Liverpool Comment: What Now, Rafa?

These few months hasn’t been easy for me and any of Liverpool fans. The team has been strugling to perform well. It seems like they are playing without any soul and chemistry now. What has happened that has changed the team that last season were superb?

1 Rafa, safe becuse of this new contract

Rafa has now lost the chemistry and control over the players. He has made some mistakes in tranfers, and seems to continue to do so. Its true that every team has ups and downs, but what I and every Liverpool has been seeing all this season are maybe the worst Liverpool performances in 2 decades. The only thing that saves Rafa for being kicked out of the club is the 5 years contract he signed this season. That means if the owners decide to fire him, the club has to pay the remaining salary. By another word, it’s costly. With the financial level of the club now, its impossible to do.

But Rafa has been wasting some big money in this 4-5 years. Some of the successful tranfer policies are Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso, Martin Skrtel, Yossi Benayoun, Mascherano and Glen Johnson. The others are just total waste. Andriy Voronin, Lucas Leiva, David Ngog, Albert Riera, Philip Degen, and maybe also Alberto Aquilani. With Aquilani, I mean, whats the poin of spending 20 million pounds on a player you are affraid to play. Aquilani is an injury prone player.

I haven’t said about those young players. It’s not a secret that Rafa wants to duplicate Arsenal’s Wenger in developing young players into world class players. But Rafa never gave this lads chances. Only Lucas Leiva and Emiliano Insua who succeeded to become first team players. Despite the fact that David Ngog is progressing, Rafa decides to search another striker. The likes of Nistelrooy, Heskey, and the latest is Maruoune Chamakh. Some said that he even willing to spend another 12 million pounds on the later. What the fuck, i said. He should give the chance to another young player. Again, what is the point of bringing Kriztian Nemeth and Dani Pacheco (both has been labeled as the next big thing) if they’re never given the chance to rise and shine? There’s many of this kind of players: Jay Spearing, David Ayala, Martin Kelly. All are left rooten in the reserve team.

.2Chamakh, another mistake?

3 Nemeth and Pacheco roothe in the reserve team

Without Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard is clearly thinking alone on the pitch, sometimes Benayoun helps, but thats it. Versus Reading, even Gerrard and Benayoun were absent. And Liverpool playing like a championship team! No brain at all. I would suggest to spend money on West Ham’s Mark Noble or (more cheaper) Scott Parker than Chamakh. Or if possible, luring Van der Vart to play first team than just hoping Kaka gets injured in the Madrid’s bench.

But as the transfer windows closing, i cant see anything will be changing. Either we hope for the miracle to happen so we can still in the big four, or…maybe the humiliation will continue. Lets hope we wont be the next Leeds United or Newcastle United. Amen.

THE MAN WHO FAILED MAHAMERU

6 years ago, i never dreamt about what i had experienced just a few years later. I never dreamt about diving in Lombok, being on the top of Mt. Gde, crossing the Flores Sea with a wooden boat, and of course i never dreamt about trying to reach Mahameru. Bukan cuma karena nama gunung ini selalu disebut dengan rasa hormat dan takut oleh kebanyakan orang, juga karena kedua orang tua saya selalu berkata “tidak” setiap kali saya bercanda berkata akan mendakinya.

Tapi hebatnya, pagi itu, setelah saya membaca ajakan teman saya di FB, saya langsung menelpon ibu dan sungguh responnya hampir seperti ketika saya akan pergi ke Padang saat gempa tahun lalu. “Iya,” katanya lemah tanpa perlawanan. Bahkan ketika saya menelpon bapak, yang terbayang di kepala saya adalah perdebatan untuk meyakinkan dia, tetapi jawabannya adalah “hati-hati ya…”. It was like it was meant to be.

Jadi tanggal 26 Desember itu saya berada di kereta ekonomi menuju Malang untuk mendaki puncak Mahameru. 27 sore, saya yang tergabung dengan rombongan Jejak, mencapai Ranu Pane dan memulai perjalanan pertama untuk mencapai Ranu Kumbolo. Let me get this straight. Even comparing to the girls on the team, i was maybe the who had the worst stamina. From 1-10, i would give my self 2. I hadn’t been much of a mountain guy. I could spent hours in the beach, snorkeling, and even chasing a little shark back in Komodo, but 1 hours hiking was just too much for me, let alone 6 hours of hiking in the dark and rainy night. It was fucking tiring! I couldn’t even reach Ranu Kumbolo that night. I decided to stop and stay for the night 1 hour before Ranu Kumbolo.

Tapi perjalanan ke Ranu Kumbolo di pagi hari jelas lebih menyenangkan. Dengan tenaga yang kembali pulih, jelas saya lebih menikmati perjalanan dimana pemandangan tidak hanya sekedar gelap belaka. Setidaknya kamera saya mengalihkan perhatian saya dari rasa lelah.

1- ranu kumbolo 1

2- ranu kumbolo 2

Karena jadwal yang padat, saya tidak sempat bermalam lagi di Ranu Kumbolo karena sudah saatnya untuk melanjutkan perjalanan ke Kalimati. Ini sekitar 4-5 jam perjalanan lagi. Namun, tidak sesulit hari pertama, karena cuaca yang cerah benar-benar mempengaruhi mental saya. Saya mulai menikmati alam ini.

3- me and those beautidul flowers

Kalimati adalah pos terakhir sebelum kami melakukan Summit Attack. Segera beristirahat adalah pilihan bijak karena jam 1 pagi kami sudah harus melakukan Summit Attack ke Mahameru. Beberapa hari sebelumnya dikabarkan puncak ditutup karena badai. Namun ternyata itu hanya isu belaka. Hari itu saya, Ridho, dan Donny kehabisan air, sehingga harus mencari mata air. Karena tidak mengenal medan sama sekali, kami hanya mempersiapkan 600 ml air untuk Summit Attack. I couldn’t forgive my self for being so stupid. Saya jelas-jelas adalah peminum air kelas kakap. I should have realized that i needed not less that 2 L of water. Fuck me.

1 am in the morning seemed as good as ever. No wind whatsoever. And the temperature was acceptable even for me. But nobody realized that there wasn’t any star in the sky, meant that the cloud was all over us. 4 hours later, we have passed the Cemoro Tunggal, the latest vegetation that lead to pure torture. Berkilo-kilo pasir dan batu-batu, dimana setelah 3 langkah, kita bisa turun lagi 1 langkah. Gelap. Dan terkadang pijakan hanya selebar maksimal 1,5-2 meter di beberapa titik. Setengah perjalanan di neraka pasir itu, hujan rintik-rintik mulai turun. Tidak berapa lama kemudian, hujan makin deras dan angin mulai kencang. Kabarnya di atas saat itu keadaan jauh lebih buruk. Air minum saya hanya menyisakan 100 ml terakhir dan perjalanan masih sekitar 1-1,5 jam lagi dengan cuaca yang semakin tidak menentu. Orang-orang memilih menunggu cuaca membaik dibalik batu-batu besar demi berlindung dari angin kencang. Semakin lama diam, semakin dingin terasa. Saya berpikir. Dan ini adalah keputusan yang berat. Saya melihat ke atas, jauh. Saya lihat ke bawah, lebih jauh. Fuck me.

4- when it started to get worse

Few mintes later i was on my way down. Mahameru was not going anywhere. Beside, i didn’t have the ambition to reach the top. I reached my edge. I never imagined i’ve come this far. And that was my time to say enough. 30 minutes later and the condition was changing rapidly. The sky was bright and the rain was gone. Hm, we really couldn’t predict the weather. I asked some water from another hiker who failed, and luckily he gave me 200 ml.

5- just 30 minutes after

Hari itu juga kami turun lagi ke Ranu Kumbolo. Bermalam disana. Air danau terasa seperti air aqua saja saat itu. Diminum tanpa dimasak. Dan makanan pun dimasak dan dimakan bersama. Sesuatu yang tidak kita alami di hidup sehari-hari.

6- magical ora ora ombo

Esoknya kami menuju Ranu Pane. Sedikit cerita, karena berusaha mengejar kendaraan ke Malang hari itu juga (saya berpisah dengan rombongan Jejak), saya terpisah dari rombongan untuk beberapa waktu. Berjalan sendirian di hutan yang mengelilingin gunung Semeru. Dan ketika kabut mulai naik dan hujan deras mengguyur, saya merasa ketakutan. Melihat kabut yang menimbulkan kesan misterius, pohon-pohon berusia ratusan tahun, saya merasa terlalu kecil. Ini sungguh-sungguh berkesan di hati saya, sehingga ketika beberapa hari kemudian saya melewati gunung Merapi dalam perjalanan ke Magelang, saya merinding. Mengingat ketakukan saya. Melihat Merapi yang begitu besar, saya berpikir, what the hell was i doing in Semeru!

And now, as i look at those pictures, i feel the shiver again. Thinking how a few years could change your life. The life worthier living…

Discovering Me

Besok, sekitar jam ini, mungkin gue udah dalam perjalanan menuju Malang; duduk di kereta ekonomi berbusa tipis yang membuat pantat sakit; backpack seberat hampir 16 kg tersandar di bawah kaki; sebuah earphone yang memperdengarkan lagu-lagu blues barunya Monster Truck yang abis di download kemarin; juga sebuah handphone yang berdering. Perjalanan yang entah kenapa menjadi penting buat gue, sebanyak apapun orang yang berkata lebih baik jangan pergi.

Gue ga pernah terlalu ingin mendaki Semeru. Namun ketika kesempatan itu datang di suatu pagi ketika seorang teman mem-post itu di halaman facebook gue, rasanya ada yang memanggil gue. Entah gunungnya, entah diri gue sendiri. Diri gue yang menuntut ditemukan lagi dan lagi karena selalu hilang kalau terlalu lama berada di Jakarta.

Mahameru adalah daratan tertinggi di Pulau Jawa. Tempat yang bahkan dipuja masyarakat Bali di seberang lautan sana. Di tempat inilah gue harus menemukan lagi diri gue. Mengetahui batas-batas kemampuan dan memahami kembali arti menghirup oksigen bebas ini.

Kabarnya di sana akan sangat dingin. Dan sialnya diri gue ga terlalu tahan dingin. Gue tidur kayak beruang dengan selimut tebal dan kipas angin yang berputar sekenanya. Karena itu gue mempersiapkan diri gue dengan baik. Membeli semua peralatan yang gue anggap perlu untuk mencapai Mahameru tanpa merepotkan orang lain. Lagipula, Mahameru ini kan hanya batu loncatan untuk sesuatu yang lebih tinggi, lebih dingin, dan lebih jauh lagi. Mungkin…

So… “my backs are packed and i’m ready to go,” kata sebuah lagu… you know i need your prayers to keep me warm and safe there, since you can’t be there to do the job. I love you much. I will love you with every drop of my sweat and every pound in my backpack.

Sayonara…

Why Liverpool Why?

Yesterday night my heart was numb. One lost againts that London club, Fulham, made it 5 lost in 11 games. How bad could that be in the end of the season? What is actually happening in Liverpool this season after an brilliant run the previous season. And this is the worst run i’ve ever seen since i supported this club more than a decade ago.

I’m gonna break few things that are maybe the reason why Liverpool has been soooo unstable and unconsistant this season.

1. I dont understand what Rafa priority is. The played in League Cup againts Arsenal with the second string players, they played againts Fulham with not even Agger , Skrtel, Riera, or Ngog was on the bench! Instead, there were Ayala (19 years old defender), Eccleston (19 years old winger, hadn’t been played in the PL before), Plessis (22 years old central midfield, few chances in the first team, not even offer something more than Lucas and Mascherano). If he wanted to concentrate on the CL, give me a break! The PL has been what we asked for. And there was still a chance to it. And now its gone. Maybe we should play in that lower Europa League next season.
2. No Alonso to break down that defence line. Xabi Alonso was vital for Liverpool. His passes was superb. His vission of the game was brilliant. But stop mourning about Alonso. Lucas has been trying to put his feet in Alonso shoes. He hasn’t been successfull, but the good thing is that he improves a lot. He played consistantly, offered help to defence, read the game well. But he lacks of that creativity and ability Alonso has all the time. Againts Fulham, he tried few Alonso-like passes but never really got there. He looked confuse facing the hardcore defence line with 10 Fulham players were on their own side. Aquillani maybe will offer something better as he has the creativity and technique to tear down defenders.
3. Liverpool can’t play like the way Arsenal play. Arsenal can play quicker and quicker so that even the hardest defence will eventually fail to read where the ball will be passed. Thats not the case with Liverpool.
4. Defence has been what Liverpool can be proud of. But not this season. Carragher seems to pass his best, Agger are prone to injury, and Skrtel hasnt played good until now. Wing backs are the same. Let Arbeloa to Madrid was stupid. He may not be the world class right defender, but like Steve Finnan, he was a consistant player. Johnson maybe twice as goodas they were while attacking, but not when defending. Degen… no comment. His position was awful. In left, we have something quite good, but still need improvement. Insua sometimes looks too small that a bigger opponent can beat him easily. Dossena, yes he is bigger than Insua, but stupid!
5. The last… Liverpool dont have the depth their rivals have. When Torres injured, who could replace him? Ngog? Babel? Voronin? Hell no. Benayoun can sometimes fill the hole when Gerrard cant play, but just him. Liverpool must spend money to fix this. There’s always a vancancy in the left wing as neither Riera nor Babel can play satisfyingly there. Silva or Juan Mata can be good but they come with a price. Promoting Dani Pacheco and Kristian Nemeth to the first team is maybe a good gamble as they were superb in the reserve team. At least they can give Ngog a competition to become Torres’s tag team and send Voronin back to Bundesliga.

So… i havent really that numb i suppose…

Ramadan Ini

A Prasetya Modana’s

Ramadan Ini

Ramadan ini aku jatuh hati

Pada senyum setipis embun pagi

Pada sapa sehangat matahari

Dan pada kata-kata bagai air mengalir pergi

 

Ramadan ini aku tak lagi merasa sendiri

Bersama air mata yang menetes sunyi

Bersama malam yang terdiam sepi

Atau bulan yang malu-malu menepi

 

Ramadan ini aku sedang bermimpi…

The Day My Father Started To Play The Piano

(a very short fiction story)

Karolina opened the door quietly so that it wouldn’t make any sound. She came home late today because she had to practice for her piano concert next week. She didn’t want to wake her father up from his sleep. He often had trouble to sleep at night, so if he had slept, it had always been better to keep him that way. His brother, Ernesto, had gone for almost 2 months now. Last month was his last call. He said he was at Cusco. God only knows what he had been doing all this time – but she bet that he climbed the Andes. Tonight, she was accompanied by Alberto, who would play the violin.

“Come on in, Alberto… But watch your step, alrite?” she said, almost like a whisper.

“Should I? I mean, i dont have to!” he was still standing in front of the door.

“Dont be ridiculous, Al. You drove me home! At least you cant miss a cup of coffee. My father always have the best coffee”

“Just for the coffee, okay? And it should be bold, no sugar”

“That would be great…”

But as they walked through the hallway, the heard a sound of the piano. Karolina hissed, she knew her father wasn’t asleep then, but she didn’t want to disturb his playing too. It was Chopin’s Nocturne op. 9 no. 2. The piece that her father always played, ah, he could only play this one.

“Let sit here first” Karolina said to Alberto. They sat on the floor. Karolina lighted up a cigarrette.

Their house was a small but pretty house. And nothing extraordinary in that house, except a big paintings of Bob Dylan in one side of his father library’s wall. But, her father put the piano in a special place. It’s in the middle of the house,so where when somebody played it, the the sound could be heared all over the house, perfectly. He loved the piano, especially when her mother played it. Her father always wanted to hear her mother played, wherever he was. It looked to her as if the house was build for the piano – that old-black Steinway piano.

“Your father playing this?”

“He is”

“I thought you said he couldn’t play any music! But this is great… i could feel the emotion”, he laughed quietly, “he plays even better than you!”

“He started to learn this piece 5 years ago. I tought him this, you know…”, she took a deep breath, “but you can still see the flaws here and there. I can play this better. But like you said, no one plays with this kind of feeling”

“Yeah? Well, that’s brilliant. I mean, with his age…”

“Yeah…”

“So, what made him learning this?”

“Ah that…”, she paused. She closed her eyes as he father played the last part of the song. Alberto knew he couldn’t push her now, so he too closed his eyes and enjoy the music. Yes, there are flaws, he thought. And when the sound stopped, Karolina heard his father walked down to his room and closed the door. They opened their eyes.

“So?”, Alberto asked.

“That was my mother’s death…”

The Best Night of My Life

The Chopin’s Nocturne has been playing for a few times as i lied down on the ship’s rooftop when she jumped in cautiously and sat beside me. I moved a little to give her more space. The ship was struglling to be stable. The sea was nothing but a darkest of your view; calm but as deadly as always, especially if you fell from a ship’s rooftop and you couldn’t swim. She couldn’t. The night wasn’t so windy to call it a perfect night.

“I’m affraid,” she said.

“don’t be”

“it is wet here”

I lied again and yes the rooftop was wet. It was because of the dew. I asked her to lied down too but she hesitated. She looked up to the brilliant sky with the brightest stars we’ve ever seen in our whole life. I noticed that she liked the stars much, because at first she was uncomfortable about living in a ship – being nauseaus all the time plus the fact that she really couldn’t swin if something happened, but then she could sat on the front of the ship for hours looking at the stars blinking at her while moving her feet continuously which made her like a child (i loved it when she did this). And here she was, on the rooftop.

“you’ll hurt your neck if you stay like that, beside the view is better if you lie down,” i continued, “just lie here, and think of nothing”

She finally agreed and lied down beside me. The Southern Cross was in our feet’s direction. I had turned my iPod down since she got here. I turned it on again. I didn’t like sharing my earphone with someone,because for me, you must hear the music with your both ears. But this time, i offered the right side for her.

“try it. Nothing better than watching the stars and listen to this. It is one of only 2 of my favorite songs”

Some people said that Chopin’s Nocturne opus 9 no 2 was quite easy to be played, but the hardest part which only few could did it was to make it sounds like the night. And the one in my iPod was maybe the best Nocturne i’ve ever heard. So melancholic. And i never felt bored.

“look those 3 stars,” i said. “the one in the middle is red”

“yes..”

“and the other 5 which made the C shape..”

“…”

“Stefano said it was Scorpion”

“ah..”

And suddenly i saw a falling star. I screamed. I never saw one. Ever. And then another one. And the she saw one too, and then another and another. We cought a lot of falling stars that night as we spoke in silence, just like what nature did to us but we never listened.

And somehow, a lyric came suddenly. A woman sang this very beautifully.

Quiet nights of quiet stars, quiet chords from my guitar. Floating on the silence that surounds us. Quiet songs and quiet dreams. Quiet walk by quiet street. And the window that looks out on Corcovado, oh how lovely.

This is where to be. Here with you so close to me. Till the final flicker of life embers. I, who was lost and lonely, believing that life was only a bitter tragic joke i found with you. A meaning of existence, my love.

Definetly the best night of my life.

English Angle: Will Premier League’s Big Four Survive This Season?

Musim ini merupakan salah satu musim tranfer tergila selama saya mengikuti sepak bola Eropa. Bukannya saya percaya bahwa tidak akan ada orang bodoh yang membeli pemain lebih mahal dari Zidane, tapi karena transfer Zidane dipecahkan oleh 2 orang sekaligus dalam 1 musim (kalau bukan 3), dan oleh 1 tim! The Disneyfication of Real Madrid, so they say, untuk menyebut perkumpulan pria2 berkemampuan luar biasa dalam 1 tim itu.

Masalahnya Real Madrid melakukan itu dengan memperkosa tim-tim lain, bukan, liga-liga lain. Madrid merampok AC Milan dan Liga Italia salah satu pemain terbaiknya dan mantan-calon-kapten-Milan Kaka. Harga Zidane sudah pecah. Tidak puas, Madrid merampok MU dan Liga Inggris pemain terbaik dunia-nya, Ronaldo. Rekor Kaka pecah. Masih kurang, Perez mencuri lagi intan dari Lyon dan Liga Perancis, seorang Benzema dengan harga yang juga tidak murah. Terakhir, mereka merebut one of the best of rare-kind-deep-lying-playmaker, Xabi Alonso, dari Liverpool dan Liga Inggris. Itu baru Madrid. Jangan lupa bahwa Barcelona membeli talenta terbaik juara Italia Inter Milan, Ibrahimovic dengan harga 40 juta euro plus Etoo! Karena Etoo juga adalah pencetak gol terbanyak Barca, maka harganya diperkirakan tidak kurang dari 30 juta euro. Maka, rekor Zidane pecah 3 kali tahun ini seakan2 itu tidak ada apa2nya.

Ada sesuatu yang saya lihat tidak adil disini. Tahun lalu, media mencaci maki habis Sheikh Mansour dan Man City karena berusaha menawar pemain2 kelas dunia dengan harga2 yang tidak masuk akal (tapi tahun ini jadi terlihat biasa saja!). namun, ketika Madrid yang melakukannya, kita semua seperti maklum. Satu dua memang mencibir, tapi tidak seperti tahun lalu. Terlihatnya seperti ini: Bila Man City yang melakukan itu, mereka sedang berusaha membeli sejarah dan kesuksesan. Kalau Madrid yang melakukan, ah itu wajar, mereka tim besar, juara Champions 9 kali, tentu saja mereka ingin juara lagi.

Tapi saya tidak 100% menyalahkan. Manajemen Man City adalah orang2 tolol yang kerjanya Cuma menumpuk penyerang! Ayo kita urut: Robinho, Benjani, Bojinov, Bellamy, Santa Cruz, Tevez, dan Adebayor. Nah, apakah Mark Hughes berpikir dia bisa memainkan 4 penyerang?! Saya kira malah dia hanya akan bermain dengan striker tunggal!!

Lalu, bagaimana para 4 Besar EPL akan bertahan menghadapi musim depan. Sir Alex sudah bilang bahwa tahun ini bukan tahun yang tepat untuk membeli pemain. Jadi bisa dibilang tidak akan ada perubahan besar dalam tim2 itu saat EPL mulai. Man U seperti kehilangan setengah mesin gol-nya karena kehilangan Ronaldo dan Tevez sekaligus. Membeli Owen adalah perjudian besar, tapi dia adalah alternatif yang murah. Liverpool juga kehilangan Xabi Alonso yang bermain fantastis musim lalu sekaligus mengorkestrai lini tengah Liverpool. Apalagi keloyalan Mascherano juga dipertanyakan. Arsenal lebih parah kelihatannya. Kehilangan Adebayor dan Kolo Toure ke City, Arsenal hanya membeli seorang bek, yang namanya saja saya lupa. Berharap pada Jack Wilshere dan Theo Walcott agaknya terlalu berlebihan. Chelsea adalah yang paling stabil. Tidak banyak berubah dan terombang-ambing. Man City, setolol apapun saya menganggapnya, tetap saja bisa mengancam. Belum lagi Aston Villa. Saya pikir Chelsea paling siap untuk musim depan.

Di Liga Champions, saya cukup pesimis melihatnya. Apalagi bila Pelligrini berhasil meracik paduan pemain2 terbaik itu jadi sesuatu yang menakutkan. Kombinasi Alonso-Kaka-Benzema-Ronaldo saya kira cukup mengerikan. Saya juga sampai merinding membayangkan Iniesta-Xavi-Henry-Messi-Ibra. Tampaknya masa kejayaan Liga Inggris ada di ujung tanduk.

Mari kita saksikan bersama musim depan yang gila. Dan buktikan apakah uang benar2 bisa membeli sepak bola?

Farewell Notes

Tulisan ini saya buat jauh setelah blog post saya yang terakhir (saya selalu kesulitan menghadapi kontinuitas), tapi hanya beberapa hari sebelum saya berangkat. Jadi bisa saja dianggap sebagai farewell notes untuk semua yang ditinggalkan. Lagipula, rasanya sulit membayangkan akan menjalani hal seperti ini lagi di masa depan (yang rasa2nya sudah seperti menunggu besok pagi).

Perjalanan saya kali ini menghabiskan hampir 2 kali perjalanan termahal yang pernah saya jalani. Hampir 4 juta rupiah harus saya keluarkan untuk ini. Menempuh hampir separuh lebar Indonesia. Menjalani ketiga mode transportasi (darat, udara, dan laut). I like to think that every adventure is a spiritual. And, the longer road you walk, the purest you become. Okay, i’m being melancholic now.

Backpackers buat saya adalah ideologi, sebuah edukasi, dan kadang menjadi seperti anti-turis. Menurut wikipedia:

“backpackers constituted a heterogeneous group with respect to the diversity of rationales and meanings attached to their travel experiences. …They also displayed a common commitment to a non-institutionalised form of travel, which was central to their self-identification as backpackers”

And yeah i’m addicted to it. Saya rela menghabiskan uang itu demi sebuah perjalanan yang banyak orang akan berpikir dua kali untuk melakukannya, daripada membelikannya sebuah Blackberry – misalnya. We’re buying experience, not buying things. Saya rasa beberapa orang menghabiskan lebih banyak untuk sekedar beberapa hari di Singapura atau Bali.

Beberapa orang dalam perjalanan ini adalah orang-orang dan sahabat-sahabat terdekat saya. Adik saya, yang bekerja keras menyelesaikan tugas akhirnya untuk dapat ikut. Mike dan Abol, yang selalu percaya kemana saja saya pergi, dari Bandung, hingga puncak Bromo dan Gede, dan pantai-pantai tersembunyi di Jogjakarta. Dan Laras, yang setelah sekian lama, akhirnya menjadi partners in crime dalam menyusun itinerary yang melelahkan. Traveler without observation, is like bird without wings – so they said. Anggap saja ini juga merupakan farewell notes kepada kalian. Rasanya tidak mudah mengadakan reuni lengkap untuk ke –sebutlah- Halong Bay misalnya. You’ve all been the closest human being to me. And all that dusty roads we’ve walked on, its priceless. I can run out of money (or time) anytime soon, but i’ll never run out of stories to tell – all the beautiful sceneries and experience we’ve seen and had, traveling makes you speechless then turns you into a story teller.

So this is it. After months of waiting and dreaming, let us celebrate. For the shake of friendship.

Flores on Shoestring (Jakarta-Kuta Bali-Senggigi-Gili Trawangan-Bajo-Komodo-Rinca-Kelimutu)

Teman-teman, ini adalah rencana jadwal kita utk berpetualang di flores. Ada cukup banyak perubahan dibanding posting yang dulu karena rencana ke Kelimutu dan juga mengejar puasa hari pertama tanggal 22 Agustus. Oleh karena itu perjalanan akan dibuat seefisien mungkin. Maaf bila budget menembus angka 3 juta. Beberapa angka masih berupa perkiraan (kadang2 karena data yang beragam), sehingga pengeluaran bisa lebih atau kurang dari itu. Belum lagi pengeluaran tidak tercantum seperti laundry, dsb.

Tgl 9, kita berangkat dengan pesawat Air Asia yang tiketnya sudah kita beli. Berangkat pukul 8 malam, kita akan tiba sekitar pukul 10-11 malam. Percuma langsung ke Kuta sekarang. Belum tentu kita dapat kamar. Kita tidur di bandara dulu ya. Hahaha. Besok pagi, kita ke Kuta naik taksi, harganya dulu 40ribu. Nginep di losmen sekitar Poppies Lane aja. Harapan gue berhemat ada di losmen2 ini. Yah walaupun ga banyak.. Segera booking tiket ke Senggigi di Perama dengan harga 150 ribu.

Tgl 10, ke Senggigi dengan Perama. Sampe disana bakalan sore. Langsung aja kita booking lagi tiket ke Bajo untuk tgl 13. Cari penginapan. Murah meriah juga disini. Tgl 11 kita ke Gili Trawangan dari Pelabuhan Bangsal. Berpuas-puaslah di Gili.

Tgl 13, kita balik ke Senggigi langsung naik bis ke Bajo dengan harga 175 ribu. Bakalan sampe Bajo jam 8 malem. Gue harap kita masih bisa carter kapal, entah dari penginapan atau dari pelabuhan di deket sana. Harganya bervariasi antara 400 ribu – 1,5 juta perhari!!! Gue ambil yang maksimal 1,5 juta utk 2 hari. Ada yang cerita gitu. Moga2 kita dapet.. kalo ngga… hm… kita pikirkan disana. Harga tiket masuk juga bervariasi. Yang resmi sih bilang 75 ribu plus 12 ribu. Tapi ada yang bilang sampe 200 ribu. Huh! Katanya kalo bilang pelajar jadi lebih murah.

Tgl 15, kta naik kapal ke Komodo-Rinca. Rutenya gue masih kabur. Apakah ke Komodo atau ke Rinca aja. Belom lagi rencana snorkeling. Kita bakal nginep di kapal sih kayaknya. Ini biaya masih bisa naik bgt disini. Be prepared. Gue belom ngitung snorkeling yang mungkin nambah 50 ribu per orang. Kalo bisa harga kapalnya udah termasuk makan dan snorkeling. Sampe Bajo lagi jangan lupa cari carteran mobil ke Moni. Naik bis sih bisa, Cuma kalo bisa dapet harga 600 ribu bakal lebih murah.

Tgl 17, kita agustusan dulu kali ya. Hahaha. Langsung ke Moni 17 jam. Fiuh. Malam kita langsung nginep aja. Be prepared kita bakal naik ke Kelimutu naik bis lokal yang brangkat jam 4 pagi. Berangkat naik bis, pulang jalan kaki 3 jam katanya. Gapapa. Toh kita masih punya banyak waktu.

Tgl 19, kita ke Ende dari Moni yang memakan waktu 2 jam saja. Kita menginap semalam disini karena besok pagi pesawat kita berangkat jam 10.

Tgl 20, kita meninggalkan Ende untuk sebelumnya ke Kupang sebelum bertolak ke Jakarta. Sekitar jam 2 kita sudah di Soekarno-Hatta.

Total biaya: 3.265 ribu. Huh, gue rasanya aga sebal. Apa boleh buat. Ada plan B yang lebih murah yaitu kita pulang lagi ke Mataram dengan jalur tadi. Kali ini kayaknya tanpa Perama deh. Lebih ribet. Lalu naik pesawat dari Mataram. Beda 400 ribuan. Cuma lebih kejar2an sama waktu. Pilihan di tangan kita, Cuma waktu aga mepet untuk memutuskan. Gue sih ingin semurah2nya karena backpacking adalah filosofi, haha.

Salam.

(data dari Lonely Planet dan website2 travel serta blogs2 pribadi)

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Senin		Selasa		Rabu		Kamis	Jumat	Sabtu	Minggu
									9 Ke Bali berangkat jam 8 malam, tiba jam 11 malam. Tidur di?? Bandara! 460 ribu
10 Enjoy Bali 15 ribu (Taksi) 50 ribu (makan) 35 ribu (losmen) 100 ribu		11 Pagi ke lombok, sampe senggigi 150 ribu (transpor) 50 ribu (makan) 35 ribu (losmen) 235 ribu		12 Ke gili 15 ribu (transpor) 35 ribu (losmen) 50 ribu (makan) 100 ribu		13 Balik ke senggigi Jam 2 siang naik bis malam ke Bajo pake Perama 175 ribu (transpor) 50 ribu (makan) 100 ribu	14 Sampe Bajo jam 8 malam. Langsung nginep. 50 ribu (makan) 35 ribu (losmen bajo) 85 ribu	15 Nyewa kapal ke Komodo-Rinca 2 hari plus makan 1-1,5 juta. Masuk TN, bayar guide, dsb. 150 ribu (kapal) 100 ribu (tiket) 50 ribu (makan) 300 ribu	16 Pulang ke Labuan Bajo sore. Nginep sehari dulu. Besok pagi berangkat ke Moni 50 ribu (Makan) 35 ribu (losmen) 85 ribu
17 Pagi 17 Agustusan di Bajo. Baru berangkat ke Moni 15 jam. Kita nyewa mobil aja ya guys. 800 ribu sehari. Sampai Moni kita nginep dulu sehari. Besok sunrise di Kelimutu. 100 ribu (mobil) 50 ribu (makan) 35 ribu (losmen) 185 ribu		18 Sunrise di Kelimutu. Menikmati sore-malam di Moni. 50 ribu (makan) 17 ribu (bus ke kelimutu) 35 ribu (losmen) 116 ribu		19 Pagi kita ke Ende. Nginep di Ende. Menikmati hari di Ende 50 ribu (makan) 14 ribu (bus ke Ende) 35 ribu (losmen) 99 ribu		20 Pulang dari Ende jam 10 pagi dengan rute Ende-Kupang-Jakarta 1400 ribu	21	22	23