7. You’re not using iPhone?

6. Emang ga nasionalis nih kerjanya sama pemerintah negeri orang

5. Oh lu suka nonton konser ya…Katy Perry ga nonton?

4. Dari Jakarta? smuk satu ya?

3. Wah udah Singapur banget sih kamu!

2. “I don’t speak Chinese” | “Oh sorry! You look like a local”

1. Lo emang mirip banget sama bokap lo.

“Kapan balik ke Singapur?” pas hari Sabtu (which is hari pertama gue)

“Besok Rabu,”

“Ih sebentar banget,”

.

Jujur sebel lho. As in, semua orang juga harusnya kan tau kalo udah kerja jatah cuti tuh limited dan harus dipake dgn hati2…ngapain juga ngabisin jatah cuma buat pulang kalo ga ada apa2. Leave 3 hari kayak gitu udah lumayan bikin kerjaan numpuk…apalagi kalo lebih lama? Ga semua kerjaan itu santai. Lagian kayak di Jakarta ada tons of things to do aja. Trus kalopun gue stay lebih lama, emang dia bakal make time buat gue?

And again, dipikir emang gue kepengen balik ke Singapur?

This month I thankfully have it really easy. Like really, really easy. Which is almost a miracle.

That is how powerful 3 days of long-dreamless sleeps and long naps are. Plus of course the happiness of meeting good old friends.

In general, the show is not bad at all. The voices are really lovely, especially Christine. From afar, she even look Sierra-y most of the time. Raoul’s voice was unexpectedly beautiful and Phantom’s was deep and powerful. And although I’ve never heard the songs before, it was good. Not that special, I would say, because there are only two songs that I remember: Today and that song in the masquerade.

The main characters have totally different personalities, which I have mixed feelings about. It wasn’t comfortable for me, but I think that’s only because I’m already too familiar with Sir Lloyd Webber’s version.

• Raoul: quite the same as I expected with less charisma. He just seemed to be a lover boy but not a Viscount. And I don’t know why, but I felt that yesterday’s Raoul was too BLONDE.
• Christine: reminded me a bit of the character Glinda from wicked. At first you think she’s this sweet, sad girl. But last night she was really ambitious for me -____- and she didn’t seem to be confused about her feelings for both the Phantom and Raoul. From the beginning, she stated, “I’m married to my music” and to the Phantom she said, “I’m married to our music.” But at the end she left the Phantom anyway. Now it’s me who’s confused.
• Phantom: this is the toughest one to enjoy, since the last footage of Phantom I saw was the one played by Ramin Karimloo. Last night’s version is a bit weird for me. He seemed to be quite civilized, and even introduced himself as “Erik” to the commissary, but then he murdered someone -_____- so again, I’m confused. Personally, I like Webber’s depiction more, because that Phantom is much ‘clearer’: a dark, twisted, obsessed genius; rather than a bulky, seemed-like-a-nice-but-misunderstood-guy who murders.
• Meg: last night she became the hooker…oh my…

While the characters confusion was maybe what the show is intending, I was not so pleased with the supporting parties.

The ensemble was quite nice although noticeably small. They only have 3 violins, no cello, one double bass, two trumpets, two french horns, one oboe and another player who did flute and bassoon (cmiiw) alongside a timpani set of three, some percussion auxiliaries, and three keyboards. I think they did a good job, although it was clouded by lack of sound quality, which brings me to the next point.

I.am.immensely.disappointed.with.the.sound.quality.

The speakers are not good enough and they cracked a few times during the climaxes of the songs. At one time, it was not balance and the sound of the keyboard was only heard from the left side. I mean, come on. They expect us to pay at least IDR550K (around SGD76.8) to listen to disturbing noises caused by incompetent speakers? Added with the superbly disappointing promoter, it’s no wonder the theater was noticeably empty.

Another disappointment was the stage. With almost $80 spent, I expect something more solid than painted fabric as the background. It just looked…cheap. Sorry but it worth less than what I have spent.

Restaurant Trio, Gondangdia, Jakarta.

oder das Wissen ist,

glaube ich, meine Zukunft wird da sein

.

Saudara-saudaraku, janganlah banyak orang di antara kamu mau menjadi guru; sebab kita tahu, bahwa sebagai guru kita akan dihakimi menurut ukuran yang lebih berat

Intinya ya betapa beratnya tugas seorang guru.

Buat gue itu juga mau bilang betapa jarangnya kita bisa menemukan guru yang baik. Empat tahun sekolah di luar negri dan ketemu banyak banget orang pinter yang ngajar di kelas, rasanya yang bener-bener bisa dibilang “guru” bisa diitung pake jari tangan.

Fakta bahwa anak-anak IPA dan IPS, dan bahkan yang nggak pernah diajar sama Frau (termasuk gue) ikut ngerasa kehilangan, buat gue jadi bukti betapa Frau udah meninggalkan kesan di hati anak-anak sanur dan betapa besar impact yang beliau udah berikan ke komunitas Santa Ursula pusat.

Personally, gue cuma pernah berinteraksi langsung dengan Frau saat lagi ada open house di Goethe Institut. Tapi entah bagaimana, begitu ketemu beliau udah tau nama gue. It touched me, soalnya seperti yang gue bilang, gue gapernah diajar langsung sama dy.

Her departure was just so sudden it’s really hard to accept…but our loss is real.

Let us hope that her legacy will still remain in our hearts and in our beloved sanur community.

Auf wiedersehen, Frau.

A (me) : of course, just like everyone else.

ZY : 3 years?

A : yep.

ZY : then what will you do after 3 years? Marry a Singaporean guy?

A : if I have already free from that bond, why would I commit to another even longer one?