(REVIEW) Rudy Habibie / After The First Ten Minutes...

The movie opens in 1942, when Japanese's jets are bombing Habibie's hometown, and I already had like ten things to complain in the first 10 minutes. Fortunately, the rate is not going constantly (the movie is 142 minutes long!). 

Lesson learned: Don't judge a movie by its first 10 minutes. (Maybe 15, because if it doesn't impress you by then, you have the very right to give it up.)

The moment Reza Rahardian steps in, once again as Rudy Habibie, I'm a happy kid. Honestly, I haven't really seen his acting other than this iconic portrayal as the same Rudy in the first movie Habibie & Ainun, but he is by far one of the most high-rated Indonesian actor. This acting has already brought him numerous awards, so well, I am not as impressed as the first time, but will do favour him every time to act again! The star studded casts are also joined by Chelsea Islan, Ernest Prakasa, Pandji Pragiwaksono, and Indah Permatasari. I must say, the casting is amazing, and on point at that. I'd love to point two different contrasts of Indonesia's beauty that is captured on Chelsea & Indah; acted as Polish Ilona and Yogyakarta-Indonesian Ayu respectively.

True to the title, the movie is focusing on Rudy Habibie's journey as a student in Germany. There are a lot of things going on as an international students at those times, not to mention that his family is not very well-off. A lot of press has overly promoted the movie as "Habibie's First Love Story", which is really wrong, because the movie is so much more than that. We get to see why as a scholar Habibie decided to put himself into the crazy politic world, his obsession with plane, and his attachment to Ibu Pertiwi, Indonesia. I'm glad that they put Ilona's storyline in such a manner that gives us an insight about who she really is to real life Mr. Habibie, though they must add romantic and dramatic elements everywhere to make the story likeable enough.

I think it is square to say that Rudy Habibie is a well acted movie, but really dragging here and there. The problem with Indonesian movie is that everything is always overly soap-operatic (is that even a word?). There are some scene that needs to be dramatic, but replaying it like a few times in one go is not going really well, at least for me. I mean, this is not a hundredth episodes long soap-opera. Who will really forget anything from the last hour? The unnecessary flashbacks are also a bit distracting, repetitive, and at times getting boring.

As an unpopular opinion penguin, I'm not really a big fan of director Hanung Bramantyo. I will forever be disappointed by his 2013 movie Soekarno, that to me fails to portray one of the coolest figure in Indonesia. To be fair, I haven't watched many other movies he directed, but I'm not keen on ones that I watched either. That being said, I have already had some kind of expectation of dramatic amount that will be sparked on this movie before hitting the cinema. Though other than that, I can say I am pretty satisfied with Rudy Habibie, and would probably name it as my favourite Hanung Bramantyo's movie.

It is really too easy to make me like this movie. Like, person wise, I adore Mr. Habibie so much. Seeing his up and down journey for two and half hours is to me a happy joyful ride. Movie wise, I don't like it better than the first sequel Habibie & Ainun, but I enjoyed the movie pretty well. I noted some major disapproval, but overall it is again one of few Indonesian Movies that I'd recommend to you all!

x
Michelle

Well... About My First Ten Minutes. Technically, I can't really get over the first bombing scene in Pare-pare. If you can't do it right, don't. Because this is a very good movie, and those pretty lame special effects (we called it Indosiar's effects) are ruining it altogether. Why they can't do better, though, I don't know why. I believe after the massive success of Habibie & Ainun, this movie should have a pretty big budget to spend. A lot of my friends dislike Indonesian movies, and honestly there are plenty of reasons why: plot holes, shallow stories, weak characterisations, and careless touch. A lot of stupid sex-horror-comedy titles are not helping at all. Things are getting better, they really do, but many details are waiting to be repaired here and there. Well, Leo DiCaprio and Alejandro Inarritu are going as extreme as The Revenant--we really need to catch up, don't we? "Saya belum menyerah dengan film Indonesia, itu fakta, masalah, dan solusinya."

One Day in Macau & The List!

Ola Macau! (Ok, Ni Hao is better suited, but I'll post about Shenzhen and Hongkong in the nearest future, and whilst having three Ni Haos are too much Mandarin in this blog, I'd settled Portuguese instead.)

  

Macau is about one hour ferry ride from HongKong--and learning it the hard way, do travel light as you are expected to hand carry your baggage along the way. Do prepare your ticket and accomodation to the bay too, because people are not really helping there (if you are going directly from HongKong airport, there is a bus and it costs about $40). Big hotels have their shuttle in the Macau Ferry Bay, so avoid people that offer you cars as they can be very persistence. Most people you necessarily need to converse with (e.g. shop attendee, people in hotel, people in bay) speak decent English, but the others are mostly not. And the last but not least, if you are going to Macau because Boys Before Flowers, you really need to research again to avoid unrealistic expectation.

Summing this up, the best thing about Macau is the egg tart. I honestly craving for another Lord Stow's egg tart right now, and speaking of which, funny that the last episode of Game of Thrones features Lord Snow as The King of The North, and Lord Stow here is clearly The King of Egg Tart... which is, totally unrelated whatsoever, so here we go the list.

1. Venetian

Venetian is one thing you thought of after hearing Macau, but it is actually only one of the hotel-mall complex in the city. The marketing force is surely strong in this one.

The mall offers you many stores whose ranges are European Brands to Korean Streetwear. Venetian complex is pretty huge and extremely crowded (huge + crowded = tremendous amount of people), especially near the hotel area. It is so jam packed and people are actually sitting on the floor everywhere I thought we are in an airport. It is a high-season time of the year for me, though. (Fortunately, the room is nice and making up for that!)

  

Out of many pretty stores here,

Lush's is one I love! Oh, they

sell various handmade organic 

soap in uber cute color &

packaging!

I can't say this is a shopping heaven, because you don't really want to shop here whilst you are so close to HongKong. There are numerous food that definitely worth to try, though!

 

Imperial House Dim Sum is not necessarily the best Chinese Dim Sum I've ever eaten in my life, but it is pretty good. But if you want to taste a fine Dim Sum of Macau, like me, I'm pretty sure here is one of the best place!

 

You can't miss LORD STOW EGG TART,

you really can't. Let's do that again:

you can't miss Lord Stow Egg tart.

The Lord Commander Stow (if you know what I mean),

is the best egg tart in my life so far. The so claimed most

popular delicacy of Macau has a very balanced

flavour and crisps around the puff that create

a delicious being that made my day.

 

 
 

Venetian Macau' Food, Food, Food!

The other things I tried in the food court area (and loved!)

Pork Chop Bun (Est de Comidas Portuguesa Porto Exterior)

Roasted Pork Belly (BBQ King)

Something I Don't Remember (Treasure Lake)

Dried Pumpkin Croquette (Toei Delights)

Baked Portuguesa Chicken with Rice (Est de Comidas Portuguesa Porto Exterior)

Three Various Meatball Rice Noodle with a Sour and Spicy Food (Spicy Boy) - This one is really oily, I'm not sure you really want to eat the whole bowl for yourself.

--

  

Plus, Venetian has 4 different Casinos if you are over 21 and sure that you know when to stop. I do actually enjoy this adult version of game-arcade which is much more expensive! I didn't win anything (surprise, surprise), but it's exciting and fun to try at least once in your life. Just, don't lost too much.

2. Galaxy

If you have done with Venetian, Galaxy is across the way (simply walk or use Cotai Shuttle Bus that travels you from hotel to hotel in the area) Galaxy is another mall-hotel-casino complex with the same stores that are pretty much the same with Venetian. Well, the main reason for me to go here is the free shuttle bus to many places in Macau, but I do like Galaxy more than Venetian after the visit hotel-wise! 

Venetian is a must see place of Macau, but I realised that I needn't to spend the night there, especially during the high-season when the crowd is beyond words. The crowd in Galaxy, on the other hand, is reasonably tolerated. Plus, free shuttle bus. You don't have to be a hotel-guest to enjoy the privilege, though, which I don't understand why economically.

 

The queue for the shuttle bus is always long, especially for San Ma Lo Route (Route 9). 

Galaxy has its own food court, and one of the best scene-stealer is Dong Tai Xian Shanghai Dim Sum in the front row with seeing window.

   

I love love love The Pork Buns!

 3. San Ma Lo + Leal Senado

My dress is matched well with the wall in Leal Senado! #michewall

  

What makes Macau really interesting is the blended culture of thick Portuguese with Chinese local. Honestly, I don't really feel that in the Venetian' district (including Galaxy, City of Dreams, Hard Rock, and several other famous gigantic hotels). Sure the hotels are luxurious and grand, but the road around is rather empty--or in development...

... like this

Well, San Ma Lo area is the truest example of Portuguese x Chinese goes right. Before you hit the Senado Square, do check Leal Senado building which is exactly across of it. It has beautiful courtyard garden and museum-library that is worth to visit! (If you are boarding Galaxy Shuttle like me, you will pass the building before Senado Square.)

 

 

 4. Senado Square 

 

To be fair, I don't really get to explore the whole Macau but Senado Square is a pretty place that definitely need to be visited! It is number one tourist destination in Macau, so yes it is crowded (but the crowd in Venetian still left the most impact in my heart--at least it is a shopping strips, not a luxurious hotel.)



Sasa is everywhere in Macau, but I only got the chance to visit one in here for cheap beauty products. There is also Tony Moly, Forever 21, Nike, and numerous youngster friendly stores located here. Famous Macau's Koi Kei Bakery with famous eggroll have a branch too, but they are also everywhere, and I mean, everywhere.

In the left side street of The Ruin of St. Paul's, there is a pretty tiny cafe called Bakez Bakery, which feels very cozy after a long, exhausting, and sweating walk. The temptation of cheese egg tart is too strong. Taste is not of my liking, though. If you keen on very milky-cheese, maybe you can go for it.

  

5. Ruins of St. Paul's

After walking through the Senado Square, you can finally see the sight of the Ruins!

What is beneath that? Nothing. It was renovated during my visit so... yes, we can only see it (and take a lot of photos of it). The ruin is beautiful, though. I might be biased, because I have a tendency to love anything medieval, but you want to see this in Macau. The stair is pretty high and very crowded every time; just blend in and steal a nice, tiny picture of yourselves!

  
 

And of course, wear a bag that is comfortable during the long walk! Having one that is cute (like PLAYGRND) is definitely a plus too because you'll definitely take a lot of great pictures!
--

Well, that is my kind of One Day in Macau. After Ruins of St. Paul's, I went back to Venetian via Galaxy and did the rest of shopping + sightseeing I hadn't done in the morning after a long, relaxing bath (it was super hot outside, and extremely cold inside!) Okay, so maybe that's the perks of staying in the Venetian. I sadly didn't get the chance, but I do want to try the gondola so badly because it looks like a lot of fun, and the gondolier is actually sang!

Thanks for reading and have a good day!

x
michelle
(and two boyfriends photographers)