fresh from the stove

Today's dinner menu was Japanese Hamburger Steak with rice... and of couse I cook it just like I want. (I made a hambaagaa rice last July, yet it's different!)

This menu required me to make four dishes before served it as one. It took a while to cook because I only have an electric stove and a teflon pan.

Rice
I used medium small grained rice for this menu. The rice was brought by my dad when he came to Bali recently. It is an organic rice harvested from my dad's friend's backyard in Central Java. It's growth for personal consumption only and not for sale.

Hamburger Patty
This patty was made overnight premade). I made it with (approx) 100g lean ground beef, 1 medium size shiitake and some onion leaves chopped finely, 2 tbsp of cornstrach, 1 tsp of soy sauce, salt (to taste), and freshly ground blackpepper. The whole things were mixed and shaped into balls then pressed with my hands. It's about 1cm thick. I pan seared it with olive oil until it got really done (dark brown). As I put cornstrach in it, it will be tender no matter how long it being cooked (corn strach can be substituted with all purpose flour or bread crumbs).

Sauteed Vegetables
I'm running of vegetables and need to stock more of it tomorrow. So, I just take whatever left on my fridge. The sauteed vegetables side made of chopped baby long bean (abt 3 cm) and about 5 mm chopped onion leaves, celery stick, shiitake mushroom, and garlic. All of the ingredients were sauteed in teflon with a tsp of olive oil, in high heat. I added about a tsp of oyster sauce, soysauce, and freshly grounded blackpepper. Mixed it thoroughly and set aside.

 Hambaaga Sauce/Gravy
Onion is the main ingredients of this part. Finely chopped onion (both red and white) was sauteed with olive oil. I waited it until it got brown (caramelized). After that, I added some finely chopped garlic and shiitake mushroom and mixed it. Next, I put about 1 tbsp of corn starch and let the corn starch cooked. Longan honey, oyster sauce, and soy sauce were poured into the pan and mixed with the other ingredients. Finally I added some water and freshly grounded blackpepper. I stirred the ingredients and made sure no corn starch was mixed well and let it simmer. I poured the sauce all over the other sides and the Hambaagaa rice is ready to be enjoyed. 

Since I like it hot, I sprinkled some gochugaru (chili powder) on my set. Oishii!

sprinkled chili powder over the hambaagaa rice

it was my last night dinner...

















consist of a bit of:
* egg noodle
* egg
* diced beef
* bok choy
* dried bean curd sticks
* corn kernels
* Campbell's cream of chicken soup

seasoned with
* garlic
* fried shallot
* light olive oil
* freshly ground black pepper
* salt
* soy sauce
* oyster sauce

and i want to eat it again tonight as it's raining hard now.. :)

It was my luch yesterday...
I thought it was not this big. I already munched some bread stick, bun, and a portion of Caesar Salad, so I didn't eat the french fries. :)
--> yet I ate Pecan Nut Pudding for dessert...

The Milanese Beef consist of sunny side up egg, breaded beef with tomato puree and mozarella cheese on top, completed with a portion of vegetable salad. It served with a portion of french fries and ketchup.


The beef is very tender which I love.
--> This place never disappoint me.. The meats always served tender. :)

Which I don't like is the tomato. I don't know if the tomato mix on top of the fried breaded beef is that much. It's quite thick! But if you like tomato, it'd taste like heaven for you.

Egg was cooked too long for me, so the below side is overly cooked for me. I always like when the yolk is melted everywhere.

With a glass of a real iced lemon tea, it's a good lunch afterall...

--> i'm very picky if it comes to food.. we are all, aren't we? :p

Weeks ago, I went to Ramen Boy at Sakanaya Market Fish by Ryoshi which located at Lungsiakan Kadewatan 3 times.

First, I tried the Shoyu Ramen. It was at 10% disc before tax (Sept'11) as it's newly open... Think it was open on the end of August or early Sept.

These are the Shoyu Ramen.... (idr 30K++)
consist of ramen, 1/2 boiled egg, 1 sliced chasu (pork belly confit), menma (dried bamboo shoot cooked with chasu broth), boiled mustard (sawi hijau), and finally chopped onion spring on top (negi?).






First Impression:
It was OK as this is quite cheap for a ramen.
Broth is fine, somewhat rich but not very rich... Clear and refreshing. I found it to be too salty tho.
Noodle is OK, but I found it too yellow (or is it just me?).
The texture of the noodle is quite tender yet it's somewhat chewy. Good consistency, but not outstanding.
Too much onion spring (but it maybe just me).
Quick service

My 2nd time... I ate the Miso Ramen (idr 35K? around that.. forgot)
consist of ramen, 1/2 boiled egg, 1 sliced chasu (pork belly confit), menma (dried bamboo shoot cooked with chasu broth), boiled bean sprouts, and finally of course chopped onion spring on top (negi?).






2nd Impression:
A bit the same as the 1st impression.
I like the taste of miso and broth blends together.. Creamy texture but not heavy. Still, found it a bit too salty.
Noodle --> same as 1st impression as it's the same.
Onion spring still a bit too much (of course la, it's their service std).

3rd impression (went there abt 2 weeks ago)...
The broth is not cooked long enough. It wasn't kicking at all.... Surprisingly it's lack of spices also. I added shoyu on my bowl so it tasted better... Maybe because the cook is different.
All the other was just the same as the 1st.

Don't go for the lemon tea.... Personally I don't like it. It just a tea with lime. I don't take it as a real lemon tea.

I haven't try the fish (sashimi n others) yet since I was actually went there for the fish but no stock at that moment... So that's why I ended up with a bowl of ramen (again).

I don't know if I would go for a bowl of ramen again there since I can cook in my place now (electric stove, kitchen utensils, refrigerator, etc). But it's ok to go there... Not gonna hurt.

If I were a #doodle (created on 70gsm hvs paper w/ 0.5 hunter... on Twitpic

Who says live in Ubud cost a lot?
Yes it will cost you a lot if you spend it downtown in the expensive cafes. Aside from those places, you could still eat cheap and experience the local culture. Blend with the local!

Not far from the center Ubud, if you head North from Jalan Andong (heading to Kintamani), you could find a crowd of local gather around in the local market. Food stalls/hawkers are there... from Nasi/Mie Goreng (Fried Rice/Noodles), Chicken Satay, Sate Kambing (lamb skewers), Gulai Kambing (Mutton Curry), Sate Ikan (Fish Satay), Lawar, Rawon, Martabak Manis, Martabak, Roti Bakar (Toasted bread with stuffing), Drinks Stall (mineral water, sodas, juices, instant powdered drinks, etc) and some other stalls I haven't explored.

These pictures below are taken on May 25, 2011 around 6:40pm.

Chicken Satay
Lontong for Rp 1.000,- each and satay for Rp 500,-/stick.
This one below is Rp 5.000,- portion which consist of 1 pcs of lontong and 8 sticks of chicken satay. The stall is located in the middle. My friends said this is the best chicken satay in Pasar Tegallalang/that area.


Fish Satay
Rp 500,- per skewer.
Don't mind the satay on the top which looks small... Ebi already bit it.


Jus Sirsak (Soursop Juice) - Rp 3.000,-
and the other juices also cost the same (probably except for the durian one which I think would cost a bit more). This juice is quite thick and taste good!

view from the top...


In the end I spent Rp 8.000,- only (chicken satay and soursop juce). Fish satay's are Ebi's. I stole 3-4 sticks (can't recall) from him (he ordered 2x).. I just need to try it anyway.. But it does taste great. The fish tasted fresh even it's in Ubud, not somewhere around the beach (even better than the one I ate at Jimbaran last Sat).

P.S. Recommended if you want to experience the real local - non-touristy - culture.

P.P.S. If you a girl like me (looks different from the locals) you might want to go there with your guy friends.. That time, even I went with 3 guys, some local guys just couldn't stop staring at me (good thing: they didn't drool) which is really really annoying.
FYI I didn't wear my short short or any of my mini dresses that day. I wore knee-length batik loose short and a tee + a jacket...

Morning walk on June 7, 2011..
Pictures taken around 7:30 in the morning.

pictures are darker than the actual views..
and it's kinda cloudy that day..




love the last pic.. but still, the real view is waaay better...


That morning, I met Abel, the golden retriever, with its owner. Abel was running around, playing frisbee. Also met a local who sat down, enjoying being amidst the emerald green hills of Ubud before headed back to a village located in the end of the dirt pathway. When I headed back, I met a guy (he's jogging), 2 women, both holding a camera, and another 2 women in the end of the walk. In total, I met only 7 ppl and a dog. At first, before meeting them, it just felt like I own the hills..

It's recommended to go in the morning. I heard it's not too enjoyable to walk in the afternoon because many people are there, enjoying the sunset... Some even blocking the pathway. Some others are seeking for romance (yeap, the lovebirds).. Never try to go there in the afternoon tho.. I definitely have to try the afternoon walk experience, no matter how crowded it is...

Nowadays, online games are just like stars in the sky. It's countless and everywhere! Amongst them, countless social Facebook games are being played by Indonesian Facebookers, but how many of them are made by Indonesian and truly made in Indonesia?

Be the first to play Majapahit Online, an Anantarupa Studio production, and be ready to immersed in the game. You will be a time traveler, jump back to Majapahit era about 500 years ago, experience the history and be a hero!

This game is launched on May 20th 2011 to commemorate Indonesian Revival Day. Stay tuned as the game will enter open beta phase on July 30th 2011.

I went for a city tour w/ my fellow rotaractors today..

Our first stop was House of Sampoerna, and just realized that the founder's and his wife surname, both are my surname.. how come? story? long story, but it was from my grandpa..

The growling tummies wanted to be filled up.. the next destination was just about 3 minutes walk... the lontong balap sampoerna, lontong balap cak pri.. which is very very delicious...

After filled up our tummies, we paid a visit to a temple (dunno which klenteng) at chocolate street (Mbah said Jl. Coklat, I'm not sure how to write it correctly so i said choco street), and saw people throwing coins with the rice and green bean... yeap.. it's Cap Go Meh.. Mbah talked to the "uncle" there and going home with lots of books about Buddha and Buddhist? (6 books if I'm not mistaken and I'm not really sure what books those are)...

The very next thing we did was wondering around at Kampung Arab Ampel... we sipped tauwa and tasted the maryam curry (gulai maryam).. it's so yummy!! even mbak Ika who doesn't like lamb (the meat) said it was delicious and tasted differently from the others she had ever eaten before...

We decided to end our journey sweetly.. We headed to Zangrandi, just to found it closed that day... (and mbak Ika said, "setauku Zangrandi itu tutupnya Selasa, ini kan Rabu to" after she thought it was Sunday earlier... LOLz - duh, mbak.. why don't you tell us earlier.. and it is Tues, not Sun nor Wed)...

Finally we ended our journey w/ eating pempek at Pempek Sriwijaya at... oh, I'm so good at memorizing the name of the street.. >.> well.. it's near the kembang jepun, somewhere behind the Santika Hotel.

what a day.. it was truly a priceless experience.. thanks to mb' Ika, Mbah, and Bram for the excitement I got! ^^

uhm.. pictures? it'd be on my facebook soon.. mbak Ika, Mbah, and Bram will surely tag my pics.. I wasn't taking any picture... (don't have a cam yet, except my cell cam) -well, i took some pics w/ Bram's- I'm in the pictures. :D


note: puter2nya nae motor, aku mbonceng.. motor lanang pisan,, dan aku pake dress.. yg klo duduk dadi ngeler pupu.. huahaha....

I paint my nails bronze, but it looks more like a sparkling orange one.. lol
maybe i should do a double layer instead?

I use cheap transparent nail polish for the base and top coat..
The nail polish in the pic is the Visions' Bronze Magic Sparkle Collection Nail Polish from Oriflame.
It's a limited edition one.

Love the color! It goes well on me..
Will do a double layer next time. :)