December 2020

It's December 2020
You're scrolling through the timeline
With media outlets links saying
"2020 a year in pictures"

You see pictures of people wearing masks
with their faces glooming like winter evening
You see pictures of empty cities
ghost towns, in lock-downs

You see pictures of doctors
scanning through scans with eagle eyes
You see pictures of nurses
with their brave fronts and assuring hands

You see pictures of scientists
unraveling a seemingly endless puzzle
You see pictures of frontline workers
giving their best in a seemingly endless hustle

You foolishly laugh at pictures of people
clearing off supermarket shelves
But you proudly smile
at strangers taking care of one another

You see wandering cruises
floating on the ocean
of uncertainties and worries
Filled with hearts yearning of home

You wonder at the scene of empty streets
houses with windows and doors shut
But you remember the cries of support
and music echoing hopefully in neighbourhoods

You see pictures of angels and warriors
the world should, but doesn't see
You hear voices and cries of hope
cutting through the isolating barriers

It's December 2020
You wonder how the world did it
To cross this ocean of uncertainty
this anxious planet has plunged in to

You think of people
who have lost the battle
And the angels and warriors
braving themselves in the front line

It's December 2020
A vaccine is on its final stages of development
You've lost count to the number of times,
that you've washed your hands

You've just finished eating an apple
after a good workout
Still wondering how we did it
and wondering what's ahead

I hope this poem brings some comfort to you in this anxious times. Don't forget to wash your hands often, stay hydrated, eat more veg, get enough sleep and exercise. Take care of yourself and one another! Check back on this again in December, we'll get through this.

Anxious Times

So it's been 12 days since Indonesia announced the first two cases of COVID-19 and the number of cases has been increasing. I'm not surprised because we know how rapid it can spread in the community. From the way the government is handling it... Well I can just say we're not ready for a pandemic. I would say this is a test for Indonesia, and I hope we can win this battle victoriously.

The world as we live in today isn't really a good place to be in. I mean this planet is really an anxious planet and now we have to face this whole ordeal. Although like I said in my previous post, this is the planet as we know it. We live among viruses out there. This is a new virus that infected the human race and the world is battling it all together. Still the best defence we can have is to wash our hands often, keep our body fit and practise social distancing. Don't go out if it's not something necessary!

I think all of us need to recognise that this is no longer a "XXX country is responsible to contain the virus" or that a country is responsible for the outbreak. This has become a global fight and every country has to play a part to curb the infection. Or as we know it now, to flatten the curve. Some countries are doing a fantastic job (hello Singapore and South Korea) while others are in progress to do it (like Italy and other European countries). And now Indonesia has joined the battle too.

Okay there's another video I want to talk about but that's for another post.

My social media and the news of TV is filled with news and updates on COVID-19. It's not a fun place to be in for an anxious person like me. I'm torn between wanting to quit social media and wanting to stay update because I wanna see the current situation. To be honest this feels like SARS and H1N1 all over again, but with more information coming in, flooding in, at a higher speed with the availability of social media and so on. Come to think of it I didn't have a phone during SARS, and I was still using my Nokia N82 in Sec 4 haha. My source would be the local TV back then in Singapore.

I can still remember switching the TV to CNA whenever I came back home to see the update on H1N1. How many people are infected, and if there are any deaths on that day.

Now I get the information on the palm of my hand, through Twitter, Facebook and the occasional updates I get from people via WhatsApp haha. I would say I am really just using the platform to keep myself updated. At the same time I do read up on a lot of articles regarding the virus too. So that I know which is true or fake, and to also update myself with knowledge. Knowledge is power still! 

Looks like my 3 years of Biomed education didn't go to waste in this situation haha.

So I try to calm myself down. Even though reading news of spikes in cases in various countries, and news of death tolls can really make me feel anxious. Maybe I'm too empath of a person heh. And there's one thing that really makes me feel sad, angry and disappointed at humanity. It's when people mock my country/government whenever there's news about the COVID-19 situation here in Indonesia.

I understand that my government may not be as competent as yours. I understand that we might not have the best technology in the Biomedical field as compared to yours. I understand that my government makes decisions that may make you raise your eyebrows. I think this is the first time (correct me if I'm wrong) that my country is facing such pandemic situation. I too feel that some of the decisions that they make is a bit questionable (like not being fully transparent and slow moving). But I'm just going to let them do their job. Criticising and mocking them at the current moment won't make the whole situation better. I mean sure, it might make them listen to our plights and suggestions.

My point is, I don't think my country's incompetency and inexperience is a reason for you to mock and celebrate the misery of its people. I mean I saw someone comment a "finally" on a news of the first fatality of COVID-19. And how people repeatedly mock the "prayers" comment. I know I shouldn't have seen the comment section but sometimes they just appear opened on my timeline heh.

Like I really don't get it? Does it bring you joy to write such comments?

We're already living in terrifying times of uncertainty. Let us all be kinder to one another shall we.

Redeeming Myself

Alright this is a continuation post from last week's post about Java Jazz. As mentioned, the theme of this year's Java Jazz is "Redeem Yourself Through Music", and I think that's such a beautiful theme! Well personally as a music lover, I would say music is one way which I take to "redeem" myself. It's a platform of escape, a platform of reminiscent and a platform of bliss. In one way or another I am able to redeem myself through this platform, from all the not-so-good things that I went through/experienced.

Personally there is one main reason why I go to gigs. It's not only to show my support for my favourite artists and to enjoy their performance, but I think it revolves mainly around escaping reality for a while. To me music is my escape. Every night I would listen to music and it does give me a short moment of relief from the overwhelming waves that hit me through the day/week.

And enjoying music, especially in a live format, is I think a pinnacle of music enjoyment. There is just a sense of euphoria and thrill catching your favourite bands/musicians live, and you can never get it from simply listening to their music at home. In that moment, you truly find a euphoric bliss.

I'm not gonna lie there are times where I keep on telling myself that I don't want to go to gigs/music festivals anymore I feel like I'm too old for it! Haha. Especially since last year's WTF where I just feel like I'm surrounded by so many young people (by young I mean in their teens or early 20s haha) and here I am, someone who's almost thirty still going? Hahaha. But of course I see many people of my age who go to the festival too so I shouldn't feel old heh. And of course, there's no age limit to gigs I guess?

But yeah something just keeps pulling me back and back again. Like I'm always looking forward to it. I remember wanting to not go for last year's WTF but I still ended up going. Although I did sort of "limit" myself more this time, I am not as wild as I used to be haha. Now I just go for gigs/festivals if the artist/band playing is one that I really really love a lot. Back then, I'd try to go for every gigs haha.

So yeah, I truly love the theme of Java Jazz because it truly reflects why I go to music festivals for - to redeem myself through music! Haha. I think I'm going to use that as a theme for every music festival I go to heh. I'm not sure when is the next one, especially now that the COVID-19 situation has cancelled many concerts that are happening soon here around the region. I do hope the situation will get better ASAP and return to normal. It must have been a very distressing times for musicians and fans!

Alright that's all from me now. Be right back redeeming myself through music... In my room :P

Ignorance Vs Virus

So on Monday, it is announced that Indonesia has detected 2 patients who are infected by the COVID-19 virus. They have both been isolated and sent to a hospital for treatment, and they're doing well now! Thankful for that. But hmm, just like many other countries out there, there was a panic scenario that happened on Monday-Tuesday since the announcement was made. It's just 2 cases thus far...

People were panic buying in supermarkets. Masks were being hoarded and some have the audacity to sell it at a higher price WTF! And unashamedly saying "it's for business/money-making". Hello people are trying to protect themselves and they use this moment to make money?! ARGHH. Okay yes I was pissed hearing all these news. It's seriously ridiculous for people to do all of these.

See the thing is I'm not really afraid of COVID-19 (okay just kidding, I'm worried haha). But the thing is... Virus has been around in this planet for probably millions of years. They have been a resident of this planet that we all share as home. It is part of the planet, and thankfully we have the consciousness and ability to protect ourselves from them. By keeping our immune system and health up, and so on. And if in worst scenario we get infected, we have the facility for treatment. Even though at the end of the day, our immune system is the one that does the work for viruses. 

Oh and not forgetting: We have vaccines!

So as of now, the best thing we can do to protect ourselves from the virus is to really keep our immune system up. By eating healthily, get enough sleep and keep ourselves hydrated. As to avoid the virus, we can keep our hygiene up by washing our hands frequently, avoiding crowded places and isolating ourselves if we are not feeling well. And wear a mask if we have to be out and about.

See, I'm more afraid of one thing: our ignorance! I'm more afraid of people panic buying, hoarding masks and thus depleting our supplies. I'm more afraid of irresponsible people who sneeze/cough without covering their mouths. People who go to crowded places even though they are sick. And so on.

We have the ability and capability to protect ourselves and others from the virus. And all of these panic buying isn't helping a single bit. All of these irresponsible acts are not helping either. So yeah, do what we can do and take care of ourselves and others. It's really that simple.

On the other hand, I really wish that we can all go through this worrisome period in health and safety. And to all the people who have been infected, may you have a speedy recovery and be back in great health quickly! I really applaud some of the measures that different countries have taken. Especially in Singapore. I went through H1N1 and SARS in Singapore, and I have faith in the SG government really.

To be honest... I kinda believe that we might have more undetected cases here but let's hope not. I mean the number of Chinese tourists who entered Indonesia before the travel ban was put in place is a lot. There might be some tourists who carried the virus. We might not know. And also some other travelers from other countries. But lets just hope I'm totally wrong. We can do this Indonesia!

Take care everyone in this current COVID-19 situation. Don't forget to wash your hands often!

Java Jazz 2020!

"Redeem yourself through music"

Beautiful festival theme!

Right so here's my post about the lovely Saturday spent at Day 2 of Java Jazz 2020!

Left my hometown at 11 AM thinking that I'll reach at about 2-3 PM so that I can have lunch first. Nope! There were traffic jams on my way to Jakarta, twice! First was during a factory workers' release and another one was some contraflow? Apparently one whole lane of the highway was closed, probably because some government official was going through it. I ended up reaching at 4:30 PM, when the first band I wanted to catch (T-Square) plays at 5 PM. So I just went straight, exchanged my ticket and enjoy the show. But boy was I hungry! Ended up holding my hunger for 3 hours hahaha. Worth it.

T-Square!!! They're so so good.

I can't believe I actually managed to catch T-Square live! I used to listen to lots of their music back in Secondary school days, when I first joined band and discovered "Omens of Love". I couldn't remember which concert, if I'm not wrong it was SP Band (back in 2006) and we were supporting one of our alumni. Discovered the song and T-Square, along with some of their new music. But I did not catch up on their new music, but I enjoyed watching their videos on YouTube. And their show was incredible!

They opened up with Omens of Love, followed with some of their classics like Truth and Twilight In Upper West. And also their newer songs like Love Game. Okay seriously I am blown away by their performance. They are SO GOOD. Like I was just speechless at the end of their set, it was incredible! All the bass, guitar, keys, drums and saxophone solos were incredible. They seriously made me feel like learning how to play all these instruments. And their drummer Senri Kawaguchi is seriously wow! She's only 23, so so talented!!! Still speechless from their set now haha. Still thinking about it!

Caught the last bit of Mondo Gascaro set. Dan Bila is beautiful <3

Next I went to rush to catch Mondo Gascaro but he was also playing at 5:15 PM so I could only catch the last bit of his performance. Managed to see his duet with Rien Djamain and his final song, Dan Bila. I hope to see him live again, no luck this time round :( See you soon Om Mondo!

Maya Hasan ABBA Revival project

After that I went to walk around the Festival ground to get myself familiarise with the area. Then I went to see Maya Hasan with her ABBA Revival project. Her Harp playing is so incredible! I would say it's in an interesting project to have ABBA played on the harp. There was also a harmonica player (sorry I couldn't catch his name) but his performance of Lay All Your Love On Me was superb!

Me: Mas minta nasi jeruk, tapi nasi nya aja

Mas: *shocked pikachu face* 

So by this time I was ravaged with hunger. Haven't eaten a proper meal in almost 15 hours! I just ate some snacks in the car haha. I went to get some food and... As usual there's no vegan food available haha. I went to each of the food truck and the best option I got was this umm nasi jeruk combination. It's supposed to be rice + egg + chicken/lamb/squid. So I went to the food truck guy and asked for rice only. He looked so shocked haha. But I explained that I'm a vegan and I couldn't find any food. The crew from the truck looked so shocked too hahaha. But they gladly sold a bowl of rice for me

Bakmi Gang Kelinci has saved the day with the vegan bakmi

Anyway it's my fault, I didn't realise that there was another area for food. With more options! I was walking around when I see bakmi gang kelinci. I tried this once back before I was a vegetarian and it's really good. I went to ask the lady at the stall if I can have a plain bakmi and she was like why plain?! I told her I'm vegan and she was like "What do you want? Let me cook for you. Nasi Capcay, Mi Capcay, Vege Bakmi". I ordered the veg bakmi and it was filled with mushroom and bakchoy. The noodle was flavourful. Bakmi Gang Kelinci you saved my life haha. Please have it in every music festival!

I then just walked around more and discovered a karaoke session at the Teh Botol Lounge area haha. It was really fun singing old songs with people. And of course we have a Via Vallen karaoke session. I was just waiting for The Jacksons set. This is when... Things started to go a bit awry.

This was the queue to The Jacksons :O

Okay so The Jacksons was supposed to play at 10 PM. My plan was to catch them, and then rush to see PREP at 11. I was waiting around the hall when I realised that the time was 9:20 PM, but there was no instructions about going inside the hall. It was 9:40 PM when we were instructed to start queuing up. And we even queued in the rain for a bit heh. I entered the hall at 10:20 PM and I thought to myself... I don't think I'll get to see them. It was 10:40 PM and people were still queuing and entering the hall. I asked the organiser when they will start but they just said soon.

I really really wanted to see The Jacksons but PREP was the main reason why I went to Java Jazz in the first place. I understand that they put a "time is subject to change" warning on their lineup so well... I just decided to see PREP instead. I knew if I waited, I won't see PREP so yeah.

And when I went to PREP's hall wow there was already a queue to go inside! Haha. This was like 15 minutes before their set. I couldn't imagine if I were to come slightly later, I might not even go inside heh. I ended up being on the last in the queue to the middle of the hall, when everyone who sat down, stood up. Well at least I get to see them so no complaints! It was a huge hall thankfully.

Always a good time with PREP :)

PREP was great as usual. This is my third time seeing them live and they're still as good! They played two of their new songs and I had a good time dancing and singing to their songs. But hmm well I went to their show at Hard Rock Cafe back in 2018. I have to be honest, I prefer their performance back then. The crowd was good and it was more intimate. But I'm glad that more people managed to see em live this time round! After all, their top listeners are from Jakarta mwahaha. Thank you so much for coming to Jakarta again guys! I hope you had a great time and see you soon here again :D

Went home after that and it was raining! Walked in the rain for a while when I was trying to get to the car haha. But somehow the mood was nice, being in the rain on my way home, remembering all the great times I had on that Saturday with some lovely music! After all it was my first gig in like 7 months. First gig of 2020 and I hope more to come. It was a lovely Saturday indeed, despite the jam.

This time round however, the lineup god wasn't on my side haha. It was truly an either-or festival. Usually I'm lucky to manage to see the bands/artists that I want to see on the festival day. But this time round I was forced to really choose which one to catch. It was either T Square of Mondo Gascaro, Jacksons or PREP. Well I hope I'll have better luck next time. Till the next gig, see you!

Under The Weather (Again)

Hello! It's been so long since I last blogged and that's simply because... I fell sick. Again! This time round it's quite bad as I had to be put on drips. Yikes. So basically I was sick for the whole of second half of last week whew. I just recovered fully on Tuesday. This is how it went. 

So last Wednesday (19/2) I started having fever at night. Actually I was already feeling rather feverish on Wednesday dawn. I was having some flu symptoms (blocked nose and constant sneezing). On Wednesday I woke up with a sore throat. It wasn't a bad sore throat, just painful when swallowing food. And then on Wednesday night the fever got worst, and on Thursday dawn, I was down with a fever of 38.3! And you know how much I panic when I have fever. Had fever since like 3 AM till 7 AM.

On Thursday I lost my voice. Not exactly like lost my ability to speak but my throat felt so numb I couldn't even like speak properly. And I continued to have fever for the whole day. It was very unpleasant really. I was just spamming water and chamomile tea throughout the day haha. It did kinda help. But on Friday I still woke up with a fever. It's lower this time though like 37.6 ish. But I was having a really bad headache since Thursday and I thought I was having dengue!

The blood test came negative. But since my fever lasted for 3 days, and my headache isn't gone, and I'm allergic to all fever/headache medicines, doctor asked me to be put on drips. Also my blood was very concentrated and that's why I'm having constant headaches. After the drips session, I was feeling much better. At least I can walk quite freely then. On Saturday I was still recuperating and Sunday I was feeling much much better, except for the remaining sore throat. But I wasn't having fever or headaches! 

So I thought I had recovered right... And I was wrong. I was down with a fever again on Sunday night and a huge round of nausea! Damn it. I was scared that I had dengue (cause usually the virus is detected 3-5 days after infection). Went for another blood test and thankfully it's still negative. I was just given anti nausea medicine and thankfully by Monday night I was feeling much better.

I only returned to work on Tuesday and yeah it was the first time in almost a week that I actually felt "normal" and healthy. No fever, no nausea no sore throat heh. I think there's a flu bug going around here. My workers were sick and my father got sick too. Then I got sick and my mum followed heh. Not sure what and why. Perhaps it's the change of weather. Cause the rain and sunny days are interchanging weirdly... In February. It's so hot in the afternoon but it rarely rains!

Anyway here I am now! It's the last day of February tomorrow and I will be going to Java Jazz whoop whoop. I wanted to cancel the trip but I've been feeling great these past 3 days. My sore throat disappeared too. I'm gonna enjoy the last day of February and this special leap day with some great music! Catching T-Square, Mondo Gascaro and PREP! And some other acts too.

I hope you had a Fabulous February. Please take care of yourself too, especially in times like these. Drink lots of water, wash your hands often and keep it up with the fruits and veg. Let us all march towards a Marvelous March! I will see you with some photos and story of the festival :)

Happy Ji-It Meh!

Happy Ji-It Meh!

Today is a special day for us here in my hometown as we celebrate Ji-It Meh (21st of the first lunar month). Or also known as the usual Cap-Go Meh (15th of the first lunar month, or the end of CNY) festivity. It's also known as 元宵节 or the lantern festival. But instead of celebrating it on the 15th, we celebrate it on the 21st. If I'm not wrong, the reason why we celebrate it on the 21st is because in the old days the lion and dragon dance troupe would travel from Bogor, Cianjur (neighbouring towns) and my hometown. But since they can't be on the 15th in 3 different cities, the festivities were spread across different times. Cianjur was held on Tuesday I think. And my hometown's on the 21st.

We haven't celebrated this on a big scale like today for 5 years. The last time this was held on a big scale was on 2015, and that's only near the temple grounds. This year we went all out to the main streets of my hometown haha. Which was quite a surprise! Anyway thankful that the event went on smoothly. Kudos to the organisers and everyone else involved. It was a great celebration!

My cousins and I carrying the sedan for Hou Ciang Kong

Went to meet my cousins Febi and Nanan at Iyo's shop before the event started. I really didn't expect the parade to reach quickly. They started at 3 PM and by 4:30 is they already reached my cousin's shop which is quite far away. When I reached it was just nice that they arrived too. Met Febi and Nanan and we went around with the parade taking turns to carry the sedans of the deities, with other people too.

Salute to the all-ladies crew carrying the Guanyin sedan

I forgot to bring a towel so I was carrying the sedan right on my shoulder. And I'm so gonna be prepared to have painful shoulders tomorrow haha. The sedans are heavy. Well most probably someone is sitting inside (AKA the deities) so yeah. Met with some of the folks from my hometown and we just carry on taking turns to carry the sedans as we parade through my hometown.

Interesting experience carrying someone who's on a trance

Something interesting happened during this. Nanan and I were asked to help carry the sedan from a temple from Jakarta. And we gladly went. But... We didn't know we were carrying a sedan with a man in trance on it! And boy it was so heavy haha. It's quite gruesome to see the man's back with blood but I understand he's on a trance. It was a sedan for Ne Zha, famous in Chinese folk story. The interesting thing was... I'm not sure if it's physics of what, but we couldn't walk in a straight line. Me and the people carrying the sedan were just trying to keep a straight path haha. Interesting.

We didn't follow the parade back to the temple as we have a long walk home so we parted with the parade halfway back to my aunt's place. And then Nanan sent Febi and me home. It was a great Friday and Ji-It Meh indeed. I hope we can do this again next year with more of my cousins!

Happy Ji-It Meh once again everyone :)