A Better Title

They said that the older you grow, the more mature you are. And so, the more you understand about things that can cause unhappiness in the life of a family. Like how arguments are the normal way of life, materials are the best things on earth, how each and every member has to live on their own accord, without a single hints of caring for the other members of the family, and how maids can bully the masters of the house.

And just when you thought that such things can only happen in soap operas, reality hits you hard like a brick that for a moment you just stand there dazed, thinking that it must all not be true.

Then you started hearing the noise. And then you started hearing stories. You heard the cries and the agony. You heard the arguments. And then you came face-to-face to an argument. And then you realised that your family is the one in the soap opera.

Exactly like one.

Well, not surprising really, if you think that the entire family watches Indonesian soap operas (sinetron) for many years every single night, to the extent of having to record the entire bloody thing if any of the members have to miss any.

And that includes the maids.

Ridiculous.

I don’t know what’s going to happen eventually, but I do know that I don’t want to go home this holiday, and may not want to go home so soon after. Even if I do, it’s going to be like a weekend-visit thing, where I can minimise the time I spend at home (the more you stay at home the more headache you get), and visit the ‘normal’ part of my (extended) family.

One of my dreams in the future is just to have a proper family of my own.

Where everything can be solved in a cool-headed way. Where there’s real harmony in the family. Where every single member can bond with each other, helping each other out. Where discussions can go on smoothly, without anyone raising their voices.

I wonder if that dream will ever come true…

There was just an earthquake here about 5 minutes ago (11:55 SST). I will update this entry as more information comes.

Update (12:10 SST): The earthquake was located 50 km NNE (20°) from Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia, or 424 km WSW (242°) from Singapore at a depth of about 30 km. The magnitude was 6.3 on the Richter scale.

• More information about the earthquake
• Detik.com report on the earthquake (in Indonesian)
• Channelnewsasia.com Report

Update (13:36 SST): Updated the links above.

Update (13:55 SST): Another earthquake (smaller one) has just been felt. More on this soon, if there’s any at all…

Update (14:20 SST): The second earthquake was located at the same place at 6.1 on the Richter scale.

More information about the second earthquake

WinRAR Firefox Suggestions, originally uploaded by hendrib.

Firefox Search Bar Suggestions must be one of the best things invented after sliced bread. Even if you don’t know what you want to search for, Firefox can suggest what you can find based on what you have typed so far.

Just look at the suggestions given by Firefox when I started typing “winrar”!

Through many various perverted activities (like blatantly ripping off my friends’ MP3 collection when they asked me to keep a backup copy of their data just in case), I’ve managed to get quite a handful collection of Chinese songs, most of which I don’t even understand a word, apart from the ubiquitous “wo ai ni” or “wo bu zhi dao”.

So what usually happens with most songs is that I’ll just listen for the sake of listening to them, not even thinking twice of the lyrics contained within.

But one song apparently caught my attention.

The title of the song is “Peng You Shou Ri Feng” by Guang Liang, which of course I happily don’t understand… until the second the timer of the song hits 04:11.

Exactly at this moment, an eerie thing happens.

Instead of continuing the song in a language which I don’t understand, the background vocal suddenly started singing something that is finally comprehensible to me.

The first time I heard it, I thought a Babelfish had slipped in my ears. But no, because after further observation, the lyrics actually went:

kini kita sudah pisah
mohon doa engkau bahagia

which is, quite clearly, in Malay.

Not satisfied with that discovery, I went to search for the lyrics, and bumped into one on the internet.

夕阳洒在我的笑容
感觉咖啡又苦又浓
握在手心最后温暖只剩下几分钟
门外有自由在等你
胸口有空洞在等我
我们说好为彼此保重

挥一挥手
送你先走
我的潇洒微笑像不像个小丑
少了情人
今后多个朋友
给你过头多余的温柔我来收

为事争得满脸通红
话语有时说得太重
退让一步 也许会有你想要的天空
门外有自由在等你
胸口有空洞在等我
我们说好要为彼此保重

挥一挥手
不再牵手
多想说我羡慕你怀中的玩偶
少了情人
今后多个朋友
明天开始我写的情书谁来收

门外有自由在等你
胸口有空洞在等我
但愿我说不痛会让你走得更轻松
你越走越远的背后
放心有我这个朋友
像个港口欢迎回来停留
kini kita sudah pisah (如今我们已经分开了)
mohon doa engkau bahagia (我祈求希望你会幸福)
但愿我说不痛会让你走得更轻松
kini kita sudah pisah (如今我们已经分开了)
mohon doa engkau bahagia (我祈求希望你会幸福)
我像港口欢迎回来停留

Well, of course, all is well until I realised that I can’t read Chinese characters. Luckily the lyrics also came with the Pinyin version, so at least I can read it…

xi yang sa zai wo de xiao rong
gan jue ka fei you ku you nong
wo zai shou xin zui hou wen nuan zhi sheng xia ji fen zhong
men wai you zi you zai deng ni
xiong kou you kong dong zai deng wo
wo men shuo hao wei bi ci bao zhong

hui yi hui shou
xong ni xian zou
wo de xiao sa wei xiao xiang bu xiang ge xiao chou
shao le qing ren
jin hou duo ge peng you
gei ni guo tou duo yu de wen rou wo lai shou

wei shi zheng de man lian tong hong
hua yu you shi shuo de tai zhong
tui rang yi bu ye xu hui you ni xiang yao de tian kong
men wai you zi you zai deng ni
xiong kou you kong dong zai deng wo
wo men shuo hao yao wei bi ci bao zhong

hui yi hui shou
bu zai qian shou
duo xiang shuo wo xian mu ni huai zhong de wan ou
shao le qing ren
jin hou duo ge peng you
ming tian kai shi wo xie de qing shu shei lai shou

men wai you zi you zai deng ni
xiong kou you kong dong zai deng wo
dan yuan wo shuo bu tong hui rang ni zou de geng qing song
ta yue zou yue yuan de bei hou
fang xin you wo zhe ge peng you
xiang ge gang kou huan ying hui lai ting liu
kini kita sudah pisah
mohon doa engkau bahagia
dan yuan wo shuo bu tong hui rang ni zou de geng qing song
kini kita sudah pisah
mohon doa engkau bahagia
wo xiang gang kou huan ying hui lai ting liu

And of course, all is well, until I realised that it doesn’t help at all with my comprehension of the song. So I turned to my best friend Mr. Translate (his first name is Google) and see what he comes up with…

I smiled into the sunset
Feeling bitter strong coffee
In the hands of only a few minutes to warm palm final
You have the freedom to the outside
In the chest cavity so I
We say it is good to take care of each other

Waving his hand to play
Give you permission
I do not like the sporty smile like clowns
Fewer Valentine
Many friends in the future
I give you excess surplus gentle collection

To gain his shoulder thing
Words sometimes put too
Perhaps you want to be further concessions in the sky
You have the freedom to the outside
In the chest cavity so I
We say it is good to care for each other

Waving his hand to play
No hand
More like a doll I envy your snake
Fewer Valentine
Many friends in the future
Who should I write love letters resumption tomorrow

You have the freedom to the outside
In the chest cavity so I
I hope I did not let you go more easily pain
You go farther and farther behind
My friends have assured
Welcome back like a port stop
Now we have a separate
I hope you will pray for happiness
I hope I did not let you go more easily pain
Now we have a separate
I hope you will pray for happiness
Welcome back, I like to stay port

Nice song, don’t you think so?

bcc

Hi, I’m an iPhone.
And I’m a Smartphone.

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