Motivation

What drives you until now…?

Another question that still lingers round my head. Similar to my previous blog, only this time, its all bout my driving force that have led me until this very second.
Regardless of my reason to be here in Perth, I’ve always strived the very best to keep myself motivated. The first semester succeded somehow. Maybe it was due to the strong sense of survival that engulfed me back then. But the time here has made me kinda soft. The sense of survival has long been lost and here I am lost finding something that can motivate myself.

Back then in Indonesia, the thought of getting lost coz of the lack of motivation was almost nonsense. With the abundant form of motivation, I was always in the mood of inspiration there. But here…things have gotten way tough. Its not like you cannot motivate urself here, its just that you’ve gotta struggle to do that.

With the limited resources here, keeping urself motivated here is like keeping a fire on but with just few fire wood. I’ve collected some potential things that could keep me motivated, but it seems that all those things just cannot fulfil my hunger for inspiration to keep me motivated.

Without the fire to keep myself motivated here, it seems everything goes on without emotion. As if I’m just a robot doing as it is told. As if I’m just something that is void of emotions. Asif there is no spirit to keep me go in life….

Its not like I’ve done nothing to solve this. Its just that keeping the spirit to keep urself motivated is a winding road itself, full of ups and downs. And with all the limitations u’ve got here, I guess the only way out is to feel gratefull to urself. Gratefull to the fact that U’ve made it this far, gratefull to the fact that u still have stuffs to fill ur life, regardless I like it or not. But then again, even though I can act this way, I wonder how long I can stay in that moment….?

Reasons

Why am I here…?

Pertanyaan ini belakangan mengemuka di benakku. Entah kenapa begitu, tapi hal ini telah mendobrak kenyamanan yang mulai kurasakan sejak menetap di Perth. Bahwa aq ada disini untuk melanjutkan kuliah S2 ku merupakan suatu hal yang jelas. Namun pertanyaan diatas membuatku harus kembali merenungkan kembali mengapa aq sampai harus menempuh kuliah S2 segala…

Diminta orang tua?Well…that’s what I first thought years ago when I was finishing my bachelors. Ketika itu, aq hanya perlu melakukan ini untuk memuaskan keinginan ortu. Juga keinginan mereka untuk mampu membanggakan seseuatu dihadapan koleganya. Pretty messed up but that’s what I really thought back then.

Times passed and I finished my bachelors. It was here on that I finally thought…”Hey…kul S2 lagi g jelek juga..”. Pikiranku ktika itu juga diliputi oleh suatu perasaan menyesal yang amat. Penyesalam yang terjadi karena tidak mampu memanfaatkan masa 4,5 tahun kuliahku dengan sungguh2. Jadilah aku berpikir untuk memanfaatkan masa kuliah S2 ku untuk menebus waktuku yang hilang. Juga untuk memantapkan kembali segala sesuatu yang telah kudapatkan sejauh itu.

Sampai semester pertamaku dsini, that reason remained. But just recently I’ve felt really inconvenient about that fact. Aku kembali berpikir…cukupkah alasan itu demi keberadaanku dsini?Seberapa lamakah alasan itu akan bertahan didalam diriku?Tidak adakah suatu alasan yang lebih mulia demi keberadaanku disini….:-?

Dibutuhkannya suatu alasan adalah demi landasan atas segala sesuatu yang akan dilakukan sekarang dan untuk masa depan. With the fact that I’m doubting again those reasons, I again feel insecure about what kind of future I’m pursuing….

Then again…was it just for fame, regrets, passion, lust, greed, pride or some other miscellaneous reasons. Wallahu alam. But if I don’t rediscover it, who knows what future would await me…..

666

Nope…u don’t interpret that with anything that has to do with Satanism…nor with anything with sex (since Japanese people might read it sekusu…sekusu…sekusu). It’s just that I was ill….:P

Out of the blue…I was struck with this illness. The signs of it had emerged some weeks before it became serious, and I was ignorant on those signs. In the end, the heavy coughs and nosebleeds sure hit me hard. Disabling me from attending most of my lectures here. There goes my first 2 absents from class 

Now…hmm…it hasn’t really gone yet, I mean the illness. Still suffering from some light coughs here and there. But at least I’m now able to resume my daily activities as usual. Not being able to do anything while sick sure has made my mind and body numb. Therefore, I’ve been struggling hard to regain my mental and physical conditions through hard study and simple workouts

And to think that this illness came right after my 24th birthday…it really made me able to contemplate on some matters…especially health. Up till now, I’ve been working hard to not fall sick again. So far it has somewhat succeeded. Only some minor flu’s have occurred. But this illness was one of the serious ones that forced me to go see a doctor. End result….yeah…I was sloppy on my health should have paid more attention to it.

Ramadhan is coming in a week and there goes another good reason why I need to get back in shape soon. I don’t wanna end up like last year, when I was struck with a flu prior and after ramadhan. Especially here, being sick really isn’t a feasible condition on you when medicine prices are damn high .
But before ramadhan, I’ve still got one week of tuition free week upcoming. I’m gonna tidy up all the mess that was caused due to my sickness. I wanna start ramadhan in a good and tidy manner so that I can enjoy that holy month in serenity and purity .

Restart

Another semester….another start….a new beginning….

That’s what I’m currently feeling. Everything seems like rewinded to the beginning of last semester…time where I had no idea on where to start my studies with…

However…things aren’t totally that way…its just the feeling that’s kinda déjà vu. The feeling that u’ve gotta find again ur lost study feeling that’s been drowned over the last month due to vacations. Its gonna take some time to recover that feeling…and I’m gonna have to do it quick since things are starting to get harder as the day comes by.

2 units that I really need to take care of are statement analysis and governance & ethics. Why?....coz I have no clue on how the lecturers are and the units seem quite hard….so better stay aware on whats happening….better satay alert by studying enough so that u don’t get lost in the middle of semester.

Add those with my increased work hours and it does look tiring. With a total of 11 hours a day….I better watch my health and body. Gotta make sure that nothing goes wrong over the semester. Again..I can’t afford 2 be sick due to the expensive cost of medications….bottom line is to don’t get carried away by the money u can get….mainobjective is to…STUDY!!

End note…I’ve made a self review on myself. It certainly looks like I’ve gotta revises some things to improve myself. Especially when I’ve already targeted 3 High Distinction marks at the end of this semester…that means a lot of hard work. As they say…its harder to maintain a success rather than achieving it…yup…that’s what I’m experiencing right now….Just watch your back….stay alert…don’t get swayed away by any temptations that might make me astray….

Amiieennn…..:)

Reset

Hwaaaaaaa…..Legaaaaaa…….

I guess that’s what I can say after my 12 days trip back to Malang he..he..he..:). It wasn’t long but I certainly can say that really helped me ease the stress and tiredness that has been piling up for the last 5 months here in Perth. What made really lucky was that I was able to organize my activities there. This was in order to make the most of my time there. With only 12 days, I had to do the things most important. No time to waste ;)

Well…I landed in Jakarta the next day on midnight. Nothing much to do I Jakarta besides buying myself a new mobile B-). I really needed a new one since my old one got broken. But I ended up buying something more expensive than what I expected. Even though it was worth it in the end, I’m wondering up till now….why didn’t I bring more money …..:(

The next day I was already in Malang. I directly headed to my local bookstore to get myself and syah’s book. It took me around three days later to fully finish my book hunting. I indulged myself there. Besides, Its only in Indonesia where u can get cheap books there;). Other things that I took care was my download list through the bittorrent. I found a couple to have been finished, but still a dozens waiting to be finished. Coz of this I thought of turning on the bittorent each night while im here in order to get some downloads finished. It did work in the end, one was something I was eagerly waiting which was The Carnival of True concert by laruku. Why I was eagerly waiting coz this concert hasn’t been released until now. So its kinda a rare item he..he..he..:D

The night I spent there were often with my friends. The second night was hanging in a coffee stall wth andi, arif and pulungan. It sure was fun and nostalgic. After a while im able to meet them again in good condition J. Too bad arif was on his way to his work training so that made me the last time I could meet him in a while L. The other chances were having a match at bang yus with nandar and wiwid. It seems I haven’t lost my touch after 5 months not touching the PS2 controller. Managed to score some wins :D

Fajar was also in my “have to meet” list. The purpose was none other than delivering him some new stuffs on laruku which I had already promised. However…it seemed I was back home a bit too early coz while I was gonna go back to perth, he suddenly texted me and said he already laid his hand on the Five Live Archives DVD Set 0_0…..Aaaarrrrrggghhhhh…..damit. To think he got it first….to think he got it while I was on my way back to Perth…..Well the…better wait for my next vacation home…..

Ah yes….not to forget…..comics!!!This one I certainly would not miss. I did miss those comics so I borrowed quite a pile of them. It wasn’t all of my wanted list but it definitely did. Gonna have to wait for my next trip to finish of the next list of comics thereL…..The rest of my time there was done with buying some things that I had to buy. However….some of them were really unexpected things like my spectacles and a new printer. Clothes were also in my list coz it seemed that drop a couple of size numbers down….hmm….seems that my workout did work in aozzy :D

Well then…I can finally say that despite the short time there, I really did have the most of my time there. Its all bout the quality….noy quantity I guess ;)

Numb3rs...

5.....Months in Perth

1st...Son I am

17...Countries I've visited

2.....brothers I have

4.5 years...to finish my bachelors degree

24....I'm turning this year

4.....cities/town I've stayed and lived in

15....is the age that started everything for me

7....provincial capital cities I've visited in Indonesia

7....years is the gap between me and my youngest sibling

0....girlfriends I've had till now :P

2....jobs I've done till now

2....times I've felt snow

3....Languages I can speak

12...days I have for my first coming home since January

2....years for me to finish off my master's degree

2....cities I dearly wanna go to

7....years I've been dreaming on the past

8....years ago is the time I'd go back if there were time traveling

4....years later is the maximum time I hope to be married :P

Countdown

Di tengah liburan yang sepi ini, kuterpekur memikirkan apa yang sebaiknya kulakukan…..Eniwei, ungkapan tadi memang cocok tuk menggambarkan betapa sepinya suasanan disini. Sehari-hari kerjaan cuma liat film, baca komik/e-book, ngenet ato kerja d butcher. Monoton bgt. Namun demikian, ini sedang dlm proses utk menikmati itu semua. Toh beberapa bulan lalu emang dh mendambakan liburan datang. So, I think lets just enjoy all this calmness.

2 minggu terakhir…gimana ya ngomongnya…I’ll start of with my ticket. Emang sih jadi nuruti ortu, tapi dengan harga yg lumayan mahal…..jujur aja aq sendiri mo kecewa ama sapa juga g jelas. Aq hanya berpikir, klo mreka ngomongnya jauh2 hari aja, aq g bakalan dapat tiket dengan harga yang kelewat mahal. Mana waktuq juga nanggung bgt lgi, g ada 2 minggu. Jujur aja sih, aq emang lebih beratin kerja. Tapi at least that’s better than wasting money on a really short noticed vacation. Gara2 kejadian itu, aq bener bertekad untuk tidak mengulangi lagi hal ini. Kesempatan brikutnya harus ku-plan lebih baik vacation sehingga bsa dapat tiket yg murah.

At work…well segalanya berjalan cukup sepi. Apa mungkin gara2 dah musim liburan sehingga pembeli juga turut berkurang ya? Maybe aja sih klo gtu. Satu2nya perubahan yg terjadi cuma fakta bahwa aq sekarang lebih sering masuk jam 10 pgi daripada 8.30 yang biasa kulakukan. Nikmati aja lah. Paling g bsa nyante dulu sebelum berangkat. Soalnya biasanya pontang panting paginya klo harus berangkat masuk 8.30. Speaking of work, belakangan isinya makan mlulu dsana. Kerja minggu ini aja dh dapet jatah kue dan makanan yg lumayan. Sd2 lunch box-q g habis. Lumayaaannnn….rejeki nihJ

Ada senang da ada pula yang bikin sedih. Itulah yg juga terjadi padaku. Bukan sedih sih….lebih tepatnya jengkel!!!Apa itu….its all bout the fact that I cannot download to my hearts content at campus. Ini gara2 kmps skrng memberlakukan pembatasan bandwith bagi mahasiswanya. Bayangin, masa 1 GB/bln tuk 1 orang L, kurang banget laahhhhh…….Pastinya, gara2 ini, aq dh g bsa lagi nongkrongin labkom kampus tuk donlot2 sepuasnya. Masih bsa tpi harus dalam batasan 1 GB/bln itu. Sehingga, harus bener2 dijaga nih. Kedepannya, aq mungkin berpikiran tuk nambah bandwith internet rumahq aja. Mo gimana lgi. Soalnya aq emang tipikal donloder sih…L. Selain itu, donlot2 kedepan juga harus lebih dibatasi dan dipilih nih.

Eniwei, sisa waktuq nunggu masa refreshing tgl menunggu waktu aja. Aq bahkan dah membuat list apa2 yg harus kulakukan dsana. Aq pikir perlu lah coz waktuq disana yg g ada 2 minggu harus bener2 dipake tuk hal2 yg esensial dan berguna agar pas balik ke perth, otak dan hati udah bener2 di re-charge utk semester berikutnya yg pastinya bakal lebih berat. Utk liburanq disni, aq juga memutuskan tk membuat list possible activities yg bsa kulakoni. Kalo g gtu, aq hanya akan mengulang masa2 membosankan 2 pekan awalku d perth dulu. Ngga mau kan…?

The next part maybe would be when I’m on leave. Sementara detik jarum jam menuju saat itu, lets just fill in time usefully and wisely. Its not everytime u get moments like this….so C U J

Mahasiswa…Time 2 Ime-chen…;)

Mahasiswa, apa sih arti dari kata ini?Apa yang diharapkan dari kata ini?Apa yang diharuskan oleh obyek yang menanggung title ini?

Rata2 semua akan menjawab, mahasiswa adalah agen perubahan. Aq sedikit banyak setuju ama pendapat ini. Why?Coz mahasiswa merupakan salah satu masa paling berharga dalam hidup ketika seseorang dapat menunjukkan idealisme mreka, cita2 mreka dan dan asa mreka secara jernih. Sejarah membuktikan bagaiman para pelaku perubahan rata2 adalah mreka yg bergolongan muda. Yang tua?Ada beberapa tpi pada masa2 ini seorang manusia akan cenderung memikirkan masalah2 lain seperti keluarga dan kerjaan. So…their idealism might be compromised because of this.

Eniwei, menarik utk dilihat bagaimana mahasiswa tlh berperan dlm konteks mreka sebagai agen perubahan. Sejak reformasi 10 tahun silam, mahasiswa seakan menemukan momentum mreka kembali utk dapat bertindak sebagai agen perubahan seiring keadaan yang memaksa mreka. Sd skrng pun, mahasiswa masih senantiasa menyuarakan berbagai aspirasi mreka akan tatanan hidup yang ideal dan lebih baik. Tentu menurut versi mreka masing2. Saya tidak akan membiacarakan apa yang mreka aspirasikan. Terlalu panjang tuk dibahas. Saya lebih tertarik terhadap apa yang mreka lakukan untuk menyuarakan aspirasi itu.

Seakan sudah menjadi pakem dan tradisi bahwa penyampaian aspirasi harus dilakukan dengan turun ke jalan dan melakukan unjuk rasa. Ngga masalah bagiku. Namun yg jadi masalah adalah apa2 yg terjadi setelah itu. Sebagai suatu tindak unjuk rasa, penyampaian pendapat mreka di muka umum sudah merupakan suatu aspirasi. Namun mahasiswa skrng seakan merasa bahwa hal ini aja g kan cukup tuk menyampaikan aspirasi mreka. Sehingga….terkadang hal2 aneh dan ajaib pun sering mreka lakukan sebagai bumbu unjuk rasa mreka.

Mogok makan, penyanderaan kendaraan, pemblokiran jalan, dan hal2 aneh lainnya bisa menjadi salah satu cara agar dapat menarik perhatian masyarakat luas. Namun demikian, apa bener aspirasi mreka tersampaikan?Apa bukannya masyarakat yang menyaksikan mreka bukannya tambah antipati dan benci dengan cara2 mreka yang terkesan tidak cerdas, mengganggu dan merusak itu?Padahal sebagai mahasiswa, sudah seharusnya mreka memperlihatkan suatu kematangan berpikir dalam pikiran dan tindakan mreka. Bukannya malah memperlihatkan suatu tindak kebodohan dan anarkisme.

Saya yakin, masyarakat tetap mendambakan adanya suatu unjuk rasa once in a while. Hanya saja, saya yakin mreka takkan senang pula kalo cara unjuk rasa itu dilakukan dengan cara2 yg justru kontraproduktif dan berlawanan dengan nilai intelektualitas mreka sebagai mahasiswa. Sebagai mahasiswa, saya rasa mreka perlu menyampaikan aspirasi mreka dengan cara dengan kekuatan logika, bukannya logika kekuatan. Kalo demikian caranya, bukan tidak mungkin mahasiswa akan kehilangan simpati mreka dri masyarakat akibat perilaku mreka sendiri.

Bicara masalah perilaku, hal ini juga terkadang menjadi suatu ironi. Masih banyak dijumpai aktivis mahasiswa yang antara tindakan dan apa yang mreka sampaikan bertolak belakang 180 derajat. Seakan dunia kampus dan luar adalah 2 dunia yg berbeda sama sekali. Juga fakta bahwa aktivitas mreka sebagai aktivis juga harus mengorbankan kuliah mreka. Ironi memang. Dalam berkehidupan d kampus, tentu ada trade-off 2 tertentu yg harus dilakukan. Namun dari pengalaman dan pengamatan saya sendiri, sudah jadi rahasia umum bahwa kul cenderung ditinggalkan.

Hal2 diatas merupakan suatu sentilan belaka terhadap bagaimana seharusnya mahasiswa berlaku dalam menyampaikan aspirasi mereka. Juga agar mahasiswa tidak lupa terhadap kewajiban utama mreka untuk belajar. Tentu masyarakat akan lebih respek klo yg demo2 itu adalah mahasiswa dgn IPK2 tinggi. Dengan demikian, akan terlihat kecerdasan dan intelektualitas dia di mata masyarakat. Nothing is perfect really. But at least we can try even the equilibrium between study and our role as an agent of change. Its not hard, but it just needs commitment, hard work and a couple of sacrifices.

After Capitalism (Part 2)

Kembali ke topic. Sebagaimana telah kujelaskan d blogku sebelumnya, begitulah dampak nyata kapitalisme d ozzy yg kutinggali skrng ini. Singkat kata, g seindah apa yg digembar gemborkan oleh para pendukung kapitalisme selama ini.

Itu masih kalo dilihat dri segi materi. Tapi yg paling parah dari kapitalisme ini adalah hilangnya aspek moral dan hari nurani manusia. Aq g kan heran dgn fakta ini karena bagaimanapun, kapitalisme yg mementingkan segi pengumpulan materi duniawi dgn cara apapun, tentunya akan menggerus nilai moralitas, nurani dan tentunya rohani.

G susah kok nyari contoh nyata tuk hal ini. Saksikanlah bagaimana dekadensi kapitalisme telah member jalan terhadap lahirnya fakta seperti munculnya kaum hombreng, seks bebas, individualism, bunuh diri, pedofilia, korupsi, pluralisme agama, dan HIV/AIDS.

Ketika agama pun dijadikan pelarian utk menutupi kekurangan dan kekeringan batin akibat ketidakmampuan kapitalisme memenuhi naluri manusia yg satu ini, apakah agama sukses?Jawabannya bsa ya bsa tidak. Tidak jika agama hanya dijadikan sarana memenuhi aspek rohani belaka. Memang, semua manusia akan butuh sarana pemenuhan utk menyalurkan naluri kerohanian mreka. Namun demikian, pemenuhan naluri ini saja tidak kan pernah cukup tuk menyelesaikan berbagai masalah di dunia yg telah bagaikan benang kusut.

Dibutuhkan suatu solusi komprehensif dan alami sesuai fitrah manusia utk dapat menyelesaikan masalah2 diatas. Kapitalisme?Jelas2 ini telah gagal menyelesaikan masalah dan juga sekaligus gagal memanusiakan manusia karena membuat manusia menjadi hamba materi. Sosialisme?Keruntuhan entitas pengusung sosialisme/komunisme pada awal dekade 90an telah menunjukkan bahwa ideology ini tdk lebih baik dri kapitalisme sekalipun.

So…what’s the solution. I’ d say back to Islam. Why would I say this? First, empirically, Islam tdk hanya merupakan suatu agama ritual belaka tpi sekaligus juga merupakan agama yg member tuntunan hidup terhadap semua sendi kehidupan baik itu sosial, masyarakat, makan-minum, cara berpakaian, ekonomi sampai politik. Kedua, secara historis, Islam pernah Berjaya selama kurang lebih 13 abad lamanya dalam menerapkan syariah-Nya dan selama itu pula tidak hanya umat Islam yang diuntungkan tpi umat agama lain.

Yang jelas ini bukan merupakan suatu utopia karena dulu pernah diterapkan. Hanya dibutuhkan pencerahan dari umat manusia utk dapat memahami bahwa gusti Allah SWT telah memberikan kita seperangkat aturan yang Maha Agung yakni syariah-Nya. Kenapa kita masih berpaling pada yg lain dan telah terbukti mendatangkan bencana dan malapetaka tiada akhir?Kalo kita melihat, memikirkan dan merenung berbagai fakta dari kapitalisme, akan kita dapati bahwa hanya masalah waktu saja sd kapitalisme akan bernasib seperti komunisme dulu, yakni keruntuhan dan kehancurannya. Kapan?Only the heavens know…But then…everything can be excelled with the will and power of mankind. We r not just puppets of the skies, but we have the power to decide our own fate and future. So….it all goes back to mankind, do they wanna perish or go forward…?

After Capitalism (Part 1)

Its been 5 months here in ozzy. I'm not again in the mode of adapting myself, but already starting to enjoy things here. Despite enjoying things, there are certain facts that u just cannot ignore whatever it is.

Even though u can enjoy ur live in ozzy, whatever status u r. Wether as a student, a worker, a PR or even a citizen, there r limits on how much of a life u can enjoy here. Even though ozzy, as like various other modern countries in the world such as USA, UK, Japan, France and the other bunch, have a dazzling light on the infinite opportunities they can offer, their light is starting to wane away.

Where shall i start?I'll start from the one point which is oil. Its common knowledge now that oil price is soaring to unexpected levels beyond ones forecast. This has led to various rise in prices of other commodities, mainly those for fulfilling a basic needs of a person. This has led not only people in third world countris to suffer more, but people in countries mentioned above r also starting to suffer the dire consequences of the hiking oil prices.

Thats from one aspect which was oil. Other aspects concerns the the welfare of the people here. At once, I thought that the people in modern countries with their capitalism, where living in an other world. Where everything was affordable and they could buy anything to their hearts content. Where money could buy anything. But then...all those things were just a mere illussion. It turned that people here r even suffering more of the effects of capitalism. It might not seem that way but thats because the proponents of capitalism r just struggling to hide the decays of capitalism. I've seen many examples here. People struggling to get their centerlink money. Pensioners neglected by the government. Indigenous people deliberately marginalized. What more can u ask?

The jargon that money would flow to the society according to the trickle down effect has been a complete lie. The truth is in capitalism, once a person lay their hands on a money, they would try everything to keep their money 2 themselves and fulfill their greed to gain more money at the cost of others. The trickle down effect would only happen in the form of leakages that would even be in the form of petty cash.

To Be Continued….

Dice...Winter...Surprises

My holiday has officially started the beginning of this week. As other students work their asses on exams and so on, I'm just enjoying my time right now. The enjoyment has certainly gave me some surprises that i haven't expected.

The first is the marks on my study. I've got the results from two of my units. Not bad to be honest...an A minus for my final ass on FAT and 90 on my 2nd managerial ass. Just need to know the other 2 results from other units and i can conclude that the latter half of this semester was flawless...^_^. I can't give a self evaluation on myself, but by the results, i can pretty much say that my time management revolution did work really well. And I have started to reap the benefits of my hard work.

The next is more bout my work. Since its holiday, I've decided to add my working hours, which my boss gladly agreed. But then again, it didn'turn out as smooth as i expected. I in fact made numerous errors in my work. From working slow, splilling a tray of meat and cutting meat in the wrong size. The latter was the most frustating part 4 me. It has been 5 weeks since i've worked and i still can't get myself to cut a dice meat in a proper size. I either end up cutting it too small or too big..>_<. It just seems a mystery on the dice shape....:(

All those things have ultimately resulted in a somewhat surprise 4 me. What would that be is still secret 4 the moment. But its certainly something that i did not expect in my semester holiday. Just hope to really fill in that time properly if it really comes to reality. Amiin...

I'm not looking to write much 4 the moment. Besides, its getting colder these days due to the coming of winter these days. Gotta get enough eat and rest if i am 2 enjoy my holiday. That's all 4 now and C U

Holiday Time...YEAH!!!!

Akhirnya...selesai juga 1 semester disini. Kalo temen2 lain pada masih harus nyiapin diri menghadapi UAS, well...luckily i don't have to go through all that pain. Why..?Coz I don't have any exams!!Ya...ada sih...tapi itupun cuma 1 dan dalam bentuk take home exam. Jadi..technically, you can say that i don't have any exams right?

Namun demikian, bukan berarti prodi-ku termasuk yg gampang. Bisa dibilang sama susahnya, hanya aja prodi-ku lebih menitik beratkan ke tugas2 sehari-hari. Jadinya, aku lebih banyak menghadapi tugas membuat paper dan telaah pustaka ato kasus. Who says this kind of ass is easy...??It can turn out bloody hard actually.

Nevertheless, dalam menghadapi batch terakhir tugas2 gw, aku belajar banyak bagaimana me-manage diri dan waktuku. Belajar dari pengalaman 1st tuition free week, aku sukses mengatur jadwalku sehingga menjelang tenggat pengumpulan semua tugas2, aku sanggup menyelesaikan tugas2ku 2-3 hari lebuh cepat dari seharusnya.

Namun demikian, I did have my ups and downs on finishing my assignments. But then...alhamdulillah all got finished. dengan kondisi sudah kerja terutama, aku jujur aja g nyangka bisa sampe gini. Kepikiran aja..."kok bsa ya?". Anyway, it did happen, so I'm still left on how i did pull out my potential.

Singkat kata, now i can enjoy and reap my free time for the next 1,5 months onwards. Pastinya sih aku bakal nambah waktu kerjaku, mo ngapaian lagian kalo g kerja. G mungkinlah aku nganggur di kamar aja ato jalan2 ngabisin duit. Be productive ker!!!

Speaking of work...he..he..finally...got my first ever payroll!!Sure was tough, but it certainly maked me realize that money is sure hard to get. U've gotta put all your efforts and concentration to get even the slightest amount of money. By this I've realized more that, money is indeed not something u can waste on since its hard to get nowadays.

So...here i come too enjoy life in the winter holiday once again (after not feeling winter for the last 14 years)...YEAH!!!!

Dreams

Finally,its getting to the end of semester here. After almost 3 months of hard study, I can finally take a rest for myself. I do hope that the results turn out in my favor. Of course, I can now concentrate on things that were neglected during semester. Can't remember on by one, but surely there r a bunch of it.

Then again, i can start to let my mind run wild after the last few months having to put it in line with others. What I like when there's nothing to do is to let myself dream. Not a mere dream, but its more like reminisce. Relating the past with current and future things.

Ever since I've arrived here, I've been doing dozens of contemplations of my dreams, conscious or not. In short, I'm greatfully thankfull to Allah SWT that I've been a second chance to prove my worth. To regain my lost time during my bachelor days.

Now, its more like putting the pieces of my scattered dreams all together. What dreams?Well...everything a man can think of. Since the first time I've dreamnt on something till everything was scattered 2 years ago, there were countless things I've dreamnt of.

I heard a saying that one man gets one chance, but a good man gets a second chance. So...I do hope I'm a good man by gaining a second chance to rebuild my dreams. Rebuilding ones dream isn't a simple task. Its like learning everything all together again, from zero.

Over the past 2 years since my dreams were shattered, I've been contemplating and wondering, what really went wrong with my dream. Was it feasable or was it just a mere utopia 4 me? Those early months did make myself calm and rethink my whole future and dreams. From that moment on, I learned life the hard way.

It certainly did make me mature in life to a certain degree. Enabling me to think from a broader and comprehensive perspective. And also make me realize that life is still full of dreams to be reached. But only if u know what ur doing and the path u follow.

Again bout sayings, I read a novel. In that novel, there was a saying that roughly means "Let urself to dream, for God shall embrace your dreams". Then I realized, life hasn't ended for me. LIfe is still is enjoyable if u stay put with your dreams and strive for it.

Therefore, I've always been dreaming on what my future would be. But still, I don't want to let myself become a dreamer. Therefore, I've always prayed for Allah SWT just to give whats best for me. Surely over the time, I too will improve myself. Just so I can make myself suitable for whats destined for me.

So...what else can i hope for?Nothing much though i think. Humans can only hope, But it is Allah SWT who shall decide...

Money...Uang...お金

It's been 3 month here in perth and its heading to the final stages of my 1st semester here. With the last tuition free week passing, what's left are just heaps of final assignments from each subject to finish off. And I'm not talking bout ordinary asses, but asses with thousand word numbers like 3000-5000 words.

Not like the previous tuition free week where I kinda slacked off, this time I made things right. I managed to put everything back in order, my schedules, mentality and my health. I had to do this to avoid repeating the same mistake on the first tuition free week whiched caused me to pile work at the last moments.

Eventhough the last 5 weeks will be more of a hell, I'm quite confident on doing it coz I've managed to get things straight until now. Just need to jog things up so that everything can really be put into motion. At least, there will be no day for me without even studying. So...time to gear up.

While my mind can gear up, something is going down...which is my wallet. I thought this was only at the end of the month but it seems its gonna last for the next month of may. This definitely has caused me to tighten my spendings here for the rest of the month. One of the consequences for me are no hanging out with friends for the whole month. Even though I can, there are just many unexpected spendings bound to happen. Not to mention the high risk of having to skip prayer times, which is one thing i really despise from my friends. Don't they even remember this???:(

Eventhough I had money to hang out, with all the work to be done, It's just a wish coz my work until now has overweighed the desire to hang out. So, I guess its a blessing in disguise for me not having much money to begin with. Therefore I can concentrate more on my studies. So...a simple life is wha I'm gonna have to do for the whole month...

The only chance for me to get more money is to work here. Luckily I did make a deal on this matter, earning myself a job at a local halal butcher. Thanks goodness...at least I can fill in the holes in my pocket from my own salary. Despite the rising study work, I'm sure my work won't be in the way coz the work itself isn't that hard. I was even tod it was quite laid back with flexible hours. But then again, the trade off is that the place doesn't offer great pay to begin with.

I just hope i can survive the rest of the month with just $350 in hand. Man....that's sure tough. Even I'm gonna reduce my groceries and eat with a smaller portion. Can'tskip meals coz I'm just gonna end up sick like I did in the last week before the last tuition free week.

As for refreshments, I'm not really keen on walking around. Besides, eben if I where to walk around, I have the money to at least act as a buffer in my wallet. BUt its not of a worry. As matter of fact, I was sent 3 animonz magazine from home. Just reading these magz can make my mind fresher in the midst of the pile of work. A novel was also sent to me called "Ayat-Ayat Cinta". I was wondering whats special about this novel till it can make a huge impact in Indonesia lately/

Just 4 weeks left till the end of semester. Gotta give it ur all and struggle to the end. Maybe after that, I can really relax myself thoroughly till the start of the next semester comes. So....FIGHT!!!

DVD review : Heart~Light My Fire

Finally...another laruku concert that I've watched. It makes me nearer to watching all laruku's concerts. Anyway, I'll just go straight.

The concert itself was a nation wide tour in Japan ten years ago after the release of the Heart album. The tour then eventualy included their ongoing single that were released throughout the tour. But in the DVD, it was only a mix of tours from two venues which were Osaka and Tokyo.
Nevertheless, the concert itself was damn marvelous. Being ten years ago, it meant that laruku were at their peak times with great singles like DIVE TO BLUE, HONEY and Kasou. And it did reflect through the whole concert. Although not as great of a stage, their performances were really in to it. Compared to recent concerts, this concert really did have its flare. As its name implied, it really did light up the fire till the vry end.

Another thing that I liked from this DVD was the extra feature giving us a quick backstage look on how laruku dork things up when not on stage. The funniest part was when Ken played shinsoku~lose control with a ukulele and acting as if he was being raped ^^;. On the performances, I really enjoyed milky way. How they bought the song was really happy and easygoing. Not to mention the confetti being thrown all way to the crowds.

If ur looking for a great laruku concert but with a reasonable price, this DVD is a great way to start. With all the excitement, it only costed me some $30 (including freight) which is quite cheap compared to other laruku DVD concerts. For all the fun in it, I'll give 4 out of 5

秋 の手紙

The cold breeze of autumn has finally hit town. even though it brings cold temperatures, for me, its more of a nostalgia and deja vu. The feeling of being in Perth and London when I was a kid sure brings my DNA memories resurface and quickly adapt myself to the continuing breeze.

Personally, its more of a resting time in these cold weather days. I can finally rest my body after 3 weeks of hell in campus. THe last week I have to say was the toughest. Why..?Coz while doing the pile of asses, I was or could be said almost sick. My body all of a sudden felt really tired. And it was a normal fatigue feeling. It almost felt as if i was struck with typhus symptoms. Hell no I wouldn't allow myself to be bedridden by typhus (again). Therefore, I ate as much as I could. But even this didn't finish everything. The cold temps coming lately also made me kinda hard to breath. Causing my whole body to feel tired.

When I was wondering to go to a doctor, Thanks Allah SWT gave me two simple remedies. First, my parents calld. Yayyyy...!It's been a while, maybe 3 weeks or 4 since they last called. In times of great work, their call sure gave me a morale boost. At least I couldn't afford myself to be sick in front of them. And also, they gave me the possibility of visiting me when holiday comes. Great...coz I wasn't thinking on coming to Indonesia 4 the next holiday so their coming would sure help a lot. Especially when plans are to go to either sydney or Melbourne. Its just fantastic! Coz in Perth...there just nothing much to sight see and walk around. Even the malls here close at an early 6 pm :(....

The other remedy....??Nothing much than the arrival of my DVD concert orders :). What concerts...??U've bet it, BoA and Laruku! Finally my dream of ordering one straight from Japan came true. It did cost me 2 whole months to save money, but after watching it, I guess its worth it. And it really was. Since both DVD's were concerts from their early times, it sure brings some freshness compared to their latest concerts this far. For BoA, it certainly looks that her dance moves and voices were at her prime time. For laruku, their songs were from their greatest era. So everything seems at their best.

After those orders, it really made me feel to order another one. To make things worst, I've found a way to not make my wallet go burning in a hurry. Simple...just order from ebay or order an overseas version on the product. It turns out the price way much cheaper than the original japanese version. Its like one thirds of the price. Sure saves a lot of money. But then again, U can't just buy something whenever u have money. Remember...gotta save money.
Speaking of money, I managed to save much especially on my internet spendings. It turned out my spending were only $49!!Thats a huge improvements to last months $121. It certainly seems that my strategy to diverse my internet needs in campus paid off. It paid off in a way that even my IPod is full of download results, from anime, manga and video clips. Now I'm left to back-up all those things to lessen the weight on my iPod.

Even though its a week of from campus, doesn't mean that i'm 100% free. Got asses to do. But unlike the previous tution free week, at least the due dates are scattered so that means i can work my way slowly. But beware coz time does fly when the dates are due. For now, maybe i'll just finish of the manga, anime and articles i've downloaded so far. Also, I'm planning to find some vacancies where available. Expecting my working visa would be finished this week, I can finaaly start to step up to another level. With my current time schedules, I'm pretty much sure I can handle both study and work. Just make sure u do a tight time management. And also....don't fall sick.

I guess that's all 4 now. Just lay back and enjoy the autumn breeze coming. And feel urself years younger as u were still in London.

Anime Review : Mobile Suit Gundam 00

OWw man, its been quite a while since i've written a review on something. Due to my prep to ozzy and my studies here, i haven't got the chance to watch anything yet. This review now even is the latest after a long while. Nevertheless, here's the review.

The latest series of the Gundam metaverse starts of with a new story and plot after 2 series from the cosmic era metaverse represened by the Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny. When first introduced to the public, I first thought "...hmmm...this series gonna be somewhat kinda like Gundam Wing". This was because the series had superior gundams compared to the mobile suits in the series. But then, that was the beginning of everything.

The story itself is about a group called Celestial Being with its intention of eradicating war using mobiles suits called Gundams. Their pilots are desinated "Gundam Meisters" and pilot a spesific Gundam with its own ability and function. The main character here is a 15 year old kurdish boy with the code name Setsuna F.Seiei who pilots the Gundam Exia. This Gundam has a spesific ability to engage in close quarter combats with its various kinds of swords and blades mounted on the suit.

What made me thought that this series was promising was the production staff. The director, Seiji Mizushima also directed Fullmetal ALchemist, were we all know was a great anime. Therefore, I was expecting he give a fresh look on the story itself. And it did turn out as expected. Not only bout the story, even the mecha designs were quite new, compared to the suits from the cosmic ere metaverse which were a direct rip off from the UC timelne. The most striking pasrt was about the character designs were they looked kinda feminine. But this didn't hinder the hole story. In fact, it was kinda refreshing for the whole.

Overall, the series itself was great. New story, new mecha and chara designs make everything seem perfect. If there was something imperfect was the fact that they intentionally split the series to 2 seasons. I don't know why but somehow makes the series more compact and strightforward with not having too many filler episodes. That makes every episode feel meaningful. At least, this series is a couple times better than the series from the cosmic era timeline. For a rating..hmmm..I don't know whether i'll give it 4,5 or 5...anyway..maybe its 5 out of 5. Just can't wait to see the next season.....

地獄の三週間！！！

Pheww....tuition free week has passed. Time sure flies quickly. Time to face reality again. But then, just be prepared for the biting part.
Right after the tuition free week ended, the signs of autumn immediately started. It rained all day long on the day returning to class, leaving no choice but to wear warm clothes all day. The rest of the days until yesterday weren't raining. But still the temperatures have been driping steadily with winds coming around. It even rained again this morning. By looking at this, its better to by autumn clothes.

However, things don't go smoothly. My thought of even buying one was hindered by the soaring prices of the clothes sold. Even the chepest ones need at least $30 for just one piece. Luckily im not a brand minded person so i try to find the chepest available regrdless of its brand. Even though i had the money, i can't just buy it straightly coz i've got other things to buy. So, its just a matter of managing my financial needs here, which is sure tough up till this moment.

Even though autumn comes with winds starting to chill the body, the mind cannot lay cool too due to the assignments due in any moment. Thank god a week has passed so that means another 2 weeks left. Nevertheless, the next two weeks would be the crucialest part coz most of them are due pn that date and I'm still at square one on all of them. That means I've gonna have to cram all of the assignments on the next week if I were to make it in time.

The pressures on all of that sure is taking a toll to my mind. Even now i'm feeling the need to refresh myself more than ever. Until now, my regular refreshing has been downloading comics and then reading them. But now, I think I'm gonna have to find new ways of enjoying life here. Just keep in mind to not make a hole in my pocket if i were to differentiate things about my refreshing times.

Therefore, I'm still struggling to finish of things here. Just hope I have the physical and mental strenght to do so. Focus and enthusiastment would be something i really need now so I'm gonna have to pump up myslef somehow. To do so, I was thinking of ordering BoA's first concert DVD and laruku Light My Fire concert earlier than expected due to my need of a new refreshment. I'll do it in the next couple of days certainly.

By then, i think that's all for now. Wish all the best for the next weeks following, amin....

Due Dates

Another 2 weeks have passed and its getting closer for me being here almost 2 months. But its not bout the 2 months that really matters. It's more bout the due dates on my calender that I really need to put my thoughts on.

As expected from lectures, you'll definitely get assignments in whatever forms. And with those assignments of course there are due dates that are the last dates for the assingments to be submitted. It certainly won't be a problem if you prepare things slowly and in advance. But things will get nasty if we neglect those asses and cram all of those things all together.
Luckily Curtin has some sort of tuition free week. At first i thought "Oh great, time to enjoy a weeks life free of lectures...". But it turned out I was wrong. With a dozen of assignments due after on April and May, it turned out that the tuition week was nothing more than a replacement for lectures. It's just that we have to do our ass rather than having lectures. I thought "Hey...what a neat trick to set up a tuition free week just to get us do our ass...". But, if I remember all the hectic lectures day, I think having a tuition free week certainly does help us finish our ass in without all those lectures.

And so, it comes back to us on I'm gonna use the next lecture free week to finish and cram up all the asses all together. Of course I'm definitely not gonna finish all of them, but I'm certainly gonna start things up and do some hard work so that I can get all the asses in track. Of course this would help me in the next weeks when Uni resumes coz I then have a definite plan and schedule on how and when I should be finishing all of the asses.

Of course life isn't all bout asses and lectures here. As a normal human (Am I...??), I sure want some time of between my work to enjoy life and have quiet resting time. But since Perth isn't that abundant with crowded attractions all day long, it then really forces us to make the best of things that are available here to enjoy our leasure time. As usual, just surfing the net and donwload miscellanous bits are just enough for me. But ever sinc seeing my last months internet bill soaring up to $121, I thought that I definitely need to diverse my netting needs to other places so that I don't use up my bandwith. Luckily the campus provides the best answer with the abacus lab availabe there.

But I really can't expect much. Aside from browsing, You really can't expect to do some heavy duty downloads unless you're really lucky to be on the perfect time and conditions coz the bandwith will be limited and the downloads would run really slugish...However...if you're lucky to be on the perfect time at abacus lab, than expect to go home with at least more than 800 MB of any kinds of data you can think of. Coz of this, I've been doing some sort of gambling each day going to the lab, hoping that I can get a big catch of data. But to my observations, things get lucky only between Friday till Monday. I might be wrong but at least this does help me diverse my netting needs.

But asides netting, its all back to reading journals and books. Due to the absence of comic, reading journals has been some sort of a hobby for me :P. Even I can still download comics from the net, its not like I read them straight away. Also, I ned to pay more attention on my spendings here. It turned out that Perth wasn't again one of the cheapest cities in ozzy and prices have been soaring high lately according to the locals. Coz of that, I need to spend smartly so that I can still enjoy life's to the fullest but not needing to put a hole in my wallet. Also, I need to make sure I can save money for both my accounts here and in Indonesia. Nevertheless, this would be a tough thing to do each month.

I guess that's all for now. I have no clue on what kind of moaning would be in the next blog. Just hope something good would happen in the few weeks a front. Matta aimashou...jya ne....

Rising Pressure

Time does fly when u'r busy. Keadaan sekarang adalah berkebalikan dengan ketika aku masih awal2 tinggal di Perth. Sejak kuliah mulai, yang pasti segala sesuatu menjadi serba berbeda dengan keadaan sebelumnya.

Setelah penantian hampir 1 tahun nganggur, datang juga masa ketika aku harus menjalani kuliah jenjang S2-ku. Beberapa berjalan sesuai apa yang kuharapkan dan beberapa lagi tidak. Hal2 yang kuharapkan adalah seperti kuliah-nya disini lebih padat dan harus berani berpartisipasi dibandingkan Indonesia. Jangan deh berharap dapat nilai dengan sekedar hadir di kelas soalnya partisipasi sangat diharapkan. Sejalan dengan itu pertanyaan2 pun juga ditunggu dan ngga ada istilah "kebanyakan bertanya adalah memalukan". Justru kalo ngga nanya malah dikira ngga belajar <_<.

Selain itu, adalah padatnya tugas. Kalo ini emang dah dipesenin siap2 aja dengan mencicilnya alias jangan dikerjain mendadak menjelang due date-nya. Dan emang pesen2 itu bener. Walo aku sejauh ini ngga pernah njalani model "SKS" kaya di Indo, tetep aja tugas2 yang ada terasa lumayan banyak dan menyita waktu.

Mungkin dibilang banyak juga ngga sih tapi yang pasti kita harus membaca materi2 kul yang lumayan berjibun agar dapat menjawab pertanyaan di tugas maupun di kelas. So..it's the reading that hurts actually. Bagiku yang sudah sekitar 1,5 taon ngga kul secara nyata, hal ini lumayan bikin kaget coz harus kembali menghadapi bahan2 bacaan berupa teks yang amat melimpah.

Mengenai hal yang ngga kuduga. Salah satunya adalah kecilnya kelas kuliahku. Satu kelas paling banyak cuma berisi anak 10. Itupun bisa berisi anak dari berbagai angkatan dan program studi. Kirain bakal kul dengan temen2 satu prodi eh ternyata dicampur dengan anak2 lain. Yang bikin nyesak adalah fakta bahwa prodi-ku tuk tahun ini cuma terdiri dari 3 orang!!Aslinya sih 4 tapi ada satu temanku yang pindah prodi di-awal2 kuliah. Jadi agak ngiri ma anak2 finance yang persertanya bejibun angkatan ini. The last thing is the fact there is no bule's here in the class. Kebanyakan temen2ku kalo ngga indo (that's why Indonesians are everywhere) ya orang malaysia, cina dan satu2 dari korea dan thailand. So, the asian taste still resides within the class i guess...

I guess that's an intro bout how's things r doing @ campus. Yang terutama sekali harus lebih kuperhatikan adalah fakta bahwa ngga ada hari tanpa belajar disini. Dengan banyaknya bahan bacaan yang diberikan dosen setiap habis kul, tentunya bacaan2 itu harus dicicil satu per satu secara pelan2. Bisa aja sih ngga dibaca tapi tuk kul2 tertentu, hal ini akan membuat anda lebih banyak bengong di kelas karena ngga begitu mengerti apa yang diajarkan dosen. Dengan sudah diberinya silabus oleh dosen, dosen berasumsi bahwa mahasiswa sudah membaca materi yang akan diajarkan hari itu so no excuses @ all..

Walo sudah bilang hal2 itu harus dicicl, tetep aja di kenyataan hal ini terasa begitu menyesakkan. Terutama setelah minggu pertama lewat langsung deh terasa tekanan akan banyaknya tugas, bacaan dan hal2 lain yang harus kukerjakan. It's as if there's little or no time to at least have time for u'r self. Bahkan tuk ngenet sekarang ngga bisa model browsing lama2 kaya biasanya dan harus diakali secara short time sekitar 30 menitan. Kalo ngga gini waktuku bisa habis tuk hal2 yang bukan prioritas.

Hmmm...selama seminggu ini ngga melulu tentang beratnya kul. Ada hal2 lain juga tentunya yang mengasyikkan. Terutama adalah ketika aku menghadiri acaranya AIPSA yang berkepanjangan Association of Indonesian Postgraduate Scholars in Australia (bener ngga >_
For the time being thats all for now. Dengan banyaknya tugas dan rutinitas yang harus kujalani, aku yakin hari2 bakal lewat tanpa terasa. Tapi kalo flash back ketika aku masih menjalani awal2 hariku di Perth, aku mending milih sibuk kaya gini. Paling ngga ada sesuatu yang dikerjain secara nyata. Tentunya aku ngga sekedar berharap hari2 lewat begitu saja tapi aku berharap agar dapat mengisi hari2 kedepan dengan kerja keras nyata agar mendapatkan hasil belajar yang memuaskan. My slacking days have passed and it's time to mature and prepare your future. Dengan begitu jika saatnya aku ketemu semua di Indo, aku bisa bertemu dengan kepala tegak dan penuh kebanggaan, amiiinnn...