Jember – A Short Escape For This Weekend

The name of Papuma is referring to Pantai Putih Malikan or white sandy beach. Those who are visiting Papuma beach will have a great time sun-bathing or walking over the white sandy path and enjoying the sunset, or just sinking your feet into the powder-soft sands.
Papuma Cape Coast is located in the district of Ambulu and Wuluhan, Jember, East Java. Papuma beach is a very exotic beach compared to the existing beaches in East Java, because its beautiful and charming sea by having turquoise color tone ocean and a very fine white sand. Hence, it makes Papuma become affordable beach that can visited in East Java. The tourists, both from local and foreign will enjoy the experience in Papuma beach.
Besides its natural scenic beauty, Papuma is also rich of exotic animals, such as the lizard, forest cock, various birds, wild pig, deer porcupine, scaly anteater and many others.

Furthermore, by visiting Papuma beach, the visitors can rent a boat to explore the ocean closer while enjoying the sun rise. The coral reef and the tropical forest around the beach will also enchanting the sightseeing after the Siti Hinggil and Goa Lawa.
Siti Hinggil is a coral rock with a height around 50 m above sea level. The visitors can see Papuma’s beach attraction from above. While, Goa Lawa or Lawa Cave, it has 30 m depth and can be achieved at low tide. According to the legend, this cave was the place south sea ruler’s daughter “Dewi Sri Wulan” and the imprisoned place of Kyai Mataram.
How To Get There :
Bus : From Surabaya, take Bus PATAS route Surabaya – Jember. Transfer with Mini Van.

PS : These are ‘souvenirs’ that you can bring home from Jember. Some Local Grown Durians and Prol Tape, a solid-custard like cake made from fermented cassava. 

New Blog Contents

This year, I decide to add two new topic in to my blog; #TravelBucketList , #CookItYourself and #WeekendReadingList

image credit : click here
I will share some of my dream destinations, places I want to travel to in #TravelBucketList. This topic will be posted every Wednesday. I will tell you why I really want to visit them and make you want to go there too.

image credit : click here

In #CookItYourself I will sahre some easy and simple recipes that you can also try it yourself at your home. From comfort food to simple snacks and dessert, I will tell you how to make them – in my style. Feel free to make it in your own preferences.

Mahavihara Majapahit – One of The Largest Reclining Buddha in The World



It is quite surprising – at least for me – that one of the largest reclining Buddha statue in the world is located in Indonesia. While Indonesia is a country with high percentage of Muslims.



 
No one thought that Indonesia has one of the biggest reclining Buddha statue in Asia. The statue is located at the Maha Vihara (a place for the Buddhist to pray) Majapahit, Mojokerto, East Java. This statue is said as the third largest after Thailand and Nepal. The length is 22 meters, 6 meters wide and 4.5 meters high!

The statue itself was built relatively new, compared to the other biggest reclining Buddha statue in the world. It is gold coloured and facing to the south, the greatness of Buddhism. The statue was not the only one attraction for the tourist in Maha Vihara Mojopahit. The tourist also can see the miniature of Borobudur temple in this area.

In addition on the back wall of the main building, there are several reliefs that tell about Buddha who is practicing Buddhist. You can also find statues of the characters in the story of Buddhism, such as the King of Monkey.

 It’s a peaceful spot, shaded by huge trees, in a village away from the main road. The temple itself is similiar to Buddhist temples in Thailand, since it is made as a retreat for the monks. The temple has prayer halls that offer serenity, and the environment peaceful and lush just like what a Buddhist temple should be. Though the buildings on the grounds has nothing unique in particular, the sleeping buddha statue is a great draw for tourists alike, but don’t expect it is as crowded or as touristy as Wat Pho in Thailand. 



How to get there :  You should hire a car from Surabaya or ride a bus from Terminal Purabaya (Bungurasih) in Surabaya and get down in Trowulan Area. Tell the Bus driver to drop you in ‘Buddha Tidur Trowulan”. 

Ticket : Free. But donation will be allowed.

Liebster Award Tag

I knew about Liebster Tag after some blog-walking and stumbled on Ayu Rianna’s blog – she was Puteri Indonesia D.I. Yogyakarta Finalist batch 2009. This is basically an “award” that given by a blogger to other blogger in a form of question list. Most of the questions are random facts about themselves. Practically “Marketing” plays role in here as other bloggers are promoted.

I didn’t get tag by any blogger by the way, but I feel a bit fun and goofy right now so here I follow the hype – doing the LIEBSTER TAG. 

background image from Huffingtonpost.com




To be precise, the rules are:
Mention the blogger who nominated you.Explain the rules.
Post logo of Liebster Award (Allowed to be creative with additional elements)
Write 11 random facts about yourselves.
Answer the 11 questions presented.
Post 11 questions of your own and must be answered by the person you’ve already tagged
Nominate some bloggers
Notify bloggers that they have been tagged (usually via Twitter/Facebook).
OK, so let’s get down to this business!

11 random facts about me :
Own 2 kampong cats ; well one of them should be considered as “blasteran” as it has mix of Persian and kampong cat DNA.
A fan of Sayur Asem paired with Balado Pindang.
Can’t resist to not snacking. Snacking hour should be 9 am, 2 pm, and after dinner.
Lately prefer warm jasmine tea to coffee.
Not a fan of instant-packed coffee.
Ridiculously obsessed with Harry Potter series.
British guys are awesome (and romantic)!
Mostly watched youtube channel : Alex Goot. Allrecipes, Pony Beauty Diaries, Buzzfeed
All time favorite comfort food : Bakso. Plain. Only meatballs with beefy broth.
Peanut butter or jam? Peanut butter is awesome, but a good Kaya Jam is irresistible.
Hate being a night owl -__-

Here is the questions I was presented :

Apa kebiasaanmu kalau lagi marah?

Your habit when you’re feeling angry?
I express my anger (too bad!) and tell that person why I reached my boiling point. When I’m not in the tune to tell him/her, I just walked outside and prefer not talking to him/her for a while. Untill I’m in control. 

Apa yang akan terjadi pada dirimu kalau tiba-tiba semua gadget musnah dan kita kembali pada jaman telpon rumah, telpon koin, dan telpon kartu?
If all those gadgets disappeared and we back to the time when there’s only home phones, payphone and card payphone to do long distance communication?
Cal my other half with the last coin I had. Pack our stuff and go to Cayman Island. Play the ukulele and enjoy the salty and breezy air. It is only me and him. *jason mraz song playing*

Sambal bawang or sambal terasi?
Can we mention SAMBAL BU RUDY also? I know it is a guilt-booster chili sauce *blame the oil*. Definitely da bomb when you serve a hot steamed rice with fresh-from-the-wok fried duck and accompany with sambal trio; sambal bawang + sambal terasi and sambal Bu Rudy.

Kamu doyan minum susu nggak? Kenapa?
Do you like cow’s milk? Why?
I love milk and yogurt. But yogurt is my favorite one. Sweet & sour at the same time. Gulp.

Untuk para cowok, pilih istri bekerja atau ibu rumah tangga? Untuk para cewek, pilih suami pengusaha atau karyawan berpenghasilan tetap? Alasannya?
For Men : working wife or stay-a-home wife? 
For Women : entrepreneur husband or Employed husband?
I prefer an entrepreneur hubby. I love challenges and runs your own business is quite challenging. Owning a ‘company’ also tends to bring more money if you do it right. By the way, am a believer about there is no growth in comfort zone. 

Ibukota Amerika Serikat itu New York atau Los Angeles sih?
The capital of USA; New York or Los Angeles?
Am pretty good on Geographic, so the correct answer must be Washington DC 🙂

Sebutkan satu quote favoritmu! Boleh dari buku, tokoh atau film.
Your favorite quote :
Every man suffer pain. Either pain of hard-work or the pain of regret
 – Indiana Pacers Locker Room

Sari kedelai atau sari kacang hijau?
Soybean milk or Mung Bean milk?
I prefer almond mylk. Just can not resist the smell of soybean and mung bean milk. 

Sebutkan dong brand favoritmu, mulai dari baju, celana jeans, rok, sepatu, sampai tas!
Favorite clothing brand? jeans, skirt, shoes, bags …
For smart-casual look I just likely to wear Zara classic blazer and plain white tee tossed over black skinny lee cooper jeans, while am not a fan of skirt (except for the wedding or when feeling a bit “genit” to my hubby), Kind of a girl who love put on handmade leather bag on my shoulders. Shoes? I prefer sneakers by the way.

Burger atau sandwich? Alasannya?
Burgers or Sandwiches? Why?
Sandwich. Not a fan of burger buns. LOAF the texture of toast-bread. Moreover, there’s more space to fill in the sandwich than the burger buns. Bring that tuna spread, baby!

Twitter, Facebook, Path atau Instagram? Pilih salah satu dan sebutkan alasannya!

Instagram. Mini portfolio of mine.

And, here are the questions must be answered :
  1. Budget hotels / Hostels / AirBnB / Couchsurfing? Why?
  2. Snapseed / VSCO cam? Why?
  3. What is your biggest problem/challenge when it comes to blogging?
  4. Cats or Dogs?
  5. What do you value most in life?
  6. What does a normal day in your life look like?
  7. What is your favourite way to recover from a long and bad day?
  8. Is there something you love to do, although most people dislike it?
  9. What is your favourite thing to do first thing in the morning?
  10. What are you really really good at?
  11. Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
and I’d like to nominate some awesome bloggers as well :
alidabdul – travel blogger
mimoyoja – beauty blogger
borntobite – food blogger
diarysivika – lifestyle blogger
thelittlefashionosto – fashion blogger
Hope you guys have fun answering those questions as much as I did.

Bella’s Oatmeal Cookies

“Clean Eating” suddenly become a phrase that gets thrown around a lot these days. While it has different meanings to different people, I have a simpler interpretation about it. It is about eating the healthiest and the best options for foods. By ‘healthiest’ it also means gaining more nutrients like healthy fats, proteins and other healthy benefits from natural sources like vegetables, fruits, whole grains etc.
We won’t do a deep conversations about clean eating anyway, as I’m not an expert about this topic and I’m not an avid clean eater. It doesn’t mean that I have no health consciousness about my body, but I am more into a pleasure-seeker-eater. Moreover, finding a clean-eating type of food with such indulgence is a difficult task. 

Unlike the westerns, most Indonesian are not an avid eater of oatmeal as it quite bland in taste-wise yet not that so filling compared with hot steamed rice. But, according today’s trends that shows that more people opt for healthy food and do clean eating, oatmeal get into the hit. And did you notice that instagram also play a role in this trend. Fancy plating and all the serving creations that came out pretty and eye-catching posted on instagram tends to appeal more people to start consuming oatmeal. topped with lots of fruit, super seeds, various drizzles. Either served warm or soaked overnight, both have their own team.

So, a friend of mine has been converted to a clean-eater and has started her own homemade cookie label in this year. Unlike mass-produced cookies in factory, these cookies were made by uniting the freshest and the healthiest ingredients you can find. Perfect to satisfy your sweet tongue, even after your cafe hopping journey along with that slice of sugar loaded red velvet cake, as these cookies labeled as sugar-less one.

Overnight Yogurt Soaked oatmeal cookies

If you are suffering from eggs allergy and have a hypersensitivity to dietary substances from the yolk and whites of eggs, so this will be you Holy Grail. This cakey, crumbly soft baked cookies was made by using flax-seeds (thumbs up if you like this super food) as eggs substitutes. So, it is worry-free and also super duper healthy in a munch. While healthy food choice brings the stereotype of a high-priced food, these cookies would be your affordable and a go-to for you healthy tidbits.
Bella’s Oatmeal Cookies
follow her >> instagram <<

"Long-Ffle" a.k.a the Long Waffle : Goodness on the stick

It was my last hour in Seoul and I had to catch up my flight soon. But, After my long and tight shooting schedule for ArirangTV I need to pamper up my mood with some street snacking. So, my choice was visiting Hongdae. Like any other university area, this neighborhood packed with various street-snack stalls, compact coffee shops and also fashion-items-selling-shops.

One that caught my attention was “Long-ffle” or stands for Long Waffle. While enjoying waffles plated beautifully along with a cup of hot tea sounds really comforting, Hongdae is a busy area where there are so many young talents performing on the street, also there are so many fashion shops wait to be visited. Waffle served on the stick is the best solution. 

Unlike your ordinary waffle, this waffle purposely shaped in longer form and then a skewer tucked into one side of the waffle. Freshly made when you order it, you will get your waffle topped with lots of sweetened whipped cream and according-on-your-choice sprinkles. Basic flavors are strawberry, chocolate and blueberry.  
Even if you broke as a goat, this yummy, fluffy sweet goodness only cost you KRW 1500 or around $1.5.  These waffles are popular among locals and tourists, simply because it is simple, cheap but not that cheapo and tastes  good. Just be careful to enjoy them. Don’t enjoy it in a rush as it is nearly impossible to eat it without it flopping over and the whipped cream dumping on the ground or even yourself.
The Cheese Pan – Long-ffle
American Style Sweet Crunchy Waffle
Hongik-ro 3-gil No.29
Chocolate Waffle KRW 1.500

Hongdae : Hot Buzzling Youth District

If you only have a little time in hand and need a place that Worth a visit for some shopping, street food, or a bit of street entertainment! 



This place is extremely crowded on a weekend, no joke. But at the same time, this is where all the good food and good bargains reside. Shopping for clothes here was way cheaper than Myeong-Dong and offer the latest fashions compared to Namdaemun or Dongdaemun area. There is just so much to buy, from fashion items to steamy street snacks.


 You can watch many performances here from solo guitarist to 10 young people dancing on famous K-pop songs. Just add the delicious street food and some shops to spend your money and you will have a wonderful night!


 Recommended as a nice place to book hostels, as there are lots of affordable choices here and close to metro station. The area is full of korean and western restaurants, bars, coffee shops of every imaginable type with tasty foods.