Searching for Utopia

Blizzard Entertainment have finally confirmed the long-awaited Diablo III, eight years after the second installment was released in 2000.

I’m not a big fan myself, having played it only after falling in love with Icewind Dale, but Zsolt definitely is. He played the first for ages, and then decided to preorder the second before it was released. And what a surprise, he loves it (still).

Maybe it’s like my infatuation with Forgotten Realms, but he’s certainly not alone. 11,000 fans were said to watch the first demonstration of Diablo III in Paris; and million others have also been waiting anxiously for this news.

For me, Diablo II was too gory, and the character selection was a little lacking. From what I’ve seen, Diablo III will still be brutal, but I’m sure Blizzard would solve my second problem.

But hey, no matter what I say, Diablo II was the fastest-selling PC game of all time. And with the massive success of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft , I’ll certainly give this one a shot.

Click here for trailers, screenshots and more news on Diablo III.

Indonesia’s next presidential election will take place next year. As always, folks, we’d better be ready for another lofty rhetoric battle between the candidates.

I suppose that’s what politicians do — regardless of where they’re from. Well, at least they sound good, right?

Excuse my incessant whining, but I’m not actually complaining now. Come to think about it, this kind of good news always circulates before campaign period starts:

Indonesia is planning to scrap the exit tax levied on residents travelling overseas starting in 2009, an official said Tuesday.
At the initial stage, only residents who have registered as taxpayers, and their family members aged below 21, are free to leave the country without paying the tax.
By 2011, the tax-free policy will apply to all citizens, said Darmin Nasution, director general for taxation at the Ministry of Finance.

Well, who doesn’t love good news? At least I know I do. If only it’s true.

I didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but this plan has been around for years now. What used to sound like a tangible progress may soon turn to another empty promise. Don’t let it happen!

Perhaps if we mortals keep writing, they will hearken to us at last. Or, perhaps not—

At the Republican state convention in Texas, somebody was selling this pin below:

Yesterday Zsolt showed me this piece of good news from Hungary:

Meet Solo, the first Hungarian hybrid car. It can use electric engines, solar energy and is equipped with pedals. The Flintstones, anyone?

Anyways, this car sounds better than Fred’s. Its top speed is said to be 140km/h with a fuel consumption of between 1.5 and two liters of ethanol per 100 km.

It’s expected to go on sale in 2012 in Hungary for Ft 3 million (US$18,900). What about here? Dream on! Even if it ever reached Singapore, I bet we’d have to pay at least three times more expensive.

Oh, and if you have two Solos, you can transform them into one Duo within minutes. Now it sounds more like in the Jetsons’ era. But hey, if it really works as they said, why not?

The Children of Hurin is Professor Tolkien’s standalone story about Turin and Nienor, who live in the first age of Middle-earth — long before the War of the Ring.

Die-hard Tolkien fans will be able to guess the whole tale only by reading the title, as it also appears in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

Yet, those who are only familiar with The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit will have trouble in relating to the characters and may even find it rather tedious. The number of people’s names alone would cause first-time readers to flee.

Speaking of tediousness, perhaps none would know better than Cristopher Tolkien. He has edited this work for thirty years, polished and finished the project that his father had begun in 1918; yet could never finish.

The fate of Hurin’s children of Hurin is a tragedy — not at all an uncommon theme for high literature. But to belittle the value of this work because of the theme would be blasphemy. Who can claim of having original theme nowadays? Even the construction of Middle-earth is based on Anglo-Saxon literature, which is Tolkien’s expertise.

The story unfolds when Morgoth sets a curse upon Hurin and his lineage. Meanwhile, the war has forced his family to leave their home. And it was only years later when his children — Turin and Niniel — meet again, only to commit forbidden union without their knowing.

From the language, this work is not as dense as The Silmarillion; and not as descriptive. It is more similar to the trilogy in the way that it delves more into the emotional states of the characters, even without using much internal dialog. As the result, it gives the sense of reading an old myth instead of a historical account that is The Silmarillion. And only here you would see Tolkien at his darkest.

But still, read The Children of Hurin only if you have survived The Silmarillion.

Who is your favorite fantasy character? Mine is Raistlin Majere. No doubt he is mean and dangerous — he is a black wizard, for God’s sake — yet for some reasons I can’t seem to get myself to hate him. Go and get a copy of The Dragonlance Legends Trilogy, if you haven’t; and be prepared to be awed. I’ve actually been wanting to write a review of this trilogy, but only find the time now.

A few years after the War of the Lance, Krynn finds its peace at last — though unsettling still. While the other Heroes of the Lance struggle to rebuild their lives, twin brothers Caramon and Raistlin Majere must fight their ways through the boundary of time to determine the future of Krynn.

In Time of the Twins, Lady Crysania, a cleric of Paladine, attempts to convert Raistlin from the dark side in order to stop him from confronting Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness, and make himself a god. Yet she is unaware of the mage supreme’s cunning ways. Stepping into his trap, she is wounded; and has to be sent back in time before the Cataclysm, accompanied by Caramon. By the strange turn of luck, Tasslehof joins them in their race against time to reveal Raistlin’s design.

War of the Twins sees Krynn in a hundred-year time after the Cataclysm with Raistlin’s magic propels our heroes (and heroine) there in an instant. Now they must work together to aid Raistlin’s quest to become the master of past and present. Here Raistlin’s character is fully explored, and Caramon could finally see through his brother.

The trilogy is concluded in Test of the Twins, where Raistlin is ready to battle Takhisis in the Abyss with Crysania swears her fealty. But at the same time, in the future, Caramon discovers that Raistlin’s victory would only bring an end to their realm. He knows at last that the only one who may stop Raistlin is him — and it will not be easy.

Though the Legends Trilogy shares its focus between the three major characters, Raistlin, Crysania, and Caramon; Raistlin is the soul of the story. He has such complex distinctiveness, which is developed throughout the plot. It has made him to be the most fascinating character of all: powerful, yet so puny; crafty yet endearing — an unlikely hero, but it wouldn’t serve him right to be called as villain.

The only turn-off for me is Tasslehoff (sorry Tas!). He could be useful at times, of course, I even found him to be rather cute in the chronicles. But here his presence is often gratuitous.

If you have read the Dragonlance Chronicles, you must also read this trilogy. Many events which have occurred before the time of the chronicles are told here. Therefore, only then the story would come to a full circle.

However, if you are looking for a Tolkien-esque adventure, perhaps it’s best for you to look elsewhere. Dragonlance may have been influenced by Tolkien’s realm — as that is the case with many other fantasy novels; it’s more contemporary. Consider yourself warned.

My, wouldn’t that be a good subject for a post? Unfortunately, this is not a tip, but rather a question. As I have previously mentioned, we are now expecting our first child — it’s Zsolt 2.0!

We definitely look forward to being parents, being united in our multi-cultural upbringing and all. But still, I could find myself whining at times: what’s a parent to do to raise a trilingual baby?

I am Indonesian, the hubby is Hungarian. We speak English to each other, and we live in Singapore.

Most Indonesians are bilingual; speaking a regional language as their mother tongue, and Indonesian in larger community. I myself have been proficient in both Javanese and Indonesian since my early age, and only took up English in school.

I’m afraid our baby would be in more difficult situation than mine; since he would have to learn English, Hungarian and Indonesian at the same time to preserve his language heritage (though I don’t want to burden him further with Javanese).

I’ve done some googling on this matter, and apparently there are not too many resources available. From what I read so far, mostly parents are encouraged to teach all languages since the very beginning, like this adventure dad.

But this method would probably cause the child to mix all languages at first, regardless of whom he speaks to. I think it’s normal, since I also did the same when I was younger. But then, people where I came from would understand both languages. That won’t be the case with our baby.

So, if you have any suggestions/ opinions/ anything, feel free to write me. Thanks in advance!

Robert Kubica on Lewis Hamilton: “Lewis came flying out and then I saw him all over Kimi’s car. I just heard this big shunt. I have to thank Lewis that he chose Kimi, not me. ” [The Sun]

During my short span of living in Singapore, I’ve heard many friends complained of how boring it is. The island is too small and there are not so many things to do.

Well, I’m not exactly an outdoor person, so perhaps it’s easier for me to say; but seriously, how do you afford some time for boredom?

I think even if we lived in a larger country, we could easily be bored too. Surely there would be more places to explore, but what if you simply didn’t enjoy travelling?

Thus, methinks the first step to kill boredom is to find yourself a hobby or two. As for myself, these are my typical day to day activities:

1. 6 – 7: Cooking and packing breakfast and lunch for the hubby.
2. 7 – 12: Working (assuming that I work at least five hours a day).
3. 12 – 13: Lunch / napping.
4. 13 – 15: Doing house chores.
5. 16 – 17: Cooking dinner.
6. 17 – 18: Checking emails and browsing.
7. 18 – 20: Watching Korean dramas on Channel U.
8. 20 – 22: Playing MMORPG with the hubby, reading, watching DVD, and the list goes on—

If you asked me, there is really no room to be bored. One thing we can always find in Singapore is an event to keep us entertained. I’m not so much into shopping, but many would agree that the GSS lights up the season — even if only for while.

Sometimes it’s worth to get yourself jostled by the masses during sale in Singapore. Last month’s book sale offered brand new hardcover books for only $7.

If you liked travelling, I don’t think the size of the country should not discourage you. Do you seriously think that people in Monaco stay at home all the time? Hey, Batam is only 45 minutes away. You could even drive to JB. I’d say even flight ticket to Thailand is still cheaper than some domestic flights in Indonesia.

But then again, at the end of the day, there is nothing better than spending some quality time with our loved one(s). So, say no to boredom!

Hi folks, my blogging hiatus is set to end soon — at last. It has lasted far too long that it’s ridiculous.

But hey, I’ve been enjoying life here. Singapore is a great place, I will surely write more about it later. Work is fine, I have finally finished my first manuscript. But the best news is that we’re now expecting an addition to our family in November. So, perhaps that’s an excuse enough not to post :p I kid. I can’t say that I’ll write worthwhile reading material anytime soon — nor have I ever written one, but I’ll do my best to revive the blog.

Thank you for having me. Please stay tuned and check back often for more updates.

Bullet-proof vest ready!