All that's missing is you

I never thought I'd say this but I am not looking forward to the next two weeks, which I will spend in Bali. Yes, I will be able to finally breathe the salty, ocean air again. I will be able to walk along Kuta, Legian, you name it. I will stay in a seemingly-lavish hotel in Jimbaran, with the beach just a few steps away. Not to mention the seaside seafood, and I don't have to pay a thing for all those.

This is my first time ever to travel alone for two weeks, and not for leisure. If you don't hear from me by the end of this month, worry.

Twenty-third time's the charm?

This year's birthday season has passed. Overall, it was not the best because unlike previous years, Genk did not meet at all during the four days. One of us even went MIA for quite a few days, sparking questions and assumptions among the other three left here in Jakarta.

However, it was a different birthday for me. That week ended with my graduation day. Since I declared on Nov. 4 that my brithday would last six days this year, the graduation day on Saturday was included in the festive season.

The long-awaited graduation ceremony was nice. I hadn't thought I would be that excited gathering with my friends for the last time. Too bad, my entourage (Bangun, Runi, and Dinda) came after the whole thing ended. But we still took pictures, anyway. I even took one with Dinda and the coolest lecturer in the world, Pak Robby.

That night, I celebrated my birthday plus graduation with the whole crew; my family including my Dad who came all the way from Padang, Mbak Vicky, Bang Manda, little Agam who ensures me even more that he will grow into the most good-looking man on Earth, Bangun, Runi, and Rozelle. Yes, of course without the aforementioned MIA-girl's presence as she, back in Jakarta by this time, had to rest in bed due to illness. Tsk. We had dinner at Ritz Carlton, complete with birthday cakes (two of them, three if you count the one Bangun gave me earlier) and even a birthday clown singing for me with the restaurant crew.

Presents were nice nice nice, dinner was entertaining; therefore, it was quite a special day for me this year. Here's to a rockin' 23rd year!

My hillbilly moment

As a...top secret agent to a superpower country, it is my job to monitor and be aware of several media; be it local, national, or international. Of course, that includes the media from various provinces. One thing I have to say is that, it is VERY CRUCIAL for every country to have at least one credible journalism school in every city. Because oh my Holy God, the way those local journalists write their articles is highly incomprehensible. Okay, so I'm not Barbara Walters to throw mean criticisms at them. But that's the point; even regular people can see how frustrating local journalism in this country is.

Anyway, there's one online media that my office has to monitor and it's the worst of all. Please feel free to click the link on the bottom to judge it for yourself. In the meantime, here's some pure entertainment taken from the web site, as a kind-of-regularly-updated section. After a while, you'll get used to their language and jargons.

Kangkung Paling Besar

Anak 3 anak kecil, dong crita soal sayur kangkung di dong pu kampung masing-masing.
Anak 1 : “ Di sa pu kampung tuh, kangkung besar-besar skali, kalop masak beberapa batang saja, pasti makan sampe kenyang,”
Anak 2 :” Ah, itu kurang, di sa pu kampung, sayur kangkung tuh tikus bisa masuk di dalam,” Anak 1 dan 3 heran skali. Giliran anak ke 3, dia tra mau kalah.
Anak 3 : “Kalo di sa pu kampung, tikus tra bisa masuk dalam kangkung,”
Anak 1 dan 2 :” Ah, itu tra hebat, pasti kangkungnya kecil-kecil too,”
Anak 3:” Sabar dulu, kam tau kenapa tikus tra bisa masuk?” Dong dua diam.
Trus anak ke 3 lanjut:” Itu karena di sa pu kampung tuh, dalam kangkung ada kucing,”

taken from http://www.cenderawasihpos.com/