I Hate Quotes

I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair.

I hate the way you drive my car.

I hate it when you stare.

I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind.

I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme.

I hate it, I hate the way you're always right.

I hate it when you lie.

I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.

I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call.

But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

Yes, yes. It's a direct quote from the teenage-romance-comedy drama in the 90s with title "10 Things I Hate About You" that has been my favorite drama since I first saw it in junior high school (it was year 2000 something actually, but not really too late I guess). This "I hate(s) quotes" are really implicating my earlier life while I was still a teenager and somehow cute to be heard. Well, I have this guilty pleasure that in my age (I'm 23, remember?) I still love to watch teenage drama - especially school drama - that involves girls romance story stuff. Mean Girls, Bring It On(s) and Step Up(s) are my absolute favorite.

The Stratford sisters of the "10 Things I Hate About You".

Okay, I'm embarrassed.

How's Life?

I'M STILL ALIVE! So sorry for not writing too much lately because I've been soooo busy trying to fit in on my first months. You know, the job isn't really alike with how I was pictured it before coming to this place. It's waaaay busier than I thought it was. So it's been 2 months since my last post about my life before I got moved from Medan to Padang. Yeah. Padang. I've never dreamed about this before but here I am. Still in Sumatra, and well, still *cough* in HSE. Padang is so much different from Medan. The culture, the people, the traffic (Oh! I have to blab about traffic, huh), the food.. but unfortunately, the punctuality issue is apparently the same. :( So how's life in Padang?

From here I'll continue in Bahasa Indonesia. I add picture everywhere so everyone still can enjoy it, no? ;)

Foto ini diambil pas saya masih di hotel (belum tinggal di rumah dinas).

Once Upon A Time in Medan

There are a lot of story that I really want to publish (and delayed - and cancelled) here mainly about my life as a Medan citizen. But well, here are some pictures, and I will make it as short as possible - although it still long and has a lot of images. Be prepared!

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Medan. Pertama dengar nama itu, yang langsung terlintas di benak adalah: orang Batak! Hohoho. Maaf lho, tidak bermaksud SARA sih. Tapi seperti kebanyakan orang lainnya, kurasa hal itulah yang langsung terlintas di benak hampir setiap orang Indonesia - Jawa khususnya. Medan, yang pertama kudengar adalah betapa kerasnya kehidupan di sana. Orang-orangnya, lalu-lintasnya, dan juga *ehem* harganya. Hal itu membuat saya kikuk juga pada awalnya. Tapi yasudahlah. Kebetulan ada 6 orang yang seangkatan yang ditempatkan di Medan pada bulan Desember 2012 itu. Dua di antaranya (termasuk saya) adalah perempuan. So I was glad that I wasn't alone.

Hari pertama memang selalu jadi yang terberat, apalagi di tempat baru dan asing. Dengan berbekal segala sugesti dan asumsi, mau gak mau kita tetap harus berani menyongsongnya. Kalau enggak, kita akan semakin lama untuk beradaptasi. Tapi di Medan kasusnya agak lain. Gak cuma hari pertama, minggu-minggu pertama itu saya cukup dibuat pusing dengan beberapa hal. Misalnya:

1

Transportasi

Bentor dan angkot, sebagai dua jenis angkutan umum populer di Medan, itu mirip banget kelakuannya dengan Bajaj. Sudah ngebut, kebal aturan pula. Kadang parno sendiri tiap abis naik bentor atau angkot di sini karena kecepatan jalannya udah kayak orang balapan. Dan klakson, di sini klakson itu murah banget! Sedikit aja jalanan terhambat, semua kendaraan membunyikan klakson. Apa gak pusing? Tapi setelah beberapa hari, terutama sekarang ini saat saya udah gak di Medan, saya kangen juga naek bentor. Abis, itu memang kendaraan yang paling gampang ditemui di Medan. Mau ke mana-mana gampang, karena dia prinsipnya persis Bajaj. Ditawar dulu harganya di depan, baru kalau udah deal, langsung cabcus deh ke tempat yang dituju. Apa gak praktis?

Growing Artsy

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. - Pablo Picasso -

Ever since I was a little kid, I used to have this imagination, that someday I will have a big printing company, producing lots of books (with pictures in it), be a part of magazine, and an art gallery that exhibits my artworks. But time flies and my interests have been growing, from medical to architectural, from comic to illustration, from chemistry to computational chemistry (it's fun thing to know that I don't have to do any lab works; I know, I'm a lazy-bone :]), and sometimes in the opposite direction. Also, I have a huge interest in biochemistry and molecular biology. You know it's a very interesting science stuff, mainly the immunology, knowing that you can actually fight a lot of disease just by modifying its arrangement at the smallest molecular level.. it's just priceless. Not that I'm the smartest kid in this field (in fact I only have the interest, not really the knowledge). See I have a lot of interests except anything sporty (I don't even understand soccer!duh).

Okay, but still, journalistic is the best field for me (come on, I'm a blogger and I do advertisement like in my whole time).