The morning had just broken when I pulled up to the hilltop park. No one was in sight, which had been the reason behind our coming so early. Mixing before us were the colors of scarlet, crimson, azure, gold, and silver. Nowhere else could such colors be both contrasting and natural at the same time.

Not that we could care less that morning. Immediately I turned to the girl in the passenger seat. She wore the same blank expression I had come to get accustomed to. The expression one wears when one is past the initial stage of crying grievance and anguish. I willed her to cry instead. Her sobs pained me. Her silence tortured me.

"Ros." I felt I had to begin eventually. "How many times must I apologize? Yes, what I did was stupid and unforgivable. But we have to deal with it in the end. This situation is not beyond salvation. We can still make it right."

Silence.

Which one would you rather hire:
A) a candidate who spent an hour to write his own code?
Or B) a candidate who used the first 15 mins to search the Net, found a code snippet close to what was required, and modified it accordingly in another 15 mins?

Both came up with arguably equally good jobs. Almost error-free, did what had been asked, no unnecessary features.

Current music: Metallica - Motorbreath
Current mood: happy

Akhir pekan kemaren ini mayan berperistiwa en berbuah juga biarpun capek jalan ke sana-sini. Maklum, udah tua. Nggak papa deh, paling nggak Bison duluan yang bakal masuk grup 30-an.

Nonton Batman Begins. Mayanlah, kali ini gua berhasil terjaga sepanjang pelem. Dulu tiap kali nonton Batman di bioskop pasti ada aja terlelapnya. Catatan: gua sebenernya cuma nonton Batman and Robin en emang sempet bobok bentar, 2 menit paling, jadi pernyataan sebelon ini adalah benar adanya.

Christian Bale cocok banget jadi Bruce Wayne en Batman. Gua nggak heran kalo entarnya dia bakal jadi personifikasi Batman, kayak Christopher Reeve en Tobey Maguire dengan karakter masing-masing. Mungkin gara-gara dia pernah jadi American Psycho, yang karakternya emang mirip Bruce Wayne/Batman. Siang jadi playboy berpenampilan keren, malem jadi psikopat. Kok bisa ya? Playboy itu bukan seringnya beraksi malem-malem ya? Tau deh, nggak (bakal) pernah jadi playboy sih.

Today exactly six years ago I first stepped on this country's soil. Well, had been here once before, but that had been as a tourist, not as a student cum a living seeker.

Whoa, six years! You realize how long that is? In six years your newborn would be in SD. In another six years he would be in SMP. Six more years it would be college. And if you were lucky enough you'd be preparing to welcome your daughter-in-law to the family in the next six. Unless you were my parents, in which case you'd have to be content with waiting for six more. And even then, it's still not a full guarantee.

This city -- after all these years, I can still hardly think of it as a country -- in many ways has left good impressions on me. The cleanness. The security. The good, if not ideal, public transport. The efficient workforce. The no-nonsense, practical approaches to almost everything. Still, it has also offered me stuff I didn't anticipate when I first walked out of its state-of-the-art airport six years ago.

So, as a tribute to this fine city, here are a few unexpected things it has taught me over the course of those six years.

The other day I caught the Miss Universe 2005 final-5 round: the Q&A session. You know, where they ask one another questions like, "If you saw an old lady fall on the street, should you help her?" All right, not so easy. More like, "If you saw an old lady fall on the street, what would you do?" All right, all right, I'll stop joking. The questions are like, "If you saw an old lady fall on the street, which country would you think you were in?"

To which of course you should expect replies like, "I refuse to answer that. The question is ageist, sexist, and racist. Thank you. Oh, and world peace."

I'm sorry. I'm sure some of these Miss Universe finalists are more than capable of getting out faster than I from the Crimson Room, the Viridian Room, and the Blue Chamber. Which is why I thought the questions coulda -- and shoulda -- been smarter.

Ditepok ama Bapak Bison (nah lho, kenap nap link-nya ke situ coba) suruh ngisi survei ginian:

1. Berapa buku yang gua punya?
Nggak bisa jawab. Karena selaen udah banyak yang ilang -- nasib punya adik yang suka minjem, temen yang suka minjem, adik yang punya temen yang suka minjem, dsb -- lokasinya juga tersebar di 4 kota en 2 negara. Canggih! Tapi kira-kira? Hmm... Mungkin 667 -- bukan 666 karena itu adalah angka hewan.

2. Buku apa yang terakhir gua beli?
Terakhir beli 3 buku Dick Francis di toko buku bekas: Blood Sport ($2.00), Danger ($1.90), ama Second Wind ($2.00) -- nggak perlu link dong ya, mending juga diklik; kalo emang tertarik Google hanya seklikan jauhnya toh.