My computer has just been reformatted.
Those who know me well will by now be amazed, since my computer phobia is a rather established fact. Well, me and my dear Fujitsu owe this fact to a very nice computing student that came to my house to help me reformat, on a Saturday when the weather's so nice to just sleep at home..and to top it off, I was supposed to at least learn how to reformat the computer myself but turned out I was chatting to his cousin n bro the whole time...huhuhu..Thanks again, dude!
Now, here's a bit of my conversation with him that spurred me to write this post:
Me: "Hm..so that's all there is to reformatting? Just insert the CD, click here click there,wait for a while and that's it? Ow...I guess in computing u have lotsa words like 'reformatting' or 'rewriting' , that sounds very cool but is actually very simple.."
H: *with more enthusiasm than called for* "What?! You know, it's simple because it's designed to be used by archi students who know nuts about computers! The interface has to be easily used by people who know nothing, but the thoughts and research behind it is complicated! you think computing students learn how to install windows software??? No! We learn how to design the programs so people can use it!"
Me: "Uhm..."
Yah well, I think it's very true actually...Thanks to all those geeks doing their jobs, the world is now all it is, what with the Internet, programmed machines and vehicles, CAD, etc etc...Brains clearly outdo brawns in today's world...
And so. Computing is a totally cool faculty.
Though not as cool as archi.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Hm....
Baru ngebaca satu quote: "...inti kepandaian adalah kesanggupan untuk mendengarkan.."
Hm . . . . .
Dan satu lagi: " Seberapa terpelajarnya seseorang berbanding lurus dengan kesadarannya akan kebodohan dirinya sendiri.."
Yang mana, kalau menurut dua definisi tersebut.... uhm...well..yg jelas I'm still a long way from pandai dan terpelajar....
Hm . . . . .
Dan satu lagi: " Seberapa terpelajarnya seseorang berbanding lurus dengan kesadarannya akan kebodohan dirinya sendiri.."
Yang mana, kalau menurut dua definisi tersebut.... uhm...well..yg jelas I'm still a long way from pandai dan terpelajar....
Sunday, May 18, 2008
A Little Paradox
*Disclaimer: This is my point of view, being a foreigner that has spent 8 years here, afraid of being Singaporeanised but just recently noticing just how Singaporean I am already..*
Let's compare Singapore to Indonesia. First, Singapore:
1. Singapore = safety, convenience, predictability
2. The whole of Singapore panics when Mas Selamat Kastari escaped, giving an insight to just how safe the country is expected to be.
3.Standard of "education" is high and school is done very systematically.
4. Standard of living is very high. Starvation is virtually unheard of, extreme poverty does not exist, free entertainments and community clubs are everywhere for people to enjoy.
5.Singapore has not experienced any major natural disasters and - in my opinion- it's unlikely to experience it barring any freak accidents.
Despite these standards and achievements, Singaporean students are among the most stressed in the world (There's even a hotline for stressed primary school students), the workers "live to work",
Singaporeans reportedly have very little sex *translate: time to enjoy the company of their spouse and strengthen their marriage*, and the national hobby besides 'eating' seems to be 'complaining'.
More Singaporeans are becoming paranoid about getting married and having kids, and more often than not the deterrent is cost. The general consensus is that people live to work...because there's almost no other 'worthwhile' pursuits, and people ask "Which primary school/secondary school/junior college are you from?" when they try to get to know you, and -i feel - ultimately gauge your value. *because it's deeply entrenched inside the Singaporean mindset to look for achievements*
Now, let's look at Indonesia:
1.Indonesia= chaos, crime, corruption
2.The whole country is infested with terrorists, terrorists-in-disguise-and terrorists wannabes
3.In many cases,teaching is a career people go to if they're either hopelessly idealistic or has no other choice. Corporal punishment still used in schools, standard of education low and number of illiterate people high.
4.Standard of living varies from extreme poverty to extreme riches, with the brunt borne by the middle class, as they will be target of attacks from the poor yet can't "protect" themselves like the ultra-rich.
5.....transport incidents by land, sea and air.. earthquakes, tsunami, forest fire, flood, bird flu, political riots, tribal wars, ethnic and religious disputes.. you name it, we have it..
And yet... Indonesians are not so stressed as Singaporeans *I immensely enjoyed my chilhood in Indonesia where playing is a normal activity kids do and need not be rationed..."ok you study 4 hours then play 2 hours,ok! no playing on weekdays!"*, people are not paranoid about getting married and having children. Identity is not just determined by which school we attend but rather, the provinces we came from*unless, of course, you come from an architecture school,in which case i'd think you're uber-cool*, the dialect we use, the culture we have. It's okay if you want to spend your life manning a coffee shop, cuz as long as you can reasonably provide for your family, that's decent enough. The pressure is just not strong to get that raise, buy that car, get that credit card.. The general motto, as far as I see, is "work to live" and "live and let live."
Now..how could that be? How could Singaporeans have all these things to enjoy and be thankful for and yet still let themselves be so stressed and worried? How could Indonesians see all these deprivations everyday and yet comparatively be more relaxed?
But anyway, I've come to realize that the my background, which is kind of Singaporean kind of Indonesia, can come to my advantage, provided I am shamelessly practical *which often I am*.
So, if I get an A,or do a good job,or get whatever achievement, I bask in front of the approving, adoring eyes of Singaporean society, while when I make a mess, get lower than expected, or fail, I fall back on the Indonesian attitude that it's really not a big deal and that all the standards used to determine I'm a failure are artificial anyway.
Now that's a good middle-ground, don't you think? ;p
Let's compare Singapore to Indonesia. First, Singapore:
1. Singapore = safety, convenience, predictability
2. The whole of Singapore panics when Mas Selamat Kastari escaped, giving an insight to just how safe the country is expected to be.
3.Standard of "education" is high and school is done very systematically.
4. Standard of living is very high. Starvation is virtually unheard of, extreme poverty does not exist, free entertainments and community clubs are everywhere for people to enjoy.
5.Singapore has not experienced any major natural disasters and - in my opinion- it's unlikely to experience it barring any freak accidents.
Despite these standards and achievements, Singaporean students are among the most stressed in the world (There's even a hotline for stressed primary school students), the workers "live to work",
Singaporeans reportedly have very little sex *translate: time to enjoy the company of their spouse and strengthen their marriage*, and the national hobby besides 'eating' seems to be 'complaining'.
More Singaporeans are becoming paranoid about getting married and having kids, and more often than not the deterrent is cost. The general consensus is that people live to work...because there's almost no other 'worthwhile' pursuits, and people ask "Which primary school/secondary school/junior college are you from?" when they try to get to know you, and -i feel - ultimately gauge your value. *because it's deeply entrenched inside the Singaporean mindset to look for achievements*
Now, let's look at Indonesia:
1.Indonesia= chaos, crime, corruption
2.The whole country is infested with terrorists, terrorists-in-disguise-and terrorists wannabes
3.In many cases,teaching is a career people go to if they're either hopelessly idealistic or has no other choice. Corporal punishment still used in schools, standard of education low and number of illiterate people high.
4.Standard of living varies from extreme poverty to extreme riches, with the brunt borne by the middle class, as they will be target of attacks from the poor yet can't "protect" themselves like the ultra-rich.
5.....transport incidents by land, sea and air.. earthquakes, tsunami, forest fire, flood, bird flu, political riots, tribal wars, ethnic and religious disputes.. you name it, we have it..
And yet... Indonesians are not so stressed as Singaporeans *I immensely enjoyed my chilhood in Indonesia where playing is a normal activity kids do and need not be rationed..."ok you study 4 hours then play 2 hours,ok! no playing on weekdays!"*, people are not paranoid about getting married and having children. Identity is not just determined by which school we attend but rather, the provinces we came from*unless, of course, you come from an architecture school,in which case i'd think you're uber-cool*, the dialect we use, the culture we have. It's okay if you want to spend your life manning a coffee shop, cuz as long as you can reasonably provide for your family, that's decent enough. The pressure is just not strong to get that raise, buy that car, get that credit card.. The general motto, as far as I see, is "work to live" and "live and let live."
Now..how could that be? How could Singaporeans have all these things to enjoy and be thankful for and yet still let themselves be so stressed and worried? How could Indonesians see all these deprivations everyday and yet comparatively be more relaxed?
But anyway, I've come to realize that the my background, which is kind of Singaporean kind of Indonesia, can come to my advantage, provided I am shamelessly practical *which often I am*.
So, if I get an A,or do a good job,or get whatever achievement, I bask in front of the approving, adoring eyes of Singaporean society, while when I make a mess, get lower than expected, or fail, I fall back on the Indonesian attitude that it's really not a big deal and that all the standards used to determine I'm a failure are artificial anyway.
Now that's a good middle-ground, don't you think? ;p
Sunday, May 11, 2008
So archi....
Three freshman engineering students were sitting around talking between classes, when one brought up the question of who designed the human body.
One of the students insisted that the human body must have been designed by an electrical engineer because of the perfection of the nerves and synapses.
Another disagreed, and exclaimed that it had to have been a mechanical engineer who designed the human body. The system of levers and pullies is ingeniuos.
"No," the third student said "your both wrong. The human body was designed by an architect. Who else but an architect would have put a toxic waste line through a recreation area?"
The Goddess Europa....
Am planning to travel around Europe before my exchange *but anyway, somehow still doesn't believe I'm going to exchange in Paris..feels like something's gonna happen at the last minute huhuhu..*
...and somehow I really, really want to travel alone.. Reckless? Foolish? Well based on internet research some of the cities in Europe are among the safest in the world, plus, I feel that if I can manage this trip alone I'd finally overcome my "I wish I'd been born a boy because it's just so much easier" syndrome.
Oh well, in the process of planning for it, several potential dangers come to mind:
1. Rape
Peculiar to women traveling alone, but honestly..this is the least of my worries. I mean, in a continent bursting with French mademoiselles, Greek goddesses, Italian divas, Scandinavian sirens, Spanish senoritas and plenty of American tourist babes, who's gonna notice a puny Asian girl? Better yet, who's gonna notice a puny Asian girl dressed like a boy?? *I can only hope Europe doesn't have many people with a puny-Asian-girl-dressed-like-a-boy fetish...*
2.Robbery *or, as they say it over there, "mugging"...what a different meaning from the Singaporean one..*
Hm..personally think that precautions can be taken, like not keeping all your money in one place or not carrying too much money. A milder form of this, pickpocketing, is supposedly common in cities like Prague. Then again, I've been picpocketed before in Indonesia and it's really not a big deal if one doesn't carry much in the pocket.
3.Getting lost/ language barrier
Shouldn't be that big a deal if I choose cities with good transport infrastructure and mainly English speaking people. Anyway I plan to do a lot of walking, and the thing about walking is, one feels really in control of where one goes, so there's never really a lost feeling. *at least that's what I feel so far..*
4. Being killed and unceremoniusly dumped somewhere...
Uhm.... ehm.... for myself...if I have to die so soon then at least I've been satisfied with my life..plus I'm a believer that Life should be used up and not so tightly guarded till one can't enjoy it... BUT I know that my parents will just be so heartbroken..cuz I still remember getting torn lips and thinking "Oh so that's it.." but my mom cried and cried the moment she saw me with *extremely* bee-stung lips. I dare not impose such a cruel act on my parents as getting killed in a foreign country doing the one thing that they hate me doing, going around alone.
5. Paedophiles
....The only class of people I can think of that approaches the I-lust-after-puny-Asian-girls
-dressed-like-a-boy stereotype... but seriously...I worry about this cuz in Singapore there was one time an old uncle was hitting on me, when I was in surf shorts and shirt, for all I know looking uber-unladylike...for goodness sake! Oh well, this is where having baby-butt complexion, tendency to skip instead of walk, and being vertically challenged work against me... I still have not find a satisfactory solution to this problem..
6.Human trafficking
. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This one is actually contributed by my dad when I told him I'll be travelling around Europe...*told him with friends of course..I can sense that my Eurotrip will be accompanied by guilt trips..*
Dang I didn't think about it before! Must research on this. *Honestly....*
Oh well...My parents just called and asked me which cities I am going to, and the moment I mentioned Prague,the city where I intend to stay the longest,they went, "Oh isn't that an ex-communist country? Must be a very shady country."
. . . . . . . . . . . .
I can only hope that maybe, maybe if I really brave all of the above dangers plus lie through my teeth to my parents, when I come back from the trip and gather the guts to tell them I have gone alone they won't put me in chains and throw me into a dungeon 'for my own good'....
. . . . . .. .
I wish I'd been born a boy....
...and somehow I really, really want to travel alone.. Reckless? Foolish? Well based on internet research some of the cities in Europe are among the safest in the world, plus, I feel that if I can manage this trip alone I'd finally overcome my "I wish I'd been born a boy because it's just so much easier" syndrome.
Oh well, in the process of planning for it, several potential dangers come to mind:
1. Rape
Peculiar to women traveling alone, but honestly..this is the least of my worries. I mean, in a continent bursting with French mademoiselles, Greek goddesses, Italian divas, Scandinavian sirens, Spanish senoritas and plenty of American tourist babes, who's gonna notice a puny Asian girl? Better yet, who's gonna notice a puny Asian girl dressed like a boy?? *I can only hope Europe doesn't have many people with a puny-Asian-girl-dressed-like-a-boy fetish...*
2.Robbery *or, as they say it over there, "mugging"...what a different meaning from the Singaporean one..*
Hm..personally think that precautions can be taken, like not keeping all your money in one place or not carrying too much money. A milder form of this, pickpocketing, is supposedly common in cities like Prague. Then again, I've been picpocketed before in Indonesia and it's really not a big deal if one doesn't carry much in the pocket.
3.Getting lost/ language barrier
Shouldn't be that big a deal if I choose cities with good transport infrastructure and mainly English speaking people. Anyway I plan to do a lot of walking, and the thing about walking is, one feels really in control of where one goes, so there's never really a lost feeling. *at least that's what I feel so far..*
4. Being killed and unceremoniusly dumped somewhere...
Uhm.... ehm.... for myself...if I have to die so soon then at least I've been satisfied with my life..plus I'm a believer that Life should be used up and not so tightly guarded till one can't enjoy it... BUT I know that my parents will just be so heartbroken..cuz I still remember getting torn lips and thinking "Oh so that's it.." but my mom cried and cried the moment she saw me with *extremely* bee-stung lips. I dare not impose such a cruel act on my parents as getting killed in a foreign country doing the one thing that they hate me doing, going around alone.
5. Paedophiles
....The only class of people I can think of that approaches the I-lust-after-puny-Asian-girls
-dressed-like-a-boy stereotype... but seriously...I worry about this cuz in Singapore there was one time an old uncle was hitting on me, when I was in surf shorts and shirt, for all I know looking uber-unladylike...for goodness sake! Oh well, this is where having baby-butt complexion, tendency to skip instead of walk, and being vertically challenged work against me... I still have not find a satisfactory solution to this problem..
6.Human trafficking
. . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This one is actually contributed by my dad when I told him I'll be travelling around Europe...*told him with friends of course..I can sense that my Eurotrip will be accompanied by guilt trips..*
Dang I didn't think about it before! Must research on this. *Honestly....*
Oh well...My parents just called and asked me which cities I am going to, and the moment I mentioned Prague,the city where I intend to stay the longest,they went, "Oh isn't that an ex-communist country? Must be a very shady country."
. . . . . . . . . . . .
I can only hope that maybe, maybe if I really brave all of the above dangers plus lie through my teeth to my parents, when I come back from the trip and gather the guts to tell them I have gone alone they won't put me in chains and throw me into a dungeon 'for my own good'....
. . . . . .. .
I wish I'd been born a boy....
Monday, May 5, 2008
KL Trip - Batu Caves
Went to KL for a short trip and visited the Batu Caves..pretty cool place, I'd say. Then again, u gotta like rock formations and and be awed by cliffs to love the place.. It's basically several gigantic caves with hindu temples inside. Well it's a wise decision to build the temples in this area since it naturally provides a majestic setting..
Before entering the caves though,there's a series of stairs that one has to climb..277 to be exact... 
And just for good measure, the management numbered every step so you know how many more steps your aching quads must climb..hahaha..but seriously, it's not that tough once you begin...Plus, a lot of people must have loved climbing the stairs just to keep fit, because i found this sign once i got to the top:
The inside of the caves.. which reminds me a lot of gothic architecture..
Well, inside one of the caves (There are three), there is a mini zoo populated by snakes and reptiles.. Dang that was something.. I went early in the morning so there wasn't anyone in the cave..and there's this small guy just sitting quietly surrounded by cobras *with their poison fangs intact..cuz i saw an extremely fierce posion spitting cobra*, phytons, pit vipers, gigantic turtles, iguanas, frogs..just all sorts of reptiles..I was rather fascinated though it really is pitiful for the animals..
If you can see it, the glass is a bit blurry because of the poison spray the cobra had squirted.
Gotta admire the man though..at one point my exchange with him went like this:Me: "You're not afraid if one of the snakes run off?"
Snake-man *very thick indian accent*: "Oh,no problem, no problem, very safe.."
Me:"Wow is that a cobra?"
Snake-man:"Yes, that one number two poisonous in the world..we don't have number one ..government no allow for zoo..too dangerous.."
Me: "huh? but this snake is also dangerous..number two in the world.."
Snake-man:"No, no, only number two in the wolrd, no problem, no problem.."
Me: *realization dawned that this small, unassuming man's probably got more guts than a few croc hunters combined..*
If you do visit the Batu Caves *just a short distance outside KL*, don't forget to savour the *PURE VEGETARIAN! HOORAY!* food sold in the numerous stalls around. Tried their vada and roti canai and it's simply divine....
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