How I Take Care of My Atopic Skin

So, here’s a gross fact about me. I have a condition called atopy. A little bit about atopy, it’s an irregular type of hypersensitivity reaction that inherited genetically. There are four diseases that categorized as atopy and they are asthma, rhinitis, dermatitis and urticaria. They could be inherited in the same or different form. For example, my dad has asthma but it’s inherited to me in a form of dermatitis atopic.

Having an atopic condition means on daily basis I have a very very uncomfortable dry skin. And it’s very sensitive too. If I had contact with allergens (Which until now still remains a mystery. I should do series of rather expensive skin test to find out, which I still refuse to do until now), even stress and PMS, I’d come up with dermatitis as a skin reaction (or you can also call it eczema).

Having a dry sensitive skin condition means I have to avoid irritants as much as I can and pay more attention on picking the right products for my daily skin care routine. So these are the products in my routine that I can always count on. Since these are basic products that I have to purchase regularly, I stick with products that are affordable and easy to find.

Shower cream and handwash

Living with sensitive dry skin means say bye bye to harsh soap and shower gel. Always go with body wash that contains moisturizer. After I was diagnosed with atopic skin, I changed my soap to baby body wash and I stuck with it for years. It worked like a charm but I’m sure all mommies out there know that baby stuff is expensive. I used Johnson & Johnson’s Milk Bath. One bottle of 500ml milk bath lasted for just a week and a half on me, as it doesn’t lather as much (which is the point of a milk bath at the first place). As it is probably enough for tiny babies, unfortunately I am a lot larger than a baby. A bottle cost around IDR 20k, so imagine how much money I have to spend on body wash each month. I tried The Body Shop as well but as much as I love the Brazil Nut Shower Cream, a bottle of 250ml cost IDR 75k which is an even more ridiculous spending.

Thank God I found a line of affordable shower cream that sold in a large bottle at supermarket.  These days I use Leivy Double Moisturizing Shower Cream. Leivy shower cream comes in a different variety. I stuck with their Double Moisturizing Shower Cream although I occasionally try other variants. One huge bottle contains 1100ml cost only IDR 55k and lasts for a good one and a half month on me.

Hand wash is another thing I have to take care of, as hands is the body part that we wash the most. My current favorite is Palmolive Liquid Hand Wash in Milk and Olive. Also love the fact that it smells amazing.

Please keep in mind that showering and rubbing body or hand wash means stripping the fat layer on the superficial part of the skin that works to retain water and lock it in to work as natural “moisturizer” factor for our skin. So if you have dry skin, please limit the amount of showering and don’t spend too much time in the shower. Also avoid hot water and shower with water in body temperature instead. Despite the steam all over you mirror in the bathroom, hot water causes dry skin even more.

 

Body lotion and Hand Cream

To soak the skin in lotion is another way to treat dry skin. People with dry skin naturally has limited amount of moisture factor. Lotion works to help seal in the water and also increase the moisturizing effect. When it comes to body lotion, I always go with Nivea products. I’ve been using the lotion since I was in junior high school as the lotions work all the time for me. It gives the most moisturizing effect out of all lotions I could find in supermarket. And if I wear it regularly, my skin still feels moist even when I forget to apply the lotion for a day or two.

Another product that I'm just starting to use is hand cream. I didn’t realize how important it is until just recently. I tried L’occitane hand cream once and fell in love with it immediately. Unfortunately it was too expensive to purchase regularly. I was looking around at Watson and found their hand cream. The cream works great on keeping my hands moisturized and, in conjunction with my hand wash, it also has olive scent.

If you’re wondering why do I have to use different lotion for my hand, as I said previously, people tend to wash their hands even more than the rest of the body. Hand cream is usually thicker and more moisturized than body lotion. But I love the consistency so much, I usually wear it all the way to my elbow.

 One thing I was taught when I was in dermatology department is to apply lotion immediately after shower, preferably between one to three minutes. At this time, water still absorbed in skin layers so the lotion works to seal in the water so it would work to moisturize the skin. It’d be useless to apply lotion after all the water has evaporated.

Anyway, those are all the products that work for my dry skin. When I was in dermatology department and asked to pick a topic for my paperwork, I went with Dermatitis Atopic right away simply because that’s the topic I could easily relate to. I decided to share this because as strange as the term might sound, skin atopy is actually not a rare case. So I hope you find this article helpful.

When I Don't Play With My Makeup..

... I sing. Say hello to my other hobby.

When I received the announcement that I've passed my co-ass, I celebrated it by visiting a recording studio I've always wanted to visit instant recording. No reason at all, actually. Just for fun. For one time I want to sing songs that I love with the right key. It was my second visit there, though. The first time was years ago with my sister. But we picked stupid songs that I'm not even gonna tell you, I eventually lost the file.

The studio called Wanna-b studio. You've probably heard about it if you lived around South Jakarta. It's located at Jl. Ahmad Dahlan. The basic idea of instant recording is, you pick songs that you want, sing it in a studio while the staff records your voice. Then the staff burn it into a cd that you get to take home. There are two options, IDR 180k for 4 songs or IDR 200k for 5 songs + 1 main course (there's a cafe there). You also get to practice in between songs. Anyway, there is also a professional studio with better equipments for people who wants to record a demo or whatever. It's a lot more expensive, obviously.

I picked 4 songs for my session. As much as I wanted to add just IDR20k to get one more song and a free main course, I thought singing 4 songs continuously (plus practice in between) would be tiring. So I picked I Love The Way You Love Me by Boyzone; Everything by Michael Buble; Flying Without Wings by Westlife; and When You Say Nothing at All by Ronan Keating. All male singers so it was kinda hard to adjust the base key, especially I Love The Way You Love Me. Thankfully the staff who assisted me that day was so patient.

Since this is just an instant recording, the process is super simple and the voice wasn't edited. Which means, mistakes could easily spotted. My voice was kind of shaky and un-pitched at some parts. But whatever. I sing just for fun.

Out of the results, Everything and When You Say Nothing at All are my favorites.So I embedded those two here. I recorded these two videos at home, edited it and added the songs. By the way, beware of constant hair-touching throughout the videos. I uploaded the video on my Facebook and my friend told me that me constantly fixing my hair is annoying. LoL! I've warned you!

My Cover of Ronan Keating's When You Say Nothing at All

My Cover of Michael Buble's Everything


I hope those voices don't do any damage to your ears.



No copyright infringements intended
Entertainment purpose only

Why Do Women Wear Make Up?

This is apparently one of the most famous topics in the world wide web. Google 'allthatmakeup' and you'll see so many results asking for reasons of why women wear 'all that make up'. And this is actually one of my favorite threads in Femaledaily forum. There are so many entertaining answers. Since most of the members are women, obviously the answers are pro-makeup. But seriously, do you ever feel underestimated because you're a girl who wears make up?

I'm only one woman, obviously these answers don't represent all women's opinions. But let's have some fun reading one women's opinion about makeup, that is me.

• You can't explain a hobby. Well, actually you can. But if people didn't have the same idea, they will still think that your hobby is weird, no matter what. Maybe you can't understand why people would want to risk their life, climbing mountain. Or why twenty two men bother running around a huge field, chasing one ball only to pass it to someone else. Or why women bother to take time out of their life polishing their skin with powder and blush. But it's a hobby. Don't bother trying to explain that women need no makeup because they are beautiful the way they are bla bla bla. I know! But makeup is my hobby so I won't stop doing it just because somebody else told me to. So girls, next time your boyfriend tells you to stop wearing makeup, tell him to stop doing and watching sport, or whatever hobby he has and see if he can do that.

• Makeup doesn't define me. I don't wear makeup as a mask to cover who I am. I don't wear makeup because I think I look hideous without it. I love myself the way I am despite all of my imperfections. It's not like I hide my face when I don't wear makeup in public because I'm comfortable in my own skin (except when I'm experiencing my severe breakout, but that's a whole other story). And I don't even wear makeup when I don't feel like it. It's silly how people automatically define girls with makeup as insecure. People, this world is already bad enough. Don't make it worse by being judgmental.

• Girls are hiding behind their makeup? Yeah.. There's one statement that always cracks me up whenever I see guys watching makeup videos (God knows what are they doing there?!). It's something like this, "Ooh.. these girls are wearing a lot of makeup and mislead you. Once y0u get married, that's when you'll see their bare face for the first time and you'll be shocked" Gentlemen, if that ever happened, I only have one thing to say to you, "Don't blame the makeup. Blame your unhealthy relationship." Chances are, either you are in a dishonest and insecure relationship or you are marrying someone you just met ten minutes ago.

• I don't wear makeup to please guys. Yet another silly statement from guys, thinking girls are wearing makeup to impress them. Oh boy, speaking about self centered. But if you happen to be that kind of guy who is currently reading this, let me burst your precious little bubble: We girls don’t wear makeup for you. When I apply my makeup, what I have in mind is, “What to pair this color with?” or “Oh my, I love what this foundation does for my complexion!” And if you probably don’t realize, either makeup-covered face or naked face, both are just exterior! There are so much more in a person than just their appearance. You are missing out a lot by judging someone based on their exterior. But then again, it’s your lost. For me, if to be with someone requires me giving up something I love to do, that doesn’t even do harm to anyone, than that person is not worth it.

• It's one of my ways to respect people. That's what my mom taught me. On special occasions, to polish yourself and dress properly is a way to show respect to people. Makeup has never been my mom's hobby. But she purchased some to make sure she has enough makeup to put on. My mom would kill me if I dare to come to a big family gathering with shirt, jeans and bare face. In this case, even when I don't feel like polishing up, I still have to. When you show up with proper appearance, it shows people that you appreciate their invitation and really took time to prepare. Although all of those wouldn't be complete without proper manner.

• Don’t be too serious, it’s only makeup. I don’t know if you noticed but this quote by Francois Nars is written somewhere in my blog, which is my way of seeing makeup. This is my favorite makeup-related quote because, in my opinion, it so true and could be applied for anyone. For people who sees ladies with makeup and judge. Honey, chillax. It’s just makeup. It doesn’t kill! For the ladies who think makeup has to be perfect and complicated. Have fun! Every mistake could be fixed. Makeup is supposed to bring out the best of you, not make you someone else. And for people out there who feels insecure without makeup. No amount of makeup can make you happy if you can’t love yourself the way it is. No matter how much makeup you put on your face, at the end of the day it’s just you and your naked face.

So those are my thoughts about makeup. I hope this post doesn't offend anyone. I know this little post isn't gonna change the perspectives about makeup entirely. But at least I speak my mind.

Have fun with your makeup, ladies!

Tribute to a Diva. RIP Whitney Houston.

Hi guys. Let me take a time to write a post as a tribute to the Diva, Whitney Houston, who has just passed away as I wrote my last entry.

I'm a nineties girl so I can say that I grew up with Whitney (her and other incredible divas such as Celine and Mariah). Her songs filled my everyday and listening to her songs now brings back a lot of beautiful memories. Whitney has more than just a wonderful voice. Her songs get me everytime. She sings not with just her voice but with her heart. Her songs make me sing, make me dance, make me smile even cry. Listening to her makes me realized that music is more than just a batch of notes waiting to be sung. Music has a way to people's heart. It's magic.

I said before that I'm not a type of person who follows celebrity's personal life. But I knew about her trouble with her marriage and drugs. To me those didn't make her any less of a Star. Hey, everybody has problems in their life. It's not right, but it's okay. All these times she was on absence in music world, I believed she'll come back someday. So it came as a shock to me to hear the news that she has passed away. I'm writing this piece while listening to one of her songs, 'I Look To You'. It's hard not to shed a tear.

Rest in peace, Whitney Houston. Thank you for bringing your music into the world. You may have gone but you will continue to live on in everyone's hearts. Someday my (future) children will sing your songs. You are a legend. You will be missed. And the world will always love you.

WHITNEY HOUSTON
1963 - 2012

Picture courtesy of thegrapejuice.net

FOTD: Playing Coral + Current Skin Breakout

Hi guys.

Long time no talking to you. I finally came up with an FOTD after flooding you with product reviews. Nothing fancy, I was just trying out some of my recent purchases. I was attending a church event so I came out with a neutral look, nothing fancy. But decided to play around with colorful lips. And this time I put on my Calvin Klein lipstick in 'Cognac'. I love the color. I'm hot really used to coral color like this. Usually I'll go either nude or completely bold, like red. was a bit worried the lipstick would appear weird on me. But on second thought, it looked just fine and really compliment the warm eye make up.

For my eyes, I used my Urban Decay Naked Palette. Not gonna tell you the which eyeshadows I was wearing! Haha.. I'm currently collecting FOTDs using my Naked palette. Been playing a lot with it lately and later I'm gonna post about the palette in one entry along with the FOTDs. So stay tuned!


By the way I didn't get to blog a lot last month due to my classic excuse, 'hectic schedule'. I had to move to Jogjakarta back in late October and I stayed there for a month for my Forensic cycle. I stayed there in a boarding house together with my friends from the same cycle. The cycle was crazy. I tell you one thing, if you watch Forensic-related TV series and think that it is a cool job, I only have two words for you: think. again. No matter how many autopsies I've done, I can never get rid of the uneasy feeling whenever I see a corpse bag waiting to be opened. Anyway, I want you to still read this beauty blog and I really don't want to scare you so let's stop this topic right here. But yeah, I didn't get to post too many entries. Even before I moved I already knew it. I took pictures of some of the products I wanted to post but that's all so I can write post when I'm in Jogja, but that's it. As I said, I stayed with with my friends, they would just popped up on my door whenever and I didn't want them to find me with make up on my face while wearing pajama.

Another thing, my skin is currently breaking out. Hardcore. I can't even remember when it started, but it got worse and worse mostly when I arrived at Jogja. Probably because dealing with new environment, I wasn't sure. But it was the worst breakout I've ever experience (still is, actually). I got pimples popping up on my skin, all red, scaly, itchy and hurt! I tried everything but nothing worked. Even antibiotics and oral isotretinoin didn't seem to work. I ditched all of my skincare, even began to wash my face with just oatmeal to prevent exposing my skin to more chemical substances. And the most frustrating part is that, I can't even figured out what the actual culprit is!!! Maybe you can still see how bad my skin was in my entry about my sister's wedding.

Because of that condition, I had to stop wearing makeup, though I still do for some special occasions. Now that I'm back in Jakarta, my skin is getting a lot better. Those hideous pimples are still showing on my cheek, you can even see it in my FOTD above. But that's already a better condition. I have dark acne scars all over my face but at least the bumps are reduced and the scars can be covered with makeup whenever I'm going to some occasion that requires me to put on makeup. Until now, my skincare routine consists of only Vitamin C serum and a bar soap for acne skin.

I know I have never been the girl with the most clear skin, but my current skin condition really frustrates me. I hate that I have acne scars all over my face. I know it will take months until it's completely gone. And the fact that this happens around Christmas really makes me sad. This is just like high school all over again.

Remember girls, your skin is very valuable. Try to avoid breakout as much as you can because dealing with skin breakout really is depressing, time consuming and freaking expensive! In the mean time, wish me luck on taking care of this stupid breakout.

Happy Wedding, Baby Sister! (Picture Heavy!!!)

It was my sister's wedding day yesterday. Everything went silky smooth and now, I have a new brother-in-law (wow, that felt weird). Well, the new addition to our family member doesn't feel so weird, though. The guy, Heri, has been around since forever. My sister and her bf dated for six years before finally decided to get married. But they, well, all of us, have met him way before. He was our neighbor back when we were still in elementary school in Jayapura. Couple years later, sister went to college and they met again. And that was when they started dating. Cute isn't it?

Those weren't easy six years. Heri had to move to Netherlands for study and he got a job there. Somewhere around 2007, I guess? So they were dating through skype, and not to mention time difference. But they went through all that and here they are now, as a married couple.

Getting ready to go to church

Dad is walking sister down the aisle.

Some of the guests. My aunts (some are family friends) are wearing hats, inspired by the.. well, Royal Wedding.

Wedding vows

Exchanging rings

'Sungkeman' ritual. Well, I'm no Javanese (the groom's family is) so I try to explain this the way I see it. It's a ritual where the bride and groom ask for forgiveness, blessing and permission from their parents to marry their loved one. It's a very moving ritual.

And here's me, looking for a time to shine. Haha.. No, seriously I'm kidding. Originally, I didn't want to sing or say any testimonials whatsoever because I cry so easily (it runs in the family, don't blame me). But there were empty spot, my parents asked me to sing, so sister decided for me to sing 'Through the Eyes of Love' because we had no time to rehearse, and that's the song the pianist already familiar with. So yeah, no cute touchy story behind it. And hey, I made it without crying!

My family after the ceremony

The wedding reception was held at Gran Mahakam Hotel. We didn't have much time after the ceremony. We rushed all the way to the hotel, had short lunch, took a bath and had our makeup done.

See how hectic the situation was!

And, as usual, I was being very very smart by not charging my camera the day before. So I didn't have much pictures from the reception.

The stage

The hall decorated with flowers on the side

And here's the gate at the end of the hall

Photo corner. The huge one was taken at Volendam when sister went there for vacation.


In this picture my sis is wearing mom's wedding dress. The exact wedding dress mom was wearing on her wedding day. Mom wore a flower head piece back then, and of course it was no longer existed so the makeup artist from May May bridal made a new one.

Wedding cake from Timothycake

This is the only moment from when the reception has begun that my camera could capture (with it's last breath, yes). Bride and groom's first dance. They were dancing to Etta James's At Last.

So, please raise your glass with me in wishing the newlywed much joy in the years to come. Happy Wedding, Melinda and Heri. You two are meant for each other. I love you both *kisses*.

Oh, by the way, there is a tradition where, if your younger sister get married before you, she has to give you something as a gift (as permission? I dunno..). There's a superstitious explanation behind the tradition. People in the past believe that it's a gift to prevent the older sister to never get married. For the love of God, who would believe that? But I'm on board with the gift thing. Haha.. So this is what my sister gave me.


I told her I want something everlasting, something I'll never run out. Originally, I asked for shoes. But things was pretty hectic. I had to move to Jogja for a while, sister was busy planning her wedding, and also she was like, "A palette is everlasting. When did you ever finish a palette?" Well, she got a point. She picked Naked Palette because it's been in my wishlist since forever. And an extra Shu Uemura eyelash curler cause I've kidnapped hers in my traincase for a significant amount of time. Isn't she the best, or what?

Current Hair Condition & Non Beauty-Related Obsession

Hiya guys!

After my previous post about Sunsilk Hair Studio, I realized I have never posted any hair-related entry on my blog. Such a shame considering how much products I've tried, and it'd be nice if I can share it with you. The thing is, me and my hair has been through such an adventure, if I may call it that way. In this post, I'm just gonna share with you about my hair condition, because on my next entries I'm about to post some shampoos and conditioners I've tried in the last 4 weeks. So you can always go back to this post, as a reference on why I choose the products that I use.

Now, I'm always in a love-hate relationship with my hair. Mostly hate, though. My hair is a mixed between my father's thick and curly hair and my mom's thin and super straight hair. What I got is a lot of hair with super thin strands. I used to think that I have thin hair in general, but everytime I went to the salon the hairdresser always said to me, "What do you mean thin? You have a lot of hair here" so that's how I come into conclusion. Another thing, my hair is somewhere between curly and straight. I don't know how to call it (no, definitely not wavy). I don't think there's a name for that. This is how I always have problems. Back when I was in junior high or in high school, I didn't own any hair straightener. So yeah, I went through those years with weird short 'floating' (and don't even think about asking me to post those pictures here!). Back then, I wasn't really into hair care. The only hair product I use was only shampoo and I've never had any hair chemical treatments done to my hair. Even when my hair was still a virgin, generally my hair is dry with normal scalp.

Somewhere along the way, I began using hairdryer. I use it every single day, even until now, with no heat protector, so my hair got even drier and worst, red instead of black. There are times when I visited the salon and the hairdresser was like, "Wow! your hair looks beautiful" made me feel like floating on air, and then she continued with, "What color did you use? The red looks pretty." Ugh!

My first year in college is the time I did my first permanent straightening and been regularly doing it ever since. Usually twice a year. I'm sure you're already familiar about this treatment. But in a nutshell, the name is self-explanatory. It straightened your already grown hair and when you hair grow even longer you'll have your actual hair shape around the roots which not a very pretty sight. That's your cue for another straightening session. I usually use my hair straightener to postponed my visit to the salon. And what I did there is just damaging my hair. Unfortunately I did all those treatments without proper hair care routine. I didn't use conditioner, and hair mask that's supposed to be applied once every two weeks became once every month and then no follow up. So you can imagine how dry and damaged my hair is. I have split ends and my hair looks red especially under the sun.

Over the past years I've tried so many shampoos for dry and damaged hair. But I just started using hair conditioner about a month ago. My sis shot me this overly-shocked expression and told me that I've committed hair sin by not using hair conditioner. Seriously, sis?! (She's a bit of a late-bloomer when it comes to hair straightening and yet she became a hair-care freak since then, which explains her emotional review on my last entry.. lol). But long story short, hair conditioner is now in my daily hair care routine.

The thing with maintaining hair is one or two products are not enough. Especially if you have overly damaged hair like mine. Right now, I have shampoo, conditioner and hair mask as my daily hair routine. I must add hair serum and heat protectant because definitely still gonna use my hair straightener. I'm all about maintaining hair but I also don't wanna be seen with hideous hair. I used hair serum before although I rarely repurchased (not that they're bad it's just that they're expensive). So next time I'll add my hair care reviews because I wanna share it with you, especially if you're in the same hair condition as mine. And remember that it takes time for your hair to improve, so be patient.

So that's the end of the hair-talk.

Now on to my current non beauty-related obsession. You know how I always try to find excuses of my lack blog update? *d'oh moment* Well, this time I have a good one (aside from the fact that I've been spending some nights for night shift at a Nursery Care cause I'm now in Geriatric cycle) and my current excuse is this guy:

Yup. Edward Norton.
I've been spending a lot of time locking myself in my room, watching his movies in marathon.

(I hate it when people say, "If you're following me on twitter" so let me put it this way) I've been tweeting seriously a lot about him lately, along with some quotes from his characters in the movies. I guess that about to annoy people some time soon so I'll just make a one post about it (don't you hate when people tweeting over and over about one topic?). I don't even understand the sudden obsession considering this is not the first time I was introduced to his work.

I watched 'Italian Job' (2003) before. And I love that movie so much, I think it's brilliant. But I wasn't really noticed Norton at the time. But then again, he was the villain and with Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron as main characters, why would you pay attention on the villain?

The first movie I watched with Edward Norton as main character was 'The Illusionist' (2006). Another movie that impressed me. I watched it twice in the movie and several more times a home. I showed this movie to my friend few weeks ago and then got home and for whatever reason I began to search for more Edward Norton's movies. That's when the obsession started.

I watched about more than half of his movies and came into a conclusion that this man is a genius. You'll never now what to expect. First of all, he starred in a various genre so everybody can enjoy his movies. Drama, thriller, crime, romance, comedy, you name it. Another thing, he plays a lot of different roles. I first watched him as this charming, vulnerable, helplessly-in-love character in 'The Illusionist' and 'The Painted Veil'. And again as a cute guy-next-door priest in 'Keeping The Faith'. So that's the image that I have in my head. I didn't expect to see him all silly, dancing around in rhino costume. But I did enjoy 'Death to Smoochy'. He also played the role as violent gangster and a loving brother at the same time in 'American History X' but my personal favorite in crime/thriller genre so far is 'Primal Fear' which is his breakthrough movie (I still have '25th Hour' and 'Red Dragon' in line, waiting to be watched so I might change my mind. Who knows).

The thing is, most of his movie really suit my taste. And, mind you, I'm not the type of person who love complicated storyline. And it's very rare that I love most movies from one actor. I mean, take Leonardo diCaprio for example. I think he's a great actor but I got out of the cinema, partially depressed after watching 'Blood Diamond' and 'The Departed' that have so many violent scenes. So yeah, I don't enjoy most of his movies. While most of Norton's thriller movies are interesting to watched.

By the way, after rambling about the movies don't ask me about the actor's personal life because I don't know and I'm not interested to find out. I have this weird obsession about movies. To me, watching movies is like visiting wonderland with actual characters in it. And I love to keep those characters the way they are in my head. I hate how knowing more about one actor's life could ruin my imagination about the characters. Like how different or ordinary they are in person compare to their character. If I confused you, think of it like reading books. Character is a character. Not just a role portrayed by actors.

So yeah, I think I have listed all the reasons behind my obsession to make it sounds rational. Plus another superficial reason, he's cute. If you're a movie enthusiast like me, you need to add Edward Norton's movies in your "Must Watch" list. Believe me, you'll enjoy it.

And that's all I want to say about my current obsession. Look forward for more in the future. Believe me, I have a lot of fun and healthy obsessions I would love to share that I bet you'll enjoy. And I'm gonna end this post with my favorite soundtrack from 'Keeping The Faith'. Hope you enjoy.

"I don't doubt myself because of you. I feel like the best version of myself when I'm with you, and that makes me doubt everything else."
Father Brian Finn (Keeping The Faith)

all pictures are take from imdb

Half an Hour at Kota Tua

There was this one day public holiday last week, so me and my little sister got really excited. We were planning what it is that we're going to do on that one particular day. I came up with this idea to go around Jakarta to some of the tourist spots we’ve never visited. National monument is actually the one I had on top of my head. And there are some museums near the monument that I thought we can visit too. And we also decided to add Kota Tua to the list of places we’re planning to visit.

Unfortunately, one day before holiday, I caught this stupid flu so our plan changed a bit. Well, a lot. Not only we woke up late, we also spent too much time in front of television watching E!. Oh, well.. So, say goodbye to National Monuments and the museums, we decided to go just to Kota Tua.

from Indonesia Travel Guide
“Kota Tua, Jakarta (Jakarta Old Town, also known as Old Jakarta or Old Batavia) is an area of Dutch colonization inheritance which was well-known as Batavia in the 17th century. At Kota Tua area you can see old buildings with architecture style influenced by the Dutch or European architecture style, Chinese and even some of them with combination of Dutch and Chinese architecture. Some of the old buildings at Kota Tua area occupied as museums by the governor of DKI Jakarta. Kota Tua is one of a very interesting place or area to visit when you travel to Jakarta since it’s a center of historical tourism object in Jakarta.”

This is one of the favorite spots for bride-and-groom-to-be to take prewedding pictures, especially if you’re going for that vintage romantic theme. Although, in my opinion, it’s getting really common to take pictures in this very spot, it’s getting boring and everyone end up with same pictures. Still, I intended to snap as much pictures as I could.

And apparently, about half of Jakartans had the same idea.

Yes, the place was really crowded. I mean, I expected the place to be crowded but I didn’t expect it to be this crazy jam-packed. Oh, how naïve were we. And I was pretty clueless about what to do there, other than snacking and shopping. There are quite large selections of food stall. And some booths selling anything from sunglasses, shirts, shoes to stuffed animals. It was kinda hard to snap pictures without poeple crossing into frame.

There are two museums in this area, Museum Wayang and Museum Bank Indonesia but those are closed on Sunday and public holiday (which got me into thinking, when people will ever visit museums if the museums are closed on days where family usually hang out together?). Kota Tua area is rather big, so you can rent a bike here. But since it was really crowded, riding bike would be pointless. So this totally explains the title of this post. With the heat from sun and the crowd and my flu getting worse, we only stayed for about half an hour at Kota Tua.

Some of the things you can do at Kota Tua, riding bike

Some of the bicycles for rent

Tried to catch the vintage feel from Kota Tua. Failed, apparently.

Here's my makeup on that day.

Products used:
Face
MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation
NARS Loose Powder
La Tulipe Blush no.09

Eyes
UDPP
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Slate
La Tulipe eyeshadow quad no. 03 & 14
NYX Liquid Crystal Liner in Crystal Silver
MUFE Aqua Eyes in 0L
Maybelline Volum' Express Cat Eye Mascara
Revlon Colorstay Eyebrow Pencil

Lips
MAC Viva Glam Gaga 2 Lipglass

Anyway, I know it's getting boring to read only posts about FOTD lately. The thing is, I really want to do a video tutorials but my camera is really acting up nowadays, I don't understand why. It's getting better lately, that I'm able to take pictures again. But I'm not really sure if I can use it to record videos. Hopefully this will over soon.

My Short Vacation to Jayapura (Picture Heavy!!!)

So here's the reason behind my absence.

I was lucky enough to get some free days so, together with lovely boyfriend, I went to Jayapura. This is the city where I spent 7 years of my childhood here, before went back to Jakarta for high school and college, up until now. My family moved here on 1994 and my parents still live here.

Here's some pictures from my short vacation.


Base-G Beach
After 7 hours flight from Jakarta, me and boyfriend arrived in Jayapura early morning at October 24th. We went to Base-G beach that afternoon. The beach is about 10 minutes from my house. Fortunately, the weather was great that day.

It's blue everywhere. Gorgeous!

With boyfriend

Little sister arrived few days early

The Second Day
The next day, since we woke up a bit too late, we didn't have that many time to spend. We went to this little store that sells genuine crocodile leather. Boyfriend bought some wallets and belts for him and some as souvenirs.

Papua, or Merauke, to be exact, is famous for crocodile leather. Unfortunately, they don't have qualified designers so even though they have various bags, wallets, purses etc, their design looks rather boring. But then again, I've never been a fan of leather stuff, anyway.


Tablanusu Beach
Another beach that we went to is Tablanusu beach. Now this is the first time I went to this beach. It's about 2,5 hours from home. Woohoo... It's weird that we went through hills along the way. No water in sight. I started to doubt that we're going to a beach. Until, near the end of the trip, I saw this gorgeous scenery ahead of me. As weird as it sounds, it's a beach surrounded with hills.

View from the top.

McArthur Monument, Ifar Gunung.
I really want to take boyfriend to McArthur monument. Unfortunately, we arrived a little bit late. Apparently, it's a monument from World War II where American General Douglas MacArthur once arrived. And................ okay, excuse my lack of history knowledge.

The monument placed in a military area, at the top of Ifar Gunung.

Here's boyfriend posing in front of the gate. We were just a couple minutes late. Gahh!

So we took picture around the area. Here's the infamous Sentani Lake in the background.

And that line on the right of the picture is the runway of Sentani Airport.

Another picture of the lake. Taken from a restaurant on the lake side.

RSUD JAYAPURA
On our last day, my dad asked me and boyfriend if we want to go to the hospital. There were some minor surgeries he had to do. We thought, why not? My dad is an ophthalmologist, by the way.

Boyfriend taking picture with landscape of the city in the background

What we do when we're home? I just found out that there's a mini billiard at home. So this is what we do every night after dinner.
Boyfriend is surprisingly very good when it comes to billiard. Apparently, he used to skip school to play billiard. Really, boy.. not cool.


So that's the end of my short vacation. Now it's time to go back to reality *sigh*.