The Conjuring: A Must-See Based-On-True Story Horror Movie!

Like any other horror movie (Amytiville Horror and sorts of) this movie began with a family moving to country side in Rhode Island to a big cheap house. As you can guess, a big house with the cheap price means there is something wrong inside!

Carolyn and Roger Perron and their five girls moved to a country side and it all seemed like everything was fine, until a train of strange things happened. There were such bruised on Carolyn's body part. She was told that it's due to calcium deficiency but later on she'd find out the truth. The girls were haunted like every night. The clocks always stopped at 3.07 in the morning, music box with a kid,

and there was something wrong in the crypt. Concerning on what they're going through, Carolyn went ask Ed and Lorraine, a couple which were demonologists and dealing with exorcism, examining and other demonic stuff.

Lorraine told them that the area of the house were haunted by a demonic spirit named Bathsheba. Lorraine saw the kid named Rory and a women hanged in the backyard (they were all ghosts). SO CREEPY and things were getting worse! Bathsheba wanted to use Carolyn's body and get her killing her girls. 

Roger, Ed, Lorraine and their team had to work hard to evict Bathsheba out of Carolyn's body. Ed and Lorraine did exorcism and there was battle between demonic spirit and them. All was rushing like to  an end. Birds, so many birds, suddenly flied around and crashed the house. Carolyn screamed and shouted as hell as her body turns horrible. Crosses fell down and things were out of control. After those bad things, they finally could evict Bathsheba out of Carolyn's body.

Based on true story, this movie is a must-see! There are so many things we can learn from the movie, from science of the nature of spirit which some people are just skeptical with to how actually sincerity to help those needed will erase our dubiety of what we can actually do. This movie is horrible, but cool! Gotta watch!

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My Ramadan Story: Chapter 3

Banyak banget yang bisa diomongin tentang Ramadan. Yang buka bareng teman lah, yang sahur on the road lah, yang batal puasa lah, yang belanja Lebaran lah. Banyak deh! Tapi, masih ingat nggak sih waktu kita SD dulu? Puasa waktu SD jauh berbeda dengan waktu kita SMA atau kuliah. Kalau kuliah kita mau sahur, silahkan. Mau buka jam delapan pagi, silahkan. Mau nggak makan seharian karena nggak punya duit juga silahkan. Kalau waktu SD semua serba diatur. "Agak" ribet karena kemana-mana harus bawa buku. Nah, what I'm talking about here is Buku Kegiatan Ramadan waktu kita SD dulu. Seperti apa sih? Push the button!

Buku kegiatan Ramadan adalah semacam buku saku yang isinya tentang APAPUN selama Ramadan dan WAJIB diisi setiap halamannya dan DITANDATANGANI atau kamu akan BERUJUNG SIAL.
What's in it actually? Lots of things! Mulai jadwal sholat lima waktu selama sebulan penuh, jadwal sholat Jumat selama Ramadan, jadwal taraweh, catatan ceramah bapak ustad sehabis solat subuh, catatan khotbah di masjid, sholat Ied, catatan khotbah sholat Ied, dan pastinya KOLOM TANDA TANGAN.

Jadi setiap kita selesai melakukan kegiatan apapun yang berhubungan dengan Ramadan, kolom tandatangan harus diisi. Entah itu oleh orang tua, pak ustad di masjid, pak ustad di musholla, siapa pun. Sehabis sholat, minta tanda tangan orang tua. Sehabis taraweh, minta tanda tangan pak ustad. Sehabis baca Al-Qur'an, ditulis dulu baca surat apa, dari ayat berapa sampe ayat berapa, dan ditandatangani oleh pak ustad. Hari Jumat, kita ke masjid dan mencatat materi khotbah yang disampaikan pak ustad, dan ditandatangani pak ustad. Lebaran day apa lagi. Ketika yang lain ngebet pulang buat ngumpul dan sungkem kita diharuskan ngantri minta tanda tangan ke pak ustad. Kok gak sekalian aja semua yang ngasih kita angpao dimintain tanda tangan. Maksudku, semua serba tanda tangan. Mungkin ini baik juga untuk anak SD membiasakan diri cari tanda tangan biar mereka nanti nggak kaget pas orientasi di high school kalau disuruh minta tanda tangan ke senior-senior.
 
Terlepas dari semua kerumitan yang ada di dalam buku Ramadan, sebenarnya tujuannya adalah untuk mendidik siswa menjadi disiplin sejak dini. Dan buku kegiatan tersebut merupakan pendekatan yang baik untuk membentuk pola pikir anak untuk selalu sistematis dan lebih menghargai waktu. The thing is, how could it work? I mean, when we're trying to make someone discipline (in terms of religious activities, in this case) in their early ages, in the meantime though we impose them and moreover, we make them scared as we intimidate them in any way? Well, I'm not sure it would. They will do it simply cause they're scared of the bad scores given by the teachers when they don't. Some even more getting worse. They manipulate it all. They cheat. And it is not the best way out, I believe. And I did it too, sometimes. I mean, regarding the book thing, for any reason.


What about your stories? :)

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Oh, It's Just Love (AGAIN??!!)

Well, to be honest I'm just in love with someone which is my friend in my workplace.

I do not know why I love the person but I just can't deny this feeling.

Why am I so easy to fall for someone?

Why am I so easy to get this feeling?

I do not feel that I'm weak so that a little impression can even melt me down.

I think it's natural if we see someone, we get to know them, and there's something ii us that lead us to hope there is something between us, in the end.

Love is something we cannot control. It's the wildest thing ever that even God cannot make it tamed. I believe so. Love is a part of life that we have no power to handle, sometimes--if not most times. Love, death, and fortune are things we can't control. I do not want to blame anybody for what I've been through, I mean, in this case, love. If you ask me why, simple answer coming out is "I don't know". Like, seriously.

What I'm fear of is that how actually this kind of feeling will get the best of me in the end. And I don't wanna let it happen. I once got so much pain cause of it and I do not wanna do it, no more. I do not wanna get my self sink! Love is blind. Love is deaf. Love is anything destructive if we're drowning too deep in it and there is no way out for us to breathe. So, until when should I hold this feeling, in the meantime though I have to deal with any possibility?

Can anybody out there give me clue to get it all done? To get this "fixed"? I'm "mixed"!!!!!

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Explore Batam: The Great Escape To Nongsa!

Batam is well-known as industrial center in Indonesia, the nearest island to the super busy neighboring Singapore. But do you know what makes it different to its neighbor? Yup! Batam has less polluted air than Singapore. My friends who went to Singapore often complain about the heat (sometimes reach 36 degrees) and since there is always traffic there so it's just crowded and people chase after the time. No relax lah!

Most of the foreign visitors coming to Batam are from Singapore and Malaysia since the distance is relatively short. It's only 40 minutes by ferry from Singapore to Batam and vise versa. There is an area in Batam that is the place of resorts. It is Nongsa.

There are several resorts in the area. Nongsa Point Marina, Batam View Beach Resort, Turi Beach and Palm Springs (for playing golf!) are some of the places you can escape to! With private beach and activities (land and sea sports, BBQ, partying, and stuffs!) the visitors will be pampered by the quiet, private, refreshing moments as what they just need after rushing for work along the weekdays. 

Craving for seafood? Just go to Kelong Seafood Restaurant (in Batam View Beach Resort). Overall, Nongsa is one of the best place to escape. The resorts with all facilities and activities and its inclusive beach is one of the the best with affordable price. 

The last, and maybe the crucial one. They accept US Dollar, Singapore Dollar and Indonesian Rupiah as transaction. There are money changers around the island. So, let's just escape!!!!

Next explore: Batam Central Business District!

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My Ramadan Story: Chapter 1

Ramadan is coming! Everybody's just like in euphoria by the coming of Ramadan.I'm sure you know already what Ramadan is. It's a fully-month fasting for Muslims. But it's not what I'm talking about here today. Instead, I'm talking about my first Ramadan day. When everybody prepared the best before Ramadan came, I got my worst time instead.

3 days before...

I was just so happy to have my lovely Durian juice. It's 08.00 in the evening but it's just as hot as 33 degrees, as hell! Sumpah, panas banget itu! Dan pas temanku datang dengan jus durian di tangannya, rasanya......surga! Segeeeer banget minum jus durian malem-malem gini. Pengusir gerah!

You know what, di Batam kan terkenal banget jus duriannya. Enak dan murah. Maybe karena di sini durian lumayan melimpah kali yaaa. Tapi, jus durian yang aku minum ternyata berkhianat! You know what, setelah beberapa saat minum jus durian, tenggorokanku berasa dipanggang. Panas dan nggak enak banget. I tried to sleep but I couldn't. Kayak ada tiga juta batalion semut nongkrong di tenggorokan! I just can't figure out!

2 days before...

Aku masuk kerja dengan suara sebelas duabelas ma Dewi Perssik! Berasa kayak penyanyi dangdut mau dateng ke sebuah talk show. Suara habis, tenggorokan gatal, dan badan meriang. Kok gak sekalian aja tumbuh uban. Maksudku, sumpah, berasa udur deh!

Malam hari, teman-teman ngajak berenang. Actually, I was not in my best condition physically. But, it looked like fun and I just couldn't deny it anyway.

Byuuuur! Aku renang (pake bola basket sebagai pelampung. I cannot swim, actually) ma teman-teman. It was fun. Like, a lot! Sampai aku ngerasa perutku berkhianat (kayak tenggorokanku kemarin nggak cukup parah aja!). I felt like there were butterflies rock&roll in my tummy.  I try to hold on.

Byuuuur! Bukannya aku berenang lagi, tapi aku muntah! Seisi perut keluar. ALL OUT! TOTALITAS banget deh aku muntahnya.

Okay, mungkin aku harus tidur. Setelah tidur cukup, badan pasti berasa baikan, dan pasti nggak mual-mual lagi. Dan ternyata tidak. Aku nggak bisa tidur. Cuma menggeliat-menggeliat nggak jelas di atas ranjang. Dengan perut mual. dan...

Byuuuuur! Aku muntah lagi untuk kedua kalinya...

Aku muntah lagi untuk ketiga kalinya...

Aku muntah lagi untuk keempat kalinya...

Aku muntah lagi untuk kelima kalinya...

Perutku capek.

Seriously! Nggak tahu kenapa ya aku muntahnya semaniak itu.

Bahkan ibu-ibu hamil aja muntahnya gak se-militan itu.

Perutku seperti dikuras habis sampai-sampai aku takut perutku ntar yang keluar karena dah nggak ada lagi yang bisa dikeluarin.

1 day before...

Aku muntah untuk pertama kalinya sore ini (aku coba menahan untuk nggak muntah dari makan siang tadi!)

Aku muntah untuk kedua kalinya sore ini. Cewek-cewek model Elle aja biar ngidap bulimia nggak seserius ini muntahnya.

Akhirnya aku istirahat totalsore itu. Dan malamnya badanku membaik. Kayaknya tubuhku sudah bisa kompromi. Aku yakin besok sudah bisa puasa. Tinggal istirahat aja dan pasti semuanya bakalan membaik.

Dan ternyata tidak. Ketika badanku dah mulai bisa sinkron, teman-temanku mulai berkhianat. malam itu aku lagi enak-enaknya nonton TV. Nonton NCIS. Dan tiba-tiba dua sejoli nangkring di depan TV sambil kerokan pake minyak kayu putih. O'o...Aku cuma bisa nutupin hidung pake novel yang kupinjam dari Ade. Okay...mereka semakin brutal nuangin minyak kayu putihnya. Dan seluruh ruangan penuh dengan aroma-aroma yang tidak diundang itu. Mereka semakin agresif deh karena tahu aku tidak bisa menolerir bau-bau seperti itu. Buru-buru aku lari ke kamar mandi sampai akhirnya...

Byuuuur! Aku muntah lagi karena hal konyol. Minyak kayu putih.

Dan badanku berkhianat lagi.

When the day comes...

Tadaaa! Aku nggak puasa karena aku masih mual.

"Hamida (hamil) buk?" tanya temanku and I was like "whatever".

Anyway, aku bisa puasa untuk hari keduanya dan moga aja sampai Ramadan kelar.

And anyway, Happy Ramadan!

PS: Benda konyol itu benar-benar bikin aku mual ~.~ 

  

  

 

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Carly's Take A Picture: Another Summer Hits!

Who doesn't recognize Carly Rae Jepsen? The young comical hipster-style Canadian singer that hit and flooded last summer nuance with her hit-wonder's "Call Me Maybe". Now, she's back with another mid-80's beat's "Take A Picture". This song reminds me of Madonna's 80s' and there is Butch Walker's "Open Happiness" intro inserted that reminds us of The Coca Cola commercial as well. The melody is ear-catching, a little bit after-night-twist-beat, and definitely, SOOO SUMMER!!!!

The lyrics are easy to remember. You can move along the beat. Just take a look at the lyrics below and listen to the song. I do not think I need to breakdown the song lyrically, paraphrase it like a literature study. Just check this one out and seize the summer time!!!

 

"Take A Picture"

Flying kites
With boy wonder
Hold tight
To me all summer

Reading my magazines
Dancing in my blue jeans

Pucker up in sunglasses
Making love to the flashes
Posing the way that we do for everybody to see
Polaroid through your lashes
Only thing that will last is
I take a picture of you taking a picture of me

I take a picture of you taking a picture of me
I take a picture of you taking a picture of me
Tomorrow always happens too soon
I wish I had an electric moon
To save the light

Fireworks
And night streamers
Baby blue
With the day dreamers

Under water
Close to me
Hold my breath
In my blue jeans

Pucker up in sunglasses
Making love to the flashes
Posing the way that we do for everybody to see
Polaroid through your lashes
Only thing that will last is
I take a picture of you taking a picture of me.

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My First Ramadhan In Batam

It's my first Ramadhan days in Batam. I have fasting month and stay far away from family and have lots of things to do. It doesn't make any different to me to have such thing as I'm not really a religious typical person. But one for sure, it's harder to stay fasting all day long since it's--like it or not--hotter here than anywhere else I've ever been. I'm so thirsty and like powerless so much as I had no supper. I do not really like supper anyway. I mean, waking u at 3 in the morning and have a bunch of food on a plate. It's just...terrible. But, there is no way out unless you break fast right now and you will not feel like you're starving. But it's not what I actually wanna tell you here.

Yesterday I was like a center of the universe as my friends kept asking me what religion I actually possessed. As I had lunch yesterday. I have no idea why some people really take whatsoever-religion-we-possess account. It's not a big deal for me anyway. I mean, I believe what makes us good is not merely what we believe. It's all about what we behave.

Some of my friends just look weird at me as I do not really care of any kind of religion I possess. As if I'm a truly sinner who shall be punished in hell. As if I'm a really bad person as I have nothing to hold on (at least they see me that way). All I can do is just "It's my business, Dude! Back off!". I mean, I have something to hold on, anyway, anyhow. I get a grip and I do not lose it anyway. How could they say that and give such valuation and judgement? They simply say and insist what they believe as rightest. They feel righteous by, let's say, saying what I'm doing is wrong

It seems like the Indonesian society cannot deal with this condition yet. As they're raised in the religions' doctrine's haze that in the end shape the mindset that anything but the-same-like-me is not-right-at-all. Sadly, they believe that hatred is okay. It is confusing and annoying at the same time. How could you justify that you spread hatred or negative thinking against those (like me, at least), meanwhile they believe in something that actually (but they do not really know it yet) do not justify hatred at all?

Anyone, do me a favor!

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Ramadhan: Pemahamanku Tentang Puasa / Me And Fasting

Setiap tahun, semua muslim di penjuru dunia akan mengalami apa yang kata mereka sebagai bulan penuh berkah dan pintu ampunan. Bulan untuk bisa semakin mendekatkan diri dengan sang pencipta, dengan menahan berbagai keinginan dan rasa.  

Terutama di Indonesia dan negara-negara muslim lainnya, Ramadhan merupakan bulan yang sangat ditunggu-tunggu dengan berbagai macam perayaan untuk menyambut kedatangannya. Namun, terlepas dari hingar bingarnya, aku mencoba memahami makna puasa yang merupakan inti dari Ramadhan itu sendiri.

Berpuasa adalah menahan keinginan. Apapun keinginan itu. Mulai dari masalah fisik (makan, minum, dsb) sampai kebiasaan yang tidak kita sadari tidak baik bagi kita (gossiping, too much watching TV, marah,

dll). Intinya, menahan. Dan seringkali, kita tidak sabar untuk menahan sesuatu dari dalam diri kita.

Adanya dorongan untuk melakukan apapun merupakan hal yang wajar yang dimiliki setiap manusia. Entah itu dorongan untuk kebaikan atau sebaliknya. Inilah sebanarnya yang harus kita hadapi selama berpuasa. Personally, pemahaman bahwa di bulan puasa setan-setan dibelenggu memang ada benarnya. Bahwa apapun yang kita lakukan tidak ada hubungannya dengan setan, entah setan secara harafiah maupaun sebagai sebuah konsep. Kalaupun memang iya, tetap saja, tindakan kita adalah manifestasi dari keputusan yang kita buat. Dari ego yang ada dalam diri kita masing-masing. Lagipula, buat yang atheist, pemahaman tentang setan juga sangat sulit untuk diterima.

Secara keseluruhan, puasa adalah bentuk pengendalian diri. Dari keinginan-keinginan, dorongan ego. Dan, personally, IMHO, esensi puasa tidak hanya berlaku selama bulan Ramadhan, tapi selama kita hidup.

Selamat berpuasa :)

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If It's Not Bad, It's Worse!

The Weather!

I mean, oh my goodness, how could you adapt to the hardly-friendly-region called Malacca waters (Batam island, Singapore, and the surrounding)?

You know what, this morning was just shiny like there would be summer this whole mid-year. It's 7.30 in the morning when I was about to go to work and I had no worry about the(sudden)rain. I knew that my jeans would be just dried by the time I went back from work and I was pretty sure they (the jeans) were fine during the dry-in-the-sun time. But now I realize that the worry should be there like all the time.

I was having emails and queries to reply when one in a room suddenly said "Oh, it's rainy hard out there!" Then I looked out the window and I was like "What?! My jeans! My jeans! My jeans!". But all I could do was just looking back at the beloved-always-rushing monitor (as I had to) and "Okay, I love my job! I love my job! Gotta love my job though I love my jeans even more!"

I mean, you gotta be ready for the WORST thing can be when you're living in Malacca waters like Batam or Singapore. The weather is no compromise at all. Can you figure out how to deal with the temperature from 34 degrees (95F) over the day to drop to 25 degrees (77F) over the night? Not to mention the crazy speedy wind and storms to come anytime they want. Seriously! I mean, I often saw the hurricane news in television and it looked creepy and now I'm like having it all, all the days. Moreover, the rain whatsoever spread out like hell. I mean, when it's so hard rainy whatsoever in one part of the island, the other parts (even if it's 2 miles away) are just fine! 

I have no idea whether it's due to the over-blown-up global warming or it's just supposed to be that way as daily-tiny-stranded-islands's-weather. Overall, you need more than just

weather channel on if you are dumped off in the area like Malacca waters. If it's not bad, it's worse!

PS: I'm worrying my jeans!

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Who Is Your Truly Mr. Right?

Heart beats faster, your world turns brighter, and you're getting hard (sometimes). That's when you start falling in love with someone (you believe) you can share your world with. The thing is, IS IT?

Well,

We ever fell in love, if not, often. Just like I did.

Every time I fall in love with someone I believe the person is just the best for me. I'm drowning into the deep love fantasy, hypnotized by the beauty of romance's colors, and paralyzed by the spell of misleading whispers of desire.

Love is when we're falling in love, most of us believe it is.

However, love is, also, when we're breaking up.

It pleases, and it hurts, in the end. That 's love.

In every relationship we make, we believe that he is the right man, she is meant to be with us like till the end of time. All of us are trying to make our own stories, and we lead it into the happy ending one. Sadly, sometimes, the fact doesn't say so. We have to fight for it like it is the only option and we make ourselves work so much harder on it. When it comes to an end, we're flipping upside down like on a roller-coaster, whining, crying, blaming, anything. This is the hardest part we're up against but we have to. We deny the truth, we get depressed, we get mad, then we finally see.

Is she the right person? Is he my Mr. Right? As ain't nothing's going right then sometimes.

So, love's rolling and the ending is flipping like hell with or without anybody's intention.

  

What should we do then?

Maybe some of us keep on looking for the one and only Mr. Right, deploy all the maneuvers to fight for it or, maybe, we just roll the dice instead. The latter is just the right way to do, personally, I believe. Since, there's something out of our control. It doesn't mean that I'll give upon love I should fight for. No, it doesn't. I just wanna say that I don't wanna let myself get blinded and hard to move on merely due to the faith we've made and to-self-enforcement. Just be real. That's the deal.

So, who is your Mr. Right? Do we need him actually?

:)

  

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