Today, I had the opportunity to tour the World Bank. The tour is organized once every month, the first Thursday of the month. My friend from St. Louis, Fari Nasution, and I met up at the IMF Center for the tour. Fari had also moved to DC from St. Louis, exactly one week earlier than I did. We regularly schedule to do Friday prayer together at the Indonesian Embassy [though it would prove to be difficult once I got a job in Georgetown since the Embassy was located in Dupont Circle and I was only allowed 1.5-hour lunch break].
The walking tour covers three organizations: the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the OAS (Organisation of American States), and the World Bank. The tour began at the IMF Center and would last for 4 hours (from 10am to 2pm). It was a very informative experience. Until then, I only learned about IMF and World Bank either from a factbook perspective, or from a leftist literature. So, this was the opportunity to listen from their point of view.
I thought the IMF part was the best since the speaker, though an economist, was able to explain the function of IMF in a very comprehensible way and that was a good thing since most of the tour participants were not economist themselves. In contrast, the World Bank speaker lost us through economic jargons and statistical mumbo-jumbo. It felt like a performance report rather than conversational lectures of the IMF and the OAS. Plus, the World Bank had this complicated security checkpoint compared to the other two organizations. OAS in the other hand, didn't fit in the whole scheme, in my opinion. It's more like a regional organization rather than economic ones, so when they claim to be a sister organization to World Bank and the IMF, I still don't see it. Truthfully, OAS is a more fitting sister to ASEAN, EU, or even Mercosur.
Oh, and the buildings where these institutions are housed were quite a spectacle in their own right. Though the IMF building doesn't stand out and probably looked the most normal (just like another office building), there is a Garuda statue in its lobby, a gift from the government of Indonesia. The OAS building is the oldest, and has a very ethnic architecture which strikes a huge contrast with the modern World Bank building predominated with glass and steel.
For more information of the tour, you can view them here.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Washington DC - Day 6 (May 29, 2005)
I wasn't planning to spend most of the day watching TV, but it turned out just that. Salman went home for the weekend so I planned to explore more of this city, just as I had been doing for the past week and would continue to do so for the next month. So, I turned on the TV just to see what's on, and to keep me company while I cooked and ate my lunch (you know, sometimes it's just feel weird without at least some noise in the background).
So as I flipped through the channels, Bravo (http://www.bravotv.com/) came up, with its show "Project Runway". The show was a competition/reality-based series involving a group of aspiring fashion designers. So, initially there were 12 amateur designers, who later got eliminated one-by-one throughout the series. The winner would supposedly received marketing exposure to the industry and $100k to fund his/her own product line. Sounds exciting, right? well, not in the beginning. I thought it would be just another reality show. But man, the competition itself was something! I mean, they were only given a short amount of time not only to design, but make the clothes for whatever the challenge was for that week. That mean, they had to pick the material, measure them, sew the material, choose the model, etc, etc for less than a day most of the time. So, I got hooked for more than 6 hours watching the series marathon (they were re-runs, after all).
Like most reality TVs, lots of drama were involved, but mostly I liked to watch the finished products, the designs themselves (some were good, others were just outrageous). Even when the winner was announced, I thought it was a fair judgment, compared to some other reality series. Overall, I think Project Runway is watchable and you might learn a thing or two about the fashion design industry. See it for yourself at www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway to learn more about the show, and maybe catch the next re-runs.
So as I flipped through the channels, Bravo (http://www.bravotv.com/) came up, with its show "Project Runway". The show was a competition/reality-based series involving a group of aspiring fashion designers. So, initially there were 12 amateur designers, who later got eliminated one-by-one throughout the series. The winner would supposedly received marketing exposure to the industry and $100k to fund his/her own product line. Sounds exciting, right? well, not in the beginning. I thought it would be just another reality show. But man, the competition itself was something! I mean, they were only given a short amount of time not only to design, but make the clothes for whatever the challenge was for that week. That mean, they had to pick the material, measure them, sew the material, choose the model, etc, etc for less than a day most of the time. So, I got hooked for more than 6 hours watching the series marathon (they were re-runs, after all).
Like most reality TVs, lots of drama were involved, but mostly I liked to watch the finished products, the designs themselves (some were good, others were just outrageous). Even when the winner was announced, I thought it was a fair judgment, compared to some other reality series. Overall, I think Project Runway is watchable and you might learn a thing or two about the fashion design industry. See it for yourself at www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway to learn more about the show, and maybe catch the next re-runs.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Washington DC - Day 76
Yesterday was positively my weirdest night in DC yet. It all began with the plan to watch Star Wars movie with my roommate, Salman. At around 9pm, Salman called me to let me know that he was ready to pick me up from my work and watch Star Wars in a theater near Friendship Heights. Around 15 minutes later, I got another call from him letting me know that his car had got rear-ended near McDonalds in Alexandria. He was okay, but the police wouldn't arrive to the scene until an hour later, after I gave him a direct number to the Alexandria PD.
At about 10:30pm, he continued driving to Dupont Circle to pick me up. I received a call from him about 45 minutes later saying that his exhaust system had dangerously dragging from his car, so he was forced to stop his car in downtown DC (I think it was near intersection 14th and L Street). I came down via Metro and met him up to wait for the AAA tow truck. We got ourselves Blimpie's subs for dinner and beverages from a nearby CVS store. We saw several prostitutes walking by the area and a pimp (I don't know if it's a real pimp or just an act, but he certainly dressed the part!).
An hour passed, and no tow truck in sight. AAA gave us new ETA (estimated time of arrival) to be 2am! So Salman got fed up and tried to fix the car himself. It was driveable alright... for another 3 blocks. So we decided to wait for the truck after all and sit on the bench near a bus stop. Let me remind you that we were stuck in downtown DC, just the two of us, not knowing the area (even though it was relatively safe, but still), with limited access to phone (batteries were about to be out) and transportation (Metro stops operating at 2pm on weekend), and we would be waiting for more than 2 hours surrounded by homeless people sleeping or walking nearby.
It was 2am, and Salman kept calling AAA every 20 minutes since they kept delaying ETA up to 4am! For about an hour between 3:30am - 4:30am, we were walking around, trying to find a payphone since both our cellphones had died on us. We saw several more homeless people and several drunken passersby from closing bars. We were confused and undecided whether to wait for the truck or try to get help somehow. By this time, I started feeling delirious and the need to rest my eye (ie., sleeping?). At about 4:45am, it came down upon Salman to use his shoelaces to tie the exhaust system, at least preventing it from dragging on the road, making it possible to drive home safely, albeit slowly.
We arrived home about an hour later. Apparently, several calls had been waiting for Salman once he plugged his cellphone. And for me... well, I was too dazed to keep my eyes open for much longer and fell asleep on my bed for the next 10 hours or so.
At about 10:30pm, he continued driving to Dupont Circle to pick me up. I received a call from him about 45 minutes later saying that his exhaust system had dangerously dragging from his car, so he was forced to stop his car in downtown DC (I think it was near intersection 14th and L Street). I came down via Metro and met him up to wait for the AAA tow truck. We got ourselves Blimpie's subs for dinner and beverages from a nearby CVS store. We saw several prostitutes walking by the area and a pimp (I don't know if it's a real pimp or just an act, but he certainly dressed the part!).
An hour passed, and no tow truck in sight. AAA gave us new ETA (estimated time of arrival) to be 2am! So Salman got fed up and tried to fix the car himself. It was driveable alright... for another 3 blocks. So we decided to wait for the truck after all and sit on the bench near a bus stop. Let me remind you that we were stuck in downtown DC, just the two of us, not knowing the area (even though it was relatively safe, but still), with limited access to phone (batteries were about to be out) and transportation (Metro stops operating at 2pm on weekend), and we would be waiting for more than 2 hours surrounded by homeless people sleeping or walking nearby.
It was 2am, and Salman kept calling AAA every 20 minutes since they kept delaying ETA up to 4am! For about an hour between 3:30am - 4:30am, we were walking around, trying to find a payphone since both our cellphones had died on us. We saw several more homeless people and several drunken passersby from closing bars. We were confused and undecided whether to wait for the truck or try to get help somehow. By this time, I started feeling delirious and the need to rest my eye (ie., sleeping?). At about 4:45am, it came down upon Salman to use his shoelaces to tie the exhaust system, at least preventing it from dragging on the road, making it possible to drive home safely, albeit slowly.
We arrived home about an hour later. Apparently, several calls had been waiting for Salman once he plugged his cellphone. And for me... well, I was too dazed to keep my eyes open for much longer and fell asleep on my bed for the next 10 hours or so.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Washington DC - Day 42 (July 4, 2005)
It was the Independence Day! (America's, for that matter). Though it was supposed to be a federal holiday, I got a phone call from Salman that morning (he was coming home that weekend to Charleston, West Virginia) telling me that the cable guy would be coming soon. I thought it was a bit odd for them to come during a holiday to install cable connection, but apparently July 4th doesn't bring the same "red-date" status as December 25th.
Whatever, I guessed we could use the cable for internet and TVs after being bored for... seven days? True enough, we got broadband internet and cable channels an hour later. Salman's cousin, Imran, who stayed with us for the moment, had left to downtown with his friends and I was still hooked to the computer. The DVR (digital video recorder for the cable) hadn't got into me just yet. I was still going through my addiction to Civilization 3, and in about two weeks it would change.
You'd think that DC would be the place to see some July 4th fireworks, right? Well, I got to the downtown too late and I missed them! Boo hoo hoo hoo... I got glued to Civilization 3 and didn't plan for enough time to get to downtown. Oh well, the more reason to come back here in the future...
Whatever, I guessed we could use the cable for internet and TVs after being bored for... seven days? True enough, we got broadband internet and cable channels an hour later. Salman's cousin, Imran, who stayed with us for the moment, had left to downtown with his friends and I was still hooked to the computer. The DVR (digital video recorder for the cable) hadn't got into me just yet. I was still going through my addiction to Civilization 3, and in about two weeks it would change.
You'd think that DC would be the place to see some July 4th fireworks, right? Well, I got to the downtown too late and I missed them! Boo hoo hoo hoo... I got glued to Civilization 3 and didn't plan for enough time to get to downtown. Oh well, the more reason to come back here in the future...
Friday, August 05, 2005
Washington DC - Day 1 (May 24, 2005)
So, how did I end up here in Washington DC exactly? Well, to answer that question, let's travel back in time to Day 1 which is May 24, 2005.
The day had finally arrived. I woke up early morning and made final preparation for my departure to Washington DC later that afternoon. My roommate, Ading, would accompany me to Lambert Airport. It so happened (as I planned) that my flight would be scheduled at the same day as Ading's mother. She would fly back to Jakarta after spending about a month in St. Louis. I bought my ticket to coincide with her flight so Ading would be able to take time off from his job on that day only. I brought with me two big luggages, one duffel bag, and one folio bag. Ading's mother had boarded the plane two hours before I would board mine. I was anxious, I didn't know what to expect when I'd arrived to DC. My internship hadn't been confirmed yet, and I hadn't secure a place to stay on a more permanent basis. My stomach felt twenty pounds lighter everytime I thought about it.
The flight number was Northwest Airline (NWA) 1589 with a transfer in Memphis to NWA 0955. I boarded at half-hour to noon and arrived seven hours later at DC's Ronald Reagan Airport. Weather wasn't helping, it was drizzling and I wasn't familiar with the Airport's layout. My friend from college, Salman, had kindly enough offered his place for me to stay temporarily. But first, I had to find a way to the Metro (subway) station where he had waited for me. My bags weren't helping either.
It was probably because I was tired from hauling the bags from terminal B to terminal A, it didn't occur to me at that time to transport them via elevator from terminal A's 2nd floor to its 1st. Instead, I used the escalator, and one of them fell grinding through! I was flabbergasted and couldn't bring myself to yell a warning to the person down the escalator. Thank God he was alert and hurried down to avoid his impending doom. He stepped aside from the escalator and my luggage just slide through before it stopped seven feet away from him. Thanks to his quick reaction, a disaster had been avoided. I apologized to him, and shortly after, a police on a bicycle arrived. He understood the situation immediately after seeing me with three other bags coming down from the escalator. I took my bag and continued walking to the Metro station amid surprised looks from passersby and passengers eating at the restaurant opposite to the escalator. Man, I was so embarrased.
I finally met Salman and we rode the Metro to his place.
The day had finally arrived. I woke up early morning and made final preparation for my departure to Washington DC later that afternoon. My roommate, Ading, would accompany me to Lambert Airport. It so happened (as I planned) that my flight would be scheduled at the same day as Ading's mother. She would fly back to Jakarta after spending about a month in St. Louis. I bought my ticket to coincide with her flight so Ading would be able to take time off from his job on that day only. I brought with me two big luggages, one duffel bag, and one folio bag. Ading's mother had boarded the plane two hours before I would board mine. I was anxious, I didn't know what to expect when I'd arrived to DC. My internship hadn't been confirmed yet, and I hadn't secure a place to stay on a more permanent basis. My stomach felt twenty pounds lighter everytime I thought about it.
The flight number was Northwest Airline (NWA) 1589 with a transfer in Memphis to NWA 0955. I boarded at half-hour to noon and arrived seven hours later at DC's Ronald Reagan Airport. Weather wasn't helping, it was drizzling and I wasn't familiar with the Airport's layout. My friend from college, Salman, had kindly enough offered his place for me to stay temporarily. But first, I had to find a way to the Metro (subway) station where he had waited for me. My bags weren't helping either.
It was probably because I was tired from hauling the bags from terminal B to terminal A, it didn't occur to me at that time to transport them via elevator from terminal A's 2nd floor to its 1st. Instead, I used the escalator, and one of them fell grinding through! I was flabbergasted and couldn't bring myself to yell a warning to the person down the escalator. Thank God he was alert and hurried down to avoid his impending doom. He stepped aside from the escalator and my luggage just slide through before it stopped seven feet away from him. Thanks to his quick reaction, a disaster had been avoided. I apologized to him, and shortly after, a police on a bicycle arrived. He understood the situation immediately after seeing me with three other bags coming down from the escalator. I took my bag and continued walking to the Metro station amid surprised looks from passersby and passengers eating at the restaurant opposite to the escalator. Man, I was so embarrased.
I finally met Salman and we rode the Metro to his place.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Washington DC - Day 71
Today I watched a documentary segment on AMC entitled Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. I think the show was great and highly informative. I didn't know that the segment was made in 1994 until I visited AMC website (http://www.amctv.com/show/detail?CID=50039-1-EST). It seems that I am not the only one who enjoyed it. The segment gains high rating from its viewers. As I watched it, I remember again about the movie I saw during my middle school, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, which dramatized some aspects of his life. Though Dragon built my interest, it wasn't until Journey that I gained further understanding on Bruce's life and his philosophy.
To be honest, it wasn't the martial arts that interest me. Though the action in all of his movies are superb, I don't quite connect with the intricacies of fighting choreography in general. However, I didn't realize that he was attempting to communicate his martial arts philosophy and his philosophy of life through those movies, until Linda Lee (his widow), explained it in Journey. In fact, she said that he entered the acting world solely because he wanted to reach wider audiences on a different level. After all, he could just teach them in his school.
In the interview, Linda also remembered how Bruce had rejected offers from Hollywood despite his financial difficulties, because they want him to play stereotypical Asian which he considered derogatory. He had a difficult time back then because he was racially marginalized. This situation was also portrayed in Dragon. Ultimately, he rose above the challenges, and regarded people of other races as his equal. He took in and taught non-Chinese students in his school, something that people apparently didn't practice at the time. It seems that from my observations and personal experiences, minority status (based on almost anything), can bring the worst of hate or the best of tolerance in people. For Bruce case, it was the latter.
I think Bruce gained an understanding of life from his martial arts. His iconoclastic view and his philosophy of adaptability and individuality is surprisingly poignant. I know he could "kick ass", but he was also extremely bright individual. After seeing this documentary, I gained greater understanding and respect for this guy.
[For those who want to learn more about Bruce's story, I found an entry in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee]
To be honest, it wasn't the martial arts that interest me. Though the action in all of his movies are superb, I don't quite connect with the intricacies of fighting choreography in general. However, I didn't realize that he was attempting to communicate his martial arts philosophy and his philosophy of life through those movies, until Linda Lee (his widow), explained it in Journey. In fact, she said that he entered the acting world solely because he wanted to reach wider audiences on a different level. After all, he could just teach them in his school.
In the interview, Linda also remembered how Bruce had rejected offers from Hollywood despite his financial difficulties, because they want him to play stereotypical Asian which he considered derogatory. He had a difficult time back then because he was racially marginalized. This situation was also portrayed in Dragon. Ultimately, he rose above the challenges, and regarded people of other races as his equal. He took in and taught non-Chinese students in his school, something that people apparently didn't practice at the time. It seems that from my observations and personal experiences, minority status (based on almost anything), can bring the worst of hate or the best of tolerance in people. For Bruce case, it was the latter.
I think Bruce gained an understanding of life from his martial arts. His iconoclastic view and his philosophy of adaptability and individuality is surprisingly poignant. I know he could "kick ass", but he was also extremely bright individual. After seeing this documentary, I gained greater understanding and respect for this guy.
[For those who want to learn more about Bruce's story, I found an entry in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee]
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Washington DC - Day 70
Oookay, it's the 70th day of my summer stay in Washington DC. Where're the other 69? well, I just decided to actually write them today, so some (but not all) of them will be written soon, including future days. Anyway, I wrote this from my roommate's computer, so I still haven't got access to my own computer. I'm waiting for my wireless access point which was sent from St. Louis several days ago.
Alright, enough rambling. I admit that I haven't kept any of my blogs updated up to this point. So, this will be the first entry after roughly 2-3 months hiatus. I've been quite busy with my jobs for the past month. Yup, you heard it right, I am gainfully employed again. Details will follow.
My stay in Washington DC has been a blast. Well, technically I work in DC but I'm not actually staying there. I share a 1-bedroom apartment with my friend from college, Salman Malik, in Alexandria, Virginia. It's across the Potomac river, and about 10 miles away from downtown DC. Salman and I just moved to this apartment about a month ago, after sharing a studio in West Falls Church. We didn't initially got the idea, but since we got along pretty well, we decided to be roommates.
Hmm.. I guess that was enough writing for today. I will continue again tomorrow.
Alright, enough rambling. I admit that I haven't kept any of my blogs updated up to this point. So, this will be the first entry after roughly 2-3 months hiatus. I've been quite busy with my jobs for the past month. Yup, you heard it right, I am gainfully employed again. Details will follow.
My stay in Washington DC has been a blast. Well, technically I work in DC but I'm not actually staying there. I share a 1-bedroom apartment with my friend from college, Salman Malik, in Alexandria, Virginia. It's across the Potomac river, and about 10 miles away from downtown DC. Salman and I just moved to this apartment about a month ago, after sharing a studio in West Falls Church. We didn't initially got the idea, but since we got along pretty well, we decided to be roommates.
Hmm.. I guess that was enough writing for today. I will continue again tomorrow.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Star Wars vs. Star Trek - Part 3
Star Wars episode 3 has been out for four days now... and I still haven't watched it.
I know that the first week release would generate a tremendous amount of excitement and would result in extremely long lines. I didn't even bother to try watching it in the first week. Perhaps, after Memorial Day?
Oh, and did you know that Forbes.com wrote an article with the same title, "Star Wars vs. Star Trek"? Talk about coincidence...
Yeah, you can read the article at http://www.forbes.com/technology/2005/05/16/cx_de_0516match.html
I know that the first week release would generate a tremendous amount of excitement and would result in extremely long lines. I didn't even bother to try watching it in the first week. Perhaps, after Memorial Day?
Oh, and did you know that Forbes.com wrote an article with the same title, "Star Wars vs. Star Trek"? Talk about coincidence...
Yeah, you can read the article at http://www.forbes.com/technology/2005/05/16/cx_de_0516match.html
Monday, May 09, 2005
Star Wars vs. Star Trek - Part 2
Star Wars episode 3 is looming on the horizon...
From what I have seen at its website (www.starwars.com) and the trailer, I think this one could be a lot better than the previous two episodes. The original trilogy is still the best, and since episode one flopped big time, the second trilogy wouldn't live up to its original standard (story-telling wise).
Special effects has always been a treat for Star Wars. There's just plenty of it! even in comparison with Star Trek. Action are more hands-on thanks to the light-saber and lightning fast thanks to smaller and nimbler ships. Wired magazine rated the light-saber as the second-coolest sword in the motion picture history (the first being Hattori Hanzo sword used by Uma Thurman character in Kill Bill). Ships in Star Wars galaxy are extremely fast and maneuverable, which of course result in plentiful action.
Compared this to Star Trek. Ships in the Trek universe are big and slow. Plus, the action is brief and simplistic (fire a phaser and you're done). However, the appeal of Star Trek is different than Star Wars. Ships in the Trek universe have high consistency (aesthetically and technically). Technologies are advanced, and yield a high degree of possibility, even the transporter. Star Trek production really make use of its consultants, so a lot of the technologies used in the series can be explained by real-life science. (Even the modern cell-phone is said to have similarities with Capt. Kirk's communicator used in Star Trek series in the 1960s).
As for the action, Star Trek has been catching up in the Dominion War storyline, but I think it really is not the main attraction.
From what I have seen at its website (www.starwars.com) and the trailer, I think this one could be a lot better than the previous two episodes. The original trilogy is still the best, and since episode one flopped big time, the second trilogy wouldn't live up to its original standard (story-telling wise).
Special effects has always been a treat for Star Wars. There's just plenty of it! even in comparison with Star Trek. Action are more hands-on thanks to the light-saber and lightning fast thanks to smaller and nimbler ships. Wired magazine rated the light-saber as the second-coolest sword in the motion picture history (the first being Hattori Hanzo sword used by Uma Thurman character in Kill Bill). Ships in Star Wars galaxy are extremely fast and maneuverable, which of course result in plentiful action.
Compared this to Star Trek. Ships in the Trek universe are big and slow. Plus, the action is brief and simplistic (fire a phaser and you're done). However, the appeal of Star Trek is different than Star Wars. Ships in the Trek universe have high consistency (aesthetically and technically). Technologies are advanced, and yield a high degree of possibility, even the transporter. Star Trek production really make use of its consultants, so a lot of the technologies used in the series can be explained by real-life science. (Even the modern cell-phone is said to have similarities with Capt. Kirk's communicator used in Star Trek series in the 1960s).
As for the action, Star Trek has been catching up in the Dominion War storyline, but I think it really is not the main attraction.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Creative Commons License
I found this neat copyright service from the Internet named "Creative Commons". What is neat about it is that the CC-copyright can easily be understandable since it uses plain English. What's more, I can also choose the jurisdiction where the copyright law will be accorded to. Anyway, I will start tagging CC button on most of my works online from now on (I already put one for this blog, more will come). It's easy, it's convenient, it's affordable, it's lawful.
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