The Secret Life of My Kind

Recalling the resolution I made for 2014,

It's about Worldwide Fun, isn't it Vick?

Well to be honest, I'm kinda pretty optimistic about it. Chances are everywhere. I'm all open and free. Graduated and unemployed, I can actually choose to be a freelance writer or copywriter or better yet, go on with my study somewhere abroad.

Anything, could possibly be my path to being a Mr Worldwide.

And this was kinda reinforced by a simple hint, shown by

Walter Mitty

Genuinely scared, imagining myself in the middle of nowhere.

Yes, it's only a movie. About someone who is so tiny physically, financially and hierarchy-ly. Never once planned, going to Greenland, boating to Iceland, cycling and skating down the lowhill, drifting away from Eyjafjallajökull's dusts, hiking the Himalayas, never once planned by Walter Mitty.

But somehow he made it. Alone. No preparations at all. And no camera. I don't blame his decision, no he was a fool not bringing something to seize the wonders. But having no camera, means optimizing our visual to mental-capture the sights. Don't need to be busied taking pictures and enjoying digital sceneries from the screen. Just us, our eyes, and the genuine touch of mother nature.

I want that. The spontaneous journey, not the no-camera-at-all part.

Can you imagine? No certain plan you been waiting for and all of the sudden, poof!

You're sailing offshore Nuke, swimming ice cold water and eating a nice clementine cake.

I do, want that.

Because if you're in the middle of something unplanned,

And you apparently enjoy every single details you have to do,

Then you just found your quintessence

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

A negative assets manager of Life Magazine Walter Mitty is requested to prepare negative 25 as the cover of the magazine's last issue. Worst thing comes when Walter and his man can't find the negative on the negroll. Seeing this as his responsibility, he plans to find Sean O'Connell, the never-actually-show-up photojournalist that sent him the roll, and collect negative 25 from him to soon be published.

What did I feel right after? Teary, and amazed. Teary. Karena, set tempat film ini adalah New York. Oke lotau apa masalah gue dengan kota yang satu itu -masih gabisa move on :'( Amazed. Karena, hmm, the movie's all about a journey. Literal journey. Greenland sampe Afghanistan, dan semuanya wisata alam. Gak mungkin sih, gue gabisa berenti bilang "wow" dengan mulut ternganga karena view nya sebagus itu. Semuanya tempat tempat yang sama sekali bukan travel wish list gue, namun satu hal yang pasti, setelah nonton film ini, soon kalo gue udah merupakan manusia yang senja dan udah jadi traveler pro -AMIN!- gue gabakalan gak datengin tempat tempat ini. Tapi kalo disuruh kesana sekarang... Yang ada gue malah nangis manggilin emak gue minta pulang -serem bro, sepi :(

image source: here

Dear Neighbor

I'm here, on behalf of my nation's youth,

Stating our deep condolences and support

Towards the current internal chaotic situation

Our fellow Southeast Asians have, in Bangkok.

My friend, my fellow Thai.

Sometimes it's no use, trying to collapse your nation's supremacy, it's no use. All you guys will have is riot. Havoc surrounds. Unwanted death might occur... You aware who will step aside from this kind of a mess? Tourists. And soon it'll harm your economy.

My friend, my fellow Thai.

Cool down all anger. Use your heart, not your head. I know government is a pain in the ass, I feel you. But think again. If they're all jackass, who would've been the brain? You citizens! Someone needs to think straight and shows who the one who has manners is! You aware who will pop off from a nation with no manner? Tourists. And soon you'll lose their trust.

Come on my friend, my fellow Thai.

Did you watch Pokemon The Movie back then? A song once sang "You don't have to be this way. Think about the consequences. Turn around and walk away." You do aware who will be walking away if you keep doing this, yes? Tourists! And soon you'll be broken in, side out!

Guys I'm begging you.

Don't make a fool decision.

Don't think about being destructive.

Don't you jeopardize all the potentials you have.

Peaceful Thailand pic, obtained from here.

Because you're captivating.

You possess amazing culture.

Magnificent goods soak within.

And I'll be there in two weeks :(

Family in Crime

In the world of crime investigation serials...

Cliche says that each unit highlights one main character -mostly male- with their own specialties -reading minds, possessing sixth sense, writing, etc- doing crucial tasks only with a co-star -mostly women- leaving the rest of the group stranded and seem unimportant, appear only to be ordered this and that by their bosses.

Luckily, I found one unit that's developed quiet different from what I described above.

We call it NCIS.

Original NCIS casts, picture's from here.

First of all, I'm talking about the group consisting of Jethro, Tony, Tim, Abby and Kate. Not Ziva, but Kate. Well it's not that I hate Ziva -I just dislike her- but honestly, it's because all these times I've ever only be exposed by the first two seasons when Kate was still around. But no matter how much I'll soon be exposed to Ziva, I will always prefer Kate.

Okay enough talking divas.

Now let's get down to business.

NCIS. Well this group, as how I adore it, is balanced. Everybody carries different important roles, and seem to appear as much as each others do. But one thing that I like the most, is because this unit is alive. They bond. Hierarchy exists, of course, but it doesn't necessarily make them act awkward to each other.

Like Gibbs. Treats all his agents like his own kids. Everybody respects -and sometimes, is scared of- Gibbs but that doesn't stop them from being easy and spoiled in front of him. And Gibbs sees Abs like a daughter. Abs is the only one who acts loose towards Gibbs although sometimes she has to shut her mouth up when Gibbs shows the signal of "Abby, focus!".

Tony is reckless to his fellow agents. He fights all the time with Kate, and feels superior towards probation agent McGee. McGee likes Kate. Kate cares about McGee. McGee adores Abby. Abby matches McGee. Kate is a best friend to Abby. Ducky treats both girls like daughters. Gibbs respects Ducky and never be mad to him and of course, to Abby.

See, everybody shares a warm relationship with everybody. The bond's just so strong, even when they're apart they act like they're close -one that I like is that Tony, named his pet fish "Kate" although that woman has gone for like 9 seasons before. Everybody loves everybody.

It's not just a unit, it's a family.

I know as a real human being,

I'm totally not a part of that fiction group. 

But as a viewer, I feel like a part of their family.

It sells more than the crime itself

NP: The Sweet Deck

Hello again, children of 90s!

Gue semacem baru aja update segala opening intro dari berbagai kartun dan film jaman kecil dulu dan sekarang malah bingung mau play yang mana. Tapi liat dari track list yang udah ada, isinya kan rata rata film film anak cowok ya. Jadi hari ini unyu dikit deh bareng

Cardcaptor Sakura

Category:

Younger Elementary

First of all, supaya gak dijudge yang aneh aneh, gue suka film ini karena keseruan Sakura nyari kartu kartu yang bertebaran di muka bumi. Bukan karena kisah crush Sakura sama sahabat kakaknya atau karena kostum kostum Sakura kalo mau nangkep kartu loh ya -tapi kenapa inget??? Pokoknya keren aja gitu makhluk makhluk yang gak sengaja lepas itu punya kekuatan masing masing, trus di tiap episode satu per satu ditangkep dimasukin ke dalem kartu, trus kekuatan dari makhluk yang udah ditangkep di dalem kartu bisa dipake lagi sewaktu waktu kalo dibutuhin Sakura buat nangkep makhluk yang lain.

Keseruan bertambah pas Li Shaoran muncul. Dua duanya jadi kayak lomba gitu kan buat ngumpulin kartu, dan akhirnya di tiap episode malah jadi kerja sama walopun kartunya cuma bakal bisa jadi punya salah satu dari mereka. Tapi keseruan yang paling pol sih pas Meilin muncul karena gue suka sama dia :"> -entah kenapa kemunculan Chinese girls di dalem anime itu menarik buat gue.

Oke di tiap postingan Neverland Playlist kayaknya gue selalu ngumbar keanehan masa kecil gue gasih? Hm ya as you might guessed, dulu tiap abis selesai nonton satu episode kartun ini, gue selalu gambar kartunya dan gue koleksi untuk kenikmatan pribadi :)

Because if I couldn't be as cool as Gambit,

Nor as slick, mysterious yet entertaining as Joker,

I could always be a cardcaptor

Fin & Gill

Let me tell you the biggest highlight of my last trip.

It's actually something I've done before in Bali.

Snorkeling.

First time doing this was last August with two friends in Amed. We had fun, they got back upland, I stayed for more. I knew I liked it but that was all. After that time, I didn't feel like I wanted more snorkeling.

Until Gili. I never been to Gili before. People said that the water's clear, way clearer than Bali. I just yeahed them and took it for granted because I hadn't actually seen it live. So once I got there, boom, it struck my eyes, my mind and my heart. Especially after I got the equipment, and swam among the surface of the ocean.

Oh. My. God.

It was seriously clear. I could see the corals, the fishes were swimming before me, I even saw a sea turtle! It was so beautiful I didn't even notice that I was like a hundred meters away already from the beach. And when I reached the level where it was like two stories deep to the ocean floor, I began to feel this fear of drowning -started panicking and losing my breath- so I acted calm and swam back to the sand.

But it couldn't stop me from swimming back to that point.

I knew I would started to lose my calm again but,

I just couldn't get enough of that. 

Picture of Atlantica, obtained from here.

If I now recall the way I lost my mind, gave no shit about the possibility of drowning and kept swimming instead, feels like I wanna hit the back of my head and shout to myself "what the hell were you thinking??"

But then if I recall of how beautiful the view I peeked from that calm surface was, how vast the blue space around me and how I subconsciously praising Allah when swimming near the depth, I can actually block my own back-head-attack and answer, "but you enjoyed it eh?"

I'm into it. So much.

For now yes, I'm into it.

Well... I hope it lasts longer.

And I get more chance to snorkel.

And when seeing the ocean, I can be calmer.

But umm...

Calmer while all around me is just, water? How?

Should I make a deal with Ursula?

Eight Legged Karma

"Universe conspires."

You know when you felt like everything around you, together hand in hand trying to make you feel some certain experience, yeah the phrase was all over my head when I had a vacation last week in

Bali and Gili

Left is Gili Trawangan and right is Gili Meno.

So I, my friends and my friends' friends, we sort of believed that there was this big karma thing following us along our trip. Or maybe up till now? Only God knows.

There were five of us. Call us V, A, R, K and J -suspects are under identity protection due to the fear of ongoing karma. We spent two nights at this ethnic-down-to-nature stay named, let's say TS. The place was, ethnic-ish and culture-ish and, umm, down to nature? So yea it was like a cottage full of plants and wooden floors and bridge, lied next to a big rice paddy, stuff like that. No wonder if you see bugs and giant insects crawling around the living room.

Not to mention a spider. A gigantic arachnid. Creating nest. In the girls' room. I saw the creature a while before the girls arrived in Bali. Well I planned to inform them but I forgot. Until the next day, K and J reported us a paranoid moment they had last night with the spider, ended up with committing a murder. Yes, they killed the spider.

And so the karma began.

Started with the most tolerable one, felt by R. She didn't kill the spider, she's the one with the least interaction with the spider, so nature punished her by only spilling some booze on her dress. Lucky her.

Worse thing came to A. He was the one inviting all of us to stay at TS, that's why. So when we were about to return home from Ubud, the car he chartered was kinda broken, and he had to deal with all the mechanical thing for two hours while the girls and I went shopping. We were jerks I know, leaving him alone with the car and the bli blis. Maybe that's why the universe kept the best karma for us.

I, however, was placed the third on the list. You know where I did wrong right? I knew that there were a creepy crawling creature nesting near the girls but I didn't even say a word about that? That's kinda crucial. So the ocean paid off the spider's grudge and gave me this terrible seasickness along the way from Bali to Gili. To make it worse, I threw up six times :)

Left is me and my karma. The pic was taken on our way back to Bali, that's why I'm smiling.
On the right is J, and one of our karmas. Go on reading to find out :)

Well the worst part now, of course, happened to the assassin duo K and J. They both also got the seasickness I felt, and mother nature summoned an extra karma for them. The late spider sent off his two best friends for K and J.

We were at the Monkey Forest when K got her 'company'. Ha, Monkey Forest. Seemed like we were teasing the karma and approaching danger, eh? Well by that time we hadn't noticed about all these coincidence so, yeah... A devil monyet ambushed her. No signals, no prologues, it just attacked. Poor K, she was shaking and looking extremely pale.

Now that we realized about the karma, we put our guards on. But unlucky J, when we were at El Kabron to have dinner, she was blinded by hunger and the meals and subconsciously let her walls down so... A giant praying mantis took this chance and jumped to her face as the revenge for the spider's death. Shocking. She couldn't ever avoid that.

No picture of J and her praying mantis, sorry, it happened so fast no camera was prepared.

Well yeah. Karma exists.

And we paid to what we did.

On that exact time like, right away.

I learned so many thing from this.

That animals possess a strong, intense relationship.

That land and sea are mystically linked one another.

And that Bali, is sacred

Wait a sec, I just realized a thing: monkey, and praying mantis? Is this... Kung Fu Panda?? Oh wait--OMG! R's nickname is Panda! :(

Universe did play something with us...

NP: Craving for Dragon

I missed again, eh?

Yea I was so occupied that I forgot about my own playlist. But since I promised myself it'd be every Friday, I changed the date although I made the post on Monday ;)

Hokeh! Kali ini gue pengen denger sesuatu yang legend.

Bahkan, ini kartun masih ada sampe sekarang. Tebak apa?

Dragon Ball

Category:

Early Childhood

Siapa yang dulu gak nonton Dragon Ball hah? Siapa!? Kalo gak baca komiknya sih ya gue juga nggak, abis seruan nontonnya ha ha haa... Anyway, pertama kali kenal Dragon Ball itu dari sepupu gue pas mereka main nintendo di tv klasik gue -tau gak tv super lebar yang ada pintu gesernya? Dan lo tau siapa karakter Dragon Ball pertama yang terekspos oleh mata balita gue? Cell. セル. Bukan Cell yang agak cakepan yang mulutnya kayak manusia yang muncul di versi versi belakangan loh ya, tapi Cell yang bentuknya masih imperfect yang matanya masih ungu dan mulutnya bener bener kayak serangga. Horor gasih?? Jujur gue (dulu) takut banget sama dia :(

Speaking of characters, gue punya jagoan pribadi dong pastinya. Trunks. Toranku. トランクス. Kalo main game nya gue selalu nyari dia. Kalo beli file nya -kalian dulu pada koleksi file gitu gasih?? Kertas A4 yang ada gambarnya gitu, biasanya sih Disney. Seceng dapet empat biji :')- gue paling suka kalo ada dianya. Beli laser disc, puzzle, beli meja lipet buat ngaji, poster, action figure, huhu I'll do anything to get all those thing back in my hands...

Masalah kartun secara keseluruhan, kalo boleh jujur, hmm, gue gak ngerti sama jalan cerita Dragon Ball. Ya abis gimana pas gue mulai sadar akan kehidupan ini dan mulai nonton, ini kartun udah setengah jalan. Gue pun waktu itu masih super cilik jadi yang gue nikmatin cuma berantem berantemannya doang. Dan entah kenapa gue sampe sekarang gapernah ada daya dan upaya buat caritau plot Dragon Ball. Hm gatau kenapa ya, mungkin gue bakal tetep biarin ini jadi misteri masa kecil gue yang gak akan pernah gue caritau jawabannya :)

However, Dragon Ball tetep ngena banget di hati.
Sampe sekarang pun gue masih punya hasrat membuncah
Buat nyari action figure semua karakternya yang kece kece itu.
Tapi susah banget, anak anak jaman sekarang doyannya gadget...

Sometimes all of those things upset me so bad,
Makes me want to kamehameha them

Resolution, Again

Welcome, 2014.

As I always NOT do every year -well if you pay attention, I don't always do this- this year, I sense something special and I guess I can use a little resolution.

So, 2014.

You know what big will happen this year? World Cup. Something I adore so much about football. About sport. International sport. Get back to 2010's World Cup and you'll see like thousands of posts about the whole league from the very beginning to victory euphorias. See, international matches turn me on. Stakes are on your pride. Because the party, is an international fiesta.

Well, 2014.

Up till now I have two abroad trip plans: Indochina and China. I still have like eight more months idling, waiting for more spontaneous abroad-ish plans to come by. Yea you know, things couldn't be easily predicted lately. Like last year on April my friends suddenly invited me to their delegates and the next thing I knew, we were at US already by October.

Maybe there's this overseas outing held by my office this mid year, or by the end of the year I get this chance to be transferred to overseas branches because the agency I'll be working to is a worldwide one, I don't know. Anything could still possibly happen.

Okay, 2014.

Now you get what's so special about it?

Yes. As far as my mind can predict about it,

It's the year of

Worldwide Fun

Now, 2014.

Surprise me!