When in doubt, I remember.

You know that worried feeling we get when you look around and everybody seems to be moving to their desired life and you are only sitting here confused? That's exactly the spot I am right now. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do with my life at this point of time. There. I said it. A stupid guy travelling 5 hours flight away from his home just to wonder the same question in a different timezone. 

Well okay maybe i lied a little there. The truth is, I have too many things I want to try doing in my life. I want to become an environmental consultant. I want to become a process engineer. I want to be a drilling engineer in a strange country. I want to be a management consultant with a chemical engineering expertise. I want to take a Phd in European country. I want to be a researcher in a foreign country. I want to be a technopreneur promoting a new technology in Indonesia. The list may go on if I keep imagining, but lets just cut it there. The sad thing is, I could not possibly try all of them in this lifetime. So the real question : Which path should I take ? 

Should I choose the one I enjoy the most? Well I think every path has their own fun, so thats not doable. Should I send out massive application to most of them and see the result? Sounds stupid. "If you stand for everything, you will fall for anything" some quote in the web told me. Passion? I am passionate for all of them. Kind of. So what ? Which one? What if I take this one and that one is more interesting? What if this? What if that? If you who are reading this is having the same kind of confusion about your future, you are in good company! 

So.. like how?

Then I remember.

To the time when I seem to be paralysed by an evil spirit.

To the time when I had a very chronic stomach problem that made me cannot even finish any meal served before me.

To the time when I had a severe measles a couple days away from VERY IMPORTANT graduation exams.

Never in any of those times has He failed my cry for help. During those urgent times, his help came at the perfect time.

When I was paralysed and I cried for help, his help came right away. Soothingly freeing my body through a mysterious gospel song suddenly playing out of nowhere.

When I had that stomach problem, and I wondered can I survive this disease later in my master studies abroad. Yet his healing comes at the right time. I eat so much I gained a few kilograms now.

When that measles disabled me completely from studying for the last 5 days before my graduation exam. Even thinking clearly was very hard to do because of the pain I was having. I eventually gave up trying to study and just focused on resting and praying. Thus all the pain went away hours before the exam started. I even got an A. It wasn't me, it was clearly Him. He made my mind so clear that I can get the answers so easily during the most important test of my bachelor degree. 

His help and answer will definitely come at the perfect time. I think the answer I am looking for, is just to stay calm and wait. The right time will definitely come where the path will be given to me. The path might not be the one listed in my list, but the bible says

 "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" - Proverbs 19:21 [NIV]

Keep the faith !

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21 [NIV]

A Glance to Hong Kong

It has been a very long delay in between my post, that's why I think I should start writing again. I have been living in one of Asia's heart of business, the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, for about 4 months. As an Indonesian who rarely travel, I automatically became an observer. Below are only the few things that catches my attention.

Figure 1. A glimpse of Hong Kong Island from Victoria Harbour

1. Skyscrapers

With only around 1104 square kilometers of land, it seems finding a place to live is going to be hard for 7,2 million residents of Hong Kong (year 2012). Maybe that's why they have tall buildings everywhere. A fun fact is these tall buildings make pollution worse in the streets, because small roads and tall walls make exhaust gases from vehicles literally trapped in our breathing level.  To my surprise, my hometown Jakarta is actually more crowded than Hong Kong (740,3 square km with resident >10 million).

2. Unfriendly Service

Not basing on any statistics, but 3 of 5 waitresses I encounter happens to be grumpy. Of course back in Indonesia, this would make me furious! We were bossing around the waiters in Indonesia, and I mean bossing. Customers can even scold waiters for not giving appropriate service. I still meet people who thinks "they should be scolded to service right". Little do they know there might just be an additional spit in their soup.

In Hong Kong, on the other hand, I would think again before asking the waiter for help. Last week I had a yam cha with my cousin, and when we asked her to cut the cake for us, she were grumbling right in front of us. Though she is talking in cantonese, I think what she said is "You ask me to do THIS KIND OF THING? You can use your chopstick to cut it yourself!" (In which she uses a chopstick to cut the soft cake and throws it angrily to the dirty dish basket). Well that pretty much sums up most Chinese restaurants in HK. Younger waiters are, in general, kinder at giving service. Its the old ones we should be careful of!

3. Never get lost

I am but just a third world country citizen who is occasionally raped by the stupid public transport system back home. A little exaggerating, but yeah you'll get the picture once you spend one month in Jakarta. In Hong Kong, I think the MTR train covers 80% of Hong Kong. Add the ba si (big bus) and siu ba (mini-bus) there, I can get anywhere by a simple browse on the internet. My friend dropped something like "In Hong Kong it is very hard to get lost, as the MTR is literally everywhere". Never bother driving a car, the public transport system is more than enough. Probably that is reason I see more Porsche and BMW in the streets, because only filthy rich people buy cars. Oh fun facts, in HK there is more BMWs than Toyotas. Yeah, What the F. 

4. Rich Javanese Maids

Don't know if I should really say rich, but if I compare their salary with fresh grads in Indonesia, they do make more. They get an average of HKD 4500 per month, free rent, free food, and weekends for vacation. In addition, their workload are fairly little. HK homes are not that big, you'll get all things done before 3 pm.  Want to sign up for becoming a HK maid?

These are really the outside skin of HK that I happen to notice. I hope I can linger more in the city to find out more of its unique features!