.:: 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.

*pics to be updated

.:: 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

.:: 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..

.:: 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..

.:: 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!

.:: 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..

.:: 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..

.:: 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

.:: 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…

.:: 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!

.:: 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

.:: weekend, weekend, weekend! ::.

thursday. went to PS with rina for “lunch”, just for the sake of  books.  remember that periplus offered 15% discount on all novels, supposedly until the end of the month? well, they had changed their mind for sure. they now offered 10% discount instead of 15%, which almost felt like geli geli doank. but i was there, and there was no mistaking i had to buy at least one book. i mean, i went there for that, right? right? anyway, i was about to get the boleyn inheritance ( philippa gregory ) but i finally got thanks for the memories ( cecelia ahern ) instead, considering i’ve still had another philippa gregory’s book – left unread.

supposed to go out dinner with lei, retz, and li at puro, what with the buy one get one promo which was valid only ’til this saturday. however, something came out, lei’s driver got some scratches on her car, and so we had to cancel

but i didn’t grieve all that much, coz only then i could watch american idol. haha..

friday. went out to dinner and a little shopping spree with my dearest friend, miss o. it’s been AGES! and it was really good that we finally got to see each other. we talked about almost everything, from A – Z, but a couple of hours on friday night is nowhere near enough!

after meeting her up at mothercare, our first stop was sushi groove. i ordered none other than chicken katsu curry rice, while miss o settled on something more.. fulfilling. hehe..  the chicken katsu curry rice was really nice, and it came in a (lil’ bit too) generous portion. i also liked the fact that the sauce was a bit spicy. i think it was better than the one at sushi tei.

chicken katsu curry rice

oleen’s bento

stupidly, we took pictures of the food, but not ourselves! i believe we were sidetracked by that free voucher! it was a 50k voucher they gave us for spending more than 100k. and by that, we forgot all means to camwhore. silly!

after dinner, we walked around the mall for a little shopping spree. i didn’t buy much, as it was always more than fulfilling to watch miss o shop. hehe.. peace yo! i did manage to grab a bottle of vov nail polish, a transparent polish loaded with chunky  multi-shape glitters, in turquoise  and silver. oh geez, this addiction has got to stop at some point!

went straight home to find a package for me. yaay.. my order (Oshaberi Na Amadeus) from Kinanti Komik arrived in a very good condition, safely wrapped in a TIKI plastic bag. i’ve read some good reviews regarding this series, so i just had to have it. i don’t know, i’m never a huge fan of comic books, but lately, i’m just craving for old comics, especially the ones written by waki yamato. so yes, i’m on the hunt!

saturday. not so much a weekend, since i had to go to work. i arrived at around 8.15 and i was the first. geez, i wondered where the others were, did they ditch work? hahaha.. it wasn’t until 9, just when i thought nobody would ever come, that the others started arriving. so i had an hour free to myself, browsing and writing this. haha.. *oops* not entirely my fault, as i was working on such a nonsense.

managed to go out of the office before the clock turned four, and went straight home. curling up with my new comic books, then went to artha to check out ace and index supersale, which was a blah! i don’t have the house  to decorate yet, to begin with! haha..

sunday. had brunch with at kantin dewi sri, bogor. mom said we used to go there everytime we visit bogor when i was very little. so there we were, reminiscing the old times it was just a small canteen offering indonesian home made cooking. the food was displayed on a long counter and we just need to point our fingers to what we wanted. too bad there wasn’t much variation, but i noticed that they kept bringing different stuff from the kitchen and placed it on the counter. probably we arrived too early that they hadn’t finished all the cooking. i had pepes ayam and tempe bacem, and es cincau selasih. all tasted delicious, though the commute from jakarta was not exactly a worthy price to pay. the place was a bit dark but it was clean and homey. on one side was the long counter used to display the food and the cashier. on the other side were booths with wooden benches. there weren’t much people when we entered the place, but soon enough it was packed with people wanting to have brunch themselves.

after that, we browse the shops at tajur, which i thought way overpriced for that kind of quality. and we drove back to jakarta via ciawi. never crossed this road before as i usually took another motorway. so it was quite a different scenery i got to enjoy

later in the afternoon, d came to my house, bringing the long-awaited package i had a fellow FD-er  sent to the office. it was a bottle of china glaze nail polish in turned up turquoise. turned out it was brighter than what i had in mind, but still love it! i put it on my feet nails while d took a shower, and i instantly fell in love with it. he also brought me oleh-oleh from the compu-fest, a new card reader! i’d broken the old one, and i’ve been desperate for a new one. yaay! haven’t tried it yet, hopefully it works okay.

we went to gading, and did nothing but strolled around the mall. was in no mood to shop anyway. i was craving for rujak, so we went to the food court and i bought a portion from gado-gado boplo. yummy…

visit gramedia but too bad they didn’t have complete set of full house kiss, so i went to the rental/shop near my house to order it. hope they would be able to find it!

if i previously said, two days on a weekend is not enough, imagine what i think now with one!

.:: shopping, dining and acting silly ::.

had a fabuloustatic sunday with the girls!

starring..

lia..

lei..

retz..

and moi..

had lunch at Y & Y. it was the first time i saw the restaurant so crowded! haha.. given the fact that i mostly visit grandi on weekdays, instead of weekends. luckily we only had to wait for two other groups of people before being ushered to our table.

Y & Y offered many kind of dishes, they didn’t really have any specialties. pizza to sushi, sandwich to fried rice. you can find all of them here. funny, i still thought they didn’t offer enough, probaby because they only have a few variety pizza, a few variety of fried rice, etc. i ordered nasi goreng teri for the main course, and a glass of coffee smoothie – can’t seem to remember the exact name. we also ordered mince wagyu pizza for the four of us.

the smoothie tasted just okay, especially considering its price (35k). the glass was so small that i should manage to finish it even before they served the fried rice, if i wished to. the coffee flavour was blah, and it wasn’t that sweet either. with that amount of money, i’d be better off buying some real offee somewhere else.

on the other hand, the minced wagyu pizza (85k) was great, despite its not-so-yummy look. it was thin and spicy, brought a delicious unique flavor to my taste buds. each got two slices of pizza, but it was thin enough that it deserved to be called appetizer. haha..

after the pizza, i think it was normal for me to have such high expectations of what to come, nasi goreng teri (25k). okay, from its name, we can all say it was nothing extraordinary. but some restaurants do serve really nice fried rice, so i supposed i expect Y & Y to be one of them. i was completely wrong. it was an utter and complete disaster ( exaggerating ) it was probably not that bad, but it wasn’t good either. it was somewhat dry and quite tasteless. a total blah!

after lunch, we went to blitz in an attempt to watch benjamin button. looking at the not-so-perfect timing, we finally agreed to just doing some shopping instead of wasting our time in a darkened theater, unable to interact with each other ( a.k.a cekakak-cekikik ). it was real fun, hitting the shops with the girls.

a couple of hours or so, we landed ourselves in cold rock. three things. one, we ordered rockopuff, a scoop of ice cream in a cream puff, they said they had nothing except ice cream sandwich. two, the ice cream didn’t taste that good. in fact, it was way overpriced for its so-ordinary-in-fact-not-that-good ice cream. ben & jerry or haagen dasz taste soooooo much better compared to this. three, i’d rather go to gelatissimo as they have 50% discount, i’d suggested it prior to this. but we were curious because none of us had ever tried cold rock. however, the oh-so-petite place was actually quite nice, with the colourful tiles, comfy couch and magazines.

more about the ice cream. we finally ordered two plates of ice cream sandwich, we picked coffee flavor as the others looked rather bland. i tasted the irish cream, it was nowhere near delicious. the bread was supposed to be toasted, but it came out white, like it had never seen any toaster before. one bite is enough to tell you that it wasn’t at all a freshly made delicious bread. it tasted like it’s been kept for several days. seriously. and the ice cream was also not that good.

however, it was on lei, celebrating her bonus as an mlm distributor ( the customer being herself and her family ). thank you so much dear!

while we were there, we chit-chat and had a really good time sharing gossip and talking and .. well, sharing gossip. all while we manicured our pretty nails with the polishes we just brought at the face shop. here’s what it looked like :

the meet-up came to a closure at burger king ( no, after all that food we’d had that day, we didn’t eat those fat burgers, we were only there to relax, literally ). we discussed our next possible gathering, and where we should have it. all involved dinner, lunch or something related to food *sweat* narrowing down the options are puro, which is having a “buy one get one free” promo, or seafood restaurants at (where else?) gading.

went home exhausted, and literally feeling like two-day weekend is not enough.

.:: hard rock nite! ::.

it’s been desperately long since the last outing. hmm, come to think of it, it’s actually not that long, but i wasn’t able to attend the last one at marriott so i was thankful that some of us braced the responsibility and did a wonderful job arranging this event! otherwise, it wouldn’t have happened. let’s see.. there are quite some plans before this, but all failed before our very eyes!

anyway, more about the event. it didn’t take place on a friday night like it used to. instead, we were dragged out of the office on a tuesday night – not complaining. we went straight to eX after work, and though the dinner was supposed to start at 7, starvation got the better of us, and we let ourselves in and took our seats. two long tables were neatly arranged for us and we sat on one of the tables and studied the menu carefully. i settled on berrylicious, a mixture of strawberries and God knows what else; twisted mac, chicken & cheese, to satisfy my growling stomach; and hot fudge brownie sundae , topped with chocolate chip ice cream, for dessert.

first came the drinks. berrylicious, as i said was a mixture of strawberries and God knows what else. it was a refreshing start for the night. sweet and sour at the same time, it boosted my energy and quenched my thirst. yummy!

d, seated next to me, ordered electric iced tea. it was a blue-colored drink that appeared tempting. i had a few sips, but never been a fan of vodka and all, i ignored it most of the time.

next was the starters. i didn’t order anything, but someone absolutely did order something for all of us. Jumbo Combo, as the menu described, was :

A delectable array of our most popular starters, that’s big enough to share. Includes Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings, Onion Rings, Potato Skin and Tupelo Chicken Tenders. Served with four different sauces for mixing and matching.

i managed to get a couple of tupelo chicken tender, which looked – and tasted – just like spicy chicken nuggets. it tasted okay, compared to the chicken wings that everyone was grown all sour-faced from the first bite. i didn’t dare take the risk!

twisted mac, chicken & cheese. i ordered this since i had been craving for some mac & cheese for some time now. according the menu, it was :

A grilled chicken breast tops off twisted Cavatappi pasta tossed in a lightly spiced  3-cheese sauce, with garlic, roasted red peppers and Romano parsley bread crumbs. Served with a side of garlic toast.

and the picture also looked promising. when it first came out, i thought the portion was normal, not so big a portion that i couldn’t finish. but i was wrong! haha.. i managed to finish the chicken breasts, but could no longer touch the pasta after 3/4 of the plate. the pasta didn’t taste as cheesy as i wanted, it was just okay. the chicken was good, though. probably because it was salty that it helped a lot with the otherwise almost-tasteless pasta. as for the garlic toasts, i gave it to the neighbouring colleagues.

halfway through my meal, i was running out of the delicious drink, so i ordered another one. this time, i picked orange crush, a mixture of (d’oh!) orange, mango (i think!),  margarita and i don’t know what else.

it was just as refreshing as the previous one. the glass looked pretty but then i realized it was made of plastic!

last came dessert. hot fudge brownie sundae. the waitress told us they were running out of vanilla ice cream, and let us chose between chocolate chip and strawberry. both rina and i, my partner in crime, prefered chocolate chip.

Haagen-dasz vanilla ice cream and hot fudge on a fresh brownie, topped with chopped walnuts, chocolate sprinkles, fresh whipped cream and a cherry.

it didn’t look like the description on the menu, but it wasn’t a bad thing. it was nonetheless yummy. though we were already full, the dessert had awaken our senses, as it was the most delicious of all. of course, i had always been a sweet-tooth who loved this kind of dessert. the brownie was rich in dark chocolate, the bittersweet  aftertaste tingled my taste buds and left me satisfied. the ice cream was also great. it was Haagen-dasz, there’s really nothing bad you can say about it.

by this time, i had already emptied my second drink. the waiter asked if i wanted to order something else, but i couldn’t think of any. was tempted to order B-52, (if i’m not mistaken) a mixture of kahlua, grand marnier, Irish Cream and some other coffee flavored drinks, but it costed quite a lot, i didn’t dare to order it besides, my stomach was really full to the point i didn’t want to have anything else down my throat anymore.

the long table and jam-packed seats made it almost impossible to take proper pictures with most of the crowd. but obviously picture-taking session was a must.

.:: at long last ::.

it happened! sudden and impulsive attempt inviting dear friends for a small reunion and it finally happened. remember my previous post regarding the four of us who could hardly find time to fit each other in our somewhat busy schedule. not that we didn’t want to see each other. we see each other a lot virtually, but it’s definitely not an easy job to gather everyone in real life!

having my mood being so lifted up, i decided to give it a chance and called everyone. and surprisingly, everyone had some free time tonight. yaay!

so it’s us, having dinner at pizza hut, while catching up with each other’s life, chatting, sharing gossip, acting funny and just being silly. too bad we just had a couple of hours! *phew*

.:: january babies ::.

january ladies and gent arranged a little party for dear colleagues. food was ordered and served by one of us whose family run a catering business. yumm-o!

in the afternoon, we got a surprise from said colleagues. a birthday cake! yaay… with pretty candles slash fireworks. seriously..

okay. i totally regret the fact that i was too embarassed to admit that i was that narcistic that i brought a camera. instead, i let my friend took the above pictures using hp cam. hence the poor quality..

.:: four of us ::.

there are only four people in our circle, yet it may be distressful to find the right time to gather up and spend some quality time together. one day, two of us are free, the others aren’t. another, one is very busy with work or personal life, while three others have a lot of free time to kill. months may go by before one single plan is successfully realized, and each manage to set aside daily routine to see the other three.

dear friends, as fate has it, i apologize this time, i am forced to be the one backing out from our plan wiskul-ing to bogor *jeduk-jeduk kepala ke tembok*

(see, there’s only three of us)

.:: birthday surprise ::.

got a surprise from my BFF, miss o

LV Amelia Wallet!

Yaay! Totally looooooving it!

Gracias muchas dear *cups*

.:: rendy & mike, the wedding ::.

sebenernya ini cerita minggu lalu, tapi baru sempet gue posting sekarang hehe.. minggu, 11 januari 2009 gue menyeret deni ke resepsi wedding rendy & mike. di assembly hall, lt 9 plaza bapindo.  so happy for the bride and groom! gue excited banget, karena dah cukup lama juga ga ketemuan sama temen-temen smaku.. *hiks. kapan nih reuni lagi?*

alhasil, begitu ketemu segambreng temen-temen, jadi ribut ga keruan ngobrol sana-sini ketawa-ketiwi ga jelas. dan pastinya, foto-foto!

juga ada kejadian kita cheers buat rendy dan mike, ceritanya direkam gitu sama videografernya. tapi berhubung ga ada yang lain, cheersnya pake air putih! banci kamera, tapi grogi semua kalo disorot. hihi..

.:: from japan with love ::.

the first great thing that happened in 2009.

tuesday night, i was really surprised to find a huge red box sitting on top of my table. it wasn’t the fact that i received something that caught me by surprise, nor the fact that it had travelled all the way from japan. it was the size of the box that really surprised me. when a beloved friend, eva, mentioned about the gift some time ago, i expected it would be some small souvenirs, bookmarks, keyrings, or something like that.

to my surprise, i received this huge box full of cute items. i was beyond-belief ecstatic.

inside the pandora box.

in the package was two paper bags. inside the “bao-bao” one ( the one on the left ) was a peter rabbit cup, nicely kept in a wooden box.

it’s so damn cute that i don’t think i’d have the heart to use it, although i could imagine myself waking up to a cup of milk.

the other paper bag contained two boxes of chocolate which also came with cute wooden boxes and wrapped in vintage printed labels.

uber-cute vintage packaging!

caramel fondant. notice the carved “afternoon tea” label on the box!

carefully crafted details! i can’t believe they would go for such a trouble to make these chocolate boxes.

double chocolate crunch. it shared a similar vintage theme with the caramel fondant. oh, i so love the prints, the colours, the frames. all parts of it!

the wooden slide top box revealed lots of thin chocolates, in dark and white, each sprinkled with crunchy cereal *i think* and wrapped in a plastic bag.

the chocolates. would you just notice the details of the plastic bag!

the christmas card. the circled leaves was made of wood and, though subtle, the smell was pretty nice.

the golden bookmark picturing a kimono-wearing girl  facing a wooden bridge with pretty cherry blossom details.

leave it to the japanese to create really cute things, eh? *jadi pengen jalan-jalan ke jepang*

adoring my gift… blowing a million kisses to dear friend *cups*

really sorry that i haven’t got the time to thank you properly, work had taken most of my time and energy, and one time or the other that i had taken a chance to peek at my messenger, you were off. having said that, i sincerely thank thee for the gifts!

.:: girls day out ::.

the long awaited reunion finally took place. it was a gloomy wet saturday morning as i drove to TA. the girls had decided to gather at eleven, but i decided to come early so i could have some me-time browsing through the stores.

i was tempted to buy a green sparkly nail polish by skin food, but decided to consider other options. i found a soft turquoise one at vov, but they didn’t have any testers, and even if they did, i wouldn’t be able to try it on my nails, since all my nails were already polished. so i decided to wait for my friends and ask for a second opinion, and move on to etude house. do you know that they – in unison – greet every girl entering the stores with such a lame sentence, “welcome princess!!” yes they did actually say princess! they had this buy one get one promo, but the BA said it was only for members, though no visible sign stating such words. so, even though those super cute vintage-looking packaging was screaming my name, i could do nothing but leave empty-handedly. of course, all the BAs quickly sang “thank you princess” in unison, you would feel like burying your head on the ground. enough with the freakin’ greetings already!

anyway, it was eleven, so i walked to our meeting point, eaton. santi was already there, and soon, the crowds joined us, cinde, cherlee, ika, and oleen. nini showed up late, when we were already munching on our delicious lunch – i had kwetiau goreng penang, as usual.

after lunch, we swapped christmas gifts, and i received a 4 gigs kingston flash disk – in pink! i’m totally lovin’ it, as now i could finally return my bf’s fd, which i had kidnapped since long time ago the others received an equally creative gifts, including camera case, party clutch, cosmetic case, soaps, and some of us even received a set of tupperware jars and a set of spoons! well, the instructions were to give something useful, and i believe all the gifts would somehow be useful for the recipients

then came the shopping-tour-’round-the-mall. one of us was looking for a dress, and some of us ( miss o and i ) was extremely interested in every single beauty shops, skin food, etude house, vov, yves rocher, body shop, while the others were more on the neutral side. or maybe, they thought we were both crazy!

but, all those beauty craze did have its usefulness. my friend, cinde informed me that she was using kanebo freya clay wash. and hearing the extremely affordable price – for a kanebo – i was just shell-shocked. looking at cinde’s flawless skin, plus i was browsing through sevreal japanese skincare websites just a couple of days earlier – and drooled over several stuff, i could no longer resist the temptation. when the others went home and i was left alone, i finally went to a kanebo counter at metro. the BA suggested that i use the one from raphaie range, instead of freya, which were intended for teenagers, so i blindly agreed and bought raphaie moist up cream soap. the BA didn’t give a lot of information, and a part of me suspected her of trying to sell the more expensive stuff, but i was really satisfied with the product from the first try, so.. there’s no need to complain. i’ll update you with reviews later on, after i use it more religiously over some period of time, and also if i’m not to lazy to do it. haha..

another finding was skin food grey nail polish ( GR 901 ). i’m so into dark polishes right now, although some people gasp at the sight of my nails! i was torn between grey and navy blue. but all my friends agreed that gray was so much better, so i finally bought the grey one. the BA kindly gave us free samples, although each of us only bought a bottle of nail polish.

ow, and i also bought garnier light eye roll on. i saw this kind of eye roll back when i was in uk, but it was quite pricey for a drugstore brand, and i’m so excited it’s finally here with a much cheaper price!