A bit of tea...

Today I did something for the first time in my life: drinking Chinese Tea in a proper chinese-tea-ceremony way. It was fantastic!! Drinking traditional tea is actually not really my... well, cup of tea. Tea hasn't been my favourite so far (except Indonesian's (iced) sweetened tea and Teh Botol).

I do enjoy drinking Chinese Tea in Dim Sum place (normally Kuan Yin or Jasmine tea) and Japanese Green Tea in Japanese restaurants (not the instant one, please), but tea has never been my best option, if you know what I mean. For me coffee sits few ranks higher than tea. Never in my office I really stocked up heaps of tea bags. But I did for coffee. I am willing to spend few more dollars to get Bodum's coffee cup, but not for tea. Well, I guess now you've got what I mean.

But apparently, tea for someone is like painting for me. And that 'someone' is a very close relative of mine. She just luuuurrrvvveeesss traditional chinese tea. I am also curious. I also want to know. I am also interested to know more than mere drinking unsweetened tea from a tiny cup.

Hence, today off we (she, my younger sister and I) went to Tea Chapter. The ambience was nice, very peaceful and calm (and smells nice!!) although it wasn't really zen-like. It is just a proper place for drinking (I mean, sipping) hot chinese tea. They have different settings: Queen's setting, Korean setting and Japanese setting. FYI, Queen Elizabeth was indeed there sometime in 1989. You can see many of pictures portraying her watching the procedures and sipping the tea with full concentration. A nice place to just relax and have a chat with your dearest ones (like what we did!). They have some tea-infused snacks also. Let me recommend some: tea eggs, tea beancurd and the heart-shaped rose-tea biscuits. We chose a taiwanese oolong tea (some books say it has slimming effect *grin*), specifically the High Mountain Tea. Very nice aroma. And nice taste also. One very amicable lady gave us a comprehensive explanation about the whole steps, from beginning until it's ready for us to smell (from fragrance cup) and sip (must have three sips, with different significance each, from drinking cup).

I guess it's a very popular place to go for tourists visiting Singapore, as groups by groups of them kept on coming in. We didn't see any local consumers there today. They also have a shop downstairs, selling tea, tea-sets, tea pots, books about tea... It was just like a small tea-museum. It has an artistically-approved setting also. They also conduct a comprehensive course about chinese tea, so for those who are interested, just check it out from the website!

All in all, we've spent a very enjoyable three hours there (please note that during peak hours we can only stay for 2 hours - max). But hey, where's the slimming effect? I want to see proofs and not just some hypothesis... *just kidding!!!*

Can't Get Them Out of My Head

Black American will say it "Can't Get 'Em Outta Ma' Head" (hehe gak penting banget sih).

You know what, it's been few days that the following items dancing in my mind and tantalizing my taste buds: Baby Back Ribs (whole slab), golden brown potato wedges and martabak duren (durian pancake) from Muara Karang, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Oh my God, I keep mentioning those heavenly food and I was quite amazed that I didn't dream of any of them. My sister (Black American will pronounce it sistah - ga penting lagi) suggested that I go to Kenny Rogers and got the full portion (NOT the martabak duren though) today.

But hey. Today is Friday. It's Lent season. Abstinence. Abstinence.

Good then, it will not only tighten my tummy but my bank account also.

I am hoping to be able to go back to Jakarta next June. Hoping to go to Bandung. Have only been there once for UnPar (Universitas Parahyangan)'s open house. I didn't really intend to apply there actually (first choice was NTU with no back up -- duh!) but because my whole gank (not that 'gank', just.. gank. well, you know what I mean.) went (out of 8 people, only two who seriously considered to apply actually). May be I have to persuade my brother (the handsome, smart, gorgeous, kind-hearted, God-loving, family-loving, too good to be true -- hopefully he'll read it... hey Ron, you know what I am implying) to drive me there (wuakakakakakkaak =D). I know even if he won't read it, he will know about it through other channel. I don't know what's there in Bandung, but I just heard (for zillions of time!!) that the food is heavenly there.

Surely I'll visit Grogol (NOT the Mental Institution) but the "Depot Surabaya" at Jln. Dr. Muwardi. I was overcame with envy when my sister (sistah) told me our mom (momma) brought her there after I flew off to Singapore. *grrrmmmmbbblll*

rambunctious..

Pada umumnya saya tidak suka cowok bawel.
Apalagi kalo banyak cowok bawel gabung jadi satu.
Apalagi kalo segerombolan cowok bawel itu memilih cubicle sebelah cubicle saya untuk berbawel ria.
Apalagi kalo ngebawelnya ngalor ngidul.
Apalagi kalo kebawelannya itu berhasil mengundang seekor cewek bawel untuk bergabung dan menambah kebawelan menjadi kebawelan massal (dan saya masih tidak tergoda untuk ikut)
Apalagi kalo dilakukan di jam kerja.
Apalagi kalo cewek yang "kesian" banget ini (itu saya!!!) lagi berusaha untuk membaca sebuah dokumen maha penting.
Apalagi kalo dokumen maha penting itu tentang topik yang alamuakjan buanget deh (Iterative Decoding gitu loh!!)
Apalagi setelah saya telusuri dan pasang kuping bener-bener (soalnya mereka ngobrol pake bahasa mandarin seh jadi gua perlu konsentrasi untuk mendigestasi) ternyata mereka membicarakan tentang cheng beng (erm, doa untuk orang-orang yang sudah berangkat ke alam lain).

Haiihh sini saya kasih program chatting saya ajah. Jadi kalian bisa chatting tapi kalo ada boss liwat kalian tampak seperti sedang men-debug program hihihi =D

Tentang program chatting saya, makin lama makin berkembang. Tapi saking bosennya, pas testing cuma begini ajah gitu loh (nama bisa diganti-ganti donkski):
tini : nkahfnjhkjhljalajl;a
tono : bjkahsdkldas
tini : nkasfhakjshladjad
tono : gjkahsdjkad
....
tono : ya udah tin, saya ke salon dulu yah.. babaii...

*hihi baris terakhir boongan sih*

yah coba anda bayangkan, saya ngetes program ini dari kemaren sore. Chatting sama diri sendiri. Lha gimana ga bosen yak??

Okeh, selamat hari rabu yak!! Jangan lupa gosok gigi ntar sebelum bobo....

Tapi yang kayak gini...

Gua gak berhasil menemukan gambar yang gua maksud, i.e. Baskin-Robbins atau Campina punya...

Anyway, the ice cream that I meant is something like THIS. Where the biscuit is quite soft... oooohhhhh.... *drool*

Baskin-Robbins has the circular shape whereas Campina has the rectangular shape (and they call it Royal Sandwich if my memory hasn't failed me).

BTW, Campina masih exist kah di Indo? Di Singapore ice cream apa yang beken yah? Hmm I think the trend has shifted to Gelato... Bravissimo, Gelatissimo, and few others. I don't really like sorbet, however, it doesn't have that milky (in actual fact I detest milk taste, that's why don't ever offer me milk, but ice cream is just always heavenly) and most importantly FATTY taste!! Isn't the more sinful the better?

Bukan yang ini...

Waktu gua bilang ke temen gua kalo gua lagi pengen makan ice cream yang ada biscuitnya, dia mikirnya es potong yang dijual apek-apek gitu lho. Duh percaya gak sih, gua makan itu terakhir mungkin udah hampir 12 taun lalu, jaman SMP... dan gak impress-impress amat tu...

Sekarang udah makin menjamur (jualannya, bukan ice creamnya), beda banget sama dulu jaman gua SMP. Kini, di mana-mana dapatlah ditemukan apek apek atau ncim ncim penjual es potong dengan berbagai macam rasa untuk memuaskan selera. Gambar di atas, pake roti. Tapi kan ada juga yang pake wafer.. nah yang itu yang dikira sama temen gua...

Duh... bukan... bukan...

Chatting

About the program that I am working on right now (yes, it's already developing now), hmm actually it wasn't my task. That's the beauty of working in a Research Institute, where learning is as important as working and you won't be rushed to meet the deadline (you are still expected to be responsible, of course).

So instead of following my supervisor's suggestion to browse for some sample programs from internet and try it out in my system, I tried to make my own program. I didn't know how far can I go with it, but I feel this attempt would be more fruitful than just copy others and try them out, do you agree? What joy would you get by seeing others' programs running, eventhough it's in your own system? It's just like practising to do some copy, paste, a slight editing perhaps, and finally type gcc server.c -o blablabla... on your command prompt window.

Hahaha so now I chat with my own self (anybody from my office want to chat with me? I'll pass the program to you and just give me your IP address hehehehehehe). What's the purpose of chatting with myself? Hmmm... nothing. Well, at least it shows that my program works and I've got a grip on the things I am learning.

Anyway, while I am writing this post I listen to Delta Goodrem's songs: Out of the Blue and Almost Here. A great lass, she is. Nevertheless, I found her not being so popular in Singapore. Melodious voice, meaningful lyrics, and what a life she leads...

Brain Dysfunction

Hmm, sebenernya tadi buka Blogger window ini kira-kira 20 menitan lalu. Lagi mampet-mampetnya ni otak, entah kenapa susah banget diajak konsentrasi. Nyuruh otak ini mikir aja kayak nyuruh anak kecil untuk cepet-cepet mandi pake sabun wangi. Ogaaaah banget.. sampe kitanya kewalahan.

Mungkin ini efek tidur kurang dari biasanya kali ya (yeey ga nyambung banget, lha wong bedanya palingan setengah jam - sejem.. biasalah manusia suka cari-cari alasan dan kambing hitam). Slow banget responsenya. Kalo kita bilang "hayo mikir!!" dia tuh kayak masih "hmmm...." sambil senyum-senyum dan kucek-kucek mata. Sampe gua pikir mending gua ngeblog aja daripada mikir.

Tapi abis ni blogger dibuka, gua maksa mikir lagi (pake pecut -- emang kuda?). Hahaha jadi gak jadi, jalan gak jalan, pokoknya gua harus compile ni program sebelum nge-blog!! Bener gak bener, pokoknya tulis dulu command-nya!! Soale berdasarkan pengalaman, the real essence of writing and shaping a program comes only during debugging processes...

Jadi deh ketunda ni postingan... dan jadi basi. Programnya udah ke-compile and udah di-eksekusi sekarang walau belum perfect but OK lah.

Tau ga sih, setelah gua pikir lagi (lho katanya gak bisa mikir? hehe kayaknya cuma applicable buat mikirin kerjaan), kayaknya gua tadi konsentrasinya emang lagi keganggu badai taifun berat.

Tau gak kenapa? Gua lagi kebayang-bayang banget ice cream yang dimakan pake biscuit, jadi kayak sandwich begitu. Entah kenapa tapi dari tadi turun bus gua udah sibuk ngebayangin tuh ice cream.. It used to be my favourite. Kalo di Indo dulu seh gua biasa makan Campina punya (daily) and Baskin Robbins (weekly). Apa daya eksistensi mereka gak nyampe Singapore. Well, pastinya banyak yang jual begituan... Haagen Dazs? Duh, mahal sia....

Jangan-jangan ntar malem gua ngimpinya makanin tuh ice cream... Duh, toloooonnggg... pengen banget neh!! Di NUS sini ada ga yah? *tapi masih ada sisa-sisa flu I'm not supposed to eat any ice creams!!*

Kirain...

Weleh, gua pikir hari ini bakalan ngantuk. Soalnya kemaren malem baru nyampe rumah ketika jam menunjukkan pukul 11.30 *buset bahasanya* padahal biasanya jam segitu udah ngambil PeWe (Posisi Wenak) di tempat tidur.

Apa pasal?

Tanpa direncanakan banget, gua kemaren nekad aje gitu gabung sama sekelompok anak muda (walau pada kenyataannya gua teteuuup paling muda huehueheiheiheue) buat makan malem bareng (dan ternyata lagi, gak semuanya makan.... banyak yang minum doank padahal ukurannya udah mini mini pisan hihihi) di Coffee Club (biarpun ga kenal tapi berani-beraninya gua mengusulkan ini ahakhahakhakah).

Yah dibilang ga kenal-ga kenal banget juga nggak. At least kadang suka ngintip blognya mereka. Mbak Loucee, Mbak Fortuna, ada lagi mbak blogger lain yang gua gak tau linknya, mbaknya salah dua mbak di sana, satu temen gua yang ternyata kebetulan temennya beberapa mbak, dan temennya temennya lageh.

Huehueheu ga nyangka aja bisa konek (in many ways). Mungkin sekarang gua kalo baca blog mereka udah bisa membayangkan suara dan ngakak nya mereka instead of baca hurup-hurup doank..

Mengagetkan (surprisingly), gua gak ngantuk.. tapi kayaknya cuma masalah waktu aja kali.... Mari kita lihat nanti ketika waktu makan menjelang, okeh??

What's Left Now?

I have chapped skin =(. Predictably, it is around nose area... the area whereby a lot of friction happened recently. Poor my skin to endure such torture. Even without friction, it is my most sensitive facial area. Sometimes it is due to unfriendly temperature and/or humidity, strong chemical substances (e.g. perfumes) and the most ridiculous one, smell/aroma of chili. My family knows about it, so they always keep away chili from me... and I am freed from washing the dishes if there are some traces of chili there. So not only its taste burns my tongue (and kill the real taste of the food), its emanating air also always disturb me. (hey, I know that some of my blog's fervent readers are also anti-chili!!)

Back to my chapped skin... really, I suffer from that. On top of it all, the weather in Singapore recently is scorching hot!! It makes my skin even more prickly. Ouch... Not only the skin, my lips also felt rather burnt....

Other than that, the remnants of my (now famous) flu is a bit of runny nose and also fever.

Oh my... really hope that it will be gone soon... very very soooon.... Tomorrow is weekend already, I hate it if I am sick during weekend.

U Zap? Naaaah...

Want to get that flatter stomach? Want to have that abdominal appeal?

Don't try the pills, nor the vibrating belt (U-Zap and friends), nor the galloping buddy (I-Gallop)...

Just get a virus and the concomitant sneezing and coughing fit. Before you know it, you'll feel your abdominal muscles are forming...

Haiiizz... I still prefer my normal state of health though...

Kerupuk Oh Kerupuk....

Weleh... pada inget gak sih sama kaleng yang satu ini? Kayaknya emang ga pernah absen dari warung-warung di tanah air tercinta Indonesia. Waktu kecil, sering banget beli kerupuk ini (cuma Rp 50,00 alias gocap, sodara-sodara!!) kalo pas abis cycling (cieeeh.. naek sepeda keliling RT/RW maksudnya).

Gua motret nih kaleng di Jakarta (bukan Singapore, sorry for lifting your hopes so high) tepatnya di Waroeng Podjok di Plaza Senayan (buset, udah naik kelas dia.. dari warung Bu Ndari sampe Plaza Senayan hueheuheuehue). Hampir njerit pas ngeliat... kangen bo!!!

And of course, gua beli donk... makan bareng rawon. Hmm the rawon wasn't that fantastic though... Enakan yang asli Malang (hueheue ya iyalah). Enakan bikinan Bibi Marni (dia yang bertanggung jawab akan tingginya selera lidah gua karena dia masakin yang uenak tenaaaaan sejak gua di perut nyokap dan beberapa tahun sebelumnya).

Ngomong-ngomong soal Bibi Mar, duh gua ngiler pisan ngingetin masakan-masakan dia. Sampe sempet beken dia di kalangan sodara and temen-temen nyokap. Slurp buanget dueecchhh!!!! Anu, pastel tutupnya itu lhoooo.... buat gua yang penggemar kentang, it's just heavenly!!! Dan... dan... duh *ngelap iler* bahkan tempe gorengnya aja buedaaaa buangeeeeett sama di tempat lain. Endang Bambang bin nendang dehh..

Hmmm emang orang kalo punya bakat beda yah. Bayangkan, Bibi Mar tuh gak bisa baca lancar... dengan kata laen, dia gak pernah baca resep. Kadang kita bawa makanan enak, kasih dia nyicip, jadi deh besokannya..

Ohhhh Bibiii... I miss you and your gourmet!! Too bad last time I went back to Jakarta she wasn't around... I had no choice but must eat out to enjoy a gastronomical pleasure... (yes, my mom is not in friendly term with kitchen... so you know whom I get my non-cooking genetics from...)

Jadi pengen makan kerupuk... Pengen ke Depot Surabaya....

Ooohhh pisang goreeeeng....

Flu Tulang??

Anybody knows what exactly flu tulang (bone flu, or osteo flu? haha maksa but rather sounds cool). A dear friend of mine has mentioned few times that she had it (especially during NTU days), but we (the other two from the three) have never really had an idea what or how is it.

Today I start to wonder, whether my flu has also brought this flu tulang.... I feel my whole body aching and there is a funny feeling at the bone, especially at the back and rib bones. Very uncomfortable indeed.

With my kiasu-ness (read: the amount of Panadol I consume - not overdose, don't worry just make an almost full use of the allowable amount) I am a bit better now, signified by the absence of sneezing rows. Though still have the body aches and feel very uncomfortable in the throat, I think the phlegm (sorry, maap) is playing its role joyfully there.

I left my lethargic state (forcefully) when I received an e-mail giving a very short notification of my upcoming presentation. Leaving my other programs in still an uncompilable state, I opted to work on the slides instead.

Oh, flu... go away!!

Flu Tulang... enyah!!

Flu... =(

I don't know how but yesterday somehow I caught cold. Started recognizing the symptoms when I walked back from bus stop to home. I don't know who has spread the virus to poor me.

I took Panadol Cold after my dinner, and felt more miserable afterwards, it seemed like all the virus are partying inside me, at the nasal area in particular. I took my second Redoxon for the day, and decided to call it a day at only 10 pm. Popped up another Panadol before that. It was rather difficult to get myself to sleep, what with whole body aching, the urge to sneeze just couldn't compromise, my throat started feeling dry but finally I dozed off.

My sleep went very restless at around 3 am, therefore I decided to wake up and... what else? I took another Panadol. Well, call me Kiasu (afraid to lose) but I really was compelled to take one more, as I didn't feel at the pink of my health and was so scared if it would continue 'til morning that I couldn't go to work. I tried to sleep again afterwards, rather difficult still as my sleeping quota (used to be around 6 hours daily) was almost already there.

I don't know what time I fell asleep again exactly, next thing I knew was my alarm clock woke me up at 5.45 am, comme d'habitude. Felt a bit better actually, before sneezing frenzy started off again. I took my daily dose of Redoxon, and gulp over a bottle of Brand's Chicken Essence, really hoping that it would help (hey, it's not that cheap!)

And now, at the office, clad in my red jacket I sip my Panadol Cold & Flu Hot Remedy instead of my usual morning coffee (with my almost-eight-hour sleep, I guess I don't need coffee... as yet). I really hope that I can get better pretty soon, as knowing my body and state of health, it can go really bad if I let it. Like, my flu can run for weeks and even month....

Oh, blow!!

My whole body is aching.... am feeling lethargic.... =( doubly triply =(

Ngantuk

It's Friday now, all right... But this fact doesn't really help to shun away my post-lunch drowsiness. And when it is mixed with some relieved feeling, it is just worse, what with my adrenaline has stopped rushing and taken some dormancy.

Nothing really exciting at work now, I've done all programming that I need to do, and my next task will be to do some networking thingy (TCP/IP). Got the idea already, boss... but still don't know what to do next (i.e. how to start the program). This TCP/IP will be part of the program though, so the program to be written will still be DSP (Digital Signal Processing, that is).

So, first thing I did was to find out what does TCP stand for. Thanks to wikipedia, it's Tranmission Control Protocol. Is that right?

Oh well, sometimes I feel like a general helper here in this program. LOL. Which is good, actually. That's actually one of the main reason of me leaving my previous company and joining a Research Institute instead. You know, by end of my first semester in NTU I had rather regretted for not opting Computer Engineeering instead (that's after my Computing lesson). But since MPE was so much fun (I really had a blast there!! The peers, and even the lecturers are friendly) so I stayed (as if switching to other major was an option) and streamed into Mechatronics specialization which, I thought, will give me more programming experiences. It did. All my favourite subject were programming-related. And I managed to escape from other projects (well, almost) by directing them to other team mates (luckily we had freedom to choose out team mates and the usual guys fell on the usual group) and promising that I would do all the programming stuffs. They were always more than happy to accept that (they are mechanical engineers-to-be, remember?). I also did a 100% programming project for my Final Year Project (and I always refer my final semester in NTU as my long enjoyable holiday, cheers to that).

So, to finish off what I've left, after having spent two years plus in product design, I missed programming (not in a very sentimental kind of "miss" though) so I thought "oh well, must give it a shot". Though I still doubt myself "Which company in its right mind want to hire me to do programming with very limited background?". My previous manager, who for only-God-knows reason wanted to retain my employment, tried to "pass" me to the software development dept, which was to no avail as its manager doubt my ability to perform the programming task. Oh well, as if I still want to stay... *grin*

Some people attempted to discourage me from joining a government-funded Research Institute (RI). They said:
1. the pace is too slow: well, it suits me. As I need a slow pace which may allow me to really learn at the beginning. I am not a programmer, remember?

2. they are too detail minded: well well well we're talking about researcher and scientist here, of course they HAVE to be extremely, excruciatingly detail minded. Unlike industry which (mostly) focus on deliverables, RIs focus more on detail and... how to put it... perfection? I was TOO detail minded and TOO critical in my previous job, I felt like a wrong peg in a wrong hole.

3. the pressure is bigger though hidden: you'll not be chased out for deadlines, but you are demanded to egg out certain number of papers and publications each year. But isn't how you can enjoy all the gadgets you have in your pocket, at home, in office and any other places? Those papers and publications are the rudimentary stage of technology development.

4. they are a bunch of nerd (really, some people told me that): well, didn't you say I am one?

All in all, nothing can waver me from joining an RI. And really, I would never regret it. I now feel that my life is more... well, on-track.

So here I am, joining this RI since Sept 2005. Spent the first two months to catch up with DSP, with programming (the last time I used C I think was in Computing lesson, right... that was in my first semester) and also the other development that has been done for this project. Honestly, I felt so stupid sometimes (I was surrounded by experienced people who really know what they are doing.. and beyond, remember?), felt like digging the ground and then burying myself in there (it's not an understatement). I kept telling myself, it will just take time. So stagger on! So stagger on I do. And now, I am open to anything new to learn. Including TCP/IP, that is. The most embarassing moment has passed (hopefully).

For any true-blue programmers reading this, well... I am still minuscule compared to you guys. So don't ask me to discuss any too-technical topic, OK? But I am enjoying and (hopefully) catching up...

Weekend Update

Pretty much things are done today. I was surprised myself, knowing that almost all errands that I planned for were accomplished.

Started the day at 7 am, when I woke up and decided to go for a small jog. So off I went to Toa Payoh Town Park, quite a nice place to spend a morning. And safe also especially for girls, as long as you go at an appropriate time (avoid dark) and appropriate attire (well, I guess this applies anywhere and anytime). It is an open space, not with too-much greeneries where people can hide behind a tree or whatever things pop up when you let your imagination running wild. And a lot of golden-age people perform their (perhaps own version) of tai chi.

I made a round to MRT Station, just to collect TODAY newspaper and then passed by Ya Kun Kaya Toast and decided to have my breakfast there though I've never liked kaya (isn't it too sweet?). It was simply because I wouldn't say no to an aircon room and a cup of coffee (but isn't it too sweet also, too kopitiam-ish; sweet and condensed-milky?). Anyway, read TODAY while having my cheese toast (no kaya), egg and coffee.

Managed to to something that I was indeed supposed to do at home, was surprised with my progress (yay!!). Left home in the afternoon, had a very quick lunch and then attended a Novena session in Novena Church. Continued my journey to Orchard... hmm what did I do there? Bought something in Paragon then went to City Hall. Paid my credit card bill (not overdue, of course) went to Straits Commercial, bought two canvases and two bottles of varnish. Then went to NLB, borrowed two books. Had dinner at McD while reading a book, continued to Cathedral of Good Shepherd for Sunset Mass. Then went back home.

And now, of course, writing something on my blog (as I mentioned also yesterday). After this, lazing around... yay!! Reading, of course... an Enid Blyton book *ahakhakhakhakhakhak!!!* This helps preventing ageing process, you know...

See you until next posting!! Tomorrow hopefully I can spend the day just painting and enjoying myself.

Have a grrreaaaatttt weekend..!!!!

Weekend oh Weekend..

Whenever weekend comes, I am filled with excitement and also... dilemma. Oh well, I guess it's a too exaggerated term to use. Anyway, I always have a confusion on how to make full use of the weekend that I am about to have.

Some time last year, I did write about Weekend Misconception.

I am still disturbed sometimes that we have five days to do things for a living and only two days to live.

Like now, weekend is just 23 minutes away (at the time when I write this line down), and I still don't know how to optimize my schedule. And it can be frustrating sometimes (those who know me well know how easily I can get frustrated).

I do have things to do at home, things I hope I can find time to do at home, want to catch some little sports, actually also need to buy something in City area, definitely want to attend Saturday Sunset Mass (preferrably in Cathedral), miss Novena Devotion after more than one month has been absent, miss to browse book around in library or even Borders, want to catch up with friends also actually, want to start a new painting, want to write more in blog and.... actually, honestly I want to just laze around at home also (about which I think I have mentioned few times in this blog and yet... never really realized that).

I cancel an appointment tomorrow. Feel rather bad to my friend who asked me along for this NTU International Alumni Get-Together-Lunch which I agreed upon to register as I feel like reconnect with people, especially some friends who will also go tomorrow. But then, thinking that it's in NTUa (jauhnyaaaaa itu lho), and actually I also have things to do here, the international buffet can't really lure me to take an MRT ride from Toa Payoh to Boon Lay plus a few minute shuttle bus ride.

Hmmmppphh.... confused. I always try not to procrastinate things. Thinking that if I do, I will have a neverending long list of things to do which will be frustrating and only-God-knows when it ends. But then, even that I do not procrastinate, I feel like I always have long list of them...

Huaaa... hopefully tomorrow will be a bright and nice day!! And hopefully I can also do as much in my paintings as I can...

Good night, sleep tight... I am very sleepy now....

Bosen nyaaa...

Duh ampun... Bosen banget nih. Lagi gak semangat-semangat banget kerja. Reason being, kayaknya dah kelamaan nge-debug dan ngeliatin program, jujur aja mata nih udah berkunang-kunang rasanya.

Dan lagi, besok dan lusa I'll join A*STAR Induction program yang berarti I won't be in office which means I can't continue my work. Sementara menurut gua, thinking process should be a continuous one. Kalo kepotong-potong gitu, nanggung. Nanti Senin mesti "pemanasan otak" lagi. Jadi begitulah sodara-sodara, status mood ku sekarang ini.
Dengerin music juga bosen. Buka-buka internet bosen. Baca e-mail bosen (padahal udah jarang juga akhir-akhir ini). Mau ngajak orang ngobrol di MSN juga muales.

Huhuhu yo wis rasanya gua akan bikin report aja deh. The next most interesting thing to kill the time.

Males juga bayangin besok. I have never been ecstatic about any kind of team building activities. Terkadang permainan-permainan yang dilakukan itu mempermalukan orang which I hate to the core!! I think I am not in the mood and also "age" for those things anymore. And with me becoming more and more antisocial recently, it's just not for me...

I wanted to opt out from this program (I don't even know why am I selected to join) but on the second day there will be A*STAR Introduction in Biopolis which I think will be more interesting and beneficial.

OK lah, I guess I'll start with my report. This month, nothing much to report. What with my 5 days MC, this A*STAR Induction Programme, and February being the shortest month in the year.

PS: Why everytime I try to write in Indonesian I'll get confused in the middle and ended up writing in English instead?

Norak #1

Some people say that one of the heroic principles in life is to do things at the right time, at the right place and in the right way. Which is true, really.

But for me, I would like to add: to put the breakpoint at the right line.

I did today and was sooooooooo ecstatic about it *noraaaaaaaaaaaaakkkk*

I was supposed to incorporate two modules in a (long and complicated) program that my boss has created. Last Friday, I declared (not my boss but only I) a succesful implementation of the first part (after one week trying to figure out how exactly it is to integrate them nicely). Then I started on the second one. It was integrated, the data flow was OK but the result is FAR from expectation. Haiizz, which means algorithm problem. Which means I have to play again with breakpoint and debugging function. Ugh ugh…

After fiddling with it for quite some time, spent half a day for it today, I still had no clue how it went wrong. Then at one fateful moment *duh…* I finally put the breakpoint at the right line, spotted the right indication, made the right change and yaaayyyy it worked!!!! And you know what, it was just a missing negative sign *duh kuadrat*

Picikalipid picikalipid…

Maaf, saya memang norak. Maklum, I am not an accomplished programmer at all. Not even from a Computer Engineering/Science school. Orang Surabaya bilang BoNek.

What's yours?

Sometimes I wonder what am I doing here, staring at the monitor and trying to solve the problems with ones and zeros. I do enjoy my work, honestly. And debugging some programs can also excite me, giving me the reason to wake up so early to head to office. Nevertheless, I can’t help thinking that I can spend this glorious morning at home and do my paintings.

Remembering when the paint smoothly spread on the welcoming canvas, just like the fresh churned butter on a fresh-from-the-oven slice of bread. Hmmm….

Remembering when the colors blend nicely just like when you stir fresh milk in a cup of freshly-brewed coffee…

(getting sentimental here?)

It is always a mystery when you stare at a blank canvas. How would it turn out to be? What mood will it exude? How will my identity and style be depicted by the lines, strokes and colors? It’s a mystery that you can’t wait to reveal and for me, alas, I have to wait for weekend to continue dissecting that mystery.

The moments I spend with brush on my right hand and palette on my left and a canvas in front of me are those that I cherish. If you think I am exaggerating or if it is “too much”, come to NAFA building level 6 every Sunday morning and you’ll see that at least few people share the same “exaggeration”. We are not professional and we (erm… I) haven’t come out with any exhibitable masterpieces. But hey, who cares?

May be someday (which can be 10 years, 20 years or even more later) I’ll be standing alone in my own studio with a sturdy and reliable easel and a huge palette and an ample supply of paints (Van Gogh’s Artist Colour please, want to upgrade from Daler-Rowney haha =D), nice canvas and with sun rays coming through the window, some classical music behind and painting some scene from Tuscany which (by then) I would have visited.

And perhaps… (well, can’t help wishing) I would already have owned a gallery (personal one will do, I don’t need the commercial one).

That is what I can call A Bliss.

But for now, I just want to say something: “Rhea!! Wake up!!”

Sigh… but dreaming is not a sin, right?


PS: What’s your dream? Please do share =)

Not a very pleasant one

(This entry was written on Monday, 6 February 2006. But due to some technical glitches it wasn't posted, and during the days that follow I avoid being in close contact with PC)

Presentation (especially the one with a change in schedule) and sore eyes (a severe one) certainly do not go well together.

But this is the situation that I am currently in right now (that's why I know how bad it affects one's life).

I was supposed to have a presentation (well, my first ever upon joining this company) on 17 February (next week). And the director has conveyed the message and made sure it is clear that he expects an academic presentation, whatever that means.

On 23-30 January, I enjoyed my short break in Jakarta (and finally ate rujak cingur after so long, it's an Eastern Javanese delicacy in case you're wondering and this one was especially brought from Malang by my cousin for my indulgence). Coming back to office on Wednesday - it was still quite as people are still extending their Chinese New Year break - only to know that the presentation (the academic one - what else?) is brought forward to 10 February (this Friday).

Unable to start preparing it immediately (what with my other works to do), I've allocated Friday onwards just to do it and also for something "oral examination kinda thing" which is due on 8th of Feb (the day after tomorrow).

Friday morning, I woke up only to know that my right eye sored. Went to see doctor in NUS, only to hear her saying that it is a serious one, my eye was badly infected and she then made an appointment with an eye specialist in NUH for me. By then, the sore had become more and more unbearable and she gave me an MC.

I had a tearful moment with the specialist. My slit eyes and single-eye lid made his usually long eye examination longer. Once he forced to fold my eye lid back and what I can tell you is that it wasn't a very pleasant experience. And because my eyes were too small, he needed to drop some medicine to dilate my eyes. Very uncomfortable, felt very absurd. He told me I got a bacterial infection.

The weekend was gone through by a swollen right eye, waking up on Saturday only to know that my left eye was also infected (the doctor suggested not to share pillow and towel with anybody, but I just can't quarantine my left eye from the right one, right?), few tearful moments, especially when I applied the eye drop (my whole body shakes for few torturous second.. I'll look like someone who just consumed drugs), skipped my painting class and did it at home instead, and until this morning which I felt my eyes are much better than 2 days ago.
But being in office (i.e. air-conditioned room) for 1 hour had again discouraged me. My eyes became more red and very dry.. I kept on squinting and it made me more difficult for me to prepare my presentation!! Oh no... How? What to do? I am panic now. Will seek more advice when I see the specialist again this afternoon.

OK, gotta do my presentation slides now (heaven helps!!) and in case you're wondering how on earth can I type for so long now, I am at home now (without air con) and have brought all my works back home in case I decide to extend my rest until tomorrow (better than coming with red squinting eyes to the presentation room which will be attended by directors, project leaders, etc??)

PS: Panic to the power of infinity!!!!!

Now is TODAY's entry:

I went to see the specialist again in NUH on Monday, 3 pm only to know that though my bacterial infection has waned, I still have a viral infection which will last for 10 days - 2 weeks!! Luckily, it doesn't hurt as bad as the bacterial one. Still bearable, or at least my eyes had their normal size back. Obviously, he pleaded me to abstain against reading, watching movies, seeing PC's monitor.. avoid them as much as I can. He gave me MC for 4 days. At first he wanted to give a full week MC but I objected it.

With this, my director agreed to postpone my presentation. Phew.. Can't really imagine how to prepare it under this condition.

I couldn't do anything right. Can't read for more than few minutes, only checked my important e-mails (and kept squinting)... All in all, it was boring boring boring!!! So I slept a lot (something that I don't usually do under normal circumstances). I normally can't have a nap how hard I try (contrary to norm?) but luckily they came at ease when I was soooo daaaammnn boooreeeddd..

Today, I ecstatically went to office. Finally... my eyes are already back to ALMOST normal. Still have blur eyesight sometimes... But as long as I don't overstrain, I guess my normal eyesight will be back soon...

Chinese New Year is in the Air...

in particularly in China Town...



A news from the radio told us that during the consecutive three days of heavy downpour (last week) many stall owner in Chinatown suffered due to the unavoidable "forced" shut-down. The reason was no other than the water and wind that had mercilessly splashed into their stalls and wet the products. For only-God-knows how many incenses they have burnt (just kidding) - no superstition intended - we had a preety good weather during last weekend. Well, it brought the crowd back to Chinatown... and I mean, a real crowd!! We rubbed shoulder (literally) with only-God-knows how many people last Sunday. The air of Chinese New Year emanated from the shops, from the red and gold, from the fragrant food, from the sweet scents of chinese tea, from the reverberating sound of sellers, buyers and the clarion chinese music...

And as Singaporean tradition that has never ceased... Lim Chee Guan's bakwa (the celebrated fragrant barbecued meat - mostly pork and for Indonesian, it's dendeng mahal) reaches its peak during this season!! It has never missed the long queue.

As for this magnificent acrobatic act, it wasn't in Chinatown.. This picture was taken in Marina Square.

PS: pardon me for the not-so-good quality of the picture. Firstly, I am not a good photographer (not even a photographer - without good) and secondly, I didn't bother to queue (really!!) to get the best spot for a snap...

Nice pair... =)

What a nice pair... =) This pleasant sight was seen in Harbourfront on Sunday 15 January 2006 (yep, nice pair on a nice day)

Temanku Siaran...

Aih aih gak nyangka di hari Senin ini akhirnya gua denger juga temen gua yang cute and imut, Fika di radioooo...

Selama ini dia siaran di RSI (Radio Singapore International) bagian bahasa Indo, which is a short-wave radio which means dengan segala keterbatasan gua, gua ga bisa dengerin. Walaupun gua pernah di"interview" di RSI dan suara gua melayang-layang di udara, tapi gak nyampe ke kuping gua *ihiks*

So today gua lagi buosen banget. Rada-rada sakit perut *biasalah* terus jadi ga bisa konsentrasi belajar (belajar coding gitu lho, mana ngarti aye?), bosen, ngantuk, laper dan bener-bener bukan suasana yang kondusif untuk belajar dengan semangat yang berkobar bak api olimpiade yang tak kunjung padam (ini judul buku Lupus jadoel bukan sih?). Temen gua suggest gua untuk denger lagu kenceng-kenceng terus ikutan nyanyi *heeehh??? di kantor gitu lho*.

Akhirnya gua bermain-main dengan radio, berkelana di Nokia HP gua. Biasanya kan cuma berkisar di Symphony92 FM dan Gold90 FM (emang ada yang bilang selera radio gua ga sesuai umur) akhirnya tadi sempet coba dengerin radio Prancong bentar, nangkep setengah dari berita yang hendak disampaikan oleh pembawa berita penuh sengau itu, dan yah.. setengah yang kedengeran itu rasanya yang ga penting-penting soalnya gua ga bisa menarik benang merah dari rangkaian kata-kata yang gua mengerti. It's like tous les jours *tuuuuut* avec *tuuut* beaucoup d'authorite *tuuuuuut* .... *tuuuut* .... *tuuuuut* ..... *tuuuut* .... yah silakan lanjutkan sendiri, capek ngetiknya.

So nyampe lah gua di RIA FM... dan yang pertama kedengeran tuh ketawanya si Fika ituh!! Gelo, ngakak banget. Khas banget deh, ga ketemu di jalan, ga lagi kerja bareng, ga lagi ke kamarnya, ga lagi ke mana, ga di radio.. itu ketawa ngakak emang ga ilang.

Lucunya lagi, sempet-sempetnya dia lagi siaran bales SMS gua.. hahaha multitasking amat lu, Fik!!

Dia suruh gua dengerin sekarang, 5-6 pm will be all Indonesian songs.... dia bilang, in case I miss them.. Well, honestly.. I've lost any connection with any Indonesian songs, singers, band, musician and what-not.

Yah, terima kasih Fik, at least sekarang gua jadi tau dikiiiittt...

Stay tune!!

See the Sun!!

Finally... we can see the sun again!!

After few days of getting wet in this land. I believe many have problems with laundry (spare them with dryers).

We don't know how long will it last, though. The sky may look promising but you know Singapore weather is as capricious as an active chameleon.

So for those of you having the luxury of being outside, enjoy basking in it!!

And for the rest who have same fate with me, i.e. surrounded by 4 walls, ceiling and floor, make sure you go out from your building for lunch!! (though it's not guaranteed that the sky will stay the same by then...)

Thank you Lord, as I asked a good weather from you today, so that somebody can have a safe and pleasant flight back home. Amen!!

A Gigantic Butterfly

My lunch mate cum friend screamed and ran away when she saw this butterfly, leaving me in a state of shock (of her voice). I can't really understand why she can hug and cuddle her rabbits and screamed like anything when seeing a dead (but still beautiful though dark-coloured) butterfly.

For reference, the tile is 20 cm x 20 cm, so now can you imagine how gigantic it is? This is the biggest I have seen so far in human civilization area (zoo is excluded, though I haven't been to any zoos with butterflies).

This one was found in the staircase (DSI building). I guess it was hurled by the merciless wind (well, you know what the weather in Singapore was like in these few days) to the building's window, then was tossed against the floor. *oh oh kejam amat*

It was taken by using my Nokia phone hence my apology for the poor quality.

Looking Back – September, October, November, December 2006

I gather all the four together here as what happened within this period was the entanglement of lots of things.

I can’t really recall what happened when and how (funny, isn’t it? The most recent ones are the least that I could recall). I just know that it was rather a hectic period, though with the least frequency I am “seen” outside (i.e. in activities), people think otherwise.

These four months were full of mental and cardiac sports and challenges. A tiring one, and has somehow reduce the cheerfulness in me. So for those of you who have inserted some of the following words (and their synonyms): cheerful, sociable, talkative, friendly in my Friendster testimonials, you may wish to revise.

Without disclosing too much, let me just put it this way. I am currently going through a journey, whose result is still unknown and unpredictable. I am anxious from head to toe. When will the answer come? I don’t know, hopefully soon. Not soon enough so I can prepare myself for whatever outcome it may give and not long enough so I won’t go crazy of waiting.
For those who know what I am up to, thank you for your support and trustworthiness!!

PS: September was also the month when I started my new job, a decision that I have never regretted... yet. Hopefully I won't at all.

Wet Wet Wet

Today, Singapore is wet all day!! I mean, literally all day!

I woke up at 6.40 am, only to know that the city was drenched. Luckily, when I left to NAFA at around 8 it wasn't raining cats and dogs anymore. What with this heavy rain and some MRT Stations and Bus Interchange closure due to some terrorism emergency exercises, many students were late.

It kept on raining when I was inside the building, on my way back home, when I took a very short nap, when I went out again and took train to Chinese Garden, when I was waiting and waiting for a full 30 minutes for my friends (and I tried to kill a bit of the time by taking some pictures), when I walk to the flat, when we celebrated pretty #1's birthday, when I walked to the bus stop at around 9.30 pm, when I walked back home, until when I was rather insomniac and slept only between 1-2 am.

In other words, it rained the WHOLE day!! Non Stop!! Who are crying buckets up there?

Birthdays...

A knocking sound was heard on one lonely night. It was my first night in NTU, first night ever in Hall 11 as well. My roommate had the priviledge of staying with her uncle on her first few nights hence I was left alone unpacking my luggage in an unfamiliar room, in a foreign country.

It turned out that the knocking sound came from a girl whom I just knew few hours before, when we were just about to leave Changi and waited for shuttle bus which would send us (and many others) to NTU. Her roommate was also away, so both of us are just lonely girls who were still rather unsure of the days that would follow.

She is VJ (your initial sounds so cool, Vel!!) and she just celebrated her birthday few days ago (so for those of you who've forgotten, reach your mobile and SMS her!! Hehehehe). Through this entry, I just want to wish her the happiest birthday and may the coming year would bring more prosperity and everything good to her. It sounds mushy but at least I am sincere.

We have been together for almost 7 years, wow!! And I believe many many years will follow. Remember our "vow" last time (were made when we were in... 2nd year?) that we would spend our olden days in rocking chairs and knitting together!!!

I have seen her success and failures year after year, I have seen the twinkle in her eyes when she fell in love and also the tears when she was broken hearted. When her mood was up and also when it was down. When she reached her most productive days and also the days when she just wanted to laze around, when her things-to-do was endless and when she was completely idling.

We've been together in pre-exam fiasco and post-exam euphoria. The late night cramming and mugging, the early morning jogs. When we pledged for healthier diet regime and when we both agreed that "the more sinful, the better".

And what we can't forget is how we got lost together for few times!! I guess R, V and SBS just didn't go well together (luckily it's not like that anymore).

And our mischief conduct: only she and I know about this -> "seluas samudera..." Well, I believe you understand what I meant by that keywords...

I guess we still have many more.. But I am too sleepy to write them down here, it's pass my sleeping time and tomorrow is working day. Anyway, I believe both of us still remember them, our younger and more carefree days... =)

You know what song is playing in the radio now? Yes, it is "That's What Friends Are For"

Thanks for everything!! Bonne Nuit...

Happy Birthday!!

Today is the 70th birthday of the King of Rock and Roll (8th of January 1935)!!

I am not a fanatic fan of him, but still.. He is just too great to be missed!!!

PS: Do you know that he sings Gospel also?

Looking Back – August 2005 – The Revamp of Santa Ursula

On 9 August 2005, when Singapore was celebrating its anniversary of independence, I was attending a Sanurian Mass at no other than my high school, Santa Ursula, a green old colonial building in central of Jakarta. They were having a “school warming”, a blessing rite for the newly built level 3 and 4.

The style of the mass was similar to what we used to have before, i.e. decoration, opening, songs, drama, offering, etc. Only those who have attended this mass would understand what I am trying to describe here. It refers to Sanurians and alumni, and also students from Canisius, Pangudi Luhur, Tarakanita 1, Santa Ursula BSD and Santa Theresia who were invited when our batch made a public one on one Sunday in September 1998.

Well, I met lots of my old teachers, most of them have forgotten me (of course, I graduated in like, 6 years ago?) but some still recall though. One mathematics teacher even remembered a (rather embarrassing) punishment she had given me when my graduation was nearing (only few weeks before my final exam).

And of course, we tried to find out what the revamps are:
1. They now have air conditioners in classroom
2. They have radio broadcast room with the speaker (intercom?) in every classroom
3. The main function hall has now a touch of pink colour instead of all-green that we used to have before.
4. They have the additional level three and four which have different interiors than their precedence. The olden colonial interior is no longer prevailing. They use this simple, chic and modern touch on the interior. The ghost stories that we had will only stop at level two and they can’t go up further, simply because the backdrop and setting are just not right for the stories (in other words, it’s no longer spooky up there).
5. The have dance room which looks professional to me; with the floor-to-ceiling, edge-to-edge mirrors.
6. They have new gamelan room
7. They have new OSIS room
8. They have new male toilet (something which was very rare before, I mean the “seen” ones).
9. And many many more

About the toilet, I used to pity my male teachers should they have an “emergency” situation or the uncompromising nature calls as the male toilets were at one corner of the building which is not so near to the teacher assembly room at all.

I used this chance to walk down the memory corridor (sounds so romantic, eh?) and of course, visit my old classroom: 3 IPA 2!!! Oh by the way, they now use 10, 11, 12 instead of 1, 2, 3 (continued from primary school, junior high, and then high school).

PS: The picture above is at the older part of the building, level two (main function hall)

Looking Back - August 2005 #2

On Saturday, the two of us joined a city tour whose itinerary was as follow: Zoo, Dolphin Watching at Nelson Bay (which we didn’t see any and the cold and too windy boat journey was not very pleasant), sand boarding (which I like it very very much and would really like to have a replay of it!! Hmm, though few times I tasted the sands as they sometimes come in me in a literally mouthful), and visiting Port Stephen’s winery.

Before entering and wine tasting, firstly I visited the restroom to clean as many sands as I could from my body. The long bus journey afterwards was rather traumatizing as everyone was sleeping except me and the driver (of course!), it was too dark to read a book and definitely I couldn’t talk to myself, my M&Ms finished in few minutes only… So I just enjoyed the view and relished every moment, reminding myself that “Oh my God it’s a holidaaaaayyy!!!” (And I badly miss that thought now)

Sunday started later than any other days. Only around noon did we leave to East Ocean to have our Dim Sum lunch. I had an appointment to meet with my ex-classmate in 2nd year of high school so it was.. hmmm 7 years ago? Well, we didn’t change at all so we could easily spot each other. Went for shopping in QVB, took a peep in Market City and Paddy’s Market. We attended a sunset mass at Cathedral of Saint Mary, which was really huge and still has the olden touch in the architecture (not like Cathedral of Good Shepherd) but too bad the sound system wasn’t fantastic. But still, I think there is something about Cathedral which differentiates it from others. It’s the “ambience” which is beyond words (maksudnya, gua ga bisa ceritain di sini gitu – bilang aja males hehe).

Another city tour on Monday, our destinations were: Blue Mountain (where we walked in a Rain Forest – enjoyed it!!) and… *drum rolls* Jenolan Cave. It was breathtaking, it was magnificent, it made you wonder about the great things that nature can do. I have never seen as many crystals as what I saw inside the cave all my life. And each one of them embodied thousand years of history. Some crystals create a lace-like structure until you doubt that it’s crystal, convincing yourself that it is really a lace curtain.

Upon reaching Sydney (yup after another few hours of bengong-ing in the bus while reminding myself “Oh My God it’s a holidaaaaaayyy!!”), we joined the rest of the group in a dinner at Pancake on the Rock. We decided to go during weekdays to avoid the long queue.

Our next day was started quite late. We only left the apartment when it was almost noon and took a train to Bondi for shopping. In case I forgot to mentioned, I like shopping in Australia as it’s more to my size. While in Singapore I used to grab size M or L, in Australia size XS and S are made for me. Bondi is where I got my desk easel (thank you, Yen!!) and a series of nine mosaic canvases (to which I haven’t done anything ‘til now). They had this big sale for canvases which made them really, really, really cheap. Too bad, I would fly back alone, it’s just too troublesome. In late afternoon, my “companion” (watch out, this word may have many connotations!) drove to her place in Wollongong. It is to Sydney is like Tangerang to Jakarta. That’s what I need to consolidate my holiday; quietude.

The breakfast that I had on the next day was probably my best so far! It was simply idyllic, fantastic, elysian, you name it. The ambience was perfect, the food was marvelous, the macchiato was what I need for, this Diggies at North Wollongong Beach is a valid reason for you to drive back to Wollongong whenever you visit Sydney. It was the “real” breakfast by the beach that I’ve found so far. Don’t compare it to Coffee Bean-ing or McDonalds-ing in east coast, you’ll find it so hard to blow up your imagination. Lucky us to go during weekdays, we didn't need to queue. According to my “companion” it may take a full 45 minutes (or more) during weekend to get a seat. Even so, the waiting time is very much worth it. Having been full of salmon, potatoes, eggs and some sausages (which was concocted very nicely, of course) we strolled along and play around the North Wollongong Beach. After going back and washing up, off we went to the shopping area. Continued by visiting one (and perhaps the only one) tourism spot in Wollongong: Nan Tien Temple. It was located in a vast green land with lots of greeneries. As I am from a Buddhist family (though I am not one anymore), the temple and everything inside were not so foreign for me. The day was ended by a sumptuous dinner at Collegiate, I had some dory fish with avocado and mango sauce, if my memory still functions as it should.

And finally, the day to bid goodbye came, it was a sunny Thursday. The morning was spent by playing with Boxy for the last time (buuuuut…. *drum rolls* Boxy is coming to Singapore in two weeks time!! And yes, he will stay here afterwards). At around noon, we left Wollongong and headed to Hurstville. After having lunch there, off we went to Kingsfordsmith Airport and not long after, I was already in Qantas Airline and 8 hours later, the prevailing humidity of this country again embraced me…

Good bye Sydney, you’ve made my August an august August!! (not a repetition here, watch out the upper and lower case: adjective and noun)

So Long, Farewell… Á Bientôt!!

See you soon, Boxy!

Looking Back - August 2005 #1

On 9th of August, Singapore celebrated its independence day (40th?). Some artists sang somewhere, with Taufik Batisah and Rui En singing this year’s theme song. I don’t really know as I was in Jakarta at that time.

On 17th of August, it was my country Indonesia’s turn to celebrate its 60th anniversary of independence. This time, I was in Singapore. And if you see groups of people wearing red and white in Singapore, your guess of where they are coming from is most probably correct. Hmm, 10 years have passed since I sang in the Istana Merdeka (is it a presidential office?) for Indonesia’s Golden Year Celebration (in 1995, i.e. the 50th anniversary). I sang twice but this one I remember best as we were wearing uniforms (for thousands of choir members) and we had to sing more songs. Well, I was singing in choirs few times nonetheless as I mentioned before, I’ve forgotten how to sing now.

On 19th of August, I celebrated my own independence. After two years, two months and ten days I officially left the company. It wasn’t a tearful day, wasn't my happiest moment notwithstanding. I quite liked working there and could get along well with colleagues and also got some benefits of working there. If only I don’t have other goal (for which I am determined to aim) perhaps now I am still playing with printers day by day. They joked that they have now lost a female creature which is very rare in the department and that they haven’t got a chance to see me in skirts.

On 22nd of August, I took a flight to Sydney. On the next day, I took another flight to Gold Coast. Our first day was spent in Sea World and Shopping Arcades at Surfer Paradise area.

Movie World became our destination on the next day.

Dream World came next in our agenda (Giant Drop and Tower of Terror - see picture below). The entries of my trip to Australia stopped here (check out the links).

The next “interesting” thing was tarot reading session with a Peruvian lady. Not that I believe 100% in her, but hmm, it’s just for fun! A fun at a price though, but it was quite an experience. Of course I remember what she told me but, no no no I don’t think I would reveal it here *grin*. That day, we were not in the mood of taking many rides. We went back to the apartment early and then just walked around the shopping arcade after having a nice dinner at a pizza place. Surfers Paradise has this Wednesday night market along the beach. As the price was too astronomical for a market shopping, we went home empty handed. We ate another Baskin Robbins ice cream and went back to do some packing.

Next morning, a glorious one, we spent at the beach. I like it, beach-ing during winter. It was just different from what my previous sundry experiences. As beach is not favourite holiday destination during winter, the beach was almost completely ours. Ha ha! We then flew back to Sydney, took another train to Hurstville again. We had a sushi dinner at Makoto, then filling the cold night at Darling Harbour area with our boisterous voice and laughter. Went back for shower and then cruising down again to Double Bay, and waited for a full chilly 30 minutes outside Max Brenner before getting our seats. At 11.30 pm we started browsing the menu which is different from Singapore’s in Esplanade, and I like the Sydney’s one!! The hot chocolate menu is not as vast and in Singapore they don’t have croissants.

To be continued!!

Looking Back - July 2005

On the first day of this month, we had this small Sanurian Reunian at NYDC, Suntec City. The ages vary in like... 15 years of range? The noise... I better not explaining it.

We had it few times, which is always combined with food. It's very difficult in getting all of them however, hence the rarity. This one was arranged when I was in Bali so I didn't really know how did they manage to contact this number of people.

The record in terms of number (and event and everything actually) was in November 2002 (see below) when our "common mother", i.e. a strong brave wonderful woman who was our headmistress and has forged us from girls to women, came in a brief visit to Singapore, on her way to somewhere else.

Within this month, I also decided to leave "that" squeezing company after few weeks of tug-of-war. Not that I was being capricious, as I had my decision firm that my job in "that" company was not something I would like to continue in pursuing my career and not aligned with my final goal (which I don't feel like disclosing it now). The circuitous discussion was started and continued until they are tired of arguing. Only when I told them that for this point of time, all I got from this company is more than what I am going to get from the new place. So you can't try to compensate anything as you are simply on a better position, it's solely due to the incongruence between the job and my goal that made me resign. Then they kept quiet.

Talking in the present dimension, I have never regretted that decision. Enough said for now =).

Do you know the song "Find Me" by David Gates? That's what I am listening for now and always like it so much.

Looking Back - June 2005 #2

The next day we woke up, again happy, healthy and kicking as the previous day was ended by sitting around meja ajaib and the morning was started by another session around meja ajaib.

With the same group of friends, I went to Dreamland Beach which has literally made our jaws drop in awe and we had to regain their usual position manually. I mean, Oh My God it was simply not like, not even close, what we had seen before!! Dreamland Beach is not well-known for fellow Indonesians when compared to Kuta or Sanur. However, many people abroad especially surfers love this place so much which now we can fully understand why. It is not too commercialized yet, they don’t even have a proper hotel, only some village rooms that are rented out with very bare and simple necessities inside.

Our next visit was Garuda Wisnu Kencana (well, it is a God in Hindu whose complete history I am not very familiar with). It is a statue which, upon completion, will be one of the tallest in the world and being on top of it will enable you to see the whole island and perhaps beyond. What have been done until today is just the upper torso and the head. It will later have the whole body and also the garuda with some pura-like structure below. My apology beforehand if this information is not exact.

After a brief visit to Four Seasons and checking out, I parted with them and joined another two friends in Hard Rock Hotel, where I would enjoy my second half part of holiday. As we stayed in Kuta, so my activity on the first night was just to stroll along the shopping arcade and ate at Warung Made alone as they went to a place which I wasn’t really interested to go (Kudeta and some other places). Hard Rock Hotel is too modern in design and not for those who intend to spend a quiet holiday. The band kept playing until midnight and the sound went all the way to every room. Not for me with “sensitive ears” hehehehe =D.

The next day we went for shopping in Sukowati Market, which went longer than I had expected. As I am not a big fan of shopping nor haggling, it didn’t leave much impression to me. Then we ate in this famous Babi Guling (something like roast pork, a Balinese special dish - suckling pig - is it how they call it?) Bu Oka in Ubud. Visited Tanah Lot, where I took a picture with a snake, a big one! It was circling around my neck, rather heavy, big diameter and was quite long. When I did this, my two female friends took a distance. I wonder why?

Wednesday was water sport day. Parachuting, jet skiing and banana boat-ing. Quite fun as it was my first experience in memory. My earlier attempts with my dad when I was too young is not counted as I can hardly recall. Ate in Ulam, another place famous for its Indonesian Food.

The rest of the days were just spent by strolling around Kuta and did some shopping. On Thursday a friend and I bid goodbye to beautiful Bali and we flew back to Singapore, leaving another lady behind to enjoy her longer holiday…

And I am flying back hooommmee.....

Looking Back - June 2005 #1

In the sixth month of 2005, I found the true meaning of blue. In Bali!!

As an Indonesian, it is such a shame that I have only visited Bali twice. Not that all Indonesian has to visit this Island of Goddess (Pulau Dewata), but it is a fact that many foreigners have visited the beautiful island more than what we have done.

So after ten years from my first visit, I again flew to Bali, from Singapore this time. The main agenda was clear, i.e. to attend a friend’s wedding (see picture above). But it seems like (and it was quite obvious, actually) that the peripheral agenda was more happening and waited for and obviously taking more space in the picture folder. *Bali gitu lho…. Baliiiii….. coba bandingkan Bali dan Singapore…*

I guess this posting will have more pictures than other entries. Despite the 2002 bombing, we still decided to go (no worry and fear at all honestly) and I am forever grateful that God still loves me enough to spare me from any misfortune and hence here I am, sharing some beauty and blue from Bali.

My flight was on Friday afternoon and I had an interview in the morning. I was fetched by my long-lost cousin whom I haven’t met for 2005 – 1997 = 8 years. Went out to his eatery to eat (he is one with the legacy of cooking my ancestor’s – from mother side – well known cuisine) and reached the hotel at around 11 pm.

The next day started with rafting in a river whose name I’ve forgotten. Then we (a group of four) went to a massage at Cozy (claimed to be one of the affordable best in Bali). As I have never been a fan for massage, spa and any other kind of relaxation hence for this time I was just thankful as it was in Bali hence without an escalating price. Next, Tirtha Uluwatu with the unforgettable monkey attacks.

Had nice dinner at Jimbaran Seafood (Ramayana) by the dark beach. Continued to Kudeta, a very well known place to eat, drink, relax even to people abroad. Owned by one local and three foreigners, this place can really attend to tastes of many cultures. It has an indoor table and chair dining place suitable for families, some bar areas, some outdoor comfortable couches, and some benches by the beach. It is vast, the service is good, the drink is nice but the ambience is what’s really, totally awesome. We left the place at around midnight, as on the next day we had a wedding to attend (and where I had to deliver a wedding speech). Alas, the next thing we knew was that we couldn’t just leave Kudeta as one of our car tyre sank in the sand. An abortive attempt from us and one of its officer continued until 1 am when I started calling my cousin, just to ask where and how can we seek help from police. He then came with his friends and also tried many ways but failed. Then he called a friend who has a four-wheel drive kind of vehicle and our car was literally pulled in many directions until it was back on track, hmm on a civilized track more like. It was 2 am, we were exhausted and yet glad and relieved that we could now go back to hotel. Yet, we still chatted until 4 am.

Our agenda for the next day was only to attend the wedding. The preparation was rather rushing as we still spent the morning chit-chatting around our “meja ajaib”. Why do we call it meja ajaib (magic table)? When you are not feeling well, unhealthy or tired just sit there, have a chit chat and some nibbles with us and the next thing you knew is that you are healthy, happy and kicking one more time!

So off we went to the wedding, join the solemnization in the very beautiful triangular chapel. The scenery was simply breathtaking I must say. The blue was really blue. It is difficult to explain, can’t really capture in a picture either, you have to be there to experience the “blue” (the colour, not the mood). The wedding was beautiful and the buffet dinner was sumptuous. It was an outdoor wedding, and the cliff and the sea became our background.

You can definitely only find it in Bali…

Looking Back - May 2005

As part of the whole Geminians population, I fall on the category who celebrates birthday in May. Our other half-population's birthdays are in June. Hmm pardon me, not half... two-third, more like.

Had only a small celebration this year (well, doesn't mean that previous years had more happening celebration either).

We started our long distance relationship (LDR - red.) one day before my birthday. Many fussed about it, except the two of us hahaha =D.

I had a simple dinner with four of my close friend - 4 girls and 1 guy are we. Another solid friendship which was first built up during our years in NTU. I thank God for that. What gift did I receive? They call it a "pleasure pack" *rada maksa emang... Vel are you reading this? haha*
comprising a pack of French Vanilla ground coffee beans from Coffee Beans and Il Divo CD which according to the giver it gives pleasure to our ears (as their music is marvellous) and to our eyes (as their handsomeness is clearly depicted on the album cover).

Comparing pictures taken on my birthday in 2004 and 05... man, am I ageing or what? *of course lah ya, namanya juga nambah setaon umurnya... lha piye tho?*

PS: My CD player is Kevin Kern-ing, gonna switch it to Il Divo though... =P
Fave from Il Divo: anu.. si gondrong, eh lagu-nya ya? Nella Fantasia.

Looking Back - April 2005

This month, I didn't really remember much about any extraordinary things happening. Was it the period where I was commuting between Singapore and Johor Bahru almost everyday for few weeks? I guess it was, calculating the time from that deadly deadline (see my previous post) until the parts coming in for production line.

Well, it was when I still worked for "that" squeezing company. Hahaha I really feel like it belongs to some kind of past tense and makes me start wondering, was I really there?

By the way, despite the fact that I am coming to my seventh year living in Singapore, I haven't even once "traveled" to JB. As for work purpose, it was a car-office-car thingy. The journey could be so boring and once I brought my laptop and typed an entry, check it out here.

Therefore, JB's "cheap shopping" (I don't like shopping anyway) and "good food" (Asian food - except Japanese - is not my favourite either) are still foreign to me.

This was also the month in which I watched a matinée show for "The Sound of Music" the musical. A bit of this, I watched it for the first time when I was still in a kiddo in primary 1. TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia - Te Ve Er I menjalin persatuan dan kesaaaatuuuuuuuaaaaaannn.....) aired it, still without any commercials - a good thing about a public (not private) TV station. Then during my primary 4's school end's holiday, my dad borrowed the laser disc (not the era of VCD and let alone DVD yet), whose borrowing period I asked to renew, and renew, and renew 'til school holiday ended. I owned the VCD now but had no much time to watch it either.

My friend and I (both are geminians - ini info tak penting sama sekali) liked it so much to the point where we can follow the dialogues, almost during the whole movie. Plus intonation. Plus accent. Alas, our voices are still nowhere near their singing.

So the last time I watched the show was in Esplanade, 17th of April 2005.

Want my honest opinion? I will opt for the movie though I didn't regret at all watching the musical.