Background

This might sound a bit weird for some of you, but ever since I was 10, I always like to read a self-help book. The first book I pick up was “Being Happy” by Andrew Matthews. I didn’t know it was called self-help book, actually I bought it because of the comic character on its cover.

It wasn’t the only book from Andrew that I bought, about one or two years later I bought his second book, “Making Friends“, and few years later I bought “Follow Your Heart” when I was in the Philippines.

Through the years, the list of self-help / motivation books I read keeps increasing, some that I can remember includes “7 Habits of Highly Effective People“, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” series, “The Secret“.

Honestly, I’m not a full positive thinker as I supposed to after reading these books. Probably because of my ‘realist’ nature.

However, if I started to connecting the dots (Steve Job isn’t the only one who can do that), I can see that these books indeed shaped the way I’m thinking now.

The Differences

1. I always think that I will always get what I want (sooner or later)

This is my habit, I always think that I will always get what I want, be it now or later, but they’re coming my way. So strong this habit, on the year 2009-2010 when some of the things that I wanted didn’t happen, I thought someone must’ve cursed me. *I never able to prove it.

The self-help guru usually describe this as focusing your mind to the things you wanted, and you’ll get it, or the law of attraction, or what have you.

I just want to say that, it WORKS!

Probably not always as quick as we want to, but if we’re patient, most of the things that we wanted so much will actually come our way.

2. I write my goals

Since I was in college I write my to do list, and some of the ideas, and goals I have in a little notebook. Organizing tasks and thoughts are some of the things that most self-help guru will suggest us to do.

I still write my goals until now. Not all of my goals come true, but surprisingly a good number of them do (read below).

3. I look like I don’t have any problem

This is a bit subjective, but I have a number of people who told me that I never look worried. People who personally knows me will probably say that I can be exactly the opposite, but most of the time, yes I can look very easy-go-lucky because whatever problem I’m facing, I always thought that I’ll find the solution (difference #1).

The Shocking Truth

1. The note on 2008

In early January 2008, I wrote a sentence in my notebook that I never knew would foretell the change that will affect the rest of my life. I wrote:

“This year I will work in a company that I like doing what I love.”

I wrote it down, but then I forgot about it. Because on late February 2008, I was accepted in a new job and I need to do some training out of city, and few months later I was placed in Bali.

Before the year end I saw my notebook again, and when I saw that sentence I was shocked.

It came true.

2. The grades on first semester

Starting 2010 I started studying Master degree in Boston.

As always with my habit, I wrote that I will get straight ‘A’ for all of my course on the first semester.

However, the road turns out to be not easy, having no proper bachelor background in the field that I’m studying puts me in a disadvantage.

But guess what, at the end of the semester I got straight ‘A’s and when I saw the goal that I wrote, I almost couldn’t believe it.

So what Djitz? Are you going to be one of those motivator?

How exactly good things keep coming to happy people, and bad things keep coming to unfortunate people, I think no one will ever can understand it.

I can assure you that happy people don’t always get the good stuff, but they always think the good stuff, so despite some bad things that might come, there will be more good things coming. The opposite is also true for the unfortunate people who focus on the bad things.

We don’t need to understand everything to make use of it. A lot of thing that we use everyday work without our understanding, but they just work.

I probably can be a motivator someday, but for now, I think I’m so selfish if I don’t share this things to anyone. So, here you go, I shared my experiences, and I will post some of the books that I think really helped me to where I am today.

I hope they will help you too (if they haven’t already).

And although sometimes I post about some of the course lessons and notes on my blog, I think it’s a good idea if I write a central page that organized these posts and categorized them to the courses I took. These will also serve as notes both while I’m in the program, and someday when I completed the program.

The following are courses that I took, and I’m specializing in Database management, for a complete list of courses that the program offers, check the Northeastern MSCS program website.

Courses List

Fall 2010

CS 5010 – Program Design Paradigm [PDP] – core course
CS 5011 – PDP recitation
CS 5200 – Introduction to Database Systems
CS 6949 – Co-op Seminar

Spring 2011

CS 5800 – Algorithms — core course
CS 6520 – Methods of Software Development

Summer 2011 to Fall 2011

Co-op at American Airlines

Spring 2012

CS 5500 – Managing Software Development — core course
CS 6200 – Information Retrieval
CS 6220 – Data Mining Techniques

…

I hope this can help any of you who are considering taking masters degree in computer science. So far, I can say it has been a wonderful experience, a lot of sleepless nights, snowstorms (talk about Boston winter), great friends along the journey, and satisfying feelings getting the grade after all of those hardships.

Last June 2011 I started my 6-months internship (co-op) in American Airlines (AA) headquerters in Dallas/Fort-Worth, Texas. I’m so blessed to be part of the ADEPT 2011 program.

ADEPT stands for American Airlines Development Program for Technology, it is a two-year program designed to develop new hires for AA Information Technology Services (ITS). It was first started in 2006. The ADEPT members are recruited from different universities, in the 2011 class we had members from UT-Austin, UT-Arlington, UT-PanAm, Texas A&M, LSU, OU, etc.

So technically, I’m not a full ADEPT 2011 class member because I’m just having 6-month internship. But… for the whole six months I have been engaged in most of the courses, trainings, and programs they have, and that’s sweeet!

The purpose of this post is to give a picture of the ADEPT program from my perspective (co-op student from Northeastern University).

Quick Outlines:

Pros:

• Two weeks orientation program
• FSU courses and trainings
• Mentorship
• Brown bag lunches with AA Managing Directors, and VPs once a month.
• Walk-a-Mile (1-day to 1-week experience in other departments)
• AA travel privileges

Cons:
* I almost have no cons, but if there should be any then this might do:

• Accommodation for out of state students might be tricky. (Housing and Transportation)

Two Weeks Orientation Program

The first two weeks of the ADEPT program is orientation, and it was full of good stuff, too good I should say.

Week 1

Day 1
Meet with AA CIO, Monte Ford.
ADEPT program overview
Lunch with our going-to-be Managers
Paperworks

Day 2
Flagship University (FSU – AA training center) tour
C.R. Smith Museum tour (yes, AA has a museum)
Lunch with ADEPT mentors
ROPES course

Day 3
Data centers tour
Some more ADEPT program overviews

Day 4
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and Agile training

Day 5
Introduction to AA Employee Groups
Brown bag lunch with one of AA VP
Tetra Map training

Week 2

Day 1
Creative and Innovation training

Day 2
DFW Airport – Shadow a gate agent experience

Day 3
More DFW airport tour – Baggage and Ramp, Gates, Backroom
Central Baggage System Tour

Day 4
Brown bag lunch with another AA VP
Alliance Fort Worth tour (AFW – one of AA’s maintenance and engineering base)

Day 5
AA Systems Operation Center (SOC) tour, Flight Training Academy tour
ADEPT 2007-2011 group lunch
Report to our managers

Pheeew… it even took me some time to wrote all of these. In short, our first two weeks were really good as you can see, and that’s just the beginning…

FSU Courses and Trainings

Flagship University (FSU) is AA training center, it’s just 5-minutes drive away from the headquarters. Some of the trainings and courses we had are:

• Tetramap
• SDLC and Agile training
• Creativity and Innovation training
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (3-day training and this is the best!)

Mentorship

Every ADEPT class member has their mentor who is the one year earlier ADEPT class member. Having a mentor means that we can ask a lot of questions we have in mind. We also have someone who can guide us and giving us advise as we get familiar with the company. For me, I have one of the best mentor, she gave me a cool airplane model for my birthday!

Brown bag lunches with AA Managing Directors and VPs

This is one of the best things that I like from the ADEPT program, we get the opportunities to have lunches with the Managing Directors and VPs every month, how cool is that! We get to know the departments where they are working in, know their experiences in the company, and get great tips and advise from them.

Walk-A-Mile (WAM – 1-day to 1-week experience in other departments)

AA is really a huge company with a lot of different departments and groups, even for the ITS itself! WAM gives us the chance to spent and see what the other groups are doing, and most importantly, how what they do connect with the other parts of the company (including our group). I think this is great, because it encourages us to understand more about the process in the company, and not only the group that we are working in.

Travel Privileges

As if everything that I’ve mentioned above are not good enough, the travel privileges seals the deal! Have you ever thought of going somewhere on any weekend? The AA travel privileges made it happen. I went to Salt Lake City for a day on Sunday because I was so curious about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and I just had the idea on Friday morning. I visited my families in Seattle and Houston when I thought I want to, sometimes just the day before. Every weekend you can be anywhere you want (provided the flight is not full), the possibilities are endless.

Accomodation for out of state students might be tricky. (Housing and Transportation)

This is a negative thing for intern like me who is not going to spent more than few months in Dallas. I was lucky to know someone who I can rent a room in his house, and also I had my sister’s car that I can borrow. But for some others, this might be a bit tricky because the public transportation system in Dallas, though I believe is good enough, is not so convenient.

Conclusion

Me and all the other interns agree that the ADEPT program is so underrated. We didn’t really know about this obviously great program until we were hired. AA also has a great work culture that I like from the very first beginning, most of the people are open-minded and friendly. More than that, the airlines industry is a very fascinating and fast-speed one where challenges to stay competitive and profitable are always around.

I know that AA is not a perfect company. I’m aware with the customer complaints around the internet, and also how the company is struggling to make profit in the recent years. Just few days ago, the company also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy which makes some mixed comments around.

But, from what I’ve seen so far, AA is always determined to be the best airline it can be, and I am proud to be part of it for the last 6 months.

For those who have experienced the power of prayer, I believe you understand that there is no question that prayer makes us calm, connects us to our loving God, and makes things happen.

Fasting is usually accompanied our prayer when we are really determined and surrendered everything to His hand.

Starting last August 21, 2011, the Irving SDA church, the church that I attend every Sabbath here in Dallas, are having the 10 day prayer and fasting program.

How is it done?

Two Sabbaths ago, the program coordinator lady passed two sheets of paper that have the 15-minutes time blocks of in a day in which the church member can volunteer to pray every day for 10 days by writing their name in certain time blocks they choose.

There are 96 time blocks (24 x 4) and since the number of church members is less that, then she encouraged people to volunteer for 2 time blocks each, though not necessarily subsequent time blocks.

For 10 days, the primary goal is to pray for the Irving SDA church mission, but there are also different topics that the church members are asked to pray for.

The fasting part is a modified fasting, different from any kind of fasting that I’ve heard before. It doesn’t require the church members to fast for 10 days without food nor water, rather it asked them to reduce the number of meal they have everyday by one.

So for those who are used to have three meals a day, then they are asked to have two meals a day. For those who have two meals a day, then they are asked to have one meal a day, and so on.

The last interesting part of the program is, the church members are also asked to fast a bad habit they have during the 10 days (and hopefully they will stop completely afterward).

Today is the fifth day into the program, and so far I believe I got closer to God. Thank you Irving SDA church for having this program. I challenge you to do this in your church, and experience for yourself the miracles that will happen when all the church pray together continuously for the church mission. God bless you

So what does it take to have a Texas drivers license?

0. The Documents

In general, this is the list of things you need to apply for driver license in Texas.

For you who are curious about how to get Texas driver license for foreign student, here’s what you need when you are applying:

• Passport
• I-20
• I-94
• School acceptance letter
• Internship job acceptance letter (if internship)

Just make sure you have all of the documents above, then they will let you proceed. You will need to pay around $25 for the processing fee if they accept your application.

1. The Written Test

There are two written test options; first is the paper test, and second is the computer test (the one I took).

The test consist of 25 multiple choice questions, if you do your assignment by reading the Texas drivers license handbook several times and do the review questions in the back part of the handbook (yes, there is a review question section), you will be good.

If you’re lazy to answer the questions, you can check Wen’s blog, he answered most of the questions already.

If you pass the written test, they will let you schedule for the driving test. You will receive an appointment slip.

2. The Driving Test

Yup, the last and most important test to get the Drivers License. The Driving test is a 20 minute test in which the examiner will seat beside you and make you go to the street around the DPS office and grade how well is your driving skills.

To take the driving test you must have the appointment slip that you got after the DPS officer find the driving test schedule for you, car insurance, car inspection, car registration, and an ID.

First the examiner will ask you to turn on the left/right signal, test the horn, and brake light.

In Texas, the first part of driving test is the parallel parking and it will be in the DPS office parking area. You will be asked to park the car in between two poles beside the curb. Make sure you practice your parallel parking well, because if you hit the pole, you will fail automatically.

For tutorial videos about parallel parking, check my youtube ‘Parallel Parking’ playlist here.

If you pass the parallel parking, then you will be asked to drive out of the DPS office and go to the street.

Make sure you do these things:

1. Stop completely at the STOP sign, if you do rolling stop you will fail.
2. Turn left or right correctly (turn the signal, look at the mirrors, look over shoulder) and make sure you see it’s safe to turn.
3. Observe the speed limit.

You will then be asked to return to the DPS office, don’t worry you don’t need to memorize how to go back, the examiner will guide you.

After the test, the examiner will tell you what are your mistakes and whether you pass or fail.

3. The Temporary Driver License

If you complete the driving test successfully (that means you pass), the examiner will ask you to go inside and wait for couple of minutes till one of the officer inside print your temporary driver license.

Congratulations, you are now allowed to drive in the street! Make sure to drive carefully and follow all the things you have learned through.

UPDATE: If you are going to take Texas Driver License test soon, you may want to check the Texas Driver License Test Resource page.

In my last three year experiences I mostly worked as Java developer, especially Java web application developer as you can see from my resume below.

Note: The style maybe a bit messed up, click here if you want to see it in Google Docs.

If you need an example of Java developer resume you may copy my resume style (just make sure you don’t copy everyting) and if you have critics about my resume you can write them in the comments section.

Picture of Gereja Advent Hang Tuah

It’s been almost a year ago when I left Bali but I will never forget the experiences I had there. I remember clearly more than two years ago when I received a confirmation that I will be placed in Bali, I googled for Adventist churches available in Bali.

There is not so many Adventist church in Bali, there were four established churches and several study group as I left last February 2010.

The Adventist churches I know are:

1. Gereja Advent Denpasar
2. Gereja Advent Hang Tuah
3. Gereja Advent Nusa Dua
4. Gereja Advent Singaraja

From the four SDA churches, I managed to visit three of them during my entire 20 months in Bali. I didn’t have a chance to visit to Singaraja church, although it’s supposedly the nearest church from Bali Camp.

So the following are the churches I’ve visited.

*Notes about public transportation in Denpasar:
Although Denpasar is a modern city, unfortunately when it comes to public transportation, it certainly is lacking. So if you are going to these churches by public transportation, these are your options:

1. Ojek – depending on the distance you might need to pay Rp15,000 or more.
2. Angkot – a very unique thing I found in Bali is, there is no definite route for this blue minivan. You need to specifically ask the driver if he is willing to drive you to the address or at least very near to it. The fare is Rp4,000 – 6,000.
3. Taxi – certainly it is available all throughout the city. But be careful of ridiculous charge the driver might give to you if you don’t negotiate clearly in the beginning about how much you are going to pay. Depending on the distance, but averagely it will cost Rp50,000.

1. Gereja Advent Denpasar (Surapati)

Address: Jl.  Surapati IV No.6 Denpasar
Contact person : Pastor Susilo Mundriharto
Mobile : 0361 – 233677

This is the first church I went to in Bali and it is also the church that I went to most of the time. Perhaps it is also the church that has largest member in Bali.

How to get there?

The location of the church, although it can be said at the heart of the Denpasar city, unfortunately is a little bit obscured. I was very blessed I was able to reach the church on my first visit without even getting lost.

It is located in an alley to the right side of Jl. Hayam Wuruk if you go from the Puputan Square direction.

It is near the Puputan square in Denpasar, which is also actually not so far from Jl. Sumatera, onf of the central street for souvenirs in Bali.

Parking space

Since it is located in an alley, finding parking space may be a bit tricky though the church has parking space in front of it, that can be filled with several cars.

2. Gereja Advent Hang Tuah

http://adventistbali.org/

Jl. Drupadi 9x, Renon, Denpasar
Contact person: Pastor Raymond Lohonauman
Mobile: 0817-397384
Email: raybalidio@yahoo.com

This church can be called as the most foreigner-friendly church in Bali due to the bilingual service it usually has. For this reason also this church has the most number of foreigner attending the church every Sabbath. I’ve met a Japanese lady, Filipino couple, and Russian guy in this church.

They have English Sabbath School group to accommodate foreigners, and they sing the SDA hymnal in both Bahasa Indonesia and English.

How to get there?

It is easily accessible by private transportation and ojek or taxi, but not with angkot because it is not located near angkot route.

The church has put up a Google Map directions in its website, so you can check their website or click here to go immediately to their Google Map with the directions.

Parking Space

It has a lot of parking space available.

3. Gereja Advent Nusa Dua

Address: Jl. Kampus Udayana, in front of Graha Anyar Jimbaran 80361
Contact person : Pastor Yanto Lukas
Mobile : 0817-483 2338
Email : raybalidio@yahoo.com

If you are staying further south of Denpasar, then maybe you may want to attend church at Nusa Dua SDA church, since it is located between Nusa Dua and Jimbaran.

How to get there?

The problem is, I forgot how to get there. All I remember is it’s near Udayana University and on the way going to GWK and Uluwatu. You may want to call the contact person above for the detail direction to the church.

SDA Church in Bali Schedule:

Sabbath School : 09:00 – 10:45
Divine Service: 11:00 – 12:00
Youth meeting : 16:30 – 18:30
Midweek : 19:00 – 20:30

Closing Words

Whether you are having vacation in Bali or will stay permanently, one less thing to worry is that there are SDA churches around. Though mostly are located in the southern Bali, it’s the area where you most probably will stay also.

Though I lived around 40km away from Denpasar, God provided some methods of transportation every Sabbath so I can come to church regularly and on time. It took 1.5 hour every Sabbath for me to reach Surapati SDA church but it all worth it.

Hopefully I can help you find the SDA churches in Bali through this blog post and may God bless you brothers and sisters! 

Two years ago, when I was still working in Bali Camp, I bought a cotton mask from a mountaineering store in Denpasar. It looks like the mask that the terrorists in Counter Strike game wear.

So the evening after I bought the mask, I tried to wear it and took several pictures using my laptop cam. Then I noticed this would be more cool if I have a hostage too. So I called Ardie, my friend, to be so kind to be the hostage.

Then another friend of mine, Ardi (don’t confused it with the previous Ardie ), saw it and we thought it would be a lot more cool to make a video with the terrorists behind the hostages asking for the ransom.

It didn’t take long before we start recording the videos with yet another friend of mine, Hazel, as the hostage.

Not satisfied with just a hostage video, we then proceed to make a bit longer movie that involved some more of our friends in the office.

So this is the short movie that we made. For this public viewing I censored some of the scenes. For uncensored version, you can request me the youtube link. Enjoy!

When you live secluded from the city, your wild animal instincts appear. The people in Bali Camp Pacung, living far from Denpasar, in a midst of wild green lushes of Bali, up in the mountains, have developed a very merciless form of entertainment.

It is a ritual where very few people can escape and the number of victim keeps rising.

Whenever the ritual is initiated, the harmless people you see in Bali Camp will turn to possessed-blood-thirsty executors who will not stop running and chasing until they catch their prey and execute them.

No one can stop them, so it is safe to keep distance when the ritual is happening. Some courageous (or naive) people managed to take shots of the ritual, but who knows what happened to them when the executors saw them.

Dedicated to the victims and photographers-turned-victims, I present to you the collection of Bali Camp Pool Execution Ritual.

*Some of the content contain violent graphics and are unsuitable for children.

Hahaha! Just kidding fellas, hope you enjoy this post.

Thank you for Adik Iig for the great photos on memorable September 11th, 2008 (The Massacre Night) and other photographers who risk their lives to take these memorable moments.

Though not as famous as the other part of Bali, the west side of Bali has a lot of things you can’t find in other side of Bali. Last week, me and other 19 of my work colleagues decided to explore this side for two days and we can’t be happier during the journey.

We started from Denpasar, visited Bunut Bolong (Pekutatan), stopped at Pura Rambut Siwi, stayed at Gilimanuk, snorkled and get sunburned at Menjangan Island, slapped by Ayam Betutu of Men Tempeh, and went back to Denpasar.

Want more of the details, read on…

Day 01

14:30 (Denpasar)

Cost:
Rp 175,000 (rent one Toyota Avanza car)
Rp 150,000 (full tank of gasoline)

Yay.. It’s time to go! Three cars, 20 people, 19 insane psychos (I’m the only normal person), zero bug, and one destination, journey to the west.

16:20 (Bunut Bolong)

Cost:
Rp 0.0

If you think you can only find this kind of view in Sequoia Park, United States, think again.. Bali own one too and you can only find it here at Bunut Bolong.

Actually it’s not only a single tree, but consist of several banyan trees joined into a giant tree.

It’s 11 km from the main road going to Gilimanuk, and I believe it worth the trip.

17:42 (Pura Rambut Siwi)

Cost :
Rp 2,000 (Parking fee for a car)

Unfortunately we arrived sort of late at this Pura so we can only took few pictures and did not manage (or allowed to) enter the pura to take more pictures inside.

The Pura directly face the sea and you might get a wonderful shots here though the sand is kinda dark.

20:00 (Gilimanuk)

Cost :
Rp 70,000 (1 ayam betutu + 1 basket of rice at Warung Ayam Betutu Bu Lina)
Rp 65,000 – 75,000 (1 room at Hotel Lestari)

Finally, exhausted and hungry, we arrived at Gilimanuk, the most famous port city in Bali. We tried to have supper at the famous ‘Warung Men Tempeh’ that serves a very hot and spicy Ayam Betutu, unfortunately it was already closed.
But someone points us to the other warung that serves Ayam Betutu nearby (Warung Ayam Betutu Bu Lina), and we ate there.

On Gilimanuk, we stayed at Hotel Lestari, just beside the main road. The rate is friendly enough for us. The cheapest room start at Rp65,000 and Rp75,000 per night for 3-4 number of people in our case. Now, that’s a bargain..

Day 02

10:00 (Going to Menjangan Island, Labuhan Lalang)

Cost:
Rp 330,000 (1 boat to Menjangan Island)
Rp  75,000 (1 tour guide fee)
Rp  30,000 (1 set of snorkle and goggle)

After a good breakfast at the warung Mbak Nur nearby the hotel and several happy pictures, we are good to go to the Menjangan Island. So be prepare reindeers, we are going to getcha… Hohoho…

10:30 (Menjangan Island)

Here we are at the Menjangan Island. Unfortunately I got no underwater camera to take underwater pictures but just trust me, it worth to go there. Just find 9 of your friends to share the boat fare, and have your way to one of the best sixteen underwater location in Indonesia (I don’t made it up, check National Geographic Traveller vol.1 no.3 2009).

Sadly because we didn’t go explore the island, we didn’t see any of the Menjangan though people says there are 400 of them in the island. Maybe we’ll see you the other time Rudolf.

15:30 (Gilimanuk – Warung Men Tempeh)

Cost:
Rp 110,000 (1 ayam betutu + 1 basket of rice)

Back to Gilimanuk to tried the Warung Men Tempeh. Ok chicks, no more hiding this time, come to daddy…

16:30 (Going back to Denpasar)

After we settled our business with the six Ayam Betutu, we are ready to go back to Denpasar. And of course, we don’t forget to get some more happy pictures in front of Warung Men Tempeh.

20:00 (Arrived at Denpasar)

After three and a half hour of non-stop riding, we finally arrived at Denpasar.

So that’s all our adventure for two days exploring the west side of Bali. Passing through a giant tree at Bunut Bolong, seeing the beauty of Menjangan Island corals and fishes, and get kissed by several very hot chicks (a well cooked Ayam Betutu Men Tempeh) were really unique experiences you can only find at West Bali.

In the end, just like visa advertisement says….

Total cost per person in this journey: ~ Rp 230,000
Number of chicken executed for our meals: 12
Total happiness and fun: priceless