8 AM, In Front of Talia's Apartment Door
Ding dong.
Ding dong.
Ding dong. No answer. I called Talia.
(A long dial tone). After several rings, the call went to missed.
I called again for the second time. After the seventh ring, the call was answered.
"Hel... lo..." Talia's voice was raspy, still barely awake from sleep.
"Hey, are we still going out or not? I'm already at your apartment door."
"Ehm... mm... what time is it now?"
"Eight o'clock."
"Oh my God! We're late!" Talia rushed out of bed.
The sound of the apartment door unlocking.
"Come in first. Wait for me a bit, okay? I won't take long."
Talia hurried off. I stepped inside and closed the door.
"Oh, and if you want something to drink, just help yourself."
"Alright. You better hurry, or we'll be even later."
"Yes, just a moment."
***
Talia's apartment had a modern minimalist ambiance. As soon as you entered, you could feel the luxury of the interior design. Marble floors. Classic photography displays on the walls. A home theater with a slim television. Ottoman chairs and an L-shaped linen sofa.
While waiting, I sat on the couch and flipped through a women's magazine lying on the table.
Fifteen minutes passed. Talia still wasn't done.
Thirty minutes passed. Still not done. Taking forever, I thought to myself.
I grumbled as I looked at my watch. It was almost nine. I got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
"Talia, you don't need to go overboard with your makeup." I called out.
"Done!" She appeared cheerfully, smiling. She was wearing a long-sleeved cream-colored shirt with chino pants and a brown bag. Casual, matching my white short-sleeved t-shirt and navy green jogger pants.
At 8:50 AM, we were heading from the south to the north. Hopefully, we wouldn't be too late.
"Let's go."
***
At the entrance gate of the amusement park.
My sports car was stuck in a queue behind several tour buses. The park was already open, but the crowd was still here. It should have cleared up by now.
Honestly, I was getting irritated with the situation, while Talia looked relaxed and was enjoying herself.
"Is this going to take long?" I asked, slightly annoyed.
"You're impatient, aren't you?" She teased me, smirking.
"I'm patient. It's just taking forever."
"It won't be much longer."
"Yeah... probably five or seven more buses." Talia tried to peek ahead.
Fifteen minutes later, it was finally our turn for the ticket check. A hundred meters ahead, there was a parking lot and a motorbike rental booth.
"Wisnu, let's rent an electric scooter!"
"Sure."
"It'll be easier to get around."
"Yeah."
We rented an electric scooter for the whole day. Our first destination was the Sea World.
"Ugh... It's crowded. I thought it wouldn't be this bad on a Thursday." Talia grumbled.
"Well, the place is open from Monday to Sunday. If it's this packed on a weekday, imagine the weekends."
"Yeah, true." Talia pouted slightly.
I was surprised too. I didn't expect a weekday crowd to be this busy. The place was packed with school field trips and study tours from various schools, from kindergarten to middle school.
As we walked toward the entrance, Talia slowed down, watching some mothers with their children.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I think when I have kids, I'll take a career break for about five years."
"..."
"I want to be close to my kids, to make sure they feel connected to their mother. That way, if anything happens, they can easily talk to me."
"Kids?"
"At least two. A boy and a girl. Hehe."
I scanned the crowd. There were no kids with their fathers.
Talia nudged my arm, as if understanding my curiosity. "There's one with his dad. But he's also with his mom."
"That makes sense, right? Most dads are the breadwinners. At this time, they're probably at work."
Hearing Talia's words, I was impressed. I nodded but decided to hold back a question. I didn't want to ruin the moment.
The staff asked us to scan our e-tickets and stamped our hands.
Talia and I wandered around, looking at various aquariums filled with different types of fish. The tanks were designed to mimic the natural ecosystems of marine animals. There was a moray eel that was about seventy times the size of a regular rice-field eel, slithering around. Piranhas, swimming in schools, attacking prey in packs with their sharp teeth. Sharks, but unfortunately, they were just lying still, sleeping. And many other kinds of fish.
"Ugh..." Talia pouted.
"They get fed after lunch." I pointed at the sign in front of the aquarium.
"Let's go across after lunch."
I just smiled. Whatever you say.
"Alright, fine."
"You want to come back here after lunch?"
"No, we have to stick to today's schedule."
"Okay."
Then we saw turtles in a tiny water tank, which was way too small for their size. They just kept circling in a five-meter-long loop.
"Wisnu, they're so cute!"
"Do you want to touch one?"
Talia nodded eagerly.
There was a crowd around the tank, so we had to wait for the turtle to get close to us.
"Here, I'll take a picture."
Ckrek.
Talia posed playfully. Her right hand touching the turtle's head, her left hand making a peace sign.
"Here..."
"It's wet!" Talia giggled and splashed some water at me.
Then she grabbed my arm excitedly. Without realizing it, we were surrounded by kids, but Talia wasn't a kid. She led me toward the main aquarium tunnel.
"Slow down, Talia."
We stepped onto the travelator, enjoying the underwater view for five minutes, watching hundreds of fish. Entering from the left side of the main aquarium, exiting from the right.
"Let's take a picture, Wisnu."
Talia pulled out her phone camera. We took a wefie on the moving walkway.
"Oops, that was a video." I helped her switch modes.
Ckrek.
"Ugh, I look bad. Let's take another one."
Ckrek.
"Now this is cute!"
It didn't look any different from the previous one. Women.
Just as we reached the end of the tunnel, we heard the voice of an event host in front of the main aquarium. School children from various tour groups were already gathered. Their parents stood behind them, supervising.
"Where's the noise, everyone?" The host asked with a microphone.
"YEEEEYYYY!" The audience responded with loud cheers.
"That wasn't loud enough. Let's try again! Where's the noise?"
"YEEEEEEYYYY!" This time, they screamed even louder. Talia and I stood in the back, wincing at the volume.
"You want to watch?" I asked Talia.
"Sure. What's the event?"
I guessed, looking ahead. Suddenly, two divers appeared, carrying two buckets.
"They're feeding the fish in the aquarium."
"This should be fun."
Two divers began taking food out of their buckets. The fish swarmed the aquarium like static on a TV screen, rushing to grab the food.
The most unique part was when they fed the stingrays. The stingrays swirled around the walls of the aquarium, interacting playfully with the divers.
The event lasted for twenty minutes. After that, Talia and I wandered around again, exploring the rooms we hadn't visited. There was a jellyfish room (with tiny jellyfish) and a deep-sea creature exhibit (which only had replicas). I chuckled at Talia's disappointment.
At the souvenir shop right after the exit, we strolled slowly, browsing. There were clothes, keychains, stickers, hats, and many other kinds of souvenirs. Then, as Talia walked ahead of me, she suddenly stopped in front of a display case filled with plush toys.
"Wisnu, isn't this cute?"
I shrugged. It was an orange crab plushie, with blue eyes and a sweet smile.
"Of course it's cute! This will be my new sleep buddy." Talia insisted.
"Just imagine a crab walking sideways with that expression." Talia imitated a crab's movement, using her hands as pincers.
"Yeah. Whatever you say." I smirked, amused by Talia's antics.
At the cashier, I pulled out my credit card to pay for the "cute" plushie.
"Thank you, Ma'am."
After the souvenir area, there was a small food court with only three stalls.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Chicken rice and lemon tea."
"Two chicken rice meals and two lemon teas, please." I told the cashier.
"Alright, sir. Please wait, we'll bring your order to your table."
"Okay, thank you."
Talia and I found an empty table near the stalls.
"So, how was Sea World?" I asked while waiting for our food.
"I liked it. But I'm not completely satisfied yet."
"Why not?"
"Because we haven't gone across yet."
She meant Ocean Dream Samudra.
"Maybe after that, I'll feel completely satisfied."
"Alright. Oh, by the way, why didn't you take many pictures inside? No social media updates?"
"Some moments, I don't want to be distracted."
"..."
"Because when we pull out our phones to capture a moment, our focus gets divided. I can't fully enjoy it."
The kiosk worker arrived with our food.
"Here you go."
"Thank you."
"I prefer to capture moments in my memory rather than in my phone's memory."
That made sense. When we watched the aquarium feeding show, almost everyone had their phones up. But Talia wasn't one of them.
***
After lunch, around 1:30 PM, Talia and I headed to Ocean Dream Samudra.
The difference between Sea World and Ocean Dream Samudra was that Sea World showcased thousands of marine species in aquariums, while Ocean Dream Samudra featured live performances by marine animals.
For the second time, Talia and I scanned our tickets. Upon entering, the first interesting thing we saw was a sign for a Mermaid Show.
"Let's go there!" I suggested.
Talia nodded enthusiastically.
We followed the signs, weaving through the crowds.
The show was held in a large hall that could accommodate 10â15 school tour groups.
There were three segments in the show.
The first segment featured two female divers in regular swimsuits, dancing among hundreds of fish. Every twenty seconds, they surfaced to take a breath.
"That's so cool!" Talia exclaimed.
Standing beside her, I nodded in agreement. We were at the very back, as the place was already full when we arrived.
The second segment featured a male diver entering the tank after the two women left. This time, he wore a complete diving suit.
"This one is even cooler."
"Yeah." Talia and I were more impressed by this performance.
This diver did something unusual. The fish, which had been aimlessly swimming around before, started following his movements, as if he were their leader. It almost looked like they were about to eat him.
The third segment was the main event as displayed on the digital screen: The Mermaid Show.
Honestly, I found it just average. I glanced at Talia.
"It's basically the same as the first one."
The only difference was that this time, the divers wore mermaid costumes. The movements were more or less the same, accompanied by "magical ocean" music.
When the show ended, the audience dispersed. Some left immediately. Some lined up to take pictures with the mermaids. Others wandered over to see the otters and penguins in enclosures near the hall. Talia and I hadn't even noticed them before.
"Do you want a picture with the mermaids?"
"No, I'm more interested in the penguins." Talia giggled and jogged toward them, excited.
The penguins lived in a glass-enclosed habitat. Some stood on a small hill, looking down on the visitors with an air of superiority. One or two swam close to the glass, greeting the guests playfully.
***
After Ocean Dream Samudra, before heading home, Talia asked me to watch the sunset.
"You're not tired, right?" Talia asked.
"Tired? We haven't done anything tiring. We've just been standing around, looking at things, watching shows. You're the one who should be tired." I responded playfully.
"Hehe... Nope."
"Do you want to head straight home?"
"No, let's stay a bit longer. I want to see the sunset first."
"Okay."
I moved my car to the parking area near the beach.
***
Talia and I stood by the wooden fence on the pier, enjoying the ocean breeze.
"Ocean Dream was so much fun today."
Hearing Talia's excitement, I smiled.
"Yeah. The otters, sea lions, and dolphins were amazing."
After the Mermaid Show, Talia and I went to the Sea Lion & Friends attraction. Although it featured only three different animals, starting with the otters and ending with the sea lions, we were thoroughly entertained the entire time. We laughed and giggled throughout the show. I'd give it a 87/100 rating.
"The sea lion was adorable too." I added.
"Yeah, especially when it hugged its trainer."
"My dear Dedi, will you promise to be with me forever? I'll live, and you'll die.'" I imitated the event host's joke from earlier.
Remembering it, Talia and I burst out laughing.
***
The sun was setting, painting the sky orange over Ancol Beach. I glanced at Talia. Her face glowed under the golden light.
I didn't realize I had been staring at her for five whole secondsâuntil...
"What is it, Wisnu? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Talia blushed.
"Ah, sorry." I quickly looked away, feeling awkward.
The sky darkened, and the sun dipped below the horizon.
"Wisnu."
"Yeah?"
Talia suddenly leaned in and kissed me on the lips.
Ten seconds our lips touched. I could feel her soft lips. I could smell her sweet scent closely. I could feel we were.. slightly burning in romance. Then, she released.
"Let's go home." She said.