The 9th Anniversary

It is already been nine years since your debut back in 2006. Nine years. 3,285 days. 4,733,542 minutes. 284,012,568 seconds. That's a lot. I don't even know what what to write to celebrate your 9th anniversary. Year after year, I always thank you for your good music, great performance, and most of all, for being strong. For sticking together through thick and thin. Through good and bad. I hope you, all five of you keep growing into a better group and even better friends and people. I hope you keep sharing the same passion in making music. I hope you keep moving forward, but sometimes looking back to see there a lot of people behind you who support you, adore you, and love you. 

Nine years, you are already a big senior in the entertainment industry where people look up to you, respect you and seeking strength from you. Be it from your music, your performances, your personalities or simply from your existences. Embrace those people and share to them your wisdom, but stay humble. I believe that VIPs can count on your stubbornness for not giving up, but let me say this to you; Please don't give up on your music, your passion, and most of all, your friendship. Your brotherhood. 

Thank you for being present. Thank you for being strong. Thank you for not giving up.
Thank you for being BIGBANG. And, congratulations! May you will always be on cloud 9.

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much - Hellen Keller

The Princess Diaries Journey

At the end of last year, I found out that Meg Cabot was going to release the next book for The Princess Diaries series. And last month, the book is released. My inner kid was cheering and jumping and laughing endlessly. I grew up with the series. Along with Harry Potter, of course. I remember going to the local bookstore just to check whether the new book was already available or not. You see, The Princess Diaries was not as popular as Harry Potter (no offense). With Harry Potter, local bookstores will be putting big banner inside their stores letting buyers know when the new book will be released and they would have pre-order event. We, as buyers, just need to pre-ordered the book and would be notified once the book was available. They didn't do that with The Princess Diaries. The only way to know whether or not there was a new book, was by checking the bookstores regularly. Six years ago, the tenth installment of The Princess Diaries series was released. It was supposed to be the final installment of the series. I said goodbye to Princess Mia, Grand mere, the charming Michael Moskowitz and the quirky Lily Moskowitz. It was a good journey, guys, thank you for having me (I actually said that to the book. literally). So, it took me by surprise when I found out the news. The good kind of surprise. Like when suddenly an old friend who hasn't been around, called you. 

The Princess Diaries is a perfect kind of light-reading for me. It is a typical teen lit story also different for another teen lit at the same time. I like how Meg Cabot writer the stories in a journal-like (It's diary anyway). It was something I couldn't quite put down after I started reading it. It was that fun. Now, with the new book, I am ready to remember the feeling I had back then. To remember the memories happened during those years I followed the latest news about the series. I can feel all those feelings are rushing back. Now, excuse me, I need to self-actualize :)

Image was taken from megcabot.com

Good Food Good Mood: DIY Food Projects

It has been a while since I write about food. Last time was on December 2013, I seriously thought it hadn't been that long. Time sure flies. Since my last blog, of course I had cooked, both old and new recipes. I had planned to write, even took pictures of some of my cooking, but somehow I accidentally deleted those pictures *sigh*. I guess it just wasn't mean to be. 

Being able to make/cook some things by yourself is actually really rewarding. It may not as good as you expected but knowing how much effort you have put on it, it's really self-boasting, make you think 'I actually can do it'. I am speaking from my experience. I am a big fan of DIY thingy. Be it clothes, accessories, or even furniture (You really need to check on shelves I made for my room). Lately I've been into DIY in food (although, technically homemade food is also DIY project, so I have done my part). What I mean by DIY food is more like 'Making your own chocolate candies' or 'Making your own mayonnaise' not 'Hey, I made this brownies by myself from scratch' XD. These are not my latest projects, as I have been making  them several times now, but they are my kind of favorites lately.

Homemade Soy Milk

I love milk. SUPER DUPER LOVE it. There were times when I could drink two liters/day. That is how much I love milk. Consequently, I gained weight (D'oh). I was actually okay with my weight, but my mom warned me that it is not okay that I drink that much of milk in a day. Health-wise, I decided to cut down my milk intake to a glass a day and I lost 7 kilos in two months. It is quite scary actually but I have gradually gained it back (YAAAAY!). I have tried soy milk before and I quite like it, but the ones I got at supermarket are quite sweet even when it is said 'Plain' on the package. One day I decided to make my own soy milk since my mom always have soy beans in then kitchen's cupboard. I just went roughly with the measurements and the technique (soak-blend-strain) and it turned out.... very nutty. Me no likey DX. That when I thought soy-milk is just not my thing, maybe I only like it when it's sweetened. Until I came across this food-blog I really like called justtryandtaste.com, when I realized I have been doing it wrong. I should have removed the beans' skins and bleached the peeled-beans on hot water for a while before putting them on blender. The recipe suggested you to add some roasted sesame seeds to remove the smell, but I didn't do it and it turned out okay. At least it doesn't as smelly as my first attempt. You can check the full recipe here . 

Chocolate Banana Milk

I also add the milk to my coffee and tea, It tastes good and knowing that I have contributing to be a better eater, I am quite happy. You can also make banana milk with it and the taste is really delicious. I added some cocoa butter, just because I had to :) You don't have to add more sugar because the sweetness of the banana will do. You can have it as a healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack. I always put my banana milk into this favorite tumbler of mine. It is a 470 ml tumbler, so I never count it as a snack XD 

Still soy-related, when you make your own soy-milk, you will always have the ground beans left-over no matter how long you blend it. Do not throw it away, it is not a waste. I add an egg, some flour, and some chives into it, mix it into a batter, fry-pan it, and I can get some soy pancake for my side-dish.    

Soy Pancake

Years and years ago, my mom once told me that making your own peanut butter is very easy. You just need to put some peanuts, sugar, and oil into the blender and voila. Back then, my cooking 'sense' was not quite there yet, even the simplest dish sounded complicated to my laziness and my mom didn't try to convince me further by making it herself. Since few years back, my curiosity towards cooking has grown a lot (thanks to Master Chef Junior aired on TV. I mean, if those 7-13 years old kids can cook, why can't I?). So, one day, approximately two years (a year and a half?) ago, I decided to make my own peanut butter. And, oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, It is really easy. Like, super super easy. Plus, I can add sugar as much as I like or as less as I like. Usually, I only put a tbsp of sugar for 500 gr of peanuts. You don't really need a recipe for it. Well, my recipe was my mom's words. Ever since, I never buy peanut butter again (Sorry, Skippy).

This jar is always on my desk so I can dip my spoon in it ^^

I still have a lot on my DIY list, I just need to find some times to do it. If you are an Indonesian-spoken reader, I really recommend you to visit one of my favorite food-blogs, justtryandtaste.com. I find a lot of DIY foods there that I really want to try (my next to do is definitely homemade cream cheese) an another recipes that just by looking at it makes you wanna hit the kitchen and start cooking. Mbak Endang sure know how to make the pictures look delicious. I sounded really biased, but I really like her blog. If you need the English-language blog to find recipes, I recommend you to visit marthastewart.com (I'm really into it, lately). It's starting Ramadhan next week (or is it later this week?) so I might be not going to write any food-related post until Eid al-Fitr, for my own sake :)
I might be going to post something food-related right before Ramadhan, but just in case I don't have the chance to do so, Ramadhan Mubarak!

People who love to eat are always the best people - Julia Child

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

Earlier this year, I promise myself that I would write more on this blog, at least once a month. It is one of my new year's resolutions. It doesn't have to a 'heavy' or 'meaningful' kind of writing (HA! When have I ever write something heavy and meaningful????), I just need to write something, about anything. Lately I have been busy with work, social life and catching up with my favorite TV series that I completely forgot that I have a writing due every month. Next thing I know, it is already the 30th day of the month (how time really flies ! *sigh*). Here I am, during camping activities with my friends, in front of bonfire, writing this emergency post. Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Lately, I feel like I have lost interest in a lot of things. Things I used to enjoy. People who know me are pretty aware that I'm K-pop fan. My fellow K-pop fangirls are completely aware of how serious I am in taking this fangirl profession. I have never been an avid fangirl, but I am sure quite intense in spazzing (mostly on Twitter). There were times when I would spent quite large sum of money to watch concerts ( K-pop concerts' tickets are sure not cheap) even if that means I have to go overseas. I would buy imported CDs of my favorite artists and bought the same album digitally on itunes. Whenever my favorite artists release new songs or music video, I would Iisten or watch it as soon as it was released. When they were on variety shows, I would impatiently waited for the subbed videos to be released. I would constantly refreshing my twitter feeds to get the latest news about them. My laptop hard disc would be filled by their videos and I would constantly listen to their songs on my MP3 player. It USED TO BE like that.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy their music, video and performances. It's just, their percentages on my priority list is not as big as they used to be. Having that said, spending large sum of money on them is quite affecting. You know the feeling when you really like something money is not a problem? And you don't like something, even the small amount of money feels like a waste? That's how I feel. It may sounds really harsh, but really I don't mean that 😝. 

For what it's worth, I really had a great time being a fangirl. Of course, there are times when I would cringing and asking myself 'what were you thinking spending THAT much of money?'. But I would keep telling myself, if I haven't done that in the past, I would probably regret it more in the future. All happens in the good times and all good times worth remembering. 

Happy Birthday, My Awesome Kiddo

It is amazing how five years ago I didn't even know of your existence and now, after years of investing so much into the feeling, you have become one of those people whose well-being makes me curious. What are you up to? Are you okay? Are you happy? Are you healthy? Do you socialize well? All sort of questions that seems to be normal to be asked to my friends (or boyfriend), someone whom I know and, most definitely, know me.

If I hadn't watched that video where you screamed at the top of your lung 'MY BALL! MY BALL!' while putting that silly smile of yours, I wouldn't had noticed you distinctly. if I hadn't, then, watched that show where you gained the endearment name dumber, I wouldn't have invested that much of affection towards you. And if, as much as painful it still is, you hadn't had that car accident back in 2011, I wouldn't have invested even more affection towards you. And most of all, connection.

So, here I am, celebrating another birthday of yours. I don't know why I even write this post dedicated to you when I know you won't even read this. Whether you are reading or not, I want you to know that lately I may haven't been invested that much time, energy, and money for you as much I did in the past, but I think I always have that soft spot in my heart for you. I am not going to say 'I will always love you forever' because 'forever' is a very long time, but for now, I still have that soft spot for you (and the rest of the band, of course). And maybe in a year or two or three, I won't even remember your birthday anymore, but for now, I want to do this for you.

Happy birthday, my sweet, funny, silly, happy kiddo. May the year ahead will treat you awesomely. Keep dreaming and chasing your dreams for dreams do come true. You are the living proof of it. So, stay dreaming. Keep smiling (or in your word, smell) and be happy, always. You always say that even when you are not happy, you will always smile and everything will feel better and you will be happy again. You have taught me that. I will carry that thought for the rest of my life. Stay healthy, I know I shouldn't be worry about this one thing but I need to say it, know your own body and do not push it too hard. And do not being too hard to yourself. Stop being too self-conscious and thinking low about yourself, you are an amazing singer with amazing voice with amazing personality. You are in the same level as your other four band-mates, the awesome level.

Go mingle, meet with a lot of people, learn from their life stories, hang out and have fun. Go meet someone special and date, you have a lot of affection in you waiting to be given but you are too shy to show it, maybe you will give it to your significant other (if you are already have one right now, good for you!). I really hope you will meet (or already met) someone who is kind and can be a good partner and companion to you. You deserve it. May you will always be loved and treasured by a lot of people.

Last but not least, don't give up on your Korean solo album yet, your fans deserve it and most of all, you deserve it. And I don't think you can handle SNS (joking). Be great. Be amazing. Be awesome. But stay humble. You will be a much greater person than you already are. Happy birthday, my awesome kiddo. XOXO

Like a phoenix, you have risen from the darkest place. You can deal with anything now.

Images are taken from @ygent_official and @just_for_bb

God Help The Girl : A Review

Last month, I came across a movie poster that was seem going to be another romantic comedy teen drama movie, judging from the poster. But, I always tell myself to never judge a book from its cover (or in this case, never judge a movie from its poster), so I Googled it. Turned out it's a musical film that is written and directed by Stuart Murdoch (the lead of Belle and Sebastian) and played by the adorable Emily Browning and Olly Alexander (of course there's Hannah Murray too). With all those aspects, I decided to watch it and quite excited about it.

The movie revolves around Eve (Emily Browning), an aspiring musician who struggle with eating disorder that lands her in a hospital. The free spirited Eve is not a fan of being locked up. Just like a normal teenager of her age, one night she escaped the hospital and went to a club in Glasgow. There, she met James (Olly Alexander) who is one of the performers that night but the music is not appreciated by the audiences that he decided to call it quit early. From there, the two of them maintain a friendship where James seems to be wanting more but he was to shy or self-conscious to say it.


Later in the journey, the pair befriended with Cassie (Hannah Murray), an idle rich girl who have been taking musical lesson from James. The three of them then decided to make a pop band. During the making of their demo album, they spent most times together exploring the cities and getting to know each other and have fun while still struggling with their own issues. Eve is still struggling with her eating disorder despite she's doing what she really loves and her passion in live, which is music, but she also knows that she need to be healthier to pursue good education in music. James is still struggling to figure Eve out, knowing what she really wants and think about. But, most of all, he really struggles to find out whether Eve fancies him or not. Cassie, being the simple minded she is, is struggling to just understand what Eve and James are talking about (and I'm saying it in adorable way, not the mean one).  
 

The movie's focus is about music and it is not the only thing that makes it count to be called a musical film. Just like another musical film, we will occasionally find some musical numbers where the actors sing and dance. To people who is not really keen with this kind of movie might find it a bit cheesy, but to me who ADORE musical so very much, this movie is like heaven. To describe it easier, this movie is like the compilation of several music videos with dialogs and plot. The movie is light and fun but also dark in the same time. There are times when the movie shows the audience what kind of struggle Eve has and the root of her pain. It makes us, as audience, attach to the character. 

The cinematography of the movie is really dreamy, kind of dreamy you would find on almost every pop indie music video. It makes you feel nostalgic and being nostalgic is good. It makes you happy, or at least makes you remember that there are still good things in this world. 

Being a musical movie and a movie came from a musician, music is definitely important for this movie. I started to listen to the original God Help The Girl album (which is a side project from Stuart Murdoch) around three or four years ago and I love it. The movie was made based on the album and Stuart started to write plot based on the songs on the album. Some movie soundtracks probably was chosen to fit the scene, but it works the other way around, where the scenes were written to fit the songs. For example, the original album has a song called I'll Have To Dance With Cassie and the scene showed Cassie dances alone at the dance floor. 

The soundtrack album consisted of all songs from the original album re-recorded and remixed and are sung by the casts. It also features three new track, also are sung by the casts: Pretty Wind Blows, I Dumped You First and I'm Not Rich. Including the dialogues and scores from the movie, there are 28 tracks in the album. I personally love the soundtrack album because Emily, Olly and Hannah provide different colors to the already existing songs. 

My Behavior : Smartphone addiction

Few weeks ago, I watched an interesting show on National Geographic Channel about human behavior. Specifically, about the addiction over cell phones. The show showed us how people are so attached to their phones they cannot put their hands off their phones even for like five minutes. Even when they were having dinner with friends or families, each one of them was busy with their own phones. They, well, we, are more connected to people who are miles away from us, or even strangers who know little about us than to people who actually were staying in the same room with us and know us very well. 

It is unavoidable for us, being part of modern world, to develop that kind of behavior. But I really think we should be able not to let the behavior control us. We should limit which one is important. I am able to say this because I was part of the behavior and is still trying hard to control it. I also took this Smartphone Abuse Test online and I was more convinced that I was addicted to my phone. I had to do something about it. Addiction is never a good thing, right? Since that, I have been made several changes to make it right. I am not a mobile-phone free, and I don't think I will be, but I spend much less time with my phone then I used to. 

I cut down my phone applications.  The more apps you have on your phones, the more time you spend with it. This is the ultimate reason why we can't live without our phones. I used to have four instant messaging apps, four social network apps, two photo/video editor apps and several game apps. I could sit all day to chat, check/post updates, edit photos/videos and play games. I wouldn't even realized how much time had passed, and that is the main point of having bunch of apps on your phone. Cutting down your phone applications means you force yourself to spend less time with cyber world and more time with your real world. Now, I only have one messaging apps and that's all.

I cut down my social network accounts. I used to have seven active social media accounts (this blogspot account included) because, why not? A new social media portal is invented in daily basis (this is an exaggeration but you get the point) and I have always curious about it, therefore I need to sign up first to know how it works and whether or not I am interested, most cases. As the time passed by, the excitement wore down and I became less and less interested to those kind of things. Now, I have deleted four out of seven accounts I own because I no longer need them or got bored. 

Yes, I still have three social media accounts but you can say that I'm temporarily leaving the social media madness. Since I have uninstalled all social media apps from my phone, I need to turn on my computer if want to log in to one of it. The fact is, even when my computer is on, I rarely log in to any of it (well, except now). I haven't tweeted in two months, no tumblr-ing in the past four months and my last blog was four/five months ago. 

Of course, social media is not the only thing that keeping me attached to my phone. There is also instant messaging. These days, I have been trying to stay low on my messaging habit. I turn off notifications on my Line's group and sometimes check it only when I'm alone. In that way, when people really need to reach me immediately, they will contact me on my personal chat room or even call. These are my personal achievements and I am proud of it.

Technologies are made to make our life easier. It brings people who are separated by space closer. It is also the faster way of communication. But everything has its own side effect. Too much of everything is not good for you. Be smart. Real life awaits you.