“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
- Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Hari ini terima amplop-amplop tagihan menggunung. Baru aja dianterin dari kantor lama. Memang alamat-alamat gue masih pake alamat kantor lama. Akhirnya baru tergerak hari ini untuk ganti-gantiin alamat tagihan. Tapi ternyata nama perusahaan gue yang baru (Kutukutubuku.com) tuh tricky banget buat disebutin. Susah bagi people to take it seriously haha.

Jadi inget waktu awal-awal ngebangun kutukutubuku.com, bareng Angel kita rajin nelponin penerbit, kurir service, dll untuk menjalin kerjasama.
Penerbit x

Gue: Halo, bisa bicara dengan marketing manager?
Penerbit: Darimana?
Gue: Dari Kutukutubuku.com
Penerbit: DARIMANA?

Kurir y

Gue: Halo, bisa bicara dengan bagian marketing
Kurir: Oh ini dengan ibu siapa
Gue: Ollie, Kutukutubuku.com
Kurir: OLI KUTU?

Hehe jadi tadi pagi gue mulai nelpon macem-macem perusahaan. Dimulai dengan BCA, “Kantornya KUTU ya mbak?”, Permata Bank, “KUTU-nya dua mbak?”, Allianz, “Nama perusahaannya silahkan…” (Padahal dah gue sebutin berkali-kali tapi Mbak Allianz nggak percaya haha)

Well… buat para business starter, kalo milih nama bisnis yang aneh harus siap dengan resikonya ya hehe.

Hari sabtu tgl 26 January, 2008, saya dihubungi sama Pak Eryawan Wikimu.com. Diajak gathering bareng komunitas Wikimu.com. Karena kebetulan tidak ada acara lain, saya menyanggupi.

Dari sebuah meeting di kawasan Senen, saya bareng Goldy meluncur ke Gathering venue di restoran ProSteak Radio Dalam. Saya tidak punya gambaran, seperti apa komunitas yang akan saya temui nanti.

Maklum, meskipun ber-partner dengan Wikimu.com, saya cukup jarang nongkrong di situ (maaf ya Pak Bayu & Pak Eryawan hehe). Kesana paling untuk posting review buku yang baru saya baca. Dan itu bisa dibilang jarang terjadi haha. Karena saya sulit menuliskan review buku jika bukunya nggak menarik banget.

Anyway, begitu masuk ke restoran ProSteak, langsung disambut hangat sama para pengelola Wikimu.com. Jalan dikit ke dalam, undangan udah pada datang. Dan rata-rata mereka begitu bertemu pandang dengan saya, langsung melempar senyum. Makasih ya. Padahal nggak kenal hehe.

Pas lagi makan steak gratis yang enak, saya memperhatikan rata-rata di Wikimu.com pesertanya adalah orang-orang berusia ‘matang’ hehe. Well, bagus juga karena satu visi dengan saya yang juga matang inside hehe.

Sempat ketemu juga sama dedengkot Wikimu yang jago nulis seperti Pak Mimbar (pelanggan loyal kutukutubuku.com nih hehe), Pak Berthold, Mbak Retty, Mbak Meidy, and many more. Kapan-kapan kita ngobrol lebih banyak lagi ya

Acara dimulai dengan penjelasan Suhu Tan tentang Feng Shui. Wow, informasinya baru bagi saya. Selama ini saya nggak pernah mengerti kenapa adik saya sangat menyukai hal-hal yang berbau Feng Shui. Saya pikir itu agak klenik dan nggak masuk akal. Yang logis aja. Tapi ternyata Feng Shui itu logis banget. Pake simbol dan penjabaran elemen-elemen manusia. Ini seperti konsep Personality Plus versi China hehe.

Kemarin pengen sih konsultasi ama Suhu Tan, lebih ke pengen tau aja elemen personal saya tuh apa, sehingga dalam menghadapi sesuatu tuh bisa diukur dan disesuaikan agar bisa selalu mencapai sukses. Tapi katanya butuh tau jam lahir. Wah, nggak inget deh tuh kalo jam lahir. (Mau info bisnis di tahun Tikus? Ya baca aja artikelnya Suhu Tan di Wikimu ^^)

Di presentasinya Suhu Tan, hubungan antar shio Babi dan Babi katanya tuh nggak bakal harmonis selamanya. Ribut aja. Denger-denger dari sisi astrologinya juga gitu. Gemini-gemini juga nggak bakal klop.

Dan secara saya Babi Gemini dan Goldy juga Babi Gemini. Kami cuma bisa saling tunjuk ke muka masing-masing dan bilang,

“Kasian deh lu!”

Innalillahi wa Inna Ilaihi Rojiun. Deep condolences for the loss of former Indonesian President, H. M. Soeharto. He died at 86 on 27 January, 2008. May his soul rest in peace.

What I remember the most about this man is his smile. He’s the smiling General. (Okay, and many other things but… I’ll let other people discuss it though)

On the early stage of his sickness, Goldy’s aunt who visited him told me that the-once-powerful-man-on-Indonesia whispered, “Aku wis kesel” (I’m already tired).

Worry no more. Now you can rest, Pak Harto.

Pertama kali gue baca resensi ‘The girls of Riyadh’ itu disebuah majalah wanita. Karena buku ini katanya berisi kisah a la sex and the city versi Arab, maka buku ini pun dilarang beredar di Arab Saudi. Jadi tambah penasaran aja gue. Years later, tepatnya Desember kemarin, buku versi Indonesianya dirilis. Wah, tentu saja langsung gue grab dan habis dalam sekali telen.

Penulis buku ini ceritanya telah memberanikan diri untuk menulis kisah-kisah hidup sahabatnya, para gadis Riyadh, yang rata-rata agak tragis. Setiap minggu, kisah sahabat-sahabatnya (Qamrah, Sadim, Michelle dan Lumies) diposting di milis dan telah menuai kehebohan nasional karena cara bertuturnya yang blak-blakan.

Kisah-kisahnya ‘klasik’ dan bakal ada di belahan dunia manapun. Tentang percintaan, seks bebas, pengkhianatan, orang tua yang ikut campur, pelanggaran norma, dan semua yang ‘sudah biasa’ muncul di topik-topik cerita barat. Kenapa yang ini heboh? Karena semua terjadi di Arab Saudi. Negara dengan hukum Islam yang dijalankan dengan ketat.

It’s very interesting how Rajaa (penulisnya), menggambarkan tentang versi laki-laki (dan wanita) Arab yang taat, setengah taat dan tidak taat agama, lengkap dengan ciri-ciri masing-masing. Kok sama aja kayak di Jakarta hehe.

Baca buku ini tanpa menghakimi atau mengerutkan kening. That way, we’ll eventually feel related to Rajaa stories.

Berikut cover ‘Girls of Riyadh’ or ‘Bnat al Riyadh’ dalam versi Amerika dan Arab.

Versi Indonesianya bisa dibeli dengan diskon 15% di kutukutubuku.com

On Monday evening, I attended batik fashion show with the theme of Four Season held by Prodo Magazine in Hotel Mulia, Senayan. Mas Arif from Prodo Magazine, who once interviewed me for December issue of Prodo, invited me to come. I accepted it with all my heart because this is my first fashion show ever, I MUST come. And I know Angel would be as excited, and Mas Arif kindly giving me another ticket so I can come with Angel. Thanks a lot Mas Arif!

If you’re confused, batik is Indonesian traditional fashion with unique patterns that has been used national-wide. Prodo Magazine has managed to held this huge event of batik designs competition (Lomba Rancang Busana Batik) and fashion show, combined with entertainment from Indonesian singers and dancers to help batik recognized globally. And I really appreciate the effort.

I came on time on the venue, Angel was nowhere to be seen. I prefer to hang out outside and wait for her first. I chose to wear batik skirt I bought in Yogyakarta, one of batik’s central production cities. And when she finally arrived, I saw her batik dress, that she basically only wrap the batik cloth around her body and lock it with a big black belt. I think it was creative way of wearing it if you don’t have enough time to tailored your batik

We step inside and food was everywhere (also some celebrities). We ate dinner while listening to Sinden performing Javanese folk songs. In the room we can also see framed pictures of the finalists batik designs. They’re all look stunning.

An hour later, we entered the grand ballroom. It was huge, full with beautiful crystal lamps all over the room. In the center of the room, there was a runway, the real runway, not that small path from your desk to office pantry! Me and Angel were very excited.

The show started with an announcement from Alberthiene Endah, the head of judges, about the winner of batik design competition. Me and Angel love ‘The New Royal’ by Jane, it’s so Sarah Jessica Parker kind of style. But turns out the first winner was ‘Ecology’ by Abdulrahman, which also great one. All about green will be BIG in 2008, I guess hehe.

After the announcement, Reog Ponorogo, a traditional dance from Ponorogo, come out on stage. Their performance was damn good. View the sneak peek of Reog Ponorogo here.

When the models started walking on the stage, especially on Martha Tilaar products advertorial walk, me and Angel were nudging each other. The models were literally gliding thru the runway. They’re barely walking. They’re flying! As a big fan of America’s Next Top Model, I was so happy to finally see the legendary gliding myself hehe.The fashion show concept was four seasons, different season with different batik looks, and combining fashion show with music. Titi DJ, Hedi Yunus, Yuni Shara, Saski, RAN, Four Seasons and The Nunung Cs, sang their great songs as the models walk through the runway with their batik dress. From all of the performers, I love RAN & The Nunung Cs the most. Because, I didn’t know them at all at first and becoming a fan after two songs. They’re doing a good job.

Listen to the hilarious song of ‘Abang Gorengan’ by The Nunung Cs.

My father texted me, “It’s late, go back home.” So, after the show finished and had successfully grabbing my ‘Es Puter’ - a delicious traditional ice cream, I walked and went back home with a very contented feeling. The only regret I had was the fact that I didn’t sit in the journalist side and taking pictures of the event instead of being a calm guest.

Bravo Prodo Magazine, waiting for more of these kind of events to promote Indonesian cultures, because as you might have known, Indonesia Rocks!