The ultimate life updates

Good lord, I haven't write anything here since February last year, talk about uber-negligence eh? What happened for the past 15 months? Depend from the perspective and context. It is both a lot and a little. In the last post, I was waiting to start my internship. Now, the timeline goes like this:

• 2017 (Feb): I did start with my internship in KWR. It wasn't really what I expected to be, but hey I need to graduate on time. Paying the additional tuition fee for 1000 euro/month was not my option.
• Mar: Left for Bandung at the end of this month. Also, I just realized how cheap I am since there was this one particular event that made me super happy (until now) to just walk around canal side with my (then) crush lol.
• Apr: Worked alone in Bandung sigh. The internet was always a problem so believe me when I said I never once have a skype session with my supervisors from there. The highlight was.. watching Bangtan's concert in ICE! That was crazy! Fortunately, I seated comfortably (?) in tribune area.
• May: Back to Utrecht with hyungnin. Since I took two weeks off my internship, I accompanied her for end-spring trip. We went to cities in the Netherlands, Italy and France. I wasn't being a very good friend back then (terribly sorry hyungnim) with my mood swings and too much entangled thoughts in my head. It was also the start of Ramadan 1428H! Man did you remember the heat of the first fasting day. I wanted to drown my self in ice cubes!
• June: My thesis drove me crazy this month. I set a deadline for myself to finish it (so that the next month I can just lazying around). It was also my first time celebrating Eid without my family :") but it was fun because I had this new Ramadan circle (I miss everyone huhu, Vjosa, Aimee, Nur) and we celebrated the Eid prayer in outdoor field so it was feel like home.
• July-Aug: Basically, it was either a day fully spent in the library to work on additional tasks from my supervisor or holiday. I finally gave thesis presentation and officially finished with my master program yay! I also visited a lot of new places, from the Terschelling to Kotor <3
• Sept: Graduation ceremony!! I was so glad to attend this instead of going home directly after my thesis presentation. There were also UID 2017 (remembering all those days spent with crazy Indonesian lol), KARD concert (jiwooo!) and behold, first time ever, my solo trip to Stockholm-Helsinki.
• Oct: Leaving Utrecht :'' I haven't really moved on until now
• Nov-Dec-(2018) Jan: Almost doing nothing at home except writing papers (my spv ideas). I think I was really in a slump this period. Once you leave home for so long, it is just weird to be back there. I also have a love hate relationship with my mom: truly loving and missing her when a far but in close proximity I can only stand her for two weeks top (I know some of my friend will give nods to this).
• Feb-Mar-Apr: Decided to move back to Bogor, to increase my chance to get a job. How come, you ask? Eh it's mostly to find tranquility, I lied about finding job. I began to feel so desperate about finding a vacancy. After that slump period, I feel like I have forgiven and made peace with myself being unemployed. But I can't lie that I need money to live (classic right) so yeah it is unnerving.
• May: I finally got a job and in a honeymoon (?) face of enjoying it but I moved to Jakarta and it's not honeymoon after all

The last six month feels so long for me but fortunately I have stacks of book and movie ammunition. It's only May but I watched more than 50 movies and read 15 books. I walked a lot, well at least in Bogor, the city gives that privilege. Also, I joined some interesting events along the way. These things keep my sanity. I feel like I'm quieter these past months (I know, is it possible for a chatty box like me to tune down? Apparently it is). The reason? Nothing particular. After hearing other people's stories, I feel like mine is trivial and my opinions don't matter that much. I still love to listen though, and if someone asks, I may share my piece of life too :)

A free concert of Jakarta Philharmonic City I attended a week ago

I think it's a decent post to open the new chapter of life.

XOXO,

Noyara

Young adult-ish

Is a 25 years old human can still be considered as a young adult? I googled it, and Wikipedia said that young adult works are targeted for the readers and viewers between 12-18 or 15-20ish. Since I can't accept the fact that I do not belong to this category anymore, I'm gonna use the definition of a young adult from a psychological perspective, i.e. generally a person in the age range of 20 to 39 (or 40). So, yes, 25 is still a young adult. Why we talked about this anyway? Because I just watched a young adult movie, which is one of my favs' movie genres, and it drove me to write a post here. You know, those movies have the power to wake something inside you up. No idea what is it. Now I just want to rant about movies, and life, as usual. FYI, I managed to watch seven movies last week. How come? Because I had nothing to do after I submit the final paper for my tailor made course (finally!). Now I am in the limbo. Should have started with the internship but nope, I need to rearrange the details somehow. Plus, I'm not sure if I am actually ready to face the quasi-real world out there (anyway, lately I'm using this word, quasi, a lot, just because it sounds posh).

Although I opened this post with a justification of me being a young adult, the last two movies I had were so-so. Not bad, but they didn't leave me with such hollowness (?) as the Perks of Being Wallflower, or craziness (?) as Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I watched Paper Towns two days back and Me and Earl and The Dying Girl just now. Paper Towns has interesting characters like Margo and Quentin, their story is appealing, but the execution in the movie was a bit meh. Meanwhile, I think Me and Earl and The Dying Girl was dull, but now (3 hours after finishing the film), I kinda like it. Still, some things are left unclear, and I do feel betrayed by the narrator who spoils the ending. Now, back to the movies-I-wanted-to-talk-about:

Stoker

This movie blesses you with such beautiful cast of the Stoker's family: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, and Nicole Kidman. In fact, the reason for including the movie on this impromptu review is India Stoker's outfit. Nothing really special but it just appropriate and pretty. Also, Mia looks like f(x) Krystal here, somehow. Although the title is a bit misleading, this movie is by no means involving vampires or dracula, but you can find some creepiness, and 'tensions' build up here and there throughout the movie. I might say the idea is not groundbreaking, nor the plot is perfect (in the end, I still have no clue on what's wrong with India). But the movie is amazing, I told you about the attractive cast, and it's only an addition of their brilliant delivery to depict not-your-usual-family-problem in Stoker. Some people will say the movie is disturbing, well, I suppose it is.

Captain Fantastic

I always wonder what it's like to enjoy living without being judged and shaped by the norms of society. The Cash family might seem as the hippies, the nature hardcore, the detached blip in one's society, while at the same time they are also just a normal family who cope with loss and unfairness of the world. This movie is everything I want to experience in life but too afraid to handle realistically. The culture I was born into will label anybody who lives in the jungle, not having proper formal education, dress 'wildly,' explains rape to 7 years old, etc. as savages. In today's words, this movie is my spirit animal (I am even sure if I use the term correctly, lol). Not to mention, the acting of the cast is superb, the whole Cash family including the aunt uncle cousins and grandparents. Apparently, they bonded so well and shared similar views about the movie so don't be surprised to see their antics during red carpets/award shows/premieres. Power to the people, stick it to the man! Below is one of my favs scene of the movie :)

Lion

This title is the first Oscar contender movies I watched this year, and it deserves the spotlight. I watched the movie in Pathe Buitenhof, which means it used the Dutch subtitles. What I didn't expect was the fact that the first half an hour of it was spoken in Hindi/Bengali languages. Ofc it was no problem because I've been living here for 1,5 years and should know the basic daily conversation Sunny Pawar acting had succeeded to deliver all the emotions. On top of that, all the scenes just disclosed the plot themselves. It blows my mind that this movie is based on a true story. I can't imagine being four years old Saroo who get lost in the fast moving train, going 1400 km away from his hometown. I can't stand looking at the bittersweet relationship amongst Brierley family members. Everybody in my row in the cinema cried frantically in the last 30 minutes, in three different scenes. I guess everybody has their soft spot for family.

Frank

This movie focuses on a weird experimental pop-rock (?) band, and by I meant weird is like that strange/bizarre vibe, not the quirky posh one. At first, I thought Jon is one of those boring guys who ends up getting along with the band members and somehow brings a miracle, as in making the band more well-known to the world. But no, he is not your typical innocent/easily bullied character (even he looked like one at first), and everything went the wrong way towards the end. The characters of this movie surprised me with their development throughout the plot, and the cast portrayed them very well. I watched this one because Domnhall Gleeson plays in it, but I am also mesmerized by Michael Fassbender and Maggie Gyllenhaal. They are so odd, I love it.

While I enjoy this lasting free times  I had in the past week, I do hope to start the internship soon (will never be ready, though). Otherwise, I'll end up watching movies all day long which I can't complain but will regret later. Wish me luck :)

XOXO,

Noya

How to be human 101

Firstly, please give me an award for writing a post early this year. I tracked my post archives and found out that the only time I wrote in January was back in 2010, lol. Anyway, my intention to write this post is actually changed in the span of three days only. I was initially planned to show off my last vacation to Romania where Bianca, Sara, Irene, and I rolled on the snow between Cavnic in Maramures to Timisoara in Banat. Yes, my second winter break in Europe also turned out to be a White Christmas, after Tromso-Bergen craziness last year.

There are at least a thousand files (pictures, videos, and boomerangs) of this magical trip on my harddisk. How can I resist to share only 0,001% of them?

However, as I told you before, the purpose of this post is not to share all those beautiful things I witness in Romania. The aim is actually to share this article I found on Facebook the other day. I wholeheartedly agree with the content written there (except #23) but instead of calling it as '25 habits that psychologists have linked with happiness', I would simply name the list as 'how to be human.' Let me share some of my favorite points below:

• Write down 3 things you're grateful for: It does work. One of my stress coping mechanism is actually looked below. Be grateful of your current state. You can't live by always looking ahead or above; these ambitions, those pressures, sometimes can drain all the happiness in your life, no?
• Get outside: Relates to my previous post, going out definitely ease your day in their unique way. An extrovert goes out to talk to someone, an introvert can also go out to enjoy the nature tranquility. Or as an ambivert, I dress up and visit such public places to observe human interactions.
• Listen to sad songs: Before, I never understand why one could feel a comfort or serenity by listening to those mellow songs (for me, it can be defined as Spotify's Deep Dark Indie kind of tracks). After reading this article, it somehow makes sense that sad music actually allows us to regulate the negative emotions and find a consolation in their melody. It is kind of healing process. And speaking of deep-dark-indie, London Grammar just released a new single a week ago.

let me drowned in the beauty of Hannah Reid's haunting vocal

• Write down your feelings: I haven't keep a diary since at least 10 years ago. However, there is a habit of mine to write what I feel in my agenda. Not a real writing though, sometimes it is just random doodle, or two short sentences, or emojis. Also, as millennials, of course, we can just thinking out loud in any social media platforms (but then, we have to deal with the so-called society).
• Spend money on others, not yourself: Maybe you want to call me out for this humble-bragging, but buying things for others indeed make you happy. I mean, I do feel happier buying a new BTS album for Zia's birthday gift (and behold her joyous/denial face when she opened the gift wrap) than buying myself a rack of clothes (sure, I am being exaggerated, but you know, we have insane winter sale here). Also, other activities I love the most: getting flowers for my friends. Living in the Netherland has its perks :) 

At last, the most essential and important mantra: smile and optimism. This may sound like that advice you get from Mario Teguh or those annoying Tumblr quotes, but yes, those two simple (but sometimes hard-to-do) things are basically a happiness spell. It doesn't mean you are forbidden to feel cynical, sad, or depressed, a human has feelings, not a feeling, a mixed of everything. But it won't hurt anybody to keep a speck of optimism and share a smile as your weapon. Especially when you can't cope with the negative energy no more omg, am I really writing this. As Dumbledore said, Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

So, happy new year, I guess. Let's hope this year will be a great one for everybody.

XOXO *flying kiss*,
Noya