Imagining Utopia

Sometimes I daydream about utopia. It is a place where, or a time when people live in harmony, peaceful, and loving. I remembered my Thought Adjuster asked, where would I go from here? I said, a place where there is joy and love. I concluded that it was my view of an utopia.

Of course that was in contrast to what I am now seeing these days, where people would lie to each other, envy with each other, hate one another, they would even kill our own kind.

Gosh, I’m seeing these traits right down in my workplace. I’ve seen people who want to know all the things that I do and have all the things that I have, yet they keep their own things to themselves. It would prove so hard to get help from persons with a trait like this, yet they would be so persistent to get what they want.

And not to mention the many hypocrites, who see the world only as a two sided coin, and guess what? Theirs are always right. Is it only me whining, or there are too many wolves in sheep clothing?

But I’d like to ask a stupid question to humanity, is it hard to actualize utopia? Not just dreaming or imagining.. but realizing, creating. Can we? If we can, why haven’t we, already?

Perhaps we still haven’t gotten out of the 20th century mindset, an old world paradigm, I would say, a worldview which is centered on FEAR. We’re evolving towards better minds, inclusive thinking, progressive cultures. We are moving away from FEAR to LOVE, from separation to unity, but maybe old habits die hard. Maybe Fear’s gripe is still too strong for a culture to move away from it.

I still remember long time ago, some men rejected female as being a president.

I remember some religious fanatics hijacked several air planes and crashed them on to skyscrapers and buildings, killing thousands of people.

I remember, in a bookstore, a mother yelled at her children not to go near a particular religion books section.

Like it or not, things are changing for the better. Fear is doing what’s best to keep the flock inside, but I believe the world at large has no longer in favor for it. Love is a powerful and contagious force, which sooner or later will prevail. It already is in several developed countries and higher cultures.

Indonesia, why not imagine utopia for a start?

Jakarta Toyz Mania Fair 2008

On Sunday, I went to the Jakarta Toyz Mania Fair 2008 at GOR Bulungan. The place was pretty crowded, although it was still 11 am when I got there.

There were mostly US and Japan action figures, namely DC, Marvel, Spawn, music figures, Saint Seiya, Revoltech, and numerous others. Obama was there, too. ;) Cars were also aplenty. There’s about everything for everybody.

It was sunshine all day long, but inside the building, everybody was sweating hot. Man! Probably because the air conditioning system wasn’t spread evenly. I even felt nausea and headache after a while. So just after 12 am I had to call for the day, even though there were still plenty of stuff to look for. Oh, well..

Moving to a new office

My workplace was being relocated to a new place in South Jakarta, SCTV Tower. And this Saturday was my first visit to the brand new office. It’s quite a long run to reach the place from home, around 30km. It took me roughly one hour and a half. I’m not a good navigator, and I admit I often get lost getting to a location. But today I only made one wrong turn. So hurray to that!

Well, I finally got to the place, Senayan City. Went to the new office, unpack my stuff, set up the pc, put all the stuff in the drawer, and help others while at it. Phew.. welcome to Senayan City!

sleeping awake

Lau Tzu fell asleep and dreamt he was a butterfly. Upon awakening he asked, "Am I a man who has just been dreaming he was a butterfly? Or a sleeping butterfly now dreaming he is a man?"

~ Lau Tzu

Transformers Knock Offs!

Hate 'em, like 'em. Either way, they’re all over the store shelves. Gabe was once given by his grandfather on last year’s birthday, a particular Optimus Prime. It actually resembles the original G2 Optimus Prime, but in different color scheme.

So recently I tried on a few other Cybertron Legends Class knock offs, since they’re sold at a mere eight thousand rupiahs. Sadly, within just a minute out of packaging, they soon broke into pieces when we try transforming into alt modes. I had to patch up their joints so they would stay together, at least when not moved.

Just yesterday I found more knock offs being sold at Hypermart, surprisingly there were another Optimus Prime this time from Armada Series. I was intrigued to grab one and compare it with the original, but I soon laid my eyes on one particular toy called TRAINEMPRISE. I’ve seen the original but could not recall what it is. The mold is quite detailed, and so I took this one instead.

I was right, the Trainemprise is a direct copy from Transformers Universe Railracer (a combination of 6 Micromasters Railbots). The differences are in the head mold, and one of the Railbot which form the left arm. Color scheme also differ from the original releases both Hasbro and TakaraTomy.

I haven’t opened it so I could not tell at what quality this toy rates.
Update: I have opened it out of curiosity, and while the plastic quality is just okay, the molds do not exactly imitate the original. The detailing is visually okay, but most of the Railbots do not have movable arms! Only two which form the arms do have. Combinations are very limited just to form the Railracer robot, I simply couldn't combine the trains and the weapons into super train. There are no connectors and the holes don't even fit.

Generally speaking, if you really have to buy knock offs instead of the originals, you might want to consider these:

• Most are made of lower quality plastics. Higher price tag could mean better quality plastic and more detailed sculpt.
• Perhaps to avoid copyright infringments, manufactures make slight differences on their molds. However, I do find boxed knock offs directly copied from the originals down to their joint molds, but visibly measured far less in quality. The point is, pay careful attention in their details and features.
• Don't go for the money excuse. They look cheap and cost less at first, but eventually you'd be better saving for the originals instead.
  
• Knock offs are average choice for experimenting or practicing with your sculpt painting hobby.
  

The final verdict: knock offs are a definite no, no!

Farewell, Mr. King..

Today was a parting day for us with our beloved King. We’ve been with it for five years, and have had unforgettable fond memories. It’s natural that we were feeling kind of sad to let it go, but we really needed the money.

Ah, yes, we’ve been experiencing financial turmoil since end of last year, which had forced us to selling off our things. So today was of no exception.

This is a year of change, and change always comes with struggle. The ways to overcome our financial problems lie ahead. All we need is courage and wisdom to act decisively.

As we bid farewell to Mr. King, we are also welcoming new days of change with steadfastness and strong will. We’re at the crossroads once again, and a new life journey beckons..

Save Mamit!

Mamit is a quarterly Buddhist children magazine which is freely distributed nationwide. It is managed by Ehipassiko Foundation, and each edition is filled with wonderful dharma teachings, knowledge, info and tips on many subjects. We love Mamit, and have been distributing the magazine around our home district.

Due to the recently sky-rocketing prices, plus the increasing demand of Mamit from all over Indonesia, production cost and distribution also rise. Right now Mamit’s funds are more than 48 million in deficit!

We all hope to see Mamit again on subsequent periods to come, so we want to help spread the word to all Mamit readers, parents, and anyone else who may wish to donate for the ongoing of Mamit magazine.

You may give donation at any amount directly to Mamit’s account:

BCA KCP Plaza Merdeka Mas
Yayasan Penerbit Manggala
Acc. No. 8820003960

Then, send a text message with name of donor, name on behalf if any, date of transfer, fund amount to 081310131117.

Please contact me if you need more information on this subject.

Free gift and a swindle

One day I took a leave for holiday with family. Not quite a holiday since Her had work to do which required my help. After that was done then we went to Mal Artha Gading for refreshment. Just when we were about to leave the mall, on our way to the entrance my spouse Her was offered a free gift from a male bystander. I wasn’t interested at all.

He said, “it’s free, please take it.”

Her replied, “Really? Is there a catch? Will I have to buy something?”

“No, no catch whatsoever.. we just need you to fill this small form in our office, then this gift is yours for free,” He continues while showing the small brochure with form on it.

“Okay then, why not I fill the form here right now..”

“No, ma’am we need to fill this upstairs, it won’t take long.”

The person talked us into going to his office, on the second floor. Her wasn’t buying, but the bait is interesting so she played along and called me to follow. Upstairs I saw several females wearing rather flashy mini skirts, and upon entering their office, we were greeted by a friendly salesperson, let’s just call him Jack. And I was still not interested at all.

For administration, Jack asked Her for an ID card to be photocopied and she gave it to the girl in a mini skirt.

Jack was so friendly and talked almost all the time about their office, their products, asked where I work, what we do, on and on, Her had to cut him off several times to ask for her ID card to be returned. I began to get interested then.

Jack got a chance and showed off one of his main product, a technologically advanced electronic flat microwave stove. He showed several other items and even turned on the massaging couch for me. Then having asked for the third time, they came out and returned the ID card. The other salesperson, the one who offered the gift (let’s call him Jake) brought several folded papers and offer us to choose one of them, as extra lucky gift. Gabe took the shot and grab the one on top. He then gave it to Jack (still talking all the time). We teared the paper and it was written “Parcel VIP”.

We were going through a drama, a surprise party of “wow, you won the big prize!” something like that. There were phone calls to confirm our winning, and facsimile report that we’ve won the biggest prize, which in 50, only three of Parcel VIP, and we’ve got it. There were hurray, applause, and handshakes. But I was really interested at how they were playing the drama.

Okay, to make this short, we thought that Jack and everyone else there were acting like they’re starring a soap TV series, tried to buy us time and talked us out to give them the credit card they need to make a purchase of five million rupiahs. Yes, the peak of this show was the five million purchase we were required to make to claim all those prizes excluding the free gift. We knew. Been there, seen that. Jack once again tried to talk us into handing over our credit card. No sir, we only wanted the free gift, and we’ve no more time to play, so we stormed our way out and bid goodbye to them for having a nice talk and all that.

This holiday we’ve got our free gift, and Gabe has got one good lesson.

There are still companies using this kind of marketing scheme (i.e. scam), seducing us with free gifts and prizes so they can talk us (sometimes hypnotize) into spending five million rupiahs on their way-too-pricey home products.

Go for the free gift if you want to, but be wary not to give too much personal information, and more importantly, don’t give your credit card away.

Why I became a vegetarian

I was a meat lover. KFC chickens, A&W’s burgers, Ny. Suharti’s ayam bakar, tongseng goat, rendang beef, Bandeng Presto, gulai boar/celeng, pepperoni pizzas, smoked-beef slices, cunyok, and all others too numerous to mention were my favorites. You name it.

Then about four years ago I stopped eating food from animal flesh. It was a gradual process which took roughly a year, before I had finally abandoned meat. Well, I still consume dairy products, eggs, cheese, and milk.

People always asked me why did I turn vegetarian? Was I on a diet? Health considerations? Etc. etc.. Even Gabe asked me again and again.

And I always said I’m not sure why, I just don’t want to eat animals anymore. They’re just like us humans, they have legs, arms, eyes, mouth, and brains. They think, though not in the advanced terms like us do, they also have feeling, they fear when their lives are on a threat.

I don’t want to make a long story out of my decision. But I’d like to take the words off of Master Ching Hai’s campaign on Global Warming awareness.

Go green, be vegetarian.

It has a nice and catchy phrase. And very reasonable, too. Please, if you want to, click here to visit their website and read on.

Moaci

If you would ask about one of my favorite snack, I would probably say moaci right away.

Yup, those yummy chewy sticky white balls with hundreds of tiny sesame seeds spread around them are just too good not to be eaten.

What's it made of anyway? Well I have to ask the shopkeeper the next time I shop again.. but I suspect it is made of ketan flour. Inside each os those yummy-chewy-sticky-balls, is a sweet and tasty peanuts.

Truly one of Semarang's finest delights..

Meet the Autobots

Hello. My name is Optimus Prime, we are an autonomous mechanical toys from the planet Cybertron. But you can call us Autobots for short. I am a Voyager Class First Strike edition, a redeco of the original mold with a Generation-1 colors, which mostly covered in red with dark blue on the ankles, and the All Spark light blue on my chest and upper arms.

My first lieutenant, Jazz. He’s jacked up as a Premium Line Deluxe Class with striking silver paint job, very cool brass coloring visible on some of his body parts. He may be the shortest of the Autobots here, but the coolest looking one nonetheless.

Rescue Ratchet, my medical officer. He’s a new Voyager Class redeco, fairly similar to the old G1 looks. He’s the biggest of all the Voyager Class series. But don’t let the bulkish look turn you down, because he is more poseable and articulated than Jazz does.

This is Ironhide, my weapons specialist. He’s a lean mean fighting machine and a mighty fine Voyager Class Premium Series. Just take a look at those huge cannons on each of his arms. Combine the two and he’s got a BFG capable of shooting four projectile missiles! The Autobot insignia on his front hood is quite a nuisance, since it can be spotted too easily by suspecting Decepticons. He’s not very happy with that, but a fair trade for his overall better color enhancements.

And of course you’ve met your guardian, Bumblebee. Thanks to Mikaela’s critics he now comes with two variants, the Classic and the new 2008 Concept Camaro. He looks too dark in the Classic Camaro version, but he yields two cool projecting missiles which can either be mounted on his shoulders or held in his hands. The Concept version on the other hand sports a cannon which can automorph into a blade. In the end he looks much much cooler with his new look.

Gabe is unquestionably Jazz, while Mom is definitely Ironhide. Me? I’m probably more like Bumblebee. And which Autobot character are you?

Sunshine Fun Carnival

On 12 July 2008 we were at Mal Artha Gading as part of the Sunshine Fun Carnival event of the day. Lots of games were happenning there, with many children and adults competing to win prizes. Some of the games to my observation were Uno card games, Hotwheels speed racing, and coloring competition.

We arrived at 14:00, and waited roughly two hours while Mrs. Ester and her spouse were coordinating their staffs to set up the stage. We could not just stand and do nothing so when opportunity arrived, I get to help them a little on stage.

About 16:00 when the competitions have finished, we came in and brought our show to the audience, while the juries were calculating the scores.

I could tell that most of us were quite nervous performing live on stage before the public. Gabe were good with his Nocturne play even though he did miss a note. The second song was Eccosaise. He lost some notes there he had to stop for a second, but he managed to smoothly slip right back on track and finish the song.

Overall this was not close to our best performance. Nevertheless it’s a valuable and rewarding experience for all of us. I personally enjoyed the whole show, especially soundtracks from Jay Zhou’s the Secret movie. A timeless jewel of musical experience imo.


On our way home, Gabe said enthusiastically, “Next time I want to play in a bigger mall, pa!”

“Yes, we’ll do that..” I replied with the same tone.

July Piano Roadshow

Gabe will be performing along with his friends from Symphony Music School on July 12 2008, starting at 4:00 pm in Mal Artha Gading, Kelapa Gading Permai.

The show will be themed after Jay Zhou's movie The Secret.. yes, they'll be playing some of the Secret's beautiful soundtracks! Although Gabe and Lovina, the performing disciples under 8 yo. will not be playing the Secret's songs, it'll still be a lot of fun.

Gambatte ne, all!

Oh, if you happen to be around.. don't forget to join the fun! ^^

Animation

“Dad, what is animation?” asked Gabe the other day.

“It’s a bunch of still images put together to produce movement.” I answered, at the same time thinking for alternative explanation.

“Dad, I don’t understand.. how can still images produce movement?”

I should have thought out alternative first.. but I skipped the mumbo jumbo.

“Cartoon movies are animations, too.” I replied instead.

“So animation is cartoon..” Gabe concluded.

“Not always…. say, I have an idea.. Let’s make an experiment with one of the Transformers..”

“What’s the idea?” Gabe looked intrigued.

“We’ll make a short animation of Bumblebee transforming from Camaro car..”

So I went to grab my old cellphone which has a built in VGA camera, took the Bumblebee car, and set up a chair as stage for the animation.

Gabe was curious.. wondering what was I up to?

But then after having taken a few snapshots of Bumblebee and showed Gabe in slideshow mode, he was so excited.

(click the image to view animation)

“Let me do another!” Gabe begged..

“I’ll make another animation, but watch carefully.. so then you can do it your own.”

I took another figure and make the animation. But Gabe could hardly wait, “Let me, let me, please.. Dad!”

“Okay, here we go.. you take the snapshot, I’ll transform it once at a time.”

“Why not me do it all?”

“Teamwork, son..”

“Can a person do this all by himself?”

“Of course… but it’s so much fun when we do it together..”

And here is the animation of Brawl transformation shot by Gabe.. neat!

(click the image to view animation)

Mission Success!

Gabe said that joyfully at the end of the piano show on Saturday 31th May 2008, at Mitra Keluarga, Kelapa Gading. What an exciting experience for everybody! Gabe and his friends were quite nervous before the show, even after having played the scores, Gabe's hands were frozen cold!

He's been quite edgy since a few days before the show. I understood his situation, his teacher had given a bit hard pressure on him and everyone else for the show to be successful. But in the end, it was worth while.. Good entertainment for the hospital visitors, and everybody was happy and seemed to have enjoyed the show very much. Indeed, mission success!

The hospital staffs did record the show, we'll post the video when we have received it.

Gabe and his 6th birthday

Earlier this month I had promised Gabe a Fraulein Idolmaster figure for his birthday present. Unfortunately I was told that it will only be available in June. So, to make it up, we brought Gabe to a toyshop owner’s home just a few blocks from ours and let him choose on his own. Gabe was picky enough but thankfully oom Stefanus was very patient while offering various toys. It took quite a while for us to wait until he made a choice. But it was an excellent choice, afterall.

A Transformer Bumblebee (movie version), with three additional S7 agents packed in Screen Battles series. Bumblebee is transformable into a Chevrolet Camaro. Whew! It took me an hour to figure out how to convert from robot mode to vehicle. I made a few mistakes at first, but good thing the toy is sturdy and can handle several wrong moves.

I need to mention to readers who happen to have this toy too, remember to pull the back first when trying to pull the front grill up. It serves as somekind of a locking mechanism, and that was what took my time the most.

Although we didn’t go out today, Gabe was having fun playing with Bumblebee. And so have we..

Gabe & piano

Gabe will be participating in Symphony Music Show on the last day of this month. With his teacher and friends, they’ll perform in Mitra Keluarga Hospital, Kelapa Gading.

One day on a sunny Sunday when Gabe was practicing, I came by and requested him a few songs to play…

Gabe and Stamps

Gabe has a thing with stamps. The first time he saw my stamp collection, he was so amazed. Perhaps because of the beautiful pictures of the many things printed on such small pieces of paper.

Once when we found a mail still has a stamp on its envelope, he even cried asking to peel off the stamp from the envelope, and put it in his little stamp book.

“Dad, what are these stamps for?”

“For sending letters.. say you want to write a letter to your far away cousin, you can put the stamp on the envelope so the postman would deliver it. The stamp works a bit like money.”

“Can we use the peeled stamps to send our letter?”

“No I don’t think so, son.. they’re already stamped. We can only use new stamps to send letters, or use the old ones which haven’t been stamped from the post office..”

“Dad, let’s get some stamps and send letters!”

“Hey, that’s a good idea.. not many are sending letters through post office.. nowadays people can send text messages or e-mail instead of old-fashioned letter.”

Well, if you share the same idea, why don’t we exchange letters with Gabe? He’d be thrilled and I can assure you he’ll reply back.

Do let us know and I’ll give you the mailing address. :-)

Smile for each new day!

Yotsuba just came accross with Optimus Prime and Jetfire and she teaches them a few motivational moves for meeting every day challenges in life.. ;-D

The Traffic and Virtualization

How does an average 12 km of urban traffic jam sound to you? Nowadays I spent roughly one and a half hour to go to the office, which is 22 km west from home, on my motorbike. Most of the time if not always- I had to endure more than halfway in a very heavy traffic jam. Although there is alternative route which is abut 27 km long with less traffic, but the time count is just about the same.

In total, the time needed to travel from home to office vice versa is normally 3 hours. I wear t-shirt each time I travel to work since it gets hot and I get sweaty, and by the time I arrive I change to the appropriate work clothing.

Truth is, spending 3 hours going back and forth in heavy traffic jam to get to office and back home to me is a waste of gas, energy, health, and time. And in my case, I am experiencing a steady decline of health and performance, regardless of my considerably healthy lifestyle and sleep pattern.

For broader picture of this issue, here's a news release from KBN Cakung, stating the losses because of heavy traffic jam. In 2007, Kompas has reported a 43 trillion rupiahs loss annually.

Office virtualization is one alternative solution which I believe can cut costs, increase efficiency and prolong the staffs’ health. Here’s an interesting article I read the other day about the need for office virtualization.

Basically the requirements for successful virtualization are:

- Establish Trust, between company and staffs.

- Establish Connectivity using all means of available telecommunication technologies: internet, telephone, mobile, etc.

- Establish Work Schedule and self discipline.

I think with good preparation, virtualization will be a rewarding new experience for the company, as well as for the employees. And in distant future it will become the next work culture, if not already.

Holidays Jakarta

Very long weekends in Jakarta could mean one thing.. everyone’s packing out on vacation outside the capitol. For us, this is a very good time to enjoy Jakarta streets without traffic jam!

And so, yesterday we were strolling around Jakarta with Borju. Our first stop was Gramedia Matraman, so-called the largest bookstore in Southeast Asia.. no denying to that, since they’ve renovated the building, it looks like a book mall now. With one floor for stationery, toys and stuffs, the upper three stories are crammed with books of all kinds, I could not resist saying, “like a heaven for bookworms!!”

We spent more than 2 hours of fun there.. before we leave, Gabe was curious about a small restaurant he saw on the basement near the parking lot. Es Teler 77, Juara Indonesia. "What’s with the ice, pa? Is it putting us to drunk?"

He he.. "why don’t we go try and find out?"

Afterwards, we wondered around Cikini, Menteng, Thamrin roads until we stopped by Taman Suropati to take a short rest. And then went back home.

The sky is clear, the wind is serene, we certainly had fun in quiet Jakarta..

I hope you, too!

Illusion is The Ultimate Weapon

MASK was a television series made by DIC for Kenner, a toy company in US (now Hasbro). It was aired by RCTI(www.rcti.tv) around 1989-90. The series was one of my all time favorites. Well of course there were Silverhawks, Thundercats, Galaxy Rangers. Ah, yes, the good ol’ days.

But MASK was something else, I’d rather think it as a mix of Mission Impossible with Transformers. I remembered the first season being best of them, with great stories all the way, and animation that had been very well done, anime and western style boiled into one.

I was in Junior High when I collected some of the toy vehicles. By the time I was in High School, I’ve got Thunderhawk, Condor, Manta, Gator, Jackhammer, Vampire, Iguana and Wolfbeast. I couldn’t buy them all, so I had made other transformable vehicles from bits and pieces of old toys. I loved playing them with stories of my own version. I converted our room into a whole city to set the playground and mission objectives. What a wonderful time back then!

Twenty years or so have passed and I still keep the most of the toys still in very good shape. If not because of financial difficulties we’re facing in our household, I would never want to sell them away.

Yup, I’m letting them go to collectors or anyone interested in memorabilia toys. I invite you to visit my online garage sale and take a look at these MASK toys I have.

There’s also very good resources and info about MASK here:

• Wiki
• All About MASK
  

Pepakura Papercrafts!

Do you fancy at paper models? Interested but not sure how to start? Well here's a simple guide I made to get you going rightaway.

Okay, first we will be needing these:

1. A4 Papers weighted at around 110 to 200 gram. I personally prefer 160gr.
2. A sharp scissor. Don't use dull one because it may leave small torn edges.
3. A ruler, to make folding easier.
4. A white glue.
5. A pen with rounded tip, to curl paper.



Let's get started, shall we!?

1. The printing.

Print the paper model that you'd like to make. You may download some from these websites:
- 3D Paper Model (www.3dpapermodel.com.tw)
- Paper Modelz (www.papermodelz.info)
- Ninjatoes' papercraft webpage
- Fanikyarakuta Papercraft Cafe
- and there are many many more! Just google on "paper craft" or "paper model", or key in "[your favorite model or theme] paper craft".

2. The cutting.

Read the instructions, usually they're quite descriptive and easy to follow. If you're having difficulties obtaining the instructions, there are basic symbols on paper models which follows the same pattern as in origami.

• Fold lines. There are two kinds of folding pattern:
  - --.--.-- This is mountain fold, which means, you fold the paper mountain like ( ^ )
  - ------- This is a valley fold. You need to fold like this ( v ) along the pattern.
• Cutting line. Lines to be cut usually printed in bold line _____ around the edges of the model.
  
• Punch hole/line. A hole or line pattern which appears on the center of the model. You will need to use a cutter or a piercing pen to do this.

3. The gluing.

Areas to be glued usually appear with a descriptive mark or shown in extended folds. Be careful not to put too much glue on them, as it would take longer time to dry and stick. Take time to decide what areas to glue first, or do I need to paste it on all areas at once. Wipe out excessive glue that appears outside the glued area to make the model clean.


4. The finishing.

After the assembly, basically you're done and it's time to show your piece! But I also got this idea from one of my nephew who used to spray his paintings with clear paint to make it durable and even waterproof. You can also try this trick with your finished model, I think it will definitely make the model last longer.

Here are some of the models I've made a couple of years ago.

Piano Concert #1

Gabe's first piano concert was held on Saturday 27 January 2008 at Symphony Music School, Bekasi Barat. There were 14 participating junior students, each played one to two songs. Gabe played Beethoven's Little German's Dance and Bach's Minuet in G. Everyone was having fun and playing their songs beautifully. Thank you, Mrs. Ester and Mr. Evan for hosting this wonderful show. We really appreciate and enjoyed it.

And now, here's a little treat from the show. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Gabe Theron!

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Joey Starter Deck double set pack was the first trading card game Gabe's got from his cousin Timmy. It has been kept inside Gabe's toy box for some time. One day, near the end of 2007, we were browsing for old toys to give away and suddenly I picked up the Starter Deck. "Hey, this looks interesting.. Gabe, want to try this?" Gabe replied with a resounding "Yes!".. he was very excited but first, of course, we've had to learn how to play this.

Was Gabe ready for the battle ahead?
Ha! You betcha!

But he had to endure grievious losses and countless destructions in battles. Now that he has developed his own deck, he is coming back ready to pour his wrath upon any flesh unfortunate enough to even look at him. Gabe is relentless, he would teach others just so he can beat them in battles. Ah, the agony of the defeated is obviously delicious aroma for Gabriel.. ha ha.. Hail to Gabriel the Cardmaster..!

I'm exaggerating, really.. ;)

Gabe got better and yes.. he even had beaten me several times now. What's next? We promised him a new set of deck after his first piano concert. So, gambatte ne, Gabe!

If you want to know how to play this card game, you can visit www.yugioh-card.com. It has loads of info and how to play instructions. Really, it's a fun game.
Also, Yu-gi-oh tv series are still playing on SpaceToon channel every Monday to Friday.

Love is...fantasy

"It's challenging a seemingly impossible obstacle. Falling in love with someone out of your world... winning that person's heart... and realizing your love... those are the things fantasies are made of."

It has been a month or two since I got hooked up in a Korean drama, particularly Lovers in Paris, which was aired in Indosiar every 7AM. Lovers in Paris is -surprisingly- a beautiful and refreshing romantic drama comedy beyond the ordinary. We don't see weak, submissive female person as the main character there as in many old fashioned dramas. Instead, we see a self-empowered, strong-willed and determined woman, doing what she wants to do, being what she wants to be courageously.

Okay, so I missed a couple of episodes, but the end was pretty exciting, albeit confusing for most. Heryati was screaming "What's going on? What happens with the two of them (Tae Young and Ki Joo)?" all the way down to the last minute.

Several interesting thoughts about the ending were juggling up in my mind. But I took out one interpretation which I think is the most probable..

There are two worlds of the same person. One is in the fantasy of the other. The real world begins when the fantasy world ends..

Tae Young, a novelist by heart, is working as part time maid for the house of a CEO (in Korea), and while she's at it, she stumbles upon her boss' laptop, on which she started her writing a story.. the love story about two lovers who meet the first time in Paris.

When TY finishes her last part of the story, her fantasy world coincides with her real world. Events are unfolding as they were in her story. It creates a kind of awkward, de ja vu feeling for her.. and for Ki Joo, whom she later meet for the first time, accidentally as it was in the fantasy.

That's how I saw the whole story. Ah, we lost count at how many times we cry when things get worse, laugh at the funny things they do, and cheer at Tae Young's bravery. Lovers in Paris is no doubt in my opinion, a breathtaking, thought provoking, and extraordinary Korean drama series I've ever seen.

Let me know if you have your own interpretation to share..

Info:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovers_in_Paris

Betta Splenden

Around two-three months ago we were given two bettas from an old friend of mine whom we have just visited after so long. There they are, one red Crowntail and a blue-gray Halfmoon, put in separate two small pet container.

We love them both, but I personally like the crowntail. I've never seen this type of betta since my childhood. Of course, nowadays we do not keep bettas to pit them against each other. Yet I saw several old-type siamese fighter bettas lining in pet stores.

The first days of caring them was a bit challenging. Bettas (probably like most other fishes) are sensitive to water quality and pH. One day I sprinkled dry food on the red and left it for work. At night I saw the water was foggy so I changed it. On the next day Red showed symptoms of illness. I didn't know at first but then I suspect it had to be the water which was contaminated with uneaten food. I read about this then and found out that Red is catching a Fin Rot disease.

Okay, so me, Her and Gabe went to a pet store and grabbed a "blue potion", and give Red two days treatment. Red's health gradually returns to normal and so we felt happy and relieved.

Gabe loves to feed them everyday, he even takes out dirt, poop, and leftover food, while his parents do the cleaning every two days.

By the way, if you are looking for great looking or contest-class bettas, I heartily recommend you to my dear friend Yono (his website at GM Betta). He is not just a professional betta breeder, but also a jury member of IBC (International Betta Congress).

Go betta, go!

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