MDISK Notebook Cooler

Laptop cooler is here to answer your need regarding a theory of constant circulation air will help the laptop's performance. I bought this one at Jakarta Fair last July for a special price; IDR 120,000. Unfortunately the price on the website is slightly more expensive.

Price: IDR 201,000 (web-based)

Where to buy: mdiskshop.com

What it is:
A laptop cooling-pad made of iron with 2-coolingfan to cool down the battery heat. It suits up to 13-inch laptops.

Product: 4 out of 5
Quality: 5 out of 5
Design: 3 out of 5
Overall: 4 out of 5

Will I buy again? No. What for?

PROS:
- No software/battery/charger required. Using USB 2.0 to connect, it's very handy and easy to use: just plug and play. However you can buy an adaptor to avoid it consuming your laptop’s battery life.
- Made of iron, that assured me it has a great resistance. 
- Silent. There are no such annoying chimes.
- 3-month warranty.

CONS:
- Consume pretty much of your laptop’s battery life. As I mentioned above, it’s already solved with an adaptor.
- It’s a good stuff, but not that essential.

Overall:
There are many laptop coolers out there, but most of them are made of plastics. Plastics are much cheaper than steel but when I compare them; I can tell that plastics are easily broken (and got scratched!). I realize that this stuff is not vital but if you’re a Macbook user like I do, you’ll know what I mean LOL.

The Truth About Cats & Dogs

I love both of them!

Picture below was Mocca, a german shepperd-mix male puppy I used to have. He was a year old when I took this picture. His teeth were starting to grow up and ended up put my mom's botanical garden in ruins, LOL. So mom decided to let him go to a relative. At the following month, mom told me Mocca had gone forever due to an accident.

Believe it or not, I kinda hated my relative (the one who took my puppy) soon after. I couldn't accept the fact that he failed his own words to take care of my cute little dog. 

Anyway I'm over it by now. And seriously consider to have another pet in the house. FYI I already have 2 turtles and 9 gold fish. Aha!

However as I predicted long long time ago, mom said NO. And no compromise, she has clearly stated. *sob*

Later on, after my addiction to this TV show, I've been thinking to add a fat orange tabby cat into the family. A cat won't make a lot of noises like dog barks, I suggest. Mom does mind about the idea hence I'll still try to persuade her.

Meanwhile a close friend of mine reminds me that to have another pet, either cat or dog, I should devote more time to take care of them and play with them. And yet I have to be able to accept the fact that the pet will die eventually. Can I?

Gosh I hate if he always get points right!

Tiga Anak Mama

(For non-Indonesian readers, I'm so sorry... I was afraid I'd lose the essential parts if I wrote the story in English.)

Mama saya mengalami insiden kecil siang ini. Beliau mengendarai motor bebek, hendak menjenguk kerabat yang berada di RS.Pasar Rebo, Jakarta Timur. 

Kira-kira setengah jam kemudian, saya mendapat SMS dari Beliau, yang berbunyi;

Mama jatoh dr motor adu sakit dengkulnya

Detik itu juga saya langsung menelepon Beliau dengan panik, takut terjadi apa-apa, karena di rumah memang sedang hujan deras. Untunglah Beliau baik-baik saja. Dari penuturannya, Beliau jatuh dan tertimpa motor sendiri di Arteri Pondok Indah, Jakarta Selatan, karena kehilangan keseimbangan ketika melintasi jalur yang berbatu-batu. Beliau sedang berteduh dari hujan deras saat menerima telepon dari saya.

Saya berasumsi kalau Beliau jatuh akibat jalan yang licin. Setelah menutup telepon, saya langsung menyiapkan arak dan kapas. Keisar menelepon dari kantor untuk mendapat informasi yang jelas dari saya, tapi ya saya juga belum tahu pasti. Yang jelas, mama saya masih sanggup mengendarai motornya pulang ke rumah. Beliau pun mengurungkan niatnya untuk menjenguk kerabat ke rumah sakit.

15 menit kemudian, mama saya tiba di rumah. Hujan sudah reda. Saya membantu Beliau membawakan tas ke dalam.

Masih sempat-sempatnya Beliau menerima telepon dari saudara yang menanyakan keadaannya, sambil tertawa. Dasar. Akhirnya Beliau menyudahi pembicaraan di telepon dan siap untuk membasuh lukanya dengan arak. Lukanya tidak berdarah, umumnya hanya lecet dan memar, tapi yang paling sakit adalah luka lecet di kaki kanan karena mengenai tulang keringnya.

Saya menggelengkan kepala sambil tertawa kecil, teringat peristiwa dulu posisinya terbalik. Bedanya, saya pasti menangis sambil jerit-jerit hahaha! Beliau ikut tertawa. Lalu Beliau bercerita dengan serunya. Ternyata SMS itu juga Beliau kirimkan untuk Keisar dan Andrew, ya itu sih bukan berita baru, karena kalau tidak mana mungkin Keisar menelepon ke rumah tadi.

Beliau mengurutkan bahwa SMS itu pertama kali dikirim kepada Keisar, Andrew, lalu saya. Tapi nyatanya, Andrew yang masih di Australia yang menelepon duluan, lalu saya, dan terakhir Keisar. 

Tidak hanya itu, Beliau pun menuturkan 'kalimat pertama' dari telepon ketiga anaknya.

Andrew: Mama jatuh dimana?

Saya: Mama mau dijemput nggak sama Si Wo?

Keisar: Ada motor lagi nggak tuh di belakangnya?

Ya ampun, ternyata Beliau mengingat (sambil tertawa) dan membandingkan (bukan dalam hal negatif) ketiga anaknya dari kalimat pertama telepon darurat tadi. Kami berdua tertawa terbahak-bahak.

TARA 3 Is Finally Over

The Amazing Race Asia season 3 is finally over. I can hardly believe my favorite Malaysian team Ida & Tania lost! *crybaby*

They were so lucky to be able to race into the final 3 along with Geoff & Tisha and Sam & Vince, since they had been the last-team-to-arrive (twice!) on leg 6 and 7. 

Among all teams, this duo actress-heiress shared fun, humor and enthusiasm the most during the race. I was laughing out loud when I saw them still manage to shop at Hongkong International Airport and buy hotdogs in Muscat, between tasks.

Too bad on the final leg to Phuket, Thailand, they took the wrong flight and made them pretty difficult to catch up. Anything could literally happen in this competition. Nevertheless, I'm still proud of them being the first female teams on final 3 of the toughest race ever!

Even I have doubted myself whether I can perform in that race! LOL. 

*Image is courtesy of AXN-asia.com

Bali Home Spa Body Butter

My first product review! I'm thrilled. All feedbacks are welcomed, but please be nice! 

"Bali Home Spa" is a local brand of a home industry in Bali, Indonesia. Few months ago, I saw many raves about its traditional bath and body products so I've decided to give it a try. Fortunately even though it's based in Bali, there are plenty resellers nationwide. 

Variant: Vanilla-Mango

Price: IDR 35,000 for 250 gr

Where to buy: Bubushop.co.cc 

What it claims:

Creamy body butter to condition your skin with rich moisturizer and features a fruity scent. Best for dry skin. 

Ingredients:
Water, Glyceryl Monostearate, Isopropyl Ministat, Stearic Acid, Glycerine, Triethanolamine, Propylparaben, Methylparaben, Vitamin E, Vanilla Extract, Almond Oil and Mango Essential Oil.

Product: 2 out of 5

Quality: 2 out of 5

Packaging: 3 out of 5

Overall: 2 out of 5 

Will I repurchase? Definitely not.

PROS:
- Extremely cheap, making me so impulsive to buy!
- Love its soft, fruity scent.

CONS:
- The consistency is too thin, thus very easy to spill off. Strongly not recommended to travel with.

- It takes times and more massage to be absorbed into the skin.
- Very lack of moisturizing power. I don't know why. I scooped out with fingers and put a layer, and massaged into my skin but couple of hours later it felt like I never had one!

What else you need to know:

It's available in two sizes; 150 gr and 250 gr, and has 12 other variants; vanilla-jasmine, tropical garden, raspberry, kiwi, green tea, white musk, cappuccino, watermelon, sweet orange, apricot, strawberry and melon kiss. 

Overall:

Some of you probably gonna say "Yeah, what can you expect from home industry products?!". Nevertheless I still believe there are many hidden gems out there that won't break my bank. I'll just get through this one before moving to my favorite brand. 

Hey Wanita

An easy listening song and casual lyrics "Hey Wanita" performed by Melanie Subono, the original soundtrack of "Pertaruhan" (=At Stake) movie.

(Lyrics here)

At number of 20+ Indonesian female public figures join the video clip such as Krisdayanti, Julia Perez, Maia Estianty, Titi DJ, Helmalia Putri, Dewi Rezer, Tika Panggabean and many more. Senior actresses like Rima Melati and Widyawati also appears on few scenes. Most of them act like they were singing the song, somehow reminds me of MTV All Stars' "What's Going On" clip.  

Various pieces of information about Indonesian women were compiled and presented by former anchorwoman of Metro TV, Sandrina Malakiano, and Feny Rose. Some of them were actual news about domestic violence and the others covered Indonesian women's great achievements; Anggun for her international reputation as a female singer, Susi Susanti for her Olympic gold medal winning in 1992, Alexandra Asmasoebrata for her amazing career as a car racer, etc.

Even though her singing career in Indonesia has just begun since two years ago, Melanie Subono has been gaining peculiar repute for her eclectic mix of music and her sense of fashion. 

What do you think?

Dot Com-ers

Couple of blogger friends asked me out of the blue why I haven't purchased my own domain (since they already did). Well, why not? 

I always try to keep updated into trends in general, so maybe this is why some of you came up with this question. It isn't easy though, but let me try to answer that.

First of all, I haven't seriously thought of spending money on blogging. I still remember last year how studies consumed most of my time, leaving so little time to sleep. Only 30 postings recorded back then in 2007. And by getting myself a dot-com, it means I have responsibilities to devote more time in this blog. I'm not saying blogging gives me a burden by all means, what I want is blogging with integrity. 

Some of you, who have your blog transitioned into a dot com, must know and predict your blog traffic before choosing the right web hosting package (e.g 10 MB, 2 GB, 250 GB or unlimited). I'm sure you don't want your bandwidth exceeded and disappoint your loyal viewers, plus, it costs you more cash too. I've seen this happened few times on other sites and I'm sure it wasn't charmed at all. 

In short, I promise I'll think about it. Thanks for asking, anyway.

Lastly, I'd like to ask you guys; do you think this blog deserves a dot com? 

Shine! The International Student Awards 2009

Do you have something to be proud of as an international student in UK? If the answer is 'Yes', here is your perfect time to stand an excellent chance of success because there are 36 individual cash prizes up for grabs!

British Council and Education UK are proudly present Shine! The International Student Awards 2009. Shine! was created to celebrate the success and achievements of students living and learning in UK. You could be one of 12 students to win the Shine! Award and a cash prize of up to £2000.

The competition is open to all international students aged 15 or over, studying at an eligible institution on a full-time course of study lasting for a minimum of 6 months. Read full eligibility criteria here. 

Entering couldn't be easier; all you have to do is write a letter home, in English, telling us how you are making the most of your time in UK. No need to worry if you aren't fantastic in writing letters, because your entry will not be judged on the quality of your writing, but on the experiences or achievements you describe. Send off your letter here. 

Hurry! The deadline for entries is January 19, 2009.

P.S. I believe Adeline and Marsha will be doing great. Good luck bombshells!

So Sick

NEVER RELY ON SOMEONE ELSE. That's the lesson I've learnt today. Life's full of drama, just like soap opera. Everyone has his own role-play; some mean it and some other fake it. 

Come what may.

A Tearful Retirement

Dear Fashionese Daily Editor,

I hereby solicit my resignation from FD moderator. Please don’t get me wrong. I love my job, I really do. Being the first moderator at FD forum and getting all privileges were truly meant something to me. I felt very honored to be one at the largest on-line fashion and beauty community in Indonesia.

I realize the consequences I have to bear as a forum’s moderator require me to go on-line, manage the forum on regular basis. However my personal life seems have been getting more complicated these days; my illness, campus life and family matters. Few months lately I failed to conduct the forum as I normally do.

Priorities need to be set. How selfish I am if I want to keep my position as forum moderator meanwhile I can’t maintain my good performance within the team. I’m deeply sorry.

Thank you for wonderful times and lessons that been given to me. I always support and proud to be part of FD.

If by chance there is another opportunity for me, you know I won’t let you down.

Sincerely yours,

Quote of The Day

I choose my friends for their good looks, 

my acquaintances for their good characters, 

and my enemies for their good intellects. ---Oscar Wilde

When Something's Wrong

You know more than you think you do. ---Benjamin Spock

I'm not a computer geek. Consequently whenever my PC (or stuffs related to it) turns into a breakdown, I'll always have someone fix it up and I'm not happy about that. How come? Cos it makes me (pretty much) depending on someone's else.

Normally when I ask someone to do me a favor, I was hoping that he/she would fully help me ASAP and I won't take 'no' as an answer. LOL. However, there are times when I didn't get help and forced to take care of myself. Those hard times were never been easy indubitably.

I've been having some technical difficulties with my wireless keyboard recently. It doesn't work like the way it supposed to be. I can't type anything on everything; primarily anything that need to be appeared on the screen. At first I thought it's the PC's fault (hang or sort of), but after restarting the PC few times; it still wouldn't work! Blah.

I can hardly remember what was happened at the time the keyboard was paralyzed. There was no bonfire smoke so definitely it had nothing to do with the operating system inside.

Asking Keisar apparently didn't do any good. He kept running away and simply answering me "How should I know?" whenever I raised this matter. Either he's too cool for this thing or me being such a fool.

A brief history about the wireless devices; 

Both of them were purchased at MSI Melbourne, Australia, in mid February 2006 after deliberating over my (ex-)BF's enticement. He bubble-wrapped them enthusiastically so that I didn't have to hand-carry them to the cabin. I was too excited to try them out soon as I got home thus far, I forgot to register them on Microsoft website! 

Anyways.

After checking and evaluating its wireless system on my PC over and over again, I've found that the software shows incorrect battery life. I thought it's because the lack of battery power. Since I've been using rechargeable batteries, I tried to recharge the batteries and keep focussing the problem on batteries and voila! ... still didn't work.

Oh come on! Gimme a break!

Another thought popped up. Maybe if I update the software, it'll work. My current version is 5.0 meanwhile the latest version on the web is 6.3. Alright then, let's see if I were right (or not). Unfortunately, I'm wasn't that lucky.

Last chance, I decided to ask the producer, none other than Microsoft. Filling this-and-that, I ended up on this page.

WTF?! Payment method? I just need to write short e-mail asking about what should I do under this circumstances. Gah!

I almost gave myself up to suicide, until I recognize something's wrong. Yes, something's wrong about the battery indicator. It says "Low Battery Life". That's absurd, it's only a minute away after I've recharged them. Conclusively, there's something wrong with the operating system inside.

Still, the bad news is I don't know what to do. At least, I know what is wrong. Period.

Finding The Right Law School

Andrew, my baby brother, will be in town by the end of the year. He’ll be graduated high school and seriously determined to pursue a law career.

Since I’m a good loving sister *cough*, I’ve been garnering information and seeking for possibly the best law school in Indonesia. I was thinking about Harvard, Leiden or Utrecht, but well too bad; they don’t have a franchise here.

Law school is a new thing for me ergo this post is all about my journey campus-to-campus finding the right law school for him.

As you may guess, I’m practically clueless about these stuffs. Despite the fact that most of my paternal family went to law schools, well hey I’m a med-school student. How am I supposed to know anything about law schools? Well at least that crap excuse didn’t make me stop trying.

First of all, I looked for accreditation; A is a cool but unnecessary, familiar names are preferred to start from. Secondly, based on the background of reputably famous Indonesian lawyers. Sounds retarded, huh? Anyway, Adnan Buyung Nasution made the first 'Wow!' impression. He went to UI for Bachelor’s Degree, Melbourne University for Master's Degree, and Utrecht for Doctoral Degree.

Here comes the list.

~UPH 
Accreditation: N/A
UPH is the only one has international standard, means that Andrew’s high school certificates no need to be legitimatized by Indonesian Ministry of Education. Superb facilities are very much attractive, however I have to compromise them with tuition fee that will make my family poorer by millions rupiahs annually. For what it’s worth, UPH is sitting on my top list.

~Unika Atma Jaya 
Accreditation: B
My very university. The Unika Atma Jaya's faculty of law is established on July 3, 1965. It's the 3rd most favorite law school in Jakarta, after UI and Trisakti according to a survey held by Tempo magazine on October 2003. Estimated invoice for entrance admission fee (aka SPP); IDR 12,500,000 - IDR 18,000,000.

~UKI
Accreditation: N/A
Statistically almost all students studying law in UKI are Bataknese and somehow I believe it'll be an advantage for my brother to study there. Unfortunately, they are notorious for its student brawl that never cease to amaze me. *sigh*

~UNPAR 
Accreditation: A
Suggested by a friend my mom's and noted as a hidden treasure; private Catholic university with great value and affordable costs.

**This is the end of my private-universities list.**

~UI
Accreditation: A
Sitting at #19 in Top 100 Universities of South East Asia region on July 2008, according to webometrics. It's the one and only public university to choose, in my opinion.

Any suggestions?

*Image is a symbol of YLBHI courtesy of id.wikipedia.org

HandbagHeaven.com: 20% Off Any Purchase

After holding amazing giveaway and getting such overwhelming success (they had over 64,000 entries!), the President of HandbagPlanet.com, Angie Stocklin, has proudly announced their merger with HandbagHeaven.com. This means you'll have access to a larger selection of trendy handbags in affordable price whereas HandbagPlanet.com will keep running as a closeout and contest site.

More good news to go. For my blog readers, from now on until November 21, 2008 you can get 20% OFF your order on HandbagHeaven.com by using the promo code "devigirsang". It applies to everything on the site.

Happy shopping!

Tell Me

After 3 years blogging, I've never felt so prominent until I got fan mails recently.

He (or she?) claimed himself as Jobert Simpson.

He said my blog is pointless.

He said my blog is stupid.

He said my blog is childish.

He said I look like in my 5th grade.

He said I am an American wannabe.

He said his salary of a year employment equals to my lifetime earnings in the 3rd world country.

He said being American gives him right to be treated like a king in my country.

He said he demands my respect and pampering.

He said I have to watch what I say (to him) cos he knows my little secrets.

I chuckled when I read the last sentence. Little secrets? Little secrets MY ASS. Gosh, you don't even know me. I'm an extrovert, I'm as open as a black hole can be. I never keep a secret by myself and trust me, even if I do, I won't bother to write it on the internet. I've seen many bloggers had the same case, but never think it would've happened to me too.

Thanks for spending your quality time reading my blog word-by-word. This post is not intended to make you mortified though. On the contrary, you've given me an unusual way to remind me that I'm a big girl. For that I thank you.

P.S. Thanks for all your supports guys! Much appreciated!

*Picture is courtesy of danielcoble.com

First & Last Survey

EVERYONE HAS THEIR FIRSTS:
FIRST REAL BEST FRIEND: Winda.
FIRST SCHOOL: Petra.
FIRST CELL PHONE: Ericsson T10 in tosca.
FIRST FUNERAL: My late father, when I was 4 *sob*.
FIRST PET: Dog.
FIRST BIG TRIP: Yogyakarta.
FIRST FIGHT: with Keisar, my brother. Kid fight LOL.
FIRST CELEBRITY CRUSH: George Clooney.
FIRST TIME OUT OF THE COUNTRY: Singapore, I was 5.
FIRST JOB: Photoshoot model for a local tabloid NOVA, I was 8 *I think*.

EVERYONE HAS THEIR LASTS:
LAST PERSON I HUGGED: My mom.
LAST CAR RIDE: Rica’s.
LAST TIME I CRIED: Two days ago. Nov 4, 2008.
LAST MOVIE I WATCHED: "The Invasion".
LAST FOOD I ATE: Soup.
LAST ITEM BOUGHT: Some snacks.
LAST SHIRT WORN: Dagadu Djokdja.
LAST PHONE CALL: Yesterday.
LAST TEXT MESSAGE: Amelia.
LAST THING I TOUCHED: Keyboard, LOL.
LAST FUNERAL: Andre, my cousin.
LAST TIME AT THE MALL: Last weekend.
LAST TIME I WERE EXCITED FOR SOMETHING: Right now!! Can hardly wait for my new upcoming cellphone :D :D :D
LAST PERSON I SAW: My mom.
LAST THING I DRANK: Water.
LAST PERSON THAT BROKE MY HEART: Ari.
LAST TIME I WERE REALLY HONESTLY HAPPY: On each day, knowing that my family is always there for me.

It's BARACK OBAMA!!

 I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real changes in Washington... I'm asking you to believe in yours. ---Barack Obama

On November 4, 2008 American time, Barack Obama is officially being the 44th and also the first African-American President of United States in America's history. Lots of American rejoice, however the hard part has been waiting; reinstate the economic collapse, for instance.

Joining in the party, both the electronic and printing media in Indonesia rave about Obama's victory. Some people believe that Obama might help Indonesia to regain a positive image internationally, regarding the fact that he spent his early childhood in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

I've heard many good things about him, watched his victory speech. My first impression about him is "OMG he's 47! He's still young to be a president". But soon after watching few interviews on some talkshows and the victory speech, I realize that Obama has undeniably charisma, remarkable coolness and confidence under huge pressure.

It's intriguing to see what decisions he'll take to make changes in the future. I believe there's always something I can learn from a personage.

Let's just wait and see.

Update on The New Template

The poll has been closed. 

Here is the final result:

71% agreed that the new template looks fresh and like it.

28% said that the old template is way much better.  

This means I'll keep on using this pinky-winky template at this time, and still not sure how long it will last. LOL. I'm pretty excited about the results though, since the old template was no longer compatible to Blogger settings. It had very limited access to arrange the page elements. I admit I pretty suck on HTML, so it really gave me hard time playing with them. 

Anyway, special thanks to anyone who participated in my poll :) Very much appreciated!