Saturday, July 09, 2022
I was telling someone yesterday that I'm having a low point period. People like me have this a lot I guess and I kinda have written about it a lot - how the swing down can be so tormenting. I don't know if it's being in Singapore alone, somehow I think perhaps it's not really that because we all are alone actually, though that is not so true either because I know people who always have people and if I don't have people, it's most probably my own fault because I shun people. Anyways, been feeling kinda low and as being low usually is, I'm just sinking deeper and deeper. I see things as bleak everywhere. That is most probably the wrong attitude to take; one has to be optimistic after all, but you know me, I'm not that. The person I talked to yesterday may argue that I have something so awesome to look forward to, like he was feeling excited for me but as I told him, right now I am just consumed by fear.
It's just, there's a lot, a lot of things going on in my head and none of them are that good. It's overwhelming and having to keep it together is hard and the past weeks have shown that I fail miserably. I have a really short fuse and I have no chill. When I am in this state, it's tough and I have a lot of self-pity which turns into anger to so many people for like not even bothering with how I feel. Why should they I guess. No one owes you anything and if people are just going to not care, what are you gonna do about it - it is what it is. It's hard, it's hard to keep it together. I can cry, in fact I do feel like crying, but what that's going to do. It's the long weekend and I should be more relaxed, but right now I'm just not feeling good :'(
:) eKa @ 10:15:00 PM • 0 comments
Friday, June 03, 2022
I'm back, it's day 2 and I feel rather homesick already. It was great being home. I got ketupat for my first meal back, imagine that. I managed to eat a good variety back home 'cause mom's been great, cousin's been kind, and by my own sheer determination :D Had the best red velvet cake when I went out with the best friends. It was almost like weird. You see, I first had red velved cake when I was in Singapore and it was so so and so I thought it wasn't something that special, but the red velvet cake I had during that dinner was really really good that it would have definitely changed my whole perception if I have had it first. It was not cheap by Indonesian standard but would be cheap by Singapore standard especially considering the serving was big. No place in Singapore would serve it in that size I think. In that dinner, I also had a really really good mushroom and truffle and cheese tagliatelle. It was really good being with the friends who I always feel put me into perspective and kinda get me. Perspective is something that I lose a lot here because I am in my head a lot.
Then being with mom is of course great that I have my worries when she finally has to be alone because unlike me and my dad - we're built to like or even crave solitude and even then I have many lonely moments - my mom is more social and even now when she's alone most of the time, I actually kinda feel sad for her, but who knows when she finally will be alone and maybe can clear out the house a bit, maybe she'll flourish? We also got to visit my dad's urn. It was sad seeing my mom still being able to cry about it, but at the same time made me feel relieved because then I'm not that crazy emotional for being able to cry about it too even now. I really treasure and appreciate these moments I get to spend with mom. She kinda does exercises every night. I hate exercises and don't do them, so at first I was like, that is insanity, but then I started to join along, though not as serious in putting the effort as her. I mean I'm still me. There was one exercise that involved running in place and I was like what the hell, why are we doing this?!?
News that occupied most of my time there was the missing son of Pak. Ridwan Kamil that a few times a day, we're like checking in, have they found his son? Even on my last morning there. Sometime my mom surprised me with the news that she actually paid attention to, like the school shooting in the US that also happened when I was there. She asked me why the lawmakers there are not doing anything about this, since it has happened a lot. Explaining the Second Amendment, the Republican party, and NRA are just too much so I just told her the politicians there are taking money from the gun manufacturers so they can't do anything about it. Anyways, spending time watching TV with mom, talking, I think that is the biggest adjustment for me being back, along with the fact I get to do nothing there and just watch TV. As I was leaving Indonesia, I thought I feel loved more back home which would sound logical, but I also mean it Indonesia as a whole and in general. In a weird way, as bad as Indonesia can be, I think I get love more back home. I guess that's why I always feel Indonesian and never anything else.
Okay, what else. Finished book 1, The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. I am embarrassed because it's half the year (gosh time flies, right?!?) and I only finished 1 book! That is shameful. I like the book. It tells the stories of American Indians in the 50s, with a few different characters being featured. It also tells the story of the fight for survival because there's a new law being planned that may get their tribe losing their land and essentially get terminated. The history of American Indians are deep as they are the original people of America and it's really really a shame that I have no knowledge about this and it's hard for me to imagine the scenes, the people, which makes reading it feel rather incomplete. It is one of the injustice of America that the American Indians who are the original native of America becomes marginalized in this modern world. However, I guess that is the case in many other places - looking at Papua too in Indonesia.
:) eKa @ 7:30:00 PM • 0 comments
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Had my first PCR test yesterday and I was quite annoyed about it because I should not have taken it. I'm going home tomorrow and I've actually been hoping that Indonesia will remove its pre-departure PCR test requirement. I waited and waited but as my departure date approaches, I have no choice but to schedule one. Then the president announced some COVID relaxation Tuesday night, but his announcement was short and it wasn't clear if pre-departure PCR test was removed. I tried googling all over and it seemed it was a yes but then I think people were waiting for official later or something like that. For a president who wants things to run as efficiently as possible, I don't think this whole announcement and release of new rule is that well-coordinated. The new rule should be signed, stamped, and come into effect as he announced it or at least by midnight. Instead it seems on Wednesday when the new rule started to take place, people were still waiting for the official notice. So my PCR test was scheduled for 11:15 AM and as I made my way to the clinic, I kept on refreshing the Indonesian embassy website for updates, but it was still the same old rule. I was so torn more because I find the test to be expensive even though the place I went to was the cheapest one I found at SGD 98 - a price that shocked my mom because it's cheaper in Indonesia. Anyways I was there and I did the test, my first one and though the doctor said there's no pain, I had to tell him there was pain and I had tears. The swab was up my nose and it definitely went much deeper than what I did when I had to do regular self-test. I wonder what's the process like for PCR in different countries and how much they cost. Mom said in Indonesia it's normally both nose and mouth swab. When she was in Turkey, it was just mouth swab. So anyways back to my annoyance with this whole PCR thing, when I went back to check the Indonesian embassy website in the afternoon, the page was updated and it is shown that pre-departure test is no longer needed, ARRRGH!!! That's precious SGD 98 gone :( The only good news is I don't have COVID. Yay! I'm still clean.
So tomorrow is home. People other than me seem to be more excited about it than me. It's just, starting this week off from the long weekend, I just suddenly kinda feel down, the usual unexplainable unexpected restlessness and so instead of being excited and looking forward to it, anxiety is growing in me. Maybe I'll feel better once I land and meet mom and get to eat. Gosh, I just realize I forgot to ask for chicken soup, my favorite comfort food. Maybe she'll get me nasi uduk tomorrow? That nasi uduk has been the topic of many conversation because one of my cousin loves it. After 2 years, this trip of taking a plane and going through whatever COVID procedure there is, it just feels like a test I need to conquer, like if I do this alright then we can climb other mountains. I know I'm making it a bigger deal than it should be, but it's just me and my weird brain. Alrighty, be good people and as always, may your days be glorious.
:) eKa @ 11:17:00 PM • 0 comments
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
I have this feeling that tells me not to say a lot or at all about things that I want to do or hope to happen because I'll jinx them and they're not gonna happen and that's basically what happened to me recently. I've been talking about taking JLPT and I was thwarted. I will not be able to take it this July :( I took note of when registration would open but what I didn't anticipate was that it would be filled fast. Registration open at 9 AM and when I tried to register before lunch, I was unable to do so because they're all filled! The disappointment was great that I contemplated going to Jakarta and doing it there. At that time, registration in Jakarta wasn't open yet and I was really thinking about it, but in the end I thought no and I should just use the time to prepare well. I don't know if I will be better prepared for the exam in December though since I don't actually have enough N2 resources to tie me through and I'm pretty much losing momentum now, putting less time to study *sigh* what I'm doing now is I am doing all the N3 practice exams that I can get my hand on and I have to say even for N3, my performance is not spectacular and that makes me kinda more demoralized. Anyways now that I am saying all this out loud, it's possible that I'll get thwarted again :(
Speaking of thwarted, I'm thinking of Johnny Depp and particularly in relation to the Fantastic Beasts movies. On the first one when he was revealed as Grindelwald, I was among those who were like what the fuck but then it grew on me and I actually want to see him through until the end, but as we know it was not to be and he was replaced in the latest movie. Some people may argue that his "cancellation" is justifiable and I'm weary of not being seen as team woman for still wanting to see him play Grindelwald and a pirate, but I really wish he could still do those parts though. It may not make much sense that why on some celebrities who misbehave and have scandal we're like yeah go away and never come back, but on some we feel that their "cancellation" is too much, like that time when Kevin Hart pulled out from hosting the Oscar, I actually felt bad for him, but for Will Smith whose smack on Chris Rock I watched live on TV as it happened, I don't know when I'll be ready to see him again and I actually like Will Smith. When the whole thing happened I was thinking if I could turn back time like 3-5 minutes ago to a world when Will Smith didn't just hit Chris Rock, I would, but as evidenced by his acceptance speech, Will Smith didn't feel the need to, sigh.
Anyways, I actually want to talk about Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. I read an article recently about how the Harry Potter universe is losing its magic and how the Fantastic Beasts series might be cursed with all the drama with the actors - good Lord, Ezra Miller is as troubled as Credence :( Maybe there's some truth but for me I'm still loving the Harry Potter universe a lot. The other weeks the local TV was showing all the Harry Potter movies and when we reached the Deathly Hallows parts, I was thinking no matter how many times I watched this, my heart still breaks for Professor Snape. When the first movie in the Fantastic Beasts series came out, I wasn't feeling it much, but they grew on me and I was very much interested to watch the third movie especially after what happened in the second one and I have to say though I have many comments. I like it and I don't mind another movie especially because I don't think things are done. I was expecting to watch the end duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but that didn't happen - like I'm still very much interested to see how the elder wand came into Dumbledore's possesion. Then for me, Credence's storyline is pretty tragic, not tragic literally but tragic on how he was set to be like having a great influence and yet at the end it just kinda fizzled. It made me think of somehow a movie is not adequate because there's only so much you can fit into 2 hours or so. If we have gotten a book then perhaps more things could be illuminated, like what was Grindelwald's plan with Credence. Then there's no Nagini in this third movie and it's kinda unbelievable because Credence and Nagini are close; Nagini is like Credence's only friend, so for them to just go apart like that requires more explanation for me. Did Dumbledore try to help Nagini with her situation? Nagini just went off on her own feels weird, what has she been doing all this time? Also unbelievable is Tina pretty much letting her sister go to the dark side. Okay maybe she tried off-screen, but for her to not be on the team to take Grindelwald down is not believable. What else? I'm falling for Newt's brother, Theseus :D and the scene in the dungeon prison was funny and I'm glad for that moment of levity. Do I miss Johnny Depp? Kinda, a bit, because I would be interested to see how he would play this role even though I think his replacement, Mads Mikkelsen, was quite a good fit as Grindelwald. Like, I can't really picture Johnny Depp doing the very first scene of Dumbledore and Grindelwald meeting and that first scene was really good to let us have a feel about the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald. All and all, I hope they get to do another one. I want to see this story though.
What else about life? The other day I suddenly noticed that it's April and it's going to be 2 years since Dad left. It's weird how the realization didn't just dawn on me as we entered April but at the same time I could still have tears when I think deeply about it *sigh* Live moves on, you feel it more even so these days I guess because people are like getting done with covid, people are travelling, people are not holding back as much. Over here masks outdoor is optional. I tried not having masks in that first few days the rule came into effect and it's like you just have to walk with confidence because everyone are still masked. I don't believe people here think masking is of the utmost importance, but it's just a hassle to take the mask on and off so people just keep them on. I have to say, it's really nice feeling the wind, like I suddenly realize there's a breeze and breeze could be felt by your face and of course your face not sweating is great. Lastly, let me leave you with this picture of a cake I did last month in a trial baking class. I got lotsa help from the instructor. It tastes not bad but hey I just love cakes :D In the world of everything must go on the internet, the cooking school has a decorated section where you could take pictures of your cake. It wasn't important for me, but the instructor told us we could go there to take picture, so I just, okay.
:) eKa @ 10:07:00 PM • 0 comments
Monday, March 14, 2022
Turned 40 today. If you ask me how I feel about it, well I can't answer positively because I feel dreadfully stuck in my life and being older and still stuck is just not pleasing at all. However when I wished happy birthday to my cousin who turned 40 earlier 9 days ago, she said we made it to 40! and that was like a reminder for gratitude because I do know people who didn't make it to 40, I know people who didn't even make it to 30, so to make it here is a blessing. Somehow God still wants me around. I don't know if I am fulfilling His plan. He does know what I wish for though, what I have been asking everyday.
Anyways, today was spent visiting Gardens by the Bay to see the cherry blossoms in the Flower Dome. Some thoughts swirled in my head on the bus ride there. Music was provided by my NYC / SF playlist and little memories floated by. In fact quite a number of my travelling memories have been floating by these past few months. There is a lot to be thankful for that I had had the chance to travel and it's like going to 40, I have had the chance to fill my life with many places and it's was really a blessing. I don't know when I will get to travel again. It's been a regular thing in my life pre-COVID and as COVID stops our lives, there were times when I was thankful that I had had the chance to do all the things I did before COVID. The next plane ride I'll take will definitely to home but even that I have my apprehension. All the different requirements and the fear of sudden rule change is so real in me. It also makes me realize that to travel further like I used to do has now become even more daunting to me - all the different rules just to get on and off the plane and how about the COVID rules in the destination, is it lax? It would be a nightmare to get COVID overseas. It's not like I don't have enough anxiety in my actual life, I am adding fear into a hypothetical situation. That is something that I realize about me recently, that I could manufacture crisis for myself. Somehow I just can't accept things to be going well or good, even writing that feels to me like I am jinxing it. I feel there's always like a hidden undercurrent beneath, like there's a twist, something bad is coming. I guess in conclusion, as I get older my anxiety grows and grows. Kinda old to not be having a handle on it and I do wonder if I have regressed in life, but perhaps that is just my path, the things that I need to learn in life.
Let me stop now. Here are some pictures from the Flower Dome. I put filters on a number of them. For more pictures with less touch up, you can go here.
:) eKa @ 10:12:00 PM • 0 comments
Monday, February 21, 2022
I have quite a number of random thoughts but it's kinda too random to be written together as a cohesive unit and the only thing I could think of as maybe the uniting theme is that they have some sort of measurement in them, hence the title of the post. Last week as I was being examined by my doctor, I realized that often times you just don't take notice of certain things. 3 cm or 7-8 cm something would never mean anything to you until the day they carry more weight than wanted in your life. You start taking out the ruler and judging if something is small or big :( Then what is 6 months. 6 months often pass by quickly without you noticing it, but you will notice it when you have to evaluate if the last 6 months has taken a turn for the worse or by some miracle it has gone great :( Then there's 10 years. It was quite a surprise for me to find out that I'm reaching 10 years on something. I have lasted this long?!? This was compounded even more when I, by pure chance, met with someone from the past. It was such a good coincidence that I hugged the girl twice. She told me she's 30 now and it was more or less 10 years ago when I left them all so a number of things had happened and in her own words, she has grown. A sweet thing she said was that we love you. It was actually the second time this was told to me by them and as much as it made me feel rather good, but upon more reflection it makes me kinda sad. I have heard people tell me they love me but none of them are loves that I can have every day. It's not the oxygen that you have in every breath, but more like the high from a good meal. It fills you and before long it's gone and somehow you have to draw strength from the memory of it, that someone had loved you and remember by extension God or the universe (if you prefer) loves you. Anyways, as much as the girl has grown, she still has her own restlessness which I can relate very well. I pray for her because I can understand fully how hard it is to stay afloat when you're sinking deeper and deeper.
On other news. The hill or the mountain? This relates to my plan of taking JLPT. I think in my life, I could never see me submitting myself to climb a mountain, but here I am contemplating the hill or the mountain. I found a website that provides practice tests for both N2 and N3 and I attempted both. The official JLPT website itself provides sample questions and after attempting the practice tests from the other website, I found how the sample questions is not really representative at all of the actual test especially from the time limit point of view and the length of it all. The N3 practice test surprised me when it didn't make me feel like crying. I wouldn't say I was cruising but I finished before the time limit and I didn't feel so bad after it though maybe I should feel bad because I couldn't even reach 90% in all the components. The N2 on the other hand was like a slap to the ego; this is even after I knew before going in that it would be hard for me. I couldn't finish within the allocated time and I would say I performed poorly. JLPT doesn't take your raw score but they apply scaled score. It was my first time hearing it and considering my weekdays environment, I am a bit embarrassed that I have never heard of it before or know how it works. So my raw score for the N2 practice test was scary bad and I don't know if it would become better in the scaled score. All of this doesn't matter, what matters is should I attempt the hill (which is N3) or the mountain (N2). Does it make sense to do something that you know you can do? Doing something you know you can do is not going to make you feel triumphant unlike when you have managed to conquer a challenge. As you hear me saying all this I guess you can guess where this is heading. Instead of attempting something that is within reach, I am deciding that I will be doing N2 and now all effort will be focused on this. I really think that the kanji is my Achilles' heel and I really don't think my attempt to memorize words work, simply because I don't think I have memorized any :( Anyways, now that I told you about all this, I guess I would have to tell you the result later on, even if I fail :( You should know by now that I'm a pessimist so don't fault me for not being positive.
:) eKa @ 9:18:00 PM • 0 comments
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Book 0 - A Gentleman in Moscow
I finished reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I took way too long. It's a great book actually and I like it a lot. There will be a lot of spoilers in this post, so stop reading if you want to read the book which I am totally recommending. I myself got to read this book because it was on Obama's book list. Anyways, A Gentleman in Moscow tells a story of a Russian Count who was put under a hotel arrest. The reason of his arrest is hard to be reasoned with. Let's just say that at that time Russia was undergoing revolution (side note: I don't have any Russian history knowledge at all) and aristocrats were being wiped out. When the Count was sentenced, there's no end date on when he could get out, so he practically had to spend his entire life in the hotel. He moved from his spacious and luxurious suite to a small room in the attic. The count began his sentence at the age of 33, but thankfully he had experienced a bit of life before his arrest. One would think that being confined to a luxury hotel and having money during it would not be so bad, definitely not as bad as the Russians who were sent to the gulag, however as you see other people going about their lives and you stay stuck, well you can imagine that it will bring one spirits down. On his lowest moment something happened, something that I can only describe as God still having things to show and amuse him, and that caused him to literally walk away from the ledge and find a new way of living.
Another life-changing moment for the Count was when a woman who he knew as a child in the hotel entrusted him with her daughter. This part of the story had its sad moment for me (who tend to look at the downside of things). The girl's mom was never mentioned again and we don't know what happened to her parents. The Count, however, ended up having a fulfilling life as a father to this child and as he said, it made the whole experience of being confined to the hotel meaningful and he wouldn't change it for anything. While he was able to come to terms with his life, he didn't want the girl to live a restricted life and he seized an opportunity to give the girl freedom away from Russia. Without the girl, he also realized that it's time for him to leave the hotel and he also plotted his escape. He spent 32 years in the hotel by the time he left. That's a long time for someome to have their life be constricted. In the end though and this is something that I could relate with, despite "Russia" unfairly taking away his life and the lives of many people he knew, he decided to stay in Russia. There is this illogical love for country that I get, because I feel that. There's always question if Indonesia loves all her people equally for example people with my background, but at the end of the day I am still choosing to be Indonesian.
:) eKa @ 8:26:00 PM • 0 comments
Friday, January 14, 2022
I'm not one who likes or really applies the phrase one day at a time. I have way too much anxiety and in general I seem to just steer away anything remotely close to self-help. It's like one day at a time, okay so you get through today, but then tomorrow you have to deal with this same old shit all over again, what the fuck?!? I say that knowing full well that sometimes what else can you do, you just need to get through and hope that things will somehow get better. I'm not a fan of the phrase and yet ending last year and starting this year, I found myself thinking one year at a time. I will just do and see how this year will be and then take it from there, whenever and wherever there will be. The thought was brought on by the fact that I ended last year with another change and I guess I need to let that change plays out, hopefully at least a year. To say 2021 was bad would be incorrect. Nobody close to me died in 2021. I lost my dad in 2020 and nothing topped that magnitude in 2021. When I prayed to God at the end of last year, I realized yes shitty things have happened (many may be brought by my own doings though the stubborn me will say there's no other way it could go), but I think mentally I just faired pretty badly reacting to all the shitty things and I said sorry to God about that. It also brought a realization that when you have to deal with things alone, it is perhaps somewhat expected that at times you will not be your best self. It's not always easy being alone, especially being in your mind all the time alone. In 2020, the most difficult things I had to do were done with my mom and brother and so I came out of it pretty much okay. In 2021, the things that I had to go through were perhaps not so hard but Lord, the way I went through them, I would describe it as a child having to do something she doesn't want to do, so the child did it kicking, screaming, and crying. That's pretty much me.
I ended 2021 moving to a new place. So I moved twice in 2021! Again I couldn't see any other way. There were just many things that made me miserable and I believe physically unhealthy in the previous place that I had been looking and looking for a way out. A way out did come, but it was way way more expensive. Only by mom's prodding that I took the exit. I'm worried about the money (still worried), perhaps kinda illogically (how much money do you really need, really?) and she was like as long as you can still make money, you have room to move (I guess that applies figuratively and literally). Talking about money, there's something that pissed me off when I left the old place and let me just say that if ever I get to be rich, I hope I won't be an ass. That kinda ties to a TV series that I am currently watching, Dopesick, which is about the opioid epidemic in the U.S. I couldn't recall how the opioid epidemic came to my consciousness, maybe a bit of John Oliver or Hasan Minhaj, maybe I heard Trump was going to do something about it (but what did he do actually?). I heard of it but I didn't know much and this TV series so far has been pretty good in illuminating though I have questions, like do people who take OxyContin will definitely get addicted? Are there people who took it and are totally fine? Also how do you detox or rid yourself of opiod addiction? Anyways tying it back to the money part, one of the character featured is Richard Sackler who as Wikipedia pointed is a billionaire; he was heavily involved in the development and push of OxyContin and he really pushed. He was aiming for world domination. I haven't finished the series, so I don't know if his drive would be depicted more and is more nuanced. There are parts that show him trying to convince people that his drive is just to relieve pain in people in a way that made me wonder if he believed it himself, but I think for the most part, he's just driven by wanting to build a legacy in his name, beating people who doubted him, at any cost. In front of his family members who have shares in Purdue Pharma (who made OxyContin), he definitely convinced them of his plan by showing how much money they could make. Money seems to drive the whole family and it's like you guys are already so freaking rich, why do you need more. Their extended family seems so dysfunctional. The way they and the other bosses and some sales staff in Purdue Pharma closed their eyes and even doubled down by creating pills with higher and higher dosage even though they heard how the medication was being abused just because the money were rolling in, it is all just so despicable.
Anyways, back to me. Another change in life is that I now have nothing to do on Saturdays. Japanese class ended last week and I knew I would be at a lost but somehow last week I didn't feel overly sad. I think I will be losing my mind maybe in a few weeks. There were times when I thought I had too much homework but I think the routine, the going out for class, is actually good for me and I miss it already. I spent 7 years with the same sensei which is unusual I have to say. In all my times learning other languages, I never had the same teacher from beginning to end. That is 7 years of commitment, of going to class every Saturday morning, of doing every homework (which I pretty much did). Not everyone could do that, but amazingly aside from me there were also 3 other classmates who had been there from day 1. It's pretty unusual. When the classmates were asked what they're going to do next, a few said they would pick up another language. That is not something that I will do because I think 5 is enough? I don't have enough brain space and I pretty much only fluent in 2, so perhaps I need to practice on the rests. I am planning to take the JLPT (Japanese-Language Proficiency Test) exam. Of all the classmates, only me and another lady have never took the exam, even one. The sensei seemed to think I should do N2 but I am so bad at Kanji and I don't think anyone really noticed how bad I am at it. How do you suppose to answer questions when you couldn't even read the questions :( I am aiming to do N3, but I start to feel that the crazy delusional part of me thinks that I could actually do N2. The test will be in July, but I have to decide which one to take in March. I could take N3 in July and if that goes well, do N2 in December. However it will be even better if I just torture myself one time. The plan is to self-study, but the lack of discipline and willpower is worrying me. We are already in the middle of January and I haven't even started. Finger crossed that I actually would do it.
:) eKa @ 10:39:00 PM • 0 comments
Thursday, December 30, 2021
I haven't written about movies I watched in the longest time, but today I felt compelled to write about The Matrix Resurrections. I like it. I'm not a super fan of The Matrix but I like Keanu Reeves enough to make an effort to watch this in the cinema and I say again, I like it. I think it's because I like Sense8 a lot and seeing a number of the cast there and some scenes that's reminiscence of Sense8, it kinda made for a really enjoyable watch for me. I was smiling under my mask :) I wish I could see everyone in Sense8 there, but the guy who played Wolfgang was there and it's kinda enough for me - yeah I like him the most :D I also like how the new matrix is more colourful, but I guess that's what they do to make you not question if you're in a simulation or not. Another thing that I thought was really cool was how they make Trinity the hero. I didn't know that I wanted that, but it was so cool to see her fly :) Despite of me really liking this movie though, I do have to say that perhaps the story is kinda so so. Aside for the new technology that was kinda cool and does answer questions for me like how do programmes exist in the real world, nothing else was really mindblowing. When I read reviews about this, it does seem there's quite a split - either you really like it or you feel it's a waste of time. Like honestly I don't know if I can recommend it on the strength of The Matrix alone, because again I really enjoyed it because throughout I felt a Sense8 elements in it :)
:) eKa @ 9:49:00 PM • 0 comments
Friday, December 17, 2021
I saw that in 2020, I didn't read a lot of books and I read even less this year. It is embarrassing that I couldn't be more disciplined in reading and just set aside time to read. Anyways, completed books this year are:
- Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo - A really interesting read and I do recommend it to people wanting to read something different.
- The Topeka School by Ben Lerner - Aah, this one is difficult.
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett - I like it.
:) eKa @ 9:15:00 PM • 0 comments
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