[photo by meloveyou2000]

Indonesia has this so very famous instant noodle brand named Indomie. That famous, most people call every other similar product with the beforementioned brand. Pretty amazing.

No wonder its commercials has this sort of jargon or something that Indomie is loved by all people of Indonesia (from the very east to the very west area of this archipelago).

In my mind, with the above fact, I think there’s no need for the brand to make any kinds of media commercials no more; I mean, all people know the brand so very well.

But people can often see its advertisements, anyway, especially on TV. I myself love the products, and also the brand new TV commercial, in which many people with ‘distinguished faces and accents and languages’ (I mean, you can tell the ethnicities of the models—Balinese, Javanese, Papuanese, etc.)—they all sing the famous ’soundtrack’ of Indomie (this time with the newest lyrics), happily. It’s so nice seeing and listening to all of them, it reminds you specifically to your homeland, Indonesia. Really.

It reminds me of my primary years back in a town named Bekasi, West Java. I happened to study in a private Buddhist school (a primary school established by a Buddhist foundation, actually intended for Buddhist children), even though I come from a muslim family; however, most of the pupils were Christians. The Buddhist students, in fact, were not even more than 20 (from 1st to 6th grades). In one class, the Christians were probably about 89%, the muslims 10%, and the Buddhist 1%, and most of the Christians came from Chinese families.

We were just children, so we didn’t recognize the word ‘discrimination’ at the time, because there were none. That’s what I love about my school (and one of the things I love about being a child). Most of the teachers were Christians, but they treated all students fairly the same.

Unfortunately, grown-ups make differences a big deal. What’s so wrong about being different, actually?

—Diar

P.S. Here comes the brand new Gorgeous Inspirations’ CafePress Store: What’s Gorgeous.

I know I have a pretty easy (though totally not free) access to the internet, allowing me to get enormous fresh news practically on everything, but don’t blame me that I found out about this book only in recent times. And don’t blame the TV station that had the show only a few weeks ago.

The three words—eat, pray, love—has always been in my mind since Oprah mentioned Elizabeth Gilbert’s non-fiction book title at the end of one of her shows. And as if it were my birthday, I celebrated the day in which I got to watch the re-run episode when Oprah interviewed Gilbert (and I even got to watch it twice—what a ‘sign’!).

I’ve never read this book, but thanks to the internet, I get massive info on it.

Despite some bitter reviews on it (for instance, this and this), I love the core philosophies of Gilbert’s book—the art of pleasure, the art of devotion, and the art of balancing the previous two. Yes, our lives do need those, whether or not we’re conscious of it.

And guess what, the philosophies of eating, praying, and loving fit Gorgeous Inspirations; therefore, days to come, you’ll see those philosophies integrated in many posts here.

In the mean time, let’s hear from my next blog neighbors on how they relate to Eat, Pray, Love:

oneunpolisheddarling enjoys the Italy part most, that she excerpts a part on the history of the country. But the next one is my fave quote from this blogger:

I am still savoring the Italy section. Every word, every detail - it’s like taking a walk through heaven. I have to admit, I told my husband as I embarked on this soul-journey of a book, “babe, you may see me spending some nights wrought with insomnia, and urged by the very inclination that this woman did exactly what I was designed, through every inch of my being, to do - drop it all and travel.” No, but not just travel - live. LIVE in a place and bury my green, inexperienced, clumsy ‘I know nothing about your culture but what I’ve read in books’ hands into the earth of another place. … Not to mention, she LIVES (dolce vita!), soul searches….and basically finds herself in some of the countries I’ve been dying to see …

Laura feels as if she’s traveling with Gilbert herself when she reads it:

The author is so descriptive that you feel like you’re sitting right next to her as she goes on a journey through Italy, India, and Indonesia.

While I can’t quite say the book changed my life (cliché-alert), it definitely made me pause to think about a lot of things. There are interesting spiritual theories discussed, which forced me to consider my own beliefs. More importantly, I felt that I was able to learn from the life-lessons the author learned. The peace-with-self that she obtained by the end of the book made me ridiculously jealous.

…

Granted, the lessons I learned while reading the book only stuck with me for a little while… kind of like that peacefulness you feel when you return from a relaxing vacation, only to come back to an overflowing inbox, a stack of overdue paperwork, and a big fat reality slap in the face. BUT, it was nice to feel that “vacation” feeling while I was still working, and for that alone this book is worth it.

pacifictonz says something wise and definitely inspiring about Gilbert’s memoir:

I thought the book was … a timely reminder that the purpose of life is not to watch it pass in a speed blur.

I myself am looking forward to reading the book (wish me luck)—and certainly looking forward to writing more posts in regards to the philosophies of Eat, Pray, Love

Related Reading:

* Excerpt of Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia

* Reviews of Eat, Pray, Love

* Oprah.Com Exclusive Eat, Pray, Love

—Diar

[photo from Ruang Film]

P.S.: I never have the novel of Ayat-ayat Cinta (AAC). Well, I did once buy the book (not for me; for my friend). I know I’m so very late, but believe it or not, I started to read the book only recently.

I don’t know what’s going on with me. I’m just not a kind of person who can be so hipnotized very easily by any ‘phenomenal’ books. Like, for instance, I never read Harry Potter (trust me, that’s the fact). I even watched two of the movies way so long after one TV station here showed them.

But I was kind of hipnotized a bit by the movie of Ayat-ayat Cinta once it was already in the cinema here in town. It was a pure curiosity, I assume. So I decided to go see the movie as my new friend happened to give me a treat to watch

The Novel
Before I share my thoughts on the movie, guess I would like to comment first on the book.

So, here’s the thing. FYI, I’m no fanatic fan of religious literature (or of any other kinds of literature), yet I do believe that I’m pretty selective (the good kind of selective, hopefully) in choosing what to read in this ‘genre’. In my opinion, not because a major amount of religious fiction books are sold out, then you’re certain that those books are the best, ever, let alone when it comes to the matter of taste. Well, we’re not ducks, are we?

So, I’m so sorry to all AAC novel biggest fans to say this; that I’m not THAT ‘crazy’ about both the book and the movie. Seriously.

Well, yes, it’s such a fresh kind of thing for Indonesia to have another new religious movie, after for so many times we’ve been bombarded with those freaking horror movies.

Frankly speaking, the first time I started to read some comments inside the book, I pretty much believed that they mean what they mean; that the book IS that good. I mean, even Joni Ariadinata comments on it wonderfully! Moreover, the first several lines of the first chapter are astounding! But later then, I begin to see the ‘common’ lines that I would find in other religious novels out there.

To my knowledge, comments you usually find on the jacket or inside books are always nice, and so are those in AAC; but after reading it myself, I found those a bit exaggerating, I don’t know.

Anyway, of course the book has nice parts. I particularly like a few of the last parts of the novel, like when Maria dies. It’s so moving. And from the very first time I read, I love the character of Maria, while I dislike the character of Fahri. I know, I know, he’s almost perfect and might be any woman’s man-of-their-dream. But sorry if I like the ‘normal’ one. You know, like Donald Duck. He so represents human—us; that bad lucks, lots of times, ‘have to’ be our friends.

Well, of course, the character of Fahri does have positive impact; people may look at him as a good role model in doing deeds, for example, whether to fellow muslims or to people of other religions.

The Movie
Now let’s talk about the movie. Surprisingly, people, I like the character of Fahri in the movie a bit more than I do in the novel. Sorry again for Fahri fans, but when I read the book, I thought that he (seemed) a bit putting on weight, but apparently the character looks fit on the actor’s skinny body

But still, I love Maria more. Great cast! Her hair, her eyes, her gorgeous face, her appearance, just as exactly as what I thought when reading the novel. Well, I especially love the scene when she first met Fahri on the flat building. Her role to be hospitable at the scene is just so gorgeous.

Another fave scene of mine: when Fahri’s prison-mate reminds him of how God (Allah) truly exists by giving him obstacles in life, and that Islam is all about patience and acceptance. Gorgeous message!

It’s a fast-paced movie (you know, to summarize the content of the book), so it was a bit boring watching it at first. But as the same as the novel, only a few of the last parts are great.

Although a little bit disappointed with the way Maria dies on the movie, I salute the director anyway.

Oh and one more thing, I love the original score. And the soundtrack is pretty gorgeous, too.

No comments on the polygamy thing and other stuff on both the novel and the movie. You can just read what others think

Wow, what a long post

I love this one interview Oprah Winfrey had with author Cormac McCarthy. When Oprah asked him when he usually wrote, whether when inspired or every day, he quoted what author William Faulkner said,

I write when I’m inspired. And I’m inspired every day.

So gorgeous

So are we inspired every day like Faulkner is, in terms of any element of our lives?

Yes, when I thought I was alone and friend-less, one night my friend from high school texted me, telling me that she was in the middle of laboring (!). She told me she needed friend (what a ‘coincidence’!) while in the process of ‘releasing her first child from her womb’.Really, Dear Lord always know how to move you and how to make you in tears without warning

So have you texted one of your old friends, just in case s/he feels lonely at present?