Back to the forum, I was just there for about two hours but right from the first half I learned so much from those students. I self reflected my life when I was their age. I was blown away seeing them speak up their minds, negotiate their aspiration within the other students that they haven’t met before, perform diplomacy, discuss serious ideas under the umbrella of Climate Change with subtopics which they were divided to; Biodiversity, Energy, and Natural Disasters. I observed how they moved their heads, hands, whole body gesture and recorded with my visual capacity inside my -sometimes dull sometimes very sharp and bright- brain, I listened to them, how they delivered their words, the intonation et cetera et cetera and was I very impressed because they could deliver their arguments and opinions with strong foundation with such confidence without having to patronise their peers. How could they do that? Maybe they have been used to it? Maybe they want to be a minister or work for the UN or any international affair related jobs in the future? Not sure but one thing I found out they were given material to read and study weeks prior.

I remembered when I was their age, I and my friends always just sought for fun, happy hour movie every Monday, looked for concerts, entertainment festivals, spent parents’ money in a cafe or karaoke etc. I’m not saying it’s completely wrong or such a waste of young life. In fact, I’m happy having those experiences and memories. However, having seen these students made me somehow jealous that I wish I could’ve done more than “having fun”.

Another thing I learned was how I changed my own perspective about “youth forum”. To be completely honest, I’ve always hated anything that declares as “young leadership forum” “United Nation model conference” you name it. Reason being, from my own experience (I was in some of the similar programs) I always felt uncomfortable and useless, even I blamed the forum as useless. I was like Radiohead’s song “I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo, what the hell am I doing here, I don’t belong here”. Every single word of that part. In one of the forums, one of the participants called me “shy” because I barely spoke. Maybe I was but to be honest I just hated being there, I felt forced to be somebody that I was really not. Many of them I saw as very competitive not in a healthy way because they always wanted to be heard of without willing to listen to others, wanted to be an agent of change or change-maker whatsoever but did we really change anything after? I hated all those outspoken bitches and bastards who always showed off, talked big words but maybe didn’t even know what they’re talking about. That was my thoughts back then, now I’m more acceptive and understanding of what happened. I think I have this privilege to reach this understanding because things that I had and people I met ever since that taught me to be less hating and blaming most things blindly and I want to clarify that not ALL those youth forums I attended were nightmares, a few of them really impressed me and changed my life, lessons learned from them still affected me in my decision making process to date.

Now that I’m much older than those Footscray’s students, I’m not the wisest for sure but I saw something that why school students need to attend this kind of activity especially when the organisers designed the project really good because they will learn much more than all of those physical activities they’re doing during the “class”. They will have these soft skills that will be applicable for everyday life such as; working in a team with people from different backgrounds, communication skills, leadership, and critical thinking. Let me break them down below.

Teamwork: working within a team is always challenging because we deal with different heads, ego, and case sensitive related to religion, belief, cultural background. So the students will learn how to place themselves among their peers, how to be less selfish, speak and listen with such balance, build relationship with their teammates, different approach to talk to every single one maybe so they don’t upset anybody’s belief or culture. Talking about serendipity, in teamwork, in an extended scale, they will also learn about multiculturalism and interpersonal communication skills, how they relate or associate themselves to others around them. Skills that are very needed and important in this more and more globalised and borderless world.

Communication skills: how to think fast and be well spoken. How to map minds in a timely manner and present them into verbal delivery effectively and efficiently.

Leadership: how to stand out effortlessly and have the ability to accommodate all the differences. Being a boss and being a leader are completely two different figures and no show-off bitches and bastards please. If there were, as a counterhand in a busy restaurant or supermarket would say “next pleeeease…move bitch!”

Critical thinking: this is a new thing I got from the forum. We’ve always been used to and somehow fabricated to have this “problem solving skills”. If y’all working in hospitality, an NGO, an advertising company, must be familiar with this as stated in the job ads. From the forum, I asked myself how can you solve the problems if you don’t have the ability to identify them critically in the first place as that should be the foundation? If the foundation is great, the pillars and everything above will follow. Does this make sense? I think so (?). So maybe again maybe we should not start with “so what’s the solution” because maybe again maybe that will create an impatient generation that wants practically everything happen instantly. Maybe again maybe if they are trained to have these problem identification skills with critical thinking approaches from such young age, they will grow appreciating the processes of everything they’re doing and it’s about time to see the beautiful results? Maybe yes maybe…this is what I learned from the forum.

Soft skills as mentioned above will be very useful no matter what they are in the future, whether they are a manager in a capitalistic corporation, a hippie that runs and leads an organic cooperative which always fights against capitalistic model of economy, a cleaner, a housekeeper, or a concierge in The Grand Budapest Hotel, a well respected moviemaker, et cetera et cetera…que sera sera!

That’s all my lessons learned from the forum I attended today. Maybe again maybe (why do I keep saying this!) I have all privilege to be able to identify those and write them down here because all the things that happened to me and again the people I met. It’s always about the people, support system that helps us grow as a human being. Again, I’m not the wisest because I also always hate people…hmm I don’t know, I just do LOL but when I saw the students I just really felt the need to share what I learned because I thought it’s not just interesting but also important if not urgent.

Thank you for reading and enjoy your day, whether it’s fun or lousy.

State Library of Victoria, Melbourne October 24th.

What is exciting about traveling other than taking lots of pictures and getting impatient to share them to social media so everyone gets jealous? I figured it’s always something that cannot be captured in an actual visual medium. How can you take a picture of the kindness of a barista who gave you a voucher for free coffee because they could relate to your current story and situation or a restaurant owner who gave you extra dish and chilli when they excitedly knew you love spicy food?

Few months ago, I went to Brisbane and headed down to Sunshine Coast with no itinerary at all. I was just getting out of the island as I was waiting for my new work contract and visa extension approval. I waited for uncertainty so instead of spending my time on the island, jobless but still had to pay rent and being useless (or maybe I have been, haven’t we all?) I was thinking a holiday could be more productive. So I booked a flight and got the hell out.

I arrived in Brisbane and took a bus to my caravan accommodation as I shared the story on the previous post. Living in caravan itself was nice. That was the time I got to be “myself” again. I indulged myself with my hobbies, just let the day be, slept as long as I was asleep, and got off the bed and out whenever I wanted to for days. For someone whose sleep pattern has been controlled by alarm, no alarm for days was so liberating. This was one of the things I gained during my holiday without any plans. I didn’t have to sleep for 10 or 12 hours as revenge because I was out with my host and friends until we couldn’t even remember what time we got home the night before or I was just reading until late. Everything was voluntarily.

The second thing I gained was a coffee voucher when I was having my late dinner on my first night in a cafe nearby. I was still finishing my burger when the server and his boss started clearing up. “You don’t have to worry, just enjoy your burger. That’s my favourite too!”. And then, we talked while we’re still doing our own business and he went “Oh, I lived in Melbourne too in Brunswick, but I’m from Tasmania” and “Oh, I worked on the island as well 10 years ago” and he worked in the same place I’m working now. So we instantly made friends that night and he went “You can take this home with you and give this to the barista tomorrow morning because I’m not working so you can get free coffee. Just say my name and you’re my friend”. The next day, when I went to that cafe again, this smiley girl served me with a nice warm flat white which was perfect for the chilly autumn Brisbane’s weather.

The next day, I went to the next store, a Vietnamese restaurant since I had been seeing people were in line all noon and evening which gave a sign the food must be good. I ordered a pho, and the lady who served me was the owner. She was very friendly and nice person, especially when I told her I was from Indonesia. “You’re Asian, you must love spicy food. I will give you more beef and chilli!”

On the afternoon, I went to see old friends and my former colleagues. They came to Australia for a cultural and movie making project funded by an organisation in Brisbane. I attended their screening night. I was so proud seeing my friends consistently making creative works and talking about them in front of global audience. I remembered all my friends who are still on the same track as them and I was actually a bit jealous but that’s another story. Most importantly, it was so good to see them after years and share what’s going on with each other and made new friends here in Brisbane.

The next day, I decided to see around the city. I was waiting for the bus and as I remembered I needed cash to pay the ticket, I asked a woman with a kid if there’s any ATM machine nearby. “I don’t think there’s any around here. You can try get in and ask the driver to take you to the nearest ATM so you can get cash. Just say you’re new to town, you don’t have cash and you couldn’t find any ATM machine here. Maybe if they’re kind, they will just let you for free. Maybe…!”. It worked and that inspired me to be a little shenanigan on my next bus trip. *evil laugh*

On the afternoon, a friend invited me to come to her house for dinner. She was my former boss when I worked for a small healthy food business she ran back in Indonesia when I was still in college.

That was my story in Brisbane. The next day, I took a train to Sunshine Coast, the train stopped in Landsborough where I had my breakfast while waiting for the bus to Noosa . The whole region of Sunshine Coast especially when I went on a bus trip circling its little towns such as Tewantin and Eumundi was very beautiful, very cinematic place. Maybe Wes Anderson or Woody Allen can make another movies as visually beautiful as The Grand Budapest Hotel and Midnight In Paris.

I didn’t really meet and talk to strangers in Sunshine Coast, but a friend I made in Brisbane whose family live in Eumundi came over and guided me in Noosa. She was fascinated in how much Noosa has changed since the last time she was there more than 10 years ago. From her, I knew that Betty’s Burger, my current favourite burger in Melbourne was originally from Noosa.

Noosa itself was beautiful but it was a bit crowded because there was a surfing festival the times I was there, but I do want to go back to Sunshine Coast and stay for a couple of nights in either Tewantin and Eumundi. Regardless, my holiday in Brisbane and Sunny Coast was a lot of fun which makes me more realise that not making any fixed plans or even plans at all can lead to unexpected findings and sometimes they make you happy because you depart without expectations so whatever comes your way, upsetting, challenging, amusing, or pleasing, you just welcome it.

Anthony Bourdain once said about travel:

“Nothing unexpected and wonderful is going to happen if you have an itinerary in Paris filled with the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.”

“I learned a long time ago that trying to micromanage the perfect vacation is always a disaster. That leads to terrible times.”

Lake View, Hamilton Island, August 2018

I just had some challenging weeks that made me have to stop working. Being unemployed! As a money bitch who is always idealistic and pragmatic at practically the same time, I was worried for a few sec but then I was actually happy! I don’t mind being jobless at all but I don’t want my weekly payroll stop running either. Baby boomers may loathe me now.

So to deal with my dazed and confused self at that moment, I joined a yoga community on the island from which I met some very inspirational free spirited people. We lotus sit over the morning sunbeam everyday on a hill and ate gluten free, local, handmade, fair trade, organic food afterwards. Our beverage was all sorts of kombucha. I was enlightened and my perspectives about chaotic minds and hungry souls changed a lot. I’m a better person ever since.

Yea, I was only joking as you might have anticipated. I meant I joined a chicken nugget yoga community as part of March’s staff activities, initiated by a well-known personal trainer on the island who was inspired by a global movement from here.

Of course I was kidding too. I didn’t join any hobby based community, let alone yoga. Instead, I ended up on a self trip that was never wanted, so it came along without ambitions at all about what to do and where to go but turned out to be unexpectedly fun and full of surprises.

I’m not fooling anyone now. I’m telling the truth and in doing so, I will share the stories in series and they will come with pictures. This first instalment is about my caravan life while I was in Brisbane.

I stayed in a caravan hosted by a chilled guy named Dane. He was a photographer and musician. He had two caravans to rent in his backyard and in a nice clean quite neighbourhood in the middle of the Brisbane city. So it’s close to everything. He and his friend took me to see Brisbane on my last day and gave me his photography book as a present. Intrigued to have a somewhat eccentric caravan life experience in the city, his place and his kind hospitality would be a good choice.

This tuner reminded me of my vintage radio I bought in a flohmarkt in Freiburg, Germany for only 8 euros back in summer 2013.

On my first day, I stayed up late flowing through Malala’s story. A very brave and inspiring woman who fought for education especially for women in her hometown. She is a badass! And as I’m currently working in hospitality industry, from this book I learned about what’s the difference between “hospitality as business” and “hospitality as culture”. I kept stumbled upon between pages comparing both poles of hospitality world. Would love to discuss this more with anyone interested, not gunna write my thoughts here..my a$$ is lazy as it’s my birthday today. Sorry, the title was just a clickbait :p

Harbour Views 108, Hamilton Island, April 21st 2018

Below are the pics with description from some of the places we went. Not all because I didn’t take any pic on some occassions since I didn’t want to be busy with all the gadgets, just focused on the fundamental human to human relations. Tsaaaah!

Thank you for all the kind individuals whose contribution made me fly back to Melbourne so I could have such a great fun and big smile the whole time. I don’t have to mention your names one by one since this is not an Academy Award speech even though I’m pretty sure my feelings are just as happy as a Best Actor’s; honoured yet humbled and absolutely happy. Thanks to all the people I met there as well. I still remember each one and I’ve made sure no one is missed. I’d put you all together in my own jargon as “Melboundsky”. Easy to go figure the meaning, right? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

See you again fo sho, Melbourne!

Lake Views, Hamilton Island, 2018

I woke up early that day and just spontaneously headed off to One Tree HIll, one of my most favorite places in Hamilton Island. I wanted to have breakfast and enjoy the stunning view while listening to Spotify. I prepared my money and camera and jumped off my room on my still lazy feet walking slowly all the way up to the One Tree Hill cafe which was just around 10 minutes to reach.

Along my very brief morning walk, I took pictures. It’s a very relieving feeling to see One Tree Hill again after a month not visiting the beautiful neighbourhood. It’s because the last few weeks, I had been pulling off night shift. So the longing had become very strong and when I got to see it again, I felt fun-frikkin-tastic! My smiley lips wont take off of my still sleepy face.

At One Tree Hill, I GOT FREE BREAKFAST!!! It was a chicken panini and a flat white. Pretty light meals to start the day since I was not that hungry.

I knew the staffs who served me which took me by surprise. One of them last time I met him he worked in a restaurant I went for dinner with my friends and he told me he just moved in to One Tree Hill a week ago. The other one I just met her in the staff canteen the day before. My good friend at work from England introduced me to her. When I wanted to pay, she said “No…don’t worry” and after a second or two I went “Oh…okay then, thank you very much!”

Here are the pics form my little trip that morning. I arranged them in order so you guys can get the sequence of all together. I started taking pics when I reached the hilly part of the road, not when I got out of my room.

After having a quiet brekky, I went back to my room, read a book until I felt sleepy and then took a nap. After waking up, I went for swimming in one of the pools on the island. I brought the same book, laid down on a bench with my sunglasses on, read the book, sunbathed, my drink by my side. I swam one round before getting back to my bench and book and drink and then jumping into the water for another round.

It was very satisfying to be able to spend the whole day before work with such activities. Sounds like a lot but not busy and I didn’t feel tired. Instead, I felt re-lax-ed! After taking a shower and putting on my uniform, I said to myself, “Work, here I come, bitch!

“Queensland cantik sekali. Saya suka cuaca di sana!” kata seorang wanita yang saya temui saat bekerja di Melbourne beberapa bulan lalu. Ternyata, bukan dia saja orang Melbourne yang mengatakan demikian. Saya bertemu dengan beberapa orang Melbourne lainnya yang pernah ke Queensland dan semuanya mengatakan kecintaan yang sama terhadap negara bagian ini. Saya bisa mengerti. Cuaca di Melbourne selalu tidak bisa diprediski, empat musim bisa terjadi dalam sehari.

Saat mereka menceritakan pengalamannya di Queensland, saya tidak bisa merespon apapun kecuali, “Oh, serius?” atau “Oh, saya harap saya bisa ke sana suatu hari nanti dan mengalaminya sendiri”.

Selang beberapa bulan kemudian, saya pun di sini, tinggal dan bekerja di negara bagian tropisnya Australia, Queensland. Woohoo!

Libur kerja kali ini, saya memutuskan ke Pantai Airlie (lagi dan lagi). Saya menyebrang dengan kapal feri dan perjalanannya sekitar satu jam sekali jalan. Saya menumpang kapal pagi yang pertama dan saat sudah sampai saya langsung menuju ke sebuah penginapan karena saya ingin menginap, melihat-lihat susana Airlie khususnya saat malam hari.

Saya menemukan sebuah penginapan yang mengakomodasi para pelawat dengan camper van. Tempatnya sungguh menarik melihat para petualang dengan tenda, ayunan, kursi dan meja kemah, tikar, matras, dsb dimana-mana. Saya merasa saya pun harus sewa satu camper van bersama teman-teman suatu hari nanti. Kedengarannya menyenangkan, bukan?

Keesokan harinya setelah check out, saya melanjutkan perjalanan. Saya menumpang bus menuju Whitsunday Plaza (hanya bus tujuan ini yang lewat Jubilee Tavern, halte bus di sekitar penginapan).

Saya sebenarnya tidak tahu mau ke mana, tidak ada agenda pasti. Saya hanya lapar, mau sarapan kenyang. Kemudian saya memutuskan berhenti di pusat kota sesaat setelah melihat sebuah kedai di sisi kanan jalan. Saya pun masuk dan seorang pelayan mengantar saya ke sebuah meja untuk memesan menu.

“Hi, apa kabar?”

“Baik sekali, terima kasih!”

“Mau pesan apa?”

“Boleh egg benny-nya satu sama flat white satu?”

“Tentu saja. Ada lagi?”

“Itu saja. Terima kasih!”

“Sama-sama, saya ambilkan air mineral ya sambil menunggu”

“Makasih!”

Setelah selesai sarapan, saya menumpang bus jurusan yang sama tadi dan berhenti di manapun saat saya mau. Saya menyetop bus di sebuah jalan raya dengan sebuah taman di sisinya yang menghadap laut dan beberapa pulau kecil di tengahnya. Saya turun di halte terdekat, menyebrang jalan, bersantai sejenak di taman, lalu lanjut berjalan agak ke atas ke arah kanan. Kamera sudah saya siapkan. Saya pun tetap berjalan dan mengambil gambar.

Pemandangan sepanjang perjalanan bagus sekali meskipun akan lebih dramatis di kamera kalau cuacanya cerah. Saat itu cuacanya sedikit mendung dan sudah ada rintik-rintik hujan yang semakin banyak ketika saya hampir mencapai pusat kota untuk menumpang bus yang mengantar balik ke dermaga.

Kapal yang saya tumpangi kembali ke Pulau Hamilton dijadwalkan berangkat pukul 12 siang. Dengan demikian, di hari kedua saya hanya menghabiskan setengah hari di Airlie tapi tidak rugi.

Saat baru masuk kapal saya mengirim pesan ke manajer saya untuk janjian ketemu membahas rencana cuti saya beberapa hari demi menonton konser Foo Fighters dan Weezer akhir Januari nanti. Setelah itu, saya melamun dan ketiduran apalagi hujan di luar cukup ampuh jadi ninabobo.

Saat baru saja bangun, saya mendengar lagu Island In The Sun dari mesin penguat suara. Saya tersenyum kecil dilingkupi perasaan senang. Mungkin kalian yang kenal saya sudah tahu bahwa Island In The Sun merupakan salah satu lagunya Weezer yang paling saya suka, Weezer adalah salah satu grup musik andalan saya, dan Island In The Sun telah menjadi lagu tema hidup dan perjalanan selama di Australia. Itulah juga megapa saya menjadikannya sebagai tema blog ini.

Demikian cerita hasil liburan singkat dua hari ini. Tidak ada yang terlalu penting dan manis, kan? Maaf tidak ada peringatan sebelumnya! Apapun itu, semoga hari-hari kalian minggu ini menyenangkan!

“Queensland was beautiful. I loved the weather there!” said a woman I encountered with at work when I was in Melbourne few months ago. Apparently, she was not the only Melbournian who said so. I bumped into a few others who have been to Queensland and they all spoke the same love to this state. I could perfectly understand. Melbourne’s weather is always unpredictable, publicly known that four seasons can happen in one day.

When they all told me their stories about Queensland, I could not respond with anything but “Oh, really?” or “Oh, I hope I can pay a visit someday and experience myself”.

A couple of months later, here I am, living and working in the sunny state of Australia, Queensland. Woohoo!

On my recent days off, I decided to go to Airlie Beach (again and again). I took a ferry to get there and the trip was about an hour one way. I caught the first boat in the morning and on arrival I went straight to a hostel because this time I wanted to stay overnight, see how things were in Airlie especially at night.

I ended up in a place that accommodates travellers with camper van. It was a nice place to see such adventurous people with their tent, hammock, camping chairs and tables, mats, etc here and there. I felt like I should get one for me and my cheap folks someday. Seems fun, eh?

The next day, after checking out, I went further up. I took a bus heading to Whitsunday Plaza (it’s the only bus direction from Jubilee Tavern, the bus top around the hostel).

I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t have any fixed agenda. I was just hungry, craving for some proper breakfast. So then I decided to stop at the town centre right after I saw this cafe on my right. I went in and a waitress ushered me to my seat.

“Hi, how’s it going?”

“Never better, thanks!”

“Awesome! What would you like to order?”

“Can I have egg benny and a flat white please?”

“Sure. Anything else?”

“That’s all. Thank you!”

“No worries, I’ll get you a water in the meantime!”

“Sweet.”

After finished with my brekky, I took the same bus and just stopped wherever I felt like. It was a wide road with a park facing to the see and some little islands in the middle. I hopped off on the closest bus shelter, crossed the roads, chilled out a bit at the park, and walked my way up to my right. My camera had been prepared. I just kept walking and taking pictures.

The scenery along the way was beautiful although it would’ve been more dramatic on pics if the weather was sunny. It was a bit gloomy and I already caught some drops which was getting heavier right when I almost reached town centre to get on a bus taking me back to the port.

My boat back to Hamilton Island was at 12pm. I just spent half day on my second day in Airlie but it was worth it! Especially when I just got in I texted my manager for an appointment to talk about my adios for a few days to watch Foo Fighters and Weezer end of January. It was special because afterwards, I was just lost in my imagination and fell asleep since the rain outside was such a good lullaby.

Then when I woke up, I heard Island In The Sun from the speaker. I grinned myself to a sheer moment of delight. As you guys may have noticed and known, Island In The Sun is one of my winning Weezer’s songs, Weezer is one of my top-list bands, and Island In The Sun has been my soundtrack of my life and adventure here in Australia. That’s why I as well made it as the blog theme here!

That’s all my stories from my two days off. Nothing really matters and cute, right? I’m sorry you haven’t been warned about this. Regardless, have a great week!

“Lalu mau ke mana setelah selesai di sini? Mau ngapain?”

“Rencananya mau kembali ke Melbourne, atau coba ke Tasmania atau Selandia Baru, atau lanjut sekolah ke Amerika atau bahkan menikah mungkin. Haha.”

“Jangan..jangan menikah dulu..nanti nanti saja.”

“Entahlah. Mari kita lihat saja nanti. Terkadang hanya menikmati momen dan tidak merencakanan apapun justru berujung pada peristiwa-peristiwa yang tidak terduga tapi luar biasa. Setidaknya begitu yang selama ini terjadi pada saya. Tidak pernah terlalu memikirkan jangka panjang atau yang suka disebut sebagai masa depan. Hanya memaksimalkan masa sekarang karena itulah yang penting. Sekali lagi, kalau saya, ya.”

“Sikap yang bagus dan kamu benar! Apa yang kita lakukan di masa sekarang akan membangun jalan ke masa depan. Jadi meskipun kamu bilang kamu tidak terlalu peduli soal masa depan tapi kamu sebenarnya sedang melakukan sesuatu untuk itu sekarang. Seperti karma. Kamu percaya karma?”

“Ya, saya percaya dan astaga…kamu mengucapkannya dengan tepat sekali. Saya tidak pernah kepikiran soal itu.”

“Belajar dari pengalaman, anak muda!”

“Betul sekali! Lagipula kenapa harus serius amat? Pada akhirnya kita semua akan mati jadi selama masih hidup ya hidupkanlah. Jalani saja. Hajar! Kamu tahu, kan, maksud saya.”

“Pastinya, haha. Baiklah saya mau beli kopi. Mau ikut?”

“Tidak dulu deh, terima kasih! Saya baru mulai dan masih ada dua putaran sebelum selesai. Sampai ketemu lagi, oke?”

“Tidak usah khawatir! Pulau ini juga tidak begitu luas. Saya beberapa kali lihat wajah-wajah yang familiar.”

“Haha, tentu saja. Okelah kalau begitu, jangan lupa bersenang-senang!”

“Kamu juga! Selamat menikmati lari pagi! Kejarlah hidup yang kamu inginkan!”

“Sepertinya saya akan memotret-motret* saja dulu sekarang haha.”

“Hahaha, dah!”

*NB: Untuk versi Bahasa Inggris dan foto-fotonya bisa dilihat di sini

“So where do you wanna go after you finish here? What are you gonna do?”

“I was thinking maybe back to Melbourne, or try Tasmania or New Zealand, or perhaps continue study in the states or get married eventually. Haha”

“No..no don’t do that…as yet.”

“Well, I don’t know. Let’s just see. Sometimes just enjoying the moment and not making any plans leads to unexpected events and they are extraordinary. At least that’s how it has been working so far for me. Never really cared about long term or so called future. Just make the most of the present times because that’s what really matters. Again, that’s me”.

“Nice attitude and you’re right. What we’re doing in the present will make ways in the future. So even though you’re saying you never really cared about the future but you’re doing something for that now. Like a karma. Do you believe in karma?”

“Yes, I do and hell yeah you put it the best. Never really thought of it.”

“Learned from experience, young man!”

“Right on! And I mean why so serious? We’re gonna die anyway so just live it up while we’re still alive. Just roll with it. Just fuck it! You know what I mean.”

“Sure, haha. Alright I wanna grab some coffee. Wanna come?”

“No I’m good, thanks! I’ve just started and still have another two rounds to finish. I’ll see you around though, right?”

“No dramas! This island is not that big. I’ve seen some familiar faces.”

“Haha I know. Well, enjoy!”

“U2! Enjoy your run! Run for your life!”

“Maybe I’ll just take more pictures haha”

“Hahaha, cheers!”

PS: For Indonesian version click here

Saya tidak bisa bilang sepakat atau tidak kecuali tersenyum mendengar ucapan perempuan tadi. Hari ini baru hari kedua saya di Pulau Hamilton. Saya berangkat dari Melbourne Senin (4 September) dan transit satu jam di Brisbane. Tentu saja saya bahagia dan semangat, ini tak perlu diungkapkan lagi, saya hanya tidak mau terlalu memastikan semuanya di awal.

Saya akan tinggal di sini untuk bekerja di bidang hospitality dan hotel tempat saya akan bekerja memberi kontrak untuk menetap di pulau minimal enam bulan. Mereka mengatakan ada kemungkinan untuk memperpanjang kontrak. Saya belum yakin karena saya sudah sangat jatuh cinta sama kota Melbourne dan sudah memikirkan untuk kembali ke sana jauh hari sebelum pergi ke sini. Mari kita lihat saja nanti!

Hari ini, semua karyawan baru masih libur sebelum besoknya sudah mulai hari pertama bekerja. Hari pertama tersebut merupakan pelatihan yang akan dilaksanakan di sebuah pusat belajar yang menerima siapapun yang ingin membangun dan mengembangkan keterampilan-keterampilan personal dan profesional mereka. Saya sendiri memutuskan untuk sekadar berkeliling pulau sejak pagi dan berlayar sebentar ke pulau utama, Pantai Airlie, untuk membeli perlengkapan tidur. Selama jalan-jalan, saya memutar lagu Island In The Sun- nya Weezer dari Spotify, mendengarkan dengan khidmat setiap lirik dan melodinya sembari menikmati angin sepoi-sepoi, hangatnya sinar matahari, dan suasana sekitar. Lagu ini sudah menjadi soundtrack hidup saya selama di Australia sejak mendarat pertama kali di Melbourne pada awal April 2017 lalu.

Berikut beberapa foto yang saya abadikan hari ini*. Mohon maaf jika kualitasnya mungkin tidak terlalu bagus sebab saya masih menggunakan ponsel lama saya iPhone 4.

*Untuk versi Bahasa Inggris sekalian foto-fotonya, silakan lihat di sini