Definitely, Maybe [Review]

Definitely, Maybe is definitely going on my top list. Maybe.

I just found it this very morning when I was trying to delete some movies from my directory – movies that I thought would be too not-my-genre, which usually is a movie I wouldn’t want to spend two hours dedicated into it. After I saw the folder, I thought I probably had watched this movie and had found it uninteresting so I couldn’t even remember whether I’ve watched it or not and what the story is about. So I opened it to make sure myself, and realised that, in fact, I haven’t – and I should definitely watch it tonight since the genre turned out to be romantic comedy, my ultimate favourite.

By ‘tonight’ means after all my work is done and I’m already lying on my bed, ready for the two hours of watching something. But that’s not what happened. This morning I couldn’t find any Pause or Stop button whatsoever so I could postpone to watch it later.

And I didn’t regret it at all.

So here it comes.

I love every single details this movie has. The story is simple, beautiful, and balanced. God! How I love the fact that I could have the opportunity to watch this kind of ‘awakening’ storyline in my age, because you know… we all sort of need that. I love how the story unfolds each of the three women, all have the equal part of William’s life with only one of them, at the end, is whom he finds he have always wanted to go back to. I love all the songs and the movie score (ALL OF THEM – really!). The frame story of Will’s adorable, if not a little annoying, daughter Maya is what I also like most from the movie. I mean, the way she realizes something very important in her dad’s story is so brilliant!

Speaking of the women Will has in his life, I think we all could find our reflection in at least one of them. The first love, the best friend, and the woman we dated seriously. So which one is usually the truest love of the main character? Every story is not always the same, but at least Will teaches us that love at some part is indeed complicated, but if we just be honest to our self: it’s actually pretty simple.

Not that simple for us, though, as we have to make our own bet on who will be Will’s ‘truest’.

Rachel Weisz is my ultimate favourite based on her previous works (and her admirable beauty, of course, since I’d ever gone far by declaring her as one of the most beautiful women standing), but my heart totally goes to April. I could definitely find some parts of myself on her – yeah you could guess which ones – and I found herself as my ideal one, someone that would definitely be my inspiration. Emily is my least favourite, but I’m still loving her part.

The comedy this movie offers is not too much, and I could find myself enjoying every single of it.

The story line about Will’s career is also my favourite kind of story I would like to find in a movie; how a character struggles to get what she or he wants. Yeah, that’s true. Saying myself as an ambitious is not generally what I did, but I couldn’t deny the fact that movies about internship, work, or college with a large amount of ‘ambition’ tangled in its main character’s life is the theme of movies I prefer so much. No hard feeling, I leave all the judgement to you.

At last, this kind of movie will always have my favour – the one that is very heartwarming without being bothered by showing some unnecessary scenes (yeah that’s what I mean). I said unnecessary since I am very much aware that at some cases, those ‘unnecessary’ scene is necessary, so I don’t have any problem dealing with it. I mean, movie is an artwork, and we watch it for all that purpose.

Guess what. When I watched this movie, all I thought the entire time was that Ryan Reynolds is Blake’s husband (I’m currently on Season 2 of Gossip Girl), but not after I half finished writing this piece that I realised Reynolds also stars in Deadpool, the movie that I was really curious of these days and the one I planned to watch next on theater.

Coincidence? Not yet, because Deadpool is actually out TODAY.

Living in a Strange Place with Strange People? (Apparently Not!) #2

It was back then when I was in the first country I visited alone, trying become all brave and explore the town by myself. I forgot, though, whether this story happened when I was in Bangkok alone or when I was staying with my friends but just got separated after visiting the Grand Palace. It was Ramadhan, and up until midday I succeeded in not breaking my fast (as what I didn't do a week earlier while visiting Ayutthaya - my lame excuse: it was unbelievably hot and I was going to climb the very high stairs!). That day I was very determined to keep on fasting as far as I could hold it.

Since most of my friends that visited the Grand Palace wanted to have lunch, I told them I wanted to go to Wat Pho alone, and they could just eat their lunch peacefully without me sitting around there not eating (with a look of jealousy lol). So yeah, I walked towards Wat Pho with a mobile Google Maps in my hand (seriously you could almost always trust Google Maps!). Around 20 minutes later, I arrived at the road which Wat Pho is on the other side of it. I walked slowly across the street, but my eyes were fixed to a row of drink seller in front of Wat Pho's gate. Seriously, they sold everything - iced coconut drink, fresh, colourful, and glowing fruits - that made me so frustrated lol. But I kept on walking, passed them and directly went to the gate.

Finally I sat at one of the bench near the ticket box and tried to contact my friends - my other friends, not them in the Grand Palace - and they said they would come to me at Wat Pho in just a few minutes. So I decided to wait for them before buying the ticket and just sat there watching people over. I was thinking that Bangkok indeed has many great tourist spots, and what's better is that the facilities for the tourists are well-provided, making the tourists all convenient to go anywhere. One of the transportations, which also I really like, Sky Train, is very easy and efficient to use. It takes you almost to all tourist attractions in Bangkok! So you don't need to be afraid to get lost when you're in Bangkok, since the transportations are every where to help you back to your hotel.

The tourists also came from various countries: I could see beautiful colour every where! Two young girls with a smartphone of popular Asia brand came to me and asked my help to take their photo in front of the gate with two big statues on each side of it. I agreed, and took two photos for them. They seemed not so satisfied with the photos, though, that they asked me to take once more. Third photo was apparently good enough, so they thanked me and went to the other side of the temple.

I sat back to the bench again, watching people walked in front of me with most of them bringing food or (very tempting) cold drinks in their hands. Again I was thinking to break my fast immediately - I mean, look at those refreshing cola they hold! And that tasty green mangoes coated with sugar! But I had made a pledge *lol again* to resist all those temptations and instead focus to succeed fasting until dark. So I tried to busy my head with thinking about something else. About my friends who hadn't arrived though it's already one hour after they said they were on their way. It's because of the traffic jam, I guess, since they used taxi to reach Wat Pho.

When I was browsing through the pictures in my pocket camera, suddenly a brunette woman, perhaps on her late sixties, sat at the bench on my left side. She wore casual clothes, and looked all alone by herself. While resting on the bench, she also observed the people walking near her. A minute later, she turned her head to me and asked,

"Are you fasting? It's Ramadhan, right?"

I looked at her, smiled, and nodded. "Yes."

We chatted a bit, until she asked me where I came from. I answered, and she looked a bit surprised.

"Really? But your English is so good for an Indonesian."

I laughed, but actually wanted to say that it's not necessarily true. No, not actually. Hey, the others are very good too! You should know more about them, then.

"I have an uncle and he's a Muslim, too. But he doesn't fast at all!" said her while shaking her head.

"Really?" I responded.

"Yeah... and he drinks too! I really don't understand him. We told him not to drink but..."

I sighed upon hearing her story. Wow, so it means this old woman must had a not-so-good impression of my religion.

"But its' actually an obligation, right, to fast?"

I said yes and explained several things to her about Ramadhan and fasting. She seemed interesting to listen until the very end.

"Yeah I thought you Muslims are very strong, you can go through the day without eating and drinking! That's really awesome," said her with a smile on her face.

I nodded, pleased to hear her saying.

After several more talks, she said that she wanted to go inside the temple again and waved goodbye.

I thanked her, which I guess I shouldn't supposedly do. But talking with her had made me feel better, and somehow I believe that it's a way of Allah saying to me to hang on a little longer (you know... those earlier temptations I was talking about lol). It was my first time doing Ramadhan fasting in a country which Muslims are not the majority of people, and I didn't have any one to share my you-can't-eat-anything-at-all-yet experience, so I was kinda proud of myself when I got back to Angthong later that day and told my host family that I was still fasting.

About the old friendly woman I met at Wat Pho, well, I actually always believe on coincidental things like that. We can talk every thing to Him directly every where and every time. All we have to do is ask, and He somehow always has a way to reply our du'a. Not directly, but in a way that we could know, feel, and understand, that He always listens to us.

Living in a Strange Place with Strange People? #1

hey there.
it's been quite long since I posted something here. Actually I made several drafts but they are all unfinished and I'm frustrated on how to post it like that. So, hopefully, this'll be my first official post since my arrival in Thailand.

Yeah, so several weeks ago I was suddenly so courageous to the point that I decided to go abroad all alone haha. It felt pretty good, though, knowing that you're the only person yourself would rely on. It makes you feel stronger (and kinda more confident since you'll know yourself better at such time).

I have to say that, Thailand has been very nice to me. The food, the people, the sky... (but sadly not the weather pfuh). The food are surprisingly good and I could enjoy almost all of my meals so far. The people also extraordinarily nice! Day by day I could feel closer to them despite of the language difference between me and them. And the sky? It's perfect for every photograph I took in every wat (temple) here. I just love it, really.

Suddenly, strangely, I could find myself humming their national anthem haha (don't blame me, I hear it here almost every day!). It is also incredible to find my self slowly can communicate with younger students who have very limited english (what should I do with only ABCs and 1-10?). Even I enjoy teaching in older students class (primary school grade 6) though they often laugh for every single Thai words I tried to pronounce. But I don't care, I will get better!

Anyway, on my previous draft I was actually about to make a short project called One Day One Syukur but since it is sooooo hard for me to stay in front of the laptop and writing my all-day experience so I canceled it. But I will put here the piece I've done writing earlier, just to make you know a little bit on how nice Thai people are!

<<the story below happened on my first day in the school, June 30 2015. enjoy!>>

Yesterday, I was told earlier that I'm going to start teaching primary school but suddenly the teacher said I couldn't teach that day. I was like whyyyy but okay with that. I just wanted to know why, but Khru Ja'o, Khru Tae, and Khru Prani (also my 'mother' in Thailand, whose house I'm living in) thought I was upset and sad because of that. (Later that day, I knew that the schedule for the students hasn't been arranged yet so at that time they still had art class instead of English). Several minutes later, Khru Ja'o said to me that she's going to take me around to meet with local people. We went to Student Development Centre (it's actually a preschool with some cute tiny 3-year-old children). After that, we walked to the sub-district office as Khru Ja'o said that she works there when the school is off. We went inside the office introduced me to all of her friends there! I was so happy to meet the people as they greeted me nicely and asked me to take some photos haha.

After the subdistrict office, she took me to her mother's house (which reminds me a lot of my house in a kobong in Kotamobagu) and to her house. I learnt that she owns a small clothes shop in her house. She insisted me on taking some clothes for free, but I just couldn't do that! At first there's one who captivated me (LOL) so I said I would only take one. She kept showing me all of the clothes, insisted on giving me three clothes [!]. I said that I would pay, but she mentioned that it was a gift from her. At that point I was so surprised with her kindness and hospitality. I finally took two (LOL. I just didn't know how to refuse it! >-<), and said to her I will also give her some gifts later. Like really, I will surely give it to her.

I knew that she did all of that to cheer me up since she thought I was kinda sad, and I really am touched. These strange people are really kind to a strange people like me.

<<end>>

Anyway, the One Syukur I'd like to make today is this quite amazing thing happens between me and a girl from kindergarten 1. Her name is Penn, and she seldom talks. She refused to talk to me and pretty much to every one if there's nothing really important she's going to say. Even Khru Ja'o calls her 'low battery' since she moves very slow. When you try to talk with her, she will only stand there, staring at somewhere else but not your eyes, and literally close her mouth. I was trying really hard (I even told her "pleaseee.. just say one word" but she pretended not to hear). She is small, the smallest among other students, but she is really adorable and beautiful.

I tried to approach her several times, but still she refuses to talk. Today, when she was sitting alone, I went to her and said that I'm going to draw her face. She, obviously, didn't understand what I'm saying so she left before the drawing was finished. Several minutes later, she came back to the class, crying. No one often know what's the cause of her crying, but she always looks very pitiful. I came to her, patted her shoulders, and gave her my tissue. She keeps crying, though, and I suddenly remembered about my drawing. I took the paper, cut my small drawing on it, and gave it to her. Then she miraculously stop crying! I actually was so happy and could only smile to her.

Later, when she walked from the class to go home, I encountered with her, and she was smiling to me! Yeah, she was looking right to my eyes and smiling! I was also smiling happily, waved at her, and saying goodbye. That feels really good! :)

Actually there is plenty other One Syukur that I experienced before, but I just couldn't make it here. Later if I have some time, I will certainly post more!

Well, every day, every one of us has at least, if not many, one thing to be grateful for, right? And to find it, we just need to look with a very open heart.

Cheers!~

Catatan Menuju Duapuluh; Bagian 7 (END)

Jumat, 24 April 2015

(1 hari sebelum 20)

Today is a special day with a special night!

It’s nice having a special day with your most special one(s);

Sharing laugh,

story,

support,

worry,

and even silence,

At that time, you suddenly realise that you still have those people whom you love dearly and love you back.

And there is One who makes all those things possible to you. He loves you the most, and there is nothing more important than that.

Alhamdulillah... Selamat Duapuluh, ya, Din :)

Catatan Menuju Duapuluh; Bagian 6

Kamis, 23 April 2015

(2 hari menuju 20)

Hari ini lebih positif, deh

Seperti biasa; pagi-pagi dateng telat ke kelas Tepeng (Teori Pengajaran Bahasa Inggris) tapi tetep dapet presensi haha *I’m such a professional, right?* UTS-nya belum dibagiin, tapi tadi dikasih tahu nilai terendah dan tertinggi. I didn’t hope for the best, but please, don’t make it the least *crossing fingers*. Presentasi, bla bla... dan akhirnya selesai.

Nunggu kelas Reading seperti biasa, dan bapaknya masuk 1 jam sebelum kelas bubar *tumben, biasanya 10 menit sebelum bubar LOL*. Tiba-tiba aja bapaknya ngasih kertas dan bilang kita kuis. Fine, sekelas sih pasrah-pasrah aja. Belajar ga belajar ga ngaruh juga... secara kita kerjanya cuma baca long selections and nothing more. I mean; ga ada teori atau apapun itu yang bener-bener kita pelajarin semester ini, so the test must be something we need to think using only our own knowledge.

Anyway, bacaan di soal nya tentang misunderstanding about love. We don’t feel love, but we do love. It’s all about commitment to be responsible to our significant other. That’s love. Then the question is; does true love really exist? Bapaknya nanya ke kita yang cewek: kalian lebih pilih mana; someone whom you don’t love but is responsible, or someone whom you love but is not responsible.

That’s tough, really. *haha* Saya memilih opsi pertama. Kalau soal memilih antara cinta atau orang yang baik, yang bertanggungjawab, jelas saya memilih yang kedua. Tapi kalau pertanyaannya masih pertanyaan klasik—cinta atau uang?—yang selalu jadi kontroversi antara saya dan teman-teman di kosan, saya masih akan memilih cinta. Maksudnya, ini ga mungkin juga kan walaupun saya memilih cinta dan orang saya cintai itu bener-bener penniless? Konteksnya di sini maksudnya yang ‘agak kekurangan’, kan? Yap, saya tetap memilih opsi pertama. Uang bisa dicari, dan lagian ga usah khawatir tentang uang karena rezeki milik kita udah ditentuin dari awal dan ga bakal pindah ke orang lain. Selama kita masih hidup, itu artinya kita masih akan diberikan rezeki oleh Allah. Sedikit atau banyak, itu hanya soal kita mensyukuri atau tidak. Dengan mensyukuri apa yang kita miliki, kita akan selalu merasa cukup, kan? Kita bersyukur karena kita masih diberikan dalam jumlah seperti itu, tidak dikurangi sama sekali. Akan selalu ada kalimat ‘ini lebih baik, bukan, daripada...’. Bayangkan aja kalau kita terbiasa bersyukur untuk hal-hal kecil, bagaimana senangnya kita ketika mensyukuri atas hal-hal yang besar? J

Oh ya, tadi siang saya dan dua teman saya ikut seminar softskills di Balai Sidang *ah that memorable place!*. Seminarnya lumayan berguna, jadi tahu kalau kita harus bisa mengontrol alam bawah sadar (subconscious mind) untuk bisa lebih maksimal dalam menggunakan potensi diri kita. Selain itu, kita juga harus bisa menyelaraskan pikiran, perasaan, dan perbuatan agar hidup lebih positif. I don’t know how, but let’s just try it anyway. Dan ngomong-ngomong saya baru tahu ketika kita mengatupkan kedua tangan, ibu jari yang terletak di paling atas bukan menunjukkan bagian otak dominan kita, melainkan ibu jari yang terletak di bawah. Kalau begitu, saya lebih dominan otak kanan padahal selama ini saya selalu yakin bahwa saya tipe left-brain dominant. Entahlah, mungkin itu berarti saya lumayan seimbang antara otak kiri-kanan *semoga begitu ya haha*. Beberapa ciri otak kanan emang ada di saya sih, misalnya lebih fokus ke nada daripada ke lirik ketika mendengar lagu. Yap, saya juga sadar saya tidak terlalu terorganisir walaupun saya suka selalu membuat rencana di awal *yang pada akhirnya sedikit banyak tidak berjalan lancar hehe*.  Anyway, it’s always interesting to know ourselves better, right?

(Oh ya, ada juga teori menarik tentang extrovert-introvert, tapi sepertinya tidak akan saya ceritakan sekarang hehe)

Besok harus bangun pagi, soalnya. Harus menjemput tamu yang sudah ditunggu-tunggu haha.

Keep positive! Be optimistic about your life! And you’ll see great things coming to your life. 

Catatan Menuju Duapuluh; Bagian 5

Rabu, 22 April 2015

(3 menuju 20)

Hari ini lelah haha. I’ve come to realise more that I’m the type of person who can’t be easily understood by others. I’m just too complicated, with even more complicated mind. The problem is, sometimes I couldn’t say properly what I’m going to say (I tend to say something straightforwardly with high incomprehensibility lol). The more I try to explain, the more I hate that person because she or he just cannot understand what I say.

I wish there will be a cure for this.

Anyway, hari ini saya jadi menentukan pilihan bahwa saya akan fokus untuk mencari pendidikan S2 yang berhubungan dengan target field saya nanti, yaitu penerjemahan. Sepertinya mulai sekarang saya akan mulai mencari-cari info tentang school of translation mana yang terbaik. Semoga saja keputusan ini tidak akan berubah-ubah lagi, ya. Walaupun kalau memang harus berubah juga tak apa-apa.

Besok, hanya ada 1 hari lagi sebelum Papa dan Lia datang! Dan kabar baiknya, saya bisa menjemput mereka setelah diberi tahu kalau hari Jumat besok saya tidak bisa mengajar (lagi) karena anak-anaknya harus ikut Perjusa. Fine. Silver linings, at least.

Wah, gila, sih. Kurang dari tiga hari lagi untuk menikmati sembilan belas. Maka, izinkan saya untuk menuliskan angka itu sepuasnya. Di dalam hati.

Fine. Mungkin tak apa jika dituliskan di sini juga.

19. 19. 19. 19. 19. SEMBILAN BELAS! SEMBILAN BELAS! SEMBILAN BELAS! SAYA SEMBILAN BELAS TAHUN!

LOL. Okay. Now I’m ready. I should be.

Catatan Menuju Duapuluh; Bagian 4

Selasa, 21 April 2015

(4 hari sebelum 20)

Semakin dekat, semakin saya berpikir bahwa waktu memang harus terus berjalan....

Saya selalu membayangkan—bahkan sejak satu dua tahun yang lalu—bagaimana rasanya menjadi seseorang berumur duapuluh? Saya tak ingin! Saya ingin terus berumur belasan!

Tapi hari ini saya sadar, memang itulah harga yang harus dibayar jika saya ingin hal-hal menakjubkan terjadi; ada perubahan di sini dan di sana—yang menyenangkan atau pun tidak. Itulah harga yang harus dibayar; jika saya ingin tetap hidup. Dan bertemu—atau akan bertemu—dengan orang-orang yang akan memiliki bagian di hidup saya.

Hari ini tak banyak yang terjadi, sebenarnya. Terlalu biasa.

Kecuali sebuah kesadaran yang menyusup ke dalam pikiran saya: wow, you’ve really changed, Din!

Saya tahu; saya berubah. Entah itu baik atau tidak, saya benar-benar sedang berubah. Dan saya tak bisa menghentikannya.

Sepertinya, menjadi dewasa itu adalah menjadi lebih siap menghadapi perubahan.

Bukankah begitu?

The time is tricking us; all the time (see? Even I’ve just mentioned ‘it’! gosh). Kadang kita ingin waktu berjalan cepat, tapi di lain waktu kita justru berharap agar ada alat untuk bisa memperlambat waktu. Yang konstan hanya satu; waktu itu sendiri. Ia tak maju, tak mundur, tak mempercepat, tak memperlambat. Bahkan, mungkin saja ia tak ada. Hanya kita saja yang suka mengada-ngada. Menciptakan waktu, memberi nama dan tanda, berusaha mengontrolnya, lalu frustrasi karena tiba-tiba ia berbalik melawan keinginan kita.

Bukankah aneh, manusia itu...

Ah ya. Barusan terlintas: jika waktu sebenarnya tidak riil, bukankah berarti usia juga begitu? Dari mana dan bagaimana caranya saya bisa disebut DUA PULUH TAHUN (sebentar lagi)? Kata siapa yang dengan seenaknya memberi tanda di kehidupan saya sendiri? Saya tak butuh angka!

Saya tahu saya berubah setiap hari; berubah menjadi sesuatu yang lain. Tapi tak perlu ada yang memberi tahu “kau sudah tua! Berkepala dua!”. Tidak. Kata siapa? Saya tak butuh angka untuk bisa terus hidup, ya kan?

Ah, kapan-kapan saya harus membaca banyak buku mengenai hal ini. Dulu saya pernah membeli A Brief History of Time, tapi buku itu sudah lapuk dimakan air hujan bahkan sebelum saya menyelesaikan setengahnya. Atau mungkin ada buku lain yang lebih layak yang bisa menolong saya? Saya takut jadi gila.

Mungkin sebentar lagi mereka akan mulai menamai apa yang sedang saya alami ini.

Atau mungkin sudah ada namanya?

Aging anxiety syndrome sepertinya lumayan bagus didengar.

Tapi tidak. Kan sudah saya bilang saya tidak khawatir bertambah umur. Lagipula siapa yang butuh angka?

P.S: Oke, saya rasa ini gara-gara saya barusan menonton film tentang time travelling, jadi agak sentimental. Tenang saja, saya masih waras, kok. Semoga saja begitu.