Babbling Bubbles

This weekend A took me to PIK. For the very first time I went north for fun and felt excited about it. I planned to visit Scarlett's Café while A wanted to try a famous resto he saw on TikTok. We drove straight there right after Ied Prayer. It was a sunny day and I think it would be more enjoyable if we went there around noon 😅

The view inside:

It was a rather small café packed with people (you could see it on the photo above) so I decided to take a piece of strawberry pistachio cake home and OH MY GOD. It could not go wrong with the two ingredients that I love the most in one dish. So far this is the best cake I have ever tried. Definitely will go back there for the dining experience, tiramisu and peach earl grey cake! 💖

Cove at Batavia PIK offers one of a kind places to eat but since there are some food chain we were already familiar with and easily found at Central Jakarta, we decided to try something new, our choice would go for food that we couldn't get around neighborhood, like Pizza Dealer.

Too bad I forgot to take a picture of the pizza itself. The ambience inside reminded me of Slice Pizza at Kumulo BSD. The taste was okay, yet I expected more bacon beef on top of it though 😆

We also spotted some old fashioned with nostalgic vibe restaurants like Zangrandi—brought the memory back when this was the first place to date with A at Surabaya—and Maison Weiner. After a few stroll we stumbled upon this store:

I always had their chamomile tea on my staple and realizing that we only had a few left, we bought some.

The next stop would be A's wish list : Ponggol Nasi Lemak.

We waited for pretty long time to have our dish served but that was okay because we already had a lot in our tummy. The nasi lemak was nice, the fragrant and gurih was there. The sambal was a bit salty to my liking—too much ebi? Oh but I love the vegetable curry though.

On our way to parking lot, we saw Tahua stall and did not think twice to take out some 🙌 Tahua or we called it Tahwa in Surabaya, is my ultimate comfort food. Back home I could effortlessly have it from mamang2 bersepeda who pass by in front of the house every morning. I always had it with Bapak in the living room and finished it off before going to morning class. Unfortunately it was hard for me to find Tahwa that has the ginger soup that kicks the throat like the one I had at home—but on that very day, I finally found it 😊💞

2 comments

1. A said that if his life was made for FTV, the title would be 'Istriku, Pengepulku' 😂as I am trying hard to prevent him throwing away waste (organic waste goes to composter, anorganic waste goes in pile for me to wash later). One day I brought a bag full of cleaned trash, hand-carried it in KRL from the office to the house so that @rekosistem could pick those up. Some people called me insane, but it was the only possible, make sense option for me. Anyway, after months of subscription @rekosistem, they sent me a recap through email:

Is there any greener packaging products I could switch into that have the same function as bayg*n and deodorant?

2. I am so blessed to be currently in such a strong team at work. I am glad that I feel being supervised, have bosses who checked my work no matter how small—unimportant it was, and correcting it—if I made mistakes so I can learn from them—and I have learnt A LOT from them. I could not be more grateful than this. Becoming the one and only female member, I do not want to be, or be treated as, the weakest link in this team. I'll beat my ass to earn that 💪🏻.

3. It was so disappointing to come back to my mum's house only to realize that it was like a landfill; stuffed by my sister's shits, and she blamed mine for it 🤯(which already lost in the first place!). I barely find my cat carrier for God sake. I bought microfiber cloths and sent it straight to that house so that I could clean up there, only to know that it was lost either. Every corner is a pile of clothes and papers and things I could not identify. I was furious at that time until the point that I let mom and her to do anything they want with my things—throw them all away (my college books, comics, and clothes) just to make it clear that it was not my freakin' stuff that stuffocated the house!

4. I feel bad for A to have to deal with my poor photography skills 😞, me having no idea how to drive a car while her girl friend could drive a car from Klaten to Jakarta, me still being not considerate enough to read the map, when it was needed the most.

5. At first, I really have no idea why some of my plants were dying during my visit to hometown for less than a week. I mean, I have watered them before I left them 😢. And after endless browsing and remembering that rain and gloomy days occurred for the past few weeks, I came into conclusion that fungus and bacteria were the ones to blame.

6. The end of the year was harsh for me. I made some effort to redirect my life, finally got into the last step, ran out of excuse to leave the office, got my hopes really high. However, failure hit me hard until my allergies went on again and left marks permanently on my skin 😰.

7. I did intermittent fasting (IF) starting this march and it eventually reduces GERD symptoms, but still struggling with constipation though. In my case, I know that this constipation are caused by lack of work outs even though I ate clean (I always eat clean!). No matter how much water I gulped; greek yogurts, vegs, and fruits I had, it did not work much for me. It all should be consumed in a day combined with work out. The best part is, IF helped me shedding some weights! woohoo! 😆

8. I come clean and clear to mum why I live the way I live right now and it apparently lift some weights deep inside. I did not get into details but I pointed that the last few years was hard for me and A so I begged her not to push us into something we did not want to. I do not need her to help, moreover tell it to others; hopefully she could understand and accept that.

9. Years ago when pandemic hit, I began to hate myself for not considering to purchase a decent laptop. I felt enough using laptop provided by company but the possibility of getting the broken one is pretty high and for the one who depends on company internal network that required to remote PC from home, it left me stressed out. Turns out, years later, company I currently work in bought me a brand new one with 3 year employment in exchange. And for people who would die for a new laptop, I felt so lucky at the moment ✨ .

10. Some people got me wrong the whole time by saying that hand washing the laundry was my ultimate hobby. Why though 😳. I mean, that would be a weird hobby one could have. I just take care of my clothes that much because I do not want them to look worn out easily. Most of the clothes I have right now is still in a good condition thanks to my younger self 😂.

11. Apparently I reconnected again with my circle in college since one of them is going to get married. We don't see each other since 2018 and rarely chat to each other since then. But while changing text in group, there's this person who's been harsh to another 😐. Not to me, but to other person. I don't think her remark is acceptable, yet I remain silent since others did not respond about it. Did she getting meaner? Or did I no longer fit in in this circle?

No comments

I really don’t know when exactly my interest in the environment grew, but I remember I was keen on getting into Environmental Engineering; my first choice for SNMPTN exam—which by the way, I’ve never gotten into.

Since I was a kid, I’ve been taught to use clean water and electricity wisely, more of a bill-wise kinda thing other than eco-friendly things (or maybe that was easier for kids to understand, or easier for adults to explain, I don’t know). Yet that was a good start though.

Fast forward to these days, when I got married and double the garbage that I always put into the trash bin at the end of the day, and how I always wait for the trash pick up service to come, I realise that we, humans, are lame. The fact that the pick up guys happened to be the unfortunate ones to deal with tons of trash produced by people they don’t know about and the ones who risked their safety and health yet still being underpaid saddened me. I know that the system has failed us, but I think there’s something I can do to help.

When I finally enjoyed being at home for a longer time due to the pandemic, I started to dig more of what I could actually do in order to reduce anorganic waste. At that time I thought, how come I could avoid all of the excessive packaging coming through the mail and the daily products I’ve consumed all this time. Reducing online shopping (and ordering food online!) is one thing, but reducing everyday necessities (mostly packaging) is just another story.

One day, “Beli yang Baik Sustainable and Consumption Expo” popped up at my timeline. That's when I was introduced to @siklusrefill and @rekosistem. Knowing that they would be there, I couldn't hide my excitement to A—I asked him to accompany and help me bring the cleaned trash. Somehow, my house is just like Bantar Gebang since I kept most of the trash 🤭 : thin wall containers, shampoo bottles, sanitizer spray bottles, honey glass bottles, body wash refill packages, skincare bottles and jars, a lot of unavoidable bubble wraps and cartons. All of this overwhelmed me and more often than not annoyed A as well. Actually, I got the sense that A didn’t get me with this whole less waste things but that's okay 😅 I hope he could someday.

Briefly, Siklusrefill is a startup that focuses on reducing plastic pollution by providing refills of basic necessities in bulk. Of course, it comes with a considerably low price because we the consumer do not have to buy the packaging. But really we can reuse everything for the packaging, like empty water bottles, cold pressed juice bottles, wafer cans, etc.

For those of you who forgot to bring containers, siklusrefill provide empty jerry cans.

Even though sometimes there weren’t larger one available at the moment.

So what about the products?
Did siklusrefill already fulfil the distribution license?
Worry not, it offers familiar brands from Rinso detergent, Lifebuoy bodywash, to Barco cooking oil!
The product range is quite varied, considering it is founded in 2019. If you’re curious with their price list, please go straight to their highlight “pricelist” on instagram. They're going to update it periodically.

I’m glad that the expo was empty at that time so there was less chance of getting infected by Sars-Cov-2. I brought home 1L of Molto liquid softener, 500ml Lifebuoy handwash, 2.5L Barco worth only Rp 70.000 (!!) , and loofah.
Beside the expo, I can access them through apps. Just one click away and they will be right there on my doorstep. Free delivery it is!

Lihat postingan ini di Instagram

Sebuah kiriman dibagikan oleh Siklus (@siklusrefill)

Another startup that I’m interested in is Rekosistem.

Both rekosistem drop box once empty ended up full of my trash 😅

As far as I know, Rekosistem is a leading waste management startup in Indonesia that provides waste pick up limited in Jabodetabek and waste drop off in certain locations. It offers trash pick up subscription per month and gives a report of the trash you have stored.

Lihat postingan ini di Instagram

Sebuah kiriman dibagikan oleh Rekosistem (@rekosistem)

However, more on that later, gonna write about my experience for the subscription I joined starting at the end of July! 😆

Well, I am beyond ecstatic with these startups' existence—I want to show my support for everything that shares the same value—to tackle global warming—by using their service continuously and posting it to social media in order to raise awareness among my friends. I voluntarily spread this good news to my community and work mates. I genuinely want these startups to be big in this country 😁

Hopefully, there will be collaboration between siklusrefill and bulk source, or any other green movement startups, or pure-co brands (their detergent disposal is safe for sea life), or minimarket like indomaret 🤞🏻, so that siklus will be easier to access, and in result, not only can we avoid using disposable packaging, we might as well can lessen the carbon footprint from the distribution.

2 comments

2018 is the year when I began to be exposed by local skincare. Beforehand, I felt the prescription skin care I’ve got from the well known clinic at Kemanggisan combined with TBS ginseng root serum is enough. But my point of view about skincare suddenly changed after I watched Hyram’s channel on youtube religiously. In one of his videos he said that we could actually find a local skincare that offers the same result in a more affordable price. That’s when I started to explore local skin care brands in the hope that with the same ingredients it will be relatively cheap and did not take much carbon footprint in distribution compared to foreign skincare brands. As some said, skincare is like food, but to our skin. That is why I began to try the cheapest possible first since I consume it everyday 😂

So after 3 years of experience in using local skincare, I’ve decided to write my impression about some of it. To make me finish a skin care product until the last drop means that I enjoy using it and the product itself does not cause trouble on my skin. So without further ado, here are the local skin care products I’ve recently emptied ✨

1. The Bath Box Brassica Lightening Facial Serum

This serum is the most repurchased skin care item and has always been my staple for I don’t know how long. The highlighted ingredients is a) Galactomyces Ferment Filtrate and b) Niacinamide . Honestly at first I did not care about the ingredients at all. I just bought whatever is hype at the moment and had a lot of positive reviews on the internet 🙈.

Little did I know that pairing retinol in prescription cream and niacinamide in this serum is a brilliant move. As a side note, my skin type is combination and has no other problem rather than dullness. The niacinamide in it hydrates my skin since retinol can cause irritation and dry skin. Furthermore, niacinamide controls oil and sebum production and works as a brightening agent, and it also soothes redness and sensitivity. That is why incorporating brassica into my routine makes the retinol cream more subtle to the skin.

In result, I always find my face more plump and radiant every time I wake up in the morning, no kidding. Additionally, I apply this every time my skin feels rough and seems not ready to absorb retinols. Not to mention, this serum works best for people who wanna start to use skin care the first time because it contains safe ingredients. As such, the brassica serum surely is in heavy rotation for years and will always be.

2. Avoskin Miraculous Retinol Ampoule

Considering that I turned 30 this year and aging is unavoidable (!!), I’m stepping up the skincare game by giving this serum a shot last year. It contains actosome retinol that is more stable to the skin so it lessens the chance of irritation. Even though retinol is mostly marketed as an anti aging agent, it can treat acne effectively, remove acne scars, and brighten the skin. To an extent, I’ve felt that this retinol serum sips into the skin faster than the Brassica. Funny story, the progress is remarkable since my friends said that my skin looks better, followed by their curiosity on what skincare I currently use 😜. As my skin is tough enough, I use it every night before my prescription cream and so far there are no bad reactions whatsoever.

However, when I felt my skin is a little bumpy and red, I switched into Brassica serum—more often than not I used product no. 3 beforehand. Let's say I gave my skin a break from active ingredients periodically. All in all, realizing how great it works to my skin, it definitely needs a restock.

3. The Bath Box Fresh Face Facial Mask

I have a long journey in searching for the right mask for my face. I’ve tried oat mask, peel off mask, sheet mask, sleeping mask— and the result was okay, it did not irritate my skin but did not give a positive change to the skin either (or is it just me trying to say that it doesn’t work like they claimed in the front packaging? 😝)

Likewise, I’ve been eyeing Glamglow for so long but knowing that it is so pricey (they had a pop up booth at KoKas at that time), therefore I crossed it off my list. Later, I read somewhere that a clay mask is best for my skin type. The next thing I knew, I bought Freeman masks that I’ve never finished 😅

Enough with the throwback, fast forward I found this fresh face mask on timeline and screen captured the ingredients to my dear friend—who works for a cosmetic company and I know how crazy smart she is in chemistry since high school—and she responded that it has great natural ingredients and encouraged me to try it out for fun.

Briefly, I couldn’t thank her enough for the suggestion.

This mask works wonderfully on my skin. Every time my skin is textured at night after a tiring day, I apply it thoroughly and afterwards my skin feels so smooth like a baby's butt. Followed by my skincare routine, the texture is gone by the time I wake up in the morning.

Why I love this mask beside it is cheap (and cheaper while discount), it does not take much effort to wash it all off, compared to TBS Himalayan Charcoal—I know on the packaging TBS says I should rinse it with warm water but since I avoid drying out my skin—I stick with the cold water instead. Sometimes when I’m in the mood, I use TBS Himalayan Charcoal Mask on T Zone while the rest use Fresh Face Mask. How can I not repurchase this baby? 😂

4. The Bath Box Almond Dolce Body Lotion

To begin with, I bought The Bath Box products at discounts, including this lotion. I like this, but not that ooh-I-can’t-live-without-these-kinda like, if you know what I mean.

Something bothers me is the white cast it gives me even though it disappears when I rub it evenly. Is it because of the almond oil or the SPF? not sure about it. I think there’s no SPF agent in this product. I know that applying body lotion should be the zen moment in girl’s morning ritual but with me constantly being in a hurry, I’m not thrilled about it. Well, I feel like I am getting practical with age.

Regardless, this product is targeted for people with squeaky dry skin and atopic dermatitis disease. This is proof that it moisturizes the skin very well.

Also, Almond Dolce Body Lotion has a soft, nutty, powdery scent—which is a thing for me. Some people even mentioned that the smell is similar to Lóccitane lotion. Probably will repurchase if it is on sale 😆.

So, what local skincare brand have you tried and what do you like about them?

XX,

5 comments

This is something that I wanna write for a long time ago, but I don’t have the guts to. It was because it came to my realization that this post might appear offensive, but here I am trying to write it from other perspectives too.

Disclaimer:

Home decor has always been my interest since I was a kid. But since I prefer practicality over aesthetic’s appearance, I realise that not all trends suit me. There are certain kitchenware that do not work for me, but they might work for other people.

1. Wooden Cutlery

Pic by Andrew "Donovan" Valdivia on Unsplash

I honestly don't know when this trend caught on, but one thing to notice is it all began on instagram. We give a wooden touch on the cutlery to make our food post swoon worthy. The next thing I know there was also this kind of trend that took off: wooden cutlery sets considered as one of gift ideas to newlyweds. And no, I was never given a wooden cutlery set in advance. I only have matching wooden chopsticks and spoon for me to bring everywhere, in an attempt to live a less waste lifestyle. It is more lightweight than the stainless steel one and fit the cutlery case perfectly. However, the only downside of it is they are easily covered with mold. To an extent, I figure out later that it requires high maintenance, more info see here.

I think wooden cutlery is best for professionals in food photography/food bloggers. It also works for people who enjoy taking care of their special things, or in this case, wooden cutleries—putting certain oil in it and sun-drying it periodically—and unfortunately I was not both of them.

2. Sugar Glass Jar

One day I brought home a decent glass jar set to store sugar and spices properly. But well, you make a plan, and the universe steps in, and it was like nope!

The closest pic I've found to picture my jars (with a stainless steel lid)

Pic by おにぎり on Unsplash

A day after I found out the sugar jar was full of ants! O.M.G. I thought my kitchen AND the jar itself is ant-free. Therefore I stick to tupperware or re-use a jam jar to store spices as an alternative.

3. Meal Prep Container

As a person who loves eating veggies, I always store greens in the fridge. Carrot, broccoli, bok choy, green beans, chili, soybean curd has always been my staple. There are a lot of options for vegetable containers in e-commerce, and sometimes I reuse the plastic container package from take outs—you know, the one that says ‘microwave oven safe’ on the lid even though it does not look like it is safe 🙈, but somehow the vegs only last a day or two and they begin to wilt.

Storage container that has rubber lid like this make the veggies last longer.

Pic by Ello on Unsplash

That is when I started to use lock n lock and tupperware to store veggies. For me, a secure, tight lid is much needed to make the vegetables last longer. For instance, using lock n lock, broccoli can last for two weeks and chili can last up to 3 weeks if I put tissue beneath it. That is why I’m being skeptical with a clear food container raved by home decor lovers or ‘microwave oven safe’ containers I’ve mentioned before. Even though it depends on the temperature set on the fridge too.

However, if someone happens to cook everyday, a less secure lid container works well for them since their food stock in the fridge rotates faster. And for someone who only cooks on the weekend or whenever in the mood like me, a lock n lock container is really helpful to avoid producing food waste.

4. Gas Cooktop

One thing that I’ve always wanted when I was a child is to have a cooktop (is it really the right term for kompor tanam in english?) since it could make the kitchen look effortlessly clean and tidy. So there’s no surprise that the kitchenware section was the first place I’ve visited in Electronic City.

Pic by Beazy on Unsplash

The naive me realized later that gas cooktop requires a lot of work. The effortlessly clean image in my mind was actually earned by 1) cleaning meticulously right after I used it, 2) by wiping the grease and dust in every inch of it—or else, the stain will stay forever, 3) by filing the purchase receipt somewhere safe so that if it doesn’t work, I could have the serviceman do it for free just by showing the receipt. If I could turn back the time, I would purchase the usual stove and save my money for a kitchen set instead 😂.

5. Teakwood Furniture

Ok, this one is off the topic, but it is kinda trend among boomers in my office. One day I mindlessly flipped through the IKEA catalog and one of the boomers caught me. An unsolicited advice came along within our conversation, suggesting me to buy teakwood furniture because it lasts longer than IKEA products, and mentioning the home depo he knew was selling teakwood furniture. Teakwood material is well known for its durability, strength, and who can refuse the natural warm color to spice up their home? As much as I want to fill my house with teak wood furniture, I realise that :

1) teakwood offers financial consequences since it is quite pricey 💸

2) teakwood furniture requires larger space since it mostly comes in a bulky shape. Even though I’ve seen some sleek one yet they're way out of my league. And for the one who works in greater Jakarta and has a limited budget, I do not have many options in purchasing teak furniture, let alone spacey landed house. Meaning that once I put a dining table from teakwood in the dining room, I have no ~~money~~ space left to put another stuff 😅

3) the shipping fee! The legit one I knew is teak from Jepara. But only God knows how much I should spend to purchase and send a dining table set all the way from Jepara 😖

Nathan Van Egmond on Unsplash

With that limit, one thing to admit is that it doesn’t have to be teakwood, although teakwood material is not wrong either. IKEA or Fabelio products would be just fine, as long as the material is from a responsible resource 😌

So, what kitchen trends that might did not work for you?

XX,

4 comments

If you want to add some greeneries inside your house and have no idea what kind of plants that suit your space, go with pothos—a common name for Epipremnum aureum—first. It grows fast and once the foliage trails, it could bring the jungle-y vibe into your room.

So before I elaborate more, I am gonna tell you how I almost killed them in the first place 🙈. My houseplant craze began when my husband is not thrilled about what I'm currently into. But once I become addicted to something, I can’t be stopped 😎. So I decided to buy pothos and put in my 3rd level rented room that's actually burning hot in days since the building is the tallest among the neighborhood and there is full glass fancy apartment across the building that constantly reflects the sunlight directly to my room’s wall. Unfortunately I did not check the exact humidity level inside the room but I’m confident to say that it was under 40%. I did not realise it at first but lately it kinda makes sense knowing that it has been 4 years my oily face turned dry, my lips were always chapped and the sudden headache at noon every time I stay inside the room on the weekend 😱. So, have I tested them pothos in the worst condition possible? Probably, yes.

Disclaimer: what I write here is purely for fun and only based on my experience. I am not an expert in house plants, I just love being surrounded by them. The indicator shown below is the bare minimum indicator required to make my pothos happy.

1. Marble Queen Pothos

Humidity Level: 3/10

Sunlight: 4/10

Water: 4/10

This kind of pothos is one of the easiest plants among all. Marble queen pothos is my favorite since it offers a stunning foliage and grows rapidly. Moreover, they tolerate low light conditions better than lemon pothos. I have propagated it a lot and got another 3 extra pots ready to decorate the living room—and some are already in my friend’s house. I like to water propagate them and once they grow pup, I immediately pop them into the soil. The more intense indirect light they received, the more variegation I can get.

2. Golden Pothos

Humidity Level: 3/10

Sunlight: 3/10

Water: 3/10

They do well in a low humidity, but they will thrive even more in a sufficient one. On a side note, I’ve put golden pothos in the darkest spot in my house and they do just fine. No sign of yellowing leaves whatsoever. They are just hard to kill. Once I forgot to water them in two weeks and they seemed a little droopy, but it took a day after watering to actually see them reviving.

3. Lemon Pothos

Humidity Level: 4/10

Sunlight: 5/10

Water: 4/10

One thing to take a note is that this one LOVES bright indirect sunlight. The longer I skipped watering them, the more brown leaves I could get. But don’t worry they pop new pups in a very short time. To make them grow optimally, I put lemon pothos in a higher humidity level room around 80%. I put one in a water propagation in the living room which has around 65% humidity level, and they don’t show any growth ever since and sometimes shed brown leaves instead.

4. ‘Njoy Pothos

Humidity Level: 5/10

Sunlight:3/10

Water: 5/10

Pothos that are affected the most by the heat inside my rented room are ‘njoy pothos. It suddenly turned wrinkly, yellow leaves in a jiffy 😰. I thought I’m going to lose it because I see no signs of recovery even though I move them in a proper environment. The last thing I did was popped it into water propagation and forgot they exist on the corner of the shelf. Turned out, it grew a lot of pups underwater like magic! If a marble queen pothos only grows one pup for one stem on average in the same period of time, ‘njoy can grow more than one leaf each stem during water propagation. Psst, ‘njoy pothos is the only pothos that I put in a terracotta pot.

5. Manjula Pothos

Humidity Level: 6/10

Sunlight:5/10

Water: 4/10

Manjula is the trickiest pothos in my collection. I was struggling with yellow leaves right after I took it home from the nursery. I guess they don’t respond well with the sudden change of the environment. So I changed the soil after two weeks, and water it right after the soil is completely dried. I remember skipping the watering schedule, and they gave me some brown leaves. B1 vitamin is always required during watering. They really love getting soaked by indirect sunlight, so I make sure that they get the best spot for it.

6. Silver Pothos

Humidity Level: 3/10

Sunlight:4/10

Water: 3/10

I am a big fan of silver pothos. It has a big dark green leaf with a splash of silvery grey, making it look like it's given a watercolor effect.

Silver pothos, which has a botanical name Scindapsus pictus, demands bright indirect sunlight in order to thrive. Aside from that, the care is as easy as golden pothos. Up until now I never got a single brown leaf. If I put this to a medium light, it will get leggy and grow much smaller foliage. If they are thirsty, they will notify me by wrinkling the foliage.

🌿🌿🌿

Most of my pothos use well draining soil (sekam mentah or sekam bakar) and plastic pots. I water them once a week, mostly feed them with liquid fertilizer (B1), and never put them under direct sunlight. If you want to spice up your room with pothos, you can read Mbak Ira’s post here ❤️.

XX,

3 comments

The end of 2020 was not really good—at least for me, mentally.
I thought I was okay.
Up until now I was grateful to still be able to pay bills, spend more time with A thanks to my office that allows their employee to work from home in shifting (because normally I could see him only on the weekend), look after my plants 24/7, started composting organic waste, was tested negative for Covid 19 despite having contact with the suspect by giving her a (motorbike) ride.
However, I’m pretty proud of myself that I could pass through this year, peacefully, without getting my back scrapped (kerokan), massage or foot reflexology like I usually do (read: before covid) once a month. Yeah people give me a mic to drop! 😂😆Also, if I’m not mistaken, I went to the mall less than tenth time during a year, wow even I count that as a personal achievement 😂
That number included 3 times we had had since A’s brand new laptop broke so we did not have any option rather than to take a short trip to the mall to repair it—but in the end we got a brand new one for an exchange 😆
Moreover, I had some time to watch the popular Korean Drama named Reply 1988 that really blew my mind. I mean, the series showed me that it proves to me that it does not necessarily require a flashy mansion or fancy car or latest fashion to make me enjoy korean drama. This show offered such a warm connection between the little neighbourhood with a lot of humor. For someone who rarely watch K-dramas, this series is a top notch. Not to mention, the sheep sound is hilarious 🐏. I also binged Modern Family every night before going to sleep. All I really need is a good laugh to keep my sanity during this pandemic.
Somehow, in early December, my period schedule screwed up. It all started with the fact that we had to give up our mudik that we’ve planned (for so long) at the end of December since the covid-19 case rose. Clearly, to avoid any unwanted situation, sadly we have to abort our road trip 😢
However, the heart wants what it wants.
It was like part of my emotional brain gave the signal to my uterus to bleed the whole month. The tense situation between the logic and the desire inside of me reached the breaking point when I cough endlessly every morning and was sick to my stomach and thr*w up like crazy. That’s when A realised that I was feeling pretty depressed due to the canceled mudik plan. On one hand we’re worried that with me being sick meaning that my immune system was in a low state so it could be easier for me to get infected by Sars-Cov-2 virus. Yet on the other hand, it looked like I was not going to get well anytime soon no matter how much medicine I took.
On December 24, during his Jum’ah prayer suddenly A texted me, “if you really want to go home, prepare some cash and get the e-toll loaded.”
And yep, we hit the road that very night and 12 hours later we finally arrived at my hometown. Even though we got tested negative, we still put on masks in any circumstances and did not make any physical touch with our own family. We just stayed inside the house and absorbed the heat that East and Central Java had to offer. I did not get to see my childhood friends either.
But I never feel this happy. Even watching Korean Drama or having my favorite ramen would not make me this happy. It was so good to see my family’s faces and being surrounded by them, listening to their updates about what’s going on lately in their life. I can not lie that home is still where my heart goes.
Anyway, wishing everyone a safe, healthy, happy new year!

2 comments

About Me

About me

Follow Me

Categories

recent posts

Blog Archive