End of 2010

Today is the very last day in 2010. We all are heading to 2011 in the next few hours. So many things happened in this year especially in this December. Lots of tears for sure.

And...he will leave me (again). This time to catch his new path in Bali. This is sad but I have to be tough. I'll put everything in His hands.

That's all....

RIP

Been a while...some things have changed.
RIP my heart

Clouds

Kulihat awan seputih kapas

arak berarak di langit luas

andai kudapat ke sana terbang

akan kuraih..kubawa pulang

I love clouds....seeing them always comforts me. No matter how weary I am or how sad I am. I love to imagine what their shapes look like. Sometimes, they can look like a bear or a horse or simply like a cotton ball flying high in the sky. Wish I could touch and feel them.

My favorite is a clear blue sky with thick and white clouds. Such a beautiful decoration!

Clouds
White
Very puffy
Covers the sun
Plays hide and seek
Sometimes happy and sometimes sad
By Sivaram & Kathryn

You can see more cute poems about clouds written by 4th grade kids here

Salak

Menurut wikipedia:
Salak (Salacca zalacca) is a species of palm tree (family Arecaceae) native to Indonesia. It is a very short-stemmed palm, with leaves up to 6m long; each leaf has a 2m long petiole with spines up to 15 cm long, and numerous leaflets.The fruit grow in clusters at the base of the palm, and are also known as snake fruit due to the reddish-brown scaly skin. They are about the size and shape of a ripe fig, with a distinct tip. The pulp is edible. The fruit can be peeled by pinching the tip which should cause the skin to slough off so it can be pulled away. The fruit inside consists of three lobes, each containing a large inedible seed. The lobes resemble, and have the consistency of, large peeled garlic cloves. The taste is usually sweet and acidic, but its apple-like texture can vary from very dry and crumbly (salak pondoh from Yogyakarta) to moist and crunchy (salak Bali).

Bapak dan mama selalu bilang kalau buah ini adalah favoritku sejak kecil. Nggak peduli sepet atau manis, selalu suka. Dan paling suka sih sama yang sepet (lebih pilih buah sepet dan asem daripada yang manis).

Sebenernya, selain Yogya dan Bali, ada satu desa kecil penghasil buah ini. Sayangnya memang kalah pamor. Namanya Suaru, desa kecil di Jawa Timur tempat mbah buyut dari pihak mama. Jadi nggak heran deh kalo buah ini masuk kategori favorit. Kalo udah makan, suka lupa kalo itu bukan cemilan. Nggak berhenti kalo belum habis :))

Bali - Day 3

11.00am
Last day of my short trip to Bali. Packed my things and waiting for my pick up :). Our first stop was a museum. The building is like a pura and surrounded by a large garden. I paid IDR 10,000 for 2 as an entrance fee.

We went to the second floor where we could see history of Balinese since 3000 BC until nowadays. There are short explanations in Bahasa, English and Bahasa Bali on each displays. The museum is clean and cool. They put some standing fans in every corner plus there are also some open spaces around it.

A very good view from the terrace on the second floor. I could also see a cathedral roof top from there.






Next was Sea Shell Museum where on the ground up to the 2nd floor are their shop. You can find a lots of souvenirs there made from shell. The funny thing is I saw some similar products as I have seen in Vietnam few months ago :) Question, whose product are they?

After Sea Shell Museum, we had lunch at IBC or Ikan Bakar Cianjur. The place is so big and was designed as an old house with antique decors. We chose to sit on the second floor. It's an open air. We ordered Pepes Ikan Nila, Tumis Kailan and Coconuts. The food was yummy with reasonable price.


Then we headed to some souvenir shops. I bought some traditional table cloths and dress. Again, there were for mom and my sister. My ETD was 06.05pm. Still had some time for sightseeing so Arthur took me to Pecatu. We enjoyed our little time at New Kuta Beach. The white sands, the view..awesome!



04.00pm
No time for suckling pig so let's skip it. We enjoyed mango lassi and calamari at Envy, Holiday Inn Kuta. It's an open air cafe facing the Kuta Beach. Again, a very good view and a very good moment for sure.

 
05.45pm
Boarding time. Thanks man for being a good company for me. Promise you, I'll come again and we'll enjoy our time.

We had to walk down through rocky hill. That was still easy. But....to reach our car, we had to climb up. Gosh...that part was so hard for me. With laptop and camera on my bag, I felt my heart would explode at anytime, almost fainted and dehydrated too.

Bali - Day 2

10.00am
Our first destination was Ubud. Arthur wanted to buy a wall decor and looked for some furnitures for his new house. I had never imagined before that from Denpasar to Ubud would take such a long hour.

We had a brunch first at Bebek Tepi Sawah. Wow...what a view! So comfy..so relaxing though I was a bit disappointed with the menu. Using 'bebek' as their name, I assumed they would give some options of ducks as a main course on their menu. Alas, they only have a crispy fried duck. How come? Such a big question on me.

We ordered 3 portions of crispy ducks, mineral water, mix of apple and lime juice for me and carrot juice for Arthur. In about 20 minutes, the waiters came with our food.

On the way to Ubud, we stopped by at some interesting spots such as greeny paddy field and Tegalalang. Praise the Lord for creating such a beautiful scenery for us.

In Ubud, we visited some handycraft shops. Some were busy with paint and others were busy with QC before importing those crafts to US or Europe. Then we were off to Ubud market. I would like to buy dresses and table cloths for mom and my sisters. Well, Ubud market definitely won't be my next destination when I'm in Bali again. Their main target are foreigners so all prices are so high and it's not easy to bargain with.

Next stop was Naughty Nuri's. It's a Mexican restaurant and Arthur claimed that their BBQ pork rib is the very best. Well, since I don't eat pork so no comment on that. I rather chose BBQ brastwurst sausage with mashed potatoes. Those were so so. The pork rib was sooo thick and big. Btw, I loved the ambience. With lots of interesting vintage posters on the red walls.

So tired and yet full of fun.

08.00pm
Arthur picked me up for dinner. We both were on vacation so had so little time to chat.

Arthur took me to a seafood restaurant around Kuta. The food was great but the portion was so small :( We spent the night by driving along Kuta. Bars and pubs everywhere. I enjoyed seeing the crowd. It's so alive.

Midnight
Home at last.

Bali Trip - Day 1

Soekarno-Hatta airport, 01.28pm

Here I am, sitting at Bakmi GM at Terminal 3. Waiting for my 03.05pm flight to Bali. To be honest, this is my first trip to Bali :) so I can't wait for that. Gonna meet Arthur, my best buddy, there and have some fun.

This terminal is way nicer than other terminals. Even more comfortable than Terminal 2 - for international flights. When can Soekarno-Hatta could be like Changi or Suvarnabhumi at least? *sigh*

05.00pm
Landing at Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar. It took 2-hour flight from Jakarta to Denpasar. The flight was smooth. No turbulance at all.

We stopped by at Discovery Mall near Kuta beach to buy sandal (for me) and sun glasses (for Arthur) then we headed for dinner. We went to a small restaurant called Nasi Tempong at Jl. Teuku Umar. Wow...the foods were so tempting. Chicken, squid, prawn, veggies. Arthur told me that they serve the best sambal ever. So I ordered fried chicken and spicy chicken. Fried squid and fresh petai (or Parkia Speciosa in Latin) for Arthur.

Tempong means tampar according to the owner. The sambal is so hot and spicy which can make you feel like being slapped. Well, I must say the food was great.

After dinner, we picked Arthur's friends then dropped by at my guest house for freshen up. Around 10pm we went to Flapjack's. It's a pancake house with combo size. The display made me drooling. For a moment, I felt sorry for having heavy dinner earlier. I was soooo full! But whatever, I could still find a space for a half portion of chocolate waffle with single scoop of ferrero rocher gelato and mineral water. My new friends shared a big portion of ice cream.





11.00pm
Off to home.

Keiko Maria Hutabarat

Keiko Maria Hutabarat or Kei was born on June 25, 2008 - 2 days after her parents first anniversary. She is my little angel. So cute, adorable (she has shiny big eyes, little nose and chubby cheeks), wonderful and smart. She can count 1-10 in Bahasa Indonesia, English and Bahasa Batak. She knows color and some stuff in English too. Uhhh love to hold her so very much.

She loves singing and eating, talks too much and asks so many questions. Why is this...what is that...She can sing about 25 songs or so including Sunday school songs and Barney's song but recently her favorites are I Love You (Barney's) and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star . Singing along with her is so much fun. Sometimes she can't pronounce some words properly.

People always get confused by the way she calls me and her mama. She calls my sister, mama and calls me mami :)

You can listen to Barney's song: I Love You here