Noah

Just watched the movie Noah yesterday.
If you haven't heard, the movie is banned in a number of countries due to various controversies. And it merely gets 6.4 in IMDB.

I think it's not fair.

Just like any other movie that's created from a book, naturally the book readers will scrutinise it. As a book reader myself, I hate it that Noah doesn't follow the original story. But what original story is there? Just a really short story about a guy that built a ship on a hill and brought a bunch of animals with him to save them from a big flood. Aronofsky tries to tell the story in deeper details, bringing up the characters through emotions we can relate. But people, sadly some of them are the compassionate Christians, do not understand his efforts.

But I understand Darren Aronofsky.

His movies are like onion; each of them has so many layers that we have to peel them step by step.

From Requiem for A Dream, Pi, The Fountain, to Black Swan, people must look past the surface to understand the core of the stories. Every time I watch his movies, I see and feel something new. I understand what he's always trying to say through his movies. Love is not always easy, faith is even more difficult. Life is, most of the time, dark.

While I'm still upset with many details he adds in (um, do we always have to have villains?), I'm at awe with the details he presents that we never saw (or choose to ignore) before in the story.

The struggle of a man acting on faith alone, when noone else -even at time, his family- agree with him. How does it feel to be the only man in the whole world that knows exactly what disaster is coming?
The emotional journey of a wife supporting her husband's questionable decisions. A mother's worry for her children when there's nothing to expect for the future.
Children's frustration when the optimism of their youth is not met with equally bright future.

Regardless of the ridiculous epicness of the movie that is not necessary, I'd still recommend this movie to any one. Regardsless its inconsistency in accordance to the original book, I still respect the movie-making skills and how it captures the essence of the story. And that is all that matters, really, understanding the message behind the story.

From my most favourite ex-couple

Yes Jake, chaos is a ladder!

April's Fool reality

Once upon a bright day in Ollieland...

I was having lunch with a colleague in our pantry. Being a travel-related company, our office pantry is decorated with a huge map on one wall.
My colleague (C) suddenly said, "Is this the real map?"
Me *confused*: What do you mean?

As this is April's Fool, I thought it's a prank question.

C: Is it how the real map is, or they just put the country randomly?
Me *still not sure about the question*: Uh, it's how it is. So yeah, it's the real map.
C: Huh? Then America is on the left?
Me *finally gets the question but now am speechless*: ...

Too bad it's not a prank.

C: ....
Me: Well, usually Asia is in the middle, cos we're in Asia, so they make the maps that way. But this is based on Europe map, so Europe is in the middle.

I look forward to more of such friendly conversations around the office!

The crime scene

“Eating a raw oyster is like french kissing a mermaid.”

- The humour of Tom Robbins

Know

You don't know me, cos you only choose to see a version of me. That's why it surprises you too much when you finally discover who I really am. 

A lot of time, we feel betrayed by the people we "trust" and more often than not, our first reaction would be 'I don't know you're that kind of person'. The second reaction, which is not all that rare, would be the more appropriate 'I don't know who you are!

The second reaction is much truer. This is because -most of the time- when we "get to know" someone, we don't actually see the person as who he really is. As a creature with strong imaginations, we see people the way we want to see them. This gets worse we're "in love" with someone (and so much worse when 'we' are girls). The colours of love sure are more bright and saturated. This is why there are a lot of nice people end up with people who don't deserve them.

It's easier to love an imagination...

It's not always a bad thing though, mistaken someone for who he isn't. There scenarios go both ways. There'll be a time when you think someone is not bad person, but she turns out to be a "tragically misunderstood character". When you thought someone is lazy, but really she's just suffering a ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and turns out to work great when she works alone. When you thought someone is weak and timid, and she's really just being polite and has been feeding your ego. And there'd be time when one day she decides she has enough and shows that she's actually strong and independent (and decides to flip you one).

In either case, it's always good to be honest to yourself, don't lie to yourself. As Syrio Forel wisely said, "See with your eyes." Don't see with your judgement or imagination. See things and people for what they really are. And when you've seen, don't be angry or bitter, just accept it and move on. People are not here to make your life miserable (you're not that important), they simply are.

The day English died

The day English is murdered for the 100th time in Singapore..

Sickening humanity

People earn what they earn.

Many people complain they don't have the life they want. But when asked what exactly they want, they don't know.
When asked to work on what they want, they don't want to.
When shown the great people who actually work for to build a dream, they laugh.
They sneer, they grab a feet, throw fires.

People forget, great things might fall so quick but they weren't built overnight.

011013

A journey of a thousand miles..

Asking my boyfriend any my brother "What do you think if I move to Australia to work?": The difference.

Me:  "What do you think if I move to Australia to work?"
Bf: *shrug* "Ok."

Me: "What do you think if I move to Australia to work?"
Bro: "What's the job? Who told you? Are you sure? What did your bf say? Have you thought it through? Don't you think this is selfish?" *two hours later* "The economy is... The tax in Australia is..." *two more hours later* "You have to know what you want in life. Is this really what you want? If not, then what is it that your really want." *goes on to other irrelevant topics for a few hours more*

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the difference between an optimistic realist and pessimistic idealist.

An optimistic realist sees the world like a little child. Just enjoy what you're doing and life will shape itself around you. No need to worry. Worries only brings unhappiness, and unhappiness brings bad luck.

While a pessimistic idealist is the total opposite --perhaps like a bitter old man. Everything that will go wrong in life, will go wrong. It is life's personal mission to make each individual's life miserable.

I'm not saying that one is better than the other. Any extreme is not good. What we can do is learn from both and find our own balance.

But right now, my journey of a thousand miles is stuck on the first step.

Land of Oz

Every once in a while, I come up with a crazy idea.
One that would make my friends sure I'm a crazy dreamer.

Maybe that's why I don't have many friends.. hmm.. *distracted, thinking about the past*
Well, it's ok, the friends that I still have don't really mind my crazy dreams.

Most of my dreams didn't come true, of course, as I just leave them as they are: a dream. But now I'm dreaming a new dream and I can't sleep at night cos I literally dream it in my sleep. And I just have to do it, no matter what. Especially since my last job interviewer went MIA.

My latest crazy dream is *drum rolls pls* move to Australia and work there.

The first common reaction I got was, "Why so sudden?"
Sudden for other people is because I announce it suddenly. But I've been thinking about it for months, and kept the idea at the back of my head for years.

Bukan hanya cantik yang subjektif. 'Kenapa' dan 'karena' juga.

The second common reaction I got was, "Why?"
That interrogative word again. To that question I always answer "Why not?" But of course that simple rebuttal is never enough to stop people from asking. One 'why' is enough to confuse philosophers. A why answered with a why is like poking a sleeping dragon. So to soothe the dragon back to sleep again, I chant the obvious facts: Australia has higher demand of human resource and offers higher salary (compared to Singapore and Indonesia).

But the real reason to that question, I only told one person so far. This blog is the second place I repeat it: To give my life a purpose.

Hidup itu harus ada yang mau dicapai...

We have to have a goal in life. Only by having something to achieve can we have an achievement.
By staying where I am right now, I can't achieve anything. I don't have a purpose. I've lost interest (and hope) in my previous dream. While just dreaming this new dream, I have the enthusiasm to wake up in the morning.

Now, I have to risk everything I have (which is not much anyway) to keep moving forward. So that even though this dream falls through, at least I tried.