So if you follow me on instagram you might have known that I had a short 5 days vacation back in June. It was another island vacation. The last island vacay we took was when we went to Belitong island for our first post-pandemic vacay a year ago (will post the outfit from this trip later on). And last month we went to Karimun Jawa island in Central Java region. 

Karimun Jawa is consisted of one bigger island with a few smaller islands surrounding it. If it seems that we always went for island vacation well maybe probably because my big family always love "islands", or maybe because Indonesia have many islands to explore :)

Me personally ? Well I do like an island vacay but I have always been a forest/green mountain girl rather than a beach girl, Except if the beach is on an island rather than a city beach hehe..

Aaanyway, I thought I post some of the pictures here so that I won't lose the photos (I had experienced losing vacation photos before, so for me to put them in this blog acts like an alternative space to store my photos so if I ever lose my files again I would still have them in this blog.

I would also include some ootd photos in order to still get align with this blog's theme :)

So up first would be some beautiful pictures we took from the Karimun Jawa island trip, followed by my vacation outfit photos. We took a train to Semarang (and visited the Lawang Sewu historical building there, which I have wanted to visit to see what it looks like inside. And then from there we took a rented car to go to Jepara (where we stayed overnight) before we crossed the sea by ferry to Karimun Jawa the next day. So you will see some photos from Semarang, our beautiful hotel in Jepara, and photos from Karimun Jawa :)

We visited the most famous building in Semarang : the Lawang Sewu (known as the 1000 doors building). It's called 1000 doors because it has many doors inside and large tall windows that also looks like doors, hence the local people called it "Lawang Sewu" or the building with 1000 doors 😉

I visited Semarang a few times but never had the chance to see the inside of this building, so I was happy to be able to see what the inside looks like. It's an old colonial building and the place is actually nicely reserved, so everything is clean and still looks good. There are guides assigned to you or your group which is very knowledgeable, they can also help you take pictures and knows all the good spots to take photos too :)

I bought the snap on sandals just before the I departed, so it was a quick blind buy 🙈 

I needed a rubber / plasticky sandals to get in and out of the boat because we will be taking traditional boat when island hopping and the last time I did that (in Belitung) my pretty sandals broke hehe. So I needed a new sandals that can be used in and out the water (and must be cheap too so when it broke down I won't cry hihi). Luckily the sandals came in time, and it was kinda cute in real life, with a metallic pink accent on the side too :)

Another old building that I was always curious to see in Semarang other than the Lawang Sewu is the Spiegel building. Spiegel is a cafe / bistro located in another old colonial building in the old town area of Semarang. This building has so many histories. I'm so glad they took great care of this building that were rich in history. Love the ambience decor inside the cafe too. We came there for dinner just before me and hubby departed to Jakarta by train. It was located in kota lama Semarang or the old city area in Semarang - which conveniently is located close to the train station. So we took a walk down a beautiful alley to get to-and-fro the cafe and train station.

All the food and drinks were yummy too, and the service is top notch. Even the bathroom area was really nicely decorated too. We had a good time there and would definitely recommend Spiegel if you have plans to go to Semarang. The price is considered a little bit pricey compared to other Semarang culinary but if compared to Jakarta prices it was about the same price as a good medium-priced resto in Jakarta mall such as Nanny's pavillion, and the likes. 

To be able to cross the straits to Karimun Jawa we chose the route from Jepara. There are ferries every day that would take you to and from Karimun Jawa. We had to spent a night in Jepara because we arrived there late almost midnight, and this is the hotel we stayed in : The Ono Joglo Resort. It's located near the pier for the ferry. It was a very beautiful hotel with the beach right on your hotel's backyard. The beach was rustic and small, it has its own little charm :)

The hotel was too pretty and I can't forget the really nice smelling lobby area (and I forgot to ask what kind of fragrance they used in the lobby). The rooms are spacious and the exterior of the garden area is just too beautiful not to take photos of. Too bad we only stayed there for a brief of time. 

Now this is Karimun Jawa, a group of islands near Jepara bay. This was my first time visiting here and because I love islands so of course I really enjoyed my time here. I always prefer beaches on island instead of city beaches. Island beaches has that perfect tropical vibes and the scenery is always breathtaking, the air is so clean and the color of the sea and sky is just mesmerizing. You will never forget an island vacation for sure :)

Anyway, Karimun Jawa is like other island vacay spots in Indonesia, which means it's very tropical summer vibes, with all the tall coconut trees and soft sands on your feet, clear blue water and beautiful blue horizon. Watersports and island hopping are amongst our favorite past time here. We visited several beaches that are scattered around the main island, this is Bobby Beach, the most beautiful beach in Karimun Jawa.

The above was the Sunset Beach in Karimun Jawa. We spent the morning in Bobby beach and in the afternoon we headed here to Sunset beach to do some watersports and watch the sunset. This was another rustic beach, there were no parking area, just park amongst the trees, follow the rustic path down into the hidden beach. What a beautiful memories here too...

Another memory special to me is the last picture above was taken by my cousin who sadly passed away about 3 months after our Karimun Jawa vacation :(

Hair Tie : bought in Ace Hardware


And this is from when we visited a cafe after dinner by the pier. Surprisingly the cafe life in Karimun Jawa are quite good. There are several cute little cafes and not too many nightlife so it's perfect for that laidback island living (I personally don't really like nightlife as I am getting old now hehe).

Sling Bag : Wishmical (via IG @wishmical)



Okay that's it guys!

I hope we all can have holidays soon, and please do take care :)

May we all are blessed with good health, wealth, and happiness.

Toodles,