WW: Welcome to Old Batavia

Here comes some snaps from our weekend stroll around Old Batavia.


Old Jakarta


Old Batavia or Old Jakarta is a beautiful spot in our capital city where many old buildings from the colonial times are still well maintained. 
Have you been here before?
To those who have visited Jakarta, they might think that Kota Tua or old Jakarta looks like a completely different part of the city. The European vibes is in the air and you can still be enjoy those unique architectures here. Recently, there has been some intensive rehabilitation measures taken by the previous Governorship in order to revive this historical spot. Apparently, those program went well as we see how wonderful this are now! Super proud indeed!

It also has so many beautiful museums surrounding it, including the Museum of Jakarta History, Wayang Museum, Museum Bahari and more.


Bo et Obi enjoying the museum..
We went to Museum Sejarah Jakarta, Museum of Jakarta History, which is located in Fatahillah Square.
We had a tour guide explaining the history of Jakarta as well as the items being displayed in the museum in English, so that Bo et Obi could fully understand the story.
They surely know more about the city we live in now and interesting (and dark) history of Indonesia's struggles in the beginning.
I will share more detailed stories about the Museum on the next post, okay.



What is that ma? asked Obi looking at some remnants from the Stone Age found near Jakarta

In front of Museum Sejarah Jakarta
The tour took around 1.5 hours and after that we had a little picnic in the designated area within the complex of the Museum.
That's decent time to see the collections in 2 floors of the museum, the Staadhuis building built in 1701 - 1710.
I have to say the last renovation done by the Provincial Government of Jakarta has transformed this museum into a much, much better place.
So, you should not miss it!




We also took the liberty to take some pictures here and there, including my outfit of the day. Yup indeed, my OOTD :).
I rarely do it but it was actually fun to have one particular part in my blog showcasing my curated costumes.




 So, what do you think?
This time my dress is not dominantly purple, but surely I wore some!

I was happily wearing; 
 ATBM (handmade, woven fabrics) batik outer in yellow, black and white, bought from my dearest friend's online boutique at IG @ggs_olshop 
 Jellyfish earrings (surely my fave, I keep wearing them again and again) in purple from @uniqlykamea (check out here IG account)
 Purple mini dress from H&M
 Wide leg pants from Macy's
White fedora from H&M
 Tory Burch sandals in sky blue and tan.

I love wearing Batik outer as it's very casual yet it's batik, our wonderful traditional fabrics. I love wearing them wherever I go and recently, we have so many interesting designs which are much more colourful and trendy.
Do you like wearing batik as well?


So, how was your weekend?
Hope you have an enjoyable one as well.
Do you like visiting old town or museums?
Any particular outfit you like to wear on weekends?
Share your favourites in your comments, please.

Don't forget to join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday (just click the link)  and enjoy the link party!



5 Great Things to Do in Havana, Cuba

Havana Cuba
Welcome to Havana, Cuba
"Havana ooh na- na...
Half of my heart is in Havana ooh na-na...
He took me back to East Atlanta, na-na-na
Oh, but my heart is in Havana (ay)
There's somethin' 'bout his manners (uh huh)
Havana, ooh na-na (uh)"

Sing with me, dear friends.
I bet you are quite familiar with this famous single of Camila Cabello, Havana.


So, what do you have in mind when you heard the word Havana?
The famous cigar?
Fidel Castro?
Classic cars?
Ernest Hemingway?
Beautiful beaches and lovely sea lanes?
Salsa all night long?
Or all of them?


happy me at Cuba :)
Well, for me, it's all of them.
I have been wanting to come and visit Cuba since ages ago, especially since some of my 
best friends at the UN are Cubans. Surely they have been inviting me to come and visit their beautiful home and before I went back to Indonesia, I managed to sneak and fly to Havana, Cuba, with my dearest sister-in-crime, Erma.


Feel like riding it? Why not!


Akhirnya sampai juga #myitchyfeet ke kota Havana, Kuba.
Bahagianyaaaaa tingkat dewa!
Dan mohon maaf karena postingan ini jadi #latepost.
Meskipun jalan-jalan dan mampir ke Negeri keren ini bulan Juli 2018, aku baru semita menuliskannya sekarang.
Aku benar-benar nagga sabar karena Havana, Kuba benar-benar kota yang Sudan lama masuk dalam bucket list aku.
Dan ternyata Kuba benar-bener cantik dan unik deh!


Don't miss Havana Cuba when you are around!

Kuba memang sudah lama nangkring di puncak teratas bucket list aku sejak pindah ke New York City. Buatku, Kuba adalah negara unik yang rasanya sayang untuk dilewatkan, apalagi karena jaraknya yang relative dekat dari NYC and sejarah serta kota Havana yang menawan. Waktu aku menawarkan Erma, saudara sepermainan dan seperjuangan di the Big Apple, untuk ikutan cuti dan liburan bareng ke Havana, Kuba, tanpa pikir panjang dia pun setuju! 

Pucuk dicinta ulam pun tiba namanya. Untungnya, cuti kami berdua pun langsung disetujui dan dapat tiket pesawat yang murah meriah, less than USD 500 untuk tiket pulang pergi dengan . Alhamdulillah bangeeet! 


Super happy me after swimming at Santa Maria Del Mar

So here comes a little throwback from July, last summer.
We decided to have a 4 days, 3 nights trip to Havana, Cuba. Since we're using diplomatic passport, Cuban visa was easily and speedily approved in Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. 
We were super excited and booked JetBlue to have a direct flight there.
As you now, Cuba is still blocked by the US own certain issues as their political relationship is 
It took around 6 hours to fly from JFK to the International Airport. 
By the time we arrived, we directly lined up to get some local currencies and head to our lovely hotel, N.H. Capri at Vedado, a region near city center of Havana, Cuba.

We went there for 4 days and 3 nights.
And for sure, it's enough for us to have a nice and memorable visit to Havana, Cuba
So, what can we do while in Havana, Cuba?

How many days is perfect for exploring and enjoying Havana, Cuba? 
Btw, check out my teaser video for our trip to Cuba at my Youtube Chanel at Indah Nuria Savitri and see how lovely the trip was :)




Without further ado, here are 5 Cool Things to do in Havana, Cuba, for you.

Explore the Old Havana

During our first night in Havana, we went to the Old Town, Old Havana, or famously known as La Havana Vieja

Here you can see the grandeur of Cuba in the past. Majestic buildings with stunning architectures, big and historical squares, as well as vibrant day and night lives dominate this tourist center area. We went to one of the cafes and danced all night long, joining the old and young doing salsa to their heart content!


The Grand Opera at the old city of Havana

We hired local tourist guide that we got from Air B&B website. 
Ismeth, our tour guide, took us around the Old Havana during the day and we really loved it!  So many beautiful buildings there like the Grand Opera, National Capitol and wonderful street like Paseo del Prado. Old and elegant, yet, unfortunately, not maintained properly. Well, it's understandable as Cuba has been blocked for too long up until now.

Visit Hotel Nacional de Cuba



At Hotel Nacional de Cuba
Hotel Nacional de Cuba is a must! 
We are lucky that our hotel is not too far from this historical spot.
The Hotel is located only 5 minutes walk from our own hotel, NH Capri Havana.


Waiting for my mojito

We had great drinks (mine is virgin mojito) and I really had great times looking at all those photos of celebrities, presidents and world leaders coming to this very spot. 
The garden behind the hotel is also lovely, with stunning view of le Malecon!
The garden also housed several peacocks which are very interesting to see.
Inside, they have souvenir shop as well.
I got my post cards and stamps from here, then posted them as well here as they have the post box.
So for sure, you should not miss this!






Ride the classic car

Oh don't you miss it, dear.
Cuba is haven for antique cars lovers.
And that's the first thing we have in our bucket list while traveling to Cuba.
Oh my, it's wonderful and it feels good.
We strolled around the city riding this classic hot pink car and I felt super awesome.
We paid around USD 50 for around 2 hours ride and photo session.


Cheers...

Swim and stroll along Santa Maria Del Mar Beach

Visiting Havana, Cuba and enjoying the beach? Why not?
And Santa Maria Del Mar Beach is one of the best options here in Cuba.
It took us around 45 minutes from Havana and we rent a taxi for our hotel to go here.
We brought some snacks and water and arriving there, we just strolled around the beach, had a little dip, and drank fresh coconut!
I have spent some times here to have a little deep in the fresh ocean.

Cheers from Santa Maria Del Mar
We came here in the morning so it was not that packed with people yet.
And the most important thing is it was not that hot yet.



Learn Salsa!

Cuba is the beautiful home of Salsa, so make your trip more memorable and amazing by learning salsa dance right with the master. Make sure you don't miss this chance because there are so many salsa short course being offered on the net. 

Erma and I found our salsa master, as well as our tour guide from Air B&B website for Havana. 

Check out my video of us enjoying our private Salsa dance lesson in Havana.
You can definitely see how fun the private class of Salsa in Havana, Cuba!
I feel like dancing all night long!




Enjoy the cuisine, cigar, and more

Now, this is what you can enjoy in Cuba.
I don't smoke cigar but we bought a lot for our bosses and colleagues. And for sure they all love it! Cuban cigar is top notch indeed. 

We also tried the food at the famous Floridita restaurant, the home of Daiquiri! 
I tried the famous menu of Ernest Hemingway, Gran Plato Hemingway and I know why Hemingway loved this menu.

We went to Museo Revolucion or Museum of the Revolution and learnt a lot about the history of the Cuban peoples' struggle, including the Three Musketeers,- Ernesto (Che) Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, and Fidel Castro.

The three musketeers at Museo Revolucion

So many other places we tried and it was also beautiful! 
I guess 4 days in Havana, Cuba is far from enough.

Cheers from Cuba

So, that's 5 great things to do in Havana, Cuba
How do you like Havana, Cuba?
Do you think you will put Cuba on your bucket list?
What you will first visit in Havana, Cuba?





Perk Service at Sephora Times Square, New York City

Perk Service at Sephora New York City
Who loves pampering oneself?
You know , like getting a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure, and more?
I DO!
I really do!
And one of my favourite spot to do so is Sephora.

I guess many of you know what Sephora is and probably are already becoming one of their Beauty Insiders, be it the first tier, VIB or VIB rouge.

As I love skin care, perfume, cosmetics and other beauty products so much, I have been VIB Rouge , the top tier membership in Sephora, since 2015. That means that I have spent approximately USD 1000 per year in order to be VIB Rouge and maintain that status yearly. There are times when some friends ask me to buy some products for them as well in Sephora so that helps me keep my VIB Rouge.  So, as the VIB Rouge, you have many benefits which include free full make-over, extra discount and free samples, as well as free 3-day shipping.  Not to mention free gift for your birthday, which works for any tier of membership.

One benefit I love to use in Sephora is the free skin care consultation and free facial known as the Perk Service, when you spent at least USD 75 on skin care.



So the Perk Service is basically a facial, using Perk machine exclusively prepared for Sephora. We will have the machine help us cleaning the dead cells from our face the put serum into our face in a more effective way. Before we start the treatment, our face will be cleaned thoroughly in order to make sure that the skin is clean.

just cleaned my face
Then using the machine with a small vacuum tube at the end, the beauty expert from Sephora will clean our face using that device so that more dead cells are wiped out. it feels ticklish but it's comfortable at the same time. I love it because you can really feel that your face is cleaned and you can see how many dead cells were taken during the process.

the serum
After it's done, 2 tubes of serum will be applied to our face using the similar device from the Perk machine.  Wait for a while to get the serum properly absorbed then we can put any skin care product after that. 
some of the product I tried

I tried the serum from La Mer then some moisturiser from Dior.
I kept my skin bare and healthy just like that for couple of hours.
And it felt really good!

Then I applied my usual routine - powder, eye brows, eye liner, blush on and lipstick. 
For sure I felt so good and fresh!


clean and fresh indeed!



with Erika who helped me
So, that's my experience with the Perk Service from Sephora.
I will ask around whether they have the similar service in Sephora Indonesia so that I can do it regularly.

What is your favorite beauty treatment?
Do you like facial as well?
Where do you usually do it?





Wonderful Wednesday with My Purple World, Oh My Heartsie Girls and Friend

Welcome back!

Wonderful Wednesday with My Purple World, Oh My Heartsie Girls and Friends is back and we are super ready to share those cool links for you to enjoy.

Hotel Tentrem Jogjakarta
Painting of Borobudur at Hotel Tentrem, Jogjakarta

I have been traveling for work and last week, I revisited Jogja and enjoyed its endless charms. Sometimes, when I travel for meetings especially in Indonesia, I don't get the chance to explore the city. I usually manage to sneak around to get some food and local cuisines. 

This time, we went to the legendary Pak Pong's Sate Klathak in Bantul, Jogjakarta.


Sate Klathak is basically young lamb satay roasted in traditional way, using charcoal from coconut shell and just use salt with no special marinate sauce. 


We are also given the lamb soup as an added condiment and eat it with steamed rice. If you like it hot, they also serve fresh cut chilly for extra flavor. It is delicious indeed!




Now, let me invite you all to Wonderful Wednesday with Oh My Heartsie Girls and friends



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