Turning Tables

Bogor. My Corner. Nov 23rd 2014. 08:59 pm.

Hi you.

Perhaps, this is the last time I write about you. Well, it's not about pathetic love-life drama thing that might be you've found on my previous post. It's just something that I've inspired by my friend @RahnePutri here about The Plan.  

Yesterday, I had discussion about resolution with some of my friends. Someone mentioned about financial planning: what's exactly you really want? what you really need? what's your objective? those kind of things in future. Well, I have to admit, after I've been through all of these and tried so many things in order to run away from your shadow. I was thinking: why don't I get back to myself and reshape the plan for myself? Instead of over-thinking about you.

Because, honestly, after accidentally I read your post on your blog about "the settle down" things and your dream husband, plus you said you've already found him on that man. And I realized for sure, the man who you talked about is not me. It was like a bomb exploded in my chest. Heavy slap laid on my face. My effort and faith is just like a one hand clapping. Damn.. 

But well, if you didn't see a future in me, maybe someone will do. Because of what? because of these…

#1. I just started a small financial planning. Now, I am 26 years old. Associate Account Director in a multinational company. Have own salary. Single. Have no girlfriend, not even a wife, no kids, and live without any encumbrances. I can easily count my assets and manage my own saving. Even-though I NOT a super genius boy who understand forex or stock exchange. But I will contact a financial consultant in the very near future in order to help & manage my assets. So, Financial Consultant is my 1st priority next year.

#2. I will start to put an investment on Life Insurance & Education Assurance. Meaning, if I fall down sick (or even dead), I will have a bunch of money to cover it. And of course, if finally I have kids and thinking about their school, my wife would not worry about that, because all of it - is secured. Nice huh? :p

#3. It's not about the revenge, but my wife will be happy, slim and sexy instead of going to be fat, because of point #1 and #2 above. I can do a cooking. Dude, trust me, I'm good on it. I'll give her hot-sweet-jasmine tea in the morning when she wake up. I will try my best to make her happy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.

#4. Where do we live? I don't fucking know, maybe in a simple-minimalist apartment in the city like Jakarta, Singapore, Dublin, Tokyo or NY. Or even in a Truck / Caravan like Meredith and Derek in Gery's Anatomy series. Or maybe in a small wooden cabin at the foot of Mount Rinjani, Lombok. Well whatever it is, we will call it a "home" not a house. But in fact, I will buy a property in Sentul City, Bogor, as my dream since I was in elementary school. Seriously.

#5. Next year, there is NO fancy trip-plan to Europe, US, or Aussie - cost by my own pocket unless it's a business trip or relocation. I have to re-think about point #1, #2 and #4. But still, I will do diving and explore the beauty of Indonesia, and spread to the world that we are strong and beautiful country. Just proud being Indonesian.

#6. I will keep my body healthy. I don't want to lose this flat six-pack abs because of beer or alcohol. I don't want to kill my lungs because of weeds. I just have control it. I will keep running, take a half-marathon next year, try Bikram Yoga, join Muay Thai class, eat Paleo food, and of course playing basketball with the bros.

#7. As a moslem. I'll try to keep duha & tahajud as my routine. And try to be a better Imam for myself - at least.

Well, there are still many things in my mind beside seven points above. But all I want to tell you is… good luck, I hope that man is truly better than me. He can love you more than I do. He can protect you and be your faithful partner in sickness and health, in good times and bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. He can support you in your goals, honor and respect you, to laugh and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as you both shall live.

Good bye, love. I will let myself go. 

--

M!

"...I can't keep up with your turning tables

Under your thumb, I can't breathe

So I won't let you close enough to hurt me

No, I won't ask you, you to just desert me

I can't give you what you think you gave me

It's time to say goodbye to turning tables, to turning tables

Under haunted skies I see

Where love is lost, your ghost is found

I've braved a hundred storms to leave you

As hard as you try, no, I will never be knocked down..."

Courtesy of GleeWarrrd: http://www.youtube.com/user/GleeWarrrd

Maratua Paradise

Posthouseindo, Kemang. Nov 13th 2013. 10:13pm

It was probably one of the most fantastic journey that I ever had so far. Came from the impulsive buying, Maratua Trip made my perception about the beauty of Indonesia are getting stronger. I promise to myself, I'll put Indonesia's flag emblem on my backpack, talk about Indonesia as much as I can when I'm going abroad and never say bad things about Indonesia to other even-though you are not agree with your country. And one more thing: I will say "It is Bahasa Indonesia NOT just Bahasa" when I talk about our national language.

Well, I started the journey from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at the dawn on October 2013. I flew to Tarakan using Lion Air from Cengkareng and continued the journey with speed boat from Tarakan Harbour to Maratua Island, Nort-East Borneo (Kalimantan). In short, it took almost 8 hours trip from my room in Jakarta to my room in Maratua Paradise Resort.

All the frustrated feeling instantly gone when I finally arrived at Maratua's dock at that afternoon. It simply a heaven on earth with the mixture of deep blue sea, long-wide shore with the white sands sweep away, tropical wind blowing, and half naked - innocent kids happily playing on the beach before Adzan, absolutely make a harmonic reaction inside us. It feels like.... unbelievable.

Here is a glance of Maratua Paradise:

Oh ya, below I quote my friend's note about our trip. And it is really a good copy.

"They say you have to see to believe it...

so I come, I see, and I swim within it, and not dive through it. And it left me nothing but an awe!!

to simply define it as beautiful, would be considered as an understatement!! Yes, a degrading phrase!!

this is only a glimpse made by Maulana Nurhadi toward our short experience in this island. Though we didn't came at the finest time, and didn't lavishly enjoying our stay at Maratua Island, we were truly grateful to have this chances.

beyond everything, please consider this as an open invitation to enjoy our great homeland, before the Malaysian acclaim it. 

yes, I meant it, don't let this treasure gone, like Sipadan Island did."

Enjoy.

--
M!

The Kryptonite

My Office. XM Gravity Account Room. 13 Nov 2013. 01:17 am.

Tonight I wanna talk about super-hero. Well, even though I am not kinda a guy who really love comics and action figures, I still follow their stories, read the storyline, and watch their movies and series as well. 

Let me start with my favourite: Spiderman. He can spins a web in any size, catch thieves just like flies and he's got radioactive blood. Peter Parker - as his alter ego - works in Daily Bugle as photographer. Since in the high school, Peter Parker has known as a smart-genius boy. Until finally, The Osborn family found him and amazed with his intelligence. Beside all of his strengths, Spidey has the weakness in his girlfriend-fiancee Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May and his college girlfriend Gwen Stacy. He could give up and sacrifice his life for his beloved person. In addition, Spidey is kind of emotional person and has terrible identity problem.

Jump into a story about an American billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer, named Tony Stark a.k.a The Iron Man. He has a company called Stark Industry which created many military weapons. Also has a smart-beautiful girlfriend who finally overtake the company as Starks' confidant, Pepper Potts. But who would have thought if Tony Stark has weakness in alcohol and damaged heart. He can't even drink a liquor in a bar. :p

There are so many weaknesses in Superhero. Daredevil hates noise pollution. Storm is claustrophobic. Green Lantern is definitely can't hold a yellow object. Magneto of X-Men is afraid on Titanium, and so on.. Even the famous Superman has Kryptonite as his weakness.

You will definitely agree if I said that Superman is a total badass. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound – who WOULDN’T want to be Superman, right? Now, although the Man of Steel is pretty much indestructible, there’s one thing that can take him down quickly: Kryptonite. Suck.

I bet you’ve tried to get in shape in the past, you’ve probably even had some success and watched the number on your scale get smaller and smaller. However, there’s that one thing (or two) that eventually always knocked you off your path and sent you in downward spiral back to complacency and unhealthiness. This failure is your Kryptonite. When you think you strong enough to do many things without crying, doubt and defeat. Once in of your life, you'll definitely beaten and knocked by the kryptonite. 

If I can be honest with you, there was an energy that really pulled me down to the weakest point of myself, is you. You made my world twisted. You perfectly made my brain frozen. And you were slowly changed the motivation to become ambition. You are my kryptonite.

- The Kryptonite -

I still remember when I haven't seen you for a long then finally met you on that day, it was like standing at the edge of the cliff without parachutes.

--

M!

Be Grateful. It is just a matter of time.

Ngopi Doeloe, Bandung. 08 November 2013. 11.45 pm.

C.S Lewis said: "Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement" and Robert F. Kennedy said: "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly". If I translate it to Indonesian quote, it will be "Kekalahan adalah kemenangan yg tertunda".

So what is happening to me at the moment? Yup, I am sick and tired with the failures. Failed in career and failed in personal life. Let me make clarify this, failed means I can't finally get it. I lost. Don't get me wrong. It's more into something that you can't achieve yet.

Recently, I've been doing some interviews process with some global-multinational company for certain position. As you already knew, I really want to go abroad, have a fantastic career as Indonesian expatriate in SG, KL, Tokyo, or even to the ultimate New York City at the final chapter of my career. 

A year ago, I have successfully passed 7X interview process for Ads Operations in Google Singapore, but at the end after the final interview with the boss, she said NO. I failed. Couple months ago, I have successfully passed all the interview sessions for Account Manager at XM Asia in KL Office, Malaysia. But then, there was a 'hire freeze' due to bilateral issue between two countries (and I assume it is also because of their unstable P&L balance). So I failed.

It was sucks! Really really sucks.

But I tried to figure it out: why? what exactly happened to me? Why you were not allowed me to get it, oh My Dear Lord?

Slowly, I found the issues. 1st thing is "Maybe you are not ready enough for this capacity and responsibility". The 2nd thing is "Your environment are still need you. Your family. Your colleagues. Your client." and the 3rd - as the biggest obstacle - is "You are not grateful about all the things that you have so far."

Please forgive me, Lord. I didn't meant it. 

Okay, if I take a look to the other side, I just got promoted as Associate Account Director couple a months ago in XM Gravity. I have super & powerful team-mates. I have exciting projects and campaigns. And I have challenging clients as well. So be grateful, dude!

So after all, I took a deep breath. Think. Reshape the strategy. I need more to be patient. Keep the faith.  Keep fighting and believing. In Bahasa Indonesia: ikhtiar, ikhlas and pasrah. Cos the best is yet to come and it is just a matter of time.

Bismillah. :)

Note: 

At the moment when I write this blog, I'm in the middle of interview process for a position at Google Asia Pacific in Singapore, as her replacement in OPG - Indonesia. Because she will flying high to the biggest video platform, called YouTube. if I finally got it, the game is still ON.

--

M!

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.

The Untold Story

Kotak, 12:37 am

I made this clip 2 years ago.. Yep, it's kinda lame and a bit cheesy, but 100% true story.. Here we go, The Untold Story :

I really hope you still remember all the moment in that clip. Because, by the time I write this post, I still remember exactly how I felt in that moment.

Miss you,

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M!

Couchsurfing In Bangkok

Starbucks Coffee, Cibubur Square KM10, 10:45 PM.

The first time I heard about couch surfing is about 1.5 years ago. At the beginning, I thought it just another community movement & lifestyle which is try to be a Pop. Haha.. :D But I was wrong, because by the time I write this post, I just applied to be a host for any surfers and trying to get a couch for my next trip to Japan. Maybe I will start with this little funny story about my first couch surfing experience here...

Trip ini disponsori oleh sebuah voucher pesawat bangkrut yg masih bisa diredeem, jadi biaya perjalanan saya ini boleh dibilang gratis, gratis buat pesawatnya. Yang perlu disiapkan cuma hostel & uang jajan aja pada saat itu. Akhirnya dapet tiket CGK-BKK dan KUL-CGK, confirmed!

Sampai di Svarmabhumi Airport, Bangkok, saya langsung cari sim card supaya tetap update di Path, Instagram & Twitter (padahal mah supaya bisa balesin email client), *ngok*. Kalian bisa cari kios2 kecil di sekitar Airport luar untuk beli sim card dgn data internet service, kurang lebih sekitar 500 THB untuk paket data 30 hari. Setelah iPhone udah connected, saya langsung turun ke basement untuk naik SRT menuju kota Bangkok.

SRT dari airport ke Bangkok lumayan bagus, ada wifi & colokan listriknya jade saya bisa safe bat ere tampa power bank, #penting. Ada sekitar 4 station dari airport menuju Phaya Thai Station untuk ganti train ke BTS link, penjelasan train system & map ada disini.

SRT from Airport to Phaya Thai Station

Phaya Thai Station

Saya janjian ketemuan dgn host couch utk Bangkok trip ini di sekitar daerah Siam. Tapi karena dia masih bekerja hari ini, saya memilih utk jalan2 dan cari makan siang disekitaran situ. Kebetulan saya ingat ada restaurant vegetarian yg lumayan enak di daerah Siam itu, namanya Koko Restaurant. Terkahir ke Bangkok liburan, saya sempat makan disini bersama You Know Who, order Veggie Tom Yum Soup semangkok berdua, dan Thai Mango Salad sepiring berdua, #azeg.

Koko Veggie Restaurant. Sweet!

Sore menjelang magrib, akhirnya saya bertemu dengan host couch saya di Bangkok, namanya Alderina, anak Indonesia juga sih, dia kerja di Digital Agency di Bangkok menghandle Ford Global untuk content Indonesia. Anak ini emang asik dan gak nanggung kalo tinggal, dia pilih apartement utk tempat tinggal di Bangkok, lengkap dengan furniture seperti kasur, lemari & dapur. Fasilitasnya juga gak kalah asik, ada gym & swimming pool-nya. Kurang lengkap apa lagi coba buat sekedar "Couch".. Oooh I'm so fucking lucky bastard!

My "Couch"

It's such a nice place, isn't it?

Malam hari, saya diajak sang tuan rumah utk cari makan. Karena lokasi dari apartemen dan tempat makan yg saya ingin tuju lumayan jauh-jauh-deket, akhirnya kita coba baik Tuk-Tuk. Nah keputusan naik Tuk-Tuk ini pun ada alasannya, pertama karena saya belum pernah naik, dan kedua karena kita bisa patungan utk bayarnya jadi lebih murah (Konon harga sewa Tuk-Tuk dan Taxi di Bangkok itu relative sama, malah ada Tuk-Tuk yg nge-charge harga lebih mahal dari Taxi).

Dan berikut beberapa snapshot kita gila2an naik Tuk-Tuk, mirip di film Hangover part 2 tapi tanpa minuman & drugs :

1st time on Tuk-tuk

Sampe di lokasi makan malam, kami pesan beberapa makanan khas Thailand, off course Tom Yum & Thai Mango Salad gak lupa dipesen. Sejujurnya, makan di kawasan Hawkers gini seru bgt, alasannya: pertama lebih murah, kedua makanananya lebih enak, ketiga lebih berasa keren aja backpackeran-nya. Hahaha.. Oiya, karena ini kawasan Hawkers pinggir jalan, jadi sebenarnya banyak makanan / cemilan yg unik2 buat dicoba, dari mulai goreng2an, rebus2an, sampe babi2an.. *wink*. Setelah kenyang kita akhirnya balik ke "Couch" utk istirahat. Besok paginya saya berecana untuk jalan2 liat Giant Buddha di Wat Pho. 

Pagi saya pisah dengan si host di gerbang apartement, dia jalan ke kantor saya pergi ke post office buat kirim post card ke You Know Who. Setelah itu saya lanjut jalan untuk cari sarapan, cosidering budget utk trip yg masih panjang, saya memilih utk cari makan pinggiran aja. Ketemu Fried Chicken gede bgt yg (more likely ayamnya disuntik gendut) enak banget & murah. Kurang lebih harganya 36 THB aja, udah dapet 2 paha bawah & 1 nasi ketan. Nih gambarnya :

Only for 36 THB! Tasty!

Nah yg seru dari backpacker trip itu adalah ketika kalian bisa tinggal gendong tas lari-larian ngejar BUS! Jadi hal ini terjadi pagi-pagi ketiga sesaat saya habis makan si fried chicken itu. Karena shelter bus di Thailand mirip2 di Indo yg gak jelas petunjuknya, jadi saya mencoba beradaptasi dgn berdiri siap siaga menunggu bus yg datang. Dengan bekal petunjuk dari guide setempat, saya harus naik bus 48 utk menuju Wat Pho, akhrinya saya pun kalem menunggu. Begitu si bus datang ternyata si bus cuma berhenti 3-5 detik hingga akhirnya dia jalan lagi, itu lah kenapa dibutuhkan fisik yg prima utk lari ngejar bus sambil gendong backpack.

Public Bus

Bus Ticket

Sesampainya di daerah Wat Pho, saya lansung turun dan berbaur dgn para turis2 keren lainnya. Kenapa saya bilang keren? Karena turis itu golongannya ada 2 menurut saya: pertama Turis Keren, dengan ciri sebagai berikut, single ato pun berpasangan, pake sun glass, kalo cowok badanya sedikit maskulin kekar (six pack lah) pake t-shirt ato kemeja casual, kalo cewek pake tank-top dan kulitnya sedikit tan, lembab berkeringat, sexy mah udah pasti lah, kelakuannya cool, kalem, dan effective bertindak. Tipe Kedua adalah Turis Kebanyakan, cirinya adalah pake tour, jalan bareng si tour guide yg bawa2 bendera segitiga, berkelompok, ribut, yg di-foto objek2 gak penting & blur hasilnya, terus yg paling obivous adalah mereka semua kebanyakan agak gendut dan memakai celana pendek sampe perut, plus kaos kaki kebetis. :D

Dan berikut beberapa snapshot di Wat Pho, enjoy!

Ticket to Wat Pho, 100 THB and free mineral water.

You cannot use your shoes to get into the temple

Giant Buddha

The Buddha's feet

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M!

Train Trip Thailand - Malaysia (part 2)

On the airplane to Jakarta, 08.10 pm, 28th of Jan 2013.

Like I said before in the previous post, that you can NOT underestimate the booking ticket process for your Train Trip. Yeah.. it happened to me, I lost my sleeper cabin for my trip from Butterworth to Kuala Lumpur, just because I didn't book a ticket long day before. So what happened on that day? I tell you here..

Jadi setelah 2 hari 1 malem menjelajah Georgetown, saya kembali ke Butterworth utk naik Train menuju KL. Pada awal saya booking ticket di http://www.ktmb.com.my/, saya memang kehabisan jatah kursi untuk Sleeper Cabin, jadi ya terpaksa beli kursi yg duduk (Seat Cabin). Karena tadi, gw anggap gampang lah beli tiket Train sih, pasti dapet, lagian sapa jg yg mau naek kereta jaman skarang dari Butterworth ke KL. Dan ternyata saya salah, FULL BOOKED for Sleeper Cabin! Di websitenya sih kursi kabin itu lumayan terlihat nyaman yah, bisa pilih window ato aisle seat, bisa pilih single atau double seat. Dibanding website tiket utk Thailand, website Malay ini lebih bagus, ada online booking, pick a seat, and payment gateway. Cuma emang gatel sih liat lay out-nya, jelek bgt, jadi pengen revamp itu website. :\

Oiya FYI, for booking ticket, you can book the ticket 60 days before departure yah. So be prepared!

Sesampainya di pelabuhan ferry Butterworth, saya langsung jalan ke train station-nya, tp ternyata kecepetan dateng, si train blom nampak di platform, jadi saya nunggu sebentar di kantin statsiun sambil nonton piala FA, waktu itu ada Leeds United VS Tottenham (Leeds menang 2-1). Dibanding Hua Lamphong di Thai dan Sentral di KL, Butterworth Station ini cukup sederhana, kayak stasiun transit pada umumnya lah, cuma ada 2 platform yg tersedia. Pada saat itu statsiun ini lagi di renovasi, ada pekerjaan berat disana-sini. Semoga saat kalian coba dateng kesana, stasiunnya udah jadi. :)

Kembali ke perjalanan, menjelang jam 11 malem si train muncul, begitu disuruh masuk saya langsung cari gerbong & kursi dgn mencocokan ke ticket yg udah diprint. Sekilas saya melewati gerbong Sleepers Cabin, yg tampak nyaman sekali kalo malem ini saya tidur disitu. Ah damn, telat beli sih! Terus jalan, akhirnya sampe ke gerbong yg ternyata TETOOOOTTT… Aduh kursinya old school abis man! Dibandingin sama Kereta Executive Parahyangan ke Bandung kayaknya lebih bagus Parahyangan deh, yg padahal gw beli kelas yg sama.

Train ticket (KTM) Butterworth - KL

Seat Cabin, sucks! :(

Awalnya saya msh optimis ini akan nyaman, karena pas saya buka sepatu, saya injek karpetnya lumayan tebel & bersih. Kursinya jg bisa dipake lean back lumayan kebelakang. Nah setelah brangkat barulah penderitaan dimulai… 

Saya tipe orang yg ga terlalu suka dingin yaa, jadi kalo disuruh pilih pantai atau gunung, saya lebih suka pantai. Nah di dalem Train itu awalnya suhu dingin emang udah berasa, tapi masih bisa ditolerir lah mungkin sekitar 22-24 celcius, dan lagi gerbong belum penuh penumpang. Karena biasanya penumpang akan bermunculan di statsiun2 setelahnya. Begitu berjalan kok ini suhu nambah lama nambah dingin yak? Dan ditambah malam hari pula, jadi dinginnya double. Saya pikir, mampus nih apalagi nanti subuh kayaknya bakal lebih dingin lagi. Mana badan capek abis jalan2 tadi siang di Georgetown, pengen bgt tidur nyenyak sebenernya. Plus, kalo lagi traveling gini, saya anti pake celena panjang, jadi saat itu saya pake celana pendek (dan gak bawa celana panjang dlm backpack).

Mencoba tidur beberapa menit setelah depart, saya kebangun oleh ma'cik yg membagikan sebotol air mineral & kue potong (banana cake yg lumayan legit & enak). Dia lewat, saya coba tidur lagi. Tapi ternyata suhu makin dingin, saya keluarin syal & sweater cardigan buat mengelawan dingin. Lumayan membantu pada saat itu. Tapi gak tau kenapa seakan kayaknya si masinis jutek ama saya dan tau bahwa saya gak kuat dingin, kok suhu malah jadi tambah dingin yak. Dengkul udah dingin, daun kuping juga dingin, batang hidung jg ikutan dingin, dan badan udah agak merinding. GAK BISA TIDOOOR GUE!

Compliment from KTM: Mineral Water & Banana Cake

Untungnya saya bawa sarung buat solat dan extra kaos kaki. Akhirnya anak tropis ini sedikit tertolong setelah pake sarung, berkaos-kaki, pake sweater & syal, PLUS EARPLUG! (Earplug yg msh ada pd saat saya beli pas nonton F1 di Singapore beberapa bulan sebelumnya). Saya berharap bgt kalopun cuma Seat Cabin, kita akan dipinjamkan selimut seperti pd umumnya kalo naik executive train. Tapi ternyata gak! gak ada selimut ama sekali.

Mencoba tidur selama perjalanan dari tengah malem sampe pagi hari, akhirnya saya sampe di KL jam 6.30 (which is 5.30 WIB). Saya langsung beres2 dan keluar. Sebegitu keluar train dan nginjek lantai platform gw bilang "Alhamdulillah anget". Itu suhu di Sentral Station KL hangat bgt, dan gw lihat ke botol air mineral yg gw pegang, yg ternyata ber-embun, even worse embun-nya lebay sampe netesin air. So berarti di dalem gerbong tadi dinginnya astagfirullah kan..

Karena badan capek semaleman cuma tidur ayam, dan musti nunggu pesawat ke Jakarta malem harinya. Saya berpikir utk cari hostel aja yg deket buat tidur dulu, gak jadi jalan2 di KL lah, males juga. Akhirnya saya ke PODs hostel yg lokasinya dibelakang KL Sentral, lumayan murah semalem cuma 25 RM utk 1 kasur di mixed-dorm. Tidur.

Menjelang sore, saya langsung check-out, si receptionist yg kayak fans BLINK 182, bilang kalo lo bukan orang pertama yg check-out sore2 gini, padahal baru check-in pagi harinya. Banyak orang kayak gitu di hostel ini, cuma transit utk tidur or take a nap for a while.

PODs Hostel in KL Sentral

Langsung jalan balik ke KL Sentral, saya langsung beli tiket KLIA Transit menuju LCCT. Buat yg gak tau, LCCT itu adalah budget terminal utk budget airways spt AirAsia, Mandala & Tiger Airways. Ada hal yg perlu diketahui, di KL Sentral itu ada 4 jenis Train, Train to Airport (KLIA Transit & Express), Commuter Line, MRT, dan …. Itu semua bermuara ato singgah di KL Sentral ini, jadi ini adalah multi-connecting station lah. Oiya, perlu dikatahui juga, ada 2 jenis train ke Airport: KLIA Transit and KLIA Express, bedanya kalo yg KLIA Transit itu dia bakal transit di setiap statsiun hingga pada akhirnya berhenti di KLIA. Kalian harus naik train ini utk bisa ke LCCT, nanti dia bakal transit di statsiun Salak Tinggi, turun disana dan kemudian naik shuttle bus ke LCCT. Sementara yg kedua adalah KLIA Express, nah yg ini ekspres bgt gak pake berhenti disetiap statsiun langsung ke KLIA. Yang ini buat kalian yg rada tajir bisa naik general airways or even executive airways. :)

Malaysia Railways Map

KL Sentral Station (platform)

KLIA Transit Train

So that's my entire story about Train Trip from Bangkok, Thailand to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Let's finish it with this amazing video… Check this one out!

Gotcha! :)))

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M!