In a nutshell

I miss
Our random conversation

I miss
The way my name was called

I miss
The air you projected as you talked

So confident,
So sure about yourself.
Yet so gentle,
And full of warmth.

In a nutshell,
I miss you.

Photo: F. Widiyanto's clay statues exhibition "Drupadi Pandava Diva".

After a decade

Meeting you now,
Bringing memories of years past.
I dont know how,
Breathing as the minutes past.

My heart skips a beat,
As you look me in the eyes.
My cheeks start to heat,
As I lock you in my eyes.

I told myself
Be still my heart.
I then wonder
How is your heart?

*picture from Pinterest*

An evening at Bluegrass

Looking for something fancy, my friends and I decided to try Bluegrass restaurant which was located at Epicentrum Walk complex in Kuningan area. The restaurant was on the ground floor of the Gotham-like building, Bakrie Tower with both indoor and outdoor seatings. My friends arrived first and they opted for the air-conditioned indoor seating and got a table near the bar.

It was a slow night when we visited, or maybe we came in too early at 5:30pm, with a number of empty tables on that spacious restaurant. The atmosphere was modern with long bars and cool dim lighting. I really like the big mirror entrance doors too actually.

The problem was the service *rant rant*. My friends already got their orders when I arrived so I quickly studied dthe menu. They are a steak and grill restaurant so the menu is like a carnivore-bible with beef ribs, different cuts of steaks, baby-back ribs, chicken, fish, lamb, etc. I was ready to order and asked a passing-by waitress to take my orders, she told me to wait because she was carrying some dirty dishes. So I waited and waited.. and she never came back for God's know what reason. It took me a good 15 minutes of looking around before a waitstaff came over to take my orders. Well, I actually called one of the bartenders to ask for a waiter and then the waiter came. I asked him some questions regarding the menu, which he hastily answered. I was already lost half of my patience so I ordered a Beef brisket with sweet potato fries and grilled vegetables (165K IDR+tax) and an ice tea (30K IDR+tax) for my drink.

My meal came in a wood plank (what's with restaurants and wood planks-as-plates nowadays?). The portion was big for Indonesian standard. It may be comparable to Western portion. Anyway the brisket was pretty good though there wasnt enough fats to make it melt-in-your-mouth type. The sweet potatoes fries were fresh, I think it was homemade. The grilled vegetables were a tad too salty though they were fresh too. The meat came glazed by sweet barbecue sauce so those with spicy tongue might want to ask for chili sauce.

As I was eating my meal, I started to feel itchy tingles on my feet. There were mosquitoes in the house. Uh, oh.. that does it for me. It felt like I was really in a field of (blue)grass with mosquitoes all around me.

Overall, I was rather disappointed that night. The taste was alright, but the service and the mosquitoes deterred us from having a wonderful time. I really hope their waitstaff picks up on their service level and please do something about the mosquitoes.

Candi Sari

After our visit to Candi Sambisari, my brother and I made way to the nearby Candi Sari. It was rather easy to find from the main road, upon reaching a colorful looking mosque we just made left turn in to a neighborhood street and voila, it was there. The small Candi complex was situated in the middle of a neighborhood area with local kids playing around the compound. Nevertheless, the complex was clean and well-maintained.

Candi Sari was a Buddhist temple as indicated by the stupas at the top of its building. It was said that the building had two floors separated by some wood planks. At the present, the planks had gone, but the windows on top of one another suggested that it was once  a two-storey building indeed.

The reliefs inside and outside of the Candi building was beautiful. My favorite in particular were the guardians of the windows. They were of the shape of half-human and half-bird. They are called the Kinnars, which can also be found in Thai temples, among others.

After admiring the Candi building, we started to get creative silly and took some action shot (brother) and relief shot (me). Don't you think I kind of blend in with the Candi on the right picture?

First Bite: Publico's Mars Kronut

So after months of salivatinga over pictures of Dominic Ansel's cronuts all the way in NYC, yesterday I had my first bite of the intriguing pastry/donut. Before I started talking bout the eating experience, let me briefly tell you my struggle to get it.

I was actually planning to get it on Saturday with a couple of work friends. I read somewhere that we supposed to order it 3 hours beforehand, so we gave them a call on Friday after lunch. The conversation goes like this:

W: Good afternoon. Publico.
Z: Hi, Mbak. Katanya kronut di situ enak yaa (Hi, Miss. I heard the kronut there is delicious).
W: *giggles*. Iya, Bu. Enak, tapi disini kita harus dipesan 2 hari sebelumnya (Yes, Mam. It's delicious, but you need to place an order 2 days before the pick-up).
At this point I quickly calculating my decision. Well, people in NYC queue for Ansel's cronuts in rain or shine days. Reservations to Jiro's sushi restaurant need to be made months beforehand. Etc, etc.... anyway, I decided sometimes we need that extra patient to get good food. So I said: "Yes, I'll get 4 boxes (8 pieces) to be picked up on Sunday".

Between Friday afternoon to Sunday noon, they called me like 4 times. First, to confirm my order. Second, to ask what flavors I want (Note: There are three flavors: Mars, Butter cheese, and Creme brulee. Of course I asked them to mix the flavors). Three, they told me they can only be ready at 2pm instead of 12 like I first asked. Fourth, they called to say they're ready for pick up.

I got there about 20mins after they called. And they took 30 mins to set my payment. *rant, rant, rant*. They left me and my brother standing in front of the greeter's table while one of the greeters took out the kronut boxes, realized she got some of the boxes wrong, fetched the right boxes, and went up to get the check. 20 mins in and I was getting pissed so I told the security guy sternly "why is it so hard to pay you guys?". He then fetched another girl who told us their cashier was busy. So, I asked her how much is the total for everything (which the other girl went to have it printed on a bill), pay the amount, and went out the door. Phew, so inconvinient for take-away service.

Anyway, so we went to a very quiet cafe next door so my brother could do some work. There was where my life without kronuts ended. I took the first bite of the Mars bar kronut. Filled with Valrhona creme and topped with salted caramel glaze and some crunch flakes, the kronut was rather messy to eat. I thought they would inject the creme into the cronut, but this one they actually sliced the kronut in half, smothered in the filling, and put the kronut together again. Hence, when I bit it, the filling kinda spilled through the cutting.

'Nuff about the downsides. I actually like this kronut. It wasnt too sweet, for one. With all the gooey goodness it bears, it's actually smooth tasting. And crunchy. Oh yea, the kronut itself was crunchy and airy just like its papa (or mama) croissants. Though airy, it was still a bit doughy like its mama (or papa) donut. My brother nodded in approval on his first bite as well. He actually loved the crunch flakes, which were coated in chocolate but not overly sweet.

Hence, the verdict is: I love the taste but I didnt enjoy picking it up at the restaurant. Maybe if they were more attentive and applying better SOP, we didnt have to wait too long just to pay for the pastries. Though I consider reserving a seat and eating my kronut there next time (actually we planned to do that but they only got bar seats so we scratched the idea).

Get it at:
PUBLICO. Jl. Senopati no. 65, Jakarta.
021-52964960
IDR 24K/kronut. (Min. Order 2).

A visit to Candi Sambisari

Since reading about it on a number of online Yogya guide some time last year, I had been curious to see this beautiful temple. Last week I finally forced convinced my brother to pay Candi Sambisari a visit. Actually, the Candi is situated not too far away from the main road (Jl. Adisucipto  / Jogja-Solo). However, we took a turn a little bit too early which caused us to make a loop around a local residency. 

The special thing about Candi Sambisari is that its actual location is below our ground. As we parked the car near the entrance, my brother actually asked me where the Candi was. He prolly thought I was playing a prank on him. We paid our IDR 2000 (=20 cents USD) entrance fee and went into the Candi complex. My first thought was that it was a beautiful little complex. Sure it doesn't have the grandiosity of the nearby Prambanan, but it was clean and very well maintained.

The Candi was first discovered accidentally by a local farmer. Once the archaeological digging took place, it was discovered that the site of the Candi was around 6.5 meters deep underground. Can you imagine thousands of years ago the living world exist beneath our (current) grounds? How fascinating it is, and thanks to Archaeology, we can learn about our ancestors' way of living thousands of years ago. 

 

Some of the reliefs that can be found on the Candi building. To be honest I'm only familiar with Ganesha and Durga but the point is the reliefs are well preserved and I'm glad I have the chance to see it. According to the information on the exhibition gallery, one main statue was actually stolen during the early years of the Candi's restoration. That is bad, people... bad.

The Candi was pretty quiet during our visit... Good! More photo ops ;).

An Afternoon of Three Candis (A Sneak Peek)

Around Yogyakarta there are so many candi to visit and I try to visit at least one candi every time I am in town. One afternoon during our Eid visit to Yogyakarta, my brother and I got to visit three candi (temples). They are among the lesser known candi, unlike the renowned Borobudur and Prambanan temples which each draws throngs of visitors (and charges higher entrance fees). This, however, become the charm of these candi as they were not crowded and it almost felt like we had the candis for ourselves. 

Information about Candi Sambisari here, Candi Sari here, and Candi Kalasan here. 

Parangkusumo Sand Dunes

"Gumuk pasir Parangkusumo", as they called it in Bahasa. I finally had a chance to visit it on Friday during our Eid trip to Yogyakarta after reading many web articles about it, let alone a number of videos that was shot here. It is located in Parangtritis area, about a good 45 minutes away from Yogyakarta. Or, if you are visiting during peak time like we did, you may have to actually spend a minimum of an hour to get there.

 The sun was scorching up on my head and with the sands on my feet, I almost felt like I was away in the Saharan desert. My brother and I walked up to the top, not so easily as the powdery sand kept engulfing our feet as we took each step. The bird-eye view was quite something, though. When we were facing South, the green hills were rolling in our back and to the front we could see the blue horizon of the Indian Ocean. Then on I realized I wasn't in the Saharan desert.

And that time of excursion was spent on exploring, taking pictures, and kick up some dust... literally.