Thursday, September 5, 2013

Goodbye, lil' fishie.


Yesterday, a friend passed away from a heart condition.

She was 33.

And that made me think about the fragility of life. And of all the things I want to do and achieve before my time is up.

But this post is not about those.

This is about her, a person who upon first introduction made me do a mental fist pump while thinking: "Alright, there's someone with a name as equally weird as mine!"

Her name was Salmon.

Yup. Like the fish.

And she's cool like one too.

Going by appearance alone, you might never have guessed that she's a rocker chick.

And that's part of her coolness, I guess. While other gals were busy swooning over the Backstreet Boys and listening to Michael Learns To Rock, her playlist was filled with guys who do know how to rock properly, like the Smashing Pumpkins and the Stone Temple Pilots.

And of course our group went to watch the Pilots together when they came over to Jakarta, 2 years back.

I still have the photos.

And I think that's how I'll remember her by, a cool rocker chick who live her life to the fullest.

Her heart may have suffered physical imperfection, but it was huge and perfect indeed in its metaphysical sense. And the sheer number of people who readily gave her supports in her final days is a testament to that.

Even as this is being written, the whatsapp group dedicated to her is still actively reminiscing the fond memories. It's plain to see, there may be plenty of fish in the sea, but she's the 1 Salmon we'll remember differently.

And I won't be wishing her to rest in peace. Nope.

Rather, I wish her a blast in the afterlife.

So, goodbye, Mon.

Rock on.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

(k)Night Rider


Sometimes last week, I decided to take a different route home, and rode on a microbus.

The driver was a man in his 70s, nicknamed "Opung" (Grandpa) by the microbus community, as he is in fact the oldest guy around that still actively drives the microbus every single day. And that seems legit, because they say even his grandchildren are all already married.

And supposedly, he has been driving microbuses since the early '70s.

So that would be before I was born. A fact that somewhat...rattled me.

I mean, it's not that his driving is bad nor dangerous, because far from that, the guy drives pretty safely and leisurely, if not to say slowly. Opung seemed to gracefully accept the fact that he can no longer compete with the younger drivers and their hustlings, and as such choose to take things at their own pace.

It's just that, at his age, I think he has already earned the right to kick back, relax, and enjoy, you know? Which I'm sure his family would agree on also.

But I guess the guy prefers to spend his time doing something slightly more...productive, in a sense. Since from an economical point-of-view where time is money, he's clearly spending more capital than gaining returns. And that rickety microbus, which is not his and is a rental by the way, is a true reflection that his is definitely not a bling-bling job.

Still, watching him doing his thing humbled me.

Which is why I enjoy these kinds of late night 'adventures', 'coz there's always something interesting or fresh to be learned.

Like that night, in that same microbus, when 3 street kids got on, bringing in their party another passenger: a live chicken.

Apparently, they were supposed to sell the chicken to a fried rice hawker to be cooked, but the hawker turned it down for obvious reason, that being the chicken is still alive and breathing.

I personally believe most hawkers will prefer a ready-to-cook chicken over a living-and-yet-to-be-butchered-then-plucked-clean chicken.

Especially if they plan to spend the night actually cooking dishes, and not plucking chicken feathers.

Anyway, from there, I learned that chickens don't much enjoy microbuses rides.

I'll readily admit that the above is a sweeping statement that derived a general conclusion from just a singular occurrence, but you really should hear the sounds that one chicken was making that night.

They ain't happy sounds.

So if you think you've seen it all, try a night ride on a microbus sometimes.

You just might learn something new.