.:: a christmas carol ::.

friday night, i went out with some friends to watch a christmas carol in 3d. all in all, it’s the best 3d movie i’ve ever watched. if jim carrey tried to outdo tom hanks and the polar express, he actually did! i really feel like going to the cinema and rewatch it, it’s that good.

as always, i had a good laugh, and the day ended with us driving round gading area to find a place that was still opened at midnight. luckily, we found a ropita vendor that opened for the whole 24 hours.

.:: irene & edu ::.

just what i needed to get through the rest of the week : meeting some of my oldest friends!

the party was a hit! there were lots of people, most of whom are those i’ve known since i was a little less than 10 years old.

a little side note when going to wedding parties solo : never bring a small purse, coz you’ll end up with lots of things in your hands you don’t even know how to hold the plates.

.:: lousy saturday ::.

hoahem. seharian di rumah aja ternyata bosen abis. hari jumat karena satu dan lain hal gue ga masuk kantor, dan tentunya diem aja di rumah. ga nyesel sih setelah denger berita macet total dimana-mana sabtu ini seharian di rumah juga. rencana demi rencana buat hari sabtu gagal satu persatu. pertama mau ke bogor sama de lovelies, ada yang musti ujian, batallll.. mau nonton 2012 sama keluarga, ada sodara dari luar kota dateng, batallll.. mau shopping, my sis ga enak badan, batallll.. baking udah, stitching udah, baca novel udah, nonton tipi udah.. padahal gue jarang abis nonton tipi lolz! bf cepatlah pulang

.:: lunch wif miss feli ::.

just went back from lunch with miss feli, a much needed refreshment from the daily routine and workload. she picked me up at around eleven and we were both craving for pasta, so we opted for panini house. the place wasn’t huge, but it had a certain ambiance that allowed you to sit back and relax. probably it was the comfortable couch. probably it was the warm hue of the lighting and decoration. either way, i had a great time chit-chatting with my friend that we didn’t realize the time. it wasn’t until half past one that we asked for the bill, and she drove me back to the bitter reality called the office

the menu offered a not-too-wide selection of pasta, but it was to be expected as their specialty was actually panini a.k.a italian sandwich. a friend of mine recommended this place and i would happily try one of their paninis, but there was no way i could resist pasta

i ordered lasagna (37k) while feli ordered fettuccine alfredo (38k). both tasted great! the lasagna was definitely better than the one in kampung daun ( i didn’t have one, but my friend did, and judging from the small portion, blah! ). panini house’s version is a lot more generous that i could only finish half of it. so yeah, it’s probably best to split it with a friend. taste-wise, it was probably one of the best i could find in jakarta? i could be wrong though, as i don’t eat lasagna often!

i also tried feli’s alfredo, fettuccine tossed with cheese and butter with additional ingredients of smoked beef green peas. i think, hardly anything could ever go wrong with an alfredo but this one was really good. the rich and creamy sauce. the smooth cheesy coating on the fettuccine. those who don’t love onion may opt for something else, though.

.:: musim kawin strikes again ::.

a conversation with a friend of mine leads me to question this : would you care to come if you’re invited “only” via email / facebook ?

as for myself, that kind of thing doesn’t concern me. even if it is only an email / facebook invitation, that doesn’t mean that they don’t really expect you to come. that doesn’t mean that they don’t respect you enough to send you real invitations. they invite me, i appreciate that, and i’d try as much as i could to attend the weddings, to celebrate and to show my appreciation. it’s not like invitations are cheap anyway. why don’t some people be considerate about it?

.:: city round trip, bandung day 2 ~ part 2 ::.

selanjutnya, pengen lanjut ke sapu lidi, the valley dan sierra tapi perut udah lumayan kenyang. mau lanjut ke susu murni, tapi candri dan odi sepertinya udah kepengen ketemuan sama temen-temennya. akhirnya janjian ketemu di rumah mode. sampe disana, udah ga ada yang liat-liat jadi gue juga ga bisa belanja, ga suka banget belanja ditungguin orang. lagipula mata udah ga fokus dan kepala mulai menunjukkan gejala cenut-cenut akibat kurang tidur (dan mungkin juga kurang makan). untung aja disitu ada coffee shop, java bean. pesen iced cafe latte (21k) barengan feli. setelah segelas kopi diseruput habis (sembari ngegosip sembari minum, sampe feli shock berat pas kopinya udah gue abisin) otak mulai bekerja lebih lancar. dan lanjut deh foto-foto lagi

abis ngopi-ngopi diajakin dinner di the valley yang membuat kita harus naik lagi ke arah lembang *swt* emang sih arahnya beda, dan lagipula bukan gue juga yang nyetir jadi gue ga complain. toh gue juga seneng bisa makan disana walaupun harus bolak-balik. hahaha.. mampir dulu di brownies kukus amanda di daerah dago, yang notabene baru gue kunjungi sekali itu. wih dah sukses banget tuh si amanda. sebelumnya gue cuma pernah ke toko aslinya yang di jl dr otten. cuma toko kecil sederhana yang laris manis dikerumunin orang, sementara cabangnya yang di daerah dago gede dan bagus banget. diliat-liat juga sekarang udah ada rasa yang aneh-aneh. akhirnya gue beli brownies kukus blueberry karena lucu warnanya ungu hehe..

di the valley, kali ini kita pesen satu porsi buat masing-masing. laper bo! gue pesen chicken cordon bleu (58k), sementara yana pesen zuppa zuppa. jadi saling icip mencicip. apalagi gue juga ga kuat ngabisin pesenan gue yang porsinya festive banget zuppa soup nya enaaaak! biasanya gue ga terlalu doyan cream soup, tapi zuppa nya the valley enak banget, dan ga terlalu kentel. pesenan gue, chicken cordon bleu juga mantep. mozarella nya ga pelit, side dishes nya juga enak-enak semua. sayang porsinya kelewat gede sampe udah kekenyangan pun masih sisa banyak banget. definitely worth the price!

sambil makan, sambil kucing-kucingan sama yana. jadi yana itu kebetulan ultahnya pas keesokan harinya. gue dan feli mau beliin kue dan pengen kasih pas jam 12 malem. pura-pura mau ke toilet, titip sana-sini biar ga ketawan, ngumpet-ngumpet nyari korek api (yang ternyata udah dikasih sama pihak resto!) sampe gue serem yana sensi sama kita karena kabur-kabur dan bisik-bisik ga jelas selesai makan, cabut ke hotel buat ngambil salah satu mobil yang ditinggal di parkiran. lumayan jauh, macet dan terutama ga ada yang tau jalan. nebak-nebak ga jelas, nyasar, nanya-nanya sama orang lewat, sampe yang rencananya jam 11 sampe jakarta, malah jam 11 masih macet-macetan dan muter di bandung! sesampainya di hotel, mobilnya bermasalah pula! untung aja ga kenapa-kenapa dan kita putusin buat konvoy pelan-pelan aja.

jam 11, jam 12.. hp yana udah bolak-balik bunyi.. pura-pura bego aja kaya ga tau apa-apa, pas yana ga liat juga udah mouth-talking sama feli gimana cara ngasih kue nya, sampe akhirnya kepergok dan pura-pura bego lagi. pokoknya sok secretive banget deh! akhirnya kita stop di resting point cikampek, dan sambil lirik-lirik dan memandang penuh makna si feli nyeret yana ke wc sementara gue dan lain-lain nyiapin kue dan lilinnya. abis itu kita cari-cari feli dan yana yang ilang ntah kemana. lilin akhirnya dimatiin dulu daripada keburu pendek intip-intip ke wc ga ada orang.. dan pas belly yang megang kuenya, yana tiba-tiba mulai berjalan ke arah kita dan gue langsung nyamperin dan nanyain (dengan basi) kemana aja kalian… sementara itu belly sama candri langsung merapat nutupin kuenya sambil nyalain lilinnya. begitu lilinnya nyala, langsung deh para cowo-cowo mulai nyanyiin happy birthday. uhuhu to tweeeet… dan asli kocak banget. sambil ditontonin abang-abang pula

.:: eat and eat, bandung day 2 ~ part 1 ::.

hari kedua. i had a restless night. udah pasang weker jam 7, tapi sepertinya gue kurang mengenal hp sendiri, soalnya ga bunyi tuh *kayanya* sebelumnya sih udah kebangun tapi baru jam setengah 7 jadi akhirnya gue tidur lagi. pas berikutnya kebangun eh udah jam setengah 8 aja mau bangunin para pria di kamar sebelah ga tega karena baru nyentuh kasur 3 jam sebelumnya. akhirnya gue mandi dulu, dan abis gue kelar mandi jam 8 kurang 10 baru deh telepon ke sebelah dan dengan sukses dicuekin akhirnya digedor-gedor sama feli, baru deh ada yang bangun.. sarapan nasi goreng sepiring bertiga dan nungguin yang lain kelar baru akhirnya jam setengah 10 berangkat ke arah lembang. rencananya kita mau wiskul ke resto-resto disana.

sebelum ke lembang mampir dulu ke kartika sari di kebon kawung buat belanja oleh-oleh. ada yang sempet ketuker pula antara mayasari dan kartika sari hahah… gue beli brownies tiramisu *my favourite*, cheese stick, cheese roll dan pisang bolen.

tempat pertama yang kita samperin yaitu kampung daun. last time i was there, i had to wait two freakin’ hours to get a table. tapi untungnya karena masih pagi, jadi masih sepi. malah bisa milih tempatnya sesuka kita awalnya sih udah milih tempat yang lumayan gede. tapi ga dibolehin karena orangnya dikit sementara saungnya lumayan gede. jadinya terpaksa pilih tempat lain deh yang lebih sesuai. pilih-pilih menu, gue emang udah rencana buat pesen satu menu buat bertiga bareng feli n yana, karena kan masih mau menyambangi resto-resto lainnya. akhirnya kita pilih fetuccine alfredo (28k). bener-bener ga salah pilih! enak bangeeeet. apalagi gue udah keleyengan sangking lapernya, makin nikmat kekentalan krimnya pas banget. creamy, but not overly creamy. pisa kafe, lewat deh! porsinya sih sebenernya pas kalo buat makan sendiri, tapi berhubung gue makan bertiga, ya sekedar ganjel dikit lah

selesai makan di kampung daun, kita pun langsung menuju perhentian selanjutnya, yaitu the peak. masih dengan pikiran masih akan ada a series of stops and wiskuling ternyata para lelaki malah udah kekenyangan, dan cuma pesen dessert. cih gue iri liat tiramisunya!! sayangnya cewe-cewe ga ada yang mau paroan, jadi gue pesen. kita para perempuan pesen chicken steak (38k). lagi-lagi buat dibagi bertiga. uhuhu.. saus barbecue nya manis banget! gue sampe minta black pepper dan gue taburin sebanyak-banyaknya, baru deh rasanya sesuai selera

.:: lost in bandung, bandung day 1 ::.

sepertinya banyak banget halangan yang menyerbu pada saat-saat yang tepat waktu trip kita ke bandung kali ini. dari jadwal yang berubah mendadak, mobil yang satu bermasalah tepat sebelum berangkat, meeting point yang ga jelas, mobil yang satu lagi bermasalah tepat sebelum pulang, tempat nginep yang sempet meragukan dan bikin serem, belum lagi hujan, macet, peserta yang ga muncul-muncul dan seribu satu kendala lainnya. dan entah gimana akhirnya kita berhasil ngelewatin itu semua

rencana awalnya kita pergi hari sabtu, nginep semalem dan pulang hari minggu. karena ada beberapa yang berhalangan di hari minggu, akhirnya dimajuin satu hari, pergi jumat malem dan pulang sabtu malem. nah pas banget tuh jakarta yang belakangan terik sangat, malah diguyur hujan jumat sore, yang pastinya berimbas ke macetnya lalu lintas yang biasanya aja udah macet. walau gue udah kabur jam 4.50 dari kantor, akhirnya gue sampe di rumah yana di kelapa gading jam 6 lewat. di perjalanan itu gue juga dikabarin kalo acaranya terancam batal gara-gara salah satu mobil yang akan dipake berangkat ke bandung justru lagi bermasalah dan dibongkar.. untung akhirnya beres. sampe di rumah yana, masih nungguin feli, dan nungguin dijemput sama belly. kira-kira kita jalan jam 7.30 dari rencana awal yang jam 6 dari rumah yana, kita memutuskan buat langsung aja ketemu di resting point karawang, daripada musti bolak-balik bermacet ria ke rumahnya candri di paseban. sampe di resting point, kita cemal-cemil di pizza hut sambil nungguin candri dkk yang ternyata baru jalan dari jakarta *swt* dan sekitar jam 10-an baru deh muncul.. dan ternyata cuma dua orang! kalo ngomong dari tadi si mending dijemput aja, secara mobilnya juga masih muat!! ternyata beberapa orang lain temen-temennya candri malah baru janjian di jakarta jam 12 malem.

pizza hut karawang

akhirnya ya kita duluan aja ke hotel konvoy sama widya, temen belly yang orang bandung asli. disini juga baru dikasih tau lokasi hotelnya yang meragukan. gue sih udah pengen cari hotel lain aja, tapi yang lain bilang liat dulu aja, akhirnya gue nurut aja dah daripada dikira ga menghargai usaha orang yang udah telepon sana-sini buat book hotel. hihi. ternyata sih kamarnya oke-oke aja dan lumayan bersih, walau dari luar menurut gue sedikit meragukan. langsung check in dan abis itu muter keliling kota nyari makan. diantara 7 orang yang ada di mobil, ga ada satupun yang tau jalan. sampe muter-muter nyasar-nyasar iya juga gara-gara muter di daerah yang salah sih.. ketemunya malah pasar dan tempat-tempat ga jelas, kalo pun ada resto, udah tutup semua berhubung udah nyaris jam 3 pagi juga akhirnya balik lagi ke hotel dan jalan kaki ke warung-warung tenda yang ada disekitar situ. ke tempat bubur ayam, tapi gue ga doyan liat penampakannya, akhirnya ga makan walau udah kelaperan untung ternyata di seberang jalan ada roti bakar duti yang (katanya) terkenal. walau menu yang ditawarkan beragam, dari yang std kaya keju, srikaya keju, manis keju, sampe wurst, susis, ham dan telor, tetep aja akhirnya yang gue pesen roti bakar coklat keju beda banget euy sama roti bakar jakarta. disini roti nya setangkup tumpuk dua dan isinya ada di dalem. dan isinya dikiiiit banget. gue jauh lebih prefer roti bakar di sunter or gading!

muka-muka jam 4 pagi, mind the poofy eyes!

selesai makan jalan balik ke hotel, berbenah dan cuci muka. sekitar setengah 5 baru tidur, ga kebagian bantal pula

.:: KKG gathering ::.

KKG was having a couple gathering last sunday, but since bf was out of town, i went with my family instead

now i’m going to tempt you with these pictures of the dessert..

after the gathering, i went to gading with my sis to watch cloudy with a chance of meatballs. the 3D effect was so-so, and even more so to my disappointment, the story was so-so. it was enjoyable, yes, and the characters were cute, but the it was just not quite funny.

.:: canton bay, fd event, icy blue ::.

minggu lalu diajakin cinde ikutan kuis di fd yang berhadiah goodie bag produk-produk dari MAC, Clinique, Estee Lauder dan parfum Sean John, sekaligus juga makeover gratis gue dateng lebih awal dan sempet keliling-keliling metro sembari nungguin cinde dateng. lumayan lagi big sale, akhirnya dapet satu floral tops abis itu sempet ke sogo dan kinokuniya juga, sebelum akhirnya cinde telepon dan bilang udah kelaperan. akhirnya kita langsung janjian ketemuan di canton bay. gue inget nih cinde emang pengen banget nyobain canton bay setelah berhasil gue racuni hihi.. jadi gue usulin makan disitu. gue belum bisa beralih dari menu favorit gue disitu, ifu mie seafood (27.5k). sebenernya sih, pernah juga icip-icip menu lainnya kalo pas makan bareng orang lain, tapi tetep aja gue selalu pesen ifu mie kalo kesitu. udah hooked banget deh. cinde pesen chasiu wonton noodle. gue icip sedikit juga pastinya, enak dan gurih.

ifumie seafood

chasiu wonton noodle

selesai makan kita ke atrium mall, dan ngintipin acara session sebelumnya sampe akhirnya giliran session jam 4. dan kita berdua sebenernya udah ngincer makeover di MAC, apa daya nasib gue kurang beruntung. gue dapet makeover di estee lauder, sementara cinde dapet di MAC! huhuhu.. iri sekali… karena di MAC antri, kita ke estee dulu. di estee ini gue cuma ditanya mau dandanan dramatic atau romantic. abis itu makeup artist nya mulai bekerja. sayangnya di depan gue ga ada kaca, jadi ya cuma dipoles-poles dia, sambil pura-pura tertarik sama produknya. sementara itu, di MAC makeup artistnya nolong banget. ga pelit ilmu. jadi sambil nonton cinde dan orang-orang sebelumnya didandanin, gue juga asik nonton karena makeup artist nya share banyak tips. jadi pengen belanja kosmetik! huhuhu.. padahal udah bertekad ga mau terlalu gila lagi sama yang namanya kosmetik, tapi begini deh kalo ada yang menarik selain makeover sebenernya ada booth lukis juga di MAC. jadi kita tinggal duduk dan langsung dilukis dan hasilnya boleh dibawa pulang. udah pengen aja gue.. eh begitu dah ga ada yang antri, pelukisnya pergi istirahat batal deh…

abis itu kebetulan cinde juga udah kelar di makeover, dan udah jam 5, dimana berarti kita udah boleh ambil goodie bag nya. akhirnya ambil goodie bag, dan kita pun langsung ke lantai 5 buat nyobain icy blue gue denger tentang icy blue pertama kali di surabaya. waktu itu gue lagi ke tunjungan plaza dan di depan mall banyak spanduk-spanduk icy blue. sayang di dalem belum ketemu tempatnya udah keburu capek duluan. batal deh nyobain. makanya pas gue denger icy blue juga ada di PS gue jadi pengen nyobain, apalagi gue kan jarang juga ke PS

blueberry-redberry fro-yo topped with pink mochi and longan

post-makeover

awalnya gue pengen nyobain fro-yo rasa lychee. tapi karena ga ada lychee campur rasa lain, akhirnya kita pesen blueberry-redberry mixed ukuran medium seharga 32rb udah termasuk 2 topping. untuk toppingnya gue pilih pink mochi, cinde pilih longan. trus kita duduk deh di bagian belakang resto yang kebetulan masih ada meja kosong. yum-yum.. fro-yo nya ga perlu pake topping juga udah enak. beda sama fro-yo lainnya, disini fro-yo nya udah berasa banget. sayang cepet banget cairnya. baru dipoto bentar juga udah mulai mencair tuh. topping nya so-so sih. lapisan gula mochi nya sih lumayan tebel, dan topping yang dikasih juga cukup banyak, sampe dua kali mochi nya jatuh. menurut gue, lumayan banget buat selingan

anyway, sambil makan sambil ubek-ubek goodie bag yang kita dapet. isinya ternyata makeup pouch dan beberapa jenis sample. yah walaupun cuma sample lumayan juga ya.. karena ada beberapa produk yang emang udah gue pengen, jadi kan bisa cobain sample nya dulu sebelum beli first impression gue..
- estee lauder pure in white. so-so ya.. wangi sih enak dan elegan, but i prefer yang lebih floral atau fresh
- dkny women ~ belum cobain
- mac prep + prime skin refined zone treatment. LOVE this one. gue pake di daerah hidung di atas mac prep + prime yang gue pake semuka, dan ternyata begitu dipoles bedak lagi, pori-porinya keliatan jauh lebih mulusss. sayang oil control nya so-so sehingga ga terlalu tahan seharian. tapi overall sih sepertinya worth to buy.
- mac studio fix foundation in nc30. dulu gue sempet pengen banget beli foundie ini. tapi karena gue pikir rada berat akhirnya gue urungkan niat gue itu deh. ternyata pas nyobain sample nya ga terlalu berat juga tuh. tapi warnanya waaaaay too dark for me.
- clinique turnaround concentrate. sebelumnya gue pake paula’s choice bha, walau akhir-akhir ini suka males makenya naga-naganya sih gue lebih suka clinique. begitu dioles berasa silky smooth, almost siliconey. dan pas bangun pagi juga ga berminyak dan ga juga bikin kering. and a little goes a long way.
- clinique moisture surge lip gloss in raspberry. the colour doesn’t really show. cuma memberi kesan seger aja. tapi ga bikin kering dan juga not sticky, which is good.
- estee lauder advanced night repair~ belum cobain
- estee lauder perfectionist serum~ belum cobain
- estee lauder anti wrinkle cream~ belum cobain

.:: maru ::.

selesai makan malem, kita langsung menuju maru yang berada satu lantai persis dibawah grand beppu. gue pernah baca tentang merk yoghurt ini di fd, plus ditambah tempatnya menarik jadi tambah penasaran aja deh! maru, yang berarti “lingkaran” dalam bahasa jepang, stays true to its brand, dan restonya dihiasi aneka lingkaran beraneka warna dan ukuran gue suka konsep dekornya.. lucu, fresh dan original.

yoghurt yang ditawarkan ga terlalu beragam, cuma ada original, kiwi dan twist. tapi definitely one of the best fro-yo in town fro-yo nya ga cepet cair, bahkan sampe gue selesai makan ukuran medium, nyaris belum ada yang cair sama sekali. rasa asem nya juga pas. asem-asem seger.. untuk mochi, gue tetep prefer yang di sour sally, but this one isn’t so bad either.

ukuran yang ditawarkan seperti biasa ada small, medium, large. tapi dikasih nama yang cute banget, seperti flirting, so in love dan totally addicted. pilihan topping std seperti merk fro-yo lain, dengan tambahan topping khas jepang seperti misalnya ogura. gue pilih satu jenis aja, karena disini jualnya terpisah antara yoghurt dan topping nya. toppingnya sendiri masing-masing 5rb. total pesenan gue, yoghurt twist (25rb) dengan 1 topping mochi (5rb), jadi 30rb. masih acceptable harganya dan worth it banget sama rasanya..

lucunya lagi, di bon pembelian tertulis jumlah kalori dan fat dari masing-masing pesanan. misalnya yoghurt medium sekitar 199 kalori, 0 fat. sementara satu porsi topping mochi mengandung 1 gr fat.

sedikit gemes juga karena untuk setiap pembelian ukuran medium ternyata ada kuis. gue harus nebak berat yoghurt pesanan gue, dan kalau misalnya tebakan gue dalam range kurang dari 5 gram atau lebih dari 5 gram dari yang sebenernya, gue ga usah bayar.. omg. salah tebak! rasanya pengen balik lagi ke maru, selain karena fro-yo nya enak banget, juga karena pengen coba kuisnya lagi

selain fro-yo maru juga menyediakan mochi ice cream. harga satuannya 12rb, sementara kalo beli 4 pcs jadi 42rb. jauh lebih affordable dibanding di SG yang menjual mochi ice cream seharga SGD 2.4 per mochi sayang kemaren lagi ga ada tuh mochi ice creamnya…

.:: friday night dinner with miss o ::.

hari jumat pergi makan malem sama miss o. tujuan kali ini ke eX. sebenernya gue lebih pengen ke GI karena lebih banyak pilihan makanan dan toko-tokonya juga lebih menarik, tapi miss o ga tau parkiran motor disana jadi ga berani deh.  akhirnya diputuskan makan di eX, seperti biasa miss o mau makan japanese food. i don’t know what’s with her and japanese food, i think she craves for japanese food just like i do for italian. karena di eX ga ada sushi groove, resto favorit miss o, akhirnya muter-muter cari yang lain. awalnya dah jalan ke plaza indo karena mau makan di sushi tei, tapi akhirnya miss o ngusulin buat nyoba makanan lain. pengen cobain pizza e bira sih, tapi gue lagi pengen pasta, bukan pengen pizza. kalo liat menu di webnya sih ga ketemu pasta.. ada ga ya *maksa! haha.. terus keliling-keliling, akhirnya tetep jatohnya ke resto jepang lagi, grand beppu. seperti biasa gue pesen chicken katsu curry, atau seperti yang tertulis di menu grand beppu, kare raise (45k). alasan gue : pertama, gue ga makan sushi; kedua, i love love love love chicken katsu curry, ever since i had one at wagamama; ketiga, karena kedua alasan diatas, menu itu buat gue jadi penentu apakah resto tertentu enak atau engga.

dan ternyata chicken katsu curry disini kurang enak dibanding di sushi tei, atau sushi groove. kecewa! potongan chicken katsu nya kecil banget, apalagi kalo dibanding sama nasi putih yang semangkok penuh. bumbu karinya pun lebih enak di kedua resto tadi. mungkin aja masalah selera aja ya.. ah jadi kangen chicken katsu curry di ichiban atau wagamama

berikutnya, musti nyobain sushi tengoku yang di rekomendasiin cinde! ternyata gue sering banget lewatin sushi tengoku yang di kelapa gading, cuma aja selama ini ga pernah bener-bener notice dan pas gue cerita ke my sis tentang resto ini, dia pernah makan disitu dan denger-denger sih emang resto ini cukup terkenal di kalangan penggemar makanan jepang. but i think, for now, i’ve had enough japanese food..

.:: surabaya, higlights part 1 ::.

the real reason why i went to surabaya was to attend a cousin’s wedding. when i first heard about the wedding i was so psyhced,  not only for my cousing, but because i haven’t been there in at least ten years! i took friday and monday off from work to explore the city and meet the relatives. it was a great trip, i so missed the people. some i haven’t seen for years, some i’ve never even met in my entire life

anyway, the wedding took place on a saturday, and i was super busy. first thing in the morning, i had to drive a long way to the juanda airport to pick up my sis who was flying for surabaya that day, drove all the way down to my cousin’s house and changed into my morning outfit ( a little black dress i’ve bought the day before, coz i didn’t bring anything decent! ) and the off we went to the hotel for the tea ceremony. i wasn’t expected to do anything in particular, so i was just chit-chatting with my cousins and other relatives.

soon after that, we all drove to the cathedral to attend the holy matrimony. it was a really nice church, huge and classic. the ceremony was also really touchy. overall a perfect wedding!

later on, after the ceremony and lunch, we were dragged to l’frans salon to get our hair and makeup done. i really love the place, it had a really nice ambience that would make you feel relaxed. it was really homey, and there was even a garden inside the house! and i totally love the service!

it was already past five when they finished, and we were actually required to be at the ballroom at that exact time, since mom and dad had tasks to do so we hurried back to our hotel and changed into my red dress. by the time we reached the place, we actually had time to lounge at the VIP room, so i asked a cousin to take some pictures

sweet lina and i ~ and the mischievous jeffry behind

the ladies in red ( i didn’t know they were going to wear red, it was totally accidental ~ and a really nice one! )

my sis, auntie, niece and another mischievous nephew, who appeared ghostly in the background

posing with my mom and sis

again..

and again…

a niece of mine, lia, performed ave maria ( hardly believe she’d played the violin for only six months. she’s a pro! )

with my parents, after the party

with my mom and sis

.:: pepenero, cucina italiana ::.

jumat malam ada acara project dinner acaranya diselenggarakan di resto italia pepenero di bilangan kuningan, tepatnya di menara karya. selama ini sering banget ngintip suasana restonya dari luar resto kalo kebetulan jemput my sis yang kerja di gedung itu, dan udah cukup sering juga denger rave nya, sampe akhirnya baru kali ini kesampean. gratis pula. hahaha..

love the ambience! temaram, bangku dan meja kayu coklat tua berjejer rapi, vas bunga berhiaskan aneka bunga berwarna pastel, great music on the background.. soal pelayanan, ga bisa dibilang superb walau ga bisa juga dibilang buruk. bahkan chef nya sendiri yang orang italiano pun turun tangan ikut bantuin kita milih menu. kebetulan pas saat itu emang belum terlalu rame sih. menu yang ditawarkan menurut gue lengkap banget, dari antipasti, zuppe, primi dan secondi piatti,  pizza sampe dessert, gelati, coffee dan wine. akhirnya pilihan gue jatuh ke pasta, karena udah beberapa minggu ga makan pasta, dan seperti biasa kalo dalam keadaan begini ngidam nya jadi kumat ga inget judul nya tuh pasta, karena namanya ga kurang dari lima atau enam kata. yang gue inget intinya sih tortellini prosciutto, tortellini with ham and creamy sauce (49k). buat tortellini nya, dari segi rasa sih oke, walau jauh lebih oke lagi setelah gue taburin black pepper dan chilli powder banyak-banyak tapi saus nya asli creamy banget akhirnya cuman gue makan separo, menyiapkan perut gue untuk dessert nya..

untuk minumannya gue cobain strawberry juice (38k), aranciata rossa (34k), aranciata amara (34k),  dan icip-icip chinotto sumthing ~ ga inget, red wine, dan complimentary chocolate vodka. yang paling gue doyan aranciata rossa, manis dan unik. sementara itu aranciataamara rasanya buat gue ga jauh beda sama fanta orange, cuma sedikit lebih tawar dan lebih berasa soda kalo yang chinotto, walaupun judulnya sejenis citrus, menurut gue rada pahit dan lebih berasa kayumanis.

buat dessert, gue pesen tiramisu (41k). sempet bingung antara tiramisu or gelato tapi akhirnya pesen tiramisu, dan icip-icip gelato vanilla nya deni gelato nya enak.. manis dan seger at the same time. sementara itu tiramisu juga ga kalah mantep. soft, chocolatey, dan creamy.

overall, makanannya cukup enak, tapi masih heran sama all the hype. sedikit overrated, tapi itu menurut gue aja lho..

.:: two weddings in a day ::.

hari minggu kemaren kebetulan ada dua undangan wedding, satu agnes, temen nya deni, satu lagi loby, temen kuliah gue. untung aja waktunya beda, jadi bisa dateng ke dua-duanya. kebetulan wedding agnes itu diadain pagi, jam 10 pemberkatan di kapel st ursula trus langsung dilanjutin resepsi. gue dateng telat pastinya deni nyampe di rumah aja jam 10, abis itu masi sempet leyeh-leyeh dulu sebentar. akhirnya ga dapet tempat di dalem kapel, dan kita cuma duduk di luar aja sama beberapa temen deni lainnya. walaupun di sekeliling kita tuh hijau banget dan banyak tetanaman, tetep aja gerah.. sampe sekitar jam 12 baru deh misa nya selesai, dan kita pun beranjak ke tempat resepsi nya. ga makan terlalu banyak sih, karena gerah dan udah siang juga, akhirnya pamit duluan supaya sempet jalan-jalan

kita pun langsung meluncur ke gading dan keliling-keliling. rencananya sih cuma mau jalan sebentar aja, paling engga sampe jam 5 supaya sempet siap-siap lagi. eh ternyata deni malah sibuk shopping hehe.. trus di salah satu area mall lagi ada games cloudy with a chance of meatball. lucu.. ada donat, burger, french fries dll. maunya sebenernya foto sama donat raksasa, tapi karena donat nya ada di area yang keliatan sama para penjaga stand, akhirnya cuma foto sama french fries aja

gara-gara kelamaan di mall, akhirnya jam 6.15 baru sampe rumah lagi deh. dan gue buru-buru mandi dan dandan lagi buat ke wedding nya loby. untung acaranya di balai sudirman yang cuman selemparan batu dari rumah, jadi ga telat malah lebih dulu dari miss o yang udah telepon dari jam 6 lewat ( dan gue kira udah jalan dari jam 6 itu! ). abis prosesi dan salam-salaman gue ke area lontong cap gomeh dan pas banget ketemu sama miss o, felix, ika, weigang dan beberapa binusian yang ga gue kenal foto-foto sih ga terlalu banyak, karena ga banyak ketemu yang lain juga. sibuk makan kali ya? hehe..

capenya luar biasa, kaki serasa mau patah dan badan serasa mau rontok..

.:: saturday ::.

i was actually planning to attend lancome makeup class in GI with a couple of friends ( i had even arranged the whole registration process ), but apparently said friends weren’t able to make it. sigh.. wasn’t particularly disappointed in that now i had free time to bake, and i got to spend time with my parents. the only thing i was upset about was only the free goody bag ( don’t want to say no to free stuff )

anyway, i spent the whole morning baking oatmeal cookies, and after lunch, i went to TA with my parents. but, we had to make a few stops at our relatives’ homes to drop a cousin’s wedding invitation. the things i do for family it wasn’t until late in the afternoon that we finally reached TA and i didn’t get to visit most of the shops, as we were there for a mission ~ and it wasn’t mine. however, i managed to spot a nice cocktail dress, though i didn’t get to try it. on one hand, i don’t really need a new dress. on the other, it’s like wedding season this year and the next, i would probably need one in the end. am now desperately thinking about it i should’ve tried it on, just so i wouldn’t feel this way if the dress turned out to be not as good as i thought it should be.

during our shopping trip, i received a call from a friend. she’s not currently in indonesia, and we’re not exactly that close, so i was really surprised that she would call me just to ask whether i wanted some wool yarn, coz she had just found really cute ones. i told her just a couple of days ago i’m currently into cross stitch, and though she made an honest mistake to think that i’d need a wool yarn, it was still so sweet of her. come to think of it, i actually love cute wool yarn. i just wouldn’t know what to do with it *lol* sigh ~ i’ve been wanting to take a crocheting and knitting class since forever!

on a more serious side, i’m beginning to realize how fragile life is. we have very little control of our life, everything we own could be taken away in just a blink of an eye. at times like this, i just doesn’t seem to make sense how we love to collect stuff, material stuff that won’t matter when things go wrong. i’m really grateful that i’ve been given a lot in my life; i’ve lived an imperfect but quite a happy life; i’m raised in a loving family by such wonderful parents who would literally do anything for their children; i’ve met really nice people that do make a difference in my life; i’ve been blessed with health, love and friendship. and i do hope that i could make a good use of what i have for the people around me.

.:: late night dinner ::.

the girls left my house at 4pm, and as a result, i had just the right amount of time to clean up and get ready for the late dinner arranged and EO-ed by feli *smoochies* she invited some people from junior high to come, and although not too many people showed up ( there were feli, yana, martha, silvia, candri, belly,  erik and myself ), it was still a fabulous gathering. i haven’t met some of the guys for 5 to 10 years, but we hit it off instantly, chatting and laughing all night long! i literally almost choked from my food coz i laughed so hard. every a couple of minutes someone throws in silly jokes, gossip or random blabs that set us off in roar of laughter. i can’t, for the life of me, remember what was so funny. everything seemed so funny at that time *gosh, now i sound drunk!*

but really, it was one of that super silly slash super fun dinner. candri brought a friend who was never a student of marsoed, and we girls abused him into doing our dirty work. there were at least four cameras, and all we did was shouting.. pictures.. more pictures.. again.. use that one (camera)! i think he might regret coming to the dinner after all those hard times we gave him it was so easy being with this people. there were zero awkward moments. one second we said hi to each other, the next it was like i’d met these people everyday of my life. i most definitely had lots of fun!

too bad we won’t meet up any time soon ~ not until november, at the least…

.:: september stitching party ::.

i had a blast at our second stitching meet-ups. i do hope this will become a regular thing, as i feel it motivates me to seriously stitch. i’ve been through a couple of ups and downs ( speaking of stitch ) these last couple of weeks, and stitching together helped a lot. i just love the calmness of the situation when we seriously stitched, the occasional jokes, and the gossip we shared a good laugh and we certainly missed a couple of stitchers who couldn’t be there with us last saturday.

our second meet-ups was at my house. there were five participants, cherlee, cinde, ika, aina and myself. as usual, cherlee and cinde were the first to arrive. i didn’t have enough time to prepare the drinks, and i had to let them make their own while waiting for the others, we dwelled and drooled at cherlee’s magazines. how i hope to have 48 hours in a day just so i could stitch all those gorgeous patterns! ika came next, and aina came last. i think aina made such a good progress, since she started stitching just a couple of weeks ago! i, myself had to resort to my precious moments project, as i haven’t finished that one, while i was actually hoping to have moved on to another project ika, on the other hand, had to restart her seven-year-old stitching with her newly purchased aida ( good thing we had cherlee the lovely seller ). at least she got it right this time ~ thanks to the masters haha cherlee was still working on her giant wedding project, while cinde almost finished her cute sodastitch project.

we ordered mie gm for lunch ~ very unfortunate for the others, who were dying to taste mie aloy ( next time we’ll have mie aloy *wink* ). the delivery took quite some time, by the time the food was safely delivered to my house, i think the girls had suffered from hunger after a rather fulfilling lunch, dessert was served. es sarang burung, courtesy of cherlee. we were beginning to think that we’d fall asleep after having so much food! after lunch, we went back to my room to stitch some more, and i was quite happy with my own progress i must say the meeting was abruptly stopped when ika said she was going home to prepare herself before church. how time flies! it was only 4 o’clock. i wished the meeting could be extended for a couple more hours hahaha…

next month’s meeting would be at ika’s. i can’t wait.. i hope a lot more people show up. and i think we need to set the time to 10 am rather than 11 am

last but not least, a must-do : pictures of our progress!

.:: this holiday… ::.

. it was all about the rediscovery of my passion. i haven’t seriously bake for a little more over a year and i enjoyed every morning (of my holiday) baking, making pudding and even a little cooking. i was having the time of my life. seriously. i hadn’t realized how much i missed doing those activities, but i really love doing those things, even though i’m such novice

. went to watch G-Force 3D with bf. it was funny, but nothing extraordinary. bf liked it a lot more than Up though *roll eyes* prior to the movie, a trailer for Christmas Carols was played. i can’t wait!

. after the movie, i went to Skin Food and bought two bottles of nail polish. they were so gorgeous it was impossible not to! i resisted to buy a third bottle *proud* but now i can’t get it off my mind. should i get it this weekend?

. feli asked my sis to buy her a bottle of cherry red TFS polish during her trip to SG (it’s a lot cheaper down there), and i really wished i could keep that to myself. haha.. maybe i’ll get it for myself next month. my sis bought a bottle for me too, in a reddish brown shade.

. i wanted to get the red and black chequered shoes from CnK, but it wasn’t available at SG. my sis, however, bought me another pair, which was even more gorgeous than the one i wanted

. i love cute tidbits. like these candies. i was actually hoping for a lot more, but my sis only bought me three packs. well, it’s better than nothing

. she also received a free mobile strap for purchasing the candies, which of course she passed on to me

.:: the dinner ::.

went to syailendra, marriott last night for the company dinner. food was okay, but tiramisu was really good.

didn’t take much pictures though *too busy with our food*, just a couple with the girls on my table

.:: high school besties ::.

met up with some of my high school besties, feli and yana *we missed you martha!* oline came along for a while, and joined lunch, courtesy of feli, since she was having a birthday just a while ago. i didn’t know she was going to pay for our lunch til she actually set the bills *swt* anyway, thank you so much dear! after lunch, we had a stroll around the mall, i didn’t realize until now that my friends are polish crazies just like myself! haha.. we went to almost all stores that sell nail polish. i ended up with a Konad plate and scraper and TFS top coat, coz feli claimed it was the best she’d ever had. she had even bought four bottles at once, coz apparently it was a bit hard to find.

time spent with friends is the most precious!

.:: sunday wif de lovelies ::.

not being able to hang out with these ladies for a couple of months, and i’m probably being called snooty sorry peeps, you know what they say, so little time, so much to do. but i finally made it! and it was wonderful to (finally) hang out with them when we haven’t met for what felt like ages! all those silly jokes and laughter, and of course, the endless photo-taking session!

we had lunch at kafe pisa, and by the time of our visit, all the tables were unoccupied. i’d say it was partly because of the fasting month, plus the promo they were having, which wouldn’t be valid until later in the afternoon. the good news was, we had the place for ourselves, and we could sit there as long as we wished to, and we were able to take zillions of pictures to our hearts’ content.

free appetizer!

i ordered fussili al err.. agliana? *can’t seem to remember it* (42k) which was basically pasta topped with smoked beef, beef sausages, green peas, mozzarella cheese and creamy sauce. it was disappointing! never during my previous visits to the cafe have i ever had such tasteless pasta. i have always loved their pasta, but that one was  a complete failure. maybe i was being unlucky, maybe i chose the wrong menu *shrug* either way, i think it was a waste of money. even worse, we had to explicitly asked for extra parmesan before they handed us a (seriously) small bowl half-filled with parmesan.

to accompany the food, i ordered my all-time favorite (which i almost always order when visiting the place) lychee iced tea (14k). not only was it delicious, it was also the cheapest on the menu *lol* what’s there not to love?

after lunch, we headed to the cinema to watch final destination 4. definitely not my kind of movie. as i said to my friends (millions of time), i was there only because they wanted to. if it was up to me, i would definitely not watch FD4. c’mon, what else was there to be told? plus, watching people die in the most disgusting way was not exactly entertaining!

*photos to be updated after i finished the upload which seriously takes A LOT of time!

.:: girls just wanna have fun ::.

baru balik nih dari acara ladies stitching day. acaranya diselenggarain di apartemen olin, sekalian yang lain belum kenalan sama baby jocelyn

sebelumnya gue ke soes house dulu buat melaksanakan titah dua ibu-ibu *cherlee dan cinde* rencana awalnya sih mau beli kue sus di delicious.. tapi karena cherlee bilang soes house enak, jadilah gue beli soes house. kebetulan gue juga belum pernah makan sih.. menurut gue, menang di aneka macem rasanya aja. dari yang manis kaya coklat, tiramisu, capuccino dll sampe yang asin kaya sus ragoet, hot dog, dll ada. yang paling enak kayanya sih yang coklat yang original so-so banget, ga pake rhum jadi ga nendang sama sekali.. tiramisu wangi banget, tapi again, biasa aja yah IMHO. gue tetep prefer delicious hahaha.. but that’s probably just me.. dari segi ukuran juga buat gue kecil banget.

anyway, balik ke stitching day. abis beli kue sus gue pun langsung meluncur ke apartemen olin. justru yang rumahnya paling jauh malah dateng paling pertama! hahaha.. emang semangat bener nih ibu-ibu dua. terus sementara nungguin ika, sambil nontonin ibu rumah tangga masak nasi sambil siapin lalapan. ga lama, ika dateng dan mulailah kita stitching. miss o dibimbing master cinde, ika sibuk bongkar ulang stitch berusia 7 tahun nya gara-gara pake 6 strands, instead of 2 *swt*, cherlee sibuk sama project wedding bagong nya, dan gue asik liat-liat majalah cherlee. hahaha.. lain kali bawain lagi yak majalah-majalah lainnya… bener-bener salut dan iri banget liat sulaman cherlee dan cinde yang rapi banget.. emang tangan gue ganas kali ye jadi ga bisa serapi mereka gue personally ga terlalu buat banyak progress, kebanyakan main-mainnya.. hihi..

makan siang hari ini ayam kremes bu tjondro. walaupun sakit tenggorokan, tetep gue lahap pan belinya jauh. jarang-jarang nih bisa makan oke lah ayam kremesnya, boleh sering-sering bawain ya cher, cin hehe.. abis makan siang, lanjut lagi stitching. sampe akhirnya setengah lima dan mulai pada bubaran. betah juga ternyata ye seharian gitu. seru banget, dari awal heboh rencanain acaranya, heboh mikirin bawa makanan apa, sampe dah kaya mau piknik aja kita. me totally loving it.. we definitely should do this in a regular basis. hihi… next, my place? berikutnya musti pake sarang burung ya.. hehe..

.:: Up + Ichiban Sushi ::.

akhirnya! minggu kemaren dapet juga tiket Up hyehehehe.. telat banget emang, tapi bodo dah yang penting nonton. huehe.. emang dah ga terlalu mood nonton bioskop kecuali film tertentu aja, dan terutama males antri kemaren sih antrian lumayan panjang, mana sempet diselak sama om-om ga tau malu (plis deh om dah dewasa masi ga tau diri) tapi karena takut minggu depan dah hilang dari peredaran, jadi dibela-belain deh. apalagi setelah di cek, yang jam 4 baru diisi lima orang. kalo dah nyaris full sih ditanggung gue ogah antri..

filmnya sendiri.. kereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen.. huhuhuks.. tear-jerker banget. dari awal gue dah mewek liat carl & ellie.. gambarnya bagus.. sukaaaa.. 3d nya juga lumayan.. padahal kacamatanya cuma plastik, tapi keliatannya mayan ngepek. terakhir nonton 3d di blitz, kacamata boleh kokoh tapi ga terlalu oke, karena dapetnya duduk di pinggir juga kali ye..

abis nonton muter-muter cari makan, akhirnya memutuskan buat makan di ichiban sushi. kebetulan restonya baru buka di gading. suasana restonya lumayan enak, gue suka dekor merah-hitam nya. dan pas gue makan ga terlalu rame, jadi puas lah. makanan sih ya std aja.. gue pesen paket chicken teriyaki, seperti selalu gue pesen kalo makan di ichiban ini. tapi kayanya rugi tuh, ada paket yang lebih mahal dikit, tapi dapet jauh lebih banyak *note to self*

abis muter-muter mall, akhirnya jalan balik ke arah la piazza.. and guess what.. pisa kafe lagi ada diskon hikkkks… padahal dari pagi dah ngidam banget makan pasta. tau gitu makan situ aje… minggu depan deh semoga sempet ke situ (dan semoga tetep diskon tentunya)

.:: ocehan tengah malam ::.

- midnight, and i still have loooots of documents to read through ~ not that i’m going to do it oh, i don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow..

- while there’s a huge of documents piled on my desktop, waiting to be read, i still have other tasks to do.. e.g waiting for the release to happen (c’mon!) i really feel like a yoyo.. gravity pulling me downwards while there’s another pull from upon me and i couldn’t just escape both..

- should’ve grab s’bucks back then while i could. i’m dozing now coz nescafe surely doesn’t work on me..

- i know lots of people say “apa sih yang engga buat lo” while they don’t really mean it. sometimes the realization that someone really meant it gives me chill.

- have i mentioned that i’m stil at the office? *yawn*

- and enjoying my second cup of nescafe… *in desperate need of real coffee*

- and i really wish i’ve brought a tooth brush..

.:: my days lately ::.

.friday.

had a sudden craving for window-shopping, i asked miss o to come shopping with me. unfortunately, she couldn’t make it. i was thinking to go all by myself, but then realized it was the end of the month which meant i should deal with my internet subscription ( which i easily forgot once i got home and laid my hands on my stitching! ). nonetheless, i spent a great time at home. my cross stitch haul from cherlee had arrived, yippie! gracias, cherlee! so glad i bought the magazine. there were so many interesting projects inside! plus, there was a free somebunny kit. it was a tiny kit, i expected a bigger one, but it’s cute nonetheless.

.saturday.

spent most of my saturday morning stitching, then got frustrated because the tangled mess caused by the white blue moon strand. i decided i needed a distraction. i needed to do something else. but my hand still itched to do some crafting, and i dug up my old craft magazines, and worked with the card-making kit included in one of the magazines ( how i wish these magazines are available widely in indonesia! ) too bad i didn’t have much stuff at home, i wish i had glitter glue, inkpads, and more ribbons and embellishments. this simple decoupage card was all i could muster with all i had. i still need to learn a lot of stuff! however, i love decoupage cards.. had to resist myself from finishing off the other decoupage kits, otherwise i wouldn’t have anything left for other times

from this..

to this..

around lunch time, my sis and i drove to plaza indo to redeem her bin house voucher. she got herself a blouse, but there were still some credits in the voucher, so we grabbed some pretty little batik bags as well.

following our short shopping trip, we had a late lunch at pancious. it has been quite a while since i had pancakes here, and i always thought that it tasted quite okay, considering the affordable price. so i was quite surprised to see the higher prices on the menu. i ordered a single coco berry waffle (24.5k) with a scoop of cookies n cream ice cream ( which called for an additional 5k ). now, would i say that the taste justify the price? nope! would i say it was delicious. nope! it was just okay. the waffle was nothing compared to the real waffle i had in flapjacks or gelare. in fact, it was a bit weird IMHO. of course it was probably just me. anyone could have their own opinion, and i know that lots of people liked pancious, as could easily be seen from the crowded restaurant.

 after lunch, we drove to gading and my sis dropped me off at the mall while she went for a massage in a nearby spa. window-shopping all by myself had always been my favourite. i was particularly interested in sakura paper punch and ink pads, but i couldn’t find it anywhere. not in the huge stationery store, not in well-known bookstores, and not even in the small craft store. i realized then and there that there were hardly any decent craft shops in jakarta. so sad!

.sunday.

bf came and we took our time at my place, having lunch and chit-chatting. it wasn’t until 12 we went out and drove to MOI. we still hadn’t watched Ice Age, and the only place that still played the movie was blitz. unfortunately, i didn’t really check the schedule and it turned out the movie started at 12.30 ( we arrived there at 12.39 ), and the next ice age movie would be at 7 pm. oops.. we then drove to mall gading and queued for Up. unlucky for us, the only seats still available were those on first or second row. thanks, but no thanks! so we just strolled around the mall *quite boring for me, as i was there the day before. nonetheless i managed to grab a new cd case, my old one being “stolen” from me. now i have all my cds neatly arranged and i could easily bring it with me anywhere, which was reliefing as i hardly have any time to browse through my cupboard just to get one cd. got home, i found scrabble on bf’s iphone. and now it got me addicted!

.monday.

went grocery shopping with my parents, and while they went into the drugstore, i impulsively bought some music cd. i didn’t have any intention to buy any cd, but when i saw american idol cd, i didn’t want to let go. i grabbed endah & rhessa cd as well, for cilla had given it glowing reviews, aside from its super affordable price. it was so unlikely of me, to buy any pop cd ( i’m talking about the american idol cd ). i believe i don’t have any other cd under pop genre. as i said, it was an impulsive purchase. is it a great album? not quite. i enjoy kris’ no boundaries as well as adam’s version, and a couple of other songs as well. but still, it’s a pop album, and for me, i prefer jazz/swing/audiophile album. i don’t know what got into me that night as for the endah & rhessa cd, it was okay. the vocals somehow remind me of leigh nash. not too great an album, but not so bad either.

.tuesday.

 out of the blue, bf took me to grand indo to watch ice age. couldn’t say no to that, of course. i especially loved watching movies at blitz on weekdays. no queue was needed! we could get our tickets in just an instant. the movie itself was hilarious, i almost cried laughing.

.:: my first times ::.

ngikutin series nya olin, cherlee, dan cinde.. jadi terkenang-kenang first times yang paling berkesan sampe sekarang

1. pertama kali dapet nilai 2, pas smp. tebak pelajaran apa… bahasa inggris!! gue sampe mau nangis sendiri tuh. secara kayanya gue ga bego-bego amat dalam pelajaran ini, malah inggris kayanya favorit gue karena menurut gue ga usah pake mikir.. mungkin karena itu gue yang sok tau jadi males belajar dan begitulah, sekali-kalinya dapet dua malah pelajaran ini haha…

2. pertama kali (dan terakhir kali) dapet merah di rapor, tak lain dan tak bukan : olahraga. pas sma, guru OR nya galak banget bo.. dan gue kan pemalas banget kalo olahraga! yah begitulah jadinya. untungnya cawu-cawu berikutnya dia cukup berbaik hati naikin nilai gue item, walau tetep jelek juga sih sebenernya hehe.. come to think of it, yang berkesan dari pelajaran olahraga ga cuma itu aja sih, tapi juga : squat jump nyaris setiap minggu. kayanya nyaris ga pernah gue ga squat jump bolak balik lapangan, gara-gara telat (ps. bukan gue doank ye..)

3. pertama kali punya gank. pas sd, gue dan temen-temen yang kerjaannya nungguin senior-senior smp atau sma pulang supaya bisa pulang bareng, jadi ngebentuk geng kecil-kecilan. namanya juga anak sd, kerjaannya ya paling rame-rame makan gorengan di mobil salah satu dari kita, trus ngomongin cowo-cowo.. rata-rata sih cowo smp yang menurut kita cakep hahaha..

4. pertama kali dapet kerja dibayar. walau sebelumnya dah sempet part time di ATL, binus (ga keitung kerja dibayar), pertama kalinya gue digaji ya pas di jatis. senengnya waktu itu, kerja serasa tanpa beban. ga suka atau ga kuat, bisa keluar kapan aja karena toh kuliah juga belum kelar. dan lingkungannya juga bisa dibilang asik. dari temen-temen satu tim yang sempet kompak sampe jalan-jalan keluar kota bareng, sampe “geng ruti” teman-teman main dan makan roti sore-sore yang sayangnya sekarang juga dah mencar-mencar.

5. pertama kali nginep di rumah temen. just so you know, gue ga pernah tuh nginep-nginep di rumah temen. pertama dan sekali-kalinya gue nginep di rumah temen cuma karena alasan dugem (to be honest sih gue ga doyan juga dugem, cuman demi persahabatan bagai kepompong). gue bilang sama bokie nyokie sih mau ngerayain ultah temen (emang ga boong sih, cuman half truth aja). dan baru sekali itu juga kayanya gue pergi ga bilang-bilang. walau akhirnya pas udah lewat kejadiannya gue bilang juga dan akibatnya, gue nyaris terancam grounded. dan pas banget seminggu kemudian mau ada acara nginep-nginep lagi ke carita. sampe maksa semaksa-maksa nya. sempet gue cancel juga sama temen-temen gue, trus akhirnya tepat sehari sebelumnya keluar juga ijinnya. fiuuh..

6. pertama kali pergi ke luar negeri sendiri. secara gue bukan traveler, jadi gue sangat amat jarang bepergian, apalagi sendirian. ga pernah bo! nah berhubung ini urusan kerjaan, jadi berani ga berani ya dijalanin. seru juga sih banyak pengalaman baru, sampe yang aneh-aneh juga. di pesawat, sksd aja sama om-om di sebelah (bukan om-om girang!!), sekalian supaya dibantuin angkatin bawaan dan diarahkan ke arah yang benar di bandara dubai. hehe.. pas pulang lebih aneh lagi. karena gue pulang pas sehari sebelum lebaran, jadilah tu pesawat penuh sama tkw. dan tki untung samping gue mbak-mbak, males banget kalo mas-mas dan jadi belajar bergaul dan manis-manis sama tkw juga hehe.. disitu juga jadi tau gimana bebalnya orang indo. ga ada yang namanya antri masuk pesawat, adanya rebutan dulu-duluan masuk pintu. tenang aja mbak, mas.. ntar juga pasti dapet giliran kok. pas landing juga gue nyaris ngakak liatin para pramugari korea yang sampe desperate banget berusaha bilangin mas-mas yang dah main berdiri dan jalan ke pintu pada saat pesawat masih jalan. di UK sendiri, pengalaman anehnya banyak. dari nyasar, ngobrol sama supir taksi yang lebih tau tentang indonesia daripada penumpang indonesia nya, ngobrol ngalor-ngidul sama orang yang ga dikenal di halte bus, terbengong-bengong ditanyain orang di halte bus : mau ke gereja? padahal gue ga tau itu hari besar apaan, yang gue tau cuma hari libur jadi gue mau shopping ke city centre. yang gue suka disana orangnya luar biasa ramah-ramah (generally) and i’m glad i got the chance to meet such wonderful people. ga enaknya, duingiiiin..

7. berhubungan dengan nomor sebelumnya, ini juga pengalaman pertama gue hidup sendirian, jauh dari orang tua. makan pasta setiap hari sampe bosen (tapi begitu pulang jadi ngidam pasta melulu sampe sekarang), akhirnya mulai rajin masak sendiri. tapi sisi positifnya, gue juga jadi tau, ternyata gue suka masak! walau ga selalu berhasil, dan yang bilang enak cuma gue sendiri (ntah kelaperan, ntah beneran enak), atau maksimal flatmate gue, yang jelas ga tau rasa nasi goreng atau mie goreng di indo kaya apa tentang flatmate, itu juga pertama kalinya gue harus hidup sama orang lain (yang bukan keluarga). yang awalnya sebulan sendirian, bisa guling-gulingan sesuka hati, terpaksa behave deh. harus menyesuaikan diri juga, untung aja masih sama-sama berjenis kelamin cewe yang doyan shopping. enaknya, bisa nyicip masakan dia (masih kangen ham & egg dan salt & peper pork chop buatan jing).  yang paling males buat gue itu nyetrika. apalagi di apartemen itu lampunya koneng, jadi rada remang-remang gitu deh (alasan). akhirnya dari yang pake kemeja terus, lama-lama beralih ke kemeja kalo lagi ga males nyetrika, sweater yang ga lecek atau butuh sekali-dua kali gosok di meja setrika di hari lainnya

apa lagi ya? belum keingetan lagi

karena gue juga baru seperempat abad, jadi banyak first times yang belum gue alami ye hehe..

.:: hari yang kacau ::.

hari ini ada-ada aja kejadiannya.. tumben bf pagi-pagi dah siap, tapi karena gue lagi nunggu rumah, jadi ga bisa pergi juga sampe tengah hari.. trus berhubung belum sempet nonton ice age 3, jadi begitu menginjakkan kaki di mall gading tujuan awal gue langsung ke bioskop. lah baru tau kok direnovasi, tempat beli tiketnya jadi berseberangan sama tempat yang sebelumnya. keliatan lebih teratur sih jadinya, tapi ajubile panjang bener tu antrian. emang dah, gue musuhan banget sama yang namanya antrian tiket nonton.  paling males disuruh antri, apalagi kalo jam nontonnya dah mepet. akhirnya deni antri juga sih, di bagian kartu kredit, sementara gue coba ngintip-ngintip orang lain yang lagi transaksi buat liat sisa tempat duduk. well, yang ga 3d, keliatannya dah nyaris penuh. gue dah males-malesan aja sih antri panjang begitu. tapi masih diniatin juga nunggu… 5 menit, 10 menit, 15 menit… tiba-tiba baru sadar. ngapain juga ngantri panjang-panjang di bagian kartu kredit, secara nonton 3d kan ga bisa buy one get one! dodol banget..

trus akhirnya deni keluar dari antrian, dan pindah ke antrian cash only, yang pada saat itu dah panjang juga. gue gantian antri – masih dengan males-malesan – sementara deni gantian ngintipin sisa tempat duduk. bener aja belum juga dua menit, deni dah balik, dan hasil pantauannya, bagian tengah dah penuh dari belakang sampe paling depan. ogah banget nonton 3d dari pinggir lagi. jadi akhirnya batal deh nonton. dan berhubung hari rabu juga ke gading, dah ga tau lagi apa yang mau diliat-liat hehe.. apalagi lagi berusaha mengetatkan ikat pinggang, gara-gara speedy! akhirnya cuma jalan-jalan sedikit, liat-liat buku impor di tga (ada yang menarik! yang ngarang kate emerson.. again, tentang tudor court. tunggu tumpukan buku di rumah berkurang dulu deh!) liat-liat buku resep di gramed, nongkrong di food court sambil makan gado-gado boplo. trus ke KKG deh, sambil nonton orang lagi berenang..

malemnya, setelah mandi dll, baru jam setengah 8. akhirnya diniatin deh kitchening.. mumpung belum terlalu malem. dan pagi-pagi tadi juga baru ketemu sisa pacar cina, dan cari-cari resep, ketemu resep centik manis. slurp.. dah semangat 45 nungguin pacar cina nya mateng dan empuk, sampe satu jam baru deh maknyos. trus masak-masak-masak.. sedikit meragukan hasilnya kok ga kentel-kentel amat.. tapi masih pede aja, karena belum pernah bikin jadi ga tau hasilnya bener atau salah. tuang ke cetakan dan masukin ke kulkas.

nah karena lagi berusaha menyadarkan diri supaya ga jadi internet addict mulu, akhirnya cari-cari acara menarik di tv.. believe it or not, gue dah jarang banget nonton tipi.. paling nengok-nengok aja sekali-sekali dari *lagi-lagi* depan komputer. pas ada harry potter and the order of the phoenix. lagi-lagi believe it or not, gue ga pernah nonton full tuh film harry potter, kecuali yang pertama. apalagi yang order of the phoenix ini, baru sekali ini gue liat  akhirnya keasikan nonton (seru juga ternyata! baru tau..) sampe jam setengah sebelasan. trus nengok centik manis di kulkas.. lah kok dah lama di kulkas kaga keras juga! mikir.. mikir… mikir…. resepnya, bener ga ya 50 gr tepung hunkwe.. cek lagi… o-em-ji.. ternyata mustinya 75 gr! gimane mau jadi tu makanan.. cih! i can’t believe i was silly enough not to double check. padahal biasanya, gue selalu parno sama resep, sampe bisa 3-4x gue baca ulang abis timbang-timbang bahan. lah hari ini kok over excited sampe ga baca-baca lagi.. sia-sia deh gue dengan penuh kesabaran ngempukin pacar cina sampe sejam.. mending juga dibuat es pacar cina dari awal

dan akhirnya tak tahan lagi untuk ga online untuk yang ketiga kalinya hari ini…

dan baru sadar lupa daftar kursus crochet.. hiks.. padahal lagi ada festival rajut di museum bank mandiri..

.:: the harvest ~ tiramisu ::.

auntie was having a birthday the other day, and i completely forgot

so the next day, i ordered this tiramisu, simply because i’ve never got the chance to try their tiramisu. some said their tiramisu is one of the best in town. well, it was great. but even my dad said he preferred the chocolate devil i ordered for my mom’s birthday last year over this one.

.:: liburan tengah minggu ::.

- presidential election day.. have you vote? those who do may get free coffee milk at starbucks, and original glaze at krispy kreme, but i didn’t get to redeem any of the two

- out of the blue, bf came and we went to gading for a stroll. visited duta suara, there are, not one, but TWO albums that caught my attention : charice and regine velasquez. argh… i’m trying to save up some money here. couldn’t decide which one i should get first, so i left it at that, decided to think through before doing any impulsive purchase. and i literally ran out of the store before i chose to do so!

- oh, and i so wanted to grab that paul potts cd too!

- went to periplus and look! sophie kinsella’s twenties girl is out, eventhough the official release should be july 15. unfortunately the price tag stated 230k IDR ( large print paperback ). for me, it was quite a high price for a chicklit that i would finish in only a week. i think i’ll just wait for the paperback version.

ah.. i don’t feel like going back to work

.:: back to real life ::.

i’m back….

and despite having so many free time,
am really clueless what to write with regards to my last trip to bali,
so i’ll leave it for later

in general, i enjoyed the trip, very much!
i was so in love with bali i didn’t feel like going back, really.
8 days are simply not enough to explore the wonderful island!
am hoping to revisit the island soon *crossing fingers*

since i’m so taskless,
i’ve been checking ticket fares to semarang.
it costs a little less than 1 mio.
should i go or not? *confused*
on one hand, i’ve been looking forward for the trip.
on the other hand, it would be a really short one,
and clashes with one event that i wish to attend *bang head to wall*
plus, i wish to save up some money and the trip wouldn’t help at all!

.:: cinkz ::.

i felt as if i was in a fairytale land, walking under the canopy of trees and surrounded by beautiful lanterns.

.:: weekend super sibuk ::.

sabtu. ketemuan sama yana en martha, teman-temanku waktu kelas 1 sma. there was supposed to be another one in our circle, but she couldn’t make it. makan siang di gokana teppan, trus window shopping. liat-liat kamera di best denki. tapi belum bisa memutuskan mau yang mana. jadi ga langsung beli. sore nya, kita ngopi di kopi luwak. gue minum… hmm lupa namanya mocha sludge jelly ato apa lah gitu. intinya, kopi moka pake jeli kopi. yummy! harga juga relatif terjangkau. sayang, space nya kopi luwak ga terlalu besar, dan ga pake air purifier kali ya. soalnya walau kita duduk di non-smoking area, asap rokok masih kecium dengan sangat jelas. untung kopinya enak, jadi terhibur banget hehe.. yana beli mocha cake, bentuknya setengah bola kaya dome yang di creole. gue icip-icip, enak sih, tapi kurang dingin, dan jelas kalah banget sama dome yang luar biasa enak :D gue rasa kalo lebih dingin, rasanya jadi lebih enak!

minggu. sibuk browsing-browsing digicam lagi. akhirnya cobain lumix lx3. emang oke sih, asal dah bisa makenya aja. hahaha.. ribet juga sih setting manualnya. saya memang gaptek! menarik sih, tapi value for money ga ya. berat juga bo harganya! selain itu, juga ada sih lumix lain yang gue suka, dan jauh lebih gampang dipake. di sony center juga ada beberapa model yang lumayan. gue suka w220. hot pink! haha… tapi ntah deh dalemannya. sorenya pulang *macet banget!* dan langsung mandi dan siap-siap buat ke wedding shirley & charles. jam enam meluncur ke shangri-la. sempet nyasar dan susah banget nyari parkir, untung masih sempet liat prosesi masuknya gue suka karpet putih bertabur bunga nya, dan sofa-sofa putih dengan bantal-bantal hijau-pink. makanan dan kuenya juga enak-enak, sampe kekenyangan hahaha… band nya juga bagus banget, terutama pas nyanyiin beautiful girl versi jazz. sayangnya temen sd gue yang satu lagi, lena, ga keliatan batang hidungnya. jadi ga bisa bernarsis ria deh

.:: day off ::.

mendadak ambil cuti *enaknya lagi ngandang di kantor, bisa minta cuti mendadak hihi..* rencananya mau ke casio service centre benerin kamera yang RIP. ditelepon berulang kali yang di juanda dan di mangdu, ga diangkat-angkat *kerja atau ga ya ga ngerti deh* akhirnya nekat aja deh langsung ke mangdu setelah jemput neng olin. alesannya emang mau benerin kamera, tapi emang dasar pengen memuaskan napsu belanja aja haha…

sampe mangdu langsung menuju mangdu mall dulu buat nyari tu casio centre.. katanya alamatnya ada di lantai 2 no 16a. lho kok.. toko usb. setelah tanya satpam, katanya ga ada casio centre di situ. ntah casio nya dah tutup, or satpamnya yang dodong. hehe..

karena ga nemu, ya udah, shopping sih jalan terus.  ke toko cd audiophile,  beli cd emi fujita yang full jepun *ga ngerti bo judul albumnya apa* not too bad 175rb, lebih murah dikit dibanding duta suara, apalagi dibanding sacd. keliling-keliling cari cd case, tapi ga ketemu yang bahan dalemannya bagus. jadi batal deh. trus cari tinta printer juga, nunggu barangnya diambilin lama bener! mau sekalian beli dvd-r eh ga ada merk yang terjamin, ya udah batal deh.

trus ada toko yang jual peripherals lucu-lucu. beli tatakan mouse pink deh buat di kantor, kembaran sama neng olin. mau beli mouse hello kitty tapi ga ada yang bagus. sementara itu, neng olin ngiler sama laptop skin hello kitty, dari harga 125rb, ketemu yang 75rb ga beli juga. sampe akhirnya liat di toko pernak-pernik remaja, neng olin sempet bilang kalo 20rb gue beli deh. eh pas ditanya harganya 18rb! *ini ngomongin barang yang persisssss sama lho, bayangin aja beda harganya* eh tapi akhirnya dia ga jadi beli.. malah jadi gue yang kepikiran hahaha..

selanjutnya kita melaju balik ke itc mangdu. keliling-keliling, liat-liat aksesoris. ketemu cincin mutiara bentuk mawar, lucu! tapi menahan diri liat harganya muter-muter lagi, ketemu bando berpita aneka warna yang semuanya lucu! sayang ga ada broken white. beneran nyaris ga bisa memutuskan mau warna apa, abis lucu-lucu terutama ungu sama turquoise nya. akhirnya dikasi 65rb buat yang besar (hitam), plus 35rb buat yang kecil (putih-pink). gue yakin sebenernya bisa lebih murah lagi, cuma aja kita dah keliatan mupeng banget. neng olin beli bando topi. lucu banget dah kaya mau maen pelem. hahaha…

sebenernya abis itu mau beli celana pendek buat my upcoming trip, tapi dah keburu stressss kebanyakan belanja printilan ga jelas. akhirnya harus pasang kacamata kuda supaya ga ngiler macem-macem. hehe..

tapi masih banyak yang belum kebeli nih. bulan depan kesitu lagi ya neng. sekalian cari renda, pita dan rangka bando *ada ga sih rangka bando di mangdu* neng olin ngotot mau bikin bando sendiri. ya gue sih mendukung aja, sapa tau dikasih bando pita aneka warna. hehe..

walaupun kita cuma ke mangdu, neng olin tetep ga lupa sama yang judulnya narsisme. dari pas makan siang yang cuma di pizza hut aja dia dah ngebet foto makanannya *tapi perutnya yang laper sempet mempengaruhi kerja otaknya, jadi baru inget pas makanannya dah abis!* trus pas di mobil juga langsung moles-moles bibir pake lipstik. teteup. padahal kita dah jalan pulang. trus langsung deh neng olin keluarin kamera. sempet ya bo! hahaha..

pulang ke rumah, diajak ke supermarket sama nyokap. akhirnya abis mandi langsung ke artha gading. paling bahaya kalo ke supermarket dalam keadaan laper. pengen beli ini itu! akhirnya sih cuman settle on good time choco chips. ih enak ya! dah lama ga makan haha…

pengen bikin kue coklat! tapi ga sempet! hiks..

relaxing banget cuti hari ini. syenaaang…

.:: pen pals ::.

pas buka-buka laci, gue nemuin plastik kecil berisi amplop-amplop. awalnya gue kira cuma kartu-kartu natal, ternyata isinya surat-surat hasil korespondensi gue jaman dulu, semasa “internet” dan bahkan “komputer” merupakan kata-kata yang belum terbayangkan.

mostly surat-surat dari temen-temen lama yang pindah ke luar kota or ke luar negeri. dan gue sama sekali lupa surat-surat itu pernah ada! oh my. ada sih beberapa yang terus gue inget sampe sekarang, tapi ternyata masih banyak kenangan berharga yang sempet gue lupakan. hiks. jadi kangen deh sama temen-temen gue itu. sekarang gue bahas beberapa yang berkesan buat gue.

surat yang paling banyak, yaitu dari salah satu temen sd gue yang sempet sekolah di penang. gue bahkan ga inget kalo dia pernah sekolah di penang! dan gue bener-bener ga inget kalo gue ternyata sering juga surat-suratan sama dia. topik pembicaraan sih cuma seputar sekolah dan film. ulangan, ujian, guru, film-film bertabur aktor “imut” -> this is the exact word she was using. brings back all the memories of being young and carefree. yang ada di pikiran cuma urusan sekolah, ga ada masalah lain yang membebani pikiran kita waktu itu.

another one dari seorang sepupu temen sekelas gue waktu sma kelas satu *jauh bener ye* sebenernya kita ga pernah ketemu in real life. dan semuanya berawal dari sebuah telepon. surat-surat, kadang pendek kadang panjang, yang berisi hal-hal yang *teteup* ga penting. sekolah, ulangan umum, cowo, gosip. mungkin sekarang keliatan seperti hal sepele, tapi ya itu lah dunia kita waktu itu. so sweet kalo diinget-inget lagi. walaupun ga pernah bener-bener kenal selain lewat surat dan telepon, kita juga sempet tuker-tukeran kado. sampe sekarang gue masi simpen pita bandana yang pernah dia kirim di salah satu suratnya.

ada lagi yang dikirim oleh salah satu sahabat gue waktu smp yang pindah ke balikpapan karena ikut orang tuanya yang ditugaskan kesana. gimana keadaan sekolahnya disana, siapa yang jadi gebetannya disana, dan pengakuan gebetannya semasa dia di jakarta. yang lucu, di surat itu disebut sebutan gue di gank kita waktu kelas satu, caroline. gue sempet bingung kenapa dia nulis stephanie caroline. ah, ternyata itu nick gue waktu di gank yang kita sebut baywatch. haha.. trust me, semua anggota gank kita punya nick masing-masing. ada yang cody, dll sesuai tokoh-tokoh di baywatch. nyaris lupa sama eksistensi sebutan itu. gue lebih inget gank AB7 a.k.a gerombolan teriak-teriak di kelas, yang sebenernya ya baywatch itu. duh apa ya yang ada di pikiran kita waktu itu? gue rasa acara tipi kurang banyak haha.. but that’s life. seru banget mengingat masa-masa itu. jadi tersadar, ternyata banyak sahabat yang sayang sama gue, masih inget sama gue walau ada di negeri antah berantah.

selain dari sahabat lama, ga terlalu banyak jumlahnya yaitu dari pen pals gue di luar negeri, yang gue kenal lewat IYS atau international youth service. menurut gue iys ini keren banget, bisa menyediakan sarana buat anak-anak berkomunikasi sama dunia luar, dapet temen baru dari luar negeri. yang paling berkesan buat gue yaitu theodore millas. entah kenapa akhirnya kita lost contact. well, bukan “entah kenapa” sih. gue rasa itu semua karena pos yang bermasalah sampe surat gue ga sampe di yunani! buktinya, denger dulu cerita gue. jadi kalo surat-suratan sama pen pal di luar negeri, bahasan pertama ya std lah nama, umur, hobi, nama sodara dan orang tua. berikut-berikutnya pasti giliran saling minta foto atau postcard. nah gue inget banget surat terakhir yang gue kirim ke dia itu isinya postcard sama foto. jadi tebel deh tu surat. nah abis itu gue ga pernah dapet balesan dari dia. kalo ga ada surat berikutnya, gue pasti bakal mengira dia yang ga bales gue. beberapa bulan kemudian, ada satu surat misterius sampe di rumah gue. setelah gue buka, dan pahami bahasa inggrisnya yang rada kacau *padahal inggris anaknya jago*, ternyata itu surat dari bapaknya si ted! kira-kira, berdasarkan pemahaman gue, dia nulis surat minta gue bales suratnya ted. demi tumbuh kembang anak, kira-kira gitu. dia juga bilang kalo dia nulis surat itu tanpa sepengetahuan ted. sweet banget ya bapaknya ini. gue bayangin tipenya yang rela melakukan apa aja buat anaknya. gue masih ga ngerti kenapa akhirnya gue ga bales juga tu suratnya si ted? atau gue dah bales tapi tetep ga nyampe / ga dibales sama ted nya? bener-bener ga inget! sedih juga sih akhirnya kaya gitu.

selebihnya, surat-surat dari beberapa pen pals lainnya. tapi ga terlalu banyak dan cuma sempet korespondensi sekali-dua kali. jadi masih dalam tahap hobi lo apa? minta foto donk. dsb. gue masih menyalahkan pos indonesia atas kurang lancarnya korespondensi gue. yakin gue, pasti deh surat gue hilang di perjalanan! *bisa juga sih pos negara lain yang ngaco hehe..

seneng orang tua gue dulu sangat suportif dalam budaya tulis-menulis ini, mulai dari ngeposin surat-surat gue, sampe bayarin IYS.  menurut gue pasti ongkos kirim surat ke luar negeri juga ga bisa dibilang murah.

selain dari luar negeri, ada juga beberapa pen pals gue dari luar kota. gue baca-baca, ada-ada aja cerita awal kita korespondensi. ada salah satu pen pal gue yang berawal dari barter. barter teks lagu sama perangko. bo inget ga sih kalo dulu salah satu hobi yang umum itu koleksi perangko *am wondering, dimana ya album-album perangko gue, jadi kangen!* kayanya sih gue tau dari majalah tuh ada orang yang mau barter-barter begitu. jadi dua teks lagu dituker lima perangko. lucunya..

jaman sekarang, internet bisa diakses dari (nyaris) mana aja. ngobrol sama orang di ujung dunia gampang. tinggal chatting atau email. tapi gue kok kangen ya sama budaya menulis surat? dengan kertas-kertas surat yang lucu-lucu, tulisan tangan, prangko dan cap pos. so classic dan kenangan yang sangat berharga di mata gue, jauh melebihi email atau chatting yang ga bisa disimpen seperti layaknya surat.

gue kangen surat-suratan. gue kangen barter-barter barang ga penting. seneng dan excited banget rasanya waktu nerima paket yang kita ga tau isinya apa, yang udah dipilihin sama pen pal kita di ujung sana. ada yang mau main barter-barteran sama gue? hehe..

.:: felix & indah, the wedding ::.

attended a friend’s wedding last sunday.

congratz for the bride and groom.

.:: 3 weeks, 5 weddings ::.

and i won’t be able to attend at least two of the weddings

.:: sabtu yang menyenangkan ::.

sabtu kemaren, bangun pagi dan langsung siap-siapin ingredients buat bikin putri salju.  dah lama banget ga baking. i kinda think that i’ve lost some of the abilities. haha.. yang paling ga sabar dan bikin cape itu tetep : nungguin proses panggang-memanggang.. secara oven gue ga gede, ngolah adonan ga nyampe satu jam, manggangnya bisa sampe tengah hari. sigh..

tengah hari, langsung buru-buru mandi dan dandan, karena my whole family dah nungguin *sweat* trus langsung meluncur ke taman anggrek. keliling-keliling cari hadiah buat salah satu auntie gue yang akan berulang tahun. akhirnya settle on sepatu sandal charles and keith. semoga muat hehe..

and what joy it was to laugh over the simplest of things. coba-cobi sepatu, coba-cobi baju, trus diakhiri early dinner di canton bay. dan walau kepengen cobain menu lain, tapi tetep akhirnya lebih memilih ifumie yang masih jadi favorit gue. nyam.. kebetulan restonya pas lagi sepiiii banget. mungkin juga karena belum jam makan malem. jadi bisa puas ngobrol dan bergosip.

senang. dah lama ga jalan-jalan santai berempat.

.:: pan & roast, part deux ::.

our original plan was to go to eX to have some pancakes at pancious. one and other things came up, and we finally went to gading instead. the ladies insisted to have some pancake, and i was dragged to pan & roast, though i’ve been there only the day before. it couldn’t be helped

this time around, i decided to have a taste on the original pancake (19k), double pancake served with butter and maple syrup. to say the least, i enjoyed this one a lot better than the one i had previously. if anything, it definitely added up to what i thought about this restaurant. the best way to enjoy a pancake is the simplest one. nothing would beat the original flavour of pancake combined with maple syrup. to my dissapointment, though, they didn’t supply us with unlimited amount of maple syrup. there wasn’t enough of syrup on my plate, and thus i asked for extra syrup. they did give additional syrup, but it was only very little. however, since i liked it better than the tiramisu pancake i had the day before, i’m giving it 4 out of 5.

.:: saturday nite with friends ::.

warning : (very) picture heavy!

marsoed 6a reunion
june 6, 2009

it wasn’t until late in the afternoon that i realized that i forgot to bring my mobile phone with me. how was i suppose to meet up with my friends, if i couldn’t even contact them at all. i was thinking to just wait in front of yuraku until someone showed up, which would actually work, but bf was being very sweet and drove me home to get my phone, and dropped me off again at la piazza.

it was only a small reunion as only nine people showed up. we only had a week notice, and some people ended up canceling on the last minute, but it didn’t hinder us to have fun. the two guys that showed up ended up acting as our photographers while we girls posed. this was probably our first reunion in which i didn’t take charge as coordinator. finally someone else stepped up to share the burden and helped organizing the event. haha.. too bad not many of us showed up, and even some of the usual faces canceled on the last minute. i wish the next reunion will be bigger and more fun! there were talks about a short trip to bandung. hmmm..

we were planning to have dinner at yuraku, but it was packed with people, and we thought it would be best to go to some other place quieter to have more fun.  i proposed the newly opened pisa cafe, and everyone agreed. it’s been quite some time since my last visit to pisa cafe menteng, so i was literally drooling for their pasta. i ordered fusilli polo e funghi *it was originally spaghetti polo el funghi, but i asked for fusilli instead of spaghetti*

fusilli polo e funghi is described on the menu as creamy fusilli with smoked chicken & champignon mushrooms. it was perfect. it wasn’t overly creamy, so i could easily enjoy it to the very last bit. i also ordered lychee iced tea, which tasted just as delicious as the food! i stopped myself from ordering gelato, for fear of being too full.

i heart the ambience of the place. the dimly-lit room was cozy and comfortable, a perfect setting to spend time with friends and beloved ones. it was filled with lots of vintage posters and the wallpaper behind our seat was picturing pisa tower. too bad there wasn’t any space for a music stage. however, i’m more than happy there’s a pisa cafe nearby, so i wouldn’t have to drive all the way to menteng whenever i crave for pasta or gelato.

later, after the a lot of picture-taking that had triggered people’s attention to our table, we finally moved on and went in to honeymoon dessert. i was too full to have dessert, so i settled on strawberry ice (20k). it was nothing too special, but i did love the atmosphere of the place, with the huge bookshelf wallpaper. a perfect place to take more pictures! haha…

.:: thursday random rambles ::.

* major trouble : my camera is dying. image quality is down to minus 100%, i can clearly see horizontal lines all over the pictures. i need to get it fixed ASAP! i hope it won’t cost me a lot, since really, i still love this one, although there has been scratches here and there.

* another wedding invitation had just arrived. told ya, it’s musim kawin! this time it’s shirley & charles wedding. looking forward to the event. the bride was one of my besties in elementary school.

* i found something that is more addicting than fashionesedaily : facebook games. i’ve never been interested to try out their games before, until three days ago my friend asked me to accept her happy farm invitation so that she could buy an item. so i helped her, and got hooked with it, and started restaurant city as well. unfortunately i’m unable to access it from home, as i only have 1 giga quota, which has over and over been overused.

* thank God it’s Thursday! can’t wait for the weekend. a small reunion with my elementary school friends on sat nite, then lunch with miladies on sunday.

* receive some surprise messages from my high school bestie… miss her! she’s been busy with her med study, so we haven’t seen each other for a long time. trying to plan a get-together with the other two gals in our circle, which has never been an easy task.

.:: weekend round ups ::.

thursday
free tickets to terminator : salvation. i hardly say no to free stuff. haha.. unfortunately bf was too sleepy to join, thanks to the champion league finals. however, he was sweet enough to pick me up and wait until the movie started. downside : i was unable to do a small shopping spree around the mall *padahal lagi sale*
the movie was okay, it was enjoyable but forgettable. typical terminator movie *with better cast, i heart christian bale*

friday
the day started off pretty bad. i was told that i probably wouldn’t be able to have my one week off at the end of this month. baaaaad mood on. was very relieved when it was finally approved. bali here i comeeeee!!
a bit worried though, since it will only be one and a half week after my go-live schedule. if the project is going to be delayed, i’ll be damned.

saturday
bf had to work this weekend, so  i had to entertain myself. went to gading with my sis, entered every shop we could think of, bought a bunch of stuff and had some toast at yakun kaya toast. i had milo toast. yummy.. i kinda miss toast box in SG.
on our way out, we spotted a new resto at food city, pan & roast. will check it out when i have the time

sunday
went to artha with sis. don’t really fancy this mall, hence i didn’t find anything interesting, aside from the supermarket. haha..a college friend, felix p, dropped by and hand-delivered his wedding invitation. congratz, future neighbor!

PS : *taun ini musim kawin ye? kayanya diitung pake jari tangan & jari kaki masih lebih..

.:: baby jocelyn ::.

akhirnya hari minggu kemarin sempet juga mampir ke tempat miss o buat jenguk baby jocelyn, dan mommy nya tentu. maap ya say telat dua minggu. sekalian juga gue menghantar kado yang udah kita persiapin sebelumnya. by kita, i mean, gue, cinde, cherlee, ika, sama kartini. barangnya gue yang pilihin, semoga sih mommy plus anaknya suka ye. hehe.. maklum aja gue belum pernah punya baby pusing banget pas lagi mau belanja hadiah baby. sesuai request, gue pilihin mainan buat baby jocelyn. belum bisa dipake sekarang si, tapi buat nanti kalo dia udah sekitar 9 bulan gitu. dan lucunya bisa direkonstruksi dan dipake juga sebagai pegangan baby waktu belajar merangkak dan belajar jalan. gue pikir lumayan juga mainannya bisa berguna dalam jangka waktu lama, asal baby nya ga bosen aja hehe.. selain itu, gue juga pilihin walker gitu, ntah apa namanya. buat pegangan mommy pas baby belajar jalan gitu deh. plus satu dress. sayang ga sempet gue foto karena langsung dibungkus di tokonya. ayo lin, difoto dan diupload.. sekalian foto baby nya! pas di tempat miss o, gue juga pengen foto si baby, tapi takut nya kena flash malah kebangun dan nangis. lucu deh baby jocelyn tembem am really excited for dearest miss o! congratulation dear!

.:: happy birthday, daddy ::.

may 2nd, 2009

the cake

a day before, i phoned baltic ice cream to order this mocca praline ice cream cake. it’s been quite a while since the last time we ordered baltic, so i guess it was perfect timing

the ice cream cake was wonderful as always. i love the combination of ice cream, chocolate chip and nougat almond

customer service was excellent, and they even gave three ice cream sticks as a bonus. the only drawback is the late delivery. i asked them to deliver the cake at 10 am, but they were one hour late. it was no big deal though, since i wasn’t in a hurry or something.

the dinner

later that evening, we had a family dinner at red bean, mkg. it was delightful.

food was great. service was quite good, considering the jam-packed restaurant. lucky i’ve reserved a table for us.

mie goreng ulang tahun

sapi lada hitam

udang cabe garam

ayam kung pao

kangkung ayam hot plate

my favourite of the bunch is udang cabe garam, which happened to remind me of my friend jing’s salt and pepper pork chop. oh i miss her cooking! my least favourite is kangkung ayam hot plate, and sapi lada hitam which was just so-so.

.:: sunday with the girls ::.

been neglecting these lovely ladies for quite a long time now, and it’s time to rekindle the relationship *lol* as soon as i heard that i didn’t need to go to work during the weekend, i quickly contacted my gals and make an appointment to meet up for lunch. it’s always great to laugh to their silly jokes and gossip

went to the movies afterwards and watched knowing. it was okay and i quite enjoyed it, considering i’ve already known the storyline, from beginning to end, even before i went in.

later on, i met up with my parents and we had dinner at nasi lemak kemangi. had my favourite tengiri cabe, but it didn’t taste quite as good as usual. nonetheless, i was glad to go out for dinner with them. i’ve been quite busy lately that i never have time to spend much quality time with my parents.

.:: latest office event ::.

some pics from the latest event, held on April 7, at the 26th floor of the building.

.:: miss o and i ::.

feeling a little bit exhausted by the overwhelming tasks i’ve received today, i needed a night out more than ever. lucky that i’d made plans to have dinner with miss o. i was so busy but i was very determined to realize the plan, thus i worked my ass off all day and left the rest for the day after

we met up at pizza hut at eX, me being very late thanks to the unusual traffic jam, and i ordered beef sausage fusilli and orange lychee soda *geez i can’t seem to remember the exact name* it was pretty crowded, and i don’t like the fact that there’s only so much space between each tables. however, that shouldn’t stop us from having fun. gosh, i haven’t seen her for weeks, and she’s on the ninth month of her pregnancy now. the next time we see each other again, she’ll be carrying a baby in her arms. still can’t believe how time flies!

for the sake of past memories, here’s a couple of pics.

us at 7th heaven. funny how every single time we try to work on our essay, we ended up at any nearest shopping mall.

us, after being declared graduated.

us before graduation ceremony. pic was taken “illegally” in one of the mini studios of king photo.

our official graduation photo.

us on her wedding day.

it’s been over a year since the above picture and she’ll be a mother real soon. so excited for you, dear..

anyway i had a great time. it was a breath of fresh air, after the hectic day i’ve been through. the food was also great. the fusilli was fulfilling my craving of cheesy pasta, and the drink freshened up my day and as my friend, jing, had once said, i don’t need a cup of coffee to keep me energized. a glass of soda is so much better *half true for me*

after dinner, we just strolled around eX for a while, then she went off and i continued browsing the mall till 9.30ish. i can’t believe they were running out of japanese cherry blossom lotion. note to self, should get it at gading this weekend.

us, now. okay, i have to say that’s not a very good picture

.:: holiday in lalala land ::.

SG Trip
8-13 April 2009

day 1 – not a holiday

* woke up at 3 am. my sis’ flight is at 6.15 and mine was 7 am so i had to have a very early start. it was my first time flying Air Asia, and i don’t think highly of it, but for its price, it’s bearable.

pros :
- i don’t think they cleaned the interior before letting the passengers in, cause i saw people coming out of the plane within minutes before we board on the plane. nevertheless, it was quite clean.
- smooth take-off and landing.
- incredibly cheap tickets.

cons :
- seats are obviously really bad for anyone’s posture, very uncomfortable.
- no breakfast/lunch/dinner. all i got was mister p roasted peanuts and water. any food/drinks beside that were not free.
- no personal television. in fact, i don’t see any television at all, but i might be wrong *lol* however, it was a budget airline, so i need to make compromises.
- not-so-professional service. the attendants only gave us mister p and they didn’t even bother to reach the ones sitting near the windows. they just put the “breakfast” on the middle seat’s table.
- delayed flight is no longer a surprising matter.

* arrived at changi and took a taxi to lucky plaza apartment. it wasn’t extraordinary, but decent and clean. but i really despise the landlady. i mean, here i was, renting the room for a week, and on the last day, she was literally kicking us out. and she kept complaining about stuff, like don’t turn on the air conditioner while the windows are open. she said that like three times, although we were only caught doing so once. geez.. calm down lady.

* not in a very good mood, and everything in SG seemed dilapidated. the mrt station, the humid air. i love my home much better.

* i H.A.T.E singlish. i’m no language expert, but could you at least use a widely understandable grammar? the medicine i view ya? go figure! just being in SG for a week had somehow lessen my english.

* spent half the day at glens. emotinally tired.

* had dinner with cousin and nephews. had the best teh tarik ever.

day 2 – shoe land

* dropped the hair dryer and had to spend the rest of the week with naturally-dried hair.

* went back to glens for results, which isn’t a bad one, yet the best we could get right now.

* had light lunch at Tanglin Mall. tasted McD’s McSpicy which is extremely delicious compared to the indonesian version

* my sis kept going on and on about the botanical garden which was just across glens, but everyone – i, my mother, and even my father said it was better to hop in the next mrt leading to any shopping centre. ha! now i know where the genes came from.

* headed to bugis, found three pairs of shoes. irresistable! i found one at BHG, and the other two at charles and keith. too bad it’s not great singapore sale. i had to buy a pair in full price

* found several cute bags, but finally settled on two *inget dompet*

* took a taxi home, the taxi driver was a real psycho. i just hate his rudeness!

* officially missed the election. it wasn’t intentional, i swear.

day 3 – all around the town

* went for breakfast at wisma atria, found another pair of shoes at charles and keith which screamed three words cute, cute, cute! had to compound myself not to get that one too

* visited plaza singapura to buy some chocolates. again, it wasn’t great singapore sale, and most of the stores doesn’t give any interesting discounts. my wallet is extremely happy

* we went straight to vivo city. it was very crowded that i couldn’t really enjoy the visit. note to self, never go to vivo city on public holiday. didn’t get to see all parts of the mall, because my feet was sooo sore.

* after dinner, i went for a night stroll to centrepoint. noticed a huge mall, orchard central, being built. there’s another one, ion orchard, just beside wisma atria. like there aren’t enough malls already *lol*

* finally found an iora store. no discount at all, so i only bought a high-waisted belt.

day 4 – the warehouse

* had breakfast at takashimaya, then went to watson’s and bought some stuff. travelling with those not sharing the same interests in makeup means : i just felt downright guilty to buy so much stuff. so settled on some items on top of my list.

* visited my cousin’s apartment, and went by bus to ikea at queenstown. it was my first time travelling by bus in SG i still prefer MRT to bus.

* the ikea itself was so-so. nothing special, it was so similar to the UK branch.

* tried the swedish meatball at ikea cafe for lunch. it was okay, but i liked the frozen one i usually bought in somerfields. haha.. i miss that good old days.

* spotted anchor point just across ikea. i’d heard that charles and keith warehouse was located there, so i was more than eager to find out.  and i heard right. every single item on this c&k store was on sale. the downside is, not everything still comes in various sizes. but i managed to find one nice pump shoes that fitted my feet. there are actually others i drooled over, i had to resist myself from jumping up and down, and spend all my money on shoes!

* almost every store in anchor point displayed discounted items. so it was a good place to visit when in SG. the downside is, not everything on sale was good. they kept the good ones at the other stores, of course at full prices! haha..

day 5 – the goodbyes

* had paris brest ~ from beard papa ~ for breakfast. yummy yummy! i wonder whether the jakarta branch has it *am drooling as i’m typing this*

* finally had a few pictures taken.

* went to my sis’ apartment for the upcoming week at cairnhill plaza. o-m-g… the apartment was really huge and very convenient. too bad we weren’t able to stay there last week

* tried to arrange a get-together with my friend, di, but failed since she was bed-resting to recover from her sore throat.

* had dinner with my cousin and two nephews. it was an small indonesian restaurant – with a sky-high price. am wondering how i could open a business in SG. haha.. just imagine, $8.5 for one portion of nasi uduk.

day 6 – real life

* went to wisma atria for breakfast. it was the most expensive char siew roasted pork rice i’ve eaten in the past few days. delicious, but still not worth it.

* travelled along scotts road, and it really made me wanted to stay longer.

* the plane was half an hour late, they didn’t even checked my boarding pass. had to endure one and a half hour on the plane in a really bored state. can’t wait to get home, but also didn’t want the holiday to end

* welcome real life!

.:: not an ordinary manic monday ::.

* woke up in a very sleepy state and literally had to drag myself out of bed and to the bathroom to prepare for the day.

* drove to the batavia office to get some stamps on my sponsor letter. i haven’t been in the batavia office for quite a while now. hadn’t even seen the new company logo in the front office until today. oh how i miss that place. breezy, quiet, wide, open-planned office. it was my comfort zone. unfortunately, by the time i arrived at the office, it was still quite early that no one is at the 26th floor just in yet. so i had to go back to the first floor, took another lift to the 11th floor to borrow and access card. after “breaking” into the 26th floor office, i spent some time rummaging through the receptionist’ desk – to no avail – the office boy finally came to my rescue and handed me the stamp, which is actually sat in the drawer near the copy machine. d’oh! then i had to run back to the 11th floor office to return the access card, and drove back home.

* half past ten, my parents and i drove to the immigration office for the new passports. it didn’t take much time and in less than an hour we were on the road again. stopped by kfc to buy some burgers for lunch, dropped my parents off at home, and then went straight to the office.

* as predicted, i had to work my ass off, made amends to the half day off and the upcoming week off. by the time i wrote this, it’s 8 pm and am still juggling on yet another hidden task we’ve just found out in the afternoon, blogging, and befriending pinkq, a fellow FD member who CP-ed MAC Mineralize Blush Duo. you know what, she’s actually working in IT industry as well.

* half-heartedly rejected once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – or rather twice-in-a-lifetime, as i had turned down a similar opportunity not so long ago. will there be a third? let’s just cross our fingers

* went home and found that i looked so sallow in my new passport. why aren’t those government cameras never seem to act friendly upon us commoners?

* truly exhausted and sleep deprived, and haven’t got time to pack my stuff

.:: d is having a birthday ::.

sorry for being MIA for a little while

quick recap.

last weekend was a blast. saturday was my bf’s birthday, so we went to have lunch/dinner at Tamani. i had suggested to go to Pandan Cafe, but he insisted on tamani, despite the fact that he had also had tamani the day before. so i ordered one of my favourite menu at tamani, chicken maryland. as always, it was salty. i honestly liked the one at Pandan Cafe better

chicken maryland

chicken cordon bleu

after that, browsed for presents, and finally settled on a black leather wallet. stopped by the face shop to grab base coat, but saw this nail strengthener, which came in a more vivid pink color, so i grabbed that one, along with their highly-raved eye curler, which didn’t look like much, but we’ll see

spotted a new *or i thought it was new* booth at food court, Prince’s Waffle. hurried and checked the price, and it was fabulously cheap! ranging from 4400-6600, and you’ll get discounts if you buy 3 or more of the waffles. nice, isn’t it?

for starters, we bought the cheapest ones, which didn’t come with any toppings, thus making it easier for take-away. *all their packaging were specially designed for takeaways, anyway we bought chocolate, vanilla and cheese, and after being heated for some time, the waffles are safely wrapped in a white paper bag.

i really love the idea of prince’s waffles. of course the size of the waffles weren’t so big, but hey, it’s not even 7k! not too bad for its price. the waffles tasted quite good, unfortunately they were best eaten while still warm. they tend to be a little bit hard when cold. but i still think its worth a try, and definitely will go back again sometime in the near future, to try other flavours  *they have green tea waffles* and toppings, like the ones with caramel or chocolate sauce or even ice cream and strawberries.

next day, we went out with the family to have lunch at xin wang hongkong cafe, TA. i’ve never been there before, but bf heard that the place was good. so there we was. and it was delicious indeed! bf ordered a set menu for 8 people, with varied dishes, including prawns, pork, fish, chicken, squid, won ton, to veggies. my favourite of all is their pork chop.

the restaurant itself was nicely decorated with lots of wooden elements, and comfy red couches. the service wasn’t so bad. the food was served quickly after we placed the order, and the waitress was also sweet.

after lunch, we went for a stroll at metro, but for once, we only browsed the men section, and didn’t set foot at women section. such a wonder! went home and suddenly felt very tired. wished to had an early night, but my eyes wouldn’t cooperate. so i turned on laptop and watched last friday’s downloaded files : dollhouse. i heard the rating wasn’t so good. too bad, cause i think the story was interesting.