a taste of honey

my friend kiti has come back to town. and i'm so excited to meet her.
in fact, she emailed me last night and said she would drop by at my house at 8 pm. too bad the traffic was shitty and we got into the house at 9:30 pm. i tried to email kiti about it (she hadn't bought local sim card), but tsel's connection was horrible all the emails were unsent.
as our car reached our cluster's gate, the satpam stopped us and he brought along a plastic bag with him. he said to me, "bu ada titipan dari bu nita." i and adit went, "bu nita?" until two seconds later i realized it was kiti using her real name, hahahah.
i didn't rummage through the bag immediately, because we got loads of things to bring out of the car, and i had to wash my hands, change clothes and stuff first. after all the rumpus had been settled, i opened the bag and took the stuff kiti had brought me from UK one by one.
there were one book, three boxes of cd and dvd, scarfs, a pair of oxford shoes (!!), some food, and a cute paper box. not only i got excited, bumy were also ecstatic to put his hands on these things. he wanted to feel the scarf, he tried out the shoes ("ma, liat kaki bumy besar. sepatunya muat."), he giggled and chattered as he asked me what's this one and that one.

i was awaken at 2:30 am because i couldn't breathe. apparently bumy had managed to lay his head on top of my stomach. i checked my phone, and saw messages from kiti. we chatted for a while that early morning, i told her how i lovelovelove the stuff she's brought me.

this morning at the office, the smell of holiday is around. people talked about leaving work earlier, and plans for the long weekend. i didn't know why but somehow i opened guardian.co.uk. read an article about shelagh delaney, and watched a video about her talking about her hometown, salford. she told about the place, how she could never leave it, and how "restless" the feel of the town is and how it affected her and her generation. afterwards, something in my mind brought me to see graham coxon's live performance (oh i think it's because of alex james' autobiography kiti had bought for me :) i slipped the book in my bag today). and then i watched blur's mishap on "beetlebum" on their gig in 2000. i love the feeling i get everytime i watched them perform live. especially if it's from the 90's. they're so young and lovely, talented and glamorous. watching them always brings out the kid in me. it makes me a cheeky fangirl everytime. how i wish i'd been raised in UK in the 90's, and i'd watched 100 blur's gigs.

without me realizing, the time showed that it's 12 o'clock already. people started to leave the room for dzuhur prayer. i grabbed that alex james' book and read a few pages. it made me felt like 'talking' a boy, because it's modest, childish, but also captivating.
the book, shelagh delaney's narration, and the videos i've just watched, all of them suddenly "trap" me in a nostalgic mood. it makes me 'missing' UK. i know it's silly. missing a place i've never been. funny how your mind could trick you into thinking you've known a place or someone for like, forever, even though you've never talked to them, nor ever set a foot on the place.
i don't know how kiti is dealing with it, leaving a place she's fallen head over heels for, for a hell-hole like jakarta. however i'm also glad she's back. that way she gives me the chance to feel and touch some small "pieces" of UK, in the form of one of its renowned bands' documentary, a plastic of toffee, and its oxford shoes :)) i am so happy and grateful, and i wish one day we would "come back" there together.

a pack of london loves :)