Look Who's Back

Title: Look Who's Back (Er Ist Wieder Da)

Author: Timur Vermes

Translated from the German by: Jamie Bulloch

Maclehose Press Quercus-London

Paperback Edition, 2015

375 pages

Every time I go overseas, I plan to buy a book in the bookshop there. So instead of having a key chain, a fridge magnet or even a Starbucks tumbler, I have a book as the memento of the country I visit. On my Europe trip a few months ago, I bought Look Who's Back at Schipol airport, Amsterdam, first I was attracted with the pink sticker said 'Airport Favourite' then got more curious when reading the synopsis which tells what happens when Adolf Hitler wakes up now.  

This is a debut novel of Timur Vermes, a German writer. The book becomes a sensation in Germany. Sold more than a million copies. Check the synopsis here: You know his name, his face, his hair and mustache and imagine this, Berlin, Summer 2011, Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well. Things have changed --no Eva Braun, no Nazi party, no war. Hitler barely recognizes his beloved Fatherland, filled with immigrants and run by a woman. And he's FURIOUS when people think he is an impersonator. He's trying hard to convince them that it really is him, and yes, he really MEANS it.

The inevitable happens and Hitler goes viral, become a YouTube star, gets his own T.V. show and people begin to listen. Yes, this book is truly entertaining. All will leave you laugh a lot. Furthermore you will also learn a lot about history and stuff through different point of view. If you are not into history, no worries, the translator attached his Translator's Note at the back of the book mentioning the dates, the political party, the details of occasion and others that will enrich our knowledge.

The book has been translated into 27 languages and in December 2013, Constantin Film bought the rights to make a movie on this book. The movie was released on Netflix on April 2016 as Look Who's Back.

A satire at its best. If you are looking for a good laugh, this is definitely a the book for you.

Find more on Timur Vermes here
Find more on Look Who's Back the book here 

Eid Mubarok 1437 H

Ketupat and its partners

We spent our Eid al-Fitr in Lampung. We decided to go there on the second day of Lebaran thinking that the traffic would be less crowded however I guessed most people had the same thoughts as we finally ended up spending almost ten hours from Jakarta to Bandar Lampung. I know it's not as horror as Brexit (Brebes Exit) yet it's still tiring and traumatizing (especially for the girls who kept asking, "when will we arrive, Ma?").

At the (old) Ferry

The things that I noticed during our mudik trip was the toll road from Jakarta to Merak was okay. Not too crowded, it's still smooth. Then arrived at Merak, we have to wait for the ferry for almost 1,5 hours. I remembered during 1990s when my father was assigned by his office to Lampung and I was so familiar with Merak-Bakauheni and the ferry. I got de javu feeling at Merak and Bakauheni since everything looked the same. Old ferry, crowded with people sitting at every corner of it while ordering Pop Mie. Even Bakauheni also showed similar feeling. Nothing new. Jeez...it's been more than 20 years but the facility are still the same. The different things that I couldn't find in the old days was now more and more people went mudik using their motorcycle. One family with lots of stuff and kids and sometimes even babies. Dear God. My thoughts and prays went to them.

Other big project is Sumatra Toll Road that is still on the making. It's planned to be launched next year. But looking at the great numbers of motorcycles and cars sales in Jakarta, I don't think this toll road will make such a huge difference for next year Lebaran. No, I am not being  skeptical to our government and such, but I am just horrified seeing the heavy traffic each day. If only the government focus more on providing a reliable and affordable public transport, I guess people will start to leave their private cars at home. Hopefully this is not just a dream. Jakarta and its heavy traffic are a very serious issue now.

Tired of asking questions

By the way, we stayed at The 7th Hotel and Convention Center Lampung. Quite a new hotel that was launched by President Jokowi end of last year. Nice and clean place, spacious room, affordable price for a-four-star hotel and our favorite is their rich varieties of breakfast. We're sure that this place is one of our favorite hotels in Lampung.  

Tabungan Kebahagiaan

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. 

So throw off the bowlines, sail away from a safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover

--Mark Twain

It's already the 17th day of Ramadan. Yes, it does fly. Najla and Zea welcome this sacred month wholeheartedly. They are already on super LONG school holiday. When I asked what their favourite part of Ramadan is and they said, "An afternoon walk while looking for ta'jil is the best part." Never thought that this simple activities could mean the world to them. The power of Ngabuburit.

Although having breakfasting in a mall is totally not us however there're some invitations that I couldn't miss such as meeting my travel mates. Since our trip to Europe last March, we haven't met again yet. We drowned in our works and other bits and pieces. And Ramadan is the best moment, finally we could get together for a sudden reunion.  

We asked one of our friends about her next trip plan and she said, "Belum ada rencana apa-apa. Pulang dari Eropa, dompet masih kosong TAPI hati masih penuh. Sampai akhir tahun ini rasanya TABUNGAN KEBAHAGIAAN masih berlimpah, jadi belum perlu kemana-mana."

Take vacations

Go as many places as you can

You can always make money

but you can't always make memories.

The Dressmaker (2015)

Directed by: Jocelyn Moorhouse

Produced by: Sue Maslin

Based on: The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

Casts: Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth

In 1926 in the Australia outback town, a school boy dies in unknown circumstances. The only witness to his death, a school girl, Tilly  is branded a murderer and exiled from the town.

25 years later, Tilly (Kate Winslet) now an accomplished dressmaker returns to her hometown to take care of her mentally ill mother (Judy Davis) and take revenge.

If people take revenge by having guns and do some violent actions but Tilly has her own way in executing her sweet revenge to those who did her wrong. Let's prepare to see how Tilly with her glamorous and haute couture style beats the people in her hometown. This is a revenge back in fashion. Even the director, Jocelyn Moorhouse, described her movie as "Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven with a sewing machine."

A truly enchanting movie. Enjoyed every minute of it. I couldn't stop laughing and feel sad at the same time to see the mother-daughter relationship between Tilly and her mother and how mean their surrounding to them. Humour is there but so is the pain and sadness of lives destroyed by hypocrites.

Check more on the movie HERE.

Half Life

Title: Half Life

Author: Roopa Farooki

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, New York

May 2010

260 pages

She realizes that running away really is the easy part; it is coming home that is hard.

I found this book with its lovely cover at Big Bad Wolf  (BBW) Books Sale with only IDR 45,000. So far I have finished four books from BBW Books Sale and I must say that all of them are worth-reading.

This beautiful story written down by Roopa Farooki. Telling about the central protagonist, Aruna Ahmed Jones, raised in Singapore but of Bengali descent. She lives in a stylish  London apartment with his devoted and dependable husband, Dr. Patrick Jones. 

One day Aruna left all. She's shaking and barely dressed, headed to the airport and back to Singapore. She suddenly had the urgent desire to make peace with what she left behind. It's time to stop fighting and go home. This statement haunts her.

The story sets in London, Singapore and Malaysia. During Aruna's visit, she finally meets up with her failed romance, Jazz. In fact she left Little India's Singapore to escape her father's death, drug addiction, miscarriages and a psychological determination that she is bipolar.

Enjoyable read. Fresh and interesting. I though the writing style will be similar to Jhumpa Lahiri or Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni but it turns out that Roopa Farooki has her own style and it's excellent. 

Find more on Roopa Farooki at her website here.

Revolution 2020

Title: Revolution 2020, Cinta, Korupsi, Ambisi

Author: Chetan Bhagat

Translator: Reni Indardini

Publisher: Penerbit Bentang

Published date: October 2013

436 pages

I found this book at Big Bad Wolf Books Sale with a very friendly price, it's only IDR 20,000. Curious about this book when I read at the book cover, 'One of the author's novels was adapted into 3 Idiots the movie. As we know that 3 Idiots is still one the best Indian movies so far. 

Chetan Bhagat is quite popular in India. Lots of his books are best-sellers and even have been adapted into movies. 

Revolution 2020 is a story concerned with a love triangle, corruption and a journey of self-discovery. It follows childhood friends Gopal, Raghaf and Aarti who struggle to find success and love in a small town in India, Varanasi. Varanasi is one of the holiest places in India. Therefore it's a kind of irony to see the corruption takes place before people eyes in almost all aspects of life. Gopal gives in to the system and Raqhav fights it, who will win? Who will take the revolution?  And also who will get Aarti's heart? 

In India becoming an engineer is a life goal (if you watch 3 Idiots the movie, you get it). Parents put their lifetime's earning on stake for their children entering faculty of engineering and pray that they pass with flying colours and at last change the fortune of the family. This is the dream. But the reality sometimes sucks. Some students accomplish their dreams while others sink into disaster. 

This hard conditions leads some people to find a way to make money. When there is a will, there is a way. It's going to be good if it is done honestly. But it's a fishy business here. There are many new private universities opened. They try to promote and do whatever they can (sometimes in a very unethical way) to get new students. Some parts of this book remind me of our beloved country, Indonesia, since we also struggle now to combat the corruption.  

Inspiring story. An eye opener for the educational system, and how to encourage our children to follow their own dreams instead of following their parents' obsession. Yes, it's never easy to become parents.

Find more of Chetan Bhagat's website here. 

Kerumunan Terakhir

Title: Kerumunan Terakhir

Author: Okky Madasari

Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Published Date: May 2016

360 pages

"Betapa kasihannya anak-anak zaman sekarang ini. Di usia yang masih sangat muda, mereka sudah dibuat haus perhatian. Semua ingin disukai, semua ingin punya banyak pengikut, semua ingin terlihat dan dikenal. Apalagi yang lebih menyedihkan selain menggantungkan kebahagiaan kita di tangan orang?"

Okky Madasari is one of the best Indonesian authors. Since her first novel Entrok in 2010 that tells about the brutality of New Order era continued with 86 about corruption in Indonesia then Maryam about an Ahmadi girl and the transgender discrimination in Pasung Jiwa, I think I fall in love with her writing. She always delivers different stories with different themes and unpredictable plots and usually leaves me with a hole in my heart and my mind. That serious? Yes, her works always haunted me for days but since I am addicted to it, I still read it over and over again.  

In her fifth book, Okky tells about the massive phenomenon, the social media (socmed). How this socmed has a great influences in people lives. Why do people now seem to disclose everything --even the most personal things to public? Why do people need to impress everyone about how good their lives are? Why do existence and self recognition become their goals now? What's wrong with people???

Let's meet the lead character in Okky's latest novel,  Kerumunan Terakhir, he is Jayanegara, a total looser. He does not finish his university study nor have any job. He plans to take revenge for what his father did to his mother. He just stares at the laptop the whole day, impresses people with his new identity as Matajaya, lies about how great his life is and at last becomes a totally new person who have lots of followers.

Yes, in this socmed era, it's very easy to create a new you, even the fake one. People just like to get into one crowd to another. Being a solitaire is a big no no now. In this rapid changes, people need to adapt as fast as possible however in real life lots of people are still not ready yet to absorb and adjust with the new things. Therefore we see many negative impacts are here now. We can't stop the technology or block the internet, etc, we just need to be wise in using it. There's always some limits in everything we do. And just be YOU. Remember what Kurt Cobain said, "I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."

Again, Okky is trying to be honest with the latest phenomenon and she made it. As she said, "Writing is about courage and freedom. Without both of those we say and stand up for nothing." Couldn't agree more. 

Check more on Okky Madasari's website here.