Malam tahun baru gue kali ini gue rayain di sebuah kota cantik di Utara Thailand, berjarak 700 km dari Bangkok, bernama Chiang Mai. Dari jam 6 sore tanggal 31 Desember, Jalan Tha Pae di seputer gerbang utama kota tua Chiang Mai yang merupakan pusat selebrasi di kota ini, sudah ditutup dan di blok untuk pasar malam, panggung musik dan pastinya gelaran festival makanan enak sekaligus persiapan Festival Lentera di ChiangMai, edisi tahun baru. Woohoo!
My New Year’s Eve is spent in Thailand’s northern city, the beautiful Chiang Mai. Starting from around 6pm, the Tha Phae Gate area and Tha Phae Road where most of the evening’s celebrations centered in Chiang Mai was already packed with people. Tha Phae Road itself is closed to traffic and it was lined with various food and drink stalls and a big stage for music and dance performances. Woohooo! Me likey!
Beberapa hari ini, nggak pernah puas nyobain makanan di Chiang Mai. Gokil, enak-enak banget. Kali ini gue nyobain sejenis pad thai bihun dan beberapa jenis barbeque, terus nyobain makanan baru yang agak ‘beda’ yaitu burung puyuh panggang and cacing bambu goreng.
Burung puyuh panggang tuh ternyata sangat enak, dan cacingnya juga gurih dan wangi soalnya di goreng pake daun jeruk gitu. Tapi mungkin karena di otak gue sadar kalo itu cacing, jadi nggak abis walaupun enak. Hehehe.
Sehabis muter-muter nyobain berbagai cemilan lain yang ada, gue memutuskan untuk duduk di satu resto Italia untuk secangkir kopi, seporsi panacotta dan segelas Affogato. Yummm. Duduk disitu enak banget, ngeliatin orang-orang lalu lalang diluar tapi nggak kedengeran suaranya. Pas untuk duduk tenang dan ngebahas resolusi tahun baru.
Sangat menyenangkan ❤
I had my early dinner, some super delicious bbq and pad thai, and tried on some bizarre food like grilled quail which was really GOOD and also some deep fried bamboo worms. Yup, worms. They tasted quite okay actually. After snacking another series of delicious street food, I found a small Italian restaurant to escape the crowd and enjoyed a cup of coffee and some desserts while talking about the New Year resolution. Super sweet time spent right there.
Dua jam sebelum tahun baru, gue berbaur lagi sama semua orang dijalanan. Di satu pojokan, gue nemu tempat untuk beli dan kirim kartu pos gitu. Kartu pos dan cap pos-nya ada tulisan ‘Chiang Mai Count Down Festival 2014’. Langsung deh beli buat dikirim ke orang rumah.
Sehabis itu, gue nyari tempat yang pas di samping sungai untuk ngelepas lentera kertas gue ke angkasa.
A few hours before the count down, I squeezed myself through the people, stopped by at a corner to send a special postcard to my family (they must be delighted to receive the postcard from here sometime next week!), and then fought for a perfect spot right by the famous Ping River to release my lanterns to the sky. Since my first night arriving in Chiang Mai, I saw lots of paper lanterns in the clear sky already, but I waited for this New Year’s Eve moment to release my own lanterns.
Chiang Mai adalah tuan rumah dari festival internasional yang sangat terkenal di dunia yaitu Festival Lentera Terbang (biasanya di gelar di bulan November), dimana ribuan lentera kertas diterbangkan ke angkasa. Cantik deh. Gue belom pernah ikut festival ini jadi gue ngerasa beruntung karena di malam taun baru, ritual ini diulang lagi di Chiang Mai oleh para turis dan warga. Jadi gue punya kesempatan untuk ngerasain ngelepas lentera ke angkasa bareng ama ribuan orang lain. Seruuu banget!
As you all probably know, Chiang Mai is famous internationally for its paper lantern festival, held every November. Lucky for us, the festival is recreated every New Year’s Eve. Thousands of people release the lantern with good wishes for the New Year written on the paper. I bought several lanterns (35-60 Baht per lantern sold everywhere) to release before and after the count down. It’s my first lantern experience you know. I was SO EXCITED!
Percobaan pertama ngelepas lentera gue berhasil. Lentera nya terbuat dari kayak kertas minyak gitu, terus dikasih sumbu yang bisa dibakar pakai api. Apinya musti panas banget baru lenteranya bisa terbang. Gue liat sekitar gue ada yang lenteranya gagal terbang trus jatoh ke sungai. Ternyata yah, si lentera ini bakal terbang ke angkasa – sampai ke bintang dan awan (keliatannya gitu ya…hehe) – terus begitu mati apinya, si lentera bakal turun lagi ke bumi tergantung arah angin. Jadi di tengah lentera yang lagi naik ke angkasa, ada beberapa lentera bekas yang turun dan nyangkut ke pohon atau ke kepala orang. HA!
My first trial went perfect. Woohooo!! The lantern, which is made from rice paper, a bamboo hoop and rolled wax paper fuel cell, has an opening at the bottom where a small fire is suspended. Once the fire lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern, causing the lantern to rise into the air. I always wonder where is it going afterwards, because it kept on going up and up until it merged with the stars and dark clouds. Soon I found the answer. Apparently, the sky lantern is only up in the air for as long as the fire stays on. After that the lantern sank back to the ground, depended on the wind course. I saw some lanterns falling slowly back to the ground. Interesting view.
Beberapa menit sebelum dan sesudah jam 12 teng, kembang api menghiasi angkasa abis-abisan, nyampur sama ribuan lentera. BAGUS BENER~ Gue nggak berenti-berenti ngeliatin langit.
Gue suka banget sama crowd malam ini, soalnya semua orang keliatannya super hepi dan menikmati malam ini. Tiap kali kembang apinya keren dan gede, smua orang heboohhh nggak berenti. Betah kan jadinya. Dan satu lagi yang penting, kalo di daerah Tha Phae ini, pesta taun baru-nya dilarang ada alkohol dan rokok. Jadi acaranya seru, tapi nggak ada asap rokok dan nggak ada orang mabok.
Suka gue!
Minutes before and after 00:00 the fireworks exploded and colored the sky, mixing with the view of the floating lanterns. SO pretty!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 from Chiang Mai!!!!! I seriously enjoyed the crowd on this particular beautiful bright chilly night. Everyone was so happy and feeling the moment. Btw the Tha Phae Gate area is non-alcohol and no smoking party area, so no crazy drunks anywhere to be seen. Better sober in welcoming a New Year, right?
Melepas lentera yang udah gue tulisin harapan-harapan ke angkasa raya di Festival Lentera di ChiangMai New Year’s Eve, ini rasanya sangat beda dengan dengan perayaan tahun baru yang pernah gue datengin di tempat lain. Setiap detiknya sangat berkesan. Selamat Tahun Baru 2014 dari Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Tahun ini pasti banyak berkat baru, mujizat baru, harapan baru, kesempatan baru dan hal-hal baik lainnya. Amin.
Releasing my wishing lanterns in the first hour of 2014 in Chiang Mai was fun and exciting. It’s a total different New Year vibe I felt here in Chiang Mai and I loved every single second of it. Happy New Year 2014 one more time. It’s going to be a blessed miraculous and wonderful year for all of us. Amen!
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Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will – Jonathan Edwards
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