18 years ago
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Indonesia Unite
In the light of the recent Asia Cup 2007, I thought I'd show my country a little support by going to a live game at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. It was my first time hearing the national anthem being sung by more than 10,000 people. It sent chills through my spine.
We lost the game 0-1 to Korea; a World Cup's semi finalist team. Two countries with different level of experience and skill. We stood no chance, but everyone in that stadium was hoping for a miracle. In a sport where everything is possible, the crowd chanted, "Indonesia, Indonesia, Indonesia..." We knew we sucked, we knew we would most likely lose, but we were not going to go without a fight. It was a moment to be proud.
Last Saturday's Wedding
It's wedding-vaganza month/weeks/god knows... Not only I have numerous wedding invitations sitting on my desk, there are various wedding talks around me. In the office space that our company shared with our partner, there are 3 more weddings coming up. I see heads shaking over budget, arms flung out in exasperation, and more wedding preparation talk.
The thing about a wedding, in Indonesia at least, is never for the bride and groom but more the families coming together. For once and hopefully the last time,... two families have a say(s) on what is right, what is appropriate, what is customary, what is presentable on the day of the union. Indonesian weddings almost always invite many people, family, relatives, acquaintances, business partners; regardless of economics. A wedding is for EVERYONE. People dress up, throw in envelopes with money inside in the closed basket provided, sign their name in a guest book, eat and have their photos taken. There is music, photographers, videographers but (in most cases) no alcohol.
A typical Indonesian wedding consists of something like this:
1. Guests arrive at some sort of function hall beautifully decorated with flowers and pictures of bride & groom everywhere (read: pre-wedding photos)
2. Bride & Groom arrive and take their place on a stage
3. People starts lining up to congratulate or eat the food
4. Food is served buffet style
5. Friends & families take photos with the couple
Last Saturday, a co-worker got married and a whole bunch of us went. Here are some pictures of the event.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
A Little of Cool
This morning my co-worker IM-me and said that he has something important to discuss with me and would like me to call him. Hmm...
K: Have you read that email JP sent us?
C: Nope, which one?
K: Our company is being sold!
C: Really? To who? (... At this point I began to worry)
K: Bono
C: Huh? (...very puzzled)
K: You know, the singer?
C: Yeah, of course I know who he is! But how? WTF?
K: You should read the email. I might misunderstand it...
C: Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
K: I don't know. No feeling.
C: Huh??
I scratched my head again, biting my nails whilst waiting for the email to be downloaded. There it was. A forwarded message from our CEO, who excitedly stated that we are now part of a group called Elevation Partners. One of the 5 Managing Partners is Bono. Yep. Bono, of the U2 fame. Cool Bono, who's not only a great rock star but also a great humanitarian who's working on poverty eradication. It's all good. GOOOD. KEWL.
So next time you talk to me and ask, "What's up with you today?"
C: Oh, I have a new boss...
?: Really? Is he or she nice? Is your position going to be in jeopardy?
C: Naaa, I don't think so. He's cool.
?: Who is he?
C: Bono.
?: What?
C: Yeah, U2-Bono is my boss...
?: (Speechless, in awe of coolness).
C: (Big grin on my face).
Bono is my boss. Well, not technically but in theory he is. I hear U2's "Elevation" in my head. It's cool. It's all good.
K: Have you read that email JP sent us?
C: Nope, which one?
K: Our company is being sold!
C: Really? To who? (... At this point I began to worry)
K: Bono
C: Huh? (...very puzzled)
K: You know, the singer?
C: Yeah, of course I know who he is! But how? WTF?
K: You should read the email. I might misunderstand it...
C: Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
K: I don't know. No feeling.
C: Huh??
I scratched my head again, biting my nails whilst waiting for the email to be downloaded. There it was. A forwarded message from our CEO, who excitedly stated that we are now part of a group called Elevation Partners. One of the 5 Managing Partners is Bono. Yep. Bono, of the U2 fame. Cool Bono, who's not only a great rock star but also a great humanitarian who's working on poverty eradication. It's all good. GOOOD. KEWL.
So next time you talk to me and ask, "What's up with you today?"
C: Oh, I have a new boss...
?: Really? Is he or she nice? Is your position going to be in jeopardy?
C: Naaa, I don't think so. He's cool.
?: Who is he?
C: Bono.
?: What?
C: Yeah, U2-Bono is my boss...
?: (Speechless, in awe of coolness).
C: (Big grin on my face).
Bono is my boss. Well, not technically but in theory he is. I hear U2's "Elevation" in my head. It's cool. It's all good.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
On Love
This is my final quote from Shantaram,...
"They'd lied to me and betrayed me, leaving jagged edges where all my trusts had been, and I didn't like or respect or admire them any more, but still I loved them. I had no choice. I understood that, perfectly, standing in the white wilderness of snow. You can't kill love. You can't even kill it with hate. You can kill in-love, and loving and even loveliness. You can kill them all, or numb them into dense, leaden regret, but you can't kill love itself. Love is the passionate search for a truth other than your own, and once you feel it, honestly and completely, love is forever. Every act of love, every moment of the heart reaching out, is a part of the universal good: it's a part of God, or what we call God, and it can never die."
-Gregory David Roberts-
"They'd lied to me and betrayed me, leaving jagged edges where all my trusts had been, and I didn't like or respect or admire them any more, but still I loved them. I had no choice. I understood that, perfectly, standing in the white wilderness of snow. You can't kill love. You can't even kill it with hate. You can kill in-love, and loving and even loveliness. You can kill them all, or numb them into dense, leaden regret, but you can't kill love itself. Love is the passionate search for a truth other than your own, and once you feel it, honestly and completely, love is forever. Every act of love, every moment of the heart reaching out, is a part of the universal good: it's a part of God, or what we call God, and it can never die."
-Gregory David Roberts-
Monday, July 09, 2007
Idyll Weekend
The weekend that just past was dreadful because it being 7.7.7 there were tons of event to attend: weddings(...and I hate going to them because they require such effort), parties, etc. It turned out to be one of the best weekends I've had, ever. Probably because I didn't go to any of the aforementioned above.
SATURDAY
I am a big Grey's Anatomy fan. Season 3 finished not too long ago and I finally got my hands on the whole lot. I started on episode 6, because I watched the first 5 episodes during my time in the US... and got sucked into the deep, dark, funny, disturbing drams of Seattle Grace Hospital. It was a day of Grey Marathon, junk food and the lot. The constant theme that keeps coming back to me is communication. It is such a simple word that requires creative action.
Communication is important to avoid mis-communication; a misinterpretation of intent; misunderstanding of feeling. One person must have endless ways of connecting to the different people, and its a constant learning process that can never be taken for granted. I can relate to Meredith when she shuts Derek out on things that matter, but talks to him about where she's going to be after lunch. Don't we all do that? We communicate the trivials and forget to speak about the personals, because it's so much harder to reveal our weaknesses to other people. Even if that person is supposedly your significant other.
It is easy for me to carry a full on conversation about everything and nothing with people, and yet it requires gianormous effort to tell a person I like that he has hurt my feelings. It takes time for me to say things out loud when it comes to how I feel about people I love. Oh well, I'm learning...
SUNDAY
Shantaram Brunch
Another great day that was originally planned to be a productive one; I think gym and grocery shopping and clock repair was part of the plan - only to be reduced to a long brunch at a bookshop cafe while I finised Shantaram for the second time, and a bit of grocery shopping. It was partly productive!
I gotta tell you though, that nothing beats that quiet Sunday afternoon sipping coffee reading a great book. My sense of fulfillment added when an elderly Indian man came up to me and said, "Hi, sorry to bother you... but I just want to say that I'm reading the exact same book and I love it." You know what they say about a japanese restaurant filled japanese? Yeah, it kinda felt like that. An Indian man reading a book about India? It's good. I know it's good; that is why I'm reading it for the second time... But it's nice to have that kind of validation. Nothing like being approved by the local.
Wimbledon Men's Singles Final
Roger Federer VS. Rafael Nadal. Need I say more? World's Rank No.1 VS. World No. 2. Both set out to break records. Federer was attempting 5 consecutive wins to equal Bjorn Borg's achievement, and Rafa was making an attempt at being consecutive champions of 2 Grand Slam tournaments: Roland Garros and Wimbledon, on 2 different surfaces. A surface that traditionally belongs to Federer.
Federer was a favourite. But when the first set lasted 56 minutes, an both of them were fighting for every single point, and Rafa took on the second set... you know that everything was possible. That made the match unbelievably amazing to watch. Strength, perseverance, focus, concentration, fighting spirit, agility, flexibility, endurance, strategy. Oh! Amazing! Did I say amazing! Oh. Oh. Oh. 5 sets of amazing tennis.
Federer set his record. He puts his name down as one of the legends.
And with that, I ended my ah-may-zeeeeng weekend with myself. Oh yeah, totally spend hours on end with myself. And you know what? It was one of the best weekends in my life.
SATURDAY
I am a big Grey's Anatomy fan. Season 3 finished not too long ago and I finally got my hands on the whole lot. I started on episode 6, because I watched the first 5 episodes during my time in the US... and got sucked into the deep, dark, funny, disturbing drams of Seattle Grace Hospital. It was a day of Grey Marathon, junk food and the lot. The constant theme that keeps coming back to me is communication. It is such a simple word that requires creative action.
Communication is important to avoid mis-communication; a misinterpretation of intent; misunderstanding of feeling. One person must have endless ways of connecting to the different people, and its a constant learning process that can never be taken for granted. I can relate to Meredith when she shuts Derek out on things that matter, but talks to him about where she's going to be after lunch. Don't we all do that? We communicate the trivials and forget to speak about the personals, because it's so much harder to reveal our weaknesses to other people. Even if that person is supposedly your significant other.
It is easy for me to carry a full on conversation about everything and nothing with people, and yet it requires gianormous effort to tell a person I like that he has hurt my feelings. It takes time for me to say things out loud when it comes to how I feel about people I love. Oh well, I'm learning...
SUNDAY
Shantaram Brunch
Another great day that was originally planned to be a productive one; I think gym and grocery shopping and clock repair was part of the plan - only to be reduced to a long brunch at a bookshop cafe while I finised Shantaram for the second time, and a bit of grocery shopping. It was partly productive!
I gotta tell you though, that nothing beats that quiet Sunday afternoon sipping coffee reading a great book. My sense of fulfillment added when an elderly Indian man came up to me and said, "Hi, sorry to bother you... but I just want to say that I'm reading the exact same book and I love it." You know what they say about a japanese restaurant filled japanese? Yeah, it kinda felt like that. An Indian man reading a book about India? It's good. I know it's good; that is why I'm reading it for the second time... But it's nice to have that kind of validation. Nothing like being approved by the local.
Wimbledon Men's Singles Final
Roger Federer VS. Rafael Nadal. Need I say more? World's Rank No.1 VS. World No. 2. Both set out to break records. Federer was attempting 5 consecutive wins to equal Bjorn Borg's achievement, and Rafa was making an attempt at being consecutive champions of 2 Grand Slam tournaments: Roland Garros and Wimbledon, on 2 different surfaces. A surface that traditionally belongs to Federer.
Federer was a favourite. But when the first set lasted 56 minutes, an both of them were fighting for every single point, and Rafa took on the second set... you know that everything was possible. That made the match unbelievably amazing to watch. Strength, perseverance, focus, concentration, fighting spirit, agility, flexibility, endurance, strategy. Oh! Amazing! Did I say amazing! Oh. Oh. Oh. 5 sets of amazing tennis.
Federer set his record. He puts his name down as one of the legends.
And with that, I ended my ah-may-zeeeeng weekend with myself. Oh yeah, totally spend hours on end with myself. And you know what? It was one of the best weekends in my life.
