The last two months

Haven't been blogging for a while, so here's a quick-n-dirty synopsis of the last two months: I am no longer in Jakarta. Things were getting hazier around the beginning of September, and at the hint of a fade-out (which was made quite obvious one afternoon by SH), I decided to look out. Thankfully, recently the PTT contract had been signed, and my old-time buddy RS was looking for people to work in that project. So, took the plunge. It was not really a great feeling to leave Jakarta, but anyway... Packed my stuff on the weekend of 8th September, my 'Iron Maiden' E was kind enough to visit my apartment 10 o' clock at night, just the day before I was supposed to leave, and pressed tons of clothes for two long hours. Thank you, E; I won't forget this favor. MB was in town, he was a co-joinee in the new project as well, so we took him to visit Top Gun. By the way, since I were to leave Jakarta, I had been visiting TG more and more frequently those days. Also went to Jaya Pub for a few hours, they were celebrating their birthday that weekend. CANDLES & CAKE AT JAYA PUB, AND GANJIL, ROCKIN' THEIR WAY THRU THE NIGHT. IT'S THE SAME BAND THAT PLAYS AT OSCAR (jl. falatehan) ON FRIDAYS. We were supposed to leave for Makassar (or newly known as Ujung Pandang, situated in the Sulawesi island) on the evening of September 10th, so I transferred my baggage and all into SC's room, and just took one week's stuff with me. It was nice to visit a new place, a new island in this archipelago. Work-wise, it was an interesting start, full of workshops with the customer, but life-wise was a bit boring, since everything had closed down for Ramadan. And it would remain so for the following one month. It would be worthwhile to mention here that while we were in Makassar, there was yet another strong quake, rooted in Sumatra, but felt quite heavily in Jakarta. This was more intense than the previous one. ST, my colleague, who used to stay in the same hotel in Jakarta, had become so paranoid of higher floors, that he slept in a sofa (absolutely crunched up I believe) at the hotel restaurant for the next few days. We finished the workshops and returned to Jakarta after a week, spent the weekend in SC's apartment, watched the dusk setting down from his balcony (left), did the usual night-outs and set off for Bandung on the night of September 16th. The cab driver was a great Hindi-movie freak and continuously played Bollywood songs of the nineties. Have been in Bandung for a month now, and have started to like the town. Weather-wise its cooler than Jakarta, and hospitality-wise warm. No traffic jams, but sometimes it's a pain to get hold of a taxi. The bars had closed down for Ramadan, but have started to open now. The street just across the hotel is full of them, so probably I wouldn't have to hitch-hike to Jakarta on Fridays. It was Lebaran last weekend, and the newspapers say that a million people have traveled in to Bandung to spend their holidays. It's kids galore all over. And are they cute!! I wish I knew more people in Bandung, and hopefully I will, eventually.

7.5 on Richter Scale

Honestly speaking, I am a bit more excited and overwhelmed than most of my friends and colleagues, after undergoing the experience of "feeling" an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale, thereby being classified as "Major". It struck around midnight, i.e. exactly this time yesterday, and I was sitting in the same manner, at the same place, looking at some website of least importance. All of a sudden the room started moving, not vigorously, however with considerable speed to make me realize after 3 or 4 seconds that it was an earthquake. Then it slowed down, but the movement continued, this time in a swaying fashion. And I could hear creaking noises from near the wall. Picked up the receiver and called up SC, and we both agreed to leave the apartment immediately. Probably this is called panic: I was not sure what all to take with me. So i just picked up my cell phone and the door key, wore my shoes and left my room, which is on the 20th floor of this building. There was some commotion outside, and I could see few people (probably belonging to the Middle East) who were not sure whether to take the elevator or where to go down from. Elevators were definitely to be avoided, so we took the stairs. There were people all over, and I was suddenly scared of a stampede. (Later I realized that lot many people are required for a stampede to happen). Anyway, strangely, there was no indication of the level number from the fifth floor onwards. I tried to make an exit from the staircase and saw that its level 1 above the ground, so one more floor to go. There were a bunch of people, with a dark man and his girl with a towel wrapped around her body. Finally, we reached the ground floor, and left the apartment. Found some of my friends there - SC, SKT, others. (Pic: Outside the building, at around 1215 hrs. Normally at this hour, no one is seen here, but yesterday was an exception.) All of us were pretty much overwhelmed. The next one hour was not of much consequence, except everyone narrating what he or she was doing when the earthquake happened. Now that we all were out, we were not sure when to go back, or whether to go back at all. There were loads of questions in my mind: What's the source of this earthquake? What's the magnitude? How are things elsewhere? Is there an aftershock coming? If yes, when? When would it be safe enough to go inside? The hotel authorities informed that they are in touch with the Meteorological department, and its still not safe to go inside. So we decided to play some pool, and walked down to Pasar Festival, only to find the pool bar closing down. Bought some bottles of water, and came back. Incidentally, no one there were aware that there had been an earthquake. That's the difference how things are felt at the ground floor (where the pool bar was) or at a height of above 15 floors (where I and my friends were). It was around 0130 hrs and the crowd had thinned down. The hotel authorities informed that the Met Dept had confirmed that there won't be any further tremors or quakes, atleast this night, hence it's safe to go back. Hence we came up, and I entered my room to find it exactly as I had left it, just with the clock which is placed on the top of my TV, displaced by around 4 inches to the left. I was inquisitive to find where the creaking noises came from, so checked up the walls and ceilings, but couldn't see anything. Even though I went to sleep at around 0200, subconsciously I kept thinking about another one coming. Later I heard that others have felt the same. (Pic: Crack in the wall, half covered by a torn wallpaper. Taken on the 18th floor of my office building, rumor has it that the crack was caused by yesterday's quake. However, no one knows for sure.) The following things to remember if it strikes again: - To carry my wallet with me. Otherwise I would be left with no money. - To carry my cell phone. - If time permits, to carry my passport. - Have an 'earthquake-buddy', who will be the first mutual point-of-contact if there's an earthquake. (So that both are aware, and not missing anything out. A 5 second call should be enough.)

Three weeks back

Captured these photos the night before leaving for India for a two-week vacation. It was a Saturday, and I was supposed to be stand-by at office for the night, which (quite fortunately!) was cut short by a few hours, so I was able to sign off at 01:00 AM. Dumped by stuff at the hotel, and headed to Top Gun for a few drinks. GO GET IT, C! IT'S THE LAST SHOT. THE INDONESIAN NEW-AGE ELVIS

Recent ventures

Have been frequenting two places lately: BuGils and Top Gun. I got introduced to BuGils via KK. It's situated at Taman Ria, Senayan, and is owned by a group of (mostly) Dutch men. Even though it's location, behind T.G.I Friday's, makes it obscured from the main road, the place seems to be quite popular with European and American expats. THE POOL TABLE AT BUGILS, AND ONE OF THE PRETTY BARMAIDS BEHIND THE BAR, SERVING HEINEKEN. The music is better than other places I have been to; sometimes they have live band playing Rolling Stones and stuff (though I am yet to visit on a live-band-night), and if, just in case, you don't like the music, or want to have a conversation with your friend or loved one, you have the option to sit outside in the open area with the pub on one side and a lake on the other. The food is good, alcohol is moderately priced and the bar-maids are cute. Top Gun, like its neighbors, is more of a pick-up joint, probably the most popular one in Jakarta. Located in the middle of Jalan Pelatehan, its always crowded and noisy. There are two pool tables, and have seen some really good pool players at this place. The girls are not really good looking (they charge accordingly), alcohol is moderately priced, and if you get bored, you can quickly hop down to My Bar, One Tree or Oscar, bars situated in the same lane. THE JIVING FRIDAY-NITE BAND AT TOP GUN.

SE K800i

A gift to myself, for no obvious reasons: SONY ERICSSON, K800i Camera resolution: 3.2 Megapixels Some cool features: auto-focus, 16x digital zoom (but gets choppy at that level), xenon flash, allows one to take pics in black&white mode, sepia tone.... and I can send the pics directly to my blog, provided I have a GPRS connection. Just an ordinary pic, will post more as and when I capture them. Pizza Hut at Plaza Semanggi just before closing time. The pizza arrived before I expected it to, and the vanilla milk-shake was fabulous.

Thanksgiving

MZ left last Tuesday. Normally we give farewell gifts to the one who leaves, but here it turned out to be otherwise. Before leaving, she handed over the following to me, which I truly cherish: Remainings from a Jack Daniel's and a Johnnie Walker Red Label Whisky. Kispray liquid required to iron clothes. A packet of ready to cook mushroom soup. A bunch of sachets containing tea, creamer, sugar, and don't know what. Few pages of a Bahasa Indonesia tutorial. Books: "Not a penny more, Not a penny less" by Jeffrey Archer "The Necklace and Other Short Stories" by Guy de Maupassant "Five Great Short Stories" by my favorite Anton Chekhov "The Overcoat and Other Short Stories" by Nikolai Gogol "The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories" by Mark Twain and the environment friendly Body Shop bag that contained it all with the following written at the back: "This bag won't be around forever... Unlike other plastic bags, which can take upto 500 years to degrade, this bag will have broken down within a year. And without harming the environment. Containing 30% Cassava starch, this bag consumes less petroleum too. But please reuse as much as like before it's gone...." Thank You MZ, and cheers. :-) _____________________________________ Good News: Got a broadband LAN connection in the hotel for all the office employees, so I'll be happily getting rid of my wireless Netzap soon (claims to be broadband, but gives 40Kbps on average). _____________________________________ To the short lady with spects who was being so patient in teaching my two left feet to dance salsa: Terima Kasih, Ibu. I'm sorry I couldn't go last week due to prior engagements, but would surely visit this week. _____________________________________ Knocked down the pins at SpinCity Bowling Alley, EX - Plaza Indonesia last night. It was a night-out for the project team members, and we (PL, SC, KT, me) got a box of chocolates for being the noisiest team. :-) Thanks, JS, for organizing this. Hit X-lounge in Plaza Semanggi after midnight together with KK, PL, SC, and it was good to catch up with GT who's been here for two weeks. It was ladies night, and the place was filled with near-high-school chics (and their boyfriends), the beer was OK, and SC & GT's table-top dance was overwhelming. _____________________________________

Amazing Grace

Had been to the church yesterday (thanks, MZ, for letting me go with you). Being born in a middle-class Bengali Hindu family, there's no reason why I would suddenly visit a church for the Saturday Mass, but anyway, I went. I went because I like the vastness of the hall, I went because I like to close my eyes and listen to the choir singing gospels, I went because I find peace in there, I went because it makes me remember my schooldays. And at night, looking up at the sky, I remembered... "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me.... I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see."

Ctrl-A Ctrl-C Ctrl-V ... and a few tweaks to change the flavor

Here's an article from the "Opinion" page in today's Jakarta Post (May 7, 2007): And then once again in the front page of the "Business" section of the same edition: Some facts: The same article, word by word, appears twice in the same edition of the daily post. The title has been tweaked a little: In the "Opinion" page it is: "Does Asia need a euro? It's a laughing matter". Whereas in the "Business" page it is: "Asia needs a euro? It's still a laughing matter, for now". Certain words have been changed, for eg. "ASEAN" in one has been transformed to "Asean" in the other. Name of the author, William Pesek, is unchanged. (Would have been more dangerous otherwise.) However, one mentions "Bloomberg News" to be the source, whereas the other just says "Bloomberg". I could not find either of these in the online version of the newspaper. Neither of the titles are perfect copies of the original Bloomberg, which says "Asia Needs a Euro? It's Still a Laughing Matter".

Graffiti

Spotted near Plaza Indonesia... BLINK, WHOEVER YOU ARE, I AGREE WITH YOU MATE.

The Road

This part of the road, adjacent to our office building in Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto, normally remains uncongested, except extreme conditions, like flooding. The reason being a traffic signal a mile behind. From the top, the road at times resembles a video game I had tried to play long time back, with 5 lanes and speedy cars. And there's a person (whose control is in the hands of the player) who has to cross that busy road. It was one of those games quite frequently played to kill time. Playing such games can be therapeutic, and let this thought remain confined there, because, to me, it's quite an unpleasant idea to try this out in real life. [Photo Courtesy: SC's Sony Ericsson W850i]

Spidey-3

Spiderman has grown up, as is evident from the theme of the latest in the series (#3). As many others (mighty Superman, or Anakin - the Skywalker [Star Wars Episode]), our friendly neighborhood Spidey is also on the brim of giving in to the temptations of evil. Nothing new, it's been there since Adam and Eve, but the fun is to see how they come back from falling off the cliff and get ready for the next sequel. Planning to watch it tonight, let's see. ________________________________________ PLANET HOLLYWOOD LOBBY: EXPECTANT VIEWERS BEFORE THE SHOW. Planet Hollywood was packed, but managed to get two tickets for myself and S. The show started at 21:40, and apart from Spiderman giving in to the evil forces and subsequently coming out of it (which was rather too quick), the "3 of 3", to me, appeared nothing more than an extension of "1 of 3" and "2 of 3". Maybe I had been expecting something more unobvious. Moreover, the movie is unreasonably stretched to around 140 minutes, and both me and S were on the verge of dozing off near the end. Overall, good to watch it once, atleast for the heck of killing the urge. S SHOOTS 'EM BAD GUYS DOWN BEFORE GETTING IN THE THEATER. [Merely an attempt to document the night-outs in MZ's absence.]