wodeXistenze!..the sequel

Though Mr. Noviandri somehow has once proposed an idea to the naive Freshman Students of ITB’s 2007 class to try to create gold in his quantum chemistry session, still we can not deny to not be able to afford it, yet at least find the least budget-consuming method(s) to do it for the time being. Gold remains one of the most highly-recommended noble metal to be investations, especially due to its stability in the market(Check this, this, and this out to find more ways of investing your asset in gold).

Speaking about investing and economical act, I remember one of special cases in the field of stochastic process study occuring in the European stock market I previously dealt with. It was really interesting, and the conclusion withdrawn was that the price of the option we’ll have to take will (ideally) depend on the stock price and time interval involved. The statement is summarized in the Nobel-winner Black-Scholes Equation resulting in exponential factor as the solution.

Later on we found out that the exponential factor coherently correlated with the dynamics of the system. Further conclusion included that in non linear system, even if the equation is just slightly changed, the final outcome can differ extremely.(Further discussion on this, please do not hesitate to contact me via comment on this post).

Asyik, asyik, kemaren nonton film lagii.

Nah, jadi ceritanya kali ini kita akan mengeksplorasi kultur budaya Minang(maunya saya sih demikian). Diceritakan seorang pemuda Minang bernama Yuda yang seorang ahli silat harimau(salah satu aliran silat Minang) telah berumur 21 tahun, dan memutuskan untuk merantau ke Jakarta(kayanya sih dari setting filmnya dia dari Bukittinggi). Di tengah jalan dia bertemu pemuda Minang lain bernama-sebut saja Syamsul- yang mengaku telah lebih berpengalaman menghadapi Jakarta, mengajak Yuda mencari uang dengan keahlian silat mereka dengan cara mendaftarkan diri di bandar-judi-beladiri di Jakarta(maksudnya lu bertarung dengan jagoannya si bandar judi dan kalo menang lu dapat uangnya). Yuda menolak karena dia berpendapat silat digunakan untuk kebaikan dan bukannya pameran seperti itu.

Di tengah-tengah masanya mencari-cari pekerjaan dengan tidak jelas di Jakarta(Yuda berniat menjadi pengajar silat), dia jadi terlibat(hmm gue pikir dia melibat-libatkan dirinya sendiri) perkelahian dengan sindikat pelacuran karena berniat menolong seorang gadis anggota sindikat itu yang diperlakukan secara semena-mena.

For that effort to release such a Minang backgrounded movie, I appreciate that. Saya senang karena latar belakang itu terasa seperti kawan lama yang menyapa di awal-awal film, ‘halo Meta, kami adalah bagian inheren dari diri kamu, apa kabar? sudahkah kamu cukup mengenal kami?’. Yah, despite I prefer silek tuo(silat tua)-ism more than silek harimau-ism. Ide ceritanya juga cukup unik, mengangkat seseorang yang menghandalkan beladiri Minang untuk hidup, dan untuk merantau ke Jakarta pula. Hm, terasa familiar… apakah G.H. Evans terinspirasi oleh jalan hidup Andrie Wongso? ha ha ha

Sayangnya,

1. Kenapa yah sutradaranya masih orang luar negeri? Bagi saya ini mengesankan betapa sumber daya manusia Minang di bidang perfilman masih belum mengenal dan mencintai dan menghayati budaya mereka, sehingga nggak bisa bikin film dengan latar budaya Minang. Kalau saya jadi penulis nanti, saya akan membuat kisah yang sarat dengan budaya Minang. Saya sudah mulai merintisnya dari sekarang, lihat aja kolom humor saya, he he he

2. Judulnya boleh merantau, tapi isinya kurang mencerminkan filosofi merantau ala Minang itu. Yang ditonjolkan malah adegan berantem-berantemnya. Menurut saya, mestinya yang wajar itu dia cari kerja apa aja dulu dengan numpang di tempat warga Minang lainnya(di rumah makan, fotokopian misalnya) di awal-awal kedatangannya ke Jakarta seperti hal yang biasanya dilakukan lelaki Minang lainnya di perantauan. Yah, mungkin ceritanya dia masih punya cukup persediaan uang kali yaa. Tapi tatek juo taraso kurang riil tu(tetap saja terasa kurag nyata-red).Satu lagi yang taraso kurang riil itu adalah jalan hidup menjadi pesilat yang dipilihnya itu…  biasanya orang Minang jaman sekarang itu merantaunya buat mengasah otak(misalnya kuliah), bukan otot, he he he. Tapi kalau dilihat dari segi positifnya, mungkin sang sutradara melihat bahwa orang Minang mah sudah sampai pada tingkat berfikir yang menghargai tiap potensi dalam diri manusia… mau jadi pemain film, kek, pesilat kek, oke asal lu kompeten mah sok aja, sukses bisa datang dari mana aja.  Jadi tidak apatis terhadap segala hal atau sesuatu yang tidak lazim. Kaya-kaya cara pandang orang-orang negara maju gitu deeh, di mana seorang researcher sangat dihargai:). nah, makanya kalau saya memilih menjadi seorang physicist ajaa deh, he he he

3. kultur Minang kurang dieksplor dan terkesan digampangkan saja pelaksanannya oleh Yuda, yang notabene asli dari kampuang dan biasanya masih memegang teguh tradisi. misalnya, ada tuh adegan di mana dia baru bangun pagi saat matahari sudah tinggi,besar keungkinan dia enggak sholat subuh dan langsung makan aja nggak cuci muka dulu, lah itu mah bule banget kalii. padahal di awal film dia masih sempat sholat subuh ma keluarganya. damn where did all of those values go after his coming to Jakarta?? padahal dia masih bisa nolak untuk nggak makan uang nggak jelas.

overall, dari rating lima bintang saya kasih tiga bintang deh… terutama yah, tertolong karena Pak Evans mengusung latar belakang Minangnya sajaa. dialog-dialognya juga kurang tajam. bagusan juga nia dinataa.

ternyata nggak semua bikinan orang luar negeri yang konon katanya negara maju  itu bagus. Peter Jackson, too, in fact, is maybe still one in a million to create such an epic like Lord of The Rings.

In my opinion, the world of fashion shall always attempt to create a breakthrough in its way of product distribution and marketing. Well, I guess this online fashion section of ShopWiki is one of those-never mean to exaggerate in any manner- revolutionerist, not only because they act as the world of fashion’s Google search engine, but also because of the sensitivity to bid such a potential distribution market simply by starting the, as what I would call it, consicely-fashion-focused-search-engine-type-of-website.

I can find any blazers I like by just one click here, and hmm by the way, my Uda(my boyfriend, it’s Minangese-red) will be VERY handsome if I bring him these Fall style. To match him, I can pick one of these gorgeous Fall-women-style(kyaa look at the lovely CAT PRINTS!). Wow, surely we will become This Fall’s Match:).

This summer I would like to buy some of these. The style is simple but elegantly casual, just perfect for our(you and me, not me and uda) remarkable personality. The same classy aura will also be represented by this winter and spring style.

But all of the already mentioned above are specified outfits according to those who live in four-season countries… so for you my friends in Indonesia and other countries where generally no autumn, spring, and winter, you can also find some exquisite style for women and men, and especially for my Uda… I can’t wait to buy you these masculine pants .

P.S.: You can also check this writings right here.

Today I watched The House of Mouse series in Disney Channel. One of the story is titled ‘The Organ Donors’, which clearly reminds me of my days with the Student English Forum at my campus.

Mickey, Goofy, and Donald are opening some sort of an Organ Donor foundation, which donate the music-instrument-organ instead of inners. One day they had a phone call requiring an organ donor. They headed to a the orderer’s address which happened to be a creepy toy store. The toy master in fact is as creepy as his store and he indeed was craving for a real heart to be implanted inside his own-made-toys to make them alive. Since he found no inners brought, he chased the three characters to take theirs.

Some dialogues in the movie:

Mickey: Aaww he wants MY HEART OUT!

Goofy: And you aren’t even willing to!

The toy master: Your possession is MINE!!

In common debates, the controversy that will be debated is whether it is a right decision to make organ donoring compulsory for each and every citizen after he/she  dies. The government side of the house, in extreme way, will enforce regulation which obliged everyone in the country to do it for reasons such as, there are so many demand for organs in order to save lives while statistically the supply is not sufficient enough (to fulfil it) in average. The negative side of the house will reject it by saying that (if I’m not mistaken in remembering) body is one of the most private property to every individual whose ownership is a part of basic human rights guaranteed by law therefore he or she has the right to choose to donate or not.

I wonder if this movie is some sort of silent argument from Disney towards the government? Or simply such a simple anecdote which accidentally contain some debate content inside(maybe the maker suddenly had an inspiration after watching a debate)? If so, that is a fun way to deliver an argument, anyway- not to mention a good-manipulated campaign either-lol.

Please follow as well

metayanglain

Enjoy!:)

Located inside the realm of tranquil Yogyakarta suburbs, this restaurant is a highly recommended one to be visited(it’s really a pity that we forgot to take some pictures here!).  The best experience shall come up if you do the visit at night… the weather is cool, the atmosphere is totally romantic with all of those candles lit, the fountain flows smoothly and the jazzy chords fills the entire area.

As a slightly straight person, my eyes sharply started to scrutinize down the menu, and oh my Gosh…

the legendary foie gras is available!

Ha ha ha, as one really amateur in such culinary journey, I straightly ordered one, with mineral water as the appetizer and dessert(Once again, schade that I already had some ice ceram before in a little coffeeshop near Togamas). Actually they have some very fascinating other menus, such as ice cream and pisang goreng, a la Indonesia, and the very crunchy, tasty fried lunpia. Exteremely delicious!

The concept of this restaurant is fine dining with the fusion between Europe, Asia, and Indonesia taste. If you are a sushi lover, soon there will be a sushi corner too, here, following the already exist western and Indonesian culinary menus.

Looking around at the cozy surroundings, while waiting my menu to be served, I just felt relax and enlightened…:p

Alhamdulillah masih dipertemukan dengan Ramadhan tahun ini:).

Tadi sore sempat munggahan sama adik dan beberapa teman, he he he. Tapi kami cuma makan2 biasa aja… Sebelumnya, sorenya ada rapat sama anak2 himpunan soal pemilu. Siangnya ada wawancara buat jadi pengajar privat anak SD… huh, I wish that I wasn’t looked THAT mature in simulating teaching art to children, ha ha…

Ga papa deh… pengalaman pertamaku diwawancara kerja, kesalahannya ga akan terulang lagi di lain kesempatan(stay positive!):)

Ha ha, sorry for the cheesy title, but well if that’s what’s been inside my head then so what:p.

Although I still don’t know what I can contribute now and in the future for this town where I live, deep inside my heart I always know that Bandung is the city where I want to settle down in Indonesia. I love its everything;its cool, breezy atmosphere, its delicious culinary legacies, its crowdy, gotong royong metro-lifestyle(a kind of lifestyle which is not purely individualistic buat also not truly gotong royong-I invented the idiom myself:p). Bandung is educated, witty, and jammed- well at least within the scale of Indonesian standard(mind you, Ariana:p). There are many creativities born in this town. As far as I remember, Bandung is one of that place in Indonesia where the industry of music grows productively. Many bands and musician comes from Bandung, I don’t think it’s necessary to mention them one by one here. Besides music, Bandung is also known for its dynamic community movement I love a lot. There are community movements in literary(such as the Tobucil Club), environmental awareness(Iwan Something cs), and care towards street-children and singers(Harry Roesli cs). That’s why, once again, I love this town very much! It is maybe not as big and complete as Jakarta, but exactly it is its mediocrity that makes me fall in love with… so medium, so humble…

Downtown Bandung

Speaking of downtown Bandung, for about six years I’ve spent here, my mind always flies towards Jalan Ir. H. Juanda, or they often call it Dago instead. It is just an ordinary two way, crowded, narrow street(ha ha), but it’s so special. It borders with Jalan Merdeka where you can find the legendary Gramedia bookstore and BIP mall. Going on to the north, and tadaaa you will find the lovely campus of mine, ***!! I kind of think that this campus is the real centre of the town(narsis ria…:p). Since I was in high school, I always come there to have a sightseeing with my friend Santi or Rhea. Miss those old times:). Another must-visit spot in Bandung is Jalan Cihampelas, where you can find the cozy Cihampelas Walk, a mall designed to make people get used to walk. I like its atmosphere; very pink and clean and… they have this one of the best karaokeing spot in Bandung!:D (This is just where I and the SEF people actually love to ngehedon in every single opportunity we have:p)

Tradition of Cuisine(I)

As I said before, Bandung’s cuisine is superb! It has a blend of rich delicacy of both western and eastern recipes; in fact, you can find almost any kind of food you wish to taste here… err, I say, almost. Well, indeed I haven’t found any adequate Indian cuisine restaurant, for example.

Since I’m a pasta lover, I recommend you to try Warung Pasta in Jalan Ganesha 3, hmm yummy! I love their specialties in cooking chicken berry(the blueberry sauce is good!) and Amitabachan package(pastas mixed with chicken nugget)and their Curly Swirly, a kind of lasagna without layered pasta. These are packets you can enjoy starting from Rp9500. Moving on further north, in Jalan Kidangpananjung, still within the spirit of Western taste, you can also give Tizi Restaurant a try. They have good schazlick, European satay marinated in soy bean ketchup-definitely a must try. By the way, this restaurant has been established since 36 years ago, what a business.

-To be continued-

Urlaub is in the air!!

Ha ha, still in the spirit of urlaub, today I was watching this movie named ‘The Fall’. It was really an experience for me, since this was my first time ever went to this cinema called ‘Blitz’(which they said to have international-standard studios and all that)…

The Fall: An Expanded Horizon

This film is really funny in a very naive way. So, there was being told a girl named(duhh namanya gue lupa hi hi hi)- well say it, Abigail(lagi seneng sama Abigail Breslin-halah)- who was being hurt in her hand and needed to stay for a while in a hospital, where she met this desperate young man(call him Mr. Schon) who attempted to commit a suicide.

He told Abigail stories with hope that she would get him morphines he would take to end his life. Yang lucunya adalah bayangan(perspektif) Abigail tentang cerita itu. Seperti misalnya saat dia mengasosiasikan keempat tokoh dalam cerita dengan wajah-wajah orang-orang yang dikenalnya di rumah sakit: Pak Tua dengan gigi palsunya sebagai Mystic, Luigi si penjinak bom diperankan oleh gue lupa siapa, another patient as the brilliant Darwin, orang kulit hitam penarik kereta kuda sebagai budak belian perkasa dan etc, etc… it was so, utterly undeniably, anak kecil banget nggak sih. Gue jadi teringat masa kecil gue dulu di mana gue selalu mengasosiasikan cowok tampan sebagai Onky Alexander dan wanita cantik sebagai Marissa Haque(hue he he jadul pisan) hanya gara-gara film-film merekalah yang pertama kali gue lihat, ha ha… I can really feel the naivity of little Abigail when she tries to project the whole bullshit stories within all the imagination she could construct.

The humour style was superb! Gue kaya merasakan  Asian dan Western humour style berbaur dengan cantik gitu dalam jalinan cerita ‘The Fall’ ini, membentuk perpaduan cita rasa yang sedap seperti saat kita menyantap lidah sapi goreng Ibu Ciganea dalam keadaan lapar… nyam! Yah, well, terkadang sadis, berlebihan, dan getir seperti umumnya film-film Barat bawakan(misalnya seperti pada waktu adegan di bagian terakhir film, di mana pemeran Gubernur Oedius tertusuk pedang dengan nggak bangetnya di tepi kolam, terus berkata:’oo… I don’t feel well’, atau kita bisa merasakan selera humor Jepang(dan terkadang dalam beberapa film Indonesia dengan selera humor bermutu-yang jumlahnya sedikit sekali!) yang cenderung nggak nyambung tapi kocak dan segar-seperti saat si Ksatria Bertopeng menemukan bahwa si cantik yang bersembunyi di balik topeng kipas itu berwajah seperti Suster Evelyn… ha ha ha, bikin gue ngakak abis…)

Dari skala 5 bintang, gue beri 4 bintang untuk film ini, hmm mungkin karena gue pikir ada space yang sangat luas bagi setiap orang untuk menginterpretasikan film ini sesuai pikiran dan selera masing-masing, which I think (also) becomes this movie’s power and weakness. Power, because there are no significant limitation of how we should view the movie, weakness because it seems that the director has failed to send his sole purpose of making the film, a failure of having it in one straight path… but I prefer to see it as the intention from the director and the crew behind the movie to let the audience conclude it as they like.

As for me, I see that somehow we do need to view this life from an expanded horizon; like, for example, from the perspective of a child; view it from the perspective of their naiveness(naiveness atau naivity sih?? ah, sudahlah…); find some humour from it to laugh about- and well, when sometimes life does becoming such a shit and disaster, you’ll still be able to survive and go on through it… and perhaps, find its beauty within its complexity. Duhh gue jadi berasa kaya sok2 berfilsafat gini… is it too nice??-LOL-

Kalo kata Pandu mah: hargailah stunt man(…).

Jelek!

 Filmnya jelek!

 Kecewa nontonnya…