The one and the other one

First thing first; I passed my job training's presentation! To put the cherry on top, one of the judges said I had a plus point for working in APTN. Finally, all my work and all those feelings of queasiness, nervous, and anxiety for the last month paid off today. I'm telling you, there's nothing like the feeling when you get when your teacher tells you "Anda lulus," even though it's only for the job training.

Not like it's the grand finale though. I still have to revise my report and hand them in a week, then I have to think whether I should do a thesis or internship for my graduation. More on that later. In the meantime, I've passed one of my two dreading sidang.

That's not the only highlight of this week. Two days ago I went to Bandung for the second weekend in a row--last week I'd spent my anniversary with Bangun there. ANNIVERSARY. Big stuff for me. This time, however, I went there with Bangun and Runi to watch Kings of Convenience.

We arrived at Bandung at around 3.30 pm, then met up with Ingga in Ciwalk before checking in the hotel (Bukit Dago--highly recommended if you're looking for a cheap yet comfortable room. At 120k, you get a bed for two, super cold AC, TV, and hot water).

The event was actually called Dunhill Soundshine, taking place in Dago Tea House, a convention center located in, well, Dago. It was supposed to start at 5 pm, with Pure Saturday and Cherry Bombshell as the first two acts. We went there at around 6, thinking we would be just in time to watch a bit of the two bands before the main act. But surprise, surprise, when we got there, none of the bands had started yet.

There was enough time to consider whether to eat or to wait (it takes a long time for us to consider something, apalagi kalo gak ada Ebonk si decision maker), then to finally eat something before Cherry Bombshell, the first band, started.

The event was not good, overall. I think the coordination was bad. Foods, drinks, cameras and cellphone activation were prohibited. Last time I checked, it was a music concert, not a classroom. The venue was too small for 1000 people sitting down. The committee made an effort to make the audience stand up, but it didn't work. Ya iyalah, udah enak-enak duduk, disuruh berdiri dengan musik macam Pure Saturday yang menurut gue nggak sebanding untuk ditonton capek-capek. The lighting was also awful. There was a time when Cherry Bombshell was up, the vocalist sang while walking around the front area of the stage. But the spot light was still on the center of the stage, not moving an inch. Bagaikan menonton band tanpa vokalislah jadinya.

Thankfully, those two Norwegian guys were good enough to cover the bruises. Even though they perform in an acoustic show, they were able to liven up the show. Aside from their remarkable guitar duo, Erlend Oye and Eirik Glambek Boe delivered an animated performance. They entertained the audience--dengan kata lain, mereka suka ngelawak di atas panggung. Well, maybe you ought to do that if you play an acoustic music people can hardly dance to.

After around two hours, I became more hooked on the band, specially the oh-so-gonggo Erlend. His highlight of the night was when he fake-played trombone with his voice during their cover of Girl From Ipanema. The crowd finally stood up just before I'd Rather Dance With You, and not to dance. Nggak tau apa gue nggak liat karena di belakang, tapi penonton di Bandung kemaren nggak bisa dibilang antusias. They didn't go that wild even when that upbeat, commercial tune was played.

I, Bangun, Runi and Ingga didn't go straight home. We hung around the venue, before deciding to team up with Oho and Co. and drove to C'Mar (pronounced Ceu' Mar), one of the best streetside place to eat when you're in Bandung. It's not even a stall, it's purely, literally a streetside place where you eat on plastic chairs spread on the side of the street.

What a wise decision it was to eat there, because after we were done, in walked Mr. Oye himself, accompanied by two bodyguards (one of them being the judge of Indosiar's Gelar Adu Panco or something, so said Ingga). Needless to say, we dorks were star-struck. After a few minutes in the rain thinking whether we should go up to him or not, we did approach the lanky guy and asked for a picture. And voila, we got one!!



After only managing to form the words "Nice show, man!" from my mouth and got a "Thanks!" from Erlend, I and Runi walked back to the car dumbfoundedly, grinning ear to ear. The night ended up very nicely. I had fun with my friends in Bandung, plus I also got to have more fun afterwards with Bangun.

And Mr. Oye (plus Mr. Other One--it's a shame his name is less mentioned), you rock.