Day Three & Four.. Last Day but Memorable..

Last day..Gak kerasa udah hari ketiga aja..padahal pada waktu mo brangkat kepikiran klo 4 hari 3 malem kelamaan. Malah mikir berkunjung ke negeri sebelah.. Tapi ternyata blom cukup..

The last day trip would be Botanical Garden, Merlion and Marina Bay.
Berniat pagi-pagi brangkat abis sarapan, malah akhirnya siang juga barangkatnya.. Jam 9an akhirnya cabu tdari hostel langsung ke Botanical Garden. Tujuan ini diambil awalnya simply I (not we) wanted to see how beautiful park in the, what we called, city of park is and deket juga sama tempatnya Sukma (karena Sukma berminat guiding kita jadi kita jemput die, baek banget tante Sukma :))  So, we visited the most famous garden there. Welcome to Botanical Garden. 

Di taman ini sebenernya banyak jenis2 tamannya. Dan masing 2 punya karakteristik sendiri. Contohnya ada taman angsa, taman purbakala, taman anggrek, dll. Sebenernya sih almost likely kaya Kebon Raya Bogor, tapi di Singapore, lebih ini lebih variatif and lebih bersih pastinya. Karena luas banget nih kebon, akhirnya kita hanya mengunjungi taman yang kita (oops g) anggap menarik. Pergilah kita ke taman purbakala.. Seru banget.. Banyak spot2 menarik di tempat ini. Bukan ke tumbuhan2nya sih (ga ngerti juga jenis2nya) tapi bagus buat foto2. Sayangnya, ada beberapa shot yang ke ambil tapi bukan di kamera g.

Pas tengah hari, karena udah terik banget, akhirnya kita ke asramanya Sukma. Cuma sekitar lima puluh meter dari Botanical Garden. Setelah laporan ke security, kita langsung ke tempatnya Sukma. Hommy banget suasananya. Sederhana tapi ga bisa dibilang sederhana juga buat ukuran asrama mahasiswa. Kegiatan kita disana Isho (Istirahat n sholat) kita di sana).

Lunch Time!!! Considering I ran out of a cash, jadi kita cuma makan di food court mahasiswaan di deket asrama itu.. Sebenernya sih tempatnya biasa tapi makanannya lumayan murah.
Kedua teman (Adit n Sukma) ordered Rojak, n I ordered Mie India (lupa namanya, jadi mie itu berbumbu kari n warnanya merah). Tujuannya sih pengen nyoba makan makanan India, tapi terjebak sama rasanya agak tajem (sedikit nyesel karena enakan Rojaknya). Kerasa gak enak mulut sama rasa2 kari, Sukma mengajak ke salah satu toko ice cream. First comment, "How much is it?", sukma said "5 dollaran, pras" Okeh dah..brangkat,

Perjalanan ke tempat es krim ga terlalu lama cuma sekitar 100 meter dari tempat makan. Tempatnya ok banget.. Es Krim-nya apalagi seru lah...Worth banget.. Mantap lah..

Next stop was Myanmar Embassy. Sukma berencana ke Myanmar pertengahan Desember. So, we took her to get her visa. Embassynya sih biasa aja kaya cuma rumah kantor gitu. Tapi yang excited adalah g ngeliat visa for the first time. (*respon dalam hati "ohh.. ternyata visa itu di printed di passport ya". Beneran norak). Okay, we were moving on. "Merlion, here we come"

Sebelum ke Patung Singa, kita menyusuri City Hall terlebih dahulu. Ini juga keren banget. Ada sungai di tengah2, trus ada kapal yang menyusuri sungai gitu and gedung2 and jembatan2, hotel yang pantes buat "dijepret". Here we go..

Next is Merlion, kaya kunjungan wajib klo ke Singapore. Ga terlalu excited sih, tapi ya, again, it's Singapore Landmark. Banyak bener orang disitu.. Kaya orang sekelurahan kesana semua.. Tapi emang banyak rombongan tur.. Alhasil, sangking ramenya, g cuma foto2 orang yang lagi berfoto atau lebih tepatnya lagi staring at the Merlion.. This one is d best shot..(for me)

Di seberang merlion udah keliatan Marina Bay, Singapore Flyer, dan salah satu tujuan utama g di singapore Floating Storenya Louis Vuitton. Huahhh.. cant wait anymore. Jadi kita langsung jalan dari Merlion ke Marina Bay. Selama perjalanan menuju Marina, banyak orang2 kantor yang baru pulang kerja, gedung2 kantor yang dihiasi lampu2 menarik, orang pada jogging, dan yang pasti orang2 yang kaya kita bertiga..hehehe.. Seru banget disana. Lampu2 plus gedung2 are undeniably gorgeous.

Puas foto2 n melihat2, kita lanjutkan dengan masuk ke Marina Bay Mall. Mallnya sih, for me, biasa aja. Again yang namanya mall, di Jakarta or Singapore, semuanya sama. Di Mall itu kita makan di food courtnya.  Singapore mungkin bukan tempat yang ok buat kulineran. Jadi ya makannya biasa aja. G cuma order model2 Yong Tau Fu gitu, tapi kuahnya kuah kare. Rasanya? Biasa cenderung gak enak. Mungking emang g ga eksplore banyak tempat2 kulineran di sana sih, tapi sekalipun g hunting pasti ada dua ganjalan yang menuggu (mahal n non halal food) hahhahaha. Emang susah jalan2 stick pake konsep "Backpacking". Makan beres (sangking ga nikmat kegiatan makan jadi kaya kerja aja ^ ^). Lanjut ke my ultimate final destination LV Store. Kenapa tempat ini seems so spectacular for me, it's simply because I've written the article about the opening of LV store (http://www.footluxe.com/2011/10/lv-opens-a-floating-masion-in-singapore/)  but I've never reported it directly to Singapore. So, here I am now *sambil mesem2 foto di depan LV Store. Oya, ada hal menarik soal orang Indo yang mengunjungi store mahal ini. Semua orang Indo, yang mengunjungi tempat ini akan disambut hangat dengan kepastian mereka paling tidak membeli satu item dari koleksi Louis Vuitton..Gila..Now, I'm proud to be Indonesian..

Moving on to Helux Bridge. Jembatan ini terkenal karena its look is so sophisticated. Keren banget. Jembatan ini yang menghubungkan antara City Hall sama Marina Bay. Sayang ga sempet foto2 di jembatan ini. Lanjut kita jalan menuju stasiun MRT terdekat. Niatnya nyari yang deket malah muter2 nyari stasiunnya. Dengan sedikit bertanya2, kita akhirnya sampe pada stasiun MRT terdekat.

Next destination is Little India, lebih tepatnya Mustafa. Karena udah malem banget, Sukma memutuskan untuk berpisah. Mustafa merupakan tempat belanja 24 jam non stop. Gila... baru ini nemu pusat pembelanjaan (bukan mall) yang buka seharian penuh.. Mantap lah. Tujuan ke Mustafa adalah tidak laen n tidak bukan nyari oleh2 buat pulang. Oleh2 tuh buat orang2 Indonesia penting banget. Once, you didnt bring it, the immigration officer will ban you to enter your own country.. hihihi kidding. Back to Mustafa, di sana berbagai macam barang. Mulai dari jam tangan sampe detergen buat nyuci ada. Setelah capek muter2, akhirnya memutuskan untuk beli coklat Malaysia (loh di Malaysia apa di Singapore?) seharga S$ 6. Murah meriah n surely my beloved Mom will like it.hehehe..

 Abis itu pulang deh naek taksi.. Sombong banget naek taksi, yah mo gimana lagi...MRT udah gak operasi. Jam Operasi MRT di Singapore cuma sampe jam 11 malem. Ternyata gak semua supir taksi tau hostel kita. Ketika kita bilang "Betel Box Hostel, Please". Surprisingly, He didnt know. Gosh, alhasil kita ngeluaring brosur2 betel box cuma buat liat alamat lengkapnya. Trus si supir cuma komen, "I know Joo Chiat, but I dont know Betel Box" tepok jidat deh..Yah maklum juga sih, secara hostel murah meriah hahhaha.. One more, ternyata bayar taksi di sana di atas jam 12 malem, ada tarif tambahan. Alhasil bayarnya mahallll...

Balik ke hostel, kita gak langsung istirahat (padahal besok udah harus check out n flight ke Jakarta jam 11 pagi). Emang dasar kecanduan sama yang namanya social network, akhirnya g buka laptop n adit ngecas BB sambil BBMan tujuannya cuma satu, updating facebook, blog atau cuma sekedar bales BBM or Sms.. Nuts...Kecapean, akhrinya kita nyerah dan baru tidur sekitar jam 2 pagi.

Tiba2 alarm hp bunyi. Menunjukan jam setengah 6 waktu Jakarta, which is jam setengah 7 waktu Singapore. Kalang kabutlah kita karena berencana check out jam 7 pagi. Dengan ngap2an plus panik, kita packing n check out. Untung (dasar orang jawir) di Singapore waktu bisa diprediksi. Jadi sampelah kita di Budgeting Terminal Singapore. Untung lagi, kita gak terlambat. Masih ada spare waktu satu jam untuk akhrinya boarding di Singapore. Pesawat terbang tepat waktu n sampe di Soetta, allhamdulilah, dengan selamat.

Begitulah cerita 2 anak kampung kebon bawang n karang kajen ke luar negeri. Seru n unforgettable experience lah pastin. Semoga dalam waktu dekat kita, khusus nya g sendiri, akan berpetualang ke negeri laen dan menambah halaman jalan2 ke luar negeri di blog ini.. Amin..

Day 2: Crazy Walking Day

Second day

Setelah tidur ngiler karena kecapean, hari kedua dilalui dengan pergi ke Sentosa Island. Perginya agak sedikit telat padahal awalnya mo pergi pagi buta. Diawali dengan sarapan kupon gratisan dari Betel Box. Lumayan lah restonya. Tapi, menunya agak sedikit meragukan. Selain pork masalah g masih ada satu lagi, Telor. Jadi yang paaling aman adalah buah. So, I ordered fresh fruit with yogurt dengan segelas kecil orange jus. Lumayan lah buat jaga stamina ma mental karena harus mendampingi bapak pejabat (hahahaha).

Beda sama hari kemaren yang ditemani oleh kaka Sukma, hari kedua kita jalan sendiri. Dengan modal map MRT sama map jalan2 di Singapore, jalan deh kita. Tujuan pertama adalah Sentosa Island. Cuaca syukurnya lagi cerah banget, jadi ya pas lah pergi kesana. Naek MRT Paya Lebar sampe di Harbour Front. Abis itu  ke lantai tiga buat naek Sentosa Express dari Vivo City. Di sentosa island, liat pantai buatan (lumayan lah, setidaknya buatan yang ini lebih bagus dibanding yang asli di negeri ancol), ngeskrim di McD (eh gelatinnya???), putu2 di Merlion versi Sentosa,  poto di USS, casino dan sekitarnya (destinasi sejuta umat, bukan di dalem USSnya, di Depannya!!). Pas di USS sempet ujan sih, tapi ga lama.

Candy Tree @ Sentosa

Salah Satu Pantai Buatan di Sentosa

Karena udah lumayan siang, kita balik ke Vivo buat lunch. Kita makan di Food Republik di situ n makan hot pot tom yam seafood (klo yang ini aman lah, dari pada padang lagi :)). Oiya, Di lantai paling atas ada pemandangan ok. buanget. Namanya Southern Ridges. Jadi itu kaya backyard-nya Vivo. Jadi di situ, bisa ngeliat Port, Sentosa sama  Cable Car.

Hot Plate @Food Republic (Vivo City)

Southern Ridges (Vivo City)

China Town

Clarke Quay

Next destination was Little China. Jadi, kita naek MRT ke Harbour Front to Little China. Little China ok sih, tapi ga terlalu eksplor banyak. Foto2 bentar trus langsung menuju Clarke Quay berjalan kaki. Seru sih jalan kaki itu. Jadi bisa sekalian foto2 norak yang nunjukin kita di Singapore. Kita nyampe di Clarke Quay sayangnya masih sore. Jadi ya ga bisa ngeliat lampu2 disana. Alhasil foto seadanya aja. Lumayan lah, karena baru aja slese ujan, jadi awan n langitnya lumayan bagus. Dapet lah foto yang ok n unik. Dikira udah deket ke bugis, akhirnya kita lanjut jalan. Disini nih mulai kerasa capeknya, tapi (selalu) ada aja yang menarik di negri ini. Foto lagi lah di beberapa tempat seperti di Armenian Church n Art Museum.

Armenian Church

Pas nyampe Bugis, biasalah, pasti yang diliat souvenir..Eh ada yang murah banget, lumayan buat oleh2 pulang kampung. Trus, kita juga sempet dinner di Kampong Glam. Kampong Glam itu nama daerah yang dihuni oleh keturunan Melayu. Makanannya pasti yah makanan melayu (sebenernya ga jauh beda sama makanan di Jakarta). G order nasi lemak (pertama kali makan nasi lemak) n Pak Pejabat makan nasi goreng seafood. Yang paling enak adalah teh tariknya *mungkin kebawa suasana. Tapi itu emang enak beneran.

Karena udah malem banget, kita pulang..Capeuk euy...
Di jalan pulang, di Geylang ada banyak orang gelar nobar Final Sepak Bola Sea Games antara Indonesia vs Malaysia. Emang agak telat sih nontonnya. Waktu itu skor udah 1-1. Sebenernya yang menarik dari pertandingan itu bukan pertandingannya aja tapi kita deg2an nonton di tengah2 perkumpulan orang keturunan melayu. Gak tau sih sebenernya sih mereka warga negara mana. Cuma yang pasti mereka dukung Malaysia. Jiah.. rada nahan teriakan dan kata2 yang ga proper waktu Indo masukin or gagal masukin bola ke gawang pas tos-tosan hahahah.

Masih blom beres nih cerita hari kedua. Karena kita tinggal di Red District, jadi baru ketauan itu red pas malem2. Rame cuy...sama amoy2 n some of them, i think, is Indonesian. Tapi Geylang, gak seperti Kota (Jakarta). Maksud g,di Geylang (tepatya Joo Chiat) emang gak serem n gak gelap. Seru n unik lah banyak yang berpakaian tidak senonoh...hahahah.

Catatan Hari Pertama

Luar Biasa...
Akhirnya tiba di negeri orang lain juga..
For me, ini untuk kedua kalinya naek pesawat setelah berjuta-juta tahun yang lalu..

Day 1
I arrived at Soetta about 10.00 am. Filght jam 11.25. Karena perginya bersama Bpk. Praditya Janu Wisaksono dan dia telat, jadi terpaksa harus menunggu die di terminal 2D.  Sampai jam 10.45, si bpk pejabat belum juga muncul. Then, I decided to check in 1st. So, I came to the Tiger counter to get Bording Pass. Jam menunjukkan pukul 11.15. Akhirnya si Bpk muncul juga. Langsung ngadu sprint ke counter Tiger. Untungnya, Mba petugas baru membalik papan opennya. Jadi yah masih bisa dibalik lagi..hehehhee

Then, we moved to the immigration counter. Mulus, tidak ada kendala. Langsung ngadu marathon.. Jauh bener jo.. Berasa lari maraton 10Km.. 11.20 sampe di tempat nunggu (ga tau namanya apa tempat tunggu itu). Pas sampe di tempat itu, kok ga ada tanda2 pesawatnya udah dateng. Ternyata bener, delay 45 m. Yah no wonder lah. Udah banyak yang nge-post cerita yang sama sebelumnya. Setelah approximately 45 m, akhirnya pesawatnya nyampe. Naeklah kita ke pesawatnya. Ternyata ga buruk ya pesawatnya. Atau itu di bawah standar ya?? secara blom pernah naek pesawat setelah pertama kali terbang waktu SD. Trus,... terbanglah pesawatnya.. Liat2 keluar jendela dan foto2 kaya orang norak. Yah maklumlah.. Sepanjang penerbangan yah lumayan menikmatilah, walaupun banyak turbulancenya. Oh iya, hal yang menarik lagi adalah kuping g super sakit pas mo landing. Buset dah, kayanya mo pecah gendang telinga. Percaya apa ga, g masih budeg sampe hari kedua pagi.
  
Ternyata gak terlalu jauh Singapore..Kayanya ga sampe 2 jam, kita dah sampe di Budget Terminal di Changi. First  impression dari terminal itu adalah.."Bagusan Soetta ya"..*sambil menyes-menyes (senyum2) sendiri Setelah ke imigrasi, (horay akhirnya di cap juga paspor!) kita langsung keluar terminal buat ketemu Sukma (temennya Bpk Pejabat). Wuhhh sangat berterima sekali dengan Sukma, karena telah menghilangkan muka dungu kita pas sampe di Changi. Then, we took a bus to terminal 2 to get MRT. Ternyata terminal 2 membuat g menarik ucapan g soal Changi sebelumnya. That terminal is fantastic. Karena kita udah punya kartu MRT (thanks to Yuda n Umar), jadi kita cuma top up saldonya. Pertama kalinya ketauan dungu, waktu mau top up MRT ticket. Jelas jelas tulisannya Notes, kenapa kartu dimasukin kesitu..Sangking paniknya sambil maksain kartu supaya masuk ke tempat masukin duit, akhirnya someone  behind me help me to calm me down. Selese juga tuh top up yang memakan duit minimal $10.

MRT is breath taking.. Mungkin karena ga ada transportasi massal yang serapih, sebersih, setertib itu di negeri sendiri. Sangking kagumnya, kita took a picture for the 1st time di MRT itu loh semenjak pertama kali menginjakan kaki di bumi Singapura.

Our very 1st destination was Paya Lebar. Our hostel is located in Geylang, near by station Paya Lebar. Sambil celingak celinguk liat kota yang kebetulan lagi musim hujan (Yah! *tepok jidat), we interchanged to Tanah Merah station. Ada fotonya loh...

Abis itu langsung deh ganti MRT yang ke Paya Lebar. Perjalanan sekitar 20 menit lah. Turun dari MRT langsung di sambut sama turunnya hujan n boso Jowo orang2 Indonesia disana. Bpk pejabat ketemu banyak sodaranya in Singapore *ngakak abis. Ujan lumayan gede, akhirnya harus stay di station sekitar 15 m. Setelah lumayan reda, kita langsung melanjutkan perjalanan ke hostel (Betel Box). Tau sih jauh dari MRT station, tapi ini jauhnya udah keterlaluan. Hampir 20 menitan lah jalannya.

Hotel ini kan terletak di Geylang (which is Red District) tepatnya di Jl. Joo Chiat nambah petualangan ini makin jadi beneran petualangan. Nyampe, langsung confirm the booking (sebelumnya udah booking online) and settle the payment, 3 days for 1 bunk cost $60. Abis itu, langsung diajak ke kamar buat beres2 tempat tidur sendiri (tepok jidat lagi,..oh iya ini ho(s)tel ya).

Lanjut, abis berberes, kita lanjut ke Orchard. Karena hujan tambah deras, jadi kita mutusin naek bis yang haltenya terdekat dari penginapan (males balik lagi ke MRT station). Naek bis, sebenyernya enak tapi, sayangnya gak ada permberitahuan klo bis mau berhenti. Untungnya, Sukma punya IPhone jadi die bantuin kita to get to Orchard. Sampai di Orchard, yah.. apalagi selaen mengunjungi malls. Tapi, malem di Orchard tuh seru. Banyak lampu2, patung-patung gajah (lagi ada festival gajah), luxurious store, christmas tree and (again) Indonesian.

Orchard rame. Mungkin weekend jadi rame banget. Malls, I had no comment. For me, all look similar. Eh ada yang beda deh, Harganya muahal. Ada sih yang murah kaya $10 gitu tapi kaos oblong (skip it, dont need it). Jadi, hari pertama dihabiskan di Orchard. Yah ok lah, at least ada yang beli sendal jepit beharga $30 (Rp. 210,000). Lumayan buat oleh2.. hahahha.

Think, that's all for the 1st day..berlanjut ke hari berikutnya esok...

Richest Qatar Proves to the World

The richest country demonstrates to the globe how to be a prosperous.

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Qatar is entitled as a richest nation in the world in 2010. Qatar leads to the previous richest country in the world, Luxembourg, and the third rank, Singapore.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Qatar shows the highest $88,221, while Luxembourg, placed number two, has 81,466 of GDP. Qatar is predicted will reach $111,963 by 2016, surpassing Luxembourg’s $94,621 and Singapore’s $70,992, the IMF said.

Qatar as one of the Gulf countries is a small country with small population. Its population is only about 848,016 and the area is 11,586 sq km.

Doha economy is dependent on income derived from the exploitation of oil, natural gas and subsidiary industry. Eighty-five percent of Qatar's export earnings are derived from these industries and reinvested into imports such as food and machinery to sustain Qatar’s rapidly growing economy.

The development of the country becomes one of the priorities of the government. People may easily discover numerous international brand, Qatar shopping centers, high rise office buildings, luxurious hotel, and sophisticated international airport. Furthermore, Qatar will also have the famous Pearl Island. This future manmade island will create a new coastline off Doha's West Bay Lagoon area. There, the visitors will find luxury apartments, villas, town houses, penthouses, 5 Star hotels, an international yacht club, three marinas, international shops and restaurants, entertainment venues, and schools. Last but not least, in 2022, Qatar will hold the biggest event in the world, FIFA World Cup 2022. Surely, all eyes of the world will be on this country. Those incredible assets seem to prove that Qatar is truly the richest country in the world.

Sources:
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-now-world-s-richest-nation-says-imf-421787.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
http://www.qatar.com/Page/The-Pearl-Qatar/53/
http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/qatar/export-import.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/qa.html

Another Test for Former Olympic Championship

Denmark Premier Super Series Series is one of the the prestigious series of the world Badminton. This year,  upgrading level from Super Series to Premier Super Series and to increase the point to get a spot or good draw in London 2012, motivate the shutlers to fight in this competition. One of them is an amazing Indonesian talent Taufik Hidayat. He confirmed to attend the US$ 200000 tournament.

Taufik, during 2011, is struggling to get the 1st trophy but he seems always lost his fortune. After gaining the crown in  French last year, Taufik got stuck. In All England this year, he went home at the 1st day of the tournament. He was beaten by unseeded Kazushi Yamada straight set 21-10, 21-14 in only 31 minutes. Continuing in India Super Series, Taufik, seeding 2 in the tournament, had to face seeding 6, Park Shun Hwan. Again, Taufik lost the game in straight set 21-17, 21-17 respectively. In home event this year, the 6 times champion of Indonesia open, took a bow to his best friend Peter Hoeg Gade in quarter final Super Series Indonesia Open 21-17,21-15. Another Indonesia based event is Bank Kaltim Indonesia Open GP Gold 2011. This time, with the absent of the top 10 shutlers, he reached semi final but lost it from his counterpart, Tommy Sugiarto 21-10, 21-15. In the most prestigious event this year BWF World Championship, Taufik seems to lost his confidence. He fell down in the second round when he was beaten by unseeded Singaporean Zi Liang Derek Wong 21-17,21-14.

Seating on the 5th seed of Denmark Premier Super Series 2011, Taufik seems to proof that he is not done yet of the world competition. He will try another luck to face the others top 10 shutlers. However, the draw is not easy for him. In the first round, he will face the Danish new young star Hans-Kristian Vittinghus. In quarter final, he will probably compete with the no 1 Denmark shutler as well as the 4th seed in the tournament, Peter Hoeg Gade. In semifinal, Lee Chong Wei, World No. 1, will wait Taufik, if he beats Peter. In short, this will be a tough one for him. But, if Taufik overcome his diffidence and has desire to win this competition, the tournament will be his.

A Resignation

Last Ramadhan had a interesting meaning for me. I called it the biggest decision I've ever made during this year. A resignation. I, finally, decided to not longer to work in my office. This thought actually came to my mind since I was at the earliest year of my working. The reasons like working in the weekend regularly and Lebaran Day, having not so good environment, developing career, etc triggered me to do not working for long period there. I did apply for another job and proceed some tests in bunches of company but it ended with the rejection, underexpected offering and, the worst, my duty. I just couldn't join the tests because I couldn't leave my duty. I even couldn't bear to send an sms to my boss because I knew, he would ask me tons of questions about my absence. That was Horrible. Frankly, I had a plan at the beginning of this year that I had to get a better job and officially resign immediately. Unfortunately, I didn't get it. So, I didn't have any reason to quit and kept holding on. Until July this year, finally, I realized that there was nothing to do with my career, knowledge and even salary here. Then, I had a reason now. However, it was not that easy. The hardest part of going through this process was telling it to my parents. It was tough. With some explanations and bribery, finally, they had to agree with me.
Alhamdulilah..I will officially be ousted from that office on 30th September 2011 but I will not be in office since 8th September..Cross my finger for the better future will be mine. Amin..

Basically, I do believe that someone have to through so many times, thoughts and energy to finally brave enough to say "I cant stand any longer in this office". It's a tough decision since you have to consider the income that wont come to your account monthly, jobless, and the most important is the status of being unemployment. Those risks will be faced during your "Off". The question like, "How do you do for living? or  "Where is your office?" will be the hardest question ever. That's why, I call A Brave Decision. But, again, what I have done, I just believe that this a way to get everything better. Surely, I will not let myself  being tortured and I know exactly what I have to do for myself. That's the only that I have and that's a huge one. One more thing, when confusion comes to finally decide something big in life, find second or third opinion from closest friend or relatives. I often do that to compare whether my decision is logically can be accepted or not. Sometimes, it is not a logic that tell directly to mind but it is an emotion. So, dont let emotion embrace yourself or you will regret with your final decision.

Bin..Bin... Where is the bin?

This writing was triggered by my latest story about how I had to keep my bread package from the store to my house..Actually it is not happen once or twice that I have to keep in my pocket the garbage. It is actually not bothering me but my concern is "is there any garbage bin in this metropolitan city?"

I went to one of the mall in the central of Jakarta after office hour. I planed to recharge my internet unit to reactivate it. When I passed through one of the corridor, I smelled the bread and decided to buy one. Since I was so starving, I scoffed it and finished it directly. There was one left, the package. I walked out from the mall with pocketed the garbage. I step to Semanggi area from busway shelter until the area around BRI building (near Benhil) to stop the bus accompanied by the garbage. Still with the bread package, I took a "metromini" to go to Thamrin area near Bank Indonesia to transit and take another bus. Waiting the bus around in that area, I put my hand into my pocket and the garbage was still. I thought that I preferred to be friended to Priok area. Then, I took a bus about 40 minutes and later on I went down from the bus. No garbage bin at all..Ok, then I decided to go home and put that it to house's bin..Crap, isnt it???

What I want to say here is, we have huge problem a garbage. We produce garbage everyday and garbage is a problem that we can see. I mean it is real and everybody can see it everyday. Can our respected government see it? Based on actual data in 2011, the total garbage is produced in Jakarta is about 6200 ton per a day.  And what our Jakarta governor said
"Sampah di DKI ini luar biasa besarnya dan kita memerlukan tenaga dan dana khusus untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini. Tapi, akan lebih mudah kalau masyarakat membantu meringankan beban ini, dengan tidak buang sampah sembarangan, kata Fauzi Bowo yang dikutip “VOA”.
Alright the government need us to support. Another question comes up, are they support us as well?
Are they provide simply the bin?

Teaching ==> (not so) Business (an Experience)

I would say, teaching is my first business. Actually, I did teach English for the first time when I was a college student at the 3rd semester (if i'm not mistaken).One day, I got the the offer from one of my senior in one of the organization in my campus. Claiming myself as a student of Intermediate level of LIA (wahahhaha) and  having my heads in the clouds, I accepted the challenge. I taught 3 or 4 kids from elementary school. Unluckily, the class didn't run so well :(. I didn't know what was the cause of dismissing class. I thought it was because of my method or material. I over-expected to the kids. I insisted the kids to acknowledge the grammar things for the their basic in English. Gosh, that was the biggest mistake. They even didn't know what 'papan tulis' is in English.

However, That experience provided me 'something'. I did teach for the second time. At that time, I didn't do English. I did French which I just had learnt for 3 years. hahhaha. What a brave, right? In fact, I didnt accept it directly. My French classmate didn't confidence with his French. Considering he lives nearby my area, he granted me the opportunity. Afraid of the same time would be happened again, I did prepare the material and method so well. I did teach every time, he finished his duty. It was once in two weeks. The class ran well. It ran for about 3 or 4 months. What a improvement..At least, better than before huh.. Basically, teaching is about to share the knowledge. It is not about the one who master something only deserves a to be a teacher. I believe, even the professor of certain department is still learning something from the book, person and even his environment. Based on 'My Belief' (and of course my friend thought), Inuk and I established E-mazee.

The inception of E-mazee was first caused by our unemployment. I was looking for the job and my friend just resigned from her previous company. We thought that we have to do something valuable without costing a lot of money while we were still looking for the good job, in other word to be employed by a good company. Therefore, we decided to establish teaching business. In the middle of conception process, we had been hired by companies. My friend first got the official job and was followed by me. In the middle of our busyness of our duty, we trapped and didn't do anything related with our business. Until, we finally did something for this business thanks to the spirit of my friend for igniting the idea. We got our first students. A group of eight college students needing to be a good presenter in their final presentation, asked us to teach them. We were so excited. It was the first experience for my friend and long waited experienced for me. For me, it was a great come back. Teaching 8 persons in one time, it was An Experience and at the same time fully exhausted. Again, the same thing was happened. The class survived for only a month. Huffft..It was difficult to teach something to the students if they didnt have any desire in it.

Right now, We handle one class. This one is kind of unique thing since we teach A 18-year-old teenage girl named Bea with her mom named Teteh. I said unique because we have to teach two students with different interest in English. Then again, surprisingly, her mom provides lots of energy than her daughter. Moreover, every time we teach in the class and Bea get difficulty delivering the words or sentences, she always look at to her mother instead of asking the questions to us. Hahahah....fantastic isnt it? But, I, personally, do grateful for it and have fun with it. We are now in the 3rd month and hopefully will keep our focus to teach them with our method and surely do hope the method will develop them to be a good speaker.

Teaching is, for me, amazing experience for sharing knowledge that I have, to be acknowledged to another person. The result, it is not solely material things. I believe there's something beyond the material that I will be granted from that experience. I call it satisfaction. Business as well as teaching is related with satisfaction. Though, they have different satisfaction but they can be mixed and become the business that will not just give the material things but also deep sense of satisfaction (alah!)..

When Dimes Mean A Thing

Last month, I did outrageous thing in my life. Perhaps, it was insignificant for those who are adventurers. But I think, the adventurers dont adventure in the city ^ ^. In March 03, 2011, when I went out from my office about 17.30, I took usual route to get home. Actually, I didnt have any plan to go home right after the office hours. Yet, I didnt have any idea where to go. I just turned on my MP3 player and e-buddy account to get some inspiration (maybe). Then, I started to walk. Starting point was the sidewalk of Le Meridien Hotel, Sudirman, Jakarta and would be over at Kebon Sirih where my bus stop by. So, Instead of taking 'Metromini' and donating the dimes to 'Abang Metromini' to Kebon Sirih, I chose walk.

During "The afternoon footwork" I saw many things that I never saw when I took or drive the vehicle. I watched beautiful scenery ever in the city. Again, probably, you called it a exaggeration. But, I viewed the twilight. I saw the sky turns to be red/orange and sunset in this polluted city. Cant believe huh!..^ ^. More, I saw there are bunches of people living or taking rest on the side of Banjir Kanal Barat. I also saw many workers or voluntarily worker who are still on duty and offer their products to the people around. Smiling and waiving hands are their tools to attract people attention .

I took proximately an hour for stepping from Sudirman to Thamrin. I did rest in one of the Mosque behind Java Department Store and had some drink around Sabang. Luckily, when I got to Kebon Sirih, I saw my bus and directly took it to get home immediately. "Was I tired?" No doubt, I was extremely exhausted.  However, There is always a good thing behind everything. When I woke up in the next morning, I felt fresh. I just burned hundreds of calories from my body and I felt light and I could see the light..hahahha. That's what I mean, when dimes mean a thing or many things for me.

Stay Late Wake Up Late..

Lately, I frequently sleep late. It’s about above 12 or the earliest one is about 11.30. I know, perhaps it considers as a normal time for people who have bunch of activities but the impact is I wake up late.  Normally I have to wake up at least 5.30 in the morning but since I go to bed late, I awake at 6 in the morning or even more.  It’s honestly bothering me. I always slept in the bus or the worst thing is sleepy when I am on duty. Trying not to sleep late, setting the timer earlier and my mom’s yelled didn’t disturb me from my bed. Tough job huh!  Then I browsed any website who talked about this bad habit. I did find it. What I found was didn’t solve anything of it but ensured me there is nothing wrong about it. Check it out..

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If you find that you have to shout your teenager out of sleep in the morning, don’t be so rude! There is a biological reason why your teen might want that extra hour in bed.

If your teenage son or daughter is late for the school bus again, don’t yell at them from the kitchen or complain all day long. Us teenagers’ bodies are built completely differently to that of adults so we have a biological reason as to why we sleep late and wake up late.

There is a certain ‘darkness hormone’ called melatonin that induce sleep in all human beings. As a person beings to grow older, this melatonin’s levels are reduced which is why you might find that old age people may wake up a lot earlier than you’d imagine. This melatonin is like a sleep inducing hormone that releases itself normally at night times. This helps us go to sleep. For any adult, this hormone releases itself at about 10 pm. Unfortunately, for your poor teen, it isn’t so.

Teenagers only release this hormone at about 1 pm at night. This means that even if they try to go to bed, they don’t feel like sleeping until quite late. This then has a knock on effect when they have to wake up in the morning. Think of it as an internal clock. Teenagers’ clocks are set to release melatonin much late but what happens is in the morning, when it’s time to get ready for school, the teenagers’ internal clocks still feel it is night time which is why they struggle to wake up.

Sleep is good, you know, so make sure you don’t lose any sleep over your teenager losing a lot of sleep.

http://healthmad.com/children/why-do-teens-sleep-and-wake-up-late/#ixzz1DwDeVUsN

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Well ok, I’m not a teen or kid anymore. But I think my melatonin is still high.. ^ ^

A Note from BC

"Find something you care about that is inherently serving others; that's most important and give it all you've got. And if you go into a profession you find interesting that has no connection to the other people except indirectly, where you can acquire some financial success, then take some part of your life to do something for other people because the world is interdependent, and it's too unequal and too unstable."
-taken from Reader Digest Asia "The New Bill Clinton"-

Reading aforementioned quotation realizes me for what I've done for this world. I know, perhaps that's too big. But I do want to do petite thing for it.

The Way Back (a movie and a lesson of life)

Holiday..Holiday.... hohohoho..After a week i was fully working (including Saturday and Sunday). Finally I got the holiday. Deciding to have beautiful holiday, I watched the movie that I think it will be a great movie. I invited my friend to accompany me (well actually not inviting directly, he had the same intention to watch the movie). So, I went to FX and met friend there. After more than two hours watching that movie, I was imp
ressed. I dont have words for this movie just see below review that I quoted from other siteweb


*****


For his first film in seven years, Peter Weir has chosen to tell an epic tale with a panoramic sweep, in the manner of David Lean. It is "inspired" by a true story, which may unfortunately have been itself merely "inspired" by what its author claims to be the truth. Its veracity was in question even before it was put through the movie mill. This source material was a bestseller by the Polish army lieutenant Slavomir Rawicz, who was imprisoned by the Soviets after their invasion of 1939, accused of spying and sent to the Siberian gulag. In his book, he claimed that with a group of other prisoners he pulled off a daring escape during a blizzard in 1941; against incredible odds, and fired by an overwhelming need to survive, this group reportedly managed the astonishing feat of trekking thousands of miles to safety in British India. Since publication, his account has been disputed. There are suggestions that it is entirely fictional, or that Rawicz appropriated and conflated other people's apocryphal tales. Weir has reportedly added more background material with extended research and survivor interviews of his own.

1. The Way Back
2. Production year: 2010
3. Country: USA
4. Cert (UK): 12A
5. Runtime: 133 mins
6. Directors: Peter Weir
7. Cast: Alexandru Potocean, Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Gustaf Skarsgard, Jim Sturgess, Mark Strong, Saoirse Ronan, Sebastian Urzendowsky
8. More on this film

Of course, if it simply didn't happen at all, to anyone, then readers and movie audiences are entitled to ask what value the story has – except, conceivably, as an image for humanity's long, persistent slog away from the prison of Soviet tyranny. This, in fact, is the idea suggested in one late sequence: a historical newsreel montage showing the Poles' postwar communist rule, the Hungarian uprising, the Solidarity trade union, the fall of the Berlin Wall etc, all with a pair of trudging boots at the top of the frame. However, even if disbelieved in the literal sense, The Way Back is still an engaging, old-fashioned piece of storytelling.
At its centre is Janusz, played earnestly though also sometimes with a slightly flavourless efficiency, by the 29-year-old British actor Jim Sturgess; he is a Pole whose young wife is tortured by the Soviets into denouncing him as a spy. Janusz is sent to the Siberian gulag for 20 years, a terrifying place where the inmates are told by the commander that it is not the barbed wire, guards and dogs that make up their prison but the vast and forbidding landscape itself. (Weir may be alluding here to a very similar speech from the Japanese camp commandant at the beginning of Lean's Bridge on the River Kwai.)
Here, Janusz meets mercurial former actor Khabarov (Mark Strong) whose tall tales of escape inspire him to make a break. Among his group are an enigmatic American, known only as "Mr Smith", played by Ed Harris as a grizzled cynic; Zoran, played by Romanian actor Dragos Bucur; enigmatic Irena, played by Saoirse Ronan, who joins them on the road, and a gangster called Valka, played by Colin Farrell – a professional criminal who joins the escape party purely to get away from other mobsters inside who want to kill him over gambling debts. Valka is apparently set up to be the heart-of-gold lowlife who is surely destined to redeem himself by taking one for the team just before the final credits. In fact, that isn't exactly what happens, and, a little disconcertingly, Valka turns out to have a sentimental regard for Stalin. Messy, contradictory details like this, paradoxically, argue for the story's reality.
There is something surreal in seeing the group, in long-shot, inching like insects through the snowy wastes of Siberia, or the rippling vastness of the Gobi desert, tormented by what may or may not be mirages of oases – another pleasingly old-fashioned touch. In the gulag, one finds he can survive through his knack for storytelling: he starts reciting what he remembers of Stevenson's Treasure Island, and a saucer-eyed crowd of murderous tough guys are held spellbound, promising pieces of bread if he can continue. Another valuable commodity inside is the ability to make pornographic drawings, which become currency like cigarettes. Later, when the artist makes a sketch of one of his haggard fellow escapers, the subject looks at his portrait and wonderingly says that it looks just like his father. Again, a nice touch.
The Way Back is a robustly made picture, heartfelt, well executed with an exhilarating sense of reach and narrative ambition. Where it falls down is a lack of personal intensity to match the spectacle. There is nothing that interesting to discover about Janusz, and nothing that interesting for him to discover about himself; even the secrets disclosed about the other escapers don't have much of an impact on the group dynamic. Well, this isn't an overwhelming problem. Weir has put together a good film – oddly, though, considering its scale, it feels like a rather small one.

***
Think that review represents my review hehehe (kinda lazy to write it too detail)..
Oya this film has a point. It told few of moral of story. I mean there were some lessons that I got.
The setting of the movie is about from Siberia to India. It is not just a journey about a survivors, but it is beyond on it. The survivors had a reason why they finally took that risk. One of the reason was "We may die if we take this journey but at least we die in freedom". One more, Janusz (one of the cast) did the astonished journey for his beloved wife. To meet her wife in Poland where communism ruled and he couldn't  meet her since he is the prisoner of communist. So he (and friends) walks through the mountains, forest, desert, river, winter, spring, autumn and other unpredictable place and weather. He just walked for his wife, not for himself until finally he met her.

Actually the message quite similar with friend's story. He decided to quit his job for particular reason. He often did the same thing and had the same problems whenever he got a job. When he asked me why, i answered it with a question to him. "Do you have any obligation to pay the parent's bill?" He said no. For me, having that kind of bill will automatically bring you to a word called 'Responsibility'. That responsibility will drive you to think that you have to settle those bills every month. If you dont work and then you dont have cash. My point is  reconsider more and more to finally to decide to quit . Try to work not for yourself but work for your beloved one. You will have huge tasks to at lease ease them from daily basis charge.