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| My 1st boarding house in Pontianak |
Disclaimer: some photos are only illustrations, not the real condition.
It can be said, I stay by accident. 😃 Why I say that, because I knew the first place I stayed in Pontianak by accident. I found it on Facebook group. When a lady asked about a female boarding house, someone left comment that offering a boarding house. I thought because the owner commented on that post, it means it's a boarding house for women only.
Then, I immediately contacted the owner and asked for building's photos. Seemed good, I decided to book a room for a month. Yaa .. only for a month, because I didn't know what actualy the real boarding house looks like. Moreover, I was only staying temporarily, at least there is a place to stay when I set foot in Pontianak for the first time. So I can rest and isolate myself soon after exiting the airport
On that day, when I arrived in front of the boarding house, I saw the appearance of the building from outside. Nice! But when I went inside, it was a bit different. And what surprised me was I met a boy. Yahh it is a mixed boarding house! Huft!! But it was neither the owner fault nor a scam, since the owner never said on facebook comment that it was a female boarding house. It was only my assumption. I guessed it was a female boarding house, just because the owner commented on the post of the person who asked for a girl's boarding house.
Whatever happened, like or not, I had to stay there. 600 thousand have been paid! Too waste money if I moved just because it didn't fit my criteria. So I chose to stay and tried to widen my tolerance range. It was awkward at first. But I could accept gradually
I wondered, how it would be awkward if I wore a tank top in the boarding house. It's not in Singapore, guys! So I just wore a shirt. But, I have been in a situation when I ended up wearing a tank top. It was when I didn't have any other clothes to change, while all clothes were washed. Additionally, the weather in Pontianak is quite hot. The fact, they weren't agitated when they saw ladies wearing tank top. Very common, maybe.
I felt just a bit awkward as I dried underwears. Well, it was only a matter of time to make me get used to doing it. Many women were so comfortable in drying their underwears without hiding them in their clothes. Then I followed them and there wasn't a problem. Nobody suddenly stole a bra or panty as a tool to love-witch a lady, like my wild imagination 😅.
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| Unflushed toilet/ theranger.org |
Some Annoying Dramas
Some dramas happened were about lack of cleanliness. We know... women are identic with good habits that keep a home clean, and men seem the opposite. It made me assume that the mastermind of the dirtiness of boarding house is a man, although it hasn't been proven till now. There are also many men who have good hygiene habits.
I found a lot of trash from sachets of shampoo, toothpaste and soap in the bathroom just before I shower. I disgustingly picked it up. Maybe in their minds, there is Mak Betty who will clean up, so they can litter anywhere. What a shame, the existence of household assistant shouldn't be an excuse for not maintaining cleanliness.
The worst boarding house nightmare came when someone left feces without flushed it. Hiiii .. At that time the power was down, boarding house's water stopped working also and no water has been stored in the bucket. This culprit probably didn't really want to do it. The urge to defecate may be at the tip of the horn and bad luck conditions forced the culprit to leave unflushed poop.
Unfortunately, nightmare didn't stop there. Imagine, on the bright nice day, you have a good mood to cook something. Then suddenly you find omelette debris on the hung skillet you think it has been rinsed. How does it feel? It is so digusting, huh? Doesn't it bring your mood down? Sure!! If I am you, I will say yes. I was so lucky, it wasn't me who experienced it. I only wondered, why it was happened. Whether they never wash dishes at home or never been taught how to wash dishes properly. The culprit should know that unhygienic cooking utensils will create unsecured foods too. Hiii ...
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| Dirty skillet with egg debris inside/ kitchenstewardship.com |
Touching Moments
Hemmm .. Even though there are so many annoying dramas, there are things that make me have a feeling with this boarding house. I remember, The first time I watched MU match together with football lover in Pontianak was in Gunawan's room.
At first I wanted to watch it alone, I couldn't get close to those who were smoking. But Rey came to my room and invited me to watch it together. He assured me everything would be safe. And yeah ... no one smoked while we were watching. They were so warm and really fun. For next matches, I always watched it at Gun's room.
I couldn't agree more with the quote, football unites us. Bonds were created by jokes and taunts based on MU's win. That made me felt close to boys. On the other hand, miscommunication sometimes occured due to differences in accent and speed of speech. Those boys, Gun and Rey are used to talking fast. It made me work hard in digesting their words. Even I often asked them to repeat their speech, "what .. hah... what.. hah .. hah .."
One moment that really really touched me was when we ate together. Our landlady made fried noodles for us and Ucok kept it until we were all in the boarding house. When everyone was ready to eat but I was still in the room, Ucok called out, "Kakak dosen, let's eat together!" That simple thing touched me.
I also saw Ucok, Gun and Wen took lunch together. Since they have the same faith, they had words of prayer before they dig in. And they did it together. Very sweet! Such an irony, I never did it at home. Well I have a family, but very individualistic. Eat alone, pray alone.
Yaaa.. this boarding home is more than home. A million unpleasant dramas can't erase the togetherness and kinship. It was so touching me. Personaly, I started getting close to them in only several weeks. Their private life stories, their struggles when facing stages of graduation, got me know them.
Hem .. As a sensitive person, I often feel too deep. So when I decided to move to the new place, I didn't want to tell anyone. Then I tried moving quickly, just to left without feeling sorrowful. But I failed, some of them caught me. Mixed feeling instantly came! Huh.. it was such a blue day. I will really miss every second spent with them in the boarding house.
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| I will never forget every sweet moment there/ bryanston.co.uk |
Some Personal Messages for Residents
Bang Suhai, hopefully you will graduate soon. Yovi, I really want to hear you sing. Gun, let's watch MU vs Chelsea (next match)! Ucok, keep being a good chieftain! Mita, please be patient in dealing with annoying lecturers. Mila, don't take a shower in the middle of the night, watch your health! Wen, if I want to alter clothes, I'm sure I will come to you. Suhardi, don't store excess food for yourself only, better give it to me 😃. Josh, don't be too good to Rey, you should let his clothes get wet in the rain 😜✌. Rey, si anak nakal, don't be a disobedient kid, kidding ✌. Please slow down so you don't rush trough the life. Mery, don't get too busy, you need take breaks, watch your health! And for others I forget the name, forgive me! I wish all of you the best and a lot of great news in the coming months. See you at the top, guys!!
Dear, landman and landlady of the boarding house, thank you for all your kindness and hospitality. See you when I see you 😊
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