"Anata no yume wa, nan desu ka?"

I am recently turning Sho Sakurai's obsessed fangirl after watching The Quiz Show, and craving for the weekly dose of HonmaxKamiyama. Despite the slight BL aura, its worth watching. So i do recommend you to check that out xD. And the tagline of the dorama is the above, "What is your dream?" (it sounds less cooler with the English translation, bah)

Anyway, one of my dream is not just to be able to read the original Japanese manga, but also to own it. Lucky that the cheap second-hand bookstore is everywhere here, and the prices are amazingly cheap. Last wednesday i went to one at Akihabara, and found X manga for 53 yen EACH! I bought like 16 volumes at once. Now the problem lies on my atrocious Kanjis and how to swiftly improve it xD.

mountainous manga vs few textbooks LOL

And believe it or not, i went to Meido Cafe afterwards. I MUST BE CRAZY AND CANT STOP TO THINK HOW COME I ENDED UP BEING THERE. Well, Francois, a Canadian guy, asked me to go with him. We stayed with the same Host Family, and that's how i managed to know him. We went to @homecafe, the most famous meido-cafe at Akiba. The feeling of going to that place is just so wrong but i think everybody would enjoy it. At first the Meido would ask you to choose the menu, and talked with superlatively cute voice and motion (and thats called 'moe'?). Then when the food comes, they will again do the same manouevre and ask us to follow their 'moe' gestures before tasting the food. Oh i guess i have to lock myself at the library until 9PM everyday to redeem my sins TT__TT.

Do (Not) Judge Book From Its Cover

During golden week my hosuto fam went to Tohoku for Holiday. They intend to drag me along, but honestly i was too tired of traveling due to the latest Kansai trip as well as the crazy workload that I must finish. I stayed at a friend's apato around Chiba. She was an ASEAN Scholar in Singapore, and went to Japan with Monbusho scholarship. On the late night casual chit chat, she mentioned about how Singaporeans dress up is way too casual. They won't spend much effort on outer appearance as they are already contented (and confident?) of what they are.

While, again, hasty generalization sometimes misleads, I second this. I think of Singapore as the land of meritocracy. As long as you have what it takes, images won't be that important anymore. If you are smart, people wouldn't dare to badmouth you. People respect you because you do have something intangible to be proud of. I might be wrong, but this is what i perceive. And this is what i praise from Singapore. When I was in Singapore, I always wear bermuda, school's T-Shirt and not to mention slippers everywhere. This habit starts during my Undergraduate studies, whereby a technological university is (in)famous of having the most number of students dress up too casually as they dont really care. Despite being a business student -who supposedly dress up glamorously-, other students often perceive me being Engineering student xD (so i look that smart huh? LOL). But some problems persist when I went back to Indonesia. I still dressed up that way -as its damn comfy and i cant deny-, even when I went to saloon, shopping malls, and hospitals xD.

Gembel! Rasanya pol banget xD

One time during my break, I had fallen ill and went to a nearby hospital. As a courtesy to the patients, Doctor sometimes involved in a casual conversation. In my case, it went up like this:

Doctor: Are you a high school student? College student?
Me: Nay. I am working now.
Doctor: (disbelief) oh... where do you work?
Me: err... Singapore.
Doctor: Maid? Domestic Helper?
Me: ..... (speechless) er no, I am an Analyst
Doctor: huh?
Me: (grin)
Doctor: (still in disbelief) but you work in Singapore, so I assume you must be a domestic helper!
Me: =___=

Same thing happened when I cut my hair at the saloon. And I was once being perceived as a maid too, when I arrive at the airport.Bah, whats wrong with people? Or is it whats wrong with me? Whats wrong with all the ugly bermudas and casual school's T-Shirts? Well, i cant deny being a slave/maid/helper, as a matter of fact, i do help my boss working on projects right? ;___; Still, I do hope that people stop underestimate others just by looking at their outer appearance -this is one of Indonesian's pittfalls, they care MUCH about images. They are far from being a civil society (hasty generalization rules! xD). No matter how lowlife I am, If i dress in Armani suites, people will gasp when glancing at me! No matter how much god-forsaken debt i have, if wear lavish jewellry and go to country club often, people will respect me. So its easy to buy respect afterall? xD

Tokyo! Mantan Yakuza

But now that I am in Tokyo, my fashion sense do improve radically. I feel like there's an obligation to dress up, even though I dont know why (peer pressure?), especially during blooming spring, when the atmosphere turns out very sweet and pretty with sakuras everywhere. I suppose it's because people here dress up very well, so it does have a positive impact on my side.

Nonetheless, the weather is getting warmer pretty recently. During summer, I think my old habit would come to emerge naturally, with super casual dress such as slippers, school's T-shirts, and bermudas xD. O' Summertime, please come soon, I really miss my slippers!

I Spent Money therefore I Live (???)

These past 3 days I’ve been spending a lot. It is still 2 more weeks to the paycheck, but I think I have spent my monthly allowance on the first 2 weeks. I need to punish myself by not taking bus to work (but going by feet instead xD), fasting twice a week and restraining myself from culinary errands –though I wonder whether it works xD.

*major LOL*

I went to a crazy karaoke session on Friday; in purpose to do ‘check-sound’ and familiarize myself with the choice of local songs. We’ll be having a so-called ‘big’ event at the end of November and some "irresponsible" parties have delegated the noble duty onto my shoulders xD. To be really honest, I had so much fun preparing the event, and I hope everybody will feel the same way too ;).

Quantum of Solace : Wild Bond strikes back -_-

Gastronomic tour ^o^

Next day I saw Quantum of Solace with a couple of friends. This is the first Bond movie that I saw in the cinema –I watched the rest of the films on local television. As I don’t have certain expectation towards the movie, I can’t say much. But I think I have developed certain impressions of the preceding Bonds when I saw the classic Bond movies. Bond is supposedly elegant during the firearm combat and supremely classy when he handles commotion; and on the top of that, he becomes so witty when exterminating his foes. Unfortunately I didn’t see those aforementioned traits in this recent Bond movie. I think killing the enemies by doing a relentless (and careless) chasing here and there and causing major destruction to the vicinity is just uncanny and totally uncool. That won’t make a big difference with any run-of-the-mill action movie such as the Bourne trilogy (though I have yet to see those –just my personal opinion). However, this opinion is rather biased because I am not a devoted adherent of Hollywood movies xD.

Today I had a fantastic chore collecting some stuffs for my cosplay costume. The finished and ready to wear costumes really cost me a bomb, so I had no choice but to sew and design that myself. Wish me luck xD.

When a bunch of nerds seeking for a new form of entertainment...

... they are not creative enough and easily contented with the cheapest entertainment available. They are all 'home-loving' people, resistant to unnecessary spending and simply happy just to meet up with each other.

Thai-Chinese Food @ Habib

After a decent and modest dinner at Habib (and not to mention the trivial chitchat), they headed back to their secret lair.

And here are what they did :

1) Gaming-Team
They tried every fighting game such as Bleach and Tekken ~it creates thrill by the way...

The Gaming-Team

"I WON!!! I WOON!!!!"

2) Capsa-Team

They played 'Capsa' ~what else can you expect?

they.played.capsa

the piggy played cardgame

3) Football-mania Team

They watched a match between Chelsea and Liverpool ~and that's it

football match -_- (guys are boooring)

4) Independent Team

They simply watch people and got bored very soon *grin*

a pity xD

And yes, we can easily be overjoyed with a super limited budget! xD

SMA X-Alumni Association Annual General Meeting 2008

not many people coming though :(

After the painful long and winding road; finally Bhro is relieved from his 'noble' duty xD. Congratulations Bhro :)

Sasko & Ainun B'Day @ Spize Rivervalley

mirip pendeklarasian 'Partai Jomblo'

And, Happy B'Day to Ainun and Sasko @ 20 October 2008.

The Girls

Sasko's speech about her obsession to own a private villa in Ubud xD

The food was super duper yummy and not to mention value for money (was it? *grin*), and the prata ice cream was fabulous! Thanks for the treat xD. Had a grotesque chit-chat with Edwin and his little sister pertaining to 'the other realm' -that made me freak out all night; next time please please don't ever trigger a conversation about spooky things at above 9 PM x(.

prata ice-cream (looks like 'Lengan Goreng Asam Manis')

For thou who are not really familiar with the Hawker, its called Spize and located in Rivervalley just nearby The Great World City. Let me know if anybody wants to go; i'll be going too ;).

The Diary of A Sociable Anti-Social cum Unemployed

Indo-NTU Alumni Gathering @ Marina Mandarin

Superbatch65 Girls

Flatmates^^

Amazed with the splendidly delicious foods by the first class chef ^^. Sadly, not many people that i knew coming.

Neechan's (supposedly) Farewell Party

The thick skinners

Went to a crazy Karaoke session with the bunch of shameless thick skinners. We knew no embarassment! There's no 'shame' word in our dictionary, never! *flip pages*

Movie Marathon in a row

Mamma Mia!

Wall E!

Kurosagi

Watched 4 movies in a week (okay, now i am in total broke) : Hana Yori Dango the movie, Kurosagi the Movie, Wall E and Mamma Mia. Each of them was splendid! Wall E makes me ponder about the future of this world; it's so deep and not to mention scary. Moral of the story : Let's save the world by eating no junk food and exercising, exercising and exercising!

Had a major crush on Yamapi after watching Kurosagi. Yamapi is the epitome of sex! Who can't resist the les miserables bishounen with mysterious aura and the painful past? Right now I am hunting for Kurosagi DVDs and any dorama with Yamapi inside will do!

Turned vivacious after watching Mamma Mia. The movie was so witty and fun to watch! There're a lot of Aunties in the theatre and they started to sing by the time the characters sing -_-". Since we are considered young enough and not really familiar with ABBA songs, we can only name few songs. But overall, the movie was good!

Yixian's Farewell Dinner

Halal Steamboat! coolness!

Tried the halal steamboat along Bugis (no idea where the exact place is). Food was very good, eating until Im ready to puke *grin*.

There're still a lot more... but i am lazy to scrunitize friends' Facebook just to steal the pics.

Moral of the story : Enjoy life to the fullest!

Belated B'Day Party

I am officially 22 since 20th of March 2008.

belated b'day party hosted by NTU-ers

I guess it is already too late and i don't expect people to remember, but in fact people do remember *sobbing*.

my gullible secret angel, ahahahaha *bullying mode*

Thank you very much for your kind B'Day greetings and gifts. I am glad that I have bestowed upon so many nice people who really care. Honestly I am a typical hi-bye friend to begin with, as i don't put effort in maintaining people to people relationship. That's why I am a bit shocked knowing that people actually did give me B'Day Presents. I was on cloud nine after celebrating the belated B'Day Party yesterday *sobbing for the second time*.

Sincerest gratitude to roomie, soulmate, flatmates, weirdo, sicko, NaruTaru Fanclub, Superbatch Sixtyfivers, my gullible secret angel, Mr. Obsessive Compulsive, Rumet Abadi, ex. Mortal, those who remember and thou who read this, hehe. Apology that i am not able to mention every name, I think my brain is getting rusty due to too much yaoi recently *lol*.

I am a Devil, yes, the Dorky one!

Managed to find one of my superficially devilish picture in one office party. Here it is :

MB's X-Mas Party @Wine House

this will make :"Pretty Girl, Dorky Devil and Drunken Santa" (picture courtesy of Miki)

FYI, Apratz is a good girl, she doesn't drink wine in there...

Anyway, I will be going back to Jakarta during Chinese New Year holiday (6 Feb 2008 - 11 Feb 2008), so I guess, enjoy your vacation!

Paris Van Java

Fatty Apratz (due to Holiday), Juniors and Alumni counterparts

Boohoo, lousy title for a super lousy girl *whatever* , anyway, I spent last weekend on December vacationing in Bandung West Java. My family owned a restaurant namely 'Kedai Urang Bandung' in Jl. Supratman 45 Bandung, and Mom asked me to create a menu-card as well as food display for the sake of this F&B business. Henceforth, please do stop by and indulge your culinary lust in there (and enjoy my art too *grin*). Frankly speaking, the naming was tasteless -or so to speak-, if i were a Bekasista, then my tavern-to-be will be kind of 'Warung Anak Bekasi', which is so blatantly uncreative! Next time If this will be my parents legacy in the future, I will be pleased to name it "Akatsuki" and let the waiter and waitress dress like Akatsuki Member XD.

A Maiden in Pirates' Den, no actually it was on the Parking Slot

Anyway (again), it is a total coincident that SMA TN Rendezvouz for West Java-ers was being held there. I was surprised to meet high school friends as they are already changed too much until i myself cannot recognize *_*. Honestly, I am always oblivious to keep in touch with old friends, thus I am typical of person who can't afford to maintain sustainable relationship with people. But I was happy to find that I still have chance to meet them :).

Factory Outlets (I didn't shop, but I did windowshop)

So what did I do in Bandung? First and foremost will be shopping, regrettably, those dresses that I was yearning of cost me like 200,000++ so I decided not to buy (my budget for clothes was like less than 50,000 only XD). On the other hand, I found super cute plush dolls of Deidara and Gaara *yatta* which cost me like 30,000++. I was so happy remembering that I've been salivating over those two plush dolls since I started watching Shippuuden (even I intend to bid on ebay for those items, unfortunately the shipping cost went up like crazy : USD 10).

Deidei plush ^o^

Gaara plush ^o^

Bandung is really a student-friendly place. I want to taste a "real" campus life like those in ITB (yet I don't think that I can pass the SPMB considering that I am super brainless while in High School :p). Sometimes I tend to blame SMU X for making me suffering that much when I was there. I was never ever into study when I was on Secondary School, yet I always got the second highest (if not the highest) grade in Math. When I was on High School, things seemed to go upside down, I was studying like hell, working my ass off just to pass the remedial test, but report card always went awful. Even having such nostalgic feeling makes me suffocated *fainted*.

I really did enjoy my time in Jakarta. I don't want to come back to Singapore for work, though I want my salary (who don't?). Today is my last day working normally, as starting from tommorow onwards, it is a crystal clear that I will have to work overtime *_*.

Joy to the World, Weekend Has Come!

Last friday I catched 'Stardust' in The Cathay after working hours. I went with couples of abnormals -typical stressed over work and stressed over exams people-, except myself by the way. I wondered with some guys who still had exam period by next week but they (as if) committed suicide by going for a movie. Fortunately exam for me is so yesterday *laugh frantically*, instead, I need to do neverending projects everyday *turn laugh into tears* .

these are the Freaks

'it is here', 'it is there', 'it is cold!'

Anyway, for thou who hath seen Stardust and played Final Fantasy series, I want to share something (not so) interesting. If you notice the Sky Pirate in Stardust, did it resemble the Sky Pirate in Final Fantasy XII ? And what's wrong with the Captain character, he is soo Balfear (minus the freaking scary fetihism of course). Afterwards the shape of the ship really embodies the flying ship in Final Fantasy IX. These are solely my commenting, done without any research, so please don't bother to make rebuttals. I think Neil Gaiman himself is an RPGamer :p.

Please don't try this at home!

Weekly Events

Contemplative or Suicidal? You decide :P

First weekly event, went to Bukit Timah Reservoir to do a lunatic hiking. The valley was lethal to be climbed! I thought I was dead of exhaustion upon the outing ended. It seems that I am too old (and no longer considered youth) since I was often out of stamina.

Majestic IAF 2007

Secondly, went for Indonesian Art Festival 2007. It’s a crystal clear that only Tari Piring and Tari Saman that attract me the most, but in fact I was wrong. Everything was super pretty and splendid, especially that super hilarious ‘Extravaganza’ as fillers, kudos to him and him and him as some of the main casts.

Pretty Ushers of IAF feat. Apratz

In the end I was not able to catch a picture with the performers, since they urged to go back to campus immediately as the bus was waiting impatiently. It was saddening, but I managed to meet and greet some old friend (and seniors) that I’ve never seen for so long.

Alumni of SMA X :P

Oh, and I wrote the IAF booklet, particularly the description for each performance. I created them so hastily that I wasn’t yet satisfy with the results.

Playstation 3 booth

Lastly, I went for Asian Game Convention in Suntec City Singapore! Some people said that it was disappointing, since people are more willing to explore the developers’ booth instead of the consoles’ (but everything there was only the consoles’). There’re lots of Online Gaming booths there, though the graphic was super awesome, I am not into Online gaming.

Mascot of Asian Game Convention 2007

The Playstation 3 booth had nothing much that I noticed except the gorgeous Tekken 5. I want to know more about the next dazzling installment of Suikoden or Final Fantasy (or Chrono series or Tales series and so on and so forth), but I couldn’t find any info with regards to those.

Backdrop of Ragnarok Online

Tired yet happy weekends! I wish I have more time to sleep and enjoy myself at home =D.

Everything came up in a swift.

Suddenly, I heard news that he has to undergo a surgery because a lump of blood has found stuck inside his skull (which eventually caused an intense pressure towards his brain). The blood should be spilled out from the cranium immediately –I hate to say that anymore slowness can cause death. At the beginning it was claimed as an acute migraine, but thank God the real problem could be detected after undergoing a scan. The operation went very well, and he is already able to talk and laugh normally though the small hoses are still attached to his head O_o.

I beg you to pray for his safety and tremendous recovery after post-surgery.

Well, he is one of the most brilliant people that I’ve ever met (I really meant ‘brilliant’). Hopefully this accident doesn’t deteriorate his brainpower at all.

For Thou who always study and work too hard, I tell Thou, having ambition and passion are important since those keep our life stay focused thus make life more meaningful. But please remember that our body has its own limitation, so don’t forget to keep those two in balance ;).