In Brussel Try Waffle!

The second country in Europe I visited last December was Belgium. Famous of it's "Belgian Chocolate", I had no idea what objects could be seen there. *Yah maklum lah ikut tur, itinerary ga bikin sendiri, jadi ngga pake tahap browsing-browsing objek wisata T_T

From Paris, we rode a bus to Brussel (which was a transit city before heading to Germany). I was soooo excited seeing many colorful traditional houses along the road, but too bad the bus' speed hold me from taking any pics. I looove the ambiance of the country side, with beautiful houses & trees. 

Then the bus stopped at Atomium Monument, Brussel. As the symbol of Brussel, this is the must-visit-place travel agent will take you to. We've only had 10 minutes to take pictures (weewwww) and continued our journey. Actually, inside those monuments were museums. But how could you enter a museum in 10 minutes?!?

I found that Brussel was a very nice city (although I liked the country side more) and I loved it!

We went to Eikstraat/Stoofstraat and see beautiful junction with colossal architectural buildings, embellished with gold carvings (I don't know whether it's real gold or not). I felt like going inside a fairytale!

Then we visited Manneken Pis... which actually was a statue of peeing boy. Wowwww many people wanted to take picture with him! It's amazing how Belgian can make that object into tourism. I wonder what if statues in Jakarta become tourism object too heheheh.. (Patung Pancoran, Tugu Tani, uwooo makin macet ya) BTW the history of Manneken Pis can be read here.

Manneken Pis (^_^)v peace...

The best part was, many shops were scattered around the statue. From Belgian chocolate (Godiva and other trademark I hadn't known) to... WAFFLES! Oh. My. Goodness. From 1 euro you can enjoy a freshly baked waffle, still hot, crispy outside and fluffy inside :9 Looked at this cute girl buying waffle, I couldn't resist not to buy me one, too.

PS: 1 euro is for waffle only. For added toppings, can cost you until 5 euro. Well, things were expensive in Europe. No wonder I bought no souvenirs, except local food for my stomach :))

Ahhhh I'm drooling for these handicrafts... But here goes the same issue: it cost a fortune!

At the end, visiting Brussel was such a pleasure. Alhamdulillaah. I hope Allah gave me fortune to go there again someday (maybe backpacking?) ^^

Gading Night Carnival 2013

Yesterday night, Gading Night Carnival was held in front of Mall Kelapa Gading, as a part of Jakarta Fashion Food Festival 2013. Hubby & me was so excited to see, and we rode angkot (public minibus) because we knew there would be an awful traffic jam around Kelapa Gading. Good decision!

We took our new camera: Fujifilm X10 to test its capability in night shot. Well, most of the times, we used Auto mode :p (it has EXR & Pro Low Light mode for capturing light in the dark, and also manual features, but after trying, Auto was quite good, too)

In search of a good spot to see the carnival, we walked through Mall Kelapa Gading 3 to La Piazza. Mall Kelapa Gading is sooo HUGE! Gempooorrr... And yesterday, millions of people were loaded into the mall & the street. 

Media & posters said, the carnival begins at 6 pm. It's a LIE! We waited for so long, and at 7.30, the first attraction came to entertain. I love the marching band. Too bad many photos were blurred. Moving objects was hard to be captured in such dark light...

This picture was taken by me! Such a coincidence I can shot those beautiful firework :D

My review about Gading Night Carnival 2013 are:

• I don't know why the event organizer (EO) let people wait for 1.5 hours. It's just TOO MUCH wasting of time. Felt sorry for people who have waited from 5 pm x_x
• EO and Guard should have worn better uniform. The EO worn neon-lime-green-T-shirt, and the Guard worn orange-and-white-T-shirt. When people took pictures of the carnival, seeing lime-green and orange T-shirt in the middle of fashionable costumes can damage the beauty of a fashion/event photography =__=
• EO should have walked near the barrier, not at the center of the dancer & models. Again, it ruined a good photo.
• Between each group of entertainer, was an awkward silence. No music. People just guessing, "Is there any more to come? Has it (the carnival) finished?"
• Well, I didn't watch last year's carnival, but hubby & some people said, last year was better.

See the Guard? In orange & white T shirt..

After the show was finished, me and hobby felt so hungry & we ate at Secret Recipe :9 *pacaran lagiii*

Recommended: Barbeque Grilled Chicken

Approximately IDR 42.000

Photo taken by my hubby

Lucky we went inside the mall. We didn't know that as soon as the carnival's over, rain poured heavily, many people got wet... :s *pake pawang hujan kali ya??*

PS: Gading Night Carnival's review in a good point of view can be read here. Sorry if I was being so mean in my review... Maybe it's because of the long waiting time :p

Perfect Shoes For You?

What is the most exciting part of going to department store? For me, it's visiting Shoe Department. Sea of colorful shoes makes my heart happy :D I also love trying shoes: Elegant high heels, quirky wedges, cute flat shoes, to simple or strappy sandal... I like how my posture become slightly taller & straighter when I wear high heels. Feels like a fashionista while wearing wedges. And being cute while wearing flats and sandals.

One brand I love to see at department store is Be-Bob Shoes. They have LOTS of style to suit all your needs. In my opinion, every woman need:

1. Fashionable Daily Shoes

Either to go to campus or running errands to the mall, flats / semi sandal can be a bestfriend. Minimum requirement: black shoes & brown / beige shoes. Already have black & brown? Let's collect another colors :))

2. Pretty Office Shoes

Brighten up your working day with these fashionable shoes! Well, at least you should have one black formal shoes...

3. Party Shoes

From casual cocktail party, beauty community gathering, to bestfriend's wedding party. Simple heel or quirky wedges, up to you :)

What kind of shoes do you need right now? Luckily, all those shoes can be bought at Be-Bob Shoes website! Yay!!
Actually I don’t really like the idea of buying shoes online, because we don’t know whether the size is correct or will it be comfortable. But these Be-Bob Shoes are already sold in many department stores in Indonesia (and it is local brand! Be proud :D), so I've tried and seen the quality when I visit the store. It's well made and comfortable to wear.

I love those designs above, but decided to buy a simple flat shoes – which goes to whatever I’m wearing and wherever I’m going. One which is comfortable enough to be worn all day, crossing the street, riding a bus, and simply fashionable enough to be worn inside a mall. So, I bought this shoes online at Be-Bob! :D

Camel color Be-Bob flats, with cut out details. Correct size, alhamdulillah.

I'm glad I could find a matching shoe color for my 2 bags (backpack & sling bag) ^^

Well, since my collection of basic items are enough now, I can prepare to buy cute shoes!!
Hahahahaaa... Will hubby read my post? Either will he think I’m a desperate housewife shoe-aholic, or will he buy me more shoes?? :p

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Written for Be-Bob Blog Competition ;)

Paris, December 2012

Assalamu'alaikum!

Well, after getting married, this girl suddenly had her childhood dreams come true: go around the world.

She flew a thousand miles to Europe, in winter cold weather!

Rejeki nikah yaaa? :D

Paris is a very beautiful city. Landmarks were built in a symmetrical view, and buildings are organized and pretty to see.

Coat by sewamantel.com (yeah I tried to save my penny ;D before the trip)

View from Eiffel tower

Bro & sis in law, with my lil cute nephew Nandhi

Nandhi was the star of the tour!

Candid? In Sacre Coeur Basilica

Cheers!

Due to very cold weather (based on research before the trip), I knew I should invest on a good coat (sweater is not enoughhh). And a good coat is expensive! So my tips is:

• Borrow a coat from family/friend, or like me, I use sewamantel.com coat-rental
• If you really need to buy a coat or down-filled jacket (jaket isi bulu angsa), buy at Toko Djohan Mangga Dua or Farina Mangga Dua (price is around Rp 500.000 - 700.000 for a VERY GOOD quality of jacket, Zara / Promod / S.Oliver etc from factory), or maybe try hunting at flea market?

There were also some winter jacket (Chinese made) in some Factory Outlet Bandung, but when I surveyed, I wasn't sure about the quality...

My tips is also to bring a good quality of winter gloves. Mine was cheap-wool-look-alike, and I still feel too cold, brrrr...

credit: photos by my husband (& sometimes tripod)

Choco Bleu

Seems like I have 2 items with brown and blue color! My marble / snake patterned skirt and my little leather bag :D

Love love my chocobleu color!

Hijab: DIY, Cardigan: Splash Dubai, Skirt: Splash, Shoes: Marie Claire, Sling Bag: a small shop in Venice

*due to the messy room background I had to crop my photos like that =__=*

DIY: Portable Laptop Desk (no sew)

...in cute colored fabrics!

Inspired by:

Manufactured product

 HOW TO MAKE IT

...in less than Rp 40.000 (depends on your fabric):

Cardboard, All purpose glue (I tried clear glue-UHU, white craft glue-FOX, and double tape), 2 sheets of fabric, dacron, scissor

Prepare 2 cardboard in your desired size (fit to your laptop). NOTE: cut the 2 cardboard in DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS of bones (see illustration above). This is to make the cardboard stronger once they are glued together.

Prepare 2 sheets of fabrics. One for the upper desk, and one for the bottom which will be filled with dacrons. The bottom fabric will be bigger (wide&tall) than the upper fabric.

Cover one cardboard with the bottom fabric, leave some spaces around the cardboard, so the fabric is not tight. We'll make this part fluffy!

Detail on how to fold the bottom fabric:

  Wrap the upper fabric to the second cardboard tightly.

Glue them together, securely. I combined my 3 types of adhesive: double tape for the center, FOX between fabric to cardboard, and UHU between fabric to fabric. It's just a trial and error :p

Ready to use! Fluffy and lightweight ;)