BELLAMYBUDIMAN

One of the strange things that I have to live with everyday is the fact that I sneeze every time I ate chocolate. This is true, and I couldn’t even remember when was the first time I had this reaction. And yes, I know that it is strange. Who the hell sneezes over chocolate? Of course that didn’t stop me from eating it, although I always assumed that it was a non-lethal allergy.

I somehow had the urge to Google this up earlier to see if this is in any way, scientifically explainable. Then I came across this article. I was relieved that I’m not the only one.

The condition is called a photic sneeze reflex, which is also the explanation why some people sneeze when looking into the sun (I do, too, except that it is not every time). There is no known cure to this, and it is apparently genetic in nature, not that it’s life-threatening. Then I also realized that this could also be the explanation behind why I sneeze after taking a shower, something that my Dad seemed to exhibit as well. So yeah, it is genetic.

Finally there’s something logical behind the mystery I tried to solve for years! Now I can proudly say that this is scientifically acclaimed! The same situation appeared back then when Arleen and I were debating that contagious yawns are not scientifically explainable. Unfortunately, I lost the debate.

Today is my second day in Singapore, and I’m writing this from the Geek Terminal, supposedly 15 minutes before the ASEANpreneurs event starts. And I’m really enjoying the superb high speed connection here. A true broadband, nonetheless.

As a sidenote, in case you didn’t know, the ASEANpreneurs Youth Leadership Network is an organization created to promote entrepreneurship in the ASEAN region. And their current program is the Alpha Challenge, focused on the young potentials so that they also could become successful entrepreneurs in the future. I was fortunate enough to be invited as one of the speakers in the networking event today.

It’s been almost four years since I went to Singapore, and every time I went here, it always brought me the same fascination. Some say that they who lived here are often complaining because of the strict rules and that Singapore is a “fine” country. You can’t practically do anything without being fined. Okay, maybe I exaggerated, but there are tons of rules here like no littering, no smoking, no illegal street-crossing, no chewing gums, and so on. Maybe the citizens grew tired of the rules, but as for me, it’s a relief from the chaos in Jakarta. To me, Singapore is a heavenly ordered country with clear signages, clean roads, better traffic, and a good neighborhood.

Getting somewhere from anywhere is painless here, the public transportation is second to none, accurate, and somewhat affordable. During my stay here, I rely mostly on MRTs and public buses. Of course, there is one hassle today when I took the wrong bus and went the wrong way =). But that was entirely my fault for not checking the route before going in the bus. Taxis, however, are expensive and not recommended for short trips.

Wayfinding is also terrific, the whole island is packed with free Wi-Fi, and thanks to my friend Dirman Suharno for letting me know about gothere.sg, and thank God for my iPhone, finding my directions on the go is truly a snap! Even my iPhone didn’t require additional settings to use StarHub’s GPRS service. How cool is that?

During my stay here, it feels like I’ve been burning out calories more than I did for a year in Jakarta. Walking from one end of Orchard Road to the other end twice really pulled my leg. But no matter, walking is healthy, and walking for three days straight is a good workout.

I sure wished I could stay here longer, but I’m taking a break in the middle of work. So I have to head home tomorrow and enjoy the world’s best airport just before I have to deal with Soekarno-Hatta and its ugliness. But one thing that I must do before leaving tomorrow is hawking right next to Concorde Hotel (was Le Meridien).

Lastly, given the question “when do you think Jakarta, or in this case, Indonesia could be like Singapore?” I would say… KAPAN-KAPAN!!!

It’s has just been eleven days since the new year’s eve. And from of those days, I spent a day going for a foodtrip in Kelapa Gading, a day going to GKI Kosambi Timur for charity, working, AB’ birthday celebration, and getting sick. And getting sick requires me to be stuck in bed for four days, and another few in the hospital. What a great way to start a new year. All I can say is that my experience in the hospital, is hell.

How did I get illness anyway? Being realistic, just face it, the country is a shitpile, it’s dirty, endemic diseases are everywhere, and cows had to make a living out of a landfill and digest garbage four times. And we could end up eating them, which brings me to a theory on why there’s more over-sensitive Indonesian internet users who thought the internet is not a free public space. Maybe they ate too much of that crap beef burger, I don’t know.

Well side theories aside, I am probably outdone myself prior to the new year by driving and working extensively, sleeping late, waking up late, and lost my stamina in the process. That’s when it hit me.

Having all this made me changed my mind. I simply have to protect my future in any way possible. So I have come up with several things that I MUST do in 2009:

No more sleeping at 2AM and waking up at 10AM on weekdays. This has always been a side effect of having a home-office and overseas clients. I will just have to discipline myself, work on office hours, and that means effectively. So, sorry guys, no more late night boardgames or hangouts. It’s okay to have them, just not too late at night.

Learning to delegate my work properly, get a resonable amount of work per week, and simply manage my projects better. Of course, if only local clients are easy to maintain and less “norak”, this would be so much easier.

No work on weekends at all, spend quality time with my girlfriend, my family, and friends.

Maybe get a Labrador this year instead, and take him walking or running around the complex. Even if I can’t get to do any sports, I could still get a decent workout and go catch some cats to kill. Sorry, I never liked them, and never will. And I still run over them if they cross the street with wrong timing, like they always do. Sorry, neighbors, your cats could just fuck off.

Do some sports, and flat this stomach out.

Plan my vacation way ahead, buy a Canon G10 or something better, and hopefully, go to Melbourne, and enjoy my long-deserved vacation.

No more publication services for church, unless I see fit. Not that I don’t want to serve God, but in reality, God isn’t the one who gets on my nerves everytime I helped. It’s always the people. I’ll probably hand this over to a guy who just tried using corny Keynote effects on presentations for style (oh the humiliation… Keynote… Corny… Please shoot me…), and using a flash soft-cover when taking a picture on an object tens of feet away. Just for laughs. I have Disti in my place in Pemuda, so everything is in good hands, and I’ll help in anyway I can.

And seriously I will have the determination to do this. I’ve done something with perseverance for two years, and it’s proven to be best that ever happened to me. So patience is truly a virtue, and a few resolutions wouldn’t be a problem. I will do my best and try to avoid a screeching halt like this from happening again in my life.

Right now, I am still stuck at the hospital, waiting for the permit to hopefully go home tomorrow. I am also writing this painstakingly on my iPhone and drained a third of its power (thank you, God, for I have none of those stinkin’ Windows Mobile), so I hope there is no error here. If there is, ah, just too bad. And my sincere thank you for all your prayers and supports. Good friends are hard to find and “friends” or even those that I don’t know, or even intend to know, who would only jump for flamatory comments for something the way I express things are just probably chimpanzees with several extra brain cells. No big deal.

And was it a great start of the year? The sickness? Not at all. But let’s not stuck in whatifs like most Indonesians, and let’s grow into humans with no regrets. The past is past and the future is waiting.

See you all when I get back to my normal life.