Bear Mountain and Perkins Memorial Tower, NY

If you are longing to enjoy beautiful green scenery while staying in NYC and the surroundings, Bear Mountain can be a perfect alternative :).

Yuuup...Bear Mountain

The first time I hear this place name, I imagine bears are freely roaming around in this area. Well, at least they used to..perhaps :). 

For sure, Bear Mountain Park is one of NY state parks along the rugged mountain near Hudson River. Providing its visitors with large playing field, swimming pool, an inn with spa, resto and souvenir shop, and a fascinating merry-go-round (only a dollar per ride :)), you can also take its famous path heading to the summit of Bear Mountain to enjoy spectacular view from above. Ow, and they have installed an ice rink during winter as well for all to enjoy! SOunds like fun, right...

Located near the Harriman Park Estate in NY state, it took us around 1.5 hour drive from New York City. Taking the Palisades route, we visited this place together with some friends, Nona and Nara. It was a fun ride with a quick stop at the scenic view spot along the way, overlooking Hudson river from another part of the city. As it was a nice and war day, we planned to have picnic as well with nasi uduk on the menu (don't get bored, this nasi uduk or Indonesian rice with coconut milk is indeed my favorite :)).

We somehow made some wrong turns and end up taking the path to Perkins Memorial Tower. 

the tower...

It was in the same area as Bear Mountain and getting lost here proved to be a blessing in disguise. We found another perfect spot for photo session, hahahaha. Lucky us :). 

After parking our car, we made a little hike and enjoyed the breathtaking scenery from the top. 

the parking lot...

It was lovely...
You can enjoy the view of Bear Mountain, with its lake, bridge and river from above.

around the Tower...

Even Bo was fully enjoying the warm day with his scooter :) 

Bo and his scooter...

careful Bo....

Then of course, Obi was soon joining us and more pictures are taken :)

Look at Bo fierce face and Obi's smile :)....

View from the top...

the three of us...

Near the Perkins Memorial Tower, we found this gorgeous rustic bench which was the perfect spot for another pose under the blue sky.

My smiley Obi :)

all of us, except Udi :)

Bo et Obi...

Apparently, Perkins Memorial Tower is beautifully adorned its natural beauty. And we just can't get enough of it...

After being around the tower for about an hour, we finally drove down to Bear Mountain. 

It was pass lunch time so everyone was hungry :). But as laid our eyes on the beauty of Hessian Lake, we took some pictures first before enjoying our picnic.

Hessian Lake...

lunch timeeeee....

After our quick lunch, we explored the area and headed to the merry-go-round. Bo, Obi et mama were having fuuun here :)

round round in merry-go-round...

The Inn...

Well, quite a lovely journey to Bear Mountain and Perkins Memorial Park. 
Maybe next time we will try Bear Mountain Inn as well :)
Get more information on its website and have a great day in Bear Mountain :)

Rustic Maka, fresh deodorant for you!

Being an active mom with 9 -5 (and moreee most of the time) working hours, I definitely need to make sure that I stay fresh all the time. Besides perfume and body lotion, I usually have fresh deodorant ready for me and my hubby.

It can be a bit tricky sometime to find products that will be suitable for me as a person with cancer history.  I have to be really careful with everything I use, but I guess everyone will think the same way :). Most of the time, I always look for the organic ones, making sure that they are made only from natural ingredients and minimal, if not zero, harsh chemicals. And I was so lucky to win giveaway hosted by dear Theresa Mahoney and get free Rustic Maka products.

Have you heard of Rustic Maka before? 

Rustic Maka produces series of non-toxic, organic and deodorants, in full and travel sizes, and bath salts. Faithfully adhering to the philosophy of "less is more," Rustic Maka is the great choice for those looking for personal care solutions made of traditional and simple ingredients.

I got a chance to try some of their products. 

First, I got the Pachy Sweet Lemonade deodorant. I love its soft, yet fresh lemony scent in my skin.  With organic arrowroot powder, organic raw shea butter, organic coconut oil, aluminum-free sodium bicarbonate, wildcrafted candelila wax, sweet orange essential oil, organic vanilla extract and lemon essential oil, I feel so good and fresh. Its oil makes my skin soft and moist, too. 

And I also have one for my hubby, too.  
Yuuup...I want him to smell nice too. And we got to try Pachy Rough River for men.
With similar ingredients as my sweet lemonade one, Rough River is freshly adorned with bergamot essential oil. Love it!

As a bonus, I got the mini travel size of Pachy . It's very handy as we don't have to bring the big size wherever you go. And I bet it's perfect for any trips we make as it's just as tiny as the pocket lighter. 

Click RusticMaka.com for more complete info and choices and don't hesitate to try one yourself. They have 7  lovely scents for deodorant with only $11.95 for full size and $7.95 for travel size. For Skora natural bath salts, there are two  choices of calming fields and sweet lemonade for $20.95.

One more thing...all this products are never tested on animals! 
Truly something that makes you feel good and fresh, too...

Missing the land of peace...

Now the real winter is here at NYC..

And I'm missing the warm, clear blue sky of my beautiful Indonesia

Especially the land of peace, Papua..

at the easternmost part of my homeland...

Jayapura from to of the hill

cheeers.....

Join us on skywatch Friday and wonder the amazing blue sky all over the world, together...

WW: Deer Lake, Pennsylvania

I got misty..

Just holding your hand....

                                             S. Vaughan

Join us on Wordless Wednesday and have a wonderful blog hop experience:)

Weekend at Lake Wallenpaupack, Pennsylvania #2..Let it snow..

Haiiiii semua....gimana dengan hari-hari pertama di tahun 2015? 
Mudah-mudahan seru selalu :).

Apalagi sekarang anak-anak sudah back to school...back to work! Semangaaaat...

Untungnya akhir pekan pertama di tahun 2015 menjadi pembuka yang maniiis dan seruuuu buat kami sekeluarga. Wanna know what happened to our first weekend in 2015?

It was jam-packed with fun, endless laughter and great outdoor activities with the kids :).

As I was sharing some stunning morning views and story from Deer Lake at the Lake Wallenpaupack area in Pennsylvania here, we indeed had lovely wintery day last weekend.  

My munchkin and the sunrise...

early morning walk, before the snow came...

We went to Lake Wallenpaupack area with the other 4 families, so it was truly a merry trip :).

After enjoying the sunrise, we had breakfast down stairs with Nasi Uduk, or Indonesian coconut rice, complete with sambal goreng hati or beef liver in chili and coconut milk, fried onion and fresh salad as well as cucumber. Not to forget a jar of sambel roa, a special chili paste adorned with roa fish from Indonesia.

Some of our huge breakfast :)...

I managed to cook them right before heading to Pennsylvania and packed them up in our car :).  All I had to do was warm them up and voilaaa...we all had lovely breakfast that Saturday.

bon appetite everyoneeee...

Then, as rightly predicted, the snow started at around 11 am. The kids were sooo excited, they just couldn't wait for a while until the snow was tick enough for them to play. 

Meanwhile, the lake was fully frozen as well. 

After around 1 hour, we couldn't hold the kids any longer. After making sure that they all dressed properly and warm enough to play the snow,  off they went to the back yard and enjoyed the snow. 

Bo was exploring the area...wanting so much to enjoy his snow slides :)

Look who's having sooo much fun :)

catch meeee...

my big boy :)

Obi and friends were busy 'cooking'...making come snowy cupcakes and plates of snowy food :)

want some, ma? :)

Obi et bebe :)

We also had lovely photo session during the snow :)

cheers...

more photo session...

getting ready :)

Baby miles and his fans :)

Everyone was happy...look at our cheerful faces :)

Hours after that, time to call it a day and get snug inside the house again.
We had great dinner with rendang, or Indonesian famous spicy beef in coconut milk, and sambal ijo, or green chili. Too bad I didn't take puctures of the those yummy food :). I was so busy eating LoL :p.

Then later that night, everyone was sooo tired but the kids just simply wanted to sleep all together. So they all snugged in the living room and slept peacefully :)

nite, niteee kiddos :)

It was indeed a beautiful weekend...
And spending it with people you love makes it even more beautiful.

Alhamdulillah...
I hope it will be a good start of 2015...
Again...have a fabulous new year, peopleeee...

Weekend at lake Wallenpaupack Area, Pennsylvania #1

First weekend at 2015...

Wuhuuuuuu...

Sudah sejak lama kami sekeluarga pengeeen banget liburan yang lucu-lucu di sekitar NY City. Maklum, soalnya cuaca lagi tidak begitu bersahabat alias dingin bangeeet dan kondisi badan juga tidak begitu fit karena masih kemo. 

But the kids are off from school until the 4th of January, so last weekend was the perfect time to have a brief, yet rewarding vacation. Well, technically we have new year's break, but since I had to come tot he office on the 2nd of January and we had friends going back to Indonesia for good during those days, we decided to go to Lake Wallenpaupack area in Pennsylvania on Friday until Sunday.

Lake Wallenpaupack is the third largest fresh water lake in Pennsylvania. Located near the Pocono Mountain, the surrounding areas are dotted with ski resorts and summer camps as well as many recreational centers. Wallenpaupack is indeed an Indian name, which literally means "the stream of swift and slow water," according to wikipedia. And apparently, this lake has been used for the location of the Office, famous TV series, shooting when episode was talking about the staffs' retreat. Hmm...I just knew that :). 

So, off we went on Friday night around 7.30 pm from NYC, heading to Pennsylvania. We had 3 families coming together on that day, so we traveled with 2 cars. Two more families would join us on Saturday morning. 

It was supposed to be 2.5 hour drive. But with 5 kids staying in one car, my hubby preferred to take his time and we stopped in fast food restaurant for quite some time. 

Then we finally arrived at Lake Wallenpaupack area around 11 pm. Pheeew, it was dark already and we had to go "into the woods" to get to our place. We stayed in one of the properties belonged to the office and it has  bedrooms, located by the lake, perfect for our family trip :).

Once we were there, the kids were still in good mood of playing, so we ended up staying late until almost 2 am, enjoying nice conversation, yummy snacks and hot drinks. It was cold that nigh, as the weather predicted that snow would be showering on the next day. Speaking about the snow, the kids were constantly asking about it...saying when can we see the snow? Can we play with the snow? Are we heading to the snowy place? Well, you figure that out :).

After some times, everyone got tired and we all had peaceful sleep that night. When I woke up in the morning, I was really enjoying the beautiful sunrise over Deer lake, which is located right at the backyard of the house. Stunning!

view from our balcony...

can't get enough of it...

What a perfect start of the day...

I noticed that some part of the lake started to freeze. You can see the thin lining of ice on its surface.

the lake started to freeze...

"Well, well...the snow is definitely coming!,"I thought. What a lucky day! 
Just like what the kids wanted :). 
Wanna know what happened next?
Will be right back :)

Silent whisper

Clear blue sky in the beginning of 2015...

Whispering my hopes, dreams and prayers to the Almighty...

Happy New Year...

R. F. Kennedy Bridge, NYC, January 2nd, 2015

Join us on Sky watch Friday :)