Today was the third round of voting this electoral year, and it was also The Big One. Yup, for the first time in Indonesian history, we actually have some significant say in our vote, where we'll directly determine who'll end up being president. Based on current results, it looks like everyone's opting for change. Regardless of whoever wins, let's just hope that the unthinkable doesn't happen and things become even worse than they are now. (Which may seem impossible, but that's why I said unthinkable.)
Later on, it was off to Pondok Indah Mall to see
Jersey Girl as previously arranged with Yoga, and to meet up with Uti (Halief's friend from Malaysia), through whom Halief had sent something. Just before leaving I had an SMS from Alex (my senior on campus, but my disciple when it comes to comic book-related geekiness), who took a cab from Ciledug to his friend's house in Cinere, but didn't know how to leave using cheapskate transport. So I just picked him up en route to PIM, and hung out a bit while we waited for Citra, who could make it in the end after having to work. Yes, on a holiday. Guess some people don't dig historical occasions. But then again, this historical occasion meant that the mall was packed. So even though it only took ten minutes for Citra to get from her office to PIM, it took her a while to get a parking space, long enough to miss the start of the movie.
We got inside just in time to see the final death throes of Jennifer Lopez's career, er, appearance. It was a pretty good movie, considering it was Kevin Smith's debut attempt at leaving the world, characters and constant pop culture references he became famous for in his first five movies. Though it was a nice treat to see that old K.S. staple, namely having cameo appearances by people from his other movies. In this case, it was Jason Lee and Matt Damon in a hilarious scene where Ben Affleck goes for a job interview. Everyone in the studio gasped at the sight of Matt, but only Yoga and I - being the K.S. geeks that we are - gasped for a different reason entirely.
After the movie, I found Uti and she gave what Halief had sent: a birthday card, and two CDs! Ryan Adams and Phantom Planet's respective debut albums! Nice. Then Yoga, Citra and I hung out at Daily Bread for a bit. Citra also gave me a little birthday gift: a photo of penguins on the beach, which she took when she went to Boulders Beach in South Africa last year. Bet when she was there she didn't think she'd meet a penguin fanatic a few months later...
Back at home, I settled in with the Monday night comedy fix on Star World, the appetizer to this week's installment of
The O.C. and the big game between Manchester United and Liverpool. Then the inexplicable happened: the cable feed suddenly went out, and I was stuck fiddling with the TV for around 20 minutes trying to get a signal from local TV. Luckily TV7 were screening both
The O.C. and the match, so all I had to do was find the frequency for that channel. I eventually found, albeit in rather crappy condition. I think my eyesight just decreased a few notches. Fortunately, the cable connection kicked in just after the match had started, so it gave my eyes a break. That was the good news; the bad news is that Liverpool lost the match. Gah. A lousy damper on an otherwise pleasant day.
