19/07/2023
AMBIENCE OF JOGJA
Masih tentang Jogja...
Pertama aku datang ke Jogja sekitar tahun 2003 waktu masih SMA. Bolos 3 hari dari sekolah kabur ke Kota ini. Diajak kawanku yang asli Karangwaru Lor. "Main kerumahku yuk" katanya...
Sampai ke Jogja, setelah istirahat sebentar langsung ke Malioboro, dibonceng temenku kebut-kebutan naik motor butut.
Dulu suasananya agak semrawut, aroma kotoran kuda menyeruak di mana-mana, maklum banyak kereta kuda. Pedagang kelontong, pengamen, penjual asongan di mana-mana.
Sewaktu di rumah kawanku tadi dia bilang, mau ajak aku jalan-jalan ke Malioboro sekalian mau hapus tato.
Sampai di Malioboro kawan aku langsung melipir ke lapak tukang tato, dia bilang sama tukang tatonya kalau dia mau hapus tato.
Tukang tato sat set langsung cek bahu kawanku, gini percakapannya:
👨🦰: Mau dihapus mas e?
👱: Nggih mas.
👨🦰: Walah, apik lho iki, sayang kalau dihapus, tak warnain aja mending yo?
👱: Oh gitu mas?
👨🦰: Lah iyo...
👱: Boleh deh, warna merah bisa?
Itu cerita temenku. Agak aneh memang orangnya, dia orang kaya, anak dokter, lama gak jumpa, dengar-dengar sekarang dia jadi tukang sapu Prambanan 😝✌️
Bertahun setelahnya aku masih sering bolak-balik ke Jogja, tapi yang pertama itu selalu membekas di hati, pemerintah daerah Jogja mungkin senang daerahnya tertata rapi, tapi buat kami turis pendatang, kesemrawutannya, aroma kotoran kudanya, makanannya yang kalau manis ya manis banget kalau pedes ya pedes banget, pedagangnya dan kusirnya yang setengah memaksa, terotoar yang kacau balau oleh pedagang, itu semua yang bikin kami rindu kepingin balik dan balik lagi...
Jogja selalu di hati.
ENGLISH:
AMBIENCE OF JOGJA
Still about Jogja...
The first time I came to Jogja was around 2003 when I was still in high school. I skipped school for 3 days and escaped to this city. My friend from Karangwaru Lor invited me, saying, "Let's go to my place and hang out."
Upon arriving in Jogja, after a short rest, we went straight to Malioboro, riding recklessly on a beat-up motorcycle.
Back then, the atmosphere was a bit chaotic, with the smell of horse dung permeating everywhere due to the many horse-drawn carriages. There were street vendors, buskers, and hawkers all around.
While at my friend's house, he mentioned that he wanted to take me to Malioboro and get a tattoo removed.
Once we reached Malioboro, my friend went straight to the tattoo artist's stall and said to him that he wanted to remove his tattoo.
The tattoo artist immediately checked my friend's shoulder, and the conversation went like this:
👨🦰: "Do you want it removed, bro?"
👱: "Yes."
👨🦰: "Well, it looks good, you know. It's a shame to remove it. How about I add some colors instead?"
👱: "Oh, really?"
👨🦰: "Yes..."
👱: "Alright, can you make it red?"
That's my friend's story. He's a bit strange indeed. He comes from a wealthy family, his father is a doctor, and last I heard, he became a sweeper at Prambanan temple 😝✌️
Years later, I still often visit Jogja, but that first experience always remains in my heart. The local government might be happy with the city's organized development, but for us visiting tourists, it's the chaos, the smell of horse dung, the extremely sweet or spicy food, the pushy street vendors and carriage drivers, and the busy sidewalks filled with vendors that make us yearn to come back over and over again...
Jogja is always in my heart.
