The Seremban Trip

I think it's fair to say that the Seremban trip began right at the tail end of the Pontian noodles trip in August 2024. We were at Johor Bahru City Square when I found a Negeri Sembilan postcard. I was telling Surianto that, "well, looks like we have to go to Seremban now."

So a plan was made. Nobody I know ever went to Seremban for holiday before. Further investigation using AI only confirmed that the sightseeing destination and food in Seremban could only sustain us for half a day. But at the same time, Seremban is not exactly far from Kota Kemuning.

The postcard that started the trip.
Photo by Linda Emily.

That's why the trip commenced with a bus ride. We had all the time to waste to compensate to make up for the little sightseeing we would do in Seremban. Then we'd go to meet Wiwi for breakfast. Months later, I also learnt that I could continue our way to Genting for a quick visit to buy the Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. After a night in KL, we would fly back to Singapore. This trip was going to be packed with togetherness and adventures!

From then onwards, and especially after my India trip, the name Seremban appeared incessantly in our group chat. More often than not, it was either me or Jimmy asking people to join. If it was me, then I was simply gathering friends for a short togetherness. If it was Jimmy, it had to be a not-so-subtle mockery. Can't blame him, though. Because you had to be crazy enough to go where people don't go!

The departure.
Photo by Surianto.

In the end, only some of the regulars who had trusted Robinson Travel enough that joined willingly. Surianto, Cicilia and Taty, long time members since the Japan trip, boarded the bus at the Golden Mile Tower with me. Off we went to Seremban. About 5.5 hours later, we dropped off across Terminal 1. We were officially in Seremban!

First thing first, we went to our hotel and checked in. Then we headed to Quinn (Seremban Beef Noodles) for late lunch. If look can be deceiving, this unassuming eatery certainly fits the profile. The beef noodles was soft and tasty. A godsend to my liking! I personally loved it very much. As a comparison, if Hock Lam Beef in Singapore was good, then this one was way better!

Seremban beef noodles.

It was raining before and after our meal, so we got stuck at Palm Mall instead. Nothing special there, so we hopped onto Grab and went to Empayar Seremban Siew Paw. We shopped a bit, then quickly headed to Haji Shariff Cendol. Too bad, it was already closed when we got there, so we resumed our journey to Lorong Seni Seremban. 

After paying our homage to Abbey Road, we entered Lorong Seni. This area is covered with murals, quite similar to those you'd find in Chinatown Singapore, so pictures were taken there. The other end of the tunnel led us to Dataran Seremban, a landmark with the words SEREMBAN N9 on the grass patch. From there, we walked to Taman Tasik Seremban that was located next to our hotel. The night was ended with a dinner at TC Keong. 

Visiting Taman Tasik Seremban.
Photo by Angela Baby.

By then, we were basically done with Seremban. The next morning, we made our way to Kota Kemuning. After a short visit to Wiwi's house, we had breakfast at Samy and Min Bak Kut Teh. Good stuff, especially the dry bak kut. Then, much to Wiwi's surprise, her husband actually encouraged her to join us to Genting Highlands.

Thus began our ride to the mountaintop. I actually didn't realize that Rock Shop is not located in the main compound, but adjacent to it. But since we were already there, we explored a bit and that's when Surianto's beginner's luck won him some casino chips. Only after that we went to the tiniest Rock Shop I had ever seen so far. 

In Genting. Not very far from Rock Shop.

On our way down, we stopped at the Premium Outlet. Never a fan of shopping, I soon found myself sitting at Coffee Bean, enjoying ice blended coffee and ondeh cake. Both were equally sweet! When they were done, we went to the city and checked into our hotel. 

For dinner, we decided to visit Jalan Alor. Wiwi wasn't exactly a great host in KL as she didn't know much about public transport and the tourist area. Instead of being our guide, she joined us and became a tourist as well, haha. The food at Cu Cha Restaurant was decent. Good to eat the mud creeper snails again.

Jalan Alor.
Photo by Angela Baby.

We joined the crowd for sightseeing on Jalan Alor afterwards. It is amazing how crowded the first half of the street was! We made a U-turn when we reached the end, then walked towards Wiwi's car. Her husband had bought Musang King durian for my friends to enjoy. I stayed away from it because it doesn't matter if it is the king of fruits. To me, it was as smelly as it used to be. That horrible smell that got me running away when I was three years old! A good glass of tea c then finally ended both the night and Wiwi's worst nightmare of being remembered as the host who didn't serve tea c. 

The next morning, Surianto was keen on going to Batu Caves, but not before he persistently rang the door bell and woke me up as he forgot something. Few hours later, the rest of us were in the largely inactive Bazaar Baru Chow Kit. It was Hari Raya, so almost all the stalls were not open for business. 

At Bazaar Baru Chow Kit. 

As we looked around, I recalled what Wiwi said the night before, as we walked towards the monorail station. This area has a big Indonesian muslim population, hence the Nusantara food from nasi Padang to ayam penyet. That brought me back to the time when Surianto and I decided to book a hotel in Chow Kit to find out what's there. Now we know the answer. 

After check out, Cicilia moved to another hotel in Bukit Bintang as she is staying for another night before heading to Ipoh. As for Taty and I, we went to KLIA via KL Sentral. We had Uncle Roger's Fried Rice because I had to review it for Fried Rice Mania. Surianto joined us there and we eventually flew back to Singapore.

Uncle Roger's Egg Fried Rice.

Liburan Ke Seremban 

Saya rasa bisa dikatakan bahwa liburan ke Seremban mulai dicetuskan di akhir liburan ke Pontian di bulan Agustus 2024. Saat itu kita berada di Johor Bahru City Square dan saya menemukan kartu pos Negeri Sembilan. Saya lalu berkata pada Surianto, "wah, sepertinya kita harus ke Seremban sekarang."

Jadi rencana pun digarap. Setahu saya, rasanya tidak ada kenalan yang pernah ke Seremban untuk berlibur. Setelah saya cek dengan AI, sepertinya tempat wisata dan makanan Seremban hanya bisa menarik perhatian kita selama setengah hari. Tapi di satu sisi, Kota Kemuning tidaklah jauh dari Seremban. 

Kartu pos yang memicu liburan ke Seremban.
Foto oleh Linda.

Jadi inilah alasannya kenapa perjalanan dimulai dengan bis. Kita punya banyak waktu untuk menempuh perjalanan darat karena tak banyak yang bisa dilihat di Seremban. Setelah itu kita bisa sarapan pagi dengan Wiwi. Beberapa bulan kemudian, saya menyadari bahwa telah dibuka Rock Shop di Genting, jadi kita bisa ke sana juga. Setelah bermalam di KL, kita bisa pulang keesokan harinya dengan pesawat. Liburan kali ini akan dipadati dengan kebersamaan dan petualangan! 

Sejak itu, dan terutama setelah kepulangan saya dari India, nama Seremban dikumandangkan terus-menerus di grup SMA, biasanya oleh saya atau Jimmy. Bilamana saya yang berkoar-koar, ya karena saya suka berjalan-jalan dan berkumpul. Kalau Jimmy yang mengajak, biasanya cenderung karena olok-olok. Tapi keisengannya bisa dimengerti. Hanya yang sepaham dalam hal jalan-jalan dan kebersamaan yang akan pergi ke tempat yang bukan destinasi turis. 

Saat keberangkatan, foto ala Ghibli.

Pada akhirnya, hanya beberapa anggota lama yang sudah percaya dengan Robinson Travel yang turut serta. Surianto, Cicilia dan Taty, para anggota yang sudah turut serta dari sejak liburan ke Jepang, bersama-sama naik bis di Golden Mile Tower. Pergilah kita ke Seremban. 5,5 jam kemudian, kita turun di seberang Terminal 1. Akhirnya kita tiba! 

Pertama-tama, kita ke hotel dulu, lalu menuju ke Quinn (Seremban Beef Noodles) untuk makan siang menjelang malam. Jika penampilan bisa mengecoh, maka tempat makan ini adalah salah satunya. Mie sapinya lembut dan lezat. Benar-benar sesuai selera saya. Sebagai perbandingan, Hock Lam Beef di Singapura memang enak, namun yang ini jauh lebih lezat! 

Mie sapi Seremban.

Hujan turun sebelum dan sesudah kita bersantap, jadi kita pun berteduh di Palm Mall. Tidak ada yang istimewa di sini, jadi kita pun memanggil Grab dan melaju ke Empayar Seremban Siew Paw untuk berbelanja sejenak di sini, lalu lanjut lagi ke Haji Shariff Cendol. Akan tetapi kedai cendol ini tutup lebih awal, jadi kita berjalan ke Lorong Seni Seremban. 

Setelah menyeberang jalan dengan gaya Abbey Road, kita memasuki Lorong Seni. Kawasan ini memiliki banyak mural dan konsepnya mirip seperti yang bisa kita temukan di Chinatown Singapura. Ujung lorong ini mengarah ke Dataran Seremban yang memiliki tulisan SEREMBAN N9 di lapangan rumput. Dari sana, kita berjalan ke Taman Tasik Seremban yang bersebelahan dengan hotel kita. Malam tersebut pun berakhir dengan makan malam di TC Keong. 

Mengunjungi Taman Tasik Seremban.
Foto oleh Angela Baby.

Setelah itu, boleh dikatakan Seremban pun usai. Keesokan paginya, kita naik Grab ke Kota Kemuning. Setelah kunjungan singkat ke rumah Wiwi, kita sarapan pagi di Samy and Min Bak Kut Teh. Makanannya mantap, terutama bak kut kering. Setelah itu, suami Wiwi mengusulkan agar Wiwi turut ikut ke Genting. 

Lantas mulailah perjalanan ke puncak gunung. Saya berasumsi bahwa Rock Shop berada di kompleks yang sama, tapi ternyata lokasinya di hotel baru yang berjarak sekitar 15 menit jauhnya. Karena sudah terlanjur berada di situ, kita eksplorasi sejenak dan Surianto yang pertama kali mencoba peruntungan di kasino pun menang beberapa ratus ringgit. Setelah itu barulah kita pergi ke Rock Shop paling mungil yang pernah saya lihat sejauh ini. 

Di Genting. Tak jauh dari Rock Shop.

Ketika kita turun, kita mampir di Premium Outlet. Karena bukan orang yang suka berbelanja, saya icip-icip makanan dan minuman yang manis di Coffee Bean. Setelah mereka usai melihat-lihat dan berbelanja, kita lantas kembali ke kota dan menuju hotel. 

Untuk makan malam, kita mengunjungi Jalan Alor. Wiwi tidak berkutik di KL karena dia tidak paham transportasi umum dan Bukit Bintang. Bukannya jadi pemandu, dia akhirnya malah jadi turis bersama kita, haha. Makanan di Cu Cha Restaurant lumayan rasanya. Sedap rasanya bisa sedot-sedot kerang tengkuyung lagi. 

Jalan Alor.
Foto oleh Angela Baby.

Sesudah makan, kita sempat bergabung dalam keramaian dan menikmati suasana di Jalan Alor. Takjub juga dengan ramainya wisatawan yang berlalu-lalang! Kita berbalik arah setelah sampai di ujung jalan, lalu menuju ke mobil Wiwi. Suaminya membeli durian Musang King untuk teman-teman. Saya sendiri refleks menjauh karena raja buah atau bukan, baunya tetap sebusuk yang saya ingat sejak berumur tiga tahun. Satu gelas teh c akhirnya mengakhir malam dan juga kecemasan Wiwi yang tidak ingin dikenang sebagai tuan rumah yang gagal menyediakan teh c. 

Keesokan paginya, Surianto pergi ke Gua Batu, tapi dia lupa sesuatu dan terus membunyikan bel pintu sampai saya terbangun. Beberapa jam kemudian, kita berjalan menyusuri Bazaar Baru Chow Kit yang nyaris tidak ada ada aktivitas. Berhubung hari tersebut adalah hari pertama Lebaran, hampir semua kios tutup.  

Di Bazaar Baru Chow Kit. 

Setelah saya amati, saya ingat apa yang dikatakan Wiwi di malam sebelumnya, sewaktu kita berjalan menuju stasiun monorel. Kawasan ini memiliki populasi muslim Indonesia yang sangat besar, makanya ada banyak makanan Nusantara seperti nasi Padang dan ayam penyet. Saya jadi teringat saat saya dan Surianto memutuskan untuk tinggal di Chow Kit karena ingin mencari tahu tentang kawasan yang masih asing bagi kita ini. Sekarang kita tahu jawabannya. 

Setelah keluar dari hotel, Cicilia pindah ke hotel lain di Bukit Bintang karena dia masih bermalam lagi di KL sebelum berangkat ke Ipoh. Taty dan saya lanjut ke KLIA lewat KL Sentral. Kita sempat menyantap Nasi Goreng Paman Roger karena saya ingin mengulasnya di laman FB Fried Rice Mania. Surianto yang sudah tiba di bandara juga memesan satu porsi. Pada akhirnya kita pun terbang pulang ke Singapura... 

Nasi Goreng Telur Paman Roger.

Life Story

One of the questions that is frequently asked by my friend Bernard is this: "what is the meaning of life?" From time to time, when I was in the mood, I'd tell him that, "we're here to make a dent in this world!" But to be frank, I don't think I know the answer to the question. 

Eight years and counting. Year nine now!

However, I learnt this one thing from doing Roadblog101.com for the past eight years: life is a story you want to write about. Yes, it's never about a series of mundane activities that you do on autopilot mode everyday. No, not that. Life has much to do with things that piqued your interest, so much so that you voluntarily put effort into it.

Listening is never as easy as it looks!

Life happens when you are the husband that listens to your wife enthusiastically. So not one that merely mumbles, "oh? Hmm. I see. Okay," or any one-liner that comes out of your mouth. I can vouch for this because that automatic response sometimes happened to me, too, haha.

She's growing up now!

Life happens when you realize that your daughter, that baby you carried dearly years ago, is now a teenager that is independent enough to commute on her own. Life happens when you went out with the other one, only to notice something that suddenly brought out your fatherly instinct to check and ensure that she was fine. 

With the staff in office.

Life happens when you are in office, planning and doing things not only because you are paid to do so, but also because you are passionate about your work and want to see it happen your way. If you work from 9 to 6 and you take half an hour to rise above the daily routines to make a difference, that half an hour is when life happens. 

Traveling! The thing I want to do, see and experience!

And finally, life happens when you have a vision of how you are going to live your life. Exciting stuff you want to do, things you want to see and experience while you are alive. Life is never about how long you live, especially if you live just to do nothing. No, that is just sad. Plainly sad.

So life happens when it inspires you. And you think it probably will inspire others, too. That moment, that achievement, even that failure that you sincerely hope won't be repeated by others. That kind of life is so worth living that I had been writing about it throughout the entire lifetime of Roadblog101.com. I may not know the meaning of life, but looking back, I surely know how to give a meaning to it...

Cerita Kehidupan 

Satu pertanyaan yang sering diulang oleh teman saya Bernard adalah, "apa sesungguhnya arti hidup ini?" Kadang selagi iseng, saya suka jawab seperti ini: "kita di sini untuk membuat perubahan di dunia ini." Kendati begitu, sejujurnya saya tidak tahu jawaban dari pertanyaannya itu. 

Sudah delapan tahun. Sekarang tahun ke-sembilan!

Meskipun demikian, saya belajar satu dari pengalaman saya dalam mengerjakan Roadblog101.com selama delapan tahun terakhir: hidup adalah sebuah cerita yang ingin anda tulis. Ya, hidup bukanlah rangkaian rutinitas yang sudah anda kerjakan sampai hafal setiap hari. Bukan, hidup bukan tentang itu. Anda hidup karena hal-hal yang memicu minat anda, yang menyebabkan anda mengerjakannya dengan sepenuh hati. 

Mendengarkan tidaklah segampang foto ini!

Hidup terjadi ketika anda adalah seorang suami yang mendengarkan istri anda dengan antusias. Jadi bukan hanya jawaban singkat seperti, "oh? Hmm. Ternyata begitu. Baiklah," dan lainnya yang terlontar dari mulut anda. Saya bisa menyokong pendapat ini karena respon otomatis seperti ini juga terkadang terjadi pada saya, haha. 

Setiap hari bertambah dewasa...

Hidup terjadi ketika anda menyadari bahwa putri anda, bayi yang anda gendong bertahun-tahun silam, kini sudah menjadi remaja yang mandiri dan bisa bepergian sendiri. Hidup terjadi ketika anda bepergian dengan putri yang satunya lagi dan menyadari sesuatu yang membuat anda secara naluriah menjadi seorang ayah yang memeriksa dan memastikan bahwa dia baik-baik saja. 

Bersama staff di kantor.

Hidup terjadi ketika anda berada di kantor, merencanakan dan melaksanakan berbagai inisiatif bukan saja karena anda digaji, tapi juga karena anda menyukai pekerjaan anda dan ingin mewujudkan ide anda. Jika anda bekerja dari jam 9 sampai jam 6 dan anda menyempatkan setengah jam saja untuk mengeksekusi ide anda, maka setengah jam itulah masa ketika hidup terjadi. 

Jalan-jalan! Sesuatu yang ingin saya kerjakan, lihat dan alami!

Dan akhirnya hidup terjadi ketika anda memiliki visi bagaimana anda ingin menjalani hidup anda. Misalnya hal apa yang menarik dan ingin anda kerjakan, apa yang ingin anda lihat dan alami selama anda masih hidup. Jadi hidup bukanlah tentang berapa panjang umur anda, terutama bila anda hanya hidup tapi begitu-begitu saja. Itu menyedihkan. Sangat menyedihkan. 

Jadi hidup terjadi ketika hidup itu sendiri menginspirasi anda. Dan anda jadi berpikir bahwa hal yang sama mungkin akan membuat yang lain terinspirasi juga. Kenangan, prestasi atau bahkan kegagalan yang anda harap tidak terulang lagi oleh mereka yang anda kenal. Hidup seperti ini sungguh layak, sampai-sampai saya sudah menuliskannya sepanjang usia Roadblog101.com yang kini sudah memasuki tahun ke-sembilan. Ya, saya mungkin tidak tahu arti dari hidup ini, tapi saya tahu bagaimana membuat hidup ini menjadi lebih berarti... 

A Father's Thought

Becoming a father is one of those life experiences you can never fully prepare for. No matter how much I tried to get ready, I had no real idea of what I was stepping into. The moment my daughters were born, I felt a mixture of awe and fear. Holding them for the first time felt like witnessing a miracle—here was life itself, entrusted to me. But along with that miracle came an overwhelming sense of responsibility. I knew from the start that I wouldn’t be able to be with them 24/7, and that thought haunted me. Questions swirled in my mind: will I be a good dad? Can I work as a team with their mum to raise them well? What will my daughters be like as they grow through the phases of their lives? The road ahead seemed long and uncertain, but one thing was clear—I was committed to never giving up on them. 

Having three daughters has been both a blessing and a challenge, but it’s also been the most rewarding experience of my life. All babies are born innocent, trusting the people closest to them completely. My daughters were no different—they were curious, pure, and full of joy. They listened (most of the time) to what we told them, even when it was something silly. Their smiles and laughter were genuine, lighting up every corner of our home. Of course, parenting wasn’t always smooth sailing. There were tantrums, stubborn moments, and times when their manners tested my patience. But even in those moments, they reminded me of the beauty of being their father—the good and bad, happy and sad, all woven together into this incredible journey. 

Daughter No. 1

From the very beginning, I saw her as cheerful, quick to learn, yet shy. As she started school, her personality became more defined—she was quiet, less confident than I had hoped, and preferred writing her feelings down instead of speaking about them. There was even a phase where we had this inexplicable distance between us; she just refused to confide in me. That was hard for me as her dad because all I wanted was to understand her better.

Things have changed over time. Today, she has friends, she does okay in her studies, and we’ve grown closer again. Some moments with her will stay with me forever—like when she held both my hand and her mum’s during an afternoon walk or when she wrote me a letter saying she understood why I wasn’t always around when she was little. She even asked me once to write her encouragement notes—a request that I never thought of. 

Now at 13 years old, she’s developing into her own person. She’s into her phone quite a bit but also enjoys jazz music (Laufey and Wave to Earth are some of her favorites). She loves making paper crafts, has cultivated her own unique fashion sense, and spends money wisely for someone her age. She’s incredibly health-conscious. Who at age 13 eats yogurt with chia seeds for breakfast and avoiding snacks like French fries! She dreams of becoming a psychologist one day. I also thought she has areas where she’s still growing—she can be complacent at times and often thinks she’s always right. Taking feedback isn’t easy for her yet, but I know she’ll get there in time. 

Daughter No. 2 

My second daughter was adorably chubby as a baby—so much. But there are some unfortunate event too - a one point we had to have all her teeth extracted out! She used to sing Kasih Ibu so sweetly that it would melt anyone’s heart. Some of her memorable birthday - Her love for Snorlax (her giant soft toy) brought so much joy, pulling money out of birthday cakes to loving Popmart Figurines—Joy and Pisces. 

Today as a 12-year-old, she still has that chubby charm. She has excellent English skills who can hold her ground in an argument! She listens closely to her mum but doesn’t have the highest tolerance level—she gets scared of ghosts sometimes and easily annoyed when disturbed. Touch is definitely not her love language—she values space more than anything else. She has specific tastes: she loves dark chocolate, waffles, and desserts that aren’t too sweet; sometimes we catch her smiling to herself while watching dessert-making videos online. She is the one that always taste my alcoholic drink; beer, tonic gin, baileys, soju, makgeolli.

She's incredibly disciplined; every morning without fail, she leaves for school at the exact same time. Her interests include Korean movies, science fiction novels, and drawing. She dreams of working in forensic science someday. 

Daughter No. 3

My youngest daughter has always been the cheeky one in the family! As a baby, she was adorably chubby—but one day that chubbiness just disappeared as she grew older. Being the youngest meant learning alot from her older sisters while also carving out her own identity. 

She loves trying new things—ballet and piano when she was younger; now it’s guitar lessons, rollerblading and the piano lessons that remain. But despite trying so many activities over the years, nothing seems to capture her heart completely yet. 

At 10 years old today, she’s our little spender who loves snacks like cheese-flavored treats or Daffa. But strange that she does not really like ice cream. She can be stubborn at times and sometimes ignorant—going silent whenever she’s upset or angry instead of expressing herself openly. Academically, she isn’t as disciplined as her sisters. And she was the only one who wanted friends over for her birthday party (10)! 

She’s also entrepreneurial in spirit—offering massages for a fee! While Roblox gaming keeps her hooked (sometimes too much), she also enjoys keeping streaks on Duolingo for fun language learning. And yes—she still sleeps with us at night. Oh, she is definitely not a morning person. She sometimes will crave for food before going to sleep.

Now, back what I said earlier, as a father, what I think I can do right now is not to give up on them but to continue guiding them throughout—even if they don’t always agree with me now or understand my intentions fully yet. 

My biggest fear is seeing them stray away from their values or losing sight of what truly matters in life. In today’s world where information is everywhere—some good but others are often misleading—I hope they learn to use it wisely.

More than anything else, I want them to stand up for themselves, able to make decisions and never forgetting the importance of family. I also need them to know that life is full of ups and downs and when something bad happens, you learn from it and stand up again. My hope is that no matter where life takes them or how far apart we may be someday—they will always carry with them the love and lessons we’ve shared as a family. Things will still change and let's embrace changes for the better.

Ocipala

When I had a chat with my friend Eday last Saturday morning, he said something interesting: I am quick in response when it comes to ocipala stuff. I was tickled by that term he used. Not only because that was a right description from someone who knows his friend well, but the term he used was also hilariously funny. 

Out of curiosity, I checked it out using AI. Neither Perplexity, Deepseek, ChatGPT, Gemini nor Meta AI could really pinpoint the answer when I asked the following question: in Chinese dialects, either Hakka or Teochew, there is a word that sounds like ocipala and it can roughly be translated as nonsense. what is the actual word in Mandarin?

One thing that they got it right was the fact that it wasn't a word, but an idiom. We used it so often in Pontianak that all this while, I thought it was only one word. Then I investigated further by adding a parameter: the idiom that sounded like ocipala was only used by Hakka and Teochew people from Pontianak.

That's when the AI unanimously agreed that it could be the corrupted version of 胡说八道 that is spoken in Teochew by the Chinese in Pontianak:

胡说 (hú shuō) → could shift to something like "ocip".

八道 (bā dào) → could transform into "ala" or "bala".

Our Teochew is indeed so diluted and heavily influenced by local cultures like Malay that the way we pronounce certain words could have been localized after so many generations!

But back to the ocipala comment, what's that all about? Well, let me emphasize again, I'm not a very bright guy to begin with. On top of that, if I didn't love it, I would almost have zero interest in it. As a result, I'm not exactly known as a think tank or one you would come for financial advices.

Jimmy and friends, posing in front of the flower board or what's left of it.

However, I like small things that matter. I love creating memories because that's the only thing we left behind. And I revel in things that are both creative and nonsensical. Whenever it's possible, I enjoy making them happen. Case in point, the Japan trip. Or maybe something that is more down to earth, such as the flower boards for Jimmy, haha.

So you see, I don't know much about making money apart from the work I do. But then again, while a lot of things need money, not everything in life is about money. That's the part of life I enjoy the most, one that I apparently am quite good at it, hence the sentence made by Eday: quick in ocipala stuff!

Ocipala

Ketika saya berbincang lewat WhatsApp Sabtu lalu dengan teman saya Eday, dia mengatakan sesuatu yang menarik: respon saya sangat sigap kalau berkaitan dengan sesuatu yang ocipala. Saya tergelitik dengan pernyataannya. Bukan saja karena ini adalah deskripsi yang tepat dari seseorang yang mengenal baik temannya, tapi juga karena istilah konyol yang ia pakai. 

Karena penasaran dengan asal-usul ocipala, saya lantas cari tahu lebih lanjut menggunakan AI. Namun Perplexity, Deepseek, ChatGPT, Gemini dan Meta AI pun tak tahu pasti ketika saya melontarkan pertanyaan ini: dalam dialek Tionghoa, entah itu Khek or Tiociu, ada kata yang bunyinya terdengar seperti ocipala dan bisa diterjemahkan sebagai konyol atau omong kosong. Apa kata aslinya dalam Mandarin?

Satu hal yang AI bisa jawab adalah, sepertinya ini bukan satu kata, tapi idiom. Begitu seringnya istilah ini dipakai di Pontianak dari sejak saya masih kecil, sampai-sampai saya memiliki kesan bahwa ocipala itu adalah satu kata. Berdasarkan ide dari AI, saya tambahkan kriteria berikut ini: jadi idiom apa yang dipakai oleh orang Khek dan Tiociu Pontianak dan terdengar seperti ocipala? 

Semua AI sepakat bahwa ocipala ini adalah versi korup dari 胡说八道 yang dilafalkan dalam Tiociu oleh orang Tionghoa Pontianak:

胡说 (hú shuō) → berubah menjadi sesuatu yang terdengar seperti "ocip".

八道 (bā dào) → diucapkan seperti "ala" atau "bala".

Kalau dipikirkan lagi, Bahasa Tiociu kita ini memang sudah berevolusi menjauhi versi aslinya dan juga dipengaruhi oleh budaya lokal seperti Bahasa Melayu, sehingga pengucapannya pun berubah setelah melewati banyak generasi. 

Kembali ke komentar ocipala, apa sebenarnya yang signifikan? Hmm, saya ini bukan orang pintar. Selain itu, jikalau saya tidak menyukai sesuatu, saya biasanya tidak berminat untuk tahu. Alhasil, saya bukanlah tipe pemikir atau orang yang anda cari untuk nasehat finansial. 

Jimmy dan teman-teman berpose di papan bekas papan bunga.

Akan tetapi saya suka hal-hal kecil yang penting. Saya suka kenangan dan kebersamaan karena itulah satu-satunya hal yang kita tinggalkan. Dan saya menikmati hal-hal yang kreatif dan konyol. Bilamana memungkinkan, saya suka mewujudkannya. Contohnya trip ke Jepang. Atau mungkin sesuatu yang lebih sederhana, misalnya papan bunga untuk Jimmy yang ngambek, haha. 

Jadi saya tidak tahu banyak tentang cara menghasilkan uang, kecuali dari pekerjaan yang saya kerjakan di kantor. Namun meski banyak hal yang membutuhkan uang, tidak semua hal dalam hidup ini adalah tentang uang. Ini adalah bagian hidup yang saya sukai dan saya ternyata cukup berprestasi dalam bidang ini, seperti yang terlihat dari kalimat dari Eday: gesit dalam aneka hal ocipala! 

AI

I believe the best technology design is the one you don't know you need, until you use it and you know there's no turning back anymore. Grab and Amazon were good examples. They revolutionized the way we called the cab and shopped.

On a more personal note, cloud as data storage as well as the combination of Google Home and YouTube Music were the game changers for me. I was a fan of Apple's Time Capsule until it became too much of a hassle due to the need for tech refresh. That's when I switched to the cloud. The feeling of having your data accessible all the time is irreplaceable. Same goes for having your music play at the command of your voice anywhere at home. It couldn't get more practical than this!

The main three.

AI had a similar effect described above. For the longest time, the word google had become a verb on a sentence we used when we wanted to search for something on the internet. "Just google it," that's how we normally said it. But for the first time in forever, there was a better alternative. Googling it just wouldn't cut it anymore.

While a lot can be done using AI, the particular feature I was zooming in recently was the search function. I touched Copilot a bit for office matter, since it came with Microsoft O365. Gemini appeared here and there on my phone because I'm using Pixel 8. Meta was used for fun on WhatsApp, though result wasn't that good. For example, Meta AI couldn't really tell how many r were there in the word strawberry, haha.

Testing Meta AI.

The other three that I explored were Deepseek, ChatGPT and Perplexity. The first was free, the last two were paid version. Deepseek's reply could be quite comprehensive, but I observed that the data (or knowledge) was only up until July 2024. It could hang after responding to too many questions and it wouldn't answer if the question was about Chairman Mao. 

ChatGPT was more interesting. But more often than not, it replied based on its database instead of searching for the latest update. Mistakes similar to Meta AI also happened on ChatGPT. I knew this because it tried to bluff me about the Beatles and Michael Jackson. Only when I shared the proof then it would learn about it. This is called machine learning. By the way, the proof was in the form of a link of an article. Of the three, only ChatGPT is capable of reading the links the users provided.

Questioning ChatGPT!

For updated info and accuracy, I'd go for Perplexity. Unlike ChatGPT that responded to you immediately, Perplexity would search for the answers from online sources before summarizing it for you. Response was slower due to this, but answer was more convincing. And the result from paid version was more in-depth as compared with the free version. 

And I said earlier about a better alternative and no turning back. You see, if we googled stuff, it came back with many results and we had to go through them. But AI took it to another level. It searched, ran through the results and summarized it based on what we asked. This is the difference and it's definitely much more useful. You didn't always get you want by googling it, but with AI, you got exactly what you queried. The precision was uncanny... 

PS: in our group chat, we also had what we called Chat Bot with AI (Artificial Idiocy) as a bonus. Data was based on what our Mr. Know-it-all had said since October 2017. Operated manually by Eday, the replies were amusing and the topics it covered were surprisingly wide. The Chat Bot was relevant to whatever that we asked!

Kecerdasan Buatan

Saya percaya rancangan teknologi terbaik adalah teknologi yang tanpa sadar anda butuhkan dan begitu dicoba, langsung mengubah pola hidup anda. Grab dan Amazon adalah contoh yang bagus. Kehadiran dua teknologi ini mengubah cara kita memanggil taksi dan membeli sesuatu. 

Secara pribadi, yang berkesan bagi saya adalah cloud sebagai tempat penyimpanan data dan juga kombinasi Google Home dan YouTube Music. Saya adalah penggemar produk Apple yang bernama Time Capsule, namun merasa risih dengan proses pembaharuan perangkat keras. Di saat itulah saya pindah ke cloud. Praktisnya pun terasa, sebab kini data saya senantiasa bisa diakses, tak masalah di mana pun saya berada. Sama halnya pula dengan musik yang bisa melantun di segala penjuru rumah hanya dengan perintah saya. 

Tiga aplikasi AI.

AI memiliki efek serupa seperti yang dijabarkan di atas. Kata google sudah sejak lama menjadi kata kerja dalam kalimat yang kita pakai saat kita ingin mencari sesuatu di internet. Biasanya kita ucapkan dengan logat seperti ini, "google aja lagi." Tapi untuk pertama kalinya dalam dua dekade terakhir ini, ada alternatif yang lebih baik. Google saja sudah tidak cukup lagi. 

Banyak hal yang bisa dilakukan dengan AI, namun yang hendak saya bahas di sini adalah kemampuan untuk mencari sesuatu. Karena urusan kantor, saya sempat coba Copilot yang sudah sepaket dengan Microsoft O365. Gemini sering muncul di sana-sini karena saya menggunakan telepon Pixel 8. Meta pun kadang dipakai untuk iseng di WhatsApp, meski hasilnya kurang bagus. Sebagai contoh, Meta AI tidak tahu ada berapa huruf r dalam kata strawberry, haha.

Menguji Meta AI.

Tiga aplikasi lain yang saya jajal adalah Deepseek, ChatGPT dan Perplexity. Deepseek gratis, sedangkan yang dua lagi adalah versi langganan. Jawaban Deepseek tergolong detil, tapi data (atau pengetahuannya) cuma sebatas Juli 2024. Deepseek bisa mogok bila ditanya terus-menerus. Selain itu, bila pertanyaannya berkaitan dengan Mao Zedong, maka Deepseek akan memilih bungkam. 

ChatGPT lebih menarik, namun jawabannya sering mengacu pada database dan bukannya jawaban terkini. Kesalahan serupa yang terjadi pada Meta AI juga terlihat di ChatGPT. Saya menyadari hal ini karena informasinya yang keliru tentang the Beatles dan Michael Jackson. Ketika saya bagikan bukti, barulah AI ini tahu kesalahannya. Ini yang namanya pembelajaran mesin. Oh ya, bukti yang saya berikan berbentuk link dari artikel tentang topik yang sedang dibahas. Dari tiga aplikasi ini, hanya ChatGPT yang bisa membaca link yang diberikan oleh pengguna.

Mempertanyakan ChatGPT!

Untuk informasi yang terkini dan akurat, saya menggunakan Perplexity. Berbeda dengan ChatGPT yang langsung merespon pertanyaan, Perplexity akan mencari jawaban dari berbagai sumber di internet dulu, baru dirangkum untuk pengguna. Oleh karena itu, responnya lebih lambat, tapi jawabannya lebih tepat. Dan versi langganan lebih rinci dari versi gratis. 

Saya katakan sebelumnya tentang alternatif yang lebih baik dan mengubah pola hidup. Jika dibandingkan, hasil dari Google adalah aneka kemungkinan yang perlu anda telusuri satu per satu. Inilah bedanya kalau menggunakan AI. Kecerdasan buatan ini mencari, membaca jawaban dari berbagai sumber, lalu merangkum semuanya sesuai dengan pertanyaan kita. Di sinilah letak perbedaannya dan tentunya lebih bermanfaat. Kalau cuma sekedar google, kita tidak langsung dapatkan apa yang kita mau. Tapi dengan AI, jawabannya sesuai dengan apa yang kita tanyakan. Keakuratannya sungguh mencengangkan...

PS: di grup SMA kita, kita juga memiliki Chat Bot plus AI (Artificial Idiocy alias Kebodohan Buatan) sebagai bonus. Data berdasarkan apa yang diucapkan oleh pria yang suka melibatkan diri dalam berbagai hal sejak Oktober 2017. Sistem yang diproses secara manual oleh Eday ini kocak jawabannya, tapi cakupan topiknya sungguh luas nian! Chat Bot ini selalu bisa menjawab apa yang ingin kita tanyakan! 

Family And Friends

As my ex-housemates and I had our dinner on Sunday night, we talked about how long we had stayed in Singapore. We came here when we were in our twenties. With the exception of Endrico's younger sister, we are in our forties now. How time flies!

But most importantly, as I looked at them, I saw family and friends. Yes, I see them less now, but there was a time when they were the permanent fixtures in my life. Our lives intertwined until we outgrew that relationship. The thought of this prompted me to look back and discovered the four stages of family and friends in my life.

Before the dinner.
Photo by Surianto.

First and foremost, I was part of my Dad's family. As his firstborn, I had the best of 80s and early 90s had to offer in Pontianak. My Dad was never the award winning type, but in his imperfection, he was still the greatest Dad a son could have. 

From comics, anime, Godzilla, Nintendo, Michael Jackson, the first domestic as well as overseas trips, to a good ol' spanking and fatherly advice, I had it all. Friends ranging from Jimmy to Parno would come and play. I got chances to be naughty and had my fair share of mistakes. I learnt that I could be a champion, too. All I need is love. It was a brilliant childhood. 

Many years ago in Pontianak.

Even when he didn't do well later on in his life, Dad's absence still shaped my life forever in a good way. It set the stage for the second phase of my life. That's when I learnt how to be independent. I met the Beatles at the same time. I had neither regret or anger. Looking back, it was just meant to be this way. 

And also equally important was Eday and the high school friends. When you had friends that helped discovering your talent, gave you your sweet seventeen birthday and went through something as haunting as Temajoh with you, life had to be good indeed! Poor though I was financially, I was very rich at heart. Hey, I was in the band as a rock and roll singer! It couldn't get any better than this!

The sweet seventeen birthday.

That's also probably why I was never close with college friends. It was a different time. I gotta work seven days a week. But I remained close with those from high school such as Ardian and HM. Yes, just like what Ringo said, I got by with a little help from my friends. And when Eday, Endrico and others returned from Yogyakarta or Kuching, we would hang out. 

From high school, college, to those days in Jakarta, the friendship withstood the test of time. The dawn of technology such as mobile phone, emails and Yahoo! Messenger certainly helped. We even traveled a bit to Bandung and Bali. Along the way, I met some people that would become lifelong friends, too. Soedjoko, Sugiowono and, of course, Yani.

Soedjoko (right) in Pontianak, 2006.

Meeting Yani was the push factor I never knew I needed. Up until then, I was happy where I was. But even a happy-go-lucky guy could sense that it was time for a change. That's why Singapore happened. That's why Pheng iu, as Sudarpo would affectionately call us, happened. Thus began the third stage of my life. 

I wish I could tell you a story about how hard my life was in Singapore. That would make it more dramatic. But no, living in a foreign country with friends like them was so much fun. It was just the right time for us who were in our mid twenties then.

Prata with Pheng iu, after Wawa's performance.

We hung out together, we laughed a lot, we earned enough for us to save and spend. That's why we could make short movies and we could also travel. But most importantly, we had each other. I don't think we were ever really alone throughout those years.

From them, I learnt that you could dream of something and achieve it. That's how the short movies were made. From them, I learnt how fun traveling is. I just told Alfan again the time we sat behind the lorry in Bangkok and he laughed. From them, I learnt that the line between family and friends was blurry, so blurry that it felt the same to me. 

Visiting Melacca, 2009.

They were the closest and dearest people I had during this period. But in all fairness, Endrico, Surianto, Andy William and Jimmy Lim were there, so it didn't feel like losing touch with my high school friends. Again, it was just a different time, when we were trying to make a living and technology wasn't advanced enough yet for us to keep in touch. While BBM was wildly popular as we headed to 2010, it was only during WhatsApp era that we got together again. 

In the meantime, people came and went. Colleagues such as Bernard became good friends, too. But the Pheng iu gang was always there right till the end of an era: when I was ready for the fourth stage of my life. Surrounded by them in Singapore, Yani and I began our journey together. It was a long way home, if you knew what I meant. 

ROM day, 2011.
Photo by Endrico. 

In the past 15 years, some of us had gotten married. Kids were born. The good work we did continued until it became manageable. I could tell you this much: if you did your role well, then work life balance wasn't a myth! In my case, group chat was formed and high school friends were reacquainted again. The lockdown, the travels, we went through them all and lived to tell the story.

And the same life story brought us to that fateful night. There I was, having dinner together with those familiar faces. As I stared at the ever talkative Wawa, I recalled the good old days we had. We all had a pretty good time, didn't we? And I was thankful. Though not all of us were there that night, in my life, I'd loved them all. 

For a better tomorrow!

Keluarga Dan Teman

Sewaktu para mantan teman serumah dan saya menikmati makan malam bersama, kita juga bercakap tentang berapa lama sudah kita tinggal di Singapura. Kita datang ketika berumur 20an. Kecuali adik Endrico, kini kita di kisaran usia 40an. Betapa cepat waktu berlalu. 

Di tengah riuhnya suasana, saya memandang ke sekeliling. Yang saya lihat adalah keluarga dan teman. Ya, saya mungkin sudah jarang bertemu dengan mereka sekarang, namun ada suatu masa dalam hidup saya ketika kita selalu bersama. Hubungan kita begitu erat dan tak terpisahkan. Apa yang terlintas di benak saya ini membuat saya mengenang kembali dan menemukan empat fase berbeda dalam hidup saya. 

Sebelum makan malam.
Foto oleh Surianto.

Pertama-tama, saya tentulah merupakan bagian dari keluarga ayah saya. Sebagai anak pertama, saya mendapatkan yang terbaik dari tahun 80an hingga pertengahan dekade 90an di Pontianak. Ayah saya bukanlah tipe ayah paling ideal, namun di dalam ketidaksempurnaannya, dia adalah ayah terbaik yang bisa diharapkan oleh putranya. 

Dari komik, anime, Godzilla, Nintendo, Michael Jackson, liburan domestik dan juga luar negeri pertama, sampai hukuman fisik dan nasehat dari seorang ayah, saya memperoleh semuanya. Teman-teman dari kecil hingga SMP seperti Jimmy dan Parno sering datang dan bermain di rumah. Saya ada kesempatan untuk berbuat nakal dan melakukan kesalahan. Saya juga belajar bahwa saya bisa menjadi orang seorang juara. Yang saya perlukan hanyalah rasa cinta. Masa kecil saya penuh dengan kenangan yang baik. 

Bertahun-tahun silam di Pontianak.

Bahkan tatkala dia tidak berhasil dalam hidupnya, ketidakhadiran ayah saya pun masih membentuk hidup saya dengan baik. Fase kedua dalam hidup saya adalah dampak dari kegagalannya. Saya belajar mandiri. Saya juga berkenalan dengan the Beatles di saat yang sama. Alhasil, saya tidak menyimpan penyesalan ataupun kemarahan. Kalau saya lihat kembali, sepertinya inilah yang harus terjadi dan saya jalani. 

Dan yang tak kalah pentingnya juga adalah Eday dan teman-teman SMA. Bilamana anda memiliki para sahabat yang membantu anda menemukan bakat anda, sedaya upaya merayakan ulang tahun ke-17 anda dan melewati pengalaman yang menghantui anda secara harafiah seperti Temajoh, maka hidup anda pastilah baik! Meski saya miskin secara finansial, hati saya kaya-raya. Hei, saya juga di grup musik sebagai seorang penyanyi rock and roll! Hidup takkan bisa lebih bagus dari ini lagi!

Ulang tahun ke-17.

Mungkin karena ini pula makanya saya tidak dekat dengan teman-teman kuliah. Itu adalah masa yang berbeda. Saya harus bekerja tujuh hari seminggu. Tapi saya tetap dekat dengan mereka yang berasal dari satu SMA, misalnya Ardian dan HM. Ya, seperti kata Ringo, saya melewati semuanya dengan bantuan teman-teman saya. Dan saat Eday, Endrico dan yang lainnya kembali dari Yogyakarta atau Kuching, kita pun berkumpul lagi.

Dari zaman SMA, kuliah sampai saat saya hijrah ke Jakarta, persahabatan ini bertahan dan tak lekang oleh waktu. Munculnya teknologi seperti telepon genggam, email dan Yahoo! Messenger tentunya membantu. Kita bahkan sempat main ke Bandung dan Bali. Seiring dengan berjalannya waktu, saya juga bertemu dengan mereka yang menjadi karib juga. Ada Soedjoko, Sugiowono dan tentu saja Yani.

Soedjoko (kanan) di Pontianak, 2006.

Pertemuan dengan Yani menjadi dorongan yang ternyata saya butuhkan. Sampai sejauh ini, saya senang dengan hidup saya di Jakarta. Tapi bahkan pria yang riang dan santai pun tahu bahwa sudah saatnya berubah. Karena itulah saya ke Singapura. Karena itulah saya bertemu dengan Pheng iu, panggilan akrab yang dicetuskan oleh Sudarpo, yang artinya adalah teman. Fase ketiga dalam hidup saya pun dimulai. 

Sampai di sini saya sebenarnya berharap bisa bercerita tentang sulitnya nasib saya merantau di Singapura. Pasti efeknya akan lebih dramatis. Tapi kisahnya tidaklah begitu. Hidup di negeri asing bersama teman seperti mereka sangatlah seru. Usia pertengahan 20an adalah masa yang tepat bagi bujang dan dara untuk hidup dalam kebersamaan. 

Prata bersama Pheng iu, setelah pertunjukan Wawa.

Kita selalu berkumpul dan tertawa. Penghasilan kita cukup untuk ditabung dan juga dihamburkan. Karena itulah kita bisa membuat film dan berlibur bersama. Namun yang lebih penting lagi adalah, kita memiliki satu sama lain. Saya rasa kita tidak pernah benar-benar kesepian di tahun-tahun tersebut. 

Dari mereka, saya belajar bahwa kita bisa bermimpi dan menggapai impian tersebut. Dari situlah kita bisa membuat film. Dari mereka, saya juga belajar bahwa berlibur itu sangat menyenangkan. Di malam itu saya mengenang kembali saat duduk bersama Alfan di belakang lori yang mengelilingi Bangkok. Dia pun tergelak. Dari mereka, saya belajar bahwa teman dan keluarga itu tak jauh beda. Begitu miripnya sampai terasa sama bagi saya. 

Mengunjungi Melaka, 2009.

Mereka semua adalah teman-teman terdekat saya di periode ini. Akan tetapi tentu saja Endrico, Surianto, Andy William dan Jimmy Lim juga merupakan bagian dari Pheng iu sehingga saya tidak sepenuhnya putus hubungan dengan teman SMA. Masa itu bisa dijabarkan sebagai saat kita berjuang meniti karir dan teknologi yang ada belum memadai untuk menjangkau teman lain yang terpisah entah di mana. Meski BBM populer di tahun 2009-2010, baru di era WhatsApp semuanya bisa berkumpul lagi.

Sementara itu, aneka kenalan datang dan pergi. Para kolega seperti Bernard pun menjadi teman baik. Namun Pheng iu senantiasa bersama hingga saya siap menempuh fase ke-empat dalam hidup saya. Dikelilingi oleh mereka sebagai saksi, Yani dan saya memulai hidup bersama. Satu perjalanan panjang menuju rumah, jika anda tahu maksud saya.

Di hari registrasi pernikahan, 2011.
Foto oleh Endrico.

Dalam 15 tahun terakhir, beberapa di antara kita menikah. Anak-anak pun lahir. Kerjaan berlanjut sampai berjalan lancar. Saya bisa bersaksi tentang hal ini: jika anda mainkan peran anda dengan baik, keseimbangan antara kerjaan dan hidup bukanlah hal mustahil. Dalam kasus saya, grup SMA terbentuk dan waktu luang pun diselingi oleh kehebohan SMA lagi. Masa pandemik dan kebebasan berlibur sesudahnya kita lalui bersama dan semua menjadi cerita. 

Dan cerita kehidupan ini membawa kita kembali berkumpul di malam itu. Saya duduk di sana, bersantap dengan mereka yang akrab wajahnya. Saya menatap Wawa yang cerewet, lalu terkenang kembali ke masa-masa di Kembangan. Penuh cerita menyenangkan, bukan? Dan saya bersyukur. Meski tidak semuanya bisa berkumpul di malam itu, dalam hidup ini, saya menyayangi mereka semua. 

Untuk hari esok yang lebih baik lagi!