Travel Diary: Bangkok 2019

Sawasdeekha~

I didn’t realize that I’d been inactive here for five months. I’ve uploaded a new (well, it’s been 2 months already) travel diary video on YouTube. It was taken on my first trip to Bangkok with my two friends from the student executive board back in university. Our small group name is the “late-post squad”. It’s just simply that all of us often post something on social media quite late. Guess, the saying “same feather flocks together” is true after all.

My friends and I finally made it out of the group chat! We’ve been saving up some money every month for traveling and we finally made it to realization. It’s not just a plan anymore. We decided to go to Bangkok because first we, girls, love shopping and that city is surely a paradise. Second, two out of three girls had never been to Bangkok before. We searched for cheap flights and we got a pretty good deal from Malaysia Airlines. Even though we had to transit, it was still a comfortable flight (oh, except for the red-eye flight on the flight back to Jakarta).

Eleasha and I departed from Jakarta, while my other friend, Meidy, departed from Bali. We met up in Kuala Lumpur for our stopover. We took a really early flight and as soon as we arrived in KL, we went to a lounge and have a quick shower. We used the Sama Sama Lounge’s shower room. Very affordable and it’s clean. Then, I asked my friends to have a Boost Juice with me. At that time, Boost Juice hasn’t opened any stores in Indonesia. The closest store from Jakarta is Singapore and that’s why I always get my Boost juice in Changi Airport every time I had a transit in Singapore. After a few hours of looking around the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport), we finally on board the flight to Bangkok.

Kuala Lumpur Sunrise

Surely a mood BOOSTer

As soon as we touched down at Suvarnabhumi Airport, we were escorted by someone from Meidy’s partner agent in Bangkok. Our baggage came out pretty fast and we took the train to the city center. That day turns out to be Thailand’s Constitution Day, which is a public holiday and every public transportation is free of charge. Surprisingly, the weather was good in Bangkok. It was quite breezy and not humid. Yay! From the airport, we went directly to the hotel. Our first hotel is located behind the Bobae Pier. We stayed at Prince Palace Hotel for 3 nights and will move to another hotel for 1 night.

Playing Tourist in Bangkok!

12.12

After checking in, we went to Siam Paragon with a water taxi. We really make use the free of charge public transport today. It was a thrilling experience and I think it’s cool to have a boat for transporting.

So Southeast Asian-style river

 We get off at Pratunam Pier then we went to Siam Paragon Mall to have our late lunch. To reach the mall, we walked across the connecting bridge. We entered the Siam Discovery, passing by some cute installations and a Christmas tree. We took turns taking pictures in front of the Christmas tree made out wind wheels.

First Views of Bangkok's Shopping Mall

Our first culinary stop is Sansab. This restaurant's signature menu is the Tom Yum UFO. You can see it as Bangkok's version of Budaejjigae or Korean Army Stew. It was a really great tom yum soup with a twist of modern toppings. It came with sweet corn, fried eggs, and cheese on the side of the soup. This food is really worth the hype. It was really nice! Our first lunch was superb.

Super Nice Ice Tea

Thailand version of Budaejjigae (?)

Since we arrived at the shopping mall paradise we started our window shopping and mall hopping. We went from Siam Paragon to CentralWorld Mall on foot. They are kinda close, but not really close. But, they are connected by a bridge, so it doesn’t feel far. 

We tried the Fire Tiger before heading outside. Fire Tiger is a hyped boba milk tea shop in Thailand. I am not sure whether it’s from Bangkok or Seoul, but it has a Korean touch. They really put lots of effort to decorate the shop, unlike the Taiwanese brands. Again, we tried it because it hasn't opened a shop in Indonesia. But, Fire Tiger is currently opening a few shops in Jakarta (not sure if it’s selling well after the pandemic).

As soon we went out of the shopping mall, it was night already. We went out to take out few photos with the giant Christmas tree outside the CentralWorld. Bangkok surely put lots of effort into Christmas decoration, despite they didn’t celebrate Christmas.

We made a quick stop at BigC Supermarket and scanned the snacks we’d been waiting to try. This supermarket is one of the biggest supermarket chains in Bangkok and it opens till midnight. Oh, I fall in love with this city already.

Is there anyone watched ‘King The Land’ on Netflix? If yes, have you watched episodes 9 and 10? Well, our day two was pretty much alike. We went out early in the morning, have our breakfast, and then visited a few temples in Bangkok and ended the day at ICONSiam. I was really surprised while watching the show since the itinerary was pretty much the same. Lol.

We started off the day with breakfast at an old-school coffee shop. They sell some toasts, All Day Breakfast (eggs and sausages), tea and coffee. This kind of place is widely found across Southeast Asian countries, called “kopitiam”. On Lok Yun is really a humble kopitiam nearby the Grand Palace. It is located in the “old town” of Bangkok. I really liked the neighborhood. We took some photos since there weren’t many people yet, so no photo-bombers. Well, we were not really a photogenic type of girl, but we surely wanted to have good photos while traveling.

Instagram angle shot

After finished our eggs & sausages with butter toast and hot tea, we walked to the Grand Palace. It is around 1,5 km from On Lok Yun, but we still managed to walk there on foot. LOL. Here are some photograph that I took while we walk to the Grand Palace.

Attempting to have Insta-worthy photo

After arriving at the Grand Palace, we directly buy the entrance ticket and walk around the palace. The weather was quite sunny that day and we walked like almost 10.000 steps inside the palace. The Grand Palace was beautiful and huge. Since we went there in 2019, there were lots of people visiting this palace. We hardly see each of the rooms inside, but it was a great place to visit if you are first to Bangkok. We had an instagramable photos thanks to a stranger that took a photo of us. Khobkhunkha~

The Grand Palace from Outside

The Best Shot of Us

We hardly felt our feet, so we took the Tuk Tuk to Wat Pho. Before heading there, we had our lunch at a nearby stall. We ate an oyster omelet with rice, some satays, and mango. We ordered fresh coconut as well to rehydrate our body.

After lunch and a short break, we went to Wat Pho, a temple that has one of the biggest Buddha statues in Bangkok, which is the famous Reclining Buddha. The statue is 15 meters tall and 46 meters wide. Even though I am not a Buddhist and neither my friends are, we were in awe to see that huge Buddha statue. It is a sacred place for Buddhists, but even for a non-Buddhist, this place is magical and worth visiting.

My personal favorite shot

We took a boat and cruised across the Chao Praya River to reach Wat Arun. We went to another temple. Well, Bangkok is a quite free city, but on the other hand, it has lots of temples. The white temple complex was huge and it has lots of stairs. But it was the most beautiful temple I’ve visited in Bangkok. We saw this temple on Pinterest and the photos taken at this temple were beautiful. We arrived at the temple in the middle of the day, so it was so bright and hot. We were there for 30 minutes and we took the cab to ICONSIAM. We really need an air conditioner before getting a heatstroke.

Wat Arun from Chao Praya Cruise

This is where the resemblance with ‘King The Land’ takes place. They went to Wat Arun and ICONSIAM by boat, while we took the boat from Wat Pho to Wat Arun. We did some window shopping and of course, we hunt for some delicacies. We had our first Pad Thai at Thipsamai, one of the most popular Pad Thai restaurant chains in Thailand. The prawn was big, the spices were just right, and the portion is just enough. And of course, we cannot miss out on dessert. 

 We had the famous dessert shop, After You. We had honey toast with ice cream, mango sticky rice kakigori (shaved ice), and also a milk tea. We surely need some sugar intake after grilling in the sun for more than 4 hours and walking for almost 20,000 steps.

Since it is still quite early to go back, we went to Asiatique. It has a beautiful night view. I kinda liked the vibes, but I was too tired to walk around the area. We just scan through the shops there and pass by the merry-go-round and Ferris wheel. We had a quick snack at the bazaar there. We ordered some squid skewers and crispy pork. After finished snacking, we had another boat ride to the other side of the river.

Another Nichkhun in Bangkok

Bangkok Nightscape

Asiatique from the Ferry

As soon as we get off the boat, we book a ride to Chinatown. We wanted to try out the Michelin star fried dough with Pandan custard sauce. Finally, I got to try the original one. I mentioned this food on my previous Australia trip. It was when the first time I tried this food. As expected, the line was quite long, but we got our bag of fried dough not long after. The market was crowded with people, motorbikes, and cars. So, be careful if you are going to wait for Pa Tong Go Savoey. Their stall is located nearby 7Eleven. We also bought a portion of gyoza at the stall nearby while waiting for the fried dough.

Looking back, we really ate lots of food on this day. We took a cab and went back to the hotel. We were really tired.

We didn’t do much sightseeing on our third day. We had a full day of shopping and eating on this day. Our first stop was the Pratunam Market. We bought some beauty products and sandals. Then we ate Tom Yum Noodle at Pe Aor. They had the most humongous tom yum noodles that I’ve ever seen. We ordered one for three and we still couldn’t finish the soup. The Tom Yum Noodle comes with huge prawn and lots of other seafood. The soup was so good. This place is suitable for people who came in groups because they have a huge portion.

After a huge brunch, we walked to the Platinum Mall. We spent inside for a half day, I think. We walked all the seven floors and do some shopping. We bought a group T-shirt as well. It was a really fun day. We had some refreshment drinks at Cha Mu True, one of the best Thai Tea shops in Thailand. I’m not a Thai Tea fan, but they had one of the best ones. Even though, this time I didn’t order the Thai Tea, but their Rose Tea. It was so refreshing and I can do another round of window shopping in the mall. Bangkok is really heaven for shopping.

Before we went back to the hotel to place our shopping, we went to Burger King and tried out the new menu in Thailand. I couldn’t really remember what it tasted like, but French fries are always right. After we put our shopping, we took a rest for a while, and then we headed outside for dinner. We went to Central World (again) and had our dinner at the bazaar in front of the mall. We had the Pork Belly with Chinese Broccoli a.k.a Pad Kana Moo Krab.

After finished eating our quick and simple dinner, we went to BigC Supermarket (again!) and had our snack shopping till drop. It was so convenient that this big supermarket was open until late at night. There were still lots of people shopping there even when it was late. Fyi, you can claim a tax-free if you got to shop for 2,000 THB.

Our Hotel at Night

We had to check out from the Prince Palace Hotel on this day. After check-out, we went outside for our personal schedule in the Siam area. I went to meet my ex-lecturer who work and stayed in Bangkok. Meidy went to a meeting with her company’s agent in Bangkok and Eleasha explore the shopping mall by herself.

View from our room

Christmas Decoration at the Hotel Lobby

Cool shop that I came across while on my way to Siam One Square

I went to meet my ex-lecturer at Siam One Square, which is located opposite Siam Paragon connected by a bridge and BTS Siam (an MRT station). As far as I remember, we ate at a Japanese fusion restaurant, that I couldn’t remember the name of. We ate Tom Yum soup with a Japanese noodle. The only thing that I remember is the Charcoal Lemon Tea. It was tasty and refreshing! 

After lunch, I went to explore the mall and came across ‘The Spring Home’ shop. It is a Korean sleepwear brand that Ong Seongwu, at that time, was the brand ambassador. After some calculations, it was cheaper to buy in THB instead of KRW. So, I purchased it! The shirt was so soft and I really liked the product!

I bought the t-shirt on the back

The sea lion reminds me of Ongie

After finished with our own schedules, we meet up at the front of Central World and went back to the hotel to take our bags and move to the new hotel in the Chatuchak area. We stayed at Boutique Poo-Yai Lee for one night. The room is smaller than the previous hotel (well, of course, they have a different star), but it is more modern and cozy. Too bad, we only stayed there only for one night.

We only put down our things in our room, then we headed out instantly to the Chatuchak Weekend Market because Google says that the market closed at 8PM and by the time we went outside the hotel, it was 7PM already. We explored the market as fast as we can while enjoying the street foods as we go. We ate, pork skewers (that produce lots of plastic trash), mango sticky rice, some old-school popsicles, and prata bread. Check out all of the foods we ate on my video, here. I also brought a few cheap phone casings there.

Meidy got a call from our other friends that happened to be in Bangkok too. We went to the Ratchada Market to catch up with them. The market was more crowded than Chatuchak Market. Inside the market, Meidy & Eleasha tried the fried insects and pupa. They said it was pretty good and edible. They even wanted to eat it with rice. Gosh, I couldn’t stand to try it at all.

Cute Single Trip Coin

We spent like 30 minutes there and make a quick stop by a supermarket nearby and bought some additional snacks and stuff to eat for our breakfast. Then we went back to the hotel and started to pack at midnight.

We had our red-eye flight to go back home. I think we only slept for 3 hours after packing and reviewing our shopping. We took a taxi to Suvarnabhumi Airport. Since it was quite early in the morning, there were only a few shops that are open. So we went straight to the boarding gate. Oh, we were all wearing matching T-shirts that we bought at the Platinum Mall. LOL.

All went smoothly until we separated ways. Meidy missed her flight to Bali and also she lost her phone. It was an unlucky day for her. We didn’t know what was happening until her sister contacted us.

Well, it was not a good ending, but our first trip was magnificent! We couldn’t wait to have another trip again soon!

I will edit and upload our Singapore trip for Eleasha’s Bachelorette trip soon! 

Please keep looking forward to it! 

Khobkhunkhab for reading this post! 

See you soon!

BEAUTY: Top 5 Favourites of 2022 Empties

I summed up the top 5 products out of my 2022 empties below. Full products that I have emptied can be seen in my YouTube videos, watch them here and the second part here.

This product is the best body scrub I ever had! I would like to give this product 20 out of 10. I love the texture, the scent, and the amount of the product. It was just perfect. And what’s more is that when you take the empty tube back to the store, they will give you a voucher to purchase other products. This brand is actually under the H&M company, so it is not a Korean brand.

They have various types and scents. From hand wash to body lotion. I really love the scent that I bought, Arabesque Wood. It has an earthy note and a twist of citrus (they said). Super love. I mentioned the texture before and the reason why I love it is that they have a just right texture. It is not harsh and not too fine. Unlike the regular body scrub that I had tried before, this product has the best texture. I don’t regularly scrub my body, so this 250ml worth of product took quite some time to be finished.

This product is the best loose powder that I’ve tried so far. I love that this powder is lightweight and mattify the skin, especially when those red pops appear. After the application, your skin will feel super soft and I really love it. Even though the powder is white, it is free of talc, synthetic colors, and 4 other ingredients. It is very convenient to use, even though the applicator is quite small. Regardless of the applicator, I still love this product very much. I’m on my second tube and will repurchase it soon!

I got this product as a gift from I don’t know where. But surprisingly, this product is quite good. I didn’t expect it. Though it is thicker than the La Roche Posay sunscreen, this one is lighter than the Nivea sunscreen. After application, it doesn’t feel sticky or tacky at all and it has a quite matte finish, which I think and suitable for oily or acne-prone skin. The sunscreen has quite good and water resistant. I will reach out to this product after I finished all the sunscreens I have now.

The best multifunctional skincare product on my vanity. I couldn’t remember how I got to know this product, but this product works like a magic. Well, sometimes it took some time to really get the result to be seen, but it really does work. This product was known for making stretch marks invisible. But, this product also works for scars as well. The main function of this product is to improve the skin. I am very grateful that I came across this product because I didn’t know that I could have severe aftermath when bitten by some insects. The oil has improved my skin tone back to normal several times. I also use this for my stretchmarks, even though I don’t have a baby yet, but since I gained weight a lot, I got some of it around my thighs.

I have great relief that I finally found a shampoo without detergent surfactants. The regular shampoo I usually see in drugstores and supermarkets mostly has an SLS or known as Sodium Laureth Sulfate. The thing that makes your shampoo foamy. This shampoo has a little foam compared to regular shampoo. This thing might clean the hair, but in the long run, it can ruin your scalp which results in hair loss. This shampoo has a good scent even though it doesn’t have additional perfume. It consists of a few essential oils. This shampoo is very awesome! Though the price is a bit higher compared to the general shampoo and it’s an imported product. My hair is my biggest asset, so I had to take care of my hair carefully.

So, that is the top 5 products from my empties of 2022. I have used many products this year, but most of the products are my all-time favorites, so I don’t want to repeat the review. Also, I mentioned some of the travel products that I’ve used in my YouTube video. You can watch the video here.

Have you ever tried any of the products above? If yes, which one and what is your opinion of that product? Let me know in the comment section down below.

I will see you soon on my next post, soon!

Life: 2022 Review

I thought the pandemic ended last year, but it wasn’t. This year has been a roller coaster ride for sure and I don’t really know to express my 2022, but I am thankful for the memories it gave me. 

Guess the conclusion that I have for this year by reading all the passages down below. This is not an English pop-up quiz, so if you are wrong, it's okay. HAHA. Good luck and enjoy the story of my 2022.

Young, wild and free would probably be the life I’ve been dreaming of. 2022 didn’t start that exciting for me. Even though the few days before January, I just witnessed my favorite boys and girls appreciate their achievements (read: watching year-end awards), I don’t feel empowered and instead, I feel down. I started to compare myself to them. When they are my age now, they already know what they want and are good at. While I’m not. This is probably what people say as a quarter-life crisis. I felt really lost in January. Even so, I had a few celebrations this month. I got to meet my BEM family and celebrate my dad's birthday.  Also, I got huge orders for the cold mochi that my mom used to sell. What I mean by huge is the mochi should be delivered to Samarinda, which is outside of Jakarta. It was a breakthrough achievement so far for our small business.

Obviously, I thought this year is going to be better than the past 2 years. Well, I know it is quite early to judge since it’s only one month passed. On the last week of January, my best friend faced severe heartbreak (nope, not because she broke up with her boyfriend). We decided to “run”, searching for some “healing” to Bali in February. It’s been 6 months since the last time I went to Bali, but Bali never fails me. It was still a good time to visit Bali because that time Bali is not as crowded as nowadays but it was more active and livelier than the previous year. I stayed for almost 14 days and couldn’t be happier and more ready to conquer this 2022.

Unlike any other month, March is very special to me. I have favorite months like August and December, but March is particularly special. 3 years ago, I just got back from Korea for good. The next day, my mom was rushed to the hospital and for the first week I’m back in Indonesia, I had to spend my time in the hospital and then I lost my mom. Since then, March is never been the same again. It became the most emotional month, and it was the turning point of my life. Enough with the mellow, this year I got to celebrate my friend’s birthday by having a staycation at the Kempinski Hotel in Jakarta. Our wish was to stay at the Apurva (Kempinski) Bali (but I believe we will someday!) though. We had a deep talk, took some crazy videos, and sing-along to Hospital Playlist OST and it was a fun day. March was closed with a challenging interview for the GKS Scholarship.

April’s highlight is no longer April mop anymore to me. Well, I never fancy it since I was a kid anyways. This year April was slightly different than the previous year. I had a few interviews this month, and though none of them came back with good news, I am actually very grateful for the chance. I started to use makeups that I haven’t touched for so long and got the thrill of answering questions. And not to forget to mention my favorite drama of the year, Twenty Five, Twenty One colored my April beautifully. Last, but not least, my best friend finally had a baby after 2 years of marriage! I’m so happy for her! I can’t wait to see the baby (up till now I haven’t seen the baby girl yet). Finally, I went to the church for the Passover for the first time during the pandemic. Definitely, going to an offline church is way much better than the online church. I'm such an old school, I know. 

The Return of my boy, Park Bogum. He finally finished his military duties and was back as the MC for Baeksang Awards. I was very extremely happy to see him back on screen. And by the way this year Baeksang Awards was so emotional, and I really love every bit of it. My favorite part is when the cast of “Hot/Passionate Singers” finally performed on stage their rendition of “This is Me” from the movie, “The Greatest Showman”. Congratulations to my Na Hee Do, Kim Taeri, and Crown Prince, Lee Junho, you both really deserved the awards. Well, May was a busy month for me because my housekeeper went back to her hometown to celebrate Eid Mubarak. I did the laundry, cleaned the house, and clean up the refrigerator by making use of the remaining ingredients. I made a Rose Tteokbokki! Even my chef brother comments it was not bad. He was surprised. HAHA. I’m so proud of myself. Since it was a big holiday, I got the chance to meet up with my very busy friends. We went to “explore” Jakarta. We went to have lunch in South Jakarta, then we went to the newly renovated Sarinah, one of the iconic social & entertainment places in Jakarta. But, oh my gosh, it was so crowded, and it was like there are no coronavirus at all. We only took a photo then we had our dinner and then we went back home. We went out for a full day, but it felt so short!

June was full of Excitement. I finally got to go back to Korea. After two years of envying my dad and just watching it from the sofa coach, finally I got to breathe the Seoul air. Though I came at the most dreadful season, I am just so glad to be back there. Since I’m going to get my TOPIK test in July, I started to reach out to my Korean exam books and study again. One thing for sure is I really have an interest in language, so even though I had to study and prepare for exams, I feel energized and joyful throughout the process. Oh, one more thing, I got accepted for a new job. I wasn’t really excited about this and was confused about how to react to this.

Hi, Seoul, I’m back! Finally, I got to meet my family in Korea after 3 years. Why it feels like it was 5 years ago? Well, I had a blast summer in Seoul, even though my peaceful vacation was disturbed by the test and suddenly got called to work at the Korea office. After my almost 3 weeks stay in Seoul, I went back to Jakarta for two days, and then I flew to Singapore to surprise my friend for her bachelorette trip. Due to last minute decision, I couldn’t get the most affordable flight tickets, so I took a plane to Batam from Jakarta and then took the ferry to Singapore. It was a very adventurous trip, but I loved it. It was one of the most memorable months in 2022.

I Turned 27 this year and I have a bittersweet feeling about it. First of all, I didn’t like the fact that I am more close to my 30s instead of my 20s. But, on the other side, I am grateful to celebrate one year older. This year, I don’t have any wish list for my birthday present. But there is one thing that I wanted for so long which is a pair of Gentle Monster sunglasses. I asked my dad and brother for that and my Dad bought it two weeks in advance. Have some small celebrations with my friends since my birthday this year falls on weekdays, and it was hard to arrange the meeting. On the weekend, my brother cooked me a mushroom steak because I love meat so much. But, I was under the weather that day and I can’t even taste a bite of it. I felt sorry for my brother, but it was unavoidable. It was a roller-coaster month, but I am grateful for every tiny detail of it.

A Red carpet rolled out in September because ‘Young Actors Retreat’ was finally aired! Woottt! I can see my two favorite Parks, Park Seojun and Park Bogum on the same screen. The variety show was very entertaining and I just love every second of it. Hwang Inyeop has a very attractive charm and I am very surprised to know that he is older than Park Bogum! In September, I went to see Super Junior’s concert in Jakarta! This was my second time going and watching Super Show 9. All of the set-list is are pretty much the same, but the sound system in Jakarta was very much disappointing. But at least I get to see my boys closer than the one in Korea.

I spent the whole of October in Korea. Yes, I went to Korea again! This time I went on a “business trip”. It was my first and last business trip with this company. I had a blast one even though the ending was ugly. I only need 30 mins from my aunt’s house door to my office door in Korea. While in Jakarta, I had to spend 2 hours from my house door to my seat in the office. I just hate Jakarta’s traffic and insufficient public transportation. On this trip, I got to go to Busan on the week of the BTS Concert in Busan. I will make a separate post for all of my trips in 2022. Also, I finally did camping in Korea after watching many camping-themed variety shows. It was so fun even though it wasn’t as easy as it’s look on screen. Last but not the least, I got to see Nam Joohyuk for the last time before he enlisted! Another encounter that I am grateful for in October is I got to see my aunt that has been living in the USA after 10 years? I guess? It's been a long time. She is a very loving and caring aunt and she is especially very close with my mom. It was so nice to finally see her. Next time, I will definitely go to visit her in the USA. AMEN! October has been awesome.

November passed by so fast that I can’t fully enjoy the days. A week after I came back from Korea, I went to Bali to attend my friend’s wedding. The wedding was intimate and I truly enjoyed it. Even though I couldn’t enjoy Bali to the fullest this time, I am quite happy to escape Jakarta’s crowd for a while. I had a few mishaps and inconveniences throughout the month, but I was able to overcome them thanks to Song Joongki. Finally, I got to meet him after 4 years!! I went to the airport and saw him up close. I wasn't able to get a ticket to Scarlet’s event but managed to get one for Bukalapak’s event. He still looks the same even though 4 years have passed. There were many things that happened during the past 4 years, but he overcome them and was able to greet the fans in Indonesia. It was nice to see you again, Song Joongki! November is an unforgettable month because I got COVID-19 for the first time. After standing strong for two years, I finally got infected. Thankfully, I got very mild symptoms. I don’t even feel sick at all. I feel very fine. Well anyways, thanks to the virus, I got to work from home. Yay, another way to escape Jakarta’s crazy traffic. There is a good thing in everything.

Finally, I am able to sing, “Good tidings to you wherever you are”. The Christmas season finally arrives. I made mini vlogmas on my Instagram, but compared to the previous year, this year I didn’t have the Christmas spirit or truly joyful feelings. After 5 months of spending my time and energy working at this company, I decided to resign. I was tremendously uncomfortable and I didn’t sense any kind of achievement or new things. Since I only have 2 years left in my 20s, I decided not to spend my time on the things that didn’t spark joy. Especially, I finally can escape the Jakarta's traffic!! YEAY!! So, just before Christmas, I was able to find a little peace in my heart and spent Christmas joyfully. This year Christmas wasn’t as warm as the previous years. Even so, I am still very grateful that I got to close 2022 without regrets, and am ready for 2023. I had an impromptu trip with my university friends to Sentul. I DROVE THE CAR BACK AND FORTH TO THERE! It was such an achievement for me. HAHA.

Dear 2022, thank you. You’ve been nice and rough at some times, but I just want to say thank you for the memories. I think I grew in various ways. And I want to say a good job to myself to go through all of the days in 2022 well. I started to praise myself at the end of the day, not because I am proud of what I’ve done, but to give myself more love this year. We often forgot to praise ourselves even though we’ve been through a lot. So, if you read this now, go praise yourself, “I have done well”!

So, have you found out what is my message to you?

Hint: it has 12 alphabets.

According to the Chinese calendar, 2022 is the Year of Tiger. A tiger has a charismatic side and is one of the strongest carnivores in the jungle. I just want to say that you are strong enough to pass through all those hardships and be able to step into 2023 in a few days.

I wish you a Happy New Year! May your 2023 be filled with joy, peace, and hope. 

Let’s work hard and play hard this year. Good luck!

God bless you all.