Love, Curse & Hocus Pocus - Karla M. Nashar

Gw suka banget buku pertamanya dan udah baca buku itu lama banget. Fell in love with Troy & Gadis (pasangan yang keduanya 'perfect'), meskipun gw sebel banget sama endingnya (padahal gw udah nyangka kalo buku yang ada tentang magic, biasanya berakhir menyebalkan).

Btw, saking sukanya sama tuh buku, setelah gw baca si buku kedua, gw langsung beli ebook Love, Hate & Hocus Pocus via Gramediana gara-gara pengen baca ulang.

Cerita dimulai dengan tampilan singkat Lyuba si Gipsi Tua kemudian berlanjut ke Troy dan Gadis yang baru bangun dari 'mimpi buruk 1' (buku pertama), mereka berdua yang pergi ke London dan mengalami turbulensi di pesawat dan masuk ke dalam 'mimpi buruk 2', munculnya Putra, perjalanan mencari Lyuba (kadang-kadang agak bosen di bagian ini) dan berakhir dengan sebuah awal cerita 'happily ever after'.

Gw suka bagian awalnya, apalagi bagian yang 'mimpi buruk 2' berhubung mereka so sweet banget dan momen-momen dimana mereka akhirnya juga so sweet di 'dunia nyata'. Meskipun begitu, sama kayak buku pertama, gw ga demen endingnya. T.T 

Kenapa sih endingnya kayak gitu???????????? (Gw juga ga tau sih ending apa yang oke, mungkin gw cuma sebel berhubung bukunya udah selesai dibaca ~.~).

Gw suka sama covernya, kertasnya dan fontnya. Terlebih karena buku ini dikasi sama temen gw (Cal & Will, thank you both =D).

Hal yang agak ganggu dari buku ini, menurut gw, adalah kadang-kadang ada ejaan yang salah (gw bukan lulusan Bahasa Indonesia dan gw tahu kalau gw mungkin bukan orang yang bisa dipercaya soal ejaan) dan kata yang dipakai juga ada yang janggal (kata 'demi' yang sering banget dipakai di kalimat tertentu dan setahu gw, kata itu seharusnya ga nempel di kalimat itu).

Ada satu hal yang nemplok banget pas gw baca dan setelah gw selesai baca buku ini.

Pas adegan dimana Troy dan Gadis pengen tahu siapa sebenernya Lyubitshka dan Lyuba malah nanya balik kenapa mereka ngotot banget buat ngelabelin dia dengan berbagai sebutan itu, kenapa mereka harus ngebatasin seorang Lyuba dengan sebuah label.

Setelah dipikir-pikir emang oke banget yang Lyuba bilang.

Kenapa seseorang harus melabeli diri mereka atau orang lain? Bukankah dengan label itu, kita malah membatasi orang tersebut dan malah ngebuat 'prejudice' di dalam pikiran kita?

Kayak yang ditulis Shakespeare,

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet .

=)

SVialli

[22.10]

[4 - 28/03/13]

Gombal

Udah lama banget ga ngeblog. -.-

Yah.., anyway, tadi gw baru baca-baca tulisan lama dan seperti yang sering terjadi pas gw baca tulisan lama, gw bingung sendiri itu kata-kata bisa dateng dari mana dan kenapa bisa gombal kayak gitu.

Satu kutipan yang gw suka banget dari tulisan gw yang judulnya 'Integral dan Cinta' --bahkan judulnya aja uda geli banget xD):

.... 

Namun begitu, mungkin itulah alasan mengapa cinta lebih indah daripada integral.
Lengkungkan pada awal itu tak dihiasi dengan angka di kedua ujungnya.
Tak ada yang perlu kau hitung.
Tak ada yang perlu kau selesaikan.
Semuanya cukup kau rasakan.
[21.23][3 - 08/06/11]

Well.., I miss writing (any kind of writing incl. letters for my sis ~.~).

I hope to write soon (and for the time being, I'll simply read the old things).

=)

SVialli

[21.33]

[4 - 28/03/13]

Sunshine Becomes You - Ilana Tan

Sunshine Becomes You

Buku yang udah keluar dari awal tahun 2012 ini baru sempet gw baca dan yah.., yang gw baca bahkan uda cetakan yang ketiga (thanks to Calvin yang ngasih =D).

Gw udah suka sama Ilana Tan dari buku seri 4 musimnya (dan gw cukup yakin bahwa Ilana Tan adalah Iingliana, salah satu penerjemah buku Gramedia, penerjemah yang gw suka banget banget, karena pas gw baca buku Ilana Tan, gw langsung keinget sama gayanya Iingliana).

Kayak buku-buku dia lainnya, dia cuma nyeritain hal yang simpel. Cerita yang udah berkali-kali diceritain banyak buku atau film dengan beratus-ratus cara, tapi satu yang khas dari dia, dia selalu entah gimana nyeritain semua itu pake cara dia yang ngebuat orang terpikat. 

Kali ini, dia cerita tentang seorang penari cewe (Mia Clark) yang ketemu sama pianis cowo (Alex Hirano). Si cowo awalnya judes, tapi lama-lama suka sama si cewe. Sayangnya, si cewe sakit parah dan ga mau ngejanjiin sesuatu yang ga bisa dia kasih.

Meskipun gw udah denger ceritanya dari temen gw, gw tetep sampe akhir buku itu ga percaya kalau si penari bakal meninggal gitu aja (yah.., kayak si cowo itu, gw juga berharap bahwa si cewe ga bakal meninggal). Sayangnya, dengan kejamnya, Ilana Tan ngebiarin si cewe meninggal dan ngebiarin pembacanya ngeluarin air mata. (-.-) Dan ending yang ga terduga itu adalah salah satu hal yang khas dari Ilana Tan.

Satu hal lagi yang gw suka banget dari Ilana Tan adalah cara nulis dia (yang mungkin juga tercipta berkat profesinya sebagai penerjemah, kalau hipotesa gw benar). Sepengetahuan gw (yang ga terlalu panjang, berhubung gw jarang baca buku Indo sekarang), dia adalah penulis Indo yang punya cara nulis paling oke. Meskipun dia pake tata bahasa dan bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar, dia ga ngebuat bosan dan justru, dia bisa ngebuat kata-kata dia ngalir dengan oke banget, ngebuat pembacanya terjerat. Selain itu, gw juga suka banget bahwa dia ga suka 'sok-sokan' nyelipin bahasa Inggris di pembicaraan tokoh-tokohnya ataupun narasinya.

Overall, gw suka banget sama Ilana Tan (dan gimana dia lebih suka dikenal lewat tulisannya dibanding dirinya sendiri) dan gw juga suka sama buku ini (dan buku-bukunya yang lain juga). Dan gw berharap bahwa buku ini bakal ada lanjutannya (mengingat gw ga bisa ngebayangin bahwa si Alex bakal nerusin hidupnya bareng pianonya dan kenangan tentang Clark plus lagu-lagu sedih baru ciptaannya gara-gara Clark udah ga ada), meskipun kalau dilihat dari cara nulis Ilana Tan, dia ga bakal ngebuat lanjutan apapun.

=)

SVialli

[01.33]

[7 - 30/09/12]

p.s.: Anyway, I thought that I loved sad, heart-throbbing, tears-wrenching ending, but then, I always come to realize that a happy-ending is much much better. 

exams and dramas

Exams are going to start in just a few weeks. However, the urge to procrastinate has not yet ceased. 


Since the last drama season, I have gone all crazy about Korean dramas (to think about it, it's not that I've gone all crazy, but it seems that my addiction has gone to a more serious stage). Anyway, the new drama season has started already and I think that there's none which can be called failed drama, i.e. Fashion King.


A Gentleman's Dignity
At first, I thought that this drama would be somewhat boring and things, remembering that the story is centered on four 40-year-old men aka ahjussi. But then, I start to watch it and fall in love with the story line and characters, especially, the main character who acts super cheesy sweet with his so-called one-sided love. 
I love this drama more and more, because the other dramas seem to be in somewhat trending genre (time-travel, older woman with younger man, changing body) and this one seems to be standing out by having 4 ahjussis as main characters plus 'normal' story line.
By the way, after watching all others, I conclude that this one is the best in this season. =) 


Big
It's quite funny, the story line is nice, the main actor's acting is great. But it has always been such a pain in the neck, when I watch something with fantasy as a genre. However, as this is a Hong Sisters' drama, I expect this one to be a great drama with a happy ending.

I Do I Do
I watch the entire episodes till now and don't know, when I will stop watch this one altogether, considering that I dislike the fact that the main female role is far older than the main male role plus the fact that she is going to end up with the handsome youngster, although there's a nice good-looking mature caring kinda-perfect guy, who apparently also a doctor.
I have never really liked Kim Sun-A anyway, in spite of her great acting skills.

Time Slip Dr. Jin
Another time travelling story (but yeahhh.., Rooftop Prince will still be the best).
I love the main actor (Song Seung-Heon) and actress (Park Min Young), but the story line doesn't seem so promising. By the way, there're some displeasing scenes but still bearable, e.g. cholera break-out scenes with lots of diarrhea and throwing up, opening skull.
Unlike 'Big', I'm doubtful with the ending of the story, because it might end up with something like Rooftop Prince (somewhat unclear and rather sad).


Other than that, I have no interest whatsoever in these dramas:

• Ghost (I read the summary, not interested; skimmed the first episode, not interested; don't think that it will worth a watch.)
• Bridal Mask (I read the summary, really not interested in it; wonder, why the rating could be so high, though. Maybe I will watch it someday later.)

=)
SVialli
[02.37]
[7 - 17/06/12]

commencement speeches

I have just watched two commencement speeches from two famous people, i.e. JK Rowling and Ellen DeGeneres.

It started with a post in Facebook from Mashable about a medley perfomance from a group called 'String Theory' for their graduation ceremony. I watched their show and it made me remembering so many things. Well.., high school have always been like a line between simple life and real life for me (and it seems that the graduation song from Vitamin C will never ever get old).

Anyway, after watching the performance, I looked up again at the article to read the rest and found out that they listed 10 inspiring commencement speeches by celebrities on YouTube. The first one, as usual, is Steve Jobs' (I have watched it before, so I skipped that one). 

And then, JK Rowling comes up and naturally, as a Harry Potter reader, I love her and I watched hers. One might think that it takes too long (around 20 minutes), but I believe that this one is really worth watching (or reading).

A part of her speech, which I particularly fond of:

"So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default."

The second speech that I watched from that list was Ellen's. I love her show (I don't watch it that often, though) and I wondered, how she would do a commencement speech and I found out that she really is the best. I mean, she made it short (only around 10 minutes, but clear concise) and of course, funny.

I especially love her closing words: 

"You're gonna be okay --dum du du du du just dance."

And of course, the behind-the-scenes is also worth a watch:

Watching all these commencement speeches and high school graduation performance, my thoughts are wandering around the time of my high school graduation (because I haven't yet finished my college and don't think that there'll be any graduation ceremony here). I don't remember having heard any such speeches (either I have fully forgotten about it or there's none) and therefore, questioning why hasn't there been any such motivational speeches given.


Anyway, if I can sum it up, all of those speeches talk about reaching our dreams, giving it our best and going till we reach it. Because like said, it's easier to start something than to finish it. 


=)
SVialli
[00.47]
[7 - 17/06/12]

nb: It's been so long since the last time I posted something here, despite the promise I had made to myself. And I still don't know, whether I will start over posting something regularly. 

new semester, new dramas

On last Monday my second semester has finally begun. New classes, new teachers, new classmates. And of course, there're also some new Korean Dramas being aired these days. Some of which that I watch and wait for:

Rooftop Prince

More info: DramaWiki. 

I really like this one. Not because there's Yoochun who played in Sungkyunkwan Scandal or things like that (because I don't really like him in that drama). The story is about a Prince in Joseon Era being dragged into this modern world. 

Usually I am not into this kind of fantasy story but then, right from the first episode, I simply couldn't resist myself from being interested. The plot and such are so intriguing and somewhat confusing. One can't guess what will come out next (beside the fact that the main male and female character will be together - till now, I am still wondering how both of them will be able to end up with each other). 

And by the way, this drama also serves us with some good laughter.

The King 2 Hearts

More info: DramaWiki. 

I got excited when I knew that Lee Seung Gi and Ha Ji Won will be starred in a drama together. Later on, after I watched the first episode, although I really like the scenes where there're Seung Gi and/or Ji Won, I am a little bit upset with the story line (there're psycho and military things). 

I hope that the story line will not be 'too weird' (?).

Fashion King

More info: DramaWiki. 

I started to watch this one because Yuri SNSD plays in this drama and then, when I found out that Yoo Ah In (played in Sungkyunkwan Scandal and Punch) also does, it seems really interesting.  

The opening story in this drama is very unlikely to happen in reality. It really didn't appeal to me. There're some bad luck happening with evil aunt and cousin, gangster, wreck ship, etc. But after all of it settled I begin to like it.  

Besides all that, Yoo Ah In shows off his chest ever so often in this drama. 

Love Rain

More info: DramaWiki. 

I didn't intend to watch it at first, but then, there's still no new episode from the other dramas and I 'got no choice' other than watching it. Also, there's Yoona SNSD.The first episode seemed quite promising. There's a woman who becomes a '3 second' love of two men. But then, they are best friends. Therefore one of them takes the initiative to let her go. I wonder what will happen to their kids in the following episodes. 

Maybe this drama will be full of struggles and sadness for the main characters (?).

I believe that all of those dramas are worth watching. Always hope that a week would be passed as soon as a new episode is aired, so that I can watch the following episodes instead of waiting for it. But then, a student still has classes to attend to and books to read, apart from all of these Korean Dramas.


=)
SVialli
[19.35]
[3 - 28/03/12]

The Moon That Embraces the Sun / 해를 품은 달 (2012)

More info: here.


Beberapa hari yang lalu, gw selesai nonton drama ini. Gw nonton film ini setelah drama ini selesai tayang gara-gara: ratingnya yang tinggi banget dan pengarang novelnya sama kayak yang nulis Sungkyunkwan Scandal (drama ini based on novel).


Setelah/pas nonton, gw ngerasa:

• Ceritanya lebih oke daripada Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Drama ini punya unsur-unsur mistis. Tanpa yang namanya 'black magic', ceritanya ga bakal bisa jalan. Mengingat itu 'terjadi' di zaman dulu, hal kayak gitu wajar-wajar aja.

• Meskipun ceritanya oke, gw ga suka ending-nya.

Di ending-nya, si Yang Myung dan Seol meninggal padahal gw kira masih bakal ada love line buat mereka berdua (berhubung mereka sama-sama jadi pemeran yang 'ditolak'). Kalau si Seol, meninggalnya masih dengan cara yang oke (dia nolongin si Heo Yeom). Sayangnya, si Yang Myung meninggalnya pake cara yang menurut gw kurang masuk akal (dia 'bunuh diri' berhubung udah lihat kalau dia bakal ditusuk pake tombak tapi ga mau nyelamatin diri dan yang nyebelin, si Lee Hwon dan lain-lain juga ngelihat tapi ga ngapa-ngapain sampai akhirnya dia ketusuk).

• Yang main di drama ini oke-oke banget.

Sampai episode 5, tokoh-tokohnya masih muda dan yang main juga aktor-aktris yang masih muda. Gw ngerasa wow banget sih ngelihat akting mereka yang oke banget padahal masih umur segitu. Bahkan, gw ngerasa cukup kehilangan pas tokohnya nambah umur dan mereka diganti pake aktor-aktris yang lebih tua. Jujur aja, gw lebih suka pas mereka masih kecil daripada pas udah gede (terutama si Jin Ji Hee).


Beberapa hal yang bisa diambil dari drama ini:

• Kadang ada beberapa hal yang memang bukan milik kita dan ga bakal jadi milik kita (si Prince Yang Myung tetap 'patah hati' gara-gara si Yeon Woo pas muda dan pas si Yeon Woo jadi Wol).
• Ada yang harus dikorbankan untuk mempertahankan/mengungkap/membenarkan sesuatu (si Lee Hwon dan bokapnya harus ngorbanin seseorang/sesuatu demi keadilan atau orang yang mereka sayang).
• 'Cinta' itu ga bakal berubah (gw cukup ragu sih sama yang satu ini, berhubung di drama ini, si Lee Hwon dan Yang Myung bener-bener ga tergerak sama cewe manapun meskipun si Yeon Woo udah dinyatakan meninggal dan pada saat si Yeon Woo udah jadi Wol, mereka bisa kenalin dia lagi).

Overall, drama ini oke banget buat ditonton.


=)
SVialli
[13.48]
[7 - 25/03/12]