Postcards

My floor mates and I went out to play with the snow. This was the first time I engaged with snow, properly!

I visited Namur on a whim— I did not know where to go when I woke in the morning with an urgent feeling of going somewhere. My husband met a guy who teaches in Namur, and he say Namur is a must in Belgium. And boy I do love it! Especially because I visited when it was snowing gently for hours. The citadelle became a winter wonderland.

Another view of Namur city, from the citadelle!

I found this little snowman and Mandy Moore’s song instantly played in my head because to me he looked like he was on top of the world, seizing the day.

Plitvice national park was really beautiful.

When I went to Paris, I skipped going to the Louvre and went to D’Orsay instead because I wanted to see more of Van Gogh’s and Monet’s painting. Would you believe me if I say I teared up a little bit? Actually, a lot. After learning about Van Gogh’s life in his museum in Amsterdam, I now have a soft spot for him. I truly admire his way of seeing the world, finding beauty in the simple things… despite the hard life he had. When I read his letter to his brother, I felt like hugging him so hard. Van Gogh’s now my favourite.

It was raining and I hung out for 10 minutes in front of the Leuven station after meeting a guy whose wife makes martabak. I really like this photo.

Saw an interesting ride at the Leuven Fun Fair. It looked like a love child of Korean’s disco pang pang and rollercoaster. My husband and I tried riding it (after much convincing work from my side) and it was awesome, as it is go forward AND backward. What a ride!

Antwerp’s central station is frikkin gorgeus, it has god-knows-how-many floors of perrons. I like this specific photo because it looks like a TV show poster lol.

This is one of the okay-est shot using my new camera. I got myself a secondhand EOS M 1000, a 10-ish year old camera, to help me learn photography. I really like doing a street photography session, but most of the time I’m too shy to get close to my subject… even though I only get a f2 lens.

In the city where roads are often gridlocked, the Commuter Line train is an integral part of people’s lives. Including mine. It’s cheap and fast, but during rush hour you have to bear with the crowd. Sometimes it’s so full that my feet can’t even touch the floor. (This photo was taken just before rush hour at a relatively less-crowded station, during my internship period at the Indonesian MoFA.)

During a long weekend, I visited Ciletuh Geopark with some friends. This photo was taken at Puncak Darma, a.k.a. Darma Summit, one of the viewing spots looking out to the shoreline. Our driver said that the place where we stood was the ancient shoreline, but now the water level has gone down. Along the way, we saw the beautiful natural landscape of the apparently vast geopark.

Ah, I truly love the blue/green colour combo.

For work, I visited a school by a paddy field in Cianjur. Fun fact, this was the first time I visited Cianjur, after 4 hours of travel bus ride passing through Puncak.

Dearest gentle reader,

They say a very old turtle once lived in this lake. When it died, the whole nation was in sorrow. I visited this spot during my coffee tour on my second-to-last day in Hanoi.

Compared to other parts of Bali, I enjoy Sanur the most. It is slow-paced, calm, and in it is my favorite guest house. One day, I would love to live in Sanur so that I can enjoy tranquil morning walks and enjoy the sunrise. However, the lack of public transport really frustates me.