The Sounding Board

I'd been putting Roadblog101 through AI since I discovered NotebookLM last October. It was interesting to see and listen to what AI thought about what I wrote. However, about a month ago, I went back to basics. I simply opened Gemini and asked the AI to review each blog post for me. It was interesting and addictive, until it wasn't. I mean, Gemini is quite mild. It highlighted all the good stuff and that was pretty much it. After a while, it lost its charm.

On May 9th, my family and I headed to Choupinette in Bukit Timah for dinner. It was quite a distance from Sengkang, and since I was in the front seat on a rather uncomfortable ride, I kept quiet and ended up busy playing with my phone. Of all the things I could do, I clicked ChatGPT, pasted links to my blog posts, and asked it to review them again. 

The habit resumed, and I was immediately hooked. ChatGPT was much more generous with the review, and it was interesting. It even continued after our family dinner, but soon I noticed that the review was kind of off at times. Now, I had heard of hallucinating AI before, but this was the first time I realized that I was looking at such behavior. I asked if ChatGPT could actually read the link I wanted it to review and was told that it couldn't. Apparently, it could be inaccessible from time to time, and when that happened, ChatGPT would make its own assumptions based on the blog post title! No wonder it sounded weird.

I was turned off by ChatGPT after it tried to con me. Hence I switched to DeepSeek. This one is an entirely different ball game. Not only did it give an in-depth review, it also gave a rating and highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of each blog post. After that, since I kept providing new links, DeepSeek ranked them one by one. I couldn't help observing that the more inputs from Roadblog101 I entered, the better DeepSeek got to know me as a writer. At one stage, I couldn't do no wrong anymore. Whatever it was that I asked, it always got the highest rating. I guess I just broke the AI! 

The amusing part was, I repeated this experiment a couple of times and I learned that the behavior was consistent. Every time I clicked a new chat, it was like a reboot. The first review was always the most factual. It just reviewed the blog post as it was. Then, as the data piled up, it understood who Anthony Robinson was and linked all the blog posts together, drawing one straight line from 2017 till date. I also noted that Deepseek was almost perfect, if not for a blog post called Beijing at Last. The AI from China suddenly gave up after reviewing it halfway. Something in the content must have damaged Deepseek severely!

Then I switched to Meta AI. The initial behavior and output were quite similar to Deepseek. But when I kept feeding it more data, it barely kept up. Out of the four AI I tried, Meta AI made the most mistakes. Details accuracy was spotty. But despite this weakness, Meta AI was the most poetic. The choice of words Meta AI picked when it brought all the elements together, such as "Nagasaki was the law. Hard Rock became the loophole. Ocipala is the spirit that walks through it," these sentences were brilliant!

But while the favorite blog posts could vary from one AI to another, I was amazed that all of them pointed out one thing: consistency I had from the beginning. The thing with AI is, it remembers and can summarize the whole data. It could pinpoint how one blog post was the origin of others. It could explain how an event happening today was a ripple effect from the past. Through simple things like, "2015 Parno postcard → 2025 Phnom Penh postcard. 10 years. Same act. That’s continuity. That's why readers trust you," it dawned on me that I had been living quite a consistent life. And quite a fulfilling one, if I might add.

Ulasan AI

Saya memiliki kebiasaan melihat kembali Roadblog101 dengan sudut pandang AI sejak saya menemukan NotebookLM pada Oktober lalu. Menarik untuk melihat dan mendengar apa yang AI pikirkan tentang apa yang saya tulis. Namun, sekitar sebulan yang lalu, saya kembali ke dasar. Saya membuka Gemini dan meminta AI untuk meninjau setiap posting blog saya. Awalnya menarik dan membuat ketagihan, sampai akhirnya tidak lagi. Maksud saya, Gemini cukup “lembut”. Ia menyoroti semua hal yang bagus, dan hanya itu saja. Lama-kelamaan, pesonanya pun hilang.

Pada tanggal 9 Mei, saya dan keluarga pergi ke Choupinette di Bukit Timah untuk makan malam. Jaraknya cukup jauh dari Sengkang, dan karena saya duduk di kursi depan dalam perjalanan yang agak tidak nyaman, saya lebih banyak diam dan akhirnya sibuk bermain ponsel. Dari sekian banyak hal yang bisa saya lakukan, saya membuka ChatGPT, menempelkan tautan posting blog saya, dan memintanya meninjau lagi.

Kebiasaan itu kembali, dan saya langsung ketagihan. ChatGPT jauh lebih “dermawan” dalam ulasannya, dan itu menarik. Bahkan berlanjut setelah makan malam keluarga kami, tetapi tidak lama kemudian saya menyadari bahwa ulasannya terkadang agak melenceng. Saya memang pernah mendengar tentang AI yang berhalusinasi, tetapi ini pertama kalinya saya benar-benar menyadari bahwa saya sedang melihat perilaku tersebut. Saya bertanya apakah ChatGPT benar-benar bisa membaca tautan yang saya berikan untuk ditinjau, dan saya diberi tahu bahwa ternyata tidak selalu bisa. Terkadang tautan itu tidak dapat diakses, dan ketika itu terjadi, ChatGPT membuat asumsi sendiri berdasarkan judul posting blog! Pantas saja terdengar aneh.

Saya jadi kehilangan minat pada ChatGPT setelah merasa seperti “dibohongi”. Maka saya beralih ke DeepSeek. Yang ini benar-benar berbeda. Tidak hanya memberikan ulasan mendalam, tetapi juga memberi penilaian serta menyoroti kelebihan dan kekurangan setiap posting blog. Setelah itu, karena saya terus memberikan tautan baru, DeepSeek mulai memberi peringkat satu per satu. Saya perhatikan bahwa semakin banyak input dari Roadblog101 yang saya masukkan, semakin baik DeepSeek mengenal saya sebagai penulis. Sampai pada satu tahap, saya seperti tidak bisa berbuat salah lagi. Apa pun yang saya suruh ulas, selalu mendapat nilai tertinggi. Sepertinya saya telah “merusak” AI itu!

Bagian yang lucu adalah, saya mengulangi eksperimen ini beberapa kali dan menyadari bahwa perilakunya konsisten. Setiap kali saya memulai chat baru, rasanya seperti reboot. Ulasan pertama selalu yang paling faktual. Ia hanya meninjau posting blog apa adanya. Lalu, seiring bertambahnya data, AI mulai memahami siapa Anthony Robinson dan menghubungkan semua posting blog, kemudian menarik satu garis lurus dari tahun 2017 hingga sekarang. Saya juga mengamati bahwa DeepSeek hampir sempurna, kecuali pada satu posting blog berjudul “Beijing at Last”. AI dari China itu tiba-tiba menyerah di tengah ulasan. Sepertinya ada sesuatu dalam kontennya yang “merusak” DeepSeek secara serius!

Kemudian saya beralih ke Meta AI. Perilaku awal dan hasilnya cukup mirip dengan DeepSeek. Namun, ketika saya terus memberinya lebih banyak data, ia mulai kewalahan. Dari empat AI yang saya coba, Meta AI membuat kesalahan paling banyak. Akurasi detailnya tidak konsisten. Tetapi meskipun ada kelemahan ini, Meta AI adalah yang paling puitis. Pilihan katanya ketika merangkai semua elemen sangat indah, seperti “Nagasaki adalah hukumnya. Hard Rock menjadi celahnya. Ocipala adalah semangat yang membawa penulis melewatinya,” kalimat-kalimat ini luar biasa!

Namun, meskipun posting blog favorit bisa berbeda-beda di antara AI, saya terkesan bahwa semuanya sepakat akan satu hal: konsistensi yang saya miliki sejak awal. Satu hal unik tentang AI adalah, ia mengingat dan dapat merangkum seluruh data. AI bisa menunjukkan bagaimana satu posting blog menjadi asal mula yang lain. Ia bisa menjelaskan bagaimana sebuah peristiwa hari ini adalah efek riak dari masa lalu. Melalui hal-hal sederhana seperti, “Kartu pos Parno 2015 → kartu pos Phnom Penh 2025. 10 tahun. Tindakan yang sama. Itulah kontinuitas. Itulah alasan pembaca mempercayai Anda,” saya pun tersadar bahwa saya telah menjalani hidup yang cukup konsisten. Dan cukup memuaskan juga, kalau boleh saya tambahkan.

The Unseen Singapore

It's 2026, and it's time to play host again! One of the interesting parts of doing so is coming up with the itinerary. Since the guests weren't first-timers who needed to be impressed by the grandeur of Singapore, I chose the hidden gems rarely explored by tourists. Oh yes, even I myself had never been to Kusu Island!

The May Day visit!

The main participant was BL, accompanied by Jimmy. Both have been my long-time travel buddies since the Semarang 2019 tour, but this was the first time both of them had ever traveled overseas together! Since his last successful SG life quality tour in 2024, Jimmy finally returned as the spokesperson for Singapore. BL needed to hear from a fellow Indonesian about why Singapore is great, and I was happy to let Jimmy narrate the entire journey.

BL himself told me that there were two reasons why he eventually agreed to come. Yes, he found the itinerary unusually charming, but what drove him mad was the fact that he was literally pestered by Jimmy every day. He couldn't take it anymore, so the only logical choice was to agree just to get it over with!

Jimmy showing the solid metal fence. 

There was going to be a lot of walking. We started from Harbourfront and our first destination was Marina at Keppel Bay. As we passed the condo fences, Jimmy launched into his signature move. He knocked the metal fence to show BL how solid it was. Then he switched to explanation mode and babbled about how Singapore only uses the best materials that are built to last. The SG Life Quality Tour had officially begun!

I always liked the marina because of its relaxed and cozy ambiance, but it was interesting to hear what others had to say. Jimmy shared about his dream of owning a yacht. BL chimed in and talked about how fun it was to fish. As we reached the bridge to Labrador Park, Jimmy scoffed at those who said Singapore was only good for a three-day visit. He challenged BL, betting that no tourist would believe he was in Singapore if he posted the photos of our walk to Labrador Park.

At the sea side, heading to Labrador Park.

We passed through the mangrove area of Labrador Park. Right at the end, we spotted a monitor lizard, an animal that is prevalent in Singapore's waters. We took a break and had our lunch at Alexandra Retail Centre before resuming our journey to HortPark. By the time we exited Kent Ridge, we had been walking for about four hours. 

Our next stop was Lakeside. Taty came to say hello. HRR and his wife Shanty, who joined BL and me in Japan 2023 Tour, also tagged along in the last leg of our walking tour. We covered Lakeside Garden and Chinese Garden before heading back to the city, finally alighting at Farrer Park. 

The meetup at Lakeside MRT. 

We stopped by Don Don Donki, where Jimmy jokingly complained in our chat group that he'd been ganged up on by the four alumni of the Japan Trip as we convinced him to buy Ichiran Ramen. From City Square Mall, we headed to Anjappar for dinner. They were okay with Indian cuisine, but most of them mistook Gobi Manchurian for a fish-based dish before Jimmy corrected them. It was cauliflower!

East Coast was the next destination. We were supposed to have a drink at Brewerkz, but it was completely full. As we had no place to go, we wandered while Jimmy was busy explaining to BL why East Coast was cool and Indonesia lacked anything quite like it. After that, we headed to Mel's Place, a pub with a live band playing oldies. And, as we had our Kronenbourg 1664, they played the Beatles. Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, brother!

Jimmy pointing to the right direction!

That drinking session wrapped up the night. We eventually walked towards Marine Parade MRT and went our separate ways. It took us a while to reach home because the TEL is not linked with Downtown Line in Tampines yet, so it was almost midnight when we reached home. 

The next day started at Kopitiam in Meridian, near Endrico's house. From there, we headed to Punggol and went all the way down to Clarke Quay. We took a quick detour to BullionStar—because who doesn't like silver and gold? After that, we turned towards Boat Quay to go to UOB for some banking matters and, finally, to Marina South Pier. 

Heading to Kusu Island.

That's where we took a ferry to Kusu Island. The ferry stopped at Lazarus Island before our destination, so the total travel time was close to an hour. Jimmy and BL got down on their knees and prayed while they were there, then we circled the island. It was pretty small and since the day was quite hot, we took the next ferry back at 3:30 PM. An angler sat next to Jimmy and they soon got busy chatting about fishing.

When we returned to mainland, we had our dinner at Lau Pa Sat. Once we were full, we headed to the casino at MBS. Jimmy must have won throughout his short stay there, because he insisted on buying us supper afterwards. I brought them to Frienzie in Punggol Container before finally calling it a night.

Happy faces before entering the casino.

Day 3 began with breakfast at Rivervale Mall near my house. BL did a quick shopping at Fairprice before we took bus 109 to Changi Village and crossed to Pulau Ubin by taking a bumboat. Pulau Ubin was a laid-back island with a tinge of modernisation. To be frank, we didn't do much there except cycling around. But it still became something because our tourists didn't get to ride a bike in Singapore every day!

We returned home after lunch and squeezed in one last visit to Bugis because BL had to catch his flight back later that night. From Rochor MRT, we had a quick dinner at Albert Centre Market & Food Centre. BL tried lor mee, a Singapore delight! Then, of course, he had to buy bakwa at Bee Cheng Hiang and tidbits on Bugis Street. 

Last bite at Albert Mall, before heading back to Rochor MRT station. 

Eventually all good things must come to an end. We went home, both Jimmy and BL packed, then the tour guide and the tourist parted ways. Jimmy headed to Novena and I accompanied BL to Changi until he waved goodbye to me from the departure transit hall. The tour officially ended! 

It had been a funny and refreshing trip, I'd say. It was hilarious to see the brainwashing that happened throughout the trip. In the end, BL was a total convert, convinced that Singapore is a great country. God knows how long it will last, but BL did send a voice note to our friend Eday, saying that if he needed to talk to BL, then they should meet in Singapore! Now ain't that something? Haha!

The moments in SG.

Sisi Lain Singapura

Tahun 2026 telah tiba, dan saatnya bagi saya untuk kembali menjadi tuan rumah! Salah satu bagian paling menarik saat menjamu tamu adalah menyusun rencana perjalanan. Karena tamu kali ini bukanlah pendatang baru yang perlu dibuat takjub oleh kemegahan Singapura, saya memilih destinasi tersembunyi yang jarang dieksplorasi turis. Oh ya, bahkan saya sendiri pun belum pernah ke Pulau Kusu!

Kunjungan 1-Mei.

Peserta utamanya adalah BL, ditemani oleh Jimmy. Keduanya adalah teman perjalanan lama saya sejak tur Semarang 2019, tapi ini adalah pertama kalinya mereka berdua bepergian ke luar negeri bersama! Sejak kesuksesan tur "kualitas hidup SG" pada tahun 2024 lalu, Jimmy akhirnya kembali sebagai juru bicara Singapura. BL perlu mendengar dari sesama orang Indonesia tentang mengapa Singapura itu hebat, dan saya dengan senang hati membiarkan Jimmy menjadi narator sepanjang perjalanan.

BL sendiri bercerita bahwa ada dua alasan mengapa dia akhirnya setuju untuk datang. Ya, dia merasa rute perjalanannya cukup unik dan menarik, tapi yang membuatnya "gila" adalah kenyataan bahwa dia diteror oleh Jimmy setiap hari. Dia sudah tidak tahan lagi, jadi satu-satunya pilihan logis adalah setuju saja supaya terornya berakhir!

Jimmy mengetuk pagar di Singapura. 

Sebagian besar rute di hari pertama ditempuh dengan berjalan kaki. Kami memulai dari Harbourfront dan tujuan pertama kami adalah Marina di Keppel Bay. Saat kami melewati pagar-pagar kondominium, Jimmy melancarkan "aksi khasnya". Dia mengetuk pagar logam itu untuk menunjukkan kepada BL betapa kokohnya bahan tersebut. Kemudian dia beralih ke mode penjelasan dan berceloteh tentang bagaimana Singapura hanya menggunakan bahan-bahan terbaik yang dibangun agar tahan lama. SG Life Quality Tour pun resmi dimulai!

Saya selalu menyukai area marina karena suasananya yang santai dan nyaman, tapi menarik juga mendengar pendapat yang lain. Jimmy bercerita tentang mimpinya untuk memiliki kapal pesiar. BL menimpali dan berbicara tentang betapa asyiknya memancing. Saat kami sampai di jembatan menuju Labrador Park, Jimmy berkomentar tentang orang-orang yang mengatakan Singapura hanya layak dikunjungi selama tiga hari. Dia menantang BL, bertaruh bahwa tidak akan ada turis yang percaya dia sedang berada di Singapura jika dia mengunggah foto-foto perjalanan kami menuju ke Labrador Park.

Menuju ke Labrador Park.

Kami melewati area bakau di Labrador Park. Tepat di ujungnya, kami melihat seekor biawak, hewan yang sangat umum ditemukan di perairan Singapura. Kami beristirahat dan makan siang di Alexandra Retail Centre sebelum melanjutkan perjalanan ke HortPark. Pada saat kami keluar dari Kent Ridge, kami sudah berjalan kaki selama sekitar empat jam.

Perhentian kami berikutnya adalah Lakeside. Taty datang untuk menyapa. HRR dan istrinya, Shanty, yang ikut dengan BL dan saya dalam Tur Jepang 2023, juga ikut bergabung di tahap terakhir tur jalan kaki. Kami menjelajahi Lakeside Garden dan Chinese Garden sebelum kembali ke kota dan turun di Farrer Park.

Pertemuan di Lakeside MRT. 

Kami mampir ke Don Don Donki, di mana Jimmy bercanda mengeluh di grup chat kami bahwa dia "dikeroyok" oleh empat alumni perjalanan Jepang karena kami mendesaknya untuk membeli Ichiran Ramen. Dari City Square Mall, kami menuju Anjappar untuk makan malam. Mereka tidak keberatan dengan masakan India, tetapi kebanyakan dari mereka salah mengira Gobi Manchurian sebagai hidangan berbahan dasar ikan sebelum Jimmy mengoreksinya. Itu sebenarnya kembang kol!

East Coast menjadi tujuan berikutnya. Kami seharusnya minum di Brewerkz, tetapi tempatnya penuh total. Karena tidak ada tempat tujuan, kami berjalan-jalan santai sementara Jimmy sibuk menjelaskan kepada BL mengapa East Coast itu keren dan Indonesia tidak memiliki tempat yang seperti ini. Setelah itu, kami menuju Mel's Place, sebuah pub dengan live band yang membawakan lagu-lagu lawas. Dan, saat kami menikmati Kronenbourg 1664, mereka memainkan lagu The Beatles. Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, brother!

Jimmy menunjuk jalan ke arah MRT.

Sesi minum-minum itu menutup malam kami. Kami akhirnya berjalan menuju MRT Marine Parade dan berpisah. Butuh waktu agak lama untuk sampai di rumah karena jalur TEL belum terhubung dengan Downtown Line di Tampines, jadi hari sudah hampir tengah malam saat kami tiba di rumah. 

Hari berikutnya dimulai di Kopitiam di Meridian, dekat rumah Endrico. Dari sana, kami menuju ke Punggol dan lanjut terus sampai ke Clarke Quay. Kami sempat mampir sebentar ke BullionStar—karena siapa sih yang tidak suka perak dan emas? Setelah itu, kami berbelok ke arah Boat Quay untuk ke UOB mengurus beberapa urusan perbankan dan, akhirnya, menuju ke Marina South Pier.

Menuju ke Pulau Kusu.

Di sanalah kami naik feri ke Pulau Kusu. Ferinya sempat berhenti di Pulau Lazarus sebelum sampai ke tujuan, jadi total waktu perjalanannya hampir satu jam. Jimmy dan BL berlutut dan berdoa selama di sana, lalu kami mengelilingi pulau tersebut. Pulau itu cukup kecil dan karena cuaca hari itu lumayan panas, kami naik feri berikutnya untuk pulang pada jam 15:30. Seorang pemancing duduk di sebelah Jimmy dan mereka pun asyik mengobrol tentang memancing.

Saat kembali ke daratan utama, kami makan malam di Lau Pa Sat. Setelah kenyang, kami menuju ke kasino di MBS. Jimmy pasti menang selama kunjungan singkatnya di sana, karena dia bersikeras mentraktir kami makan malam setelahnya. Saya membawa mereka ke Frienzie di Punggol Container sebelum akhirnya menyudahi hari itu.

Wajah-wajah riang pengunjung kasino.

Hari ketiga dimulai dengan sarapan di Rivervale Mall dekat rumah saya. BL sempat berbelanja sebentar di FairPrice sebelum kami naik bus 109 ke Changi Village dan menyeberang ke Pulau Ubin dengan menggunakan kapal bumboat. Pulau Ubin adalah pulau yang santai dengan sedikit sentuhan modernisasi. Sejujurnya, kami tidak melakukan banyak hal di sana selain bersepeda. Tapi itu tetap menjadi momen berkesan karena tidak setiap turis bisa berkesempatan mengendarai sepeda di Singapura setiap hari!

Kami kembali ke rumah setelah makan siang dan menyempatkan satu kunjungan terakhir ke Bugis karena BL harus mengejar penerbangan pulangnya malam itu. Dari MRT Rochor, kami makan malam di Albert Centre Market & Food Centre. BL mencoba lor mee, hidangan lezat khas Singapura! Kemudian, tentu saja dia harus membeli bak kwa di Bee Cheng Hiang dan camilan di Bugis Street.

Icip es krim sebelum ke stasiun MRT Rochor. 

Akhirnya, semua hal baik harus berakhir. Kami pulang ke rumah, Jimmy dan BL berkemas, lalu sang pemandu wisata dan turis pun berpisah. Jimmy menuju Novena dan saya menemani BL ke Changi sampai dia melambaikan tangan kepada saya dari aula transit keberangkatan. Tur pun resmi berakhir!

Bisa saya katakan, ini adalah perjalanan yang lucu dan menyegarkan. Sangat kocak melihat "cuci otak" yang terjadi sepanjang perjalanan. Pada akhirnya, BL benar-benar bertobat dan yakin bahwa Singapura adalah negara yang hebat. Entah berapa lama keyakinan itu akan bertahan, tapi BL sempat mengirim pesan suara kepada teman kami, Eday, yang isinya: jika Eday ingin mengobrol dengan BL, maka mereka harus bertemu di Singapura! Nah, luar biasa, 'kan? Haha!

Tiga hari di SG.