Mita & Dave's Wedding

I'm not gonna lie, the past few days were rough. The jet-lag just kept coming back man! I'm glad that I'm seeing the end of the tunnel as I feel less tired by the day. Today is a better day.

The past Saturday, I was invited to my girlfriend's wedding in NJ. I came in together with several of my friend's and husband carpooling to the site. The best idea ever coz I was still jet-lagged and I honestly don't know how I was going to drive up and down the same night.

The place was beautiful, by the water. We started with cocktail party and then the reception after. It was also nice to see all the Indonesian friends who I haven't seen in a while.

My friend Iis is one of the bride's maid. Click here and here more of the pics from her blog.

Puri Santi Day Spa

One of the best things being in Jakarta is the cheap affordable spa treatments. I had gotten a great recommendation from my aunt to go to  Puri Santi  for their massage spa therapy. It was a good choice.

My best friend and I booked for a 60-minute traditional massage and 90-minute pedicure spa afterwards. It was such a great way to catch up with her in a relaxing atmosphere. The massage was excellent and I actually came back the week after with my Mom for their 90-minute aroma therapy massage.

The place itself is so serene and calming. Very good in privacy too, no wonder the majority of customers are foreigners. The staff in Puri Santi have one of the better English speaking associate that I came across in a day spa in Jakarta.

In addition, they also offer dine-in healthy food and beverages. Great menu selection and portion control. Something that you would enjoy prior or after the spa services at their outdoor balcony.

















Pictures: Personal and Puri Santi

Social Housing Reunion

The first weekend I was in Jakarta, my Aunt Peggy made some arrangements for the family to do a chill get-together on Friday night at this hip place called Social House. We are such an international family to say the least and are glad that we all are in the same place for once. My cousin was in Netherlands for her Masters degree, my uncle and aunt used to live in Houston, TX and moved back to Jakarta several years ago, then the other uncle (not pictured) also used to live in Arkansas who is now permanently living in Jakarta. 
Not to mention, I also invited several of my closest friends from high school and college whose been home from the Netherland, New Zealand and Australia this past year.
Do you see a pattern here? Everyone has gone back one by one in the past recent years and the hot topic at the table was "when will I go back for good?" That's a million dollar question, but I must say that I do enjoy having my family around everyday and knowing that they are as close as car-ride away.  
What am I missing out?

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.