It’s been such a long time I become a silent reader of si Mbot blog. But, since I don’t have a Multiply blog, I can’t say hi and give comment to the blog owner.
I always enjoy si Mbot writing. Just a simple stories. Mostly daily activities but they usually make me burst into laugter.
When I read in si Mbot blog that his stories will be published in a book, I directly contact www.inibuku.com and ordered it.
I know this book will not dissapoint me. The stories are really funny. Enjoyable. It’s about stories happen in the cubicle aka office. Started from the recruitment process, daily activities in the cubicle, how the employees interact with each other, etc.
For you who experience bad days in the office, dealing with annoying boss, horrible clients, and the like, I suggest to buy and read this book. I am sure this book will brighten your day. Promise.
Ocehan Si Mbot
Ciao Italia
I believe there is always a blessing in disguise for everything. Just like the condition now, after economic crisis hit US, almost all companies in the world, including in Indonesia get the impact. Also my company, although the impact just a tiny one, but…still the business is slow down. Me as the supporting unit in the office feels that we are not as busy as usual. This condition leads me to have more spare time. Meaning I could read more and post reviews more often in my blog. Yippie….
This time I review a book written by Gama Harjono who fell in love with Italy and had a dream to stay there for a certain period. People said, just dare to dream. It’s true, Gama made it through at last.
As the first preparation, he learnt the Italy language within 1, 5 years, the objective was, he did not want to speak English there. Why on earth did he fly so far away to Italy and still speak English?
Next, he planned to go there, but not as a tourist. He wanted to live his life as an Italian for one year. He wanted to make friends there, to learn the culture. Yup….the choice was to become a college student. He studied at Perugia University in Umbria.
The adventure began. Aside from his study, Gama experienced many great things. Having parties with his friends. Camping in a small village. Sighseeing around the big cities and also the small villages, checking the museums, galleries, trying the gondolas, and many other things that really made me envy him so much, arrrrgh….
This book is really rich. A lot of info in here. Sometimes I feel that they are too many that make me a bit overwhelmed. Imagine, there are info on great places to visit, good foods (even there are some recipes written by the author), backpacking tips, how to get free accomodation in Europe, how to get a nice hostel and cheap food. All wrapp up completely here.
I myself actually fell in love with Italy when I read “Eat, Pray, Love”. Elizabeth Gilbert, the writer lived 4 months in Italy and like Gama did, she also got friendly experiences there. Well….don’t blame me if my desire is getting more and more to go there. Again, dare to dream, who knows my wish comes true…very soon.
Telephone
Just like other working moms, almost everyday my colleague makes a phone call to check her son’s (5 yrs old) condition at home. But, children sometimes have their own plans in their mind and we can not force them to talk to us even we are their mom. This occasion happened several days a go:
My friend : “ Almer mana? Saya mau ngomong sama Almer.”
The nanny : “Almer nggak mau, bu.”
My friend : “Tolong dibujuk, bilang Mama kangen mau ngomong sama Almer.”
Not long after that, Almer picked up the phone.
My Friend : “ Hai Almer, lagi ngapain?”
Almer : “Maaf telepon yang anda tuju sedang sibuk, cobalah beberapa saat lagi.”
My friend : @#$%^&*
Catatan Hati Bunda
This simple books tells about a mother-father-kids relationship . Asma Nadia, the writer, delivers her family stories, mostly about her two kids, Caca & Adam, and how they interact in harmony during everyday life together.
For me, who also a mom with two little girls, there are a lot of good things to be taken from this book and apply them all in my everyday life. Moreover, as a not-so-patient-mother a.k.a easily lose temper, Najla, my first daugther usually becomes the ‘victim’ of my anger (sorry, sweety) and from this book I realize that I must be grateful to be bestowed with these two cute daugthers while a lot of mothers out there are not so lucky like me.
There is a story about how the writer, as a mother, feels when the doctor declares that her kid suffers from serious disease (“Pangeran Kecil Kami Menggigil”). I was really touched by the ending of this story, I quote here:
“Jika anak anda nakal, menumpahkan sesuatu, merusak barang-barang, ribut, melawan dan menjawab omelan, Anda boleh menegur atau marah tapi jangan berlebihan, apalagi sampai memukul. Sungguh, bagi saya dan ibu-ibu lain yang punya pengalaman sama, kami mensyukuri setiap celoteh dan gerak anak-anak, karena ada masa dimana kami ingin mereka bergerak dan bersuara tapi hanya diam, yang kami dapatkan.”
Another touching story is about fasting month (“Ramadhan Penuh Warna di Rumah Kami”). How the writer and her husband try their best effort to make their kids love the holy month and do fasting willingly. It is a story on how the writer tries to wake her son up and persuade him to eat during sahur time. Also the writer and her husband prepare 30 (thirty) presents for their kids that can be chosen and opened everytime their kids successfully finish one whole day fasting. The presents could be anything. They do not have to be expensive. Just prepare 30 (thirty) goods and wrap them all in fancy papers. Sure, the children will love them. Everybody love presents, don’t’ they? How sweet. A good example. It’s worth to try!
Other stories also inspiring especially for a mom with small kids at home. Reading this book make me promise to myself to be a better mom, not a mean mom by trying the following things:
1. to have more patience in handling my girls;
2. to reduce my screaming frequency to the girls (I know I’m not a lead vocal in a rock band) ;
3. last but not least, if I still can not handle it in an amicable way, I have to re-read the book over and over again until the spirit of the book could come into my mind, body and soul and influence my behaviour and way of thinking during my parenting period.
The Last Time I Saw Mother
I enjoy the book very much. Every page is really fascinating, just like having a conversation with a close friend.
This is a story about Caridad, a middle-aged woman who lives in Sydney with her husband and daughter. Suddenly Caridad receives a letter from her mom. She’s asked to go back to her hometown in Philippines. Since her mom never writes a letter, Caridad realizes that it must be a very important thing that will be revealed by her mom.
As Caridad hears at last the unspoken stories and the never-forgotten tragedy of the war years, she learns a startling truth that will change her life forever.
This novel is a debut written by ARLENE J. CHAI, who was born and educated in Manila. It was shortlisted for NSW Premier’s Literary Awards in 1995. Now, Arlene lives in Sydney.
From this book I got several new information such as:
• How the three cultures—Spanish, Chinese, Filipino—co-exist in Philippines.
• Caridad means charity.
• The Malacanang Palace (the presidential residence). The name ‘Malacanang’ comes from the Tagalog word may lakan diyan, which means “a noble man lives there”.
• The collection of the First Lady (Imelda Marcos) --beyond belief—consist of more than 3,000 pair of shoes, 67 racks of dresses, 500 black brassieres with their tags still on, 1,000 unopened boxes of stockings, silk panties and formal gowns, 5 shelves of Gucci bags, and enough jars of Estee Lauder anti-wrinkle cream to stock a department store cosmetic counter.
Blackberry
A friend who happens to be a newest technology trend follower bought a new blackberry. When it came to use it, he got confused. He asked another friend to help him with his new gadget. This ‘unlucky guy’ spent almost two whole days to give a short course to the gadget man on how to operate and use the sophisticated blackberry.
A couple days a go I met this ‘unlucky guy’ and asked him as follows:
me: “Bagaimana blackberrynya, udah beres?”
him: “Akhirnya beres juga. Dia enak-enak pakai blackberry, gue yang kena beri-beri.”
Happiness
“Kebahagiaan adalah latihan, dia ada di ambang pintu kita. Yang perlu kita lakukan adalah mengucapkan selamat datang, tetapi kita sering tidak sadar dan tidak terampil untuk menyadari. Orang harus melatih diri untuk merasa bahagia, dengan bersyukur. Kita sekarang ikut tren yang di tempat asalnya tidak dipakai lagi, yaitu kalau sukses dan punya uang banyak kita akan bahagia. Padahal, kebahagiaan terbesar adalah memberi” (HAIDAR BAGIR, founder & President Director of Mizan Publishing, Kompas, October 12, 2008).
recto verso
‘Rectoverso’ means -in my own simple definition- two things seem to be separated but actually they are inseparable parts and complete each other.
Dewi Lestari aka Dee emerges with this -according to her term- ‘crazy’ and challenging project ever, a book and a CD. Consisting of 11 stories and 11 songs. Both complete each other.
Read the stories. Listen to the music. Enjoy the illustrations. Sure you do have a new magical things in life. Just follow them and enjoy.
The stories as always composed by Dee, come out with simple stories though, but she’s indeed really good in choosing her beautiful words and unexpected ending that wholeheartedly make me stunned everytime I finish a story.
I have not heard the CD yet. I only heard one song “Malaikat Juga Tahu” that plays so often in almost all radio stations. I had to admit that at first I felt a bit awkward with the lyrics but soon after I finished read the story (with the same title) then I got the whole picture and found them both (the story and the song) were fabulous.
So far “Malaikat Juga Tahu” is my fav. Really touching. Put me through a deep thought for quite sometime.
Moreover, I’d like to share some beautiful quotes here:
“Sahabat saya itu adalah orang yang berbahagia. Ia menikmati punggung ayam tanpa tahu ada bagian lain. Ia hanya mengetahui apa yang ia sanggup miliki. Saya adalah orang yang paling bersedih, karena saya mengetahui apa yang tidak sanggup saya miliki.” (excerpt from “Hanya Isyarat”).
“Hati adalah air. Baru mengalir jika menggulir dari tempat tinggi ke tempat yang lebih rendah. Ada gravitasi yang secara alamiah menggiringnya. Dan jika peristiwa jatuh hati diumpamakan air terjun, maka bersamamu aku sudah merasakan terjun, jumpalitan, lompat indah. Berkali-kali.” (excerpt from “Peluk”).
Dee rocks!!!!!!
The Wrong Way Home
This is a story about Peter Moore's desire of heart which is to travel home overland from London to Sydney. He started from London -Prague - Budapest- Croatia -Bosnia- Albania- Sofia-Istanbul -Pakistan- Afghanistan -India - Kathmandu -Lhasa- Chengdu-Laos -Malaysia- Singapore - Indonesia- Dili-Sydney.
He wrote his story in a funny way. Take an example when he entered the Chinese Immigration and Customs office in order to cross into Laos, an official said that she couldn't let him passed and suggested him to fly. Peter put on the most pained expression he possibly could and said, "my father was killed in a plane crash in Australia when I was ten. I haven't been able to fly since. If you look in my passport, you will see that I have come all this way from London without flying in a plane."
Peter wished that the whole things had been videotaped because he deserved an oscar at the Academy Awards that year. Nearly three hours later, the official returned to the room, smiling sweetly, his passport had been stamped and all paperworks had been done. Well.... it worked.
The whole journey had been taken over 8 months, 25 countries, 13 boats, 34 buses, 16 trains, 21 mini vans, 6 car rides and one solitary flight later when he failed to take boat from Kupang to Darwin.
One thing that amazes me that the author never forget to ring his mom during his journey. What a nice guy.
Laskar Pelangi the Movie
Finally I had the opportunity to watch this movie. Believe it or not, I sneaked out during my lunch break at the office with my two-crazy-'emak2'-friend and went to Blitz Megaplex Grand Indonesia. We picked the earliest session, started at 12 am and went back to the office at 2.30 pm. I know it sounds crazy, but...as a mother with two little girls, I really don't have time to go the movie, especially in lebaran holiday while the babysitters were back to their hometowns *excuse*.
The movie itself is great. One thing that disturbs me is Tora Sudiro. He just does not fit the character. He's too comical. Still, it is a good movie, otherwise I would not risk my job just to watch it. I enjoy the beautiful views of Belitong. The cute small actors and actresses.
It is not fair to compare the book and the movie. Of course, the book is richer. We have our own imagination and they are all beyond limitation. Anyhow, the movie is recommended. Take your children to watch it. They will get new ideas of the importance of education. Make them dare to dream and appreciate more upon what they get in life.
In short, I could summarize that the book successfully make me laughing, while the movie really burst me into tears.
