My first day away from home, a messy flashback

August 09, 2025   story

This is my first post after such a long time of not writing anything on a dedicated blog. Huft, it feels a bit strange, but also full of excitement. I've already explained some of the reasons why I started writing here, along with the meaning behind this blog's new name, on the about page. I'm mentioning it here, just in case, there's a curiosity that needs to be fed.

I'm dedicating this post to one of my notable Notion personal notes. This note crystalizes the moments when I first arrived in Surabaya, that was such a mess. Let me quote the note first, then I'll add some more details here (these details are not there on my Notion, I'll try to recall the memories). So here it is:

You’ve just found out that not clarifying things sucks. Remember one thing: that you cannot always know what’s gonna be. Don’t rely too much on many baseless assumptions. Here are the things that you’ve learnt from today’s experiences:

• You assume that it’s ok to enter the kos-kosan even in the morning like at 6a.m or something. It turns out that you aren’t allowed to do such thing. It’s now concluded that you can only enter it at 10a.m. or later.
  • Why didn’t you ASK about it earlier?
  • You checked it like in the morning just before the train had arrived. Come on, you can do much better than this.
• You assume that you’re gonna be allowed to do the check-in without really following the scheduled ones. It turns out that it’s not happening, too. At least, you’ve tried to call the fuckin hotel yet no responses were given.
  • Why didn’t you just stay at the train station back then?
  • Why did you order a Go-Car to go to the hotel that didn’t even let you in?
  • Glad that they still allow you to use the facilities and stuff despite the fact that it’s written there that the time is fixed.
  • It turns out that it’s not only you that didn’t know the exact time is unchangeable. There was that one person that got a saying like “jam 12” wwkwkkw. It’s ok tho I may order a Go-Car or Grab-Car right if it’s already 10a.m.
• You have to be full of self-confident that you don’t have to really think what’s on people’s mind. It’ll never be your problem. It’s the new city. Just act like no one knows you and everything’s gonna be just fine. Like, they don’t even know you, and prolly they won’t even meet you later.
  • They don’t know you. It’s okay. Just be the needed-you. You must rely on yourself.
• I’m so fucking sleepy but this is just a simple consequence/fruit of not really checking things up. You messed yourself, it’s all your fault wkwk. But still, it is what it is. There’s no need to blame yourself too much.
  • Lessons learned: next time, just clarify. CLARIFY!!! Don’t put way too much assumptions.
  • Force yourself to TALK. That’s the fuckin key.
• You do not have to tell your parents so they won’t be worried. At least you’re not lying. It’s just not that DETAILED. At the end of the day, you must live on your own.

Since today, I've been staying in Surabaya for like 3 years. The note above was written in August 2022. In hindsight, I find it funny that I was so clumsy, lol. So, here's the thing that actually happened: I went to Surabaya by train on July 26, 2022, and it arrived at around 6am the next day.

It turned out that the pemilik kos-kosan (the landlord of the room for rent) could only receive newcomers at 10am or later. I had 4 hours to go, so guess what did I do? Yeah! I booked a hostel. Happily, I ordered a Grab-Car (it's like Uber, a car hailing app) straight to the hostel. I arrived there. I entered the door, just to find out that I wasn't allowed to do the check-in. The hostel's check in time was 12am. I was shamefully shocked, forgot that it was just how every hostel works, like you know, there are check-in and check-out times.

Luckily enough, the staff let me sit at the lobby. I was also allowed to use the Wi-Fi. During that time (6-10am), I did something with my laptop, although I felt so sleepy and tired. At least there was something to do. By around 10am, I left the hostel to go to my rented room. I ordered a GrabCar again. I arrived there, and I was glad that the residents of other rooms were so kind. Some days later, I decided to write the note above. The key is to reflect on what to learn, that is: to always clarify time! Funny that I didn't even tell my parents about this, I didn't want to bother or worry them, as I didn't think that it was really that big of a deal or something.

So, that's all. Keeping one of the dumbest things that ever happened to my life here. Thank you for reading this!