Culinary Trip in Bandung (Day 1-2-3)

Last week, my husband and I went to Bandung.
My husband's sent there by his office to attend a workshop for a week and he asked me to come along with him.
At first I don't think it's a good idea since we couldn't check the progress of the renovation of our house plus I'll missed my yoga and knitting class for the whole week if I go with him. Hahaha:D I think the last two things are my main consideration.

But then I re-think again, I can ask my mom actually to check our house regularly, I can bring my yarn and my new books to Bandung. I'll have plenty of time to read, knit, and sleep. And most of all, I'm longing to do a food culinary in Bandung. Owowow, so why not?? It's all worth it to lose my yoga class for a week. :))

So, since I was too busy eating, reading, knitting, window shopping, watching movies and sleeping in Bandung, now I will put in one post all of my culinary agendas while we're in Bandung.

Soon, after we arrived in Bandung we checked in at Grand Serity Hotel in Hegarmanah - Setiabudi.
The hotel was nice. It's a 4 star hotel, with a minimalist design (I love it!), the room and bathroom were clean (The most important thing for me.)
The hotel location is also very strategic (at least for me hehehe..), very close to the Setiabudi Supermarket (My fav supermarket in Bandung), Periplus Bookstore, The Wood Factory Outlet, Rumah Mode Factory Outlet, Sambal Hejo Restaurant, Pizza Hut, Mc Donalds, Mangkuk Ayam Restaurant, Excelso, Mie Kocok Kebun Jukut, etc. You can reach these places within 5 minutes walking.
Breakfast's also included in our room package. They have various kind of food, from Dim Sum to Soto Bandung, from brioche to muffin, from tea to mixed juice. The taste's average though not as good as my expectation. Well, it's hard for me to not judging the food from it's appearance. ;)
The only thing I hate about this hotel was they called our room 5 or 6 times a day to offering a massage or karaoke room. I told them already that I don't want to be disturb but still they kept calling and calling even at 10.00pm. So, we turned off our room telephone during our stay.

We started our culinary trip right on our first night in Bandung.
We went to Trunojoyo street, we're so hungry and desperately want nasi goreng (Fried Rice) Bahureksa. It's a street vendor and named after their first street where they started to open an eatery years ago. From Bahureksa street, they moved to Aceh street, later to Sumatera street and now they're in Trunojoyo street right behind St.Aloysius. Their specialities are: Nasi Goreng, Mie Rebus, Cap cay kuah, Mie Goreng. It's soooo delicious. All of my family from the oldest generation to the youngest generation like to eat there usually on Sunday night after we attended Sunday mass. By the way they used pork for the ingredients, so for my muslim friends don't even think to try it. :)
Too bad that my blackberry was run out of bat, so I can't took a picture of the place and the food. It feels nice to sit and eat on an eatery like that, apart from the price's must be very cheap it's also kind of romantic..hehehe.

On the following day (Monday), my husband went to the workshop as soon as we finished our breakfast together. I didn't have a specific plan on that day, just want to sleep at the hotel so I told my husband to take the car with him.
Alone in the hotel room, I enjoyed every second of it. Simply relaxing. Watching my fav channels, Discovery Travel and Living and Star Movies while lying on the bed eating my snacks and chocolate. Hahahaha... Life is so beautiful!
Around lunch time, I walked to Mangkok Ayam restaurant inside the Setiabudi Supermarket. I've ordered a Pad Thai.
Ooowww my goodness, it's soooooo delicious.
The best Pad Thai I've ever ate.
And I love their warm interior, with a bookshelf on the wall. Feels like home.

After lunch, I walked to The Wood factory outlet right beside the supermarket just to check it out their stuffs. :))
I've tried so maaaaany clothes and end up bought only 1 clothes. (That's what I called, Achievement! Yes.) LoL.
Soon after my husband finished with the workshop, he pick me up at the hotel and we had our dinner at the famous Bebek Ali. Again it's a street vendor in Hasanudin street close to the Borromeus Hospital. Their speciality is a fried duck with chili sauce + raw vegetables (Pecel Bebek). We ate in our car because it's full already with students. For your note: Bebek Ali is alwaaaaays full of people/students everyday. So better if you come earlier (before dinner time) or after dinner time.
I was too excited to finally eat Bebek Ali, so I forgot to take a picture of it. :D
I was came to this place several times before, and never get a chance to have a seat there.
For me nothing special with their fried duck but their chili sauce is typically 'Sunda sauce' which very different with other sauces, Padang or Surabaya sauce for instance. So it has to be one of my culinary destinations in Bandung. :)
After dinner, we went to the Oasis Factory Outlet in Riau street.
In this F.O you can buy a fabric for jeans or pants, and order the model as you wish with a very good bargain. I bought the fabric for 45.000 IDR and paid for the tailor 50.000 IDR. With 95.000 IDR I have a very good jeans with the model that I like and size that suit my body perfectly. Nice and easy! :)
It's only take 1 day for them to make a jeans or pants.

Day 3, I dropped my husband in Gegerkalong coz I'll take my jeans and hunting my lifetime favourite snacks in Bandung: Lumpiah Basah - Es Duren - Cireng - Cilok - Nasi Timbel Bawean, Batagor and so on and so on. Hehehe.
Unfortunately, the traffic in Bandung's really ruined my mood!
I was so stressed by the way most of people in Bandung driving their cars and motorbikes, especially the drivers of public transportations (angkot), they stopped anywhere they like, literally like in the middle of the street! Helloooooow?!
Geez, I'm not used to it anymore . Its really getting my nerves.
Traffic jam in Jakarta is so muuuuuuuch better than traffic jam in Bandung.
So after done with my business at the Oasis, I went to nasi timbel Bawean for my early lunch.
I used to eat there with my college friends. I stayed there no longer than 5 minutes then without finishing my food, I left.
I was in a very bad mood, and I lost my appetite.

I decided to go back directly to the hotel.
I've bought a Lumpiah Basah, es duren and Bawean's chocolate wafer to fix my broken mood. (Teteeeeeeuuup...wkwkwkkwk.)
Since I wasn't in the good mood to drive, my husband said that he'll take ojek (similar to taxi but with a motorbike) to go back to our hotel.
It's so funny that my husband and I had the same idea that night about where we're going to have our dinner. Bakmie Naripan.
It's almost 10 years since the last time we ate in this restaurant.
Hohohoho, we're so happy that finally we could come to this place again.
We've ordered their speciality for our dinner: Yamien Manis + Baso Sapi Kuah ( Noodle with soya sauce + meat balls soup).

Again, I'm not recommend this restaurant for my muslim friends it's stated on the menu that their food is containing pork.
But if you're a big fans of any kind of noodle and meatballs soup like this, you can go to WaLe (Warung Lela) in Ranca Kendal, Dago Golf or Toko You in Hasanudin street.
It's free of pork for sure. :) And don't worry about the taste! :))

Note: Be continue...

Julia Child's Memoir

Ooooh Goodness, I loveeee this book so much!
It's a memoir of Julia Child, beautifully written by her and her husband's (Paul Child) grandnephew, Alex Prud'homme.

This book's so real, you can feel her energy and joy through the pages.
It's so lively and delightful that as if you're a part of her soul, wandering in Paris, buying food at local markets, taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, smelling the sea air through her window in Marseille, enjoying la belle France, sipping a glass of wine while eating and cooking in her kitchen, making a diner for close friends at her holiday house in La Pitchoune, Provence, and so forth and so forth.

When you read this book, you're traveling in a time machine which bring you to her life on the years 1948 through 1954. Those years in France which she claimed as the best years of her life.
And I enjoyed every scene of her life in this book, I can feel her sadness, her happiness, even I can feel the smell of lavenders lingering on the air at her terrace in Provence. Hehehe:p I don't know, maybe it's because I'm weird, swam so deep into this book or simply because this story was so real.

I watched the movie, Julie and Julia before I've read this book.
And I found this book much muuuuuuch more interesting than the movie.
Though I also like the movie so much, the movie is based on two true stories about Julia Child and a New Yorker girl (Julie P.) who decided to give her life a new meaning as a blogger with a project called Julia Child's Project. She had tried every recipes of Julia Child cooking book in a year. What a tough project, really.

I love this book very much, it took a month for me to finish this book just because I've read it very slowly, I chewed every word, I enjoyed every place and food that she described, I simply don't want it to come to the end. Amazing! Charming and inspiring.

Soon as I finished reading this book, I asked my brother who living in USA to buy her master piece: Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) for me.
I'm sooooooo into all the foods she had described wonderfully in this book.
And I'd love to cook it in my own kitchen.
:)

Hiatus

Ouwww my God, it feels good to have an access on my mobile again after a week of hiatus. I've survived, a week living without my Blackberry, my laptop and my modem. Without any access to check my e-mail, my fb, my blog, my UT, my sms, my bbm, or even just to googling some information on Mr. Google.
Not that I did it on purpose at the first place, having my hiatus moment, away from all my high tech gears. It's all because we decided to change our internet provider at home and at the same time I'd a problem with my mobile provider.

Now, we have a new internet provider for our home, but we still have to wait for the new wifi modem in order to use it. So, in the mean time I do all the surfing through my mobile.

Apart from a weird feeling that I couldn't check my email regularly, I found that a week without all the communication devices is very important to balancing my mind, body and soul. Maybe for those who works will definetely not be able having a week of hiatus, but one or two days will do as good as a week if you really can put away and turn off your mobile or any communication device.

It's really a good exercise, to hybernate your mind for a while. Living in your cave, away from the noisy and busy world out there, just focus on your soul and listen to your breath and fully aware of your inner being. It's so peaceful and relaxing.

I feel recharged and energized.
I have more of positive energy either in my mind or my soul.
And it's good for my body.
It's cleared my mind from all the un-necesarry spams and junks.

So, why don't you try to have your hiatus moment?
It will bring you back to the present, set your soul free, purify your heart, clean your mind and detox your body.

2010

Wow, it's 2010 already...
Happy new year dear blogger, hope this brand new year will bring all the good things coming to our life. Always stay positive!

It's been a month since my last post.
As always December's my most bussiest month of the year. You know, merry go around with all Christmas & New Year's euphoria. :)

Starting with presents hunting for all of my big family, decorating the christmas tree, watching Christmas movies w/ my nieces & nephews, wrapping all the presents and put it under the tree, making a list of my nieces & nephews performance on Christmas & New Year's Eve, listening to Christmas CDs all the time, watching my nieces & nephews practising their dancing movement, singing, cabarets and so on. December it's totally my jolly time of the year. Full of joy and love. :)

To respect my family tradition, I never been away from home/my family on Christmas & New Year's eve except when I lived in Germany. Since I'm married, I've tried to share our time with our two families.
I'm very happy that so far it works very well. We spent time with my family on Christmas & New Year's eve, and with my husband's family on Christmas & New Year's Day.

Based on that tradition, my husband and I were planning to have a quick holiday on the first week of 2010. Just to refresh our energy and have our quality time in Singapore.
I'll post about it on my traveloque's notes.

I thank God so muuuuuuuuch for His never ending bless and grace upon our life. For this brand new year.
Hope we can always make the best of it. Happy 2010!

Coco Avant Chanel

Yaay, finally I watched this movie.
Though it wasn't as good as Coco Chanel in my opinion, but still I like it 'coz this movie has an originality of French perspective about Coco as a Parisian.
This movie has emphasized on Coco's complicated life before being the world famous Chanel in a very humble way.
No more, no less. Not kind of a fairy tale movie.
And Audrey Tautou is beautiful as always. :)