Tata Cara Penyambutan untuk Oma dan Opa

Mat sibuk mengajari Mama dan Papa "Tata Cara Penyambutan untuk Oma dan Opa" yang sesaat lagi akan tiba di rumah sehabis plesir di luar negeri selama tiga minggu.

Rencana 1:
"Mama. Nanti kalo Oma pulang, Metiu ngumpet di kamar sama Papa ya. Trus Mama bilang ke Oma kalo Metiu ga ada, pergi sama Papa. Trus nanti Metiu keluar kamar sambil bilang 'SURPRISE!' Gitu ya."

Rencana 2:
"Mama. Nanti kalo Oma pulang, Metiu ngumpet di belakang kursi sama Mama sama Papa ya. Trus nanti Metiu sama Papa loncat keluar sambil bilang 'SURPRISE!', badannya dimiringin, tangannya dibuka ke samping ya. Trus Mama juga bilang 'SURPRISE!', tapi tangannya dibuka ke atas ya."

Rencana 3:
"Mama. Kalo Oma pulang, Mama, Metiu sama Papa ngumpet di belakang kursi. Trus kalo Oma cari, kita keluar trus bilang 'SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!'"
(Lho????)

Pelaksanaannya:
Mat di dalam kamar waktu mobil yang mengantar Oma dan Opa tiba di depan rumah. Langsung Mat grasa-grusu keluar kamar. Mau ngumpet ga rela, ga ngumpet juga ga rela. Akhirnya Mat lari buka pintu sambil menyambut pelukan Oma, "OMAAAAAAAAA!!! OPAAAAA!!!"

Nah. Sederhana, bukan?

Valentine Ini Milik Siapa ..

Kemarin:
1. Berburu 27 batang cokelat. Target penerima: Teman-teman sekolah Mat. Trend cokelat Valentine bertaburan di mall dengan berbagai bentuk, warna, kemasan dan harga. Soal rasa?? Yang penting cantik. Gue cari yang udah dijamin enak sejak jaman gue mengenal cokelat, biarlah dibilang kuno. Dan lagi, supermarket mengobral harga cokelat dengan diskon 20% + 10% harga member. Gue liat ibu-ibu banyak yang mengambil bertumpuk-tumpuk cokelat dari rak. Haiz. Jangan-jangan itu juga buat dibawa anaknya ke sekolah.

2. Berburu 9 batang bunga. Target penerima: Guru-guru sekolah Mat. Trend bunga Valentine juga merajalela. Kios-kios bunga penuh sesak. Mulai dari bunga segar, bunga plastik sampai dengan bunga sabun. Lembaran-lembaran uang ditukar dengan rangkaian mawar. Pembelinya juga segala umur, dari yang muda sampai yang tua. Lokal maupun asing. Karena ini yang bawa nanti anak TK, gue ambil bunga sabun. Selain wangi dan awet, bentuk bunganya pun cantik dan imut-imut. Ada lagi yang ngasih bunga sabun selain Mat?

3. You can always make plain things fancier .. with colors. Jadilah gue menghabiskan semalaman dengan membungkus batang-batang cokelat dengan kertas kado, pita dan mawar. Satu persatu. Kecil-kecil. (Sambil menonton replay 54th Grammy Awards dan menangis bersama Jennifer Hudson. Much love for Whitney!). The wrapping time was tiring, but really fun. Made me happy looking at these little gifts.

Hari ini:
1. Mengantar Mat ke sekolah, beserta bunga-bunga dan cokelat-cokelatnya. Happy kids, happy people.
2. Kerja, kerja, mari kita kerja. Di kantor ada kurir pengantar buket bunga yang nyasar. Gue minta bunganya, ga dikasih.
3. Di dalam bus pulang, ada satu kotak kue besar duduk di kursi. Apa kue itu juga beli tiket bus? Karena hari ini adalah hari kasih sayang, ya biarlah kue itu berbahagia bisa duduk sendiri, tanpa harus kepanasan karena dipangku.
4. Komunikasi dengan Andri terhambat sepanjang hari. Jaringan BBM kewalahan dan menjadi lemah otak dalam menghadapi serbuan ungkapan, obrolan dan pernyataan cinta. Parah. Membuat emosi jiwa. Jadi lupakanlah.
5. Menghabiskan waktu sepulang kerja dengan mendengarkan cerita Mat tentang proses pembagian bunga dan cokelatnya. Juga menerima pelimpahan apa yang didapat dari sekolahnya.
6. Menjadi juru foto Mat yang sedang berpelukan penuh sayang dengan kakak-adiknya: Woofie, Louie, Shaun, Moo-Moo, Karyn, Mark, Karolyn, Janet dan Adam.
7. Menemani Mat menggambar dan mengajarinya cara menggambar bunga dan hati.
8. Menemani Mat tidur sambil menunggu Andri pulang kerja, sambil menulis blog ini.
9. Menonton "Glee" sambil menemani Andri yang akhirnya pulang juga dan yang sedang makan malam di depan TV.
10. Nulis, posting, selesai.

Kadang sulit mengenali romantisme di kehidupan sehari-hari. Ada yang tidak terkatakan, maupun tertuliskan. Tidak bisa dipaksakan. Tapi bisa dirasakan biarpun hanya sedikit. Wujud romantisme kasih sayang tidak hanya bisa dirasakan dengan menerima, tapi juga bisa dirasakan dengan memberi.

Dan kata siapa tidak ada bunga dan cokelat buat gue di hari Valentine ini?

What Does Love Mean?

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all even when his hands got arthritis, too. That's Love."
Rebecca - age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French Fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss."
Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate."
Nikka - age 6

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."
Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."
Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."


(Best Quotes)

Life

When I see life posted on Facebook, I wonder how is it that other people's life can be so perfect. For a split second, I envy them. But then I realize, no one can ever know what's behind the pretty pictures, what's behind the wonderful stories they posted, what's the unseen, what's the untold. No one can ever know how they sort the good and the bad out of their friends' and public's eyes. Because the truth is, life is not that perfect. Behind every happiness, there are struggles, tears and heartbreaks. We can never know.

I see my life. I may have said, as others said the same about theirs, that my life is perfect.

Well, it's not. But I love it. And always am grateful for it.

Declaration of Ambitions

I don't need you to be able to speak multi-language.
I want you to be able to speak kindness in any language.

I don't need you to win any games or competitions.
I want you to win your Dad's and my heart every single moment.

I don't need you to brag about things you have more than others.
I want you to be able to respect and never underestimate people.

I don't need you to feel inferior or threatened by other people's accomplishments.
I want you to believe you will get there in your time and be proud of yourself in every little thing you do.

I don't need you to take comparisons heavily.
I want you to understand that you are incomparable and wonderful in your own way.

I don't need you to have doubts in voicing out your mind.
I want you to believe everything can be reasoned and you will get every support you need.

I don't need you to grow up good-looking.
I want you to grow up always posing yourself gracefully, caringly and lovingly.

I don't need you to be rich in quantity.
I want you to be rich in quality.

I don't need you to present medals, trophies or money.
I want you to be able to present your love, in big or small ways, for as long as you live.

I may not have many ambitions in my life, but these are mine for you, my son. As children are mirrors of their parents' ambitions, my goal is to make these to happen upon you.

Remind me if I somehow fail showing you this during my rough times: That I love you. With all my heart and soul. For as long as I live.

All About Movie Scenes

I choose my answers based on the exceptional ones from the top of my head. It will probably not be the most memorable ones, or the most favourite ones. Cause if we talk about favourites, I'm sure there's a lot more that are still hidden in my mind .. hahah .. too many movies. Watch out for spoilers!

...........
...........
...........
...........
...........


[Opening Credits]:
Band of Brothers. I love the montage. The style of old pictures complete with the scratches, the slow motion, and most of all, along with the haunting score of Michael Kamen. It contains the best scenes of the whole series. No matter how many times it plays, I never get bored of it. And My Best Friend's Wedding. The animation is cute, the song is cheerfully nice .. by the minute I saw it, I knew that I was gonna love the whole movie. Panic Room, all the casts' name on top of the skyscrapers.

[Waking Up]:
Back to the Future, when Marty woke up after the accident. "You're my ma .. you're my ma ..". And also after Marty came back to the future .. and saw things were changed drastically. Band of Brothers Episode 5, the morning wake up.

[Average Day]:
Groundhog Day. It is boring and unique at the same time, knowing that how much people can do and improve their life by repeating the day. And Return to the Blue Lagoon. Happy, undisturbed by the civilization.

[Best Friend Scene]:
My Best Friend's Wedding, the dance on boat. A Walk in the Clouds, drink and sing.

[First date scene]:
The Godfather, Michael Corleone and Apolonia, with her relatives tailing from behind.

[Falling in Love scene]:
Superman II, when Lois was flying with Superman. "Can you read my mind?". And Beauty and the Beast when Belle taught Beast how to feed the birds. Anastasia, the waltz of Dmitri and Anya.

[Love scene]:
Many. A Walk in the Clouds, when Victoria taught Paul how to fan the frozen grapes. Message in a Bottle, the popcorn fight between Garret and Theresa. Ada Apa dengan Cinta?, the cooking time. Beauty and the Beast, the dance. Phenomenon, when Lace gave George a hair cut and a shave. Titanic, learning to fly. Love Actually, "To me, you are perfect".

[Fight with best friend scene]:
My Dog Skip, when Willie slapped Skip away.

[Fight with Lover scene]:
Ada Apa dengan Cinta? Of course, Cinta and Rangga fought all the time. But the exceptional one is when Cinta said that since she knew Rangga, she became a different person. And the way Rangga responded to her, was very cool! I couldn't think of else, except that would serve her right.

[Break up scene]:
Jerry Maguire. You know, when Jerry bowed his head in front of Dorothy, hearing her saying the words. He seemed so helpless for not be able to stop her from leaving.

[Get back together scene]:
Jerry Maguire. "You had me at hello."

["Life's Okay" scene]:
Life is Beautiful. When Guido pretended in front of his son, that he was going to play instead of going to the execution.

[Heartbreak scene]:
Fly Me to Polaris, the swimming pool scene. *sniff*. And The Pianist, when Szpilman was separated from his family. Love Actually, in the bedroom, after Karen found out her gift was not the same as the one she found out before. Deep Impact .. when mom said goodbye to her daughter and her baby .. o, I cried badly seeing this scene. =( =(.

[Mental breakdown scene]:
Beth, Nurul Arifin's tears near the ending. Sunset Boulevard, the ending .. creepy.

[Driving scene]:
The Fast and the Furious, racing with the train. And oh .. is riding horse can be considered as driving? =D. I would like to recommend the way Arwen rode her horse, trying to get away from the Ringwraiths in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Man, it was intense!

[Makeout scene]:
Indecent Proposal. Bed, money . making love on the bed covered with lots of money .. sexy sexy. This is no ordinary love.

[Lesson learning scene]:
My Fair Lady. When Eliza accidentally swallowed the marbles. *lol*.

[Deep thought scene]:
"So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned - my conclusion, right? Well, my conclusion is: Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it. Derek says it's always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can't top it, steal from them and go out strong. So I picked a guy I thought you'd like. 'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'" - American History X, the voice over of Danny Vinyard .. the ending with a sight of the ocean. (Note:The quote is modified from the final paragraph of Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861).

[Flashback scene]:
The ending of The Sixth Sense. O the flashback got me .. I felt so so stupid.

[Party scene]:
A Walk in the Clouds .. the harvest. When all the grapes were poured into a big barrel, and the women danced inside the barrel, stepping onto the grapes with bare feet. Other people were standing around them, playing music and clapping hands. It was a merry-wild party .. the Mexican way.

[Happy dance scene]:
Big, the giant keyboards dance. In & Out, the "I Will Survive" dance. Scent of a Woman, the tango dance.

[Regret scene]:
Patch Adams .. "I taught her the medicine that killed her". And at Carin's coffin, Patch read the poem, "I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: Where “I” does not exist, nor “You”, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep." Then he stopped, cried and kissed the coffin, saying he was sorry. (Note: The poem is free-translated from Sonnet XVII by Pablo Neruda).

[Long night alone scene]:
Ju-On: The Grudge. Ok, this is definately not my favorite, but .. phew .. when the girl was lying down on her bed, and the child ghost appeared from under her blanket, and when she looked up above her head, there was this girl ghost looking at her .. *looking for a safer place to hide*.

[Death scene]:
Ringu, the appearance. WARNING: Scary as hell. And My Dog Skip .. you look at him in the eyes, and you see the life he's been through .. touching.

[Closing scene]:
Notting Hill, when the pregnant Anna lay her head on William's lap. William was reading a book, sitting on a bench in the park. Silently, peacefully, they said nothing at all. And Dead Poets Society, when the students climbed on the top of their desks .. "O Captain, my Captain".

[Credits]:
Most of Jacky Chan's movies, with the outtakes.


@)-->----- Originally posted in CineFriends on May 17, 2004. Edited with video links.