Nopai's b'day lunch

One of my FD friends, Novi or Nopai as we affectionately call her, is celebrating her 32nd b'day today. A group of us (me, Linda, Rani, Woro, Irene, Tjepi, Dhyta, Lita, Amal, Fifin, Indrya, Yustin, and Ella) decided to throw her a b'day lunch at the Grand Duck King Grand Indonesia. Wait, isn't it the other way around, the b'day girl treating her friends? Nope. This time Nopai didn't ask for a gift, instead, she asked for a lil get together and we happily obliged. A really great idea, indeed.

It was a fun day, the food was splendid, the cake was yummy.. 13 women together.. chit chatting, gossiping, dan diakhiri dengan apalagi kalo bukan.. transaksi lenong :D
After that, kita jalan2 bentar liat2 Chanel (ngomporin Rani, hihihi), MAC, and then we parted ways. Cabut dari GI, mampir ke dr. Wong bentar, terus pulang deh. Fun Saturday, indeed.

Ada apa dengan typhus?

Abis gue, sekarang giliran my babe kena tipes. Kesian deh, udah 2 hari tiduran mulu. Mana mungkin udah tua kali yah, jadi lebih berasa apa gimana gitu.. sbb waktu gue kemaren badan gue ga seberapa panas dan ga pake nyeri/linu sendi2nya, tapi pas babe gue ini badannya lumayan panas (sampe 39 lebih) dan sendi2nya linu.. I hear him hissing with pain all the time :-(
My dad has been blessed with good health all his life, gue ampir ga pernah liat dia sakit, yah paling cuman flu2 doang, dan akhir2 ini vertigo, but that's it. Jadi gue kesian sekali liat dese terbaring sakit ga berdaya gini.
As for my mom, well, she has another patient in her hands right now. Before it's me, 2 weeks later it's my dad. Poor mom, she must've been so tired taking care both of us, cooking special meals, taking temps, giving medicine.. Hugs to you mom :-)
Mudah2an babeku cepet sembuh, so he can go back to his normal life.

Bite me once, shame on you, bite me twice shame on me!

What do you call a person who likes to steal pictures from the net, post them in a forum, and call them as her own? Not only that, she tried to do it once, got caught and banned, disappeared for a while, then came strolling back as if nothing happened with more stolen pictures. Me thinks sick in the head is more likely for this person, what's more, I think she's as disgusting as a bird's poo.
Good thing is, the forum has a lot of 'detective wanna be' and this b*tch was caught in less than 24 hours.
Bye bye, so long, bon voyage b*tch. Go away and don't ever comeback ever again.

Pondok Pengayom Satwa

Dua kucing betina gue baru aja pulang dari Pondok Pengayom Satwa di Ragunan setelah 'onderdilnya' diservis (baca: kebiri). Anak ama ibunya. Emang telat banget gue bawa mereka kesana, I should've never let them mutiply from 4 to 12 (I'm sorry guys, it's my fault, I know). But hey, late is better than never, and I have 1 more girl to go after these 2. I'll prolly wait till the end of the year till the lil girl is old enuff to undergo the surgery.
Pondok Pengayom Satwa ini gue pilih karena setelah telpon sana sini, disanalah yg paling murah, bisa 50% bedanya. Mereka ini a not for profit organization, relying heavily on donations, macem RSPCA-nya Indonesia deh. Mereka punya klinik, dan juga boarding, grooming, burial, and cremation services. They take in all kinds of animals, mainly cats and dogs. Kalo mau adopt a pet or 2 juga bisa disitu, banyak banget anjing dan kucing yg membutuhkan rumah dan mama-papa baru. Mereka juga menerima donasi dalam bentuk uang, koran bekas, pet food, kandang binatang, dan lain2nya.
Waktu di PPS gue liat beberapa anjing yg udah tua bgt dan ada 1 yg kakinya buntung. Sepertinya kecil harapan buat mereka2 ini untuk diadopsi, so I guess they'll be spending the rest of their lives at PPS. Hebat PPS ini, binatang2 tua ini (yg mungkin sepanjang hidupnya penuh dgn cerita sedih) dibiarkan hidup dgn tenang disana dan tidak di euthanasia. For that, I admire PPS and thank them for it.
So guys, if you wanna know more about PPS or have something to donate, you can go to (they don't have a website, unfortunately):
Pondok Pengayom Satwa
Jl. Harsono No. 1, Ragunan, Jakarta.
T : (021) 780-4993
They are open 7 days a week until 8 PM.
(Jalanan yg mau masuk Kebon Binatang Ragunan, gak jauh dari RS. hewan, ada plangnya kok)

Prison Break

It's all about conspiracy.. and I ain't talking about just a conspiracy, this time it involves the higher ups, supposedly some dark forces in the US government known as The Company. The ruler of the ruler, that even the president is at their disposal. Does such a force exists in real life? Whatever, all I know is that this show is damn addictive and I can't wait for season 4 to begin. I admit, at first I was a bit skeptical about this show, I mean, come on, true to its title the show is about breaking out from prison, I know at one time they're going to get out (it's a TV show afterall). Then what? Ending up at another prison certainly ain't what I was expecting, but that's what happens. Somehow, the writer managed to make the connection thru all sorts of things involving The Company yet again. Pushing it? Perhaps, but all I know is that I am not bored with this show yet and Wenworth Miller is a pleasure to watch on the glass screen. Plus, there's a rumor that Dr. Sara Tancredi is going to re-appear in season 4 (another motivation). Last time I checked, she had her head cut off and thrown in a box. Does this means that the head in the box is not Sara's? Season 3 never showed Sara's face anyway, only a voice that sounded like Sara's was heard thru the phone. Hmm.. interesting, I wonder how it's all gonna add up, so, I'm gonna sit tight with my popcorn ready and wait for the new season to begin.

Menuh2in server kok hobi?!?!

Pindahin aja terus tuh isi 1 website ke forum. Kalo mo ngebahas itu benda kenapa ga bikin linknya aja sih, biar yg emang tertarik bisa liat sendiri ke website yg bersangkutan. Lagian juga yg diposting ga ada bedanya ama kalo kita ke websitenya langsung. Ini kok kayak maksa disodorin dimuke lo, mau gak mau harus liat, duileee.. plis deh neng.. Ok, ok, we get it, u're crazy 'bout these things, we can see by the way you act and how you choose to represent yourself for other people to see. It's getting annoying by the minute *sigh*

Recap.. recap..

Pagi2 buta gini, ngapain enaknya yah? ngubek2 FD udah, blog hopping udah, ngerokok udah, belanja online serem ah takut diomelin. Mari kalo begitu kita ngerecap aja hal2 apa yg harus gue lakuin dalam waktu dekat ini. Let's begin shall we..

1. My best friend, Denise, is getting married on Saturday morning. Jam 10 teng akadnya, udah pasti gue dateng pake kebaya yg lama2 aja, ga sempet bikin baru. Abis ke Denise, gue harus terbirit birit ke Ancol buat hunting foto di Dufan. Damn! Judulnya bangun pagi dong Sabtu ini :-(
2. Hari Minggunya resepsinya Denise. Baju dah ada (kembar seragaman). Jam 7 malem.
3. Tanggal 4 Juli another friend is getting married too. Kain seragaman udah ditangan, tinggal gue dapet PR buat cari model bajunya. Note: banyak bener yg kawin, giliran gue kapan dong? :P
4. Cari asuransi. Ini penting, biar gue ga parno nyetir tu mobil. Jakarta keras bok!
   
5. Ke dr. Wong. I'm due for my next consultation this Friday. Lha ini gimana sih, kok bikin listnya ga urut gini? Bodo ah..

that's all I can think for now. Yang pasti gue ga sabar pengen segera sembuh total dari tipes keparat ini, ga sabar pengen jajan lagi seperti biasa. Enuff blabs, I better try to get some sleep!

StarLicious by Andy Lee

This is another great makeup book targeted specifically for us Asian Women. I first found out about this book thru a friend of mine (thank you Ella :D) and I've been in love with it eversince. What's great is that this book was using MAC products, a brand that I'm familiar with since I'm a user myself. This book also features great step by step illustrations on how to pull the looks yourself. An important thing to note, the illustration uses real humans as a model. One of my pet peeve is when I opened up a book and found out that the illustration consists of only cheap sketches, a big no no for me.
Other than clearly explaining the types of makeup and tools, Andy also provides many looks that we can try to copy. From daytime to nighttime looks, the needs of basic, intermediate, and advanced users will surely be fulfilled.
The author also gives a generous DVD bonus so that we can see for ourselves how Andy did each look (an entertaining bonus, indeed).
Sadly, for us living in Indonesia I don't think this book is available here yet. The closest we can find is of course, Singapore, where Andy is based.
Checkout Andy's blog to find out more about this book and also about Andy: http://andyleemakeup.blogspot.com/
Andy is very generous to provide a lot of the pages from his book for readers of his blog. So, go over there to check it out for yourself!

AI got it right this time.. Go David Cook!!

Yes, gue lega.. yg menang bukan David yg cilik.. ha! Bukan berarti Archuleta jelek, not at all.. for a guy that young he is hugely talented. Tapi tetep Cook lebih mature, lebih ganteng, dan lebih segala galanya.. I can listen to him sing all day long.

Today is a good day!

Pic courtesy of www.examiner.com

Numpang ketawa bentar

Lucu yah emang di MP itu, jualannya pada salip2an :P udah kaya rally formula aja. No need for an introduction lah, go see for yourself, hihihihi..

Ada yang nanya

Kemaren ini salah satu temen gue yg baca blog gue nanya.. "lo cuek aja tuh nulis begitu2, ntar kalo orangnya baca gimana?".. well, cuek aja gue bilang, gue juga ga nyebut nama kan, kalo ada yg ngerasa diomongin mah itu diluar tanggung jawab gue dong. Intinya, this is my blog, gue akan nulis sesuka hati gue. If you like it then fine.. read it.. if you don't, then feel free to hop to the next blog.

The art of bakar sampah

Kayanya cuman di Indonesia tercinta ini sampah dibakar. Udah biasa kan tuh liat rumah pada bakar sampah dan asepnya kemana mana bikin sesek napas?! Well, on this occasion gue mau ngadu ttg sd negri di sebelah kantor gue. Gak pagi, gak siang, gak malem kerjanya mbakar sampah mulu.. set dah! Dia kira dia idup di hutan apa? Mbok ya inget2 kalo punya tetangga gitu loh. Kantor gue juga apa gak kurang banyak sampahnya tiap hari? Sampah sayuran lagi yg notabene bau banget dan cepet banget jadi busuk kalo gak buru2 ditanggulangi. I can easily take a shortcut and save Rp. 5.000/hari dgn ikutan bakar sampah, tapi kan gue liat2 lokasi juga, kira2 mungkin gak yah gue bakarin itu sampah segunung tiap hari. Pada intinya, gue masih sadar kalo gue idup bertetangga dimana tetangga2 gue itu juga perlu oksigen, gak seperti sekolah sebelah yang ga modal itu.
Udah 2x gue nyaris berantem ama penjaga sekolah busuk itu. Mana gak ada yg ngaku lagi kalo dia yg bakar tu sampah, emangnya sampahnya bisa nyalain korek sendiri! Dasar bodoh! Lagi2, gue berurusan dgn manusia bodoh, uh, cape deh!
Maybe you guys think it's nothing, bakar sampah itu biasa, bagian dari budaya kita.. well, until elo ngerasain sendiri gimana rasanya sesek napas gara2 tempat sampah tetangga lo lokasinya bersebelahan persis ama tembok lo, then you'll realized it's no longer just nothing.. it is something that needs to be stopped.. ASAP! Gimana caranya? In my case, teriak2 diatas kursi sambil nyiramin tu tempat sampah kayanya udah ga mempan, yang ada gue cape sendiri ngadepin orang2 bebel macem mereka. Besok, gue mo suruh orang kantor gue buat ngadep pak RT ama kepsek sekolah gak modal itu. Perasaan sd negri dapet anggaran kan dari pemerintah buat ngelola sekolahnya? Nah, minta dong anggaran buat bayar tukang sampah buat ngangkutin sampah2 lo itu.. gak mahal gak, pak sampah cuman minta goceng per hari, dijamin beres!

Orang bego, plin plan, dan doyan ngutang

I swear gue alergi ama orang bego. Apalagi kalo udah bego trus plin plan, udahlah jauh2 deh lo dari gue. Gue ngerti sometimes plin plan itu perlu, tapi kalo cuman mo beli 1 biji eyeshadow or blush doang terus plin plan lo ngajak2 ampe 3 halaman, males gak bacanya?
Eniwei, ada lagi yang modelnya ga plin plan, oh no.. she's quite the opposite in fact. Tiap minggu ada aja yang mo dibeli ama ni madam, palet lah, blush, eyeshadow, u name it deh.. tapiiii, ada tapinya nih, taunya ketauan diblakangnya doyan ngutang, hahahahaha.. no komen dah.. skarang kalo liat haulnya dia gue mau ga mau jadi mikir.. udah bayar blom ya?
Apalagi yah? hmmmm, yang terakhir ini kayanya saking begonya sampe ga nyadar kalo dia udah malu2in diri sendiri. Udah deh mbak, kalo emang bhs inggris situ masih belepotan mbok ya pake bhs indonesia aja kalo ngomong.. gak ada yg mengharuskan pake bhs inggris kok di forum, gak bikin lo tambah keren juga.
Pagi2 udah ngomongin orang.. ya abeesssss... :P

Blood results are back!

Okay, jadi bukan yg gue parnoin (DBD) melainkan gejala typhus.. what?!?!? Perasaan gue makan yg bersih2 aja, ga ngarti juga deh itu kuman masuk dari mane. Yg udah2 katanya orang typhus/gejala typhus kudu istirahat, istirahat, dan istirahat yah? Haduh, bakalan terpasung dong gue ga boleh kemana mana, hiks. Tapi sutralah, demi kesembuhan.. sakit itu emang paling ga enak, ga peduli duit lo banyak, kalo sakit tetep aja ga bisa dinikmatin.

Sakit

Yup, judulnya gue 2 hari ini sakit.. badan anget naek turun ga keruan, mulut ga enak, idung berair. This is not how my perfect weekend is going to be, terbaring sakit doing nothing other than laying on the sofa watching Desperate Housewives marathon on StarWorld. Gue sampe ngebatalin janji ngemol, rumpi2, ama krimbat gara2 sakit gak jelas ini, hiks. It started out Friday night, right before I went to bed, dan sekarang ini (Senin, 02:25 pagi) panas badan gue masih di kisaran mendekati 38. Parno? Sudah pasti, DBD adalah hal yang paling gue takutkan. Bukannya apa2, gue sering denger katanya DBD itu gejalanya macem2, ada yg panas tinggi disertai kepala pusing plus mual2, ada juga yang panasnya biasa2 aja naek turun macem gue ini. So far sih napsu makan gue masih ok, walopun lidah masih berasa gak enak (rasa khas kalo lagi sakit, gue sampe hapal!), dan kepala gak pusing2. Besok gue mau dibawa emakku ke Prodia buat tes darah kalo masih begini2 juga.. uh oh! Jujur, gue paling takut ama hal2 berbau rumah sakit, tes ini tes itu, hiiiii serem.. Selama sudah 29 taun gue idup di dunia ini, Yang Diatas sudah sangat bermurah hati ngasih gue kesehatan yang top sehingga gue gak pernah harus berhubungan ama yang namanya rumah sakit.
Other than DBD, typhus juga next on my parno list, followed by penyakit2 jaman sekarang yang makin hari makin aneh2 aja. Beneran deh, kalo rajin ngikutin siaran berita di televisi, bisa bikin bulu kuduk merinding tuh dengerin penyakit2 jaman sekarang. Kelakuan orang juga pada makin aneh2 kali ya, makanya penyakitnya pun juga makin aneh2.
Enough blabs, I better try to go back to sleep. Untuk siapapun juga yang baca blog ini, please wish me luck on my health, semoga ga ada yang aneh2 terjadi pas gue tes darah besok.. better still, doakan besok pagi gue bangun badan gue udah ga anget lagi jadi gue ga harus tes darah... jiper bok!

Piracy - yes or no?

So yeah, Indonesia is a heaven for piracy.. well, that's old news, almost every living soul in this planet knows about it. Everything here is pirated, from computer software, DVDs, VCDs, CDs, bags, clothes, watches, etc, etc. I am being the biggest hypocrite on earth if if I say that I do not support piracy at all. I admit, I buy pirated software and DVDs simply for economical reasons. With the rate I'm going watching new movies, buying pirated stuff is the only way to go, otherwise I'd be bankrupt in just one quick breath. Same thing with computer software, nothing beats the price. I'm sorry, but pirated software will only cost you Rp. 25,000 a piece, so I rest my case. As long as my beloved SONY Vaio will take it, I ain't going for the real thing.
I do however, feel strongly about pirated bags and watches. Fake bags and watches are same thing as piracy, coz in the essence, it's the design they snatched. I don't know, for me it's better to wear non-branded bags and watches as long as they're the real thing. Is it ego, pride? And what does that make me? The girl in the middle? I don't really know how to answer this, coz looking back it's kinda unfair that I come and choose as I wish. It's either you do or don't support piracy. There isn't any middle ground.. or is there?

Pos Hansip Warga FD

Kemaren ini ada sedikit huru hara di pos hansip FD, rupanya ada seseorang yg ngerasa diomongin dan dia angkat bicara ngeluarin isi hatinya. Gue juga rada kaget waktu tau siapa orangnya, coz to be honest, gosip tentang dia gue kurang ngerti jelas, other than lately this person menebar posting dimana mana yang isinya cuman seencret2, intinya, sebenernya bukan gosip lah, cuman angin lalu ga penting doang, bumbu2.. biasa. So, gue kira yang protes orang laen lagi yang kemaren ini bikin tret yang ga penting tentang you know what lah (kebiasaan emang ini oknum egois bgt kalo bikin tret suka yang penting buat dia doang, long termnya dese gak pikirin). Emang sih, di pos hansip member2 pada seneng ngegosip sana sini dan seringnya yang diomongin itu ga laen dan ga bukan ya warga FD juga. Kalo dipikir pikir cuek bgt yah krn itu tret kan open to public dan yang digosipin bisa aja baca, tapi kayanya that's not a problem tuh karena ajang gosip terus aja berlanjut dan berlanjut. At this time of writing, pos hansip lagi ditutup untuk sementara waktu oleh mods, ga ngarti deh, kali mo diterapin rules baru kali seperti automatic deletion after so and so pages (secara itu tret udah 2000-an pages dan cepet banget beranak pinaknya).. nebak doang loh!
Back to gossiping.. well, gosip kayanya udah naturenya perempuan yah, dan dimana FD itu isinya mainly perempuan (lakinya bisa diitung pake jari), jadi gue anggep sangat wajarlah kalo pergosipan itu merupakan arena yang sangat menarik disana. Gue ngerti kalo member yang kemaren angkat bicara itu ngerasa sedih, gak mau muna', gue mungkin bakal ngerasakan hal yang sama if I were in her shoes. But then again, gue salah satu peserta yang suka ikut ngegosip, jadi gue ngerasa barulah adil namanya kalo gue juga harus ngerasa siap kalo sewaktu waktu gue find out kalo gue juga termasuk yang diomongin. Lagian yah, kalo ngeliat patternnya di FD ini dimana gosip silih berganti cepet banget, satu orang ga pernah diomongin terus menerus itu-itu mulu, pasti ganti orang lagi, ganti topik lagi.. jadi yah ga usah terlalu dipikirin lah kalo ga mau gila. Anggep aja itu termasuk kontrol sosial/kritikan buat elo supaya memperbaiki diri (seperti mengutip kata Sus Lena).
Anyhow, pernah ga gue ngerasa penasaran apa gue pernah juga diomongin ama mereka2 itu? jawabannya.. enggak.. gue ga pernah mau find out dan kalo pun gue tau I don't think I will give a shit about it. Unlike a certain person yang kalo mendengar sebuah gosip langsung bergegas mencari tau apakah itu dia yang diomongin.. aneh bin ajaib kalo menurut gue, kok langsung ngerasa sih? hehehe..
Sutralah, sekian aja buang2 waktunya, off to check whether pos hansip udah buka kembali atau belom.

Another photo rated as best photos at photo.net

"Just having a lunch" was included as one of the best photos at photo.net with an average of 4.80 for originality and 5.40 for aesthetics (1 to 7 scale with 1 being the lowest, and 7 the highest). I took this photo sometime in early February of this year in my back garden using my beloved 90mm Tamron macro lens. Macro photography is an animal of its own. It is super hard if one wants to do and pursue it properly. I'm still nothing compared to the other guys there, you should have seen their macros, I can only drop my jaw with amazement seeing those great details of such tiny creatures and objects. Anyway, this is just my way of documenting the things I've achieved in my life so far, and I hope you don't think that I'm exaggerating or anything. I know I still have a lot to learn in the world of photography. Okay, let's keep on pressing that shutter button!

Click on the image above to see a readable, full size version

Asian Faces

Ever since I stumbled upon FD and discovered makeup, makeup books are a must on my list. Why? Because for a bencong wannabe like me, buying makeup sure is fun, but applying it can be a challenge on its own. This is where these books came handy. Asian Faces (by Taylor Chang-Babaian, forwarded by Yoko Ono) first attracts me coz it was made especially for Asian women and their characteristics. It might seem like a pretty basic book for advanced, suhu bencong and the likes, but it’s a pretty darn good book for a novice bencong like myself. This book teaches you how to choose the right color of foundation, a face chart (so you’ll know exactly where to put what, with a real human as the model to illustrate the technique, thank you!), how to highlight and contour, makeup brushes, and of course (the eye candy) the many wearable daytime and nighttime looks that you can copy.

Another thing worth mentioning from this book is the cool little tips it provides. Here are some to share with you:

• Use a tiny amount of cream blush as a base and finish off with a powder blush to make cheek color lasts longer.
• Brush a contour shade from the lash line to the middle of eyelid to create additional depth to your eyelids.
• Add a highlighter from temple to apple of the cheek to create a subtle glow to the face, and many more..

Did I mention that the majority of looks on this book are wearable? Some books show us great makeup looks but too hard for a novice with minimal skills to copy. Well, this isn’t the case with Asian Faces. Eye colors can be considered minimal, step by step guide is provided, colors are described and illustrated clearly, and real humans were used to model the looks so we can easily see the end result for each look (unlike some books that use face charts only, geez, I despise those!). Of course, there are more advanced makeup looks as well (including costume makeup) that can entertain the needs of advanced bencong and the likes.

Other than the great photos, which surely makes turning page after page of this book enjoyable with your favorite cup of coffee, the text itself contains many good information. Wait, did I say it right? Text? Did I actually read this book? The answer is yes folks. This is one of the few makeup books that I actually do read (well, most of it anyway). The language is pretty simple and not overbearing, and the author didn’t stay too long talking about one thing, which scored points from me!

A little about the author: Taylor Chang-Babaian is a makeup artist who lives in the United States. Her work ranges the fashion, music, film, advertising, magazine, and television industries. Her website can be found at www.asianfacesthebook.com

As also published at www.fashionesedaily.com/blog

The best Oreo cheesecake in town!

Oreo cheesecake.. just the mere mention of the name sends my mouth watering with appetite. It's official, oreo cheesecake is the best cheesecake I've ever had so far, and it has to come from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (TCBTL) and nowhere else! I've tasted a lot of cheesecakes, including those from the famous The Cheesecake Factory, but none of them came close as the one from TCBTL (and no guys, I don't work at TCBTL or anything, this is an unbiased review). My personal preference of an ideal cheesecake is that it doesn't taste so sour like many cheesecakes are, and the one from TCBTL is just that, complete with the right amount of sweetness. It's like.. sweet, you can still taste and feel the lil oreo crumbs, but at the same time you ain't losing the taste of cheese in it.. get it? or not? :D Once you bite it, it just melts into your mouth, yuummm. Do you know that I can easily eat 3 pieces of these in one go? and I'm not ashamed of it, ha! A slice will make you Rp. 20,000 poorer, but with a Mega Visa card you'll get a 30% discount, which I personally think not bad at all.
Image courtesy of http://www.coffeebean.com.sg/

"View at Keukenhof" rated as one of the top photos at photo.net

Other than fotografer.net, ayofoto, and (recently) deviantart, photo.net is another site that I visit daily to learn, enjoy, and share photography. Photo.net is a big, online photo community with members from all over the world, and one of my works (titled: view at Keukenhof (uploaded on May 1, 2008) you can also see the photo in my "Keukenhof" post, it's the black and white one) was recently featured among the top photos. Happy? you bet I am, but surprised is more likely when I first found out about it a couple of days ago. It is the first time my work is being acknowledged in a global scale and it is a good boost to my spirit to produce better photos. I do photography as a hobby only, and it's not even that serious, coz time management is one of my worst skill and I wish there are 48 hours in one day instead of 24, lol!

Click on the image to see full size (readable) version

Do you depot?

Depotting, in makeup terms, means taking out a piece of makeup (usually eyeshadows and blushes) from its case and putting it into a palette. It is meant to make life more organized and easier so one doesn't have to juggle between lots and lots of cases. Tonight, I'm having one of my insomnia nights (again!) and decided it's best to spend time by doing some depotting. I bought few eyeshadows and blushes from my last trip that were still scattered around on the floor, it's time for some organizing to do. And so I begin taking by a knife, lighter, candle, scissor, magnet strips, and power glue, then proceed to light up a cigarette while sitting on the floor next to my stash. By this time, I already mastered the art of depotting, and it didn't take me a long time to organize my palettes. You know what? I found that depotting is quite therapeutic for me, hehe. Pics coming up soon!

INSOMNIA

Insomnia.. oh insomnia.. makanan sehari-hari, termasuk malem ini. jam udah menunjukkan pukul 6.30 pagi dan mata gue masih melek.. lek.. lek.. bak lampu 100 watt. duh gimana ini biar tidur.. gimana ayoooo..

Keukenhof

While I was in Netherlands, I was already half ngedumel with my mom when she asked me to go visit Keukenhof. She said, you gotta see this, it's only open to public once a year, and who knows when we can come back, bla bla bla.. I said, okay I'll go, noting in mind perhaps it'll be a good opportunity to take some pics. And boy how I was right! The moment I entered the huge park I was instantly overwhelmed by the endless rows of flowers all around me. It's like flowers, flowers, flowers in every direction no matter where you go, and I'm not talking crappy, ordinary ones like we see all the time, we're talking beautiful, rare ones. Tulips seem to dominate, which sounds just right coz afterall we're in Netherlands. We were only there for like an hour or so, definitely not enough time to explore the huge garden thoroughly, we had an appointment later in that day so we couldn't stay long. I did manage to take some pics of the flowers and surroundings though, so that's a good point, otherwise I'd be cursing myself forever if I didn't take any pics.
Hope you enjoy the pics!

Sephora - Champs Elysees, Paris

If you read my previous post, you gotta know that I recently got the chance for a 25 days holiday which includes Paris as one of the destination. Other than hunting for the famous orange boxes in 24 Rue du Faubourg St. Honore, Sephora is another thing at the top of my to-do list. Yes, I have succesfully become a makeup junkie (thanks to FD!), and Sephora is like heaven for junkies like me. I still remember how it feels when I first saw that big Sephora flag on Champs Elysees, how my walk became quicker and quicker to reach it as fast as I could, and how big the grin on my face was when I finally enter the big store. You can call me orang kampung, but it sure felt like I died and gone to heaven in that store! With my lil notebook in hand, I start hunting for the things I've wanted but can only dreamed so far.. Urban Decay, Smashbox, Laura Mercier, Stila, Dr. Brandt, MUFE, Cargo, Too Faced, Giorgio Armani, here I come! Oh, as an added bonus, there's a big MAC counter inside the store that sells MAC Pro products too!
At the end, I think I made around 8 trips to Sephora, once with Sissi (my FD friend who lives in Paris) with her 20% discount (thank you, Sissi!), and I managed to know a couple of SAs who, judging by the looks on their faces, were amazed that this tiny girl always came back over and over in such a short time.
Note: ini waktu sama Sissi di depan Sephora, saking paniknya mengejar diskon, sampe foto cuman sekali.

Macaroons!

Macaroon, or macaron as the French calls it, is one of my favorite cookies on this planet earth. Yes, I am obsessed with them, those delicious round, sandwich type cookies filled with many flavors to choose from. Last month, I had the privilege to visit the land of macaroons, it is, where else besides France. As soon as I landed my feet in Paris, I immediately made plans to hunt for them. The best shops in Paris for macaroons are (according to me): Pierre Herme, Laduree, and Dallayou. Pierre Herme is located on the 6th arr. in Rue Bonaparte. This is their main shop. What attracts me the most about their macaroons is the fact that they have lychee flavored ones! I certainly haven't found lychee ones in any other places before. Not to mention that the cookie parts are so soft yet crunchy at the same time, the kind that just melts in your mouth on the first bite, yummm. Next one, Laduree.. well, this one needs no more introduction. This is a famous one with many shops scattered around Paris and other European countries. My favorite from Laduree is their jasmine flavored macaroons. I managed to bring home (to Indonesia) two boxes filled with colorful macaroons from Laduree, and I didn't mind one bit to carry them all the way by hand. Last, we have Dallayou, which is located on the 8th arr. in Rue du Fabourg St. Honore. Dallayou ones are not really special, but delicious nonetheless. I just like them coz it's located 5 mins away to where I was staying in Paris, hehe! Definitely a good place for my daily macaroon fix. Hey, did you know that Marc Jacobs was inspired by macaroons for one of his LV creations? Check this one out to find out yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34kZA7YpVxk

Bachelorette Night

Tonight was my best friend's, Denise, bachelorette party. She's getting married later this May and a group of us decided to surprised her with a small party complete with a male stripper at a friend's apartment. There was a mini accident when Denise decided to throw up in front of the stripper (poor thing!). No, she wasn't drunk yet, she said she choked on her drink, yeah whatever, lol. A party wouldn't be complete with an endless supply of booze, and this one is no exception, well kind of. All I can say is there were enough bottles to entertain all of us. The party continues at Dragon Fly, where the place was jam packed with people, hello.. Wednesday night! We all wore pink and white fur hair bandeau and some people thought we were the dancers, doh! The grin on Denise's face sums up the mood for the night. Love you girl, and we all wish you luck on your new life ahead with Rahim!