We had a relaxing Christmas and on Christmas Day, I woke up at around 10 am and then went out for a walk as the sun was rising and I noticed that the sky was absolutely gorgeous. I knew I only had limited time to enjoy the sky (perhaps around half an hour), so I went out to take some photos and videos.
Photos can't do justice as the beautiful hues are everywhere around me, so took some videos with my new mobile phone to test out how good the result could be. The fingers of my right hand were totally frozen and painfully numb as I had to take off my right hand glove to take the videos. The temperature was -25'C. It took at least five more minutes before I could feel my hand again, but it was worth the pain he he he he he he...As the different hues were across the whole sky, as I was walking to the bridge of Kitinen River, I even walked backwards at some point during my walk just to admire the different colours at different parts of the sky. Awesome!
But first, here are some photos...Click to see bigger views. Enjoy!
And here are the two videos...
We went on a mini break last weekend on a whim. We accidentally had time off together and when we browsed through the accommodation online, I found a decent one with a cheap price, so we went to Levi. Levi is a famous skiing place in Lapland and they organize world championships there as well (not sure how often, though). It's about 100 km to the north from Sodankylä. Hubby had been saying that he'd take me there someday, so that was it. :-)
It was truly Winter Wonderland and we both enjoyed the fact that it wasn't too crowded and the people there naturally started using English with me he he...Hubby said it was refreshing to hear English in his own home country. One very interesting thing was that the supermarket there provided lots more types of exotic fruit, even the ones that I can't find here. Of course the prices of those exotic fruit were horrendous (about €24-25 per kg whereas the price of bananas can be as low as €1,20/kg) but still it was fascinating to see. We didn't go skiing, but went bowling. :-)
Here are some photos I took there and I turned one of them into a Christmas card. The barrel photo was taken in one of the restaurants and I only took the photo because I liked the text. :-)
Wishing you all a peaceful Christmas (to those celebrating it) and a peaceful end of the year and a refreshing new year!
Hubby is a quiet person and most of the time he doesn't talk much. That's why whenever he's in a talkative mood, I always listen with gusto because it isn't a daily occurrence. Most of the time when I ask him questions, though, he has a way to answer me with his many one-liners. I got the idea to write this post during one of our sauna sessions, believe it or not he he he he...
Here are ten examples of his one-liners (there are more but I won't bore you LOL!):
1. "Because."
When I ask him why, sometimes it drives me crazy to hear him say this. And he can be stubborn enough to repeat the word over and over if I keep insisting on knowing why.
2. "Why not?"
This is another variation of his not wanting to explain to me his reason of why he wants to do something. The difference is that, if he says this, I don't normally insist on knowing why.
3. "Maybe."
This usually leans more towards the chance of it happening/coming true. Usually said regarding our plan together (for example to go to the cabin).
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4. "We'll see."
This has a 50-50% chance of happening. Usually said regarding our plan together (for example to go to the cabin).
5. "Shit happens."
Oftentimes he says this to comfort me, especially if I confide in him that I've done some mistakes or I've done something embarrassing. I really love the fact that he never gives me any advice and lets me make my own decisions when it comes to things I need to decide on my own.
6. Another one of his fave one liners is him saying the exact same word in Finnish whose meaning I wanted to know. So if I asked, "What's the meaning of pink?" then he'd answer, "Pink." Yep, his way to tease me! Bad boy!
7. "It (or whatever the subject was) could be."
This is usually said when he tries to pull my leg. For example if I said that something didn't happen, then he may say, "It could be."
8. "You should knoooooowwwwww!" (desperate tone)
This usually happens when he's been ransacking the house when he's looking for something and then he asks me where it can be, but I have no idea because I wasn't the one using it the last time.
9. "You."
Usually the case is when I think he did X, but he thought I was the one who did it and none of us wanted to lose the battle, so we're like little kids who keep saying back and forth in an accusatory (joking) voice, "You" over and over and over again until one of us stops it he he...
10. "So?"
Usually this word comes out as a result of my stating something that he's not interested in, something obvious, even though I say it to him to get him to respond. And it naturally ends up in my rolling my eye he he he he he...
When we were in Universal Studios Singapore, I was thinking of buying the same Minions T-shirts for the both of us so we could wear them together occasionally, but unfortunately hubby thought it was a bad idea. :-( I got the idea to wear the same shirt when I saw a couple of my regular customers wearing the same shirt and I thought they looked cool together (they're not young anymore, in their 40s), so I thought we could also do the same! Especially because when we bought the tickets to Universal Studios, we were given discount vouchers as well (10%).
In the end, I didn't buy any souvenirs from Universal Studios. However, if hubby had been willing to wear the same T-shirt, I would have definitely bought us the same ones, because I love the Minions! HE HE HE HE HE HE HE...
Writing this actually reminds me of my childhood. I was quite the jealous big sister when I was little and whenever someone gave my brother some clothes, I'd want to have the exact same kind. So my grandma learned early on that when she was going to give my brother something, she'd make sure to buy the same kind for me. In my parents' house I remember seeing a photo of me wearing similar pyjamas as my brother he he he he...
When I was a teenager, a friend of mine bought the same kind of drawstring pouch with a long strap. It was black and white polkadot and we used to go to the malls with the same kind of pouch (we put our wallets there). It felt nice to have a buddy with the same kind of pouch.
Have you ever worn the same shirts/bought the same thing as someone else because you feel like it?
Anyway, here's the Minions Christmas song he he he...enjoy!
1. This funny conversation between two female and a male at a supermarket.
F#1: (tapping the other female's shoulder in front of her) "Good evening, girl."
F#2: (turning around) "Oh, good evening, girl."
M: (behind the two of them) "Evening, girls."
F#1: (turning around) "Evening, boy. Well, we are both girls and you are indeed a boy."
Hint: All three of them were retired HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHH...LOVE a good sense of humour!
2. Hubby went away for a pre-Christmas party with his boss and coworkers and I got a sweet SMS from him.
3. Despite the fact that someone got sick at work and there was nobody else to replace her and it was the day before Finnish Independence Day (when the store got closed), it went very well at work.
4. Our store is closed for Independence Day, so everybody at work definitely gets a day off. :-D
5. Listening to this Christmas song:
Yesterday was my birthday and on Friday hubby took a day off so that we could go to the cabin before it got dark. He was afraid that if he worked that day, he may have had to stay longer at work. After all, we only get about 3 hours of daylight now as we move rapidly towards Winter Solstice where the sun doesn't even rise at all. Since there isn't that much snow yet, we could still make it to the cabin by car. It was more convenient this way because then he could bring a lot of firewood.
It has been a cloudy weekend, so we didn't really see any gorgeous sky or starry sky, though I saw some flashes of pink sky during sunset. Usually hubby is the one who ends up doing most of the stuff, but this time I wanted to try making a hole in the ice by myself (we need the water from the lake for sauna, you see). When I stepped on the frozen lake, I was a bit afraid if it would break, but when I started using the ice pick to make the hole, I realized just how thick it was. I stopped lots of time in between picking the ice with the ice pick to take photos of the sky. It was rather fascinating to see just how fast the sky changed in just 10 minutes or so.
The ice was at least 13 cm thick, so it took a lot of time before I could finally get some water. YYYEEEEEEEEESSS!!!! It felt good to be able to do the task HE HE HE HE HE...Hubby had to get more firewood and chop them off into smaller pieces (that also took a while). After that the party began ha ha ha ha...my kind of party. Just listening to music on the radio, going to sauna together, cooking the food in the fireplace, chilling out just the two of us. Bliss! What do I feel about turning 36? Thankful that I'm still given time to be alive. :-)
The temperature was about -1'C, though it probably dropped down a bit to -5'C during the night. It was a bit foggy when we arrived there, but for some reason it made me feel even more secluded from the rest of the world, because I could barely see the row of trees across the lake.
Anyway, here are some pics that I took:
The cabin from the back side:
Lots and lots of candles!
The sky when we first arrived:
The ice pick photo with the same background (about 43 minutes later, when the sky started to open up a little):
More photos of pinkish sky:
Okay, I need to go to bed earlier now (or at least try to). I have an early shift tomorrow. Hope you're all doing fine, people!
Haven't been blogging or blog-hopping. Been busy at work and other stuff going on in my life, including catching a cold. Making Christmas cards on my own also takes a lot of time (duh, of course!) and other than that I also need a lot of quiet time in between. One thing I've realized even more than before lately is why I married another introvert and I cherish him more than ever.
Anyhow, one good thing is that I managed to find some Christmas gifts for hubby and I've even wrapped them up in one box and displayed it next to his computer table HE HE HE HE HE HE HEHHHHH...I was hoping that he'd be curious enough, though it's a tough wish on my part because he's such a chilled out person. I even jokingly asked him, "Can you guess what's inside? Can youuuuu?"
He calmly replied, "Why would I want to guess?"
DOHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
I actually can't wait for him to open it because one of the gifts is something I think he'd enjoy for many hours he he he he...
Actually I think he feels a bit under pressure because he has two gifts for me to think about. First of all my birthday is coming soon and then there's Christmas. I know it's easier for me to find gift ideas for him because his birthday is far away from Christmas he he...but I can't exactly choose when I was supposed to come out of my mom's womb, can I? Poor hubby, though, having to think of two gifts in a short amount of time ha ha ha...
Anyway, this upcoming holiday season may not be easy for some people due to many different reasons. Mel from Stirrup Queens has written a blog post on how to survive this end of the year holiday stuff and she includes lots of other people's tips and tricks, too.
Here's the link to the article: How to Get From Thanksgiving to New Years When You're Not in the Mood.
I'll blog-hop later. My head still feels a bit weird. Take care, people!
1. A mistake in reading turned into a funny episode at work.
What was supposed to be "täytetty pasta" (stuffed pasta), I accidentally read "täytetty paska" (stuffed shit). I was reading it way too quickly, but it made me (and other people) laugh he he...
2. Playing Town of Salem in FB, invited by hubby and laughing out loud when playing it together. One time he managed to kill me and trick me. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
3. Waiting for another book to come (another one from my wishlist), courtesy of Bookdepository again, because they offered me another great deal, so naturally I couldn't resist he he he he...What I love about the site is that I don't have to pay for postage and they always deliver pretty fast. Plus they give me (free) cute bookmarks. :-D
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4. I believe I've married a genius. He has made me laugh many times over even when he's not trying. And he always has the ability to calm me down in ways that I had never seen anyone do. If I thought I picked the right guy to marry over 8 years ago, I had no idea just how right my choice was! Oh, and it was a privilege to be able to tell him all this face-to-face. :-D
5. Being alive still and being able to spend time with hubby.
6. Buying Father's Day's cake on a discount because I went to the store an hour before it was closed down the day before Father's Day and claiming the cake to be our anniversary cake (our anniversary was 6 days before Father's Day in Finland and because the both of us have no fathers left, I changed the cake's title HA HA HA HA HA HA...).
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7. Ordering a bike bag online and then realizing that one zipper was broken and that it was much too small for my taste, so I reported it and got my refund pretty quickly. It was nice doing business with that site.
8. Ordering another bike bag from another site and it finally came right before the old bag broke down. It's a little bit smaller than the old one, but much better than the small one with the broken zipper.
9. Deciding to make my own Christmas cards this year (something out of character for me because I'm not a handicraft lover) and finding some great deals on craft packages to make them. Oh, and it's finally Winter Wonderland here! The temperature went up a while back, making all the snow melt away and now we have fresh snow all over. YEAAAAAHHHHHHH! :-D
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I think I've once written how I feel more at home in Finland compared to Indonesia in terms of my being an introvert. What's fascinating is that another expat from the USA, who's also an introvert, has felt the same way. She also feels that in her home country, society expects people to be more of an extrovert than an introvert. I think the longer I stay here, the more I feel like I become Finnish in this aspect. You see, a new expat friend of mine has noticed something funny about the Finns. She said that when she meets up with the locals that she's met many times before, sometimes when they aren't in the mood, you can literally feel a distance between the two of you. My friend's husband had even warned her beforehand about this typical shift in attitude when it came to the locals, so my friend was well prepared, even though it still baffled her a bit.
When I heard this, I started thinking of myself and how true it was. Or is it more correct to say that I'm becoming more like me because at the end of the day, I'm an introvert after all? Whichever is the case, these days there are times when I just don't feel like talking to anyone. Interacting with people can be so exhausting. No wonder I feel so at home with my hubby who can be categorized as a silent type. The longer I stay with him, the longer I stay in Finland, the more I value the sound of silence.
During the time when I was doing translations at home, once an uncle of mine suggested to my mom to try to encourage me to join a club or something like that. He just wanted me to get out of the house and mingle with people. Funny how he didn't say it directly to me, but to my mom, but anyway...I didn't feel like I needed to join any club and I was quite content with my life, but it seemed that he thought I was becoming a hermit or something? I feel that Finns understands the beauty of silence more than Indonesians so to speak, even though on the other hand it's understandable why many people say that (in general) Indonesians are warm people, whereas Finns are rather cold.
I remember trying to find as much information about getting married and getting my paperwork sorted out before moving to Finland from a Finland forum where many expats could share anything, including useful links about how to find a job and how to write an application letter. I think it was someone from USA who wrote that article on how to write an application letter, because the writer strongly suggested that applicants must NOT brag about the things that they had done, which was something that was considered normal or even expected in the writer's home country.
I feel that the Finns love it more when people tone things down. Simplicity is considered more of a virtue here compared to grandiose. Toning down is preferable compared to selling yourself (and I don't mean selling your body, but the ability to convince people to hire you by letting them know passionately about your strengths and your experiences/abilities). I even feel that over here having the necessary papers (certificates/diplomas) is more important than however much hands-on experience and knowledge that you have learnt along the way without any papers to show. I don't know if this happened way back in the old days, but this is what I feel like for today's Finland.
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Speaking of selling yourself, I had a very intense job interview once in Indo. There were two interviewers and I still remember clearly two of the questions. The first question was: "Sell yourself to us. What do you have? What are your strong points? Convince us to hire you!"
And when I stated the things that I considered my strength, you know what they said? They said, "Anyone else can say all the things that you've said. What else have you got to sell to us?"
Blimey! I was really cornered and I knew right then and there that I wouldn't get the job because I got stuck and it was like seeing myself stumble on a rock and falling down in slow motion he he he...
Anyway, the second question was: "Imagine yourself 5 years from now. What do you want to do then?"
That was really tough to answer because what I had in mind wasn't exactly the kind of job that I was interviewing for and I felt that they really saw through me. The only thing that made me applied for the job was the thought that I would be challenging myself and I'd be out of my comfort zone and who knows how much I could grow there. Long story short, I didn't get the job, but I appreciated the fact that they sent me an email to thank me for coming and to let me know that they had selected someone else. One expat friend of mine once told me that Finns didn't let applicants know if they don't get a job, which she found strange (probably because it was a custom in her home country).
Have you ever experienced any kind of tough job interview? If so, what happened during the interview?
I don't remember anymore if I've shared it here or not, but this is a really beautiful talk on The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain. I bet many of you have listened to it or at least heard her name, but I'm going to listen to it again, so I'll just share it here just in case you've missed it:
Last night I was having a bit trouble to go back to sleep as my mind kept on jumping from one topic to another. One of the things I thought I'd write today was what I had heard during my trip to Indo. I heard one mommy said that no matter how much parents said that they loved their children the same way (or with the same amount of love), there was always a fave child. I suppose this only happens when there's more than one child in a family.
I was rather shocked to hear those words because of the honesty of it. Logically speaking I do understand why there can be a fave child, because a relationship between two people is dynamic and there are some people whom I get along with much better than others. There are some people who keep pushing my button even without their actually attempting to do so. And the dynamics between parents and children may be even more complex than other types of relationship due to obvious reasons. It may be easier to be fond of the child that is easy to deal with than a more challenging child. In other cases, some parents may favor a child of a certain gender because of their own expectations and society's pressure and that child may get special treatments because of that.
I myself have never felt that my parents favors me or my brother more than the other one, although I do know that when I was a baby/toddler I was much more challenging than my brother. I do remember when I was younger that I was jealous of my brother's musical talents, but other than that and one other case of jealousy*, I never really felt like any of us was the fave child. I feel that both of us have different strengths and weaknesses and our parents know them, too. However, I have heard extreme cases where a family favors one child more than the others and that fave child gets all kinds of special treatments. How about you and your family? If you have your own children now, do you love your children the same (you can answer this in your own heart)?
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* The other jealousy story: My brother has always been a homebody. Even during the time when he was dating his then-girlfriend (now wife), 99,9% of the time he came back home already at 9 pm. No kidding! Anyway, as someone who likes going out more than he did, sometimes my friends and I would go roam the cafes until rather late (though I'd always let my parents know if I was coming back home late) and because my parents knew all my friends and trusted them, they felt sure I was in good hands. They never got worried whenever I told them I'd go out with X and X and be back home late (I'd be carrying my own key with me).
Anyway, because my brother rarely came back home late, whenever he wasn't home after 9 pm, my parents would be worried about him. It was worse before the time when we had our own mobile phones, because they couldn't contact him whatsoever, but during the time when we had our own mobile phones, they'd call him and ask him where he was. Every now and then I got a bit ticked off whenever they got so worried about him like that, because whenever I came home late, they were never worried and they never called me to ask me where I was. They were just used to it, I guess.
(Note: Welcome to my brain HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHH...)
Bah! The water is so choppy. No more opportunity to take mirror-like surface photos like the other day.
Should I go left or right? Hmmm...Oh, shoot, there was someone coming out from the path on the right. That surprised me!
Heeeeeeeeey, but that means that there must be a path that he had been trailing to get here, so how about going there?
Nah, let's go left first.
Hmmmm...doesn't seem like this path is going anywhere, so let's go to the right instead.
Interesting.
This place is much quieter than the other path, but then again the view
was better over there. No wonder lots of people went there for a walk
or a run. However, this path is perfect if I want to avoid people. Yes, I
shall keep that in mind.
Okay, now let's go take some photos while the sun is out. Which angle?
First from the ground up. Use the octopus legs and the timer, I'm going to be the model. Okay, ready, get set, go!
Nope,
not good. The sun is shining straight to the camera, making me look
dark. Gotta change the direction. Turn the camera the other way around.
Okay, here we go, let's pose again!
Looks fine. Hey, there's a
tree there where you can put wrap the octopus legs around and probably
get a pretty good angle of the path and some blue sky.
Urrrggghhhh...come
on now, octopus legs! Work with me! Urrrggghhhh...I'm glad nobody else
is here so I can do this for as long as I need without feeling
embarrassed.
Finally! Now first pose. Umm...maybe now I should pretend to walk the other way so that the camera captures my back.
Yeah, and your Vienna bag.
Ha ha...how does it look?
Good.
Now I want to have a closer-up look, but what pose? A regular stand-up
smiling pose is booooooriiiiiing. Okay, how abouuuutttt this? A little
peek-a-boo pose? YES, that looks nice enough.
Brrrr...the wind is
kinda chilly and my bladder is screaming already. Damn bladder. Why are
you so noisy? No sign of toilets nearby. Shite!
Hmmmm...but then
again this place is very quiet, so I can probably hide behind some
bushes behind the path...let's see if I can find a rather secluded spot.
Hey,
I think that spot is pretty hidden. Let's try going there. Ugh. Not
that easy, but must go a little bit further. Okay, from this angle I
don't think I can be seen that easily, can I?
Okay, I've got the tissue out, so come on, hurry up before anyone passes by!
YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!! I'm safe! Nobody saw me.
Well, unless someone uses a pair of binoculars and zooms in to this spot, that is!
SHUT UP! Don't even think about something like that, idiot!
Ah, I feel so light now. Let's take a few more photos and then go back home, shall we?
1. I bought a new blanket, but it was way too big and puffy to bring with me by bike, so I called hubby to take it with him in the car. Tried calling his mobile, but didn't pick up, so I ended up having to call his work phone. When he picked up, I immediately asked in English, "Hey, are you at the office?"
A second of hesitation later, he replied in English, "No."
Then I started explaining what I had done and I knew that he was at the office because I could see his car outside (the shop was near his office) and then he finally realized it was me.
Then I asked, "Why on earth did you say no at first?"
He replied, "I didn't recognize your voice at first, so I was confused." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...obviously he didn't have my number on his work phone, so he didn't know who it was and then I started babbling in English ha ha ha ha ha...funny!
2. When he got out of the office, my first thought was, "Damn, he's HOT!!!!"
It feels nice to feel this way still about him he he he...He's always SO patient with me, so I'm thankful for that.
3. Seeing two squirrels at the yard, right under the bird feeder. So cute!
4. Tomorrow is a holiday, so the store is closed and tonight I'll have a pre-Christmas party with my coworkers. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS!!!
5. Finding cheap offers on meat and fish. They're now safely in the freezer for future use.
6. Frost. Beautiful glittery thin layer of frost everywhere. They're sparkly in the sun and under the street light.
7. Finally getting the hang of a new type of friendship that has evolved from an old type of friendship. It feels nice to be able to let go and finally adjust my expectations.
8. Ordering an early birthday present for myself (1 of the books in my wishlist) because Bookdepository gave me a 5% discount that would expire this weekend. Can't waiiiiiittttt!!!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
9. Almost forgot that Monday is our 8th wedding anniversary (FB reminded me of that LOL!!!). I just want to say I'm thankful that we've been given these years to spend together and I hope we will have many more to come. I still believe he's the one for me and he's becoming even more dear to me as time goes by.
10. Been trying to lose some weight by eating a plateful of salad at least 5 times a week. It's amazing how light my body feels after trying out this practice (haven't really weighed myself yet because I've just started sometime last week, but my body feels different than eating meat all the time).
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It was snowing crazily yesterday morning and I had an early shift. I had already anticipated it, because Friday was also another snowy and windy day. It was fascinating to see the wind blowing up the snowy particles in the air like dust circling up to the sky. Yesterday I couldn't ride my bike to work, because it was way too early and the snow was coming down hard and the pavement hadn't been cleared from snow yet.
It was pretty rough to walk on the sidewalk and then I noticed someone riding a bike along the side of the main road, so I decided to walk there, too. Mind you, they had cleared up most of the snow from the main road, so it was easier to walk there ha ha...And because it was so early, there was hardly any traffic (well, not that it's ever been that busy over here anyways). About 200 metres away from my workplace, a car slowly stopped next to me. Turned out it was my boss' car, so I could get a lift to work the rest of the way ha ha ha...My eyebrows were wet by the time I arrived at work as it was snowing right to my face the whole time I was walking to work.
After work we went to my MIL's and I started making a snowman right away. It was really perfect weather as it was wet enough at 0'C, so the snow was pliable and easy to mold. Here are two photos of my upside-down, big-headed snowman he he he he...
My highlight of that day was that when I was making the body, a squirrel came by and watched me curiously from about a metre away. If I made a sudden movement, it'd jolt and scurry behind the tree trunk, but then it kept on watching me for about a few minutes before it finally went over to the bird feeder to eat. Very cute!!! Here are some pics of the peeping squirrel he he he...
Last night all the snow turned to slush because the temperature rose to 1'C. I just checked the temperature outside and it's as warm as 4'C now and it's very very wet. I'd rather have all the snow melted away and then new snow can come in its place without melting away again, because it's really dangerous to have some parts of the snow melt away and then refreeze during the night. Oh well...we shall see what kind of winter we're going to have now. One thing is for sure, though: I can't survive without my light box. The other week I decided to skip using it for a day, but I felt SO SO SO tired that day, so I will never skip using my light box until it gets bright enough outside again.
1. An opportunity to give back and share what I know.
2. Looking at childhood photos and reminiscing past events, evoking different feelings.
3. The new fluffy and very warm blanket, making me reluctant to get up from bed LOL!
4. Taking these photos:
5. We have so many DVDs to watch. So exciting and difficult to pick which one to watch first ha ha ha...
6. Finally having a lighter week to rest and recharge after a crazy long week at work that I'll never want to do again.
Compared to the last time we went to visit Bandung, there are now SO many new spa/massage places there. My brother took us to a new spa place once that his friends had recommended and hubby and I had a 1,5 hour massage. The place was clean, but nothing fancy. The massage was good, though we didn't know what my brother had booked, so turned out in the beginning the masseuse stood up and hold onto the railing and used her feet to massage us. That was quite surprising because I hadn't expected that. It cost about 160,000 IDR for 1,5 hour.
The only bad thing was that the one who took care of hubby didn't speak much English, so sometimes when she had to leave the booth to wash her hands, she didn't tell hubby anything, so hubby was a bit confused at times. So she didn't ask hubby if he wanted to shower or not, whereas I just went and have a shower.
The next time around I went back to Everyday Spa, the spa where my mom and I went to years back. This time I went to the main branch in Jalan Aceh and because we went there on a workday, I hadn't booked beforehand as I was sure they would have some spots for us. They did have some spots for us right away, but the couple room was unfortunately occupied. The cost was 190,000 IDR for 1,5 hour.
They had separate sections for men and female and they also asked if hubby wanted a masseur or a masseuse. We only had to wait about 15 minutes for them to prepare everything. They washed our feet first, then gave us slippers and guided us to our own booth. The place was better than the other spa and this time hubby's masseuse spoke English very well, so he felt that it was more satisfactory to have the massage there.
So after two satisfactory experiences, I'd highly recommend Everyday Spa for people who want to enjoy a nice massage in Bandung. And I think the price isn't that bad, either. So next time we're in Bandung again, I'll definitely go back there.
Here's the spa site: Everyday Spa
Here's a photo of the view from our room in Hotel California from the sixth floor:
I also had a massage at the hotel we stayed in at that time, Hotel California. Actually the original plan was to go back to Everyday Spa, but hubby wasn't feeling well, so I booked an hour massage there and the masseuse came to our room. The massage was good, but I felt that it's still better to go to a spa place to have a massage rather than your own hotel room because the ambience is just totally different.
Speaking of hotels, we stayed in two different hotels in Bandung. The first one was D'Best Hotel and the second one was Hotel California. In the beginning we weren't actually planning to stay at D'Best Hotel, but hubby and I had trouble sleeping in my parents' place because of the heat.
We had good experiences with both hotels, though for D'Best Hotel I forgot to ask for a non-smoking room, so the room we had kinda smelled like cigarette smoke. In Hotel California, all the rooms are thankfully non-smoking ones, so no more smell.
Both hotels provide breakfast, though Hotel California provides many more breakfast choices (well, of course, the hotel room is more expensive than D'Best Hotel). They even have waffles and bubur ketan hitam/bubur sumsum (different for different days) and one day I could even eat Kupat Tahu there, so I was really happy eating there ha ha ha ha...At D'Best Hotel, what I like is the fact that they have gorengan at breakfast he he he he he...
The last night in Bandung, we didn't feel like going out anymore, so we had dinner at Hotel California's restaurant and the food was brilliant. Even hubby complimented his chicken steak (and the sauce). The price was a bit more expensive than in normal restaurants, but it was worth it because the taste was great and it was convenient.
Here are two photos of our last dinner in Bandung:
I'm really swamped with work at the moment, so I'll just share some end of autumn photo that I took when I went for a walk along the riverbank last week. Now winter seems to have come, especially because the temperature has been below 0'C during the past couple of days. It was even -8'C when I woke up this morning. There's a light dusting of snow and frost on the ground now, but here are some photos before the temperature got below 0'C. I was lucky enough to see these mirror effects on the river. Very peaceful! As usual, click to see bigger views (as you can see, it was quite cloudy). Enjoy!
