Congrats - Congratulation

These are the words that I heard so many times today. Yeah, today is my graduation day. At last, I officially get another title, Master of Applied Science (Information Systems). I know that this title make my name a bit longer. Mitra Budiaji Chan, S.Kom., M.App.Sc.(Info.Sys.).

Then, I try to omit some part of my name, till become Mitra Budiaji Chan, S.Kom. M.App.Sc. But it still doesn't seem right; too long. Then, I omit my bachelor degree. Mitra Budiaji Chan, M.App.Sc. I think that's quite good enough to be put in my business card. Quite long, tough. But, I have no other choice. I already have quite a long name and I'm proud of it.

Back to the ceremony. I think I'm quite surprised today. I meet most of my friend in my major. Actually, there are not so many student in my major. I think it's not more than 50 people that come to graduation ceremony. I also just know about 10 of them. I have 1 Chinese, 1 Cambodian and 1 Bangladeshi friend instead of few Indian friends. I have another Korean friend, but he doesn't show up today.

I also met some of my care group friend. Yeah, they are from CCM RMIT. One of the student group in RMIT. I take a lot of pictures with them.

For all of my friends, I wish you all the best. Hope that you're success in everything that you will do.

For every RMIT alumni, now we are embedded into one as the alumni of RMIT. Hope that we can keep contact and we can share our journey.

Congratulation!!

Next Year's Wishes

Talking about 2009's wishes, I think I have a bunch of those.

I hope that I could start a new business of my own next year. That means that I have to learn a lot of it. I need to learn about how to run the business. I need to learn about the business itself. I need to look for people to run the business. And more.

It's not an easy start and I know that I should learn hard and be more persistent in a lot of things. I shouldn't disappointed anyone that put hope in me. And I have to get something out of it.

I know that it's gonna really tough. Global recession is coming. And starting a new business means double or triple effort than normal. There are more competitors and less customers. But I believe that whenever you have a good will, you will gain a good feedback.

Beside of that main wish, I still have some other wishes. My second wish is to be closer with my girl. I know that being back in Jambi means less communication between us. I need to run errand around my home to help my mum and lil sis. Then, next year, I will start my own. I think the time will be lesser and lesser for us to communicate. But, I have to spare some time to communicate with her. I also have some plans for next year, hope that I could fulfil it.

There are some other small wishes in my mind right now. But, I don't think that I'm gonna share those here. I just hope that I can fulfil most of them next year.


New Year.
New Beginning.
New Life.

After 4 Months

Yeah, it's already 4 months since my last blog here.

Living in a small town is not that easy to get internet access. And after all, when you're connected to internet, it's a very damn slow connection. Normally, I just get less than 1 Kbps for downloading file. It will take ages just for downloading something. And that's a dial-up connection.

OK. Cut that crap and let's talk about life.

Overall, I like to be there, in my little sweet hometown. It's still like the old time but has a lot of development in some districts. There are quite a few shopping mall around the city. A lot of new restaurants, food malls, or cafes.

Few months in Jambi lets me know more about the city. And I think I'm quite prepared to start my own business next year. Yeah, I think I will start my own business. Instead of the business, I still hope that I have time to be a lecturer. It's not about the money, but it's about passion. I really want to teach something and hope that I get something good out of it.

In this 4 months in Jambi, I learn about the city quite a lot. I was also looking around the city to look for a good opportunity. And I hope that my judgment is right. I also believe that when you believe in something, there is a clear way open for you.

Taking from KungFu Panda movie, "The secret ingredient is NOTHING. ... To MAKE something special, you just HAVE to bEliEVe it's SPECIAL. ... There is NO secret ingredient."

Yes, When you BELIEVE that you can do something, then it's DONE.

Aug 07, 08 - Last few hours

Today is quite packed for me. But, overall, I'm happy.

It's last few hours I'm in Melbourne. It's not a sad day. I'm quite blessed to be back there.

I have a welcome family that wants me to be back there. I have a girlfriend that is excited that we can communicate more. I have plans to do back there.

And I believe also that God opens my way. I believe that something is already planned toward my journey in Indonesia. I hope that I can bless and be blessing for others. I hope that the thought that crossed my mind can be fulfilled in the future.

I know that the picture takes a lot of times to be accomplished. But I believe that I can do it.

Right now, the weather is raining. I don't know why suddenly it's raining. Yeah, I saw that some dark cloud is already hanging around this evening. And it could be because of that.

I know that there is no appropriate way to say good bye. But, I still will come to this city next December and some other time in the future.

It's not my city. I still have Indonesian blood and I'm proud of it. I believe that Indonesia can change. I believe that Indonesia can be one of the developed country in the world.

We just neec to persist and believe. And also we need to act. We act toward the good of Indonesia.

See you in the future, Melbourne.

Things Gonna be Missed: Trams (5 of 5)

Tram is one of public transport in Melbourne. Actually, it's one of the thing that I like from Melbourne.

Tram is usually in the middle of the road along with another vehicles. But, in some areas, there are separate road for tram that gives tram a better space.

People is quite appreciative on trams that they must give ways to tram and also the passengers. Whenever trams stop, the other vehicles must give some rooms for passengers to board or alight trams.

Not every city in the world has trams as the main of transport. I believe that trams is not something easy to be implemented. In the other end, trams is quite slow to travel for long distance, due to traffic and tram stops.

I will miss trams for sure. It's my main transport for past 1.5 years. It brings another level to my life to know about this. It's quite enjoyable to know and experience in a tram.

I hope that Indonesia could learn more from other country about how they manage public transportation. Each city in Indonesia has it's own public transportation. But, the thing that I don't like is that government do too little about public transportation. So that everyone goes for personal transportation.

Cars and motorcycles are quite popular for everyone there, since they don't bother about public transportation. And also getting into public transport means that you must be fully aware about the condition. There is few safety measurement there.

I will miss tram. But in the other end, I will get into a car or motorcycle there.
It will be an exciting changes for me.

Things Gonna be Missed: Vegetarian Meal (4 of 5)

I will miss the food that I can take here, in Melbourne. To be amazed, almost all restaurants in Melbourne has vegetarian menu and they are quite welcome to vegetarians.

Before I came to Melbourne, I'm quite stressed to think about what I could eat here. I think that I have to cook for almost every meal that I will eat or I will just eat bread each time. But the condition is more that I expect.

Restaurant is very accommodate all the customers. And restaurant atmosphere is really different. Most of the restaurants provide customers with drink. Hm.. To be true, I just visit the common restaurant. I never ever visit a fancy restaurant.

Back there, in Indonesia, I rarely see a special menu for vegetarian. Most of the menu is dominated by meat, such as: beef, chicken or seafood. There are no or very few menu which is just vegetables.

Yeah. It's a bit funny that you hardly find vegetarian meal in Indonesia. You can try to go to a food court and try to see how many vegetarian meal that you can spot. And how many stall that sells vegetarian meal.

I will miss the freedom to choose the food. It's my choice to be vegetarian and I hope everyone can accommodate it.

Thanks.

Things Gonna be Missed: Shopping Town (3 of 5)

Hm.. Shopping in Melbourne is a bit different with what you can see in Indonesia.

When you live in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, people go to Shopping Mall to do their shopping from buying food, accessories until doing groceries. But, here in Melbourne, the style is a bit different.

Yes, we have malls. But, it's not that much. And local government still give some space for traditional seller.

Melbourne host to Victoria Market, one of the most popular market in the world. It's still in traditional way and it does not open on Monday and Wednesday. It has few halls which separate based on the product sold.

It's quite tidy market and it's also one of the tourist attractions in Melbourne. When you do tour around Melbourne, the tour will take you to Victoria Market for sure.

Back there in Indonesia, people tend to go to shopping mall rather than traditional market. There are couple of reasons, such as: convenience and security. When you are in traditional market, the environment is not that nice. You'll get annoyed just after a while. Whether it's too hot/sunny or too squashy. Even when you go to a shopping-town like, the place is also not that nice.

The other reason is security. The security level in Indonesia is much lower than here in Melbourne. And there are gangs in every place in Indonesia. They rule the place and hardly can be touched.

Yeah.. so, living in Melbourne and Indonesia has two different lifestyle to shop. Here, people still respect and want to shop in traditional way. But, in Indonesia, people tend to go to shopping mall.

I really hope that Indonesia government can do something to make the traditional way still alive. It's more natural and better.

Hope that in the future, it's not just malls in Indonesia.

Things Gonna be Missed: Gardens (2 of 5)

This is the second blog of the series. This is the next thing that I'm gonna miss, Gardens.

Yes, Melbourne is a city of gardens. In each suburb, there is at least a small area of reserve, where the green is preserve and, sometimes, there is playground.

Melbourne is host of one of the best Botanical Garden in the world. It's called Royal Botanical Garden, lies along St Kilda road, next to Shrine of Remembrance and near Yarra River.

I've been there few times and it's the best garden that I've ever visited so far. It has an aura that can't be explained. It's like you come into peace within a crowded environment.

You still can see some Melbourne's skyscrapers from the garden, but the garden itself bring different aura to yourself. It's hard to explain, it's better that you experience it by yourself.

Beside Botanical Garden, there are lots of garden around Melbourne. Most of the garden is awesome. Some of the reserve is also OK, since it's even harder to find open place in Indonesia.

Back to Indonesia, I don't think that we can find the reserves or gardens that much. In Jakarta itself, I just know the one in National Monument. I don't know the others.

In my hometown, it's even worse. I don't think that Jambi has reserves or gardens that opens to public. I know about an orchid garden, but I don't think that it's accessible for public. There is another youth garden, but it's usually used by students for a date place. And it's to scary to be there.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna miss the gardens. It's hard to find in another city.

Things Gonna be Missed: Flowers (1 of 5)

Yeah, starting from today, I will write about things that I'm gonna miss when I back there in my hometown. This blogs is the first of the series. I think at least I will write 5 things.

When I back there, one thing that I gonna miss is flowers. This city is full of flowers, even though most of them are in store. But, it's something that you rarely find in Indonesia.

For example, when you go to a shopping town in Melbourne, most of the time you can spot a flower shop between the shop. And there are few shops running around the clock.

But, back there in Indonesia, it's hard to find flower shop in the shopping mall. I know that most probably the rent fee is too high to be covered just by selling flowers. I once bought flower from Carefour, one of supermarkets that sells flower.

I know that flowers are not Indonesian culture. We rarely bring flowers for friends. And we rarely decorate home with flowers. Yeah, as young people, sometimes we buy flowers for our mates. But, that's all.

I don't really know what people here buy flowers for. But, I just like to see flowers whenever I walk down the road. It's natural and it's life. If you just see building, building and building, then it's just a cold expression. It's not life.

Hope that I could have a small garden back there to plant with some flowers. I plan to plant some flowers. Hope that I have enough time to do that.

It's 10 days to go and I'm exciting to be back there.

Jul 24, 08 - 2 Weeks to Go

Yeah.. I think I just have two weeks left in Melbourne. It's so exciting.

Right now, I'm exciting about the day I go back. It will be in two weeks time. And I believe that it will be one of the greatest decisions that I've ever made in my life.

In this two weeks time, I hope to see some of my friends here and also to taste some food that I've tasted before. It's just for a remembrance of this nice city. I really want to be back here later in the future.

Yeah, true that I love this city, I love Melbourne. It's a nice city with a nice environment. But, after going through 1.5 years here, I don't think that I will live here forever. There's something missing that I can't experience here.

I'm exciting. And I plan few things with my girl when I reach Jakarta later. It's not really a big trip or anything. It's just simply a day off with both of us. Talking, cuddling, joking, discussing, etc. I hope that we can't have a good quality time back there.

I'm really looking forward to see here soon enough.

Jambi, here I come.

Jul 20, 08 - You Just Need to Believe

Yeah, that's the words from Master Oogway in Kungfu Panda movie, "You just need to believe".

During our life, how many time have you ever have a doubt? How many time have you think that you are inferior? How many time have you have grudge in your heart?

Even, in a simple occasion, we still could think that we are not good enough or have a drawback because of the past. But, in the movie, it's told that we just need to believe to make something happen.

Dragon Scroll has nothing in it. But, it has a surface like a mirror. The Dragon Warrior (or whoever see the Scroll) can see their face in the Scroll.

There is no secret ingredient. But, I believe the only secret ingredient lies on your mind. If you think that you're success, then you are. If you think that you're great, then you are. If you think that you can finish a complicated task, then you can.

Here I am right now. Bound with this city which doesn't mean to be my future. I know that I love this city so much. But, I also know that it's not my place at the moment.

I believe that wherever I am, I can survive, I can success, I can stand up. I believe that I just need to believe to fulfill my dreams, wishes and hopes, goals and objectives.

In the other end, I need to be persevere to pursue my life. To make my all come true. It's not an easy task. But, I believe.

In order to fulfill each single of those, I believe that I also need to take different measurement and approach. Everyone is different. And I need to watch the situation and condition, read more, take chances and opportunities, rely on someone and myself, and (most importantly) ACT.

I just need to BELIEVE.

Belajar dari Po, Kungfu Panda

Po , si Panda jantan, yang sehari-hari bekerja di toko mie ayahnya, memiliki impian untuk menjadi seorang pendekar Kung Fu.
Tak disangka, dalam pemilihan Pendekar Naga, Po dinobatkan sebagai Pendekar Naga yang dinanti- nantikan kehadirannya untuk melindungi desa dari balas dendam Tai Lung.

Saat menonton film animasi ini, kita seperti diingatkan tentang beberapa hal:

1. The secret to be special is you have to believe you're special.
Po hampir putus asa karena tidak mampu memecahkan rahasia Kitab Naga, yang hanya berupa lembaran kosong. Wejangan dari ayahnya-lah yang akhirnya membuatnya kembali bersemangat dan memandang positif dirinya sendiri. Kalau kita berpikir diri kita adalah spesial, unik, berharga kita pun akan punya daya dorong untuk melakukan hal-hal yang spesial.

Kita akan bisa, kalau kita berpikir kita bisa.

Seperti kata Master Oogway, You just need to believe

2. Teruslah kejar impianmu.
Po , panda gemuk yang untuk bergerak saja susah akhirnya bisa menguasai ilmu Kung Fu. Berapa banyak dari kita yang akhirnya menyerah, gagal mencapai impian karena terhalang oleh pikiran negatif diri kita sendiri? Seperti kata Master Oogway, kemarin adalah sejarah, esok adalah misteri, saat ini adalah anugerah, makanya disebut Present hadiah. Jangan biarkan diri kita dihalangi oleh kegagalan masa lalu dan ketakutan masa depan. Ayo berjuanglah di masa sekarang
yang telah dianugerahkan Tuhan padamu.

3. Kamu tidak akan bisa mengembangkan orang lain, sebelum kamu percaya dengan kemampuan orang itu, dan kemampuan dirimu sendiri.
Master ShiFu ogah-ogahan melatih Po. Ia memandang Po tidak berbakat. Kalaupun Po bisa, mana mungkin ia melatih Po dalam waktu sekejap. Kondisi ini berbalik seratus delapan puluh derajat, setelah ShiFu diyakinkan Master Oogway -gurunya- bahwa Po sungguh-sungguh adalah Pendekar Naga dan Shi Fu satu-satunya orang yang mampu melatihnya.

Sebagai guru atau orang tua, hal yang paling harus dihindari adalah memberi label bahwa anak ini tidak punya peluang untuk berubah. Sangatlah mudah bagi kita untuk menganggap orang lain tidak punya masa depan. Kesulitan juga acap kali membuat kita kehilangan percaya diri, bahwa kita masih mampu untuk membimbing mereka.

4.Tiap individu belajar dengan cara dan motivasinya sendiri.
Shi Fu akhirnya menemukan bahwa Po baru termotivasi dan bisa mengeluarkan semua kemampuannya, bila terkait dengan makanan. Po tidak bisa menjalani latihan seperti 5 murid jagoannya yang lain.

Demikian juga dengan setiap anak. Kita ingat ada 3 gaya belajar yang kombinasi ketiganya membuat setiap orang punya gaya belajar yang unik. Hal yang menjadi motivasi tiap orang juga berbeda-beda. Ketika kita memaksakan keseragaman proses belajar, dipastikan akan ada anak-anak yang dirugikan.

5. Kebanggaan berlebihan atas anak/murid/diri sendiri bisa membutakan mata kita tentang kondisi sebenarnya, bahkan bisa membawa mereka ke arah yang salah.
Master ShiFu sangat menyayangi Tai Lung, seekor macan tutul, murid pertamanya, yang ia asuh sejak bayi. Ia membentuk Tai Lung sedemikian rupa agar sesuai dengan harapannya. Memberikan impian bahwa Tai Lung akan menjadi Pendekar Naga yang mewarisi ilmu tertinggi. Sayangnya Shi Fu tidak melihat sisi jahat dari Tai Lung dan harus membayar mahal, bahkan nyaris kehilangan nyawanya.

6. Hidup memang penuh kepahitan, tapi jangan biarkan kepahitan tinggal dalam hatimu.
Setelah dikhianati oleh Tai Lung, Shi Fu tidak pernah lagi menunjukkan kebanggaan dan kasih sayang pada murid-muridnya. Sisi terburuk dari kepahitan adalah kita tidak bisa merasakan kasih sayang dan tidak bisa berbagi kasih sayang.

7. Keluarga sangatlah penting.
Di saat merasa terpuruk, Po disambut hangat oleh sang ayah. Berkat ayahnya pula Po dapat memecahkan rahasia Kitab Naga dan menjadi Pendekar nomor satu.
Sudahkah kita memberi dukungan pada anggota keluarga kita?

Jul 19, 08 - Death Penalty

Last night, there are 3 prisoners who is shot to death as their verdict in the court. It's such a pity that you must end your life in such a way.

I just know the story of mother and child, Sumiarsih and Sugeng. Yeah, I think they did a very evil plan toward a family and kill all member of the family. They planned and killed 4 people in total and tried to make it as if it's a road accident.

It's a bit debatable whether someone (law or government) could decide over someone's life and death. There are a lot of countries out there that already banned capital punishment. But, in some other cases, they have a lot of prisoners in prisons and the condition could be worse than here, in Indonesia.

I still recall some of Aussie's prisoners in Indonesia's jail that don't want to be moved to Australia's jail since they believe that the condition in Aussie can be much worse. It could be because they have a better condition in Indonesia because they bribe the officers or simply it's better.

The case of Sumiarsih and Sugeng is a bit different with other death penalty cases in Indonesia. They are already jailed for 20 years waiting for the execution. And before the execution, there are a lot of debate happened. Yeah, since it's been 20 years without any execution. And why suddenly they are executed in the same night with other (even though not in the same area).

I still believe that Indonesia needs capital punishment in law. Indonesia is the source of drugs (especially, the one in pills or tablet shape) and government needs to produce a shock therapy for the manufacturer, distributor, carrier, etc.

Users are just the victim of overall cycle. And it's wiser to send them to therapy center rather than jail.

Yeah, I just wonder about the special case of Sumiarsih and Sugeng, since they've been in vain for 20 years and they are still shot to dead. What a pity process.

Jul 14, 08 - The Result

Yeah.. today is the result day. 14th of July 2008.

This is the last semester of my Master degree and I really hope to get a good result for the last course in my Master degree. As you know, this semester, I takes just one single course worth equally 48 credit units, or 4 courses.

And I found a lot of problems in the semester during the project time. We are together 5 students. There are couples of member changes during the semester and a lot of issues between members.

So, it comes to me a bit nervous to see the result. I try to see the result in the morning. It comes out at 8 AM in the morning. But, I think all students try to access the page and it becomes very slow.

Then, I just leave it to go to the office, since I don't want to be too late to be there. I reach office around 9.15 PM. Yeah, it's a long journey, with total about 1 hour journey from home to office.

When I reach there, my boss and colleagues tease me about the grade and when I gonna see the grade. I said later, could be in the lunch time.

But, in a minutes, around 9.30 PM, my team mate text me about his result. He get 85 which means HD. So, I just quickly check my result before I start to do stuff in the day.

To be amazed, I get the same result for the project. I can't say much. But, I think I deserve it. Four of 5 in our team get HD. I don't know about the last member. I tried to contact her before the result, but can't get through. I think I will try again next week.

Yeah, overall, I think it's a good result for me. During my 1.5 years study here, I get 4 DI and 4 HD for 8 courses and 1 HD for the project (equal to 4 courses). An I also get 4 courses exemption which completes my 2 years study here.

So, here I am. Finished my uni life and the real life will come soon.
I'm so excited!

Jun 10, 08 - Go Skiing

Hm.. It's been a week since my last post. Seems that being busy in the project erode my eagerness to blog. I should be more persistent to write more.

Yes, tomorrow, I'm going to skiing. It will be a long hour journey. It takes around 10 hours to go to Snowy Mountain located in another state.

I go there with my brother and sis-in-law. They arrange to meet their Binus friends to come along from Sydney. I think it will be around 10 people.

I hope a good experience there. Since it will be the first time to go skiing.

Jul 03, 08 - Camping Time

Hm.. tomorrow will be the camping time for me. It's not a real camping, though. Since we will stay inside and do most of the activities inside.

But, I'm a bit excited. The last time I'm in a camp is back to my high school time. I don't really remember the exact of it. But, it's quite fun.

It's just once that we really went to the camping area. It's about 1 hour drive from Jambi named Sungai Gelam. It's not real good place. But, it's good enough.

I still remember that it's somewhere in the jungle, but it has a river and path. It's quite scary at night and have bad sanitary; toilet is quite far from the camp.

Back to the topic, I don't know what I will experience tomorrow. But, I hope to get a good experience and excitement.

I don't know much about the detail of the camp. But, it will be somewhere in Mornington Peninsula. And we stay inside a house. I don't know how big is the house, since it should accommodate around 100 people.

So, I'm just waiting for the day.
See u. Ciao.

Jun 30, 08 - Master Degree

Today is the day that I finish my Master degree. It's officially last Friday in RMIT; but since we still have presentation in IBM today, then I believe today is the official day that I graduate from RMIT.

Yeah, I still have an individual report to be done by Wednesday. But, I believe I could done it by the time. It's not an easy report, but still a report that has to be done.

Straight after IBM presentation, I feel a lot of relieved that I don't have any burden anymore. But, then I feel a bit lost, since I usually think about project for the past two months.

I'm also a bit confused about the day that I go back to Indonesia. I haven't finalised the day yet and I'm a bit nervous of it. In the other end, I'm definitely going back for good.

It's now the time to move on. It's just like a book called, "Who move my Cheese?", that life goes on. It can't be stopped. "The only consistent thing in this world is INCONSISTENCY".

Right now, I'm deciding to be back there. But later on, I could be back to Melbourne to spend the rest of my life. Who knows?

I just let it flow and hope that I will get the best out of myself and could fulfil all of my dreams.

Jun 27, 08 - Last Project Day

Today is officially the last day of the project this semester. And the most nervous day during the project so far.

Actually, I don't get a good sleep today since I'm a bit worried about real demo in mobile phone for presentation. I'm as database person in the team, have to make sure that the application is running smoothly.

I'm already in the campus around 9.15 since we said that we would be there around 9AM to do our own demo. But, unfortunately, everyone is late and reach there at 10 something.

Our presentation starts at 11.30 AM and last for 1.5 hour. And our team gets the last chance to present so that we should be present around 12.30 PM for 30 minutes. But, in the real, we start around 12.45 PM.

In the presentation session, I'm doing my part to present the research finding. That's just a small part of presentation that takes around 5 mins. After that, I'm just checking the database whether it's OK or not. Lucky enough, there's no drama during demo time. It's really a huge relieved for me.

We conclude all presentation around 1.30 PM and do some photo taking in the lecture theatre between groups, persons to persons and also with our project manager.

After everything, some of us go together for lunch around 2 PM. And we finish everything around 3 PM. Then, I head back to campus, take a nap in my computer a while till 4 PM.

Then I'm there till 5 PM. After that, I'm going with my friends to play snooker, but after running here and there, we finally still can't play the snooker because of some reasons. That takes around 1 hour.

Since we will have a dinner party for all of the project members; together, we are all 12 students and our beloved project manager. Then I just walk around that area for a while. The party should be started at 7 PM and it's already 6.15 PM. And I don't bother to run here and there without any results.

Then, I decide to wait in the restaurant for a long time. They come at 7 PM and we start to have dinner. And we already decide to have banquet, so it comes with appetizer, main course and dessert.

It's really a big dinner for me. And overall it takes 3 hours long. We talk and talk, wait for the food, etc.

We conclude the dinner at 10 PM and then we separate. Our Manager also says good luck to everyone, since for other teams, that could be the last day with her. We still would be with her in Monday presentation.

After that, I just go to meet my friends to play snooker for a while. I wait them for 20-30 mins. And we start to play around 10.40 PM. And we finish at 12.30 AM in midnite. It's quite long to play, but we just play for 2.5 games. One of the games is cancelled in the middle of the play to restart. So, it's not a nice day to play, actually.

And in the other end, we still need to do a lot in these 2 days to prepare for monday presentation.

Thank You.

Jun 26, 08 - The Last (Official) Night

Huh.. At last, tonight is the last (official) night for the project.

It's really tiring to be in the project. And it's really good that this is the last official day of the project.

We still have sponsor presentation on Monday in IBM site. But, let's think about tomorrow, school presentation first. In the other end, both would not be in the exact format.

I believe that we still have something to do in the project. But, I really want to have fun first tomorrow.

I should prepare for the presentation and hope that it's a good one for me.

Wish me luck.
Thank You.

Jun 24, 08 - Lunch and Dinner in Tram

Today is really a special day for me. I had lunch and dinner both in tram. Yeah, in the tram.

I had a sponsor meeting this morning, around 11 AM. We had a meeting for about 1.5 hours. It's not really a nice one, though. We can't demonstrated the application due to some reasons. We are not really sure.

After finish the meeting, we quickly had a team meeting to discuss and then I went to my office. This would be my last one this month. I would be there again next Tuesday which is already in July.

I quickly bought a burger; veggie one, of course. And then wait for the tram. I eat my lunch in the tram and reached office at 1.30 PM.

I finished my part at 7 PM tonight and quickly bought pizza to eat in tram. Amazingly, the tram is quite fast today and it takes me 40 minutes from office to RMIT. It usually takes about 40 minutes just to go straight to Flinders St. So, it's quick.

I finished the whole pizza in the tram. I like the pizza; especially the base, it's nice. But, I hate the topping. I should try another topping another time.

Yeah, this is one of the experience to have meal on board public transport and have it twice in the same day.

In the other end, we just have 2-3 days left in the project. Hope that we could finish whatever we should finish by the time.
Jia You!

Jun 22, 08 - The Last Sunday

Today is the last Sunday for the project. This project will conclude by Friday and we have presentation that day as the last effort for the project.

But, I believe that we still have some more other things to do, such as: tidy up folder and burn all the project into CD; also tidy up the desk.

I supposed to do something about Location API today. But, I'm a bit lazy and I just a bit lost of interest to do anything at the moment.

It's almost 10 days since my last blog. I could say that I'm really busy with a lot of things. But, after this Friday, I will have a lot of free time. Even though, I'm still not sure what I should do after that. I still doesn't have any plan yet.

Yes, at last, the last Sunday for the project.
Bless me!

Jun 13, 08 - New Phase

Yeah. At last, I would have another new phase in my life soon enough. I reckon that I have several phase in my life.

Sometimes, I'm quite sad when I know that I would move soon. But, in the other times, I believe that I should move to grow to be better. It's just like a famous book in the last decade, Who Move My Cheese. The cheese won't be last forever so we have to prepare ourselves to adapt new world, new things.

People said, "The world is not something that come to you, but the world is what we think about what we receive". In the other time, they said, "World is like a mirror; it will reflect back whatever we put into it".

So, I believe that I should survive in any condition. I believe that I could be someone wherever I am. I could pursue my passion here and there. And to be a better person, I need to get a lot more challenges.

A story tell about a very nice pottery made from clay. The process to change from clay into nice pottery is through a very long journey with a lot of misery for the clay. And in the end, the nice pottery comes up and it worth the process that the clay already pass by.

Yeah, I think I'm still in the process. I need to get into more shaping and similar process to be a better person with a better result.

Right now, I'm preparing my heart, that it's just another phase in my life and I should pass it and survive to be a better one. In the end, to be here forever is also not in my whole plan.

I don't like to be alone, it's better for me to be with my big family and has a good close relation with my Dar.

In the end, it's how you see about what you get; NOT what you get. If I decide that my life is good then it would be good. Yeah, my life is AWESOME.

Jun 13, 08 - Two More Weeks

Yeah. Right now, we just get another two weeks till end of semester, end of my project. After that, life would be quite boring for me, since there's nothing much to do till I go back home.

The update of my project is quite bad. Actually, right now, we just try to complete the main part of the project without any support application, such as: admin tools and reporting. So, it's not a real complete project. But, looking at what we did, I think it's the best result that we could get.

We would do project presentation to RMIT in 26 June 2008, which is Thursday. And we also need to think about it before that; to prepare everything.

We need to tune up the gears so that we don't lose the grips. But, right now, I think everything done in very slow motion.

I just hope that we could do a good presentation, produce a good application.

Hope for the best.

Jun 04, 08 - Counting Down ...

It's a counting time for me. I think my time would be at most 8 weeks here in Melbourne.

I've already planned to go home at least by end of July. But, I haven't booked a ticket and haven't even bother to check it. But, I'm sure that I'll go by that time.

Right now, I'm really busy with this project and also work. I'm left with almost no time for myself.

After this project, I would take a very good time to explore Melbourne and do things that I like. Hope so.

But, I think I would be bored in the last few weeks before I'm going home since I don't have anything to do. But, hopefully I would still get part time job.

Yeah, the counting is already start..
I would be back there in my little sweet town. Home sweet home.

May 31, 08 - Birthday

I wake up quite late in my brithday. I think it should be around 10 in the morning. This is a quite busy day for me.

I was going to Uni at 11 something and reached there at about 12 PM. Being there around 1-2 hours, then I met friends in Melbourne Central.

At 3 PM, I moved to see around to look for a book. Then, around 3.30 PM, I went off to Fawkner Park along St Kilda Rd to play soccer. But, after I reached there, it turns out no one to be there. So, I called Agus to confirm about it.

Then, he said it should be in Princess Park, near Melbourne University and asked me to wait in his apartment (it's quite near from Fawkner Park) and went to Princess Park with Awi. Awi was actually already wait for Agus for quite some times. He said he's been there for about 1 hour.

We played soccer till around 6 PM and luckily Awi is quite generous to drove me and Agus back to Agus's apartment. I accidentally left my jacket in his apartment, so I need to take it.

I rushed home since my brother already said that we would have dinner together. So, I think it would be our dinner like last year. We out from apartment around 7 PM and reached the place around 7.40 PM. And it turned out that he invited his friends for dinners, so it's a quite big dinner.

I'm amazed that time since it's a surprise for me. I don't expect to have dinner with his friends. I just imagine that we would have dinner, three of us, me, my bro and sis-in-law.

And in the end of the dinner, the lady owner turned off the light for about a minute just to bring cake out. It's quite amazing, since there's some other occupied table in the restaurant. And most of them sing Birthday song for me.

After dinner, we went to one of my brother's friend's house located nearby. We played Wii and some other games and also chit chat around. I played Jenga almost all the time. It's quite fun, though. Jenga is something like Uno Stacko, but it's from wood.

Then, about midnight, we went off to Stoker, it's a pancake house. It's quite long wait there. We ordered pancake and had to wait for more than 30 minutes. But, we finished it just in 10 minutes, not so a good idea.

In the end, we reached home at 1 AM something and it's really a tiring day. But, overall this is fine. I like it to have such a gathering.

How I would pass my birthday next year? Hope that it would be better than this.

May 31, 08 - Stay in Melbourne?

I got a very good option to stay back in Melbourne this year.

My current boss is really pleased with my work and he offered me few options about what I would gonna do in the forthcoming months. He said he could write a letter for immigration to give me a working visa; so that means I could stay back here for a while. He also said that it could be just for few months or more than that depends on me.

He is quite understanding person; not a fully one, i think.

I think I would go home by this July. But, I'm in the middle of decision. I don't know which way I should take.

Staying back here for couple of years are not my option. I'd like to be back there with the one that I love so much. At least, it would be closer. And I would be back home with my mum.

Love u..

May 24, 08 - Nights @ Lab

For few nights, I've been here in the lab; project lab. Yeah, actually this room is dedicated to project team so that everyone has their own single computer. It's almost like office.

I'm kinda busy with my project lately. And as my part as database engineer, so I must prepare the database. The worst part is that I must do it here, in the lab. Since I have no good machine to run Oracle at home. And also I don't want to bother to re-compile the query or transfer the file.

Right now, I'm doing function and procedure for the database. It's turn out that there are some differences between Oracle and SQL Server; even though the basic stuff are the same. So, I still need internet access to search for correct syntax and tips 'n tricks.

Puff.. Hope that I could finish most of my part by Tuesday next week, so that I could have a better week next week. Hehe..

Just my own business.
And hope that i get my rewards.

Hope so.

May 19, 08 - *stucked*

Hm.. here I am, stucked in the middle of nowhere.

It's a bit hard to do part in my project. Every single thing is unsure and the time is running out.

The project is already out of control and noone could make it back on track again. I'm not sure what should I do right now. I think the better way is to keep my mouth shut and do my part.

But, even when I'm doing my part, there are more and more issues raise up. And the solution is really slow. I can't really make decision by my own because it will impact on other thing. So, getting response from other members is also one of the problem that I get in the team.

I can't say a lot at the moment. I just want to finish it and could be go home soon. :D :D

I don't know where should I stand for and what action should I take. It's a bit strange team.

In the end, I just want to see the result of the project later on. Hope that I could finish it by the time.

May 12, 08 - 11 Days w/o Update

Wow.. It's already 11 days since the last time I blog here. Hm.. Yeah, it's such a busy week for me.

Last weekend, I put my eyes on a Java source code for GpsMid. It's an GPS application that run in mobile phone. I should look for particular function that build within the application. It's such a complicated work for me.

I've never really seen any Java code for almost 3 years. Yes, I did some coding 1 year ago. But, it's not really a big java source code. That's just a single simple java file.

Ok.. enough to discuss last week. Today is monday. I can't really say that I love Monday. But, I think I'm a bit relieved that it's Monday again. I don't know why, but since I lost interest with my project, I'm more eager to work.

Even though, it's not really a good work. But, I think it's good enough for me to do something rather than just doing something for this d*mn project.

I miss my home now. I miss my dar. I miss my mom. And I miss my sis.
Hope that I could be there right by the time.

Yup, I think I would be in Jambi in late of July or early of August. I know that it's a bit hard to explain, since everyone said to me, at least you work first in Australia and get PR, then you could go home. But, I think it could be the right time.

Yeah, I just hope that my choice is the correct one. I hope that we could go on stronger and stronger. Plan is already there and it's up to us to fulfil it. And I will fight for it. Jia You!

Quote of The Days - History

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
(Posted on 10th May 2008)

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
(Posted on 7th May 2008)

You do not stop learning because you grow old
but You grow OLD because you stop learning
(Posted first time)

May 01, 08 - The Decision

Yeah, as you know that I already decided to go home this July. Yup, back for good forever and ever.

I'll be here again this December for the graduation and also could be another trip in forthcoming years. I already fall in love with this such lovely city. Melbourne is voted as the most liveable city in the world along with Vancouver in the top position.

I'm sure that some other day, I should be here again.

Today, I'm talking with my boss. I just moved to his company in the early of this month. He's such a nice body. I just know why my friend there said that it's such a lovely place to work.

But, the company is really small. Since the main business is just to do survey for another company. And my main duty is to produce a report for that company. Even though, to do so it's not as easy as it's said.

From these few weeks, I could say that it's needed around 2-3 full days to produce a complete report for a medium-size company. If the company has a lot of 'unusual' report, it would take longer.

My bos, he really could read what is in my mind. He talk about the challange today that he knows I could be bored in few months time. And he starts talk about research or another thing.

Right now, I just do everything first, since I need to take the responsibility for 3-4 weeks in May-June when one of the employees takes annual leave. He is the person which usually do the thing with database, so it could be that it would be my job later on.

I'm thinking to talk to my boss around end of May about what I'm planning ahead. Hope that we could work out a way later on. :D :D

May 01, 08 - "Silly Stupid" Thing

Hm.. Suddenly, I just remember about this thing, since I'm dealing much with the project lately.

I took a project this semester as part of my study for Master degree. The project is basically about GIS and sponsored by IBM. My team consists of 6 students, including me.

The most silly thing is we have two persons in the team said that they don't want to know about coding or implementation part. And they just did testing and analyst.

It's just so silly that I can't think why they want to do so. I don't need someone with Master degree to do analyst, since even they don't know about the capabilities of any application or software language. Then, how they could describe about the analysis.

And the document that they did for the analysis is far too much out of the hand. I'm just wonder right now, who will implement all those things that they already put in the documentation. It's just so silly.

I think I just need someone with really good English command and do the documentation. And he/she doesn't need to be a Master student. It's just so silly.

I can't imagine that a Master student basically just do the documentation and doesn't care about how it would be implemented; and even doesn't know a bit of it. It's just so ridiculous.

Do you that to become a business analyst then you don't have to know about what the technology could offer? Then, the most silly thing is that to become an architect, you don't have to know about the technology. I don't know where this guy come from. It's just so ridiculous.

I just want to be happy and walk out of the campus with a good reference and a Master degree. Hope that it could be an achievement for my lifetime.

Would talk about another thing in my other blog.
Cheers, buddy!

Apr 25, 08 - Sick

I have been sick for 2 days. Actually, I just don't want to go out and do much things.

Today, I realised that I'm sick because of the project. I'm too worried about the project and think over it again and again. So, I still hope that these few days, I don't want to think about it first.

This also could be because of perfectionist characteristic of mine. I really like that this project offer best solution. I know that we can't implement anything during the time contrainst.

But, doing something without can't have any further development is not something what the sponsor wants. I know that he just wants us to experiment on something. But, if it's feasible then he could set up a business team to get the further development.

So, if we just do it with the constraint of the re-usable application then he can't have a further development if he thinks it's feasible to do so.

In the end, I don't want to think much about it in few days, since my really concern is my own body. I hope that I could have better condition in few days.

Really hope that I could be in better condition soon.

Apr 23, 08 - Miss my Friends in Binus

Hm.. right now, I'm really missing my friends in Binus. I don't know why. But, I think I already encountered with bunch of best IT people in Binus. Most of my friends there are great people.

I really realised it right now when I made a project here in RMIT. I don't know. My team should be consist of the best graduates of RMIT in this program, but still I think that in Binus, things would be a lot of easier.

Again, I remember my team mate in my bachelor's thesis, Susanto Tedja; he is really such a great one. He could think out of the boundary. His thinking is always innovative.

The thing that I recall just know is that, here, people just want to play safe and do just as it is. They don't think much about the future development, doing it in the right direction. They just want to implement it and leave it.

In the other end, I want to do it perfectly so that the sponsor (IBM) could develop similar project based on our deliverables. So, it's just another round of dispute and fudge.

Hope that we could finalize the architecture by next week. We really need some inputs from the sponsor so that everything would be clear.

I'm thinking in a better implementation, but right now, I think I should compromize more with them. Overall, I'm not the key technical person. I'm just a database person.

Miss you all, friends.
Hope that I could have some of you in this team. And everything would be better.

See u.

Apr 19, 08 - The Project

Right now, I'm quite stress about the project.

This is because I know more and more about the technology should be used in the project and how to develop the project. I believe that we should find the best technology as the plug-in in the project, since we can't develop overall in a short time.

Right now, I just wonder since no one wants to start to develop. We still search for the best possible technology to plug-in in the application. This is really stupid. We just have 2 more months in this project.

NOTE: I'm not the key person in technical area so I can't say much to start develop. Even though, I'm the one in database, but it's just a matter of storing the data.

I highly regard my team member when I was doing my bachelor's thesis now. He is really good in developing a software and do more rather than think.
No one in my team right now can be compared to him. He is really such a big guy.

I may be wrong in saying this, but I believe that Indonesian IT person in some aspects are far more better in developing project rather than here, in Australia.

In Indonesia, it may be that the documentation is not that good. But, here, people spend too much time in documenting the project, that the project run badly in implementation time. In the essence of software development, I believe that you should have a good software with a fair documentation.

But, my team spends too much time in documenting, even though I don't believe that the documentation is that good. And we even don't start to develop the project. It's so stressful.

Keep finger cross for me. Hope that I could have a good one here. Thank you.

Apr 12, 08 - "sista"

I'm quite glad now.

After few years without success to contact her, I get an update from her. I believe that the last time I contact her is around 3 years ago. Then, afterwards, I can't contact her anymore.

Anyway, I met her during the first year of my bachelor study. She is there, in the same class with me. And we started to talk and know each other well.

I regard her as my "little sister" since she is younger than me. We talked and cuddled along the way. But, she knows that I just regard her as sister, not more than that.

After the first year, we rarely meet, since she was busy with her club and I was busy with work. Also, we were in the different class after that first year. We rarely get a chance to meet.

We meet several times just after first year. In my last semester in Binus, I knew that she opened a restaurant with some of her friends in University area. That could be the last time I saw her; yeah, we meet in a supermarket opposite her restaurant.

This year, she is getting married. I don't know for sure when it is. But, she will. I hope that I could attend the party. But, let's see later on. hehe..

Congrat, my sista.
Hope that you'll be blessed with happy marriage.
Hope that you find the way to your happiness.

My blessing is with you.

Apr 11, 08 - Project

Wow.. I just know that the last blog before this one is almost one week ago.

But, yeah, the project get the full attention of me that I almost spend no time on other thing. I work for about 3 days every week. And then I must spend about 40 hours each week to do my project.

I work on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Then Wednesday and Friday are my project time hours. Supposed that I work 8 hours for that both day, then I still lack of 24 hours per week. I spend some hours in my working days that could come up to 12 hours or more.

But, still, it means I lack about 12 hours per week that I should do it on weekend. So, that's really crazy weeks ahead me.

Today, actually, I must do more research on Postgre SQL with spatial extension, means PostGIS. Yeah, I'll start it in a short time. Hope that I get something running on my machine.

Finger cross for me.

Happiness - Kebahagiaan

This motivation quote is the best that i’ve ever found. You will be happy just if you think that you’re happy. And don’t bother to depend on others. They could leave you, or even, betray you. So, Be HAPPY everyday!

Note: You could read my own translation on the bottom of the page.

———————————————
Manusia Bahagia Bila….

Manusia bahagia bila ia bisa membuka mata. Untuk menyadari bahwa ia memiliki banyak hal yang berarti.
Manusia bisa bahagia bila ia mau membuka mata hati. Untuk menyadari, betapa ia dicintai.
Manusia bisa bahagia, bila ia mau membuka diri. Agar orang lain bisa mencintainya dengan tulus.

Manusia tidak bahagia karena tidak mau membuka hati, berusaha meraih yang tidak dapat diraih, memaksa untuk mendapatkan segala yang diinginkan, tidak mau menerima dan mensyukuri yang ada.
Manusia buta karena egois dan hanya memikirkan diri, tidak sadar bahwa ia begitu dicintai, tidak sadar bahwa saat ini, apa yang ada adalah baik, selalu berusaha meraih lebih, dan tidak mau sadar karena serakah.

Ada teman yang begitu mencintai, namun tidak diindahkan, karena memilih, menilai dan menghakimi sendiri. Memilih teman dan mencari-cari, padahal di depan mata ada teman yang sejati.
Telah memiliki segala yang terbaik, namun serakah, ingin dirinya yang paling diperhatikan, paling disayang, selalu menjadi pusat perhatian, selalu dinomorsatukan.
Padahal, semua manusia memiliki peranan, hebat dan nomor satu dalam satu hal, belum tentu dalam hal lain, dicintai oleh satu orang belum tentu oleh orang lain.

Kebahagiaan bersumber dari dalam diri kita sendiri. Jikalau berharap dari orang lain, maka bersiaplah untuk ditinggalkan, bersiaplah untuk dikhianati.
Kita akan bahagia bila kita bisa menerima diri apa adanya, mencintai dan menghargai diri sendiri, mau mencintai orang lain, dan mau menerima orang lain.

Berusaha dan bahagialah karena kita dicintai begitu banyak orang.

——————————————–

I’m trying to put it into English using my own way. Hope that you could understand the passage.

Happiness is when …

Happiness is when we could open our eyes to realize that we have lot of precious things.
Happiness is when we want to open our heart to realize that we’ve been loved.
Happiness is when we have will to open ourselves, so that everyone could love us whole-hearted.

Sadness is because we close our heart, trying to reach the unreachable, forcing to get every single thing, don’t want to accept and grace what we have.
People are blind because of egoistic and self-seeking, don’t realize that he is loved, don’t realize that he already get the best, always trying to get more and don’t want to realize because of his own greed.

There are friends that love deeply, but are ignored, because we choose, assess, and judge. Choosing and seeking friends, even though there is a true friend in front of you.
Already possess the best thing, but too greedy that want to be attended, get full affection, being the center, and to be pampered.
Every person has their own role, be good and the best in a thing, but not others, being loved by one person, but not others.

Happiness comes from deep inside our heart. If you put your hope on others, then be prepared to be left, be prepared to be betrayed.
We will be happy if we accept, love and respect ourselves, and willing to accept others.

Fight and be Happy because we are loved by lots, lot of people.

Apr 05, 08 - The Saturday

Huh.. This semester would really a busy semester for me.

Like I stated in my previous blog, I would have to spend 40 hours on project and 20 hours on working, at least. So, it would be really a busy semester for me.

Back there to my first 2 semesters, the time is not as tight as this one. Even though, it's stated that you must spend at least 10 hours in a course per week. But, it rarely happened, except in the assignment time.

The rest of the weeks are really a smooth and nothing-to-do time. I still have a lot of time to do whatever I want and some of the time, I was bored because nothing-to-do.

This semester is really a big semester for me. I think it should be a big start for me, to tune up my brain and body that my comfort zone is already moved.

I should fight and hope for the best in this semester.

The other thing is about my body. I already gain some weight here. Like I thought before, I'm sure that I would gain some weight here due to some reasons, especially due to the nice food here.

Apr 02, 08 - Busy.. Busy.. and Busy

At last, I already decided to stay in my own group. I have some reasons there.

My friend, Sumeet, said that before I take any decision, please think about greater picture. Would you think that you would regret your decision in the future, lets say in two-three years time. And I got something on my mind that says I must suffer this time and have to fill this project for my future.

My other friend, Zia, a Bangladesh, always assure me that it's not a wise decision to move for such thing. And he believes that I could fit in more than the other part.

And I recall that I'm the one to assure him, Zia, in the second week that he should take this project. And make him believe that he would definitely get something big from this project.

But, doing this project for my semester is really a bad choice. I must have 40 hours in this project. In the other end, I still need to work for 3 days.

It's really a difficult situation for me. I left with a very small time for myself. Supposed that I could just have 24 hours in the working days (Mon-Fri). Then, it means I still have to spend 16 hours in the weekend.

So, this semester is really a nightmare semester for me. The worst semester that I've ever been through. But, I hope that I could go through this semester smoothly and nicely.

Jia You!!

Mar 29, 08 - New Job?

Today, I get a phone call from Des - Quantum that said I was accepted as Part Time Employee in Quantum.

It's such a big one for me. I don't know. But, I could say that I don't really expect to secure this job, since I think their response is just so-so.

Overall, I'm glad that I have this job. It would be my second job here in Melbourne.

I still work in my old company. But, I could say that there's no position there. I don't know what I should do. And it's a bit faraway.

I would choose this company if they offered me a better workplace. I would see that on Tuesday.

This company offered a better location to me. Even though, the travel time still the same as the old one. I need about 1 hour to reach the place.

Another thing is the work. I love the position in the new company.

I hope that I could love this new place soon. Since it would be an awesome place for me.

Mar 29, 08 - Went Wrong

I just wonder about the thing right now.

I'm a bit stress out now. I can't say anything at the moment.

It's about my project work. It's the most important thing at the moment. Yup, I don't have anything if I failed this project.

I raised up an issue in the team these few days that we have a problem in documentation. But, yeah, everyone else regard that just my personal attack to another team member. I could say that it's not.

It's purely for the project purpose. I don't have any other issue.

I think I should be quieter and just stand/sit there for the rest of the semester. I don't like that. But, there's no other choice.

I hate this situation. But, I can't say anything else.

I don't want to give it a damn.

I just hope that I could finish the project and get the degree and go home. See u, buddy.

Mar 24, 08 - Days of Journey

These two days I had journeys to Frankston and Ballarat. What a journey. I've never been in both places.

On Saturday, I went to Frankston, that's the last stop of train station in Melbourne. One of the outskirt suburb in Melbourne.

We went there to watch sand sculpture that shape the sand into imaginary outlook that most likely the same as some fairy tales made by famous authors. I see sand sculpture that has shape of Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Frog, etc.

And the level of detail from the sand sculpture is quite amazing. You could see that it's almost perfect, even though it has an ugly back. But, you don't have to see the back, do you? You just have to see the front of the sculpture.

We went there at noon and finish around 4 PM. Then, we walk to Frankston beach.

The beach is not really nice. Since there are a lot of small stone is bayline. And the weather is also too hot when we get there (even though it's already 4 PM).

We just play around there and sit for a while. But, then everyone decide to leave faster since it's still too hot.

Yesterday, sunday, I went to Ballarat, which is another town in Victoria area. It takes around 1.5 hours driving from Melbourne. This city is famous of cowboy-look-alike playground called Sovereign Hill.

But, we went to another small city around the area called Daylesford. The city is well-known to mineral spring water. There are so many tourist there that wants to see the mineral spring water.

There are some places of spring water. In each place, you could see a pump to pump the water out of ground. It's a bit weird, since I expect a very natural one. Yeah, but I could understand it. If you use old style. It would result with bad quality of water in the end, since you don't know what the person before you did to the water.

I believe we went to at least 4 places with such well. And there's a place tastier than others, called Wombat Flat. My brother's friend said that it's the newest place in the area.

We also went to a tower up on the hill. I'm not really sure what it is used for. But, I assumed that it's kind of a survey post, since there's a cannon around that area. The tower is about 15-20 meters high. And we climbed up to the top of the tower. It's quite dizzy to do that, since I hate to walk in circular way. Yeah, you should use a circular ladder to climb the tower.

Another place that we went to yesterday is Chocolate Mills. This place is located somewhere in countryside area. I think it's located around 7-8 kms from the closest town. But, the place is packed. It's almost full.

I can't imagine why people so bother to take drive around out of the town to such shop. But, I could understand since it's the only such kind of shop in that area. And if you're chocoholics, it could be worth of the journey.

I haven't finished to upload all of the photos. But, you could see some of the photos in my photo album. Please feel free to comment. Thank You.

Mar 20, 08 - Yesterday

Yesterday, I had my first interview this year.

I applied for the position in seek.com.au. It's about database administration which has to deal much with Microsoft Access.

Basically, the company isn't big. It's a small company which run a psychotest for another company.

The job would be to create a file, Access File, that comprimize to what customer wants. But, with a lot of template that already there, so it's just to do customization to the existing one.

I like the place, since it could be easily reached by public transport, no more walking for 10+ minutes.

About the job, i think it would be challenging, even though, I don't want to do it for a long time (supposed that I would work here). But, let's see, since I don't know much detail about the application.

They also want to hire me, since some of their customers is from Indonesia. So, it would be a benefit for me that I don't have any language burden and I could understand what they want better than others.

Overall, I still need to wait till next week about the position. He, the interviewer, said that he still has 4-5 more candidates for the position. I really hope to get this job. But, let's see.

Keep the fingers cross!

Mar 18, 08 - Cloudy Evening and Cold Night

This is really unusual day for me, but just another day of Melbourne.

In the morning, the weather is quite hot. It's almost 30, I think. And lucklily, I walk in the dark side of the road, so I don't get a lot of sunlight. Btw, today, I'm working again, the first day in this year.

I'm in the office for whole day. And rarely to go out of the room. So, I don't really know about the weather outside.

But, around 3 PM, I receive a call from friend that makes me to go outside the building and the weather is already a bit cloudy.

I'm out of the office at around 5 something and it's already cloudy. Really a strange day, since it's usually still bright with hot temperature for these few days.

The weather is still quite nice when I reach city. I still could walk in the city without feel really cold. I'm heading to campus at that time to meet my group in the lab.

I'm out of the campus at around 7.30 PM, and it's already cold. The first cold day in Melbourne this year that I've experienced. It's not really that cold. But, still, after a few consecutive days of hot temperature, I feel a bit cold.

Yeah, it's just another day of Melbourne. Have a summer in the morning, cloudy in afternoon time and cold in the night. It's just the habit of Melbourne.

Everytime you come out of your home, don't forget to bring your jacket. It would be used sometimes in the day.

Mar 18, 08 - Hot.. Hot.. and Hot..

It's already for few consecutive days that the weather is so hot.
It reached 38-39 degrees of Celcius for Sunday and Monday. It's such a hot autumn here.

My body is starting to protest about the weather and I got headache. It disturbs me a bit since I have a lot of things to do right now.

I spend my Monday afternoon in campus to finish a documentation for my project. It's a bit nice in campus since it has an aircon. It's not too cold and not too hot. Just a nice temperature.

I spent about 7 hours in campus and starting to hate the workload for my project. I don't know. But, it's a bit frustating since no other team members is there for the whole day.

There's nothing special these days. So, I just leave it blank in my blog.

It's already 2.11 AM in the dawn time of 18 March 2008. I think I've been sleep for 2 hours but then wake up 30 minutes ago. It's such a hot night. I can't stand it.

After this, hope that I could do sleep for couple more hours since this would be my first working day here in Melbourne. Hope that the weather is quite nice.

Jia You!!

Mar 12, 08 - The Project

Huh, at last, I know what I should do this semester.

I get a project that I want to be involved in Post Graduate Software Project course. The project is drawn to my attention since it is an unique project.

The project is actually a GIS project, so it involves maps, mapping, data, presentation, etc. I'm interested in Geographical Information System since my last semester in Bachelor time.

That time is for the first time I know about GIS, but I never have a chance to really apply the knowledge into real-world project. Yeah, I used some tools before, such as: MapInfo. But, it's really a simple case, not even representation of real case.

To be involved in this project is actually one of my goal for this semester. I have few reasons for that. First, I could get MC060 title by doing the project. Second, I want to apply what I already learnt before to complete a real-world project.

Then, this is the last semester of mine to be here. I really want to enjoy life and do my best for every single thing. Hope that I could learn a lot by doing this project.

The first thing that I should do right now is knowing more about tools that would be used in the project, since it will use a lot of unusual tools for development.

That is the thing that I should accomplish in this 2 weeks.
Jia You!! Fight!!

Mar 11, 08 - First Presentation in English

Today would be the first presentation of Post Graduate Project that I present.

It's a bit nervous, since I just know about presentation's material in few days. It's really a new stuff for me. It's about Rational Unified Process which is one of software development methodologies.

I'm nervous since I think everyone there would already know about that before. But, still I have to present it. The presentation is in the day break time, around 12 PM.

I think the presentation takes about 15 minutes since I have about 30 slides to cover. And it's the most common method for current development.

I know that I do some mistakes there, such as: bad pronounciation, nervous, bad eye contact, etc. It's a new thing for me to present something in English.

I try to involve someone in the presentation, but it turns out that no one insterested to be involved. And I also point out something, but still can't be that good.

Must try harder to be a better presenter. Hope that I could become the one to present the group to the client. Even though, I don't hope to do it every weeks.

But, first thing is whether I'm still in the project or not. I really like to be involved in a project, but I don't know which projects would be offered to me. Hope that I could get the one that I want.

Be Happy. Be the Best!

Capek Hidup!

Seorang pria mendatangi Sang Master, "Guru, saya sudah bosan hidup. Sudah jenuh betul. Rumah tangga saya berantakan. Usaha saya kacau. Apapun yang saya lakukan selalu berantakan. Saya ingin mati."

Sang Master tersenyum, "Oh, kamu sakit."
"Tidak Master, saya tidak sakit. Saya sehat. Hanya jenuh dengan kehidupan. Itu sebabnya saya ingin mati."

Seolah-olah tidak mendengar pembelaannya, sang Master meneruskan, "Kamu sakit. Dan penyakitmu itu sebutannya, 'Alergi Hidup'. Ya, kamu alergi terhadap kehidupan."

Banyak sekali di antara kita yang alergi terhadap kehidupan. Kemudian, tanpa disadari kita melakukan hal-hal yang bertentangan dengan norma kehidupan. Hidup ini berjalan terus. Sungai kehidupan mengalir terus, tetapi kita menginginkan status-quo. Kita berhenti di tempat, kita tidak ikut mengalir. Itu sebabnya kita jatuh sakit. Kita mengundang penyakit. Resistensi kita, penolakan kita untuk ikut mengalir bersama kehidupan membuat kita sakit.

Yang namanya usaha, pasti ada pasang-surutnya. Dalam hal berumah-tangga, bentrokan-bentrokan kecil itu memang wajar, lumrah. Persahabatan pun tidak selalu langgeng, tidak abadi. Apa sih yang langgeng, yang abadi dalam hidup ini? Kita tidak menyadari sifat kehidupan. Kita ingin mempertahankan suatu keadaan. Kemudian kita gagal, kecewa dan menderita.

"Penyakitmu itu bisa disembuhkan, asal kamu ingin sembuh dan bersedia mengikuti petunjukku." demikian sang Master.

"Tidak Guru, tidak. Saya sudah betul-betul jenuh. Tidak, saya tidak ingin hidup." pria itu menolak tawaran sang guru.

"Jadi kamu tidak ingin sembuh. Kamu betul-betul ingin mati?"
"Ya, memang saya sudah bosan hidup."

"Baik, besok sore kamu akan mati. Ambillah botol obat ini. Setengah botol diminum malam ini, setengah botol lagi besok sore jam enam, dan jam delapan malam kau akan mati dengan tenang."

Giliran dia menjadi bingung. Setiap Master yang ia datangi selama ini selalu berupaya untuk memberikannya semangat untuk hidup. Yang satu ini aneh. Ia bahkan menawarkan racun. Tetapi, karena ia memang sudah
betul-betul jenuh, ia menerimanya dengan senang hati. Pulang kerumah, ilangsung menghabiskan setengah botol racun yang disebut "obat" oleh Master edan itu. Dan, ia merasakan ketenangan sebagaimana tidak pernah ia rasakan sebelumnya.

Begitu rileks, begitu santai!
Tinggal 1 malam, 1 hari, dan ia akan mati. Ia akan terbebaskan dari segala macam masalah. Malam itu, ia memutuskan untuk makan malam bersama keluarga di restoran Jepang. Sesuatu yang sudah tidak pernah ia lakukan selama beberapa tahun terakhir. Pikir-pikir malam terakhir, ia ingin meninggalkan kenangan manis. Sambil makan, ia bersenda gurau. Suasananya santai banget!

Sebelum tidur, ia mencium bibir istrinya dan membisiki di kupingnya, "Sayang, aku mencintaimu" .
Karena malam itu adalah malam terakhir, ia ingin meninggalkan kenangan manis!
Esoknya bangun tidur, ia membuka jendela kamar dan melihat ke luar. Tiupan angin pagi menyegarkan tubuhnya. Dan ia tergoda untuk melakukan jalan pagi.

Pulang kerumah setengah jam kemudian, ia menemukan istrinya masih tertidur. Tanpa membangunkannya, ia masuk dapur dan membuat 2 cangkir kopi. Satu untuk dirinya, satu lagi untuk istrinya. Karena pagi itu adalah pagi terakhir,ia ingin meninggalkan kenangan manis!

Sang istripun merasa aneh sekali Selama ini, mungkin aku salah. "Maafkan aku, sayang."

Di kantor, ia menyapa setiap orang, bersalaman dengan setiap orang. Stafnya pun bingung, "Hari ini, Boss kita kok aneh ya?"
Dan sikap mereka pun langsung berubah. Mereka pun menjadi lembut. Karena siang itu adalah siang terakhir, ia ingin meninggalkan kenangan manis!

Tiba-tiba, segala sesuatu di sekitarnya berubah. Ia menjadi ramah dan lebih toleran, bahkan apresiatif terhadap pendapat-pendapat yang berbeda.
Tiba-tiba hidup menjadi indah. Ia mulai menikmatinya. Pulang kerumah jam 5 sore, ia menemukan istri tercinta menungguinya di beranda depan.

Kali ini justru sang istri yang memberikan ciuman kepadanya, "Sayang, sekali lagi aku minta maaf, kalau selama ini aku selalu merepotkan kamu." Anak-anak pun tidak ingin ketinggalan, "Pi, maafkan kami semua. Selama ini, Papi selalu stres karena perilaku kami."

Tiba-tiba, sungai kehidupannya mengalir kembali. Tiba-tiba, hidup menjadi sangat indah. Ia mengurungkan niatnya untuk bunuh diri. Tetapi bagaimana dengan setengah botol yang sudah ia minum, sore sebelumnya?

Ia mendatangi sang Guru lagi. Melihat wajah pria itu, rupanya sang Guru langsung mengetahui apa yang
telah terjadi, "Buang saja botol itu. Isinya air biasa. Kau sudah sembuh, Apa bila kau hidup dalam kekinian, apabila kau hidup dengan kesadaran bahwa maut dapat menjemputmu kapan saja, maka kau akan menikmati
setiap detik kehidupan.

Leburkan egomu, keangkuhanmu, kesombonganmu. Jadilah lembut, selembut air. Dan mengalirlah bersama sungai kehidupan. Kau tidak akan jenuh, tidak akan bosan. Kau akan merasa hidup. Itulah rahasia kehidupan. Itulah kunci kebahagiaan. Itulah jalan menuju ketenangan."

Pria itu mengucapkan terima kasih dan menyalami Sang Guru, lalu pulang ke rumah, untuk mengulangi pengalaman malam sebelumnya. Konon, ia masih mengalir terus. Ia tidak pernah lupa hidup dalam kekinian.
Itulah sebabnya, ia selalu bahagia, selalu tenang, selalu HIDUP!!!

Hidup? bukanlah merupakan suatu beban yang harus dipikul? tapi merupakan suatu anugrah untuk dinikmati

Mar 10, 08 - Moomba Festival

Today is Labour Day in Victoria, and also the last day of Moomba Festival.

I plan to go to the festival with some of my friends. We plan to meet at 6 PM, but it turns out with no one except me. In the end, everyone gather up at almost 7 PM.

Then, some of us plan to have dinner first before going to festival, since it's not much choice there. We eat Indian food in Flinders Lane. I eat something veggie and it's quite nice, also it's cheap.

We reached the festival (in Yarra's bank) at almost 8 PM. But, the sky is not really completely dark. It's still quite nice. We could see the place quite clear.

There are a lot of fun amusement thing there. But, I don't try that since it's expensive. There is one to throw you up to the sky using some spring mechanism and that costs you $30.

Then we walk to the other bank of Yarra River, The Birrarung Marr, where there's a lot of challanging game, such as: throwing into cans, throw balls, put a basketball in, etc. There are also some easy game that you just have to catch some 'fish' and 'croc' then add up all the number.

We stop at few places there and have a look.

At 9.30 PM, we watch the fireshow, that's the last one for this year. It's nice and run for 10 minutes. The place is really packed and luckily, we already have a place about 5 minutes before the show.

After the show, I take time to play two games but win none. The first one is to throw ball into, likely, a wall and the ball must drop into a basket below it. The second one is basketball one. It's quite hard, then.

Yeah, we go home at 10 PM something, since they already have to close everything. So, there's no more games that you could play.

It's such a good festival for me. This could be the last festival that I attend in Melbourne, since it's already autumn.

Going forward to see this in the forthcoming year.

Mar 08, 08 - Course Changes

Hm.. Right now, I'm in front of computer to check some other courses that are possible to take this semester.

I found some interesting courses, but I still wonder which one I should choose.

I think I would definitely to drop Enterprise Architecture course, since I can't understand the speech from one of the lecturer. He is Indian but I believe that he already live in Australie for quite some time. But, still, I can't understand what he said.

And I think I drop Usability Analysis, because it clashes with my other course, System Architecture. And I already form a group in System Architecture.

Regarding my last choice, Object-Oriented Software Design, I think I would drop this subject also. Simply just because, I haven't form any group yet, and I think it's better for me to take Foundation Distributed Computing which using C language which run in the same time.

I already found one better choice which is Artificial Intelligence which also using C as the programming language. Since I already learnt about that before and it's a quite interesting topic, I believe that I would take this course.

So, I already have System Architecture, Artificial Intelligence, and Foundation Distributed Computing in my choice. I still have to choose one more subject.

Mar 07, 08 - Can't Decide

I still can't decide about what I should choose this semester.

In one side, if I choose courses, I believe that I should change my choice since it's too hard for me to do 4 courses with each of those has group assignments. That means I have 4 different groups for 4 different courses that must submit the assignment in almost in the same time.

I think I want to check more about the other course that I could take this semester. Since it's not a good choice to end up with that choices.

For the project, I think I'm a bit fed up since the 'manager' hasn't decided about the team yet. It's really a bit upset for me since yesterday she said that she will decided about the group today.

So, here I am, it's still unsure for all. I'm stress overall. I get a lot of pressure from different side. It's really a bad day for me.

It also would be a long weekend for me, but just get a couple of days to decide everything by now. So sad of me.

Mar 06, 08 - The Busy Week.

It's been a busy week for me.

As you know, I haven't decided for my study this semester. I'm still in the middle whether to choose doing project or courses.

This week, I do everything (project and courses) that means I have twice loads as much as I should do. It's really tiring.

For the project, I already know about what project that I'm offered by the moment, even though, I don't know in deep about the project. I like one of the 3 offered projects.

The project included GIS and mobile thing. I'm quite interested in something unique rather than a normal common thing. The other two are not really interesting for me. One just about CMS, which I really don't want to do this project. The last one is about a normal company website with some unique feature; it's just about a normal website that you could see online.

If I'm offered the GIS one, for sure, I will take the project. Even though, this is the hardest project of all. If I'm offered the website one, then I'll think about it, included team member, the scope, etc.

About the courses, I believe that if I do the courses this semester, it would be harder than do the project. I just realised that every single course need a group assignment. It would be a doom. Hehe..

I'm a bit worried about the course at the moment, since I haven't decided yet, it means that hard for me to make a group. It's just not fair if suddenly I leave the group.

So, next week would be the hard week for me. I should decide whether to be still in the project or to do the courses. To certain extent, I really want to do the project to boost my resume. But, if I'm not happy with the project, it's useless to be involved there.

Hope that I get the best result of all.

Mar 04, 08 - Flowers

Today, simply I don't have anything to do.

I don't have any course to attend. Actually, I just have to google for articles about RUP. And I think I should read it and make some notes over it.

In the afternoon, I decide to have a walk to Coles South Melbourne. It's about 15 minutes walk from my apartment.

I just have a look at Coles, one of the biggest chain of supermarket in Australia. But, then, I decide to buy frozen spring rolls and garlic bread. Yeah, actually, I want to buy garlic bread. But end up also with the rolls. The supermarket has quite a complete range of products.

The price offered here is quite reasonable. Some are cheaper than in the city. I just realise that the price is different between the store, even though they are from the same chain.

In the same building, I see a stall that sold fresh flowers. It's really nice to smell them.

The one that makes me a bit slow down is about the flowers and its price. The price is quite reasonable for Aussie. For a bunch of roses, it varies from $6 to $15 depends on the flowers and container.

The price is just about your lunch price. And you get a dozen of roses. But, then let's we compare in Indonesia.

I believe that it's not that easy to find a stall that sell fresh flower in Indonesia, even in a shopping mall. In Australia, almost in every corner, you could see a stall that sell flowers. Some are even open 24 hours or could deliver the flowers for you.

For the price, let's say that you buy the $6 one, then it's just around your lunch price. So, if you skip one of your lunch, it's already paid off. In Indonesia, I ever bought a rose (one, not a dozen) that cost around AUD 1.20. I can't compare it to anything, since the price in Indonesia varies greatly. If you eat in the mall, it's just half of your lunch. But, if you eat in the side, it's just your lunch.
But, you could see the diffrent here, one and one dozen. That's the different.

Yeah, in Indonesian culture, it could be that flower is something that far far away. Not a daily need.

I like flowers. It shows something great. Hope that I could have some plants in my home later on. Hehe..

Mar 03, 08 - The First Day in Campus

Today is the my first study day this year in RMIT University. It's been a very long time ago since the last lecture. I recall that It's almost 5 months ago. Huh, a very long time.

I join the project meeting and a course today. As you know, I'm still struggling whether to take project or courses.

The project that is presented today is not interesting. The presentation is carried out by the company that sponsors the project. It's a mobile application program that not use a big scale of database. So, it's not interesting for me.

I still wait for another presentation by different company that should be held by the end of this week, since we should start the project by early of next week. Hope that the offerec project would be suit me more than this one. I still want to involve in a project rather than in courses.

In the evening, I join a lecture, System Architecture. The lecturers and tutors are great. They are all practitioner from a big company, IBM. They know about what they talk about. They are amazing.
The class is also great, you meet a lot of executives there. 20 percent are full-time worker and part-time student. It makes the class more alive, since they are more critical.

But, in the other hand, it makes that the expectation is really high. I'm a bit sceptical that I could do my best in this lecture.

So, here I am, still confuse about what I should take in this semester. I really want to be involved in a project. But, it's no point if I can't enjoy the process or the project is really far out of my reach.

I'm confused.. Please come the day that I could decide something. It's really not long anymore. :(

Mar 02, 08 - Thai Festival

I recall another interesting side of this city today. I like the festivals, yeah festivals, not festival.

This city is really a multi-cultural city. People come from different nation, different culture, different background. It makes this city is really interesting.

Almost every weekend, there is one or two event will be held in this city. Melbourne is the host of Australian F1 Grand Prix, Australia Open tennis tournament, etc. Most of the cultural event will be held here, in Melbourne.

Today, I go to Thai Cultural and Food Festival held in Federation Square. The festival is realy crowded, not like Indonesia Festival that is held last year in Docklands. I just look around in the food stalls area. The weather is really hot and I sweet a lot.

It's really not a good choice. We just there for around 40 minutes since the weather is really unfriendly and we see nothing exciting. The festival is really crowded and there's a section for alcohol, may be that's why a lot of people want to see this festival.

Yeah, Moomba Festival is coming soon. I hope that I could take a better glance of the festival this time.
Moomba....

Mar 01, 08 - My Unfulfilled Plan

Actually, I already plan to be back home, even though the time is really different.

I planned to go back to Indonesia, maybe after I'm 30s. That's the case if I think that I can't move up the ladder in the company over here.

I know that, even, if you work as a staff here, you still could afford an appropriate living. But, it's a bit funny if you can't do more and more by the time.

The other reason is I want to give my family a better living. Supposed that you earn more here (around 60-80K/year) but you must know that everything is far more expensive here. If you could earn around half of that and live in Indonesia, it would be far more better than to live here.

It's also would be easier for mother and baby to live in Indonesia. At least, you could hire a maid, use a traditional tampon rather than use the factory-made one, etc. So, I always to think to be back there when everything heats up, except: if I could get a very big income (which is really hard to find).

The only thing why I want to be here is because it could be an easier life. You could go anywhere at night, stroll in the park, walk in the city, lay down in the beach, cycling the woods, etc. But, to be live here forever is still a big question.

So, I just leave all of this plan to be unfulfilled. I would be back there in few months time. To show my girlfriend that I'm serious about her. To keep my promise to her. To start a new beginning. To show that love is not just about the good thing but also sacrifice.

Hope that she wouldn't mind that I wrote this. Wkwk..

Mar 01, 08 - Don't Mind about Friendster

Today, I'm really surprised when I opened my email. I got two email from Friendster staff. One of the email is just a confirmation email about what I already report to admins. The other one is the reply from Friendster admin himself.

This is the email that I got from Friendster Support:

"Hello Mitra,
Thank you for contacting Friendster Support.
Regarding your concern, please read below:
What proof of your claims do you have?
We need you to substantiate your claims or we may suspend your account for turning in false reports. If you do not respond to this request we will suspend your account.
If there is anything else we can assist you with, please let us know.

Regards,
Friendster Support"


I report someone's account before that when we open his account, it will direct you to another page that as if you already sign out from Friendster and asking you for your email and password. The page is a bit rough, but if you don't see it carefully, you could just put it in your password.

I just wonder for such a big name like Friendster, they could just threat me to suspend my account rather than to check the account that I already mention to them. It's such a bad experience using Friendster. After this stage, I don't want to give it a damn again about Friendster.

And in my opinion, I believe that Facebook is far more ahead than Friendster, but for certain countries that have a bad connection (Indonesia included), people will still choose Friendster just because it offers faster load than Facebook. Yeah, just wait till every countries have a good connection and let's see what Friendster will do.

Until now, I haven't got any reply again from Friendster regarding this issue. I just want to let everyone know, if suddenly my account has been suspended, that's not because I show them one bad account and they threat to suspend my account in return.

From this experience, I understand that as a client of free website, you can't hope more than what they offer. And it's better to close your eyes rather than to complain about their service.

Happy Days, Friends!

Feb 29, 2008 - My Walk

Today, as walk up to the city, I really think about a few things.

This is a lovely city. I like this nice place, not too much but enough. I know that I was quite strugling last year to make myself happy to be here. And then, after I'm happy to be here, I decided to leave every single thing here.

I know that it's another big sacrifice from me. The one that asks me to be back there is my mum. But, I know that I could say yes because of someone else.

Yes, it's because of my darling, someone that I love. Without her, I believe that I don't want to be back there. I could say that it's one of the biggest bet in my life. I love this place, I like the situation. Even though, I don't know how long I could stand to be here.

I promise few things for her before she accepted me as her boyfriend. And I always hope that everything could become true. Even though, I know that she is not really sure about all of this. I know that from both side, we have a lot of pressure.

But, I believe that nothing is impossible. And I will fight, I will do my best to fulfill our wish, to show to everyone that we could stand up.

If, in the end, everything is messed up, I still will regard this as the way that I should lead to show her that love needs sacrifice, understanding, tolerance, etc.
Right now, I just want to feel about Melbourne. To take every single good thing. To fill my mind about good memory of Melbourne. Hope that everything will be as I plan before.

I love you, Dar.

Feb 29, 2008 - My Study

I'd like to write something about my study here in Melbourne.

I already decided to just study for another 6 months or one semester. I don't think that it is bad. At least, I already feel about this great city. To be here, in Melbourne, is one of the greatest part in my life now and ever.

This July or August, I will fly back home to Indonesia. I'm still not really sure about what I should do. But, I know a bit that I believe everything will be fine. I have a family that supports me and also my girlfriend.

Right now, I'm a bit confused about my study. I'm still enrolling in MC060 which is 2 years program. And the 1.5 years program is MC061. I already consult with the advisor.

Prof Balbin gave me another choice. I could still get MC060, but this semester I must take Software Project that run by RMIT. And I still should wait till this monday to know the brief of the projects. Then, I would decide whether I take the project or courses.

If I take courses for this semester, I just could get MC061, since Prof Balbin doesn't want to give me any exemption. The exemption is for 4 courses or 1 semester. So, if I take the project, I still could be graduated on MC060 with one semester of exemption.

I hope that I could find a suitable project on Monday presentation. Finger Cross!

Feb 28, 2008 - The Blogger

I already decided to move all my blogs to here, Blogger, since it's really difficult to open Wordpress in Indonesia because of internet connection.

It would be quite messed up here, since I have around 200+ blogs in Wordpress that I should move here. I hope that I could do that in these few days.

But, to be honest, I like Wordpress in certain aspects. It offers better administration about the blog rather than Blogger, such as Blog Stat, Categories, Import Blog, etc. And also more user-friendly for me to certain extend.

Yeah, I have no other choice than to move my blogs to Blogger, since it's easier to open in Indonesia and most of my friends also use Blogger rather than Wordpress.


But, first, I would post some of my blogs when I was in Indonesia. It's still part of my life.