Sunday, July 29, 2007

Happy birthday, Paris!


Paris is 3 years old today.. well okay 29 July 2007.
Happy birthday baby!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Apartment hunting


I'm gonna talk about apartments near UCLA, especially those that allow dogs.. Hahaha since I have a dog, i know how H A R D it is to find a pet friendly apartment in LA..

So this listed below are apartments that allow dogs:
1. www.westsiderentals.com ( got mine from here) but remembering that everyone is using this listing, you really have to be quick to get an apartment
2. Westside Villas try 310 4703141 - am not confirmed bout the phone number but google them( they have a few locations : Santa Monica, Purdue, Beverly Glen) and they allow dogs.. they are quite pricey if you are looking to live on you own
3. Century West Properties they have the listing of available apartments online. some allow dodgs some don't
4. Archstone Apartments - expensive but nice.. the nearest one to UCLA is in Sawtelle I believe..

Now let's not forget our feline friends: most of the apartments stated above should be cat-friendly as well.. also try Barrington Plaza on Wilshire, Villa Azure near Howard Hughes, Westside Terrace on Sepulveda.

Other apartments ( may not be pet friendly ):
http://www.pbmmgmt.com
http://www.lrapm.com
http://www.kmkmanagement.com
http://www.rstrents.com
http://www.mdrents.com
http://www.roque-mark.com

Good luck with apartment hunting.. I'm staying at my current apartment. Was planning to move in with my best friend who's taking care of Paris at the moment coz she has a dog too, but her job is not near UCLA :'(

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Going off

Haha I managed to squeeze some holiday time despite my internships.. Am going off (out of Jakarta) this weekend to visit a friend.. and then next weekend I'm heading to Bali.. yeahh babyyy.... Bali here I come :) Anyone wanna join me??

Pretty excited.. hahaha.. though I'm so gonna be exhausted when Mondays come.. ah well..

This weekend.. hehe I need some time off to forget my problems.. forgetting the past, embracing the future.. moving on.. Next weekend Bali.. same agenda :)

The party! How could I not mention it.. It was fun :) Met with long time friends whom I've not seen for at least 3 years.. some for probably 4 or 5 years.. One pet peeve though.. Indons like to flake.. Many people cancelled or didn't give notice of not coming to the party :| must get used to this.. hah.. Met also with new friends.. It's funny tat now I'm hanging out with my blog readers in Indo and we click pretty well (hollaa to u guys ;P )

Btw I met up with some gals at my party last weekend along with MBA grads from Kellog and Berkeley and we were discussing about how some people go to MBA to find a partner.. or how often MBA students whose partners are not B school students would dump the partner and date another B student.. :P or even divorce the partner and hook up with a B school student.. (I've been told............... I cant confirm it.. but they said it happened in both Berkeley and Kellog) .. And the gals told me to start up a blog ( they didnt know i have one) to talk about the eligible bachelors in B schools.. HAHAHA

Another joke would be that a gal would graduate not only with an MBA but also a Mrs.

Hohoho since I'm returning to Indonesia, I'm def not in this boat.. hehe but I'll try to confirm these stories..

On another note, my other Indonesian scholars are meeting up tomorrow in Singapore.. sigh.. too bad I couldn't join them.. In 1998, there were 40 of us went to Singapore to study for our O level.. It's crazy but they're like my close friends.. we don't necessarily keep contact with each other constantly, but there's that bond that connects us.. 40 teenagers having fun/studying together in Singapore.. miss those days :)

Let's see if I need to mention anything MBA related.. I got my student visa.. Heard another Indo gal got her I-20 from UCLA as well, the other Indo guy hasn't gotten his yet.. think some international students at UCLA haven't gotten theri I-20s and getting anxious bout it.. Hang on u guyss.. they're coming (that's what the International Student Officer said in the email)

This whole UCLA thing is turning real as the months draw nearer.. more emails from UCLA to prepare us ( to configure laptop, sign up for email address etc etc.. ) wow.. I can't believe I've been in Indo for almost 2 months.. Am leaving in 5 weeks.. wow gonna b pretty sad bout it :'( many good friends in Indo to leave behind..

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

I wonder if this is what banker does

The company that I worked for is acquiring a bank which provide micro-loans to people. (Notice: Acquiring and Microfinance). Part of what I do day to day is of course learn about microfinance in Indonesia and how the loans are structured ( as compared to in Bangladesh/Phillipines/etc). Now the other part is spent in preparing the documentations to acquire this bank to be submitted the Bank of Indonesia.

The documentations work this way : meet with lawyer and the bank officers. Done with meeting. Lawyers disburse us some documents that we need to work on. Each party fill in the parts that each of them need to fill and collaborate in parts that they need to write together. Our company writes something, reviewed by lawyers, reviewed by the Bank officers, reviewed by us again, reviewed by lawyers again, reviewed by the Bank officers again ( totally not in order, anyone can review anyone's works).. Although this is not as tedious and painstaking as the process described at Monkey Business, I can only wonder if this is what Banker in M&A does... Is what is written in Monkey Business true? Someone enlighten me...

But anyway, I realize I enjoy working with people (read: go around meet people and not sit on my ass 8 hours a day which will drive me crazy one day)..

On another note, I'm throwing a party at my place this weekend! Wii.. what party? no ocassion just feel like throwing one.. The last one I threw a party at my house was in 2003 and really enjoyed it.. So updates later. Was planning to invite around 20+ /30 people but now the guestlist become 40 :O HAHA

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

My Internship Experience


is different... I've been away from Indo way too long.. My first week at work and I had merely spent USD$1.4 for lunch at a very simple house-turned-restaurant. I had to walk on a small alley to get to this 'restaurant' ( small alley as in I can extend both my hands and that's how wide the alley is). That is by far the cheapest lunch I've ever spent on during my current stay in Indo... The food are served in a cupboard ( not fridge or hot stove) and people are free to pick the food themselves. From where I sat, I could see people washing plates using big buckets.. and thank God I could only see half of that room.. Well the food is good though.

Another experience would be that I had riden on a 'Mikrolet' ( see picture) once again after about 10 years. I was kinda hesitant on riding it but since my other co-workers wanted to ride 'Mikrolet' to get to the restaurant, I had to follow.. I couldn't be a spoiled whiner by refusing to ride on one.. So for you who don't undersand my hesitation... sometime it's not safe to ride on the public transportation in Indonesia (pick pocket, bully, etc etc )

These are all things that I had not done in 8 years ( since the last time I moved to Singapore for my high school). Funny thing is I didn't even remember missing these experiences.. These all seem a life time away from my time in Singapore or LA. HAH but I guess my going back to Indonesia this time really introduces me to life in Jakarta again. Had I join the XXX bank which is famous for recruiting overseas graduate, I would have never riden angkot or eaten at some random 'restaurant' ( coz in the building they will have clean and nice cafetarias or restaurants). Hanging out with my friends don't help either because most of the overseas graduates are already used to our overseas lifestyle that we wouldn't even think of doing this..

Okay so now about the job.. still interesting but sometime tedious.. Today for example, I just didn't feel like doing anything.. I miss the freedom to step outside and get coffeebean or starbucks (they dont exist in my office building).. to refresh myself /save myself from the sleepiness.

Now other than the job.. I had attended a friend's wedding during the last weekend. While I sat at the church, I couldn't help thinking bout.... Paris... and having Paris on my weddng day as the ring bearer.. Him wearing tuxedo, walking along a small cute girl in her green dress ( no pink thank you.. saw too much of it )
HAHAHAHAHA i'm sorry but that was what I was seriously thinking about..

and then there's this poem that is ringing on my head.. it was posted on my dentist's wall. In the past, while waiting to see him, I would stare at it and try to memorize it but I never could.. It's about love..
it said something about Love is not loud, it's not boisterous.. bla bla bla.. and I can't remember the rest.. a friend said taht it's from the bible.. 1Cor 13.. I didnt think so but still I couldn't find that full poem..