take me away to this week last year

NOW THEY REMAIN ONLY LIKE PIECES OF FILM
WAITING TO BE PLAYED IN MY MIND

I can't believe it's been a year already (and the fact that I still haven't finished the story posted here). This time last year, I was wandering around like a girl who seemed to have ditched school (not seemed, but obviously she did ditch school).

This time last year, I must have been on my way to Universal Studios or maybe I must have already on the bus that took me to Walmart.

Okay, okay, I'm a person that lives in the past too much. Time to move on, Car. There will still be exams by tomorrow. Fill your mind up with knowledge not some memories that have passed *talkingtomyself*.

Anyway, you ask, where have you been Carrie? It's been a while since you haven't blogged. Yes, it has. The thing is, I've been busy with real life, some freaking exams that have been bombarding continuously and non-stop since last week, without any break at all. Even, have I told you this? That last Friday, on February 19, my school was flooded, so deep that the water came out pouring to the classrooms in the first floor.

Due to that condition, the freshmen (they were supposed to have classes that day, while the eleventh graders stayed at home due to the twelfth graders' exams. So the freshmen and eleventh graders change their turns for having classes day by day) were told to be absent (oh how I miss those moments of receiving the heavenly text message that made my heart sing, saying "School's shut down, no classes today."), while the twelfth graders were relocated to a church nearby.

Okay, I'm blabbering now. Um, have to get back to my studies. Geez, I really wish that all these tortures that come continuously will somehow come to a stop. In German, there's a popular phrase often said at school. "ICH HABE GENUG", which in English means, "I'M SICK ALREADY".

^_^

To close this meaningless post, I have one more goodie...

I've been photoshopping a lot these days!!!

Inconvenient Truths Around Us

Compiled by Carissa
seen through the eyes of the writer, heard through the ears of the writer

1. It's hard for girls to keep secrets.

Gossiping has always been girls' nature, no matter they swear not to do it or just not really into it. Face it girls, our gossiping level is much higher than guys' gossiping level, which implies that only a few guys like to do it. Say, if a friend of yours tells you a secret - let's say it's a HUGE thing, something extraordinary like she tells you that she is not straight; as in orientation, or her parent may have affairs - you'll definitely go. "Keep it a secret, okay? Just between you and me." Then you'll say. "Your secret is safe with me." But no, the truth is NO; well, unless you have some sort of an urge or determination that you will not ruin your best friend's reputation by spilling out the secret, or maybe...you're just different. That's all.

But without any exception, sooner or later, you'll feel uneasy for keeping such a HUGE secret, something not normal that a friend of yours have and you're the only one who knows about it. It's a nature too for someone not to spill something that has been kept for a long time and especially it's getting to make you feel uncomfortable for keeping something big and that if you spill it out, it's going to be a blast and yet makes a great effect to everyone, your community, and even to the owner of the secret her/himself.

Remember the story "King Midas"? When the king's barber discovers that the king obviously owns a pair of donkey's ears? The king tells him not to tell anyone, but the barber eventually feels uneasy for keeping such a huge secret. Therefore he decides to scream the truth out loud to a hole he digs because he can no longer keep it on his own, and really needs to speak it out. However, his words echo throughout the grass and the secret is later revealed.

If a friend asks you to keep a secret, no matter how huge it is and how bad you really want to speak it out, consider it more as a challenge, for keeping a secret will also judge how you're capable in keeping your mental strong.

Confession: with all of the fact that girls tend to find it hard to keep a huge secret, it also concludes that girls are the best informants ever, considering their or our ability to spread news so quickly and has various networks. So if you accidentally spill a secret of your friend's out to another friend, and you tell her not to tell anyone, it's not going to work. You'll wake up tomorrow to find that the news you've told your friend not to tell anyone, has already been the best topic talked around the grounds.

2. Most Indonesians are not proud of their country

It's common for people to be proud of their country for sure. In an international gathering, whether it's a formal conference that unites people from different countries to a casual chat on internet forums, people will usually be asked about the country they're from. Some of them will not even hesitate to tell good things about the country, or even brag about them. They will usually use this opportunity to draw people's interest about the particular country they come from, some sort of promoting kind of activity. Or in another case, some people will be excited if they're asked to tell some information about the country they come from. They will go blabber about the good things; from nice places of interest, to friendly people, delicious cuisine, or high quality shopping goodies.

But it's different for Indonesians. Our country was once known for having such high nationalism owned by all citizens way back when. We used to be proud of our country! What else can't be bragged about? We got some nice diving sites, thick and dense rainforests, endangered species, isolated white sandy beaches, diverse community...and those are not enough to explain about Indonesia. If you trace back from the history, Indonesia is the only country in Asia which struggles for independence without the help of other countries, because the colonialists refuse to give us freedom back then. Finally in '45, our country gained independence, all by ourselves (let's give our high credits to the honored heroes).

Now, the situation is different. Time changes so fast, as well as the spirit of nationalism that begins to fade. Let's cut this short; I've met and heard so many people, if asked "Do you love Indonesia? Or are you proud of it?" They'll answer is just a simple: "November Oscar".

You ask. "Why? But I've heard so many great things about your country?" they'll answer. "What can we brag about? Oh yes, there's one: our country has possibly the cheekiest, smartest, most cunning people ever existed in this world. You call them corruptors and they even succeed to make our country reaching to the top 10 of the highest corruptions in the world. See? That's one big thing about our country right?"

But that ain't a good thing.

Then, you decide to ask another question aside from the corruption. "And I heard Indonesia has some good natural sites, like rainforests and sandy beach, volcanoes, and lakes." They'll say. "Yes, but they cut the trees off, possibly intending to turn the forests into a desert.

They also start to pluck some corals and kill the underwater ecosystem for their own business. The places of interests, such as for tourism purposes, like museums, they're not well treated. I've seen so many museums out of this country which has been maintained so well by the government, that they never lose visitors...

"Those museums out of Indonesia are extremely clean, updated, cutting-edge, with some technology touch. No wonder citizens in this country always refuse to go to the museum, because their appeal is not interesting enough. The government - I assume - don't really have the urge to attract more people into going to museums. All they do is just putting archaeological and historical items in rows and let them grow worn, dusty, and as if it's not a museum, but a place to sell antiques. I mean, they are items which have existed for hundreds or more years and keep valuable records about important events in the past, not some cheap antiques!!"

"A few more things," they'll continue. "You may say that Indonesians are friendly. Yes, they are, they really are. It's a fact, but let's say, if you're an Indonesian and one day you're lining up to get a scrambled egg for breakfast in an international hotel, and there's a foreigner lining up behind you, let's compare who gets the better service and hospitality by the cook. I've experienced that and the cook indeterminedly made the scrambled egg for me, and it tasted sour too. While a friend of mine disguised as a Thai, requesting for an egg in English. The cook assumed she must be a foreigner and hurriedly - and with a smile too - made a nicely, sweet, salty scrambled egg for her."

Then they'll go blabbering about some other bad stuffs of your country: the traffic jam, the pollution, how the public transportations are not well-maintained (which is obviously the reason why most Indonesians prefer to go by private vehicles or at least, cabs).

After listening to their long explanation, all the bad stuffs about Indonesia, you'll drop your jaw at once. Lastly, they'll conclude that. "Those are the reasons why Indonesia is STILL a developed country, with high level of poverty and some other poor things that should be taken care of."

Well, now from my point of view: I myself have a friend who's exactly like this. But believe me, 'they' doesn't refer to him. One day I ask her where he intends to continue his education to and he says that he wants to go to the X country, because it's a very nice, cutting-edge country...well, all the opposites of our country. Whether he intends to return to Indonesia, he refuses, saying that he'd rather be an immigrant and lives there instead of living an Indonesian.

That's a little too harsh , isn't it?

In my opinion, I'm actually deeply concerned about the current issues Indonesia is facing. There are lots of them, ranging from social (povertypovertypovertypoverty....), politics (the stupid, never-ending Bank Century issue), culture (the claim of our traditional values and culture by another country, and we just do nothing but protest, instead of preserving them for the future), and education (face it, despite the existence of international schools and the whole renewed, up to date curriculum, the education still has unfortunately poor curriculum system, and the worst is, there are fairly less free schools opened for the low class children).

Nuff said? Fine, I'll shut up here.

3. The most annoying question ever. "What rank do you get at school?"

Really, all adults expect all children they meet to be smart. This is a very stereotypical mindset. When you go to a gathering with your parents and you meet some fellow adults (friends of your parents), this question will always come up. Once or twice, that's fine, but if you keep getting that kind of question, trust me, it will begin to irritate you sooner or later.

Ranks always symbolize cleverness, like a badge pinned to one's shirt. Without the badge, the person is nothing. It really determines your position. Same thing as ranks. If you don't get a rank but you're smart, you're STILL nothing for the adults. Rank is still the most valuable thing a child ever has according to the adults (seen from the point of view of a child), your dignity. One thing they don't know: not all smart people can always get the 'badges'.

4. Parents stalk their children through Networking Sites.

You'll find this as one of five top reasons of why parents start to open up accounts on networking sites. Yes, they do want to experience what the younger generations are crazy about. Curiosity. That's the key. Soon parents will begin to find the advantage of using networking sites; which is to find old friends and greet them through cyber world.

But then, they'll find another advantage too. Parents, no matter what, are protective towards their kids and always, ALWAYS curious about what their kids are up to. So it won't be much a surprise if you find your mother suddenly calling you from her office, demanding to tell her who you just added to your friend's list a few minutes ago, just because your mom doesn't recognize the person you just added your friend's list.

In conclusion, networking site is NOT (again, I emphasize NOT) a safe place to chat with your friends about how annoying your parents are. They're watching over, somewhere...out there...

Anyway, let's take a look at the bright side. It's always parents' instinct to be protective towards their children and know what exactly they're up too. This may sound annoying to us all, but remember the cases of two different girls managing to meet the strangers they met on a social network and ended up being raped? Those actions (the whole conversation and interaction with the strangers) were taken without the knowledge of their parents!

So if one day your mom calls you immediately only to ask who you just added to your friends' list, it's all done for your sake and safety *hugegrin*

5. English is no longer a "SAFE" language

Face it, English has been an international language since like, years ago. And it's not a surprise anymore if you go to a foreign place outside your country, then you get lost, and the only communication you can use is by speaking English. English has been one of the most important subjects at school and has been taught since we were like...6. Okay, if your kindergarten didn't teach you English, your parents will probably send you out to join an English course or foundation just to increase your English skills.

But now, you think that only high society are able to speak and understand English, that other kind of societies aren't given knowledge in speaking English. Usually, if you want to talk about someone in his/her presence, without being discovered, English is your way of communicating. You just have to talk normally with a friend of yours right next to you, but both of you talk about the person you're currently spotting at.

For example, say you're on a bus and a man sitting right across you have a weird beard that you can't hold for not telling it to your friend sitting next to you. The safest way is to talk to a friend of yours using English, thus, the man won't know what you're talking about (despite you're talking about his funny beird). Or if you're in the classroom, in the middle of Bahasa Indonesia lesson. The teacher is being annoying, and you just can't help to curse her, but in English. Thus, she won't know that the high tone you're using is actually a curse directed to her.

That was yesterday. But today, English is NO longer a "SAFE" language, considering free English education starts to spread in the town, teaching students ranging from street urchins to beggars. That's a good thing actually! Because English is a language of globalization, that proves one's intelligence. Even teachers at school (no matter English teachers or not) start to be given English lessons. So, start not to talk about your teacher or anyone else sitting across you or even the bus conductor in English, they might now.

P.S: Not just English, but it seems, Japanese will follow English as the second "no longer safe" language to write and talk about. So if you're writing a memo to a friend in an English class, using Japanese hiragana, and your teacher catches your act and says. "Wow, you learn Japanese TOO?" Please pay attention that "TOO" here is a dangerous keyword, that indicates if that if you learn it TOO, it means, the teacher refers that she can also...understand Japanese.

The next thing you know, you're so dead and you'll be sent to the principal's office for writing in foreign language about your teacher - the foreign language which the teacher understands. Language is a key of communication, and you must be careful in using it, especially in this case.

6. Good things always come to an end

Theoretically, if you're just getting used to something or someone, you'll lose it immediately. So don't get all used to something, because once you're getting used to it so quickly, you'll lose it sooner or later.

7. When you tell people about your dislikes, they'll bring them up just to irritate and make fun of you.

Really, you see this on TV very lately. There is this variety show where the host invites a celebrity to do some challenges. When it comes to a challenge which features something that the celebrity hates, or worst - her phobia, say like she's afraid of spiders (arachnophobia) - the host cheekily manages to scare her by swinging the spider towards her. Phobia IS a serious thing. Don't try to mess up with it, even though some people don't take phobia seriously. They think it's only a common thing that is disliked and scared by some particular people.

Then you see the celebrity jumps out immediately upon seeing the host runs after her, swinging the spider at her. The celebrity makes a hysterical response, jumping up and down, hiding here and there. At a glance, it may seem funny but really, it's a serious thing. The celebrity isn't acting when it comes to such serious things like phobia.

Another example, you see some balloons hanging near you. Your friend picks a balloon up but she doesn't know you're scared of them (some phobias may sound ridiculous). Then you tell her that you don't like balloons because hey freak you out. Knowing your weakness, your friend starts to think that it may be funny to see you freaked out. Then, she starts to swing the balloons right at you.

The First Weekend of February

Something bad just happened to me on Thursday, but I'm not really in mood telling about all of it here. It'd be just a waste of time. In fact, during the D-day of the bad event going on, I was too speechless that I could barely speak a word. The situation was tense and it was hardly the similar, warm atmosphere I'd once felt a week ago.

Anyway, I'm not going to talk about it now as I promised to. No more poetic expressions. I've had enough of them. In fact, I decided to make a poem about it. Yes, lately I find writing poems much as an escape from problems happening in reality (perhaps some of my poetic friends have affected their skills to me? Not quite sure).

Speaking of poems, I decided that this blog will no longer publish poems. I - instead - have decided to open a separate blog, but still part of this blog, just to collect and archive poems I've made. Not just poems but also literary writings I've made and things that have to do with literature.



Clicky the link above to get to my poem and literary writings above. The blog will be mostly written in Indonesian, so be sure you know about that info first.

Hum...people have been posting on their blogs rarely, and so have I. But don't worry, it's just that we've all been so hectic because it's entering February, a month full of occasions but in the other side, I'm warned that time flies so fast because it's now February - a month to go to the National Exam. I've done pretty well on the past try outs, but it doesn't mean that it's over. Not yet. More exams are coming up this month in preparation of the National Exam and also for the graduation.

Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year are also coming up next week.

And by the end of this month, it will have been a year after my trip to the US last year (Oh my God, the story! It hasn't been finished yet!!! I've been having writer's block on writing itineraries these days. Hope soon my muse will come up again so I can write and finish the whole thing).

Sorry for being all laconic. Really, there's nothing much to say today. Hope soon I'll be writing posts will quality, or at least worth to read.

In the mean time, let's just take a look at these new graphic design works I just made, okay? Hope they'll lighten your moods up :D









Have a great weekend!

if only.

"if only national exam hadn't existed, i would have booked a ticket to watch super show 2 in malaysia."

"if only science club had got more members, we could have collaborated together to hold TSEC (tarakanita's science and english competition)."

"if only try-outs hadn't existed, i would have joined my dad in his trip to houston, texas, and visited seoul for a few days of transit."

if only
if only
say that once, twice, or many times
for maybe we only live to regret things
although we know we could never make it true

but they may only live in our dreams

Movie Week

I'm in love with my laptop now. Guess what, I'm posting this from my classroom again!!! I'm not going to blabber much here, just want to show you my love on movies this week.

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
A really cool adaptation from a classic tale to a modern Disney 2D animation set in the 1920s.


DORIAN GRAY
You ask, is it scary? Well, yes, maybe, but you won't think of it anymore once you've seen the charming face of Ben Barnes. Haha


SEIGI NO MIKATA (ALLY OF JUSTICE)
Watching this will remind you of The Devil Wears Prada, only the Devil has the blood ties with her victim this time, not an employee struggling through absurd requests and time instead.

AAH...my Youtube works!!! I should've brought my headset so I can make this classroom into a private entertainment spot! Hahahaha

Music, Inspiration, Me

"Pengen les piano lagi, supaya sering-sering dimarahin...karena semakin sering dimarahin, semakin banyak inspirasi yang muncul buat bikin novel tentang pianis yang karirnya jatuh bangun. Ayo kakak, marahin saya lagi."

Inspiration can come from anywhere
It can be from something that you're seeing
It can be from the place where you're currently stepping your feet in.
It can be from the talk you don't mean to listen to
It can be from a blast from the past
It can be from a dream or nightmare
It can be from your own experience
It can be from your own alternate life
It can be from your own wish
It can be from 'what ifs'
It can be from an inspiring quote

Truth is, you can find inspiration. It's everywhere around the corner. All you have to do is just find it, write it down, make it perfect, before it finally becomes a masterpiece.

Just want to share something, after posting that quote on Facebook, that I find inspiration from being yelled at quite often. So I have joined many, many piano lessons that I always find myself failing at. I've met many teachers, young, old and everyone of them treated me the same: that's because I can't read notes, ever since I was 4, the age I joined a piano lesson for the first time. That's why, I always hate piano lessons. Everytime I changed teachers, I always demanded them (yes, demand) that they would understand me and have an EXTREME PATIENCE so that they knew that I was not like any other kids, who could read notes in just quick glances and played the tunes accurately on the piano keys.

I just simply couldn't do that.

I was different, I realized that. Back when I was 4 and joined a children electone music course consisting up to four kids, including me and two of my cousins, I had some bumpy moments too. Surely, it hurts even more for you to be compared with someone else. And that's what happened to me. My cousin (one of them) was diligent and knew exactly how to steal the attention from the dear teacher. I was not blaming her.

She was a genius though. She was all sweet and had the kind of manner that teachers wouldn't dare to get angry at. Apart from that, she could read notes and applied them on keys accurately. So, after my teacher saw my cousin's playing and praised with all her might with a smile as wide as a crescent moon, she moved to my electone and I could see her expression utterly changed to a bitter look. I tried my best to convert those "hanging ants" on the music book to the piano keys. I did that slowly but didn't gain the teacher's liking.

Well, to tell the truth, I COULD read notes but I didn't understand much about music theory, about scales and what would they become if they were converted from G minor to F minor etc. I remembered playing Fur Elise for the first time after listening to my cousin playing that, and after I finished the song, I showed my playing to my teacher, which was responded badly, asking if I didn't read the piece. I said yes, and she was not satisfied with it, no matter I had tried to listen to the songs from the MP3 or from my cousin's playing.

That was when I realized that I had something in common with my dad, who apparently couldn't read notes as well nor mastered the whole music theory thingy. We were simply musicians who played by ear. Well, I'm not as expert as Nodame, who did the same thing. I was faaar below that. Nodame was a craze that her life completely revolved around music.

Back to the topic. Apart from all the yells from my teachers, I came to realization that those yells were not all worthless. In fact, if the teachers were before my sight by now, I would thank them and kiss their hands in gratitude (okay, not this much) that those yells that I had received for the past several years, had finally gained an advantage for me. Through all my rocky experience as a pianist, through the whole "READ THE BLOODY PIECE you idiot!" screams and yells, something small emerged from them:

An inspiration.

I may not be successful (bah, I never want to become a pianist, but I mostly gain fictional stories from an alternate universe/version of mine) and I know that I don't even deserve to write an autobiography just like my mom (she's not all successful nor famous, but she dares to write an autobiography published on a Chinese newspaper). From my failure as a pianist and thirteen years of learning piano (I still do play piano now), some 'what ifs' started to appear in my head.

What if I could prove my piano teachers that I could become a good, famous pianist one day without even reading the piece? Only through hearing?
What if my teachers were against me and decided to make me fail if I didn't intend to read notes?
What if my 'play by ear' method really worked and became just like Nodame?

Once again, I'd like to stress out that I never intended to become a pianist. The statement you read above is only a 'what if'. Those 'what ifs' gradually changed into inspiration to make a story, the development and the detailed versions if those 'what ifs'. I might unofficially fail in piano learning, but an alternate version of mine - let's call her 'She' - would never do. I have so many versions of myself: an artist, a pianist, a bathroom singer, a writer, a violinist, and lastly a dancer.

One of those versions, She-pianist, was one and the first of many versions of myself that was going to be immortalized in form of a story, whether it was going to be a novel, novella, novellette, or a short story. But for sure, She-pianist is ME in the alternate universe. She is the main protagonist, whose life is mostly based on my experiences as a failed pianist. But in the real life, I gave up, in the alternate universe (which is going to be made a fictional story), she never gives up and struggles until the world admits that a pianist can become widely known even though she doesn't know anything about music theory, but she knows music by heart and feeling. Okay, I'm not like that you know. Hehe

Back to real life, after settling from piano, I finally found my second home

Violin

Which I promise to dedicate much of my music life for it and even through violin, I found many friends that share the same interest in classical music (after all these years, I live in a community where largely people would think classical music is so old fashioned). But after the December 6 event, I feel like I finally find people to whom I can share my interests at, and to whom I can talk more about classical music without people around saying that my taste is lame. I'd also like to thank Sharon Corr for becoming my inspiration in violin. Ten years ago, after seeing her in a concert DVD, I told my dad that I wanted to hold a violin too, just like her.

However lately, after listening to piano concertos, my inspiration in making the She-pianist novel which once has faded (because I practically have quit piano and have also stopped getting yelled at) somehow arose. That's why the quote at the very top of the post represents my feeling now...

That from today, I want to continue pursuing my talent in piano.
I want to get back to my previous teacher.
To be yelled at AGAIN.
The more and often she yells at me.
The more this inspiration will arise.

Sounds like I'm using her for another purpose, not to develop my skills in my piano, but more in writing. Sorry, kak.

Oh and I promise kak, if you're tired of yelling at me again, I promise I'll learn more music theory. I'll learn how to convert G minor to F minor, how to do the freaking fingering, and such. Thank you.

P.S:
I can't directly show myself as a music lover at school, since my music teacher is hated by the entire students, and teachers too, and since his presence at school, music becomes very much disliked. If I show myself too much as someone who is dedicated in music, my friends will think I'm a follower of that freaking teacher. Get it?

(Sorry that this post is considerably plain without the text highlighting I like to do nowadays, lacking of colors this time. Hope you'll understand that this whole plain writing represents the content of this post)

Satu Kata Akan Ketidakadilan

Kau tuliskan satu kata
Satu kata yang mengandung ribuan makna
Hanya berujung dengan tanda tanya
Kenapa? Lalu kau tanya
Terlontarlah kata tersebut dalam pertanyaan yang kau tulis

Kenapa?
Satu kata akan adanya ketidakadilan di dunia
Kenapa begini, begitu?
Kenapa ini terjadi, itu terjadi?
Kenapa ia tidak membalas cintamu?
Kenapa manusia saling membenci?
Kenapa manusia saling membunuh?
Kenapa ia tak kunjung datang?
Kenapa manusia begitu egois?
Kenapa ketidakadilan mampu mengubah manusia menjadi begitu manipulatif? Dipermainkan oleh kenyataan?
Kenapa keberuntungan hanya terjadi sesaat?
Kenapa pertemuan manis berakhir begitu cepat?
Kenapa lelaki bercinta dengan lelaki,
perempuan bercinta dengan perempuan?
Kenapa hujan tidak turun di musim kering?
Kenapa sang ayah yang berpisah dengan sang ibu?
Kenapa ajal menjemput begitu cepat?
Kenapa ada yang lemah dan ada yang kuat?
Kenapa mereka yang tak memiliki apapun sanggup tidur beralaskan semen tepi jalan,
sementara mereka yang lain tidur beralaskan kasur hangat?
Kenapa waktu berjalan dengan cepat?
Kenapa selalu ada perpisahan?
Kenapa tak seorangpun bisa mengubah bubur menjadi nasi?
Kenapa, kenapa?

Pertanyaan itu terus mengalir dari mulutmu, kawan
Bendunglah pertanyaan itu
Dengan jawabannya
Adakah seorang memilikinya?
Dari sekian banyak KENAPA yang muncul di benak jutaan manusia di muka bumi ini
Untuk itulah kita hidup bung
Untuk mencari jawaban dan KENAPA yang terlintas di benak kita masing-masing
Untuk mencari jawaban yang tersebar di seluruh bumi ini
Jawaban yang kita itu bukanlah pintu gerbang jalan tol
Melainkan akhir dari jalan kecil, sempit, dan berliku
Yang kita takkan pernah tahu kapan jalan itu akan berakhir

Jakarta, 23 January 2010

They have GOT to be kidding me

This is worthless, but I just wanted to point these out, as what my friends have pointed this out for me.

Yes, Avatar has been plagiarized by an Indonesian film production house, and finally it was made into (what I thought) a one-shot TV movie.





Don't compare these, you'll just waste your time. To be honest, I pity the production house which produces the Indonesian-version of Avatar. I didn't watch it though, but I'd heard a great deal of stories about it, about the similarities with James Cameron's version, about the whole dragon-riding stuff and the daughter of the chief teaching the protagonist to become a hunter and later falling in love. I mean...WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO SAM WORTHINGTON AND ZOE SALDANA??? Poor James Cameron, but once again, no comparing. Nuff said, The REAL AVATAR still rocks!!! And even now, it's still on the #1 Box Office.

Speaking of Avatar, I have another goodie to make you go LOL tonight.

Did you notice that someone familiar makes a cameo in the movie? Probably he was about to replace Sam Worthington's role, but...



So...uhm, Mr. Bean, are you intending to join the Avatar program TOO? To be sent to the Na'Vi as a clown?

Jahre-Ende Reise nach Bandung: Part 2

Previously: At last, after shopping, we went back to the hotel to rest our feet before continuing our journey tomorrow.

Tralalaaa...part 2!!!

------------------------------------------------
Day 2: December 28, 2009

Second day!!! We woke up at 7.00 am, pretty early for a vacation trip. Then we took a shower, dressed up, and watched TV for a moment before descended to have a breakfast at 8.30 am. We still had no idea where to go that day. Some places were then picked out to be our destinations: Kawah Putih and Situ Patenggang. At first, we were thinking to go to Lembang, but maybe it would be best visited at night, since it was well known with its culinary tour, with all the roasted ketan stalls along the road of Lembang. But well, for today, we thought of visiting Kawah Putih (the White Crater) and Situ Patenggang. I thought it would be a good idea though, although I've never been there. But I've heard a lot of good stories about that place, though I don't know much about Situ Patenggang just yet.

After waiting for the driver to bring the car to the lobby, we finally got on and departed to Kawah Putih. Heck I didn't know where that was located. If I were to travel with my dad, he would probably point out where the location was, and how far it was from Bandung. My dad was quite a navigator, since he always got a map with him. But for this trip, since no one had got maps, we could only settle in our cars, sleeping, waking up, sleeping, waking up again, and waiting for the time when we would arrive. And that was exactly what we did. We practically just sat in the car, watching the crowded traffic of the downtown before the car moved away towards the rural areas. Besides sleeping, we woke up and Jie-jie would play some Super Junior videos from her iPod (what a useful gadget).

Finally, after approximately two hours of journey, we made it to Kawah Putih and the car slowly climbed up towards the peak, where a clearing formed into a parking lot was seen. Some visitors would also prefer to ride on a special local vehicle - a truck but designed like a bemo, especially for people who had come all the way by bus (surely buses couldn't climb up to this highest point). Near the parking lot were rows of stall selling Strawberry Chocolate (satay of strawberries smeared with chocolate), roasted corns, and some more stalls selling every type of souvenirs about strawberries (from the simple keychains to strawberry-shaped dolls/pillows/bolsters). But we chose to visit the main attraction of the spot first: the White Crater (in English, maybe). The crater eventually revealed to be a lake, with turquoise water (or other form of liquid, not sure if it's pure water, possibly a mix of chemical substances and mud. Whatever it was, it was hot, and I could tell that from the smoke coming up on the surface of the lake).

It didn't take long from the entrance to the spot. It only needed a minute of walk. Anyway, before the lake was a wide clearing with white sand, a bit crowded with a strong smell of sulphur filling the space. We snapped some pictures, and even took a picture of us before a huge rock (actually we intended to climb up on it, but we failed in doing so and decided to take a picture before it). Hehe. Unfortunately we didn't spend too much time there as the whole chemical substance produced by the water could harm our health. In just fifteen minutes of snapping pictures, we took off to the parking lot, preparing to leave to Situ Patenggang. Before that, since it was 1.00 pm, we decided to settle for a moment in one of the stalls, munching on roasted corns for lunch. Before getting some corns, Monica, Jie-jie, and I stopped by at a smaller stall (which got some chocolate fountains, so cute) to buy some Strawberry Chocolate. It was freaking YUMMY!!!! It had the sweet yet sour taste of the strawberry, but outside it, we could also taste the chocolate! After lunch with the corns, we took off to another tourism object: Situ Patenggang.

The journey didn't take quite long, except the fact that our car started to enter a whole different territory with rolling hills of tea gardens stretching before our sight and some pine trees too, that reminded us of Forks in Twilight. Not long, we arrived there, nothing special but a normal lake surrounded by hills and pine trees. Actually it WAS a good view, but we'd seen too many lakes that probably we'd got tired with it. Some people there offered for a boat ride surrounding the lake. "Wondering to know the legend of Love Stone? Be sure to join us in our cruise." persuaded one of the boat men. Monica spontaneously whispered to me. "What's Love stone?" And I said that I didn't know, the guy told us that if we wanted to know about it, we should get on the cruise.

Eventually we left before even figuring out the so-called legend of the Love Stone. Honestly, I was quite disappointed that I didn't get to know about it (since I'm kind of a legend-freak, but s'okay). Later on, we took off from there, and it was already 3.00 pm!!! Wow, so late. When asked where our next destination was, Monica eagerly said. "Ciwalk!! Because it has another stall of Purezento." Fine accessories hunter. :)

Once again, I directed the way to Ciwalk (Cihampelas Walk), since I was quite familiar with its surrounding, but before that, once arriving in Bandung city from the rural area, we decided to stop by the same hotel yesterday, Majesty Hotel, where once again we took our time to go to the restroom and stretch our aching backs. Look what else we did in the restroom. Oh and besides, we also took a look around the hotel lobby, and took a picture of its Christmas tree.

Hehe, finally we got to Ciwalk at 4.30 pm (since it took a long time for us to get from the rural area back to the downtown of Bandung again). We hopped off the car and went straightly to the Purezento stall, located in the outdoor area of Ciwalk. Apparently our favorite icons were out that moment, so we walked off there with bare hands. Still, we hoped that before we left Bandung, at least we could get some Purezento goodies. Finally, we moved on to visit some more accessories shops in the mall. We even visited non-accessories shops like an anime shop (aww...Japanese pop culture, how we've missed you sooo much after leaving you to Kpop) and a DVD store where we spotted *gasp* SUPER JUNIOR: EXPLORERS OF THE HUMAN BODY!!!! Too bad we didn't get to buy it. Won't tell the reason why (cause there's no reason to buy it at all *gajelasdeh*).

Anyway, we got off once it was 6.00 pm. Time for dinner! Even though it was still a bit too early for that. My uncle stated that he would like to have a steak dinner for tonight, and I knew exactly the best place for that. I quickly recommended to eat in Suis Steak, in Setiabudhi. In just matter of minutes, we got there and were ready to make our orders. Yumyummunchmunch. The dinner was quite chilly, since Setiabudhi was on the higher ground of the city, right before Lembang.

It was 8.00 pm already, an hour after we'd started our dinner. At first, we were thinking of returning straight to the hotel, but apparently, since it was our last night there, Monica hesitated and suggested that we go to another yet the last destination of the day. Bandung Indah Plaza. Actually she had been eager to go there since we first arrived in Bandung, since (no wonder) the mall got another Purezento stall. We assumed that the stall in that mall would be the last Purezento stall we would ever visit since we were taking off from Bandung tomorrow, and the possibility for us to look for some more Purezento stalls was small. However, the stall finally got what icons we wanted and even I bought three items, all keychains featuring my favorite occupations: chef and reporter!

Well, the clock struck 8.30 pm but Monica, Jie-jie, and I chose to go to Timezone, the very last destination of the day. Lucky enough that Jie-jie got the Powercard, which could be used in any Timezone branches and thus, we started our "night sport". Why night sport? Because apparently the games that we did produced a lot of sweat yet entertaining too. Monica and I did Dance, Dance Revolution together, in a battle mode, but we were too distracted to play basketballs for about five rounds, before we were really sweating (for the first time in the day, we were sweating, exactly at 9.00 pm).

After having SOME good time, we ended our activity today and went straight to the hotel. We crashed, but that was not the end of the day, not until Monica found that on KBS, Minho and Key of SHINee were being interviewed on Round Table Plus variety show, along with some members from SNSD like Tiffany and Yoona. Minho's innocent act really reminded me of Kyuhyun's!!! Which made us go LOL.

We finally slept at 11.00 pm. Wow, pretty late, and we were VERY exhausted that day. 5 destinations. Non stop. Nice....Have a nice dream! >_____<

Jahre-Ende Reise nach Bandung: Part 1

("Carissa, you haven't finished February US Trip stories yet!!!!" I know, the thing is, I've kept my trip pictures in my laptop. Soon, after I've moved them all here to my PC, I'm going to upload them and post them all right here)

The end of 2009 was a blast for me. Not that I finally wrapped the entire year activity with a trip to Bandung, but the fact that I did that with my cousins, uncle, and aunt- which is something I've never done before. It all began when my cousins were planning a trip to Bandung for a short three days of holiday and also to get a chance to peek on Universitas Parahyangan, the university my older cousin, Angel or Jie-jie (I often refer her to "sister" in Chinese) is intending to continue her education too. I don't see why not, since my parents weren't going to take days off for holiday.

The trip took places from December 27-December 29, 2009. Three days, but much to explore. Apparently my cousins' family hasn't been to Bandung yet. Well, actually they've been there once but only for a seminar, so not much for a vacation purpose. As I've been to Bandung for many, many times and have got used to the places of interest, restaurants, factory outlets, and other interesting places - basically, I've become familiar with its surrounding - my cousins' family appointed me to become their unofficial tour leader (eh?), as in my job to point out good restaurants to go to, where the factory outlets are, entertainment spots in Bandung, etc.

------------------------------------------------
Day 1: December 27, 2009

Early in the morning, I woke up at 6.30 am and prepared myself as I was rechecking my bag. I descended, had breakfast, and took off to my cousins' house where a rented car, Kijang - to be exact - has been prepared as a transportation during our trip there, along with the driver. Finally, we took off from there at 8.15 am. The journey took about two years before we arrived in Bandung at 10.00 am. Actually, the trip could have been enjoyable remembering that as we passed Cipularang Highway, fantastic green landscape of rice fields and hills spread before our sights, but I was too tired since I slept late last night, so I decided to miss all the beautiful sights and traded them with my beautiful dream.

As we were now in Bandung, approximately at 11.00 (the journey from the highway exit to the downtown took quite an hour, due to the traffic jam. It's high season, peeps), we needed to have a lunch now. We were worn and exhausted (read=jetlagged) after our approximately two hours of journey from Jakarta to Bandung. My aunt recommended that there was this nice restaurant on the highland of Lembang called Sapu Lidi, very famous especially to domestic or international tourists stepping their feet on Bandung. Actually, I haven't been to Bandung for ages. The last time I got there was like a year ago, and I barely remembered where exactly Sapu Lidi was located. I've been there though, once or twice as I remembered with my family and two of my friends' families and indeed that Sapu Lidi was quite an unusual restaurant. What made it even more special was that we sat not in an ordinary dining table in an enclosed room, but in farmer-shack-like open-air architecture with a simple dining table on it, overlooking the fields.

Finally, we arrived there at 11.15 after I managed to direct the way and chose our own shack, settled there. The air was surprisingly nippy, even though it wasn't even in Lembang just yet. Even though it wasn't even a lunch time just yet, but we were hungry like crazy. Even my cousins told the waiters to "get the orders done as soon as possible".

Probably we had tried Sundanese cuisine for like thousandth time in Jakarta, but somehow, it tasted better in the land of Parahyangan itself, especially the atmosphere was very supportive. We were having a fine dine in the middle of the fields, filled with nothing but the sound of nature and soft whistling of Sundanese flute heard from the speakers. As we were eating, suddenly, we overheard a group of family having a dine in the shack next to ours, talking in Chinese pretty loud. Annoyed, my cousins and I were like muttering "shut up" in Korean and Japanese. When we were about to depart from that place, my uncle, curious enough, managed to approach them and talk to them in Chinese (as my cousins' family members are all fluent in Chinese, so maybe my uncle tried to prove that that family wasn't the only one that could speak Chinese there).

At last, we took off from there. My aunt was curious about a place nearby called Kampung Gajah and we decided to give it a look, but it was only a normal restaurant then we took off. My younger cousin, Monica, suggested that we go to Paris Van Java. Among all malls in Bandung, this was the mall I've never been to before, so I thought, it must be really interesting! As we entered Paris Van Java, we were surprised by a group of girls squealing very loud next to us. "OH MY GOD, DON'T YOU SEE THAT GIRL'S HAIRDO??!! SO TOTALLY NOT COOL!!!" Then I was reminded that Monica just had her hairdo done before we left Jakarta. Her hair was tied into many tails, resembling a fountain. I stared at the girls in disgust, having the feeling that they insulted Monica. If they wanted to comment someone's style whose they thought was not cool enough, they shouldn't say that out loud. So...annoying. But whatever, we decided to ignore them eventually.

As we entered Paris Van Java, we were surprised that it was indeed a very cool and unusual mall. It was an outdoor city walk, with rows of branded shops stretching along the way. The place suddenly reminded me of Bugis Junction in Singapore and Santa Monica Mall in Los Angeles! Well, I came to think that we shouldn't come all the way to Singapore or Santa Monica to get the whole citywalk atmosphere, because Bandung got one too here! We entered one shop after another. There was Phoebe and Chloe, an accessories shop with pricey yet pretty items, but apparently Monica was aiming for something else (FYI, Monica had an obsession on accessories). She was eyeing on Purezento, a famous accessory stall selling from keychains to bookmarks featuring sweet Japanese characters. Eventually it was revealed that Monica intended to do a Purezento hunt in some places in Bandung, since Bandung is the center of Purezento manufacturing.

After that, we went to Gramedia, read some comics just to kill time and before we left Paris Van Java, we dropped by at Auntie Annie's Pretzels to buy some cheese pretzels. Then we took off to the hotel, Savoy Homann. It had been ages for me not to stay there. Well, a bit about myself when I was a kid: when I was little and went to Bandung very often, this hotel would always be chosen for us to stay, but lately, my family preferred to stay in a villa in Lembang instead. I remembered how I got along with the waitress quite well and thought if she still worked there (which was surely impossible).

Once there, we checked in and went to our rooms. My cousins and I stayed in one room while my aunt and uncle stayed in a room right next to us, connected through a connecting door. We settled ourselves in, dragging the twin single beds so that it would form a king-sized bed, and checked the bathroom to make sure it was clean.

"THIS TV HAS KBS AND ARIRANG!!!!" Monica suddenly yelled, to which Jie-jie and I responded with a squeal, since we were very much into Korean pop culture and were excited to find out we could access Korean TVs at the hotel.

However, there weren't any good shows on those channels so we decided to switch to HBO, only to find Twilight and watched it until the end, continued with Narnia: Prince Caspian, with Skandar Keynes who we adored so much among the other Narnia guys. We also watched "The Biggest Loser", but well, the show was average to me. Approximately at 5.45 pm, we left the hotel heading to Bakmi Naripan, which had the best noodle in Bandung, and after the dinner, we headed to Riau.

FO TIME!!!!

First destination: The Summit. Jie-jie bought some shirts for herself. Then we began to explore other FOs. My aunt apparently hadn't got used to the whole FO exploring stuff, so she didn't know where else to go. I recommended The Secret, located a few blocks away from Riau (still in FO district). It had the best and the most beautiful decorations I've ever seen from an FO. From the outdoor garden with a fountain, where we took our picture in, to the whole Christmas decorations and the minimalistic entrance. While Monica preferred to find some time window shopping in the accessories part.

At last, after shopping, we went back to the hotel to rest our feet before continuing our journey tomorrow.