up in the mountain

this post is an absolute throwback time. one year ago, i went to Colorado after 3 amazing weeks in Hawai'i. because we were only there for a week, our schedule was pretty crazy with knowing how to get around, meeting with professional partners, meeting with rotary club  and organizing impact business plan. At first I thought with the hectic schedule we could only see little of Boulder, but thanks to my great partner Mr. David Steinmann, we could see 'more' than the others.

the second day we were in Boulder, each team got a scheduled meeting with their partners. at first it was only a lunch, but then David brought us to the mountains. we stop twice to take pictures because the view was breathtaking. 

during our conversation in the car, one of my teammate told us that she never seen snow. David, the nice person he is, ask us if we wanted to go to the part of the mountain where there's still snow, so he brought us to Brainard Lake Road. he even prepared coats for us because it was colder up there. turns out it was a pretty awesome day. we had a great time to know each other while enjoying the snow in the middle of summer! haha

beautiful places in Hawai'i: Diamond Head Mountain

many many apologies for not posting anything for a long time. been quite busy (or most of it just being lazy). so I will continue to post incredible places that I got to visit while I was in Hawai'i. this one is Diamond Head mountain. if you go to Waikiki and even look at the postcard that were being sold in supermarkets, you'll definitely see Diamond Head in the background. this mountain is quite unique because it has a crater in the middle of it. so at first when a friend invited me to hike the mountain, my first thought was: "how could you do that? are we going into the crater? is the trail quite safe?" well this is me when i thought the crater filled with lava or something (haha). but theen.. just like you can see on the last picture, there were just some buildings and trees down there.

hiking is not my forte at all. i don't like the feeling of steep trail and how i couldn't breathe after conquering those trails. this was not an exception. i join because i simply curious and it was the last days in Hawai'i so i was thinking why not? and it WAS very tiring. there are a lot of stairs and lots of steep trails. but the views totally worth it! and because i was with a bunch of groups, so it wasn't that bad i guess. after all, after you get down, you can go to farmer's market. it was very near with the Diamond Head entrance. in there, you can buy homemade ice cream, loco moco, and takoyaki! just think about those wonderful food when you're hiking those trail and believe me, you'll be more energize ;p

dining in D.C.

D.C. kept surprising me. First of all, the weather. they told us that D.C would be hot and dry, not like the weather in Colorado. well it was, on the first day we went to The White House. but the next day.. cold as hell! i don't know what happen, but we ended up bundled with jackets and coats every time we have to go outside because the temperature dropped. besides the dreadful weather, D.C surprises me with a range of good restaurants!

Jyoti

it's an Indian food restaurant located in Adam's Morgam neighborhood. all the food are sooo good. i normally don't pick Indian food for lunch, but this place is an exception. if you're a small portion eater, the rice and the naan is quite big. it's better if you share it with a friend. for the price range, it's from 8-16 usd. not bad right?

Shophouse Kitchen

i love the idea of Southeast Asian food fusion! the spices are perfect for our tongue, and the portion is just right for my tummy! this one is located in Georgetown, and ranging from 6-8 usd.

Thomas Sweet

craving for something cold and sweet? this place is the best place to go! they have a range of ice cream flavors. i personally love the mint choco chip one. they're not green like the ones they sold in Indonesia, but just plain white. but when you taste it, the mint is so rich! you can pair your scoop of ice cream with cones or cups. located in Georgetown.

Bangkok Palace

i remember that day when me and several of my Indonesian friends went to visit The Embassy of Indonesia. we craved asian food so much, the embassy people picked this spot! the owner was so nice, and he speaks Indonesian quite fluently! it is located behind the embassy's office. the stir fry chicken was excellent, but the tom yum, not so much.

Ankara

we had a dinner date with one of embassy employee. this was actually a new restaurant when we came there. the food is good, but a bit pricey. ranging from 10-30 usd. lamb chop was sooo yummy! Jacob, the owner, can speak Indonesian language! located only a few blocks from The Indonesian Embassy.

Las Canteras

another dinner date with embassy employees. but now it's getting bigger! this place is in Adam' s Morgan neighborhood, close to Jyoti. this was actually my first time trying a Peruvian cuisine. i made a mistake ordering a seafood platter because they were all deep fried and it makes me a bit nauseous afterwards.

photo op with POTUS

YSEALI Academic & Professional Fellows 2015 with Barack Obama

There I am, so close to Obama. Up until now I could never describe the feeling how I felt that day when I saw him walk into the room with a big smile and greet us. Excited? Happy? Nausea? I would probably say yes to all of that. 

In a photo, position is super important. The story why I end up being so close to Obama on this shot goes way back before I came to the US. I was considering bringing heels for this program, but then my suitcase already so bulky and I was afraid it will be overweight. Then in Hawai'i, the good news came on the last few days before we're going to Colorado. So Ines and I (like any other girls would), planning on buying heels to go to the White House. I guess i'm a bit cheapo for this, but also thinking I wanted to buy affordable heels because let's face it, I rarely use them on a daily basis. So long story short, I bought a pair in Goodwill. God knows how old those shoes were, but it's only 10 dollars! The day we went to The White House, I carried the heels on my purse because I know I will suffer if I have to use them all day long. I changed into them on the bus, but we still have 10 minutes to grab a quick lunch. Mistake or a blessing in disguise, I took a few stride with that heels, and the sole came off! Thankfully I still have my flat shoes and doesn't want to carry a broken shoes to The White House, I throw it on the trash can without a second thought.

I know you're still wondering why all this got to do with my position on the photo above. Well, this is just my thought, but when we're arranging position, they asked for the short ones goes in the middle and the tall ones goes in the outer part. If I wore the heels, I would stick out quite tall and have to stand way out there. Soo.. believe me or not, that is my unfortunate fortunate story.

beautiful places in Hawai'i: Kualoa Ranch

this is actually the place where so many movies got filmed including Tears of The Sun and the ever famous Jurassic Park! that's why I chose this place at the very beginning for my team's learning journey in Hawai'i (others are Pearl Harbor, Hanauma Bay, H Power, Hawai'i Food Bank, and Iolani Palace). 

Kualoa ranch is actually a very unique place where they have a sustainable land management system called Ahupua'a. let me tell you a bit of history behind this magical place. over 1500 years ago, the first voyaging Polynesian landed in Hawai'i, in Hakipu'u valley (foothill of Kualoa). the original owner of the land was King Kamehameha III, but he sold it to Gerritt P. Judd in 1850. A few years later, Kualoa's adjacent land (Hakipu'u and Ka'a'awa) were brought by his son, Charles Hasting Judd. from sugar mill to becoming an auxiliary army airstrip, Kualoa went to so many process to become what it is today. 

i could go on and on with the picture here haha! place as beautiful as this is definitely worth to conserve for the future.

beautiful places in Hawai'i: Japanese Garden

In the upcoming days (or maybe weeks if i'm totally lazy to open my laptop), I will post all the beautiful places that I got to visit while I was in Hawai'i for three weeks. and believe me, there are a lot! first up, it's in the backyard of IMIN International Conference Center, the Japanase Garden. If you're selected to be the participant for YSEALI Institute on Environment 2016, you'll be likely to stay in Hale Manoa. the place is just walking distance! in fact, the photo session for your participants profile in susieastwestcenter.com will be taking place there. beautiful and serene, the place is definitely worth for a photo op!

the picture above is the final product from the photo session :)

YSEALI Self Introduction Video

 

 my very first YouTube upload (the official one that is), is for my YSEALI self introduction video assignment! a bit hasty to make, but i think it's pretty good.

(really) good news

"an arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it's going to launch you into something great. so just focus, and keep aiming."

I know it sounds cheesy, but dreams do come true. Hidup memang adalah sebuah roda dimana kita ga bisa selalu ada diatas maupun kita bakalan selalu ada dibawah. beberapa bulan setelah kontrak kerja gw habis di labuan bajo, gw otomatis jadi pengangguran (atau gw lebih seneng menyebutnya sebagai freelancer hehe). ga ada penghasilan lagi dan cuma bisa di rumah membuat gw cukup sedih. tapi itu ga membiarkan gw cuman bisanya nonton makan tidur nonton makan tidur aja. gw menyiapkan seluruh dokumen yang diperlukan untuk universitas S2 yang gw tuju, juga dokumen untuk beasiswa, serta cari-cari opportunity lain biar gw ada kerjaan. nah salah satunya ya gw apply YSEALI program ini yang mengusung tema Environment. kalo mau tau lebih lanjut ttg program ini, silahkan ke web http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/yseali/academic-fellows.html atau ke http://www.susieastwestcenter.com/.

tentunya hasil harus gw tunggu beberapa minggu bahkan ada yg sampe lebih dari satu bulan. waiting game emang ga enak banget. ga bakalan tau gimana hasilnya. tapi pas gw dapet email ini dari salah satu orang di US Embassy, kayaknya waktu penungguan ga berarti apa-apa. yang ada cuman bisa bersyukur dan seperti hal bagus yang terjadi di hidup gw, kadang ga percaya aja ini beneran terjadi. tapii.. gw dapet satu impian, harus melepas impian satu lagi. yaitu pekerjaan baru di salah satu tempat yang dari dulu gw pengenin. karena waktunya tabrakan sama acara ini dan manta tagging expedition yang bakal gw lakuin di labuan bajo, jadilah gw harus rela melepasnya. sedih sih, tapi emang gw udah tau kalo gw emang ga bakalan bisa menang banyak. 

have faith in life. believe in the power of prayer.