50/50

Director: Jonathan Levine

Writer: Will Reiser

Casts: Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick

Inspired by a true story. It's the script writer, Will Reiser's own experience with cancer. Despite feeling sorry about the disease, Reiser shares something different. He tells about friendship, love, survival and finding humor in unlikely places.

50/50 is a story about a 27 year-old public radio journalist, Adam Lerner (Joseph-Gordon Levitt). When he discovers that he has a rare cancer in his spine and he sees in the internet that his chances of survival are 50/50, he thought that it's the end of the world. 

But this disease turns out to be 'a blessing in disguise'. With the help of his best friend, his mother and a young therapist, Adam who thinks that he has a boring life before finally learns what and who the most important things in his life are. 

Don't worry although the movie is about terminal disease, but it seems that it makes me laugh  more than cry. This is absolutely a funny journey to health and reminding us that friendship and love, no matter how bizarre, are the greatest healer.

Batik Najlazea: Latest Collection

Please do check our latest collection

Enjoy the new batik blouses (a combination of green Garutan batik and brown embossed fabric) 

and 

the new batik fabrics from Cirebon

simply browse here

Perjalanan ke Atap Dunia

Author: Daniel Mahendra

Publisher: Penerbit MEDIUM

Publication Date: May 2012

Pages: 356

"Masa muda Daniel. Masa muda. Memang seharusnya begitu. Pergilah kemanapun kakimu melangkah. Itu akan menempamu. Merperkaya pengalaman batinmu. Tetapi pada saatnya tiba, jadilah laki-laki yang merasa cukup dengan keluarga di rumah."

It's all started when  Daniel Mahendra as a little boy read the comic strip Tintin in Tibet back in 1985. At the time he finished reading the book suddenly a dream to visit Tibet, the country that also known as the Roof of the World, came up. It turns out that the dream is alive. It's still there. It's grown up together with Daniel. At first it was just a dream until one day Daniel thought that it's time to execute the dream. A dream will always be a dream until you're brave enough to make it real.

 

Here we go the time to prepare everything. The budget of course, the visa, the ticket, the itinerary and all. But plan sometimes does not turn out the way we plan. When some of the itineraries were almost done out of the blue on March 7, 2011 a bad news came out: Tibet closed for foreigners in March. 

Tibet was actually an independent country but in 1950 China 'invaded' it and this cause Dalai Lama, Tibet political and spiritual leader, was expelled from Potala Palace to Dharamsala, India on March 17, 1959. Therefore now Tibet is 'legally' under China, if we want to visit it we must get a visa from China government. 

That is only one of the 'obstacles' that Daniel got. There are still many great things to explore in the book since the book was written in a kind of fictional style so you will feel that you also take part in the journey with Daniel. You will feel touched, happy, disappointed, stressful and all mixed feeling together with him. A recommended book for those who plan to go to Tibet, Nepal and China since you'll find many info here but even if you don't plan to go there, the book is still interesting.

One important message of the book is to have a dream and courage to make it real.

 

1Q84

Author: Haruki Murakami

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York

Publication Date: October 2011

Pages: 925

Living one hectic day after another in the city, you tend to look down at the ground. 

You forget to even look at the night sky.

After more than three months drowning in Haruki Murakami's weird world, finally I have to say farewell to this phenomenal novel. Why does it take so long for me to finish it? Is the story boring? No, of course not. Actually this novel is a page-turner. But it's simply because the size of the novel itself. It's so thick and big. Absolutely not an easy-to-carry kind of  book. The only place to read it is at home *excuse*. 

But tell you what, this novel is just so magical. You can"t even guess where Murakami will lead us to since we don't have any idea what is going to happen next to the characters in the book? Imagine there is a world with two moons, yes there are two moons (made me once checked the sky myself), not stop there, Murakami also creates the Little People who emerge of  a goat's mouth and to make it's more mysterious, these Little People are able to make an air chrysalis. Whew...as usual only Murakami who could make me feel that I am dreaming it myself.

The story was taken place in Tokyo back in year 1984. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver's enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she at last realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 --Q is for 'question mark'--. A world that bears a question. Meanwhile, a writer named Tengo joins a ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual writer, that soon his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.

Murakami spent three years writing the novel after coming up with the opening sequence and the title. This  one is  Murakami's long awaited novel. It's his first novel in four years. The novel quickly became a sensation with its first printing selling out the day it was released and reaching sales of one million within a month, WOW....

Murakami is a living legend of surreal, world-bending fiction. 1Q84 is absolutely Murakami at his best.Over the weeks that follow, bits and pieces of the novel still float back in my mind, especially some of its weird images. There's more than enough food for thoughts.

Hermes Temptation

Authors: Fitria Yusuf & Alexandra Dewi

Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Publication Date: 2011

Pages:351

"Happiness doesn't come from the list of things that you own. It's what's in your hearts. I really believe and this is common sense , no one should sacrifice his or her dignity just for the sake of a bag."

 

A friend lent me this book and promised me that I would love it. What on earth could this book do to me? At the time the word Hermes hits me, all I can imagine is a luxury bag with unbelievable price.Therefore with a mixed of feeling reluctant and curious I started reading the book and at last found out that the story about Hermes bags could make me laugh and cry at the same time. 

The book is written based on the authors true stories. They both are re-sellers of Hermes bags. Here is their experiences while they are dealing with the luxury handbag resale business. It's all started on December 2009 when they made a BBM chat group named  Hermes Temptation and using it as a forum to sell new and secondhand bags. The chat group soon expanded to seven groups and today it has more than 210 members.

At first they did it just for fun. Later on they found out that these premium handbags can also be a good financial investment since if we keep the bag in excellent condition, a used bag can be resold at its original price. They decided to travel to Paris and purchase bags for re-selling in Indonesia. The adventure as the re-seller begins,  they are responsible to explain in detail the specification of  a bag to prospective buyers, ensuring the authenticity and setting up the delivery  so that the bag will be accepted by the buyer on time. It's definitely not a piece of cake!

The book tells about so many fun and crazy experiences while they are running the business. From day- to-day experiences and how the bag business has changed their outlook on life. How they notice that for certain people these Hermes bags are not only luxury items but also status symbols that can help them to cement their position in society. How pathetic!

The book is narrated in English and delivered in a detail yet witty way. It's not only a fun book but it also gives me certain new insights to ponder.  

The Symphony of Life

Yoga is like music. 

The rhythm of the body, 

the melody of the mind 

and the harmony of the soul, 

create the symphony of life.

--BKS. Iyengar--

Paulo Coelho: Obrolan dengan Sang Penziarah

By: Juan Arias

Translator: Ronny Agustinus

Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Publication Date: April 2012

Pages: 248

We are all pilgrims in search of the unknown

                                        --Paulo Coelho--

Paulo Coelho: Confessions of a Pilgrim is a series of interviews conducted by Juan Arias, a Spanish writer and journalist. It's very rare for anyone to be able to interview Coelho, therefore it's an honour for Arias to be able to do so or what Arias calls a series of informal conversation. We can consider this book as the closest we get to a biography.

These informal conversations took place in Rio de Janeiro, in the house of Coelho with  a view on marvelous beauty beaches of Copacabana. It was back in the beginning of July 1998. They had very frank talks. For the first time Coelho told about the most tragic events in his life: about being put in a mental hospital by his parents, about being kidnapped and tortured by para militeries and about  drugs and black magic. After telling all of those things, Coelho said that he would not tell to anybody anymore his life during the next  twenty years.

Of course the conversations not only reveal the 'dark' side of Coelho, they also talk about lots of inspiring journeys such as about his desire to become a writer, the impotance of dreams, destinies, the traditions, the relationship with his readers, traveling the Road to Santiago, then the Road to Rome or in other words, life.

Good writers draw upon their experiences. It is his rich and varied life that makes Coelho an excellent writer. Couldn't agree more.  If you're curious about Coelho's life and how his life could inspire him  and so many people in the world to follow their paths and to live life to the fullest, grab this book and enjoy it!  

 

A Relaxing Wednesday

one of the beautiful bags from mytulisan collection

Yesterday a friend asked me to visit Subtitles at Dharmawangsa Square. Subtitles is a special place for movie addicts. It's a kind of private theater. They have lots of movies from all over the world and they rent their viewing rooms so we can have different atmosphere in enjoying our favorite movies. They open from 10am-10pm. You just go there and choose the movie from their catalogue or you also can bring your own DVD, after that you choose the viewing room. They have several different viewing rooms based on the capacity, bigger room for many spectators or smaller room for 2 persons. 

Actually my friend and I planned to watch Separation, an Iranian movie that won the Academy Award  as  the best foreign language movie in 2012 but it's just not our lucky day, the movie was borrowed, so we needed to change our plan and get other movie. After rechecking the movie catalogue and got confused with lots of movie collections there, finally we chose still an Iranian movie made by Marzieh Makhmalbaf, The Day I Became A Woman. It's a story about how hard being a woman in Iran. It tells three stories, each depicting a different stage in the lives of Iranian women. They all struggle for identity in Iran. A very impressive yet touching movie.

Finished with the movie, we then dropped by at one of  our favorite stores, mytulisan. This beautiful store and all its products are too good to be true and they easily make everyone fall in love.

Our date was closed with a yummy lunch at Radja Ketjil at Gandaria City. Their peranakan food never let us down. Well....our stomachs were full and so were our hearts, it's time to go home and smile for the rest of the day:)    
    

The Painted Veil

Author: W. Somerset Maugham

Translator: Tanti Lesmana & Rosi L. Simamora

Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Publication Date: October 2011

Pages: 304

"Anakku, orang tidak bisa menemukan kedamaian dalam pekerjaan atau bersenang-senang, di dunia maupun di dalam biara. Kedamaian hanya bisa ditemukan di dalam jiwa."

What would you do if your beloved wife was found out to have an affair with your colleague? Walter Fane, a British bacteriologist who at that time in 1920s works in Hong Kong gives two options to his wife, Kitty, gets a divorce and feels disgraced for the rest of her life or joins his husband to South China and fights a Cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village?

Kitty views this as a certain death sentence from his husband since she knows that Cholera outbreak at that time has caused lots of death and very few people can return home alive from that place. Feeling totally disgraceful, she finally agrees to risk her life and join her husband. She's definitely sure that her husband plans to kill her by taking her to that dangerous area. But no one knows what exactly stays at the bottom of somebody's heart. This journey has opened their eyes especially Kitty. She finally knows the meaning of the true love, the sacrifice, the importance of self esteem, and many more. She learns how to love, to grow, to change and at last to forgive.

This is a classic novel written by British author W. Somerset Maugham in 1925. The setting, the plot and the characters are so real. It left me with certain thoughts right after I finished it. The novel has been adapted for the screen three times in 1934, 1957 and 2006. Some people say that the 2006 movie is as good as the novel.

A well told story about a woman spiritual awakening. Well worth reading. 

Extremely Loud, Incredibly Close

Director: Stephen Daldry

Writer: Jonathan Safran Foer

Producer: Nora Skinner

Casts: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Max Von Sydow

Actually I have put this bestselling debut novel written by Jonathan Safran Foer in my wish list but out of the blue I just got the DVD first.  Since the urge to watch it was unbearable, I finally watched the film first instead of read the book *sigh*. Fortunately I still find the movie is good.  I guess a story with 9/11 background will always be something. This movie also brings the 9/11 issue and it's narrated from a 9-year-old boy, Oskar Schell. Oskar's father dies in the terrorist attack on World Trade Center  on September 11, 2001. Oskar is very close to his father. They have a special relationship. No wonder when his father passes away, Oskar is in a deep mourning. He claims that the 9/11 day as the worst day ever.

A year after his father's death, Oskar finally enters his father's room and looks into his father's wardrobe and accidentaly discovers a key in a vase that belonged to his father. Curious about this key and he thought that it could bring him to his father's last message, Oskar searchs around New York for information about the key. On his journey he meets a lot of people and learns about himself and his family. He begins to uncover the unseen link to the father he misses, to the mother who seems so far away from him and to the whole noisy, and dangerous world around him.  

It's hard to believe that such a sad story could be so entertaining. It's a story about trauma, mourning. and struggle between self-destruction and self-preservation. A must see movie!