Style File – 31 March 2012 (Nice Day! & The Wedding)

Today was such a beautiful day in Canberra. But we got the shocking news in afternoon that my dad is going to get remarried in mid May and we’ll go again to Jakarta to attend his wedding. I’m happy for him & wish him all the best & happiness.

The morning was really nice. I stayed in bed longer than usual and I took the Husband for a haircut at a girlfriend’s place. It has been a while since we last saw each other & I miss her. Hopefully we’ll spend proper time to catch up over the Easter break. She gave me a Padangnese chicken & eggs curry. So yummy!!

Then as usual we went for a massage & after that we went to a farewell picnic for my former student at Lennox gardens. She looks great and I’m so happy to see her converse in Indonesian. 🙂

Time flies when we are having fun. We had booked tickets to the French Film Festival called Conquest about Sarkozy at Manuka cinema for 6.30 pm. We met up some friends in Manuka at 5 & went for a light meal at the Urban Pantry.

The movie was so good! It’s interesting to see a side of Nicholas Sarkozy that is different from what we see in the media. It was a bit funny as well, clearly French expressions are really amusing!

To close off the lovely day, we hung out at The Public bar in Manuka. So many people there and it was a very nice atmosphere to see lots of people enjoying the company of their friends & sharing stories & laughter.

Thank you Canberra for giving us a gorgeous Autumn day!

Today I was wearing:

Notes:
– earrings was a gift from a friend
– necklace & brooch are from elk accessories
– black top (inside) from SES
– sunnies from Cotton On.
– sweater was belong to my late mum. So it’s vintage.
– short is from country road.
– tights are from Alannah Hill.
– bag is from Prada.

Style File – 30 March 2012 (Belly Dancing)

I’m still at a girlfriend’s place now. We learnt Belly dancing and made Indonesian meat balls.

Today I am wearing:

Style File – 29 March 2012 (Feel Great)

I feel great today! Canberra’s weather has been so lovely. I had four small walks which add up to 7.45 km!

The first walk was during the break with my morning student, the second one was during the break with my afternoon student, the third one was when The Husband & I waited for BrodBurger to be ready and the last one was the walk to walk off the BrodBurger.

BrodBurger makes the best burgers in Canberra and possibly the world! They were operating out of a caravan in Kingston, but now have a permanent shop at the back of the Glassworks.

My highlight today was shopping!! It does make my mood better. I went to LuluLemon shop in green square in Kingston and got some exercise tops & bottoms. I also got a Yoga mat & its bag for my first Yoga class next week.

This Lululemon pace setter skirt $75 (with short thighs inside) was one of the items that I bought:

I didn’t know about this product before until my gym junkie girlfriend told me about it. I then did some research to it and read a lot of good reviews. Apparently it is popular in the States. Prices online is a bit cheaper but if we add up the shipping cost, it’s about the same anyway.

Today I was wearing:

Notes:
– White top from Mango. I got this for $10 in Dubai !
– Skirt from Mango, Singapore
– Sweater from G2000, Singapore
– Necklace & earrings from Mimco
– Shoes from Charles & Keith
– bag: vintage Gucci from my late mum.

Style File – 28 March 2012 (Easter Madness)

I hate being on Gonal-f. Seriously, this stuff makes me want to be angry but the thing is I don’t have anything to be angry about.

Work is good, I have good students who work hard. The husband is very understanding and always helpful & considerate. My girlfriends are nice & make me laugh from time to time.

The thing is this hormone treatment just make me feels hot inside. Like I need to be angry at someone or something. So maybe tomorrow I’ll go shopping instead. No correlation but still a good thing to do. 😉

The highlight for today was The Husband’s nice gesture to book us a holiday during the Easter break.

Initially we were going somewhere but then The Husband needs to get his wisdom teeth taken out. Then now I’m on this treatment & my egg hatching day is probably at Easter. So we had to cancel the dentist as well.

We tried on looking some places but it’s all too late now. The available places are outrageously expensive. So we decided to stay in Canberra and enjoy the quietness.

Today I was wearing:

– I designed the dress and got it tailored in Jakarta. So no brand or whatsoever.
– shoes from Tod’s , Italy
– bag – vintage Gucci bag from my late mum
– necklace from BCBG Max Azria

Style File – 27 March 2012 (Walkxercise)

Since I have to give up bootcamp in order to increase our chances for the pregnancy program, I have incorporated walking into my daily activities.

I have half an hour break at work so today is my second day using it to walk around the office building & its surrounding area.

So far the feeling was great. A bit of fresh air was a refreshing way to make me feel more energetic at work.

I also went Swing dancing in the evening. It’s really good to repeat the beginner class again. I feel that I can understand the movements better now. I got a bit confused with the turn footwork because it’s like the opposite start from Salsa and it just took sometime until I get used to it.

Today I was wearing:

Notes:
– Batik dress from a market in Jakarta for A$10
– shoes from Charles & Keith
– bag still from Kate Spade (too lazy too change this morning)
– earrings from Swarowski
– headband from Mimco

Style File – 26 March 2012 (Usual)

It’s Monday as usual. Just work & walking around the lake with a girlfriend.

Then spent some quality time with the Husband.

Today I was wearing:

Notes:
– dress & jacket from Portmans
– bag from Kate Spade
– shoes from Tods
– earrings from Diva
– necklace fresh water pearls from Indonesia

Style File – 25 March 2012 (Arisan)

There are many new restaurants in Canberra. The Husband & I haven’t tried many of them. So instead of going to the same place all the time, we make sure we go to a different place to try it out.

This morning we went to Mocan & The Green Grout expresso cafe in New Acton. Apparently they don’t do a proper breakfast. They only serve coffee & cake or bagel.

So we went to Urban Food cafe under Nishi apartments. I have read many negative comments about them on Foursquare such as food waiting time is more than 30 minutes & too expensive, etc. Well, we gave it a try anyway.

I ordered a berry pancake & the Husband ordered a haloumi omelette and coffees. The total ordered cost a bit more than $40. I put timer on to check on the service. Coffee turned up after 2.5 minutes and the food after 11.5 minutes. But the pancakes were cold and the haloumi omelette came with meat in it. Hmm.. haloumi is so vegetarian cue word. Apparently there was a printed specials menu, we only saw the blackboard outside that has no mention of meat. They were nice to changed it though. We decided we won’t be back.

I was wearing this to go for a walk & breakky in the morning:

Notes:
– white top from Fleur Woods
– Jacket from Bettina Liano
– pants from charcoal
– bag from BCBG Max Azria
– shoes from Prada

The highlight for today was the Arisan. Arisan is a social gathering where everyone puts money in & at the end they’ll get their money back. It’s a bit complicated to explain.

An Australian friend asked me where is the best Indonesian restaurant in Canberra. I said Indonesians like going to The Asian Food mart in the Kippax shop. But the best food is in Arisan.

Today there were so many Indonesian delicacies around. We had “siomay” (Indonesian dim sums), “cumi kering” (dried calamari), “sambel Teri kacang Medan” (special dried anchovies from Medan area), “bakso” (meatballs), “gulai nangka” (young jackfruit curry) and many more.

I was wearing this to the Arisan today:

Notes:
– Jacket from Burberry, Italy
– Sandals from Coach

Style File – 24 March 2012 (Yes Prime Minister)

Today was a perfect Autumn day in Canberra. Not too cold and the sun was out beautifully.

The Husband & I started the day by trying a Salvadorean food at the Gorman House market in Braddon, Canberra. It was our first visit to the market even though we have been living in the neighbourhood for more than 4 years.

My colleague who teaches Chilean Spanish told me I have to try the Pupusas & Tamales. So I did and I think the Tamales is better.

Then as usual we went for a massage & then went to the Husband’s friend’s parents’s house to help them with their computers. I always enjoy talking with the Mother of our friend. Somehow she reminds me of my late mum.

She was a bit upset about something & it made me upset to see her upset. I then asked her something more happier which was how she managed to educate her children well. She said that all her friends children do very well at school as well. It’s embedded in the culture. A lot of children she knows got 99% or 100% for their year 12 exam. Her son got 97 and daughter got 94.5 (that’s why she only can do law not medicine). I had a lovely time chatting with her & promised we’ll make a time for dinner at their place within a month.

The highlight of the evening was going to see “Yes, Prime Minister” at the Canberra theatre. We had a great seat in C rows (6 rows from the stage). It was our second best seat so far after the Tom Jones show in Vegas (where literally I can see Tom Jones’ nostril hair– yes, we were That closed).

I think the show was funny & the dialogue was witty. The stage was really good though. The guy who played Sir Humphrey did his role outstandingly.

Well, I enjoy this more than the TV show because most of the time I didn’t get the jokes from the TV show due to my language & cultural barriers.

I did asked Andrew Barr via twitter, a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly, who was watching the show at the same time as we did on his opinion. He wrote that:
“@ABarrMLA: @ShintaBenilda not so sure about the storyline. Not quite the same without Eddington, Hawthorne and Fowlds.”

I agree with him on the storyline. They seemed to dwell to much on a particular scene. Well, it was enjoyable indeed.

Today I was wearing this to the market and all except for the theatre:

Notes:
– top from Laura Ashley
– orange vest from A Live Girl
– black sweater from David Lawrence
– tights from Alannah Hill
– boots from DSW shoes
– bag from Kate Spade New York

Style File – 23 March 2012 (Everything Will Be All Right)

Coming back to work today was like a celebration for me. It was so nice to see my colleagues & the students. Happiness seems to be all over the place, maybe because it was Friday or because I was happy to be well enough & enjoy life again.

My highlight today was the movie night out with my girlfriends. 12 of us turned up to watch ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ movie at Dendy, Canberra today. We had a good laugh & just enjoyed each others company.

The movie was funny & a feel good movie. There was a saying in the movie that I’ll remember forever. It says “At the end, everything will be all right, if it’s not all right then it’s not the end”.

It’s interesting if we see our life like that. Stress and other first world problems won’t be a problem anymore.

This is what I was wearing to work today:

Notes:
– Dress from Fashion Lab Singapore
– Belt from Alannah Hill
– Sandal from Charles & Keith
– Bag from Mimco

Style File – 22 March 2012 (Sicky)

I am in pain today. Can’t do much except lay down. Almost every month I have the same pain and awfulness.

The husband has been really nice. He came home & brought me a bouquet of flowers!! I feel so touched!

What I love to wear in this special “moment” is a very loose dress. It makes me more relaxed on my daggy day.

This is what I was wearing earlier. The accessories were just for the photo.

Note:
– dress from Nic&Dom
– accessories : belt & clutch from David Lawrence
– shoes from Charles & Keith