Panti-Panti

“BLAM!”

Tembokku bergetar lagi.
Terdengar dengung-dengung pelan.
Ada pergulatan seru lagi di ruang sebelah. Bosan.

Ya, aku tak bisa protes. Aku bisu. Dan pincang pula.
Tapi hanya karena aku bisu bukan berarti aku tuli kan?
(Mengapa semua orang menyangka kalau kita bisu pasti kita tuli juga?)

Sungguh menyebalkan mendengarkan keributan, pertengkaran sengit, dan tak mampu berbuat apa-apa untuk menyudahinya.
Untuk mengatakan kepada kedua belah pihak ”DIAMMM!!!!! Jangan rusak pagiku!”

Entah.
Di Panti ”Krama” ini semuanya terbalik.
Yang seharusnya disebutkan sebagai pusat untuk ber”tata krama”, ternyata sama sekali tidak menjunjung tinggi apa yang dipropagandakannya.
Yang seharusnya menjadi pengelola tidak menjalankan perannya dengan baik.
Yang menjadi penyandang dana tidak mampu (atau tidak mau?) membantu membuat keputusan pelik.
Anggota Panti yang lain? Masing-masing sibuk dengan aktivitas di Panti masing-masing.

Sambil tertatih-tatih aku berjalan keluar. Bersiap-siap.
Kututup pintu Panti ”Krama” pelan-pelan.
Ya, hari ini, seperti hari-hari lainnya, aku pergi ke Panti ”Karya”.

Sepi.
Ya, di sini sepi.
Tidak seperti di Panti ”Krama”.

Saking sepinya aku sampai ketakutan sendiri.

Rekan-rekan sejawat, senasib dan sepenanggungan sudah berkeliaran.
Bunyi ketuk palu, bunyi las, bunyi roda-roda berdecit.
Ramai memang. Tapi suasana tidak hidup.
Tidak seperti seharusnya.

Rekan-rekan sudah mulai berdatangan.
Ada yang mencicit, tapi kebanyakan hanya mengangguk.
Ya, mereka senasib denganku.
Bisu.
Dan pincang.
Bahkan ada pula yang jereng.
Yang agak tidak bisu ternyata bibirnya sumbing. Jadi apa yang diomongkannya serba tidak jelas.
Iya.
Kami semua sama.
Dan Panti ”Karya” inilah yang sanggup menampung kami.

Ya, mungkin juga karena pengelolanya merasa senasib dengan kami.
Tidak, ia tidak jereng.
Tidak pula pincang.
Apalagi bisu.
Tapi ia tuli.

Entah bawaan dari lahir, atau kotoran menahun yang tidak dibersihkan dan menebal terus yang membuatnya tuli seperti itu.
Yang jelas, sehari-hari kami berkarya setengah hati.

Ya, bagaimana tidak?
Satu-satunya bahasa yang kami ketahui dan kami gunakan tidak diketahui oleh pengelola Panti.
Akibatnya, sering terjadi kesalahpahaman.
Ya, kesalahpahaman adalah nama populer di sini.

Lebih lagi karena si pengelola bukan seorang yang, ya... bisa dibilang tercerdik diantara lainnya, tapi dia menjadi pengelola karena dialah satu-satunya yang sanggup bicara.
Sayangnya, kesanggupan bicara itu tidak didukung oleh kesanggupan berpikir.

Jadi?
Klop lah.

Si Tuli Bodoh yang memimpin kaum bisu, pincang, dan jereng.

Aku kembali menekur ukiranku.
Belakangan ini ukiranku tak lagi masuk hitungan.
Sulit dijual juga, katanya.
Padahal hari-hari sebelumnya aku selalu bisa menghasilkan masterpiece demi masterpiece.
Mungkin sedang tidak produktif saja, aku selalu menghibur diriku.
Bagaimanapun juga, di saat sedang prima, aku mampu menghasilkan lebih dari 3 ukiran renik dalam seminggu! Lumayan kan?

Si Tuli Bodoh kembali menggangguku.
Dan yang lain juga tentunya.
Entah kapan kursi panas itu akan menjadi terlalu panas baginya, sampai-sampai ia tidak tahan lagi duduk di sana, dan akhirnya mau lengser.
Dan mungkin salah satu dari yang agak lumayan bisa bicara bisa segera menggantikannya.

Tapi kapan itu terjadi, entah sampai harus berapa garis keturunan hal itu terjadi.


Panti ”Krama” dan Panti ”Karya”.
Keduanya punya surga dan neraka sendiri.
Sedangkan aku?
Aku berada di tengah-tengahnya.

Entah sampai kapan.

(also published in www.ngopingopi.blogspot.com)

Conquer Your Fear

Movie Review
Batman Begins
Directed by: Cristopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes

I went to this movie with high expectation. Sure enough, I've been waiting for this movie ever since I first laid my eyes on the trailer. I remembered thinking "Hmm, looks like another Highlander movie" when I saw it. You know, with the mountaineous background, a monastery perched on a hillside and a swordfight on thin ice, I couldn't help but thought that. But when I saw the flying bats, a man hanging upside down wearing a bat costume saying "Here" to his confused 'prey', the title of the movie became pretty much obvious. The trailer suggested a darker, less flashier Batman.

My high expectation also came from the fact that many people gave excellent reviews for this movie in www.imdb.com. They were saying stuff like "a darker, stormier knight," "Everything one could hope for," and other high praises. I know that people could be hyping, being hyperbolic, and the like. But if there's a lot of people saying the same thing, there must be a lot of truth in it, right?

But I have to admit that my high expecation was wrong. The movie was so much better than I had expected.

Young Bruce Wayne was walking down the back alley of an opera house with his parents when suddenly a man came and pointed a gun at them, demanding their money and jewelleries. Due to one thing or another, his father and mother got shot and died at the scene. Ever since then, Bruce had been nursing his anger and wanting to exact revenge to the man who was responsible for his parents' death. Failing to avenge his parents and losing a concrete object for his anger and attention, these were instead directed to an effort in understanding the criminal underworld. He even tried to became a part of it. At one time he ended up in an Asian jail for theft. It was here that a man named Ducard found out about him, and recruited him into a society called The League of Shadow. It was here that Bruce Wayne received his early training to become what he is destined to become. Later on Bruce Wayne would return to his native city of Gotham and begin his effort in restoring order to the crime-ridden city.

One of the outstanding things about this movie is how believable the story is. I must agree with the people who said that everything in this movie could really be explained. Everything that happens; the symbol, the car, the suit, the cape, the dark knight himself, they all have their own reasons. And they are quite believable. In all, Bruce Wayne's transformation from just a kid millionaire inheriting his parents' fortune to a dark knight is pretty much convincing. And, as could be hinted from the title of this review, the overall theme of the story is fear. This movie is about how Bruce Wayne conquered his fear and became, in Ducard's own words, "something else entirely."

And what is more outstanding is that how human the story is. Every character in this movie is very much real. Each has his or her own vulnerabilities. Emotions are pretty much real. And the spotlight, of course, is on Bruce Wayne pretty much for the entire movie. This movie shows a character who is both a real person and also a legend in the making. But this doesn't mean that the other supporting casts didn't do their job well enough in presenting the story.

Christian Bale fits the dual role very well. He was convincing as the playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne, and he was also convincing as the dark knight. Alfred the butler (played by Michael Caine) provided the paternal, caring figure and also some moments of humour during the movie. He was also the one who reminded Bruce of his inheritance and the trusted person to whom Bruce could fall back to. Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes) provided the love interest of the story, and is also one of the key character that keeps the story going. Lucius Fox (played by Morgan Freeman) is the man responsible in providing the gadgets for the dark knight. Ducard (played by Liam Neeson) filled the role of the authoritative tutor for Bruce Wayne, the man who helped the young knight focus his anger and attention. Sergeant Gordon (played by Gary Oldman) played the role of one of the few remaining good cop in the city. His relation with the dark knight begins awkwardly, but towards the end they will have developed a mutual trust for each other. Cillian Murphy as the scarecrow/Dr. Crane was quite creepy, and Tom Wilkinson as Falcone was quite convincing in his role as the mafia head of the criminal underworld. Last but not least, Ken Watanabe's brief role as Ra's Al Gul also deserves mention.

All in all, Cristopher Nolan has assembled a great cast, actors and actresses who played their roles splendidly and successfully, delivering a satisfying and convincing story to the silver screen.

The soundtrack is also of high quality. It successfully created the right mood for each scenes, and it also helped create tension during many of the action scenes. It fits perfectly with the theme of the movie, which is about fear. Even though this movie is not a thriller, but some of the soundtrack did make some peoplealmost jumped in their seats (that would also include me).

Another point worth mentioning is about the 'moments'. You know, those moments when you just sit there and muttered to yourself, "This is so cool." I had many of those. One of them is when Bruce and Lucius were trying out the prototype bat mobile. Another one was when Batman called in his 'reinforcement'. I don't want to spoil this, so reader should see it for themselves. And you should see the 'fear effects'. Way cool.

The only thing that I was a bit disappointed is that the fight scenes' cinematography was not quite exciting. But this is probably due to Nolan's intention of implementing the whole idea of fear. You don't really get to see a 'thug' get beaten up; one minute he was there and suddenly he's gone. Nolan put some thriller movie element in this. But even this is only a minor thing. The movie still blew me away.

To compare this to Tim Burton's Batman, I could only say that both are excellent in their own ways. Burton is Burton, and he has his own style. I like many of his movies. But when it comes to this, I prefer Nolan's. Because his approach is so fresh, so believable, so real. If you really want to see the dark knight's human side, you couldn't get a better view than this.

Lastly, I would like to once again quote Ducard:
"If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely."

I just love good quotes. And what's more, I love good movies. Go see this movie. You will regret it if you don't. It may not get movie of the year, but it won my heart.

Just Trying Out

I just found out from a friend that we could actually post blogs by sending them through e-mail. So, this one is a try-out to see whether it'll work. Here we go...

--
My life is my religion. Not the other way around
-Arie Andika Setiawan-

Stormy Night

It was raining hard, the wind was blowing strong. Raindrops were drumming on the glass windows, high at the top of the building. The man was staring out, gazing, trying to see clearly through all the madness of the storm. He had his hands inside the pocket, like he always did whenever he was in deep reverie. His posture was relaxed, but there was no mistaking the slightly worried look in his eyes.

He pressed a hand on the glass window. It was cold to the touch. The room was dark, occasionally lit by flashes of thunder. The occasional shadow on his face made him look as if he was crying. It was only the water running down the window outside, lit up by thunder, projecting tears on his face. It was calm inside the room, but the weather spoke for the man's feeling.

He closed his eyes for a moment, listening to the beating of the rain. He opened them again, hoping that things were different by then. The storm, however, continued. He could only hoped that the storm would not last the night. For he was lost. He was dying. And he felt as if the storm was blocking his view, hiding the truth. Hiding the answer. Obscuring his salvation, his way out.

He could not run away from it. From Death. It greeted him in every waking moment, visiting him in his every dreams. It sang songs through the howling wind of the storm. Songs of his coming, inevitable demise. The end was near.

There is no use, it said, holding to the past. Let it go, it whispered, let your life go. There is no more use this old life has to offer you, Death would be a sweet release for you, It seduced. Let your hands go, relax your grip, take my hands, It offered.

I will not, whispered the man. There was hardness in his eyes. I could not let it go, he hissed. His hands gripped the fabric inside his pockets hard.

What is left there besides broken hearts, It asked.What lay there except for shattered dreams, It queried. To stay any longer will only bring you oblivion. Emptiness. Realize that I am your only True Salvation. Embrace me with all your heart, accept me, and all will be well...

...and the storm died. The clouds parted. The stars shone shyly. And it was calm. The man relaxed. The storm had ended. It was clear.

Cold hands touched his shoulder. Cold as Death. It whispered softly in his ear, you will find peace. Submit, and the pain will be no more. The man closed his eyes. Cold hands caressed his neck...

...and peace came.

Morning never looked so bright.

I Like to Move It, Move It

Movie Review
Madagascar
Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath

Marty the Zebra (voiced by Chris Rock) lives in a zoo in New York (Central Park Zoo). His dreams of going back to the wild will soon bring trouble to his friends Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Melman the giraffe (voiced by David Schwimmer), and Gloria the hippo (voiced by Jada Pinkett-Smith), who are content with their 'city lifestyle' in Central Park. Soon enough they will find themselves stranded on an unknown island, tyring to adapt themselves to 'the wild'.

Madagascar is a fun and wild ride, typical summer movie, but it's entertaining enough. There's nothing out of the ordinary with the CG designs, except that they're rather boxy. And like Shark Tale, the movie is very colorful. The story itself is entertaining enough, and the characters are hillarous and funny. Marty and Alex occupy the story most of the time, while Gloria plays the occasional peace-maker and Melman provides the comic relief. The jokes are okay, nothing out of the ordinary, but they're good enough for entertainment.

One caution though: Ali G's song is stuck in my head. It might get stuck inside yours too. So don't be too freaked out if you started humming "I like to move it, move it..." inside the showers. This movie is quite a riot.

To Buy or Not to Buy...

...an XBOX. Damn it, I know that within a year next generation consoles are coming out. I know that I need to save up a bit, money ain't comin' down like rain from heavens above. And I know that most of XBOX games are coming out for or already been ported to the PC. And I know that one of my PC is decent enough to play these games. All it needs is a little tweaking out and everything will work out just fine.

But still, the temptation was strong enough. It was hard enough to put a restrain on myself from buying one straight away this weekend. I was walking around Mangga Dua on Saturday (that heaven-sent place for cheap electronics, if you know how to find 'em and haggle with merchants), and I asked around about the price of an XBOX. The best deal I could get was Rp. 2 million. You get a hard-disk capacity of 10 GB, 2 controllers and 15 free games. No, I didn't shell out my money right there and then. I was still thinking whether I would really buy one.

I was about to go back to that place of many copyright abuse if my mother did not ask me to accompany her to Taman Anggrek. Most of the time there I spent thinking about squeezing some time to go to Mangga Dua in the late afternoon (stores close at 5, so time is of the essence), but when we got home, I was already tired and I was still undecided.

There are several high-profile games for the XBOX. And software is what defines a console. But many of these games are also available for the PS2 (a console that I already own) and PC (one that I need to tweak a bit, but a bit reluctant to do remembering my somewhat limited ability in tweaking hardwares inside a CPU box). And there are still a lot of good PS2 games that I haven't finished playing. So, I shouldn't be bored.

It is true that XBOX has a better hardware performance than the PS2. And the graphics there is about 1.5 to 2 times better than the PS2. But most of the time, it's not graphic that matters. It's gameplay. And I could find many kinds of gameplay on the PS2 alone.

So, as I was playing Prince of Persia 2: Warrior Within (which is quite an enjoyable and challenging game, eventhough its predecessor is still a little bit better), I think back and try to understand why I started thinking about buying an XBOX in the first place. If it was to get rid of boredom, it's just stupid since there are better things to do than just buy more games. And, once again, I still have a lot of games I haven't finished playing on the PS2.

So, I guess in the end, the problem is not about to buy, or not to buy, an XBOX. I've been quite generous with the use of my money ever since I got myself a job and a steady monthly income (this desire to buy an XBOX is a manifestation of this problem). But the problem is not about what I do with my money. If I let this keep going on I'll be too comfortable with my daily job that I won't develop anything new anymore. No new stuff to learn about, no new experiences to...umm...experience (can't find a better word for it). And I would end up thinking that buying stuff makes me happy. In a way, they do. But that's not the point.

I gotta find something new. And I know for sure it ain't in game consoles.

In any case, if Rp. 2 million is only a hundredth of all the money I have, I wouldn't think about it like this. But still, by that time I may be one of those people who think about getting more money (I could feel the tendency within me: I could really be a spendthrift). Which is, in my humble opinion, is not the point of life.

And, please don't beat me up if the next entry is about how happy I am with a new, shiny XBOX. I'm only human anyways ha ha ha.

Father and Son Meeting

"So, Dad, how have you been?"
"Oh, I've been great! Been doing lots of things, got lots of work at the office."
"That's nice to hear."
"You should have told me you wanted to go to Taiwan. I would have brought you along."
"Well, I found out about it a bit late, so it's kinda hard to arrange the visa and stuff."
"I see. So, where do you want to eat?"
"I don't know Dad, where do you want to eat?"
"Anywhere, just choose a place."
"Oh well, all I know is Cavana. The food's okay. You wanna go there?"
"Sure, why not."

"So, how was the trip?"
"Well, I didn't really wanna go, but if I didn't go, things might get awry."
"Why not?"
"I got stuff to do. Business been quite busy lately. Son, you should have told me you wanna come along."
"Well, like I told you, I knew about it a bit late, so there wasn't enough time to take care of the paperworks. But it's okay, I heard all the family members will be going there again 2 years from now, to celebrate grandad's sister's 90th birthday, right?"
"Yeah, all the family members will be going there 2 years from now."
"Then I'll be going 2 years from now."
"That's good. You know about your grandfather, right?"
"Well, sort of. I only heard bits. All I know is that he's a sort of national hero."
"Yeah. Your grandfather is a smart and brave man. He's made proposals for Taiwan's independence. Your uncle Lam, his name came from the Taiwanese 'Tong Nam', meaning South East, it was the theme of one of his proposals, the one he sent to countries in South East Asia."
"I see. Yes, I want to find out about him. He sounds interesting."
"I went there 'cause I like traveling too."
"Same here. I wanted to go there because I want to know about grandad, and I also want to travel once in a while."
"Ever been there before?"
"Once, but it was a long time ago. I didn't know you or anything about the family back then."

"Here's a bit something for you."
"Dad, you shouldn't. I've enough."
"No, that's okay. Keep it safe, okay. There's 2000 dollars in that envelope."
"Dad, 2000 dollars..."
"I still have more coming for you. At least till you'll be able to buy your own car."
"...wow."
"I also have some deposits for Wanda."
"How is Wanda?"
"She's okay. She's been doing well in college."
"She's in Jogja, right?"
"Yes, I think it's her second year now."
"You still keep in touch with her?"
"Yes, of course."
"How about Tante Nona? You still keep in touch with her?"
"...nah, no. Well, at least your sister understand better now. Separation is to be blamed on both persons. But, it should not involve the child."
"Yeah, I guess so."

"I heard Yati's sick."
"Yes. She got cancer. I think all we can do is wait until the time comes."
"Poor her! She's very nice to me, you know. She told me stories whenever I called to your house, everything that's been happening. She's nice."
"Yes, I know."
"Rie, here's something for her. Please give it to her. Tell her it's from me."
"Will do, Dad."

"How's your mother?"
"Mom's fine. As she always is."
"She still practicing at home?"
"As always, Dad. As always."
"And how's your father?"
"He's fine. Still teaching, as he always does. Still waiting for his professor title."
"He's very diligent, isn't he."
"Yes, he is."
"How is your brother?"
"He's in his last year of college, doing his final assignment. He's been very busy, being head of the student congress in Trisakti."
"He's into organization?"
"Very much, he's got a lot of interest in it. Father's got his hands in it also. He's been talking with him about organizational matters. I think that's why Dede's interested in it."
"Good for him, then."
"I hope so."

"Contact me whenever you have the time, okay."
"Of course, Dad. You too."
"And call your grandma from time to time, okay?"
"Will do, Dad. Will do."

"Dad, 2000 dollars is a lot of money. You sure you could afford this?"
"Hey, don't worry okay. I still have more in store for you later."
"Okay...
Alright, Dad, you take care okay."
"Okay. Oh yeah, if you wanna go to Taiwan, let me know okay?"
"I will."

A Walk In The Park: Gotham City

Game Review
Batman Begins
Publisher: EA Games/Warner Bros. IE
Developer: Eurocom Entertainment Software

Batman Begins, the game, is based on the upcoming Batman Begins movie. As a game, it borrows a lot from other games' mechanic. It borrows Metal Gear and Splinter Cell's 'sneaking-quietly-behind-an-enemny' mechanic, Metal Gear's Soliton Radar (showing the enemy's field-of-vision cones) and Burnout's engine (during the racing/chase gameplay with the prototype Batmobile).

Most of the time during the course of the game, what you have to do is sneak around a group of enemy (no, you can't go at 'em head-on, since some usually carry guns, and this time around the bat armor is not bulletproof), try to find some means to scare the enemy so that they drop their guns in panic, and then you go head-on, fist-to-fist, with 'em. These means of scaring are sometimes within plain view, and sometimes you have to sneak around so that your batarang/grapling hook will be within reach. And most of the time, when you find a group of thugs and some of 'em are carrying guns, you could bet that the game developer has created some means of scaring them off around the area. All you have to do is look around, walk around, and a pointer will show up to guide you to these means (these pointer points to doors, ventilation shafts, grappling points, objects that you could smash by throwing the batarang, etc.).

Usually, to scare them off, you could blow things up, make things drop, make a lot of noise. And if you succeed, the thugs will drop their guns in panic and a fear meter will go up, making it easier for you to beat the hell outta 'em. Also, a reputation meter will go up whenever you succeeded in scaring them. Depending on the scenario, usually one of these thugs (the last one standing, most of the time), has some crucial information for the continuation of the scenario. You have to grab him (no, you couldn't go fist-to-fist with 'em, the game won't allow you) and 'interrogate' him. These information are usually codes, passwords, or other specific information.

These things are broken up with occasional lock-pickings (the mechanism is so simple) and hacking (ditto). Aside from that, this one is a very simple stealth-action game. A sort of watered-down Splinter Cell, coupled with some fancy jumping and gliding mechanism (with the cape, of course). There are some cool moments in the game, such as when you are hanging on a pipe or at a grappling point, and an enemy is right below you, you could 'finish' him off by pushing the circle button (a context-specific button) and you will rappel upside down a-la spiderman, behind the enemy, grabs him and pulls him up and beat the crap outta him. Another added bonus to the reputation meter.

The graphic is quite good. It tries hard to imitate Splinter Cell's graphic engine. There are lots of dramatic lighting in the game. It's too bad that that's not the case for our Caped Crusader's shadow. The shadow doesn't follow the lighting. It shows where it's not supposed to show, sometimes even AGAINST the source of the light. Like, when the light's coming from left, the shadow's supposed to be on the right side of Batman, right? But noooo, it shows on his LEFT side, towards the light. I guess they didn't work too hard on the shadowing. But really, great job on the lighting and the characters' models (which is based on the actors and actress of the movie). They even lend their voice talent for the game.

So, yeah, it's a good game. I would give it a rating of between 7.5 and 8. The only bad thing about it is that it has quite a spoiler. So for those who has not seen the movie (I'm one of 'em), don't even think about playing this game before you've seen the movie. It could really spoil the movie for you. Rent this game if you like. It's a worthy rental. Don't buy it though. It's not worth your money. If you want real stealth action, go get Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell. And if you want real arcade driving, go get Burnout 3. They're much better games. I'm not saying this Batman Begins game is bad, it's not. It's actually a fun 5-hour game. Did I say 5 hour? Yes, it's short. But it was fun, alright. And it successfully implemented various game mechanics into it. Which work quite well for the overall game.

Oh, please...

They tried to rob me...twice!!

Impossible Odds

Book Review
Impossible Odds (A Tale of the King's Blades)
by Dave Duncan

"Serve or Die!", the ward exclaimed before plunging the sword into the man's heart. And so a Blade's life in service begins. Sticking a sword into a Blade's heart is the ritual to bind a Blade to his ward for life. Blades have heightened senses, a sort of sixth sense that help them protect their ward, and they rarely sleep. And should a ward dies of a violent or unnatural death, the Blade (or Blades, since a ward can have more than one Blade) will go out of his mind. It is a rare thing for a Blade whose ward dies violently to recover from the insanity.

Dave Duncan's fifth entry in his 'A Tale of the King's Blades' series is another fun, page-turning adventure. Here we find Ringwood and Ranter, two young and 'green' Blades, bound to a Duke of a faraway fiefdom, who has been in exile for a time and is chased by assassins employed by the Duke's usurper. These Blades are a gift to him from the king of Chivial. A small gift, but valuable nonetheless. Ironhall's dropout Bellman and an ex-White Sister Trudy also joins the adventure, Bellman with his gift of wits and Trudy with her ability to detect lies.

For those who love fantasy, as well as entertaining storylines, they should go and check out this book. For a background, check out 'The Gilded Chain', the first entry in the series.

A (Soon-to-be) New Hobby

Weekends for some people are time to meet friends and do things that due to one thing or another can not be done during the normal week days. For some, it's time to rest up and re-charge for the coming week. And to many others, it's both.

It is also both for me. But since lately I couldn't seem to 'push the off button' during weekends, I decided to make full use of the time the last weekend had provided me. On Sunday, in particular, I decided to pursue a hobby that I've been interested in for quite some time: Gundam kit.

I have been reluctant in starting this hobby since it needs quite an investment to start it. For one, it's time consuming. You have to be able to dedicate some time to work with the kit. And it consumes my bank account really fast. I spent more than half a million in buying all the needed equipment and supplies.

I spent most of Sunday afternoon and evening at an acquaintance's place. He owns a store selling all Gundam-related kits, equipments and supplies. He taught me the basics of plastic kit constructing and the basic of using an airbrush in painting the plastic kit. All in all, it was quite a pleasant new experience. I was learning new things, and new things are always interesting.

The kit is not finished yet, but I think that within 2 weeks I'd be able to finish it. Can't wait. And I don't know whether I'll be sticking to this new hobby, but it looks quite promising (though a bit threatening on the bank account department).

Watchout!! Pickpockets!!

Daily living in Jakarta is no easy matter. The old saying 'It's a jungle out there' applies to this capital city of Indonesia. One must always be alert to one's surrounding whenever one braves the streets of Jakarta. Those who are used to commute with various public transportation and walk the sidewalks of Jakarta could attest to this. Various hazards await, such as thievery, pickpocketing, robbery, buses that never stop at their predetermined bus stops, picket lines, riots, protests, kidnappings, extortions, hypnotism (another popular form of thievery on the streets and in public transportations in Jakarta), car crashes, accidents (AND fake accidents to extort owners of various automobiles), presidency (and various higher-up government people) motorcades, bombs, and of course, air polutions. In short, living in Jakarta is close to living near a warzone.

Of course I'm just dramatizing. It's the purpose of this writing. And in any case, there's a lot of truth in that.

So, in the spirit of helping the good citizens of Jakarta (the nice people, mind you, not the bad people that tried to rob me this morning...aha!) to cope with daily living on the streets of this buzzling city, I would like to give some descriptions of two pickpocketing techniques that I've encountered (and managed to survive) so far.

The first one is (drum roll): "Excuse me sir, you've dropped your lighter" trick.

Bio:
Places to watchout for:
bus stops, under the stairs of crossing bridges (on the sidewalks), under the stairs/walkway to busway crossing bridges, and other places where public transportations usually stop and drop passengers off.

Number of culprits:
usually 3 to 4 people

Descriptions of targets:
males, wearing loose formal pants, most likely right-handed malesGeneral descriptions of culprits : nondescript t-shirts and jeans, dark-skinned (probably due to staying in the sun for long periods of time), sometimes they wear hats (to conceal their eyes), and very good at pretending to look the other way or having blank expressions, standing and pretending to wait for something, wearing nondescript shoes/sandals, looking pretty much gruff (but could be nervous and sweaty when caught or failed in nabbing their targets)

Standard Operating Procedure:
So this is where it gets interesting. Their targets are people walking on the sidewalks, usually people from the male side of the human species who just got off from a crossing bridge or a busway bridge. They spot their targets from afar and ready themselves to do their 'trick'. one or two of them stand/crouch at the left side of the sidewalk (or the crossing bridge stairways) while the other one or two stand/crouch on the right side of the sidewalk. When a target comes into the space between them, the ones on the left side of the target (why left, you asked? You will understand later) will suddenly stand up and grab the left side of the target's pants (the target's left leg) and start shaking the pants. Sometimes they will say "excuse me sir, you've dropped your lighter". This will, of course, attract the attention of the target to the left side of his lower body. While attracted, the other one or two will search the right backpocket of the target and fish out the target's belongings (wallets, cellphones, or other expensive belongings). Now, I will explain why they attract the target's attention to the left side. I assume that most people are right-handed. And I assume that right handed people usually put their wallet in the rightside pockets of their pants (either front or back). This is why these tricksters attract the target's attention to the left side so another one or two could work on the target's right side. I don't know what will happen next after they succeed getting the target's belongings (since I've managed to survive two attempts of this trick), but I imagine that they will either run, hide, switch the prizes between them and run away again, confusing the target in deciding who he/she will run after.

The second one is (drum roll again): "This train is so crowded!" trick

Bio:
Places to watchout for :
train stations and inside a car (train car, that is)

Number of culprits:
at least 4 people

Descriptions of targets:
males, wearing loose formal pants, don't have to be right-handed/left-handed

General descriptions:
see "Excuse me sir, you've dropped your lighter" trick bio

Standard Operating Procedure:
Targets are males about to go on board a train, most likely on the Jakarta Kota - Bogor line. As always, these culprits spot their targets from afar. When a train arrives, two of them get themselves in front of the target and board the train. The other two get themselves behind the target. Those in front will pretend to be having trouble getting inside the car, making the target think that the train is crowded (while it probably isn't). With this 4-people formation, the target is caught in the middle, innocently thinking that the train is crowded, while the 2 people behind start searching the target's pockets for valuable belongings (wallets, cellphones, etc.). After awhile, the two people in front of the target will 'release' the target and the two people behind will try to mingle among the crowd inside the train car. By the time the target realizes that his belongings are gone it will already be too late.

I hope that these two descriptions I have above will help readers to be more cautious toward these kinds of tricks. But I will elaborate more on tips and tricks on how to see them coming. Here I go:

1. Always be alert to your surrounding.
I know daily routine bores the hell out of anyone. And there are times when we couldn't help but be immersed in other matters while commuting, just to get rid of the boredom (or maybe just plain daydreaming). But try to bring yourself to an alert state once in awhile (it would be better if you're alert all the time, though, but that's all up to you...it's your mind anyway). The theme of both tricks above is 'distraction'. And the less alert you are, the easier for them to distract your attention. Try to pay special attention to the people around you. Watch out for those who act strangely. I know this is subjective, since different people have different ideas of what 'strange' is. Just follow your gut instinct. It's a jungle out there and instincts work best.

2. Pay special attention to your valuable belongings.
Put them in your bag (if you have a backpack, that's better). Or if you don't, put them in the front pockets of your pants and if you like, put your hands inside your pocket. That will make it harder for them to search your front pockets. Can't say anything for the ladies though (since these tricks are mostly aimed toward male). Just hold on tight to your hand bags, ladies. That's all I could say.

3. Raise your voice.
Don't be afraid, scream if you need help. Some people are too taken aback that they forget they have a weapon: their mouths. Use it to scream for help. Or even better, use it to throw some obscene words toward the culprits. In my experience, this tactic works best to throw them off guard. They are not expecting you to be brave and fight back (even if you're only swearing). The ruckuss will draw attention from other people on the streets, and most of these people hate pickpockets. Sometimes, being caught while pickpocketing is fast way to a certain death (usually by being beaten to pulp). This tactic works best when the surrounding area is full of people. I tried shouting "Don't f***in' mess with me!" toward some culprits unfortunate enough to pick me up as a target and it elicited nervous glances and sweats...from the culprits. Shouting "thieves!" may scare them off too, but the most important thing is pay attention to your belongings, always. Because these are the things you're trying to protect.

There you go. These are the things I could offer the reader for now. I have been lucky enough to survive several pickpocketing attempts. I may not be so lucky again in the future, especially if these culprits come up with new and better techniques. But for those who are unfortunate, don't worry. Be comforted by the fact that at least it's only your wallet or cellphone and not your life you lost. Like I've said, it's a jungle out there.