Learning Curves - An Endless Journey

Joko

2005-11-16T09:48:00.000+07:00

Makhluk dengan ALU (Aritmatics and Logic Unit) paling canggih yang pernah aku kenal!
Gak percaya? tengok aja tu NEM SMA, cuma jangan pingsan yach klo abis ngeliat.

Jagoan main Heroes, mulai dari Heroes 1 sampe heroes 4. Gak cuma pandai mengorganisasi makhluk2 di dalam game, makhluk beneran pun pandai juga dia. Tengok aja tu track record di HME-FTUB.

Kawan SMA, kawan kuliah, kawan belajar, kawan diskusi (yang gak mau ngalah), kawan bertengkar (podho2 atos), kawan tidur.

Kliatannya aja playboy eh rupanya dah punya tunangan di kampung (ups.. buka rahasia, gak dikenalin sih... )

Window lighting

2005-10-31T09:38:00.000+07:00

Just happen to catch the morning sunlight shine on my gundam.
Grab the camera and here it is...

Ririn

2005-10-26T09:01:00.000+07:00

Ririn yang sudah seperempat abad berbeda dari Ririn yang aku kenal dulu. Meski begitu Ririn di mataku masih Ririn enam tahun yang lalu.

Evolusi kehidupan telah memahat seorang Ririn. Aku tersedak, terkejut tak sempat menyapa engkau.

Enam tahun yang berlalu dengan cepat, tak sempat terekam dalam memori.Masih ada tersisa Irdas dan dusun Jeruk pada diriku.

Wish I had known you better Sis.What you are six years ago, I'd like to keep it there.Wish you would do the same for me.

Move... move..!!!

2005-10-25T09:05:00.000+07:00

I'm moving my blog, from blogspot here right now. It was not an easy job, since the louzy date-system friendster has and the no-wonder low speed connection. I have to change the month one by one. October way down to March. Why dont they just give a more user-friendly form?
It will take a long time.... :(

August 22, 2005

2005-10-17T09:09:00.000+07:00

August 22, 2005. It was the day I got married. The happiest moment in my life perhaps, at least until now. I was 26. Old enough to be an adult. Yet 26 years seem just passed away. Have I gone that far? Still feels like a 12 years old school boy.
Life is just as fast as 26 years. Just a drink of tea. Cannot be undone, cannot be redone. Many regrets, many stupid things. What a fool I am.
Almost two months has passed since. I miss my wife so much.

Modelling progress

2005-07-20T07:25:00.000+07:00

It's been quite a while.
I assemble 'The-O" first. It's not yet finished. I have to paint it first. To make things worse, I run out of sand paper, which means the painting job must be postponed. So I decided to assemble "Zeta Gundam". I'm not planning to paint the "Zeta". Just a couple painting job on the wing-binder. The assembling went smoothly and quickly. It take just 2 days (a couple of hours exectly) and the only part that's left it the wing-binder.

Zeta Gundam vs The O

2005-06-27T07:50:00.000+07:00

My next project: Kamille Bidan's 'MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam' versus Peptimus Scirocco's 'PMX-003 The O'

I bought these kits a week ago. 146k and 183k. Quite a discount.
The progress is going smoothly. Finaly my shading attemp was succesfull.

Bangkinang

2005-06-13T07:36:00.000+07:00

Just yesterday I went to Bangkinang. A regent city 60 km to the west of Pekanbaru. I accompanied a friend attending his relative's wedding. It was a 1,5 hours journey on motorcycle.

To be honest, there's nothing special about Bangkinang. But the view was marvelous. The rice field remind me of java. Unlike the swampy Rumbai.

I felt fresh. Certainly it was a welcome change.

Children

2005-06-06T08:51:00.000+07:00

Just yesterday, a friend of mine arrived with his family, his wife, and his two months old baby.
I can see the happiness of the family, despite the troublesome of having a baby. Preparing the milk, changin the diaper, etc.

Since I don't have my own children, I cannot fully understand the happiness of having children.
Is it that I don't have any 'fatherhood' inside me?

RSS Feed

2005-06-04T09:34:00.000+07:00

Wekekekeke..
At last... It worked! Channeling this blog to my friendster page....
Huahahahahah....

CF Sandisk 256MB

2005-06-02T14:05:00.000+07:00

Just bought this compact flash two days ago.
Necessary to upgrade the capacity.
Yes, it did cost me, but it's worth it.

Luckyly I'm running out of batteries right now. Still dont have time to buy those rechargeable one. Shame on me... :(
The hunt must be postponed...

Powershot A85

2005-05-28T14:21:00.000+07:00

I should write this two weeks ago.
Yup, My first own digital camera. Canon Powershot A85.
Time for a hunt!

24th

2005-05-19T10:19:00.000+07:00

Dua puluh empat tahun melangkah di bumi.
Menghirup segarnya dunia fana.
Mengarungi luasnya samudra ilmu.
Menyelami dalamnya palung hati.
Mencicipi pahit getirnya hidup manusia.

Pagi ini hujan turun basahi telapak kaki.
Bawa pergi sesak dan gundah hati.
Suci bumi dari debu.
Bersih dunia dari prasangka.

Tataplah sejenak keluar jendela.
Kau kan dapati hijau kehidupan.
Rasakan dinginnya embun dipucuk daun.
Lembutnya suara air yang mendera atap.
Matahari meredup, mengalah pada mega.
Angin sepoi membelai rumput dan ranting.

Pagi ini istimewa menyambut engkau sang Nurmala.
Dua puluh empat tahun yang lalu.

Rumbai 19052005 1019

Rembulan

2005-05-10T18:23:00.000+07:00

Saat rembulan tersenyum,
siapakah yang tak terkesima akan ia nan indah?

Saat rembulan menari,
siapakah yang mampu bangkit dari lamunan dan memalingkan wajah?

Saat rembulan bersinar,
siapakah yang masih butuh pelita tuk terangi langkah?

Lalu embun pagi menetes dari pucuk daun pinus nan hijau.
Siang menanjak, rindu pun menyeruak.
Lalu gemeretakan ranting-ranting bambu di ujung jariku.
Sunyi hutan ini, jiwaku mulai sesak.

Malam ini, kunanti ia, senyum, tari, dan sinar.

Rumbai 10052005

Problem w/ TWAIN... :(

2005-04-15T11:43:00.000+07:00

Yaiks.. I'm still unable to download the image from Canon A80 to my computer. Canaon make TWAIN driver for Win 98 and WIA driver for WinME and WinXP. Why don't they make WIA driver for Win98 instead? I don't have ZoomBrowser nor latest Photoshop to interact with the TWAIN. Yaiks...

Still trying with another software...

MSZ-10 ZZ Gundam

2005-04-14T09:41:00.000+07:00

Yup, you should write while you remember.Actually I want to write this since 2 weeks ago. Yet I don't have time nor I do not remember.I bought this Master Grade kit of MSZ-10 ZZ Gundam about two weeks ago and almost finished assembling it right now. It's far from finish, I still have to paint it.
It's a master grade, so it cost me no small money. It's 349,000 rupiahs. Lucky me there was a discount, I only paid 314,000 rupiahs. Actually it cost about 4000 yen in Japan (normally around 400,000 rupiahs here in Indonesia). Funny, there's also a 439,000 rupiahs price label on the box. So there was 3 (yes, three!) price label on the box.
Actualy there's an EX model of Space Carrier "Argama" on the store which I also adore. But It's a way too expensive. It's 549.000 rupiah to normally 3500 yen.
The ZZ Gundam itself is not the best master grade Bandai ever made. Actually some consider it a rip off, since the quality is not that good. Yet I found no problem with my kit with on exception. The backpack molding is awful, there a gap of a milimeter (this is truly unforgiven) on the lower side, near main thruster. The rest part is just OK, and I really like the transformation (and the size :D ). Considering the discount price, I didn't regret it at all. I can fix the backpack problem anyway..

It's been a long time..

2005-04-13T06:47:00.000+07:00

Yup, it's been a long time since I wrote this blog. I've been busy lately. We had a graduation day two week ago. I was on equipment/supply team. Yes, you can tell that I was wandering here and there, preparing this and that.
Yet we'll have another big agenda at the end of this month. We'll be holding Asian Physic Olympiad. Not all of the program will be held at our place, but still, it's going to be a busy day.

Just last monday I began my first lecture. It's not that impresive. Because of few administration thing, only a few student attended the lecture. So I only made a deal with my student about the rules of the game.

.........Gundam..........

2005-03-24T07:53:00.000+07:00

I've been busy lately, so I can't update my blog.

I've seen a gundam store when I walk around two days ago. there plenty of Master Grade series collection there. Ups, it's gonna cost me my saving :( :D. There is one more store to check.

Haven't decide which one to buy. Probably a Master Grade.
I hope I'll find MG Freedom, MG Wing ver.ka, or MG Zeta plus C1.
Nyam..........

I'm Dizzy.....

2005-03-21T12:55:00.000+07:00

We're covered by smoke here in Pekanbaru.
My head is aching, so I can't write any better than this.
Hope tommorow will be better...

Candik Ala

2005-03-18T16:23:00.000+07:00

I've read a book entitled 'Arjuna Wiwaha' recently. It was written by Sunardi DM. First published by Balai Pustaka in the year of 1986. The book tells us about the battle of Arjuna, the third of the Pandawa Brothers, versus Niwatakawaca, King of Imantaka.

Niwatakawaca, a giant himself, wanted to marry Dewi Supraba, a very beautiful goddess. If Batara Endra refuse his will, he threatened to destroy Kaendran (Batara Endra's palace) with full scale military assault. Batara Endra knew that even the god could not withstand the power of Niwatakawaca's army. Niwatakawaca was once blessed by Batara Guru himself when he was young.

Batara Endra then seek for a chosen warrior, that was said can defeat the giant king. His choice fell to Arjuna, his own adopted son, who lived as a hermit named Begawan Mintaraga at that time. Batara Endra sent seven goddess, including Supraba , to disturb Arjuna's meditation. This was done to prove Arjuna's worthiness as the chosen.

***

So much for the story. When I read the book, I stumbled upon a word 'Candik Ala'. Suddenly, I felt so nostalgic. This word 'candik ala' has brought me seventeen years back in time. When I was a child, I often take a vacation to my Grandpa's village. I was happily playing around outside when my grandpa told me to go home. "It's already candik ala", he said. At the time I never understand why. Yet my grandpa pronounced 'candik ala' as 'sendekala'. Maybe it's the right pronunciation, I don't know.

It is said that 'candik ala' is the time when the sun almost set. It is also said that everything at 'candik ala' will look beautiful. Don't choose a lover in 'candik ala' cause everyone would looks beautiful.

I do admit that (almost) everything looks beautiful at ‘candik ala’. The sunrays cast a golden-yellowish color. Human skin would looks beautifully gold. I’ve seen a beautiful picture of a girl. Agus, a friend of mine, took the picture at Panderman. It was taken in the morning actually, but it still has the same effect.

Photographers like ‘candik ala’ (and of course its morning counterpart)when they go hunting outdoor nature or landscape photography. The sky and the clouds form an amazingly beautiful color of red, orange, yellow and blue.

Maybe this is why my grandpa forbade me to go outside at ‘candik ala’. Maybe because it was ‘deadly’ beautiful so that anyone could drawn in adoring its beauty.

***

Sure that ‘candik ala’ is beautiful. To me, it’s a way more than beautiful. Nostalgically beautiful. Imagine yourself as a kid playing, running, through the banks of Serayu river at ‘candik ala’.. ..

Rumbai, 18 March 2005 1625

My First DSLR Shot!

2005-03-17T11:24:00.000+07:00

Just a couple of munutes ago, I have my first DSLR shot. It was Canon EOS 300D/Digital Rebel. It's an entry level DSLR, the cheapest you can find in the market. The word 'cheapest' is making it sounds like nothing. Right, but it was still a no-cheap camera! It's a DSLR man!
I can fell the speed there. To bad I cannot play with it a while longer.
The camera itself belong to the company, Caltex. So I feel ackward to borrow it longer. I don't even have time to try any advance feature.

We have a photo session today, for the staff of Politeknik Caltex Riau. Mrs. Rinta, Caltex Pacific Indonesia employee, had us photographed. So she brought the camera. After the photo session. Rahmat, a friend of mine, and I had a chance to try some shot.
Yummy....

Sugar Cane Juice

2005-03-16T16:20:00.000+07:00

Once again, I wander around Pekanbaru today. Nothing special here. It's just that I happen to drop by to have sugar cane juice near UIN.
It's sweet, fresh and delicious. Directly served from sugar cane, with ice of course. A real treat to your throat.
Never have something like this in Java. I wonder why didn't they sell something as delicious as this there.

The Awful Odor

2005-03-15T07:40:00.000+07:00

About a week ago I stumbled across SMAN 5 Pekanbaru during my assignment of promoting Politeknik Caltex Riau to 3rd year students. When I got out of the car, my immediate response was, "What is this smell? So awful!." A friend of mine explained that the smell came from rubber. There a rubber processing factory near SMAN 5.

A few things came out of my mind, "How can they study in this kind of environment? How can they concentrate? Why can't we just sue the factory for polluting the air?"
After a few moment I realize that the students and the teacher there didn't even bothered with the odor. Apparently, we get used to the odor after a while and didn't smell th odor anymore.
That's exactly our smell sensor works. After a while their sensitivity to a specific odor is decreasing. In a few minutes, we are no longer smell the same odor. This is why we almost cannot smell our own scent. We get used to it! We also can't smell our perfume (after few minutes) while other people can.

Here is a quote from familyfun.go.com:
Our sense of smell begins when we inhale, bringing chemical particles into your nasal cavity. Here, millions of smell sensors are packed into a patch smaller than a postage stamp. These chemicals have to be dissolved to be sensed, so our nose produces sticky mucus. When these dissolved chemicals come into contact with smell receptors, nerve impulses are sent to the brain.
When we first inhale the scents of the forest--pine needles, musty leaves, split wood--we smell everything at first. But after a while, strong scents begin to fade. That's because smell sensors get used to the scents and stop sending new signals to your brain. This helps us become aware of newer smells, like the odor of a skunk.

Parallel to this phenomenon, our sensitivity towards many event in our country (or our environment) is decreasing through time. We easily forget an event after another event. We easily forget the fuel price increase after The Ambalat affair. Just like perfume covering our body scent.

***

Back to SMAN 5. Afetr a while getting used to the smell, my sensors begun to be insensitive. Yet, about ten minutes later, to my slight disbelieve, I smell those awful odor again! What happened then? Apparently the wind has changed its direction. When the wind changed direction (again) towards SMAN 5, I smell the odor once again.

The Americans built the 911 Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. This memorial would keep people remembering the tragedy of September 11 and the Vietnam War. We Indonesian also have many memorial from the colonial era, independence war, and the revolution era. These memorials would make the wind blow in the right direction. So people would forever smell the odor.

The problem is that many government want people to remember only their bright side. The dark side should be forgotten. There is no memorial for the super invlation or the increase of the fuel price for example. Maybe it’s the nature of humanity. We all want to remember the good things and forget the bad.

Rumbai 15 March 2005 0744

Bismillah....

2005-03-14T07:29:00.000+07:00

My blog begin with this so called 'unbeautiful' morning.
The air is polluted with dense smoke here in Pekanbaru.
What a day to begin with.

I never thought why would people make their blog? I never truly understand until this morning, until i have my own motive.
It's just keeps you your thought unwasted by writing and sharing it.
It's a place to learn to write too (this is my ulterior motive, hehehehehe)

Thanks to Ukyo and mas Haris for the inspiration.