Category: Jess

  • Life Lately – Mid August

    I’m trying not to be one of those people who say “It’s August already! Time flies!” when clearly this year feels like the worst year for everybody in the world. There was a point a few weeks ago where I decided to stop watching the news on TV entirely because everything looked bad. We need more positive news, please.
    Harry Potter and the Cursed Child hard cover | Hola Darla
    That being said, at least we got a new Harry Potter book this year, though it’s not a novel but a drama script. I’m not 100% satisfied with it, but that’s a story for another time. As for now, let’s just appreciate this excerpt:
    Sassy Professor McGonagall on Cursed Child | Hola Darla
    Boy do I miss Sassy Minerva so much (and also Sassy Dowager Countess).

    Also, I finally went to the gym and tried a belly dance lesson (I know, right???). Halfway through it I realised that belly dancing was NOT for me. I was SO BAD at moving my hips and I looked totally awkward and stupid that I won’t be going to that class ever again.
    Going to the gym | Hola Darla
    Nope. Not for me. I’ll just switch back to running on the treadmill (and maybe a Zumba or aerobic class?)

    There was one morning a few days ago when I couldn’t get up from bed because Jessi was lying on my chest. She has become so heavy after being spayed and I was too lazy to make an effort to get her off my chest, so I took a few more minutes in bed taking pictures of her and editing them on Prisma.
    Jessi plus the Prisma app | Hola Darla
    This has been my newest favourite app of all time because it makes Jessi look even more fabulous and majestic than she already is! My favourite one is the top right. I’m now using it as both my phone and laptop wallpaper.

    Talking about cat… Looks like Jessi and Chop-Chop will have to share the house with another kitty for the next few years as I took this little baby in on Thursday. I found him crying beside a road near my mum’s house. There were no other kittens and the mother was also nowhere to be found. He sounded hungry and was covered by ants. I took him home and bottle fed him. The plan is to foster him until he can eat canned food and poop + pee on the litter box, then after that my mum will adopt him.
    Asoy the Little Tiger Kitten | Hola Darla
    He looks a lot like Ed Sheeran, doesn’t he? It’s been 72 hours and both he and I have been doing just fine. I’ve never taken care of orphaned kittens before. I kinda feel proud of myself right now.

    Last but not least, I want to emphasise that global warming is real, you guys. It’s August yet somehow it’s still wet season here in Bandung. The dry season should’ve started as early as April, but nope. Still raining. I miss the sun and I want to go swimming, but as for now I’d just cuddle with my little Ed Sheeran. (No, that’s not his name. His actual name is Asoy.)

    So how’s your August been so far?

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

  • How I Met My Cat

    Chop-Chop The Cat | Hola Darla
    It was about half a month ago. As I was preparing to go tutoring at 2 pm, I heard a sad cry. It was a little black kitten in front of a vacant house across the street. I was already running late and I thought the cat mama was near, so I left the kitten there and went to Bandung.

    However, when I came back home at 6.30 pm, the sky already dark and the rain pouring, the little kitten was still crying. At that time, its voice was already hoarse. I could tell that the poor thing was thirsty. But it was nowhere to be seen, just a voice cutting through the sound of raindrops. I couldn’t just stand there listening to that sad cry, so I grabbed my umbrella and a flashlight.

    I found the little thing in the backyard of the same vacant house I had seen it earlier in the afternoon. He (it’s a male) was shaking and his eyes were all swollen shut. I took him home and put him in a cardboard box. I didn’t have kitten food, so I fed him Jessi’s food mixed with water. He ate noisily (nom-nom-nom) while Jessi kept a safe distance from the strange creature.

    Chop-Chop The Cat Napping | Hola Darla
    He’s so small!

    My husband agreed that we could keep him for the night, then I had to search for the mother the next morning. We knew by then that the mother was the neighbourhood stray black cat that we occasionally fed. I didn’t find her the next morning, but I did find her with her band of kittens two days later. I presented the little kitten to his mother. They embraced. The mother licked him and licked him and licked him. . . . She kept licking and pushing him until he fell into the sewer and left him there crying once again. And I was like what.the.actual.heck. I took him back home and washed him clean. Then we (my husband and I) decided to keep him for good and name him Chop-Chop.

    As we had already guessed, Jessi loathed him during his first days with us. There were a lot of hissing and growling and crying (on Chop-Chop’s side). Chop-Chop couldn’t even use his litter box (I keep his & Jessi’s apart) and he went everywhere: under our bed, under the cupboard, under my home office table, in the laundry basket. The house was a mess.

    Then all of a sudden, they became BFFs, so far as destroying the curtain together. Now they nap together, play tag, run around the house and knock things off in the process. The house is still a mess, but it’s a happy mess now.

    So without agenda, without any plan, we have two cats now. It’s been years since the last time I had kittens, I almost forgot how annoying kittens can be, moreover kittens with no mother around. Thank goodness, Jessi is willing to take care of Chop-Chop i.e. licking him and playing/teaching him how to fight. She’s a nice big sister. I love them both so much 🙂

    Chop-Chop The Cat Likes To Bite | Hola Darla
    He’s a biter, just like Jessi 🙂

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

  • Life Lately

    Hello! This lazy blogger is finally back again! Where have I been, you might ask (or not)? Nowhere in particular. I just caught up with this whole commuting thing. Living an hour away from the city where we work makes the commute time take most of our time, I guess. There’s a lot of things I could have done instead of sitting behind my husband on our daily motorcycle ride to the city doing nothing. It’s been almost 10 months but I’ve just realised about this time consuming commute these past weeks. I love the house where we live in and the neighbourhood and the small town, but perhaps we need a place closer to the city. There’s still a lot to figure out.

    Well, anyway… It’s October again! It’s my and this blog’s birthday this month. I had planned to throw a blog birthday party by holding a giveaway, but life got in the way and I didn’t finish the planning. Next year, I promise 😉
    Tutoring | Hola Darla
    Miss Jess | Hola Darla
    Laskar Pelangi + Cappuccino | Hola Darla
    Mirror Selfie Using Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime | Hola Darla

    While I was away:

    • I started tutoring again! After months without explaining grammar and reading strategies, this brain can finally breathe again. I teach two boys and one girl on two separate tutoring schedules. I’ve missed being called “Miss Dara” by students 😉
    • I’ve been craving for novels and reading materials. And because money is really tight this month, I finally started reading Laskar Pelangi, a novel that I actually bought in 2008 but never read up until now. Crazy, huh? Haha!
    • I bought a new phone! It’s a Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime (a review coming up soon). It’s a mid-range phone and not too pricey, but it’s the reason why money is really tight this month.

    How are you?

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

  • Eid Mubarak! (+ A Little Bit of Life Lately)

    Eid Mubarak from Dara and Afief | Hola Darla
    Eid mubarak, friends! Sorry I took a long break without a precaution. I’m really bad at managing my online and real life. Turned out Ramadan this year was more exhausting that I thought it would be; with me having to cook for sahur early in the morning, it felt like the day was way shorter than 24 hours. I felt so burned out, especially when Eid was coming closer and Eid shopping had to start. It was all so crazy!
    Celebrating Eid with Afief's family in Pesawaran and Pringsewu | Hola Darla
    I still think it’s funny that both Afief and I call Lampung our hometown. He was born and raised in the border region between Pesawaran and Pringsewu, while I go to North Lampung every year for Eid because my Granny lives there. I always imagined going ‘mudik’ (=back to one’s hometown for the holiday) to my (then future) husband’s hometown somewhere in eastern Java and no longer going mudik to Lampung. But no; I still went to Lampung for Eid this year. And I’m going to Lampung for all the Eids to come. It’s amazing. Haha!
    Miss Jess during the road trip to Lampung | Hola Darla
    Also, we took Miss Jess to her very first car ride which was really a long road trip. She didn’t see that coming and became kinda stressed during the trip. But as soon as she arrived in Negararatu, she found her freedom in the form of trees. She climbed trees, the roof of Granny’s house, and all the furniture inside the house. She had so much fun.
    Miss Jess found some freedom during her stay in Negararatu | Hola Darla
    That poor thing wanted to chew on the birds, but the humans wouldn’t let her. She was seriously mad.

    We stayed in Lampung for 10 days and went back to Bandung last Wednesday. It was the longest holiday I have ever had (or so I think), since we usually stay for only about 7 days. We didn’t do much but it was fun anyway.

    Do you celebrate Eid? How was your Eid this year?

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

  • Jess Daily (Or What My Cat Does Everyday)

    #JessDaily on Instagram
    There’s never a dull moment in our house now, thanks to this big purring ball of fur. She wakes us up every morning by meowing loudly in front of our bedroom door. After successfully waking us up, she then waits for us to get up and get out of the bedroom. By the time we walk out the door, she will already lay on her back, exposing her fluffy stomach asking for a rub. She won’t stop bugging us before she gets what she wants. Then she will force ask us to open the front door so she can chill in the yard. She will be outside until about 11am, then she will go back inside to take a long nap. She usually wakes up from her nap at 4pm, which is her play time. She likes to play chase with her imaginary kitty friends (seriously; she loves running around the house as if she is chasing or being chased by other kitties) until about 8pm, at which she will start bugging me again.
    #JessDaily on Instagram
    She also has this habit of jumping to the top of our wardrobe then walk to the door frame via the door. Then she will just stay there, chilling like it’s a normal place for a cat to chill. She was small enough to fit on top of the door frame when she did this for the very first time, but she has grown so big that she has to struggle to get a comfortable position there. Usually, she can’t get down off that thing by herself, so after a few minutes she will eventually cry for help. Silly cat!

    A video posted by Dara Octaputri (@darlaoct) on

    Here’s a bonus video of how she gets to the top of the door frame in case you’re curious how she can get there:


    Adopting Jess was absolutely the best idea ever!

    PS. You can search #jessdaily on Instagram for more pictures and videos of her 😉

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook