Guess The Songs #3

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind, possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva om...... nothing's gonna change my world

Let them all pass their dirty remarks..... there is one question I'd really love to ask.... is there a place for a hopeless sinner, who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?

Getting angry doesn't solve anything

Relax, take it easy..... blame it on me or blame it on you

It's as if I'm scared, it's as if I'm terrified. Are you scared? Are we playing with fire? Relax.....

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, but that's alright because I like the way it hurts....

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything's ok and everything's going right....

Well I hope I never have to see that day, but by God I know it's headed our way, so we better be happy now cos the boy's gone home....


I will never wish bad things, but I don't wish you well.....

You know I'm not gonna diss you on the internet, cos my momma taught me better than that.

Humphry, we're leaving! Kaching!

Year End Note 2010

Well, here we go again.... Christmas is just around the corner again, which means that this blog is celebrating it's 2nd birthday!! Happy birthday, blog! May you always be filled with updates and ramblings, may you always be true to yourself and don't let anyone or anything prevent you from expressing yourself in writing. 

So, in case anyone wondering where I have been for the past few weeks..... we'll get to that in a minute. But first, as it is tradition, I would like to start with a recap of what I have done / accomplish this year. 

If I were to compress everything that happened in 2010 in one word, I would have to say it's a year of "EVENTS". Lots of things happened..... major decisions were made, and let's hope it's all for the better.

Let's do this feng shui style.....

Friendship

The year started off very good with not just one, but 3 very special events. Three couples from my group of friends got married....  two couples in January 2010 (same day!), and the other in March 2010. Congratulations again, Mr. and Mrs. Hendra, Mr. and Mrs. Ngamino, and also Mr. and Mrs. Chaidir :)

 

 

 

Following up to that, now we are expecting the arrival of mini Panda in May next year =D

Also, congratulations again to Mr. and Mrs. Pratikno, who got hitched in September 2010.

However, as hurtful as it is, not all things are going good in the friendship aspect. BIG DRAMA ensues in the middle of the year, and even though I have tried everything I can trying to salvage whatever's left, I guess things will never be the same again. It takes two to tango, and it's out of my hands now..... well, que sera sera, c'est la vie......

Work

Everything is going GREAT at work this year. I got a new boss early this year, and he might just be the perfect boss. Well, nobody's perfect, but he's a good mentor, a joy to work with, and best of all, he cares for me. I finally get what I deserve, after 3 years of being severely underpaid and nobody gave a damn about it. 

Also, the travel budget freeze is finally over! The crazy travels started at the later half of the year, starting with Seoul in September, USA (Columbus) in November, and ended off with Vietnam in December. 

The Vietnam trip is the one that is really an eye-opener for me. It started last Wednesday 4pm. (I have just got back from my US trip on the Sunday before that). 

I was in a meeting, and suddenly my boss called me outside the meeting room.

Boss (B) : "Do you need visa to go to Vietnam?"

Me (M) : "No"

B : "Can you go tomorrow morning?"

M : "........ Huh?"

B : "Yeah there's a new operations there that need help with reporting. The customer request this to be done by Saturday. Can you help?"

M : "...... Errr..... OK"

Then it's a mad rush to arrange all the tickets, hotels, contacts etc etc. Later that night, I got an email from my Vietnam colleague saying "Welcome to HELLLLL"...... and that's when the nightmare begins. I really shouldn't be saying a lot about work here, but all I can say is I worked my a** off when I was there.... average of 13 hours a day for 8 straight days. 

But, as I said, it's a very interesting experience for me. Suddenly I feel that what I do every day is very insignificant compared to this.....

Home

At the home front, as you know, it's the end of an era. The 2 year lease at Stirling expired, and we decided not to continue. Also, I have put the downpayment for my new home, but since it's only gonna be ready mid next year, in the meantime I am staying with another group of friends. 

In other news..... I sold my car earlier this year, after realizing that it's not worth the $$ that I have to fork out every month for parking, maintenance, petrol etc etc. 

Love

Nothing much going on in this department, as usual. How the hell did you guys find time to do this? Sometimes, when I'm busy at work, I don't even have time to pee :P

Life

This year is also supposed to be a major milestone for me, as I celebrated my 30th birthday. Well, to tell you the truth, I don't really feel anything different. Life goes on as per normal..... I try to be wiser and smarter everyday, but I don't feel any older :)

But it doesn't mean that I didn't have a special celebration. This year, I kinda go a little bit over the top..... starting with getting myself a little birthday present all the way from Barcelona....

Also, I celebrated with an awesome trip to Phuket...... and when I think about it, actually it was the only real holiday that I had this year.... the other trips were business mixed with a bit of pleasure :P

OK folks.... that's it for 2010. It has been a bumpy ride, but hey, life's not always perfect. Here's to a better 2011 in all aspects of life! :)

Happy Holidays!

The Truth?

Inspired by this post by The Rabbit, and in a desperate attempt to attract more readers to my blog, I have decided to give my five cents worth of answers (cos two cents is so last year and fifty cents is a rapper ;-)

You can read about the background of the questions from the post. So click on it, dammit! 

But before I do that, perhaps I should make a quick intro of how I come to know about the post. One fine day I saw a post on facebook about this blog, which leads to this blog, which leads to this blog. Told ya it would be quick.

So, on to the questions......

1. What is your favorite word?

Being a shopaholic, it's probably SALE. But on a more serious note, I would say "balance". I like it because too much of something is never good, and neither is too little. 

2. What is your least favorite word?
SORRY. When it's said, it means that something bad has happened. Some people abuse the word by thinking they can get away with anything just by saying sorry, but I don't think so. The damage has been done, and even if you say you forgive the person, the memory can never be erased (until you get old and start forgetting things :P)

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
I'm happy and creative when I'm surrounded by happy things and people around me are happy. Happiness is contagious, but then again so is anger and sadness. 

4. What turns you off?
Stupidity. Ignorance. People who do not respect time.

5. What is your favorite curse word?
Shit. I say shit a lot without even realizing it. And I shit at least once a day, usually in the morning (OK a little too much info there.... )

6. What sound or noise do you love?
The sound of light rain tapping on the window (but only when I'm at home doing nothing.... I don't like it when I'm caught in the rain)

7. What sound or noise do you hate?
Justin Bieber. And Miley Cyrus.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Professional blogger (d'oh!), or a travel show host.

9. What profession would you not like to do?
Lawyer. I hate arguing.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Heyyyy! Wassup buddy? 

So there you go. If you decided to post your own answers, please leave a link in the comments..... and please link to the original post as well. Thanks! 

One Word

Having just watched Eat Pray Love, I was intrigued by one of the scenes in the movie. In that scene, the characters were asked to pick ONE word to describe themselves. For Elizabeth Gilbert (the main character of the movie), she stumbles at first, but finally finds her word at the end of her travels.

In the book, the word is antevasin, which is Sanskrit for “one who lives at the border.” But in the movie, it is attraversiamo, which is Italian for "to cross over". This word is also mentioned in the book, but not as "the" word. I'm not really sure why they change it.... I think the first word is better.

Which makes me wonder..... what is THE word for me? Well, I don't know any Sanskrit nor Italian, so here are some possible thoughts in English or Bahasa Indonesia :

• Fat
• Friendly (well, not really. I can be mean when I'm annoyed)
• Fun
• Creative
• Intelligent (starting to get a little too narcissistic... :P)
• Worldly
• Picky
• Sarcastic
• Konyol
• Cuek
• Explorer (emangnya gue Dora? Kayaknya lebih mirip Doraemon deh daripada Dora :P)

How the hell am I supposed to pick just ONE word? There's at least a quarter of million words (and growing) in the English language itself, and I don't think Bahasa Indonesia can ever be counted, with new (informal) words formed almost everyday  @_@

So, what do you think? (For those of you who know me) If you were to describe me, what would you say? And for everyone else, what's YOUR word?

Epilogue : Exodus

One million fifty-one thousand, two hundred minutes

One million fifty-one thousand moments so dear

One million fifty-one thousand, two hundred minutes

How do you measure, measure two years?

(adapted from Seasons of Love – OST Rent)

Well, my friends, after 2 years, the time has finally come. Next month the lease at my current place is expiring, and we have decided not to renew it because it is too damn expensive. So that means that I will have to move…. again. That means sorting, packing, moving, and unpacking. YAY! (that is sarcasm, in case you didn’t notice).

But….. this will be the 2^nd last time I am moving around…. YAY! (this time it’s a real yay  =D)

Why, one might ask? Because….. I am actually in the process of buying my own house (well, technically not a house, but more like an apartment). But it’s not gonna be ready until April / May next year.

Oh I’m gonna miss this place….. lots of things have happened here… some good, some not so good, but overall it’s memorable. Actually this place is one of the places where I have stayed the longest…… let’s recap where I have lived and how many times I have moved in the past 12 years……

Time	Place	City
Jul 1998 - May 1999	NTU Hall of Residence 8, block 41, level 3	Singapore
Jun 1999 - Nov 2000	Jurong West St 91 (forgot the block and unit number)	Singapore
Nov 2000 - May 2001	NTU Hall of Residence 9	Singapore
Jun 2001 - May 2002	NTU Hall of Residence 9 (different room)	Singapore
Jun 2002 - Jun 2004	Northvale condominium block 69, Choa Chu Kang	Singapore
Jul 2004 - Nov 2004	Melbourne City	Melbourne
Dec 2004 - Dec 2005	St Kilda Rd, South Melbourne	Melbourne
Feb 2006 - May 2006	Conference Centre, BLCU	Beijing
Jul 2006 - Dec 2006	Conference Centre, BLCU (different room)	Beijing
Jan 2007 - Feb 2007	232 Bishan St 22	Singapore
Mar 2007 - Oct 2007	Geylang Lor 27A (forgot condo name and unit number) --> bad memories there	Singapore
Nov 2007 - Sep 2008	7 Normanton Park	Singapore
Oct 2008 - Sep 2010	181 Stirling Rd	Singapore
Oct 2010 - Apr 2011	596B Ang Mo Kio St 52	Singapore
May 2011 - ??	6 Bishan St 25 (Clover By The Park)	Singapore

So, overall I have moved house about 14 times…… nomaden banget gak sih??? :P

Anyway, it’s not the end of the world. Life goes on (hopefully for the better), and here’s something to commemorate my time in Stirling....

Kisah Sebuah Gembok

Di Singapur kalo ngegym di California Fitness tuh lu harus bawa gembok sendiri buat kunci lockernya. Memang ada ditulis sih dianjurkan untuk tidak menggunakan gembok yang pake angka, tapi sebaiknya yang pake kunci (gak tau juga kenapa, tapi menurut mereka sih itu lebih aman). Anyway selama ini sih since gua cuma punya gembok 1, dan itu gembok angka, ya wis gua pake itu aja. No problem so far sih. Lagian gembok gue warnanya kuning, dan selama ini tuh kagak ada yang pake yang sama, jadi gampang kalo mau cari mana locker gue.

Sampe pada hari Selasa kemaren....... si gembok kuning itu ketinggalan!! Dan gue baru nyadar hari Rabu pagi, so udah gak mungkin balik lagi cari deh. Sedihnya hatiku berpisah dengan gembok kesayangan hiks hiks (mulai deh lebay hihi)

Anyway, tadi siang pas lewat supermarket ya gua beli lagi deh gembok..... dan ada beberapa pilihan. Ada yang pake kunci, ada yang pake nomer, ada yang item, ada yang biru, pokoknya macem2 deh. Nah ada satu yang ngejreng banget, dan warnanya cocok ama corporate color hahaha (hayo tebak gue kerja di manaaa..... bukan McD ya :P). Lagian gua pikir kalo gua pake gembok ngejreng itu gak ada yang bakal pake yang sama kali ye...... maksudnya biar unique gitu. So gue beli deh tuh gembok ngejreng, padahal harganya lebih mahal dari yang model lain. Gak apa2 beda dikit..... yang penting unique....

Trus abis kerja ya gua ke gym dong, dengan gembok baru ini. Btw sebelum dipake tentu saja gua udah set combinationnya jadi yang gua mau (defaultnya tuh 0 - 0 - 0). Sesudah selesai ganti baju, gua pertama cardio dulu di mesin cross-trainer 30 menit......

After that, sebelum mulai free weights training, gua mampir dulu ke locker, mau cek BB (blackberry, bukan bau badan ye). Dari jauh udah keliatan tuh si gembok ngejreng. Begitu sampe gua puter ke nomer yang udah gua set sebelomnya dong.

First try..... koq keras amat ya ini? Coba puter2 lagi..... masih gak bisa buka juga. 

Duh ini koq gembok gembel sihhh? Padahal belinya S$10. 

Coba puter2 lagi..... gak bisa!!! 


Mulai panik. OMG gimana ya kalo gak bisa dibuka?? 

OK calm down.... coba masukin 0 - 0 - 0, siapa tau tadi kagak ke-record kombinasinya.

0 - 0 - 0 ...... BISA!!! Senangnya hatiku :)

Tapi cuma sesaat. Soalnya..... begitu dibuka...... JRENGGGG isinya beda dong!

Bengong beberapa detik...... 

Pikiran pertama : OMG TAS GUE ADA YANG NYOLONGGG!!! DOMPET DAN BB GUE ILANG!! IPAD  BARU GUE!!!

Tapi dipikir2 lagi..... kalo ada yang nyolong kenapa pula isinya diganti? Trus ini tas siapa???

Abis itu celingak celinguk ke kanan kiri...... ternyata oh ternyata...... locker gue bukan yang ini dong, tapi beberapa locker di sebelah kanannya....... *hihihi*.... untung blom lapor polisi :P

Jadi ceritanya tuh ada orang oon yang pake gembok ngejreng yang sama percis kayak gembok baru gue, dan dia kagak ganti kombinasi angka-nya..... masih default 0 - 0 - 0. 


(-_-)"

Untung gue orangnya jujur dan baik hati (ciehhhh), jadi gua kagak apa2in tuh tas si orang itu.....


Trus gue langsung pasang muka sok cool, pura2 tutup locker yang ini, kunci lagi, trus pura2 jalan keluar dulu, soalnye kalo langsung buka yang gua punya ntar orang2 pada curiga lagi kenapa gua bisa buka 2 locker. Setelah beberapa saat baru deh gua balik lagi buka locker gua yang bener....... dan phewwww isinya masih lengkap =D

Lesson of the day : Singapore tuh kecil, semua orang beli barang di tempat yang sama.....