littlecipi

I’m back, guys!

I know it’s already like more than a week. But I had fun! Really!
I was so sad knowing that I had to go back to Indonesia. I already felt very comfortable living there. But anyways. Here’s my adventure.

I’ll begin from day one.

I wasn’t really able to sleep the night before I went to Hong Kong. I don’t know if it’s because I was nervous or excited. But I knew I had to wake up very early in the morning, so I took a sleeping pill to get me to the dreamland faster.

Since it’s early in the morning, I can’t really expect my parents to drive me to the airport. But luckily, my brother is having his holiday so he can drive me there.

As I expected, the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport wasn’t really crowded that time. Maybe because it’s still early.

I arrived there around 0700 hours, so I immediately went to the check-in counter to get my luggage in and my boarding pass. The funny thing about AirAsia is the boarding pass. It doesn’t really look like a normal boarding pass. More like a receipt to me. (You know, when you buy something from a shopping mart. The receipt is kind of similar to that one.) What surprised me was the fact that I had to pay an airport tax for 100,000 IDR. Which never been told before. But oh well, it’s Indonesia. You gotta prepare yourself for unexpected expenses like that.

Then, I went to grab my pass for the free fiscal thingy. The counter’s location is easy to find. It has a red sign on top of it, so you can’t miss it at all. But well, the easiest way to find it, of course, just go look at the place where it’s most crowded. The loong queue line. You know, Indonesian officers work slow. Slow as a snail. You are familiar with that, aren’t you?

Anywho.

By the time I got my fiscal pass, it was around 0745 hours. My flight was at 0830 hours. So I got myself panic a lil’ bit. I didn’t want to miss the plane, you know?

Oh, before I forgot, if you are planning to go overseas, and to make it faster at the fiscal counter, prepare yourself a copy of your passport and your tax card.

Then after around 15 minutes of waiting, I got into the airplane. The plane was nice. It’s better than I thought. I was expecting something worse actually.

Incase you haven’t know about it, I booked a flight from Jakarta to Malaysia first before I fly to Hong Kong. On the flight to Kuala Lumpur, I met this guy from Slovania. His name is Vojko Grobin. He’s a very nice guy. We chatted a lot about our experiences with the air flights here and there. And he helped me a lot, especially when we arrived at the LCCT International Airport, Malaysia. Plus, he’s a smoker too, so that made things went easier.

I was so starving by that time. Too bad Vojko needed to rush and take the bus to Penang, so he had to left me alone. He gave me his number though, in case I need some help. Haha. So after he left, I walked to the nearest restaurant nearby, which is, obviously, the McDonalds.

Then here, I encountered another problem. I didn’t have any Malaysian Ringgit. I actually have already thought about this the day before. I asked my Mom whether I should bring any Malaysian Ringgits or not, and she told me that I don’t need to. And apparently, she was wrong.

So I was looking around and round for the money changer, for like 15 minutes, and I still can’t find it. I asked a random local dude there..

ME: Excuse me, Sir. Do you know where the money changer is?

DUDE: Huh? Money what?

ME: Money changer.

DUDE: Oh! Bank?

ME: …No no. Money. Changer.

DUDE: Uuhh… money? …I think it’s there. *pointing to the ATM machines*

ME: (trying so hard to not to laugh) Oh ok, nevermind. Thanks anyways.

**********

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

It was funny. Really. Especially with the face expression he gave to me. But oh well. I decided to ask the people again, but this time, I tried with a foreigner. Voila! He knows it well than the previous one.

I rushed to get my lunch after I got my Ringgits. Then this unexpected thing happened. When I was eating my burger, a gorgeous girl went to sit right next to me. She was alone. (At least that’s what I was thinking. )

(As I read from the Esquire’s Men guide to the planet, there is about 2% chance that you’ll meet a single, gorgeous girl in the airport sitting right next to you.)

From how she dressed, I can tell you, it is very, VERY unargueably sexy. To be honest, I was scared to begin a conversation with her. The fact it is not common in Indonesia for us, guys, to start a conversation with girls. The thought that I am gonna look like a freak, kept coming to my head. But oh well, then I thought; what’s the chance that I’ll meet her again?

ME: (with Edward Cullen’s style.) Hello. My name is Nathan. How are you?

Hotgirl: Oh, hi there. My name is Reiko. How are you?

(From here, I definitely knew that she is a Japanese.)

ME: I’m good. Just a lil’ bit nervous.

Reiko: Nervous? Why?

ME: Well. Because this is my first time traveling to another country, alone. How about you?

Reiko: Oooh I see. Don’t worry. Everything is so easy. Just look at the signs and it will get you there. By the way, I’m alone too. So we’re the same. (laughs)

ME: (laughs)

Reiko: So, where are you going?

ME: I’m going to Hong Kong. And you?

(At this moment, I was hoping that she will answer the same destination too.)

Reiko: I’m going to Singapore.

ME: Oooh I see. Holiday trip? *!@%$!% cursing my bad luck in silence.*

Reiko: Yeah. I am going to shop a bit around the Orchard and then go back to Japan. School starts soon.

ME: Ah I see. Singapore has so many great shopping centers. I am sure you’ll be able to find the one you want.

Reiko: Mmmhmm! I know!

(By this time, we’re done eating already.)

Reiko: Umm.. Nathan, I gotta go. My flight is in about a moment.

ME: Oh yeah, me too. Let’s get going to the check-in counter, shall we?

Reiko: Sure!

Actually, it was waaaaay too early for me to check in. My flight was at 1605 hours Malaysian time. And it was only like 1305 hourish that time. So three hours. Haha.

Because our destination is different, so of course, our check-in counter is different too. After we’re finished getting our luggages to the airplane, we went to the some kind of travel check counter. You know, the one who checks the legality of your passport, etc.

It didn’t take us long because there weren’t so many people that time. We walked together to the waiting room and exactly on the way there, I saw something. Something sexy.

(On the way to the waiting room..)

Reiko: Oh! I forgot to take out something from my bag. Hold on.

There, she put her bag onto the ground and bent over. As I got curious too, to look what she was looking for, I looked at her. And I saw..

She was wearing a g-string. A fucking, red, g-string.

I was like, OMG? Not only the sexy outfits, but this? Seriously. My hormones started to pump up after I saw that RIGHT in front of my eyes.

Not to mention, it took her quite a long time to stand up again. Oh my..

“Hold your ground, Nathan. Don’t lose yourself! Self control!”, said the little angel inside my head.

“Nathan! What are you waiting for? Hurry! Take her to the coffee shop and give her a drink! Mix it with alcohol so she can get drunk! Stop being a pussy! BE A MAN!”

And that was the voice of the huge devil inside my head.

Oh shit. I got even more nervous. She was too sexy for these eyes.

ME: Reiko, what are you looking for? Can I help you?

Reiko: Umm.. my book. *still searching*

ME: Have you tried the front pa
rt of your bag?

Reiko: Oh! I haven’t. Let me see.. Oh yeah! It’s in there! *smiles*

ME: (smiles)

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Are you thinking about why I helped her and made her stand up? I’m telling you, it’s not like that I didn’t like to see what I saw, but the thing is, we were in Malaysia. A strong Muslim country. And people were already staring at us that time. Well, staring at her actually. So I didn’t feel right, you know?

But I took her anyways, to the coffee shop. We chatted a bit again there, but it wasn’t long until she got called for her flight.

Reiko: Okay, that’s my flight. Nice meeting you, Nathan.

ME: Aww.. okay. Nice meeting you too. Thanks for the company, Reiko.

Reiko: Thank you too, I’ll see you later. Maybe, someday. (smiles) Bye-bye.

ME: Bye-bye. Take care.

Reiko: You too. *waves*

ME: *waves*

And that was it.

You know what? I don’t really know why I didn’t ask for her number or e-mail to contact her. Seriously. Le FUCKING sigh. For a moment there, I had this thought to change my trip to Singapore instead. Hahaha.

But no, she’s not the one that I’m looking for a kind of serious relationship, alright? That kind of girl is actually so many out there. I bet hookers can look even sexier than her. So yeah.

Anywho.

The time was still at 1420. I’m definitely screwed up now. I have to wait for two freaking hours. Alone. Luckily I got my laptop with me. So I opened it and wrote this all while it’s still fresh in my mind.

Voila! It’s 15.35 now. The time has come. I gotta go now. I’ll continue this post later tonight.

*******************

The flight to Hong Kong from Kuala Lumpur, takes around three hours and fifty-five minutes. And by this flight, I gotta admit. The you-gotta-pay-again-for-food thingy was kind of annoying. I was starving like crazy.

I opened up the menu, and I saw this Nasi Lemak for 9 RM. Or around 27,000 IDR. WTF. So freaking expensive. But I wasn’t able to think or even hold my hunger anymore, so I decided to buy it. A Nasi Lemak with a Pepsi. That’s 14 RM.

I didn’t realize that I only had 12 RM on me. Not until I opened my wallet, of course. I got panic. Don’t blame me though. I was starving. I wasn’t able to think straight.

Then, a grown-up female who sit next to me, told the stewardess that she’ll pay for it. I became speechless. For a moment there, I thought that I was living in a peaceful, perfect world where nobody cares about the money. Who would think a stranger would pay a meal for me. Of course, I thanked her afterwards. I wasn’t that hungry to forget to say thank you, you know.

ME: Thank you so much, Ma’am. I’m sorry for this.

Ma’am: Oh, it’s okay. But you’re welcome. Where are you from?

ME: I’m from Indonesia. And you?

Ma’am: Oh, I’m from the U.S.

ME: Ah! A U.S citizen. Are you coming to Hong Kong for a holiday trip?

Ma’am: Oh no. I live there.

ME: Aaah. Home sweet home, eh?

Ma’am: Yeah. *smiles*

ME: By the way, I’m Nathan. And you’re..?

Ma’am: I’m Betsie. Nice to meet you, Nathan. *gives me her name card.*

Betsie: Nice to meet you too, Betsie.

Betsie: So, you’re on a holiday trip?

ME: Yeah. I’m going to meet up with my friends there.

Betsie: That’s nice. Are they local people or tourist too?

ME: They’re local people. So, I got myself in a pretty good hand. Don’t you think?

Betsie: (laughs) Definitely, yeah. I hope you’ll like it here.

ME: I’m pretty sure, I’ll do. Can’t wait to see the Disney Land. *laughs*

Betsie: Oh yeah, that’s a very nice place. Don’t forget Ocean Park.

ME: Of course! Hmm.. why Hong Kong, Betsie?

Betsie: Well.. mainly because I work here as a teacher at the International school and I just love living overseas.

ME: Ah! Me too! It’s very wonderful to be able to see the other parts of the world.

Betsie: Exactly, yeah! So.. are you graduated already?

ME: Mhmm! I graduated in 2007, as an IT bachelor.

Betsie: Nice! Well then, I think you’ll find it very easy to study here, you know? Compared to the Indonesian curricullum, I think, here, it’s completely easier.

ME: Really? But theory is not enough, though. You know, we don’t have that good research equipments. So we aren’t able to pratice what we’ve learned.

Betsie: Aw… that’s too bad. But yeah, I gotta agree with you. Here, we have a lot of good research equipments. Adequate, I must say.

ME: I know, right. My government is too cheap. (laughs)

Betsie: (laughs)

ME: You know, Betsie. I had this plan to go the U.S. Supposedly by this year.

Betsie: Oh? What happened?

ME: Well, the global crisis you know. It made the deviation of my currency wider. So I thought, probably next year, when things are settled down, I’ll go there.

Betsie: Awww.. I understand. Yea, it’s just bad. Hopefully next year you can make it.

And so we continued with other little stuffs. It’s not long before the plane landed. We immediately grabbed our bags and said good bye.

Here’s another traveling tip if you want to go to Hong Kong. As soon as you got out from the plane, just keep going until you find a train stop. You have to take the train in order to get your luggages. It’s the first stop after the train moves, so you won’t miss it.

Then keep going again, until you got yourself in a huge room contains of multiple rails for the luggages. But before you search for you luggage, go look at the monitor screen above you which shows what flight and which rail is your luggage located. It makes things easier. I didn’t do this at first. So I was confused. I thought my luggage was lost. Haha.

Actually I am going to blame the girl who’s standing right the exit of the plane, with a sign: “Rail #4″. If you were me, you will think the same as I did, right? The luggage for the flight will be at rail number four. So, she tricked me. Well, I don’t know, maybe the girl was just fooling around. You know, having fun with the tourists?

Anywho.

I got myself picked up by my friends, Michelle and Kevin. I know them from Maplestory, so this is our first meet. Before I continue, I know what you’re thinking. No, they’re not a couple. Kevin is Michelle’s father. And yes, I know them both. In fact, I know the whole family which I’ll introduce them to you later.

With warm smile, they welcomed my arrival. So the wait is over. Finally, I’m able to meet up with Michelle, one of the few closest friends of mine I met in game.

Hong Kong International Airport is located at the new island of Lantau. It’s pretty far from the mainland, either Kowloon side or Hong Kong side. So I was pretty lucky to have them.

If you’re traveling to Hong Kong, I suggest you to take the airport taxi (if you have more money) or you can try the bus or the train instead. Most of the hotels there provide you with detailed directions, so the chance of you getting lost is low.

Anyways that’s it for my first day of my adventure. I need to sleep because we’re going to do a lot of things tommorow.