Books I need to read in 2019

Hi!

I am back, I guess, sort of.

You know, this January I said to myself that I need to post at least 5 entries in this precious baby I called my own blog. It is a hard work for me, to be honest. There are times where I would do bunch of writings, unfinished ones, which I will probably decided not to post here for some reasons. But, today, I dedicated myself to post something, it is about book.

I rarely talk about books that I read or simply giving my opinion on it. It is just an activity for me. This time, I want to share with you, several books that I want to finish reading this year. The list could be added if I have more books to read. I am a bit proud of my reading game this year since I already finished 2 books in this month and there is one more still my bedside table.

This list actually is my wish list of books, there are some of it that I already bought, but there are others I haven’t got in hands. So, here is the lists of 20 books I want to read this year.

1. Ella, Minnow, Pea by Mark Dunn 
2. Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud 
3. Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman
4. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima
5. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
6. The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
7. The Danish Way of Parenting by Jessica Joelle Alexander & Iben Dissing Sandahl
8. Every Woman’s Guide To Saving the Planet by Natalie Isaacs
9. Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
10. Turning the Tide on Plastics by Lucy Siegle
11. Small is Beautiful by Vintage Schumacher
12. Live Green by Jen Chillingsworth
13. The Art of Simple by Eleanor Ozich
14. Semua Ikan di Langit by Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrizkie
15. The Year of Spaghetti by Haruki Murakami
16. Studies on Hysteria by Sigmund Freud
17. Almost Adulting by Arden Rose
18. The Little Book of Life Hacks by Yumi Sakugawa
19. The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix
20. Little Women by Louise May Alcott

That is quite a long list, eh? Anyway, I am looking for some of books listed above. This year, I am eager to read as many book as I could. It has been a long time since I could read that 500 pages more of Harry Potter in a day. I am getting slower nowadays.

It is also my way to ignite the fire within me, I know it sounds absurd, but yes it is true. I need more vitamin from books. Books could take you anywhere, to the faraway land even to unknown place. I will updated the list as I go this year. Wish me luck!

Cheers,

M

*Some books might be changing in the course of the year, no one knows what I want to discover this year. There will be unplanned event along the way. 

Natural Skin Care Review: Face Oils and Rose Water by Haple.id

The latest product that I bought (again)

I know, it is kind of unusual for me to write review about certain product, because I never done it before. But, it is never wrong to try something new, right?

I mean, there will be certain reasons why I want to create this type of post. First, I love the product. Second, I love it so much that I should tell people about it’s very existence.

When I was younger, I never thought that taking care of my skin is big issue for me. I mean, I never had a crazy problem with acne, I have a lot though in certain area of my face, so skin care is not in my routine list. As I get older, I find out that it is a nice way of loving ourselves. Since university, I only use facial wash, that’s it. I never try product such as essence, oil, moisturiser, and so on.

One day, I found this ads about natural skin care on Instagram, and I ordered it. It turns out, I have no skin problem by using it. It even helps me fight hormonal acne and moisturising my face. It does not give a sudden change, but I feel that my skin is getting healthier. The first package I ever ordered is three essential oils with a rose water.

**Disclaimer, I am not skin care expert or whatsoever, I am just a woman who try a skincare product.

Packaging

I love the packaging of Haple.id, it is packaged in a box made from brown craft paper. Inside it you will find the oil and a little paper that tells you what is the benefits of the oil and how to use it. But, it will be really nice if there will be less plastic on packaging.

Oil packaging

Info and instruction sheets

What I feel

I really love the rose water, this one is my 5th bottle. This is the second time I bought the large bottle, the first time is when I give it to my mom. It is refreshing and hydrating. I use it before I use the oils. I even bring the regular bottle in my daily bag. I use it as a body and face mist. So far, I have no allergic to this water.

Rose water packaging, regular and large

What about the oils? For now, I only use two oils, grape seed and almond oil. I use almond oil to moisturise my face, not only that, I sometimes use it on my lashes and eyebrow. I heard it helps with growth, so I try it. I haven’t seen any results from it, but doing it become a way for me to unwind and relax.

I use grape seed oil to treat my hormonal acne. Several weeks ago, I got a bunch of it on me right and left cheeks. It is frustrating, since I never had such a breakout before. Every morning after taking a bath and night before I go to sleep, I will use two drops of it on my acne. It works well, not it is not as crazy as before, no more redness.

I guess so far, this is a best natural skin care for me. I am not a kind of person who will try a lot of products on my skin. When I find the one, I will stick to it, like what I do for my facial wash. It has been 5 years since the first time I use it, and I never looked back.

That is all for today’s post. I feel good telling people products that I use daily, maybe I will try to make another one next time.

Thank you for stopping by!

Cheers,

M

Valencia

Hi!

This time of the year, 3 years ago, I spent my day in Valencia. It was already that long since I’ve been there. Valencia is a warm city, after Castellon of course. It is the center of comunitat Valenciana. I spent my days here most of the time for the class that I took in the uni. It was Valencian Arts and Architecture. I was captivated by how interesting the lecture was.

I’ll try to remember places that you could visit in Valencia when you happen to be in Spain or you are planning to go there. Because Valencia is one of cities in Spain that you need to visit, period. Usually, I went to Valencia by train, it costs me around 4 to 6 euros which take 1 hour long. It is the same amount of time we need to go from Yogyakarta to Solo. I also spent some days here to watch finale of MotoGP 2015 in Valencia circuit Ricardo Tormo on November 2015. Anyway, let’s see what you can do and see in Valencia.

Here are the things that I find interesting in Valencia,

Plaza de la Virgen Maria
This plaza is located in the heart’s of Valencia historical sites. You will find a fountain in the middle of this plaza. Yes, like any other plaza in Spain, you will find it surrounded by a cathedral, basilica, as well as palace of generalitat. I find the plaza is the perfect place to hangout with friends while enjoying the ambiance. At the first time, I went to this plaza in the night and watched many street artist shows their skill. Other time I went here, there was exhibition and pre wedding photoshoot happened.

Personal Photo

Visiting Museum and Art Gallery
I know, some people finds it boring, but museum and art gallery is one of activities that I always do while visiting new places. Even though I haven’t got a chance to visit all museum and art gallery in Valencia, but I am glad that I visit these two places.

Museu de Belles Artes de Valencia
I went here several times! For lecturer and also for fun visits. I like how it shows period of fine art in Valencia and how religion influenced the arts.

One of art works displayed in the Museum

Museo de Taurino de Valencia
This is a museum that exhibit history of bullfighting. Here, you will see the famous bull and all the intricate costume that used in the arena. The costume is pretty darn amazing you know!

Personal Photo

Reduced ticket, I am using my student card

Here is the lists of Museum and Art Gallery in Valencia, I search the web for you. 😉

• The IVAM, L'Institut Valencia d'Art Modern
• The Museu Valencia de la Illustracio i la Modernitat
• Del Carmen Cultural Center
• Museo Nacional de Ceramica

Beach
South part of Spain is a place where you can find a good beaches to spend your day in. I went to one of the beach there but I forgot the name of the beach. It is a way to cure my home sick you know. I missed all the beaches in my hometown while I spent my exchange program.

Mercat Central
Traditional market is a place to go when you spend a quite long time in any city in Spain. You could find a fresh fruits and veggies. It is not only pleasing your stomach but your eyes indeed. I haven’t got a chance to go inside, since I went there when holiday. It is ashamed though, I will visit the market when I go to Spain someday.

City of Arts and Sciences
This one, is the one place that I want to visit. When I went there, I just hang around the place without actually go inside the building. Even when you walk in the area, you will find it amusing with that modern and sophisticated buildings.

Personal Photo

Someone in the photo

Other parts of the city
When you do not rush to find any attractions in Valencia, you can just wander around the town and find little piece that impressive. Like, a mural on the wall, the smallest bar, or just old buildings that you will find all around the city centre.

I guess, I may not cover all the beauty of Valencia, but you can get a grasp of what you can find there. I know for sure that I need to go back to Valencia in the future. I don’t know when, but someday I will. I hope you find it informative enough for you.

Have an amazing day people!

Cheers

*all photos taken by me

Not-so minimalist wardrobe

count how many clothes I have and why I start to own less

For me, 2019 is a start of better and a bit conscious lifestyle. The story begin when, I feel a bit uncomfortable after me and Flying Balloons Puppet performed about the environment, how human act affects its surrounding. It will be a hypocrisy if we told story about destroyed environment and how human should do to protect it without actually making a real move. I never set a perfect nor a big standar on how I want to change the way I live. It is an ongoing process for me and my partner. We start little but at least we start now.

Conscious life and better understanding about how my action influence my environment is a journey to be able to feel enough when it is actually enough. When it comes to clothing, I used to splurge, even though it is far from it, but there are a lot of clothes that I never use, staying in a dark. I hold into some clothes because I thought it has a memory on it or I might use it someday (which is most of the time is not going to happen). Then, since last year, I reevaluate my clothes, and pile up clothing items that I rarely use. The results is quite mesmerizing, I cleaned and packed some of it to give to donation, while some of it I repurpose into something else. Until this moment I am still in the process of selecting wardrobe that I really need and still separate clothes I rarely use. It is not a one night experience for me, it is a long journey ahead.

I want to show you how my progress is by counting how many clothes that I have right now, even though the number will not be super accurate but I could at least have a picture of it. This number will not included bag, shoes, accessories, and sleeping wear as well as undergarment.

So, let’s see.

Pile of tops that I have, minus 5 in the laundry

Bottoms and lounge wear. I am not putting my undergarment into this list

Two outers. Jeans jacket and a jumper. I shared this one with my partner.

If I count total of my clothes, it is about 43 items, included formal wear, seasonal jackets, which I am not put in this post, also other t-shirts and pants in the laundry basket. You see that most of my clothes are t-shirt, black t-shirts to be exact. I do not own many formal blouses and such since I rarely get into a formal set up or event. So, for now I stick with this items. If you happen to know me, you might notice some outer that I use most of the time, the black one or the flowery one.

It is still a great number of clothes, that is why I put not-so minimalist wardrobe for the title. But, for now, it is my favorite and most use clothes. Learning to become fulfill with what I have is difficult and not an easy task. If someday I found new clothing items which I need, I will put the old one into a pile for donation, repurpose, and mending or fixing things. I have talked about mending my old jeans in this blog post.

All of exposure happen today with unending ads, sometimes make me want to buy more, I need that, I probably need that, or simply I like that. But, I am glad, that since I get married, I consider every purchase that I want to make especially when it comes to unnecessary item. I know by heart that I am not going to be a full perfect minimalist, because I know I am not. I believe that it is a good start when we are trying to understand how our clothing create impact to our surroundings. 

Becoming compassionate with environment through selective wardrobe is a little step for me to get better as a person and human. I am no perfect when it comes to #lesswaste #conscious lifestyle, and I know I have no right to judge people way of life, because we are totally different, and it is just fine. I started this small change as a way for me as a reminder to be responsible for what I have told people from performance that I did. Personally, it is silly to talk big without a definitive action. This is an effort that I try to make the least. 

I will talk more about the journey of my little change through this blog. I hope it will give you something to think about. I put some link and reference below if you are interested on fashion and its impact to the environment.

Website:

Remake

Movies:

The True Cost

Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things

Thank you for stopping by.

Have a nice day!

Flying Balloons Puppet, A note for growing baby

Photo: @halingbertanya Instagram

A little step

I never believe that I take steps along with this growing baby.

I used to dream to become an interior designer or works in creative fields. But all I did was studying politics (which I never regret since I have met many people along the way, the best people, even). You know the feeling when you knew that the roads was meant only for you and by you? That is what I am feeling right now.

Starting a new year with a great partner and a beautiful baby. Flying Balloons Puppet is our baby which conceived by Rangga for months and I bravely took a responsibility to nurture and take care of it together. Such a privilege! At first, I didn’t want to involved in Rangga’s passion on performing arts and all, but as I get closer to all his projects and performances, I finally understand why he loves it. There are calming effects when we do something that we love.

I never dream that I could become a part of it full time. It is such an unexpected journey for me which does not have any background nor experience on puppetry/performing arts. 2018 was a blessed to all of us, Flying Balloons Puppet team, and all the people who became a part of our story. 2019 is a mark of our 4th year as Flying Balloons Puppet and also a beginning of a long road ahead.

Without further ado, here is a little note for the birthday baby,

Photo: @halingbertanya Instagram

Taking a step is one of a miraculous gift that human could ever dreamt of

Why so?

It is not easy to be able to walk on our feet into a new places

Places of dream and unexpected doors

Hold a breath

And smell all of the chances floating in the open field

It is not like any other

The road not taken

Robert Frost once influence me, maybe still

To take the one less traveled by

Not only it is fascinating

But, it is also dangerous

If human brave enough to open a door meant for them

I know for sure that endless bless is waiting

Bless of having a great companion

Bless for all the deep conversation

Hurt is a bless as well

An experience where we could measure our heart

To learn something

To accept and let go

Fly, fly away

Fly high and never regret

Once you start flying

You will find your long lost self

Thank you for reading this random talk on Flying Balloons Puppet anniversary. I just feel grateful for all the time I could spent with the group. Now, I am preparing for our next project. If you want to know more about us and about our 2019 program. You could just email me or comment on this post.

Have a wonderful 2019!