Coco Shows How Important Family is

 

I watched this a month after it first premiere. And watched it twice. I love animation movies. Doesn't mean that it is childish but sometimes there is even good moral value behind it. Besides, you don't need to think too much while you are watching it. Always in a funny entertaining package.

So Coco also show us some Mexican culture where the day of the dead (Dia de los muertos) that held every year is the important day for them. It is a day where your dead ancestor are going back for one day to the living world. Temporarily, they believe that dead ancestor will be happy if we serve their favorite foods and what they like at home. They also put the photos at ofrenda (kind of altar or a special place to remember the dead ancestor).

This is interesting, in the land of dead, they can be dead for the last time if there is no one in the land of living remember their existence. So Coco's father left her and mother to sing for the world. His name is Hector and his ambitious friend is De La Cruz. The day Hector decided to come home for Coco, de la cruz poisoned him and stole his musics, song, and guitar. But his family never knew it and consider that he is a bad man who abandon his family.

The memory of Hector still alive in Cocos. But Coco is already too old to remember things anymore, her brain start to degenerate. The photo of her father is ripped off as there are no family want him and music is a curse for him. Until Miguel was born. Miguel is great great grand son of Hector who are inherited with the musical skills of Hector. Ok back to memory of Hector, when there is no one remember you anymore, then it means the  final death waiting for you. You will be disappear from the land of dead, you will stay there if there is someone who remember you but you cant cross the bridge to visit family in the land of living if your photo is not in ofrenda. Like Hector, he cant visit his family because his photo is ripped off in ofrenda but he can stay in the land of dead because Coco still remember him.

It is interesting because you can put the photos of 4-5 generations in ofrenda and have them back on the day of dead once a year. And you have to keep telling the story of them to family so their memories will keep alive.

Miguel accidentally came to the land of the dead. And the only way to go back is only by having the blessing of the dead family (although family can add more conditions to it). Mama Imelda is the wife of Hector and hate him so much, and put condition to Miguel for her blessing, not to play music at all. But Miguel cant keep it so he start to take the guitar once he is back to living land, and then straightly back to land of dead because he played music.

Singkat cerita, Miguel didn't know that Hector is actually his great great grandpa. He thought that de la cruz is, because of the guitar is the same as in ripped photo in ofrenda. Hector help Miguel to get de la cruz blessing (since he thought that he is one of family there), and Miguel is asked to put Hector photo in ofrenda once he is back. They deal with it but long story short, they found out that de la cruz is killing Hector and Hector is Miguel's great great grandpa because Hector told him that he want to go back for the last time for her daughter, Coco.

Family reunion happen. There is a fight between them and de la cruz as he has the only one photo of Hector that is meant to put in ofrenda, but the photo is gone. Miguel has to come back to the land of living before sunrise. But Hector is dying. So Imelda and Hector give their blessing and say 'Miguel, I give you my blessing to come back, and put your important family first' (kurang lebih begitu lah). They didn't give conditions but they asked him to think about family first because family is important.

He is back and run to Coco try to make her memories of Hector alive again. It doesnt really work since her brain is kinda old. Then he sing a song to Coco, Remember me. Hector made this song for Coco and sang it every night for her. Until de la cruz stole it. Surprisingly Coco following Miguel to sing and then she told everyone about her father. She also kept the part of photo that is ripped. Then they put the photo there in ofrenda. Now they have a complete photo of ancestor.

It is actually simple, you need to put your family first. But it is so touching in some scenes. And it is show you some Mexican culture that is recognize by UNESCO, Dia de los muertos. They speak Spanglish. Put some Spain in their conversation. And their voice is just good. My favorite song is Un Poco Loco and Remember me (lullaby ver of Hector and little Coco singing). My favorite one is Hector 💙

I like the lullaby one 

 

Percayalah banyak yang nangis pas part ini

 

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Happiness is ...

 

to be able to smile and laugh also part of happiness 😁

Few days ago I met new friends. They are friends of my friend. I helped them for their competition. It's good to know them since the way they think about something is unique and quite close to mine. Until one of them ask me :

'What is happiness for you?'

I told them that for me happiness is when I stop compare myself with others and not being compared with anybody else (well, you can compare me with others but don't tell me if you do haha!). I used to compare myself with people. For following their success path might be ok, but for having the same life as theirs who seen successful and happy, I don't think so. So I stop to compare myself with others and it make me feel enough. I feel more relax, since I don't have to pretend or to be somebody else. I feel more 'me' because I only think about me and free to do what I want to do (or to think what I want to think).

But one of them said 'For me happiness is when you can breathe, eat, sleep, and poop' 😂 That give me idea about how happy I am when I can poop everyday effortlessly. Sorry if this is sounds so disgusting, but I do mean it 😂

So... what is happiness for you? 😁

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Secuil Jejak Kejayaan Byzantium : Hagia Sophia

 

taken from rooftop restaurant

Kita tadinya nggak berencana pakai tour guide buat masuk Ayasofya, tapi berhubung si Kadir ini lucu banget dan menarik marketingnya, akhirnya kita ambil dia buat jadi guide kita (meskipun papa paham juga sejarahnya ayasofya dan berkali-kali nanya ke Kadir sampe Kadir merasa 'terancam' karena yang dipandu keliatannya lebih paham daripada dia 😂).

Enaknya pake guide, kita bisa dapet prioritas masuk Ayasofya tanpa antri lama, apalagi kalau guide nya orangnya kreatif dan nggak bikin suasana garing. Harga sewa guidenya sekitar 100 lira (25 euro), plus kalo puas ya bisa kasih tips buat dia. Kalau pun nggak mau pakai pemandu, bisa juga sewa audio guide (tapi gw jamin itu boring banget).

 

bagian depan ayasofya

 

salah satu pintu masuk ayasofya

 

Harga tiket masuk ayasofya 40 lira. Kebanyakan harga masuk tempat wisata, museum, apapun yang berbayar ini sekitar 40 lira.

Jadi, ayasofya ini adalah bangunan yang tua banget (sekitar lebih dari 1400 tahun), awalnya digunakan sebagai katedral, trus kemudian diubah menjadi masjid, nah sekarang jadi museum. Ceritanya, ayasofya dibangun oleh ribuan pekerja dan selesai dalam waktu yang relatif singkat (pekerjanya dari Romawi tentunya, karena waktu itu jaman kejayaan Byzantium).

Awal mulanya dibangun sekitar abad ke 3 jamannya emperor Konstantinos hanya gereja kecil dengan atap kayu yang ya mungkin kalau ditiup angin terbang begitu aja. Tapi dihancurin dan otomatis hancur lah itu. Kemudian dibangun lagi gereja, eh dihancurin lagi. Kenapa sih doyan banget hancur-hancurin ya. Nah pas sekitar abad ke 6 ini barulah berdiri bangunan pengganti cikal bakalnya Ayasofya yang sekarang ini berdiri.

Berapa orang yang terlibat? Ribuan. Dan untuk bangunan semegah itu dijamannya (dijaman sekarang juga sih), bangunan tersebut selesai dalam waktu yang super singkat (maaf lah lupa sesingkat apa pokoknya nggak selama bangun wisma atlet SEA games lah). Uh kebayang dong ribuan orang disuruh bangun bangunan super mewah dengan bahan-bahan yang nggak murah dan tanpa alat berat, banyak sih korbannya (tapi dramanya ga sedrama papa nabrak tiang 😓).

 

Marmer selalu menjadi bahan utama di setiap bangunan yang ada di Istanbul. Ntah mengapa mereka lebih memilih marmer yang mahal dan agak risky gampang rusak meskipun terlihat megah. Ah ya suka-suka mereka sih wong duit ada hahaha. Lantainya yang marmer ada di gerbang depan ayasofya terlihat sedikir penyok. Kadir merekonstruksi kejadian masa lalu, konon katanya kepenyokan lantai ini disebabkan oleh penjaga pintu yang selalu menghentakkan kakinya ketika raja mulai masuk kedalam ruangan.

Ruangan ini super sekali. Kamu pernah nggak ngerasain kayak ketarik masuk ke masa lalu ribuan tahun lalu? I felt it. Bayangin ya, kita masuk ke ruangan yang dibangun di abad ke 6, yang merupakan salah satu bangunan tertua di dunia, dengan sejarah yang super panjang, saya sih waktu itu ngerasa nggak bisa napas. Bayangin aja lah kayak time traveler dari tahun 2017 balik ke taun 600an. Yaa meskipun nggak pernah ngerasain time traveling sih, ya pokoknya feeling itu lah.

 

in a very deep discussion 😃

Nah didalemnya, jelas dulu dipake macem-macem ya, kegiatan kenegaraan termasuk coronation. Jadi raja-raja tuh pasti di lantik disini dulu. Interior dibangun dengan banyak mozaik yang menggambarkan kisah para raja. Saya yakin sih mozaiknya digambar sesuai dengan perjalanan emperor. Nggak serta mereta langsung digambar sekali jadi. Karena ada juga kisah Saint Irene Prisca (bukan gw lol!) yang lahir dimasa mendekati abad ke 10.

  

Saint Irene Prisca with John and  one of her son

 

last one before the exit

 

 

Melalui masa ribuan tahun dengan awal mula tempat ini adalah katedral, tentu dong ornamen di dalamnya ini penuh dengan mahakarya mengagumi katolik terutama ortodoks. Oke ya jaman dulu itu Byzantium itu ortodoks, bahkan sampai Saint Irene menikah dengan Raja dari Byzantium ini harus convert dulu ke ortodoks. Nah,ketika masa islam mulai mencapai kejayaannya, Ottoman ini taking over kekuasaan byzantium sekitar abad 14. Singkat kata, byzantium dikuasai ottoman (meskipun cerita soal taking over nya nggak singkat juga sih).

 

some details

Sekitar taun 1453, ayasofya dikonversi menjadi masjid hingga sekitar tahun 1936 dikonversi menjadi museum oleh presiden pertama Turki - Attaturk. Part yang menurut saya seru part ini, dimana masa konversi adalah masa untuk merubah interior gereja yang penuh ornamen menjadi masjid yang tidak boleh ada ornamen didalamnya. Orang muslim percaya bahwa sebisa mungkin tidak ada gambar-gambar dalam tempat ibadah. Serunya lagi, Turks masa itu sangat menghormati Nabi Isa yang mana beliau juga merupakan nabi penting dalam sejarah islam. Karena saking menghargainya, mereka pun akhirnya melakukan sedikit perombakan gereja dengan harapan tidak terlalu merubah desain aslinya tapi juga masih bisa diterima menurut aturan Islam. Beberapa ornamen ditutup dengan hati-hati sehingga tidak menyerupai manusia atau benda hidup lainnya. Kadir aja sampe bilang kalo kita makasih banget dan berhutang budi banyak banget ke muslim masa itu yang renovasi ayasofya ini. Karena mereka masih bisa menghargai peninggalan sejarah dan nggak anarkis serta merta diganti ala aturan mereka. Ini yang namanya menyelamatkan sejarah juga. Hayo... we should learn from this lho.

 

manis ya

Setelah berubah menjadi masjid, mulailah altar diubah menjadi mimbar, serta diberikan dekorasi lain yang lebih islami dan lebih 'masjid'. Satu lagi yang seru, mereka membiarkan ornamen Yesus di bagian depan dan menambahkan kaligrafi Allah dan Muhammad di kedua sisinya. Dapat juga dilihat nama besar lainnya seperti Abubakar, Omar, Usman, Ali, Hasan, Husein.

 

taken from second floor

 

 

 

 

OIya di bagian depan ayasofya ada kuburan. Konon katanya kuburan itu diperuntukan keluarga sultan dan itu merupakan bekas tempat pembabtisan kala ayasofya masih gereja. Dibagian belakang juga ada tempat wudhu ya. Tempat wudhu disana spesial banget deh pokoknya. Istimewa. kayaknya yang wudhu berdiri itu disini aja ya hahaha.

 

 

Ayasofya, salah satu saksi sejarah panjang masa kejayaan byzantium hingga ottoman dan saat ini, menjadi bangunan yang berhasil menarik saya kembali ke ribuan tahun yang lalu. Papa mertua udah pernah sebutin namanya tapi lupa. Semacem feeling yang sangat kuat yang membawa kita kembali ke masa kejayaan tempat tersebut dan menyerap energi di lingkungan tersebut. Seriously ini satu-satunya tempat yang memberikan saya sensasi luar biasa ketarik ke ribuan tahun yang lalu.

 

gelato ... would never taste the same as in Gili Air 😂 padahal gelato juga bukan asli indonesia

Dan Kadir, I owe you a review in Tripadvisor  😌

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Surabaya Day Trip

  

suikerstraat

I lived in Surabaya for almost 2 years, but it didn't give me chance to explore the heritage or even do the historical walking tour there. Nope, too busy and too hot. Too busy to eat pentol gila 😎

 

pentol gila

Last week I came to Surabaya for lunch with my friends, and of course to eat foods that are not available in Malang, then wander around some historical places there. I came little bit late there and it was so hot. And it surprised me because they turn Siola into small museum. Curious about that, we decide to see what is inside the museum.

 

But first, we wander around Jalan Gula. My friend really curious about that road since it is so famous for photography addict. The place is around Kembang Jepun. There you will see some old buildings with Chinese and Dutch style. This area was Chinese and Arab neighborhood when Dutch was still here. Jalan Gula was suikerstraat which is translated into bahasa afterwards, is a small road. It surprised me that this road is only an old road with old building around, but not much history I can tell about it even in a big book about Surabaya. I can't really found it. But there you can see some Chinese temple for worship (I saw one temple for family but it is not really well taken care of. Typically Indonesia, they left old heritage buildings like a trash. It should be restored. Oh hey, Arab and Chinese were living in same neighborhood? They must be work together before independence day huh? 😎

 

 

 

the road is as narrow as this

 

tanned even more

Oh remember if you want to take photo in Jalan Gula, you must be careful because some trucks or motorcycles are passing there. So you have to wait and be careful.


Then we moved around Jalan Tunjungan. And Siola is turning into museum and kind of mall for public services. So there you will see some places for banks, samsat and other things. So we need to go to the left to enter the museum. It is definitely really small. There is a 'gate' and a guest book. unfortunately in guest book there is also a comment column that you should write it after you visit the museum. It should be put in exit gate. Well... enter and exit gate is the same, but at least put it little bit to the right so they can put a proper comments there. Or put something that says like 'fill the guest book after you came inside', something like that. Because most comments I saw was like 'I didn't even come inside, how can I give you a comment?'. There I wrote, 'Let me come first then I'll give you comment about that'. Guess my comment about the museum is written here completely lol

  

the gate with the guest book

 

first thing you'll see

So there you will see some old documents related to birth and marriage certificate since 1800s, some books probably about city documents, some old games which is rare to be seen played now (dakon, egrang, lompat tali), some old school stuff like desk that is typically my elementary school's desk, an old report  for high school that are mostly born around 1920's, there also some old hospital things like wheelchair, place for labor, surgery and stuff, some old money of course, old and new paintings about the city, some old cupboard and safe box.

 

birth log

 

 

dakon

 

old elementary school desk

 

  

 

ganteng ya? kek artis sumpah

 

you can see this mirror a lot in Majapahit Hotel

 

simpangsche societeit was a place where Dutch people held party, dance and gathering around (tempat kongkow nya orang belanda dulu). Now it is called Balai Pemuda and is still used for meeting place as well as wedding ceremony. 

 

mini gamelan

 

marriage log (how can you read this book with that handwriting lol)

  

guess it's like archive about the city

 

real old money

 

typically old kitchen in kampoong/village

  

typically old mug

 

spices

 

serem ga sih?

  

old wheelchair 

 

old puppet 

We spent half hour inside, then we decided to walk around till Oranje Hotel (Hotel Majapahit). We walk around there and surprised by Dinas Perhubungan who deflate the tires around the corner which has a 'Dont Stop' sign. That is my first time to see it in front of me and I ask him questions : (but before he already curse the cars there by saying that they are so stupid didn't even understand the traffic signs)

he was making instastory lol

'Do they need to pay fine for this?'
'Nope'
'Will you lock the tires?'
'No, here we only deflate the tire and put this sticker'
'How many tire?'
'Only one'
'WHY only one? I can help you to deflate it sir. Happily'
'Hahaha no its ok, we only do it for a tire so next they wont do it again'
'Oh yea hopefully they wont'

 

old toendjoengan

 

the day when they ripped the blue part off (guess so) 

 

Tunjungan now

 

 

 I dont think the lamp is old but it give you the old antique vibe 

We walked about 10,000 steps that day. Plus more walk inside the mall 😁


I really like to see those in the back, the history that happened in the place where my feet step on it. I am glad to be alive now, where I can see those as a history, not as my own experiences that I probably personally tell my kids and grand kids in the future. Why do I become such a history nerd? lol

Whatever it is, JASMERAH. Jangan Sekali-kali Meninggalkan Sejarah.

old pictures of Tunjungan was taken from book : SOERABAJA - Beeld van een stad

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