Culinary Trip at Semarang

Christmas is time to be merry and I suppose the happiest part in our body is..our belly. This year, my family decided to spend few days out of town (cuz Jakarta is always filled with traffic jam). We are going to Semarang to fill in our belly. Ho-Ho-Ho.

Fyi, Semarang is a town in the East Java. A flight from Jakarta to Semarang will take approximately 1 hour. When we arrived in Semarang, we could not check into our hotel yet so we straight away go for eating trip.

First stop, Bakmi Djowo Pak Doel.

As what the name says, this restaurant sells noodle (fyi, bakmi is noodle in Bahasa Indonesia). It sells other food besides noodle likes this..eerr..intestines satay? I did not touch this one. Too scared. Hahaha.

We came to this restaurant to eat this yummy fried noodle. Super delicious. ^^

A few stalls away from Bakmi Djowo, there is a stall selling Nasi Ayam (re: Chicken Rice). My brother was hungry waiting for the noodle, so he went to the stall and buy the rice. It looks ordinary but it tastes great. 

Like usual we went for dessert after our meal. We proceeded to our next stop, Istana Wedang for its wedang ronde. Curious about this traditional dessert?

Ta-dahh. It looks kinda similar to Tangyuan (汤圆) right? This food is nice to be eaten on rainy days.

We were already so full even before we checked into our hotel. Oh gosh, I really don't have the guts to weigh myself after this trip. Really. >.<!

Jakarta Eats: Lunch date with my brother at Kitchenette, Central Park

I don't know about you guys, but I seldom talk with my brother. Even though nowadays we have convenient apps like Whatsapp or LINE...we still seldom communicate. I admit I communicate with my friends more than him. Oops, bad sister. Hehe.

So whenever I go back home (fyi, Jakarta is my hometown), I try to chit chat with him. Food makes it easier. This time, we decided to try out Kichenette, which is located in the middle of Central Park's yard. It's famous for its crepes I guess..since the menu listed various kind of crepes.

The restaurant has a coffee shop feeling to it. I did not try their coffee though. To be honest, I only drink coffee when I need to be fully awake. And it seldom happens. Sometimes I'd rather be sleepy than drinking coffee. The same cannot be said about hot chocolate though. I'm such a kid. Haha.

If you are dining in a big group, I guess you will be able to find enough seats here because the restaurant is pretty spacious.

Jakarta is always hot. And most restaurants in Indonesia do not serve free tap water. This is probably because (1) tap water is obviously not drinkable in Indonesia and (2) this is how restaurants make money, charge premium price on drinks. Oh well, I decided to try the lemonade while my brother enjoying kiwi ice blended. 

I forgot what exactly we ordered but none of us opted for the sweet crepes. One glance and I know I would not be filled. The crepes are so thin (although crepes are probably supposed to be thin) and the fillings are so little. This one came with potato chips on top.

The other came with sunny side up, piece of meat and fried shallot. Both taste pretty similar. 

I am not satisfied with the food but the place has quite good atmosphere to chit chat/ catch up with old friends. The price is not cheap though. 

If you happens to be in Jakarta and feels like trying the crepes, you can find Kitchenette at Central Park (fyi, Central Park is not really a park, it's one of the shopping malls in Jakarta.)

Munching on Taiwan snacks

Helloooo, first of all, let me say "Merry Christmas!!!" Are you happy with your Christmas gifts? My family do not really celebrate Christmas even though we are Christians so yeah, there is not even a Christmas tree in my house because we are too lazy to set it up. So, as a result, there are no gifts under the tree. Not romantic at all.

I'm currently in Indonesia, my home country. And since there is traffic jam everywhere in Jakarta, I spend my Boxing Day...lazying around at home. Total pig. Since I got nothing to do, I snack a lot. It's a good thing I brought back a lot of snacks from Taiwan. Kekeke.

These are my favourite snacks from 7-11. I think they are imported from Japan. There are different flavour on sale but I like strawberry the most. Nom nom nom.

My language exchange partner brought me to a quirky chocolate store in Gongguan called Sophisca (fyi, they open a store at ION, Singapore). The store sells chocolates in..weird shape e.g. condoms, band-aids and tampons. But they are chocolates and yes, they are edible. If you are interested, you can just type "Sophisca" on google image and you'll know what I mean. I played it safe and decided to buy the normal-looking-type of chocolate. The tiramisu one taste quite good. Forgive me for not being adventurous enough. Hehe.

There's Daiso in Taipei so I did grab a few snacks from there. They sell Tohato's caramel corn in blueberry cheesecake flavor (fyi, Daiso Singapore sells them too apparently). The packaging is a bit different from the other flavors. 

This is how the inside looks like. The quantity is lesser than the other flavors but I kinda like this one. Kinda sweet and sour-ish. Do give it a try if you see one.

As we all know, snacks are perfect companion to...watch drama (which is BAD, because you won't stop eating!). What drama are you watching at the moment? I force myself to watch Taiwanese drama because I don't think I can learn any Mandarin from watching Korean drama (unless it's subbed in Mandarin). Although Taiwanese dramas are known for its draggy-ness and cheesiness, I suppose some can be quite fun to watch. I'm watching Miss Rose starring Megan Lai and Roy Qiu. And it's quite funny. Most important factor in drama, Roy Qiu is handsome! *fangirl mode on*

You can watch it here -> http://www.yodrama.com/taiwanese-drama/miss-rose

It's Christmas Time in Vivo City

One of the awesome things about going to Singapore in December is...all shopping malls on the island are decked in Christmas decorations. And I'm a fan of shopping malls' Christmas trees (especially since there is no Christmas tree in my own house. U_U).

As usual, this year, you can see a beautiful Christmas tree on top of Vivo City.

Christmas tree at Vivo City always reminds me of what happened when I came to Singapore for my first job after graduating from uni. That day, my fellow new-joiners and I just started our career and we took picture together in front of half-ready Christmas tree at the top of Vivo City. Awww, how fast the time flies. =*(

At level 1 of the mall (right in front of Tangs department store), you will see a Christmas bazaar. 

You can buy a lot of Christmas tree decorations here. And they are pretty cute. 

The bazaar also sells my most favourite toys in the world, Forever Friends bears. Aren't they huggable??? ^^

The mall was pretty packed with people and we had a bit of difficulty finding a place to eat. We went to the basement level and decided to dine in at Central. I picked a few of skewers item. 3 for S$5.50. It came with 4 kind of sauce and I can only remember sesame and chili sauce. Arghh, I forgot easily nowadays. 

And fried rice which cannot go wrong. The portion is getting smaller. I remembered few years back the portion was bigger.

Have you done with your Christmas shopping? I have not really buy a lot from the Christmas sale because the stocks on sale are kinda limited. Why oh why. U_U.

Cantonese dinner @ Park Palace, Grand Park City Hall

One of my besties had a voucher to eat dinner at Park Palace, a Cantonese restaurant located inside Grand Park City Hall hotel. Yum, an offer not to be missed indeed. Hehehe.

We did order a lot of food. A LOT. Goodness gracious, four girls eating like pigs. So expect a lot of pictures of the food. Hehehe.

1st course: Prawn Mayonnaise....hmm actually, the sauce is not mayo. One side is dressed with thousand island sauce while the other with wasabi sauce. Both are delightful.

2nd course: Half Peking Duck. Half size is actually pretty big enough for four people. Taste not bad although I prefer the one at Peach Garden. 

3rd course: Black pepper beef. Quite standard. To be honest, I did not remember why we ordered this. 

4th course: Eggplant with minced meat and mushroom. Yum, I love eggplant and Park Palace's rendition of minced meat egg plant is yummy. 

5th course: Fried Rice. This dish is always on top of my favourite food to eat. To be honest, you should not have any mistake in cooking fried rice. Park Palace's fried rice is acceptable.

6th course: Sweet n sour pork belly served with chinese bun. The pork belly is so sinful, because the fats are so much (well, what do I expect from pork belly...=S). The sauce is actually quite good to be eaten together with the bun. I suppose you can just skip the fat if you want to eat this without increasing your cholesterol level. Hehe.

7th course: Tofu and mushroom claypot. Taste okay. Now that I notice, this is the only dish we ordered that have something green. 

Dessert #1: Vanilla ice cream served inside a coconut. It comes with the dry ice which makes us awe-ing. Everyone immediately took out their camera/mobile phone to snap a picture of this dessert.

Dessert #2: Peanut pastry filled with red bean. This dessert taste quite nice. But the portion is quite a lot so make sure you have enough people to share. 

Our stomachs were literally bulging after finishing the course. We joked to each other that it feels that we have attended a wedding party. Since we ordered nearly 10 courses of dishes. Four happy bulging tummy.

If you are interested to try the food, I suggest you make a reservation beforehand because Park Palace turned away people who don't have reservation to dine...O_o! For location and contact details, you can check out their website: http://www.parkhotelgroup.com/cityhall/dining/park-palace-2/

Singapore Cafe: Costa Coffee, 313 Somerset

On my 2nd day back in Singapore, I noticed one thing...there are more cafes in Singapore than few months ago. O_o! Especially the two cafes called Costa Cafe and Dr Cafe. Seems like they has been aggressively expanding for the last few months in Singapore to make sure you notice them wherever you go.

So yes, I am quite curious on how these two cafes fare. Since my friend and I were quite tired from walking around 313 Somerset, we decided to take a break at Costa Cafe. Noticed that apart from the usual drinks and cakes/muffins/sandwiches, the cafe sells..chocolate.

We tried the Costa Creamy Coolers (something that looks like ice blended milkshake?). Mine is the strawberry one while my friend ordered the hazelnut coolers. Mine tastes super sweet while hers...tasteless. I totally could not taste the hazelnut at all. What a letdown. 

We also ordered a blueberry muffin. Not bad. 

To cheer ourselves up from the sub-standard drinks, my friend bought a bag of Garrett popcorn from the store just opposite the cafe. Popcorns always creates smile on our face. =)

Costa Cafe can be found nearly at every major shopping centre in Singapore like 313 Somerset and Plaza Singapura. I prefer Starbucks but I guess everyone has their own tastebud. Hehe. 

Winter holiday is coming....

...on a sunny island. Literally. Because I'm coming back home.

Before going back to Jakarta, I'll spend days in Singapore though. After all, Christmas should be spent with family and close friends. I have more friends in Singapore than in Jakarta. Goodness, I don't know why.

Touched down at Changi Airport early in the morning. Cannot wait to see my friends.

Since it's early, decided to have breakfast, Singapore style. And one of my favourite breakfast place is Ya Kun Kaya Toast. The place looks kinda retro, right?

Teh C and Kaya Toast. If you are curious, Teh C is tea + evaporated milk. There are a lot of local slang involved when you want to order coffee/ tea. I am kinda confused too. If you are curious, you can google it up I guess. In Taiwan, I only know my tea is definitely 奶茶. 

Oh are you wondering about "Kaya"? Let's just say it's coconut jam. It's green in color and it has gooey texture. QQ??

Guess what I saw on the MRT's door....yes, Taiwan is a very popular destination amongst Singaporean. I agree with them 100%! Hehehe.

Cute art display I noticed in an art shop in Raffles City (City Hall). 

After walking around for few hours, my stomach demanded to be feed again. Pardon my appetite. Since I don't really have a lot of budget for this *winter-escapade*, I had lunch at the mall's food court. I ordered fishball noodle. It looks kinda oily. >.<!

Saw Hello Kitty donut which are sold by Bread Talk. But they don't look as good as the ones sold by Mister Donut in Taipei. So I decided to give them a miss. 

Since it's December, Singapore is decked out in Christmas decorations. I'll post more about that in the next few posts. =)

P.S. If you can't stand the cold, you may want to escape to Singapore for a shopping and eating trip. Ho-ho-ho.

Fast Food In Taiwan: KFC

I cannot resist the temptation of eating fast food/junk food in Taiwan. I suppose I have fallen in love with it since I was a kid. So yeah, I could not resist it any longer when I saw this just across the street.

KFC often have the saver meal which costs ranging from NTD89 - NTD159. We opted for the NTD89 because we were kinda broke. *studentlife*

I chose the BBQ while my junk-food-lover-friend chose the burger which has wasabi in it. If you notice, the regular size for the drink is comparable to the up-sized one in Singapore. O_o!

Do note that you get what you pay for. This is the deconstruction version of by BBQ burger. Don't expect any veggie in it. And the size..well, if you are so hungry, I don't think this alone will fill you up. 

At the end of the meal, I had to say the drink did fill me up. Hahaha. It's time to walk back to home. It's quite nice to have a night walk in Taipei because (1) there are still a lot of people (2) the area is quite safe. Don't expect me to walk alone at night in my hometown, Jakarta. Big NO NO!

Saw the nice wall mural..the building looks so European from the side. Nice!

Make sure you exercise after you eat fast food, okay? Hehe.

Taipei Eats: Yummy Unadon at Fei Qian Wu 肥前屋, Zhongshan

If you want to eat a delicious Japanese food, look no further, because they are are everywhere in Taiwan. Taiwanese loves Japanese products including its food and make up. I guess this comes as no surprise since the island was subjected to Japanese colonial rule for years. (The same thing cannot be said about my country which happened to be subjected under Japanese colonial as well but let's not dwell into that topic..and focus on the food..hehe).

Right! Last summer, I brought my friend to Zhongshan's neighborhood because we wanted to try that so-much-raved-about unagi don. Just thinking about it makes me drool. Pardon me.

The location is not that easy to find. I had to resort using Google Map to find the exact location. But finally, we had arrived at Fei Qian Wu / 肥前屋.

As you can see above, the queue was crazy. There were so many people in front of us. To make ordering faster, the waitress gave us the menu and the ordering chit.

If you cannot read the menu, no worries, the famous unagi (鰻魚/ Mányú) don is listed at the left top of the menu, the small one costs NTD250 while the big one costs NTD480. 

When you are able to see the inside of the restaurant, rejoice! Because that means your turn is coming soon. 

This is how the small unadon looks like. The eels are big. And I really enjoyed every bit of it. *iaminheaven*

It came with the miso soup. The miso soup is served in big bowl, not like those small bowls served in Japanese restaurant in Singapore. 

We ordered a portion of tamago to share among us. It tastes pretty bland. But maybe it's supposed to be that way? 

The restaurant opens from 11AM - 2.30PM and 5PM to 9PM. So do visit the restaurant if you have the time. It's worth a visit. Really. =)

Great, now I'm feeling hungry after writing my own blog post. U_U.