Wok of Life of a Wannabe Wanderer?

What a coincidence! Two of my pals, former colleagues in SCB, had the same wedding date on June 24. Luckily, the reception was held separately. One in the morning close to noon time, while the other was held in the evening. Didn’t seem to be a special arrangement or sort of compromise though.. Guess we would have split the armada into two if it had been held at the same time.

The morning one was Andrew’s party and I happened to be one of the guest reception, known as Among Tamu. What an experience. At first I was a bit hesitate when he asked me about that. No special reason, just that I really don’t know what to do with this role. I was convinced after learning that no special preparation is to be made and all I have to bring is myself! With good intention to help a pal (well, isn’t it a great honour to be asked ?), I proudly took the invitation. The hardest part was to keep the secret of the wedding itself. Well..well..  2 months before D-Day, I was  informed and invited for the role and  had to promise not to tell anybody until the official announcement!

The wedding was held at Bogor, the rain city.. Quite a far distance. Waking up early, I went to Bogor with Eka, also a former SCB’ers and currently colleague of Andrew taking Busway to reach Gambir station. Arriving there, we proceeded directly to the dedicated counter selling local and Debotabek region train ticket. With spare of 15 minutes from the train scheduled departure, we sat calmly in the sitting area without knowing that we were actually waiting in the wrong line! Having waited for 20 minutes, we started to wondering why the h*ll train wasn’t coming. Walking toward the officer and asking him, he pointed out to the slowly moving just departed train as the one we should embark.. Not a good sign.. We left Gambir station at 8.30, the next train schedule for Bogor. Luckily we departed early in the morning. After around 1 hour trip, we reached Bogor and took another 15 minutes by "angkot" to the venue.

The second unpleasant incident happened shortly after arriving there. Hehe.. my fault for not confirming with Andrew prior to the trip. I mistakenly wore the costume intended for "Pagar Bagus" instead of "Among Tamu". Not until a phone call from the groom that I realized it. What made it more awkward, I didn’t bring anything other than a pair of shoes and a t-shirt while Among Tamu had to wear formal trouser. I was very guilty that Andrew tried to find it for me. He2. Remind me of Chinese proverb of "Yue Pang Yue Mang" Sorry & Thanks Ndrew.. !

The reception began at 11.00 AM but there were already a few of early birds. Our main jobs were to identify VIPs and VVIPs of the invitees, inform them to the MC and lastly escort them to the dedicated room. Everythings went fine, only a small misunderstanding which caused more guests than should be were admitted to the room. He2.. Sorry again Ndrew, we were just following the instructions having confirmed it several times.. But seemed like it was not as the original plan. The reception ended at 1.30 PM. After a series of photo shoot, delivering live testimonial, we left for train station and managed to get 2.30 PM train leaving for Jakarta.

I arrived at home 4.30 just to learn the black-out. With another wedding reception at 7 and fatigue over the lengthy trip, I took a nap in the midst of bloody heat. Waking up at 5.30, there was still no electricity, which means No water.. Thanks to the kindness of my boarding house’s owner, managed to take a shower in the middle of dim light candle. Putting on Batik and shoes, went straightly to office building, the meeting point with other friends. We went to the party on free-ride, courtesy of Este, one best friend of mine since college time in her Yaris! He2.. Maklum lah.. anak kos..

The second wedding of the day was Ian’s.. I think it was the poshest wedding I’ve ever attended. The foods were awesome and some public figures were among the crowded attendees. Not surprising given……. =) Good thing was to catch up with other former colleagues, just like a small reunion with haha hihi.. After a photo session with the happy couple, went home with another free ride from Piesca n DJ. =p Arriving at 10 with darkness surrounded. Still no electricity..

Apparently there was explosion in one of the PLN electricity station earlier in the afternoon which affected Karet area. A night without electricity.. Not really big deal. Although a bit uncomfortable with the heat.. At first, it was estimated it’d take at least 3 days to fix the damage. But luckily, it took much less time. 24 hours later, black-out was gone, and now I’m typing this blog under clear light accompanied by favourite music from Winamp!

Congratz to Andrew and Ian…
Wishing you a happy life ahead and Andrew Jr and Ian Jr coming soon… ^_^

What would it take to make a series of films, one sequel to another, without losing the enthusiasm from the market and if possible, receiving more support ? Well a numerous factors can be considered. Big name actors and actresses or maybe more sophisticated and very high-tech computer effects. For movies that are brought to big screen based on comic adaptation, the producer might want to show up much high profile characters.

The two last reasons certainly fit perfectly to the latest super heroes movie : Fantastic Four : Rise of The Silver Surfer. While not the best, I personally perceive this movie is one of the spectacular super hero movies I’ve ever watched, at least much much better than its predecessor back in 2005. At first I was a bit sceptical about this movie when some friends suggested this one. Had one friend of mine not made an appointment to catch Shrek the day after and I had not watched Ocean 13 before, then I guess I’d be settled for a piece of dvd in the next few months. Well, no surprise then if you recall how crap is the first movie of Fantastic Four which I labelled the worst ever made super hero movies.

Speaking about sequels, we have seen a lot of them has been and will be thrown out to the market. It’s summer time.. time regarded as the most perfect time to screen a movie and also probably the most profitable time! Spiderman 3,  the final sequel of Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Fantastic Four : Rise of The Silver Surfer, Ocean 13 and Shrek 3 (the final one ? no?). Not to forget the upcoming Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix. In span of just few weeks, those Hollywood producer is really using this period to scoop big bucks! No problem though since each of them is unique and has its own fans base. What about the qualities ? Well, I’d say some of them are disappointing (spiderman 3 for example), some of them are better (F4), while some of them can’t be judged due to completely different plot between the former and the latter.

Disappointing or not, the rise and fall of sequel would very much depend on its predecessor and the viewer’s expectation. If the first one is so good that it makes you difficult to find a suitable word to describe it, then viewer would raise the bar for the upcoming sequels. That’s just normal.. One thing for sure, I personally think that sequels should be planned beforehand before the very first movie.. Not to be decided following the successful of the first one. Well, unless the movie-maker is so damn creative to turn the plot and write the scenario. Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of The Ring would certainly fall under the first category. And I think no one would argue with me those are really good movies. However, there’s also example of good movie in the latter category. Ice Age 2.. The hillarious one! For this case, we must give credits to the teams for their creativity! Creativity and ‘out of the box’ idea are certainly needed to produce a sequel not planned before. Or else, we would see disappointing sequels such as Infernal Affairs or our very own Tersanjung! Haha…

Today is Vesakh day, a holy day for Buddhism follower supposedly all over the world. But interestingly, it is not celebrated on the same day this year. Malaysia on May 1, Singapore on May 31, while Thailand on May 24. Just learned that this difference is due to the fact that two full moons happen to fall in one month based on Lunar Calendar. "Don’t sweat too much" on this one, that’s what the message delivered in the speech. What important is the spirit of Vesakh that should live.

Though not a very religious person, I went to temple with few friends in the morning. The most popular one, Ekayana Buddhist Centre in Tanjung Duren area. It was very foolish not to anticipate number of people who would pay a visit to temple on this occasion. Traffic jam happened along the tiny road on the way to the temple’s entrance. Along the road you could predict that most faces you saw were actually heading to the same destination. Reaching the main gate of the temple, I was astonished by groups of people queuing to enter the building. Should had come earlier to avoid long queue and got a quite OK spot. Nevertheless, having waited for around 15 minutes, we finally managed to slip in.

The first program carried out was Pindapatta, a tradition in which Monks carries a bowl to receive offering from peoples. The response was so huge that three trips had to be made to accommodate all offerings. Just understood later that there was more than 6,000 people attended the ceremony. A very  big crowd indeed. But seems like most of them were one-time-year-round visit. Hehe.. have to admit that I belong to this group too. After the tradition, we continued with praying and paritta reading, and not to forget a few minutes of meditation.

Speaking about religion and its relation with Politics, I tend to support the idea of Secularism. In my opinion religion is one of people’s basic rights and it’s between people and his/her God, his/her believe. Thus, we should not interfere and mix up between those two. But to be honest, it’s not that easy. Even in country who proclaim itself as the most democratic nation, who is well perceived as secularism country, religion is still one area that could be decisive when it comes to election. The likes of conservatism follower will certainly vote for those who campaigns on traditional value which includes some religious stuff.

In regard to above, I was surprised during the Vesakh Day ceremony I attended. Never come across my mind that a Governor candidate would pay a visit to the temple and delivered a speech. It seemed fishy. Quite funny that he’d take that chance to proclaim himself officially as candidate for Governor seat. Although no "direct message" was uttered out, you’d be a fool if you didn’t understand the meaning. A man sitting next to me was saying "Haha.. a campaign". Dunno if it was meant for joke but to hear a greeting sent out in front of wrong audience is ridiculous.

Well, well, enough on politics. Happy Vesakh Day. May I spend more time to make more progress in spiritual side. Hopefully =)

A blueprint is a plan for achieving something. That’s the
definition according to Longman English Dictionary which has been accompanying
my English learning for the past 9 years. Based to that definition, all
projects should have a blue print I think, a grand design to achieve the
project’s aims. Building a house for example, there would be a lay out plan, an
architectural and structural design, plan of space allocation, how many rooms
to have, where would those rooms be located respective to each other and for
sure the interior design. Looking more thoroughly, there should be some
measurements after certain milestones. After one month, foundations should be
finished completely, this side of wall by two months, and so on.

Referring to the definition and if we consider our lives as
a project then everyone should has his/her own blueprint. How we want our lives
look like, and how we will achieve that. Earn certain amount of money upon
reaching certain age, starting family, career objectives, graduate studies,
wealth creation, etc might be the blue print I guess. Interestingly, there
might be more than one blue print, or maybe several sub-blue prints to form a
big and clear picture of complete blue print.

Applying above to me, honestly speaking, no very clear of
life’s blue print has been set yet myself. So far there are things to be
achieved but not formulated well enough. Seems like the philosophy of “let it
flow just like the water” do have some impacts on that!

Though they’re not very clear ones, it’s quite interesting to
take a look at those objectives and fare them so far on my 24^th anniversary
today. While not claiming it’s been a spectacular year since the same date
exactly one year ago, quite confident to say that there’s been progress made. Still
quite a long way to go but hopefully more progresses will be made before one
important milestone in life, a quarter of centenary, next year.

 Had a dinner with several buddies just now. A very last
minute call is the only thing to regret. Had it been informed earlier, it would
have been merrier. Nevertheless, glad to have such reunion, a lively one with
joy and laughter. Sometimes you’ve gotta believe thing called “fate”. Just
wondering how many people in this big big world and the slim chance that you
could befriend someone. If you could even make a very best one, that don’t you
think that’s really amazing and awesome ? No need to say if you could make more
than one. That’d be very fortunate! And that’s what I’m glad about! Fortunate
to have some very great great friends!

 Happy Birthday to Me! =)

Noted on way back home that tonight’s moon is extremely round and bright. Just realized that today is the fifteenth day in the lunar calendar. No wonder! Fifteen! Then today is also the latest day of Chinese New Year celebration. It’s been two weeks since we welcomed the start of Pig Fire year on 18th February, which I managed to celebrate with my family in hometown.

Speaking about Chinese New Year, it is one of the most awaited days for me. The merriest one! What makes it so special ? Well, not only that it’s celebrated by all Chinese over the world, there’re also uniqueness of this festive as follow.

1. Reunion Dinner

Perhaps this one  is the most important thing during Chinese New Year. Families are gathering together, sit down in a big round table to have a joyful dinner. Laughter, chit-char are colouring the dinner. Young families usually go back to their parents’ house to have the reunion dinner. A great occasion.

2. Red Packet

New Year without Ang Pao (Red Packet)? You’ve gotta be kidding me. I don’t really understand the origin of this tradition. Just know to receive it happily =). It seems like it’s a sign for good luck. It’s a tradition that those who are already married must give one to their younger relatives. I’ve received quite a lot of Ang Pao (although not a child anymore). But when gave them my uncles and aunties were jokingly saying “Next year, you can’t receive from me again”.

3. Delicacies

As the biggest celebration in the year, there are a lot of delicacies accompany us throughout the days. “White stomach” fish which only lays eggs once a year during the Chinese New Year time, onion leave vegetables “Sheng” with a proverb “Ciak Sheng U Chi Kheng” – eating this vegetable, you’ll surely have money to save (that’s why everyone’s eating although dislike it), up till the rarely shark fin’s soup. Not to forget, New year’s cake of Nian Gao, Mua Ci, and also mandarin oranges.

4. Good Words

The mandarin one : Xin Nian Guai Le, Wan Shi Ru Yi, Shen Ti Jian Khang, Chang Ming Pai Xuei, Xue Ye Jin Pu, Shin Xiang Shi Cheng, or the Teochew one : Xing Jia Ju Yi, Shing Ti Kian Khang, Xing Ni Tua Thang. All of those are good words wishing for better health, wealth, luck, studies and fortune in the upcoming years.

5. New Things

New hair cuts, new clothes, new shoes are non written consensus in the new year that has been passed over the generation. You must wear all new, including your under wear. I was scolded by my mother after she learned that I didn’t have my hair cut. Woof, what’s the big deal ? That’s what I thought. But then I was told that it’s a tradition to start the a brand new year with brand new things, a sign for a better year ahead, leaving aside the previous year.

Apart from the above 5, did you know that :

- You must not sweep your house in the first day of new year. It’d sweep away your fortune

- Pay your debt before new year. By doing so, it’s hoped that you won’t have any debt again in the coming year.

It’s kinda weird, but it’s really nice to have such tradition preserved up till today and passed from generation to generation. I count myself very fortunate, to know all such traditions even though some times think that they’re a bit …. Oops..

Based on astrology, this year will not good for those who were born in the year of pig like me. Well, hope that this year will be just fine or even better than last year. Looking forward to another new year of Rat!!

Few hours left in 2006 to start  a brand new year of 2007. Looking back at past 364 days, trying hard gathering memories in grey cells on what I had done. Not much actually.. but surely, I’m quite confident to say that in general 2006 is a decent year. If I have to rate from 1 to 10 scale, I would give it a 7!

People say new year means new time brings new hope and resolutions should be made. Oh yeah ? he2.. skeptical about this. But moving on to 2007, try to list several items and hopefully can be fulfilled or achieveable. Not a very strict one though (means that can be carried over.. ha2.. a little bit cheat ! )
1. World Peace! (Heard that this one must be top of the list).. Hi2..
2. Own Health.
3. Family health & harmony..
4. Career growth (or change of career actually ? =p)
5. Making riskier investment.
6. Participating in another charity project
7. Do sport regularly (sigh.. this one is difficult)
8. Backpacking to somewhere alone!
9. Can finally drive a car with decent skills
10. Making more friends, catching up with old friends and or former class mates

Let’s see what items are achieved in the same time next year.. =)
Happy New Year, Xin Nian Guai Le..

One of the busiest religious festive days without no doubt is Eid Al-Fitr aka Lebaran. This holy day is celebrated by all Moslem over the world after a month of fasting..

Although I’m not a moslem, I always look forward to this day, more than Christmas. Don’t really understand what’s the reason behind. Maybe it’s due to neighbourhood environment when I was still a child. Lebaran would mean quite a long holiday during school time. Furthermore, I’d enjoy all sort of delicacies of Lebaran specialities such as Ketupat, Opor, and many more Malay traditional food, courtesy of some friends of mine as well as my father’s friend. Yummy.. Lebaran would also mean a gathering time with former classmates who celebrate the festive back in home town as well as those who are not celebrating but using the opportunity to have holidays.

Usually, I am at home during Lebaran. I remember only had 2 times of Lebaran outside Batam. This year, it’s just the same. I flew back to Batam four days prior to Lebaran. At first, I had no intention to go back considering that there’d be only 5 days off including weekend and pricey air-ticket. But since I’ve got important things to do and managed to get a reasonable fare, I took two days leave to make it a full one week trip.

It was a frustrated flight I had from Jakarta to Batam. Scheduled at 15.20, the plane actually took-off at 18.00, a 2,5 hours delay from the schedule. It was due to some technical problem in the braking system which force us to switch plane. Although a bit angry, think it over again I should feel relieve instead. If the problems weren’t detected earlier, imagine what would happen if the plane had already flown.. Woow.. I arrived safely in Batam airport merely 90 minutes later and only reached home sweet home at 21.30.

I spent 6 days at home and was able to enjoy myself. I went fishing (I managed to catch 4 fishes.. Not bad huh ?), playing playstation with my younger sisters, as well as becoming a chicken seller. He2.. What an interesting experience. I visited one of my best friends since junior high school in the first day of Lebaran. Too bad that I couldn’t stay longer. I flew back to Jakarta in the next day. If the holidays were longer, I would have chance to visit my old days teacher together with my friends. Nevertheless, glad to have spent days at home and could taste the delicacies.

Back in Jakarta, 26 October is working day for Bank. But many of the employees are taking leave up till Friday to have a full week off, including my boss =p.  As other non Bank companies are mostly having a full week of mass leave, Jakarta becomes a very quiet city. I’m enjoying it very well. No traffic jam, fresher air, and less noisy environment suddenly makes me feel a bit more comfortable. How I wish everyday would be like this.. Too bad, today and this weekend would be the last days. Starting from Monday, Jakarta would become as usual.. Poluted, traffic jam, hot, and crowded.

Happy Eid Al-Fitr for all who are celebrating it..

It’s been three months since my last blog update.. He2.. perhaps should not call this a blog, just simply "quarterly article"..

A lot of things happened in the last 3 months.. I’ve moved to a new "kost" just one street ahead of the old one.. Well, much better one but also a little bit pricey. It was not an easy decision as I had to think and consider for nearly two weeks before deciding to move. If there were no comments from my friends, I think I would still stuck in the creepy wood-floor room with ‘unique’ smell. Now, it’s been two weeks since I moved. I’ve settled well and can’t say how relief I am on this decision. I’m glad and content although need to make some adjustment in my monthly financial plan ^_^

Back in my work-life, there’s no hotter topic to discuss nowadays than "moving". Apparently, the turn-over rate is significantly increasing. Staff being poached or having intention to resign becomes chit-chat stuff during the lunch break. Looking back, I had received quite many of farewell emails.. Woof.. wondering when will be my turn to send one. Ha2.. I’m stepping into my 2 years with current employer. Starting to feel a little bit bored with my job. But fortunately, I involve in an project in which I can learn a lot. So right now, I’m sticking to it..

How fast an incident can occur, happen and stop is really unpredictable and sometimes it’s really beyond our control. I was informed to attend a training in Dubai, with very limited time to prepare. A little bit gutted as just after a rush preparation to book ticket, sending document, Tada.. an unexpected news arrived. Visa can’t be granted in time for my arrival. As such, there goes my trip.. Nothing I can do about it. He2.. To be honest, I was very excited to be assigned to the training. Who doesn’t want to go to Dubai anyway ? Furthermore, at no cost at all. Think it again, although a bit disappointed, the chance is surely always there.. So Dubai wait for me… =)

In midst of little disappointment, I visited Bandung with my colleague to understand more about the business program as well as to understand the problem faced by Sales Team there with regards to the credit policies set by Credit Dept under which I work. A lot of questions were being asked especially from my shop, "Credit Scoring" which they perceive like a mystery box. Thankfully, all went smooth. I spent 1 night there in my previous "kost" during my college years courtesy to my grandson, Robin. After a night of funny times with UNO games, I went back to Jakarta in the next day..

Now finally, we’ve come to The Departed.. I just watch this movie today having known that this movie is adopted from one of my favouritre movies : Infernal Affair from Hongkong. Frankly speaking, I was not impressed by this movie. A good movie, but still just a "so-so" one. I think the original Hongkong version one is still better. But afterall, a good acting skill from Jack Nicholson didn’t disappoint me and 25,000 buck spent seems worthy. Are all re-make / adopted movies worse than their predecessor ? I’m not sure.. but I’m starting to have this opinion!

Just barely one and a half year ago, world was shocked by a powerful quake that jolted Indian Ocean which further triggered huge wave of tsunami. The incident devastates all coastal area in Indonesia, Thailand, Srilanka, and other countries, killing numerous people.. When people seemed to have put that as history, another powerful wave struck again, this time in Pangandaran, West Java, only 2 days after a small tremor felt in Jakarta. Having visited that tourist spot before, goosebump happened to me upon learning the news.

We can’t prevent natural disaster from happening yet we can do something to prevent fall of victims as result of the disaster. Sorry to say, but seems like this nation has never learnt from previous experiences before. Despite being positioned in what is called "Ring of Fire" in the volcanic path, volcanologists’ warning, and hundred thousands of victim in Aceh province back in 2004, Government doesn’t seem to care on people safety. Not until the Pangandaran disaster happened that they pledge to install tsunami warning system. Disastrously, the pledge is "by 2008" which is 2 years from now. Is it that difficult to implement it while other countries affected in 2004 had already had the system in place shortly after the disaster ?

Speaking about earthquake, I just recently came back from a project with Habitat for Humanity, an organization aims to provide proper shelter/housing for people, in Khao-Lak, most severe affected area in Thailand during the 2004 tsunami.  Although personally I’ve never involved in construction work before, it was truly a memorable and great experience. I’ve learned a lot from the trip, starting from laying bricks, building walls, cement-mixing, up to lesson about lives. Making new friends of ‘cement-lovers’ with all the laughter and fun, chance to visit unique places in Thailand with lot of tasty food further added up the fruitful trip. It seems a good idea to spend vacation in this way. Travelling while doing something meaningful.

Looking forward to another charity project.. Hopefully..

Sneaking out early from Office to catch this movie, X3:The Last Stand, along with colleagues. He2.. Friday has always been a day to go home early. But this time around, with Boss and Boss Square both on leave, and also what is called "Hari Kejepit", everyone was taking the chance. To have everyone’s leaving the aquarium before six is a very rare occasion.

Speaking about the movie, I’d say that this one is awesome. I don’t quite remember previous stories, only glimpse of entertaining action and audio-video effect. But this one gave more than these. I enjoyed more and perhaps the best from all three movie about mutants.

However, it was indeed a sour part.. How did Scott die ? He2.. A little bit pity also, seems that this movie is forced to be pacey.. Got lot of mutants introduced, but many dies so quickly. Looks like it’s really the last film of X-Men.