I want to wish you all a happy Chinese new year! As always, may the year of snake bring prosperity, health and happiness to all of us!
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Another year has passed and 2012 has been an exciting year for me. I have experienced how it feels working overseas and after a long process I finally get a job at a company I always want to work at.
Happy new year and I hope you are as excited as I am for the year 2013! 
Back in August I published a post titled “Things I Currently Want” and in item number 8 I wrote:
[...] I have applied for a job at a multinational company in Jakarta and have been through the first interview. I still need to go through few interviews, lets hope I can get this job!
The multinational company I was referring to is Accenture. I want to tell you that I FINALLY GET THE JOB! You don’t know how excited I was when I read my inbox that afternoon! My heart beating so fast and I almost cried. I will start working next year. So now I am thinking of writing a series of posts about my journey from how I get to know this company until I am accepted and maybe later on interesting things that will happen during my employment there. Keep reading!
I’ve abandoned my blog for a while now.. I dug in my long list of drafts and found a post about things that I wanted back in 2009. So I thought why not finish this and update it with the things that I want now. Then I realized an interesting thing about that list (more about that later) and I decide to write a new list from scratch.
Here is the things that I want (not in any particular order) and why:
- Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro
My desktop computer in Jakarta will be 9 years old this July. (Can you believe it?!) It is my first and only computer I have ever had so far and it already amazed me that it is still running after all this years. Now I work in Kuala Lumpur I use my office laptop all the time and only use that old desktop when I go back home once in a while. I don’t like to use office laptop to do my own things. You know…personal stuffs get scrambled and mixed with work stuffs.. Plus, you can’t just do anything you like on office laptop, can you? I definitely need a new computer and I want a 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro. I like MacBook since the white & black polycarbonate model and I really decided to get one when Apple launched the aluminium unibody models. With Apple just upgraded its MacBook Pros at WWDC last June and OS X Mountain Lion is already out there has never been a better time to get a new Mac. I hope I can get it within this year.
- Samsung Galaxy S III
It is a great android phone! I followed every rumors I could find before its launch. I watched the launching video. I watched the ads. I amazed by its specs, features, design changes from earlier model, etc. I couldn’t wait until it arrives here to try it myself and when it finally did, I tried & played with it several times. It is a great phone! But it is not without complain, I felt that the phone is too big (or tall) to be used single-handedly, my thumb just couldn’t reach some area of the screen without moving the phone and, you know, risking to drop it. But that is only a minor “downside” if anything and I can live with that. My current phone is LG Optimus ME by the way, which has served me well so far. - Micro SD card
Galaxy S III has “only” 16 GB internal storage. That might be enough but since it comes with micro SD card slot why not use it? Who knows 16 GB will not be enough for me.
Unfortunately micro SD card is not included in the retail package of GSIII so I have to get it separately. Here I want a micro SD card just in case the 16GB internal storage of the GSIII is not enough. View full article »
Missing a flight is probably the worst thing that could happen before you fly and I just missed my flight this afternoon. This was my first time missing a flight, it was a terrible experience, but with the help of my super mom I managed to get another flight. Now I want to share with you what you should do when you missed a flight.
1. Make sure you really missed the flight
When you think you miss the flight or when you are told that you miss your flight chances are you can still get into the plane. Some airlines have a very strict timing but there are few airlines that are not. Ask the counter staffs whether you can still get into the plane, a “please”, winking, flirting or begging might help. Cry if necessary. Sometimes what the staffs consider as “miss a flight” is usually just “didn’t show up right after the last call is announced”. But this is pretty much depends on the mercy of the staffs and how late you are. If let say the departing time is 1 pm and you show up at 1.30 pm then it is an absolute no. Don’t bother begging. But if after you beg you are given the chance to get into the plane then DO IT QUICKLY!!! Get your passport & boarding pass ready with you, cooperate in every immigration & security checks, walk (run!) directly into the correct gate, skip duty-free, skip toilet! Usually you will be accompanied by one of the airline staff until you get into the plane. This person is usually talking busily on the walkie-talkie making sure the pilot and all the passengers wait for you. FOLLOW HIM/HER!
2. Stay calm
As with any urgent situation stay calm is important. If after you try all those you still miss the flight then panic is no use. You might feel some uncomfortable feelings be it sad, angry, confuse or others and that’s normal. But you have to get over it quickly and calm down. Now is the time to plan your next action. After you missed the flight then you have two options to choose from: 1) find another flight, or 2) cancel your flight & trip altogether (forgetting those nice sunny beaches you’re dreaming all this time). I don’t generally think cancelling your flight & trip will be a good idea for most people.
3. Find another flight
Finding another flight doesn’t necessarily buying a new flight ticket. Depending on your ticket type / status and the airlines, you can reschedule your flight to another time even after you missed the flight. Some airlines charge a fee, some don’t. Again, that depends on your ticket status & the airlines. The counter staff will give you information on how you can reschedule your flight.
You have to know that there is a chance you might not be able to fly on the same day you missed your flight, not even the next day. You can only reschedule your flight to the next nearest available flight. Some airlines just fly to a particular city once a day, some even only 3 days a week, and so on. You have to check the timetable of your airlines.
If reschedule is not possible (as is the case with low-cost airlines) or if you can’t wait until the next nearest flight then you can buy a new flight ticket at the airport. Please take a note that buying a last-minute flight ticket can be very very expensive.
4. Be punctual on your next flight
After you get your new ticket now is the time to prepare for your next flight. Come to the airport earlier and check in early. You don’t want to miss your flight twice! As a rule of thumb you should check-in 2 hours before the stated departure time. And that means you should arrive at the airport earlier than that.
Most of the airlines now provide a way for you to self check-in whether it’s online or at the self check-in kiosk in the airport. Use this to safe the hassle of queuing in the check-in counter. But remember, if you have a check-in baggage (those you don’t want to bring along to the cabin) you still have to drop your baggage at the baggage-drop counter though the queue is usually shorter.
After all the process at the counter you still have to go to immigration check (for overseas flight) and that takes time too. Shopping, eating, go to the toilet also take time. Even finding & walking to the right gate takes time… So always, always, and always be aware of your time. Listen to all the announcements (even tough most airports I’ve been to have awful announcement sound) for they might announce updated information about your flight etc.
I hope you learn from your missed flight as much as I do and hopefully you’ll enjoy your next flight and never miss any flight ever again. 
Malem ini gue ingin menyempatkan diri untuk mengucapkan Selamat hari raya Waisak untuk Anda semua yang merayakannya! Semoga semua makhluk berbahagia!
Salam,
Today this blog is celebrating its 4th birthday. That means this blog has been around for four years and I roughly has been blogging for that long. So far this blog still has no specific topic.. That gives me flexibility to write almost anything I want whenever I want it. But that also gives me an opportunity to abandon my blog (which I did several times before). But no matter how long I’ve been abandoning this blog, I always come back.
I know the benefits of blogging: writing fluency, structured thinking, expression of ideas, etc and I believe I get those benefits too but in this ongoing 5th year I am still trying to blog more frequent and I am also hoping that my blog will still be useful for me and for others. Thank you for keep reading!
Same as last year, today I also got an email from WordPress about my blog overall stats in 2011 and here is the summary:
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 15.000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
And now for some comparisons:
Even though I joined Post a Week challenge in the beginning of 2011, I only have published 21 posts which 2 posts less than in 2010. This also means I failed on that challenge. Never mind… I’ll keep blogging!
Excitingly, in contrast with post amount, my blog got almost 6000 more views than in 2010. That’s about 64% increase from previous year. Nice!
The busiest day in 2011 still falls in November, same as in 2010 which falls on November too but with 3 more views. I don’t know what’s in November, really!
As with referring sites I saw some new sites but I dare say it pretty much the same as previous year.
For visitors (or readers) I can’t do a comparison since I don’t have 2010 data but for 2011 I am a bit surprised seeing that I have visitors from Africa (Nigeria.. WOW!), Europe, and hardly believe that United States & Canada were the second place where most my visitors came from.
And lastly, the most-viewed posts are generally same as previous year. They only changed places from previous year.
After reading this report I feel like I have wow-ed myself but in the same time I know I could have done more. One thing remains same though: I’ll keep blogging.. this year and more years ahead..!
It’s this time of the year again. This Christmas is different because I’m in Kuala Lumpur now. This is the first time I spent Christmas overseas. I didn’t do any Christmas related activities such as decorating Christmas tree, sending Christmas card, etc etc. It’s just unnecessary and arguably impossible. Here the Christmas hype can only be felt in shopping malls and the radio. I thought I would spent this Christmas alone but so far the experience has been good. Last Friday I had company’s Christmas dinner with my colleagues in Tropicana Golf & Country Resort. There we exchanged gifts and I got a Sheaffer pen with my name engraved on it. I like it! Thanks Dennis! My gift is a stainless steel tumbler and that went to Mun Kent. After the dinner Sandip took me and 2 other colleagues to The Social, a pub in Bangsar, before took us home. We played pool and drank a bottle of beer. (Just one bottle, honest! :-p )
Christmas dinner photo
On Saturday morning Santi flew back to Jakarta. She has just came back when I’m writing this. Fadly, my roommate, went back to his parent house in Selayang as usual. Sharon went out with her friend which stayed overnight in her room this last 2 night. So it left me alone in my apartment. I just did some cleaning and in the evening I attended Christmas Eve mass in St. Francis Xavier in Petaling Jaya with Joe Kit, Felicia and her friend Steven. Funny thing is it was Joe Kit—who is still in the process to become a Catholic—that asked me to attend that mass. If not because of him I would have attended Christmas day mass at another church, alone. So, thanks Joe Kit!
On the Christmas day itself I continue my cleaning and in the afternoon Felicia whatsapp me asking whether I want to attend mass and watch Sherlock Holmes after that. So be it, I indeed want to watch Sherlock Holmes and it’s good to attend another mass, isn’t it? After the mass, Joe Kit took us to A Wet Thai Cafe where we ate pork neck. I have heard about how delicious this pork neck is from Dea but don’t have the opportunity to try it until yesterday. The pork neck was nice but not as super duper delicious as I imagined before. It was just nice. They just exaggerating about it I think. After dinner we went to IOI Mall to watch Sherlock Holmes. I still consider it a great sequel even though I occasionally found myself hardly catch the dialogs in the movie because I couldn’t understand the Malay & Chinese subtitles so I could only depend on my hearing. It was a great night after all.
grilled pork neck
And today I just stay at home the whole day, ironed my clothes, read book, lazying… I didn’t even go out to buy food, Sharon bought my dinner. :-p And that’s all for my Christmas in Kuala Lumpur this year. At last, Merry Christmas everyone!!
