Hi

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so I've no reason to come back here and post something actually, it's just that I figured I had a few things to say and share and it would be nice for me to put it down.

So what's been happening? For starters, I'm engaged now! I proposed to my girlfriend on 31 December 2013 and we're going to get married and the end of this year. So right now, there's quite a mess going on, trying to sort out where the weddings will be and who's attending and what's happening in general.

Weddings here are huge apparently. Her family wants a 1,500 person wedding. Which ... seems really out of this world. Personally, both of us were only planning to have a quiet 150 person wedding - perhaps in Bali or Singapore, or a nice destination wedding. Of course though, the family wants none of that, and thus, things are now under the control of my future mother-in-law :'(

How's work? Work's been pretty good... I'm now managing the business development of the company. Before that, I was managing the operations... but apparently I am more inclined to doing business and well, have been given this position. Given that I'm in a non-revenue generating start up, most of my work revolves around cutting out new partnerships, and potential clients. Which is pretty fun, but because it's never been done before here and in the way we're doing it, there's really no benchmark or best practice to follow. It's very "do what you want, just get the deal done".

I still play poker though, although not as much as I would like to play. I don't really have much time, and even less now with the wedding and work happening.... sometimes I still dream of poker, or just wish I could have a couple of days off to play poker. But idle days off are a thing of the past, I either traveling somewhere, or have friends around, or something is happening - so holidays aren't really restful...

Life has been very good to me. I've been lucky and fortunate to have what I have today... but sometimes, you want a little bit more. But I think, regardless of what I have, I'll always want more, but I'll always try and remember, that you have achieved what you've achieved, not because of who you are, but because fortune favors you.

Yes... I still listen to music :)

Maybe I'll see you in a month or so... I plan to keep a blog of this wedding process planning.

Things that I have learnt

1. Mother-in-laws that don't like you, can and will still get excited about weddings
2. Wedding planners charge a hell of a lot of money
3. If you push yourself hard enough ,night and day, weekend and weekday all blur together and your only friend is coffee and cigarettes....
 

More tired than I realized

Well... it's not that I haven't had time to blog, it's more of that I haven't had anything to blog about. Traveling up and down gives me pretty interesting things at work. But outside work, I've had the opportunity to meet some very interesting people, as well as to be in very interesting situations.

Firstly, have I mentioned how Indonesian friends are very excited about introducing you to a potential partner if they like you? :) It's a very good way and apparently the best way to meet new potential partners in Indonesia. Forget about online dating and algorithms, networking into a relationship is the best thing to do here. In fact, your friends will also arrange the dinner venue, post dinner activities, etc, you just need to show up.

I have also been thinking about getting a new handphone to replace my BlackBerry which is dying... and... I'm going to replace it with another BlackBerry. Yes, I know RIM is dying, and that BlackBerries are so 2000, and that they suck. But I have several very valid reasons

1. Just about everybody carries a BlackBerry in Indonesia. You want to meet people? Expect that they will use BlackBerry Messenger to chat with you. In fact, not only do they carry a BlackBerry, I've met people that carry TWO Blackberries.

2. There is no equal handphone for serious chatting and messaging. The BlackBerry keyboard beats a touchscreen handphone, regardless of whether you're using Swype or any of the other keyboards on the iPhone or Android.

3. BlackBerries are generally cheaper than other phones.

4. I can get an extended battery for the BlackBerry. Yes, I know SEIDIO also carries batteries for other phones, but because other phones are generally larger, with the extended battery, the phone becomes significantly larger.

For the record, I also have a Samsung Galaxy S3 :P So, I think if you've got a decent phone, a BlackBerry in Indonesia as a second phone is a pretty good idea.

Other that, yeah, the rest of the past several weeks have generally been the same. Quiet when I'm not in Jakarta but a lot more activities here.

Oh, yes, I didn't realize how tired I was until I slept at 1am, and my handphone died so the alarm didn't go off. Ended up waking up at 12.... guess I should be getting more sleep more often.

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Lumin8 feat. Sahana - Here with me (Alex Junkie & Defekt remix)

Where am I?

Yes yes, I'm still alive. Most bloggers tend to drop off the Earth after starting a new job or moving countries, but rest assured. I'm still alive. So what have I been up to?

I've been spending my time between Singapore and the project site - which breaks down to 4/5 days at project site, and 2/3 days in Singapore. It's pretty tiring since I have to catch the 7.30am flight on Mondays and usually get back past 11pm on a Thursday/Friday.

You tend to develop certain habits after staying a the same hotel for a long time, sometimes, even in the same room. 3 pears/3 apples everyday, the Wall Street Journal, an extra bottle of water... stuff like that. It's not to say the most fun kind of lifestyle to have, you're dependent on local friends to take you out, since it really isn't safe where I am.

So most of your nights are spent either in the hotel room, or at the hotel bar talking with women on the prowl for their next customer. It's not that bad (I'm on the first name basis with a few of them), but it gets boring if you're not interested in their services and they're always trying to get you to buy them a drink.

What am I doing? Well, I'm helping do business development, not focused on sales and marketing, but instead on building the business further in terms of "how" "who" "what" and "why". Am I enjoying myself? Pretty much so, I find it interesting, and I'm learning a lot. Thankfully, I'm fortunate that my boss is a good person, who is willing to share what he knows and help me develop my own skills further.

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Micki Ninja - Startships (Juvenile remix)

Download link? Click on Slow download

Hello

Hello and welcome :)

I've just moved to Singapore (last Sunday) from Beijing, China and am planning to stay for a while. Unfortunately, I can't really talk about what I do - except that it's with the Internet - as I'm not allowed to talk about my work (as per according to the contract that I signed).

But that aside, let's enjoy the ride that Singapore will be for the next couple of years.

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Hixxy - Sora Blue