Sending my deepest sympathy to Japan and the Japanese people.
*earthquake and tsunami in Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011*

♥ Paper Wedding Anniversary ♥

Wow! 10 years of marriage! How time flies sooooo quickly. It seems like yesterday that we wed at Pondok Indah mosque, Jakarta. Alhamdulillah. God, please be with us always, along our journey together.

Happy Chinese New Year

Approaching the Chinese New Year, you may find books about your fate in the coming Chinese year at bookstores near you. If astrology in the western world tells your luck based on your zodiac--determined from your date and month of birth--, the Chinese astrology tells your fortune based on your shio--determined from the year you were born.

Endra and I once sneaked a peek into such book, only to find that according to our respective shio, we were matching to each other. Yay! According to the book, dog (Endra's shio) and tiger (mine) are friends. Lucky us.

Whatever our shio are, may the new year bring us health and prosperity. Welcome to the year of the rat.

Soeharto, 2nd President of Indonesia, Dies At 86

Innaalillaahi wa innaa ilayhi rooji'uun. To Allah we belong, and to Him our return. Soeharto who ruled in Indonesia for 30 years (1968-1998) dies today at Pertamina Hospital, Jakarta at 13:10 WIB (western Indonesia time).

We thank Soeharto greatly for his merits to the country. His biggest merit was to sweeping away communism from Indonesia. He brought economic development to the country. He had great interest on agriculture. He developed roads, telecommunication, electricity and other infrastructure throughout Indonesia. He built schools, health centers and other public facilities for the people.

However, with his military background, during his repressive era, Soeharto didn't give his critics many chances to speak out. He paralysed the life of his opponents. And he let his children and cronies involved in all kinds of business that seemed he built 'Soeharto dynasty'. Remember "lengser keprabon" (javanese words for ending the reign), Soeharto's words in commenting about succession to the presidency?

Indonesian should forgive Soeharto's mistakes, considering all his merits. But, the generations to come shouldn't forget the mistakes in order not to repeat the same mistakes again. May his soul rest in peace.

What Language Should I Learn?

You Should Learn Japanese

You're cutting edge, and you are ready to delve into wacky Japanese culture. From Engrish to eating contests, you're born to be a crazy gaijin. Saiko!

What Language Should You Learn?

Before New Year

Happy New Year 2008 and Happy New (Moslem) Year 1429H! May this year be better than the previous years. May Allah The Almighty forgives us for our wrongdoings and sins. And May Allah loves us more.

Some occasions happened before New Year and New Islamic Year. A friend of mine, Boto Simatupang, got his doctoral degree from Faculty of Economy - University of Indonesia on late December 2007. Congratulation to Boto for the awesome achievement! I met Pras and Tommy when attending Boto's doctoral degree promotion. So, among us PL'80, there are 5 6 guys who hold doctoral degree: Heru, Rempu, Eko, Bobby, Hadi and Boto. Who will follow them?

And before New Islamic Year, there were two new born babies in the neighborhood. Congratulations to families of the new babies! My friends and I visited the mommies and babies at their respective house. Welcome to the neighorhood, cute babies. Enjoy life here!

Met Him @ The Airport

In the beginning, it was scheduled that my arrival in Jakarta would be on Tuesday. But, for one and other reason, the schedule was delayed until today :((. Meanwhile, Endra would depart to Bangkok today at 13:00! Can we meet before he leaves?

I flew to Jakarta via Balikpapan with Batavia Air. The timetable for Tarakan-Jakarta flight was:
⁃ Tarakan - Balikpapan : 07:50 wita - 08:50 wita
⁃ Balikpapan - Jakarta : 09:20 wita - 10:25 wib
wita: Central Indonesia Time
wib: Western Indonesia Time

Fortunately, we arrived at Soekarno-Hatta airport ontime :-D. From Terminal 1B (for passengers of Batavia Air and some other airlines) I went to Terminal 2D (for international flights) with help from Rizal. Thanks much 'Zal!

And there we were for about one and a half hour. Changing stories, sharing our lives while I'm gone. And then his turn to go. What an express date! (not really a date, actually..) Hope to see him again soon this Saturday..