are we ready?

still on the subject "iyank', ada posting di blognya yg mnrt gw sangat, sangat, sangat touching. ini apparently bukan iyank sendiri yg nulis, tp org laen, dan dipost oleh iyank. i took the liberty of copying and pasting the post here. i shed a tear or two wkt baca post ini. dan perkataan2nya bener2 "dalem".


http://iyankonly.blogs.friendster.com/iyanks_blog/


Bandung, Sabtu, 20 Agustus 2005

Pertama kali gua merasa dekat dengan Edo,
lewat tatapan matanya, lewat mimiknya,
ewat sambutannya yang tak terucap, di sela-sela usahanya
untuk bernafas, dia tetap menyambut hangat orang yang menjenguknya.

Entah kenapa, gua langsung menyesal gak mengenalnya dekat selama ini.
Sejak saat itu namanya selalu ada dalam doa gua dan Andy,
kami berdoa untuk kesembuhannya
dan untuk kesempatan untuk bisa lebih dekat.

Jakarta, Kamis, 25 Agustus 2005 malam Iyank telepon bilang kalo
Edo udah gak ada, kita yang di rumah menangis.
Biasanya setiap gua mendengar orang meninggal, gua langsung
berdoa, "Tuhan, terima dia di sisiMu".

Tapi malam itu doa gua "Tuhan,
Tuhan bisa menghidupkan orang mati kan?
Beri kami mujizat, ijinkan Edo hidup lagi"
Itu doa gua, gak tau kenapa. Malam itu dalam perjalanan ke
Bandung gua tetap berdoa agar Edo hidup.

Di Cikampek, Iyank dapet kabar kalo Edo stabil lagi, dia kembali.
Ini pertama kalinya dalam perjalanan akhirnya dia drop.
Sampai Bandung, terlihat sekali Edo berjuang mengatasi sakitnya,
tetap menyambut orang yang datang dengan caranya.

Bandung , Jumat, 26 Agustus 2005 pk.08.00
Edo drop lagi untuk yang kedua kali.
kita yang ada di samping tempat
tidurnya gak henti-hentinya berdoa dan bernyanyi,
tiba-tiba dia stabil lagi,
dan seolah ingin memberitahu semua orang "ini, aku ada"
dengan mencoba membuka matanya.

Jumat siang, Edo dipindahkan ke RS. Barromeus.
Secercah harapan baru karena alat-alatnya lebih canggih
dan jumat sore Edo dioperasi, lehernya
dibolongin untuk membantunya bernafas.

Jumat pk. 17.30 Edo drop lagi untuk ketiga kalinya.
1 jam dokter dan suster berusaha memompa jantungnya.
Kehendak Tuhan terlaksana : “Edo pulang ke rumah Bapa.”

Gua gak tau apa yang harus gua ucapkan,
karena selama 20 jam bergumul
dalam doa sejak kamis malam mendengar Edo
gak ada, doa yang gw ucapkan selalu,
"Tuhan, sembuhkan Edo, beri mujizatMu."
Pertama kalinya dalam hidup gua merasa doa gua dijawab Tuhan
dengan "tidak". Gua marah sama Tuhan.
Kenapa Tuhan gak beri gua kesempatan mengenal
Edo lebih dekat.

Tapi setelah sabtu gua di rumah, gua menangis sambil merenung,
gua temukan jawabnya :
Biasanya setiap gua berdoa gua selalu mengakhiri
permohonan gua dengan
"tapi Tuhan, bukan kehendakku yang terjadi, melainkan kehendakMu."
Tapi sejak gua berdoa untuk Edo, gua gak pernah ucapkan kalimat itu,
gua memaksa Tuhan untuk melaksanakan kehendak gua,
biar Edo sembuh, masih bisa dekat keluarganya dan Iyank,
dan gua bisa mengenal dia. Gua sadar,
ketika kita tidak berserah pada kehendak Tuhan, rasa frustasi
karena gagal menjadi penghancur terbesar dalam hidup kita.

Puji Tuhan, DIA segera menyadarkan gua,
ditambah lagi dengan kesaksian mamanya Edo
yang sama dengan yang gua alami, dan mamanya Edo
terang-terangan meminta ampun
kepada Tuhan karena tidak berserah,
karena memaksakan mujizat datang.

Padahal apa sih mujizat itu? Hanya kesembuhan? Ternyata bukan.
Kelahiran dan kematian ternyata bagian dari mujizat Tuhan. Gua pernah
nonton video kedokteran ttg terjadinya anak, sungguh ajaib, kalo bukan
tangan Tuhan yang bekerja gak akan pernah ada seorang bayi lahir.
Kayak gua dan mbak Budi, sesering apapun kita melakukan usaha, kalau
Tuhan belum bilang "ya" pembuahan gak akan pernah terjadi, walaupun
seluruh teori kedokteran sudah dipakai.

Begitu juga kematian.
Usus, ati, jantung, paru-paru, semua yang ada di dalam tubuh bisa
dikeluarkan dari tubuh manusia, tapi roh, bagaimana cari
mengeluarkannya? Gak ada yang bisa, kecuali Tuhan.
Jadi sebenarnya Tuhan menjawab doa gua ya?
Saat terakhir Edo drop, seluruh teman-teman gerejanya berdoa bergandeng
tangan, karena gua duduknya jauh, gua hanya menggandeng tangan Andy
sambil bernyanyi "curahkanlah kuasaMu Tuhan, mujizat terjadi di tempat
ini, curahkanlah kuasaMu Tuhan, mujizat terjadi sekarang ini".
Tuhan menjawab, mujizat itu terjadi, kesembuhan datang bersama kematian
tubuh. Edo pulang ke rumah Bapa.

Iyank menangis, itu manusiawi. Jangankan dia, gua pun menangis, semua
menangis. Iyank bilang banyak yang keinginan Edo yang belum terwujud.
Gua pun sedih berpikir demikian.
Tapi terus gua inget cerita tentang kematian Musa (Ul.34).
Udah 40 th (bener ya 40 th?) Musa memimpin bangsa Israel menuju tanah
terjanji. Cape-cape dia berjuang mengatasi segala rintangan, tapi apa
dia sampai ke tanah terjanji?
Gak. Ketika sudah hampir sampai, ketika tanah terjanji sudah terlihat dari
jauh, Tuhan bilang "Inilah negeri yang kujanjikan dengan
sumpah kepada Abraham, Ishak dan Yakub;
dengan demikian : Kepada keturunanMulah akan kuberikan
negeri ini. Aku mengijinkan engkau melihatnya dengan matamu sendiri,
tetapi engkau tidak akan menyeberang ke sana" (Ul. 34:4)
Dari awal Musa gak tau kalo dia hanya akan sampai di situ, hanya boleh
memandang negeri terjanji itu. Tapi dia gak marah sama Tuhan dengan
bilang "ah Tuhan sih gak bilang, kalo tau cuma sampe sini mah aku gak
mau cape-cape berjuang". Tapi dia menurut kehendak Tuhan.
Musa mati bukan karena sakit, walau umurnya 120th, tapi masih sehat,
masih segar bugar, tapi Tuhan mau dia pulang karena tugasnya sudah
selesai. Sebelum mati Tuhan menuntun Musa untuk memilih penggantinya,
Yosua. Dia tumpangkan tangan ke Yosua sebagai berkat bahwa
Yosua akan menjadi penerusnya.
Gua jadi berpikir, pasti Edo saat itu juga tumpang tangan ke orang yang
belum kita tahu sekarang untuk menggantikan tugasnya menjaga mamanya,
menjaga ka ute, menjaga mazda, menjaga iyank, calon suami ka ute, calon
suami mazda (mungkin icong), dan calon suami iyank.
Kita aja yang belum bisa melihatnya sekarang.

Tugas Musa selesai sampai di gerbang kota terjanji. Mungkin secara
manusiawi kita bilang, "kasihan amat, cape-cape berjuang gak boleh ikut
masuk" Tapi itulah orang-orang yang upahnya besar di surga. Dia rela
mengesampingkan keinginan duniawinya yang mungkin masih banyak, untuk
menanggapi panggilan Allah, "pulang ke KerajaanNya", karena di
sana pasti lebih indah dari keinginan-keinginan kita di dunia.

Gak cuma panggilan untuk pulang aja sebenarnya, keinginan ketika kita
masih hidup juga, kalo kita berani mengesampingkan keinginan kita untuk
menyenangkan hati Tuhan, pasti upah kita besar di surga nantinya.

Bapak juga sempet bilang, "kasihan, masih muda udah gak ada". Gua
pikir-pikir, bukannya yang kasihan kita? Edo umur 29th sudah selesai
mengerjakan semua PR yang Tuhan beri. Sedangkan kita, PR kita masih
teramat banyak, mungkin kita yang kasihan, karena bebal, gak selesai-
selesai mengerjakan PR dari Tuhan.

Minggu lalu ketika Edo tersenyum dibalik masker oksigennya, tiba-tiba
dia mengisi hati gua dengan sebuah kebaikan. Gua sadar, gua sering gak
ramah sama orang, Tapi setelah hari itu, gua mau mencoba
ramah sama siapa pun. Ketika gua bertemu dengan orang
yang biasanya gua enggan untuk bertegur sapa,
mulai saat itu, gua tegur dengan rapah (dan tulus juga lho, gak basa-basi).
Dan gua merasa Tuhan Yesus dan edo di sana bilang
"ya, begitu nda, bagus."

Edo tuh bener-bener kaya para nabi, seperti Musa dan juga Ayub yang
sakit tapi ketika dibujuk untuk meninggalkan Tuhan di gak mau, dia tetap
setia pada Tuhan ditengah sakitnya (Ayub 2:1-10)

Kata Andy, kepergian Edo bener-bener jadi pelajaran berharga bagi kita.
Siap gak kita seperti Edo saat nanti Tuhan memanggil kita.
Edo pergi bener-bener siap. 3 minggu di rumah sakit, pasti menjadikan
dia lebih dekat dengan keluarga dan Tuhan.
Dia bener-bener sudah berdamai dengan
keluarga dan Tuhan ketika berangkat ke surga.
Siap gak kita kayak dia, kalau-kalau kita secara mendadak dipanggil?

Melihat saat-saat terakhir hidup Edo, gua seperti melihat perjalanan
salib Tuhan Yesus. Ditengah kesakitannya dia tetap sadar. Baru kali ini
gua melihat orang separah Edo tapi tetap sadar dan pikirannya tetap
sehat, terus mendekati saatnya dia bilang "aku haus"
Sebelum pergi pun dia drop 3 kali.
Akhirnya dia pulang, diusia muda, sama seperti Tuhan (muda Edo 4 th).
Hari dia pulang itu hari Jumat, sama seperti kepergian Tuhan.
Dikuburkan hari Minggu, saat yang sama juga dengan kebangkitan Tuhan.
Dan gua percaya saat jasadnya tertanam, rohnya diangkat Tuhan ke surga.

Dan saat penguburannya indah banget, Roh Kudus datang dalam rupa angin
pada moment-moment tertentu upacara pemakamannya.

Kepergian edo juga mengingatkan gua bahwa bila umur gua lebih panjang,
gua akan kehilangan 10 org yang gua kasihi, Andy, bapak, ibu, mbak
anjar, mbak budi, iyank, bang Janri, mas edi, ryssa, ryan.
Edo mempersiapkan gua untuk itu.

Saat gua atau kalian mati pun, apakah nanti kita sudah punya cukup
waktu bersama?

Gua selalu ingin dekat sama kalian semua. Gua ingin kita menjadi lebih
baik, biar Tuhan Yesus dan Edo di sana tersenyum dan bilang "ya, bagus,
begitu terus, berjuang terus agar kita semua berkumpul kembali di
kerajaan Allah"

Gua sayang kalian semua.
Terima kasih Malaikat Edo.

Posted by 'Iyank' JustAGirl

Death. Inescapable.

(posted by email) On the other hand, ada 1 temen gw di friendster, namanya iyank. She's just lost her boyfriend. Dia sedih banget I feel sorry for her. Di profil dia di fs, ada foto dia & jenazah conya. Gw mrinding banget liatnya. Hal spt ini yg gw gak mo terjadi ke pacar gw (if i ever get one, that is), & keluarga gw. Bikin org lain sedih. Now, i still believe i'll die young. And soon. Why? Because i'm a violent person. Gw gampang marah. Dan gw udah bbrp kali ada dlm situasi yg cukup panas. I can get killed. Dan jg, i'm kinda sub-consciously hoping i'll catch cancer or something. Sad. But, on the other hand, i'm very curious to know how people will react when they hear my dying. Org akan ketauan popularitas sebenarnya ketika dia meninggal. Not that i'm worried about my popularity, though.

I'm so happy

(posted by email) Yay! Artikel pertama gw yg msk mjlh di thn 2005! Dan bukan di infokomputer pula. Di animonster! Yaah, bkn artikel beneran sih. Advertorial. Ttg intel pentium extreme edition. Tp gw yg tulis. Hehehe... I'm so proud of myself!

*yawn*

(posted by email) Gw capek. Capek banget! Kyknya pengen tidur & gak bangun2 lg. Aneh. Pdhl td di ktr gak repot2 amat.

back in aksara!

ini kedua kalinya gw nongkrong di wifi, dgn notebook gw (what a scary thought, eh?) aneh nih, sepi banget. gw emang gak pernah ke sini klo hari minggu. tapi seinget gw, donny (ipar gw) pernah blg klo hari minggu ini ramenya amit2. but here i am, at the exact same spot (di pojok deket tembok & dapur, soalnya di bawah kursi ada colokan listrik), with noone but the waiters/waitresses. tadi ada sih bbrp org, tapi mrk cuma makan bentar terus cabut. kinda creepy. and brings back those memories again...

seperti biasa, gw ke sini klo ada butuhnya doank, yaitu: update2 software. drpd download pake dialup cbn, which is slow, ato starone/im3, which is fast, tapi mahal, ya mending gw ke sini khan. hehehe... dasar pelit!

hari ini curiously enough internetnya rada slow. mgkn di atas byk yg pake ya, assuming cafe/rest yg di atas jg nyediain wifi. tapi namanya jg gratisan, gak bisa protes lah.

wow!!

ternyata obat yg dikasih dokter gw itu (baca blog gw tgl 24 agustus: "plin-plan") is really strong. 5 hari gw minum antibiotik "biasa", bengkak di kaki gw ya gitu2 aja. obat yg dia kasih, gw baru minum 1, ehhhhh bengkak di kaki gw lgs pecah. ckckck... really, really, really strong! efek jeleknya ya sprei & sarung bantal gw lgs penuh darah gitu, tp plg gak kaki gw gak sesakit kmrn2. *phew*

tapi belom mati!

wah! yathi baru aja kecolongan di kos. dompet, hp, bahkan ALKITAB digondol! dan seremnya, semua itu diambil di kamarnya wkt dia lg tidur, di kamarnya itu! omigod... luckily cuma barang2 yg ilang. gw mrinding mikirin the bad possibilities. she's very, very lucky.

gw blg, moga2 perampoknya ditabrak bis. tapi belom mati. terus dilindes mobil. tapi belom mati. terus dilindes motor trail. tapi belom mati. terus dilindes mobil lagi sampe mental ke got. tapi belom mati. gotnya penuh dgn air2 hitam yg beracun. tapi belom mati. banjir. tapi belom mati. anyut. tapi belom mati. terus sampe ke tempat penampungan limbah di deket kuningan. tapi belom mati. ngambang 5 hari. tapi belom mati. terus penampungan limbahnya dikuras. tapi belom mati. dia ngendep di dasar 5 hari lagi. tapi belom mati. terus digigitin anjing2 iseng. tapi belom mati. sunburn. tapi belom mati. terus ditangkep polisi. tapi belom mati. dipenjara. tapi belom mati. disodomi polisi2 homo. tapi belom mati. dihukum mati. ya akhirnya mati lah.

hahaha... sadis banget ya gw? eniwei, just glad that she's physically okay. ketawa itu kyknya lmyn ampuh utk nglupain sedih ato pengalaman buruk. yg gw gak abis pikir, ngapain pula sih tuh perampok ngambil alkitab?? mo meriksa kali ya, ngrampok itu dosa apa gak? religious thief. hmmm... kok gw mendadak dapet ide utk satu cerita ya... menarik... tapi di akhir cerita, gw mo perampoknya gak mati, padahal abis ketabrak bis *teteppppppppppppp*

plin-plan

gw rasanya capek banget. mind & body. tp gw seneng. more than anything. mgkn gara2 tadi abis chatting. dan sms. ngomongin macem2. dan kayaknya blogger lagi ikut seneng sama gw, soalnya tumben banget kali ini lmyn cepet aksesnya. hehehe... plg gak, ada hal yg bisa ngalihin perhatian gw gak cuma utk mikirin kantor (yg kyknya makin lama makin aneh & ngeselin), kerjaan (see my previous post), dan kaki gw.

maka itu pula kyknya gw bakal jadi org plin-plan ("bakal"?!?! kyknya emang dari dulu plin-plan deh!! *suara protes*), soalnya gw mutusin utk balik lagi ke jalan yg benar... euh... balik ke plan semua. ini gara2 rianti jg sih. huuuuhhhh... *bcanda, ri! =P*

soal kaki, tadi gw ke dokter. di deket blok m. begitu masuk, ternyata dokternya udah tua. dan di kursi roda. laki-laki. orgnya rada aneh. tapi lmyn lucu. uniknya, wkt nyokap tanya kapan musti balik ke dia, dokternya blg gak usah balik. soalnya bakal sembuh. dijamin, dia blg. hueeeebaaaattttttt!!! now let's see if his prescribed medicines really do wonder. hehehe...

Old?

(posted by email) Children. Why would i want them? Lotsa headaches. My experience with my niece & the psgp event are two proofs. But then Rianti reminded me: who's going to take care of you when you're old? Gee... Never thought of that. I always think i'll die young, so the prospect of living old has never entered my mind. But let's just assume Rianti was right, and i'll die old. Yikes! What a scary thought! Hmph... Does this mean i've been wrong all alone? I really don't know. And current situations are preventing me from thinking about that matter for long. I've been busy, and i'll get VERY, VERY busy these coming week. I've already skipped tonight's psgp just to get some rest. I think i've been pushing my body too hard. *sigh*

pictures, pictures

posting thru blogger's website is really a pain in the you-know-what. don't understand what takes it so long to load the "post" page.

anyways. thought i should share some pics i took from the event. and here they are:


these two girls are blind, i believe. and yet, their talents in singing are way beyond mine. no, i'm not being modest. seriously. when you think that they can't see or read the songs ("normally", i might add, even though they can technically, using braille), it's so amazing. i'm nothing compared to them. and when they sang, i must admit i shed a tear or two. only a mindless person wouldn't be touched when these girls sing. and when they were done, i gave them a standing ovation. heck, i'm having goosebumps typing this down, remembering the event.


these kids were my charges during the games. the games were coloring, puzzle, and collecting balloons. and they didn't seem much like intellectually-challenged kids when they did those games. no. i saw them as normal kids, having fun.

Strange...

(posted by email) Whew! Uploaded all 32 pics i took from yesterday's event. From home. And with dial-up. Took almost 2 hours. Dunno why i insisted myself to do that. Strange...

Acting the part

(posted by email) I've said on my earlier post that i didn't enjoy the event. Did i? Yathi said i looked happy with the kids. She said, "Tp gw liat lo kaka' yg baik deh td phen. G gak tau itu emang lo suka sm tuh anak2 atw lo skdr brusha mnjlnkan peran lo dg sebaik2nya, tp klu emang bner itu cm skdr berperan, lo sangat brhsl." Uplifting words, indeed. Now, is she correct? Was i pretending? Was i trying to be something i wasn't? Don't think so. I was given a task, and i tried my best to do it. And do it right. That's why i'm so tired now. Working at something you don't like is harder, because you don't enjoy it.

I'm now questioning myself: why the hell did i bother to be involved in the event? Maybe because it was a psgp event. But i think, really, it was because "the girl" asked me. And being "in a crush" as i was, i jumped at the opportunity. To impress her, maybe? Dunno... *sigh* And now here i am, feeling tired and empty.

Oh well. At least yathi got some nice words for me: "Tp apa yg lo kerjain dg baik & dg kesel trnyata jd berkat buat org lain."

Abort confirmed

(posted by email) The psgp program left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm just awful at interacting with children. No, that's not correct. I'm not awful. I hate interacting with children. That's why i chose to sing and join psgp instead of PA or PT. So, i was miserable the whole day. Sure, i laughed, sang, and did other things, but my heart wasn't in it. And when it was over, i couldn't wait to go home as soon as possible. Sorry, God.

That brings me to "the girl". I think she enjoyed doing the program. Good for her. Not good for me. I see "potential clashes". Arguments. Heated discussions. Headache all over again. It's not possible. So, i've made a decision to "abort" my crush. It's simple.

Deja vu all over again

(posted by email) Had dinner with yathie. We talked a lot. And the topic was psgp. Despite what i said earlier in this blog, i love and care about psgp so much i just can't ignore there are problems with the choir. And what worries me is those are the same problems we had before i left. Geez... I'm speechless. What problems? Politics! Motivation! "Worldly" concepts, if you ask me. Come on, people! We're a church organization, for God's sake (no pun intended). There should be no politics. We're SERVING God together. Why must there be politics? And motivation. There should be only one motivation: serving God. That's it. I may not be a good christian, i must admit, but i do know what my purpose is (and was, and has been) when i'm with psgp.

Anyway, yathie pointed out that people like me, her, and others who do care about psgp should voice our concerns out. Oh, i'd love to. But where? When i was in the bulletin, i could write something. But now? *sigh*

Why i always come back to psgp? Because it's my calling. Now, what is your calling?

The boring side of me

(posted by email) I like singing. No, make that: i love singing. But i HATE dancing. And i don't like to sing with... how is it called... movements? Yeah. Basically i'm a boring person. I stand still when i sing. So sue me. That's why i hated this night's session. Because we'll have to sing AND dance on august 17. Damn it! I may have re-entered psgp too soon.

All those rehearsals and lotsa announcements were all added up, and we finished at 10h05. Omigod. So late! Well, i maybe a little bit subjective here, since i didn't enjoy it. Anyway, after we finished, nola (or the FASHION DESIGNER as i called her in my old blog) prepared some snacks because she celebrated her bday last week. I didn't bother to stay and eat. Instead, i went straight away, and a taxi was conveniently waiting. And here i am. Now, the question is: would i stay and eat if it was someone else? Not likely. In this case, i was too tired already. Would i stay if THE GIRL asked me to? Now that's hard to answer. Hahaha... Probably not, but i'd tell her my reason and said sorry, which i didn't in nola's case. Hehehe...

On a different note, there's been some changes at the office. BAWANG's authority is cut, and Didin is now a deputy manager. That's quite a relief. What i'm still not satisfied until BAWANG leaves for good.

Damn. I'm so full of rants tonight or what?

Connecting...

(posted by email) This is a small, small world afterall. I mean it. I just came back from a wedding of a work colleague of mine. There, i met so many old friends who have been out of touch for a very long time! So many of us are actually connected thru unexpected people. Damn! I still can't believe it. Wedding parties usually bored me to death, but not this one.

Removable skin

(Posted by email) Ouch! Ouch! I got hurt easily, nowadays. Physically, i mean. It's my skin. There are wounds all over my body. Notably on my legs and arms. It's the stings that bothers me, not the way my skin appears. Like last night, for example. I was in the reunion when i felt something strange on my right elbow. It turned out a small area of my skin was coming off. Geez... So easily. I guess i was lucky it didn't bleed. What a delicate skin i have.

For the beauty of the earth

By John Rutter

For the beauty of the earth. For the beauty of the skies. For the love which from our birth. Over and around us lies, over and around us lies. Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our joyful hymn of praise.

For the beauty of each hour. Of the day and of the night. Hill and vale, and tree and flower. Sun and moon and stars of light. Sun and moon and stars of light. Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our joyful hymn of praise.

For the joy of human love. Brother, sister, parent, child. Friends on earth, and friends above. For all gentle thoughts and mild, for all gentle thoughts and mild. Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our joyful hymn of praise.

For each perfect gift of Thine. To our race so freely given. Graces human and divine. Flowers of earth and buds of heaven, flowers of earth and buds of heaven. Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our joyful hymn of praise. This our joyful hymn of praise.

ABORT! ABORT!

(posted by email) I'm having SERIOUS doubt about my current crush. Very SERIOUS. And there's a BIG probability for me to abort this crush. My logics are taking control of my mind, beating my emotions.

Yawn...

(posted by email) Wow. I slept like a pig (or whatever animal usually used when you sleep for a long time). And here i am, 4h30 in the morning. I didn't know sleeping needs breaks! Hahaha... So i woke up at 3h, feeling thirsty, and went down for a glass of water. Naturally, i was refreshed up a bit, so i couldn't go back to sleep right away. Thank God i now have a laptop. So i went online, and it was friendster time! *oo what else lah?!* Checked bulletin boards, came across a couple of funny ones, and also gave a testimonial for dipsy. Then i got bored, and turned to my trusted ngage to write this blog.

Thinking of what i'm going to do today, i'm blank. Sure, the usual stuff like daily reports, summary, and all. But i think i'm missing a big one. Oh well. Going to check my ARs at the office.

Speaking of the office, i was a total wreck yesterday. With only 2 hours of sleep after doing the monthly report (that explains why i slept so long just now), and more reports during the day. I was so out of it, i had to revise & resend one particular report 5 times! What a shame. Thankfully i didn't miss any deadlines. Considering that i was practically alone in doing those reports (renya, the account executive, was absent) & the condition i was in, i'm quite proud of myself. Thanks, but no applause please, just throw the money. Hahaha...

i'm the luckiest person in the world

(posted by email) A sulking parent! Can't believe my luck. I'm very lucky. Everybody will be very envious.

Awww...

(posted by email) Chatted with rianti a few days back. It was about "the girl". She was very excited, the very same reaction my other friend had. Strange. Is the prospect of me having a crush so out of this world? Hahaha...

Canada, here she comes!

(posted by email) I skipped psgp last night to meet amel. And that meant i didn't get to see "the girl". But it was ok lah, since amel is going to canada next week for about 1.5 month. And of course, i wanted to hear new, juicy gossips! Hahaha...

There was one hot gossip, involving one of my friend. Can't give details, unfortunately. Not yet.

We didn't chat for long, though, because she still had lots to do.

Happy traveling, mel!

There's this girl...

(posted by email) Got an sms this morning when i turned my mobile on. It was from her. Her. The one girl who's been in my mind since day one. And that was less than 2 weeks ago. Anyways, she asked whether i'd come to the psgp's social program on august 17. I said i'd probably come.

Boy, was i glad when i received that sms.

Now, i'm not sure yet if i'm having a crush on her, but being around her certainly made me happier than normal. There's one potential obstacle, though: she's older than me. That's a MAJOR obstacle. Hmph...

And tomorrow i probably am not going to see her since i'll have an appointment with amel at ps. Oh well. There's always next wednesday.

Old friends

(posted by email) Went for a late dinner with reinnesse, kak nancy, ully, & dipsy, after the service at kharisma. It was a good way for me to get a feeling on what's what & who's who in gp effatha, and especially in psgp in particular. Oh. That's just me using big words. In a much simpler word: gossip! Hahaha...

Naturally, i felt at home. I've known these people for quite some time now. I think ully was quite surprised to see me there. We updated each other in no time. Even with dipsy,whose real name i'm still not sure what. I've just known her for about a week now, but somehow we just clicked. Also with alda, who wasn't at the dinner, btw. We've known each other for about a week, but we can talk like two old friends.

I really like this current "incarnation" of psgp. I've said this before and i'll say it again: i came back just in time! And i'm proud to be a part of it!

blah blah blah

i'm in aksara now, typing this blog on my notebook, and with wifi, of course. it feels strange and a bit creepy. i usually went here with my sis, her hubby, and chelsea. and we stayed veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy loooooooooooong. now i'm all alone (not counting other guests and waiters, d'oh!) and i'm sitting on the same spot we usually take. weird. no, not weird. sad. i feel sad. they'll be back, some time in the future, but for now, i can't help remembering talking, joking, and doing everything we did here. i miss them.

Power is everything

(posted by email) I lost my power. That's it. My previously good singing prowess has disappeared. I can feel it, and kak daisy confirmed it. That means i'd have to start all over again. Ahhh... Becoming a rookie, again... But how can i lost it? The only possible explanation i can think of is that i was away from singing for too long. The last time i trained, properly, was with simplicita choir for gramedia's christmas celebration in 2003/2004. That was 1,5 years ago. After that, it was sporadic. Especially after i had my surgery.

No, don't get me wrong here. I can still sing. I can still read the notes. Those are easy. Zero effort. What i lost is power. I can't turn my volume up AND still sing properly. I also lost the ability to sing very low notes, one thing i could do quite easily in the part.

Now what i've got to do is to get as many "singing hours" as i can. Singing was one thing where i stood out. I'm determined to be able to stand out again!

The good and bad things of being pick

(posted by email) Swollen blood vessel. Sounds scary. That's what's causing the brownish circle on my right eye. Nothing critical, though. Medicines are enough.

The good thing is, i get two stay out of office for 2 days. Obviously, i have some discomfort seeing, but the appointments with the doctor all happened during the day. That's why i couldn't come to office.

The break gave me time to familiarize myself with my new computer. I've been tinkering with it since day one. I also discovered the joy (and also pain) of video conferencing. At least, now, my sis & donny can see chelsea in real time.

I also had the chance to tidy up my ipod. It's now fully synchronized with my notebook. The downside is it takes about 12gigs of harddisk space for all my ipod's songs.

Next is, naturally, the internet. I must put some real strong mental dampeners in my mind to not getting carried away and stay connected for too long.

And while on the subject of internet, i couldn't resist checking friendster again to see this girl. And i was suprised to see that she's older than my sis! Wow! That's a big no-no. It's kind of reminder for me to stay on track. Hmmm...

3-in-1

(posted by email) Wow! So many things've happened last week.

First, I NOW HAVE A COMPUTER! Hahaha... Yeah, after being undecided for so long, i went to buy a laptop. At the computer exhibition. It's an acer aspire, so it's more a desktop replacement than a notebook. It has a nice spec, so i won't be worrying about upgrading soon (read= who am i kidding here?!) Hahaha... On a more serious note, i won't have to ask didin for it division's laptop anymore, everytime i need to do something from home.

Second. I'm going to a doctor to check my right eye, which has been bugging me for a week now. Hopefully it's not anything serious.

Third. It was reinnesse's bday last saturday. He invited the choir to his house for a little party. It was my chance of getting re-acquainted with the choir, especially the new guys & gals. "new" from my perspective, btw. And i wasn't disappointed. I'd say this "version" of psgp is the most close-knitted one i've ever been in. Everyone's getting along just fine, and i feel welcomed. I'm getting more convinced i made the right decision. However, i feel intrigued when i see this particular girl. I'm sure i'd never met or known her before, but she added me in friendster. She was also very nice to me that night. Interesting. I can't deny the fact that i'm attracted. There's one big turn off, however. She's older than me. In fact, at least according to her profile in friendster, she's almost as old as my sister. Damn! Hahaha...

"what is ipod?"

(posted by email) I still can't believe i'd hear someone say: "hey, what does an ipod do?" What the?! But i heard it just today. From someone who knows how to use computers, nonetheless. It amazed me. Really. To be fair, ipod is still somewhat new here. But it's now almost synonymous with "mp3 player", much as "walkman" is synonymous with portable cassette player. Heck, i bought mine, because it's an ipod, not just "an mp3 player". Otherwise i'd buy one of those creative jukeboxes. So what am i saying here? I'm saying that as someone who works in an IT industry, i still need to realize that there are people who know zip about IT. Perhaps i can think of some topics to write. Hmmm... That gives me an idea or two. Let's see... But i'd need a computer first. I must go to FKI!

not a good day

(posted by email) my cold is getting worse. luckily i don't have a running nose *note: how scary it is to imagine seeing a nose running around on its own*, but there's something wrong with my eyes. can't seem to focus correctly. hmmm.. maybe i need one of those autofocusing sony ericsson k750i's ya. oh well.

 

while on the subject of phones, my n-gage has been acting up again. i suspect it's because of agile messenger. i've removed it, and hopefully the problems will go away. my other phone, or rather, my cdma account, has been re-activated. it's been de-activated for over a month because i over-used it for internet. what a bum.

 

in the meantime, i don't have the spirit right now to do anything. there's one presentation has to be done by tomorrow the latest. let's see if i can borrow a laptop and do it at home.

the more things change, the more they stay the same

(posted by email) My first "show" with psgp in almost two years. I expected i'd struggle to keep up with the "younger" ones, learning new songs, getting acquainted with new people. Yet, there i was, almost going solo. Yeah, if reinesse didn't show up, it was a certain i'd sing solo. Not that i'm complaining, though. I can adjust myself (and my voice's power) accordingly, quite easily. It's what i did previously. But i'm really concerned. No new male members! This is a step backward for the choir. I guess this is a sign that it was the right time for me to rejoin. Oh well. But i'm now in just for the singing. And i sing not to prove anything to anyone. I'm there to keep my promise i made 11 years ago.

Been away for too long

(posted by email) My singing ability is rusty! I didn't realize it on monday, coz kak daisy wasn't there. Today, she told me right away. And i felt it myself. Damn! And this sunday psgp will sing at the 8 o'clock service. In the morning! What a nice way to start, eh? Hahaha... And to make things more interesting, there'll only be 3 of us for the bass. Kak daisy has stated that only those who came and practice today can sing on sunday. Fortunately i knew one of the two songs. Unfortunately, i've never felt comfortable singing it. Oh well, it's a challenge, right? And anyway, i always liked sitting in the front of the church with the choir. It's a privilege. And nothing can take it away from me.

Back in the loop

(posted by email) Well, i said i was going to rejoin paduan suara gerakan pemuda effatha. And i did. Under an unfortunate circumstance, however. I sent a message to kak nancy, asking if there was going to be a practice tonight. And then she called me. And she brought a sad news: feris was dead. Feris was one of the most unselfish guys at effatha, i must say. I had the chance to work with him once so many years ago, and i saw how full of energy he was. It turned out that he always worked hard at everything he did. And it took a toll. I heard he had a stroke. And the cause of his death is coroner related. I'm sad.

The funny thing was, if i wasn't planning on coming back, i wouldn't have known about his death at all. This made me sure that i made the right decision.

The practice itself was a mess. It didn't begin until 20h50. And we had to sing at the service. Luckily the chose a very familiar song, one that i like so much. So no problem there. Back to the practice, things were actually worse than when i left. So few people. I didn't have the time to ask around whether it was a one-off or not. I hope i can somehow contribute to this choir again. For this, i must give a big thanks to kak brenda/jeff, who opened my heart and eyes.

One more thing. There was nola. I had a crush on her back before i "retired". But the relationship became so bad, i hated her very much. I once wrote an article in the church's youth magazine, with "friendship" as the theme. In it, i actually ripped on her, in a way that only she, and some friends who knew the situations, could understood. And one person called me. She told me my article hit the spot. Bullseye! Hahaha... So, naturally, i expected myself to feel something when i came to the practice. She is, afterall, the choir's president. And i think i still feel some animosity towards her, but hey, i'm a grown up man, and i'm better than that.

The story of me being sentimental

(posted by email) There she goes, there she goes again... *sixpence none the richer* What an appropriate song for my sister. She went thru all those unnecessary troubles to bring her daughter here, to be kept under the clutches of our parents. No, i wasn't joking. I still think it's a bad idea to separate a child from the parents. And now she realized what i'd been saying was right. Too bad. I doubt my parents can be two good guardians. Heck, look at me! I'm just praying Chelsea won't have to stay long here. When my sis & hubbie are settled, they'll pick her up. In the mean time, i'll have to act as a watcher. *sigh*

That leads me to the topic of me getting settled. Now, i'm quite happy being what i am, thank you. But if people ask me of a significant other, the answer is a big NO. I'm quite aware of myself, to know that the solitary life is good enough. Sure, i enjoy some companies here and there, but i'm not going to drag a poor girl into my bizarre life. And i don't want to be held responsible for creating children who are as strange as me. Sorry, world!

That being said, i sure do like those time i spent with this one particular girl. Hell, i even went the distance and said for movie, meal, and coffee. Hahaha... And i must admit i had a crush on her once. She's a good friend. Keeps updating me of any new happenings (or: GOSSIPS!) at gramedia. Doesn't mind being annoyed (or at least she's a good pretender, hahaha...). Do i like her? As a good friend, yes. Period. End of story. No more questions! Hahaha...

batman begins

(posted by email) Wow. My first movie in more than a year. And what a movie it was: batman begins. But somehow i wasn't impressed. Dunno why. It's got lotsa explosions, actions, basically everything needed to make a good action movie. The story itself reminds me of knightquest, a story where batman tried to regain his mantle from azrael. From his ninja training up to his test, when he was asked to kill.

I couldn't help myself and wished for liam neeson to somehow draw a lightsaber. You know, from star wars episode i.

Too bad the "arkham asylum" was translated to a mere RSJ.

And the wayne manor? Isn't that the xavier mansion? Look the same to me.

All in all, not bad. But it could've been better. Or maybe i was just a fan who knows too many batman stories and wishes for more! Hahaha...

Next on my list are fantastic four and sin city.

Charismatics...

(posted by email)
1. Clapping while singing
2. Repeating song over and over
3. Long, ass kissing prayers

Yup, i'm talking about those charismatics. Let me elaborate more on those three.

1. I don't mind clapping while singing, IF, i'm in a party or in a concert. Not in a service! Oh, and don't give me that "you're not praising God if you're not clapping" bullshit.

2. Songs have verses and refrains, of course. In a song book, any song book, you'll find "directions" on how to sing a song, ie. "go to refrain after this" or "repeat refrain twice". But these charismatics just feel the need to emphasize, so they'll repeat songs over and over and over... Even longer than the energizer bunny would go! If you want to sing so badly, can't you PLEASE do it in your own time? Not everybody is a charismatic, you know?

3. Charismatics usually pray for a VERY long time. For all prayers. Today, just for a meal's prayer, it took 10 minutes. Good gracious! And it was full of ass kissing. Why won't you just get to the point? Again, if you feel you've a lot to pray, please do it in your own time? Not everybody needs to hear you kiss someone's ass.

Hmph. Make no mistake, i'm a christian. But still i dislike the way these people do their religion chores. To make it even worse, some of them even think like everyone else is inferior. I was in a service where the priestess (yup, a lady priest) went on and on about the catholics, the protestants, the moslems, the hindus, and the buddhists. And only about the bad things. Damn! It made me very sick, i left before she finished. Hey, i believe my God is the one and only, but i don't think that gives me the right to tell people their religion is wrong.

I'm going back

(posted by email) I'm getting more and more itchy to go back singing. With a choir. And as simplicita looks out of reach for now, PSGP would be my best option. What makes me want to go back? Many things. But one of the most important is kak brenda's words (hint: see my previous post). Yesterday i was in a small discussion with judica, melissa, and maretha, on churches and services. It got me thinking of a promise i haven't been keeping for almost a year now.

I also managed to create playlist on my ipod, so i could separate my gospel and indonesian songs, among others. I can relive my gramedia days, when i just fired up winamp and played the gospel songs. In the past, i'd feel weird if i hadn't listened to a gospel song for more than a day. I want to have those feeling back.

Another consideration is i've been feeling quite empty nowadays. No social life. Work, work, work. Now that i've passed my probation and have been made a permanent employee, i think i can spare a little bit of time to do other things.

My plan is to start after my sis go back to sydney. I won't miss any time while she's here. Heck, it'll probably take 2 years before we can see each other again.

It'll be awkward, popping up and rejoining the choir, no doubt. Stephen Alexander Yoshua Warouw, eat your pride away!

A blast from the past

(posted by e-mail) Met kak brenda (real name: jeff) saturday at tante hetty's party. We talked. It's been quite some time since i last met him. Turned out he's married. Whoa! Finally! Hahaha... Naturally, he asked me when i'll tie the knot. And my answer was, as usual, "Ah, i don't know. Don't think it's really important." This time, he got me thinking by saying, "Well, that's what you think. But you don't know what HE thinks." Touché. Don't want to get too religious here, but somehow i think he's right. I haven't been quite faithful enough these days. Then he added some more, "I heard you quit the choir. Maybe because you think it's the right thing to do. But what HE thinks may not be the same." Damn! I couldn't argue there. I always thought i could always serve HIM differently. Like the bulletin. Only then it folded. I tried the gramedia choir. Then i quit gramedia. I just can't find the time. Or have i been sub-consciously avoiding the time? *sigh* Dunno. I really don't know. And i'm not ready to go back. Not yet.

I don't have a life

(posted from e-mail) *sigh* so many things to do at the office, i've no energy left to do anything else. not even opening my gmail account. so, if any of you reading this sent me e-mails to my gmail account, forgive me if i haven't replied. i'd prefer if you re-send to my other account. the same user-name as my gmail, just change the domain to @bluebottle.com. easy, huh? don't want to get spammed by writing the whole address here, btw. heheheh...

 

my habits of going online with agile messenger on my n-gage also lessens. sending sms jokes? sorry, not available. the good thing is, my mobile bill is going down considerably. who cares if my social life suffers because of it, hahaha...

 

2 more weeks until my sis returns with chelsea. my sis & hubbie think it'd be better for all if chelsea stays home, not in australia. easier for them to work (or looking for work, currently), and probably will make our parents happier. go figure. i still think it'd be a bad idea to separate a child from the parents. even if it's only for a year or two.

 

 

I'm so tired

eventnya udah kelar kmrn. damn, it was so exhausting. tapi untungnya all ran smoothly deh. media turnup was very good. ada 2 tv pula! yay!

from aksara

here i am, wifi-ing from aksara. free! hahahaha... on my in-law's laptop. very "gak modal" ya, hahaha....

i'm back

phew! the event is over. i'm tired now. luckily i'm taking a leave this coming monday, so 4 days off. hahaha...

anyway, here are some pictures from dufan.


we went too early, so had to wait for more than an hour.


bumper cars! visualize....


this picture was taken when we decided to leave. hmmm.. what was i thinking ya??

(posted from wapblogger) Wow! What a day! Went to dufan with deden, dania, renya, & vishnu. Compared to the last time i was there, when i went with prima info & still on crutches, today was quite. Not many people. Which was good! No too long queues. I played the star wars, finally. Twice! Lost to vishnu, though. Damn! Hahaha... But i refused to play arung jeram & halilintar. Too many stairs! Sorry, i favored my leg. Hehehe... Oya, before, we went to carrefour. And i found out that my fav snack, the chicken flavored nuts, from thailand, is now available here! Hip hip Hurray! Went home after dufan, only to take a bath and get ready to go to marriott for rianti's engagement dinner. Wasn't expecting a dinner buffet, so i was full already halfway thru. All in all, today was a great day. Too bad there were some annoying smses.

late nights all over again

hmph. here i am, still in the office. an event is coming up.

(posted from wapblogger) Some songs really, really bring back good memories. Take backstreet boys' everybody as an example. This song reminds me of several things. Two major things, in fact. The first is when i participated in my first pesparawi, or pesta paduan suara gerejawi. 1997. It was kinda a parting gift from me to the effatha youth choir, as i was going to australia. Andre brought this tape, backstreet boys, and played it in my car. We sang so loud! The choir was, and is, unfortunately, never the same again. The second, reminds me of those friday nights at kokoz, after the exams. Now, i don't like dancing, but i sure do enjoy music. With friends like imelda, teddy, arie, and others. Damn! I miss those times. The world has changed, me too, so they can never be repeated. Luckily i have my ipod to relive those moments. *sigh*

photos!!!

here are some photos from bangkok!


wat arun. the oldest temple in bangkok. or is it in thailand?


me on the boat.


me in front of inter-continental hotel. a sky train was passing by. we actually waited for the sky train to pass.


two giants, guarding a gate. a nice mixture of chinese and thai cultures.


this statue intrigued me. the hat looked out of place. a combination of chinese, thai, and western cultures?


thai actually invented the art of massage. in wat pho, there are references to this art. and there are also schools for that. and of course, any tired tourist can get their feet massaged.


wat pho. seen from outside. that big building is where the reclining buddha.. well.. reclines.


the famous reclining buddha. it's quite huge.


the head of the reclining buddha.


this car was where the royal grandson was put. and to be taken to his final rest.

BANGKOK story

Thailand Journey - the complete report

Here's the (hopefully) complete report of my experience in Thailand.

Day 1 - April 26
The garuda plane was kinda small. but at least i had the whole 3 seats for myself from singapore.

arrived in thailand, and i was glad to found out i could roam. too bad there was no gprs. waited for kak joni for almost an hour. when he arrived, we took a taxi and went to the plaza athenee hotel. and what a hotel it was! had no time to enjoy the room, however, as i had to buy the board for "show and tell". we went to kak joni's appartment, and from there we went to the central mall. huge, huge mall! got the board and a double-tape for just 99 baht. in rupiah it would be around 25.000. not bad!

went back to the hotel after that. took a shower, unpack some of important things, and went down to the lobby to meet the SEA group. had to distribute some tshirts first, though. felt like preparing a media kit, hahaha... walked there to the thai restaurant. can never remember the name. nice food, but not spicy enough. hizam said the food was not authentic. had talks with new faces, from intel as well as agencies. met stephanie, who was sure we had met before. and she was right, we met in taiwan fall idf 2002. damn! and i didn't remember! it was a very nice dinner. we had fun, and laughed. and laughed. the food kept coming. i was so full.

went back to hotel, and that was it for day 1.

Day 2 - April 27
first official day of intel pr apac face-to-face. more new faces, and old ones. there were some nice materials, but there were some boring ones as well. it was a full-day meeting. and guess where the dinner was? the same thai restaurant we went to the night before! yay! this time we had more people, and the food was different. called kak joni after, and away we went to the night bazaar.

didn't bought anything at the night bazaar. instead, we sat down and had some drinks at the beer garden.

the night bazaar was supposedly only 10 minutes walk from the hotel. but we took BTS (the sky train) and MRT (subway train). considering it was very hot, i didn't mind spending 25 baht for the trains.

Day 3 - April 28
more training materials. had some fun for the mobility brainstorms. oh, and there were so many materials i'd love to get if i was a journalist.

the initial plan was to have a night tour on the river. but it was scrapped for being too long, like for about 4 hours. we ate at the reflexion instead, the french restaurant at the hotel.

Day 4 - April 29
time for the writing class! it was fun, with david as the trainer. and it finished rather early, 3pm instead of the planned 5pm. i decided to extend my stay to sunday. and it was done.

back in the room, the laptop picked up a wifi signal. it was very weak, but i could surf the internet for free. someone must had been careless in setting up the access point.

went to kak joni's place, and we went to the supermarket for souvenirs. fruit crackers! yikes!

after that, we went to patpong, the district famous for its sex shows. kinda like king's cross in sydney. i have to admit, shamefully, i've never been to king's cross. shame, shame on me! the night was so hot, we had to concede defeat and call it quits.

Day 5 - April 30
checked out from plaza athenee. it turned out we had to pay the bills ourselves first. damn!

luckily my credit card had some, well, credits left. otherwise i might have to offer myself at patpong! hahaha....

went to kak joni's place, where i'd stay for the night.

after that, we went to wat pho, the complex where the reclining buddha is, well, reclined. the statue was very, very big. the funny thing about wat pho complex is, there were many outside influences, like chinese, hinduism, etc.

went out, and saw many people lined up, with black apparels. it turned out the king's grandson who was killed by the tsunami was going to be cremated that day. we got to see the motorcade. how lucky! it was probably a one-in-a-million thing.

took the boat and went to mbk mall. bought some more souvenirs there. ate at this thai restaurant, with very spicy food. yummy!

Day 6 - April 1
the last day! went rushing to the supermarket to find more souvenirs, ie. food! but i also bought the davinci code illustrated edition for 1200 baht, so it's cheaper than kinokuniya here! i also bought va dinci's cod, a parody of davinci code. it was so hilarious!

i'd got so many souvenirs. luckily i thought ahead and brought an extra bag. so there i went, with four bags, to the airport. i was so lucky to have kak joni and his family there. must give them a treat when they come here!

the flight was ok. the landing was quite rough, tough. but at least i got home safe & sound.

that was it. my journey to bangkok. photos will come later!

free wifi

i have wifi connection in my room! wow! and free! someone must have left the configuration open. it's a bit flaky, but hey, i can't complain. hahaha...

the training is officially over today. intel's pr ftf 2005 is over. there were so many interesting things to learn. if i was still a journalist, i would love to have all of this information. it's just too bad i'll have to shut my mouth up, hehehe...

sooo, i extended my stay until sunday. yes! will still have to check-out tomorrow, though. but i'll stay the night at kak joni's place. he's been very, very nice. i'm so lucky to have a relative here.

went to patpong tonight. i could have enjoyed more, but my leg is killing me, and the heat was almost unbearable. i was sweating like crazy. decided to call it quits and went back to the hotel. plan for tomorrow is to see the reclining buddha. it'll be interesting. and of course, more souvenirs shopping.

(posted from wapblogger) Here i am, in bangkok. It's been fun, and boring as well. Luckily my pda is equipped with wifi. Hooray!

(posted from wapblogger) Went to dayce's wedding. It was so packed! Lotsa important people, too! And the food was good! But the most important thing was, i had fun! Indo pacific may be a pr company where the consultants always year black jackets to client meetings, but when we had fun, WOW! Hahaha... We were so bored waiting for our turn for the group photo, we took our own pictures. And in outrageous poses, too. When our turn finally came, we didn't waste the chance. For the last pose, we all turned our faces and looked at the bride. The groom couldn't believe it and covered his face with his hand! Hahaha... After that, we actually planned to go bowling, but it was so late and we were tired already from the waiting and those crazy acts, we went to mulia instead for some coffee. Oh boy, what a night! Hahaha...

new gadget

damn, wapblogger is down for almost a week now, that's why i hadn't been posting. anyway. got a new gadget. ipod! the 20gb one. nice, white little box. got a matching white leather case as well. now i can put ALL my old mp3s into it. almost 2500 songs! wow!

(posted from wapblogger) Have to go to metro tv tomorrow. *sigh* Must accompany arya from intel, who'll be interviewed for e-lifestyle program. Why must it be on saturday? Damn! And why must metro tv be so far away? Damn!

(posted from wapblogger) I still call australia home. No, no, i'm not losing my nationality. Just listening to the song. Found it among my dusty old mp3s. Remember the old qantas tv spot? It was during my stay down under. Why do i like this song so much? Dunno, really. It just sounds so majestic. Alluring. Relaxing. And right now, i'm listening on an ipod. No, not mine. My mom's friend dropped it at home so i could check if it ran ok. I really want an ipod now. *sigh* But my priority for now is to finance a notebook, with asus w5 as my target. Hopefully i can get it before i go to bangkok.

the photo!

here's the photo. too happy? think so. i looked too happy. hahaha...

(posted from wapblogger) Just in case anyone wonder, "(posted from wapblogger)" isn't generated by wapblogger. I write it everytime i'm posting from my mobile. Anyway. I've got the award-receiving pic. Will put it here ASAP. Stay tuned.

headache still there

there, here, whatever. woke up this morning feeling quite good. but come 10am, it came back! stronger! more intense! kill kill kill! oops. sorry. heheheh...

(posted from wapblogger) Huh i hate headaches. Like the one i'm having now. It makes me unable to enjoy everything. But still, i managed to put together some ideas on intel & smb. I called it "growing with smb". I'm quite proud of myself, since that was my first genuine idea since God knows how long. I just hope this translate into good marks for me, hahaha... The bad news is i should've sent it yesterday. At least my boss replied "no problem" on her sms.

(posted from wapblogger) Ouch ouch ouch! My body is so sore. Went bowling last night, with deden, dania, & renya, at automall. It was great! We had fun. It turned out the girls had never ever bowled before. But they improved. No strikes or spares yet, however. As for me, that was my first game in more than a year. And i felt rusty. I did manage some strikes and spares, though. Conclusion: let's do it more regularly!

Thank yous!

"first of all, i'd like to thank God. then my parents, then my sister, her husband, her daughter, all of my friends..."

yowza! hahaha... last night was the award ceremony of InfoKomputer's Survai Merek Favorit 2004. the magazine did a survey, where the readers sent their inputs on IT brands which came to their minds on specific category. the winner of each category then receive an award.

of course, i went last night, based on personal invitations from jerry, andre, and adam. incidentally, my client, Intel Indonesia, has been winning the favorite processor category. and none of the bosses could make it last night. so, when the mc announced Intel rep to come to the stage, the info guys were all kinda panic, as to who would receive the award. then they saw me (obviously, i was standing among them, laughing, talking, etc), and told me to receive it. i was beaming, honestly. there i was, among IT big names' bosses, receiving the award from my former big boss. hahahaha... unfortunately BENCONG wasn't there. but most likely he'll see me when the pics are published for next month.

anyway. it's always nice to go and see my friends at infokomputer. i'd go anytime i had the chance. i don't want to go comparing sides here, but let's just say ik and ip have different personalities. each has its own highs and lows. obviously i have much more responsibilities here at ip than at ik.

but, gosh, last night was almost surreal to me! hahaha... too bad i can't keep the award!

no longer distressed

well, not very, anyway. still kinda frustrated, but things are getting better. my luck's still down, btw.

(posted from wapblogger) i'm very, very, very frustrated. Distressed. Confused. Whatever you may call it. I just hope i won't wake up tomorrow morning. But since luck seems to have deserted me lately, it's very unlikely.

(posted from wapblogger) i hate indians. No, not those red-skinned native-americans. I'm talking about those onion-eaters, smelly, cricket lovers, backstabing low-lifes. Such as the company's it division's technical advisor. Yeah. The bitch. Laughs with you, but backstabs you when you don't see her. Why those indians have to scatter all around the globe? They're everywhere! I know that blasted country is getting crowded, but please mess with your own people! Stab yourselves in the heads or anywhere, i don't care. Just keep your smelly faces off me! Huh. To be fair, i've known some good indians. But generally, i'd stay away. As for the one in the office, i really, really, really wish a new, non-indian, manager can be found real soon, so we can be rid of the bitch. Or i may have to see and try whether my cursing ability can be applied again.

yiha!

capek. gw capek. have i told u that gw capek? hahaha... acara intel yg bikin gw sangat stressed out itu akhirnya kelar. i'm glad. but i'm tired. so tired i can't write this post entirely in english. parah. hahaha...

acaranya sendiri cukup sukses, klo diliat dari jmlh tamu yg dateng & wartawan yg hadir. tp in terms of coordination, it was a BIG MESS!!! wow! i was called here and there. my boss made situations worse by getting panic. she was so panic, our clients panicked as well.

but in the end, everything was ok. the client understood that this was our first event with them. the first big event, since one of their Vice Presidents attended. talking about trial by fire! hahaha...

now, i'm tired.

(posted from wapblogger) Gw udah bener2 fed up, english won't do justice for this post. BUMN. Departemen. Semuanya brengsek! 1 partner nolak utk pidato/presentasi gara2 mrk gak boleh jualan Video Conference. Skrg mrk udah ok, tp minta tulisan Video Conference diganti, krn takut rancu sm produk mrk. Emangnya ada paten utk "VIDEO CONFERENCE"???? Trus. Yg 1 lg. Departemen. Ngancem gak dtg soalnya namanya gak ada di undangan. Hah! Bener2 kyk anak kecil. Gila! Yg terakhir. Departemen lg. Blm mo sebar undangan klo blm dibayar. Sheesh! Makanya gw gak heran indonesia gak maju2. Lha org yg mustinya ngebantu rakyat mentalnya kyk gt. Indonesia oh indonesia.

bloggers everywhere!!

friendster's blog feature has become a 'trend' now, if i may say so. i've got several notifications like this:

"STEPhen SOMEONE has started a blog on Friendster and invites you to take a look!" (SOMEONE is of course actually my friends' names, duh!)

but i don't think many of those "bloggers" will last. at most, they will probably just activate it and do nothing afterwards. i haven't seen it myself. i can't be bothered to take a look at my friends' fs blogs. all i can say is: HARI GENEEEEEEEE BARU NGEBLOG????

anyway. i'm so damn tired today, physically. went to aryaduta around 10pm last night. stayed there until 1am. asus indonesia's guys are really clueless on how to arrange media conferences. no damn clues! the CM looked very tired, and confused. his colleague (or boss) from taiwan, who is actually indonesian, talked to him in "ANGRY" mode. hehehe... oya. these four guys from asus talked in mandarin. i felt like i was in taiwan last night! hahahaha...

ok, that's all for now. still many things to do.

the dark side

today, my colleagues at indo pacific saw my dark side. the one that can get angry, can yell (loudly!), and can hit things. why? BUMN. again. the same one. i got a call, not actually from the BUMN, but from one of its partners. this person was actually quite nice. but his e-mail really angered me, and instantly my dark persona exploded! well, not really exploded. but it was quite an explosion, my colleagues jumped off their seats. hahaha... anyway, i replied to him with such an anger, he noted it, and he called me almost instantly. i didn't apologize. no way. it was their fault. huh. let them know that i can't be pushed around like a rag doll. when i get mad, those bastards will become rag dolls!

tiredtiredtiredtired

i think i've never been so tired like this before. not so much physically, but mentally. those damn BUMN guys! i may not state names here, but still, F*CK THEM!!! huh. so arrogant! BUMN = Badan Usaha Milik Negara. the english would be... State Owned Business. SOB. yeah! that's the correct acronym! SOB!!! hahaha...

anyway. have i mentioned that i'm tired? hehehe... still at the office now, waiting for nothing. actually i don't want to go home just yet. didin is also still at work developing q&as for intel. i'm the account manager, i feel like i should be here until he finishes. oooooo i'm sooooooo nice, aren't i? hahahaha...

been using my starone for 2 days now. i can use it for internet, with my pda. it's actually a good thing my pda's ir port is located at the bottom, so i can put my mobile under it. and the speed is not bad. i'm quite satisfied with it. what i'm planning to do is to get some express on covers.

brain fried!!

i guess my former boss was right: i'm very poor at delegating tasks. we've 2 events these coming weeks: asus & intel. i'm involved (heavily) in both. and it's killing me. i had to concede defeat and delegate asus to dania & didin, so i can concentrate mainly on intel, which is huge and quite a test also, considering we've just signed them on retainer. intel will judge our performance by this event. so scary! yet challenging.

and here i am. still at the office. it's almost 8 o'clock. yikes! and this will not be the last. *sigh*

if you don't understand what i write here, don't worry. i myself are having trouble thinking. brain fried!!

(posted from wapblogger) Still a hot day & night. It rained a bit this afternoon, and it became worse because of the humidity. Argh! I'm not the one who usually complains about temperature around here, but when i do, then it's really bad! Anyway. I broke my own record on chatting from mobile this afternoon, thanks to riga & dela. I can't remember how long, but when i started my batt was fully charged. I had to recharge it midway thru. So i think it was at least 3 hours. Hmmm... Maybe i need new batteries. Hmmm... Anyway (wow that's the 2nd) i found out that dela has a blog. She even learns html because she wants to create her own skin & layout. That's the spirit, girl! I'm somewhat ashamed of myself now. She told me not to put a link to her blog, though.

(posted from wapblogger) News flash! Riga informed me that her dog, "ruff", died of natural causes this morning, aged 15 years. She was quite sad, apparently. I think it was quite a moment for her so she wrote about it on her blog. My condolences. I'd hate to have anyone or anything i hold dear disappear (whether from dying or just got lost), so i think i'd react the same. Ruff has gone to a better place, rig, if that can be a little consolation. RIP.

(posted from wapblogger) Man, what a hot day. I guess the rains are really over now. Anyway. Everytime i had the chance to go out for a walk in a mall, i'd take it. For nothing but little exercise. And these 2 days, i went to mangga 2 (if that can be classified as mall), plaza senayan, & plaza indonesia. My leg got so tired i had to drag it when i got home. But it was good. I don't do any "real" sports, so this kind of activities is somewhere near the top of my priority list. Now, i don't know about tomorrow. My sis & her hubbie may want to go out, to cool themselves. Should i go? Should i stay home? If i go, that'll be another opportunity to burn some fat. But my leg may stage a mutiny against me and decide not to work for me on monday. That'll be bad, considering i'll have at least 1 important meeting. If i stay, i (&my leg) can rest, for sure. Hmmm... Decisions, decisions. Let's see tomorrow. If my leg's still sore, i think i'll stay home.

(posted from wapblogger) love. Marriage. Who wouldn't want them. Well, i don't. Reason number ONE: in my short experience, i've had nothing but bitches at my side. Honestly. Got mad at me for no reason. Compared me with their heroes/favorites. Lied to me. And even cheated on me. And that's enough. I don't care anymore. Reason number TWO: i still think i'm gonna die soon. I started thinking about dying long ago, but unfortunately i'm still here. There were some near misses, though. First, i'm really ashamed of this, my aborted suicide attempt. Second, my accident, which left me with somewhat disfunctional right leg. Third, my last surgery, when my blood pressure went very, very low. Now, i'm sure the Guy up there is working hard on something for me. That's why i'm still alive right now. But i don't think lovelife is on His agenda. Otherwise i'll be married with several children right now, hahaha... Reason number THREE: i'm just too selfish nowadays. This selfishness maybe a result of those first two reasons, but still, i enjoy my now life very much, i'm not gonna waste any second of it being tied to a girl. And that's the bottom line. Cause i said so! =D

deja vu!!

well, not really a deja vu. i was listening to my mp3 collection on my ipaq. there were some indonesian songs. then i realized, i wanted to listen to my whole indonesian mp3s. no problems locating them, since they're on my harddisk. the problem was to put them all in my "tiny" 512mb sd card. yeah, now 512mb tiny for me.

anyway. i didn't want to concede defeat so quickly. then i remembered andy, my friend here at the office, who uses a program called dietmp3 to make the files smaller. small. diet. get it? what this program does actually is reducing the bitrate. to 96kbps. that's it. what i used to do before was decoding the mp3s back to wavs with a program. then recoded those wavs back to mp3s, with lower bitrate, yet with another program. now dietmp3 does that all by itself. nice!

unfortunately the whole files are still significantly larger than my sd card *boo hoo* so i had to choose. no project ps. no dewas. no gigis. no sherinas. damn! so many to leave out!


these indonesian mp3s bring back memories from my time in oz. i spent a significant amount of time while i was there to collect these songs, from irc, napster, websites, and others, so almost each one is memorable. that's why i don't enjoy current indonesian songs nowadays, since there's no memory. riga said, "create a new memory then." well, like my sd card, my memory is now almost full. hahaha...

what a dream!

i slept for more than 8 hours last night. and wow did i dream! hahaha... it was, quite simply, the dream of my dreams! i was home. with a friend. a girl, of course. we were reading some magazines when suddenly i felt asleep on her tummy. yikes! then i woke up (in the dream). the scenery changed. now it was the dining room. there were more girls. i can't remember the details this time, but i think i fell and hit my head on a chair or something. the girls all rushed up to me. then i woke up (in reality). or rather, my alarm woke me up. damn! *LOL*

like i said, it's the dream of my dreams. and it can only happen in a dream! the strange thing is i can remember most of it. now, i'm not one of those people who connect dreams to reality. no, sir! it's just too good to be true! hahaha... but it's still nice, though. now i can daydream all day....

NOT! unfortunately, i have two events coming this month. and those 2 events are less than 2 weeks apart. the first one, a press conference, is next week. it'll be a busy week. i had to cancel and postpone my plan to take a day leave and treat my infokomputer friends to pronto. too bad. but i can't take any chance here.

this week being 1 day short due to a holiday, i'm pretty sure overtimes are waiting with big grins in coming days. *sigh*

(posted from wapblogger) I was right! BENCONG is stupid! Hahaha... He wrote a review of MSI's bluetooth headset. What i noticed immediately was the minus point: can't connect with nokia 7650. I laughed instantly! Hahaha... We, gadgets freaks, know that 7650 doesn't have an audio profile. Its bluetooth is for data only. What a fool! And he dares call himself a reviewer?! Well, to be fair, he maybe good at video cards and such, but PLEASE oh PLEASE leave gadget stuffs to the pros? You're such a disgrace! I called tolenk, one of my friends at infokomputer, immediately, noting that mistake. He was quite speechless. Hahaha...

long sleep

7 hours sleep! imagine that! wow! once in a lifetime! well, not really. just once in three nights, actually. hahahaha...

there was a focus group discussion (fgd) yesterday. some men, including me, were called to attend it. there was this pharmacy company wants to launch a product for men, to somehow build the muscles, increase testoterones, induce deep sleep, and burn fats. that's a lot of function. the problem was, the packaging was soooooooooo not interesting. it looked CHEAP, even though the price was projected at 120.000 for 30 capsules. that's EXPENSIVE. people wouldn't buy it, since they'd perceive the product as a cheap, or even "kampungan" one. my friend even called it "dangdut".

my friends in consumer division were quite surprised to hear and see our reactions. they'll a tough time thinking of a way to promote the product, i'm sure!

oya, talking about fat burner, i'm losing some weight!!! this morning, before i went to office, my mom nicely brought the scale out. i stepped on it cautiously. 98!!! i'm 98! yeah! anything below 100 is very, very, very, very, very good!! still a long way from my target, though, which is below 90. but i'm on the right track. hahaha...

i definitely have to get a life

it's almost 7am and i'm already at the office! damn! anyway, there'll be a media conference today (here we use "media" instead of "press"). i don't have the slightest clue on today's conference. that's the problem. the event is for Lowe, an advertising agency. they'll have a photo exhibition (or something like that) tomorrow, called "faces of indonesia". so, today they're going to announce and present to the press. now what the hell a consultant in IT division is doing for an event like that? because the boss said so!

but anyway, apart from these random annoyances, i feel quite good here. i just need to find a time and fill in my appraisal form, otherwise my salary won't be raised! hahahaha...

i need to get a life!!

it's almost 10PM and i'm still at the office! damn! and i don't even have anything to do. i'm here just because my fellows are here, busy with two events tomorrow. and here i am, chatting and blogging. hahahaha...

and it's been quite some time since i blogged. i was quite bored with blogs anyway, so, yeah. that's it.

reney asked me about the "date". well, it was so NOT interesting. there i was, with imelda and her friend. cafe oh lala, plaza senayan. we talked, of course. but nothing substantial. i even met a couple of friends there. then, she went to get her hair cut. so i spent like an hour talking to imelda instead. hmmm...

yesssss!!!!

we've got a new retainer client. and it's the big one: INTEL!!! hahahaha... finally after so many weeks working for them, we're finally appointed! and it'll be a blast working with them, because i know most of the personnels already.

da vinci code

dan brown's da vinci code sure is addictive!! yeah, call me outdated or anything, but the book is highly recommended! last night i read it for about 3 hours, and i only managed to reach halfway!

I just realized i've been using the internet for useless things. When i'm on a pc, almost every afternoon i'd browse to www.dailyrotten.com, which contains mostly disgusting news. When i'm using my mobile phone, like right now, i'd go to wap.ananova.com. It's actually a news site. But it can be less serious. For example. A fire station in maroubra, sydney, was unable to respond to an emergency call because a fireman used the station's only fire truck to get pizza! How bizarre! Or this one. A fire brigade in romania had to abandon their trucks and used snowballs to put off a fire. Hahaha... It's the kind of news you'd expect to show up on the funniest video show.

A friend from my atma days, who happens to be a former indo pacific employee, smsed me & asked whether i'm seeing somebody. That means whether i have a girlfriend, if you don't understand. I said, no, i'm not seeing anyone. She said she has a friend whom she likes to introduce to me. A meeting this weekend. No pressure, she added. What the..?! I told her i'm not really looking for or even thinking about having a girlfriend. But i'd be a liar if i said i wasn't intrigued by her sms. So i just smsed her again and said yes for the weekend meeting. I was really curious about her "mistery friend". Was it a real person, or she was really talking about herself? I mean, she's been quite nice to me as of late. Smsing me about my work, lunch, etc. Hmph. But if she really has a friend to introduce to me, well, i can always have more friends, can't i?

An important day (for me, at least) had come and gone. And as usual, those people i expected would remember it, forgot. The day was MY BIRTHDAY! And also as usual, i'm very upset about it. Me, who write down every single birthday of lotsa people i know. And congratulate most of them. That's why when someone asks when my bday is, i wouldn't tell them. Why bother, they'd forget anyway. If they don't know, i won't be disappointed. Strange attitude, i admit. But hey, i'm a strange fella.

(not so) long weekend

2 holidays in a row. then a friday. huh. i hate "hari kjepit"!

HP iPAQ hx4700

This is my original, unedited version of my review on my new ipaq, hx4700. i had to cut it down to 1 page only for infokomputer, since they have a new format. less money! boohoo...


PDA bernuansa bisnis dengan touchpad yang unik

hx4700 merupakan PDA PocketPC pertama dari HP yang memiliki resolusi VGA (480x640). PDA yang diposisikan HP untuk kalangan bisnis ini diberi warna gelap, sehingga terkesan elegan. Badannya juga tidak dibungkus plastik, melainkan logam.

hx4700 PDA ini memiliki bentuk dan berat yang menurut kami cukup pas untuk ukuran rata-rata orang dewasa. Di tangan kami, hx4700 terasa cukup nyaman digenggam. Hal ini perlu menjadi catatan, karena hx4700 memiliki banyak feature. Wi-Fi. Bluetooth. Dual-slot untuk ekspansi (CF dan SD/MMC).

Banyak orang yang menggunakan utiliti SE_VGA di PDA-PDA mereka untuk bisa menikmati layar berukuran 480x640. Tampilan memang menjadi lega, apalagi untuk browsing Internet, namun semuanya menjadi sangat kecil. Sebenarnya kalau diperhatikan, tanpa Menggunakan SE_VGA pun tampilannya sudah jauh lebih halus.

Bandingkan icon-icon yang ada. Icon “Calendar” dan “Agile Messenger”, misalnya. Calendar memiliki lengkung-lengkung yang halus, sementara Agile Messenger terlihat kasar. Kita akan tahu sebuah aplikasi mendukung resolusi VGA atau tidak ketika muncul peringatan setelah kita menginstall aplikasi tersebut.

PDA ini memiliki RAM sebesar 64MB dan ROM 128MB. Dari 64MB RAM, yang bisa digunakan adalah 55MB. Sementara untuk ROM, 86MB disediakan sebagai iPAQ File Store (IFS). Anggaplah IFS ini sebagai sebuah kartu memori eksternal. Isi IFS tidak akan hilang ketika terjadi hard-reset. Karena itu, lokasi yang satu ini ideal untuk tempat instalasi aplikasi-aplikasi, dan juga data, apalagi jika kita belum memiliki kartu memori.

Tampaknya yang akan menarik perhatian (dan kerutan dahi) banyak orang pasti adalah touch-padnya. Bagi Anda yang belum tahu, hx4700 tidak memiliki joypad (atau thumb-pad, atau apalah sebutan tombol navigasi yang biasanya berada di bagian bawah tengah itu.) Sebagai gantinya HP memasang touch-pad yang biasanya kita temui di notebook. HP memberikan tekstur untuk membedakan touch-pad ini dengan sekelilingnya. Touch-pad ini bisa difungsikan seperti layaknya joypad biasa, yaitu untuk navigasi. Untuk melakukan klik, cukup tap. Fungsi ini diberi nama "Navigation Mode". Fungsi kedua disebut dengan "Cursor Mode". Jika kita memilih fungsi ini, di layar akan muncul panah pointer. Dengan menggunakan Cursor Mode, sebenarnya kita tidak perlu memakai stylus lagi. Dan ini termasuk hal positif, karena stylus yang disertakan bersama hx4700 kami nilai terlalu ringan, sehingga tidak terlalu nyaman dipegang.

Namun prakteknya, menggunakan touch-pad di sebuah PDA tidak (atau belum) ideal, baik dalam Navigation maupun Cursor Mode. Dibutuhkan kesabaran yang cukup tinggi untuk membiasakan diri. Setelah kurang lebih dua minggu kami menggunakan hx4700, touchpadnya menjadi lebih enak dipakai, tapi kami masih membuat kesalahan di sana sini. Salah satu hal yang paling susah dilakukan adalah melakukan "tap-and-hold", sebuah pekerjaan yang sangat sering dilakukan di sebuah PDA. Memang, kita bisa mengatur tingkat sensitifitas touch-pad, namun hingga saat ini kami masih belum menemukan setting yang tepat. Tingkat kekesalan meningkat ketika kami mencoba memainkan game "Age Of Empires", yang wajib membutuhkan alat navigasi di luar stylus. Tidak adanya "Tactile Feedback" juga membuat kita harus menebak-nebak.

Di sekitar touch-pad terdapat empat "tombol" shortcut. Kami beri tanda kutip karena tombol-tombol ini tidak menonjol keluar, melainkan rata dengan touch-pad. Shortcut default adalah untuk Calendar, Contacts, e-mail, dan iTask. Keempat tombol ini juga memiliki fungsi kedua yang bisa dijalankan dengan menekan selama paling kurang dua detik. Dengan demikian tersedia delapan shortcut. Jika diinginkan, kita bisa memilih shortcut kita sendiri.

Tombol-tombol lain yang ada di hx4700 adalah tombol daya dan tombol rekam. Tombol daya terletak di bagian atas PDA ini, tepat di sebelah slot ekspansi. Ukurannya yang (sangat) kecil membuatnya cukup susah untuk ditekan dengan tidak sengaja. Dengan demikian kita tidak perlu takut tombol ini akan tertekan dan menyalakan PDA dengan tidak sengaja ketika PDA sedang disimpan di tas atau saku. Tidak adanya semacam mekanisme atau tombol pengunci/hold tidak menjadi masalah, karena kita bisa mengatur agar hx4700 tidak bisa dinyalakan oleh tombol lain selain tombol daya. Sebenarnya ada satu trik yang bisa dimanfaatkan agar hx4700 tidak bisa menyala secara tidak sengaja, yaitu dengan memanfaatkan switch kunci batere yang terletak di bagian bawah. Jika kita mengatur posisinya di "unlock" (gambar gembok terbuka), sampai kapanpun PDA ini tidak akan bisa dinyalakan. Tapi cara ini tidak disarankan, karena batere menjadi tidak terkunci dan bisa terlepas dari tempatnya, apalagi jika tergoncang cukup kuat.

Di bagian kiri atas layar terdapat dua indikator LED untuk nirkabel (Wi-Fi/Bluetooth) dan status. Indikator nirkabel memiliki nyala dengan warna biru. Di tempat gelap, LED ini kami nilai menyala terlalu silau, sehingga bisa mengganggu. Dan anehnya HP hanya menyediakan satu LED untuk Wi-Fi DAN Bluetooth.

Persis di bawah indikator ini terdapat sensor cahaya yang akan mengatur tingkat kecerahan backlight yang disesuaikan dengan pencahayaan lingkungan sekitar. Jika diaktifkan, backlight akan menjadi lebih redup.

Feature nirkabel menjadi salah satu daya tarik utama PDA ini. Utiliti iPAQ Wireless merupakan sentral pengendali nirkabel. Lewat utiliti ini kita bisa menyalakan dan mematikan fungsi nirkabel, dan mengatur setting.

Yang pertama kami coba adalah Bluetooth. Proses pairing hx4700 ke beberapa ponsel (antara lain Nokia N-Gage dan Ericsson r520m) berjalan lancer. Koneksi ke Internet menggunakan ponsel juga mudah. Untuk mengirim file, juga mudah. Setelah menginstall program Resco Explorer, jika kita memilih sebuah file, akan muncul opsi untuk mengirim lewat Bluetooth. Opsi ini tidak muncul di PDA non-iPAQ lain yang pernah kami coba selama ini.

Fungsi Wi-Fi juga berfungsi dengan baik. hx4700 bisa dengan cepat mendeteksi adanya hotspot, dan mencoba menghubungkan diri ke hotspot tersebut. Uji coba koneksi yang kami lakukan dengan hotspot CBN di sebuah kafe berjalan lancar. Yang terasa kurang adalah tidak adanya utiliti pendeteksi Wi-Fi. Toshiba menyediakan utiliti “Wi-Fi Radar” di e800. Kami harus Menggunakan freeware WiFiFoFum untuk hal ini. Jangkauan Wi-Fi di hx4700 cukup baik. Koneksinya memang hanya 11Mbps, belum 54Mbps.

Ada satu feature nirkabel lagi, yaitu infra merah. Port infra merah di hx4700 diletakkan di bagian bawah, tepat di sebelah port sinkronisasi. Posisi yang aneh, apalagi jika untuk mengirim kartu nama. Namun untuk koneksi Internet, kami nilai lebih baik.

Paket hx4700 tidak menyertakan case, kecuali jika disediakan sebagai bonus oleh toko tempat Anda membeli. Untuk mencegah layar tertekan atau tergores, HP menyertakan sebuah pelindung layar, yang bisa dicopot jika tidak dibutuhkan.

Batere hx4700 memiliki daya sebesar 1800mAh. Dengan kondisi backlight minimal, sensor backlight aktif, serta Bluetooth dan Wi-Fi tidak aktif, hx4700 bisa bertahan sekitar 10 jam. Jika Bluetooth dan/atau Wi-Fi diaktifkan seperlunya, pemakaian menjadi sekitar 6 jam. Masih cukup layak. Jika dirasa tidak cukup, HP menyediakan batere extended dengan daya 3600mAh, yang dijual dengan harga kisaran Rp 1,2 juta.

hx4700 juga mendukung pengisian ulang batere lewat USB. Dengan begitu, kita bisa meninggalkan charger di rumah, dan cukup memasang cradle di kantor.

Sistem operasi Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC yang terpasang di PDA ini mendukung pemutaran layar. Kita bisa memilih tampilan landscape jika diinginkan. Tampilan ini tentunya lebih enak dilihat jika sedang melakukan browsing Internet atau menyunting file Excel.

Koleksi software yang disertakan dan sudah terinstall adalah Pocket Informant, BT Phone Manager, ClearVue PDF, ClearVue Presentation, DockWare, HP Image Zone, HP Mobile Printing, iPAQ Backup, iTask, dan tentunya aplikasi-aplikasi standar seperti Messaging, MSN Messenger, dan sebagainya.

Kesimpulan akhir kami, HP iPAQ hx4700 cocok dipilih bagi mereka yang cenderung menggunakan PDA untuk hal-hal serius.

Plus: Dual slot; Dual nirkabel; Batere removable
Minus: Touchpad agak ruwet

SKOR PENILAIAN
Penggunaan: 3
Kinerja: 5
Fasilitas: 5
Harga: 4
SKOR TOTAL: 4
Maks: 5
Makin banyak * semakin baik


SPESIFIKASI HP iPAQ hx4700
Prosesor: Intel PXA270 624MHz
Sistem operasi: Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC
Layar: Transflective VGA TFT 65.000 warna, 480x640 pixel, 4”
Memori: RAM 64MB (55MB tersedia), ROM 128MB (86MB tersedia sebagai iPAQ File Store)
Batere: Lithium-Ion, removable, 1800mAh
Slot ekspansi: 1 Compact Flash Type I/II, 1 SD/SDIO/MMC
Konektivitas nirkabel: Inframerah, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
DImensi (plt): 7,7x12,9x1,4 cm
Bobot: 186,7 gram
Kelengkapan:
- CD (berisi software, utiliti, dan manual)
- USB Cradle
- Charger
- Stylus
- Cover layar
- Quick Guide
Garansi: 1 tahun
Situs web: www.hp.com
Harga kisaran*: Rp. 5.500.000
*diperoleh dari Concept2Tech pada minggu ketiga Januari 2005

telp: 021-57931802

yikes!

haven't been blogging for a week now, have i? hehehe... sorry, been busy. what a hectic week! so many things to do @ work. @ home, of course i've been busy tinkering with my new pda, hahahaha... haven't finished my article for hx4700, though. been planning to do after office hours, but i simply haven't found the time yet.

went to an id-pocketpc gathering on saturday at timebreak plaza semanggi. my first. my impression was good. the gathering didn't disappoint. "rantang" was available, of course, hahaha... lotsa temptations! huh. so many people brought yummy toys. i went home thinking i need more accessories. *sigh*

I've a confession to make: wedding parties bored me to death! Especially those where i don't know anyone. Like this past saturday night. A friend of mine from effatha, harini, at redtop hotel. I just waited until the proceeding was over, congratulated her, then went home. It was that boring. I lost my appetite completely. Also, it was one of those parties where the majority of guests are chinese. Now, i myself an half chinese, so i'm not being racist or anything. But HOW CAN YOU GO TO A FORMAL WEDDING PARTY AT A HOTEL WEARING ONLY SANDALS & POLO SHIRTS?!?!?! And i'm sure these people weren't poor or anything. They just have no taste whatsoever. I'm not exactly fashionable, but come on! If it was a beach party i'd understand. If it was MY party, i'd put a strict dress code and personally throw out anyone who was "salah kostum". Hmmm...

busy playing?!?!

heh. there won't be much blogs from me, since i'm currently too busy playing (or in journalist talks: reviewing) with my new pda, the hp ipaq hx4700! hahaha... i'll post a picture of it, and, of course, the result, when i'm done.

I'm reliving friday night kokoz again! That is, at the end of exams, on friday nights, bond students would come to kokoz to party, to release some steams and stresses. Now, this is friday night, and i was stressed all day at work. Got two projects and a presentation on monday! I may not like dancing, but i sure do like music. It's hard not to move your body when you hear good music. Here, instead of dancing, i'm sitting on a comfy couch and writing a blog while shaking my shoulder and head! Pathetic, eh? Hahaha... But this feels good! Even better than the new year's eve.

RIP

i was sleeping when i thought i heard an sms arrived. i was right! i opened it this morning, though. couldn't be bothered to reach my mobile and read it while i was taking my beauty sleep! hehehe... sadly, it contained a sad news.

"Kbr duka cita: Mamanya Reinnese mninggal dunia tgl 11 jan 05. Saat ini disemayamkan di rmh duka : Jl. Murai III Bintaro Jaya Sek.1. tq"

Rest In Peace.

now, i didn't know reinnese's mom at all. zip. nada. not even meet her once. but i found this news intriguing, because i had a discussion about reinnese's mom with nancy just the night before, at effatha. it turned out she (reinnese's mom, not nancy) was given a wrong treatment for her cancer, the family thought. so the cancer wasn't killed, and her internal organs got damaged. not pretty. must be very, very painful. she spent a lot of months at hospital under intensive care. i said to nancy, why didn't they just take her home? it was obvious that she'd die anyway. why prolong the pain? nancy said they wanted to keep her alive as long as possible. hmmm... now she's gone, free from all the pains.

Rest In Peace.

i got paid!!

no, not my monthly salary. just got a call from infokomputer, asking for my bank account number. that was for the january ed. i had 4 pages there. i thought they were just joking when they told me i was gonna get paid. and now i'm going to! wow! since i'm so happy, i said i'd give half of it to them, as a treat. hehehe... i'm so generous, that's why i can't get rich! =P

weekend is coming!

i'm still bored. so i decided to read infokomputer some more. mostly i'm interested in how they do testing for networking products. take switch, for example. before i got there, the test had been a joke. they just copied a big file from a computer to another. that was it. humiliating, because it wouldn't stress the switch enough. when i was handed the job, i tried to do the same, and i discovered that it wasn't enough. guys from dataglobal, allied telesyn's distributor, told me to use a software, called chariot. i looked for it, but it's a commercial software. luckily i found qcheck, which was a trimmed-down version of chariot. i used qcheck for subsequent networking product tests. last year, i began to feel not satisfied by qcheck. so once again i tried chariot. this time, i found the work-around. so i was able to use it. alas, not long after that, i decided to move to indo pacific. but before i went, i put the software in one of the computers at info. as fate would have it, one of them re-formatted the harddisk, so all of the softwares i put there was lost. so how do they test networking products now? it's like old times all over again: by copying a big file from a computer to another! omigod. i just hope the vendors don't get discouraged and stop sending products to info, because networking products are what make info different from other mags.

tomorrow there'll be an isabu reuni of some sort. this time it'll be at muly's house. i've made an appointment to meet meiske at citos, then go to muly's house together. i hope it's going to be fun!

a new magazine?

look at this picture:



even though i was told already that the jan ed of infokomputer will have a girl on the cover, i was still surprised when i see it myself. minimal text. no product photos. almost no bullet-points. an entirely new concept! let the picture do the talking? or rather, let the picture do the selling? hahaha...



compared to this one, last year's dec ed, which has a typical info cover, the new one is sure refreshing to look at. i applaud info for this decision.

the content, however, is more or less the same. that is, BORING! hehe... but still i was surprised to see mas jull, adam, & bowo wrote some product reviews/tests. nice change of air. or are they just under-staffed?

btw, this jan ed has a vcd, the last one i was involved in. honestly, i'm not satisfied at the final result. the acting, or rather voice acting, was bad. even mas warto & rini acted better. the content itself can use some more polishing. but this is the first vcd produced entirely in-house, so that itself deserves a thumb-up.

i'm so BORED!!!

i'm so BOREDboredBOREDboredBOREDboredBOREDboredBOREDboredBOREDboredBOREDbored... practically have nothing to do. and this has been a slooooow and booooring day. *sigh*

one noteworthy thing was the lunch i had with dania & ipung. went to theresia. haven't been there for a month, roughly. i wanted to have somay, but they were out. ipung ordered nasi goreng bebek, so i thought, why not. it turned out to be not too bad. quite expensive though, 15000.

that's it. nothing more. told you it was boring.

finished my articles!

ok, i think i still got it. the writing ability, i mean. in just a couple of minutes i finished writing (or rather, typing) my second article. it's not much, really. just under 5000 characters, for 1 page. what took me long was actually calling infokomputer and asking what kind of audio chip that motherboard has. after that, it was easy. 2 pages of motherboard reviews. easy done it. that leaves me with nothing to do. darn!

rianti asked me to upload a pic of me with tie on. actually, she wanted a pic of me with suit! hahaha... so here it is.



this pic was taken for the internal IP magazine, called InPac. Andy, who took the pic, wanted me to be shown as a gadget freak. so that was why i held my pda in this pic, even though my other hand was holding the mouse, not the stylus. this was taken way before the holidays, so my desk's layout was the old one.

i need more data!!!

had my first writing experience in 3 months, the first since i began working at ippr. what do i write?? motherboard reviews, of course!!! those guys at infokomputer sure are under-staffed. so i accepted their offer to write again. just 2 pages, for starter.

they emailed me some data and pictures. i thought i could just begin writing, like the old times. and i could! i had no problem writing. in just 10 minutes or so, i wrote more than 2000 characters, or 2/3 of the whole articles. that was just mentioning the features, stuffs, and on and on and on. but middle-way, i realised i need more data. for example, i need to know the contents of the manuals. are they adequate? i also need to know equipments used for the testing. simple things, really. things that i usually found out myself back when i was there. but now i can't! i'm at the mercy of emails and messengers! damn!

oh, by the way. we have new carpets here in the office. the desks are also repainted. nice. i also did some relocation for my stuffs on the desk. i put the computer casing on the desk, not on the floor. i also took eka's phone to replace mine. this phone is bigger and has speaker phone capability. nice. i also have a new drawer. with keys! nice.

2005

IT'S NEW YEAR!!!!!

I began this year 2005 by staying at crowne plaza hotel with my sd oel friends. The first new year, ever, i celebrated without my family. There were just 8 of us, but it was crazy! I almost got drunk! When my face became red, i followed my friend's advice and got up on my feet. Sitting or lying down will make you drunk, he said. And it paid off! I also drink quite a lot of water, to avoid the hangover. My first hangover experience, when i was at bond, was something i'd rather forget. We just talked, played, drank, and did silly things until we realized it was time to sleep. At 5! Woke up at 8 and thought hard about taking a shower.

Anyway, thanks to the vicinity of plaza semanggi, we could go there just by walking. We went to the duck king for our new year lunch. It was great! Quite expensive by my standard, though. But hey, it's new year! Hahaha...

Just as i said before, i sent new year smses. And boy did i get replies! Some of them were protests, though, because i sent those greetings waaaaay early. I put the wrong year on my early sms, as amel pointed out. Luckily she did, so i could correct it. Otherwise i'd get more protest! Hahaha...

When it's new year, people talk about resolutions. And mine are... Well, i haven't thought about them, really. I guess for the short term is to get my contract at ippr extended to permanent employment. It's due this month. After that's settled, i'll be able to think about my immediate future. I'll also write some reviews for infokomputer, because they nicely asked me. I don't expect to get rich by doing that, since the paycheck is rather pathetic, but it'll be nice to write again. And this time, i'll ask them to put my name! =P