Broadband for Brandon and Other Miscellaneous Ramblings

Posted on 22. Jun, 2005 by Brandon in Indonesia

Finally.

For the first time in 3 long years I’ll return to having broadband internet at home once again.

Am I leaving Indonesia? Nope – just forking out the cash to succumb to the painfully slow and expensive internet service for my home here in Jakarta. Ironically, I work with computers all day and yet don’t even have access to the web from my house. I’m like the ass-cracked plumber who’s own basement is flooded. This is the primary reason my writing and photography has taken a hit. It’s hard to convince myself to stay after work to do any online work that needs to get accomplished, much less to do anything for the sake of creativity. I vaguely remember in 2002 living in the States having 768kb/sec DSL – for free! On Friday I’ll pay about $200 just to get it set up and $60 a month thereafter for 64 – 128kb/sec from Uninet.

I no longer care about the cost. I no longer care about the speed. I simply want to remove myself from the isolation of work-provided Internet access so that I may, once again, waste absurd amounts of time writing on this blog, visiting photoblogs, hanging out on flickr, and actually laying some groundwork for my future endeavors.

On a side note, I have some very cool news to relay – after some things take place. I don’t want to jinx myself quite yet, but it appears as if some things are beginning to fall into place in regards to my photographic efforts. More to come.

I’m off to Singapore sometime in July – it’s always nice to have a jolt of first-world after another year in Jakarta. The smell of fresh air, the public transport, and the cavernous bookstores are calling my name. Oh yeah, and the Indonesian government is kicking me out for KITAS renewal – my permit to live and work in Indonesia – so really I have no choice.

After Singapore, I think a nice three week trip to Bali is in the works. Every time I stay in Bali I’m always so eager to chill and hit the beaches that I rarely take any pics of the place. I hope this time to make my home base in the village of Ubud for a different kind of experience. I have a few other reasons for this choice – not to be cryptic, but it may be in my best interest to spend some time there.

So, enough about me. What’s up with you guys? How’s life?

View Comments

slurpee

23. Jun, 2005

haha. ;P look forward to seeing more photos/entries then!

Carl Parkes

24. Jun, 2005

Brandon,

Have you been very active with Flickr in recent months? I’ve been too busy to check in, but hope my various Asian photo gallerys are doing well. Almost afraid to look, but I just don’t have the time to closely monitor my 12 groups and daily eliminate the really, really bad photos.

Where is that highlands near Bandung? I might have been there many years ago when I updated the final edition of Indonesia Handbook from Moon Publications by Bill Dalton, but you didn’t really adequately identify the specific location. But it looks familiar. Dalton is now back East visiting relatives and not sure his plans for his house in W Bali near Gianyar, but he seems to have tired of the isolation and may be looking at northern pastures, and perhaps bring along his Sulawesi wife and her daughter from a previous marriage.

A few weeks ago I was in Singapore, KL and Bangkok but the press trip sponsored by Malaysia Airlines and Pan Pacific Hotels did not include Indonesia, so couldn’t drop by your place in the middle of the night to discuss your photography and writing skills, but keep the fear of Allah, cause I just might still drop into your pad some night to visit you and see if your lady is really that stunning.

Carl

Carl Parkes

24. Jun, 2005

Also,

Not to rub it in, but here in San Francisco, our main DSL provider (Comcast) is now running a special at $15 per month, for the first year, for DSL, including free equipment.

Irene

24. Jun, 2005

Me? Life sucks, dude. I hope yours is better.

I have tons of reading materials, a midterm next week, a book review on Global Environmental Politics due, a review on a Multinational Corporation operating in a developing country (hm.. Nike in Indonesia perhaps?) and a paper on Security in Third World country to prepare for.

*sigh*
Ayayayay.

incoup

24. Jun, 2005

what’s so bad about using the intenet facility in the office?
I never have time at home to get on the net, and if I do the
connection is usually so bad I give up anyway.

Avi

24. Jun, 2005

Are you living in Kelapa Gading? I could not get cable here but I got ADSL which works pretty fast. It has not had too many down days this month. Begining of the year was bad though.

Brandon

24. Jun, 2005

Damn Carl – You wrote more in your comment than I did in the post! Good to hear from you.

I have been fairly active with flickr, but moreso with the posting of my own images. I haven’t had too much time to comment on others’ work or lurk in the groups too much. It’s a great source of inspiration and new talent – I just wish I had the time to fully involve myself with it.

The area near Bandung – Lembang (sp?) – it’s about a 45 min drive from Bandung. Absolutely beautiful area, and with the new toll road, you can get to Bandung from Jakarta in about an hour and a half vs. 4-5 hours before.

Also – too bad you didn’t drop by – you (or anyone) is always welcome to stop by if you’re swinging through Jakarta. If you plan to stay a few days I could take you around a bit.

And yes – she really is that stunning.

Brandon

24. Jun, 2005

“Not to rub it in, but here in San Francisco, our main DSL provider (Comcast) is now running a special at $15 per month, for the first year, for DSL, including free equipment.”

Carl – you just ruined my afternoon. That’s unbelievable.

Brandon

24. Jun, 2005

Irene – my life’s going pretty well. Sorry to hear that school sucks. I don’t really miss that aspect of university. (but i do miss many other things!)

“Security in Third World” – you should be an expert on that by now, huh? Growing up in Jak-city has it’s perks, see!

Brandon

24. Jun, 2005

Incoup – It’s not terrible – you’re right, but it’s the fact that I would much rather be able to leave the office and take care of things in my own time, rather than on a schedule. The Internet shuts down at 6pm where I work. I’d prefer to leave asap after work, go to the gym, etc. and use the net later in the evening – something not possible here.

If you can accomplish everything you need to while at work – more power to you. I’d much rather save the hundreds of greenbacks it’ll cost me over the year.

Brandon

24. Jun, 2005

Avi – yeah I live in Kelapa Gading – in Gading Kirana – you know where that is? Over near the rediculously large Artha Gading Mall. The net will most likely be pretty slow – I’ll find out this afternoon I guess, but as I said, it may be better than nothing. Are you in K.G. also?

Morningdew

25. Jun, 2005

Hey Brandon, lemme know when you’re coming over. Drop me an email, will ya?

26. Jun, 2005

Wow! I hope you don’t regret paying so much for broadband over there. My gf’s broadband in Indo is slower than her cellular internet in Singapore (which is around the same speed as 56k modem). I had hard time not to hit the keyboard when the website I wanted to load didn’t load even after 10 minutes of waiting.

Thanks for visiting my blog anyway. =)