Sweetest Couple, So Far

June and July.

I don't know, I've always liked these months.

Summer. College off. Vacations. Mom's birthday.

These are like months for me to actualize myself.

But, uh... I guess this June, this July this year

Have been the best ones I've ever passed.

It all began with my trip to Singapore. Weird, eh? I mean, it's just Singapore already. Well, wrong. The trip was unforgettable for sure. It was the official opening trip of me, going abroad with no parental help. And you can't just underestimate the timing. It was right after I finished my hectic final test week. A complete confection, I tell you.

And then, you know, I started my internship on June. Things didn't start quiet well at the beginning, but everything got better and better. I made new friends, opened my insights about professional world, socialized with the best bosses. So damn exciting. Even hunger and thirst of fasting could barely be felt because I was too happily busy.

Blessing showered my blog too. Although I didn't participate in some significant contest, people kept coming to pay a little peek on my writings. This should be a major big step for me, so thank God! I just can  keep hoping that people won't get bored of what I write.

After all, the bestest part of these two months was the one dealing with the advertising world. I can't stop cherishing those moment of linking myself to some cool guys on the agency. I know, they didn't even care about my existence. But at least I made an effort and they, sooner or later will find out that that kid they were introduced to, which is me, is the best copywriter they ever recognize.

Sweet. Just unbelievably sweet, so far.

Well, I must say that phrase "so far" is greatly emphasized.

Because I know, this was just a start

The Dark Night Rises

Despite his tarnished reputation after the events of The Dark Knight, in which he took the rap for Dent's crimes, Batman feels compelled to intervene to assist the city and its police force which is struggling to cope with Bane's plans to destroy the city.

What did I feel right after? Kusut parah!! So here's the deal. Gue nonton di PI sepulang kerja, sepulang buka puasa bersama Mpi Dindut Iedo Nisa Bulet Bajay Nikon. Karena gamau ngebebanin bokap, akhirnya ayahanda gue suruh pulang duluan aja dan helm gue pegang sendiri. Jam 8 malem, gue masuk studio. Sepuluh menit setelah menikmati empuknya bangku bioskop, dengan excitement luar biasa karena menurut semua orang yang udah nonton bilang kalo film ini epic parah, tiba-tiba dengan indahnya bokap nyuruh gue supaya sampe rumah sebelum jam 10 karena satu dan lain hal. Gue udah terlalu capek buat ngelawan, terlalu kecewa buat ngebantah. Yaudah, setelah Bruce Wayne ciuman sama Selina Kyle, gue nyelinep keluar seperti angin lalu.

Rough, eh?

So well, now you do know why I wrote that title.

Tonight's just darker than dark

image source: here

synopsis source: here

I Ain't Paid, I Swear

Baru dua minggu berkecimpung di MarComm BCA, gue udah ikutan ke banyak banget kegiatan yang berbau iklan. Ya Allah Tuhanku Yang Maha Penyayang, terima kasih telah mempertemukanku dengan bos-bos kece yang mau ngelibatin hamba-Mu yang tak berdaya ini. Tolong berikan berkah Ramadhan kepada Bu Norisa, Bu Litani dan Pak Timothy ya Allah :')

Oke! Sebagai warga BCA -buat sementara- yang baik, gue mau hmm yaa kurang lebih promosiin sebuah activation yang dibikin sama tim kita  -buat sementara lagi, bulan depan gue bakal nyebutnya "tim mereka" :')

Namanya "Gebyar Lipat Ganda Interactive Games"

Jadi kalian dateng ke microsite nya, bisa klik disini, trus daftar, install plug in bentar, trus ikutin simulasinya. Nah di penghujung simulasi, kalian bakalan ambil foto pake webcam buat nantinya dilombain!

The main excitement is, semua yang kalian kerjain dari simulasi sampe ambil foto, ngegunain teknologi Augmented Reality!! Macho gila, ye ga?

Sumpah lo harus coba. Nothing to lose lah, daftar gak bayar, install juga gak ribet, hadiah oke punya. Eh. Mau tau banget berapa hadiahnya? Spoiler ah kalo gue kasitau, mending langsung lo samperin itu microsite -anggep aja di atas nggak ada tulisan total hadiahnya, gak asik lu mah! gue kan lagi sok-sok bikin lu penasaran biar kalian pada "apa ya? apa ya?" gitu.

Eh tunggu! Sebenernya ada satu lagi lomba yang bakal diadain BCA. Tapi berubung belum launching, jadi ntar aja deh ya gue edit postingan ini. Atau bikin postingan baru aja mungkin *mikir* ah yaudah nanti aja deh liat.

Honestly, I'm starting to feel that this post is too 'promoting'.

But honestly, again, nobody requested me to do this sudden shout.

I know, you may think I fake that statement but to be honest, this is just

An honest appreciation to my beloved team :)

Note Six: What If...

                 "... I extend my internship period and

                expand more insights about this field of mine..."

Day Twenty Seven

So yeah, something below my subconscious encourages me lately. I felt like needing to have more of this. I have to propose like one or two additional weeks so this hunger of advertising world could be fulfilled.

But you know, it's Ramadhan already. I need to check myself out first, whether am strong enough to deal with these internship things while shutting my crumbling tummy up. Besides, I need a couple of weeks off to rest my brain and this tiny vulnerable body.

Knowledge. Physical capability. Needs of vacation.

Too much to be compared. Too much to considerate.

Until yesterday, I stopped calculating.

A brand new apprentice showed up in my aspect. I repeat, IN ADVERTISING ASPECT I'm currently in love with. She uh, she's like *sigh* stealing my thunder as the youngest. And I freaky felt discomforted.

Sounds ridiculous, eh? I'm this all worried yet she hasn't even done anything. She seemed haven't found her rhythm yet, but...

What if... She's more qualified than me, and everybody prefer to work with her rather than me? If I quit later I will see her ruling the office, forcing me to witness people loving her more than me? Or

What if... I stick with my schedule, quit early and leave that girl whose competences I have no idea about? I mean, if she is good, and people like her, I'm okay because I'm out already. This is safe for my soul.

But I guess my ego wins. My curiosity conquers. It's not only because I haven't had enough Advertising experiences. It's more about me, with the help of that girl's appearance, testing myself to face every single possibilities emerging in future. And let people know that I can pick the best for myself.

So umm, I'm continuing this internship.

This is fascinating, damn nerve-wracking! But keep in mind, fair ones.

It's not that I want to explore her bad sides and make her look worse.

It's more that I want to challenge myself and make myself look better.

After all, we're both still learning

Heroes Called Dancer

Speaking of culture...

Kamis kemaren gue dateng ke Graha Bhakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki buat nonton Gelar Pamit Komunitas Tari FISIP yang mau ngikutin Misi Budaya 2012. Jadi selama sebulan mulai Agustus besok, kontingen dari kampus gue itu bakalan terbang ke Eropa buat ngenalin beberapa tarian Indonesia di mata dunia.

Pas masih di lobby, sebelum tariannya mulai, saat-saat pas penarinya baru masuk dan pas lagi adegan-adegan teatrikal kerjaan gue cuma ketawa-ketiwi ngecengin plus ngegodain temen-temen gue yang lagi tampil. Tapi waktu mereka lagi nari...

Jujur, gue iri. Bukan karena mereka bakal ke Eropa yah. Yaaa itu juga iri sih, tapi nomer kesekian lah. Hmm gue iri aja karena di saat orang-orang cuma bisa ngeklaim kebudayaan Indonesia, berkoar-koar betapa kayanya negeri ini dan betapa beruntungnya kita, temen-temen gue ini justru nunjukin aksi nyata dengan ngedatengin langsung masyarakat belahan dunia lain dan ngasitau ke mereka kalo kebudayaan ini punya kita.

Selama duduk di bangku penonton, gue gak berenti ngayal. Nantinya di Eropa, tempat gue duduk itu bakal diisi sama bule-bule yang gatau apa-apa soal apa yang lagi ditampilin di depan mereka. Mereka cuma bisa senyum, terperangah sekaligus makin penasaran soal apa lagi sih yang Indonesia punya.

Ahh, gue tau banget rasanya jadi orang-orang yang berdiri di atas panggung. Disimak banyak orang, diketawain dan dikasih tepuk tangan... Rasanya... Nggak ada tandingannya haha.

Photos are belonged to Putri Soesilo and archived here

Coba gue bisa ikutan. Sayang sih, bokap gue anti banget anak-anak cowoknya -dan kebetulan semua anaknya cowok- ikut-ikutan kegiatan macem beginian. Yaaa kalo ikutan pun gue bukan ngincer narinya sih. Gue cuma pengen ngerasain sensasi dari bisa ngejaga kebudayaan sendiri aja.

Karena gue masih belum tau cara lain buat bikin orang-orang bisa ngehargain kita. Atau at least bisa bikin mereka tau kalo jauh di timur sini, ada satu negara sederhana yang nyimpen banyak kesenian dan tradisi yang gak bakal mereka temuin di tempat mereka tinggal.

Ya sudahlah, angan hanya angan. Masih ada Misi Budaya taun depan dan semoga aja, sebelum kontingen KTF 2013 berangkat, ada sesuatu yang bikin bokap sadar kalo anaknya ini pengen banget bisa ke Eropa dan jadi salah satu pahlawan tradisi bangsa. 

Yea well, good luck my fellas!

Don't you dare showing me your trip pictures

Because I'll be envy like hell

Note Five: I Belong Here

Day Twenty Four

Earlier this week, I drifted off my last stop and started my fifth week of internship as the Advertising and Media Aspect apprentice. This has been my major dream, far before I applied to the program. And I must say that, yeah, it came true.

Feel how it is like to be on client's side, that's what I wanted to explore. And so, all I ever done this week were somehow client-ish. First day went dull yet things went so much better by the second day when I was asked to join some meeting with Proximity.

Third day was full of new stuff. I learned how to make calls, follow up things, request some job orders to the agencies, go back and forth to the internal studio, coordinate layouts and designs, edit what the agencies gave to my team, proposing the final artwork and approvals, and things.

But actually, the peak happened today. Aside all those works, my new colleague Pak Timothy invited me to join him supervising some video shoot for video contest at some celebs workplace. Nah, I was so not interested to meet these celebs, I was more eager to see how the shooting went instead.

Now tell me and be honest. Those sounds technical, eh? But I don't know, I enjoyed these. So much that maybe there are some possibilities of me extending my internship period.

And on top of that, my new supervisor is the best boss I've ever met. Bu Norisa's just so instructive, having no hesitation in giving me tasks and responsibilities I have never done, and... Gorgeous. Yeah, she's chic.

No doubt, I guess.

This is my place.

P.S. : The day after, it went so so. Not as hecticly-pleasure as the previous three days, but there was this presentation held by GREY agency. Those name cards, were what I was grateful that day about.

Sooner, “Curi Budaya Orang” Will Only be a Part of Your History

Let me set this straight. This post is obviously intended to some random country up there my nation is really, really sick of. But due to our ethical responsibilities, I’m not allowed to mention any name of countries. So for the rest of the text, I’m gonna refer them as “lo” or “tetanggaku tersayang”

Ngomongin soal Indonesia, nggak jauh-jauh dari ngomongin soal kebudayaannya. Ini udah jadi prolog yang basi banget gak sih? Tapi emang nyatanya begitu kan. Kebudayaan Indonesia yang bejibun jumlahnya itu kadang suka bikin gue bingung mau nulis opening yang kayak gimana karena udah keburu gak sabar ngejabarin satu-satu apa aja yang dipunyain sama negara gue ini.

Di tempat gue tinggal aja, di Jakarta, udah banyak banget kebudayaannya. Ondel-ondel, jaipong, lenong, kerak telor, ini, itu, wawawaaa kalo mau bikin negara sendiri udah cukup tajir lah ya. Belum kalo digabung sama yang masyarakat Jawa punya. Belum kalo digabung sama daerah-daerah Indonesia Barat lainnya. Belum kalo digabung sama semua provinsi di Indonesia! Wuih, pusing euy.

Tapi emang resiko jadi orang kaya kali ya, ada aja gitu orang lain yang sirik, yang padahal lebih bahagia, lebih makmur, tapi tetep pengen nyuri apa yang gue punya. Biasa lah, manusia masa kini kan rakus. Suka lupa sama kemelaratan orang lain.

Salah satu contohnya ya elu, negara tetanggaku tersayang.

Gue heran deh. Secara internasional, lo jauh lebih tenar daripada gue. Akses bandara lo ke negara-negara lain lebih lengkap daripada gue. Kalo gue mau ke Jepang atau Australia aja misalnya, gue mesti transit dulu di tempat lo.

Udah gitu, di samping tetangga kita yang kecil mungil itu dan negara gajah tetangga lo itu, orang-orang dari belahan dunia lain pasti langsung inget sama lo kalo nama ASEAN disebut-sebut. Bahkan nama lo muncul di lagunya Pitbull yang baru –yang ini gue sangat amat gak rela :’(

Tapi kenapa?? Kenapa lo selalu mau ambil punya gue?? *musik drama kolosal*

Gue tau lo gak punya apa-apa buat dibanggain. Maksud gue soal kebudayaan-kebudayaan yang pelik ini. Apa yang lo punya, hampir semuanya gue punya. Ya wajar aja sih lo jadi takut, trus lo buru-buru ngeklaim barang-barang gue sebelum gue ngeh kalo itu punya gue.

Gue tau, kita sedarah serumpun. Tapi gak gitu juga kali. Kita emang tinggal serumah, tapi kan kita punya kamar sendiri-sendiri coooy. Mau kagak lu, kamar lu gue gerebek, gue obrak-abrik, trus gue balik ke kamar gue dan have fun gak peduliin kamar lo? Mau gak hah?? HAH???

Gini ya, gue bocorin sedikit rahasia. Kami emang lelet dan gak pedulian sama apa yang kami punya, gue akuin. Gue sendiri kesel sama rakyat gue yang langsung pada sok-sok tergerak jadi bagian dari suatu kebudayaan giliran kebudayaan itu udah lo malingin. Tapi apa yang lo kerjain itu, ngerebut, nge-hak-milik-in dan sebagainya, pelan-pelan bikin kami sadar.

Sekarang emang kami masih diem-diem aja lo injek-injek. Gatau karena bos negara ini yang letoy, atau pertahanannya yang cupu, gue sendiri ga ngerti –atau pura-pura ga ngerti, beda tipis lah ya hehe. Tapi liat aja ntar, macem sepuluh dua puluh taun lagi, pas gue dan angkatan gue yang megang ini negeri… Yea for now I can’t tell what will happen, but you just prepare yourselves ;)

Sumpah ini bukan anceman loh haha. Siape gue, berani-beraninya ngancem lo? Gue cuma mau ngasitau aja, kalo negara kami ini lagi ngadepin rezim terlemah yang pernah kami rasain. Jadi ini semacem peringatan aja, kalo besok-besok kami jadi kuat, lo jangan kaget karena udah gue kasitau dari sekarang.

Nah untuk itu, gue pribadi mohon dengan lemah lembut –berubung kami masih dalam mode teraniaya– agar lo dan temen-temen lo itu berhenti bikin kita keder. Jangan curi lagi lah kebudayaan gue, capek kali marah-marah sama lo, ngata-ngatain lo, ngutuk lo pake sumpah serapah ga jelas. Serius deh, gue pengen ngerasain hidup damai sama lo. Kan lo tetangga gue tersayang, ye gak?

So try to stop that, my dearest neighbor.
Just do it right now! Like sooner, not later.
Because no regrets available here :)

I Choose You, Toys!

Temen gue ada yang baru pulang dari Jepang. Dan tebak apa yang dia oleh-olehin ke gueee?? Mainan rakitan Pokemon HAHA ya Allah terakhir liat ini mainan pas masih SD apa kalo gasalah. Sepuluh tahun kemudian baru nemu beginian lagi, berasa balik ke jaman bebas tak berdosa itu :')

Well, beginilah kira-kira rupanya.

Manual rakitannya bahasa Jepang semua, tapi direktif abizzzz. Cuma pake gambar aja gue bisa ngerti gimana cara jalannya. Oh I adore Japanese and their creativity...

I'm halfway there~

Tiga parts terkecil yang krusial parah. Kalo ilang, kepala sama mulutnya gabisa gerak.

Tinggal pasang stiker, perut sama kaki dan...

Ta-da!! Gua sama sekali gatau ini Pokemon apa, tapi gue suka banget mahakarya ini

Ini cuma secuil dari koleksi mainan dan barang-barang berbau Pokemon lainnya, yang nama tokonya adalah Pokemon Center -nama klinik yang ada di kartunnya. Usut punya usut, harga rakitan ini cuma 600 yen atau cuma sekitar 60 ribuan rupiah. Tau gitu gue beli sepuluh biji deh gue lahap ampe muwak.

You know, regrets will always come late indeed.

But that's fine, who knows this is God's way to tell me

That I gotta go there by myself, catch 'em all on my own.

So I guess I'll see you soon, Japan!

Mothers I Like, Fervently

I don't know where to start.

I don't even remember if I had ever shared this.

So here's the thing. I'm just twenty but it doesn't prohibit me to put an interest on somebody older than me. Umm yes, I'm in love with a lady. No, I'm in love with ladies. These ladies.

Blame mom! She forced me to download all series of the Desperate Housewives that I can't stop myself to watch each episode she's done watching before I planned to delete them. Now that I like them so much, I'm still keeping the files...

Anyway, you met the main housewives. Bree Van de Kamp, Lynette Scavo, Susan Mayer and Gabrielle Solis. I like 'em all, I love the bond between 'em.

One thing, there's this wive I idolize the most. One of minor wives, Edie Britt. She's not nice, she's somehow slutty. But she's funny. Random and wild, more like a clown of the pack if she's accepted among other wives. And she's actually caring, well as far as I follow the show. Overall, her appearance is one of my longing.

But keep this in all your minds.

I'm just happened to adore them.

Just an adoration, for crying out loud.

Nothing more, nothing less ;)

image sources: here and here

Note Four: Readapt

Day Eighteen

What's so special about today? Well, it's the only day off I will ever felt along my internship period. Plus, today's the middle day of the middle week of my overall seven weeks of internship. Geez, I'm halfway done already...

So umm, as I told you on the previous post, I've been transferred to the Marketing Communication sub-division. This week I'm under supervision of the Educational aspect. You know, it's like the advertising but subliminal. They introduce products and services through soft ways, such as advertorials, magazine for priority costumer named 'Prioritas', soundings and information from facebook and twitter posts, and also Gebyar BCA.

I must say, the readaptation's not done yet. Next week I'll be moved to the aspect I've been ever longing for, the Advertising aspect. Can't wait for that and I hope I'll obtain what I crave from that place.

Weird, eh? I'm like a corporation pervert.

Jump from one working unit to other ones.

However, this is getting more exciting because

I learned more than what I expected

Something I Just Noticed

Sejak kemaren gue udah pindah ke MarComm. Cerita detailnya sih nanti aja deh ya karena sekarang ada yang lebih menarik yang pengen gue sampein.

Nah hari ini gue diajak buat ngeliput Finance Asia: Asia's Best Companies Awarding sponsored by Credit Suisse di Mandarin Oriental. Hmm padahal ya, itu hotel kan sebrang-sebrangan sama kantor. Tapi kita naik mobil cuy! Haha baru naik bentar, pasang Ed Sheeran - A Team, lagu belom selesai eh udah sampe di lobby hotel. Yasudah lah ya, sekali-sekali ngerasain hidup mewah hehe.

Oke, fokus! Nah setelah acara selesai dan mencuri dengar dari orang-orang di sekitar gue, gue dapet sebuah insight baru. Awarding nya orang bule itu, setelah ditelaah, jauuuuuuuuuuhhhhh lebih sederhana dibandingin awarding yang dibikin sama orang-orang Indonesia.

Yang satu ini, acaranya di meeting room gitu. Sempit. Stage nya cuma seitil. MC nya gak nanggung-nanggung, Publisher Finance Asia nya langsung! Trus yang nyerahin awardnya -yang menurut gue, tugas ini sangat amat gabut- itu Managing Director Credit Suisse Indonesia. Overall gak ada tambahan uang buat bayar orang lain, termasuk EO. Plus no meals for media and no music or other useless performances.

Credit Suisse Managing Director Robby Winarta and Finance Asia Publisher Jonathan Hirst, on such cute stage

President Director of PT Bank Central Asia Jahja Setiaatmadja, receiving the award of the Best CEO

Gila ye, acara serius gitu ngundang direktur CEO presiden dari perusahaan-perusahaan besar, tapi sederhana abis. Bahkan OVJ Awards yang isinya kelakar gajelas gitu jauh lebih megah dan foya-foya. Bahkan FISIP Awards yang cuma sebatas kampus masih pake kepanitiaan segala. BAHKAN Awarding Night Malam Balas Jasa Komunikasi 2010 yang sejatinya gak diwajibin ada awardingnya pun, sampe bikin orang nangis-nangis karena kelabakan ngurusnya.

We have to learn a lot, people of Indonesia.

That simplicity is, sometimes, the best

Note Three: Transition

Day Fifteen

Today was my last day in Public Relation Aspect. Well umm, I asked my boss to switch me to the Marketing Communication Subdivision for a better learning of mine. But you know, right when you have a chance to obtain something, sometimes you need to let go of something else.

I'm in love with the place I was put. Those people, uh, they're just too amusing to be skipped. It was just three weeks but I feel like accepted. They said that I was too fast, stopped working there already. Some of them even suggested me to extend my internship period there haha.

Anyway if you notice, along these three weeks, I kept talking about the people. See that's why I requested to be moved. I made friends already, now it's time for me to sharpen my knowledge about marketing or better yet, advertising.

I know, this wasn't the end. I'll still be in touch with them. We even made plans already to catch some movies, go to karaoke studio, and break fast together. So this replacement, I hope it would be a precise decision.

Transition will always, always be difficult. For me.

Especially when I have gotten used to the current situation. 

But you know

Right when you have a chance to obtain something,

Sometimes you need to let go of something else.

I hope this'll be getting way better