita mesti check in lagi untuk penerbangan selanjutnya. Dengan koper segede gaban dan juga menenteng 1 'carry on' bag + 1 hand bag, kita bertiga menjelajahi Tacoma Airport untuk nyari tempat check in Alaska Air. Guess what... mejanya ada di paling ujung! Jadi itu ternyata urut abjad dan gw jalannya dari abjad paling bontot. Jedar! Capek juga loh bo nyeret koper gede sambil nenteng 2 tas lain. Pasti ada yang mikir, kan ada trolley. Kenapa ga pake trolley aja? Man, FYI yaa... Trolley di sana bayar! 2 ato 4 dollar gtu, ga kayak Jakarta yang tinggal ambil aja. Pelit...

Setelah check in dan memasukan koper kita ke bagasi, bawaan (jauh) lebih enteng. Berjalanlah kita menuju terminal keberangkatan. Di sana, nunggu lagi 4 jam-an buat naik pesawat menuju Spokane. Yes... our 3rd flight marathon! Dan tidak seperti di Taipei, internet di sini bayar! Sial. Jadilah gw bengang bengong bosen, cuci mata nungguin boarding. Jam 10 malem, akhirnya kita boarding! Untung Seattle-Spokane cuma setengah jam. Jadi ga matgay-matgay amet lah di pesawat. Dan akhirnya... sampailah kami di Spokane! Dijemput dan disambut sama Randy *kakak tiri nyokap gw* and my grandpa!! Gosh... I'm sooo emotional and happy to see him! :D
Dari Spokane, kita naik mobil selama 45 menit ke Post Falls... where my granpa and his daughter live, where we stay.

1st week of the trip
Nyampe Post Falls udah midnight. Langsung tidur karena capek. Tapi tetep aja besokannya kita bertiga udah pada bangun jam 6. Akhirnya mandilah kita *setelah ga mandi selama perjalanan, seneng banget rasanya ketemu shower*. Selesai kita bertiga mandi, jam 7an blom pada bangun bahkan. Ya iyalah blom bangun. Kita aja yang kerajinan bangun pagi. Bukan kerajinan juga sih. JET-LAG! Jam 7 itu, mendadak kita ngantuk lagi. jadilah kita tidur lagi. hahah! Pas gw bangun jam setengah 10, nyokap sama adek gw masih pada tidur... tapi kayaknya opa gw udah bangun. Jadilah gw memutuskan untuk get out of our room and had conversation with my grandpa. It's been forever since the last time I had a conversation with him :D

Hari itu adalah hari ngumpulnya anak-anak serta cucu-cucu opa gw yang beberapa dateng dari luar kota. I was so excited to meet them all. I was so glad that they're all really nice and really treat us as part of the family. Ga ada yang seumur sama gw baik cucu ato cicitnya. Klo ga udah punya anak, masih pada SMA mereka. Yang paling deket cowok umurnya masih 17 tahun bahkan. Jadilah gw bermain sama bocah-bocah aja. Hahah... The girls are still kids, not even teenagers. 5th grader bahkan... Klo ga main sama mereka yang masih SD, gw main sama yang masih kecil skalian. I LOVE THOSE LITTLE FELLAZ! Esp. Quentin and Summer-Lynn. They're oh so cute! Hwaaa... Benar-benar ingin gw pinjem untuk gw bawa pulang. Oh my... I surely miss them! Membuat gw pengen kawin sama bule. Hahah...

Hari itu kita juga foto keluarga besar :)


Di Post Falls, gw juga diajak jalan-jalan buat liat-liat beberapa tempat dan picnic.


Hihi... seru deh. Walaupun pas picnic ujung-ujungnya kita 'agak' basah karena kehujanan. Untung pas emang udahan...

Setelah tinggal beberapa hari tinggal di Post Falls, kita ke Yakima buat BIG REUNION nya Tuck familly. It took 4 hours from Post Falls to Yakima. Yakima was so great! I love being there. The view was breath-taking. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Jadi kita 3 hari di sana nginep di keluarga adik iparnya opa gw. The place was so awesome. Mereka punya perkebunan sendiri and their own animals! It was so sunny but the wind was extremely cold. So overall, it was COLD not HOT.

In Yakima, I had the chance being introduced to my grandpas' siblings and their families. Booo... di Yakima gw kerjaannya makan mulu. Bengong dikit, laper, terus makan... Efek udara dingin kali ya. I feel fat there. Tidak hanya udara dingin, gw juga ingin menyalahkan makanan yang enak-enak di sana.

After spending days in Yakima, we're back to Post Falls... and the next day, we're heading to LA. I was so sad to leave Post Falls. Well, I think it's probably because I had to say goodbye to my family there, esp. my granpa. I was so emotional, but tried my best not to show it :((

We were back to Spokane to catch a flight to Seattle. Dari Seattle itu baru kita menuju LA. Pas di pesawat Spokane-Seattle, mabok gw. Gila... Btw, dari Seattle-LA barulah gw bisa 'cuci mata'. hahah...

2nd week of the trip
We were finally in LA y'all! Dijemput di LAX sama om gw (abang nyokap gw) yang udah 20 tahun ga ketemu untuk dianter ke rumah Oma Fien di La Mirada, tempat nyokap gw 'ng-kos' dulu. Her house was nice! I love staying there. She was such a nice person too.

We spent most of our time in SoCal. Hanging out at the O.C etc... Going from mall to mall *blah*, from Cheritos to South Coast... you name it.

My dream finally came true. We went to the happiest place on earth: DISNEYLAND!


Omg... It was unbelievable. I was oh so excited. Kita di Disneyland dari pagi sampai malem. Berhubung pas gw ke sana lagi pas summer holiday, jadinya penuh aje tuh Disneyland. Padat sekali...

We did experience some amazing rides there. Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, etc etc... So fun! But the best part for me was the fireworks. I was speechless and *I know it's cheesy but I don't care* almost cried! It was so emotional. It was probably the most amazing and beautiful thing I've ever seen. Too beautiful for words. Pada saat itu, gw baru berasa betapa bersyukurnya gw pada akhirnya bisa ada di sana :)

Oh ya, satu hal yang menggemparkan terjadi ketika gw lagi di Disneyland. I got the news that Michael Jackson died.

Setelah menghabiskan seharian penuh di Disneyland, besoknya kita pergi ke Universal Studios. It was fun too! We had this amazing studio tour. There's an amazing ride in Universal Studios. It's the Simpsons ride. It was so amazing! Saking amazing nya, kita sampai naik dua kali. hahah! Oh ya, I also bought a BIG Patrick Star cuddle pillow :D

Setelah dari Universal Studios, kita beranjak ke downtown LA untuk ke Walk of Fame. We put flower on MJ's star. Ngantrinya kaga nahan bo cuma buat naro bunga doang. Panjang bener dah... But it was worth it. Salah satu pengalaman yang cuma bisa gw rasain saat itu.

Balik-balik dari downtown, gw tepar luar biasa. 2 hari berturut-turut gw pergi bener-bener seharian dan full of activities pula.

Hari terakhir kita di sana, kita pergi ke Rodeo Drive.


It was such a nice place. I love being there. Hahah. Dan gw akhirnya mendapatkan satu hal yang udah gw pengen beli dari kapan tau: NIKE DUNK LOW! Yay yay yay... Love it love it love it :D

Akhirnya sampailah kita pada saat untuk pulang. LAX was so crowded at that time. Ribet dah pokoknya. Dan guess what... Pergi dengan 3 koper, pulang kita 6 koper loh bo! Gileee...

Oh ya, one more thing. Di La Mirada isinya kebanyakan orang Asia ato Mexico. kurang seru ngeliat orang-orangnya. Sepertinya mereka mulai mendominasi daerah tersebut.

Ya kurang lebih begitulah perjalanan gw. It was great and awesome. I surely wanna go back there again :)

Sepertinya liburan tidak membuat gw rajin mengupdate blog.

Okeee... Jadi begini selain punya Blogger, gw juga punya Tumblr. Dan sepertinya gw mulai banyak menghabiskan waktu di sana. Heheh... Kasian blog gw yang ini.

Berhubung Tumblr itu sejenis blog juga cuma lebih simple, jadilah kurang lebih gw punya 2 blog. Supaya tidak terjadi perselisihan antara kedua blog, gw memutuskan klo blog yang ini untuk cerita yang panjang lebar... dan Tumblr gw, untuk yang simple dan lebih nyampah. hahahah.

Sumpah, penting abis post gw yang ini.

I heard the news when I was eating in Disneyland. My Dad text my mom, and when I heard that I immediately check on Twitter.... and it was true. I was shocked... at that time, I was just shocked. Maybe it was because I was in the happiest place on earth... so my reaction was just shocked. Not sad, just shocked. The day after that, I went to Hollywood walk of fame to put flower on MJ's star. That was when I start feeling so sad... until now.

I grow up listening to Michael Jackson's music. Both my dad and my mom are MJ's fans. Since I was a child, I already got use to listening to his music. Because of that, I start to become his fans. until now. I remember watching "Thriller" video and got so scared, but still trying my best to watch that video. I just love the dance... but was scared too! Hahah... I remember my mom told me she used to have the red jacket that MJ wore in the video Beat It and keep telling me that it was his choreographer who was in that video... until now. Eventhough I've said "You told me", she keeps saying that everytime we watch the video.

Bisa dibilang gw pertama kali ngefans sama penyanyi ya dia (di samping Madonna and Tommy Page *thx to my Mom. hahah*). I'm probably not a HUGE fan of him like many others, but I am a big fan of his music. Whether it's coming from Jackson 5, and especially himselves. His "History" album is probably the most precious album we had here in our house. We just looovveee it. Mungkin itu satu-satunya CD di rumah gw yang emang suka dipasang sama gw, bokap, ataupun, nyokap.

Yesterday was MJ Memorial Service... Thank God I can watch this memorial. It was so sad and so touching. I cried few times!
When his casket was brought into the Staples Center, by his brothers with the choir singing on the stage... I got goosebump.
When Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz sang I'll Be There with some footages of the Jackson 5 in the background, I was so touched and can't hold the tears.
When Stevie Wonder performed, I said "Damn you, Stevie... Why you have to sing such a sad song?" and tears fell... again.
When Jermaine Jackson tried to keep it together why singing "Smile", I can't keep it together. I cried!
When Usher sang "Gone Too Soon" and cried, I cried too.

But when Paris Jackson talked... GW SESENGGUKAN.
If I were here... I couldn't even talk for sure.

I also love the Maya Angelou poem that was read by Queen Latifah.

We Had Him

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.

In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.

Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.

Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.

His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.

And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana’s Black Star Square.

In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael.

But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

The memorial service was amazing... It connected so many people from so many different places here on earth. It showed that whether when MJ lived or not, he always able to bring people together.

I write this post just to share how I really feel. Not because it's a trending topice to be talked about or anything. It's pure coming from the heart.


Goodbye MJ.
I can't believe you're gone.
Nobody can replace you for sure.
Your music lives forever.
You're the greatest entertainer ever!
You're the legend.
You're the King of Pop.
Thank you for being such an inspiration for the world.
Thank you for the music.
I love you and I miss you already.
Rest in peace.

I look at my iPod, and there's a playlist consists of some songs and videos. I smile... because it reminds me of something.

I create that playlist last month, during my most stressful time and sleepless night. The playlist that I used to play during my stresful time and sleepless nights. The playlist I used to listen to when I made my never-ending-assignments. The playlist that I used to listen to while I was studying for the finals. The playlist that helped me to stay awake. That playlist somehow calm my nerves... It successfully reduced my stress, seriously.

It doesn't consist of many songs... Just few, but I kept on repeat it and I never get sick of it.

What's on that playlist:

• Airto - Broken Strings
• Airto - Chasing Pavements
  
• Airto - I'm Gonna Find Another You
  
• Airto - So Crazy
• AJ Rafael - Gentlemen Don't
  
• Gabe Bondoc - Part of Your World
• Gabe Bondoc - Medley
• Gabe Bondoc - Gentlemen Don't
• Matt Cusson - Comfortable
• Matt Giraud - Let's Get It On
• Matt Giraud - Part time Lover
  
• Passion - Weak
• Passion - Heartbreak Medley

All by male singers... All are amazing and super talented artists.

Thank you, Gentlemen.
Thank you for the amazing music...
(And for some of you, thank you for the tweets)
:)

Seven days has gone so fast
I really thought the pain would pass
It’s been only an hour since
I thought of you
cause you’re not answering the phone
Id settle for a busy tone
at least by that I know that you’re okay
A girl like you ain’t meant to go away
Ohh

And now you’re gone,
ain’t nothing else I want
And now that it’s over,
there’s nothing else I want
What have I done, looks I was wrong
Is everything really meant to change?
I guess we’re like water and a flame
Water and a flame

I’m tired of this empty house
I need a drink to get me out
A couple more till I forget your name
I saw a boy that looked like you
I didn’t know quite what to do
I took a power of will to break my stare
I realized what I wanted wasn’t there
yeah yeah

And now you’re gone,
ain’t nothing else I want
And now that it’s over,
there’s nothing else I want
What have I done looks like I was wrong
Is everything really meant to change?
I guess we’re like water and a flame
Water and a flame

If you see me coming
I look away, I look away
And if you’re mind’s made up
I look away, I will look away
If you worry about
I’m ok, I’m ok, yes I am
All this sorrow and this pain is gonna go away

And now you’re gone,
ain’t nothing else I want
And now that it’s over,
there’s nothing else I want
What have I done, looks I was wrong
is everything really meant to change?
I guess we’re like water and a flame
water and a flame

I've been listening to Daniel Merriweather's songs lately. This song is definitely my favorite among all. It's a duet with Adelle *she sounds great in this song*. I really really really love it. It's just an awesome song.

Wew... It's been a while since the last time I post something on this blog. Kinda miss it anyway... hohoh... Since I have no idea about what to do tonight, I think I'm gonna post something here. Let's start with the story of me attending Soulnation, shall we?

Finally... Setelah tahun lalu cuma bisa mupeng buat dateng Soulnation, tahun ini kesampean juga. Beli tiket dari jauh-jauh hari bahkan pas masih murah meriah...

Day 1 (30 Oct)
Hampir aja gw ga dateng di hari pertama ini gara-gara bingung gimana bawa barang yang sejibun *biasa anak kosan mau pulang bawa baju kotor*. Untung Mita dengan baik hatinya menawarkan untuk mengantar gw pulang sampai ke rumah dengan syarat gw nemenin dia sampai Tortured Soul selesai. Heheh... She totally saved my day.

Dateng udah jam 8an klo ga salah karena si Mita mesti ke Mabes Polri dulu... To be honest, hari pertama ini ga ada yang gw 'incer' banget buat ditonton. Well, paling JFlow doang.

Performance yang kita tonton pertama adalah Pandji. He was great actually. Better than I expected. My favorite performance of him that night was when he performed "I Hustle" FULL TEAM! Woohoo! Kyriz, JFlow, and Rayi joined him on the stage! It was awesome... love it! :D

Abis itu lanjut ke... mana ya? gw lupa. bener-bener lupa.. hahah! Klo ga salah sih abis itu nonton B-Boy battle bentar. Dan di sana, pastinya, gw mulai mencari orang-orang tertentu. Hahah! Sayang dari 3 yang gw cari, hanya ada 1.

Moving on to Arrested Development. Yang dateng ga lengkap ah. Ga seru... Gw juga ga tau lagu-lagunya selain Honeymoon Day sama ada satu lagi gw ga tau judulnya. Jadi gw nonton cuma numpang joget. hahah... Gw ga nonton Arrested Development sampai selesai karena mau nonton JFlow di stage lain. Jadilah gw dan Difa pindah lokasi...

Ternyata keputusan gw untuk meninggalkan Arrested Development buat JFlow ga salah... He put a very good *and provocative* performance. Esp. when he criticize JFP. Hohoh... I love his performance. Talented rapper I might say.

Last show I attend that day was Tortured Soul. Pas nonton Torture Soul kaki gw udah pegel aje. Udah ga sanggup goyang lagi. hahah... But the performance was good tho.

Pulang diantar oleh Mita yang dengan sangat baik hati rela ke daerah Jakarta Timur yang tidak dikenalnya sedangkan rumah dia di dekat Lebak Bulus sana. Jam setengah 2 gw pun terkapar di tempat tidur.

Day 2 (31 Oct)
Day 2 gw sangat excited karena banyak yang mau gw tonton! hihiy... Inceran utama: Musiq Soulchild!

Nyampe Senayan sore karena mau nonton Maliq. Abis nonton Maliq kita nonton Indonesia Unite di mana performers nya ada BLP *woot for the drum guy! lol!*, Pandji, Glenn, Dewi Sandra, JFlow, Neo *woot buat si muka bad boy! lol*, Raz Mohammad *woot for the coolness :D* etc etc...

Kita juga nonton Jessica Mauboy sama DMC. I really love DMC actually. Ya gimana ya... To be honest, this year Soulanation is lack of 'real' hiphop international artist. Thank God for DMC for showing how hiphop really is. OLD SCHOOL BABY! :D

Dan akhirnyaaa... gw nonton Musiq Soulchild! woot woot! di kala temen-temen gw ga ada yang semangat pas nonton, gw menggebu-gebu. What can I say... I'm a fan! :D Sayang gw ga kebagian di festival gara-gara udah penuh banget pas masuk. Sial. Akhirnya dari tribune deh... Tapi biarin deh. Yang penting enjoy. huhuh...

Abis nonton Musiq Soulchild, gw langsung chao pulang karena sudah dijemput.


Overall, I had fun at Soulnation. Tapi gw kecewa sama beberapa hal. Pertama, gw sebel banget gara-gara lis artisnya bener-bener berubah dari yang pertama dicantumin di wishlist. Gw bener-bener kecewa banget sama hal ini. Gw merasa ditipu jujur aja. Kedua, gw kecewa karena acara yang seharusnya berkonsep hiphop, R&B, and Soul ini ga merealisasikan konsep ini bener-bener. Special show nya masa TingTings? Seriously? Gw padahal sangat mengharapkan Soulnation sebagai hiphop, R&B and soul music festival. Tapi kenyataannya malah agak mengecewakan.

It's gonna be a long one I guess because so many things to be written. Here we gooo...

Setelah melewati perjuangan yang berat dalam membuat visa yang rempong, akhirnya seminggu sebelum tanggal keberangkatan, kami bertiga (gw, nyokap, sama adek gw... bokap sayangnya kaga ikut) berhasil mendapatkan visa! Ahooooyyy...

The Air Trip(s)
Berangkat dari Soekarno-Hatta siang-siang dianter papa (hukshuks), check in bla bla bla... dan boarding lah kami ke pesawat menuju Taipei. Our 1st flight. Kenapa kita transit di Taipei? Karena kita naik EVA AIR yang adalah maskapai penerbangan Taiwan. Perjalanan dari sini ke Taipei kurang lebih 5 jam. Ya dapet makan malem lah ya di pesawat... Sampai di Taipei, nunggu 2 jam-an buat naik pesawat selanjutnya. Ngapain gw selama 2 jam itu? God bless that airport in Taipei *gw lupa namanya*... We got free wi-fi! Hahay... Oh ya, ada satu hal yang 'eye catching' selama gw di airport itu. Bukan... bukan cowok yang mirip Restu Sinaga yang pernah gw ceritain. Bukan... bukan gw ketemu F4. Jadi mulai dari gw turun pesawat mau jalan ke tempat tunggu, orang-orang di sana tuh pada pake masker semua! Parno kan gw jadinya.

Time for our 2nd flight. Setelah 2 jam menunggu, akhirnya kita naik pesawat menuju Seattle! Yay yay yay! Di pesawat rencananya sih langsung tidur gara-gara udah malem dan udah ada batal sama selimut... tapi apa daya, gw ga bisa langsung tidur karena lagi-lagi waktunya makan! My 2nd dinner of the day. Gila. Gendut di pesawat lah eik. Abis makan, baru deh tidur... Dan guess what, gw ga bisa tidur. Leher gw sakit banget gara-gara kursi pesawat. Maklum, gw kan cuma di kelas ekonomi. Setelah menempuh perjalanan yang jauh aje menyebrangi lautan yang luas dan ga punya pemandangan karena jendela di tutup selama perjalanan *kecuali 10 menit pas mau mendarat* sampailah kami di Seattle!

Wahooo... Akhirnya, setelah bosen tingkat tinggi selama 10 jam perjalanan melayang-layang di atas awan, nyampe juga di Tacoma Airport. Nyampe situ mesti lewat custom, interview lagi *FYI, kita orang terakhir di line*. Perjuangan blom berhenti sampai di situ. Kita mesti check in lagi untuk penerbangan selanjutnya. Dengan koper segede gaban dan juga menenteng 1 'carry on' bag + 1 hand bag, kita bertiga menjelajahi Tacoma Airport untuk nyari tempat check in Alaska Air. Guess what... mejanya ada di paling ujung! Jadi itu ternyata urut abjad dan gw jalannya dari abjad paling bontot. Jedar! Capek juga loh bo nyeret koper gede sambil nenteng 2 tas lain. Pasti ada yang mikir, kan ada trolley. Kenapa ga pake trolley aja? Man, FYI yaa... Trolley di sana bayar! 2 ato 4 dollar gtu, ga kayak Jakarta yang tinggal ambil aja. Pelit...

Setelah check in dan memasukan koper kita ke bagasi, bawaan (jauh) lebih enteng. Berjalanlah kita menuju terminal keberangkatan. Di sana, nunggu lagi 4 jam-an buat naik pesawat menuju Spokane. Yes... our 3rd flight marathon! Dan tidak seperti di Taipei, internet di sini bayar! Sial. Jadilah gw bengang bengong bosen, cuci mata nungguin boarding. Jam 10 malem, akhirnya kita boarding! Untung Seattle-Spokane cuma setengah jam. Jadi ga matgay-matgay amet lah di pesawat. Dan akhirnya... sampailah kami di Spokane! Dijemput dan disambut sama Randy *kakak tiri nyokap gw* and my grandpa!! Gosh... I'm sooo emotional and happy to see him! :D
Dari Spokane, kita naik mobil selama 45 menit ke Post Falls... where my granpa and his daughter live, where we stay.

1st week of the trip
Nyampe Post Falls udah midnight. Langsung tidur karena capek. Tapi tetep aja besokannya kita bertiga udah pada bangun jam 6. Akhirnya mandilah kita *setelah ga mandi selama perjalanan, seneng banget rasanya ketemu shower*. Selesai kita bertiga mandi, jam 7an blom pada bangun bahkan. Ya iyalah blom bangun. Kita aja yang kerajinan bangun pagi. Bukan kerajinan juga sih. JET-LAG! Jam 7 itu, mendadak kita ngantuk lagi. jadilah kita tidur lagi. hahah! Pas gw bangun jam setengah 10, nyokap sama adek gw masih pada tidur... tapi kayaknya opa gw udah bangun. Jadilah gw memutuskan untuk get out of our room and had conversation with my grandpa. It's been forever since the last time I had a conversation with him :D

Hari itu adalah hari ngumpulnya anak-anak serta cucu-cucu opa gw yang beberapa dateng dari luar kota. I was so excited to meet them all. I was so glad that they're all really nice and really treat us as part of the family. Ga ada yang seumur sama gw baik cucu ato cicitnya. Klo ga udah punya anak, masih pada SMA mereka. Yang paling deket cowok umurnya masih 17 tahun bahkan. Jadilah gw bermain sama bocah-bocah aja. Hahah... The girls are still kids, not even teenagers. 5th grader bahkan... Klo ga main sama mereka yang masih SD, gw main sama yang masih kecil skalian. I LOVE THOSE LITTLE FELLAZ! Esp. Quentin and Summer-Lynn. They're oh so cute! Hwaaa... Benar-benar ingin gw pinjem untuk gw bawa pulang. Oh my... I surely miss them! Membuat gw pengen kawin sama bule. Hahah...

Hari itu kita juga foto keluarga besar :)


Di Post Falls, gw juga diajak jalan-jalan buat liat-liat beberapa tempat dan picnic.


Hihi... seru deh. Walaupun pas picnic ujung-ujungnya kita 'agak' basah karena kehujanan. Untung pas emang udahan...

Setelah tinggal beberapa hari tinggal di Post Falls, kita ke Yakima buat BIG REUNION nya Tuck familly. It took 4 hours from Post Falls to Yakima. Yakima was so great! I love being there. The view was breath-taking. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Jadi kita 3 hari di sana nginep di keluarga adik iparnya opa gw. The place was so awesome. Mereka punya perkebunan sendiri and their own animals! It was so sunny but the wind was extremely cold. So overall, it was COLD not HOT.

In Yakima, I had the chance being introduced to my grandpas' siblings and their families. Booo... di Yakima gw kerjaannya makan mulu. Bengong dikit, laper, terus makan... Efek udara dingin kali ya. I feel fat there. Tidak hanya udara dingin, gw juga ingin menyalahkan makanan yang enak-enak di sana.

After spending days in Yakima, we're back to Post Falls... and the next day, we're heading to LA. I was so sad to leave Post Falls. Well, I think it's probably because I had to say goodbye to my family there, esp. my granpa. I was so emotional, but tried my best not to show it :((

We were back to Spokane to catch a flight to Seattle. Dari Seattle itu baru kita menuju LA. Pas di pesawat Spokane-Seattle, mabok gw. Gila... Btw, dari Seattle-LA barulah gw bisa 'cuci mata'. hahah...

2nd week of the trip
We were finally in LA y'all! Dijemput di LAX sama om gw (abang nyokap gw) yang udah 20 tahun ga ketemu untuk dianter ke rumah Oma Fien di La Mirada, tempat nyokap gw 'ng-kos' dulu. Her house was nice! I love staying there. She was such a nice person too.

We spent most of our time in SoCal. Hanging out at the O.C etc... Going from mall to mall *blah*, from Cheritos to South Coast... you name it.

My dream finally came true. We went to the happiest place on earth: DISNEYLAND!


Omg... It was unbelievable. I was oh so excited. Kita di Disneyland dari pagi sampai malem. Berhubung pas gw ke sana lagi pas summer holiday, jadinya penuh aje tuh Disneyland. Padat sekali...

We did experience some amazing rides there. Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, etc etc... So fun! But the best part for me was the fireworks. I was speechless and *I know it's cheesy but I don't care* almost cried! It was so emotional. It was probably the most amazing and beautiful thing I've ever seen. Too beautiful for words. Pada saat itu, gw baru berasa betapa bersyukurnya gw pada akhirnya bisa ada di sana :)

Oh ya, satu hal yang menggemparkan terjadi ketika gw lagi di Disneyland. I got the news that Michael Jackson died.

Setelah menghabiskan seharian penuh di Disneyland, besoknya kita pergi ke Universal Studios. It was fun too! We had this amazing studio tour. There's an amazing ride in Universal Studios. It's the Simpsons ride. It was so amazing! Saking amazing nya, kita sampai naik dua kali. hahah! Oh ya, I also bought a BIG Patrick Star cuddle pillow :D

Setelah dari Universal Studios, kita beranjak ke downtown LA untuk ke Walk of Fame. We put flower on MJ's star. Ngantrinya kaga nahan bo cuma buat naro bunga doang. Panjang bener dah... But it was worth it. Salah satu pengalaman yang cuma bisa gw rasain saat itu.

Balik-balik dari downtown, gw tepar luar biasa. 2 hari berturut-turut gw pergi bener-bener seharian dan full of activities pula.

Hari terakhir kita di sana, kita pergi ke Rodeo Drive.


It was such a nice place. I love being there. Hahah. Dan gw akhirnya mendapatkan satu hal yang udah gw pengen beli dari kapan tau: NIKE DUNK LOW! Yay yay yay... Love it love it love it :D

Akhirnya sampailah kita pada saat untuk pulang. LAX was so crowded at that time. Ribet dah pokoknya. Dan guess what... Pergi dengan 3 koper, pulang kita 6 koper loh bo! Gileee...

Oh ya, one more thing. Di La Mirada isinya kebanyakan orang Asia ato Mexico. kurang seru ngeliat orang-orangnya. Sepertinya mereka mulai mendominasi daerah tersebut.

Ya kurang lebih begitulah perjalanan gw. It was great and awesome. I surely wanna go back there again :)

Sepertinya liburan tidak membuat gw rajin mengupdate blog.

Okeee... Jadi begini selain punya Blogger, gw juga punya Tumblr. Dan sepertinya gw mulai banyak menghabiskan waktu di sana. Heheh... Kasian blog gw yang ini.

Berhubung Tumblr itu sejenis blog juga cuma lebih simple, jadilah kurang lebih gw punya 2 blog. Supaya tidak terjadi perselisihan antara kedua blog, gw memutuskan klo blog yang ini untuk cerita yang panjang lebar... dan Tumblr gw, untuk yang simple dan lebih nyampah. hahahah.

Sumpah, penting abis post gw yang ini.

I heard the news when I was eating in Disneyland. My Dad text my mom, and when I heard that I immediately check on Twitter.... and it was true. I was shocked... at that time, I was just shocked. Maybe it was because I was in the happiest place on earth... so my reaction was just shocked. Not sad, just shocked. The day after that, I went to Hollywood walk of fame to put flower on MJ's star. That was when I start feeling so sad... until now.

I grow up listening to Michael Jackson's music. Both my dad and my mom are MJ's fans. Since I was a child, I already got use to listening to his music. Because of that, I start to become his fans. until now. I remember watching "Thriller" video and got so scared, but still trying my best to watch that video. I just love the dance... but was scared too! Hahah... I remember my mom told me she used to have the red jacket that MJ wore in the video Beat It and keep telling me that it was his choreographer who was in that video... until now. Eventhough I've said "You told me", she keeps saying that everytime we watch the video.

Bisa dibilang gw pertama kali ngefans sama penyanyi ya dia (di samping Madonna and Tommy Page *thx to my Mom. hahah*). I'm probably not a HUGE fan of him like many others, but I am a big fan of his music. Whether it's coming from Jackson 5, and especially himselves. His "History" album is probably the most precious album we had here in our house. We just looovveee it. Mungkin itu satu-satunya CD di rumah gw yang emang suka dipasang sama gw, bokap, ataupun, nyokap.

Yesterday was MJ Memorial Service... Thank God I can watch this memorial. It was so sad and so touching. I cried few times!
When his casket was brought into the Staples Center, by his brothers with the choir singing on the stage... I got goosebump.
When Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz sang I'll Be There with some footages of the Jackson 5 in the background, I was so touched and can't hold the tears.
When Stevie Wonder performed, I said "Damn you, Stevie... Why you have to sing such a sad song?" and tears fell... again.
When Jermaine Jackson tried to keep it together why singing "Smile", I can't keep it together. I cried!
When Usher sang "Gone Too Soon" and cried, I cried too.

But when Paris Jackson talked... GW SESENGGUKAN.
If I were here... I couldn't even talk for sure.

I also love the Maya Angelou poem that was read by Queen Latifah.

We Had Him

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.

In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.

Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.

Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.

His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.

And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana’s Black Star Square.

In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael.

But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

The memorial service was amazing... It connected so many people from so many different places here on earth. It showed that whether when MJ lived or not, he always able to bring people together.

I write this post just to share how I really feel. Not because it's a trending topice to be talked about or anything. It's pure coming from the heart.


Goodbye MJ.
I can't believe you're gone.
Nobody can replace you for sure.
Your music lives forever.
You're the greatest entertainer ever!
You're the legend.
You're the King of Pop.
Thank you for being such an inspiration for the world.
Thank you for the music.
I love you and I miss you already.
Rest in peace.

I look at my iPod, and there's a playlist consists of some songs and videos. I smile... because it reminds me of something.

I create that playlist last month, during my most stressful time and sleepless night. The playlist that I used to play during my stresful time and sleepless nights. The playlist I used to listen to when I made my never-ending-assignments. The playlist that I used to listen to while I was studying for the finals. The playlist that helped me to stay awake. That playlist somehow calm my nerves... It successfully reduced my stress, seriously.

It doesn't consist of many songs... Just few, but I kept on repeat it and I never get sick of it.

What's on that playlist:

• Airto - Broken Strings
• Airto - Chasing Pavements
  
• Airto - I'm Gonna Find Another You
  
• Airto - So Crazy
• AJ Rafael - Gentlemen Don't
  
• Gabe Bondoc - Part of Your World
• Gabe Bondoc - Medley
• Gabe Bondoc - Gentlemen Don't
• Matt Cusson - Comfortable
• Matt Giraud - Let's Get It On
• Matt Giraud - Part time Lover
  
• Passion - Weak
• Passion - Heartbreak Medley

All by male singers... All are amazing and super talented artists.

Thank you, Gentlemen.
Thank you for the amazing music...
(And for some of you, thank you for the tweets)
:)

Seven days has gone so fast
I really thought the pain would pass
It’s been only an hour since
I thought of you
cause you’re not answering the phone
Id settle for a busy tone
at least by that I know that you’re okay
A girl like you ain’t meant to go away
Ohh

And now you’re gone,
ain’t nothing else I want
And now that it’s over,
there’s nothing else I want
What have I done, looks I was wrong
Is everything really meant to change?
I guess we’re like water and a flame
Water and a flame

I’m tired of this empty house
I need a drink to get me out
A couple more till I forget your name
I saw a boy that looked like you
I didn’t know quite what to do
I took a power of will to break my stare
I realized what I wanted wasn’t there
yeah yeah

And now you’re gone,
ain’t nothing else I want
And now that it’s over,
there’s nothing else I want
What have I done looks like I was wrong
Is everything really meant to change?
I guess we’re like water and a flame
Water and a flame

If you see me coming
I look away, I look away
And if you’re mind’s made up
I look away, I will look away
If you worry about
I’m ok, I’m ok, yes I am
All this sorrow and this pain is gonna go away

And now you’re gone,
ain’t nothing else I want
And now that it’s over,
there’s nothing else I want
What have I done, looks I was wrong
is everything really meant to change?
I guess we’re like water and a flame
water and a flame

I've been listening to Daniel Merriweather's songs lately. This song is definitely my favorite among all. It's a duet with Adelle *she sounds great in this song*. I really really really love it. It's just an awesome song.