UJUNG KULON

I rarely update on my trips/holidays nowadays mainly because I don't have a shadowing photographer like most bloggers do. Despite that there are no usual outfits photos to go with this post, I still felt like sharing this Idul Fitri break holiday destination because I haven't seen such natural beauty in quite a time... I've been immersed in my city lifestyle for so long that I forget, just beautiful views of the ocean can make me smile at ease. This holiday season I hopped over to Pulau Peucang in Ujung Kulon. The clear blue waters and white sandy beach is still on the island of Java ! Yes, no need to go to maldives or whatever for clear blue waters and great diving spots... indonesia has got some of the best in the business!

finally utilizing my Peter Pilotto x Target scuba-material-ish top.. I had to layer it with another wetsuit because I didn't want the sexy hole in the back giving me an otherwise not-very-sexy 'masuk angin' (what is the english for this?? only us Indonesians use the term..) Excuse the non flattering baggy pants.. that was actually my husband's brother's training pants.. I didnt bring any pants/legging/swim leggings or whatever they are called.. so I borrowed whatever was available at my cottage..

BEING 20

Before January ends, I had to get my hands working on this remix post of 2012. I love it when bloggers compile their old posts into one (and I do hope that you enjoy mine as well!) and even if this didn't get uploaded quite at the right time, collecting all the photos and links ready for tonight allowed me to not only remember all the great memories from 2012 but it also made me thankful of all the great opportunities I came across. As cheesy as it sounds, I simply can't be any happier with my loves, family, dogs, and yep : job.. I might not post so much in 2012 but I did notice that I am applying the 'quality not quantity' term better nowadays. Thank you to everyone who has been with me for the past years and I hope that I could bring even more quality content in 2013! Cheers !

ps. if you'd like to see the full post, the links are right below each photos :) if they've got extra caption, then the links will be underlined for your convenience

ON ROUTE : JAVA TO BALI

As always with holiday posts, better late than never! Having no stable connection and postponed photoshoot dates throughout the flood made me able to focus on the photo editing of my road trip from Jakarta to Bali in December/January (you can check out my route here). This trip was definitely memorable. Not only did I visit new cities throughout Indonesia, but this was also my first time doing a road trip in my own mother country. It was clearly a difference experience from previous road trips I've done overseas. I wouldn't exactly say the roads are better.. just to name a few 'obstacles' I encountered : giant road holes, duck crossing the road during while riding at 100km/h in the middle of the night, riding on a boat where the captain of the ship crashed into the deck and other ship THREE times -I thought I was gonna sink into the water seriously-, and more. But nevertheless, I still had a great time ! Like with all travels, sometimes it's the crazy and scary moments that make it memorable and worthwhile.

3000-ish kilometers (Jakarta - Denpasar - Jakarta) may sound little if you're driving around Europe, but that amount took us all a total of 13 days to get through. 13 remarkable days actually.. There were days when we drove from dawn to dusk (correction : most on-the-road days actually..) and some days where we just slacked off with the room service. I'll write more as the pictures come out below :) Who knows maybe some of you might grab the GPS and start your own road trip for your next vacation !

31 DECEMBER

Turns out that my being-a-diligent-blogger plan didn't quite work as planned. With a signal just enough to Instagram / Whatsapp / download basic emails, I guess I was destined into a no gadget detox. I know, I can always head into a cafe and borrow their wifi (that's what I'm doing now!) but with so many things to do (..and munch on), topped off with the near-Jakarta-traffic in Bali.. I told myself that it's best to really wind down and simply enjoy the holidays.

ON THE ROAD : JAVA

I planned on uploading my trip details last night before I left but traffic was real horrid and with so much things to finish before I leave this morning, I couldn't compile the post on time. Sooo, here's the main cities that I'll be heading to during the trip !
I spent about 12 hours or something in the car today. Weather was unbelievably beautiful in the morning and rainy romantic as I reached around mid Java in the afternoon. I also attached some iPhone photos because I could do so easily on my mobile :)




Hope I can keep updating the blog along the road...

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TOUCHDOWN

I'm back in Jakarta and I had the sleepiest day ever in my whole life. Maybe it's because I didn't sleep much during my four night trip (blame it on the extremely fast wifi at home that made me enjoy my web browsing).. I'm trying to get extra hours of sleep tonight so I'll leave you with this for today. I think you'll be able to guess which body-half is mine ;)

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THE FINE CITY

I know that I usually do a little post before I leave to some place else, but I didn't manage to for this time. Anyhow, I'm back in Singapore for some errands and refreshment (..and perhaps Anna Dello Russa at H&M). I had a little free time this morning so I used it well to blog.. Now I have to dash to meet some friends! Have a great weekend everyone !

+SIX FIVE

Just more photos from my trip. It's difficult to get outfit photos taken when I don't have a tripod or someone reliable to shoot. The best solution would be going back to my old days where I shot from the mirror. lol. I'm back in Jakarta.. Got tons of emails to reply and I'm finding it hard to get out of the holiday blues even if it was a short trip.

SINGAPORE pt ONE

Yay! finally got my mood up to write a post. I am rarely lazy when it comes to writing my thoughts out but part of my long weekend plan other than flying off to Singapore and eating was to get a detox from all of my work. Blackberries off, out of the office automated replies. I've always thought that I could not live without the blackberry messenger or my laptop. But after awhile, having no one Ping-ing at me is a relieve.
and yes.. Blogging counts as a job for me too. You've probably heard this quote "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life" but in my opinion : work is work. 'wacky' clients are still 'wacky'. A job you love? well that's a blessing. Anyhow, here are some photos from my trip. I'm heading back tomorrow and still packing right now so more photos to come in Part Two !

FLIGHT

Just landed in Singapore.. and I can't wait to check my "to eat" list since I didn't have any time to go anywhere the last time I came here about two weeks ago. I now understand why sometimes school is better because I can have a scheduled holiday once every while.. but not anymore when I am working now. I think I am a really bad packer and to make things worst I packed in 10 minutes by simply grabbing the clothes that are on the top pile. We'll see how the outfits look and perhaps some shopping will help complete the look. Will try to update this blog whenever I have some spare moments. and all emails will be replied once I am back in town..

ANGELINA & MAGNUM

It's been almost a year since the time I went to Paris and all in 2010. I make regular clean ups of my computer hard drive once in a while and I encountered my photos from that vacation the other day. I flicked through it while I refreshed those fabulous memories. From the night I sat on the plane to London to the afternoon I stressed upon GPS breakdown in Milan and even until the day that car transported me to the international airport, every memory was pretty darn fresh in my head. Best trip of my life I can say. I can't help but miss my Jardin Tuilleries hotel room view and Angelina's chocolat chaud every morning... and the fact that my hotel was only a couple steps from Colette & other boutiques at Rue Saint-Honoré...

PALM TREES & SEAFOOD

I've been in Batam since Friday dawn for some business and a little bit of refreshing. Hopping on the first plane back to Jakarta tomorrow morning! My Monday didn't really feel like Monday with the clear blue skies and delicious cheap seafood here...

ORIENT EXPRESS

This is what I wore for this year's Chinese New Year. Okay well, I had to cheat a bit with the photos as they were not shot on the holiday since there was not any reliable photographer at that time. Anyhow, I think the last time I recall wearing a Cheongsam was like 12 (or more?) years ago? I personally love how they accentuate the body's curves but I never found one I like until I encountered this teal number. plus with the sequined details, it's a major love for me.

SILENT NIGHT

this year's Christmas in 11 pictures. No fancy dinners or anything, purely good times with friends and family. some of my readers told me that my blog photos took a long time to load, so I tried reducing the quality a bit for this post. I don't quite the grainy jpeg results of it though. do leave me your thoughts/comments on this image quality thing. do you prefer longer-to-load-but-better pics or these faster-but-lower-quality pics?

HO HO HO !!!

This was one of my last projects in 2011. There was one preview image that I posted here and these are the rest of the photos. I don't usually photograph kids commercially, but when one of the moms proposed me this Christmas idea, I thought I'd it a shot anyway. Tell you what, these four kiddos aren't super-easy to work as it seems. One cries, the other cries, and all four cries.. Then we tossed those tiny yellow and red balls, and the next thing we found out all four of them were 'fighting' for the balls. Nevertheless, it was a fun filled day at the studio with these munchkins and their moms & nannies.

REWINDING : JAPAN

As always, I had trouble sleeping last night and I suddenly had flashbacks of my trip to Japan in 2003.. So I thought, better write than just sit in bed for doing nothing. My obsession with the Japanese culture takes me back to those days where I was an anime freak. Yes, me an anime freak. All thanks to Doraemon, that magic blue cat who seemed to have every imaginable gadget to save Nobita's life. Then I had a period where I was into Cardcaptor Sakura.. then eventually moving into the gothic lolita Harajuku girls.. and so on.. I find the Japanese very unique. They are one of a kind. I like how they maintain their traditions while being open to modernism at the same time.

me, circa 2003. i cant believe that im wearing a hat that's identical to the 3 strangers in the background...

HAPPY EID MUBARAK

SELAMAT HARI RAYA IDUL FITRI 1 SYAWAL 1432 H
MINAL AIDIN WAL FAIDZIN TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATES !

swans and hummingbirds

I almost forgot about these photos that were shot at my last full day in London. can't believe these moments were already a month ago ! The weather was super nice on that day, not too cold and not much sun. and with a bunch of friends accompanying you for a whole day, I don't think there's a better way to spend the evening. Some of you might be thinking "what? not much sun equals to good weather?". I remember that one London cab driver told me that the sun makes everyone in a good mood. But for a girl who lives in the tropics, a cloudy day puts me in a better mood than a sunny one does.




wished that parks in London exist in jakarta.. lush green sceneries are always good to stare at while you wander random thoughts in your head. the swans and ducks would be a nice addition too..

i tried the pink champagne truffles from this chocolatier, and it was simply... orgasmic.



I feel like stabbing myself for not taking the initiative to fill up my travel journal every night and now I'm having problems recalling the things I did and the restaurants I stopped by. ate at this delicious fusion Thai restaurant near Selfridges (if I'm not wrong..) for lunch and had chinese food around Bayswater for dinner. London does serves some of the best Chinese food out there...


i love how walking burns all the calories I digested from macaroons and hummingbird cupcakes. but still, by the time I left London, i had trouble buttoning my jeans..


was wearing a h&m mint sweater, topshop leather shorts (love these to death), chanel bag, and belle sigerson morrison suede boots

ps. for those who asked, my shoes in the previous post were from Miu Miu

SANDS

dubai photo diary


i find camels cute somehow..






the atlantis' lost chambers




beautiful sunset on the dessert