President SBY Wanted to Meet Me!

This day, as in January 1, 2009, is very very unique and memorable to me. Last night at my relatives' house, I had a wonderful New Year party, which included a spectacular fireworks show-off/showdown. It started a few years ago, when my family got a little bit excited with the fireworks. We added a little blast of fireworks display, like the ones you usually see on TV, along with the usual child's play. The year after that, the neighbours followed our path and had their own tiny fireworks display. The implied "rivalry" continues year after year, and last night, another neighbour joined in the fray. Thus, the first night sky of 2009 was invaded by light and colors for half an hour. For what it's worth, the fiery battle must have been an excellent vista for the residents in the area; if I were them, I'd just sit peacefully at home and watch the amazing pyrotechnics rather than joining the traumatizing masses in Ancol.

After the extreme fun night, I woke up at 7.30 A.M. (Thankfully not P.M.) Then I slept again, woke up an hour or so after that, slept once more, and I don't really know what time I actually got out of bed today. The details were kinda fuzzy, but I clearly remember that I was having my Burger King at Pondok Indah Mall (PIM) 1 around 1.00 to 1.30 P.M. When I got there, I noticed that there were several formal-looking security guys in batik -it's all the rage these days. I sat near the window, and since BK is on the ground floor, I had a clear view of the parking lot and the main entrance. Outside, there were more security guys, some in batik, others uniformed, waiting for something to come. I thought that a minister or perhaps a parliament member was coming. I was totally wrong.

A convoy entered the parking lot. A police car came first, then another one, followed by jeeps, and a black sedan; a few other security cars tailed behind it. Sarcastically, I said to myself, "Here's the one we've been waiting for" and I began to guess whether that was RI-1 (the prez) or RI-2 (the veep). The black sedan stopped in front of the entrance nearest to me, but I could see only one of the passengers getting out. A woman, definitely. But was that a veil, which means it's JK's wife, or just a hairdo of the First Lady Ibu Ani? So my father decided to have a look when the VIPs walked in front of the store. He blended in the crowd, surely took his time, and he reported back with a huge smile that it was SBY and the First Lady. OK, that explained the whole brouhaha by itself. To add some unnecessary information, in the last election's presidential campaign weeks, I already saw SBY shopping for some clothes in PIM. Another completely unrelated info, my father is the only one who voted for SBY in my predominantly PDI-P family. We just love to tease hin when the big guy messes up.

As the prez proceeded to the stores, the crowd dispersed and my family naturally talked about something more important than the President of Indonesia. You know, stuffs like what Mama Lauren predicted to happen in 2009 or what happened in the last episode of Termehek-mehek. After lunch, we innocently went to Gramedia only to find that the presidential crowd was inside. Inevitably, there were lots of book signing, phone cameras capturing the prez's every movement, and store workers cherishing the moment. This time, I really got a closer look of SBY and Ibu Ani as the distance couldn't be more than 3 meters from where I was standing. Another bit of unnecessary info: they wore blue, which is "accidentally" the color of his political party.  You should be very genuinely happy to know that I did not do any of the following things: yell at him, complain that I'm not registered to vote, ask for his signature, overeagerly snap a pic of him, and -give me a round of applause- throw my shoes at him. I discovered a funny thing, though. When SBY was in Gramedia, the display in front of the store was filled with SBY's books, including the new one. Not long after SBY left, I also went out of the store and saw a member of the staff being busy with the display. I almost burst out laughing when I realized that he's replacing the display of SBY's books with Benny & Mice's comics. Oh my...

I saw the entourage once more when I was in The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, but there was nothing to tell about. Actually, I have no idea why I even wrote this on my blog. Most probably I did this on the spur of the moment, and I will regret it soon. And I'm writing this at midnight, for God's sake! No wonder I'm kinda confused. Oh, I apologize for the bombastic title. Blame the night.