Keluh dan Kesah

Ternyata menunggu segala sesuatu selesai itu membosankan ya...??Inilah yang kualami di kampus. Entah aku yang apes ato gimana, ngurus administrasi pasca kompre-ku ternyata ngga kalah membosankan dengan sebelum kompre.

Sebetulnya sih, kalo mo cepat dan ngga da yang salah-salah harusnya minggu lalu bisa selesai. Contoh salah satu kesalahan gw yaitu perihal penulisan gelar. Entah kenapa kok tuk hal ini orang Indonesia kok gila banget ya, penulisan gelar aja kok begitu diperhatikan. Gara2 ini jadinya gw harus uber2an tanda tangan penguji gw ampe kurang lebih 3 kali. Awalnya gw kira cuma kurang rangkap-nya aja eh ngga taunya malah gelarnya yang tercantum malah ikutan salah, ampuuuunnnnnn deeecchhh.....

Belum selesai masalah gelar adalah urusan tetek bengek administrasi pasca kompre. Kirain ganpang eh ngga taunya harus melewati paling ngga lima meja untuk akhirnya dapat mendaftar wisuda. Yang paling bikin gw gregetan adalah masalah kuitansi SPP. Gila aja, masa kita diminta nyertain semua kuitansi kita dari semester 2 ampe sekarang???Nonsense banget jelasnya sih menurutku. Gw pikir, apa pihak FE sedemikian payahnya ampe ngga punya catatan tuk hal sepenting ini???Kalo terbukti iay, ngga bisa bayangin gw, fakultas dengan tempat bernaungnya fakultas manajemen dan akuntansi kok administrasi internalnya sedemikian parah.

Lucky me....rupanya gw berhasil melewati jalur birokrasi semacam ini. Ternyata orang2 dalam sendiri mengakui proses semacam ini terlalu rumit. So akhirnya gw cukup minta klarifikasi aja ditempat dan akhirnya beres. Alhamdulillah. Namun demikian, sepertinya kok cuman gw ...ma rani aja yang lucky. Si denok ternyata malah ketiban apes. Dia malah diminta ngurus ampe ke rektorat segala, kasiaaaaannnn deh lu...hi..hi..hi..

Juga ngga bikin gw ngerasa repot adalah tuk perihal kopma. Perasaan selama gw kuliah kok ngga pernah make jasa kopma dan segala fasilitasnya,kok tiba2 pake harus konfirmasi ngga ada tunggakan segala???Aneh2 aja. Mungkin gw ngerasa kesal tuk hal ini pula adalah karena gw dipaksa bolak balik FE-kopma hanya karena ketidakjelasan perihal formulir yang ternyata gw dah punya...!!

Jadinya...sekarang ini gw sementara terdampar di rumah menunggu proses administrasi selesai. Malas gw bolak-balik kampus kalo tiap kali kesana malah belum ada apa yang selesai. Jadinya sekarang harus gw isi dengan hal2 berguna deh. Btw, mulai beberapa hari terakhir gw dah nyoba lari pagi. Walo capek harus kuakui sedikit banyak ngga membuat badan gampang capek. Lagian rasanya fresh aja kalo abis lari di pagi hari. Namun demikian, kaki gw sempet beberapa hari mengalami kram yang lar biasa sehingga membuat rasa sakit yang amat kalo dipake jalan. Untung setelah dipijat om dhi dah agak mendingan. Sepertinya lain kali harus lebih hati2 nih kalo pengen tetap mengejar matahari.

Hal lain adalah gw harus mulai belajar nihongo lagi secara mandiri. Habisnya seminggu lagi dah mau mulai. Dengan demikian harus menelaah kembali bab-bab dan materi yang telah diajarin selama ini. Namun ada satu hal yang bikin gw pusing adalah ternyata gw baru dapet kabar bahwa les mandarain gw ternyata jadwalnya dipindah jadi berbarengan ama les nihongo gw....matiiii gw...??Mau kubatalkan kok malas gw. Kayanya sementara ini gw mending datang aja 2 pertemuan pertama yang juga berarti harus bolos les nihongo deh. Jadi serba salah deh kalo gini keadaanya. Mau bolos nihongo juga sayang banget coz gw sendiri dah banyak banget bolosnya.

Other things.....not much besides reading manga and watching films, the usuall stuff lah. Even if there were anything new, it wouldn't be that bombastic. What I'm just hoping now is that I wanna really finish of my post test administration matters as soon as possible in the next 10 days especially. It really sucks having to do almost nothing but gaining up fat while at home....

Movie Review : NANA

Orginally, this film was released around 2 years ago, which was around 2005. When first reading about the synopsis, I did think it had a decent story. TYoo bad I didn't have much time to watch this movie. At least I did back Up the original VCD which I rented. Just in case I'll get to watch it in the future.

And it was just recently that I decided to open up my movie collection and try watching it. Honestly, what made me want to watch this movie is that I'm recently hooked up with the soundtracks of the movie, especially the ballads sung by Yuna Ito. Don't forget the catchy songs by Mika Nakashima who plays the main role of the film.

Indeed, after watching the film, it does somehow opens up a new horizon in my experience of wacthing movies. The film itself is based upon a manag titled NANA also. It tells the story of two persons by the same name which is NANA. Their fates cross each other when they meet and the story continues towards their lives.

I haven't read the manga, so I can't give an objective evaluation. But to me, I think the story itself is quite decent. It portrays the struggle of an indie band to become popular and the romance between the characters. For this movie, which is the first of the two, it mainly portrays the story of Nana Osaki, the Black Stone vocalist with her ex boyfriend who now is a famous guitarist who plays for their rival band TRAPNEST.

I think what made this movie boomed in Japan was mainly because of the songs in the movie. I do have to admit, the songs, both by Mika Nakashima and Yuna Ito have a great color in them which makes the songs always enjoyable to hear. Eventhough, I think Mika's part as Nana here also plays a good part. Here role here sure is fit for her, especially the short hair which she cut for the movie. Makes her look a bit masculine there.

And so I guess I've gotta watch the sequal to it. Hope the story does at least match up with the first one because I heard some of the cast from the first move aren't gonna reprise their roles again. Lets See...

Drama Review : Jumong

Where did I first here this drama..???Ah ya....I got to know this drama at my manga rental. At first, I was apprehensive on the story. But then...it turned out to be a marvelous drama.

The story itself is a true story based on an ancient Korean artefact that depicts the story of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In this drama, it's about Jumong, a prince who then founded Goguryeo Kingdom.

Eventhough it's a true story, due to the lack of resources, many artistical license was done in order to make a story. Nevertheless, I think they made up the rest of the story in a great way. I do have to admit, for it's time background, it flows smoothly without almost any superstitious things that migt happen due to the time background.

What makes me like this drama is the strorytelling is really down to earth. From how they depict the roots of the intrigues till the very end of the story. Not to mention the gorgeus looks of the main cast, especially for Han hye Jin who plays the role So Seo No. Her face is quite a beauty, having both gentleness and firm looks for a women. Even compared to BoA (my favorite korean artist), I think she does surpass BoA's beauty.

About the artistic license done, I think this drama wouldn't have made it without this, But then, I some how feel that the artistic license taken doesn't really depicts what really has been and hasn't been founded at the time. For instance, the sotan and smoke bomb. It really was good to have these kind of things, but have these things been invented at that time?Another thing is the catapult thing. If i'm not mistaken, such things started to exist by the beginning of the second millenium. IF I want to list them, it would be a lot to do.

Anyway, the theme of the drama itself is still very relevant to nowadays topics. Lets take for example on the diplomacy and war between kingdoms and regions. Don't forget how they try to out wit each other during fights and sorts. And how they us hostages a a diplomatic to to threaten each other. Such things can still be observed now. Last but least, if I were to rate it, I think five out of five would do. You could rarely find historical drama's tthis good with a fine mix of romance and war.

Steady As I Go

Fuuuhhhh. . . .maaannn. . .being in a state of nothing to do sure makes me bored. Since knowing that I've passed my exams, I've been wondering what to do and other trivial stuffs. Eventhough I've got a revision, which by now I've finished, the thought of wanting to do something sure is something temptating.

It's been some time since I've been in this state. The last was when I graduated from High School. The period between Graduation and the campus entrance exams sure were tight. But then, the pressure can't be compared to what I've just experienced. For a comparasion, my thesis exams really made my heart beat fast.

Anyway, I've tried to make myself occupied. I've recently made some schedules for myself in order to drive out the boresome environment that I'm now facing.

I started out with some physical activities. Ever since my last sickness due to some typhus symptoms, my physical condition hasn't been good enough. I periodically still face some flu if my condition drops. Not to mention gaining some weight up to 82 kilo's. I feel like a walking pillow here. Overweight and chubby. That's why I planned on some physical excersises. To not strain things, I've made my schedule so that I don't suddenly burden myself with heavy activities beyond my ability. Like the old saying "Steady As She Goes". I thought that I'ld do it slowly but towards a sure pace.

Besides physical exercises, I've been also thinking to dwell in some spiritual rituals. I do have to admit, it's time for me to at least make myself close to Allah SWT. You'll just never know when your time has come. Like my physical exercise, I aranged my schedule so that I wouldn't strain myself suddenly.

What next. . . ??Ah ya. . .I've mentioned before that I'm gonna have to continue my studies abroad. And because of that, I guess my days here in Malang are numbered. Lets say around 7 month. And because of that, I do have to prepare myself to take an English exams, wether it be TOEFLor IELTS. These are to fulfill the requirements of entrance.

speaking of where I'm gonna go, ha.ha..I guess it's gonna be around Australia. But which campus...??Still clueless here. Right now, I'm currently gathering any information regarding campuses in Australia that would suit me. It sure isn't an easy task, but I guess I should be carefull. You don't wanna end up in a campus that doesn't suit your academic and personal criteria.

And speaking of my preparation towards this, I recently atended a seminar on IELTS preparation. The event iself was organized by IDP, UTS, and INSEARCH. The event was informative luckily. Not to mention the gorgeous female presenter that was there. Too bad she didn't get much speaking time. And also the coffee break and the food. For a free event, I do agree that the services were top notch. The only thing that dissapointed me was the book on IELTS preparation that they offered. I did by the book, but after a look I found he contents were not as the title implies. Well, if you wanna prepare IELTS from a grammar point of view, I guess the book works. But I was hoping the book was more like the usuall TOEFL preparation book were they have various kinds of mock up questions to train ourselves.

Don't forget my Mandarin courses. Well, I have registered for the courses but I really have no idea when it's gonna start. It's because they said that the class hasn't reached it's minimum number of students to start. Guess I'm gonna have to wait again. And for my Japanese lessons, It's currently on a hiatus for a moment due to the majority of the class having a final semester tests. He..he..luckily I don't have to go all that pain any more. But still, it's some how feels nostalgic.

Other trivial things besides what I've mentioned is that important. It's just reading books, manga, surfing, watching movies and dramas. Since I've got all the time in the world, I guess I should finish off my movie and manga collection that I haven't laid my hands on. At last, I have time to do this kinda job.

Oh well, for the next 7 month, I do hope interesting things happen. It's to make my life more merrier since that I'm no longer a college student . . . . . just a future postgraduate student. . hi..hi..hi..^^

Anime Review : Digimon Savers

Finally, got myself to watch an amine after around 2 month. It was all due to myself preparing for my thesis exams, which I did pass. And like other ordinary people, I guess doing some relaxation and cooling down would do after the hard work done. One thing that I had in mind was to rent an anime. An i put my choice on the Digimon Series. Why???The last episode that i watch was episode 40, and with 2 month passed, I guess it should be time for the rest of the episodes to be available at the anime rental. And luckily things proved me right. Not only it was avalilable but also no one was renting it. And so I took the liberty to rent it.

Digimon Savers is the fifth digimon season since it started at around 2000. The last series before Savers was Digimon Frontier wich aired at around 2003 or 2004. After this, it took a hiatus for around 3 years before continuing with Savers. I do have to admit, the story of the digimon franchise since Frontier was getting dull, and I think getting a rest for some time was a good job.

And because of this, I do believe that Savers has a more fresh storyline than the previous ones. Even though some main things are still the same, some parts have been changed. For instance is the age of the characters. The previous series had kids around 7 to 13 as the main characters with their digimons. But now, the cast has been aged with an age around 14-20. The other characters here also have a more older age but they still have their partner digimon. It seems that this series doesn't want to get trapped with the designation "The Digi-Destined" as said in the four earlier seasons. An since the cast have older age, I think this saying also doesn't fit either.

The storyline itself is standard for the digimon franchise. The series it self to me is divided into three major arcs. The first third of the series covers around the introduction of the main characters and their partners. The second third revolves around their start of their adventures in the Digital world whereaes the last third tells their story with the final boss of the series. The first arc to me started quite good, managing to explain each others background sufficiently. Eventhough it felt a bit slow paced, I think the directors managed to do a good job here.

The next arc is the starting of the main story and the villains. It is here also that the main characters manage dot go to the Digital World. And through this arc, they also managed to unleash their digi-evolution process till their ultimate levels. As for the last arc, the main and final villain is introduced. I feel that the mix of the arcs are fine, eventhough having the second arc much longer than the others. Personally, I don;t mind about the first and second arcs of the series. What I really want to talk is the last arc. I really was surprised that they had Yggdrasil and his Royal Knights as their opponents. It sure is welcome but I found it quite distrubing that the Royal Knights were placed as the antagonist here.

Another thing that is worth noting is the introduction to the burst mode evolution> Eventhough officially it's not considered another evolution process, it ended up quite good. Too bad but I find it too cliche as this mode was used to many times as a cheap plot device. I was hoping that the directors tried to explore the other digivolution process like DNA evolution or sorts. Ah ya. . . don't forget Agumon here. What's to be noted is that he gets a new evolution line here which is different from the evolution line introduced in the first series. The new line.....I think it's good but for the ultimate level, I think Wargreymon looks cooler than Shinegreymon.

Speaking of evolution lines here, I think either they messed it up or they wanted to introduce some new ones. Besides Agumon, Piyomon here also gets it's evolution line here changed with Birdramon for his adult level to Aquilamon. I think this thing has to do with the introduction of the D-Chronicle manga where they first introduced a digimon with more than one evolution line.

Overall, the story was good. But I think they got the last arc a bit too rushed. They only manage to explore the diiferences within the Royal Knights to just the brawl of Dukemon against Sleipmon. They could have done more with this. Another thing that bothers me is the lack of inconsistency of the quality of animation. The inconsistency increased reaching the last 15 episodes of the series. Sometime they have this light animation but when it goes to an episode with deep stories or theme, the animation suddenly changes to a more darker and detailed animation. I do prefer the latter, but I somehow feel it has this hentai doujin animation quality with it, which is something kids should'nt watch.

Anyway, now that the series has ended, I hope they make another digimon series. I do hope a series without the involvement of humans as they did in the CGI movie Digimon X-Evolution. This movie was cool. Too bad it was only a movie. Also, I do hope they try to explore more about the previous things that haven't been explained in the other series like The Sovereigns, Armor Evolution, X-Antibody and so.

Drama Review : Heroes

Heroes...aaahhhh...who doesn't know this series. Well...of course at first I didn't have a clue of what it was. Only after reading a preview of it on Animosnter then I got hooked up to it.

But to be honest, I do think the main theme of the drama, which is about humans with super abilities, is already a bit obsolete. Let's count, how many super heroes stories are there already in the US, from Superman to Spiderman and so on. And they never get bored on making these kind of stories over and over again. One thing that differs till now is the story telling which I do agree that it is certainly getting more and more interesting these years despite the cliche stories.

My first glance on Heroes was....oh....it certainly does rembles X-Men in a lot of ways. Various peoples with different abilities. The difference is that you don't get a Magneto person here for the antagonist part. Instead, you have Sylar, the serial killer hunting down persons who posesses special abilities. And of course an unknown organization tracking down the gifted for their personal advantage.

But what really makes this series enjoyable. To me, it's abaout how they cope and try to adapt to their weird powers. If it was one, i guess it would've been easy. But for a person like peter who can mimic others powers, It might turn out to be a horrible and painfull experience. Guess he should learn form Sylar, who somehow posess others power by just cutting out their brains from the skull. How he treats the brain is still a mystrey even till the end of the 1st season. Hope he doesn't act as a zombie by eating those brains.

And of course, there is always someone in the series who can cheer others up. And that role goes to Hiro. Ahhh...Hiro....despite his comical face, he does posess a cool ability, which is to time travel and teleport. Continuing to the end of the series, he then eventually gets a more destined role in the story, which is to kill Sylar who is suspected to be the nuclear man that might blow up New York city.

The series luckily isn't just about the gifted persons, but also the ordinary ones, finding the truth behinds the events. One of the these peoples is Suresh. A young Professor who goes to the US to find his father's killer, but later gets involed in the intrigue. An also Mr. Bennet, Claire's foster parent who at first acted all suspicious by testing the people with special abilities, but then turned back on his organization who was then hunting down her daughter for having the ability to do instant regenaration.

Luckily the series hasn't ended. Thanks to the assurance for the second season. I do hope I can se this series in the nea future. Overall, the series is quite intriguing. It also offers a different approach on super human stories that have been told up till now.

Nights of Sorry

How should I start this blog. It's not that i'm sad. It's just I feel kinda guilty. It all started 6 month ago. I started to get close to one of my friend, a girl of course. At first, I only considered her as a friend, just a friend. But due to some circumstances, we started to go out together.

I did start to grow feelings for her in the beginning. But, I did feel some differences that would eventually keep us apart if we did start to go on a serious relationship. But, still, I did regard her as a close friend till now.

We did keep in touch periodically. As time passed, we started to share our stories together. I too did. One of it was about my sorrowfull past between me and a women whom I admired, respected and loved. And it was in the process that I finally knew indirectly that she too regarded me as just a friend. To me back then, that relieved me.

I couldn't remember on what occasion, but she suddenly to tell her stories about her relationship with another guy. As a friend, I didn't have a single thought of jealousy. But, she also stated that there was something important that I had to know. But I only can know what it was about only after I take my thesis tests. I followed her instructions and restarined myself from knowing what it was till the time came.

Time Passed and eventually I finally I managed to past my final tests, eventhough with a revision. I suddenly remembered that I had to know what was in store for me, having to wait till I finised my tests. And suudenly my close friend told me the truth from her that she didn't regard me just as a friend, but as someone she loved, someone special for her and so on. Honestly, I wasn't the least surprised knowing this, It just left me a bit confused and guilty on knowing this.

Why do I feel this way, it's because I feel that I've been playing with someone's heart (something that i really don't wanna do) and I've been insensible towards her feelings towards me, not knowing that she did some point in the past loved me. And know....I still ponder why do I have to know this kind of truth so late.

Despite this sorrowfull truth, I still can't regard her as no one, she is still...one of my friends. But. . .I also can't pretend nothing hasn't happened between us. One thing's for sure, from now onwards, I shall and should be carefull in building a relationship with a women. Carefull enough to not to repeat this kind of mistake.

Now......it's as if I've been rejected. Well, it's not bad, it should add up to my CV of course.....

And The Result is........

Yeah. . . .akhirnya perjuangan selama setengah tahun gw ngerjain skripsi membuahkan hasil.....gw dinyatakan lulus!!!Alhamdulillah!!!!Eiiittssss.....jangan senang dulu. Walopun gw lulus tapi itu juga dengan catatan yakni gw juga kena revisi. In other words....nilai gw belum keluar kalo revisi belum gw selesaikan.

The tests itself, well...what do i have to say???To be honest it was one of my important times in my whole life. But luckily, I did do some special preparations concerning my thesis in order to lessen the pressure and to give me a view on what's really gonna be asked at the tests. One of my thoughts was to make a set of mock up questions or in my words...shadow questions. These questions consisted of questions that I assume will be asked. And of course I did try to answer the questions briefly.

And luckily, what it did eventually helped me a lot on my tests. I really did get bombarded with questions and critics reagrding my thesis. The parts that where most critizied was my research methodology and my analysis. They really did a good job on finding out my weak parts. BUt due to my preparation, I reallt felt less nervous when having to answer the questions and critics.

During the tests, what made me more nervous wasn't the process of with but the outcome. With my current situation, I already knew that I wouldn't pass straightly. At least a revision would be plausible if I even passed this tests. But I guess that much more better than me not passing the test and ending up having to do the revision with two other counselours. In the end, I did receive a revision note which depicts the part where I have to do my revision, But my time hasn't stopped.

I had to wait for another hour outside till my judicium which was the reading of my test results by a lecturer. Between my waiting, I thought I hadn't finished my part coz I didn't even had my comprehension test, just my thesis test. But after some explanations, I guess there wouldn't be any need for such kind of test coz all I need is to lay back and wait for my judicium.

And as you've known, I passed. But with the revision, I really couldn't just relax and do nothing coz my revision still forces me to pay attention to my thesis. Besides, my revision does cover the parts that are critical towards a reserach. Anyway, eventhough i've got to finish of my revision, I do think that I deserve some time off to relax myself, especially the last 10 days prior to my test date was really depressing. And I really did plan what I'am gonna do when I finished my test. First of all comes manga and drama DVD's. One by one of course. And i'm sure other things will come when the days pass to enjoy my time off after an hard time of struggle.

And so....shall we lay back do things one by one and enjoy all if it.