Melrimba Garden

Hari Senin (16/9) saya cuti. Tadinya mau ke Jakarta. Ke rumah kakak sepupu lalu bersama-sama pergi mengunjungi anaknya yang menjadi biarawati.

I took my one day leave on Monday (Sept 16^th). I wanted to go to Jakarta. To my cousin’s house and from there went to visit her daughter who is a nun.

Tapi ternyata biara itu tidak menerima kunjungan pada hari Senin.

But the monastery doesn’t accept visitor on Monday.

Yah, kecewalah saya. Apalagi karena sudah bertahun-tahun saya tidak bertemu dengan keponakan saya itu.

I was so disappointed. Especially because I haven’t met my niece for years.

“Persekutuan lansia ke Melrimba saja” kata teman saya kepada saya “Tempatnya bagus. Taman bunga”

“Let’s have the elderly fellowship at Melrimba” said my friend to me “It is a nice place. A garden”

Saya tertawa “Ya, terserah”

I laughed “Yeah, whatever”

Karena dia terus menerus bicara penuh semangat tentang tempat itu, akhirnya dengan kesal saya berkata “Percuma juga elu cerita ke gue, kayak yang gue bisa ikutan dengan kalian aja”

Since he couldn’t stop talking enthusiastly about the place, I upsetly said to him “It is useless to tell me how the place looks like, as if I could come along with you guys”

Tapi rupanya dia dan juga ‘adik’ saya ingin betul supaya saya bisa ikut.

But he and my ‘brother’ were eager to have me participate in the event.

“Kalau diadain hari kerja, gue ga bakal bisa ikut” kata saya “Biar pun lu pake alasan gue ngikut buat bikin dokumentasi, tahu sendiri kan, mana si babe ngijinin”

“If you have it on weekday, I won’t be able to come along” I said “Even when you made an excuse for me came along to make documentation, you knew it yourself, the guy won’t give me the exit permit”

“Kakak ngambil cuti kapan?” tanya ‘adik’ saya.

“When do you take your leave, sis?” asked my ‘brother’.

“Tanggal 16” jawab saya.

“The 16^th” I said.

Saya lihat dia dan teman saya bertukar pandang.

I saw him and my friend glanced at each other.

Hmm.. agaknya mereka berpikir tentang hal yang sama. Tapi saya tidak berani berharap.

Hmm.. it seemed they were thinking about same thing. But I didn’t hope too much.

Beberapa hari sebelum tanggal 16, berkumpulah mereka bersama senior saya diruangan saya. Bicara tentang banyak hal. Dan seperti biasanya, saya lebih banyak jadi pendengar.

Few days prior to the 16^th, they were in my room with my senior. Talking about many things. And as usual, I was just a listener for most of the conversation.

Tiba-tiba..

And then, out of the blue..

“Jadi mau kapan persekutuan lansia diadain?” tanya senior saya “Sabtu depan?”

“So when will you have the elderly fellowship?” asked my senior “Next Saturday?”

“Akhir minggu jalan ke Puncak padat” jawab teman saya.

“The road to Puncak is jammed on weekend” said my friend.

“Rabu?” tanya senior saya.

“Wednesday?” asked my senior.

“Ada pelawatan” jawab ‘adik’ saya.

“There is visiting day” said my ‘brother’.

“Senin saja” kata teman saya “tanggal 16”

“Monday” said my friend “The 16^th”

“Ya, mending Senin” dukung ‘adik’ saya “Jalanan sepi”

“Yes, better be on Monday” backed my ‘brother’ “The road won’t be crowded”

“Okelah kalau gitu” jawab senior saya.

“Okay then” said my senior.

Susah payah saya memasang muka datar. Soalnya dalam hati saya sedang setengah mati kelucuan karena teman saya dan ‘adik’ saya sedang bernegosiasi dan berhasil membuat senior saya setuju acara itu diadakan tepat di hari cuti saya.

I struggled to keep a poker face. Deep down I laughed for seeing how my friend and my ‘brother’ negotiated and succeedly got my senior’s approval to have the fellowship on my leave day.

Yihaaa!! Dalam hati saya berjingkrak-jingkrak girang.

Yippeee!! My heart danced in happiness.

Thank you, guys! Banget banget terima kasihnya. Kalau bukan karena kalian, saya tidak bakal bisa ikut dan.. oh, saya tidak akan mengalami kegembiraan seperti yang saya dapatkan ketika mengikuti acara itu. Serta tidak akan ada foto-foto yang bagus-bagus ini.

Thank you so much, guys. If not because the two of you, I wouldn’t be able to come along and.. oh, I wouldn’t have so much fun like the one I had when I was there. Not to mention there wouldn’t be many photos from the event.

Selama beberapa hari berikutnya kami bertiga bersemangat memikirkan akan pergi bersama-sama.

For the next few days the three of us were excited to think that together we would go away on this outing.

Kami bertiga sudah lama ingin pergi bersama-sama. Keinginan itu sudah lama ada bahkan lama sebelum ‘adik’ saya menikah.

The three of us have been wanting to have a trip together. It has been on our minds long before my ‘brother’ got married.

Dulu kami merencanakan untuk pergi berenang. Hanya kami berempat; teman saya, 'adik' saya dan istrinya, serta saya. Tidak mengajak yang lain. Kami bahkan sudah sempat merundingkan mau berenang di kolam renang mana dan menghitung-hitung biayanya serta mengatur waktunya.

We planned to go for a swim. Just the four of us; my friend, my 'brother' and his wife, and me. No one else. We had even talked about which swimming pool should we go to and calculated the expenses along with setting up the day.

Beberapa bulan lalu, teman saya tiba-tiba bertanya apa saya pernah pergi ke Monas pada malam hari.

Few months ago, my friend asked if I had ever went to Monas at night.

Ya, pernah. Dan saya bercerita dulu bersama dengan Andre serta beberapa teman kami mampir ke sana dari Hardrock Cafe yang di Sarinah.

Yes, I had. And I told him I was there with Andre and few friends when we left from Hardrock Cafe in Sarinah.

Kami lantas ngobrol tentang indahnya Monas di waktu malam dan lagi-lagi kami membuat rencana untuk pergi ke Monas. Hanya kami berempat. Waktunya bahkan telah ditetapkan.

We chatted about how beautiful Monas is at night and once again a plan was made. The four of us would go there. The date was set.

Tapi kemudian teman saya harus menghadiri rapat sementara saya, 'adik' saya dan istrinya teler kecapekan setelah mengikuti Leadership Camp. Rencana ke Kota Tua dan Monas dibatalkan.

But my friend had to attend a meeting while me, my 'brother' and his wife felt drained after participated in Leadership Camp. The plan to go to Old Town and Monas had to be cancelled.

Tapi keinginan untuk bisa pergi bersama-sama tidak lantas jadi hilang atau terlupakan.

But the thought of going out together is not gone or forgotten from our minds.

Buktinya, teman saya dan ‘adik’ saya yang pertama kali berpikir ingin supaya saya bisa ikut dalam acara persekutuan lansia ini. ‘Adik’ saya akan membawa istrinya. Jadi kami berempat akan pergi bersama-sama.

It was my friend and my ‘brother’ who first had the thought to drag me along in that elderly fellowship. My ‘brother’ would take his wife along so the four of us would finally go out together.

2 hari sebelum tanggal 16…

2 days prior to the 16^th…

Istri ‘adik’ saya sakit. Bukan sakit recehan. Ah..

My ‘brother’s’ wife fell ill. It wasn’t a common sickness. Oh no..

Hari Senin kami tetap berangkat. Tanpa ‘adik’ saya dan istrinya.

We left on Monday. Minus my ‘brother’ and his wife.

Perjalanan memakan waktu 1 ½ jam. Rasanya aneh juga pergi ke Puncak tanpa Andre. Apalagi ketika kami melewati deretan toko-toko yang menjual berbagai barang antik, lampu, guci dsb. Wah, jadi ingat saat Andre dan saya mampir ke toko-toko itu. Soalnya Andre demen banget sama pernak-pernik seperti itu.

It took 1 ½ hours. It felt weird to go to Puncak without Andre. Especially when we passed the art shops that sell antiques, lamps, ewer etc. They all reminded me when Andre and I stopped by at those stores. Andre loves those kind of stuff.

Melrimba Garden... Tempatnya ternyata bagus.

Melrimba Garden... It was actually a very nice place.

“Dulu kan saya pernah ngajak kamu ke situ tapi kamu nolak karena isinya banyakan tanaman” demikian kata Andre heran ketika mengetahui saya pergi ke Melrimba Garden.

“You didn’t want to go there when I asked you some time ago because it is a place filled with plants” Andre was surprised when he knew I went to Melrimba Garden.

“Saya tidak tahu kalau pemandangannya ternyata luar biasa” saya nyengir.

“I didn’t know the view is spectacular” I grinned.

“Dan tanamannya?” Andre tertawa.

“And the plants?” Andre laughed.

“Bagus”

“Beautiful”

“Berarti kamu sudah berubah pikiran dong”

“So you have changed your mind”

“Tentang apa? Melrimba?”

“About what? Melrimba?”

“Tanaman dan bunga” saya dengar dia tertawa ngakak.

“The plants and flowers” I heard him laughed loudly.

Saya ikut tertawa “Kalau yang itu sih, saya belum berubah pikiran”

I laughed “I haven’t changed my mind about them”

Ini karena di awal-awal kami jalan bareng, Andre senang memberi saya bunga. Setiap kali kami makan bareng ditempatnya, pasti di meja makan ada bunga.

This is because at the beginning of our relationship, Andre liked to give me flowers. Everytime we dined at his place there would be flowers on the dining table.

Sayangnya saya bukan tipe perempuan normal.. hehe.. maksudnya yang suka bunga dan feminin. Saya juga tidak romantis. Karena itu saya melarangnya membawakan bunga. Buang uang saja. Sayang juga bunganya. Cuma tahan berapa hari. Lalu layu dan di lempar ke tempat sampah.

Unfortunately I am not a normal female.. lol.. I mean, I am not the kind female that likes flower and not a feminine either. I am also not a romantic type. That is why I told him not to bring me flowers. It would just a waste of money. I felt pity about the flower. It can last for only few days. And then it ended at the trash can.

Saya lebih suka melihat bunga yang tumbuh di alam bebas.

I rather see flowers grow on their natural environment.

“Di situ ada tempat untuk berkemah” kata Andre lagi “Seru kan kalau kita berdua berkemah”

“They have camping site” said Andre “It would be fun if we could go camping”

Ya, saya melewati lokasinya. Bahkan dari internet, saya tahu kalau ada tempat untuk outbond juga.

Yes, I passed it. From internet I knew that it has outbond area too.

Tempat yang luas ini intinya sangat bagus untuk dikunjungi.

This wide area basically is a nice site to visit.

Saran saya adalah pakailah sepatu untuk jogging karena akan banyak jalan dan jalanannya pun di buat alami. Jadi pakailah sepatu yang enak supaya kaki nyaman.

My advice is to wear jogging shoes because visitors will go around mostly on foot and the footpath is made of stones, grass or just soil. So better wear nice shoes to make your feet comfortable.

Jangan lupa bawa nafas cadangan.. hehe.. soalnya jalannya naik turun dan dibeberapa tempat ada undakan. Saya yang sudah biasa jalan kaki saja sempat beberapa kali harus berhenti berjalan untuk mengambil nafas.

And don’t forget to bring spare breath.. lol.. because the path goes up and down and in some places there are steps. Even I who used to walk had to few times stop to catch up on my breathing.

Bawa baju hangat juga karena ini puncak, bo. Dingin.

Bring your sweater or jacket because this is nearly reaching the peak of Mt. Gede-Pangrango so it is freezing.

Untung saya sudah terbiasa dengan udara Bogor yang sejuk. Lagi pula karena berjalan kaki di rute yang naik turun membuat badan tidak terlalu kedinginan.

Lucky me who is used with Bogor’s cool temperature. Beside, walking on up and down footpath warmed up the body.

Saya punya alasan lain kenapa saya enggan memakai baju hangat dan topi.

I had other reason why I didn’t want to wear my sweater and hat.

Dari awal saya dan seorang teman sudah niat mau narsis habis-habisan. Di foto akan terlihat kurang keren dong kalau sudah berbaju hangat dan bertopi. Hehe..

From the start me and a friend wanted to have our narcism moments there. It wouldn’t look cool to be photographed while wearing sweater and hat. Lol..

“Saya senang betul lihat senyum kamu” tulis teman saya yang orang Italia itu mengomentari foto-foto Melrimba, yang juga saya pejeng di facebook.

“I like to see your smile” wrote my Italian friend, commenting these photos that I upload to my facebook.

“Saya lagi gembira banget hari itu” jawab saya.

“I was feeling so happy on that day” I wrote.

“Rasanya gaya kita makin lama makin ancur ya” komentar teman saya sementara kami melihat-lihat foto-foto ini dan menertawai gaya masing-masing.

“It looks that we put outstanding poses the longer we stayed there” said a friend of mine while we looked at these photos and laughed at each other’s poses.

Satu-satunya yang mengurangi kegembiraan saya adalah absennya ‘adik’ saya dan istrinya.

The only thing that stained my happiness is the absence of my ‘brother’ and his wife.

Guys, kapan dong kita bisa bener-bener pergi berempat?

Guys, when will the four of us go out together?

Monas dan Kota Tua masih bisa jadwal ulang kan?

Monas and Old Town can be re-scheduled, right?