Freshman year student experience in Yogyakarta

It's always good to be back to your home (passport) country, especially after a good 13 years of living outside of it. I have never really been that keen on moving back to Indonesia, not that I am ashamed of coming from this country or anything, but rather I have never really see Indonesia as a geographical place I would like to live in, not in the near future at least. But life being life as it is, surprised me. I think this previous year is a great example of how things do not always go as planned, and I guess it's okay. I think I have handled it quite well. I mean it could be worse right? One thing from this experience that I learned is never ever ever over-plan certain things, because trust me, it will definitely not go as planned. Not even a single section of your plan. 

Living in Yogyakarta have been an eye-opening experience for me. Being the hub for artsy and historical sites of Indonesia, I think it is a good start to living in an Indonesian city; for someone who have been abroad for too long as well as being a first year student. But it is also a place where you can be  easily dragged to the tourist-y type of lifestyle where all you can think about is having relaxed and chilled holiday, as opposed to studying. Although, locals are relatively nice, and the level of generosity will change depending on the areas that you will be living/visiting in. 

My favourite spot in Yogyakarta (hands down!) by far is located down in the southern part of the city, perhaps roughly about 10 km away from my campus area. The area is called Prawirotaman, and it consisted of several different eateries or restaurants that serves organic, local as well as Western foods. Basically it's my cup of tea. It's a good place to go if you are trying to get outside the hustle&bustle of university life, as the environment is slightly different. The area would usually be surrounded by a lot of tourists, mainly backpackers and usually the shop vendors would assume that you too are a tourist. That was the case for me, until I visited this one particular bakery/restaurant called ViaVia almost at least twice a week whether it would be before class or after my class. The lady would greet me in such friendly manner: "Oh hey! You again! Do you live here?" and then there's me responding to that: "Yes, I do, I'm a student here".

One major downside to the city of Yogyakarta is the access to public transportation. Public transportation besides taxis and motorbike taxis are pretty much non existent. There's a regular bus service called TransJogja, which is supposedly, a bus service that takes you around the different parts of the city. However, they are very unreliable and there seem to be no fixed schedule i.e. when will it arrive at this area, when does it stop servicing. From mine and my friend's experience riding TransJogja, when it gets above 8 pm, bus services does not cater for those living in the northern part of the city, hence, we could not make it home causing us to opt for a taxi in the end. But, bus fares are ridiculously cheap, and payment methods would be made easier if you have a TapCash (under BNI bank) card or Flazz (under BCA bank) card. In addition, it would be very easy and handy for you to travel around the city if you have access to a motorbike (as it can get you out of traffic jams easily!). Although, during rainy seasons which runs from October till... whenever the rain decides to stop, access to cars would be even more practical. I personally have a car of my own to get around with,  which is a preference of my mother, who is unrealistically scared for my safety around the city. 

In terms of campus life, if I have to be completely honest, I'm not a part of many besides attending my compulsory lectures. I made a decision with myself due to several personal factors to not become a member or involved in any organisations that are available or strongly affiliated with my university. So if one was to ask about the experience there: I'm sorry I cannot give any, I guess my opinion would be entirely biased as I have no experiences at all.

That's all from me for now.

ps: I'm currently back in Qatar. Have a good summer break everyone. 

Update

I have started university in a city that I have never lived before, travelled to Mumbai to do social work, met a lot of new people who later on became one of my closest friends and in general, became a 17 year old adult

Travel: Europe 2014

Happy New Year! 15 days late, I know. Blame it on the mocks. 

2014 was both the best and worst year for me, but I surely had the best time towards the end of it! 

I

 travelled to Belgium, Netherlands and France during the last week and a half of 2014. I also went to one of my old friend's house in a small town called Hulst. It was definitely refreshing for me after a not so good start to the academic year. 

Here are some of the pictures that I(or my dad, or my mum, or my brother) took. Enjoy and here's to a new start! (It's never too late...)

                                                           

I've failed

I have failed. Yes, I have failed. There's really no other words to put it. Besides: "I've failed". 

Many of people think that I'm a joyful, short Asian girl. I think it's very rare of me to go out in public without having a smile on my face. That's because I try to hide it all. Everything. Since the summer of 2012,  I have learned (the hard way) that sometimes you just have to go out there, have a smile on your face and everything will be fine. Stop having all these negative thoughts. Self harm and self hate is not okay. It's not healthy. Well, until recently, that doesn't work. Maybe this time, I have to go out there, looking like I'm a homeless little prick and most importantly, stop pretending that everything is fine because really Nadya, it's not fine at all. 

This is not a confession- or a post indicating that I have depression. This is just me, the same joyful Nadya that most of you know, except in her lowest moments, trying to get her points across. 

I am no stranger to receiving hate or insults from people whether it'd be in real life or in the internet. I, in fact, try to embrace it as much as I can because regardless of all the negativity, I know that there are people out there who loves me for who I am- which I'm 100%ly thankful for. Often, I would either laugh about it, or maybe complain a little: "Oh my god! Unbelievable!" "Can you mind your own business?!" but this time, this time, I cried. Because it's a little too much. And as much as I respect people, I cannot accept that certain someone's reaction to the situation. I cannot accept the fact that my parents are being dragged into this. Potentially destroying my family. 

This is not my parents fault. No, they have not failed in raising me. No. I cannot stress this enough, they have not failed in raising me. One cannot just say that. I know it was indirectly said, but I'm not stupid. I may be a teenager. I may not know what's really out there in this world that God has created. But I understand what you were trying to say. That my parents have failed in raising me. At least, that's what it came across as to me. 

My parents have not failed in raising me. I strongly believe they will never fail. I know what they do is always the best for me, whether I or anyone else disagree with that. 

I'm the one who have failed. As a daughter, I have failed. I have failed at not disappointing them. Even though I've put them through thick and thin, I'm always asking for more. I have failed at not reaching up to their expectations because they do believe in me & have high expectations. I have failed at so many things.. but they, never in a million years, have failed in raising me. 

I have failed at being their daughter, they have not failed in raising me. 

My first ever recipe?!

Throughout the month of May and pre-exam period I've been consuming a lot of junk. By junk I mean, you know, those "pleasure" foods like chocolate. Due to a lot of tremendous stress, my hormones (isn't this the only reason for the things that teenagers do?) were kicking in and my only appetite was junk food.

After my exams were over, I came to a moment of realisation that eating junk would not benefit me in any way. It actually has more disadvantages than advantages. Therefore, I decided to turn my life around. Or rather, what I consume around.

Finding what is healthy and what I like is not as easy. I am very picky when it comes to food, if it's a little bit too salty or too sweet for my liking, I tend to not eat it and say things such as "ew" or "this taste like cow poo" or even "How can someone be so horrible to make such things for people to consume". Yes, as you can see, they may be slightly offensive.

That was before I realised that things such as smoothies and juices do exist. And they are healthy. And I love them. Since then, I would change my unhealthy breakfast to only having about a cup of healthy smoothies. (No more coffees!)

Here are some of my favourite morning smoothies/juices and their recipes. Not only that they are healthy, they also taste great and are very addictive! Yes, you do have to get up and get your fruits out of your freezer, or out of the fridge and chop them off into tiny pieces, but I guarantee you, it is worth it!

The "Not so great in colour" smoothie is what I call this one

The reason for its' name is because I am so bad at coming up with a good one. 

Servings: 2

2 frozen bananas

a handful of blueberries (can be frozen)

1 almost ripe avocado

water

Blend all together!

The pinkalicous

Servings: 2

2 frozen bananas

a handful of cranberries

2 tablespoons of plain yoghurt of your choice

water

Blend all together! 

The Green Smoothie

Servings: 2

2 frozen bananas

a handful of mint leaves 

2 cucumber chopped into pieces

1 cup of lemon juice

You can add some water if you want it to be a little bit more water-like, although for me, I prefer it to be as thick as possible! 

Blend it all together! 

Sorry for if the picture quality are not great, they were taken using an iPhone 5 then edited with VSCO Cam. 

Nadya xoxo

May Favourites

May is almost over. Where did May go? Last time I sat here I remember it was only the beginning of May, and I have not started my exams yet. Now, exams? Pshh, that's so last Friday. EXAMS ARE OVER. Thank God.

To be honest, the exam were not as easy as I expected them to be. Oh well. At the end of the day, exams are not meant to be easy anyway. And I've overcome that. So boo. Let's worry about exams in August, shall we?

Here's a roundup of what I've been loving this month. Excuse the very, very, very, very poor lighting. I took this photo at 11:00pm at night. (that's it, I have no other reasons) 

Victoria's Secret - Pure daydream 

"Refreshing formula is infused with conditioning Aloe Vera and calming Chamomile. Spray on for a touch of scent" 

It's written on the bottle. And it speaks for itself. 

The only thing I have to say about this: AMAZING. 

Eternity Aqua - Calvin Klein

I believe that this fragrance have been discontinued. Here in where I live at least. That makes me feel so sad because this, too, smell amazing. I'm so bad at describing scents I apologise in advanced. Although I could say that this does not smell like flowers. 

Clinique anti blemish solutions spot treatment gel

This acne gel product is amazing. You put it on your spot/acne, and I guarantee you that it will go by the next day. Make sure you apply before you go to bed. 

The Body Shop - Tea Tree Lotion 

No, it's not the lotion for your body! It's a lotion for your face. I love this product. I've actually been using this for more than a year. The solution itself is quite sticky when you apply it on for the first time. But don't get me wrong, wait for a couple of minutes (at least 5) and your face will be as smooth as a baby's face!( I'm sorry, again, I'm not good with my similes.) 

Maybelline's baby lips

I think I was/or am, rather, one of those people who just had to buy maybelline's baby lips collection just because it's, let's put it this way, on trend? To be honest, I was not really expecting much from this lip balm since I've been very loyal to my Kiehl's lip balm. But I ended up loving this lip balm more. Kudos to you, Maybelline!

Maybelline's clear smooth powder

My skin is a combination of acne/oily/awful/disgusting skin. 

There were no powder from the drugstore that suits me before I discovered this. I felt like, they melt my skin so often, and it ended up looking cakey. and gross. Plus, the heat here in the middle east doesn't help the case at all. So, I was bloomin' happy when I discovered this! 

Revlon - colourburst lip butter and super lustrous lipgloss

The colours are amazing, and so far, it doesn't dry my lips. It's wonderful! What more can I say? 

Thank you.

This is a Thank You message to everyone that have supported me throughout this school year. Thank You. Even if we just became close friends in this last term of school, or that we've only talked once, I still Thank You for being a part of my adventures this year. Let's have more adventures next year!

Most of my friends knew that I had a really bad start of the school year, then in the middle of the year, we all had lost a friend, and at the end of the year, a few of our really close friends had to leave the school for good. We knew this year wasn't going to be our year. But however, we still managed to enjoy it as much as we can.

Thank you guys. Thank you. If I had 29308938293208 amount of money, I would honestly give 1,000,000QR to each of you's. However, I'm not rich. and secondly, money is nothing. So I hope a Thank You message to all of you is enough. and have a great summer without me being there constantly annoying you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (However, once September arrive... I shall start annoying you all again >:) )

Love, Nadya <3