7 things I love about Eid (Lebaran)

1) Food Galore

All my favorite food on the same table. 

Especially there will be an enormous amount of beef Rendang cooked by my grandma!

2) Countless jar of cookies

Non-stop munching. All day long.

3) The 'new' outfit!

Wearing new clothes on Lebaran day has been a tradition since... I don't know when. Batik is on top of my mind this year and I already saw some pretty pieces on Zalora (and they currently on sale too!) xD

4) Forgive and be forgiven

Don't look back in anger, it's a good day indeed.

5) Goodbye traffic jam!

Uber friendly traffic in Jakarta (normally lasts for 3-4 days only), because almost half of its residents are celebrating Lebaran at their hometown.

6) Extra allowances

For children: get extra money from their parents, grandparents, aunties or uncles.

For adult: earn the 13th salary from your employer!

7) It's a holy-day

I'm a big fan of holiday, those happiest days of the year. 

(pictures are taken from pinterest and zalora)

7 songs I love on my July playlist

1. Ed Sheeran - Sing

2. f(x) - Red Light

3. Arctic Monkeys - Snap Out of It

4. Ingrid Michaelson - Girls Chase Boys

5. Justin Timberlake - Not A Bad Thing

6. Jason Mraz - Hello, You Beautiful Thing

7. Mindy Gledhill - Pocketful of Poetry

What's up Summer? :) 

It's all about bright sunshine or heavy rain here, all year long. I probably never get a real summer since I live in tropical country... but I still love to boost the hype of every season.

(picture taken from pinterest)

Travel to South Korea : Doubler Guestroom Hongdae

I'm so excited when I knew that J eonni has finally opened a newest guestroom in Hongdae! They just released their new homepage, twitter, and facebook earlier this week. It's made me want to travel to Seoul again as soon as possible!

If you already read my blog posts about travel to Korea, you probably knew that 'I'm stuck in Myeongdong area' type of traveler. But, on my last trip on April, I spent my last 3 nights stayed in Hongdae and everything was so convenient and easy.

What will you get if you stay in Hongdae area?
1) Super easy access to Seoul airport (Incheon and Gimpo)
Do you want to go to the city by train? Take non-express or all-stop AREX train and alight at Hongik University (Hongdae) station. It's about 50 mins journey and you just need to pay 3,850 KRW. If you travel with heavy luggage and want to avoid the stairs nightmare, choose exit 2 and take escalator to reach the ground.
Do you want to go to the city by limousine bus? Take airport limousine bus no 6002 and alight at Hongik University (Hongdae) bus stop which is located right above the train station. You need to pay 10,000 KRW for this trip. The travel journey depends on the traffic, but normally you can reach Hongdae after 1 hour journey.
2) Countless cafes, restaurants, cafes, clubs within walking distance
3) There's always a convenience store near you
4) You can find the basic to pretty unique shopping counters/stores for the youngsters
5) Urgently need a direction to get around? Hongdae also has a tourist information center too
6) Entertaining street art performance everyday!

Back to the main topic, Doubler is a guestroom with 2 bunk beds and sofa bed with a mini kitchen and bathroom attached inside the room. They're not a hostel or guesthouse, yet :) They offer their only one room for individual or group travelers. It's a perfect choice if you travel solo or in group consists of 4-6 persons.

What will you get while staying in Doubler?
- comfy bed and blanket
- desk computer with Internet
- free wi-fi all over the room
- air conditioner and room heater
- other home appliances that will make you feel at home: refrigerator, iron with the ironing board, washing machine
- mini kitchen with basic supplies
- bathroom with toiletries, towels, and hair dryer

How much do you have to pay?

25,000 KRW/night for each bed. If you travel in group consists of 6 people and want to book the whole room, each person just have to pay 20,000 KRW/night.

How can you reach Doubler Guestroom?

Address : Unit 204, 347-23, SeoGyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul South Korea

Look for exit 8 of Hongik University (Hongdae) station, turn right then go straight. Turn right on the second intersection and you'll arrive at Doubler! You can follow the map below :)

For more information or reservation you can open their homepage, like them on facebook, and follow their twitter! You can also send them a direct e-mail to doubler.hongdae@gmail.com.

By the way, the owner is a nice and kind person that I've met during my last trip :) I'm pretty sure she will try her best to cater your need while you're staying and help you if you need any direction or suggestion for places to visit in Seoul.

To J eonnie, good luck! Can't wait to see you again on my next visit to Seoul! :)

(pictures are taken from visit korea website and doubler homepage)

Expecto Patronum

I got stumbled upon what people shared on their social media, especially during the presidential election campaign in my country since last month. I'm an apathy person for any political issues since the start of reformation era in my country (late 90's). But this year election was indeed different, because it's kinda look like the present vs the past.

It's the first time I got excited for this democratic party and I put so much interest for the candidates, until... it got worse. Short story, the supporters for both candidates started to share negative and black campaigns towards each other. I mean.. come on, nobody's perfect but can we just pointed out the good in them without playing dirty tactics? It's made me remember why I hate politics so much in the first place.

One thing that I didn't realize on that time was all those negative news, fierce competition, bad assumptions, provocative words have gradually tore myself down. It's so hard to keep your mind in positive state when you're surrounded by loud 'dementors'. As an introvert,  I dislike conflict and honor harmony. So yes, those dementors absorbed my precious (limited) energy and cast away my happy thoughts. Should I shout my patronus charm everytime I checked my social media (and even group chat)? The worst thing was there were also some people who stand in between, claimed not to vote, but always degrading both candidates. They-were-not-helping-at-all. WHY PEOPLE, WHY?

I also raised my eyebrows for some of my close friends who publicly support one of the candidates who (imho) has a 'questionable' track record in his career. I was wandering for about two or three weeks and thought "how come they don't see what I see", "it's an easy and clear choice, how come they choose the other side", "I don't get the reasons, all of their reasons are invalid", and so on. I also started to judge their logic and assumed they're not as good or smart as I thought.

Then... BAM! I realized that I didn't want to open my eyes and ears because I was pretty sure that I spoke up for the right side, but unknowingly the dementors has succeed dragging me to the real dark side. I've become the worst version of myself and I couldn't help but felt guilty about it.

So, on the last week of the campaign period, I chose to step back. The last few days before the election day, with the help of Mr. Google, I tracked back the 'black' history, read any news also gathered facts as many as I could, and put myself in neutral side (even though I wasn't a swing voter) in order to quench my curiosity and answered all of my questions. In the end, I found that there's no white or black side, it's all grey. We didn't know the truth if we don't directly involved in certain situations. People can interpret one thing into hundred different versions or views.

Suddenly, I remember the debate between Phoebe and Ross about evolution in one of Friends episode. Phoebe didn't believe in theory of evolution but Ross thought it's illogical and bothered him so much so he insisted to convince her with all the facts and knowledge that he had. Then Phoebe said something about years ago scientist believed that the world was flat and atom was the smallest thing on the planet until they found new facts. She asked Ross why he was so unbelievably arrogant that he couldn't admit  that there's a teeny tiny possibility that he could be wrong about the evolution theory. Phoebe was just being Phoebe, but she had a good point :)

THANK YOU PHOEBE AND MR. GOOGLE YOU'RE MY HERO! ^^

To wrap up everything, I have promised myself to:
-be curious, not judgmental
-appreciate and respect other people's choice
-believe what I believe in without lowering the opposite's point of view
-keep my mind always open
(Dear God, help me~)

Anyway, the 'competition' is not over yet. Another issue has arisen after the election day ended two days ago. To save myself, I pull myself out from society for a while but still catching up with the recent news. I'm still open for fun discussion though.

Wish all of you have a great weekend while listening to this peaceful song :) Ciao!

(i found all the quotes and pictures from pinterest)

Airport Fashion: Code JSJ

Jung Soo Jung or known widely as Krystal from korean girl group, f(x), is my new addiction nowadays. I totally fell for her classy, casual, yet edgy look. She rarely wear bright color. Recently, she admitted that she didn't has any pink or yellow color in her closet.

eyes on: military jacket + rolling stones tee

eyes on: denim jacket

eyes on: black and white stripes tee and black shawl

eyes on: red and white stripes tee

eyes on: total monochrome look!

eyes on: oversized checkered shirt

eyes on: grey benie + black leather jacket

eyes on: military cap

She often walkes with her head down or hides her face behind shades, mask, or cap that will make her looks cold or arrogant. However, the truth is she's just really shy. All the people who ever worked with her said that she's a cheerful, carefree, kind, sweet, and adorable person :)

And as Krystal, she can be this bold.

Pink Tape, summer 2013

Red Light, summer 2014

(pictures credit: the klassic, jungsoojung.com, fx china fansite, sm entertainment)