Phillip Lim Mini Pashli : Why Is It a Must Have?

Phillip Lim may have introduced the Pashli series for the A/W 2012, which is years ago, but I only now I feel the need to write the reasons why everyone should get themselves at least 1 Mini Pashli after I got my 4^th bags since the first one in 2013.

1.  It’s actually very light!

My first ever Pashli comes in Cobalt in medium size. I was all over big handbags, and I thought a Pashli would be better if it comes in the larger size too. But I was (slightly) wrong. Everything else was perfect, except the weight of the bag. It was heavy for a medium-sized sling bag, and way too heavy for a handbag. Sure it would be nice if you just put it on the chair next to you at the restaurant, but I would not bring it for a shopping day. Uh uh!

I was introduced to the Mini Pashli by my sister as she wanted to exchanged the Pashli with a darker color, so I got myself another Cobalt Pashli in Mini. I put my essentials, the same thing as I put in the Medium Pashli and other bags, and holy moly! I felt nothing, in a good way! It is very comfortable to walk around with. The strap holds the bag perfectly and stays on the shoulder. It feels like the weight on my shoulder has been lifted, fashionably. ;)

2. It’s stuurdddyyy

Okay so maybe everyone has talked about it somewhere somehow. Phillip Lim chose this shark-pattern embossed leather for the signature pashli and it is somehow the best idea ever. The leather is so thick (maybe that’s why it’s abit heavy for the larger sizes) and scratches free. I’ve used my bags in the tube, to the market, on the bus without feeling insecure that someone or something gonna leave a scratch on it. And really my bag is still in the perfect condition even until now.

The side of the bags may bend, but in the general pashli holds its shape. This is the kind of bag that you can re-shape just with paper fillings. My pashli has been in the bottom of my luggage, crunched and what not, but I always manage to bring back the shape effortlessly. Who doesn’t love this kind of bag?

3. Comes in a perfect size and style

Personally, I’ve tried quite a lot of small bags in my life (at least I think) and I have a reason why I had a period when I HATE small bags; its size. Most bags I’ve seen is either too small or too big. I wanted a small sling bag that doesn’t hurt my shoulder yet fits everything I need; wallet, phones, small beauty case and a power bank. The Mini Pashli magically fits everything, and leave a space too! When I first came to London, I brought everything said above plus an umbrella. And so I knew, from that day onward, the Mini Pashli would be my go-to bag.

Another reason for it being my go-to bag is the style. The Mini Pashli can transform from a casual bag with its strap on and zipper down, to a more classic one without the strap and its zipper pulled up. Love love love!

4. It’s affordable (for a designer bag)

Some may say it is, some may say it is not. Let’s just agree to disagree. If you compare 3.1 Phillip Lim to Michael by Michael Kors or Kate Spade, okay maybe it is a little bit more expensive. But in general, I think this Pashli series is considered an affordable bag from a high-end designer. The Mini costs only about $695 (and the Medium $895) and so far I can’t find any other designer bags this good, this stylish, and this practical within the same price range.

5. Comes in every shade of the rainbow

I love the size, the weight, and the quality, so what else, right? Well, Pashli comes in every color possible. Black, many shades of blue, many shades of red, neutrals, pastels, you name it. It is totally the bag for every occasion and outfit. My Phillip Lim Mini Pashli in Cobalt has been the everyday bag because of its color. I can’t tell why, but it seems Phillip Lim himself has discovered the perfect shade of Cobalt. It just blends in with everything. The Crimson Red is also not bad, but I usually use it for that dark colors day. I can’t decide on what color should I get next but I think the fuschia pink is soooo prettyyy! (*hint hint! anyone?*)

If you are looking for the perfect small bag for everyday use, I really recommend getting a Mini Pashli bag. It won’t break your bank but will last you a long time. I am sure you will love it!

Have one on your own? Let me know if you’re agree ;)

X,

Sas Wardani

Hidden Gem : Villa Aman D'Sini

(Petunjuk jalan dalam bahasa Indonesia di bawah ;)

Hello peeps!

My birthday is coming soon and I've been busy planning for a little celebration since after 6 years I finally could celebrate it with my sister from another mother again. The last time we celebrate together was our sweet 16 birthday, and we are excited about another one.

This year our plan is to just have a small gathering/sleepover since we all have been busy with work (yes, work! 22 this year, duh!). A short quality time is always a good idea, isn't it? So we were looking for villas near Bogor and Jakarta to spend the birthday weekend, and we came across to this villa which is said to be in Sentul City. I heard about it from a friend of mine and so we tried to google about this one villa. I thought Google knows everything, but apparently this villa is not really on the map (at least Google's map). We only managed to find only one blog with one picture, but we fell in love with the idea of a Balinese like villa with countryside atmosphere. 

I got so curious, I dragged my mom the next day to explore Sentul City, and ask around about the villa, as we only knew the villa is in Bojong Koneng. After asking few people, we managed to find the way:

From both directions of the highway (either Jakarta or Bogor), exit on Sentul Selatan to Sentul City. Just go straight all the way towards Taman Budaya. Right after Taman Budaya, there will be a sign saying La Vanoise, then turn right. La Vanoise will be on your right, but go straight. You will see a small bumpy road towards village area, and don't worry, you're on the right way. Just follow all the way, there will be no right and left turn yet. Pass Kampong Koneng restaurant, and still go straight. After around 15 Minutes drive, you will start to see huge villas on your left, and when you see a small signboard on your right with food menus written on it, look to the left, you have reached your destination.

You will see a huge gate upon entering the villa. The carpark could easily fit up to approximately 10 cars. The carpark and the villa area is divided by a small wooden door, typical Balinese villa. The garden is very spacious, great for little picnic or yoga with bunch of friends or maybe a team building activities. Look forward you will see the pool, which I think is very very beautiful. The pool reminds me of a luxury hotel in Bali, I could pretend I was in Bali for a short getaway. On the right is an elevated living room area, and if you go forward, you will realize there is a patio where you can sit down and chill. Right under the living room is a kitchen and Villa Aman D'sini opens their kitchen everyday from 8am to 5pm. They offer simple homecooked foods and drinks for affordable price.

The villas is on the left of the pool, right beside the dining area. The whole villa only has 3 rooms in total, 1 on the top floor and 2 below. The room is very clean and comfortable. It is managed by the owner himself but the rooms are kept nice as if it was an international chain villa. I only checked one room but I think each room has a queen sized bed, TV area and undoubtedly spacious bathroom. Damn, I would love to stay here for a getaway!

This place is great if your looking for a short and private getaway near the city. It is very quiet, so I think it's better for couples or families. If you're thinking to go with friends but you all cannot stay off the phone, better not go to this place. Reception is bad, does not matter if you use the best provider in Indonesia. Plus no wifi too! And so, also don't go with someone you don't feel comfortable in silence. No one likes awkward silence, right? 

PS : better go NOT on rainy season as it is an open area kind of villas. It is a bit troublesome (and muddy) if you need to keep going from your room to the patio or carpark or any other room in the rain.

Villa Aman D'Sini

Sentul Hill 64, Bojong Koneng, Sentul City

Contact : Mr. Abdul (please email me as I won't put up someone's private number on the web)

Number of rooms : 3

Price (as per 21 April 2015) : Rp 2.500.000 for the single room (I guess the top floor room) and Rp 2.250.000 per room for the 2 bedrooms villa

Occupancy : 3 person max

Breakfast : Included

Family package : Rp 11.000.000 - Rp 13.000.000 for the whole villa, for around 15-20 pax

Gathering package : Rp 8.000.000 per 8 hours, food not included

Restaurant : yes, 8am-5pm

Pros : great view, good location, huge and private, clean

Cons : bad network, kitchen only opens until 5 and no restaurant around the area so you have to plan your dinner properly

Petunjuk Jalan :

Keluar tol Sentul Selatan, masuk ke Sentul City dan jalan terus ke arah Taman Budaya. Setelah Taman Budaya, ada petunjuk jalan ke La Vanoise, lalu belok kanan. La Vanoise ada di sebelah kanan, lalu lurus terus. Jalan menuju villa kecil dan harus melewati perkampungan, cukup untuk 1 mobil tapi 2 jalurnya 2 arah, jadi kemungkinan harus bergantian. Di jalan kecil itu lurus terus, cukup dengan mengikuti jalan. Setelah kurang lebih 15 menit, akan mulai terlihat villa-villa besar di sebelah kiri. Saat melihat papan menu di sebelah kanan, Villa Aman D'sini ada dikiri.

Hope this would be helpful for you!

Love,

S

PS: Kabarnya mulai akhir Maret pihak Vila Aman D'Sini charge Rp 50,000 per orang untuk foto-foto di area vila. Foto-foto gratis kalau pengunjung membeli minuman di vila.

Review : Luminesce by Jeneusse

My first post in 2015 is dedicated especially to the one and only which has helped to start the year with significant extra self-confidence. The one and only Luminesce by Jeunesse.

I was given this amazing set of Luminesce Youth Restoring Cleanser and Luminesce Cellular Rejuvenation Serum at exactly the right time; when my face turned all zitsy and red (again?). This time, my doctor can't help me to diagnose the cause. Or maybe he could, but I just could not believe him cus it was something like stress or what. However, I wasn't given a proper instruction on how to use it or what is it in. I was kinda "forced" to read the booklet and found out something amazing.

The Serum contains stem cell media which could help to treat skin abnormalities. (I was like, "OMG! A stem cell treatment at home? Wow!"). It exerts a powerful rejuvenating and regenerative effect on the treated areas. So, the serum helps to smooth the appearance of fine line and wrinkles by replenishing our skin natural supply of growth factors and proteins that can become depleted with age. It also restores life to the skin by stimulating body;s natural ability to replenish, amplify and heal. So not only works best for wrinkles, it also could help with acnes.

While the Youth Restoring Cleaner is a unique facial cleanser that allows skin to protect its natural hydration while gently removing impurities from deep within pores. It works best if combined with the serum and also day and night cream.

I got these products in November but only decided to write about it this month simply because I want to see the result on me. My facial skin is so hard to maintain. It is so sensitive and I get acnes easily. I have tried so many products, but I can tell you, this is magic.

At first I could only feel my face is hydrated. But lately I've been traveling a lot, which means less make up on my face, and I could see that my facial skin radiates and looks really really smooth. Although I still need to take a good care of the acnes, the skin texture is totally different than before. I feel like I have that baby skin again :)

I am giving this set of product a 9 out 10.

Love love, 

Sastya Wardani

With Love

Maybe it has been months (or years) I have stopped writing. Same old reason, and I'm not gonna say it again. But now I have all the time I want to write; to fill this blog with things that attracts me, that draws my attention. So bear with me while I share my nonsense with you, people.

I have graduated and now I am officially unemployed. No job, no plan, and to be honest it is kinda depressing for me who basically plan everything from months before. But that is what I am facing now. I supposed to start my Master degree in the UK but one thing led to another, I had to decide to take a year off, which means another year of doing nothing. 

It is (surprisingly) heartbreaking that I can't further my study so soon. I was never a diligent student, I am just lucky it was always in the way. But now I realize, what a blessing it has always been. Sometimes I blame it to my passport that is not as powerful as the red ones, although I know I shouldn't. Everything happens for a reason, right?

In the mean time, I hope this could keep me sane.

With Love,

Sastya Wardani

Back

I am back! HOME!

I'm so glad it has finally over! No more problematic visa application, no more lonely feeling.

Although what happened, I still have a place for KL in my heart. No matter what, I grew up to be a more mature person (basically to be an adult, as I have lived there since I was 17) in the heart of the neighbor country. 

I still have few outfit photos I took with my housemate before I left. So glad I have an housemate who loves and is interested in photography, or at least willing to take pictures of me. I should not talk so much, so here it is.

Dress - H&M, Boots - Zara, Scarf as Headband - McQueen

See you!

Sastya

The Start of Something New

I'm back after a month holiday in Indonesia, where the internet is either running slow or not working at all. School starts only in March but I had to come earlier to settle my visa. Yes, I still don't have my visa yet. After all these 6 months of waiting and suffering, they decided to finally do the endorsement. Before I left Indonesia, I thought this endorsement process would be very easy and relieving. But I was wrong. The first hour I put my feet on Malaysia's ground, the whole chaos has decided to haunt me. I spent 3 hours at the airport's immigration office as I didn't prepare my flight ticket back. I did have the plan when to come back, but not the ticket. I don't want to blame anyone here, but I was just following my school's order. Yet when I called the international student service officer, I got not help or assistance on what to do. It was the longest 3 hours of my life. Glad I have upgrade my skill in typing on my touch-screen phone secretly, and I managed to message my sister to buy me a ticket home. I just couldn't spend another minute there. It was scary. And people there give this frightening feeling. No words could describe how I felt that time. 

The whole chaos didn't stop there. The next day I found out few major changes in the rules which I wasn't informed. I had been trying to know any updates throughout my holiday by emailing them, calling, even I had to whatsapp them, which I would rather not to, in other circumstances. Yet nothing was told. I thought the 6 months I have spent would be a waste. I thought I had to repeat the whole application process and would be stuck for another 6 months. 

Ended up I didn't have to. Through few arguments and pointing-fingers, I managed to get someone settle all the matters for me.

But I am still upset. I just have never felt trapped and helpless before. It felt like as if I was in a jail, but there was no bars or  walls around me. I had to be cautious all the time just in case there's a police or a road block or something. No, I wasn't an illegal student here. But not having my passport with me while I'm in other country, especially without a proper visa, I could not prove my good intention of staying here. 

Anyways, what has been done is done. So glad this would be my last sem here (hopefully, and I will make it my last sem). I can't wait to move to a colder country for my postgraduate degree. Better, to a country with better and more effective student visa application procedures. I'm so excited for that, my outfits lately has been very cold-weather friendly. 

Hat - Cotton On, Necklace - New Look, Top - New Look, Skirt - Kitschen, Bracelets - H&M, Ring - YSL, Shoes - Charles & Keith

Till the next time!

Sastya Wardani

COMPARE HERO

Hello!

I wanted to cheat by changing the post date to last weekend since I missed my own "weekly favorite" post, but I decided not to. So here it is my late "weekly favorite" update!

I always collect informations and compare few sources before I decide what to buy, what to get, where to go, and stuffs like that. I know it is very troublesome, but I think students like us would need that, especially living in an environment that forces us to be a better buyer/consumer. However, I worry no more, because I have found a website that can help me with this deals, COMPARE HERO! As a finance student, I really think a website like this is very helpful. Not only to help me decide on good deals, but also help me to realize finance is not 100% boring. It is everywhere. And reaching a financial goals is not an impossible thing to do. 

Chris Sheward from Compare Hero has helped me with this special post on how to save money, and of course how a comparison site like Compare Hero can lessen the burden. :)

Top 5 fun ways to save money 

Saving money can be one of the most difficult things to do especially if there are so many pretty little things from Zara, Forever 21, Mango; the list is endless really. So how do you manage to keep some extra cash if you are constantly tempted to splurge?  

Have financial goals, it won’t hurt  

Financial goals; sounds fancy right? Start off by asking yourself what exactly it is you are saving for, maybe it is for a trip to go to an exotic island or that fancy Burberry bag? 

Thereafter, move on to drawing a timeline of your expectations from yourself.  This will be your motivation if temptations seem to be getting the best of you.  

Make sure that you have your goals on a piece of paper; if it is inked down it is hard to forget. Now that that is done, let the saving begin! 

Start saving as soon as NOW! 

Procrastination is a vice and the minute you start thinking that you will wait until you earn more money - kill that thought right there. 

Start from saving as little as 10 percent of your total earnings, it may not seem like much but it will make a huge difference.  

Waiting for the day you earn more will only lead you to waiting for a long time. It is a proven fact that the more each person earns, the higher their expenses. So ladies, the time is NOW! 

Eat out and hang out with friends 

My boyfriend and I decided to stop having food delivered to our doorstep – with all those tips and extra delivery costs we had to bear, our laziness was certainly not paying off.  

Not only do we now enjoy quality time out, we also have an excuse to have a good meal with all our friends where we all always end up sharing costs.  

A little reward every now and then will do 

If you can manage to stick to your saving plan, you definitely deserve a reward; take it as motivation to achieving the bigger goal. Rewards make the journey more delightful, so why not indulge? You certainly deserve it for getting so far. 

Make the internet your new BFF 

Ok, ok, this does not mean that you have to forget about all your girlfriends but the internet is a place where you can find all the financial tricks and this includes financial comparison sites which will help you save heaps on credit cards, debit cards, phone and broadband plans. 

Not only will comparison sites save you money, they will save you time – after all you have a social life to keep up with.  

All in all, saving is not easy, it takes time, practice and tremendous self control – the trick is to stop thinking of it as a chore – make it your new hobby and you will be surprised at how fun it can be. The best part is discovering unconventional ways of getting to where you want to be financially. Good luck!  

Sastya Wardani