Why we should go home on time

Great reading I got from email today...

Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons from Karnataka(India). He is known not just for building the biggest IT Empire in India but also for his simplicity. Almost every important dignitary visits InfoSys campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an employee session with another IT company in India. He is incidentally, one of the top 50 influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication and also the new IT Advisor to the Thailand Prime Minister.

Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session:
I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I do not know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the workplace. Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit.

Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors.
My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue. Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well as the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday. Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not pleasant company.

They often complain about other people (who are not working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other people avoid them. Such behaviour poses problems, where work goes much better when people work together instead of avoiding one another. As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office. First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work with a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly lose their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a time-stamp of 2 AM, Sunday. Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play with your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.

This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that requires 'personal change'. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them. In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son. When he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not fall asleep no matter how long the visit was, and no matter what time of day it was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he was afraid that he would miss some thing. Once our visitors' left, he would go to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream through half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price for his fear of missing out.

Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they do not want to miss anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is that events will never stop happening. That is life! Things happen 24 hours a day. Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap. Things will happen while you are asleep, but you will have the energy to catch up when you wake.

Hence,
"LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU
NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU" - Narayana Murthy

KAFKA ON THE SHORE

By: Haruki Murakami

The Story:
15-year-old Kafka Tamura runs away from home, both to escape his father's oedipal prophecy and to find his long-lost mother and sister.
As Kafka flees, so too does Nakata, an elderly simpleton whose quiet life has been upset by a gruesome murder. (A wonderfully endearing character, Nakata has never recovered from the effects of a mysterious World War II incident that left him unable to read or comprehend much, but did give him the power to speak with cats.)

What follows is a kind of double odyssey, as Kafka and Nakata are drawn inexorably along their separate but somehow linked paths, groping to understand the roles fate has in store for them. Murakami likes to blur the boundary between the real and the surreal—we are treated to such oddities as fish raining from the sky; a forest-dwelling pair of Imperial Army soldiers who haven't aged since WWII; and a hilarious cameo by fried chicken king Colonel Sanders—but he also writes touchingly about love, loneliness and friendship.

Biasanya aku ngga baca buku terjemahan dari pengarang Jepang, karena bahasa nya ribet banget dan suka ngebosenin. Cuma karena aku suka banget sama judulnya, jadi aku baca juga. Ini adalah buku pertama Haruki Murakami yang ku baca. Walaupun banyak yang bilang, ini bukan masterpiece nya Murakami, but this book is really amazing. It's absurd, seperti kita terseret dalam mimpi indah penuh hal hal magic, time traveller, musik klasik and philosophis world of Murakami. Walaupun storynya mudah ketebak, dan di bagian akhir agak dragging, but absolutely will read another Murakami's

Freakonomics

FREAKONOMICS

By: Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Kalau ada yang pernah nonton, ada serial TV "Number", di mana di serial ini matematika dipergunakan untuk memecahkan berbagai jenis kejahatan. Nah, di buku ini ekonom, Steven D. Levitt mempergunakan matematika untuk menganalisa berbagai sosial problem yang ada di masyarakat saat ini. Sedang untuk penulisannya dibantu oleh wartawan, Stephen J. Dubner.

Sebagai bukan penggemar buku ekonomi dan matematika tentunya, i really have fun with this book. Pertama karena issue diangkat adalah mengenai kehidupan sehari hari, kemudian dianalisa dengan cara & bahasa yang singkat jadi mudah dipahami dan - surprise - entertaining.Although mungkin buat yang "advance", buku ini akan menjadi terlalu sederhana.

Topik yang diangkat juga menarik banget. Misalnya: tahukah bahwa guru dan atlet sumo itu ternyata sama sama suka cheating. Why drug dealers are still living with their moms. Do you know that swimming pool is more dangerous than gun for children, how to make a good parents. Ada juga yang analisa yang mungkin menimbulkan kontroversi (apalagi kalau Levitt orang Indonesia nih). Jadi Levit menganalisa apa sih yang menyebabkan tingkat kejahatan itu turun. Ternyata bukan karena polisi tambah cekatan or tambah banyak, bukan pula karena ada innovative strategies yang diterapkan tapi the most significant factor adalah legalisasi aborsi di US. Nahhhhh...

a wedding

..'love is in the air" kayanya tema yang pas untuk tahun ini. 2 temen baik ku di kantor akan menikah bulan Oktober & Desember ini. And the most important, my lovely brother - si bujang lapuk hehehehe - give a sweet surprise this month, that he will get married ...guess when??? in September...Aaaaahhh, it's only 2 months away :)

Jangan heran, aku jadi kaya ikutan mau nikah. Ikut ikutan pilih pilih gedung, pilih undangan, makanan, baju sampai tempat honeymoon. Sekarang hobby baca majalah wedding, kalau ke malll ngelihatin model cincin kawin terbaru sampai cari tahu jenis jenis kain batik or songket buat D-day nya.

Paling seru, ikutan rajin luluran ke salon bersama ibu ibu berdua ituh. Malah rajinan gue kali dibanding calo pengantinnya. Ngebawelin Tiki buat ke dokter kulit itu hobby terbaru gue :p

Walaupun ikutan repot ini itu, but I am so exciting..Ngelihat artikel tentang perkawinan si A or si B, rasanya ikut bahagia banget. Malah sempet kepikiran kalau resign ajah kerja di advertising terus jadi wedding organiser seru juga kayanya :)

Then something bother me, do I feel exciting about the wedding ? Yes.
Do I want my own wedding now? Ternyata jawaban aku adalah no, i dont want to get married now..I realize, what I like is a "wedding" but well I guess I am not ready to "married" yet..

Sekarang menikah & mempertahankan nya sampai akhir is a very tough job. Godaan nya luar biasa banyak nya. Bukan aku merasa takut, hanya aku merasa tidak mau hanya karena dikejar deadline umur atau males diomelin nyokap aku jadi merasa harus buru buru. Bon Jovi ajah pernah bilang, marriage is not a bed of roses but the beginning of battlefield. Nah, menemukan the right man untuk berjuang bersama, I guess is not that easy..

Then aku jadi berpikir...Apakah kita menemukan dulu orang yang tepat baru kita memutuskan untuk menikah atau karena kita menyadari sebaiknya orang itu menikah baru kita berusaha mencari orang yang tepat untuk membangun rumah tangga bersama?

Damn, ternyata aku memang a complicated person :)

if you could describe a sagitarius, what would you say?

Find something interesting in YahooAsk :)

" if you could describe a sagitarius, what would you say? "

Some say..

- Nice ppl, willing to what they can to help you out but they are also great BS artists & they get easily upset/offeneded

- They are entertainers at heart, active imaginations, love to be the center of attention, very in touch with their emotions and have great compassion for others, great sense of humor. Love a challenge. Are very restless, so travel is often high on their agenda. Love to find out about things,very curious. I personally have two sagi's in my family, love them so much, never a dull moment when they are around.

- Strong willed, will love to be in control, very loving and caring

Me say ....

- egois, lazy, stubborn sometimes, not good with money, can't stand any sale in any mall, easy to get bored with things, love to travel, make peace not war, loyal, laugh or cry easily and hopelessly romantic at heart...hehehehehe

Pasar Asemka - Kota

Di suatu siang when i am totally not in the mood buat kerja - damn bmp :( - sukses lah aku diculik oleh teman sebelah ku untuk jalan jalan lagi ke kota. Yah, mumpung lagi libur anak sekolah, jalan kan rada sepi pas lunch time. Ternyata ngga sesepi yang diperkirakan, karena di Monas sedang ada demo, kurang jelas demo apa but it's more lagi family picnic dibanding demo tampaknya.

First, kita lunch dulu di Mangga Besar, ada warung kecil ngejual mie a la Medan, namanya Mie Tjong Sim. Wawa - my boss - explained that Tjong sim adalah tipe mie yang digunakan. Ini versi tidak halal yah, jadi mie nya diberi pork cutlet (yang merah & putih) dan ayam, dihidangkan dengan pangsit rebus dan kuahnya. Rasanya leker sekali. Mie tjong sim ini rasanya 'light' dan kenyangnya juga ngga yang "full" banget. Selain nie tjong sim juga ada nasi campur, cuman rasanya B banget.

Setelah itu kita lanjut lagi naik taxi ke Pasar Asemka. Pasar ini ada di belakang Harco Plaza (depan Glodok). Jadi kalau dari Thamrin, Harco Plaza ini ada di sebelah kanan. Persis di sebelah Harco, ada jalan, namanya Jl. Pancoran. Dulu sepanjang jalan ini, banyak PKL nya, yang sekarang sudah bersih habis ditertibkan. Nah masuk saja terus ke Jl. Pancoran, setelah lewat jembatan, di sebelah kiri ada gedung toko tua yang jelek. Itu adalah Pasar Asemka.

Pas pertama aku lihat, langsung exciting banget. di depan pasar banyak yang jual es tebu Medan. Sumpee, seger banget di minum di siang hari bolong gini. Terus ada Liang Tea Medan (teh Medan), pisang goreng, kue ape, kue rangi pokoknya jajanan tempo doloe deh. Masuk dikit langsung disambut bau....durian. Ahhhhhh, langsung ngga kuat iman :) walau ngga nyoba, duriannya gendut gendut dan ngga mahal. Definitely will come back to try !

Ternyata Pasar Asemka adalah pusat grosir untuk stationery, kalung dan aksesoris cewek serta suvenir buat kawinan. Sakit hati banget ngelihat harganya, karena super duper murahhhhh. temen aku yang jago banget nawar di Blok M ajah langsung ngamuk ngelihat harganya. "sialan, gue diboongin nih ama abang abang Melawai " hehehehehe.

Cuman namanya juga pusat grosir, jadi belinya juga harus banyak. Untuk illustrasi, jepit rambut warna warni selusin cuman 5000, buku tulis yang bagus cuman seribu satu buahnya kalu beli banyak, suvenir kawinan juga dahsyat banget harganya, mutu sudah bagus, jatuhnya cuman 2000 an ke atas.

Kalau suka aksesoris kaya kalung, anting bisa kalap tuh, apalagi yang punya jiwa jualan tinggi. It's really a perfect place :p. Cuman saking banyaknya pilihan, bisa seharian kali milihnya. Di sini juga ada tempat kalo hobby bikin kalung sendiri, lengkap buangett

Pulang pulang, badan bau matahari dan kantong bolong, tapi hati puasssss banget
And it's true, kerja jadi semangat abis :)

How to get there:
- Busway : berhenti di halte Glodok, setelah halte Mangga Besar. Nyeberang jalan, jalan kaki dari situ ke Asemka agak jauh, jadi jangan ngomel :p
- Taxi: kalau naik Blue Bird, dari Blok M sekitar 40 ribuan dengan catatan ngga macet lho

Oleh oleh dari Medan

Habis balik dari Medan nih and I love the city ! Perfect blended of Chinesse, Melayu, Arab, India pokoknya semua ada di Medan. Cuman airport nya ajah yang rada serem, tepat di tengah kota dan di tengah tengah perumahan..Alamak, pokoknya jantung mpot mpotan dah kalau mau mendarat :)

a hi-light some of the hawkers yang sempet aku kunjungi

1. SOTO MEDAN SINAR PAGI
Jalan Sei Deli 2D
Buka dari sekitar jam 7 pagi - jam 2 siang

Sebagai bukan penggemar berat soto, I am deeply falling in love with Soto Sinar Pagi. Soto ini soto santan, dagingnya bisa sapi, ayam atau campur (ayam,sapi plus jeroan). Aku ngga tahu bumbu persisnya apa, tapi rasanya rich banget plus gurih (aka asin) berhubung aku penggemar asin gituh lho. Selain soto, kita juga kan disajikan satu piring kecil jeroan yang dipotong kecil kecil dan di-topping kecap di atas nya (enak bangettt, parunya masih krenyes krenyes kalau digigit). Sambalnya juga unik, berwarna hijau (kaya yang di rumah makan Padang), lalu dimix dengan kecap (kayanya yah), dan beberapa makanan di Medan juga pakai sambal seperti ini. Lalu juga ada perkedel dan rempeyek udang. I wish mereka buka cabang di Jakarta :p

Ini adalah makanan pertama yang aku coba pas abis mendarat, waktu itu sekitar jam 13.30 lah, jadi suasananya ramai banget dan kayanya mereka hampir habis. Yang aku bikin kaget kaget adalah don't expect any service kaya di Jakarta hehehehe. Pas mereka naruh mangkok, hampir deh kuahnya keguyur ke client ku, peyek sisa kita diambil tanpa bilang bilang, dan ngga bisa "cerewet" kalo order (tanpa ini itu), pokoknya preman abis deh. But, that's Medan I think ... cuman perlu beberapa detik buat aku beradaptasi hehehehe, padahal biasanya ngomel melulu tuh :P

Oya, katanya sih ada variasi lain dari Soto Medan ini yaitu Soto Udang. Yang enak ada di Jalan Kesawan, dekat rumah Tjong A Fi. Cuman pas aku kunjungi tokonya tutup.

2. KUETIAU MEDAN A KUANG
Jl. Pagaruyung, Kampung Keling (Halal), Buka pagi - malam)

Di Jakarta, aku suka makan di Kuetiau Akang di Kelapa Gading (tapi ngga halal), dan menurut ku lumayan enak. Tapi di Medan, Kuetiau Akuang ini ngga ada dua nya. Sama sama di masak di tungku (supaya apinya merata kata si Koh Akuang nya), kuetiau ini bener bener endang bambang.

Pertama kuetiaunya ngga berminyak, kering dan rasa kuetiaunya sendiri enak. Kedua telor bebeknya garing dan berasa amis. Rahasianya menurut Koh Akuang, telor bebeknya ketika dipecah jangan pas di atas kuetiaunya, tapi di atas wok nya (kuetiau nya dipinggirkan dulu), tunggu sampai matang baru diaduk. Biasanya aku ngga pakai toge di kuetiau, tapi karena proporsi toge nya ngga ganggu, aku ok ok aja

Kalau kuetiau medan, biasanya mereka ngga pakai kecap manis, tapi kecap asin Medan kaya Hati Angsa atau cap Panah. Tapi pas sih kebetulan hari itu si Koh AKuang ekperimen pakai kecap manis, damn it...tambah enak bow :)

3. SOP SUMSUM LANGSA

Jalan Setiabudi, Buka jam 11 pagi - 12 malam

Pertama kali sumsum nya datang, langsung aku mau pingsan, super gedeeee banget. Dan pas aku coba, baru menyadari ternyata aku ngga suka sumsum. Rasanya berlemak banget dan bikin aku enek abis. Tapi aku liat temen temen yang lain seru banget makannya, pakai sedotan (yoi, pakai sedotan kaya minum teh botol) tuh sumsum disedot sampai abis. Tapi kuahnya aku akuin enak dan segar. Rasanya pas, ada asin, manis dan gurih, dicampur dengan tomat dan daun bawang seperti layaknya sebuah sop. Harusnya sih bisa ngimbangin rasa lemak di sumsum nya, but it's not work for me..:(

Selain itu juga ada pisau gede di setiap piring, bukan buat mecahin sumsumnya, tapi buat "mengerok" semua daging yang nempel di giant sumsum tsb. Kalau ada yang bertanya (kaya gue), sumsum ini adalah tulang bagian kaki dari sapi. Kenapa ada embel embel langsa karena ini adalah makanan khas dari daerah Langsa di Aceh.

4. MIE ACEH TITI BOBROK
Jalan Setiabudi, Buka pukul 11.00 - 21.30

Warung ini persis ada di sebelah Sop Sumsum. Yang mencolok di etalase depan nya adalah tumpukan mie berwarna orange, persis kaya warna font ini. Sebelum nyobain sempet kepikiran, bahan pewarna apa yang bakalan aku santap nih. Ternyata menurut yang punya, mie orange ini menggunakan kincu, bahan pewarna yang halal. Kurang pasti juga kenapa harus diwarnai orange, sampai lupa nanya.

Ada 2 jenis mie yang bisa dipesan, rebus dan goreng, dan toppingnya bisa berupa daging sapi, ayam, udang & kepiting. Yang seru adalah mie kepitingnya, kepitingnya gede banget digoreng dalam mie..porsinya lumayan gede emang.

Tadinya aku pikir rasanya pasti rich banget, karena mie aceh terkenal banget dimasak dengan bumbu yang banyak macamnya (bisa sekitar 20an jenis bumbu, dari yang biasa sampai kaya jinten dan kas kas - bumbu khas aceh). Tapi ternyata salah prediksi, bumbunya plain dan lebih mirip indomie rebus dibanding dengan mie aceh yang aku coba di depan RS Petamburan, Jakarta, baik yang rebus maupun yang goreng.


5. MIE SOP POLONIA
Polonia

Mie sop ini letaknya agak jauh dari pusat kota Medan. Tempat makan nya juga biasa banget, ada di tengah perumahan rakyat. Ada satu gerobak, lalu kursi kursi tukang bakso berjajar. Mulai buka jam 5 sore, tapi kalo ngga mau antri heboh, datang ajah 15 menit sebelum buka. Sembari abangnya nge loading barang, kita bisa santai nunggu. Soalnya pas jam 5 teng, abangnya udah ngga kelihatan, dikerubungin orang orang soalnya.

Mie Sop Polonia terdiri dari bihun yang disiram kuah sop (mirip kaya kuah bakso sih rasanya). Yang istimewa atasnya ditaburin daging ayam yang sudah disuwir suwir serta sambal hijau yang dicampur dengan kecap (kaya yang di Soto Medan). Rasanya sueger banget, apalagi aku pakai sambal yang banyak jadi pedes. Daging ayam suwir nya mantap kali kalau dicocol dengan sambal nya. Jadi kita juga bisa sekalian order ekstra ayam goreng nya kalau kurang, dan rata rata orang sih order ekstra ayam. Dijamin makan sambil keringatan tuh..

Yang unik lagi dari Medan adalah Martabak nya. Kalau di Jakarta, kulit martabak nya dilebarin, ditaruh di atas wajan panasnya, isinya dituang kedalam kulit martabak. Tapi kalau di medan beda banget. Kulit martabak nya dibuat segi empat dan ngga terlalu besar kemudian dicemplungkan ke dalam api panas. Kemudian adonan isinya dituang di atasnya dan bukan di dalamnya dan diratakan kaya kalao kita bikin omelette. Norak sekali deh aku ngelihatin abangnya hehehehe.

Selain itu aku discover roti cane nya juga endang banget. Jadi adonan roti cane nya dimasak di wajan panas, tapi kemudian di kacau kacau sampai ngga berbentuk. Dimakan panas panas sama gula pasir...Hmmmmmm

Masih banyak banget tempat menarik di Medan. Tunggu ajah part 2 nya :)

THE BOY NEXT DOOR
By Meg Cabot
(known for her extremely successful young adult fiction series the Princess Diaries)

In her debut adult novel, Cabot relies entirely on highly amusing e-mails to tell a fetching meet-cute story. New York City gossip columnist Melissa Fuller is known for being obsessive about Winona Ryder, dating the wrong men and being tardy for work. Arriving particularly late one morning, she explains to her colleagues at the New York Journal that she was detained by the attempted murder of her elderly next-door neighbor, Mrs. Friedlander, who is in a coma. Always the good girl, Mel has volunteered to take care of Mrs. Friedlander's many pets until the neighbor's nephew Max, a famous fashion photographer, can be reached. Her co-workers warn her about Max, a notorious lady's man. Contrary to the gossip, when she meets Max he is down to earth, funny and kind. Despite the strange fact that he likes to be called John and appears to be between photo shoots, she begins to date him and learns that he shares her love for Stephen King novels and natural disasters. It doesn't take long for her to fall head over heels, or for Mel's mom to write, "Get a ring on your finger before you uncross those legs, sweetie." When a mysterious e-mail arrives explaining that there is more to her beau than meets the eye, she is duly upset and uses the power of her pen to get even. But when Mrs. Friedlander's attacker returns, will Mel and Max be able to put their differences aside to catch a killer? Full of clever e-mail banter and tongue-in-cheek humor, this cheeky novel should be enjoyed in one sitting.
(From Amazon.com)


I loveeeee Meg Cabot, dia adalah salah satu chick lit writer favorit gue. Bukunya selalu ringan, seru persis kaya makan popcorn. Kaya "The Boy Next Door" ini, walaupun title nya rada rada jamdul, but buku ini dijamin asyik banget. Seluruh buku ini formatnya email, jadi story progress through thousand emails..
Ngga yakin seru??? Salah banget, email di buku ini seru seru, apalagi didukung karakter yang konyol konyol banget. Favorit gue adalah temen temen se kantornya Melissa ini, yang demen banget nge gossip lewat email :) terutama soal manager HRD kantor mereka yg nyebelin banget. Belum lagi kakak nya Max yang mau tahu banget soal hubungan adiknya ama Melissa.
Pengen banget ngelihat novel ini dijadiin filmmmm......:p



SHE WENT ALL THE WAY
By Meg Cabot


Success hasn't spoiled screenwriter Lou Calabrese -- it's just given her a taste for luxury. And it's put her in some bizarre situations -- like in a helicopter en route to the wilds of Alaska, sharing too-close quarters with the last man she wants to be with: Jack Townsend! Once a sexy nobody whom Lou helped make a somebody, Jack's just been dumped by a high-profile Hollywood airhead -- who's eloped with Lou's longtime love! So what else could go wrong?Well...Their pilot could try to shoot the most adored man in America. They could crash land in the icy, mountainous middle of nowhere. And at the worst possible moment, when survival should be their only consideration, Jack could start wondering if maybe he wasn't a wee bit too hasty for not giving this sexy screenwriter a second look -- while Lou could start noticing how superstar Jack is kind of hot after all ...
(From Amazon.Com)

Not the best from Cabot but to accompany my Mocha Frappe from Starbuck in a nice beautiful Sunday still okeh lah...

Every Boy's Got One
By Meg Cabot

A day-by-day travel journal intended as a first anniversary present for Jane Harris's best friend, Holly, turns into Jane's rollicking private diary account of the madcap events leading up to Holly and Mark's Italian countryside elopement. Cabot (Boy Meets Girl), who pens the bestselling young adult series the Princess Diaries, presents an engaging topsy-turvy tale pitting maid of honor Jane, renowned for her Garfield-like Wonder Cat cartoons, against Mark's best friend and best man, international journalist Cal Langdon (who, to Jane's astonishment, has never heard of Wonder Cat). The author garners extra points for cleverly bringing the novel to life via Jane's diary, Cal's PDA journal and the hilarious e-mails that whiz through cyberspace between the main characters, their respective family members and one diehard Wonder Cat fan. Cabot captures the rustic charm of Castelfidardo, a small Italian town in the region of Le Marche, which happens to be the accordion-making capital of the world and is replete with unpredictable electricity, dubious public restrooms and bureaucratic snafus that nearly derail the wedding plans. The jaded, bitterly divorced Cal makes a worthy opponent to Jane, whose notions of marriage are much more romantic than his. Cabot's personal epilogue about her own elopement in the Italian countryside—marked by much of the mayhem her main characters encounter—adds spice to this frothy concoction of love, friendship and true romance.
(From amazon.Com)

Walaupun ngga sebagus Boys Next Door, buku ini masih asyik buat dibaca. Kali ini format nya adalah travel jurnal and juga PDA journal. Walaupun temanya klasik banget (dari benci jadi cinta..) cuman kapan sih pernah bosen ama tema kaya ginih...Buku ini asyik dibaca kalo travelling, karena ngga usah mikir bow...


SIZE 12 IS NOT FAT: A Heather Wells Mistery
By Meg Cabot

At 28, former teen-pop-star Heather Wells feels as though she has lost everything: her family and fortune (her mom fled the country with Heather's earnings), her recording contract, her slender waistline, and her fiance, Jordan, a philandering, boy-band singer. Then Jordan's brother, Cooper, a dreamy private investigator and family black sheep, offers Heather room and board in exchange for clerical work, and she finds an additional job as a residence-hall director at a nearby Greenwich Village university. After several female students turn up dead at the dorm, Heather takes on her own stealthy investigation and finds herself the target of the killer. In the first title in her Heather Wells series, Cabot combines a fairly straightforward mystery with a single-girl-in-the-city plot in which Heather triumphs over cheating guys, bad luck, and a fattist society. Most of the characters are two-dimensional, but Heather's strong, amusing voice, the plot twists, and the possibility of romance will draw mystery and chick-lit readers alike
(From Amazon.Com)

Gue agak kaget ama novel barunya Meg Cabot ini, temanya detektif amatir gini. Kayanya gue ngga sreg ajah walaupun kocak kocaknya masih kaya novel novel dia yg dulu. Tapi gue suka banget ada lirik lagunya si Heather di setiap opening chapter, pas banget nunjukin kalau dulu si heather ini adalah seorang teen pop idol ternama hehehehehe, jadi inget ama debbie Gibson tuh...:P

vanishing act

By Jodi Picoult

Each of the five narrators in this excellent book speaks intimately to the listener, capitalizing on the emotional complexity of Picoult's heart-wrenching tale. Delia Hopkins, immediately seizes the attention when she relates how, on an ordinary day in smalltown New Hampshire, her beloved father, Andrew, is arrested for having kidnapped her, 28 years earlier, from the mother she long thought was dead. Delia's fiancé, Eric, and her best friend, Fitz (both of whom are given appropriately cultured New England accents), add dimension to this multifaceted exploration of love and identity.


Buku ini bercerita dari point of view 5 orang yang terlibat di dalamnya; Delia, Andrew - sang ayah, Eric - Delia's fiance & Andrew's lawyer, Fitz - sahabat Delia & Eric serta Elise - ibu Delia.
Tema nya menarik banget, what is good and bad or right or wrong, how well you know your parent. Bahwa di dunia ini there is always both side of the story no matter what. Dan gue suka banget endingnya, ada twist di situ yang ngebuat kita menutup buku ini dengan senyum :p
Walaupun secara overall, buku ini agak ke mana mana ceritanya dan karena dilihat dari point of view yg beda beda jadi ngga dalem banget. Kaya pengalaman Andrew di penjara, menurut gue sih agak dragging banget. Terus cerita Elise juga kurang diexpose. Plus cinta segitiga nya Delia-Eric-Fitz agak ganggu dikit sih...

the third secret

By Steve Berry

Set in the near future, Secret introduces Jakob Volkner--Pope Clement XV--a German "caretaker pope" who, nearing the age of 80, was elected as John Paul II's successor. But three years into his papacy, the thoughtful Clement has begun to quietly express skepticism about papal infallibility and the Church's restrictive dogma, and to make odd requests of his longtime secretary, Monsignor Colin Michener, an Irish-born but American-reared priest whose vows of celibacy have been tested--and found wanting.

Clement has also made repeated visits to a guarded sanctum within the Vatican archives, where sacred and historic documents are stored. And he's dispatched Michener to Romania to locate an elderly cleric who, in the 1950s, translated three cryptic prophecies, purportedly offered by the Virgin Mary in 1917 to a trio of children in Fatima, Portugal. Those secrets have since been fully disclosed to the world. Or have they?

That’s the question facing Michener in the wake of Clement's shocking suicide, as he pursues a twisted trail of clues, crimes, and religious forecasts from Rome to Bosnia to Germany, accompanied by his former lover, journalist Katerina Lew. But making any additional secrets known to the world will put Michener in confrontation with doctrinal reactionaries, led by Cardinal Alberto Valendrea, the Vatican's Italian secretary of state, who's determined to follow Clement as the Vicar of Christ--even if that requires inventing a few new sins and flouting a 900-year-old prediction of doom for the next pope.
(From Amazon.com)

Seperlima bagian awal buku ini menarik, tapi habis itu ngga seru banget hehehehe walaupun akhirnya setelah dipaksa gue bisa nyelesain ceritanya. Mungkin sih menurut gue the Third Secret nya kurang bombastis dibanding let say ternyata Maria Magdalena itu ternyata pernah menikah dengan Yesus (tau dong buku apa ituh..hehehehe). Mungkin kalau fenomena penampakan dibahas lebih dalam, bakalan lebih asyik lagi, karena topik ini juga menarik banget

Tapi gue ternyata masih mau kasih satu kesempatan ama Steve Berry, gue lagi nunggu edisi paperback nya satu buku baru dia, judulnya The Templar Legacy. Kalau yang ini jelek juga, yah...lain kali daripada beli, gue minjem ajah deh buku karangan dia :p

the historian

By Elizabeth Kostova

“To you my perceptive reader, I bequeath my history”

The story opens in Amsterdam in 1972, when a teenage girl discovers a medieval book and a cache of yellowed letters in her diplomat father's library. The pages of the book are empty except for a woodcut of a dragon. The letters are addressed to: "My dear and unfortunate successor."
When the girl confronts her father, he reluctantly confesses an unsettling story: his involvement, twenty years earlier, in a search for his graduate school mentor, who disappeared from his office only moments after confiding to Paul his certainty that Dracula--Vlad the Impaler, an inventively cruel ruler of Wallachia in the mid-15th century--was still alive.
The story turns out to concern our narrator directly because Paul's collaborator in the search was a fellow student named Helen Rossi (the unacknowledged daughter of his mentor) and our narrator's long-dead mother, about whom she knows almost nothing. And then her father, leaving just a note, disappears also.
As well as numerous settings, both in and out of the East Bloc, Kostova has three basic story lines to keep straight—one from 1930, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula, one from 1950, when Professor Rossi's student Paul takes up the scent, and the main narrative from 1972.
The criss-crossing story lines mirror the political advances, retreats, triumphs, and losses that shaped Dracula's beleaguered homeland--sometimes with the Byzantines on top, sometimes the Ottomans, sometimes the rag-tag local tribes, or the Orthodox church, and sometimes a fresh conqueror like the Soviet Union.
(from amazon.com)

Dracula stories are not my cup of tea. Gue ngga pernah baca Bram Stocker or Ann Rice novels. Paling gue cuman bisa related ama film Interview with Vampire, itu juga karena ada Brad Pitt :)
Gue beli buku ini juga rada ketipu sih, gue pikir jenis jenis kaya Da Vinci Code gitu. Tapi pas gue baca sih ternyata not bad juga, mungkin karena di buku ini gue bisa “kenalan” ama sosok Drakula ini, yang ternyata di luar anggapan gue selama ini adalah tokoh nyata dan punya history yg sangat panjang
Bagian awal buku ini menarik, tengah tengahnya kaya baca text book sejarah, menjelang ending naik lagi tapi endingnya mengecewakan. Bukan kenapa napa, buku ini tebelnya 704 halaman, jadi agak kecewa dong setelah berjuang habis habisan buat tamat, ternyata gitu ajah nih Count Dracula kekuatannya ???
Tapi gue suka buku ini pakai format surat menyurat buat nyeritain perjalanan tokohnya, jadi ngga terlalu ngebosenin.
Cuman buku ini asyik banget kalau dijadiin film..hmmmm, mungkin mini seri ajah tepatnya biar lebih puas. Karena tokoh di buku ini berkelana dari Inggris, Paris, Amsterdam, Istambul, Hungaria, Rumania..melewati gereja gereja tua, kubur kubur bawah tanah, situs situs kuno..... Mungkin kaya persilangan Indiana Jones and Interview with Vampire kaliiii...

he's just not that into you

By Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccilo
Writer & consultant from Sex and the City

….Greg and Liz are here to say that despite good intentions –you’re wasting your time. Men are not complicated although they like you to think they are and there are no mix messages girls…the truth maybe HE JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU…

Sering banget kita nih cewek-cewek (mungkin juga cowok) curhat bareng cuman buat nge discuss he love me ..or not..love or not…Gue yakin deh dia suka ama gue tapi blab la bla….suka ngga yah dia ama gue, soalnya gue bingung nih blab la bla…Sound familiar ???

Nah, buku ini hadir buat nampar kita nih and tell the truth when a guy just doesn’t like us enough, so stop wasting our precious time :p
Gue suka banget deh ama si Greg ini, gue tuh ngebayangin dia nih pasti orangnya yang rada rada bitchy gituh deh and sebel banget ngelihat kelakuan cewek cewek yang takut banget bilang hejust not that into me …
Pas gue nonton Oprah, bener lho dia emang rada rada jutex gituh orangnya tapi sumpee pasti dia enak banget dijadiin temen gossip

Di buku ini Greg and Liz kasih contoh kapan sih or tanda tandanya he just not that into us. Oya, format nya asyik banget deh, jadi kaya kolom Tanya jawab di majalah gitu dan comment comment mereka berdua itu bener yang bikin kita malu sendiri, soalnya emang kenyataan nya kita suka ngga terima sih..

he just not that into you, if he’s not asking you out --- men are not afraid of ruining the friendship (catetttt nih), jadi ngga ada tuh alasan nanti merusak persahabatan kita (ceileeeee)

he just not that into you, if he’s not calling you..
“ oh sure, they say they are busy. They say that they didn’t have even a moment in their busy day ti pick up the phone. It was just that crazy. Bullshit. With the cell phone and speed dialing it is almost impossible not to call you. Men are just like us, we like to take a break to talk to someone we like. Which would be a day that I would never be to busy to call you

he just not that into you, if he’s married --- unless he’s all yours, he’s still hers

he just not that into you, if he’s a bully BF, selfish jerk – you already have one asshole, you don’t need another (ouchhh)

he just not that into you, if he’s breaking up with you – simple rules of break up always be classy, never be crazy

tv drama addict

Dari jaman gue kuliah, gue udah demen nonton tv drama di TV. Dari musim telenovela yang ala Little Missy sampai Rosalinda, Maria Mercedes dll hehehehehe. Terus sempet juga boom drama drama jepang kaya Tokyo Love Story (the best dorama ever...) terus dorama nya Takuya Kimura (Love Generation, Long Vocation etc) sampai Meteor Garden deh..Ngaku deh, biarpun acting para F4 itu amatir banget but serial itu menghibur banget.

Terus beberapa tahun ini gue demen banget ama serial serial Korea. Yang pertama kali gue tonton itu judulnya "Beautiful Days" di TV 7. ampe gue bela belain tuh tiap sabtu sore ngga pernah ketinggalan nonton. Sumpee, top abiss...Highly recommended lah, biarpun keluaran jamdul.
Dulu susah banget nyari serial Korea ini, gue kudu jauh jauh tuh ke Mango Two khusus buat browsing VCD nya (belum musim DVD soalnya) and jatuhnya mahal bo, soalnya paling ngga kan serial ini ada 16 seri
Tapi sekarang sih gampang banget nyari nya and cepet banget serial baru masuk. Paling dashyat, kemarin gue beli serial baru yang even di Korea nya ajah belon beres, udah ada bajakannya walau belum komplet sampai tamat. Dashyattttt

Cuman blog gue ini gue dedikasikan buat para drama addicts yang bener bener ngeluangin waktunya buat nge upload drama drama (bisa jepang, korea or taiwan) di internet lengkap beserta subtitle nya. Gue salut buangetttttttt

Jadi awalnya kan kalau nunggu drama baru kan suka lama nyampenya di Jakarta (terutama dorama Jepang yah, itu susah banget nyarinya). Terus temen gue namanya Anifah (arigato banget say...) yang ngajarin gue buat ngedownload drama drama itu lewat internet.

Awalnya rada ribet, soalnya ada beberapa software yang harus kita download dulu (ini gue juga tinggal copy paste ajah dari punya Anifah :), kalau mau email ajah ke gue...:p)
Lalu tinggal masuk deh ke beberapa site yang ada, gue sih cuman ngandalin satu site namanya
http://d-addicts.com/, terus tinggal pilih deh drama apa yang kita mau di section TORRENTS

Kalau drama yang kita mau belum ada subtitle nya, tinggal masuk ke bagian subtitle dan ngecek sudah ada belon..Paling enak sih nge DL dorama karena biasanya cuman sekitar 300-400 MB, kalau drama Korea biasanya sekitar 700 MB.
Perlu berapa hari untuk nge DL? Kalau drama baru, untuk700 MB bisa 2/3 hari tergantung dari internet connection nya lah, kalau udah agak lamaan bisa lebih lama lagi

Kalau sudah beres nge DL, format yang biasa gue pakai itu .AVI, jadi hanya bisa diputer di DVD player yang support DIVX, kalau ngga kudu di burn dulu jadi DVD or VCD

Yang gue amazed banget dari d-addict ini, kan ini free situs jadi ngga ada deh yang dibayar udah nerjemahin drama yg seri nya bisa puluhan, tapi banyak banget yang mau jadi contributornya. Terus anggotanya pada rajin banget nge upload drama2 baik yg baru or yang lama, even saling membalas request orang orang yang meng access. Gue tuh suka banget speechless sama passion para anggota di sana, gila banget dari seluruh dunia ngumpul dan susah payah cuman buat sebuah tv drama. INtinya, pantengin aja rules of the game nya ajah, soalnya pada galak galak juga kalu kita nyalahin aturan main nya bow..

Belum lagi kalau buka forum nya, rapi banget berdasarkan subyek bisa ngomongin macem macem, ngga cuman film sih. Cuman buat gue maanfaat banget, paling ngga tahu drama mana yang okeh apa ngga..Saluuutttttttttt

Di Indonesia, ada juga satu situs www.doramalover.com, ini buat para pencinta dorama Jepang. Bisa beli VCD dorama and juga mereka buka patungan subtitle kalau ada serial baru. Gue juga salut nih ama mereka yang mengorganisir, karena info dorama nya lengkap lho. Gue juga pernah coba beli, okeh banget dan on time dianternya, CD nya juga dalam kondisi bagus.
Arigato, sudah bantuin gue nge lengkapin koleksi dorama gue :)


Now watching: Sweet Spy (Korea) -- Goong (Korea)

hollaback girl

Let me hear you say
this shit is bananasB-A-N-A-N-A-S
(This shit is bananas)(B-A-N-A-N-A-S)

A few times I've been around that track
So it's not just gonna to happen like that
Because I ain't no hollaback girl
I ain't no hollaback girl
Ooooh oohthis my shitthis my shit
(Gwen Stephanie)

Dari pertama kali denger lagu ini sampai sekarang, gue ngga pernah tahu nih the meaning of the maksud dari hollaback girl nya Gwen Stepahnie ini...tanya tanya sekitar juga ngga ada yang tahu. Eh, pas banget di Yahoo ask today ada pencerahan nih..oooh, ternyata ini slang nya para cheerleader di Amrik...Buat yang juga penasaran, ini nih maksudnya lho..

Doesn't that song drive you bananas? The incessant beat, the stomping, the shushed-out swear words, and just what the heck is Gwen Stefani talking about? We don't want to get everybody fired up, so we put our pom-poms down and tackled this most important inquiry.
After a few times around that track, we discovered what a Hollaback Girl is and why Gwen ain't one.

The OC Weekly's insightful analysis points to cheerleading as the source of the slang. The cheerleading captain 'hollas' a chant to the squad, and the girls 'holla' it back. So the hollaback girl is a follower, and by extension, she is treated like a doormat, especially by boys. Writers on the Urban Dictionary add that a hollaback girl is all talk, no action, and won't fight back.

Obviously, Gwen is gonna fight and give it her all. She even socks it to us by proudly confirming her cheerleader roots. And while similarly a cheerleader at heart, Toni Basil doesn't appear to be a hollaback girl either.

Btw, Yahoo ask ini lucu juga lho, jadi kita bisa nanya nanya ngga penting tapi kita juga penasaran (kaya hollaback girl ini lah) .... :p