WW: Tegal Mas Island, Lampung - continued

Here are more photos from our excursion to Tegal Mas Island, Lampung, Indonesia
I am still drafting the full story of it, so stick around yaaa.

the 4 of us enjoying snorkeling..

one of my underwater shots..I mean my hubby :)

cute turtle for the kids

cheers from me and Bo :)

Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the link party

5 Favorite Restaurants in New York City a la My Purple World

Here comes the review of our favorite restaurants!

Well, as we continue #BPN30dayChallenge2018, day 7 requires your honest reviews about 5 of our favorite restaurants.

I guess I will start with 5 restaurants in New York city then in Indonesia.

Sounds delicious?

Indeed!

Berhubung saya belum banyak mampir ke restoran enak di tanah air, kai ini saya mau menuliskan 5 restaurant favorit saya dan The Frakarsas di New York City. Boleh kan yaaa.. karena memang restorannya asyik-asyik lho.

Let’s start!

The Halal Guys

The best gyro and chicken I have tried. 

Seriously!

And NYC loves it too! 

Whenever I go get it,  there will always be lining up, be it in the after noon, evening, or even midnight.

Let's line up :P

With only $8 for platters of chicken, beef, combo, or falafel and $6 for the sandwiches, surely people love this taste food.

And the taste..it's simply exquisite! I don't think I can do justice in trying to describe the delicious taste of beef and chicken gyro from the Halal Guys.

You can find them on West 53rd st and the 6th Ave.

They also open the restaurant in the 14th and 2nd ave.

Try it if you are happen to be in the Big Apple.

Ravagh Persian Grill

Halal and great taste indeed, that’s the first thing I have in mind when it comes to Ravagh Persian Grill. And the portion is big. No, it's huge! 

I always try the combination grill, with delicious grilled chicken, beef, and lamb in one huge plate. Of course I will not eat them all myself but share tem with othere or take them home.

We usually have 2 plates of rice which you can change or upgrade into sweet and sour one (with Cherry on it) or the one with saffron. The standard one is a plate of Basmati rice, which is alao good because it has low GI.

The desserts are also interesting. Try the traditional ice cream and faloodeeh, then tell me what you think about the taste :)

Blue Box at Tiffany’s

Favorite corner!

Remember Breakfast at Tiffany’s? One of the classic movies I love to watch.

And Tiffany’s itself is a world-famous jeweller, known for its intricate design anda high quality diamonds and gemstones.

And now they have the cafe!

The Blue Box cafe, to be exact.

It's a super cozy cafe indeed! And simply beautiful with blue robin ambience here and there and Tiffany's famous silver and dinnerware :). 

Besides all those top-notch Tiffany's trade mark blue tableware, the ambience, the food and the service is lovely! 

We had to wait a little while although my reservation was for 12.15, but as soon as we got our table we were served right away. We tried the lunch menu and I looooove the mushroom soup! Super tasty! The lobster salad is also fresh and my Emerald as well as NY Cheese Cake is great. 

Happy me :)

They only have breakfast menu, lunch or tea, for a fixed price of USD 29, 39, and 49 respectively. Will try the breakfast and tea menu next time :) 

It's crazy to get the reservation here as it's fully packed all the time but would be happy to come back here again with more friends. I learned the tricks from the Tiffany's staff btw, try it to RSVP slightly after midnight, didn't get the reservation right away but I put the notifications and they send me updates once the tables are available. And I got it after trying it once :)

Ali Baba

Looking for restaurants serving halal food in NYC, particularly Manhattan, can be a bit challenging, if not difficult.

Although we have a , but most of the halal restaurants are located in Queens, in certain areas such as Astoria, Elmhurst and Jamaica.

Turkish pizza, pide :)

But luckily, in Midtown Manhattan, we have one lovely restaurant serving halal food that we love.  Ali Baba Restaurant.

This Turkish restaurant serves a good variety of delicious mediterranean food.

My favourite is chicken adana and chicken kebab, as well as their lentil soup, salad, as well as pidé and cheese roll. Their falafels are also delicious.

Taverna Kyclades

grilled calamari

Last but not least, it's Taverna Kyclades.

Our love for fresh seafood, which reminds us of home, brings us to this famous and most authentic Greek Taverna in Astoria, Queens, NYC, our dearest neighbourhood.

We love all the seafood, starting from grilled and fried calamari, grilled whiting, salmon steak, oyster, crab cake and more!
With super friendly service and a long line, this family restaurant is coined as one of the most authentic Greek restaurants in NYC.
And my family fully supports that!

So, that's 5 favorite restaurant that the Frakarsas often visit and enjoy in NYC.

Do you like any of those restaurants as well?

Which one do you think is your favorite?

Ada apa dengan Bob, PNS, botak, lipstick, dan diving?

"So, people call you Bob ma?
Not Indah?"
Obi, my dear daughter, confronted me with that question when we were on outmr way back home from Gandaria City Mall.
She overheard my old friend, whom I bumped into after dinner at TGIF, called me with my ever-famous nick name from my high school time.
"Why Bob, ma? Are you like a tomboy during your school days, ma?"
More questions were bombarded by here and my hubby just smiled and said “I haven’t heard people call you that for a long time!”.

Mungkin teman-teman yang suka baca blog aku bingung dengan percakapan di atas.
Siapa Bob?
Bob Sadino? Bob Tutupoli? Bob Marley?
Apa hubungannya dengan Mama Bo et Obi?

Di tantangan #BPN30dayChallenge2018 hari ke-6, kita diminta menulis 5 fakta tentang diri kita. Mostly 5 fakta yang teman-teman belum tau.
Pilihan saya adalah Bob, PNS, botak, lipstick addict, dan diving.
Apalagi ini maksudnya?
Keep calm and read on :)

Ada Apa dengan Bob?

Jadi, nama ‘sayang’ yang dikasih teman-teman saya waktu sekolah, persisnya waktu SMA, adalah Bob.
Be Oo Be.
Tau kenapa? Karena rambut panjangku yang gimbal seperti Bob Marley, the famous reggae singer I love. And I happen to remember most of his songs and the lyrics.
Kalau aku pulang ke Lampung, mostly teman-teman sekolahku memanggilku Bob dan aku suka senyum-senyum sendiri.
Banyak cerita saat oku masih dipanggil Bob, termasuk  kisah kasih di SMA.
Bisa-bisa aku tulis satu posting sendiri deeeh LOL.

Ada apa dengan PNS?

Aku seorang Pegawai Negeri Sipil atau PNS lho.
Atau kalau sekarang namanya ASN, Aparatur Sipil Negara.
Walaupun banyak komentar miring tentang PNS atau ASN, saya bangga bisa menjadi punggawa negara tengan segala konsekuensinya.
Ada yang bilang ASN itu kerjanya enak karena datang ke kantor, sarapan, baca surat kabar, makan siang, ngopi, terus pulang.
Well, that's is not the case in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, kantorku tercinta.
Sejak  bergabung tahún 2002, banyak hal penting dan pelajaran bidup yang saya dapatkan. Hingga saat ini, alhamdulillah kami sempat menjalankan tugas Belajar  Magang, dan penempatan di beberapa negara. Satu hal yang pasti, Aku bangga bisa menjadi diplomat yang mewakili Indonesia di berbagai negara maupun Perwakilan organisasi internasional.
Ada yang mau temenin aku jadi PNS?

Ada apa dengan botak?

I used to be bald and I love it!
Ada yang pernah merasakan nikmatnya botak?
Kepala plontos tanpa sehelai rambutpun?
Aku pernah dan sukaaa banget.
Tidak dinyana, aku suka banget saat kepala aku plontos akibat kemoterapi yang harus jalani sebanyak 16 kali. Aku memang seorang penyintas kanker payudara and I'm proud to call myself a fighter, a survivor!
Sekitar 2 tahun aku botak dan betul-betul menikmatinya dan sekarang pun masuk suka tergoda untuk botak lagi.
Boleh kana ya :).

Ada apa dengan lipstik?

Aaah lipstick cintaku. 
Rasanya kalau bicara lipstik I can go on and  on and on and on. Ngga ada matinya pokoknya. Pokoknya petualangan aku dengan aneka macam lipstik dari berbagai warna dan merk benar-benar membuatku sådar kalau aku adalah lipstick addict, if not lipstick hoarder. Nanti deh, aku cerita khusus tentang lipstik. Dan pssst, sekarang aku punya kira-kira 90an lipstik aneka merk dan warna hasil 'menjarah' Sephora, Macy's dan beberapa toko online maupun offline di New York City!

Dan ada apa dengan diving?

And finally, I have to admit I love diving so much!
Sejak 'menyesal' karena baru dapat sertifikat diving di tahun 2011, saya selalu mencoba  untuk mampir ke berbagai tempat yang terkenal karena diving spot mereka. 
Dan bahagianya, Indonesia adalah surga untuk para penyelam.
Karena itu, saat tau akan kembali ke Tanah air, oku pun langsung komunikasi dengan my diving buddies di lampung, my beloved hometown. Cita-cita tuh bisa diving di berbagai spot keren di Indonesia dan dunia, biar ngga kalah dengan #myitchyfeet yang Sudan melanglang buana ke lebih dari 50 negara. So far, Aku baru diving di Indonesia, Amerika Serikat, St. Vincent & the Grenadines plus Grenada di Karibia. Doakan aku bisa lebih sering diving lagi yaaaa.


So, that's the (not so new) 5 facts about me.
Tell me yours so we can get to know one another closer.

Are you a Social Media Freak?

Have you asked yourself this question?
Are you a Social Media freak?

I have!

And surprisingly, the answer to that question is YES.
A big yes!

I don't know whether I have to be sad, afraid, happy or excited about it, but judging from my daily routines and habits, I have to admit that I have spent so much time on this social media accounts of mine! 

At this time, I have been juggling between my Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat and my blog, My Purple World. I used to have Path as well, but now the account is closed. in some of the those platforms, I have more than one accounts. Let alone the office accounts that I have to take care of, for some period of time.

With my family and full time job waiting, you can imagine how crazy it is for me.
And I am exhausted!

Banyak di antara kita yang seringkali tidak sadar telah menjadi 'budak' media sosial dengan segala bentuknya.
Tidak terkecuali saya.
Apalagi saat ini, hampir semua kantor (baca: Kementerian ) menggunakan digital platform dan aktif di berbagai akun media sosial sebagai bagian dari portfolia atau pekerjaan kita. 

Saya pribadi sangat menyukai media sosial. 
Atau mungkin sudah 'kecanduan', kalau kata suamiku. Bagaimana tidak kecanduan kalau pagi bangun tidur langsung pegang hape (tentunya setelah menyelesaikan kewajiban-kewajibanku :)), di sela-sela pekerjaan cek aneka akun media sosial dan malam menjelang tidur pun masih aktif 'merajalela' di platform-platform tersebut.
Parah? 
Pastinya...
Dan semua itu bukan tidak ada konsekuensinya.

Perhatian saya untuk keluarga terpecah, anak-anak dan suami pun kerap protes berat. 
Saya mulai kekurangan waktu untuk istirahat dan beberapa pekerjaan juga tidak selesai pada waktunya. Belum lagi resiko dan bahaya-bahaya akibat perhatian terpecah karena sibuk dengan hape dan tidak memperhatikan jalan atau sekitar saya.

Seringkali saya bertanya dan mencoba jujur pada diri sendiri.
Apa yang sebenarnya saya cari di media sosial?
Pengakuan? senang-senang? pencitraan? hanya mau pamer? menyelesaikan kewajiban? atau menyebarkan pesan baik? bawa manfaat untuk orang-orang? mencari berkah?
Atau semuanya?

I do recognise some benefits I got from social media. 
It's the place where you can learn so many good things as well as explore the world
Social media brings about changes in the world, in your world and the people around you. 
It provides spaces for self-development.
Being part of the world netizen is another rewarding experience as well.
Through social media, we can contribute to the betterment of the world, no matter how small it is.
But of course, social media has many perils we all need to be aware of. 
Bullying, harassment, pornography, illicit and improper materials, gambling,  and more are waiting and lingering at the corner.

Then, the best thing to work on it is FIND THE BALANCE.
How we can properly measure the benefits of social media without being drawn to its negative consequences.
Saya yang sudah mulai menunjukkan tanda-tanda kecanduan media sosial harus segera mengambil langkah agar tidak menjadi 'budak' digital.
So, I gotta to do something about it!
And I have to do it NOW!

Ada beberapa hal sederhana yang saya lakukan untuk mengatasi hal ini.
Mau tau apa saja? Simak tips sederhana dari Mama Bo et Obi berikut ini.

1. ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU DO FACE PROBLEM WITH IT

Pertama kita harus mengakui bahwa kita memang menghadapi masalah dengan segala media sosial itu. Terkadang kita tidak sadar kalau kita sudah sampai pada tahap kecanduan dan harus segera berhenti. Kalau tidak sadar kalau kita menghadapi masalah, bagaimana kita mau mengatasinya?  So, for me, this is the first step to overcome my problems. Saat saya kewalahan dengan semua ini, saya tau saya harus berhenti 

2. KNOW WHEN TO STOP AND SELF DISCIPLINE IS A MUST

Ini salah satu hal penting yang kerap saya tekankan pada diri sendiri. 
Saya harus tau kapan harus berhenti.
No is a no...dan itu artinya saya harus jujur pada diri sendiri kalau memang sudah kewalahan dan stop. 
Ketika semua aktivitas saya di media sosial ternyata sangat overwhelming, saya harus camkan pada diri sendiri batasan yang sesuai dengan kemampuan diri.
In this case, self discipline is a must!

5. ASK HELP FROM OTHERS 

Jangan lupa, kalau memang tidak mampu mengatasi hal ini, minta tolong dengan orang lain. Saat saya sudah kewalahan dengan segala urusan media sosial dan mengeluh, suami saya biasanya akan membantu. Well, he needs to help me otherwise he will pay some consequences as well. So once you need to get some help from others, don't hesitate.

5. PUT YOUR GADGETS AWAY DAN BE CONFIDENT 

Ini yang paling penting.
Jauhkan gawaimu dan istirahat sejenak.
Saya sekarang sangat menikmati saat-saat santai ngobrol dengan suami dan anak-anak, tanpa gangguan berbagai media sosial.
Dan yakinlah, semua itu jadi lebih menyenangkan.

Itu sedikit tips dari aku untuk mengatasi 'kecanduan' pada media sosial.
Do you have some tips to share?

Blogger Perempuan Network and I

Pic: pixabay

Do you join certain blogging communities?
Any particular reasons why you join it?
Do you like it? or not? Do you think you get some benefits from it? or the other way around..that you feel like you have the burden?


Well, sorry for bombarding you with tons of questions.
This time, I will talk more about Blogger Perempuan Network and I.
Here comes the 4th probing question for #BPN30dayChallenge2018!
Why do I join Blogger Perempuan Network?

Kenapa ya saya bergabung dengan Blogger Perempuan Network?

Because I love it!
That's the simply answer.

Then why do you love it, Indah?

Because I feel like I find a place where I can comfortably mingle with my fellow bloggers friends, particularly the female ones, learn from and support one another, then soar high up to the sky together. 

What do you mean by that? 

I know that we all are naturally a social creature. We do need to mingle and live with others in order to enjoy life and live to our potentials. We can never live alone. 

The same formula goes to us, bloggers. Because we CAN NOT blog alone, right!

We need people to come to our blog and read our stuff. We need to go blogwalking to learn more about literally everything and bring traffic back to our home blog. We need some comments from others, just like they welcome us and our comments on their blogs. We support one another whenever needed. We learn from one another about many good things in life. We inspire one another with our stories, our journeys, our experiences, our fights, our pain. We share joy, happiness, misery, perseverance, tears and laughter with our fellow bloggers and the world. We cheer those who win competitions, we weep with those losing their loved ones, we laugh at bloopers and funny jokes, we virtually hug and pat those who have conquered their fear and share it in their blogs. We are one big family! 

And that's exactly why I join Blogger Perempuan Network.
Saya merasa menjadi bagian dari satu keluarga besar, yang berisi perempuan - perempuan hebat dan luar biasa, dan memiliki passion yang sama. 
Blogging!
Can see how powerful blogging is? 
For bringing us together in this beautiful bond?

Saya akui bahwa Blogger Perempuan Network bukan satu-satunya komunitas blogger yang saya ikuti. Tapi saya  merasa special karena di komunitas BPN saya selalu merasa dipacu untuk menjadi blogger yang lebih baik dan lebih baik lagi. Banyak program dan acara BPN yang memberikan space kepada anggotanya untuk maju dan memicu diri sebagai blogger professional. Belum lagi aneka tips dan resources yang dishare untuk membantu kita para anggotanya belajar lebih banyak tentang dunia blogging. Dan the founders of BPN are indeed our role models in the blogging spheres! How I love to learn more and more from them to make my blog better and my blogging experience more colorful.

One more thing, Self-development is the DNA of Blogger Perempuan Network and I sincerely hope it will stay that way. 

So, Blogger Perempuan Network, thank you for making me part of your big family!