Moved!

Okay, life must go on, right? So with the spirit of Sumpah Pemuda and the recent festive of Pesta Blogger 2007. I officially announce that:

I have moved my blog here!

It’s just around the corner, not very far away.

The reason? Well you can say that I’m getting bored with Wordpress and I want to try something new. But trust me, I won’t move it anywhere else in the future, I will use patvandiest.com as my main blog, always. I promise you that!

So please… please update your bookmark, I will forever graceful if you do that. But if you are reading my blog through my Feedburner account, worry not, I will automatically update the link. That goes to my other social networking related link.

I won’t delete this blog, though. I will keep it as past archives of my writings.

So, sorry for this inconvinience. I hope you don’t mind. See you at my other room.

Sincerely Yours,

Patrick Gerard van Diest
www.patvandiest.com

Candy

Candy’s her name. We’ve been nurturing her since she was just a baby. Her hamster-size body was the cutest thing I ever saw in my life. I never had a baby mutt before. She was the first one that we raised in the house.

As time goes by, she grew up to be a bitch. Literally, she barks to stranger’s way to often. As if, she got problems with trusting people. Nevertheless, she meant no harm, she did the barking because of her fear of stranger, she’s not a violent pup, and she never attacks someone.

She’s all grown now. Two days ago, she gave birth to four cute little puppies. Three female and a male. Aww, look at you, Candy… you’re a mother now. It means now you got more responsibilities. Stop running around the house chasing mice that you cannot get. You got babies to feed now. Settle down.

Here’s that cute little puppies of hers, aren’t they adorable?

 

In that Year 2000

"I said let’s all meet up in the year 2000.
Won’t it be strange when we’re all fully grown."
Pulp - Disco 2000

Last night I was looking for my lyrics book. Yes, I own a lyrics book. Whenever I found a good idea for a lyric, I will write it down there. I kept doing this for a couple of years. But since I got work, I leave out the book somewhere in the attic. When I did a search through the attic (God knows how hard it is, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack), rather finding that book, I found something more interesting. A box full of my stuff back in year 2000! Wow, how seven years can be so very different? So here’s some of the stuff that I found in that box:

My Slipknot and 311 cassettes. Well this is a legacy in my last year of high school. That time I’m so in love with Slipknot’s first breakthrough album. I’m so much in love with them that I have to buy a second copy of that cassette, since the quality of the first one was degenerating. This is so way way before my CD eras. 311? I still love them. I remember traded this 311 first album with Nyoman, a friend of mine in High School.

 

 

 

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Idul Fitri Holiday and The Pollution in Jakarta

This is my contribution for Blog Action Day 2007

Picture 1

Picture 2

See those fogs in the background of picture no.1, well it isn’t a fog actually, it is the haze of pollutions in Jakarta. Now, you can see from the picture no.2 that the traffic were mild, since it’s still Idul Fitri. Most of the offices are still off and the employees are taking vacation. Whether taking a road trip to their relatives out of town (or what we called ‘mudik’) or just staying home enjoying quality times with family.

The point is the traffic in Jakarta this past two days are delinquently clear and quiet. No flocks of motorcycle, just a few running around. The traffic is so smooth that I managed to go to the office this morning in about 40 minutes when in normal working days it took me about an hour and fifteen minutes. The roads were seamlessly clear.

Yet the haze is still there. Good God. Is this how Jakarta has become? Yet in this holiday where less cars and motors are around, the pollution levels are still somewhat high.

A couple of days ago, the newly appointed governor of Jakarta, Mr. Fauzi Bowo said that the pollution level in Jakarta were less this past few days compare to normal work days. Yes, it was lessen but not necessarily in a moderate level.

On his campaign to become the new governor, he point out a couple of things, a workaround to this pollution problem in Jakarta: a monthly Car Free Day, Bicycle as a Feeder for Bus way, car control mechanism. This is actually some point to lessen the traffic in Jakarta, which in the end will lessen the pollution level too in some ways.

As you might expect, for me, my solution to lessen the pollution level is using Bicycle as an alternative transportation mode. This is a start.

You may think, “Gosh, I live in Bekasi and I worked at Pluit, it’s miles away! How the heck will I work, when all of my energy is consumed while I’m cycling, dude?” Yes, I concur. But every effort needs a sacrifice for a start. Trust me, after you cycle about 4-5 times, you will eventually get used to it. The important (yet the hardest) thing is to try.

Okay, if bicycle isn’t your choice, try mass transportation! Haa! I know, mass transit in Jakarta is a joke, once again I agree with this. Nevertheless, like it or not this option is considerably a better option than using your own vehicle. I know that the government should fix the quality of our mass transportation, hey, that’s why they build bus way, right? Whether you hate it so much with its construction that made traffic more complicated, yet we must condone this sacrifice for the greater good of good transportation. You can beg to differ with me on this one. But hey, I told you I prefer using bicycle then mass transit right?

So overall, pollution and traffic in Jakarta are getting worse and worse. But stop relying and blaming government for this problem. Try to fix it by yourself, use mass transportation or use a bicycle if you don’t mind since it’s far healthier. Do not litter. Start from yourself don’t rely on others. There is still hope for a clean air in this city. Make it a beautiful city again. I love you Jakarta!

Naik Motor Beramai-ramai

Baiklah, saya tidak menepati janji saya untuk baru memulai blog lagi hari Senin besok. Yah, ini lebih disebabkan karena di tengah house arrest ini ternyata saya masih dapat terkoneksi ke internet. Selain itu, setelah melihat sebuah kejadian tadi pagi, tangan saya agak gatal untuk menulis lagi.

Hari ini adalah hari kedua Idul Fitri. Umumnya pada hari kedua ini masyarakat ibukota yang tidak ikut ritual mudik akan melakukan perjalanan. Entah ke rumah sanak saudara, ataupun bertamasya ke tempat-tempat rekreasi di ibukota.

Nah, ini yang lucu (atau menyedihkan?). Tadi pagi sepulang dari gereja, saya mendapatkan beberapa pengendara motor yang membawa motor yang diisi dengan keluarganya. Dari beberapa motor tersebut, entah kenapa banyak yang menggunakan formasi ini:

Duduk di belakang, sang ibu menggendong bayinya dengan membawa tas bayi.
Di tengah, sang ayah merangkap pengemudi motor tersebut.
Di depan, sang kakak berpegangan sambil tersenyum riang.

Dan dari mereka yang mengunakan helm hanya si ayah.

Oke, sebelumnya saya ingin menjelaskan bahwa saya tidak mempunyai kendaraan pribadi sendiri selain sebuah sepeda gunung. Dan saya belum mampu untuk membeli motor ataupun mobil sendiri. Biasanya saya hanya meminjam mobil orang tua saja.

Tapi saya tahu apa bedanya menjaga keselamatan dalam berkendara dengan melakukan perbuatan nekat. Yang dilakukan pengendara motor di atas menurut saya sangat tidak mengindahkan keselamatan keluargannya.

Saya tahu mungkin Anda, sang pengendara motor memiliki alasan-alasan tersendiri untuk membawa serta keluarga Anda seperti itu.  Namun, apakah Anda tidak melihat dari segi keamanan?

Kenapa Anda tidak mencoba naik kendaraan umum saja, seperti bis kota atau angkot? Mungkin dari segi kemudahan dan kenyamanan akan berkurang, tapi apa bedanya dengan naik motor dengan membawa serta anak dan istri (beserta bayi!), bukankah hal tersebut juga tidak nyaman dan tidak mudah? Dan tidak aman pula!

Masalah finansial? Saya rasa Anda sudah bisa membeli sebuah motor atau paling tidak Anda sudah punya uang untuk menyicil motor tersebut. Tentu naik kendaraan umum tidak akan terlalu memberatkan Anda bukan?

Saya sangat menyayangkan melihat pemandangan seperti ini di jalan pagi tadi. Yang membuat saya sedih adalah saya tidak hanya melihat praktek seperti ini sekali saja, tapi berulang kali pada pengendara motor lainnya yang juga membawa keluarganya.

Rekreasi memang sangat menyenangkan terutama dengan keluarga sendiri. Tapi tolonglah tetap ingat keselamatan keluarga Anda.

Selamat Berlibur!

Previously on Patvandiest….

Been hectic these past few days (not!). But I don’t know, maybe I’m just too focused on watching the ads flowing on FJB. Probably because of this holiday season that urge my “shopaholic” blood rises high.

So tomorrow the holiday will start for me, yet sadly it only lasted three days here according to the “company’s policy”. Shucks… :D

Anyway, three days will be sufficient since staying in the house for too long can be stressful nowadays, no no, there’s nothing wrong with the family or sort. It’s the house, the hot and damp conditions around the house (heck, it’s around everywhere) that is bothering me these days. Won’t bother buying an air conditioner though, my money is set to other useful things. (don’t ask…it’s complicated)

So to welcome this beautiful holiday I brought some of the newest episodes of Heroes (Season 2 episode 3), Prison Break (Season 3 episode 4, yeah! Why buying cheap rip-off when you can copy it from your friend, haha), and Bionic Woman (Season 1 episode 1-2) to home cause It’s TV Series frenzy my friend! Yeah!!

So, see you next week (literally, since I will come back to work on Monday) and oh yeah…

Prison Break Season 3a

Seri 10001 cara yang dapat dilakukan orang untuk mencari duit.

Cara #3922: Fresh from the oven! Sebegitu tingginya kah demand masyarakat kita terhadap serial TV di Amerika belakangan ini? Contohnya begini, yang saya tahu serial TV Prison Break sudah di musim tayangnya yang ke-3. Namun, serial ini baru memasuki minggu ke-3 nya dengan menayangkan episode ke-3 nya.

Tapi apa lacur! Saat saya iseng-iseng ke Ratu Plaza tadi siang, sudah tersedia DVD Prison Break dengan judul Season 3a yang berisi tiga episode awal tersebut. Wow! Update yang sangat cepat sekali! Belum apa-apa tiga episode tersebut sudah dapat dinikmati khalayak umum di Indonesia.

Betapa hebatnya negeri kita! Para pedagang DVD-nya dapat menyediakan kebutuhan Anda fresh from the oven! Langsung hadir di layar Anda dengan cepatnya!

Aktualitas! Ini yang menjadi nilai jual pada produk tersebut. Meskipun sebenarnya kalau dihitung-hitung, Anda akan rugi untuk membeli DVD tersebut. Karena sebenarnya satu piringan DVD dapat memuat 4-5 episode serial TV. Namun, kalau Anda orang yang tidak sabaran dan penasaran dengan nasib Michael Scofield di Sona sana, silahkan saja. Toh satu DVD hanya dibanderol Rp 7000 perak saja (tanpa boks).

Tapi coba kita hitung, misalnya musim ini Prison Break menayangkan 20 episode, dan jika pedagang tersebut menyediakan DVD tiap 3 episode, maka Anda perlu membeli kira-kira 7 buah piringan DVD untuk menikmati Prison Break Season 3 (Season 3a s/d Season 3g). Cukup mahal bukan?

* aah bodo amat Pat! yang penting gue up-to-date kalo anak-anak pada ngomongin Prison Break di kantor/sekolah/kampus/pesantren/asrama/tongkrongan * :D

Insomnia?

Kurang tidur itu sangat menyebalkan. Kemarin malam saya pergi ke rumah teman saya untuk melanjutkan proyek One Man Karaoke. Saking sibuknya kami dengan proyek tersebut, kami baru tersadar bahwa jam sudah menunjukan pukul 02.00 pagi!

Wah, saya harus pulang pikir saya, karena di pagi hari saya sudah harus bersiap ke kantor. Sesampainya di rumah saya baru ingat kalau ada pertandingan Liga Champions antara Manchester United versus Roma (yang tentunya dimenangkan MU dengan skor 1-0). Pertandingan tersebut berakhir pukul 03.30. Sejak saat itu hingga berangkat ke kantor, saya tidak tidur lagi.

Di kantor? Karena datang terlalu pagi saya menutup mata sebentar selama satu jam (jam 06.00-07.00). Ya hanya itulah jumlah tidur yang saya rasakan selama 24 jam ini. Dan ini rasanya sangat tidak enak, seperti ada beban berat di kepala, pening, dan keringat dingin. Tetapi yang paling menyebalkan adalah selama sehari ini saya tidak merasa ngantuk! Yang terasa malahan gejala-gejala di atas.  Ah, pulang ah, sudah waktunya saya pulang untuk “membalaskan” kurangnya waktu tidur saya hari ini. Mudah-mudahan sampai di rumah rasa kantuk akan datang juga.

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