Story from 1st Recital - December 2006

"Hurry!", Angie's voice on my mobile, "it's already 4 o'clock and we are about to do final rehearsal." Damn. How did I know that it will take a long time to get your hair done in a beauty parlor? If it was not for recital, I would not have done that. LOL. I told my taxi driver to go fast, as fast as he could drive to Grand Mahakam. Thanks God, it was Saturday and it only took 20 minutes to reach the hotel.

I went straight to our changing room (we chipped-in a room so that we can use it as our changing room or make-up room) and the ladies were there. We were starting to put our make-up on and while I was trying to put my base on, Chris told me to rehearse with Nicole (salut Nicole! ça va?) as we were late for a piece of "Ana Ayesh" (song by Amr Diab) - this was not our class' dance, but we were "helping" friends in another class because it was only 3 people danced. We did not mind at all as long as we were dancing hehe.

The final rehearsal went OK. We were discussing our stage blocking (not easy to do!) for our performances. "Lingkaaan, you go to Dior's booth and ask them to help with your make-up!", Chris said so. Thanks a lot for your understanding that I needed help for that. I didn't hate make-up, it was just make-up and me didn't get along well. Luckily, the beauty consultants were nice doing their touch-up on my make-up. One of them even saying, "Oh you were the one who performed in Plaza Senayan (for Dior's event)." So sweet she remembered it.

Back to room, we were busy preparing ourselves ready. It was not easy to get a space if you are in a room with 6 other people (plus two - a make-up artist and a hair-stylist hired by a friend). I was in the bathroom when I noticed I forgot something left on my bag on bed. I walked to the bed and didn't realised eyes were staring at me. I went to bathroom again when I wanted to go to the bed (again to take my accessories), suddenly a friend pushed me in, "What the hell were you thinking of?!", she was whispering while yelling. I could only look at her with my "what-did-i-do?" look. "Sweety, couldn't you see there is a man in this room! Didn't you realise you only wear bra and hotpants but you walked back and forth bathroom and bedroom?!," she was starring. What?! How come none told me there was a man in the room? "Is it? Where, where is....he?", while my eyes finally seeing...him...a man....in the room...the hair-stylist. Ooops. "Oh sorry", I replied then went back to bathroom. When I told my friends who were also in bathroom, they laughed at me. Errr. "But, I am sure he didn't see me walking around as he focused himself doing somebody's hair done. Or, perhaps he has been to many events and has seen many half-naked women whose body much much better than I am. Or, he could be gay!", me grumbling and trying to make a self-defense. Well, that was not the right time panicking over a man seeing you walked down the room with top half-naked (sorry mbak Leny, I totally forgot there was a man in the room. was panicking :P)

6.30 PM. Pose time! Yay! We went downstairs to the function room which was quite far. We had to pass through the hotel's coffee shop. So, people were looking as if we were celebrities. Amazed. OK, I am exaggerating. How could not they see us if our hipscarves full with beaded-coins making so much noise? Pose time meaning that you can ask the photographer to take your photos with any poses you liked. My pose is flying with my blue veil which I liked it much as I think the colour match the colour's of the backdrop. We were also taking pose per class. There were not many people performing, it was about 20-30 dancers.


7PM. Show time! I loved the backdrop's design (was it inspired from Princess Jasmine's windows? Ah, wished there was a prince charming on a camel.... A camel?! A camel walks slow, no wonder princes never arrived - excuse my silly thought). The guests could sit on the chairs but they could also sit down on carpets. There were pillows in the carpet. Very nice nuance of middle-eastern night! My class officialy performed 2 pieces of dance; "Alf Leyla, Wa Leyla" (translation: 1001 nights) and "Ashatt" (translation: on the beach. But don't think it literally that we had to dance wearing bikinis....in your dream guys!). First turn is "Ana Ayesh", hurray! I think we did it quite good...5 of us. Some ladies in my class were also helping a Beginner 1A class performing "Nour El-Ain" (this song was quite famous sung by Amr Diab."Habibi, habibi, habibi ya nour el-ain", a part of its lyric whose meaning is "darling, you are glowing....in the dark." ahaha. OK. the correct one is "darling, you are glowing in my eyes" or "darling, you are the lights of my eyes"). The total of dances were 5 or 6 including 2 pieces performed by Christine Yaven, the instructor and the founder of Bellydance Jakarta.


Dinner time afterwards. The food was great in Grand Mahakam Hotel. Oh, we had a surprise party few minutes before dinner. We chipped-in a birthday cake with figure of bellydancer on it for our dearest friend Lynda. We were singing for her but not dancing. We asked her to dance after that hehe. Back to the food, it seemed the guests were also enjoying it. Too bad that they didn't stay long after dinner. They thought party was over without knowing there were some games. Fun and unique games like racing from one side to other side doing bellydance movements and you had to teach a friend of yours a movement of bellydance and many more. Yes, I was also taking part. The prizes were great, who didn't want to get a perfume from Christian Dior as a prize? :D

We went back to the changing room. This time no incident of "there is a man in this room!". We parted and hoped that we could see each other again on our next recital, 2nd Ball and Recital! (Ah Nicole, I didn't realise that it was our last met. I should have taken a cab with you as you offered. Silly me, always think late :P). The party was over but there will be again and again!

See you at 2nd Recital!

Story from 2nd Recital - December 2007

It was not a fine Saturday morning. So cloudy outside. I was tired,too. These intensive rehearsals plus the past rehearsal of family choir really made me exhausted. But, show must go on. Everything was ready. The road to Sultan Hotel (was Hilton) began.

Great, everyone was there. Somehow I wondered why most of them could put on their nailpolish so well, while mine...errr. Rehearsal began. Everyone was busy, the most busiest was surely Christine. The rundown went well until this dance called "Salma Ya Salama". Chris looked at me saying, "Ling and Ria, I want you guys go on to stage and practice this dance. One of the dancers fell sick so she cannot make it. Then I will decide one of you to replace her." Just great. I haven't practiced this dance before, but Ria had because her home-mate Mia (they shared same appt before) was dancing this choreo. Uh-oh. Somehow I wished Chris didn't pick me for this one. "OK, Ling you practice again with Mia. Your pair will be Renata,"Chris confirmed. Argh, why couldn't I say no? I saw Ria was relieved, "I still have to do something, Ling. It's better you replace that lady as the choreo was not so difficult." So in total, I was dancing 4 choreos that nite. Ah, I forgot one thing. I skipped my breakfast.

Time passed by, Lynda and I went to her appartment. Relax for a while, taking shower then heading to Plaza Senayan to get our make-up and hair done in Johny Andrean (somehow I missed Johnnie Walker...darn) salon. Waiting at reception desk, I saw this man amongst the make-up artist of that salon/beauty parlor. Hmm, quite handsome though. "Miss, your turn now, our make-up artist will have the pleasure to do your make-up," said the receptionist. Hurray! That handsome guy will do my make up and I was so happy (I prefer man to do my make up instead of woman if they are make-up artist. I always was satisfied with their job...these men seemed to know how to make-up better than women :P). He didn't know that I was bellydancing, but when I told him my costume etc, he was excited. He was more excited when his job done, "you looked pretty. Are you also having Indian blood? You looked like my auntie," he said softly. Damn. His auntie? I might looked old, hiks. He probably could read my mind, "Oh, but she's so damn pretty, you know? (no, i don't know. i've never met her). Somehow your visage reminded me of her,"he added trying to convince me what he said was true. Yeah, maybe he was true as he was adding more glitter on my face. "To make you more glowing later on stage," he smiled. OK, I liked his job though when I looked at myself at the mirror.

"Sultan Hotel. No one came yet, unless Ed was sitting on a table, but his Santi has not shown up. Lynda and I put on our costumes in one of restrooms. Wow, we looked glowing indeed :P Not only that time costume was bra and skirt, but our make-up looked great. Flashback a bit few weeks before recital, "Ling, our costume this time is bra ya? Please don't mind it," Chris asked. Why should I? "Not at all, go ahead!" me confirmed. I don't mind as the costume will be worn for bellydance purpose. I won't wear the costume for instance shopping or seeing a doctor (hmm, that might be easier for the doc to check you up hehe). Back to recital, guests and students were coming, the room was packed in few minutes, including Dale and Mei who have come far away to see my performance (thank you my couple friend!).

Show was on. Jerry, our MC opened the recital and we began lining-up to our position. First peace was my class' turn, Beginer II, performing "Ah Ya Leil". This choreo has been practiced from the beginning of 2007 and it was not easy as this one has lot of spins. But the movements were elegant moreover if its entrance using spin with the veil (which made my skirt almost fell off my waist in one of my shows with Christine out of town. Later about this). Smile, spin, smile, spin, smile and the choreo finished. Our second choreo was also in first session, "Ariftu Albi Lamin" (it is a sad song, about brokenhearted kind of thing). "No smile for this one! Well, you can smile but act as if you were sad but happy," Chris warned. Sad but happy, how? No grins nor big smile, just a soft smile. At least, it worked. OK, I admit. One of pics caught me in the act that I was smiling, a big smile in this dance (waks!), but I was closing eyes, so as if I enjoyed my sorrow inside my heart (euwww) while doing this dance.

Session one finished. No relax time as the session two will opened by "Salma Ya Salama" piece. This lady who I replaced is bigger than I am. Her costume was purple. I don't like purple. Well, no choice. Uh-oh I didn't know you have to put something under your bolero, I didn't prepare it. "Here take mine," said Mia. Thanks a lot Mia though the top was bit bigger on me, at least I looked like I had cleveage. Yay. Santi lent me her hipscarf matching with the costume (trims ya mbak). Ribut helped me to put the dress on (thanks Mbak Ribut, kita kangen lho sama mbak!). She was so trained how to put the pins or double-tape on your costume so it fit us well. "Salma" was on, thanks God my partner finally was Mia insted of Renata, otherwise I had to dance at front. Chris was dancing at front with her. This one was OK. Off stage. Quick, quick, I had to run for changing costume. 4 dances, 3 costumes. Argh, this last one was not easy to put on. Thanks to class mates who were helping a lot. We helped each other, that called team-work. OK, OK, ready. My cane was also ready.

Going back to function room, hmm, people started to have their dinner. Out of schedule. They were hungry so rundown has to be changed a bit (Promise for this recital, the dinner is served before the show begins). I wanted to have one, but would not be nice if you were dancing with full stomach. Hmm, I had only snacks and no breakfast, no lunch nor dinner - I think I could survive though. Games were played on, it was so amusing that sometime guests were laughed seeing the participants trying to win the prize. This time Shiseido cosmetic sponsored the event.

Finally, "Ya Tab Tab" was on. My class' last piece. Dancing with cane. People there in Egypt call it "Saidi". Cane is the main props. It imitated the cane of the shepherds. Yeah, it's kind of a folk dance or we called it "kampoeng style". Saidi used to be presented by shepherds' wives. They took their husbands' canes and play with the canes (errr, not that kind of canes. men!). Seriously speaking, they were used to be men's canes, but as time passed by with global modernization and hollywood things, the canes are lighter and are fit for dancing. "Kamu terlihat seperti istri gembala yang baik-baik (translation: you looked like as if you are a good wife of a shepherd)," Lynda said this which made me surprised. We were lining-up about to go on stage. Huh? So, my husband-to-be is a shepherd? I would like to know...haha. Where all the good shepherds gone now?Twirling the cane was not easy. At least, this Saidi piece was done OK.

Final parade. All the performers from all levels, Beginner I A to Beginner II, were gathered on stage performing a piece of Drum Solo, "Christine's Drum Solo". When the song finished, we were so excited that we all hugged Chris. Touchy moment. We were relieved. Our hardworks were paid well. We joined in the guests, chatting and cheering. I took photos with Dale-Mei (hope you enjoyed the show!). Tired, went back to changing room. It was a mess. Costumes were all over the tables and carpets. LOL. No dinner as we prefered to change costume again to first costume to take pose with classmates. If the good photographer is in, don't waste your time asking him take your pictures, that was our thought. LOL. Thanks Ed.

What a night. I dropped by buying McD. It's good to live somewhere that you have everything open for 24 hours; McD, ATM BCA, and Circle-K.

See you on 3rd recital!

Just A Dream

Today,
I’ve been listening to this song
It really reminds me of you
how I couldn’t stop thinking of you
and that really hurts me.

What should I do to take you out of my mind?
‘Cause whenever I tried to forget you
somehow things just reminded me of you
I still found your name everywhere
not even your name but name of city you’ve lived.

Am I getting out of my mind?
They probably thought I am.
Sometimes I just want to shout it out,
“Please change your name, please, please!”
I do not hate you, I really don’t.

I just can’t understand
we do not have chances to meet up
after all these years
you are still becoming one of my dreams
that I have to forget.

Was it a date that you gave me?
The year sounded familiar,
the rest didn’t.
I couldn’t remember anything of it.
I’m sorry.

I’ve told myself
“Be patient. Hold your head up high”
every time I met new friends
I imagined how it really felt
if I’d meet you for real.
I thought it would be in the end
But another dream I had to forget
that drove me crazy anyway.

How many times I saw you in my dreams?
I knew you were not the one
who would turn around your back at me.
I hope it was you, who told me,
“Don’t worry. Everything will be OK”
I’ve done everything to forget you
even the foulest one I could do
I did it.

Memories of you
kept coming back on my mind.
I do not blame you,
I do not blame myself,
I do not blame the distance
that keeps us apart.

I should have realised though
I have lost you long time ago
Before I knew it,
I have already lost you.

One day,
I spent my time
to read all the mails from you
Reading every single word you wrote
felt like you were in front of me
speaking to me.
No, I don’t want to run away
No more.

I let you go out of my life
thing that I should have done
many years ago.
We may never communicate again
I do hope you take care of yourself
Oh, don’t worry about me.
Really.

I’m really sure you’ll be OK.
Every time I was worrying about you,
You came up in my dream saying,
“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine”
You probably didn’t know
how I wanted to hug you
after the accident you had
I hope no more pain on your back.

Ah, you might not need me at all that time.
Funny how I shed my tears
for I can’t have a chance giving you a hug
even just a little hug
for the first and the last time
I’d ask no more.
Maybe you were just a dream
that I couldn’t reach
I couldn’t reach your heart either.

All I could do….
Just to think of you
that I have to forget
Just to see you from afar
that I have to close my eyes soon.
Funny to think
Better not to meet you at all.

Time flies,
If someday we meet by chance,
Perhaps I wouldn’t recognise you,
you wouldn’t recognise me either.
Or if we do, we’d laugh at it
At times we’ve spent together
that I really enjoyed
spending every second with you.

I’ll be fine
My heart might be broken
But not my life
that I still have to carry on.
Adieu, cheri.

==written on 17 November '05==

Why PNG?

“Why (do you have to go to) PNG?” I’ve heard this question many times few weeks before going to Papua New Guinea. Actually, the answer is really simple. The job required me to be based in Port Moresby. Since Port Moresby is the capital city of Papua New Guinea, so I had to go to PNG. See, isn’t it a simple answer? Moreover, I need the job to support my family, too.

That was why I decided to go. I’ve told my friends and my big family (parents, brother, uncles, aunties, and cousins) that I was about to go to PNG. Some of them were happy, some of them were confused, and the rest told me not to go. Even one told me that his staffs did not want to go there, but I didn't really care for what he was saying as I ended up going (later I understood that was probably his way to keep me staying in town - to work for him. Too bad, I always understood things related to guys late. More about this later lah).

Some of them were happy to hear that I was getting a new job abroad even they were not sure where PNG is. Others were confused and asked me why I had to go to PNG especially after I resigned from my previous job. The rest told me not to go because they thought PNG is one of the unsafe places to live in the world. I knew that Port Moresby is the capital city of PNG since I was in elementary school 14 years ago. Every time the school bell rang in the afternoon, my teacher often asked some questions such as “What is the capital of (one country)?” The one who knew the answer correctly; he/she would be permitted to go out of the class earlier. That was why I looked at the map to find out what the capital city of PNG is, so if she asked that question, I would be going out of the class earlier and it did happen (hurray!). I’ve never thought that I’d be going there that time.

I haven’t heard more information about PNG ever since except once I’ve read by chance the PM in PNG was Bill Skate (Sir William Skate at time when I wrote this one) in 1990’s?. That was why when he called to office (he was the first caller I received when I was starting to work in the Embassy. "William Skate", he said. I was saying to myself, "this name is so familiar. i've heard this name before"). It is so sad that Mr. Skate passed away few days after New Year 2006. OK, back to topic, when I was told that I have to be ready for going to PNG, I was interested to seek more information about this country. Deep down in my heart, I wanted to go. Some of friends and family gave their supports so I was sure to go. But, in the other hand, few people told me not to go and that made me sure that I wanted to go to PNG.

I am glad I went to PNG! :)

==written in June '05==

The Answer Is....

Let’s review all of the points of the reason one by one.

“I was going to PNG to get married and spend the honeymoon time there…”

It is a real incorrect one. I got the inspiration from an aunt who was telling my mother that she was sure that I was going to announce my wedding day on my last family choir rehearsal. “I am sure she’s going to let us know about her wedding day this time hehe”. Indeed, I gave an announcement that time to my family choir that I’d be going to PNG and it had nothing to do with any wedding day at all. LOL. Mom was telling me about it. I couldn’t stop lol…laughing out loud. My aunt has a daughter who’s the same age as I am; probably it is her daughter who is about to get married. Don’t know how she got the idea, probably because she saw me wearing a ring in my finger. It’s not an engagement ring anyway but a birthday present from mom’s sister.

“I was going to PNG to come along with husband…”

Hahaha, one afternoon a friend in Jakarta and I were communicating through messenger and we haven’t met each other for about 2 years, he was asking where I was – I replied I ‘ve been in PNG, then he was asking what I did in PNG – I replied that I’ve been working in PNG, then he asked another question “Ikut suami? (=Were you going to PNG to come along with your husband?”). I didn’t reply anything but was laughing out loud (luckily boss wasn’t around). Whose husband? My husband? What husband? Finally, he knew I was still single.

“I was given new assignment there since the bank where I worked would like to open a new branch”

No, it’s not true. I have resigned months before I went to PNG. I’ve got the inspiration from another aunt who was asking me, “Is the bank going to open a new branch there?” She thought that I’d move to Papua province (western part of Papua island – it’s part of Indonesia).

“I got a new job that the base is in POM…” sounds the correct answer.

If you’d like to know more, go to “Why PNG?”

==written in June '05==

Reasons why I was going to...

PNG.

Do you really want to know?

Here are the reasons, whether they are true or not, you may read and pick one you like best. LOL.

¨ I was going to PNG to get married and spend the honeymoon time there. Since it’s one of Pacific countries, you can imagine how exotic (I like this word ‘e-x-o-t-i-c’) the wedding would be. Have you ever imagined walking down the aisle accompanied by “The Hawaiian Wedding Song”? -This is the moment I’ve waited for I can hear my heart singing la la la la la etc- Hehe…try something new than the “Wedding March” (please oh please, there are many great songs for this part other than this hmm...hymn.)"

¨ I was going to PNG to come along with husband who works in PNG. What a loyal companion, aren’t I? "

¨ I was given new assignment there since the bank where I worked would like to open a new branch in Port Moresby (POM)"

¨ I got a new job that the base is in POM and I took the job to earn a living"

Which one of them is correct?

To be continued to “The Answer is….”

==written in June '05==

Road to PNG

My journey to PNG began on Sunday, December 19, 2004. My parents, my brother, my uncle, my auntie and my two cousins, they all accompanied me to the airport. We were going to the domestic flight terminal since I had to fly to Jayapura (the capital city of Papua province) first before crossing the border to go to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

My flight schedule to Jayapura was at 21 pm (GMT +7). But, it was delayed for 30 minutes. I was a bit nervous since it was my first time going abroad, not to mention my first time to go to Jayapura…alone…by myself. There was a little bit accident in the plane. Instead of sitting on seat 8A, I was sitting on seat 9A. A little bit embarrased…lol. Then, I moved to seat 8A, next to the window, just like I wanted it to be. Perfect! And, I found out the one who sat next to me was a young good-looking guy…super! We talked about lot of things but we didn’t exchange any contact number though. After we had our dinner, we fell asleep.

The flight destination was Jakarta to Merauke (the easternmost city of Indonesia located in Papua province) with 2 stopovers at Makassar and Jayapura. My "new friend" who sat next to me got off in Makassar. After saying goodbye to each other, I went to the waiting room. The transit time was scheduled for 40 minutes. I was supposed to fly to Jayapura from Makassar at 2 am (GMT +8), but the flight was delayed for another 3 hours. So, the plane took off for Jayapura at 5 am (GMT +8). This time that sat next to me was an elderly couple. The husband of the lady was a linguist – they went to Jayapura to see their daughter’s family and to get involved in a project to make a translation of bible in Indonesian language version into a local language of an ethnic in Papua province. I wasn’t sure whether they were coming from Netherlands or USA. I was about to speak in English to them but had to call off my plan since they always talked to me in bahasa Indonesia. They told me they used to live in Jayapura for more than 25 years and they amazed when I told them it was my first time going to Papua Nugini via Jayapura. They were so nice – when we were about to arrive in Jayapura, the old lady explained to me a little bit about Lake Sentani that we could see it through the window.

The plane landed on Sentani airport, Jayapura at 9 am (GMT +9) on Monday, Dec 20. I had to wait for 15-20 minutes to collect my baggage. I was sending sms to my boss’ wife since she was the one who would pick me up at the airport. Then, she came and we went to my boss’s house in Jayapura. I spent a night there and on Tuesday, Dec 21, we- my boss’s wife, my boss’s youngest son, my boss’s sister and I- went to Vanimo (a city in the northern part of PNG). It took 2 hours to reach the border (Skouw) and we were passing through the border of Indonesia – PNG (Skouw-Wutung) then it took an hour to go to Vanimo from the border (Wutung). We spent a night in Vanimo and on Wednesday, Dec 22 we flew to Port Moresby (POM) using Air Niugini, the national flag carrier of PNG. The plane took off at 11 am (GMT +10). At last, we arrived in POM at 13.30 pm (GMT +10).

==written in June '05==