july, 2010
when was your last time you did something for the first time?
keep discovering!
may, 2010
life is either a daring adventure
or nothing.
--- helen keller
november, 2009
I believe that every human has a finite number of heart-beats.
I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.
--- neil armstrong
november 13-15, 2009
hongkong short trip
under construction
october 8-18, 2009
land of the rising sun
under construction
september 25-27, 2009
singapore's 2009 formula one
under construction
september 11, 2009
little mimi and me
a matte black nsr 150 sp.
under construction
september 2009
blackberry 8320: a moronic piece of sh!t
couple/few months ago i bought a secondhand blackberry 8320. it had been working perfectly until i came back from malaysia, the blackberry service
just didn't work, even after several calls to starhub (my service provider), they even replaced my sim card with new one, still didn't work.
i bought a new 8320 handset, brought it to starhub, still didn't work.
i kept the first handset and exchanged the second handset, since i told the shop that it didn't work.
I got the replacement set and i had worked, until i discovered that i couldn't turn on the camera. i went back to the shop, and made an exchange again,
brought it back home to find out that the usb port doesn't work. went to the shop for another exchange.
until now the 5th handset seems to be working fine. but i notice
that at certain places the signal strength is lower than usual, calls have been breaking up. and i also notice that the main screen cover starts to get loose.
what a piece of sh#&! blackberry's quality control is just not there for this model.
august 29-30, 2009
desaru: weekend getaway from busy life...
under construction
august 2009
Marley and me
recently i just watched a couple very good movies, i said that since they're close to real life. they are not
just typical brainwasher like american heroes and terrorist, good and evil bullshit stuffs; nope. they are just a 'snapshot' or
'summary' of the characters' life. They only tell me (us) about these things; which we would encounter in some point of
our life or in our daily life: dreams, real life, choices, sacrifice, consequences.
Yup, that's all those movies are about, which make them really good.
A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes.
Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine.
A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside.
A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull.
Give him your heart and he will give you his.
It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated,
have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not.
--- john grogan - marley and me [2008]
may 19, 2009
Goldilocks
I've been wondering to get a light travel camera, and from some reviews that i read, panasonic G1 comes top. so, i just get it and let's try it.
Please read the review here and
here.
(updated oct 2009: i brought it with me on my recent japan trip, and never let down my expectation, great performance and practical to use, i just love it!)
april 9 - 13, 2009
angkor wat revisited
under constructions
apr 15, 2009
march 26, 2009
the day is just getting worse, after more than a month without privacy,
it seems there are so many small irritating problems recently, namely:
- my cellphone has been receiving spam sms (text), and i can't un-subscribe, since there are no
number to reply. correspondences with customer service has been pain in the !@#. and i can't cancel
the line since i am on contract until another 6 months.
- my sports channel which i just subscribed were suddenly gone, it took 2 online
requests, 2 follow up emails (none of them received response) then finally i went
down to fill in hardcopy form, then the sports channel was up. within 2 days it was
turned off again. it's like 'there yesterday, gone today' thing. i had to made another
phone call, to make it appear again. hopefully this time is for real.
then this afternoon came THE WORST thing; my one year 160GB harddrive just died on me, of
course along with EVERYTHING inside it. I still have a copy of it, but it's dated mid jan 09,
so any changes between then and now are gone.
i was very upset.
made a couple calls to friends and found out the company to recover my data, and i called
them, and they informed me the cost is 500$ minimum - %$#!?!!!
i think i just make friend with vodka and going to bed.
march 24, 2009
introduce a little anarchy,
upset the established order,
and everything becomes chaos..
and you know the thing about chaos;
it's fair.
--- the joker (the dark knight, 2008)
february 22, 2009 - march 08, 2009
nepal trip: please click the photo above
january, 2009
going medium...
i have always wanted a 6x6 medium camera format, i used to have a medium camera, fuji GA645 which is very good and practical but it is 6x4.5 format.
so... cut the long story short, i just got myself mamiya 6, with 50mm lens (equal to 28mm in 35mm format). i always prefer mamiya 6 to mamiya 7,
since mamiya 6 is 6x6 and its lens mount is collapsible, so it's more compact for travelling.
december 28, 2008
only then...
only after the last tree has been cut down
only after the last river has been poisoned
only after the last fish has been caught
only then you will find that money cannot be eaten
october 6-9, 2008
few days at macau
we planned to have a holiday from 2nd to 9th, and were going to visit guangzhou (china), hongkong and macau.
i had to apply for visa to visit china, and the time i was going to collect my passport at the china embassy,
it was closed for a whole week without much announcement. so... yes, my passport was stuck in the embassy until 6th and
my ticket to macau was on the 2nd. i got the visa to china, but in the end i didn't go, since there was not enough time,
and i spent more than the original ticket price to have it amended.
anyway, managed to enjoy the rest of the holiday that i had in macau. weather was fine too, wasn't hot and humid as it
is in singapore. i'd say macau is rather interesting city, i often found on one side of the road there was one luxurios
casino /hotel with lights as bright as daytime, and on the other side there were old, messy flathouses. what a contrast.
some photos that i took at macau.
july 26-30, 2008
few days at phuket and phiphi island (thailand)
me and my girlfriend had been wishing for a short break from hectic daily life in singapore.
we decided to go to thailand, since it's not far away, only couple hours by air.
we headed to patong beach, the most 'happening' beach in phuket. rented motorbike and went around
sight seeing. enjoyed local food; noodle soup, pad thai, green curry. and also we watched the 'simon cabaret'
show, it's great show and cheap (600 thai baht/person), a must see when you visit phuket.
we took a ferry to phiphi island as well, enjoying bargain shopping and a couple scuba dive. it has been few
years since my last dive. and it was the first dive for my girlfriend.
anyway, holiday is always short lived. and here we are again back in hectic life in singapore,
hoping for the next holiday...
few photos from our trip: (you can find more photos at my
facebook)
july 19, 2008
cool... just got another pair of speakers
, yamaha NS-55 (three-way, 2x 8" woofer)
july 17, 2008
toys, toys and toys...
nothing much happening lately, except that i have more toys to play with lately..
i sold my pda-phone; dopod 838pro last month. then i bought few more pda-phone; sony-ericsson P1i, nokia e61i, O2 atom pure.
then my girlfriend bought samsung 'omnia' i900. it is not that i need so many phone, i just want to find a suitable phone after
i sold my last one. but so far none of them really have what i want. the P1i seems to be the closest to what i want, but the keyboard is a letdown;
having two letters in one key doesn't make life easy.
last week i also bought cambridge sound azur 340A and an old wharfedale speakers; CRS-5. i miss my old speaker, wharfedale CRS-9, and i've been
searching for the same model here but i could only found a lower model, CRS-5 (two-way, 8" woofer). but it's not good enough for me, compared to the CRS-9.
hmm... well... will start to hunt for nicer speakers then
february 11, 2008
By the river of piedra I sat down and wept
There is a legend that everything that falls into the waters of this river -
leaves, insects, the feathers of birds -
is transformed into the rocks that make the riverbed.
If only I could tear out my heart and hurl it into the current,
then my pain and longing would be over, and I could finally forget.
--- Paulo Coelho (By the river of piedra I sat down and wept)
february 2-10, 2008
gong xi fat choi!
during this chinese new year holiday, i went for a small trip get back home to semarang - indonesia for few days to see
my parents. i also went to bandung for few days and batam on the way back to singapore.
indonesia has been getting worse, i wasted a lot of time travelling, because of all the delays,
be it because of flooding, or 'just' mis-management.
on the way back to singapore i was planning to take a flight from bandung to batam, then taking the ferry across
to singapore. but the flight was delayed for more than 3 hours for no reason, and the passengers were given
no compensation or what so ever. i ended up late for the ferry to singapore, and had to spend the night at batam.
in the end, i reached singapore about 24 hours later than i expected.
december 2, 2007
technology continues to amaze me, but it just never perfect.
i bought a pda phone, dopod 838pro; it's windows mobile based. the only feature that i found missing
is GPS; the rest is there; quadband gsm, 3G, wi-fi, bluetooth, full slide-in keyboard and so on.
i'm able to check emails, sending text, playing movie, mp3; basicly almost everything that i need.
then i bought a sony-ericsson bluetooth headset; with this, i can make and receive calls few meters away wirelessly
from my 'wireless phone'... sounds stupid huh?? and i also able to listen to mp3 that i play on the pda.
the cool thing about this bluetooth headset is, its 'modularity', the microphone is on the body, then i can use any headphone
that use 3.5mm plug. that also means, i can plug my computer speaker, my home stereo into it, and use any bluetooth enabled
media player as the source/player.
but as i said, it just never perfect, i don't think the bluetooth technology is mature enough. i get plenty of disruption when
i use it to listen to music, not to mention difficulties of pairing the devices.
november 1, 2007
i just got a new job as system engineer, responsible for more than 50 multiplatform servers; HP-UX, windows, novell;
running variety applications; lotus domino, IIS, citrix etc. sounds interesting... let's hope so!
october 19-22, 2007
short holiday in ho chi mihn - vietnam
--- under construction
october 5, 2007
start living in singapore... again...
september 27, 2007
farewell new zealand, i hope i will see you again someday.
tomorrow is my last day working in Telecom New Zealand, and i'll be leaving nz on oct 5th,
going back to singapore (i wasn't born there, but i have lived there about 4 years before).
the reason why i'll leave nz, is not because it isn't nice. it is nice to live in new zealand, people
are just so nice and trusting. working condition is ok; although i'm underpaid, company pays for overtime, gives me a car; laptop,
free internet, cellphone (including free calls) and so on, and no stress at work. there isn't overcrowded queue, no traffic
jam, cars are so cheap. other things are expensive, but ok, since the services are also ok.
and the best thing is the nature, it's just amazing.
the real bad news is the house price, it has been doubled from 2002, and yet my pay was increased
3% a year, taxes are high, and there's no real help from the government. to cut the story short, i could afford
a 250k$ government flat in singapore, but couldn't afford a 250k$ house in new zealand. of course i would prefer
a house with small garden to a small government flat, but i don't have the luxury to choose, it's a matter of
which one i could afford.
to make my reasons complete, my girlfriend lives in singapore, last time we tried to get her working visa
in nz, but was rejected. anyway, since then she has been pursuing her master degree and she's stuck in singapore
for at least a year.
i rest my case.
september 25, 2007
my beloved seven countries sandals (slippers)
i bought this pair of sandals for 2$ (approx. US 1.35$) in singapore in september 2004,
for my backpacking in thailand, laos and burma.
since then it has been protecting my feet from the heat of asphalt, rocks, dirt in
indonesia, singapore, malaysia, thailand, laos, burma and new zealand.
it's getting old and thin, i guess it's time for it to retire soon. farewell and thanks, my sandals
maybe i'm going to say farewell too, to my faithful doc-mart boots, bought around 1996 in australia,
has been through many wet seasons in jakarta, rained, enduring all the street dirt and mud.
submerged few times in rivers, streams
during my camping trips. and yet it survive without any necessary repair.
september 21, 2007
meet chacha
my girlfriend has a couple of hamsters (not really a couple, since they're both male), and here's the photo of
chacha having his 'pizza'.
what are you looking at? you'd like to have some?
september 16, 2007
sunrise at castlepoint
me and budi, my photo buddy, had been planning to chase the sunrise at castlepoint. we chose castlepoint since it has
nothing blocking the view of sunrise. we have tried a couple places around wellington, but
none of them were satisfying. lenka,
my flatmate, joined us for the trip. she got the VIP seat (read: backseat), and while
i was driving, she was comfortably sleeping in her sleeping bag backseat
 .
we left wellington just after midnight,
and reached castlepoint about 3-4am, slept for a while in the car. at 5.30am, we're already on our foot to the lighthouse,
and the view was really amazing, it was the most beautiful sunrise i've ever seen for a long time.
after satisfied with the view, we drove back to southwest, we wanted to see
the stonehenge aotearoa
, but the timing wasn't right, and we're required to book in advance.
so, continued driving, we visited the waiohine gorge's suspension bridge.
then continued driving south west, went up to paekakariki hill lookout, to see the sunset, but the weather wasn't good, so
we drove down and had an early dinner at
fishermans table by the beach,
and watched to sun goes down.
map of southern part of NZ's north island, the blue lines were our route on that day. approx. 500km long.
this map created using DGmanager, from my gps's data.
september 5, 2007
old toys and new toys
i just sold my beloved wharfedale CRS-9
, i didn't even have the chance to get a proper amplifier for it.
soon, i'm going to sell mimi as well, my 'black cat' nissan skyline.
it's hard to part ways with these two, as they had been my favorite toys.
as of new toys, i just got a garmin quest gps last sunday, i had been thinking to get a multipurpose gps, for
trekking/on foot, autoroute driving and also for geotagging my photos. it seems that it may not be suitable for
the geotagging purpose, because of the foldable antenna design, i can't just hang it onto my bag, it doesn't have
attachment loop either, it's difficult that i have to hold it while taking photos.
we live forward.
but life can only be understood backwards.
august 5-12, 2007
2700km in eight days and seven nights
2 ferry trips
1 speeding ticket (@123kph, damage:170$)
i was lucky, they caught me when i was driving slow - LOL
a seal just laying around just before dusk, near dunedin
more photos and story for the whole week holiday is on
NZ trip 2007
when the rich wage war it's the poor who die
--- linkin park (hands held high - minutes to midnight )
june 4, 2007
pinnacle rocks - cape palliser daytrip
my flatmates, lenka and eva, organized a short trip to those places, we went together with monica, good friend of
lenka.
view from top of cape palliser lighthouse
me, eva, monica and lenka
photos courtesy of lenka
the truth about shit
TAOISM :
shit happens.
BUDDHISM :
if shit happens, it isn't really shit.
HINDUISM :
this shit has happened before.
ISLAM :
if shit happens, it is the will of Allah.
CATHOLICISM :
shit happens because you deserve it.
PROTESTANTISM :
let shit happen to somebody else.
JUDAISM :
why does shit always happen to us?
may 12, 2007
tongariro national park daytrip
just went for a drive around that area with photo buddies; budi and ivan, also with hari
desert road on cloudy days
mt. tongariro
me by the lake, lake rotoaira
july 18, 2006
DIVE DIVE DIVE!!!... from 12000 feet!
18 July; Taupo - New Zealand , 12000 feet tandem dive - 45seconds freefall
too bad they don't take photos while diving, only video; the image quality isn't that good
more photos and story for the whole week holiday is on NZ trip 2006
march 25, 2006
the unknown future rolls towards us.
i face it for the first time
with a sense of hope.
because if a machine, a terminator,
can learn the value of human life,
maybe we can too.
--- Sarah Connor (Terminator 2 - Judgement Day)
march 19, 2006
Just went for sight seeing around Wellington area.
I went to HauNui Windfarm close to Martinborough, about one and half hour drive from Wellington city.
february 6, 2006
I am moving to a new flat.
Recently the previous flat had become more and more messy, dirty and noisy.
there were some new people moving in to the flat, and seems to me that they have nothing to do except
getting drunk, making a mess and making noises. they often don't sleep until dawn, which makes me difficult
to sleep properly, and I have to wake up around 7 am to work.
furthermore the owner has been planning to rebuild the flat in mid february.
So, I decided to move to another place. And here I am today starting to live in a new place.
this flat is smaller than the previous one, the room is only 4 by 4 metre, but it seems to be a nice place to stay;
clean, tidy and less people and no teenager stay in the flat, which means most likely would be less noisy.
december 31, 2005 - january 10, 2006
NZ south island holiday
my girlfriend came for holiday, and we went to south island, travelled to christchurch, queenstown, franz josef glacier
and other popular places. at franz josef, we went for a day glacier walk, i was raining and cold, came back soaking wet
except our upper body part, since we got weather proof jacket. it was fun though. didn't take many photos,
we were just enjoying the trip.
us by the lake, queenstown
lina, my gf at franz josef glacier
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do
than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines,
sail away from the safe harbor,
catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
--- Mark Twain
december 23, 2005
Merry Xmas and happy new year everyone!
time flies.. another new year's coming..
... and ...
a new job is coming too!
i have just secured an IT job, and i'll start working on 9th January.
This is a great way to start a new year! and what excites me even more is that i'll work for
the biggest telecommunication company in new zealand!
november 23, 2005
Ooops.. new toy again.. wharfedale CRS-9; 3 way, main driver 10".
nice, decent sound overall. but now my amp is too small for this speaker. oh well...
november 20, 2005
My contract at The Parliament has ended last week, so I work only 4 hours a day for now.
I'm currently waiting for feedback from some agencies for IT jobs.
Some technical news; I just moved my webhosting to a new place which has a bigger space. It isn't huge,
it's just enough for now, plenty of features and it's cheap.
people don't grow old.
when they stop growing,
they become old.
november 8, 2005
Yeah! A pair of 'new' toys! I just bought a pair of Mission speakers, 2 way; main driver is 5.25".
I don't expect to hear much low frequency from them. And as I expected, the British-made speakers sound decent enough,
clear and transparent. They're smaller than the Sonys, but definitely better! much much better!
As I have a pair of 'new' speakers, I don't need the old ones... but since the Missions are small, I need a pair of
speaker stands... well... this is the sonys are made for... hehe..
Yes, I used the Sonys for speaker stands.
Oh... and for your info, these sound system stuffs that I've been talking about are all second hand! couldn't afford
new ones! not yet.
november 5, 2005
I just got a pair of Sony speakers; 3 way, the main driver is 8". They suck big time, total trash and
unlistenable!
I wonder if Sony ever listen to those speakers they produced. They should call them buckets instead of speakers. My 10 bucks
Sony earphone sounds much better than them. I gave up listening them in a couple days. It just made me crazy, I'd better not
listening at all.
as a well-spent day brings happy sleep,
so life well used brings happy death.
--- leonardo davinci
september 29, 2005
It seems that I can't live without hobby... I wanted to do my photography again, but my gears are still in
Christchurch, and also most of my stuffs are there too. We're talking about 1.5 cubic meter stuffs in volume;
so it isn't cheap to get all of them to wellington.
No photography, no girlfriend... I decided to start my old hobby, sound system. I started today by buying my flatmate's
amp; Technics SU-300 and borrowing his Philips speakers. My mate got the philips for 5 bucks, and they produce impressive
sound for that price, even for 100$ it is still a good deal. The only drawback is the appearance, they look ugly,
the previous owner might have trashed them.
september 23, 2005
I got to take what I can get, while still trying to get what I want. Starting from monday (sept 26), I will be
working 12 hours a day - 5 days a week. I just got an eight hours daytime job at the Parliament NZ; while I will keep my
current evening job too.
september 1, 2005
Time flies... It has been a month... I stay in a flat in the city. There are 7 of us stay in the flat; 3 kiwis,
1 british, a german couple and me. They are nice, and couple of them has been supportive.
The rent is expensive compared to Christchurch. But almost all are included; electricity, local phone, food stock
(bread, pasta, pasta sauce, tea, coffee etc) ...and the most important thing: 24 hours wireless broadband/DSL internet
connection
My room is huge, about 5 by 6 metres, but it doesn't have any windows... arrghh... I need sunshine!
but the good thing is, it doesn't get too cold at night or during cold days.
I don't have anything much to fill my room. When I came in, there was only one single bed on the floor and a 'wardrobe'.
then recently one of my flatmates donate me a small 'coffee' table; which I use it for my notebook, another one lend me
a nice couch, another one let me use his spare bike; so I can go to work or anywhere else faster by bicycle. And my colleague
donate me her helmet. Cheers for those, mate!
august 23, 2005
hero
isn't a perfect man who always wins the wars and achieves glorious victories
but an ordinary man who encounters defeats but never gives up.
august 22, 2005
I've found a part time job again at Statistic New Zealand, from 6-10pm, 5 days a week. Starting this evening.
The salary is just enough to cover my rent, anything else have to fork out of my savings. It's good, since I only work
in the evening, so I will still be able to attend interviews without any hassle. If I don't find an IT job soon,
I need to find another parttime job on top of the existing one. The current 20 hours/week isn't enough, my wallet is
getting thinner and thinner everyday.
august 19, 2005
At last! I'm now a New Zealand Resident. My passport is on the way now, sent by courier/ postal services,
I should receive it in a few days.
august 05, 2005
It's been a week since i left christchurch. wellington is a bit unique, a harbour city with hills,
so the streets are ups and downs. it's a bit warmer than christchurch, but there's more wind, wind blows
almost all the time during the day.
There are a couple of job prospects, hopefully one turns out great. so i can start my life again.
i've been a vagabond since i left my last job in singapore in sept 2004. yeah, it's been quite a while,
it's time to get things steady, and move on.
You are never given a wish
without also being given the power to make it true.
--- Richard Bach (Illusions)
july 29, 2005
I'm moving up to wellington tomorrow, and start all over again.
find a place to stay, and trying to find an IT job.
i just bring my deuter 55liter backpack and my notebook with me.
Me and my wife have decided to go separate ways.
we are no longer husband and wife, but we still remain good friends.
july 03, 2005
It has been 2 months since i arrived in new zealand. i have not secured a permanent
job that suits my expertise. they say that new zealand is having a shortage of IT (information
techology) people. well, so far i haven't see where is the shortage.
i've sent many applications, but so far the result
is a big zero. i am good in my field, probably the problem is i'm not good in marketing or
selling myself. i've seen many morons working in IT field in Asia, only because they're sweet talker.
sad but true. hopefully doesn't happen in New Zealand.
So, I've been working as a parttime cleaner from 9pm-12midnight 5 days a week and
2-7am 7 days a week in order to survive. The pay is just enough for daily needs.
But that's better than nothing at least for the time being. The
weather recently has been quite cold, down to -5 degrees celcius at the coldest so far, and
2-7am time range is usually the coldest time in a day. Lucky me, I spend most of the time
working indoor.
april 29, 2005
Finally arrived at christchurch, new zealand. didn't sleep during the flight since
it was full of passengers and i carried so many things.
It is freezing here compared to singapore. it is now 11 degrees celcius, compared to singapore's
35degrees.
Tired, need some sleep after a long night...
april 23, 2005
the fear of suffering is worse than
the suffering itself.
--- Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist)
april 19, 2005
By the evening of april 28, 2005, i will be leaving singapore.
heading to christchurch - new zealand; where i've planned to start all over again,
and stay there.
At last! i've made it! to be able to migrate to new zealand, after almost three years
of attempts! those who aren't indonesian/asian won't be able to understand these. most of
westerners and also singaporean don't even need visa to go to new zealand. but for me, it is
much much more difficult!
Anyway... dearest brothers and sisters, friends and enemies
..please stay keep in touch, ok! my singapore's mobile phone number will be terminated by end of april,
but my email will remain the same. you can always look for my current contacts
here.
--- ARCHIVE ---
you guys don’t expect me to write my whole life on this page do you?
well it is impossible to write what I’ve been through all these years
on this small little page.. anyway..
here is the brief:
WARNING:
this page contains writings that could make you doze off
a.k.a. boring
The Past
I was born in semarang – central java – indonesia; I am the youngest in the family, I have two brothers.
After I graduated high school, I moved to jakarta to study further. Starting my second year, I found a part time job as a private teacher for junior high school and elementary students.
When I almost finished my studies, I started to work full time in the IT field.
I stayed working in jakarta for a few years, then moved to singapore to get a better job.
The Present
Here I am in singapore. I’ve been in singapore for almost 4 years. i got married in September 2002. (details at www.iwan-martini.com)
Usually on weekends I go out for photography outings, which is my main hobby now. Actually I have a lot of hobbies, but for now I just do my main hobby.
Last time I tried wall climbing, and diving also. You should try diving! It’s a wonderful experience… totally fun and cool experience!
Another thing; I do like nature too… but hmm.. well.. 
nothing much in singapore...
The Future
I’m not planning to stay in singapore for long term… and I’m not going back to indonesia either… that’s what I can say for now..
singapore, jan 2005
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