Lately, I‘m jamming to slow songs to match the pleasant kind of rainy days' mellow mood. Unknowingly, the slow songs I’m currently listening are romantic melodies. Rain season is synonymous with romantic--kinda obviously. So here are the songs I’m enjoying the most these days (in no particular order):

1. Everything - The Black Skirts

“On rainy days, lying down, not a single word. Gazing with our eyes closed, everything becomes ours. Times when you go around looking for me pale-faced. Times when you surprise me with your cheeky stories.”

Have you ever fell in love with a song since the first notes on the first time listening? The exact situation happened to me. I couldn’t precisely mention what’s the biggest reason I fell into this K-indie band’s song. As usual, good music cannot be exactly described, you just listen (*-*). Which side of this song easily grabbed my attention? Was it the lyrics (but I didn’t even understand the lyrics except for the English ones), the melody (the nostalgia aura behind the melody, was it you my heart stealer?), the soft vocal, or the dreamy vibe (the relaxed mood whenever I hear this beautiful piece)?

And the “my everything” part on repeat is romantic :D

Budaya Indonesia terkikis perlahan-lahan meninggalkan kita resah menyaksikannya dari kursi penonton. Budaya asing pun bergaung begitu nyaring di setiap harinya. Kita masih saja setia menjadi pemirsa yang sibuk menuding pihak lain. Di setiap permasalahan yang menghadang budaya, modernisasi kerap kali dikambinghitamkan. Modernisasi seolah serta-merta menjadi antonim dari kelestarian budaya.

(Just another random note. hihi)

Dulu, karena long-time obsession untuk kuliah di FISIP, saya suka membaca berita politik. Setelah akhirnya pindah ke jurusan akuntansi, saya memutuskan untuk tak terlalu mendalami kabar politik. Yet until now I secretly follow politics news day by day. I think I'm still the same me afterall. Old habit dies hard indeed :)

Kabar kemenangan Donald Trump di pemilu Amerika mengejutkan saya beberapa hari yang lalu. Sebagai orang yang memantau duel menuju gedung putih via nytimes.com, saya seolah terlalu yakin bahwa Hillary akan memenangkan pemilihan ini. But Trump surprisingly won the election.

“Hey boy, make ‘em whistle like a missile bomb bomb. Everytime I show up, blow up.” - Whistle, Blackpink

I need to say it beforehand: I’m a biased listener. Because they come from my favourite label, which usually release the songs suit my music taste, I’m simply biased. YG had put them on training for too long which is only raising the anticipation. I have been waiting them for years so now I have to check whether they could meet the huge expectation. I want their title tracks blow listener’s mind. I expect nothing but a solid debut.

"What helps you overcome obstacles isn't brain but someone who will take your hand and will not let you go. In the end, that's family." - Reply 1988 

Hello. It’s been a week Reply 1988 lingers on my mind so, I decide to write down my withdrawal syndrome experience. I guess a lotta people who have watched it already understand the feeling of mine. There’s nothing more hopeless than should’ve moved on but enjoying the stay. Haha. The couldn’t-move-on syndrome suffers me yet I’m feeling glad.

My heart had a rollercoaster ride because of Reply 1988.

(Alert: it contained spoilers of Reply 1998)

Saya baru saja selesai menonton Reply 1988. Mbak Ki merekomendasikan drama ini dengan segala ucapan menggoda: rolling on the floor, withdrawal syndrome, etc. Just how good a drama to make her rolling on the floor and couldn’t easily get over it. Because our taste is (almost) similar, I didn't have even an ounce of hesitation to watch. She’s a selective person after all. On other hand, Reply 1998 had a very high rating and became one of the most talked drama, so yeah I gave it a try.

“Dan kini ada dia mungkin Tuhan menguji aku. Namun bagaimana bila ikhlas tak hadir di hatiku?” (Surga yang Tak Dirindukan, composed by Melly Goeslaw)

Iya saya ngaku saya ketinggalan jaman bangeeeet baru nonton film “Surga yang Tak Dirindukan” baru-baru ini. Itu pun waktu tak sengaja menyalakan tv dan film ini sedang diputar. Saya ingat setahun yang lalu seorang teman berkata dia menangis tersedu-sedu menonton film garapan Kuntz Agus ini. Dan sekarang saya akhirnya tahu mengapa teman saya begitu terkesan pada film tersebut.

Hello there. Seperti yang saya ceritakan di tulisan Solo Trip to Jakarta, saya dan 2 sahabat saya sedang menggarap side blog bernama casualtwenties.com. Semuanya berawal dari cerita Mbak Momon tentang perasaannya ketika menjenguk bayi temannya. Kami kemudian bercerita tentang bagaimana kami masing-masing menghadapi hidup di masa yang seolah penuh tenggat waktu ini. Setelah melalui pembahasan yang cukup ngalor ngidul akibat kami kebanyakan maunya, blog ini disepakati untuk fokus pada bagaimana perempuan di usia 20-an a.k.a twenty-something menghadapi pernak-pernik kehidupannya dengan kasual. Karena tema besarnya adalah how to deal with twenty-something life casually, galau dan baper adalah hal yang harus kami hindari. Blog ini jadi semacam kontemplasi gimana kami melewati usia yang penuh dengan pertanyaan ini tanpa kehilangan kebahagiaan dan rasa syukur.

So, this morning my class attended a general lecture by Mr. Binsar H. Simandjuntak (Deputi Kepala BPKP Bidang Pengawasan Instansi Pemerintah Bidang Politik, Hukum, Keamanan, Pembangunan Manusia, dan Kebudayaan). He presented (arguably) most talked current issue in accounting: Accrual Basis Accounting Implementation in Indonesia. So, I wrote down the summary of his presentation and my opinion about it.

Studio Album by Leehi

Producers: Epik High’s Tablo, DJ Tukutz, and Mithra Jin, Leehi

Hey, it’s been a long time I didn’t write any song or album review. So, I just found myself in love with this album. It's called Seoulite (Half Album) (I'm not a big fan of the second part of Seoulite. That's why I'm here only for the first half). It’s Leehi’s second album after her stunning debut album “First Love”. It took three years for the young diva to come back--to complete this album. Even when we thought her first album was well-made but surely we are gonna love her even more with her newest album. Leehi said this album is named Seoulite since people keep saying she’s so good at singing English songs but she wanted to restate herself as a Seoul girl. Different from her debut album which was a pop-soul-RnB based, her latest album is a hip-hop number (indeed her producers were hip-hop warriors). This album is gonna leave you in awe and of course, wondering just how beautiful Seoul is to have a singer like her.

For those who feel unfamiliar with these words, I give the translation. Taeyangui Huye means “Descendants of The Sun”, an extremely celebrated South Korea’s TV drama. Now it sounds familiar right? Because millions of people (maybe you're included. Hihi) enjoyed this drama. I was into it these days, after a very long time didn’t into any dramas. (Mostly I don’t enjoy watching drama. The dramas got my attention can be counted with fingers).