Resensi dari Mayrinna

Penulis Resensi : Mayrinna Dewi Edy Gunawan

Banzai~!!! Akhirnya ada juga novel yang berbobot dan bisa dibaca oleh berbagai kalangan baik itu tua ataupun muda—asalkan Anda berjiwa muda saja sudah cukup, hehe.. (“,) Jika Anda tertarik pada cerita dengan latar belakang Jepang, atau menginginkan bacaan bermutu untuk seluruh keluarga, novel ini sudah pasti cocok sebagai tambahan koleksi. (oke, iklannya cukup sampai di situ aja…>.<)

“Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama” ini sudah pasti menjanjikan banyak drama yang mengharu-biru. Meskipun demikian, konflik demi konflik yang muncul sudah tertata sedemikian rupa dengan manisnya sehingga novel ini tidak akan terasa terlalu ‘cheesy’ atau ‘lame’.

Pembaca akan merasa ‘completely hooked’ dengan gaya bahasa pengarang yang ‘catchy’—menggunakan istilah-istilah percakapan Bahasa Inggris yang umum dipakai sehari-hari dan disisipi dengan ungkapan-ungkapan dalam Bahasa Jepang yang tentunya mudah dimengerti. So, walaupun Anda tidak punya hobi membaca, novel ini dijamin akan memberi kepuasan tersendiri karena selain cukup mudah dicerna, novel ini jelas berbeda dengan novel-novel yang saat ini tengah beredar di pasaran.

Selain itu, pengarang menyajikan berbagai adegan roman yang hangat-hangat kuku, mulai dari kata-kata gombal semacam sayang, dear, darling, honey yang diobral, menghujani cewek dengan berbagai hadiah, menyerenade (nyanyi buat si cewek di bawah jendela), kejar-kejaran di tepi pantai, sampai berperahu berdua, dan tentu saja diselingi dengan joke-joke yang renyah.

Cerita novel ini berkisar tentang nasib Yuki, seorang gadis yang sewaktu bayi dibuang di tengah badai salju oleh ibu tirinya, kisah cintanya yang upside-down, perjuangannya yang gigih dalam memegang teguh nilai-nilai moral menghadapi terpaan masalah yang datang bertubi-tubi (haha, maaf tidak ada spoiler lebih lanjut… ;p). Akankah Yuki berhasil mendapatkan kebahagiaannya?

Jadi, para penggemar manga (komik Jepang), anime, dan drama-drama Jepang maupun Korea, jangan sampai kelewatan untuk membaca novel ini, karena novel ini dijamin tidak kalah seru! ^ ^

(Disclaimer: Meski review ini dibuat khusus untuk my beloved Yunisa-neechan, tapi review ini purely based on Mayrinna’s personal opinion, without any biased. Hence, the reviewer would not be held liable in case of any agreements or disagreements arise. ^ ^;; teehee)

Reviewer: Mayrinna Dewi Edy Gunawan

Banzai~!!! Finally there is such a great novel that could be read by various people, young or old, as long as you stay young at heart, that’s enough hehe.. (“,) If you are interested in a story with Japanese background, or want a high quality reading material for the whole family, this novel must be added to your collection. (OK, advertisement stops here! >.<)

“Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama” promises many dramas that take your heart away. Nevertheless, conflict by conflict that emerge have been organised in such a way of sweetness so that this novel will not be felt as too “cheesy” or too “lame”.

The reader will be “completely hooked” with the writer's literary style that is “catchy” in using conversational terms in general daily English and with the expressions in Japanese that is definitely easy to understand. So, although you did not have reading as your hobby, this novel is guaranteed to give special satisfaction because apart from being easy enough to digest, this novel is clearly different from novels that are presently circulating in the market.

Moreover, the writer presented various romantic scenes in a heart-throbbing way, from rag words like “love, dear, darling, honey” that was sold off, showered the girl with various gifts, serenade (singing for the girl under the window), the chase in the coastal bank, to rowing for the two, and of course it came in between with crispy jokes.

This novel’s story revolved about Yuki’s fate, a girl whose baby time was exiled in the middle of the snowstorm by her stepmother, her upside-down love story, her struggle with determination holding the moral values firmly in facing various problems that attack continuously (haha, sorry, no more spoiler… ;P) Would Yuki succeed in getting her happiness?

So, the lovers of manga (the Japanese comic), anime, and Japanese and Korean dramas, don’t miss to read this novel, because of this novel is guaranteed comparably exciting! ^ ^

(Disclaimer : Although review this was made especially for my beloved Yunisa-neechan, but the review is purely based on Mayrinna’s personal opinion, without any biased. Hence, the reviewer would not be held liable in case of any agreements or disagreements arise. ^ ^;; teehee)

Review from Nunik Utami

(Will be sent to Batam Pos)

Penulis Resensi : Nunik Utami Ambarsari
Judul : Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama
Pengarang : Yunisa
Jenis : Novel Roman
Penerbit : Theriza Books
Tebal : 436 hal +xii
Harga : Rp 39.000

Hebat. Itu kata pertama yang muncul di benak saya untuk penulis buku ini. Di usianya yang masih muda ia mampu menciptakan novel yang berlatar belakang Jepang pada zaman Restorasi Meiji (tahun seribu delapan ratusan). Ini membuktikan bahwa menulis novel memang harus memiliki pengetahuan yang luas agar novelnya terasa “berisi”.

Yuki, tokoh utama dalam novel roman ini adalah seorang gadis Jepang yang dibuang oleh ibu tirinya. Ia ditemukan oleh seorang Pastur di depan kapel, di tengah badai salju. Yuki adalah gadis pintar. Ia bekerja sebagai pengajar di sekolah minggu yang bahasa pengantarnya adalah bahasa Inggris. Dalam hidupnya, banyak pria yang menaruh hati padanya, membuatnya menjadi gadis yang beruntung. Dan sekaligus gadis yang malang karena kisah hidupnya tak selalu berjalan mulus.

Shinichi Serizawa alias Michael, seorang pemuda dari keluarga kaya jatuh cinta pada Yuki. Menurutnya, Yuki adalah gadis yang berbeda dari yang lain, apalagi dengan Keiko, mantan kekasihnya. Ternyata Yuki juga mencintai Mike. Ia melihat Mike sebagai pribadi yang baik, dan bukan memandangnya sebagai putra keluarga terpandang.

Namun cinta mereka mengalami berbagai halangan. Mulai dari Keiko yang ingin kembali bersama Mike juga Keichi (asisten Yuki di Sekolah Minggu) yang juga jatuh hati pada Yuki. Sepertinya Keiko benar-benar tidak rela kalau Mike akhirnya menikah dengan Yuki. Maka Keikopun merancang rencana jahatnya. Berhasilkah Keiko? Bukan cuma itu, Ibu Mike juga ternyata tak setuju anaknya menikah dengan Yuki… Padahal…

Belum cukup sampai disitu, cinta antara Mike dan Yuki juga terus diterpa badai, hanya karena Mike adalah anak tunggal keluarga Serizawa, juga karena Mike bertanggung jawab atas sesuatu hal yang sangat berat. Ditambah lagi Rin , sahabat dekat Yuki yang ternyata juga mencintai Mike.

Dalam kesedihan yang terus datang bertubi-tubi, Yuki juga tak pernah berhenti berharap bahwa suatu saat kelak ia akan bertemu keluarganya. Akankah ia bertemu?

Berbagai konfik demi konflik diciptakan oleh penulis. Membuat novel ini terasa padat dan jauh dari membosankan. Bagaimanakah akhir dari novel ini? Siapakah pria yang akhirnya menikahi Yuki? Akankah ia menemukan kebahagiaan diakhir cerita? Silakan temukan jawabannya di novel ini. Kepiawaian penulisnya menjadikan novel ini berhasil ditutup dengan manis, seperti benang-benang kusut yang akhirnya berhasil diluruskan

Reviewer: Nunik Utami Ambarsari
Title: Cherries Blossom in Yokohama
Writer: Yunisa
Classification: Romance novel
Publisher: Theriza Books
Pages: 436+xii
Price: Rp 39.000

Great. That's the first word that emerged in my mind for the writer of this book. In her young age, she could create the novel's background of Japan in the Meiji Restoration time (the year one thousand eight hundreds). This proves that writing novel must indeed have a wide knowledge so that her novel is "rich".

Yuki, the main leading figure in this romance novel was a Japanese girl, who was exiled by his stepmother. She was found by a pastor in front of a chapel, in the middle of the snowstorm. Yuki was a clever girl. She worked as the teacher in the Sunday school whose lesson was conducted in English. In her life, many guys were interested in her, made her become a lucky girl. And at the same time she's suchan unfortunate girl because the story of her life always did not go smooth.

Shinichi Serizawa alias Michael, a young man from a rich family fell in love with Yuki. According to him, Yuki was a girl, who was different from that other; moreover compared with Keiko, his former sweetheart. Evidently, Yuki also loved Mike. He saw Mike as a good person, and not looked at him as the son of a reputable family.

However, their love experienced various obstacles. Starting with Keiko, who wanted to get back with Mike, and also Keichi (Yuki's assistant in the Sunday School) who also fell in love with Yuki. Apparently, Keiko was really unwilling if Mike finally would marry Yuki. Then Keiko drafted her evil plan. Was Keiko successful? Not only that, Mike's mother obviously also did not agree of his son would marry Yuki. In fact...

It was not ended there, the love between Mike and Yuki also continued to be in a rollercoaster storm. Not only because Mike was the Serizawa family's only child, Mike was also responsible for a very difficult matter. In addition, Rin -- the close friend of Yuki, also loved Mike.

The sadness continued to repeat, Yuki also had not stopped hoping that at one time in the future she would meet his family. Would she meet?

Various confict by conflict were created by the writer. It makes this novel solid and far from boring. How is the ending of this novel? Who was the man who finally married Yuki? Would she find the happiness on the end of the story? Please find the answer in this novel. The writer's expertise makes this novel succeed in being ended sweetly, like tangled threads that finally had been managed to be straightened successfully.

Q&A

Mengapa harus beli dan baca buku ini?
Karena jawaban saya tidak lulus sensor, Mayrinna, my sis is answering on behalf of me.

Kalau mau mengalami berbagai emosi -- marah, sedih / nangis2, ketawa2, benci, cinta -- bacalah buku ini. Terus baca ulang. Soalnya 1st time read bakal beda sama 2nd time. Ada tokoh yang pertama bisa membuat Anda cinta, eh begitu baca ulang, Anda jadi benci. Ada juga yg pertama biasa2, eh baca ulang jadi suka... Ada juga yang jadi tambah benci, ada juga yang tambah suka... Jadi jangan menilai satu karakter dari sekilas. Kesan Anda bisa berubah-ubah dalam membaca buku ini. Banyak nilai2 yang Anda dapatkan dari buku ini -- jauh daripada chicklit or teenlit buatan Indo. Ini sekelas sama buatan penulis luar...

Rephrase by Jemmy Soenjaya (one of my first reviewers -- he spotted my silly mistake hehe) :

Basically deep characterization :p Jadi bisa ikutin pertumbuhan karakter dari awal sampai akhir, alur cerita yang tidak mudah ditebak :p

Adegan yang disukai?
Takuya di perahu menangkap belut, soalnya waktu itu saya lagi ingin banget makan sushi unagi hahaha :-D

Bagaimana perasaan Anda tentang penerbitan buku perdana?
Biasa aja, soalnya *sensor*. Feel surprised to know that guys actually buy my books, read it and enjoy it! Well, Dr Dede is no wrong in telling me that if I didn't give him his share of my author's copies, he'll also still buy to read :P

Is the story taken from your personal life? (almost everyone asked me this!)
No!!! This is a made-up imagination! Daya khayal tinggi hehehe...
The story starts form the birth to the life story's ending of Yuki.

Selected questions from Illydea
Masa terpentingnya?
From the first time she knew love and to choose whom to marry among the choices.
Tell me more about the choices
1. Shinichi Serizawa, her first love, but he left her to save his company
2. Childhood friend, Takuya Tosha who had been in love with her for so long. (He came from a rich, notable strict family)
3. Dr Toru Toshiyuki -- this is nothing to do with Dr Dede!!! Dr Toshiyuki's a playboy who also fell for Yuki. Plus many fans.
(After some probing, I admitted that: Yeah, I also have many fans, but I dare not choose hahaha)

Why Japan, old time?
I was reading manga titled Yokohama -- inspired by the beautiful drawings of the scenery... It was in year 1700-1800s. Then, I found a history book on Meiji Restoration.

Why romance? Why romance on that era, why not "now"?
Everybody needs love. Readers are attracted to love :P And I feel that old people (orang zaman dulu) had a different way of thinking from us. They have many considerations and constraints. Unlike now, high school students (anak SMP-SMA) are easily going into any relationship... What if teenager that time (in Meiji's time) were dating? (Of course they had to think about marriage!!!)

Your sisters surely have a lot to say on your novel.
Oh yeah, they keep suggesting this and that. They don't like my storyline. They helped me naming the characters. Family project :-D
I told them, this is my writing, it's up to me. But my little sister, Martha Rinna's suggestion is the most romantic scene, other sisters said. Adegan toko roti Enoki.

How come a little girl can suggest such romance?
In 2004, all other sisters were staying in Singapore. So my mother always had Martha Rinna to accompany her watching sinetron (Indonesian soap opera). So she has so many ideas about romance!!!

Who inspires you on writing this book?
My little sister, Martha Rinna and Dr Dede :)

Lesson from writing this book?
Don't give up! Be patient in waiting for ideas.

Creative Process

This was asked by Illydea, RSI.

First written in June 1999 (liburan dari NUS). Bored with Math major. Then, I remembered that during high school I wanted to beat Chiung Yao (read Strategic Positioning point 3), but I was too focus on Math & Science -- Physics, Biology, Chemistry, so I had no intention to write any novel during high school.

Oops forget to tell Illydea that I experienced "file corrupted" coz I saved it in floopy disk in December 1999... and I had to retype the whole lot... *what a bad luck!*
And I forgot all about this manuscript due to my golden age in NUS (I got my Dean's List, i.e. top 5% students haha). And graduated, and started working in 2001. I wrote few chapters, and stopped again. Really had no time. Next, MBA.

And in 2004 I met Dr Dede. A lot of e-mail and sms correspondence, many topics from health to life philosophy. One fine day, he casually commented, "Really think you have a word for prose..." *I wonder how can he deduce such conclusion? Cuma dari baca e-mails???*

Anyway, his casual comment awoke me. Hey, he's a very fine doctor, you know. He won't say things that he can't justify. And I recalled, he's not the first person who said so: Yunisa, you can write very well if you want to! Kamu berbakat menulis. Ayo kembangkan! (guru SD, SMP, SMA, NUS, esp guru Bahasa Indonesia and English teachers, thank you!)

Logical consideration to finish Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama, the long abandoned project
If it's only the teachers who said so, I might have my doubt: Maybe my writing style is suitable for the teachers. But Dr Dede is not my teacher (I don't need him to give me grade / score hehehe). And the fact that he has a completely different academic background, and yet still arrives at the same conclusion as my language teachers?? Hence, it implies that the statement must be valid!

*Semangat!!! Ganbatte!!!*

So I started to read up my draft, performed some major surgery here and there, and finished it by end of April 2005 when I was back in Jogja. Sent it to my selected reviewers in Singapore, waiting for their correction...

Photos from RSI + personal note

These are photos taken today @ RSI, Mediacorps
You know which one is Mr Harry Suhartanto, Ms Illydea Ishak, and which one is me, don't you? hehehehe... *I won't put any photo caption*

And I hope Ms Illydea will edit my spoiler of the story hehehe... But one thing for sure: PLEASE DO READ THE PAGES IN ORDER or YOU WILL GET CONFUSED!
(see, I use CAPS and bold the message!)

I am myself a naughty reader. I'll skip pages and look at the last chapters, ensuring that my guess is correct. Hence, when writing this book, I was devising a plot to prevent such thing, i.e. you are forced to follow through chapter by chapter so that you can understand the plot. There are too many things and too many possibilities of story alternatives, I can assure you!

Every chapter has many problems, and the problems are solved part by part in random chapter (making use of Chaos Theory in maths hahahha). And once the problem solved, other will arise. The climax is not reached yet. Well, that is just the way I use Game Theory in playing the "emotion game of the story"... Pardon my maths background :P

Inside, you will also find that I insert school lessons on: history (sejarah) -- I use surnames (nama keluarga) involved in Meiji Restoration to name the characters, economy & finance (ekonomi & keuangan), lingustic game (permainan bahasa), Catholic / Christian religion education (agama Katolik / Kristen) and the Eastern moral values... Happy reading! Selamat membaca!

[temp] RSI Bahasa Indonesia

Finally, I manage to extract the information on how to listen to RSI. The options include: Internet, Shortwave radio, FM Radio (Singapore & selected cities in Indonesia).

Listen via Internet: RSI Bahasa Indonesia

• Shortwave: 6120 kHz / 41 mb and 7235 kHz / 41 mb, 1200 - 1400 UTC / 1900 - 2100 WIB
• Singapore RIA 89.7 FM (Monday, Ceria: 1600-1700 SGT; Nongkrong Hour: 1700-1800)

Program pilihan dapat didengarkan di:

• Jakarta PAS FM 92.4, 1900 - 1915 WIB
• Jakarta PELITA KASIH FM 96.3, 1900 - 1915 WIB
• Surabaya PAS FM 104.3, 1900 - 1915 WIB
• Semarang PAS FM 106, 1900 -1915 WIB
• Solo PAS FM 90.9, 1900 - 1915 WIB
• Pekanbaru Bharabas FM 97.5, 1900 - 1915 WIB
• Pekanbaru Aditya FM 87.6, 1900 - 1915 WIB
• Banyuwangi FM 89.7, East Java, 1900 - 1930 WIB
• Batam KEI FM 102.3, 1800 - 1830 WIB
• Medan Lite FM 92.8, 1900 - 1915 WIB

Available @ Gunung Agung

Today, during my free time @ office, I checked Gunung Agung bookstore's website. And Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama is available in their database!

Toko Gunung Agung ada di Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang, Bogor, Bekasi, Bandung, Cirebon, Semarang, Surabaya, Denpasar
Telepon Bebas Pulsa: 0800 - 1 - 131313
Untuk kota-kota lain, sabar ya...

Intvw is Postponed! :)

Fuih, thanks God, Mediacorps also has some internal function this afternoon. So our novel interview will be postponed to Thursday (Kamis), 18 May 2006, lunch time onwards -- I don't need to rush from my office :) This afternoon besides the IT security compulsory talk, there will be other internal meeting, too… There are quite a lot of overseas visitors in my office now… *phew*

Sekian update dari Yunisa *bukan selebriti*

Novel Interview @ RSI + Available in Jogja

First, this Monday morning Mr Harry came out with a time slot for me to do the interview with him (lunch interview) and with Ms Illydea (for a real broadcasted interview) on Tuesday afternoon. After a slight delay and bargaining with my boss, coz I will need to attend a compulsory "lunch-&-learn" on IT security briefing in my company (US IT head comes esp for this) -- so I was not allowed by my go-to Manager to skip it. However, Jeffrey (my go-to Manager) asked me to find a solution... And he's happy with it :)

So I called up Pak Harry, and he greeted me by, "Nggak bisa datang ya?" hahahha... kok langsung nebak gitu sih :P
I answered, "Bisa dimundurin nggak, Pak, waktunya? Jadi jam 2-2.30 gitu?"
And it's very kind of him to delay his lunch time, and reschedule the timing...
I'll bring my camera tomorrow to take photos and post them, OK! (biar blog ini jadi meriah).

At night, my sisters @ Jogja texted me that my novel is now available in Gramedia, Jogja -- displayed as "buku baru" (new book). And they saw a young man bought my novel before their eyes! hehehe :)

Available @ Gramedia Taman Anggrek, Jakarta

Finally, somebody sent me proofs that Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama is now available @ Gramedia, Mall Taman Anggrek, Jakarta!
Photos taken 4 May 2006. Beli ya... :) Autograph will be given if we meet in person... Kindly provide what you want me to write (subject to approval hehe). Cheers!

Figures 1&2. Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama -- among other novels

Figure 3. The search engine @ Gramedia Taman Anggrek

(Photos: Courtesy of Mr Liliek Setiawan)

Strategic Positioning

Sorry again for irregular update. Been busy @ work and researching materials for my upcoming series (as a Strategic-Maximizer-Relator-Achiever-Self Assurance person hahaha :D)

There are lots of young-and-famous Indonesian writers in Indonesia, and I am fully aware that my style is totally "unique". Why?

1. I am writing with missions. I put good moral values inside, should you notice it or not. As for Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama, one of them is filial piety -- responsibility to live up for parents' sake :) Berbakti demi nama baik orang tua...
2. I use proper (read: formal) Indonesian language, i.e. literature-type piece of writing. I refuse to use "bahasa gaul" (conversational style that is used by youngsters, e.g. gue-elu) because I want my writings to stay across the generations (hahaha), just like classics of all times... and because I want people of all ages to enjoy my writings! (nggak cuma anak muda, tetapi orang tua juga...) No generation gap, please. So you can lend this novel to your parents, and they won't disappove you of "wasting your time" to read rubbish... Trust me! Percayalah (hehe, kayak iklan aja). I prove this statement when my father read this SBdY. All change for the better @ home after that!
3. I don't write for money, fame, or what... The royalty for writers in Indonesia is very small sum (apalagi kalau dibandingkan gaji pekerjaan-pekerjaanku yang lain). I write for pleasure, to express what I want to pass down to generations. I don't want to be just a pop writer. I want to be someone like Tolkien or Lewis (or Rowling...) with productivity like Meg Cabot and surpass Chiung Yao hehehhehe... For SBdY, I was really disappointed with Chiung Yao in some of her films and novels, therefore I wanted to show her: "This is the correct background" for this kind of romance story, jangan asal main comot latar religi...

"Thanks again to koko Dede for always saying the right words at the right times." I might not have realized my potential until he said his "expectation" -- although it was merely a casual comment, right? ;)