.: Around Bandung in 30 days- part 2 :.

The latest trend in Bandung: pancake & shabby chic, about a year too late from Jakarta. I absolutely adore this cafe despite the reputation of the food quality. The concept is good, the menu is super adorable, and I think the food is good. I don't think Bandung is ready for this kind of food and cafe, because they were complaining how the pancakes do not look like the regular, IHOP style pancake they're familiar with. Weird. Just like how they went to any Sushi restaurant and order a beef teriyaki bento (that you can get quite inexpensively in Hoka Hoka Bento)



However, cuteness doesn't distract me from mistakes the graphic designer made. Can you spot the mistakes?
Also still happening: the antique, very old Indo style. I applaud the owner of this cafe for getting authentic, glamorous vintage items (like sepeda onthel) Unfortunately I went there too early: the service is terrible, the staffs were rude, and the food was so-so. The cafe owner is well known for his cookies, cakes and pastries so I bought a jar of his homemade cookie. Now that was good.
Again, not all Bandung people are ready for this. I heard comments on how scary the vintage stuff is and they smelled weird.

Some other Bandung findings:
The Tofu Factory (ooh that sounds cool in English) in Lembang try to play with new tofu concept. I think I'll skip the last one tho.

Ah, Densus 88. Our famed anti-terrorism squad. What were they doing in Cafe Bali wearing pink shirt two days after their televised failed attempt to capture Noordin M Top and spent 12 hrs shooting ... a house? They were eating happily and chanting and laughing and smoking. And wearing a pink shirt with 'Densus 88 emang top' on the back. Well, we lost the terrorist, boohoo. Let's just eat, drink and be merry until the next attack, shall we?

.: around Bandung in 30 days-part 1 :.

I'm back in town from a very weird and short vacation. Like I mentioned before, it's weird because I didn't go 'home', although our rented home looks exactly like my old house. Most of the furniture are not ours, I cannot find most of my old stuff (my shoes!!!) My parents already buy some plants for our new home (because it is a lot cheaper to buy them when they're small) so the garden at our rented house is overcrowded and full of mismatched trees and shrubs :D
The recent trend in plants industry is mini cactus + fancy succulents. If you think it's boring you have to see these for yourself. Even I think they're adorable. :)





Not impressed yet? How about I told you the story how I got punctured by one of these plants and was bleeding dramatically? :D I was walking and taking pictures, and then I walk passed some giant leafy plants. Little did I know that the giant, leafy plants have thorns along the edges. I bumped into one of them, and I felt a prickle on my left thigh. Then I felt a bit dizzy and when I saw my thigh, there were lots of blood rapidly flowed from the wound, which was bubbly like lava. I looked super stupid standing amidst cactus plants and holding my bleeding thigh, unable to make major movements because it'd bled even more, until my mom came to the rescue with a big bundle of kleenex and big band-aid. The crazy thing is, when i went to the restroom to clean the wound, there was just a teeny tiny, needle-sized hole right in the middle of my thigh. You'd think with the amount of blood I lost, it'll be one, big, gaping wound. Nope. Maybe dramatic people have dramatic blood too... ha!

.: Bandung nu Aing - pardon my french :.

Honestly, if I can live all by myself without parental supervisions and dramatic friends, I wouldn't mind living here in Bandung. So many cute cafés and restaurants, non-stop cutesy shoppings, great food... No wonder people from Jakarta(I refuse to call them Jakartans...weird) swarms in every week. The trend here is Shabby Chic (I know someone who will roll his eyes... ;p) and pancakes (because Pancious was popular last year... Bandung catch up a bit late I think...) Unfortunately these cutesy restaurants' food sucks big time. I'd rather eat 'jajan pinggir jalanan' alias street hawkers or a real mom n pop restaurants (insert shoutout for B'gana here haha). Now they know a thing or two of cooking. I'm actually also proud of GARUT where my dealership is. They came up with the best Batik design, continuously develop their dodol and the sheepherders just break MURI's record on managing the longest sheep queue alias barisan domba terpanjang... (agak ga penting tapi whatever lah) Here are some food snappie to torture you, Mr & Mrs SL.... muhuahahahaha...

Mbebek Bali - kafe bali

Ayam Penyet - Warung Ethnic

Nasi campur2 - Bancakan

.: trippin' :.

Singapore Airlines' new 737-700 with front controller & personal wide LCD screen.

My happy place in HK airport - open 24hrs almost 365 days a year
New Louis Vuitton store in the newest mall in Singapore: ion
Orchid displays in Changi
And what greets me at Indo's rest area

.: fat free zone :.

WARNING: this is going to be a very long vent.

Sometimes I forgot that I am considered obese by my friends & family here, and they love to remind me. My mom keep on giving me fashion advices for fat people (fat people don't wear wools and flannels, my flabby arms should be covered, you'll look ugly with that or this), discouraging me from trying on clothes in stores that don't carry XL sizes (although I did fit into several medium sizes due to the shape & style), and taking over some of my jeans because I won't fit them anymore anyways... She's actually going to find a diet doctor for me because 'nobody likes a fat girl'. But the major blow came from my best friend who always cheers me up and supports me. She keeps on prodding my arms with her finger and repeating how fat I am, and asking what happened to me.(were you stressed? Did you eat too much? Too much Starbucks?) Then the routine started: probably you shouldn't wear this and that, you shouldn't eat this and that, no more this and that. She was so upset I got fat and she wanted to ask my other friends' opinions on whether I got really fat or it was only her imagination. I was really anxious: not only all of them are married & pregnant & settled, they all look great! I've never felt more like a failure in my life. Yes, I am aware that it is my fault and yes, I am aware that they meant well. But right now I feel like a monster and I don't want to venture outside of my room, and everytime I look at food that I love I feel so guilty my tummy hurts. Shall I ignore the harsh comments and eat at my heart's desire, or shall I succumb to their 'gentle warning' and stop eating?

.: Uniquely Singapore? :.

For me, Singapore is like Disneyland: the happiest place on South East Asia. Although it's hot and sticky, I love the country/city. The food, the shopping... aargh! I may need a week there to actually enjoy it. Four days of shopping, three days of sightseeing. Uh who am I kidding, FIVE days of shopping and two days of sightseeing. I wanted to explore more, without my parents' supervision :)

Such a pretty necklace

Seasonal Japanese Tea - how cute is the packaging?

Giant ShinRamyun

.: no dementors! :.

Everytime I talk to my school friends, the topic will have similar theme: depression. All of us (literally ALL of us, even the overachiever gal) wondered what happened to the old 'us'. We're depressed, sad and cranky all the time. My friend even thinking about taking a long break from school and enjoy life for sometimes because we're no longer young. Last week I have a similar conversation with miss J who's been thinking of moving to Singapore or Thailand and continue the school online because she feels depressed everyday. Then we're thinking whether our school is not at fault; SanFran is. The constant overcast, barely any sunshines, and hectic traffic may drove us to eternal sadness. I felt that there maybe some unseen dementors around SanFran, sucking happiness out of us until there's no more hope left.
I started to feel that this may be true because I was a bit reluctant to go 'home' this time. There's no more 'home' because my childhood home is under major renovation, my friends are busy with family life, and I'm as fat as the Micheline Man. Amazingly, the minute I got into the plane, I don't feel sad anymore (although for the next 17 hrs I have to deal with a screaming kid...) I was ecstatic when I was walking around Singapore with zits as big as jellybeans, and I haven't felt overwhelmed with my parents' new rental home. There are no dementors here. There are lots of nasty gossippers but they won't suck all my happiness. For that I'm grateful :)

.: note to self :.

I think this picture was taken on 2005, while my old choir is still intact. Can anyone guess which one is me before Fro-yo, unlimited midnight popcorns & boba? How can I ever go back to that shape again? :p