Day 3, That Monday in Phnom Penh, September 11, 2006

Okay, starting a day in Phnom Penh is quiet different. Rachma and Esti spent their morning at the Tuol Sleng Prison. This was once a school before Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge turned it into an interrogation spot and prison for too many of Cambodians! They called it S-21. Entrance fee was 3 USD It was so hard to imagine, but surely made the visitors upset. Again this is a MUST SEE object in Phnom Penh just so we can see the history, learn from it and most of all, make us to think of the future, how it should be like and how we have to run our lives. Compared to all the mothers in the pictures, children, men, families.. we are so lucky to be alive today and far from that section of the history. Enough looking around at Tole Seng so both girls hit it to the Central Market. Nothing much to buy for both of the "not to shopping-ish type of girls, besides they were dehidrating from the heat!". Manage to make good bargain on the Cambodian silk, bandana, water! and went around to find Mr. Pheng, who was so patiently waiting for them to come out.
There you go, Mr. Pheng.. a nice guy who then drove us back to the hotel to meet Cigil who managed to get out of work. Finally Cigil! Take some time off! With empty stomach we all went to a Moslem Indian Cambodian Restaurant and Rachma tried her Malay there. Again, the hot tea was the best of all, plus the great Nasi Goreng, and a dish of Manggo salad and beef with string beans. Cigil paid around 7 USD for that. Great!

Then lets be kids! We went for some games at local mall. Boom Boom Car (is that what it is called in English???) and some ice cream. Rachma almost losther sunglasses there! Then trying the Iced Coffee Milk at Nguyen Coffee Shop. Again Cigil managed to pay! (damn... you're nice Cigil!) a cup was 1USD - but better also to hang out at the Buckie's in Medan, no? Chatted for abotu an hour on life, religion, soul mates, marriages, culture and values (really Esti and I were the ones did all the talking like experts. Cigil was mostly the victim!)
From there we decided to return to hotel and just chill.. That afternoon, the girls and Cigil watched Pieces Of April. Definitely a good movie (Cigil, I want to collect that too - you are right, it is nice!) and Rachma and Esti never thought of.... okay okay, this has to stop at this point. The "Rain" was pouring and the day was not even cloudy! (hint hint.. know what I mean??)
The night came, they decided to take tuk tuk to go for dinner. The nigth was just perfect! Nice breeze, easy atmosphere, the only thing was we did not reserve the place beforehand. Cigil's plan to entertain Rachma and Esti at the nicest restaurant in town was cancelled, it was fully booked with some rich Cambodian (I supposed) who was celebrating his/ her birthday. So we wnet to another nice restaurant just across the river.

The nice lighting, nice waiter.. (the girls hated the fan though!) and nice food. We chatted again mostly about easy stuff... the whole dinner cost about.. who knows! No-one paid attention anymore! Then it was a funny ride on the moto, cost us 1 USD, to go to the Casino place - just to see what is casino is all about. Rachma saw one from distance before in Genting Higland Malaysia with Putra, but this is up close to the tables. Question that does not need to be asnwered: why spend all that money after you work so hard to get it? Gambling, casino is definitely a NO for Rachma.
Casino place was so close to the hotel - so we took the back road and that night we all slept like babies.. Buoy! the trip was finally made us loosing our energy!

Day 4, Last Day in Cambodia, September 12, 2006

It is never fun to realize you're on the last day of your vacation. I woke up with regret that the trip was way too short. Got to return to my hubby with longer time there. That morning Esti and I started the morning by having breakfast again at Okay Restaurant. Cigil had to work. We only ate for 4.70 USD. Then slowly walked over to the Palace.

To me, the palace is so much as what she had seen in Bangkok when I was smaller. But it was great. The entrance fee was 3USD per person and 2USD for camera. Snap shots here and there but then they got so tired and decided to take moto back to the hotel. The moto agreed on 4000 real, which is equal to 1USD and theywere just crashed in our deepest zzz'z - at least for me who tried to watch the Killing Field movie and never finished it.

Around 1130 Cigil stopped over to pick the girls and off they go to a nice "groovy" restaurant called "Friends". A marvelous idea to upgrade the potential of street kids. The food was good, and I had no idea on the price. To Cambodian rate it was quite pricy but hey, .. Cigil handled it all! (We're cool! ha ha.. ) Lunch was nice, the day was over.. we had to go home.
Driving to the airport was fine until we had to say good bye. Cigil is a cool buddy! (Hey man! Sorry if we made fun of you lots of time! That's just our way of showing we care! You're a nice guy!Lo keren buanget bo! Stay that way! Jangan kapok!) Looking through the glass wall as we checked in. Separating from friends is never fun! But there should be next time, definitely! (Right Esti?right.) We paid 25USD for the airport tax... as we walked to the escalator Cigil was already off to his office. Then off we went with Air Asia to Kuala Lumpur for one night transit.

Kuala Lumpur, another little stop, girls talk... September 13, 2006
Esti and Rachma arrived late in Kuala Lumpur and quickly rushed to the skyway bus to get to KL Central. The bus cost 9RM and finally as they got to KL Central, simply just by crossing the park and street they get to the monorail station, which will lead them to Bukit Bintang stop. The one way trip from KL Central to Bukit Bintang was 2.10RMTrying to explain to Esti the best plan for the next half a day - since this was Esti's first time in KL. We got to Bukit Bintang station and walked through the walkway into the Bukit Bintang mall. Dirty, piled up with back packs, they still managed to make a short stop at the Vinnci store... yep! looking for shoes... "Nope, we have no Ringgit yet, can't shop, gotta pay the hotel first" So we rushed to the Tengkat Tong Shin Road just behind Bukit Bintang and checked in at the "Zenned minimalist hotel" called Hotel Delapan. Found the cheapest room there and immediately went out for dinner. The hotel provides bunk beds with shared bathrooms as well as regular rooms. But it was clean, nicely designed, and hommy
The dinner at SK Corner, very close to Hotel Delapan was good. The girls needed the hot tea again. Then girls' talk. Esti talked about her family, and so did Rachma - trying to soothe each other on every littl eproblems we found, trying to make build up confidence that the future will be much better... it was nice and the talk lasted until 11 o'clock until they both decided to return for some rest.

The next morning, after breakfast, gettign ready to go to the Petronas Tower. We hop on the monorail again to go to KLCC, which is just under Petronas Tower. As we got there, we shoot some pictures and return back to Bukti Bintang and again hunt for Vinnci shoes. Their stomachs were unnegotiable - they rushed to a "warung nasi padang" just close to Bukit Bintang and ate deep fried cat fish, beef with coconut sauce and some veggies. As they ate, imagine! they met a Medanese person!!! And that person supposedly the contact of Racham's office in Medan. After chat about this and that, the guy decided to trat the lunch - cool! what else is better than having a nice lunch and suddenly someone decided to pay for you.. ha ha..

Time for Esti to go catch her flight - it was sad good bye. Too much fun hanging out and this is the things Rachma can not find in Medan. Hmm.. ada pertemuan - ada perpisahan... After giving a big hug and promises to keep in touch, Esti hop on the sky bus again to go to LCCT.

Rachma returned back to Bukit Bintang and wondered around. Bought some toys for her two girls, the crazy dancing ball and a remote control car. Then when the time comes, she returned back to KL Central to catch the bus. But damn! there are traffick jam at evening time in KL's toll road. So after fighting with a taxi guy, Rachma found another taxi guy who agreed on 65RM from KL Central to LCCT - what a pain!

Finally home, seeking baby Aqila and Dasha always soothe her heart. Immediately text messaged Putra to let him know on the arrival and continued with long talk with mother.
At around 2 am, she fell asleep and notice in her dizziness that mother had put a blanket over her, just like when she was small. How Rachma miss her Mom dearly for the past months.... if only she knows...

Just the Two of Us

Hari kedua di USNS Mercy

Hari kedua setelah susah tidur di dalam kabin USNS Mercy. Pagi itu aku membantu menterjemahkan semua tenatng Kapal USNS Mercy kepada para pejabat Nias Selatan. "Iya Pak, kit aharu sdenegerin dulu tentang fasilitas Mercy, ntar setelah ini kita atur deh check up khusus buat Bapak dan temen temen yang ingin di check up!"

USNS Mercy yang kayanya dulu kapal tanker minyak memiliki fasilitas UGD yang terlengkap di seluruh rumah sakit di Amerika (termasuk yang di darat) dan juga dilengkapi dengan fasilitas medis yang luar biasa. Mulai dari 2 ruang operasi dan perlengkapan post surgery, ditambah lagi dengan fasilitas rawat inap yang bersih, terawat dan komprehensif. Salut bener bener salut! Semua pasien juga ditangani dengan baik dan ramah oleh para dokter dan paramedik kapal. Aku melihat sendiri senyum yang tiada henti hentinya dari merka yang sehari bekerja lebih dari 15 jam. Walaupun demikian tetapi tetap dapat bekerja secara professional. Bahkan karena tanggung jawab moral , salah seorang dokter mau membuat list dari pasiennya yang dirawat saat tsunami dan gempa tahun 2004 - dan tahun ini dia melihat mereka kembali sudah bisa bermain dengan riang... Coba deh! apa yang gak paling menyenangkan daripada mengembalikan kebahagiaan bagi orang lain....

Fasilitas untuk 'hidup' di Mercy sendiri tidak kalah hebat. Dengan memiliki alat perubah air asin menjadi air tawar, Mercy mampu untuk hidup selama 6 bulan dilaut lepas. Ini belum ditambah dengan fasilitas olah raga, nonton "mis bar" gerimis bubar" di deck atas, dua helicopter (sea hawk) cafetaria (dengan makanan 'bule abis' tapi aku suka kok! dan mereka juag respect terhadap yang muslim karena menyediakan makanan halal), toko souvenir. Dari semuanya yang paling membuat aku terpana ya di deck kapal... hmm pas sunset begitu bagusnya!

Tiba saatnya untuk pulang... hmm.. ntah kapan lagi bisa ke Nias.. pulau yang begitu eksotis.. hanya sering terabaikan...

Akhirnya.. aku dapat kesempatan ke Nias. Bayangkan! Tinggal di Medan tapi belum pernah ke Nias.. ternyata memang kerja bisa membawa nikmat dan ilmu! :0)

Pagi, bangun pukul 4, langsung mandi dan bersiap - tas ransel putih yang memang sudah menemaniku ke mana mana sudah siap tersedia di depan pintu kamar. Sholat dan sarapan dengan cepat. hmmm.. Aqila kecil dan Ka' Dasha masih terlelap.. setiap hari aku menikmati pandangan yang sama... kedua periku terlihat begitu mirip dan lucu.. hanya saja, satu versi yang sudah 4 tahun dan yang satu baru setahun,.. tapi aku dan Putra tergila gila dengan mereka..

Quick kiss as always.. on the cheeks, on the neck.... I smelled their "minyak kayu putih" essence.. hmm..

Zoom, tiba di bandara Polonia dan menjumpai dua teman jurnalis yang sudah begitu akrab, ditambah bos baru yang juga ternyata, orangnya lucu dan santai - cocok dengan apa yang aku harapkan! Akhirnya kami memulai perjalanan dengan Merpati, yang kabin dalamnya luar biasa 'berembun' sampai sampai terasa seperti ada yang mau goyang dangdut! ha ha...

Pohon kelapa yang berbaris, hamparan laut yang biru dan pasir pantai yang bersih.. betapa aku cinta laut! (meski aku gak terlalu bisa berenang.. ) tetapi laut benar benar bisa menyejukkan hati. Dengan segera kami menyusuri jalan kampung, menujur RSU Gunung Sitoli, di sana aku tersentak dengan barisan masyarakat yang benar beanrtidak punya akses untuk pelayanan medis yang baik. Kasihan mereka.... antrian yang panjang, no! lebih cocok disebut seperti keroyokan... mereka tetap pada budaya 'susah ngantri' sampai akhirnya kami pun pusing melihat tidak ada tanda tanda kemajuan dalam proses pendaftaran. Akhirnya aku minta izin untuk membantu atur barisan - somebody got to do it! dan Ya Allah, memang susah mengajarkan budaya baris... sampai akhirnya aku berhasil juga, setelah bercucuran peluh dan kehabisan suara. Seperti biasa, aku meniru logat setempat, supaya cepat akrab saja dengan mereka.

Satu persatu diperiksa dengan sabar oleh dokter dokter USNS Mercy yang ditugaskan melakukan pemeriksaan awal. Berbagai macam penyakit mulai dari yang ringan, katarak, sampai tumor! Hhh... untung aku bukan dokter! Untung dulu gak jadi milih dokter! Aku bisa pingsan kalau harus mengobati mereka.

Setelah mereka settled, kami ke Pendopo Bupati untuk acara formal, antara Pemda setempat dan official dari USNS Mercy. Mercy menampilkan Band yang keren, semua menikmati. Sedangkan aku juga menghayalkan kalau saja semua warung warung yang membatasi pandangan dari Pendopo Bupati ke lepas pantai bisa dipindahkan.. seandainya saja kota Gunung Sitoli itu lebih tertata... di kejauhan aku melihat laut dan nelayan..

Dari sana kami ke panti asuhan untuk membantu beberapa 'tukang bangunan' USNS Mercy untuk survey, agar mereka juga bisa melakukan perbaikan. Perjalanan kemudian nanti akan dilanjutkan ke pelabuhan baru.

Sebelum ke pelabuhan kami pergi ke Museum Nias yang diwarnai oleh begitu banyak koleksi maket Omohada dan artifak Nias. Di salah satu sudut terlihat baju adat Cina yang sudah usang, dan ternyata para pedagang Cina pernah sampai ke daratan Nias di masa lampau. Kami menikmati juga jalan setapak di pinggir pantai, yang masih termasuk kawasan museum, melihat lagi ke laut lepas, yang di sebrangnya terdapat pantai Sibolga. Museum juga dilengkapi dengan kebun binatang mini.

Pelabuhan baru sudah dipebuhi oleh pasien yang akan dirawat di USNS Mercy, mereka menunggu boat yang hilir mudik untuk membawa mereka ke rumah sakit terapung itu. Satu pandangan yang menyentuh hatiku, 'Mr. Popeye' ntah siapalah namanya.. hanya saja yang aku tahu dia adalah seorang nelayan sipil biasa yang volunteer khusus untuk membantu. Buku buku tangannya berdarah karena terhempas ke dinding dok yang terbuat dari semen kasar, dan karena menarik tali kapal untuk menjaga kestabilan. Salut untuk kamu Popeye! You're great!.. Sesaat aku menjadi malu.. apa aku bisa berbuat yang sama? Apa bangsaku juga sudah banyak berbuat yang sama? hhh...

Menuju ke USNS Mercy, boat kami melaju dengan kencang. Terasa angin laut di wajah, meninggalkan butiran garam yang membuat kulit kami menjdi lengket. Rambutku pun acak acakan. Sesampainya di gerbang USNS Mercy, boat kami disambut oleh komandan kapal. Komandan yang dari tadi juga tidak berhenti bekerja - bukan hanya memerintah... tapi asli! ikut berpartisipasi. Orang orang seperti ini yang kita butuhkan, penuh dedikasi dan tanggung jawab.

Seharian itu kami menghabiskan waktu mengeksplorasi kapal, mulai dari kekaguman kami akan kerapihan kapal dalam menjada peralatan, menjaga kebersihan, fasilitas yang luar biasa... tetapi yang paling penting adalah kuatnya kerja sama. Di USNS Mercy tidak ada yang ingin menjadi bos, tetapi semua berpikir mereka harus bekerja, memberikan kontribusi yang sebanyak banyaknya...

Selamat Jalan Daddy.. (By Rachma)

That afternoon I still remember when out of the blues the phone strike me with the most fearing news I have ever faced - and I knew, as my Dad always said, that we have to prepare for the day when our love one will be gone.

"Gak ada yang abadi di dunia ini, adek!...itulah makanya kita hanya harus berharap ke Allah... suatu saat kita semua akan menghadapi hal seperti ini.. sementara kita sering lupa akan masa..." That was said just before he went for Hajj Pilgrim a couple of years ago... and indeed brought tears to my eyes.

I was just holding Aqila when Putri called and asked what happened with Dad. I was confused, I called Ummi and she was just crying softly asking me to see them. Still today, I though this can not be happening to me, my Dad was perfectly healthy and fine. He was just teaching his classes as always, he was just picking up Ummi from taking care of Ara, my niece who had the dengue fever.

But Allah said it's the time. And tonight I know Allah is very fair. He took my Dad away from me when I can be on my own. He took him just in the right time that it was perfect for my Dad, my Ummi and for everyone that he leaves behind.

Right now, hearing the Quran reading softly in my ears, seeing my Dad on the Acehnese wooden bed that he chose himself just a couple of months before, remembering what my Dad said just last December.. that some how we talked about deaths .... and life, I can still see my Dad laid just like he is sleeping. I never had the heart to wake him up before - I knew he was always tired from work... and now I still feel like he is sleeping and that he will wake up and then ask me to make him some tea.

Many came, students, colleagues, relatives, friends... many respects shown to his great work. But no one knew how a great father he is. How he always taught great lesson for us to stay honest at our work and life, how humble he has always been, how us, Ummi, Putri and I, are always the first that comes to his considerations.... His dedication to education, his dedication to his family. His time, so busy of his time, that he always divide to listen to us.

"Dad, can you pick me up for lunch? Putra is busy,.. treat me some Nasi Soto?" and "Yeah, sure!" is always the answer... or little sms asking to eat dim sum at Nelayan... or even a call, "Dad, can you pick me up? I need to talk..."

No-one at all can replace his position, I knew he went in the best way. Allah loves him for all his kindness. No-one will be like my Dad... all I know now is Putra and I are always trying to be at least almost like him...

What is left behind is nothing, but perhaps how some people said that I look like him a bit, or... maybe his books..tons of books... his students who always admire him.... his work at USU. Nothing is left behind but all the good values he had taught me, all the experience he had shown me....

No more "Dek, pijitin Daddy, dek!" or "Dek, gambarin karikatur untuk slide Daddy, dek.." or "Dek, malam minggu ke mana? Yok lah... kita pergi rame rame ke ...maunya ke mana Dek...?" or to Putra... "Les (he calls Putra Jules...), gimana cara jalanin program ini yaaa?" or "Les, yok, cek mobil ke bengkel... " or...."Les, jaga si Dek Uni ya, dia suka males jaga diri.."

But sure is I remember him at all time in my heart - can't decide which should come first...

"I love you Daddy, sure will miss you! Hope I can do my best here.. supaya kita bisa ketemu lagi di surga ya Dad.. Insya Allah.."