Photo Mess

Omg I prepared so many photos I don't even know where to start. Okay... So I can finally use VSCO Cam because I got a new phone. Then I keep hearing about Afterlight and decided to buy the app and now I mainly use it. So. Many. Filters. Although I usually just use the 'Russ' (created by none other than Kevin Russ, whose photographs are such a good thing for the eyes and soul~). Some are from the early days I use these apps so the effect is a bit excessive. Pardon me.

I'm not sure why I only posted some of these photos to my social media account. But that's what this photo mess posts are for, rrrrright? I'm really happy that Flickr has finally work normally for me. For the last few posts I had to use the old uploader. I wonder if the new Camera Roll beta feature has something to do with it. So anyway, here are tons of photos that I edited with VSCO Cam or Afterlight, some of them where intended to be posted to Instagram or Path, some of them where edited because I was just passing time, and I just don't have the heart to delete them. I'm such a picture hoarder.
   
Here are some from works. Our office pet and mascot, Burhan the owl, died after suffering from a mysterious sickness. One afternoon he just couldn't stand on his own feet anymore. The keeper brought him to the vet, got some pills, and then shortly he was already gone. It was sad. He is now replaced by a smaller owl and most of us refused to call it by any other name, so she's another Burhan. I'd like to think that her full name is 'Burhan II'. Sometimes we (me and the other three girls) made some dinner at the office. Just some simple dishes, usually on Friday. It's ridiculous how making something simple were never that simple with them. But it's always fun. Last Valentine we exchanged gifts. We may look like a bunch of pathetic singles, but the fact is the ones who weren't single seems like the most excited.
  Still from work. Sometimes we have lunch at this restaurant nearby our office. But most of the time we had lunch together at the open area at the back of the office. We had pizza for special occasions, usually when it's someone's birthday. So yeah, a lot of pizzas. I don't mind at all. I don't think I can ever get over how much I like pizza. On the other hand, some of my friends kind of sick of it and requested the next birthday dude to order something else than pizza. But then when the time comes and the pizzas were served, no one says no... Hahaha. The first time I watched a movie on IMAX was Interstellar and it was awesome. And then one day I found the key of Erebor...
 
Some flowers from my cousin's wedding. I remember how we were all exhausted and still hungry after that wedding that afternoon. So my aunt made some noodles for us. It was a bit windy. Just sitting there at the small living room of our late grandparent's house, watching TV, enjoying those good ol' and hot noodles felt so good.
   
And even more foods. I didn't realize I took these many photos of my foods. I bought triple chocolate cake for my mother's birthday. It was good but not as good as I expected. And some other from hangouts with friends. When I was with my BFFs, I often able to stay until a little later than usual, talking about just about anything over some meals. Those bottles are just cold tea and soda, by the way.

Wow, it's been a really messy post. I just need to put these photos out here so I don't lose it if something ever happened to my electronic devices. I may also been typing these words with my mind being in some other place. Hahaha. I haven't decide if I want to finish a book or to finish this TV series I've been watching in my free time this weekend. Anyway, have a great weekend, folks!

Pop Up Market 2015: A Little Taste of Paris

Pop Up Market 2015 is an annual bazaar event held by students from Prasetya Mulia Business School. Their mission is to give place for young entrepreneurs and local brands. Every year, a famous shopping place around the world would be chosen as the theme. This year's theme was Champs Élysées, Paris, and held at Lotte Shopping Avenue, Jakarta. I've never been to the previous Pop Up Market so I was pretty excited. I could already imagine the cuteness considering the theme.

I went with some office mates. It was for work so I had to attend the press conference and write an article about the event. After the press conference, only those with invitations can enter, before it was finally open for public later in the afternoon. All the guests look sooo chic. I don't know any of them but pretty sure they are some fashion/lifestyle bloggers. The public opening was later than scheduled because the electricity went off at some corners, thus making some booths not being able to operate properly. The venue wasn't really huge but I think everything was well-decorated.
 
Here are some foods. Only used some of these photos for the article so here are the rest. Thanks to broken AF, times like this really challenged my eyes to focus on what I'm trying to shoot. At one point I was about to shoot a booth and the staff was happily made a cute pose before I can adjust the focus. It came out blurry. So there goes the impulsively cute pose of the nice stranger. And here are some other stuffs.
  I'm going to show this to my best friend who's obsessed with Paris. She'd probably wish she could take a picture in the front of this replica of Arc de Triomphe. Or maybe not. Hahaha.

Museum Wedding

Not my wedding. My cousin got married on the second Sunday of March. I like weddings, except the part where my mother and (other older people) made things a little complicated by commenting and commanding on other people to do something, even when they meant to help making everything perfect. Oh, also the part where I had to sit on the make-up chair. Usually they put so much make up on your face and I don’t think I’ve ever really liked how it turned out. Like, they put on so much foundation and powder that in a couple of hours, the wrinkles around your mouth and smiling line will show you how thick it was. This time was a bit different. We got there so early in the morning, lining up for the make-up, checking out the place as we wait... But then the make-up team got overwhelmed. Me and my cousins end up putting our own make-up and that made me super grateful. It’s not that great, but it’s a lot simpler, and I did just fine. 

The wedding was held at Museum Tekstil (Textile Museum), Jakarta. The place would be perfect if you’re not inviting a lot of guests. And you can have your meal by this small garden. It got so crowded by the time more guests were coming and it rained for a bit. I got some wet soils on my wedges. But I think it’s rare to have a wedding in Indonesia in which you only invite small group of people. 

My other cousins and uncle bring their own camera and they were as busy as the wedding photographers. Which was funny, because the pro photographers were mainly staying there around the groom and the bride, while my cousins and uncle were all over the place with their camera. It’s been awhile since I’m taking my camera with me again, but I didn’t took as many pictures as usual. Maybe because I assumed I'll just wait and share the photos they took. I forgot that I was usually the one doing the quick sharing.


But I got photos of Bilqis! I haven’t met her before. She got a little confused because the girls wear pink ‘uniforms’, so we all looked pretty much the same. She might be wondering why I looked like her favorite aunt. I snapped away as she looked in confusion at my lens. Hahaha.

So I hope my cousin and his wife will live happily together. Next thing I know I’ll be getting more nephew or niece. Oh my God, that always make me feel a lot older.

Yang Seru di Januari

Tahun baru, awal yang baru. Dulu waktu masih berstatus mahasiswa tingkat akhir dan lagi ngurus skripsi, saya cenderung takut dan gugup setiap awal tahun. Yang ada di pikiran adalah masa depan yang masih blur, nggak yakin harus ke mana, harus ngapain, dan cobaan macam apa yang menghadang. Tapi sekarang saya justru semangat, menanti petualangan dan pengalaman macam apa yang bakal saya lewati selanjutnya. Termasuk pengalaman-pengalaman pertama. Kayak tahun lalu, kan pertama kali wisuda. Sekarang udah ditodong aja lagi kapan mau lanjut kuliah... Eniwei, ada dua event yang jadi pengalaman pertama di Januari lalu.

Minggu, 18 Januari

Nonton konser Avenged Sevenfold! Ada bagian-bagian yang nggak bisa saya ceritain di sini karena menyangkut keselamatan hidup saya... hahaha lebay. Rencananya mau pergi bareng sohib yang memperkenalkan A7X ke saya. Udah ngebayangin bakal gila-gilaan bareng di sana, eh doinya malah nggak bisa nonton. Hampir nggak jadi nonton, tapi akhirnya saya berubah pikiran. Gara-garanya kantor Raja Karcis pindah ke dekat kantor. Gimana bisa menolak godaan itu?? Sempet kesel sendiri karena kelamaan mikir dan akhirnya nggak dapet tiket VIP. Apalagi ternyata sampai sore di lokasi, tiket VIPnya masih ada. Tau gitu beli di tempat aja... Tapi saya senang telah membuat keputusan yang tepat! *high-five sama diri sendiri* Huahahaha

Saya ngaku, saya nggak terlalu ngikutin perkembangan album terbaru A7X. Tapi saya cinta banget album self-titled mereka. Dan kebetulan sebelum konser, ada bocoran setlist yang mereka mainkan di Hong Kong. Saya pikir, nggak akan jauh beda nih. Ternyata malah sama persis! Dan mereka keren banget... apalagi Syn sih. Arin juga. Saya pikir bakal ada lidah-lidah api di set panggung mereka, ternyata nggak. Yah tanpa api pun suasana udah ‘panas’ banget... apalagi sambil liat Syn. *tetep*

Ternyata konser tunggal gitu lebih asik ya. Lebih puas juga. Maklum baru tau, baru juga dua kali nonton konser. Waktu nonton Tegan and Sara di Big Sound Festival, yang jadi main act justru band Blur. Begitu mereka mulai main, penonton yang emang mayoritas fans Blur langsung menggila sementara saya cengo dan pasrah kegencet-gencet. Kalau kemaren itu semuanya kompak banget. Secara, emang semuanya fans A7X. Jingkrak-jingkrakan bareng, nyanyi bareng sampai tenggorokan sakit... Terus hampir sepanjang konser pandangan saya terhalang sama orang-orang yang lebih tinggi di depan saya. Belum lagi kalau lagi pada angkat tangan dan hape. Lengkap sudah. Cuma bisa nikmatin penampilan mereka dari layar di sisi kiri panggung. Di saat-saat begini juga saya bersyukur karena pandangan mata saya masih lumayan bagus. Kadang saya bisa liat personel di panggung secara langsung melalui celah-celah dari sekian banyak orang di depan saya.

Pokoknya mereka keren banget deh, ah! Di akhir konser, selain para gitaris yang ngelempar pick gitar mereka, Arin juga ngelempar stik drumnya. Udah gitu lemparannya jauh gilaaa. Sampe ke area regular festival, beberapa meter sebelah kanan dari tempat saya berdiri.

Kamis, 22 Januari

Hari kerja malah jalan-jalan... Pertama kalinya saya rafting! Seru banget. Saya sempat jatuh dari perahu karet. FYI, dari sekian banyak peserta, saya doang yang jatuh. Dan saya merasa keren. Jatuhnya di tempat yang arusnya deras dan banyak batunya pula. Saya nggak bisa naik sendiri karena ribet sama pelampung, jadi pasrah aja ditarik naik ke perahu kayak korban tenggelam. HAHAHA.

Sebelum mulai arung jeram, perjalanan ke titik awalnya aja udah seru banget. Naik truk, naik dan turun bukit, di jalanan yang sempit, dan di beberapa bagian, jalanannya benar-benar sebelahan sama jurang. Udah gitu supir truknya juga rada-rada deh. Yang paling keren waktu dia parkir. Jalanan mulai nanjak, terus dia tau-tau matiin mesin, truk mundur, kita mulai panik, dan berhenti pas banget di tempat yang ternyata udah disiapin untuk parkir. Ampun deh. Kalau diceritain mungkin nggak terlalu serem, makanya harus coba sendiri. Bikin jantungan. Tapi seru! Banget. Lebih lengkapnya, baca liputannya di artikel Nyunyu ini. Dan ada videonya juga.

Sekitar seminggu setelah acara arung jeram, saya dan Ira lagi kerja sambil dengerin siaran berita di TV. Ada instruktur arung jeram yang tewas terhanyut di sungai dan ada peserta yang masih hilang. Kita berdua langsung liat-liatan dengan horor, refleks mikir ‘Itu mungkin aja kejadian sama kita!!’ Terus nggak lama kemudian tersadar kalau ‘Oh, oke. Saya masih di sini.’ Alam emang misterius. Turut berduka untuk keluarga korban.

Segitu dulu liputan terkini dari hidup saya. Bye!

23

Apparently they said nobody likes you when you're 23. So why not just pick up a fight with everyone already? Kidding. And by the way, I still look this grumpy when I just woke up in the morning.

So 22 was pretty cool. I graduated and got a job which I really like and enjoy so far. My best friend moved to another island because her job required her to do so. But even if we're far away, I'm happy that it seems like we both really enjoy our life at the moment. And sometimes it's easy to fall in love and be in love with the whole idea of being with someone. And most of the time it's just a fantasy and I know it. That's why I still learn to let go. But that's okay.

Have I told you that I love salmons? I do. And today I had a lot of salmons and that makes me happy. That's enough of a celebration for me. Here's to more productive and creative year!