Winter Park, Orlando

Lynx Central Station

Super girl

That happy girl, Chanapha Makao

Chanapha is all smile and dreaming about...someone in India, eh ?

    Last week Chanapha Makao and I decided to explore a bit more of Orlando. As much as we love hanging out in Disneyland, to be honest I haven't been to many places in Orlando and we both think it's time to see and experience something different outside Disney's bubble. Couldn't be more excited to start the little adventure with Chanapha, as the first time I met her several months ago - my first impression about her was she's adventurous, random, crazy and really fun to hang out with. In only 4 months working together in Disney, she's just like a little sister to me, I saw her falling in love, dance, sing, eat and then I learnt no matter how far I go, my best friends and family back in Indonesia will always be my first home at heart while currently I am thousand miles away from them, I am doing great with new friends, new family in a new home...and still missing Teh Botol Sosro and nasi padang !!!

     We left early morning from our apartment in Lake Buena Vista, grabbed coffee at Starbucks then took I-ride Trolley from Orlando Premium Outlets at Vineland Ave, to Orlando Premium Outlets at International Drive. From International Drive, we took Lynx Bus no. 8 for $2 to Downtown Orlando. You can actually catch Lynx no.8 from Vineland Avenue straight to Downtown Orlando, but we love riding with I-Ride Trolley simply because it looks like mini tram. Arrived in Lynx Central Station, we took Sunrail train for $2 / one way to Winter Park. Read the train schedule carefully because they're not always departing every 30 minutes, but another transportation option will be several Lynx Bus departs from Lynx Central Station to Winter Park.

     I definitely love the concept of Winter Park, you can feel a bit of European street atmosphere while taking stroll along the arrays of restaurants, boutiques, museums, coffee shop and bars. It wasn't so busy or crowded that day we went there, sometimes Chanapha and I stop for few seconds in front of the shops to admire the designs, take photos and continue walking again, giggling, sat for hours and having coffee at Barnie's Coffee Kitchen after big delicious lunch at Siam Garden Thai Restaurant - which highly recommended to try if you happen to be in the area. Siam Garden Thai restaurant located around 15 minutes walk from Winter Park, try their tom yam, papaya salad, pad thai, fried calamari and ooohhhh iced thai tea !!! Cheap, delicious, excellent service, can't wait to return there and order lots of food. We're going to explore some more places tomorrow, stay tuned on Travelagys for more photos from Orlando

Barnie's Coffee Kitchen, Orlando

One fine day exploring Winter Park, Orlando with my Thai beauty Chanapha Makao. It's been 4 months now living in Orlando, as coffee drinkers we have to admit being thousand miles away from home, we really miss real good Vietnamese and Indonesian coffee... and ahh of course, can't never get enough of Asian food !!! Was so happy to find Barnie's Coffee Kitchen while walking around Winter Park, it's all about the homey atmosphere, wide selections of coffee, perfect companion, a little garden, small bookstore and the smell of Sumatra coffee made me feel like I'm home when I stepped into the coffee kitchen.

Little gem like this place is my favorite spot to spend hours just drowning myself in ideas and dreams, writing what I want to do next, drawing, sitting at my laptop reading good articles or stalking on some great blogs, people-watching, editing photos from my previous trips, and definitely working on my new website which hopefully will be launched in few more days. To be honest, I've never felt so good and this confident being a 25 year old girl. I have learnt a lot, been through ups and downs, experienced different things and traveled to many places, I feel so grateful to live such an extraordinary and colorful life surrounded by bunch of incredible people, with my current job with Disney and got bunch of interesting projects - I couldn't be more optimist and excited for the better things to come in the future.