Several things that I have done today, with the departure day getting closer:
- Bought an external DVD-RW drive (so that my sister at home can transfer and burn video DVDs captured with our Handycam).
- Bought some more Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries. Had a set of ‘em before which worked very well (retain charges for months, which is really suitable for amateur photographer like me
who don’t shoot frequently). Also bought a new hand-blower (my previous one is broken).
- Reorganized my CDs and DVDs. Computer geeks like me tend to produce loads of data. My CDs and DVDs counts up to a few hundreds. I now have my own catalog of DVDs (systematically numbered).
Hopefully everything will be done on time. Cheers!
-Andrian Kurniady
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Personal story, relocation
With the departure date coming (I’ll be departing for Sydney on March 18th), it feels that I’m running out of time. Even less considering Jakarta’s traffic 
. Summarizing the things that I have done so far:
- Got the visa label attached to my passport
- Got my Qantas ticket booked and issued: as expected, this airline is not so convenient on the ground. Even though the booking process is done online, the payment cannot. All bookings outbound Jakarta needs to be paid in person by bringing your credit card to the Qantas’ office. Not reasonable, even so when the traveller’s name is the same with the credit card used to pay it. In comparison, Singapore Airlines does not require such hassle when you’re paying with your own credit card. Yet another disappointment .
- Reorganized all my computer parts at home: The amount of computer parts I collected over the last fifteen years seemed to be a lot. Thrown away several obsolete things: 5.25″ and 3.5″ floppy disk drive and a lot of the diskettes (presumably already unusable anyway). A lot of things such as webcam or 56k modem which used to be so expensive are now already things of the past.
I also learned that, Ratu Plaza (a mall known for its computer shops) and Mall Ambassador (along with ITC Kuningan), are not worth visiting. Most of the shops are selling a very limited set of parts with unreasonably inflated prices (consider a common pack of 50s DVD+R discs are being sold IDR250.000,- in Ratu Plaza while in Mangga Dua it’s only less than IDR150.000,-, even less if buying from online seller on Kaskus). Not even worthed considering the parking and traffic involved. Next time if I need something, I’ll go to Mangga Dua directly or order online instead.
There are many more things to do, hopefully I’ll have them completed before I’m going.
-Andrian Kurniady
Uncategorized
Personal story, relocation
The first two months in 2009 has been quite a milestone in my life. Most of January was spent doing my thesis, which took a bit longer than I predicted. I then had my thesis pre-defense and defense examination, to pass with A. Unfortunately, my final GPA was 3.89 and that doesn’t qualify for Summa cum laude (>=3.91). Anyway, I’m now done with my undergraduate study.
The graduation ceremony, however, is scheduled to be somewhere in July (or August). Annoying, but I don’t care about it much (heck, other universities want their graduates to find job as soon as possible, this one apparently doesn’t). Maybe I’ll return later for the graduation, or maybe not. Depends on the circumstances in the next few months.
As planned, I started the process for applying for Australian visa right after I got the necessary documents (although the temporary degree certificate was not issued until 2 weeks later therefore had to be attached separately). With a migration agent appointed by my future employer, the process was quite easy. It took merely less than two weeks for the visa to be granted (better than the quoted standard of 4-8 weeks), due to the low demand (recession-related).
What’s left now is me preparing for a move to Sydney. Because the visa ended up granted earlier, the preparation for the move needs to be rushed. I am also yet to find a permanent accommodation in Sydney, but I suppose that’ll have to wait till I’m there. I’m planning to fly there (unfortunately, no other airline match Qantas’ sale fare, so I’ll give it another try) on about next week. I’m excited about the new life I’ll have there, not as a student anymore. I’m to enter my professional career, soon.
Wish me luck!
-Andrian Kurniady
Uncategorized
Personal story
After months of inconvenience of using the sluggish, buggy, troublesome Friendster blog, I have finally decided to move this alternate blog out of Friendster blog. It is now hosted by the same hosting provider with my main blog, Dreamhost. The Wordpress used has also been updated to the latest release. Hopefully this will bring better performance, usability, and less trouble while writing and reading this blog.
P.S: I got a feeling that Friendster is going bankrupt soon, so this is also a safety measure
-Andrian Kurniady
Uncategorized
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