Obliviate.

Yogyakarta Travel Diary 001

3:52 PM

Yogyakarta, a city lies in the heart of Java Island. The only city in Indonesia that is still ruled by the Javanese Monarch existed since the pre-colonial era. A city full of friendly-happy people who will turn you into one happy people once you set up your foot in Yogyakarta.

I planned this trip my my college friend, Heny, since 2 weeks ago. This was actually our plan B. Our plan A? Going to Bali and Gili Islands! We could probably save the plan A later for our next trip, though.

I’ve been to Yogya twice this year and honestly I found nothing special. First visit was for a student conference and second visit was just a trip with my dad to his 20-years college reunion. I barely have time for myself, to just wander around the city and discover its beauty. But this time I want to make it different. I want to prove that Yogya deserves its name as a “Special Region” in Indonesia.

And voila!

August 24 2016

3 am

The night before the trip, Gio and I stayed over in Heny’s house just so we can go to the airport and catch the flight together. It was early in the morning but we woke up already. Around 3:30 am we ordered an Uber and the next 5 minutes, the driver showed up and we went straight to the airport. Our flight was scheduled on 5:55 am

7 am

The flight was smooth, definitely on time and we finally arrived in Adisutjipto Airport in Yogya after 50 minutes of flight. Our hotel check in was still at 2 pm, so we got plenty of time to chill and enjoy the morning in Yogya. We decided to take Trans Jogja to go to our hotel. It was reasonably cheap and really easy to take. The officers are very helpful as well, so don’t be afraid, we won’t get lost.

We’re heading to Adhisthana Hotel in Prawirotaman, so from the airport we took bus 3B and stopped at Banguntapan before continuing to the bus 2B and got down at Benteng Wetan. From the last bus stop, we walked our way to the hotel. It took us around 15 minutes until we finally arrived at our hotel.

I honestly fell in love at the first sight with the hotel. If you guys have been to Potato Head Beach Club in Bali and see the vintage windows out there, this hotel exterior looks like it, like the mini version of Potato Head. Stepping up inside, you can see the lushy white walls with Javanese ornament as home deco. Going further inside, you’ll found a pool which I called my green oasis with palm trees where you can swim or just sun bathing in the afternoon. Adhisthana Hotel makes me feel at home when I am away from home.

Keep Palm and Carry On

The arches and those old javanese ornaments 😍

The hotel looks so homy

My green oasis

The outdoor area in Adhisthana Hotel

10 am

We were still waiting at the hotel lobby (which more looks like a living room) when Ayu came and pick us up to go find some foods! (We haven’t ate anything yet and we were craving for some Jogja foods!).

So while waiting for our time to check in, we went to House of Raminten to eat. I didn’t took pictures of the food since I was staaaarving, but I kinda remembered what we order. We ordered sego kucing, ayam koteka, ayam geprek, pepes tuna, tempe mendoan and actually there are still many more but I don’t know the exact name of the menu haha.

12 pm

Done with the brunch, we went back to the hotel and the receptionist said that we can check in early because the room is ready. YAYYYY!

While waiting for our driver to come and pick us up at 2 pm, we cleaned up and dressed up a bit and took some pictures around the hotel because there are lots of instagrammable spots! Such as this stairs:

The stairs and old windows that looks like the one in Potato Head Bali

2 pm
Our car driver, Mas Cahyo arrived in our hotel and without further ado we went straight to the sand dune Gumuk Pasir Parangkusumo in the southern part of Yogyakarta. But on the way to the sand dune, Mas Cahyo told us that we could actually stop by in a pinewoods known as Hutan Pinus Imogiri and well... Why not?

Me, posing awkwardly, afraid of fall into the ground

Heny - me - Gio, my travel buddies

The pinewoods was looking like the normal woods and there weren't so many people coming at that time, so we could take some goods pictures without people photo bombing our photos.

Moving on to the next destination... It took us around 30 minutes from the pinewoods to get to Gumuk Pasir Parangkusumo. By the time we arrived at Gumuk Pasir, it was like around 4 pm-ish and the sun was perfectly on its position, getting low and ready to set down. It was windy and not too hot (I was grateful it didn't rain haha). And ooh! Tips for you guys: If you want to come to touristy places but hoping it for not being too crowded, go on weekdays! Weekends are a big no-no! (Said almost everyone in Yogya, from our driver, the hotel receptionist, our friends and even tukang becak!)

One of my favorite picture taken in Gumuk Pasir Parangkusumo

Heny and I attempted to take jumping pictures, but after lots of attempts we didn't get any good pictures! It was so hard jumping on sand LOL, so this was the best (at least, it was my best HAHA)

That one picture of me with the cactus was actually one of my favorite! I mean, look at the sun lights, it was perfect and as far as we can see... There's no other people photo bombing the pictures!

After we're done with the sand dunes... Taking photos and playing with the sand (we wanted to try sand boarding, but the fee is around Rp100.000 and we thought it wasn't really worth it, so we skipped it). Time showed us that it was almost sunset. Then we went to Parangtritis Beach (around 5 minutes drive from Gumuk Pasir). Parangtritis is the most well-known and probaby the most touristy beach in Yogya. In my honest opinion, it wasn't really pretty. The sunset was also below our expectation, it looks nothing like what google images shows you guys! haha. So we didn't spend too much time in Parangtritis, but we managed to get couple of pictures

Waiting for sunset in Parangtritis beach

6 pm
After the sun sets, Heny felt really hungry and she turns grumpy when she's hungry so we asked Mas Cahyo to show us some delicious Jogja foods and he brought us to Oseng-Oseng Mercon Bu Narti, which he said is really popular nowadays! Oseng Mercon is a really spicy dish and I thought I could handle it, but when I saw it and smell the spiciness.. Well, I passed, I can't stand spicy foods so instead I ordered ayam penyet goreng (and it comes with sambal as well)! haha. Heny and Gio ordered the Oseng Mercon, so I could taste a bit of it.

8 pm
We finally get back to the hotel and we just wanted to clean up and relax, since we will have to get up early tomorrow and see the sunrise. There was something weird actually, my body felt itchy, especially in my face area... My under eyes and cheeks are started to swollen but I don't want to think something bad so I just forgot it and hoping I wouldn't feel itchy the next morning I woke up!

Alright, that's it for the first day I spent in Yogya with my friends! I'll see you on the next post

xoxo,
Kiara

New Year's Resolution

5 Little Steps

4:02 PM

Ohoho! Here comes the time when everyone is starting to make a new list of their so-called New Year's Resolution. It's the time when people make promises and goals to be accomplished for themselves (which I personally doubt that it'll last until the end of the year) and it's true, I once read a study said that only hardly 10% of the world's population succeeded in finishing their resolutions.

Some people have done really bad this year and all they want is just a fresh start in the next year. Well, yeah, nothing's wrong with that. But it's in our nature to ditch all of the promises that we made for ourselves. That's why most of us aren't really satisfied with our own accomplishment at the end of the year. So, what should we do to make our New Year's Resolutions on track and work until the end of the year?

Well, my 2015 has been great, the best year of my life in the past 5 years if I may say. And if you wonder how did I perform throughout the year? What are the things that I do? I'll tell you the keys...

Instead of making a whole bunch of list full of ambitious goals which is highly unrealistic and unattainable, I prefer to do it in a different way.

1. Change

One simple word, yet so powerful. I always have this urge for myself to change, to improve my way of life, to become a better version of me. If you're not open to change, it means that you're gonna face a hard time to success. When you think that change is a scary word and a scary step to take, I tell you the truth: it is scary, but the possible outcomes are worth the try. Start now, don't wait until you're ready.

2. The "Fear" List

Instead of making lists of things that I want to change about myself or my life, I made a list full of stuff that I fear. Why? Because I want to conquer my fear. Alright, I'll give you a bit of my example:

"I am afraid of doing public speaking"

Since I was little, I always become the shy-kids. I prefer to listen than talk. And while I grow up, I found this stuff is not good for me.

"I am afraid to speak my opinion"

I consider myself as a very self-conscious person, I find it hard to see people disagree with my ideas, therefore I tend to avoid to speak my mind out loud.

"I am afraid I won't have a balance on my social and academic life"

I can say that I am an opportunist, I will always take every chance that is standing right in front of me. And sometimes, when I pursue my academic life to the fullest, I feel that I will start to abandon my social life or vice versa.

"I am afraid of making mistakes"

Of course, I believe all of us feel the same way. But somehow now I have to turn mistakes from a huge failure to become the great formula for my successful future.

3. Act and Improve

Let's say that I've done making list of things that I fear. What should I do then? Of course, ACT! It's the point of making a resolution. Why would you plan something that you won't do? So, just make some action plan, but remember stick to the S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound). Know your limit, don't be too hard on yourselves :)

As an example here, to overcome my first and second fear, which is "I am afraid to do public speaking & give my opinion". We all can start to join a community or club where you'll meet loads of people and practice your public speaking there. And as for me, my action plan is to join AIESEC where it is very common for the member to speak in front of the other members while saying their opinions out loud. Of course, some will agree and some won't, but it's a good thing that they all respect our opinion.

Then move on to the balance of my social and academic life, which I admit is pretty hard to maintain. This year, I was grateful that I got a merit scholarship from my university, but there are lots of things that I have to give up to get that. Sometimes I just say "no" to my friends for a night out because I am just too tired after making essays or papers. But did you know that last year, when I spend my first year at Uni just to socialize and getting to know new friends... Although I did good on my GPA, but I didn't get any outstanding academic achievement.

4. Stay Focus and Positive

The hardest part that I believe everyone faces is to stay focused. After making resolutions, we all will do very well in January, February and March, probably. But there will be times when we feel demotivated and tired. I felt that too. One day I was thinking "Am I too ambitious? Should I need to slow down a bit?". Well, if it really bothers you, take a small break. Like, on summer as an example. Go out on a vacation and forget the resolutions for a moment. But then when summer's over, be prepared to continue conquering your fears! You're already halfway of the year, anyway!

5. Enjoy Every Little Things

The basic element to fulfil our dream is to enjoy every little piece of ups and downs that our life gave us. An American author, Kurt Vonnegut once said "Don't let bitterness steal your sweetness".

And that's, people, how I live my life to the fullest this year. I think I'm gonna repeat the same steps for 2016 with some improvements, as well ^^ Anyway, happy early new year from me!

Carpathian Adventure

When Your Mind Needs a Break

2:39 PM

Art

The Cluj Spirit

4:54 PM

So guys, during my 6 week project here in Romania I got a really great chance to have a talk session with Alexandra Crăciun (one of the founder of Exquisite, a marketing and branding agent in Romania). I always like to learn about marketing and shaping a brand, so for me as a business student, the talk with Alexandra was interesting and helpful.

At the end of our talk, she then gave my team a writing challenge. She is managing a site in Romania called "I Love Cluj" and she wants us to submit one article and the best one will be posted on the website.

I was so confused what to write and all of my international friends here are so good at writing, so I asked Alexandra, "What is the site about? Who's the audience?" and stuff like that (see? I am starting to use what I learned in the university here :p). When you know your audience better, you could present something that is much more appealing in the eyes of your audience.

After I knew that most of the readers of the site are mostly people from Cluj that are now abroad for working, studying or for other purposes. Most of them misses Cluj so much that they want to know all the stuff going on in Cluj through the website. Well, that's kind of a complete information and it's enough for me to write something.

I've travelled to several cities in Romania and to be honest Cluj is my favorite. It is the best city in Romania. The people are so nice and helpful to foreigners, you can barely find people who will stare at you weirdly. The city is full of students so you can make friends with literally everyone (well, if you got that "talking to strangers" skill, which I tried a lot there and it worked!). Plus, the moooost important of them all is Cluj is now the European Youth Capital, so it's like a heaven for all youngsters. There are events, concerts or festivals for young people going on everyday which you can attend.

Alright, back to the article, I actually have loads of time to write, but since I procrastinate a lot too, I only have such a short time before the deadline. So I was traveling to a beach in Constanța, a city near the Black Sea in Romania and during my lunch break, which only lasts for an hour, I tried my best to write what I feel about Cluj. I already have the concept in my mind, so I just have to write it down. It was kinda hard to write in such a rush because my writing turns out to be shit, but it's better to submit it rather than didn't submit anything.

So now that my project has ended, Alexandra posted my article on the website!! I am sooo glad that I made it. I thought that I won't be able to win the challenge because all of my other friends are way much better than I am in writing articles. But I guess through the power of knowing your audience, my article is suitable to be posted on the site ^^

And you can read my article by just click the link below ;-)

"I LOVE CLUJ"