Wah lau eh, kena -- that's the right spelling, People... not kanna, not karna, not kenna, and most definitely not ghana because it's a country -- tagged again! This time by Yolli.

Well, since I did this not too long ago, guess what, I'll do one better this time. Inspired by this, I'm gonna write not just five or six, but... a hundred things about me! *rim shot*

Some of these some of you no doubt would've known. Some others you could've guessed. But I'm making too much introduction now, let's start.

001) I was born in Semarang...
002) ...where I was raised by Grandma until I was three, because...
003) ...Dad and Mom were busy making ends meet in Surabaya...
004) ...where they had met and fallen in love with each other

005) I have been living in five cities now: Semarang, Surabaya, Medan, Jakarta, and this lion city...
006) ...and a lot more houses...
007) ...of which, my fav has so far been that Darmo Indah home, where I lived from 81 to 84

008) I spent my SD years in three different schools: St. Katarina, Surabaya...
009) ...Christus Rex, Semarang, and...
010) ...St. Antonius, Jakarta, after which...
011) ...I went to the all-boy Canisius College for my SMP and SMA...
012) ...where it seemed everyone but me had weird nicknames like Babu, Tai, To'ol, Gembel -- you got the idea

013) I chose basketball as my compulsory extracurricular activity in SMP...
014) ...as well as -- would you believe it -- chess, at which I suck...
015) ...but changed to volleyball in the second and third year (and throughout SMA) because basketball started very late at 6...
016) ...and -- this you would not believe -- Pramuka...
017) ...which made me a Morse Code expert for a brief spell

018) I scored a 4 (out of 10) in my first test in SMP -- Bahasa Indonesia Grammar...
019) ...but, to my surprise, a perfect 10 in my first Physics test, where barely minutes before the test I had an Eureka moment and suddenly all the funny formulae made sense
020) I then scored a 6 in my first Menulis Rapi -- yes, we had that subject, I kid you not -- assignment...
021) ...but followed that with a 9 in the next one...
022) ...and a 10 in Bahasa Indonesia Grammar, in the best in-your-face fashion...

023) My nightmare subject all six years long was Biology...
024) ...and I got a 3 (out of 10) for my final (Ebtanas) paper in SMA...
025) ...to go with my 5 in PMP -- remember that Pancasila thingy...
026) ...thankfully, two 10s in Mathematics and English helped...
027) ...and I finished third in the entire Class of '94 in total graduation score

But enough bragging, school's out and we don't need no education...

028) I listened to New Kids on the Block...
029) ...and Jonathan Knight was my fav -- stop looking at me like that, he had an emotional breakdown if you must know
030) For some period, I knew all songs from To the Extreme and could rap them almost as good as Vanilla Ice himself
031) Other artists I like (and liked) include among others, Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Roxette, Linkin Park, and Eminem
032) But my all-time fav has always been Metallica -- and nothing else matters!

033) I picked up guitar in 94 after seeing that too many of my classmates could play...
034) ...and taught myself how to play by buying two of those 1000-rupiah chord books...
035) ...with Unchained Melody and Air Supply's Without You being the first songs I managed to play in their entirety
036) ...after which I bought my first guitar -- a Yamaha C330 -- for 150 thousand rupiahs; I still sleep with that guitar sometimes

BTW, one sure thing to win a gal over? Play her some songs on guitar over the phone, midnight would be a good time. The hardest part for me is to find a gal who wouldn't mind being called at midnight.

037) I supported Portland Trailblazers (read: any team Clyde Drexler was playing for)...
038) ...and I now support the Lakers (read: any team Kobe Bryant is playing for)...
039) ...and hate the Spurs -- that's San Antonio, not Tottenham
040) I am a Liverpool fan -- in case you haven't noticed...
041) ...as well as an Arsenal hater -- thanks to some guy who's not to be named back in uni
042) ...but come World Cups, Germany and Italy have always traditionally been my favs

And since we're that deep in the sports subject...

043) I like Schumi and Ferrari...
044) ...and Maria Sharapova -- like any guy utilizing half his mind would...
045) ...and Johnny Archer...
046) ...and hate Roger Federer, for being too perfect...
047) ...and Pete Sampras before him

048) I was a TV addict back in SMP and SMA...
049) ...yet, barring sports and The Amazing Race, I can hardly sit through any TV show longer than 30 minutes now
050) My all-time fav movie is Spider-Man 2...
051) ...with Spider-Man a very close second

052) I fell asleep for at least a few minutes during each of the Lord of the Rings trilogy
053) I have never watched any of the Star Wars two trilogies -- just a few scenes here and there when they were on TV
054) My fav actor is Tom Cruise
055) My fav actress is Helen Hunt
056) Catherine Zeta-Jones is my version of the most beautiful face on silver screen

Enough about entertainment business... Wait. One more...

057) I hate Oprah

All right, maybe not so much entertainment as the lack thereof. On to more random stuff...

058) Thursday is my fav day of week; the reason: it's the day before Friday -- don't ask, it's the Sagittarian in me
059) I don't like parties...
060) ...and I don't like drinks with alcohol...
061) ...but if I really have to, I'll opt for any kind of beer...
062) ...although I do like Bailey's and Kahlua with milk
063) Mocha Frappuccino is my fav Starbucks-Coffe-Bean-type of drinks

064) I like dogs...
065) ...and so, I naturally hate cats
066) At one time, we had in our house two dogs, two cats, two parrots, a rooster, a hen, and various other birds...
067) ...at another time, we also had a pair of rabbits...
068) ...yet, somewhat curiously, we've never had an aquarium
069) ...although we did have a fish pond -- it came with the house we were renting

070) When presented with a form, I always put "sports and music" under "Hobbies" -- don't ask me why...
071) ...given that I also read a lot of books (read: paperbacks)...
072) ...and do a lot of (mostly useless, in general public's opinion) computer programs, such as this one
073) While under "Height" and "Weight" I always put "172 cms" and "65 kgs", but the truth is...
074) ...I don't know my own exact height -- my SIM A says 175, my SIM C says 165, my Singapore license says nothing...
075) ...and only recently did I find out during a medical check-up that "65 kgs" was indeed accurate

076) My fav color used to be red -- ever since I watched Superman the Movie back in Medan...
077) ...then as I grew more and more introvert, more and more cynical towards life -- now less so, no worries -- I switched to black; the no-color...
078) ...and that makes black-yellow my fav color combo -- now, that just gave me an idea

079) I can eat almost anything -- all right, make that anything...
080) ...even as I try to avoid hot food...
081) ...and food that requires a somewhat involved process go get to -- like crab...
082) ... but I will continue listing chicken noodle as my fav

083) I don't like Java and its jargon after jargon, J-this, J-that
084) I never use any HTML editing software
085) I heart Perl; when it comes to simple dynamic websites, nothing beats Perl

086) I don't like ironing because I will end up trying to do my best -- this has to align with that, the line has to be straight, etc -- and spending too much time
087) I don't mind washing dishes and mopping floor
088) I'm way too lazy to make my own bed and at times it's months between changes in sheets; so if one day you happen to wake up in my bed and feel an itch, well... I have to ask you, what are you doing in my bed anyway?!

089) I started smoking when I was 13 and went all the way until I graduated from SMA...
090) ...yet, I've never for once in my life bought any cigarettes -- always burn your friends' money was my motto
091) ...so right after SMA, I decided to quit, which was easy since I'd never liked smoking; it was simply for the sake of trying to look cool and hey, everyone else was doing it...
092) ...and I have never smoked a single cigarette ever since

093) I enjoy being in the company of people with lots of enthusiasm...
094) ...although I'm never one to show much of it myself
095) I have reservations about people who show off, even when it's within their rights to do so
096) Intellectual conversations, which can be about anything and everything under the sun, stimulate me
097) I hate being left out; don't expect me to admit it, though

098) Unlike some men, I don't have any particular feature in women to attract me -- to me it's always the overall package, not eyes or legs or boobs or even pure brain
099) I'm never close to my own parents and siblings -- when I confide it's always in a friend and seldom the whole story, I like to distribute my load -- I promise to try my best to keep my kids from growing up like me
100) I've just realized recently that I'm a workaholic -- here's hoping for someone to change that in the future

Well, that was easier than I'd thought. I mean, come on, a hundred things? That's gotta be tough! As it turns out, I didn't even have to mention pool or badminton or durian. I guess talking about oneself is always easy.

Have a great week ahead, Ladies and Gents.

Current music: Alphaville - Jerusalem
Current mood: happy