dimanche, janvier 15, 2006

splurging again?


Well, probably not splurging, since it "only" cost me less than 70 GBP (Great Britain Poundsterling).

I bought a little Lady Dior keychain... *gasps*.

Oh, come on. It's not *that* expensive. Not as expensive as the Braun Buffel wallet I bought for Mom. Money is not an object.

Yeah right.

It was full moon and I just needed something.

I went to Plaza Senayan with B (he just found another true love. Let's just hope that this time it's for real). And I went to the Christian Dior boutique. The cuff was still not there yet, so I made up my mind and bought the keychain instead.

And carrying the little paper bag containing the trinket made me dare enough to actually go inside Louis Vuitton (where I found the awesome Globe Shopper Cabas, which is so not affordable since it's USD 1,200 something, shown in the picture is the MM version). But that's it! I don't think I'm *that* interested in Louis Vuitton.

Blue Globe Shopper Cabas MM

Next stop was Prada (yaay!!). I could finally enter that store, which put up surprisingly cheap stuffs. I mean, well, not that cheap, but you know, like wayyy below Louis Vuitton.

The Prada bags were not that cool, though. I saw cooler designs at Esprit (with lower price), and the shoes were also not that nice, so we went out.

And to add to that nice night, B and I went out clubbing. Of course, we were trying to drag along L, but she had so many things to do so she declined.

We went to a new club called Babyface. It's really, really nice.

Babyface
Gedung Djakarta Theater, 2nd floor
Jl. MH Thamrin no. 9
Jakarta Pusat 10340
Phone: (62 21) 3192 5808
Fax: (62 21) 3192 4101
E-mail: babyface@nzn.co.id

The crowd was a bit shy, but since the music was great, soon people started dancing. It cost you IDR 60 thous (app. USD 6) to enter.

And then we went home. I slept until really late in the afternoon when I got a message from La Fleur that the Grandma of one of our best friends just passed away.

This really best friend of mine is... well, what can I say... A really best friend. We fought our ways together to a shining A to be able to graduate.

I didn't go to her house (which was so far away from mine and I got wiped out thanks to the night before, for sure) and I only sent her an SMS message expressing my condolences. I'm just not good at consoling people.
And by not visiting her at a time when she probably needed me more than other times, clearly showed my selfishness (I traded that with sleeping, thinking that I'd probably be lost anyway since I only drove to her house once and it was in the dead night so I couldn't tell which road is which).

So, yes. That's probably why men can't keep up with me and why I don't have that many friends.

Have you heard about Cy, the one-eyed kitten? The photo is not a hoax. She was born but only survived for one day. Animals born with that kind of condition have no eyelids (kittens are born with closed eyes until approximately fourteen days, Cy's eye is still not closed although he has died) and don't have either a mouth or a nose. Cy didn't have a nose.

The good news is that the other two kittens (Cy's siblings) are alive and well. Another kitten has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. This time, it's a special kitten.

Cy, the one-eyed wonder

Lastly, there're two highly anticipated movies for January and February: Emma Thompson's "Nanny McPhee" and Milla Jovovich's "Ultraviolet".

Nanny McPhee

Being a drop-dead fan of Thompson's, I am so not gonna miss this one! And there's this cute Colin Firth in it too. My God, he's so gorgeous. I definitely want to sleep with him.

Another picture from Jovovich's Ultraviolet has leaked out, and it's supercool.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

I can't wait till February!

lundi, janvier 09, 2006

heaven & hell


I was going on my born-again streak and saw this daily guide book of chapters & verses. You know, the guide book that offers daily chapters and verses of the Bible to be read by Christians.

I read that day's contemplation and threw the book away.

It said that no matter how good you are, if you don't believe in Jesus, you won't be saved and get to heaven.

What... The... Fuck?

Ookkkayy, so I AM a Christian, for fucksake. I have so many nice muslim friends, and they won't be saved?

If Christians, who follow Jesus's teachings to love other humans, can go to Heaven, why can't a Buddhist or a Hindu who practices love towards mankind AND animals (by not eating meat) go to heaven?

That's so insane and absurd.

Don't get me wrong. I love God. Jesus is one of the many names of God. Whoever teaches (and practices) kindness towards nature IS God.

I believe that Heaven (or Hell) is manifested in our times here on Earth. By teaching (and believing, and forcing others to believe) that there is no salvation in other religions, we are condemning ourselves to Hell (terrorism and war starts by the lack of tolerance).

And thus making Earth a living Hell.

So, be kind. Don't convert others. Live and let live. Or as the old Wicca saying goes, "An it harm none, do as ye will".

True, so true.

On the lighter news, I just got another facial extraction done on my face.

Apparently, lots of acnes and blackheads were extracted from my forehead, making me look as if I were recovering from stigmata (remember Jesus's forehead wounds from the thorn crown he was forced to wear?)

I went to the facialist on Saturday afternoon, and went out to watch a movie with Pandu on the evening.

It was, of course, Memoirs of A Geisha!!!

And it is fucking supercool. You know, I hyperventilated when I bought the (pirated) DVD on Thursday. I watched it, and three fucking minutes before the movie ended, the DVD stopped.

SHIT!!!

So I couldn't do anything but watch the movie at the theatre, right? And it was supercool.

Okay, so I retracted my opinion about King Kong. The movie's got some moments (the fight with the tyranosaurs, Kong falling from Empire State Building... well, just those two), but it's not *all* that.

Apparently, La Fleur thinks it's crappy (I came to agreeing with her finally). But still, it had its moments.

I just can't believe that King Kong's making more BO than Geisha. And from the buzz, I heard that King Kong's getting an Academy Award nomination.

Academy Award? For what? Best Long-And-Unedited-To-Make-It-Look-Colossal-And-Long-With-Many-Unimportant-Scenes-That-Even-Failed-To-Build-The-Characters'-Characteristic-Despite-The-Length-of-The-Movie Movie?

Memoirs of A Geisha

Now Geisha... My God. Each actor poured her/his heart in it.

That's a movie that should get at least one Oscar for either Ziyi's, Michelle's, Gong's, or Ken's performances.

Even Youki Kudoh (Pumpkin), Tsai Chin (Auntie) Kaori Momoi (Mother) and Suzuka Ohgo (Little Chiyo) are extraordinary. And Koji Yakusho (Nobu) is simply amazing.

I got so accustomed to their accents that when the Americans came I got really annoyed.

And then it turned out that Americans also played a big role in making Geisha means a common streetwalker.

I am definitely making a Memoirs of A Geisha t-shirt.

Mom read the book and she said that it was superb.

Maybe I should start reading it too!

Oh, and tomorrow is Idul Adha, the day when thousands of lambs, goats, cows, bulls, will be slaughtered.

I was in charge for taking photos today when our hotel donated some lambsand one cow to the local community.

One lamb kept screaming and thrashing and looking at his friends in the back when he was being carried away.
Oh yes, so what will be served on your platter of delicious roasted lamb chop were the remains of a creature with feelings. A creature who was sold as not more than US$ 30 to be slaughtered and eaten.

Oh, and there's this one story.

It was during my days of depression that I tried my luck in one department store company called Nichols Edwards. They were going to open a chain at Sudirman Place, the so-called-hottest new high-end mall in Jakarta.

Yesterday, I thanked God that I failed the test.

I was driving to meet La Fleur at Plaza Senayan, when I noticed a big billboard of Nichols Edwards, showing a woman, in some kind of a mink (or fox?) fur scarf. Complete with the mink/fox head.

I SO WANT TO PAINT OBNOXIOUS CURSES ON THE BILLBOARD WITH RED PAINT!!!

Those people, if they're good enough to other people, and they believe in Jesus, will they go to Heaven?

If they will, then I'm sure going to make their lives on Earth a living hell.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor for PeTA

dimanche, janvier 01, 2006

resolutions, resolutions, resolutions


Hellloooo, 2006!!!

You know what? I've been putting my laptop to "hibernate" with this page (create message page) up for two days. The only thing that had been written was the title, "resolutions, resolutions, resolutions".

Guess this year started in a really busy way.

It was exactly a year ago when I was away with my girlfriends at an impromptu vacation in Bali (yes, it was beautiful then, it is still beautiful now). And I was at that time, very anxious to know the result of my interview at Gucci.

I got interviewed for a position as a store manager. In the advertisement, they wanted a girl, but I wrote that I was gay and my homosexuality would be a plus point because two homosexuals actually changed the course of beauty and fashion history (John Galliano - the bitch I eventually hate because of his love for fur, and the late Kevyn Aucoin - the make-up genius).

Anyhoo, I wasn't accepted (bien sur, because right now, I'm comfortably working at this huge five-star-diamond hotel!).

Enough of the nostalgic flash-back.

Here I am again, one year has passed, and although the year 2005 hasn't been quite as... how should I put it... heavy, I am fortunate enough to be blessed with a colourful year that has actually contributed a lot in my way of becoming more mature.

Yes.

  1. I got a job as a birthday present (my first-day was exactly on my birthday).
  2. I got four new kittens (one kitty got lost, so there're only three left).
  3. I learned photography using Nikon D-100 (digital's sooooo much easier).
  4. I learned new tricks with Photoshop.
  5. I became even more familiar with Illustrator.
  6. I learned Freehand (quite easy).
  7. I bought presents for my family and friends, presents that they really want, with my own money!
Well, what can I say, this year has been really, really, really fulfilling.

So, I stayed at the hotel during the countdown on New Year's Eve, right? I was the one responsible for the digital/analog clock countdown animation. It was simple, really (since I actually found the script on the net. Hah!)

Everything was fine and dandy and being a resourceful kitty (with a piece of knowledge just below average), I created an escape claw: a button that would lead the scene showing the clock to another scene showing fireworks. I actually created the button since I didn't know how the hell it was to make the scene automatically switch to the fireworks when the clock hit 00:00:00.

And how lucky I was.

The MC was sooo stupid that she began counting backwards when it was only 23:58:55. So there was still 1 minute 5 seconds left.

And when it was 23:59:00, she screamed as if we were already in the new year.

That very button, the escape claw, was quickly pushed, the scenes changed, and everything was solved.

Phew!

Anyway, after going to the bar to do some disco, I went home. Mom was there to open the gate.

And we hugged. For about two minutes. I was so ready to burst in tears. I told her happy new year and she said that she hadn't hugged me like that in years.

Geez...

The other day, when the five of us went to Bogor (we always do that) for Christmas, on the way back, I looked at the photos I took, and one of them made me cry.


The Fantastic Females of the Tuanakotta clan

From left-to-right: Aunt Judith, Aunt Florence, Mom, Aunt Corry.

It was a snap shot, a candid shot, when they were all laughing.

I cried in the backseat where I was sitting alone, thanking God for letting me spend yet another Christmas with Mom.

(Gabby, if you're reading this, I just want to let you know that when I hugged my mom, I also felt that it was YOU hugging YOUR mom. I believe that whenever a child hugs his/her mother, all the mothers, whether alive or up-in-heaven, would feel as if their own children were hugging them. And what a great feeling it is.)

On the lighter side, on New Year's Eve at the office, I wore this really flashy headpiece (a friend gave me a red halo, really weird. halos were supposed to be white, right?) and I ripped of a string of stars from my Christmas tree and put the stars around my head and the halo.

As always, I attracted the attention of the whole Shangri-La: the guests and the employees.

And guess what? Even the General Manager and the Resident Manager (probably like the President and Vice President of a country) asked to pose with me in a picture. And they took two pictures!

Of course I couldn't say no!

Angel?

My God, I looked as if I had moustache in this photo.

Okay, so my resolutions for 2006 are:
  1. Prepare myself for postgraduate study.
  2. Work out more often
  3. Groom myself more
  4. Work harder, play harder, spend harder
  5. Dedicate my life in three most important things in life: family, friends, and felines.

2006


happy new year, everyone!

Too tired to go blogging. I'll see you when I see you!

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