Thursday, January 28, 2010

Sisters a.k.a. Wedding Planner

Am I supposed to be panic if my wedding day is like 285 days away, yet I haven't prepared anything?

Please tell me that it's still so far away, and I can relax for now..

I heard a friend who needed 2 years to prepare her wedding. Two-freaking-years?!?! I wonder where she held the wedding. Arctic?

Anyways, I'm quite grateful that I'm surrounded by a family who supports me 100%. They have no high expectations, no annoying requests. Seriously, I heard A LOT of wedding-go-bad stories, when family members quarrel and all. And that got me scared sometimes. But I always feel relieved everytime my Mom calls and says, "We don't have any request. We believe that you know what's good for all of us, and we support you." I mean, isn't that just sweet?? I seriously have the best family in the world! My Dad is supposed to be a strong-headed man, who stands strongly on his principal. But this time, he got no objection, no complain, no nothing. I am really surprised by that, and at the same time touched. OMG, I need to stop or I will cry. tsk.

Oh, and my two sisters are really excited about me getting married. Well, actually their first reaction is "I need to buy a dress!! What colour? You plan any theme?"

I mean, helloooo, your sister's here getting married. Your sister. Me. Making a big step in her life.

Of course, they finally got the sarcasm and then started to talk about MY dress. Hmm, better.

And they actually pronounced themselves "My Wedding Planner". They have been helping me to find photographers, bridal studio, and wedding venue. My Dad and second sis spent one whole day to do a wedding venue searching.

All my family has been a great help for me. And well, I really don't know what to do without them :)

And isn't it great to have sisters?? At least, you have someone to scream together with over those pretty laced dress.

I want to share with you all "me and my lovely sisters" pictures, taken during our last holiday :)


This is taken in Tretes, a small town up on a hill. Lovely weather, good food. We were in my uncles's villa's Orchid garden. Beautiful. Sorry for my pathetic face, I was having an irritating cold that day.


Posing in our hotel room in Bali. Me, sisters, and Oprah.


Our clothes are wet after playing at the beach. Bad news is, we forgot to bring change. So, we bought these jumpers. They're super comfortable.


Uluwatu. The view was wonderful. But it was scorching hot. You can see it in our eyes. We couldn't even open our eyes. And no, we could not wear sunglasses, 'cause there were monkeys there, and they LOVED stealing glasses.

Love Bali!!

Some blurry picture we took at home. I liked it though.

I was wearing my grandma's shirt. My sis was wearing my dad's shirt. Only my little sis wearing her own tee. She's always the good girl.

Taken right after I reached my hometown. Can you see the three super happy smile there??

Miss them so...

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

What Makes Me Happy


Sweet Margaret from pandaface passed me this award a few days ago. Thanks dearie :)
Do check out her blog, you'll love her :)

To accept the award I need to post 10 things that make you happy and do at least one of them today. So, here they are :


Going back home. This is one thing that would make me super duper happy. Taking 2-hour flight back to my hometown, spending time with my lovely family, relaxing, eating home-cooked food. Seriously nothing can beat the feeling of being at home :)

Waking up on weekends. Isn't it just nice to wake up thinking that you can still sleep for another hour or two? And, isn't it nice to wake up thinking that you have the whole day to do whatever you want?

Having decent and good breakfast. I usually have no time to enjoy breakfast on weekdays. So whenever I got the time and chance to enjoy good breakfast, I always do. My favourite place in town is Jones the Grocer. They serve fantastic breakfast. My order would be their English breakfast with NZ scrambled eggs, sourdough toasts, grilled bacon, pork sausages, slow roasted tomato and sauteed mushrooms. And of course accompanied by my favourite Jones' latte. Perfect to start a day :)

Seeing the big smile on his face. Han is a guy with a whole lot of positive thinking. He smiles a lot also. And that's somehow so infectious, even to a person as grouchy as me. There's this one particular big childish smile he likes to make. And that always brightens my day.

Seeing my cute niece, baby J. There's something about babies that makes me feel happy and peaceful. Especially my niece. She has the biggest pair of pretty eyes, and the softest skin. Seeing her and playing with her make me happy :)

Enjoying holiday. I think this one makes everybody happy. I haven't been to many places though. And so far my favourite getaway would be Bali. I love the beaches, the food, and the entire atmosphere that shouts holiday. I would love to go to Japan and Korea. Hopefully this year :)

Getting married. Geez, I am getting married. Sorry if I bore you with this getting-married statement, cause I still can't believe it. But when I do, some weird awake moment, my heart almost explodes with excitement and joy :) And you know what, I bought myself one of those shiny bridal magazine last week. I can buy bridal magazines!! (I always wanted to do this since I was a girl, so sorry for the over-excitement) Okay, I better stop now.

Bags and shoes. This, need not further explanation. By the way, right now I'm obsessed with Oversized Mulberry Alexa, in Oak, or perhaps the new Summer Tweed, or those statement peony leopard print. Gosh.

Raining. Yes, when it's raining, I am happy. I would just sit by the window, looking at the rain falling (sounds chessy, I know, but I really do enjoy this), with a cup of hot coffee, and a magazine. Hmm..

Shopping. This one, I should say, is last but definitely not the least :) You girls should have known why it is on my happy list, so I don't need to explain further. I love shopping. Enough said.

So there... Ten things that make me happy. I'm supposed to tag 10 other persons. Well, I really cannot decide, since all my blog readers here are so lovely. I pass this award to all of you who happen to read this post :) It's your turn to share your happy things :) Enjoy!

Monday, January 25, 2010

A Happy Me

No, it's not about me getting married in 10 months (I still got a shock everytime I hear myself , or other people, saying this)

It's about FOOD. One of the things that can make me happy, VERY happy :)

Why do you think I was so happy going back to Indonesia?? GOOD FOOD, of course!!!
I'm just kidding, Mom!! Of course I was happy because I got to meet you.. And amazing Indonesian food :)

I don't know how many kilos I've gained. All I know is I HAVE to go on diet NOW. Han keeps saying that I need to lose weight so that I can look good in those pretty wedding dresses. I keep on acting like I don't care and telling him to look at the mirror and see who else needs to lose some weight. But well, deep inside my heart I know I really need to lose some weight.

Anyways, before all the fuss about diet, I want to share with you all some of Indonesian delicacy :)



Rib Soup. Simply delicious. Can you see the chilies there?? They explain everything.


It's called Tahu Telor. Some beancurd omelette with savoury peanut sauce and crispy prawn crackers.


My new favourite dessert. Frozen Yoghurt. I love this far more than ice cream. My favourite is Plain or Original flavour with mango topping.


During my trip back home, I also went to Bali for holiday. And it was AMAZING. And the food, Balinese food is just HEAVEN.


This is called Babi Guling or suckling pig. I think this is the most famous Balinese dish. The whole pig is stuffed with i-don't-know-what-but-it's-so-good spices, then roasted into crisp. It comes with other side dishes such as spiced vegetables, fried pork, pork sausage(loveeeeee), some fried pig's intestine and lung (ya ya I know, you can skip this, but if you ask me, yes I do eat those things), pork soup, and their special super spicy chilli.


This is grilled pork rib. Not really authentic Balinese food and the owner is a German (if I'm not mistaken) who married a Balinese lady. He opened this small outdoor homey resto called Nuri's and it's really famous there. The rib itself is magical. Perfectly grilled, tender, and the sauce is just to die for. Really. I spent more than one hour waiting for table there.


This is another balinese food, owned by Chinese Balinese couple. These meatballs are really good and soup is just refreshing.


This is pork satay with plecing sauce, normally eaten with rice and the meatball soup (above). I always come to this place everytime I'm in bali. And yes it's spicy.




This one is a famous seaside seafood restaurant, called Jimbaran. You HAVE to try this if you're in Bali.


Grilled cuttlefish. Chewy and spicy.


Grilled prawn. Tender and juicy.


Grilled fish (I can't remember what fish is this). Tender and savoury.


And these are the sauce combo you cannot miss. They have this pickled cucumber, tomatoes, and red onion which are GREAT. The other four are sweet soya sauce with chopped chillies, special ground chillies with spices, deep fried garlic, and an amazing mixture of chopped red onion, chillies, lime juice, and garlic. The food will be nothing without these deadly combo.

OMG, even writing this post makes me hungry. I really need to stop here. Gotta run to get something to eat. Hope you all have a fun Monday guys :)

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

This ring around my finger



Yes guys, I'm officially ENGAGED :)

My guy proposed to me on 16th of January.
OMG!!! I still cannot believe it. It's finally MY turn..
It's crazy. One day I didn't even think about getting married, but the next day, I'm engaged!!

However, despite all the surprise and shock, somehow, I know that this is coming. And at this very moment, I know I have made the right decision, that I want to marry this guy :)

And isn't all this feeling just magical? It is, for me :)


Anyways, my family and his family are delighted upon hearing the news. They were all excited, since this will be the first wedding for both sides.

It's kinda hectic now. We have decided to have our wedding around end of this year (Yes, it is less than 10 months!! Please slap me and tell me I'm crazy.. ), and well, so freakin' many things to prepare. What makes it worse is, we don't know what and how and where to start.

Geez, I'm crazily excited!!! and most of all, HAPPY :)
Me and him, trying to look cool but ended up looking like an idiot..
Congratulate me guys, and wish me luck!!

Monday, January 18, 2010

My First Award!!


Just got this Beautiful Blogger Award from my dear blogger pal, Russ :) Thanks sweetie!! You guys should check out her blog here. She's such a sweet and talented girl. She's been a true inspiration for me, especially in living a healthy life. I'm sure you'll be inspired by her also :)

Anyways, for this award, I'm supposed to write seven confessions, which is really tough. I need almost half a day to complete this list. So, here it is :

1. My first crush was a cute classmate from primary one. Yes, I was only 7 years old. And I remembered that I really REALLY liked him. Is that normal?? Btw, I liked him for 6 years, until primary six, when he started to be a smoker, and he got pimples all over his face.

2. There were times when I was CRAZY about Backstreet Boys and Hanson (you all remember Hanson right, the Mmmbop boys?) I was such a big fan of them that I had my room's wall covered with posters and pin-ups of them. I literally screamed histerically when I saw them or their MVs on TV. Hmmm...

3. I don't like being criticized over the way I dress. Don't get me wrong, I do take advices, but I don't take critics. I will get very irritated when someone tries to change or control my style. I got my own style, and I'm happy with it.

4. I am seriously addicted to coffee. I'm addicted even to the smell of coffee. I don't think i can live a day in my life without it. And I'm very particular about it. I only drink hot coffee. I don't like any additional flavour in it, except for milk, cream, or caramel. On the top list of my what-to-get-for-my-new-house, I put coffee machine. And I'm really serious about it.

5. I'm extremely NOT photogenic. Among thousands of photos I took, I only got like, errr, 10 acceptable ones. Really.

6. I seriously think I have the BEST family in the whole world. I do. They are fun, sweet, and supportive. Whenever I'm around them, I can feel so much love and warmth. Something that not all people can feel, and I'm really grateful for that.

7. Last one, I have an important thing I want to share with you all. On the next post :)

Last but not least, I would like to pass this award to ten amazing bloggers and friends of mine :)

Fe from secret dream-world of a fashion muse
Eve from shybaby
Jak from thousand sunny
Ann from intangible
Aney from allure
Bee from bee
Phyllis from foradelicatefew
Leah from leah
Margaret from pandaface

Have fun, guys!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

The Best Christmas is not a White Christmas

I know it's a little bit too late to post something about Christmas. But I can't help sharing with you about my last Christmas, which is so far the best Christmas I've ever had.

I was home for Christmas, and although we never really celebrate Christmas with a party (usually we just go to church), last year we made it rather special. Our family plus my boyfriend and my sis' boyfriend, had a special dinner at home. Then we had this little gift exchange, just for fun, with a budget of 10 dollars. So, each person bought one gift, then we drew lots to decide who gets whose. It was pretty fun.

Us posing with our gifts..

And then, we played some funny card games. Winners got to draw things on losers' face using a mixture of water and powder. Here's how we ended up, literally a "white" Christmas for us :

Happy father. He got the least powder on his face.




Oh my goodness!! You might be thinking I lose big time. NO!! I won most of the times, and that pissed everyone, so once I lost everyone started to draw things on my face. That's cheating!! I got powder all over my neck (thank's to angry boyfriend)


Happy boyfriend. He literally poured the powder on my face! #$%^&*
Anyway, all in all, we had the most amazing time. Miss them already..
Btw guys, it's weekend again. Have fun!! I need to arrange my photos in Bali first now, and then I'll share them with all of you :)
xx

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

I'm Back

Hello guys!! I'm finally back to this blogging world, after 3 whole weeks!!

I know, I know.. What a lousy blogger I have been.. But, well, my holiday this time was packed and loaded, 'till I got no time to even sit and turn on my computer. Plus the internet connection in my hometown is as lousy as me as a blogger. So, here I am now, sitting in front of my computer, don't know how and where to start, since I got like tonsss of stories and photos to share with all of you guys!

But before that, I should tell you all that I had a real blast back in Indonesia!! It could have been the best holiday I have ever had!! First, of course, it's because I finally got to meet all my dear family. I even got to meet my new-born niece for the very first time. I tell you, she's the cutest baby ever!!
Our trip to Bali and Tretes (a small town up on the hill near my hometown) were lots of fun too. All I did was play, eat, relax, eat, play, eat, sleep, eat. It was simply heaven. Although now people keeps on telling me that I've gained weight, I'm still very happy :)

First things first, my dearest family :)


During our last day's dinner in Angus Steak House



Introducing Baby J, my niece :) Isn't she a cutie?? Still, the pictures don't do her justice, she's way cuter than this. Miss her already..

Will post more, a lot more, tomorrow :) gotta go do some work now :(
How are you guys?? Miss y'all!! Hope to hear from you soon :)