Panorama Panorama

I love traveling

I love visiting places far-far away to get new insight in life

I love boarding public transportation and having interaction with new people

I love capturing moments, pictures, and smiles

To be frank, aku lagi galau nich...
I am missing someone very special in my life
*tears drop*

Anyway... Happy birthday to my beloved Ibu

I love you, Ibu...
Mmuach... <3 <3 <3

Btw, here are picts of some places I have visited. Slightly edited with Photoshop CS3, arranged by date-taken :)

Borobudur Temple, February 2012

Prambanan Temple, February 2012

Taj Mahal, January 2013

New Delhi Railway Station, January 2013

Monumen Nasional Jakarta, March 2013

English Vinglish

I've been so much into Bollywood movies since coming back from India. Aneh juga yah sebenarnya, karena biasanya orang-orang ingin ke India karena tergila-gila sama film Bollywood, aku malah sebaliknya. Tapi entah kenapa, setelah balik dari India aku jadi lebih mengerti alur filmnya dan lebih jeli memperhatikan background film seperti pemain figuran, pasar, kantor, taman, stasiun, dll.

(source)

Film yang akan direview kali ini berjudul English Vinglish, keluaran Oktober 2012. Film ini bercerita tentang seorang ibu rumah tangga bernama Shashi, yang pandai memasak dan punya bisnis kecil-kecilan membuat ladhoo (snack khas India). Namun sayangnya, bahasa Inggrisnya yang kacau sering menjadi ledekan oleh suaminya Satish dan anak perempuannya Sapna. Hanya anak lelakinya, Sagar, yang walaupun nakal namun tetap menyayangi Shashi apa adanya.

Suatu hari saudara perempuan Shashi yang tinggal di New York mengundang keluarga Shashi menghadiri pernikahan putrinya di New York. Shashi berangkat lebih dulu untuk membantu persiapan pernikahan keponakannya tersebut, sementara suami dan kedua anaknya akan menyusul saat mendekati tanggal pernikahan. Dengan Bahasa Inggris yang pas-pasan, Shashi akhirnya berhasil sampai di New York dan bertemu dengan keluarga kakaknya yang baik hati. Namun malang bagi Shashi, bahasa Inggrisnya yang masih kacau menyebabkan keributan besar saat ia memesan makanan di sebuah kafe. Ia kemudian secara sembunyi-sembunyi mendaftar kursus singkat Bahasa Inggris yang mengajarkan English speaking selama 4 minggu. Terdapat 7 orang murid dengan latar belakang yang beragam di kelas Bahasa Inggris tersebut: Eva si baby-sitter dari Meksiko, Salman Khan si supir taksi asal Pakistan, Euso si pekerja salon asal China, Rama si engineer dari India, Lourent si koki hotel dari Perancis, seorang pria Afrika pendiam, dan Shashi. Shashi kemudian menjadi murid paling menonjol dan disayangi di kelas. Tidak hanya meningkatkan kemampuannya berbahasa Inggris, di kelas ini Shashi juga mulai menemukan kepercayaan dirinya. Sementara itu, Lourent, si koki asal Perancis, diam-diam menyimpan perasaan kepada Shashi karena kecantikan dan kepolosannya.

Hubungan Shashi dan Lourent semakin hari semakin dekat, hingga Lourent mengungkapkan kalau ia menyukai Shashi di depan guru dan semua murid. Hal ini tentu membuat Shashi menjadi galau, terlebih saat suami dan kedua anaknya datang menyusul ke New York menjelang hari pernikahan.

Lalu...

...

...

...

...

Mau tau??

Mau tau...???

Tonton sendiri aja yaa... Terlalu seru untuk direview semua karena seperti kebanyakan film Bollywood lain, pesan dan konfliknya tidak hanya satu. Diantaranya, melalui film ini kita bisa melihat a glimpse of glamorous New York dari kaca mata orang Asia pendatang baru. Lalu kita bisa memetik nilai-nilai persahabatan, indahnya keberagaman, dan saling menghargai bahasa, budaya, warna kulit, hingga orientasi seksual seseorang.

Melihat kelas Bahasa Inggrisnya Shashi, jadi mengingatkanku akan kelas kursus Bahasa Inggrisku yang dulu.
Duh, jadi kangen...

Very highly recommended lah ini film!!!

So... Don't miss it yah :'D !!!

Today Is...

My parents 25th wedding anniversary... 
Congratulation...

Wish we always be under God's blessing,
showered by love, peaceful, warmth,
and be healthy always.
Ameen.

Minangkabau Wedding

I just attended my uncle's wedding 2 weeks ago along with parents, aunts, cousins, and all family members. Wedding party always becomes an awaiting event here in Indonesia, as it often turns out to be the place for rendezvous or reunion for all friends and relatives which could't meet regularly on daily basis. Moreover, it also becomes the perfect time to show your best-fabulous looking, especially for women ;')

Since both of bride and groom sides are Minangs descendants, the wedding reception was held with full touch of Minangs custom. Minang, or referred as Minangkabau, is one of the traditional custom in Indonesia which base on West Sumatera. In past, Minangkabau dominion was known spread until Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Now wonder why we find lot of similarities between Malaysia and Indonesia especially in West Sumatera region: the language, matriarchy bloodline, arts, foods, including rendang of course.

Back to the wedding, here are some documentations I have taken, starting from the akad nikah (marriage vow) up to the reception. In akad nikah, groom declares an oath to take the bride as his life time partner. Just as what we used to see in the movie scene, here it goes in Islamic way. This would be the most thrilling part for Indonesian groom, as he must declare it firmly with one clear-breath taking. In case he gets stammering or speaks with any mistake, he has 2 more chances to go to complete the vow.

Look the nervous face of my uncle (left). Sitting from right to left: My uncle's big bro as a witness from groom's side, penghulu, and bride's guardian. Standing behind: MC and camera person from wedding documenter. Bride was still kept in room until the akad nikah completed and the witnesses said "sah... Alhamdulillah..."

After the groom's mission accomplished, the bride was allowed to come to receive dowry from her groom and meet the audience. 

The wedding couple happily showed the Buku Nikah, or the wedding certificate

The wedding couple take a pose with parents and the honored family members

Taking a pose with mom and siblings

The groom's cousins made a line to strike a pose

The wedding reception was held some 3 hours after the completion of akad nikah, then everybody changed their dress to the reception dress. As the groom's cousin, my mom and some aunties wore red-dress uniform that marked them as the close family members. The bride also changed their dress with the customized traditional Minang wedding dress.

Aunties and mom take a pose with the groom's brothers

Group of mom and aunties don't want to miss the moment of togetherness

Peeps... My cousin and I don't want to skip a cheers also

The wedding stage, where the couple will sit and receive congratulation from guests

Flowery ornaments along the path towards the wedding stage

Here comes the wedding couple walked towards the wedding stage receiving congratulation from guests. Groom wore peci head cap, bride wore sunting on head. All dominated by gold color.

Walking together under the ela... ela... ela... umbrella 

Family members followed behind the couple, also received congratulation from guests

Welcomed by tari piring (plate dancing) before sitting on the wedding chair

Finally... Sitting relax on their throne 

Congratulation for my uncle. May become keluarga yang sakinah, mawaddah, wa rahmah. Ameen... 

What I Learn From My India Trip

My 15-days India Trip on last January is actually my very first overseas trip. Without having any relatives, business, exchange program, or conferences to attend abroad, I challenge myself to step my feet across my homeland before I graduate from collage. And... backpacking becomes the only solution to beat this challenge. Adding up with my interest for India and its culture, voila... I have successfully landed my ass in India :)

Experiencing 15-life-days in the 2nd most populated country on earth with all its complexity is totally incredible!! Just like the nation's tagline Incredible India. Yes, I cannot deny that slums, poverty, street beggar, and homeless people around become the common view on the road. Completed with the never stop car honking and beeping just make it a perfect stressor for your day. What about handsome guys that welcome you by dancing around the tree, singing Kuch Kuch Hota Hai? Just forget it! Just keep that in mind as one of the Bollywood movie scenes. The real India is far more beautiful than what we used to see in the movie scenes. India is beautiful on its way, that becomes my life-learning field. To make it well-structured, let me list the points about what I learn from my India trip:

• Become more alert and watchful of surroundings. This is first thing I learned as I visited India when the Delhi gang-raped case was on fire. This case was actually killing India reputation in tourism, especially more cases coming up after the first case became international headlines. As Melayu-face women, I and my travel mate often accepted deep-staring from strangers on the road, train station, market, and everywhere. Little bit shocked and uncomfortable at first day, but then we got used to it. The key are: keep being cool, don't start giving any welcome smile, don't wear too much accessories and eye-catching outfit, store valuable things such as money and passport inside your bag, and keep yourself being around the crowd. Plus, having karate skills would be better :p
• Become more brave, confident, yet humble in life. India is my first ground for practicing my English. As I am not speaking English on daily basis, that was somehow scary yet challenging. Not only got the English-speaking practice, I also got influenced by Indian accent and it's left-right head gesture. Haggling in market, conversation with locals and fellow travelers, all were performed in English. At the same time, the more interactions I have, the more I realize about how small my knowledge and experience in life. A lot of things to learn in this land makes me more understand about what is essential of life, seriously.
• Be a "more flexible" woman. Traveling with public transportation never gave me chance to enjoy some couple seconds inside the toilet. I wouldn't give the details about how was the toilet that I have met in the sleeper couch train, but it has successfully given me some skills in holding my breath while running my business. I now become so cool to occupy the toilet that lack of water. Here is my style in case I trapped in that circumstances: I always carry napkin or tissue inside my bag. I use some 1-2 sheets to clean my ass then use that water to wash my stool away. To make my underwear clean and still wearable until the next day, I also wear pantyliner every time I go traveling.
• Become more open-minded, not self-judging. Being a guest in India gives me chance to observe the people: their feature, habit, and also their cities. Why many people perceive that Indian is aggressive, annoying, and smells like onion are because they don't understand how is live in India. The socio-demographic constructs play the significant rule that form Indian known for it's an aggressive and competitive attributes. With 1,2 billion of population, life is hard in India (even harder than in Indonesia, I can straightforwardly say this). That's why life is more competitive in India. 
• Value the diverse of culture, religion, art, and history. I really amazed about how come I just knew about the Sikh, Jainism, Mother Theresa, Diwali festival of light, Holi festival of colors, and maaany more when browsing right before coming to India. Those all are part of diversity of religion in India which I hardly find in Indonesia. That's why I never knew these things previously. Dominated by Hindu along with it's festival and the holy Ganges river, India also becomes home for Sikh, Jain, Muslim, Buddhist, and Christian. All religion lives in harmony, celebrating every festivals and big days together. 
• Value the money. Money is as priceless as petrol for backpackers. I always considered about what to buy, what to eat, and count every Rupee that comes in and out from wallet. Never in my life I have debate for paying toilet charge. In Kolkata, I broke the record for the first time to get my 5 Rupees back into the pocket. 
• Value the food. Just as the money, food is the main power source to stay fit during backpacking. Not really different than Indonesian food, I can easily find rice and halal foods in India. Besides, there is also roti (bread) as staple food in North India. But then, it's not really easy to adjust my taste bud with strongly spices foods. They all hit my tongue too hard at the beginning, that I couldn't finish my food. Then my travel mate told me to clean my eating plate, because in travelling we don't have much choices to fulfill our tummy. Just eat to restore your energy, that's the point. Since that, I tried my best level to finish all food I have ordered. Slowly but sure, I started enjoying my every biryani, roti, dhaal, curry, pickels, and the gank. Every time I could't reach the last bite because of the huge portion, my mate always helped me at last. 

And... credit goes to these inspiring books... Thank you... Terima kasih buat inspirasinya :') :') :')

Two Travel Tales: Menguak Eksotisme India dan Nepal, The Naked Traveler 3, Rp3 jutaan Keliling India dalam 8 Hari