Seven years later, 2017 is ending.
Looking back at my log, so many things have changed. And many dreams have been forgotten. I'm happy that I made this log; I realized what I used to want so much, I don't even think about anymore. Things we currently consider important, might not matter at all. Feelings, sadness, anxiety, all of it is so temporary, I can't believe I used to spend so much energy on it.
Europe and getting my master's degree for instance. I no longer think about this. The old company I made with my university friends: I don't even know how it's going. Only two out of the original eight still remain.
One thing that I did from my previous post: "career ladder" - I listed it as a "top priority" in my last post. I guess I really did focus on that, and I think it paid off. Seven years ago I unexpectedly got hired at the lowest level position in the biggest US bank (Indonesia branch, of course), then I moved to the biggest Australian bank, then to the third biggest bank in Singapore. And soon, in early 2018 I will be moving to one of the big four audit companies, not as an auditor, but as a management consultant.
Biggest and scariest career move so far. I never dreamed of getting in this company because I don't fit the criteria. They only accept people from the top universities or from abroad, and even then, only the best GPAs. I didn't go to any top Indonesia university, and making it even worse, my GPA was shit (hmm, I even wrote about my shit GPA in my 2009 post)!
But I guess I have really matured and I realized have so much to be thankful for. Adapt, improvise!
Sometimes I can't believe I have money now. I can buy anything I want. I didn't have that as a child, even now when I go the convenience store, I feel so much joy buying small things like ice cream.
And finally, I also have my own family. Complete with a wife and a kid. My child is three years old now. Her life and future is in my hands. I have accepted that it is no longer about me. Sacrifices must be made.
In 2013 I started another "log" on an app called Day One (and I also never update it), so I guess this is my last post here. I never linked or posted this blog anywhere, because I treated it as my personal diary. Six posts in ten years: turns out I'm not a diary-kind-of-guy.
I'll just use this Blogger account to comment on interesting blogs. Wait, it's 2017, do people still use Blogspot?
December 20, 2017
September 18, 2010
It's 2010 Now
This is a becoming a trend. Writing in my log book once a year. It's stupid and completely defeats the purpose of having a log book. Let's just summarize the events happening between the previous blog post and this one.
Backpacking around Europe. I think Americans and people from other rich countries don't understand how lucky they are. As a person that was born in a poor country, oh the hoops they make you go through just to get a visa. You basically have to prove that you're not going to be an illegal immigrant, or a fucking terrorist - and even after that, they still search for reasons to bar you from visiting.
I wanted to become a backpacker for a month. The fat lady at the counter said, "You just don't fit the profile." And just like that. One dream goes down the drain.
My start up company. We were expanding. Really, really expanding, way more than just working on web projects. We had partnerships with government companies, big shot media guys, and such and such. Still, working project by project, turns out did not really fit me. Deep down, I wanted to work corporate, at a multinational company.
Then boom. A big American bank offered me a position as an intern. I had to try out, obviously. At first, I tried to balance between the start up and the internship. But alas, I had to choose one. I chose the multinational.
Looking back, I think I made the right decision. I am now an officer at the bank, working as sort of a data analyst. I hope to make assistant manager by next year. This was a bank with a really big reputation. One of the huge banks that got a bail out from the US government back in 2008. Working here also seemed to make my parents proud. And of course, in every conversation, people would say "Wow!" rather than, "Oh, freelance."
Getting a "real" job also is one of the reasons I say that my dream of backpacking around Europe is down the gutter. Because now, there is no way I can get 30 days off to go on vacation. Made me bitter, really.
What's next for me? Climbing up the career ladder of course is top priority. But I also want to continue my studies. Where? You guessed it: Europe. I'm starting to learn German using the Internet now. Even changed my BlackBerry's language settings to German.
There is still time to dream. Signing off.
Backpacking around Europe. I think Americans and people from other rich countries don't understand how lucky they are. As a person that was born in a poor country, oh the hoops they make you go through just to get a visa. You basically have to prove that you're not going to be an illegal immigrant, or a fucking terrorist - and even after that, they still search for reasons to bar you from visiting.
I wanted to become a backpacker for a month. The fat lady at the counter said, "You just don't fit the profile." And just like that. One dream goes down the drain.
My start up company. We were expanding. Really, really expanding, way more than just working on web projects. We had partnerships with government companies, big shot media guys, and such and such. Still, working project by project, turns out did not really fit me. Deep down, I wanted to work corporate, at a multinational company.
Then boom. A big American bank offered me a position as an intern. I had to try out, obviously. At first, I tried to balance between the start up and the internship. But alas, I had to choose one. I chose the multinational.
Looking back, I think I made the right decision. I am now an officer at the bank, working as sort of a data analyst. I hope to make assistant manager by next year. This was a bank with a really big reputation. One of the huge banks that got a bail out from the US government back in 2008. Working here also seemed to make my parents proud. And of course, in every conversation, people would say "Wow!" rather than, "Oh, freelance."
Getting a "real" job also is one of the reasons I say that my dream of backpacking around Europe is down the gutter. Because now, there is no way I can get 30 days off to go on vacation. Made me bitter, really.
What's next for me? Climbing up the career ladder of course is top priority. But I also want to continue my studies. Where? You guessed it: Europe. I'm starting to learn German using the Internet now. Even changed my BlackBerry's language settings to German.
There is still time to dream. Signing off.
January 11, 2009
It's 2009 Already
I haven't written on this log for a really long time. It's already 2009 now. So much has passed. I'm gonna try to sum up the remaining months of 2008 into this one post.
Months ago, around April, midway of doing my final paper, I resigned from my part time job. Well I can't really call it resigning. One day I just told my bosses that I was taking leave to work on my paper. After two weeks, I really didn't have the motivation to return. Other factors had a part: like the fact that there was no real contract or anything, and, also because I was so excited about the new company we started, well, I just never came back.
Jumping to around August, after finishing my final paper, I had to defend it against a panel of lecturers, you know, the usual stuff. The lecturer who "sponsored" my final paper was really excited, and told me that mine was really good. The panel consisted of three old guys, two of them gave me top points, but the third geezer, damn that man, I suspect he gave me the minimum score, just to stop me from getting an A. So the result was that I got a stupid B for this six credit paper.
Having finished all this, I was now done with my undergraduate studies, I was happy and relieved, obviously. I only needed to wait for my graduation and bachelor's degree. I spent my days playing games at home, but I also started to really work on my new company. There were eight of us in the beginning. I was in charge of the web division, which was good, considering I loved the Internet. I didn't start applying for jobs yet.
Ooh yeah, The Rice Project did not come through. But we delivered around three websites that payed okay, but it did not pay well enough for me to get any cash from it. That's the risk of being a new company, I thought back then.
Now let's jump to a couple of days before December 2008, I had the graduation ceremony on that day. I wasn't super happy though, my GPA was a shithouse number below 3.0 - that worried me. Around that moment, I was already looking around for jobs and sending my resume everywhere. Also, the company had a decent number of clients, but was financially always in the red, not even close to making real profits. Which meant: still no money for me.
New years eve 2009. I spent it with high school friends at a hotel in one of the satellite towns just off Jakarta. Just a very small group of close old friends, partying at a decent but not too crowded hotel. Strangely, the dance floor seemed to have more hotel employees dancing than guests. Had some fun.
Now, the present. Currently I am working on a new project for an old client. It's going alright. But the thing that is currently always on my mind is: backpacking. My mom gave me a book about somebody "traveling around Europe with only $1000" - an amount I can realistically acquire. I read it, and was intrigued. So I've started planning for it: just backpacking a month around Europe, using the Eurail train system, sleeping in strangers houses. I set a date: the second week of March this year. I have never gone backpacking - and I have never gone to Europe. I haven't done anything significant after graduating, so this might be something new that I can try.
Well, that sums up 2008 and the first week of 2009. Hopefully I'll remember to update more.
Months ago, around April, midway of doing my final paper, I resigned from my part time job. Well I can't really call it resigning. One day I just told my bosses that I was taking leave to work on my paper. After two weeks, I really didn't have the motivation to return. Other factors had a part: like the fact that there was no real contract or anything, and, also because I was so excited about the new company we started, well, I just never came back.
Jumping to around August, after finishing my final paper, I had to defend it against a panel of lecturers, you know, the usual stuff. The lecturer who "sponsored" my final paper was really excited, and told me that mine was really good. The panel consisted of three old guys, two of them gave me top points, but the third geezer, damn that man, I suspect he gave me the minimum score, just to stop me from getting an A. So the result was that I got a stupid B for this six credit paper.
Having finished all this, I was now done with my undergraduate studies, I was happy and relieved, obviously. I only needed to wait for my graduation and bachelor's degree. I spent my days playing games at home, but I also started to really work on my new company. There were eight of us in the beginning. I was in charge of the web division, which was good, considering I loved the Internet. I didn't start applying for jobs yet.
Ooh yeah, The Rice Project did not come through. But we delivered around three websites that payed okay, but it did not pay well enough for me to get any cash from it. That's the risk of being a new company, I thought back then.
Now let's jump to a couple of days before December 2008, I had the graduation ceremony on that day. I wasn't super happy though, my GPA was a shithouse number below 3.0 - that worried me. Around that moment, I was already looking around for jobs and sending my resume everywhere. Also, the company had a decent number of clients, but was financially always in the red, not even close to making real profits. Which meant: still no money for me.
New years eve 2009. I spent it with high school friends at a hotel in one of the satellite towns just off Jakarta. Just a very small group of close old friends, partying at a decent but not too crowded hotel. Strangely, the dance floor seemed to have more hotel employees dancing than guests. Had some fun.
Now, the present. Currently I am working on a new project for an old client. It's going alright. But the thing that is currently always on my mind is: backpacking. My mom gave me a book about somebody "traveling around Europe with only $1000" - an amount I can realistically acquire. I read it, and was intrigued. So I've started planning for it: just backpacking a month around Europe, using the Eurail train system, sleeping in strangers houses. I set a date: the second week of March this year. I have never gone backpacking - and I have never gone to Europe. I haven't done anything significant after graduating, so this might be something new that I can try.
Well, that sums up 2008 and the first week of 2009. Hopefully I'll remember to update more.
March 27, 2008
Being Busy, No More Games
Since a while ago I've been really busy. Now I don't even have time to play any games. The reason is that there are two new time consuming things that have come up. The first one is my final paper, or as we call it here in Indonesia, my thesis. The second one is my new start-up company.
My final paper is about GPS. Making a simple yet effective GPS system for vehicle tracking in Indonesia. This final paper thing is really taking most of my time. Doing research and spending all day in the campus library is not something that I am used to. Currently, the next thing I have to make are my UML diagrams.
Now, the company, is something a bit more fun. Me and a couple friends formed a group to do freelance jobs. Currently we think that we can do all kinds of jobs, from web design to software development. And to my surprise, since we started a couple weeks ago, clients have been plenty.
We got a couple web design projects, not too special. But the big one that we are all focused on is the The Rice Project. The Rice Project was given to us by one of our links in the government. This project is so huge that I got nauseated the first time they explained it to us. It was so big that I didn't think we could handle it. But the team are all optimistic, so I trust they will deliver.
Aside from these new time devourers, I have to make time to do my usual stuff. My part time job - which is getting boring and boring. Maybe I'm not fit for a desk job. Being self-employed is really something that I look forward to. Things at the Indonesian Wikipedia are also a bit hectic. A huge influx of new users has the admins there busy. I am an admin there also. Household errands are also things that I do not enjoy, but somebody's got to do them.
Wait - this is not a lot of stuff. Why am I not finding time to play PC games? Oh yeah, that's right. It's my new Internet. Whenever I do find time to use my PC at home, I use it for the web. And it sucks me in.
So, future me, this is point in my life probably is where I unknowingly cease playing computer games. Maybe someday I'll think, "Hey, when did I stop being a gamer?" - this might be it.
My final paper is about GPS. Making a simple yet effective GPS system for vehicle tracking in Indonesia. This final paper thing is really taking most of my time. Doing research and spending all day in the campus library is not something that I am used to. Currently, the next thing I have to make are my UML diagrams.
Now, the company, is something a bit more fun. Me and a couple friends formed a group to do freelance jobs. Currently we think that we can do all kinds of jobs, from web design to software development. And to my surprise, since we started a couple weeks ago, clients have been plenty.
We got a couple web design projects, not too special. But the big one that we are all focused on is the The Rice Project. The Rice Project was given to us by one of our links in the government. This project is so huge that I got nauseated the first time they explained it to us. It was so big that I didn't think we could handle it. But the team are all optimistic, so I trust they will deliver.
Aside from these new time devourers, I have to make time to do my usual stuff. My part time job - which is getting boring and boring. Maybe I'm not fit for a desk job. Being self-employed is really something that I look forward to. Things at the Indonesian Wikipedia are also a bit hectic. A huge influx of new users has the admins there busy. I am an admin there also. Household errands are also things that I do not enjoy, but somebody's got to do them.
Wait - this is not a lot of stuff. Why am I not finding time to play PC games? Oh yeah, that's right. It's my new Internet. Whenever I do find time to use my PC at home, I use it for the web. And it sucks me in.
So, future me, this is point in my life probably is where I unknowingly cease playing computer games. Maybe someday I'll think, "Hey, when did I stop being a gamer?" - this might be it.
February 24, 2008
New Internet
Today we changed our internet connection. We used to have a crappy 64 kbps connection, which cost us around 55 US dollars a month. That ISP was shit and were ripping people off. Now we're using a 768 kbps program that costs around 40 US dollars per month and includes a free modem. Still a lot below average compared to the developed world - but it is one of the best bargains here in Indonesia.
We also used a wireless router to spread the joy of the web in the interior of our house (and lucky neighbors, if any). Now members of my can family get online in their rooms using laptops. My Mom then commented, "We should have done this ages ago". I totally agreed.
Well future me, this is the first day of wireless, medium speed internet access. A few years ago, on the now defunct Tech TV (rest in peace), one of hosts said, "Invest in high speed internet, it'll change your life". Lets see if it'll really have any affect on our family, besides getting us addicted to Youtube.
We also used a wireless router to spread the joy of the web in the interior of our house (and lucky neighbors, if any). Now members of my can family get online in their rooms using laptops. My Mom then commented, "We should have done this ages ago". I totally agreed.
Well future me, this is the first day of wireless, medium speed internet access. A few years ago, on the now defunct Tech TV (rest in peace), one of hosts said, "Invest in high speed internet, it'll change your life". Lets see if it'll really have any affect on our family, besides getting us addicted to Youtube.
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