Last weekend we went to Bandung to spend time with my in laws. I snapped a few pictures on our road trip to Bandung. I actually really love road tripping. It brings a lot of good memories as I often did this kind of activity with my family back then, my dad drove the car for us on our school holiday. I used to live in Semarang which is 9 hours driving away from Jakarta and about 14 hours driving away from Bali, and we road tripped to those two cities quite frequently. Ah those days. And the fact that now I’m doing it with my husband, makes it extra special. We got to talk about things along the journey, laughed, sang, etc. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery along our journey so much. Sometimes we even would bump into unexpected view, like animals boarded on a truck.

Anyway, we spent really great time in Bandung. Hanging out with sister in law while Husband was on a meeting, sharing stories with mum in law, watching movie at the cinema, cooking, reuniting with the extended families, going to my old favourite places, enjoying Bandung fresh air, gastronomic spree. Ah, those felt really good!

Now we’re back to our common routine which I’m really excited about, too! I’ve finally had a sewing machine, it’s the portable one, Juki HZL-E80. And I get to admit that I’m a happy happy kid these days because of this new toy. On the additional note, my class is close to presentation deadline we have to finish the skirt, shirt and dress soon and it makes me very attached to the sewing machine. Anyway, it’s a bittersweet that the class will end soon. I want to level up but they haven’t decided when the higher level class is about to open. I have this secret dream of having a sewing room but we’re still thinking about the details, how we are going to revamp the room, the budget and all. We don’t have large space and many rooms in our apartment, apparently. So we need to really think about this to the bit.

So, how’s your weekend? I’ll get back to you soon! x

Helloooo gorgeous people, how are you? How’s life and everything? Life lately has been really busy on my end as I’m juggling quite several roles. Being a full time housewife without maid, running a business and being a student. But I love the way things are now and I’m grateful for everything although things aren’t always smooth. There are tough times, too, a lot of tough times I would say. Like one of those days when our apartment looked worse than a ship wrecked because I was really busy with assignments from the course and I knew if I were my husband I could have been really mad but he didn’t. Or when suddenly we ran out of a lot of domestic needs because I forgot to remind myself that I needed to do groceries. Or when I had to let go weekends for business stuff. Etc etc. Sometimes I cried and stressed out because I felt so lousy. But Husband knows me best. He came to my rescue as per usual. A warm hug, some chats and laughs always work as instant healer. In the end everything just seemed right no matter how tough the journey was before.

I’m also very content with the course I enroll at the moment. I told Husband I’m brim with inspirations and ideas. So far now we’ve been taught to make skirts and shirts and I really can’t wait to have a sewing machine at our place. I’ve been eyeing on some prospective ones. Well, I haven’t decided which to buy but I have narrowed down the list, hopefully by the end of this month we’ll get one of those in the list. Yay! I’m also thinking to continue to the next level right after this one’s finished. We’ll see later.

As for the business, we’re in the middle of preparing our second collection which will be launched soon! We are still learning about many many things bur somehow I feel that we’ve got the pace and the feel. Hopeful this business will grow better with time. Last week we covered photoshoot for our second collection, twas really fun!

And as a family, we are trying to get the habit of eating well. It all takes discipline, I know. One of my tasks is to add a lot of fibers and more nutritions into our daily meal. I was down with typhus last week, I was so vulnerable and sick. It made me realise that being health and fit is priceless. So I’m trying to put more attention to health matters in the family.

I think I’ve been talking too much. I should stop now. Haha. Happy weekend, friends! x

I once came across a beautiful quote from Abraham Lincoln that says “Whatever you are, be a good one”. It inspired me quite remarkably. I’ve been thinking how I’m going to make my living since I realised that engineering-career isn’t my passion. I love the idea of being a housewife very much but I also want to work. It’s having and developing skill(s) into one’s life that has become my concern, whatever kind of skill that is. So after some discussions with my husband, we decided that I’m going to work, under these notes: flexible working hours and from home. I think too much about people’s opinion about the path I’m going to take. And Husband is the loveliest as ever, he said “Let people have their own opinions, in the end it’s ours to decide. Do what you love to do, be good at it and care less about anything else.” As a matter of fact, I really love what I’m doing right now at hanna & duhita and I want to be good at this business. About a month ago Husband suggested that I enroll in fashion design and pattern making courses in order to support the business. It’s really a great idea! So here I am now, in the middle of the course, yay! (It started only yesterday haha) Honestly, I have zero knowledge about sewing or drafting pattern but I’m really full of enthusiasm and excited to learn every bit in the course. I want to be good. I think that quote from Abraham Lincoln is very well said. Whatever you are, be a good one.

In the picture above is a kit of equipments I’m going to work a lot with during the course. Wish me luck!

I love colours and retro vintage interior detail. Those in the picture above are a few of many things I will squeeze in my future house: suitcases, old cameras, nice and inspiring posters/artworks, moustache and letters cushion covers, typewriter and chalk board. Well, I tell you these days recently my husband and I have been on some arguments about the theme of our future house, how we will decorate it and all. Of course you know I have a big love for vintage-related stuff but unfortunately Husband is a bit cross with my taste this time. He likes minimalism and modernism in design interior. So now, the big task for me.. how to convince him that my preference is better and thus he will give up on mine? or maybe better.. how to combine our taste and preferences and create a beautiful harmony? It’s quite a challenge, I tell you. Anyway, this doesn’t mean we are moving in anytime soon, in fact we are still many months away from the completion, haha. It’s silly that we fuss about it too early (early as in now) but this fuss and jitter are actually proofs of our excitements, aren’t they? Anyway, I would be happy to hear from any of you who had got experiences in building a house (well, apartment in our case) before. Tips/suggestions/do’s and dont’s? I’m all ears. Thanks for sharing.

The stuff in the picture, I took them all from many different shops on etsy.

When in Singapore, I threw the looks as pictured. I’m so much in the mood for colours these days. I think I need to invest more in bright and shocking colours to my wardrobe for a bit of refreshment. Anyway, part of me really enjoy being a tourist because local people will just “understand” if we speak different, act different and look different..  simply because we are tourist, haha. The perk of being a tourist, I reckon. Sorry for the continuous instagram pictures. I can’t get enough of instagram just yet. Good night! x

We had a whale of a time in Singapore last week. Michael redeemed his 2 days-off allowance after being assigned for field-job a few weeks earlier, so we were able to spend four days in this city (Saturday to Tuesday). I used to visit Singapore quite frequent in the past but I hadn’t been there since three years ago. The very last time before this was when I stopped over for nine hours before my London-bound flight departed me. So, needless to say, this previous trip brought so much of good memories.

We made the best out of this vacation, visiting our old favourite places and going to some places which we had never been to before: the Haji Lane and Raffles Hotel. Those two places are now added to my list of favourite places around Singapore! The Haji Lane is just a small area in the Arab Street where we will be pretty much spoiled by the vintage and quirky ambiance (I’m a sucker to this kind of thing so please bear with me) with splash of colourful details. It reminds me a lot of Portobello Road Market in London (also Columbia Road Flower market, and many other road markets). Along the lane were shops selling vintage goods (most of them are clothes and accessories related) and cafes. Husband let me enjoy this place by giving me time to stroll alone. While I was strolling down alone, he sat by a petite French cafe by the corner of the lane and later reported that he just had one of the best escargot he had ever tasted to date (he even rated it similar to his most favourite one at a small cafe in Paris) I never liked escargot anyway so I can’t say anything, haha. I really had a great time there and promise myself to come back again on my next visit to Singapore. Heaven knows when. The second place was Raffles Hotel which was located in Bras Basah Road. No, I didn’t stay there. It was a mere my curiosity of the shops in this hotel that took me there. Yes this decent hotel has luxurious shops in it, which to me the whole concept was unique. I liked the classic atmosphere as this place gave the feel of the ancient time when the British ruled the country back then. We strolled around quite long but only made a visit to Front Row and A.P.C. I loved the goods there, though too bad they were out of my price range. After that, came Husband offer a great deal to have a try on the Empire restaurant just on the ground floor which was the best decision! Both of us fell in love with this restaurant! I loved the place with old-time feel and enjoyed my raspberry tart so much (one of the best I’ve had from many different places)! Singapore is very vibrant, it still preserves the old remnants and buildings that blend perfectly with the modern side of the city. We can find almost everything there and I think Singapore literally connects the West and East countries. And oh, the culinary treats really is something we can’t say no to. We very much enjoyed the street foods and snacks. They have the best and yummiest in the world! Unfortunately, we didn’t tick all the must-visit boxes on our itineraries. This time we failed our plan to play around the Universal Studio Singapore (which we had planned to visit) because I wanted to explore more of the city. There’s always next time, anyway, worry not. Ah, it was a nice and well-spent short getaway: walking aimlessly, shopping, eating, taking pictures. A good way of relaxing our mind to get back to working mood.

Next destination? I don’t know. Now I’m thinking about touring around some places in Indonesia. But you know, I’m such a difficult person on deciding where to go for holiday. In addition to that, we like to make snap decisions. As our statistics show, we decide whether to have holiday or not and what the destination is, only two weeks beforehand. So, it’s too early to decide now. We’ll just see later.

I don’t know about you but I feel like this week has been going so fast. Following our clothing line being launched is a big set of to do list which makes me quite busier than usual. That’s probably why I’m feeling a bit lost track of time. But I’m very happy and excited to do everything. Ticking off things on the to do list feels great and it gives a huge relief. It’s been really fascinating and challenging so far.

Anyway today is public holiday, it’s time to relax a bit. I just got back from badminton with Husband and brother (it’s them who played, I just sat down waiting for them, sigh). We’re going to do a major house cleaning in a bit. I’m also planning to bake cookies (finally figured out how to use the oven, yay!) but it seems we’re going to fail this plan because there are still a lot of things to do today.

Another happy thing is.. I’m currently so much on a holiday state of mind as tomorrow we’re going to Singapore for a short escape, yay! I really really need this short vacation and so glad that Husband grant my wish. Any recommendation for cool places to visit? Thanks for sharing.

Husband got a severe headache seeing me so giddy and confused about the clothes I’m going to throw as my holiday outfits. My wardrobe is really a mess at the moment I don’t feel like going in there (it takes an hour every morning to dig on clothes in my messy wardrobe). I end up with a lot of pieces with shocking-bright-colours to pair with and he had no choice to say no (or maybe he’s just lazy to respond to me, haha).

Andddd.. I’m now on Instagram,woohoo! Above are some of my pictures, find more at hannasiahaan. See you later, alligators! x

We are really excited to launch our online store! Please welcome our label, hanna & duhita! Yeaahh, finally! We really like and are satisfied with the clothes in this first collection and we are sure you’ll love them, too. For now as our label is officially launched, we realise the hard work doesn’t just stop there.Even harder work is needed to run the business, to make profit, and to create even more beautiful pieces from time to time. But all that matters to us is our passion that brings us here: we love, we are passionate and we enjoy what we are doing so it would’t so much of hard work at all. At least, the hard work will pay off in the form of creating happiness and creativity. Visit our store to see what we are cooking!

At the Buckingham Palace from Hanna Siahaan on Vimeo.

A year has passed since I left England and back to Indonesia for good. It was a hard time of my life and I felt deeply sad. But hey, a year has passed and I’m happy and alive now. Life has been great and full of fun, I get to see my family and friends a lot, and just feel familiar with everything. God has been really kind as always, all the good things have been unfolding. But even so, I still miss England, the fact I can’t deny. I miss London and Birmingham, two cities which have left me with so many sweet memories and unforgettable experiences. I miss the accent, the scrumptious and mouth-watering desserts, the transport system, the old buildings and the classical view, the cafes and shopping places, the high street stores, the parks, the weather (haha, I can’t believe I even miss the moody weather I used to hate), and everything! haha. Well, let’s just hope there’s a golden opportunity in the future for us to come again even if it’s only for a short visit.

The video was taken last year when we were saying good bye to the Buckingham Palace. I love 8mm app! Oh and please just ignore my stupid gestures in the video, haha (that silly jump, seriously?! haha). Happy Weekend! x

You are fine with the dishes I’ve cooked for you, aren’t you? I just can’t take your saying ”I want to cut all the meals and skip dinner for the sake of losing some weight ” and thus asking me not to cook too often and too much. You broke my heart because cooking for you is my favourite thing to do. Yes, I’m very serious!

When I’m leaning on you and trying to kiss you, that doesn’t always mean I want to buy something. But I have a bad news for now as I’m currently eyeing on a lot of new fonts online and most of them aren’t free. So, thank you if you would kindly grant my wish, tee hee.

You’re most intimidating when you’re asking me where I put this and that, and I don’t have a clue. Because I’m a such an awfully forgetful wife, haha! Really sorry. But please, those eyes could be less intimidating, couldn’t they?

Please just tell me clearly what the manual book says about how to bake with our oven, because I really want to bake cakes and I’m too lazy to swallow words by words written on that manual book. Prettyyy pleaseeee.

I really hate if you laugh or make jokes when I’m mad (which makes me laugh, too. Am I that weak? Sigh)

but anyway, thank you for making me feeling like a million bucks when you land on thousands kisses on my cheeks and forehead every morning, when you sneak some kisses for me when I’m in the middle of sleeping. That’s kind of the cutest thing ever. And also thanks for every simplest things. I love you.

- yay’s - 

1. Endless talks and conversations with Husband. It’s precious and relieving at the same time having someone to share all your thoughts, happiness, woes, and complaints without any limit 2. Our praying time together, after and before bed, because we realise that we are nothing without Him. We want Him to get involved in our family life every time and everywhere and somehow it really strengthens us as a couple 3. Getting new extended families, knowing new people, friends and colleagues and taking part  in many activities with them. It’s really good to feel that we are not alone, we have a circle of people which makes our life more lively and honestly we have never had boring weekends. There are always exciting things to do with them. 4. Teaming up in building future plans together. In fact, nothing feels more surreal and fascinating other than this. Both of us like to dream a lot, then we’ll set goals and define the actions in order to make those dreams come true. 5. Waking up to the same person next to me everyday and simply feeling safe. 6. Sharing and doing a lot of things (also chores) together and that makes everything a lot easier to bear and way a lot more fun to go with. 7. Doing silly things and making jokes that only we understand. Sometimes we can laugh till death over the matters that aren’t really funny to most people but we found it very funny anyway. Weird. 8. Having a lifetime supporter who can also act as a police at times. He’s really that kind of person who will boldly say big no over things that are not quite deserving and I’m grateful for that.

- nay’s - 

1. When Husband has to go for a field trip, I feel like losing a grip and days and nights feel unusually long. haha. I would usually get on with so many activities and be busy during those days just to distract myself from feeling lonely. 2. Managing household finance, which really isn’t my knack. I’m such an impulsive one and least thoughtful about expenses while my husband is the contrary. It’s no surprise this matter often puts us on arguments. But I really thank God for having him, otherwise I’m going to be in a big mess my whole life. 3. Doing house organisation, which I’m not very good at, too. I’m still learning and learning and learning to be on top of this. And good news is, I think I’m making a littleeeeeee progress here. Really look forward to making this organised thingy as habit in order to live happily and healthily around the house. 4. Getting on with our partner being in a bad mood. I think it’s the hardest part this time around. I’m not talking about his bad mood only, but also mine.

We have a big list of plans ahead but we want to live in the present, too. What we have now is more important and we learn our best to be grateful every single time though it isn’t always easy. Let’s hope everything goes well. For the closest plan, fingers crossed we can sneak for a short vacation not too long enough. We’re (well, I am) really craving for one. Wish you a grand weekend! x

So the past Saturday, we did a photo shoot for our first collection. Well well.. Our first collection? Did I just say that? Okay I’ll just tell you. I partner with my friend (her name is duhita) starting up business of an online clothing shop, which will be launched this very near future. I can’t quite explain how magical it feels that we finally make it until this point. Our deal has taken place in mid 2011 but we went really slow due to the wedding preparation thingy. Therefore, I’m quite relieved that we’re now very close to the launch time. Despite having no ability to foresee the future as to where this business will lead to or how things will unfold, we’ll stay positive still. Because the truth is, we really enjoy every single step: picking the theme, creating mood board, shopping fabrics, taking to the tailor, working on the website, thinking hard on every details and bits of our business strategy, and the list goes. Doing all those stuff is really fascinating! Enjoying what we do is what exactly matters, isn’t it?

The past weekend we drove again to Bandung for a small gathering with the family from my mum in law’s side, particularly for Michael’s grandmother (which practically becomes my grandmother, too) birthday celebration. We went a bit up north of Bandung, to Ciater, precisely. It’s quite a shame that during my five year living in Bandung I hadn’t been to Ciater, not even once. haha. So I was glad to finally have the chance to visit this well-known place. It was a high land and I gasped quite often at the beautiful scenery along our journey. I can’t get enough of beautiful natural scenery. Tea plantation and pine trees lied on the right and left side of us, everything was in fresh green nuance and just beautiful! The gloomy weather even made a perfect addition to the laid back and relaxed moment we looked forward to.

I’m trying to convince Michael that we should go for a short escape to places of this kind more often (say once a month), also that we should get us a new lens for our camera (canon 24-70mm) or a decent new pocket camera (Fuji Film X100, yes pleaseee), but no luck! Haha. Ok, to my wish list they go! Anyway, this Saturday (tomorrow!!) will be covered a photo shoot for a little project I’ll tell you soon. So excited! Happy Friday, have a good weekend! x

I just added a couple of books into our mini library for me to read. Those are a few who are waiting in line to be read. Last year was a crazy packed one for me, I barely had my me-time to nurture my hobbies and enjoy myself. However, this year, I’ve set a goal or target to read more and more books (at least finishing those pile of books I bought last year). It’s that awesome feeling to flick through the pages, dream myself while reading, contented with the emotion in the story, engage with endless curiosity, and feel relieve at last as I arrive on the last page. Reading books really allow my imagination to go wild and explore things that matter to my mind.

Anyway, last week was quite a whirlwind. Hope this week ahead will be a happy happy one. Have a good Monday and wonderful week, readers! x