sweet surprise!

i just hang up my phone a few minutes ago. got a surprise call from a dearest friend of mine. well ..ok, i admit that he was my partner in crime. almost every weekend when i went out for some nite life, i always gave his name to my mom :) ..and i'll be alright. we used to go out quite a lot back then ..but ever since he got married and has a baby boy ..we don't go out that much again.

the last time i heard ..he was working overseas ..here and there - too many to mention. i lost contact with him and his wife. actually, we're still in touch but in the kind of wishing happy b'day or lebaran's day or new year by sending smses ..you know little things like that. but we've hardly ever met or chit chat.

guess the last time i met him was when his wife delivered the baby ..which is around 5-6 years ago. he told me that we haven't meet for 10 years, which made me feel sooo old. damn you, Cyrus!! anyway, we're gonna meet up this Sunday before he leaves to Iran. got loads of gossips to tell him and loads of things to talk about with him. missing you Cyrus Poonawala ..and can't wait to meet you soon!

The Twilight Saga

i, like most of the people in the world, was drowning in the world of the Twilight. this movie is such a huge box office. i've seen the book long time ago and just realized like two months ago that they have made the movie. i learned well from my previous experience ..never ever try to read any books which will turn into a movie. oh well, of course, how should i know this thing? anyway, it was pure luck that i was able to keep myself away from that book before it becomes a movie.

a couple of weeks ago, i was watching the movie with a friend of mine and i gotta tell you that i love this movie. seriously! it is kinda the "it" movie which you should watch. and with that ..i started to read the books "Twilight Saga". starting from the first book itself called Twilight. before i started ..i would like to tell you that i have the tendency to let my imagination running wild whenever i read a book ..any book. oh yeah ..you can call me a dreamer. it's very easy for me to create an imaginary plots, faces, places ..you name it.

anyway, back to our subject. i instantly in love with Twilight. i even dreamt of Edward and Jacob altogether :). and oh, Edward in my imagination is not the same as the Edward in the movie. the Edward in my imagination doesn't really have that muscular body. my Edward has this baby face look since he supposed to be the youngest looking in the family. he's body is slim and light tough he's very strong. it doesn't mean that Rob Pattinson is not good looking ..but he's just not the Edward in the book. kinda disappointed ..but hey, there's nothing i can do about it.

i finished Twilight in 2 days then i started to read the 2nd book: New Moon. it is in this book, i've fallen in love with Jacob. you must've think that i'm crazy ..i mean, i know that Jacob is not as perfect as Edward ..why would i like him anyway? why not Edward? b'coz to me Edward is just too good to be true. i have to tell you that i have this difficulty to accept how perfect Edward is. dunno why. while Jacob ..well, he's more like a guy next door. it would've been very easy for you to find someone like Jacob in your everyday's life. so to me, Jacob is more real than Edward. i really can feel his passion and heartache.

another 2 days were spent to read New Moon before i started with the 3rd book: Eclipse. for which in my personal opinion is the saddest of all. i mean, the way Meyer brought up this sad love triangle is flawless. i'm sure you all feel the same way as i was. the emotion Meyer brought to us was real. the pain, the denial, the love and the hate ..all those collide into this one big twister of emotion. how Edward accepts Jacob or when Jacob decided to leave. it's just too sad. i'd say it was perfectly written by Meyer.

BUT ..the more i read the books, the lesser i get to like Bella. there were times where i have to hold my grudges of her. i know that she's not smart (so to speak) and she thinks differently from what the normal people think. she's clumsy and a bit ignorant. but that's not why i don't like her. to me ..she's a bit full of herself. i mean, all she thinks about is her relationship with Edward despite the fact that she has hurted Jacob so badly. not to mention how she doesn't even want to try to decide between Edward and Jacob. and the lamest one is ..she's always worrying when she will become a vampire. and you know in what reason? just b'coz she doesn't wanna be older than Edward! oh pehleaseee!! c'mon admit it ..that's pretty shallow, isn't it? that is the most silliest reasons i have ever known. even in a fantasy book like this. i'd say that she's not only not smart ..but also doesn't have a brain at all. i'm terribly sorry for saying this but ..might as well she's having a blonde hair since she acts like one.

by the end of the 7th day ..i started to read the last and final book of Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. i was soo anxious to read this book ..i can't wait for the ending. page after page ..i started to feel pretty monotone to read this book. i literally skipped a few paragraphs hoping that it will turn into something more exciting. but after a hundred pages or something ..i gave up hoping. i literally feel like reading a cheap novel, seriously. Meyer is a great writer ..you can see from the previous 3 books. but apparently, she failed to satisfy my thirst of a good happy ending. no ..i was wrong ..she failed to satisfy my thirst of a grand happy ending. i'm sooo disappointed. i thought that Meyer would make the world trembling under her arms, just as what Rowling did when she finished the last book of Harry Potter: The Deadly Hollows.

who would've imagined that Bella will turn into a vampire due to a dangerous child birth which sounds like the scene when Freddy Krueger tried to get out from Johnny Deep's stomach in Nightmare on Elm Street 1. that's pretty sickening, don't you think? can't Meyer made it a bit glorious for her? and the baby's name ..Renesmee. ooh, that was a total failure!! Meyer was able to create this whole new world of a good vampires with their own special powers but failed to create an original name for a baby, a very special baby according to her. but Meyer totally lost me when she made Jacob imprinted Renesmee. i soo sorry ..but, that was too cheezy. i'd say that she'd better let Jacob dies in a majestic duel with one of those vampires. i'll be very sad if Jacod died ..but he's better of dead than becoming a baby sitter, for crying out loud.

Meyer has to learn a lot from Rowling. at least Rowling knows exactly that she needs to stand on the ground no matter what. Rowling knows when to let her fantasy go wild but she also knows how to stop. she's not afraid to kill her characters (Sirius Black and Dumbledore) b'coz she has to, even if it's making her cry. and when she cried ..the readers are crying along with her. she's not afraid that her readers would be disappointed just because Harry didn't always get what he wants even almost losing the people he loves. why? because that's the reality. i know that Meyer's trying to make a perfect life for Bella. but that's not how it works.

Breaking Dawn might be a perfect ending for Meyer ..but definitely not for me. she made this book for herself and not for her reader, well at least to me. i might be too harsh on commenting her book and i know that i'm just a reader, but i think i also deserve to have that satisfaction feeling after reading a book. once again ..this is my personal opinion. what about you?

Juno

i guess i have posted a song called Lucky. twas a song which is sang by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. to those of you who knows about this song, should've known pretty well that it tells story about two best friend who fall in love with each other. a lovely song and they sang it beautifully.

and that reminds me of a movie, Juno - which is taken from a Korean movie: Jenny Juno. i honestly haven't seen the Korean movie as yet ..but i guess it's almost tell the same story ..love. well, at least that's my own personal opinion. i love this movie. i, particularly, in love with this Juno character and her family. why? cos instead of blaming Juno let alone made some unnecessary acusations to their daughter ..her parents are very supporting when they found out that Juno is pregnant. they are more afraid to know that Juno has been dropped out of school or even using drugs. and oh btw, Juno is only 16 years old.

anyway, like a normal teenage girl, she's a bit freak out at first when she found out that she's pregnant. later on she's willing to admit the mistake she made and accept it. she has planned to have an abortion but then she decided to keep it and try to find a foster parents for the baby. obviously, she's not capable enough to raise the baby on her own but by keeping the pregnancy, it shows that she is responsible enough for a 16 years old girl. which is to me ..amazing. not many people are brave enough to do such a thing.

days gone by as the baby is getting bigger by the day and since then, everyone seems to look at her belly and make faces whenever they see her. but Juno is Juno. instead of feeling intimidated, she's just doing all the things she wants to do and living a normal life. Juno is the kind of girl who doesn't really care on what other people think of her.

anyway, gotta tell you that the sex itself happened not because of love. i would say ..it's more about curiousity than passion. and what's more better than doing it with your own best friend? i can really hear you say, "euw, having sex with your own best friend? ain't it feels like you're incesting?". but i can say that i totally understand her. i mean, it's her first time to have sex and obviously, you have to feel comfortable with the person you're going to have sex with, right? it's natural.

so yeah, she had sex with her own best friend, Bleeker - they all have these weird names, so that you know. and later on as the pregnancy is getting bigger ..Juno started to realized that her feeling for Bleeker is getting stronger by the day. they might started it the for the wrong reason, but in the end ..it was love which get them together. i would really recommend you to watch this movie ..if you haven't already. i'd like to know what you think ..

oh ..here's one of the soundtrack in that movie ..

You're a part time lover and a full time friend
The monkey on your back is the latest trend
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you


I'll kiss you on the brain in the shadow of the train
I'll kiss you all starry eyed my body swingin' from side to side
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you


Here is the church and here is the steeple
We sure are cute for two ugly people
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you


Pebbles forgive me, the trees forgive
So why can't you forgive me
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you

I will find my niche in your car
With my MP3, DVD, rumble pack guitar
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you


Up up down down left right left right B A start
Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you


You are always tryin' to keep it real
I'm in love with how you feel
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you


We both have shiny happy fits of rage
You want more fans, I want more stage
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you


Don Quixote was a steel driving man
My name is Adam I'm your biggest fan
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you


Squinched up your face and did a dance
Shook a little turd out of the bottom of your pants
I don't see what anyone can see in anyone else...but you

But you ....

literature books

my subject this time is a bit heavy, i must say. but i really got to get it out of my system since it has been in me for too long. before i begin, i'm not a literature expert or something which means i didn't do any research or anything ..this is purely my opinion. i just have the need to write this because i do care. and here we go ...

so i have this wishful thinking that one day ..one day ..i might find myself travelling around the world. and this thought came up from one of (i would say) the biggest adventure books written by Jules Verne. wouldn't it be fun to travel around the world to know that there are hundreds of interesting things you can learn about other's culture? it has been my dream and i trully hope that i will fulfil my dream. it is literally something that i will always longed for. isn't it amazing that a book will give you that kind of passion over something? even though you still don't know or not sure whether it will come true. but knowing it has already given me an excitement and pleasure and with this book, i will begin my thoughts.

firstly, i gotta admit to you all that i'm not familiar with this author. i only know a glimps of information about him. yes ..i know that he has written quite some amazing books ..mostly sci-fiction kinda book, which at that time where his imagination was running wild, some people think that he's crazy. he actually wrote about submarines and aircrafts - fyi, these two things have not been invented yet. and now he is referred as the "father of sci-fi". anyway, that's the only information i know about Jules Verne. nothing more than this, sorry to say.

but back to my subject ..i always love books. i do enjoy reading book in my leisure time but i gotta tell you that sometimes i feel so sorry that i didn't get the chance to read those literature when i was in school. i mean, back when i was in school, the only literature books we have to read is the Indonesian literature. while in my opinion, we should also be taught to read literatures from other countries as well. why? because it means that you have the chance to see or at least get a bit of imagination of what's happening outside our own coutry. as simple as that. doesn't mean that i consider Indonesian literatures are not interesting ..it's just that i personally think we should learn other's lit as well.

c'mon ..let's be honest here, we all know the name like William Shakespeare. we know that he's the author of Romeo and Juliet tragedies ..but tell me, who has really read this? not to mentioned the-so-called Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth. oh yes, we all so familiar with those names right? but still not many of Indonesian students have the chance to read these. except that you went to school abroad. i actually feel sad to know this. these all are great literatures to read, i'd say. i , myself, haven't got the chance to read all these ..but it's already in my to-read-list.

- Romeo and Juliet -

ok, Jules Verne and William Shakespeare are just two examples of the classic literatures. let me give you other examples from the more-recent authors (who actually born in the 1930 something rather than 1800).

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende ..this is one of my favourite book. i LOVE this book to pieces. it actually took me years to get this book, believe it or not. why? dunno ..it's not the kind of book you could easily get here. i bought this book about 2 years ago in Kinokuniya. and you know ..that one was the last copy on the shelve! i have, of course, watched the mini series - ages ago. honestly speaking, it was the mini series which brought me to buy the novel. the imagination of a white luck dragon tickles me. the world beyond our world. i would say that childern around the world should've read this book. it's sooo good to develop their mind.



another book i want to discuss here is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. this book has brought a big controversy in the US. the language which Salinger has used is not a common one. he used a lot of vulgar language. Holden Caulfield is the main character and the narattor in this book. Holden was (as some people called him) a trouble maker. he actually is not - well, at least to me. he's just being a normal 16 year old boy. he is a smart boy actually, but he sees the world differently. i just love his cynical and bitterness. ok, this might not be a good book to read for children but i would really recommend this book for adults. if you really wanna see what's inside of the 16 year-old teenager's brain ..you should read this. and oh, btw ..please be reminded that reading this is only for fun ..don't do anything more than that. cause some say that this book has lead a guy to commit suicide or turn into a serial killer due to depression (something like that). dunno whether it is true or not ..i'll let you be the judge.

- a different version of The Catcher in the Rye book cover -

and there is again ..another book which is in my list is this book called Lord of the Flies by William Golding. i just bought this book like two weeks ago and has been sitting in my to-read-book-pile. guess that i've got 5 or 6 books ready to read in my leisure time. oh ..that reminds me, i have taken a week off in the month of December just to chill and entertain myself by reading books and watching dvds. anyway, i have read a few pages of this book. looks fun to read this. i can imagine a bunch of school boy stuck in the deserted island and thinking that they will rule themselves. hmm, i can see clearly that a chaos will be on the way :). this should teaches us whether we have to live by the rule or following your own free-will. you know something like that.

with that, it has come to the end of my discussion. these are only a few of literature books that popped out my mind. i believe that there are hundreds of books lying out there for you to read. books that will teaches you a lot of things you might not get in the your "normal life". you know, these might not be a good literature books to be taught in schools. but i do hope you got my point. children nowadays should be taught something that will stimulates their imagination, just to trigger their creativities to become something useful in the future. once again, i have to tell you that i'm not very literature-y kinda person. i just wish that i have been given the opportunities to read those books when i was in school, that's all.

Tim Burton's - The Nightmare Before Christmas

Boys and girls of every age

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see

This, our town of Halloween

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene

Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright

It's our town, everybody scream

In this town of Halloween

that was only a few parts of the lyric sang by a few of ghosts at the beginning of the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. one of Tim Burton's masterpiece - for me! i honestly can't remember when was the first time i watched this movie (ok, my fault) but since that, i've been deeply in love with Jack Skellington, the main character in the movie. he ..as you might already guess ..is a skelleton who lives in a town called Hallowen Town. and Jack ..he's the Pumpkin King (what else?). the villagers in that town adores Jack ..even the Mayor! the Mayor cannot even prepare the Hallowen without Jack ..so yeah, Jack is the town's favourite.

to me ..Jack is good looking. i know, i know!! you guys must've think that i'm crazy. i can hear y'all say "he's just a skeleton and cartoon character, you silly girl!!". but i really do think that he's good looking ..i mean, duh, for a skeleton. gotta say that he's got the charm. he actually has made me fall under his charm. oh yeah ..i'm that lame :). amazon at that time was not a very good friend of mine ..yet. so, i really don't know where to get the original DVD for this movie. trust me ..it's not easy to find things like that here.

a few years back ..i finally found the DVD, yay!! buuttt, gotta tell you that it's pirated. like i said ..it's not easy to find those things here in Jakarta. in early 2007, gotta chance to go to Disneyland in HK. oooh, to those of you who has been there knows very well that it is literally a HEAVEN in earth ..for Disney's merchandises. unfortunatelly, it was not a good time for me to go there ..why? because there's not much Nightmare merchandises. cannot even find a t-shirt :(. but yeah, i had fun there ..bought all the small merchandises for souveniers. anyway, i managed to buy a pair of Nightmare sandal at Sogo in Causewaybay. it has become my favourite sandal in the office.

but then last Oct, Jeanette went to Disney in HK and she bought me Jack t-shirt. and you know what's even better? it glows in the dark ..hahahaha! oooh, i love it. thanks, Net. and just recently, i bought a Nightmare monitor cleaner along with the keyboard cleaner and a beauty case (it's literally Jack's face!). the good news is ..the original DVD is in town!! woohoo!

so i bought it and played it like over 5 times. FYI - that was actually my niece (the youngest one) who wants to watch the movie over and over again. she was a bit scared at first ..but then she enjoyed the song ..she even dance along with it ..cute, eh? and today, i bought Nightmare HP strap and stickers. i actually thinking on buying the HP pouch which looks almost like this ..

but it has Sally's big face on it ..so i decided not to. i don't like Sally ..really! i just don't like her ..don't asked me why. oh ..i almost forgot to tell you this. there are two stores at the South Sky Walk in PIM 2 which sells cute merchandises. you name it ..from Hello Kitty, My Melody, all Disney's characters, etc etc. so i went to that store with Jeanette. she went crazy over My Melody, btw. she has literally spent quite amount of money for buying those My Melody merchandises. you know what i hate the most? man ..the price of those merchandises are not cheap at all. i saw Nightmare cigarette pack and it costs like 145, 000. but i don't remember asking for the price of that HP pouch i want. i lost my interest once i saw Sally on it ..so i didn't bother to ask.

anyway, i actually found quite a lot of Nightmare merchandises there. but like i said, the price if unbelievable. for instance, i fall in love in one of Nightmare wall clock ..it's soo cute and it glows in the dark as well. and do you know how much it cost? it's over 400,000 rups just for a wall clock! can you believe it? i'm sure that if i buy these at Disney HK, it'll cost me a lot cheaper than this. guarantee. oh well ..i'm planning to collect it one by one or else i would have to literally crawl to the office :). so wish me luck ...

my hair evolution

last night i watched this drama on DVD and saw all these weird hair styles ..and i was literally thinking of how many times have i changed my hair style or color. hmmmm, this might be an interesting subject for me to write on my blog. i know ..it's not an interesting subject for you ..but i guess i'll have fun with this.

let's see ..i have to go way back in around 2001. well ok, not as far back as you imagine ..but i'm not sure i remember anything before that year :). and here we go ...

me and ella

this was taken in early 2002 by my ex-boss (the great RP Singh)

when we held an IMCA meeting at Gran Melia

this was taken in early 2003
when i was in India

Jul 03
this is the longest hair i've ever had in my entire life, LITERALLY!

and not long after that ..

Feb 2004
oh yeah, i cut my hair drastically - one thing that i
will always remember is the expression of this girl who sat
next to me at the salon :)

July 2004

not much difference afterwards, i guess ....

Sep 2004
yep, just a little trim from the last time

Nov 2004

grew a little bit

Feb 2005
tried to grow my hair a little bit ..or didn't have time to salon?
hmmmm .. my least fav hair style actually ..

(btw, that was my boss. tried to find other pics of me

alone with that hair style ..can't find any. sob!)

July 2005
phew, finally i cut my hair ...again :)

another drastic hair cut ..

Dec 2005

tried to keep it long enough ..by changing hair color

Feb 2006

Jun 06

and managed to have it that long but ...failed. and here's another drastic hair cut

Jul 06

grown a bit ..and changed the color ...

some time in the year of 2006

guess in 2007 until mid 2008, i had a pretty much decent hair cut or color ..as you can see below

early 2007

Jul 07

(pretty decent, huh?)

late 2007

early 2008

mid 2008

and the most recent ones are ....ta daaa

gotta admit these last ones are the pretty shocking to those who close with me. i, honestly speaking, wasn't expecting it to be like this ..but i like it. oh well ..i guess that's quite a long record for a simple thing called hair :) ..

FreeTEMPO

so i was watching this very popular Korean TV drama, it's called Coffee Prince. think i watched this drama last year. i really recommend this drama to all of you who don't really like the usual Korean drama (you know, cos of the tears and everything). but this particular drama is very different from the others. yes, there are some sad scenes ..but you wouldn't have to dry your tears literally. and most of the time, they made me laugh out loud.

eniwei, this is not the reason why i write this blog. the reason is ..i love one of the OST in this drama and it's Immaterial White by FreeTEMPO. at first, i was thinking ..who the hell is this FreeTEMPO? is this a group or a band or what? i immediately goggled the internet (oh yeah, i was that curious) and this is what i found about FreeTEMPO as i quote from the wikipedia:

"FreeTEMPO (free tempo), the artists of DJ Takeshi半沢 by the solo unit. ボサノヴァ 、 AOR 、 ジャズ 、 ハウスなどの要素を持つクラブミュージックを展開する。 BOSANOVA, AOR, jazz, house, with elements of club music to expand. インディーズレーベルのforestnauts records（ ユニバーサル・ミュージック ）やイタリアのIRMA RECORDSなどから楽曲を発表している"

a few other FreeTEMPO songs that i know are: Imagery, Sky High and Harmony. all are good songs. and i've been trying to find the CD here in Jakarta ..and you know what? none of the music store knows about this guy, sob! oh well, just to make myself happy and to fulfil your curiousity ..below is the Immaterial White video which i found in youtube. enjoy ...