Singapore Vlog #2

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's 2020 already and I wish for an awesome year ahead. With that, I'm going to treat you with part 2 of my three part Singapore Vlog. Enjoy!

It's Her Day

This story is going to be a couple of weeks too late. But we celebrated one of my best friend's birthday, Melissa, at an Italian eatery that she and her husband owned called De Boni's Cucina Italiana a couple of weeks ago. We ate a lot, drank a lot, laugh a lot. May everyone have a jolly holiday!

Do-It-Yourselfer

We went to IKEA over the weekend. It was fun for the kids.

Date Night

September Birthdays

So many special birthdays this month.

Let's start with September 8 - it's my mom's birthday!

And then September 18 - my daughter's 4th birthday!

We celebrated her birthday at her school per her request and she wanted to wear a full on Wonder Woman costume because she's in that phase.

Then September 24 - it's my birthday!

I wanted a donut tower for my birthday cake. My husband totally delivered with this amazing and delicious donut tower birthday "cake" from Dough Darlings.

Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes personally.

35 and I'm hoping I shall thrive more here on out.

#momsquad

I'm so grateful for each and every one of you.

FRIENDS

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Fight for you

Respect you

Include you

Encourage you

Need you

Deserve you

Stand by you

Chit Chat

What has been up in my life?

Quite a lot actually. But none that I'd like to share to the world because it's very personal and I'm very particular with what I share in public. I am a pretty private person.

Not many people know this about me. But I'm struggling with anxiety. The last couple of.. weeks? Months? I don't even know. I've been dealing with so many things internally, but I think I just sort of bottled it all up. I thought all of that might burst out any moment now. But I'm putting up a strong facade.

I haven't found the perfect outlet to deal with it. But don't worry. I'm working on it. I'm trying my best.

Thank you to whoever listening out there. If there's any.

The Love Languages

Have you ever heard of the 5 Love Languages? I never really gave much thought about it until I now realize that it is crucial to identify your love languages when you're married, in a serious long term relationship or basically any kind of relationships. These languages of love can translate to friendships and parent/child relationships, too.

What are the 5 love languages? They are: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. Every person has different type of love languages. According to the concept, the way you feel loved is also the way you show love.

I never really understood what my love language is. But I think unconsciously I've been doing it already. After reading about the 5 love languages now I understood why I do what I do.

I just found out that my love language is Words of Affirmation. After understanding deeper of what it means, I find it really fits me. Although I personally also strongly agree that "action speak louder than words", turns out that I need Words of Affirmation. I noticed that positive verbal gestures goes a long way for me. Words such as "I love you" or "good job" or "you look really nice" makes me feel acknowledged. I realized that I have been doing the same in return to others. I like to give positive verbal gestures to everyone. For example: I've come to the realization that more often than not I like to use words of affirmation when talking to my kids. I hope it gives them a boost of confidence by hearing those verbal gestures. The way it has the same impact with myself.

My husband on the other hand, has the love language of Quality Time. Meaning: "In the vernacular of Quality Time, nothing says I Love You like full, undivided attention. Being there for this type of person is critical, but really being there makes your significant other feel truly special and loved. Distractions, postponed dates, or the failure to listen can be especially hurtful."

I tried my best to provide him with his type of love language. I think I did. I always try to be present and always be there for him. But I need something in return too. I need my words of affirmation. I hope by finding out what we each need might change our relationship for the better. Hopefully we both can grow for the better.

I want to know what your love language is (take the test here) and tell me all about it! I would love to hear about how different (or perhaps the same) love languages between you and your partner plays a big role in your relationship.

It's Her Birthday!

The girl turns 3 today! How did she get so big so fast?

Asian Games 2018 - Wushu

Hari Minggu kemarin, kita sekeluarga berkesempatan nonton live pertandingan Asian Games 2018 cabang Wushu. Kenapa pilih Wushu? I love the sport and the art of this form of martial arts. It exudes grace, beauty and strength. Not only that, my son, also love the sport. He has been taking Wushu lessons for over a year now, and he's been loving every minute of it.

Of course, kita pengen banger liat langsung live penampilan atlit Indonesia kebanggaan kita, Ratu Wushu, Lindswell Kwok. Her form is super flawless and effortless. It was beautiful I literally have chills watching her performance.

Easter with The Gunawans

HAPPY EASTER DAY!

This year my parents and I get the chance to host our annual Gunawan's Easter celebration at my parents' house. I took the liberty of becoming the Easter Bunny (decorating the eggs and whatnot). It was so much fun. We ate too much, we talked too much, we laughed too much. That's just what we do in the Gunawan clan.

#friendsgiving

"While deep friendships can sometimes be formed in three minutes,

other superficial ones can linger on for years"

-Garance Dore Love Style Life

I'm so grateful for all my "three minutes"

Friendship #twocents

There comes a point in your life

when you realize who matters,

who never did,

who won't anymore,

and who always will.

And in the end

you learn who is fake,

who is true,

and who would risk it all for you.

These words hit home real hard for me. Recently, I have experienced a major enlightenment when it comes to people I consider 'friends'. Over the years, as I grew older (and hopefully wiser), I have come to terms with the fact that the people I used to call my friends, will eventually come and go. And only those who are truly in it for the same reasons/goals are usually here to stay. I came to terms of finding out who my real true friends are.

I am pretty fortunate that some friends who I have grown up with are still here to stay. Some, we just drifted apart naturally. And some, I had to learn the hard way of finding out that they're only there in the first place with their own agenda. They don't really give a fuck about you unless there's something in it for them. That sucks. But, we had to let those people go from our lives. Right? If not, they're only going to bring you down with their negativity.

I'm also very fortunate that along the way, I also managed to find new people who shared the same groove and vibes. And those people have became good friends.

So I guess, what I'm trying to say is that, don't worry if you're no longer friends with certain people in your circles. Those weren't meant to stay anyway. The good ones? They'll always stay, and if you haven't found them, they'll come into your live eventually. You just have to look out for the good ones. They'll worth every inch of your time.

I no longer have the energy

for meaningless friendships,

forced interactions

or unnecessary conversations.

The One with His Birthday

We celebrated my husband's birthday over the weekend. His birthday was actually on October 25th. But we decided to have his birthday lunch with our family last Sunday (on the 29th) at Sakana Japanese Restaurant (Mid Plaza).

The One with the Birthday Trip

My husband took me and the kids to Singapore on behalf of celebrating my birthday week there as well as a birthday gift for both my kids (who had their birthdays 2 weeks apart from each other.. and then mine was only a week apart from my youngest). It was a fun week as we get to spend a lot of quality time together just the four of us.

Thank you for the awesome trip, babe. I'm so blessed to have you and the kids in my life.

Birthday Brunch Girls

A few of my close girl friends and I went out for brunch the other day to celebrate my (belated) birthday at one of our favorite spot, Monolog Coffee.

Massive thank you to Monolog who has always been so incredibly accommodating with their good food and good services. I mean, they brought out a special birthday Latte Art with my face on it! How cool is that?!

A Museum Kind of Day

Jakarta History Museum / Museum Fatahillah

Last weekend, while husband is away on a business trip, I took my kids to visit Jakarta History Museum (or famously known as Museum Fatahillah). My eldest is a really history buff, so I thought this might be a good activity for us to do.

You're My Lobster

This post is dedicated to a very special someone. My "lobster".

To the man who has taught me what Love is:

Patience (for putting up with my antics)

Courage (for making me stand up for myself)

Doting Parents (for becoming my personal 'manny' when needed)

Loyal (for going that extra mile for me)

Caring (despite your 'stiff' persona)

Encouraging (for pushing me to take more risks)

..and most importantly,

Annoys the living daylight out of me.

But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you for a wonderful 8 years of love and adventures.

We made a promise to love and cherish each other 8 years ago, so Here's to many more amazing adventures to come!

Happy Wedding Anniversary, my Love.

Hello 2017!

Happy New Year everybody!

I think 2016 has been a pretty sucky year in general for the world, as I've probably already mentioned in my previous post. However, despite all the sucky thing that's happening around the world, 2016 still has some of its perks in my life personally. There has been some amazing moments here and there. But all in all, I'm glad 2016 is done and I'm hoping for a better 2017 for myself and the rest of the world.

***

Speaking of which, I have been back from my Japan trip a few days ago, but I haven't gotten my groove back to blog about it. Give me a hot minute and I'll get around to it ASAP. I promise. It's just that soon as I'm back in the hometown, I have been super occupied with so many things that I couldn't just sit still for a minute in front of my computer to blog.

This trip, I didn't manage to produce any materials for a vlog, and I didn't manage to produce too many pictures mainly because: a). my younger kid was being a bit difficult during the trip, and b). our schedule was so packed, I was just basically couldn't care less to document too much. So forgive me if I don't have much 'materials' to show you. But I will try my best to tell a good story about the trip.

So, yeah. I hope everyone had a good New Year's party (or staying at home comfortably ringing new year) and let's all hope for a better year ahead!

Cheers!