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!

At very long last, a hello

Hello!
I know it's been BEYOND forever.
I was actually on Wordpress for a while, then I got frustrated as to how to costumize the layout. Long story short, I got back here. Pretty happy with myself today for bringing my fanlisting codes back on.
A quick update: I'm getting married in less than three weeks. My husband-to-be is a lawyer who's turning 38 in September, and it's gonna be the first (and hopefully last) marriage for both of us. I consider myself lucky to have him, for he supports me in pursuing my career and aspirations.

Back from China!

Hi everyone,

I just got back from a one-week trip to China, covering Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing. The trip, which started on December 17, was a business one - in fact it was semi diplomatic as I went with Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) China Foreign Policy (of which I'm a member), The Coordinating Minister of Politics, Law and Human Rights, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and The Ministry of Trade.

We had seminars at Fudan University, Nanjing University, China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) and China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), as well as visiting Yangshan Deepwater Port. In our leisure time, we went to Temple of Heaven and Nanjing Presidential Palace. We would have loved to go to the newly-opened biggest Starbucks in the world and the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower, both are in Shanghai, but our schedule was so tight there was no time to squeeze them in.

As this might be my last entry in 2017, I might as well conclude that even though 2017 wasn't as good as 2015, it's still better than the majority of my post-NZ years thanks to the two overseas trips I had this year. Here's to more overseas adventures in 2018!