It has indeed been awhile since that post about a weekend sleep over. A lot has indeed happened to our family (I'll be calling it 'outfit' or 'group' in this post from time to time) since that time. Dodski has rolled off the project, as well as El Pipil (though their spirit and legacy are still with us until this very day...
...Dodski's PS2 memory card and some of El Pipil's socks and shirts, to name a few...). And then there has been additional members and as we go along our group has become one big family. Let us now take a look at the original participants along with many of the new ones...
Mul is still the straight guy, though he's learned to deliver a punch line here and there (he needs more practice though, something that is getting a bit rare since El Pipil hasn't been around), he even managed to make fun of me once in awhile. A good effort indeed. (Mul, I'm gonna get back at you, mark my words). True to his name as well (that is, the 'straight' guy), he works STRAIGHT into the night. There were many times when I only see him in the morning and not before I go to bed. Many times, me and El as room mate worried about his well-being, but as long as we're still seeing that big ear-to-ear smile on his face (complete with a perfect set of white teeth and sprinkles of pimples here and there), I guess he's fine. Special note for Mul: his Microsoft Access skills has helped me come out of tough spots every now and then. Thanks again, Mul! You're such a great help!
When it comes to going home late, I guess I speak for everyone when I say that Fan2 is the reigning champion (although I suspect that Mul is about to take over that title from her anytime soon). Customer master team would be completely debilitated if she was not around and one would often find her still sitting in her cube in the office, back straight, staring into the monitor until late at night. Everyday. Well, almost. She even went as far as decorating her cubicle with her favourite stuffed animals and a lot of Powerpuff Girls figurines. The reason? Because she wants to feel at home in the office. A claim that, aside from being rather contradictory in nature(they call it 'home' or 'office' for an apparent reason) has, in some way, disturbed many of us here in the project (me included). She also could not be relied upon to arrive on time at parties held on normal working days. Regardless, this woman of slightly petite stature and whose sitting posture is probably the best I've seen so far, has experienced her share of entertainment as well. Many of us here would probably remember the period when a rumor was circling around about her presumed romantic involvement with El Pipil. That was one of the more interesting times in the project.
Fan2's room mate, Ro, was once earlier in the project's been given the title of being my ex-wife. Long story. Anyways, she's well known to have a lot of luck when it comes to lucky draws. A very calculating person, you can consider yourself lucky if you have her around to help you haggle with the local pearl hawkers in places like Market Market! or Greenhill (the same goes for any other business deal that involves money). I'm willing to bet that having her around can net you a better deal than going to any discount shops (either that or she can at least point you to the best discount shop around). Aside from her prowess in getting the better deal around (a skill that is seconded by the ninja of the group, more on that later), she also shows a knack in cooking more-than-decent meals and has of late shown a considerable interest in the field of photography.Ro's good companion, a lady by the name of Diang, was originally a breakfast buddy/dinner buddy/whenever-I-feel-like-snacking buddy for me early in the project. She's also quite a good cook, though she would put cheese in some meals that don't commonly include cheese. But they turned out to be quite good. That or maybe I was just so hungry at the time. Many people got caught unaware by her seemingly well-mannered exterior. Inside lies a girl full of mischief and many fell victim to her comic acts (this is very true to the group's ninja, Mul, and also Ro). Due to work-related matter, I must say that I rarely see her joining us during weekend outings. She'd often opt instead to stay in her apartment and get lots of rest. And, maybe, finish one of her many jigsaw puzzles that she collects here. This is probably trivial, but she shares the same funny laughing sound as her older brother, who I got acquainted with during my college days. I suspect that her brother also shares many of her comic antiques.
Awing's still the ninja of the group, disappearing at times when least expected. However, since his techniques are getting more familiar now that we've been together for quite a long time, it's not hard to notice the signs (restlessness, unfocused eyes, etc.) that usually show up before the disappearance. This time he just might need that smoke bomb. His storm-bringer jujitsu technique, however, is still as potent as ever. The ninja, moreover, has unleashed/acquired several new useful skills such as: the womanizer skill (still in development, but I suspect that he's getting there), currency exchange tricks skill, getting-cheap-airfare-and-accommodation-price-for-all-our-FTA-needs skill, and many more useful ones. Thanks to him, we're going to HK late Feb and our FTA's been maximized to the fullest.
The ninja, however, has recruited an apprentice. Pet2, another addition to our outfit (if memory serves me right, he came during my 'disappearance' into the US), has been spending a lot of time together with the ninja-extraordinaire (they went to church together many times, seen walking together many times, etc.). However, in my opinion, Pet2 has more of a flair that makes him more suited to be a samurai warrior. He always make sure that his arrival is noted, has a loud voice, and at least I know when he's not in the room anymore (without looking) because the room would suddenly become quiet. He shows all the enthusiasm of a samurai warrior facing a duel to the death (lots of screaming and yelling), and though it is irritating at times, one just can't not appreciate the pure and innocent eagerness he so often displayed.
Talking about rolling off, this is probably old news, but Dodski rolled off when I was in the US and soon after he had a baby. His first. So, congratulations to Dodski for his birth into fatherhood. I'd like to repeat what a billboard ad here in the Philippines says: that when a baby is born, two parents are born. Aside from the definite increase in expenses, I can safely say that this brings him an infinite sense of joy. So, again, congratulations to Dodski and wife Iwed. I am happy for the both of you. And yes, your PS2 memory card is coming your way, rest assured. Are you already bored with your kid, dude?
There was this time when I had to leave for the US (Dodski rolled off during this time), living there for a month and a half (an outstanding experience there, a lot of feelings were involved, but this has made a different man out of me, a better one I sincerely hope) and there were probably a thing or two that I missed during that absence, aside from Dodski rolling off (Dince, Adoy, and I think Nova, came to the outfit during this time, among others...). But their spirits were always with me when I was there, just contained in a different time zone. Which means that I usually stayed up late just to be able to chat with some of my friends back home. Anyways, this material is for a different post.
Moving on...
Yeah, after that one and half month, I finally returned to Manila and was assigned to a corner cubicle with a fine view of the city of Makati and beyond (and a huge amount of people traffic going into and out of the pantry, something that I rather disliked unless the person walking by happened to be a human of the opposite sex with a certain adequate amount of appeal). One of these traffic culprit turned out to be a new addition to the outfit, a person by the name of Dince. I didn't notice it at first, but after a day or two of my return to Manila I started hearing a person walking by uttering the word 'Arsoy!' every now and then. This happened to be a nick name that she unceremoniously gave me, a nick that for no apparent reason I didn't like at all at first. But you know how it is, sooner or later you'll just give it up and accept it. Turned out I was not the only victim, so I guess I'm cool with that (Believe me when I say that Dince has butchered a lot of decent, good-sounding names).
This new sugar cube addition to our bitter coffee garnered a huge amount of following in the coming months, due to said appeal level shooting off the roof. If a certain project member that I knew more than well enough were still present, a celebrity war would have probably ensued (and I would probably be unwillingly caught in the middle). In any case, gossips were passed around, jokes were made, and many more wink wink hint hint. A person by the initial of JM and HR (among others) came into the picture and the whole thing became more and more saucier by the day. She was not almost famous. She WAS famous (Din, if you're reading this, try not to let your head hit the ceiling, unless right now you're having one of those blonde moments).
Another sugar cube, Merce, also came into the outfit. This one is really an interesting creature. Her reasonings might not be sound oftentimes, and she has shown a lot of signs and behaviors that point to the possibility that she might be suffering from a mild case of OCD (Merce, have you look OCD up in the dictionary?). Putting her together along with the other two sugar cubes can create a cacophony of strange sounds and a whole lot of entertainment in its own way. Let's just say that it's always a riot seeing them together. On top of that, they put them in the same apartment unit. All I can say for the rest is that it's up to your imagination.
Dince became one of my on-and-off lunch mate (she's available when she's not being dragged away by one of her avid fans), and so was Adoy. He was also one of Dince's victim of unceremonious nickname-giving whose nick happens to rhyme with mine. Another interesting member of the outfit who has a penchant of being 'cunihin' (a word in Indonesian which means...well, let's just say that he has some 'funny' ideas inside his head and is not afraid to say it out loud), Adoy certainly contribute a certain element of much-needed wackiness into the outfit. A good lunch mate as well, who likes to award himself with a collection of Tintin comic books and an electric guitar. Let us see whether he'll be fretting that guitar often.
Supernova (I am SO giving him too much credit by calling him this name) is another addition to the outfit that I, ashamed to admit, could not write too much about. This is due to the fact that he often locked himself up in his apartment room and could only be coaxed to go out by his soul...errrr....room mate Adoy. I've also heard that he flirted with a couple of high-profile persons of the opposite sex. I was myself a witness of one such occasion, when he was seen walking along with a lady by the initial of MDG. I am sure that there were many other occasions, but I myself could not glimpse more that one such occasion (described above) since another office relocation ensued and I found myself (and many of my team members) moved from our perfectly fine office (and in my case, a great corner cubicle with an excellent view of the city) in RCBC building to a building named 6750. Well, it seems that I do know a thing or two about Supe. Oh yeah, he bought a bass guitar as well to complement Adoy's electric guitar. True soul....errr...sorry...room mate. I'm pretty sure there will be more about him that I can write about in the future. Probably more things involving Adoy and some high-profile ladies.
The relocation to 6750 has really brought some significant changes. But one of the things that I missed dearly about the old office (aside from that nice corner cubicle) is our much looked-forward-to (for me, at least) late afternoon coffee/smoking session. This usually took place on an open-air section of the 4th floor located on an area between the two towers in the RCBC building complex. The regulars were usually me, Dodski, El Pipil (these two smoke like trains), Johnny (an avid fan of Starbucks), Put2, and sometimes Mul (this didn't happen often, though). Good memories, here. I also remembered one memorable time when I misplaced my ID card (that thing costs a fortune) here in this place. I searched as far as the restaurant across the street where I had lunch that day, but finally found it there because we went there straight after lunch.
An obvious advantage in relocating to 6750 was its strategic location. There's a bigger variety of restaurant to choose from during lunch hour because 6750 is located just across the street from a big shopping mall called Glorietta. Before El rolled off I didn't usually go to lunch there, but opted instead to go back to the apartment to enjoy his trademark home-cooked anchovies with nuts ('teri kacang' we call it in Indonesian) made by his mom back in Indonesia. But there was only so much anchovies. Somewhere along the way Dince, Adoy, Harry became my regular lunch buddies. Since mall crawling is sort of my thing, after lunch I usually ended up walking around Glorietta - Greenbelt with Dince (and sometimes with the other guys as well, when they didn't feel like going back to the office at 1 o'clock sharp), the resident celebrity extraordinaire. I would offer my advice on things she should choose to buy, while enjoying the companionship because mall crawling on your own is just not fun. So, I have Dince to thank for a lot of after-lunch mall-crawling sessions.
El Pipil has contributed a lot as the mastermind of many of our events. His rolling off the project at the end of December 2007 made me feel that I am losing a worthy comrade and a pretty good entertainer (a sentiment that I'm pretty sure I share with many others involved in the project...and also my driver). The project video, to name a few, has a lot of his fingerprints all over it. Another event that is worthy of mention was the Release 1 Go-Live celebration where all of the Indonesians (except for me, who was in Bangkok at the time) presented a collaboration of Indonesian dance and music. The performance was critically acclaimed (always wanted to say these words), and it made us proud of being Indonesians. Thanks to Dince for her contributions in the dance lessons, and also Johnny for the music-related elements needed in the preparation of the event (Adoy finally had the chance to fret his guitar and actually doing it in front of an audience in this event) and El Pipil who has contributed in providing batik pants.
Like a good family, or any kind of outfit anywhere, we were lucky to have good folks to look over us. Our Indonesian managers and senior managers have been great 'parents' and friends for us all. They have taken good care of us, being parents when we need 'em to be, and be our friends when we need 'em to be. And, boy, when they get down, they REALLY get down. A quick roll call...
Indra's like the calm, serious father to us all. Maybe because he's the eldest among us. He's also fun to joke around as well, although people who don't know him better might be a bit reluctant to do so. Though he might seem serious most of the time (first time I saw him long ago before this project he was reading a book about Malcolm X) I think he's got his fun side with him as well (during cut-over weekend I saw him popping in Led Zeppelin's 'Mothership' into his laptop and started jamming). Riny would have probably looked like the right mother figure if not for her oft-occurring wackiness and clueless-ness. Let's just say that it's easy to lead her astray with incorrect information ('gampang dibohongin', even Dodski managed to fool her). But that's what makes her adorable. Johnny's fun to be with, and when he's passionate about something, he'd show it. He's got a tremendous talent in music, and (like many people in this project, including me) has great love for gadgets (and other things that boys much younger than his age shows much interest in). We suspect that he's currently undergoing his second puberty.
And then we have Harry. Harry's just...indescribable. You just have to be here to experience the Harry-ness. This guy's like wacky, silly, serious, I don't know how to explain it. He's just something. A real piece of work. And that's saying A Lot (yes, with capitals, they are not typos). Anthony's the perennial bullying big brother. He's got this I-don't-give-a-**** attitude about him that, well, sort of makes him who he is. He and Harry trade jokes and rebukes at each other oftentimes. But they were all good-spirited. Well, Bob (Anthony's well-known nickname from the olden days) certainly has his own distinct appeal. Jevros, who happens to be my new career counselor (he replaced miss Young), has his own way of being wacky and he definitely has a lot of confidence when it comes to his looks and body frame (an often misplaced confidence) but I guess that's what makes him...Jevros. Looks like being his counselee will be quite an interesting thing indeed. Just a bit of a worthy sidenote: his wife happens to be going to the same faculty as I did during college. We never said a word to each other back then but we met again in Manila, out of all places. Small world indeed. Finally, there's the newly appointed manager Justinus. The guy can be too serious at times...but he's been giving in to the craziness around him, which is a good thing. I mean, you can't survive this world without being a little bit crazy.
While these might not be from Jakarta office, but they are Indonesians and they have certainly become some sort of permanent guest stars in our family/outfit. Thus, they deserve to be mentioned. There's Pinky, one of the highest-ups in the project. This guy has a penchant for visiting Japan and buying a whole collection of various gadgets. Though he looks business-like most of the time, don't be fooled! Aside from a boat-load of gadgets, this guy has an always-up-to-date catalog containing the latest project-members-related gossips, gossips that some people might have yet to hear. It's just amazing. Well, maybe it's part of his informal 'job description' as project manager. Don't be fooled by Hendra Lauw's small frame. This little guy packs a whole lot of punch. And a trunk full of photography equipments. The guy's good at this, and you can witness it at his website. And considering how crazy most of us are whenever there's a photographer around ('banci foto'), he definitely got his work cut out for him whenever most of us are around. Last but not least there was Luis Kristianto, a guy who's not shy when it comes to spending his money. One only has to look at the clothes he wears, the watch on his wrist, the shoes he's put on, and you know this guy has style (and a s***load of money). But we love him (not because of his money) because he's such a cool, easygoing guy, and the guy's so proud of being Indonesian. He's also the guy who was responsible for my 'accidental' gig during one Christmas party in 2006. After that I kept hearing the word "artist!" being thrown around by him whenever I walked passed him. He is missed after he rolled off.
Last but not least, let's not forget the wonderful spouses and children. Many of us Indonesians here bring their family members along for the ride. So we also have the wives and kids in our big and loving family. They've spent a lot of time together with us on project or non-project-related events. And the children are just wonderful (like all children are wonderful): the shy and careful Nina; the curious and rather flirty Ai Ai; the noisy, racuous, slightly hyperactive Joel and Hanif, the rather strong-willed Mutia; and sweet Nila. They've added a different and pleasant color to the whole group, and has gathered for themselves many ad-hoc, unpaid, baby sitters (when the baby sitters were not baby-sitting any SAP program, that is).
All right... Have I got everyone in?
Oh well, many good memories abound, but before this post gets too long let me just go back to the initial opening. Like I've said before, a beginning has to have an end, because another new beginning needs to start.
To celebrate the end of Dince and Put2's involvement in the project, we held a small get together in Fraser on the night of January 31st 2008 (their last day in the project). The whole thing was arranged by Johnny, and was supposed to be some sort of a surprise party (which in the end come as no surprise to the two ladies). Even though the surprise element didn't exactly work out the way it was intended to be (the blame is partly on me as well), but we all did get together and had ourselves a lot of fun. The real kicker was probably when Johnny asked us all to go to the swimming pool for a bit of a photo shoot session. As to be expected, the supposedly photo shoot session turned out to be a push-people-to-the-pool session where almost everyone got wet in many ways (pool-water-wet, coca-cola-wet, mango-cake-wet, bottled-water wet, egg-wet, you know, the routine). It was a memorable celebration, and it showed how much of a family we've become and how our rolling-off (and rolled-off) members will be (and are already) missed.
By the time this entry reach this point, the plane's taken off, and another milestone in our project has been reached (more on that later). I'm sitting here in my apartment on a fine Tuesday morning (contemplating whether or not I should go to work after almost 48 hours of non-stop data loading during the weekend) thinking about how interesting it's been for all of us for the last 1 year and 5 months (interval varies between individuals, this one's mine).
Well, life goes on, I guess. And I'm sure that there will be more interesting times ahead.
So, I dedicate this post to those who are about to roll off/have just rolled off the project (Put2 and Dince), who's about to start a completely new endeavor (good luck, Put2), those who have already rolled off the project for some time (Dodski, El Pipil, and Kris), and finally, to more interesting times ahead of all of us. Thanks for the memories, and good luck in the future. We shall meet again.
Yes, Dodski, your memory card is coming (if not already).
Pil, do you still want your socks?
(Picture gallery can be found by clicking this link)
1 comment:
GREAT memories, Arie. Thank you for writing. :)
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