August’s Digest

Trip To Mount Bromo (And Surabaya)

As you might know from my public calendar, early this month I went to Mt. Bromo (with transit in Surabaya first). I was very delighted to have holiday out of town, especially for having a trip back to nature. And indeed it was a very pleasant trip. I met 5 new friends, well actually, from those 7 persons who went there together with me, I only knew 2 persons before. Those guys really know how to make a trip enjoyable. Can’t wait for the next trip! Lombok maybe? Haha..

Anyway, some of the images below were already posted at my moblog directly from the scene, or so. I was quite amazed at how good the HSDPA signal from my provider there, although you really have to find the right spot to be connected. But being a big city though, it wasn’t as easy as I thought to find HSDPA signal in Surabaya when compared to Jakarta or Bandung. Moreover in Mt. Bromo, it WAS difficult. Well maybe that’s the fun from being mobile in Indonesia, you really have to make good use of your feet and hands when searching for signal. Giddy Up! :p

People said, a picture worth a thousand words. Many picture worth thousands of words.. (really?) Okay, stop blabbering. The point is, stop reading and click the two images above. It’ll tell you more than I can say. You gotta see it to believe it. You gotta go there to experience it, definitely!

Anyway, the journey started in Surabaya. I love this city for many reasons, but above all, it’s always because of the food. Surabaya is always able to indulge me with a lot of kinds of tasty food, but relatively cheap in price. And owh, most electronic stuffs are also relatively cheaper here compared to other big cities in Indonesia. But no, I’m not going to tell you about food or electronics in Surabaya, maybe next time. For now, may I present you with a brief field report of Mount Bromo.. *tada*

There are several popular paths to reach Mt. Bromo. One can go from Surabaya through Pasuruan or Malang for instance, and reach Mt. Bromo via Tosari. Or like we did, from Surabaya through Probolinggo and reach Mt. Bromo via Ngadisari. One way another, it’s just a matter of landscape view and transportation, trying every path will give you more fun! At Ngadisari, we spent two nights at Yoschi’s Hotel. It was a cozy place with some Balinese touch. There are actually some other nice places to stay, but we’re more like a bunch of backpacker with a car, so picking this relatively cheap but cozy place is the most appropriate decision.

We began our first night by playing Uno Cards! Man I didn’t know it could be so much fun playing cards. Despite the schedule, we played late until about midnight and we woke up at three to begin the real fun journey: get some sunrise! We rent two jeeps for the transportation and reach “Penanjakan” in about an hour later. It was quite a difficult track, but we definitely enjoy the bump and slides!

The sunrise was great. And from this location, we can see clearly the Mt. Bromo itself and other spectacular views. There were so many people there, local and international tourists attracted by its beauty. Sometimes it was difficult to have a good spot for your camera because of the crowd, and of course, other photographer. I really gathered my guts when I stood on some kind of monument (but it’s not, I swear) just to get an unblocked view of the early sunrise. That would be the third thumbnail on the first picture.

From “Penanjakan”, we continue the journey to reach Mt. Bromo. The base, (the foot of the mountain) largely consisted of sands. There we can find a lot of locals offering their horses to help us reach the top. But believe me, especially when you go there with some friends, it’s more fun just to walk on your own. When we reach the top, we all feel glad yet amazed with the view. It’s definitely not because we-can-see-it-on-national-geographic view, but because we’re there to experience it ourselves we feel overwhelmed.

Later at the afternoon, we went to some small waterfall (I forget what the name was), it’s about an hour journey using a car from the hotel. And as you may guessed, we were so tired and slept like babies on the second night (okay, maybe NOT like a baby, but absolutely sleep tight, safe and sound :p) We went back to Surabaya the next day and depart to our own destination from there. As for me, it was a hell great journey and will definitely miss you all guys! Really really can’t wait to explore Indonesia again!

Ow, a reader inspired me to explain this: the 1st four thumbnails on the second picture is NOT a view of an ocean or a lake. It’s a carpet of clouds. We can see that view since we’re at a higher elevation than clouds. Very, beautiful!

Update: This article has been submitted to Indonesia.Travel Blog Contest. Wish me luck guys!

Update (again): This article IS the Winner! Yay!

SOEDOE Exhibition @ Jakarta

Not much to say about this. It was an exhibition in Balai Kartini, Jakarta, held by the Indonesian Government for five days from 6th to 10th of August. It’s free, both for the exhibitors and the visitors. But you know, being a *FREE* government agenda, most of the times we have to get a good grip and high measures of patience when dealing with the people.

Also, there’s nothing special with the selling revenue. But that’s not the point from the first place. We really hope to get a good publication and a higher public awareness from the exhibition. I hope I can see the results soon.

We welcome you, Ramadhan

And last but not least, *eww, the language*, Mohon maaf lahir dan batin. Bener2 minta maaf seandainya ada salah2 kata ato perbuatan ato menjatuhkan harapan dan sebagainya, mohon dimaafin. I truly am. Mudah2an kita bisa belajar lebih baik lagi dalam Ramadhan besok.

Anyway, I was also delighted when I read the news that says this year, most likely there will be no difference among muslim organizations in Indonesia regarding the decision for the starting date of Ramadhan and Shawal. 1st of Ramadhan will be on the 1st of September, and the 1st of Shawal will be on the 1st of October. It’s just great.

Peace. Out.

MOBLOG Flash!

Introducing my new Photo Moblog: Random shots from my mobile phone, fresh!
http://moblog.gpratama.net

So, I finally have the connection I always dreamed of lately, to be able to connect to the Internet from my own room (again). But for now, I don’t think I will have the motivation, hence the time, to write the details of pursuing the connection. Just to make the story short: I add another subscription to my mobile phone plan, and managed to have Telkomsel Flash Unlimited activated. Woohoo..

And what’s about the MOBLOG thing? Yeah, well, another delayed project for many reasons. But finally, a blog to record some pictures, mobile, fresh from the scene yet updated more often (hopefully) is now up and running. Just open the link http://moblog.gpratama.net.

Update: You might want to have a look at my Public Calendar.

Peace. Out.

The Audition

Two tough days. 1060 participants. Passed the first elimination resulting in 127 participants left, including myself. Second elimination: failed miserably!

The moral: Never attend any audition without at least, read the entire book once and practice. Doh!

Peace. Out.

To Love And To Be Loved

Kebutuhanku untuk menulis, kurang lebih sama dengan kebutuhanku untuk membaca. Ya, mungkin pernyataan yang terlalu berlebihan, karena pada kenyataannya jumlah teks yang kutulis tentu saja tidak sebanyak yang kubaca.

Kebutuhanku untuk didengar kurang lebih sama dengan kebutuhanku untuk mendengar. Lagi-lagi pernyataan yang bisa jadi keliru karena pada kenyataannya aku tidak banyak mendengarkan orang lain seperti aku ingin didengar.

Kebutuhanku untuk dicinta, kurang lebih sama dengan kebutuhanku untuk mencinta agar bahagia. Kali ini, aku yakin benar bahwa ini adalah pernyataan yang tepat untukku. Dulu aku berpikir kalau aku bisa bahagia hanya dengan mencintai seseorang tanpa mengharap apapun sebagai balasnya. Cukuplah aku yang mencinta, tanpa perlu sedikitpun dia yang kucinta membalasnya. Bahkan dia yang kucinta tidak perlu tahu aku mencintainya. Tapi setelah apa yang kualami, setelah ribuan rangkaian proses berpikir kulalui, aku mengaku salah. Agar aku bahagia maka aku harus dicinta, sebesar aku mampu mencinta.

Adalah kata-kata sederhana yang memberiku kemantapan pikiran kali ini: karena aku manusia. Ya, karena aku bukan malaikat, karena aku bukan manusia suci, karena aku bukan pujangga nan romantis dari abad pertengahan. Tapi karena aku adalah seorang manusia biasa. Yang secara lahiriah merupakan makhluk yang lemah, tapi bisa kuat karena mencinta, dan dicinta.

Disclaimer: Tulisan ini adalah opini pada ruang publik yang diilhami dan menjadi kesimpulan dari ribuan rangkaian proses berpikir. Proses ini masih berjalan, sehingga opini bisa berubah sewaktu-waktu apabila melewati ribuan -atau bahkan kurang- proses berpikir lainnya. Proses berpikir *sangat* dipengaruhi oleh banyak sekali variabel, misalnya kondisi cuaca, kemacetan lalu lintas pada hari itu, kondisi penerangan tempat menulis, harga elpiji, jumlah cangkir kopi yang diminum, jumlah remah roti yang berceceran pada karpet *penting ya, dasar jorok!*, dan sebagainya. Simply take nothing on the internet too seriously! :p

Peace. Out.

The Lonely Star

Do you see what I see?
Do you feel what I feel?
Do you think what I think?

I see a lonely bright star at the sky..
I feel a breezy cold wind at night..
I think of you now, and every time..

The star reminds me of you..
The night reminds me of you..
Everything reminds me of you..

Peace. Out.

A Counter Post

After finally I have the time to re-read what I’ve written in this blog, especially several latest posts, I came to a conclusion that this blog (literally or not) has become too much a junk with all those sad-and-melancholic-posts-which-drive-me-nuts™. Too much mellow-type posts here, doesn’t mean I have no other life than what you’ve read here for sure. It’s just because maybe I don’t have the time (/energy) to dump it here. Even if I finally manage to write, it won’t change the nature of this blog, a rarely updated junkyard and playground. Hehe.. :p Ow well, we’d better start. Stop mumbling. Opening is so not important. Okay. Get ready. Here goes. Ta-da. *Would you stop it?!*

Okay, now where should I start? Maybe the last two weekends. Oh boy I love weekends on summer so much. It began with a beautiful morning, I decided to wake up early and went jogging. It took me less than 10 minutes by foot to sabuga (ITB’s sport center). And less than 30 minutes later to have the nice quiet track as you can see in the image to become the world’s most populated jogging track. Okay, maybe that’s a lie. But I swear it was so dense I hardly breathed. Or is it because I was so exhausted?

After I took some rest, I was tinkering a bit with my lappie when I remembered that I have a debt to this friend of mine. I owned her a treat for a simple reason yet funny. I passed my expectation at my iBT toefl test. Ow well, apapun-bisa-diproyekin™ kan ntan? Hehe.. To make the long story short, here’s her post.

We went to Wendy’s at Braga together with Bama and Andien. It’s my favorite place to have my favorite menu(s): spaghetti and big-classic-combo! I eat like crazy as always haha.. The sun was great, It was a hilarious day, lots of laughter and some bashing of course heheh.. My saturday ends with a nice novel reading at night.

At sunday, together with soedoe team we went to do some experiments at one of our team-mate’s house. At where I met this two cute little girl, Asha and Aya. I spent some great time with them to pick Kirschen (Bhs. Indonesia: Kersen, I found the word at my German dictionary as Kirsche: Cherry in English, but Kirschen is not cherry we all usually refer to) and play horse, I was the horse of course, boy they were heavy! Too bad I didn’t take any photos of them. Have I told you guys that I want a daughter so bad, more than I want a wife? I’ve had the wish since I was in high-school a very long time ago.. Crazy huh? Ow well, I have never been accused of being normal anyway :p

Last weekend, I spent a night at my parent’s with some friends, soedoe team that is, minus Widy and Ilma. It was meant as a ‘company-outing’, sort of. And for sure, we had fun. Anyway, the swimming pool you see, is not my parent’s :p The little guy there, is my brother, I taught him how to swim, no success yet. Oh brother..

So, I got to go. Will go to Jakarta, Pras’ place, gonna come to ICT Expo there tomorrow. Maybe more on this later.

Peace. Out.

Ten Years, And Still Counting

Takdir telah berkata, kami harus berpisah..

Sepuluh tahun lebih telah berlalu..

Banyak hal telah terjadi..
Banyak masalah datang dan pergi..
Banyak kesenangan turut menghiasi..
Banyak karakter kukenal dan kulalui..

Sepuluh tahun lebih telah berlalu..

Karena takdir pula, kami bertemu kembali..
Setelah semua yang kualami..
Hatiku masih berdegup terlalu cepat saat menatap pengisi hati..
Masih kulihat percikan-percikan api..

Sepuluh tahun lebih telah berlalu..

Tapi perasaan itu tak banyak berubah dalam diri..
Apakah selama itu aku harus mencari..
Kebahagiaan dunia yang penuh arti..
Tidak, mungkin sepuluh tahun lagi pun tak akan pernah mencukupi..

Sepuluh tahun lebih telah berlalu..

Masih saja rahasia-Mu tak kumengerti..
Mungkin memang hanya sanggup kujalani..
Tanpa perlu bertanya atau memahami..
Pertanyaan yang merupakan bagian dari teka-teki itu sendiri..

080327.2350

[for my sister, you were right, there's always a secret behind everything. And by any means, this is not a poem, simply a blurb, i never published any of my poems]

Peace. out.

A Dream

It was almost dark, and cold. But I felt happy, maybe because true happiness never depends on time or weather..
I looked at her and waved my hand from the side road. She was standing and giving her beautiful smile at me through the window just inside the balcony as I walked away.
I could see the plants she kept near the window, green leaves and red flowers with dim-lighted room as the background..

The scene repeated over and over inside my mind, day and night.. Sleep and awake.. Is it a dream? Or just a memory that will never go away..

Peace. Out.

Women And Linux (part 2/end)

So, I felt a bit guilty because I couldn’t fulfill the promise (sort of) to write the second and the last part of my previous mumblings. Well, what can I say but please read the disclaimer again, what do you expect from a mad man? :p

Anyway, I won’t continue the mumblings or rather to keep it for my personal consumption than to publish it here. I choose not to publish the early part of this second mumblings. Yet to ease the guilty-feeling away and to persuade me in writing another mumblings in this space in the future, here’s how the second mumblings end:

But in women case, choosing the right one to be the one you give all your loyalty, dedication, commitment, is so not the same with choosing the “right” linux distro. Its not like you can just re-format your harddisk to install your new distro then forget the old one. Women indeed have feelings. And it might last until the time you’ll never know.

Then you might ask, can you dual-boot or even triple-boot women just the way I triple-boot different operating systems in my laptop? The answer is definitely not an absolute answer for every person. Unlike linux who can live altogether in the same harddisk with no problem, women, mostly today, have no such characteristics to be able to live with other woman in the same harddisk, no, I mean under the same roof. Or to deal with the fact that the man might have someone else in mind. One worthy lesson for myself is that, indeed, too much love will kill you if you don’t make up your mind. And the credit goes to …

Face this reality, will I tinker with Slackware, Install SuSE, boot-up xubuntu, or get myself the latest beautiful MacBook Air instead? ALL HAIL TO THE MIGHTY BLUE APPLE! :p

Peace. Out.

Women And Linux

Disclaimer: This article is a mumbling written by a man who is claimed by several persons to be mad, strange, geek, unusual etc. The article were meant as a method of expression when the author find it difficult to have asleep at three in the morning. With all due respects, the author honor the privacy and dignity owned by every women and/or every linux communities that might be mentioned in the article. All trademark/copyright/license belong to their respective owners. Erroneous english or typos weren’t intended, believe me. The author as referred in the first sentence, takes no responsibilities from any damage, losses, nausea, brain disorder, physiological malfunction, civil war, earthquake, or any effects caused by reading the material follows. I’ve warned you.. :p

If you don’t even know what linux is, simply stated it’s an operating system. Computer codes that allows you to have access to the underlying hardware of your computer, the electronic components. With an extended definition, an operating system provides you with some working environment and some programs to support your work on a computer. And if you don’t know what woman is, umm.. uhh.. I think there are no simple explanation for this.. Even Einstein once said that he understands the universe with the laws beneath, but he still doesn’t understand women.. Sorry dude.. :p

And why would I compare women with linux? Because to my opinion, somehow they share many similarities. I’ll start with elaborating linux in a non technical way I hope, and you, readers, may compare, interpret, make jokes or take whatever conclusion you feel is right for the women side. I’ll just show you some hints. I don’t ask you to have a philosophical way of thinking, just a little imagination will do.. :p Here we go..

At the time of writing, there are about 500 different linux distributions or the so called “distro(s)”. I forget where I got this statement, but let’s just follow it. If you don’t like it, stop reading and write your own blog :p This favorite site of mine btw, distrowatch.com shows a hundred distros referred as the most popular ones. Why on earth there are so many different flavour of linux? Because of different environments, different needs, different habits, different tastes from the people who crafted it or from the people the developer targeted to. Well, you name it. There should be about 500 different reasons to answer such question. Every distro usually claimed to be better from each other, but in my opinion, they just simply work best for their intended purpose or target users.

As to myself, I have always been a huge fan and quite a long time user of SuSE linux (openSUSE now). A well-polished distro originated from Germany. I have been using this distro ever since I’m still in high school, back in early year of 2000. But living in the world of open source, to have so many options is very natural. SuSE is not the only distro I ever use though. As a matter of fact, the first linux distro I installed was Slackware. Known as a highly reputable, very stable and the oldest distro ever survived until today, but maybe not the easiest distro to deal with. SuSE on the other hand, in my opinion, has always comes up with the latest stable kernel, well maintained software repositories, modern desktop environment/window manager, easy installation with a wide range of hardware recognition and not to mention the eye-candy and bling-bling stuffs. In contrast, never expect everything will work out of the box when you first install Slackware. Those features are the least expected when you install Slackware. There’re always some extra efforts needed to make everything runs smoothly in Slackware.

SuSE is considered as a modern operating system, a bleeding edge system like other well-polished operating systems. Several names included are Mandriva, Debian, PCLinuxOS, and the emerging Ubuntu and their derivatives. Mandriva is also powerful yet beautiful, pretty much like SuSE, but I don’t like it, maybe because it’s just too “French” to me.. :p On the other hand, I also like Ubuntu and its derivatives especially xubuntu because its simplicity and the work-out-of-the-box sensation, and of course because of the great support from the community.

As the case with my two favourite distros, SuSE and Slackware, I like both distros so much but however Slackware has a special place in my heart. Despite its difficulties and its old-skool techniques, it has become a distro I always come back to. No pain no gain is a perfect proverb to be applied to this distro. I learned so many things about linux and how things in linux work together, because I travel so many adventurous journey with Slackware. The feeling to have something finally runs by yourself like you wanted to, beats the glory of work-out-of-the-box and bling-bling distros.

[to be continued]

Peace. Out.