Project 365

Had an awesome day today with my girls, Ari and Jessie in Kinderdijk, a village that was famous for the windmills. There were 19 windmills in total, which made this village one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The day was PERFECT! The sun was shining so brightly and the sky was clear and blue. It was such a beautiful day. We walked along the path leading to these windmills, sat nearby a small river (or canal) and warm ourselves up under the sun, and had a great talk, as usual.

We went back to Jessie’s place in Utrecht at around 8 or 9pm, where Ari and I slept over there for a night. I was REALLY tired as I slept at 5am the night before. But I really enjoyed my day and I couldn’t be more happier and thankful 🙂

Isn’t she an adorable baby? Allow me to introduce one of my favorite babies, Mentari who always brightens up people’s day 😉 Today was her 4 months birthday, but unfortunately, she was a little bit sick 🙁 Ari, Jessie, and me came over to visit her. It’s always refreshing to see her. And even… to see her smiling picture. I love it!

Today, Ari and I went to Helmond, a city about few minutes from Eindhoven. Jessie picked us up by car and we then went there to visit mbak Dina, who has just given a birth to a baby boy, Jethro. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of him 🙁 I forgot!

We also went to the castle (pictured) and walked around and had really nice girl talks! Having girlfriends is very important, indeed! We also talked about how hard it’s for Jessie, who’s a Dutch-Indonesian to be in Indonesia. Being a “bule” (westener / foreigner) is annoying; as she always receives too much attention from the people around her and the strangers. Indonesian people look “highly” on the westeners and the result is that, western people receive much better treatment than the local people. That’s what mbak Dina said to us. She tried acting as someone who came from the US (who couldn’t speak Indonesian at all) when she was shopping in the mall. And what happened was that, she got the attention from 3 salespersons who were so kind to help her (would it happen to us, the ordinary Indonesians?!?). Well, I bet not.

Anyway, after hours of girl talks and interesting conversation, we were invited to have dinner at Jessie’s house. It was a fun day! A total full day! Ari and I arrived at home around 10.30pm and we talked and talked for hours until around 3am! Phew! Girls just can’t stop talking when they’re together 😉

I still want this. It’s not on sale yet. And they don’t offer shipping to the Netherlands 🙁

After having a 4-day road trip in 3 different countries, I came back home and arrived today at 2am. I went to bed at around 3.30am and woke up again at 8am. I had to go to Den Haag with my friends Ian, mbak Linda, and Sam. We had planned this gathering two weeks ago so that we could have a reunion with all the Indonesian people at the Boekenfestijn. And I was so glad I met all of them, except Maureen though 🙁 She had promised to come but I didn’t hear any words from her.

Anyway, we then went to the Pasar Malam organized by our Indonesian embassy in Den Haag. I spent quite a bit of money as I ate too many foods there! We also got the opportunity to watch some of the performances which were very entertaining! I had such a great time! 🙂

Ian and I then went to Amsterdam at around 6.30pm. I asked him to accompany me to meet my mom’s friend in Jeddah, tante Novi & family, who were here for vacation. I brought some stroopwaffels for my little brother 😀 . Tante Novi and oom Agung then invited us for dinner at an Indonesian restaurant called Kantjil (yet another Indonesian foods for today! hehehe). It wasn’t bad at all.

We took the last train to Eindhoven. I’m too tired but I’m impressed that I still managed to write this post! 😀

*the last 4 days of the posting will be written later 🙂

So yes, I applied some henna on my hand 🙂 I always have some stock of henna with me and I love doing it! So here it is I present you my own very creation. Hihihi.

It wasn’t the best henna design I created to be honest. The henna paste was not good enough — it was too watery. Therefore, it was really hard to preserve some details of the design. Because in the end, everything blended together. So the leaf part looked quite awful. It looked like a fish now. The color seemed to be good though! I think this henna would last quite a long time. I didn’t wait until it dried completely though, so I’m sure the color would be much darker had I wait for more minutes or hours.

I’m still searching for the best henna paste (the one in the tube!). The previous ones that I used did not last for more than a week. Let’s see how long this would last for 😀

Eindhoven was pretty with all the flowers blooming 🙂

I want to sit atop the fluffy clouds, and breathe in that fresh air. I want to look up and see the millions of stars, free of interference. I want to be where no person has been before. — loveforcoffee

Eindhoven was warmer than usual today! It was sunny with a 12 degrees Celsius temperature. Despite the stomachache, despite of everything… I can’t ask for a better day 🙂

In the winter, I usually did my laundry and hanged the clothes inside my house. Otherwise it would take ages for my clothes to dry up. But not today though! I decided that it was the time for me to dry my clothes in the backyard.

And look what I found! The flowers have bloomed! What a beautiful sight!!! I could see some gigantic bees wondering around (Oh, hello there! I haven’t seen you guys around since last fall!!). I’m gonna go to a market on Saturday to buy some tulips to be put in my room. The last time I looked for them a few weeks ago, I couldn’t find them! So probably they’re now available on the market 🙂

Spring is here. And I can’t be more delighted. Alhamdulillah.

Some route changes have just been made to our Easter trip. We’ve decided to add Neuschwanstein Castle to our sightseeing list!!! It’s a beautiful castle and it’s the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.

We’ve also decided to stay for a night in Ulm instead of Munich as previously planned. Qonita, one of my friends who are joining the trip and who are going to be one of the drivers, has found a Couchsurfer who’s kind enough to offer us a place to sleep. It’s indeed a great news!

I haven’t found a Couchsurfer in Salzburg though. I’m still looking for it. If I don’t find anything, then we’re just going to sleep in a hostel. It’ll still be fun!

Here is the updated route 🙂