I am a writer and a nomadic at heart. Although I realised the past four years starting my own creative entrepreneurship has brought me all these sort of skills as the jack of all trades. I used to co-owned a homestay in Sanur, Bali and used to co-owned a small warung in Nitiprayan, Yogyakarta. But nowadays, I am focussing on my own products and small coming up personal projects while constantly travelling around the country or overseas.

I am currently setting up a workshop for my body (and soul) care product line called BANYURIPAN (means the water of life) together with a local soap artisan in our artist’s village. Yes, my village - NITIPRAYAN - is pretty cool, you should explore them while in Jogjakarta.

I can share a contemporary Indonesian history crash course on the dining table since I used to teach creative writing for history students. I cook and bake, so there's always food and love to share around. I love literature and I am also into spirituality.

If I am not in town, usually you can find me roaming around Northern India or back to Nepal. I have a special connection with the Himalaya, so I always go back there from time to time.

PHILOSOPHY

"I feel like 17, 21 again, for ever. Like Toru, I'm the one who survived those ages. I'm the one who came out from this book living. And I feel sad, like wanting to run away from Tokyo wandering with a backpack at my back, spacing out and eating nothing. All those damn memories, all those weight of depression, all those loneliness, all those fucking, all those love, and all those lost. In so many Sundays I would pass, the "quiet, peaceful and lonely" Sundays until I'm 37 and hearing "Norwegian Wood" on some plane going somewhere."
- Personal quote review on haruki murakami 'norwegian wood'

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."
- Jalaludin Muhammad Rumi

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am open to host or to meet up if I have a spare time. Travel has been opening my eyes to meet people, getting the connection and learn so much about the world.

Interests

I'm always intrigued to learn about new things. Art, culture, history, food and literature are my favorite things. But spending time and best moments with people, sharing laugh, emotions and stories are what I love best.

• arts
• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• chinese food
• organic food
• yoga
• meditation
• walking
• traveling
• backpacking
• entrepreneurship
• history
• languages
• spirituality
• buddhism
• tibet
• india
• nepal

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm a Wong Kar Wai fans, "Happy Together", "In the Mood for Love" and "2046" are just the ultimate master pieces. I love Pedro Almodovar's also. But sometimes dramatic and kungfu movies entertain me too :D

My range of music depends on my moods but I tend to go for the oldies stuff. Yeah, those classic Nat King Cole ones of my dad's collections.

Books are basically my only treasure. Literature/history/philosophy/social political/art and culture are my range of interests. And recipe books also :P My favorite authors are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Pablo Neruda, Frederico Garcia Lorca, Amitav Ghosh, Su Tong, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Eka Kurniawan, Mo Yan, Jalaludin Mohammed Rumi, Haruki Murakami, Urvashi Butalia, and a whole lot more.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Standing at 6000+M in Tibetan Friendship High Way, seeing the peak of the world from a far at 30. It was epic.

Teach, Learn, Share

I often work among my travels and share the experience here:
http://astridreza.blog

While my fictions and other published writings are here:
http://astridreza.com

I can give you a crash course in Indonesian contemporary history. I can teach you many fusion of cooking. I grew up in Dutch Chinese Peranakan indonesian culture, so a lot of mix in the food that I grew up with. I cook with love. I can share my meditation and journey across the Himalayan terrain and also my father spiritual heritage of the Javanese people.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand