Paris Van Java

According to its name, Paris Van Java is a kind of resto that has design like Paris itself. But not literally French Restaurant. We can't find French food within their menu, but Western, Asian and Indonesian food instead. Main course starts from 25K, and 9K for the drinks. They also offer a lovely snacks in case your tummy is kinda full. Since I had in-a-rush-dinner that day, I couldn't take either a proper picture or review. My bad. All I can say is, the taste is good, and so does the ambience. They have every reason to come back over and over again. P.S live music on Saturday, yet you better come at weekdays when this place not too frenzy to enjoy. Bon Appétit! 


PARIS VAN JAVA 
Jl. Singosari Raya No. 28, Semarang
(024) 8311938
Mon - Sun: 10:00 - 22:00

PICTURE: BY AUTHOR

The Green Spot

Talking about future, have you ever imagine how your home interior looks like? Despite I aint a type of person who vocal on go-green-things, I'll gladly keep some green spots surrounding. Not too lush, but green enough to build a connection between me and nature. Something that freshen and has a class also. Pictures above are collected from any different sources when I did sneak peek at Design Sponge. They were just mesmerizing my eyes in a green way!

PICTURE: DESIGN SPONGE

Daily Bread

"What's for breakfast?" Fried rice? Pancake (Am I sound western enough?)? A loaf of bread with milk? Or just simply a cup of coffee? The first thing I thought even before getting out off bed. So yes, I'm a foodie person. When it comes to food, I'll quite overwhelmed. You can ask my friends for sure. This morning I was too busy of making a difficult decision about what-to-eat, even though this is where I should pray in the very beginning. Hehe... Meanwhile, I got enlightenment in a flash. I've discovered man does not live on bread alone. Let's dig deeper, we need another "bread", God's word, something-something, you named it. I take a look at myself in few months ago. That "bread" had thoroughly given me a power while everything around me was tumbling down (not to mention broken-hearted issue). Aaaaaand my bread for today is about "The Penny Syndrome". Small contributions can make a huge difference. So here I am, divide all of those little thoughts. Hope this post will be able enlightening your mind throughout the hectic day. It's almost 5 PM anyway. What's for dinner? Nom nom nom...


Xoxo
Ninda

"It's easy to feel like a penny in a trillion dollar deficit. But when we obey The Lord in every circumstance, it all adds up. Collectively, our acts of faith, large or small, make a big difference. And every penny counts."  - Fitzhugh

PICTURE: Design Sponge

Movie Review: G.I. Joe Retaliation

Director: Jon M. Chu
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fiction, Sci-Fi
Cast: Dawney Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum, D.J. Cotrona, Adrianne Palicki, Byung-hun Lee, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures

SPOILER: ALERT!!!

G.I. Joe: Retaliation merupakan sekuel dari G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra yang diputar pada 2009 lalu. Dalam sekuelnya dikisahkan G.I. Joe tidak hanya bertarung melawan mortal enemy mereka Cobra, melainkan juga melawan pemerintah USA. Zartan, salah satu anggota Cobra berhasil memanipulasi pemerintahan dan menjebak G.I. Joe sebagai penjahat yang merencanakan pencurian nuklir di Paskitan. Perintah resmi untuk memusnahkan seluruh anggota G.I. Joe pun diturunkan. Hingga akhrinya hanya tersisa tiga personil yang harus berjuang untuk merebut kembali pemerintahan sekaligus mengembalikan nama baik G.I Joe.

Frankly I'd interested to watch this movie because of the cast. Film ini menyuguhkan aktor-aktor A-list seperti Bruce Willis, Dawney Johnson/The Rock, dan Channing Tatum. Girls supposed to love Channing Tatum. Who doesn't? Namun baru beberapa menit film berjalan, peran kapten G.I Joe, Duke (Channing Tatum) dihilangkan. JEDERRRRR!!! Yes girls, our Channing Tatum was die in a blink! Saya melongo, bukan hanya karena Duke mati, namun karena Duke "begitu saja" mati. Nggak ada dramatisasinya dan minus emosi. Padahal ini merupakan sequence dimana drama bisa disisipkan. Adegan sentimentil Roadblock (Dawney Johnson) yang merupakan best friend Duke juga kurang dimunculkan saat si kapten ini tewas. Terlepas dari itu, hal ini merupakan tindakan yang cukup berani dengan menghilangkan Channing Tatum di awal film dan menggeser spot light ke Mas The Rock dan Om Bruce Willis.

Captain Duke

Sebagai pecinta drama garis keras saya tetap harus berpendapat bahwa Jon M. Chu sebagai sutradara benar-benar minimalis dalam menggarap emosi antar pemain. Ketika seluruh anggota G.I Joe dibantai di padang gurun dan hanya tersisa Redblock, Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) dan Flint (D.J. Cotrona), Snake Eyes (Ray Park) sebagai satu-satunya G.I Joe yang selamat karena tidak ikut serta dalam misi juga tidak memberikan peranan berarti untuk menolong tiga kawannya. Adegan bertemunya Snake Eyes dan ketiga G.I Joe juga cuer banget. Mungkin scooring di film ini memang difokuskan untuk adegan action bukan dramanya. Or is it just me?

Dari segi content cerita tidak ada sesuatu yang baru, satuan agen rahasasia yang difitnah sebagai musuh negara kemudian berusaha mencari kebenaran demi memulihkan nama baik. So typical. Alur flashback Snake Eyes dan si sipit lucuk Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) juga sangat membingungkan jika penonton tidak mengikuti film pertama. Belum lagi beberapa adegan nanggung, seperti romantisme Lady Jaye dan Flint yang cuma lepas-lepas baju tapi nggak sampai ke kasur. Oke, yang ini memang subjektif. *naikin tali beha*

Untung kehadiran Bruce Willis sebagai Jendral Joseph Colton, veteran kapten G.I Joe dan Dawney Johnson sedikit menyelamatkan. That's why we called them a legend, no? Sedangkan Lady Jaye sebagai satu-satunya agen wanita berperan tak ubahnya Bond's girl dalam film-film James Bond. Though her acting was a bit dull, the way she dressed was totally hot! Mayan buat tombo gelo.

Lady Jaye in Red

But still, G.I Joe has a gorgeous cinematography. It's everything an action movie should be. On top of that, those BANG-BANG-scenes, kung fu fighting, explosions, gave me a pay back, all the reasons we buy a ticket to see. 2.5 from 5 for G.I Joe: Retaliation!

You can visit their official website here

PICTURE SOURCE: www.comicbook.com, www.collider.com, www.craveonline.com, 

Movie Review: The Croods

Directors: Kirk De Micco, Chris Sanders

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy 

Cast: Nicolas Cage (Grug), Emma Stone (Epp), Ryan Reynolds (Guy), Catherine Keener (Ugga)

SPOILER: FREE!

Synopsis

The Croods is a comedy adventure that follows the world first modern family as they embark on a journey of a life time when the cave that has always been their home is destroyed. Travelling across the spectacular landscape, The Croods are rocked by generational clashes and seismic shifts as they discover an incredible new world filled with fantastic creatures, and their outlook changed forever. (Source: Official Website)

I'm so into The Croods. It exactly has a good point in viewing life, and also about family things, arguing-fighting-make up. Teach us how to survive through bad situation. I love the parent-child issue which so close with ours. Dady's little girl is growing up, fall in love, confront her vigilant father. They successfully mix slapstick humor, action and drama. Effortlessly fun! Each characters along with their daily conversation could evoke a whole story, made it alive. Some characters were named uniquely, out of the box, like "Belt" for a monkey, a pet that used as a belt occasionally, "Gran" for granny, and "Guy" for a nomad guy. I was barely laughing like crazy all the time. The visual oh-so-sophisticated in 3D! I bet you'll love it! After all, it's the best cartoon movie ever! 5 from 5 for The Croods!

Picture: http://tbreak.com/movies/files/2013/03/THE-CROODS_poster.jpg

Girls Talk

Friend: "There are many fish in the sea, dear."

Me     : "The thing is I just want Nemo! The one and only over the sea!"

When I look back through conversation (unfortunately I can't reveal in detail) with a lovely friend of mine, Shinta, I've captured a very silly part of me. As that kind of thought was popped on my mind, I wonder if I will be waiting Nemo for the rest of my life. Isn't it sounds tickle? Though this is harder to do than it sounds, there is a certain limit even for the things we are actually excited about. Keep in mind!

P.S Note to self

Review: Warung Orange

People in Solo have been talking about Warung Orange on social media and give a good review about the food. For the very first time I came to this place and saw the ambience, my respon was, "You don't be serious!". Despite the place itself looks so shoddy, their food has a statement. That is-so-called fine dining and moreover in a low budget. Warung Orange is located at Semanggi, Solo, near Kustati Hospital. They have Italian, Mexican and American cuisine on their menu. The price range for the meals starts from 15 K - 40 K, and 7 K - 18 K for the drinks. Recently, I finally had the time to come back for pleasing my tummy with one of my partner in crime Nanda Bagus . We ordered Beff Patty Steak (27 K) which served with salad, baby potatoes, and BBQ sauce and topped with three layers of cheese, and Chicken Parmegiana (20 K) as main course. Mine was tasted oh-so-delicious! We also picked blackcurrant ice tea (8 K), strawberry ice (7 K), and peppermint hot chocolate (8 K). As a dessert they offered Ebony & Ivory cake (18 K), definitely I said "Yes!". This cake has a richness chocolate tastes indeed! Dear chocolate lover, you gotta try this one!

You can visit their facebook here

PICTURES: TAKEN BY Nanda Bagus