Hello Again

Obviously, I failed to keep my own words to regularly blog during my trip to Indonesia. Not a big fan of excuses but from the slow internet connection and the hectic daily schedules (dealing with major traffic everyday), I had little to no energy left by the time I got home - let alone blog.

At this very moment, it's 7.01 AM Sunday morning. I had been wide awake since 4.30 AM, while tossing and turning in my bed trying to go back to sleep for a good an hour and half, I finally get up to brew myself a cup of coffee and be productive.

I arrived to NY on Friday afternoon, took the train back to DE and made it in by 6 pm. A complete exhaustion I must say, but can't stop the unpacking process just to get it out of the way. Hot shower never felt so good after a 24-hour flight (30 hours in total with the train trip to DE), and completely passed out right after for 13 hours.

My goal of the day today is to clean up my room, laundry, weekly grocery, and hopefully a nice brunch somewhere (no eggs or bread in the fridge).

Happy Sunday everyone!

Catching up Day 1

This post is probably a week late but I'd rather be late than never. Due to the lack of internet access, I wasn't able to blog as often as I'd plan to during my trip. I really wanted to capture my experiences a little bit more detailed during this trip and not just give away the general “I had a good time in Indonesia” post at the end of week 3. So here goes.

Day 1

After traveling from Wilmington to JFK via train (Amtrak - LIRR - Airtrain) for a good 3.5 hours long, I managed to get into JFK airport alive with two of my luggages. Let me tell you, it was hell traveling alone and having to load and unload these bad boys in and out of the train (3 trains in total). By the time I got to the airport, I was beat. My arms were sore and my legs were bruised - not cute at all.





I managed to check-in to my flights. I was the 3rd person in line since I got there very early. After that, I was so hungry and tired. Saw McDonalds right before the security check point and decided after 4 months to break my rules of "no junk food" on the spot. I ordered 20 pieces of chicken nuggets with a large cup of Coke. I didn't finished them all but it was delicious.

Fast forward 6 hours, I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany for my first transit. As always, it's a very short transit where the plane stopped for gas for our next leg to Singapore (13 hours flight). Every time I transited here, I always try to go to their duty free shop to buy couple boxes of chocolates. So, that's what I did. I bought marzipan chocolate and some belgian chocolate box for my Mom.












Fast forward 13 painful hours, with swollen feet and stiff back, I finally arrived in Singapore for another quick transit before my last destination - Jakarta. I didn't do anything much here coz it was very early in the morning and the jet lag pretty much overshadowed my brain to function.




Finally, I arrived in Jakarta at 8.30 am. Since my Mom took a different flight flying back from NY, I arrived in Jakarta about 6 hours earlier than her. I got picked up by my cousin and driver early Sunday morning. We then headed back to the house to drop my luggage and did a quick change of clothes and left to Plaza Senayan for brunch in UNION. My cousin said this place is very famous for their red velvet cake. They’re not messing around, in fact we ordered 2 slices of the red velvet cake even before ordering the main course. LOL.

 

Several of my friends were able to join me there as well despite the short notice, which is awesome!

So far, I'm having a great time :)

PS: Pics were taken by my iPhone 4S.

The Perfect Black Pump

Not too long ago, I posted this on my FB status





If you see my last comment, I had settled with the lens as oppose to the shoes. Well, to be honest, I do still need a pair of black pump and been thinking to pick one up without spending $600+. To me, finding the perfect pumps is very tricky. The fit on your toes and heels, the right height for your lifestyle, the arch, the insoles and materials - the list goes on. And I can't really determine what's the right one for me because I rarely tries them on whenever I go shoe shopping.

For some reason whenever I'm in the store I'm always drawn to the colorful heels, sandals, wedges, anything but (boring) black pumps. So it is a challenge for me. I want to have a good quality decent black pump that works for work and play, and doesn't look cheap and tacky. I found several that I like online, but concerned about the comfort level. My next best thing is googling the review on each of them which sometimes are 50/50 average which makes it even tougher.

Alright, without extending more about my research process on this, I finally narrowed it down to 3 black pumps that I purchased in plan of returning the 2 and keeping only 1 pair that I truly like. The first 2 were purchased from Urban Outfitters. They are relatively budget priced (less than $100) and perhaps more for play than work due to the shape and materials. The third one is from Cole Haan which is on the higher price point. Obviously, they are better made shoes and I love the classic shape.



1. Deena & Ozzy Angled Split Pump





2. UO Suede Pump

3. Cole Haan Violet Air Pump 90





After examining those 3 pumps, I can't deny that it's a no-brainer to keep the Cole Haan one for several reasons:

1. Comfort level is a 9 out of 10 due to the Nike Air soles. (Cole Haan is owned by Nike Air so the majority of their shoes are made with Nike Air soles. It's a merge between style and comfort.) I gave a 9 because it is leather so there will be a "breaking in" phase.
2. The almond shape toe and straight heels made the shoes look classic and the 3.5" heel with 1/2" hidden platform is also perfect. It's high enough for play and comfortable enough for work. It feels like wearing a 3" heel really.
3. The black patent leather looks very nice and not plastic-y like other pumps I've seen before.
4. Insoles are so soft and have a lot of support even around the edges.The other two had rough edges that eats in to my skin when I wear it.

The Cole Haan Violet Air Pump 90 goes for $248 retail price but I got mine with the 30% off friends and family event when I was in NY this past weekend, which brings it down to rougly about $175. Way cheaper compared to the Christian Louboutin I was eyeing for $625.

What is your perfect black pump?

Cam Photo Diary Cam

TGIF!

Here's some pictures taken from the past two weeks from my DSLR. I have been getting way too lazy bringing my DSLR anywhere ever since I got my new iPhone 4S. I mean, with the Instagram and all the other photo editing apps made it a no-brainer to stick with the phone as a go-to camera. However, I came back to my senses to the reason why I got a DSLR on the first place. :) Glad to be back.

Also, go check out Liz's photo shoot that Hansen photographed. They are awesome!!

My mom is here this weekend so I'm going up to NYC today to see her and of course baby Reggie! Exciting! Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

Xoxo