1. New Year

2009 yang indah.
Yang lebih baik.
Yang lebih bermakna.
Insha Allah.

OBITUARY

broken:
window, front passenger seat

stolen:
my nikon + a 2-week old tamron + remote.
my external hardisk - containing a life-long accumulation of information and photos.
my favorite backpack.
my sweet lamy.
many other items.

culprit:
unknown

location:
bazar ramadhan taman melati.

approximate loss:
a couple of Ks.
value of info and photos..priceless.

mental status:
calm, physicaly.
chaotic, mentally.
peaceful, coz all is God's work

33. bandung 3 + 3...

3 single guys and 3 families and 3 children (13 altogether) were seen strolling the streets of bandung from 7-10 August 2008. the group was led by pak arief who's a PR of bandung and could list the name of all factory outlets and the brands (and the prices sometimes) that the outlets carry alphabetically. it's a diverse group. me and razen were more into sightseeing. s.nag was into something err something err that's more 'impromptu and satisfying'. ali and family bought everything within their reach. and the other family 'borong' wedding stuffs for their son. that's the gang.

07.08.08 First day. Our flight took off an hour late at 10.30am. Arrived in Bandung 2 hours later. We were picked-up by 3 APVs. We stayed at hotel.riau (i won't recommend the hotel to you unless you are a budget traveller. take a family room, which is 100x nicer than normal rooms, if you got no where else to stay. nevertheless, i slept well there in a broken bed). Our first stop was nasi padang at Sederhana, opposite hotel.riau. sedap. Then off to Pasar Baru. Our APVs were parked on top of the building, which gave us a 360-degree-view of the city. Pasar Baru is just like Pekan Rabu x 10. Then tu Diaz. Then to what-ever-street-that-was. Only bought pisang goreng keju and later bought JCoDonuts for the first time at Cihampelas Walk. That's dinner. And pak.arief took us to a kinda warong for a real dinner. We were back in the hotel an hour later and I fell asleep immediately. Some of the guys went out for a massage by orang-tua-buta.

08.08.08 I was up early. The hotel served kopi and bread+butter. Destination - Ciwidey where Kawah Putih is located. We stopped by a strawberry farm for short break. s.nag had a field day with pak.arief's d80 at the farm. We spent about an hour there and continued our journey uphill. Kawah Putih area is still underdeveloped. The overpowering smell of sulfur kept some of the tourists at bay. Our next stop was Sidang Reret for lunch, followed by Cibabuyut where s.nag bought a nice leather jacket dengan murahnya. Then Toko Tiga (jeans, jeans, and more jeans). Then DSA. Then back to hotel.riau. Dinner at Sederhana again. It was a tiring day. The driver took us to orang-tua-buta again for a massage. I fell asleep in the hall waiting for them.

09.08.08 Tangkuban Perahu was the destination. Our supir somehow managed to get us up there earlier than the other two APVs. Me and Razen strolled along the kawah's 'tebing' to the other side of the viewing deck. There are 2 kawahs. The biggest one is Kawah Ratu. S.nag joined us 30 minutes later and popped his knee along the way. After spending an hour half-circling the kawah we checked out Gua Keramat where Ibu Sangkuriang's grave is located. We had to grope in the 20-meter, pitch black tunnel. The grave is at the center of the tunnel. Some indo girls washed up their faces with air keramat. Legend has it that whoever washes her face with the air keramat, she would remain young. Ya la tu... we rushed back to our APVs as pak.arief could not wait to spend his dough at the factory outlets.
We spent the rest of the day shopping. I would definitely go back to Zenith and Heritage next time. Later that nite, the guys went to see orang tua buta again for massage.

10.08.08 Early in the morning shida (ali's wife) asked me to accompany her to Pasar Baru again. Apparently she had not finished shopping. I warned her that we needed to get back to the hotel by 9.30am in order not to miss our flight home, and we did exactly that.
Our flight took off at around 12.30 noon.

There were many other activities in between the above that I could not recall anymore.

32. headache...

left KL at 4 am.
left JB at 2 pm.
stuck at the immigration office - jordanian
stamps on passport.
drove in circles.
orchard road.
port canning.
huge crowd.
sweat, mine and other people's.
loud music.
lost prophet.
simple plan.
travis.
screaming fans.
lousy camera.
VIP pass and backstage access.
singapore music festival.

...worth the headache.

31. entangled in the net v.3

I have a friend who'd just graduated from a local U. His name is Friend-A. He met another friend of mine, Friend-B, who is still a student. They got into a conversation for the first time and spoke about their lives. I was nearby and heard the things that they were discussing.

I know that Friend-A has been working his asses off for the past two months or so to earn just enough to sustain his simple lifestyle. Friend-B on the other hand has been spoon-fed for the past 3 years, as he is on a scholarship from a foreign country where he is studying. Friend-B has just come back for a 3-month semester break and found himself a part-time job, which is 70% easier than Friend-A’s job but pays 70% higher.

When Friend-A heard about Friend-B’s job and pay, I could hear Friend-A’s heart dropped on the floor and got itself sucked into a vacuum cleaner. I am not sure whether he managed to get it back after that.

He just got himself caught in the reality of today’s job market. The situation is so bad that even a badak (hippo) got to work to earn a living.

30. entangled in the net v.2...

An acquaintance asked whether I would join the team that he was ‘assembling’. If his plan works out, there will be an exodus in TheCo. He is just an acquaintance from another unit in TheCo, been working for over 7 years and feels like he has had enough of all the craps in TheCo. I do share his sentiment, though not to the same extent. Even if I join him, it would be because of the way TheCo is being managed and not because TheCo itself.

On a different note, I do share the same view of an aspiring actress in TheCo. She is pretty much content with what she gets and believes that all these while she has been fairly rewarded by TheCo. She knows that her life is not just about work, and there are more to life outside TheCo. I am not sure whether she is aware that there is a Single-B, a neighbor of hers, who prefers to be a Single-B forever, also. Honestly, I think it takes a lot of courage for top performers to choose not to strive more than what they are supposed to, in order to have a balanced life, and at the same time accepts whatever rewards that they receive from TheCo as rizq.

They are content with their life.

They are caught in the net, but not entangled like others.

29. entangled in the net...

Triple-B wanted to re-shuffle the seating arrangement of Non-Bs in TheCo. Triple-B mentioned it to Double-Bs and Single-Bs. Triple-B flew off to Florida for a summer tan. In Triple-B’s absence, Double-B and Single-B executed the plan. It was fail-proof, on paper at least, if the general feeling among Non-Bs was discounted.

Once the Non-Bs were made aware of the change, some were quite upset and whispers of discontentment were heard every now and then, here and there. One or two Non-Bs voiced their frustration out in the open. They wanted to know the rationale behind the imminent change. Was it necessary? Why now? Why so soon? What difference would it made from the current layout? Double-B and Single-B gave the most reasonable but unacceptable answer for the change: “It’s Triple-B’s wish!”

One Non-B was really upset. He was already not comfortable having his Single-B breathing down his neck from a distance, what more if his Single-B sat right behind his back, if the new layout was implemented. Another Non-B was upset because that he would be put on display after the change and he was not ready for all the attention that he might get. Another Non-B just moved to his current place due to some irrational reasons and was furious to be asked to move again, 5 feet away.

And of course there were more Non-Bs who protested in silence, concerned with their fate, but only managed to let out a barely audible squeak. It was also obvious that a few Non-Bs clapped in silence, watched the agony of others in anticipation, as they could not wait to leave their current places.

The whole drama ended as soon as it started. One Single-B voiced out her opinion and the layout was shelved until further notice.

All got entangled in the net. All got out unscathed, at least for now.

Well, it’s just another day in TheCo.