Makeup Goodies from UK: Bourjois, Gelly Nail Paint, Sleek, and More!

Finally, I can present to you few goodies from England purchased a few months back when my family was there. I literally provided them with a list, in pdf so they could print it out and take with them, which they did. I didn't get everything on my list though, which is fine. Now that I think about it, I'm relieved that they didn't get me everything otherwise I will be stuck trying everything out for so many months forward and not be able to enjoy the ones I've already had. 

All of the stuff I got is from all the raves and reviews from different beauty videos and blogs. I'm so excited when my mom brought me these. I gotta be honest I'd completely forgotten about them, so it was kinda a Christmas surprise for myself. Well, maybe not but kinda. =P

Blogmas 25, 2013 ❄ Merry Christmas!

This holiday, I get to spend Christmas with my family. I feel really blessed to be able to do that. I'm aware I'm about two days late for posting my very last blogmas of the year, but I was occupied with friends, family, and jetlag.  Here's a recap of the last couple of days.

Visited a new mall called Lotte Avenue in Kuningan area if I'm not mistaken. There's so many new places for that past couple of years! I went from mall to mall, and ended the night with a quality time with my best friend. We went to the movie to watch Soekarno, a history of our first president and his fight for Indonesia's independence. It was a great movie, I have to say. 

The next morning, I woke up pretty early and waited for my parents to get up. We went out for some food shopping.

Blogmas 24, 2013 ❄ Unity in Diversity

Happy Christmas eve! 

I want to wish all of you a very merry Christmas. 

May your Christmas be filled with joy and blessings. =)

It's currently 4:55 am, Jakarta time. I woke up at 3.30am and couldn't go back to sleep. I'm certain I will be out of this world by 11 am, and that will be a problem since I have appointment with the US embassy for my visa. I need caffeine, pronto!

There's nothing going on just yet, but let me just touch base on the movie I watched last night with my mom and dad. Not many people I know like watching Indonesian movies. I understand that some Indo movies might be the worst, cheesiest, cheapest movies ever made, but many of them are worth watching and even translated into different languages so other people from different countries can watch too. Although, I gotta say, Indonesia is full of cultures and traditions which even an avid translators cannot capture the whole essence of the meanings behind a conversation. 

Tenggelamnya Kapal Vanderwicjk is a literature novel by Bayu Hamka. I've never heard of his name before only because I never paid attention. His work is well known through out the country, and this movie is adapted from the novel. It's a love story between two people from Padang/Minang tradition. I don't really understand the deeps and all about Indonesian tradition, but I do know some cultures lift up to their traditions very highly and proudly. The base message of the story is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika which means Unity in Diversity. It's also the motto of Indonesia. 

Growing up, I've learned to memorize my country's motto, slogan, this and that. Unity in diversity sounds like a really great motto, especially for a country full of different backgrounds and languages like Indonesia. If you haven't known already, Indonesia consists of thousands of islands. Everybody is different, and even the languages are different. According to the trusty wikipedia (sense the sarcasm), there are more than 300 ethnic groups and more than 700 living languages in Indonesia. I strongly believe there are much more than that. Indonesia is very rich of diversity. 

I am an IBC - Indonesian born Chinese. I don't speak Mandarin or any other Chinese-esque languages. I only speak Bahasa, Indonesia's national language. Chinese is one of the ethnic groups in Indonesia (and in all the countries out there) and also a minority. I don't recall ever feeling outcasted or anything like that since I grew up in "Chinese area". No, it's not a china town or anything like that. It's just an area where many Chinese people live. I do remember the hatred and labels "Indonesian" people have towards Chinese people in Indonesia, and same goes the other way around. I am too guilty of that.

How amazing it is if everybody can just get along with one another, no matter where they're from or what they do, or what they believe in. I know it is much easier said than done. But I do believe with God grace, things will turn up and for now let me just pray on that. The very least we can do to make a change is from ourselves. As cheesy as that sounds, that's one simple act that I've never cared to do.

One very least thing I can start from is just be nice to one another. That might sound so simple, but harder to do. Let's challenge ourselves. Simply saying hi's and thank you's will do the trick, not always but often will.  =)

Blogmas 23, 2013 ❄ Reconnecting with Home - Jakartan Traffic and Village Food

Today was full of reenacting the routine of my parents. The jetlag got the best of me, I woke up at 3.30 am and couldn't go back to sleep for a while. I spent the early morning catching up with youtube videos and studying. My dad and mom were awake for a bit because of me. The kindly offered me something to eat, but I just told them to go back to sleep. Living at home can turn me back to a spoiled kid I once was. Wait. Scratch that. I still am, but I was way more. 

Anyway, I took some shots on my way to take my mom to the office with my dad. The traffic wasn't as bad. Jakarta is notorious for its really really bad traffic. If you're living in big cities, like New York City or Los Angeles, and if you think the traffic is bad there, try going to Jakarta. You'll learn to appreciate the traffic. I might make Jakarta sound horrible, but it's actually not. Of course, every place has its ups and downs. For Jakarta, it's its traffic for one and other things that I cannot care less about. I love the city no matter what people say. 

Blogmas 21 & 22, 2013 ❄ A Taste of My Hometown

Greeted by the humid air of Jakarta. Yes, I'm finally home! After a very long flight, I'm so relieved I arrived home safe and sound without any struggle whatsoever. 

My flight made a transit in Taipei. There's no direct flight from San Fransisco to Jakarta. It was a three-hour stop, so not bad at all. Although I was starving at the Taipei airport but too lazy and tired to even bother to buy food. I spent the entire time watching my favorite youtubers' vlogs, thanks to excellent wifi connection.

I did find something interesting in the Taipei airport. There were three prayer rooms near my departure gate - for Muslim, Buddhist and Christian. I've never really seen a prayer room in public place for Christian before. 

It took 5 hours from Taipei to Jakarta. About 10 minutes before the original scheduled arrival time, the captain announced there was a slight delay due to traffic at the Soekarno-Hatta airport, and they had to circle around for about half an hour. I was already anxious at that time. Thankfully, after I finally got off the plane, there was no line yet at the immigration. I went through and stuck waiting for luggage for more than 30 minutes. I was anxious that my luggage went missing or something. After all, it's been more than 2 years. 

Anyway, the first food I ate is this Bakmi Karet, which literally means rubber noodle. I just love this type of noodle, and you can't really find anything like it in the US. 

Later today, my parents and I went to the mall. It's really the main entertainment in Jakarta. Okay, I can't speak for every single Jakartan, but I basically grew up in the mall. My house is just a 10-minute walk to the mall. Most of people I know here do their "gathering" at the mall. Lunch, dinner, shopping, hanging out, window shopping, killing time, releasing stress, going to the movie, or anything you can basically do it at the mall. I gotta admit. I do miss the malls in Jakarta. Mall in the Bay Area is nothing compare to the malls here. 

Yin Yang, a mocktail  from the restaurant Duck King made from coke and syrup with some ingredients that I don't know and strawberries and lemon toppings on top. It is delicious. 

Here are a few random shots to give you a taste of what my hometown looks like. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Blogmas 19 & 20, 2013 ❄ Boden Honeycomb Sweater + Fly Home

It's finally the day. I'm leaving for Jakarta, Indonesia tonight. I've skipped a day in blogmas, I hope that's okay considering nothing exciting happens to tell other than my early Christmas/anniversary present had arrived!

 

It's not something too exciting, but it is for me. It is a sweater from BodenUsa.com. For those who don't know about Boden, it's a British clothing retailer known for their casual basics and patterns. I first knew about Boden from the catalog sent to my place. I still don't know how they can reach me at my address while I'd never even heard about them before. It's kinda scary to think about how personal information travels out of your control. 

Blogmas 18, 2013 ❄ Snail Mail

I had another 8-hour long class about tax research skills in San Mateo. It was a dragging class, and I personally think it doesn't take 8 hours to learn how to find things in the internet/tax software. The good thing was there was no traffic when I went there and left home which was during rush hours.

When I got home, I found this in the mailbox. 

It's a late anniversary card. =) 

I've always love getting snail mail. In this modern time, when everything is done through email and texts, it feels really nice and somewhat jazzy to get a love letter in your actual, physical mailbox. I remember a while back I signed up on this website called penpal garden. I just checked, and I don't think it's the same website as it used to be. I got letters from someone from Russia and a girl from England. I was really excited. It didn't last long, though. I blame the postal service. =/

Later that night, I went to the movie with my boyfriend after so many months. I used to go to the movie almost every day when I was still in Indo. I know, it's crazy. The movie ticket is relatively cheaper compare to here and my parents love watching movies. It was a good time. We bought the ticket for Thor 2, but ended up watching The Hobbit 2 instead. I know he wanted to watch that, so I thought why not. Technically, we still paid for the movie. And there were not many people, I guess there's no harm done to switch movies. Well, I don't know. I'm not recommending it, though - not that there will be any reason to do it again in the future. 

Well, thank you for reading. I hope you learned something from the previous post from a guest author about what makeup products can harm your skin. 

When was the last time you sent/received a snail mail?