A long-overdue hello

 Blogging from Starbucks at an Ibis Hotel in Menteng...

On a Friday at 06:25 PM GMT+7.

It's been almost five years since Instituto Italiano di Cultura stopped their weekly Italian movie screenings. From 2009 to 2019 I never once skipped the screenings. It was every Wednesday first, then probably starting 2012 screenings were held on Friday at 7 PM. So every Friday, even at 5 PM I would already be at either this Starbucks or any of restaurants in Menteng, just near Instituto, sometimes with a laptop in hand. 

I remember these two occasions, in 2012 and 2016 respectively. In the former, I brought my laptop to Starbucks Menteng to work on my postgrad thesis (can't recall whether it was a chapter or a post defence revision), then after that I blogged about Lena Meyer-Landrut. In the latter, I brought my laptop to the same venue to work on my first China publication. After each occasion, I headed to Instituto to watch an Italian movie.

Good times.

It's September 29, 2023. 

After revising my part in an Indonesia-ROK policy recommendation, here I am blogging. Reminiscing. I'm heading home after this. 

Talking a walk...

Another Nine Muses content! Should I revive this blog or what?

Former Muses Moon Hyuna and Pyo Hyemi are going to release their first (or should I say one-off?) single "Walking" tomorrow, May 10 2020. Since leaving Nine Muses in 2016 (for Hyuna) and 2019 (for Hyemi), Hyuna has released a duet single with another former Muse Euaerin (real name Lee Hyemin) in 2017 as well as guest-starring in the concert of yet another former Muse Ryu Sera in 2018. All these and the up-coming single are conducted by her own agency, Daynite Records. I'm still counting on her to bring a full-fledged Nine Muses reunion (with all 13 former Muses if necessary, not the just the 2013 line-up) hopefully in the near future. 

A sneak peak at "Walking"...

Looks like it will be a city pop tune? I'm still in need of a remedy for....

This. Whatever this is. I'm not saying the song's bad, it's just not my cup of tea. Some people wouldn't even categorize this as a proper song and I don't blame them, as it's more suitable as background music of a travel documentary or something like that. By the way, the official video somehow isn't available for linking on Blogger. 

A hidden gem...

Hi folks! Happy new year 2020! Didn't expect me to come back so soon huh!

This entry is gonna talk about one of my favorite cafes, Watt Coffee, and it's gonna be mostly in Indonesian. Why? Simply because I feel like it.

I first noticed Watt in late 2015, one year after its establishment. I actually found Watt through Dough Darlings, a doughnut company that I followed on Instagram. At the time Watt was their stockist. Although Watt was a Dough Darlings stockist for a super brief period of time, I became a fan of the cafe's other offerings, mainly their coffee, pizza and French fries.

Watt is a hidden gem of Central Jakarta, in the literal sense of the word. Its first store was located in Kwitang, in the same row as the first Gunung Agung store that opened in 1953. To get there, you had to go deep into a one-storey office building that also housed a cinema community, Cinema Poetica. Once you walked in, you'd be greeted by a steampunk-themed interior and a roastery room to your left.

Now I know this is unrelated, but I like to hold consulting sessions with my thesis students at cafes when I can't meet them on campus. And over the years, there's been only one student that I ever took to Watt for consulting sessions: Daniel T of batch 2011.

Since September 2018, Watt has occupied a new location that's more spacious, and they've traded their steampunk theme with a rustic one. The new location, which is part of Capitol Park apartment, stays true to Watt's hidden gem nature: it doesn't even have a signboard facing the street and to get there you have to walk deep into the apartment compound. I visited Watt in the new location for the second time yesterday since May 2019 and was surprised to find that they no longer had the Kemang, South Jakarta, store. For a split second I feared that Watt might disappear soon, but 2020 is their sixth year into the culinary business so they've definitely gotten through the typically rough first five years safely.

Regardless, I'll try to visit Watt more often, just like I did their first store. And apart from their offerings, Watt will always have a soft spot in my heart because it was a dear part of December 2015 - so far the best December in my post New Zealand life. Also, it introduced me to Kinfolk magazine, which is a must-have for every wannabe hipster out there.

Introducing a new addition to the family!

On November 2, I was safely delivered of a healthy baby boy. We bestow on him a quite long name: an Indonesian first name, an Arabic middle name, a European second middle name (hint: it's Russian) and of course his dad's surname. We gave him that name because we wish for him to get the best of all worlds. For safety reasons we've decided not to post the name here, but his nickname is Kayvan, which in Arabic means "universe." The bundle of joy weighed 3.2 kg and was 50 cm in length upon birth, but as of December 2 he's weighed 4.2 kg and is 53 cm in length.
We thank you for all your well wishes :)

A very long overdue hi

Hi babes! Haven't visited the blog in forever, and I'm happy to tell you that as of this moment of writing I've been happily married for almost a year (anniversary is August 5) and we're also expecting our firstborn. The baby, a boy, is due in November. We have mixed feelings as we gear up towards parenthood, so wish us all the luck in the world!

I'll still post here once in a while, but I'm much more active on Instagram. Add me there for more frequent updates!