dora the explorer • from up my Studio Ghibli dream

TOTORO WAS IN TOWN!!

I was a little bummed when they announced about the ~World of Ghibli Exhibition in Jakarta~ because hot damn, the ticket price is not as affordable as I, a college student, can wish for. Also, I do not have too much Ghibli friends (or so I thought) and I do not want to be that awkward solo weirdo that's lurking around alone with huge overexcited smile and a camera. Thankfully, Kevin and Alvin, my school friends, came as my saving grace after an impromptu late night convo about buy one get one Kamikaze on Instagram.

Long story short, I sort of third-wheel them on their ~not date but death~ endeavor (´ε｀ )♡

(I'm kidding. Kevin asked me if I want to go.)

I do not really remember my first encounter with Studio Ghibli goodness, but I remember that となりのトトロ/My Neighbor Totoro is the one that got me in.

I think I watch it in grade school once? It was quite hazy but I am one of the younger kids in my big family and my brother and cousins are like... Old. And they taught me a lot about pop culture earlier than most of my same-aged friends, I guess? I mean, they let me play World of Warcraft on their computer and read their copies of Harry Potter. It also helped that my father is an IT guy so we have our own PC and internet earlier than most households. And any kids my age can testify that the telly used to broadcast a plethora of anime during our prime time television hours.

So yeah, pretty exposed to foreign popular culture there.

(Still can't get me hooked up into American comic books, though. That's for Jason. The most American entertainment I did enjoy growing up is probably Disney.)

Anyway, back to Ghibli.

I then encountered My Neighbor Totoro again in middle school, during an English test. I forgot what the test was about but the teacher lets us watch the film while waiting for our turn. I remember thinking, "Hey, I've seen this!" and then proceed to get sucked into the story of Kusakabe family and their fluffy neighbor. I like them a lot. The pictures are so pretty. Hence, praise the internet for the huge help, I delved into the awe-inspiring, beautiful, lovable world of Ghibli.

My favorite is of course My Neighbor Totoro. My family know, my friends know, even my bosses at my internship place know. The rest of the TOP 5 is probably Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, and From Up On Poppy Hills. No Grave of the Fireflies because it makes me sad, although it got a special mention because it made everyone cry.

Alrighty! With all those boring recap of my history with Studio Ghibli and popular culture in general, let's now talk about the event! The whole ~World of Ghibli Exhibition in Jakarta~ thing actually started with monthly screening of Studio Ghibli films, which I was super excited about because I never saw any of these films on a big screen. I only managed to watch them once because it's on selected cinemas only and all of them are so far away from my house, but yeah, I saw Spirited Away with my friend sitting on my right and A FAMOUS INDONESIAN FILM DIRECTOR ON MY LEFT and I think she's a bit weirded out because I am too excited and smiley and fidgety.

But it's okay because it's dark.

She doesn't even know me.

Then the exhibition opened last month and the review was bad at first it made me worried and skeptical. But I am glad that we went to this exhibition because IT MADE MY DAY SO SO SO MUCH. I think it is the best day of my life. I mean, did you guys see that big and fluffy Totoro??? Well, they also have Nekobus (Eng: Cat Bus, also from My Neighbor Totoro franchise) that is as fluffy as Totoro and we can get in them! I feel like I completed an unknown, deep down from my heart bucket list item as soon as I stepped inside of them.

To explain it briefly: I was so happy that my chin can't lie about it. Also my eyes are just two lines from smiling too hard.

Contrary to the review by the masses, the exhibition is well-managed. There are a lot of staffs milling around ready to help you take photos or explain about stuffs. They can explain about Ghibli films too, for those people who tag along because their beau is going and do not actually know what's happening. It is a good decision to go on a weekday, because from what I saw on the internet (and this one Saturday when I visited Pacific Place Mall, the venue of the event) the crowd are quite crazy on the weekends. So, we happily zipped everywhere, took photos here and there, with little to no queue.

There's this one moment when I just can't get enough of the Totoro floofiness that Kevin teased me that I held the line so I just went, "I am sorry but I love Totoro too much, I apologize but I have to take selfies with them!" to a mom with her child (which were next in line) and she just went, "It's okay I understand we are the same! I want to take lots of photos with Totoro too!" and we low-key fangirl together and I helped them took photos.

I enjoy how well-made the exhibitions are. The Kiki's bakery is very detailed with real breads coated in resin, bottles of jams and sodas, and authentic props like old telephone, cashier, and scale. What got Kevin fascinated though, is the standing broom that he can't comprehend just because it is standing. He repeatedly asked why and how and stare at that broom questionably. He is weird sometimes, heheh. Same details was applied to The Kusakabe's house. I am awed by the way they created the beautifully designed organized mess of the father's office. Kevin's cousin, who's an architecture student, is a part of the team that work on this display, so shoutout to her! (≧∇≦)/

THE HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE IS AMAZING TOO! Super astonished by the details of this display. The intricate design was recreated nicely. It is one of the top notch display in the exhibitions, but I think the lack of background and additional knick-knacks sort of bring down the mood for this one. But I guess making the castle alone is a hard enough job, haha.

But I think their best and most well-made part of the exhibition is the Laputa: Castle in the Sky? It is at the very front part of the venue and they have so many things to display, from the flower robot to floating ships. A very grand welcome indeed, after I made my friends stay in the dark auditorium waiting for My Neighbor Totoro's trailer (which never come, although Kevin has already hummed through a lot of Joe Hisaishi's music). Just next to it is the Spirited Away display, which was almost as grand, but I think lack something. Or probably it is just me feeling salty because I didn't met Kaonashi.

There's more exhibition, like Princess Mononoke, Porco Rosso, Nausicaä, and what I think is Arriety? I didn't took too many pictures but Alvin did. I think she covered all of them, hahaha.

All in all, due to me liking Studio Ghibli works, I rate this exhibition 10/10!!

Me and my friends discussed a bit about this (mostly due to the ticket price versus us feeling really happy leaving the venue) and we thought that it is not for someone who doesn't like or familiar with Studio Ghibli. Like, there's no point in visiting if you're clueless. A bit different than like, in example, going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studio Japan, which you can still enjoy even though you are not into Harry Potter (like my friend's sister who just tag along because she didn't want to explore alone but ended up enjoying the Harry Potter Experience anyway).

Our happiness level was off the chart, tho. And we did have fun catching up, so the day is a win for me!

---

Most pictures taken with Kevin's cellphone.

I think it was Samsung Galaxy S7.

curhatnya • Clinging To Not Getting Sentimental

Last night at home before the new semester: my room reeks of coffee, the speaker is crooning whatever alternative rock music I had in my playlist, my things are half-packed, and I'm floating in between consciousness and blissful slumber. In short: a perfect night that will turn into a chaotic morning of double-checking my luggage and find out that most of the important stuffs are not inside.

I'm not sorry. Yet.

(Title taken from Fluorescent Adolescent by Arctic Monkeys)

uni-verse • 71

I'm officially in uni now.

Defining my university orientation week: badly tanned (or worse, burned) skin, black and blue with bruises, and thousands of little (both significant and insignificant) things to remember. It is funny how a week feels like forever, but when it is over, you'll look back and stop and stare and wonder: I've done that? It's over now? So, this is the end?

Well.

It all started with seven dots and a dash (not in that particular order) and coordinates that points the city Michigan. Then, it was endless night without sleep with red and blue paper waiting to be intertwined, and unending supplies of laughs (and cries of frustation). Seventeen clueless motherfuckers and a furious mother hen trying to set us straight. Our person in charge must be a saint in another life, because he suffered through us and his temper survived. (Well, he is not that nice, but at least he never went Hulk-like, which is quite possible, given the circumstances.)

So, this is Henry Ford:

Henry Ford is a team you wanna hang out with, but wanna do assignments without. In a team, we are proli that one guy that just sat there while the rest of the group is frantically trying to do everything. It is uber fun with these guys, but Henry Ford aren't the nerd friends material, totally not those people you can ask to tutor you, or that reliable someone whose notes you can borrow when you nod off in class. You can count on Henry Ford when you're looking for some fun, or shoulders to cry on.

In a nutshell, we are nice, but very lazy.

Like nearly every time I made friends with someone, I can't pinpoint the exact time I fall for them. It could be from the very first `hi!` or the very first awkward smile, or the time spent together, exclaiming silly monikers (oleng, pemulung, bidadari, daur ulang, tukang becak, profesor joget, bidadari jahat—everything, every single one of them). Maybe it started with calling the wrong names, or remembering the wrong faces, or spending too many hours together that you unintentionally remember the exact timbre of their voices. Maybe the shared jokes fueled it. Maybe the laughter sealed it.

This whole orientation thing—from the preparation, the days, to the ending—left me with more things to think about (yes, it is still my hobby) and more pondering time in between assignments and me maintaining my barely there social life. More what ifs. More meanings to define.

And yes, this is my answer to my own musings: We have done that, it's just started, and this is the beginning.

(P.S.: WHAT IS GRAMMAR. My English has gone rusty.)

tulisannya • Jupiter

Sometimes, people ask me questions I am oblivious about, questions forever I can't answer, something along the line of "Am I not good enough for him/her?" or "Why can't I be perfect?" and I awkwardly smile while wondering why do they ask that to me, or to themselves. Sometimes people wonder why they are not pretty enough, or nice enough, or smart enough, and they got insecure and trying their hardest to change and they ended up miserable because they do not realize that they are perfect just they way they are.

Yes, it is cliché, but true, isn't it?

So I think about it, sometimes, like every time a question is presented to me and they are just there, niggling, waiting to be answered, even though 9 times out of 10, I can't really answer it. And yes, I do think a lot, about a lot of things. After all, thinking is the most fun you can get when you're just contently idle, doing nothing, and you don't want to do the Herculean effort of moving a muscle.

So, I think about it.

The next time someone ask me the question, I smiled, not awkwardly this time, and answered:

"Someone perfect has a heart as big as Jupiter."

Because surely someone with a heart that big is very nice, very pretty and very smart. A heart big enough to accept and care that everyone is different, and different is beautiful, and they don't discriminate because they understand. A heart big enough to be forgiving and patient. A heart big enough to not take anything for granted. A heart big enough to be brave and stand for what they believe in. A heart big enough to know that love will conquer all, no matter how cliché it is.

Someone accepting has the warmest eyes, because they never judge, because they are there with their arms (and heart) wide open, waiting to embrace. Their eyes twinkle with happiness because they see the goodness in everyone. Someone forgiving and patient has the sincerest smile, because they never force themselves to be nice. Their lips curved beautifully without malice. And with that features, how can someone be `not pretty`?a

And of course someone that not taking anything for granted, someone that standing for what they believe in, and someone that believes in love is very smart, don't you think so? Because they are passionate about what they have, what they think of, and what they love. And no, someone with a heart as big as Jupiter won't believe in something petty and self-servicing because they are nice and they care and understand.

Now that I think about it, it still doesn't answer the question. But I have met people with a heart as big as Jupiter, and it is happiness with them, so I think that someone perfect is the one that bring happiness to someone around them?

Because no matter how badly crooked their nose or teeth are, or how frizzy their hair is, or how not proportional whatever feature they have, a pair of warm eyes and sincere smile are still pretty, and surely someone that bring happiness for others is nice, and have that kind of eyes and smile?

sekolah • like it's a birthday

Hullo people!

Hereby I proudly declare that School Final Examination is officially done! And I might fucked them royally. Kinda. I'm sure I failed Economics, badly, along with Math. So yeah, fingers crossed that they didn't turned out being that bad.

 Amen.

Anyways, one of the last thing to do in the series of SFE is doing a day social work in an assigned place, and S3 (my class) got Melati Kasih, a shelter for children to learn things, like crafts or something. Twas a lot of fun! I'm infatuated with their pearl of laughter and adorable smiles.

Yes, I have soft spot for nice, well-behaved kids.

No, there's no one having a birthday that day. But it looks like it, yeah? Especially with that happy birthday balloons, haha! Colorful is happy place, even though the balloons refused to stick in place for more than five minutes. (-__-)

A LOT OF CHILDREN.

It was crowded, like, realllyyy crowded. Especially when we are doing games.

And there's me teaching English. My team can't differ between mother and father in the beginning, but we finally aced that and won the game. Fuck Yeah Team 5!

It was a really tiring day, with a lot of shouting instruction and stuff. In the end of the session, after the kids all went home, Mrs. Darti, the caretaker of the shelter, have us gathered, and there's a small study session about Wayang.

SHRIEK. It's one of my favorite Indonesian crafts!

There isn't a lot of my friends excited about this thing. But I love it anyway!

He's a Dalang (wayang's puppet master), and he has 170 items of wayang, and his teacher is a great wayang maestro.

There's this story he told about wayang that left my friend a little freaked out. So, he learned about wayang in Solo (there are different wayangs in different areas, like Mangkunegaran, Pakualaman, and so on?) and he told us that there's a special wayang in Keraton Solo that's made from human skin (wayang's usually made from buffalo's skin) and that wayang has a curse. If you touched it, you'll die.

Thus, she freaked out.

Another thing is, wayang is realllyyy expensive. And that day, I fucking hold a fucking two million rupiahs Gunungan (a type of wayang used as background in the show) and damn that thing is SO COOL.

They have different pictures on each side.

I WANT ONEEE ;;_____;;

Sooo that's all for now. The only obstacle left is National Final Examination, which will be held on April 15-18. After that, a long day offs awaits! So excited for that already, whoop!

Dag!

fotonya • juli

And the sky was a-flare,
when he came up for air,

in his homemade, fan-blade,

one-man submarine ride.

( Walt Grace Submarine Test, January 1967 • John Mayer)

(i'm pretty sure her crop tee was from forever 21; and obviously the pair of shoes is converse; shorts? zilch. got no idea.)

Endless Summer.

Model: Eva Pastora

Photographer: F. Theodora

curhatnya • french frenzy

My favorites <3

Borrowed from Institut Français d'Indonésie.