Old n New

last week, i went to a temple fair, related to the Chinese New Year here in Beijing.
not every year i came to those fairs,
but i like it nevertheless..
coz i'm leavin this town for good in summer, i'm tryin to go to places that represent this city.
i know when it came down to leavin a town which you've lived in for 10 years,
it feels that you're goin to missed it...
i've tried to fill my time here by readin n learnin all things bout Beijing,
all the history n folk customs, old pictures n alleyways,
n i became more n more attached to Beijing, like its my 2nd hometown.
but hey, i grew up in here...

yesterday, i went to Capital Museum where it hosts abundant information on the history of Beijing.
i spent half a day inside the museum,
imaginin things like, what's Beijing like 200 or 300 years ago,
they've put some small replicas of wood describin the way people lived in old Beijing,
old pictures, the famous stories of Beijing hutongs (old alleys), teahouses, etc.
what amazes me the most were the decoration is perfect,
they had the most advanced technologies to support it,
a multimedia room that cited the history of Beijing,
multi languange audio n PDA tour of the museum,
touch-screen interactive computers, etc.
they even put some world's famous people adjacent to the year they'd born with what's happenin in Beijing at the same timeline.
the staffs were friendly, n it has a good cafe in the basement where we could relax,
art crafts stores, bookstores, n some benches for the elderly.
n all of that were worthy of my 30 yuans (1 yuan= approx. Rp.1.200,-)

recently the Semarang government has tried to revivin the old streets of Semarang,
you could read it here
n of course the old chinatown, "Waroeng Semawis" as well.
i love old histories of Semarang, where it holds many memories of how this city is build,
i remember i once saw some articles about old Semarang in Suaramerdeka sunday newspaper.
where it stated bout interactions between the Chinese, Muslims, Arabians, Malayans, etc.
how the streets were named, how the rites in Semarang took places, etc.
i know Semarang may not be as old as Beijing,
n to be honest with you, i've never known if there is a museum in Semarang that holds those kind of information.
or maybe i was too little to understand things.
but at least if the government saw this, they could put it into work,
build a new museum, or re-open an old one,
put those stories n pictures of old Semarang together,
refurnish it with some great architectures that represent the city.
hire some great personnel, make it looks good,
than wastin our tax-money elsewhere.

what'd be your opinions then?

xain.

A story in flood

Yes, i know that many blogs been writin bout this flood.
as much as its happened in Jakarta,
its still have a chance to happened in Semarang,
or other cities in Indonesia, mind you...

i remembered when i was travellin home back in 2002,
when the big flood happenin that February,
i was stucked in Sukarno Hatta airport for a few hours.
my plane arrived at 10pm,
n my mom's supposed to pick me up at the airport that nite,
i had only 25 thousand rupiahs in my hand,
i used it at the airport phone stall,
coz its already closed, they let me used it for a fee,
i called my mom n she said that they're trapped in the highway to the airport,
n i maybe i had to stay at the airport that nite.
i run to the airport hotel,
only to find that it has 20+ waiting list guests for that nite.
i've tried to ask those taxi drivers to drove me to my auntie's house,
around Kelapa Gading, if i'm not mistaken...
n they'd charged me around 500 thousand rupiahs,
just to get out from the airport that nite...

ok, to summarize everythin,
i had only 5 thousand rupiahs in hand,
everythin's closed,
the hotel's full booked,
my mom's assumed that i stayed in the hotel,
2 big baggage at my disposal,
close to midnite,
n nothin seems in sight...
sleep on the bench of the airport was out of the question,
since i had more than 1000usd in my left pocket,
n considerin that Jakarta wasnt the safest place on the planet...
there was i, stranded alone...

then there is someone,
with a cell phone in hand,
i asked him politely, if i could borrow his cell phone.
n i called my mom again,
she said that they're stayin at a hotel in downtown Jakarta,
n told me to came over as soon as possible,
yeah, mom,
didnt u saw that those driver's breathin down my neck,
askin half a million rupiahs, n i had no rupiahs whatsoever??
what, u wanted your son to get robbed n possibly stabbed to death,
if they've known that i had some usd in my left pocket??
anyway, i asked that man again,
if i could exchanged my usd into rupiahs,
n he'd kindly exchanged it to me in an acceptable rate by that time.

i saw a Bluebird taxi came into the airport,
which made me think that the highway was open to passed by now,
n i took the cab,
to make it short, i arrived at the hotel close to 5am that mornin,
the argo stated a lil more than 60 thousand rupiahs,
includin those highway fees, i counted around 75 thousand rupiahs to be paid,
i just doubled that amount without second thinkin,
when the driver asked me why,
i just said, i'm grateful that i am safe,
n he deserved it more than those drivers at the airport,
who couldnt settle less than half a million rupiahs...

that noon, i went to my auntie's place,
its not flooded yet,
n i'm asleep from exhaustion,
by afternoon, we went to Bandung by car,
n i'm still sleepin at the back side of the car,
but i heared my mom's talkin with my auntie back in Jakarta,
that her house was floodin soon after we went...

i'm grateful to that man who'd be kind enough to lent me his cellphone,
exchanged me my usd into rupiahs,
the driver's who'd been honest with his work,
my auntie who'd let me sleep in her sofa,
n God by all means who'd takin care over me that nite,
not just that nite actually, in my whole entire life...
thank you sincerely,

xain.