Hi people of the internet!

I've been loving juices and smoothies for years, simply because it's easy, healthy, quick, and tastes great. So this one came up a couple of weeks ago, I needed post-workout refreshment and I just remembered that I still had one frozen pineapple in the fridge. This recipe is really simple, refreshing and good for your skin and body!

Some benefits of pineapple:

• It's loaded with vitamin A and C, fiber, phosphorus, and calcium
• Source of antioxidants
• Prevents inflammation because of its anti-inflammatory properties
• Boosts your immune system and digestive function
• Clears your skin

Why kiwi is good for you:

• Good source of soluble dietary fiber
• Source of vitamin A, C, E, K and flavonoid antioxidant
• Rich in omega 3 fatty acids

The natural benefits of ginger:

• Flushes toxins out of your body
• Boosts your immune system
• Natural anti-inflammatory
• Antibacterial

They are just a few of the goodness of these ingredients so yes, let's go grab a blender, put them in, and give it a try!

What you need:
1 frozen small pineapple, cut in chunks
1 kiwi
1/2 cm ginger
half a cup of cold water or until you get your desired consistency

Blend them together and enjoy!

Hi lovely people!

It's December 31 which is the last day of 2014, technically. I personally don't feel like I have to celebrate the New Year, but sometimes when I look back at the past years, I feel so incredibly blessed. Like, each year turned out to be unexpected and it gives me more reasons to be thankful to God.

This year has got to be one of the most unforgettable years of my 19 years of life. I spent 11 months out of 12 in 2014 living in another country, traveling, helping others and of course with a lot of crying and laughing and nights spent over-thinking about what I'm gonna do with my life.

Last year when I decided to go, I never thought that it was gonna be challenging and difficult yet rewarding. The first 2 months were the hardest because that was my first time away from my family for a long time and I had no smartphone at the moment (yes, you can say I lived in a cave) so the only means of communication were Skype (twice in a month) and Facebook messages (occasionally) and e-mails. I cried a lot in the first week but then I got used to being away from my loved ones so I got to enjoy my new life and routines after 1-2 months, which is not bad, I guess. Take note, I didn't meet up with other Indonesians living in Germany (which has its own advantage in my German skills) so that homesick feeling was pretty bad for the first weeks.

My host family was really nice and suited me really well. We're Muslims, vegetarians and love going out in the nature. They taught me a lot of new things because I have to admit I was pretty naive about the outside world when I first came. This year I learned to get my things done, wash my own clothes, iron them myself, make decisions by myself and basically just... being treated as an adult and not teenager. I also did a lot of travelling (solo and with my friends). I went to France, Spain, and twice to the Netherlands. Some of the solo trips I did was actually pretty impulsive :p

Europe is beautiful and meaningful to me, but I also learned that we're all just humans, we're not that different. Just because I come from a Southern country doesn't mean that we Indonesians are inferior to the Europeans and other Northern countries. We all cry, we all laugh, we all have our own baggage that other people might not be able to see.

"We are all equal in the fact that we are all different. We are all the same in the fact that we will never be the same. We are united by the reality that all colours and all cultures are distinct & individual. We are harmonious in the reality that we are all held to this earth by the same gravity. We don't share blood, but we share the air that keeps us alive." - C. Joybell C.

Rara x

Hi people of the internet!

I'm terribly terribly sorry because I haven't written a single post like I promised for months because: 1. my laptop was broken and I just got to repair it 2 days ago, and 2. I am home!! It's been a month now since I flew back on 26th November.

This time I'm not going to post any of my travel photos because I want to post something new in my blog, something I've been really passionate about, which is trying out new healthy food recipes. Sooo, today is about acai bowl! I know that a lot of healthy food enthusiasts are very familiar with this, but it is not that well-known in Indonesia so I'm going to give the simplest, easiest recipe with ingredients that can be bought in a lot of big supermarkets in Indonesia but still tastes delicious as it should be! :)

The main thing about acai bowl is, you need frozen acai or acai powder. Acai is a kind of berry which native to South America especially Brazil. It contains a lot of anti oxidant so it's really good for your skin!
I have searched for any frozen acai/acai powder that I can buy in Indonesia but haven't found any. I got mine from naturya, which I bought online when I was in Germany. The nearest place where you can buy acai from Indonesia is ordering it online from Australia. They have a lot of great healthy food brands but of course it is pretty expensive with the shipping cost and all. But you can also be creative, just mix some berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc) and you can get almost as much goodness as you can get from the acai bowl itself so don't worry!

You'll need:

2 frozen bananas
1-2 handful of berries (I used only strawberries because that's what's left in my fridge)
1 tbsp acai powder
1 tbsp lucuma powder (optional)
1 tbsp chia seeds
a dash of water to keep the blender going
1-2 tbsp of honey (optional)

Blend all the ingredients and enjoy the goodness of acai bowl! You can top it with anything you like.

Hi there!
So a while ago I posted some photos from my trip in Paris and this time I wanna share my trip in Hamburg with you guys :)
To be honest, I went to Hamburg one day after I arrived from Paris but after a while I get used to it somehow, hopping from one place to another in a short time. I have a friend in Hamburg which is really good for my budget so I didn't have to look for a place to sleep. She's also Indonesian and has lived in Germany for about 10 years.
Overall, Hamburg is a beautiful city, a little different from other typical big cities in Germany. Actually I was quite surprised with the weather (nobody warned me before!) because it went from cloudy in the morning to sunny and then it was pouring and thundering in the afternoon. I also ate Indonesian food for the first time again after months. Say yeah for sambal and tempe!

As I've promised on the last post, I'm going to write more about my traveling life although you might find it boring or not so entertaining, I'm trying to write basically for my own documentation.
So at the beginning of April this year, I had a week free from the kids because my host family was flying to Turkey. I've been wanting to visit other cities in Europe and my choice goes to... Paris. (I mean, I knew I had to go to Paris one day).
It was my first time traveling alone, so based from recommendations of my host fam I booked a trip to Paris for one. You might think it's rather pathetic traveling alone to Paris-as it is called the city of love-but it would give you a whole different experience than when you're traveling with someone else. You can kind of know yourself better throughout these journeys. Actually this applies to any other trips as well. And this, friends, was the beginning of my solo traveling.
My hotel was not in the center of Paris, and I had a little problem finding my way back to the hotel at 11pm but thankfully, I met a lovely French lady who would walk me and show me the way to the hotel. Mille merci!
And I also met a friend of mine, who studied in Caen and at that time was also in Paris. We met 6-7 years ago as we took our first French class (and also the last for me haha). I could never have imagined that we would meet each other in France!
The city is beautiful, but there are sooo much going on in the city, I just can't imagine if I had to live in Paris. I also went to Versailles, which is famous with its Chateau and those posh houses.... so beautiful! As I didn't have a smartphone with me, so I had to be able to read maps (city maps, metro lines, etc) and it really helps me to survive discovering the city all by myself. I really recommend Montmartre to visit, it's near the Moulin Rouge area and the Sacre Coeur cathedral, the atmosphere is just so alive at night and there are a lot of friendly local restaurants waiting for us to give it a try! Anyway, I might have eaten too many crepes and croissants.