Check Seven: Final Touches

So done are all the preparations.

I went through the sixth term, first steps of my final assignment, internships and also Ramadan, I got my own American visa, also had a little escape from all those stuff, had enough sponsors and now, it's about time to leave.

Mom's been worrying about my wardrobe, dad's been warning me to take tons of photos, my brothers kept listing things to be bought, while I... Concerned more about changing my bracket rubber color to red and blue. That's simply what final touch means to me :)

Oh well.
Who knew this day'd come so fast.

So God, thanks for making everything work.

Now I'm coming, New York

Baby Imma Rock Star

"Spent this whole day enjoying supermodels at VSFS and recording stuff for my Soundcloud. Feelin like a rock star \m/"

--@rifkyvicky

I tweeted that thing yesterday.

And now I'm telling the whole story.

It was an idle day yesterday, and you know I'm still under euphoria of enjoying fancy girls from watching Greek and 90210 -I'm gonna post something about Ivy Sullivan soon, remind me!- back to back every morning on Star World.

So I was on this urgent need to see some beautiful crafts, and I spontaneously thought about tons of VICTORIA'S SECRET Fashion Shows I never finished watching.

Dashing. Seeing them walking down the runway one by one, I felt like a top notch musician having my days off and deciding to attend the show, just to browse some hot chicks. It's like Adam Levine grazing all girls before he finally ended up with Behati.

He's got his choice, I got mine.

It's Adriana Lima.

Picture's mine, I took it myself. Haha kidding, check here.

Done seeing angels, I returned to my business: music. And by returning to music, I meant I logged in my Soundcloud account to upload some recorded covers I did earlier. The account was created long, long ago but since I didn't have enough guts to let universe know my skill, I kept pending it. Since yesterday.

And for you, my fans, who wonder about why on earth did I, all of the sudden, signed up to Soundcloud... It's because I can't hold it much longer. I do rap. I can't sing, but I rap. I'm still learning, but I rap. And I just need some place to spill it.

So give it a shot, to my Soundcloud.
Let me know if it ruins your ear drums.

Now that the public knew my potential, it was actually the time for me to give a brand to myself. You know I like Pitbull and you know I love to wear shorts. Wha--you don't know? Okay, I love wearing shorts.

It's so nice to have some dreamy life as such.

At least it distracts me from how harsh real life is.

Although if I turn to be a real musician, and date a model,
It'll feel less harsh, I'm all sure

Check Six: Sponsors and Partners

We closed the sponsorship offer.

It's time to prepare all the publication media right away.

So it's Bukit Asam, BNI, Mandiri Syariah aaaandd, KMI, as the backbone of our trip. Oh God, never thought that we'd earned so much helps from them. We can't even think the best way to thank them enough.

Also, we get the publication reinforcements from Kompasiana and Suara Jakarta.

My...

Several steps away to New York

God, please make it work

And thanks for the sponsors it grew us smirk

What Local College Needs

Have I told you that in this last term, I only have one sit in class?

Well if I haven't, so yea, this term, I only have one sit in class.

It gives me enough time at home, working on my last assignment,

Sit in front of my laptop, in front of my TV, and watch this serial.

http://www.serialminds.com/2011/01/10/greek/

It's like what had always happened to me, against TV serials. Watched one episode, turned out to be back-to-back ones, enjoyed several other episodes, continued watching the following days, and the next thing I knew, I'm in love with Ashleigh Howard and wished the worst for the loser Rusty Cartwright.

But what got me attached so well, yea as you might guess it,

Is the damn exciting wilderness of fraternity slash sorority life.

The never ending party, spring and summer break schedules and all the slacking off parts, it's what I've always seek my whole life! And aside the savage part, there's always been some formal occasions where the frats meet the sororities, dance slowly and get to know emotionally to each other. And no matter how formal it is, there'll always be "hook-up" and "get wasted" time as the after-prom.

There's also this competition. Between Kappa Tau Gamma and Omega Chi Delta, Zeta Beta Zeta against Iota Kappa Iota, ahh even just mentioning those Grecian names turned me on already. So yea it's like high school all over again. One frat attacks the other, fight for potential freshmen in the rushing, hold their unique initiation and stuff. It's always my call to be a part of one thing, and fight for it, and keep the pride on my chest but, I never get the chance to be a part of such thing :-/

Oh but the best part will be the seniority. I'm always on fire when it comes to hierarchy. Once you're the freshman, you'll have older men got your back. And once you're the senior, you'll always have innocent kids to do all your duties. And don't start talking about pledge brothers. There'll be some serious bromance inside my peer.

And to make myself more pissed,

Fratbros live inside the same house. The frathouse.

It'll be like, party in each seconds of my life, don't you think??

Read their tagline. I'm dying to join them.

I'm starting to sound very weird.

Seems pathetic, but I envy American college.

Well I hope I can go on with my studies in the US.

And I hope they have these Greek system for master degree.

Otherwise, in another life maybe?

I Knew It

Months ago, when I was still in search of an internship program, I convinced myself that I didn't have to be worried because somehow, on May 17th, some good news would come to me. I don't know why, the date has always been so sacred to me. I can't recall what had happened on previous May 17th. I could just sense it.

But that's not what I'm going to share now.

It's about the fact that I was totally right guessing.

A call from BBDO on May 17th 2013, yea it proved it all.

Since after, I stopped worrying about internship. I stopped following up McCann -whom apparently, is the best agency now in Indonesia. I didn't even change my mind knowing that Ogilvy would only accept me if I took the 3 months long program -while I only had 2 free months for internship. It's like, I fought my best to keep BBDO as the place I would learn more about advertising. I was so sure that I'd obtain something beyond my other friends could get from their agencies.

And again, I was right.

It's not because I got more knowledge than my friends,

Not because I earned more money -I didn't even get a cent,

Not at all because I was offered a permanent position at the agency.

No.

It was more because I completed this vision, this belief,

Of how the professional world really works.

I'm not ready.

So not ready about it.

It kept bugging me lately. About how finally I have to leave college. Leave the phase where twice a year, I can get the hell out of those regular activity and do some fun stuff like, go solo traveling. Leave the freedom. To a monotone working shift where weekends are my only holiday. Where coworkers can easily become my arch enemies. Or already become ones, without me knowing it.

And no one will ever going to be there to help me, but myself.

I'm not ready.

So not ready about it.

Now you know Andy Davis.

The kid from Toy Story trilogy.

We share many things in common.

Grew up together, terribly in love with toys,

We even went to college on the same exact year.

Image of Andy is from here.

Right now, he must've been facing the same issue with me.

I wonder how he reacts about this

Henshin, Homeland Kids!

I loved it today,

When finally I could wake up early in such beautiful Sunday morning, and had the chance again to feel the euphoria of enjoying cartoon marathon. I can't ever deny that, I miss my childhood too much.

And so today, when I was on the marathon track, something kinda cool distracted me. It was like a tokusatsu, but the faces seemed local. Oh yeah, you nail it! It's our Japan based live action superhero serial named

Bima Satria Garuda!

Left to right: The henshin mode, Ray the main hero, Rena the female protagonist

and Randy, Ray's best guy also Rena's older brother.

Recently I read and heard so much about "Bima". But I didn't really notice what kind of Bima it was, because it didn't really interest me. But now that I knew that Bima is the Indonesian version of Kamen Rider, well, it had me applauded.

Well yeaaa, it's not purely made by Indonesian. The idea is totally adapted from Japan. But it's not a copycat okay, because the film's produced by MNC working with Ishimori Productions, the one who made Kamen Rider. Now at least there are some Indonesians trying to learn how to produce such things, so sooner or later we can stand on our own effort and generate our own genuine ideas.

And I happened to see the serial a little bit. It's so, so Japan tasted. The costume, the dialogue, the expressions, the setting, the plot. What makes it different is, the hospital drama haha. You can't call it Indonesian TV drama if there's no hospital scenes. But I don't care. At least they don't sell crappy stories. Local kids now can feel what we felt in watching tokusatsu.

But what made me touched was, they used the sanskrit name Bima and our sacred bird Garuda as the name of the hero. I seriously give no fvck to any other part of the show, if apparently they copy all the concept and the episode plots from Kamen Rider and apply it to this, I don't give a fvck. At least they're trying to introduce Mahabharata universe to children, and that's what matters.

At least now there's a more proper show for children to watch.
At least now those useless romantic serials can slowly be replaced.

At least.

You notice how many "at least"s I used, do you?
Well yea this nation's just too unfriendly for children to live in.
So simple things like this, simple things like the real entertainment for them,
Can at least help them feel 90s childhood

Overseas Submarine View

I have a Filipino friend.

On some aspects, we share lots of similarities. Love traveling, citizens of the capital cities, which automatically, make us similarly hate the metropolitan traffic jam, love cats, and The Hunger Games -this is the best part that I like from him! Once, we were subconsciously counting how many tributes died when from afar we heard fireworks cracked- and we both majoring communication science.

But there's one thing that differs us from each other.

That in traveling, he also visit places his country possesses.

And one big goal that he had in mind for his next trip, will be

Diving with whale sharks, in Donsol

Pictures of Donsol above and under water, obtained from here.

And he wanted me to join.

I swear, I was interested--no! I am, interested. See the vast sea of water and the rocks, those are the scenery I'd love to see in my next trip to Halong Bay (wrong, apparently I bought a ticket to HCMC instead...). And the idea of swimming with sharks... Well to be honest, I guess I have this phobia of beholding bottomless water.

Like on my last trip to Bali, I was snorkeling with two of my friends. It was fun until they returned back to our resting area, leaving only me and the ocean, then I did the snorkeling all alone. I kept swimming and swimming as long as I could see corals below me, but once they're gone, poof! I started to breathe hard.

Now diving in the deep sea. You see nothing around you but blue color, getting any darker and darker once you see your sublevel. And there'll be this gigantic fish near you. I can feel the panic attack already but... I'm curious! Underwater mystery makes me curious! Outer space makes me curious! Dinosaurs, time machine, Grecian myth, those make me turned-on-ish curious! I'm curious like that monkey George!

In summary, I'm thinking of visiting Philippines.

I know, Indonesia must've owned something like this.

But now the problem is... I don't know where it is!?

Well I'm sure if I really go there,
I have this thing that'll keep bugging me:

So he can make me want to visit his aquatic wonder.
Now how can I convince him visiting mine?

The Local Warming

So the day I was anxious about had come.

The day I referred to as my runaway, yea it came.

Yes, the day I meet my idol again.

Skenoo Exhibition Hall

September 1st, 2013

Can't really tell you how I exactly felt. This was his third time coming to Jakarta, and my second time coming to his gig. My friends didn't really expect him and even had no idea that he planned to come again. It also meant that, no one would ever be going to the concert.

So I don't care.

I watched it anyway.

Alone again and that was okay.

Unlike his second concert which was started around 9 and ended before 10, this time, the whole concert was much more humanized. We queued at an air conditioned hall, sitting, sequentially entered the main hall and only waited like one hour before the show started.

8 PM, music played, lights dimmed, bands started performing and boom! There came my all-time, top notch, irreplaceable idol. I knew I watched him before, but once I saw him on stage yesterday, it felt like my first time. I yelled, I chanted his name hysterically, I was like a male groupie.

He sang like every single hits he hit. His original songs, his songs where he got featured within, some popular songs as the bridge to his main songs, AAARRGGHH I DO LOVE HIM!! Funny thing was, I'm sure I was the only one who rapped with him. Other people, who stood in front of me, hindering my way from my idol, acted like his biggest fans, only sang the choruses which mostly done by featured artists. I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO MASTERED THE RAP!

And people glanced at me for that. I didn't really know, and care, what they were thinking about. But I'm sure it was either how could he do the rap?? or perhaps the contrary. Shut up, you stupid hoe! We're trying to enjoy Pitbull here! But what can I do, people?? It's just my nature to rap along Pitbull's songs. And I paid to feel the concert anyway, so the songs and the stage were half mine.

On some level of the concert, I stopped singing and just rolled my eyes to where that guy moved. The beat, the rap sensation, the lighting, the fvckin smokin hot dancers, the Armando Christian Perez...

I adored that guy.

I do, wholeheartedly, adore that guy.

I realized I wasn't just acting like a fanatic fan in front of my friends, these last three years.

But I, really am a fanatic fan of Pitbull.

After one hour and fifteen minutes, he got off the stage. People kept screaming "We want more, we want more!" but I knew, he wouldn't be coming out again. 

So the hall started to be clearing off, and I started to get near the stage and saw if I could bring something home. Earlier on the concert, Pit threw his recently-wiped-to-his-bald-head hankie right to my spot. But my hand couldn't stretched further and I failed several centimeters before a male scum bastard ass snatched the cloth right before my very face.

So yea once again, I only got a playlist paper.

Even a bule staff of his couldn't get me the towel...

Well then I returned home.

But no, I didn't feel down...

The concert really opened my mind about how I actually idolized Pitbull a lot.

People know that I like him, people turn to me when it comes to Pitbull.

The guy's all about me and it's just the other way around, vice versa.

But I just never realized that this thing is real deep.

Feels a bit dramatized eh? But no, I really mean it.

Then came the question, "How was Pitbull, Vick?"

"Rocked my night." I answered. "And I'm sure he'll be back soon.

Even if apparently, he's holding another concert tomorrow, well friend,

I'm so gonna see it again."

Check Five: The Runaway

We're halfway there.

Visa's done, ticket's obtained...

We're halfway there,

But I needed a temporary escape.

So I went to Bali with my friends. My family. Friends. Well whatever, they're just as good and as close as siblings to me so... Anything will do. But overall, the trip was really like a runaway to me. Runaway before campus starts again, with runaway foods and beverages to run away from reality. If you know what I mean :)

And then yesterday, like yesterday, I attended some concert. Well, I prefer calling it a sanctuary. Because it was Pitbull's. Again. I know I watched one, two years ago but... Was it enough?? No! Even after yesterday, I realized that I can't get enough Pitbull's songs. And his dancers.

Okay...

Several steps away to New York.

God, please make it work.

Now I'm back to the cirque