on a never ending journey

pengen mencoba menulis kembali.. di tengah kesibukan (kesantaian) sebagai grad student ini. hahaha. 

Sudah hampir 3 bulan saya tinggal di negeri ekspatriat ini. Ada enaknya ada gak enaknya. Well, it’s life after all. Untungnya disini masih winter (25 grad) jadi kelayapan di kota masih sangat nyaman, mungkin ntar pas udah summer bakal banyak ngeluh, atau mungkin saya akan ambil full cuti untuk menghindari cuaca ekstrim.

Hampir 50% penduduk non lokal sini orang bawang (Pakistan India Bangladesh), kebanyakan menjadi pekerja kasar karena tenaga mereka relatif murah, lalu peringkat kedua adalah filipina.. kebanyakan mereka kerja di sektor pariwisata & rumah sakit, peringkat ketiga orang-orang kaukasia (eropa & US), kerja di korporasi, lumayan banyak juga ternyata disini, mungkin karena faktor tax-free-income orang2 ini pada mau kesini kali ya.. Indonesia? sedikit banget.. jangan heran kalo sering dikira filipino disini.

Tentang kuliah, sejauh ini saya menikmati kuliah disini.. dosen-dosennya lumayan enak ngajarnya. Dan berhubung rasio dosen dan mahasiswa (S2) disini maksimal 1:10 jadinya dosen sama mahasiswa kenal satu sama lain dengan baik. Bayangin aja, total mahasiswa S2 di EE departement cuma 10 orang, mahasiswa barunya cuma saya dan satu teman dari Nigeria. ini kampus apa homeschooling sih haha. Terus kuliah disini ibarat kerja, jadi tiap bulan ada payday ha ha ha, walau gak seberapa tapi lumayan lah, sambil dapet gelar, bisa nabung dan bantu ortu sedikit. 🙂

Weekend disini jatuh di hari jumat dan sabtu, dan karena minggu & kamis saya tidak ada kuliah, jadinya berasa looong weekend tiap minggu :)). Mungkin belom mulai thesis aja kali ya jadi santai banget. Akhir semester ini harus udah milih pembimbing dan mulai ngerjain thesis semester depan.

Well, sejauh ini sih saya lumayan betah, tantangan terbesar saya adalah sangat-sangat sedikit temen indonesia disini, banyakan bapak2 profesional yg udah kerja puluhan taun, gak seumur banget lah sama saya yg berjiwa muda ini hahahaha. Cuma ada satu senior di kampus sama satu dosen indo, jadinya kemana2 selalu bertiga dan ujung-ujungnya ditraktir si pak dosen haha.

Have a nice weekend to all!

Jumat lalu, gw dan teman-teman exchange kembali melakukan perjalanan dalam rangka mengisi weekend. Kami pergi ke Prague – Czech Republic. Mengapa? well, di samping kita semua udah muak ama Munich atau kota-kota di Bayern *songong*, ongkos ke Prague terbilang cukup murah. Kami menggunakan Group ticket yang bernama Bayern-Bohemn Ticket. Tiket ini bisa dipake up to 5 person ke seluruh penjuru bayern dan bohemn (propinsi di Czech yang berbatasan  dengan Jerman). Jadi dengan tiket ini kami bisa nyampe kota terujung di bohemn yaitu Plzen. Tiket ini harganya 34 eur untuk 5 orang. Dari Plzen dilanjutkan dengan kereta regional Czech seharga 6 eur. Keretanya menarik karena tempat duduk dipisah ke dalam ruang-ruang dan disetiap gerbongnya memiliki koridor, berasa kita lagi menuju Hogwarts.

Karena perjalanan dimulai hari jumat, otomatis kami harus berangkat sehabis gw solat jumat. Padahal hari itu ada kereta jam 9 pagi yang langsung menuju Praha tanpa harus berhenti di Plzen dan cuma memakan waktu 5 jam. Jam 13.00 pas sehabis salat gw meluncur pake u-bahn ke hauptbahnhof (main station), disana yang lain udah menunggu manis di dalem kereta. Tepat 13.25 kereta berangkat, kami berlima duduk terpisah karena kereta sudah penuh saat kami datang.

Perjalanan memakan waktu 71/2 jam, ya karena harus ganti kereta beberapa kali. Kami sampai di Stasiun kereta Praha sekitar pukul 9 malam. Sesampainya disana kami langsung menuju tourist information office untuk meminta map kota. Kami sudah booking hostel disini untuk 2 malam. Yes, this is my first time ever sleeping in a hostel!. Hostel kami bernama Old Prague Hostel, tidak terlalu jauh dari pusat kota jadi kami bisa mencapainya dengan jalan kaki saja.

Oke, hostel kami super nyaman, very very neat, ada private locker, heater, clean linen and towel, free shower gel, free breakfast, ada komputer gratis buat ngenet. Harganya juga lumayan murah untuk ukuran lokasi yang deket dan servis bagus, 13.9 euro per malam. Sesampainya di hostel, check-in, naro barang-barang, langsung cabut makan malem. Kami makan malam di sebuah restoran meksiko, harganya relatif sama dengan resto-resto di Munich, muahall. Buat para backpacker gw sarankan makan sesekali aja di restoran, sisanya beli di supermarket sekitar aja. Oh ya, di Ceko, mata uang yang digunakan adalah Krone ( 1 euro = 25 krone). Abis makan dilanjutkan dengan liat Praha di malam hari. Well i have to say, the city is waay more beautiful at night (padahal belom liat siangnya juga sih haha). Bener-bener setiap bangunan dikasih lighting yang super menarik. Bangunan – bangunan di Old Town seperti The Charles Twin Church, the big Clock, tampak sangat mengagumkan.

Keesokan harinya, setelah sarapan di hostel, kami bersiap keliling kota. Ada free tour yang diadakan tiap hari setiap jam 10 pagi sampe jam 2 siang. Memang gratis tapi di ujung tur biasanya para turis suka ngasih sukarela buat si tour guide. Kami beranjak menuju tempat bertemu yaitu di Old Town. Tour dimulai dengan mengelilingi old town, si tour guide nya pun sangat impresif, ngomong inggrisnya bagus, sedikit witty, dan sangat lantang.

Cerita tentang old town dimulai dari Twin Church yang dibangun hampir 5 abad, hingga Clock tower yang merupakan The Oldest Astronomical Clock in the World. Jadi pada zaman kerajaan King Charles IV inilah Prague mulai pesat-pesatnya bangun segala macem, mulai dari Gereja-gereja, jembatan, kastil, universitas, dan hampir semua landmark dikasih nama setelah nama dia. Jadi jngan heran kalau disini semua tempat dikasih nama Charles bla bla bla.. Prague juga merupakan salah satu kota yang arsitekturnya tetap terjaga karena pada saat perang dunia kedua, kota ini sedikit sekali terkena efek perang.

Tur lanjut ke daerah New town, disini lah tempat bersejarah lainnya karena pada era Velvet Revolution, ratusan ribu pelajar berkumpul untuk berjuang melawan tentara komunis hingga akhirnya mereka merdeka. Komunisme lahir di sini akibat kemiskinan pasca perang dunia kedua. Selama hampir empat puluh tahun rakyat cekoslovakia dijejali propaganda Uni Soviet. Bahkan orang tua si tour guide ini  adalah salah satu warga yang berjuang melawan tentara komunis pada saat Velvet Revloution berlangsung pada tahun 1989.

Selanjutnya kami melanjutkan perjalanan ke Spanish Synagogue dan Jewish Quarter, Jewish quarter ini dulunya merupakan daerah perkampungan yahudi di Praha, yahudi disini dulu dilindungi oleh Golum, makhluk besar terbuat dari tanah liat, yang dihidupkan oleh seorang Rabbi (entah bener atau enggak). Praha juga merupakan rumah bagi Franz Kafka, seorang penulis paling terkenal di abad ke-20.

to be continued..

In Tuesday, i arrived at Munich International Airport after 18 hours of connecting flights from Jakarta. I was arriving at 1 pm (GMT +1). As soon as i got there and took my baggage, i contacted a tutor who is picking me up at the Airport, his name is Juergen, so i met him and he seemed pretty tired, he said that he has been picking everyone since 4 am at that day. Right outside the airport there is an S-Bahn Station where I had to buy the ticket for train, i bought an all day single ticket which costs 10.80 euro.

20 Minutes from airport, i arrived at my station in Oberschleissheim. Oberschleissheim is outside of Munich City, it’s the suburb. From there i took the bus to the dormitory, but i found that i could walk too becuase it’s pretty near. My room is in 2nd floor, have the nice wide window view to the outside, it’s perfect. In my room there are two single rooms and one bathroom. I live with my roommate, she is a student at TUM too, her name is Lin. So, in conclusion, i share a bathroom with her :|. After i arrived in my room, the first thing i checked was the internet conecction, and yeah it’s working but i don’t have a LAN cable yet, and thank god i have a heater in my room. I checked the bathroom, and it was a little bit dirty. On the bed i found a package from Studentenwerk which is the organization of my dorm. I opened it, there’s a welcome letter, a scheduled meeting and trip programs, a mug, some candies, aaaand  a pair of condoms…… I was like zzzzzzzzzzz, not in a million way i would ever use that (well maybe for making water baloons).

So, later that day, in afternoon, i went downtown to find LAN cable, my tutor suggested me to go to a Platz called Stachus, there’s the biggest computer shop in there called Saturn. So, i went with S-Bahn S1, on the way i met a German old woman, she’s travelling in Oberschleissheim,, so she’s new to Munich too. However, she was nice and she helped me with direction.  I  had a little chat with her. I found that she comes from Bochum and she was just having a little vacation in Munich for a week, and just went to the Schloss Schleissheim which is near my dormitory. And she is a lesbian.

I hopped off the train in the Hauptbahnhof (central station), and amazed by how crowded it was. People were in a rush going every direction. The Hauptbahnhof is the biggest train station in Munich. It is nice and clean, had shops and food stands in every its corner, it’s just sophisticated, it resemble a bit with underground PVJ’s floor. In Muenchen, the railway system is pretty complex. There are artificial rings of region surrounding the town, and for every bigger ring, you have to pay more. Furthermore,  you will have more advantage if you buy a monthly ticket, the price is much less from the daily ticket. There are four kinds of transportation you can hop in with this ticket : S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Bus, and Tram. S-Bahn is Suburban Train, it can take you from city center to suburbs of Munich, U-Bahn is Undergroud Train, it only travels inside of Munich (Innerraum Zone). Bus and Tram are everywhere on the roads, you can take these if you want to go to places that are not covered with the train. But basically when you’re inside Munich, everywhere can be reached by U-Bahn.

From Hauptbahnhof, you can go by foot for like 10 minutes to Karlsplatz, which is the place where Saturn is. I went and i searched for a LAN cable and got it, i didn’t buy the cable because it’s too expensive (ca. 10 Eur). The other student in my dorm had told me before that he was buying a cable for only 2 Euro from a guy in the dorm. So i went back to the dorm and i contacted the network administrator for the internet configuration of my room, and apparently he is the one who sells the cable. Not long after that, i already got the internet connection. So that was the first day. Here i am finally in Munich, safe and sound 🙂

I’m an engineering student after all at some point i gotta prove it, right? haha. Now i’m going to tell a bit about my final project aka Tugas Akhir, a haunting and suppressing thing for every final year student.

My final project is solely based on IEEE references about Automatic Train Protection (ATP). ATP is a part of a CBTC system that responsible for failsafe and overspeed protection of the automatic train. CBTC  (Communication-based Train Control) is system that creating and setting standards for operation, control, protection, and supervision of automatic train. CBTC technology has been implemented in many high speed railway technologies, US subway system has it, some country in Europe as well, Singapore has it in its Mass Rapid Transit (MRT). This technology is developed by many international vendors such as Siemens and Alstom.

The project was offered by one company (PT. LEN Industry) in Bandung, i took it with the other four colleagues of mine in EL control concentration. At first, i thought it was going to be revolved around control & system optimization because obviously i concluded that from the word CBTC -___-. But after months of discussion of the project (because we were new to the topic and PT.LEN itself was still in the process of researching about it), i came to realize that my topic greatly deal with software development, therefore it would require strong  programming skill (there goes my biggest fear). In short words, my duty is to create software that simulate the ATP function and requirement. oh Programming, that little filthy bastard.. i never like it, i never had a good mark in this subject.

Based from IEEE reference 1474.1 – 3, ATP has 12 functions divided into two servers. Trainborne server, lies within the train, computes and processes functions such as creating braking and maximum speed profile, supervising train speed, and rollback protection (rollback is condition when actual train direction is contradicted from what was commanded). While wayside server, lies in the base station, deals with safe route determination (route ahead of train considered safe to travel) , limit of movement protection (determined by the exact location of train ahead, safe route, broken rail, or other dangerous conditions) and permanent structure speed restriction (maximum train speed permitted in any track sections).

I work on the latter part. I use C# because it is implemented in object oriented programming and XAML for the user interface. Basically there is no special algorithm, we just have to create the train, track, and station animation, simulate them, and generate the data from the created function. Maybe it’s quite simple and easy for some of you, especially for Computer Science student. But i am struggling as fuck, especially on the function realization given my poor coding skill.

PT. LEN only need the simulation model for reference of their research so they could build the actual CBTC system on MRT Jakarta, which is one of their main future grand project. Of course they won’t implement it with my algorithm because my work doesn’t concern with safety factor, but rather only functional.

So, that’s my final project description. Stats : thousands of lines of Courier New code, not finished yet, stressed while doing so, messed up biological clock (this has been going on forever though, so i guess this one is irrelevant :p ). But i feel it’s getting really interesting now to actually code and debug and repeat (see? i’m a freak, please don’t judge). I hope it’s over soon though. I want holidayyy, be with family, hang with friends, having TV shows marathon like there’s no tomorrow haha. To be honest those are the only motivation for me right now, and i promise, it’s gonna be OK(tober) 🙂