Sunday 28 December 2014

Merry Christmas!

First thing first, I would like to say Merry Christmas to all of you! It truly is the best time of year. It always brings up the spirit of happiness, laughter, warmth from most people. Christmas trees are decorated, streets are lit up with wonderful bright lights, Winter Wonderland is open, and one of my favourite things is the Christmas tunes are sang, played, continuously hummed from all over the place (even an oriental supermarket in Chinatown!)

To be honest, I wasn't looking forward for Christmas this year. This is the third time in three years I've celebrated Christmas in this most beloved (by everyone) city, London. And I was afraid that it might be my last one and that made me quite depressed. Of course someday I can come back to this amazing city during Christmas time for holiday, but it would never  be the same, wouldn't it? The feeling of celebrating it with your friends because your family is not here with you (hence your friends are your family away from home) is unbeatable. Therefore, on this post, I will write about "How To Celebrate Christmas (Especially When Public Transports are Closed on the Day Itself) With Your Mates?" (Yes, in London there are no public transports on the 25th of December, except taxis). This guide might be helpful for next year, guys!

"How To Celebrate Christmas (Especially When Public Transports are Closed on the Day Itself) With Your Mates?"
Step 1: Have friends (if you don't have, make friends--at least one of them should be able to cook).

Step 2: Create a Whatsapp / Line / BBM group to organise the party before the day.

Step 3: Decide whose house / flat you are gonna spend 3 days 2 nights in (24-26 December).

Step 4: Prepare extra beds, bed sheets, pillows, blankets and assign rooms (usually guys will take the living room with foldable beds and girls sleep in the bedroom on actual beds).

Step 5: Buy groceries on 23rd of December the latest (if you do it online you might want to think about delivery time). Book the turkey from a week before because it sold out fast. The party will start on the 24th at night so you need to prepare 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 1 supper, desserts and snacks accordingly.

What my friends (who can cook) prepared for us (who cannot cook) were beef burgers and fries. For supper on the 24th we ate rawon (Indonesian beef soup) and beef rendang. Lunch on the 25th itself was spaghetti bolognese with scones (+clotted cream + raspberry jam) as desserts. We saved the turkey for dinner and an addition to the roasted stuffed turkey was pork steak. We had chocolate molten lava puddings with vanilla ice cream as desserts. On the 26th (which is Boxing Day) my friend initially thought of making us sandwiches for brekkie but then we woke up late and rushed straight to Harrods to check out the sale.

Step 6: Buy a present(s) (budget is to be discussed with group) for exchanging-gifts-session. It is either you have Secret Santa (to give to a particular person that have been lot for beforehand)--this is for fixed amount of people who will come to the party--or Yankee Swap.

This year my friends and I agreed on Yankee Swap. We did it after dinner on Christmas day.

Step 7: Prepare games. The easiest one would be Charades. You don't have to have the cards, you can create your own words and everybody can guess. You can even make your own rules and it will be just as fun. What we played next was Mafia and Cards Against Humanity.

Step 8: Pick movies you bunch want to watch together. Home Alone 1 & 2 are probably the best picks and a must, then we watched Harry Potter (planned to have a marathon but lack of time), also stand up comedies like Russell Peters and Raditya Dika (Indonesian based). The movies can be played while eating or after meals.

Step 9: Agree on a dress code to make it more amusing. We chose to wear Christmas jumpers! :D

Step 10: Have a great loads of fun! Below are the pictures as proof.






We were so blessed with a stunning sunset view on Christmas day!


Pork steak on the left and roasted stuffed turkey on the right (the photos don't do justice!)



For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Might God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9 : 6

'Til next post! Have a blessed Christmas holiday, peeps!

Friday 19 December 2014

Sweet Pastels

There is never a good-enough reason to bail on your blog, even your personal life. I mean, blogging is sort of that commitment that you want to give when you first started. I've been away because of my school work. My uni life has taken over practically everything, even my sleep (ohh… big shocker for that. #not.) That is why I'm very much amazed by Diana Rikasari, the well-known Indonesian blogger, who never stop blogging even though she has business to run and a baby to take care of. I mean, a baby will take your whole attention, especially if it's yours. But she maintains to manage her time really well. So, salute! I'm trying my best to update this blog more often during the holiday because I might not have the time when I go back to uni.















Dress - Tailor made | Similar here, here, or here
Bag - Ted Baker | Similar here
Socks - Sox Galeri | Similar here
Shoes - From Singapore | Similar here

Photographed by Aveline Ganda

'Til next post!

Monday 15 December 2014

Again and Again

I don't know why I get so inspired with this colour palette. Every time I see stripes, especially in red and blue and white, I would just fall in love all over again with the colours. Every single time. Not that I mind. I don't. At all. So at first I bought this sweater for my brother, I kept it in my wardrobe because I did not know when I would hand it to him. But something about this sweater, it kept calling my name because it cannot stand any longer being unused inside the closet. So, I thought… Okay, why not? A little navy could hurt nobody.













Sweater - J.Crew Men | Similar here
Top underneath - Supré | Similar here or here
Pants - H&M | Similar here
Socks - Uniqlo | Similar here
Shoes - Dr. Martens
Bag - Cupcake
Hat - ASOS | Similar here

Friday 31 October 2014

If

If freckles were lovely, and day was night,
And measles were nice and a lie warn't a lie,
Life would be delight, -
But things couldn't go right
For in such a sad plight
I wouldn't be I.

If earth was heaven and now was hence,
And past was present, and false was true,
There might be some sense
But I'd be in suspense
For on such a pre tense
You wouldn't be you.

If fear was plucky, and globes were square,
And dirt was cleanly and tears were glee,
Things would seem fair, -
Yet they'd all despair,
For if here was there
We wouldn't be we.

- e. e. cummings














Dress and necklace - COS
Sunnies - Rayban Wayfarer
Bag - Cupcake
Socks - Monki
Shoes - Charles & Keith

Twas summer when the laughters and silliness kicked in without having to hold back. Now we're back with uni year, all concentration focused on work, work and work. Even having a brunch or break or lunch makes me feel guilty. I'm just praying I would be able to get through this with hope and positivity. Fighting!