2026, Let's Go Easy

It’s 1 a.m. as I write this, tucked inside a hotel room in Blitar, freshly back from a New Year’s Eve celebration at Aloon-Aloon Kota Blitar. Yes, that is the actual name. I didn’t make it up. The photos will prove it. 😀

We left the hotel at 10 p.m. sharp with intentionally empty stomachs. Strategic hunger. Because where else should one welcome a new year if not in the middle of a giant field filled with food stalls selling everything edible, drinkable, and probably regrettable in large quantities. Skipping snacks would have been morally wrong.

After circling the bazaar in our best food-hunter mode, we finally docked at a humble tent stall with carpets spread out for lesehan seating. Dinner was rawon rice and chicken soto rice, both at the very comforting price of ten thousand rupiah per portion. The flavor, however, was elevated by a surprise plot twist: salted eggs pulled dramatically out of my mom’s bag. Emotional support telur asin, clearly.

We had forgotten to bring UNO, which forced us to return to our roots. No gadgets, no cards, just an old-school game from childhood: jublak jublak suweng. Do you know it? One person lies face down, while everyone else stacks their hands on their back, secretly passing around a coin. Then comes the big question. Whose hand is the coin in?

There is absolutely no strategy involved. You guess. That’s it. You can’t read body language. You can’t detect micro-movements. Everyone is committed to misleading you with Oscar-worthy fake stillness. It’s chaotic, pointless, and incredibly funny. We laughed like we had nowhere else to be. Which, honestly, we didn’t.

Like we always do, we reviewed the road trip so far. Six days, five cities. Where we went, what we did, what surprised us, what tired us out, and which moments quietly stole our hearts. We even did a mini briefing for the next six days ahead. Very casual. Very unserious. Very us.

Right at midnight, fireworks finally took to the sky. Slightly shy, slightly hesitant, as if they knew they weren’t exactly supposed to be there out of solidarity and restraint. On the main stage, dangdut music blasted with full confidence, echoed again on the side screens, filling the square with a joyful contradiction: muted fireworks above, unmuted joy below.

I had actually planned to write something deeper tonight. A proper year-end reflection. A neat little review of 2025 and a brave list of resolutions for 2026. But I changed my mind.

Tonight, I just want to archive this moment. A New Year without plans. Without pressure. Without goals dressed up as hope.

2025 was heavy. Really heavy. So for once, I want to open a new year with lightness. With street food, silly games, borrowed salted eggs, and laughter on a carpet in Blitar.

That should be allowed, right?

Happy New Year 2026!

Thursday, 01 January 2026
Nuniek Tirta Sari

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