One Day Service: Passport Renewal

My passport, which I obtained five years ago, is soon to be expired. Well, actually my company reminds me to renew it. My first reaction was panic mode!, first because the expiration date is very close and second, I got my passport in my hometown, Semarang. I was concerned about having to go back to Semarang just to renew it, when the procedure is three to four days. Using some "help" costs a fortune, double the normal rate is minimum. Also, I don't have all the documents needed here, i.e. my birth certificate. Luckily, my family card is brought by my brother here, I just had to collect it. From my research, we can substitute birth certificate with diploma or marriage book/license. Also, we can renew (also register or replace) our passport anywhere. Plus, there is online passport application. All we need is black and white/grayscale of all our documents to upload with our application (Citizen ID, Family Card, Birth Certificate/Diploma/Marriage License, Recommendation/Sponsor Letter, Old Passport).
Once I tried the online procedure and choose the day and the office to register/renew my passport, but when I got there, there is a bulletin about quotas for passport applications per day, and the quotas are always run out early, before the immigration office is officially open (applicants must queue to send the application), and online application is also limited, less than the regular ones. So  Then, I heard about "one day service", where we can renew our passport in one day, launched in February 2013. Right now, only two offices can serve one day passport renewal service, the western and the central of Jakarta. So, I tried to use the service, then I found out that the queueing process is more extreme. You must come much earlier than the time when the office gate is officially open, which is at 6.00 am, or even when the quota numbers are shared, which is at 07.30 am. By the third time I come to make the queue, which is at 04.30 am, one day after my passport expired, I finally got the queue number (150 from 200). Surprisingly, after the torturing process just to get into the queue, next processes are very smooth, as long as you complete the documents required. First, you must validate your old passport, if your passport passed, you can proceed to validate the other documents. After all the documents checked and validated, you proceed to get your "real" queue number from the machine in the office. Then you proceed to pay the cost, which is now set at 255 thousand IDR, and wait for the interview (along with fingerprints, signature recording, and photograph taking). I finished the procedure at 11.30 am, and be told to collect the new passport the next morning (if you get the earlier queue number, you might collect the passport in the afternoon at the same day). Not bad for waking up so early.

Yesterday

Yesterday, all my trouble seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh I believe in yesterday

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh yesterday came suddenly

Why she had to go
I don't know she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh I believe in yesterday

(written by Paul McCartney)

Welcome to the Real World

Well. say goodbye to the innocence and restless of youth, and welcome to the real world. I must not regret about this farewell, instead of being grateful for the moments I left behind. One year since my life turns upside down, for real. I have tried to move on. I never thought it would be so hard. Gone are the days of flowing water, living for today, and never caring for myself. There are too many risks to take, too much bet at stake. Maybe it's not time to complain, but again when is it? Just do your best and be thankful, at leat you can do.

One Year of Job

It's been one year since I back to work. After my second dropping out of college, it took 20 days until I get a new job, unexpectedly. Just like my old jobs, I got this one completely on behalf of friendship. Well, a lot of things have happened since last year. I have lost and found something in my life. No regrets, I suppose. I made many new friends, got new experiences, but also lost an important part of my life, kinda like a lost-and-found session. C'est la vie, ma chérie.

Here Comes the Flood, There Goes the Flood

The flood strikes back! After 2007, this probably the biggest flood in Jakarta ever. Now it's more widespread and quite intimidating. Well, if the flooding area is the heart of Jakarta, a.k.a. the Indonesia Hotel square, wouldn't it mean something? Last time, it's only the usual suspects, the area that flooded year by year. Well, that if the dam is intact, we won't have this discussion. The rain is not as often as last years, but the impact is more devastating. Everytime there's flood coming, my thoughts always come to the year 1993. That year, a big flood swept my hometown, right in the place where I was born. For a week the town is isolated from the world, the electricity is out, the rivers were ready to spill, the streets turn to canals, and the rain kept falling. Thank God we could get through it.

'Deserve's Got Nothing to Do with It' or Does It?

Just a little quote from a movie forum:

Deserves got nothing to do with anything in this life. I used this phrase often.
The winner in any sport competition does not have to be the best team. Academy Award Best Picture winner does not have to be
the best picture of that year.
Some of the students that failed in exams were not the stupidest in their class.
The elected president does not have to be the best candidate.
The husband of the prettiest women does not have to be the coolest dude around.
Life is not always fair. Life is just like that. Nobody wants you when you loose, Nobody loves you when you're down and out. And there is no justice for the loosing side. 

 Some calls it "Law of Nature", some calls it "God's Justice", some calls it "Shit Happens". Just pick your poison.

Yet Another New Year

It's new year's eve, time to blog again, everybody? After the rush hour and moving deadlines by the end of the year, closed by consecutive road trip to Malang for my little brother's wedding, finally some peace and quiet days are coming. Well, last year is an unexpectedly hectic chain of events for me, especially. My mother's health got worse culminated to her death, my extremely fast track engagement and wedding and aftermath, and of course, workload along woth the pressure. Also, my health issue, my mother-in-law's health issue, and my brother's wedding to round it all.
And yes, I lost much last year, but also gain some. I've lost both my parents, and struggled to keep the family from segregating. I also have a new family, and still wonder how to manage it, with this kind of long distance relationship. Now, a new year and a new home to live in, I kinda wonder if this year will be more exciting than last year. Well, we can only wait and see...

You're (Not) So Vain

Anybody recognized this song (written and performed by Carly Simon in 1972)? the famous line: "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." The mystery about the person hid behind the lyrics is very famous and still fascinates many people up till now. Well, what if it is you that become the person, or simply become the inspiration for a song, book, or movie? Are you gonna be proud, excited, flattered, embarrassed, or even angry? Or is it simply a mixture of them all? One thing for sure, you'll never know it exactly because most of the times, especially if you are not that famous, the author never tells the (whole) truth behind the story, or tell the person directly. That is enough to keep some interests in the work, a layer of mystery, a puzzle to solve, and curiosity, and maybe, add some colors to your life too.

Ignorance Is Bliss (?)

Sometimes, it's better to not know something, when knowing that something just gonna make you sad or regret. Now we know why people living in isolation, up high in the mountains or deep in the villages, seem so peaceful and happy, because they don't know what happens in this world nowadays. Whether it is about global warming, natural disasters, financial crisis, rising oil prices, shaking national leadership, higher politics temperature, or European cup fever. Nothing really bothers them until they caught up, or maybe they will just ignore it. Maybe it's better for you to not know the whole story about someone you befriended or idolize, or it will ruin your imagination. We always imagine how it's like to be able to read someone's mind, but maybe it is for the best.

When It’s Gone, You’ll Know It’s Not Yours

There's a danger in loving somebody too much. Or at least some might say that. It's hard enough to lose somebody close to you, it's even harder to take the blame for that. Everybody just keep saying that if only you did everything differently, etc etc. Someone even called me crazy right into my ear. But still, when someone’s gone, it’s always for good. I don’t know why for the past two months I keep losing something. I can consider myself very careful about keep my possession safe and intact. Of course, it only takes a moment of carelessness and just like that, it’s gone. Well, you shouldn’t get what you don’t deserve, so when you lost something, maybe that thing should not belong to you.