Mirza – Page 2 – Notes of Mindscapes

A Direct Answer to a Wild Question

On Instagram, there’s been a lot of photos or memes lately talking about the difference between Korean dramas and real life. In Korean dramas, when two people bump into each other, they end up getting to know each other, dating, and living happily ever after. But in real life, when people bump into each other, it usually ends in a fight. Makes sense, right?

Then my wild thought started: “What if it’s not people bumping into each other, but cars? How would it end? Getting acquainted or fighting?”

***

Be careful with your mind. Less than 12 hours after I had that thought, I experienced a pretty serious accident myself. This morning, I was driving my mom from Bandung to Jakarta. Near the Cikarang toll gate, I was on the far right lane. The car in front of me suddenly braked hard and I crashed into it. Seconds later, the car behind me crashed into my car, just like bumper cars.

The sound of sudden braking and the loud crash all happened so fast. I was honestly scared to even look at the situation. Ya Allah. But alhamdulillah, my mom and I were completely fine and no physical injuries at all. What shocked me, though, was that the airbag didn’t deploy at all. Not even a bit 🙁

After getting out to handle the situation, I started taking photos of the scene for the police report.

This was the Cipaganti travel car that I hit. The rear didn’t look too bad, but I have no idea about the engine.

Then my car. Pretty badly damaged because the car behind hit me. The rear door couldn’t be opened, the exhaust was bent, the bumper came loose. When the car runs, it sounds like a modified exhaust. Super loud, like it’s about to fall off.

And this was the car behind me, the worst condition of all. It couldn’t even move and had to be towed.

My mom has a friend in the police force, let’s just call him Uncle S. When we called him, he was on his way from Bandung to Jakarta (what a perfect timing!), and about 10 minutes later, he arrived at the scene. Uncle S immediately contacted toll road officers, traffic police, and tow truck services. Alhamdulillah.

Both the people I hit and the person who hit me were genuinely good people. Everyone took responsibility wisely and calmly.

I’m not trying to defend myself here. I know I was at fault for not keeping a safe distance. As I’m writing this post, the car issues aren’t fully settled yet, but I’ve learned to be grateful for whatever happens. Yes, today there was an accident, but along with it came many good things as well.

***

Anyway, the answer to my wild question at the beginning of this post has been answered. I got to know new people, exchanged contacts, and promised to stay in touch and keep in contact after this accident 🙂

From Strangers to Bestfriends

Selama taun 2014 aku punya dua kelompok temen baru, masing-masingnya cuma ketemu intens sama sekitar 6 bulan aja. They are AAX and Bandung Foodies. Bisa dibilang setengah taun pertama, hari-hari dihiasi sama AAX dan setengah taun terakhir sama Bandung Foodies.

***

AAX (don’t ask why we named it AAX :P): mereka teman-teman kerja di Jakarta dan mulai deket dari bulan Januari. Ini agak aneh sebenernya, waktu itu mereka adalah anak-anak baru di kantor dan aku sendiri udah lebih lama. Aku jadi bagian dari Indonesia Stock Exchange dari 2013 dan mereka baru masuk di 2014, tapi justru jauh lebih deket sama mereka dibanding temen-temen divisi sendiri atau temen-temen yang masuknya bareng.

Foto ini diambil di Juli 2014 di Pacific Place Jakarta, terakhir kalinya ngumpul bareng sama mereka. Waktu itu udah hampir sebulan sejak resign dari kantor. Yes I came to Jakarta just to see them. Walaupun udah lama banget ga ngumpul lengkap, kita masih keep in touch dan sampe sekarang bener-bener bersyukur bisa ketemu mereka <3

***

Bandung Foodies: sejak resign dari Jakarta dan kembali ke Bandung, ada waktu nganggur selama 2 bulan sebelum masuk kuliah. Nah aku ngisi waktu-waktu nganggur itu dengan wisata kuliner dan share apa yang pernah dimakan di media sosial. Ternyata efek dari continuously sharing ini, aku “ditemuin” sama orang-orang yang juga suka kulineran dan akhirnya kami buat grup yang namanya Bandung Foodies.

Lama-lama, mereka ini ga cuma jadi temen-temen kuliner aja tapi juga jadi teman main, teman cerita, temen ngerandom ga jelas. Di sela-sela kesibukan kuliah yang wow banget, I still can’t imagine my 2014 without them. Walaupun termasuk yang jarang banget ikutan ngumpul, tapi tiap ada waktu main sama mereka rasanya seneng banget~

***

And it’s funny how someone who was just a stranger last year, can mean so much to me now. It’s amazing what a year can do. AAX and Bandung Foodies, you guys meant so much, really! And the last I wanna say good bye 2014 and hello 2015. Be nice please 🙂

Guest From USS!

Tue, Dec 23rd 2014: YEAY, ada tamu spesial dari Singapore! It’s postcard from Sharon yang udah ditunggu hampir dua minggu. Sayang waktu postcard ini nyampe di rumah ngga ada orang yang nerima, jadi sama postman-nya ditinggalin gitu aja di halaman dan kena hujan, basah deh 🙁

Nah kalo penasaran sama anak yang namanya Sharon, liat nih wajahnya.

Thanks a bunch Sharon (and the postman)! Such a super-mood-booster after the tiring Tuesday. Ah ya, yang hobi traveling baca-baca blognya Sharon gih di sharontravelogue.com (and my culinary blog too here :P). See you on another post or another blog. Ciao!

Cheers,

JoJo in 40 Days

Another concert in 40 days and I’ll play a K-Pop song. Can you believe that I’ll play K-Pop at a classical concert? It all started when Mrs. Mela, my piano teacher, asked me to join the concert and offered me to choose my own song, then I told it to my friend Giza.

She said, “I’ll come to your concert if you play K-Pop.” Then I randomly choose JoJo by SHINee. I submitted it to Mrs. Mela the song and she approved it. It was just like… what? Did she just say yes? So that’s how the story goes. I’m going to play a K-Pop song on a classical concert just because Giza asked it.

Btw since my activities going busier and busier, this could be my last concert 🙁 I left my job and decided to continue my study, now I’m a graduate student and I gotta put my study above everything, even above my hobbies. Don’t have enough time to do piano practice everyday and it seems that I have to leave my music school in the near future. So if this my really last (not-really) classical concert, just hope I’ll play the song well. Aamiin.

Cheers,

Piano Tutorial: Do and Don’t

1. Do: lift your wrist. Don’t: rest your wrist on piano keys. Even though it sounds sooo basic, but yes some of pianists still do this lazy-man gesture.

2. Do: put your repertoire at the front holder. Don’t: put the repertoire on the floor.

3. Do: normal feet position. Right feet to push the right and middle treadle, left feet for left treadle. Don’t: cross your feet. You’re playing piano, not attending arisan ibu-ibu.

That’s all, thank you and hope it helps (I know it does). Bye!

Cheers,

Just Smile, It Helps

“Just smile, it helps.”

Kata-kata di atas ini aku dapet dari Adhel in a 15 mins escape journey on last Friday. Jadi minggu lalu emang lagi cerita suatu masalah gitu dan kata-kata dia yang paling nempel ya itu. Maybe he doesn’t even remember but it was just like a knife stab in my heart. Seorang Mirza Arfina, yang ngaku lulusan psikologi, tenggelam di masalah sendiri dan bahkan ngga inget cara paling sederhana untuk ngangkat mood diri sendiri.

“Kalo lo ga bisa nolong diri sendiri, gimana lo mau nolong orang lain?”

Itu tambahan kata-kata jleb dari temen lain, Ica, buat aku. Actually she didn’t mention it to me tapi kok kesannya pas banget ya.

Bukan berarti (calon) psikolog ga boleh punya masalah. Semua orang di dunia ~~dan akhirat~~ pasti punya masalah. Mau yang sekecil kutunya kutu atau bahkan sampe segede bapaknya dinosaurus. Tapi semua dibalikin ke diri sendiri, masalah itu mau di-keep atau diselesaiin. Buat orang-orang yang ada di luar kendali buat nyelesaiin masalahnya sendiri, bener tuh kata Adhel. Senyum aja. It does. It helps us in many things. So what smile can do? Here I’ll share to you, fellas. Semoga bisa ngebantu juga ya 🙂

***

Making yourself attractive– Not only slim figure but smile also can make you attractive. People were drawn to the person who is smiling. All want to know more about the smiling personality. This is a natural process. Thus smile helps you to become ttractive.

Help to change the mood– “I am very upset on the day when I lose my favorite job. I through pots on floor and mess up all set up of living room” Larry told the story. “I get violate so much for the first time of my life. Suddenly my homes door bell ring. I open up door with disturbs mood my girl friend was on the door. She doesn’t have any idea what had happen? When I saw her face which was having very nice smile on. I feel so relax and little bit happy. She took me in her warmth arm and I suddenly change. I know her smile made the miracle’. In Larry’s case her girl friend’s smile help to change the mood. It is true that smile can change the mood. Smile can change others mood but the person who is smiling will also feel relaxes after having good smile on face. Next time when you will feel down try to put smile and feel the change in your mood.

Help to lighten the room– Smile is contagious. Your smile as can change the mood also can lighten up the room where you are smiling. Your smile unknowingly make atmosphere happy. Smile person bring happiness with them. Smile lot and you will draw people to you.

Relieves stress– Now a day life is full of stress whether it is family life or professional life. Stress can shows on our faces. Smile helps us to prevent from looking tired or overwhelmed. When you are stressed take time to put a cute smile on your face. Stress will be reduced and you will feel better to take action.

Boost your immune system- Smile helps your immune system work well. When you smile your immune system improve as you are more relaxed. Prevent flu and cold by smiling. Fight with the dieses by smiling great.

Lower blood pressure- It is medically prove that smile lowers the blood pressure. It is measurable reduction in your blood pressure when you smile. If you have blood pressure monitor at home you can check out.

Makes you look younger – Many women will be happy to read this. Yes it is true that smiles help you to look younger. For smiling we use the mussel which lifts our face and help us to look younger. Don’t go only for face lift. Try smiling in a day and see difference, you will look younger and feel better.

Help to become successful- Yes smiling people has better chance to get successful in life. Smiling people are more confident which is important for any kind of success. Smiling at meeting and appointments where people react to you differently because of smile.

Makes you positive-Smile is the sign of positivity. When we are smiling our body sends the message that “life is good”. Let run away depression stress and worry from your life. It only can happen by smiling.

To connect with people- Smile helps to get connected with people. Because of smiley face people were get attract to the person and they try to get in touch with the smiley person. Smiley face spread happiness and positive attitude which no one dislikes.

Powerful tool of flirting– Smile is the powerful tool of flirting for a women. Giving just a cute smile, women can easily attract the men whom she wants.

I got those words from this page.

***

When you smile, you actually don’t only boost your mood but also makes people around you happy too. So just smile, it helps! 🙂

Cheers,

Itu Jari Tangan? Serius?

Pernah ngga sih dapet komentar fisik yang ngga enak dan bikin mikir negatif sama diri sendiri? Kayak misalnya gendut, kurus, pesek, pendek, buntet dll. Dari kecil, aku udah kenyang banget sama komen gendut dari orang sekitar. Lama-lama komen itu pelan-pelan berubah dari “gendut” ke “jari buntet”. Not that I’m not fat anymore, but the focus is just slowly change because I have new hobby.

I love to play piano and sometimes I wanna share what I love to my social media. Tapi kadang ketika udah di-share, dapet komennya bukan tentang lagu yang dimainin but again those fingers. Kalau dibandingin sama orang lain, emang ukuran jari ini pendek dan gendut gitu jadi emang banyak mengundang orang untuk komen. Tapi emang harus banget ya komen dengan kata-kata yang ngga disaring dulu?

Ngga cuma waktu main piano, aku juga suka gambar-gambar dan kadang kalau orang ngeliatin proses gambarnya dan ngeliat tangan yang lagi gambar, suka jadi muncul komen tentang jari lagi, jari lagi. Rasanya tuh kayak murid sekolah udah belajar mati-matian demi lulus sekolah, tapi pas lulus ada yang nyeletuk “wah hebat ya dia bisa lulus, padahal kan dia gendut”.

Ngga sedikit loh orang yang kenal cuma selewat sama kita terus dengan entengnya berkomentar tentang fisik yang menurut mereka minus. Maksudnya gini, hei apa kontribusi lo dalam hidup gue sampe akhirnya lo ngerasa punya hak buat nge-judge fisik gue? *maaf emosi*

***

Sejauh yang aku inget, satu-satunya orang yang sering “ketemu” sama jari-jari ini dan ngga pernah bahas masalah perbedaan jariku sama jari orang lain adalah guru pianoku. Dia yang tiap minggu ngeliatin aku main piano dan ya udah fokusnya cuma ngajarin main piano yang bener. Aku sendiri bahkan pernah mikir kok dia ngga berespon negatif ya? Atau mungkin sebenernya udah mikir “nih jari buntet-buntet amat sih” tapi ya responnya ngga diomongin. Saking penasarannya aku pernah mancing guru pianoku itu dengan ngomong “Aku ngga bisa mainin lagu cepet gini, jariku kan buntet jempol semua”. Tapi responnya cuma bilang kalau ngga masalah bentuk jari kayak gimana pun yang jelas kalau rajin latihan semua orang pasti bisa.

WHAT?

Well, di saat aku sering banget dapet respon ngga enak dari lingkungan (tentang jariku), pas ada yang komentar positif justru jadi hal yang aneh. Jujur aja judgement yang didapet dari dulu udah ngebuat aku ngegeneralisasi dan mikir oke, semua orang pasti mikir jariku jelek, semua orang pasti ngetawain aku. Dan bahkan itu juga ngebuat selalu mikir jelek tentang diri sendiri.

Aku sendiri udah kenyang dikatain gendut dari kecil. Tapi ketika komen gendut (badan) berubah jadi komen jari yang buntet, itu jauh jauh jauh lebih ngga enak. Karena kalau dikatain gendut, aku bisa usaha biar badan lebih kurus. Tapi kalau dapet komen tentang jariku yang menurut mereka ngga lazim, itu tuh kayak ngetawain takdir orang. Mungkin kesannya kok sensitif banget dibilang jarinya buntet langsung ngga suka. But believe me, I’ve heard those bad comments for, like, my entire life.

Mija jarinya buntet yah.

Ya ampun jari kok jempol semua.

Itu jari apa ubi cilembu?

Nanti kalo nikah pasti suami kamu susah masukin cincinnya. Mampet.

Jari tangan? Oops sorry, kirain jari kaki.

Udah orangnya pendek, jarinya pendek juga.

Ngejadiin fisik orang sebagai bahan candaan itu ngga lucu, seriously. Dan apa sih untungnya buat mereka? Mereka mungkin bisa lupa dalam beberapa menit aja, tapi orang yang dikasih komen gitu bisa ingat seumur hidupnya. Komentar-komentar itu yang bikin aku tumbuh sebagai orang ngga pede, selalu mikir negatif ke fisik sendiri, dan selalu ngebanding-bandingin diri sendiri sama orang lain. Kadang jadi takut ngelakuin apa yang aku suka karena takut denger komentar dari sekitar. Di satu titik terendah, aku pernah mikir kenapa ya aku lahir dari keluarga yang secara fisik kayak gini. Kenapa aku ngga kayak si A yang dari lahir udah cantik, kenapa ngga kayak si B yang badannya proporsional effortlessly atau pemikiran negatif lain.

But now I realize, comparing yourself to others’ is just as bad as them. I mean, I’ve been through that situation that make me feel bad all the times. Saying that myself is bad (physically) is just like being ungrateful to God’s creation. Each of us is unique, we don’t need to compare what God has given to us. What I’m gonna say now is thank God I’m still here, alive, happy and healthy.

***

Additional writing (2017): post di atas ini ditulis di 2012 dan aku tambahin di Agustus 2017. Sampai sekarang, aku masih sering dapat komentar tentang fisik, terutama masalah jari dari orang-orang dekat atau bahkan orang yang baru kenal. Tapi alhamdulillah sekarang aku udah bisa mikir bodo amat, this is my body, this is my life. Aku bersyukur banget sekarang bisa berpikiran jauh lebih positif. Ya walaupun masih berpendapat sampai sekarang kalau komentar fisik itu ngga lucu sama sekali, paling ngga aku udah bisa coping dengan baik.

For those people who mocked at my fingers, here I tell you. Jari-jari ini udah ngebawa aku jadi juara di kompetisi piano tingkat provinsi, jari-jari ini udah ngebuat aku bangga karena bisa bikin desain gambar yang published internationally, dan jari-jari ini udah ngebantu bikin senang orang lain dengan ngelakuin hal yang aku bisa untuk mereka. So what your normal-shape fingers can do?

Cheers,

Enjoying Life Rules – Me Version

Every word I write below is just my opinion, so you may agree or not. Up to you and happy reading, here we go.

What we need exactly to happily live our life? There’s no exact theory for that. People have different life. One thing I know, life is simple. Eat when you hungry and just eat. Too many comments or complaints, you couldn’t taste the joyful of life. Smoke if you wanna die at your young age, don’t smoke near the people who cover their nose with their hand while you do that. Sleep when you feel sleepy and just sleep. You don’t need to tweet on your twitter “Oh I’m sleepy”, universe just don’t care. If you need to sleep so sleep, don’t tweet. Do what you wanna do, ignore what people say without ignoring their rights. Be free but still respect others (oh I just ignore others’ tweeting right, sorry).

I said life is simple, but don’t just be too simple. You won’t be seen by others (in this case it’s just a problem if you want others to see you). So what else? Be unique. Don’t say “I’m not creative, I don’t know how to be unique”. Being different is unique. People like something different, so do you, don’t you? Close your eyes, free your imagination. Fly with it and make it real – don’t let it just stay in your mind. The next step is acceptance of others. Because of it’s your imagination, which is not objective, maybe sometimes people don’t like what you do. Being unique doesn’t mean being liked by others, it means being seen by others. Use every chance you have to make it real. YOLO guys, you only live once so don’t waste it.

Make a wish, take a chance, make a chance, and breakaway!

Thanks for reading this random post, this is just me being sarcastic – and trying to enjoy mine. Hope you guys enjoy your life, with mine or maybe your own way.

Cheers,

Sungha’s Concert, Confirmed!

One of the most-talented-fingerstyle-guitarists in the world, Jung Sungha, will come to Indonesia! This is what I’ve been waiting so long. Oh my, I still remember how I surprised my friends during the KKN days (KKN is like a community development participation class that I had to take). It was on January, when I still on my bed and not fully awake (maybe it was about at 5 am) I checked my email and opened facebook on my handphone. There was an announcement on fb that said that Sungha will come to Indonesia on this December and suddenly I shouted “AAAHH!!” loudly. Some of my friends came closer and asked me why I shouted so loud. Hahahaaa it was funny that when I told them the (unimportant) reason of my shout they didn’t really care and went back to their lovely bed. They thought something happened to me. Sorry fellas. Yeah it was January. Too much euphoria for 11-months-more thing, it came too much when it shouldn’t, haha..

Now I know that the concert will be held on November – not December. I’ll see Sungha with my friend, Giza. Yesterday the presale came out and we were very excited! After some process we did, finally we got the VVIP seat! It’s numbered seat, we dunno the number yet, but we hope we’ll get the front seat, amin! Every time I think about it, I do very excited! Imagine how me and Giza shake Sungha’s hand (yeah, we also got the meet and greet session), talk to him, ask him to sign our paper or book or cloth or guitar or something we bring, idk.

The photo above is me, Sungha, and Giza. See how much Sungha and Giza look alike? Hahhaa, that’s why I always say that Sungha is Giza’s brother, lol. Okay, now is D-110 to the great day (don’t call me freak to count the day, I use day counter on my laptop). It’s kinda funny that I want time fly so fast for things like this but want it to be frozen for some other things, hmm. Now I just wanna say, “Can’t wait to see ya, Sungha!”

regards,

Yes, I am the lucky one!

Actually this is a copy version of the latest post on my tumblr with the same title. On this one, I just translate it in English. So for you guys who have read my tumblr, please don’t be bored and enjoy the flow of my words~ Here we go!

I saw Jason Mraz! After a sad story on last November 2011, I had 3 VIP Jason Mraz’s concert free passes but couldn’t go to Bali, finally last night I saw and sang along with him on his tour in Jakarta. Thanks, God!

What I got from his concert last night?
Before the concert began, I saw Chevrina and Kamga from Tangga, a famous vocal group from Indonesia. I asked my friends (Gugun, Janet, and kak Astrid), “Do I look tacky if I come there and ask for their signature?” and they said, “No, it’s okay.” Then I came to them and I got this.

Even though I like Tangga since I was on high school, actually I looked for Vidi Aldiano, a famous handsome singer (>,<) He is Nitnot’s favorite, hhahahhaaa.. We knew that Vidi would come to Jason Mraz’s concert then Nitnot asked me if I meet him, I had to say her greeting to Vidi. I didn’t sure I could see him because there was more than 6 thousand people at Senayan. But, I said to Gugun, Janet and Kak Astrid that I looked for Vidi since the concert began. When the concert was over and we wanted to go home, kak Astrid said “That’s Vidi with the stripe one!” and she pointed to someone. I thought she was joking but then I knew that it isn’t. That was the real Vidi Aldiano! I followed him and finally I got this.

Hi Nitnot (from Vidi)

The link above is a 6 seconds video that Vidi made for Nitnot. Just open the link and you’ll see what it is but if it isn’t really clear on your ears, here I write it for you.

“Halo Nitnot, ini Vidi Aldiano. Teman kamu nyuruh saya bilang HAI untuk kamu. Bye!”
“Hello Nitnot, this is Vidi Aldiano. Your friend asked me to say HI to you. Bye!”

The photo above, a bit blury. Hahhaa I captured it by myself and my hand was shaaaaaaaaking~

That’s about the other. Then how about Mr. A-Z? Well I didn’t capture any photo or record any video about him last night. Too nervous to make a great photo or video (actually I did but it’s blury) and it was too far! Seriously, I got nothing about Jason on my camera. And for the last, this is me and Gugun at Jason’s banner.

So, I’ve seen Jason with my own eyes, met Chevrina, Kamga, and the one who I looked for in more than 6 thousand people, Vidi Aldiano. Now I can say that I am the lucky one! Yes, I am!

And now I’m hoaaaaaaaahm.. sleepy. Bye fellas, have a good night (or day)!

regards,