C'est La Vie

Better Off Without You, Honey...

2011-09-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

by Geeta Ariani

You stole my heart, ripped it out

Then smashed it on the floor

I'd rather leave it broken

Than hurt myself to fix it

Loving you isn't hard to regret

'Cause I can't forget

The times you put tears in my eyes

You never realized how much I cared about you

'Til I don't care about you anymore

Now you wanna come back to me

But nothing you can do to make me feel all right

'Cause I am stronger

I won't fall into your trap anymore

I used to believe your lies

But I learn to trust no one but myself

Don't tell me you're sorry

Too late to get back what's already lost

Maybe I was afraid that you'd leave

But now I'm better off without you, Honey...

Walking Down A Dark Road

2011-05-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

by Geeta Ariani

Life is like a dark road

I’ll never know what’s up ahead

But up ‘til now, I’m still walking down

this long foggy road, in the long night,

trying to find my own way

But what if it is so rocky

that I may stumble?

Lots of roadblocks at every turn,

the resilience should be found to get past them

But my faith starts shaking,

all my strength starts fading

Made a wrong turn many times,

and I can’t go back

Gotta face my mistakes and get going

The long night may give me way to a new day

but it’s not easy to start again

This emptiness still eats me from within

My past comes back to haunt me

So much love goes to waste, in meaningless caresses

And sometimes tears come streaming down my face

But I keep my head held high,

when things get me down

Life can be a bitch, but look

I still keep walking

Source of image: http://www.treehugger.com

Let’s talk over coffee

2011-02-05T04:12:00.000-08:00

It was a gloomy afternoon in Balikpapan, but cheerful smiles and warm hellos from Starbucks baristas brightened up the ambience every time guests stepped into the coffee shop. “One Tall caramel macchiato, one hot Grande hazelnut cappuccino, one Cream Cheese Danish and one baked cheesecake, please,” I said to one of the baristas and exchanged pleasantries with him. After getting my order, I went to a table where my dad was sitting and handed him the steaming cup of hazelnut cappuccino.

I put my hands around the cup of caramel macchiato (my favourite) and smell the coffee aroma. I took a sip, let it linger in my mouth, and then let it coat my tongue as I identified the taste. As a coffee junkie, I enjoy good coffee so much that I don’t mind spending much on a cup of coffee that costs about $4 or approximately Rp 36.000,00. Some people probably say: “Who in their right mind would pay that much for a cup of coffee? Go make it at home!” I think I would agree with these people.

Nevertheless, some people would also pay a lot for booze – for example, someone would pay $229.99 for Johnnie Walker. Personally, I have an example of my own. I used to pay about $13 for one shot of tequila – and sometimes one shot led to another every time I was in the mood for booze-up or just trying to get a little bit tipsy. Then I asked myself: “Does it become commonplace to pay several hundred dollars for a bottle of Scotch Whisky?”

Okay, here is my opinion. Like clothes, what you buy or drink reflects who you are. It reflects different things about you depending on your current situation. It can make a direct statement to the society, whether it is affordable or not for you. How much money you have available to spend on a cup of coffee can also have an influence on what you end up buying to drink.

Some people may go to Starbucks and buy four-dollar coffee because they think they can enjoy a good cup of coffee there. Some people will just drink the expensive stuff to satisfy their curiosity due to the hype and fad of drinking Starbucks coffee. Or some people just want to be social climbers because they think there is a lot of prestige attached to sipping a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Everyone has their own personal reasons for buying expensive coffee and choosing where they buy it from.

Starbucks is not the only coffeehouse that serves great coffee. I would recommend a cheaper cup of hazelnut latte at Dunkin’ Donuts to accompany your donut of choosing. Dunkin’ Donuts also has a reputation for brewing high-quality coffee, making it a competitor to Starbucks. In Malaysia, Old Town White Coffee (the largest kopitiam restaurant chain in the country) offers a classic cup of white coffee that you should give a try.

If you happen to be in Indonesia, there’s a famous café opened first in 1991 in Jakarta (it is now open in more than 17 Indonesian cities, including Balikpapan) that comes highly recommended. If you are somebody who really enjoys iced coffee, this place can be perfect to experience a unique blend of coffee and other ingredients such as rum, ice cream, fruit juice and so on. When its tagline “When coffee is your lifestyle” caught my eye, I was thinking that millions of people around the world today drink coffee and drinking gourmet coffee has become part of the lifestyle. It seems like “coffee culture” – and it’s just a matter of deciding your price range and desired place.

So how do you like your coffee?

Source URL for the image above: mynameis88.blogspot.com

A Friendship Always Remembered

2011-01-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Some friends are remembered because of their smile. Some friends are remembered because of their style. But Joash Wee (Jo, his pet name) is always remembered for his friendship and kindness. He never could be short of friends.

It was a sunny morning with clear blue skies on Thursday, 17 June 2010. I woke up early, getting ready for my first time ever being an usher at a car show. My cell phone suddenly rang and it was my roommate calling about Jo’s car accident. My mind was flooded with questions: Is he all right? How did the accident happen? Where is he now? Once those questions popped into my head, my heart literally stopped and my jaw dropped as I heard he died in the accident.

I was just stunned – speechless. Everything seemed surreal suddenly. I still thought my roommate might have been pulling a prank until Jo’s roommate called me and told me all about the accident. “Jo is dead,” – those were the last words I heard on the phone that, I was thinking, would change my life forever. I called Jo’s phone, hoping he would answer the phone and tell me it was just a mischief. Nobody answered and I broke out into tears.

Jo and his family were on their way back home from the usual family vacation in Kuantan before their car collided with an oncoming trailer. The tragic accident killed five Wee family members, including Jo, his grandmother, his father and his two sisters. Both his mother and little brother survived, though badly injured.

Loads of people, including his classmates, teachers, friends and Christian fellowship nearly filled a large auditorium at Taylor’s University to commemorate the life of a 22-year-old bright student and to honour a friend whose life overflowed with love for everyone around him. He lived a life of complete unconditional love – love for God, love for his family, love for his friends and those he would meet for the first time.

There was no shortage of friends coming forward to share stories of the young man’s special ways and his love. Jo was indeed compassionate. He always thought of others before thinking of himself. He was also the kind of person you could talk to in a tough time. It brings to mind those heart-to-heart talks we used to have. He would always lend an ear every time I had problems with school and guys.

Jo was an enthusiastic person. He took a lively interest in almost everything – tennis, pool, books, music, writing and playing guitar. His guitar skills were honed well under painstaking hours of practice, strengthened by experiences of performing and serving the church. Our interest in music and alternative rock connected us to a close friendship. We ever went to concerts together and always wanted to get as close to the stage as possible.

Jo was also a friendly person to everyone. He would stop to say hi to you because you were his friend’s friend and someone he knew – or someone he just met. That made him more popular than an “it” guy.

Jo captured our hearts. He refuses to leave and will always be missed.

His smile never wavered.

Jo and me at the MTV World Stage 2009, Kuala Lumpur

P.S. This article was written to honour the memory of my good buddy, Joash Wee. You'll always be missed, Jo!

Feature Story

2011-01-01T23:53:00.000-08:00

Size Zero Goes Out of Fashion

by Geeta Ariani

There’s a certain novelty value in fashion when having a totally starved look. There’s no denying that many models don’t mind starving themselves and suffering from severe hunger pangs just to appear on the runways and succeed in the modelling world; hence a want of a few Big Macs. Taken to extremes, this kind of behaviour can be dangerous and fatal.

A new study by the Model Health Inquiry, part of an investigation by the Baroness Kingsmill for the British Fashion Council, reports that one out of four models is coping with hidden eating disorders. The purpose of this study is to investigate the pressure on models to be size zero with “waif-like” body types, perhaps the most famous of these being Kate Moss, who becomes the same byword for “stick-thin” models as Twiggy from the 1960s. “The model population is classed at risk,” says Dr Adrienne Key, a psychiatrist who was involved in the report. “My assumption is that 20 per cent to 40 per cent are suffering from some kind of eating disorder or disordered eating.”

Zero-sized models have been in the limelight for being underweight before many of them are banned from catwalks. In that event, there is an air of expectation that the ban will change attitudes towards extreme model size requirements.

“Size-Zero” Victims

The deaths of three South American models, attributed to malnutrition and anorexia nervosa, sparked a heated debate on underweight “size zero” models around the world. In August 2006, 22-year-old Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos died from heart failure after she had been on a strict diet of green leaves and diet Coke for three months. It was rumoured that her modelling agency told her she could have won excessive fame if she had lost a tremendous amount of weight. However, it didn’t seem an earth-shattering achievement. She had collapsed on the catwalk during a fashion show in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo before she could catch the pleasant sweet smell of success.

Six months later, her sister Eliana Ramos, 18, also died of suspected anorexia and malnutrition. She had worked as a model for an Argentine modelling agency beforehand. A similar case also happened to Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, 21, who had worked for Giorgio Armani. The model hit the headlines not only with her success in modelling but also with her controversial death, linked to complications from anorexia after sticking to a diet of just tomatoes and apples.

The photographs and stories of these fashion models consequently were splashed across the front pages of both online and print media around the globe. In the wake of their deaths, the World Health Organisation, doctors and designers started speaking out against the size zero fashion trend.

Size Zero in Women’s Measurement and the BMI Controversy

Size 0 is a women’s clothing size in the US catalogue sizes system. The measurement is equivalent to a modern UK size 4 — 31.5 inches (80cm) in bust, 23 inches (60cm) in waist and 34 inches (86cm) in hips. With a little imagination, you could turn the waist measurement into the average girth of a British eight-year-old girl.

When it comes to a question about size, there is always a question about health. Indeed, a measure of fashion model weight today raises several health issues. A body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 or lower is deemed “half-starved” or “underweight” by the World Health Organisation. This means a model measuring around 5ft 9in tall (170 centimetres) has to weigh a minimum 8st 11lb (52 kilograms) to be classed as healthy.

In the case of Reston, her BMI was believed to be below the critical 16 mark. She was 172cm tall and weighed only 38kg. According to a nutritionist and endocrinologist at Madrid’s fashion week Susana Monereo, a BMI of 16 was deemed “extremely low” that could make models look like stick figures draped in designer clothes.

A Ban on Ultra-Thin Models from Catwalks

A turning point in the debate on the size zero trend seemed more real. Prompted by the scandal of some models’ deaths, models with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18 were barred from a major Madrid fashion show in September 2006 for being “excessively skinny”. Also, several large Italian designer brands such as Prada, Versace and Armani were in agreement about the ban on “size zero” models from their catwalks.

For some super-skinny supermodels such as Lily Cole, Erin O’Connor, Alek Wek and Eva Herzigova, banning “size zero” models could really mean taking the cake. They could possibly face a ban from the catwalk unless they started feeding themselves.

A spokesman for designer Allegra Hicks said, “A ban on the size zero model should be compulsory across the fashion industry. Size zero is not feminine and not healthy.” Nonetheless, the London Fashion Show seemed to prefer urging fashion designers to use healthy-looking women to following the lead taken by Madrid in a ban on “size zero” models from its catwalk.

The deaths of the Uruguayan and Brazilian models might come as a wake-up call to the fashion industry and designers to stop using sickly-thin women on the catwalks and start promoting a healthy body image by using women with a realistic size and weight. The World Health Organisation, doctors and women’s groups totally agree on the use of more healthy-looking women in fashion, as they believe that ultra-thin models can put pressure on teenage girls to be as skinny as them and try as hard as possible to get down to the lowest size.

The Fantasy

The notion of beauty today seems all about size. The amount of girls wants to die for being as skinny as their favourite celebrities. To put this into context, let me remind you of the global fantasy – Hollywood.

There are many Hollywood stars that have all admitted eating disorders, including Mary-Kate Olsen, Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan. The media cannot stop splashing their photographs over the front cover, accentuating their shoulder bones and knee joints. They even call them “trendsetters”. Celebrity magazines somehow publish juicy quotes, criticising podgy celebrities wearing too-tight latex leggings. In this situation, the media are not too probable to blame for pressuring celebrities into committing the skeletal trend.

Size Zero is No Hero

As the media idolise skinny starlets, a leading British expert on eating disorders warns that the women’s obsessions with size-zero lead them to suffer from “famine then feast” eating disorder. Professor Janet Treasure from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, says the super-skeletal trend is an eating disorder time bomb for both the general public and models. He also defines “famine then feast” as eating disorder where a cycle is set up when a diet is broken by the attraction of highly palatable food, and a pattern known as “binge priming” begins.

Anorexia nervosa also has reasons which are linked to the size-zero trend. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, it is estimated that 0.5% to 3.7%t of women will suffer from anorexia in their life; 1.1% to 4.2% for bulimia and 2% to 5% for binge eating disorder. Anorexia is a very dangerous illness which takes hundreds of women’s lives. Therefore, size zero is no hero at all.

What Do We Do Now?

Malnutrition, heart failure, and psychological complexes are all very real consequences of being underweight. This is why the fashion industry needs to stop their obsession with “size-zero” models by hiring more healthy-looking women on the catwalks, or perhaps making fashionable clothes for full-figured women. This can change attitudes towards the perception of beauty which is always constructed in terms of outward appearance and body size.

The zero-sized isn’t attractive; the obsession is not healthy at all. Girls should stop having a mental image of their body, always seeing themselves as fat and starving themselves. We had no choice when we were born to be fat, but we do have a choice to look naturally beautiful and healthy.

Starving to death is really uncool. So — think again, sistas!

P.S. Feature was written by Geeta for the sole purpose of a college assignment. And the picture was taken from www.stylehog.com.

Mixed salad à la « me »

2010-12-24T05:17:00.000-08:00

Hungry? No idea what to eat for dinner? Or are you scared to have dinner because it will make you fat?

A salad can be perfect diet food. It may sound boring and tasteless, but actually it can be an interesting meal by experimenting with vegetables, meat and salad dressings. Here’s my salad recipe that I would like to share with you:

Ingredients
Lettuce leaves (torn, rinsed well and spun dry)
1 large potato (peeled and cut into cubes)
1 hard-boiled large egg (quartered or sliced into pieces)
1 slice or 2 slices of smoked beef (sliced into strips)
1 teaspoon olive oil
Butter
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (if desired)
Cheddar cheese (grated) or parmesan cheese
½ cup Thousand Island dressing or mayonnaise

How to make
1. Heat olive oil in a frying pan to medium heat. Add smoked beef. Fry until it is golden. Add butter as a flavour enhancer.

2. Cook potato in a saucepan of boiling water until it is tender. Drain. Or you can also steam the potato until it’s tender; drain, peel and cut it into cubes.

3. Place lettuce in a large bowl. Pour lemon juice over the lettuce. Add potato, hard-boiled egg and smoked beef. Toss gently to combine. Pour dressing. Top with grated cheddar or parmesan.

Voilà, dinner is ready and you shouldn't worry about getting fat anymore. Bon appétit!

What does "losing your virginity" mean to you?

2010-12-22T06:10:00.001-08:00

An interesting question for women: what does it mean to lose your virginity?

Firstly, we have to know the definition of virginity. Virginity today has far more sophisticated definitions than before. “Never having had sexual intercourse” may be “the new definition” of virginity nowadays. It’s no longer “cleanliness” or “purity”, but “engaging in a lot of different kinds of sexual activities without intercourse”. Someone who has oral sex, anal intercourse, or other kinds of sex is still considered as a technical virgin. Many girls usually take this easy way out by using the loophole to get the pleasure they desire. In this way, the girls usually want to stay a virgin until they’re married or losing virginity before marriage is against their religion and strictly taboo.

People may define “virginity” differently, but we still have to revisit what it means to stay a virgin. In the new millennium, losing virginity is not something new among teens. Sex has no age limit. Sexual images in the media such as TV or the Internet are blamed for promoting teen sex. Condoms, birth control pills, or other kinds of contraceptive pills become preventive options for teens. And abortion becomes a way out of the undesirable pregnancy.

I know it’s not easy for girls to keep their virginity because of peer pressure and their boyfriends. Most guys today have already had sex. Sex is very important in a relationship for men and they will look for it elsewhere if they no longer get it from their girlfriends or wives. The ugly truth is: there are three things that every man needs – support, loyalty, and “The Cookie”. Some girls are pressured into losing their virginity because of “The Cookie”. Men. Need. Sex. They just love it.

Nevertheless, we (girls) cannot blame the media, our friends or boyfriends for losing our virginity. At the end of the day, it’s all up to you. One thing you have to remember is: love is a matter of trust and sex is a matter of lust. It’s your body, it’s your life and it should be your decision whether to have sex or not. If you’re not ready for it, tell your boyfriend and don’t let him pressure you into doing something you do not want to do. But if you are ready to give it away, make sure that you will do it with the right person at the right time.

First time sex is always going to be unforgettable. You cannot get your virginity back once it’s gone, so you must wait until you’re truly ready and fully trust the one you want to do it with.

Stay safe! :)

Source URL for the image above: http://www.paulaltott.com/blog/

A Weekend Getaway to Penang

2010-11-24T23:23:00.000-08:00

O.M.D (Oh Mon Dieu)! This blog looks dead because of the lack of updates. Most my previous time was taken up by working, dating, clubbing and hanging around. But after I went back to my home country for good, I’ve just spent my time lazing around at home and watching an idiot box. I feel so jobless now (sobs). That’s why I’m gonna start updating this blog again with current posts and photos. Like a girls quote: “It’s the good girls who keep diaries; the bad girls never have the time.” And now I’m one of the good girls again (grinning).

A couple of weeks before I went back home, I found some time to go on vacation with my close friends: Rohini, Pash and Rubee. We decided to go to Penang Island as a destination for our weekend getaway. Rubee did a little bit of digging to find cheap flights for all of us and made a hotel reservation.

Penang has a lot of temples. When we arrived there, we went straight to visit two of Penang’s famous temples such as Wat Chaiyamangkalaram (the temple with one of the longest reclining Buddha in Malaysia) and another temple which I forget the name. We also did a little shopping at Gurney Plaza and Little India, and finally walked along the Beach Street and stopped by Fort Cornwallis (the largest intact fortress still standing in Malaysia) – but too bad we couldn’t enter because it was closed.

The following day, we went to Batu Ferringhi (a top beach destination in Penang). I couldn’t wait to enjoy the salty, sea air with my beach bums – have a hot time lounging on the beach, draped in my super-sexy bikini (woot woot). Even though the weather was sizzling hot, we still had fun in the sun – sunbathing, strolling along the beach and feeling the sand and seawater beneath our feet. Another great excitement we didn’t miss there was horse riding. It was my first time riding on horseback; it was scary, but so much fun.

Too bad we could only stay there for three days. Even though my skin turned darker because of spending too much time in the sun, I didn’t care a damn because it was worth it. I “heart” Penang.

P.S. Some of the photos were taken by my friends, from their cameras.

3rd Homecoming

2010-02-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

I was beginning to run out of patience while waiting for my flight to Balikpapan at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport. The wait seemed to go on forever. It was my third homecoming, but felt like the first since I was away from family for nearly 10 months. My longing for home couldn’t be resisted anymore. So I took my camera out of the bag, looked out the window, and snapped a picture of Garuda Indonesia Airlines to distract myself.

My arrival home was something Mom had been hoping for since I was still in Kuala Lumpur. When I saw her standing in the airport waiting area, a welcoming smile was carved on her face. I locked my arms around her and pressed my lips very lightly to her forehead. She was just grinning and gave me a bear hug. It wasn’t quite an emotional homecoming; it was just because we missed each other badly. When I arrived home and met with my family again, I was thinking, “Gosh, this is my happy home, full of love.”

Nothing much happened in the first week I was there. I only went to some of my favourite eating places with Mom by bike – well, yeah, most every girl in my family knows how to ride a motorbike, but I’m scared of riding downtown now because I haven’t ridden in such a long time. Our neighbour invited us to her garden in a suburb for picking rambutans and cempedaks. I’m not a lover of tropical fruits, but picking rambutans sounded fun for me and I could eat as much as I’d like for free, so I just smiled my agreement.

My 3rd homecoming.

One of the best things of returning home is a high-school reunion where I can meet and mess around with old school friends. We went for a movie and karaoke-ing, and played pool. My girls and I went swimming at a water park and slept over at one of their houses. We were reminiscing, gossiping and laughing ourselves silly while snacking all night. I really enjoyed myself – so did my friends.

Karaoke-ing and pool-ing with my friends.

Swimming at a water park with my girls.

Splish...Splash!

It was a pity two of my girls had an accident. They fell down from a motorbike while we were riding to a pool place. One of them got seven stitches on her tummy. Thank God, they weren’t seriously injured so that they could go home and took some rest. All of us were traumatised before – so were our parents, but later we laughed the incident off as just our silly recklessness.

Now, I can’t wait to come back to Kuala Lumpur and my mindless routine (doing assignments) when college starts again. At least I will still meet my college friends and hang out with them again. Spending a lot of time with them gossiping or just chilling out somewhere can be real fun. That’s why I miss them greatly :)

Is public display of affection (PDA) OK?

2010-01-21T03:52:00.000-08:00

I was eating pizza in a fast-food restaurant with a friend. I looked around, and then shot my eyes to a couple standing beside a mall’s guide map near us. The girlfriend wrapped her arms around her boyfriend’s neck, and the boyfriend started to kiss her. It wasn’t a quick kiss, but a prolonged one with.....tongue. I knew it was rude to eye them, but what would you expect me to react? It was no longer private when done in a public place, right?

It wasn’t the first time I’ve seen such a display in public areas. Every time I see public displays of affection (PDA), I feel like telling the couple, ‘Get a room, please.’ I am sure this is something uncomfortable for most everyone. It is also something inappropriate in front of children.

I don’t want to sound so old-fashioned or naïve and act as if I was an old mama. But can you imagine, a couple near you getting hot and heavy while you were so focused, trying to pocket the black ball on a pool table? OK, fine. It is a poolroom, but may still be something uncomfortable for the average guests.

In Europe, Canada and the United States it is normal to see people holding hands, kissing (french kissing) and caressing each other. In places such as bars, nightclubs, and strip clubs, acts such as grinding (dance erotically) and french kissing are common. I don’t find the public display of affection inappropriate in those places. It can still be tolerated. What meant here is PDA can be such an unacceptable behaviour in public places such as restaurants, malls, offices, schools, campuses – and particularly places where children are around.

In our lax society, privacy today may be unnecessary, where the practice of making out in a bedroom is dead, replaced by the practice of treating a packed mall like their bedroom. Is it very important to show other people that they are unconditionally in love? Let’s not get silly about this. Holding hands is OK. But kissing (french kissing) in public is a big no-no. You will do the right thing if someday you ask a security guard to handle such a situation (LOL).

Best Things of Being 'Alone'

2010-01-07T07:29:00.000-08:00

I like to go out alone sometimes, shopping around or just window-shopping in a mall. The best thing of shopping alone is no one will complain to me if I spend hours looking around for the best deal. The worst thing – no one reminds me to control myself when I enter stores and can’t stop buying things, since I’m such a big spender (I seriously need to kick this bad habit).

I also eat out alone sometimes. Some people tell me they feel uncomfortable when eating alone at restaurants. They always feel that other people are staring at them or it just feels weird to eat alone in public without any companion or anyone to talk with. But me? I don’t mind. I usually bring something to read or listen to a music player in my cell phone to avoid feeling that people are giving me a weird look. I just don’t give a damn.

What you need to have is just confidence. You will find yourself in an awkward situation if you always feel worried about what other people around you think – whether they are staring at you or not. It just makes you look weird. I always think that we were born alone, we die alone. At the end of the day, it’s up to us to do something alone.

People need to be alone to find themselves – who they really are. Or people need to be alone because they need their own personal space. So, will you dare yourself to wander alone in the wilderness of a big city? Because there’s nothing wrong with being alone sometimes.

Feature

2009-10-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

Ayam Penyet: Unique Taste of Indonesian Cuisine

by Geeta Ariani

Living overseas in Malaysia is very different from home and quite an experience. Food sometimes can be an issue since I come from Indonesia where almost every dish is accompanied by cabe rawit (bird’s eye chilli) or sambal (a spicy homemade condiment made of chilli, spices, tomato, and vegetables) that always gives you a pleasing sensation of intense flavour. Indeed, I am a lover of hot and spicy foods.

Indonesian cuisine is one of the hottest cuisines around the world which is also best known for its spiciness and blazing cooking all chilli heads will love. Still, it is unique and world renowned for its exotic blend of distinctive regional dishes, which each region today boasts its own specialities and some become the national favourites, drawing several cultural influences from both local Indonesian culture and foreign influences. The culinary world of succulent delights such as Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, British, Chinese, Indian and Arab cuisines has become a major influence and reached its epitome in the Indonesian kitchen. It is somewhat clear from the country’s present-day cooking techniques, ingredients and food presentation.

One of the well-known Indonesian dishes favoured not only in the country but also in Malaysia and especially in Singapore is ayam penyet (flattened fried chicken). Don’t judge the dish by its funny name – to some extent the name sounds weird, but when it comes to taste – the mouth watering dish can be so addictive that makes you want to sit down, eat slowly and savour the moment with a hearty serving of delicious hot sambal. What is actually ayam penyet? Ayam penyet is just a fried chicken, slightly smashed or flattened with a wooden pestle to make its meat loosen from its bones, increasing the tenderness of the meat and thus the apparent sensation of juiciness, for easy eating. It is also the “flattened” or “smashed” thingy which makes ayam penyet stand out from the other fried chicken. The chicken is actually marinated with various spices and herbs and is then half-boiled before it is deep-fried to golden brown and crispy.

The highlight of the eating of ayam penyet is its spicy condiment, also known as sambal. It is an important side dish that feels like fiery flames down the throat, firing up your taste buds, but the kind that may knock your socks off or even make you scorch your plate. So those who shy away from the fieriness will miss out on the best thing. Adding to its attraction, ayam penyet is also served with a piece of fried bean curd and tempe (fermented soy beans), a batch of boiled kangkong (swamp cabbage) and fresh cabbage. It also comes with kremesan sprinkled on top of the crunchy chicken – also known as golden brown fried fritter – just melting over your tongue with explosions of rich, crispy goodness when you take a couple of bites.

This traditional Indonesian food hails from Surabaya, the Indonesia’s second-largest city as well as the capital of the province of East Java. However, this unique type of fried chicken has become a hit in Malaysia because of its alluring flavour. Mrs. Uun is an Indonesian who has been a right-hand woman of the owner of the restaurant Ayam Penyet Ria in Kuala Lumpur for approximately three months. While sitting comfortably in her chair, sipping a steaming glass of tea served by her staff, warming herself from the inside out – she expresses her view that what makes ayam penyet reach the height of its popularity in Malaysia is its distinctive name and taste. “There is no fried chicken which is flattened or smashed in Malaysia. Also, the taste is unique because it’s marinated in a blend of spices before it’s fried to certain crispiness,” she said.

Praised for the authenticity of their Indonesian dishes as well as the originality of their recipe, Ayam Penyet Ria never feel satiate when showered with compliments from both their new and repeat customers and always try to refine the quality of their cuisine. The popularity of the franchise and their signature dish ayam penyet has travelled from its homeland, Indonesia, to Singapore and Malaysia like the aroma of the dish itself. It’s also quite popular with students and office workers who flock at the restaurant during meal times, hence all the hype surrounding this restaurant that makes other people crave for a try. “Our customers are not just Indonesian people but also Malaysian people, including 65 per cent of Malays and 35 per cent of Indonesians. Our guests are also sometimes foreigners from other countries. They like to order ayam penyet and some other Indonesian dishes served here,” Mrs. Uun said with a proud smile carved on her face.

A plate of food is like a picture, and the rim of the plate is the frame – sometimes you need to figure out in what kind of frame you want to mount your picture so that you can get a pleasing arrangement. This analogy seems to work for ayam penyet presentation like how the food is plated and garnished which also affects how people think it tastes. The flattened fried chicken and its garnish are usually served in the Indonesian wooden bowl or mortar called the cobek instead of normal plates. Buswani, the Malaysian owner of the restaurant Baso Indonesian Cuisine who has fallen in love with Indonesian cuisine since his first visit to the country, gave a reason for using the cobek to present his guests with ayam penyet. “Cobek is typical of serving style in Indonesia. Serving ayam penyet in the cobek itself can provide customers with an Indonesian cuisine dining experience since the mortar represents the country.”

Sometimes spicy foods can make people go very red in their face and burn their tongue, especially those who cannot take spiciness. It is not a surprise to owners of ayam penyet restaurants or outlets in Malaysia when some of their customers complain to them about the fiery hot sambal. When asked about his reaction to it, Buswani says, “I just follow the same recipe in Indonesia to retain the originality. I don’t want to change its spiciness, even though 15 per cent of my customers complain about the condiment because it’s super spicy.” It jogs my memory of the first time my Malaysian friends ate ayam penyet – a few of them appeared to be suffering from a burning tongue, the skin of their face turned red with sweat running through their faces. Rohini, my Malaysian friend who also falls in love with ayam penyet, reminisces – “With my first taste of the chicken, I could feel my taste buds tingling with its spiciness, the combination of ingredients incorporated into the seemingly simple chicken created bursts of flavour in my mouth.” To deal with this issue, both Buswani and Mrs. Uun usually will offer to separate the sambal from the fried chicken by serving it in a mini condiment bowl if their customers start complaining.

Addie, a Malaysian businessman, started his first outlet, Restoran Ayam Penyet-AP a year ago at Subang Jaya, Kuala Lumpur – and built a very experienced team in serving and cooking ayam penyet as their main speciality. Although he is considered young in this business, one of his outlets at Bandar Sunway Mentari is already pulling in many customers and also popular with youngsters. “As a businessman, I would like to venture into something that has a great potential regardless whether it is from another country. And I have found ayam penyet to be one of them,” he said. He also thinks that opening ayam penyet outlets is such a good business in Malaysia since only a few Indonesian restaurants can be found in the country. “And a good one will do well,” he added.

Cuisine can be another reason to savour the taste of a country and understand its own unique culture and way of life. Experiencing a tingling sensation of blazing hot crispy ayam penyet can also be an exciting journey into the world of Indonesian cuisine – this is indeed the taste of Indonesia.

P.S. Feature was written by Geeta for the sole purpose of a college assignment. And the pictures were taken by Geeta for an additional purpose.

Opinion Piece

2009-09-28T04:20:00.000-07:00

Say no to culture and tourism war – and yes to peace

by Geeta Ariani

Coming to study in Kuala Lumpur, metropolitan city of the Petronas Twin Towers, having many good Malaysian friends and experiencing a taste of great cultural diversity have provided me with a wider perspective on issues and helped me see how people from different parts of the world have different ways of approaching life. But when one of my friends in Indonesia suddenly mesmerised me with his dramatic tale, writing on my Facebook wall: “Malaysia just stole our Pendet dance. Ganyang Malaysia! (English: Invade Malaysia!)” – the stealing claim went right over my head and made me a little upset.

My friend’s Facebook posting enticed me to “google” the controversy. I was flooded with news stories about Malaysia’s claim over the Pendet dance, splashed across the front pages of the online edition of Indonesian newspapers. It must have hit the headlines in my country, but seemed to be ignored by the Malaysian mainstream media since I found only one Malaysian online newspaper covering the story. Furthermore, I didn’t hear a single word about it in any Malaysian newspaper.

Is it just Malaysia’s authoritarian press system in which journalists have very little rights when it comes to criticising the government, or is there anything fishy going on? Anyway, the situation in Indonesia that time was in marked contrast to the media’s silence in Malaysia.

About a month ago, many Indonesians protested the image of two Balinese dancers performing the Pendet dance that appeared in the promotion of the series Enigmatic Malaysia aired on the Discovery Channel. The issue also sparked an emotional debate among Indonesian culture experts, political scientists and artists, with Malaysia being condemned as ripping off the traditional Indonesian dance. Shortly after the protests, this fact was brought to light: Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific was at fault for using the image of the Balinese dancers to promote their documentary series Enigmatic Malaysia. Apparently the image itself was sourced from an independent third party that had nothing to do with the Malaysian government’s tourism ads. Fair enough.

But it did not stop there. The Indonesian people went further in accusing Malaysia of claiming Wayang Kulit and Batik as their own. Perhaps many Indonesians do not know that the leather shadow puppet, also known as Wayang Kulit, took root in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, Kelantan, more than 250 years ago. The origin itself remains a mystery, as the puppet show today is widespread throughout Asia in various guises. How about Batik? This ancient art form took root and reached its golden age in Java, Indonesia. During industrialisation, Indonesian immigrants brought Batik with them to Malaysia; therefore the Malays learned the painting and dyeing techniques and adopted the designs.

Please note, Indonesia and Malaysia shared the same culture and language many years ago, as most Malays in Malaysia originated from Indonesia. No way are we going to blame our ancients for this pointless polemic between Indonesia and Malaysia on the claim over cultural heritage. Because at the end of the day, it will never address the main issue but cause a serious deterioration in relations between the two countries.

After all, it’s time for us to let bygones be bygones. It is not a breeze, but this issue may serve as a challenge and wake-up call to my fellow Indonesians, particularly the younger generation, to start preserving our very own culture instead of blindly aping western culture. Last, hopefully peace will always reign in the two countries and there won’t be either tourism or culture war anymore.

P.S. This opinion piece is part of my 'Advanced News Writing' assignments.

Splendid Breaking of Fast in Ramadan '09

2009-09-18T03:06:00.000-07:00

It was the 2nd week of the fasting month, Ramadan 2009 - a time when Li Ling, Nahda (a friend from Dubai) and I were heading toward Sunway Pyramid mall to break fast together. Actually, we'd planned to eat at Secret Recipe earlier - couldn't wait to have a slice of their cheese and chocolate cakes. Well, forget those cakes that might make us drool like Homer Simpson; to our great disappointment, all the tables in the restaurant were reserved by those who were gonna break fast too, so we finally ended up going to a seafood restaurant, Manhattan Fish Market (MFM).

During Ramadan, many restaurants usually serve Muslim customers with free dates or another sweet meal or drink to break the day's fast. So did MFM that time. But the dates looked so ugly that we complained about them. Perhaps MFM needs to replace them with ones from Tunisia - LOLZ.

Garlic Butter Mussels - just melting over my tounge with explosions of rich, buttery goodness. Can you imagine?

What a perfect starter - Garlic Butter Mussels (one of MFM's delicacies). The kind that makes you want to eat slowly, savour the moment with a bucket of Garlic Bread dipped in the buttery, creamy sauce. Oh, I have a weakness for it.

Hohoho, here it comes - the Manhattan Seafood Platter for Two consisting of deep fried fish fillet, calamari, oysters and prawns coming in flames, served with chips and garlic rice. Don't you just love SEAFOOD? I can't seem to get enough of it that always makes me want to go back to hometown - a haven for seafood lovers.

What's for dessert? Mmm, how about a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream for those who have a sweet tooth? I mean just look at the picture. Can you stand it?

O.O the food vanished into thin air - hehehe I know! There was nothing left on the table since we finished all the food. We were so full that we couldn't even get up off our chairs.

Alright, we'd taken some pictures before we left. Appetite and hunger suppressed, we left the restaurant with full hearts and on full stomachs. Anyway, we really had a great time breaking the day's fast together at MFM - so have my pictures given you a good stomach for breaking fast next time?

My response to appearance of Pendet dance in a Malaysian tourism ad

2009-08-31T02:57:00.000-07:00

Source of picture: Malay Mail Online

Having been studying overseas for over than two years and experiencing a taste of great cultural diversity in Kuala Lumpur, metropolitan city of the Petronas Twin Towers, always make me think that Indonesia is indeed my country, but Kuala Lumpur is my hometown. Oh, scratch what I've just said or I would have trouble - ha ha ha.

Well, this is what I heard last time from my friends in Indonesia that has recently been over my head - "Malaysia just stole our Pendet dance. Ganyang Malaysia! (English: Crush Malaysia!)" And I was like, "What??!!", rolling my eyes. Firstly, I thought it was not more than just a rumour, but I couldn't stand to pretend to keep my head, so this is my personal view.

Quoted from the Jakarta Post published on 23 August 2009 - "The presence of Balinese dancing and a leather shadow puppet in a Malaysian tourism ad has once again upset Indonesians, who are saying it is an attempt to claim the art forms as their own." Commenting on this issue, I would say that the leather shadow puppet, also known as Wayang Kulit, has been popular in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, where it took root more than 250 years ago (thanks once again to Google for this info). Actually, its origin remains a mystery, as the puppet show today is spread out across Asia in various forms and guises. So in this regard, we can't claim that Wayang Kulit was completely originated in Indonesia and therefore accuse Malaysia of stealing Indonesia's cultural heritage. Also, I don't even think that Malaysian people know what the Pendet dance is. They don't even know what the word 'Pendet' is.

However, protests over the image of two Balinese dancers performing the Pendet dance appearing in Malaysia's tourism ad titled 'Enigmatic Malaysia' still continue in Bumi Pertiwi, Indonesia. Understanding the reason why the dance appeared in the Malaysian tourism advertising must not be a breeze, as we know that the Pendet dance has its origin in Bali, Indonesia. But, according to the Malay Mail Online (25 August 2009), "Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific stated the image of Balinese dancers were used in a clip, aired on Discovery Channel, to promote the documentary series Enigmatic Malaysia and the image of the dancers, performing the pendet, were sourced from an independent third party." Therefore, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific felt sorry for using the Pendet dance in the promotion of the series Enigmatic Malaysia aired on the Discovery Channel.

Well, at least, we all know now that it was the fault of the third party for using the Pendet dance in the promotion of the series Enigmatic Malaysia. To my mind, the Indonesian government should have verified again with the government of Malaysia before they alleged that Malaysia had stolen Indonesia's traditional dance, so that this issue wouldn't have provoked anger among Indonesians.

In a nutshell, let's hope both of the governments will be able to deal with this issue as soon as possible. Please note, Indonesia and Malaysia shared the same culture and language many years ago, as most Malays in Malaysia originated from Indonesia. So, it is little wonder that today we can find some similarities in their culture and language. In my view, this issue can be a challenge and wake-up call to all Indonesians, particularly the younger generation (including me, of course), to stop blindly aping western culture and start preserving our own culture. Last, let peace reign in both of the countries.

P.S. Click here to watch a clip of the promotion of the series Enigmatic Malaysia on YouTube.

Through My Lens

2009-08-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

Well, this post is actually a shot at blogging about photography, as I take a personal interest in the progress of my skills in capturing a great moment and writing about it - kidding, lolz.

I'd thought of creating a photography blog before I bought my Canon EOS 40D digital SLR. But after getting my photography gear (lolz), I didn't start making it. Yeah, call me 'hopeless' or 'sluggish'. Actually, I went outing a couple of times and captured some of the sweet moments I spent together with my friends, but I was just quite lazy to upload the pictures and blog about them, until one of my friends suggested that I start blogging about my pictures I captured. I was like, "Ok, I'll give it my best shot. And let's see how long it will survive. Ha ha ha."

Bien, let me start by blogging about some of the mish mash of my photos I posted on Flickr - this is my special photo sharing application. Click here if you wanna check it.

A Row of Assorted Creamy Cupcakes

I went to this place named 'Cuppacakes' - somewhere in Damansara Uptown PJ (unless I'm mistaken). They sell homemade cupcakes in beautiful colours and designs - and they, of course, offer yummy flavours that make you want to have more than a bite. The place is quite nice, designed in a good vintage style - a lovely setting for hanging out, or just having teatime with your family or friends.

I took the pictures of some of the cupcakes my friends and I bought and arranged them in a row - finding a nice angle to shoot and adjusting the lighting. Well, it was my first experience with food photography. That's why it took me a long time to find a nice angle and it was pretty much annoying to my friends who were waiting to eat their cupcakes until I finished taking the pictures (so sorry).

Anomaly

This is one of my favourites. In nine ball game, whatever balls you have entered, the nine ball always appears salient and is expected to enter in the end of the game, then you can win. This is how the idea came up. The nine ball depicts an anomaly for me. Btw, I took this picture in a poolroom at college while playing together with my friends, Mas and Jo.

C'est La Vie!

Ah, you must be familiar with this picture. Correct! It's currently my banner. Actually, it's a pendant I bought last year from Forever 21. I bought the necklace just because of the Eiffel Tower pendant, lolz. Mais, c'est magnifique! J'aime beaucoup la Tour Eiffel et Paris.

One in A Million Malaysia 09

Despite using Canon EF-S 18-55mm, the original lens still managed to reach the stage as I had to get towards the front first so that I could capture the great event. Going to the finale and watching the contestants performing live that night were such good experiences.

Emo Chic

The girl in this picture is my friend, Pash. She was posing randomly as I was taking her pictures until I realised how nice the pose was. So I asked her to do the same pose. I changed the colour into monochrome so that the picture would portray emotional punk rock. This is my first portrait photography experiment and I experimented a lot with new effects while editing this picture. Well-done!

One of the Supers

One of the Petronas Towers, hence the title. I took the picture of the tower from a different angle, showing as if these weren't twin towers. In my view, architecture photography is not easy, especially when it comes to twin buildings. However, I think of not only balance or symmetry when looking at this picture, but also singleness which still looks super to me.

Ring of Love

Oh...this picture is just wow for me. I love the visual composition, lighting, colour, and of course the shadow. It's the most romantic picture I've taken, lolz. Actually, I found the idea from Flickr and had experimented the light effect to make this shadow with my roommate's boyfriend - he's also a photography enthusiast. Shortly thereafter, I experimented with a different angle and colour. And it took me a long time to adjust the position of the ring on the book and lighting itself. For the lighting, I used my roommate's desk lamp. Then, I switched off the lights in my bedroom so that I could create the shadow.

Well, I love this picture. The ring belongs to my friend, by the way. But I always wish the ring would be from someone I love, and I would show him the real shadow of my heart through this ring. Oh my gawd, so emo like wth!!!

Bonjour Big Spender!

2009-07-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

Bonjour.

Moi, I'm Geeta Ariani and a big money spender.

In fact, I'm still not sure yet whether or not I am a truly big spender, but my expenditure exceeds my income every month which my dad has no idea about this. My budget balance has been in deficit since I entered college -- since I started having this passion for clothes and cosmetics. O.M.G. I know!

Yeah, call me shopaholic. Or just a girl who can't help buying stuff before leaving stores with full hearts and shining eyes, but with great regret after reaching home and checking the receipts to find out how much she's just spent. She will mostly end up saying, "Am I f**king kidding myself? 110 ringgits for a pair of peep-toe shoes which I'm not even sure to wear???"

Yes, it sounds so me. When I was in school, I used to do shopping in bookstores, not in clothes stores -- I was a bookworm. Well, although I usually did hang out in shopping malls with my clique, I didn't suddenly appear at home with shopping bags, filled with a pair of shoes, a tee, a pair of skinny jeans, a headband, a lipstick, an eyeliner or maybe snacks from Carrefour which I wouldn't even bother to eat. I am pretty much aware of changes in people's lives, but changing into a big spender is really uncool and an exception. I've tried to cut down on my monthly expenditure by listing the things on which I've spent money. However, it doesn't seem to work for me.

Women and shopping. It's just part of our nature to shop. There's a saying: when we're up, we shop, when we're down, we shop even more. And that's pretty much true. Every time I have a problem or feel depressed, I tend to shop and in the meantime my mood gets uplifted again. There's nothing more remedial than retail therapy (lolz). It's just wow. You will even forget what's just happened to you before tracing the sweet smell of stores. But it turns out to be a bigger problem when you find out about the huge expenditure of money - and it's your dad's money you've just spent. Don't you feel guilty about having used your dad's money with no concern whatsoever as he has to work hard and earn so that his family can live on?

It earns me feelings of guilt. I don't know how to change my life through better money management by cutting spending waste and starting to save. I tried to work part-time and wished I'd have been more aware of how hard it is to earn money. But I keep thinking like a pair of long pants for RM65 after 50% discount is very reasonable; furthermore, it's from SEED which is too hard to pass over and I need those pants for my first day at work. Also, I will get paid next month, so I can use the money to cover it. Or maybe, it's ok to have dinner in a fancy restaurant and pay RM30 for seafood spaghetti and light coke, including government tax and service charge; well, I can cook instant noodles for dinner tomorrow, right?

OH MY GAWD, help me!

What have I been up to?

2009-06-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

So...this is what I was doing shortly after I finished all of my assignments. FREEDOM!!! Yeah, you know I couldn't wait to finish all that stuff that's been torturing my life - thanks once again to my college. I even forgot what I was writing in my final essay for International Media Communications; what I can remember is I wrote about swine flu. And...it was all crappy. Lolz.

At least I really had a great time with my friends in Kuala Lumpur. I played pool with my pool fellow, Mas (lolz), I went to see my friend's performance of play in KL Performing Arts Centre - the title was 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead'. Super, Dinesh! Firstly, I didn't expect the drama to be comic - I thought it would be a typical serious theatrical performance like Shakespeareana with all those literature and language I'm not familiar with, but thankfully it wasn't.

The following day, Rubee, Rohini, Mas and I went outing in Suria KLCC. I snapped some pics of KL Twin Towers and grabbed some time to find good angles. I could see how obviously bored Mas & Ro were while waiting for me taking the pics of the twin towers. Hahaha, but I shut my eyes and continued experimenting with my gadget (once again, so sorry Ro and Mas...lolz).

Yeah, we were busy doing our own stuff. You can see from the pic I was busy taking pics, Mas was checking some vids in her video camera and Ro enjoyed a nice view of the public park behind KL Twin Towers. And Rubee, she was taking this pic.

I snapped this pic just for kicks, but I then realised that both the angle and colour were nice. I'm certainly gonna miss this moment, the days we'd spent together on and off campus before Rubee and Mas left for Adelaide.

Speaking of Rubee and Mas, they are going to leave tomorrow btw. I will very likely meet them again, as I will spend my next sem break in Indonesia and next year, shortly after I finish my studies, I will go back to my country and will likely come to Malaysia again. That's why it hit me so hard when saying farewell to them. They've been such good friends and I unexpectedly had to say good-byes. The days and moments of hanging out together, bugging one another while doing assignments, bitch-ing, spending the nights in poolroom with Mas, having late dinner at Mentari, complaining about assignments, playing cards and laughing will be missed. However, friends always come and go. A farewell is certainly necessary before you can meet them again, rite? : )

Oh yeah, I was finding a holiday job too during the semester break. And I've eventually made it through the hurdle of getting it (lolz, kidding). I'd applied for a part time job in Hospitality & Tourism office before I was recommended for a post in International Office on campus by my ex-roomie. I know...luckily me.

Well, as I am currently busy working, I also grab some time to do my leisure interests including reading and doing Body Balance at home. I'm currently reading Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen to satisfy my curiosity about Twilight. It's said that the story is nearly the same. Hmmm...let me finish reading the book first before my comment.

My First Video Production

2009-06-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

I eventually finished one of my final assignments, a final video production. Btw, I enjoyed myself during the making of the movie, starting from preparing the pre-production stuff, creating the flash animatic movie, to shooting and editing the vid. This vid has to show a physical task. And I chose the task, making a natural remedy for a sore throat, simply because I think ppl today need to start treating the mild illness with natural or organic remedies instead of lozenges. Hope it will be useful and get better soon!!! :D

G

The Pain of Love

2009-05-30T02:53:00.000-07:00

It pains me to fall in love with you
Yet I can't get enough
Every time I try to get over you
You always seem to give me a glimmer of hope

This heart always sinks
When I see it's too impossible to love you
You keep shutting your eyes
Never aware of how much I love you
So simple, so true, so painful

Your eyes somehow speak to me
And whisper something I've longed to hear
Yet I can't stop the voice inside my head,
Telling me of your love for somebody else

Each night I go through hurt feelings
I have to say I wish you could tell me
How I can get over them and move on
Yeah, I guess I am so weak
That I am dying every time I think about you

There is something you need to know
I've been hiding this feeling for long time
Don't want to let you in on the secret
Because I'm too scared of losing you
And it would really hurt if you walked away

There's only one happiness in life,
To love and be loved
But I won't have a piece of it from you
And this love is like a song
That you will never sing along

Written by Geeta

Profile Piece

2009-05-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

Experience is My Father’s Best Teacher

“Hey, wake up, lazybones!” Papa yelled at my 24-year-old cousin who stayed with us shortly after he had completed his Business and Management Studies. But the lazy young man kept sleeping.

“Wake up, young man!” Papa yelled again. He began to angrily knock on his bedroom door.

This time the door opened slowly as my cousin was still rubbing the sleepy sand from his eyes.

“Do you know what time it is? It’s high time you were in the office for the sake of doing your work. The early bird gets the worm, lazybones,” Papa said to my cousin in his deep, gravelly voice.

Papa always says that people who wake up early in the morning are healthier, wealthier, and wiser than people who wake up late. He likes to get to work before anyone else. Although the fine wrinkles around his unfriendly dark-skinned face make him look old, he still retains the same energetic sprit as a young man does.

Papa is someone you’d fear when you first see him. He has cold eyes that always appear as if they spoke and whispered something you need to know that his life is not a piece of cake, but the one that has traced the stench of failure to the sweet smell of success. His demeanour is self-assured and sharp, but his congenial nature makes him well-loved in the family and workplace. Beneath his gruff exterior, he is really very kind-hearted.

Life doesn’t always go your way. The words Papa spoke always replay in my head. At that moment he also told me about his bittersweet memories of childhood. He was born in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan in 1952. “My parents were divorced when I was still a kid,” he said. He was raised by his father’s cousin who didn’t have a child. “I must say that living with my foster mother was the happiest memory of my childhood because she always treated me like her own child,” he added.

Things went from bad to worse. “Soon after my father had remarried someone else, my mother passed away,” Papa said. He then spent the school year with his foster mother.

When Papa turned 13, he missed his biological father terribly. He went to visit his father and moved in with him, who had been living in Tarakan during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation over the future of the island of Borneo in 1963-66.

Papa didn’t complete his secondary education in junior high school at that moment. He began following his father into gambling and became addicted to alcohol. It was around this time that he joined a gang and engaged in delinquent behaviour. “Things were just awry in my life that time,” he said, looking upset.

In 1974, Papa moved back to Balikpapan looking for work to live a better life. He got a part-time job in logging industry. His uncle happened to run his own company in the town and always let Papa use a typewriter in his office to learn to type, eventually working for the company and still breaking new ground.

Then Papa left his job at the company and began working a roustabout in a drilling industry for the Scan Drilling Co Inc in 1980 as a few international oil and gas companies such as Total E&P Indonesie and Unocal Corporation started opening offices in Balikpapan.

“I didn’t know how to speak English with bule (an Indonesian slang term meaning foreigner or white person) in the company. But what I used to do was make gestures at them,” Papa said with a giggle. Then a slight tinge of red suddenly spread over his cheeks. But he didn’t give up. He learned English and started reading some English-language books about drilling operations and techniques. Slowly things began to improve and went smoothly.

Around 1988, Papa met my mother and they were kindling a romance. As time went on, they wedded. Starting a family was his main motivation for working hard, he said. He worked on an offshore oil rig from early morning until late evening, and then had anxiety about leaving his wife and little daughter alone at home for weeks. But he refused to complain, as he believed that “every gray cloud has a silver lining”, he said.

While many companies today prefer a college degree, people struggle to gain higher education so that they will succeed in getting a job after finishing their college studies. “And I will never be one of them,” Papa said, shaking his head.

But he never let an infinite spectrum of possibilities vanish into thin air. He joined some training programs conducted by the industry – honing his skills, and hoped it would finally give him a step up on the ladder. He first joined a training program at the Sedco Forex Drilling Company and climbed the ladder. Then, he flew to Singapore to join another training program and his efforts bore fruit. After completing all of his training programs, another oil rig company offered him a drilling position job at PT Apexindo Pratama Duta in 1992. He stayed with the company for 15 years, eventually becoming an assistant rig superintendent until today.

“You know, there’s always a painful lesson in life for everyone. It just depends on how you will get it accomplished,” Papa said with a winning smile placing on his face. My fingers felt as though they had attempted to wipe away a new wave of tears collecting behind my eyelids after hearing all of his words. But thank goodness I didn’t cry or I could have felt my cheeks burning if I had cried in front of him.

One of the many things that I have learned from him is that experience is the best teacher, and nothing ventured, nothing gained. Failure and hardship have made him as strong as concrete. And I will always remember that there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

Yoga: Is it really 'haram'?

2009-03-09T04:10:00.000-07:00

You may keep this issue fresh in your mind - an Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued fatwa (edict) after its Malaysian counterpart banned yoga. It's pointless even attempting to make sense of it.

Well, as Wisnu described (2009) in his article titled "Yoga in-sync with Islam, experts say" in the Jakarta Post that 'Islam and yoga share more similarities'. Indeed. In what ways? In some ways while praying or shalat, the moves are quite similar to the moves practiced in yoga - for instance, the way we stand as a start, the ruku (bending over with the hands over the kneecaps), the sujud (kneeling with the face down on the floor) and the way we sit after the sujud - we can see all of the moves in yoga.

Salman Harun, a professor at Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University and a noted Koranic scholar, said the moves in shalat prove beneficial to people's health. Indeed - because the moves in shalat are very good for our circulatory system. Regarding health, many forms of yoga incorporate breathing exercises that are also good for our respiratory system. So, yoga has little to do with any incantations or any context of worship instead of healthcare. This has been emphasised by Salman who argued that most forms of yoga practiced today are not Hindu by nature, but it's an age-old method to connect to a cosmic force.

Yet still, it isn't clear why the MUI suddenly issued the edict which seemed more motivated by political and economic factors to me. A similar thing also happened when the MUI issued fatwa (edict) on the ban on smoking. Why 'just now'? Why not many years ago? I totally agree with the ban concerning people's health - but it would be an exaggeration to say smoking is 'haram'. In a way, smoking is still deemed makruh (blameworthy) for Muslims, not haram. The MUI might have had an exaggerated sense of their own ambitions, I think. If they'd intended to discourage smoking, they shouldn't have implicated smoking as a sin or an estrangement from God.

So, it's currently up to us. We're mature enough to know right from wrong, aren't we?

E-cigarette is burning to introduce a new innovation of smoking

2009-03-03T07:09:00.000-08:00

As soon as I got up, I went downstairs to the kitchen. I boiled some water to make a cup of mochaccino and then searched the fridge for brownies I bought the other day. Appetite suppressed, I went up to my room to grab The Jakarta Post published on 19 February 2009 and sat down in a balcony. When I turned and looked over the pages of the newspaper under “Lifestyle”, I was hooked by this article titled “The E-Smoking Revolution”, preceded with the first statement: ‘good news for all the world’s smokers – especially those who want to quit but just can’t seem to.’

Well, let me begin by telling you that I am neither a smoker nor a drinker. OK, I drink wine – but only a little. I am such a girl who is really concerned about health. I am very careful about what I eat and drink and I also exercise. In contrast, my dad is a heavy smoker – he has become a tobacco addict since he was still young. He can light two packets of cigarettes per day. His health is my major worry. In fact, I’ve ensured that cigarette smoking is dangerous to his health. I often try to tell him to stop, but it seems a vain attempt for him to give up smoking. Did you use to follow the comedy series FRIENDS? If yes, do you still remember a time when Chandler told Joey to view the cigarette he was holding as something that had been missing, and holding it made him feel all right and complete. My dad might probably think the same – in which smoking cigarette may be his freedom of choice and forcing him to stop may be an intrusion into his personal freedom.

Although most countries put restrictions on the smoking of cigarettes, over a billion people smoke every day – according to World Health Organization (cited in Microsoft Encarta 2007), 31.4 per cent of total population in Indonesia smokes and my dad is included. Banning smoking will be forever impossible if people still buy and smoke cigarettes, and tobacco companies still deliberately produce this addictive stuff and make it into a big business, and cigarette advertisers keep persuading people to buy their products. OK, I used to join a debating society in high school – and a topic about smoking came up in discussion a few times, questioning if smoking should be banned. Well, it was a stroke of luck that I had to give reasons in support of this key question frequently. However, I’ve never come up with a brilliant solution except for the restrictions on the advertising, selling and smoking of cigarettes – I might have forgot that the economy of Indonesia is very dependant on taxes from tobacco sales. WOW!

Thanks to our technologically driven world that makes everything possible – technological advance today enables smokers to experience the most harmless smoking by inventing an E-cigarette, or also called an electronic cigarette. According to The Jakarta Post (2009), ‘it’s an electronic smoking device which is a non-flammable product and uses micro-electronic technology’. Unlike a real cigarette, it doesn’t contain tobacco, tar, or carbon monoxide which can be dangerous for health. Its body is constituted of three parts: a nicotine cartridge, an atomisation chamber and a chip with a lithium battery. It looks like a cigarette; when puffed, an operating indicator light in the front tip gets red. As the nicotine cartridge heats up, the atomisation chamber produces a vapour without delivering any nicotine to the nose.

This electronic device is equipped with an E-cigarette kit, including cartridges available in various powers (high: 16mg nicotine, medium: 11mg nicotine, low: 6mg nicotine, and none: 0mg nicotine) and different flavours (apple, cherry, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and mint), two rechargeable batteries, a charger adaptor and a power cord. Yeah, that’s right; it doesn’t cause any pollution because it doesn’t create any smoke of chemical fumes. Also, it is rechargeable that cigarettes butts and ashes are no longer environmental issues.

Unfortunately, the E-cigarette is only available in the US now. It requires the Internet in the process of shipping. As you know, the Internet still seems too rare in some countries, especially developing countries. If many developing countries surprisingly have more than 35 per cent of total population who smokes, how can the E-cigarette be an effective smoking cessation method? And with all these technological features, the E-cigarette must be very expensive. Furthermore, what calls it into question is inappropriate use of the E-cigarette for those under the age of 18 years and pregnant or breast feeding women although it is considered fake. The question is: WHY???! That makes me wonder about the possible health effects of the E-smoking. What are the possibilities that this very sophisticated way of smoking will be able to harm people’s health? How effective is the ability of the E-cigarette to help smokers give up their smoking habits? That’s what we also expect the E-cigarette companies to answer, huh?

Additional information: Wanna know more about E-smoking? Click here!

My Picks for Reads

2009-02-22T00:03:00.000-08:00

The Art of French Kissing
(Little Black Dress Books)

Author : Kristin Harmel
Publication date : 2008
Publication place : Great Britain
Publisher : Headline Publishing Group
Pages : 1 – 308
Price : RM 19.90

Set in Paris, beautiful city of the Eiffel Tower, this is a chick lit that will have readers take part in a tour to visit Parisian locales. Emma Sullivan is a PR coordinator to American boy bands in Orlando, city in central Florida. Firstly, she thinks she will have a happy marriage with her perfect fiancé. Devastated when her fiancé suddenly dumps her and her boss fires her, she thinks that the best person who could help her would be her friend who lives in Paris, Poppy. She moves on by deciding to leave her hometown to stay with her friend who offers her a PR job for crazy French rock star, Guillaume. She comes to realise that her stint work requires her to spend most of her time talking him out of getting into scrapes and making the false stories up to tell journalists who are always thirsted for his news. At work, she meets an exquisitely handsome French reporter, Gabriel, who draws her attention. But she tries to fend off the attraction after she knows he can harm her client’s reputation by reporting the truths. Her problems get worse when Guillaume’s actions have been increasingly crazy, her ex-fiancé wants to get back together with her and she can’t stop thinking about Gabriel. The Art of French Kissing is a chic story about a young and sophisticated woman in the pursuit of the perfect kiss and Mr. Right. This is a romance fiction that you end up hoping that the central characters will live happily ever after. You’ll be hooked by the taste of Paris which this story has.

Twilight
(Megan Tingley Books)

Author : Stephenie Meyer
Publication date : October 2005
Publication place : New York
Publisher : Little, Brown and Company
Pages : 3 – 498
Price : RM 33.55

Attempting to combine suspense and romance equally, Twilight succeeds as an unusually romantic story. Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan decides to move from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her father who is divorced to her mother. She goes to the local school where she then meets Edward Cullen, a vampire who is actually over 100, although he looks much younger like a teenage boy. Edward is a very strong vampire; he can simply read the thoughts of any one around him, but Bella’s. He thinks she has the most pleasant smell of blood which any vampire can’t resist. At the same time, she is very curious to know who he really is and the mysterious background of his family. In every way possible, she tries to find out about him by getting close to him. In fact, he also does the same thing. But then they fall in love with each other, although they are aware of the problems they will cause. In this way, their forbidden relationship may put them all in danger and cause a death. This first book of the Twilight Saga is the basis of the recently released motion picture that is believed able to follow the same success of Harry Potter. As what is expressly stated by the author, this is a love story with bite. This story will keep readers feeling a thirst for the suspense of unconditional love.

Cine Review

2009-02-21T23:09:00.000-08:00

The Da Vinci Code

Distributors : Columbia Pictures
Genres : Adventure Adaptation
Directed by : Ron Howard
Starring : Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno, and Etienne Chicot.

Based on the international best-selling novel, this sensational movie starring Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks and French actress Audrey Tautou is more than just a thriller. Regardless of great controversy due to its religious issue, The Da Vinci Code succeeded as a blockbuster that made millions of dollars after it had been showing worldwide on 19 May 2006.

When American religious symbology expert Dr. Robert Landon (Hanks) is in Paris, the investigative agency of the France government, led by Captain Bezu Fache (Reno), summons him to the Louvre. He soon discovered that a curator at the museum with whom he had been scheduled to meet was murdered. Langdon is assisted by a French cryptographer and government agent named Sophie Neveu (Tautou) to search clues that were purposely left by the curator. In the process of searching, they are astonished after discovering a chain of cryptic codes and puzzles behind the famous masterpieces of Leonardo Da Vinci. Langdon’s problems get worse when the investigative agency suspect him of the murder. And situation gets more intense for him when he feels he is actually connected to the process of unravelling a huge mystery that has been concealed for centuries. Using their talents, Langdon and Sophie have to decipher the labyrinth of codes and puzzles while they try to run away from Fache’s lawmen, wander Paris looking for more clues, and eventually fly to England.

Deep In a Discussion about Twilight

2009-02-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

The cover book of Twilight.

Source: http://blog.ugo.com/images/uploads/twilight_book_cover.jpg

1. Is the fact that Edward can’t read Bella’s thoughts more important than it seems? Do you think it will it serve a larger purpose?

Actually, I’ve been curious to know why Edward can’t read Bella’s thoughts since I read what he said to her, “It was unquestionably a complication that I couldn’t simply read your thoughts to know what reaction was to me.” As we know, Edward is very sensible to the thoughts of anyone around him, even vampires’. That’s one of the strengths which he brought. He could even see James’ mind – a vampire from a different group who really wanted to hunt Bella. There is nothing but a larger reason behind this fact.

2. Bella faints at the smell of blood. If she were to become a vampire, how might this serve a hindrance? How might it be an asset?

Well, it might serve a good purpose like she would probably be the nicest vampire who didn’t suck blood from the living. In this way, she could be a role model for other vampires (kidding). But she could possibly suffer from blood hydration and that would certainly make it difficult for her to survive.

3. Is Edward selfishly putting Bella in danger, or is Bella being too stubborn for her own good? Is it a little bit of both? What are the threatening factors facing Bella and are there ways to avoid them?

I don’t think Edward is selfishly putting Bella’s life at risk, but her stubbornness and reckless behaviour have put them all in danger. Therefore, Bella would probably be facing death. It’s an either-or death – either Edward’s or Bella’s. There’d be no ways to avoid it unless they stopped seeing each other.

4. Temptation is a major theme in Twilight – more accurately, resisting one’s temptations. Discuss the subplot of Carlisle’s job as a doctor in relation to this major theme. How well does he handle temptation? What do you feel would be the most difficult part for him in his role? Why does he remain working as a doctor when the Cullens don’t seem to need his income?

Carlisle couldn’t find a companion like him – he was very lonely. When he was working in a hospital in Chicago, he was thinking of creating one. At first, he was actually loath to transform Edward into a vampire, but there was no hope for Edward because he was dying when the influenza epidemic hit. Well, I think these are Carlisle’s temptations – to build a new family and to protect them from death and to make them immortal. And I think he handles these temptations quite well.

Although he is immune to human blood, the most difficult part for him as a doctor must be to resist this natural food source. Nevertheless, he keeps doing the work in order to help humans who need medical treatments from him. He is a good vampire, isn’t he?

5. The Cullens live, act, and care for one another as a family. How much of their ability to do so is dependant on Carlisle’s rule that they live in a manner that contradicts their nature – hunting animals instead of humans? Do you think that they would be able to maintain their bond if they weren’t all committed to his plan?

Carlisle is a father figure – the Cullens are very dependant on him. He must have exerted a great deal of efforts trying to instil aversion to human blood in his family. And it, of course, is not easy for them. Speaking of his plan, I’m not really clear about what he intends to do – but I don’t think they would be able to maintain their bond unless they were all committed to his plan.

6. Edward saves Bella on more than one occasion. Discuss the different instances and how Bella reacts before she knows what he is and after. Also discuss how Edward reacts after each instance both before and after she learns he is a vampire.

Before she knows what Edward is, she is very inquisitive to know who Edward and his family are and why he becomes such a cold person to everyone, chiefly to her. And after she knows he is a vampire, she becomes increasingly reckless and irrevocably in love with him. Unlike Bella, Edward always becomes protective toward her life and tries to alarm her of danger and bad consequences that might be invited by their forbidden relationship even though he falls head over heels in love with her too. Beforehand, Edward is also curious to know how he can’t decipher Bella’s thoughts and thirsted for her blood.

7. Alice explains to Bella the theory of how vampires have come to exist. She mentions that most have some memories of the transition and their life prior to it. How does what we learn from James about Alice’s past explain her lack of memory?

Like what Bella said to Edward after she’d heard Alice’s mysterious past from James, “She was always in the dark, that’s why she didn’t remember.” Unless I’m mistaken, Edward stole her from the asylum where he worked when James was to prey on her. James said, “She didn’t even seem to notice the pain, poor little creature. She’d been stuck in that black hole of a cell for so long. A hundred years earlier and she would have been burned at the stake for her vision.” Accordingly, I guess Alice might have been mentally ill for so long that she suffered from memory loss before Edward and Carlisle changed her into a strong new vampire, so there was no chance James would try to hunt her again.

8. Once Edward has tasted Bella’s blood, do you think it will make it harder to resist Bella – specifically her blood? Will the fact that he is able to control himself make Bella want to be changed into a vampire? Do you think that it is fair of her to ask that of him? Do you think it is fair of him to refuse?

Hopefully, this is not about addiction we are talking about, right? Like Bella addiction or Bella’s blood addiction (hehehe). But I think what will make it harder for him to resist her is his very strong affection toward her. Of course, he will find it very hard to resist her blood – like a shark can’t resist any blood. And I’m not sure that he will always be able to control himself – remember a time when he kissed her? He almost lost his control. Just suppose he made her lip bleed when making out, what would happen? We would never know.

That is Bella who wants to be changed into a vampire because she doesn’t want to get old when Edward is forever young – also, he doesn’t wanna be a toy boy (kidding). Well, I think the changing of Bella into a vampire is not a fair decision at all. It is unfair of her to ask that of him because her parents still love her and it is unfair of him to accept because she still has a family.

9. Jacob Black tells Bella a story about his tribe and the “cold ones.” He doesn’t believe any of it but says his father clearly dislikes the Cullens. If Jacob’s father believes the Cullens are dangerous, why doesn’t he warn Bella or Jacob? Is he hiding a secret of his own?

Yeah, I still remember reading what Jacob told Bella that the cold ones were blood drinkers who were very dangerous, even if they’d claimed that they hunted animals instead of humans. And he also said the Cullens were the same ones. There must a hidden reason behind the fact that his father doesn’t warn Bella or Jacob on his own, seeing that he is also a tribal elder.

10. Stephenie Meyer has noted that each of the novels in the Twilight Saga pays homage to other literary classics. For Twilight, she has said Pride and Prejudice was the key inspiration. Pride and Prejudice is often described as a “romantic comedy.” What parts of Twilight are romantic? What parts are comic? Describe the similarities between Elizabeth Bennet and Bella Swan, Fitzwilliam Darcy and Edward Cullen. What role would Bella’s friends play in a “remake” of Jane Austen’s classic story?

Well, I’m not sure that Twilight can also be described as a “romantic comedy”, as I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice before. But, I would say that Twilight is supposed to be a love story with bits of suspense that is different from other romantic teen flicks. I find it very romantic when Bella said she wanted to give up her life in exchange for living with Edward forever. I just said, “Wow!” But I don’t have any idea which parts of Twilight are comic because I don’t find this story funny at all. And seeing that I don’t know anything about Pride and Prejudice, I can’t voice my opinion of the similarities.

Additional Information:
Well, these questions were excerpted from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I'm also tagging those of you who have read this book. Share what you've got from the first book of the Twilight series.

I've been tagged

2009-01-26T01:27:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged by Fadil at edgeofuniverse. The rules are to post the 4th picture from the 4th folder on your computer where you store your pictures, explain the picture, then tag 4 of your friends to share their pictures, too. Don't forget to let them know they've been tagged by leaving them a comment on their own blog.

Now I'm tagging:
1. Rubee at a Little Bit of This & That
2. Joash at blank Page
3. Monica at Love the Loly Life
4. Vira at Mesmerizing Ecstasy

Well, this is the 4th picture in the 4th folder of my gallery that reminds me of my school days. As can be seen, it is the picture of the time of my 16th birthday (unless I’m mistaken). I took it with my clique, called Girls By The Way, several of my younger cousins and my friend while we were celebrating my birthday in Pizza Hut. I used to treat my close friends to lunch there every time I celebrated my birthday. It was also a place where we started a clique. I miss those moments greatly. Now, everything is no longer the same.

C'est Moi!

2009-01-15T23:29:00.000-08:00

Source: http://www.soysaucecarnival.com/haiku_images/soy_sauce_francais.png

On pourrait se présenter, moi c’est Geeta. Je suis indonésienne, je viens de Balikpapan, j’habite en Indonésie. Néanmoins je suis arrivée à Kuala Lumpur il y a un an. Je suis arrivée en Malaisie pour étudier. Je fais des études de communication au collège. Je suis née le 22 avril 1989. J’ai 19 ans.

Je n’ai pas de frères ou de sœurs ; je suis une enfant unique. Mon papa s’appelle Harris. Il travaille pour une entreprise de pétrole. Ma maman s’appelle Sumarni. Elle est une femme au foyer.

Je mesure 1,71 m – je suis grande. Je pèse 56 kilos – je suis maigre. J’ai les cheveux noirs ; j’ai les cheveux ondulés. J’ai les yeux marron foncé. Je porte des lunettes.

J’aime lire et écouter la musique. J’adore la musique pop et le punk rock. Moi, je préfère Avril Lavigne – elle est belle. J’adore les films. Je vais souvent au cinéma avec mes amies. J’aime regarder Friends aussi.

Je fais du sport – j’aime nager à la piscine et jouer au badminton. Je sais faire du pilates aussi – je vais souvent à la gym. Je parle indonésien. Je parle très bien anglais. Et j’ai fait de français pendant 4 ans, mais je ne parle toujours pas couramment le français parce que c’est plus difficile qu’anglais.

Quelles choses préfère-je ? Je préfère la cuisine italienne. J’aime les croissants et les fruits de mer. J’adore le café au lait et le chocolat. Pour petit-déjeuner, je prends toujours du café au lait et du pain grillé avant d’aller au collège. J’aime le vin rouge aussi – mais je bois un tout petit peu de vin. J’aime faire des photos. J’aime la mode – j’adore les robes.

Quelles choses déteste-je ? Je n’aime pas du tout les cigarettes. Je n’aime pas les animaux. Je déteste le lait.

Pour conclure, je suis sympa. Je suis travailleuse. Et j’adore ma vie bien que j’ai eue le cœur brisé il y a un an à cause de la rupture (MERDE !)

New Year's Eve

2009-01-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

In the last evening of the year 2008, people at home planned to celebrate the dawn of the year 2009 by making a barbecue in front of garage. Only a few people were invited because we planned to make such a very small barbecue where they could eat food and go home (giggling). Several of the people who stay in my rental house came to join us. My uncle together with his wife and only daughter also came to help us prepare some food. We (girls) filled kitchen with our noise while we were busy marinating meat before cooking it on a grill. Mom and my young aunt were busy marinating pieces of chicken and fish and making chilli sauce, also known as sambal, while the other girls and I were piercing meat balls, pieces of beef sausages and a red pepper and a green pepper with wooden skewers. Sounded delicious, huh?

Dad and my cousin were busy burning charcoals – trying to light the grill. Thankfully, the rain didn’t mess up our plans for the barbecue that time. I still remember grilling meat outdoors with Mom, my young aunt and my cousins in my old house on a new year’s eve. It was cloudy and cold. We knew it was going to rain. Still, we kept trying to light the grill. The charcoals were damp, so it took so much time until the grill was ready to use. All of a sudden, it was raining heavily while we were still grilling the meat. Forcedly, we had to bring them into the house. We’d had no idea what to do with the half-cooked meat before we decided to join in grilling it with our neighbours who were also having a barbecue. Bloody-hell! It was pretty funny though. The rain did really mess up the barbecue.

My uncle, my cousins and I then lighted small fireworks, which my uncle had bought, after all of us had finished eating. I took several of the photos. It was very enjoyable to be among the people and relatives. I had a real laugh with them. At around 10 o’clock, we tidied the place up after two of the girls left – it was left in a terrible mess after the barbecue. Thereafter, we were sitting at terrace, waiting for the soon-coming year while Dad and my uncle were enjoying their beers. Unlike last year, there were only a few people coming to join us this year because other family members were celebrating in their own places. However, we seemed to enjoy ourselves.

One more thing – well, I haven’t made any New Year’s resolution yet, but I wish I would find someone who knows what these three words ‘I Love You’ mean, and he really means it. I know the year 2007 is the most unforgettable year for me – a time when I eventually met my first boyfriend. At first, I never thought it would be a fling. Last year, I struggled to get over my hurt feelings after I’d known he had been dating someone in his country by the time he became my boyfriend. It was painful, you know. It was easy for him to move on – not for me. Now, I am moving on, trying to bring focus to my study. My academic grades have slightly descended since two semesters ago and it was such a disaster for my parents – especially for me. Sigh. Well, I think I will concentrate on my study a lot more than other things. If I didn’t find anyone yet this year, I would keep waiting until I find the one. Go, Gege! Go, Gege!

BBQ indulgence of meat lovers!

Fireworks sparks to the year 2009.

Fireworks of the New Year.

Home Sweet Home

2009-01-06T21:47:00.000-08:00

My little office - where I've spent a lot of time at home.

On n’est nulle part si bien que chez soi, when translated in English, means “Home sweet home, there’s no place like home.”

I have been staying at home in Balikpapan, in Indonesia, for over than a month. To be frank, I thought coming home would probably be as awful as last year when the moment of the break with my ex-boyfriend hit me so hard that I couldn’t enjoy my four-month semester break instead of going through hell and crying over my failed very-short-term relationship. Dang it!

Nonetheless, it is great to see Mom and Dad and my family again. This is a happy home – full of love. When I arrived back one month ago, I saw everything in here look the same as always. Only a few changes were made when I was not here. Well, not only did my cousin whom I consider as my own brother leave nearly four months ago, but the person who used to take good care of our house also left – he is currently responsible for another house where we rent rooms. The change – I felt a bit lonely after they’d gone.

Since I arrived, I have done only a little stuff. Actually I’d desperately wanted to get home by the time I came back from Kuala Lumpur. I’d already stuffed my mind with a lot of ideas. But it’s just stuff – if you know what I mean (grinning). I’ve been busy learning French recently to improve my language proficiency. As you know, I’ve enjoyed mastering languages, from English and my native Bahasa Indonesia to French since I was in school – which may become handy when I have job. Yet, I have to fight against my own laziness. Seriously! I bend over backwards trying to assure myself that I can’t rest on my laurels. Pas de problème, je vais me débrouiller – no problem, I’ll manage it.

Another leisure activity I’ve been doing since I came back is reading novels. I had bought the first novel of the Twilight saga, Twilight, before I went back to Indonesia. I couldn’t grab time to read the novel when I was still in Malaysia, so I decided to read it as soon as I got home. I finished reading the book a couple of days ago – I settled down for a long read (giggling). It’s about a pair of star-crossed lovers whose forbidden relationship changes Bella Swan’s life like hell after dating Edward Cullen who is secretly a vampire. According to the author, Stephanie Meyer, it’s a love story with bite. H’m, so mysterious, huh? And I can’t wait to read the other series, including New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. A lot of people think that Twilight could possibly surpass the success of Harry Potter as an earlier phenomenal saga. I’m sure that most of you have already known that Twilight becomes a motion picture now. I haven’t watched it though, but I will. It’s a must-watch movie because Robert Pattinson, the young British actor who starred as Cedric in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, plays Edward in Twilight. Don’t you think it’s cool?! Every girl loves Cedric. And I’m quite sure that every girl (like me) can’t wait to watch Twilight just because of Edward’s charms. Hehehe, you bet!

Well, not only does reading novels interest me while I enjoy my three-month semester break, but watching Friends on Star World also becomes my day-to-day leisure activity. Nevertheless, compared with last-year semester break, I don’t seem to be a couch potato this year. It seems rare for me to spend much time watching idiot box – if you know what I mean. But I can wait for the serial until it starts at 8 o’clock from Monday to Friday (grinning).

I’ve gotta enjoy this semester break before classes start - that it means absolute hell for me. Sigh. Life can be a bore if you spend the whole semester get all assignments finished on time while bloody worrying about the whens and hows of the things. I felt like I was in a rut when I had to stay up the whole night doing all of the assignments. Even worse, lack of sleep made it hard for me to concentrate. It sure felt like hell, you know. Sigh.

A Bangkok Fire on New Year's Eve

2009-01-01T00:42:00.000-08:00

A fire at one of Bangkok's top nightclubs, the Santika nightclub, broke out last night and killed 58 people celebrating the New Year (Reuters, 2008).

Firefighters rescue people from the gruesome fire accident in Bangkok.
Source: CNN

Other 100 people were injured, including local people and foreigners. It was believed that the fire was caused by fireworks used as part of a performance. In contrast, the fireworks produced sparks that caused a large destructive fire.

It seemed that the end of 2008 left Thai people and the victims in tears. Wish this accident would never happen again.

Hello everyone...sorry for the lack of updates

2008-12-08T23:33:00.000-08:00

Dear everyone,

Hohoho sorry for the late updates. I know this blog was nearly dead---I found it difficult to connect to the Internet. There's no Internet access at home and the Internet service provided mostly by Internet houses here sucks. For God's sake...if it carried on like this, I wouldn't be able to live in Balikpapan anymore. LOL, of course, I am kidding.

I've been staying in Balikpapan, Indonesia, for two weeks. I grab as much time as I can, lazing around while reading books, watching movies and eating. I have eaten a lot like a pig and I rarely work out. I will certainly have gained a lot of weight by the time I come back. DANG IT.
I DON'T WANNA BE FAT.
I HAVE TO START EXERCISING.
Well, Mom cooks everyday for me. Delicious meals. And everyone started thinking that I never ate while I was in KL, because of my bloody skinny body. Bwahahahaha. Nonetheless, I've got some compliments too.

Keyh, I cannot write much today, coz Dad just called me, say he would pick me up in a while. Oh, crap...what a crap when there's no access to the Internet at home.

Cheerio,

G

Good Day Gone Bad

2008-06-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...today was such a good day for me. I usually hated rain, but today the rain helped me out to talk with a man on whom I have a crush. I was certainly rained by happiness today. Hahahaha....

Two days ago, I might have been sad because I was wondering how hard it is to find a guy who can take my ex-boyfriend's place. Frankly, I am lonely-hearts (hello...I am not a person who can live without love). Ok, ok, shut the hell up, Gege...

Well, this lucky man (lol) works in the gym. I have known him since a couple months ago. But, thankfully, it wasn't love-at-the-very-first-sight. I met him because I would invite my ex-roommate to join a free Body Balance class in the gym. That was why I had to see him to inform him of the intention. Hence, every time we met each other, he always smiled at me and said hi. Beforehand, I'd never talked to him, even worse I used to ignore him and was busy checking out some hot guys in the gym (hihihi). Until I realised that he was such a nice guy; he always said hi and yeah, smiled at me.

A few days ago, as usual, I went to the gym for toning up my body; hahaha I dunno why I always picture myself having rippling muscles like Madonna while I know it's bloody impossible. Ok, after having worked out for two 2 hours and having a shower, I went to a juice bar having a cup of Nescafé. Even though, they didn't provide Coffee-mate anymore, two spoons of creamer still made my coffee taste good. I was reading a newspaper and listening to music when I suddenly heard somebody say, "Excuse me, miss." I didn't realise who just called me was The Man (hahaha what a good name, The Man). He was smiling at me and I smiled back. I turned my headset off and replied, "Yeah, what's up?" He pointed to some girls who were sitting around him---they are his family---then introduced them to me. I was a bit clumsy at the time, but I was trying to control myself. OoHhh Mi Gawd what the hell is happening to me? I was nervous, but tried to look calm and cool as hard as I could. I could feel a thousand butterflies filled in my stomach (wakakakak). However, I was staying calm while talking to his mom. I was also talking to his younger sister who is pregnant right now. She is an alumna of Taylor's college. She also studied Mass Communication. Wah, what a coincidence, I think.

From the day onwards, I was always thinking about him. I tried to remove him from my mind as I wondered how if he already had a girlfriend, or even sadder he was married. I dunno why the thought suddenly popped into my head and bloody twisted my melon. A couple days later, I heard that he is really close to a girl working in the gym and they always go out together. Haihzz....I was, of course, very disappointed. I thought of stopping putting myself in this confusing circumstance, and forgetting him and what had just happened. Frankly, I am not typical of girls who can struggle for love although there is only empty hope. I am such a I-Give-Up-Easily girl---I mean in the situation like this.

However...God might probably listened to my prayer, hihihi. Today, on my way home, I saw him smoking at the entrance. It was raining heavily outside. Oh gosh, I have to wait for a couple of minutes until it stops raining, I think. I was approaching him and said, "What are you doing outside? It's raining." He turned around and smiled at me. Then he replied, "I'm smoking. Do you smoke?" Hahaha, he was having on me. Of course, I don't smoke man. Well, then we started having a conversation. I was probably nervous at the first time, but we seemed to enjoy our conversation. Hence, I know a lot about him. And you know what...he also likes music. He can play guitar. And he likes GREENDAY. Holy-crap! He is Mr. Right. OMG. OMG. I looked obviously excited when he said he liked music and he could play guitar. I was clumsy at that time, and suddenly these damn words popped out from my mouth, "I like guys who can play musical instruments, especially guitar." Omg, what the fuck did I say??? How could I be bloody stupid at that time? I wished I hadn't looked too excited at the time. But did I obviously seem to really like him? Sigh.

I couldn't stop smiling thereafter. Although the weather today sucked; you know what, my sandals spoiled because of running in the rain. Shit. Means I should spend more money to buy a new pair next month. But, it's ok...yet still today was such a good day for me. And another coincidence, he also studied Mass Communication (Broadcasting) in LimKokWing University. LOL, OooooooohHhhhh Mi Gawd.

Semester Break = Assignment Break Free

2008-06-27T03:57:00.000-07:00

It's been nearly two weeks; no college = no assignments.

Alright, I am not going back this semester break; I'll be staying instead. Yup, working part-time as well. Hmm, I wonder this semester break would be different from last semester break when coming home was awful. I thought it would be fun 'coz I could have gone out town like Yogyakarta, visit my bestfriends who study there; but the fact was, I was on the town, lazing around while watching my favourite channel, MTV, all day long or going to shopping malls, spending a lot of money on clothes, shoes and caramel cappuccino as though I'd had mo-ney to burn man... Ooo Mi Gawd.

Well, this semester break, I will be staying in Kuala Lumpur by the time most of my friends are going back or spending a vacation by going somewhere. Me...hmmm I will be very busy working part-time in a restaurant located in Subang Parade Shopping Mall, The Manhattan Fish Market. It is supposedly going to be fun; also, I could possibly experience myself with working life. Hmmm, I know that I can only spend Dad's money and I've never felt how hard earning money is. Subsequently, I might probably have more respect for money. 'Coz to be frank, I am a spendthrift, man...hihihi.

But hmmm, one thing I didn't have in mind at all was uniform. I didn't know that part-timers are required to wear uniform too, haihz. On the first day, I have to wear a white t-shirt, a pair of black pants, and a pair of black shoes. Bloody-hell. Okay, I wouldn't mind buying black pants, but shoes? I, of course, will find it difficult to find my size (as you know my size is not very Asian, 12 man...) with cheap price. I actually have a pair of black shoes, Green Apple, but they are in Indonesia. I bloody left them yo! In fact, Mom already told me to bring them with me before going to KL, but I didn't listen to her. In contrast, I said my suitcases were already full of clothes and another shit, so there was not much space for the damn shoes. Well, yeah, now I am feeling sorry about what I said. What I need to do now is to think how to get a pair of black shoes with cheap price as I may use it for the time being. Haihzzz. OOO MI GAWD. I hate the situation right now---I haven't earned anything but will have spent an amount of money for pants and shoes. Sigh.

Bad Day

2008-06-23T02:17:00.000-07:00

Two days ago...

I woke up in the late morning. Initially I was thinking of cooking for lunch, but I thought it was too late to prepare a meal. Then, I decided to go to Mamak restaurant to get something to eat. It was too early for them to provide some food, so they suggested me to grab food from a serving counter. Sigh. Well, after eating, I checked the bill that a waiter just gave me - what the fuck! - could hardly believe that I had to spend more than RM 8 for the small portion and Teh Ais. Haihzzz. How can I save money if I carry on like this? This month, I've already spent so much money for food and nonessential items (lol). I couldn't control my expenditure as though money had kept flowing freely from my wallet. Shit. Shit. Shit. If my dad knew it, he would let me have it. Seriously. No lah, I'm only having on you.

Okay, it was Saturday. Even though there is no longer a body balance class on Saturdays, but I kept going to the gym on that day. Gege and the gym (yeah it's me) - that's what Mas usually says. Like usual, KTM train arrived late; I had to wait for another 15 minutes. What to expect? Their service sucks. The sky was dark at that time. It was obviously about to rain. So, there was not much hope that i wouldn't be stuck at the next station until it stopped raining. Haihz, bloody-hell. What a bad day!

While I was waiting at the KTM station until it stopped raining, I saw a guy from a distance. Hmmm, he looks OK, but then hmmm maybe not. Again, he's not my taste (lol). Ok, what's my taste? Hahaha seriously, I don't have either qualifications or type in looking for guys. Coz I also realise that I don't have qualifications which hot guys are looking for in girls, hahaha this is definitely stupid.

Ok, forget about the guy. After the rain had stopped, I rushed to the gym (I stopped by a stall that sells 'Ampang Balik' first). There was no classes I could join - I dunno why they suddenly changed the schedule. Well, I could only exercise with some exercise machines which I dunno most of the names. The only machine I know is TREADMILL. That's it. After weight training for 30 minutes, I went to changing room and had a cup of hot green tea to warm my body. Then, on my way home I stopped by Carrefour to buy some stuff. I just moved out, so I needed several new things like hooks, slippers, tupperware, margarine and tinned creamy corn soup. On my way home, I was starving coz I hadn't had my dinner yet; therefore, I stopped by a stall that sells Steam Boat to buy one skewer of crab balls. You know what...when I was about to pay, the Kakak alias the vendor said that she didn't have any small changes. Ok, so I asked some people there, but they didn't have either. Damn! Then, I asked a guy who just stopped by; well, he kindly checked his pocket whether or not he had changes for RM 10. Yeah, he was kind, but he didn't have changes either. Shit...shit...shit...how come anyone can't change a RM 10 for ten ones? Haihzzz. Forcedly, I bought two more skewers of thinly sliced fish balls. Bloody-hell. Damn. Whoa... Even worse, the Kakak was not nice, very arrogant (hello...you can't sell arrogantly; if you carried on like that, you could possibly make your customers run away man...seriously!). I was a bit pissed off at that time. I obviously really wanted to slap the Kakak, but sigh, I was too nice at the time. Well, I swear I will not buy Steam Boat from the stall anymore. :/

At the station, when I was about to pull out my ticket, I dropped two of my shopping plastic bags. Inside, there were the tupperware that I just bought and tinned food. It made such noise, so everyone at the station was looking at me. Of course, I found myself in an awkward situation (this might probably be because I cursed the Kakak, hehehe). Before, I was carrying a lot of plastic bags and a small plastic bag of the damn thinly sliced balls that I bought from the Steam Boat stall. Hmmm the thought suddenly popped up into my head - if only I had a boyfriend, I wouldn't need to carry all this stuff. Well, but however I had to carry all of the plastic bags and my fitness bag and my shoe bag. Haihz. Damn.

Again, I had to wait for another 15 minutes at the station. Waiting...waiting...and waiting. While I was thinking about what just happened to me that day, I was about to laugh so hard. I really want to laugh that day off. Well, it was such a long day in the midst of semester break. Hmmm, what a bad day - I was thinking. It was only one of my bad days. Tomorrow will come. I just wish tomorrow will be a better day which I can find a little piece of happiness again.

Because you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day

(Excerpted from Bad Day - Daniel Powter)

Birthday Pictures

2008-04-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was celebrating my birthday with Mas, Liling and Joash in Secret Recipe. We ordered three different kinds of cakes: Mango Delight, Chocolate Indulgence, and Classic Cheese. Meanwhile, Jojo alias Joash ordered "lamb" thingy, but the waiter forgot to bring the food to him. Lol, poor boy...Subsequently, he only drank a glass of milk (while the others were making fun of "weight gain" which is supposedly pronounced 'wayt gayn' not 'wait gayn', wakakakakak gege gege...). Also, Mas got a tiny problem with her "oreo" thingy (sort of beverage); bits of oreo stuck to her teeth (lol). Thereafter, we took pictures while we were busy posing. Just have a look at these pictures. Some poses look cute and silly (hahahaha)...

2008-04-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Poems | Forward this Picture

Extraordinary Birthday Cakes

2008-04-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

This mish mash of birthday cakes will retain your birthday memories and make them as special as these cakes are. So, just suppose it was your birthday...what kind of cake would you prefer? And please keep in mind. I shall inspire you.

"All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much."

-George Harrison-

Topsy Turvy Happy Birthday Cake
3-tier Topsy Turvy white cake with Oreo’s and cream filling, covered in fondant, and decorated with a sugar paste bow and stars.

Black & Orange Topsy Turvy Cake
Black and orange fondant with diamonds and black polka dots dominate this Halloween themed topsy turvy cake. Inside the cake is vanilla cake with oreo and cream filling.

Whimsical Topsy Turvy Cake
Orange and pink were the dominating colors for this colorful 3-tier whimsical topsy turvy cake. The cake was filled with oreos & cream and had alternating tiers of chocolate and vanilla cake. At the top of the cake rested two flip-flops decorated with a white daisy.

Lemon & Raspberry Birthday Cake
Lemon flavored cake layers filled with lemon buttercream and raspberry jam.

Chocolate Birthday Cake
A layered chocolate cake with a raspberry filling and a ganache frosting.

Oscar Sweet 16 Cake
The top of the cake features a “Sammy Statue” made out of rice crispy treats and covered in sugarpaste. Inside the 3 tier cake is chocolate fudge cake with peanut butter filling.

Chocolate Mud Cake
Decadent, rich and moist chocolate cake, centred with chocolate truffle and glazed with chocolate ganache. One for the chocoholics!

Chocrock
Layers of crisp, nutty meringue, filled with alternate layers of fresh vanilla and chocolate cream and lapped with luxurious hand curled chocolate.

Black Forest
Elegant cake consisting of three layers of chocolate sponge completed with whipped cream and sour cherries.

Apricot Delight
Layers of crisp hazelnut and almond meringue filled with fresh cream and apricot puree, then topped with fresh cream and white chocolate curls.

White Avalanche
Just like the chocolate avalanche except with fresh whipped cream and hand curled white chocolate.

Strawberry Cheese Cake
A blend of cold set cream cheese and yoghurt, scattered with fruit and trimmed with a strawberry gelatine.

Baked Mocca Cheese Cake
Biscuit case topped with fresh cream cheese, swirled with mocca topped with a layer of chocolate ganache.

"High School Musical 4" Is Forthcoming

2008-04-09T03:28:00.000-07:00

Movie Info
Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay and the rest of the "High School Musical" gang will be back on the screen. This time, they are in the last year of high school; but however it is not going to be the farewell to the East High Wildcats, said The Hollywood Reporter.

Disney Channel Worldwide President Rich Ross said they were writing "High School Musical 4".

Stars Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman have also been preparing for "High School Musical 3: Senior Year". Nonetheless, in January, Efron confirmed to MTV News that he would not continue starring in "HSM3" as he thought it might be a good way to start with a bang.

Yet still, some new cast members might probably be introduced in "HSM3", including Matt Prokop, Justin Martin and Jemma McKenzie-Brown. So, just let's hope "HSM3" would be a hit like its sequels, hence the arrival of "High School Musical 4".

C'est de cette manière que nous luttons contre le sida --- This is how we fight against AIDS

2008-03-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

Fight Aids - Gold From Our Lives lyrics
Artist: Fight Aids lyrics
Album: Other Song Lyrics
Title: L'or De Nos Vies (Gold From Our Lives)

C'est nous contre leurs peines (It's us against their sentences)
Et le message est clair (And the message is clear)
Les mots passent (The words pass)

Et l'indifférence règne (And indifference reign)
Si le mal me gagne (If evil wins me)
Coupable seul de n'avoir rien su faire (Guilty only not having been able to)

Si l'on comprend (If we understand)
Que leurs mains (Whether their hands)
Sont à notre portées (Have we brought)

Si l'on conçoit encore ce rêve (If one conceives that dream yet)

Toucher leurs larmes (Touching their tears)
Du bout des lèvres (From lip)
Sécher leurs âmes (Dry their souls)
Cent fois sans gêne (One hundred times without embarrassment)

Leur vie c'est de l'or (Their life is gold)
De l'or terni (From tarnished gold)
Rendons leur alors (Let them then)
L'or de nos vies (The gold of our lives)

Yeah yeah yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
Nos pierres à l'édifice (Our stones at the building)
Pour ne pas flèchir (In order not flèchir)
Aujourd'hui (Today)
Le gêne et la peur m'attristent (The embarrassment and fear m'attristent)

Je veux de larges sourires (I want broad smiles)
Montrez-moi (Show me)
Prouvez-moi que ça existe (Prove me that it exists)

Si l'on comprend (If we understand)
Que leurs mains (Whether their hands)
Sont à notre portée (Are within our reach)
Si l'on conçoit encore ce rêve (If one conceives that dream yet)

Leur vie c'est de l'or (Their life is gold)
De l'or terni (From tarnished gold)
Rendons leur alors (Let them then)
L'or de nos vies (*2) The gold of our lives (* 2)

Et le message est clair (And the message is clear)
Les mots passent (The words pass)

Et l'indifférence règne (And indifference reign)
Si le mal me gagne (If evil wins me)
Coupable seul de n'avoir rien su faire (Guilty only not having been able to)

Si l'on comprend (If we understand)
Que leurs mains (Whether their hands)
Sont à notre portée (Are within our reach)

Si l'on conçoit ce rêve (If one sees this dream)
Rendons leur alors l'or de nos vies (Let them be the gold of our lives)

Am I Turning Into A Diet-Freak Now?

2008-03-24T07:33:00.001-07:00

Ok, what's wrong now???

This is what I should be concerned about. MY DIET PROGRAM. I don't have any idea if it is healthy or not. I've started this bad long-standing practice since I went back to my country, Indonesia. And now I find it difficult to kick the habit. Gosh, how can I be such a diet-freak now? Actually, I've already joined a fitness club and I go to the gym three times a week, expecting that I would eat more afterwards. But then...it is becoming worse now. I always worry about intake of food and the number of calories contained in food I am going to eat. Gee-whiz...even sadder though, that was I lost my weight, just over 5 kg. And my dad dislikes me becoming skinnier now. For God's sake, please eat more Geeta. Please picture yourself having a straight-pin look like Nicole Richie. Gosh, she has been doing an extremely bad diet program.

Kick the habit (diet-freak), instead of being a fitness-freak. Also, eat more!

Prosecutor arrested red-handed for bribe---when will it stop?

2008-03-05T21:35:00.000-08:00

All the Indonesian people do not have any idea why those people have done "monkey business" on behalf of themselves. TheJakartaPost reported that "the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)caught a prosecutor red-handed Sunday as US$600.000 was being exchanged with a woman identified as AS" and "the exchange has been alleged as a payment for a bribe".

Our question still stays the same---> WHEN WILL THOSE PEOPLE PUT AN END TO 'THE STUFF' QUICKLY? We can't stand to buy all of their lies. We do not need words; we need actions instead. We do hope this country will embark on a drastic change for the better future. But it seems unlikely to occur if people in the government still carry on dishonest exploitation of power for personal gain.