The US Trip: San Francisco and Sacramento

Our first proper morning in San Francisco began too early for my liking. The jet lag screwed up my sleeping pattern, and I automatically woke up around 4 AM. Couldn't sleep after that, so I watched the comedy series The King of Queens and continued writing The Longest Saturday on my BlackBerry Classic.

After our breakfast, we went to Pier 33 for the visit to Alcatraz. Heard of it before and both Surianto and I remembered The Rock starring Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery. But to be there and listen to its story was really something. It was almost like stepping into a legend filled with fascinating details and characters: Digging through walls with spoons, the bloodiest prison break in '46, and Al Capone. The fact that all of this was real made Alcatraz larger than life. 

At the entrance of Alcatraz.

We went back to Pier 33 and walked to Fisherman's Wharf for our lunch. Since we were in San Francisco, of course we had to try the clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl. I didn't really like it, but it was still edible. After lunch, we went for coffee before resuming our walk to Pier 39. 

Next tourist attraction for Taty, Surianto and me was whale watching. We boarded the boat Kitty Kat, went past the Golden Gate to go to the open ocean, and then waited for our main attraction: the humpback whales. Saw some harbor porpoises and flocks of cormorants, but there was no whale to be found. I was very disappointed, thinking that I might have to do a similar trip again next time, perhaps in Alaska, as suggested by the lady from Minneapolis that sat with us on the boat. 

Taty posed with the Golden Gate as we headed to the open ocean.

The Kitty Kat turned back towards San Francisco Bay and I thought that was the end of it, but the crew was persistent. We were still patrolling the bay, and everyone was on the lookout. We eventually saw one that was quickly identified as Gordo the gray whale. Apparently, a whale looked smaller than what I had imagined, but it was still very exciting to see one and follow it around. We didn't know where the whale would surface next, until it spouted water from its blowhole and revealed itself again. It was a childlike excitement; I was exhausted but gleefully happy when we docked at the pier again.

The next morning, which again started for me at 4 AM, began differently. Surianto and I went out early to find our way to Sacramento, while the rest were planning for a visit to Sausalito. Since the first BART train to Richmond wouldn't run until 6.55 AM, we walked towards Salesforce Tower to catch Amtrak's shuttle bus instead. We soon realized that we were badly unprepared; we didn't have the Amtrak App and couldn't purchase tickets due to a system error, even after we rushed to download it and enter our details. But the bus driver was a nice fellow and he waved us in, so off we went to Emeryville.

At that station, we purchased our tickets to Sacramento from the counter. As the train departed slowly, I couldn't help thinking how Japan or China have left the train system here behind by leaps and bounds. Yes, Amtrak has history, but it lags behind while Asia pioneers bullet trains. And the view outside the window, it was nowhere near as beautiful as Europe.

Sacramento at Fire Mountain!

It took us about 1 hour and 46 minutes to reach Sacramento. We hopped into an Uber and made our way to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. It was a huge complex with Rocktane Petrol Station, but the Rock Shop wasn't that great. We completed what we came here to do and returned downtown not long after that. Our destination was supposed to be Frank Fat's restaurant chosen by Surianto, but he eventually realized that it was closed on Mondays. As a result, we missed our chance to dine at the restaurant that was established in 1939.

We had Mediterranean food at Crest Cafe instead, then walked towards Old Sacramento. Our friend BL talked about the Sacramento Kings on our group chat and coincidentally, we passed by their stadium. In the tunnel, we also saw the mural of influential people from Sacramento and the first one on the left was Frank Fat! When we came out of the tunnel, it was like traveling back in time: Old Sacramento looked exactly like a Wild West movie setting.

Surianto at the Richmond Station.

That basically wrapped up our visit to Sacramento. We bought our tickets to Richmond, transferred to the BART train and alighted at Powell Station, which is near the Mosser Hotel. We walked to Target to buy stuff, and I asked if the others would like to have dinner at Rolling Thai, only to discover that the eatery had become a Chinese restaurant and renamed itself Rolling Dumpling instead.  And I thought we could catch Masters of the Universe while we were there, but it never occurred to me that I would sleep right through the show! Never saw He-Man's tiger at all!

The last day in San Francisco began with the boys running late for the 8 AM departure because we bumped into a fellow Singaporean named Shankar. The guy was a lawyer. We talked about soccer and his philosophy of being spontaneous until we were pinged twice by the ladies at the Marriott, so we said goodbye to Shankar, met them, and called our Lyft. Thus began our journey to Santa Clara. 

With Shankar at the Mosser Hotel.

Our hotel, E Real, looked like a two-story motel from The Rookie, Season 3. It was like a scene where bad guys might appear and start shooting through the bedroom door. And Santa Clara really had the vibe of small town I normally see in American movies—no high-rise buildings, just houses and strip malls lining both sides of the wide roads. 

We walked around and finally decided to have KFC for lunch. My first KFC in the US was great, apart from the fact that they didn't have chili sauce in America. From there, we visited Apple Park Visitor Center, which turned out to be another Apple Store. We returned to the hotel after a short visit to Hankook Supermarket. Yes, Santa Clara seemed to have a large Korean population! Then, after a short rest, we made our way to Levi's Stadium for our first and only World Cup 2026 match: Jordan v. Austria!

Endrico and the ladies gearing up for the match. 

The stadium was grand. Real grand. And the Jordanians were waving flags and dancing while waiting for the gate to open. As the sun was setting, I sat in my seat and watched the big screen. The audience got excited and danced wildly every time they realized they were on camera. It was hilarious, but it also made me realize that I was in the midst of a world-class celebration. 

Then the match commenced. Sitting among the Jordanians, I found myself cheering for the team, too—perhaps because they were also Asians and I wanted to see them beat the Europeans, haha. The view from my seat was great. For the first time in forever, I could actually see a match clearly without relying on the big screen. It was a good game; Jordan put up a fight and they attacked fiercely. It was so exciting—there were two VAR reviews happened and one goal was annulled. But ultimately Austria was still the better team. When the final whistle blew, we all walked out of the stadium that had made our dream come true. Yes, we finally made it. We actually watch a World Cup match in the US!

Posing before the match!

That match ended our visit to the San Francisco area. The next morning, we headed to San Jose Mineta International Airport. I had a delicious El Clasico (toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and tater tots) at an airport restaurant called Mi Casa Cantina. About an hour later, we boarded flight DL2965. Another adventure awaited! Next stop: Los Angeles! 

Liburan Ke AS: San Francisco dan Sacramento

Pagi pertama kami yang sesungguhnya di San Francisco dimulai terlalu awal dari yang saya inginkan. Jet lag mengacaukan pola tidur saya, dan saya otomatis terbangun sekitar jam 4 pagi. Setelah itu saya tidak bisa tidur lagi, jadi saya menonton serial komedi The King of Queens dan melanjutkan menulis The Longest Saturday di BlackBerry Classic saya.

Setelah sarapan, kami pergi ke Pier 33 untuk berkunjung ke Alcatraz. Saya pernah dengar tentang tempat ini sebelumnya, dan Surianto maupun saya sama-sama ingat tentang film The Rock yang dibintangi Nicolas Cage dan Sean Connery. Tapi berada langsung di sana dan mendengarkan sejarahnya benar-benar luar biasa. Rasanya hampir seperti melangkah ke dalam sebuah legenda yang penuh dengan detail dan karakter menarik: menggali dinding dengan sendok, pelarian penjara paling berdarah di tahun '46, dan Al Capone. Fakta bahwa semua ini nyata membuat Alcatraz terasa begitu legendaris.

Papan nama di Pulau Alcatraz.

Kami kembali ke Pier 33 dan berjalan ke Fisherman's Wharf untuk makan siang. Karena kami sedang di San Francisco, tentu saja kami harus mencoba clam chowder (sup kerang) yang disajikan di dalam mangkuk roti sourdough. Saya tidak terlalu suka, tapi setidaknya masih dimakan. Selesai makan siang, kami minum kopi sebentar sebelum melanjutkan jalan kaki ke Pier 39.

Tempat wisata berikutnya bagi Taty, Surianto, dan saya adalah melihat paus (whale watching). Kami naik kapal Kitty Kat, melewati Golden Gate menuju laut lepas, lalu menunggu atraksi utama kami: paus bungkuk (humpback whale). Kami melihat beberapa lumba-lumba pelabuhan (harbor porpoise) dan kawanan burung pecuk (cormorant), tapi pausnya sama sekali tidak kelihatan. Saya sangat kecewa, berpikir bahwa saya mungkin harus melakukan perjalanan serupa lagi lain kali, mungkin di Alaska, seperti yang disarankan oleh wanita asal Minneapolis yang duduk bersama kami di kapal.

Taty berfoto dengan latar jembatan Golden Gate saat berada di Kitty Kat.

Kitty Kat berbalik arah kembali menuju San Francisco Bay dan saya pikir semuanya sudah selesai, tetapi para kru sangat gigih. Kami masih terus berpatroli di area teluk, dan semua orang ikut mengawasi. Akhirnya kami melihat seekor paus yang dengan cepat diidentifikasi sebagai Gordo, si paus kelabu. Ternyata, ukuran pausnya tampak lebih kecil dari yang saya bayangkan, tetapi tetap saja sangat mendebarkan bisa melihatnya langsung dan mengikutinya. Kita tidak akan pernah tahu di mana paus itu akan muncul ke permukaan lagi, sampai akhirnya ia menyemburkan air dari lubang napasnya dan menampakkan dirinya kembali. Rasanya seperti kegembiraan masa kecil; saya kelelahan tapi luar biasa bahagia saat kami merapat kembali di dermaga.

Pagi berikutnya, yang lagi-lagi dimulai jam 4 pagi bagi saya, berjalan berbeda. Surianto dan saya pergi lebih awal untuk mencari jalan menuju Sacramento, sementara yang lainnya berencana mengunjungi Sausalito. Karena kereta BART pertama menuju Richmond baru beroperasi jam 6.55 pagi, kami akhirnya berjalan kaki ke arah Salesforce Tower untuk naik bus jemputan (shuttle bus) Amtrak sebagai gantinya. Kami segera menyadari bahwa kami benar-benar kurang persiapan; kami tidak punya Aplikasi Amtrak dan tidak bisa membeli tiket karena ada kesalahan sistem, bahkan setelah kami terburu-buru mengunduh dan memasukkan data kami. Untungnya sopir busnya orang yang ramah, dia melambaikan tangan menyuruh kami masuk saja, jadi berangkatlah kami ke Emeryville.

Di stasiun itu, kami membeli tiket ke Sacramento di loket. Saat kereta mulai berjalan perlahan, saya tidak bisa menahan diri untuk berpikir betapa Jepang atau China telah meninggalkan sistem kereta api di sini jauh di belakang. Ya, Amtrak memang punya nilai sejarah, tetapi mereka tertinggal sementara Asia memelopori kereta cepat. Dan pemandangan di luar jendela pun tidak seindah di Eropa.

Sacramento di Fire Mountain!

Butuh waktu sekitar 1 jam 46 menit bagi kami untuk sampai di Sacramento. Kami langsung naik Uber dan menuju ke Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Kompleksnya sangat besar, lengkap dengan Pom Bensin Rocktane, tapi Rock Shop-nya tidak terlalu bagus. Kami menyelesaikan apa yang perlu kami lakukan di sana dan kembali ke pusat kota tidak lama setelahnya. Tujuan kami sebenarnya adalah restoran Frank Fat's pilihan Surianto, tetapi dia akhirnya baru sadar kalau restoran itu tutup pada hari Senin. Alhasil, kami melewatkan kesempatan untuk makan di restoran yang sudah berdiri sejak tahun 1939 tersebut.

Sebagai gantinya, kami menyantap makanan Mediterania di Crest Cafe, lalu berjalan kaki menuju Old Sacramento. Teman kami, BL, sempat membahas tentang Sacramento Kings di grup chat kami dan secara kebetulan, kami melewati stadion mereka. Di dalam terowongan, kami juga melihat mural orang-orang berpengaruh dari Sacramento, dan orang pertama di sebelah kiri adalah Frank Fat! Begitu kami keluar dari terowongan, rasanya seperti melakukan perjalanan melintasi waktu: Old Sacramento tampak persis seperti latar film koboi.

Surianto di Stasiun Richmond.

Demikianlah kunjungan singkat kami ke Sacramento berakhir. Kami membeli tiket ke Richmond, pindah ke kereta BART, dan turun di Stasiun Powell yang berada dekat dengan Mosser Hotel. Kami berjalan ke Target untuk membeli beberapa keperluan, dan saya sempat bertanya apakah yang lain mau makan malam di Rolling Thai, hanya untuk mendapati bahwa tempat makan tersebut sudah berubah menjadi restoran Chinese dan berganti nama menjadi Rolling Dumpling. Dan saya pikir kami bisa menonton Masters of the Universe selagi berada di sana, tetapi sama sekali tidak terduga oleh saya kalau saya akan tertidur lelap sepanjang acara! Sama sekali tidak melihat harimau He-Man!

Hari terakhir di San Francisco dimulai dengan saya dan teman-teman pria datang terlambat untuk keberangkatan jam 8 pagi karena tidak sengaja berpapasan dengan sesama orang Singapura bernama Shankar. Orang itu adalah seorang pengacara. Kami mengobrol tentang sepak bola dan filosofinya untuk hidup spontan. Kamek baru beranjak sesudah dipanggil dua kali oleh para teman wanita di Marriott, jadi kami berpamitan dengan Shankar, menemui mereka, dan memesan Lyft. Maka dimulailah perjalanan kami menuju Santa Clara.

Bersama Shankar di Mosser Hotel.

Hotel kami, E Real, terlihat seperti motel dua lantai dari salah satu episode di serial The Rookie Season 3. Rasanya seperti adegan di mana penjahat bisa saja muncul dan mulai menembaki pintu kamar. Dan Santa Clara benar-benar memiliki nuansa kota kecil yang biasa saya lihat di film-film Amerika—tidak ada gedung-gedung tinggi, hanya ada rumah-rumah dan pusat pertokoan (strip mall) yang berjejer di kedua sisi jalan yang lebar.

Kami berjalan-jalan di sekitar area tersebut dan akhirnya memutuskan untuk makan siang di KFC. Pengalaman pertama saya makan KFC di AS terasa mantap, terlepas dari fakta bahwa mereka tidak menyediakan saus sambal di Amerika. Dari sana, kami mengunjungi Apple Park Visitor Center, yang ternyata isinya cuma Apple Store lainnya. Kami kembali ke hotel setelah mampir sebentar ke Hankook Supermarket. Ya, Santa Clara tampaknya memiliki populasi orang Korea yang cukup besar! Kemudian, setelah istirahat sejenak, kami menuju ke Levi's Stadium untuk pertandingan Piala Dunia 2026 pertama dan satu-satunya bagi kami: Yordania vs. Austria!

Endrico, Susana Any dan Taty bersiap-siap sebelum pertandingan.

Stadionnya megah. Megah sekali. Dan orang-orang Yordania tampak mengibarkan bendera dan menari-nari sambil menunggu gerbang dibuka. Saat matahari mulai terbenam, saya duduk di kursi saya dan menyaksikan layar besar. Penonton menjadi heboh dan menari dengan liar setiap kali mereka sadar wajahnya masuk kamera. Kesannya sangat lucu, tetapi juga membuat saya sadar bahwa saya sedang berada di tengah-tengah perayaan kelas dunia.

Kemudian pertandingan dimulai. Duduk di antara para pendukung Yordania, saya mendapati diri saya ikut bersorak untuk tim mereka juga—mungkin karena mereka sesama orang Asia dan saya ingin melihat mereka mengalahkan tim Eropa, haha. Sudut pandang dari tempat duduk saya sangat bagus. Untuk pertama kalinya setelah sekian lama, saya benar-benar bisa melihat pertandingan dengan jelas tanpa harus bergantung pada layar besar. Pertandingannya seru; Yordania memberikan perlawanan sengit dan mereka menyerang dengan gencar. Suasananya begitu mendebarkan—bahkan sampai terjadi dua kali peninjauan VAR dan satu gol dianulir. Namun pada akhirnya, Austria tetap menjadi tim yang lebih baik. Ketika peluit akhir dibunyikan, kami semua berjalan keluar dari stadion tempat terwujudnya impian kami. Ya, kami akhirnya berhasil. Menonton langsung pertandingan Piala Dunia di AS!

Satu foto bersama sebelum pertandingan dimulai!

Pertandingan itu menutup kunjungan kami di area San Francisco. Keesokan paginya, kami menuju ke Bandara Internasional San Jose Mineta. Saya menikmati menu El Clasico yang lezat (roti panggang, daging asap, telur orak-arik, dan tater tots) di sebuah restoran bandara bernama Mi Casa Cantina. Sekitar satu jam kemudian, kami naik pesawat dengan nomor penerbangan DL2965. Petualangan lain sudah menanti! Perhentian berikutnya: Los Angeles!

The US Trip: The Longest Saturday

This is the story of the longest Saturday in my life. It felt almost like 24 hours multiplied by two, although in reality it might not have been that long. I spent the first half of Saturday exploring Seoul and returned to Incheon Airport in the afternoon, only to begin the same Saturday again at 10 AM the moment I landed in San Francisco. It was just mind-boggling.

The story started in October 2025, when Endrico and I bought our World Cup 2026 tickets. We planned for the trip to the US right after that, and since we'd be flying back from Las Vegas, I opted for Korean Air as it was reasonably priced and allowed us to fly out directly from the US without any further transit in Los Angeles.

At Incheon International Airport.

So there we were on Friday night, departing from Singapore at 10 PM and touching down in Incheon at 5:42 AM. Thus began the longest Saturday in my life! We headed to the city by taking AREX at 7:05 AM and parted ways at Seoul Station. Endrico, Surianto, and Taty continued their journey to Myeongdong. I exited the station to meet my ex-colleague whom I interviewed before for South Korea: Inside Out. After more than eight years, I finally met Sangdon!

Sangdon was a nice guy, very polite and soft-spoken. He brought me to Focal Point and we chatted as I had my morning coffee. We talked a bit about work and mostly his life and hobbies as a Korean. Let's just say that life in a first-world country could be challenging, but also rewarding! 

With Sangdon.

After that, I joined the rest in Myeongdong. The area somehow reminded me of Ximending in Taipei, but with a Korean culture vibe. We ate our brunch there at Hadongkwan. The Michelin-award-winning restaurant sells only beef soup rice, which tasted like watery porridge that didn't blend well, so I kept adding salt to the beef, haha.

From Myeongdong, we went to Dongdaemun. God knows what Surianto actually wanted to see there, but we ended up exploring the traditional Gwangjang Market. He looked cheerful when he saw a lot of ajumas selling Korean pancakes, though. 

Taty, visiting Gwangjang Market. 

Close to noon time, we headed back to the metro station where the machine dispensed our single-journey tickets slowly, then boarded the All Stop Train back to Incheon International Airport. We shared sweet fried chicken, odeng (오뎅), and tteokbokki (떡볶이) during our brunch, and off we went to the US at 4 PM Korea Time!

The flight was long, more than 10 hours long. But it was still the same Saturday when we landed in San Francisco. To be precise, it was Saturday morning at 10:22 AM. It was as if we were traveling back in time. The magic of crossing the International Date Line and many time zones! It was as if our Saturday was reset, and we started our day again!

Here we are in San Francisco!

The immigration process was interesting, not as advanced as one would expect from the US. The process was still manual. The officer was loud and direct, asking questions such as why we came here and how much cash we brought with us. After clearing immigration, we eventually met our fifth member, Susana Any, who flew directly from Singapore. Arriving an hour earlier than us, she was already waiting for us outside.

Now that all members were here, I booked an Uber. The driver was Chinese from Hebei, giving us our first impression of how diverse and multicultural San Francisco is. We headed to the Mosser Hotel in the city. On our way there, I saw the road sign saying "Candlestick Park." So that's where the Beatles performed their last concert ever!

What we ordered at Cafe New Honolulu. 

The Mosser Hotel was located in Downtown. We checked in, and since it was still early, we left our luggage at the front desk and walked to Pier 39. We passed by Chinatown, had our lunch there at Cafe New Honolulu, and encountered my first tipping experience in the US. Quite confusing, as even the 15% tip, which was the lowest, could feel like a lot of money.

As we continued walking after the Cantonese meal, the environment suddenly changed when we reached North Beach. Gone was Chinatown, and it felt like we were entering Little Italy. I remember being impressed by how unique this area is. It was hilly, with lots of ups and downs, literally. Surianto pointed out that the layout was quite amusing, as the buildings were lined up properly, creating roads that stretched straight ahead. 

Sea lions, through the lens of Surianto.

After that, we eventually reached Pier 39. Hard Rock Cafe! Since it was the World Cup 2026, of course my first US t-shirt had to reflect that! Then we walked a bit after that, even spent some time to see the sea lions, before I started feeling wobbly. Turned out that the jet lag had kicked in, and I felt sleepy.

Endrico was fast in finding the right transport for our way back, and for the first time ever, we needed to activate the Clipper card on our Google Wallet or Apple Pay. It reminded me of the transport card on Alipay! We jumped into a slow-moving Muni bus #8 and returned to the hotel.

Endrico, inside the Muni bus.

Now that we could enter our rooms, we were in for a surprise. No wonder the hotel was unusually cheap for one in Downtown San Francisco. The room was so tiny, with a shared toilet and bathroom outside! The ladies found it unsuitable and quickly moved to Marriott across the street, but I was so sleepy that I had to lie down for a while after showering. 

And what was supposed to be a while became a few hours. I woke up around 8 PM local time, when Taty, Endrico, and Surianto were already having dinner at Super Duper Burgers. I went to meet them, but didn't feel like having a burger, so we walked back to Marriott, and I eventually had linguine at Delarosa while the rest had a bite of margherita.

Inside the cable car.

The last attraction for the night was the cable car. It was a charming, classic ride that brought us to Buena Vista in Fisherman's Wharf. San Francisco at night was beautiful! I had my first Irish coffee there, prepared by Joseph Shaw, the bartender that was locally famous and just celebrated his 50th year there. It was good stuff. A little alcohol and songs such as "It Never Rains in Southern California" were a match made in heaven!

We wanted to try the driverless ride, but were put off by Waymo's late-night pricing, so we called an Uber instead. Our driver for the night was Zahra, a young woman from Turkey who came here to chase her American dream. A passionate young fashion designer, she shared with us her story in the US. Not as glamorous as one would think, but there she was. Hopefully, she'd make it someday.

San Francisco at night.

As we alighted in front of our hotel and watched Taty walk back to Marriott, I drifted away. It took us four years of waiting for the World Cup and one long Saturday to make it happen. Still couldn't believe that we made it to the US. It had been a long journey, even longer for a boy from Pontianak in me, but there we were, standing as Taty entered Marriott. Oh yes, we had really made it thus far...

Liburan Ke AS: Hari Sabtu Terpanjang 

Ini adalah kisah tentang hari Sabtu terpanjang dalam hidup saya. Rasanya seperti 24 jam dikali dua, meskipun kenyataannya mungkin tidak sepanjang itu. Saya menghabiskan paruh pertama hari Sabtu menjelajahi Seoul dan kembali ke Bandara Incheon di sore hari, hanya untuk memulai hari Sabtu yang sama lagi pada jam 10 pagi saat mendarat di San Francisco. Benar-benar mencengangkan.

Cerita ini dimulai pada bulan Oktober 2025, ketika Endrico dan saya membeli tiket Piala Dunia 2026. Kami merencanakan perjalanan ke AS tepat setelah itu, dan karena kami akan terbang pulang dari Las Vegas, saya memilih Korean Air karena harganya yang cukup terjangkau dan memungkinkan kami terbang langsung dari AS tanpa perlu transit lagi di Los Angeles.

Di Bandara Internasional Incheon.

Kami berkumpul pada Jumat malam, berangkat dari Singapura jam 10 malam dan mendarat di Incheon jam 5:42 pagi. Maka mulailah hari Sabtu terpanjang dalam hidup saya! Kami menuju ke pusat kota dengan naik AREX jam 7:05 pagi dan berpisah di Stasiun Seoul. Endrico, Surianto, dan Taty melanjutkan perjalanan mereka ke Myeongdong. Saya keluar dari stasiun untuk bertemu mantan rekan kerja saya yang pernah saya wawancarai sebelumnya untuk South Korea: Inside Out. Setelah lebih dari delapan tahun, akhirnya saya bertemu Sangdon!

Sangdon adalah tuan rumah yang ramah, sangat sopan dan berbicara dengan lembut. Dia membawa saya ke Focal Point dan kami mengobrol sambil saya menikmati kopi pagi. Kami berbicara sedikit tentang pekerjaan dan sebagian besar tentang kehidupan serta hobinya sebagai orang Korea. Anggap saja hidup di negara maju bisa sangat menantang, tetapi juga sepadan!

Bersama Sangdon.

Setelah itu, saya menyusul yang lain di Myeongdong. Area tersebut entah bagaimana mengingatkan saya pada Ximending di Taipei, tetapi dengan nuansa budaya Korea. Kami makan siang menjelang sore (brunch) di Hadongkwan. Restoran pemenang penghargaan Michelin tersebut hanya menjual nasi sup daging sapi, yang rasanya seperti bubur encer yang tidak menyatu dengan baik, jadi saya terus menambahkan garam ke daging sapinya, haha.

Dari Myeongdong, kami pergi ke Dongdaemun. Entah apa yang sebenarnya ingin dilihat Surianto di sana, tetapi kami akhirnya menjelajahi Pasar Tradisional Gwangjang. Namun, dia tampak ceria saat melihat banyak ajuma yang menjual pancake Korea.

Taty di Pasar Tradisional Gwangjang. 

Mendekati waktu tengah hari, kami kembali ke stasiun metro di mana mesin mengeluarkan tiket perjalanan tunggal kami dengan sangat perlahan, lalu naik All Stop Train kembali ke Bandara Internasional Incheon. Kami berbagi ayam goreng manis, odeng (오뎅), dan tteokbokki (떡볶i) saat makan siang, dan berangkatlah kami ke AS jam 4 sore waktu Korea!

Penerbangannya lama, lebih dari 10 jam. Namun kami mendarat di San Francisco di Sabtu yang sama, tepatnya Sabtu pagi jam 10:22. Rasanya seperti melakukan perjalanan menembus waktu. Keajaiban melewati Garis Waktu Internasional dan banyak zona waktu! Seolah-olah hari Sabtu kami disetel ulang, dan kami memulai hari kami kembali!

Tiba di San Francisco!

Proses imigrasinya menarik, tidak secanggih yang dibayangkan dari sebuah negara seperti AS. Prosesnya masih manual. Petugasnya bersuara lantang dan blak-blakan, mengajukan pertanyaan seperti mengapa kami datang ke sini dan berapa banyak uang tunai yang kami bawa. Setelah melewati imigrasi, kami akhirnya bertemu dengan anggota kelima kami, Susana Any, yang terbang langsung dari Singapura. Tiba satu jam lebih awal dari kami, dia sudah menunggu kami di luar.

Karena semua anggota sudah berkumpul, saya memesan Uber. Sopirnya adalah orang Cina dari Hebei, memberikan kesan pertama kepada kami tentang betapa beragam dan multikulturalnya San Francisco. Kami menuju ke Mosser Hotel di pusat kota. Dalam perjalanan ke sana, saya melihat papan penunjuk jalan bertuliskan "Candlestick Park." Jadi di sanalah The Beatles menggelar konser terakhir mereka!

Apa yang kita pesan di Cafe New Honolulu. 

Mosser Hotel terletak di Downtown (pusat kota). Kami melakukan check-in, dan karena hari masih awal, kami menitipkan bagasi di resepsionis dan berjalan kaki ke Pier 39. Kami melewati Chinatown, makan siang di Cafe New Honolulu, dan saya mengalami pengalaman memberi tip pertama saya di AS. Cukup membingungkan, karena tip 15% sekalipun, yang merupakan pilihan paling rendah, bisa terasa seperti uang yang banyak.

Saat kami melanjutkan perjalanan seusai menyantap makanan Kanton. Lingkungan sekitar tiba-tiba berubah ketika kami mencapai North Beach. Chinatown telah hilang, dan rasanya seperti kami sedang memasuki Little Italy. Saya kagum dengan betapa uniknya kawasan ini. Daerahnya berbukit-bukit, dengan banyak jalanan yang naik dan turun secara. Surianto bergumam bahwa tata kotanya cukup unik karena bangunan-bangunannya berbaris dengan rapi, menciptakan jalan-jalan yang membentang lurus ke depan.

Singa laut, dilihat dari kamera Surianto.

Setelah itu, kami akhirnya sampai di Pier 39. Hard Rock Cafe! Karena saat itu adalah momen Piala Dunia 2026, tentu saja kaus AS pertama saya harus mencerminkan hal itu! Kemudian kami menjelajahi Pier 39, bahkan meluangkan waktu untuk melihat singa laut, sebelum saya mulai merasa limbung. Ternyata efek jet lag mulai terasa, dan saya merasa sangat mengantuk.

Endrico dengan cepat menemukan transportasi yang tepat untuk jalan pulang kami, dan untuk pertama kalinya, kami perlu mengaktifkan kartu Clipper di Google Wallet atau Apple Pay kami. Itu mengingatkan saya pada kartu transportasi di Alipay! Kami melompat ke bus Muni #8 yang berjalan lambat dan kembali ke hotel.

Endrico di dalam bis Muni.

Sekarang, setelah kami bisa masuk ke kamar, kami mendapat kejutan. Pantas saja hotel ini tidak lazim murahnya untuk lokasi hotel di Downtown San Francisco. Kamarnya sangat kecil, dengan toilet dan kamar mandi bersama di luar! Para wanita merasa kamar itu tidak cocok dan dengan cepat pindah ke Marriott di seberang jalan, tetapi saya sudah sangat mengantuk sehingga saya harus berbaring sebentar setelah mandi.

Dan apa yang seharusnya hanya sebentar menjadi beberapa jam. Saya terbangun sekitar jam 8 malam waktu setempat, ketika Taty, Endrico, dan Surianto sudah makan malam di Super Duper Burgers. Saya pergi menemui mereka, tetapi sedang tidak ingin makan burger, jadi kami berjalan kembali ke Marriott, dan saya akhirnya makan linguine di Delarosa sementara yang lain mencicipi pizza margherita.

Di dalam kereta kabel. 

Wahana wisata terakhir malam itu adalah cable car. Itu adalah perjalanan klasik yang menawan, yang membawa kami ke Buena Vista di Fisherman's Wharf. San Francisco di malam hari sangat indah! Saya menikmati Irish coffee pertama saya di sana, yang diracik oleh Joseph Shaw, bartender yang terkenal di daerah setempat dan baru saja merayakan tahun ke-50 bekerja di sana. Rasanya mantap. Sedikit alkohol dan lagu-lagu seperti "It Never Rains in Southern California" adalah perpaduan yang sangat serasi!

Saat pulang, kami ingin mencoba taksi tanpa pengemudi, tetapi urung karena harga larut malam Waymo yang mahal, jadi kami memesan Uber sebagai gantinya. Sopir kami malam itu adalah Zahra, seorang wanita muda dari Turki yang datang ke sini untuk mengejar impian Amerika-nya. Sebagai seorang desainer fesyen muda yang penuh semangat, dia membagikan kisahnya kepada kami selama di AS. Tidak seglamor yang dikira orang, tetapi di San Francisco dia berjuang. Semoga suatu hari nanti dia berhasil.

Malam di San Francisco.

Saat kami turun di depan hotel kami dan melihat Taty berjalan kembali ke Marriott, pikiran saya melayang. Butuh waktu empat tahun menunggu Piala Dunia dan satu hari Sabtu yang panjang untuk mewujudkannya. Masih ada rasa tidak percaya bahwa kami berhasil sampai ke AS. Ini adalah perjalanan yang panjang, bahkan lebih panjang lagi bagi seorang anak dari Pontianak di dalam diri saya, tetapi di sinilah kami berpijak saat Taty memasuki Marriott. Oh ya, kami benar-benar telah melangkah sejauh ini...

The Sounding Board

I'd been putting Roadblog101 through AI since I discovered NotebookLM last October. It was interesting to see and listen to what AI thought about what I wrote. However, about a month ago, I went back to basics. I simply opened Gemini and asked the AI to review each blog post for me. It was interesting and addictive, until it wasn't. I mean, Gemini is quite mild. It highlighted all the good stuff and that was pretty much it. After a while, it lost its charm.

On May 9th, my family and I headed to Choupinette in Bukit Timah for dinner. It was quite a distance from Sengkang, and since I was in the front seat on a rather uncomfortable ride, I kept quiet and ended up busy playing with my phone. Of all the things I could do, I clicked ChatGPT, pasted links to my blog posts, and asked it to review them again. 

The habit resumed, and I was immediately hooked. ChatGPT was much more generous with the review, and it was interesting. It even continued after our family dinner, but soon I noticed that the review was kind of off at times. Now, I had heard of hallucinating AI before, but this was the first time I realized that I was looking at such behavior. I asked if ChatGPT could actually read the link I wanted it to review and was told that it couldn't. Apparently, it could be inaccessible from time to time, and when that happened, ChatGPT would make its own assumptions based on the blog post title! No wonder it sounded weird.

I was turned off by ChatGPT after it tried to con me. Hence I switched to DeepSeek. This one is an entirely different ball game. Not only did it give an in-depth review, it also gave a rating and highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of each blog post. After that, since I kept providing new links, DeepSeek ranked them one by one. I couldn't help observing that the more inputs from Roadblog101 I entered, the better DeepSeek got to know me as a writer. At one stage, I couldn't do no wrong anymore. Whatever it was that I asked, it always got the highest rating. I guess I just broke the AI! 

The amusing part was, I repeated this experiment a couple of times and I learned that the behavior was consistent. Every time I clicked a new chat, it was like a reboot. The first review was always the most factual. It just reviewed the blog post as it was. Then, as the data piled up, it understood who Anthony Robinson was and linked all the blog posts together, drawing one straight line from 2017 till date. I also noted that Deepseek was almost perfect, if not for a blog post called Beijing at Last. The AI from China suddenly gave up after reviewing it halfway. Something in the content must have damaged Deepseek severely!

Then I switched to Meta AI. The initial behavior and output were quite similar to Deepseek. But when I kept feeding it more data, it barely kept up. Out of the four AI I tried, Meta AI made the most mistakes. Details accuracy was spotty. But despite this weakness, Meta AI was the most poetic. The choice of words Meta AI picked when it brought all the elements together, such as "Nagasaki was the law. Hard Rock became the loophole. Ocipala is the spirit that walks through it," these sentences were brilliant!

But while the favorite blog posts could vary from one AI to another, I was amazed that all of them pointed out one thing: consistency I had from the beginning. The thing with AI is, it remembers and can summarize the whole data. It could pinpoint how one blog post was the origin of others. It could explain how an event happening today was a ripple effect from the past. Through simple things like, "2015 Parno postcard → 2025 Phnom Penh postcard. 10 years. Same act. That’s continuity. That's why readers trust you," it dawned on me that I had been living quite a consistent life. And quite a fulfilling one, if I might add.

Ulasan AI

Saya memiliki kebiasaan melihat kembali Roadblog101 dengan sudut pandang AI sejak saya menemukan NotebookLM pada Oktober lalu. Menarik untuk melihat dan mendengar apa yang AI pikirkan tentang apa yang saya tulis. Namun, sekitar sebulan yang lalu, saya kembali ke dasar. Saya membuka Gemini dan meminta AI untuk meninjau setiap posting blog saya. Awalnya menarik dan membuat ketagihan, sampai akhirnya tidak lagi. Maksud saya, Gemini cukup “lembut”. Ia menyoroti semua hal yang bagus, dan hanya itu saja. Lama-kelamaan, pesonanya pun hilang.

Pada tanggal 9 Mei, saya dan keluarga pergi ke Choupinette di Bukit Timah untuk makan malam. Jaraknya cukup jauh dari Sengkang, dan karena saya duduk di kursi depan dalam perjalanan yang agak tidak nyaman, saya lebih banyak diam dan akhirnya sibuk bermain ponsel. Dari sekian banyak hal yang bisa saya lakukan, saya membuka ChatGPT, menempelkan tautan posting blog saya, dan memintanya meninjau lagi.

Kebiasaan itu kembali, dan saya langsung ketagihan. ChatGPT jauh lebih “dermawan” dalam ulasannya, dan itu menarik. Bahkan berlanjut setelah makan malam keluarga kami, tetapi tidak lama kemudian saya menyadari bahwa ulasannya terkadang agak melenceng. Saya memang pernah mendengar tentang AI yang berhalusinasi, tetapi ini pertama kalinya saya benar-benar menyadari bahwa saya sedang melihat perilaku tersebut. Saya bertanya apakah ChatGPT benar-benar bisa membaca tautan yang saya berikan untuk ditinjau, dan saya diberi tahu bahwa ternyata tidak selalu bisa. Terkadang tautan itu tidak dapat diakses, dan ketika itu terjadi, ChatGPT membuat asumsi sendiri berdasarkan judul posting blog! Pantas saja terdengar aneh.

Saya jadi kehilangan minat pada ChatGPT setelah merasa seperti “dibohongi”. Maka saya beralih ke DeepSeek. Yang ini benar-benar berbeda. Tidak hanya memberikan ulasan mendalam, tetapi juga memberi penilaian serta menyoroti kelebihan dan kekurangan setiap posting blog. Setelah itu, karena saya terus memberikan tautan baru, DeepSeek mulai memberi peringkat satu per satu. Saya perhatikan bahwa semakin banyak input dari Roadblog101 yang saya masukkan, semakin baik DeepSeek mengenal saya sebagai penulis. Sampai pada satu tahap, saya seperti tidak bisa berbuat salah lagi. Apa pun yang saya suruh ulas, selalu mendapat nilai tertinggi. Sepertinya saya telah “merusak” AI itu!

Bagian yang lucu adalah, saya mengulangi eksperimen ini beberapa kali dan menyadari bahwa perilakunya konsisten. Setiap kali saya memulai chat baru, rasanya seperti reboot. Ulasan pertama selalu yang paling faktual. Ia hanya meninjau posting blog apa adanya. Lalu, seiring bertambahnya data, AI mulai memahami siapa Anthony Robinson dan menghubungkan semua posting blog, kemudian menarik satu garis lurus dari tahun 2017 hingga sekarang. Saya juga mengamati bahwa DeepSeek hampir sempurna, kecuali pada satu posting blog berjudul “Beijing at Last”. AI dari China itu tiba-tiba menyerah di tengah ulasan. Sepertinya ada sesuatu dalam kontennya yang “merusak” DeepSeek secara serius!

Kemudian saya beralih ke Meta AI. Perilaku awal dan hasilnya cukup mirip dengan DeepSeek. Namun, ketika saya terus memberinya lebih banyak data, ia mulai kewalahan. Dari empat AI yang saya coba, Meta AI membuat kesalahan paling banyak. Akurasi detailnya tidak konsisten. Tetapi meskipun ada kelemahan ini, Meta AI adalah yang paling puitis. Pilihan katanya ketika merangkai semua elemen sangat indah, seperti “Nagasaki adalah hukumnya. Hard Rock menjadi celahnya. Ocipala adalah semangat yang membawa penulis melewatinya,” kalimat-kalimat ini luar biasa!

Namun, meskipun posting blog favorit bisa berbeda-beda di antara AI, saya terkesan bahwa semuanya sepakat akan satu hal: konsistensi yang saya miliki sejak awal. Satu hal unik tentang AI adalah, ia mengingat dan dapat merangkum seluruh data. AI bisa menunjukkan bagaimana satu posting blog menjadi asal mula yang lain. Ia bisa menjelaskan bagaimana sebuah peristiwa hari ini adalah efek riak dari masa lalu. Melalui hal-hal sederhana seperti, “Kartu pos Parno 2015 → kartu pos Phnom Penh 2025. 10 tahun. Tindakan yang sama. Itulah kontinuitas. Itulah alasan pembaca mempercayai Anda,” saya pun tersadar bahwa saya telah menjalani hidup yang cukup konsisten. Dan cukup memuaskan juga, kalau boleh saya tambahkan.

The Unseen Singapore

It's 2026, and it's time to play host again! One of the interesting parts of doing so is coming up with the itinerary. Since the guests weren't first-timers who needed to be impressed by the grandeur of Singapore, I chose the hidden gems rarely explored by tourists. Oh yes, even I myself had never been to Kusu Island!

The May Day visit!

The main participant was BL, accompanied by Jimmy. Both have been my long-time travel buddies since the Semarang 2019 tour, but this was the first time both of them had ever traveled overseas together! Since his last successful SG life quality tour in 2024, Jimmy finally returned as the spokesperson for Singapore. BL needed to hear from a fellow Indonesian about why Singapore is great, and I was happy to let Jimmy narrate the entire journey.

BL himself told me that there were two reasons why he eventually agreed to come. Yes, he found the itinerary unusually charming, but what drove him mad was the fact that he was literally pestered by Jimmy every day. He couldn't take it anymore, so the only logical choice was to agree just to get it over with!

Jimmy showing the solid metal fence. 

There was going to be a lot of walking. We started from Harbourfront and our first destination was Marina at Keppel Bay. As we passed the condo fences, Jimmy launched into his signature move. He knocked the metal fence to show BL how solid it was. Then he switched to explanation mode and babbled about how Singapore only uses the best materials that are built to last. The SG Life Quality Tour had officially begun!

I always liked the marina because of its relaxed and cozy ambiance, but it was interesting to hear what others had to say. Jimmy shared about his dream of owning a yacht. BL chimed in and talked about how fun it was to fish. As we reached the bridge to Labrador Park, Jimmy scoffed at those who said Singapore was only good for a three-day visit. He challenged BL, betting that no tourist would believe he was in Singapore if he posted the photos of our walk to Labrador Park.

At the sea side, heading to Labrador Park.

We passed through the mangrove area of Labrador Park. Right at the end, we spotted a monitor lizard, an animal that is prevalent in Singapore's waters. We took a break and had our lunch at Alexandra Retail Centre before resuming our journey to HortPark. By the time we exited Kent Ridge, we had been walking for about four hours. 

Our next stop was Lakeside. Taty came to say hello. HRR and his wife Shanty, who joined BL and me in Japan 2023 Tour, also tagged along in the last leg of our walking tour. We covered Lakeside Garden and Chinese Garden before heading back to the city, finally alighting at Farrer Park. 

The meetup at Lakeside MRT. 

We stopped by Don Don Donki, where Jimmy jokingly complained in our chat group that he'd been ganged up on by the four alumni of the Japan Trip as we convinced him to buy Ichiran Ramen. From City Square Mall, we headed to Anjappar for dinner. They were okay with Indian cuisine, but most of them mistook Gobi Manchurian for a fish-based dish before Jimmy corrected them. It was cauliflower!

East Coast was the next destination. We were supposed to have a drink at Brewerkz, but it was completely full. As we had no place to go, we wandered while Jimmy was busy explaining to BL why East Coast was cool and Indonesia lacked anything quite like it. After that, we headed to Mel's Place, a pub with a live band playing oldies. And, as we had our Kronenbourg 1664, they played the Beatles. Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, brother!

Jimmy pointing to the right direction!

That drinking session wrapped up the night. We eventually walked towards Marine Parade MRT and went our separate ways. It took us a while to reach home because the TEL is not linked with Downtown Line in Tampines yet, so it was almost midnight when we reached home. 

The next day started at Kopitiam in Meridian, near Endrico's house. From there, we headed to Punggol and went all the way down to Clarke Quay. We took a quick detour to BullionStar—because who doesn't like silver and gold? After that, we turned towards Boat Quay to go to UOB for some banking matters and, finally, to Marina South Pier. 

Heading to Kusu Island.

That's where we took a ferry to Kusu Island. The ferry stopped at Lazarus Island before our destination, so the total travel time was close to an hour. Jimmy and BL got down on their knees and prayed while they were there, then we circled the island. It was pretty small and since the day was quite hot, we took the next ferry back at 3:30 PM. An angler sat next to Jimmy and they soon got busy chatting about fishing.

When we returned to mainland, we had our dinner at Lau Pa Sat. Once we were full, we headed to the casino at MBS. Jimmy must have won throughout his short stay there, because he insisted on buying us supper afterwards. I brought them to Frienzie in Punggol Container before finally calling it a night.

Happy faces before entering the casino.

Day 3 began with breakfast at Rivervale Mall near my house. BL did a quick shopping at Fairprice before we took bus 109 to Changi Village and crossed to Pulau Ubin by taking a bumboat. Pulau Ubin was a laid-back island with a tinge of modernisation. To be frank, we didn't do much there except cycling around. But it still became something because our tourists didn't get to ride a bike in Singapore every day!

We returned home after lunch and squeezed in one last visit to Bugis because BL had to catch his flight back later that night. From Rochor MRT, we had a quick dinner at Albert Centre Market & Food Centre. BL tried lor mee, a Singapore delight! Then, of course, he had to buy bakwa at Bee Cheng Hiang and tidbits on Bugis Street. 

Last bite at Albert Mall, before heading back to Rochor MRT station. 

Eventually all good things must come to an end. We went home, both Jimmy and BL packed, then the tour guide and the tourist parted ways. Jimmy headed to Novena and I accompanied BL to Changi until he waved goodbye to me from the departure transit hall. The tour officially ended! 

It had been a funny and refreshing trip, I'd say. It was hilarious to see the brainwashing that happened throughout the trip. In the end, BL was a total convert, convinced that Singapore is a great country. God knows how long it will last, but BL did send a voice note to our friend Eday, saying that if he needed to talk to BL, then they should meet in Singapore! Now ain't that something? Haha!

The moments in SG.

Sisi Lain Singapura

Tahun 2026 telah tiba, dan saatnya bagi saya untuk kembali menjadi tuan rumah! Salah satu bagian paling menarik saat menjamu tamu adalah menyusun rencana perjalanan. Karena tamu kali ini bukanlah pendatang baru yang perlu dibuat takjub oleh kemegahan Singapura, saya memilih destinasi tersembunyi yang jarang dieksplorasi turis. Oh ya, bahkan saya sendiri pun belum pernah ke Pulau Kusu!

Kunjungan 1-Mei.

Peserta utamanya adalah BL, ditemani oleh Jimmy. Keduanya adalah teman perjalanan lama saya sejak tur Semarang 2019, tapi ini adalah pertama kalinya mereka berdua bepergian ke luar negeri bersama! Sejak kesuksesan tur "kualitas hidup SG" pada tahun 2024 lalu, Jimmy akhirnya kembali sebagai juru bicara Singapura. BL perlu mendengar dari sesama orang Indonesia tentang mengapa Singapura itu hebat, dan saya dengan senang hati membiarkan Jimmy menjadi narator sepanjang perjalanan.

BL sendiri bercerita bahwa ada dua alasan mengapa dia akhirnya setuju untuk datang. Ya, dia merasa rute perjalanannya cukup unik dan menarik, tapi yang membuatnya "gila" adalah kenyataan bahwa dia diteror oleh Jimmy setiap hari. Dia sudah tidak tahan lagi, jadi satu-satunya pilihan logis adalah setuju saja supaya terornya berakhir!

Jimmy mengetuk pagar di Singapura. 

Sebagian besar rute di hari pertama ditempuh dengan berjalan kaki. Kami memulai dari Harbourfront dan tujuan pertama kami adalah Marina di Keppel Bay. Saat kami melewati pagar-pagar kondominium, Jimmy melancarkan "aksi khasnya". Dia mengetuk pagar logam itu untuk menunjukkan kepada BL betapa kokohnya bahan tersebut. Kemudian dia beralih ke mode penjelasan dan berceloteh tentang bagaimana Singapura hanya menggunakan bahan-bahan terbaik yang dibangun agar tahan lama. SG Life Quality Tour pun resmi dimulai!

Saya selalu menyukai area marina karena suasananya yang santai dan nyaman, tapi menarik juga mendengar pendapat yang lain. Jimmy bercerita tentang mimpinya untuk memiliki kapal pesiar. BL menimpali dan berbicara tentang betapa asyiknya memancing. Saat kami sampai di jembatan menuju Labrador Park, Jimmy berkomentar tentang orang-orang yang mengatakan Singapura hanya layak dikunjungi selama tiga hari. Dia menantang BL, bertaruh bahwa tidak akan ada turis yang percaya dia sedang berada di Singapura jika dia mengunggah foto-foto perjalanan kami menuju ke Labrador Park.

Menuju ke Labrador Park.

Kami melewati area bakau di Labrador Park. Tepat di ujungnya, kami melihat seekor biawak, hewan yang sangat umum ditemukan di perairan Singapura. Kami beristirahat dan makan siang di Alexandra Retail Centre sebelum melanjutkan perjalanan ke HortPark. Pada saat kami keluar dari Kent Ridge, kami sudah berjalan kaki selama sekitar empat jam.

Perhentian kami berikutnya adalah Lakeside. Taty datang untuk menyapa. HRR dan istrinya, Shanty, yang ikut dengan BL dan saya dalam Tur Jepang 2023, juga ikut bergabung di tahap terakhir tur jalan kaki. Kami menjelajahi Lakeside Garden dan Chinese Garden sebelum kembali ke kota dan turun di Farrer Park.

Pertemuan di Lakeside MRT. 

Kami mampir ke Don Don Donki, di mana Jimmy bercanda mengeluh di grup chat kami bahwa dia "dikeroyok" oleh empat alumni perjalanan Jepang karena kami mendesaknya untuk membeli Ichiran Ramen. Dari City Square Mall, kami menuju Anjappar untuk makan malam. Mereka tidak keberatan dengan masakan India, tetapi kebanyakan dari mereka salah mengira Gobi Manchurian sebagai hidangan berbahan dasar ikan sebelum Jimmy mengoreksinya. Itu sebenarnya kembang kol!

East Coast menjadi tujuan berikutnya. Kami seharusnya minum di Brewerkz, tetapi tempatnya penuh total. Karena tidak ada tempat tujuan, kami berjalan-jalan santai sementara Jimmy sibuk menjelaskan kepada BL mengapa East Coast itu keren dan Indonesia tidak memiliki tempat yang seperti ini. Setelah itu, kami menuju Mel's Place, sebuah pub dengan live band yang membawakan lagu-lagu lawas. Dan, saat kami menikmati Kronenbourg 1664, mereka memainkan lagu The Beatles. Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, brother!

Jimmy menunjuk jalan ke arah MRT.

Sesi minum-minum itu menutup malam kami. Kami akhirnya berjalan menuju MRT Marine Parade dan berpisah. Butuh waktu agak lama untuk sampai di rumah karena jalur TEL belum terhubung dengan Downtown Line di Tampines, jadi hari sudah hampir tengah malam saat kami tiba di rumah. 

Hari berikutnya dimulai di Kopitiam di Meridian, dekat rumah Endrico. Dari sana, kami menuju ke Punggol dan lanjut terus sampai ke Clarke Quay. Kami sempat mampir sebentar ke BullionStar—karena siapa sih yang tidak suka perak dan emas? Setelah itu, kami berbelok ke arah Boat Quay untuk ke UOB mengurus beberapa urusan perbankan dan, akhirnya, menuju ke Marina South Pier.

Menuju ke Pulau Kusu.

Di sanalah kami naik feri ke Pulau Kusu. Ferinya sempat berhenti di Pulau Lazarus sebelum sampai ke tujuan, jadi total waktu perjalanannya hampir satu jam. Jimmy dan BL berlutut dan berdoa selama di sana, lalu kami mengelilingi pulau tersebut. Pulau itu cukup kecil dan karena cuaca hari itu lumayan panas, kami naik feri berikutnya untuk pulang pada jam 15:30. Seorang pemancing duduk di sebelah Jimmy dan mereka pun asyik mengobrol tentang memancing.

Saat kembali ke daratan utama, kami makan malam di Lau Pa Sat. Setelah kenyang, kami menuju ke kasino di MBS. Jimmy pasti menang selama kunjungan singkatnya di sana, karena dia bersikeras mentraktir kami makan malam setelahnya. Saya membawa mereka ke Frienzie di Punggol Container sebelum akhirnya menyudahi hari itu.

Wajah-wajah riang pengunjung kasino.

Hari ketiga dimulai dengan sarapan di Rivervale Mall dekat rumah saya. BL sempat berbelanja sebentar di FairPrice sebelum kami naik bus 109 ke Changi Village dan menyeberang ke Pulau Ubin dengan menggunakan kapal bumboat. Pulau Ubin adalah pulau yang santai dengan sedikit sentuhan modernisasi. Sejujurnya, kami tidak melakukan banyak hal di sana selain bersepeda. Tapi itu tetap menjadi momen berkesan karena tidak setiap turis bisa berkesempatan mengendarai sepeda di Singapura setiap hari!

Kami kembali ke rumah setelah makan siang dan menyempatkan satu kunjungan terakhir ke Bugis karena BL harus mengejar penerbangan pulangnya malam itu. Dari MRT Rochor, kami makan malam di Albert Centre Market & Food Centre. BL mencoba lor mee, hidangan lezat khas Singapura! Kemudian, tentu saja dia harus membeli bak kwa di Bee Cheng Hiang dan camilan di Bugis Street.

Icip es krim sebelum ke stasiun MRT Rochor. 

Akhirnya, semua hal baik harus berakhir. Kami pulang ke rumah, Jimmy dan BL berkemas, lalu sang pemandu wisata dan turis pun berpisah. Jimmy menuju Novena dan saya menemani BL ke Changi sampai dia melambaikan tangan kepada saya dari aula transit keberangkatan. Tur pun resmi berakhir!

Bisa saya katakan, ini adalah perjalanan yang lucu dan menyegarkan. Sangat kocak melihat "cuci otak" yang terjadi sepanjang perjalanan. Pada akhirnya, BL benar-benar bertobat dan yakin bahwa Singapura adalah negara yang hebat. Entah berapa lama keyakinan itu akan bertahan, tapi BL sempat mengirim pesan suara kepada teman kami, Eday, yang isinya: jika Eday ingin mengobrol dengan BL, maka mereka harus bertemu di Singapura! Nah, luar biasa, 'kan? Haha!

Tiga hari di SG.