After Singapore

I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more

Category: indonesia

My Journey of Faith in Bandung Diocese (and the Bishop)

Disclaimer: this post is biased towards the Roman Catholic religion and Christianity. However, I promise you: no marketing.
At the time of this post writing, I have spent 13 years in Bandung. 13 years is also about the time I have officially become a Roman Catholic, despite being follower of Jesus from even before. Just recently I reached an importance milestone in my faith journey, hence this post.
2012: Baptism
When I moved to Bandung in 2012, I spared no time for preparing to marry my current wife, Yunnie. Under that circumstance, one prerequisite for me was being baptized. For an adult to be baptized in Catholic, one must undergo weekly classes for one year, with almost no absences. The problem was, that one year course would have just half-completed on January 2013, my wedding day. Pak Stefanus, my teacher, gave me an exception: I was allowed to be baptized mid-journey (to fulfill the requirement for the marriage), but I had to promise to complete the course like everyone else in the same class. I kept my promise.
Me being baptized by Father Rudi Behind me is Mrs. Fei Lan as my godmother, and Pak Stefanus.
A few years later, my mom-in-law got baptized, followed by my wife Yunnie (you read it right, her mom graduated first).
2014: The Kowalskis
When I first came to Bandung, I had a dream like many other fresh graduates: becoming rich from a technological startup. I created KIRI (now at https://projectkiri.id) to help people navigating Bandung using angkot (public minibus). It didn’t really took off financially, despite being still alive today and some number of users using it (and reporting to me when it’s down). However, the most interesting thing was from there I got to know another important persons in my life: The Kowalskis (https://gokowalskis.com/).
The husband, Waldemar Kowalski, used my KIRI app and submitted a feedback through our feedback form. At first I looked down on it because at that time some alay Indonesians tend to use bule (westerner) name as an alias to look cool. It turned out that Waldemar was an actual westerner, a pastor, as well as an experienced engineer. We agreed to meet at Miss Bee Providore café in Bandung, along with our wives. Waldemar and his wife Rosemarie asked us what we want to be prayed upon, and we answered: a child. At that time we had difficulties in getting a child. We then prayed together to God.
Not a year later, Yunnie became pregnant and long story short we had D, as pictured below. I still do weekly zoom with Waldemar and some other friends for bible study.
From left to right: K, Waldemar, Yunnie, me, D, and Rosemarie.
2018: Confirmation, and First Encounter with Bishop
In 2018, I and Yunnie received the confirmation sacrament. I was tasked to create a video about the class journey, and here it is below. The music for this was titled “Hidup Ini Adalah Kesempatan” which translates to “This Life is a Chance (To Serve God)”, and turned out to give strong impact for me in the upcoming years.

From there, I knew Fenmeos, another faithful Catholic who was also an engineer. It was also the first time I stood close to the bishop, Mgr. (Monsignor) Anton.
Pictured below is Yunnie (and little P in her belly) being confirmed by the bishop. I could not find the picture of me with during this ceremony, but I swear that I was there too, also confirmed.
2022: Heading The IT Bureau
In 2019-2020, COVID-19 pandemic started and everyone worked from home. Late 2021, Pak Wisnu, the current Head of IT Bureau in Diocese of Bandung of that time contacted me. He was looking for his successor. Out of several persons he offered, only me who was courageous enough to take the role, so he passed the baton to me. It was an unpaid position (despite later I was paid with something else great), but life was good at that time. I have double job and working in IT and higher education sector was one of the most flexible jobs to do from home. I gathered the team members, and some of us risked against COVID-19 to attend the inauguration. One of the team was Fenmeos, whom I knew during the confirmation process earlier. Mgr. Anton himself did the inauguration. In his speech, he thanked us for our willingness to serve, but also reminded us to not leave our family behind.
Group Picture of the buerau members and Mgr. Anton.
From left to right: Aldo, Sam, Fenmeos, and me.
I enjoyed my first few months of serving the Diocese. Having about 1-2 year working from home, going back and forth to the Diocese office and meeting people was fun. I also enjoyed solving problems one step at a time.
One of my priorities at that time was upgrading the SIMU (Sistem Informasi Manajemen Umat), the database system for parishioners of the Bandung Diocese. The SIMU system was built a few years ago, but infrastructure-wise it was not so well-maintained. The most visible symptom was the label “Not Secure” when the app was opened in modern web browsers, due to the lack of HTTPS certificate. Easy to solve for engineers, but it turned out to be more than a technical issue. We needed a professional and a contract to work on that. We also had to collaborate between the Diocese, owner of the server, and web developer. For that, we also needed an active MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) and an MoA (Memorandum of Agreement), which turned out to be expired at that time. I talked with several people, lobbied several people, learned the Roman Catholic organization structure, reminded people, and then finally made it work.
In 2 December 2022, a day after my birthday, we had this MoA signing ceremony between Father Samong (Curia Secretary) and Dr. Nugraheni (Dean of Faculty of Science & Technology, Unpar). It was during one of the worst time of the pandemic. In the picture below, A was joining through Zoom because he was infected with COVID-19 and in isolation.
MoA Signing Ceremony Between The Bandung Diocese and FTIS Unpar.
2023-2024: Keeping The Engine Running
Then, COVID-19 gradually faded away. It was a joy for most people. Frankly speaking, not much for me. During the pandemic, I could go to the Diocese office once a week. When it faded away, The paid job required me to go to the office more often, hence I had less time for the Diocese. Also, as I networked with more people in the Diocese, they invited me to join their different (offline) activities. Part of me said that I would love to help, but the other part said that I have limited time and energy. I also wanted to spend quality time with my own family, and even alone time of myself.
I am glad that I have Aldo and his wife Magda, who kept the engine running. He helped me continuing the SIMU progress. I still attended to some offline events. I am also glad that within the Diocese office there was Pak Black, Mas Yoseph, and Mas Yogi who were avid administrators of SIMU.
Situation of The SIMU Training, led by Pak Black.
Aside from the IT stuffs, 2024 were also eventful for the Catholics in Indonesia. The Pope visited Indonesia and held a mass in Gelora Bung Karno stadium Jakarta. For some people, it’s a war on the (free) ticket. I was actually entitled for a ticket thanks to my position in the Diocese. However, I regretfully did not take it as I had so many homeworks at work, aside from my responsibilities of taking care of the two kids. We did not have a maid or nanny, hence the responsibility was completely on us.
However, in 2024 I participated in a fundraising event that converted kilometers in running, walking, and cycling, to money for a cause. Our team was not the highest earner, but I managed to get a prize of Jam Tangan Paus (Pope’s watch). The Casio watch worn by the Pope during his visit to Indonesia became viral because it was so simple and inexpensive, and people compared it to watches used by some lavish religious leaders.
Me holding the prize of Casio watch, next to Father Tri holding his own prize.
Late 2024, there were preparation for new period of comittee. I decided to formally stop serving for the Diocese, and handed over to a younger generation. Aldo, who helped me since 2022, agreed to be the next Head of IT. Aldo built his team, and I submitted the names to the Diocese. I collected the old team and the new team in an informal breakfast at Jalan Braga.
Sam, Magda, Aldo, Fenmeos, Vania, Prof. Vero, Lydia, and me.
January 2025: A Month of Blessings
Somehow in early 2025, I and my family had many encounters with Mgr. Anton.
My son D, filled with confidence, volunteered himself to serve in the World Child Mission Day mass in the Bandung Cathedral, led by Mgr. Anton himself. Long story short, below is him giving the offering to Mgr. Anton, screen captured from Bandung Diocese Youtube channel.
D giving the offering to Mgr. Anton.
After the mass ended, Mgr. Anton walked around and Y asked him to take a picture with our daughter P. I was reluctant to be in the picture at first, but Yunnie insisted. So here it is: Mgr. Anton, P, and me.
Mgr. Anton and P, with me in the background.
The culmination happened on 24 January, during the inauguration event of the new committee. The new members were inaugurated and it was said that some of the former members would be given a certificate of appreciation from Mgr. Anton. I registered for the event and attended. Again in his speech, Mgr. Anton reminded the new members to be fair in time and focus between serving God and the family.
To my surprise, 4 people as representatives were called to go forward and personally receive the certificate from Mgr. Anton himself, and my name was there! I walked upfront, still shaking, but very grateful. Especially because Mgr. Anton himself looked me in the eye and said “Terima kasih, Pak Pascal!” (thank you, Pascal). This was much nicer than that time when I shook hand with one of Indonesia vice president, but what he did was look at his staff and asked “who are these guys, again?”.
Mgr. Anton giving the certificate to me. As you can see in the picture, I am wearing the Jam Tangan Paus. And same shirt as when I was in the picture earlier with Mgr. Anton and my daughter.
Close up of The Certificate of Appreciation.
Epilog
What happens after this for me? I still owe some unfinished projects with the Diocese, and will continue working on that with the new team. However, I will focus more on my family, especially that my son D will be taking the first communion classes for the next 6 months.
Also coincidentally in today’s bible study with Waldemar and friends, we studied 1 Corinthians 12. We talked about how different people receives different gifts from God, and the importance of making use of those gift for the greater good.
About the new team, it is even stronger than before. Let us pray for them to serve well. For the greater glory of God, or in latin: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
New members of the team. Photo by Prof. Vero.
I jokingly posed a handover of leadership to Aldo.

January 25, 2025
Jatiluhur Valley & Resort

One sign of getting old is to prefer staying at home rather than going out. This fact seemed to apply to me, in which this Christmas I found more happiness at home. However, I was obliged to take my family out (because it was school holiday!), and one night stay out of town sounded nice too. Long story short, we decided to go to Jatiluhur Valley & Resort (JVR), a hotel located next to the Jatiluhur Reservoir. So here we go.
We drove to Purwakarta about 8.30am in the morning. It was a short journey from Bandung thanks to the toll road. Exited at KM 64, we drove to the Purwakarta town first and had brunch at Hutan Jati Cafe & Gelato. It had a very interesting concept: a small forest inside the city. Purwakarta is rather hot and humid, so even under the greeneries it was still hot. Fortunately they also provided indoor airconditioned area. It also became a perfect ambience when it started raining outside.
We waited for the rain to eae then drove to JVR. I tried to take a shortcut as suggested by Google Maps, and had to drove through a very narrow road.
The road that led to JVR ascended and descended, and surrounded by greeneries, so it feels out of town. We arrived around 12 noon, and it was not the time yet for check in. The kids spent about an hour playing in the indoor playground, making friends with another guest who were checking out. After they got bored, we drove to Istora. It’s part of the JVR but closer to the reservoir and had better view.
It was hot outside so a few minutes before two we drove back to JVR main building for check in. After checked in we realized that the lobby was on 3rd floor, and to get to our room we had to take the elevator down to the 2nd floor. We rented two rooms, with connecting door. We complained that one of the room smelled cigarette (despite warning of Rp1.000.000 fine for smoking), and the housekeeping helped us by spraying some air freshener. Y wanted to spend alone time in the room but the kids were bored, so I took them to play in the outdoor playground area.
Around 4.30pm, we drove out to find a restaurant for early dinner. I craved for meal at traditional restaurant and we chose RM (Rumah Makan / Restaurant) Teh Titin, just a stone throw away from another restaurant RM Teh Pipin. The nostalgia of having meal in a traditional restaurant served well, but the experience there were not so nice. Just after the grilled fish were served, several flies came around and bugged us. The mango juice were a bit rotten, and the asam manis (sweet and sour) squid was too spicy.
We headed back to hotel to rest. The hotel held a nobar (nonton bareng / watch movie together) event at 7pm, but we were too tired and watched the classic Shaolin Soccer movie in the room instead. I slept early that night, to wake up early at 4.15 AM in the morning and prepared for morning run.
I ran to JVR Istora area, but my main purpose was to catch the sunrise. The sunrise sun was not very visible because the west side of the Istora was largely covered by trees. But still, the view was beautiful there.
I came back to my room afterwards, waiting for the others to be ready for breakfast at 8 AM. Breakfast was at the pool side, and the kids requested to swim. However, we deemed that the pool was not clean enough for swimming so we skipped.
After breakfast, we walked down the hill for about 1 km to see axis deers, in a small preservation area. Along the way we picked up some leaves to feed them. However, the security guard forbid us to feed the deers with such leaves, as he deemed it to “hot”. In Chinese culture, aculturated to Indonesia, food are categorized as “cold” and “hot”. Hot foods are known to cause “inner heat” (panas dalam) that may cause illnesses like sore throat.
We then walked back up the hill to the hotel. Surprisingly it was easier to climb up the road than to walk down. We then took a shower and checked out from the hotel.
On our way home, just before entering the toll road, we had lunch at RM Ciganea. With about the same price to RM Teh Titin, we had better experience here. It was the first time our family tasted Sate Maranggi, beef satay that grilled with basic sweet and savory spices. Y, who didn’t really like beef, seemed to like it. We brought some more to give the kids’ grandma at home.

December 24, 2024
Public Transit Trip with The Kids

With my status as an employee as well as running a family business, I don’t that much of holiday. Especially after COVID-19 pandemic, December is the time for my mostly Christian employees to take leave, hence I have to back them up. However, I had a few days before 2024 to go with the kids to Jakarta to visit my parents. I am blessed with the kids who have strong interests with public transport, hence not really costly in terms of carbon footprint (costly in monetary value, though).
We started our journey with the Feeder train that brought us from Bandung station to Padalarang Station.
In Padalarang station, we waited about an hour before the high speed trains arrived. The train only stopped for less than 5 minutes to board passengers.
The kids really loved it, though it was not like an ordinary train trip. It was a smooth ride unlike regular trains, and you can’t really feel the speed except by looking at the informational running text.
We then arrived at Halim high speed train station. It was interconnected to the LRT station, with about 500m covered walking distance. The LRT station felt hotter, or maybe just my feeling because they put several large fans there. There was no driver on board the train, all controlled from the command center.
After arriving at Dukuh Atas, we had a small snack then continue our journey with Commuter Line train and Airport Line train. The Airport Line train final destination was at the Soekarno-Hatta airport, but we could alight one station before, where my dad picked us up.
Dad picked us up and we visited mum’s clinic, where Desmond got one of his teeth extracted. He was scared so we offered him a lunch at Bornga, a rather lavish restaurant. After deliberate consideration, he agreed.
In the evening, Daniel went by and the kids were playing games together.
The next day, we started our journey by taking a cab to Bintaro Xchange shopping mall. This mall has an underground connection to the Commuter Line. We took another Commuter Line, followed by TransJakarta bus and MRT to get a lunch and sightseeing.
We stopped at Blok M MRT station, and took a lunch at Lucky Chin, an American-Chinese restaurant I knew from a tweet. Their meal package included fortune cookie, whose message was more suitable for adults (“If you’re feeling adventorous, go for it!”).
We took a Blue Bird cab for our way back home. The next day, we went back to Bandung by taking a regular (Argo Parahyangan) 3-hour train to Bandung.

April 27, 2024
Coffee, Bento, Running and Wedding

You may have known from my previous post Visiting The Dead that I have a relatively big extended family. This time one of them got married in Kelapa Gading area, Jakarta. I was happy because it’s also served as an excuse to leave the kids with their Popo (grandmother) and have me and my wife Y travel to Jakarta without the menaces.
I still had zoom meeting with some friends in the morning, but shortly after drove to Jakarta. It was a smooth journey to Jakarta, but horrible in the Kelapa Gading area. Traffic jams delayed our trip, but we finally made to our first stop: Kedai Kopi Oke. It’s a kopitiam (coffee shop) owned by my uncle. This shop served coffee from various parts of Indonesia, but the most interesting part was that the coffee was served using a huge mokapot. Mokapot is a tool originated from Italy, normally used to make espresso. A single espresso is roughly 30ml, roughly 1/6 cup. This huge mokapot serves 2 cups, hence 12 espressos! That’s way more caffeine than deleting a production database!
A cup of cofee and a huge mokapot
We had a nice long chat, then had to say goodbye to my uncle. He gave me two angpaos (red envelope containing money) for our kids at home. It is customary for us parents of Chinese descendants, to give angpaos to the kids as symbol of good luck.
We went to the hotel and took a break. I surveyed the swimming pool, but it was drizzling outside. We preferred to stay in the room, and watched Men in Black at the cable tv provided.
At night, we went out for dinner. We walked to a nearby food court called Sagoro. It had a nice view of a river, but there were not many interesting food stalls opened. We also walked carefully, as the floor were slippery due to the rain that fell before.
We walked toward the other side and found a nice Japanese restaurant called Hanaguni. It looked upscale but the security convinced us to just look inside first without obligation to have a meal there. We went inside, took a seat, and provided with the menu. We were surprised that a bento costed around Rp200.000,-, whereas in Hokben (famous Japanese food chain in Indonesia) a bento costs roughly Rp50.000,-.
Me and Y having the dinner sets
It turned out that they had another menu, simple rice packages and pastas that have on-going promotion: buy 2 get 3 for roughly Rp100.000,-. Still more than our usual budget, but at least we got 3 portions for the same price. We came back to hotel with full stomach and called it a day.
Early morning the next day, while Y was still sleeping, I headed out for morning run. With two kids at home, it’s difficult to reserve time for morning exercise, so this was a good chance. I targeted 5 km run, but was tired enough near LRT station that I was tempted to take the LRT instead for my way back. So I took the trip, followed by motorcycle taxi (ojek online) for the last mile.
Picture of LRT coming in to the station on time.
We then prepared ourself for the main event: the wedding. It was held in Angke Restaurant, within the Mall of Indonesia complex. It was on Sunday morning so it was very crowded on the entrance. I was busy meeting people I forgot to take some pictures, as well as being in the picture.
Family picture, without me. Photo by my cousin-in-law Rina.
After an hour or two there, I drove back to Bandung, as I had to work the next day.

January 18, 2024
Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh, Yes

When the high-speed train started operating, many Indonesians were excited to try. That includes me and my parents. Therefore, I asked my parents in Jakarta to come and visit us in Bandung.
On Saturday morning, my family drove me to Tegalluar station, located at the eastern side of Bandung. We took the toll road, passed the newly built residential area “Summarecon”, and nearby the relatively famous Al-Jabbar mosque and Gelora Bandung Lautan Api stadium. I took the train to Halim station, where I would meet my parents and helped them checked in into the train. My son D was envy of me but we managed to calm him down. The Tegalluar station was relatively remote and not fully built. There were no cafés or shops opened yet. Parking space was limited, but there were many blue bird taxis waiting there, ready to drive you to the city.
Check in was smooth, and the train was on time. Despite the euphoria, taking the train itself in my opinion is nothing special. It’s just like taking MRT/LRT trip, only further. The 350km/h maximum speed can only be confirmed by looking at the running text display. If you look outside the window, there is actually not much difference compared to running 100km/h. What’s interesting yet disturbing, is that every announcement made, it ends with their slogan “Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh,… Yes!”.
At exactly 10.30 AM, I arrived in Stasiun Halim. I was hungry so I ordered two pieces of lunpias (definition) and an americano. Shortly after, my parents were also arrived at the station, and we checked in and traveled to Bandung.
We stopped at the Padalarang Station, then took a feeder train that went to the city. Transfer from high-speed train to the feeder was not so smooth, with 500 passengers (rough estimation) had to pass through 3 gates within only a few minutes.
In Bandung station, my wife Y was just in time to pick us up. We then had lunch at the Lotek Mahmud restaurant, a hidden culinary gem in Bandung. After lunch, my mom (kids’ Oma) did some shopping at a cosmetic store nearby “Toko Mahmud”, also a hidden gem. We then went to the hotel, checked in, and took some rest.
Around 4 PM, Opa was eager to walk out to find some coffee. We then walked around the hotel and had a light meal and coffee at Circle K. My daughter P was feeling unwell, probably because she was playing in the bathtub too long, and got masuk angin (cold). I went out with Oma and my dad (Opa) to have chicken rice dinner together outside at Olly Hai, inside Haji Mesri alley. The main road was very crowded, so walking was not very fun. However, it’s faster to walk than to drive because it’s a one way road, and, well, very crowded. I ta pao-ed (take away) 3 portions of food for people at the hotel.
That night P couldn’t sleep well, so did I and Y. In the early morning, D was already woken up, so I brought him to Opa and Oma‘s room. Opa wanted to walk around, so I left D at Oma‘s room, watching YouTube videos. We walked through some alleys, heading to the GOR Pajajaran (Pajajaran sport center). Despite the fact that it’s a sport center, in the morning it’s a culinary heaven. I and Opa had porridge for breakfast, and I bought steamed kuo tie (dumplings) for the others.
P was still feeling unwell, but we had to have breakfast anyway. My car was all cleaned by the hotel staff, so we drove to a nearby Rijsttafel restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast, I drove everyone back to the hotel. I and Oma continued walking to a nearby Kartika Sari snack shop. It was inside an alley but very packed with tourists.
Finally, I drove Oma and Opa back to the station, for them to take another Whoosh trip back to Jakarta.

November 27, 2023
All Boys Trip

I am a proud alumnus of SMA Kanisius, a boys-only high school. Every year the alumni association held a reunion. I rarely participated in such event, but this year somehow I had a chance to do that. The idea was to bring my son D with me, also as a chance to introduce him to such school.
For a train that departed at 6.10 AM, I took a taxi from home at 4.30. My wife and son complained that it was too early, but I’d rather have a peace of mind. The train arrived at Gambir around 9 AM. We took a TransJakarta bus to Monas, continued to Bundaran HI, and took an MRT trip to Blok M Plaza.
There, I met my parents. We spent a few minutes in Taman Literasi Martha C. Tiahahu, a literacy-themed public park. There were a small library as well as children playing area. A (relatively expensive) cafés were also available there.
After playing, we walked to Claypot Popo. I knew this place from previous trip to Jakarta (see Off-The-Grid Wedding), and my dad indeed like it. D didn’t really like the menu, but he (as before) was very interested to see the kitchen.
After lunch, we took another MRT ride to Bundaran HI station, followed by taxi ride to the high school. I met many of my old friends, as well as new friends (as we were in the same batch but never in the same class). D met new friends and played simple soccer game.
I met many friends, too. Most of them were my classmates when I studied in this school. It’s fun to meet them again. Some of them became doctors, some founded successful startups, some enjoying normal life with family.
Around 16.30, D already complained that he wanted to rest. I said goodbye to some of my friends and headed to Sofyan Hotel, where I would stay a night before heading back to Bandung the next day.
We took a rest at the hotel, and headed out again for dinner. D wanted to take a Commuter Line trip, so we took a trip to Jayakarta station, looking out for Pontianak food at Jalan Pangeran Jayakarta. The food was relatively expensive for a road side food stall, but the value for money was quite okay.
After dinner, we took a bajaj ride back to the station, and another Commuter Line ride back to the hotel.
The next day, D woke me up early in the morning. I offered him to swim in the hotel, but the swimming pool was too small and nobody beside him was swimming there (it’s 5.45 in the morning!), so he got bored instantly. We took another Commuter Line trip to Jakarta Kota, for a nice breakfast in Glodok area.
Around 9 AM, my friend Paul arrived. He is also an SMA Kanisius alumnus, but couldn’t make it to the reunion the day before. We took a walk from hotel to a nearby café “Dua Nyonya”. I joked that one Nyonya (madam) is already exhausting. 6 pieces of fritters cost IDR 57.000 but the place was really nice for a chat in the morning. D helped to take a photo of us together.
We checked out, then Paul drove us to the train station. En route, he also showed me several nice places around the Cikini area. A nice tour in the morning.

May 29, 2023
Visiting The Dead

In 2020, COVID-19 hit the world. It was deadly mostly to people with comorbidity or senior citizens, including my grandfather of 100 years old. Due to safety reasons, he was quickly cremated and his remain was kept in a columbarium. Fast forward to 2023, COVID-19 was largely under control and there was plan to take the remain and bury it properly, in the same grave as his wife in Bekasi. The burial process involves proper praying ceremony with close family members, just like a regular wake.
When I heard the news from my cousin Reza, I was really excited to come and join, since it was also a chance to meet my relatives that I have not met for some time. I initially planned to travel alone using intercity train service. However, the train to Bekasi only run at certain times, and none of the times allowed me to arrive at the graveyard on time for burial. I then decided to drive myself. Driving round trip in one day would be too exhausting for me (I’m older now and I have two children fighting each other every time when they are not sleeping). Therefore I planned a one night stay at a hotel nearby. Since the kids did not have to go to school and my in-law agreed to take care of them, I asked my wife to come along. And finally, since I had an overnight stay planned, I also planned to visit my mother’s tomb a well.
Long story short, I headed out from home at 6 in the morning with my wife, to take a breakfast at a nearby yumcha restaurant. They had this promotion of free drink for each meal purchased. The kopi was really nice, plus it was served in this fancy classic cup.
Breakfast
At 7 AM, we drove to Pondok Ranggon to visit my mother’s tomb. We met Pak D, the person in charge of taking care of the tomb. We also paid him the yearly maintenance fee. Since three of my mother’s siblings were buried at the same graveyard, we also visited and prayed for them.
Graveyard
From Pondok Ranggon, we drove again to Pereng, the graveyard for my grandfather in Bekasi. We were slighly late, but still in time for the procession. Most of the relatives were there, but some others could not come due to incompatibilities. In Chinese culture, there is a belief that if people with certain Chinese zodiac signs are not compatible with the deceased, bad luck may come.
The altar
Around 11.30, the procession started. A monk lead us in chanting to deliver my grandfather spirit. Fresh food were served on the altar, while fake paper money and clothes made of paper were burned with the hope that the deceased can use them in his afterlife.
Documentary video by my cousin Devi
Right after procession ended, rain poured hard. We waited until the rain eased, then said goodbye to each other. Most of them went back home, while I and my wife drove to Cikarang to spend the night there. I chose Cikarang because it’s not too far from Bekasi, halfway back to Bandung, and close to Meikarta.
In case you didn’t know, Meikarta was an ambitious real estate project in Cikarang area. It was mentioned in the news recently because they could not deliver the promised units to its customers. Honestly, I found their TV ad fishy since the beginning, reminding me of Terminator’s Skynet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7psCeH5kKw
There was not much to see there (in Meikarta). Our hotel however, is located more of at the Lippo Cikarang area. It is more of an industrial complex (that are marked with thick yellow cells, if you play Sim City), where many factories were built around that area. When we arrived, we saw what looked like a Korean chatting with the security guard. A tourist, we thought.
We then checked in, took a shower (we were drenched in rain) and take a good nap, before heading out in the evening for dinner. The food in the hotel were relatively expensive, so we walked out a bit and had dinner at a simple Indonesian restaurant.
The next morning, we had early breakfast at 6 AM. It turned out that 90% of the guests eating breakfast were Koreans! Most of them bought their safety helmets, a sign that they work in civil engineering and their employers provided this hotel for their residency during their work in Cikarang. Even the hotel served a Korean menu. At 7 AM, we drove back to Bandung, as I had to work again.
But first, a selfie.
Marhaban Ya Ramadhan!

March 28, 2023
Long Weekends Part 5: Pocari Sweat Run

I woke up probably 4AM in the morning. Having prepared everything the day before, it didn’t much of hassle for me before A picked me up at 4.45. A and his wife D drove a car, picked me up in front of my housing complex, and drove us to the Pocari Sweat Run venue. This was one of the biggest running events in Indonesia. I participated in their 5km run back in 2019, but then stopped participating due to pandemic. In this 2022 event, there was no longer 5km run; only 10km or longer. Offline event only available for those submitting the ballot, got lucky, and willing to pay IDR 600.000. It was pretty expensive, but it also helped to push me to train harder because such expensive finisher medal was only given if the runner finished within 1 hour and 45 minutes.
We arrived at the venue somewhere around 5.15. A lost his pins to attach the bib to his shirt. I shared two of mine, so we both can run easily without holding the bib all the way. We took a selfie and another picture of those special runners tied to some baloons. They were the pacers, who would run at specified speed so that other runners can measure their own pace by looking at them in the vicinity.
Me and A doing selfie before run
The pacers
6 AM sharp was the flag-off for 10km run. West Java governor Ridwan Kamil was there as the frontmost contestant. For the rest, runners were divided into three groups, to disperse crowds. I and A were in the last group, and we decided to wait until the crowd dispersed even more before started running, due to fear of COVID-19.
We had a nice easy run at first, mostly because there were many runners around us. After running for half an hour, half of the runners were already behind us, and we could paced up. A was relatively fitter than me, and for the last kilometer, I asked him to run first and not wait for me. Fortunately, nearing the finish line I managed catch up and we finished almost together.
Finished in one hour eighteen minutes
D waited us at the finish line (but outside the area reserved for runners). After taking our finisher medals, I and A went out and look for her. It was not an easy task, since there were many people around to see this event. I and A took a chance to take a picture with our medals.
Me and A holding the finisher medals
Afterwards, we had our (second) breakfast at Toko You. This was a hidden gem located near Borromeus hospital. It was a relatively cool place with trees around the corner. Inside there were also some antiques like old motorcycle and circus bicycle. A and D recommended me a beer, and it was not disappointing. Just look at this beauty below.

August 20, 2022
Long Weekends Part 4: Pesantren

My wife drove me to UNPAR that morning. We stopped at McD for me to buy a quick and easy breakfast, and I arrived at UNPAR at 6.30. Some students and other lecturers from International Relations department arrived one by one. This was a Program Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat (some kind of corporate social responsibility) headed by the International Relations Department in cooperation with Faculty of Information Technology and Sciences, to teach a pesantren (Islamic Boarding School) students in Sukabumi, West Java. We started our journey at 7 AM, driving all the way to Sukabumi. We had simple lunch at a Sundanese restaurant in Sukabumi, and drove again to the pesantren.
We arrived at Pesantren somewhere at 13.00. It was still in semester break, so classroom was empty, as in the room was dusty and no chair for students inside. Lucky we had many personnels to clean the room, bring the chairs, and prepared it for class. The chairs were relatively heavy since they were made from real woods, whereas modern chairs in the city are usually made from lighter materials such as plastic or aluminium.
About an hour later, students coming in one by one, and when enough people were there, Mas N started his presentation about Japanese culture and the environment. He told a story about Japan’s journey, from when the people did not care about the environment, up to the era where stuffs are reused again and again.
We took a break and then my turn to perform the workshop. I taught the students how to use WordPress app to write blog posts. It was fun yet challenging. There were no computers, but almost all students had a smartphone with internet connection (I provided free wifi, though). I asked them to download the app from Play Store and write the post using the app. I was lucky too that this event was held in July, one month after the pride month. I can’t imagine how to explain why the WordPress logo is colored rainbow, let alone the LGBT+ movement to the Islamic students. It also made me ponder, how app developers can have large influence to people in other countries.
A picture of me teaching to blog
At 17.00, activities ended. Students did their prayer and went home, and we traveled again to our hotel in town. Midway, we stopped at another restaurant and had porridge for dinner. Why porridge? It was one of a few meals that is still within the price limit enforced by the university. After dinner, most of us took rest in the hotel, while I ordered a spagethi from the hotel since a portion of porridge was not enough.
The next day, I arrived in the restaurant earliest for breakfast. Without my colleagues around, I had a coffee while writing blog posts (mostly the previous parts of this Long Weekends series). Teaching blog to the students triggered me to regularly write blog posts again, just like I did many years ago. Stay at home due to pandemic limited the ideas, and family responsibilites reduced my time to write one.
We then traveled again to the pesantren. In that morning the activity was painting on tote bags, led by Mas K. Students were asked to paint with the theme of environment, and tell a story about what they painted. I served as one of the judges, and painted one, too. We had mini games afterwards, and lunch. Lunch was served by the owner of that pesantren himself, with the most delicious gepuk (meat jerky) I have ever had.
The girls seem to buy my random explanation about the painting
At around 14.00, we waved goodbye and returned to Bandung. Traffic was much worse than when we departed, and we arrived in Bandung somewhere around 20.00. I took a taxi back home, and get a well deserved rest, before the next morning when I had to bring my kids to their first day of school.

August 8, 2022
Long Weekends part 3: FLS2N, Family, and Diocese Time

Next event was the FLS2N SMK (Festival dan Lomba Seni Siswa Nasional Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan, Art Competition and Festival for Vocational Students). I spent morning time still in Harris Hotel, since I had to participate in student’s defence online. Had a team meeting on lunchtime, then headed to Bogor station for Jakarta-bound commuter line, followed by another trips to Serpong.
I arrived at Hotel Grand Zuri around 4 PM, and H was already in the room, checked in earlier. It was a very lavish hotel, but I’d rather stay in Harris. Harris was a tropical themed hotel, so you could walk around using shorts and slippers. In Grand Zuri, all the staffs wore proper shirts, and some of them in suit. That night H briefed the judges on how to use the application that we made for grading students’ submissions.
The next day, I briefed the students on how to submit their art products, in Zoom. For the next few days, it was the judges who briefed students on producing the art, also in Zoom. On the last night, I took a photo with some of the judges, including Ibu Rita Matu Mona, the star of Ngeri Ngeri Sedap.
Wefie with some of the judges
The event was planned to end on Friday morning, so for safety I booked a train ticket for Friday afternoon. The only seats left were from Economic class, and those was the best option. On Thursday my parents visited the hotel to drop some oleh-oleh, but unfortunately I could not meet them because we had an evaluation meeting. Also on Thursday we received news that we would no longer have any more meetings on Friday morning.
Friday morning, my dad and his driver picked us up from the hotel, and drove us to nearest MRT station. From there, we took MRT trip to Grand Indonesia, followed by another taxi ride to the intercity train station, just in time for boarding. We boarded the train, and as I joked to one of the committee, there is no excuse for developers for not working as long as there is internet. That happened to H, who had to finish some work in the train.
H working with his laptop
We arrived in Bandung, somewhere around 18.00. My wife and the kids picked us up from the station. We got home, I finished some leftover work, then get a rest.
On Saturday, we visited a nearby cinema to watch another movie, Minions. My son D was the one who enjoyed the most, laughing all the way during the movie. Indonesian speakers may notice that some Indonesian words were said out inside the movie, such as nasi goreng and terima kasih. Further research after the movie revealed that Pierre Coffin, the voice actor for the minions is Indonesian descendant. Another research when I wrote this blog revealed that he was actually the son of NH Dini, a famous novelist who wrote Pada Sebuah Kapal and La Barka.
Family Time
Sunday, I attended a conference with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bandung, since I volunteered as the head Information Technology Bureau there. The bishop was there to lead the mass and during the mass he reminded us to stay happy during our volunteerism.
Meeting at the Diocese office
What a weekend.

August 4, 2022