It's not too late to say "Happy Fasting!"

Ramadhan 2013 almost reach its end. Luckily, this Ramadhan happens at the same time as my college holiday. After putting my whole self into PSM activity like no end from January to July, I'm finally taking a little rest from it. Not only because I'm in my 7th semester of college now, but I have KKN to take care of. I should pull myself away from the organization that I love. I barely come to college and spending my days home, helping with household works and stuff.

Also, Ramadhan means... a lot of Iftaar invitations, from old friends to the recent ones (haha, I didn't even make new friends this year, so anti-social), but unlike previous years, I only accepted few Iftaar invitations from my most precious people.

1. Iftaar with Maximilian

It was fun, even the friend whom I haven't met for a long time showed up. I came late though. We wrote letters to give to each other. We're probably arrogant to say this, but Maximilian is the best generation that ever exists!! 😝

2. Iftaar with childhood friends

We only meet at least once a year. Ever since we graduated from Junior High, we went to different schools, but we're still trying to always keep in touch with each other. They are the kind of friends whom I don't feel awkward with even though we haven't talked for a long time. We ordered one plate of mix toast bread with green tea and vanilla ice cream as its topping and the five of us ate it together. We wouldn't be able to finish it if we ordered one for each person. Sadly, Ema and Mara, couldn't join us this time.

Just like what Kushina Uzumaki said, "You don't need a lot of friends. Just a few, the ones you can really trust, are enough." 

Jaa, happy fasting. 

Itazura na Kiss - Love in Tokyo (Jdrama)

Another adaptation from a phenomenal manga is here: Itazura na Kiss - Love in Tokyo. This is the 4th live-action that I watched, from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, even Indonesia. Now, Japan has come with its new version of ItaKiss with brand new actors. I personally think this is the best version of all. Now, without further ado, let's jump to the story!

The Story

The epic story is started with the love confession from Kotoko Aihara (Miki Honoka) to Naoki Irie (Yuki Furukawa). She's got rejected immediately. After three years of secretly crushing on this guy, Kotoko's first love flipped by just like that. Kotoko learned Naoki's true character: behind the intelligence and his charming face, Naoki is nothing but an annoying, cold-hearted, arrogant person. Kotoko regrets that she wasted her high school life crushing on someone like Naoki. From this onwards, unexpected fate and incidents start to happen in Kotoko's life. All of sudden, Kotoko's new house got hit by a meteor/shooting star (LOL seriously... 😂) and crushed it down. Kotoko and her father must find a new place to stay.  The family who offered help to The Aihara happened to be The Irie family. Apparently, Shigeo Aihara, Kotoko's father, and Shigeki Irie, Naoki's father were best friends. Kotoko and her father start living in Irie's house until they find a new home. Kotoko couldn't help but felt a little excited because she still likes Naoki after all, but Naoki made it clear to her that he hates stupid women. 

They Make Each Other a Better Person

Naoki who never faced any challenges or hardships found Kotoko as her first trial who ruined his peaceful life. He never gets so many troubles as much as when he is with Kotoko. Naoki started becoming more human and shows emotions and feelings. Naoki was annoyed with this change, but at the same time, he felt a weird excitement that he never felt before. After helping Kotoko studied and see how hardworking she is, Naoki's perspective about her changed little by little, although he never showed it, he has faith that Kotoko will be able to reach her goal because of her perseverance. Kotoko, who's always been living so carefree and has no goal other than getting Naoki's love, has also started thinking about her dreams and do something for her life. Although she is not as smart as other people and her cooking skill sucks, she learned to be better at studying and as the time passed, she is more responsible for things which entrusted to her. Even her cooking skills improved. They are completing each other.

The Growing Relationship

Although it seemed like the relationship between Kotoko and Naoki has gotten better, there's always something that makes Naoki back to his annoying behavior. But he has gotten more protective about her in the way that Kotoko doesn't understand because Kotoko is quite slow at understanding things, she's still thinking that nothing has changed between her and Naoki although compared to their first meeting, Naoki sure doesn't think of Kotoko as a nuisance anymore and has become a very important person to Naoki.

Naoki learns to appreciate Kotoko more

I like how Naoki, little by little, changes to be a better and nicer person because of his encounter with Kotoko. They come to understand each other and Naoki learned about the meaning of hard work. Although he thought of Kotoko as a nuisance at first, he starts to appreciate her more.

Jealousy

Naoki started to feel strange emotions, he gets angry with Kotoko's friendship with Kinnosuke Ikezawa (Yuki Yamada), Kotoko's best friend who has a crush on Kotoko. Naoki may seem cool and careless about everyone else, but he didn't realize he felt a strong rivalry with Kinnosuke, although he always underestimates him because he is from class F. Naoki always makes sure that Kotoko will never fall for anyone else but him.

Naoki believes in Kotoko's capability

Naoki always being rude to Kotoko and hates her so much to the point that he didn't want to walk with her at the beginning of the story. He always underestimates her, but as they started living together, Naoki realized that Kotoko has strong perseverance to reach her goal and since then he knows he can push Kotoko beyond her limit to help her reach what she wants. He knows Kotoko will never give up.

Naoki is becoming more gentle towards Kotoko

You can see that Naoki's behavior towards Kotoko has changed as time passed. He in the past wouldn't even care about her, but as he develops feelings for Kotoko, he does not hesitate to show his feelings, although Kotoko is still clueless about that.

Mischievous Kiss to Fairy Tale Kiss

At the end of their high school days, Kotoko decided to give up on Naoki because Naoki made fun of her feelings in front of their classmates and insulted her friends. Naoki, furious with Kotoko's decision, suddenly kissed her only to make her unable to forget him easily. Naoki barely realized that he was actually jealous of Kotoko's intimate friendship with Kinnosuke, and being provoked by Kinnosuke's statement about who will steal Kotoko from him. That mischievous kiss was their first kiss. The second kiss took a very different scene and circumstances. Kotoko helped Naoki's brother when he got a sudden stomachache which threatened his life and brought him to the hospital. At that time, Naoki was busy working and didn't answer any calls. When he learned the situation, he realized he had caused troubles to Kotoko, but Kotoko still helps him anyway. Naoki then realized how important Kotoko for him, and kissed her when she was sleeping.

The Best ItaKiss Adaptation, and here's why:

1. Miki Honoka is perfect as Kotoko. She has this natural adorable gesture that is not annoying to look at, she can bring out the clumsiness and cuteness from Kotoko's character without exaggerating it. Kotoko's character looks young, lively, fun, and you fall in love with her as you watch her grow and more mature. She is not clinging on to Irie-kun all the time and even stands up for herself. Her life does not revolve around Irie-kun, unlike the other versions of Kotoko, this Kotoko is more independent. She isn't so stupid either and we can see her improving her cooking skill and studying.

2. Yuki Furukawa is Naoki Irie in real life

He is fluent in English and graduates from the same major as Naoki's first major in college, Yuki Furukawa is truly Naoki Irie in real life, although he's much nicer lol. In other adaptations, the one who portrayed his character is acting a bit exaggerated that somehow they lost the unique and typical character of Irie-kun who is supposed to be cool, introverted, and ignorant with the things around him. This version stays faithful to Irie's character until the end, only he becomes nicer towards people around him, but he doesn't change his poker face nor his introvert side.

3. The best Kin-chan

In this adaptation, Kinnosuke is not just comedy relief. He actually becomes Naoki's rival and true second lead character. He has very good chemistry with Kotoko and his feeling is not just a crush, it makes you want to support him somehow. We got to see the growth of his character and how he becomes a professional chef. We even get to see the best part of him like when he kept supporting Kotoko despite his own broken heart, and how he scolded Naoki who has been acting too ignorant towards people around him, including his family, and made Naoki learned the value of people who are precious to him. In terms of appearance and school grades based on the story, Kinnosuke may lose to Naoki (although in real life, both actors are actually so handsome!), but as a person, we get to see that he is a better human being compared to Naoki and somehow Naoki learned a lot from him.

4. The Iconic Things

- The morning coffee Kotoko made for Naoki.
It is stated in the manga that the only thing Kotoko's good at is making a coffee, and this becomes an iconic thing in this adaptation. Naoki always looks calm and satisfied, somehow surprised, when he drinks Kotoko's coffee. Whenever he drinks coffee made by Kotoko, it seems like he just drank the most delicious coffee in the world. It makes you wonder what kind of magic that Kotoko has put in it that makes Naoki seems to enjoy it so much. This coffee thing does not exist in other adaptations.

- The shooting star
This is the thing that hit Kotoko's house which results in her living together with Naoki's family. The probability of a house getting hit by a meteor is one in a million, and whenever Kotoko or Naoki sees a shooting star, they are reminded of their fateful meeting.

- Walking together with 3 meters distance
This is the first rule that Naoki gave to Kotoko when they began to live together. Since they have to go to school together, but Naoki didn't want to get close to Kotoko to avoid any stupid rumors, he told Kotoko that she can walk behind him at a 3-meter distance. Although it seemed annoying at first, they always do this whenever they're walking to school or college together, in every season and at different times.

I absolutely love the wedding scene too, and I highly recommend it to everyone. I hope you enjoy my review and this can be your reference in choosing good J-dramas. Love from the Itakiss family.

PS: All of the gifs were taken from Tumblr and Google. Feel free to message me if you want to be credited or want me to take it down. Jaa, sayonara :)

#VICC - Day 3 (21.06.13) - The Competition Day, Lampion City

Our 3rd day was started by early rehearsal in Hoi An Beach, and I got to capture this awesome sunrise scenery. This picture is chosen to be put in my College Photography Exhibition. Thank God... It was a coincidence to get this awesome silhouette 😆

Last Morning Rehearsal before the Competition. Our Squad!

The Competition
Since I've put our competition pictures story in my previous post, I will only put some pictures of other choirs.

The Choir from the U.S.A, they are the 1st champion of this event while we, PSM UIN Jakarta, are 2nd. They were simply amazing. Truly, the best choir I've ever heard so far 💗

This is The Voice Weavers, where most of the members are middle age. They got the silver medal, but their performance was interesting and they are all very nice to us :)

After the Competition: 

With my best friend, Rahma Putri~

yes, we won the gold diploma!!

After the announcement of all winners, everyone was gathered on stage and sang together. It's a Vietnamese song but we already learned it so we could sing it together. It was amazing and one of the most beautiful moments I've ever felt in my life

We made a circle after the announcement ended, to pray together and show our gratitude. It was beautiful and memorable. Everyone was crying of happiness 💗

with Children Choir from China :D

We still have Gala Dinner with all choirs at night, but before we get to Gala Dinner Place, we had the chance to have a little trip to Hoi An Ancient City. It was amazingly beautiful, they only use lampion to light up the whole city.

Another awesome moment was when our squad was tired after a long walk around Hoi An Ancient City, so we decided to take a break and sing some random choir songs on the street. Suddenly, a lot of people and tourists stopped and watched us. Finally, the Squad decided to have a little performance there. People were so excited to see us, it was great fun. We were dancing and singing along with the crowd, just like a musical 😆

After that not-so-short break, we continued to walk to Gala Dinner place and met these Vietnam Children Choirs. We got along with them really fast and together with them, we sang that Vietnamese song once again. Mostly those kids were singing while we only clap our hands, LOL.  And my friends taught them some ridiculous Bahasa words and slang such as, "Eeee... Aaa.... e e e e... aaa!!" Those kids were so excited and kept saying it along the road. LOL, you don't have to understand Indonesia to say those phenomenal Dahsyat chanting~ And these kids apparently like us a lot. They kept shouting "Indonesia - Vietnam!!" and played around with us 😁

Gala Dinner Place

It was said that after you float this candle in the lake while wishing for something, your wish will come true. Well, I didn't buy myth, but I float that candle without wishing anything LOL 

It was truly a night to remember. We had so much fun and happiness, it's like after 6 months of struggling together, the gold diploma and those wonderful vacations and experiences we didn't think we would get before suddenly paid off all of our sweat. God truly pays us for our hard work with something that's too good to be true. Alhamdulillah...

How Love Hurts in Last Friends (Jdrama)

Last Friends adalah drama Jepang yang mengangkat tema yang cukup berat, yakni tentang Domestic Violence, Sexual abuse, Broken Home Family, and LGBTQ+. Last Friends berhasil membahas berbagai subjek secara transparan, kita benar-benar diajak bersentuhan dengan beberapa problem sensitif yang diangkat untuk mengerti jalan ceritanya. 

The Story

Kisah ini berputar tentang persahabatan, dimana setiap tokohnya memiliki masalah psikologi dan latar belakang yang berbeda-beda. 

Michiru Aida (Masami Nagasawa), gadis cantik dan feminin yang bekerja di salon kecantikan, namun di tempat kerjanya, ia di-bully oleh seniornya atas dasar persaingan. Michiru terlalu lemah untuk melawan. Di rumah, Ibu Michiru cuma bisa mabuk-mabukan dan membawa pulang seorang pria asing. Ayah dan Ibunya bercerai saat Michiru masih sekolah akibat KDRT (Kekerasan Dalam Rumah Tangga), sang suami sering memukuli Ibunya. Dalam segala kegelapan dan masalah hidupnya itu, Michiru masih memiliki satu sumber kebahagiaan, yaitu kekasihnya, Sousuke Oikawa (Ryo Nishikido). 

Ruka Kishimoto (Juri Ueno), kebalikan dari Michiru, adalah gadis tomboy yang bisa melindungi dirinya sendiri. Ruka adalah motocross racer handal. Berbeda dengan Michiru, Ruka berasal dari keluarga yang hangat dan senantiasa mendukungnya. Penampilannya tomboy, dan Ruka benci ketika ia diremehkan. Ruka memilih fokus pada olahraga motocross untuk membuktikan bahwa perempuan juga bisa sekuat laki-laki. Michiru dan Ruka memiliki persahabatan yang begitu dalam. Tanpa sepengetahuan Michiru, Ruka sebenarnya memiliki perasaan yang jauh lebih dalam dari sekedar persahabatan terhadap Michiru, namun tentu saja, Ruka hanya bisa menyimpannya sebagai rahasia. 

Takeru Mizushima (Eita),  seorang pria tampan yang bekerja sebagai hairstylist dan make up artist juga Bartender. Takeru merasakan ketertarikan yang unik begitu bertemu Ruka. Mereka memiliki banyak kemiripan dan entah bagaimana, Takeru selalu bisa mengerti isi hati Ruka. Takeru, seperti Ruka, menyimpan sebuah rahasia yang mendalam. Ia memiliki trauma terhadap perempuan dan sentuhan mereka karena ia mengalami kekerasan seksual ketika ia kecil. Hal ini membuat Takeru membenci dan ingin kabur dari rumahnya hingga akhirnya Takeru memutuskan untuk pindah ke Share House bersama Ruka dan Eri.

Eri Takigawa (Asami Mizukawa) adalah sahabat sekaligus teman serumah Ruka di sebuah Share House. Eri bekerja sebagai pramugari pesawat, sangat periang dan selalu menghidupkan suasana. Wanita sukses yang bebas. Eri memiliki hubungan spesial yang tidak jelas dengan teman sekantornya Tomohiko Ogura yang kemudian tinggal bersama mereka di Share House. Hubungan mereka tidak jelas karena Ogurin masih memiliki Isteri, sedangkan isterinya berselingkuh dengan orang lain dan ia tidak berani meminta cerai. Eri menjadi pelindung dan tempat pelariannya.

Suatu hari, Sousuke mengajak Michiru tinggal bersamanya di apartemen pribadinya. Sousuke adalah pegawai negara yang bekerja di Divisi Pengawasan Anak-Anak (atau semacamnya). Tipikal pria baik-baik idaman wanita. Michiru merasa bahwa Sousuke mirip dengannya karena Sousuke juga ditinggal Ibunya saat ia masih di sekolah dasar dan sejak itu, Sousuke tidak memiliki keluarga tetap. Karena tidak ingin terjebak bersama Ibunya yang cuma hanya bisa mabuk-mabukan dan membawa pulang pria ke rumah, Michiru pun setuju untuk tinggal bersama Sousuke demi meraih kebahagiannya. 

Kebahagiaan yang diharapkan Michiru tidak bertahan lama karena begitu ia mulai tinggal bersama Sousuke, sifat aslinya muncul. Berawal dari sebuah email dari Ruka, Sousuke berubah menjadi pencemburu dan menduga bahwa Ruka adalah laki-laki simpanan Michiru. Ketika Michiru tidak bisa membuktikan bahwa Ruka adalah perempuan karena handphone-nya tidak aktif, Sousuke mulai melakukan tindakan kekerasan seperti memecahkan meja dan memukulnya. Bahkan setelah tau bahwa Ruka adalah perempuan pun, Sousuke tetap merasa bahwa Ruka adalah ancaman bagi hubungannya. Ia bisa melihat sesuatu dalam diri Ruka yang tidak dilihat oleh Michiru, karena itu ia melarang Michiru untuk berhubungan dengannya. Semakin hari, Sousuke semakin menakutkan Michiru dengan kecemburuan dan sifat posesifnya, tapi di atas semua itu adalah tindak kekerasannya terhadap Michiru yang membuatnya akhirnya memutuskan kabur dan memohon perlindungan dari Ruka.

Love Triangle in an odd way

Ruka begitu protektif terhadap Michiru. Teman-temannya di Share House, Takeru, Eri, dan Ogurin pun juga berusaha melindungi Michiru dari Sousuke. Takeru melindungi Michiru dengan sepenuh hatinya karena ia ingin melindungi Ruka dan menjaga senyumannya. Awalnya Michiru senang karena bisa tinggal bersama teman-teman barunya di Share House, tapi Sousuke tidak membiarkan hal itu bertahan lama. Sousuke menghabiskan malam di tengah hujan hingga pagi demi menunggu Michiru dan membuatnya luluh. Ketika Michiru memulai kehidupannya yang lebih baik di Share House, Sousuke mengatakan padanya bahwa ia lebih baik mati daripada hidup tanpa Michiru. Michiru pun memutuskan untuk kembali padanya. Hal ini membuat Ruka kesal karena setelah semua yang ia dan teman-temannya lakukan untuk melindunginya, Michiru malah kembali lagi pada kekasihnya yang psikopat. Beberapa waktu setelah kepergian Michiru dari Share House, Takeru mampir ke apartemen Sousuke demi melihat keadaan Michiru dan menemukannya dalam keadaan depresi parah dan penuh luka. Michiru tak lagi bisa membedakan kehidupannya dan segala yang dilakukannya adalah untuk Sousuke, namun jelas bahwa kebahagiannya hilang. Tanpa pikir panjang, Takeru segera menariknya kembali ke Share House. 

We're like domino. I fall for you, you fall for someone else

Di sisi lain, Ruka menderita karena menyembunyikan dirinya yang sebenarnya dari orang-orang terdekatnya. Menurut Psikiater, Ruka memerlukan paling tidak satu orang untuk terbuka tentang dirinya, dan tentu saja orang itu bukan Michiru. Ruka memutuskan untuk mengungkapkan kebenaran tentang dirinya pada Takeru. Mereka telah menjadi sahabat yang selalu bisa mengerti satu sama lain, dan bahkan Takeru selalu lebih peka dari Michiru mengenai Ruka. Tapi, ketika Ruka hendak memberitahu Takeru, Takeru justru menyatakan bahwa ia jatuh cinta pada Ruka. Akhirnya Ruka memutuskan untuk keluar dari Share House tanpa memberitahukan rahasianya pada siapapun. Ruka takut tidak ada seorangpun yang akan menerimanya. Ia tidak ingin diterima sebagai perempuan ataupun laki-laki, melainkan sebagai manusia dengan segala kurang dan lebih yang ia miliki. Jika tetap berada di Share House bersama Michiru, ia hanya bisa terus menahan perasaannya, dan ia tak ingin menodai perasaan Takeru jika ia tahu siapa Ruka sebenarnya. Sementara Michiru mulai menyukai Takeru yang terus bersikap baik dan protektif terhadapnya, Sousuke mulai menyakiti orang-orang yang dianggapnya telah mengambil Michiru darinya.

I rated it 90 out of 100. This drama is so intense and heartbreaking. I got scared but the story kept me watching because I was curious about how the story goes in the next episode. Berawal dari rasa penasaran sama aktingnya Ryo Nishikido yang berperan sebagai psychopath, I decided to give this drama a try. I'm a big fan of him as an actor. He's brilliant in portraying good, protagonist roles, so to see him act as an antagonist is interesting. I got mixed feelings when I watched it, and that farewell letter he gave in the last episode.......... It was too good and I was like, no, don't die!!!! Oh well, it's been a while since I cried this much for the drama 😂

#VICC - Day 2 (20.06.13) - Beach Rehearsal, Red Team!

So, it's our 2nd day in Hoi An. We woke up early to have morning rehearsal. We visited Hoi An Beach for the first time, it took only 3 minutes by walk from our Hotel. How lucky 😆

It was one of the most awesome rehearsals. Bang Ipul helped us to know more about acting because we played a bit of theatrical in our performance. Although it was only 6 am, the sun was already burning. But the sea breeze and the beautiful view around us encouraged us to keep rehearsing.

The View from my room. Pretty awesome, right :)

So, after breakfast and bath, we're ready to go to Hoi An Conference Hall for Stage Rehearsal. Luckily, it took only 2 minutes by walk from our hotel, but the Interkultur team still gave us a Bus to take us to that place. Haha, what an awesome service though it wastes too much energy for the driver. Having to pick us up and drive us to the place which actually we could get only by walking 😂 Btw, we wore red outfits!

So, that's all. We were supposed to sing in the Friendship Concert but the event was canceled due to the heavy rain. Yeah, can you believe that after we rehearsed in the daylight with a temperature of 40 degrees, the rain suddenly fell down in the evening and didn't stop until night? It was a bit disappointing because we've rehearsed but the show was canceled, but at least we had more time to rest since we would face the real competition the next day. Alhamdulillah~