My Holiday

Hello readers! To celebrate the end of a semester, all students in the world are given holiday which range in many school. SMAN 3 were given 2 weeks of holiday, starting from December 15 to January 2. If you ask me, that is way too short! I was stressed enough with the subject of this semester (looking at you, science math and physics) and the government only gave my school 2 weeks?? But I'm not here to complain, I'm here to tell you about what I spent on my holiday, because boy, there were a lot. I spent 12 days on my dad's workplace and 5 days on my home. I will divide my story into section, based on day of the holiday. Well, except for days where I have nothing to say, I'll probably skip it. I know nobody cares but I am the owner of this blog so screw you and eat my garbage post.

Day 1-4
Me and my mom went to Surabaya by plane from Husein Sastranegara airport. The airport was so different from the last time I visited there. It was way more modern and I appreciate it.

Inside Husein Sastranagara

The seat in front of me

I used to love riding planes, but now I just can't stop being anxious! What if the plane that I ride fall on the sea? What if it fall on a mountain? What if it magically disappear like MH370? Not to mention that there was this old man in front of me that kept using Whatsapp with his mobile data on, minutes before take off despite the clear stewardess' warning about not to turn on phone on the plane. Thanks for burning the fuel of my anxiety, old man. And I think that man still used Whatsapp during the flight with mobile data! I would yell at him if I were a brave young lady. Thankfully nothing happened outside of minor turbulence due to bad weather.

Catto

Juanda Airport

After arriving on Surabaya we went to a hotel and stayed there for 2 nights. Nothing happened beside the fact that I took many baths. This act was inspired by Murdoc on Saturnz Barz in which he took a bath in a bottomless black puddle. Just kidding, I took many baths because I like it. It's human nature, I guess?

I'm not gonna say that old meme

On day 3, we visited Tunjungan Plaza to spend time, waiting for my brother to arrive in Surabaya. That mall is the biggest mall on Asia. To be honest.... I wasn't impressed. I mean it was huge and all but the content was so-so. At least in my opinion.  Around 7 PM my brother arrived and we went to Juanda airport. After that, we went to Tuban which is my dad's workplace. The next day, nothing happened, yay.

Watching Monster Inc

Day 5
I went to many Wali Songo's grave this day. Well, by much I mean two, which were Sunan Drajat and Sunan Giri. The first one we visited were Sunan Drajat because it is located in Lamongan, which was closer from Tuban. Unfortunately, photo taking were prohibited so I didn't have any photos, but I remember seeing tombstones on the floor. Not soil, but ceramics floors. On the second floor. I just thought that was kinda weird and unusual. Ah, anyway, we went to a famous restaurant on Lamongan which serve Soto Lamongan. Too bad that my appetite went down due to a stomachache. I blame myself for eating 2 pack of instant noodles on the day before..... so I'm not sure if it tasted good or not. After that, we went to Sunan Giri, which is located on Gresik. Too bad that I had a stomachache so I didn't visit it. I just stayed on the car and slept to cope my sickness. Then we went to Tuban again.

Day 6
In this day, we traveled around Tuban. It had a lot of interesting sites, such as Perut Bumi. Perut Bumi itself was a pesantren. It was called "Perut Bumi" because it was located underground. I mean, not centre-of-the-earth underground, but it was still a quite unusual place for a pesantren. Anyway, it is currently used for mosque and tourism. Inside there were a lot of pretty neon lights (seriously, this place could be mistaken for some kind of amusement ride on Dufan). There were a lot of people inside and considering that this was built underground, it was pretty hot down there. Also I'd like to note that this place didn't have an ordinary rock for its roof, it had stalagmites, and it was cool and pretty. Too bad that taking pictures inside was prohibited yet again.

Perut Bumi Mosque

Then, we went to the famous Kwan Sing Bio temple. And it was gorgeous! It looks like a temple we've seen on movies! There were a lot of dioramas and reliefs. There were also a beautiful pond inside, along with an amazing buildings behind it. Oh and there were this giant statue and it looks really cool, I applaud the sculptures very much. When I was there, I felt like I were on China or something. No wonder why many people visited it.

Awesome giant statue

What a gorgeous temple!

Day 7
We went to Surabaya to visit many places, such as Sunan Ampel's grave. It is located on Surabaya. The thing I remember the most was that the place had soo much cats. I found 5 cats in total. I mean, yea, it wasn't much for some people but whatever. Anyway, Sunan Ampel's grave had quite an unique rules, at least for Wali Songo's grave. I think it was the only grave that prohibit people to visit it 10 minutes before adzan, because Muslims must pray on time. I think that rule was brilliant. Sholat on the grave was prohibited as well because according to Qur'an that act is considered to be musyrik.

After that we had lunch with 2 of my cousins that studied in Institut Teknologi Sepuluh November. That reminded me of what major should I choose in the future....... ah it's confusing. After that, we visited ITS as well since the restaurant we went in was near the campus, and it was neat and huge! I really enjoy the environment.

ITS from the outside

Day 8-9
We went to Surabaya, again... but this time we booked a hotel. The reason why we visited it was because my father suddenly has a work appointment or something. Actually, my mother was the one who was invited, but whatever, I didn't know the full story.Due to traffic jams, we arrived on Surabaya quite late than our expectations and stayed on hotel until night which was when the event began. My mother went to the event and me, my brother, and my father traveled around Surabaya until the event ended. First, we went to Tunjungan Plaza again but that didn't take long. Then, we went to a restaurant that I forgot the name, ugh! My memory was horrible! On that place I ate Javanese noodle.  My brother and father drank Wedang Ronde, which was like Sekoteng but it had mochi inside of it. Since I hate Sekoteng.... yea you know my opinion about the drink. But the mochi thing was pretty good.

Javanese Noodle

Wedang Ronde

The next day, we visited Madura. And of course, we used Suramadu Bridge to go across the island. It was like an ordinary bridge except that there were sea under the bridge, obviously. I wish I could take a picture of the sea, but stopping anywhere near the bridge is strictly forbidden for good reason. But I did take a picture of the bridge while we were driving.

Suramadu Bridge

We visited a place called Pote Cave, and we were scammed. At least from my perspective. First, we must pay Rp 10.000 for entrance. Sounds fair, right? But no, after 1 km we must pay again for some reason? Then, after arriving in the middle of Pote Cave, we paid Rp 10.000 again for no reason at all! Then, to visit the amusement part of Pote Cave, we paid Rp 20.000! Didn't they get a lot of money already from the previous payment? Why pay multiple times? Ugh, this place left a bad taste on my mouth already before visiting it. The cave was... good. Again, I was quite pissed off by previous incident so this place was kinda cursed to me.

Pote Cave

I want to ride it, but the pond was small so there was no point tbh

Day 10
We traveled around Tuban again, but this time we didn't visit anything. Too bad that I fell asleep so I didn't remember anything! I didn't sleep well last night. Well, nothing interesting happened.

Day 11-12
Since we went home with train on the morning, we stayed on Surabaya the day before. We  stayed on Sahid Hotel, and I'm not holding back on this, but this was probably the worst hotel I've visited. I know this isn't a hotel review site but I'm just warning you all to not stay on that hotel, ever. Unless you don't have any choices. Anyway, there were a yellow spot on my pillow and it looked like either a mushroom or an earwax. Ugghh it was gross. There were also weird black spot on the towel as well! Overall I hated staying on that hotel and I wanted to leave as fast as possible.

The next day we went to Gubeng Station which wasn't far from the hotel (the only reason why we stayed on that hotel...) and we rode the train for 12 hours. Yeah, Bandung and Surabaya was really far. Around 600 km I believe.

Horrible picture that I took on the train

Day 13-17
Well, nothing much happened. I played The Sims 3, fangirling over Blur (especially Graham Coxon, what a cute bloke), and yeah that's about it. Lately I've been addicted to Blur because... something happened. No, I didn't meet them, although I wish I had, but it was quite a shocking event in my life. And Blur is just... so good. I love their songs and they were and still are very cute and handsome. Oh and I recently bought The Magic Whip, which was their newest album and it was great. I bought it before holiday, actually, and I've been listening to it ever since. My favorite songs are probably New World Towers and I Broadcast. A very different songs but I love them regardless. Why am I talking about Blur again? Ughhh someone please stop my fangirling!

What am I doing with my life

The Magic Whip and Milky!

Can you guess which one is which?

And... that's the end of my holiday. On January 2 I will be greeted by the one and only science math... *sigh*. Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate it. What's your holiday like? Don't be afraid to left a comment below! Anyway, I'd like to end this post with my all time favorite Blur song, highly recommended! See you!

Alif's Promotion

Alif's Promotion

An English Narrative Assignment

It was Monday. Alif was preparing himself for work. He worked on a company called PT Blur ID, which was a company for food packaging. After dressing up, he went downstairs to meet his family. "Honey, I don't know why, but I feel so passionate today! It's like I'm on literal fire! But good fire. Does that make sense?" His wife smiled and replied, "Ah, maybe it's because of this letter? Have you read it?" she gave him a torn letter. "What's that smile all about? Is this another prank of yours?" "Oh just shut up and read it, you fool." He followed her instructions.

Dear Alif Rowntree,
Due to your dedication for your company, we decided that it is best to promote you as the new director of PT Blur ID. Congratulations! We hope that you will continue your great work.

Signed,
Graham Coxon

Alif teared up. No, this time it wasn't a joke. The signature was very real. It was really the signature of his boss Graham Coxon. "This is so surreal. I-I mean, it c-can't be!" Alif stuttered. "Honey, congratulations! I'm so happy for you!" she immediately hugged him. "Now come, eat this pancake and go to work. We're gonna celebrate tonight! I will cook your favorite goopy carbonara!"

After he arrived to work, he noticed that there were a crowd in the parking lot. He investigated and found out that the crowd were his work friends. "What are you all doing here? Shouldn't we all work?" Alif asked. "It's not work time yet, Alif. Hurry, absent is on there! We already got permission from Mr. Coxon anyway!" Ivan shouted at him. He hurrily absent in case he forgot, and returned to his friends. "Why are you guys on the parking lot anyway?"

"CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR PROMOTION, ALIF!!"

Alif was shocked once again. His friends already knew that he was promoted! The news sure spread fast. He couldn't believe this sight. "Come here, Mr. Director!" said Ivan with humorous tone.

"Alif, congratulations. You deserved it, man." said Samuel. Alif smiled at him and replied, "Thank you very much. This is because you always help me." He sure was a very humble person. Sinta came over Alif as well and said, "I'm very happy for you, Alif! Now that you are the director of the company, I believe the company will develop even faster." Alif smiled due to her compliment, and happily replied, "Thank you. I can't forget your collaboration with me, and I will still need your help." Others followed to praise him as well, since he is the right man for this job. They also wished him luck and shook his hand. "You must be very proud of your achievement!" Ivan said. "Thanks, but I still have to learn a lot." he replied with generous tone. His staffs congratulated him as well. "Now let's eat lunch together for Alif!" Samuel shout, and it was replied with cheers from everyone.
--
Author's note:
Hi guys, I'm in a Blur mood lately so that explains why I put some Blur reference, haha.

The cutest milk box ever

MOVIE REVIEW: Coco

So, I just watched Coco and UGH IT WAS SO EMOTIONAL AND MADE ME CRY A LOT. Unfortunately, I didn't watch it theater because I didn't have anyone to bring. And I feel really bad because this film deserves my money. Although...... Olaf's Frozen Adventure.... no thanks.

Coco's Poster

Before I talk about Coco, let's talk about Olaf's Frozen Adventure because wow, it sure got a lot of backlash. In Mexico, the short was taken off the theater after only 1 week screening because so many people complained about it. In US, the short was taken down as well starting from December 8, however Disney claimed that it was taken down because "Olaf's Frozen Adventure was meant to get limited release and it ends on December 8". Even though in the trailer they never stated that the "short" would stop showing on theater on that date. Disney pretty much refused to accept the fact that Frozen's hype is dying.

You're horrible Olaf go away

So what's wrong with Olaf's Frozen Adventure? Well, the "short" was 21 MINUTES LONG. I heard there were a commercial break as well, which made Coco started playing after 45 minutes. Just wow. Olaf's Frozen Adventure was planned to be aired on ABC at first, but Disney didn't see any potential with Coco (is this because none of the cast are white? Hmm Disney) so they decided to play it before the movie. If it were played on ABC I doubt it would get as many hate as now, but usually short before movie are usually only lasted for 5-7 minutes so audience don't really mind it. 21 minutes is just... too much.

:O

PARAGRAPHS BELOW CONTAINS SPOILER! All text filled with black background are very "spoily" so beware.

Okay, enough complaining, now let's talk about the actual movie. Miguel is a music-loving boy in a family where music is forbidden. Why? His great great grandfather abandoned his family because he wanted to be a musician. Her wife was very mad and decided to ban music from her family. After some argument with his family, Miguel thought "I've had it with this crap, I'm just gonna abandon my family brb" and left. He went to his alleged great great grandfather De La Cruz's grave, a loved Mexican musician, and used his guitar because his family destroyed his. Apparently, that guitar sent him into Land of the Dead where all dead people live. And a great adventure ensue....

Reminded me of that one scene in Kubo and the Two Strings idk

First of all, I LOVE the skeletons' design. When I watched the trailer, I thought they looked weird but in the movie they looked so much better for some reason. Their movement are different from human, it was... boney? I don't know, but it's really unique. I also love how similar the skeleton are to them as a living person. The character designer made sure every single skeleton are different, just like how they design human. I really adore it.

De La Cruz comparison

The characters themselves are very lovable and memorable. Miguel acted like a normal kid would act. Sometimes selfish but not evil. There's this character named Hector who started out as a bit of a jerk and manuplative but once you knew his history, you will understand why he acted that way. Yeah... family and such. Not gonna spoil it. Speaking of motives, remember when I said that Miguel's family hated music? It's not there just because the movie needed conflict, there's a reason. You see, Miguel's family really respected the whole 'family culture'. They kept photos of all of their main family for Dia de los Muertos (which I'll explain later) because they want them to keep remember their family. Well... except for Miguel's great great grandfather because he was the man who broke the culture. He left his own wife named Imelda with a baby just to reach his own personal goal, and never returned. Music was the one who broke the family. It left Imelda to struggle raising a child alone.

angery Imelda

I adore how much the crew did their research of Mexican culture. They actually went to Mexico for making this movie. The village Miguel lived in looks very Mexican and it was just gorgeous. The design of The Land of the Dead was great as well. There was lights everywhere and it looks mesmerizing. And for Dia de los Muertos, they explained it very well. Like, at first I thought that holiday was Mexican halloween or something, but it's actually about family. You see, families put up their deceased one's photo for a sign that they remember them. In Dia de los Muertos, they will visit The Land of the Living as long as there someone who still remember them. And if no one in real life remember who they are in the real world, they will permanently die (to avoid overpopulation). I never knew that in my whole life before this movie! I feel bad for thinking that the sugar skull makeup was just random makeup trend, but it's actually symbolize how much a family should remember each other even if they already passed away.

Yes, Coco is actually the old lady and not the boy

As much as I love Coco, yeah, it still has some flaws, although it doesn't bother me much. There's a lot of cliches, such as the music contest that the protagonist wanted to join but couldn't and final concert. There's also the Disney villain twist thing that got very old at this point, but in this movie I have to give credit that in this one it worked much better than in other movie. Seriously, I didn't expect the villain was actually a murderer just to steal someone's fame. Also this is completely unrelated but Hector in real life is.... quite attactive. Remember in my Motorcity first impression that I have a thing for tall and skinny nerd? Yeah, he's pretty much like that when he lived. His skeleton form though, he looks like a hobo! I'm disappointed. But whatever, he reminds me of the guy from Paperman. I love them both. I'm such a creep AGH.

Hector as a skeleton which is not attaractive at all 0/10 go back

Overall, Coco is a highly recommended movie. It's currently my favorite Pixar movie! You should watch it in theater immediately. Don't be like me. Thank you for reading, see ya!

FIRST IMPRESSION: Motorcity

Okay, so I watched some review of something and this reviewer mentioned her all time favorite cartoon, Motorcity. I've heard of this show on 2012 or something but I wasn't really interested. I decided to give it a second chance because there are some cartoons that were unappealing to me as a child but ended up loving it when I was older, like Avatar: The Last Airbender (yes, I used to hate ATLA as a child sorry). And yes, I was completely right, my cartoon taste as a child was horrible! How could I find this show unappealing? It's currently my third personal favorite TV shows after Sym Bionic Titan and Paranoia Agent! I just watched episode 1 by the way. 19 episodes to go......... here's my thoughts on it.

A very cool banner of Motorcity

So, in the future, there was a new futuristic city on top of Detroit (yes, it's literally on top of Detroit), which was Detroit Deluxe. Deluxe promised everything great except freedom. Mike, the main character, was pissed off by this decision and decided to built his own freedom-land called Motorcity (or Detroit, I guess?) which has the slogan "live fast, live free". In Motorcity people can do everything they want, but in the show, I guess the meaning of freedom was car racing? Because all they do was racing. That's the backstory of Motorcity. Then in the actual episode, Mike and his (cute) soulmate Chuck found some cool gadget for his car that can be used for a weapon. But watch out as when they explored the main villain who was responsible for Deluxe, Kane, attacked Motorcity! Mike and Chuck came in the right time though, as they saved the city from being attacked by giant robot thing.

So much holograms

Kane called Mike in this huge hologram TV unwilling to accept his defeat, then Mike challenged him and said that he will return to Deluxe someday. Kane was somehow amused by this, and by the next scene, he told Tooley, one of his worker, that Mike was a very dedicated staff until he found out about Kane's lies and built Motorcity instead. Hoping that Mike would come back as his apperentice, Kane set up a trap and Mike fell for it. Fortunately Julie, some kind of double person or something as she lived in both Motorcity and Deluxe saved him. But Motorcity was already being destroyed by robots, however Mike and his squad always came on the right time, they saved Motorcity once again with cool action scenes, and then the episode end. Bam. I'm bad at recap. Just watch it for yourself, okay?

The Burners are unimpressed with my recap ability

What stands out from Motorcity the most in my opinion is the animation. Wow, to think this was done in Adobe Flash! It's so unbelievable! There's a lot of great action scenes and the movement is so fluid. It looks like hand-drawn animation, honestly. Some people hate Flash because it oftenly resulted in a very poor quality cartoons, but Motorcity proved them that it also can be used for stunning animation. It was made by Titmouse Studio after all, which is well known for being ambitious.

This is Flash, people

Some small detail that I love is Kane's movement. There something about it that felt elegant and powerful, which is what he is as a character. I love that a simple movement decision can tell the audience about the character's simple trait.

This is actually a horrible example to prove my point but I couldn't find any Kane gif

There are more positive things but I don't want this post to be too long, so let's talk about things that I found... not so good. I don't know, but I just hate it when character talks in the most unnecessary or possibly dangerous time possible. For example, in one scene Julie tried to find out what Kane's up too. She literally said it out loud in a place that still has a bunch of people in it, then said "I gotta tell the boys", like, can't people there hear what you're saying? It bugs me a lot. Show, don't tell! Also I feel like sometime the show can give the audience way too much information to handle, like in one scene where Mike decided to go to Deluxe. He was arguing with Dutch and Chuck a little bit and they talked about why Mike shouldn't go to Motorcity, some unknown phrases, and their backstory with Kane. I know it doesn't sound much but that scene's pacing was too fast. I guess they need to save their time?

I found this by accident I'm tearing up

Overall, amazing looking show, probably second best looking show after Sym Bionic Titan but the writing need more polishing. I'm looking forward for more episodes because some of it sounds cool. And yeaaa if you haven't guessed yet my favorite character is Chuck. I'm weak for nerdy tall character. See ya!

I actually haven't watch this episode and I'm excITED seriously Chuck with a tuxedo?? hit mE UP

The Prince and the Pauper

Hello everyone! I am going to show you the story of Prince and Pauper. It's a very simple fairy tale by Mark Twain. Although, this story had been changed a little bit from the original. I got this fairy tale from this website . Enjoy!

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Illustration of Prince and Pauper

Once upon a time, a son was born to a king and queen. He was called Edward, and everyone in the palace rejoiced and blessed the infant prince. That same day, another little boy was born to a very poor family. His name was Tom. His family was so poor that they rarely had enough money to buy food. Prince Edward always had plenty of food and beautiful clothing. The king doted on his only son and raised him in comfort and love.

Tom grew up in poverty and hunger and had to beg strangers for a bite to eat. His father was cruel and mean. Tom was upset and left home and wandered the streets aimlessly until he found himself before a magnificent palace. The guards stopped him from entering the palace.

Just then, Prince Edward was returning from a stroll when he heard the guard’s angry shouts. But being a good prince, he commanded the guards to let him enter the palace. The Prince gave Tom many good things to eat. They decided to swap their places. Tom was hesitant but he didn’t dare argue with the Prince. The two boys exchanged clothes and they were amazed to see how much alike they looked.

Dressed as a pauper, the Prince walked out of the palace as he wanted to see the outside world. The guard frowned at him angrily. The guard threw the Prince out of the castle. Meanwhile, Tom’s father, who had been searching for him through the streets, saw the Prince and rushed towards him. He ill-treated the Prince like always did. And in the palace, Tom was little better off. However much he tried to tell that he was not Prince Edward, no one would listen. Even the servants didn’t believe him. Tom had no choice but to continue his masquerade.

The Prince was beaten by Tom’s father everyday. The Prince was afraid of him and no longer tried to argue. As he had made his way through the village, the Prince thought about the things he had experienced. He wanted to punish Tom’s father but no one at the palace would recognize Edward as the true Prince. Edward continued to go from door to door, but no one in the village wanted to give him any food. Edward kept wandering the village, but he couldn’t even manage to get one meal a day. Several days went by like this.

One day, Edward came upon a knight from a neighbouring country whom he had met before. Once, they had participated in an archery competition together. Grabbing his chance, Edward reminded him of the details of their last meeting and tried convince him of his true identity. The knight agreed and promised him to help him. He seated the Prince on his horse and they rode to the palace together. While all this was happening, the King had died, and everyone at the palace was focused on Tom’s coronation.

At that moment, Prince Edward burst into the throne room. Tom was confused. He knew what his duty was, but he was afraid to go back to his former life as a pauper. Finally he made a decision and raised his voice above the din. He speaks the truth. Tom declared, “I am not Prince Edward, he is!” Tom had always been an honest and decent boy. And so, Prince Edward was crowned king. He was deeply impressed with Tom’s honesty and loyalty. He asked Tom to stay at court and made him a knight.

Tom became King Edward’s chief advisor and lived in the palace the rest of his life. The Prince and the pauper became as close as real brothers and ruled the country together with honour and generosity, making sure that everyone was safe and content.

source: https://www.bedtimeshortstories.com/prince-and-pauper

Great Barrier Reef

   Hello! Today, I’m going to tell you about the amazing Great Barrier Reef. This is a school project collaboration with Alfina, which is all about advertisement. For now, I’ll provide you short information about Great Barrier Reef.

Our illustration of Great Barrier Reef, I can't take a good picture sorry

   So, Great Barrier Reef is a place on Cairns, Australia. Queensland, to be exact. It is the world’s biggest coral reef site. It’s so big that it can be viewed on outer space! This is also the world’s biggest structure made by living organisms. From far away, it looks like some kind of island, but once you viewed it closer, you’ll see a lot of huge coral reefs.

  This place is famous for its marine diversity. Thousands of species live on this place. Clownfish, blue tang fish, stingray, turtles, anemone, coral, just to name a few. Extremely few. Less than 0,01% of the species living on Great Barrier Reef. That must be a lot! Oh and the living organisms here are very unique and colorful.

   On that place, we can dive and snorkle to experience what it truly feels like to live underwater. Seeing all those corals and beautiful fish in front of you must be fun, don't you think so? But, if you don't want to be wet, you can ride a glass bottomed boat and you can see what's underwater. Another great way to appreciate this place's beauty as well.

    For more information, just watch our video about it, link below!

https://youtu.be/QJjlqkp--pI

Short Post about Gathapraya

   On September 30, the event that my school had hyped for quite a while was finally arrived, Gathapraya. It was the name of an Indonesian cultural festival that SMAN 3 always hold anually. I had fun and regrets during this festival and now I would like to talk about it.

   In the morning around 07:30, the organizers told us to came on Saparua sport field first, because all 10th graders must join a parade. Female must wear kebaya, so I wore it. There was nothing special about my kebaya since it was the one that I always wear to school on Wednesday. The parade started at 9 AM, so for one and a half hour we were shown dance performances from an elementary school and a dance studio. It was a very good performances. Then 6 horses came. It was the Kuda Renggong! Basically, Kuda Renggong is a horse that can "dance" when a music is played. Okay, but a little bit controversial opinion here, I kinda feel bad for the horses because they were whipped pretty harshly. I know why the horse coach did that, if they weren't whipped the horse wouldn't dance or something, but isn't that some form of animal cruelty? I don't know, maybe I'm just being too sensitive, lately I've become an animals addict (except bugs, no thank you) so maybe I'm overthinking this. Anyway, the Kuda Renggong performed for a while then the organizers told us to form a line because the parade will start. I was so happy because I was starting to get bored by just sitting around. In the parade, there were a lot of people outside 10th graders, such as Kuda Renggong (obviously), Ontel Bicycle Club, some kind of bird-thingy that I don't know what to call, and the elementary school students joined the parade as well. The route wasn't that far, but ugh the horses walked really slowly. Walking under the sun extremely slowly while you were wearing quite a thick clothes wasn't the best choice. My classmates Fariz and Fathia were so lucky because they were riding horses. The reason why they didn't walk on the parade was because they were the fashion models of our class, and our class along with 2 others were chosen to ride the horses. I was so jealous argh.

The Parade

Kuda Renggong

Elementary School Students

   So we finally arrived on Bali sport field, and I really love the decoration! The locket looked really nice, the gateway was great as well, and the stage looked amazing. There were a huge screen on the stage and a sign that said "Gathapraya". The decorators must've been working hard and I applaud them. There were also a bunch of murals. Remember Adhiwikara? I posted about that event sometimes ago. A lot of murals from that competition were shown, such as a Lutung Kasarung mural from XI Science 8. That mural was gorgeous. I can't believe a bunch of high school students were able to make a piece that looked like it was made by professional. The color choice, the composition, argh, it was so perfect! Another mural from Adhiwikara that I loved was a Nyi Roro Kidul mural. There were 2 dragons (horses? idk) in the sea and Nyi Roro Kidul was riding them. I don't know which class made that mural, but if you are reading this, I love your mural so much! Adhiwikara's murals weren't the only murals that were shown on that day, there were also mural that was made from an art studio I believe. I forgot the name, but their works were so memorable.

The entrance

Locket

Fariz and Fathia (the one who wore Kalimantan outfit on the middle)

Gathapraya Stage

Cepot on the Food Festival

WIP of a really cool mural

Definitely one of my favorite

Lutung Kasarung

Nyi Roro Kidul

    The food on Gathapraya is delicious. It was pricey, yes, but I really love it. There's an ice cream stand on there and their ice cream was tasty! I bought a bubblegum ice cream by the way. There were a lot of choices on that ice cream stand and I wish I could buy them all but I didn't have enough money. Oh and I didn't buy this product, but there were a stand that sold beverages in some kind of baby bottle? I think that was a genius product packaging!
 
   Unfortunately, I regret that I didn't went to Gathapraya until the end of the show. I thought all my friends came home in the evening, so I said to my mom that I will be home at 4 AM. Apparently, all my friends changed their mind and ended up stayed on Gathapraya until night. I have never been feeling more betrayed by myself on that day. I felt like I was being stabbed in the back by my shadow or something. Well, regret does come last, so I should've expected that. Overall it was an amazing event that I wish I could've stay longer.

ALBUM REVIEW: Gorillaz's Demon Days

   Hi guys, so if you read my introduction post you'll notice that I mentioned a band called "Gorillaz" that I love so much. Now I am going to talk about my personal favorite album of theirs, Demon Days. This is probably my favorite album outside of Gorillaz as well, but since I don't listen to much albums so I'm not very sure.

One of the most iconic album cover ever

  Before I talk about this masterpiece, I would like to talk about Gorillaz as a whole, because people might be confused. Gorillaz is a virtual band created by Damon Albarn (musician) and Jamie Hewlett (illustrator) back in 2001. What is a virtual band? It's basically like a cartoon show, but in real life and it's a band. There are people behind the scene who worked on the songs and illustration and it will be released in the name of the band. There are a lot of fake interviews that is written by the writers behind the scene. The creators, however, want the audience to view them as if they were exist. The first band who introduced this concept is The Archies back in the 60s, however I feel like Gorillaz is the one who nailed the virtual band concept perfectly.

Jamie Hewlett (left) and Damon Albarn (right)

   There are 4 members of Gorillaz, which are 2D, Murdoc, Noodle, And Russel. Short description: 2D is the singer that oftenly acts looney but very sweet and sometimes really thoughtful, Murdoc is the bassist and is also a jerk but he's very likable and also has a very sad backstory, Noodle is a strong little girl who plays the guitar, and Russel is the lovable and huggable drummer. I love Murdoc the most because he's hilarious and attractive (don't judge me). They're fictional but I love them so much and I feel like they shape my life. Without them, I would be a very different person.

From left to right: Noodle, 2D, Russel, and Murdoc

   Now let's review the album. Demon Days is an album that was released on May 23, 2005. It has 15 tracks. It has a very positive review. Spin ranked Demon Days as the fourth-best album of 2005, while Mojo ranked it at number eighteen on their year-end list and hailed the album as a "genre-busting, contemporary pop milestone." NME placed it 98th on their list of 100 greatest albums of the decade. Uncut ranked it at 75 on their list of top 150 albums of the decade. Complex included it on their list of 100 Best Albums of the Complex Decade, placing it at number 43. Spin later included it in their list of The 300 Best Albums of 1985–2014. The single Feel Good Inc was nominated on Grammy's Best Music Video and won Grammy's Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. It also won and nominated on much more awards. Oh, and they also performed on Grammy and MTV Music Video Awards with Madonna on that year, to celebrate the success of Demon Days. Awesome, right?

Murdoc, Noodle, and Madonna on the Grammy

   This album has a very heavy theme. It dealt with the "demons" of the world, such as war, addiction, etc. Most of the lyrics from this album are very deep and thoughtful. Here's a sample, which is from the song Demon Days:

...

In these demon days
It's so cold inside
So hard for a good soul to survive
You can't even trust the air you breathe
Because mother earth wants us all to leave
When lies become reality
You numb yourself with drugs and T.V.
So pick yourself up, it's a brand new day
So turn yourself round
Don't burn yourself, turn youself
Turn yourself around
To the sun!

   That song is about how we are too attached with our addiction and cope our trauma with more addiction, which isn't good for our own mental health. We must do positive thing for a change to make us happy! At least that's my own interpretation. The writing is subtle and on point, it's not too obvious so that the listener can interpret it on their own, and it really make us think while listening to it. I really love interesting songs like this. Not to mention that this song has a very emotional beat and always makes me shiver whenever I listen to it. It sounds very ghostly yet beautiful. These positive things are scattered throughout the album and I love it. Another thing that I love about this album, despite that it's kinda a minor thing is the instrumental. It's very clear and crisp. In El Manana, you can hear the violin note that makes your heart break in pieces. In Feel Good Inc and Kids With Guns, you can hear the awesome bassline that will stuck in your head in a good way. In All Alone, you'll hear a very heart-pumping drumbeat. Oh, and Every Planet We Reach Is Dead is just mesmerizing. The instruments really pop and I don't know, it's so bizarre yet unique and memorable. One of my favorite.

Tracklist of Demon Days

   In my opinion, the only negative thing about this album is the track White Light. I think it's a very mediocre track compared to all these fantastic songs. It still fits the theme of the album, but it could've been replaced with a much better track. Like Rockit or Highway (Under Construction). Both of those tracks are from D-Sides, which is an album filled with unused songs that didn't make it into Demon Days. Those are much better than White Light.

Murdoc and his legendary bass

   For those who are new to this band, I recommend you all to listen to the singles first, which are Feel Good Inc, DARE, Dirty Harry, El Manana, and Kids With Guns. You might view the non-single tracks as "weird", like I was before I went nuts with this band. Gorillaz is one of those band who need second or more listen to really "absorb" the meaning of their songs. But when you fully get it, I guarantee that you'll love it. Oh, and I want to add that you should watch the music video while you listen to those singles. Gorillaz's music videos are so unique and fantastic. No wonder why they were always nominated for Grammy's Best Music Video in each album (I hope Saturnz Barz, their newest MV, will be nominated again next year, maybe won the award!).

Noodle on the windmill

   If you want to listen to the entire album, PLEASE DON'T PIRATE IT. Gorillaz uploaded the entire album on their Youtube channel, you should listen to it there! Or you could buy the album, digital or physical. It's really worth your money!

My copies of Demon Days

   And that's my review of Demon Days, the best Gorillaz album. Sorry if this review sounds so biased and pretentious. I hope you enjoy your listen to Demon Days! :D

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FAV TRACKS: Every Planet We Reach Is Dead, Don't Get Lost In Heaven/Demon Days, O Green World, All Alone, Kids With Guns

LEAST FAV TRACKS: White Light

RATING: 9/10
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Source:
en.wikipedia.org/Demon_Days
azlyrics.com
tumblr.com