Manga Reviews: Kocchimuite Miiko! aka Hi Miiko!

Fiuuuuuuuh......
Finally.. after more than a month I am able to read Kocchimuite Miiko! 19
Before my departure, I begged my dear friend Susan to buy this manga for me. Thanks Susan!

Reviews:
This manga is one of my favourite manga ever. I was introduced to this manga by friend only about 2 years ago. I'm immedialy falling in love with this series and started to collect them. I am a very picky manga collector. I never collect manga that I don't really like. Every now and then I used to read the books over and over again (Yes you are correct, I brought these babies to Singapore!)

The reason why I like it so much is mainly because of the story. The ideas of the story are very simple, honest and yet touching. They're based on daily live experiences, which most of us experienced during our childhood time. Trust me, when you read this, you’ll often giggle and realize “oh, I’ve been there before”. It teaches and reminds us the pureness of children we once before.

Mrs. Ono Eriko, if you are reading this, I really like your book. I think you've done a fantastic job! Thank you for 'giving birth' to Miiko.

Score: A, Very highly recommended.

Mangaka: Ono Eriko

Plot
This is the sequel for series Miiko Desu! aka Namaku Miiko (Book 1 - 4). Both series tell about the daily live of 5th grade student named Miiko, including her friends, family and of course her love live!

Got his description from Anime News Network
I think this is a short but very accurate description for this manga.

This is a cute simple story about one cute little girl named miiko. The story was tell about her dad, her mom, her perfect and mature little brother named mamoru, her love hate relationship with a cute boy named tappei, her cat (this cat also belong to tappei, they found and decided to adopted together, so it was their cat actually) named miiko--yeah, same name with miiko the lead character, this name given by tappei mom's, indeed sweet.--her selfish but everlasting friend named mari-chan, her motherly friend named yuuko, her rival for competing tappei named miiho, her secret (now not secret anymore) admirer named yoshida, her classmates, her school day, her holiday, her cheer day, her gloomy day, her happiness, her sadness, her love, her pure and innocent life

Characters

Yamada Family

Yamada Miiko
She is the main character. She is the first child of the family. An honest, kind and cheerful little girl. She lets her feeling shows up in the open. Even though she is not top ranked at class or talented in anything peculiar, she is very loyal and care to her friend. She is a bit lazy especially when compared to her brother Mamoru. Almost forget, she eats a lot despite her small figure.
Miiko has 2 guys competing to win her heart. The first one is Eguchi Tapei and second one is Yoshida. Deep in her bottom heart, she likes Tapei, despite they are fighting most of the time.

Yamada Mamoru
Miiko's younger brother. He is one year younger than his sister. He has a very cute and popular girlfriend named Yukaa Chan. He is smart, diligent, sensible and responsible. Everything that Miiko is not. He also bullied by Miiko when relating to food. His love competitor is Shinji.

Yamada Momochan
Miiko's baby sister. Just born in book 19.

Miiko's Parent.
Both of Miiko's parents are working in journalism or something related to that. Her father is working for a sport tabloid (i think) and her mother is a manga editor (how cool is that?). Miiko's mother is pictured to be less patient than her husband.

School Friends

Shimura Mari
One of Miiko's best friend. She likes to draw manga and dreaming to become famous manga author, but up until now, she still facing a lot of criticism for her work.

Ogawa Yuuko (Yuko)
One of Miiko's best friend. She is smart, top ranked girl in class, pretty, calm and responsible. She take cares her 4 siblings when their parents are at work. She has a boyfriend Satou Kenta.

Eguchi Tapei
He is the type of boy who cannot express his feeling. He likes Miiko since the beginning of the book, but finds it hard to express his feeling to her. Instead, he likes to tease her and makes her angry. He gets irritated and jealous every time Miiko is with Yoshida.
Apparently, he's quite popular in school especially among the girls, since his locker is usually full with chocolate given by anonymous girl fans every Valentine day. His biggest admirer is Miho Tanimura.
His parent open a little shop called Lazy Moon. At the beginning, his parents are splitting up, but eventually reunited thanks to Miiko and Tapei.
His best friend is Satou Kenta and he has a cute cat named Miiko.
Tapei is my favorite character.

Satou Kenta
His parents own a bakery name Satou Bakery. He’s often seen in the store helping his parent sell the bread especially at Christmas or another holiday. He is Yuko boyfriend and Tapei best friend. He knows that Tapei likes Miiko but cannot express his feeling, therefore he try to be their match maker. Until now, his efforts bear no fruit.

Yoshida
Yoshida is a mature, smart, top ranked boy at class. He likes Miiko because she is cheerful. Opposite to Tapei, Yoshida doesn’t have a problem expressing his feeling to Miiko. He even asked her on a date before. But unfortunately, Miiko is too ‘polos’ to realize his feeling.

Yoshiki
Yoshiki is the geek at class. He is very talented in art. He makes acrylic dinosaur dolls, setting up a diorama and then shoots them using his handy cam. He likes Miho, he even has her picture inside his wallet. But since he knows that Miho likes Tapei, he lets her go and help her pursue Tapei. He got really annoyed and angry when Tapei rejected Miho valentine’s chocolate.

Tanimura Miho
Miho is the pretty girl at school. She loves Tapei deeply, but unfortunately her feeling is not returned. She always considers Miiko as her love enemy. Although, she usually harsh to Yoshiki (her number one fans) sometimes she can be really kind to him.

Yuuka Chan
She is Mamoru girlfriend. She is kind, smart, pretty, and popular girl. She is very loyal to Mamoru. She makes him homemade chocolate pastries every valentine.
There are also lots of other minor characters that I can not mention one by one. Maybe some other time or you can ask me directly.

American Idol 8: Kansas Audition

Kansas... the home of last season winner David Cook!
Could be there is another winner here?

Here is the recap (incomplete as usual as based on my memory only)

Very straight-hair girl.. you know the one who sand leona lewis song co-wrote by mr. cowell himself.
Why: her voice is really, really, really good.

Angelina jolie lips look alike aka the one who sand a thousand miles by Vanessa C
Why: i think she has the complete package. She is beautiful, likeable and she has very good
control of her voice. Sounded like a pro.

The guy with the white hat
Why: the white hat. I not really amused with his voice though.

Michael Castro
Why: is hard not to remember him. He as a pink hair, he is the younger brother of Jason Castro last season contestant. I think he’s just okay. Jason is way better

India Morrison
Why: because of her sister. A sister who’s Simon Cowell never has. Haha. I think she has a nice voice, very typical Afro-American. Boy, do Afro-Americans born with gift of sound or what. Beyonce, Whitney, love their voice!

Crying Dude
Why: because he looks and moves like Elliot Yamin. Elliot is one of my fave contestant ever.

Crying Dude’s Friend
Why: Because I remember his friend the crying dude. His voice is just okay. Doubt him will survive in the Hollywood week. Sorry.

Anoop Dog aka The guy who studied BBQ
Why: never thought that kind of voice will be able to come from him. Waaaaaay better than Sanjaya.

Marching Band Guy
Why: obvious reason. See the nick name I gave him. Not really into his voice. I think he’s just okay.

Bar singer
Why: he’s bald and big. I picture him with a big Harley Davidson. Who knew his has good voice. Not great though.

Mom of 3.
Why: her controlled voice. She reminds me of Melinda D.

Summary:
I think Kansas is great, better than Phoenix on average. There are lots of great contestant with great voice and personality. To be honest it was hard for me to pick one to be my fave contestant for this audition. So I’ll choose 5: Straight hair girl, Angelina Jolie lips looks alike, Crying Dude, Indian Guy and Mom of 3.

My Top 3 contestant so far
1. Scott
2. Angelina jolie lips looks alike
3. Straight hair girl

The rest are just too hard for me to order them :P

American Idol 8: Phoenix Audition

I promised my self that I will write a blog about American Idol every time I see the show. But promise is just a promise until now.

Okay, this is the incomplete recap based on Phoenix Audition
Contestants that I remember because of their distinctive audition are:

'The Andrea Bocelli' guy aka Scott Mc something...
why: his voice! his tone is my favorite until now.

Baracuda girl
why: tatoos and high range vocal. somehow she reminded me of callie.. last season contestant, the irish girl, remember?.

A girl wearing something like a cow skin pattern shirt. I think her name is Stevie
why: her voice. nice and controlled

Giant guy
why: I was surprised... his voice and his body doesn't really match.

Bikini girl
why: isn't it obvious? the bikini part. I think she's smart for wearing the bikini. Simon' eyes almost popped out :P and she doesn't sound as bad as anyone would think, but her attitude is

Okay my fave contestant from this audition is Scott!
I will be heart broken if I don't see him in final 12.

Additional:
I read Rickey.org and just realize there are several great contestants that I forget. Duh my memory sucks.

Tiffany Amber looks alike
why: her voice and personality. she seems very nice.

Orphan contestant.. you know the one who went to audition alone without her family.
why: her voice

Bathroom singing dude
why: a bit geeky, went through even though Simon said no. I'm afraid I have to agree with Mr. Cowell this time

So, additional fave contestant for this episode is: Stevie, Tiffany Amber look alike, and Orphan contestant.

Body Shop Vitamin C Daily Moisturiser SPF 15

I've been using this product for almost 2 months now (before: Amway Moisturizer). The brand claims that this product can help you to revitalise the skin, leaving skin soft, smooth and radiant.

Well this is my review.
Positive:
- my skin get fairer
- not allergic to my skin
- unclog pores. My black pores are reduced significantly.

Negative:
- makes my skin very very oily :(

Size: 50.00ml; Price: S$32.90


Btw, before I bought the moisturizer, I got 2 free samples of this. I tried only one capsule, since I have no time recently, and I really love it.
It was not oily (not like the moisturizer) and penetrated my face skin very well. I could swear that right after I applied this serum, for few seconds I saw my face was brighter.
Definitely going to buy this baby.
I need to count my money before though.

28 Capsules; Price: S$42.90

Pics from The Body Shop

The luxury of my life

Okay, I admit, I steal that phrase from my friends' wedding website (http://www.mywedding.com/ayunkyayastory/index.html).
Yup, two of my friends are getting married.
I've known then since college, and they've been dating not so long after.
I'm really happy for both of them, as the groom, any fool can see how he loves her so much. this must be like a dream come true for him and as for the bride it must be fantastic to be loved that way.
So Yachu and Ayung,
here is a toast for you..
Wishing you a happily ever after.

cheers...

Why CR7 why??

Duuuuuuuhhhhhh mak... apa si yang dipikiran pemilihnya? kok bisa bisanya nih orang-tengil-yang-sibuk-ngerawat-alis-dan-tukang-ngadu menang jadi pemain terbaik tahun 2008?

why why why????

Here is the complete list from to 1991 to 2008
1991—Lothar Matthaeus, Jerman
1992—Marco Van Basten, Belanda
1993—Roberto Baggio, Italia
1994—Romario, Brasil
1995—George Weah, Liberia
1996—Ronaldo, Brasil
1997—Ronaldo, Brasil
1998—Zinedine Zidane, Perancis
1999—Rivaldo, Brasil
2000—Zinedine Zidane, Perancis
2001—Luis Figo, Portugal
2002—Ronaldo, Brasil
2003—Zinedine Zidane, Perancis 2004—Ronaldinho, Brasil
2005—Ronaldinho, Brasil
2006—Fabio Cannavaro, Italia
2007—Kaka, Brasil.
2008—Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal --> why why why????

Wall-E wins

Aha!

According to golden globe website, WALL-E hand in hand with Eve kicks Po and Boltz' ass in golden globe award 2009.
I knew this!
Huh... take that people-who-didn't-listen-to-me-to-watch-WALL-E-because-I-said-WALL-E-is-so-much-different-with-(read:-so-much-better-than)-Kungfu-Panda!

Waaaallllll....eeee
Eee...vah?

Invitation to all the girls

Paling sering denger komentar "loh kok pake kaos sih, emangnya sekarang hari Jumat?" atau "loh rapi banget loe, mo kondangan yah?"
I hate, I repeat, hate those comments.

First, it's not always a shirt sometimes it's a knitwear or a blouse. It's different people!
Second, well, these are the asumptions
- I buy the clothes because I think the clothes look cute
- It is very hard to find a cute basic t-shirt. It's a t-shirt what d yaa expect? Yes, I admit, there tons of cute fashionable shirt, but the cost is a fortune. Since I'm not a director, the dress will waaay overdress for me.
- I spend most of my time in the office. I go there 5 days in a week.

So, when am I supposed to wear all of my clothes? On the weekend? Oh please, give me a break! Weekend has only 2 days and life's too short to have to wear something you don't really like just because you have to.

Women are the numero uno target for the fashion industry. If women only wear t-shirt to the office which is more than 70% of our time, the fashion industry will collaps within seconds and that would be the ultimate armageddon.

No, no, I'm not gonna stop here.
For guys who get jealous because women have the luxury to have wider choice of clothes, I suggest you to let it go!
Tanpa mengurangi rasa hormat dan tidak bermaksud untuk diskriminasi, but Double standard is still common here, so, unless you guys can pull David Beckham, please stick to your t-shirt :P.

The most important thing is what I wear doesn't affect my jobs in a negative way. In fact, they give me positive boost. I'm happy when I wear something I like and when I'm happy I tend to be more productive.
So, unless the girl wears 'kaos oblong bali' or 'kaos encek2 yang lagi cah/goreng kwetiaw' I don't really see a problem here.

Let's campaign for Office Fashion Freedom!

Bake Inc. Mushroom Cheese

Downstairs where I live in there is a bakery called Bake Inc.
Almost everyday I buy their bread for breakfast. And this morning I made a very wise choice when choosing Mushroom cheese bread.
It's DELICIOUS!! The best of mushroom cheese bread I ever have.
I looooveeeeee the juicy, not too salty and a bit sweet mozzarella cheese. It's make the perfect combination with sauteed champignon/button mushroom.

Slurppss glegghh...aaaaaam aaaaaaaaammmm....

Btw, the Bake Inc located just outside the Buangkok MRT.

Delicious Tom Yam @ Smith Street

Yesterday was the last day for me in Singapore before going on a short trip back to Jakarta.
I decided to go to chinatown to look for something (read: pashmina) and ate at smith street.
We ordered a S$ 6 Tom Yam Soup and S$ 8 Pineapple fried rice from one of Thai stall.

Apparently, you can order and seat anywhere you like there. Since we didn't know this, we sat near the stall in front of british (i think) couple who ordered the dried chilly chicken hotplate. Wuaah the smell of the chicken was very tempting and mouth watering.

Not so long after, our ordered came and it's not bad. Not bad at all.
The soup was clear (I don't like tom yam with coconut milk), salty, fragrant, sour, a bit sweet and very very HOT. Slurpsss...Yummy!
While the pineapple fried rice was only okay for me. Since it's not hot so it felt like they cooked it before so they can save sometime and served it right away when any order is placed.

Definitely going back for more, since the smell of the kungpao chicken haunted me 'til today :P

Joey's Bag all over Singapore

It could be a trend, but lately I encounter a lot of Joey's bag in the MRT and yes it was carried by MAN. It's so ironic, considering Joey was mocked by all of his friend especially Chandler and Ross. He also lost a part in a play because of the bag, and now several years later the bag has become a trend. The PIC who came up with this idea is must be a witch cause he/she can predict the future!

Wondering when will my fiance get one, I love to dump all my heavy things into his Joey's Bag.

Poor Dogs...

Well, since I (still) have nothing to do here, I live my day with browsing.
Just found this article at Kompas.com about wild dogs in Bandung and Bali being hunted and injected to die. The reason is because wild dogs can transmit rabies easily since the cops have found several dogs infected with rabies.
Uninfected dogs will also be killed. Duuuuuuuuhhhhh......

I am not a fan of dogs in general, but this is just sadness not to mention cruel.

Read the full article here http://www.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/01/05/1430117/Dibius.Lalu.Disuntik.Mati

The most delicious food I ate since....

...well, you know since I moved here.

Today, I was treated lunch by my colleague. We ate Thai Food at Lerk Thai Restaurant downstairs.
We ordered Tom Yam clear soup, Red Curry Beef, Pandan Chicken and Pineapple Fried Rice.
To be honest, I was a bit pessimistic about the tom yam soup. I just had terrible experience 2 days ago eating a tom yum fish soup. It's taste like crap! I think they put milk into the Tom Yam Soup, so you can imagine the taste by yourself. Milk + Tom Yam not equal to good combination people.

Back to Lerk Thai..
To my delight the soup was clear (woo hooo!) and when I tasted it hmmmmm............ heavenly!
It's a perfect combination of spicy, salty, sour and a bit of sweet. Definitely the most delicious thing I've ever eaten over here!

The pineapple rice was also a surprise for me. It's taste quite different with the one I used to eat back in Indonesia but it was also nice. They put raisin in the rice but very little pineapple hehehe...The rice also topped with a light sweet of (I'm not sure) chicken floss?

The pandan chicken was okay. But not as good as Thai & I's at Plaza Semanggi.

The red curry beef is a bit of disappointment. I'm not sure whether because I was too full but it's just not my taste.

I'm planning to go there again sometimes to order the dessert (singkong manis). I'll write again later.

Food and Me

I'm never consider my self as a food picky person, but I do have some of Blacklisted Foods, such as:
- Food with dominant scent: cilantro, fried onion, taugeh (bean sprout), celery, spring onion, bell pepper. Ughh...
- Smelly foods: goat, intenstines (except chicken and paru goreng oke la) and durian.
- Gross thingy: insects, reptiles (i dont eat snake), codot, bat. Yuuuckkss....
- Cute animals: rabbit, birds (exc chicken)
- Not supposed to be eaten animals: cat, horse, dog, deer, turtle, tiger

And yes, I do have somekind of 'rules' of my own about food. First one is I consider a food is different if and only if has different smell, material, cooking method and taste.
So, if you cook vegie cah with garlic, no matter even though you change the vegie (from kailan to caisim to broccoli) for me it's the same food. and the same food bikin gw BOSEN!

Second one is I really hate I repeat HATE it when people add food with dominant scent into my food, because it will make my food smell like the added food and lost its original smell.
Okay for example is if you fried noodle/kwetiaw/bee hoon/vermicelli/mee shua with bean sprout, for me the food doesn't smell like fried noodle anymore. But it smells like TAUGEH GORENG!!!! Yucks! That's why taugeh is one of my blacklisted food.

Not to mention what if all the strong scent food is the main dish, e.g: spring onion or celery cah.. alamaaaaakkkkkkkkkk......... pengsan dah gw....

Ehm... quite a long list eh? but in my defense I eat mostly anything else outside the black list. I eat chicken, seafood, beef, pork, unagi, most of the vegie, I even eat snails once!
I don't have to eat rice, I can live from bread, noodle and it friends
I eat many cuisines from Peranakan, Java, Chinese, Sunda, Betawi, Italian, Japanese, Western, Padang, Menado, Junk Food, and Thai. I eat all of them. I just need them to be rotated. Please? Pretty please with sugar on coat....???

Theory of Taste Evolution

A month in here, and I'm busy bitching about the food to my fiance almost everyday (If he's lucky, some of my best friends go online, and I can do this never-ending babbling to them instead of him).
I think, I've reached his limit cause he's starting to babbling back to me hahaha...
He said that I am 'susah makannya' because I bored easily. He also said that he can eat the food that we are eating over over and over again.
Since I don't like to loss an argument over him and I have nothing to do now, so I think I'm gonna make my day as productive as anyone else's by creating this theory.

This theory uses me as a main and only sample. Narcissism, but so what. Old news. I'm gonna do a little survey latter though .

My profile (related with food)
- born in central java by Peranakan Mother and Chinese Father. That's mean Java, Peranakan, Chinese Food.
- went to high school in Bogor and spend more than 10 years in Jakarta. . That's mean Sunda Food, Japanese Food, Italian Food, Padang Food, Junk Food, Betawi Food, Western Food and Thai Food.

Okay, you never truly appreciate what you have until it's gone.
When I lived at bogor, for the first time I developed craving for Peranakan, Java and Chinese Food and when I got back I missed the Sunda, Italian, Japanese Food. Same thing happened after I moved to Jakarta.

See, my taste of food evolves without me realizing it! and now after 13 years it's like a swiss biological clock. I need and must to rotate the food!

So, the First theorem of my theory is
"A person (in this case is someone who enjoy food not just eat-to-live person like you know who) whose surrounded by more than one type of cuisine, tends to rotate the food/eat different type of food (tanpa sadar udah kebiasaan gituuuuuuuh!) alias BOSENAN".

Gimana ...gimanah anak kost lainnya... tul ga? tul ga??...hohohoho

Therefore dear fiance, yes maybe I blacklisted some foods (explain later in the next article) but the main reason why I'm being crankier and grumpier here it's because my body needs time to adjust to eat one type of cuisine everyday! (and sometimes even the same dish for almost two weeks in a row :(( ).
But I don't think I want to adjust my body. Since it's gonna be so sad living only eating one type of cuisine every single day...

Wedding Book Cover

Inspired by vintage photo, I design this for my wedding book cover since I have nothing to do today.
Hoping this design can be printed in our wedding book.
Cross my finger...

My life is meaningless

It's been almost a week and I have nothing to do in the office except for chatting, and chatting, and chatting and oh yeah chatting again. Most of the clients are on leave, most of my friends are going home for Christmas and New Year and My fiancee is busy applying (spamming to be exact) jobs. No new movie series.
No new chapter of Naruto. I think Kakashi is confirmed dead btw. Very sad.

No friends online means no new gossip. What's life without gossip? So empty and meaningless. No aim and purposes....

Hu..hu...hu....

Another Wedding Book Design

This design (our own design) will be printed on our wedding book. Yay!
Can't wait to see the result.

Going to Johor Bahru as first timer

Yesterday, marley and me.. no no my fiance and me went to Johor Bahru to renew his SVP. Thanks God (yes folks, I give thank now and then) that everything went smoothly.
The trip was also okay, not like what I imagined with all the horrible news about the new check point. No traffic jam at all and the bus queue was not long.

To sum it up:
1. Alight at kranji MRT station and go to the bus station OPPOSITE the mrt station.
2. Wait for bus no 170 or 160.
3. Alight at Woodland Checkpoint
4. Queue (short)
5. Go to the bus station inside the check point and wait for bus no 170 or 160 again
6. Alight at CIQ
7. Another queue. This one was very long aarrghh...Oops almost forget, grab the white paper and fill in the form. I will suggest to the traveler to bring your own pen, so you can fill in the form while queuing. Use another person back as 'alas nulis' if he/she doesn't mind. Just joking
8. Voila, arrive already. There is a mall, call City Square that's linked with the checkpoint building. Just follow the information, you'll get there. PS: the map directory for that mall is confusing.
9. Eat Portuguese Chicken and Egg Tart, Trying to find a cute, cheap, short heel sandal at Padini (not successful although they're having end year clearance I think, Ladies or shoe lovers you should go), Watch Australia (boring...but Mr. Jackman handsome as always), buy cigarettes, bath soap (arrghh so cheap) and Shi Lin (taiwan snack)
10. Back to CIQ and queue again (short one)
11. Took bus 170
12. Alight at Woodland check point and another queue (short one also)
13. Took SMRT bus 950
14. Alight at kranji station and headed home.

Free Fiskal for NPWP Holder

Finally! There is an advantage to be a NPWP holder.

Ngecess.........

Sekarang lagi ngeces ama:

- Indomie Goreng trus diatasnya ditaburin keju parut... wuaaaaaah slurrrrrrrrpsss glegggghh...
- Nasi padang: Ayam goreng + Nasi + daun ganja upss i mean singkong + kuah kari + suambel merah dan tomat .... tes tes tes air liur diatas meja....
- Bawal Salero: Bawal digoreng trus dibakar + nasi + cabe rawit dipotong2 dikasih air jeruk ditambahin bawang hmppppppph huah huah pedessssssssssssssss tapi zeledapsssss...

Huhuhuhu
Kapan ya bisa makan gitu lagi.....

Aku menangis meraung-raung........

Gossip Girl

FYI: Nope, I am not I repeat am not talking about me! Me != gossip girl okay.

I love watching movie, especially sitcom or television series. No I am not talking about sinetron or telenovela or soap opera. I'm talking about friends, desperate housewives, grey's anatomy, ally mcbeal, supernatural, smallville, heroes and of course 24!

Currently I'm only following 1 local series 'The Little Nyonya' aired from Mon -Fri at 9 PM on channel 8 and Gossip Girl. I know it's kinda late to follow a gossip girl just now, but since all the production are stopped during chrismast holiday, there is no movie I can watch :(
What will I do without my movies........huhuhuhu...

My fiance keeps asking the same question "Apa sih bagusnya?" "Yaela gossip girl lagi" hahaha
The answer is simple I have no other movie I can watch and Chace Crawford is hot.

The reason why I watch The Little Nyonya even though there is no hot guy in there, it's because of the peranakan story. You know peranakan = delicious food = 'masak-masakan' movie and I love anything related masak-masakan. So 'klop' deh

Well, for you all television series lovers, the television series I mentioned above will be back on January 2009 and Mr. Bauer will start kicking ass on January also.

See you soon Jack!

Korean Food in Singapore is delicious!

One of my friend told me once, that Korean food in Singapore is delicious...
She used to have it and she missed it when she back in Malaysia (yup, you know who she is now :P)
Encouraged with her advice and since she and I share similar taste in food (I guess Kwetiaw Pontianak is an exception) plus the picture looks so yummy, I bought Korean Ramen at Hougang Mall as my dinner last week

When the ramen came, I was a bit curious. Ngg... It didn't looks like the usual ramen I used to eat at Ajisen or Kinotaki.. but well both are Japanese, so, me, a Korean Food newbie didn't think it much.

After I got back to our table, I told my boyfriend about my curiosity. He looked at it at glance, took a sip from a hot-boiling-ramen soup and confirming me, "Yep, it is an instant korean noodle"

Glegar..... it's a 4 SGD food and I got an instant noodle? Geh!
Anyway, since I missed the Indonesian food soooo much and the noodle tasted like Indomie, so I ate it happily.

So, yeah.. in short, the 'Korean Food' in Singapore is delicious.
Still trying to eat the real one though....

Things that I never thought I would miss

Yes, I know it has been forever since I create a new post here.
Well, in my defense, my life has been very hectic in the last few days.
I jump from one client to another every two days, trying not to get lost. My boyfriend said i can not read map. I have to 'get in' the map like Joey in order to read the map correctly. And at night I still busy looking for cheap-nice-new-fully furnished-near mrt and food hall HDB to rent.
Until now, still haven't found it. So, if any of you got one, please please please pretty-please-with-sugar-on-coat let me know.

It's only been two weeks now, so I'm still at adjusting phase. Especially for the food. I knew that I would miss Indonesian food, but to be honest I never thought I would miss the rice too. OMG. I thought okay, singapore is an advanced country, the food material will be great. I dont know how they did it, but I ate a lot of I repeat a lot of weird smell rice. :( I love rice. For me, even an ordinary side dish will taste great if accompanied with a bowl of warm nice rice.

Number two is MILO.
MILO is my favourite milk brand. In here, the milo is tasteless.

Number three is skinless bread

And to complete the list, I miss all of my 'sarapan food'
- bubur lemot
- ropang boplo
- indomie abang cekatan
- mie yono
- mie ayam boplo

huhuhu......

that's me, the girl who now eats plain porridge and preserved lettuce as breakfast on daily basis, crying.....

My Precious

Duuuuuuh.....
After a long and seems never ending packing, last night me and my fiance 'gotongan' my as-heavy-as-killer-whale-baby boxes.
What the h*ll did I put in that boxes?
O oh....... I remember!
My preciousssssssss.................ssss....sssss...

• Harry Potter Book set
• Namaku Miiko Book set
• Tepi Air Book Set
• Mallory Towers Book set
• Time Limit Book set

xixixixi....

Sorry dear... good exercise for you and your tummy though kekekek...
I bet you slept like a baby last night...
I did!

Gehh..............

Just read an article at detik.com soal peraturan baru disebuah negara. Peraturan yang menyatakan bahwa yoga itu terlarang untuk dilakukan oleh penganut agama tertentu, dengan alasan bahwa dalam yoga itu terkait praktik-praktik agama tertentu yang bisa merusak iman penganut agama lain.

Sebagai pecinta yoga (yang walaupun bodoh tidak bisa-bisa melakukan gerakan dengan sempurna sampai membuat instruktur frustasi), saya tidak habis pikir kenapa ada orang yang bisa terpikirkan membuat peraturan semacam ini. Selama beryoga, tidak pernah terpikirkan sedikitpun bahwa gerakan-gerakan yang dilakukan itu merupakan ajaran dari agama tertentu. Yang dipikirkan cuma "Oh God, buset pegel banget. How long do I have to stay in this position? Ketarik nih arrrrgggh. Help!"

Yoga yang selama ini saya ketahui dan praktekan (once again ini pendapat amatiran) cuma gerakan olahraga biasa plus pernafasan. Tidak ada tuh meditasi yang mendalam dll dll. Cuma ada cooling down after, yang harusnya biasa dong, aerobik aja melakukan hal itu. Huaaaah.... exhale.

Padahal belum lama saya juga membaca bahwa negara ini melarang anak perempuan berperilaku tomboy. Alasannya simpel karena takut itu akan mengarah ke arah mencintai sesama jenis. Gubrak...
Give me a break... walaupun 1 jenis khan tetep aja ada yang perannya lebih feminim dan yang lebih tomboy. Jgn men-samarata-kan gitu dong. For example, Portia de Rossi khan cantik, feminim, hot blonde girl. Tapi toh tetep dia marry Ellen, not a guy. Kalau memang sudah panggilan hati mau gimana lagi?

Beberapa bulan sebelumnya juga dikeluarkan larangan agar perempuan tidak mengenakan lipstik merah menyala. I mean, what????! Apa salahnya pake lipstick merah kalau memang bagus dan cocok? Kayaknya tidak ada cewe sebagai pemakai yang berniat menggunakan lipstick yang membuat dia tampak lebih jelek or looks like a whore/slut/tramp/hooker. Namanya juga make up! Suppose to make us girls prettier. Up people up! Not make down.

Kenapa dijaman yang pendidikan dan teknologinya sudah semaju saat ini, masih saja terdapat orang-orang yang memilih untuk menggunakan peraturan yang ketat untuk mengontrol masyarakatnya. Bukankah seperti seorang anak kecil yang ingin mengambil pasir sebanyak mungkin untuk membangun kastil impiannya dipantai, yang belajar bahwa semakin kencang dia menggenggam, semakin banyak pasir yang berjatuhan disela-sela jari mungilnya? yang belajar bahwa dengan mengendurkan cengkraman justru dapat menampung pasir lebih banyak.

New habit

I love reading. I really do. My parents told me once that I started to open a magazine (even though it was upside down) when I was 2 years old only.
I read what ever, but as I grow older I tend to focus my reading in stories like novel, history, fiction, mythology etc etc. Hehehe...

But lately, thanks to the global crisis, I have to set my sauron-eyes to read daily currency rate at detik.com. So, in short, from couple days ago I was officially a detik.com and kompas.com reader on daily basis.

I don't know if this just a random coincidence, but there are so many interesting stories happen. Usually they just posted 'traffic jam news, flood news, and other not-eye-catching news.
But now... hmmm.....interesting
Well..well well....
Gonna post what I thought as interesting news later folks.

Backbreaker....

These last few days were very backbreaking for me..
Simultaneous meeting combined with packing all my sentimental-useless-crap of stuff really wore me out.
Huah....
Looking forward for the days where all I need to do are daily chores and watching movies...

Very Bad Service at Samara Sunda

Today I had lunch at Samara Sunda located in WTC Basement. It's drizzled all day, so all of the restaurants are fully booked, except for Samara Sunda. Yes, it was crowded but four of us were able to secure comfortable seat.

After taking forever to have our order taken, we finally ordered 2 rice (1 without 'bawang goreng'), 1 avocado juice, 1 ayam madu (paha) and ayam bakar bumbu rujak (dada)
Tunggu punya tunggu.....
10 minutes later

waiter-boy 1: "Mbak, avocado juicenya abis, mo diganti apa?"

Since I had my mineral water I said no to the waiter

next 25 minutes

waiter-boy 1:"Pak, ayam madunya abis yang paha, adanya dada gimana?

mico:"Oke deh gpp"

7 minutes later

waiter-boy 1 while bringing my rice with 'bawang goreng' :"Pak, ternyata ayam madunya abis, adanya ayam bumbu rujak, mau diganti tidak?"

mico: "ga ah ganti nasi bakar ajah"

me: "pak khan saya pesennya ga pake bawang goreng"

waiter-boy 1: "oh gak pake ya bu, sebentar yah"

3 minutes later the nasi bakar was arrived

another 5 minutes my rice(now without bawang goreng) plus ayam bumbu rujak (paha) were arrived

me: "loh mas khan saya pesannya dada"

waiter-boy 1:"oh pesennya dada ya bu. sebentar ya bu"

2 minutes later

waiter-boy 2:"bu, ayam bumbu rujaknya yang dada abis. adanya tinggal paha"

me: "loh gimana sih mas. saya barusan liat mas masih bawa-bawa ayam bumbu rujak yang dada pas anterin nasi, kok sekarang abis?!!"

waiter-boy 2:"baru dikasih tau bu abis, adanya tinggal ini".

me: "yang lain ada yang dada ga?"

waiter-boy 2:"yang ada ayam bakar madu dada"

me: "loh gimana sih katanya tadi ayam bakar madunya abis sekarang bilangnya ada"

waiter-boy 2:"oh gitu ya bu, jadi gimana bu?"

me, irritated and hungry: "ya udah deh gimana lagi"

we ate peacefully and then the bill came.... and the avocado juice was included in the bill!!. so I called the waiter boy 2 and said: "mas kok masih ditagih avocadonya?"

waiter-boy 2:"loh ga jadi pesan ya bu?"

upset me with high-pitch voice: "loh yang bilang avocadonya abis khan kalian gimana sih?!!!!!!"

waiter-boy 2:"oh sebentar ya bu"

gggggggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

very very upseting service. what made me upset the most was there was no one word apology came from their mouths. they just say it casually like "okay this is the only food left, you wanna take it or not". huh!
it's too bad i could find the contact number to complaint. ggggrrrrrr.....

this is the logo of the restaurant

My Wedding Book Design, page 3

Somehow he's able to...

Duuuuuh maaaak....
Within the short distance between my office and IDX building, the taxi driver somehow was able to make me dizzy.
Huekkkkssss....
Feel nauseous...

Miss You....Miss You Not...

Miss you:
- all my friends, especially kost friends, highschool friends, joki friends, nyarap friends, dept friends, and gajel (gak jelas) friends
- food: indomie goreng keju, cireng, mi ayam kampong, donat kampong, es krim kampong, bawal bakar, kampus food: aliong, petojo, padang . slurrrpsss... glegh...
- pirated dvd movie
- blue bird
- kerokan/lalaoke (karaoke)
- my small room

Miss you not:
- traffic jam
- debu
- bumpy road without sidewalk
- goverment and their-not-important-policy like ruu pornography...geh!
- angkot2, bus2 and motor2 terkutuk yang ga bisa tertib itu
- preman2 pemalas tukang nagih parkir
- blackouts

Is Kakashi dead?

Attention: Naruto's heavy spoiler.
If you haven't read til the at least chapter 423, you better not reading through this post.

Can anyone tells me Naruto's spoiler?
I just read the last episode (chapter 424) that Hayate Kakashi is taking his last breath.
Huhuhu......
He is my favorite :(
Please please let him live......

Feed your wedding photographer!

Wedding Photographer: "Okay, now open the veil."
The groom opened the veil as instructed
Wedding Photographer: "Okay good.. and then kiss the bride"
The groom kissed the bride on the forehead as instructed
Wedding Photographer: "Okay... now is the bride's turn. Put the croissant on the right side of the groom suit"
Bridesmaid: "Croissant??? Corsage!!!"

Overheard by the bridesmaid, Novotel Hotel, Bogor.

Dedicated for Anthony and Karlina. Congratulations you guys!

Making a Leap

Last Friday, I submitted my resignation letter, and after being postponed by my manager (collaborated with my division manager), my manager finally has given up and wished me for the best.
I haven't met my division manager yet, the truth is I'm avoiding her.. ppsstttt...
Worrying that I'll change my mind because of her persuasion (with deadly force of course kekekek).
I even haven't told my successor to be about it. I'm afraid that she would tell her boss (definitely) and then her boss would tell Ibu and mbak Tini. *bakal mati kutu*

Now I feel a bit relieve but not fully, thanks to my manager who assured me that my exit interview will be done by Babeh SEF. Duhh I'll be dead for sure.
Cross my finger and pray so he will be very-very super duper busy after he gets back from Amrik.

The truth is, it was filled with mixed emotion and a lot of consideration before I took a step to my manager desk and informed him that I want to resign from this company. But I thought that this is it. This is the time to make a leap. Now that everything is falling into its place, my outstanding projects are closing down, my projects are never been this few, and also my marriage preparation is almost finish. The only bad timing is the damn crisis.

Soon, I'll be very busy with packing (lousy at it) and another typical moving stuff. My poor fiance will have a bad time (I guarantee it) in helping me packing my what-he-called-useless-garbage stuff. I love that stuff. Let it go :D

So if you want to donate boxes or give me tips on how to move to another country effectively, just shoot. I'll hear ya...

Hamilton snatches glory

I just knew this afternoon, after my boyfriend, the 'crazy-f1-biggest-fans' told me that Hamilton won the world champion after a tense-dramatic-last lap, when he finally overtook Glock and crossed the line at fifth. And that making him the youngest world champion in history. My friend even said that Massa was crying.
Hamilton, still behind Glock when Massa finished his lap, but Glock didn't change his tyres even though the rain was falling, and that help open Hamilton's chance to win the title.

Sorry guys, can not understand this euphoria.
For me, it's just a wasting fuel, money, and dangerous non-sport.

Got Irritated

I got irritated this morning. It's been quite a long time since I got irritated this easily. The reason is very simple, because the client, the sales director, was asking questions repeatedly and yet he didn't give us enough chances to answer those.
I hate that kind of people!!
I mean, what the point of asking, if you don't want to listen the answer???
Before asking, I think the questioner should be prepare that he/she must spend enough time to hear the answer or else just hold the question for yourself
Huh!
Bawel, brisik, nanya mulu, bolot, ngeyel....

Prewedding Book Design After First Revision

After sending the designer a 9 pages document describing the revision, 2 days ago I received email attached with the revision. The design is better, even though there are several pages that we found it (still) well... dunno what to say... just not us.

below are the design that we luv...

Nikko Kas Manajemen - Pasar Uang

Yesterday I just signed an agreement to move my Nikko Kas Manajemen Pasar Uang into Nikko Dana Terproteksi. They (the bank and Nikko) said that Nikko Dana Terproteksi is safer and a better choice if I don't intend to use my money in a short term.

Basically, the biggest advantage by moving into Nikko Dana Terproteksi is that Nikko won't invest our money into new obligation. So, all we need to do is just wait until any obligation is due and then Nikko will redeem our investment proportionally and automattically. The biggest downside is we can not redeem our money anytime we want. So, if you need your money now, don't choose this option.

They also offered you to stay in your current investment. This means that they (Nikko) will buy new obligation with your money and God knows when the obligation will go up again. But in the bright side, you can redeem your investment at anytime you want as long as total today's redeemption is lower than 20% of Nikko's Asset. Just make sure if you want to redeem, do it first thing in the morning okay folks.

IT Jokes no 2

Yesterday I attended a PM Sharing meeting. It was an internal meeting held by our HR department so people like us (read: frustrated and desperate Project Managers) to share our 'fantastic' experience when implementing a project.

Anyway this story is belong to one attendee. He told us before implementing a project, he always, always checked all the client requests carefully point by point and reconfirmed them. Then, one upon a time, he won a project that one of the client request is 'moving data' (data bergerak). Well, since he is a BI (business intelligence) implementer the request is very common since BI always uses real time data not a static data. So he skipped it. It turned out 'data bergerak' means that the client really wants is to have a moving-animated data graphic. Glegaaarrrrrrr.....

All the audience were laughing at once, feeling poor for him while begging to God repeatedly "God, please never ever give me such client" at the same time ....

My Wedding Book Design, page 2

Here is another one

My Wedding Book Design

Well... I'm thinking...
I love color..
I have a free time...
I am spoiled with 1350 my pre-wedding photos
and I design once in a while
plus I am a narcissist..duuhh.. *blush..blush..blush..*
So why not?

Here it goes..my wedding book design by me (who else?)

will post another one later...

The Brief History of Our Time

0 - 6 months
OMG!!! He/She is soooooo... perfect! I must be very good on my previous live to deserve her/him

7 - 12 months
Wow he/she has the cutest little quirks on earth or what?!

1 - 1,5 year
Hmmm…now that I see those quirks clearer. It turned out to be ordinary quirks. Not so cute anymore.

1,5 - 2 years
Those quirks are really starting to annoy me. Let see if I could told her/him to change a bit

2 - 3 years
Why can't he/she understand??
Those quirks are really bugging me..
Please change it..
You said you love me ….
I'll be patient I promise…
I love you too...

3 - 5 years
Change it and change it nowwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arrrggggghhhh..

5 - 6 years
Giving up…
Do what ever you want dude…

6 years
Getting married

6 Years later...

Okay....
Sunday morning almost noon, lazy me just opened my laptop to watch the movie I downloaded the night before. It's Grey's Anatomy Season 5. Suddenly my fiance pop up in front of my door with flower bouquet, big grin and asked "Do you like it?"

Knowing that he is not a flowery person and this was my second flower bouquet in 6 years dating, so my first response was "Eh.. mm...Why.. What...Er... Yes I like It. Did you cheat on me yesterday? Did you make big mistake last night?"

Irritated, he responded "NOOO!!! Don't you remember what day is today?"
Errrrr...... it turned out that he bought the flower for our 6 years anniversary. He also brought me my favorite pastry, eclairs from Monami. Slurps....
Sorry dear for all the accusations. Hihihihi.. Loooveeeeeee the flowers and eclairs.

Anyway, here are some of the pics of the gorgeous flower and yummy eclairs..






They smell great!


Yum...Yum...

Nguping Kerjaan orang IT

I always always want to put my funny-hilarious experiences revolving around me. Well now. inspired by an email that is sent by my friend about random funny hilarious dialogue that happened in Jakarta (nguping jakarta) I finally can post this.

Kiri kanan?
Saat hendak mengcopy data dari USB ke server.
User bertanya, "Saya musti colok ke USB port sebelah kanan atau kiri? Ada bedanya ga?"
Jakarta, dialami oleh business analyst yang merasa bingung kenapa orang ini bisa punya 3 flash disk dan notebook.

Datang dong
Untuk mengecek suatu kondisi data, seorang developer mengirimkan query via untuk dijalankan pada database server MS-SQL.
IT Manager user menulis email yang isinya bersikeras agar developer tersebut datang dan menjalankan tugas itu sendiri dengan alasan mereka tidak memiliki expertise dibidang tersebut.
Jakarta, dibaca oleh anak buah manager tersebut yang buru-buru menulis email balasan bahwa hal itu sudah selesai dilakukan. (tinggal teken F5 gitu loh)

Duhh why me?
Code from existing program:
"If Left(stringvariable,3) = "ABCXXXXXX" then...."
Jakarta, dibaca oleh sekelompok programmer yang langsung merasa dirinya paling malang sedunia karena harus meneruskan kerjaan kyk gitu dan oleh seorang business analyst yang akhirnya merasa tak heran kalau projectnya sudah lewat 1 tahun tapi tidak kelar2.

Habis...
User aplikasi menelpon: "Aplikasinya ga bisa jalan non..."
Business analyst: "Loh kok bisa?" (panik mode on)
User aplikasi: "Hard disknya abis non..."
Jakarta, dialami oleh seorang business analyst yang tiba-tiba merasa bagaikan enci2 glodok.

Terlalu harafiah 1
User complain: "Mbak saya kok tidak bisa konek yah?"
Helpdesk: "Oh ya? coba bapak ping deh, caranya ketik ping papa india november golf XXX.XXX.X.X"
User: "Ga bisa mbak syntax error"
Helpdesk: "Masak sih? emangnya bapak ketik apa?"
User: "Papa India November Golf..."
Jakarta, diceritakan ke teman yang langsung tertawa terbahak2 sampai mengeluarkan airmata.

Terlalu harafiah 2
User: "Mbak kok ga bisa di klik ya tombolnya"
IT Vendor: "Oh bapak kurang pas tuh posisi mousenya, coba deh dinaikkan keatas sedikit"
User: (benar-benar mengangkat mousenya sampai melayang diudara)
Jakarta, dialami oleh application manager dan sales person yang berjuang keras menahan tawa agar client tidak tersinggung

Terlalu harafiah 3
Untuk menuntun user menjalankan sebuah query pada server, seorang bisnis analyst mengirimkan email berisi step by step procedure disertai gambar untuk memperjelas.
User complain: "error tuh" (setelah menjalankan sesuai step by step)
BA: "masak sih, error messagenya apa?
User: "can not konek to server XXX" (XXX, nama yang tertulis pada gambar yang terdapat dalam manual sebagai contoh)
Jakarta, dialami oleh BA yang langsung merasa terpukul karena manual yang dikirimkan tidak membantu malah menyulitkan.

Konek dong
IT Manager: "Mbak ini saya coba bikin ODBC kok ga bisa konek2 ya ke MS-SQL nya?"
Application Consultant: "Udah diinstal belum MS-SQL nya?"
IT Manager: "Belum, loh memang harus ya?"
Bandung, dialami oleh application consultant yang saat itu juga nyaris membenturkan kepala ke meja.

Quote of the day
Seorang admin mengeluhkan berkas2 yang tidak lengkap: "Duh nih orang goblok kok permanent!!"
Jakarta, didengar oleh sesama admin yang tidak sabar untuk segera mempraktekkan dan menyebarkan ke orang-orang

Diskriminasi Gender
User mengeluhkan ke manager vendor tentang anak buahnya: "Pak saya mo ganti tidak mo diajar sama mbak X lagi"
Manager Vendor: "Loh kenapa?"
User: "Galak.. mo minta yang lebih sabar"
Manager: "Oh ya sudah besok saya kirim mbak Y saja sebagai pengganti"
User: "Gak mo ah pak"
Manager: "Loh kenapa? Mbak Y sabar kok pak"
User: "Ga mo cewe ah pak"
Manager: "Loh alasannya??!!"
User: "Abis yang kemaren marah-marah mulu karena lagi M"
Jakarta, dialami oleh manager yang langsung tertawa terbahak2 sampe menguncangkan lingkungan sekitarnya.

Dimanakah letaknya 1
MIS sebuah end user menerima telpon dari user.
MIS: "Ohh kalo mbak mau ambil file dari server, coba klik Start Menu, pilih Run kemudian ketik \\nama server"
MIS: "Iya, ketik \\nama server"
MIS (sambil melongok ke laptop yang ada didepannya): "Itu loh tombol yang disamping kiri shift"
Jakarta, didengar oleh IT vendor yang kebetulan sedang ada disitu dan langsung tertawa prihatin.

Dimanakah letaknya 2
Salah satu contoh dalam sebuah training sosialisasi aplikasi baru adalah dengan cara mengetikkan "S0003~E0013" pada sebuah cell di Microsoft Excel.
Trainer: "Sudah semua?"
Salah satu peserta: "Belum Bu"
beberapa menit kemudian..
Trainer: "Sudah semua?"
Peserta yang sama: "Belum Bu"
beberapa menit lagi...
Trainer: "Sudah semua?"
Peserta yang masih sama: "Belum Bu"
Trainer: (dalam hati) "Lama bener ketik gitu doang???"
.....
Setelah ditelusuri ternyata orang tersebut (Area manager) masih sibuk mencari dimanakah letak huruf "S" didalam keyboard.
Semarang, dialami oleh sekumpulan area manager lainnya yang berniat mengumpulkan dana untuk les mengetik dan seorang trainer yang memilih kabur keluar ruangan sebelum membanting keyboard dan mencungkil huruf didalamnya satu persatu.

Tanpa Jarak Orang Tidak Bisa Berhubungan

Yes.. for people who knows me, might be quite surprised that I love love love Anthony de Mello books. (Don't be so surprised. I am religious in my own unique way you know...)
I collect some of his books such as Doa Sang Katak I and II. I read all the mini stories in those books and decided to post some of them that gave me a kick in my heart. This is only one of them.

What makes this story is able to knock out my 'cruella de ville' heart is very simple. Because it is sooo dang true. I think that everybody who ever had a crush knew that sadly sometimes we interpreted it as true love.

While others might need only a month or a week, me, being a 'slow' person, it took me more than 5 years to finally admit to my self that I trully want him. and starting from that moment, nobody else will matter no matter how perfect they might be. (mr. reeves could be an exception though...hohohoho...just kidding dear...)

I hope this article able to encourage people (who might be in the verge of making any crucial decision right now) to test their 'love' not only through time and but more importantly, through space.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seorang putri berkeras hati mau kawin dengan salah seorang hambanya. Apa saja yang dikatakan dan dibuat oleh raja, tidak dapat mengubah ketetapan sang gadis. Dan tak seorang pun dari penasihat raja dapat menyarankan, apa yang harus dilakukan.

Akhirnya datang seorang hakim tua bijaksana di istana dan mendengar kesulitan raja, ia berkata: "Duli Tuanku mendapatkan nasihat yang salah, kalau sang putri dilarang untuk kawin, ia hanya akan mendendam kepada sang Baginda dan lebih tertarik lagi kepada sang hamba".

"Lalu apa yang harus kuperbuat?" teriak sang raja.

Hakim mengusulkan suatu rencana bersiasat.

Sang raja sangsi tetapi memutuskan mau mencoba. Putri muda dipanggil dan dia berkata, "Saya mau menguji cintamu kepada orang itu. Engkau akan dikurung dengan kekasihmu dalam ruang sempit terkunci selama tigapuluh hari siang malam. Jika setelah masa itu berakhir, engkau masih ingin kawin dengannya, engkau akan kuizinkan.

Sang putri, gembira luar biasa, merangkul ayahnya dan dengan senang hati menyetujui ujian itu. Semua berjalan baik beberapa hari, tetapi rasa bosan segera masuk. Dalam 1 minggu ia menginginkan teman lain dan jadi marah-marah atas setiap kata dan perbuatan kekasihnya. setelah dua minggu ia begitu bosan akan orang itu, hingga ia mulai menjerit-jerit dan memukuli pitu kamar itu. Ketika akhirnya ia dikeluarkan, ia merebahkan diri dan memeluk ayahnya penuh rasa syukur, karena ia diselamatkan dari orang, yang sekarang begitu ia benci.

Hidup terpisah membuat hidup bersama lebih mudah. Tanpa jarak orang tidak bisa berhubungan.

Doa sang Katak I, Anthony de Mello, Sj

Prewedding Album Design

Last week, Evy chan sent me emails about our wedding book design. But well, yeah...I think they're guessing our style wrongly, since we only love 2-3 from 20 designs. Therefore, yesterday I wrote a 5 pages revision letter and sent it to them. Poor designer..we're very-very sorry. Didn't mean to cause you so much troubles. I feel terrible, I should have given them clues or something before. Dang.....

But here is some of the designs that we love

at kedai tiga nyonya

Narcist at kedai tiga nyonya.
The ambiance of the place is fantastic plus I love the food. Hmm nyam..nyam..nyam..
Can't wait to eat there again..

Curses of the day

Yesterday, me and my boyfriend waited the elevator with 3 other people from other companies that share the floor with the company I work for..
After waited several minutes the bell rang and one of the elevator doors were opened, and all of us headed there.
But when I was in front of the lift, suddenly the doors are closing (on purpose, by the people inside and by the people who waited together with me)
I didn't want to stuck my hands between the doors because it is a quite old elevator with no sensor.
Angry, I pound the door without result. What made me more upset is the giggle I heard from the b*****s inside.
Grrr...
People with no manner!

As usual, an angry me always make curses to help me feel better. So, this time the winning curse for them is:
"got in a bus, the bus is very crowded, no seat available, has to stand beside a very very very smelly person, the bus stuck in the traffic"

hohoho.. cruel enough?

Daniel Craig as James Bond - Continued

A...ha!
Wednesday morning and I read this article.
Quoting from detikhot that "Ciri Khas James Bond hilang dalam Quantum of Solace"
For you who doesn't want to bother to click the link, the missing parts are "Bond, James Bond" and "Shaken not stirred"
Everyone who knows me should've known by now that I think James Bond was lost since "Casino Royale". The one who is in the movie is not, I repeat is not James Bond, I prefer to call him James Blonde.

Daniel Craig as James Bond

Bond, James Bond.
The most famous British secret agent in the world (at least that is what I know of)
Until now there are 6 actors trying to portray the image of the spy, Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Bronsnan, and Daniel Craig.
I only watched 2 of them: Pierce Bronsnan and Daniel Craig.

Speaking of Daniel Craig, I often hear lots of positive comments about him especially from boys (or man? :D). They said that he is very cool, macho, and 'keren'. Very suitable to play James Bond. That is something I can not understand you guys!

Yes, I admit that since Mr.Craig, James Bond actions have been more thrilling and exciting. But that's it. For me, every time I hear the words "James Bond" the image that pops in my head is a playboy, passionate, handsome, sophisticated full of gadgets spy. An image that is supported by the author himself. Regarding him (means James Bond), Ian Fleming (the creator) wrote in The Times, October 21, 1962 (and I quote) "James Bond is a highly romanticized version of a true spy" and until now, I find it hard to find the romantic side of Mr. Craig. All I can see is the 'killing-aura' all over him. Where is the passion??? He looks so angry all the time instead of cool.

In short, menurut pendapat pribadi, Mr. Craig tidak lah mewakili secara utuh sosok James Bond dengan segala imagenya yang sudah terbentuk selama ini. Terlepas apakah filmnya menjadi lebih seru karena actionnya lebih memikat. For me, he is not "the James Bond" I always imagine all this time.

Sorry Mr. Craig and his fans.

Mama Mia the Movie

Yesterday, we watched Mama Mia the Movie (it isn't the one that's produced by Indosiar okay???) at Djakarta Theater.
Since it is a musical drama kind of movie, I highly recommend this movie only to girls or to everyone else who loves to sing and dance or the one who is an ABBA big fans. Hengky said the singing were too much! Haha.

The story is just okay, the voice of the casts are mostly great, but of most all is the the beach! Oh God, It's gorgeous!! And I have to comment this, even though Mr. Bronsnan is having a fat belly now, he still looks fabulous wearing any kind of clothes. Huah. The one and only true James Bond, I acknowledge.

Avoid Arjuna Street

Last Saturday, my boyfriend wanted to do his monthly routine (having a hair cut) at TA.
The traffic from Kemanggisan to TA was terrible, specially on Arjuna Selatan and Arjuna Utara.
It turned out that there is project to build a new street to link TA directly to S.Parman Street.
So, if you want to go to TA, just take S Parman instead.

Updated on 17 October 2008
It's safe now. The traffic activity back to normal. Sorry for the late update. Been so lazy lately

Types of Developer

Based on 6 years experience in custom development application there are 3 types of developer.

The first one is "It's very hard, needs a lot of time" type of developer. They will give you impression that everything you need to be build are impossible to do. In order to fulfill your demands, they must use all their skill or even learn a new very difficult skill. They are usually the type of developer hated by the Project Managers, business analysts or clients. Most of them are stupid, lazy or both. Their words can not be trusted. Do deduct 50 to 100 percent from the time they gave you and you will get the real time needed.

Type number two is "Can do it, piece of cake" type of developer. These type of developers usually are geeks. They love love love love to code. Full of optimism, too much optimism. Favorite among clients and business analysts. Their words can not be trusted either. Add 50 to 100 percent from the time they gave you then it's probably when the program will be done.

The last one is the rare one. This type is supposes to be the perfect one. Enthusiast but not take it for granted, smart, hard working, and most of all on time. The truth is, I never met with this type. I even doubt that they exist in this world. Because certainly, they did not exist in my world. Maybe in Googleplex........

Frustrated!

Aaaarrggggghhhh.........
Frustrated. I hate lazy clients. Huh!

Recommended Photographers

After spending lots of time searching in weddingku, finally 'the list' is compiled and completed. I think if I had Unca Scrooge money and lots of free time, I would want them all to be my prewed photographers. Anyone insterested to be my sponsor? Pahalanya guede loh. Hahahaha.

Below is the list of my recommended photographer in random order:

1. moreno and co
   http://www.moreno-photography.com
   why: luv luv luv studio on location by kay :). especially the the family photos. Roberto studio photos are also faboulus.
   
2. mario the nine
   http://www.mariothenine.com
   why: the night photos.
   
3. pokolemo
   http://www.pokolemo.com
   why: The color, the pose and the angle.
4. antheia
   http://www.antheiaphoto.com
   why: warm, bright and colorful.
   
5. marsio
   http://www.neo-classic.com
   why: it's just simply beautiful. The photo styles may be not one of my fave style, but I just can't resist it ^o^
   
6. Axioo
   http://www.axioo.com
   why: i love the website hahaha.. no no no just kidding (but i do love the website hahah). Look at the sweet escape section. fantastic! gw baaannngggeeeet.... ahaha
   
7. edward suhadi :
   http://www.edwardsuhadi.com
   why: dah naksir since 3-4 years ago. I love the moments he captured.
   
8. Faith and Grace (picked as my prewed photographers)
   http://www.fngproductions.com.
   why: simple, candid, colorful.

Huah..... hopefully the list can help others.

Why?

After our prewed photo session is done, both of us, out of curiosity, browsing weddingku looking for prewed photographer (kinda late heh?). Don't get it wrong, we luv our prewed photos and have no intention to look for another photographer hehehe...

But I can't help but wondering why people still:

1. Use 'kembaran' outfit..... usually: white t-shirt (cewenya kedodoran) and blue jeans. Duh noo....... ! (sopraaaaaaanooo voice). It's so 2004 huah... (Another color might not get this high-screaming-note-of-protest from me).
   
2. Think that photo canvas must be a photo with the wedding gown outfit. Arrgghhh... (frustated sound) so '80 eh '70 perhaps....Don't tell me that after that, the canvas will be hanged on their bedroom wall above the bed.. Geeeeehhhh!!!!
   
3. Take their outdoor prewed photos with 'studio-pose' . Alamak!.....Emang pas foto? Candid photo is usually the best to capture the moment unless of course you are Kate Moss or Gisele Bundchen or Heidi Klum or any other supermodels.

There are many other things that I (the grumpy smurf) dislike of course. But I decided to exclude them from the list because of "everyone-has-unique-taste-personal-matter". However those 3 points above are strictly banned no matter what kind of taste anyone might have.

Another Upload

Another picture has been uploaded on http://edwardsuhadi.blogspot.com

Do's and Dont's For Prewed Photo - During Photoshot

Do's

1. For girls, do wear a well covered underwear. Do not wear such as sexy-slutty underwear, transparent, renda-renda. You may need to change clothes in a car or on public places just covered by kain saroong. Do bring lots of kain or car window shade. Malu-malu kucingnya disimpen di box sementara. Cingcay mode on!
   
2. It's time to put your in front of the mirror pose to live action. Based on my experience, when we shoot on the beach, and since the photog used a tele lens (tele means far you know that right?) So the photog had to stay away from us and try to yell the instruction which of course hard to listen (di pantai gitu loh, maap hen :P). Gimana mo gaya?
3. Bring your accesories to mix and match with your clothes.
4. Expres what you feel at that moment
5. Relax and enjoy.
   

Dont's

1. Don't be 'Sotoy' (sok tahu) to your make up artist and photographer. It's a big no no. You'll only make them feel pressured in a bad way. Just make sure they understand what you want, and let them do their job. I trusted Evy (make up artist) fully and for me the result was fantastic. All my friend likes it, my mother praises it and my fiance luvs it (I knew it when he tried to steal kisses and said the word 'cantik' more than his daily obligation hahaha). And as for the photographers, let's face it, event though you are supermodel, they are still the one who holding the camera and looks inside that 'tiny hole'. They obviously know and see better.
2. Don't tell the make up artist and photographers to imitate others work. It's rude and copycat never works. Art is something you can not duplicate. It just won't be the same, and you'll end up disappointed. Instead tell them your wishes and let them fulfill it in their own creative way.
3. Don't hold yourself back. Try to be yourself in front of the camera. Don't pretend someone that you're not. If you do, you photos won't be able to express your feeling since you're wearing a mask.
4. Do not ask for the impossible. If you are short don't ask them to make you looks like Yao Ming. Especially for girls, don't ask them to make you looks like Giselle Bundchen, Heidi Klum nor Catherine Zeta Jones. They are photographers and make up artist, not cosmetic surgeons let alone God.
   

Do's and Dont's For Prewed Photo - Days Before

Days before

Do's

1. Pack your accessories inside an easy access, hand carry bag.
2. If you time, show them your choice of clothes and ask about their opinion. Therefore you won't be ended up stuffing your suitcase with useless clothes.
3. Pack your shoes that match with your clothes. Girls, please do not pack all of your shoes just because they are cute :P
   

Dont's

1. Do not pack to the very last minute. You never know what's going to happen. Believe me!
2. Do not get sick.Do not forget to bring basic medicine.
3. For girls. do not cut your hair drastically, gimana kalo hasilnya jelek?
   

Do's and Dont's For Prewed Photo - Preparation

Do's

1. Surf the internet or buy wedding magazine to get you lots of fabulous ideas for your photos. You can also ask the photographer to give you ideas.
   
2. Meet several photographers before you decide which one. Get to know them a bit better. Find the chemistry between you and your photographer. Ask how they usually do their photo session. Each photographers has different style. You want to know them better before you choose them.
   
3. Describe and discuss your ideas with your photographer. They love to hear it. Don't forget to tell them what style that you don't like. I told my photographers (Victor and Hendry) that I hate infrared photos, fine art photos, studio-pose photos, 'too-much-landscape' photos (the photos are for my prewed album not national geography magazine! :D), 'heavy-photoshopped' photos or 'artistic-unrealistic' photos such as thumbelina girl and giant guy. Happily, they hate it too :P especially the infrared and fine art photos hahahaha...
4. Tell them your wishes. For me: blowing bubble, playing kite (ditawarin minjem tapi malu2) and flower crown (ga kesampean, huks)
   
5. Ask them what clothes you'll need to wear during the photo shoots. I was told, that I should get summer dresses. Fortunately, my friends were kind enough to lend me some of their dresses.
   
6. Buy accessories according to the clothes.
   
7. If you're planning to have candid journalism, do buy toys to play during the photoshoot. I bought bubble and colorful windmill (good investment). You'll need this toy, so you will have something to focus on instead of focusing on your pose (ntar terlihat kaku). Especially, when you have photo shoots in the beach. Otherwise you will have photo shoots with standard pose: holding hand, hugging, kissing, etc etc (mati gaya)
8. Imagine all kind of poses you wanna do and start practicing in front of the mirror.

Dont's

1. Do not choose current trend style of photography. For example: foto with infrared filter. I don't think that would be a good idea. Since when someone look your picture say a couple years from now, she/he will be able to guess which year you took that photo. You will want photos that will endure many years to come.
   
2. Do not get fat. FYI, camera adds several pounds.
   

How to choose your pre wedding photographer

In case you didn’t notice, the era of ‘pre-wed photos bundled with bridal package’ is fading away. The new trend is: couple tends to hire professional freelance photographer to do their prewed photo shots. It’s not an easy task to choose among so many photographers out there. Believe me. You have to be careful, otherwise you may get disappointed.

Speaking from my own experience, to choose your pre-wedding photographer you must consider these kinds of things:

1. Money, money, money.
Every couple wants to make their prewed photos to be the best photos of them ever, but everything comes with its price. Some couples may not able to spend a fortune for prewed photos only. If don’t have any money issue, just skip this point, but if you do, then you need to set the limit on how much you’re willing to spend before you can start looking for photographer within your range. Don’t worry; there are a lot of great photographers that come with reasonable price. The most important thing is, once you have decided your limitation, let it go. Do not complaint and don’t be stingy!

2. Know what style you like.
There are various styles of photography; I’m not a pro here, so I don’t know all of them. For me, I love candid journalism. I’ve never been a fan of fine art photography for prewed photos. I find it is too gloomy and sometimes scary (I might think about it though, for different occasion). ‘Studio-pose’ photos are not working for me either (Aduh, jadul banget sih). Infrared and photos decorated with ‘romantic-puking’ words are definitely out of question. ‘Photoshopped too much” photos such as giant guy and tiny girl like Thumbelina or The Mystic look a like (you know jacky chan and Kim Hee Soon movie) are a big turn off. Engga banget deh. It’s not cute at all!

3. Define your prewed photos’ location and theme.
Spend some time to discuss with your boyfriend/girlfriend what both of you want for your prewed photos. First you need to decide whether you want indoor or outdoor photos, after that pick your prewed photos’ theme. For example: if you like to have photos dominated with green color on the background, then you can go to parks or mountains. Some couples may prefer “jalan-jalan” as their theme, while others prefer formal photos. As for us, we choose ‘jalan-jalan’ and colorful for our photos’ theme. ‘Pake kaos kembaran’ like white t-shirt and jeans? Noooo….(screaming from the top of my lungs). Other colours might be considered, but I doubt it. ‘Lucu-lucuan’/’marah-marahan’ are still 'okay' as long as not inside the studio. Because that would make it fall into ‘Studio-pose’ category (see no 2).

4. A picture speaks thousands words.
The most important thing is to realize what kind of message you want to tell others who might see your photos. At first, I thought to have the most perfect photos I should be worried about the dress, the pose (should I smile? Should I laugh? Or hugged each other?), the make up (do I look different? Menor? Medhok?), the hairdo (sanggul? Urai? Ikal? Lurus?) and other ‘tetek-bengek’ things.
But now I understand, the story I want to tell is not how cute I was or how fabulous the dress was.
My perfect photo might not the one where I looked most cute, most gorgeous, or most pretty ever. But it is the one that tells how happy we were, the one where all of our feelings at that precise moment are painted all over….

Got Uploaded

Our pre-wed photo got uploaded on FnG Website for Oct Promo .



Check it out on:
http://www.fngproductions.com/promo/promo_awaltahun.html

Update:
Check it out also on:
http://edwardsuhadi.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-deals-on-fng-in-october-2008.html

Restart......

Last Friday, one of my client asked me to go to their office to discuss about their accounting system which is implemented by the company I work for. Once I was there, I was told that the server was not connected to the network, and the MIS department was trying to restart the server.

After a while, I was informed that the server was still not connected to the network, and the MIS guy suspected that the problem was within the server it self and asked me to call the installation guy to help them.

Panic mode on. Since the application was already "go-live", I am frantically sent email and start calling everybody I know to ask for support, saying that "out of the blue the server went down".

The reply was quite simple, they asked, "Since when the server displayed the blue screen" Gubrakk.....Haiyo...there is no monitor connected directly to the server, how could I know whether the server was displaying blue screen or not. I said out of the blue not blue screen. Jeez.

Kontak sana kontak sini, tanya sana tanya sini, ijin sana ijin sini, dilempar sana dilempar sini.....
Giving up. I told them (our support/installation guy and client IT guy) to do the communication by themselves.

At 3 PM I was informed that the installation guy would come to check and then it was cancelled saying the problem could be from the hardware not the software.

At 5.30 PM the hardware guy called and told me that he was going to go to my client on monday with me.

I came home, not happy.

This morning, I came with the hardware guy, he "colok" cable from the server to his laptop, and he said, "whoa the o/s is not started" and restarted the server once again.
The problem solved.

Jengkel!

1. Kenapa sih ga diijinin aja installation guy buat dateng aja dari kemaren liat bentar ketauan O/S nya missing file, restart ulang, beres kelar.
2. Gimana sih orang IT kok restart server kagak ditungguin sampe bener2, ngomongnya udah2 padahal boot failure.

What a waste of time and money (my money!!!). Gggrrrrr....

Canvas Candidates

Hai all,

After a lot of consideration, finally we (I) choose 10 pictures as our canvas candidates. Please leave your comment, and your participation in the poll is highly appreciated.

Thanks
ennoe & hengky

1. Pegang Kincir

2. Duduk memandang laut

3. Maling - Polisi

4. Duh berat

5. Tarzan and Jane

6. Swasembada Tani

7. Bubble Bobble

8. Latar Ijo

9. Eskimo Kiss

10. In Front of QuickSilver