Another Victoria's Secrets

It had been weeks since my cousins Angel and Lauren went back to Jakarta, but life in Bali still feels differently than before. First, I have Hizkia around. Then, I had my friend Marinno who came with his friend Sonny who were thinking of expanding their business to Bali. From Marinno we were introduced to Willy, another Bandung person who already moved to Bali for 3 months now.

Then from Willy, the network expands. He brought his friend Aditya Tirto to our group and the next day we met up again, only this time it's us who joined his circle, introduced to Daniel, Dita and another girl. We played pool at The Deck, Jl. Petitenget, and chilled till 2 a.m. and continued hanging out at Sunny 16 at Fontana Hotel, Jl. Dewi Sri. There we were introduced to Aditya Nugraha, Elwa and Nat.

Since that night on, it's like having a new close friends all of a sudden. I fit in them easily and naturally and it feels really good to have friends like them. They hang out at Kopi Kultur at Little Tree, Sunset Road, a lot so I think it's gonna be my new hang out place, too. They have quite a big community here in Bali and have a Poem Night once a month. Kind of cool, right?


Last Tuesday I was invited to Kérastase Initialiste product launching at Rob Peetoom Hairspa in the morning and Rob Peetoom Magazine launching party at night. I came with Zora, my neighbor, and met a lot of people from my 'previous' life; international clubbers of Seminyak, Bali. It was fun to meet them all, but for me, my new group of friends are more fun to hang out with.

The next day was Dewi's last day in Bali. She was leaving for London and Holland for--maybe--ever, so we all gathered at her house, along with her mom and big brother, Wisnu, and her best friends Killa and Muty. I helped her mom packed the stuff while she was in the salon, and at 4 p.m. she left to the airport, and so her new life started. I feel so happy for her, that she could make her dream come true all by her own effort. She is one of the tough women I know.
One good friend goes, many new ones come. Such a blessing!

My cousins Angelika and Loren had already back to their home in Jakarta. That left me here with Hizkia and his girlfriend Saphira, who came the day Angel and Loren went home. We spent these last days together and also with my kost neighbors: Ana, Risty, Baim and Zora. But what most fun was that I got a new ride.


I found this folding bicycle at Rodalink store at Jl. Teuku Umar and fell in love with this Polygon Urbano 3.0 since the first sight. It has some plus points than the other folding bikes I saw before: it's pretty easy to fold and unfold (see the video below), pretty light for me to carry up and down the stairs by myself (my room is at second floor and I park it in my room) and looks pretty nice with me on it, tho not as lovely as a Brompton*. And the color is silver, which I much prefer.


I tried riding on it in the store and I apparently needed some time to adapt with biking again since maybe almost two decades (I almost never touched any bicycle since living in Bandung) so I brought it to Sanur and had some fun pedaling by the shore. Sanur is really a great place for cycling while in my area (Kerobokan) is pretty much crowded and the roads are very much uncomfortable because there are no sidewalks (the roads end straight to gutters at each side) and other vehicles are mostly speeding up in here.


Anyway, I am legally entering the commuter world now, in disguise on trying to burn more calories everyday rather than sitting sweetly on the scooter to get me anywhere. I really need to work out and I hope this new ride would help me get fitter. Thankfully I live in Bali, where pollution and traffic are less hectic than in Jakarta or Bandung--oh, I'm contributing on polluting less now by biking. Thank God for this bike, I'm superlovin' it!


*) Brompton is agreed to be the best folding bike in the world.

I still have my cousins staying at my place now, and tonight Lauren, the middle sibling, came to join us. Last Thursday, Hizkia, Angel and I went to Ubud by a rental car and we visited some galleries and museum. We first stopped by Tony Raka Art Gallery, then spent another hour at Neka Museum. We visited Gaya gallery and had a very delicious gelato ice cream there.

Om Aries Santiko caught up with us and we had some chat at Cinta Grill to talk about painters in Ubud that Hizkia wants to meet. After that we had some walk around Monkey Forest street to window shopping till 9 p.m. We went back to Denpasar and had late nasi liwet and nasi gudeg dinner at Jl. Imam Bonjol.


My cousins and I spent all Friday noon at room and plan things and watched the sunset together with Baim and Zora at Petitenget beach. Later that night we (me, my cousins and Ana) chilled at Seminyak beach at La Plancha area and had urgent supper after midnight at Circle K Petitenget. It was a really tiring day but very fun indeed.


Today we (with Ana and Zora) went to Seminyak Square and met Dewi there. We then moved to Beachwalk and spent time till 5 p.m. at the mall. We then went to Legian beach and watched sunset there. We met my old beach boy friend, Nyoman, who offered us seats. Baim caught up with us and later we had dinner together at Gong Corner.

But before dinner, Hizkia, Angel and I went to airport by two bikes to fetch Lauren first. Now the siblings are complete and I am so happy to have them here in my tiny room tho it's gonna be so packed. Family is such a blessing to me. Anyway, I wish you all a great summer holiday, too!

More great pics to check on  instagram 
and facebook album.

I went back to Jakarta again last Monday because I had a flu since Thursday before and it didn't get better. I decided that spending time resting with a mother at home would be much better than bed resting alone at my place with no nutrition from the food I had to buy myself. So I flew back to Jakarta and met my family, which was a great getaway for me.

I had my brother stayed over at home also on Monday night and went together on Tuesday morning for his driving license thing and spent the next days with cousins and aunts and grandma came over to see Mom's new home. It was really great to meet family and spend time with them, because after all the friends and acquaintances, family are the ones who love you the way you are.

On Thursday Mom and I went to Thamrin to pick up my sister at her office by 6p.m., then we drove to east to my brother's kost place (that was kind of hard to find because none of us were familiar with the area) to surprise him at his birthday. He didn't have any plan or party to celebrate himself turning 28, so we made one for him. Gladly he liked it so much.




We had dinner together at Gading Walk in Kelapa Gading which was the closest entertaining area from his place, then had some tea at Kopitiam. It was not much, but this was one of the rare moments of our family to gather with complete members. We cherish the moment more than ever now that we all live by ourselves.


I came back to Bali last Saturday with my cousins Angelika and Hizkia along with their father, Om Hari, by Citilink and we all had a fun day at Uluwatu yesterday. It was another great time I had this week, for it had been almost a decade now that we could have an adventure in nature on Uluwatu cliffs, like the days I always had with Dad on holidays. Family really matters to me, although it never is perfect, but at least I have one. Thank God.

More great pics to check on  instagram
and facebook album.

  Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I found this post on a friend's Path and had this knock my head. Yes, I thought, this is so true. At this age I had dated some guys and I could say how I was behaving or doing more or less influenced by the character and behavior of the guy I dated at the moment. It also affected my happiness, because people could see how the relationship was going thru the look in my eyes.

I could never forget how people congratulated me on finally getting rid of some of my exes because when I was with them I didn't look happy. But now that I am dating this guy now who loves me so deeply and truly, my closest friend and neighbor Ana always said that my face always was glowing after I met him. It simply shows in the woman's look.

I would really say that Angelina Jolie is a very lucky woman to have Brad Pitt loving her so dearly and the fact that he is aware of his woman's worth. I had always been loving this couple, even before they were together, Jolie and Pitt had always been my favorite Hollywood stars--especially Jolie whom I adore since her debut in Bone Collector and Tomb Raider, her volunteering in Unicef and also her adopting kids. She had always been my role model since I was in junior high.


But then again, the world--or universe--or God, granted me exactly the qualified guy I had always been wanting, although not in the form that I knew or thought he would be, but in so much a better person. I just thank God that I have found this love at this age. As a woman, I depended on my guy very much. Not in my daily routine that I demand him to be around 24/7 but in the bigger scale, in life direction and principal scale.


So about this guy that loving me so truly madly deeply, I am just thanking God that He ever gave me him, for he encourages me to be better, expand bigger and shine brighter. He wants the best for me and brings out the best in me. He respects me and I love him very much, and thanked God that I could finally love someone who loves me back in an equal way. I wish you all the same joy!

This is a short animation movie made by my schoolmate Dessy. It's a really cool animation out of a simple short story. Enjoy and support her please!

I was sort of free yesterday after a morning meeting, so I spent all day in Mal Galeria. I was intended to watch Fast & Furious 6 but the movie wouldn't be started till 6.35 p.m. which meant I had about 5 hours to kill so I bought another ticket to watch Man of Steel at 4.30 and had lunch at Sushi Kiosk before. 

The Man of Steel was fine, although I had a little problem with Amy Adams as Lois Lane and some part of the movie feels a little too lame. But thanks to Snyder and Nolan, we get to know more about Krypton, tho. And the graphics, effects and Henry Cavill's cute face and hot bod just paid all the disappointments.

I was needing a little workout today so I went to the Petitenget beach and had some walk along the shore for an hour. After that I sat on the sand drawing some stuff until dusk. Too bad there wasn't sunset because it was cloudy. But it was good to let my feet touching the sand and seawater. A Balinese guy told me that sea can cure anything, from disease (with the salt water) to broken heart. It's great just to sit there enjoying the scenery and breathing the sea breeze. So soothing.


I had dinner at Good Deal Warung by myself and when I was just about to ride my bike back, the security guards from Tulip (where I worked last year) recognized me and called me. I went across the street and made time to catch up a little with Dani, a waitress there who was always being friendly to me. She ended up invited me to attend her wedding day next August in Bangli area. I had never been to any Balinese wedding before, so I think it's gonna be a cool first time for me.

I then visited Frans' kost, not to meet the guy but the lady lord, who asked me to come to get Frans' room key back. When I got there she asked me to sit down and chat, so I did. We had a 1.5 hours chat together, talking about unimportant stuff. She said she really liked me and invited me to come back again some time for another chat.

It's really good to be invited and I got two in a night. I guess the nice feeling is to know that these Balinese people do like me enough to want me to be around. It really did made my day (which began not too great due to my lack of sleep last night). I guess Oen's Path this morning really is right: there is always-always-something to be thankful to. Thank God!

As a coffee drinker I have an obligation to share with you the best coffee I have ever tasted, and probably the best anyone would ever tasted, too. Javanegra is a 100% Indonesian brand for all of the coffee was planted all over Indonesia, from the east (Aceh Gayo) to the west (Irian; Papua Baliem), from the north (Sulawesi Enrekang) to the south (Flores Bajawa). Find even more variety in our web.


Special for wild arabica luwak coffee, we have this certificate of authenticity. Make sure you buy the original and best wild luwak coffee from Indonesia. Visit our website or studio in South Jakarta for more info.
All photos are copyright to Javanegra.

To continue the journey on finding our way to the lost Atlantis, here are the videos from Turangga Seta group (video #28-36):

Dewi's mother gave me this 'wuku' based on my birth date. I don't really understand the Javanese / Balinese / Sanskrit language so I'll ask her when I next meet her. So far, I can only put it here to share. Do you agree with what it said about me? Or, if you understand, would you help translate it for me? *pardon the language, there isn't any English version of this.

I'm not getting sick no more, so I think a nutrition guide would be helpful for my food choices.

Don't make me stop drinking!

I couldn't help to buy this purple lamp shade the first time I spotted it in Centro Dept Store. Too bad the shade didn't come with anything else but the armature and green cable. So I asked a hammersmith to make something to hold the shade and it came out as a pretty curvy iron cast painted in white. I also asked him to make small chains to hold the shade.


The green cable for the lamp bulb came without a plug so I had to buy a white plug and be an electrician for a moment. I cut the cord case and coil the brass fibers around each of the steel blunt nails on the plug and cover them back up. After the bulb was perfectly installed, I twisted the green cable around the white iron and plug it in and, voila, my pretty purple vintage bedside lamp!

After more than half a year, I finally had my racks applied to the wall yesterday, thanks to my landlord's help with all the screwing and hammering stuff. I felt so happy with the result, for my bathroom and kitchen looks more neat than before. I got the racks from Ace Hardware and Carrefour. Cheap and easy!

It had been 1 year, 3 months and 1 week now that I have survived settling in Bali. It took a lot of guts and a whole heart to move out to a new place without any family or friends. Lucky for me, Bali is still in Indonesia and the people speak both Indonesian and English, the two languages I expertise on. And I have friends here; both old friends, like Ana whom were my schoolmate in Binus, and new friends, like Dewi whom I met from work, so my days are not lonely.

Still, it's not easy to settle down in a new place, especially in the place where the tradition is thick and the culture is different. Here I'm helping you to adapt better, and quicker, in Bali:

1.  Ride the Bike
Everybody in Bali, both old and young, men and women, locals and tourists, ride the bike. I mean a motorcycle (which they call as 'sepeda' or bike), not a bicycle (here they call it as 'sepeda gayung'). It's like the number one transportation here because public buses' (angkot and Trans Bali) tracks are limited and do not go to small roads. Make sure you have the license (SIM C) and have learn to ride it in safe place with no traffic (try parking lots). It's much easier to ride the automatic kind than the ones with gears. Hundreds of bike rentals available along Kuta and Seminyak roads, but you can also buy yourself a bike if you certain to stay in long period in Bali. It'll help you big time, especially if you are an active and mobile person.
Price for daily rental is IDR 40,000-70,000 and monthly rental is IDR 500,000-600,000 for automatic bikes.

2.  Navigate Yourself
If you have lived all your life indoor, it's time to read the sun position now. Balinese people use compass direction to show ways to get somewhere (in case you are asking) and it's important to know which direction you are facing. Simplest way is to have the map on hand and know where the beach is. If you are in Kuta/Seminyak area, just remember that the beach is the West (kauh); if you are in Sanur or Tulamben area, the beach is the East (kangin); if you are in South Uluwatu area, the cliff is facing South (kelod) and if you are in Singaraja, the beach is the North (also kelod for it's seaward; kaja is used  toward the mountain). Better learn to read the map and stick to it, trust me. Also, Balinese people are good in calculating distance. Use the meter on your dashboard to figure out your first distances, then remember it for next calculations. It'll get better with practice.

3.  Speak Balinese
It's important to know local language when you are living there. I know Sundanese and it's a little help because the language is not so different. Buy a language book or, even better, learn from the locals. Make sure you know the most important words, such as hello/greeting (om swastyastu) and thank you (matur suksma). You can go further from there, plenty of time for this but make sure to get as much information as you can.

4.  Respect
There are people all around the world living or staying in Bali, especially in the South Bali, and they come from different places, culture, and religion. Respect is a must to survive; being open minded is another help. We can always learn something new from other people here, thus our network expands. But not only for people, we need to respect the nature also. Balinese Hindu people believe that God is in the nature, so we must treat the environment with lots of respect. Do not litter, do not damage the coral and sea life, do not damage the earth with heavy and massive structure, do adapt wild dogs, do care for the greens and reduce the use of plastic bags. Respect and be in peace with yourselves, then the universe will respect you also. Remember that karma works fast in Bali!

5.  Dress Properly
Balinese people have so many ceremonies they can ask for leave for up to 13 days in a month when they work. Big chance you will be invited to attend or to invite yourself to one of their sacred rituals. For women, the simplest and most common dress is kebaya just like in Java (a tube top/long torso/girdle with a brocade/chiffon blouse on top of it and a wastra cloth wrapping and covering the legs), but with a prada belt (a shawl wrapped around the hips) and for men, they wear udeng or headband, a shirt, and for the bottom part there are a wastra cloth, a kampuh cloth on top of it, and an umpal (a shawl) to tie up the cloths. You can add a flower on your hair/on the back of your ear. If you want to respect the host of the ceremony, dress up!
image taken via sphotos


You really don't have to wear the traditional dress everyday or speak Balinese all the time for sure. 99% of people in South Bali speaks English and other international languages. But it's nice to have all the points above so you can blend more easily with the locals, especially the ones that are not in the South Bali. Good luck for that!

Yesterday, Monday June 3rd, I woke up very early and arrived at Ubung at 6 a.m. at dawn. Nobody was there before me but soon people were coming over. After it was settled, we departed to Lake Batur; 13 students of year 2011 in an Elf bus, 9 more students of year 2010 in another bus, and me, Bli Agus and Bli Made Dwi in a Jazz car. I didn't know these people before, but it's a good time to get to know more in this program.

So the program was about the socialization of the forming of a cooperative (Koperasi) for organic producers all around Bali. The members of Organik Mandiri Sejahtera that had been collected until now was 700 people from 14 villages and 5 districts. This is a very large number, especially because the idea came for social interest.

I didn't really get involved with the process but I agreed to help on the ceremony day. I was in charge of 22 students of Agriculture major from Udayana University who participated as ushers and receptionists. We were all dressed in Balinese kebaya, the local traditional dress. The first batch (of year 2011) came together with me but the second one came around 11 p.m. so I didn't get to really know them.


We arrived at Wantilan, on the west side of Lake Batur, at 8 a.m. and got prepared our guest lists and other forms the members and invitations needed to fill in. After completing the registration they needed to make a photo, taken by Bli Made Dwi. Then they were ushered to the Pura Jati temple at the north-east side of the hall.

The program started at around 11.30 p.m. when Ratu Pedanda (head of the Hindu priests from the Brahman caste in Bali) gave opening speech, followed by Mrs. Ni Luh Kartini (woman activist for organic production in agriculture and also a lecturer in Udayana University) and Pemangku (a Hindu priest). The speeches were closed by briefing from the Department of Agriculture from the government about the structure of a legal cooperative organization.

The program was supposed to be done at 3-4 p.m, but we finished at 2 p.m. already. It was because the food came late so the programs had to be started earlier than the schedule and the farmers, being uneducated mostly, just went home after the stomach was full. We knew it'd be hard to handle them, but we didn't expected that they'd just go home like that. It was kind of surprising.


But we are grateful enough for the whole programs, although we didn't get all the forms they should fill in, and we went to Pura Ulun Danu (the 'water source' temple) for the administration and to thank and farewell to the Jero Mangku (head of Pemangku in a temple). It took another hour or two before we could go home. We reached Ubung at around 7 p.m. at dusk time.

It was totally a social work for me, and I felt so good because it was not just to support a 'go green' program, support our farmers, and also to know people who care enough to make the cooperative. I got many new friends, especially the girls I was working with. It was really a fun day, not only because of the foggy scenery of the Lake and Mount Batur, those pine trees and also to learn more about Balinese language. Matur Suksma!

P.S. matur suksma = thank you

This was the last treatment form at Wen Zhong for my wounded knee on last Tuesday. After three times of acupressure, I had the blood detox that took 250cc of my dirty blood away from my body and left my body felt fresher than before. Ana came with me for the last two acupressure treatments and we had the blood detox together.

The Sinshe told us to fix our eating style with more fiber such as wheat, vegetables, fruits and nuts, especially from 7p.m. to 10 a.m. Well, we knew about these stuff since a long time but still, living on budget on our own far from family made us had to choose between being healthy or having more money for other things. Well..

Apparently it's not that easy to be healthy on budget in Indonesia, but we promised ourselves to pick more healthy food to be consumed. More importantly is to exercise, which is even more difficult to be done than said, regarding to our lifestyle. But the warning was there and we need to take care of our bodies more now. Now, keep healthy, folks!


P.S. A result of my blood sample just done today and they said the indication is for cholesterol. My LDL level is quite high, I need to consume more fruit and fish oil, avoid the fried food. Basically, I just need to fix my eating style.