Saturday, May 27, 2006

No Pause To Contemplate

Now, one of my regional superiors just had to inform me on the last minute that they would be coming down to Jakarta for a visit next week, and that they want to meet with my clients... now well, the last week was a long weekend from Thursday, and so I had to manage what I can during the short week, not to mention fit one week's work in 3 days. My boss was on my case for not getting the meetings fixed quickly, but what can I say? The people I am setting up meetings with are VPs and GMs, and they are not usually ready for last minute meetings, however important the counterparts are. It's all about time management. Anyway, I had succeded in setting up the meetings with time to spare...

The short work week was filled with a lot of important meetings and decisions, so it really tired me out; but Tuesday I still went for my regular basketball session (I think I want to make it twice a week) and Wednesday there was a late-night meeting at Kemang (I mean really late, ending at 11 PM)...

On Thursday I went on a long overdue (like many things lately) trip to Kelapa Gading with Pitra, and we just wandered about the enormous mall there (we didn't even go to the upper floors except the CD store, where I found another Ben Folds CD) and had lunch at a Sundanese restaurant... and of course a sesion of pool. As we were practically tired out, we headed back to familiar territory at dusk, also because Pitra had to go to the office (yes, on a holiday), and I had to show up for Anggun's concert.

To say the least, Anggun's concert was absolutely entertaining. She is one of the most beautiful and talented actresses from Indonesia; I don't think any other local artist is up to par with her; but then again, she did grow and learn a lot overseas, whereas artists here only have those stupid music reality shows to compare with (no offense, people of the media..).

Friday was offically an office holiday, although it came out of our annual leave; so I declined and went to the office Friday morning, at 9 AM as usual, and caught up on some work until about 2 AM. Some of my other office friends came to the office as well (although not doing any work), and eventually we went and watched X-Men 3 in the afternoon. Great movie by the way, but I missed the last scene after the credits (only read about it afterwards). There was an invitation to the SCTV Music Awards later that night, but despite coming for the free food before the show, we promptly left the show when it was about to start as we did not get any seats (and the show itself did not have an interesting line-up). Needless to say, the show was a far cry from Anggun's concert the night before. Leaving JCC at 9 AM, I caught up with Sacha at her place where we eventually joined Saskia and her friend at Kemang.... and that's where we got trapped by the pouring rain until about 1 AM.

Saturday was another case of 'no pause'. I went to the gym at about 10 AM, where Sacha was supposed to join (but couldn't wake up because she slept at the same hour I did), and I worked out until 12 and walked around Plaza Indonesia (and inadvertantly buying yet another CD, this time a special 2 CD 1 DVD pack of Dave Matthews band performing live). I went to the legendary Warung Sekartaji restaurant near my home at about 1 PM, waiting for Oettie, who showed up at about 2 PM. I was going to pitch one of my artists to perform on her event, but when she listened to Krayola's songs, she preferred us! So, now we have our first gig in place, without the album out yet. Hopefully we can give her her money's worth.
So later that day, me, Saskia and Lia went to a high-school event where a client opened a stand there; I wanted to observe... and boy, was that the wrong decision. Standing in line with hundreds of overdressed, noisy pre-teens and teens really made us feel old, hahaha... I was totally in shock. We quickly got out of there and went to Warung Apresiasi after dinner, where Oracle was going to play (in a refreshingly sedate environment compared to the high-school event).

So today comes the pause, finally... I don't think I want to go anywhere today.... I just want to lie down or sit around the house, before another stupendously busy week...

Now Hear This!

Here's a link to a sample of Krayola's music (use it wisely, folks). And in case you don't know, I play bass and some guitars for the songs.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

The Long Overdue EP

Finally, after almost 6 months of sporadic work, meetings, personell changes and personal crises, the 7-song EP by Krayola is complete and ready for distribution. Personally, I'd like to call it The Long Overdue EP, because it took a while getting here, especially for the more senior members of the band. Now, we just have to send the CD master to our label and set up a meeting to talk about the launch and marketing plans.

On the other hand, this is the halfway mark. Now we have to get back to our practice sessions and whip ourselves back into shape so we can support the album with a proper number of appearances (not to mention, hopefully, getting more paid gigs).

Wish us luck!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Medicine

Hmph... I pulled two muscles on my morning gym session, one in my chest, one in my thigh, which, as usual, I did nothing about. The pain anyway was only felt at the basketball session later yesterday, when it hurt when I ran and, unfortunately, when I tried to shoot the ball. Thankfully, almost all shots I made during the game made their way to the basket properly (four out of five), and the rest of the game I spent on guard. I am still trying to catch up with my breath, and now vital parts of my body for playing basketball... so when the first game was up, I stopped, especially when I felt I really pulled my chest muscle on my last shoot (it went in, anyway...). Note to self: better warm-ups next time.

So now I am half-limping and my chest hurts at akward moments like when I pick up my ever-heavy bag (at the minimum I am always carrying my 2-3 kg laptop), but oh well... as with other types of pain, it takes time to heal (and sometimes a bit of medicine).

On other notes... Vira said that she thinks you can 'choose' who you like.... I couldn't beg to differ more. She's half right, anyway, if I read her correctly. You may not be able to choose on who you have a crush with and/or fall in love with, but you can choose how you react to it. I've been down this road so many times I think I know when to act and when not to. Or well at least, I'd like to think so.

Anyhow, I think it's time to find a more lasting bit of medicine for myself, rather than eat chocolate all the time, to go with the time going by. Although my body is aching and tired, the basketball court is a welcome substitute. I never realised how much I loved playing until I stepped on the court again.

Monday, May 15, 2006

On A Roll

Yeah, yet again, I have been missing from the blog world. Let's see if I can sum up the last two weeks in one post:

The first week of May was filled with meeting upon meeting upon meeting, because of some tight deadlines of a few key projects at the office; not to mention preparing to go to Bangkok for the weekend to watch MTV Asia Awards with a contest winner. There was a show of one of the artists under our label on Thursday night, so that night we all went to F Bar at Plaza EX until really late. Saturday morning was the trip to Bangkok, eventless strolling in Siam Centre and the ever-more-boring MTV Asia Awards at night; we didn't have time to go anywhere Sunday morning because no stores were open yet anyway and we had a 1 PM flight.
Apparently the flight was delayed for 2 hours to 3 PM (to our dismay...) and we spent a unmemorable afternoon in the Bangkok Airport transit lounge eating an even more undesirable lunch (the company was ok, though).

The week after was filled with more and more meetings, still because of the tight deadlines; but the weekend was highlighted by a trip to Bandung! It was Alfa's wedding, and I brought in tow Yosi and Lia from the office also, together with Sacha and Coki. The wedding reception itself was, um, alternative, to say the least; perhaps because it was directed more to the newlywed's friends, rather than one of those proper wedding receptions. The next day we toured around Bandung (well, more like the clothing distros) and went back to Jakarta at 6 PM...

and now, I am so damn tired, with still so much work to do.... I may be on a roll or something. Spring roll, perhaps? Or sushi roll?