2007-03-19 - 8:08 p.m.
So, how was yesterday's gathering with MS 3 FM's "Speak-Out" listeners?:D
Again, I went to Blok M's bus station at around ten in the morning. I took the usual Trans-Jakarta buses --- one to Harmoni and the other to Jelambar after that. Luckily, the buses weren't as overly crowded as usual!:D It was probably because of the long weekend (since today is Hindu's Seclusion Day, and I just heard from the local radio station this morning that Bandung's been completely packed with "B-liscence-plated cars" that obviously belong to Jakarta's residents for holiday and shopping sprees.:P) I got to sit and rest my weary head for a while, eyeing my surroundings and pondering a little.
Guess what?:P I arrived at Surya Pemandu School a lot earlier. 11:30.
*giggles*
Anyway, so I decided to hang out alone at a 'warung' (food-stall) for a bowl of noodles and a glass of iced tea.:) It was quite early for lunch, but I was already hungry.
At midday, I went to the nearest mosque (I just remember that "Al-Amanah" is the name) to do my afternoon prayer there. The dark clouds in the sky started rolling in and just gave me a bad feeling.:| By the time I entered the mosque, the rain had already become a downpour (or was it raining cats and dogs? I find that idiom quite amusing.*giggles* Meow.)
I was quite thankful to find no scary-looking homeless people sleeping on the mosque's front porch like a bunch of stray cats.:P But then, there were two things happening there that had seriously irked me:
One, there was this obviously ignorant dude who just simply used...the ladies' room!:O*gasps* Okay, fine. So not many women usually come to the mosque to do their prayers too. (Yeah, we usually do that more at home or someplace else.:|) But, does that give him any right to do so? It made me feel uncomfortable and I'd almost snapped, but I knew better not to. It was no use anyway.
Grrrh!:x
Two, after I'd done my afternoon prayer, I found two random guys (sickeningly, one was that dude who'd just carelessly used the ladies' room...ugh!*rolls eyes*) staring at me.:( No, I wasn't being overly-confident or something else like that, because it was just too obvious. (Or perhaps I was just the only girl in the mosque at that time, while the other woman was an old lady.:P) It was not something flattering at all, because their eyes had been barely blinking as their gaze followed me and my every move --- as if I were some magnificent object to children's eyes or if they'd never really seen a real-life female before. Ugh. Yuck!:x One of them even gave me a big evil grin. I'd seriously wanted to throw up right there and then. I mean, hello!:x We were in the mosque --- a.k.a.The House of God, for God's sake. Why did they (have to) stare at me like that, as if we were in some brothel?! Just what in God's Holiest Name did they think they were doing?! Why couldn't they respect any solitary girl's space and let the girl feel safe for at least one day?!! WHY WOULDN'T THEY??!!!:x
*deep sigh*
I'm sorry.:'-( I just hated that. It's not fair. I'm always angry whenever that happens. I just want to feel safe, wherever I am. Please, leave me alone.*rolls eyes*
Is it (considered) harrassment if a guy keeps staring at you in a 'certain' way, and you just don't like it (or in my case, feel uncomfortable)? If it is, then why do so many people out there still not take it seriously?:x
Or am I just being overly-sensitive, as usual?:(
Anyway, I decided to leave the mosque at 12:45, eventhough the rain hadn't completely stopped yet. I wasn't afraid of them, just feeling sick with their gaze. But I had no time to put up with their irky attitudes.*rolls eyes* I still had much better things to do for the day.
The gathering had been fun, although tad quiet.:) Only eleven people showed up --- including me. Patrick, Kristin, Mary Jo, and Andy (of course). Two Dians (one of them was a familiar, beaming girl with straight hair.:D) Menti, Hani, Yuki, and Wina.
Too bad Kristie couldn't be with us anymore.:( She had to return to The States. Kristin said that Kristie's father was going to have two surgeries in hospital, if I'm not mistaken. God, I hope he'll survive...
As usual, everybody got stories to tell.:D Patrick told us about their trip to Puncak (the reason why "Speak-Out" wasn't on last Thursday and Friday:P). He'd even shown us a green leaf he'd received from a kid in the tea-plantation in Puncak, but it turned out that it wasn't a tea-leaf at all --- but from the tea-plant's parasite. (LOL!!) We had fun laughing at him for a while.*big evil grin*
When Hani and I introduced ourselves to each other for the very first time, Hani gasped. She pointed at me and exclaimed, "You're The First Caller!"
"So is Hani," Patrick put in with a big grin. I looked at Hani and giggled excitedly. So she and I have practically been quite competitive for that title for the show.*giggles* She was also funny, because she even came up with a ridiculous story about her silly English teacher.:P
If only Kristin and I lived in the same place where great rock concerts took place, I'd love to go with her.:) (That is actually something I'd love to do with my best friend Tiger, because he loves rock music too!:D)
In one of our games that afternoon, I was in a group with Hani and the beaming Dian.:) When Patrick asked us our group name, the three of us agreed: "HRD!"
"Human Resources Development?" Patrick had looked puzzled.*giggles* No, it was the acronim of our names!
I always hated it when we had to say goodbye and go home.:(*sighs* Yeah, back to the real world again.:P
But still, it had been fun.:) I can't hardly wait for the next gathering on April 1. I want to do that again!:D
At sometime around four, I shared a 'bajaj' with Yuki to the busway bridge. Then we got to be in the same Trans-Jakarta and chatted all the way, before we'd finally parted in Harmoni. She returned to Bekasi while I returned to Blok M.
By the time I arrived in Blok M, it was already quite dark. Phew.*whistles* Time did fly by...:)
What had made me smile the most that day: listening to Patrick singing to Marcell's ballad "Firasat" (Hunch).:) Or maybe I just love the song as well.
The Happy Author
