Desperate Postgrad Student

Ahem. This recording feat on D90 is really addicting.
Making some more of it. Haha!

So this is what happened after you read too much Marxis books and Habermas paper.
We're totally drained out.

Need a brain upgrader.

Godspeed!

Toko Roti Gempol (Sejak 1958)

My most favorite spot! Toko Roti Gempol. The oldest bakery in town.
Things i like about Gempol, its cheap (HA!), DELICIOUS, and not so many 'ABG' around, well i hate their loud laugh as if they own the place, mostly people who come to this place are elderly people. Its quiet and i can have a cup of coffee while eating they most delicious toasted oat bread. Yummy yummy yummy! They also served noodle, siomay and yoghurt. I got bored capturing with camera, so i try this recording feature on Nikon D90 instead. Hihi.. Enjoy :)

Midori

So today i ate lunch at Midori. Its a Japanese Restaurant, located umm okay forgot on that one, but its near Jalan Gempol. This was my first time, actually, and i gotta say that im seriously satisfied. Definitely would loveee to come back! :D




Sorry for the extremely poor quality photo. I brought my camera but the stupid thing's i didn't put any SD card inside. Not so funny HAHA.. *yawn* These all taken with my blackberry.

Midori is the original Japanese restaurant, cooking methods, materials / ingredients, cooking, its all authentic Japanese. I ordered the cold noodle, which is incredibly weird for me at first, just keep on starring at it and trying not to loose my apetite but its turns out pretty good. :D



They put an ice on top of the noodle and also a carrot fried with flour. Yikes. I thought it was chicken dumbass. It also served with half-cooked quail eggs, since im not a fan of everything that 'half cooked', didn't eat that. No, thanks!


Where we got seated. Typical of Japanese resto, but as long as they provide the 'smoking area' sign, certainly enjoyed my seat.
...

29th of May

Sunday. 29th of May. Someone is getting married.

May your life have flowers that bloom, a cool breeze, a shining sun,
and…once in a while, a magical rain that falls.

Félicitations cher ami..

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I Hate Ping

For these past few days, i feel like i was controlled by some machine called BLACKBERRY.
Yes. They called me by saying 'PING' instead of 'Hey Gal.." and i got to send a funny emoticon just because one of my friend over there was crying like hell. I feel like a robot. A robot named Ping.

.. and these thought just got me realize that for all of these time ive been using blackberry, i spent my spare time for reading someone else's timeline, stalking on someone's conversation, or making an unimportant chat at blackberry messenger.

Whether im available or not, my friends/buyers keep calling me by Ping and the fact that i have to answer them, whatever my situasion is. People are just like easily get mad when im not replying. Im not living in a blackberry sister!

I don't even read books nowaday.
I rejected someone's invitation to meet up just because i think it'd be so much easier if we just chat on BBM.

Today im switching off my blackberry. Still thinking, whether i should change my blackberry to regular mobile phone or not, because using blackberry without using the blackberry service sounds a bit ridiculous isn't it?

Hell. Yeah whatever, i think im just gonna enjoy my days without 'PING' on my mobile.

oh and bye uber social. you. are. very. noisy.

I had enough trash. That's it.

How Do You Define School?

Once i heard someone said, "I dont need school. School's sucks. etc".

As for me, i didnt go to school in order to please my parent.
I do love school. and i think school is more than just book, education and stuff.
Its about attitude, ethic, and commitment.

If you think that school is boring, you are clearly can't see what's beneath.
How do you manage yourself facing the sucky lecturer?
How do you deal with rough schedule while you were having so much fun making money?
How do you find yourself working on assignment or thesis calmly while deadline is tight on?
How do you straighten up your priorities?
How do you arrange a relationship with your school mate, how do you socialize?
How do you set yourself learning in group of friends and can you be a leader?
It is not easy. Yet i find its challenging.

You being smart is useless when you dont have that kind atttitude.
Because thats the system in life, like it or not you gotta deal with it.
School raises you to be that kind of person. School gave you busy-sucky lecturer, lots of assignment, bad grade when you have tried your best and kick your ass when you start to not obey their rules. I know its sucks. But honey.. so does life.

Im feeling lucky that my dad supported me until i finish my postgrad.
Tough, im envy people who have the opportunity to go abroad for education.
Notice that our education system here in Indonesia is totally sucks.
But when you can go through the suckiest, then you can go for anything, right?

So here i am, live with it. Try my best to finish my postgraduate.
Is not somehow always about the title or how are you gonna get a perfect job after.
Its about how you finish something that you've started... perfectly.

So if you're one of those students that keeps on muttering all time saying,
"School sucks!" Well.. dont..

Believe me.. its a luxury.

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Baby Golditra

My little baby-cousin just came by and we went to baby spa today.

This is my first time seeing him. So i took a lot of picture of him, since he lives in Jakarta.
Huhu.. gonna miss you so Golditra Sitompul. :)


Anyway, he's bald. Haha.. like we can see his scalp clearly .. and i said. "Abang kamu kaya tuyul".




I think He'll make a good swimmer when he grow up.

Ah Haduri

Still cant figure out how to deal with Haduri since its all in deadly hangeul, now i finally found another one.
This one is a whole lot easier. Cups!

Ok. Now im spending my precious two hours in front of my webcam and playing hundred poses.

WOW. How productive.

Firework

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gunna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own

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My Kind of Saturday Nite

is staying at home, browsing, editing some old and new photos, watching dvds, and eat junk food a lot. Ha! Yes, im that happy. If you're one of the people who think its lame to spend satnite at home, then screww youu.. you should see how bad the traffic is and you got to spend at leats 30 minutes just to get yourself seated at some trashy cafe/resto. Who would want that anyway?

Anyway...
Lately, i love capturing babies. Oh hell, i really want one. Hahaha.. Capturing baby is so challenging. The baby just keep on moving and its quite hard to find the right angle. Also, i can seem to find the right way to make them smile through my lense.
Is it because of my face? Hahaha..



This is one of the result, and this was only one from 42 shots in total. :p
Her name is Khaura Ivana Latifah. She's my niece. She 's only 4 months years old.
And she keeps on starring at my lenses without even smiling a bit. Aisshh..

This is a different baby, well if you can't tell any differences. :p
His name is Akram. This is my bestfriend's baby boy. Isnt he cute?
He looks like Shincan with those cutey rounded eyes.
CUBIT! :)

This is her and Akram. I love them both!

Still dunno how to capture kiddos and baby but im willing to learn more.

Wish me luck. :)

Well, You're Going to be Married!

After all of these shitty years of love life, finally you'll get a chance of happiness.
Congratulation dear, friend. :)

Hari Ini

Kok sedih yah? Hehe..

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Its Bali, Baby!

Well.. somehow, if only you could sense my tone, you would hear me.. yeah.. its Bali, baby.. Zzz.. Haha! Entah kenapa saya tidak terlalu antusias bertandang ke pulau Dewata. Selain terlalu ramai dan sungguh begitu banyak orang asing yang tidak terlalu saya suka, pulau Bali juga somehow feels like overbudget. Everything seems so highly costed. Tapi berhubung kedatangan saya ke Bali kali ini bersama dengan kedua orang tua saya, yaaa i wouldnt say no. Dulu pertama kali ke Bali pun karena saya menang kuis dari Vaseline haha..

Untuk pertama kalinya saya mengunjungi Dreamland dan Padang-padang. Maklum dulu terakhir ke Bali mungkin sekitar empat tahun yang lalu, saat itu Dreamland dan Padang-padang belum se-hype sekarang. Padang-padang.. hmmm ya okelah. Great beach, dirty sand. Dreamland, BIG NO. Sepertinya Dreamland hanya diperuntukan untuk bule-bule berdompet tebal. Masa mau ke wc untuk sekedar membilas badan saja kena charge Rp. 10.000,- Are you nuts? Tapi ya.. once again, since my mom paid for it, i just enjoyed it. :p



Saat sedang menunggu mobil jemputan di Kuta Square saya melihat sepasang turis asing yang berjalan membawa botol bir di pinggir jalan dengan memakai bikini saja, yaa.. saya bukan Islam garis keras, but i think its a lil bit appropriate, dont ya think? Cover yourself up when you walked in town , its not California, bitch.



Selain pantai dan budaya lokal, tidak ada lagi yang menarik perhatian saya. Shopping? I suggest you go to Singapore. There's not much interesting thing to buy in Bali.

Oh hampir saja lupa, tentunya ada satu lagi yang menarik perhatian saya ; local beach boys. Hahaa!! God bless them!


this is me while playing around at Dreamland.
I was showing too much skin, later on you'll see my skin looks like a holy CRAB.


Dad with Gunung Batur landscape, loving the view but not the weather. Freezing!
Dulu saya pernah mencoba mountain bike menelesuri kaki Gunung Batur, the view is totally awesome, sungai, hutan, danau, great! Yang sekarang ini, kami hanya nongkrong-nongkrong saja di cafe dan melihat pemandangan sekitar, maklum bawa orang-orang tua. :p

Btw, look at his temporary tatoo. Yeah well you know when people turns into 50, they started act like a 17 years old, well at least now i know that its a fact.


Mencoba diving di tanjung benoa, pasar sukowati, toko oleh-oleh Khrisna 3 times in five days, you know 'ibu-ibu dharma wanita' thingy. What else? Been eyeing to my diver buddy, bli-bli cute gitu hahaa.. Magnum ice cream is everywhere *info penting, and seafood which i dislike.


Last but not least, this one. This one, called THE ROLLING DONUT.
I tell you what, if someone ask you to join him/her in this terrible game, just say NO.
Believe me you wont regret it.

Selamat Malam, Tuhan

Hari ini doa saya satu saja.
Semoga Kamu kabulkan, atau paling tidak dengarkan saja pun tak apa.

Tolong berikan kebahagiaan yang sebesar-besarnya kepada teman saya yang baru saja ditinggalkan Ibunya, karena dia sudah tidak punya siapa-siapa kecuali teman-temannya.
Tolong hapuskan kesedihannya, tolong lapangkan pikiran dan gundahnya, tolong berikan dia ketenangan batin dan lapangkanlah jalan Ibunya.. Amien.

PS : Dear you my friend.. you did a great job taking care of your mom. You should be proud of yourself. I think you're amazing. :)

Hello Yellow

Hello people. How's your February? Mine sucks and so does my thesis. Haha..
Family issue, no holiday for this month, totally no getaway and im stuck with my thesis adviser.

I think the only reasonable way to deal with this month is to sleep as much as possible, with the hope that one day when you open your eyes, the calendar will read March 1st.

Well oopss.. its MARCH!

Hello there, please be great. :)

Tour de Tapanuli

I went to Tapanuli on August 2010, that time im not really in the mood for taking pics and exploring. I went with my broken hearted. Ahahahahaa.. Actually i will always remember this trip as my unfortunate trip and shit really happened in my life but now im so ready to forget about everything, that's why i decided to post this trip. :p Yeah yeaaah i know... LAME.

Photo on the right is my great-grandfather's grave. So.. whoever said i look like 'mualaf', well im sorry to dissapoint you dear friends.. hehehe..





This one is super interesting, jalur darat lintas Sumatera. Horrible, huh? Jangan berani-berani lewat sini kalau malam ya, banyak rampok batak. Hahahaa...



and also this one. Jalur darat Tarutung-Sibolga. Biasa disebut batu lubang.
Super scarryyyyy!



See? Kiri tebing, kanan jurang. Gotta drive super slow motion buddy..

We drove along from Medan, Parapat, Pahae, Sibolga, Poncan Gadang, Padang Sidimpuan, Tarutung, Tomok, Pulo Samosir then back to Medan for the whole one week. Super exhausted, even though im not driving, we have so many relatives that needs to be visited. Pheww..



the girl with the mickey mouse red stripe shirt, yups that's me.

Something About 'Nenah'

Ini cerita tentang Bi Nenah. Pembantu yang sudah hampir 4 tahun ini kerja di rumah saya. Membereskan rumah, memasak, sampai kadang saya suka meminta dia membantu saya mengepak barang dagangan. Semua bisa dia kerjakan... dan selalu memuaskan. Rumah selalu rapih, masakan dia pun lebih enak dari buatan Ibu saya, dan dia jujur. Itu point utamanya.

Mulai dari kalung emas Ibu saya yang tak sengaja terjatuh di lantai kamar sampai uang receh yang tertinggal di saku celana jeans saya yang hendak dicuci olehnya, semua dia kembalikan, utuh. Tidak kurang seratus perak pun. Bagi keluarga saya, mendapat pembantu yang jujur sama rasanya seperti mendapatkan 'jackpot' miliaran rupiah. Maklum saja, keluarga saya hampir semuanya bisa dikatakan 'jorok'.

Menaruh uang sembarang bukan hal aneh. Uang seratus ribu berlembar-lembar dengan cueknya ditaruh saja di ruang tengah oleh Bapak saya. Dompet saya juga seringnya bergelatakan di mana-mana. Ada tukang koran menagih uang, Ibu saya keluar membawa dompetnya, lalu.. taruh saja entah dimana itu dompet. Yaah.. beginilah keadaan rumah saya. Pembantu yang berniat menguras habis harta benda kami pastinya akan sangat mudah. Untung saja Bi Nenah orangnya jujur..

Bukan hanya dalam uang saja. Bi Nenah ini orangnya juga cerdas dan tahu betul barang-barang yang mahal atau cukup berharga. Setiap saya pergi meninggalkan kamar dengan laptop, kamera dan lensa yang berserakan di penjuru kamar, ketika saya pulang, dia akan membereskan kamar saya dan menaruh barang-barang itu di tempat-tempat yang tidak bisa dilihat orang asing yang masuk ke kamar saya. Cerdas, ya? Dia akan hati-hati sekali ketika membereskan gitar saya dan menaruhnya perlahan-lahan. Melihat lemari orang tua saya yang lupa tidak dikunci dia akan berinsiatif menguncinya dan segera mengingatkan orang tua saya.

Sekitar tiga bulan yang lalu, jari telunjuk Bi Nenah kemasukan serat kayu. Kalau orang sunda menyebutnya "kasura". Lalu dia mengorek jarinya sendiri dengan jarum yang dibakar terlebih dahulu. Katanya sih, serat kayunya sudah keluar. Tapi tak lama kemudian jarinya bernanah dan membengkak. Merasa penyakitnya ringan saja dan tidak akan berakibat fatal, Bi Nenah diam saja. Tidak mengeluh atau bercerita ke siapa-siapa.

Kami pun tidak ada yang tahu soal jari telunjuk Bi Nenah ini. Sampai tiga hari yang lalu, dia mengeluh panas dingin dan jari telunjuknya tahu-tahu sudah menghitam dan berlumur nanah, Ibu saya langsung membawa dia ke dokter. Kaget sekali kami sewaktu dokter mengatakan, jari telunjuk Bi Nenah sudah membusuk dan harus dipotong, sel-sel dan syaraf di telunjuknya sudah tidak berfungsi lagi dan harus segera dioperasi.

Dang!
Keluarga Bi Nenah saat itu langsung heboh. Mereka mendatangi Ibu saya dan meminta maaf karena telah merepotkan Ibu saya, lalu mereka membicarakan soal biaya operasi yang cukup lumayan. Ibu saya menyanggupi untuk membayar biaya operasi, dan mereka terus-terusan mengatakan terima kasih dan berdoa untuk Ibu saya, "sing kagentosan ku gusti Allah ya bu.."

Saat itu saya cuma diam saja. Mereka sibuk berdoa dan mengucapkan terima kasih buat Ibu saya, lalu apa kabarnya Bi Nenah? She's the one who's gonna loose her forefinger. Arent we supposed to pray for her? Lalu saya lihat muka Bi Nenah. Wow. Sorry but i really gotta say this one. WOW. She looks OKAY. Calm and fatefully.

Satu jari diamputasi. What would you do if you were her?
Here i made a list, of what forefinger can do.
1. Untuk memarahi orang..
2. atau untuk menunjukan arah.
3. Akan sulit sekali bermain gitar atau piano
4. Akan sulit sekali memencet tombol telepon genggam
5. Memencet tombol kamera
6. Memencet tombol bel pintu rumah
7. atau.. menggunakan mouse komputer.
8. mengetik 10 jari?
9. You cant count to 10 with your fingers!
10. ?? See??

I made this list on 3 minutes, i couldve make it longer in 10 minutes. But that'll be a loongg list!! Kok dia bisa terlihat tenang-tenang saja ya?

Now here's something i learnt today. Whatever your shit is, that's just shit, friend! There are people who struggling for life, braver than we are.

Bi Nenah tak punya uang sebanyak itu untuk operasi, yang dia pikirkan di kepalanya dan keluarganya adalah, bagaimana caranya sembuh dan mendapat uang untuk operasi. Masalah hilang telunjuk atau tidak itu urusan belakang. Ada point yang lebih dipikirkan, ada point yang lebih penting. She's really brave. Untuk urusan cengeng dan melankoli, tidak ada jatahnya untuk Bi Nenah.

At some point, saya berpikir, orang-orang seperti ini Bi Nenah ini lebih punya nyali menghadapi hidup daripada kita. Betapa manja dan lembeknya orang-orang seperti saya yang menangis cuma gara-gara diputuskan oleh pacar lalu galau berlama-lama. Mendadak bad mood dan frustasi ketika thesis diam di tempat.

OH, THIS IS LIFE, LIVE IT!

Sometimes, you dont need Mahatma Gandhi, or Monroe or.. even Mother Theresa to inspire your life, you just need to look closer to all the people around you. Look closer and you'll see, life is a shit but they live happily.

I want to be strong just like her.
Dia.. yang mungkin ga tahu thesis itu apa.
Yang kuliah saja tidak pernah.
Dia yang pekerjaanya hanya membereskan rumah setiap hari.
She, that never been to school.
Turns out that she's smarter and more logical than me in facing life.

Ok. Tuhan, Saya malu sekali hari ini..

Life is One Long Insane Trip

Bak rentetan drama, lakon-lakon terus ditampilkan, dengan aktor-aktor yang dimunculkan entah sebagai kambing hitam maupun sebagai sosok pahlawan.
Saya melihatnya di televisi, di surat kabar, di berbagai media. Mereka mengaung-gaungkan keadilan, dan pada akhirnya ternyata tidak lebih dari sekedar kekuasaan.
Bahwa ternyata otak manusia bisa sedemikian cerdasnya merangkai peristiwa dan menjadikannya skenario di dalam dunia nyata.

People are like shit.
And yes... life we are living now, it is a one long insane trip.

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Just Draft

via prettysmilesilhoutte

An old friend suddenly contact me through blackberry messenger. He was asking about my work, my photograph, my store, my job. He was asking me a lot of questions, that out of the blue, i just dont know how to answer it. No.. i really dont.

What was happened to me? Then i open my laptop and browse my old photo-work, my old blog, then i realize, these days ive been spending my time for nothing. My productivity has been down to ZERO. Yup ZERO. What am i doing?

Thesis? Not really. Then what?

I used to be a workaholic, i love my job, i love capturing people, i love learning, i love selling clothes online, i love shoes and stuff. What is wrong with me?

Everyday i woke up, then sitting down in front of my laptop, smoking, playing my guitar, singing then.. what? Ok. I go to gym, almost everyday. To the library, working on my thesis, then hanging out with my friends. Then go home. Wow. Im no longer interested in make some money and i really dont know why.

Bored. Yes. Im bored.
and i think i might need a new life.
I’m just stuck, its quick sand and I just don’t have the energy to pull myself out.

Should i runaway? Well.. Lets.

Trip Series : Pulau Pramuka

Walaupun tidak terlalu puas dengan Pulau Tidung, (click here) yang bisa dibilang satu lokasi dengan Pulau Pramuka, sebelum malam pergantian tahun baru kemarin akhirnya saya memaksakan diri juga untuk melihat yang namanya Pulau Pramuka. Hehe.. Masih dengan meeting point ; Pelabuhan Muara Angke yang baunya bukan kepalang, kami berangkat pagi-pagi sekitar pukul 07.00 Saat itu laut Jawa rupanya sedang tidak tenang. Estimasi waktu yang diperkirakan hanya sekitar tiga jam, molor setengah jam. Ombaknya sangat besar dan hampir saja saya mabuk laut. Goyangannya sungguh aduhay..


Keunggulan Pulau Pramuka adalah akses akomodasi yang sudah banyak ditawarkan melalui internet. Salah satunya adalah www.pulauseribu.net saya pun memesan melalui situs tersebut. Ada beberapa pilihan penginapan juga catering yang bisa disesuaikan dengan budget. Harganya cukup murah meriah, mereka juga menawarkan beberapa paket tour atau kalau kamu berniat untuk mengatur sendiri itenerary untuk hopping island juga bisa menyewa kapal sendiri melalui situs tersebut.

Kami menginap selama 2 malam di Dolphin Homestay, please aware of my notes. Kalau dulu di Pulau Tidung kami kehilangan jemuran, di Dolphin Homestay kami kehilangan blackberry. Entah bagaimana caranya, yang jelas, blackberry salah satu teman kami yang sedang di charge di ruang tamu homestay mendadak lenyap ketika dia bangun keesokan harinya. Kami mencurigai ada orang yang membuka jendela atau bisa jadi yang empunya homestay yang membuka dengan kunci cadangan. Yaah.. wallahualam.. sekedar tips, kalau kamu menginap di homestay yang memiliki ruang tamu, bawalah semua barang berharga ke dalam kamar. Jangan pernah tinggalkan di ruang tamu, walaupun homestay dalam keadaan terkunci. :(


Malam kedua kami menginap di Pulau Pramuka adalah final AFF Indonesia melawan Malaysia. Kami memutuskan untuk menonton final di Karamba, salah satu restoran di tengah laut yang menjual seafood. Makanannya cukup enak dan mereka menyediakan big screen LCD TV, lumayan daripada menonton di homestay. Oh ya, Karamba Resto ini menyediakan fasilitas antar-jemput dan juga.. visa accepted. Hehe..

Tips : Kalau kamu memesan penginapan melalui website, perhatikan jumlah orang yang bisa muat di dalamnya. Ketika mereka bilang satu kamar cukup untuk enam orang, itu bohong.. hehe.. kenyataannya mungkin hanya dua kasur single yang dijadikan satu. Satu kasur extra dapat dipesan seharga Rp. 20.000 - 25.000/ malam.

Selamat berlibur :)