Nicky Wu and Liu Shi Shi are dating!!!

They're finally dating! Pix from Nicky's weibo

Okay, I really need to work my deadlines now, but I just cannot stop myself from doing this:

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!

Nicky Wu Qi Long and Cecilia Liu Shi Shi are dating! Nicky acknowledged this fact on 13 November at 2:06 am (Shanghai time, I think) from his weibo, and Liu Shi Shi confirmed it three minutes later (see this post from Dramamusing). They are officially dating, and they have actually been dating for quite a few months now! And no one, NONE of their fans (including myself) suspected this!

Okay, we hoped, of course. We rooted, of course. But they were never seen together other than in film festivals and awards and promo shoots, so we were like, yeah... never gonna happen (but it would be great if it could...). Totally missed this one news in August 2013 when someone spotted both of them buying ice cream together etc, but I might just dismissed it back then, for fear of getting my hope crushed.

But now apparently, they do!

Immortals of Meluha: the Indonesian translation by Mizan

I received very good news last Tuesday when Bebe, one of my best friends in Bali, told me that The Immortals of Meluha (Book One of the Shiva Trilogy) has been translated to Indonesian by Mizan. Better, the book has been read by her friends who in return became big fans of the Trilogy, or at least its first book. Intrigued, I searched for the book at the local Gramedia at Kuta last Wednesday and was happy to find that it was prominently displayed there. I usually avoid reading the translation because we tend to miss the nuance in the translation, not to mention cases of really bad translations that left me with no choice but sourcing the English versions online. 

I’m glad to report that this is not the case with The Immortals of Meluha. I dare say translator Nur Aini was doing a very good job at this, such that I recommended the book back to Bebe (who had only seen it without purchasing/reading it). I also went to the Denpasar Gramedia today just buy two extra copies. Turns out, they have only four copies left, and I couldn’t find them in the store. The store assistant said that this book is a bestseller, so it runs out quickly. Well, there you go.

So anyway, I thought I’d better give a review of the Indonesian translation of Meluha. Because I’d like my fellow Indonesians who don’t usually read English find this post, from here on I will switch to Indonesian language. But just to give my impression of the book in an English nutshell, I think Mizan (the publisher/translator/distributor) did a good job at translation and re-designing the cover (tho I still think the original cover is very powerful). I’m surprised that we didn’t detect this version earlier tho, for it was first published in April this year. Better late than never, I guess.

Immortals of Meluha: impresi saya

Jadi ceritanya, selama hampir 1.5 tahun saya dan Bebe telah jatuh cinta dengan Shiva Trilogy. Bermula dari bulan Juli 2012 saat saya menemukan buku tersebut online dalam bahasa Inggris, saat sedang keluyuran di dunia maya mencari komik apa saja tentang Shiva. Sebenarnya yang saya pertama temukan adalah YouTube-nya, yang saya muat di sini. Sejak saat itu, saya dan Bebe membaca ketiga buku dalam rentang hampir setahun (paling susah menunggu keluarnya The Oath of the Vayuputra, buku ketiga). Susah juga carinya, karena Amish, walo jagoan marketing, ternyata karena satu dan lain hal tidak menjual bukunya secara luas di luar negeri. Jadinya saya harus mengontak teman saya di India untuk membelikan buku-buku tersebut untuk kami. Untungnya harga buku di India murah banget, jadi kami bisa beli beberapa sekaligus (ada teman kami yang lain yang juga suka).

Vayuputra review and fanfiction: Difficulties in letting go and moving on

Neelkanth visualised by Amish et al (I have to say that those lips are adorable...)

I have difficulties in letting go, at times. Or moving on, at times. One of the recent examples is Amish’ The Oath of the Vayuputra. Case in the point: I received the book from my dear friend in India in late April, finish it in three days (non-continuous reading due to my schedule), and yet have never been able to sit down and write the review. Until now. Because I am still in denial (yes, it’s not only a river in Egypt… which I will mention again at the end of this review).

Several things made it difficult for me to let go. The ending, for one – and I’m sure I’m not alone in this matter. I read online that a girl still hadn’t been able to let go after two weeks of finishing Vayuputra. Well, I’m into six months after finishing it, and I still cannot let go. There are some nitpicks of course, which made me wish that Amish had somewhat wrote the book rather differently. But the most important thing is the ending. 

So, to make it shorter-ish, I will divide the review into what I love, what I like, and what I dislike (and I wish I could change). Heavy spoilers for those who haven’t read the book yet. 

Kiyoku Yawaku: Okada Masaki's new movie

Update 26 Sept 2017: click here to read my update of Okada Masaki's performance since 2012. 

Been very busy in my real life... But just now, I suddenly missed Okada Masaki. Hence I browsed about him, and found that his new movie Kiyoku Yawaku will have its premiere on 26 October. So happy about it! I hope RED will air it soon in a few months with sub! Or at least I hope I get to see it at Garuda Indonesia...

More notes on shoe purchase and maintenance

My clean darlings, inside my shoe cupboard

I just finished cleaning and rearranging my shoe collection and I have some notes that I just need to jot down. These notes apply to myself, so feel free to ignore it. However, if you do find them relatable, I hope they are useful for you. The notes aim to increase my own appreciation towards my shoe collection and hence (hopefully) reducing my need to buy more shoes.

Okay, we both know that there’s no such a thing as too many shoes for women like me (i.e. shoeaholics), but we can still reduce the frequency of buying shoes. And if we eventually do buy that extra pair of shoes, we know that we are investing on a pair of good, beautiful, long-lasting shoes.

Shoe size

First thing first: Get your shoe size correct. What's the point of having a gorgeous pair of shoes if you can't wear them because the size is off? Here I have elaborated how to get the shoe size correct. But I summarise it here again in this post. I am comfortable with shoes with insole length 9.75” (24.5 cm) and width of ball of foot a tad over 3” (8 cm – which means it’s a medium width).

My own shoe size is as follows:

Okada Masaki's new English-subbed movies: Space Brothers, Himitsu no Akko-chan, & Life Back Then

Update 26 Sept 2017: click here to read my update of Okada Masaki's performance since 2012. 

Okada Masaki on 'Life Back Then' Friday next week on RED!

It's a bit difficult to find new Okada Masaki movies with English sub these days.According to Asian Wiki, Okada has at least three new movies/series that are already released for 2013, but I haven't been able to see them due to the lack of English sub.

However! It's with real pleasure that I announce that the great subbers of Dramacrazy.net etc have uploaded the following movies for us:

Space Brothers with Oguri Shun (already seen it on RED, but I love the movie so I will watch it again!)

I'm watching the bits part of it now, and I think the RED translation of Space Brothers is better than this online version. Still, better than nothing!


Himitsu no Akko-chan with Ayase Haruka (click this link to see it online)

Pics from Akko-chan's Secret (from Jaewinter). It's really a good movie!

And last but not least...(click to read about Life Back Then and Ikuta Toma (!)):

Phil Jimenez on BMWW

Gotta love this fan art work by Theva!

DC hasn’t catered to BMWW lately (as in, almost none at all), but for many BMWW fans, the sparks are still there. And when a writer the caliber of Phil Jimenez professed his undying love to BMWW (well, at least their friendship, if not romance), a BMWW fan cannot help but swoon and drool. Special thanks to my friend DaisyJane at www.batmanwonderwoman.com for posting the original article.

Phil Jimenez was actually responding to a post on the Nu 52 Wonder Woman (that I’ve never read due to limited comic access and my anger on DC’s treatment to Diana). Laura Sneddon wrote the post; some people responded to it, including Phil and artist Mindy Newell. The whole interaction can be found here. But I have two things I’d like to highlight in this post. First, is Phil’s description of Wonder Woman, which I think encompasses it all:

I Dreamt (Rabindranath Tagore)

I Dreamt 

by Rabindranath Tagore

'Restful', by Pino Daeni

I dreamt that she sat by my head, tenderly ruffling my hair with
her fingers, playing the melody of her touch. I looked at her face
and struggled with my tears, till the agony of unspoken words burst
my sleep like a bubble.

I sat up and saw the glow of the Milky Way above my window,
like a world of silence on fire, and I wondered if at this moment
she had a dream that rhymed with mine.

I Asked Nothing (Rabindranath Tagore)

The Gardener XIII: I Asked Nothing

by Rabindranath Tagore

  

'Woman with a Pot' by Shashikanta Parida

I asked nothing, only stood at the edge of the wood behind the tree.
Languor was still upon the eyes of the dawn, and the dew in the air.
The lazy smell of the damp grass hung in the thin mist above the earth.
Under the banyan tree you were milking the cow with your hands,
tender and fresh as butter.

And I was standing still.
I did not say a word.

It was the bird that sang unseen from the thicket.
The mango tree was shedding its flowers upon the village road,

and the bees came humming one by one.

On the side of the pond the gate of Shiva's temple was opened and the
worshipper had begun his chants.
With the vessel on your lap you were milking the cow.

I stood with my empty can.
I did not come near you.

The sky woke with the sound of the gong at the temple.
The dust was raised in the road from the hoofs of the driven cattle.
With the gurgling pitchers at their hips, women came from the river.
Your bracelets were jingling, and foam brimming over the jar.

The morning wore on and I did not come near you.

Lotus (Rabindranath Tagore)

Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, a century ago. This is one of his poems, a favourite of mine:   

Lotus

Pic from marrymeweddings

On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying, and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.

Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.

That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing
and it seemed to me that it was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.

I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.