Back to Japan

So here we are now, back to Japan. Back to our real life. The trip to Indonesia was really my holiday. When I didn't have to clean up the house, and cook for three times a day :p

I realized that there are still some to do and to eat lists left, even forgot to bring lots of stuffs (like sambal Bu Rudi, my mom's sambal goreng, dried lemongrass, and Hiro's toothpaste). But somewhat I felt satisfied. I met people I wanted to meet. I ate most of the food I wanted to eat. I did almost all the things I planned to do. Most of all, I could proudly show my little boy to the people I love, my family and (some of) my friends.

Thank you Hiro, for giving me this three weeks wonderful holiday.



Thank you Nina, for coming over from Bandung to visit me. And thank you Adnan for taking care of Iki while I shopped at Ambassador Mall :p



Thank you Tina, for arranging the apartment, the "visit" in Jakarta, the lunches, the stories, and the laughs



Thank you Arief, for the very sweet friendship in "your" on way :p

Thank you Vivi, for spending some time to meet me. It was really really nice to meet you and your family, especially Felicia!! God, she's really pretty!!! Also for the dinner and the most delicious Terang Bulan I've ever had! It was our first time to meet, but I felt like that we could talk about anything. I would like to meet you again sometime in the future (^__^)





Thank you Mario and Fenny, my cousins who just got married. For coming to our place so often to entertain Iki.



Thank you papa, mama, oma; for spending days and nights with Iki while I went around Surabaya for shopping, meeting friends, and eating. Iki speaks good amount of Indonesia now. More fluent than his Japanese. Moreover, Iki could poo everyday now!! I don't know how did my Dad made him so. I just remembered that every morning my Dad brought him to toilet and talked to him.
And thank you Oma for the delicious meal you cook. You are definitely the best cook in the world!!



Thank you Vitria, for the few hours wonderful time. I hope the best for you, and hopefully too we could spend more time together in the future.





And thank you Enyo. For everything. Our friendship is really special that I couldn't find any words to describe it. Iki keeps talking about you. About your car, your dog, and your big ouchi (house) hahaha. Thanks for even coming over to airport only to meet for for a few minutes. I do hope to meet you again, HERE :p



Now we are adapting to our life again here. Iki is very lonely for sure, poor boy. He doesn't want to release me even for a minute. I must play with him, talk to him, read to him, and sing with him. Meanwhile I'm also trying to get my life rhythm back.

Bye...

We are leaving not. Good bye Surabaya. Stay tuned for our leftover stories. God Bless us, I'm having my period :p

Ci-chan sad

We are leaving Surabaya today. When Iki woke up this morning and saw the packed suitcase and boxes, he said: Ci-chan sad. And went back to the bed. I talked to him and he said that he didn't want to go to JEPANG. He wanted to go to oma's house and mama could go to JEPANG alone! Poor Iki. He surely will be lonely in Japan

Morning Routine

I bring Iki swimming everyday here. Usually after he looks tired then I give him to my parents while I continue my real swimming for another half an hour. But two days ago I feel really disturbed. Some staffs came to clean the pool side. I started to feel uncomfortable but I continued my swimming. Then they took the pool's water using dirty bucket. I was not recovered from my surprised yet when I saw they washed their dirty hands INSIDE the pool. I got out of the pool in a second and complained!

Body Scrub

Actually I would like to have the whole spa package, but I don't have three hours free time to do that. Still have long to do and eat list. But I actually am glad to choose only body scrub. The service is pretty dissapointing :p

Going to church

This afternoon my cousin managed to drag me visiting church before going to PTC. I felt dejavu going to church again, but somewhat felt touched following the first Friday mass. It was Iki's first time going to the church too :p. I bought a very cute rosario at the church's shop. Not for praying, though. For accessories :p

Soto Banjar

This was my perfect dinner: Soto Banjar Pal Satu at Kedungdoro. No words to describe it!!!!

Tunjungan Plaza

I spent the whole afternoon alone at TP. There are lots of changes after three years, but still it has special place in my heart. I spent like almost every weekend there. It is much cheaper than plaza senayan but I didn't shop much. I just was just shop hopping, and enjoyed coffee + free wi-fi; but I was satisfied :)

The Coffee Bean

And now I am taking a rest here after strolling the whole TP alone. 'Ngopi' alone while enjoying the free wi-fi :p

Bemo

And I took bemo from CDU to TP hehehe. I totally forgot when was the last time I took bemo. Quite an experience. I think I will bring Iki riding becak before we leave haha

Nasi Padang

This was my lunch today with Tina, Arief, and Reni. It was the same warung I always bought nasi padang at the past. I ordered rice with lever, tuna balado, and eggplant. Boy, boy, boy, it was sooo delicious. When Reni ordered the food I complained that the rice was too much but I cleaned them all. It costed only IDR 37,000 for all the food we ordered!

Gorengan with petis

I went to CDU again for lunch this afternoon. When I just entered the main building's entrance, I met an old woman selling those gorengan. Still the very same old woman. She exclaimed that I was very pretty now. A very spontaneous honest comment. I stopped, had small talks with her and bought tempe menjes and dadar jagung. Complete with the petis sauce. DELICIOUS!! Especially when I remembered her first comment

Bakso Pak Salam

Is really the best bakso in the world!! It was my dinner tonight, to close our culinary trip today. I love this bakso since the university time, and the taste was still very the same. Perfectly chewy bakso in tasty soup (which I was so sure contains a lot of MSG hahaha). With right amount of additional ketchup, sweet soy sauce, soy sauce, their special chilli sauce and a bit squeezed lime; I got my food orgasm tonight. I finished it till the last drop of its soup.

Visiting Culun

After had some talks with Enyo's mom while Enyo was feeding her dogs, we walked across the street and visiting culun. His wife just got birth a month ago to their first son, Ken. It was fun to see their surprised face, and it was really really nice to meet them again. I promised to come again bringing Iki before leaving Surabaya (to Enyo's mom too).

Bakcang

This huge special pork bakcang was Enyo and I's snack this afternoon. Felt good that at last I could eat it again after years. It was delicious though a bit hard. The taste was a perfect combination of sticky rice, pork, and salted egg, with special bamboo leaves smell. What a delicious yet fatty late snack!

Song Mie Apeng

Still recommended food from Apeng. The strong pepper taste shocked Iki, but for me it was just perfect.

Kwetiau Siram Apeng

Was what I ordered for lunch today at apeng with Tina, Tasya, Enyo, Nonik and Iki. It was as delicious as usual. One of my favourite food in the past.

CDU Revisited

I came to CDU this afternoon. To give Arief little surprise and have lunch with Tina. It's nice to be back there and see the familiar things that used to be big part of my life again after three years. I said hello to the security guards and our office's cleaning boy too. I surely will visit them again for nasi padang lunch that i used to have when I worked there :p

Bye bye, papa-chan

We are waiting for boarding at the airport now. We will be leaving to surabaya soon. It's somewhat sad to say goodbye to those nice people at Plaza senayan APT. Iki was also sadly said: 'bye bye big ouchi' (bye bye big house).

Papa-chan will still stay in Jakarta for sometime. He is very very busy that sometimes our presence in Jakarta disturbed his work. He said that his boss and coworkers looked really tired already having such a long working hours without holiday. That's why he felt sorry that his family's presence sometimes made him away from work for several times during the busy time. Which made me feel guilty too......

Anyway we are leaving now. I hope papa-chan wouldn't get too tired and sick. Dining out everyday must be tiring too, especially that I know those food at the restaurants contain a lot of additives!

See you again in Japan, papa-chan. I will cook healthy food for you everyday later, and half an hour massage every night hahaha

We surely will miss you :)

Batik

Batik is very popular now (at least) in Jakarta. Lots of people wear Batik in different colors and styles. Women's section at department store at Plaza senayan was also full of Batik.

I bought two only. At Mall ambassador last week. I really like them and felt georgeous wearing them. Hiro also said that they were really nice here, but may be not in Japan (Blah)

I'm now trying to find sleeveless batik and shorts for Iki. He said that my Batik was kakoi (cool) and that he wanted one. Couldn't find any yet :(. Most of children's batik were shirts, or long sleeves. Japan would be too hot for that :(

Warung Podjok

We had lunch at this restaurant almost everyday last week. We love the food and the hospitality, though it's a bit pricey. Yesterday was our last dinner there so we ordered our favourite ever Sop Buntut Goreng. I said goodbye too, which made those pretty ladies took Iki's pictures using their handphones hahaha.

We may look boring staying only in Plaza Senayan during our stay in Jakarta, but we are satisfied. We had good food available there, had enough shopping, and had enough doughnuts (Iki) :p

A shocking surprise

Tina said that she would visit me during her business trip in Jakarta, so this morning I eagerly waited for her. It's been 3 years, and I was so waiting forward to meet her.

She texted me that they arrived at Lobby (and I was curious who were the 'WE' she meant). It was Tom!! I was so surprised and so was he. He also didn't know that they were going to meet me. What a shocking surprised, and I was really really happy. It's been 5 or 6 years not to meet him.

They got along with Iki pretty well, even Tom who claimed that he doesn't want to be a grandfather :)). They could meet Hiro, luckily, for few minutes before they went back to Surabaya.

Thank you so much, Tina. For the visit, the anniversary present, and the very nice surprise.

Small accident

We are at the pool side now. I told Iki not to stand on the rocky stairs a moment before he wanted to jump. I jumped to catch him, we both fell down from the stairs. I tried my best to protect him using my body. Thank God he's allright, and I just got some bruises on my body.

Iki cried, and I was so scared if something happened to him. Seemed it was a shock crying. He calmed down after I gave him some water. Some pool staffs came over and helped us, and they also put some betadine on my bruises. Damn it was painful that I really wanted to cry, but couldn't . If I did Iki would be scared and cry too....

But he knew it was his mistake. As I laid down here to calm my self down, he took two white flowers and gave them to me.

'mama-chan, coyi......', he said.

Which really brought me into tears....

KFC vs Peking Duck

Suddenly I really wanted to eat fried chickens from KFC so I brought Iki back to Plaza senayan after his nap only to buy it. I bought my fave crispy thigh and perkedel, with lots of KFC's special chilli sauce.

I used to eat KFC frequently during my single time. I loved it, so it was quite nostalgic to eat it again after years. Of course there's KFC in Japan. But the chicken is tiny compared to Indonesian's KFC. No perkedel, and no chilli sauce! - and of course way more expensive :p

The perkedel was as delicious as usual, I made this long hmmmmmhhhh sound at the first bite. The chicken's skin was really crispy - and fatty!! I felt guilty to my body eating such an oily food when my phone rang. Hiro finished working earlier today, and wanted to invite his boss and coworkers to have dinner at home. WHAT?!?! I threw back my chicken into its box and started to see what did I have in the refrigerator panicly.

I am a very slow cooker, even after these three years. So in such a short notice I could only prepare potato, spinach, and miso soup for nearly 1 hour :( :(. Luckily Hiro's boss bought Peking Duck. But what an embarassing hostess I was :( :( :(

At last after bathing Iki I could get chance to eat. No, I did't finish my KFC yet. I ate the Peking Duck instead, which was really really delicious (though it was as fatty as KFC hahaha)

Sop Buntut Goreng

Ohhhh Myyyy Goddddd!! This food was really a blast. So crispy, so fatty, so tasty, so tender, so gurihh, so ueenuaaak!!!

I'm familiar with Sop Buntut, but this lunch was my first time eating Sop buntut goreng. With Soda Gembira, it was just a perfect lunch :)

I'm still accompanying Iki at Krispy Kreme right now. He's in love with this doughnut that we come here everyday after lunch. I could enjoy the free wi-fi while laughing out loud watching him dancing to Britney Spears' song :p

Thank you

Thank you for these three years
Three years full of love, attention, and lessons of life.
The best three years of my life so far.

No big celebration today. Hiro is still busy at work. But we managed to have lunch and dinner together. Hiro went back home for our simple dinner. Shinjaga no age ni with Miso soup and rice. That's all, but it was really a personal happy moment for me to see both Hiro and Iki ate them greedily.

Hiro bought me that Longchamp handbag as a present, and he got Nokia E90, plus 1 hour 'shierly's massage' voucher :p. I actually don't expect that present. Being together on this day (in Indonesia, this year) is the most important thing. Having delicious meal together was even better. But of course that present was an additional happiness hahaha

Thank you Hiro, for all your efforts so that this day (again) is very special to me :)

Nasi Goreng Kambing Pedas

Was my lunch today, again at Warung Podjok. We fell in love with that place. For the food, the friendliness, and the environment (I hate eating using stereofoam plates at Food Court!).

It was delicious. Spicy but not harmful to my tummy. Tasty with not too strong spices. Too bad the goat meat was a bit too hard.

I had tempe bacem again as side dish. Haven't get bored of it yet! And Iki sticked to the Otak otak as his appetizer.

Hiro and Iki loved the Sop buntut goreng they ordered. He said that it was the most delicious Indonesian food so far. I think it would be my lunch tomorrow!!

Creambath

Am having creambath at Johnny Andrean now, with special request on massaging. Boy, this woman has magic hands!!!

This is what I called: massage orgasm :p

Lontong Cap Go Meh

This was my lunch today. This food reminds me of Valens' mom hahaha. She definitely cooks the best one ever.

But this Warung Podjok's Lontong Cap Go Meh was not bad. It was thick and tasty though I miss some ingredients. A satisfying lunch, though it was actually a wrong choice for my 'suffering' stomach. Yeah yeah....today I have stomach pain because of the delicious yet too spicy eRWe I ate yesterday :(

Hiro had Gurame goreng. They (and Iki) loved that crispy fish. And Iki fell in love with otak otak tenggiri.

I planned to have creambath during Iki's nap, but must go back early today because of my stomach pain :(. Is it because the spicy level or the hygienic problem?!

PS: I hate my phone's camera. I couldn't get good pictures :(

Krispy Kreme

We're at Krispi Kreme now. Iki is having his chocolate cruller doughnut while I am enjoying my cold cappucino and free wi-fi :p

Krispy Kreme is new in Japan and people have to queue for 1 hour only to buy doughnuts, but here there are only three tables occupied.

Iki loves his doughnut, and he is now dancing to the music beat. He cracks me out hahaha

Jambu air

At last I found Jambu air at SOGO. Three for damn 25.000 IDR. I bought them anyway because I've been wanting than fruit since I came here.

And they were not as sweet as I expected. Sadddddd :p

Family day

It's papa-chan holiday today. His first holiday after two weeks working almost 14 hours a day, but would be our only family free day here since Iki and I will go to Surabaya next Saturday.

We spent the whole morning at the swimming pool. Iki had a great time playing with papa-chan, and finally I can have some real swim. Eventhough I bring Iki swimming almost everyday, I must take care of him all the time. It was a great sport day after for me. We are all get more tanned now :p

Iki wanted to eat pizza so we went to pizza hut. It didn't taste good at all :(. Hiro and I got difficulty finishing the pizza, but luckily Iki ate his portion happily. I really would prefer to eat KFC hehehe (I miss the sambal sauce). I must eat it sometime next week!

Then I cooked for dinner. Simple stir fry veggies and squid. Feel really good because Hiro and Iki loved it. I think they both fed up eating oily food :p

Hiro will go back to his daily routine again tomorrow. He spent his only holiday to pamper us instead of taking a rest at home. Thank you very much, I really enjoyed our family time today :)

Manadonese style breakfast

So this is my breakfast menu from what I bought at Ambassador Mall yesterday. RW.

This is definitely the spiciest food I've ever eaten ever since I came to Jakarta this time. But also definitely the most delicious one!

Manado Food at ITC

I was surprised to see a lot of Manadonese restaurants at Mall Ambassador. I was actually trying to find Sop buntut goreng recommended by Vivi but quickly changed my mind hehehe.

I bought panada (fried bread with spicy cakalang inside), ketan like cake in wajik shape (I forgot the name but I used to eat it in Manado), and RW!!!! It's now inside my refrigerator for my breakfast or lunch tomorrow hahaha. Hiro already gave me 'ewwwwww' face when I showed it to him.

I would love to go to that place again for the food but I think not with Iki. It was to crowded and hot that it was a pain in the ass walking around with a stroller. But I'm glad to be able to visit that Mall this time. Thanks to Nina & Adnan!

Ayam goreng Ketumbar

Today we had lunch at Warung Podjok, an Indonesian restaurant in warung style decoration. I had this ayam goreng ketumbar which was really really good. The skin was very crispy and the meat was tender with good proportion taste of ketumbar. I also ordered tempe bacem (which I already wanted for months) and it tasted just perfect. And my drink? Soda gembira!!

Iki also ate this ayam goreng a lot, with a pack of kerupum udang and 1 big kerupuk warung. My boy really loves kerupuk!

Even better, today's lunch was a treat from Nina because she just got a job promotion :))

Unexpected meeting

Today Nina came from Bandung to visit me. I was very happy to see her again after years, and also to get Donal Bebek (Donald duck) magazine as present. I used to love this magazine. To my surprise, she asked Adnan to join us too. So we had lunch together at Plaza senayan. I didn't expect to meet him here so I was very happy. Iki likes to play with him too, he called him 'jiji' hahahaha

Then we went to Ambassador Mall and ITC kuningan for some shopping. Adnan was so kindly babysitting Iki while Nina and I crazily jumped from one shop to another. Batik is now a trend in Indonesia so I bought some sexy and exotic clothes. Nova's batik online shop is cheaper and more fashionable though!! So sad that I don't have internet connection here to check it more. I could negotiate the price at ITC. I forgot when was the last time doing price bargaining but somewhat I'm still good at it hahaha. I didn't shop much, but I'm satisfied :p

Then we met Baby Mariza! Another surprise for me as well. Last time I met her was when I stayed over at her place in Diemen, Holland. Yeaarsss years ago!

What an exciting day! Thank you so much for visiting me, Nina!!

Din Tai Fun

They claimed that they are one of the best 10 restaurants in the world, voted by the New York Times, but for me it was the worst Chinese Restaurant ever :p (and Hiro agreed).

I had this noodle with sliced beef in sichuan sauce for lunch today. The Noodle was not chewy and too sticky; and the sauce was too sour. Hiro had fried rice and according to him the taste was really standard. The price really not worthed the food. At least the avocado juice didn't taste bad :p

Johnny Andrean

Having two pretty ladies taking care of my hands and feet here. Last time I had manicure and pedicure was when we were about to leave Korea last year. This is something I couldn't afford in Japan hahaha

I prefer how the Korean nail salon cleaned my nails though, but this pretty indonesian woman is definitely good in massaging!

I chose silvery grey for my nails this time. Pretty colors :p

Soto Betawi

My lunch today was Soto Betawi. It was my second time eating it, the first one was with enyo. It was like coto makassar without nutty taste for me. Delicious, though for Hiro it was thick and salty (I think all Indonesian food are thick for him :p).

I ordered Teh Botol Sosro along, and it was just a perfect lunch - especially without Iki's disturbance since he was sleeping in his stroller hehe

Japanese mama :p

Iki wanted to go out anyway, so I brought him to the playground this afternoon. I let him playing with his mini cars weakly while I had a chat with some Japanese mothers.

They greeted me and talked to me in Japanese since the beginning, and was really surprised when I told them that I was an Indonesian actually. They said that eventhough I talked with Iki in English, I totally looked like a Japanese mother. Hahaha! I heard that for the first time in my life!!!

They said that they have been wondering where I come from, and these how they analized me! Hahaha (dasar ibu2 tukang gosippppp):

Indonesian rich mother living in this apartment won't be at the park playing with the kids. There were only the nannies bringing the Indonesian children.

Indonesian rich women will not wear such a simple cloth, but a nanny wouldn't wear make up and long earrings (god, they even paid attention to the earrings!!!)

My make up was totally like Japanese mama's make up (u know? All of our make up style and color were the SAME!! I wondered if they all read last month's VERY magazine)

My hairstyle was definitely Japanese style

And they heard Iki called me 'mama-chan' :p

They said that they adored my tanned skin and was actually about to ask what kind of tanning cream I used. Most of them have been living in Indonesia for 1 or 2 years but the tanned color is 'different'. They said that my tanned skin looked real and natural (hahhahaha it IS!!). They gave me long Japanese 'eeeeeee' scream when I told them that I got my skin tanned in 5 days :))

So today I heard for the first time that I actually had passed Hiro's tests and looked like real Japanese mama, though a tanned one :))

Iki is sick :(

My boy is down with cold today :(. I couldn't hear him scattering and couldn't see him jumping here and there. He still asked for swimming though! He is very weak. He wants me to hug him all the time or accompany him weakly playing on the floor.

Guess I must give up my shopping to mangga dua until he is fine. We are not allowed to go any further than Senayan Plaza now. I must give up my plan to Bali too (sorry Carla & Mariza...) and will go to Surabaya by the end of this month.

Indonesian food outside would be too heavy for him too, so for now I cook all his meal. Another work, but his health comes first. Hopefully he would be fine soon......

Iki is sick :(

My boy is down with cold today :(. I couldn't hear him scattering and couldn't see him jumping here and there. He still asked for swimming though! He is very weak. He wants me to hug him all the time or accompany him weakly playing on the floor.

Guess I must give up my shopping to mangga dua until he is fine. We are not allowed to go any further than Senayan Plaza now. I must give up my plan to Bali too (sorry Carla & Mariza...) and will go to Surabaya by the end of this month.

Indonesian food outside would be too heavy for him too, so for now I cook all his meal. Another work, but his health comes first. Hopefully he would be fine soon......

Bakmi GM

I thought I wouldn't get any chance to try this recommended by Yun's legendary noodle, but I found the branch in front of the Hero supermarket at Underground of Metro, beside Senayan Plaza. So this afternoon this Bakmi GM special with Bakso was our lunch menu.

It tasted really really good. One of the best food I ever had in Jakarta so far. I didn't put any ketchup or chilli sauce this time because I want to feel the real taste. Next time I will try to put some sauces and experimenting with the taste haha. Iki also loved it. It was the first time he ate Indonesian lunch that much!!

I also ordered pangsit goreng (fried wantan) as side dish. Iki loved it too! And Susu soda for my drink. The susu soda taste reminded me of my student time, and I can't wait to find and drink Soda gembira again hahaha

Total damage was IDR 37,500. For a portion of Bakmi Special, pangsit goreng, and susu soda.

Some updates from Senayan Plaza

No, I'm not recovered yet. Still struggling with heavy cough and runny nose :(. Must take rest as much as possible or I won't be able to enjoy as much food as I wished!

We're staying at Senayan Plaza apartment during our visit in Jakarta. The apartment is located right behind the Senayan Plaza so I go to that shopping mall everyday. For daily shopping or simply having lunch. So far the furthest place I visited was Senayan City Mall which was actually right across Senayan Plaza! I could find whatever I need so I'm not interested to go out in this humid hot weather, in Jakarta's famous traffic jam, with my never ending coughs and runny nose. Nova, No, I haven't tried busway yet, and I think bringing Iki, I won't :p. I'm not allowed to bring Iki around as much as I like. Haven't shopped women's needs much yet too (read: clothes and accessories). I feel like Plaza senayan and Senayan City are too expensive for my budgets. I could buy stuffs with the same price in Japan. Why would I buy them in Indonesia then? Hahah. Any recommended cheap and 'comfortable' place to shop?

I don't have internet connection. I could only do mobile blogging and check my gmail through this HP. Yes, Vivi, I will go to surabaya so please email me your number because I can't access my gmail's phone book :(. I will meet my parents, family and my friends there so I feel really excited!

Almost every morning I brought Iki to the swimming pool or playground and let him play there. Then every lunch Iki and I go to Plaza Senayan or Senayan City. I want to taste as much Jakarta's specialty as possible, though my choice is limited because I share my meal with Iki. Hiro's office is just across Plaza Senayan too so sometimes we have lunch together. I still have to cook dinner, especially for Iki since he needs Japanese comfort food after all the 'heavy' and oily Indonesian food he eats every lunch. Sometimes Hiro comes back home for dinner too, but mostly he has to work everyday until 10 p.m.

Nyo came and visited us for 3 days, but went back to surabaya already yesterday. We do feel lonely afterwards, especially Iki. He keeps asking me about Nyo, and tried to find her in the guest bedroom or the bathroom. But this weekend Nina will come from Bandung, and Tina also will visit us next week. Can't wait to see them!

Is there any of you around here who would love to meet us? Denny perhaps?! :p