Tidying up

When I was a child, I don't really understand the reason why should we tidy up things. My mother loves tidying up and I got into a lot of troubles when I didn't meet her standard of tidy. The first year living alone, my room was a total mess, I lived like a pig. I didn't care where I put things and everything was just everywhere. At that time, I didn't see it as a problem, it was just my reality. And it went for about a year. I survived one year of living alone without being clean and tidy.

To think in retrospect, it wasn't about living in a mess doesn't matter, it's just that my life when I was a freshman in college were scheduled enough, that I didn't see the necessity of living tidily. You see, in my campus for the first year, you already had this class package where the faculty member decided what kind of mandatory class you needed. So for a year, I feel like may campus had taken care of me and my class, I only had to take care of my food. The second year came. I planned my classes but not all of them meet my expectation (which was avoiding morning classes), I took an organizational activity, and that was when things get messy.

Now I figured, if you have a messy life, the first thing you have to do is tidy up your room. Put all those messes into its designated places, make a place for everything. You know why? It keeps you sane! Read this vignette, for example

Your are not a morening person, but you have to wake up early every Monday for a class. Early as in seven o'clock class early. But last night you were having so much fun or you have so many things to do that you sleep late, like in two a.m late. Curse the universe, you woke up at six thirty and you only have half an hour to get ready. it takes fifteen minutes walk from your dorm to your class, so fifteen minutes to get ready. And your room is a mess. You don't know where your socks are, okay you decided to not use socks. You realize you don't have any clean clothes because you forgot to do the laundry and all your dirty clothes just piled up in the corner of the room where you hope you won't see it, and you really ended up not seeing it, which was the problem. You haven't charge your phone and it's dead and probably because you can't see where is your charger. And your rush to class, running like a maniac, reach the class two seconds before you professor did, sit at the back of the room, only to remember, you forgot both your phone and your laptop. The only thing that you bring to class is a ballpoint, your wallet (which haven't leave your bag for thousands of years) and a sweater from last night going out. 

The thing about living a messy life is that you probably forgot a lot of things in your life too. Because you don't have a place for things and you don't have time for things. Being messy is a habit. And a habit does not just stay within the border of your room, you bring habits everywhere you go. When you bring something everywhere you go, it becomes part of your life. So, yeah, the mess has become part of your life.

Being messy has never brought its harm when you have authority figures taking care of your mess, like your parents. But freedom comes with a cost. and one of them is responsibility. Once you are free from authority figures, once you are free to plan your life, to do as you please, you are then responsible to at least, get your shit together. And trying to tidy your shit up can be a good start. If you make your bed in the morning, you would arrive home after a long tiring day to a made bed that you can instantly use. And it's comfortable. If your floors are clean you wouldn't step on annoying things that would waste your times to curse or cleaning your feet. If you know where your belongings are you wouldn't have to waste another second to search for it.

I came to this realization the hard way. It was only after my life was only about juggling one messy thing to another that I realized, I can't continue this pattern. Something needed to change. I need a system for myself so I can live healthily. Then I figured, anything that needs a system has to be done systematically. I have to be systematic. If I can't do it to my behavior yet, at least I will make my things systematic. I will put my keys in the same place every day. My towel, my shoes, my books, my laptop, my phones, and its charger. Everything is at the same place every day that I can take things with my eyes closed. The next thing I knew, I rarely left things or lose things and you know what that makes me? A more reliable person than I was yesterday.

So, get your shit together! Because nobody will do it for you

Reputation Stadium Tour is announced...

the date already reaches October '18 but she will just arrive in New Zealand by then, not even Singapore was decided, let alone my country. And the price, bloody hell, converted to my currency, the festival seat in New Zealand is approximately 1,9 million. I love her, but I'm poor!!!!! Guess I should start saving from now until next year!

Taylor Swift's Reputation Foreword

It's almost like a tradition for me not to search Taylor Swift's album Foreword before the record arrives on my hand. Reputation just did this afternoon. I already stream all the song beforehand, so I listen to the album while examining the lyrics and its depths, while singing along of course. After I finished the whole record, I came back to the first page and recite the Foreword like a poem. Here's what I thought.

All the previous Forewords usually had this vibe of encouragement and gratitude, where she shared her notion so we all understand what she trying to deliver her songs on the album. Like, Fearless' Foreword is so full of gratitude to the fans to make it possible for her to make the album; Speak Now's Foreword encourages people to be brave of what we all think and speaks it up, Red's Forewords tells us all the bright burning love she encountered and that love is crazy but don't worry, it is called love because it's crazy; 1989's Foreword tells us how her life had changed in the couple of years and that we have to face the change with open hands, that change is a good thing. But here, I feel like Reputation's Foreword has a different vibe. She didn't write "The old Taylor can't come to the phone right now, cause she's dead" for nothing. I might quote Ultron a little bit here to make myself clear. She didn't just change. Saying that would be an understatement. She has evolved. 

She was talking about the way she understands people, the faces we human put front as a simple description of who we are, then its relevance to today's generation and social media, her feminist thought against those who prefer to see her work as an open letter to some beautiful man on the screen instead of a result of contemplation, musical talent, and hard work, that was not just hers but the other co-producers too. The media simplifying it as a way of 'oversharing' wasn't just an insult to her, but to all the people whose hard works was involved in the making of the album. The way she expressed all these ideas was so different from the way she wrote Foreword in the previous record. And I personally think it fits the concept of this album. About being fierce. About being tough.

The Taylor Swift that I see has always been sarcastic tho, since the era of Picture to Burn. She is a sarcastic person to start with (maybe that's one of the reasons why I am so into her. I adore her to the spiritual level, lol), but before, she usually used sarcasm when she's mad, upset, angry, or just being shady. Here, all I caught is that she's being sarcastic because she's so done. She's done with all the roller coaster people tried to push her through. The Foreword is like her giving a middle finger to everyone who ever messes with her and said, "Go on, do whatever you want. I'm done here" 

Another thing I caught is about people and their faces. Taylor spots it right in the beginning about the concept of mask human wear in social life. I mean, it’s not just her cheesy words, it’s science (I learned it in Social Psychology class). She reminds me of the fact that I can’t have the person I love as a whole. I love them under the mask they show me. Especially in the millennia where social media has wrapped people into beautiful pictures to post (Yes, I’m looking at you Instagram. Don’t get me wrong, I love you, I’m your loyal user since you are my source for BTS funny memes. But your existence has made several of my friends prefer to travel for good pictures than a good atmosphere for good mental health). This ‘pictures culture’ has shaped our generation to conclude what others are having from their squared pictures instead of actually trying to understand them as an actual human being. We sometimes forget that the girl smiling on our ‘home feed’ is also a girl with emotion, struggle, characters, background, and stories. 

Gosh, I’m too emotional, I’m gonna stop.
@taylorswift you had me again on this record.

2017 Playlist

It's been a year since I'm writing for this blog yet I still write so little. What a terrible writer I was. But so far, 2017 had been a blast. On the contrary of 2016 where I was in such existential crisis, in 2017 I felt like I had a better grip on myself, despite several challenges to my ideology and shift in perspectives I felt like 2017 was the year I was grown enough to make a big decision by myself and take responsibility for it. 2017 was also the year I become more liberal toward everything. I see things not in a childish, narrow, idealistic views again. And music, like before had helped to open my views toward everything, both from their beats and their lyrics. I had more songs on my playlist compared to 2016, so here it is

I found a lot of new artists I haven't heard the song before, even tho they're already famous; like Halsey, The 1975, The Japanese House (it was recommended by Youtube after I heard too many The 1975), and my recent favorite, BTS!!!

HALSEY

Songs:

100 Letters; Colors; Ghost

Well, she's definitely more than that girl that being featured by The Chainsmoker. She has that one recognizable and sensual voice and that bad girl vibes with a very honest lyrics (I am weak to those singers who wrote their own lyrics). And I think she has that kind of songs that matched her voice very well. I didn't put it on my playlist, but I also enjoy that one song where she featured Lauren from Fifth Harmony. Their voice blends so well!

BANGTAN SONYEONDAN

Songs: 

Just One Day; Run; Danger; DNA; Not Today; Run (Ballad Mix); War of Hormone; Go Go; Spring Day; Burning Up (Fire); Blood Sweat & Tears; 21st Century Girl; Dope; I Need U (Remix); Mic Drop; Silver Spoon; Epilogue: Young Forever; Boyz With Fun; Cypher 4

This probably the most extreme turn in my taste of music. So let me tell you a story about how I become an ARMY (BTS fandom, believe me, they are all awesome!). I was watching The 1975 Japan interview, and then there was this sentence that was said by Adam, I can't write it in quotes because I forgot the exact words, but the point he made was that true beauty should translate across most cultures. The words hit me like, yeah, I think that the reason I love these songs delivered not in my native language is not because I can relate to the lyrics when I heard it (as I thought before), but maybe because they are all beautiful, and either I read the lyrics once or over and over again when I sing it, the beauty of the lyrics and the music manage to get inside me. In other words, the artists are capable of delivering their passion through their music to me. That sentence lingers for so long in my head, and one day I was scrolling through Pinterest, I read this article about BTS, where they wrote messages to their fans in a magazine interview. One of the member, with stage name Suga, wrote you'll like BTS song if you listen without prejudice. And I was like woah! That was one heck of a strong statement right there. Maybe he was right. All these times, I never try to listen to K-Pop music because I thought I didn't understand the lyrics and they are not my taste, but maybe I just see them with prejudice and refuse to give it an objective try. So there, I give it a try. 

It was that moment where the internet was bombarded by the fact they perform at AMA, and since I subscribed The Late-Late Show Youtube channel, I watched their DNA performance. And BAM!!!! They sound awesome!!! And the choreography, I haven't seen any western male boyband serve such a performance on stage. Then I started to search their name and.... the rest is history. Now every time I watch their performance on Youtube, I started chanting the fan chant, lol, it was infectious. 

For you who haven't heard about them, let me take this opportunity to tell you who they are. BTS consists of Kim Namjoon (RM), Kim Seokjin (Jin), Min Yoongi (Suga), Jung Hoseok (J-Hope), Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung (V), and Jeon Jungkook.

Their music is mostly upbeat and rarely organic, but the songs are those kinds that can lift up my mood, especially when I'm driving (yes I'm driving now). Of course, I don't understand the meaning of their lyrics the first time I heard them, I don't speak Korean. So the process usually starts with me liking the beat, search the lyrics and got amazed by the message, watch their live performance and got starstruck! It didn't stop there, I start watching their live interview and fall for their personality too! Gosh, it was like when I fall for The 1975 all over again. Oh, and their memes, gosh the fandom are crazy with memes and they are hilarious! I think I'll dedicate a separate post about them, but overall, their music are great!!!

ED SHEERAN

Songs: 

Barcelona; Castle on the Hill; Dive; Eraser; Galway Girl; Perfect (feat. Beyonce)

I don't think I need to introduce who Ed Sheeran is. He is a global sensation already. I've listened to Ed Sheeran since his first album, but I think Divide is my favorite. I think Divide has a different vibe than the previous two albums of him, but still with his touch. With his previous album, I think most of his songs have a pretty dense lyric cramped up in a three minutes song. Divide has a more balanced song. And let's talk about the song Perfect. It's being played in almost every romantic situations in my country. I heard it in the radio when it's rain, inside my friend's car (the one who's being in love), my cousin's wedding, it could be the best romantic song of the year! To make it better, he even featured Beyonce later, like whaaaat!!!! A perfect duet singing a perfect song called Perfect? Perfect!

KODALINE

Songs:

Brand New Day; Brother; High Hopes; Love Like This (Acoustic); The One

Kodaline is an Irish based indie-rock band consists of Steve Garrigan, Vinny May, Jason Boland, and Mark Prendergast. Despite being called rock band, my favorite songs from Kodaline are the ones that is not so rock at all. I don't understand music that much to define what kind of sound they have, the point is, I like their slower song. They are really soothing to my ear. Oh, and you need to see Brother music video if you're looking for something to make you cry. I cried. 

EVANESCENCE

Songs:

Bring Me to Life - Synthesis; Imperfection

I only have one thing to say about this: THE LEGEND IS BACK FELLASSS!!! Listening to the remake of the legendary song Bring Me to Life almost bring me tears, like I was so emo for this band, lol. Amy Lee's voice is my aesthetic forever!

TAYLOR ALLISON SWIFT

Songs:

Call It What You Want; Clean; Come Back... Be Here; Dancing With Our Hands Tied; Dress; Getaway Car; Gorgeous; I Know Places; King of My Heart; Look What You Made Me Do; State of Grace (Acoustic); I Did Something Bad; The Story of Us; Wonderland; ... Ready For It?

Ah, where do I begin, I don't think I need to write much about this lady because you know everything I said would be biased because I LOVE HER! I love all her works, since Fearless era, and every year, there will always Taylor Swift songs in my playlist even when there is no new album from her. So you can imagine my excitement when she finally released Reputation after three years break! And she didn't just come back, she came back with a whole new attitude, and I LOVE IT!!! Reputation has a completely new sound, but as a hardcore swiftie, I can still hear even the same Taylor from the Fearless era sublimed in the lyric beneath the fierce sound. Gosh, we should stop now before I made a two pages long essays about how I love Taylor Swift

THE 1975

Songs:

A Change of Heart; Facedown; Falling For You; Haunt//Bed; Head.Cars.Bending; Heart Out; M.O.N.E.Y; Me; Medicine; Milk; Paris; Robbers; Settle Down; Sex; She's American; Somebody Else; So Far (It's Alright); The City; The Sound; Undo; By Your Side; Chocolate; Ugh!; Love Me

I already made a special post about how I fall for them and their sound. It's not just their sound, I fall for the personality shown in their interview, their aesthetic on stage, their existential lyrics, and I think these days, famous bands rarely show their organic instruments, and that is where The 1975 shows their music. Also they are British, so basically, yeah, I can be biased writing all these.

LORDE

Songs:

Homemade Dynamite; Liability; Perfect Places; The Louvre

I love her sound since Pure Heroine era. Not just a catchy upbeat sound, she has such a liberal lyrics, the kind of lyrics that didn't just talk about love, but also cynicism in a sarcastic way. I love sarcastic people. She also has this raspy voice and a one of a kind stage performance. Melodrama came in the middle of the year, just in time when I was craving for good songs. I think my favorite of all is Liability. The lyric is soo... Lorde. The perspective of that weird kid who tried to blend it but failed and end up dancing alone vibe. Gosh, I love her!

There are also other artists I listened to throughout the year. They either have a soothing sound (like Hozier and Novo Amor) or old school ones. Some of it came to my playlist after several throwbacks, like the High School Musical and Camp Rock era (oh how I missed those years). 

1.   New Empire - A Little Brave
2.   Novo Amor - Anchor
3.   Hozier - Arsonist's Lullabye
4.   Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles [This is just a must have song to anyone in long distance relationship, I think]
5.   High School Musical Cast - Can I Have This Dance [GABRIELLAAAA!!!!]
6.   Heathers The Musical Cast - Dead Girk Walking [You need to check out Heathers the musical, my favorite was from the Rock River Repertory Theater Company. They are good!]
7.   Florence + The Machine - Delilah
8.   Fifth Harmony - Deliver
9.   Zayn feat. Sia - Dusk Till Dawn [Not really a fan of Zayn, but his voice blend well with Sia's]
10. Vance Joy - Georgia
11. Bastille - Good Grief
12. San Cisco - Hey, Did I Do You Wrong?
13. Kelly Clarkson - Love So Soft
14. Oh Wonder - Midnight Moon
15. Creeper - Misery
16. Bebe Rexha - No Broken Heart (feat. Nicki Minaj)
17. London Grammar - Non-Believer
18. Selena Gomez - Only You
19. Glee Cast - Oops I Did It Again (Cover) [This one just sexy]
20. Ryan Adams - Out Of The Woods
21. I Know Leopard - Perfect Picture
22. Little Mix - Power [Leigh-Anne vocal rock in here!]
23. Cashmere Cat - Quit (feat. Arianna Grande)
24. Adele - Remedy
25. Paramore - Renegade
26. Anya Marina - Satellite Heart
27. One Night Only - Say You Don't Want It
28. Phosphorescent - Song For Zula
29. Amy Lee - Speak to Me
30. The Neighbourhood - Sweater Weather [This could be classic like Wonderwall from Oasis. Try the one covered by Vitamin String Quartet, gosh!]
31. Keane - Tear Up This Town [Another Legend is back]
32. Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better
33. Natasha Beddingfield - Unwritten
34. Hippo Campus - Violet [I am so into this kind of sound, lately]
32. Camp Rock 2 Cast - Wouldn't Change A Thing [Ah, Camp Rock era]
33. Glass Animals - Youth
34. Wet - It's All In Vain
35. Oh Wonder - Drive
36. Suran - Wine (feat. Changmo) [This one was produced by one of BTS member, Suga. I came because of him, but stay because it's a good tune indeed!]
37. Ecoutez - Simpan Saja
38. Zedd - Clarity (Zedd Union Mix)
39. The Japanese House - Face Like Thunder
40. The Japanese House - Clean

After showing my playlist in my friends' car, I realized I have a really weird taste in music with no pattern at all. Most of them said they never heard any of the songs on my playlist and can't sing along. I don't blame them though. I am self-aware of my weirdness. But these songs had helped me throughout the year. I wanna say thanks to all the artists who made these. Your music is accepted in my heart. Good job 

Spiderman : Homecoming (TAP Review)

I was late, I know. I just got the time to hit the theater to see Spiderman: Homecoming. 

My thought about it, it was brutal.

No exaggerating here, I personally thought the plot was brutal. 

First, I considered Peter here as a happy go lucky kid who had a fantasy of being a hero in the level of Avenger and sometime forget that he was not ready. It was brutal to let the kid saw some shit happened in his neighborhood, to let him feel responsible for the safety of so many people around him. He was a good kid, with stupid ambition that blinded him sometime. He jumped into danger right away, call me old, but I knew exactly how Tony felt about him swinging around kicking ass around big guys with Chitauri's weapons on their hands. (You know you're old when you see a teen movie and you are agree with the adult instead). The scene when he was stuck inside the Department of Defense Facility and he had a bonding conversation with Karen, was breaking my heart, knowing that all he wanted was a friend. He wanted Tony to be his friend, Happy to be his friend, his school mate to consider him cool enough to befriend with. So much dangers involved in the search of friends.

Second, once he was ready, once he was mentally mature enough to be responsible of himself, the movie decided to make the villain as his date's father. That was just brutal, Marvel. I literally asked how was he suppose to fight the bad guy when he knew the bad guy was someone else's father, where the someone else happened to be the girl she liked!

But this approach to the villain was something I applaud at. They decided to make us understand the villain, and isn't it terrible, to understand someone's aggression and almost tolerating it once we tried to walk in their shoes? Gosh, this movie just showed the evilness that exist within everyone, it only needs a right momentum to triggered it. 

And their credit...the credit that we all waiting for...

You know what Marvel? I am done with you people.

Just kidding, love your work always. xoxox

Taman Sari, Yogyakarta, Special Region of Yogyakarta

Let's talk about Yogya first.

I think most people I met so far have this craving toward the city for the unknown reason to me. They perceive Yogya as if it was a holy ground, worth yearning for. Some of them might have such an attachment after living several years in Yogya, but most of them had developed such feelings toward the city only after several visits. Which I couldn't understand why.

Culture is something that valued the most in the city. You can see that the people have the pride of their culture, drawn in walls, buildings, and public transportation. And like any other city with iconic culture, they have a distinguished history as background.

One of the historical site in Yogya is this place called Taman Sari Water Castle. I don't think I' qualified to talk about the details of the history, and you can always google it somewhere else. But the main point is that the place used to be some kind of enormous spa house for the royal family of Yogyakarta. It's a huge complex of ruined white and brown walls with floral ornaments. 

First tip, don't be cocky and walk around on your own if it's your first time there, because you'll end up disappointed and confuse. Ask a favor from a tour guide and let them do their job, guiding you through the neighborhood to see even more interesting and majestic site.

If I didn't misunderstand our guide, there happened to be a place to do a Moslem regular prayer in a circular building under water, I think that's why the wall was cold when I pressed my palm against it. I need verification from any of you who actually know the complete history of the place.Or maybe I should just do some research and edit this post later...

Jawa Timur Park 1, Batu, East Java

By now, you probably know that I love theme park. I find it fun to be visited either with your love ones. I've visited Dufan for times, Jungleland (the review is here), I know I still have Trans Studio on the list, but let's head to the one that happens to be in my favorite province. 

Jawa Timur Park is this big group that has a lot of amusement park to offer. Jatim Park 2 is a very sophisticated zoo (for Indonesian standard), and they are building Jatim Park 3 right now, probably something to do with dinosaurs. Jatim Park 1 is a theme park in the city of Batu, East Java. For a start, Batu is located in the mountain and famous to be a very cold city. In the morning I was there, they literally had fog everywhere we all needed to cram up inside the car with air conditioner off to make ourselves warm. 

The ticket was Rp 100.000 for Jatim Park 1 only, but the sales will probably offer you the all in one package with the body museum of Bagong, which add another Rp 75.000. Me and my friends were there for the fun, so we skipped the body museum and went straight to the park.

When you arrived, you'll be welcome by these mini fountain everywhere, which I didn't know whether there is a specific purpose of it or simply an aesthetic, because I found it disturbing to be honest. One moment I was having fun with my friend running around the open space, the next thing I knew I found my shoes all damped inside a mini puddle. 

Having five new coasters was what they promoted the whole way to the park, so me and my friend decided to hunt the whole five coaster down.

The Spinning Coaster was our first ride. The height is not very frightening to be honest, what's unique is actually their seat. Instead of a train shaped seat, they made a back to back two chairs, which will turn around the whole ride. So there is no such a thing as being in the front, because you will taste it all. I found it fun, the trick they use is that almost falling feeling that you got when you are on the edge of the trail and about to take the turn in a fast speed. 

Our second coaster was the one with dragon on it and as its name (I couldn't quiet catch it). It's not much of a big deal. It's not to high, only goes one way around for three times, but enough to make me laugh a bit. 

But this Volcano Coaster, is a joke. The moment we all stepped into the train, we were all in an anticipation of a very scary ride since the last group before us were screaming. But the ride failed to make us scream even one bit. The moment we stopped we just shared some glance with each other and laughed out of disappointment. It's for children.

Then we had the Superman Coaster, which was probably the most fun of them all. It's not too high, but the speed and the sudden turn managed to make me scream and got dizzy. The fact that we were served by the beautiful scenery of Batu right before we had the first jump was amazing. Like the quiet before the storm. This one was fun for me.

One of the coaster was under maintenance so we couldn't ride it, and the last coaster is made for kids and we were not allowed to take it. So there we tried only three out of five. 

The swinger didn't work, which was too bad. Other ride are involving a 360 degree spinning, which was not our kind of plate, so we left them be (maybe we are just cowards). 

In the middle of the ride area, they also have this amazingly creative aquarium, consists of several fishes collection, displayed in many creative way possible, like an aquarium using a used washing machine and fridge. That place managed to make me shook my head in amazement. 

The thing about Jatim Park is that they don't just offer you some fun, but also try to educate you in one way or another. That's why before reaching the rides part, all visitors must walk through their science fair, which involve some fun fact concerning chemistry, biology, physics, and history. 

And if you get hungry along the way, go find a food shack called Ndeso. They sell this amazing cilok (gosh I don't even know how to explain this in English), and for you West Javanese, this is not the same kind of cilok we have here, there in East Java, cilok is not only consist of flour meatball through a wooden stick. In fact, they are not served the way satay did. They usually served in a small plastic pouch, but this one was served inside a plastic cup. Probably the best East Javanese Cilok I have ever tasted my whole life. 

Me and my friend took off from Malang at seven and reached Batu thirty minutes later, still managed to visit the city hall of Batu to have a breakfast and a quick photos around (I was craving for Pecel). The time we reached Jatim Park 1, probably around eight and not so many people were around, we were early. So yeah, that's my first tips if you decided to visit the place, come early. Most of the group came after eleven I observed, and by that moment, me and my friend were already exhausted and hungry. The place is open at eight.

So my friend took me to this open view restaurant called Pupuk Bawang (I still don't understand the relevance of the name since the view offered was a field full of celery instead of onion). If you decided to visit this place, take the outside chair. That's the main selling point. The food was alright, served in a very big plate with a enough portion, the waiters were polite, and the view was amazing! I wondered how it'd look like at night. The citylight must be beautiful to see. 

Like I said, Batu is a cold place for a tropical person like me, so even though I spent the entire day running around and taking scary rides, not a single sweat was running in my body even though I was wearing black. My second tips, bring a cardigan or a jacket, for you tropical skinned people, in case it gets a little too chilly outside.