This post is written to cherish my days spent at Bandung. Sadly the end of this month marks the date where I officially move out (sob), therefore allow me to write a memorable, ups and downs during my stay here.

Moving to another city was never been this exciting. At first I thought the journey in finding the right rent room wasn't this hard. I'm gonna take you back on my experience in choosing rent room. My very first experience about moving away to my family was when I move to Jakarta for work. The rent room I chose when I lived in Central Jakarta was all recommended by my seniors, and I never had any complaint about that—they are perfectly fine. My bad experience about a rent room is when I rent one in Cipete. A friend of mine survived in that building for more than four years (in the upper level) yet at that time the room upstairs is full-booked and so I got the first floor, which is horrible. Beforehand, A has asked me multiple times, to make sure whether I was confident with my choice. At the very beginning, he knew that this place wouldn't be the best fit for me, but I was running out of time and apparently on the edge and extremely exhausted due to overwork late—man, I have no other choice. The building was located right on the back of a restaurant, which, I should have realise that I would get cockroach and other random insects crawling on the floor at night, or the funky smell came out from the drainage 😖. I guess renters upstairs didn't get the same issue as the ones who lives downstairs. And what really drive me nuts was the endless beeping coming from one of the electrical box's renter that the housekeeper refuse to shut. Somehow the room isn't really soundproof since I could heard street singers and vehicles passing the busy Cipete Raya road. All in all, I could sleep better in KRL or TJ bus rather than this place 😂😂

This time, I was so sure that this particular room I found in Bandung was meant for me. However, it didn't take long for insomnia to strikes back. In October 2023 to be exact, I struggled to fall asleep. I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but the sleepless nights took a toll on my overall well-being. I was confused that my sleep difficulties partly due to:

1. The nonexistent air cooler in my room (to my friends who once convinced me that I don't need aircon when I live here, please try to remember when exactly the last time you spent your bachelor study here—Bandung is not that cold, yeorobun), 
2. Intense light exposure—my room still got light exposure from the aisle of the dorm through the vents. Somehow, I love having a pitch dark room during bed time.
3. Sound—I still could hear the girl next door's night activities. The room is not wholly soundproof either because of the vents for airflow circulation.
4. Stress—due to the never ending assignments,
5. or all of it.

I never think that assignments and exams and all would burdened me that much, though. I barely survived the scorching October heat since my rent room wasn’t designed for hot weather. I have considered to move out to a room with aircon, but each option (that I found both online or offline) came with its own drawbacks—cramped access, ridiculously high prices (compared to my previous places in Central Jakarta), or busy neighborhoods. Those reasons made me hesitate to move out. Somehow the aircon isn't the only one that affect my sleep. When the heat is present, the fly and mosquito season is finally arrived—something I didn't sign up for 😢. I begged the house keeper to allow me to install aircon, which, he undoubtedly rejected 😂.

What really matters to me in order to have a good quality of sleep, aside from the reasons I mentioned above, was the bed. Later, I figured that the bed I used was so old and it wasn't in its ideal form.

During the heatwave around October the next year, God had another plan. I caught a cold, and the whole situation forced me to take medication for a week just so I could sleep soundly, unbothered by the heat. The heat and insomnia led me to drink coconut water every single day, so that I could get a good quality rest. Recently I found out that consuming almond and cashew gave a good quality sleep too.

Anyway, what makes me decide to finally stay in this room until the end of the period, is my discovery of this warteg near my place during the third semester—disguised as a pecel stall in the morning, but serves decent home meals during the day til noon. And around that time, there were a soft opening of roasted chicken stall near where I live. That reminded me of those dark moments I've been through; coming back from work with growling empty stomach, feeling defeated, and decided to have a late chicken dinner and sobbing at the same time, at the same franchise roasted chicken in Cipete Raya. I knew it's silly, but I consider it as a sign to put up a little longer.

I feel bad for ended up writing an unpleasant experience to commemorate my stay in Bandung; I used to feel as if I wasn't allowed to share my good moments with anyone through anything because I am afraid it would make me sound too braggy. However, I felt like I have healed from everything that the universe threw at me few years ago. I  am filled with gratitude—for the clear and chilled air, the supportive lecturers and lovely friends, and all the good foods I devour. Even my baby Thai Constellation Monstera is thriving here. It used to take months just to grow a new leaf, but here, it only takes 2-3 weeks for the new pup to emerge 💕