best of the best.... of 2009 :D

started from this post last year, i decided to make a post about 'best of the best of the year' for me every december. however, there are some new categories this year, but i don't put back some categories from last year here. well, enjoy! :)


best tv series
THE BIG BANG THEORY



yes, the winner for tv series of the year is the big bang theory, a story about the life of four genius nerds (Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, and Howard) and their friendship with a normal beautiful chick named Penny. the first reason why i picked this series is: because i am one of them. yes, i am a geek. a nerd. whatever you call it. well, of course my IQ is not as high as sheldon's or leonard's (their IQ score when combined is 360! what the heck!), but their life is pretty much like mine, hehehe. the second reason is because the story can be frikkin funny without humiliating geeks. before i watched the big bang theory, what i always saw in movies or series was that nerds were described as people bringing thick books anywhere they go, speaking and acting awkwardly, wearing suppathick glasses and neat plead shirt. nerds are described very differently in this series. they wear colorful tshirts, jeans, they even go grocery shopping! people know they are geniuses from the way they talk, their attitude, and how they interact with 'normal' people. eventhough all of them are nerds, they are still human and of course they have different personalities. Leonard is the 'almost-normal' one. Raj cannot talk to women, while Howard is the 'playboy' in the gang. Sheldon, my favorite, has his own unique character with a combination of a germaphobe, a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and someone who speaks without thinking first. trust me, if you haven't watched this series, i can guarantee that you will love it, especially if you love watching FRIENDS because this is just like the nerd version of FRIENDS.


best tv reality show
AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 8



i always love american idol because it just gets better every season, and the very last season of this show proved that it's the best season so far. the addition of kara dioguardi as one of the judges also gave extra 'heat' to the show since she's never afraid to speak what's in her mind and unlike paula, she didnt always tell the contestants and audiences the 'sweet things'. the contestants were also damn excellent and the top 5 were exactly like what i expected (kris allen, adam lambert, danny gokey, allison iraheta, and matt giraud). eventhough kris allen became the winner, adam lambert is the true american idol for me, hehehe (well, it can be seen from the copies sold in the billboard chart tho, hehehe). i just can't wait to watch the next season and see what ellen degeneres will do on the hot seats of the judges! :)


best movie
UP



is there any of you who haven't watched this movie yet? if you haven't, go watch it, like NOW, because this is very highly recommended to those who love stories about true love, having a dream, struggling to make it comes true, friendship, and meaning of a family mixed with a sprinkle of humour. Up told a story about an old man who wanted to make the dream of his former wife to have a house on the top of Paradise Falls, South America, came true by tying thousands of balloons (if you wonder how he got thousands of balloons, well, he sold them!) to his house and FLYING the house (yes, by making it FLY!) accross the country to South America. however, the story would go dull if he didn't have Russell, Kevin, and a talking dog with him all the way to Paradise Falls. who are they? find out by watching the movie then! :)


best book
MARYAMAH KARPOV by ANDREA HIRATA



i didn't read so many books this year, but at least i'm thankful i have read the best (well, that's what people said). andrea hirata's brilliance already could be seen from his three previous books, which are 'laskar pelangi', 'sang pemimpi', and 'edensor'. his first two books were already filmed, and the results were equally brilliant. as the finale of laskar pelangi tetralogy, this book had been awaited by all indonesian book lovers. of course people wanted to know the end of ikal's journey. what happened after he came back from france? would he find a ling, his childhood sweetheart and his forever love? would he be able to reach all his dreams? all of those questions were answered by this book. for those who want to read this book but haven't read the three previous books, unfortunately you have to start from the very beginning to understand this book. however, it is very worthed to read all the four books because all of them are very mesmerizing, and i guarantee that you will be amazed by the way andrea hirata wrote the whole story.


best track
TAYLOR SWIFT - TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR



i love almost all songs by taylor swift, but i love this song the most. the story behind the song is just EXACTLY like mine, resulting in this track staying like forever in my playlist, hahaha. the tune is also kinda catchy and it makes me love the song even more. the video describes what the song means very well too, and she acted really good in that video as the girl who got an unrequited love. you can watch the video here and yes, the guy in that video is tyler hilton :)


best album
ADAM LAMBERT - FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT



once he became the runner up of american idol last season, i was thinking, how would his album be? he was good singing rock, pop, ballad, even songs with autotunes. he could make these songs still sounded good when he sang it with his high-pitched rockin' voice. then when i heard the music throughout this album, i directly knew the genre of his music : adam lambert's. yes, he made his own genre of music. it's because when you listen to this album, just like when you listen to lady gaga's, you will directly recognize that it's his song, his music, but it's kinda difficult to categorize his genre of music, so i think it's possible for him to have his own genre of music, isn't it? hehehe. however, this album is highly recommended to those who love music and it is very suitable to listeners of all genres of music. oh, and my favorite tracks are 'Whataya Want From Me', 'Aftermath', 'Pick U Up', 'Music Again', and 'For Your Entertainment'.


best videoclip
PLAIN WHITE T'S - 1,2,3,4



this videoclip proves that a beautiful video doesn't have to involve any computerized visual effects, bright colors, or amazing outfits. this video is actually very simple with Tom Higgenson, the vocalist of Plain White T's, singing on the streets of Chicago with his guitar, in black-and-white colors, and wearing daily clothes. what makes this video special is the story of the people (most of them are couples, but bestfriends, girlie gangs, families, even dogs and their owners are included) who watched him singing, the story of when and how they met. finally, the video ended at night, as Tom put his guitar back in its case, met his girlfriend, Angie, and it was stated that the song was dedicated to her. this is a very (or should i say ultra?) low budget video, however it is the sweetest video i have ever seen, and it does give a tingling sensation down in me everytime i watch this video, eventhough i watch it over and over. the music and lyrics of this song are also simple yet beautiful, just like the video :) anyway, you can watch the video here


best tidbits
TAHU CRIZCREZ



guys, let me introduce you to these tiny little blocks of crispy deep-fried tofu. to make it more interesting, you can add various types of sauce such as pizza flavored sauce, cheese sauce, mayo sauce, BBQ sauce, or satay flavored sauce, or even mix two or more types of them! it's all about your creativity! isn't it fun? the result of my creativity is blueberry cheese sauce. yes, see the purple color in the picture? it's the blueberry sauce. dont raise your eyebrows yet. trust me, it's frikkin good! they make it with their own special recipe so that it's suitable with the crispy tofu. and oh, it's veeery cheap. it's only around 4000 rupiahs, or less than 50cents in US dollar. yums!


best eating out place
JEJAMURAN



this restaurant is a bit far from the city, since it is located in Niron village, Sleman. however, it is very worth it to go such distance to have your lunch or dinner here, especially for those who love mushrooms, are vegetarians, and the ones who want to try something new for their culinary knowledge. by looking at the menu, you can directly recognize that mushroom is very flexible. you can have it as mushroom soup, mushroom satay (like the one pictured above), fried mushroom, or even mushroom rendang, and all of them are heavenly delicious for me, since i am such a mushroom lover. FYI, mushroom is very good for your bod since it is high in dietary fiber, vitamin D, and it enhances your immune system. so, why don't you have one plate of it in your menu today? :)

do you know that.....

~ Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in a single sitting,

~ There are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world,

~ Penguins can convert salt water into fresh water,

~ "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language,

~ Non-dairy creamer is flammable,

~ About 1 out of 4 homeless people in South Korea own a credit card,

~ The most overdue book in the world was borrowed from Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, England and was returned 288 years later,

~ Scorpions have 12 eyes,

~ Flamingos pee on their legs to keep warm,

~ An apple is more efficient than a cup of coffee for keeping people awake in the morning,

~ The bottom-half of your fingernails is called the air pocket, but scientists don't know why it's there,

~ The shortest word with all five vowels in alphabetical order is "aerious," meaning "airy",

~ The opposite sides of a die always add up to seven,

~ Jellyfish have no brains. They rely on nerve cells to help them see, smell, move, and eat,

~ No words in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple,

~ If you were to count continuously every moment of every day, it would take 31,688 years to count to one trillion,

~ Butterflies taste their food with their feet,

~ The slanted line that divides fractions (ex: 1/2) is called a "virgule",

~ "Dysania" is the state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning,

~ If you spell out every number starting with one, you won't use the letter "a" until you reach one thousand,

~ The gorilla's scientific name is 'Gorilla gorilla gorilla',

~ The longest time a person has been in a coma is 37 years,

~ No piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times,

~ There are more kangaroos than people in Australia. The kangaroo population is estimated at 40 million,

~ When glass breaks it moves faster than 3,000 mph. To photograph this a camera must shoot at a millionth of a second,

~ Whispering is more wearing on your voice than speaking in a normal tone,

~ If MySpace was a country it would be the 5th largest country in the World,

~ A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second,

~ "Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand, "lollipop" with your right,

~ At least 2 people die every year from vending machines falling on them,

~ Of all the words in the English language, the word 'set' has the most definitions,

~ It is physically impossible to urinate and give blood at the same time,

~ The average full length pencil has enough lead to draw a line 35 miles long,

~ Slugs have 4 noses,

~ The dot that appears over the letter "i" is called a tittle,

~ Hawaii is moving toward Japan 4 inches every year,

~ If you keep a goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white,

~ Cockroaches can live for 9 days after their head has been cut off,

~ It's against the law to slam your car door in Switzerland,

~ Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries,

~ A ribbon worm will eat themselves if they cannot find food. They can still survive after eating up to 95% of its body weight,

and

~ Onions have no flavor, only a smell?

if you have known all of these facts before, click here and find out what you haven't known :)