Classy French Twist

hello dear readers, how are you? Recently, i am in my wicked mood in dressing up everyday. I always try new ways in putting some make up or to up do my hair (i have long straight hair). Well, i love my long hair, i do. But now it's kinda boring just to see it loosen up, so i did many experiences. So far i really am into the french twist. It is extremely  easy and elegant. You can have this style in for many occasions, from the formal to the informal one. I usually use the whirl curler to help me do it. You probably also need hairpins, bobby pins, or hairspray. Couple hours ago, i found a very nice video how to make french twist without any whirl curler, enjoooy!!!

shock therapy

Astagaa, dua minggu ini saya sangat bersyukur diberi kesempatan untuk merasa beruntung akan pendidikan dan keteguhan hati yang saya miliki. Saya menyaksikan dengan mata kepala sendiri dan kesempatan berinteraksi oleh nona X yang telah menjadi "kacang yang lupa pada kulitnya". Betapa iba dan tertegun saya ketika melihat si nona X yang asli pelosok telah bertransformasi menjadi pribadi yang jauh berbeda. Nona X kini telah kehilangan kemampuannya berbahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar, nona X kini sudah gila harta, nona X yang gemar merebut para pria berkeluarga. Ah, jangan tuduh saya asal menjustifikasi. Saya berinteraksi dengan nona X, saya mendengar penjelasan mengenai alasan transformasi nona X, dan saya mencapai kesimpulan bahwa kombinasi  antara kurangnya pendidikan, himpitan nasib, dan guyuran harta mendadak dapat mematikan kepekaan dan kemanusiaan seseorang. Lekaslah sadar nona X, kepicikanmu itu dapat menjadi bumerang bagimu sendiri.

source: www.tradebit.com

Prague Trip, Czech Republic, December 2011

My trip to Prague, Czech Republic, was very outstanding. I joined a tour from Lille, France which enabled me to meet a bunch of new friends. I'm willing to tell about my new friends experience soon after i finish this post. I spent 3 days and 2 nights in Prague. It was not enough for me yet. Prague was amazing. I wish i can do my honeymoon there. Just check out these photos, i do believe you'd have the same thought after :D

Krones, 1 Euro is around 20-25 krones

with the Royal guide

Prague night view

a view from Charles Bridge

at Restaurace U Parlementu

at John Lennon Wall

Prague National Museum

magnificent Old Town

Beach Girl Adventure

Last week, i went to two beaches near my city, Yogyakarta. I didn't know why, but at that time i just felt like i wanted to go to the beach. I miss beach. I always love beach. I love walking barefoot in the beach and feeling the sand and wave in my toes. I love seeing the sun, wave, and the blue sky greets me with their unexplained ways. I love playing with water. In the beach, i become a little girl again. I love screaming out loud when the waves hit me. I love beach and i'll always do.

I went there with my best friend, Iku. You know what, the trip was totally unplanned. I texted him 2 days before the D-day and he said okay and that was it. We both were clueless about where the hell those beaches were. Okay, i know that i'm a Yogyanese and actually i've been to several beaches in Yogya, but when i didn't drive, i never pay attention in the road. I would most likely fell asleep. Bad navigator, huh? Meanwhile, my friend Iku, also as clueless as i was. Actually i suggested him to take the public transport, but the time needed would be longer and the public transport only operated during particular hour. So, we decided to go there by motorcycle. Why not car? Nah, i wasn't brave enough to drive my car to the beach. What if the roads were too narrow? What if the roads were too slippy? Thus, the wise  coward me wanted to go there by motorcycle in order to survey the roads first. Who knows maybe someday i'd drive my car there? 

On the D-day, Iku handed me a paper nervously. When i opened it, turned out that it was a paper contained full direction to the beach. I knew the minute i opened the paper that my trip would be long and exciting, not to mention lost. We went there at 11.30am. Our destination was Wonosari. It was around 35 kilometers from Yogyakarta. Well, the trip there to Wonosari was almost flawless. The road was a bit scary especially when we had to  pass Bukit Bintang. It was a beautiful hill with steepy ascents. Well, well, after spent 45 minutes, we arrived at Wonosari, yippie. From Wonosari, we had to find the beaches. You know what actually it was quite easy to find the way there to the beaches. There were sufficient sign to tell which way you should go. Okay, the direction was easy, but not with the road. Bukit Bintang steepy road was nothing. The ascent to go to the beach were marvelous. Our biggest fear was stuck behind huge truck which carried sand or wood. Hahahha. 

At 12.40, we finally arrived at Kukup Beach. I've been there three times, but never get bored. This beach was awesome. I think that this beach is as good as Tanah Lot beach in Bali. So i went change, and ready with my beach outfit and started to pose. Narcissistic. That was why i brought Iku. He was really a good friend of mine. He didn't mind to help me taking hundreds of pictures. Damn this Kukup Beach was awesome. The water was sooo clear. I could see the living organism obviously. There were several people rented the straw mat for 5,000 IDR only. If you want to enjoy the view, i suggest you to go to this beach. But, if you want to swim, errr, it's kinda dangerous here. The wave was big. We spent 2 hours there in Kukup Beach. Actually i wanted to stay there longer, but Iku wanted to go to another beach.  

beach girl

Kukup Beach

happy Iku

We continued our trip to Sadranan Beach. It was 15 minutes only from Kukup Beach. Well, i gotta tell you something. There was tens of beaches in Wonosari and all of them was unique. Until now, i have visited five of them. That was my first time visited Sadranan Beach. Wow, Sadranan Beach was like private beach. There were only several people there. The sand was white and clean. The wave was also friendly. Iku jumped in into the water right away. In Sadranan Beach i saw four fishermen trying their luck. They were very friendly. When they passed us by, they showed us their catch. I spent most of my time there by playing with the waves, writing on the sand, and taking pictures. 

Arithalia mini dress, House of Mangos hat

Let's talk about my outfit there. I wore a cute red mini dress that i've owned since 5 years ago. I completed my look with a beautiful straw hat and sunglasses. That's it. The simplicity. You don't need to wear many clothes in the beach. That's another advantages of beach that i worship.

Soooo, we then left at 5.30pm. We totally spent 1 hour 40 minutes to return to Yogya. Well, i didn't enjoy my trip with motorcycle. It was so tiring. I couldn't feel my feet and my ass. Hahahha. I am so thankful now for having a car for my daily transportation. I then admired people who use motorcycle as their daily basis. You guys rock!!! Alright then, sorry for the long post, it's hard to keep my mouth shut when it comes to beach topics. Enjoy your week readers. Taaaa

Fashion and Friendship

Gossip Girl Season 4 Episode 1

Blair: "Oo la la! Paris is burning and Serena and Blair lit the match." Of course your flame is hotter than mine. Everyone knows that the only guy who's been in my pants all summer is the tailor at Pierre Balmain.

Serena: And whose fault is that? B, just as many guys have flirted with you. I just happen to have a thing for French waiters.

Blair: And bartenders. And museum docents. Anyone on a Vespa or a bicycle. Or wearing Zadig & Voltaire.

Hahahahaha, those dynamic duo are intoxicating. How I love Gossip Girl, good story, good fashion and good quotes :D

Relative Happiness

People do pursue happiness. Some of them identified happiness with money, power, or even authority. I just realized that happiness is truly relative. My happiness might be different from yours. I don't have any complicated so-called happiness. Indeed, my happiness is pretty simple.

the best pancake in town

Happiness for me is sipping tea and biting warm pancake alone or accompanied by one good friend only.

Happiness also could be me sitting on a park bench with a good novel and seeing people passed me by. It is always comforting observing and guessing what other people up to.

Happiness also easily found by me by strolling along in the beach, pampering myself with superb view, feeling the sand in my feet. That's awesome, isn't it?

Happiness is accidentally bumped into your crush somewhere, whether he realizes your existence or not. The thing that matter is you see him.

My ultimate happiness is having a me time for daydreaming about what my future will be. I always wanna live in Paris or London, with four children (two of them are twins) and a caring husband in a sophisticated apartment.

Paris, the dreamland

Aaaaah, see, my happiness is simple. Some of them are even free. I can simply choose which happiness that i want (except maybe the last one, i have to go long way through for that :) ) So readers, whatever your source of happiness is, remember, you deserve to be happy, be positive, if i can do that, then you can too.

Pembelajaran dan Pendewasaan

Perjalanan saya ke Eropa selama 5 bulan membawa banyak perubahan pada diri saya. Berasal dari keluarga yang konservatif dan orangtua yang kelewat protektif membuat mereka khawatir ketika akan mengizinkan saya pergi keluar negeri seorang diri. Tapi ya, keteguhan niat saya sudah tidak bisa dibendung lagi, berbagai nasihat pun diberikan menjelang kepergian saya.

Setibanya saya di Perancis, saya sudah merasakan jiwa petualang saya menyeruak kembali ke permukaan. Perasaan ingin tahu dan ingin mencoba ini itu rasanya hampir tak tertahankan. Saya tidak sempat merasa kesepian dengan absennya mahasiswa Indonesia di kampus saya, SKEMA Business School, mengingat akan merupakan suatu kesia-siaan bila saya hanya mengunci diri di dalam kamar. Di Perancis, perlahan-lahan saya berusaha meninggalkan sifat khas orang Asia yang cenderung kolektif dan melakukan hampir semua aktifitas bersama-sama. Saya menjadi lebih individualis yang berusaha sesedikit mungkin bergantung pada orang lain. Saya ingin mandiri.

Setiap hari adalah petualangan. Selalu ada pengalaman baru yang saya dapatkan. Tidak melulu bagus, terkadang juga saya mengalami peristiwa yang membuat saya sedih, miris, galau, tapi saya bertekad untuk tidak berlarut-larut dalam segala bentuk kesedihan karena demi Tuhan, saya sedang di Perancis, negara impian puluhan juta orang, dan daripada saya menggalau, oh, masih ada banyak orang yang rela bertukar tempat dengan saya. Saya berusaha meyakini segala sesuatu pasti terjadi karena sebuah alasan. Yeaaa, I became so positive there, in France.

Pelan tapi pasti, saya menjadi lebih berani dari hari ke hari. Saya gemar menyusuri jalan-jalan di kota saya, Lille, untuk melihat dan mengenal sekeliling, berhenti di salah satu anak tangga di teras sebuah bangunan tua hanya untuk menyesap air minum dan melahap crepes, atau mungkin hanya duduk mematung sambil melihat orang berlalu lalang. Apakah saya tidak takut hilang atau tersasar? Oho, jangan salah, saya adalah orang yang buta arah, tidak dapat membedakan mana utara selatan, layanan Blackberry saya pun tidak saya aktifkan disana sehingga saya hanya mengandalkan hape tua saya yang tidak dilengkapi layanan internet bila saya tersasar. Pernah suatu waktu ketika saya sedang di Metro (kereta bawah tanah di Perancis) saya berulangkali mengecek dengan gugup apakah saya sudah menuju arah yang benar. Tapi saya berusaha untuk tampil (sok) tenang agar penumpang lain tidak melilhat kegugupan saya. Lega rasanya ketika bisa sampai di tempat tujuan dengan selamat.

Kadar keberanian dan kepercayaan diri saya meningkat dengan ajaib di bulan kedua saya di Perancis. Hal itu dipicu dengan telah terbitnya Residence Permit saya yang mengizinkan saya untuk berkeliling negara Eropa dengan aman. Sekedar informasi, untuk orang yang akan tinggal di Perancis lebih dari 3 bulan, diwajibkan untuk membuat Residence Permit ini, jika anda berniat tinggal kurang dari 2 bulan, cukuplah mendaftar visa Schengen saja.

Residence permit sudah di tangan, saya pun memulai perjalanan berkeliling Eropa untuk mengunjungi teman-teman saya yang tersebar di sana. Hampir di setiap perjalanan saya selalu pergi sendiri, tetapi pasti sudah ada tim penyambut di negara yang saya tuju. Bepergian sendiri membuka banyak perspektif baru dalam diri saya. Masih segar dalam ingatan saya, ketika saya harus berlari kesetanan untuk mengejar shuttle bus yang sudah akan berangkat. Setibanya di dekat bus saya pun mengetuk pintu bus dengan muka memelas dan nafas memburu, untung saja si pengemudi membukakan pintu bus dan mempersilahkan saya masuk. Di dalam bus saya tertawa tertahan mengingat aksi konyol yang saya lakukan sebelumnya. Saya, si gadis mungil dengan tinggi tak sampai 155cm berlari-lari menggebah pejalan kaki lainnya sambil menyeret koper demi dapat mengejar shuttle bus ke arah bandara.

Peristiwa paling menakjubkan yang mengubah pola pikir saya terjadi pada bulan Januari 2012, ketika saya akan melakukan perjalanan ke Swedia. Saya menggunakan maskapai penerbangan murah, Ryan Air, yang mengharuskan saya untuk berangkat dari bandara Charlesroi di Brussels, Belgia pada jam 7 pagi. Tunggu sebentar, saya ada Perancis, tapi kenapa saya berangkat dari Belgia? Well, begitulah Ryan Air, tidak semua negara mempunyai penerbangan yang sama. Bila saya ingin ke Swedia dari Perancis, saya harus ke Paris terlebih dahulu. Dan bandara di Paris yang digunakan oleh Ryan Air bukanlah bandara utama Charles de Gaulle yang terletak di kota, melainkan bandara Bauvais yg terletak di pelosok Paris. Biaya yang saya gunakan dari Lille ke Paris Bauvais bisa saja lebih mahal dari tiket saya ke Swedia. Jadilah saya memutuskan terbang dari Brussels yang tidak jauh dari Lille.

Ketika melihat jadwal kereta pagi, saya baru sadar bahwa saya tidak akan mungkin dapat mengejar ke bandara. Kereta paling pagi berangkat sekitar pukul 6 dan akan sampai di Brussels pada pukul 7. Padahal saya harus sudah ada di bandara satu jam sebelumnya untuk mengurus tetek bengek di bandara. Jadilah saya mengambil kereta paling malam ke Charlesroi dan memutuskan untuk menghabiskan malam di stasiun kereta sambil menyesap susu hangat (saya bukan penikmat kopi) dan membaca majalah di salah satu kafe di stasiun Charlesroi.

Kereta yang saya tumpangi dari Lille amat sangat sepi. Hanya ada 3 orang di gerbong yang saya naiki, dan bisa ditebak, sayalah satu-satunya perempuan di gerbong itu. Ketika kondektur kereta datang dan memeriksa karcis saya, saya meminta agar saya diperingatkan ketika saya akan sampai di tempat tujuan, tak dinyana seorang bapak di gerbong tersebut ternyata juga akan turun di tempat yang sama. Berkali-kali saya menjaga diri agar tidak terlelap dan kebablasan pemberhentian. Saya terus menerus berusaha melihat keluar setiap kali kereta berhenti untuk menghitung berapa pemberhentian lagi sebelum tujuan saya.

Pukul 23.45 saya tiba di stasiun kereta Charlesroi bersama sekitar 6 penumpang yang lain (termasuk si bapak baik hati yang membantu menurunkan koper saya). Saya pun melongo melihat stasiun yang gelap dan kosong melompong tanpa ada toko atau kafe yang buka. Penumpang-penumpang lain yang tadi turun bersama saya bergegas keluar stasiun, saya pun mengikuti mereka sembari setengah berharap saya akan menemukan salah satu penumpang yang berniat menghabiskan malam di stasiun, ternyata harapan saya itu tidak terkabul. Saya mengecek jadwal bis selanjutnya yang akan membawa saya ke bandara, ternyata bis baru akan tersedia pukul 5 pagi. Kepanikan mulai menggelegak, saya mencegat salah satu petugas stasiun dan bertanya apakah ada hotel atau kafe atau restoran yang buka di dekat stasiun, dengan mata menyipit dan melihat jam tangannya beliau pun berkata “je crois que non mademoiselle, le gare sera ouvert a 04h00” – saya rasa tidak ada nona, stasiun ini akan buka kembali nanti pada pukul 4—dan si petugas tadi pun berlalu meninggalkan saya seorang diri.

Saya melihat sekeliling dengan bingung dan panik, berbagai macam cerita kejahatan seperti perampokan, pembunuhan dan perkosaan berputar di kepala saya. Saya pun akhirnya memutuskan duduk di anak tangga yang tersembunyi dan paling dekat dengan kamera pengawas untuk menghindari tindak kejahatan yang mungkin terjadi. Saya bisa saja ke bandara naik taksi, namun setelah mengintip dan melihat sopir-sopir taksi berwajah seram, saya pun memutuskan menunggu pagi di stasiun. Sendirian.

Waktu 4 jam terasa berlalu sangat lambat. Untung saja saya membawa buku bacaan untuk menjaga saya tetap waras selama penantian yang terasa berabad abad. Rasa kantuk di kereta mendadak hilang digantikan adrenalin yang memaksa saya untuk terus waspada. Saya pun berusaha berkirim pesan kepada teman-teman saya di Indonesia, dengan asumsi mereka sudah bangun karena saya yakin saat itu sudah pagi di Indonesia. Sayang sekali hanya sedikit yang membalas dan bertukar pesan dengan saya. Saya pun hanya ditemani sebuah novel dan bunyi kereta yang melintas di stasiun. Setiap 45 menit sekali saya bangkit dan berjalan-jalan sekedar untuk melemaskan kaki. Rasanya saya sudah membaca habis semua iklan dan jadwal keberangkatan kereta di papan pengumuman kala itu.

Pukul 2 pagi, saya mendengar langkah kaki mendekat, saya pun merapatkan diri ke tembok tempat saya bersembunyi, sambil mengintip sedikit demi sedikit, ternyata itu adalah tukang Koran yang meletakkan korannya di stasiun. Kepala saya pun muncul dari balik tembok ketika saya menyapa si loper koran. ‘Bonjour’ sapa saya dengan senang melihat adanya tanda-tanda kehidupan. Si loper koran pun terkejut melihat kehadiran saya dengan pakaian ala gadis eskimo, lengkap dengan penutup telinga saya. Dia pun bertanya apa yang saya lakukan di stasiun pada pukul 2 pagi, ketika saya menjawab saya menunggu bis ke bandara, dia membalas memandang saya dengan iba, dia pun mengajak saya untuk berkeliling stasiun guna mengedarkan koran-koran. Dengan halus saya menolak, bukan karena saya takut, tapi saya membawa koper yang akan merepotkan untuk naik turun tangga. Si loper koran pun berlalu setelah meminta saya berhati-hati dalam menunggu pagi.

bersama Vidya di Jonkoping, Swedia

Pukul 4 pagi pun akhirnya tiba juga, hati saya membengkak dua kali lipat ukuran aslinya melihat televisi layar datar yang berisi jadwal keberangkatan mulai menyala. Perlahan tapi pasti, saya membereskan ‘markas’ saya dan menuju ke pintu stasiun untuk menunggu bis yang akan mengantar saya ke bandara. Di halte bis saya melihat orang-orang yang diturunkan oleh keluarganya untuk menunggu bis ke bandara. Saya pun menyunggingkan seulas senyum kepada mereka karena saya merasa sangat bangga bisa bertahan seorang diri di stasiun selama 4 jam. Pelajaran yang dapat saya petik adalah stasiun di Eropa itu tidak sama dengan di Indonesia yang meskipun tidak buka 24 jam, tetapi akses ke peradaban sangat melimpah. Saya tidak mau lagi menginap di stasiun di Eropa :D

Sani, si panitia penyambut

Hidup di negeri orang tidak melulu susah. Memang benar kata pepatah, dimana bumi dipijak disitu langit dijunjung. Kita harus pintar beradaptasi dan berpikiran terbuka. Saya masih menyimpan banyak kisah life-changing ketika saya di Eropa. Mungkin saya akan membaginya di lain kesempatan kepada para pembaca. Oh, sekedar ingin tahu, apakah anda menyukai gaya menulis saya dalam bahasa Indonesia? Mengingat saya lebih banyak memposting dalam bahasa Inggris. Terima kasih, selamat berakhir pekan semuanyaaa J

Cheesy Dowey

Everyone must ever been in love at least once. For those who ever experience love, then it becomes easy to assess the presence of love. There are just too many signs to be seen :D Have you ever hypnotized by the shape of someone's nose? Have you even freaked out by the crazy imagination of someone's lips? Do you need longer time to overwhelm the butterflies in your stomach? Do you feel deep need to see the mirror again and again? Do your palms became annoyingly sweaty? And do not forget the schoolgirl feeling that can glow your face instantly. Ah love, the magical spell in you will never revealed, no matter how many movies are made, how many songs and books are written.

Porto Trip, November 2011

Ahoy fellas, due to the national holiday I then graced by the long weekend for this week. How can I not happy? More holidays mean more family time. So how are you my dear readers? Do you also have long weekend? If not, then hang in there fellas, it’ll be weekend soon. Today’s post will be about another story related to my Europe trip. You know what, sometimes, it’s not easy to remember every single pieces of my trip since I don’t possess any notes, just pictures, but here I am, try to share my wonderful memories because I might explode if I don’t do so J well, then, please enjoy.

I decided to visit Porto by accident. I have a friend named Kartina, she’s half Indonesian half Belgian. I thought she was in Brussels, Belgium, but when I contacted her, she told me that she did the exchange programs in Porto, Portugal. Well, after searched for the ticket, I found that it’s pretty convenient to go there. Thus, on the third week of November, I booked a round trip ticket and flew to Porto.

One of the reasons why I agreed to visit Porto (besides Kartina was there) was because the direct flight from Lille to Porto. Well, I used Ryan Air, the low-cost airline in Europe, and usually it flew not from main cities and main airports, therefore when I found Lille-Porto on the list, I should got going, shouldn’t i?? My flight was at 7pm, but I already waited for the Navette (shuttle bus) since 4.30pm. Being raised in Indonesia make you understand that anything can happened in the road, like what if there’s a traffic? Or strike? Hahhaha, anyway, I arrived in the airport at 5pm, well, it’s better than late :D Oooh, before I forgot, the Navette was pretty cheap, for single trip you’ll have to pay 7 €, but for round trip you only pay 9 €. Woohooo!!! Alright then, after 2.5 hours flight, I finally landed in Porto safe and sound. Too bad it’s already dark when I got there, so the sight-seeing started the next day.

The next day, I woke up with amazing due to the warm greet of the sunshine. The temperature in Lille at that time was around 1-5° Celsius, and meanwhile, it was 15° C in Porto, yippie!! So I woke Kartina up, made quick breakfast and started the city tour. Kartina took me to the downtown by bus. I already bought one day ticket that enabled me to use all kind of transportation mode for one day (but in particular zone only). Our first stop was Torre des Clerigos. It was the tallest church tower in Portugal. Well, I saw no significant difference between the European church, or maybe I was just not into church design :D And then, just by crossing the street, we arrived at Universidade de Porto, this university wasn’t as big as my hometown university, but at least bigger from my uni in France, hehehehe. We then walked again till Avenida dos Aliados. It was like the main street in Porto.

It was a large boulevard surrounded by town hall, big hotels, famous banks and many shops. My eyes caught many tourists were centered in this boulevard to take pictures or just waited for the other. I started to feel that I was overdress there, but my laziness in carrying my coat made me kept suffer from the heat. Kartina then escorted me to the main train station and grabbed some roasted chestnuts there.

I stumbled on the facts that the price in Portugal was cheaper than in any other European countries. Not only in the food price, but also the apparel!! When I entered Zara and Stradivarius stores, I saw the double price tag. We could see that Portugal got the lower price. Kartina told me that it was because the crisis that forced the government to tighten the debt and country’s budget then implied to the rise of unemployed rate. It was kinda sad seeing many building and apartment labeled with “for rent, for sale” signs.

The weather on the third day of my visit in Porto was a bit gloomy. Before we left the apartment, we brought the umbrellas just in case it turned out into rain. Walked around Porto in rainy day wasn’t nice. Knowing that I was upset, Kartina took me to try the ancient tram. Well, my impression of the tram was wow. Yeaaah, it was a very old tram. The woman machinist was really kind as well. She let us took the picture inside and outside the tram. Hahahah. Unfortunately, the ancient tram route was limited, so we got of near the Ponte D.Luis to sip hot tea there. Ponte D.Luis was a very nice place. It was a huge bridge which split Porto into two sides. Actually there was a subway that could take us to another side of the bridge, but we decided to walk across the bridge. In the afternoon, Kartina suggested me to go to the famous vineyards near the bridge. There were a lot of vineyards down the bridge.

Since Kartina already stayed in Porto for almost 2 months, so she recommended me to enter the Sandeman House. Sandeman is Porto local wine. In Sandeman House we took the tour to know the wine history, wine storages, and the wine tasting. The tour was sophisticated. By only paying 4.5 Euro, you’d receive a one hour complete tour and two glasses of wines. Yaaay!! We decided to go home after to have some rest because at night we would attend the Brazilian Party.

We woke up quite late the next day after partying till almost 5 am. But the weather seemed friendly so we went to Fez beach, it was 30 minutes by bus and subway. Olalaaaa the beach was awesome!! I really like it. It was a rocky beach with fascinating wave. We also went closer to the lighthouse to take astonishing pictures. Wow!! I mean, I went to the beach when the temperature in France was freeeezing, hahahha, I successfully made my French friend die in jealousy :D Couple hours later we went to the cinema to see Midnight at Paris. The movie was perfect. Ooh, one funny thing about the cinema in Porto was the break. Yeaah, there was a 10 to 15 minutes break during the movie. I presumed it was because the massive old population in Porto. Seriously, they were everywhere. I experience stunning look almost everywhere. Maybe it was quite rare to see a young Asian girl there J well, it was my last night in Porto, so we went home because the next day I had flight to catch in the morning. I went home packing and cooking my famous bakwan :D

Overall, I do enjoy Porto. It was nice and friendly city, too bad only few of the people there who can speak English. I miss the food, the beach and the sun. Thanks Kartina for being so darling by taking me almost everywhere. See you again Porto J

from Stranger to Sister

Hello readers, how are you ? I hope that everything went fine during this week. Well, I believed that you guys are still remembering when I mentioned about my roommates when I was in France. Just a quick catch up, I lived with two wonderful ladies from Colombia and Finland. Well, the reason why I tell you this is because my Finland roommate, Natalia, is having a birthday today. Yaaay!!! I actually already sent her postcards and money as her gift, but they just didn’t arrive in time. So, I guess I will just write some thoughts of mine in order to you know, celebrating her birthday.

yaaaay, have a blast birthday Nataaa :)

I first met Natalia on September 5, 2011. I still remember my feeling at that time. I felt unlucky. Hahahaha, it was just because she arrived the day before so she could pick the bigger room. Damn. During the first week, I found it was quite hard for me and Alejandra (my Colombian roommate) to cope with Natalia. She was cold. She tended to minimize the interact portion with us. It was still engraved in my mind when we had our groceries shopping together. We split up to find our own grocery and when it’s time to go home, we just couldn’t find her and then we received a text that saying she went home already. Eew, what an anti-social creature: D

another lunch time at Paul

Natalia was also a home-girl type. It was extremely difficult to get her ass out in the several first weeks. Her favorite excuse was that she needed to work. But do not call me Dewy if I didn’t succeed to drag her out of the apartment. It was so fun. We took some pre-party thingy and got a lil, well, tipsy. Well, it was all worth especially when we saw the pictures captured in the camera. After several parties attended, I got to understand that it was double or triple tequila shots that separated my dear Natalia from her party soul, hehhehe.

food n Natalia would make such a perfect couple

Have I told you guys that Natalia always find something to be complained about? Ooooh yeeah, she’s good at it. No, she excelled at it. She complained at almost everything, such as the weather, the schedule, the cashier, etc. If only i could cash out her complains, i would be extremely rich !!!! Gosh, I didn’t know how much time I spent to brainwash her that there were a lot of people with worse condition. But sometimes when I was too lazy to preach on her, I just let her complain :D

Natalia gone wild

As the months passed by, we were getting closer and closer like sisters. We loooved going to the creperie and trying to increase our diabetes risk, and I even accompanied her to do the waxing!! At that time I was hope that I might get the chance to hear her painfully scream, which I didn’t. Yeaa, too bad :D Our bond were getting tighter when Natalia taught me some Russian words. The words were ranging from the greeting till the cursing vocabularies. Hahahha.

Natalia in our historical crepes stall

Natalia is Natalia. Although she’s bossy, cold, flat-face (another synonym for cold, I guess), complainer, but she’s also nationalist, meticulous, salad-lover, and she has Scandinavian beauty. I always adore her figure with the classy look. She is a good friend of mine. She taught me a lot of things like how to differentiate niece and nephew (i mean it!!!!), how to hold the fork, how to be stricter, how to cook, and even how to walk faster. I can’t believe it’s been more than 3 months since our last meeting. Actually i still able to write longer post about her, but let just save it till her next birthday. Lol :D

Well, my dear friend Natalia, happy bday there, I just wish the very best of you on your birthday today. May you have a wonderful life throughout the year, surrounded by your family, friends and your beloved-one. I love you and it’s been a pleasure knowing you :D

Eurotrip Outfits

hello all, wow, I guess i've been hit by nerdy virus since i surprisingly become very active in posting again. Hahahaha. So, i just want to make a quick post regarding the outfits i wear during my exchange period in Europe. Just for a note, almost all of the coats that i have was bought in Europe. It'll be better for you guys who will go travel to buy your clothes in your destination country because the price is cheaper and there'll be more variation. Have a nice reading

grey coat (bought in Lille, France), brown scarf (bought in Porto, Portugal), sling-bag (bought in Porto, Portugal), black gloves (bought in Lille, France), dark brown leggings (bought in Cologne, Germany), brown boots (belong to my friend, we did a trade for a while)

orange scarf (bought in Indonesia), black coat (bought in Lille, France)

blue hat (bought in Indonesia), blue scarf (bought in Amsterdam, Netherlands), blue gloves (bought in Cologne, Germany)

silver bag (bought in Indonesia), flower midi-dress (bought in Indonesia), black cardigan (bought in Indonesia), grey leggings (bought in Lille, France), black boots (bought in Lille, France)

brown coat (bought in Lille, France), red mini skirt (bought in Porto, Portugal), dark blue leggings (bought in Cologne, Germany)

black leggings (bought in Indonesia), grey boots (bought in Lille, France), red belt (owned by my friend, Vidya)

red jacket (bought in Indonesia), pink gloves (bought in Cologne, Germany), yellow tops (bought in Lille, France)

Cologne, Germany Trip (part 2)

Hey all, what you’ve been up to? It’s been almost 3 weeks since I returned from France. It is nice seeing my friends here, there are a lot of new stories that I need to catch up with them. So these last two weeks, I always went out with them without worrying about my thesis, sigh :D Alright then, enough with the my breaking news, I just wanna continue telling about my Cologne trip, so sit back, relax and enjoooy :D

Ophy, Ifti and me

The first day I arrived in Cologne was already quite late. I met my friends, Ifti and Ophy there. They were like me, taking exchange program from one semester abroad. So, after picked me up in the train station, we went to grab dinner in Turkey restaurant. We spent like one hour there before we split up. Ophy went home and I stayed over in Ifti’s student residence. You know what, I was kinda worried when I saw the way to go Ifti’s place because it was so dark and inhabitant (okay, I started to exaggerate). It was just like entering a forest, well, I wouldn’t complain that much if it’s noon, but it was night time, hahahaha. In the end, I was so happy arriving safe and sound in Ifti’s place.

in front of the Sport Museum :D

The next day, Ifti took me to walk in Rheine riverbanks. The weather that day was really nice. During our walk, Ifti told me that at night she and Ophy would take me to the giant wheel so that I would be able to see the whole city landscape, of course I agreed for that delightful plan. Long before I arrived in Cologne, Ifti already promised me to take me to the Chocolate Museum. So it was the time to ask for her promise. The entrance ticket was 5 Euro for student (no forget to bring your student card), and 9 Euro for general.

I really like Chocolate Museum, they seemed like open factory, because we could see the process in making chocolate and the best thing was that we were allowed to take picture inside the museum. That was my first time seeing chocolate production which was sooo sophisticating, they used robotic thingy to pour the chocolate mixture into the mold. There was also a lot of heavy machineries to mince and stir the chocolate. Me n Ifti we did take a lot of pictures there, I believed more than a hundred pictures were taken, hahhaha. After we’re done in Chocolate Museum, we met Ophy.

We walked through Neumarkt, it was Cologne famous shopping street. There were a lot of shops there, although most of them I could find in Lille :D During our walk, Ifti found a very cute white coat in very good price, good for her. After that, we went into Ophy’s apartment because they had cyber class at 5pm.

The third day, I went into Fachhochshule Koln, it’s Ifti and Ophy university. What for? Well, I joined their class, err, actually I was the intruders. Ifti and Ophy convinced me to take half session (just like I did in Rotterdam) and free to go after the break. In the break, we had “mensa” in university cafeteria. From that moment, I stumbled into a thought that German people do concern more about quantity instead of quality. I paid only 2.95 Euro and I got a tray full of bread, rice, fruit, lasagna and many more. Wow!! Fascinating!!! After they’re done with their class, we went to the Dom.

in the Dom stairs

Dom is a huge cathedral in Cologne which located in front of the train station. The entrance was free, so we spent like one hour inside, taking pictures, of course. After wandering around in the Dom, we split up. Ophy had to go because she had work to do. Then, Ifti took me to Hohenzollernbrucke. It was a famous bridge in Cologne, indeed, it was one of Cologne landscape. What makes the bridge truly well-known was the love padlock in its wall. More than millions of padlocks were there, crafted with romantic poets. I just wondered how to get rid of old padlocks if there isn’t any space left and how they can recognize which is the old one. After crossing the bridge, we arrived at LVR Turm building.

the breathtaking view in the top of LVR Turm Building

It was a high building which we could have the access into the top by paying 2.5 Euro. The reason why Ifti took me to this building because there wasn’t any giant wheel anymore, like what she’d promised the day before. The giant wheel had been removed. Hahahaha. After that, we went to Kampung Indonesia (Indonesian restaurant where Ifti and Ophy work) to have dinner with their classmate. And oh, that night I slept in Ophy’s apartment because the next day I would leave Cologne, and I found that Ophy’s place was closer with the train station.

me, Ifti, Ophy and their clasmates @ Kampung Indonesia

The fourth day, we just spent the day by taking a walk to buy costumes for Ifti and Ophy, because the next day was the 11-11-11 Cologne Carnival. And after that we cooked lunch in Ophy’s. So, 45 minutes before my departure, we already left the apartment and started moving to the train station. We took the subway by considering it would take maximum 15 minutes only. But guess what my dear readers, the subway moved very very slow. At first we didn’t realize it, but as the time goes by, we were getting panic. We arrived in the train station 2 minutes before my departure. Ophy grabbed my suitcase and asked me to run to catch my train. Goddamit, I run as fast as I can. I screamed into the crowd so they would clear my way, damn I hate running!!! And finally I arrived at the platform, seeing my train there. I asked Ifti to open the door, but it was locked!!!! I saw the machinist in the train and begged him to open the door for me but he just lifted his shoulders and gave me a look like it was fault why I was late. And yes, I saw my train LEAVING, with me left behind. I was so shock, so were Ifti and Ophy. We went to see the train officer and asked whether there would be any train to Lille later or not. The station officer suggested us to see my train agent in front of the station. We went there and surprisingly the staff didn’t speak any English. Ifti and Ophy they didn’t speak fluent German. Daaaamn, that was frustrating!! Ophy called his boyfriend and ask him to explain my situation. But his explanation was confusing. When I felt like almost hitting the bottom, I suddenly asked the staff: “est-ce-que vous connaissez français?” aaaaand he nodded his head!! Hahahhaa.. So then I explained all my problems and the cause why I was unable to catch the train and you know what some of the train ticket was refundable. Yaaaay!!! He also helped me finding a train to Lille the next day. Hahahaha.

me in front of the Koln Hauptbanhof, the train station

The fifth day, I woke Ophy’s up because my train was at 9am and hell yeah, I didn’t wanna lose it again. So, we went to the train station again, but with different subway lines. Hahahhaha. Finally I was succeed getting into the train without any drama like the day before. What a nice adventure. Thanks Ifti, Ophy and Patrick for spiced up my holiday there.