Tips On Watching A Movie For Free

Step 1: Go to your local movie theater. --> went to XXI in e'X Plaza, Jakarta.
Step 2: Decide which movie you want to watch. --> my friend actually forced me to watch Eclipse.
Step 3: Check schedule for chosen movie. --> 14.40
Step 4: Wander aimlessly until said schedule. --> Sushi Tei frenzy.
Step 5: This is the most important step. Wait for another 30 minutes. --> enter theater at 13.10 (-ish)
Step 6: Enter unguarded theater door.*
edit: sorry not, 13.10 but 15.10. thanks qisthi!

Based on a true story. I DID pay for the tickets, but the entrance wasn't guarded, so my friends and I just sauntered in a good half an hour after the movie began.
It was "Eclipse" (the Twilight Saga, duh) so yeah, none of us really minded missing the beginning.

* Unreliable information. May not occur in most cases.

red as blood, black as night, and grey as uncertainty

They say that High School days are the best days of your life..

Okay, that's just a cheesy cliche intro to this post. And there's nothing cliche about my high school years.

I've pretty much grown up in the environment of Tarakanita. I attended SD Tarakanita I, and SMP Tarakanita V, elementary and junior high respectively. And the person who entered these two schools was still the same old me, still the geeky, shy Gracia, product of cultural shock in elementary school. But that's an entirely different story. :)

So when I entered high school, SMA Tarakanita I, I expected the same old experience: shy little Gracia, joining either the Science club or the English club (which I usually avoided), hanging around with the usual small clique of friends.

But on opening day of club extracurricular, I saw the performance of Korps Putri Tarakanita (KPT), the nationally acknowledged school marching band. Their performance was mind blowing.

The one song that I remember them playing, very vividly, was "Two Worlds", a soundtrack from Tarzan.
Until now, it's still one of my favorite songs besides "Sakura" and "Zamrud Khatulistiwa".

Unwittingly enticed by their performance (the color guards were stunning!), I joined KPT and became a "calang", short for "calon anggota", or a rookie if you may.

6 months of pure hell. Yes, it's bad if training can cause someone to bruise all over and not be able to properly clench one's fist, or even fracture bones.

But it was all worth it. The acknowledgement that you were part of KPT, that you endured the hellish training to become a fully-fledged player. The respect that you gain from others when they learned of how you balanced school-work with practice. And the awe that you see in their eyes when you perform.
Absolute bliss. :)

I thank KPT for bringing out the best in me.
During the second year of high school, KPT entered the Grand Prix Marching Band (GPMB held at Istora Senayan). I thought training during the first year was hell, but this brought pain to another level!
Training centres were the worst, because you had to stand up almost all day long practicing..
But then at night, we would stay up late and gossip or just talk about the day..
I thought that during this year, my grades would drop, but instead I got really good ones. And because of that, until now I still believe that being busy isn't an excuse to neglect grades.

Besides grades and the usual respect from teachers (although not all of them favored KPT members), KPT changed me in a way that saved my social life. I found a lot of new friends.
Not only inside KPT itself, but also outside. I had more confidence in myself, confidence that I lost during my return to Indonesia.

Me and Gladys on the notorious stage at TMII, where all first year rookies make their first KPT performance.

What I loved most about Tarakanita? The red, black and grey skirt "checkered" skirt, famous for its bold color and the bold girls that it represented.
What I loved most about KPT? The "PDL", short for "Pakaian Dinas Latihan" or practice uniform allowed and even encouraged us to shorten the skirt 3 fingers above the knee to ensure ease of movement. Of course, we had to wear tight lycra "bicycle pants" as we called them for safety, but still.. It was AWESOME.

Our awesome skirt and Madagastar bag

Even though I've moved to Bandung, my high school bests, who I sadly only became really close to during the last year of high school, still stick around. The listen to all my problems, and they never change. Boys came and went (and one came back again) but they were always there, waiting and listening, although I sometimes forgot that they were there.

Tonight, alone in my room, I decided to remember.

I miss the laughter, chaos, and absurd screams that came with the all-girls school.
I miss sitting in the "imagination corner", at the righthand corner of the classroom, where Candra, Avi and I used to sit during lunch breaks to play "imagine". This usually involved the phantom of the opera, prince andrea, and fernando torres. :)
I miss the mandatory awkward, thick, tall socks that accompanied our short skirts, simply because they were so cool coupled with out uniform.
I miss the tall football socks that we used to wear when we were still in KPT, part of their mandatory uniform.
I miss the story-telling methods that we used to teach each other before exams. It was like listening to the history channel.
I miss gossiping at the back of the line with Olin (my 'sister'), and my 'children' Kiki and Lola. We were the 'officers of order', and were mostly invincible for the part.
I miss screaming "Kamu nggak asal ya!" or "Suaranya ditahan!" to shut up all those gossiping girls during practice.. I miss the blue and white cord that came with the responsibility.
I miss those late hour practices and coming home all black and blue to a welcoming dose of "param kocok". A very strong version of Salonpas and its friends.
I miss the typical high school sleepovers.
I miss the lovely red skirt.
I miss the friends.
I miss the best friends.

I miss stripping the girls who didn't bring anything to eat at school on their birthdays. ;)

They say that High School days are the best days of your life..

And as cliched as the sentence above is, it really is true. I miss High School.

Project: RR

I'll be moving soon.
Destination? That's a secret. ;)
But Gladys and I will be getting a room with a nice view and plenty of space to get creative.
This is what the main room currently looks like:

And a little area where the opening above leads to. :)

I'm thinking of turning it into a mini wardrobe/study/recreational room.

Next step: Design
I shall utilize my newly acquired Adobe Photoshop CS4!

Stay tuned.

Simple, Starving To Be Safe

It's late night here.

And I'm supposed to be working on my internship report.

But I can't be bothered.

Boo sucks to you internship, I could care less.

Missing Icang. :(

Mojang Bandung Gareulis

Before it escapes my mind.
Before my short term memory can no longer recall it.
I want to document the Bandung Copeland Farewell Tour in my own words..

I've been a Copeland fan since the first year of university, 2007. Maybe I didn't know Copeland from the beginning, but I do know that I sincerely love their music. My 'boyfriend' at the time gave me a mixed tape, and inside it, the song "Coffee". Sometimes, just occasionally, I would call him firefly. Because he was the "Brightest" firefly in my jar. :)

After we broke up, Copeland became my companion in sadness. "I'm A Sucker For A Kind Word" and "Love Affair" were just a few of the songs that filled my heartbroken playlist. Somehow the words just reached me.

"Just let me run where I want to run. Just let me love who I want."

"In a house without a back door. I was looking for a fire escape. And I'll be ripping up the floorboards. Just trying to get away. From this sleeplessness.. It's sad, but I'm a sucker for a kind word. And I'll just hurt until I find one"

When we got back together, he gave me even more songs.. Though none of them from Copeland. But "Coffee" and "Brightest"officially became 'our songs'.

So when Copeland announced its split up and farewell tour, I had to see it. Even though a deadly task awaited, I had to go. To say goodbye to this beloved band.

They played all of the classics. All the songs that brought back memories.. Sadness and happiness at the same time..
I missed the first two songs, "Priceless" and "Take Care", which were also very memorable songs, because of the awful traffic. It took me and Icang 3 hours for what was usually a 30 minute trip.

When I entered the concert hall, I was greeted with "I'm A Sucker For A Kind Word". I actually almost cried. No kidding. The I was bombarded with "Sleep", "The Grey Man", "Chin Up", "The Suitcase Song", "When Paula Sparks", "Brightest", and of course the all too famous "Coffee".

Maybe I sound like a total weirdo, but I was happy. So happy that I was on the verge of breaking into tears. :')

The farewell ended with "Attention", displaying Aaron Marsh's amazing vocals..

The saddest part of the concert wasn't when they left the stage.. Upon performing their final song for the night, Marsh parted with the saddest words. But when I brought it up after the concert, no one else seemed to notice..

"Thank you so much for tonight.. We've been Copeland."

*faints dramatically

Dating 101

Tired of lame dates? Feel that simply watching a movie or a game isn't exciting enough?
Need to jazz up your love life?
Here's a little dating tip from Mademoiselle Gracia:

Take your guy on a date at the local salon.

Both of you can kick back and relax while industrious hands work on your scalp.
Your boyfriend will love you for unveiling his more feminine side!*
;)

*Results may vary. Not recommended for the first year of dating.

Sinetron

Continuing my previous posts on Indonesian Soap Opera, I think I mentioned something about 'brainwashing'. It comes from my experience with two nephews. (The fact that I have two teenage nephews at the age of 20 is totally unrelated)

I remember around 5 years ago, a cousin of mine was going to get married. It was going to be his second marriage; his first wife deceased when I was still a little kid (I don't remember her, sadly).

My mom and a few of my aunts were gossiping about the family. They reached a point where they talked about how his kids were coping. One of my aunts suddenly told of a very disturbing event.

My nephews, just like more than half of the Indonesian population, often watched Sinetron. They were worried that just like in those damn tv shows, their new mother would be a cruel, ruthless hag (refer to my previous post on template Sinetron characters).

So, being kids, they decided to pull a prank on her.

They put an amazing amount of pepper and chili into her tea.

Clever boys.

The logic behind these actions: A nice stepmother would be understanding and kind. An evil step mother would throw a fit and probably hit them.

So the moral of the story? Let your children watch plenty of Sinetron. :)

P.S: No, seriously, don't do it.

A Thought

Sometimes I feel like the world is falling apart and I have nowhere to hide.


So I try to run away.
But surprise surprise, the world keeps running after me.


I know that I'm not fast enough and that it'll catch up with me soon.
So I end up turning around and making a last stand.


Just a thought.

A Typical Tantrum

You make a mistake.
I get mad. I chew your ears out.
You say that you're sorry.
I forgive. I forget.

I make a mistake.
You say its okay.
You get mad.
I say that I'm sorry.
You say I don't care.
I say that I care a lot and that I'm sorry.
You point out my mistakes even more.
I cry.
You forgive. You forget.

Soap Opera’s and Unsustainable Resources Part II

Now you know all about Indonesian Sinetrons (yes, I summarized the entire industry in one blog entry. Go figure.)

But the templates aren’t the worst part of this industry. The worst lies in its exploitation of the same people OVER AND OVER again.

Take “Baim”.

This cute little boy is the product of over exploitation of children within the Indonesian entertainment industry.

Is he a great actor? No. The Olsen Twins were waaaay better.

He speaks incoherently. I don’t even think they give him a script.

But they put him several sinetrons, such as Cinta SMU, Tarzan Cilik, and whats-yer-name sinetrons.

Cinta SMU was supposed to be teenager/ school life/ young love kind of soap, but Baim was introduced and I guess the ratings sky rocketed. Or maybe the director just thought he was cute.

Anyway, they turned Cinta SMU (High School Love) into Petualangan Baim (Baim’s Adventures). The funny thing is, they always pair him with Olga, this guy who screams slapstick in every sinetron and show that he’s ever contributed to. It’s not even good slapstick.

I feel sorry for the kid.

5 years from now you’re going to turn into another McCauley Culkin and then everyone will be blaming your parents for letting you taste fame and the entertainment industry so soon.

And then actresses like Nikita Willy, Naysilla Mirdad (her voice makes me want to staple those lips together) and all those other girls that get used over and over again. They only know one method of acting, and it involves a lot of pouting, crying, praying, and helplessness.

I’d love to go on but the list is endless. Indonesia’s entertainment industry needs to be saved soon before it brainwashes the entire country. Which gives me an idea for the next post. :)

Need Some Sleep

It's 1 am and I'm still working. This sucks.

Soap Operas and Unsustainable Resources Part I

This is a little bit late, but… I saw a video on Miley Cyrus and “Hannah Montana”. You can watch it here.

Okay, I know, maybe this is a hoax but still, it’s really got me thinking about the entertainment industry in Indonesia.

Let me give you a brief introduction to the Indonesian “Sinetron” (Soap Opera if you aren’t familiar with the term).

There’s a general template going around, both for characters and for the story. Let’s start with the story.

Scenario:

1. Poor girl falls in love with rich man. Parents disagree. There is also the evil woman who has interest on the rich man, and she does everything to try and get in the way. But true love always prevails.
2. Tomboy girl falls in love with handsome man. Parents (or at least mother) disagree. The beautiful, sexy, rich antagonist who also has interest on the handsome man tries to get in the way. But true love always prevails.
3. Kind girl is always humiliated and persecuted by stepmother/ aunt/ grandmother. Handsome man always stands up for her. Antagonist pretty bi**h gets in the way (also humiliating kind girl). But true love always, ALWAYS prevails.
4. Little kid who is so cute and does a lot of funny, useless yes, but still funny stuff.

Give or take, this summarizes more than half of the soap operas currently playing on national television. Of course, the difference between scenarios usually occurs due to different characters, though these too have templates.

Character:

1. The poor stepdaughter. Kind and gentle, she will let anyone trample on her poor damned soul. She is spineless. And she prays a lot.
2. The tomboy. A brave and generous girl, she dislikes unfairness. Hating the rich snobby man at first, she will, without failure, finally fall in love and turn out to be perfectly pretty.
3. The rich girl. Extremely beautiful. Sometimes spoilt. Often sexy. Always the centre of attention. Madonna of the school/ campus/ workplace. Will fall in love with the lucky bastard who loves her for who she really is.
4. The little boy/girl. Cute. Disgustingly cute. Bad acting. Can’t get a word in edgeways. But who cares, they’re still cute (or so the fans say)!
5. The handsome guy. Usually rich. Sometimes snobby. Always the prince charming. Will fall in love with the helpless, selfless, stupid girl.
6. The cruel stepmother/ stepfather/ aunt/ uncle/ grandmother/ grandfather/ mother or father of significant other. The main obstacle of a relationship. Often harms helpless girl because she is beautiful and too kind. Or maybe just for the fun of it.
7. The kind mother/ father/ aunt/ uncle/ grandmother/ grandfather. Cries a lot. Pities the helpless girl. Often suffers because of it.
8. The cruel girl/ guy. The main antagonist. Rival in love. Will do anything to win the guy/ girl they want. Sometimes swindles money. Just plain badass.
9. The clown. Additional humor. Makes Indonesian people laugh.
10. The sidekick. Every good girl/ boy gets a good friend.
11. The accomplice. Every villain has a sidekick, no?

What I hate most about soap operas here is the template "cinematography". If you can use the term without being viciously stabbed by a million directors.

Wish I could post a video of it..

Good Things Come To Those Who Are Late

Free lunch!
All because I stayed behind when every one else went to B1.

So it was only me, the boss, Mas P and Mas A.
We had lunch at Rice Bowl, and I thought my wallet was going to go bust.
But the dear boss pulled out his magic platinum wand and we got free lunch!

Evil thought of the day: maybe I should stay behind more often.

Just kidding. :)

It's April Fool's Day

... and I haven't managed to trick a single soul.
-________-

Top 10 Things That I Hate

Feeling a bit random.. Please bear with me.

1. Cockroaches. There could be aliens invading from outer space but number one is, and always will be, cockroaches.
2. Naughty caddies and evil temptresses. You know, the kind that try to seduce loaded old men. Congratulations girls, you're only a little bit better than cockroaches.
3. Motorcycles. They are the machine equivalent of mosquitos, they buzz around and suddenly cut off your path, and they are just annoying. If you live in Indonesia and similar countries.
4. Soap operas? Especially Indonesian ones. They have these typical template characters: weak leading ladies, trying-to-be strong leading ladies, handsome rich heroes, the typical super cruel antagonists. Poor storyline, extremely poor humor.
5. People who write in bIg AnD sMalL leTTeRs. GROW UP!
6. Dark rooms coupled with unnecessary laser lights and lots of smoke. You know what I'm referring to.
7. Heavy rain. I don't mind light showers and all that, but heavy rain is just depressing. And cold.
8. Romance overdosed movies like twilight. It's unreal and makes poor saps think that someone will love you because of your clumsiness.
9. Pop quizzes. No sirs, they do NOT make students listen to your lectures.
10. Slowpokes and bigmouths. Giddy up people! And stop talking so much, you're giving me a headache!

That pretty much sums it up.

They Say You Never Forget Your First Love

Ever heard of that phrase?

It could never be more true for me. I know who my first love is, because I can tell the difference between "love" and "like".

Someone once told me that they "loved" me, but I was pretty sure that it could only be "like". So I told that person not to say so. Because it would just be a lie. And yes, I was right.

Now that I know it's true in my case, I can say it freely.

And I allow you to say it too, because I hope that maybe, just maybe, it might be true.

I know that the truth is important, but hearing your first love say that you aren't theirs just hurts.

Too much information hurts... You shouldn't have said it. You should have kept it to yourself.

Office Talk

If you take a peek at my tumblog "fill in the gaps", you'll notice there are a few "Office Jokes" or "Office Talk".

Those are real conversations from the office where I have an internship.

Some of them are really funny. :) Others are just downright lame.

A little something that happened last week.

Mas Ar: Is there an opening for teaching staff at SBM? I kinda like the idea of teaching. I think I could do a pretty good job.

Mr. N: Yeah right.

Mas A: No seriously! So, is the salary good there?

Me: Umm, I don’t know.. It’s not really something you ask.

Mas A:Well then are the kids rowdy?

Me: Yeah, but it depends on the lecturer.

Mas A: Really? Tsk, kids nowadays.

Mr. F: If I were the lecturer and the kids were rowdy I’d tell them to leave the class and never come 

back!

Me: Hahaha.

Mas A: Okay well, hmm, rowdy kids.

Me: In the auditorium usually. If the lecturer isn’t interesting enough.

Mas A: Geez. Okay, are there any slutty girls?

Me: Mas A. Are you seriously asking me that?

Au Revoir

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! (screaming fanmode on)

Copeland is coming to Indonesia!

For those who don't know, Copeland is an American band with some of the most beautiful, non-cheesy lyrics I've ever heard.

They've disbanded now, and this is the final Farewell Tour. It's a shame really, because I thought they were pretty awesome (though I'm sure some people disagree).

They're definitely not your conventional rock band. And some of their songs are a bit monotonous. But when I listen to their songs, I feel as if I'm entering an alternate world.

No pain.

No sadness.

No thinking.

All you have to do is listen.

The first song I ever heard from them was "Coffee". It was given by my boyfriend when we first started hanging out together. It really brings back memories of our early morning escapades.

Just a sample of my favorite lyrics.

If it's not too late for coffee, I'll be at your place in ten

We'll hit that all night diner

And then we'll see

The Namesake

Once upon a time there was an ordinary woman, with an ordinary husband and an ordinary life. She wanted a child badly and tried all types of therapy for 5 years without any results.

Finally she decided to give up.

Just when she thought that it was all over, she found out that she was pregnant!

During the 9 months of pregnancy, the ordinary woman still traveled to work on a Metromini (awful bus), still ran up and down stairs and lived a normal life.

A few months into pregnancy, the ordinary woman realized that her stomach was abnormally large. Her doctor reassured her that it was only due to the size of the baby. What a whopper!

On the 9th month, the ordinary woman went into labor. Her child came out normally, no difficulties whatsoever.

Until the doctor suddenly shouted, "There's another one!"

The woman almost fainted out of shock and started to scream at the doctor. What made it worse was that the second baby was in an upside down position, with the feet coming out first.

All went well though, and the second baby was born.

The woman and her husband didn't have a name yet for the second baby.

But because of the unexpected gift of a second child after 6 years, they wanted to be thankful.

So, they named the baby "Gracia".

Gatotkaca

I had a very bad feeling this morning.

Something was going to happen.

I wasn't going to like it.

So for Investment Management, I prepared a piece of paper with the typical quiz format. Just in case.

And yeah, there was a quiz.

And yeah, I failed miserably because of a minor error in the formula.
Extremely minor. Extremely deadly. Only a matter of placing..



Epic fail.

Mixed Genders and Crazy Fans

A few days ago I received a missed call from 0852xxxxxx.

Thinking that it might be someone who's number I didn't recognize, I replied via sms asking who it was.

BIG MISTAKE.

Apparently, this crazy girl (yes, girl) thinks that I'm a guy. And now I'm being terrorized 24 hours with text messages and missed calls saying that I'm cute and all that crap.

Kiki thinks that it's a stupid guy trying to reach me. Arres thinks that it's a crazy girl trying to get on my nerves.

I say I agree with Arres and I'm not going to grace her with my attention.

She's spending at least IDR 35.000 per day just sending me these messages.
That's IDR 350/message.

I'm going to save her poor soul by blocking the damn number.

"Firsts"

Remember your first day in this world?

Okay, maybe I won’t go that far back.

How about your first day at school? Your first friend, your first uniform, your first book.


Fast forward please.

The first time you rode a bike. The first time you learned to swim.


A little further into the future.

Your first clique. Your first boyfriend. Your first kiss.

Well, this is the first entry to my new blog.

Note the new blog. Yes, this isn’t my first blog. It’s my second. My first blog was actually a tumblog. You can check it out at graciasatya.tumblr.com.

This new one is actually an escape from the previous. Lets just say that I’m avoiding everything ending with .tumblr.com. Reason? That’s for me and God to know. ;)

I was inspired by my friend Arresty Wahyu Andhini (her blog is at icechocoarres.blogspot.com, an unintentionally funny one). In the middle of internship hours, while the guys at the office were busy taking afternoon tea, I decided to abuse their absence by starting this post.


For a firsty, I think this is enough. See ya.