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

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

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!

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?

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

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

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

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'?

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

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

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.