One of The Perfect Days

Spends a lazy day, sitting side by side and humming along to old songs.
Talking to each other heart’s content.
Seeing each other’s eyes and listening to each other’s heart.
Laughing to silly things, crying on sad things, and holding hands in silent.

Smile..

because I know you’re there.

Dedicated to the other part of my soul.
May you keep shining.

Where Bandung will go??

That question sometime lingers on my mind which I think it's only natural given I am Bandung citizen who was born and grew up in Bandung. It is not a secret that Bandung is now a tourism destination for both domestic and foreign tourists. And it is also not a secret that the government pushing Bandung tourism sector to go forward. But this constantly makes me ask that question worriedly.

Where Bandung will go??

In my heart, I'm truly proud of Bandung become an increasingly popular tourism destination. Then why are you worried?? Because, in my personal opinion, behind the huge tourism potential, Bandung still has many shortcomings. For example, inadequate and not-well managed public transportation, no tourist information center, incredible traffic jams which always occur on weekends and holidays, and so forth.

Why so pessimistic??

I still have hope for this nation and country and also for Bandung. I am not pessimistic, I just feel that the government and all authorities are not sensitive to the negative impact of the encouraging of tourism sector.

Is this writing related to the Trans Studio Bandung newly opened last weekend??

Indirectly, yes. Actually I've been wanting to write about tourism in Bandung but the opening of Trans Studio Bandung has become my biggest motivation to make this writing. Behind all the positive news about the benefits and economic potential for Bandung (read: money), I am in a position between agreeing and disagreeing with this construction of this Trans Studio. I disagree with the construction of Trans Studio because Bandung is not ready yet. Yes.. in my opinion, Bandung is not ready yet. Wouldn't the citizens of Bandung upset to read this tweet from @infobdg?? Although the tweet was only an opinion, but many of Bandung residents are already complained about the power outage this weekend. What are the added value from Trans Studio for Bandung other than economic growth, traffic jams and power outages??

Then agree because of what?

Looking from the other side, this could force the government and authorities for the immediate response and action to overcome (seriously) all Bandung weaknesses in facing the increasingly large number of tourists that will visit Bandung.

Have any hopes for Bandung??

I look forward for Bandung that is convenient for the citizens life and activity.

Hmm.. I just remember the words of my friend some time ago when we talked about the corruption that increasingly happened in this beloved country. He said, more or less, "Do not wait for the attitudes and behavior of the government to become good, just continue to improving ourselves"

Side note:
I made this post in Indonesian here.

Bandung akan ke mana??

Pertanyaan di atas terkadang terlintas di benak saya yang saya kira wajar saja karena saya warga Bandung yang lahir dan tumbuh besar di Bandung. Bukanlah rahasia kalau Bandung sekarang menjadi tujuan pariwisata baik bagi turis domestik maupun asing. Dan bukan rahasia juga kalau pemerintah pun mendorong sektor pariwisata Bandung untuk terus maju. Tapi hal ini terus-menerus membuat saya melontarkan pertanyaan di atas dengan nada khawatir.

Bandung akan ke mana??

Dalam hati, saya sebenarnya bangga Bandung menjadi tujuan pariwisata yang semakin terkenal. Lalu mengapa khawatir?? Karena, menurut pendapat pribadi saya, di balik potensi pariwisata yang besar, Bandung masih memiliki banyak kekurangan. Misalnya sarana transportasi umum yang tidak memadai dan tidak terkelola dengan baik, tidak ada pusat informasi pariwisata, kemacetan luar biasa yang selalu terjadi di setiap akhir pekan dan liburan, dan lain sebagainya.

Mengapa nadanya pesimis sekali??

Saya masih punya harapan akan bangsa dan negara ini dan juga untuk Bandung. Saya tidak pesimis. Saya hanya merasa pemerintah dan segala pihak yang berwenang tidak peka terhadap dampak negatif penggenjotan sektor pariwisata ini.

Tulisan ini berhubungan dengan Trans Studio Bandung yang baru dibuka akhir pekan yang lalu??

Secara tidak langsung, ya. Sebenarnya saya sudah sejak lama ingin menulis tentang pariwisata di Bandung tetapi pembukaan Trans Studio Bandung memang menjadi motivasi terbesar saya untuk membuat tulisan ini. Di balik segala pemberitaan positif mengenai keuntungan dan potensi ekonomi untuk Bandung (baca: uang), saya berada dalam posisi setuju dan tidak setuju dengan pembangunan Trans Studio ini. Saya tidak setuju dengan pembangunan Trans Studio karena Bandung belum siap. Ya.. dalam opini saya, Bandung belum siap. Apa warga Bandung tidak akan kesal membaca tweet @infobdg ini?? Walaupun tweet tersebut hanya sebuah pendapat, tapi sudah banyak juga warga Bandung yang mengeluh tentang pemadaman listrik akhir pekan ini. Apa nilai lebih Trans Studio bagi Bandung selain pertumbuhan ekonomi, macet, dan pemadaman listrik??

Lalu setuju karena apa??

Dilihat dari sisi lain, hal ini bisa memaksa pemerintah dan pihak berwenang untuk segera tanggap dan beraksi mengatasi (secara serius) segala kelemahan Bandung dalam menghadapi jumlah besar wisatawan yang akan semakin banyak berkunjung ke Bandung.

Punya harapan untuk Bandung??

Saya berharap untuk Bandung yang nyaman bagi warganya untuk tinggal dan beraktivitas.

Hmm.. saya jadi teringat dengan perkataan teman saya beberapa saat lalu saat kami berbicara tentang korupsi yang semakin menjadi-jadi di negara tercinta ini. Dia berkata, lebih-kurang, "Jangan tunggu sikap dan tingkah laku pemerintah menjadi baik, lebih baik perbaiki terus diri kita masing-masing."

Catatan samping:
Saya membuat tulisan ini dalam bahasa Inggris di sini.

What I See.. What I Feel..

The chairman says, "Why should I care for them??"
     It makes me angry.

The businessman says, "I have visited 40 countries so far."
     It makes me want more.

The student says, "I'm pursuing my doctoral degree in X university of X country."
     It makes me envious.

The girl says, "My dad used to beat me up."
     It makes me cry.

The boy says, "How can I help you??"
     It makes me smile.

The little kid says, "I want to go to school."
     It makes me grateful.

The man says, "It's hard for me to even have 1 meal each day."
     It makes me humble.

The Chance

Consider these:

1. Have someone who understands you
2. Have someone who tries to understand you

From above choices, what choice do you want in your life??

Before answering that question, it's better to answer this question: "Do you believe we can live alone in this world??" I do not. For our physical needs, it is certain that we need someone else to help fulfilling our needs. But what about our mental needs??

Answering the first question, my choice is to have someone who tries to understand me and to have someone who understands me. Sounds greedy, but I believe I have met that certain someone.

Every time I think about the chance of our meeting, I still can't believe how this chance could somehow materialize. Have you watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" film?? I'm thinking about Daisy got hit by a car and Benjamin narrated that how it could be different if one little thing had gone differently. In my case, if just one little and trivial thing went differently, I would miss that chance.

Every time I think about the chance of our meeting, I always feel grateful to God.

I am grateful.. grateful.. grateful..


Happy Easter!! And may God bless us, always..

Python in Action!!

So.. rather than indulging myself with studying the basic, I decided to jump into action. Oh yeah, if you don't understand what I mean, I'm talking about my progress in learning Python.

Anyway, I didn't have much time as I wanted it, so I just ported the algorithm I found here (a great blog post by Mr. Alfred Thompson) into Python and transformed it into something like this:


I don't want to post my code for this now because it is messy. If I have time to make it more beautiful, certainly I will post it here. But for now, let's be satisfied with the picture.

Unto the next level!!

Fleeting Moment

Yesterday morning, I saw flowers on the street, already falling down from the tree and suddenly I felt that it was unfortunate for such beauty go wasted. So I pick up one of them and bring it with me. I felt somewhat happy afterward.

Looked at this beautiful thing, I remembered about this. I hope I could preserve the smell, the color and the shape but the fleeting moment of this flower that makes it beautiful.


Side note:
1. I make a pressed flower from it, the first pressed flower ever (outside school assignments).
2. I wonder how about taking fallen flowers like this everyday and decorating my desktop monitor with them.

First Python Program!!

print ("Hello World")