Getting married? AVOID THIS DECOR COMPANY FROM HELL: Mount Florist, Jl. Kelinci Raya No. 40, Pasar Baru. Name: Naomi Soeryadi, 0815-888-2364

I wanted to share this particularly rotten decor company if you live in Indonesia and are getting married. Here is their information:

Mount Florist

Jl. Kelinci Raya No. 40

Pasar Baru.

Name: Naomi Soeryadi, 0815-888-2364

mountflorist.com

Stay away from this unprofessional company as they requested full payment prior to rendering service and then cancelling at the last minute, saying that they have another client that day and chose them instead of us.

This is fine if they want to ensure that each client gets the best service, but the problem is they told us at the very last minute, precisely when we are driving down to a meeting place, to finalize our plan which we had talked about months before.

And they cancelled via Blackberry messenger, as we were en route to the meeting place, no sorry, no apology, nothing.

This is what they said roughly:

"Good afternoon, sorry, but I've just seen in my calendar that on 3o oct, the same date of your wedding, I have another decor. The place is far. So I've decided to cancel my contract with you. Sorry about that."

And that was it. Attempts to reach this vendor has been unsuccessful. So now we are trying to figure out what is happening with our payment to this vendor.

Stay away from this troubled vendor.

*******************************************

WASPADALAH! WASPADALAH!

Jika Anda akan menikah, hati-hati dengan vendor berikut ini:

Mount Florist

Jl. Kelinci Raya No. 40

Pasar Baru.

Name: Naomi Soeryadi, 0815-888-2364

mountflorist.com

Mereka ini servisnya busuk banget. Mereka baru aja cancel kontrak kita, lewat BBM, dan parahnya lagi, sewaktu kita lagi jalan mau meeting sama mereka di gedung pernikahan. Kita mau final meeting buat beresin semuanya, yang notabene uda dibahas berbulan2 sebelumnya. Eh tau2 dapet BBM isinya begini:

"Met siang, mohon maaf. Saya baru liat agenda pd tgl 30 Oct 2011 saya ada dekor, tempat berjauhan, takut mengecewakan. Jadi putuskan tdk jadi ambil dekor, kawatir tidak bisa tangani. Makasih."

Wah, seenak jidat banget nih vendor. Terus bulan2 berikutnya yg dia ceriwis banget maksa2 kita utk full payment itu duitnya gimana? Doain yah semoga bisa balik semua.

Pokoknya, kalau mau merit, ati2 aja sama vendor yang ini. Sekedar sharing, mudah2an ga ada yg kejeblok kayak kita. Peace.

Cogitation On The Busway 2/17/09

Wed 17. So I'm sitting on a busway heading straight to my house in Lebak Bulus. Today my bike is deposited at the garage (again) due to the setting being completely blown when I ran out of gas in the middle of Sudirman and I tooled around with the carburetor in an effort to restart it.

This is a new route and I'm happy. Previously I have had to get off the Blok M terminal and hop on one of the local buses going south, to the Lebak Bulus terminal. And the local buses are not pleasant. But this is exactly what I wanted to write today. You know, I've only realized that I've been wrong all this time. When I was in the US, perhaps a part of it being influenced by other Indonesians who have fled the country, and perhaps being myself so far and so long away from the country where I grew up in, I couldn't care less about what was happening here. In my mind, it was almost like, oh well. There's always something wrong with that country anyways. There was a big tsunami? Is my family okay? Yes! Ok. Then everything's cool. There was a big quake? My family? Ok? Ok.

After all, one of the biggest tragedies of Indonesia happened without my being there: the Asian Financial Crisis of 1998 and subsequently, the May 1998 riot in Indonesia. I was already in the US, and I remember at that time I was running around like a rat drowning on the sea. A part of it is because my dad had cut the supply of money for my study as the Rupiah slid from Rp. 2500 a dollar to close to Rp. 20.000 at the height of the crisis. But another part of it is because I wanted to take part in history. I mean, Suharto was about to step down. His 32-years rule was about to end. There were tanks on the street. Several demonstrating students were shot dead by the nation's special forces. Properties were being burned to the ground. Martial law was implemented throughout the nation. Chinese Indonesians were targeted. Indonesia was at the cusp of revolution. Where others flee the country, I had wanted to return to the hot zone, to be part of it. As a young fool, I felt the intense urge to join the movement. And be amongst the masses and friends. My parents tried desperately to keep me there, although they themselves didn't know how I would survive without money from home.

Fast forward nine years later, when I've graduated from college and was then working in corporate America. I had worked various odd jobs including being a liquor store clerk, gas station attendant, pizza delivery, busboy, waiter, and theater usher to help earn my degree. During those times, I went through a lot; things that were my problems; moments that were my moments; life that was my life. I have had guns pointed on my head, on two different occassions, during different store robberies. I've fallen in love there. I've made blood pledges toward three buddies for life that are from three different countries. I've even contemplated ending my life once. So naturally, after all those years, Indonesia seems so far away, and I stopped caring. I've disconnected myself from it.

Now I realize that I've been wrong all along. I was wrong when other Indonesians there bad-mouthed the country. "That country is going straight to hell." And I laughed. And when Americans asked me what was good about Indonesia, I just shrugged. "That country is going to hell," I imitated my disillusioned Indonesian comrades. I bad-mouthed my own country without knowing or seeing what I was saying. Forgive me. I am guilty for falling in to the trap of countless Indonesians who tend to bad mouth their own country without being really fair or honest to themselves. Even now, I don't have to go out from this city to find hundreds of people who will happily discredit Indonesia.

And that is very wrong, because now that I'm here, I can see that this is a different place than 12 years ago. 12 yrs ago, nothing really works. The government system was a joke, the police were landsharks, the people's assembly was a smoking room, and the law didn't work.

I'm not saying that now everything works or that Indonesia is now up to US caliber, but what I am seeing is that the country is changing, and for the better. As I observed during the xmas holidays, when traffic was less and I had more time to relax, I see that potholes were being fixed, road signs and sign posts are posted numerously in the city and are quite clear and accurate (I bet locals can't really appreciate this since they have the city memorized to a science; but I totally do. Ever try following the direction of the signposts to get to a locale in the city? It works.) and that the rules of roads are starting to change for the better (I said rules of the roads, not the streets themselves. Driving in Jkt remains one of the absolute worst experience.)

Thu 18.

Although the police force have not reinvented themselves to an ideal degree, in yet another degree I see that they've evolved into something better. I see that they help old ladies cross the street. I see that they regulate the traffic in a somewhat more serious tone and although corruption is still rampant, it is less so now compared to 12 yrs ago. I have met several policemen that won't even budge with bribes. They give you the ticket without a word and then left. And let's not forget that their SWAT team did catch Noordin M Top, the bastard terrorist who bombed Ritz Carlton and Marriott last year.

And in general, the city of Jakarta possesses a well developed (to a degree) infrastructures that makes life so much easier to adapt to after I came home. I can see the difference when I visit Bali. The roads are wide and expansive, and although they're still prone to flooding, but at least in the major arteries floods subside rapidly as drainages were built. I personally have not had the experience of going through severe flooding as I stick mostly to the city's major arteries.

Foreign investment and presence is more prevalent here than 12 yrs ago. A lot of people now make a conscious effort to bike to work. The government is actively involved in promoting green living. New improvements are made every day, such as the busway and new roads.

So I guess I should end this by saying that although lots of improvements are still needed in this country, but the most important thing is that it's trying to, and it is heading toward that. I think what we often forget is that it takes effort and courage and, above all, time, to achieve that. Instead of us being cynical and critical to the environment that we live in, we should hold our heads high and believe that we are in for better times. And instead of complaining, we should take a deep breath, hold hands together and work toward a greater goal. Indonesia is not perfect yet, but what is important is that we have hope.

Author's note: turns out that the new busway route still sucks. I spent close to 2.5 hrs on the road on congested roads and they still transfer me twice. Its not a one-time deal where I hopped on the bus and sit until I reach home. Looks like I'll be going on my old, albeit less comfortable, route.

Personal Comparison Between Blackberry Bold and Bold 2 (Onyx) - Bold 1 is better?

Having had the opportunity to use both the Blackberry Bold and now Onyx, and of course that accursed Curve 8320 (sorry, but it lost all of my contacts. Three times. It's not even worth mentioning here), I'd like to share my personal comparison between the Bold and the brand spankin' new Onyx.

Screen resolution:

Everyone's been saying just how great Onyx screen is, and that it's the best screen to date, but to me, somehow the Bold seems better. Maybe due to the larger size? It is true that the Onyx has some amazingly crisp and laser-sharp display, but somehow... it doesn't wow me quite as much as when I turned on my Bold for the first time. And then of course I browsed through the pre-loaded pictures and out popped the BMW's Series 1 white Coupe and I remember I was like...whoa.... it literally looked like an actual miniature BMW is sitting inside the phone. The rest of the pictures on the Bold look great too. Just incredibly sharp and detailed and crystal clear. Whilst on the Onyx I had the impression that the pre-loaded pics are mediocre when displayed full screen. There aren't too many great pictures pre-loaded on the Onyx too, but maybe that's because there's an AT&T version and T-Mobile version. I haven't seen the TMob one, so I don't know what pictures are preloaded there. The Onyx's screen is great for reading texts as they really pop out to your eyes, but in the overall picture impressiveness department I still like the Bold better both in magnitude and clarity.

Keyboard:

I know a lot of people will disagree strongly with me on this one, but I found the Bold (and subsequently the Onyx) keyboard to be too soft for my taste. I guess I'm used to mashing on the keys on my Curve and I'm not a gentle type of guy - I type messily, and I like that emo typing where I forcefully jam on each button with all its click-clackity glory. With the Onyx, it's so soft that I almost feel bad jamming my fat thumbs on the keys. I just can't shake the feeling that I'm going to end up chipping one of the keys, although obviously that's not going to happen. While my old Curve is retarded, I have to praise its endurance for withstanding my daily abuse. The keys on the Onyx is also bunched up together, unlike the individual keys on the Curve or Javelin or Gemini so it's hard for me to accurately tell which keys is which, something that I've memorized to an exact science on my old Curve. I need grace to type smoothly on the Onyx, and grace is not something that I possess in abundance. One more thing: I discovered that if my nails are a bit long, my typing accuracy suffers further because my nails would slip on the fretted keys. Not that big of a deal, I think, after I get used to this about a week or so.

Trackpad vs. trackball:

Love it or hate it? Like I said, the Onyx is just so smooth overall that I almost feel bad swiping my greasy fingers across its high-gloss trackpad. The trackpad is super slick, super accurate and super sensitive. It's so sensitive in fact that I notice that depending on the light condition (dim vs. strong light), I can actually move the cursor just a tad bit simply by hovering my finger a couple of millimeters above the trackpad - without touching the pad. The only thing I miss from the trackpad is the actual tactile feel as I scroll around and feel it zip, zip, zip. And since it's integrated flat right into the surface panel, sometimes I touch the wrong panel and the cursor wouldn't move at all. That's opposed to the trackball where I always know exactly where it was since it juts out from the rest of the panel. But the trackpad IS a lot quicker and more responsive than the ball, and I think this is an awesome shift of gear from RIM. One drawback from this pad is that when my fingers are sweaty, movements can get a little draggish.

Size / Form:

For me, the choice is clear. Onyx ALL the way. Besides being totally hot in polished shiny black/chrome sexiness (you can't have too much black/chrome), what really wins my heart is its small footprint. I'm a guy, so I really appreciates a thin, sleek device that doesn't bulge up in or eat up one of my four pockets. The Bold is just way too big for me, especially once it's fitted with a condom silicone case. Bigger size means easier typing? Not for me. I did away typing absolutely just fine with the Onyx or Curve size keys. The Onyx could be a little lighter so it doesn't drag my pants down, but whatever....it just feels very sturdy overall.

OS:

The Onyx comes pre-loaded with OS 5.0.296 (there's a newer .371 version just leaked! try it if you dare then let me know what happens) which is just blazing fast - scary fast, in fact. That's augmented with Onyx's hyper CPU that's considerably faster than the Bold, so I'm truly satisfied. But there's something I totally hate about this OS version, and that is I have to be careful when when composing SMS text because if I make so much a mistake in pressing "alt" and then the "delete" key, it will delete my entire SMS text - right up to the beginning of the message. This is, to date, my biggest pet peeves with the Onyx (or the OS). Like I said, I'm a messy typer, but I type fast, and I make some mistakes. So I chaotically mash on the alt key and delete key, and if I so much as slip past the "L" key and hit delete while the alt is activated, my entire SMS text is gone. That makes me feel like chucking the shiny Onyx onto the wall, and that's not a good thing. I truly hope those morons at RIM amend this huge mistake on their next OS update.

But I can definitely say that the web browser is much improved although it remains, unequivocally, a BLACKBERRY BROWSER. It's not an iPhone. It still can't display some pages. It still won't play Flash. It's nowhere near as robust as I'd like it to be. It's still a Blackberry browser.

Camera:

3.2 MP and so far so good. Auto focus works great. Flash is....flash.

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My First Experience Getting Hit By A Motorcycle - A Lesson Well Learned

I think I'm accumulating more and more immersive, in-depth experiences in this country faster than I thought. Over the past three months, I've been ticketed and lost my newly acquired driver's license, experienced epic (and I mean EPIC) traffic jams, re-learned driving in hellish traffic and getting honked by various types of cars and motorcycles more times than all of my 12 years of living in LOS ANGELES combined (LA drivers aren't exactly friendly, they ain't), learned how to jaywalk like a pro (frogger-style), became very adept at chasing city buses and jumping aboard at the last minute......... and today I proudly learned another essential skill mandatory for survival in Jakarta: Look both ways before you cross the street.

In the afternoon, as usual I had my coffee craving, so I went outside my office to the small "warung" (street food stall) across the street. Yes, in the US, I go to Starbucks to order my coffee, but in here, I can either send someone to fetch me the coffee or I can go myself, order it, then have it delivered to my office. Ahh....such is the life.

There was a medium-sized boxed truck parked right in front of the coffee warung. Although logically this would be a strange sight considering that the small alleyway street is only about 5 meters wide and two-way traffic normally passes by here, I've gotten used to such sights and thought of nothing further.

In a hindsight, I should've known that that was my blind spot coming out from the warung. After ordering the coffee and making small talks with the shopkeeper, I carelessly stepped out of the warung and, thinking nothing further, appeared from behind the boxed truck to cross the street back to my office.

It happened so fast. I only had a chance to swing my arm out when out of nowhere, a zooming motorcycle swiped my entire right arm at high speed. Shocked, I left my arm flailing in the air, my wrist bone throbbing from the impact, and then I turned my head around and saw everything in slow motion: The zooming motorcycle swerving and losing its balance, the driver obviously just as shocked from the thought of hitting someone full-on, and then - wobble, wobble, wobble, and - CRASH! The driver and its passenger crashed to the ground with a resounding thud, skidded a small distance, then hit an oncoming motorcycle from the opposite side, which also wobbled and fell.

I watched the entire chain reaction with my left arm still hanging in the air, mouth agape. I didn't know whether I should be mad or laughing. The entire scene would've been so comical if it weren't so f***d up. The sound of the crash was pretty horrifying, and very unfortunately for the dude riding on the back seat, he wore a short pants. I think he was fine, though, as I didn't notice any burn marks on the leg that he skidded over. He was nice enough to turn around very quickly and asked if I was okay. I didn't reply right away, still in shock, and he looked pretty concerned.

For a moment, all three of us just stared at each other, not knowing what to say. I was at fault for appearing suddenly from behind the truck. The driver of the "ojek" (ojek is motorcycle for hire, a common transportation form in Jakarta. You pay the driver to drive you somewhere and pay him an agreed-upon fare) was obviously at fault for driving up against the one-way street. And at high speed. The passenger was looking at both of us like, seriously, this is some f***d up s**t. I'm wearing a short, yo. Could've lost a leg there.

But after small mumbles and grumbles (none of us dared to point fingers because ALL of us were at fault one way or the other), everyone just went along their way. I returned safely to my office, and as I waited for my coffee to arrive, I sat very quietly and thought to myself, "I have an interesting life." I thank the Lord for His perpetual protection on my emptyheaded ass, and for this rich life that I have. Rich not in terms of financially, but rich in terms of the life experiences I've gathered over the years; the library of stories that I'll be able to tell my kids and grandkids and amuse them for hours on end. Life IS beautiful - if you only know how to look.

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JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton Are Back On Their Feet!

I went to JW Marriot and Ritz Carlton yesterday to spend a day (literally, a real full day) at the sites of recent Jakarta bombings on July 17.

The two luxury hotels are back on their feet and are fully operational during our site visit there. I reviewed Asia Restaurant at Ritz Carlton and Sailendra at Marriott. Security was tip top tight, of course, but not overly annoying. I could see that everyone is tense and the security at the gate was especially watchful. This time around I get the feeling they don't joke around and although I couldn't really tell if they were really doing their jobs, the security did a very thorough job checking our car and I could see the difference between security at "lesser" luxury establishments such as Pondok Indah Mall (that's right, I hope you read this because you still suck at security) or even Plaza Indonesia.

The gates leading to the lobby of the hotels were double barricaded, so there's absolutely no way that a car can ram through both gates. Kudos for the great security details at both hotels. Then we had to go through layers of added security like metal detectors and live personnel body search.

Once we were inside, I noticed black-clad security sentries watchfully following our every movements. When we were standing around to wait for the PR of the hotels to come out, they approached us to inquire who and why we were waiting.

Once we met up with the PRs, however, it was back to luxury hotel treatments. We were treated so very courteously, perhaps due to their trying to build their images back up. But the hotels were bustling with activities, obviously not as great as pre-bombing but to be honest they were really decent.

Asia Restaurant at Ritz Carlton was formerly Airlangga and they changed their name after the bombing. It was the actual ground zero of the bombing, so I was eating at a place where at one point in time all hell broke loose. But I felt no bad aura or any chill effect while at the site. Quite the contrary, the restaurant was fully rebuilt, beautifully decorated and was quite honestly airy and sunny. The restaurant was bright, lighted by the romantic afternoon sun shining through the tall-ceilinged glass windows. I asked the director of the restaurant if the name change is due to the fact that they're trying to put the past behind, and she said that partially it is that, but in so many ways the restaurant itself has changed. For example, they've upped their culinary offerings and added new menu items as well as revamped the decor, so it is in technical terms no longer the same restaurant. And in my opinion I think they did a decent business, considering they just newly re-launched the restaurant and when we ate there, there were about 10 tables occupied. That wasn't bad, considering it was late lunch hour and it was a workday.

I would rate the food as A-. The quality is good, but some things can be improved. For example, the sashimi bar had a salmon block that is imported from Norwegia, as well as raw oysters and mussels that are imported from New Zealand. But when I requested the sushi, the cuts were not quite as precise and were just too thin for the ratio of rice. The taste was acceptable, however, and decent enough. Service was impeccable at this place. The grill section is excellent, I ate a very good swordfish steak and seafood shish kebab.

When I went to the Marriot, however, I was just blown away by the quality of their food. Everything was A+ at this place. The Sailendra Restaurant isn't named Jakarta's best buffet for nothing. From the berry ice tea to the salmon gravlax to the Brie cheese to the sashimi to the rotisserie chicken, everything is of tip top premium quality. They even use Lindt chocolate for the chocolate fountain. And, best of all, I get to taste the best moon cake in town. The restaurant makes very high quality, snow skin moon cakes that tasted exactly like the description written on each cover. The best ones for my taste was the durian flavored, followed by strawberry and finally green tea. I don't dig the beans flavors, never are crazy for those. I seriously have never tasted moon cakes as good as the ones at Sailendra.

The restaurant was surprisingly very busy as well, with almost all of the tables taken. I was almost expecting to see a waiting line at the front. The PR manager told me that the hotel has been doing unexpectedly well, with ardent supports from domestic as well as international customers. During the grand re-opening of the restaurant, she said about 100 people came to celebrate and eat at the restaurant, and that type of level has remained more or less the same since then. I'm happy to hear that. They deserve this.

I think a lot of people sympathizes with what Indonesia has to go through, particularly with these two hotels, and I think people want to show their support. In fact, All American Rejects, the American (duh) rock band from Oklahoma, just stayed at the Ritz Carlton for their August 17th performance. When asked why they would stay there, they replied, "Because we're fearless. F*** terrorists!" That's the way everyone should treat terrorists. They're nothing more but fecal matters, and they need to be taught that people the world over simply have evolved: they're smarter, they don't give a s*** about extremism any longer, and they can't be fooled with simple propaganda. It's the year 2009, and the power of intelligent freedom is in the hands of the people, not in the few backward-thinking extremists.

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My First Moving Violation Ticket - And Not A Warm Feeling

I just got my first moving violation ticket in this country. You can imagine my rising panic when I saw the policeman calmly walked closer and closer to my car as I waited by the traffic light at Bundaran Hotel Indonesia. Yes, he calmly walked toward my car as I was sitting in traffic. All kinds of thoughts crossed my mind. Why is he walking toward me? Crap. What the hell did I do? Oh s***. What do I do?? WHAT DO I DO??? Am I going to jail or something?

Then he saluted me (yes, the police are very polite here) and motioned to lower my window. He said, "Sir, there's a no crossing lane at the turnabout. Would you please kindly pull over to the side over there?"

You need to know that I understand nothing about the law here. I have no idea how to handle this. In the past, I have always been able to bribe (hey, that was just the way things are) and get away fairly quickly and hassle free. Now, though, I've heard that things have changed a lot and the anti-corruption law is so prevalent that they actually offer policemen Rp. 10 million to bait and trap bribers.

At the same time I don't want to say the wrong thing and make things worse, I also don't want to sound like a total foreigner and let him rape me even more. So I pulled over and he explained to me, so very politely (and that's the ironic part, because I still end up getting the ticket) that I needed to make a left after I got off Plaza Indonesia and not cross the oncoming traffic directly to the turnabout.

I decided not to challenge his knowledge about the post he works at every day. But just how the hell did he see my car cross that from that far away? He was at the other end of the huge turnabout. So he asked for my driver's license (thank God I already have one!) and my vehicle registration. Lucky I have both with me. And then, here's the funny part, he asked me very politely, "So, sir, I'm going to have to ticket you, okay? You're fine with that, right?" I tried to weasel my way out by saying, oh, come on now officer, let me go this once and I won't do it anymore, and tomorrow is Indonesia's Independence Day, come on, show some mercy, but he budged none.

Lucky for me I received a forwarded email this morning that basically tells everyone to ask for the "blue" ticket form instead of the "red." The email said that if you ask for the "blue" form, it's basically stating that you're guilty and you'll pay the fine. If you get the "red" form, which is the default ticket given by the police, you'll have to contest the conviction in court and the email further explained that besides the hassle of actually going to court, you'll be standing in line and be extorted more wild fees by the court officials. In short, it'll be a long process since you're contesting the ticket.

Red ticket means that you're pleading guilty and the email so says, the process goes like this: You transfer the fund (whatever the fine amount is) to the National bank via ATM, then you bring the slip to the police station center to reclaim your driver's license. Case closed. Oh yeah, they took away my driver's license until I can prove that I pay the fine amount. The biggest boon to this method is that the money will go straight to the country's cash registers and not to any corrupt officials. Also, be advised that the fine amount cannot exceed more than Rp. 50,000.

Since this is a forwarded email, and my general philosophy is to view every forwarded email with a grain of salt (you can never check the actual truth of forwarded email) , I shall see if this advise will actually work or not. So far it seems like it's playing out like the email said. In my panic that email was the only thing that popped into my mind, and I blurted out I want the blue ticket. At once I can see the cop's behavior changed toward me, it seemed like he took me in more carefully, maybe because he thought I knew the law. I really hope it will turn out to be exactly what the email described. We shall see.

The Blue form of moving violation ticket

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Riva Bistro & Bar French Cuisine

I got my third assignment today and went to the Park Lane Hotel in Kuningan area to interview Chef Gilles Marx, the exquisitely authentic French Executive Chef of Riva Bistro & Bar.

Riva Bistro specializes in superbly authentic French cuisine and is elegant yet modern with its open kitchen setting. Chef Gilles, as he prefers to be called, is also Riva's Food and Beverage Director and passionately engages himself in all things French, such as buying locally produced, daily delivered freshest herbs and vegetables and hosting monthly food & wine pairing introductory courses at the restaurant.

Check out some of his signature dishes:

THAT is the biggest pepper grinder I have ever seen in my life. The only time I see someone tipping something that tall was when I was drinking my half yard at the Yard House. I miss that place.

This is the signature appetizer salad, the seasonal Girolles Mushroom Salad. Girolles mushroom is a special type of mushroom grown in France, and it's in season now over there. The salad was light, springy and refreshing. I thought I tasted a bit of clam juice and tomato, while in fact the chef said the sauces contained walnut oil and a secret vinaigrette recipe.

This is my favorite: Goose liver with orange sauce. I'm sure the menu name is a lot more sophisticated than that, but I left my note at the office. Check out the upcoming edition of Maxx Media magazine for my complete coverage. Anyways, goose liver is basically pate, and on this dish, it's pan fried to a crisp perfection and drenched in, again, secret orange sauce recipe. The citrusy, acidic orange sauce really finely complements the fatty and creamy goose liver sensation as it cleanse your mouth for each bite. By the way, that big piece of orange up there can be eaten whole, like a pickled orange marmalade. Chef Gilles, characteristically a Frenchman, hand made and pickles those oranges himself, blanching the oranges for 2 days and keeping it in a chamber, where he replaces the seasoned water every 2 days or so. The entire process is, again, a secret :-)

This is Chef Gilles' proudest signature dish: the Bouillabaisse soup. As you can see from the picture, no expense was spared on quality ingredients. From the 12/15 shrimp centerpiece to the extremely well-seasoned red snapper to the green mussel to the fish stock and crab meat juice to the fresh, crisp vegetables, the entire soup was like an explosion of flavor each time I put a spoonful into my mouth.

Here's their signature dessert and special-of-the-month: Apricot....something. Pudding? Ice cream? I'll be honest, I don't care much about desserts, so I don't really remember much details about the ingredients on this one. It was very good of course, but like I said, if you want to get the complete scoop, be sure to check out my upcoming reviews on our next edition of Maxx Media.

Here's another dessert sampler for the ladies to drool over: There's the Praline at the topmost, then the Creme Brulee (so GOOD btw!!!!), then the Wilton? Wafton? Wilfton? Aggghhhh! Just check out my next edition of Maxx Media for September!! It was a dreamy cream-in-the-middle-of-crusty crisp layers. The bottommost is Peach Sherbet.

This is Park Lane Hotel's Junior Suite bedroom. With a camera phone, I can't really convey just how spacious this room really is. Curse my stupid broken camera!! I bought it right before I went back and now it's broken? How the hell am I supposed to claim the USA warranty?

View from the junior suite

This is their Premier Club Suite Lounge, a members-only room suites designed with upgraded priveleges and amenities for business travelers and upscale clientele. The Premier Club is located on the sixteenth and seventeenth floors, the hotel's tallest floors.

The view from the Premier Club Lounge. Check out the Saving Private Ryan-style memorial cemetery! These are fallen national heroes from the Dutch Colonial time.

Cute little chapel...... if not for the fact that it's for..... well, you know.

Park Lane Hotel Jakarta is a 5-star boutique hotel strategically located on Jakarta's Golden Triangle commercial district. The Park Lane Jakarta is the sister hotel of Park Lane Hong Kong.

Now, about this Maxx Media I kept on mentioning above. I just got a job as an Editor (yay!!!!!!) for Maxx Media, Asia's only premier magazine focusing on upscale hotels, restaurants and spas for discerning readers. Our goal is providing informative entertainment for busy executives and professionals wishing to unwind from their hectic schedule. I think that with my intense passion for traveling, food, adventure and photography, I can really bring value to the magazine's already-established brand and take it to a higher level - and achieve our mission to become Asia's only trusted authority on premium hotels, spas and restaurants!

My blog, of course, will not be an exact copy of the magazine. I will still cover underground, little known eating places as I discover them on a daily basis. I LOVE these localized places, and to me they will always represent a particular city's true soul.

Maxx Media is a monthly publication and is currently distributed free of charge. You can find it in the lobbies of premium hotels and establishments. We're working hard to launch an interactive website and once it's up and running, you can bet that it's going to be interactive, revolutionary, and loaded with goodies! Be sure to check back often as I will posting development updates of this exciting project.

Riva Bistro & Bar

The Park Lane Hotel Jakarta Lobby Level

Jalan Casablanca Kav. 18

Jakarta 12870, Indonesia

Phone : (62-21) 828 2000

Fax : (62-21) 828 2222

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Busway ride experience

It's 9:24 am and I'm way early on my first day of work. I'm now sitting in an unopened food court at Gajah Mada Plaza, with nothing to do. I had left the house at 8am for fear of traffic. They told me to show up at 11am. Jakarta traffic is famously horrendous in the morning, so I decided not to take any chances. I arrived at Blok M terminal, dropped off by my driver at 9am. From there, I took the busway to go to kota area (downtown area of Jakarta). The experience has been super positive, the bus was not at all crowded and it was cooly air conditioned. There was absolutely no traffic, since the bus travels on its own special lane. So I got here extremely early, and I'm happy. Although I got off one stop too early and had to walk about a quarter mile, but I'm happy that there is now a proper transport for the people of Jakarta. It remains to be seen if my positive experience will continue with the traffic going back home. The busway only costs Rp. 3000 (30 cents) and it runs all the way from the main terminal at Blok M all the way to the last stop, at Tanjung Priok (? Not sure if correct).

Indonesia's Counter Terrorism Unit Killed 3 Terrorists, Foiled Suicide Bomb Attempt

Sometimes I don't get those negative people who only seem to want to say anything, as long as it's bad words, about their own country. Following Indonesia's counter-terrorism police forces' successful operations at killing 3 terrorists and seizing various bomb caches, these sourpusses still find their voices to critize the police's efforts. They even accuse the police for setting up the wrong people and staging the raid! Sure, it's the wrong guy; he only happens to have 100 kg of explosives with him. Morons.

APPRECIATE what the police and special forces are trying to do for you. They're trying to keep you safe and put another day in your life. And they actually did quite an impressive job, having managed to sniff out the main guy responsible for the JW Marriot and Ritz Carlton bombing, Noordin M Top, safe house and network in less than a month. What's even better, the police succedeed in foiling a plan to blow up the president's private residence during the Indonesian Independence Day on August 17th. These terrorists are truly insane.

It was rumored that Noordin was killed during the raid, but the police have yet to release a formal statement following the result of DNA test. Two of his accomplices were shot dead in another location for trying to toss pipe bombs into the police when arrested. The two were to be suicide bombers for the president's residence bombing on Aug 17, and they were accomplices during the Australian Embassy bombing in 2004. Good riddance. And GREAT JOB KAPOLRI!! Keep up the awesome job.

Here are some photos of the drama. Photo credit to username: Ed Lee from Kas Kus (http://www.kaskus.us/come_inside.php) and AFP Getty.

Raid in Temanggung, East Java

The house where the terrorist holed up lit with police spotlight

The raid started at Friday afternoon, around 5pm and lasted for 18 hrs, until 9:50am the next day. The police were wary of previous experience with booby trapped entrances and suicide bombs and chose to flush the suspect out of the house instead.

Snipers and members of Detachment 88 (Indonesia's elite counter-terrorism unit) took up the high ground and shot up at the house

Drama during the siege. Check out the white smoke billowing after police rocketed the house.

White smoke billows from the house. Police blew up the house 5 times with low explosives to flush the terrorist out

Police securing post raid perimeter. 1 dead terrorist was taken out with body bag. One less evil person on the world. Let's celebrate.

Separate Raid at Bekasi, near Jakarta. The House of Would-Be Bombers for the Presidential Palace and Residence During Celebration of Indonesian Independence Day, Aug 17.

A lone officer of Indonesia's elite counter-terrorism unit Special Detachment 88 stands guard at the street entrance to the terrorists' house. That's a nice shotgun, dude. But no semi-auto assault shotgun?

Activity surrounding the raid at suspected terrorists' house in Bekasi.

Look at the luggage. It's the same delivery method used in Marriot and Ritz Carlton bombing.

Bomb squad officer trying to defuse the assembled explosives material. Dude, careeeefuul.

A flock of special forces officers. I wouldn't mess with these guys.

Confiscated bomb making material enough to make 100 kg (220 lbs) explosives!

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Smartphone War: What Apple, RIM Should Do

BB Mania!

Following my earlier post on Blackberry's cult-like popularity in Indonesia, I would like to offer my own set of recommendations for RIM, the maker of Blackberry, and Apple, the maker of iPhone. Why? Because these are my wish list for a super smartphone that combines both of their strongest features.

I choose to pit Blackberry vs. iPhone because I see the iPhone as a powerful newcomer (already at third place in global market share) in the smartphone world with an astonishingly fast-learning abilities. Of course, I can't discount Nokia or even Nexia, which may prove to be an even bigger threat to Blackberry in Indonesian market.

But for all purposes, I think iPhone comes closest to the Blackberry in terms of the "It" factor, class and unique selling points. Nokia still holds the largest market share holder in Indonesia, but they are fast becoming irrelevant, and Nexia concentrates on selling introductory, low-end handsets.

For now, Blackberry wins hands down for business use, but I won't be surprised if Apple completely reinvents itself all over again within the next 2 - 3 years. If RIM doesn't play catch up to Apple's strong points - SOON, one day they'll wake up and see their precious Blackberry's market share flood over to the future "Unlocked iPhone 80GB with expandable micro SD and replaceable battery AND native push email 5.5GS." Remember that in Indonesia trends flare up like wildfires and once that fire started, there'll be no turning back, as in the case with Nokia.

Already the iPhone has the fastest processor, biggest onboard memory, the best, most beautiful User Interface of any smartphone in the market right now, and its webkit-based browser is constantly rated as the best in the industry. Tell me what won't stop them from giving their best into taking Blackberry head-on. I think that RIM, which has the world's 2nd largest market share, sits squarely on Apple's cross hairs. Taking out RIM would be their next logical step. Once RIM is out, then Apple can concentrate on tackling any Windows Mobile and Palm pestilence and eventually Nokia, which dominates at a whopping 43.7% and yet saw its market share tumble down from 49.4% vs. 2008.


iPhone took the world by storm and elevated mobile computing to the next level

The real problem with RIM is not about their devices. Well, maybe a little, since it seems like they keep on dishing out new models every 6 months or so - and this makes for Microsoft-esque business model, where people would rather wait for the next, better model to come out - myself included. But what is more significant is that RIM doesn't seem to be able to offer something truly new, something truly revolutionary. They don't seem to get it. RIM's answer to the iPhone was the Storm....with 1 GB of onboard memory and the same tired, restrictive Java script. Yes, Java is secure and can be locked down to a specific company's security level, but that very advantage RIM so loudly whistle blows also doubles as their biggest disadvantage: It cripples the way their operating system can be exploited by third party developers. With so much security and encryptions developers have to put up with, you can forget reaching anywhere near Apple's 50,000 applications on its App Store.

And then there's the issue of memory. It's incomprehensible that RIM still fails to take its cue from the iPhone. 1 GB on the Storm may seem like a lot of memory, but in the face of ever-increasing complex applications, feature-rich interactive games and memory-hogging multimedia applications, 1 GB is really not much at all. That is especially considering that the OS will become unstable and buggy when the memory is low. And then it'll start deleting old emails and call logs automatically, which is just adorable. Then you'd have to perform the battery pull when the device hangs up on you. Yup, that's right. "Perform the battery pull" is actually a time-honored official RIM recommendation for solving about 99% of the problems. Most of the BB forums out there recommends that one do a battery pull at least once a month. Don't believe me? (http://www.bbgeeks.com/quick-tips/how-to-solve-any-blackberry-problem-88906/).

Call it "convenient" or even an "advantage" (to the iPhone) that a battery pull can be performed and it'll fix problems, but to me, it's embarrassing to perform in public, and time consuming. It's.... primitive. Yes, some lucky ducks have never had to pull their batteries, but what about the majority? According to what I read on the forums, a lot of people do it, and many more had to do it on a regular basis to clean the memories. I must be one of those people.

Onboard memory size matters because this is where you put all the applications. You cannot download and run applications from SD cards. Apple's doing it right with putting in 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB of onboard memories. IT IS UTTERLY UNACCEPTABLE that RIM is trying to win over the consumer segment yet they fail to see this. It is unacceptable that some of their customers are still struggling to figure out how to transfer media files to the cards and getting confused why they can't download applications into the cards. It's unacceptable that they have to struggle to manage which applications they can download and can't. It's unacceptable that we have to put up with this. It is true that, thanks to the Java script, applications are relatively small and you can cram a lot of stuff in that scanty memory. But when a 6 MB application like Viigo is considered large by Blackberry standard, I know they have a problem. If RIM hopes to get anywhere on the consumer segment, they need to start working on their offerings of better, bigger, badder applications that are not only fun, but also beautiful and functional. And all this takes memory.

So now I ask, why should I buy Storm 2? The Magnum? The Tour? They'll be the same old shells in new packaging. Storm 2 will still have 1 GB of memory. The Tour will have 256 MB. The OS will still be based on Java, and it still won't be able to display full HTML web pages, and it still won't be able to play beautiful, multimedia rich, sophisticated games that iPhone users are enjoying.


The upcoming Blackberry Magnum, which will combine touchscreen and physical QWERTY full keyboard.

What is the difference between OS 4.5 that I have on my device right now with OS 5.0? New looks, added functionalities here and there, but that's about it. What RIM doesn't seem to get is that consumers want more and more everyday, and companies like Apple's got it. It revolutionized the OS paradigm, and they literally changed the game overnight. THAT'S what I want RIM to do.

What Apple did was they gave people an entirely new offering: A rich webkit-based OS browser designed with the "It" factor and the "Now" factor in mind - while RIM is stuck in the past. They'll still issue the same rigid, miserably limited, antiquated OS that was never designed to do things the year 2009 and beyond allows them to do.

I'm not trying to put RIM down and promote the iPhone. I love my Blackberry just as much as the next guy - it's a true blessing for my job search. But RIM is a company with so much potential and yet, they don't get it - yet. What I'm trying say is, RIM would do well to rethink its entire business model. Stop focusing so much on the hardware; start focusing on the firmware. Play catch up to Apple and Android. And this may prove to be their hardest challenge yet: Its Java dependence is so acute and so deeply ingrained in their entire infrastructure that it may prove very difficult if not nigh impossible to open up their OS to third party developers the way Apple and Android is set up to do.

I'm trying to say that a Blackberry at its core remains essentially a rigid business tool, no matter how much make up and polishes it receives. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but considering that it's trying to capture that all-important mainstream consumer market who WILL care about how web pages are displayed on the screen and how interactive games can be downloaded and played, I'm saying it's not going to work.

So now, I really like to sit back and see how this battle turns out to be. Not necessarily just in Indonesia, but also in the world. Who will be the most responsive and adaptable to consumer demand? For now, the Blackberry is one step ahead, but never underestimate Apple, who's an extremely fast learner. Who will emerge the victor in a country where a product diffusion's trickle-down effect can no more be pronounced than anywhere else?

As a matter of fact, I'll be watching closely for Nexian, the Indonesian handset newcomer. Positioned as a low-end, low-priced product, the Nexian Berry as it's called, possesses the same features of a Blackberry: Facebook, chatting and email. Priced at around Rp. 1 mil with one year warranty and bundled local cellular service, Nexian has sold over 2 million units since its launch in 2006, and is targeting another 4 million in 2009. Incredible growth, and certainly one heading toward critical mass success.


Nexian NX-G900, dubbed Nexian Berry. The hottest newcomer in Indonesian smartphone market.


With RIM, its biggest challenges would be to work on its existing infrastructure and roll out a completely different, off the hook, never-before-seen-on-Blackberry webkit-based OS that is not only web friendly but also developer friendly. It also needs to work on offering a better package that is much more consumer-centric while retaining all of its wonderful business functionalities. And please, no more battery pull outs. Just make the darn system more stable.

With Apple, its biggest challenge yet is learning to lighten up. If Apple's business objective is truly profit and its objective is to gain market share by selling as many iPhones as possible, then it would be wise to ditch its exclusivity aura and follow RIM's current model: Do whatever it takes to get as many people as possible adopt the device. Don't fight the people trying to unlock the device (a.k.a hackers) - they're trying to get YOUR product to the hands of consumers. Besides, you can't win against hackers - haven't you learned this already?? Instead, focus the resources on developing push emails and better office synchronizations.

One thing is for certain: At this point, no one makes the perfect device. Given the choices, I'll choose Blackberry just because it's more functional for my job search. But I drool over the iPhone's large memories and multimedia capabilities and its super clean OS. Whoever comes ahead in this battle, that's who I'll pledge my loyalty to...... and my money.

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Jakarta Bombing July 17, 2009 - Our Prayers To The Victims and Families

This morning Jakarta time, 2 large explosions ripped through Jakarta's upscale central business district, one at J.W. Marriot Hotel and the other at Ritz Carlton Hotel, at approximately 7:45 AM and 7:47 AM, respectively. The twin bombing is suspected to have been carried out by suicide bombers, and brought back dark memories of the 2003 Marriot bombing, at the same place. Evidences gathered thus far indicated trademark Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group's modus operandi, blamed for much of the country's past bombings. Latest casualties report were 8 killed and 50 wounded.


Smoke billows from the JW Marriot after the 7:45 AM explosion

Several conspiracy theories immediately surfaced, with one theory pointing to a politically motivated bombing in light of a successful presidential election and the other to the apparent resiliency of the Jemaah Islamiyah extremists, whose group's capability was severely crippled by the government's total commitment on crackdowns on its organization.

Whatever the truth is, let us pray for the victims and their families. Our hearts and thoughts go to all of the people affected by this tragedy. They don't deserve this, and they deserve justice. I hope the government this time around will act with extreme measures and expunge all elements of chaos from Indonesia once and for all. All enemies of Indonesia die.

I want to particularly stress that this terror act is NOT representative of Indonesia's general population. Sadly, due to a few rogue individuals and extremist groups with their own twisted agendas, Indonesia has been more often than not associated with a terrorist state. This can be no further than the truth. A dominant majority of the 235 million people here in Indonesia just want to live their lives peacefully, free from terror and guaranteed by basic human rights. Here in this country, life is already hard - there is absolutely no reason to make it harder. So the entire Indonesia, not just a specific interest group, right now bleeds from this tragedy.



A parody of the Manchester United's ad in Indonesia. "Mau?" is Indonesian for "Want it?" Originally aimed for enticing people to attend the event. Most Indonesians are die hard soccer fans.
Manchester United, England's popular soccer team, immediately canceled their trip to Jakarta. MU was to play against Indonesia's All Star team on Sunday and was to stay at the Ritz Carlton.


Having said that, I do think that there are a couple of things that the government and security agencies should really do to prevent future things like this from happening again.

First, although the first thing I notice when I arrive in this country was how tight security is, it's mostly superficial and a formality at best. Everywhere you go in this town, they have security check points for your car and your body. When you enter any parking, they'll do a stop and search. They'll check inside the car to see if there's any suspicious passenger or package, and they'll check the trunk, and they check for the underside of the car using a mirror stick. However, more often than not, I see them quickly opening the door and closing it, pop in their heads for a second or two without really checking the inside of the car. It's as if they're performing a routine, opening and closing the car doors so fluidly and quickly. Crafty terrorists would most definitely get away with hiding explosives on the underside of the chair, inside the car's cavities, etc. They need better explosives detection tools, like sniffing dogs or just a better, thorough search.

And then when you get to the entrance door, they either have metal detector gates or sticks. But are they effective?? Most of the time the guards just swipe purses and bags with their sticks nonchalantly, not even bothering to stop the person to get a better look inside their bags or waiting for a beep from their devices. I personally have never been caught with carrying my pocket knife, which I carry with me everywhere I go. Not once did I get caught or even stopped. Not long ago, there was a case where a business man was being robbed at gunpoint at a luxurious shopping mall in Jakarta. How the heck did you NOT catch a gun??

So hopefully after this they'll really step up to the plate and do a better job all around. It's really a tragedy that things like this has to happen for anyone to learn their mistakes.

Another problem lies in the recruitment of these security officers. Businesses should safeguard against employing terrorist moles, where they can potentially work together with external terror elements. Since labor is cheaper here, turnovers are high and there needs to be a better system at filtering quality guards. The government should also work with businesses in background-checking these potential gateways to terrorism and provide joint training in counter terrorism.

The government should also look hard within its organization bodies to make sure that there are currently no "moles" providing back end support to these elements. Mole cases are rampant all over the world, at all government bodies. These guys pose the biggest threat, because their powers make it hard to detect them and they're usually the mastermind if not the ring leaders for most of the larger operations.

Lastly, the government should really beef up a clandestine domestic counter terrorism units, setting up and installing as expansive spies and informants networks as possible throughout the country. Indonesia is actually really good in intelligence, I have seen its full potential realized during the Suharto presidency era. At that time, intelligence was used for the wrong reason, like squashing dissents and tracking down underground opposition movements, but it's proof that Indonesian intelligence is more than capable to proficiently and successfully conduct an operation.

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Blackberry's Ubiquitous Presence In Indonesia

In the past month, I’ve increasingly been baffled by RIM’s Blackberry popularity in Indonesia, or at least in Jakarta. No matter where I go in this town, I can always spot the ubiquitous device at all times, anywhere, anytime.

What prompts Blackberry’s super popularity in Indonesia? As a marketing person, I can’t help but be genuinely interested in Blackberry’s diffusion within the population. What escalated its rate of diffusion and why? Why didn’t a new, innovative concept like the iPhone catches on with the population and replaces the pioneer? And how was it able to catch up to the previous market leader, Nokia?

All of these bring great interest to me, because if I were a company, I could really learn from RIM (Research In Motion, the maker of Blackberry) and use its business model to market my new product to the masses – to a dizzying success I might add.

To be sure, I can be certain of one thing. Blackberry was first adopted by business people and busy professionals, who can really benefit from its as-of-yet-unbeatable, superior push mail technology. If you haven’t had the chance to experience the ecstasy of having emails pushed to that little device, you won’t understand the kind of love I’m talking about.

Put it this way – if your income or life depends on emails and instant communication, and you’re out there without access to a computer or internet, a Blackberry is your best friend in the whole world, and you will surely fight tooth and nails if someone were to try to pry it off your hands. That’s what colloquially known as “Blackberry Addiction.”

But what about the rest of the population? What triggers this mass adoption of Blackberry to the moms, socialites, teenagers, school kids, college kids, and everyone else in between – what I would refer to as the non-business, “recreational” smartphone users. Why would they prefer this business tool instead of the more consumer-centric, multimedia rich and capable webkit-based OS iPhone? Let’s analyze.

A Blackberry is a great device. Moreover, it’s a great business tool. But upon my usage and subsequent addiction to it, I can thoroughly conclude that this is a great business tool – and that’s about it. How many agree with me that it’s not a device as consumer centric (and as nice) as an iPhone if you’re NOT a business person and only need the device to check your Facebook status, Twitter, or Blog?

Although you can do all that with a regular data capable phone, let’s just assume that you like your Blackberry because, say, it’s easier to do it on a Blackberry, and that one way or the other, you already got it anyways so... why not. But I would assume that once I get a taste of what the Blackberry can do, I want more. I’m always constantly on the search for the bigger, the better, and the best. Why? Because I’m a consumer, and I can. This is what I do. I always want more. If I know of another device which gives me better browsing experience, better usage experience, better prestige and better experience overall, I would switch in a heartbeat, unless there’s obvious barrier to it, like an annual contract or cost. In fact, my rate of conversion should be so much faster considering I’ve gotten the experience in this specific genre, which is smartphone.

Yes, you can load apps into the Blackberry. Yes, you can play games on it. Yes, you can surf the web with it, and listen to music, and take pictures, and read news, and read blogs. But compared to the iPhone, it pales in comparison. To start with, Blackberry OS isn’t optimized for web browsing, unlike the iPhone, which to this day remains the only OS capable of delivering rich, true HTML web pages closest to those viewed from a desktop. I would imagine for “recreational” smartphone users, this feature would be one of the most important to them. And Blackberry isn’t widely known for its multimedia capabilities, neither. That’s the second factor for these consumers.

And don’t tell me that people can’t afford the iPhone. A Blackberry may be cheaper than an iPhone, but it’s not THAT much cheaper especially comparing the Bold model which is pretty much on par with it. Plus, Telkomsel, one of Indonesia’s largest cellular providers, offers the iPhone at around $600 (albeit having the device locked to the carrier, but so what? That’s how things work in the US and Europe too), about $200 more than basic Blackberry model and on par with some of its higher models. And besides, in this town of over indulgence and over excesses, I thought a brand as prestigious and expensive as Apple would actually be preferred by the elitists. And as in the proven case of the Blackberry, in the beginning the elitists influence the followers, which then adopted the device at a much higher rate.

So in terms of form factors and price, the iPhone would seem to meet and even surpass Blackberry’s unique point of sales.

I can think of a couple of more advantages the Blackberry has that the iPhone can easily make up for, like BB Messenger or the physical keyboard. Yes, BB Messenger is nice and always on, making for a truly connected experience for its users, but there’s a plethora of instant chat engines available besides it. My favorite is Google Talk. I’m sure there’s a third-party applications out there for every user’s need. With Apple’s 50,000 choice of apps in its stores, it’s impossible you can’t find the one that suits your need. And while BB’s physical keyboard is nice, I’ve seen countless iPhone users type just as fast and just as proficient on iPhone’s smart keyboard. It’s all about adaptation.

Don’t get me wrong, I like my Blackberry just as much as the next guy - having realized its full potential during my job search - and I’m not trying to promote the iPhone, but as a marketing person I’m captivated by this strange phenomena. Where did RIM succeed where Apple fails? Researching the heart of the topic, I can draw several conclusions.

First, ease of access. RIM has been very smart in taking the “Free-for-all” approach where they allow their devices to be unlocked with relative ease, thus allowing the mass to freely choose whatever carriers they choose to go with; unlike Apple’s snobbish approach.

That leads to number two, where the general population mass-adopted this business device, influenced first by the early adopters (business people) in a “trickle-down” effect. The general population accepted Blackberry’s perceived advantages or benefits, and coupled with the device’s ease of access, further enhanced its rate of diffusion.

Ease of access not only refers to the actual ease of access in USING the device, but also in adopting the device, i.e. unlocking it and registering it with the carrier of their choices. The majority of Indonesians prefer prepaid services as opposed to subscription (contract) basis, something that RIM had learned to accept and adapted to very well. In contrast, Apple’s official policy is to “lock” in their devices to a specific telecom carrier on each country, and put in serious efforts to keep the devices locked, including frequent rewrites of the software containing locking codes on its software updates (and most certainly on all new iPhone models coming out) and frequent security updates on the firmwares. If one is not careful where you plug in your iPhone, that expensive piece of technology can suddenly go dead. As in forever. This is not even mentioning the fact that they don’t even allow people with “unlocked” and “jailbroken” iPhones to buy apps via their official channel, which is iTunes. That pretty much defeats the purpose of having it.

In short, they make life hard for people who want to adopt their devices. That was why it didn’t work in Indonesia. It may be nice and all, but if it’s worth more trouble than it’s worth, remember that people here have got the alternative choice: Blackberry.

Tomorrow: Smartphone War: The Battle for Indonesia. What Apple and RIM should do.

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