#explorationinjakarta

[heyhoals]

Aku masih belum percaya sampai detik ini... 

Bisa nyanyi bareng, dengerin celotehan tiap member, liat kelakuan bodohnya ChanBaek, dikasih spoiler dance comeback sama Kai & Suho... terpenting bisa liat langsung mereka dan percaya kalo mereka itu emang nyata...

Merch EXO pertama yang aku punya itu adalah wristband birthday member dari Sum Store. Dan cita-citaku waktu itu, aku bakal pake wristband itu pas dateng ke konser mereka. Even, aku gak tau kapan bisa dateng ke konser mereka. Dan, sampe akhirnya mereka datang untuk pertama kalinya ke Indonesia... tapi, aku gak bisa karna dana yang minim dan terhalang izin. Selang beberapa tahun, mereka datang untuk konser berikutnya. Dan lagi, aku belum bisa datang dan bawa wristband itu ke konser mereka. Rasanya sia-sia beli wristband dari kapan tahun karna sampe akhir tahun 2018, yang dijanjikan bakal dateng ternyata mereka gak jadi dateng ke Indo. It’s really sad :( dana udah bisa dikumpul, izin udah bisa diminta, terhalang mereka yang gagal konser disini. Sempet sedih dan gak mau banyak berharap lagi...

Then, the announcement was out!!! 

That was the happiest moment of my life! Akhirnya, setelah penantian setahun, kena php, that time was here!! Walaupun, diawali dengan drama penjualan tiket gaib, harga tiket yang dijual calo berkali-kali lipat, penjualan tiket kembali di beberapa section, sampai akhirnya banyak fans yang kena tipu karna tiket yang dibatalkan sepihak. Aku juga gak lepas dari drama pertiketan, section yang diincer gagal dapat, sempat putus asa, ikhlas gak bisa nonton... tapi, akhirnya aku usaha cari di Twitter dan alhamdulillah luar biasa aku bisa dapet tiketnya dengan harga yang masih masuk akal... ya Rabb. Aku gak bisa ngomong apa-apa lagi. Aku mulai gak sabar ngebayangin bisa satu ruangan sama mereka dan ngefanchat bareng Aeris lainnya. 

Finally, the day was happened!!

Wristband bisa kupake untuk pertama kalinya dan menikmati setiap momen yang berharga dengan mereka. Itu gak akan terlupakan. Sampai detik ini pun aku bersyukur bisa ketemu mereka, walaupun Xiu oppa & Kyungsoo oppa wamil, aku sangat berterima kasih untuk setiap momen dan kebersamaan yang tak terlupakan hari itu. My love is always for them... sampai kapan pun gak akan berhenti. 

We Are~ One!

EXO~ SARANGHAJA!!

[skyedaway]

MY GILA BANGET WEEKEND.

Gila banget in Indonesian means "really crazy", and I would say that the phrase pretty much sums up my experience in going to Jakarta last November 2019.

From what I remember, it was a combination of impulsive decision-making, sudden seat sales from budget airlines, and just the sheer desperation of having a weekender that we found ourselves booking flights for Indonesia, in order to attend EXplOration for Loey's birthday. We had our flights, but we didn't have our concert tickets yet. Nothing would go wrong anyway in ticketing if your internet is fast and there's no pre-selling, right?

Well, we were definitely wrong. Ticketing was a total failure for us and me and my friends ended up giving up on Blibli and just hoping for the best. Reselling prices hiked up to 5 million IDR onwards that we were contemplating just not going at all, but around two weeks before the concert, we were able to purchase them. As a lesson learned, I made a mental note to remember that ticketing for EXO is never ever easy except in SG.

Alright, ticketing solved! My woes are over and all I have to do is fly to Jakarta, and return back on Monday just in time for my quiz. The problem is, my flight wasn't a direct flight. While other friends flew on the Friday evening before the concert, I had to take a Friday midnight flight to KL and then a connecting flight to Jakarta so that I can attend my evening class first. The professor cancelled the class that night, by the way.

This is my first time to experience a connecting flight, and my optimistic ass really thought things won't even go wrong. I was supposed to arrive in KL at 04:35 am on November 23, and then take the 7:00 am connecting flight to Jakarta.  There are, however, things that I forgot to take into account (since I was most probably swamped with schoolwork):

a. Boarding gates will close earlier.

b. My plane to JKT is in KLIA, while my plane to KL lands in KLIA2.

c. Unprecedented changes on the flight time can happen, and if my flight to KL gets delayed, it's all fucked up from there.

Of course, being the chaotic person that I am, I only realized all of these when I was already sprinting from KLIA2 to Immigration, and then taking one of those overpriced taxis that were waiting by the arrivals so I can reach KLIA on time, just because KLIA2's train broke down. By 6:40, I was in KLIA, going for the Lion Air counter since the gates close at 6:45. And to no surprise, the monitors are flashing "GATE CLOSED" for my connecting flight! I was highkey about to cry but I still went for the counter and told the staff that I had a ticket, and they let me pass through. PHEW.

I almost died right there, and I thought that it would be smooth sailing from then on, but the struggle is not yet over.

While Dyandra originally announced that it will open the gates by 11, it made an announcement early in the morning that it was going to move the opening time by 10 am. I arrive in Jakarta at 8 am, then go through Immigration and get my SIM, and yet I have to be in ICE-BSD by 10 am. Travel time will take at least one hour without considering the traffic, and the person who I paid to line up for me was already panicking as well. By this time, I had nothing much except this sort of faith that I will arrive just before the gates open.

I speedwalked again to the arrival hall to meet Kak Anggun (@Albybe14), who was so kind for meeting me in CGK. She helped me get my SIM and brought breakfast and drinks, which was really touching (ERINAs are really another level of kind!). I was so desperate to get to the venue on time that I told her I'm going for the GrabBike, which is a CRAZY idea, but she helped me book it nonetheless. Looking back, I would have messed up if Kak wasn't there, since a number of staff in Jakarta aren't really confident speaking in English, and the language barrier would have made it difficult.

Well, after almost dying a number of times, I arrived in ICE-BSD by 9:45 am, with not a lot of sleep, but hey I survived!

It was fine for a good 20-30 minutes until the gates opened and people just kind of ran to secure a spot on the official line. Chaos, more running. I kinda got lost along the way too because the staff didn't know where the Fest E line was. ASDLKFSDLFSA. Thank God I saw it, but really, why are there staff when they aren’t acquainted with the lines...

I only really got to relax when we were already waiting inside the hall. From there, I was able to meet a few Erina friends, and also made new ones while on the line. Since it's difficult to tell among Southeast Asians, other local fans would just straight up talk to me in Bahasa and I wouldn't understand. Anyway I was so thrilled! For the first time in years, I finally met Ty (@mydancingbear88) in person. I was also able to meet Jess (@chanyeolnet) and Hana (@hannini__) who were so kind for offering their help.

When we finally got in, that was the only time that it dawned to me how so many things have happened in the course of 8 hours, but at least it's worth it! The stage was really close and the atmosphere was amazing. ERINAs are really loud, and they do their fanchants very well. Since it's been a long time since EXO had a concert in Indonesia, you can feel how excited the crowd was.

To sum up the concert experience, it was amazing.

Jongin was absolutely stunning in his blue hair. He gave me a wave and a smile, and he danced in front of us for Ohh La La La.

Chanyeol also waved hi twice, and in the second one he read my printed birthday message which basically was a greeting of happy birthday, and a thank you for making amazing music. He also got the toy snake I threw for Delle (@kyungfusing) during one of the latter stages!

AND THEN THERE'S SEHUN. It was sooooo fun because there were many Xunqis in our row! Sehun smiled so much when he saw the "Vivi appa" uchiwa. He also threw a ball in our direction which I almost caught but it bounced off my palm. I guess it's safe to say that I went home absolutely bias wrecked.

I only got to meet ate Cyndie (@hunniesoos), Delle, and Xel (@kyungseng) once the concert ended! We all agreed that it was a really nice experience, also because we got to sing Happy Birthday to Chanyeol in a crowd, and the atmosphere was really great.

We spent the next morning recollecting our experience, and discussing which of the EXOs biaswrecked us, haha!

The remainder of the trip was spent eating good food and meeting more friends and moots! We went to fx Sudirman to see the SMTOWN Office, which was unfortunately closed, and then ate at Bakso with Mel. We tried the coffee from Fore (which, in my opinion, puts watered down coffee here to shame), and then went to sightsee around the national stadium. Not gonna lie though, Jakarta kinda looked like a few places in Manila, Makati, and BGC, it felt familiar.

While my friends stayed for another day, I had to go back Sunday night so I can attend my classes the following day. It's quite a shame since I really wanted to see more, but hey, studies first!

The flight back home was delayed and I had little sleep before our quiz. I got sick that week too, due to fatigue. Moral of the story : never ever take connecting flights unless it is extremely necessary, and when you do, plan them well!

P.S. Love love love these friends for making it a much better experience, and for lowkey being my police because I had to review in the middle of it all, haha.

[nurulsantoso]

About last week 191123 . . . . . #explorationinjakarta https://www.instagram.com/p/B5fiMu9Hxjwlwxxx1h6frYrs_9ZzvLOXhXgHow0/?igshid=y6j4fd45i7k5

[azarofas4]

So beautiful ❤️ That's lighstick so aesthetic I love it ❤️❤️ Especially with my top 3 bias 💮💮💮😍😍 #still #exo #explorationinjakarta #exoplanet5jkt #ep5 #chanyeol #jongin #kai #baekhyun #chen #suho #sehun #xiumin #kyungsoo #beautiful #aesthetic #23112019 https://www.instagram.com/p/B5SwHFsjJ-Gqa6PcJN23Oy_tbSg37B9zvuP4Yo0/?igshid=u73rbo1sijvi

[chan-baeks-things-blog]

My cute babies 🥰🥰 #EXplOrationInJakarta #OBSESSION #EXODEUX @weareone.exo @oohsehun @kimjuncotton https://www.instagram.com/p/B5N2G2_Dd5d/?igshid=qpgxkhcgt8ba

[nurulsantoso]

About last week 191123 . . . . . #explorationinjakarta https://www.instagram.com/p/B5fgyAYn5YNjEHUDycbxL5mleH-E8ZYCtOzvAw0/?igshid=pgeyk14lh1se

[azarofas4]

^EXPLORATION in JAKARTA^ EXO ~> ENDING = BEGINNING <~ Concert ~ OPENING -> CLOSING Everything has the "Beginning" & "Ending" The Begining is start with Opening and End with Closing. ❤️❤️ #thankyou #exo #explorationinjakarta #explorationinjkt #exoplanet5 #ep5 #23112019 #🇮🇩 #healing https://www.instagram.com/p/B5QO0uiDNi2pLVWe9QvpzxeNV4FNMn6LZPofjc0/?igshid=2releu0nbfli

[chan-baeks-things-blog]

I can't get over this pic 😂😂 #OBSESSION #EXODEUX @baekhyunee_exo #ObsessedWithEXO #BAEKHYUN #CHANYEOL #EXplOrationInJakarta https://www.instagram.com/p/B5N12dgDf69/?igshid=lic1g012y8lx

[chan-baeks-things-blog]

😂😂😂😂 so funny #EXplOrationInJakarta #OBSESSION #EXODEUX @weareone.exo @real__pcy https://www.instagram.com/p/B5N1r7-DdMD/?igshid=8i738gje44w9

[chan-baeks-things-blog]

Shit kai 🔥🔥 #EXplOrationInJakarta @zkdlin @weareone.exo #KIM_JONGIN #KAI https://www.instagram.com/p/B5N083-DE23/?igshid=1i8gkwh8zgz2h

[azarofas4]

Terima kasih karena sudah menjadi mimpi yg nyataa... ❤️❤️ Hati2 di jalan.. Jangan kapok main ke jkt... Semoga desember kamu beneran ke sini yaaa.. 🤗🤗 Rest well baby.. @weareone.exo @kimjuncotton @real__pcy @zkdlin @baekhyunee_exo @oohsehun @e_xiu_o @layzhang *note= Ya Allah baru mereka aja ganteng bgt, meleleh kali ya klo ketemu Nabi Yusuf... Subhanallah, Allah Maha Besar #exoplanet5 #exoplanet5jkt #explorationinjakarta #explorationinjkt #exoinjkt #exo #weareone https://www.instagram.com/p/B5NqeTejE0qLbU8k3qD-gnq7JDMXuvflePj5yA0/?igshid=12vdeqklyltm9

[chan-baeks-things-blog]

What should we do with this two 😂😂 @weareone.exo @real__pcy @baekhyunee_exo #CHANBAEK #CHANYEOL #BAEKHYUN #EXplOrationInJakarta #OBSESSION #EXODEUX https://www.instagram.com/p/B5NgUHJj9xM/?igshid=1kq45pei8cl3u

[chan-baeks-things-blog]

What's wrong with you baby Hun 😭😭 #EXplOrationInJakarta @weareone.exo @oohsehun https://www.instagram.com/p/B5NXF7RjzWz/?igshid=1gdqr3bcmvo67

[chan-baeks-things-blog]

Ooh God I'm so excited I really can't wait 😭😭😭 27 plz come fast #EXplOrationInJakarta #OBSESSION #EXODEUX @weareone.exo https://www.instagram.com/p/B5NWXpMDwzk/?igshid=1pp4v81wmfbd4

[chan-baeks-things-blog]

🍓🍓🐶 I really wanna eat him #OBSESSION #EXODEUX @baekhyunee_exo #ObsessedWithEXO #BAEKHYUN #EXplOrationInJakarta https://www.instagram.com/p/B5NWImnDihx/?igshid=21tns34jg1vr

[chan-baeks-things-blog]

My baby need to sleep 😭😭 @weareone.exo @baekhyunee_exo #EXODEUX #EXplOrationInJakarta https://www.instagram.com/p/B5NV8wCjhao/?igshid=ook9ul80524q