Palembang POI Survey

We did it! Palembang Point of Interconnection(POI) survey. Well actually we will open POI for all sub-region(Palembang, Lampung, Jambi and Padang). But since I can't leave Palembang, so Palembang POI will do.

What is POI for? Basically it's an interconnection point between operators. So in this case is between HCPT and Telkom for PSTN call. The dimension itself is quite big, we need STM-1 for this interconnection.

So it's for other operators as well? Yes....so we will have POI to other operators(Tsel, XL, Isat, Mob-8, BTel, etc). But Telkom get the priority since call to PSTN is one of the points for Uji Layak Operasi(ULO) from DGPT(Directorate General of Postal and Telecommunication).

What POI indicates? It means that we're getting closer to... *blink*... just wait for the date. Won't miss it though. Marketing people are preparing their campaign.

What else... well I wouldn't miss the chance to look at really running equipment. Well honestly I'm still green in this communication field, but there wow...found TransExpress, HiT 7050, and also Alcatel radio equipment.
Not to mention people from different operators: Mobile-8, Bakrie Telecom, and Sinar Mas Telecom. Wow.. Palembang will get more crowded these months.

Posted some pictures from POI survey on http://www.flickr.com/photos/karduz.

Monday Horror Movie Review

**Spoiler Alert** I try my best not to overexpose the plot, but I can't guarantee that this blog entry is spoiler free. If you object to this, please ignore and go watch some porn instead.

And this Monday movie reviews are Angkerbatu and The Messengers.

Starting with the local first: Angkerbatu
This movie is telling the story about place named Angkerbatu. Yes the place is mentioned in other two previous movies(Jelangkung and Tusuk Jelangkung), and this movie also have the same producer. Starred by Yama Carlos(I don't know his previous filmography), and Mieke Amalia(from the most celebrated Indonesia's sitcom: Extravaganza). The other are not too significant.

Ok guys to the point, this movie is bad! For the most spoiler...this is a failure immitation of Silent Hill. It tells story about Angkerbatu town that become empty after some deforestation act which is said to disturb the kingdom of ghost.

The ghost effect is bad. The actors and actresses are never in mortal danger at all! The cinematography also bad, it keeps displaying unneccessary events and headache-making scenes.

First example: This movie soooo concerns with the main actor(Yama Carlos). The scene when the actor was unbuttoning his shirt is made close up and camera was following the act to display the bare chest and flat stomach(good feature, I have to admit). Oh come on! We're on horror movie here, not on Another Gay Movie! Also in the ends the actor was marked with some scratches and torn clothes(again to show good looking chest), but in the previous act was as the actor was being punched not scratched. Geezz.... I curious if the director is straight or gay.
Come on....I was looking for some emancipation and expecting Mieke bare-chesting too... =P(and running bare-chest-without-bra chased by bunch of ghosts... yum...bounce up ... bounce down...)!

Second example: The ghost feature is Ring and The Grugde alike. Worse, the cinematography shows as if the scenes are unconnected. One time they're on hotel cafetaria with bright lighting, and suddenly the ghost appears from the stair and the lighting is dark. Some logic please! Turn off the lamp first!

If we should remember the glorious Jelangkung. We all remember how we get scared by the simplest of things. When the child appears on the side of the road on their way back to Angkerbatu, or the TV-watching scenes(when Winky's brother appears twice). That was scary.

The conclusion is the producers must be crazy minded expecting he could sell movie like this. He's keep digging from once glorious past and expecting to find some more treasure. If the producer want some more money just re-release Jelangkung with Winky's shirtless scene. It would be goood(I don't recall him ever being shirtless), the girls must be go crazy and went to lalala land.

How could?!?

How could at the first time this gay bule came to Palembang, he already found sleeping partner? Explanation would be internet of course, the place where you could practically sell yourself.

The living blanket was smooth, slim, girlish 19 y'ol boy.... hoh... typical happy gay teens.

The ho..ho.. part is that this bule is HIV+!!!!

What I cann't understand is how could this 19 y'ol boy is following him everwhere, even moving to other province!

Yo ho boy, don't you get anything to do beside getting somethin stickin up u'r ass? I do suggest you try college, it's healthier, and more fruitful later.

The other things that I don't understand is having sex with HIV+ person. Sure, condom campaign mentioned "Condom is 98.99% effective in dealing with HIV transmission ho..ho..ho..". Yeah but still the other 1.01% could deliver lifetime consequences. If I were the boy, I would require veerrryyy long thought before jumpin into bed. But this? At the first night they meet(since this bule just came to Palembang for the first time)? Love at the first sight? Aaawww so sweet.... damned foolish though.

The other ho..ho.. is that this bule is married(with another guy) in Thailand!

I don't understand the boy's thought. And I don't understand the bule as well.

I mean ooh come on.... at least show to other people that gay can be responsible and monogamous. Not to brag "Hey I already have sleeping mate since the Indonesians always drooling for imported meat" in front of the whole office! Ooooh puh leeeassseee.....

And the Indonesians.... aaa elaaah.... cape deee.....

Company sialan!

Udah cape2 gw daftar jadi instruktur Binus Center... udah cape2 ikut tes... udah cape2 dapet jadwal Sabtu-Minggu.... eeeh mau dipindahin tempat..... syalan...syalan!!!!

Padahal pingin dapet uang jajan lebih.... hiks....

Congrats Harry!

You deserved it! After long and tiresome seven volume of books nevertheless fun, I guess I have to let you go with your own life. And leave me with mine, not to mention it's nothing compared to yours.

I realized, with friends like yours, who couldn't do anything in the world? Even facing the Dark Lord himself. Unfortunately, in my world, it would be considered a miracle if someone has friends like yours, with spirit to sacrifice him/herself for other's good. With strong loyalty which can even shake adult's heart.

I remembered how it all began, with you were having nothing leaving a cupboard under the stairs. But in the ends.... I must say... I'm happy too.

Sekayu-Palembang

Last wednesday, I took a trip to Sekayu, a city lies west of Palembang. The trip supposed to be hunting for site, but of course I took it merely for vacational purpose =D. Sekayu is the furthest site of our planned network.

During the trip there, on the car, the driver and SITAC personnel kept telling me when we passed by our site. "Here is site XXXXX, the ground clearing is already done", they said. And I still amazed to see the sites on the real world, for all this time I always stare at dots on map and dealing with technical-analytical data only.

Sekayu is a small city, but kind of elite actually. The city is full of huge and beautiful governmental complex. The soccer stadium and aquatic center are superb. The swimming pool is ITB-alike (raised up from the ground level), with jumping tower for diving (also like ITB). The one that make the complex more beautiful than ITB is the podium for viewer circling the pool. ITB's pool doesn't have viewer podium.

Around maghrib time, the situation was serene. Everything seems to move so slowly, unlike the situation in Palembang. Everybody was walking, eating meatballs, cycling, and gossiping in front of their homes.

It always nice to see new place, can wait to see the others.

Note: 5 new pictures added to here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/karduz

Nokia Siemens Networks, meeting with management

Today, at Horison Palembang, so basically we only worked for half day, hahahahaha......

Already for the second time we had these occasions, the first time was held in Aston Hotel.
The prime star was no other than Stephan Ciesleski(mind the spelling, quite cute guy though), the one who cut my contract value by 80.000 IDR hahahaha.... head of service sub-reg Indonesia.

But surprisingly enough, one of the point that mentioned was NSN is moving to become IT company! With communication trend moving towards IP Multimedia Subystem, at 2010 the vision of NSN is to connect 5 billion people with always-on communication system. Of course at that time all communication device will be expected to be based on IP.
To make things serious, the salary survey which is conducted to determine new harmonization of Nokia-Siemens employee's salary will be based on both telecommunication and IT industries.

Instead of the look from the outside, the guys really try to make the merger works, although I believe some of the comment made from the management is "tai kucing dibelai2" =P.

At that meeting, I also realized... when I met with other people from other project(Indosat and Telkomsel), hey... I already know some of them. We can talk and laugh together. It's like coming to a reunion. I wonder...how come I can get this far?

However, the effect of merger is not so good as management campaigned about. For the employees, we have little increment in salary(that's why Tetty bailed out, I suppose). We now are also facing difficulties to get overtime(must be approved by Stephan). For the subcons, they also are forced to accept offer with lower value(since the numbers of vendors are become lesser, while the projects number are limited).

I dunno, but Hutch now demands little surprise that requires much effort and miracle(I wonder, are their 3 really good in marketing?). Just wait for the showtime.

Live to the fullest?

I envy some people who have no regret on their life.

They think that their life is the best,
that their current job is the best no matter how big or small the salary is,
that their soulmate is the best no matter what other people say,
that their body is something to be proud of,
that they have something to give to this world.

I envy some people who have decision on their live, proud of their choice, and never look back and mourn for what've been lost.

whether to choose the right subject of study,
whether to choose the right job,
whether to choose the right soulmate.

I've lived so long,
have I already made my choice?
Do I have the courage to make one?

Why every morning, I always whine
"Life is difficult"
"How difficult my life is"
so everybody around me are getting bored of my whining?

What if someday my live cease to exist? Will I have some regret?
Unfortunately, my current answer is yes.
So many things left undone, so many places to be seen, so many things need to be learned.

But I don't have the courage to make my own decision, perhaps someday I will.
I have to get stronger so I can defend my decision with my own strength and live my decision to the fullest.
Perhaps I'm still young afterall.

Busy...busy...lazy...lazy

So many people resigned! Including Tetty... so basically nobody for curhat session anymore.
So many to do.. because our new target to on-air some sites on August(some speed boost on previous November target).

I have to do some rerouting on previous plan, to cope with the demand of on air for already finished construction sites. To make things more difficult, we have to keep equipment number same as previous.

And for the left over sites, they're really difficult sites. Issues are rising and the most popular is to co-locate with other operator(we rent the space of other operator's tower). And of course this will take longer time since we have to contact their management on Jakarta.

Not to mention that Nokia already "invaded" our work space. At the beginning of this week we were constantly visited by Nokia Zone Manager. Hell a lot to learn from him tough, smart local guy. He said that for each zone, he once only had one planning(compare to six on Siemens). He very concerned about problematic sites and put a lot attention on it.

On-air could be interesting, that's why I decided still to stay on-board.

PS: I'm replaying Diablo II! To fill this empty space on my heart. Wkwkwkwkw......

"May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?"

When religious people talks about free sex, and homosexuality, they almost for sure will point to Sodom case. When God considered sin of Sodom so griveous that He swept the whole city with fury.

Yes indeed, that's the story. God's angels went down to the city and found Lot and his family. Because of Lot's righteousness, the angels led them out to safety, while God rained down His wrath upon Sodom and Gomora.

Religious people considers the story as forewarning against free sex and homosexuality. They condemns these acts and the people who commit it.

But that's not the only Sodom's story. Let me take you to one chapter before the destruction of Sodom. When God conversed with Abraham.
God told Abraham about his plan to eradicate Sodom. And Abraham complained whether God would swept away the righteous people too if there were 50 righteous people in the city, which indicated that God would treat the righteous and the wicked alike.
God told Abraham, if He found 50 righteous people in the city, He would spare the city.
And Abraham pleaded for 45.
And God agreed with 45.
And Abraham pleaded for 30.
And God agreed with 30.
And Abraham pleaded for 20.
And God agreed with 20.
And Abraham pleaded for 10.
And God agreed with 10.

Abraham had a good point here. So wicked the city was, there must be some righteousness that priceless to fight for. Even for Abraham, 10 righteous people could save the whole city. Abraham didn't fight for rage against evil. It was easy for him to despise the city's crime and told God "Just send them to hell as they deserve it", but instead of cursing and hating, Abraham pleaded for Sodom and Gomora. The whole city! Not only for righteous one.

And what Abraham sowed? When God overturned Sodom and Gomora, He remembered Abraham and He brought Lot to safety.

Sodom and Gomora is not only story about God's hatred for sins. It's also about the man's capacity to forgive and give mercy. The destruction and vengeance upon sin is upon God's hand. But instead Abraham did what a man can do. He pleaded to God to put away His anger for the sake of some good. He pleaded in the name of 10 righteous people for the sake of two cities.

If Abraham didn't do that, would God remember him and save Lot?

It's common now that religious men often play god. They curse, hate and despise hooker, gay, lesbian, transexual, and many more. They forget that perhaps the only way God remember them is through mercy and love. They forgot the destruction of Sodom and Gomora was on God's hand, but plea for mercy came from Abraham, our kin, a man.

Nationalism and globalization

"Kita harus menyatakan haram untuk penjualan tanah kepada pihak asing! Dapatkah kita melakukan hal itu?" I heard that sentence from grand mosque in Sawah Lunto area when I did Padang-Road trip 2006.

And at that time until now, my brain have been busy arguing on the morale aspect.
Do we truly have nationalism in our heart? When will we kick out the expat from our country?
It seems true tough, that the expats are always treated like king, and our countrymen are always treated as cheap labour.

I am working at not-so-local-company, but "ngaku2-nya konten lokal".
When I saw the BAK(Berita Acara Kesepakatan) between HCPT and land owner(for lease their land in order to build BTS) there is this clause that sounds funny:
"The landowner is obliged to renew the rent period with maximum increment of 10% to HCPT after the current rent period is expired"
Note the obliged word. After I talk to Site Acquisition Dept., it truly means that the landowner is forced to continue the rent with max 10% increment value!
Until when? nobody knows, until the landowner is gone perhaps.

Is it fair? Does it mean that the land is sold in a not-so-direct-way?

But when I see the reality... sometimes the landowner is so poor so they almost "beg" us to use his land. Trully sometimes my surveyor doesn't have the heart to reject the site. But I have the heart to do so since I rarely meet the landowner.

Why i do so? Because it's part of my jobdesk to ensure that the network that will be built will be cost efficient and fulfill the KPI. I do it only for small or even disposable amount of money compares to the overall project budget.

Look how embarrased I am, and I even have to fight for salary increment. And my manager who also an Indonesian can't grant good enumeration, since the management already spent a lot of money on expat.

What the expat is good at? I said nothing, because here, the AM is a burden to local people. I prefer local managers as the consider us as friends instead of boss-officeboy.

I am truly speechless, but we know that expat is invading the job competition in Indonesia, since their job market in Europe and America are decreasing. And unfortunately, they have an advantage(by being an expat!).

Fight harder! but also learn from them to become smart.

New pants

And the whole office knows! Everywhere people are saying "hey, new pants" or "new pants.. new pants". It's just a pair of ordinary-style jeans. I wonder how boring my everyday clothes are.

A week after American Idol, in Indonesia unfortunately

Yes, I realize what Pinky has written 'bout a week after American Idol.
But, we also lived in a week after American Idol.

This week, seems dull, but full of surprise.

The beginning of this week, we had a bunch of email talking about our contract expiration. Our team assistant in Jakarta tried her best to convince us to keep working(since she always taking good care of us), and explain the reason why our contract was late(mainly because NSN).

Tuesday, we received invitation from Lampung Tata Kota to discuss about tower sharing in Lampung. All operators should use a common tower instead building its own tower. My boss, Radio Planning, and Backbone planner with Site Acquisition manager than went to Lampung immediately. On transmission, I was left behind to handle the office works.

Wednesday, our office electricity was cut off. Hahahaha what a shameful moment, luckily there was no subcon. It happened because we owed one month electricity bill to PLN(although we already asked to PLN, and PLN said they will give us two months compensation). The number is not too big(compared to other bills), its just about 1.8 mil. Eventough the bill was paid, the mood of our office dropped to almost zero.

Unfortunately, at the same time, Hutch from Medan came. Sh!t, and at afternoon(when I wanted to go home), I was called to present Backbone issue to Hutch. I was furious!!!! I hate backbone issue so much, since it's outside my jobdesk. And to add some sh!t, I was wearing oblong(crew neck shirt from Giordano, buy 3 with special price)! Given the hell, I went to the meeting and talked sh1t. Luckily the Hutch is not as horrible as I think(although I wanted to punch the second guy), and they're convinced.... hoorrraay!

That day I learned, Hutch want 70% of Sumatera sites to be on aired on August.

And that day I also learned how managers tried they very hard to show the good from the garbage(70% on-air on August? It's like wishing upon a dead star-you will get deadly luck instead of impossible luck).

Unlike the look from outside, NSN merger process make all money related matter becomes difficult. The subcons are not paid even for jobs done at phase 1(Java). How could you expect them to continue building site for phase 2? They even have money problem to get the building permit(IMB).

Thursday, the last day, I also was wearing oblong(again because there're still two left, remember 3 at special price?), waiting for complain from my area manager because Hutch was still lurking in our office. But wew... no complain(and I will buy another three with different colour).
At afternoon I received first phone call for high management to ask about BOQ. I made a bit mistake when posted it, luckily no blood was spilled.

What a week, not to mention contract problem(Tetty knows more about it, since I've not yet seen my new contract).

Adventurous girls and project boys

Yesterday, as I was watching American Idol prime time with Hafizh ndud, we received phone call from one the manager in Palembang office(and one of the handsome-st too). He asked us if we could join him to dinner. It was a dilemma between American Idol and free dinner offer. But at the end, we decided to accept the offer.

What a suprise, as we opened the car's door, there was two girls.. quite sexy... and quite wild(in fashion, and talk-style). OMG, no wonder we were asked to join him.

During the way, as we spoke, the girls were coming from nowhere but Bandung! They were singers at Charlie(the most-crowded-by-Siemens-HCPT-Palembang-stressed-people place, beside it's a pub at Aston Palembang). They're staying in Palembang for one month and staying @ Aston!

That makes me realize, that sometimes there are good jobs behind the cover(they stay at Aston for one month.. one month.. one month). During the talk, they also mentioned show at Bintan resort. OMG, I want to be a nightclub singer!
And to mention yesterday night's dress code was army =P~

But nay, nothing happened, we just dropped them by the hotel and went to grab heavy-subsidized dinner at ricebowl(guess who paid...yuppeee).

In the end, we and the girls are the same, we go to far place, far away from our family just to buy some bread for the day(and of course some diamond for the future). It's just perhaps, we are all on different adventure.

Reorganizing My Social Life

Kind of mess right now, I'm losing friends outside the working environment, I have no church life, and I couldn't go to Jakarta for my high school-buddy's birthday.

So, the first step is to "rekindle" the spirit(I need a life consultant maybe... hahahaha). I begin with reading emails containing junks, gossips, one liners, job-in-a-sack-offers at if01.
And I think, as ridiculous as it seems, maybe I should follow their lead sometimes.

I got one that took my interest. One day, I realized that one of my Y!M list used flickr as his status(Mr. Fariday, you know.. the famous physicist), and soon I learned, hey good website. I uploaded some photos, and even registered them to a group named "Palembang" (dull-almost-inactive group which only contains 3 photos). And guess what, today as I checked, there are some views noted on my photos... hooraaay........

And I'm cheering over some un-reallife-online-only experience. How lunatic.....
And I even start to blog.. crap!

Dota 6.28

Keluar lagi d map baru... bikin ribut ajah. Lumayan banyak tweaking-nya termasuk mode-mode baru. Yg lumayan hero-hero imba di nerf.. yah lumayan lah. Assasinate ada icon-nya... asyiiik... yah iyalah imba banget kalo nda ada. Jadi inget kemaren pake Yunero, gw di-assasinate terus gw muter2. Eh koq nda damage yah? Apa error? Tapi yg jelas gw yakin bet kalo assasinatenya nda damage.
Avatar of vengeance lumayan tuh.. tinggal hantuin orang.. terus kalo dah dikit maju en ngejer. Kayanya sih maennya gitu. Kemaren dah coba dikombo pake BF lumayan juga. Belum nyoba kalo pake radiance. Yg keren kalo banyak monster yg meninggal dunia bersamaan(di echo slam ato diapain keq). Itu wah.. banyak arwah euy...