Lemon Childhood

I don't know what year it was, but I remember those balloons sticking on my Barbie house. Those Barbies were not mine, or were they? I think those are my sisters, she used to model for Barbie in Jakarta back in the 90s. So we had plenty of Barbie dolls, like a huge cupboard full of Barbie dolls, all in their boxes. 

It's funny how I still remember a few pieces of memories just by looking at this picture. I never knew that I still have the memories with me. The white eyelet curtains on the right, I remember they were soft and I liked touching the eyelets and peeking through it. I don't have much memories left about the dolls, but I remember my favorite was that blue dressed Barbie. I remember her dress was so fluffy, it was a ruffle dress. I could remember nothing but her, that lemon umbrella and those balloons glued on the plastic Barbie house.

Mom said I was a huge fan of hats, I won't go out of the house unless wearing a hat.

One day when I have kids, I want to make the best memories for them, 

just how I remember my childhood: being the happiest.

Mood

Last month I felt so ugly and everything seemed wrong. I hated to see my self in pictures, not even a selfie. I don't feel comfortable when someone takes pictures of me. Then an ad agency contacted me asking if I wanted to be involved in a beauty awareness campaign. I said yes and read the content brief. It was pretty much a challenge to take a picture of yourself when you don't even feel pretty. I accepted the challenge and began experimenting in taking pictures using tripod and a remote. Apparently it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be and I really love the result. Somehow it also escalated my confidence to be in pictures. Never thought taking pictures of yourself would lift up your mood and increase your confidence. Note taken.

Brunch Life

Brunch is my fave time to have meals, not too early, not too late, just at the perfect timing. To me, brunch usually consists of hot coffee, orange juice, and croissant. When I feel like eating a lot, I would definitely choose something with scrambled egg. Today I had brunch with two old friends, Renee and Mbak Upik, at Antipodean. It's quite near to where I live but I never been there before. There were many expats at Antipodean, felt like I wasn't in Jakarta for a moment hahaha. Brunch was good, coffee was pleasant. We headed across the building to get some gelato. This gelato place called Ziato is a new kid in the block. I've seen many people dining in when I had groceries across Ziato, I thought they were a cafe, but I was wrong. They only serve gelato, some coffee and pastries. Their gelato was reaalllyyy good! I tried three flavors, my favorites would be the strawberry flavor (really fresh and doesn't taste artificial) and the dates/mascarpone. So good! Adding Ziato to my to-go-list around my neighbourhood.

New Home

I'm in the process of starting this new blog as a small space for me to write my thoughts (and my heart) out. I don't know what had happened, but I started to dislike my old blog. Seeing the blog simply removes my mood to write. I had so many things to share to my blog, but whenever I sign in to my blog account, I instantly lost the mood. I think my own absence to the blog is one of the reasons why I lost the mood of writing. I also feel that blog is somehow very editorial these days. It's no longer a place where people share their personal thoughts. The marketing and branding needs are pretty strong in the blogosphere. It's not like it's wrong, but I like blogging because it feels very personal. Like you can really read what people are thinking and dig deeper into their thoughts through their blog. Blogging is very different with Instagram. No matter how much I love sharing pictures and gathering inspirations from Instagram, I honestly still love blog much better than social networking app. I found many inspiring people who are very creative and interesting in expressing themselves through their blog. It's kind of sad that a lot of bloggers that I've known (not in person) since 2009, the year I started my old blog, have stopped blogging. I have a few list of my favorite blog people for years and recently I browsed through their blog and I became really sad. Most of my favorite people are no longer blogging and even some of them couldn't be traced on the internet. Some who stopped blogging, they left goodbye notes on their very last post. Their notes are pretty sad to me. They inspired me a lot back in those days. Even though I didn't know them in person, but I love what they have shared through their blogs. Some who stopped updating their blog also have Instagram. I checked their profiles on Instagram and it sparked me joy a little to see that they a different life compare to the old ones I admired eight years ago. Mostly got married, have kids, working in different fields, they changed. This also makes me think that it's normal to feel like I don't belong in my own blog, my old one. It's like finding yourself all over again, starting from zero. Even though the medium is just the same, but I want this blog to be a diary for me in the future, to look back, to learn from my younger self, to remind me of my journey, my struggles, and learn from my mistakes. Because that's the reason why I started blogging eight years ago. 

Welcoming myself to this new space in the internet I call home :)

Cherry blossom I saw in Yodo, Kyoto, last March during my honeymoon trip with hubby. I love cherry blossom so much. They look so delicate and it makes me so happy each time I see them in my photo archive.