Between bites and movie credits (Nonnas)

When you think of a place to eat to satisfy your appetite, you probably think of a famous restaurant or café with a lot of positive reviews about the taste. But let me ask you something. Have you ever been to a place where you didn’t expect anything at first, but when you went there, you just felt this strange comfort, like you were exactly where you were meant to be? It sounds deep, but you know what I mean, right? That feeling when you sense the universe quietly arranging things so that, in this exact moment, this is where you belong. You become aware of yourself, your surroundings, and what you eat suddenly isn’t just about what’s on the plate, but everything around it.

Nonnas, a new movie on Netflix, was what I just finished watching in Solaria, while waiting for my husband to finish his Friday prayer. People come, get their orders, finish their lunch, and leave. New people come in. The waiter wipes another empty table, someone laughs a few seats away, and I take my last spoonful of fried rice that’s gone a bit cold. It feels ironic, watching it in a fast-food restaurant where people come and go so quickly, while I’ve been sitting here for more than an hour. Here I am, still sitting, with my soundproof earphones on, the ending credit music filling my eardrums.

I wonder what made this movie make me feel like this, like I’m in my twenties again, back in college, watching movies with friends without caring what they were about. We believed each other when someone said “This movie is good” and we’d spend the whole night watching series, crying together, then falling asleep after sunrise. I think that’s why. I didn’t have any expectations about how this movie would go. I saw the title, a few familiar faces, and just pressed play.

I can’t remember since what age I started feeling like I had to prepare everything in advance. The more preparation, the better. Sure, it helps things go smoothly, but it also makes experiences feel shallow. Because somehow, you’ve already expected a certain way, or you leave disappointed because it didn’t go as planned, orrrr...sometimes, rarely though, it turns out even better than you imagined.

Maybe I need to do this more often, to live my days without a plan and let them take their own course. If I forget something, I’ll learn. But the alternative, who knows, maybe I’ll be surprised.

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Padang, 18 July 2025

Solaria, Basko