English Literature & Romance

Oh, wow, the title came out cheesier than I thought it would be.

Hi! Non-photography stuff again here.
So, I've had quite a big (huge) interest regarding Korean, or more specifically KPop stuffs for like, what, two years? Ah, and I've found out and 'learned' a lot of stuffs relating to it during that time. One of them is the music reviews by a famous youtuber duo, eatyourkimchi; Simon&Martina.

What I like is that they're funny. Like absolutely funny. Superduper funny like... they're frickin hilarious. But their reviews aren't about making fun of the Kpop music videos or songs, they actually do it quite objectively, but, yeah, well, nobody's perfect, so sometimes I think they over-analyze or overlook the meaning in a music video.

Apart from that! Besides of their superb and awesomely awesome music reviews called the KPop Music Mondays, they also do some other videos regarding their life in South Korea. They're a Canadian married couple, but they live in Korea, teaching English. One segment I recently see is their TL;DR segment, which... I don't know the meaning of TL;DR yet, um. But the point is, the TL;DR is a segment where they answer the subscribers' questions, any question, be it about their life in Korea and maybe tips about living in Korea, or their personal lives.

So...... I've recently watched the TL;DR about their love story and aljfkjshlkjasdhgkjs instant ship!!!! because so adorable they're so so so so cute. And I love their point of view regarding marriage, love, dating and stuffs because it makes sense and it's kawaii and my kokoro dammit.
But after seeing those videos, it kinda makes sense how they are so romantic and whoa I didn't know Simon had it in him (he's goofy and sort of sassy in their videos... I totally didn't expect they have a really superduperfrickin romantic side!) and I went all oh yea right they meet in an English poetry class and their English lit students. (I hope I heard it right.... right?)

I'm a bit incoherent right now because... cute. Too much cute. /cries/

Bored

December 22nd, 2012. My dad was driving us to mom's workplace because mom left her wallet home, and at the high way I noticed that the sky was really awesome with all the seemingly 3D clouds and stuffs. When we drove back home it rained and I always love rains when I'm inside the car because rains are nice and it leave pretty droplets on the window. However, the only thing I can take pictures of them with is my tablet. The actual pictures is really sucky....and I resorted to giving it filters. I promise I won't do these kind of filters for my actual photographs lol. Application: pixlr-o-matic

Am I hipster enough now? :)

Trails of Light

Jakarta, 24th of October, 2010. This was taken at one of my cousins' wedding. I have, like, nine cousins from my mother's family, and because my mom is the youngest child in her family all of my cousins are older than me. You can't imagine the hassle we, the younger ones, have to go through every time one of our older cousin marries. It is a great joy, yes, but all the heavy make-ups, high heels and clothes...

Free food and pretty decorations, though, are pretty great for the compensation.

Hello? Hello. Hello!

Jakarta, 13th of October 2012. This macaw doesn't really speak, but oh well.

White & Blue

Lembang, 26th of June, 2011.

This Way

Singapore, 16th of July 2011. Which way is to the Mermaid-lion?

World's AIDS Awareness Day

 Do you know that December 1st is the World's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day?

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a disease whereas the immune system is weakened due to the infection of the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). When a person is infected with the HIV, their immune system will weaken overtime, and in the end it leads to AIDS. 

AIDS is the sixth biggest cause of death among people still in the productive range of age (25-44) in the USA. The spreading of AIDS is usually through the merging or contact of body fluids, since the HIV thrives in body fluids such as the saliva, tears, cerebrospinal fluid, blood, semen and vaginal fluid. The virus is transmitted through, most commonly known, sexual contact, blood transfusions and from mother to child.

The disease/the virus is NOT spread through casual contacts such as hugging, touching or participating in sports or mosquitoes, nor can it spread through the use of cups/spoons, although prevention may be nice (not by refusing to use cups that has been used by another person with AIDS, but by washing it thoroughly first). So be nice to people with HIV/AIDS, they're people too, they're one of us too.

These photographs are a school project for the photography class. The assignment is to take a picture that is related to our main major, and since I'm majoring in Medicine, I have to take pictures related to the medical field.

This is a person with HIV/AIDS, getting his shot and thorax scan with the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). Jakarta, 12th of October 2012.

References

1. PubMed Health. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001620/

2. What is AIDS? What causes AIDS? http://www.aids.org/topics/aids-faqs/what-is-aids-what-causes-aids/

A Post

I think I'm going to expand this blog from just a photoblog to a general blog with the daily posts and stuffs, but I will still mostly post my photos.

:)

By The Light

A garden party. The day of a relative. Jakarta, 10th of June 2012.

Petals of Roses

Jakarta, 10th of June, 2012. The wedding of a relative. There were so many flowers, you know.

Ghost

Al...right, this is a non-photography related stuff, but I just finished the drama Ghost today. It's a Korean drama about Cyber police.
And boy was it good.
But the weirdest thing was that I really, really have this weird affinity with the main antagonist in this drama (maybe I do have a bit of a bad nature?) and it's like I can associate to the reasons why he did all of the bad things he...well, did. It's something that is pretty common actually. The main reason of their actions are:

1. Revenge for a loved one.
2. Same as above.

I mean, if my dad was framed for something he did not do, I would do... stuffs to a pretty damned extent to the framer.
Oops. My evil mind has just took over.

But in this drama, I feel that the condition and the reason of his evilness was so unfair (to him). I honestly hoped that before justice is put in place, he would get a taste of real victory, of what should rightfully belong to him, but he eventually have to pay for his crimes. But the fact is that the ending for his time is really, really sad (I definitely cried).
I'm on the good guys' good side, but honestly, it's sorta unfair :'(

Ah! And this is a drama that really grasp my feels even though there are no romance involved. Well, there are some romance, of course, it's a Korean drama for crying out loud, but it's surprisingly very minimal and insignificant I can actually focus on the cases. I am a big fan of Korean-related things (there, I confessed) but I surprisingly cannot stand watching past episode 8 of a love or romantic comedy drama. It applies to Western series too, I can't stand watching Glee past the 12th episode of season 2. I'm only able to finish detective-related series THAT HAS MINIMUM LOVE STORY. I mean, I prefer Castle than Bones, because in Castle, even though it's obvious that Castle and Beckett totally have sparks for each other, it's not very much highlighted during the whole series, so it's fun to watch. 

My defenses are that in mid-series episode, the main problem and the next problems to come are far too cliched and to expected, but the plot is being prolonged unnecessarily sometimes. I mean, sometimes I get a bit emotional with the push-and-pull thingy on most of Korean drama love stories; dude, you like her, she likes you, grow some balls and confess and marry and have tons of kids, okay.

Um. I guess I do have a bit of a potential of being antagonistic.

Here's the glitch: the main antagonist is the only one with glasses. And hell, he was so very charming.
O...kay. Oops.

Splash of Colors

23rd of April, 2011. You might want to question the nutrition values and how much food coloring was used, but besides all that, the bright colors are quite pleasant and the sponginess might just make your day.

Here's a Biking Person for You

Honestly, I forgot what is the technique to this photo. Anyways, here's a biking person for you.

Pasta for Your Thought?

Some fortunate people can eat anything and everything without getting fat quickly; too bad, I am one of those unfortunates. Some of my friends have quite a lifestyle and also food preferences like pastas but they can stay slim (which I totally envies). By the way, I remember reading in a healthcare site that people with A blood type should avoid dairy products at all costs when going through a diet. Sadly, living without dairy products would kill me. I have to drink milk twice a day. These aren't pastas but they're pretty fulfilling for your stomach. Uh... zero point of relevance, but don't blame me, it's 2 AM.

Let Your Cup Do The Talk

Of green tea lattes and expensive sushi. Bandung, 31st of December 2011.

Flapping Flippers

Penguins can't fly? That's a lie. They can fly too, see. Taman Safari Indonesia, 17th of April, 2011. 

Fireworks? Fireworks!

Nothing's like the booms of the fireworks in the New Year's Eve. Happy New Year!
Lembang, 00:00, 1st of January, 2012.

Payphones and Boom

What now?

Kota Tua, 4th of July, 2010.

Deer In the Headlights (pt. II&III)

I found that deer are quite easy to find. And they're really beautiful, too. Taman Safari Indonesia, 17th of April, 2011. Plataran Cilandak, 13th of October 2012.

(And note that I photograph a lot of animals? My family loves the zoo. We're all kids at heart.)

Another Model

Darwis Triadi School of Photography Outing, July 2010.

Deer In the Headlights

Bogor, 7th of December, 2010.

"...A Thousand Untold Stories"

"Lawang Sewu" is the local language for "a thousand doors". It is a building and a historical site in Semarang, Central Java. It doesn't have doors of a thousand as the term "a thousand doors" was merely an expression of the seemingly big amount of doors. Legends said that not only it has many doors (or window arcs, rather), it also has a thousand of untold stories. The Lawang Sewu is a silent witness of life in an office, life in a prison, and life in a war. Lawang Sewu, 10th of July, 2010.

Paradise (pt. II)

"Life is the dancer and you are the dance."
-Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purposes

Garuda Wisnu Kencana, Bali, September 2010.