.: 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

.: bandung went global :.

WooHoo!!! LeBron went fishing in my hometown! Although there's no ocean or big lake around Bandung.... but who cares! It was ON national television! Maybe they went fishing at one of those 'tempat pemancingan' around Lembang!

.: my best friend's wedding :.

It's so surreal to be back in SanFran again fussing over homework while two days ago I'm still eating Sundanese food without worries. So hard to go back doing homework, I was constantly distracted! Speaking of the wedding: it was one of the best one I've ever been to because every single element in the wedding worked : wacky bride & groom, beautiful dresses; simple, elegant decorations; fun guests; good food and good weather. I've never met a crazier bride than my best friend T. I didn't really feel tired that day because we had good laughs. I just realized how sore my feet were the day after the event and take advantage of being in Indo : get myself a $5 massage *grin grin* Here are some snappies of the wedding (I don't post pictures of the bride & groom coz I don't think she'll allow me to blog them, but they're in my facebook album)

.: sundanese please? :.

pencok leuncanasi tutug oncom

the works: rice, grilled chicken, tofu,
tempe, petai, salted fish and sambal terasi

All my friends know by now how I despised regular Chinese food (aside from dim sum), it is on the very bottom of my list if there's nothing else to eat. By regular I mean those places you can find in Chinatown, China and Hong Kong. I absolutely hates how noisy and dirty the places are and how greasy the dishes are. There are only a few places that I tolerate and they serve Taiwanese food instead of Chinese. My Chinese food menu never vary : Mabo Tofu, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Deep Fried Squid and Spicy Salt, Green Beans, repeat. Interestingly enough, I tolerate Sundanese restaurants... no matter how noisy and dirty the places are! :p They are smelly with 'terasi' and 'salted fish', super noisy (because hello, sundanese are super talkative & high pitched!) and dirty with cats and rats running around freely. Odd, eh?

.: always amused :.

Although I claimed that I'm a bit bored in my hometown, there's always something I found amusing from my daily life here. From good food such as:

Pempek Pak Raden + Es Bungsu

Extra Large Lumpia Basah

Cream cheese + red bean Obanyaki

... to interesting line ads you can find in regular newspaper (not Pos Kota)

definitely beats match.com!

with those kind of dresses no wonder Bandung's population is rising...

.: Things I'm Thankful for : Day 3 :.

I'm blessed to have many wonderful and understanding friends who laughed with me when I'm happy and cried with me when I'm sad and smacked me in the head when I'm being completely unreasonable LOL :D Thanks for sticking with me all these years...

.: spring color! :.

Nice handmade earrings by Moreen's sister... so pretty! She said it's not for sale, really ? :(

pretty paper umbrellas hanging on PVJ's ceiling

.: photo cocktail of Bandung :.

Some ITB Fine Arts students are repainting the Siliwangi Mural, yay! I applaud you guys, great job! If only everyone have similar concerns about the environments...

While this is my fave Sundanese restaurant ever, I'm curious with what they put in their menu. What is Shop Ikan Mas & Shop Gurame? My initial guess was soup, but they do know how to spell soup... (look at pic below, taken at the same restaurant) And what is 'Piritan'?

This pic is specially taken for you, who missed Aloy so very much! LOL...

.: Bandung oh BANDUNG!! :.

The writing on the sticker reads: GEMPAR: Gelar Akbar Metode Penyembuhan Alternatif & Penampakan Manusia Super S@#@$^ (my guess is Shadad...something)
Also, my Bandung friends, where on earth is Derwati?? Massage parlour around Ciwastra??

Bandung people are soo creative, look what they put inside the traditional Cireng (translate as fried flour-cake): Spicy Peanuts, Spicy Chicken, Spicy Sausage, Spicy Corned Beef, Cheese, Spicy Meatball, and Regular Corned. My question is: what's up with the spicy?

Ooh, the scary sign actually works! For once in Bandung, nobody dares to break the rule!

.: scratched from my list... :.

Bibimbap: DONE *might need to repeat due to the unexpected taste of this one*

Spaghetti? DONE

Salmon Sushi & Spicy Tuna: DONE

.: Kedai Teko

Tuck and hidden in Ciumbuleuit area is Kedai Teko, with it's cozy & homey decor, lush greenery, so quiet, feels far away from the bustling of the university district only minutes away from it. They served variety of teas in traditional clay teapots, special drip coffees, poffertjes, chips & homemade salsa, and a few more light meals. Do wear long sleeves & pants though if you don't want to get mosquitoes bites...

.: guess where? :.

sorry for the low quality of the pics, I took these while I was driving... can any of you Bandung people guess where are these places? *wink* I'm quite happy realizing that there are still lots of trees in Bandung... I wish I can plant some more ;)

.: Porridge, anyone? :.

It's still a bit chilly and dewy in the morning, the sun is still shining shyly, your tummy is calling for attention but you don't want anything too heavy, what to do? Eat warm chicken porridge! Legend has it that Mang Oyo's chicken porridge is so thick, if you flip the bowl, you won't see any drops. However I ordered one with shreded chicken - which would be such a waste if I drop them - so I didn't do the flippy-thingy.

.: Mum's Yums :.

Sometimes I wonder how did mothers get their skills such as cooking, sewing, knitting, and all other mummy stuff... My mom said "it all comes naturally..." She always cook right & fast! In less than 30 minutes she makes 3 different meals! Impressive! She's a kitchen-magician! Will I ever be like her? Doubt it (gotta spend more time in the kitchen... chopping & dicing...) My fave is her homemade beef-steak and nasi goreng kencur. Here is a pic of what she cooked for lunchie yesterday ...L-R: cubed potatoes stir-fried with ground pork; 'rempeyek udang' & 'perkedel kentang'; 'getuk' from local marketplace.

.: Something Froggy here... :.

Yay! I finally eat something else aside from my usual meal. This is 'swike kuah' and 'swike goreng mentega' from Swike Waled, Jln Cihampelas, Bandung. They served the best froggy dishes in Bandung. The soup is very tasty, you'll drink it to the last drop! :D

.: whoopsie :.

Uh oh.. haven't updated for awhile ... I was caged a few days ago due to my severe cough ... I'm contagious!! Kidding... :D Since the two californians are back, I can start torturing you guys again with Indo delicacies, huh? Yippee! Okay, what yummies did I ate last week, lemme see ...

clockwise from top left: Entrecote Mont Blanc from Atmosphere, Very Berry Snow Ice from Charmy, Oseng Kecipir, and Yamien Manis Baso from Mie Anugrah-GOR Pajajaran.

For those who are clueless about kecipir (or cipir in javanese), here's a thorough explanation from the always reliable wikipedia. It's one of my fave veggie, along with pare, leunca & sweet corn. ( I cannot find anything on leunca on wiki, not even the sundanese one :p) And while searching for explanations of Indonesian veggies, I found this link. Very interesting information about Indonesia (and have good pictures too!)

.: Since I'm Back... :.

Lemme share with you another tasty food I found in Bandung (thx to someone who's finally willing to let in this secret...) Hidden in the shady Cipaganti Boulevard (ciee... it is a wide street!) is a house called Dahapati and on the pavillion someone decided to open a very small cafe serving Oxtail Soup and Gado-Gado. I think the Oxtail Soup is so tasty and their yoghurt is not bad at all. Of course right across this cafe is another Bandung's favorite: Cireng Cipaganti. Cireng is a snack made of fried flour (yuck, but tasty!) This one is special because they fill it with Sambal Oncom (yum! diarrhea guaranteed! maybe also responsible to my current unstoppable cough!)

.: am seeing spots :.

Uh oh... it seems that I need stronger vitamins coz lately my health is declining... is it because of all the good food I ate? *wink* I got itchy spots all over that unfortunately forced me to stay indoor for the next 3 days, so I can only hope there are nice people out there who's willing to feed me with good food *you know who you are!!* Meanwhile I'm going to catch up on my movies & books marathon. But I did eat something that satisfied me last Sunday:

L-R: honey glazed deep fried chicken, bulgogi, and red bean+mochi ice+waffle ice cream

We went to Korean House at Jln Sukajadi where they served tasty Korean dishes (altho' no other places beat Nakwon, but this is sufficient for Bandung); they also gave free ice coffee! Free! Coffee!! *faint* For desserts you can have the mcYummy ice cream above or Pat Bing Soo; mixed fruit with shaved ice & chocolate syrup on top... double yum.