Tex Saverio: Indonesian designer behind Katniss's wedding dress (The Hunger games)

I must admit, I didn't see the Hunger Games when it was in theatres, so I wasn't excited when its sequel came out : the Hunger Games - Catching Fire. But I had some spare time, so I decided to watch it this time. 

Maybe it was because I didn't have any expectations, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie!! And of course, Katniss's wedding dress caught my attention - how can it not, it was so beautiful!

Source pic: http://blbride.com/?p=1652

And to my surprise, this wedding dress was from an Indonesian designer named Tex Saverio, who presented a similar dress at Jakarta Fashion Week in 2010.

Source pic: http://blbride.com/?p=1652

This was not the first time he had international exposure. In 2011, Lady Gaga wore one of Tex Saverio's design for Harper's Bazaar. I think this was also absolutely gorgeous.

Source pic: http://gagafashionland.com/2011/04/lady-gaga-for-harpers-bazaar-tex-saverio/#sthash.bFWLKSwy.dpbs

And these are the latest design by Tex Saverio at Jakarta Fashion Week 2014.

Source pic: http://photo.sindonews.com/view/4248/rancangan-tex-saverio-pukau-penonton-jakarta-fashion-week-2014#3

Source pic: http://female.kompas.com/read/2013/10/20/1551452/Jakarta.Fashion.Week.2014.Tex.Saverio.Persembahkan.Busana.Siap.Pakai

Source pic: http://wolipop.detik.com/readfoto/2013/12/04/123452/2432194/941/3/

Jakarta Great Sale 2013

Jakarta Great Sale is held every year to commemorate Jakarta's anniversary (which falls on June 22nd). This year, the event starts from 1 June - 14 July 2013.
Supposedly, there are discounts up to 80% for goods sold in various department stores and outlets across the numerous malls in Jakarta.

And specifically for this year, 14 malls will hold a midnight sale event on June 21st (today!). During this event, the malls will have special discounts starting from 21:00 until midnight.

Here is the list of participating malls for the midnight sale:

Central Jakarta:
- Senayan City
- Plaza Senayan

South Jakarta:
- Cilandak Town Square
- Kalibata City Square
- Kuningan City
- Plaza Blok M
- Tebet Green
- Plaza Semanggi

West Jakarta:
- Central Park
- Mal Matahari Puri Daan Mogot
- Mal Taman Palem

North Jakarta:
- Mal Kelapa Gading 

East Jakarta:
- Arion
- Kramat Jati Indah Plaza

The Goods Dept

Having trouble finding local Indonesian fashion brands? 
Besides (X) S.M.L and Minimal, I'm not sure there are any other Indonesian brands that have successfully opened their own stores yet (please let me know otherwise).

Luckily though, you can alternatively go to The Goods Dept at Pacific Place mall (1st floor). This department store carries brands made by local Indonesian designers. Not only clothing, you can find here shoes, bags, wallets etc. Cotton Ink (a brand already quite well-known online), is an example of one of the brands you can find here.

And after browsing the store, they have a cafe as well where you can sit down and relax :)

Source pic: http://www.gogirlmagz.com/beta/place/detail/the-goods-dept.html

 

The Raid: Redemption

I was very glad to hear that an Indonesian film actually got some recognition abroad. The Raid: Redemption (Indonesian title: Serbuan Maut) is a hard-core action movie about an elite cop team trapped inside a building full of mobsters. 

From what I've read, besides the awesome fighting choreography, this movie should be commended because of the low budget it took to make it ("only" around 1 million USD).

Seeing the reviews, I wonder whether it is too hard-core for a chick-flick fan like myself. But after posting the question on my facebook page, my girlfriends say that it is still a great movie to watch even though there are scenes where we girls would squint. 

Well, I'm planning to see it later this week. Will post reviews then!

Indonesian shoes & clothing

These are two of my favorite Indonesian brands: Andre Valentino & Minimal.

http://andrevalentino.com/

Don't be fooled by the name (as I was), but Andre Valentino is not an Italian brand; it's actually an Indonesian shoe brand.  There are shoes for men, women and kids.

My first pair of Andre Valentino shoes were wedges which I completely fell in love with that I actually bought another pair but in a different color. They are sturdy so that you can walk hurriedly without being afraid of wobbling. And of course, the main thing, they are very comfortable. I could wear them the whole day at the office (and I really mean the whole day, since we often work until midnight).  

It turns out that Andre Valentino also has outlets in Malaysia & Singapore.

http://www.minimal.co.id/




This brand started business in Bandung, so it used to be that I could only buy it when I was in Bandung. But luckily, they now have opened outlets in the major malls in Jakarta. Minimal specializes in women's wear and accessories. 
I love the designs which are clean cut and well-tailored.

Chocolates-Flipflops-Noodles

Like in any country, Indonesia has several local brands that are synonymous with certain products. Here are a few Indonesian brands which I loveee...

1. Chocolates

Ok, please don't compare our chocolates to Belgian ones. But still, there are two Indonesian brands that I love: Silver Queen and Beng-beng. These brands have been in Indonesia since I was a child (in the age where malls were still scarce in Jakarta and I still often see rainbows after a pleasant rainfall).

Silver Queen is a chocolate-nut product. You can choose from several nut types with cashew nut being my favorite (I think this was also the first one they produced). For a long time, it was associated with its flat rectangular shape, but now they have a new variant that is "chunky". Even though I have been a long time fan, but I never paid attention to who produces this product. And surprisingly, they don't have a website?

Beng-beng is a chocolate wafer bar. While Silver Queen cashew nut hasn't changed its flavour (according to my tastebuds), I think Beng-beng has had some product development done. But still, a value for money product, it won't hurt you to try it! It is produced by Mayora, one of Indonesia's biggest FMCG companies.

2. Flip-flops

"Quick, I need some flip-flops!". Just head to your nearby warung & and for just Rp. 9,000 you can purchase some Swallow sandals. They're cheap, easily available, and considering the price, quite comfortable and sturdy. Nowadays, the brand also produces a more stylish line (which is of course a bit more costly). What else could you want from a pair of flip-flops?

3. Instant Noodles

Why I can't live without it: the smell... when someone is cooking instant noodles is so tempting; and then of course the MSG taste...even though noodles are essentially tasteless (?), marketers have come up with a variety of chemical flavours.

Why I can't live with it: it is not nutritious and not good for your health. Of course, some people may not agree with this, even the effects of MSG is still debatable. But the fact is, if I go to a doctor when having digestion problems, somewhere during his examination he would ask whether I have been eating lots of instant noodles lately. *word has it that your stomach needs 5 days to digest the noodles*

Anyways, all the controversy aside, Indomie is the market leader in Indonesia. Actually, the brand has become a generic name for instant noodles. The company that produces it is Indofood which is also one of the biggest companies in Indonesia. Word has it that Indomie is exported to many African countries as well and is quite popular there too.

Heroes Season 3 - Shadows by Nidji

I am a bit ashamed to admit this, but I'm not that fond of Indonesian songs. Everytime I listen to the radio & an Indonesian song is coming up, I immediately change the radio station. However, this does not mean that I don't have any favorite Indonesian songs, but there are only a handful of Indonesian artists that I like. One of these artists is an Indonesian band called : Nidji

It is a relatively new band, but every time they release a new single, it becomes a #1 hit.

If you have STAR World Asia on your cable subscription, nowadays you can hear them on the Heroes season 3 trailer. The background song is by Nidji, called "Shadows". This is the second time that their song has been used by STAR World as the background for a Heroes ad. Previously, their song "Heaven" was used.

Nidji Rocks!

Unilever Brands in Indonesia

I haven’t written in 2 weeks now because it has been very hectic at the office. I work at a market research company. It is a peak season for us, since the Ramadhan (moslem fasting month) is approaching & we can’t conduct product testing because of this. Many clients are pushing their projects to be done now so that it can be finished before Ramadhan.

One of our major clients is Unilever, which is a multinational corporation. As in other countries, Unilever has many brands, but particularly in Indonesia, most of its brands are in the top 3 players of its category. .... their doing pretty good, huh?......

You can even map out most of your daily activities using Unilever brands only. This is how it would look like :

Morning

It’s a beautiful morning. Wake up early to do your laundry with Rinso laundry detergent and adding a little Molto softener. After that, take a bath with Lux soap, not forgetting to wash your hair with Sunsilk shampoo and brush your teeth with Pepsodent toothpaste & toothbrush. After showering, it’s time to dress up. But first, put on some Pond's moisturizer, Citra hand & body lotion and Rexona deodorant. Last, style your hair with Clear styling gel. Now you’re ready to get some breakfast!

A nice cup of Sariwangi tea & a slice of bread buttered with Blue Band margarine is all you need to start the day.

Lunch

After ordering rice with some meat & veggies, pour some Bango soya sauce to add flavour to your dish. For dessert, Walls ice cream is a nice way to end your lunch break.

Afternoon

On your way home, have some Taro chips to pass the time in traffic jam. Once at home, take a shower (it is common for Indonesians to shower twice a day) with Lifebuoy soap and Dove shampoo. As in the morning, after showering, apply Vaseline hand & body lotion and spray some Axe deodorant.

Dinner

Have a light dinner with Royco cream soup. When finished, wash the dishes with Sunlight dishwash.

Night

Before going to bed, brush your teeth with Close-Up toothpaste. Maybe you have some light laundry to do? Use Surf laundry detergent. Last, don’t forget to lite Domestos Nomos mosquito coil in your room. You don’t want your sleep to be disturbed just because of itching mosquito bites!

Benny & Mice - Indonesian Cartoonist

I think it is a common thing all over the world that the Sunday paper has comic strips. One of the comics that I look forward to every Sunday in Kompas (one of Indonesia's major newspaper) is a cartoon called "Benny & Mice".

Unlike normal comic strips which is drawn by 1 cartoonist, Benny & Mice is drawn by 2 people : Benny Rachmadi & Muhammad "Mice" Misrad (notice the resemblance between the cartoonists & the comic characters? Photo courtesy of an article from the Jakarta Post).

Benny & Mice

They have been friends since college (at IKJ "Institut Kesenian Jakarta" = Jakarta Art Institute), where they started drawing together on a wall space allocated by the college.

Before drawing for Kompas, they already published "Lagak Jakarta" (Jakarta Style), a series of 6 books depicting their observations of events & actions of people in Jakarta. These observations extended into the two characters, Benny & Mice, where they first appeared in the fourth Lagak Jakarta book.

Benny & Mice itself first appeared in Kompas in 2003. Since then, they have gain wider popularity. The cartoon portrays what is going on in Jakarta specifically and Indonesia in general. Below is a sample of the Benny & Mice comic strip :

People in Jakarta would remember this scene, when Breadtalk, a bakery franchise, had just opened and people would line-up for hours in order to buy it (when I actually saw this, I thought these people were either mad or real bread fanatics!). They could have simply bought other bread brands (although Breadtalk lovers would claim that the taste is worth the effort), as what Benny & Mice eventually did in the comic. (Notice the last box where Benny asks for bread with Abon, presumably Breadtalk's most hot selling variant....so funny!)

This is another example which I could relate to since I have old relatives back in my village who claim they are healthy even though they have been smoking since young. *Note: I am actually against smoking*

Since then, Benny & Mice have also published another book called "100 Tokoh yang mewarnai Jakarta" (100 characters who color Jakarta) and also a compilation book of their drawings in Kompas, called "Jakarta Luar Dalem".

Bridget Jones & Sapardi Djoko Damono

Last night, I watched Bridget Jones' Diary for the hundredth time on DVD.

I haven't watched it in quite a while but yet again, I was all smiles when the scene came where Mark Darcy says to Bridget: “I like you very much. Just as you are.” A sentence so simple…but can make you melt awayyyy.

It reminds me of the line "Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana (translates into “I want to love you simply”)", in the poem “Aku ingin” by Sapardi Djoko Damono, a famous Indonesian poet. The first time I heard this line was from a friend of mine back in highschool. It is VERY popular, so I think that eventhough you are not into poetry (like me), at least you should know this poem :

Aku Ingin

Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana
dengan kata yang tak sempat diucapkan
kayu kepada api yang menjadikannya abu

Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana
dengan isyarat yang tak sempat disampaikan
awan kepada hujan yang menjadikannya tiada

Because this is a delicate work of art, I don’t want to mess it up by translating it on my own. So, after searching intensely on the internet (thanks to Nining), here is the official translation of this poem by John H. McGlynn :

I want

I want to love you simply
In words not spoken :
Tinder to the flame which transforms it to ash

I want to love you simply
In signs not expressed :
Clouds to the rain which make them evanesce

This translated version is published in the book : Before Dawn : The Poetry of Sapardi Djoko Damono.

Many of his poems are romantic, up to the point that they have been "immortilized" into a cassette called "Hujan Bulan Juni".

I tried to search for Sapardi Djoko Damono’s biography, but I couldn’t find one in English. If you want to know a bit more about this great poet, here is a link in Indonesian : http://www.duniasastra.com/biographysapardidjokodamono.htm