April is almost over. A lot of things happened this month, and of course there are some amazing things that caught my attention for this past month. Let's see what are those things!





I first heard this song around March, I think, but I didn't really listen to it. Just this April I finally decided to listen to it, and I fell in love with it. This song captures an amazing emotion inside it. Whenever I listen to it, it's like all those years of my life come flashing back. Great song!




Produce 101 is over. I'm really sad the show is over, but really excited for the debut of the new girl group, called I.O.I. This song was performed at the final, all 22 girls performed it. At the end only 11 girls were chosen to be in I.O.I, but I just love their performance together. 'Crush' gets me addicted the more I listen to it, just like a lot K-Pop songs do. 'When the Cherry Blossoms Fade' is a nice song with meaningful lyrics, composed by the talented Jinyoung of B1A4. Can't wait for their debut album!



I saw the short clip of the music video at the closing of variety show 'We Got Married'. I instantly fell in love with the song, and went looking for it on Youtube. It is a nice ballad song that is perfect for chilling time.


SM Entertainment is having another new boy band! At the first few seconds of the song I thought I wouldn't like this song, because it has the hip hop feel to it. But the more I listen to it, the more I recognize the R&B feel, and I love R&B songs! So, I liked it instantly!



This song just popped out of the Spotify playlist that I was listening to. I recognized this song when I listened to the chorus. I love the melody and the lyrics. I loved it that first time I heard it on Spotify! Keep repeating it for a while.



I knew her from a Disney Channel movie 'Descendants'. When I knew that she was going to release a single, I was so curious, because I always love the Disney singers. When I first watched the music video, I didn't really enjoy it, but as I keep repeating it a few times, I finally enjoy it! The song is quite catchy for me, and somehow it keeps playing inside my head sometimes.




I ever installed this app and deleted it before. I didn't really understand how to use it, and since none of my friends used it then I decided to just delete it. However, after knowing that a few Youtubers that I love are using this app, I decided to installed it again. Now, I'm quite addicted it. I enjoy watching a mini vlog  from the Youtubers that I follow, and I quite enjoy sharing some stories now. People can change I guess.


I've been waiting for this app to get released in Indonesia, and it finally did! Now, I never really download any songs, I just stream it. It saves my phone's capacity, and I can find any songs easily now. I'm currently enjoying the playlist: Couples in Love. It consists of a lot of love song that I really love, including Melee - Built to Last. I think I'm going to stick to this app for quite a long time.



I just found out about this app a few days ago, and I really love it! It's somehow similar to Instagram but in a whole new level. Now you can share a series of your photos and write your stories. So, it's like you're sharing a mini photo album. You can slide it like an e-book and see other people's stories. How exciting! Try it out if you haven't ;)





I've been wanting to have a matte lipstick and I found out about this product. I searched for the review from bloggers and youtubers, then I decided to buy it. I really love this product! The colors are nice, I especially love 'Seduction'. It is matte and not that pricey.



I've been finding a solution because I feel like my hair is getting less thick. I found this hair tonic and tried it out. I love the smell, and somehow I feel my hair is getting better. The price is not that expensive either. I recommend this product!





I was interested to watch this show because of Bailee Madison. I watched her in Once Upon A Time, and when I found out that she also starred in another show, I wanted to watch it. I really enjoy this show, because somehow this show is quite mysterious. The first season has 8 episodes, and I just watched until the second episode. I can't wait to finish the first season to continue to the second season!



When I found out about this show, I couldn't help but scream out of excitement internally. I didn't expect there will be another show after Produce 101, so I was so excited! I just watched the first episode and it's basically about the girls' preparation to their debut day. I think I'm going to enjoy this show!







I didn't know why I suddenly love green tea, but maybe this drink is one of the reason. About a year ago my boyfriend bought me this drink without knowing that I didn't like green tea. Somehow I quite enjoyed it and drank it all up. After finding this drink again, I remembered that moment and fell in love with the latte again.



This is one of my favorite snack from Bali. I really enjoy munching to it while watching some TV shows. This month I crave it so bad, then decided to just enjoy some :)


I went to T4 which is a place that sells bubble tea recently. I ordered this chicken pop with black pepper and curry powder, love it. I couldn't stop eating it.


Since I'm really addicted to green tea recently, I was interested to try it. It's so delicious. I will enjoy my diet a lot while drinking this milk once in a while.



I just went to try this new restaurant in town and tried the recommended menu. I really love this pork fried rice. The taste of the fried rice is quite unique for me, but it's so delicious. The pork is on the side, so if you don't like pork you won't have to worry.


I also went to this cafe called Dobutzoo. It has various kind of dessert and drinks. I ordered the delicious cotton candy green tea latte. The cotton candy was so big and brought me back to childhood, since I liked to eat cotton candy when I was younger. I also ordered XX-Large Taiwanese Crispy Chicken Over Rice. The chicken was so big and I felt so full. I was really satisfied with it.


Those are some amazing things that I enjoyed this April. Can't wait for more amazing things next month. Let's start this new month hopefully :)

CN.

Aku membayangkan kota yang teduh dengan orang-orang yang ramah. Orang-orang yang peduli. Mereka yang melakukan hal-hal kecil karena mereka merasa memiliki. Sampah dimasukkan ke tempat sampah, tidak dibuang ke sembarang tempat, apalagi ke sungai. Bunga-bunga yang dikagumi dan dirawat, bukannya dipetik dan diinjak-injak. Mereka yang berkendara dengan bijak dan tidak mengebut sembarangan di jalan. Mulai dari hal-hal kecil ini, kita sebenarnya dapat menimbulkan lingkungan yang lebih baik untuk kita tinggali bersama.

Kita yang hidup di perkotaan identik sebagai orang-orang yang berkecukupan, baik dalam keuangan maupun pendidikan. Meskipun demikian terdapat satu hal yang terkadang tidak dapat ditemukan dalam masyarakat ini, yaitu keprihatinan dan kepedulian, terutama kepada lingkungan. Lahan-lahan yang hijau dibabat untuk dibangun gedung-gedung tinggi. Sungai yang jernih menjadi keruh akibat sampah dan limbah yang dibuang ke dalamnya. Tanaman di taman yang indah dirusak hanya karena masalah sepele, seperti es krim gratis. Sungguh sedih melihat warga kota yang 'berkecukupan' dalam hampir segala hal itu, tetapi kurang berkecukupan dalam kepeduliannya terhadap lingkungan.

Terkadang kita terlalu mementingkan kepentingan diri sendiri, dan tidak menyadari bahwa lingkungan memiliki pengaruh yang begitu besar dalam hidup kita. Terdengar suara kicauan burung yang memberikan kita semangat di pagi hari. Di malam hari terdengar suara jangkrik yang mengantar kita ke alam mimpi. Kita dapat memuaskan dahaga dari air jernih yang mengalir dari pegunungan. Kita dapat hidup berkat oksigen yang dihasilkan oleh pepohonan. Hal-hal kecil. Kita telah terbiasa dengan hal-hal kecil ini, sehingga terkadang kita menganggapnya sepele. Bayangkan apabila kita tidak dapat mendengarkan suara-suara alam. Bayangkan apabila kita tidak dapat memperoleh air. Bayangkan apabila semua pohon telah ditebang habis. Dari mana kita dapat hidup?

Hal-hal yang terlihat kecil dan sepele sebenarnya memiliki kekuatan yang besar. Hal kecil yang dilakukan dengan giat dapat membawa perubahan yang berarti. Contohnya saja, dengan membawa botol minum sendiri, kita dapat mengurangi sampah plastik dari air kemasan. Satu hari mungkin dapat mengurangi dua hingga tiga buah sampah plastik, tetapi apabila dilakukan dalam satu bulan, kalian bisa hitung sendiri betapa besar pengaruhnya untuk lingkungan. Seandainya setiap orang dapat melakukan hal-hal kecil seperti ini atas dasar kepedulian terhadap lingkungan, tentunya lingkungan kita akan menjadi jauh lebih baik dari sekarang.

Mungkin ini hanyalah idealismeku belaka, karena tidak semua orang akan memiliki pemikiran yang sama. Namun, alangkah indahnya ketika manusia dapat memberikan sumbangan kepedulian bagi lingkungan sekitar mereka. Mulai dari hal-hal kecil untuk menuju kota yang ramah lingkungan dan tempat tinggal yang layak bagi semua makhluk.

Minggu lalu kita merayakan Hari Bumi, di mana bumi kita sedang sakit dan memerlukan perhatian lebih dari kita. Isu Global Warming mungkin memang sudah terlalu membosankan bagi kebanyakan orang, meskipun demikian isu ini adalah isu yang masih berjalan dan tidak akan pernah bisa terselesaikan apabila kita tidak mengambil aksi. Mari kita mulai melakukan hal-hal kecil bagi Bumi tempat tinggal kita bersama, karena kalau bukan kita, siapa lagi?

Happy Earth Day!
Semoga makna Hari Bumi ini dapat diresapi dan ditindaklanjuti bersama demi lingkungan yang lebih baik.

CN.

Today is Kartini day! For those who don't know, Kartini is the name of Indonesian heroine, who fought for women's emancipation in late 19th century. Indonesian women used to only be able to stay at home, getting themselves ready to be married, taking care of domestic stuff, and also keep themselves pretty. If it wasn't because of her, perhaps there will be no such things as female leaders or female entrepreneurs, or any kind of successful women in Indonesia. In this post of mine, I want to introduce one aspiring young woman, who has motivated myself lately.

Merry Riana. That's her name. When you hear her name, you can hear the sound of happiness and positivety, since 'Ria' in Bahasa Indonesia can also be translated into being cheerful. It was just early this month that I started to read her book 'Mimpi Sejuta Dolar' (One Million Dollar Dream). I was not feeling quite well with life, I felt like something was missing. However, after I read one chapter of the book, suddenly I felt this little energy grew inside me. This book is written by a famous Indonesian novelist, Alberthiene Endah, based on the true story of Merry's life.

I will not tell everything about her life here, because I think it will be too long to be shared. I suggest you to read the best-selling book for that. I just want to tell you a few things about how she inspired me to become someone better. First of all, I really admired her positive energy. Even when she's facing such a big problem, she's always trying to look at the positive side of it. She has a simple and clear dream, she wants to see her parents happy. She kept that dream in mind and keep moving forward. She believed that one day all her struggles would be worth it.

She is really independent and doesn't give up easily. When she didn't have enough money, she didn't ask for more money from her parents. She somehow had to manage her life to match her economy. When she had to do the work that wasn't really enjoyable, she still did it. She believed that by doing that particular job, she would get a skill that will help her to achieve her dream. Her perseverance has made her achieved her dream. She knows that within us, we all have that power to make a change.

Most of all, she makes God become a part of her life. I think it's a very important thing. You're not really sure what life might bring you, but if you have Someone Greater to put your faith into, you will be less worried about life. As long as you believe that God always has a beautiful plan for you, you  will be able to go through the hardships of life. Merry's mother is a faithful Catholic, and she used to taught Merry to pray and put God into her life and Merry did all that.

Today, Merry Riana who was once so poor has become a well known motivator in Indonesia. She still has this one dream, which she wants to be useful for this country. She wants to help Indonesian people to get motivated and achieve their dreams. That is such a noble dream. I really hope her contribution to Indonesia will help a lot of people. Honestly, she already helps me. She brings more life and passion back into my life. We may not have the same journey in life, but her spirit should really be applied in all kind of situations.

As an Indonesian woman, I believe Indonesia needs more women like Merry. The one who after being successful, never forget about her root. You don't have to be a motivator like Merry, but as a friend, as a daughter, as a sister, as a wife, and especially as a mother, we all can make a change. Cheers to become a better woman for the better generations ahead! :D

Once again, Happy Kartini Day to all Indonesian women!
CN.