18 Jan 2009

Went out shopping again today, but we started the day with a really nice, and slightly strange, meal at Duck King. As its name suggests, this place specialises in ducks, and apparently people come here for the Peking duck. Well since they're supposed to be good at it, y not give it a try? At this place, when u place an order for the Peking duck, the meat is done in a different style so that the whole duck ends up being used. Yay! for the customers, and I guess at least the duck doesn't really got to waste.

Other than the duck, we decided to get some stir-fried veggie, xiao long pao, steamed chicken claws, and the indonesian version of chee chong fun, prawn chee chong fun, and char siew chee chong fun. The chee chong fun was the strangest thing I've ever had. First off, it had a crispy layer wrapped in the rice paper sheet among other ingredients, and it was served with a peanut sauce - typically Indonesian.

Imp & dad decided to have char siew & roasted pork rice, I decided to enjoy the meal with a bowl of noodles. I really wouldn't mind coming back to this place for another round of Peking duck, and that strange chee chong fun.

Black Pepper Duck

After getting bored with typical shops in the mall in the city centre, we decided to check out one of the places Imp had found interesting enough to mark down from the internet. As we headed to Pasar Festival, the taxi driver was telling us how empty it will be, and wondered why we were headed there. As it turned out, it was empty, but then there was still a few good finds at the place. What impressed me most was that the foodcourt actually had a live band entertaining its patrons, that seem to be streaming in just as we left. I guess it was just started to get really lively.

Once it got a bit too noisy, we decided to head back and get the dirt and grime off ourselves before heading out to dinner.

17 Jan 2009

Today is Dad's 58th birthday and we're going around announcing it to all the staff at the Somerset Grand Citra. Somehow they all thought it was yesterday and already brought the cake out, but we gave a chance to those who missed out. Hahaha

Since it was his day off, we decided to head out shopping as Impy didn't want to go to any amusement parks. First order of the day was to fill our bellies with food, some good Indonesian food that we got at Gado-Gado Boplo. Just like the last time, I got Ayam Soto and Tauhu Telor, and decided to try some coconut drink. The drink turned out to be a lovely blend of sweet rose syrup, tart lime juice, with strips of crunchy coconut flesh just waiting to be chewed on. It ended up as a lovely dessert to complete our brunch.

Dad Stuffing His Face With Gado-Gado

All filled up, we headed out of the restaurant go first get some water as we seriously didn't need anymore sweet drinks. Great thing was, right next to the restaurant, there was a makeshift minimart. You might think I might be exaggerating when I call it a minimart, but take a look at the things they sell and you realise that they can cater to almost all your needs in that one cart. Drinks to quench your thirst, isotonic drinks to boost your stamina, cigarettes and candy to feed your cravings, and even instant noodles to fill your stomach. All they need is a few eggs, and some tissue and they could earn a lot more if they rolled along and delivered their wares. Hahaha!

So after getting our much needed bottles of water, we were off to Senayan City (I think), the shopping centre with a really short escalator. As the Lunar New Year was just a week away, it wasn't surprising to see that the shopping centre had all their festive decoration up. And they sure know how to make use of the huge amount of space by putting up equally gigantic decor pieces. I didn't get how the shoe fit in though, but now I wonder if it was just a fixed feature in the shopping centre.

Anyway, while shopping, we heard some drumming and clanging and wondered who decided to play some really bad track over the speaker. However, we soon found out that it was some roaming entertainment squad that quite a few shopping centres hire these days. I'm not sure what they actually do other than make a lot of noise, distract people (great for pickpockets?), and only tell you that some festival is nearing. Maybe it was started y pickpockets! Beware people... Beware.

After hours walking though the whole place, our tanks were low on fuel and we stopped at one of the restaurants to have an early dinner. I honestly forgot the name of the restaurant, and photos of the receipt didn't help, but all I can say is that it's at the basement, and it serves Indonesian food. At this restaurant, you went up to pick what you wanted, some of which were already half-cooked, then they cook what you chose and serve it with rice. Then you take the condiments you want and wait for everything to come to the table. Problem was, dad was too lazy to go choose the food, and Imp and I couldn't speak good enough Indonesian to tell them what we really wanted. Thank goodness the food came out good enough to satisfy everyone, good enough for seconds as well!

The only thing we didn't have trouble ordering was dessert.I had something called Cincao Hijau (Green Chin Chow), but it was slightly more minty than the Chin Chow we're used to. The texture was also a little more like konnyaku. Didn't really like it.

Expensive Dinner?

As it was still early, we headed back to the shopping centre just opposite the apartment to get some videos to watch, as well as some supplies for late night snacking.

Aisle 9 @ Carrefour = Instant Noodle Land

16 Jan 2009

While packing for our trip to Jakarta last night, Barkley's instincts alerted him to what we were doing and decided to pack himself into my sister's luggage, taking up so much space that there wasn't enough for her clothes. Sadly he had to be left at home and she brought her clothes instead.

I Wanna Go Too!

Got to the airport and I got excited to see that we would be flying on the B747. I got no idea why but I just love the look of this plane, and this would be my first flight on it. It might not be the biggest plane on earth now, but I still like it, and it reminds me of cartoons.

Anyway.... the flight to Jakarta was slightly bumpy as usual. Don't know if it was the clouds or just that the area was just full of airplane speed bumps. The in-flight snack was simple and quite tasty, and I wouldn't have minded if there was a bigger portion.

Oooh Oooh! A 747... Isn't It Cute?

Then as the sun started to set, and the lights came on, we started our decent into Jakarta. We almost had some trouble at immigration as the guy insisted on us showing a copy of our flight confirmation, which we didn't bother printing, but we let of with a warning to have it printed out next time. Oh well... when I head there next time I will.

Dad gave us instructions to meet with Pak Hartono who, once again, would drive us to the apartment. Thinking dad might be there, we were quite surprised that Pak Hartono was alone. This time, we were driven to the apartment in a car, compared to the van, and it was much better suited to weave through the peak hour traffic that we faced.

Once we got to the apartment, dad was already waiting for us and told us not to get shocked about how the apartment looked. Here I was thinking maybe he had a lot of rubbish stored in his room but was shocked when we exited the lift and saw huge cracks on the walls being repaired. It seems that the last earthquake took a toll on the walls and created quite a lot of work for some people.

OMG!!

After settling down, we were off to get something to eat. Since we couldn't really make up our minds on what to eat, it was best to go get a buffet! Nasi Padang it was, and this time, I tried some dessert as well.

Every shop has it's own recipe and even the most common dish has a slight difference. I forgot exactly where this one was, but the choices weren't as nice as the ones we ate when mom and I were here. The dessert was something different though. I'm not sure if others don't offer desserts or that I've never noticed them. Or was it maybe the face that the food wasn't as satisfying that I had to opt for some sweet treat to end the meal?

After dinner, as we walked around the corner, we noticed this stall's advertisement that reminded us of Brendan.

Something For Brendan

I'm sure he would be stuck to this stall for days!

02 Jan 2009

Day 4 and we start with a flight back to Kuala Lumpur to get the return flight to Singapore. The Reitvelds also flew on the same flight as they were heading for the KL wedding being held by Michelle's dad and his wife. The Nasi Lemak breakfast onboard was quite a good choice, but then again, anything is when you're hungry. 

After landing in KL, Michelle asked if we wanted to join them for lunch and since we didn't have anything to do for the next 5 hours, we hopped into a taxi and head into the city. The taxi could have been a travelling poster for Malaysia with all the stickers and lights on the windows, dashboard, and sides of the taxi. We get to the really classy restaurant quite quickly and were served some really yummy stuff.

After the really lovely lunch, it was time to really say goodbye to all the lovely people and head back to the airport where we had a pot of tea while my sis did some work on the computer, and I just kept teeing photos. Soon it was time to board our flight back to Singapore, and another climb up the steps with bags in tow.

01 Jan 2009

Happy 2009 and day 3 in Miri saw us recovering from the previous night. My sister and I slept in, joined the Reitvelds in the pool, and had our breakfast, lunch and afternoon cocktails at the poolside. Today there were no children trying to steal cameras but there was some underwater filming. Mark seems to have a talent for keeping really calm underwater for a long time, and I think he might just have a knack for free-diving, but we couldn't test the theory out in the shallow waters. 

Later that day, Michelle's Mom and brothers brought us all out for a local seafood dinner for a final gathering before all of us left. That was also where we were told by Michelle's mom that the unidentified meat was actually flying fox or bat. I think most people would be turned off by the revelation, but she was quite surprised how happy we were when we found out we got to taste something so unique. Not forgetting that it was really delicious, and it tasted like the bird we both love, duck.  

Well new discovery aside, we had another one being served on a plate before us as well. There was an interesting vegetable, slightly curled at the tip like a snail, that was fried in sambal. It was some fern that the local liked to eat, and was apparently had some health benefits. I was more focussed on the dish being tasty, and it was, with the fern being sweet and crunchy too. Sadly the lights were too dim, and the tables were shaking too much from all the enjoyment to get any good photos. 

Later on, Michelle brought the both of us round the coolest bars in town. It's definitely not as bright and busy as Singapore, but it was still a nice area to just meet up with friends and have a fun night catching up without anyone too close to eavesdrop. After a few drinks, it was time to head back and start packing for the flight back tomorrow.