Intro- Outro

June 2012- KL a boring text may become an interesting stuff to read ! 26 yrs old.

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THE MILLISECOND OF LIFE, photo: China Southern Airlines KTM Airport

The breeze of the summer blows

I’ve been longing a fine day, when the warmth of the sun bursts in

It was mid 2016, when everything was perfect

Long drive, sunshine, laughters

Things were easy, everything is just perfect

The day was bright and the wind gusts softly

I could hear my heartbeat

.

Never ever in my life I felt so much in crisis

Every millisecond happened as is

Nothing could stopped

The blood streams

Bright eyes wide open

.

Hardest part of life is realizing how fast time flies, at this point

Life keeps showing turning point, roller coaster adrenaline

I missed the old days when everything needed no tears and agitation

When I could inhale the smell of the morning in a peaceful resonation

.

08/09/19

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The pulsating Ho Chi Minh City that is greatly missed, like badly

I went to Ho Chi Minh City last year, November 2017, a great year to explore the beauty of it. I went with my fellow other two travelers and we had such a great time there.

I love to explore like a local, I acculturate. As it always does, traveling to a place like HCMC makes me contemplate a lot. Things were just revolting like, I don’t know, it could be me who felt a little bit more sensitive, but traveling is something I wish I had done much much earlier. I learn to empathize, to accept, and to value my life though it wasn't related at all with the things I did. Back again to my journal, HCMC has a lot to offer. For me, who is really into cultural and historical sightseeing, this city has my vibe. I love every corner of the city, the life in the night, and the food I tasted.

I went there almost in the end of the year and the festivities of holiday were just feeling close. HCMC is not as busy as the city I live in, Jakarta and it’s not as hectic as we are in here but I see similarities between HCMC and Jakarta in terms of the people and the culture. 

1. Motorcycle in front of the house

The photo above is the situation in front of the dorm. Motorcycles are plenty in numbers here. The picture above is quite familiar with the situation in the narrow streets in Jakarta.

2. Joining an impromptu music festival with the local

I stopped by the plaza in front of Bitexco and found this mesmerizing music festival. Throughout the event, I got lost in translation. I did not recognize a single word as the host spoke Vietnamese, of course. However, I love how the festival happened. It’s full of energy and I definitely love the music. At the end of festival, they waved Vietnam flags and it’s a wrap! From what i could conclude, this was something related to their Independence day festivities in September. I met locals though did not interact, but I smiled to some of them. It’s a fantastic open music event that came across my travel plan.

3. The costume parade after the music festival

I thought that’s it, but there was a costume parade at the plaza, it’s largely entertaining yet quite stray. You see the chicken-costumed guy there? He danced so lit! Too bad I did not record while he was dancing but that was the most insane and at the same time, cool dance I had ever seen.

4. Food

We stuck with Malay-Chinese food to make it halal and my preference was vegetarian. We stopped by at a restaurant named Saigon Green House, which served halal Chinese and Malay food. I got a plateful of garlic fried rice, which was so scrummy, despite the portion, The two friends of mine ordered the seafood fried rice, chicken soup, as well as fresh coconut.

5. The pulse of Saigon in the night

I love the LEDs and the vibe of this city in the night. I stood in front of Mekong that gets trough the city and behind me is the city view, plus all the flags of ASEAN members.

6. War Remnants Museum

A harrowing glimpse of Vietnam in the past. Full of graphic photos. This museum allows us to time travel to Vietnamese harsh times, war victims, and political situation in Vietnam pre-1976 and unification of North and South. The museum has an outdoor displays of military vehicles, posters about movements that existed in the era, a horrid guillotine, and a diorama of a detainee, plus a souvenir shops that sell postcards, military costumes, and books about Vietnam.

7. A glimpse of outdoor exhibition.

8. A glimpse of some indoor statement banner and photos.

9. Gazing through the aprons, taxiways, and runways.

I’ll be back to Vietnam to explore more about this country. It’s a pleasure to have ever experienced one of the peninsular Indochina.

10. Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Outbound)

SGN airport is an international airport serving worldwide international flights. It’s so busy here. Congestions are quite excessive. Immigration checkpoints offer ASEAN passports to have a special line, which is awesome to minimize time to exit the country and of course for the convenience to reduce the line.

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High Definition is Priceless, A LASIK Experience

I’m back.

Not about gastronomy, not about cinema but it’s all about my LASIK experience.

Having encouraged by so many people I know, I finally braced myself to do this minor surgery called LASIK. Just before I had it performed on me, I had lived with glasses since I was 6 years old. When it was my first time wearing glasses, my nearsightedness had reached -3.00 for BOTH eyes. Not sure if it is merely hereditary or maybe my habits back then that could play the main role why my myopia had reached that high for my age. Fast forward, it was gradually increasing over time. Right until I was 21, it stopped at -10. -10.75 for my left eye and -10.25 for my right eye to be exact.

Actually, I had been thinking about doing LASIK procedure but I was just scared enough. Two months before I was turning 25, I decided to do it and this is my experience.

D-7: Pre-LASIK Procedure

There were several ‘tests’ that I need to ‘pass’ before a LASIK can be performed on my eyes. Not sure about the medical term for those test but there were three basic tests to complete. The first one, I’m not sure what is it for, but I needed to focus on a medical device that enables me to stare at a rectangular blue light that spins. I needed to focus on it without any single blink (PAIN LEVEL 0/10). This test was pretty easy and light. After the test, I was given a drop and it felt quite annoying because my sight was blurred away for couple of minutes, followed by some kind of halo effect fot the next 3 hours (PAIN LEVEL 0/10). The next test was a test to examine the axis of the eyeball (thinking about it had made me nervous already). The test was super easy, you just need to stare at a blurred light and that’s it (PAIN LEVEL 0/10). The ultimate test which is the third test is the test to capture some photograph of your retina. This stage is pain AF because you have to stretch out your stare to NINE different points. There are center, right, right bottom, bottom, bottom left, left, left above, above, and above right. What makes it even much more torturing was the device will capture the images of your retina and USING FLASH x( AT every point, you will have your retina photographed from different point of views. If the images are not satisfactory, they are going to retake the image, which means you have to feel more pain. Why do I say it was painful? Because it feels like you are being photographed with a professional flashlight just right in front of you. Can you imagine how it feels? The pain because of dizziness occurred for about 4 hours after the test (PAIN LEVEL 8/10).

D DAY: LASIK Procedure

I was totally nervous. Nervous AF. I was trying to be cool and pretended and assumed that it was a comfortable, pain-free procedure. I arrived at the hospital at 10 AM. After registration, there was some instructions from the nurses about do’s and don’ts after the procedure, explanation about the medicine and drops that I would have before the procedure, and a little ‘encouragement’ stating that it is pain-free and she said that I would feel a little pressure on my eyes. I was also asked to sign an agreement upon procedure. After she gave me the drops for anesthetic and antiseptic purposes, I was asked to wear a special coat without having to put off my tee and khaki. The room wall small and a lot gave me a claustrophobia. Anyone outside the room can see the procedure live on the TV that is connected to the devices in the operating room. Also, she gave me the head cover. I proceed to the room, trembling, yet tried to be cool. I was asked to lie down on a operating table, which was very intimidating, and my head was ‘locked’ between the grip on the upper position of the table. The doctor came in and I was just hoping the best. My right eye was the first to receive the procedure. At first, they are going to support your eyelids with some kind of pin, so your eyes will wide open and refrain from coincidental blinks during the procedure. The procedure started by the doctor constantly giving the artificial teardrops and wiping my eyeballs. Feels so weird and at the same time, uncomfortable. The doctor told me that the laser would shoot within 5 seconds and I just needed to stare at the red lights that was blinking. While the laser was shooting, I felt numb and dark which I wasn’t sure if I closed my eye or not. Because it feels like totally blank. The countdown started, the laser was shooting for LESS THAN 15 seconds. The next stage was the doctor grabbed out another device attached on the table, which looked like a monocular. Again, I was asked to concentrate on the blinking light. This procedure took another 15 seconds and during the stage, I smelled something like burning hair. The last stage was when  the doctor ‘cleaned up’ my eye, gave more and more artificial teardrops, and put on a soft lens, which played the role like a transparent bandage to my cornea. The same procedure was also conducted for my left eye. After the procedure finished, I was asked if I could see much better. I said ‘yes’ despite a blurry effect. Yet it was so clear in an instant. Overall the procedure was all right despite the pain that happened (PAIN LEVEL 8.5/10). I was put on a medical google and was explained about the drops and medicine that I need to take. IN this stage, for approximately three days, my eyes can’t be exposed by water and needed to have a constant drops. The doctor asked me to be back the day after for a check-up. For about an hour after the procedure, I felt the pain. The pain felt in the back of my eyeball and was very sensitive. My eyes could easily turning red and teary. It was very uncomfortable and the pain lasted for about 4 hours (PAIN LEVEL 9/10). Constant drops were needed overnight and the medical googles were required to be worn during sleep in order to avoid a coincidental touch with hands.

D+1: Soft Lens Removal and A Control

The day after, I could still feel a minor pain, especially on the back of my eyeball. I went to the hospital again to have my lenses removed. The doctor was very happy as the result was very satisfactory. My sight was getting much better than the day before. However, the side effect such as red eye, minor pain, and teary eye were happening for some times. The medical googles were required for another week only while sleeping.

D+4: Red Eyes and Teary Eyes Going Wild

Four days after the procedure, I was able to go outside and did some light activities. Using my shades and neutral glasses, I went outside and did my activities. A very bad thing happened in the evening. As I dropped the eye moisturizer, my eyes turned red and it was very painful. Maybe because of some minor irritation from dust or wind. It lasted about 20 minutes until I could feel much core comfortable (PAIN LEVEL: 9/10). I took another two days resting at home to avoid other irritation.

D+8: Another Control

Eight days after LASIK, my both sight were gradually improving however I have a trouble with focus, I can’t easily switch focus on things as I used to be. It takes might be millisecond to switch focus on things. Not much irritation occurred. I went to the doctor for another control and he said it was all right. The hygiene is ALWAYS BE NEEDED in order to keep it clean. He gave me a Hialid 0.1 which I needed to use daily and told me that I have now 0 myopia. I killed off more irritation and my eyes looked much better.

D+17: Better and Better SIght

I am still taking the eye vitamin and the Hialid 0.1 to moisturize and to make my eyes much healthier. My sight is even much more comfortable, however I’m still working on my focus. My scheduled control will be in early April.

That’s all for now. FYI, I had the procedure at one of the best hospital that has the great team of ophthalmologists. Nothing to be worried about if you want to have this kind of procedure. They handle everything professionally.

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Recipe: Folded spinach, cream cheese and tomato fritata with sauteed kale in oil and garlic (vegetarian).

Ingredients:

Fritata:

2 eggs

a knob of butter

half cup of full fat milk

a handful of spinach

1 tomato, chopped

3tbsp cream cheese

mushroom buillon (1 tsp)

salt and pepper to taste

Sauteed kale:

A handful of kale, stem chopped

A drizzle of olive oil

1 garlic, thinly sliced

mushroom buillon (1 tsp)

salt and pepper to taste

Methods:

Fritata: Combine eggs, full fat milk, spinach, tomato, cream cheese, mushroom buillon, salt and pepper in a big mixing bowl. Heat the pan, grease with butter. Pour the egg and cook as desired (suggestion: don’t be too hard, keep it creamy). Fold, transfer to plate.

Kale: In a hot pan, drizzle some oilve oil. Sautee garlic and toss in the kale. Sprinkle with mushroom buillon, salt and pepper. Transfer to plate and serve with the fritata. Serve 1.

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Recipe: Risotto with sun dried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes :) (vegan).

Ingredients:

50gr rice, I use arborio rice

some knobs of butter (non dairy)

a drizzle of olive oil

1/4 onion, finely chopped

50ml mushroom stock

3tsp passata

50ml tomato puree

dried oregano, a dash

fresh thyme

dried parsley, a dash

dried marjoram, a dash

Half tomato, sliced, seeds removed

salt and pepper to taste

Methods:

1. In a small or medium pan, sautee onion until golden brown.

2. Add the rice, tomato puree, passata onto the pan, stir well.

3. Add the mushroom stock and the herbs (oregano, thyme, parsley, marjoram). Let it simmer and cover the pan for up to 18 minutes while it is stirred continuously every 5 minutes.

4. DIscard the thyme, transfer to plate while adding more knob of butter, serve with freshly sliced tomato, sprinkle some more dried oregano. Serves 1.

TIP: If you don’t have arborio rice, you can substitute it with any rice, long grains like basmati, risso (pasta rice) and also orzo (pasta).

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Recipe: Linguine with creamy tomato sauce, courgette, long beans, and carrots (vegetarian).

Ingredients:

450 ml water

125g linguine, cooking time as instructed on the packaging

20g butter

40 ml tomato puree

1 tomato, finely chopped

1/2 courgette or zucchini, thinly sliced

3 baby carrots, julienned

3 long beans, chopped

2 big dollops (appx. 2-3 tbsp) of cream cheese, to taste if preferred

1/4 tbsp of parmesan

1/4 tbsp of pecorino

1/4 tbsp of cheddar

salt and black pepper to taste

Methods:

1. Cook pasta until the water drained in the medium pot, don’t drain it anymore with the strainer, let it rest and toss in the butter.

2. In a low heat, pour in tomato puree and the cheese (parmesan, pecorino, cheddar, and cream cheese), Stir well.

3. When it is bubbling, add courgette, carrots, and long beans. Cover and let the sauce thicken, Add a bit of water if it’s too thick. Balance with a dash of salt and black pepper. Serves 2.

TIP: You can also use bucatini, spaghetti or pappardelle to substitute linguine. Cheese amount can be substituted to taste.

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Time for the consequences

It’s coming near! I’m a year closer to living a quarter of the century. The older I am, the more I think about slowing time down. I know it sounds really weak and exaggerated knowing that ‘twas my thought that has come up, but I just want to enjoy proving my optimism as I would achieve something in coming days, coming months and coming years. So later I would be able to tell what I would have been doing so far to people I love and to people I’ll love. Time: an indefinite period, one of the entries in the dictionary said. It’s something magical, parallel, irregular that leaves you thinking, contemplating on how to spend it wisely. Time is one of the consequences of living. It splits us apart things we need and things we want. The separation leads us to being a tough person, as it gives us pressure to make decision and everything attributed. Time knows either how to make us felling like falling from cloud 9 or how to make us feeling perplexed, distracted by the mess we make. It defines the joy beneath darkness. Something that sounds so ruthless and moves fast, even faster these days. The elixir of time is how we struggle. We struggle like we’re catching the last minute of the last train in the midnight. We could put our best, in defeating the ways it acts belligerently. Theoretically, it is possible and plausible for defeating the destructive act of time. We just need to possess ourselves deeply, like in the deepest level of our conscience. Our act of defeating time includes praying: the number one patron to the fragile ones. Praying meditates our deepest conscience, it calms it down and leads us thinking much more clearly and convinces ourselves that it’s written there, it’s all recorded ever since we were embryos. The most destructive, detrimental factor to defeating time is the one and only: failure. The factor most people thought to likely happen, as an outcome. It kills us softly, it slaps us devastatingly, it makes us think that there is no other way. However, it teaches us, wise people say. It’s not easy to the fragile ones, to the ones who don’t get used to failure or the people who get used to winning to face this. It could be ended up traumatizing, it kills hope like people in the slaughterhouse. It makes us think that everything is not fair to us. Failure is something that people afraid of. It’s a bitter spice of life nonetheless. Once we get used to it, we would simply be able to adapt the fact. The reason of this is that we should keep on trying, and believe that in the short future, in our mid-future or even, in the edge of the future itself, every single thing that we’ve been dreaming on would be there, waiting for us, embracing us like we’re old friends, and it would simply demand us to be happy. The reason over everything is being happy. No more reason not to defeat time. It’s our friend and foe that must be accounted for.

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Badoet, a genuinely creepy flick that leaves nothing but the thrill.

The clown

When you, as a native Indonesians, hear about Indonesian horror flicks, you might underestimate them and ignore anything about them even when you are deciding what movie to watch when you are in the cinema. You might be right, as in past few years, Indonesian horror filmmakers tend to augment its quantity rather than its quality. Another problem is that Indonesia is a well-known country for its diversity of supernatural creatures, occurence sighting stories, horror tales or sacred places, which presumably makes the filmmaker wants to quickly film them without conducting further research, or at least making the overall filmmaking deeper or more worthwhile. Putting the clown as a subject of horror could be smart. We have the term, coulrophobia, for explaing the phobia of clown itself. The irrational fear and the deep feeling of dread themselves make this film has an ‘added-value’ thanks to its gripping direction and the star of the film, the clown himself. I’m not personally a coulrophobia however, sometimes clowns scare me.

The terror

Set in a dimmish, murky urban flat in Jakarta, Badoet spotlights the lives of people living in a flat neighborhood in Jakarta, which is commonly for middle-low residents. There are two men, which presumably still in a same kin and a girl which is their friend, plus a woman, who is a single parent of one as the main charaterizations. Badoet focuses on these people, who were actually look like middle-high class people living in the middle-low flat. The focus goes on the current wave of urban living, which are the use of Twitter, game addiction and modern social problems. Also the turn-out of what they called ‘Night Fair’ or Pasar Malam. A people’s pop-up amusement park with pop-up shops as well, which can be commonly seen in a region with population density. It’s, by the way, still happening in Jakarta and surrounding regions as it is the heritage and one of the reasonable people’s sources of night entertainment. The terror was begun by one of the characterization, which is the son of the woman, who found a music box which is possessed (well, we can always guess, can’t we?). As the boy (with the aid of the man) opens the music box, the terror comes. It summons the spirit of ‘the clown’, which has a dark, gruesome past to toss the terror of his payback.

The chilling vibe of coulrophobia to strangle you harder

Badoet is one of the example of horror that could be pioneering Indonesian ‘contemporary’ horror flicks to be able to produce a great horror cinema with strong and gripping directions. Some cliches could still be seen in Badoet as it is one of the seasoning of Indonesian horror flick, yet it has its signature style to present the chilling vibe of horror filmmaking. Some clever ways of disturbance (done by the spirit) have managed to work well. The score music was pretty nice and all of the sets were made quite well. The cast were just so-so as the lead actor quite failed to be more realistic (or maybe he is there to settle the horror to the funny way he acts, but it didn’t really work), the leading female cast was just fine. Credits should actually be given to the supporting female cast, which is the girl who has a sixth sense. She played the role well with strong characterization. Overall, Badoet could be a choice for weekend film viewing as it is a good one and it has the thrill! (photo: movie.co.id).

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The Intern, a few things we often see these days

Nonton The Intern merupakan salah satu cara untuk melihat realita kaum urban saat ini: tinggal di rumah nyaman, kebutuhan terpenuhi, penampilan modis, menggunakan teknologi dengan semaksimal mungkin, dan juga, berbisnis. Yup, spotlight film The Intern merupakan sebuah bisnis e-commerce yang dewasa ini berkembang luas di masyarakat urban. Entah itu antarbisnis ataupun bisnis terhadap konsumen. Bukan karena perkembangan teknologi yang sangat maju, namun juga tingkat konsumsi masyarakat urban yang cenderung tinggi.

Film ini menampilkan sebuah kesuksesan. Adalah Jules, pemain di bidang e-commerce yang sukses menjalankan bisnisnya yang terus berkembang dengan perkembangan pesat hanya kurang dari 1 tahun. Merupakan perempuan yang berhasrat akan karir yang cemerlang dan memiliki kepemimpinan yang baik. Perusahaannya yang fokus terhadap dunia mode tersebut sedang mencari karyawan magang (intern), dengan kriteria senior. Ben, seorang pria yang sudah berumur, seorang duda yang memiliki pengalaman cemerlang, melamar untuk posisi tersebut. Cut to short, ia berhasil mendapatkan posisi yang ia incar.

Kepribadian Ben yang rendah hati namun cekatan dan cerdas atas pengalamannya membuat beberapa ‘revolusi’ dan perubahan di kantor tempatnya bekerja. Setelah beradaptasi dengan lingkungan kantor yang sangat berbeda dengan kondisi dan suasana tempatnya bekerja dulu, Ben menjadi contoh bagi beberapa karyawan atas pengaruhnya di kantor tersebut. Kemampuan Ben dalam mengambil keputusan dan melakukan pekerjaan dengan benar membawanya ke kehidupan pribadi Jules dan kehidupan 'masa pensiun'nya yang penuh warna.

Diperankan sangat baik oleh Robert De Niro dan Anne Hathaway, serta sederet pendukung lainnya, The Intern mengekspos realita kehidupan urban (atau kehidupan manusia) di abad 21 ini. Hal yang menarik di sini adalah dari kajian peran gender di masa ini. Dikaji dari sisi feminisme, Jules merupakan sosok wanita modern di masa ini: memiliki bisnis, cerdas, career-driven dan berkesempatan untuk menyalurkan passion-nya sebisa mungkin. Mungkin bagi beberapa orang, hal ini lumrah dan positif, namun masih menjadi polemik juga di kalangan tertentu yang memegang asas dominansi dan kodrat gender. Namun dari sisi maskulinisme, sebuah kemunduran akan kodrat akan membuat kita berpikir. Fenomena stay-at-home-dad (SAHD) akan membuat kita bertanya-tanya atas perubahan sosial yang merupakan sebuah anomali atau pemakluman semata akan kodrat pria yang menafkahi atau dinafkahi.

This film has managed to be neutral. Tidak ditampilkan preferensi akan keduanya, namun hanya ekspos semata akan fenomena sosial yang ada. Dengan hal-hal positif dan negatif pada tiap sisinya, film ini 'mengajarkan' sebuah pelajaran tanpa bermaksud menggurui. Sisanya kitalah yang menilai akan fenomena tersebut.

Overall, film ini sangat ringan dan menghibur, tidak hanya pengetahuan akan bisnis dan perubahan sosial saja, namun juga tokoh sentral berhasil mengambil alih film ini akan arti yang sesungguhnya. Film yang berdurasi 121 menit dan disutradarai oleh Nancy Meyers ini bagus banget dijadikan weekend movie, sekali lagi, ringan dan sangat menghibur!

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Mencari Hilal (The Crescent Moon), a subtle and artistic drama-religious film to come over ‘hilal’.

How we run life

Mahmud is a trader who always implements the values of the religion and its values to life. As a Muslim, he pays attention fully on every part of life that is substantial and essential to reaching the morality with kaffah. He runs a business as a trader in a traditional market in the middle of Jogjakarta suburb. He does the job for the intention of piety, not only just for the purpose of profit. It leads to the rage of other traders who think that he played the price so the customers only go shopping at his store. As the first scenes show up, the tension increases then decreases afterwards to tell further about his family and his surroundings moreover.

Heli and Halida, Mahmud’s son and daughter, start the next scenes. Halida is a caring and loving daugher who loves to take care of her dad as their mom passed away long time ago. Heli, a social worker, who always reluctantly hears his dad’s preach about life and how does he do it. Heli gets a job as he must fly to Nicaragua. He came to his parents’ house to look for family certificate as a requirement for making a passport and applying a visa. They aren’t really harmonic in some circumstances, they argue, till it led to their father’s decision to find the hilal (a cresent moon appearance as a sign for Ramadan (Muslim’s month to fast) and Syawwal (Muslim’s month to break the fast, as Eid comes)).

Heli, who was previously asked by his sister to come with their father, start the journey with Mahmud. They travel as a musafir (arabic term for someone who travels) in the middle of fasting conduction. They look for a place to see the hilal itself, which previously known as its foregoing names. Their quest continues as problems, tests and lessons of life begins to start.

A cinematic marvel to religious films ever made

Mencari Hilal comes with a style of a drama-religious film. It is gently moving to tell the audience what is happening in the plot and continues frame by frame attractively with a stunning direction and composition. The tone of the film is somewhat poetic, mesmerizing, comedic and enchanting. As the drama start, it turned out as an art film to enjoy as its cinematography gives the punch. The score music used in the film is perfectly soften and match the scenes.

As Mencari Hilal finishes, we will learn a lot to look over its values and moral values that we could acquire. Its dramatization is top-notch with also a stunning overall direction. Another work of art from Ismail Basbeth to remember as it is really stylish and it gives us some moment to contemplate throughout the film.

(image: movie.co.id)

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Cooking with pesto #2 Tomato-spinach fusilli with pesto, seared salmon slices, emmental blocks and scallions.

A colourful blend of pasta to rejoice special feast. Perfectly balanced with a punch of pesto flavour. I used emmental cheese blocks for extra creamy and tasty balance to the dish. Use the best salmon, as salmon for sushi.

Ingredients:

70gr three coloured dried fusilli pasta (durum, spinach and tomato flavours)

50gr of salmon

2 tbsp of pesto sauce

diced emmental cheese, to taste

butter

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 tsp of garlic powder

scallions, to taste

Methods:

1. Cook pasta according to the package instructions. Fusilli needs 4-5 minutes for the al dente doneness.

2. On the non-stick pan, heat butter, sear salmon slices for more than 20 seconds, keep it medium rare for the best chunks of it.

3. Heat butter again then stir in pesto sauce. Add garlic powder afterwards then salt and pepper. Add the pasta, stir it well. Transfer everything to plate. Serve with some sprikle of scallions and diced emmental cheese for the best chunks. Serve immediately.

Serves 1.

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Cooking with pesto #1 Pesto rice bowl with chopped beef rolls, egg and cheese crackers.

No, the yellow ones aren’t french fries. They’re a handful of cheese crackers which is really common to be found in a snack stall. It gives the overall punch of this blend.

Pesto is basically a traditional Italian sauce mix. We can make it by mixing a handful of basil leaves, one cup of extra virgin olive oil, chopped walnuts (or macadamia), salt, pepper and of course cheese. Use parmesan, ricotta, or pecorino cheese but it’s really possible to use other varieties of cheese such as gouda, edam, cheddar or even brie.

Ingredients:

5 tbsp of cooked rice (if it’s available, basmati rice is the best)

1 tbsp of pesto sauce

3 slices of frozen beef rolls

1 egg

canola oil

butter

salt and pepper, to taste

cheese crackers, to taste

chopped scallions, to taste

lemon juice, to taste

Methods:

1. Heat canola oil on a non-stick pan, sear beef rolls until it’s cooked. Transfer to plate. Heat another drizzle of canola oil. Cook egg based on desired method.

2. Heat butter, toss the rice and let it mixed with the butter. Add pesto sauce, stir the rice well until it is perfectily mixed. Drizzle with lemon juice and add salt, pepper and chopped scallions

3. Transfer rice to plate, set the toppings on top of it so it looks like a portion of rice bowl. Serve with cheese crackers,

Serves 1.

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The Gallows: a nerve-tingling film to evoke modern classic horror

Drama class started it all

Pelajaran atau subject drama dalam kelas kesenian di sekolah-sekolah luar negeri memang selalu niat dan mendapatkan perhatian penuh dari sekolahnya sebagai pelajaran yang pokok. Seperti halnya anak-anak di sebuah sekolah di Amerika ini. Mereka mendapatkan tugas dalam pelajaran drama untuk memainkan sebuah pementasan drama ikonik dan historis berjudul ‘The Gallows’. Mereka dengan bersemangat melakukan latihan rutin untuk hari pementasan yang akan disaksikan ratusan pasang mata, termasuk para orangtua, di auditorium sekolah mereka. Mulai dari script, set, kostum dan kesiapan para pemain dipersiapkan dengan sangat matang dan dengan pembuatan yang konseptual. Mereka sudah tahu bahwa pementasan drama yang akan mereka mainkan sebagai tugas kelas drama adalah pementasan drama yang sama yang dimainkan para pelajar di sekolah mereka pada tahun 1993. Drama yang dimainkan para pelajar di sekolah itu memang sangat kontroversial (dan mereka tahu itu!), karena terjadi sebuah tragedi yang aneh nan suram yang merupakan kenyataan pahit akan kejadian yang mengerikan yang pernah dialami sekolah itu.

Let’s break the set!

Adalah sepasang remaja, Reese dan Pfeifer (yang ajaibnya nama asli cast sama dengan nama peran di film ini), yang menjadi main cast dalam pementasan drama ini. Pfeifer yang sangat antusias akan pemeran utama wanitanya sangat giat berlatih dan ingin sekali memberikan yang terbaik dalam tugas kelas ini. Akan tetapi, Reese, remaja labil tanggung yang menjadi pemeran utama pria dalam pementasan drama ini, agak kurang niat untuk memerankannya. Ditambah lagi cemoohan teman-teman footballnya yang menganggap ia cupu dengan perannya.

H-1 pementasan pun tiba. Reese berkeluh kesah atas ketidaksiapannya untuk peran dalam pementasan drama ini pada sahabatnya Ryan, sahabatnya yang selalu merekam peristiwa-peristiwa di sekolah dengan kamera videonya. Ryan, bersama rekannya Cassidy, memahami akan perasaan nervous yang dialami Reese. Berbagai alasan direncanakan agar Reese dapat mangkir dari tugasnya. Alasan-alasan yang direncanakan seolah mustahil namun Reese yang juga diam-diam menyukai Pfeifer agak kurang enak hati jika mangkir dan khawatir akan merusak hubungan yang ‘masih sebatas teman’ itu untuk kedepannya. Ryan, dengan ide gilanya, merencanakan untuk merusak set panggung di malam hari setelah mengetahui pintu akses masuk auditorium tidak pernah terkunci karena rusak. Mereka bertiga pun merencanakannya dan pada saatnya melakukan itu. Namun naas, penemuan mereka akan semua hal yang terjadi pada 1993 dan berbagai peristiwa baik yang non-supranatural baik yang supranatural yang tidak bisa dijelaskan dengan akal sehat menghantui dan meneror mereka pada malam di saat mereka menjalankan misinya untuk merusak set panggung.

Classic? Yes. Cliché? Yes. But it’s really ok!

I grew up watching horror films, to be honest. Film horor merupakan salah satu genre film favorit gue. Entah kenapa, kenikmatan akan thrill yang diciptakan dari film-film horor semacam ini sealalu menggelitik adrenalin. Jumpscares yang ditawarkan dalam film ini memang sangat klise, namun masih sangat efektif menakuti penonton. Occurence, beberapa benda-benda yang bergerak sendiri, pintu-pintu yang tertutup sendiri, ruang redup yang siap menyajikan hal-hal yang tidak diinginkan serta suara-suara aneh yang entah darimana berasal masih merupakan bumbu utama film ini. Namun entah mengapa directingnya yang penuh kejutan dan sangat bersemangat memberi warna sendiri untuk ‘The Gallows’ sebagai film horor kontemporer yang layak ditonton. Ruang redup dengan cahaya merah temaram, penggabungan unsur found footage dengan editing yang padat, footage dan foto pemain pada kejadian mengerikan drama pementasan asli, dan ambience dari film ini yang murung dan tanpa harapan merupakan poin-poin plus dari film horor ini. Dengan diakhiri sebuah ending scene yang membuat kita menatap nanar pada klimaksnya, ‘The Gallows’ masih merupakan sebuah film horor yang efektif dan merupakan film wajib tonton di bisokop yang sepi, dan pada jam-jam midnight shows berlangsung.

(photo: www.denofgeek.com)

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Badlapur: Revenge at its sweetest, on its gut-wrenching hysteria

That day in India

Salah satu film berwarna neo-noir yang apik yang bisa ditampilkan sinema Bollywood. Sutradara Sriram Raghavan (Agent Vinod, Happy Birthday) mengeksplorasi tema thriller balas dendam dengan sentuhan drama yang membuat penontonnya tercengang akan orisinalitas ide yang ditampilkan Raghavan. Dengan judul internasional yang disesuaikan menjadi बदलाPUR (Badla-Pur) yang dalam bahasa Hindi Badla berarti pembalasan dan Badlapur dalam satu arti kata berarti sebuah daerah yang terdapat di India.

Berawal dari sebuah hari yang sangat amat biasa di sebuah daerah di India, Liak (Nawazuddin SIddiqui - Gangs of Wasseypur, The Lunchbox) berperan dalam drama perampokan di mobil yang merenggut korban jiwa pada hari itu. Tidak hanya itu, ia juga berperan dalam kehancuran hidup seorang pegawai yang bekerja sebagai advertiser bernama Raghu (Varun Dhawan - Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Main Tera Hero) yang kehilangan isteri dan anak semata wayangnya. Raghu merasakan kehilangan yang sangat mendalam terhadap keluarga kecilnya, yang sedang manis-manisnya membina mahligai rumah tangga dan menjalankan hidup dinamis yang selaras dengan perkembangan di kotanya.

Raghu avenges

Tidak terima dengan semua hal yang dialaminya, Ragu terus menelusuri kasus yang menimpa dirinya dan keluarganya itu. Kasus yang tidak ada kabarnya lagi itu ia angkat kembali ke permukaan dengan melakukan solo revenge. Raghu menelusuri seluk beluk peristiwa tersebut hingga pada suatu malam, seorang wanita bernama Koko (Radhika Apte) yang mengalami kebocoran ban di tengah jalan membawanya pada rencana kelamnya untuk memnemui langsung terduga pembunuh keluarganya.

Ragu yang masuk lebih jauh dalam pada investigasinya, perlahan namun pasti, walaupun dengan sedikit tergesa-gesa mulai menunjukkan dirinya yang penuh amarah dan siap untuk melakukan apa saja demi membalaskan dendamnya pada orang-orang yang telah merenggut hal yang paling berharga dalam dirinya dalam lika liku permainan puzzle yang membawa kita pada sebuah roller coaster dramatis dengan twist yang membuat kita tertegun.

The grim side of human nature

Beberapa scene patut diacungi jempol dalam eksekusinya yang berani, kasar, membabi buta, namun pintar. Adegan-adegan tersebut terilihat natural meskipun ditujukan sebagai rekayasa dalam rangka penindasan secara mental dan psikologis pada seseorang. Meskipun cenderung sebagai film yang dramatis dengan balutan nuansa kelam, Badlapur tetap menyajikan sentuhan romansa yang merona dari adegan-adegan flashback yang menjelaskan kisah-kisah pratragedi tersebut. Film ini membuat penontonnya menahan nafas, menganga dan terperanjat akan kejutan-kejutan yang tidak akan pernah mereka duga sama sekali kecuali memang sedang menduga-duga.

Badlapur bukan merupakan film untuk semua orang namun tetap bisa dinikmati bagi penggemar film drama dan thriller khas film-film neo-noir yang selalu menampilkan tema-tema kelam dan sangat berkaitan dengan sisi lain dari human nature. Dirilis limited pada Maret 2015 di beberapa bioskop di Indonesia, Badlapur juga bisa dijadikan film alternatif yang cukup menarik untuk ditonton juga saat home videonya rilis.

Human nature akan cinta, kasih sayang, dendam dan penyesalan merupakan bumbu inti dari film yang berdurasi 134 menit ini. Dengan lantunan soundtrack dari Dinesh Vijan dan Priya Saraiya ini, membuat Badlapur mampu meningkatkan tensi dan emosi para penonton, menjatuhkannya, menenangkannya hingga membawanya pada adegan-adegan terakhir yang membuat kita merenungkan akan berartinya sebuah kesempatan kedua.

बदलाPUR (Badlapur) by Sriram Baghavan

Starring: Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Yami Gautam. Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime. Runtime: 134 mins. Language: Hindi. Personal rating: 80/100.

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PK, Love is (not) a waste of time :)

Back on stage, Aamir Khan kembali dengan film drama komedi Hindi dengan bumbu kritik sosial yang akan membuat kita tercengang sepanjang film, namun twist di akhir (yang sebenarnya sangat sederhana) mengurai semuanya tanpa harus menjadi bias.

Film ini juga bergenre fantasi, meskipun tidak terlalu signifikan tetapi fokus utama film ini. Film ini merupakan sebuah dramatisasi kritik sosial paling ringan dan ngena buat gue.

Film yang bercerita tentang se-'orang' alien (aka makhluk luar angkasa) yang melakukan pendaratan di bumi. Naas, alat komunikasi yang ia miliki dicuri seseorang yang tidak bertanggungjawab di awal film. Full stop.

Scene beralih ke Belgia, adalah seorang wanita cantik bernama Jaggu yang merupakan penggemar Amitabh Bachchan dan sangat ingin menyaksikan pertunjukan seni yang ia idam-diamkan. Tiket sudah sold out namun ia tidak menyerah begitu saja. Ia menemukan calo yang menjual tiketnya jauh lebih mahal daripada harga aslinya. Pada saat itu juga ia bertemu Sarfaraz, seorang pemuda yang juga ingin menyaksikan pertunjukan seni tersebut. Terjadilah aksi rebutan. Jaggu berniat untuk patungan bersama Sarfaraz dengan menyaksikan pertujukan secara 50:50. Pertemuannya dengan Sarfaraz, membuat Jaggu menyimpan sebuah luka yang ia pendam hingga kini, hingga ia bertemu dengan se-'orang' yang aneh bernama PK yang menggelitik pemahaman umumnya selama ini sekaligus membuka cerita lama dengan Sarfaraz yang seharusnya sudah ia selesaikan sejak mereka di Belgia.

Salah satu film Bollywood Blockbuster terhebat menurut guw, disajikan ringan, namun dengan tema yang cukup berat dan sentuhan khas Bollywood yang mengesankan. Pas banget buat ngisi liburan serta intermezzo dari film-film Hollywood yang mempunyai hype tinggi. (image:Indianexpress)

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Happy New Year: 2014 Bollywood's Most Cheerful Film

Sempet ngelihat trailer film ini di screening 'Bang! Bang!' awal Oktober lalu dan terus terang gue agak underestimate waktu itu karena ngelihat duet SRK-Deepika Padukone lagi. Terus terang gue agak khawatir film ini akan mirip Chennai Express dengan absurditas tingkat tinggi. Mengusung konsep 'heist' yang mungkin merupakan tema yang agak basi di Hollywood namun dengan sisipan dance championship yang ngingetin gw akan Step Up series yang selalu hadir dalam formula yang sama dan tentunya signature style film-flm Bollywood yang ceria, penuh warna dan musikal. Nah, konsep dan sisipan-sisipan itulah yang akhirnya membuat gue berminat untuk 'Happy New Year' yang satu ini.

Bercerita mengenai Charlie yang ingin membalaskan dendamnya pada seorang owner hotel di Dubai dengan mencuri berlian yang di'miliki' oleh orang tersebut. Dengan melakukan penyamaran sebagai dancers wakil India di World Dance Championship, Charlie dan team berencana melakukan pencurian dengan strategi yang sangat komprehenshif.

Dirilis pada minggu Deepavali dan Islamic New Year, 'Happy New Year' merupakan sebuah film yang memikat. Disajikan ringan, lucu dan penuh warna dengan beberapa WTF moment, jokes slapstick maupun verbal dan juga absurditas, namun masih dalam batas wajar. Penampilan SRK, Deepika Padukone + team, dan juga aktor senior Jackie Shroff di sini sangat baik. Durasi film yang menembus 180 menit (3 jam) membuat film ini cukup berhasil bercerita dengan cukup detail (walaupun dengan absurditas) dalam editing yang sangat padat. Jangan lewatkan credit title film ini karena ada beberapa cameo yang mungkin akan menarik minat para fans SRK dan fans Bollywood tentunya.

FIlm ini limited release di Indonesia hanya kurang dari 10 layar. Ya, memang seperti itulah mostly konsep rilis film-film Bollywood di Indonesia. Image: allmadnews.

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Cajun Style Blackened Tuna Steak with Buttered Veggies

Ingredients:

100 gr tuna steak

Olive oil

Butter

A handful of frozen mixed veggies

1 sprig of thyme leaves

Cajun seasoning:

1 tbsp of salt

1/2 tbsp of dried oregano

3/4 tbsp of paprika powder

1/4 tbsp (or less, to taste) of cayenne pepper

1/2 tbsp of black pepper

1/2 tbsp of garlic powder

1/4 tbsp of thyme leaves

1/4 tbsp of dried basil (optional)

Methods:

1. Heat butter in a pan, fry frozen vegetables for 1 minutes or according to the desired doneness. Transfer to plate.

2. Mixed cajun seasoning well.

3. Toss tuna steak with olive oil, cover all of its parts with the cajun seasoning.

4. Heat butter and olive oil in a pan. Sear tuna steak for approximately 3 minutes on each side. Plate the tuna over the buttered veggies. Garnish with thyme. Serves 1.

Bon apetit!