Catatan Akhir Tahun

Seperti biasa, tanggal2 segini di akhir taun biasanya gua jadi mulai aktif lagi ngeblog. Ya biasa lah, orang kalo kurang kerjaan ya begini jadinya. Sebenernya gua gak merasa gua tuh bagus2 banget kalo nulis..... malah kebanyakan ngasal deh. Apa yang kepikiran ya ditulis. Tapi belakangan suka banyak orang yang muji hasil karya gua. Which makes me wonder...... apa sih yang bakal terjadi kalo misalnya gua udah nyadar tentang hal ini dari dulu? Mungkin gua gak bakal tuh belajar yang namanya mechanical engineering….. mungkin saat ini gua udah jadi penulis novel kaya raya seperti JK Rowling (ngimpi kali yeeee hihi).

Tapi yah makin dipikir makin ruwet, soalnya every little decision that you make affects your life in ways you cannot imagine. So, daripada pusing2 mikir, mendingan disyukurin aja semua yang gua punya saat ini, dan gak boleh nyesel2 dengan semua masa lalu yang udah lewat.

Ngomong2 masa yang udah lewat, taon 2009 ini bener2 berasa cepet banget buat gue. Just like last year, ini adalah list hal2 berkesan yang udah gua lakukan / alami di tahun dua rebu sembilan :
1. Makan makan dan makan
2. Jalan2 ke Cambodia, Bali, Medan, Bangkok, Bali (again), Malacca (again), and KL (again)
3. Belajar video editing :)
4. Ikutan kickboxing personal training for a few months
5. Join hot yoga class
6. Beli kacamata LV
7. BB-nisasi (ini sih gara2 handphone lama ilang…. hiks T_T )

Nah sekarang looking to the future….. bentar lagi dah 2010. Apa ya yang pengen gua capai di taon kebo ini? Gue tuh orangnya jarang banget plan for the future….. I take life as it is, go with the flow….. tapi ya gak ada salahnya ngarep hihi. So, here is my wish list for next year:
1. Better work environment (gak masalah tetep di sini apa dapet kerjaan baru, pokoknye something has to change)
2. Ketemu ama pasangan hidup gue (udah mau sacap nih….)
3. Tetep giat berolahraga dan jaga makanan
4. Dan yang paling penting..... stay happy and always be grateful with what I have =D

Happy New Year 2010 everyone!!

N.B. : Buat pemirsa yang bingung kenapa tiba2 gua ngeblog pake bahasa indo…. Well, I have no idea myself! Just feel like it :P

?!?!?!?!

Spotted at Guardian Bugis Junction :



Buy a pack of condoms, get free sunscreen. What does that supposed to mean? I'll leave it to your imagination....

Survival Instinct

It's amazing what people can do when they are pushed to the limit and survival instinct kicks in.

Last week I had a long weekend getaway to Medan (3rd biggest city in Indonesia). I've never been there, and I have a friend who offered me a place to stay... so, why not? I just board the plane with absolutely zero knowledge about the place, and I had no plans on what to do there whatsoever. So I didn't really pack a lot of things, just necessities like condoms, undies, sandals, t-shirts, and shorts.

I'll blog about my overall impression of Medan when I'm not lazy, but for this post I will be focusing on a particular experience....

On the 2nd day I was there, my friends took me to a small nearby city called Brastagi, which is about 2 hours drive from Medan. It is a popular weekend getaway place for Medan people because it is located higher up in the mountains, and the weather is cooling and nice.





You can also drive another hour to Simalem, and from there you can get a glimpse of Lake Toba, which is the biggest lake in South East Asia.

Between Medan and Brastagi, there is a small village called Sibolangit. There is a boyscout camp there, and recently the local people discovered a waterfall in the jungle called the "two-colored waterfall". I have been warned that the journey will take 3 hours in and 3 hours out trekking through the jungle. I'm not sure what I was thinking back then (hmmm.... must be something in the water in Brastagi :P), but I said OK when my friends asked me if we should go there.

We reached the start point at about 9.30 in the morning, and it was blazing hot, so we decided to take our jacket with us to avoid sunburn (I didn't pack my sunblock as I was not expecting trekking to be part of the itinerary). BIG mistake..... because once you go into the forest the trees will provide shadows and the jacket just becomes a burden that we have to carry.

The first half an hour was OK... there were proper tracks, we pass through some small streams.... very enjoyable..... until the tracks kind of disappear and it becomes really muddy. At this point of time sandals are completely useless and there was no choice other than to go barefoot. Let me make it clear that I am a big city boy and not exactly an outdoor / nature loving kind of guy. When my friend told me to go barefoot, I was thinking to myself "WHAT??? ARE YOU NUTS??". But then I see a lot of other people (girls and old people) who are also taking off their sandals and keep going on. So ego kicks in and I thought.... oh what the heck.... let's do this!



Well, turns out that it was not that bad.... Yes, I walked much slower than everybody else, and I did curse and swear to myself during the whole journey, but I made it. All the way in and all the way out. Totally barefoot. I was very proud of myself after I get out from there. But if you ask me if I'll ever do it again...? The answer is "Weeeellll...... not really, no, thank you" :P

So here are some thoughts and things I learned based on the whole experience :
1. Havaianas sandals are NOT made for walking in the forest.
2. When barefooted, rocks and tree branches are slippery, and the best track is pure soil.
3. Proper planning is necessary, so you can pack the right stuff in your luggage (fortunately I forgot to bring my new LV sunglasses..... can you imagine me wearing that in the forest? :P)
4. Never underestimate fat or old people. I was so amazed by the people whom we met along the way..... gives me strength and stamina..... If they can do it, so can I!



Thanks to all my friends in Medan who have been very accomodating and making the trip a memorable one! :)

Cottage Chic?

Apparently, my interior design style is
57% cottage chic
29% contemporary
14% zen
(http://www.sproost.com/)
--> thanks to unacandela :)

Cottage Chic

Who says that cottages can't be modern and chic? Who says that they have to be floral and cheesy? Not you! You love the carefree spirit that the cottage interior inspires, but you are also serious about your appreciation for modern art and hip treasures. You love old and new alike, and love to highlight them all to expose the uniqueness of each. What better way to show off these treasures than with a light background?

Sounds like a type of cheese to me :P

What's YOUR style?

Strangers in the night

Something funny (and a little bit creepy) happened to a friend of mine a couple of days ago.... I will not be using real names to protect the identity, but her name rhymes with cinta :P

It was around 8.30, and she decided to pop by the neighbourhood supermarket before meeting her friend at a nearby kopitiam. The minute she steps in the supermarket, a man came up to her and said :

Creepy man (CM) : "Can I be your friend?"
Friend (F) : (shocked in disbelief) "W...hy?"
CM : "Well, I just want to get to know more female. I have been working in a male dominated environment for the past 19 years."
F : (speechless.......)
CM : "Can I buy you a soya bean milk drink?"
F : "Errr.... I have to go meet my friend now. Bye."

And then she went to meet her friend, and you know what? The guy is stalking her!! Standing in a corner watching them!!! Creeeeeeeeeepyyyy with a capital C to the max!!!!

The Italian Man Who Went To Malta

An old post..... but for the benefit of those who have never seen this, here you go... :)

The Virtue of Not Knowing

I'm going to start this post with a reference to the bible. Don't worry..... I'm not trying to convert anyone here, nor am I trying to preach about anything...... if you know me well enough, you should know how "religious" I am. I'm just expressing how I feel about this topic.

OK so here we go. You can read the reference to the bible passage here 

Basically, there was a worker who agreed to a certain amount of money for the work that he did, but when he found out that other people who are doing less work are being paid more, he got mad and complained to the master. But then the master say "Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"

My initial reaction to this passage is "WTF??? That's not right! This is against the very foundation of fairness and equality!". I even asked my dad what he thinks about it, and he couldn't give me a satisfactory answer as well. The more I think about it, the more furious I get, because this particular passage is exactly happening in my work. Am I just suppose to be cool about it and accept any unfair treatment that comes my way???

After that, I tried not to think too much into it, and I have actually forgotten about it for quite a while.

Then, it suddenly dawned on me, what if I'm not supposed to interpret it that way? Perhaps there is a hidden message behind the passage? Again, I'm not trying to preach here.... I don't even know if I am right, but at least it doesn't make me lose faith in my religion just because of one passage.

I think that the passage is trying to say that you should be contented with what you have and you shouldn't compare yourself with other people. My parents have been teaching this to me all my life (even though I think they are not doing a very good job of applying it to their own lives, but nonetheless.....). I also think that it would be easier to not compare yourself if you do not know about certain things. For example, in the passage above, if the worker doesn't know how much the other worker is getting, then he would not be mad. So, moral of the story is : "Don't be so kepo lah!"

However, I'm not sure if it can be applied in this modern world. With the advancement of technology, information is much much easier to be obtained now compared to when the bible was written. Also, we believe that people who are knowledgeable are superior to people who are less knowledgeable. So, in a way, it is contradicting. Does this mean that the smarter we get, the more unhappy we will be??? Are we supposed to be ignorant and only cares about our own life???

Aiyooo..... so cheem one!!!

Gossip Boy

Gossip Boy here, your one and only source into the scandalous (well, not really) life of....... me!

OK, so obviously I have been watching too much Gossip Girl. I actually finished watching the whole season 1 (18 episodes) in 1 week, thanks to the long Good Friday weekend.... (which turns out not to be a really "good" friday, but that's a whole different story).

I didn't really like it when I first saw 1 episode on the plane last year, but turns out it can be addictive :P

So let's talk gossip. Spotted at YouTube, a new post from KevJumba, whom I follow from time to time.....

After seeing the video (and based on personal experiences), I kinda agree with him to some extent. I'm sorry to say this, but as the song in Avenue Q musical says... "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist". When I was young, I didn't really think too much about this. My parents lived in Indonesia their whole lives, and did not interact much with people from other countries. But now, as the world shrinks (thanks to the internet and other advancements in technology), we all have to deal with many people from various countries and cultures. Especially now that I'm working in the regional office (where I have to deal with ang-moh bosses), I personally experience incidents that sometimes makes me wonder "AM I INVISIBLE?". I'm not generalizing by saying that all angmohs are racist, but there are some that are just plain rude and disrespectful, and unfortunately I have to deal with them.

But don't fret.... if there is one thing I learn from watching gossip girl.... I'm the queen bitch king of passive aggressive around here, and I'm not backing down. 

Till next time....
xoxo
Gossip Boy

Typical workday

7.10am : Hoahmmm..... open my eyes a little bit.... Most of the time I will be conscious 5 minutes before my alarm sets off, except if I'm really really tired, or when it's weekend. My body is weird like that.

7.15am : My handphone alarm goes off. Hit the snooze button, go back to sleep.

7.30am : Last sign that I need to get up... hear my flatmate opening his curtain and going off to work. Finally get up and take a shower.

8.00am : Go to work.

8.30am : Arrive at the office. Turn on my laptop and wait 10 minutes for it to "wake up" before I can start working.

WORK [wurk] : exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor (dictionary.com)
So what have I produce/accomplish during my work? Hmm.... good question.

5.30pm : Official working hours are over. From here onwards there are many options..... typically my after work activities will either be :
- Go to the gym
- Have dinner with friends
- Go back home and do nothing/watch tv
- Watch movie at the cinema
- Go shopping

Lately I feel like my days have become too predictable.... sometimes I'm thinking about taking up some after-work courses, but I think I'm too lazy for that haha.
Any suggestion to spice things up?

Kindness

Haven't been posting for a while.... then suddenly this morning inspiration comes to my mind....

Topic of the day is : kindness. Recently I stumbled across my friend's friend's blog post about the kindness of strangers in Singapore. You can read about it here (http://xprsso.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/the-kindness-of-strangers).
This morning I have my own similar experience... it was raining pretty hard this morning, and during the 5 minute walk from the MRT to my office, there was this girl who didn't carry an umbrella and braved the rain. She was first to reach the traffic light junction and I was right behind her. I was going to offer her to share the umbrella, but for a second there I thought about the blog post and how girls react to this kind of offer. On the other hand, offering a ride on your car in the middle of nowhere and offering to share an umbrella in the rain are two different situations. I hesitated, and luckily there was another woman who came and shared her umbrella with the girl.

So it got me thinking.... I've always tried my best to be kind/helpful to people that I know. However, there are certain unwritten rules of society that prevents me from being nice. Especially because I'm a guy. Most girls don't believe that a guy can just be nice without having an ulterior motive. Well, maybe most guys do that, but trust me, some guys are just plain nice and helpful. What is wrong with being that way?

However, looking at the other side of the coin, I can understand where this stereotype thinking is coming from. There are just too many cases of kindness gone wrong. It's a harsh world out there, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

And this leads to the never ending cycle..... because of this thinking, guys stop being nice, and girls thinks that guys are just arrogant and doesn't act all gentleman-ly.

Another interesting aspect about this 'incident' is.... what if it's reversed? Would I take the offer if someone offers to share an umbrella in the pouring rain? Although, in the first place, there is very little chance that I would be caught in the rain without an umbrella (helloo, it's Singapore!), but I think it depends on who is offering the umbrella :

1. Another guy
Chance of happening : 0.1%
Result : Unless it's hailing ice cubes, most likely NO. I mean, guys are born with ego the size of planet earth.

2. A normal looking girl
Chance of happening : 0.2%
Result : I wouldn't mind.... better than getting soaked.

3. Angelina Jolie
Chance of happening : 0.00000001%
Result : A definite YES ^_^

What do YOU think? Leave comments for discussion :)

Indonesia (Jakarta / Bandung) Culinary Excursion

Last week I went back to Indonesia for Chinese New Year. It is traditionally very important for families to gather together during Chinese New Year…. sort of the Thanksgiving for chinese. Plus it was due time to take a break from hell work.

Another traditional thing to do for Indonesians staying overseas who are going back home is to savor all the yummy food that cannot be found outside of Indonesia. Since Indonesia is a very big and diverse country, the term “Indonesian food” cannot be really explained. Each city/area has their own specialty. Ask any Indonesian and I bet you he/she will boast about some kind of specialty food from their hometown that will make you wet (I know what you’re thinking….. I meant your mouth, you pervert!)
For this trip, I was lucky to have my flatmate (who is pure-bred Jakartan) to show me around his favourite eating places in Jakarta. So, without further adue, here’s the lowdown of what I managed to stuff my tummy with when I was there :

Mie Ayam Abadi
One of the specialty food in Jakarta is mie. Mie is noodle, or 面 in chinese. Whatever you wanna call it, it is a staple food for chinese anywhere in the world.

Main dish : noodle. Side dish : pirated DVDs.

Rating : 3/5
The noodles in Bandung (where I grew up) are smooth and thin, while people in Jakarta likes them thick and a little rubbery. Overall it’s still good (and cheap) food, but not my favourite.

Mie GM (Gajah Mada)

Rating : 5/5
If you only have time to eat 1 food in Jakarta, then this has to be it. It has been around for generations. My father was originally from Jakarta, so we go to Jakarta quite often, and we almost always eat this everytime we go there. Now it has become a chain and there are many outlets in shopping malls.

Sop Kambing (mutton soup) M.Sani

Rating : 3/5
Not really a big fan of kambing (mutton) since it’s very heaty and can shoot your cholesterol level up to the roof.

Cold Rock Ice Creamery

[picture]

Rating : 3.5/5
Good ice cream (there’s an outlet in Holland Village, Singapore too), but our tummy were already a bit too full to enjoy the yummyness :P

Kwetiaw A Chiap

That’s babat (cow’s intestine skin), in case you’re wondering…

Rating : 5/5
Although it was already 10.30pm (and ate tons of food during the day) when I ate this, it is by far the best kwetiaw (rice noodle) I have ever tasted!! There are 2 kinds of kwetiaw : fried and non-dry (I don’t think there’s an English term for this composition). The specialty here is the non-dry type. Definitely a die die must try.

There’s only so much food that my tummy can take in one day….. by the end of the day my waistline has grown by another inch…. OH NO!!!

The next day it was my turn to show my friends what my hometown (Bandung) has to offer. But, before we left, it was breakfast time, and my flatmate insisted to stuff my tummy with another must try mie.

Bakmi Aboen

Dodgy alley where the shop is located. Not recommended to wear nice shoes here.

Rating : 4/5.
Good choice for breakfast. The only downturn is the quite remote location.

Arriving at Bandung, the first food that we tried is….

Ikan Bakar (grilled fish) Pak Chi Met

Rating : 4.5/5
I’ve always liked this place. Nice, relaxing ambience with equally nice food. Love the different kinds of sambal there.

For dinner, we had traditional Sundanese food at my house, but unfortunately we were too eager to eat and forgot to take pictures….

The next day for breakfast, it was time for Bandung’s must try mie…

Mie Naripan
This noodle place has been around since I was an innocent young boy :P



Rating : 5/5
Still as good as I remember it…..

Afterwards, we stop by another Bandung’s landmark bakery…. Sumber Hidangan. This bakery shop has been around since the colonial times, when Indonesia was still governed by the Dutch. It is still very very traditionally decorated on the inside, and the taste is still very very nice.




Next stop is Kampung Daun (leaf village, literally), which is a restaurant/café right in the middle of a cliff. When it first open back in 2000, it was the place to be. At that time, you need to make reservations in advance, otherwise you won’t get a place. It’s not that crazy nowadays but is still a popular destination for tourists and locals alike. The main attraction is, of course, the ambience (the food is not that great). Very cozy and relaxing… you’ll feel like you don’t want to go home….





Last stop before my friends head home is a rather new and popular place to sample all the famous local food in one place. At this place, we tried the ever-popular Bakut Ahon (pork ribs soup).




Rating : 3.5/5
Not too bad, but not as good as I remember it…

And that ended the crazy 48 hours - 12 meals culinary tour. And the chinese new year feasts has not even started yet……. I think I need to buy a bigger size jeans.

Older = Wiser?

As we grow older, there are certain unwritten rules that society demands.... especially in Asian culture, where a lot of parents are still controlling giving advice to their children even when they are perfectly capable of deciding their own paths in life.

In my case, I left home for Singapore when I was 18, and I have to admit that at that time I was young, naive, inexperienced, and clueless about everything. I don't care about anything that was going on outside my world. All I know is I have to study and get a degree. I was fortunate enough to never have to worry about financial matters.

Over the years, I have seen many different things, lived in 3 different countries, interact with lots and lots of people, made some mistakes, and I feel that I have grown (personality-wise AND tummy-wise, of course). But in my parents' eyes, I'm still the same 18 year old boy who doesn't know anything, is hopeless in choosing friends and who to trust, and not mature enough to be independent. I understand that they are just being overprotective, and they act this way because they care too much about me, but sometimes it's a bit too much. And it doesn't help that I have this face that looks like I'm forever 20.....

In my opinion, the best way to learn is through your own mistakes.

Well, enough of these complaints. I was just thinking about this because I will be going back home next week for Chinese New Year, and I can assure you that the same old topic that most singletons dread will definitely comes up during family visits. Hopefully my mother won't hook me up with someone who drinks like a fish, smokes like a chimney, and dresses like her mother :P

4 : 44

It is now 4:44pm. Here are some random thoughts running through my head :

- Oh my god, I really need to lose weight....
- My workstation is so cluttered. Need to do spring cleaning before I move to my new cubicle (oh yeah, new year = new boss = new cubicle :)
- Why am I so lazy?
- What's happening in Desperate Housewives? Can't wait to watch the latest episode tonight.....
- Am watching Australia tomorrow.... 2 hours 45 minutes.... will I fall asleep?
- Still another 35 minutes until official working hours are over.
- Shall I go for a jog tonight?
- Seriously, EXERCISE!

2008 summary in music

Just saw this video on Youtube and I think it's  very good summary of music of 2008. Enjoy :)