Essay: The Double Life of a Diva

Written by Josephine Alvina Prasetyo.
This was originally done for an essay competition in Trinity College, Melbourne, along with my essay about Oskar Schindler. However, I decided not to send this one.
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courtesy of Viduse

She appears to be an ordinary college student from Columbia University, but Utada Hikaru has a hidden life. She was virtually unknown in the world’s music market due to the domination of singers and musicians from the U.S.A, but in Asia she is one of the biggest pop stars alive, and in Japan is the number one artist. However, to call her a J-Pop (Japanese Pop) singer will of course ignore her American roots and her strong desire to enter the cross-over genre. Yes, although she is Japanese by blood, she was born and lived in America until the age of 15. Her marvelous talents have impressed Asians all over ever since her debut album was released in 1999. The album broke the record for first-week sales of a debut album in Japanese music history, and has sold more than 9.5 million copies ever since then. In addition, she was only 16 back then.

Utada has everything a singer needs to dominate the charts: a strong voice, intriguing lyrics, and her very own style of music. She writes almost all of her materials, in fact, she wrote her first song when she was 9 years old, harmonizing strong grooves and soft melodies, and although most of her songs are about love, they can completely break from the stereotype. For example, her all-time debut hit First Love was depicting a story of a woman who loved someone very dearly, but was able to fall in love again without forgetting her first love. While other Japanese pop divas are heavily influenced by Hamasaki Ayumi’s baby-girl tones, Utada chooses to perform songs from R&B, rap, and even alternative rock. Controversies were triggered by this and she was accused of “bringing Western influence” to Japan. Yet she did not stop. To further prove her existence in the world of music, she released Exodus (2004) in the U.S.A. She did well, even great, as her single Devil Inside topped the Billboard’s Dance Chart. No Asian pop act is as prominent as she is—Utada’s effort and potential have prevailed.

The song that opened my eyes to the world around me was Utada’s Hikari / Light. I used to be an ignorant child and couldn’t care less about my life or anything that was happening around me. I saw the world as something that was static, something that was not moving. The lyrics of the song, talking about the future and a woman’s worries about her upcoming marriage, taught me that nothing lasts forever, and that this life is dynamic, even if I stayed still. As I found out more about her, I was amazed. She is a child from a rich family and is able to enjoy her life without working. But she decided to stand, to move forward, because she believed that she could do it. She broke through every obstacle of nationalism and race, overcoming stereotypes, and proved that she is worthy of the spotlight. She is different, unique, and not afraid of being so. I hope I can be like her in my own way.

Essay: The Hands of the Dark Knight

Written by Josephine Alvina Prasetyo.
This essay was originally done for a competition entry in Trinity College, Melbourne. But it didn’t manage to win. Since the competition has already passed, I think it’s no problem to post it here. I’d like to share it with you all.
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courtesy of Wikipedia

About 11 million people were massacred from 1933 to 1945 in the grotesque event commonly called the Holocaust. This number consisted of Jews, Soviet prisoners of war, ethnic Poles, Romani, Catholics, disabled persons, homosexuals, and Jehovah’s witnesses. However, among these numbers, almost 1,200 Jews were saved by the hands of a businessman named Oskar Schindler. The movie, Schindler’s List, was made in order to honor his help, and he was also honored in the celebration of Yad Vashem in Israel. Although the number of lives he saved is small compared to those who died, Schindler is truly a symbol of courage in a world of brutality. However, he was not a flawless hero like other public figures; in fact, his life story was rather dark.

Oskar Schindler, born on April 28, 1908, was a war profiteer. Unlike other role models who had glorious backgrounds, Schindler earned millions from the world war, as his factory produced ammunitions for the German army. It was a wonder that his “dirty” talents—bribery, a flair for opportunity, and networking—helped him in saving the lives on his list. Many thought that his real purpose in saving those Jews, at least in the beginning, was for money, but later on, he did his best to protect his labors. He spent every penny in his account to bribe government officials and transport the Jews to someplace safe. He gave them a second chance, and showed his respect for life in his efforts. Even until his last breath, he still referred to his labors as “his children”, and wished to be buried in Jerusalem.

Although I am not Jewish and not German, I admire Oskar Schindler for his courageous actions. He was not afraid to oppose the dictator Hitler and to show his appreciation of human rights. I believe he knew well the risks he was going to face back then: he could have been one of these victims, or maybe imprisoned for the rest of his life. He was twice arrested on suspicion of smuggling and embezzlement, but managed to avoid being jailed each time. This is one of the reasons why I choose Schindler as my inspiration—he did not hesitate to use all of his abilities, regardless of “right” or “wrong”, in order to accomplish his mission. He was a determined figure, and he was so determined that he could only see his aim from his point of view, and nothing else. He didn’t even care if his life would be taken, or if anything worse than death would happen to him. All that mattered to him was his aim. I envy him for being able to do such thing, to be honest. The way he lived his life was just like what Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” There was nothing either good or bad for Oskar Schindler as long as he could save human lives. In the end, his only regret was that he did not sell his cars and house to save more lives.

If the Dark Knight truly existed, I believe Oskar Schindler would be him.

Atone

Written by Josephine Alvina Prasetyo.
Inspired by a short story titled “A Horseman in the Sky” by Ambrose Bierce.

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courtesy of Rodelicious

This is a father’s lament,
Praying for my son,
Who just received his sacrament,
Out in the battle ground.

This is a son’s struggle,
A war between dictators,
Who knows what truth lies behind the clouds,
Ashen sky roofing the final round.

This is a father’s prayer,
Recalling the day he pulled the lever,
I wish I could say "Never",
But hatred lasts forever.

This is a son’s battle,
My only wish is to settle,
A couple of bullets to cradle,
Wounds killing the cattle.

This is a father’s sadness,
My horse gallops to the wilderness,
A gun by my side and all I see is brightness,
Until I am engulfed by darkness.

This is a son’s decision,
Ears deafened by gun sound,
A shot upon a stranger’s bod,
Then I smell blood.

This is a father’s hope,
Soul lifted to heaven,
If God exists,
Please forgive him.

This is a son’s sorrow,
My heart feels so hollow,
My eyes captured what’s behind the shadow,
A kind father falling alone.

This is a father’s funeral,
He was one great general,
But finally he had to fall,
In the hands of his peripheral.

This is a son’s sin,
A success as a sergeant,
A failure as a child,
A victory for a side.

This is the end of fight,
No one know what is right,
Or how will this bring Light,
But the son opened his eyes.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock (Jabberwocky)

Written by Josephine Alvina Prasetyo.
Totally inspired by Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll.
This poem is about my novel in work.
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courtesy of Weeping Willow

Tick, tock, tick, tock
Can you hear, dear, the sound of clock?
Whispering through my ear’s dock
Death gets to work

Tick, tock, tick, tock
Time flows but not to shock
I could barely hear your steps rock
Come to me, my Jabberwock

Tick, tock, tick, tock
My lungs are filled by smoke
It’s already 7 o’clock
Now where did I put my smock?

Tick, tock, tick, tock
So the deer lost the hock
My hair cut fell to the scarlett frock
Ouch, my skin you did pock

Tick, tock, tick, tock
The boss was wiping his precious crock
The basement was closed by chock
With a smile you did mock

Tick, tock, tick, tock
You caused me mental block
The meadow was filled by Sheperd’s Clock
Now where are you, my Jabberwock?

The Lady’s Journey to Singapore

courtesy of danny st.

Last Friday (July 3) I went to Singapore and decided to write this report for you shopper ladies as a reference!

I’m staying in Royal Plaza on Scotts Road, it’s pretty much near the main destination of all shoppers—Orchard Road. Anyway, first let’s take a look at Far East Plaza, which is located just across the hotel. Keep in mind that it can be really crowded on weekends, so I suggest you to visit it on weekday afternoons. This place is for serious bargain hunter. We recommend these shops for you to visit (but there are a lot of shops there, really, just walk and let your eye catch the stuff!):

1. Bysi – Many trendy fashions are reproduced and sold in relatively low price here. Some of the items ever appeared in Topshop or Zara. I heard from a friend of mine that new pieces are added every Wednesday.
2. 2cm – There are two branches of this store in the second and third floor, but during my visit I was only looking at the third floor branch. It has cute and trendy designs, which look expensive but the price is also relatively low.
3. 77th Street – This shop provides large variety of gothic and lolita fashion. I especially love their bag designs, but the clothes are cute as well. They also have another branch in The Heeren.

For the branded items, there are many selections in Wisma Atria (Topshop anyone?), Paragon, and Takashimaya (Ngee Ann City). In the last shopping center I mentioned, I went straight to the 3rd floor and shop for books in Kinokuniya. It is one of the largest, and compared to the one in Jakarta, stuff there are much cheaper! If you are an arty chick like me, you should visit the 4th floor as well, which has craft and art stores such as Art Friend and Fourum.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that in Paragon, there is a good stationary store named woodwould. I hear they just opened a branch in Takashimaya as well. Pay a visit, they have cute stuff to fulfill your needs of cuteness.

If you would like to walk a bit farther (and take an MRT), pay a visit to Vivo City. I went to the third floor and shopped for cute things in Daiso, everything is $2 there. There are many cute stalls and accessories store around every floor.

Well, it’s not Lady J without food, so let’s take a look at the perfect places to eat:

In the 3rd floor of Vivo City, near Daiso, there is a cute Chinese restaurant named Imperal Restaurant. The dishes are delicious and worth the price. Take a look at the picture below! Isn’t it just too cute?

Then in the 5th floor of The Heeren, there are many restaurants, but the one I’ve tried is Pasta de Waraku, a cute Japanese restaurant. They have various type of pasta cooked Japanese style. Delicious, and the prices are affordable. Do mind that their serving size is relatively huge.

A friend of mine also recommended Project Shop Blood Brothers Cafe in the third level of Paragon, but I didn’t stop there to eat. Then Toast in Ngee Ann City.

Some pictures:

 

Häagen-Dazs!

The dining table in Royal Plaza, VIP!

 

Just a bit of my breakfast in Royal Plaza. I am a huge eater.

Fresh cherries for dessert! (LOL yes I do drink Antangin in my trips)

Below are some of the stuffs I bought:

 

Bags!

  

Clothes!

Books!

MOLESKINE!!

Do you have any other places you like to visit in Singapore? Do share with us!

I hope this helps,

Game Review: Princess Debut (NDS)

courtesy of Syvle

I have to admit that I am a huge gamer. Nowadays I’ve been totally addicted to my Nintendo DS (since I got new games to waste my holiday!). The latest game I’ve finished is Princess Debut by Natsume. It’s a pretty old game, in the 2008. I’m not recommending this for boys though, since this was pretty much made for girls.

The main point in this game is to win the heart of one of the Princes here. You will play as an ordinary girl named Sabrina (but you can change her name to anything you like). The story started to revolve when a girl who looked just like you came from another world and asked you to be her replacement because she was really bad at dancing!

There are two endings for all characters, except the Princess and the Tony endings. Basically you only have to sharpen your dance skills (done by tapping on the touch screen with stylus) as well as finding your perfect match. There are also accessories for your character to wear. Some of them are really funny, such as the Bunny and the Angel Dress.

Overall this is a very fun game, especially if you can’t read Japanese but you would like to play a dating simulation game. The character art is pretty much shoujo-ish. My favorite Prince was Prince Luciano (Lucas). I guess I’m just into the cold type guy. Yes, I got his ending, which is at the picture above.

Who is your favorite Prince?

Lady Find: Puricute

courtesy of Umbrella Rain

I love my internet, I love to browse and I don’t think it will hurt to share my browsing finds with you all.

My first find is Puricute, a very cute website in which you can modify your photos like Japanese purikura (photo stickers). It’s a very cute website and I recommend it for those who adore purikura and cute things.

You can add frames, draw something on it, or even soften your picture. I prefer using Adobe Photoshop for photo edits myself, but if you can’t use any picture editing software or need a quick edit, this website is a must.

Have fun!

3 Cute Blogs For Self Development

courtesy of Kylie Lambert

I’ve been having fun browsing for self development blogs and stuff like that, and decided that I should share my findings with you all. Here are my top 3:

1. kao-ani || A blog of Natasja Capelle. She’s one amazing web-designer and she loves cute things. Her blog is cute and is filled by cute stuff. I recommend this blog for those who just can’t resist cuteness. She also has some goodies such as fonts and tutorials in this blog.
2. Princess Portal || A blog of Princess Skye. Now she has moved to another blog namely The Lost Princess, but I still visit this blog every once and then. Basically this blog is filled with lessons on how to be a “princess” and some beauty tips. She also has recipes and photographs inside. I have to admit that this is the blog that inspired me to start my own blog on self development.
3. iCiNG ||A blog of Gala Darling. This one has more beauty tips and self development advices compared to the other two, but maybe not really suitable to our culture (for example, free sex and French kiss). However, the advices are really useful and helpful as long as you can choose which one is the best for you. She also has a great sense of humour.

There are many other blogs likat that in the internet. What are your favorites?

I hope this helps,

It’s Just A Break, Though Can Be Permanently

courtesy of Gabriela Camerotti 

Recently, I broke up with my boyfriend. That is probably the main reason why I decided to write this article. Many people seemed to be confused at how to deal with this kind of problems.

To begin, this quote from Utada’s Apple and Cinnamon would do.

Let’s not get started with the he said, she said
Sometimes it just doesn’t go on as planned

Yes, although a relationship is so wonderful at the beginning, it can go really bad if both sides can’t understand each other. There are many reasons why break ups happen, but the results are usually “still friends” or “nemesis”.  One of those two.

In my case, it’s the first. We are still close and we still share our thoughts, but we are not the lovey dovey couple we used to be. If I said I don’t miss those moments, I lied. However, things are going great for me because our relationship was ended nicely.

Now the point here is, how do you break up with your man (or lady) but still having a great friendship?

I’d like to mention the 5 things you must do in telling him (or her) to break up with you.

1. Timing, timing, have to be perfect. Asking for a break up is best done when both sides are calm. Don’t ask when you are having a fight, or when any of you are in imbalance state of emotion. Break up is as serious as proposal, so you have to be really careful on the timing.
2. Words can hurt. Don’t say bad things when you ask for a break up, even though he/she had hurt you so many times before. Ask for it politely, straightforwardly, and nicely. Add-ons like “Thank you for being my boyfriend” or “I’m sorry that I can’t be the one for you” will make him respect you instead of mad at you.
3. Be serious. Yes, you have to keep your words. Break up is not that simple. Don’t ask for a break up then ask him to come back to you the next day. That makes you look like a fool for sure. You don’t want to eat back what you have spitted, do you? However, if you two feel that you should be together again, don’t be afraid to do so.
4. Don’t say you dump him. Even though you are mad at him, don’t say to anyone that you break him up because you dump him. Even though it is the truth, just lie. When everyone asked you “why”, just tell them the most logical and justified answer for both of you. An example is “because we have talked about it and decided that this will be the best for us”.
5. Keep contact. Never treat him like a stranger, but nothing more than a friend. Even if he shy away from you, keep trying to treat him like your other male friends. This one is the finishing touch, but it will give great results, and even give a good impression in front of your friends.

But remember, if these didn’t work, then he’s not a good guy. Just erase him from your life and act like nothing happened.

Do you have any other things to add?

I hope this helps.

A Time Traveling Gamer Journey ~ GBA

courtesy of Heroine Sheik

Oh, who doesn’t know GameBoy? It’s one of the most revolutionary handheld video game console, developed and manufactured by the famous Nintendo. So far, we have 6 main types of GameBoy. They are GameBoy Pocket, GameBoy Light, GameBoy Color, GameBoy Advance, GameBoy Advance SP, and GameBoy Advance Micro. However, as I only own GameBoy Color (which was gone when I was on trip *sob*) and GameBoy Advance SP, of course, I only know the games developed for them.

Since there’ll be long, long holidays for students in my country (the final year students are going to face final exams soon), I’ll give my recommendations so you can go play some games, nostalgia-GBA-style!

Note: This list is not sorted by the rank, it’s randomly sorted.

1. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance || Personally, this is one of the best games for GBA. The gameplay is fun (turn-based strategy), with various quests to accomplish and various jobs for your characters to master.  In addition, the music in the game is ear-catch, while the art itself is wonderful. The plot itself was simple, yet attractive enough, revolves around 4 youngsters in their journey to reveal the truth behind the Crystals and their true wishes. Square Enix sure did a wonderful job on this ”experimental” game.
2. Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen || A remake from the famous Pokémon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow, with new graphics, remixes of the old music, new system adapted from the Ru/Sa/Em, and several new characters. If you love the old games, you should play this. Also, the fluffy relationship between Gary (the rival) and Leaf (the heroine, if you choose female) was cute. Gotta catch’em all!!
3. Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald || As a part of the Pokémon series, I have to admit that this game is a revolutionary one. Why? They have new sprites, new Pokémon types, new systems (Secret Base, Contests, Pokémon Nature, PokéBlocks, etc), and many more to play with. Besides, I think none of the Pokémon games receives less than 8 in any game rating sites.
4. Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town/More Friends of Mineral Town || Ah, goodness. The only difference between the two titles is the gender of the main character. The first is a boy, and the latter is a girl. This game might be more suitable for girls, actually, but I don’t see any reason for boys to avoid playing this wonderful game. The farming gameplay is one and only, none can defeat Harvest Moon’s originality and features. Enjoy the farm life with the bachelorette/bachelor you wish to marry!
5. Fire Emblem || Another strategy game, but this one with less enjoyable gameplay. However, the art has more details in it, and I have to admit that the art style is one that many people would adore at first sight. The storyline is slightly more complex, and that is what makes it more enjoyable for those who adore Tolkien, Narnia, etc. Besides, the CGs were beautiful.
6. Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap || Who doesn’t love Zelda? We play again as Link, the blonde hero with enormous courage and will. He’s still as cute as ever, but now he’s accompanied by the Minish Cap. Fun action gameplay, interesting storyline to follow, beautiful artwork and graphics, with catchy music as the finishing touch. A must-play.

What are your favorite GBA games? Do share with us!

I hope this helps.

Love,