Hey Monas, good to see ya!

Adakah satu tempat yang kepingin banget kamu kunjungi lagi?

Is there a place that you really want to visit again?

Monumen Nasional alias Monas adalah tempat itu.

National Monument a.k.a Monas is that place.

Soalnya ini tempat termasuk ikonnya Indonesia dan walau pernah ke sana tapi nyaris tidak ada bekas ingatan atau kesannya dalam hati saya.

The thing is this place is considered as Indonesia's icon and though I have been there once but it left no significant memory or impression on me.

Jadi lama sekali saya memendam keinginan untuk bisa mengunjunginya.

Therefore I have always kept a wish to visit it again.

Tapi beberapa kali saya ke Jakarta tidak pernah bisa mampir ke Monas. Cuma bisa dilihat saja dari jauh.

However, everytime I went to Jakarta I never had the chance to stop by at Monas. I could only see it from a far.

Berhubung tempatnya jauh dari rumah so tidak bisa dong mampir kapan saja saya mau.

Since it is located far from home dropping by anytime I want is definitely out of the question.

Selain itu juga rasanya juga ga selera kalau pergi sendiri.

Beside, I am not in the mood to go on my own.

Tapi kalau begini sih kapan terwujudnya keinginan saya ke Monas?

But if this is the case then when will my wish to go to Monas come true?

*  *  *  *  *

Percakapan yang sudah ditakdirkan

Fateful conversation

Percaya pada takdir, cyn?

Do you believe in fate, dear?

Saya percaya.

I believe it. 

Manusia boleh berusaha setengah budek tapi kalau tidak ditakdirkan.. apa pun yang diupayakannya sampai termehek-mehek tidak akan terwujud kalau memang takdir berkata lain.

Human can do their best but if it is not meant to be then it would be fruitless.

Tapi kalau sesuatu sudah ditakdirkan seseorang akan berada di tempat tertentu, pada waktu tertentu, bertemu dengan orang tertentu dan.. bum!.. takdirnya pun digenapi.

But when something is destined a person will be in a certain place, at a certain time, meet certain people and.. boom!.. his destiny is fulfilled.

Nah, tepat di saat ketika saya sudah berpikir entah kapan keinginan saya mengunjungi Monas bisa terwujud.. di hari yang ditakdirkan itu terjadilah percakapan yang sama sekali tidak direncanakan ini;

So, right at the moment when I thought I don't know when my wish to visit Monas can come true.. on that fateful day, came this unplanned conversation; 

Sekolah libur akhir tahun ajaran.

It was school's end of year holiday. 

Sebetulnya saya tidak niat untuk mengajak dua rekan guru saya buat jalan-jalan.

The truth is I had no intention to ask my two fellow teachers to go out.

Eh, mereka yang pengen jalan-jalan.

It was them who wanted to go out.

Kami membicarakan beberapa tempat yang asyik buat dikunjungi.

We talked about few cool places to go to.

Beberapa pertimbangan tentang jarak, ongkos dan keberatan karena arus lalu lintasnya padat akibat musim liburan..

Few considerations about distantance, fare and objection for the high congestion due to holiday season..

Tempat-tempat yang asyik itu pun terlempar keluar dari daftar kami.

Those cool places were off of our list.

Sampai kemudian..

Until..

Saya main asal nyablak nyebut 'ke Monas yok'.

I just came up with 'go to Monas'.

Eh, mereka langsung setuju.

Whadda ya know, they agreed right away.

Itu namanya takdir, saudara-saudara sekalian. Semua pas. Cucok.

That's called destiny, people. Everything's matched. Perfectly.

*  *  *  *  *

Hai Monas, kami datang!

Hi Monas, here we come!

Pagi yang bersejarah itu.. Selasa, 12 Juni 2018..

On that historic day.. Tuesday, 12 June 2018..

Kami ketemuan di stasiun kereta api Bogor.

We met at Bogor train station.

Saya yang datang paling akhir. Yup, sori.. banyak yang harus diurusin di rumah dan yap, bangun agak kesiangan. Tampang saya di foto ini aja kayak orang yang masih ngantuk. Sebetulnya sih lagi ngos-ngosan karena habis lari-lari dari tempat parkir.. hehe..

Awwwright! Show them your card! Ready to go!

I was the last who came. Yup, sorry.. I had lots of things to take care at home and yeah, I got up late. I looked like I was still sleepy in this photo. Well actually I was catching my breath after running from the parking lot.. haha..

*  *  *  *  *

Naik kereta api... tut.. tut.. tut..

Hop hop into the train... chuga.. chuga.. chuga..

Horeee! Kita naik kereta api.

Yay! We are taking the train.

Trio ibu guru dan trio krucil semua hepiiiiii..

The trios of teachers and kiddos were both happy..

Tapi segera saja kami berada di tengah lautan manusia. Yang datang, yang pergi. Yang semangat, yang mengantuk. Yang ceria, yang cemberut. Yang ramah, yang tidak pedulian.

But soon we found ourselves amongst the sea of people. The coming and the going. The high spirited and the sleepy ones. The cheerful and the sour. The friendly and the mind of your own business ones.

Mau jam berapa pun rasanya kereta di Indonesia selalu saja penuh. Padahal rasanya kami berangkat bukan di jam orang kantor berangkat kerja dan anak sekolah pergi ke sekolah.

It seems trains in Indonesia are always full at any hour. Though we got at train station when it was no longer rush hour but the train was still crowded. 

Jadi kami duduk terpisah.

So we got different seat.

Kereta pun tambah lama tambah penuh sampai akhirnya sudah sulit untuk bisa saling memandang walaupun kami duduk berhadapan.

The train got crowded that it was hard to look at each other though our seats were facing each other.

*  *  *  *  *

Buset! Ada di mana nih kita?

Where in the hell are we?

Dari awal naik di kereta di stasiun Bogor, saya dan bu Etty saling nunjuk kereta yang berbeda.

From the start we got into the train in Bogor, Mrs Etty and I were pointing at different trains.

Saya melihat ada kereta yang baru masuk stasiun dan di gerbong kepalanya tertulis 'Jakarta'.

The train behind me was actually the right one
but sadly we got into another train which was the wrong one

I saw an incoming train which has 'Jakarta' signage written on its carriage.

Yohana, para krucil dan bu Etty sementara itu sudah naik ke kereta yang diyakini bu Etty sebagai kereta bertujuan ke stasiun Jakarta Kota.

In the meantime, Yohana, the kids and Mrs. Etty had all got into the train which Mrs Etty believed would go to Jakarta Kota station.

"Ayo naik!" semua berseru memanggil saya.

"Come on, hop in" they called out to me.

Saya ragu. Tulisan di gerbong kepala kereta itu bertuliskan "Angke".

I hesitated. The signage on that train clearly written "Angke"

"Ini bukan kereta ke Jakarta Kota" kata saya.

"This train's destination is not to Jakarta Kota" I told them.

"Iya, Keke" bu Etty ngotot "Ayo buruan naik!"

"It is, Keke" Mrs. Etty insisted "Come on, hurry get in!"

Saya tetap ragu. Saya sampai bertanya pada petugas keamanan dekat yang berdiri dekat saya. Dia menjawab sama. Ini kereta bertujuan akhir di stasiun Angke.

I remained hesitated. I even asked security guy who stood near me. His anwer was same as the signage said. This train's last desination is Angke station.

Tapi satu lawan dua.. Yohana walau kelihatan ragu tapi akhirnya mendukung bu Etty.. tentu saya kalah suara.

But one against two.. Yohana though looked unsure eventually stood on Mrs. Etty's side.. making me lose the vote.

Saya naik juga tapi dengan rasa kurang nyaman.

I hopped in but very much felt uneasy.

Terbukti tentu saja. Setelah melewati stasiun Manggarai, kereta itu melalui rute yang berbeda. Berhenti di stasiun-stasiun yang asing. Saya diam saja. Duduk tenang-tenang. Saya mengenali rute dan stasiun-stasiun ini karena saya pernah melewatinya.

It was then became evident. The train took different route after passing Manggarai station. Stopped at different unfamiliar stations. I didn't say a thing. Sat calmly. I recognized these stations because I have had passed them before.

"Ini kemana kita, Keu?" Yohana bertanya. Bingung.

"Where are we going, Keke?" asked Yohana. Disoriented.

"Ke Angke, Yo" jawab saya sambil nyengir.

"To Angke, Yo" I grinned as I replied her.

"Ke Angke?" Bu Etty mulai panik "Bisa ke Kota ga dari sana?"

"Angke?" Mrs. Etty started to look panicking "Can we go to Kota from there?"

"Tidak tahu" saya mengangkat bahu "Saya belum pernah naik kereta dari Angke ke Kota"

"I don't know" I shrugged off "I have never taken any train from there to Kota"

Syukurlah bisa. Kami turun di stasiun Angke. Menunggu kereta dari arah berlawanan. Turun di stasiun Kampung Bandan. Dari situ naik lagi kereta lain yang menuju stasiun Jakarta Kota.

Angke station

Good thing we can. We got off at Angke station. Waiting for the train from opposite direction. Got off at Kampung Bandan station. From there took another train to Jakarta Kota station.

"Untung judulnya kita lagi jalan-jalan ya" kata Yohana terkekeh. Mencoba menghibur hati kami.

"Glad we are on a traveling" said Yohana giggled. Tried to soothe our feelings.

Ya sih, dibawa nyantai aja tapi cuuuuyyy..., kita ngebuang waktu banyak banget.

Yeah, just take it easy but maaaaann.., we had lost a lot of time.

*  *  *  *  *

Jakarta Kota.. perhentian terakhir.. akhirnya.

Jakarta Kota.. last stop.. at last..

Yak kebut! Buruan! Saya rasanya sudah kepengen banget sampai di Kota.

Come on! Hurry! I was getting impatient to get at Kota station.

Rasanya bersyukur banget waktu akhirnya kami sampai di Kota.

Couldn't be more grateful when finally we got at Kota.

"Mama.. lapar" trio krucil mulai merengek.

"Mama.. we're hungry" the kids whined.

Nak, bukan kalian aja yang laper.

Kids, you are not the only who are hungry.

"Pipis dulu" emaknya ngotot.

"We go pee first" their mom insisted.

Begitulah.. mau pergi kemana pun, toilet tetap jadi tujuan terfavorit.. hehe.

There you go.. where ever your destination is, toilet remains the most favorite place to go.. haha.

Habis itu... makaaaaannn!!!

After that... lunch!!!

*  *  *  *  *

Monas, tunggu kami ya!

Monas, wait for us

Setelah memasukkan karbohidrat, protein, lemak dan gula ke dalam tubuh..

After feeding the body with carbohydrate, protein, fat and sugar..

Waktunya melanjutkan perjalanan.

It's time to go.

Kita naik apa ke Monas? Trio krucil berkali-kali bertanya.

What will we take to go to Monas? The kids kept asking.

Bis wisata.

Tour bus.

Sudah gratis. Nyaman pula. Dan kesampaian juga akhirnya saya bisa naik bis ini.

It's free. Comfortable. And finally I could ride on it.

Oh, btw, bis-bis ini mangkal di terminal di seberang stasiun Jakarta Kota. Dari stasiun Jakarta Kota keluarnya dari pintu keluar yang ada di belakang saya (lihat foto di atas yang menunjukkan saya berdiri sendiri di depan papan reklame sambil megang gelas minuman).

Oh, btw, these buses are available in the bus terminal across Jakarta Kota station. From the station take the exit door behind me (see above photo that shows me standing infront of a billboard, holding a glass of drink).

*  *  *  *  *

Monas, perjuangan dan penantian panjang..

Monas, it's a long struggle and a long wait..

Hati saya menari-nari ketika kami turun di terminal bis Monas 1.

My heart danced when we got off at Monas 1 bus terminal.

Foto-foto itu wajib.

The white building in the far left is Presidential palace

Take photos is a must.

Kami berjalan memasuki lapangan dan.. itu dia!

We entered the field and.. there it is!

Gagah. Luar biasa.

Dashing. Spectacular.

Fotoan yuk buat foto profil grup whatsapp kita. Haha.

Let's take a photo for our whatsapp group photo profile. Haha.

*  *  *  *  *

Di dalam Monas..

Inside Monas..

Gimana caranya masuk ke Monas?

How to get inside Monas?

Lihat foto saya dengan latar belakang Monas?

See the photo with Monas behind me?

Jalan saja lurus menyusur jalan itu. Nanti di ujung jalan itu belok kiri. Jalan lagi lurus sampai kelihatan pintu masuk ini di sisi kiri dari jalan.

Go straight on that path. At the end of it, turn left. Go straight until you see the entrance at the left of the path.

Cuma beberapa langkah setelah masuk melalui pintu masuk itu di sebelah kiri ada tangga menuju ke bawah. Turunlah lewat tangga itu sampai ke tempat penjualan tiket.

There is a stair in the left which is just few steps after entering that entrance. The stair go to the basement and first lead to the ticket booth.

This prices may have changed now

Selain tiket, kita juga harus beli kartu kalau mau naik sampai ke puncak Monas. Kartu Jakcard ini berfungsi sebagai e-ticketing. Saya lupa saya bayar berapa untuk keseluruhannya. Mungkin sekitar Rp.30.000,-. Hasil browsing memberikan info harga perdana kartu Rp.10.000,-.

Apart from ticket, anyone who wants to go to the top of Monas have to buy a card. This Jakcard plays as e-ticketing. The card is Rp.10.000,-. I forget how much I paid for the whole fee. Probably about Rp.30.000,-. Browsing result showed the price of the card is Rp.10.000,-/

Sekedar info, di tempat ini suasananya bisa membingungkan apalagi kalau pengunjungnya banyak. Berisik. Umplek-umplekan. 

Fyi, it is quite hectic in this area especially when there are lots of visitors. Noisy. Over crowded.

Tidak ada pusat informasi. Loket ada dua. Di kiri dan kanan tapi karena yang di depan paling besar maka pengunjung rata-rata akan tumplek blek di situ. Antrian bisa kacau balau karena tidak ada garis pembatas. 

There is no information booth. There are two counters but since the one in the front is bigger it attracts more visitor to go there. The line can be quite messy since there is no boundary line.

Tidak ada petugas yang berdiri di dekat loket untuk membantu memberi infomasi kepada pengunjung yang baru pertama kali datang dan pasti kebingungan dengan urusan sistem pertiketan ini.

There is no officer standing by the counter to help giving information to the visitor visits Monas for the first time and quite understandably find the whole ticket system confusing.

Petugas loket kurang ramah dan tidak sabaran memberikan keterangan. Suaranya pun kurang keras. Menambah frustrasi pengunjung yang kebingungan atau kelelahan dan tentunya juga makin membuat petugas loket semakin tidak ramah dan semakin tidak sabaran.. *keluh*..

The counter officers are not too friendly and are impatient when giving information. Their voice are not loud either. It's just adding more frustration to the confuse or exhausted visitors and it certainly making the counter officers become less and less friendly and more impatient.. *sigh*..

Nah, kelar dengan segala urusan tiket, kami menyusuri lorong bawah tanah ini.

So, once done with the ticket, we walked along this underground tunnel.

Keluar dari sana ada ruang terbuka, ada taman, ada patung dan relief.. sayang lupa saya foto.. kemudian belok ke kanan dan masuk ruangan diorama. Yay! Kita sudah di dalam Monas!

Outside the tunnel there is an open space, there is sort of a garden, sculpture and carving.. unfortunately I forgot to take photos of them.. turn to the right and get into the diorama room. Yay! We were inside Monas!

Saya tidak tertarik untuk mengekspolari ruangan itu. Tengok kiri, tengok kanan.. eh, kok ada tangga ke atas. Kemana itu ya? Tapi rupanya cuma saya yang penasaran. Yohana dan bu Etty tepar.

I was not interested to explore the room. I looked around.. hey, there is a stair. Where that stair lead to? But it was just me who got curious. Yohana and Mrs. Etty slumped down on the floor.

Jadi saya naik sendiri ke atas dan... menemukan bahwa saya berada di cawan Monas! Dan saya bisa melihat gedung PT Indosat tempat di mana saya pernah bekerja tahun 1990an. Ah, mengharu biru hati.

the building behind my head, the one at the left, is PT Indosat where I used to work in the 90s.

So I went up all by myself and... found out I was at Monas's goblet! And I could see PT Indosat building where I used to work in the 1990s. It gave me this nostalgic feeling.

Setelah itu saya pengen naik ke puncak Monas. Tapi.. Alamak! Antriannya!!

After that I wanted to go to the top of Monas. Hell! Look at the line!!

"Lu mau naik juga, Keu?" Yohana dan bu Etty putus asa menghadapi ngototnya saya. Ya. Saya mau naik. Saya harus naik. Tidak setiap hari saya mendapat kesempatan untuk mewujudkan apa yang sudah lama jadi keinginan saya.

"Are you still want to get up there, Keke?" Yohana and Mrs. Etty couldn't make me change my mind. Yes. I want to go up there. I have to get up there. It is not like everyday that I have got opportunity knocking on my door to fulfill my wish.

Tapi cyn, perjuangannya..

But it was quite a struggle..

Sampai di atas sih kagak ada apa-apanya tapi saya puas. Oh, pemandangan kota Jakarta dari atas sih lumayanlah.

There is not anything special up there but I was satisfied. Oh, the view of Jakarta is not bad.

Kenapa kok makan waktu hampir dua jam buat naik ke puncak Monas?

Howcome it took nearly two hours to get to the top of Monas?

Ya iyalah jadi lama. Liftnya cuma satu, yang mau naik sejuta umat. Itu lift sekali ngangkut cuma kuat nampung paling banyak sepuluh orang, dengan catatan orangnya ga ukuran giant. 

Of course it took so long. There is only one lift, millions of people in line to get in it. The lift can only take ten people at max, slim people.

So bayangin aja kalau yang mau naik seratus orang, sekali naik cuma delapan orang, waktu untuk lift naik dan turun katakanlah sepuluh menit dan posisi kamu ada di antrian paling belakang.. hmmm.. amin dah..

So imagine if there are a hundred people, the lift can only take eight people, it takes about ten minutes for the lift to get up and go back down and you are the last in line.. hmmm.. happy waiting, dear..

Yohana dan bu Etty sampe mo kering nungguin saya.. hehe.. lha, saya aja sudah garing apalagi mereka. Dari yang nunggu di atas sampai akhirnya mereka turun ke bawah dan nunggu di lapangan Monas.

Yohana and Mrs. Etty might turned into one of those sculptures.. haha.. it already one hell of a torture for me, I can't imagine how it felt for them. They got tired waiting so they went down and waited for me at the field.

Saran saya, jangan datang pas musim libur sekolah, libur akhir tahun atau libur nasional dan sebaiknya sampai di Monas jangan terlalu siang.

My advice is don't visit Monas in school's holiday season, not in end of year or on public holiday and it's better to get at Monas not late in the afternoon.

*  *  *  *  *

Perjuangan buat pulang

The struggle to get home

Gara-gara kami sampai di Monas kesiangan, gara-gara waktu terbuang buat naik ke puncak Monas.. 

Since we got at Monas late, since there were lots of time wasted to get to the top of Monas..

Bis wisata yang menuju ke Kota sudah tidak ada.

The tour bus to Kota was already off their operating hour.

Lho, katanya batas operasionalnya jam 6 sore. Dan ini baru jam 5.30!

But it says their operational hour end at 6 pm. And it was just 5.30 pm!

Trus gimana kita mau pulang? Krucil mulai merengek. Haih nak, selalu ada jalan menuju Roma. Tinggal nyebrang dan nunggu bis ke arah Kota.

How are we gonna go home? The kids whined. Oh come on kids, there is always a way to go to Rome. We just need to cross the street and wait for the bus to Kota.

Kepengen cepat sampe Kota. Untung jalan tidak terlalu padat.

Wanted to get at Kota asap. Glad the street was not too crowded.

Begitu sampai Kota, semua langsung terbirit-birit ngibrit ke toilet.. hehe.. kebelet nih.

Once we got at Kota train station, all of us hurriedly went to the toilet.. haha.. needed to pee.

Habis itu makan. Lapar banget bo!

After that went to get dinner. We were starving!

Selesai makan, terburu-buru cari kereta ke Bogor. Untung keretanya tidak terlalu penuh.

Look at us. We were tired but still able to smile, joked and even making faces.

After dinner, rushedly finding the train to Bogor. Glad the train was not too crowded.

*  *  *  *  *

Jalan-jalan kita seru ya?

This trip was fun, wasn't it ?

Sudah jam 7.30an malam waktu kami sampai Bogor. Aih, leganya. Eh, Bogor habis hujan rupanya. Asyik. Sejuk. Beda banget sama Jakarta yang pengap.

It was about 7.30 pm when we got at Bogor. Oh man, how glad we were. Wow, rained has stopped in Bogor. Good. It was cool. So different with the hot Jakarta.

Asyik ya jalan-jalan kita.. begitu kata trio krucil yang entah bagaimana kok batereinya tetap fully charged.

This was fun, wasn't it.. said the kids's who somehow kept their batteries remained fully charged. 

Iya, yuk kita jalan-jalan lagi..

Yeah, let's go traveling again..

Ebuset?!

Whatta?!

"Mumpung sekolah masih libur, Keu" Yohana nyengir.

"While we are still in school break, Keke" Yohana grinned.

"He-eh, ntar gue pulang dan pingsan dulu" jawab saya "Nah, kalau gue sudah kelar pingsan, hayo kita jalan lagi"

"Ok, but now let me go home and faint" I replied her "After I'm done fainting, yep, let's have another trip"

Bu Etty ngakak mendengarnya.

Mrs. Etty laughed it out loud.

"Noh, keretanya aja langsung kabur liat kamu" katanya sambil menunjuk kereta api yang sepertinya buru-buru berangkat (untung beberapa detik sebelumnya saya masih sempat berfoto didepannya).

"There, see? The train ran away when it saw you" she said pointing to the train that looked like rushedly leaving the station (luckily few seconds before it left I could take a picture infront of it).

Wakakak... Keretanya ogah ngangkut kita.. sono, pulang lo, kata si kereta..

Lmao.. The train didn't want to take us.. there, go home, said the train..

Haha.