The Groundwork

Tuesday, 8 September 2015

Its been a really weird couple of weeks really. And its about to get even weirder.

So, i was summoned up to my HR director's office. And in there, the 2 big boss of HR awaits me. I was then asked to shut the door behind me. You damn well knows shit is about to go down when the door are closed.

'Oh its gonna be a salary increase!'

'wait no, even better. Its a promotion!'

The hype was on. And i got excited but still managed to keep my composure.

'Iqbal, we are going to send you to the headquarters in Switzerland', my HR director calmy said.

OOOOHHH HEELLLLL YEAAAHHH finally i got promoted after all this hard works that i have done. It finally pay.....wait....what? 

Me? Headquarter? Switzerland?

I know someone who has worked here for more than 20 years and never even got a chance to go to Switzerland. And here i am, almost 5 years year of service, still dont know what the hell i am doing half the time, and i got the chance to go?

Gee even i got lost trying to find my way home, and now i have to go to some french speaking country where the only words i know are omelette du fromage from dexter lab cartoon?

Its gonna be a disaster.

But anyway, i was actually still recovering from the shock that it wasnt actually a promotion (note to self, expectation is a bitch), and i barely composed myself when the date was announced. 

Just for your info, today is 8 September, the 2nd day of the week. My things in switzerland runs from 23,24 and 25 september. which is 11 working days away.

• Invitation letter, nope.
• Visa photos, nope.
• Advance money, nope.
• Switzerland currency, nope.
• Hotel, nope.
• Plane, nope.
• Plan, nope

and obviously the fuckin visa is a nope as well.

To make matters even more complicated, 24 September is a public holiday and i am already planning (and booked everything) to go to Singapore on that 25th September. With the main course of muse concert on the 26th.

That's when my heads spin. Career progression, European trip, Singapore holiday, Muse concert, my wife, whatever the fuck am i gonna do?

So, i basically excused myself from the room and dials my wife to break the news down. Well originally i only intended to break the news down, but along the line i made up a plan and itinerary.

I'll go on 21st September, arrives on 22nd September in Switzerland and session on 23,24 and 25. On 25 evening i will fly to Singapore and rendezvous with my wife on 26th afternoon, who will have flew by herself(and probably really pissed because i left her), and just in time for Muse concert.

That would be the ideal scheme.

Along the way, anything, and i really mean it, anything can go wrong. 

The invitation letter might not come out (due to short timing)

The visa might be rejected (again, due to short timing)

I wont get the plane i need according to my schedule

or I can simply got lost and board a wrong plane to Somalia

Which might happen, as you know me

But anywho, who knows what the future will bring. I'll just need to close my eyes, wang it down, and see whatever the hell is going to happen.

And you'll read more about this journey, right here, in this place. Most probably in daily kind of post, as to capture whhere my thoughts are on that moment.

Which left just another thing that i need to ask to the boss, 

'So...emm....no promotion sir?'

Guitar review: Cort Manson MBC 1

Okay,

So about 2 weeks ago i was browsing the net as usual on my usual pace and heard about the Manson guitar collaboration with Cort in creating an "easy on the pocket" Manson signature guitar for Matt Bellamy.

Now Manson, is like the Lamborghini of the guitar world. Its exotic, its crazy, its loud, its sexy, and it is damn expensive. To get Matt Bellamy signature guitar, you will need to spend about 4000 pounds and a year or so waiting for it to be made. But rest assure, its definitely worth it.

Now, this Cort Manson cost about 500 pounds on the Manson website. That is like a big friggin wow. Converted to indonesian money, only about 9 mio or so. What more surprising is, i seems to have heard the Cort guitar brands quite a lot and so i have. Its made in Indonesia. The factory located in Mojokerto.

My heart races fast. I quickly browse through the manson website, re directed to Cort website, and clicked on the distributor adress in Indonesia.

MG has it.

Well dopp tee doo, of course i have heard about it. I went to MG lots of times, albeit only to fall in love with the Fender Strat. They have tons of Cort for sale in MG. Whats more surprising is that it only retails for only 7 mio in Indonesia (instead of 9), presumably due to no import tax and delivery fee etc etc. And for some reason, all Cort brand is on special discount this month and its down to about 5.5 mio.

I tell you what, i was so tempted with it that i basically drove straight to MG blok M and had to see it for myself. And boy, isnt she a beauty.

This guitar is simply awesome.

It has a Matt Black doff finish (get it, Matte Black?) and equipped with tune o matic bridge and a push button kill switch which i rather like, because 2 of my Manson replica has a kill switch made from...well...switch.

The pickup i believe is locally made. It is "Manson designed", so i believe it is made locally here in Indonesia. The sound characteristic for the bridge, let me just say, very Musey. It gave a very huge sound and distortion and what im impressed is how loud it is and how much sustain is there. 

The neck pickup itself  obviously doesnt give you the strat kind of neck sound, but it does gives you a nice, clean and crisp sound that is nice for picking.

Honestly, i wasnt expecting much on it but damn this guitar is loud. It sustains very well, its light, it looks badass, and plays surprisingly well. I mean, for this kind of price, its a nice guitar. Compared to a strat, of course the strat feels much nicer, but then again strat retails for about 18 mio, twice or 3 times the price of this baby.

So, i didnt picked it up straight away, i waited about a week or so to see if i really wanted this guitar. 

Turns out that i just couldnt hold it in. Drove straight to the shop again last week, and paid for it straight away. And after a week or so, my impression about it still has't changed at all. Its light, its loud, and it is awesome!  

Looking at the label above, presumably this guitar was made in 7 December 2014. The B 001 might be the batch 1, and guitar no 723. Thats quite a lot for 1st batch of guitar, dont you reckon?

Anyway, its Matt B signature guitar. What more can i ask? :D