Eliminating the Limits   change yourself: change the world

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Yes, I am guilty again, for not posting again in several weeks or even months. Sorry ;)

Now, I am back with good news, which you might have heard from my tweets (uh huh, blame Twitter for my procrastination) and Facebook account. Yep, yep, I have published my second book! *solo salsa*

There it is, Vice Versa!

Vice Versa is a compilation of 18 short stories that I have written in the past 5 years. After I published Mint Chocolate Chips, I already had several more lengthy pieces that could be a novel, but I did not have much time to revise or even “remaster” them. That’s why, I am stuck with writing shorter ones, including articles, short stories, and… hmmm, yes, tweets.

The themes vary. Most of them are still about love, seen from a variety of perspectives and angles. I think love can be interpreted in too many ways, therefore sometimes I call this book as “the book of love stories”. Unlike Mint Chocolate Chips, the stories here are a bit “heavier”, in a way. On the other hand, unlike Bunuh Diri Massal 2008, the stories have more positive moral values rather than sarcasm.

The title Vice Versa came from the title of one of the stories. I wanted to emphasise that anything can be seen through any kind of perspective. Vice Versa is not only about love, it is also about everything else.

The book was launched on Sunday, May 2, 2010 at Warung Pasta Kemang - one of my favourite restaurants ever! I love the atmosphere, and the location is very strategic. Here are some pictures from the event – in case you could not come:

Some very honest words from my mother. She said that nobody can stop me from doing something that I want, but now she’s happy about it. Thank you so much, Mum. I love you, a million times, I love you… :)

Some testimonials from Mas Angga Dwimas Sasongko (yes, that famous director who brought you Hari Untuk Amanda) and Abenk (yes, that famous vocalist of the band Soulvibe). I thank you both :)

My girlfriends since junior high school! First (complete) reunion after several years… Vanda is missing though, she’s in Tokyo now :)

Even Pak Dino and Ibu Rosa came later in the afternoon. I was very surprised and felt very honoured. Thank you for the unconditional support, Pak & Ibu Dino!

I hope those pictures told more than I could ever said in words :)

So, that day we had plenty of fun. Loads of ice tea, pasta, book signing, shaking hands, and everything else. I felt happy, although at first was a bit upset because none of my extended family members were present – but I bet they sent prayers and support from their hearts!  I still believe that family is the most valuable asset that we all can have, missing them was not in my dictionary. But, well, I still had tons of fun!

Now the launching is done, I can confidently tell you that you can get my book in the nearest bookstore! If you don’t want to go anywhere, you can place your order here and have my book shipped to your house. The retail price is Rp37.000,-; but if you buy from Terrant Books, you’ll get 35% discount! Yay! Who does not like cheap books? :) If you have read my book and own a blog, please review it on your blog (read the full details here). You can get a package of Terrant Books’ best selling books. If you are too lazy to write a lengthy review, #tweetreview it! Write your #ViceVersa experience in less than 140 characters for each story, post it on Twitter (and mention me –> @AlandaKariza), I’ll give another story for you, for free (know more about it here).

That’s it for now, I guess. It’s 12.25 AM in the morning *yawn*, got a class this morning! You can read more about my book on http://viceversa.alandakariza.com.

Anyway, tonight I am going to speak at Binus International for the event “ASEAN: Challenges and Opportunities for Future Leaders”. It’s a kick-off event for the upcoming Regional Youth Leader Conference 2010, which is going to be held in June 2010. My uni works together with FreSh! for this event. You can RSVP by clicking here.

Okay, I should see you guys sometimes soon then… I really appreciate your patience. Greetings from Jakarta to everyone in the world ;)

Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes

1. My first and last prom night. It was held at Mulia Hotel’s Ballroom. We had Kamga as our guest star and the theme was A Night at the Opera. I dined at The Café with my boyfriend on midnight (Agnes Monica was there too! Haha). My cousin works at The Café so we got free signature drinks and snacks.
2. After-prom Party at J Lounge, Gran Melia Hotel—my first clubbing night with schoolmates! It was fun. I didn’t drink nor smoke, and still had so much fun!
3. Volunteered for one week as box score officer at Little League® Asia Pacific Baseball Tournament 2009. Met heaps of new friends, including the ones from Guam!
4. I was invited to the launching of Energi Positif book—a compilation of 100 people’s thoughts about Mr. President. The editor is Dr. Dino Patti Djalal. A few days before D-Day, I was interviewed (and filmed) with Mirwan Soewarso, the man behind Jangan Bikin Malu 2009 and a few popular movies (he’s Nova Eliza’s hubby btw). Too bad I had to leave earlier when Bu Mari Elka Pangestu was delivering her speech. It was one day before the graduation ceremony!
5. My graduation ceremony. My grades were not that good. My NEM was only around 42 while most of my friends got above 45, which made me very surprised when I was awarded as the best student from science class!
6. Went to Tribute to Michael Jackson at SHY Rooftop. It was only a usual Friday night at SHY with DREW’s performance on stage. But since we all were mourning for MJ, they made such thing and jammed with lots of great singers, including Tere, Dira (Humania), Lala (Inersia), Aditya, Afgan, and of course Aqi (Alexa). You can spot all of ‘my’ brothers on stage (on mic and bass). Great night! All hail Jacko!

To be honest, I do want to write many things, but I dunno where to start. Maybe I’ll work on it today. But I hope those pictures might cure my almost-one-month absence on this blog. Catch ya later!

Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes

The first feature film I was involved with, Queen Bee, has been released for public starting today. As one of the crews, I’ve been given the privilege to watch the gala premiere on Tuesday night and bring a friend. I decided to “bring” Aqi to come with me, I am sure he’d love cocktail parties and will meet his friends. Too bad he was late! So we didn’t take any picture, unfortunately. Thank God I met Diana and Dipy way long before he came. He arrived on around 9 pm, and the movie was suppose to start at 9.10!

G2000 dress, mum’s brown belt, Tonik vinyls bag, Kulkith shoes – with Diana!

So, how was the movie?

Read the rest of this entry »

Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes

Another round of traveling to London with the Global Changemakers! I am so grateful that I got the chance to have a go again, and terribly sorry if there are some people who think that I am showing off by posting this. No, I’m not. I just want to share the experience to you folks… therefore people will be reminded with what Walt Disney said, If you can dream it – then you can do it. Just Google about something that you really want to do, you’ll find something great, and go for it. Nothing is impossible, trust me.

Learning the hard way!

There were 21 of us, 20 people from the G20 countries + 1 from Thailand as ASEAN’s representative. This event is related to the G20 Leaders Summit, maybe you had watched about it on TV. I met some of the same people from the last event in Guildford including the British Council team (both from UK and Switzerland, plus 2 new members: Paola and Fran), Scott (UK) and Sofia (Canada). I also met new people of course, and all of them were wonderful.

This is what we did in London:

• Working, working, working… We had to decide what we think the world leaders have to do to tackle the global financial crisis. We thought about it from every aspects, including environmental and social. We also worked with UK Youth to exchange knowledge about what is really happening in our countries. I could proudly say that Indonesia is holding up relatively well, the inflation pressure was reduced, and our economic growth still recorded a surplus. Most of the working sessions took place in InnovationArts, a very innovative place to work!
• Roundtable discussion with Katherine Garrett-Cox, Simon Taylor, and Diana Wais at The Economist with Matthew Bishop as the moderator!
• Some of us met the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP at Downing Street No. 11. Too bad I wasn’t one of them. :(
• Met UK Prime Minister, Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, and President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa of Mexico at Downing Street No. 10. It was a real quick meeting, but I was still speechless.
• Conversation with Cherie Booth, or famously known as Cherie Blair. Yes, she was UK’s ‘first lady’ but she prefers to be called with her maiden name. She’s a leading specialist in human rights law issues.
• Went to The Bank of England. Yes, it’s pretty much the same with other museums in the UK. Real fun, free, and you don’t want to get out of there.
• Reception at the House of Lords, hosted by the Lord Speaker, Rt Hon Baroness Hayman. We met David Miliband to give our version of communique. FYI, the G20 always produces communiques, you can read all of them here.
• Plenary session with Rt Hon John McFall MP, Chair of UK Treasury Committee.
• Went to Zuhal Amadeus Sultan’s recital. She is a Global Changemaker from Iraq and she’s organizing the first orchestra in Iraq, called National Youth Orchestra of Iraq. Check out Zuhal’s page to know more about it. She was really an inspiration.

Copyright © 2009 Chris Tribble/www.ctribble.co.uk.

I couldn’t even believe I was there! The main idea of this event was actually to let us meet our leaders. Unfortunately, only Leticia (Mexico) and Scott (UK) who got the chance to meet their leaders. I don’t want to miss the chance, really. So, I contacted Mr Herry who works in KBRI - I met him on January – and told him that I’d like to meet Mr President. He said that Mr President had a very tight schedule and well, I understood. But he offered another thing, which was having lunch with The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Hassan Wirajuda; Indonesian Ambassador for UK, Mr Yuri Thamrin; and also my idol… Mr Dino Patti Djalal! I said yes.

And guess what, I really got the chance to meet Mr President! I shook hands with him. It was thrilling, and exciting, at the same time! I didn’t regret running around the underground stations, walking near the demonstrators, waiting for hours at the hotel corridors… I finally met him. Other people said that it was impossible to meet him in London, but this is an evidence that,

Impossible is something
that’s impossible.

It’s never too late to pursue your dreams. Write what you want on a piece of paper, or in your mind. And, go for it.

PS: Pay attention to my outfit. Yes, I am, Indonesian. And lovin’ it!

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

It was my first time to go to JJF. And no, I didn’t watch Jason Mraz. Everyone was like, you went to JJF = how was Mraz? I work in JakartaConcerts.com, yes, but I’m not a big fan of concerts. I don’t spend that much of money for one night.

Luckily, Panji got 2 3-day-passes for him and his Dad. His Dad let me use his ticket on the last day! :) I was so excited though we had to go through the rain on his bike.

We watched Slank’s performance! Panji is a big fan of that band. I’m not, but I enjoyed it very much. They sang heaps of songs with some help from “jazzy musicians” including Michael Paulo!

© Uti Ramadina. All rights reserved.

Slank are the truest rock stars! I could sing along and dance with him, listening to the songs they played. We couldn’t watch Anda, Tompi and Peabo Bryson, but we randomly stumbled to a room and… We fell in love with the artist! It was Parov Stelar from Austria. They were awesome – saxophone + Macbook! CMIIW, but it was electronic jazz!

Have a look on Parov Stelar’s clip:

We then went to Dji Sam Soe Lounge outside JHCC to watch Panji’s brother’s performance. His brother is DREW’s bassist and was going to perform with Humania also. Both performances were in a row, so we didn’t need to go anywhere else. I wanted to watch SOIL & “PIMP” Sessions but the lounge was so full, I couldn’t get out. :(

© Kemal Maharsa. All rights reserved.

DREW was great! As usual, it was an acoustic session. They performed American Boy, Pop, Lovestoned, and The Beatles medley (no need to mention their single right? :p) in a brand new style. Humania? Still a legend. :) Beside Mas Shanda, they also ‘recruited’ Larry Aswin from SOVA!! (too bad I didn’t bring my camera hehehe ;p)

(still by Uti, I only adjusted the colours)

I don’t care about how full the venue was, how bad the weather was, how full-of-smoke the lounge was… I was sooo happy! Thanks, cay.

Reading time: 6 – 9 minutes

Read J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in The Rye
Listen Radiohead – 15 Steps
Watch Into The Wild

For the ones who have been keeping an eye on the life of Alanda in the past two, three years, either through the live version or through the media (blog, magazine, newspaper, etc), maybe have been also aware with something called The Cure For Tomorrow. About TCFT, you can read it on http://thecurefortomorrow.wordpress.com. There were a lot of people who asked how to participate, what are the activities? You can read them all in our site.

One year ago, TCFT went through an internal problem, and finally, I took a big decision, yet difficult. TCFT has been temporarily “non-activated”. Although there were a lot of registered members with us, approximately 100 people, the ones who are really doing something in the community were too few, about 15-20 people. Active, referring to their presence in our meetings and events, their routine donation payment, and more. The other 80? Maybe they were more like, just registered. So they could write The Cure For Tomorrow in their profile page and be proud of it. I’ve never thought about it as a problem, because for me, the most important thing was participation, no matter how little it is. The essence of TCFT’s presence is to respect any kind of contribution, and I will stick to it forever.

From the active 20 people, most of them currently sits on last year of high school and will face the final exams, so most of us always had excuses: after school lessons, try out, exams. There were also some of us who had moved to Bandung for school or college. Aisha, my partner-in-crime, had departed to Charleston, West Virginia, as a participant of YES (Youth Exchange and Study Programs), AFS. Read Aisha’s story, here.

TCFT was started on June 2006. It popped up in my head, and followed with a phone call  to Aishanatasha. Then, it spreaded to our friends. It all started with an idea, a dream, a hope. Two years later, we are these. :-)

After TCFT was non-activated, we got thrilling-exciting offers. We were about to be interviewed by Majalah Saos (Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa), Planet Remaja (anTV), were about to have a meeting with Ms Titie Sadarini from The Coca-Cola Foundation, … I had to say no to all of those, because we didn’t have enough human resources. I could have attended all of those alone, but I don’t think it’s fair. The Cure For Tomorrow is not mine, it belongs to everyone who has given their contributions, and they have the right to experience the same things like I and Aisha did.

Establishing TCFT has opened a lot of opportunities for me, Aisha, and the others to move. TCFT wants to break the paradigm and stereotype that kids and teens cannot do anything, cannot bring a change. Without TCFT, we would have never been like this. I would never become Indonesia’s delegate for Global Changemakers Guildford Forum 2009, Aisha would never become Indonesia’s delegate in YES and AFS. Being a volunteer might will never make you reach. But, it opens a lot of doors, opportunities. We have met a lot of people, do a lot of new things, learn to socialize, and even try to see the world from a different point of view.

On December 5 2008, I have accomplished an “assignment” from British Council as Indonesian Global Changemaker to attend International Volunteer Day 2008 Celebration at Menteng Park, Central Jakarta. There were booths from Palang Merah Indonesia, Volunteering for International Development from Australia (VIDA), Global Xchange British Council, United Nations Volunteers, and more.

This post will not have any meaning without sharing. Just like what Everybody Loves Irene said, love is sharing. :-)

1. UN Volunteers offered an alternative to do online volunteering for everybody from all around the world who cannot depart to other countries but want to  do something to help the world. By the time I posted this entry, there were 3000 online volunteers already. Anyone can be an online volunteer. You can do: project development and management, design, coordination and facilitation, IT development, research, writing, editing, translating, training, coaching and consulting. The organization you work for will give you a certificate by the end of your colunteering activities. Click www.onlinevolunteering.org for more.

2. British Council has the Global Xchange program, where 9 Indonesian teenagers by the age of 18 – 25 years old team up with 9 British teenagers with the same age. These 18 kids will be located in a town in the UK for 3 months and a town Indonesia for 3 months. Read Global Xchange 2008’s story on British Council’s site. The latest deadline for the application form will be on early September 2009, for the next in take term, March 2010. Click here to download form. For further information, please contact Ilsa Meidina, (021) 5155561 or try to meet her at British Council Indonesia, Bursa Efek Indonesia Tower 2,  16th Floor.

Interested?

Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes

SUICIDE IS ROCK
a gathering Bunuh Diri Massal writers, readers, and band which inspired.

November 5, 2008 @ 7 PM – done
Ruang Tamu BREWWW! Kemang

Hosted by:
Fajar Nugros
Alanda Kariza
Irene Yohanna

The band:
Everybody Loves Irene
Marche La Void
Elemental Gaze
Little Space Donkey

Bunuh Diri Massal (Mass Suicide) is a phenomenal short story written by Fajar Nugros and Alanda Kariza. The story spread on internet and inspired many people to wrote their own side story of Bunuh Diri Massal. All story published on http://bdm2008.everybodylovesirene.com. Everybody Loves Irene appear as the soundtrack for this short story. They used Flash to embed the sound and the story. What a smart idea and they called it “Short Story Clip” as replacement for Video Clip. Be there!

Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes

So, it’s been awhile. I’ve been busy with school (tryouts! tryouts!). Happy fasting month, everybody. Sorry for any wrongs I did. Well, the result of the olympiad is here.

1. M. Irfan Prawiradinata, SMAN 8, 175

2. Alanda Kariza, SMAN 82, 170

3. Khadijah Utami Sabran, SMA Bakti Mulya 400, 165

4. Damar G. Woworuntu, SMA Pangudi Luhur, 163

5. Aryani Sri Hartati, SMAN 38, 163

6. Diandra T. N., SMAN 70, 162

7. Putra Ragyl Sobiran, SMA Islam Al-Azhar 1, 159

8. Dimas Setiawan, SMAN 66, 155

9. Yofara M. M., SMAN 26, 154

10. Fandi Muhammad Hizbullah, SMAN 55, 145

11. Mas Dhiradharana, SMAN 47, 144

12. Aditya Ramawira, SMAN 63, 139

…

…

28. Herpina Marpinasantri, SMA 17 Agustus 1945, 80

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

Hey, fellas!

Happy Earth Day!

Hahaha, I’ve deleted my messy posts. I’m stressed out these days but I think it ain’t good to share my depressive feelings with you all. I’m sure you’re searching for entertainment and happy updates if you ever visit my blog.

I had many things on Earth Day. Aisha and I were invited to be interviewed in the show Morning Zone (TRAX FM). There were also other environmentalists/activists, such as Ivy from Solar Generation (Greenpeace), Telly and Nadia as CosmoGIRL! Green Action’s ambassadors (they’re my juniors in CosmoGIRL! of The Year, haha :P). The hosts were Melaney Ricardo and Ichsan Akbar. I’m not really satisfied with the interviewed though : (

Later on, Adit asked me to join him to watch the movie “Earth“. Maybe some of you have heard that WWF held an event that night, including the movie screening. We went there with my bf and also Adit’s gf, Sari. Each of us got a T-shirt from merchandises, there was Q&A sessions about The Earth, percussion performance from STOMP, tortillas (yumm!), carbon footprint calculator (try it here), mybabytree, Earth Photo Exhibition, etc. I was waiting for a discussion session with Garin Nugroho, but he didn’t come : (

The movie was very great. You have to watch it (although maybe you’ll only buy the ones from the piracy empire hahaha). Please log on to www.loveearth.com for more. Happy Earth Day!

Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes

Declare independence!
Don’t let them do that to you!
Start your own currency!
Make your own stamp
Protect your language
Make your own flag!
Raise your flag!
Higher, higher!
Damn colonists
Ignore their patronizing
Tear off their blindfolds
Open their eyes
With a flag and a trumpet
Go to the top of your highest mountain!

Begitulah kira-kira lirik lagu berjudul “Declare Independence” yang dinyanyikan dengan penuh semangat oleh penyanyi nyentrik asal Islandia, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, yang baru-baru ini datang ke Jakarta. Untuk info saja, Jakarta adalah satu-satunya tempat yang Ia singgahi di Asia Tenggara selama The <Volta> Tour.

Lagu “Declare Independence” ini dinyanyikan sebagai lagu penutup konsernya di Tennis Indoor Senayan, pada tanggal 12 Februari 2008 silam.

Entah Björk menyihir penggemarnya, atau memang rasa nasionalisme warga negara Indonesia sudah semakin meningkat. Pada penggalan, “Raise your flag! Higher, higher!”, dua orang penonton Indonesia yang berdiri di front row, tepat di depan mic stand sang penyanyi, membentangkan bendera merah putih yang disambut secara histerik oleh penonton lainnya.

Sebuah aksi langka di mata Björk, dan tentu saja menjadi suatu bukti bahwa nasionalisme belum mati!

Declare independence!