What Makes Me Happy?

Most of you might think 'who cares', right? Well, I do *obviously* and apparently, Cella from Sleepy Kelinci Kecil does too 'cause she tagged me! *ge er* xD

The rules are that you have to tag and link back to the person who tagged you, and then post about 6 things that make you happy then tag 6 other bloggers. Don't forget to let them know that they're tagged.

So, what makes me happy?

1. Delicious Foods

Yum. I looove to eat and my favourite foods are Italian food and breakfast foods. I am often in my very best mood after I eat. I'm easy like that, I guess.

2. Clear Skies

This is an instant mood booster for me. Be it day or night, sun ray or moonlight, if the sky is clear, I couldn't help but grin. I remember texting my friends, telling how beautiful the moon that one night, and one of them texted me back asking if I was flirting with her. :|

3. New Stuffs

Who doesn't love new stuffs, right? I love getting new stuffs, especially if they were mailed to you. You know, like when you buy something online. It's like birthday and who's not happy getting present? 

4. Hanging Out With My Girls

Of course. Hanging out, goofing around, wondering about without specific purpose like we have all the time in the world with my friends always cheer me up. :3

5. Finding Great Book or Movie

You know when you have no or only a little expectation when you start reading a book or watching  a movie but the book or the movie turns out to be great? Whenever this happened to me, happy would be an understatement. Excited and thrilled would be more likely.

6. Little Family Moment

Laughing together about an inside joke, or reminiscing about our last family vacation never fails to make me feel all warm and happy inside. :)

Okay, so those are the 6 things that make me happy. There are some other more, but if I wrote all of it, I would bore the life out of you, so I won't. Relax.

Anyway, I'm going to tag you:

1. Puti from burn out burn

2. Michu from FRESH

3. Suci from Sugar Clump

4. Frey from ~Pensieve in Me~

5. Inge from Luch Luch Craft

6. Rifka from My DELLilah

Do the tag if you want to and have the time to do it. I'm not gonna force you or anything, but I'll be happy if you do it. ;P

Let me know if you've done it, okay?

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

Hey hey, I'm back with another book review and it's June already. Ramadhan's just around the corner and I totally can't wait. x3

Okay. Let's just move to the review, shall we?

Nobody Owens, or Bod, was only a baby when his whole family was murdered by a man named Jack. Bod managed to crawl his way out of the house before Jack could get to him and go to a graveyard uphill from his house.

Jack couldn't finish his job for when he got to the graveyard Bod was already got taken care of. Not in the way Jack wanted him to be, though.

Mistress Owens found Bod before any harm could get to him and she and her husband decided to adopt the baby. Although, there's  this one little thing. They're a couple of ghosts.

Initially, most of the ghosts objected the Owens' decision to keep the baby. I mean, how could ghosts take care of a human being, an alive human being? But they finally agreed to let the baby live inside the graveyard after Silas, the undead nor the living, volunteered to be the baby's guardian. Oh and also, 'the Lady who rode up on the Grey horse' said that the dead should have charity.

So, that's how Bod got to live and be raised in a graveyard.

Basically the book is about how a boy live and grow up and learn stuffs in a graveyard, surrounded by ghosts. Each chapter is a short story with a problem of its own as Bod growing up, like befriending an alive girl for a first time, making a tombstone for a witch ghost, opening a Ghoul's Gate. Bod's even got to experience school life, even though it was only for a short time.

Jack did come to kill Bod and finally finish his job, but the resolution is not very satisfying if you ask me.

All in all, the book is an easy read. The story flows like a bedtime story does as it makes me a bit sleepy and bored every time I read it. It took me a pretty long time to finish the book and I'm not actually loving the book as much as I thought I would, but the illustrations helps a bit. 

OH, one other thing, in the book, it was never mentioned what creature Silas is. Throughout the book, I was always thinking that he was a vampire, but I'm still not so sure. Has anyone read the book? Can somebody tell me what he is?

Hmm, that's very much it, I guess.

Until later, peeps.

Pirate Latitudes - Michael Crichton

Believe me, I tried writing this post in English but I think I'm just gonna write this post, mostly, in Indonesian. So, I apologise to those who stumbled upon this post who doesn't speak Indonesian. But hey, if you're still interested, there's Google Translate. ;)

Sebelum mulai, quick question. Kalo nemu buku yang judulnya Pirates Latitudes, lo bakal langsung ngira bukunya tentang pirate kah?  Karena gw nggak. :| Gw baru sadar kalo ni buku tentang bajak laut itu kira-kira di tengah buku. Bodoh sekali rasanya. Maluu~ >_<

Jadi, seperti yang harusnya sudah bisa diduga, buku ini tentang pirates di Jamaika abad ke-17. Ceritanya dimulai dengan datangnya kapal dari Inggris yang membawa Mr. Robert Hacklett, sekretaris baru untuk gubernur Jamaika, Sir James Almont.

Cerita punya cerita, kapal yang baru datang itu ternyata sempat tersesat dan melihat kapal perang Spanyol yang sedang ditambat di benteng di suatu pulau kecil. Tapi anehnya, si kapal perang tak bergeming.

Berita inilah yang bikin Sir James Almont menyewa jasa Kapten Charles Hunter karena yakin kapal perang tadi itu sebenarnya bukan kapal perang, tapi galleon Spanyol, El Trinidad, yang sedang menunggu agar aman kembali ke Spanyol. Galleon itu kabarnya membawa banyak harta dan dengan bantuan Kapten Charles Hunter, Sir Almont berencana merampasnya.

Needless to say, the plot is mainly about the adventure of Captain Hunter to get his hand on the treasure, kill the blood-thirst maniac, and get back to Port Royal to hand the treasure to the governor and gain the fame. Tapi gak segampang itu dong tentu saja. Masalah datang silih berganti. Mulai dari badai, mutiny, sampai Kraken juga ada lho.

Menurut gw sih, ceritanya biasa aja, standar adventure gitu. The research on the setting is done thoroughly, as anyone would expect from Mr. Crichton. Karakter-karakternya, while have a lot of charms, also have flaws, which I love, haha. I hate super perfect protagonist character. It make's 'em perfectly boring.

On side note, gw pikir gak akan ada lagi buku dari Michael Crichton, 'cause as far as I know, the man's passed away on 2008. Eh ternyata ada lagi buku baru dari dirinyaa~ Dan ada satu lagi rupanya yang diterbitin tahun 2011, tapi kayaknya sih belum masuk Indonesia. Ah I so can't wait to read it. x)

Oh, dan buku ini kabarnya mau dibikin film-nya loh! CMIIW, tapi gosipnya sih yang bakal bikin screenplay-nya adalah orang yang sama yang bikin screenplay-nya Jurassic Park. Huft, semoga yang di-cast jadi Capt. Hunter-nya ganteng deh, hihihi.

P.S. Sorry for the rusty review. It's been too long since the last time I write a review. Maklum aja layhya. :P

Excuses And More (Excuses)

Okay, this is seriously lame. My last post wast posted last year, months ago, and it was ended with a promise that we all know I blew. So, let me just defend myself with some excuses.

First, I got a bad news starting the year. It made me feel rather down, well, to be honest, it still does sometimes, so that kinda makes me not wanting to say, or post, stuffs on my blog. And as I typed the sentence I knew how lame it sounds. My apology.

Second, .... Well, that's pretty much sums why I haven't posted anything since last December, so I guess that's it.

I'll try to continue and finish the Top 5 Challenge, but I think I'll make some changes before continuing. I'll try posting more often, and more reviews rather than only some random post. I'm not promising anything here, but I will try my very best. I promise. I mean, I'll try. :P

Let's just keep this post short, shall we?

P.S. I've been thinking of ombre-ing my hair, but I keep having doubt. Should I do it? Should I not? I have medium-length virgin hair. What do you think?

Oh and P.S.S., Thanks for the comment, Vina from Burger with Chili Sauce. I've been wanting to make this post, but it's your comment that makes it true. Thank you~ x3

Top 5 Authors I Admire

Whoa! It's been a week since my last post! >_<

Yeah, I'm at home, so I've been leyeh-leyeh-ing all day long, curling up in my bed, and not caring about the world. Also, the internet at home was being some kinda b*tch, causing all the late posting. *lame-o reason, I know*

Anyway, let's get it on with the Top 5 Challenge, shall we?

This time for the challenge is my favorite author. Hmm. Let's just have at it.

1. John Grisham

He's my most favorite story-teller. He knows damn well how to make the story line goes smooth and interesting. I never know what's gonna happen next whenever I read one of his books. I mean, I always guess, but then I always be wrong, you know? And I hate it when I can guess what's gonna happen, what's the twist, and so on, so I love Grisham's way of story telling. He's a bit lacking in putting a gorgeous ending in each of his book, though. But, I don't mind it, I enjoy the journey. I haven't read all of his published books, but I'm on my way. ;)

2. Meg Cabot

I know none of his book made my top 5 list, but honestly, I love all her books that I've read. Except maybe for All American Girl, but that's only one book, so we can just forget about it. Also, it's too hard for me to pick just one to put on the list. But really, her writing is so easy-digested, perfect for a light-in-between reading.

3. J. K. Rowling

All right, I have to put her on the list. Harry Potter series is one of my very first book collection and also has some influence in my book genre preference. Okay fine, big influence. Not only that, the research for the series was also amazing. I can't tell you why I said amazing, because I totally forget all the details. I only remember it being amazing, so just accept it, 'kay? *sesuka hati*

4. Michael Crichton

The late Michael Crichton was probably one of awesome authors whose most of his books made into movies. It's not just one or two, it's more than that! There's Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Timeline, Sphere, Rising Sun, and more, way more. Which other author has the privilege of having most of his books turns into movies? And I'm talking different title, not a series or some recurring character or something. Wasn't he great?

5. Dee a.k.a Dewi Lestari

Yeah, finally a local writer. It's not that I don't like Indonesian writers, it's just that I don't read a lot of Indonesian books. I don't even have any of Dee's books. I like them, love them, but not interested in having them. I don't know why, it's weird. Anyway, the first Dee's book that I read was Supernova: Akar. I rent the book from my high school's library and I'm telling you, I didn't understand what was happening in the book. Years later, came Rectoverso. I was already in college and my close friend just bought the book. Having nothing else to do in class, it was a boring-large-you-couldn't-even-see-the-lecturer class, I tried reading it. I loved it. I even shed tears. Then I try reading Perahu Kertas and Filosofi Kopi. Loved them. I know I just only read a few of her books, and all of them was lent from a friend, but I know she's very talented with words and I admire her for that.

In conclusion, a well-laid plot and thorough research will always win me over. I'm complicated like that. *trololololol* *kidding* *not really, though* :P

p.s. I guess I'm gonna catch up to the challenge list, and I'm like 6 posts behind, so, behold, lots-a posts a-coming! *fingers-crossed*

Top 5 Songs I've Been Replaying Lately

I'm not really in a mood to post, but since I've made the commitment, I gotta make post.

Without further ado, here's the list.

1. G-Dragon - 크레용 (Crayon)

2. G-Dragon - One Of A Kind

3. Maroon 5 - One More Night

4. G-Dragon - That XX (그XX)

5. Blok B - 닐리리맘보 (Nillili Mambo)

Yea, I'm a K-Pop fan, a VIP and Blackjack to be exact. :P

But I'm not a hardcore fan or anything like that. I just think BIGBANG and 2NE1 are awesome. And full of swag.

Anyway, I feel like I have to elaborate each point on the list, but I'm kinda lazy, so I just hyperlink each song to youtube. You know, just in case any of you beloved reader want to hear the song.

Well, I guess that's all. See ya on the next Top 5 list! :3

Top 5 (Favorite) Movies of All Time

For day 5, the category is 'Movie'. This is way more difficult than I thought. I have far too many favorite movies. But after some debating with myself, I think I'm just gonna go with these 5 titles.

1. The Lion King (1994)

I know I was only 4 years old when the movie's released, for the first time, but I've been watching this movie so often that I can reenact some scenes perfectly with all the lines and intonations. This is the Disney movie I grew up with.

Here's my favorite scene and lines in the movie:

Banzai: Yeah, be prepared! We'll be prepared... for what? 

Scar: For the death of the king!  

Banzai: Why? Is he sick?  

Scar: No, fool, we're going to kill him. And Simba, too.  

Shenzi: Hey, great idea! Who needs a king?  

Banzai, Shenzi: [singing and dancing around Ed] No king, no king, la la la la la la...  

Scar: Idiots! There will *be* a king!  

Banzai: Hey, but you said that...  

Scar: *I* will be king. Stick with me, and you'll never go hungry again!  

Banzai, Shenzi: Yeah, all right! Long live the king! [other hyenas join in]  

Banzai, Shenzi: Long live the king! Long live the king!  

2. Exam (2009)

If you look this movie up on IMDB, its rating is actually not quite good. But I think, this movie is beyond genius. The movie is 101 minutes long, with only 1 main background setting and only 10 talents in total. I mean, how genius is that? With that kind of 'condition', the movie's plot is like the number 1 selling point, right? And  this time around, finding a movie with a decent plot is not as easy as I want. 

There's this 1 Hollywood movie I watched, with all the explosion and crazy ass amazing CG. I liked the prequel, and was kinda hoping that the sequel would be at least as good. But when I watch it, I was like, what the what? That movie's production must spend a fortune, and the story line couldn't suck more. See what I mean?

I believe there are some other movie, that's not a drama, that have great story line. But I think Exam is just exceptional with only 1 main background setting and only 10 cast members.

3. Finding Nemo (2003)

This movie's just full of lessons, if you ask me. Marlin kinda reminds me of someone I know, and I totally get how Nemo felt.

And Dory? How adorable is she? With the "just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." and all the optimism, she's easily my favorite character in Finding Nemo.

And the sharks? The Australian turtles? Clever jokes. Me likey.

Don't forget everyone, fish are friends, not food.

Kidding. I love seafood.

4. RocknRolla (2008)

I love European guys in a movie, British men in particular. But among all, I love Gerard Butler the most. He's just hot.

When this movie was shown on TV, and I noticed Gary Butler was in it, I thought, I gotta have that movie and watch it properly, 'cause you know, in our local TV, there's a lot of things they censored out and I can't watch a movie like that.

So I got the movie, and watched it, and fell in love. Gary Butler is just as hot as ever, but there's this one character who's even hotter. His name (the character) was Archy, and he's played by Mark Strong. Weird thing is, I don't find Mark Strong as hot as Archy.

Archy was the character narrating the movie. I don't know but I have a thing for a movie with a narration, especially if the voice of the narrator is irresistible. In short, Archy is exactly how I imagined a perfect old-school British man would be like, and I like it.

5. Face/Off (1997)

John Travolta and Nicolas Cage's acting is unbelievably amazing in this movie. Both make a great protagonist and antagonist. Confused?

In this movie, Travolta and Cage kinda switched roles. Travolta was originally the good guy, and Cage was the crazy bad guy. Then the crisis happened, and suddenly Cage was the good guy, and Travolta was the bad guy. Got it?

They actually switched faces. That's why the movie's called Face/Off, 'cause Travolta and Cage both had their faces 'off' their head and 'on' to the other head. I know, they're nothing like each other. But their acting? Whew~

Also, the characters' names in the movie are somewhat based on Greek and Roman myth/tale. Cage was Castor Troy, his brother was Pollux Troy, and Travolta was Sean Archer. Yet another reason to put this on the top 5 list. :D

So, I guess that's it. I still have other titles in my mind, but let's just say this 5 is my have-to-be-on-the-list favorite movies. 'kay? :P

What a long post, huh?