Author: tristin

years on novo amor in his singapore concert at esplanade annexe studio

‘Years On’ is Coming Right On Time

Published on by tristinLeave a comment

‘Years On’ is a song title from my favorite musician you might find in this blog too, Novo Amor. You’re probably right, it’s a moniker, his real name is Ali Lacey. Long story short, I figured his music out circa 2018. Two years later, I got the chance to interview him (online, of course!), and four years later, we finally met in person…four times in a 3-month period.

Novo Amor is that type of musician who lets his songs’ meaning be open, so you (too) can interpret his music yourselves. But for me, this writing is my interpretation of ‘Years On’, one of Novo Amor’s songs released back in January 2024. This song would be (or maybe already) in his (currently) newest album, Collapse List.

This song was released at the rightest time, as I unfold myself after having my first solo trip abroad. An awakening trip, I might say, because it’s not about the distance, but more of finding my self worth. Yep, it’s that big.

March, 2023

It started out at the end of March 2023, when Novo Amor announced his shows in Singapore. “Hmm, Singapore,” I thought, as a person who has never gone there before and now felt challenged. 

Anyway, it’s been four years since I interviewed Novo Amor. Knowing that they even made it to Singapore, I feel obligated to have a fun trip going there to give some effort to meet him too.

“Will this be my first solo trip, ever?” I continued the thinking process, wondering if this is finally the time when I have to set sail on a new experience. I’ve been working as a writer all I’ve ever known and have been staying at home since the pandemic. After finally getting a new passport in 2022, I think this’ll be the chance to feed that adventurous side of me, isn’t it? So, I decided to buy a ticket for those 2 Novo Amor shows in Singapore.

But well, oh well, this smort kid apparently took too much time thinking and planning, so she missed out on getting both tickets. Resulting her to look for people who want to sell their SG tickets and asked Ali if there’s any way for her to buy the tickets. But miracle does happen, here’s the reply she got:

We’re here to see you, readers, smile too.

Am I not the luckiest girl alive that night? Considering the entire situation, screaming “YES, I F*CKING AM” wouldn’t be too excessive for me, because I didn’t expect to get anything for free.

Fast forward to December

I’m in the midst of a healing process, after going through big misunderstandings in my family that went on for months, the nature of my relationship, a seemingly never-ending burnout, and such. Bringing these on my shoulder, I expected nothing but going back home safely to my nest, because apparently, the only thing I waited for was the day I watched Novo Amor, live on stage.

Carrying the weight of 2023’s ups and downs, I flew to Singapore. I was totally scared at first, because I’ve prepared everything I could think of, but still don’t know what this trip will hold.

But alas, who’s gonna spend all day long chilling at the hotel when you’re on a trip? So, day one after arriving, I went to TreeTop Walk at MacRitchie Reservoir. Had a 12,6 km walk in total for that day, that equals to 19k steps… including the wrong paths I took.

[insert img2nya, ini caption buat project gantungan] I brought this bag charm project for Ali that I started to make a few days before the trip, so it’s still ongoing in this photo and it was with me along this SG trip 😀

If you wanna read my full itinerary, I probably will share it in another article to avoid way too-detailed sharings in this article. Later, when I have wrote the article, you can click the picture below to know what I’ve been doing in Singapore besides attending Novo Amor’s concert.

The D-Day

The day #1’s show is on. It was a blessed, yet rough afternoon, at least for me. I walked for another thousands of steps, wearing a short dress, rain was falling almost all day long, and I didn’t bring my umbrella. I was on my trip to Esplanade Annexe Studio from Chinatown. It was 7:09 pm when this thoughtful hooman sent me this message:

I’m aspired to at least be this thoughtful.

I was kinda shocked, but of course being happy is beyond all feelings. Confidently, I told him I’m near Esplanade Annexe. Actually I was, if I didn’t get lost (again) that night. Long story short, I made it there one minute before 8 pm (thanks to the free pass, I don’t have to queue *still wanna cry remembering this lovely experience*) with wet shoes and half damp velvet jacket.

After all the walks, the new experiences, the wait, the effort, I finally made it there. It was more of self fulfillment, a new breakthrough in my life, that I was able to watch my favorite musician perform live in another country I’ve never visit before. Not gonna lie, some of you might have taken some guesses too, and some of you guessed it right.

The song still rings in my brain when I’m typing this (and apparently got played on my TV when I’m still writing this paragraph). I cried when Novo Amor played the first notes of Opaline, because it felt like the sound evaporated along with the heavy burdens I carried all these years. I remembered the day I lost my dog, the months of family relationship shattering for nothing, those days when things ended faster than it started. All happened in a split of seconds, then I got my eyes in tears instantly and it grew even bitterly better when ‘Carry You’ was playing.

“Such experience of a lifetime,” I thought, not knowing I’m gonna have this “such experience” for four times in 3 months span. I melt.

After the shows, I got the chance to meet Ali backstage then asked for a hug because I knew no one while on this trip, Novo Amor is probably the only human entity I know know. And you know what, it felt like having an older brother getting your back, I felt safer.

Aaand, it happened twice! I came back the next day to cry over ‘Carry You’ again and met Ali backstage to hand him the finished bag charm plus a box of Christmas cookies I bought in a mall. We also had some conversations about experiences in Singapore, who wrote Faux lyrics (it’s Ed!), Scout (for those who know), even relationships. Crazy to think I can talk about personal stuff I don’t talk about with my regular friends, but talk about it with someone I only met (in person) twice!

Not just Ali, apparently, but the rest of the Novo Amor band were extremely kind and friendly! I can’t help but to feel seen in a good way, because I’ve lived long enough knowing the statement “Never meet your heroes”, but now I guess whoever said this must be having the wrong heroes.

And the rest, is history…

The ‘Years On’ Part

I see Novo Amor’s ‘Years On’ as a sense of introspection and a struggle with inner thoughts. I was once a quiet person who often kept her thoughts to herself, rather please other people and do things I don’t actually wanna do. I was passive, not even thinking about having any dreams anymore and living life like a dead person trying to catch some breaths just to feel alive. I was only following situations here and there and trying to get along with it, I was just “sit back and lose”. I have friends and people around me, but the word “love” and their warmth meant nothing to me.

Connecting with God through this solo trip and meeting people who are thoughtful and considerate have brought my willingness to live life again, to share more love with others, because it feels good to be loved and to be cared for. On my way back after meeting Novo Amor band on the second day, I started to feel like I’ve got my self worth back. It felt easier to forgive myself. 

That night, I was sitting on a bench near the venue while calming myself down after meeting Novo Amor band, recorded a 10-minute voice note of me venting and retelling things that happened in the backstage, so I wouldn’t forget it in the future. When I almost reached the end of that voice note, Ali replied to my DM (I bet he’s on the way back already) and I could hear myself talking with teary eyes, overflowing with happiness.

How could I not be?!

I came back to the hotel as a person who can be a little easier on herself, most of her weights are lifted away. She knows that she’ll be okay, and the fact that her life might not be easy, but she has got people around who cares for her, who are willing to do things for her, that she’s okay and she’s brave enough to get through things, “Hell, what I wouldn’t do.“

From that night, after forgiving myself, I slowly feel like I deserve to be loved, acknowledged, and be heard in the right way. Things felt simpler, when I wanna do things, I gotta do it. When I wanna have something, I should work for it instead of thinking too much. It won’t be instant, but that doesn’t mean I should stop fighting for it. There’ll be some slow days, when I don’t feel productive, but that’s okay, because life’s not always sunshine and rainbows, isn’t it?

I started to realize that this happiness is not coming from a particular reason, nor the hands of others. It comes from the discovery, the hope, the listening of my heart. It was me being kind to myself, embracing the person I’m becoming, and learning to live with myself. “Happiness comes from within”, as they always said.

The ‘Afterglow’

I started to stop caring when some people said it’s pure luck. No, it’s not. There’s a price I had to pay. It took me at least four years, one online interview, more than five articles for Novo Amor and Lowswimmer, and countless tweets and DMs to finally know and meet them in person, plus another two from listening to Terraform for the first time to writing an article review for free and having an online interview.

Those new experiences in Singapore sealed my old life while creating the new one. A version of me who knows what she wants to do with her life.
A version of me who wants to connect with humans.
A version of me who wants to give more love toward others.
A version of me who’s willing to make a change.
A version of me who slowly forgives herself and knows that she, afterall, is also a human.

And apparently, the fear that I felt earlier is because some parts of me actually died along the way, with the burdens, the problems, the things that held me back from being who I’m supposed to be. Knowing this fact, now I’ll just embrace every fear I might face, because just like some parts of skin that shed, the new ones will regenerate as a better version of it and it’s totally okay.

One thing for sure is that I’m glad I let Ali know that going to Singapore was my first trip abroad, alone. It was also the first time we finally met after the online meeting in 2020. Because a few days before I started writing this lengthy article, I unintentionally did a gallery digging and found some screenshots I took when ‘If We’re Being Honest’ music video was released.

I asked this question that Ali replied, about Novo Amor coming back to my hometown, Jakarta. He literally said that “I really hope it’ll be next year” and turned out it was like a manifesto.

Be careful with your words.

Four years after he said that, I met him four times by the time he made it to Jakarta. It somehow felt like I met him at least once in a year since the last time he hoped it’d be “next year“. I might sound like a little maniac right now, but pouring some extra thoughts over something you love wouldn’t hurt, right? Right?

So now, go, romanticize your life, recognize things that bring you joy. And I’ll be here, making things louder and letting myself be seen, as I quote it again from ‘Years On’ for the last time, “Just to make a sound, make it real loud”, because I know life won’t last forever and this would probably be my peak youth. Adios por ahora!

artenyx for parvovirus featured image

Apa Itu Parvovirus Anjing dan Kucing, Tips, dan Penanganannya (Sekalian Curhat!)

Published on by tristinLeave a comment

The wind blistered that night, danced with the the rain that fell so hard. I’d never feel so much colder than seeing you laying weak on the floor, with your heart that beat so slow, and your whimpers that sound so low. But then, you choose to leave at that dawn.

I thought you left, for us to welcome a new family friend, but no. You left and you only leave this heart broken.

to Nyx

—

I dedicate this article to Artenyx, Kyoto, and Polly, for their strengths facing this deadly virus. Spoiler alert: Artenyx (Nyx) and Polly is now deceased because of parvovirus. You can see the photo gallery below this article.

Hai Nyx, maaf ya it took me a long time to write this. Liat foto dan video lu aja masih bikin gua mellow. Well, well, nulis sepotong begini aja udah berkaca-kaca, apalagi harus balik to reopen the wound, hehe. Tapi gapapa ya, kita sama-sama jadi berkat supaya nggak ada korban lain yang harus kehilangan nyawa kayak lu karena virus parvo ini.

Hi there, artikel ini dibuat untuk ngasih tau kamu apa itu parvovirus (singkat aja lah ya), beberapa detail seperti cara menular, gejala, masa inkubasi, dan tips menangani virus parvo. Sharing ini aku buat berdasarkan pengalamanku merawat dan menyaksikan 9 ekor anjing yang terkena parvovirus di Juli-Agustus 2022.

Disclaimer, aku bukan dokter, ahli, atau praktisi kesehatan hewan, jadi kalau anjing/kucing (anabul) kamu terjangkit parvovirus, jangan lanjut gugling, tapi langsung dibawa ke dokter hewan, ya! Pembahasanku ini hanya sebagai tips, wawasan tambahan, dan sharing dari pet owner yang anabulnya pernah ngalamin parvo. Jadi, semoga bermanfaat, selamat membaca!

Parvovirus, apa tuh?

Virus parvo, atau nama lengkapnya Canine parvovirus, adalah virus yang menyerang pencernaan. Gejala awalnya mirip banget dengan maag biasa, makanya banyak pet owner yang lengah saat anabulnya kena virus parvo. Selain anjing, kucing juga bisa kena virus parvo, makanya di sini akan aku sebut dengan anak bulu (anabul).

Parvovirus seringkali menyerang anjing dan kucing, terutama yang masih bayi (puppies/kittens), yang ironisnya, bayi hewan usia segitu (<3 bulan) belum boleh divaksin. Cara penularannya pun super gampang. Mirip seperti coronavirus, parvovirus menular melalui udara dari kotoran dan muntah anjing yang terinfeksi parvo. Makanya, buat pet owners yang anabulnya masih bayik, harus super hati-hati, ya, plis! Kalau anabulnya udah mencapai 3 bulan, sebaiknya langsung vaksin!

Masa inkubasi parvovirus adalah 14 hari (mirip covid juga, ‘kan?). Gejalanya muncul setelah 7-10 hari setelah terinfeksi virus, jadi nggak langsung ketauan. Jahat, ya. Menurut dokterku yang pertama (aku pakai 2 dokter), highest peak atau penentuan anabul akan survive atau nggak, ada di hari ke-6 setelah muncul gejala. Katanya, kalau di hari ke-6 anabulnya survive, hari ke 7, 8, dan seterusnya dia udah bisa mulai pulih.

Gejala Awal Banget

Untuk ngecek gejala parvo, ada 3 kasus yang aku perhatikan dan bisa kamu pelajari juga:

  • Gejala nggak kedeteksi yang pertama berawal dari Polly, di hari pertama gejalanya muncul, dia nggak mau makan (malam). Pas subuh, dia muntah busa padat (karena dehidrasi). Siang-sore lemas, nggak mau minum, nggak mau makan.
  • Selang 4 hari setelah muncul gejala di Polly, Kyoto muntah, lemas, dan nggak mau makan/minum. Kemudian, dia langsung dibawa ke dokter untuk dites parvo, positif.
  • Setelah tau Kyo positif, Nyx juga dites dan positif, bahkan hasil tesnya lebih jelas terlihat, meskipun dia masih lincah banget sampai malam itu. Jadi, Nyx nggak muncul gejala di hari pertama.

Kesimpulan dari 3 kasus ini, gejala awal parvo yang aku tau adalah nggak nafsu makan/minum, muntah terus menerus, lemas. Dalam beberapa kasus, mungkin si anabul udah terinfeksi, tapi gejalanya belum muncul (seperti Nyx). Jadi, meski nggak ada gejala, ada baiknya tetap dites kalau kamu tau anabulmu main dengan anabul lain yang udah positif parvo.

GEJALA SELANJUTNYA

Namanya juga virus, dia akan menyerang dan menghancurkan sistem kekebalan tubuh sebisa mungkin. Makanya, hampir nggak mungkin anabul nggak memiliki gejala saat terkena virus parvo.

Gejala awal tadi akan tetap ada, kemudian anabul akan terus lemas, muntah, bahkan diare. Tapi, nggak semua gejala akan muncul di semua anabul ya, karena Nyx mengalami diare sedangkan Kyo nggak. Mereka akan lemas dan terus tidur, perutnya berubah jadi cekung, tulangnya kelihatan semua. Awalnya, aku takut Kyoto nggak selamat, karena dia kurus banget.

Semakin lama, mencretnya akan disertai dengan darah dan sangat berbau amis. Kalau anabul selamat, dia akan berhasil melewati proses ini. Tapi kalau nggak, kasusnya bisa mirip dengan Nyx, yaitu kejang-kejang. Jika ini udah terjadi, mohon maaf banget, tapi sebaiknya kamu harus mulai belajar untuk merelakan anabul.

PENANGANAN PARVOVIRUS

Kalau gitu, setelah positif, selanjutnya apa yang dilakukan?

1. Nggak usah banyak mikir, langsung bawa ke dokter!

Kalau anabul udah lemes tapi dia nggak mau minum apalagi makan, jangan tunggu dehidrasi ya, coba deh tes ke dokter. Kalau positif tapi nggak dehidrasi, biasanya dokter akan langsung infus karena nadinya masih segar. Tapi, kalau positif dan udah dehidrasi, dokter akan berikan infus di punuk, karena biasanya nadi anabul udah collapsed/kering, ini yang terjadi di Polly.

Infus yang dikasih dari dokter adalah Ringer Lactate, dengan kecepatan 5 detik per tetes. Tetesannya nggak boleh terlalu cepet ya, karena nanti bisa banjir hingga ke paru-paru. Kalau infusnya udah abis, bisa dicari di toko obat terdekat, kok. Aku beli di K24.

Selanjutnya, dokter akan menyarankan obat antibiotik/antivirus dan obat untuk meredakan gejala parvo, misalnya obat anti muntah. Menurutku, udah nggak perlu nambah obat terlalu banyak, yang penting 2 obat utama ini (antibiotik dan anti muntah) udah berhasil masuk ke tubuh anabul.

2. Tetap kasih makan donggg!

Ringer lactate mengandung vitamin dan energi yang diperlukan tubuh anabul. Tapi, karena yang diserang adalah pencernaan, kita harus tetap hati-hati dengan apa yang dimasukkan di tubuh anabul. Beli makanan berlabel Gastrointestinal, ada yang untuk anak anjing, anjing dewasa, anak kucing, dan kucing dewasa. Ada versi kering dan basah, sebaiknya beli yang basah, karena anabul akan mual kalau ngunyah makanan, so dry food is a no.

Gastrointestinal yang kubeli untuk Nyx dan Kyo (paling kiri)

Oh iya, karena anabul lagi nggak bisa ngunyah makanan, jadi harus kita “suapin”, tapi plis jangan bayangin makan pakai sendok, karena maksudnya adalah dicekokin atau force feeding.

3. Nggak mau minum? Semprot!!!

Air berperan penting untuk metabolisme tubuh. Makanya, saat anabul nggak mau minum, harus ada spuit (syringe/suntikan tanpa jarum) tersedia untuk semprotin air ke mulut anabul. Jangan terlalu banyak ya, takut muntah, jadi 3-5 mL juga udah cukup. Dosisnya boleh ditambah secara berkala kalau pas kalian coba tambahin dosis minuman, anabul nggak muntah.

Alat Suntik (Spuit atau Syringe) - Mai-Melajah Alat Medis
Contoh spuit 1 mL

Selain buat minum air putih, spuit juga penting jadi persediaan untuk ngasih makanan (force feeding), minum obat anti muntah, dan antibiotik. Tergantung berapa cc atau mL yang kamu beli (aku punya yang 1 mL untuk obat dan air, 3 mL untuk air, dan 5 mL untuk makanan).

4. Kasih obat dong

Sampai di sini, mungkin udah ada yang penasaran, apa aja obat untuk parvo. Sayangnya, belum ada obat yang benar-benar menyembuhkan virus parvo (Let alone obat parvovirusnya anabul, obat buat Covid aja belum ada, ‘kan?). Jadi, solusinya adalah pemberian antibiotik dan anti muntah.

Nah, saat kasih makan obat, biasa prosesnya seperti ini:

  1. Anti muntah sesuai takaran berat badan.
  2. Setelah 20 menit nggak muntah, kasih makan secukupnya. Nggak perlu terlalu banyak, tapi nggak boleh terlalu sedikit juga… karena kalau laper, nanti malah jadi maag 🙁
  3. Setelah 20-30 menit nggak muntah, kasih minum antibiotik sesuai takaran juga.

Tapi, kalau muntah?

  1. Kalau masih muntah, artinya virusnya masih kuat, jadi harus lebih hati-hati.
  2. Setelah muntah, jangan lupa kasih minum sedikit. Lalu, 10-20 menit kemudian kasih lagi anti muntah.
  3. Kurangin porsi makannya.
  4. Jangan dipaksa kasih antibiotik ya kalau perutnya masih kosong atau baru selesai muntah.

Ingat ya, mereka nggak bisa konsumsi obat sendiri, jadi untuk pemberian obat, kamu bisa belajar dari sini:

Cara Memberi Obat untuk Anjing

BTW, ada beberapa obat yang kubeli untuk Nyx dan Kyo, tapi sebaiknya daftar obat ini jangan ditiru. Di dokter pertama, mereka dikasih obat-obatan dosis ringan untuk ✨manusia✨, misalnya Inpepsa (anti muntah), Imboost anak-anak, Clavamox (antibiotik) untuk ✨manusia✨, suplemen Transfer Factor (TF), bahkan disaranin pake Pien Tze Huang. Hadehhhhhhh…..

Mau sekalian sharing, kalau kamu ketemu dokter dan ngasih beberapa resep di atas (apalagi nulis resepnya sembari lihat dari HP), you better find another doctor! Karena, obat-obatan ini dosisnya rendah, nggak kuat melawan atau menahan gejala virus anabul yang muncul. Alhasil, dokternya akan menyarankan anabul untuk suntik di klinik/RS, yang sekali suntik (sepengalamanku), bisa 350 ribuan untuk 2 anabul. Padahal, obat suntiknya pun masih nggak mempan. Another hadehhhhhhh…..

The next bad thing is, sehari harus 2x suntik, bayangin deh, kira-kira berapa banyak biaya hanya untuk ke dokter? Belum termasuk makanan, infus, pee & poo pad, obat-obatan di luar ini, suplemen. Awalnya kupikir worth it. Tapi ternyata, kedua anjingku sebenarnya saat itu nggak ada perkembangan dan terus melemah, terutama jantungnya, dan pembuluh darah udah bolong-bolong dijebol infus yang dipasang ulang hampir tiap kali visit.

Sampai akhirnya, di hari ke 5 (lumayan telat), mereka kubawa ke klinik hewan di Tangerang yang disarankan teman. Dokternya ternyata lumayan paham soal penanganan parvo dan dia super tenang, berkebalikan banget dengan dokter pertama. Bahkan, anti muntah yang disuntik ke Kyo mampu bertahan sampai hampir 24 jam, dan dia akhirnya bisa tidur pulas dan istirahat setelah itu. Well, hasil Kyo memang agak beda dengan Nyx yang ekornya sempat berkibas setelah keluar dari ruang dokter, tapi kemudian langsung drop malam harinya.

Aku nggak di-endrose untuk ini ya, toh aku bukan influencer. Tapi, kalau kamu ada di sekitar Tangerang, segera bawa anabulmu Klinik Sahabat Hewan di daerah Sangiang, Tangerang dengan drh Dafi. Selanjutnya, boleh cari tau sendiri yaaa~

Kenapa aku menyarankan dokter yang nggak di daerah Jakarta? Padahal, ‘kan ada dokter hewan terkenal di daerah Cideng? Nope. Mereka sempat hopeless lihat 3 puppies lain yang terinfeksi parvovirus dan mereka bilang bahwa jangan menaruh harapan terlalu besar ke puppies yang kena parvo. That’s kinda true, tapi nggak boleh kehilangan semangat dan harapan, dong? Nyatanya, ketiga puppies itu usianya udah 4 bulan saat artikel ini ditulis dan udah lincah lagi sekarang, karena mereka dibawa ke Klinik Sahabat Hewan :”)

OBAT UNTUK PARVOVIRUS

Kalau gitu, terlepas dari daftar obat nggak beres tadi, apa aja obat yang akhirnya dikonsumsi Nyx dan Kyo? Tapi, sebagai catatan, Nyx nggak sempat konsumsi banyak dari obat ini ya, karena dia udah terlanjur drop saat obat ini dibeli. 

Obat (ampuh) yang akhirnya dikonsumsi Kyo (dan Nyx) di hari ke-5, yaitu Vometa (obat anti muntah untuk manusia) dan Clavamox (khusus kucing dan anjing). Keduanya masing-masing punya takaran sesuai berat badan. Jadi, jangan coba-coba beli dan hitung sendiri, ya. Soalnya, saat itu Clavamox untuk Nyx 0,6 mL dan Kyo 0,45 mL, padahal berat badan mereka nggak terlalu jauh, jadi memang sedetail itu dosisnya.

Sayangnya, saat dibawa ke dokter sekali lagi, Nyx kejang-kejang. Itu artinya, sebenarnya udah nggak ada harapan lagi buat Nyx, karena otaknya udah diserang virus. Tapi, dokter hewan di Tangerang ini masih nggak mau melangkahi takdir, jadi dia mengajari penanganan jika Nyx kejang-kejang lagi. Sedih, tapi terharu.

FLUSHING INFUS?

Ada beberapa hal yang mau nggak mau kupelajari saat mengurus mereka berdua, misalnya cara memberi makan anjing dengan force feeding, cara memberi minum saat anjing nggak mau minum, bahkan cara memberi obat (yang syukurnya semua dalam bentuk cairan) oral. Selain itu, aku juga harus bisa melakukan flushing infus.

It took me some times to finally do it, mungkin 1-2 hari setelah diajarin, aku memberanikan diri untuk flush infus, karena tuntutan situasi. Flush perlu dilakukan saat infus macet, karena itu artinya ada darah yang menggumpal dan menyangkut di selang infus sehingga mampet, and that’s not good. Soalnya, saat infus distop dan mereka masih sering muntah, nggak ada energi yang cukup untuk diserap anabul, terus mereka bisa dapat stamina dan energi dari mana?

Jadi, kalau anabulmu udah diinfus, sebaiknya minta dokter untuk ajarin kamu cara flushing infus. Nyx dan Kyo nggak full infus di 3 hari pertama, and that was so wrong!

Tapi, saat belajar flushing harus tetap hati-hati dan penuh tanggung jawab, ya!

Kurang lebih, seperti ini flushing yang dilakukan saat infus macet. Harus super hati-hati!

Kesimpulan

Akhirnya, Artenyx, who’s been having emotional and unexplainably magical bond with me in the last 3 years, berpulang di hari ke-6 perjuangannya. Kyo yang jauh lebih kurus ternyata pulih di hari ke-6. Polly? Dia meninggal 7 hari setelah aku adopsi, sekitar 24 jam sejak nggak mau makan.

Pesanku, kalau anabul kamu kena parvovirus, mental kamu pun harus kuat, ya. Kamu harus bisa dukung mereka untuk sembuh dan yakin mereka akan sembuh. Karena saat dibawa ke dokter, mungkin akan ada banyak dokter yang langsung membeberkan fakta dari situasi anabulmu. Tapi, kamu yang tau seberapa kuat mereka, lalu kamu sendiri harus yakin dan ikut yakinkan anabulmu bahwa mereka kuat. Selama jantungnya masih berdetak, harapanmu harus tetap menyala, yang penting kamu nggak boleh lengah.

Jangan lupa minta kontak dokter untuk berjaga-jaga di situasi genting. Kalau doktermu terlihat nggak meyakinkan, segeralah ganti dokter! Apalagi, kalau menulis resep sembari lihat ke HP. Kalau tinggal di daerah Tangerang, sebaiknya langsung ke dokter rekomendasiku di atas.

Kalau mau kasih perhatian lebih boleh aja, tapi jangan manjakan mereka ya, karena saat mereka merasa nyaman, dorongan untuk melawan penyakit akan semakin lemah. Percaya atau nggak, it all goes back to our energy and mindset. Semoga artikel ini sampai ke kamu di waktu yang tepat dan semoga kamu nggak perlu kehilangan anabulmu karena virus ini. Soalnya, parvovirus sebenarnya treatable, yang penting kamu telaten dan sabar.

Hal yang aku pelajari dari kejadian ini adalah…

  1. Sebelum umur 3 bulan, jangan bawa anabul ke luar atau jalan-jalan. Setelah umur 3 bulan, segera vaksin!
  2. Jangan terlalu manjakan anabul, tegas ajari mereka untuk disiplin.
  3. Love them to the fullest while they lasts. Hug them, kiss them, talk to them, cry with them, give all the love sincerely.

Disclaimer sekali lagi, aku bukan praktisi kesehatan hewan ya, jadi sharing ini hanya berdasarkan pengalaman. Tapi, aku bertanggung jawab atas setiap kata yang kuketik di artikel ini. So, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

Terima kasih sudah meluangkan waktumu untuk membaca. Terima kasih Nyx, Kyo, dan Polly yang udah menjadi bukti kebaikan Tuhan di keluarga ini.

Let’s continue the journey, Kyo. Terima kasih untuk semua memorinya, Nyx yang nyebelin tapi bisa jadi kayak ibu-ibu kalo ketemu puppy, you’ll forever stay in our memories. Always.

I’m closing this by saying “Nik manaaa Nik?” which followed by Kyo’s face looking at me.

I’m not crying, you are

I Got Myself A Birthday Gift

Published on by tristinLeave a comment

“Kalau aku potong rambut, aku pengin potong rambut for a good cause.”

Tidak secanggung itu, tapi kurang lebih seperti inilah kalimat yang terucap saat saya dan Mama mengobrol di teras loteng rumah malam itu. Kalimat ini akhirnya menjadi sebuah rencana yang dijalankan beberapa minggu hingga bulan setelahnya.

Sejak akhir Maret 2020, kantor saya mulai memberlakukan Work From Home (WFH) dengan sistem bergantian. Lalu escalated pretty quick hingga menjadi full WFH pada pertengahan April hingga saat ini (November 2020). Ya, selama itulah saya tidak ke kantor, kecuali untuk beberapa “keperluan penting” (baca: saat bosan di rumah), yang tentunya dilakukan di masa PSBB transisi. Selama di rumah, saya membiarkan rambut yang sudah cukup panjang ini semakin bertumbuh.

Tujuh bulan berturut-turut saya tidak memedulikan seberapa panjang rambut ini nantinya. Mengingat saya sudah tak keluar rumah hampir sama sekali, saya mulai mengurangi jatah keramas. Ya, tentu saja, kalau sekali keramas bisa memakan waktu 1 hingga 1,5 jam dan rambut saya tidak cepat kotor pula, untuk apa saya sering keramas? Toh selain rambut cepat kering, sampo dan kondisioner akan lebih cepat habis, plus boros air, hehehe.

Tapi percayalah, sama seperti beberapa dari kalian, saya juga sempat menonton video tutorial potong rambut panjang ber-layer. Terlihat mudah dan hasilnya memang cantik. But well, you know the truth, praktiknya tidak akan semudah itu. Untuk mengepang rambut sendiri saja saya sering menyerah karena pegal dan tidak rapi, apalagi untuk potong rambut!

Akhirnya, saya sering merasa rambut ini sangat panjang setiap selesai keramas. Meskipun, rambut hitam, lebat, dan panjang sudah menjadi identitas saya sejak kecil dan saya memang suka dengan gaya ini. Katanya, orang akan terlihat lebih kurus kalau rambutnya panjang, entahlah. Tapi yang saya tau, saya akan merasa lebih insecure jika mempunyai rambut pendek, karena saya takut rambut ini akan terlihat mekar seperti singa.

Namun akhirnya percakapan itu terjadi, plus teman saya low key menantang saya untuk memotong rambut hingga pendek. Sekitar pertengahan Oktober, saya mulai googling soal donasi rambut. Believe it or not, saya bahkan membaca artikel WikiHow tentang cara mendonasikan rambut. Iya, ada tuh artikelnya, hasil terjemahan pula!

The Planning

Di akhir Oktober, saya mendapat jatah libur 5 hari berturut-turut, how lovely! Saya pikir, inilah waktunya untuk melakukan berbagai kegiatan yang selama ini tidak saya lakukan, misalnya menyulam. Yap, kegiatan random ini muncul awal Oktober lalu, akibat terlalu bosan di rumah.

Kain yang saya sebut sebagai “coret-coretan sulaman”.

Selain menyulam, saya juga akhirnya menemukan Yayasan Kanker Indonesia (YKI) untuk menjadi penerima “mahkota” ini. Di waktu senggang, saya mengambil waktu sejenak untuk meyakinkan diri sendiri, membulatkan tekad untuk memotong rambut dan mendonasikan rambut ini.

“Minimal 25 cm,” persyaratannya, “Rambut sehat dan tidak dicat, dalam kondisi bersih dan kering, serta diikat menjadi dua ekor kuda. Guntingan rambut dimasukkan ke dalam zip lock dan dikirim ke Yayasan Kanker Indonesia, Jalan Dr. GSSJ Ratulangi no. 35, RT.2/RW.3, Gondangdia, Menteng, Jakarta Pusat.” Namun, saat ini sepertinya donasi rambut sedang ditutup.

Wah, 25 cm, pikir saya. Lalu saya meminta Mama untuk mengukur panjang rambut dan ternyata sudah lebih dari 30 cm dari ujung rambut hingga ke bawah bahu. Namun, saya memutuskan untuk memotong rambut hingga di atas bahu, just to challenge myself. Akhirnya, saya memutuskan untuk memotong rambut di hari terakhir liburan, yakni 1 November, hari pertama bulan lahir saya.

Alasannya simpel, saya hanya ingin pemotongan rambut ini menjadi ‘hadiah’ from me to me untuk ulang tahun saya tahun ini. Sejak beberapa tahun lalu, sudah menjadi kebiasaan saya untuk menghadiahi diri sendiri, karena saya tidak ingin terlalu menggantungkan kebahagiaan saya sendiri pada orang lain. Lagipula, you shouldn’t depend your happiness on someone else, right?

The Gift’s Prep

Hari yang dinantikan pun tiba. Sejujurnya, saya tak lagi merasa sedih karena harus kehilangan rambut panjang ini, mengingat banyak orang yang terpaksa kehilangan rambut not under their concern. Saya malah merasa antusias jika bisa berbagi kebahagiaan melalui apa yang saya miliki. Bersama Mama, kami mengunjungi salon yang memotong rambut saya pertama kali saat kecil, Salon Bang Andi.

“Nih potong segini aja, Bang Andi,” ujar Mama.

“Iya gapapa pendekin aja, Om. Ntar modelnya kayak gini, ya,” ucap saya sembari menyodorkan hasil potongan rambut pendek untuk rambut tebal yang sudah saya cari sejak awal liburan.

Lalu Bang Andi was like “Oh okay, let’s do it.”

*kress* *kress* *kress*

Tanpa basa basi, seikat rambut sebelah kiri saya sudah terpotong dan segera disusul oleh seikat rambut sebelah kanan. “Nih dia rambutnya,” Mama menyodorkan dua ikat rambut saya. Tapi, entah kenapa saya merasa geli saat memegang rambut itu setelah dipotong, it feels strange to hold your long hair hanging apart from your head, you know.

Usai digunting rapi, keramas hingga dikeringkan, ternyata saya menyukai gaya rambut baru ini. It fits me well, meskipun saya merasa cukup insecure karena saya bisa merasakan angin mengembus leher belakang saya dan tidak ada rambut yang menghalanginya lagi. Tidak sedih, hanya perlu waktu untuk adaptasi.

Rambut saya sebelum dan sesudah dipotong.

Beberapa hari berlalu hingga akhirnya saya berkesempatan untuk memotret rambut setelah dipotong, usai membuat dokumentasi sebelum memotong rambut beberapa minggu lalu. Tak lupa, saya juga foto bersama rambut yang sudah dipotong. What do you think?

Satu dari dua ikat rambut yang akan didonasikan.

Final Touch: Putting a Ribbon

Berbagai hal saya alami selama adaptasi rambut baru, seperti sulitnya mengikat rambut saat hendak mandi, rambut yang terasa ringan saat tertiup angin, terasa lebih lepek meski hanya belum keramas selama beberapa hari, bahkan saya terkadang menggeleng-gelengkan kepala di depan cermin, di mobil, atau saat bekerja (di rumah) karena rambut ini terasa menggemaskan bagi saya. Plus, saya suka rambut yang terlihat bagus meski effortless ini.

Akhirnya, rambut saya memang terlihat agak lebar karena tebal dan terlihat seperti singa, tapi bukan dalam konteks negatif seperti yang saya takutkan. Saya senang karena I can finally give this crown to another princes/princesses. Pun, saya merasa lebih percaya diri karena ‘singa’ ini akhirnya brave enough to show her true self. Well, meskipun secara teknis singa betina tidak memiliki rambut lebar, but you know, it’s obviously a metaphor!

Kalau kata Novo Amor, “Now I feel like I’m finally me!“

Daily “office look” sejak April 2020.
novo amor if we're being honest featured image

‘If We’re Being Honest’: Novo Amor’s Most Magical Song to Me

Published on by tristin5 Comments

In summer 2018, ‘Birthplace’ was his first song that I heard and I was like, “Damn, I love this voice.” After that, I loved ‘Terraform’, his other single which lyrics I still don’t understand until now, and the series of loving all his works started then. Around a week ago, on September 3rd, Ali Lacey, better known as ‘Novo Amor’, released his new single, ‘If We’re Being Honest’ that turned out being my magical song.

I used to keep Novo Amor’s songs as my own secret playlist, like ‘this music is mine’. You’ll be too lucky to find my Spotify account and see how many playlists I put his songs into. To be honest, whether you’re too close to me or too strange to me, I’m not gonna share Novo Amor to you. Also, I’d never think to try to figure out the musician’s personal life though, because I didn’t wanna be so subjective since his music has been great already. But this suddenly changed when Novo Amor released his new single, ‘If We’re Being Honest’, the magical song that leads me to write this story.

I still can’t get over it so you might find some excessive fangirling responds I write here. It all started in one morning that I thought will be as boring as the past weeks, where I get my mood so fucked up, but apparently this song changed my entire boring day (even weeks!) into something lighter. I felt like this song helped me carry up half of the weigh I’ve been lifting.

September 3rd: Release Day of “If We’re Being Honest” by Novo Amor

“Newest hit from Novo Amor is now on J**x. Listen to If We’re Being Honest right now!” said this one music app I rarely use, who keeps asking me to use it again, but then I only responded with saying “What…the…heck…”. Days before, I thought Novo Amor released a new song called ‘Shape and Patterns’, but that was just a short video about his new upcoming collaborative album, “Cannot Be, Whatsoever”.

Not letting myself forget this update, I googled this new song, and I found “Novo Amor – If We’re Being Honest (Lyrics)” by this channel “Penguin Music” was uploaded 3 hours ago in YouTube. I was like “Yum, here we go!” then I clicked play. Turns out, the music video is premiered in the next 9 hours. I clicked “Remind me” and yet I didn’t have the heart to close the YouTube tab. I told myself that this is going to be my reward after I do my work today, so let me do my best. (But I keep coming back to the YouTube tab to see the remaining time, LoL!)

Unlike his previously released songs (Halloween, Decimal, and Opaline), this is the kind of song I’m going to love and put it in my playlists, most likely would be in my “On Repeat” playlist. Yes, I’m madly in love this song! This is the kind of song that gets me, just like “From Gold” and “Carry You”. I deeply in love with the drums part so much, it flies me, you know. You’ll only get this when you hear them.

After a dozen of replays while I’m working, I decided I wanted to share this magical experience I’m having as an impromptu review. Let’s start with an opening, I thought. Then I asked myself, “What was his name again?”
“Oh okay,” after I googled.
“Damn, he had an interview with CreativeDisc, how come I’d never figure this out?!” I mumbled, but then I read the transcript to get some more insights.

Cut to the chase, it was 15 minutes before 10 pm, I sent a reassuring chat whether everyone’s having their day made after listening to this song, just like the one I had. Right after I sent my chat, the person we’ve been waiting for has come, as seen in the image below.

novo amor if we're being honest chat box 1

Not so long after, I asked a question about him coming back to Jakarta and play a show. Guess what? He replied!

I squealed in happiness of getting my first response from him (the feeling stays until now because I find myself smiling at 3:45 am while I’m writing this blog). After replaying the music video and showing it to my Mom, I finished, then submitted the article. It came up the next day and you can read it in Bahasa Indonesia here:

‘If We’re Being Honest’; Surprise Novo Amor untuk Album Barunya, “Cannot Be, Whatsoever”

September 4th: The Offer

I thought it’ll be just that, I submitted the article, the article is posted, I promoted the article, done. But apparently, after I shared my article in Twitter, Ali himself gave it a like and it’s messing with my serotonin in a good way. Yep, that made my day again because at the end, the article reached the website’s most popular posts!

novo amor if we're being honest popular posts

I was still thinking it’s all enough. I got 2 of my tweets liked by Ali in Twitter, the article’s exposure is getting better, while I keep streaming ‘If We’re Being Honest’ over and over again. Until this one midday where CreativeDisc asked me about interviewing Ali, it goes like,

“Tristin, if you get a chance to interview Novo (Ali), do you want to? Can we do it by Zoom? Haha”

Then I almost got choked and having this butterflies in my stomach while reading this deadly damage in a form of words. I didn’t reply it immediately and waited like 2 minutes while digesting this information. I said I’d never do any interviews with any musician using English language yet, AND BY ANY OTHER CHANCES WHY HIM. I believe I’ll got my star-struck syndrome relapsed. But blah blah blah and eventually I said “So as not to regret it in the future, I’ll agree to it first”.

The request to interview Ali was sent to Novo Amor’s management and all I did was preparing my mentality, wondering what should I ask, and knowing that I need to do a lot of research since I’d never read anything about him online and ONLY listened to his songs in the past two years. The news has arrived, we’ll do the interview on Monday at 7 p.m. WIB. Damn, THIS Monday? And I only got two fcking days to prepare? But challenge accepted.

September 5th to 6th: Preparation

Obviously, I did as much research as I could to figure out who is he and how’s he like. Armed with my moderate skill at interviewing, I made a list of 10s questions and did some rehearsals. By ‘rehearsals’ I mean I literally recorded myself in a Zoom meeting and watch the preview. Man, I couldn’t even imagine myself talking to the guy who sang all the songs I’ve been singing in the bathroom, in my bedroom, in the office, even on the ride when I’m alone.

I didn’t even think about reaching him out like how I reached Greyson Chance out because I thought that he only wants us to listen to his music and interpret it on our own. And through his interviews I researched, it was right. He likes his songs meaning remain mysterious so we can understand them ourselves. For me, I only need to feel it to understand the song in a way I can’t even explain it to myself. I could cry, smile, being like a person who’s in love with her life, and that could come only from the same song.

September 7th: The D-Day

I spent my morning just like usual, working. But I feel something’s off, like something’s holding me and it ruined my mood (again). I’m feeling nervous, but the playlist I used to listened to is the reason why I feel this. I tried so hard not to care about this feeling, but my body can’t lie.

It was 2 p.m. when I told my Mom, “OMG, Mom, it’s less than 6 hours left from the interview,” and she was like, “Ugh, you’re overreacting.” You know how Asian moms would act. Less than two hours later, I got this butterfly in my stomach turned into some kind of monsters, I felt my stomach churned, followed by my heart beating fast, excessively sweating, and shortness of breath. After, like, four times going back and forth to the restroom to had some poopoo, I thought I wanted to take a sick leave, but cancelled it bcs the office hours is nearly over.

I calmed myself down after reading an article about how to stop panic and anxiety attack then took a deep breath and knowing that I shouldn’t let my heart beats fast or I’ll instantly “wake up” the monsters again. Remembering this, although it’s almost 5 in the morning when I write this, I can’t help myself not to giggle because how weird my body was. My Mom and Dad seemed worry about me but I told them it’s okay, Dad offered me a herbal drink and I drank it to suggest my brain to feel better.

It’s finally 7 p.m., I already took a bath and changed to my black pyjama T-shirt. I’ve prepared my working room, did some makeup so I wouldn’t look too pale, and set a camera to record how did the interview look like from behind my back. It was kinda cute, though, getting this much effort just to do a 30-minute video call with the guy I barely know whose songs I love so much.

Ali is apparently a nice guy, though, he entered the zoom meeting room on time and was really chill and friendly throughout the interview. You can see this interview I attach below, but what you might not know is that I still got around more 10 minutes to talk to him but I was too nervous when he asked me to ask him my personal questions. I only asked him my two other spare questions while actually there’s this one fun question I should’ve ask, but I didn’t.

“Hmm, mayybee that’s all, I guess,” I said very doubtedly, then my senior interviewer jumped in and joined the conversation to say thanks and said that I was fangirling over him these past days, which frankly right. The more you get to know your favorite musician, the deeper you love them because you both have the same taste in music, am I right? He said “That’s cute,” right before I cut and said panicly that I thanked him for what he did and told him to never stop making music.

September 8th: Songs Recommendation

As you can see in the interview, I said I’m going to look for the songs Ali into. Yeah, that wasn’t just a chit-chat question. I listened to the songs, and for all the pressure I had while listening to Bloom by Great Grandpa for the first time, I cried. And the other one is Labrador by Hailaker, a band Ed Tullett made with Jemima Coulter, Ali was kinda involved in the process of making their album and he said he liked Labrador.

September 9th: Playlist

The next day, I tweeted to Ali that I listened to the songs above and I asked for more songs recommendation since I love the first two he told me. Since I kept Novo Amor as a music I ‘own’, it’s been years since the last time I trade playlists and it’s even longer since I listened to a playlist that ‘clicked’ with me. I actually don’t really believe that people can share the same taste in music, until this one.

Ali replied my tweet with an entire playlist he made in his another Spotify account. Among those musician I know, I found a song that has been my favorite since the end of 2018, Smoke Signals by Phoebe Bridgers, whose album (Stranger in the Alps) is in my most played album in 2019!

Songs by songs are being played and I was like, “Oh. My. Goodness. I’d never feel so ‘clicked’ with a playlist recommended by other human being!” And I was literally squealing and crying tears of happiness. To Ali, if you ever read this, I think it’ll be great if we can spend some more time talking, please don’t get tired of my questions, and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALWAYS MAKING MY DAY!!!

Days after the interview: The ‘Research’ Wouldn’t Stop

After talking to him on the interview, knowing him a little bit through our conversations (that I listened again to write the summary article), and his interactions in his media socials, IDK why I get the impression that he’s actually funny and really enjoyable to talk with, but some of his followers think he’s a rigid person, it’s weird but cute.

Anyway, another “‘research’ that would’t stop” happened while I was doing research for this article. So apparently, in an interview, Ali stated that ‘Stranger in the Alps’ by Phoebe Bridgers is the last great record he recently heard in around July 2018, which I figured out around five months after that.

The other one I found is apparently, Novo Amor’s ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ is a rearranged version of Guns n’ Roses’s ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, which also embarrassed me because I’d never realise that until I read the lyrics. This song was once used for an AXE/Lynx Black ads. HAHA, now you know how lack the information I knew about Novo Amor’s discography.

From now on, I think I’ll try to stay connected to the information Ali shared to his fans, because apparently that’s an important thing for me to know the musician whose songs I love so much. Thanks to Novo Amor’s ‘If We’re Being Honest’, I actually couldn’t feel more thankful for this fun experience I was having. If you still have some time, please take a look at the summary article I wrote by clicking this image below:

novo amor if we're being honest

Well, as you can see, I wrote this 2K words article to share my story about that four magical days I’ve had with Novo Amor after If We’re Being Honest. Now I felt like I was just coming out through this article, because I used to keep Novo Amor as my own secret playlist until ‘If We’re Being Honest’. Since you guys know the story already, the situation is now changed. But, as long as this way of exposing my playlist could help me support him, I’m gonna do it. So, click here to pre-order ‘Cannot Be, Whatsoever’.

It’s been 7 a.m already. Good morning and I need to sleep, I think this’ll end here for a while. Bye!

enkosi kakhulu, kumkani

Enkosi Kakhulu, Kumkani!

Published on by tristinLeave a comment

“Guess I’ll never watch Black Panther with the same feeling again,”

was the thing came out in my thought when i heard about Chadwick Boseman’s death. It’s been a long time since the last time I write a blog. But let me express my feelings here and deal with this thoughts.

It was Saturday morning, my brother woke me up and with his kinda-stammering weak voice he said “Ce (a Chinese call for “Sister”), I got a bad news,” and with a little panic voice I asked him “What?”

“Chadwick Boseman is dead.”

Then with my trembling low voice, totally awake, I said “Damn… seriously? Why? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, cancer.”

“What cancer? Are you sure he’s dead?” Because I really have got no idea he had cancer.

“IDK, Google it.”

I took a deep breath and I was like “f*************ck,” while closing my eyes again, trying to digest the news I just heard, while inside, I feel my heart is beating faster, I feel my body shaking, and my tears, unknowingly, was streaming along my face that morning. Doubtfully, I know I’ll know the news, sooner or later, so I picked up my phone and read the news.

On that entire day, I–like for almost every second, was stunned. Still trying to accept the reality and figuring out how to respond in a normal way. I got up from the bed and told my Mom that T’Challa (she knows him as this character), is dead. “Yeah, the actor who played T’Challa,” I clarified. And my Mom was like having that little loss as well, because I keep talking about Black Panther to her while I did my research last year.

It wasn’t a terrific thesis I made, but I truly enjoyed doing the research, working it in every words, watching the movie again and again, collecting facts that leads me to knowing that T’Challa would marry Storm from X-Men. I told my Mom about this as well, maybe she even got tired hearing me saying the lines I nailed in my head from some scenes again and again, but she mourned anyway.

Chad’s character was THAT strong. I mean, he doesn’t even know me, but i feel this much sadness when he’s gone. It felt like a King that everyone loved in an imaginary country I once lived, is now dead. I am now still overly sensitive seeing eulogies from the people who knows him personally.

Until I write this, my heart is still broken. At this very point, I don’t care if I’m being too excessive, this is how I deal with the sadness. I tried to ignore this fact of Chad’s death because it shouldn’t really matter to me, but since I just saw a very short scene in Black Panther when T’Challa debated with Killmonger in a railway, I felt like my heart was just beaten again, realizing the fact that this man has been gone. Forever.

Then again, people die everyday, it’s only a matter of who. So why don’t we cherish this short time we have before they (or we) leave?

Anyway, enkosi kakhulu, Kumkani. Thank you for this empathy you left me feeling. May you rest in power forever with your ancestors. *crossing fists upon my heart*

greyson-chance-portraits-tour-jakarta

Meeting Greyson Chance: Part 2

Published on by tristinLeave a comment

Here’s the [Part 1]

I have to admit, for almost these 4 years studying as a journalist, this probably my most favorite busy schedule I could ever wish. Not just meeting the unreal person as my Mom said, but also got some supports from my parents. Yep, they went to Greyson’s hotel to lend me the camera bcs sadly I can’t bring it to the venue for all reasons, and they waited there for like 5 hours bcs I can’t give them the exact time schedule. 🙁

Let’s go to the D-Day. I went alone by an ojek to the venue, meeting new friends, sharing about how much efforts we’ve made for Greyson, and those fangirling stuffs, like almost every fangirls do. I gathered up with the meet and greet team which consists of 10 fans, including me. I’m happy to know that these people aren’t as crazy as most fangirls I imagined, they were awesome and so cool to each other and I’m not gonna lie, some of them seems fun to be friend with.

As usual, some dramas happened, but eventually we made it there to the not-so-crowded-venue with Greyson standing on the stage, preparing for his final rehearsal. I thought we were gonna see him doing the sound check, but nah. Greyson came down from the stage to see us and to be very honest, I can tell he’s a very kind person from the way he looked at these strangers who said were his fans, to the 10 of us.

As I always wished to see, he was so fcking nice to us all, unlike how wild he looked like on stage, he’s still that soft, kind, warm kid from Oklahoma that I’d known even before I saw him in person. Despite of all stories he shared, including the ones where he got kicked out from his labels (yeah, labels), he doesn’t change a bit, just taller and more hairy.

Let’s get to my point of view seeing him in person, I’ll make this as short as I could. “Okay, who’s next?” he asked. “Me,” with my awkward smile as I spoke shyly. I gave him 2 things, a bracelet I finished outside the venue a few minutes ago and a letter that I turned into word puzzle. You can watch it here:

He asked my name, I put the bracelet into his left arm, gave the letter to him and he said “cool,” “awesome,” “badass,” etc. sounds like it’s all his appreciation template, but I don’t care bcs I, too much, love the words he said. I said hi to Alex, his manager, and Greyson said Alex got his own fans in Philippines. I also told Greyson about me noticing the ring he always wear since years ago.

Yep, this too-detailed fangirl noticed that ring, I like that ring and I kinda know the story, but I don’t get why the reason he’s still wearing that ring until he told us that day. Well, I even wore a ring on the same finger so I can tell everyone I’m engaged with Greyson, that’s pretty embarrassing for a grown up girl like me, but on a second thought, this is one of the things that keep me young, isn’t it? 😛

The meet and greet has done, I redeemed my ticket, and go to Greyson’s hotel for the interview. TBH I’ve never met the other interviewer before as this was my first time doing an interview with this media. I met the owner and a reporter, they were also fun to be friend with though, what a happy day to spend! We waited for like 15-30 mins before get to prepare for the interview. Each media got 5 mins and one team consists of 2-3 media, I got 2.

I can see Alex and the other team member was chilling at the bar, and then the star has finally entered the hall. I was like wow he changed his outfit, maybe he’d took a shower, with that white shirt and brown jacket, he greeted us, the interviewers, he shook my hand and said “What a cool t-shirt. Wait, have we met earlier?” I replied, “Yeah, you remembered me?” But TBH my brain was like yes dummy, you hugged me twice several hours ago.

It’s eventually our turn, we actually got 10 minutes, but then Greyson said “Can we get 15 on this?” Wonderful! Fifteen minutes straight watching Greyson’s interview, live! In case you wonder what did I do, I wrote some base questions asked by Creative Disc, and I was there only to record the interview, so I got some time to just look at him and standing by behind the camera, you can watch it here. After doing an interview, he took some photos with the interviewers, including me ofc!

Definitely gonna use this as my phone wallpaper! P.s.: I intentionally put the smaller size of this image, so it’s not your browser, it’s the photo

Before we took another photo together, he asked, “So, you’re a fan, but also a reporter?” and I was like, yes my king, I did this all to you. Sadly, he told me he couldn’t wear the bracelet I gave him bcs he afraid it’ll distract his piano playing, but he promised me he kept it in his luggage. It’s okay darling, I’ve swallowed all your promise, like, since forever ago.

Not so long after, he signed 10 albums and my notebook from a fan-meeting event 4 years ago called “Rocking the Planet X,” he asked my name with additional call, “darling.” I kinda freeze and didn’t take any good picture, nor video of him signing my notebook, but at least he spelled my name right. No, I spelled it, he wrote it down with a message “To Tristin, xx MOVE FORWARD.”

The moment has passed, but unlike what usually happened in some of my half-conscious dreams, this time I brought some real things to keep, like the hugs, album and notebook signs, photos, videos, and four new friends that now I could share my life with, yep, it’s you Marsya, Gabby, Nova, and Sherly. I hate to say this writing exceeds my words target. So I’ll just sums up that the concert was awesome, I smh several times, remembering how’d he act when he’s not on stage, compared with his stage persona, man, he’s the star! I knew it since the first time I heard him singing Football in 2013.

greyson-chance-portraits-tour-jakarta
One of the best moments I’ve had in years.

I think that’s all I’ve got. What do I expect from everyone who read this? Well guys, take your time on a tour to my blog. Thank you for giving a damn to my fangirling story, your precious time, eyes, and brain is fully appreciated. Maybe I’ll continue writing reviews for film after this. Adios por ahora!

greyson-chance-portraits-tour-jakarta

Meeting Greyson Chance: Part 1

Published on by tristin2 Comments

“When he hugged me with that broad shoulders, it felt like all the efforts, the dreams, the make believes, and all the time it took to get me here, was all paid.”

My Mom was never believe me and she said to me once, “Find a real person to be loved, you can’t love someone’s unreal.” Those words hit me like a giant stone falling onto my body. Since then, she always ignores, like, almost everything about Greyson.

I feel like this topic is kinda outdated, but here it is, the D-day, when I met the person I always thought was impossible to meet.

It was May 10th, when my friend told me about Greyson is going to throw a concert in Jakarta. I told him I don’t believe that and I’ve been having trust issues about Greyson’s concert in Jakarta. I totally don’t care, until I figured out myself from a trusted source.

I know that this time, I’ll see this guy performing right in front of my eyes. At that very moment, I was like “💩💩💩, how can I get the ticket? Should I kill someone or infiltrate the promoter crews?” Not even a single day passed that I’m not thinking about getting the concert ticket. I mean, beside Greyson, this is going to be my first time attending a concert!

Time goes by until the ticket purchasing day, where everyone was rushed to get the chance getting the ticket, while I woke up and opened the website like 40 mins after. My heart was beating so much faster, even faster than when I was on my thesis defence. At the end, I got the Presale 1 ticket, not really bad though. The only bad thing was, there’s no VIP ticket in Indonesia, sucks.

The story doesn’t skip from there. While I was doing my final thesis, I was also thinking about how can I get the chance to meet him in person. I wanna break my Mom’s statement that says I will never see Greyson in person.

I kept thinking to look for a job as an interviewer, and I remembered my friend, who knows a music media, and worked as their freelance reporter once. Long story short, I gotta write for the media and let them decide whether I’m qualified enough for the job. I accept the challenge, and I keep reminding myself that I shouldn’t put a high expectations on it.

Several weeks later, the media owner texted me and told me that the media (Creative Disc) is doing a giveaway. TBH, my too-careless-self thought it was a concert ticket giveaway, I didn’t notice the message at the first place. Turns out it was a meet and greet ticket give away, holy f*ck, what’s happening on this earth, why’s everything coming right in time, like the universe is trying to get me to his arms. I really wanted to hug this skinny bear I was always dreaming of.

Voila, it wasn’t so hard for me to do the challenge, as you can see on this post. It was like an interview to me, like asking me how much I know the company. Man, I even know the office security’s name.

Since I was a kid, I could never really do cheating, except when it comes to playing GTA, that’s the only, only exception. So I was just waiting, keeping myself calm, not thinking too much about it, and not trying to join the other giveaway bcs I don’t really wanna do those things they ask. I kept my distance from the media’s owner bcs unlike those bootlickers, I want to make it as fair as it could be.

The announcement day has come and as some of you might wish, I won the meet and greet ticket! Suck that bithc! Sorry Greyson taught me that on the interview session, he also taught me to say sorry after saying harsh words. Peace out.

Hell yeah, so I won the ticket and you could never feel how “winning” I was when I told my mom about it. She was like, “Believe it or not, I’m giving up on this argument. Now I’m on your side.” Yes, she was on my side and you’ll see it on the Part 2 post.

The happiness didn’t stop there. Along those months of waiting, I wrote some articles for the media, including Portraits album review. You can tell me when you find the article, I’d be happy to discuss it with you. And yep, I passed the challenge.

Another long story short, the D-day has come, I was hired to record an interview with Greyson with my own camera, and I’ll proudly share my schedule that would be:

  1. Attending the meet and greet with Greyson.
  2. Joining an interview with Greyson.
  3. Attending Greyson’s concert.

OK now we’re really going to the next post.

Next post?

Hello, Again!

Published on by tristinLeave a comment

It’s been over a year since the last time I write for myself and post something new here. Well, you know, transitioning into a graduated student isn’t that simple. Now I think I started to know what am I going to do for the weekends and I hope there’ll be no “too late” for old movie reviews, nor for old events or moments I’ve had. This is my own personal blog, anyway. That’s it for now, you can explore my other writing from after or before this post, and…

*sending virtual loves*

…happy reading!

Resep Friendship Goals a la Ron dan Flip di Film BlacKkKlansman

Published on by tristinLeave a comment

Usai mendengar kabar putusnya pasangan rilesyensyip gols yang terkenal di yutup itu, tim HPNG mau ikutan bikin artikel tentang goals juga ah biar dapet vibe-nya. Tapi agak berbelok nih, yang ini tentang friendship goals dari film BlacKkKlansman yang (sayangnya) nggak tayang di Indonesia. Meskipun nggak tayang di Indonesia, filmnya tetep worth the watch kok. Sumpeh dah.

 

Buat kalian yang ngga kuat spoiler, you better click “Back” immediately.

Nah nah, buat yang gak mempan sama sepoiler atau mungkin udah nonton filmnya, berikut ini tim HPNG udah merangkum beberapa resep persahabatan a la Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) dan Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) yang patut dijadiin friendship goals. Mana tuh yang katanya real friend, BFF, atau bestie kalian, masuk kategori friendship goals nggak? WQWQWQ~

 

  1. Mau menerima perbedaan

Ron emang “anak baru” di divisinya para detektif dan berkulit hitam, dan kali ini dia mendapat kasus untuk berhadapan langsung dengan petinggi Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Mengingat Ron-lah yang mendapat kasus ini, mau nggak mau dia yang menjadi Person in Charge (PIC) dan harus ngasih briefing buat Flip, seorang senior detektif Yahudi berkulit putih. Meskipun kita bisa melihat perbedaan warna kulit dan jabatan yang mereka emban, tapi Flip nggak begitu menggubris perbedaan itu dan malah berusaha untuk melaksanakan tugas dari Ron sebaik mungkin.

 

  1. Percaya dengan satu sama lain
Adam Driver stars as Flip Zimmerman and John David Washington as Ron Stallworth in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKLansman, a Focus Features release.
Credit: David Lee / Focus Features

Salah satu hal tersulit dalam sebuah persahabatan adalah mempertahankan kepercayaan, setuju ngga? Contoh yang dapat kita ambil adalah saat Ron memercayakan Flip untuk memerankan Ron Stallworth berkulit putih, which that means, nama dan reputasi Ron dipertaruhkan. Sebaliknya, Flip juga percaya sama rencana yang dibuat sama Ron meskipun dia ngga tau gimana akhirnya nanti, karena Flip percaya kalau Ron knows what is he doing. Meskipun mereka berdebat dan kepercayaan masing-masing hampir runtuh, but the plan still goes on, right?

 

  1. Dapat saling mengandalkan

Bahasa Sundanya sih “having each other’s back”, yaitu saat Flip hampir ketauan sama Felix (salah satu anggota KKK) kalau dia adalah seorang Jew (orang Yahudi), tapi digagalkan oleh Ron, inget ga tuh yang pas Ron ngelempar batu ke rumah Felix tepat sebelum Flip dites pake Jewish Detector? Setelah Ron kabur dan hampir ditembak pun Flip ngerebut pistol dari tangan Felix dan dengan sengaja melewatkan tembakan ke arah Ron. Kompak yaw!

 

  1. Mau mengalah

Ada pengorbanan yang harus dilakukan agar suatu rencana dapat berjalan dengan lancar, bener ga bener ga? Kalau di film ini, karakter Flip-lah yang mengalah dan melakukan pengorbanan. Oh ya? Iya, soalnya Flip adalah seorang Jewish yang nggak rasis, tapi harus pura-pura jadi orang kulit putih yang rasis AF, bertentangan banget sama prinsip hidupnya kan? Meskipun tim HPNG belum nemuin adegan di mana Ron harus mengorbankan sesuatu, bukan berarti Ron ngga mau berkorban, cuma belom dapet panggung aja~

 

  1. Ada timbal balik
Topher Grace stars as David Duke and Adam Driver as Flip Zimmerman in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, a Focus Features release.
Credit: David Lee / Focus Features

Bukan senyawa timbal lo tebalikin ya~

Eh, bukan nasi timbal jugak!

Nama kerennya adalah “take and give”, atau “pertukaran sosial” bahasa akademisnya. Contohnya begini, inget kan Ron pernah menggagalkan rencana Felix untuk ngetes Flip pake Jewish Detector? Nah, kali ini Flip lah yang berkesempatan menyelamatkan Ron, yaitu saat Ron dipukulin polisi karena dikira mau memperkosa si Connie, istrinya Felix. Sebuah persahabatan yang loyal bisa bertahan lama kalau keduabelah pihak bisa saling berbagi kebaikan, iyagaseh?

 

Itulah resep a la Ron dan Flip yang bisa kalian gunakan agar dapat meraih predikat friendship goals. Sekarang coba cek lagi, kalian punya temen yang masuk kategori friendship goals nggak? Atau orang yang selama ini kalian anggep bestie ternyata nggak masuk dalam alasan di atas? Tapi inget, hati-hati loh ya bedain friend-ship dan friend-zone, uwuwuw~~

 

 

Artikel ini sudah diunggah ke website Happening Films pada 7 Februari 2019.

Ini Nih Film Nominasi Oscar yang Nggak Tayang di Indonesia

Published on by tristin1 Comment

Menjelang malam penghargaan Oscar yang diadakan pada bulan Februari nanti… Wait, masih bulan depan sih, tapi karena nominasinya udah mengguncang antero jagat maya, tim HPNG tergoda untuk ikut berkontribusi dalam kehebohan momentum Oscar ini.

Jadi gini, tim HPNG punya serangkaian judul film yang masuk nominasi Oscar 2019. Dari ratusan judul, masih banyak judul yang asing di telinga kita. Kenapa bioskop Indonesia nggak tayangin ya? (Mungkin karena bioskop Indonesia lebih doyan , hihi~)

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