getting updated

Kompas ePaper.com http://epaper.kompas.com/ had just a facelift! Actually, more of a skeleton lift. It's faster & easier to browse and read.
I still do browse this beloved indonesian paper once in a while, though I wish I had more regular time to do it. I love the various news coming from hometown, critics, economy, social life... It's more spicy & variant, compared to the news put up in the local newspaper here... sigh...

My Little Happy Perks Lately

* Just came back from a SG Weekend Trip. It caused quite a major shopping spree & overhaul to my working clothes closet :)
* Meeting my brother in Bangkok 2 weekends ago & tasting the delicious fragrant pad thai and tom yum soup :)
* Sleeping over in an almost closing down hostel, old but clean and cosy :) I loved the backpacker's atmosphere esp during breakfast. It's just so laid back & really felt like a holiday.
* Went to Penang 3 weekends ago, and had asam laksa :) very nice! and walked around the old town & had a nice long swim in Batu Feringgi Beach (in a pool!) with a dear friend.
* Switching my foundation to MAC. It is Quality!
* Finally bought my Narcisso Rodriguez (for her), I think I also like his latest fragrance which came in a cold metal bottle, just like a whisky bottle.
* Having a nice meal in BlueJazz Cafe in Bali Lane SG, with Margarita to close the night :)
* My husband who is forever patient with me & does not sweat over little things.

Moving On

On my last few days before I moved from Jkt to KL in May... I've thought hard on what things I would miss out of this city. On top of my list was:
- the easiness of getting pampered in comfortable & clean salons or massage parlours... I've had a couple of favourite places already, and not to mention the affordability.
- modern batik shirts and dresses. I loved window-shopping for this, esp in the last 1-2 years, the creativity has evolved so much & I love the rich motive & print put onto a youthful cut.
- all the various delicious food spots I've discovered in Jkt.
Only after a few weeks in KL, I discovered a weird feeling that caught me off-guard. I was missing Jkt in an unexpected way. At first, I didnt really know what, & in my mind I was browsing for all the possible things, but still... this feeling is not somehow related to a particular activity or matter... Only then, it dawned on me.. that I've actually missed the 'sense of belongining', the feeling of actually belonging to a City.
Yes, the fact that I've stayed in dear Jakarta for over 7 years & having the city as the witness of all the things I have gone thru in that timeframe, has probably made me somehow 'rooted' to this city. A feeling which I've never felt before in the various cities I've lived in prior to this.

Oh well, now that I know exactly what I missed, it's time for me to put the 'dot' and move on to another chapter. Life goes on.

25 Things About Me

It's been sometimes I've blogged... Things have kept me occupied... more of this later... but for now I'll just post something I've meant to put since some times ago....:

25 things about me
I've been tagged by quite a few people on this in FB, but i will just write it here.. Maybe I'll take a look at myself in 10years time & rewrite this again & see how will i respond again :). Note: I must say these are pretty random things about me, but I did try to think of them in chronoligical manner.

1. I spend time on my blog mostly when my husband is not around. Yes, it's sort of an activity to pass time for me, but I do enjoy it & it's just sort of a mental note for myself primarily.

2. I am addicted to the Internet. I've been surfing the net heavily since 1996. I was studying in Singapore. To be able to surf at that time, I had to go to govt internet booth at city's center, a bit far from my hostel. I also worked as a part time internet booth clerk in Uni, so I had ample internet time as well.

3. Before the internet came, I already fell in love with computers since 3rd grade... my dad had the Apple II, the first consumer PC & it was so cool. I learnt fast typing from an apple game, destroying enemies by shooting fires from a spaceship by typing the right letters.

4. My hobby during primary school was reading. I learnt reading even before I went to kindergarden. When both my parents returned to Balikpapan from a Jakarta trip, I could already read & they were really surprised. That was because my Mum often read me books with simple words aloud & my Daddy wore a lot of Tshirts with simple big letters on it that I kept asking how to read them.

5. One of my favourite childhood books was the Trio Detektif Series. My fave character of the 3 kid-detectives was the one who loved reading & analyzing clues, and was part time librarian. I even dreamed of being a part-time librarian in my hometown library where i borrowed these books, but I moved out of the town too soon later.

6. I learnt roller-skating in Balikpapan thru a week-end club. I already learnt ice skating before that, so it was not tough, but I had another friend in the same complex who was really good at it, especially at her natural body balance. She is now a known girl surfer in the country. I guess some skills, you are born with it.

7. Talking about natural skills, I know I will nost stand a job which involves a lot of talking and meeting different people thruout >80% of my work time. It just tires me physically somehow...

8. I am very good at blind memorizing. I could memorize 40 essays, each had at least 3 folio pages of words, to prepare for my high school history exam in SG. And this really word by word. But I am very bad at remembering song lyrics or play music tools. I dont think i can even recite ONE full song with correct lyrics right now & I am blind with music notes. No feeling whatsoever when it comes to musical talent.

9. I chose civil engineering for my undergrad degree because when small i really liked playing LEGO, and that was about building houses & complex & I didnt want to do architecture cause it didnt involve as much maths/science as i wanted.

10. Towards graduation, i realized i preferred working in a desk-bound environment, and not so much going out of the office or even going out of the island where i was in (Java), so that led me after one step to another to Citi.
ps: i didnt think of moving out of the country as an option at that time..

11. I met my husband in college, but was just good friend with him at the time. It started with strings of eMails... after abt 2 years i havent heard of him.

12. We had this stupid joke during college that we should marry one another if after xx years (forgot the xx, maybe it was 5 or 10) if both of us have not gotten married yet. Turned up we didnt have to wait for that xx years to get married with one another.

13. I am not good at cooking, but i still try to cook. sometimes it works, at least just for my taste.

14. I had received 2 barbie-alike dolls as xmas present, & I found them in my bathtub at xmas eve. I really believed it was from Santa, as I was in Paris at that time and thought that Santa was really alive & went flying around in the Western part of the world. It was quite funny for my parents because thruout my xmases in Indonesia prior to that, I never had been fooled by Santa, as I didnt believe Santa could fly all the way from Europe/America to Asia!

15. I always loved water sports. I loved swimming when i was kid, then tasted canoeing, then i just discovered snorkeling last year & it was FUNtastic.

16. I was a silver medallist canoeist with my double partner in an open national championship in.. singapore (yes, i know so small population), but we were very happy and proud about it.

17. I just got promoted & I am quitting my current position this mid-year. I am very happy that I will quit with my level. My mentor told me once that I should not quit Citi before I reach this level and I didnt think I would reach it this soon.

18. I hope I get a job when I join my hubby in KL ** amin... **, but if not I have taken the risk anyway.

19. "You can't turn back time". That's what i believe & this is my motto in joining my hubby in KL. What I am doing it right now, I believe will lay a good strong foundation to a lasting relationship & our 'family'. ** amin... **

20. I just discovered a new hobby, and that is SLR photography. It's amazing how pictures can be delivered & there is a big unknown world in this territory. My dad & my brother already fell in love with it. It's probably in the gene.

21. I had lasik surgery for my 2 eyes 2 years ago. Now I dont wear glasses anymore, but in fact when I see, I feel like there are like slim halos around my eyerim, especially on the left. I think the sharpness is only in the center of the eyes. It's good enough for me to see, but that is why I dont encourage other people to take the surgery now. Wait for maybe 5 more years, the technology is developing very fast & will be much more accurate.

22. My parents call me plastic girl, because I fold my legs really close to my stomach when I'm on the dinner table chair & it's become a habit until now. I think it's my natural position when i was a foetus/in the womb, so I can't be blamed :)

23. I silently cried when i sold off my first car (alone offcourse). It kind of caught me off-guard that I had such a sentimental feeling for my Daihatsu Xenia. I guess it brought back all the memories when I travelled alone in the car from/to the office, accompanying me thruout my early career-life, preparing for my wedding (a lifetime commitment), and preparing for my new apt (my first investment). It really was a faithful car who never complained & was by my side all the time, in good or bad time.

24. I've put Sagrada Familia Barcelona as my personal number one place to visit before I die, but I've visited it in 2006. I was really pleased and a little bit shocked I already accomplished it so early in my life. Maybe I should have aimed higher? :)

25. I still have many dream places to go, but my top favourites ones would be:
- Karimun Jawa Island, Raja Ampat Papua, Belitung/Bangka Island. Yes they are all in Indonesia & i'm a white-sand turquoise-blue-sea beach lover.
- A second-round trip to Europe, including Berlin, Spain, Paris, with my husband and my SLR cam.

Note: This was written sometime in Feb 2009 I think... but I just saved it on my laptop.
Update #25: Have just crossed Belitung off my list, just visited it this month! Great Place & most awesome natural gigantic pool (aka, sea) to swim in to date...!

Wide Lens Wonder

I've always been fascinated by wide lens pictures. Whether it's to shoot buildings, scenery or even person photography. I love the exageration effect it produces and makes you feel really close to the ground or the scene.
Here is a link to a good collection of them on DPS.
Note: Photo on the left taken by Wvs

Choices and Direction

At the end of the day, it's what matters most to you that gives you direction.
Life is about choices, and i believe that will guide me.

I don't know yet what lies ahead, but I know this is one of the best decisions I've ever taken.

May His presence be with us...

The Waiving Man

This photo of Bush & Obama walking in the White House is taken by AFP & found from quite an interesting article on Bush's most memorable pictures during his presidency tenure. Please pause a moment before continuing reading, and look at the picture again. What do you think is going on in the picture?

Excerpt from the article:
ERROL MORRIS (Interviewer): Yes. Why do you like the picture so much?
VINCENT AMALVY (Photo Editor of AFP): We don’t understand what is going on. Why does the shadow appear? I suppose it’s a shadow of somebody else beyond the corner. But the picture is only of two guys walking. It’s a profile of George Bush and Barack Obama. And he’s near the Rose Garden of the White House. And so in the back is a shadow of somebody who says, “Bye-bye.” And it is looking like a joke, but it is amazing.

My initial thought of the picture was that there must be some bodyguard behind them, trying to stop someone (presumably the surrounding press agents) to approach nearer... But as one of the article's readers' comment pointed out, it's actually Obama's shadow (you can see a little bit of his finger under Bush's cheek, that becomes part of his shadow). What intrigues me is that even the editor himself can miss the factual circumstance of a photograph. It just reminds me how perception of readers can be so much altered by a selection of photos put on a newspapers or even video shootage on the news.

Wise words from Seth Godin

From the blog of a business guru:

What are you good at?
As you consider marketing yourself for your next gig, consider the difference between process and content.
- Content is domain knowledge. People you know or skills you've developed. Playing the piano or writing copy about furniture sales. A rolodex of movers in a given industry, or your ability to compute stress ratios in your head.Domain knowledge is important, but it's (often) easily learnable.
- Process, on the other hand, refers to the emotional intelligence skills you have about managing projects, visualizing success, persuading other people of your point of view, dealing with multiple priorities, etc. This stuff is insanely valuable and hard to learn.

While I don't really agree that Content is the easy one & Process is the hard part. (I think it can be well the opposite actually). I like the way he separates the attributes necessary to market yourself into the 2 sides. We always strive to achieve both.

Clearance Sale!

I don't usually get goodies at Sale, that's why I don't usually go rushing for them, unless I really know I will find what I need. But yesterday, I decided to push for my little luck once more & went to Plaza Indo for a book sale. So as to prepare for a possible disappointment, I went there to also watch a movie (Bride Wars!), and I even had a back-up movie (Bank Jobs) in line.
However, when I stepped into Ak.'Sa.Ra and digged futher in the fiction section.... waw... books at idr 50,000 & 100,000... and then I still thought 'ah they must be selling only the ageing displayed books that noone wants to buy...'. But what do u know... I actually saw a few familiar writer names and they were in that 50,000 rack... This must be a lucky sale for me...

I got myself:
- Haruki Murakami "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" - Collection of Short Stories. I've read his book on Norwegian Wood before & he does have a certain style: if it was a fabric, it would be soft delicate linen, if it was an activity, it would be strolling in the park. airy & breezy.
- Irene Nemirovski "David Golder". I've enjoyed her Suite Francaise a lot.
- Aravind Adiga "White Tiger" - This one not on discount, but I wanted to buy one of the newer best selling books around. The story set was in India, perfect! I'm currently loving books with a particular country & culture setting. It makes me feel like travelling when reading it.
- Muriel Barbery "The Elegance of the Hedgehog". I've never heard of her/the book before, but the cover review was interesting & I couldn't resist the material of the cover, it was smooth like a photo-poster print, but a little bit thicker.

I was thinking to buy Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Never Let Me Go' as well, but I was not sure if my eyes would last reading the 8-sized fonts novel. Sigh... it was also selling at $5.

My 5 days January trip to Jogja was mostly spent indoor and recovering (& by that I meant lazing around). My dad had quite a bunch of cool dvds on the table & there was enough selection for my time-span there. Three of them had Brad Pitt in it. All of them were good and interesting movies, Pitt is either so lucky or really knows which contract to choose.
- Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Watch this if u want to see Brad at his best flawless facial skin, like when he was starring in Legends of the Fall 14 years ago)
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (There's been many movies on the real-life american version of Robin Hood, but this one focuses on how his life ended...)
- Burn After Reading (Pitt plays a dumb guy & Clooney keeps looking older, I still wonder why it was not titled Burnt After Reading)

Facts about these movies:
- 'Curious' was directed by David Fischer, who directed Se7en that starred Pitt as well.
- Shiloh (Pitt's daughter) played in the movie as well as the baby version of Cate Blanchett
- 'The Assasination's director of photography was Roger Deakins, who also handled 'A Beautiful Mind' and was cinematographer for 'Revolutionnary Road' & 'Fargo'.
- 'Burn' was written & directed by Ethan Joel Coen brothers
- I've come across the Coen brothers a lot in articles/spreads but never really noted what they are known for. After some online research, they are known for 'noir' taste. In fact one of my all-time favourite movie Shawshank Redemption was directed by them! Their other movie that i have watched & also on my luv-list is Fargo.
- Most of past Coens films had Deakins as Cinematographer (see 'The Assasination'). Words has it that the only reason 'Burn' was not cinematographed by Deakins, was because the schedule conflicted with the filming of 'Revolutionnary Road'.
- My fave pick out of the 3 is 'Assasination'. I was in awe of the cinematography rendered. I will write a separate post on it :)

Halo

I've been re-running the videoclip & enjoying the song "Halo" by Beyonce endless times.
Both the song & movie got this ethereal feeling right from the beginning.
I think beautiful does not need to be complicated. And this simple clip was what it was about.
Just cuts of light ray, snapshot of a couple's daily life, and Beyonce is already striking thru.

Just love it.

ps: There is also a rendering of the same song by amateur duet Rin on the Rox. They gave the song a 'happier' feel, quite worth to look at, so I'll just put it here. they've been featured in Ellen Degeneres Show!

day dream

....And I hope you realize, this isn’t just happy snappy positive thinking. Rather, it is a call to use your waking hours to think deep and dream big. For this will open you up to new realities, just as Edgar Allen Poe once said, “Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”... (Chris Orwig)

B'day Day :)

Location: Bali
Menu: Pork Ribs at Bebek Bengil, Dinner & Chocolate Cake at Double-Six :)
Activities: Strolling at Ubud, night beach swimming at Seminyak, and chilling out at Kudeta. Thanks to a company of great ladies!
Best Moment: Floating on my back in the waters, looking up at the starry sky & counting my blessings... :)
Most Precious Advise Received: It's a matter of choice: You can stay as you are & do no change, OR make a conscious change (for a better of me)

Welcome to another year :)

Lightroom Rave

This holiday, I've been playing with raw shoots & lightroom!
It's FUNtastic :)
Since I bought my SLR, I've actually been so far very satisfied playing shoots & direct publishing, no editing in photoshop whatsoever (except for cropping) - 'cause shooting it right at the first time has already been a challenge in itself .... That is until I discovered Lightroom & Raw files processing. It's fun & simple, so much easier than using photoshop!
Here is a very good tutorial website, where I've been downloading & reading its videos & tips: http://www.lightroomkillertips.com

Technology bites

Just discovered picasaweb's face detection technology. This s/b the coolest tech-gig this year or something! Just tag a name to a photo's face, & it will suggest other faces belonging to the same name! And it's scaringly accurate...
Wow... u can't really hide from anywhere nowadays... it's amazing, yet pretty creepy too!

The Last Lecture

"The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're here to stop the other people"
- Randy Pausch in "The Last Lecture" -

I just *heart* the book. You could read it as the inner kid in you, as an adolescent, as a future parent, or even as a seasoned parent. This gotta be my favourite non-fiction book ever... I hope to read it again & again.
The video of last lecture is in YouTube as well (1hr16mins).

the Blue Sky

You know you are a photo geek when you look at the sky & see the clear blue backdrop with spots of white cloud, and all you could think of is the 3-letters-word "CPL".
In Jkt, it is so hard to get a glimpse of this, that everytime I see it, I pause & just be thankful for the day.

Heroes.... !!!

"Forget your thoughts. What is your heart telling you to do?"
Parkman, Heroes Season 3.

Tips from an inspiring parent

Couldn't sleep at my proper bedtime. too much adrenaline running after a long meeting-run at work. Zapped the tv on & watched a dad's math olympiad winner daughter being interviewed. From the instant he answered questions on TV, I knew he was a good educator. What he said, and he really did say it nicely:
- Raihlah cita-cita itu, selama cita-cita itu gratis.
- Lihat ke arah mana interest si anak dan kembangkan, bukan kembangkan interest yg dimaui oleh orang tua, tapi interest si anak.
- Kembangkan interest si anak, agar dia bisa pakai itu sebagai arah dalam hidup.

Now, I realized I have quoted this not 100% exact wording, cause the interview sounded much better than the words I have typed in. But more or less, that was the meaning & I thought it was just good to note it down here, for me to remember...

And the little daughter, a probably 12 year old kid, the mathematics whizz actually said:
Matematika itu tidak dihafal, tapi dimengerti. Kalau mengerti, maka sendirinya akan hafal...

Hah...! It's really good wording, I shall say it if I meet someone who has difficulty in Maths. I really believe this, because that's what i've always (tried) to do for maths & physics :)

1 year after

- Looking back, I am grateful that we could celebrate the one year ocassion over the weekend trip he made.
- We had a shared foie gras at a resto next door, which was sublime :) nyam - nyam. i still can remember how the soft duck melted in my mouth :)
- After one year, we discovered that both of us had much saving ... in kilograms of weight, that is... hehe. he couldnt fit into his pre-wed shirt anymore, and me, of course u can instantenously see it from my cheeks :)
- We have a wish for next year. Well actually 2 wishes. not to tell out loud for now. but I do hope both will happen smoothly.
- Mundane Conversation we had:
A: Honey, how much do u love me
B: As much as the US Bailout plan
:)

Happy Anniversary Darling!