The XMG Lab Trip

Office, Oct 24th 2013, 12:52 am.

It just one week after my trip to Tulamben. And It was pretty nice trip as our weekend gateway.

We booked a speed boat from Marina Ancol to Pulau Harapan, Kepulauan Seribu. Stayed only one night in that island. Tried to play Warewolf at night. We did snorkelling and made some funny games on the beach at daytime.

Overall, we enjoyed our time together. 

#BestTeamInTheWorld. ever. 

--

M!

My New Life Has Just Begun

Office, Oct 23rd 2013, 12:14 am.

You know what, there are so many things that I really want to do recently after 'that' happened. It's not because of I have more time nor money to spend. Being honest, it's because of I really want to take a remedy for myself. No matter how expensive it is, I'll do it as long as it can accelerate my recovery.

Last August, I went to Bali to take my first Diving License in Tulamben. It was really cool, seriously.

So, here's the video of my 1st diving trip :

And yup, it's kinda addictive and more expensive than a flight ticket Jakarta-Singapore. :)

Enjoy!

--

M

"The Hardest Part"

Jakarta, Sept 23rd 2013. 02:29 am.



Fuck. Can't sleep. I miss you, Scar.

But let me tell you something here, something about you..

"The Hardest Part"

And the hardest part

Was letting go, not taking part

Was the hardest part

And the strangest thing
Was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start

I could feel it go down
Bittersweet, I could taste in my mouth
Silver lining the cloud
Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out

And the hardest part
Was letting go, not taking part
You really broke my heart

And I tried to sing
But I couldn’t think of anything
And that was the hardest part

I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
You're a silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
Oh and I
I wonder what it’s all about
I wonder what it’s all about

Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do, it's just comes undone
And everything is torn apart

Oh and it’s the hardest part
That’s the hardest part
Yeah that’s the hardest part
That’s the hardest part

---

It's really hard to tell you about what I felt. I just can't tell. But with this song, perhaps you can understand. 

And I'm still wondering oh what it's all about.

Good nite, Scar. :)

--

Welcome to Japan ~ April 2013

Kotak, Jakarta. April 14th 2013. 11.57 pm.

I arrived in Jakarta last Monday, and my lip & skin still on transition period. I feel very tired but yet excited about this. I guess I have so many things to do with this trip, for example photo album, my post about Mai, James and Trāng for this blog, and of course the most important thing is the video clip.

I'd like to say this video is a recap for my 9-days journey in Japan. It's awesome as usual, but honestly I don't really satisfy with video, because there are so many pictures and clips that I have to take-out just because of the adjustment with the music back-sound.

But anyway, you can still enjoy this video :

If you think it's not good enough, maybe you have to wait couple days ahead, because I will write something interesting about Japan. Just wait for it..

--
M!

They Just Want To Say Something

Yahata Guesthouse, Kyoto, Japan. April 3rd, 2013. 02.27 AM.

Today I visited Arashiyama on the afternoon, a bit cold and wet out there. But I have to tell you, Japan in the season of cherry blossom is freaking awesome. Maybe someday you will visit Japan, don't forget to go to Kyoto and Osaka.

How was New York? It must be amazing, isn't it? I really envy with you about that, but like I said to you.. I will take my dream back from you. Just be prepared. :)

Oh ya, I made this video clip for you with these local people.. They said, they want to say something to you.. Hope you like it.

Once again.. Happy birthday!

--

M!

Butterworth and Georgetown

On airplane, on my way back home from Singapore. February 10th, 08.21 PM.

Actually, this is another part of my Train Trip story. I decided to visit Penang at that time, because on my Train Trip journey, Butterworth is one of the transit city before I reached Kuala Lumpur. It was end of January 2013 and we were welcoming Chinese New Year in Penang. Honestly, I never have plan to visit Penang before, but I was thinking why not if I try to stay in Georgetown while I would passed Butterworth on my trip to KL. Yeah, it's worth to try.

I arrived at Butterworth station in the morning from Bangkok. I can see there was only two cabin left on my train, I guessed the other cabin has just stayed in Hat Yai, the previous station before I reached Malaysia territory. After I walked through platform and finally exit the station building, I saw the old locomotive carved as station decoration, it's look pretty nice but lil bit rusty. After I took some pictures in that station, I continue the journey looking for a harbour to get Ferry that will take me to Georgetown. If you guys know, Georgetown is city on island part, and Butterworth is city on mainland part. These two city lied on the same province, Penang.

locomotive on the past

It just cost 2 RM for the return trip to Georgetown-Butterworth with Ferry. But I'm not sure how much you will spend if you bring your own car (or any vehicle) to cross this strait from BTW to GT. I saw some cars and motorbikes in our Ferry at that time, they used Ferry as the main transportation which is connect them to each others. On Ferry, I can walk, sit or just stand over the fence while I want to see the environment around. I saw a big tanker ship and a giant silo oil not far from harbour. 

Oil Silo 

Inside the ferry

Ocean Tiger Ship

Sampai di Georgetown dgn cuaca yg lumayan panas, saya segera mencari lokasi Hostel yg telah saya booked. Hostel tersebut terletak di Muntri Street, bernama Ryokan Chick Hostel, bersebelahan dengan sebuah Chinese Temple. Setelah diterima oleh receptionist dan menyelesaikan urusan administrasi, saya langsung dibawa ke kamar tempat saya menginap, and guess what.. I got 1 bed in mixed dorm with 3 girls as the roommates. Itu artinya saya akan menginap dengan 3 orang wanita dalam sebuah kamar yg sama. What a lucky guy! Sayangnya, kami hanya punya 1 malam bersama, karena Steph (Germany) akan lanjut ke Phuket keesokan harinya, sementara dua anak Aussie - Thalia & Taylor, bakal lanjut ke Langkawi sebelum balik ke Melbourne. 

Karena bingung mau jalan kemana malam itu, akhirnya saya memutuskan utk join Thalia & Taylor ke festival (pre) Chinese New Year, kata mereka Steph sudah menunggu disana dgn kawan2 backpackers yg lain. Menang jika dilihat 40% penduduk Georgetown adalah Chinese, 30% India dan 30% lagi Melayu, jadi perayaan tahun baru cina cukup ramai disana. Sesampainya di lokasi (lebih tepatnya jalan yg di-blokade) kami melihat banyak stand makanan & minuman yg beraneka ragam, belum lagi ditambah beberapa stand atraksi seperti barongsai, boneka kertas, enggrang sampai ular phyton yg dijadikan photo booth. Tepat dipojokan jalan, ada penjual Pau yg keliatan menarik bgt untuk dicoba. Saya pesan Pau ayam, sementara Thalia & Taylor pesan Ba Pau (pau babi), harganya relatif murah, cuma 2 RM untuk 1 Pau jenis apa aja. Sesaat mecoba Pau di Georgetown itu, saya langsung ber-asumsi bahwa original Pau itu rasanya harus seperti ini, tekstur roti kukusnya lembut, daging atau kacang sebagai isinya banyak dan tepat berada ditengah2 roti, ukurannya pun lumayan gede sekitar 2 kepalan tangan orang dewasa.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Pre-Chinese New Year in Georgwtown

Karena kita ga berhasil menemukan Steph di lokasi CNY, kita akhirnya jalan balik untuk mencari makan malam. Mereka berdua merekomendasikan sebuah kedai India di dekat hostel tempat kita tinggal. Jika diperhatikan hampir semua rumah makan India di Georgetown dimiliki oleh kaum India muslim, yg tentunya makanan yg disajikan adalah makanan Halal. Si pemilik kedai juga sangat ramah, dia ternyata cukup kenal baik dgn dua anak Aussie itu (Mungkin karena emang 2 anak itu cukup extrovert, bahkan terlalu extrovert) hahaha. Kami pun diberikan extra Chicken Tika dan roti masala karena "kedekatan" itu yg sedikit absurd itu. Oiya, jika dibandingkan dgn kedai makanan india yg lain, kedai ini adalah yg terbaik (terbaik disisi harga, kuantitas dan rasa). Soalnya kalo di tempat lain, makanannya lumayan mahal dan porsi yg sedikit, rasanya juga so so lah.. 

Masala Chicken Tika

Setelah kenyang makan, rencananya kita mau langsung pulang. Tapi entah kenapa Taylor punya "Guts" untuk berjalan mendekati foodcourt di dekat hostel, di foodcourt itu ada semacam perayaan kecil orang Chinese, kayak semacam gigs di panggung kecil lah, kalo di Indo mungkin dangdutan kampung kali yee.. Soalnya dandanan si artis (penyanyi panggung) agak sedikit menor dan rumbai2 gitu.. :p

Sesaat kita mask ke Foodcourt itu, tiba2 Taylor berteriak "Holy Crap! You guys must be kidding me?!" sambil menunjuk kearah sebuah meja di tengah2 foodcourt. Ternyata setelah saya mendekat, mereka adalah Stephanie dan 2 orang lain yg akhirnya saya kenal sebagai Rob and Martha. Kebetulan saat itu juga sedang ada pertandingan Arsenal - Norwich, yg ternyata Rob dari UK dan dia fans The Gunners. Sedikit highlight tentang obrolan singkat tapi berkesan saat itu: Taylor cerita bahwa kita mencari kalian (Steph & Rob) di tempat festival tapi gak ketemu, dan accidentally ketemunya disini *dia tetap excited & surprised*. Sementara Rob yg suka pamer joke, lebih sering melempar joke dgn logat british-nya ke kita semua. Dan Thalia si anak kemarin, dgn serunya dengerin kita ngobrol dan sesekali meng-interupsi joke-nya Rob. Steph lebih sering bercerita tentang plan backpacking-nya ke negara2 South East Asia, karena setelah Penang, dia akan lanjut ke Phuket, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, dan akhrinya kembali ke Germany. Naah, yg lucu adalah orang terakhir bernama Martha, dia adalah orang Belanda yg surprisingly udah berusia 70 tahun! Dia sudah janda dan hebatnya masih sering berpergian sendiri.. Yak sendiri, traveling around the world or at least Asia by herself! Mungkin dia pernah berjanji (took a vow with her husband yg juga traveler) selagi dia masih diberikan kesempatan hidup, dia akan tetap berjalan (traveling) kemanapun kaki beranjak. How sweet ya.. :)

Look at the girl on the right: She is Taylor, super ultra extrovert girl from Melbourne.

Left - Right: Me (Indonesia, 25), Stephanie (Germany, 29),
Martha (Holland, 70), Rob (UK, 32), Thalia (Aussie, 21).

Malam itu special, sangat special hingga tulisan ini ditulis & dipost saya pun masih ingat jelas logat British-nya Rob (dan juga T-shirt kamuflase tim rugby Australia yg dia pake), kacamata setengah bulan-nya Martha, rambut brunette-nya Steph yg diikat, dan ketawa lepasnya 2 anak extra extrovet Taylor & Thalia yg ternyata baru berumur 21 tahun itu. Oh gosh, I really miss that moment… and I really miss you too.. #eh :)

360' View at Esplanade Georgetwon

At that trip, I didn't forget to send a postcard to you..

--
M!

There is Always The Man Behind The Show

Sinou Cafe, February 14th, 23:21 PM.

You maybe often see someone who can do a sweet things for the person who they loved, like bring a bouquet of flowers to her office as a surprise, say 'I love you' 'take care' 'miss you' every night before her sleep, or maybe something like performing a crazy act in the public space to convince how much you love her. For me, indeed that is good. But, those kind of things will not be able to compete with something what I did for her. Here is the story…

Since I was in high school, moreover in college, I'm kinda person who always got involved in a "show", from the conceptual part until the execution part. Yeah, I like doing this, because simply I felt blessed and grateful if I can be able to make someone (or people) happy, satisfy, and enjoy my "show". One thing for sure, I am not the person who standing in the front of the stage, but I aways stay behind the curtain.

Suatu hari, beberapa hari lalu menjelang Valentine (H-7 kalo gak salah), saya dipanggil meeting oleh client utk merencakan sebuah campaign Hari Valentine. Pada saat itu, client yg saya handle adalah perusahaan Telco, yg mungkin kalian tau bahwa Pop Culture seperti Valentine merupakan sebuah objek empuk untuk di-activate menjadi bahan jualan mereka. 

Brief yg saya terima saat itu adalah, "kita pengen ada sesuatu yg touchy dong di Valentine besok, apa kek gitu? Yg bisa dikaitkan dgn *Bebas", demikian penuturan si client. Terus dia melanjutkan, "yaa mungkin kita bisa bikin video reality show gitu, dgn embel2 cinta-cintaan". Dari brief singkat itu, kita pun berdiskusi & brainstorming ditempat. Akhirnya datanglah kesepakatan: "WE WILL CREATE A VIDEO CLIP WITH RUDY SOEDJARWO AS THE DIRECTOR!" :D

KABOOOM!

Ini bukan main2 guys, mungkin dulu kalian pernah tergila2 dengan kisah Rangga & Cinta diawal taun 2000-an, dengan cast Dian Sastrowardoyo & Nicholas Saputra, dia lah sang sutradara film 'Ada Apa Dengan Cinta', the one and only mas Rudy Soedjarwo. 

Ada apa dengan Cinta? The Movie (2002) by Rudi Soedjarwo

Sesaat kami sepakat dgn ide ini, di tempat yg sama, kita langsung mencari producer yg sekiranya bisa membantu project kami. Kebetulan sang client punya hubungan dekat dgn salah satu produser ternama di Jakarta, dikontak lah dia utk join our meeting. Setelah si produser datang, dan terlibat diskusi singkat ini-itu, dia pun sepakat utk jump into our project, hanya dengan satu syarat: "ini project possible dilakukan walau cuma H-7, TAPI kalian harus kirim Storyline paling lambat malam ini" (padahal waktu udah menunukan jam 8 waktu itu).

Setelah sang producer undur diri, dan pembahasan budget & activation selesai, sang client pun langsung bilang: "Maul, tolong bikinin storyline-nya yah, harus dikirim malem ini, supaya masih bisa on schedule". Saya lihat jam, udah gak mungkin kasih kerjaan ke copywriter di cantor yg paling juga udah pulang. So I made that freaking storyline by myself. Dengan sedikit titipan brief dari sponsor, berikut lah Storyline yg saya buat dan kirim pada malam itu ke Mas Rudi dan sang produser :

If you find the 1st paragraph of the storyline above, you'll find us.

Look at the both cast's initial name, that was us.

Kawan, perlu kalian tau.. Storyline yg saya buat diatas keluar dgn sendirinya dari otak, gak ada yg intervensi dari pihak lain kecuali titipan brief client utk memasukan pesan product ke dalam cerita. Selebihnya, based on my logic and definitely my story.

Setelah malam itu, proses produksi pun dimulai hingga akhirnya video clip ini selesai. Berikut hasilnya jika kalian penasaran pengen lihat :

Maaf kalo kalian merasa ini terlalu cheesy, karena treatment video ini harus disesuaikan dgn target market brand kami. Dan oh iya, diakhir video ada sedikit tweak foot note utk membuat cerita jadi sedikit beda.

Malem ini ceritanya kita udah berhasil melakukan activation project ini, kami undang beberapa random audience ke Cafe ini untuk sama2 nonton video clip-nya, dinner bareng pasangannya, dan kami juga buat sedikit reality show untuk mereka spontan ditempat. Lucunya ada surprise yg keluar, seorang cowok tiba2 muncul di big screen dan melakukan ritual propose ke pacaranya, and she said yes. We just made it. A successful project, at least buat mereka dan orang2 disini tadi.

We made it! At least someone happy. :)

Dan saya, cukup tersenyum bangga, setidaknya saya bisa melakukan hal baik utk orang lain malam ini. :)

Yang menarik dari hal ini (setidaknya bagi saya, dan semoga ini jg menarik buat kalian) adalah "cerita ini akan dibuat menjadi sebuah video clip comercial, utk campaign hari valentine, dengan sedikit bantuan mas Rudi Soedjarwo"

There's always the man behind the show, and this campaign was made based on true story. Our story. For you.

--

M!


*) Bebas merupakan sebuah Product kartu selular dari sebuah perusahaan telecomunikasi.