RANDOM: Some Album Recommendations

   Hello everyone! Today is the first day 2019. I should be happy, shouldn't I? But tomorrow I already have to go to school, which means more stressful studying and anxiety... Two weeks holiday honestly is not enough for me... But, to cheer up the atmosphere, let's talk about good things, like music!

   To be honest, I have not listen to much albums. I feel like my music taste is extremely narrow. I mean, I barely listen to anything outside of Gorillaz in the middle school! So now I'm trying to broaden my knowledge of music. In the meantime, here's some of my all-time favorite albums. Enjoy!

a. Kali Uchis - Isolation

   If you consider yourself as a person who like Gorillaz, then you might know Kali Uchis. She was a guest singer in their 2017's album Humanz in 2 songs, Ticker Tape and She's My Collar. I found out about her from Gorillaz as well. The next year, Isolation was out, which at first it didn't really interest me, until a lot of Gorillaz fans pointed out that there was an unused Humanz song in Isolation, which was In My Dreams. I decided to check it out, and hoo boy the album was fantastic.

   Isolation is an album that mixed various music genres, however it's mostly focused on the RnB or neo-soul genre. Theoretically, this album shouldn't work due to how varied the genres were. It could've been a mess that is similar to Humanz. However, thanks to the tight production, Isolation is a delight from start to finish. It's very catchy, the lyrics are beautiful, and the instrumentals are on point. Check this album out, and I'm definitely looking forward to Kali's next project.

FAV TRACKS: Your Teeth In My Neck, Feel Like a Fool, Just a Stranger, In My Dreams, After the Storm, Dead to Me, Miami, Tomorrow

b. Kero Kero Bonito - Time n' Place

   The british band Kero Kero Bonito took a surprising departure from their signature bubbly cheerful music after Bonito Generation was released in 2016 (which you should check it out as well, it's very cute). The first sign of change was in their 2017's single Only Acting, which was a j-rock inspired song with a very... glitchy and distorted production. The lyrics were much more mature as well. In their previous album and EP, KKB usually wrote about the mundane things in life like graduation, flamingo, or taking a break. Only Acting, however, was about the struggle of being a star and how hard it is to separate your real emotions from the stage life. Definitely way more detailed and emotional. Some fans were disappointed by this change, however I've grown to like it and I found myself to be enjoying Time n' Place as well.

   Time n' Place is a j-rock inspired album that mostly about overcoming the struggle of living. The highlight of this album is definitely the lyrics, I love how detailed it is. It makes the song much more emotional. The production is much more experimental and distorted, especially in the song Rest Stop. However, we still get some bubbly vibe that KKB had on their previous project like in the song Swimming. Overall, it was a great comeback album despite how different it was from their usual vibes.

FAV TRACKS: Dear Future Self, Swimming, Only Acting, Make Believe, Time Today, If I'd Known, Visiting Hours

c. Ariana Grande - Sweetener

   At first, I didn't really like this album. I thought the songs were okay, but it's not something that I would listen again. However, I started to appreciate it more after seeing the horrible state of last year's mainstream pop music. I feel like Ariana had taken a risky move by releasing a more conceptual album than most pop albums, which were usually obvious Top 40 materials and some forgettable fillers. I really like the simple RnB production on this album, it's a refreshing break from the generic EDM stuff or overproduced pop songs. It's not a perfect album, I feel like some of the songs are samey, but it's worth listening. But I bet you already listened to it since it's freakin' Ariana Grande... oh well. 

FAV TRACKS: God is a woman, pete davidson, no tears left to cry, breathin, R.E.M.

d. Rina Sawayama - RINA

Do you like late 90's to early 00's pop music? Do you wish it to come back? Then Rina Sawayama got something for you! RINA is Rina Sawayama's first EP and it's just so good. Thanks to Clarence Clarity's amazing production and Rina's vocal performance, this EP is a pop masterpiece. It's extremely catchy, but the lyrics are still written well. Usually pop songs on that era was about boys who don't like you back or generic positivity advice. There's nothing wrong with that, I mean I am still listening to Baby One More Time to this day, it's just that it tends to be a little bit repetitive. However, the songs on RINA is not like that. It's about the many sides of being a superstar and how technology has changed relationship or our daily life. It's very detailed and deep! In conclusion, this is a must-listen EP and I guarantee that you'll love it in an instant.

FAV TRACKS: Tunnel Vision, Ordinary Superstar, Take Me As I Am, 10-20-40, Alterlife, Cyber Stockholm Syndrome, Through the Wire, Time Out

e. Tyler, the Creator - Flower Boy

   Tyler previously was known for his harsh and edgy lyrics, especially in Goblin and Bastard, which was so vulgar that it made him banned in the UK. That's why many were surprised for the direction that this album took. While he still didn't let go completely of his past personality such as in the track Who Dat Boy, as a whole Flower Boy is a soft synth funk hip hop album with a much more toned down lyrics compared to his previous work. And by toned down I didn't mean that it's bad, it's in fact the opposite. There are a lot of clever lyrics throughout the album, one of them is in the song See You Again.

"20/20, 20/20 vision
Cupid hit me, cupid hit me with precision
I wonder if you look both ways
When you cross my mind, I said, I said
I'm sick of, sick of, sick of, sick of chasing
You're the one that's always running through my daydream, I
I can only see your face when I close my eyes"

   I really enjoyed Flower Boy, it was a beautiful LP and you should definitely check it out.

FAV TRACKS: 911/Mr Lonely, Foreword, See You Again, Who Dat Boy, Boredom, Garden Shed

f. Bjork - Post

   Bjork's music takes time to fully appreciate, at least in my experience. When I first listened to Bjork, I was extremely confused. I thought, "Why do people like this? It's very confusing.". Structurally, her melodies are really jarring, especially in her later albums like Vulnicura and Utopia. But, as I listen to it more and more, I began to see her appeal and now I'm a huge fan of Bjork. 

   This album is a great introduction if you want to know more about Bjork. It's a quirky alternative electronic album with a great writing. Bjork's delivery was also fantastic, it definitely match the mood of the song perfectly. She wasn't afraid to go "all out" on her vocals, a great example is this is on the song I Miss You where she straight out screamed in many parts of the song. It may confuse you in the first listening, but it matched perfectly with the song's instrumental. Overall, this album is an interesting experience that I deeply enjoyed. 

FAV TRACKS: Possibly Maybe, Isobel, Headphones, Hyperballad, It's Oh So Quiet, I Miss You, Army of Me

g. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

   Oh boy, here's an obligatory Gorillaz post... but for real, this album is fantastic. Let me try to keep this short. I know fans back then were expecting a second Demon Days, so when this album was released they were disappointed, but I love Plastic Beach despite that it's completely different from that album. While Demon Days' instrumental were dark and used a lot of traditional instruments, Plastic Beach was the opposite. It used a lot of electronic synth. This turned off a lot of people, but the great and clean production made it all works. I love how conceptual the album is, even more than Demon Days. I really wish Gorillaz's newer album is more conceptual since I feel like they just abandoned it all together, especially in Humanz. The Now Now was fine, but it was way too safe and didn't really felt... gigantic like their first three albums. But rant is for other days...

   I really like the lyrics of this album as well. Some are abstract like Empire Ants, however there were a lot of songs that surprisingly had lyrics about romance, which is something that Gorillaz didn't focus much. And it felt really personal too. Here's an example from the song To Binge. 

"I'm caught again in the mystery

You're by my side, but are you still with me?

The answer's somewhere deep in it, I'm sorry but your feeling it

But I just have to tell you that I love you so much these days

Have to tell you that I love you so much these days, it's true"

   To wrap things up, Plastic Beach is a great conceptual record that you must listen. Like, right now.

FAV TRACKS: Empire Ants, To Binge, Some Kind of Nature, On Melancholy Hill, Stylo, Rhinestone Eyes, Pirate Jet, Plastic Beach

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And that's all I can recommend for today, I might make a part 2 on this! I hope you'll like those albums as much as I do. Do you have any recommendations? If so, leave it in the comments below. Thank you for reading!

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!

Cockroaches

   I have a severe katsaridaphobia. Sounds fancy, right? Well, it's actually a phobia that I'm sure most people have. It's a fear of cockroaches. It's really hard to explain why I feared cockroaches so much. Their body shapes are just so bizarre and disgusting, not to mention the trail of bacteria they left whenever they walk. I hate them so much and I really want to kill all cockroaches in this planet. But apparently, cockroach is one of the most powerful insects in the world. They can survive nuclear apocalypse! So it's pretty much impossible to do some kind of cockroach genocide or something. Anyway, I have this traumatic experience that I will never forget. It's related with cockroaches, so prepare to be disgusted.

   It was 1 AM. I was asleep and still dreaming. But my dream was faded into black when I felt some kind of creature crawling on my body. I was half conscious at that time, so I thought it was just some kind of "hallucination". I swept those "crawling feelings" away. Strangely, it always came back. When that feeling came back in the third time, I opened my eyes and I was extremely shocked by what I saw.

Cockroach.

It crawled on my body.

   I immediately jumped from my bed and shivers in fear. It seems like I just saw some spooky ghost, even though in reality it's just a bug. I searched for Baygon in my room, but I can't find it anywhere. I panicked, the only weapon that I can use to attack those horrible creatures wasn't available on my eyesight. Meanwhile, the cockroach kept crawling on my bed. My breath was shortened. It felt like I was having a severe panic attack. And what makes it worse is that the cockroach was getting closer to me. I screamed in fear, it was an immediate reflex.

Then I saw the thing that I needed the most above my cupboard.

Baygon.

   I hurrily grab that bug-killing bottle and spray it on the cockroach. The cockroach responded by running so fast to every corner. I sprayed it again and again, almost to the point where I could be poisoned. But what did the cockroach do?

It flew.

   Flying cockroach was one of the most spookiest thing I have every witness. I was so desperate, I need someone's help to kill that bug, so I immediately opened my door and ran away and kept screaming loudly. Apparently, my brother was awake and asked why I screamed. I told him the story of the cockroach. I begged him to help me kill that cockroach. He sighed, went to my room and noticed how toxic the smell was. He asked why I used Baygon so much, and I only responded with shivers. When he saw the cockroach, he grabbed a broom and smashed the cockroach a few times until it died. "You could've done that, you know. The broom was on your room." he said. I thanked him a bunch of times until my brother was tired of hearing it.  He went to his room and I went to mine as well. I tried to calm down but I was still afraid that there would be another cockroach passing by, so I stayed awake until 3 AM. Apparently, there's none, so I fell asleep and thankfully, my dream didn't contain any cockroach.

About Me

Greetings, all. My name is Figlia Sophia Azzahra, but you can call me Figlia. I am a student of 3 Senior High School, from X Science 6. I'm very anxious so I apologized if I ever come as a very awkward person.

I was born in Bandung, February 2, 2002. I am 15 years old as I'm writing this post. I was a student of Merdeka Elementary School and 5 Junior High School. I was a very talkative and active child, but that all changed when I went to junior high school. Alright, I'm done with personal stuff, now let's talk about my interest and such.

I am obsessed with Gorillaz since I was in 7th grade. It's a band, you should search it on Google. I could spend paragraphs and paragraphs talking about why I love that band but I chose not to because I am 100% sure you'll be irritated and annoyed. I love Blur as well (coincidentally, both Blur and Gorillaz have Damon Albarn in it) but I am a new fan of that band so I don't really know much about it, at least not as much as I know Gorillaz. I like Lana del Rey and Lorde as well, although I considered myself as a casual fan. Other things than music that I love are Adventure Time and Villainous. My hobbies are drawing and watching YouTube videos.

I think that's quite a long introduction, I hope we can become friends! Especially if you have the same interest as me because wow, it's so hard to find people in the same fandom as me. Sorry if this post is pure cringe. See you next time.