Tiramisu for the Soul!

Bibimbap Bento

2011-02-25T12:59:00.001+07:00

The idea of preparing bento for the kids is mainly to encourage them to eat healthy meal. I find it to be a challenge sometimes because I tend to want to put more fresh fruits & vegetables than processed food but often Mic came home with the lunch box still full of food. When I asked her why she didn't finished her food, she would say she prefer fried food more than vegetables or fruits. Well, I'm just going to keep trying to include as much vegetables as I could & also put fried food occasionally.

While thinking about what bento to make, Bibimbap came to mind. I love Bibimbap because it's simple, fresh, healthy meal & it's easy to prepare. So I decided to make one for Mic the next day. To make her excited, I told her that she could have fun mixing the food before she eats it & I could see her bright round eyes sparkled just hearing me say it.

Inside the Bibimbap bento: salmon fried rice topped with finely sliced vegetables (carrots, corn, bakcoy),sliced egg & princess tiara shaped smoked beef. To prepare the salmon fried rice, I fried finely chopped garlic, rice & salmon with butter & seasoned it with fish sauce & salt. For the toppings, just stir fry individually for while until ready.

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Love light

2010-12-14T09:40:00.001+07:00

You're a darling
You're more beautiful than the stars above in the night sky
The shining thing deep inside my heart
My own love light

D-2 before Mic's school holiday. Although we're not planning any special trip during this holiday, I'm still looking forward to it. I'm going to spend some time with Mic cooking, baking and making things together. Not forgetting Marc, he would almost help with everything messy. It'll be a lot of fun.

Today's bento made of bear shaped rice, seaweed egg rolls, shimeji mushroom and carrot stir fry, corned beef and sliced chicken. Let's just say I was inspired by CNBlue's Love Light song. I listen to this song almost everyday. Although Yonghwa made this song thinking about his first love, I relate it more to my kids. Because they're my own love lights, which give me lights whenever they're near me and shine the dark places inside my heart.

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A Tale of Fries & Little Sunshine

2010-12-03T22:14:00.001+07:00

It was hot & humid at lunch time today. I picked up Mic from school at 12pm then after finishing the remaining of her lunch box, we went straight to her Kumon lesson. There's something about Kumon that brought my mood down. Most of the times, I would sit for hours in the waiting room until she finished with her lesson. Great day, she'll be out in 30 minutes. Good day, she'll be out in 1 hour. Normal day, she'll be out in 2 hours.

I gave Mic a hug to encourage her to finish early & told her I'd buy her an ice snack when she finish, preferably early. She smiled back at me and her eyes smiled too, how could I ever get mad looking at my cute girl. While waiting, I played around with my iPhone, thankfully, because if it wasn't for it, I'd get bored instantly, sitting in this packed room with no air con, surrounded by maids and moms who were having the same faith as I was.

Two hours later, Mic's Kumon teacher came looking for me to tell me that Mic had fallen asleep in the middle of her lesson. I sighed and was slightly embarrassed but thought maybe she was too tired after all and gently woke her up and decided to bring her home. This is the conversation I had with Mic on the way to the car:

Me: "So.. Since you're sleepy, should we not go to the dessert house to grab that ice kacang?"
Mic: "Yes.. Mom.." while nodded with sleepy eyes.
Me: "Not even a hotdog or burger?"
Mic shook her head lightly.
Mic: "No.. Too sleepy.. Let's go home."
Me: "How about some fries?"
Mic paused slightly.
Mic: "Mmhhh.. Well.. If it's fries.. I might... Ummhh.. I think I could managed to stay awake for a bit"
I tried to hold my laugh and looked at Mic. She was doing the same thing and I noticed her eyes glowed and her face brightened up.

So.. We walked a little bit further to the dessert house to grab that fries & shaved ice with fruits. Looking at the happy face across me, I suddenly felt sunshine coming from my heart, well, literally anyway, but I'm sure I'm the luckiest mom in the whole world.

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Salt & Pepper Chicken Chops

2010-12-03T20:55:00.001+07:00

I guess most of you guys already know how my husband loves chicken. Well, now two of my kids are pretty much following their dad's footstep. So chicken is frequently making an appearance in my kitchen. In fact, I have to say I'm pretty good with chicken dishes. I guess that's got something to do with survival.

The recipe I'm sharing is salt & pepper chicken chops. I guess you guys must've tried this dish before, maybe with pork, beef, squid etc. I love it too & occasionally I order them in restaurants. My personal favorite places that serves the best salt & pepper chops I've tried is got to be claimed by these two Melbourne restaurants:
1. Lingnam, at Lt. Bourke St
Tender juicy chicken chops coated in light crispy flour, couldn't quite figured out what sort of flour mixture they use but it's so yummy.
2. SengHing, at Caufield
I usually ordered the pork chops here, it's crisp coated w perfect spices mixture & I love their homemade sambal here; such a perfect companion.

Salt & pepper chicken chops

Ingredients:
Chicken chops
Egg, beaten
Corn flour
Salt
Pepper
Onion, chopped finely
Garlic, chopped finely
Chilli, chopped finely
Oil for deep frying

Methods:
1. Clean chicken chops, cut into desired portions, marinade with egg, salt, leave it for 30 minutes.
2. When chops are ready, lightly coat it with corn flour. Deep fry in medium heat until crisp & golden brown.
3. Heat oil, stir fry onion, garlic, chilli until the flavor comes out. Add salt & pepper. Toss chicken chops back & mix well.
4. Ready to serve :)

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CNBLUE Singapore Concert

2010-08-22T15:39:00.000+07:00

Hi All, just got home from flight back from SG after seeing CNBlue's Mini Live,
and I just want to share my 1st time experience watching them live asap, while it's still fresh in my memory

They performed 9 songs (well, 10 songs if count 'Sunday Morning' sang by Jonghyun during sound problem)
1. Intro
2. Let's go crazy
3. Love revolution (Jungshin sang the parts before reff, before they start Yonghwa asked do u all know this song? fans screamed Yeah!!

Then they introduced themselves in English, must say they are so funny when they speak in English but really like their effort and confidence in speaking English with the audiences, after Minhyuk introduced the next song they want to play, but there's some sound problem, so Minhyuk ran real fast to backstage to inform, then Jonghyun sang a bit of Sunday morning, until they finally sing the next song.

4. I'm a Loner
5. Love light (Yonghwa was saying something but fans were too loud, so he said sshhhhh in the cutest possible way and goes playing Love Light, in the middle Yonghwa asked audience to sing along, and fans did, he said Woww!!

6. Love (I just find it funny that Yonghwa most likely hinted that we should shout encore if we want some more haha)

Encore:
7. I'm a Loner Burning version (Yonghwa asked all audiences to stand up and rock!! and it was burning in the house alright )
8. One Time (honestly, I didn't really like this song before I heard it live, but after, the song sounded so good, and can't get it out of my head, this perf is my fave in this live mini concert)
9. Now or never (Yonghwa's voice a little bit off near the end part & he did apologised for mistakes they made on performing during ask the question part, our perfectionist leader

Then it's ask question, which sent by fans and chosen, I think around 10 qns,
the questions asked I like it because it's not the typical your ideal girl and dream date kinda questions and I learned new things from their answers.
#When asked whether they want to try other music genre than the one they playing now, Yonghwa said rather than choosing a genre, they want to find their own color of music which hopefully will create a genre which is CNBlue's own.
#Chilli crab question arised, but I didn't really hear properly but Yonghwa said something like they haven't been able to try it yet, but they have their own schedule of eating chilli crab, but I'm not too sure as I couldn't hear it
#Career they would choose if they're not in CNBlue, Jungshin answered photographer, Jonghyun said Athlete, when Yonghwa want to answer, a fan yelled SNSD, Yonghwa laughed then showed his couple ring, fans cheered, Yonghwa answered shoe designer, for Minhyuk he wants to be a CNBlue fan since he loves CNBlue so much

Then grant a wish part, chosen random fans get:
-pics with CNBlue
-hugs CNBlue
-signed CNBlue cd
-serenade (song for a fool)

Then special gifts, 4 gifts (Jungshin: signed tshirt, Jonghyun: signed guitar pick, Yonghwa: signed guitar pick, Minhyuk: drumsticks; when Yonghwa want to pass the gift, MC said sorry your girl is not here yet, Yonghwa pouts and pretended to be angry)

After, CNBlue received their surprises from fans, Cake & Video, prepared by cnbluesgfc, when Minhyuk saw the part he made a cameo on OC MV, he was so embarrased, same thing with Yonghwa when he saw the part where he danced genie on WGM

My personal thoughts, I disagree with Yonghwa, he looks sooo much better in person, his fun, outgoing and handsome personality really shines, he's really the mood maker. also Jonghyun, Minhyuk, Jungshin, they all look so good. Can feel their passions for music when they performed and I could sense they are overwhelmed by the well receptions they get overseas (apart from Korea and Japan) but they are happily receive all that by giving their best performances.

Promotor and ticketing wise, the worst ever I've encountered, please CNBlue, if you coming back to have a full concert, do not go with Prooflabel and Gatecrash again, although I think they did put a lot of efforts, still mistakes like they did shouldn't happened and some fans suffer, it's just because our love for CNBlue that make us compromise with it. Imagine this, the ticketing actually paid me money to compensate for my inconvinience. They must've screwed up big time.

Overall, I had a great time watching CNBlue and their live performance was awesome. I really love bands and to me they are on one of my have to watch list. But Jewel still holds the best live performance I've seen.

Edit: I also spotted Boices from Japan. They made such a cute board sign. CNBLUE must be so happy to know Boices from different countries came to support their Asian showcase which started in Singapore. That included me, who's from Indonesia.

Baby no more

2010-07-15T13:49:00.000+07:00

Today was Mic first day at kindergarten. It was a challenge waking her up in the morning and getting her ready for school. Marc, however, was all prepared and waiting excitingly for his sister. On the way to school, I recollected my memory four years ago when I gave birth to Mic and was so overjoyed with learning motherhood. Now, as a mother, I keep learning new things every single day and hope to be a better mom.

For Mic's bento, I prepared something simple but filled with her favourite stuffs, sweet potato fried noodles with prawns, mushrooms, bokcoy & quail eggs.

Ahhh.. Feels like my girl is baby no more.

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Waraku, big bowls & me

2010-07-12T19:35:00.000+07:00

It's been a while since I posted something. Yesterday night, we tried Waraku Dining for the first time. It's sister company of Pasta de Waraku whom we had tried before.

The interior and display of the restaurant has the same feel as its sister company. The food offered, however are quite different. The menu list many things such as Udon, Ramen, Sushi & Rice dishes. The one that catched my interest was their creamy udon range. My first thought was how would they incorporate cream sauce with a very japanese udon, so I decided to order one. The other choices were the spicy tori karaage ramen, the set menu & kids meal for Mic.

We didn't have to wait long until the food are served. I was really shocked by the size of the serving bowl. It was so huge. For the price, the portion was quite generous.

Inside kids menu were oyako-don, ebi tempura, tori karaage, tamagoyaki, egg & potato salad, fries, orange juice & ice cream, plus toys for kids to bring home.

Inside set menu hubby ordered were cold soba & udon, katsu-don & pickles.

I ordered salmon & cod roe creamy udon. I ended up sharing it with hubby & kids since it was too much for me. They gave plenty of udon, salmon slices & cod roe. The kids totally love it. The sauce was so yummy, it was addictive.

My mom & dad ordered the tori karaage spicy ramen. It was tasty and so fulfilling. Again, the portion was generous, filled with lots of chunky tender tori karaage, crisp beanshoot slices & wakame. My mom is a fan of spicy food and she told me it has one of the best soup taste.

Would I recommend it? Totally!

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Tic toc tic toc Sweet

2010-05-21T08:39:00.002+07:00

Hands up anyone who loves cereal and milk for breakfast. I am a cereal and milk person too. My favorite one is Sultana Bran, but since it's so expensive here in Indonesia (only imported ones available for Sultana Bran), I usually buy other type which already produced locally such as Corn Flakes, Coco Pops and Rice Krispies.

This cereals can also be made into a quick yummy snack for kids and since it's so simple to prepare, you can ask your kids to help you make it. Mic always volunteered to help me since she knows she get to eat chopped chocolate beforehand and after she would lick the bowl for remaining melted
chocolate. She also enjoys decorating them.

The original recipe is from Annabel Karmel. The one I provide is a modified version of it to suit our taste.

Ingredients:
100g Rice Krispies
20g Raisins
125g White Chocolates, chopped
30g Butter
10g Corn syrup

Methods:
1. Combine rice krispies with sultana then set aside.
2. Boil some water in a saucepan. Put white chocolate with butter and corn syrup into a heat proof bowl, place bowl on top of saucepan and stir until melted.
3. Stir the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients until they are well coated.
4. Scoop the mixture into small cupcake liners. Put in the fridge to set.

I made around 30 mini rice cupcakes and within 30 minutes it's down to half. The next morning, they're all gone. It's that yummy! But I don't mind making them everyday since it's so easy and simple to make :)

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Pasta story

2010-05-14T20:18:00.000+07:00

Our family love pasta very much. We often have it since my husband and the kids preferred it more than rice. Even if you ask me to cook fried rice or pasta, I would choose the later. That's how confident I am with pasta.

While I'm not fanatic with one particular kind of pasta, we do have our own favorite. Hubby loves fusilli and ravioli. I like spaghetti and lasagna. Mic preferred macaroni and fettucini. Lastly, Marc loves tiny macaroni. As well as the sauce, hubby loves carbonara, I like marinara, Mic loves creamy mushroom and Marc usually eat it with soup.

Sorry for not providing any recipe for this post, since I usually change the ingredients everytime and I usually cook pasta at least 2-3 times a week, so it's pretty confusing on which one I should put as recipe. But I promise I'll share one next time.

Have a great weekend guys!!

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Tori no karaage

2010-05-06T09:03:00.000+07:00

Tori no karaage (Japanese deep fried chicken) is probably one of my all time favorite japanese dish. If I go to a japanese restaurant, I would order this just to compare the taste from different places. My favorite karaage place is still the one I used to eat in Melbourne. Forgot the name, but it's japanese bento place owned by Cantonese people (surprisingly!) near my workplace on Bourke St.

The recipe, again, is a simplified and modified version, because as you guys know, I'm such a lazy bum. If I could cut down 5 minutes of cooking time to get more time sleeping, I'd do that.

Ingredients:
Chicken thigh fillets, cut to bite size.
Teriyaki sauce.
Ginger, tiny bit.
Cornstarch flour.

Methods:
1. Marinade chicken fillets with teriyaki sauce and ginger. Original recipe asked for mirin, soy sauce and sugar, and if you prefer to go by the book feel free to do so, but I've tried cooking with both and there were no significant difference in taste and appearance. With every chicken dishes, I always sprinkled lime juice when I clean the chicken to get rid of the smell. Leave chicken to marinade for at least 30 minutes.

2. Drain chicken well, toss it in a plastic bag filled with cornstarch flour. Shake the bag until the chicken coats well.

3. Shake off excess flour and fry in small batches until it's golden brown. Serve with mayonaise as dipping sauce.

Also, don't substitute thigh with breast fillets as it won't taste as good. I usually buy heaps of thigh fillets and marinade them in big batches and store them in freezer. So whenever I want to make teriyaki chicken or karaage I can use them. But looking at my hubby's portion, he would finish them no matter how many pieces I prepared. In a way, I'm happy that he enjoyed my cooking, but as well as worry about the groceries budget. That's why I gave up on sticking to the budget long time ago :)

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Homemade Samgyupsal

2010-05-05T23:43:00.000+07:00

My hubby just love to eat samgyupsal (korean grilled belly pork). Usually we would go out to eat those but since that last trip to the korean mart, I still had belly pork in the freezer, so I decided to give it a try and cook it at home.

Again, like my other recipes, it's so simple. I hardly tried on cooking something tremendously hard and time wasting because I just don't have the skill and patience to try them.

Ingredients:
Belly pork, sliced and cut accordingly
Lettuce leaves
Sesame oil, salt, pepper

Methods:
1. Heat some oil in pan/grill. I used my happy call pan. Cook the belly pork until it's done. I actually cooked mine too long so it ended up tiny bit crunchy.
2. Mix sesame oil, salt and pepper in a bowl for dipping sauce. To eat, take some lettuce leaf, dip the pork in dipping sauce then wrap it with lettuce leaf and eat.

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Happy 1st Birthday Lovely Marcel

2010-05-04T23:25:00.000+07:00

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Anpanman Bento

2010-04-22T19:34:00.000+07:00

It's been a while since I thought of trying an Anpanman themed bento. Today I was able to do so. Mic asked for noodles on her bento. Now that I thought about it, she has been making many requests for her bento. She's a very critical girl. When she thought of something, she would tell us in full explanations. Coincidently, this month's theme for her class is birthday and today the class was having a birthday event. Having that in mind, I tried to incorporate a birthday element to the bento, that's when I decided on Anpanman wearing a party hat.

Inside the bento is two-color fried noodles with salmon and mushroom. Anpanman is made of chicken burger patty, sausages, tomato, nori and smoked beef for the party hat. After school, I asked Mic what's inside her bento and she told me it's a clown. Well, she does have a good point. But, I still insist that it's Anpanman :)

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Baby Marc is eleven months old ^^

2010-04-07T00:45:00.000+07:00

Early morning

Fresh from the shower

Smile adorably

Smells like heavenly fresh

Mommy is really bad at making poems

But I'll try for my angel, who's a step closer turning to 1

Tokpokki tok garetok

2010-03-31T12:44:00.001+07:00

As I have mentioned before, I currently love the Sweet potato couple on Korean TV MBC 'We Got Married'. On the couple 2nd episode, they had ramyun tokpokki at 2am. I've shown that particular scene to my hubby and he commented on how yummy it looks and how I haven't cook one for ages.

I nodded and thought aahh, my hubby's right. It's probably been over 2 yrs since I last made one for him. My hubby loves tokpokki a lot. Back in Melbourne, we used to go to this two korean restaurants which tokpokki really suit our taste.

A few days ago, hubby told me he really want to eat tokpokki and this banchan (I don't know the name in korean, but it's made of dried anchovies and flat fishcakes). I said let's go to shopping for the ingredients the next day. I had to ask him to drive me there since I was not confident that I could make it back home with my poor driving skill. So we went with MiC the next day and bought all the necessary ingredients.

*preparation*

*tokpokki non spicy for Mic*

*tokpokki end result*

If you ask me the proper recipe to tokpokki, I wouldn't know. This recipe I've been using is made of many trial and error and online recipe research which I think suit my family's taste. I added and changed some, for example, original recipe requires corn syrup or sugar but I find it too sweet for my taste so I excluded that and instead I use sweet chilli sauce to give the slightly sweet and spicy flavour.

My method of cooking is also slightly different. In Korea, I think they boil the water and then add the ingredients. For me, I prefer to fry the onions first then add remaining ingredients and lastly add water.

Ingredients:
Korean long rice cakes
Fishcake
Sausages
Onion
Scallions
Gochuchang (Korean red pepper paste)
Chilli sauce ( I use Indonesian brands: sambal belibis)
Oyster sauce
Sesame oil
Salt
Olive oil

Method:
1. Cut rice cakes to suitable length and soak in hot water for around 5 minutes.
2. Heat some olive oil in wok, fry the onion, then add fishcakes and sausages, fry for a while then add boiling water.
3. Add rice cake, salt, oyster sauce.
4. Mix some gochuchang and sweet chilli sauce with a little bit of water then add to wok. Let it simmer until rice cakes are ready and liquid has thicken.
5. Add scallions and sesame oil and it's ready to serve.

I like to add boiled eggs to mine as well, since my hubby loves eggs.

*Cheerful Mic*

*Happy hubby*

*Actually, I did gave some for Marc to taste, he liked it too*

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Spongebob

2010-03-25T09:18:00.000+07:00

The bento consists of macaroni & tiny alphabet pasta with salmon in creamy mushroom sauce, quaill eggs braised in light soy sauce and Lotte koala biscuits. Spongebob is made with sliced cheese decorated with quaill egg & nori.

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Be a star!

2010-03-24T08:32:00.002+07:00

Yesterday I went to the local market to do my groceries. I bought two items from organic section, one is tiny alphabet pasta and the other one is dry sweet potato noodles.

The sweet potato noodle somehow relates to my other current obsession, which is this Korean variety show 'We Got Married' couple, CNBlue Yonghwa and SNSD Seohyun, also known as the Sweet Potato Couple. It also relates to Mic's current obsession for Purple. Nowadays, she would ask for anything in purple and she was happy when I showed her the purple coloured noodle.

So, the bento theme is be a star. I want to encourage Mic to always try her best in everything she does so she can shine in her own way. Not necessarily being the top of her class but just small thing, like be thoughtful to her friends at school and play happily with all of them. That, I think is more important to learn.

Inside the bento were sweet potato noodles with prawns and white shimeji mushrooms, potato salads, star shaped hard boiled egg, green beans and star shaped carrots.

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All about MiC

2010-03-19T13:55:00.000+07:00

Being a relatively new parent is like entering school for the first time. We always learn new things everyday and you never know what surprises you might encounter. Before becoming a mother, I said to myself that I would do the best for my kids. In reality, there are some occasions when I just want to give up and felt that I was doing a really bad job as a mother. But even so, I would gather back all my strength and continue to learn how to become better each day.

One thing I really want my kids to know, is that I always support them in everything that they do. Having thought of that, I decided on making MiC her own themed bento. I hope she can feel how proud I am of her.

The bento is made of pink coloured rice balls shaped and decorated to resembles MiC. The pink colour is from red spinach leaves. The rest are sausages rolled in noodles, broccoli, carrots and mandarin oranges. After school, I asked MiC what today's bento look like and she happily answered MiC!!

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Orange and Healthy

2010-03-18T08:39:00.001+07:00

This month, MiC's class will focus on vegetables. She came home from school singing carrot song a few days ago. I thought it would be cool to make veggie themed bento to support her enthusiasm.

Well, the carrot part was supposed to be more detailed but since I woke up late this morning, I made the best I could with the limited time.

This bento is made of carrot shaped rice mix with tobiko, fried white shimeji mushrooms, sausages rolls and boiled egg with tobiko toppings.

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Happy 10th Months Baby MarC

2010-03-05T14:18:00.000+07:00

One of the best moment in life as parent is probably watching our kids grow day by day. MarC is ten months now although he looks way bigger. People came up to me and didn't believe that he's still a baby. MarC's nanny and I were overwhelmed with the attentions people give to MarC, we would be bombarded with questions, such as what does he eat, his brand of milk etc.

As a ten months old baby, MarC has been the sweetest, likes to smile and easily get amused by simple things. He's very energetic, way more than MiC, and I thought MiC was energetic enough haha. Surprisingly, MiC has been a great big sister to MarC. At first, I was worried that she'd be jealous with the attentions we give MarC, but for a three y.o, she's really an understanding kid.

Those two are my pride and joy, my purpose of always trying my best in everything that I do.

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Keroppi bento

2010-03-04T08:49:00.000+07:00

Usually when choosing what character bento I want to make, I'd ask MiC what she likes. So far, her requests were simple enough to make. Yesterday she told me she wanted Princess themed bento. Well, that was pretty difficult one for me to do, so I told her I'll make her Doraemon instead since it's cuter. MiC then answered,"So, the princess is hard for you to do, right mommy?". Totally got me there, a smart kid she is.

Well, had spinach in my fridge so I though I try something green, that's when I decided on Keroppi. Sanrio characters had always been my favourites since small. So I was drawing the layout when MiC saw me and wanted to do the same thing. Afterward, she showed me her drawing which made me proud of her. She could pretty much copied what I've drawn, including Keroppi and hearts.

Hopefully MiC would enjoy eating this one. The bento made up of spinach rice, broccoli, egg and ham. Eat plenty my girl. Now, I can't wait till Marc is big enough so I can make bento for him as well and try more of boys themed bento.

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Bento & iPhone

2010-03-02T09:39:00.000+07:00

1st post from iPhone, using Blogpress apps pretty neat apps I might say.

Hello kitty bento with egg rice, sausages, cauliflower and broccoli, prepared for MiC.

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Happy 6th Months baby MarC

2009-11-21T01:59:00.000+07:00

I still can remember clearly, the day that I was about to give birth to MarC. It was early dawn and everybody else were still asleep. Arrived in hospital at 4am and five hours later, this beautiful baby came to our life. Time sure fly so fast and Marc is now bigger, healthy and strong, and to that, I thank God for the most precious gift.

Big Sis Lil' Bro

2009-10-27T22:37:00.000+07:00

Our Bond are Forever....

2009-08-09T17:40:00.001+07:00

Marc and Mom - Selca

2009-07-20T23:58:00.002+07:00

Billboard for Mic

2009-07-16T22:36:00.003+07:00

Marcel almost one month

2009-06-03T17:27:00.003+07:00

I've been so busy preparing for Mic's upcoming birthday party and Marc's one month. If you're wondering about the photos above, it's for Marc's one month gift pack. Actually, nowadays you can ordered cake with photo on top of the cake, and you could actually eat the photo. But since it's kind of costly and just the feeling how weird it is to eat someone's baby photo, we're just going to stick it on the packaging :).

Five Minute Breakfast

2009-05-27T19:08:00.006+07:00

I tried making this after watching Nigella on TV. I'm sure her version was perfect but since I didn't have all the ingredients available, I simplify the recipe. You'll be surprised this yummy breakfast treat is so easy to make.

Doughnuts French Toast
Ingredients:
Bread
Egg
Milk
Butter
Oil
Sugar

Beat the egg with milk, for every slice of bread, use one egg and four tbsp of milk.
Cut the bread into half and soak them well both side in the egg mixture.
Heat butter and oil in a frying pan, and fry the soaked bread until golden on both side.
Pour plenty of sugar (you can use any type of sugar you like, caster/brown/icing) on a plate and then dip the fried bread until it is well coated.

Beach Day

2009-02-17T17:10:00.011+07:00

Continuation of the Melbourne vacation... Beautiful Sunday....such a waste to stay at home, so we decided to head to St.Kilda Beach. Found a parking spot and straight we off to find place to eat lunch. Plenty of nice cafes and restaurants but we decided on the old good Fish and Chips. Vic ordered a huge sets for us...

*Mic and Uncle Vic eating Fish and Chips*

Afterward, Luna Park is our next destination. Mic wanted to go on a Ferris Wheel, but she's still too small for the ride, so she settled for a Carousel instead.

*Mic's Carousel ride with Emily*

*Uncle Vic: Mic, do you want some cotton candy?*
*Mic: Yes, thank you*
*Mic grabs a fistful and shuffle it all in her mouth*

Then, heading to the beach, was kinda windy, but we played there for a while and had fun.

Happy New Year

2009-02-14T15:44:00.003+07:00

I know it's way too late to say Happy New Year now... but it's better than never... hehehe... Been so busy with chores and work after the long hiatus to spare time for blogging...A lot will happen this year... a new Baby will join us, Mic's entering preschool, expansion of the shop, Just hope that this year will be better than next year...

Raining Melbourne....

2008-12-17T20:05:00.013+07:00

Day Five in Melbourne, start of weekend, Saturday, Initial plan was to go to Strawberry and Cherry farm, but the weather forecasts said it was going to rain with storm Saturday and Sunday, so we canceled the plan and decided to have free day. Lunch time, we headed to Holmesglen for some Korean food. Restaurant called Kimchi Friends, somehow reminds me a lot of this Korean restaurant in Glenferrie (just couldn't recall the name since it's been three years since I've been there).

Vic and Emily ordered the Spicy Baby Octopus meal, Vemby ordered the Spicy Rice Cake meal, and I ordered the Beef Bulgogi meal (save choice since I'm sharing the meal with Mic, she can't eat anything spicy yet), and we sharing Fried Mang-Du (Korean Dumplings) for appetisers. Food came and the servings were very generous. Each meal came with some side dishes and soup.

*Spicy Rice Cake*

*Vic with his meal, Spicy Baby Octopus*

*Mang-Du (Korean Dumplings), nearly empty*

*Mic and me patiently waiting for our meal to come ^-^*

Afterward, we went to Chadstone Shopping Centre, since it was raining. Did some shopping and walking around, and before we go home, we stop by at Nando's to takeaway some Chickens for dinner.

*Mic in Toys R Us*

*Waiting on Nando's Chicken*

This Nando's place brought back some memories to me, since I used to work there when it first started for some training. The place has gotten a lot nicer since. The end of raining Saturday.

Food,,, food and more food...

2008-12-14T16:33:00.014+07:00

Told you before... the trip to Melbourne are more like food trip to me :P. Day Three, woke up really late, went to Chadstone at 2pm and had lunch in the Food Court, Fish and Chips for Mic. Afterward we took Mic to see Suga, the famous candy shop, where you can actually see them make one. Then we took her to Toys R Us, initially so she can feel happy seeing toys and playing with them. Somehow, she convinced us to buy this guitar toy for her, and only on the third day. Sigh... smart kid I have indeed...

*Mic eating Fish&Chips at Chadstone*

Day Four, Friday... means... the day before weekend... For lunch, we went to Pho Jung in Springvale, very close to Vic's place. When I was pregnant with Mic, I had only two cravings, one of them was Pho (Vietnamese Beef noodle soup). Vemby had to take me all over Jakarta to find one that's close to the one they have here. We had that for four days straight. Mic loved it, she finished the whole thing from the bowl I gave her.

*Mic at Pho Jung, Springvale... yummy...*

Then heading to City, to pick up Vic and Emily. They told us there's this place at Lygon st that serves Chocolate Pizza. Heavy traffic jam due to the rain and the fact that it was Friday night but we managed to get to the place. The waiter and the pizza guy were really friendly. They gave Mic some coloured pens so she can draw while waiting for the food to come. The pizza guy gave Mic a small dough, he told her to go make him a pussy cat and he will bake it for her so she can bring it home. The Pastas were excellent and Chocolate Pizza was exceptionally delicious... really... That one menu alone made a pregnant woman really happy. Finish the day with Gelato, Mic chose cookies and green tea flavour but they have tons of other yummy flavours.

*Nice staff gave Mic some pens, she's having fun drawing*

*Before and After, the pizza dough that pizza guy gave Mic to play with*

*House Specialty Pasta with Smoked Salmon, very nice, Vic recommended this one*

*The Famous Chocolate Pizza, To Die For*

*Mic and the friendly staff*

Melbourne Update

2008-12-14T13:25:00.009+07:00

It's so good to be back here in Melbourne. Glad to bring my daughter, Mic, to see where I actually spent most of my time in the last ten years, and of course, where I met her Daddy. Staying over at Vic's place (Vemby's brother) at Noble Park. First day, we went to this Malaysian restaurant called Kotaraja, but I was too tired to take any photos. Before that, we managed to grab something from Seng Hing at Caufield on our way home from the airport *smiles* the Salt&spicy Deep Fried Pork Chop. I just wish that this trip won't be so food oriented, but just can't help it, since I miss all the food in Melbourne. But we're planning some fun things for Mic as well...

*Mic and Mommy near Vic's place*

*Mic in front of Uncle Vic's house*

Second day, Vic and Emily (Vic's girlfriend) took us to this dumpling restaurant at Box Hill. My first thought was... mmhh Box Hill... gotta go to BBQ Hills... where I normally went for lunch and dinner countless of times, but since it's dumpling restaurant I thought of Shanghai dumpling restaurant. But then I was surprised to find that the restaurant is not from Shanghai. It's called Beijing Dumplings, but Emily told me it's famous where she came from (Harpin). It was the best dumplings I've had so far, far better than the one I usually had. Noodles was also very nice, with extremely big portion. Glad that they introduced me to this new restaurant.

*Emily and Vic at Beijing Dumplings at Boxhill*

Best Japanese Food

2008-12-07T15:42:00.006+07:00

Last Sunday, we took Mic to her Oma Lanny's place at Casablanca Apartment, Kuningan. Traffic was insane...took us nearly three hours to get there. Once we arrived there, we went straight to Genroku, the Japanese Restaurant located inside the Apartment building, since it was 2pm and way past Mic's lunch time.

We ordered the Kid's Meal for Mic, Katsudon to Udon for Vemby and Sashimi Tempura Bento for me. Something about Genroku which really makes me feel comfortable there, plus the decor that's true Japanese, makes me feel like actually being in japan.

Kid's meal came first, it consists of Yakimeshi (fried rice), Yakisoba (fried noodle), Prawn Tempura, Karaage (fried chicken), Tamagoyaki, Jelly and Yakult drink. The taste is kid friendly but still very tasty and they also put lots of hidden vegetables, smart Chef :)

Then came our meal, Vemby's one, Katsudon to Udon, consists of big bowl of Katsudon (deep fried pork cutlet on rice), bowl of Udon soup, Salad and Nikujaga (japanese stew). My meal, Sashimi Bento, consists of Sashimi, Tempura, Sushi rolls and Cold Soba.

Out of all the Japanese restaurant I've been to, Genroku serves the best Japanese food. Everytime, they never fail to amaze me with different meals I've tasted. Servings was plenty, quality of food is excellent and the place is very surreal. And for the price they charge, it's very well worth coming here...
After lunch, we continue to the kid's playing area and playground... this apartment has good facilities and Mic enjoyed her time playing non stop.

Birthday @ Satoo

2008-12-03T17:52:00.007+07:00

Celebrated my Mom's birthday last friday night at Satoo Restaurant. It's an All you can eat buffet at Hotel Shangrila, Jakarta. Worst part was trying to get there on time. I head off early at 4pm, wanting to get Mic first at Kelapa Gading. Two hours later, still stuck in heavy traffic, I decided to scratch 'the picking up Mic first' plan, and just go straight to Satoo. Finally after alot of detour, we arrived there at 7.30pm. Without thinking, I just went straight to the seafood buffet, grab some Fresh Rock Oysters and Prawns, requested some Sashimi, a few Sushi, and start the crazy eating that night. I've been to a few Hotel All you can eat buffet, and I gotta say, Satoo has always been my favourite, since it offers the most in terms of varieties of food. The whole family was having a great time. Too bad Mic couldn't be there, but I was having tons of fun with my cute little niece, Zeza. Happy 53rd Birthday... Mom....!!!

Easy Green Tea Ice Cream

2008-12-03T11:53:00.009+07:00

This is my husband's favourite dessert, and everytime, I only spend less than ten minutes making it. What you need is two main ingredients: matcha (green tea) powder and vanilla ice cream. For matcha, I used the one my mom brought me from her Japan travel, but you can easily find it at any supermarket nowadays, any brand will do. For ice cream, I used the local brand, since it's the only 1lt vanilla flavour tub I could find. Take out the vanilla ice cream out of the fridge and leave it in room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until it's quite soft to mix. Once it's ready, mix some matcha powder into the ice cream and stir until it combines well. The amount of matcha powder that you have to put depends on the brand, like the one I have is a little bit weak on taste, so I put around 4-5 tablespoon, but some brand you only have to put 2 tablespoon. The best method is to mix some and taste, if it's still too weak, then add some more until your desire taste. Once it blends well, put it back into the fridge and you have a green tea icecream.... Yay...! Told you it's that easy.

Feel Like Chicken Tonight

2008-11-14T17:13:00.008+07:00

This is my modified version of chicken teriyaki. Basically I don't really like the chicken teriyaki served in most restaurant in Indonesia, it's just too sweet for me. My husband and daughter also like the salty taste more than sweet. So whenever I cook this at home, the chicken teriyaki would have a stronger salty taste than sweet.

Chicken Teriyaki Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 kg Chicken thighs fillet, cut in chunks.
1/2 Onion, sliced
2 Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Mirin, if you don't have this, you can substitute with chinese cooking wine or coke
1/2 cup Light Soy sauce
2 tbsp Brown sugar
1 tbsp Worchestire sauce
1 tbsp Lime Juice
1/2 tbsp Grated ginger
1/2 tbsp Salt

Mix together chicken chunks and lime juice, leave it for 5 minutes. Drain well.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together, marinade chicken, leave it in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, preferably longer.
Heat up some oil in pan, fry the chicken chunks in medium heat, put a little bit of water (if you want more taste you can use dashi stock or chicken stock), to prevent chicken from burning and help to get the tender result. Fry chicken until cook well. If you like you can prepare another pan, melt some butter, then fry the cooked chicken just to get the butter glaze. It tastes better but of course if you're a health conscious person you can skip this part.
Put the remaining marinade juice onto the pan you use to fry the chicken. Stir and bring to a boil. You can return the chicken back into the pan, or you can pour the sauce over the chicken. I usually strain the sauce first and put it in a separate cup since my husband doesn't like the onion and garlic stuff, and he can pour over the sauce later while he's eating.

1)Mic's lunch 2)Mic's dinner 3)Hubby's dinner

At that time, I served it with Brocolli in Creamy mushroom sauce. For my husband, I add some fried egg, since he loves egg (mention this too many times hehe). For Mic, I add some roasted seaweed laver, you supposed to eat it with rice, but she ended up finishing the whole seaweed laver before eating any rice.

Mommy: Mic, hold the seaweed and look at the camera
Mic: *hold seaweed as if it's a phone*
Mommy: That's not a phone
Mic: *ignores mom and start eating the seaweed*

10 Minutes Recipe

2008-11-13T17:06:00.005+07:00

I always use bean curd skin for soup but today I don't have any time (as always hehe) to make a soup and also haven't been doing my grocery shopping, so basically beancurd skin, fish and carrot is all I have. So I thought, let's make it a stir fry event.

Stir Fry Bean curd Skin Recipe
Ingredients:
Bean curd Skin, break into smaller parts and soak in water until soft.
Dory Fish, you can use other meat, it's fine.
Carrot, cut into small matchstick size.
Garlic
Oyster Sauce
Fish Sauce
Salt

Heat up a little bit of oil in wok, put garlic, fry until fragrant, put in the Fish, stir for a while, put in the Carrot, oyster sauce, fish sauce and salt.
Squeeze water out of bean curd skin, then toss in bean curd skin into the wok, stir fry, put a little bit of water, stir fry until mix well, then it's ready. If you like you can put a few drop of sesame oil.

Tasted very yummy. Sometimes simple things in life are often the best.

Big Boy Lunch

2008-11-13T16:47:00.004+07:00

Something I made for my husband. Honestly, I have no mood to cook nowadays, so I would just use the easiest method to come up with a meal, to cut short my time in the kitchen. For my husband, as long as the meal has plenty of meat, he'll eat it, so I took out Kanzler cheese bockwurst from the fridge and fried them, boil some pasta, this one is long macaroni and finish up with some japanese beef curry leftover from the day before. Plate was empty. Lazy wife scores again.

Another Saturday Story

2008-11-08T13:30:00.010+07:00

As always, Saturday is Mic's day. She wanted to play mini golf at Alam Sutera and I told her, before that we're having lunch first, so I ask her, where would you want to eat, Korean Restaurant or McDonalds (I thought the obvious she would choose McDonalds, since she loves the icecream there). To my and Vemby's astounishment she chose Korean.. she said "I want korean, so it'll be like in the korean drama on tv (yes I have been poisoning my kid with korean drama hehe.. my bad). So we went to the only korean restaurant available in Gading Serpong, Bulgogi House.

I was going to order the hamburger set (much like the hambuga in Japanese) but the waiter said it wasn't available that day, so we just order what we usually order (I swear, me and Vemby always order these food in this restaurant 5 out 6 times we've been there, and the only time we didn't, we went there with Vemby's family). First, JaJangMyun (Noodle with black bean sauce), Second, Deep Fried Pork in Sweet garlic sauce and Lastly, JapChae (Glass noodle stir fry).

The thing behind ordering this food is, because when me and Vemby were still in Melbourne, we like to eat at this korean restaurant who serve korean chinese style food, so it's basically chinese food that has been modified in korean style. One day, the restaurant stop serving only the korchi menu, because the korchi chef went back to korea, so we can only order the normal korean menu such as bulgogi etc, so that's probably why everytime we see JaJangMyun on the menu, we would order it instead of the other hehehe.

While we're waiting for the food, waiter brought us some side dishes, and then suddenly she brought back the last plate, I was wondering why she did that. Then, Mic laughed and said (loudly) Mom, that plate has a fly, it flew then landed there. Vemby and I were like Huh really? How come we miss that one? Mic said yes.. I saw it. Then waiter came again and brought us the plate, and I asked her, did it really has a fly on the plate? and she said yes, that's why we change it to the new one. Shortly after, the meals started to arrive.. and we were eating happily.

Then the waiter came again with a bowl, she said this one is on the house for the little cute Mic, it was steamed egg. Another waiter came with another bowl, and said this is a bonus as well, seaweed soup for the little cute Mic (she did say cute... not me adding hehe..) so she can eat more comfortably (since kids usually eat with soup, so they swallow the food easily hahaha). I was going to order a soup in the first place for Mic, but I saw that they were mostly spicy and the seaweed soup was expensive so I thought Mic would survive with drinking plenty of water hehehe...but now giving us two extra meals on the house... I unsuspiciously said to Vemby, the service here is a lot better now hehe and our kid must have been so cute that they decided to give her all these food. Vemby said, Nah... they just trying to bribe little Mic since she found out about the FLY. Oh Em Gee... That must be it hahaha...

Thanks to Mic, her fast eyes, spotting the fly, made the lunch much more meaningful, and more full... Mic finished most of the seaweed soup herself since she loves seaweed... I've been giving her seaweed soup since she's one year old at least once a week, so she's familiar with it. With the rest, especially steamed egg, daddy finished most of them hehe, claiming it, egg cooked at its best. About the restaurant, if you happen to be in serpong area, you should give it a try, the taste is authentic korean, I must say, not that I've been to Korea myself, but been trying alot of korean restaurant, and this one, with a decent price, well worth the try.

Afterward, we headed to Mini golf, picking up Nadine first, stuck in traffic jam for nearly one hour. Mic was getting upset, but finally we arrived there and the two girls have a great time.

Bite me...

2008-11-01T12:05:00.006+07:00

This is one of Mic's favourite menu, fried balls. If you are a busy mom, you can make big batches at once and store the rest on the fridge, so next time you can just defrost the mix whenever you need to use them. Make sure you divide them in small storage bags as it is not recommended to defrost food more than once (the taste will not be as good and will lose nutrition). They can last up to one month in frozen storage.

Ingredients:
150gr Chicken, finely minced
150gr Prawn, finely minced
1 tsp Dried shrimp, finely chopped/grounded
3 tbsp Tapioca Starch
Egg
Oyster Sauce
Fish Sauce
Salt

For prawn, I usually flatten/hit them on the chopping board with the side of knife. After a while, then u can chop them until fine, mix with minced chicken, put egg in, mix well, put the rest of the ingredients except tapioca starch, mix well.
Put the tapioca starch one tbsp at a time, mix, then put more if you need to, feel the mixture consistency, it should be sticky and fluffy, but not runny, if still too runny, then put more starch until you have the right consistency.
Put oil in wok, shape the mixture into small bite size (I usually use two small spoon to form a ball). Once the oil is hot enough, fry the ball until golden brown, doesn't take long, usually around two to three minutes.

**Note: I put twenty pieces of balls,
and Mic keeps eating them while I took the pic,
it almost look empty hehe**

Easy bitsy Egg Pudding

2008-10-31T22:53:00.005+07:00

Ok... this is like a sweet version of Chawan Mushi, so I don't really know how to call it, not really a pudding, but the texture almost the same, but it's not oven baked or anything fancy, it's steamed. The one I cook here is a small portion, because it's for Mic and the egg is what was left from making fried balls (need some egg for fluffiness, so really a waste to throw the rest of the egg).

Ingredients:
Egg
Milk, any milk will do, I usually use Fresh milk or Soya Milk
Sugar to taste

Mix Egg and Milk together, stir gently to avoid any bubbles, for smooth result, add sugar and stir again, transfer to a heatproof cup.
Prepare a pan, put some water on the pan, line with kitchen paper towel (this trick I learn off Dosanko cooking, to avoid noisy sound, and the cup also stay well in the pan that way).
Put cup in the pan, medium heat until water boils up, then turn to very low heat, cover the pan with lid, cook for around ten minutes.
Ready to serve, I sprinkle some palmsugar on top of this one, to give it a nice color and the palmsugar tastes very nice when it melts, sometimes I drizzle some honey on top, make a smily face or any drawing to entertain Mic.

I've giving this snack to Mic since she's about nine months old, if you afraid that the child might be allergic to egg, you can give it after she/he's one year old. The key to smooth pudding like result is the stirring in the beginning (be gentle to avoid bubbles) and low heat while cooking, and you have one easy healthy snack for kids...

Now, off to the waiting customer... scoop, taste, thumbs up... yay... (no, I did not force her to do that, just encouraging a tiny bit lol...).

Pasta de Waraku

2008-10-31T11:49:00.007+07:00

Another weekend spent at the mall, this time Grand Indonesia Mall. Our 2nd time there. Saw the fountain show again and for lunch, we decided to try Pasta de Waraku. First look on this restaurant, immediately the window display would attract anyone's attention... so cute.. look so real and appealing.. yet too beautiful to eat...

I waited for the table there while Mic and Dad played at Fun World just across the restaurant. Finally we were seated after waiting for fifteen minutes. The menu consists mainly a fusion of Italian and Japanese food, so their specialty was the Pasta with Wafu based sauce, so we tried Fettucini Carbonara (typical By's order, he almost always order this one everytime we eat Pasta), Carbonara Pizza (can't complain here, Egg and Cream is Mic and Daddy fave food), and Fry Mix Set (this one I ordered for the sake of Crab Cream Croquette).

Pasta tasted very nice, but nothing out of the ordinary, and the serving size was kind of small in my opinion. Pizza was different, the base was crispy thin but still has some chewyness in it, and taste was nice as well, we ordered the mini serve since they run out of the medium serve. Fry Mix set comes with Crab cream Croquette, Big Prawn Tempura, Salmon Fry and Japanese style Potato&Egg Salad, complete with generous serving of rice (different plate) and cream corn soup. A bit biased on my side, but crab cream korokke was excellent, it tasted like the one I used to have in Melbourne... just bring back memory... true joy...

Perhaps I was just too excited that after four years in Indonesia, I finally find one Japanese restaurant that serve crab cream korokke...anyway....afterward, we were going to order desert, but Mic wanted to go to Gelatisimo instead so since this whole day was about making her happy, we followed her wish.

Overall, if you haven't tried Pasta de Waraku, you should, and if you are more advanterous eater, there's plenty in the menu that you can order instead carbonara lol, such as Pasta with Squid ink (Black Pasta), Pasta with Sea urchin (Divi would love this one hehe), etc, but I have to say the price is pretty expensive and not on a friendly budget...

Weird Appetite

2008-10-30T17:58:00.004+07:00

Being pregnant, I don't know myself anymore, my mood changes, my taste in food changes, it's weird... Like last week, I had kwetiaw the whole week... for lunch and dinner.... but couldn't eat a lot, so I just had a tiny portion. Kinda worrying, since I should eat more... but just no mood and feel dizzy and wanting to throw up all the time...

To make it worse, I still have to prepare food for Mic, and just the smell of garlic and onion makes me ill... I practically stop breathing while frying them up... stop breathing... stir...go out from kitchen... come back.. stop breathing...stir some more... that bad...

A few days ago, I made Creamy Salmon Pasta for Mic, and got some Salmon fried left, so make three little Onigiri for me... That moment was the fullest I ate in weeks without feeling ill...

Today, I had Sup Pindang Ikan Patin and amazingly, my illness was cured after eating that, so... I told my husband, I'm just going to eat that from now on, until I can no longer tolerate it...

Comeback Post

2008-10-29T15:59:00.007+07:00

Must I say sorry to all my devoted fans who are eagerly waiting for my new post (bleh.. sounding too much like Victor here..). I haven't been in the mood for blogging after coming back from my holiday reason being that I'm currently pregnant, going on three months now (hint: terrible morning sickness... and becoming all day sickness... indescribable...) and also just recovered from bad diarrhea. Can you imagine how much pain I was in? And it's not yet time to deliver the baby.. gosh... really don't want to think about that one...

If you guys want to know about my trip and our amazing photos (actually, my husband took them, I just happened to be in it) you can visit my husband's blog here. I think he does an excellent job with the photos and the stories, if I try to do mine, it would look like one of those complete idiot's guide...

Here are a few snapshots taken with my camera, i know they look crappy compared to the one my husband took, but they're all I have... hahaha... sorry...

>>Italy, on the bus, after arrival<<Vemby: Crap.. why r u forcing me to take selfca photo? I look like gay..

Inge: But every trip won't be complete without one.. just press the button..

*both smiling and look happy*

>>Mt.Titlis, Swiss, @Ice Cave, with two of our friends<<
>>Lucerne, Swiss, My Lunch menu: Bratwurst<<

Europe Trip Update

2008-10-06T01:54:00.002+07:00

Wow.. i never thought it would be this hard to find internet connection here in Europe. I always thought that Europe should be more advanced in internet than in my home country, Indonesia... but guess I was wrong. Finally find a free internet here in Amsterdam. Just before, our group had dinner at Indonesian restaurant here. Taste was far from the original food we commonly find in Indonesia, but seven days without Indonesian food does make me loosen the standard a little... Our group just had a terrible accident. One of our member got his bag stolen and it happened right in front of me... for a while I was standing there, trembling, wanting to help and chase the person who stole (he was on a motorcycle) but my legs just couldn't move... such a bad moment... making the mood of the whole group down...
Another note, although there are moments that I enjoyed throughly from this trip, I can't stop thinking about my little angel, Mic. I miss her soooo very much... Just hope I could get back home to see her soon....

Stranded in Hongkong 2

2008-09-29T06:08:00.002+07:00

Lol... plane got delayed for 2 more hours... this is crazy... the moods of most the tour participants are already dropping... most of them... complaining like hell to the tour leader... which make me kinda pitty him, since it's not entirely his fault... it's the airline who delayed the plane.
Don't worry he said... the airline's gonna bring us some breakfast while we waiting for 2 hours... then breakfast came.... wow... a cold orange cake slice and a bottle of water or coke... this is great... my first trip to europe... receive a hongkong welcoming... gonna find another decent breakfast, but my legs and eyes are too tired to seek... but good thing from this mess... I'm glad that I'm travelling with my hubby, who never seems to fail to amuse me... out of this situation he still manages to make me laugh... thinking... this is not as bad... don't worry to much... just enjoy the trip...
Btw.. internet connection here is awesome... fast... I managed to get news of my fave WGM couple... JoongBo... while waiting for the plane as well as blogging... Bye bye for now...

Stranded in Hongkong

2008-09-29T05:13:00.002+07:00

Guess what... first day of Europe trip, got stranded in Hongkong for 9 long hours due to the typhoon. Thank God the airline gave us a hotel room so we can rest for a while.
My t-shirt and pant got spilled by tomato juice during flight, but amazingly, thanks to the stewardess, she gave me soda water to clean up the stain, and 10 minutes later, all the stain has been removed completely... saves me from first day disaster... which almost made me cry hehehe... and... I'm missing Mic like crazy, still keep thinking how is she doing back there.. is she ok? eating well? playing well? sleeping well? Gotta go now... almost time to catch the plane to Rome...

Europe Trip Countdown...

2008-09-28T00:41:00.002+07:00

Twelve hours till the boarding time to Europe. First ever trip to Europe, even more meaningful since my hubby won the trip for his hard work. Although there's a slight regret that it's not Japan but i gotta admit that i'm very excited for this trip. The worst part of this trip is to leave behind my little angel, Mic. Sorry we couldn't take you on this trip but I felt so much better knowing that we left her in the best care... hopefully she won't miss us as much....
I'll try to blog my trip day by day if possible.. see you soon guys...

My Victory at Last... :P

2008-09-25T00:28:00.002+07:00

Well... almost 99.9% people said Mic looks like Dad so this result is kinda funny, gonna try more with different pictures.... I, myself, still think that Mic looks so like dad even in that pic tho... What do u guys think?

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family pictures - Family tree layout

Fun for Free

2008-09-19T17:00:00.006+07:00

Having kids demand us to find interesting places where we could take them every weekend. Last Sunday, we took MiC to Times Bookstore @Lippo Karawaci. She's been there before, so she's familiar with the store, she knows where to find her books. The place itself has large varieties of books (duh.. obviously.. since it's a bookstore :) )and it also has a cafe and bakery if you want to grab a bite while reading... It also has an area for kids to play, read or even sleep ... well the area is so multifunction imho...

If you want to find a book for your kid, then this place can accomodate your needs. It has decent collections.. mainly imported books, so the price is a little expensive, but I guess.. all imported items must be expensive :(

And the good news is, every weekend it has activities for children, such as bookreading, face painting, playdough, etc, so if it's interesting, I usually take MiC to join one of the activity and mostly she enjoys them (although at times she got bored and didn't pay attention.. but that's just normal for kids...). What's important is that we, as parents, will always support our kids to grow healtier and happier ... Doesn't necessarily have to be expensive to do that...

A Quiet Ssssushhhhi Nite for Two

2008-09-19T16:06:00.006+07:00

Of all the restaurants available in serpong, we're seriously lacking of a good sushi place. Well... I would be happy with any sushi place... but here in Serpong, we have none. The closest one I could think of is Sushi Hana @BSD and Dragon-E @Karawaci. So, me and By decided to go to Dragon-E since they open till late.

That night felt so quiet since MiC was staying over at her grandparents' house. We were a tiny bit gloomy since we kinda miss the little MiC. It's just strange... Sometimes I wish that I would have time to go to dinner with By, just the two of us. But when that wish came true, I can't stop thinking about MiC and how I really miss her sooo much. Maybe this is the kind of feeling you get once you have a kid.

Back to the food, we ordered a Boat of Sushi and Tempura Udon. Eventhough it was far from the best I've tasted, it satisfied our hungry tummy and it didn't taste too bad... LoL... sounding lke I was forced to eat them... I guess Dragon-E has a nice atmosphere, where you can just relax and eat your food and have a chat with friends... It's so humble, almost feel like home, this is the kind of restaurant I wish to visit when I go to Japan... whenever that is...

My Latest Obsession

2008-09-18T19:41:00.006+07:00

Been spending hours watching Korean Variety show "We Got Married" which is about the life of four famous couples who are entering the make believe marriage. Totally love the show, I was surprised myself, I got so hooked, never thought watching people pretending to get married to each other would be so entertaining.

Well.. my favourite couple is Kim Hyun Joong and Hwang Bo. They just look so adorable with each other. The Bride is actually six years older than the groom so there were a lot of awkwardness the first time around, but now that they've been together on screen for a while, they are now slowly able to show more affection towards each other. Can't wait for the next episode.

Breakfast Mania

2008-09-08T15:54:00.000+07:00

Went to Bed&Breakfast@BSD for a late breakfast last sat. Food was decent. Staffs were friendly. Place is quite cozy and modern. Serving size is not bad. Scrambled egg was dissapointing but Sunny side up was fine. Toast was ok but could've been better. Menu offers good range of varieties. Price is a little bit expensive. Overall I give it 3/5.

Idol Rush

2008-08-24T16:36:00.001+07:00

So I have to admit that I like Samson band, it's an Indonesian band, especially the singer, Bams. Tonite, I had the chance to see them perform live @ Gebyar BCA. Took the pic with my BB curve... So happy... I know it's kinda dark, blur... But you can see him right? Hihihi...

Update: Here's a much nicer pic of Bams, taken by my personal photographer... my hubby... Vemby... hehehe... got to admit that his photo skill has improved a lot. Thanks hon...

Blackberry Obsession

2008-08-12T14:58:00.002+07:00

I know I have talk about Blackberry way too much. Just sooooo very much in love with it now. MiC has probably realised how much her mom is so obsessed with blackberry right now.

Last friday, 8/8/2008, was my husband's new branch opening. Since he was busy preparing early in the morning, my father in law picked us up.

This is the conversation between MiC and his grandpa while waiting for me to get change:
M: Grandpa look, it's a new handphone
G: Wow I see, yours?
M: No.. It's moms.
G: Ooo.. It looks nice.
M: Yes... It's called Blackberry.

What to feed a hungry kid?

2008-08-11T13:21:00.000+07:00

While busy toying with my new BB, I still have to worry about what my family would eat. To top it up, I've got no maid helping me. So I'm all alone with a hungry kid who's constantly bugging me when I prepare the food and cook.

My answer is the simple potato salad with crumbed dori fish. The best thing about potatoes is that you can overboil them and they still taste fine ;). And once they're done.. It's just a matter throwing and mixing all the ingredients and the imperfectioness and messiness makes the goodness in the meal.

With Dori fish, it doesn't have a smelly taste so it's very quick to prepare, just the 'flour - egg - crumb' routine and fry in oil. You got yourself a healthy meal to feed the hungry impatient kid.

This has been another post from BB, as well as the pictures, all taken with BB.
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Blackberry on my mind

2008-08-10T15:27:00.000+07:00

Just got me self a Blackberry a few weeks ago.. Loving everything about it at the moment.. I got it since I needed an upgrade from my old handphone (O2 zinc).. I always have a soft spot for keyboard phone..

But this tiny thing does more that I expected.. It's amazing..I almost can forgive the lack of touchscreen in it :)

That's it for now since I'm not sure this can go all the way to the blog or not.. 1st try blog post from BB.
Here is a picture I took with BB of my cute daughter, MiC, sipping thru an iced coffee @Starbucks SMS.
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The Winning Prize

2008-07-20T00:18:00.000+07:00

Since I've had plenty of sushi and sashimi before, I feel energetic and my mind seems to think faster.... maybe it's true that fish makes you smarter? So I'm up for a quick story telling.... here we go....

I found out a few weeks back that my husband won a prize for a trip overseas for both of us..... I was nearly ecstatic to learn that there's chance that we will go to Japan and furthermore Korea. It's like my dream to go to Japan... landing there... smell the Japan air (I know it's the same air we breath here.. but I'll be breathing in Japan... hehehe), buying drinks from vending machines, eating ramen from a real japanese stall, buying anything hello kitty, or even buying anything in Japan would make me a really happy person....

But then.... news came that we'll be going to Europe instead. I was a little sad but the lifted up again by the thought that it's not that bad.... going to see Eiffel tower, eating pizza in italy, shopping till you drop, and perhaps a romantic day in Venice....

Then again.... another news came that the tickets have been booked and it'll be no Paris nor Venice, since It'll be East Europe. Quickly I goggled it, and OMG.... crap.... really... this is not happening to me....

I feel much better now and thinking instead of getting all pissed out at this, I should be looking forward to the trip.... see the wall of Berlin.... eating Wiener Snietzel.... mmmhhhh... this sounds like sooooo much fun....

Attack of the Intans

2008-07-19T23:50:00.000+07:00

Last night, ten of us went to Poke sushi, after the long one month wait... All I can say, I felt so happy for many reasons:

I love sushi and sashimi and anything Japanese.
I love going to all you can eat restaurants.
I love Intans family gathering, although this one is unofficial, just us youngsters plus oma hehehe.

The results was fantastic. The food was satisfying. I think we might set a new record there, with 19 plates of seaweed salads, 15 plates of salmon salads with a total of 34 varieties ordered (for each variety we ordered at least 2 plates).

The laughs kept coming, old jokes and new jokes made us laugh. Well done guys... Really hope that we could do this more often... gathering I mean... not trying to make a restaurant going bankrupt.

Too bad I didn't take too many photos, since I was busy eating and my camera wasn't cooperating very well (or perhaps my skill was very bad), but I put up the nicest photo I have, with Divi, me and the nearly empty sashimi plate..... enjoy....

Look out for future attack of the intans....

Saved by Bakuteh

2008-07-17T14:41:00.000+07:00

No story behind this claypot.
It's just homemade Bakuteh.
Would've looked prettier if I didn't run out of thick soy sauce.
Oh well... seems like my thing is that I always run out of something :)

It's Hyorish

2008-07-17T11:18:00.000+07:00

Pictures from Lee Hyori's latest album "It's Hyorish".

Stress drug for my hubby

2008-07-15T16:55:00.001+07:00

Looks like my dear hubby is a little stressful this last couple of weeks... so today I decided to cook him a lunch treat... to help him feel better.... dunno what to call this dish really, it's just spaghetti, and since I happened to have king prawns and dori fish in the fridge, i use them...
Last touch is the soft boiled egg on top, which is essential since Vemby loves eggs, and 5 minutes later.... empty plate... it's a good sign to stress recovery...

My Baby is 2 now...

2008-07-15T01:33:00.000+07:00

6th June 2008, Mic's 2nd birthday, I decided to make her a Jap Jae (korean noodle) and grilled chicken drummettes to celebrate her birthday. MiC was very excited and kept bugging me in the kitchen... and then... several hours later... the food is ready...

and you have one little happy customer...

MiC and Ball

2007-12-20T10:43:00.000+07:00

My daughter, MiC, is very fond of anything shapes like a circle, she calls them ball. She has Fruity loops for breakfast, fish ball for lunch and dinner, play doughs and shapes them like a ball, everything ball. Whenever we go to the mall, she would ask for a balloon, again calling it ball. On the street, she saw a giant balloon, and said to me,"Mommy, big ball!". Song choice for her is Bouncy Ball by Dora.

Little Uncle Big Niece

2007-12-19T00:10:00.000+07:00

I have a brother in law, Vlady, who is currently ten years old. That would make him an uncle to my daughter, MiC, who is 18 months now. Before MiC was born, me and my husband asked Vlady how does he like to be called by his niece. Straight away he just refused 'Uncle' because it just sounds too old for him to be called one. Fair enough I think. So then we decided that MiC will call him 'Koko' (meaning big brother in Chinese) instead. Now, MiC just loves Vlady. Every time he comes to visit, she follows him everywhere and calls him non stop. Just last week, Vlady mentioned that he wants to be called 'Uncle' by MiC. He had a chat with MiC and asked her to call him 'Uncle' and MiC looked at him as if she understands, smiling, and then goes on saying "Koko... Koko...". They look so adorable together.