Warm Takes

When a gift is never just a gift

We exchange gifts thinking it's a showcase of care. But somewhere between the ribbon and the Instagram story, it can become a form of debt.

Warm Takes

Performing hunger: Notes from behind the café curtain

Is restraint without intent inherently noble in the eyes of the divine, or are we just hungry for the optics?

Warm Takes

Sorry for eating: The month of restraint and our urge to control

Ramadan asks us to practice restraint. But somewhere along the way, we started asking everyone else to practice it too.

Style

Beyond performative: Is he a threat or just a man with a mirror?

Self-expression is about breaking boundaries. Maybe judge him by his character, not his closet.

Warm Takes

A pick-me girl: The woman who wasn’t like other girls

How do you learn to pick yourself when you’ve spent your whole life performing for someone else’s approval?

Warm Takes

The hidden burnout behind self-care

From early morning routines to endless wellness trends, the pressure to recover properly may be exhausting us even more.

Currently Obsessed

I'm a grown-up who found a new music obsession: J-pop boy bands

Turns out, you are never too 'mature' to be a stan.

Warm Takes

Growing in love, shrinking in self

When your relationship reshapes your habits, preferences and identity, how do you know whether you’re growing together or if you’re just disappearing?

Warm Takes

From damsel to baddie: A survival plan for apocalypse

After a birthday hike up Mount Gede, I realized I’d be the first to die in the apocalypse. So I started planning.

Weekend Five

Five exciting Indonesian musicians to jack into in 2026

Looking to refresh your playlist this year? Here are five promising music artists whose recent work feels bold, honest and worth lending your ear.

Family Matters

Cutting ties: What happens when you walk away from family

Cutting off toxic relatives can bring peace, but not without guilt, judgment and hard questions about love, duty and survival.

Table Setting

L’Entrecôte by Bouchon: What's the catch in a Rp 185k steak?

The Union Group’s latest offering is betting you won’t ask after the first bite.

Warm Takes

On the winning side of comparison

The world has become a better place for women, yet it still finds endless ways to pit us against each other.

Warm Takes

Crying in an office toilet stall and calling it adulthood

In a culture that values productivity over people, many of us end up grieving in silence between meetings. Maybe the system is broken, not you.

Wellness

Digital detox: Trading screens for analog snaps

A weekend off the grid won’t change your life, but it might change how you notice it.