Secretarial Duties

What do you think of my Lisa Loeb tortoise shell glasses? Very groovy, if I might say so! Haha! Yes, Friends, I do wear prescription contact lenses, but today I have a little problem with my eyes, so I just give them a rest from the contacts and wore glasses instead.

I received various comments from my colleagues about my glasses look. Some say I look like a sexy secretary, some said I look like an edgy headmistress, a stylish librarian, a nerdy gal, etc. Well, there are a lot of men in my office and they like to tease us girls a lot. I know they don't have any malicious intentions, just harmless teasing, so I just laughed and didn't mind at all.

But really, sometimes wearing contact lenses can be a pain in the *ss. I wear glasses at home so my eyes can rest, and it can be annoying when suddenly I have to go out and drive and am in a rush, and yet I have to put on contacts first! Glasses are heavy so I don't like wearing them when I'm going out. Also, as much as I want to wear tinted lenses, it's not an option because they are thicker and hurt my eyes if I wear them for more than several hours. (No, I don't intend to change the color of my eyes or anything, I'm thankful for the eye color that God has given me, but you know, sometimes a girl just want to have a little fun makeover!)

I've been thinking about lasic surgery, but the word surgery gives me the chill, so I'm still not up to it until now. Have any of you had experience having eye lasic surgery? Please share with me if you have, Friends! It's something that I'd really really want to do in the future!

Anyway, the shirt I'm wearing is actually quite baggy, but I cinch it at the waist with this obi-like hot pink belt that I made myself. I layered underneath with a scooped neck top that has lace detailing because I love how the lace peek through at the neck/upper chest area.

Overall, just a simple corporate look to face today's office duties!

Btw, Friends, holiday will start soon and I'm not sure I'll have time for blogging in the middle of all the happy-frenzy-crazy time. So, just in case this would be my last post of 2011, let me wish you all

Merry Christmas 2011 and Happy New Year 2012!

Hurrayyy!!!

Shirt: Massimo Dutti. Black wrap skirt: tailor made. Black jacket: Brooks Brothers Woman (USA). Pink obi: tailor made. Purse: Les Catino. Pink scarf: thrifted. Pink earrings: Aldo. Shoes: Yongki Komaladi. Glasses: Giorgio Armani.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas On Orchard Road

If you follow my blog, you'd know that I just had a week trip to Singapore recently. Unfortunately, I didn't have any outfit pictures since I went on my own and had no one to take my pictures. Sob, sob. But anyway, I'd like to share with you Friends some pictures I took during the trip. I stayed on Orchard Road, a famous Singapore shopping arcade, and since it's December already, the whole street gets dressed up and decked with such gorgeous Christmas lights.

Also, I've been tagged by the lovely Wii of A Single Girl's Musings. Thank you, Wii! I love this kind of game! And I just copy-paste from your post, because I'm too lazy, hehehe...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with four things per question. At the end, choose other friends to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you!

Soooo... let's start!

FOUR JOBS I'VE HAD IN MY LIFE:

1. Selling stickers to friends when I was in primary school. Yep, I was entrepreneurial when I was a kid, I don't know what happened to me, now that I've grown up I've been an employee during all my adulthood!

2. Private tutor for primary school children when I was in high school. Just something productive to do in my spare time, as well as earning some pocket money to buy new clothes and some new, cute school supplies and stationeries.

3. Retail at Walgreens (drugstore/convenience store) during my college years in the US. Actually I really loved working in retail. If career in retail in Indonesia is as good as it is in the US, I might pursue a career in retail instead of what I'm doing now. I love working in a store, I love the ambiance, people, the merchandise, and the adrenaline of just being in a store. I don't even mind the physical work involved such as stocking up the racks and stuff. It's not a glamorous job, and the salary is not high, but I've learned that the actual ANNUAL income is very very good, from very generous bonus and profit sharing system. In fact, I was surprised to find out that store managers make bigger annual income than many of those with "glamorous" jobs in downtown where you wear power suits! The better your store is doing, the more money you make. Fair and square.

4. My current office job, of course!

FOUR MOVIES I WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AND OVER:

1. Legally Blonde. Pretty girls can be smart, AND kindhearted, too!

2. Any adaptation from Jane Austen novels.

3. Devil Wears Prada. (Love love LOVE the clothes!)

4. And I Hate You So. (An old Mandarin movies, starred Kelly Chen and Aaron Kwok)

FOUR PLACES WHERE I HAVE LIVED:

1. Jakarta, Indonesia

2. College Station, Texas, USA

3. Houston, Texas, USA

4. Austin, Texas, USA (Ya ya, I just moved from city to city in Texas during US years)

FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH:

1. The first season of Ally Mcbeal.

2. Nigella Lawson's cooking shows. (She's beautiful, sexy, she can whip up delicious dishes in minutes, and she eats! What a woman )

3. Kimora Life in The Fab Lane. As much as I think she's annoying, I love her quirkiness, her sense of humor and positiveness. And she prays. ^__^

4. Almost anything and everything on Travel and Living Channel.

FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION:

1. Australia: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisband, Gold Coast

2. China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guilin, Guangzhou

3. Holyland: Egypt, Israel, Jordan

4. Makati, Philippines

FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY:

1. Bloglovin

2. Logam Mulia (to check gold bar prices, whether they're up or down. I'm a conservative investor, I invest in gold, property and mutual funds.)

3. Detik (local news website)

4. IDX (Indonesia's stock exchange website, to check stock prices)

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS

1. Indonesian style fried chicken. I prefer Western to Eastern food, but nothing beats this ultimate favorite food of mine!

2. Anything shrimp dim sum!

3. Good ol' American breakfast: eggs, toasts, hashbrown, pork bacon, orange juice.

4. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!

FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:

1. NYC! I dreamed to live there, but never really made any attempts to make it come true. I mean, come on, before graduation I applied for jobs in Dallas and Houston, not in New York!

2. Singapore. For more Christmas shopping... I know, I'm sooo bad...

3. The Isle of Sarks. I've been wanting to go there for vacation, but somehow ended up going some place else. Well, maybe next vacation...

4. Houston. I miss you!!!

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE PERFUMES/ COLOGNES

I don't wear any. Perfume makes me dizzy. However, I love scented body lotion, candles, satchet, and sweet smelling things! My favorite scents are...

1. Jasmine

2. Rose

3. Lavender

4. Green tea

FOUR OF MY FAVORITE MUSICALS

1. Phantom of The Opera. (my all time favorite)

2. Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Warriors)

3. Miss Saigon

4. Annie

FOUR FAMOUS PEOPLE I WOULD LOVE TO MEET - DEAD OR ALIVE :

1. Mother Mary. I want to ask her why she said yes to carry baby Jesus and where did she get the courage to do so considering the rigid cultural norm at the time. I mean, she could be stoned to death for alleged adultery because of this pregnancy!

2. Jackie Kennedy Onassis. I want to ask her how she could be so strong and maintain her composure in dealing with an unfaithful husband AND handling the pressure of being a first lady and the center of international media frenzy at such a young age, all without losing her sense of self.

3. Tzu Hsi, Empress Dowager of China. Is power so scintillating to a woman she would sacrifice anything to get and keep it?

4. Queen Esther of The Bible. How did she make herself stand out among all the other women at the palace, without losing her self identity and her faith?

FOUR THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY:

1. Good food.

2. Good book.

3. Good art in any forms: paintings, shows, music, etc.

4. The girlie-girl activities: self-pampering, beauty treatments, and of course, good ol' shopping!

FOUR PEOPLE THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY

1. Myself. (Yep, I have the right and responsibility to make myself happy! Read my happiness post here.)

2. My family.

3. My friends.

4. You, my dear Friends in blogosphere ^__^

Sorry for editing the tag a bit. If not I'm afraid it would be too long

Now, I'm tagging some of my fellow Indonesian and international bloggers, I'm not sure who will respond to this tag, but I hope some of you will!

Wii of A Single Girl's Musing (Thank you for tagging me, here I'm tagging you back!)

Suki Pooki of Suki Pooki

Julie Lan of Pop Champagne

Indi of Dunia Kecil Indi

Kristy of Monochroma.Chic

Naomi of Naomi's Blog

Catherine Au Jong of Etinology

Sophie A. of His Abundant Grace

Natasha Atkerson of What I Wear, What I Do And Why I Did It

Michelle of Glisters And Blisters

Mongs of My Thrifty Closet

Amelia of Ugly Duckling

Ninin of The Two Miss Fits

Veren Lee of A Little Princess

Mirjam Schuurkamp of MirFashion

Oomph

Dina Vanessa Mercado of Voguely Van
Miss Kwong
Laura of The Blog of Worldly Delights
Priscilla Clara of Beauty & Me
justututiny

Cheerful Frugalista

I have a closetful of clothes and I have nothing to wear. So what's a frugalista to do? I shop. At my closet. And in the dark recess of my closet I found these ensemble I'm wearing today. Mission accomplished. Ow, and I can wear my new earrings with it, too. (See my haul post here) Whattaday. *self-contented smile*

Ecru jacket: Harrods (UK). Pink scarf: thrifted. Black pleated skirt: unbranded. Black sandals: Yongki Komaladi. Purse: Guchi Collection. Earrings: Naughty MKG.

Linking up to:

Flying With The National Falcon

Hello, Friends!
I just got back from a week Singapore trip, and inspired by Vanessa's post on her experience flying with PAL, I thought, if she blogs about her national airline, why don't I create a similar post to promote my country's airline? So here's a short picture post on how it feels like flying with Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia's national airline.

The journey started in Garuda Executive Class lounge where I had breakfast and spent time reading Forbes magazine while waiting for boarding call. Unlike some other lounges, Garuda lounge provides "real" food menu, with toasts, omelette booth, dessert table, rice, noodles, juice corner, etc. Not just some finger food. So eventhough I skipped breakfast at home because I took an early morning flight, I didn't need to worry. They have free internet corners as well, but I didn't take pictures.

One of the perks I like about flying with Garuda Business Class is this Fast Track privilege where you can beat the long line at immigration booth. You just show your boarding pass and they'll let you use a special fast track line. So convenient.

I don't know why people complain about airplane food. I have been flying with various airlines from SQ to Northwest, China Air to Qantas, American Airlines to local airlines, business and coach class, and in all, the inside of an airplane is so cold that you become ravenous and any kind of food would taste good!
They had three choices of meal. I pick this one consisted of enchilladas, fruit, butter shaped into a rose, hot bread, and chocolate Haagen-Dasz ice cream. For drinks they have choices like juices, soft drinks, sparkling or still water, wine, you name it. I even got cheese and beef quiche, but again, no picture. *sigh*

The food was served sizzling hot, so it tasted delicious and delighted an empty stomach in the cold cabin. I like the fact that they serve with proper china and eating utensils instead of plastic fork and spoon.
Ow, and you get your own choices of newspapers and magazines, as well! Since I already read Forbes at the lounge, here I opted for Femina, an Indonesian woman magazine.

They have L'occitane toiletries like body lotion, cologne and face spray mist in the lavatory, so yeah, they don't scrimp on quality! Love it!

I wish I thought earlier to create this post, so I would take more pictures, but this is all I have. Ow, and I don't have any decent outfit pictures since I traveled alone, so I had no one to take my pictures!

Overall, I really enjoy my experience flying with Garuda Indonesia! Btw, Garuda is a word in ancient Sanskrit language, taken from a name of a mighty falcon bird from the classic epic Ramayana.

White shirt: Victoria's Secret. Jeans: Jordache. Sneakers: Nike. Coat: Papaya. Bag: Bellezza.

Outdoor Clothes Combining Recipe

When you're going to spend the day driving to a town 2-hours away, and then strolling around an outdoor picnic place for the whole day, you know that dressing the part is a must. So let's welcome the trusty olds.

Outdoor Clothes Combining Recipe

Ingredients:
1 piece of too-short pale green top with holes all over it
1 piece of blue & green striped tank top, to layer underneath
1 big, multipurpose bright red patent vynil bag, to carry all your stuff for the trip
1 pair of cropped jeans
1 pair of comfy sneakers
Accessories to spice things up a bit

Instructions:
Wear the top which will look weird and immodest by itself but looks kinda cool with the striped tank top. Slip into jeans and sneakers. Wear whatever accessories that suit your mood for the day as long as they don't dangle and jingle too much for outdoorsy activities. Grab that look-at-me red bag to complete the whole look, as well as too keep all your picnic supplies.

All the pictures were taken at Kampung Daun, a tourist place that combines local customes, art & craft gallery, restaurant, and nature in Bandung, about 2-hour away from Jakarta.

Top: from Korea. Tank top: unbranded. Cropped jeans: old. Sneakers: Reebok. Accessories including socks: old collection. Red bag and pink-tinted sunnies: from Philippines.

Yellow Rose of Texas

Who needs a scarf when these pretty ruffles peeking through the black jacket already look like one? This chiffon dress with ruffles is definitely NOT an office wear. Usually I wear it for church or a casual date, but somehow today is a working day and I really want to wear something ultra feminine. So I decided to go with my whim and layer it with this black jacket. The ensemble turns out nicely, I think.

This is how the dress look without the jacket. It has lots na lots of ruffles with brown pipings. Actually it has a built-in sash from similar material around the waist, but I forgot to wear it for these pics.

See? Why complying with the rules of office wear and casual wear or any kind of categories? You can be creative and finding new ways to wear your favorite outfit for many different occasions!

Dress: thrift find. Black jakcet: tailor made. Accessories: old collection. Sandals: Yongki Komaladi. bag: Elle.

Thus They Call It The Promised Land (Part 8): The Beautiful Beatitudes

This is the last post of my Holyland trip series, I hope you haven't got bored with it just yet. Here I went to the Mount of Beautitudes and Sea of Galilee.

"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8)

Yes or no? Having a clear mind and heart will serve you well because you will see everything in a much fresher perspective, compared to when your heart is filled with negative thoughts.

If you are a Christian and familiar with the Bible, you'll know that there are nine beautitudes. This one captured my heart because it reminded me of my own experience in searching for the elusive, everpresent, but unseen God.

When my heart was filled with anger, disappointment, anxiety, and rebellious tendencies, I couldn't see God, no matter how hard I tried. Only when I became so exhausted from my own battles and gave up, and just let all those negative thoughts simmered down, then everything became clear. And there, I saw God. I felt God. I knew there is a God.

Therefore, I try to remind myself everyday, every morning when I wake up, that only when my heart is clean, I can see God. 

Jeans: old. Sneakers: Nike (gift). Top: unbranded (also worn to hangout with girlfriends here). Earrings: Diva. Bag: from Philippines. Hat: from Korea. Colorful beaded necklace: DIY project, also worn in this post in different style.

This is the sunrise view from my hotel room window, facing the Sea of Galilee. Awesome!

Good morning, God!

Let’s Join The Party: Winter Resolution

I know, I know, it’s not New Year just yet, it's only after Thanksgiving, but I’m not the kind of “New Year Resolution” type of gal. I believe that if you really want to start something new, something good and fresh that will improve you and make you feel good about yourself, you can always start TO-DAY. Yep, today. We live in today, everyday, not tomorrow, not next month, not just on January 1. So let’s live and celebrate!

I decided to write a post about it to share with you, Friends, because I think many of us also have something or things or good habits that we would like to start with, so I’d like to invite you to join in the party of Winter Resolution, TODAY. Also, by sharing it here for all of you to see, I thought it might give me some extra boost to really keep the commitment. As you know, keeping a commitment, any commitment, is not easy, and I need all the helps I can get. So, please help me, Friends!

Anyway, these are my Winter Resolutions.

Eating more fiber, daily

I don’t eat fruits nor vegetables. I just don’t. I know that’s bad, but I’m too lazy to shop and keep produce that don’t last forever, and too lazy to peel and chop the fruit and remember to eat it after each meal.

Plan: Preparing some fruit, just a little bit, not too much, every evening and bring them to work the next day, so at least I eat a little bit of fiber everyday after lunch.

Arriving at work a little bit earlier, everyday

Now, this one is really tough. I’m not a morning person. I always arrive late at the office. Mind you, I never late for any appointments or meetings, but when I don’t have anything specific going on, I wake up late and arrive at work late. Luckily my boss doesn’t mind because I always arrive before he does, but I still think it’s not good that my coworkers see me being late everyday. Also, I always rush every morning because deep down I feel guilty for being late, and it’s not good because I always get very anxious as result!

Plan: Waking up half hour earlier every morning, and not hitting the snooze button!

Keeping up with my daily dose of Bible reading

Over the years I’ve learned that keeping commitment to those who matter most is the most important, yet the most difficult. Why? Because we know that those who love us will always forgive us when we’re slacking off. Therefore we take them for granted. Which is bad, I know.

For example, I strive to keep a work commitment to my boss, because I know that if I fail, he will chop my head off. Many times I found myself trying less hard when it’s something to do with my parents, because I know that they would be much more forgiving to my excuses. The fact is, I can always find another job, but I can never find another set of parents, so the priority is somehow misshapen, don’t you think?
And of course, the one who loves me most, the one whom I should love most, the one who matters most – if I say so myself – is God. And yes, sadly, shamefully, He is the one most easily neglected by me, when in fact He should come first in my life, not second, not third, and definitely not last, as I’ve been doing lately. So uncool, so ungrateful me.

Plan: Reading a short passage of the Bible every night before bed time. No, I don’t plan this huge project of reading Bible cover-to-cover unless I get overwhelmed, just a small passage, or at least one phrase, every night. That’s not asking too much, is it? Not for Him who has been loving me that much!

So, that’s all, Friends. My small project of Winter Resolution. It's nothing big, nothing fancy nor overtly-ambitious. If you have any resolutions too for this colder season, please share and let’s do it together. Should I write an update post sometime in the future on how I would have been doing? Perhaps I should, that will motivate me more to stick with it. What do you think, Friends?

Butterfly top: Roxy Wear by Roxanne Heptner. Avocado green vest: a Japanese vintage, used to be Mom's. Black slacks: office uniform (not shown in the pics, but believe me, I wore pants, hahaha!). Earrings: old collection. Butterfly necklace: bought online. Shoes: Voir (Malaysia). Black blazer: Brooks Brothers Woman (USA). Brown suede bag: Nordstrom (USA).

Thus They Call It The Promised Land (Part 7): An Unexpected Blue Ocean Twist

"Life is full of unexpected turns and twists.

That's what makes it so interesting."

LeeAnne, Style N Season

Let me share with you Friends about some odds happened during my Holyland trip a while back.

On the first evening in Cairo we decided to pay an extra USD 35 per person to join this Nile cruise. I was pretty excited and thought it would be very nice, watching the view of historical Nile river at night, but it turned out I didn't really like it and the money was not worth it. I should have been staying at my nice Le Meridien room and rested. That's one.

Jeans: old GAP. Green top: Tommy Hilfiger. Nude cropped cardigan: Tommy Hilfiger. Pink belt: unbranded. Dangling earrings: Claire (USA). Blue striped bag: just bought it in Cairo. Sneakers: Nike (gift).

And second, on the last day in Egypt we supposed to go to Sinai where Moses received The Ten Commandment. Lo and behold! There was a local Bedouin conflict going on, so the road was closed and we were stranded in the desert in the middle of nowhere. Worst yet, our bus got hit in a slight accident in the morning and the AC didn't work properly, so there's no way we could go back to Cairo because it will take four-hour drive and it was already 8 pm. So we took turn and stayed at this beach front hotel cottages instead of the one we already booked at Sinai.
It was almost midnite when we reached the hotel and we were very exhausted so I didn't pay much attention to the surroundings.
Then morning came and I felt like I went to bed in a black and white world the night before and woke up in a multicolor one the next day! Look at these pictures! Who would ever thought we would  end up staying at a beach front hotel in Egypt!

Turquoise earrings: from Sydney. Straw hat: Mom got it for me from Jogja, Indonesia, especially for this trip. Thanks, Mom! Sunnies: Oakley. Colorful beaded necklace: DIY project. Red bag: from Philippines.

After breakfast we continued our journey on the bus across the desert. Our destination was Taba, the border crossing between Egypt and Israel. It was sand, sand, sand, everywhere, and we drove for hours so it was really boring after a while, as you can see.

So imagine my delight when the bus made a turn and suddenly we saw this unbelievable spectacle right in front of our tired eyes. It's the Red Sea near Taba. I saw pictures of deep blue sea like this before, and I always thought they were photoshopped. When I saw this I knew that it really exists! I think it's because there's no corals or rocks or anything on the sea bed, so the waters really reflects the pure blue color of the sky. Or maybe it's the planktons, I'm not sure.
But hey, I never thought that at the end of looooooong journey across the desert, we would ended up seeing this gorgeous blues. That's the third twist.



And, after looooong hours spent in the border crossing, our first stop in Israel was at this cooperative shop where they sold the most delicious ice cream you could imagine after a long, hot, and tiring day. Hmmmmm... what a treat! That's the fourth surprise of the day, because I expected a religious experience one I stepped on the land of Israel, not the tingling, cold, delicious sensation of eating ice cream! Not that I complained, of course!

Chambray shirt: Nautica.

So, yeah, when life seems odd or challenging or confusing or whatever, do not despair, dear Friends. You'll never know what God has for you in store, and it might just be something wonderful right there after that unexpected turn!

Happy Sunday, Everyone!