December 31, 2014

New Year's Eve 2014

Yay!!! We have reached the end of the year. Another fabulous journey is waiting ahead, for sure. So, let's embrace the good memories of 2014 and let the bad ones bring us experiences to learn. 

It's last day of the year,
more than three hundreds days have passed by.
What have you missed? What have you reached?
Nothing matters much now.
All you have to do is focus on the next sails,
because the past has passed, 
and the future will come in any minutes.

Be FEARLESS!
Better life is approaching.
Take the whole memories with you, both bad and good ones.
For you'll have some experiences to learn from the bad ones,
and the good ones will touch you with its warmth in the future.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!! Hope you enjoy your new year's eve celebration :D


Thanks for reading
-Jess-

December 9, 2014

Speechless by Lady Gaga

I can't believe what you said to me
Last night we were alone
You threw your hands up
Baby, you gave up, you gave up

I can't believe how you looked at me
With your James Dean glossy eyes
In your tight jeans with your long hair
And your cigarette stained lies

Could we fix you if you broke?
And is your punch line just a joke

I'll never talk again, oh boy, you've left me speechless
You've left me speechless, so speechless
And I'll never love again, oh boy, you've left me speechless
You've left me speechless, so speechless

I can't believe how you slurred at me
With your half wired broken jaw
You popped my heart, seams
On my bubble dreams, bubble dreams

I can't believe how you looked at me
With your Johnnie Walker eyes
He's gonna get you and after he's through
There's gonna be no love left to rye

And I know that it's complicated
But I'm a loser in love, so baby
Raise a glass to mend all the broken hearts
Of all my wrecked up friends

I'll never talk again, oh boy, you've left me speechless
You've left me speechless so speechless
And I'll never love again, oh friend, you've left me speechless
You've left me speechless, so speechless

How? How? How?
How? How? How?

And after all the drinks and bars that we've been to
Would you give it all up? Could I give it all up for you?
And after all the boys and the girls that we've been through
Would you give it all up? Could you give it all up if I promise boy to you?

That I'll never talk again and I'll never love again
I'll never write a song, won't even sing along
I'll never love again, so speechless
You left me speechless, so speechless

Will you ever talk again?
Oh boy, why you so speechless?
You've left me speechless, so speechless
Some men may follow me
But you choose death in company
Why you so speechless? Oh, oh


Source: metrolyrics.com

December 5, 2014

BALI 2014 RECAP

Helloww there :) I hope you haven't waited too long. So here is my recap on my Bali trip this year. Yayy!!!

Day 1
That sunset sky <3<3
We went to Kuta Beach that day after having our super late lunch at Wendy's. 



Day 2
Potato Head
Wow!! This place is awesome.There is a swimming pool provided and you can swim under the sun. I wish I brought my swimwear so I could sunbathe huhu. Then, you can also take a walk at the beach. The sun is shining so bright that day. Fyi, you have to come earlier to get a table because there are so many people. As long as we stayed there, there wasn't really an empty table we could see. 

Day 3
That "dark" moment zzz.
PS: We walked by Axioo, one of the famous wedding photographers. It is a very nice place with all the decors and stuffs, I think it represents itself very well.

Day 4
Babi Guling Pak Malen
We stayed and played at Grand Hotel Nikko. Beside swimming pool, there is a bar connecting to one part of the swimming pool itself. So, you can sit on the chair in the swimming pool and enjoy your drink. There is also a waterslide. Yayy!!! Not very high but it still slightly stimulates my adrenaline. Jo went down first to try how it is. haha.. Then he had to climb up to the top again to tell me the feeling. So kind of him. But, at last, I played it twice since we would not go to Waterbom. The feeling when I rode it on my second time is better, the fear was already off so I quite enjoyed it.

Oh!! I almost forget to mention. Our room was ocean view, and we got the one near the chapel. And on that day, there was a marriage took place. We could see from our room the bride was walking to the chapel, holding his father's hand. It was very sweet. And breathtaking. It was very lovely <3

Day 5
Okay. I'm not gonna lie I prefer sunset than sunrise. But... Sunrise in Grand Hotel Nikko was very superb. That morning glow really shocks me. I was in awe when I saw the view. I thought there wouldn't be a nice sunrise anymore because the sky was quite dark before. We almost lost our hope. But, when we were on our way to the beach we could see yellow orangey sky, big round sun, and a little bit of clouds and it really brought us to the highest excitement. Stay there if you have a chance :)

Day 6
We didn't do much except having our lunch and dinner. And swimming in our hotel, J4 Hotels in Legian. Nice hotel to stay. It is very clean and still new. 

Day 7
This place is called "Sanctuaria" located in Legian. If you can find Monumen Bali, you can find this place. The drink is very unique. It is served in the tallest tube I've ever seen. Haha. We are very confused to choose from various flavors they serve. At last, we chose lychee flavor with blue color. It's so refreshing and yummy. I really like the taste <3 And it contains alcohol. Best thing?! You can bring the glass home as souvenir. Yay!!!

That's all for my Bali recap. Thank you for reading :) And don't forget to read my previous blog here about what had happenned to us in Bali. I'll see you in my next post.

-Jess-

November 23, 2014

Bali - Orange Sunset, Blue Sky and Robberies?!?!

Hello everone!! :D Miss you so much.. 


It's been so long since I posted my last blog. I'm truly sorry for being MIA this past weeks. I went to Bali at the end of October. And before the departure date, I had to concentrate on my ballet exam. So, here I am now sitting in my bedroom, typing my story in Bali for you ;)

Fyi, for some unknown reasons, I am OBSESSED with Bali. This is my third time going to Bali, and I want more. I will definitely go back again. There are still many places I haven't had time to visit and explore. I didn't even get a chance to visit Dreamland Beach. I have wanted to go there after coming back from my first visit, but our time was very packed. Next time, maybe? 

We (I went there with Jo and our other two friends) were staying in Kuta the first three days of our visit, so, on our first day, we took a walk to the nearest beach which is Kuta beach, the most famous beach, to enjoy our first day sunset. We almost missed it because after taking pictures for a moment, the sun went smaller and smaller. The color of the sky was very beautiful; it's gradation of grey, very light purple, orange, and bright yellow of the sun. I know there is more beautiful sunset but this was by far the prettiest that I've ever seen. And I hope I could watch and stay longer to enjoy the sunset. And that was exactly what we did on the next two days. I was very excited as always everytime I saw the sunset, and never forgot to take lots of pictures of it. Jo was very helpful in taking many pictures of me with the sunset. We also took some pictures together with the help of our friends. The last sunset we saw during our stay in Kuta was in the beach behind Discovery Mall. It's still part of Kuta Beach, but the view was different from what we saw before. Probably because it was still early. However, the sun was clearly seen, very round and big, and seemed to be very close like we can touch it if we reached our hands a little further.

Everytime we woke up, the sky was very blue. Perfect time to visit Bali, I thought. White clouds were sometimes up there to beautify the bright sky. What else can we asked for. Nice day, amazing sky, perfect sunset. Everything seemed to be okay, until...

On our third day, Jo and I separated from our friends. We planned to go to one of the famous restaurant on Jalan Raya Kerobokan, Bali that day. But we were not fortunate enough. The restaurant closed at 2.30pm, while we arrived at 3pm something. zzz.. Because we had reached the place (which was quite far from our hotel), we decided to take a walk around. Taxi driver who brought us there told us that there is a beach if we walk down the road. That's where we wanted to go. We walked on the sidewalk while occasionally stopped by nearest stores to check our phone to make sure that we were on track. We didn't notice that we had walked so long and reached an intersection. After asking few workers on the sidewalk who were working on the street's repairment, we took the left side and continue to walk.

We had gotten info from our searching that on Jalan Petitenget (there was the place we were walking on), there are so many restaurants and cafes, we thought that we would stop at one of them before heading to the beach to enjoy sunset. I think it was our unlucky day :( Just after we avoided the damaged sidewalk and I moved to the inside of the sidewalk, suddenly Jo got confused and looked at the side of the road. Then, I looked at him to see what happened. TO MY SURPRISE, someone who rode a motorbike snatched my bag and all the stuffs which were held by Jo before. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can such thing happen in BALI????? Bali is a place full of tourists. How can it be? How can it be??

After realizing it, we run towards the robber and shout all way long. Although there were many security from cafes on the street saw us, they did nothing. I repeat: NOTHING except watching us running like crazy. All of our things GONE. Not even a thing left!!! (well, except a bag filled with our bottles that the robber threw during his run). It was like the worst thing happen to us. What's worse was we got no money, and no communication device which meant we couldn't take taxi back to our hotel and couldn't tell our friends. Basically, all important things were there in that bag. Sad, shocked, and desperate were what we felt. x.x The saddest thing is that we LOST every pictures we have taken during our trip. :( :( :(

Luckily, we found this hotel named FAVE HOTEL UMALAS BALI. We would like to thank their staffs so much. On behalf of Jo, too, we really appreciate their effort helping us. Even, their hotel's phone couldn't be used, their staffs borrowed us their private handphones. One of them even paid extra phone credits for us to call our families, friends, and banks. What touches us is that when we asked for his bank acccount to give back, he refused it. Oh, how kind he is. Thank him so much. Other staffs also borrowed us their phones, too. We were so thankful, if there were no such people like them, I think we couldn't get in touch with our friends at all.

Hotel staffs were very kind to us. They let us wait in their lobby and walk around. There was a woman, probably hotel manager or the one who was in charge of the hotel at that time, came back from funeral greeted us and asked about our condition. She felt sorry for us after receiving the news from her staffs. They also prepared drinks for us, too. I wonder how we would be without them.

Lucky us, we got no wound or injuries from this incident. Some people were not so lucky that they hurt themselves because the robbers pushed or dropped them down on the floor before taking their belongings. I warn you that never underestimate Bali. Although the place seemed so safe and crowded, you better watch out. I thought the same thing before, but the fact is that there are so many cases like this now. We just didn't know.

Take care of yourselves if you are going there and tell your friends and families to be safe. Take only small bag or purse and make sure you hang it inside of the road. 

Note: We thank our friends very much for helping us after the incident. They helped us a lot during the rest of our trip in Bali. 

PS: I will upload about my trip in Bali soon.

Thanks for reading
-Jess-


October 8, 2014

11 Things I Love About Berastagi

Berastagi is a small town located in mountain area, but there are still many interesting places to visit when you are getting bored with all cafes and restaurants in Medan. Here are my lists on what I love about the place :)

1. Fresh air, for sure, and cold weather
Comment: But, actually I always wear my jacket when I am there because I like to keep my body warm in the cold weather (even when it is not that cold. Is it weird?)

2. Gundaling Farm for its milk and yoghurt
Blueberry yoghurt
Location: Gundaling
Comment: Come at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and you can see dairy cows are coming out waiting to be milked. You can buy fresh milk and yoghurt there with some flavors. I like strawberry milk, mango yoghurt, and the best is bluebery yoghurt <3<3 If you like something plain, they also provide plain flavor yoghurt and tastes as nice as the other.
Dairy cows
3. Strawberries <3
Fresh strawberries
Eat with blueberry yoghurt. Yum!
Location: local market called Pasar Buah
Comment: This is what I love the most when I visit Berastagi. The last time I went there, I got the "super" quality strawberries. They are red, big, juicy, and not too sweet (I like sour strawberries). Tip: choose fruits and vegetables that are in season for you'll get the best price and quality.

4. Taman Simalem**
Location: have to drive another 1 to 1.5 hours from Berastagi
Comment: You can see Toba Lake and the view is breathtaking. Worth your visit!

5. BPK (babi panggang Karo)
Locations: a.Tesalonika or b.Serasi Rasa 
Comment: It's basically grilled pork. Both places have its own good taste :D

6. Frisbee (fried chicken)
Location: Mikie Holiday
Comment: the skin is very crispy with tender meat inside! And ORDER hot milo! it stayed hot until the end of our meal and it tastes different from usual milo you order from cafe or anywhere else. Cold weather + hot drink = PERFECT. 
Hot Milo
7. Prawn with tauco (indonesian: udang tauco)
MUST TRY
Location: Restoran Asia. 
Comment: It is so delicious that I ate so much >.< 

8. Beef meetballs*
Location: two houses after Samudera Bakery
Comment: beef meetball from this stall is ridiculously yummy. If you like beef and plain soup like me, you'll love this.

9. Coconut bread*
Location: Samudera Bakery
Comment: one of the best coconut bread I've ever had.

10. Grilled corn with salt or chili sauce**
Location: Panatapan Berastagi, Pasar Buah
Comment: When the air is colder, it feels so nice to eat something hot and steamy. I like the one in Panatapan better than Pasar Buah

11. Roti Bakar Bandung*
Location: Pasar Kaget (only opens at night) near ATM Bank Mandiri
Comment: I always eat this when I go there. Jo always order srikaya (coconut jam) and chocolate flavor. He loves the coconut jam one and I always eat more of the chocolate one. Both are very good!! One pack is big enough for us to share.

PS: Many thanks to our lovely friend for her very warm welcome in her hometown and the "tour guide" service haha.. Gonna visit you again soon!!! 
At Gundaling Farm
Best accompanion <3
With my very best friend ;)
PS: * I forget to take a picture. I'll upload it soon when I go there again next time
** I've done a blog post about it. You may check it here

Thanks for reading :)
-Jess-


September 23, 2014

Pouring My Heart Out - Proposal, Surprise Party, Engagement YAYY!!!

It was our 4th anniversary on 9th September 2014. And so many things happenned on that day, which changes my life now.

We had planned what to do on that day, actually. Jo told me that he wanted to eat oxtail soup in Meneer Cuisine cafe. Last time, when we visited the cafe, one of our friends ordered Rica-rica oxtail soup. She said it was so yummy and spicy. Jo loves eating spicy food and that's the reason he wanted to try that. I was okay with the plan, the original oxtail soup tastes incredible. So, I agree with the plan. Oh! And we were so excited about the plan because we have decided to order three portions of it.. HAHA.

He was very neat that night. He wore white long-sleeve shirt and dark-colored pants, navy to be exact. He had told me he wanted to wear white shirt, which made me think why should he? Because it would look like he just came home from work. Don't you think? Even his hair was properly styled. I complimented him on his very great hair ;;) (later I know it was because he went to saloon, had his hair cut, and styled)

This was what happenned after I finished my dinner...
I was watching stop motion video he made on the cafe's screen ;;)
Flower was given...
He closed my eyes and directed me on my way going upstairs. And it totally blew me away when I saw this...
When I saw this, it was filled by our families and friends <3
He knelt down on his knee <3 <3 

How can I say "no" to the most romantic man in my life who has brought me love and made me understand what L.O.V.E is?

I say YESSS!!!!!!!!!

So, I proudly present to you: my FIANCE and I. We are finally ENGAGED!!!
I am more than excited and happy to be proposed at that time ;;) He has talked about it and told me he will do it when we are in Jakarta next month. So, I expect it will be coming but not anytime sooner, probably it will be on our next trip. Then, here he came, with lots of fully-prepared surprises and made the proposal >.< Never imagine I'll get this kind of proposal and share the happiness with all of our loved ones. I am so blessed :D or should I say "we"?

PS: Thank to everybody that has been supporting this event (families and friends)

For more pictures, you may follow me on instagram: @jesslynzhu or search the hashtag #jjproposal :)

Thanks for reading :)
-Jess-


September 3, 2014

Ask.fm - Fun and interesting!

I have seen some people put their links to ask.fm in the 'about' box in instagram but never bother to open the link at all. Until one day, Jo came to my house to visit me (not because I was sick whatsoever) and he told me about this cool social networking website where people can ask questions anonymously. 

What attracts me is not only I can ask anonymously to people but also knowing the answer of the questions really put me in the state of laughing out loud alone. It is so much fun to ask silly questions to my friends and being answered! Somehow, in my opinion, by reading the answer from my friends, I get to know them better, which is a PLUS! 

I am not an outloud person who can speak out my mind to people. By joining this, you get the chance to ask me any questions you are curious about. I'm wondering what do you think of me? or are you curious about my opinions upon something? something I did last time or habitually really puts you in wonders, maybe?

You may ask me questions at ask.me/zhujesslyn. Let's be friends :D

Thanks for reading :)
-Jesslyn-



September 2, 2014

August Favourites 2014

Here it is my August Faves :) I know it's been a while not writing. I've been through amazing times throughout the month, and here I am sharing with you what I've been loving or enjoying last month.

1.YSL Rouge Volupte Shine

It is in color no 4 in Danger. When I first saw it, it looks like the reddest red. Believe me it's not. Just try it and you'll spot the difference. It is actually quite sheer (if you just tap-tap on your lips and blend it out) and buildable when you apply it. That's why I can use it on daily basis. It gives me a bit of color without looking too strong. If you want to have no-matte red lipstick and don't want to appear bold, you have to grab this because it gives you that SHINY fuller looking lips instead of hot bold red :D
Thanks to my lil sister who gave this to me as birthday present. Chu! <3
2. Steak from The Edge - Grand Swissbel hotel

This is like the best steak I've tasted in town. First, the blackpepper sauce is very tasty (I can't even stop myself from salivating now as I'm writing this). Second, I don't usually eat mashed potato just because I think it's too plain and tasteless. This mashed potato I had was not too bad. It had enough salt in it, but not too salty overall. Last, the steak itself oh yeahh!! Can we go back to this place another time? Pleaseee... It still got it's 'juice' inside which means HEAVEN.. lalalalalalalalaaaaa.... Fyi, this is Sirloin Steak. If you like juicy meat, order this when you go to the restaurant. Jo ordered Tenderloin Steak and he likes it very much. I personally don't really like tenderloin because I fell it is dry or probably it's because he asked for well-done? Hmm..

3. Unidos

Okay, I know it's snack. But look at this, I just realized it has "0% cholesterol" sign on the packaging. The newest snack with macaroni look hihii.. So cute! I think it has three variants: Pizza italiano, bbq spicy, and blackpepper. This pizza italiano one is my favourite. Choose the bbq spicy one if you like spicy :D
So, these are my favourites in the past month. I hope you enjoy this post and cu later in my next post :)

PS: I've joined ask.fm, if you are wondering something about me, please feel free to ask questions for me at ask.fm/zhujesslyn

Thanks for reading :)
-Jess-


August 4, 2014

#ITSARECAP | Holiday Edition

One full week of holiday is a blessing, right? That's why I am embracing it. Haha. Here's the recap of how I was having fun :)

Day 1 - Berastagi and Taman Simalem


Food you should eat:
Grilled corn

Day 2 - Cermin Beach




Day 3 - Indian Cuisine
Clockwise: Nasi briyani with mutton, garlic naan, mutton curry, poori
Mango lassi (mix of fresh mango and yoghurt) - It's very refreshing!

Day 4 - Centre Point Mall

Day 5 - Staying at home

Watching So You Think You Can Dance series and youtube :D 

Day 6 - Sun Plaza, Centre Point, and dinner 



Octopus satay - you should try this!!! >.< Yumm!
Lemon squash - the taste is different from usual ones (it contains mint leave, cucumber, and lime piece)

Day 7 - Cambridge and dinner

Hope you enjoy this and I'll see you later in the next post :)

-Jess-

July 21, 2014

Gelato Time

Brown Mc.Nuts
Hello everyone! :) 

Here's a good news for ice cream and peanut butter lovers. Jo and I went to the newest mall in town without planning where to eat, but thought Gelato Bar would be a good choice. A gelato set was picked to fulfill our sweet tooth cravings :p And here it is: BROWN MC.NUTS. Two scoops of gelato: chocolate and coffee, sprinkled with crushed nuts. The gelato was very smooth that it melted with a nice feeling. What brings this dessert to the next level was the chocolate sauce and the peanut butter swirl. It was very yummy that we wish we can ask for additional peanut butter swirl on top of it <3<3 Oh! Almost forget to mention, there were small pieces of brownies too, and it tasted very good as well.

Hope your Monday routine goes well, people.

Thanks for reading :)
-Jess-

July 7, 2014

Another Level of Escape: Go Nature - "The Immortal Pond"

I'm sorry for being MIA for almost a month. I have been so busy lately. Rushing here and there for teaching and taking course. Phew ~~~ Thank you that everything was over and going quite fine :D

For being so hectic before, going to malls or hanging out in cafes are simply not enough for me. My friends had planned a trip to go jungle tracking and I make a choice to join :)

Waking up so early in the morning to prepare ourselves for the trip didn't lower our excitement to meet this place called "The Immortal Pond" (Indonesian: Kolam Abadi). It is only one hour drive from Binjai, but not for us. To arrive there, we have to drive for two hours from the place we live. But, before arriving there, we stopped at local Nasi Padang restaurant nearby to pack our lunch because there is nothing sold inside the jungle. (Well, actually there is one place but they only sell PopMie and some drinks).

The roadtrip
We actually went to two places. The first one is Air Terjun Tongkat

The waterfall with the stick
Playing with Jo ;) hehe
Posing for a picture :p
Pretty place, yes? Nice place to feel refreshed and relax. Nevertheless, to reach it, we have to come down with the longest ladder I have ever been. It is 40-METRES HEIGHT with 78 step ladders. Can you imagine guys?? I almost fainted (no, I was not). It's absolutely NO JOKE. Argghhhhhhh......... And it's very steep. I mean it is 90-degree. Wow! Wow! Wow!
The ladder does not stop there. There is more of it upstairs x.x
It is steep, for sure!
Second place to visit is Kolam Abadi.
Water is suppa clear, but it is very cold...brbrbrrr..
Can't show you more pictures in Kolam Abadi because we have to swim further and the more we go, the deeper the river is. The highlight of the trip is CLIFF JUMPING >.< If you are not afraid of height, go for it! Jump jump jump :) You'll love it. I tried once :p Some of my friends jumped twice and the others even more.. Hahaa..

#QuickTipsfromJess:
  1. Make sure your body is fit because the track can't be underestimated. It's quite hard for some people who don't sweat a lot. (don't do a lot of physical exercise)
  2. Wear comfortable clothes. If you are willing to wear long jeans, choose the one with light material. After you plunge yourself into the water, you'll have to walk back with those clothes. If your jeans are heavy, it will slow down your move when you walk back.
  3. A little drinking will do fine. Our friend told us that drinking a lot makes you more tired. So, limit your drink.
So, thank you for reading :)
I hope you enjoy your weekend. Let's have fun with another week :D

PS: Try local nira. It is a kind of drink before it turns into palm wine (Indonesian: tuak)

-Jess-