Today, i'd like to share a little about what just happened earlier this morning. About my Thursday morning. About what i do not fully realize until today.
As you have probably known already, i happen to study at IFI which is located at the Embassy of France (next to Sarinah building) every weekend, so i used to come to Starbucks Thamrin because i find this place pretty cozy to get my works done and, not to mention, the fast WiFi connection is just another 'plus' to this strategically located coffee shop.
So long story short, i happened to come to Sarinah this morning to drop my mother off because she had something to do at Kebon Kacang area. I parked the car at Sarinah parking lot, in front of Mcd Sarinah to be exact, and decided to wait for mother at Starbucks Thamrin. I used to come to this place alone so spending hours in a coffee shop all by myself has never been an issue for me. I brought my laptop bag, crossed the road separating the Sarinah Building and the Skyline building, where the Sbux is located, bought my usual americano, sat at the green wooden chair facing the Sarinah Building, and connected my laptop to the WiFi. And it was at about 9-ish a.m.
Different than my usual Sunday morning at that place, it was pretty packed this morning. Sadly, my favorite seat which is next to the big glass window facing the main road was occupied by some employees in all black attire who happened to be in a casually laid-back meeting. Finding that one hidden empty wooden chair was such a luck at that busy business hour. After an hour-ish and half of venti americano, my laptop connection to the WiFi was suddenly lost. It was shown on the screen that the connection to the WiFi was no longer safe for my personal data and informations, said by the antivirus software. I decided to disconnect my laptop connection and turn on my bolt, but as usual, my habit of recklessly forgetting to charge my electronic devices showed up which, most of the time, resulted in me having absolutely no connection to the internet. And that marked my last connection to the sbux Wifi, at 10.35 a.m to be pretty exact.
Et puis, i remembered that the 3in1 rule was ended already so i thought maybe i could go to GI instead because i need to get my works done and pity me had no internet connection at that very moment, but thank God my phone was still working at that time. After preparing to leave sbux, i went to the toilet but the toilet was occupied so i decided to leave the place in hurry because universe was calling. At 10.40 a.m i decided to leave and what surprised me is the road separating the Sarinah building and the Skyline building was pretty empty which is just not like how it was at 9-ish a.m. I was walking to where the car was parked, but when i was right in front of Mcd, there was an unusual loud sound from the back which happened to be the first explode.
I looked back and there was a big smoke in front of sbux. At first, i thought it was a car crash but then i remembered it was the Skyline building's parking lot. "Or, maybe a car was exploded. But, was it just way too loud?" That was the only thing i could think of at that moment. But then, lots of people started to run around and things turned into chaos in a blink of an eye with people screaming things like "There was a bomb exploded." I couldn't move for a sec because i was thinking which option is better, running away or leaving by car. But, then i kept on walking, leaving the car behind, searching for my cellphone, but at the same time i saw a lot of children with their home teacher, which probably just had usual lunch at the fast food chain, searching for another missing child in panic. Just right when i wanted to talk to the security, the second bomb exploded.
This time, i saw a big white smoke at the police station right at the main intersection of Sarinah Thamrin. But, the second one was louder, followed by several sounds of gunshot, and left my ears feeling pretty weird. For the first time in my life, i saw people calmly shot the police. And the first thing that came to my mind was this person can shot pedestrian with exactly no reason. That was the time i made a decision to go back to the car. But, all i can hear was the ringing of car alarm everywhere. I then decided to go back to where my car was parked to leave by car because i was thinking about the probability of Sarinah being exploded which probably made me stuck at that parking lot. I left via the south exit and it was pretty chaotic because lots of people were running around looking for a safe shelter. The road to the main road of Sarinah Thamrin was blocked right away which resulted in super crazy traffic behind the Sarinah building. Just when i reached the Morrissey Hotel, i heard another loud sound from the back. Long story short, Thank God, with no idea of what road i was taking, i made it home safe and sound.
Today, i learned more about things i don't fully comprehend, not until now. If only i was 5 mins late, i'd probably still inside the sbux building, and i was more than lucky to be able to leave the chaos with not even a little scar. Today, i saw the responsibility a teacher has on their shoulder. Today, for the first time, i felt very lonely and small through the midst of hundreds of people. Today, i learned that we have no one to count on but ourselves and the One above. Today, i learned that life is probably the best gift God has given to us and it is totally up to our decision how to make the best out of everyday. Today, i promised my own self to live for today, to make the best out of everyday, and to not let the fear of future ruin my present. I wish for everyone to stay safe and take today as another thoughtful lesson in life. #prayforjakarta
"We're never gonna win the world
We're never gonna stop the war
We're never gonna beat this if belief is what we're fighting for" - John Mayer
Bisous.
