Halloween in Indonesia (???)

I don't know who introduced Indonesians to Halloween and costume party. The whole idea of 'celebrating the dead' is totally against the norm. Though not all Indonesians are religious, most are influenced by religion one way or the other. Nevertheless, a lot of people celebrate the festivity these days. I myself received more than 3 invitations to different parties.

I'm not going to any of those parties because I have anything against the festivity. It's just that I don't have the energy to come up with an original idea for a costume any more and renting one is totally against my belief in originality. So, instead of going without full confidence, I'd rather not go at all. Besides, I don't know that many people at those parties. If there's anything I hate more than being alone, it's being in a room full of people and still feel alone. It totally obscures the whole point of being in a crowd!

In honor of the festivity, however, I decided to celebrate Halloween the only way I see fit. Since I couldn't watch my favorite horror movies and hang out with my friends all at the same time, I had to make it a two-day event.

Wednesday was spooky movie day. I rent two of my favorite horror movies, The Exorcist and The Omen, and watched them with my housemates. I've watched both hundreds of times, but they never cease to entertain me. I guess that's what makes them classics. We laughed our head off every time Linda Blair said the 'F' word, which was plenty, and the 'staring song' came on (whenever Damien stares at people). It's funny to remember how I used to be scared the first time I watched those two movies. I was about 12 when I first saw The Omen and 15 when I first saw The Exorcist. We munched on chicken nuggets and French fries all the way through both movies, my a…. is still sore from the extra hot chili sauce!

Thursday is hanging out at the mall day. I won't get into 'why Indonesians hang out at the mall so much' now, because that's a totally different story. Anyway, it was basically a routine: coffee (tea for me 'coz I can't stand the smell and bitterness of coffee!) at Coffee Club, dinner and people-watching at the food court, then a few laps of window-shopping.

On Sunday (yup, it's almost a week celebration here!), I finally went to a Halloween party. It wasn't much of a costume party or anything like that, Indonesians are terrible when it comes to costume parties, but it was nice to see the place all decorated with freaky stuff. It was the last Sunday before Ramadhan, during which Moslems fast, so the place was totally packed with people. I almost lost my cool because I had to wait for 30 minutes.. I repeat: 30 minutes.. Just to get through 'the cave', which served as the only way to get inside. Considering some people could only stay for a little bit because they have to go to work the next day, that was a totally stupid thing to do! Aside from my earlier irritation, I had a wonderful time. It was the last day for me to be able to go out before the fasting month, so I danced like there's no tomorrow. My legs are still sore and it's Tuesday now!