Jess Daily (Or What My Cat Does Everyday)

    Posted in daily, Jess by

    #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

    30 April 2015

    The Ever-Changing Dreams: Where I’ll be in the Next 5 Years (Casa Elana for IHB Blog Post Challenge)

    Posted in dreams, Life by

    Where I'll be in the Next 5 Years (Casa Elana for IHB Blog Post Challenge)
    Oh you know me. I’m a dreamer with a lot of ever-changing dreams. I used to dream of becoming a teacher when I grow up. Then I dreamed about leaving my city behind to live alone in another town. I also had this wild dream of traveling around the world all by myself (oh the thought of being lost in a foreign country!). Then I settled down. I moved out of my parents house to start a new adventure with a guy I love the most. Then my dreams shifted. And I love it.

    I once had this (kind of) job interview where the interviewer asked that typical question: “How do you see yourself in the next five years?” I honestly didn’t have any idea back then. But I quickly came up with an answer. “In the next five years,” I said, “I will have been married. With two kids, perhaps. I can see myself teaching in a junior high or high school. I can also see myself becoming a boss of my own small business.” I thought my answer was smart and satisfying, and I’m sure now that the interviewer thought so because I ended up getting said job position.

    The funny thing is, my answer to that question is the exact same answer if you ask me right now. The difference is that I’ll say it with confidence. So, where will I be in the next five years?

    1. I will be a mother of two
    Although I still want to postpone having kids right now as there are still some issues I want to solve first, we’re planning to start a family in the next year or two. Hopefully, we will have been parents of two kids by 2020. I’m so excited!

    2. I will go back into teaching
    I know, I know. I’ve said it many times that I want to be a stay at home mum. But lately I have been feeling empty. I feel like my teaching skills and English skills are deteriorating after four months of not teaching. I’m planning to go back to teaching, but I will manage my teaching schedule so it won’t make me too busy to take care of my (future) children.

    3. My small business(es) will be bigger and stronger
    I already co-own a small business together with Vicky. We’ve been managing it for almost a year and I’d gladly say that things are going quite good! Right now, I’m also in a talk about rebuilding an old brand of scarves line. If it goes smoothly, I will co-own my second small business. Hopefully, in the next five years both my business can grow bigger and stronger.

    4. I will move back to Bandung City (or to another city!)
    Just one day after our wedding, my husband and I moved in to a nice little house in Padalarang, West Bandung Regency. It’s one hour away from Bandung City (the city where I was born and raised). I actually love it here because it’s quiet and peaceful, but if my husband still works for the same company in the next five years, we will want to move back to the city. It will be even better if my husband gets another job in another city because we can start a new adventure in a new place! I’ve been living in Bandung all my life, so the thought of moving to another city always excites me. Haha

    5. I will be a ‘bigger’ blogger
    I must admit that I still have that little dream of being famous because of my blog. I mean, which blogger doesn’t? I’ve put more efforts on this blog and I have seen the results: I have gained several new followers in the past couple months, my blog traffic is higher now, and I constantly get comments on each post. I’m doing baby steps but I’m getting there. I love blogging and the new friendships it brings. Hopefully, I can have more and more blogging friends in the next five years 😉

    There will be lots and lots of obstacles in my journey to reach these dreams, I know. But I will try. I will try hard to make them come true. And by writing it here for the world to see, I hope it will give me more motivations to reach them all.

    And 2020, I’m ready for ya.

    ***

    This post is submitted to the Casa Elana for IHB Blog Post Challenge,
    a challenge held by Indonesian Hijab Blogger and Casa Elana Shop.

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

    28 April 2015

    The 2015 Asian African Carnival

    Hi, guys! Just stopping by to write a quick post. I didn’t get the chance to write a Weekend Links post because I attended the 2015 Asian African Carnival. FYI, my city (Bandung) was where the first Asian African Conference was held in 1955. This year, the commemoretion is held as a big event. The city council prepared everything since the beginning of April. The event itself has started from 18 April, but the carnival was yesterday. I didn’t have the DSLR with me, so I only took several pictures using my phone. Sorry if the quality is not as good. See you on Tuesday!
    The 2015 Asian African Carnival
    The 2015 Asian African Carnival
    Video mapping at Gedung Merdeka Bandung for the 2015 Asian African Carnival
    In front of the Asian African Conference Monument

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

    26 April 2015

    Avengers: Age Of Ultron

    Posted in marvel, movies by

    Avengers: Age Of Ultron poster wallpaper
    I was kind of lucky. I had been anticipating the release of Age of Ultron to be on 1 May 2015, but turned out that it was released on 22 April in my country. We got two tickets for the evening and so yesterday I watched Age of Ultron 🙂

    Avengers: Age of Ultron opens with a fight scene between the Avengers and the Hydra soldiers led by Strucker in an eastern Europe city called Sokovia. The team succesfully beat Strucker and find his experiments there, including the Maximoff twins, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. They also find Loki’s scepter, which they bring back to Stark’s place. Without the rest of the team knowing, Stark and Banner (the Science Bros :p) use the scepter to build an artificial intelligent called Ultron, which is originally intended to be installed to Stark’s peacekeeping robots seen earlier in the movie. They fail, however, then they leave the computers on while they go upstairs where a party is being held. After the party, the team gather and then this scene happens, where Ultron first comes alive and makes the memorable speech we have seen in the clips released by Marvel a few months ago. Together with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, Ultron tries to create a real body while also try to “save” the world. And by “save” he really means to sweep all humankinds off the Earth to start anew.

    Age of Ultron serves as a good climax for Phase Two. Thanks to Scarlet Witch’s ability, we can see a glimpse into the Avengers’ personal deepest fears. The whole movie is personal. We get to see into Hawkeye’s real identity; we get to see Black Widow’s past and the reason why she seems so cold and “business-minded”. Also, we get to see some romance, something that didn’t occur in the first Avengers movie. I totally didn’t see the romance coming, and I’m sure most of you didn’t either, but it gives a little nice surprise into the mostly-dark theme.

    And because of the mostly-dark theme, the Marvel jokes don’t occur too often. There are only two running jokes in the movie; the first one isThor and his hammer, and the other one is Captain America’s ‘old man’-ness. The lack of humour is understandable, though. Ultron gives a real threat to Earth and he really seems too strong for the Avengers to beat. His origin also breaks the team and the whole Captain America versus Iron Man (which will be the main story of the third Captain America) can be seen in this movie. The Avengers are doomed. There’s no joke about it.

    I’d give Avengers: Age of Ultron 4,5 out of 5 stars. Totally recommended! But if you’re not following Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’d suggest you watch the previous installments first. I mean, man… You really don’t know what you’re missing out. Haha :p
    Afief and Dara after watching Age of Ultron

    Poster via.

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

    23 April 2015

    Likes & Dislikes: Phone Cases from Head Case Designs

    Posted in android, likes & dislikes by

    Hardcases from Head Case Designs for Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 and Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
    When I was in uni, I had come to realise that I always bought mobile phones of which accessories were not widely available. Remember when you could change your Nokia phone cases to any colour you want? Well, mine was always limited to boring white or boring black. When people could change their cases to transparent cases, I was super jealous. Then I bought a Sony Ericsson. The same thing happened and I was stuck with my boring, factory default case. I gave up, then I put stickers on it then decided to accept it just the way it was.

    When the dawn of smartphones came, I bought my very first Android. It was the tiny Sony Ericsson Xperia X8. While everybody was using Samsung with all their fancy, colourful hard cases, I let my dear phone stay naked. I couldn’t find a case for it. When I changed it with Sony Xperia Miro, the same thing happened again. I was so tired and fed up, and when I almost gave up, I found Head Case Designs on eBay. I didn’t have a Paypal account back then, so I had to pay someone to buy it for me and had them ship it to my address. So for the first time in my life, my phone had a nice, cute hardcase. I was so happy.

    I was so in love with the hardcase. I bought another hardcase for my Samsung Ace 3. Although there were various cases I could find in my local shop, I still went back to Head Case Designs because they have super awesome choices. And when I ordered yet another new phone, I also ordered a new hardcase. So in total, I have bought three cases from them. I’m so obsessed!
    Hardcase from Head Case Designs for Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime

    Likes

    • The designs are so cute. There are various choices and styles, from chevron patterns, floral, animals, to retro. However, I somehow always end up buying hardcases with cats on it (I’m a crazy cat lady!)
    • The material is nice. It gives firm grips for the phone and it makes the phone don’t slip off easily from my sweaty palms.
    • It’s so affordable!
    • They give you free shipping worldwide with no minimum purchase. How cool is that?

    Scratches on hardcase for Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 from Head Case Designs

    Dislikes

    • The picture is not scratch-resistant. The hardcase on my Ace 3 has several scratches, like a long scratch across the cat’s eye and some on its corner. But I’m glad that it’s the hardcase that was scratched and not my phone. This is why putting on hardcase is important for your phone, you guys.
    • Nothing else!

    I’ve only had my new case for a week now, but I’m already thinking about order another one or two for my Grand Prime. I am so obsessed! I mean, look at their new line here. Should I buy another one, like, right now?
    Hardcase from Head Case Designs for Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
    *Disclaimer: I am not affiliated to Head Case Designs. I didn’t receive any compensation for writing this post. This post is my honest thoughts about their product and not sponsored by them.

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

    20 April 2015