Staycation at Four Seasons Jakarta

Hello, everyone! I can't believe I haven't posted anything in 2 months! There are so many things going on lately.. During my spare time, all I want to do is laying on my bed / going out with friends. But today I decided to write this long - overdue post. My apple id was hacked in August, which made me lost all of my data in my phone & laptop. Crazy, right? Thankfully I could still save many datas from my blog, flickr, and instagram. Imagine if I never updated my social media.. I would've lost it all! T.T

Last Eid holiday, I booked a staycation at Four Seasons Jakarta as a gift for my parents' wedding anniversary. The hotel was not just beautiful. The interior is beautifully designed and made! I hardly found any scratch on it. The electronics they provide in room were also the best brands ever. My dad truly enjoyed his time listening to music and watching movies with such high quality audio system.

The interior is dominated with white, gold, and marbles. As a fan of classic interior, this stay was like a dream comes true! I and my mom took so many pics during our stay! HEHE!

The service they gave was also brilliant. We got complimentary fruit and cake as the welcome gifts and they arranged flower petals inside the bath tub when we got back from our dinner. Very thoughtful!

The breakfast place, Palm Court was also amazing. The place isn't really big, in fact we had to wait few minutes before we got our table inside the restaurant. The food selection isn't very wide, but they cover english, asian breakfast, including fruits and lots of breads / pastries. That's already enough for breakfast, isn't it? I was truly addicted to their Bircher Muesli! Super delicious!

My mom enjoyed her Nasi Uduk!

The pool was located on the top. It's not big, but it got beautiful view!

The staycation that I booked also include a 45 minute-long body massage for my parents. When I asked them about their review, they only answered; "I wish it could be longer!". They said the massage was so good that they couldn't believe when it ended. lol.

Overall, I'd never reject any invitation for next visits... Because Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta has won number 1 place on my top hotel list! I'm not paid / sponsored for this review. I booked & paid this staycation on my own, but it'd be a waste if I didn't share such a great place that deserves it!

Shinjuku Gyoen & Gotokuji Temple

Hi, guys! I just got back from my 12 days trip to Japan last Friday and I still feel quite exhausted lol. I don't even have the mood to go to the malls these days. I and my parents walked a lot everyday in Japan!

Lots of you asked me questions about going to Japan without tour. I've answered few questions on my instagram @verenleecious , but surely some of you might missed it. So I'd make a special blogpost / vlog about it (expenses, transport, accommodation in Japan). But through a blogpost like this, you'll be able to see my itinerary (places I went, food I ate, etc.). 

This trip was my 3rd time going to Japan & my parents' 4th time, but this trip was our first time experiencing the Spring season there. My mom loooooves flowers very much, so this trip includes a lot of visits to flower parks, just like this one; Shinjuku Gyoen.

Shinjuku Gyoen is a big park in Shinjuku, Tokyo. From our apartment's station (Gotanda), we took the JR Yamanote Line to Shinjuku Station and from the exit , we walked around 800m to the park. Use google maps, and it will definitely take you there!

During the sakura season, the park is very crowded with locals and tourists doing hanami there (picnic under the sakura trees). We went there on April 18th, which the full bloom was actually over. But luckily there were still quite a lot of sakura trees there! 

I and my mom took lotsss of pics at the park. We spent 2 hours taking pics & 1 hour sitting by the park enjoying ice cream and the ambience there. 

My outfit is from Batik By Annabelle. Such a matching set with the sakura, right? While my watch is Classic Sheffield 36 Rose Gold from Daniel Wellington. I only brought this watch to Japan & it matched all my outfits there. You can GET 15% OFF by entering "VEREN" discount code during check-out if you shop on their webstore. Code is only valid until May 30th, HURRY UP!

When we walked back to Shinjuku Station, we passed by the famous Gyukatsu Motomura and decided to have lunch there. It's a beef katsu, but the meat inside was still raw. The taste was delicious & the beef was very tender! If you like your beef to be well done, you can grill it at the 'mini-grill' that they prepared for you. It costs around 1300 yen for the smallest portion. 

Next, we went to Gotokuji Temple. 1,5 years ago I found a fun story about Gotokuji (Cat) Temple and wanted to visit this place ever since. This temple was originally meant for a minister during Edo period. Monks who lived there were very poor but they raised a cat lovingly. One day, the cat 'waved' into a passing-by samurai who was resting under a tree nearby & invited him inside. 

Not long after he went inside the temple, the tree was struck by lighting! As a gratitude for having its life saved, the samurai became the temple's patron, and the temple soon became prosperous. That's why, they thought the Cat as a lucky charm ! 

Gotokuji temple was reached after 15 minutes walk from Gotokuji Station. It's tucked inside small streets where lots of bikes passed by and numerous cute cafes / shops were spotted. At the temple, there were not many tourists. It was very quiet. After praying there, we also purchased a small manekineko (lucky cat) to bring home :).

See you on my next post! 

2016

Helloooooooooooo 2016~! It's amazing how a change of the last digit in 201X means so much to most people in this world, including me!

Jumping into the same bandwagon that everyone does in every new year, I'd like to flash back to memorable memories in 2015 and my resolutions in 2016!

It's the year of many new things in my life.
- I finally graduated from school and became a college student

- I became Prom Queen during prom and became the leader of yearbook committee

- I arranged and brought my best friends to my parents' hometown, Pontianak for a culinary getaway. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO DIARY !
- I learn to be more independent as I'm apart from my parents. I drive to school, I buy my own meals, I clean my apartment, I shop for groceries, I wash my clothes, even go to the hospital alone, etc.
- I made a new business, @barliepicks_id with my bestie, went for overseas buying trip
- I fell sick 2 times and was admitted to the hospital (before that, the last time I got hospitalized was 10 years ago)
- The first time I got drunk and threw up all over my bro's car (it's his fault anyway - but the next day someone bought my bro's car!!! LOL!!)

- I celebrated my birthday overseas for the first time with my parents and my cousins.

As for the resolutions,

I'll still be myself.. There's no "new" me... Because you're supposed to improve yourself everyday, not only on new year. But if there were some specific things I wish to achieve in 2016:

- To be more independent financially (buy my own stuffs / pay my own expenses without my parents' money)
- To be a better DRIVER remembering how many times I bumped/ scratched my car this year 😭 (maximum 5 times only in 2016, ok??)
- NO JUNK FOOD (I've successfuly avoided Instant Noodles in 2015. I'd like to avoid KFC/McDonalds/any similar stuffs)
- To be less emotional / impatient / selfish toward other people. (How to achieve that? I'd close my eyes, breathe in - breathe out x3 before getting angry/saying harsh words).
- To be healthier without starving myself (which is a bad diet) and not to check my weight every single day (it just makes me even more stressed out).

During New Year's Eve, I went to have dinner with my parents at SATOO, Shangri-la Hotel. The buffet was full of delicious food and desserts! I ate 9 plates of different dishes from salad, sushi, sashimi, chinese food, spaghetti, dimsum, steak, pork knuckles, soup, lots of cakes, etc + 1 ice cream and my mom was really shocked with the amount of food I can put into my tummy! I inherit my dad's appetite, I guess! lol.

She also said that hopefully I'll find a boyfriend this year... HAHAHA T_T.

 

 I hope it's not too late yet to blog this kind of post! Hehehe! Have a good weekend, everyone!

Day 5: Kyoto Part 2 - Gion

Tomorrow is the last day of my first try out for national exam. Ah... Like finally. I've been so exhausted this week, that's because I go home at 3.30 everyday and need to study for the try out at night. The try outs didn't go that well actually.. Well, we couldn't possibly have finished studying all the materials from grade 11-12 within a night. So, I've prepared myself to hear my mom's screamings at my score sheet next week. LOL. I promise to study harder for the upcoming exams!!

As I was so tired this noon, I decided to skip the extra class and sleep at home. Everytime I take a nap, i'll be wide awake at night. So, it's perfect for tonight's studying time. I can study the last subject for the try out, Biology freshly tonight. xD

Now, let's continue the last part of my Japan trip! After I and my parents had our tummy filled up with yummy Japanese street food, we went to Gion. It's also a place we had never been before.
From JR Inari Station, I had to go to Tofukuji Station first, then moved to the Keihan Main Line Local to Gion Shijo Station.

In Gion, I planned to visit the Hanamikoji Dori , which they said is a popular 'traditional' district there. As soon as we got out from the station's exit. We saw a very beautiful side of Kyoto. It's a mix of traditional and modern architecture with a touch of European! It's very different with Osaa & Kyoto. We should've spent more days in Kyoto!

I didn't know where the Hanamikoji Dori was and I was also confused with my google map. So we only walked along the way where most people were heading to.

A beautiful & modern salon spotted in the small vintage alleys in Gion.

Since I was totally didn't know where to go, we kept on walking . If we're lost, it didn't matter because we could see many beauituful things there! For example is this vintage alleys. It's full of small bars & authentic japanese restaurants. I was there at around 3pm, and most of them were closed after the lunch time was over. Some of them will open again for dinner.

We also stopped by the side of the river (2nd photo) and I sat on the swings! ;)

After a while, I finally figured out the routes in my google map to Hanamikoji Dori, which was actually the opposite way. So we went back and finally found the right way!

My parents actually wanted me to rent a yukata , but I couldn't since it'd take so much time & wasted money if I didn't wear it to stroll around the streets  T_T.  We were only on a day trip and planned to go back to Osaka before 5pm since we wanted to have our last shopping in Shinsaibashi, Osaka before we went back to Indonesia. So yeah, let's go back to Japan again, mom & dad! xD

This is the Hanamikoji Dori! It felt so unreal to see those traditional shops & houses. I like them very much!

We kept on walking along the Hanamikoji Dori, and it lead us to Kenninji Temple. The temple was quite empty and very quiet. It's big, CLEAAANNN (I didn't spot any single trash), and peaceful!

After we got out from the Kenninji Temple,  I didn't forget to stop along the way to take more beautiful pics! These cauliflowers bouquets were so beautiful!!

Before we left Gion, we stopped by at Tsujiri Tea House (Gion). We bought matchas to stock up my dad's teas at home, and also tried their matcha ice cream & latte! Yummmmmmmmmm!!

Ahh... it's sooo hard to move on from my Japan trip. I really really miss Japan a lot, and to tell you the truth, it's the best Japan trip ever. The first time when I went to Japan with a tour service, it wasn't this fun / memorable even though I went to Disneyland, Disneysea, and even Universal Studio. The memories when we got lost, the random food stalls we tried, the train rides, the beautiful small streets, the cute stuffs at the shops, the boutiques, and the very kind citizens in Japan who helped us.

I want to visit Japan in Spring very much. It'd be in March - April. I'll have finished my national exam by April 15th. Can I still make it to witness the sakura blossoms? I also haven't found any affordable tickets T___T. *start saving my money more religiously* *God please grant my wish*

If you have any questions regarding my trip to Japan , don't hesitate to leave your question on the comment box below! :)

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P.S: I'll go to Jakarta tomorrow and be present at METROPOLIS MARKET's BLOGGERS AVENUE (Garage Sale) on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8th 2015 from 10am - night! Do come , say hi to me, and shop at my booth. Lots of cool stuffs are waiting for you! :P