Starting a New Life Abroad

After reading gods-know-how-many-thousand-words of essay on marketing
management last night and this morning, I don’t think I’m now facing a
tough decision making.

I’ll happily stick to the ideas that Freud
is a god - no matter how banal I think his approaches are, and that
psychopathology, neurosis, defense mechanisms and dual diagnosis are my
true sources of joy.

I’ll keep in mind that SPSS and STATA are my good friends, and so are ethical approvals and NVivo.

I’ll willingly accept teasing comments and marriage proposals  as part of my daily addiction.

You don’t think I didn’t try?
I did!
I honestly did.
But economics and their derivates are definitely not my thing.

Cast your fears aside, Brother.
I’m still here if you need me to proofread.
Or if you want some manic moral support.

Ganbatte yo!!!
The days of freedom are within your reach.

I just finished my lunch and now my stomach hurts.

No, it’s not from food poisoning.

I’d just been laughing too much.

………

One colleague of mine, an energetic witty woman who just turned 40, gave us a show when a wasp entered the dining room where we had our lunch. She looked at the buzzing it intensely and kept saying, "Don’t come near me! Stay away!"

She suddenly left the room and came back with a fly swatter from her desk.

It was the most lame-looking fly swatter I’ve ever seen in my life!!!

She ran after the poor lost wasp in such vigor, waved the swatter in all direction and said, "Go! Leave! We’ve already killed your mate. There. Do you see it? Off you go now. I don’t want to kill you too!"

I had tears in my eyes from watching her in action like that.
After the wasp flew off the window, she said to everyone in the room, "See? It listened to me! No need to get all worked out on a tiny wasp."
*LOL*

I was still trying to get my breaths back when another colleague shared a story about a nudist mate of his who were worried about the safety of his children because of paedophiles roaming around the nudist beaches and/or pools.

WTF!!!

It’s like a statement full of oxymorons!

I returned to my desk and found out that I’d received an email for a colleague who moved to a different department last year.

The email came with an attachment of pictures of door signs, decorated with sentences and supporting images printed on them:

1. I don’t skinny dip, I chunky dunk.

2. I only have a kitchen because it came with the house.

3. I’m not 40 something. I’m £39.95 plus shipping and handling.

4. I don’t have hot flashes. I have short, private vacations in the tropics.

5. If it’s not one thing, it’s your mother.

6. A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands.

7. I have PMS and ESP, that makes me a bitch who knows everything.

8. I gave up jogging because my thighs kept rubbing together and setting my pantyhose on fire.

9. Food has replaced sex in my life. Now I can’t even get into my own pants.

10. They lied hard work has killed lots of people.

11. I was born free, now I’m expensive.

The sender was a woman with two children in her early forties.

She wrote that she specifically loved #1.

How I adore her to bits.

I personally like #8.

………

And now together, my comedian colleagues and I, are praying hard for the thunderstorm which is yet to come and begging for strength to face another heat wave in August.

Bless us.

It’s Wednesday and I’m so looking forward to the weekend.
I’ll be away to Rumbai this Saturday.
I’ll make sure that having a new haircut is included in my itinerary.
My hair is no longer under my command.
It’s been creating dreadful styles at its own will.

I’m at the office now, facing the company machine which has been working rather slow. I’m supposed to keep away from a monitor coz my right eye is possibly suffering from a minor infection so my eyes need to rest for a bit, said the chemist yesterday. Yet here I am, catching up with an invisible deadline.

As ungrateful as this may sound, working here can be quite stressing sometimes.

So, in order to lighten up…

Reviews, anyone?
………

Inside Man

I wasn’t interested in watching this film when I saw the trailer on telly months ago, but several people had told me their positive recommendations. I recently got a free copy from a friend, so I thought… why the hell not? Let’s see this Spike Lee’s latest piece.

What do I think of the movie?
I think it’s a lame heist movie.
Seriously lame.

I didn’t have any expectations prior to watching but looking at the list of the actors, I reckoned it would rate more than just an average bank robbery film. Unfortunately it turned out to be a flick with not much to do for the great casts.

Jodie foster’s character is deletable.
And Denzel… he looks like a guy playing tough and smart and… that was it. Those useless bits with his wife are ruining what’s already wasted.
Clive Owen was an exception. His character is strong and he plays it well.

I did love how the movie starts.
Yet the commencing scene was actually the reason why it didn’t take long for me to tell how the movie would end. There’s not enough twist in the story to make me guess or even consider an alternate ending. Anyone who pays attention to the beginning and particularly when the robbers start working at the storage room should be able to see the closing part. It’s displayed so overtly, right there.

I decided to give it 3 stars out of 5 instead of two stars coz some of the scenes were quite good.
………

Chakushin Ari - One Missed Call

Another work of Miike. A not-so-bad horror movie. The plot is quite intense but it could’ve been made a lot better. Great sequences. There’s not much of scare or originality for me to give it more than 3 stars. I couldn’t help but to replay Ringu in my mind coz some scenes in One Missed Call really reminded me of the-film-that-triggered-my-addiction-to-Asian-horrors. Ringu is undoubtedly still the star of the J-horror genre.

Overall, One Missed Call fell below my expectations of Miike, although I did jump off my chair and swear nastily when my phone suddenly rang during the film (!!).

Uhm, Hollywood is planning to make an American version of it.
Be prepared to snore?
………

Live Flesh - Carne Tremula

Romantic in a disturbed kind of way. If you survive the rather slow starting scenes, what comes later on is a surprisingly distinctive storyline. Very sensual and sexy.

Another fine movie by Almodovar (I’d seen Atame where Antonio Banderas looks so young and super culun but the film itself was pretty authentic.)
………

3-Iron - Bin-jip

This movie is unbelievably good and really worth 5 stars!

It’s basically a love story with a simple plot, yet the main idea was succesfully translated in a variety of beautiful acts. The love story itself is nothing cheesy (you can trust me on this, I cringe in such an ugly cringing pose at cheesy love stories).
What makes the movie even more extraordinary is the main characters almost don’t speak at all throughout the film. It’s like a half-silent flick, if there’s such thing.

The cinematography is utterly brilliant which shows a consistency with Kim Ki-Duk’s previous work: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring that I saw a couple of years ago. But while Spring, Summer gave me pleasure from its magical visualisations, 3-Iron won my heart with its unusual storyline and strong characters.
Kim Ki-Duk is definitely one of South Korean’s finest directors.
………

All About My Mother - Todo Sobre Mi Madre

The third film I picked from the Pedro Almodovar box set. I think it’s the best so far (well, it did win an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000 and tons of other awards.) I watched Almodovar’s works chronologically, from one of his earliest (Atame) to the most recent one (I’ll write something about Bad Education as soon as I watch it.) It’s clear to see how Almodovar got better and better at directing as years passed by.

All About My Mother is a movie about women (hear! hear!) but the viewers are not restricted to the females only. It’s about losing, acting on stage and real life, being hurt, feeling jealous, getting strong, and surviving.

I really like the taglines from the original movie trailer:

Part of every WOMAN is a MOTHER
Part of every WOMAN is an ACTRESS
Part of every WOMAN is a SAINT
Part of every WOMAN is a SINNER
And part of every MAN is a WOMAN
………

Panic! At The Disco

Normally I can’t be arsed to update myself with current music charts or whathaveyou. I haven’t got a cable TV so asking me about new bands or songs will be a pointless thing to do. Call me old-fashioned but I’m quite happy to listen to the music created and played by those bands/singers/DJs that my ears are already quite familiar with.

In case you didn’t know or haven’t figured it out, Panic! At The Disco is a name of a band. I wouldn’t have known it myself if this old biyatch of mine didn’t write a review on them. For some inexplicable reasons, I was intrigued to give this ‘new music’ a try so I downloaded several samples out of their album and EP.

And here’s my two cents.

1. Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off
What a cute title. A very nice intro. I instantly fell in love with the vocal.
Until I got into refrain!
w00t! Suddenly it sounded weak! I failed to reach an orgasm. It was practically a coitus interruptus.

2. Build God, Then We’ll Talk
An endless masturbation. Kindly tell me when to fake a climax?

3. I Write Sins Not Tragedies
I love this! A good track with a straightforward lyric.

4. The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage
OK-ish.
Yes, just OK-ish.

5. London Beckond Songs About Money Written By Machines
Is it just me or this track sounds almost exactly like ‘I Write Sins Not Tragedies’?

Verdict: Enjoyable.
Not sure whether I’m not gonna soon be bored with their sound-all-the-same songs.
………

Good gods, that, is long.
If my shrink sees this, s/he will think that my OCD is getting worse.

Wait a minute.
I am my own shrink!

Well, what do you know…
It’s only an hour left before five o’clock.

When I started my undergrad course (we’re talking about a pre-historic era here), I was one of those ‘lucky’ freshmen who were entitled of experiencing a temporary hell on earth for two days (also known as induction days) created by the seniors, endorsed by the chamber of deans.

My fellow new students and I were forced to stretch out our patience almost to the max in order to do various tasks: arriving at the university at 5am on the dot, wearing silly accessories, addressing the seniors Maharajas and Maharanis, performing stupid greeting, embarassing oneself in public, collecting signatures, being yelled at the face for making nonexistent mistakes, etc.

All freshmen’s induction programmes were meant to be tiring, annoying, ridiculous and nerve-wrecking. Even back then, we all had heard about the sort of sadistic treatments given to the freshmen by the seniors, which at some cases had caused fatality.
I was rather fortunate, in some way.

The tasks and the regimens at the school department that I went to were not famous to be physically sadistic. I did do sets of squats, push-ups and stair runs, but the rest of the assignments involved mind games. The seniors enjoyed torturing the freshmen’s innocent mental states (… and two years later I was among the happy seniors! *LOL*).

For one of the induction sessions, the freshmen were gathered in a lecture room. We were given a piece of paper and a pencil, to write down 10 ways to use of a brick within a minute.

Try to think about ten ways of using one single brick, with scary and heartless seniors shouting and screaming at the background.

I think I came out with only 5:

- a doorstop

- a book end

- a tire stop

- an emergency pestle

- as something to throw at a burglar/thief

When the time was up, a senior briefly read my answers and said, "That’s it? You’re not really creative, are you?"
I just held my head lower.

Another senior who was standing in front of the room, wrote down on the blackboard 15 ways to utilise of a brick (oh yes, we still used a blackboard back then).

Every single answer that he wrote made sense and there was no silly stuff. Sure, he might’ve discussed the answers with his friends and consulted a Buku Pintar or summat (doh!) prior to the session, but hey… back then, I was going, "Why didn’t I think of that?"

By the way, the burglar repellent was not amongst the options.

Not only am I not creative, but I’ve also got problems with my long-term memory.
I couldn’t recall the complete list that the senior had jotted down. Yet there was one meaningful thing got stored in my lame memory from what I experienced that day.

The session was ended by one of the seniors saying,
"You have to be able to think outside the box. Be creative. Free yourselves from the traditional constraints and restrictions.
Time does not wait for you if you can’t keep up with the progress."
He also said something about a psychologist-to-be will be required to see the big picture as well as the details to choose the appropriate treatments for a client blah blah blah, but by then I was already deep in my thoughts picturing a tiny me looking bewilderedly at and around a huge box.

Honestly, I really did imagine that.

Years had passed since that nighmarish induction programme but whenever I get stuck at making decisions and/or creating a solution, the picture of me and my former classmates in the lecture room learning to be creative in a supressive condition always reanimate in my lazy grey cells. Mind you, I’ve not become a creative master, dear gods, no. I’m still often happy to take things as they are.
But I can retrieve an open mind when I need it. Of course it doesn’t sound original, but we all have to contend with what we’ve got, don’t we?

It’s Friday, half past 3 in the afternoon.
I’m at work and counting the minutes till it’s time for me to start my weekend.
While doing so, I’m already completely bored out of my skull so pardon the following foolishness which I’m sharing with some of you.

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. English teacher
2. Flight-attendant
3. Pelayan resto
4. Drilling Eng. (til end of June 06)

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Fight Club
2. Superman
3. MI3
4. All Monty Python’s movies (ok, I’m cheating!)

Four places I have lived in:
1. Rumbai
2. Adelaide
3. Leeds
4. Jakarta

Four TV shows I love or loved:
1. Little Britain
2. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
3. Amazing Race
4. Friends

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Zurich
2. Vancouver
3. Seoul
4. Spore

Four favorite dishes:
1. Gudeg
2. Nasi Padang
3. Coffee Bean’s Coffee Cheesecake
4. My mum’s Macaroni Schotel
[Well, obviously, these are dishes that I can't find in here.]

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Yahoomail
2. Jobsdb
3. BBC News
4. My blog
[I don't go online daily, but those are the regular sites. Durr.]

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. My parents’ house in Rumbai
2. My flat
3. A car belongs to an ex special friend (??)
4. Somewhere by the ocean

Four bloggers I’m tagging:
1. IndraDiky 
2. JakaDilaga
3. IchaCantik
4. Firman
tambah lagi boleh kan
5. Tama
[Consider you're being loved, people!]

As for the rest of you…
Enjoy your weekend!

*melts down with boredom*

Friday has been another slow day.
It started off quite nicely with a refreshing, cool weather as I walked down to the office this morning. Apparently it had rained for a while at the small hours. A temporary oasis, it was, and now it’s back to sunny.

I began the working hours with reading  that I printed out yesterday.
My productivity was a bit unstable. I could be very absorbed with the literature review for a period of time, and then suddenly was unable to see the big picture.
Sighing, yawning and making weird frustrated faces didn’t help.

Then my brain refused to work.
I easily gave in and set my works aside.
Soon, random thoughts began their invasion of my already limited-track mind…

I’ve been considering to change the layout of this blog for so long but hadn’t really put my mind to it. I finally browsed and managed to find a few templates I liked. All I need to do now is just making a few changes so the chosen template would suit my taste and preference.
Watch this space.

A certain call can make a difference, and I received one this morning. An ex-turned-friend-slash-etcetera is coming to Jakarta for a conference in several-week time. He called earlier today asking whether I’m gonna be in the city when he’s around and whether it’s possible to meet up. We confirmed dates and soon enuf, things were settled. There’s a possibility that I might take a few days off to go with him to his conference site since I’d never visited that area before. I heard the place is very nice at this time of year.
If I end up going, I’ll need a constant reminder to keep my head cool coz I’m gonna play with a big fire, as if the heat is not yet adequate.
Hotness.

During lunch time, two secretaries of the big bosses’ let out to me that they got the confirmation of the good news I received last week, with a lot of more juicy details.
I need to call Rumbai and tell my parents ASAP about the news. I’m not sure how they’re gonna react, to be honest. I myself am still in a gratifying disbelief.

I smoke less these days. It really is too hot to puff fags. I end up sucking more though. I’m in love with those tea-flavoured ice lollies that I made myself.
Can anyone get any more oral than that?

Yum.
Hmm.

Is it just me or the latter random bits has caused sudden lightheadedness?
I wonder…

I shall leave you with a strip to treat your vertigo.

What’s with the news I read and checked on telly that the met
officials in  Jakarta
failed
to issue Tsunami warning? Are they mad people??? Hundreds are
dead, for crying out loud!

My deepest sympathy goes out to the people in Java who lost their family and
loved ones. I hope they still can rescue the missing ones.

To those of you who are in Jakarta,
are
you all okay? Please try to keep safe.

ps.

Mom, Dad, Sis, Babe, i’m okay, but an hour ago my building shook and the windows
rattle and the lights went off and all the horny little sales girls went ape
and there were lightning on the horizon.

also there was Yusuf Kalla on telly.

thanks for worrying so much about me, i appreciate it.

This girl was meant to represent our country, both beauty and brains.
Why they focused too much on her beauty, I will never understand. I
thought we had over 200 million people to choose from and yest we chose
one pretty girl who elaborate more on her German bloodline than focus
on her Indonesian heritage.

——————————————————-

You don’t get to see much of American TV when you live in Indonesia.
Unless you’ve got cable, of course, which I haven’t. So my mind has
been kept pure and free from Hollywood TV shows, apart from some odd
reality TV programmes that Channel 4 or Five can’t resist to air sometimes.

Yesterday afternoon, I got an email for from a friend with a message written in the subject box:

[ "Dear Lord. Somebody. Anybody. Please make this girl keep her mouth shut!" ]

In
the message body, there was an active link. Where the link would take
me to was as clear as the blue skies have got these days, it’s
got something to do with Miss Universe 2006.
Innocently, I clicked on the URL, without any preparation whatsoever to have my jaw dropped down for the next 7 minutes or so.

[ http://www.missuniverse.com/delegates/2006/files/ID-closeup.html ]

After I recovered from the temporary states of dumbfounded, flabbergasted, gobsmacked, but not, even remotely, amused… I think I’ve got something or two to say about this absurdity.

1.
As if it wasn’t a big enough misconception that Bali is a part of
Indonesia and NOT the other way around, that girl had succeeded in
diminishing the country even more: Indonesia is now a city, ladies and gentlemen.

2. Indonesia has got beautiful bitches. So do come and visit because the bitches will welcome you.

3. I think my 14 year old cousin speaks better English than Nadine does, and yet Nadine was the one who got sent to the event.

4. Yes, my admire is Mother Theresa. Oh yes, Mother!

Yet, I pity the girl, to be honest.
What
she had said in that clip will haunt her as long as she lives, unless
she’’s planning to have a complete plastic surgery make-over and/or
relocate to North Pole and/or change of identity and/or something.

This leads me to gather one conclusion:
WHOEVER HAD MADE THE DECISIONS TO SEND HER TO THE EVENT WAS A BUNCH OF MORONS!!!
Do you realise what you lot have done to this poor, pretty girl’s future???
Oh, I’m so sure there are other beautiful and potential Indonesian beaches you could pick to represent the country?!? (Yes, pun was intended!)
Tsk.
Shame on you!!!

………

So yeah, anyway…

You guys have seen The Producers? If you haven’t, you should.
Somehow this whole Miss Universe chaos reminds me of some scenes of the movie.

Scene 1
Max: Maybe Ulla can help tidy up the place.

Ulla: Taidiyuup? What a funny word.

Max: Yes, tidy up.

Ulla: What does it mean? Taidiyuup?

Max: It means to clean. Yes. Taidiyuup.

Scene 2
Leo: So what time can you get here?

Ulla: Well,
Ulla wake up every morning at five AM. From five to seven, Ulla
exercise. From seven to eight, Ulla take long shower. From eight to
nine, Ulla eat big Swedish breakfast. Many different herrings. From
nine to eleven, Ulla practice her singing und her dancing. And at eleven, Ulla like to have sex. So, what time should Ulla get here?

Leo & Max: Eleven!!!

Ulla: Good! Ulla will come at eleven!

[ Ulla speaks English with a very thick Swedish accent.
She's pretty, she's tall, she dances, she sings.
And she's blonde.
Well, yeah, she's Uma Thurman. ]

………

Yes, yes.
It’s Sunday.
My moods are getting lighter after lashing out those rants above.

So…
Have a nice weekend, everyone!
Beware of the mental damages that the telly and the Internet can bring you!

+ So how was your day?

- As you know, it’s been quite colourful. How was yours?

+ There was this really hot girl came in when I was at work. She’s really pretty. You remember that girl from the Brazil match?

- Ah, yes. How can I not remember?

+ Now this girl was even prettier! She was wearing yellow too. A yellow tshirt made out of a very thin material. I could see her nipples!

- Really? Hahaha!

+ Yes!

- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

+ What?

- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

+ What’s so funny?

- Uh, uh. Hahaha! What are we like?

+ What do you mean?

- I mean… What am I? I’m like, your ***** now, yes?

+ Yes. So?

- So why am I not… like pissed off or upset or something listening to you talking about this hot girl?

+ Hahaha! I know where you’re getting at.

- See? Normal people see me as this real cold, emotionless person.

+ Nah. You’re not cold or emotionless. I’d have reacted just the same if you told me about some bloke in tight pants or something.

- Speaking of blokes, that cute Romanian ****** who’s got a crush on me is back at work. She asked me out for a date again.

+ That arsehole!!!

………

Inspired by and dedicated to two good old friends.

I received amazing news this early month.
The best news I’ve ever heard in months!
Words that are worth to celebrate!

I can’t write details, because it’s not 100% guaranteed yet, but it’s looking good.
Really good.

I can’t stop grinning.
I don’t think I’m capable to shut my mouth and stop blabbering.

Probably only a few of you might understand what this is all about.
This excitement has got something to do with a piece of information that will secure me another chance after August.

But anyway, I shall share this undisclosed happiness with you all.

Yes!
Cheers, everyone!

I feel like crying.