Before either distance or proximity mean nothing.

In 2021, I found myself experiencing many of my "first times". The simplest one would be the first time not posting anything on this blog (oops!) while the major one would be first time working overseas. Of course not everything was a shining shimmering splendid first time experience. Trust me I had my share of ups and downs too! Still I would say 2021 was not as bad as I thought it will be. Things were not back to normal, but we got a "new normal". It could have been better, but it could have been worse as well.

We're now in a new page of 2022 and we have 365 days to brace ourself before another hello to a new year. I wish us wonderful days ahead! May we all be able to put closure on the unfulfilled 2021 resolutions and stick to the list we made for 2022 (lol). For the 2022 me, I hope she would be a kinder and more generous human being, not take people/moment/things for granted, create and live a meaningful day everyday, and put balanced focus on both life's content and context. To have more confidence in herself, faith in the process, and trust in the progress. 

Before we proceed further to 2022, let me do the recaps of my 2021!

I have always stayed within Asia for study, work, or travel. Until in 2021, I got the opportunity to go beyond Asia for the first time and even to live there for a year. This was truly a life milestone for me! The travel/relocation preparation during pandemic was exhausting with the paperworks handling, travel restrictions checking, and Covid PCR test result waiting (the last one was the most dreadful one, as it determines my eligibility to board the flight). Yet it was all paid off at the moment I board the SQ plane and here I am today 10 months later, feeling comfortable, safe and happy to have a new home.

It's a no brainer to say that I am 100% lucky to came to Switzerland and 1000% fortunate to travel around Europe. Within Switzerland, it was very convenient and reliable to travel thanks to the solid train-rail infrastructure. With the train it's just 1 hour to admire the beautiful Geneva lake, 2 hours to be mesmerized by the medieval architecture of Luzern, or 3 hours to get chilly in the snowy Grindelwald. Cross border traveling was also easy and safe. I board on 1.5 hours flight to see the canals in Amsterdam city, book a 2.5 hours flight to get my dose of sun in Santorini, and jump on 3 hours train ride to enjoy my Parisienne baguette under Eiffel Tower.

Call me exaggerating but I have always declared myself as a city girl. Take me under the sun and I will walk under the umbrella. Invite me to an outdoor activities and I will laugh at you. However for the past 10 months, apparently I spent most of my weekends outdoor, under the sun, close to the nature. Now I laugh at my self :D

I could hardly picture myself go hiking for straight 8 hours, nailing a peak of 3,257 m elevation; but I did it! 

Recently this year a friend introduced me to a philosophy called Stoicism (hey you, if you read this, thank you!). One of the principle in the philosophy is about identifying between what we can control and what we can’t. Everyday in life we have various battles to handle. For some battles, we can win it because we have full control over it (mostly are for battles with ourself). Yet there are battles that we may not win, as to win it will depend on factors outside our control; that's why here we don't have the guarantee in winning.

I have to admit that sometimes I can be quite hard to myself when things don't go like how I projected it to be. I can be upset, disappointed with myself, or lost confidence to put in effort. Correlating the Stoicism principle to my situation, apparently I fail to acknowledge that there are things outside my control which I can never influence. Let's say I want someone to treat me well; no matter how nice I treat him/her, there is no guarantee that he/she will reciprocate my effort. Perhaps I achieve something that I am proud of; regardless how important is that milestone for me, other people might have different opinion about it.

So this year, I learnt to give myself a break. I started to learn to pick my battle wisely and put my focus on ones that I can influence. This allow me to be more relax and also be more resourceful. As the less things I need to control, is the more I can pour my energy over things that matter. 

Haha how contradicting it is with the previous point? Indeed at the same time, I'm learning to be more in charge of my self. I'm trying to understand what I want, speak up my mind, make my call, and own my decision. It isn't an easy process for me as I usually try to accommodate others and keep my thoughts/emotions to my self. It never too late to realize that as much as it is important to be kind and respect others, it's also important to be kind with ourself!

Recently I scrolled through my phone gallery and found some pictures from Starbucks Master Class session I attended back in 2019. The class gave us the basic knowledge and techniques of manual coffee brewing; like how to brew coffee with French Press technique, how is it different from the popular V60 Pour Over technique, and how the same pour over technique produces different distinct taste when we use different tools i.e. the Chemex glass flask. For every techniques explained, we got to brew and taste the produces. I was well caffeinated that Friday!

One of remarkable key take away from the session was the explanation that coffee is subjective to personal preference, so there's no superior technique over another to brew a good cup of coffee. What matters most is the presence of 4 basic factors in every brewing: correct beans grind size, excellent water quality, balanced proportions, and freshness.

What was so remarkable about those 4 factors, that I could remember it all the way from 2019? It's because I found myself applying those fundamentals of brewing coffee as the simple fundamentals of living. If you think I'm exaggerating, continue to read below to know the basics to brew a good cup of coffee and how my mind correlate it to brew a good cup of life. Let me know your thoughts afterwards!

I hope everyone is doing well in the midst of this coronavirus outbreak! We all know this Covid-19 has been a nightmare for everyone in the world. Here in Indonesia we are also encouraged to practice social-distancing, stay at home as much as possible and limit non-essential outside activities to combat the spread of coronavirus. I have been working and exercising at home for 4 weeks (and still foresee to continue). During this stay home period, weekly groceries-shopping is truly a luxury that I anticipate the most!

With so much unknown and uncertainty about this virus, plus the fact that we can catch and spread it anywhere and to anyone, multiplied with the absence of a vaccine, I think it's wise to just #stayhome. Stay home not only to not getting the virus ourselves, but also not spreading it to others especially those who are more vulnerable. Really hope that the situation can recover ASAP and hope you guys stay safe and comfort in your nest with your beloved ones!

Chilling out in my nest

One of the lessons I learned from this sudden outbreak is to never procrastinate everything... including your holiday plan lol. Since last year, I have been delaying any holiday plan as I wanted to fully focus on my new role at work. I was so ready to picture myself wrapped in winter coat in Seoul in January or mesmerized by the sakura flowers in Tokyo in April this year...  but surprise, surprise! Abort any kind of imagination and just stay home girl! 😂  Still grateful tho, I haven't book any flight or hotel so I can skip the hustle to do the rescheduling or ticket refund. If you have to go through all the ticketing administratives, I really wish you the best outcome you can get.

Anyway, as we can't do travelling anytime soon, let's just reminisce the good old time of past vacations, shall we? Last year, I went for a short weekend trip to Singapore. Over the weekend, I managed to cure my longing of my comfort foods in Singapore and also explore some new additions! In this post, I'm listing down my version of best desserts in Singapore that I know I will revisit again whenever I am in the lion city.

Tell me, have you ever tried any of these?

llao llao Singapore was closed in 2017 and 'replaced' by another brand. Even though the yoghurt, toppings and size selection offered from the new froyo brand is almost similar to llao llao's, I was not really excited to try the new one. I guess you can call me a loyal customer for llao llao's brand lol.

When llao llao came back to Singapore in 2018, I was so happy la! For me, a visit to Singapore won't be complete without a mandatory IG story with my hand holding this Spanish frozen yogurt. It's a refreshing dessert to enjoy around the clock in the hot and humid Singapore weather. My go-to menu is always the medium froyo (S$ 5.9) with a dollop of cookie dough sauce (Lotus Biscoff caramelized biscuit). Yum.

Who can resist a perfect match of fresh tangy yoghurt and sweet caramelized sauce? Definitely not me.

When we talk about French viennoiserie in Singapore, we can't leave out Tiong Bahru Bakery (TBB). Baking daily in 6 different locations, TBB has great selections of either savory or sweet croissants and sandwiches. For me, sweets always triumph. When I visited their branch at TANGS Orchard, of course I opted for Original Kouign Amann (S$ 4.5) and Canelé (S$ 3.2).

If we search for kouign amann on the internet, it is described as the fattiest pastry in all of Europe. Indeed, I felt a layer of fat was added to my belly for every layer of kouign amann I devoured. The deep flavour of TBB's kouign amann really amaze me. Dense yet crispy texture, flaky layers of butter, fully coated with sweet caramelized sugar... Flaky, buttery. sugary. A heavenly combination in every bite and I could say it's worth the sinful calories. Oh well, now you know why I kept on renewing my gym membership!

Anyway, the kouign amann was so good that I forgot how the canelé's taste was hahaha. Will repurchase again next time and let you know!

Located in the trending Keong Saik neighbourhood, Keong Saik bakery's shop size was small but homey. When I went there on Monday morning, it was quite packed with locals enjoying bread/pastry with a cup of coffee or ordering the breakfast set menu. I could say that this lovely coffee shop is being cherished by the local residents.

I had their famous Burnt Cheese Cruffin (S$ 5.5), Attap Chee Rose Cheesecake (S$ 7/slice) and Sor Hei (S$ 4; not pictured). The glorified burnt cheese cruffin is basically muffin-shaped-croissant with burnt cheesecake fillings. I love the smooth, creamy texture of the interiors. Yet because I ate it later in the day, I think the croissant exteriors was not as crunchy as it supposed to be. Next time, would remind myself to have it dine in or reheat it a bit.


The attap chee rose cheesecake did capture my heart! The cheesecake was light and moist and there was a hint of fragrant rose. Inside the cheesecake mixture, it got chewy attap chee chunks. With so much happening in one spoon of cake, it will delight your tastebud from the very first spoon til the end.

So those are my current treasured sweet spots in Singapore! Really can't wait for this pandemic situation to over, so I can book a flight ticket to get my hands on those babies! What about you? What's the first thing to do after you can go outside your home? 😉

Until then, please stay clean, stay safe, and stay home!

One more sleep and we will be waking up in a leap year: year 2020!

As much as I'm excited for 2020, I am utterly grateful for the past 365 days. For me, 2019 was the year of changes almost in every aspect of my life: with development in my personal growth, changes in my professional career, progress in my physical (and psychological) health, and so on. Despite of the good and the bad changes, I am gratified at the way I have evolved.

I believe in no time we will be buried in the hectic days of 2020 and forget what we have done in 2019. Thus, while we still breathing in the air of 2019, let's take a moment to recap and appreciate the highs and lows of 2019 before we move on to 2020, shall we? 

During the first 3 months, numbers of decision that impacting myself in the long run were made. This was the period when I empowered myself to focus on things that really matters to me. I started new habits and let go of things that I should've done way earlier, but never had the courage to do so. From this first quarter, I figured out that all I need was only to be courageous to take the very first step in everything.

At the beginning of the second quarter, I was exposed to many new unknown circumstances; in both workplace and personal life. On one hand it was thrilling and exciting, but on the other hand also very… ambiguous and challenging. I wish to pause the time and observe my surroundings, but I need to make quick moves or I might miss chances. Taking risk was not my cup of tea, yet I was pushed to get out of my comfort zone. There was no other way to do it, so I did it anyway to figure out how things turn out.

I was fully committed and persistent to nail all the challenges thrown to me. I made lots of sacrifices that I've shared to you in this post. You could basically observed my scattered mind and emotion during these periods in that post haha.

By the third quarter, the results of all the efforts that I made started to be visible. I accomplished things that I initially thought I could not and would not be able to make it. I was proud of myself for being able to overcome the ambiguity, confusion, and insecurity that I encounter at the beginning.

Yet of course, not everything went well as how I expected it to be. I met failures along the way and became sad (and angry) to my self. During this time, I did quite lots of reflection. I consoled myself that it's OK to be sad, but to chin up, take the lesson and move on afterward. Failure might left me heart broken; but in the same time also left me with precious lesson to learn and grow.

The changes that I experienced this year have taught me a lot and would be a great learnings to conquer the coming year.

In 2020, I would constantly encourage myself to have faith, take chances and not be afraid of failure; because the biggest failure is only when I'm not trying at all.

I also would remind my self to be persistent and consistent; cause you know... with the distraction here and there, it's easy to stop in the middle and left things undone.

Last but not least, to appreciate both the joy of glory and disappointment of defeat. At the end, we never lose; it's either we win the battle or we learn the lesson.

So, that's my 2019. How was yours?

Happy New Year everyone! See you in 2020!

Hello everyone! Apologize for being away for too long. I myself also didn't realize that I've been MIA for almost half year. My last post was on March!

In the past 6 months (and up til today), my time, energy and mind were very occupied. To free up some space in my brilliant mind, I decided to go back to this beloved blog and type down this post. Not a travelling post (while I should be posting about my last trip to Japan!), but a personal post. This post will be very subjective as I will briefly share my two cents about the etiquette in criticizing others. I only want to make it as a reminder for myself (and hopefully for you too if we're on the same page). If you feel like you will not enjoy this kind of post, please scroll through my other post in this blog as I have a lot for you to enjoy!

If you’re in, let me start by summing up my life in the past 6 months before I start my mumble.

So 6 months ago, I landed to a new work position. Remember back then to my internship days, I saw some staff stay until late at the office and I told myself I won't fancy overtime work... but here I am now spending fifty percent of the precious 24 hrs a day making calls and scrolling through Excel files at the office lol. I think it's normal though to be overwhelmed with new responsibility that we don't have before. Surely by keep on progressing to the better, it will be only matter of time until we cope up, catch up, and be friend with new responsibility.

Then to ensure I stay sane, I wanted to prepare my own meal (just so I can cook; one of my deepest passion) and go on proper workouts (just so I can fit into my uniform). Yet to find time to do that is another challenge, so I need to go the extra mile to achieve that. I decided to sleep 1-2 hours less to wake up early to chop my carrots in the morning before go for work and go home a bit later so I can run my 5K on the treadmill after work.

Adulthood is really about trying to balance out and be excel with every aspect of life, isn't it? Big applause and pat on the back to every adult out there because we all know it's not an easy task. I never say I enjoy waking up super early in the morning and going home pretty late; but if that's the sacrifice that I need to take to get what I want, there's no other way to do that.

Then as if the struggle within myself is not enough, people try to ignite fire by throwing opinions and comments. One of the recent comments that I heard a lot and repetitively, directed to anything that I do is:

Actually there's nothing wrong with the you-are-trying-too-hard statement. It shows that people pay attention to us and they have the vision that something can be improved from our current situation. It only becomes wrong when people throw that opinion and just left it hanging.

What's the purpose of saying “you’re trying too hard” if we can't offer options to ease out other's life? Without us emphasizing, they might already aware of the situation and been fighting battles in their mind, struggling to find ways to escape from their current circumstances. Us being so nosy and recklessly throwing comments without any solid solution will do them no good. It will just create more burden to their mind.

Whenever people starts to criticize me, I actually wait and anticipate for their next sentences, hoping they continue with some ideas, even the silly but rationale one, to make me stop trying hard. However, most of the times they just stop. Leaving me questioning myself, questioning my effort, questioning everything... and it could kill the fire and confidence that I previously had.

So I guess, unless we have better alternative that might help others to stop 'trying too hard', or some constructive critiques with solid reasoning and feedback, or at the very least some points of discussion worth to mention, I think it is much wiser to just keep the urge to preach to ourself.

Because we know people are already trying hard. You're already trying super hard. I'm also already trying so hard.
Let's not make it any harder for everyone 😉

Tinggal di kota metropolitan seperti Jakarta memang sangat menyenangkan. Begitu banyak pilihan kuliner maupun gaya hidup yang menarik untuk dicoba. Selalu ada tempat dan kegiatan baru yang bisa dikunjungi dan dilakukan untuk mengisi waktu setiap harinya. Mulai dari olah raga pagi untuk memulai hari, brunch dengan teman di kafe terbaru di Jakarta, menikmati afternoon tea sambil bersantai, treatment di salon kecantikan, hingga menutup hari dengan makan malam di restoran terbaik bersama keluarga.

Baru-baru ini, aku menemukan 1 aplikasi yang bisa membuat pengalaman kita menikmati kota Jakarta semakin maksimal, namun dengan modal yang lebih minimal. Aplikasi itu adalah aplikasi Club Alacarte. Club Alacarte adalah aplikasi yang menawarkan program keanggotaan gaya hidup bagi kita untuk menikmati penawaran Buy 1 Get 1 Free untuk makanan dan/atau minuman, diskon 50% untuk lifestyle services, dan juga potongan harga untuk pembelian retail di berbagai merchants terkemuka. Menarik sekali, kan?

Lalu, bagaimana cara menikmati penawaran yang menarik ini di aplikasi Club Alacarte?

Cara menjadi member Club Alacarte sangat mudah. Pertama, tentu saja kita download dulu aplikasinya dengan mencari aplikasi 'Club Alacarte' di App Store/Play Store (klik di link ini untuk men-download). Kemudian masukkan data diri yang diminta untuk dapat mengakses menu-menu di dalam aplikasi Club Alacarte. Setelah terdaftar, pilih menu Shop dan pilih jenis durasi keanggotaan premium yang kita mau: 1 bulan (Rp 49,000), 6 bulan (Rp 249,000), atau 12 bulan (Rp 399,000). Dengan keanggotaan premium yang sudah aktif, kita bisa mulai menikmati penawaran-penawaran tak terbatas yang tersedia di dalam aplikasi Club Alacarte. 

Semakin lama durasi keanggotaan yang kita pilih, semakin murah biaya per bulan yang kita bayarkan. Untuk keanggotaan 12 bulan, biaya per bulannya adalah Rp 30,000. Dengan Rp 30,000 per bulan ini, kita bisa menikmati banyak promo di merchants dengan nilai benefit yang menurutku pasti lebih dari Rp 30,000 per transaksinya. Cukup mengguntungkan, bukan? Hanya dalam sekali transaksi tiap bulannya, kita sudah balik modal 😆

Satu hal yang menarik saat kita pertama kali bergabung sebagai Free Member, Club Alacarte secara otomatis memberikan kita keuntungan untuk mencoba 1 penawaran gratis yang bisa digunakan di semua kategori. Menurutku pemberian welcome gift ini sangat tepat karena kita jadi dapat benar-benar merasakan keuntungan penggunaan aplikasi ini sebelum memutuskan untuk melakukan pembelian keanggotaan premium.

Minggu lalu, aku mencoba menukarkan penawaran gratisku. Karena kebetulan aku sedang ingin merapikan bentuk alisku yang sudah berantakan, aku mencari merchants dalam kategori Beauty and Wellness yang menawarkan jasa merapikan alis. Ada banyak merchants di dalam kategori Beauty and Wellness yang berlokasi di seluruh Jakarta. Karena saat itu aku sedang berada di daerah Senopati, aku ingin ke tempat yang ada di daerah Senopati saja. Plus point dari aplikasi Club Alacarte, ada fitur untuk megurutkan nama merchants sesuai dengan abjad atau lokasi, sehingga kita bisa langsung memilih merchant terdekat dari lokasi kita. Aku pun mengurutkan nama-nama merchants berdasarkan lokasi yang terdekat dan memutuskan untuk melakukan treatment brow threading di Sucre Beauty Salon dengan promo diskon 50%.

Ternyata, proses penukaran penawarannya sangat mudah. Saat pertama kali datang, aku menginfokan pada staff bahwa akan menggunakan promo dari Club Alacarte. Kemudian setelah menekan tombol Reedem di aplikasi, akan muncul reference code yang lalu digunakan oleh staff tenant untuk mengaktifkan penawaran yang aku inginkan. Setelah itu, aku dan staff bergantian memasukkan password di aplikasi. Setelah password tervalidasi, maka promo sudah berhasil ditukarkan dan aku bisa melakukan treatment brow threading dengan hanya membayar setengah harga. Oh ya, di dalam aplikasi akan diberikan estimasi nominal yang berhasil kita hemat. Namun menurutku estimasi ini tidak bisa dijadikan patokan karena kemungkinan harga di merchants bisa berubah. Untuk transaksiku, estimasinya adalah Rp 75,000. Namun harga normal brow threading di Sucre adalah Rp 68,000, sehingga sebenarnya aku menghemat Rp 34,000. Jadi, menurutku yang bisa kita jadikan patokan adalah presentase potongan harganya saja, yaitu 50%.

Menurutku aplikasi seperti Club Alacarte ini sangat berguna agar kita tetap dapat menikmati lifestyle di Jakarta dengan cara yang lebih hemat. Selain untuk memanjakan diri sendiri dengan menggunakan penawaran-penawaran di kategori lifestyle, kita juga bisa membangun relasi dengan teman-teman dan keluarga dengan memanfaatkan penawaran-penawaran di kategori dining.

Semoga ulasan ini membantu kalian semua ya. Bila ingin mengetahui lebih lanjut tentang aplikasi Club Alacarte, cek info lebih lengkapnya di website mereka di http://bit.ly/WebAlacarte atau download aplikasinya di http://bit.ly/AppAlacarte.

Sampai jumpa di post berikutnya!