Oho.

It's been a week of school and yes Im still in the mood of holiday. That's why Im really active in doing reviews this week. Maybe another reason is because our faculty is the first one to start the academic activity while others might start in the next 2 weeks. Currently Im not really into kdramas; the only one Im following now is Emergency Couple. At first, Im not that attracted to this series but as it goes on, it's just entertaining. Ji Hyo and Jin Hyuk are just perfect together. Tbh, actually this is still in the CNY mood, but I cant feel the euphoria here in Jogja. Everything is just flat as though nothing happens. It freaks me for a while. Medanese is celebrating che 7 with praying and playing fireworks and here Im sleeping. Pathetic huh? I just hope next year I can stay longer in my hometown to celebrate CNY; not like this year where I only got to celebrate 3 days. Period.

Book review: Restart (Nina Ardianti)

This book has made me going back and forth a few times to bookstore because: first, I want to buy it because the cover is so attractive and second, I've never read this author's book before so it's not a guarantee that great cover makes great story too. At last I make a gamble because the book's price is in my range and yes, I dont regret. It starts with Syiana as the main lead, a banker with everything in her life is scheduled. She thinks her life is great because when something doesnt go according to her plan, she hates it. We also find out that her boyfriend for 3 years, Yudha, cheats on her when she thought that she would spend the rest of her life with him. Then comes our hero, Fedrian/Ian, Dejavu's band member slash the rising star of the year slash Indonesia's 50 most eligible bachelor. He just came right on time when she's heartbroken. I think this is a very ordinary romance story but I find it good and the author writes it perfectly. The way Ian approaches her for the first time, does sweet things for her, always by her side when she needs, his sarcasm way of talking and I-dont-care reaction are what I love the most. The most memorable part for me is when Syiana met Ian for the first time in HK but at that time Ian's friend puked at her shoes and when Ian came to help him, he thought she was the one who brought him to the bar. She got mad and threw beer in her glass to his face, not knowing that he's the hot guy on demand now. Through fate they met again and when Syiana's workplace decided to use Dejavu as their brand ambassador, she just knew them. It continues as Ian suddenly added her bbm pin and asked her for lunch, and the story goes on. He is indeed fast forward. When usually most male characters will be charming and sweet, he is different. I did love sweet and charming guys but sometimes something out of the box can make different point of view. The cover itself has been a plus point for me, especially for the red color, and another thing I like is that the characters are connected from one novel to another. I just knew that Syiana's bestfriend, Edyta, was the main character in Nina's previous novel, Fly To The Sky. This is really my style as my first one is AliaZalea's series and second is Ilana Tan's series. The conflict at the end was too little and easy to solve whereas usually others made it more intense before the leads can finally get together. We also almost didnt find any antagonist character. Anyway Restart can be your reference if you are a fan of romance story. 4 starts for this one^^

Synopsis:
"Semua orang pernah patah hati. All you have to do is move on."

Aku selalu mengira tak akan bisa hidup tanpa cintanya. Aku lupa, semua luka perlahan-lahan akan sembuh juga. Biarkan saja waktu yang menjadi obatnya.

Saat itu akan tiba, ketika aku benar-benar menerima kenyataan bahwa kini tak ada lagi 'kita'. Sekarang hanya aku, minus dirinya. Dia pergi terlalu lama dan aku terlalu bodoh terus-terusan memikirkan dirinya. Aku bisa hidup tanpa kenangan dan senyumannya. Kalau sebelum mengenal dia saja aku bisa bahagia, apa bedanya bahagia setelah tanpa dirinya?

Aku pasti akan jatuh cinta lagi. Suatu hari nanti... dan dengan yang lebih baik dari dirinya.

"Semua orang pernah patah hati. All you have to do is move on." - Restart

Movie review: The Face Reader

One of my most anticipated movies in 2013. I finished this today and it did satisfied me. Starring Song Kang Ho as the face reader, this saeguk film tells about how he can accurately read everyone's character through their face because everybody has different face line. The other main leads are Jo Jung Seok as his brother-in-law and Lee Jong Suk as his limp son. The family has been exiled because of his father who was a traitor to the king and their lives are dull. LJS once saw an injustice towards the poor so he wanted to be a government official to set for justice. At first SKH didnt agree because he didnt want his son to face those political things but his in-law supported his son and finally he agreed. The story continues as they went apart; SKH and JJS made it to the government as an unofficial official because of his face reading ability got recognised widely and his son made it through although he changed his name. The rest would be the political problem, mostly about the king's uncle who wants to dethrone the new young king. I like how they bring the face reading ability as the main theme here. The way they describe it when he was reading people's face is just awesome; I was awed for a few times. The plot is still about Joseon dynasty (if Im not mistaken) but the King is not King Sejong. Jo Jung Seok also did it very well; his character is talkative but not overacting (not like what he did in Architecture 101 where I almost didnt recognise him). As for Lee Jong Suk, his hairstyle is wooooorse yet his acting is okay. I wont make any spoiler here; I myself think the ending suits it the best. The Face Reader also became one of the highest-grossing films in South Korea in 2013, with 9.1 million admissions. It won six awards at the 50th Grand Bell Awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Han Jae-rim, and Best Actor for Song Kang Ho. Very recommended one!

Synopsis:
Nae-gyeong, the most skillful face reader in Joseon dynasty, was living in seclusion when he was offered a lucrative partnership by Yeon-hong, a gisaeng. Nae-gyeong accepts the proposal to read the faces of Yeon-hong’s guests only to get involved in a murder case. With his face reading skills, Nae-gyeong successfully identifies the murderer and his skills are soon acknowledged by King Munjong who orders him to identify the potential traitors who threaten his reign. However after the unexpected death of Munjong, Nae-gyeong is courted by Grand Prince Suyang who yearns to become King himself by killing the young successor Danjong. Nae-gyeong decides to keep his loyalty to the late King and help Kim Jongseo protect the young King which forces him into the biggest power struggle in the history of the Joseon dynasty. (wiki)

Book review: Dirty Little Secret (AliaZalea)

The last one from Adriana dkk series. I only need 4 days to finish this book. I should say I love this one a lot. As usual, the writer describes the character not overdramatic yet just in a perfect way. This time, the main character is Jana Oetomo, one of Adriana's bffs, and Ben Barata, his ex-lover. Jana has twins and she was never married because of the painful memories caused by Ben years ago. Ben comes back from America to Indonesia to search for Jana who disappeared after he told her to abort her pregnancy. He regretted that and has been searching Jana for years but useless. He met Jana surprisingly in an event where his sister asked him to be her accompanion. One thing that he never thought is that Jana never abort her pregnancy and Ben was shocked to find out that he was father of twins. The story tells more about how Ben tries to win Jana and her twins' hearts. I find this cute since previously the Adriana series tells more about the process of a couple falling in love, not like this one where we already knew that Jana and Ben have fallen in love since the very first time and the feeling is still the same until now. DLS is also not as hot as all previous series; the intimate scenes are just kissing. I think this really suits as the last series since it's an anticlimax of all, being sweet without overrated. The ending is just the thing I hate the most; Im sure it's a happy ending but I think she doesnt describe it more detail. I'd like to see if she writes clearly what the ending will be like. The cover is also a minus for me since I prefer the style of previous series cover and Im confuse why they decide to publish those books with new covers when the old ones are already perfect. But still, I give 5 stars for this one; the storyline is just the best.

Synopsis:
MEET THE HERO

Ben Barata. Sukses dengan kariernya dan berkehidupan mapan, tapi masih merasakan kekosongan dalam hidupnya. Dan dia yakin kekosongan itu hanya bisa diisi oleh Jana, cewek yang menghilang tanpa jejak setelah hatinya dia injak-injak bertahun-tahun yang lalu. Dia bertekad untuk bertekuk lutut meminta maaf dan mendapatkan kesempatan kedua dengan Jana... Namun, bagaimana dia bisa melakukannya tanpa membuat Jana mengambil langkah seribu ketika melihatnya?

MEET THE HEROINE

Jana Oetomo. Ibu dari sepasang anak kembar yang bandelnya setengah mati dengan sebuah rahasia yang memberikan definisi baru pada ungkapan “skeletons in the closet”. Namun sepertinya rahasia itu tidak bisa tetap terkubur, terutama ketika Ben, orang terakhir yang dia inginkan mengetahui rahasia itu, tiba-tiba muncul kembali dalam kehidupannya. Dan dia lebih baik mati daripada membiarkan Ben dekat-dekat dengannya lagi. (goodreads)

X.

Holiday has always been a good one for me. I think this time I'd spent my time efficiently and not like before wasting time carelessly. Chinese New year is just a week left which means my holiday is also only a week more. It's almost the end of January, and I can remember pretty well when I spent the New Year's Eve last time welcoming 2014. Currently not in the mood of blogging, I feel my blog has been abandoned for almost 2 weeks. Semester 4 is coming in a blink of eye and Im not ready actually. Please give me more holiday!!!

Book review: Soulmate.com (Jessica Huwae)

I bought this book because of the recommendation of a fanbase in twitter. Tbh, I dont hate it but this is not my cup of tea. The story is just too flat and predictable that I dont feel any sparks in it. It tells about a woman called Nadya Samuella, an executive editor in a famous magazine. She's dumped by her boyfriend because he needs to marry another girl. Quite active as a blogger, she soon finds a guy named Oka, a Balinese, who often comments on her posts. They start to chat together through social networking and more intense through messages and phone calls. When Oka came to Jakarta because of work, they met up and talked like there's no tomorrow. I think this is the point where they start to fall for each other. Not long after that, Nadya visits Bali and this is where all of these start. They become a couple. She is happy with Oka beside her and feels that the whole world is siding at her. The nightmare starts when a news comes out that Oka is married. The worst part is she agreed to be his second woman although she was previously against any kind of affair. Then half of the story involves about their affair and how Nadya was unstable in deciding every matters in it. I was pretty pissed off, since it's too dramatic and it's just nonsense that she wanted to be a second woman in other people's marriage life. I mean like she has everything: beautiful, attractive, stable career, bestfriends, and how on earth she becomes that desperate?!! This book has been a bestseller, published in 2006 and the one I read is the 7th press released. This one is absolutely not the type of story I will read for the second time. Besides, she writes a lot of poems and tells the story using a chatting type not narration. One of the reasons why I also dont really like the story. But every people have their own preference right?

Variety show review: The Return of Superman

The second variety show I consistently follow up after Running Man. At first I only wanted to watch haru and tablo but ended up watching the whole episode. The show portrays about the relationship of father and children where there are 4 couples in the show. The fathers are celebrities who might not know how to take care of the children well because of their business. Tablo of Epik High, Choo Seung Hoon the judoka, Jang Hyeon Seong the actor, and Lee Hwi Jae the comedian take up the challenge of not having their wives for 48 hours and have the responsibility of taking care of their children. The reason why I love this show is because you can see how they try to get close and understand more about their children and the children's act are just so cute. Lee Haru (Tablo's daughter) is my favorite one since she's just 4 year old but she is s mature. I cant stop laughing when she likes her mom first and fish then his father. Tablo did try hard to have her attention and he succeeded. Lee Hwi Jae is having a hard time in the beginning because he take care of the twins (Lee Seo Eon and Lee Seo Jun) but he starts to enjoy it along with the show. Choo Seung Hoon who lives in Japan teaches his daughter (Choo Sarang) Korean because his wife is also a Japanese so Sarang is more familiar with japanese. Sarang is also very cute; she keeps eating and talks in japanese. She likes Mickey Mouse very much and it's just funny to find out that Choo Seung Hoon didnt know the difference between Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Jang Hyeon Seong's sons are the oldest of all with Jang Jun Woo (11 yo) and Jang Jun Seo (7 yo). Jun Woo is very clever and mature, but he didnt know about failure. He was disappointed when he got a 97 score in exam and Hyeon Seong try to explain to him that it's okay not to get the one we want and everybody will experience failure while Jun Seo is still doing things whatever he wants since he's just 7. I really hook into this show because of the charm of those couples and highly recommend this one! ^^
PS: you can watch the full episode with sub in KBS World TV youtube channel HERE
 

Viva holiday!

Omg like finally it's holiday!!! After celebrating Christmas and New Year with papers and notes, Im free today! Im not that satisfied with my result but it's okay that Im really grateful. Having some free time, I plan to watch You From Another Star since I've missed so many new dramas. New Year means new spirit right? Im in the mood of blogging lately even though it's so random. Although Im not really following kpop news now, Im still surprised to find out on the first day of new year that Yoona and Lee Seung Gi are dating! Not that I like Yoona that much, but Lee Seung Gi is one of my favorite actor. He doesnt has that really handsome or charming face, but he has that luck that not everybody has and almost all the things he did were always good. Dramas, CFs, reality shows, etc are success with the guarantee of him. For Yoona, she's not one of my favorite actress or singer, but I should say she's indeed beautiful. I dont know if they suit each other but well Im happy for the news. And today another dating news is out from another SNSD member Soo Young. After a few times being rumored with Jung Kyung Ho since last year, both agencies finally confirmed that they're dating. Rumor said they'd dated for a year but rep didnt say anything about it. There's many dating new since last year and celebs are starting to go public with their relationship. It's a good thing but sometimes it's pathetic when fans are giving negative responses to their relationship. Well I mean they're also human who have their own private life right? Nevertheless, hoping for more good news happen in this year yeay!