Happy birthday my lovely wife

Enjoying the view of Kuningan

 

Duhai bidadari bertabirkan halimun senja, selamat ulang tahun sayang. Ayah tahu bahwa Ayah tidak pernah memberikan hadiah terbaik untukmu, dan Bunda memang tidak pernah menuntut untuk itu.

You know what, dari perjalanan bersama kita Bunda lebih banyak memberi, dan tidak pernah mengharapkan imbalan apapun. I thank Allah for that for having a caring and giving wife. Having said that you are Allah's gift to my life, Bundalah hadiah terbaik untuk Ayah di dunia fana ini dan semoga berlanjut juga di akhirat nanti.

Semoga di usia Bunda ini semakin bisa bersyukur, bersabar dan memberikan manfaat lebih kepada lebih banyak mahkluk Allah.

Semakin sabar dalam membantu Ayah dalam mendidik anak-anak kita yang luar biasa, semakin tegar dalam mendalami ilmu dan semakin menyayangi keluarga.

Terimakasih untuk dedikasinya, terimakasih untuk pengorbanannya dan terimakasih untuk ketulusannya.

 

Love you Bunda,

 

 

Ayah

Mercedes Benz W123 suspension and interior restoration.

Having all the body works almost completed, I started to tackle the suspension and interior section. As part of the vision in building this car, I replaced most of the fast moving parts of this car. Surprisingly the parts’ price were not too expensive.

Razan my second son was so happy that day :)

At the same time I started to source the original Palomino interior for my car. Typically 1986 W123 came with velour type of interior, but I don’t like this kind of fabric because it is very difficult to maintain and very difficult to remove stain from it, the other thing is when touch to your skin it will make you itchy.

It was quite a challenge to get the full Palomino set, many MB W123 enthusiasts told me that Palomino is one of the most preferred color scheme, that’s why it’s very rare to find.

With the help of good friend of mind Wilfi Thalib and Irwan Dwiputranto, I managed to get two set of Palomino interiors. And Joshua Autoworks helped me in cleaning, repairing and installing it  to my car.

Selecting the best parts!



Cleaning and repairing at Joshua Autoworks

Only best parts are installed



All hands on deck!

Final detail is important!

Balancing and aligning

Details are everything

Polishing the head cover

Pheeew it wasn't easy

Polishing all the chrome parts 1

Polishing all the chrome parts 2

Polishing all the chrome parts 3

Boy, it was a very long and tedious process, thank god all the job is done now, only few things are left; Replacing the exhaust pipe, installing new window film, fixing the air conditioner, and polishing the front side windscreen.

Mercedes Benz W123 86 Engine Restoration

Mercedes W123 Engine Restoration

 

The engine was completely stripped down
 and thoroughly assessed

While being completely dismantled, I started to ask my mechanics to deconstruct the engine. The engine works really fine, and there was this accident when I forgot to left the key inside the car while the engine is running for more than 4 hours, but fortunately the temperature is still normal. And I drove the car multiple times reaching 120 km/hour with no problem.

Changed all the essential parts

Even though there’s no mechanical problems with the engine, with the same principle as the body, I also plan a complete restoration of the engine. I replaced and overhauled most of the parts, and keep all the invoices for my documentation.

As part of my childhood dream, I also replaced the gearbox to automatic, lucky for me the parts is still available.

Here are some of the list of the spare parts that was replaced;

Too many parts!

1.       CDI

2.       Radiator

3.       Piston rings

4.       Oil filter

5.       Air filter

6.       New throttle cable

7.       Fuel pumps/Rotax

8.       New spark plugs

9.       New cables

10.   New fuel filter

11.   New oil filter

Pak Rady is checking all the new parts, the car was on the background

New set of radiator

I also took the engine to the machine shop to have it ported, balanced and polished. When we tested the engine it runs so smooth. Thanks to Pak Rady for the great Job.

The engine was completely overhouled

I also took the engine to the machine shop to have it ported, balanced and polished. When we tested the engine it runs so smooth. Thanks to Pak Rady for the great Job.

The talented mechanic done a great job!

Mercedes Benz W123 Body restoration

Peeling the paint to bare metal

Mercedes Benz W123 is my childhood dream car, I love the design, durability and legend of it. Back in the 90s I was completely stuck with one particular color Maroon Red with Palomino Interior it’s a killer combination. So with this in mind I was targeting to repaint my car in red and change the interior to Palomino.

Some corrosion spot was clearly visible

By assessing the body condition, at first I was planning to just go with re spraying my car without thoroughly peeling the old layers, this is to minimize restoration cost and time. But my friend Dodo managed to convince me that it will good for investment sake to do a bare metal restoration. This is to minimize the risk of having rusted spot being overlook.

It was one of the best decision in this project, Dodo and his team were peeling all the paint back to its bare metal, it was a long and meticulous job, and Dodo was right, there were many little spots already rusted and easier for the team to remove it from the body shell. Yes it needs an experience hands and eyes to do the welding job, luckily one of Dodo’s team is really good so we managed to keep the original curves and lines of this car.

While we were doing the deconstruction, we also pull out the interiors, engine and suspension system.

 

Really looong process!

This was a long and frustrating process, since your car was exposed and I realized that I had to tackle this tons of jobs.

Priming started after welding process is done

Despite all the troubles, it’s really worth the effort!

 

Solid right trunk platform

Left trunk



Priming and checking the original lines and corrosion spot

First layer of the paint

Engine hood and trunk were separately painted

Sanding off

Engine bay

Started to shine

Rear end

Rust free body

Mercedes Benz W123 280E 1986 restoration

The first time when I saw this car in my best friend's house

I never thought that it will take such a great effort to restore this car. Firstly because based on my research, parts availability is abundance and secondly my car condition was really intact, the first owner is protecting the car with anti rust treatment.




Straight body, thanks to Ziebart antirust formula

 

]But it turned out that I had to take an epic journey (seriously) to get it done. One of the reasons is because there was no project manager assigned to supervise the whole restoration process. So I have to juggle in between my hectic schedule to supervise the progress.

Roof fabric is still in great condition

In general we can divide the restoration process in two five main criteria;

1.       Body and paint.

2.       Engine and wiring.

3.       Suspension system.

4.       Interior.

5.       Detailing.

My strategy was to restore the body first, and while stripping it off then started to restore the engine, electrical, suspension system and interior.

Will completely restore the engine

Apparently if you have high standard reference in restoring car, you really need to spend time to brief all the mechanics to make sure that they have same understanding, and to get the best result possible.

The biggest challenges are many of the restoration team members is not professional enough, they don’t provide you with detail timeline, cost proposal and there’s no regular progress report informed to you.  

To make things worst, many of them don’t have quality control system which ended up in you spending more time to check and ask them to rework to match the quality you requested.

Will update you guys with the final result.

Happy Milad Raka, you're officially a tenager!

Raka turns 11, you are officially a teenager now.

 

Anakku Raka, makhluk Allah yang indah akhlaknya, hari ini usiamu bertambah sekarang kau sudah 11 tahun usia teenager yang penuh tantangan.

Raka besar di era dimana; banyak manusia berpendidikan tapi sedikit yang berperikemanusiaan, dimana profit jangka pendek mengalahkan kepentingan jangka panjang, dimana ambisi diri mengalahkan nurani dan nilai2 yang hakiki. Kuatkanlah dirimu nak, tempa fisikmu dengan latihan Cimande, Push Ups, Sit Ups dan lari, perdalam ilmu agamu dengan memperbanyak kajian-kajian ilmiah dan tekunlah dalam mempelajari ilmu di sekolah.

Hilangkan semua kebiasaan jelek dan bangunlah kebiasaan-kebiasaan yang baik, hal-hal besar terjadi karena dibangun dari hal-hal kecil yang rutin dilakukan.

Masa depan yang akan Raka hadapi akan jauh lebih menantang, derasnya informasi baik yang positif dan negative sudah tidak terbendung lagi, dan semakin mudah untuk mengkasesnya dimana dan kapan saja. Ambillah informasi yang positif nak, pergunakanlah seluruh panca inderamu hanya untuk berbuat kebaikan, karena sesungguhnya itulah perwujudan rasa syukur yang sejati.

Happy milad Raka, Ayah dan Bunda akan selalu mendoakan untuk kebahagian dan keberkahan Raka dan akan selalu memberikan support agar Raka bisa meraih mimpi-mimpi besarnya.

 

We love you!

 

 

Ayah

Rasyad turns three on June 19 2014

Happy birthday dear Muhammad Rasyad Suryakusuma

Wow, you’re growing up so quickly. You’re already 3 years old today! It just seems like yesterday you were 3 days old. Happy 3rd birthday!

You’re special gift to our family, I wish you happiness to greet every morning with gratitude. Oo Rasyad the enlightened one happiness is you

Do or don’t there is no try

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setelah mencoba menjalankan beberapa bisnis sambil bekerja sejak tahun 2007 dan selalu mengalami kegagalan, ahirnya pada tahun 2010 saya memutuskan untuk berhenti bekerja sebagai Business Director Young and Rubicam dan menjadi full time entrepreneurs.

 

 

 

Keputusan yang sebenarnya sangat berat, mengingat posisi, pendapatan dan juga suasana pekerjaan saat itu sangat baik. Terlebih lagi saya termasuk perintis yang mulai hanya dari 7 orang karyawan. Tapi mengingat bahwa saya ingin membangun perusahaan sendiri dengan lebih focus, dan juga saya ingin mengembangkan diri dengan lebih optimal akhirnya saya tinggalkan Young and Rubicam untuk memulai usaha di bidang Information Technology.

Periode 2010-2011 adalah masa yang menggebu-gebu, semangat saya sedang tinggi-tingginya karena secara full time bisa meluangkan waktu untuk mengembangkan ide-ide bisnis. Di November 2011 juga saya mendaftarkan diri dalam program Founder Institute dan lulus di Februari 2012. 

Di 2011 juga tiga perusahaan baru saya dirikan; PT Pandawa Integrasi Sinergitama yang bergerak di bidang application development, PT Oriens Integrasi Mediatama yang bergerak di bidang marketing produk dan jasa IT dan juga PT Data Sinergitama Jaya yang bergerak di bidang data center.

PT Pandawa Integrasi Sinergitama berpusat di Bandung, karena memang seluruh engineersnya berdomisili di Bandung. Visi kita saat itu adalah menjadi apps developer yang menggunakan metode development berskala intenasional, dengan misi menciptakan produk IT berkualitas tinggi. Dalam perjalanannya PT Pandawa harus bertahan hidup dengan mengejerkan beberapa custom projects.

Kondisi yang sungguh tidak nyaman mengingat banyak sekali project yang sebenarnya Business Requirement Documentsnya belum matang. Sehingga dalam pengerjaannya banyak sekali change request yang terjadi dan mengakibatkan team menjadi frustrasi dan juga secara waktu pengerjaan menjadi jauh lebih panjang dari yang kita prediksikan.

Ironisnya banyak juga development produk-produk kita sendiri dikerjakan dengan kualitas pengerjaan yang sangat rendah sehingga mengakibatkan produknya tidak bisa kita jual.

Dengan kondisi diatas dan juga ditambah satu kasus bisnis yang fatal, akhirnya di September 2012 management memutuskan untuk membubarkan PT Pandawa. Sebuah keputusan yang sulit, mengingat begitu banyak harapan yang kita gantungkan disana dan banyak produk yang belum selesai pengerjaannya.

 

Di sisi lain PT Oriens Integrasi Mediatama (Oriens), juga tidak berkembang sesuai harapan. Produk yang kami buat di Oriens adalah sebuah platform IT untuk membantu perusahaan asuransi dalam; mendesign, membuat dan memasarkan produk-produk Micro Insurance. Sebuah kategori produk yang relative baru di Indonesia dan belum ada perangkat hukum dan perundang-undangan yang mendukungnya.

Sebaliknya PT Data Sinergitama Jaya (DSJ) justru membuahkan hasil yang sangat baik. Di awal tahun 2012 DSJ memenangkan sebuah tender besar yang sangat penting dan sangat meningkatkan brand awareness dari perusahaan ini. Tender ini dimenangkan dengan sangat berat mengingat competitor-kompetitor yang berpartisipasi adalah perusahaan besar dengan pengalaman yang sangat panjang di bidangnya.

Beberapa pelajaran yang dapat diambil dari kejadian-kejadian diatas adalah;

1.      Sangat penting untuk terjun langsung ke bisnis dan merasakan setiap desir adrenalin tercipta dari setiap keputusan yang diambil. Somehow I kinda addicted to this feeling :D  

2.      Satu-satunya hal yang pasti dalam berbisnis adalah ketidakpastian. Disini diperlukan attitude dan juga spiritual skill yang baik dalam menyikapi setiap peristiwa yang terjadi.

3.      Dengan akses informasi yang begitu luas, being smart jauh lebih baik dibandingkan dengan being financially lucrative dan corporately behemoth.

4.      Sebaiknya focus mengembangkan satu perusahaan sampai perusahaan tersebut mendapatkan cashflow positive baru kita  mengembangkan perusahaan lainnya. Ini terkait dengan kondisi keuangan yang terbatas di perusahaan saya pada waktu itu.

5.      Dibutuhkan monitoring system yang baik dan menyeluruh dalam setiap proses development.

The game will never be over, because we’re keeping the dream alive (Freiheit)

 

 

 

Happy 7th birthday my dear son Muhammad Razan Suryakusuma

A very special child, a great ball of energy, a very cheerful and opinioned person. Jan 13 2014 he will turn to 7 years old. There are few things I notice that very special about Razan;

 

1.     He is very expressive; he can make funny and surprising comments instantly. This is probably because he has a unique word processing capability J.

2.     His knowledge in cars is amazing; he knows many brands and many variants which always surprise our family.

3.     He has great source of energy, especially when he does something that he really loves like riding a bike or playing wii.

4.     He has a very strong and flexible physique; his vertical jump is quite high for his age.

5.     A very extrovert/easy going person, he makes friend easily with anybody.

6.     His English skill is amazing; I guess he learns from movies, games and by having conversation with me and my wife.

We love you dearly; you inspire us to be always passionate in what we do. Grow son grow, be the channel of Allah's blessing in your every day life. We will always be there for you.

Ramadhan dan hal-hal yang penting di dalamnya

Dibawah ini adalah beberapa hal yang penting dalam menyikapi bulan Ramadhan, bulan yang dipenuhi keberkahan di dalamnya.

1) Ramadhaan satu2nya bulan yg disebut namanya dlm Al-Quran, dan itu menunjukkan keistimewaannya. Adapun makna Ramadhaan berasal dari kata "Ramdhaa-u" yg bermakna "Syiddatul-Harr" (yg sangat panas). Ibnu Hajar mengatakan: "Li-annahu Tuhraqu Fiihadz-Dzunub" (Karena sungguh dibakar dosa2 di dalam bulan -- Ramadhaan -- itu). Itulah sebabnya sebagian orang menyebutnya bulan suci, karena terjadinya proses pensucian manusia dari dosa2nya di bulan itu. Inilah kedahsyatan Ramadhaan.

2) Nabi saw bersabda: "Idzaa Dakhala Ramadhaan Futihat Abwaabus-Samaa-i..." Wa Fii Riwatin: "Abwaabur-Rahmah".. Wa Fii Riwayatin: "Abwaabul-jannah" (Apabila masuk bulan Ramadhaan, maka seluruh pintu langit di buka. Dalam riwayat yg lain: "Pintu2 rahmat dibuka". Dalam riwayat yg lain: "Pintu2 Sorga dibuka". (HR. Bukhari dan Nasa-i). Dibukanya pintu langit berarti terbukanya waktu mustajab utk berdo'a kpd Allah selama 24 jam dan terbuka utk menerima semua 'amal shalih. Dibukanya pintu2 rahmat berarti betapa luas rahmat Allah yg tercurah dlm bulan itu. Dibukanya pintu2 Sorga, betapa luas jalan menuju Sorga bagi setiap muslim yg wafat pada bulan itu. Allaahu Akbar.

3) Nabi saw melanjutkan sabdanya: "..Wa Ghulliqat Abwaabu Jahannam, Wa Sulsilatisy-Syayaathiin" (Dan dikunci pintu2 Neraka, dan syaithan2 dirantai). Jumhur 'ulama mengatakan yg dimaksud "syaithan2 dirantai", ialah: syaithan2 tdk lagi mampu menggoda atau membisikkan pengaruhnya kpd manusia, sehingga setiap muslim tinggal menghadapi bisikan2 negatif dari dalam dirinya saja, secara teori ini tentu lebih mudah dihadapi. Inilah situasi kondusif yg Allah berikan pada bulan Ramadhaan, agar setiap muslim dimudahkan menggapai rahmat Allah, serta membangun karakter Taqwa yg merupakan tujuan dari Shaum.

4) Yaa-ayyuhalladziina Aamanuu Kutiba 'Alaikumsh-Shiyaamu, Kamaa Kutiba 'Alal-Ladziina Min Qablikum La'allakum Tattaquun. (Al-Baqarah:183).
"Hai org2 yg beriman, diwajibkan atas kalian melaksanakan Shiyam sebagaimana diwajibkan atas org2 seblm kalian, agar kalian bertaqwa".
Ayat yg mulia ini dimulai dgn seruan "hai org2 yg beriman". Al-Ustadz Sa'ad Shadiq Muhammad mengatakan bhw seruan dgn menyebut "iman" spt ini, hanya khusus bagi org2 yg beriman, krn iman kpd Allah merupakan dasar bagi seluruh kebaikan dan sumber bagi semua keistimewaan.

5) "Diwajibkan atas kalian melaksanakan Shiyam..". Makna Shiyam dari segi bahasa: Imsaakun 'Anil-Kalaam Wal-Fi'li (Menahan diri dari pembicaraan dan perbuatan). Pengertian ini sesuai dgn sabda Nabi saw: "Laisash-Shiyaamu Minal-Akli Wasy-Syarabi. Innamaash-Shiyaamu Minal-Laghwi War-Rafatsi" (Bukanlah Shiyam itu menahan makan dan minum. Sesungguhnya Shiyam itu menahan diri dari ucapan dan perbuatan batil (sia2) dan dari kata2 kotor).HR Al-Hakim dan Al-Baihaqi. Hadits ini menjelaskan makna yg hakiki dari Shiyam, yaitu: menahan diri atau mengontrol diri dari ucapan dan perbuatan yg batil.

6) Mengapa lisan (berbicara) harus ditahan (dikontrol)? Krn menurut Nabi saw lisan adalah anggota tubuh yg paling banyak memproduksi dosa, sabda Beliau: "Aktsaru Khathaaya Ibni Aadama Fii Lisaanihi" (Sebagian besar kesalahan/dosa anak Adam/manusia, terdapat di lisannya").HR. Ath-Thabrani dan Ibnu Hibban).

7) Imam Al-Ghazali memaparkan secara lengkap apa yg dimaksud menahan lisan diwkt Shaum. Beliau berkata:

Menjaga lisan itu ialah dari:
1) Al-Hadzyaan; yaitu bicara ngawur spt org ngigau. Asal nyelutuk dsb.
2) Al-Kidzbu; dusta, bohong, ngibul dsb.
3) Al-Ghiibah; membiacarakan aib org di belakang.
4) An-Namiimah; adu domba.
5) Al-Fuhsy; ucapan2 keji.
6) Al-Jifaa'; ucapan2 batil (sia2)
7) Al-Khushuumah; bertengkar.
Al-Miraa'; berdebat dgn sengit.
Dan konsisten bersikap diam, dan menyibukkan lisan utk berdzikir kpd Allah atau membaca Al-Quran dsb. Inilah Shaumnya lisan.

8. Selanjutnya Imam Al-Ghazali mengatakan: Termasuk --kewajiban-- Shaum memelihara telinga dari mendengarkan hal2 yg makruh dan diharamkan (spt mendengarkan gosip2 dan acara2 tdk bermanfaat lainnya melalui TV, radio atau mendengar hal2 tsb langsung dari teman bicara), berdasarkan sebuah riwayat:
"Al-Mughtabu Wal-Mustami'u Syarikaani Fil-Itsmi" (Org yg menghibah dan org mendengarkan, sama2 berdosa). Dan juga termasuk --kewajiban-- Shaum memelihara anggota tubuh yg lain, seperti tangan dan kaki dari perbuatan haram dan makruh (lihat Al-Ihyaa' juz 1 hal. 271). Inilah yg dimaksud menahan diri (Imsaakun) dari perbuatan batil.

Sebuah video menarik mengenai Ramadhan di Korea Selatan
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=569910769732978

Saluran berkah

Allah bersama bapak2 penarik becak yang sore itu harus tetap bekerja walaupun otot betisnya terasa sakit.

Allah bersama para pengambil belerang di lereng gunung Arjuno yang hutan pinusnya tandus terbakar

Allah bersama sang bayi yang sedang menikmati ASI dari Ibunya di gubuk nelayan sederhana di kala senja

Allah bersama para petani yang baru menanam benih dan bersiap menikmati tempe goreng untuk makan siangnya

Ya Allah berikanlah aku kekuatan untuk menjadi saluran berkahMu di dunia

Holy month of Ramadhan

Ramadhan is just around the corner, it's amazing to know the fact that Allah sent one of his most powerful angel Gabriel to deliver His word to our prophet Muhammad PBUH. It was a life changing experience for him.

And I will also set my mind to utilize Ramadhan as my life changing changing medium.

To make it life changing it has to be; meaningful as well as impactful. There are at least three steps I can try to make it happened;

1. Reflection
• Consumed by my ego and daily mundane I tend to forget that I am a strong spiritual being.
• By fasting naturally I can see beyond my physical boundaries and get connected with my inner self.
• Thus I can "observe" myself find the loop holes and patch it with Nurullah.
2. Upgrading our humanity
• Ramadhan is a great training ground for our spirit. People nowadays know the importance of having physical training to increase body immune, but only few people realize the importance of training our spirit.
• Our objective by having Ramadhan training is to transform from mukmin to muttaqin (Al-Baqarah 185)
• By intensifying my Ibadah (which is not only in ritual form) will I able to restore my spiritual energy.
• Syawal means betterment,  everything we do after Ramadhan has to reflect it.
3. Back to my root
• In Indonesia we have this "Mudik" or going to hometown ritual. It's an epic journey especially in Java island. Involving millions of people, very risky lots of accidents happening during this period of time.
• I really enjoy it for several reasons; one the whole people's attitude towards Idul Fitri is completely different in the rural area. They are more enthusiast, festive and emotional, two I live the landscape of my hometown, nestled in the mountain feet of Ciremai the climate is cool and the view is to die, three I feel connected to my root, and feeling grateful of what I have received.

Hope everyone's enjoying their Ramadhan happily.

Science Day

On May 20 2013, I took my family to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah to visit two places; Taman Burung (Bird Park) and Science Museum.

It was a very fun day, Raka, Razan and  were having a blast especially when we were exploring all facilities in Science Museum.

As predicted the Park was crowded, our first start was Taman Burung. The reason why I took them to this place is to make them re-connected again with the nature. I have a huge concern of my kids are addicted to digital devices and game consoles. Me and my wife have this objective of taking them to wide open space on a weekly basis to make them understand that there’s a lot of cool and fun activities beside playing /watching all those digital products.

They really enjoy watching wide arrange of birds in that park , it was amazing when we were encountered with big flamingo in the pool, the flamingo was looking for food and closing in to us, with its big beak and strange proportion it’s really surreal to watch it interacted with the people there.

Shortly after that we rushed in to Science Museum. To my surprise this museum has tons of cool apparatus to experiment with; this is my first visit there and definitely would like to come again with my sons.

There were two experiments which excites Raka and Razan the most; one was Water Rocket and the other one was liquid nitrogen experiment on which of these two experiments they were volunteering so happily. It was a great joy to see their expressions!

In life there are so many things are taken for granted either because you tend to ignore it or simply because you consumed by daily mundane. Taking my family to a simple trip is one way of reminding me on focusing on the priorities in life.

It made me realizes so many things need to be done to strengthen my love and emotional connection with my family. Ya Allah please give me strength to always support my family and shower them with your love and blessings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PtYHdjIihQ&feature=youtu.be