Literary Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society

I don't know if I've told you before but I'm a huge nerd. By that, I mean that I love reading books and obtaining information of such. I love exploring the literary world, be it epics, drama or lyrical. If by doing so, I am forever stamped as a nerd, so be it. Aside from that, I am a child at heart. Yes, my body will grow up and my maturity may increase. But I will always love the quirky little things that make me a child, heart and soul. That is one of the reasons why I chose to feature this book that I'm only partly sure you've never heard of before. I present to you...

all illustrations by Diana Sudyka

Meet Reynie Muldoon, an orphaned genius of a boy who was attracted to a fairly questionable advertisement he saw in the paper. The advertisement called for gifted children looking for special opportunities. Two sessions were listed, in which tests were held. The tests were seemingly impossible. They were too to Reynie, at first. However, he managed to do them correctly, apparently, because then he was called back along with three other gifted children: Sticky Washington, a runaway child who's won a great number of quizzes and a great deal of money; Kate Wetherall, a circus girl who was orphaned and now lived with the circus with her guardian, Moocho Brazos; and Constance Contraire, a remarkably impatient and disagreeable child who lived in the library for quite some time. These three were united by Mr. Benedict, the man behind the seemingly suspicious advertisement. Apparently, they were gathered there to snoop into L.I.V.E. (The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened), a highly secluded boarding school.

There are a total of three books of this series. I can proudly say that I have read them all. I have enjoyed every minute of reading them. Before MBS, I have honestly never heard of Trenton Lee Stewart. But now I believe he's a very delightfully brilliant man to have been the one behind this series. In these books, there are a number of confusing but intriguing puzzles that, if you're smart enough to know, you might want to try. Aside from that, what got me hooked was also Diana Sudyka's childish and fresh illustrations. I'm so glad she made the illustrations until the end. Oh, by the way, you have yet to hear the best part.

Most recently, I've purchased the second to latest book to their series, The Mysterious Benedict Society: Mr. Benedict's Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrum. To sum up, it is the compilations of puzzles made by Trenton Lee Stewart (represented by the MBS characters). I couldn't wait to open it and solve all the puzzles -- if my brain ability lets me. I have solved some, mind you. It is in full-colour and designed by Diana Sudyka as well. Try flipping through all the pages and see if you don't want to try your brain at all their puzzles. Their latest book is also not to be missed. It's called The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict. From the title, you could guess that it speaks more of Mr. Benedict's past than of the children. But aren't you curious? Have you read this series? If you have, do share your tale of this book and who's your favourite character? (Mine are Constance and Milligan). If you haven't, don't hesitate to try. Cheerio!

By the Seaside

Top// The Executive; Tulle Skirt// Sis's (borrowed); Bag// gifted; Hat// thrifted; Sandals// Sis's (borrowed)

As a person who was born and raised in an archipelago country with lots of seas, it is kind of ironic (and sad) that I have yet to step into a beach and have my beachy moments. Especially if that archipelago of a country owns an island as heavenly as Bali -- or so they all say. Yes, yes, it is sad. To add into that irony is the fact that I'm a VERY GOOD and enthusiastic swimmer. Swimming has always been one of my childhood hobbies. Then I just had to ruin my luck by moving to Germany, a country with only one sea. Wow, that is just…I've grown quite speechless here, folks! But I do still swim from time to time, although in the last year I did only once since the one person who wanted to swim with me lived like 500 miles away from me by the time we got quite inseparable. Irony, why do you love to perch on my shoulders so? By the way, I wore this to Thamrin City and obtained quite a few stares. Talk about being overdressed. Cheerio!

Take a Closer Look

Top// Cotton Club; Jumper// Sis's; Tights// Sis's (borrowed); Hat// thrifted; Bag// gifted; Belt + Shoes// Primark

Everyone says a smile speaks more than 1000 words. No one ever mentions, though, that not all those words are cheery words. They can be cruel, hurtful words that are masked under cheerful smiles. Sure, cheerful words can be mentioned underneath as well but the opposing possibility is not to be neglected. I, for one, would know because I am just so good at masking my true feelings with a simple smile. That being said, I was not in a mood other than happy in these pictures. I'm wearing this old jumper that I've worn many times before and was so happy to know it fits me better now. The top is also very dear to me thanks to its pattern. I've missed it! My stepmom was so kind as to offer to snap the first shot of this outfit. That afternoon was meant to be a quality time with myself but then I kind of met up with my friend Enggar, who was ever so kind to snap some more for me. Thank you so much. Happy Wednesday, all! Cheerio!

The Great Reunion: Takoyaki Party (Mimin's Birthday!)

The last photo is courtesy of my dad. Thanks, Dad!

Yesterday's post, well, that was Saturday. This is what happened on Sunday. It was September 2nd, which means Mimin's birthday! Happy birthday, you crazy kid you! For this special occasion, the gang decided to sleep over at my house. I told these guys that I could and have managed to make homemade takoyaki -- which is a japanese delicatessen. It is one of our favourites so of course we were so excited to start making and eating as many as we wanted. My stepmom directed us on how to do it and do it right. We followed her instructions and suddenly we had 42 octopus balls on our hands. It was quite obvious that, later on, we were too full of takoyaki. What a perfect way to wrap up this great reunion! After they all went home -- and we managed to slip in several new inside jokes in between, I felt really…silent. Like the house just went dead. Oh, well. I guess that's what happens when you part ways with your soulmates. Enjoy the Tuesday! Cheerio!

The Great Reunion: Japanese Day

The line reads: The Great Reunion

Uh-oh, I'm totally cheating on Firu with Mimin. But you can tell that Mimin's a perfect lady, right?

Hello, everyone! Did you enjoy your weekends? Well. I sure did. It was like going back in time. Like I said, Anime Festival Asia Indonesia went on this week and my best friends and I had our great complete reunion there. What better chance could come across, really? We met up at Gina's place in the morning to drive up there. At first, we were going to take Gina to her animation class first and wait on her. But the traffic got in the way of that and we ended up going straight to the festival. Uli was a huge help since she was a natural navigator and we didn't get lost mostly thanks to her. Once we got there, long lines were already forming. Thank God we've bought the tickets already so we didn't have to wait that long.

Before you read this paragraph, I'd like to warn you: SPOILER ALERT! We weren't very satisfied with AFAID. It was overcrowded and there weren't even that many stands to choose from. The worst part is all of the convention happenings happened inside huge rooms (even the non-VIP ones), which suffocated the guests. It didn't even live up to our expectations but we did have fun taking pictures of/with people cosplaying. Sindi even got separated from us for quite sometime, just roaming the place on her own. I kind of regretted not going to the Maid Café but I heard it was expensive so I guess that was a blessing in disguise.

Blouse// Sis's; Blazer// 1982; Skirt// H&M; Bag// Chanel (Mom's); Socks// Sox Galeri; 

Shoes// Studio Nine; Neck Tie// Flapper Girl; Picture// alivegurl

To the festival, I came as a japanese high school girl. This was my first 'cosplay.' I wrote 'cosplay' because I was totally not in character, as cosplayers should be. I dressed up and I just became me -- who I probably wanted to become anyway. Look from afar, you'd think this is a well-thought cosplay. Look upclose and you'll know it was just putting together everyday pieces. Three things to highlight from this outfit: the navy + plaid blazer, the hearty lady neck tie and the melodic knee-high socks. I found the blazer one day at a 1982 store in Kassel. I just fell in love. I had to get my hands on it. The tie was a giveaway prize from Flapper Girl that I won last month. It got here just in time for AFA. I will definitely wear it many times to come. The socks, however, are an item I bought when I was obsessed with piano-patterned anything. That was ages ago. At the festival, the thick materials totally killed me but I resisted. By the time we were out of there, I've had my blazer wrapped around my hips. I felt like I seriously just came home from school just in time to hangout with my besties. By the way, I was inspired by Nancy Zhang to include my handmade pictures along with several outfit photos for every outfit post I make. This probably won't be regular but I will do as many as I can.

Do you notice my ever so comical face up there?

I can't believe we attacked Sushi Tei once again after our first (and smaller) reunion. But we just had to. The following day was Mimin's birthday and we hadn't enough energy to think of where to eat. Sushi Tei was always our go-to place so off we went. Mimin was ever so generous to treat us sushi and japanese food. And she got a free sushi 'birthday cake' from Sushi Tei. Happy birthday, Mimin! We were jacked up on sushi and japanese food by the end of it all and decided to attack the arcade next. Hooray! We took purikura and played OutRun2SP -- which turned out to be pretty exciting! -- there. Uli and Sindi played Dance Dance Revolution until the room spinned. That wasn't the end of it, though. We all came back to my house for a much-needed sleepover. This story is to be continued. Cheerio!

P.S: All of the photos were taken by any of us with either Uli's Sony SLT-AS7 or Gina's Canon EOS 1100D