DORA on the ROAD

Sipping on a cup of coffee N'yumba Lungo of Nescafe Dolce Gusto as I'm writing this post in my apartment. One word - It's MASARAP! Intense flavours and with a citrus kick at the end. Not a coffee lover but it's the only coffee drink I enjoy the most so far. Here comes the full - day guided Cirebon tour which I had been yearning for :D to unwind and had a taste of their local foods =p. First stop of our tour was in Keraton Kasepuhan located in the sub - district of Lemahwungkuk, Cirebon City. it was a great experience to be able to visit the facilities once utilized by the royal family in Cirebon, despite the blazing hot sun that cost us so much sweat and strength. Keraton Kasepuhan Entrance right behind me Hindu - styled split gate named Gapura Adi. Looks like I'm in Bali :D Pakungwati Palace, named after the daughter of Prince Cakrabuwana (the sultanate first ruler) built in 1446. Kereta Kencana Singa Barong. An old carriage influenced with artistic e...

Happy Sunday, peeps! It feels so awesome to eventually get to write up a blog post in the most peaceful and relaxing evening. A few days ago our school stumbled out of the hustle and bustle of Jakarta and into a quiet, beautiful, greenery lush and refreshing morning in Bogor, West Java for another inspiration field trip. We always like incorporating a bit of history into our field trips, so this field trip starts off with a visit to the Bogor Presidential Palace, the largest of the six presidential palace in Indonesia. Bogor Presidential Palace, known as Istana Bogor Istana Bogor is more than just a palatial building. It also played the vital part in the heritage of Indonesia and holds many political and international meetings such as the APEC Summit last 1994. Sadly, for security reasons, we're not lucky to take a closer look inside since it was currently serves as the residence of the Indonesian President. No chance to get in, unfortunately. Keeping the historical theme goi...

I seem to be having wanderlust again lately and decided to spend some time today in quietude before the slew of school's activities. So thankful for these pockets of time to centre myself and align my thoughts. Kampung Naga is a small village that lies within the Neglasari village, Salawu District, Tasikmalaya, West Java Indonesia. It took us several hundreds of concrete steps to reach the place and encountered a wonderful 1.5 hectares village full of simplicity and beauty of nature. Approaching Kampung Naga Welcome to Kampung Naga What impacted me most were their persistence to cling to cultural traditions and way of life against the setbacks posts by modernization. A landscape of great beauty Photo by Uni Pomme A very nice lady making handicraft out of a bamboo. The magic of woodturning jobs The traditional Sundanese houses in Kampung Naga which is made up of straws or grasses (alang - alang, a type of wild grass) as a building materials. Each of the houses have...

Quotes of the Day: "If you don't at least give a try, you'll never know...you'll never change". - Doraemon, from the movie, Stand By Me Yeah, that's right! Through these quotes and with some little help from my friends which really inspires me to get out of my comfort zone and try to see the beauty around me. I've been here in Jakarta for almost six years, but I'd never tried to get lost in the thousands of places and food options in the city . Most of the time, you'll see me wandering on the same place such as Citraland or Central Park Mall. Not because I'm fallin' in love to the place but that was the only place I know and comfortable with since then. Sounds funny, isn't it? Huh! Recently, my visa application was having some backlogs that cause me or most of the expats here to spend the holidays away from their families. Well, that was a sad fact, literally. On the lighter side, these gives me opportunities to go around Jakar...

It was a Black Saturday morning when we decided to visit the Indonesian National Monument or commonly known as MONAS. It is a bit weird and so funny to think that most of the people around the world are busy at that time for their visita Iglesia but we found ourselves queeing for this historical place in Indonesia. Hmmmmm.....another style of celebrating the Easter! As far as my opinion is concerned, celebrating the Easter is not just by merely visiting churches but by living it everyday in our life. Well, that is my opinion....Peace! And so we took the Transjakarta Busway with Blok M to Kota Tua route, which only costs us Rp.3,500 (less than 1 USD). Very cheap! What a drizzling day when we arrived to the place but it does not stop us to pursue our trip up to its top yard.   Monumen Nasional: Jakarta City  Most of the people near this place, usually utilize Monas area as a place for sport activities and other recreations. Monas is really a big ...