M a n g a r a n a p

Please close the door behind you...

2009-07-09T00:02:00.008+12:00

Woke up this morning and browsed local (OZ's) online news sites to find stories on yesterday's Presidential Election. There's nothing, zip, nada. No news is good news I guess, as these people normally put Indonesia in the news when there's plane crashed or .It's the time to be proud being Indonesian. We've passed the test again this time. I

Indonesian Election 2009: The rise of pseudo-intellectuals...

2009-04-12T20:58:00.013+12:00

So the first round of election is over. Indonesia is now mature enough to have another reasonably peaceful election. This is also the first time, after Suharto's regime, that we manage to keep the elected government in power for full five year term. Now that's one thing to be proud of!Major political event like this unfortunately attracts the so called political flies analysts and wannabes. If

21 Months of Good Life (Part 3 - Bye Welly and Hello Perth)

2009-04-11T06:10:00.004+12:00

This post has been long overdue...We finally left Wellington in October 2008. We'll never forget Wellington as we were bringing a piece of it with us: Joanna.Imelda was 3 month pregnant when we moved to NZ and despite what the local news said about the appalling state of public health system in NZ, we still found that it worked wonders for us. We were blessed having these people who helped us

21 Months of Good Life (Part 2: Four Seasons in One Day)

2008-10-05T17:19:00.007+13:00

We are leaving Wellington this month. This is the second installment of the high points during our 21 month tenure here...Wellington weather is not exactly the high point of living here, but hey, you will only treasure happiness through suffering. I had never really bothered about weather forecast when I was still in Indonesia or Singapore. That changed when we got here, life was pretty much

21 Months of Good Life (Part 1: First Impression)

2008-10-03T23:12:00.008+13:00

We are leaving Wellington this month. This is the first installment of the high points during our 21 month tenure here...I still remember the date, 10 January 2007, when we landed in Wellington Airport from Changi Airport, Singapore. It was raining and windy when we arrived. Excited, as we realized it would be a different ball game altogether.I liked this place right off the bat. I'd never been

Walk On...

2008-09-14T17:12:00.004+12:00

It's been long overdue...Liverpool 2 - Manc U 1Have a great Sunday

Lame Excuse

2008-09-13T23:12:00.005+12:00

Have you ever heard or read people who declared this:Science rules, God doesn't exist, it's not logical! (while quoting Charles Darwin and his evolution theory)I'll give these people two names: Isaac Newton and Blaise PascalNewton and Pascal have contributed more to the world of logical thinking, they have explained how life works (think of Newton's laws of motion and how it explains huge range

When music was still good (II)...

2008-08-23T00:31:00.010+12:00

One of Sting's gem. This one is the live version, which I think is better than the recording version. Beware, you're about to see real musicians here! Too bad he didn't have it in his set list when I saw him live in Singapore in 2005...

How rich are you?

2008-08-17T21:22:00.005+12:00

Found this interesting site: Global Rich List.Out of curiosity, I put my first salary in 1998, and amazingly I'm still in the top 15% of the world rich list, and I thought I was underpaid BACK THEN!!!You should try this. It's a good therapy when you're stuck in rat race.When I met a friend who was living in Australia, I asked him whether he enjoyed living there compared with living in Indonesia.

Get Ready to be Snapped (your wallet that is!)

2008-07-24T22:19:00.008+12:00

Finally, NZ version of contact less smart card: Snapper. Commuters who ride on Go Wellington bus will only need to tap the card on the reader when they board the bus, and tap again when they alight. Snapper is owned by Infratil which also owns Go Wellington bus (self explanatory?).Using Snapper will cost commuters 25% less than using cash, which is a good thing. Current 10-trip card only gives

I QUIT!

2008-06-20T01:11:00.006+12:00

Nope, just kidding. I'm still happy with what I'm doing now, but boy how fun it was when you said that two words to your boss after you felt you're going nowhere with your current job. It's even more excited if you happen to be 'quite important' in your department and your boss will try his best to prevent you from moving on. Based on my experience there are 3 phases which you will go through:

When music was still good...

2008-05-29T23:43:00.005+12:00

In a musical mood today and found this while you-tube-walking (is there such word?). Fantastic acoustic version of 'Crush' by Dave Matthews and the underrated Tim Reynolds. Sit back and enjoy!

Save the Earth or...

2008-04-30T22:59:00.005+12:00

What's on 22 April? In case you're not aware, it's the Earth Day. The day when every body becomes expert on environment, recycling, global warming, etc. The day when we pledge ourselves to save the earth or NOT... Do we really care about the earth? Don't you think we care more about ourselves? We try to save the earth so that WE, the shameless humans, can EXPLOIT the earth for a few more years.

Philosophical question of the day

2008-04-15T20:43:00.006+12:00

You're standing at pedestrian crossingThe pedestrian light has turned redYou look to the left:No car, no truck, no motorcycle, no bicycleYou look to the right:No car, no truck, no motorcycle, no bicycleZipShould youStand there and waitorWalk across and move on with you lifeLife's hard...

Mate, don't play play lah...

2008-04-11T23:22:00.020+12:00

From NZ Herald New Zealand police plan to recruit staff from Singapore to overcome a shortage in the force and help Labour to fulfill its election deal with NZ First to appoint 1000 new officers.What??? I thought 1st of April was already a few weeks behind?Singapore might have the reputation as one of the safest country (city?) in the world, but it's not because of the police officers. It's

The Rules

2008-03-23T21:40:00.008+13:00

On a trip to Feilding, about 2.5 hours away from Welly, I came across an interesting second hand shop around Manchester Square. The shop was open, no one's inside, and I saw these rules written on the shop's wall.It says:Rules:- If you like it buy it- You decide the price- No items are priced- Shop is unattended- Security cameras are watching you- Please do not steal- Please pay, be nice- Thnx I

RIP. Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008)

2008-01-12T04:16:00.002+13:00

I know who Sir Edmund Hillary is, he's one of the guys who reached the Mt Everest summit for the first time. I didn't realize he's a kiwi until I read the news that he'd passed away. Shame on me! He apparently is considered as true great NZ hero, he really is. He's no ordinary mountaineer, and the Nepalese probably won't remember that he conquered their highest mountain for the first time. They

Ghost town (Wellington Christmas)

2008-01-01T11:07:00.005+13:00

This year's Christmas was our first in Wellington.The build up to Christmas day was really similar everywhere I guess.. Shops offering Christmas discount and extending shopping hours (it's extended to 8 o'clock only :-) and some opened until midnight on selected day). It's not as bad as Christmas sale in Singapore though, where you need to squeeze through barricade of mad shoppers in orchard

Visit Indonesia 2008 (read: dumb and dumber)

2007-12-26T02:01:00.004+13:00

We're really good at being in the news for wrong reason.It's not surprising that the Visit Indonesia 2008 (VIY 2008) program is not properly planned and executed, but this is just appalling! It's one thing that the campaign slogan apparently had grammatical error, but the response was just laughable."Our colleagues tried their best not to be reckless in creating the slogan, I'm sure," said

Merry Christmas

2007-12-26T00:50:00.000+13:00

It's time to visit Indonesia!

2007-12-05T21:34:00.000+13:00

Just found out that next year is Visit Indonesia Year when I watched the local TV here yesterday. Despite the nasty things you hear about Indonesia, it's still a place to go and have a good time. Enjoy your holiday!P.S This link might be handy.

That's probably why I can't be a boss...

2007-11-26T21:32:00.000+13:00

Story 1: It's lunch time.. walk to pantry, heat my packed lunch (thanks hun!) up in microwave, and enjoy my lunch while reading free newspaper which is provided by the company (my client's company) in the kitchen.. One of the high point of my working day! I couldn't do it anymore today.. The idea of having free newspaper has been canned. No obvious reason why, but people are getting upset about

Keen on buying??

2007-11-17T21:57:00.000+13:00

We went to Upper Hutt last Saturday, and in one of the mall there, a lady approached us, offering us to join the Home Ownership Education Programme. This program offers workshop sessions or distance learning materials for kiwi who haven't owned their own home yet. I signed up and just got the material yesterday. I was expecting the materials to be some crappy brochures, but apparently they're

Release Note

2007-11-16T22:36:00.000+13:00

With the sad state of my other blog, I felt it's mentally easier to release a new one to mark my second coming to the world of writing. See how it goes...