Some of Padang Dishes

This is Sambal Ijo (Green chillies sauce).  I love this samba ijo, you can eat with steamed rice and whatever food that accompany it,  either chicken curry, grilled fish, steam vegetable or tempe or just with fried egg! Basically this sambal ijo is really a good complement for everything, as sambal ulek.  

I know this sambal Ijo from my relatives who is originally from West Sumatra. One time they prepared "Teri sambal ijo - Sambal Ijo with a little anchovy. That's so damn good!!!! I just love eating this menu with steamed rice only.  I can eat more than one plate if I don't remember that I can't eat too much carb! This little anchovy is really something to me! Very powerful and tasty. 

I am originally from East Java and my mom is cooking a lot of Javanese cuisine. I have no clue either about how to make this kinda of food at the beginning. As I like it so much  so am trying to nail it.  I am very lucky to have relatives from West Sumatra and one of my best friends also from West Sumatra so they share the recipe with me. 

This is Telur balado - Egg Balado. This is sambal balado is the second thing after sambal ijo, when I am preparing a Nasi Padang. It's like sambal Ijo, this balado is one of the base ingredients to make all kinda of dishes : Dendeng balado, Teri Balado etc.

Teri Balado

Padang cuisine is very addictive as it is very rich on taste of spicy and savoury.  In my country, this is one of the famous cuisine. It's not only in a restaurant you can find Padang cuisine, so many warung "street food vendor" also served this cuisine. They even make it so good as they served it with banana leaves as a plate on the go. It called "Nasi bungkus Padang".

Now .. I really do wanna go to Padang to eat the originally cuisine, lol.

NOODLE

Noodle is one of my fave food.  It's because I am Asian or it's because I am one of noodle people, you name it.   Noodle is one of our food culture since we're kids.  In my country, since I was a kid, my mom is always cooking noodle as one of the second course after rice.  There is a rice and also noodle at the same time at one plate. I know it's too much carbohydrate at one plate.

I got train eating noodle by my mom as she is a true culinary gal.  I remember, when I was in elementary school,  she took me to one of the biggest department store SIOLA (that day) in Jl. Tunjungan.  These noodle shop is one of the famous. The chef is a chinese. That is the first time I know how to eat using a chopstick.  My mom is always order me "Pangsit mie ayam bakso and bakso goreng.  Damnnn .. it was so good. Too bad right now that place is gone. However, my memory of this noodle is still in my head!

When I was teenager, I got train to eat so many noodle from different kind. I remember in Jakarta, my fave noodle is bakmie gang kelinci, then bakmie GM,  bakmie toko 3 etc etc.  Then I live in Toronto, and got to know "Thai noodle", Korean noodle,  "Vietnamese noodle soup or Pho" beside "Malaysian noodle soup" or Laksa and "Japanese noodle soup "Udon", Yakisoba and Ramen.

However, noodle soup is still one of my fave food all the time especially when I was under weather.  One time, I went travelling to Vancouver, BC  and I tried this ramen that according to urban spoon is one of the best ramen in town. It was a long line up when I was there but it was worth waiting. Love the ambiance of this place. It's remind me of 'warung" in my country. Warung is a small or casual or modest cafe in my country, we're all have to seat together with other customer. It doesn't matter you have money or you don't, you seat together without seing the title or label as human being. That's the ambiance that I love.

I've tried all the ramen in this town you name it : Shikiji, Muku, Menyatai, etc. but my taste bud still name : Marutama Ra-men is the best!!!!  This chicken broth ramen with vegetarian topping accompany with 'ajitsuke tamago or "flavored egg" is nothing to compare with the ramen in this town!!  This noodle is remind me of the noodle soup in my country when I was young!!! The chicken broth is so rich, tasty and hot enough until the end of last spoon! The marinated egg is perfect. The portion is also enough if you are hungry.  I thought it's only me who has this opinion, before I finished my last spoon, there are bunch of people who's order the same noodle that I ordered and they keep talking about this ramen and one of the lady is actually Indonesian also!! and she had the same opinion like I did. She said this ramen is remind her of Indonesian ramen! hahahaha

This ramen is remind me of Indonesian fried noodle by Indomie, but this is non soup ramen is better than Indomie. I never think that lettuce is good with fried noodle! even the egg is not too flavour full as the Marutama Ra-men but the chicken still good.

However, Shikiji is still one of the best in this town if you are pork lover.   I don't eat pork but my husband did and he said that Shikiji is the only one that has the best ramen compare to Muku or Menyatai. The best thing at Shikiji is the appetizer, Takoyaki - as am a Takoyaki lover. Damnn .. it's so good.

It's kinda funny when we are talking and discuss about this ramen as my son is also culinary addict and he said that Menyatai is the best compare to Shikiji. Well .. it's okay darling, you don't have to go with us to Shikiji, hohoho.

I am cooking a lot so I got train well on my tastebud. However, the presentation is always important. I  even can  see it right away if that ramen is no soul on it! If you don't know how to cook very well or you're not train well eating noodle like asian, whatever the food that you ate is always good, hahahahaha.

It's not just me who said that! Even ramen master also say that! Now .. make me wanna go to Ramen museum in Japan, hohoho

Arigato Gozaimasu.

Hari raya Idul Fitri 1435 H

Enggak terasa  kalo aku sudah berpuasa selama sebulan (well .. minus period - kalo kamu perempuan). Yang tadinya 29 jadi bisa cuman 25 hari.  Lagi mikir, kenapa aku gak ngerasain sama sekali, ya?! sementara buat some people terasa lama ato bahkan mungkin ada juga yg sependapat dengan aku, entah lah. Itu bukan urusanku pulak.

Bulan Juli tahun ini, aku rasakan sangat beda dengan tahun" sebelumnya. Bulan ini sangat berarti dan penting untuk orang"/rakyat dinegara aku lahir (Indonesia) karena pada bulan yg sama, semua orang disibukkan dengan pilpres (pemilihan presiden) yg diadakan setiap lima tahun.  Aku memang tidak ada disana jadi aku tidak melihat sendiri keadaan yg sebenernya terjadi disana.  Aku hanya melihat dan memantau dari dunia maya alias internet alias facebook ato twitter ato socmed disana karena keadaan dan situasiku yg super duper jauh.

Kebetulan juga disini sedang summer vacation, anak"ku dah pada libur sekolah, aku sendiri juga tidak bekerja, puasa at the same time. Jadi waktuku bisa dibilang super bebas alias no time limit for using socmed. Sebenernya aku gak terlalu mau ikot urusan  politik, alasan pertama memang itu bukan bidangku, kedua aku dolo jg selalu bolos pelajaran sejarah (excuseeee meee!!), ketiga aku jg gak ada kepentingan apa" dalam pilpres ini karena aku sudah bukan warga negara Indonesia.  Tiga alasan tersebut bukan berarti aku gak peduli dengan negara kelahiranku!  Aku merasa aku harus belajar banyak soal ini, itu pertama.  Kedua, walopun aku jauh  bukan berarti aku gak mengikuti perkembangan dan situasi disana.  Well .. no matter what keluargaku masih ada disana, sahabat"ku tercinta jg masih disana semua.

Sebenernya aku dah janji gak akan bikin status di facebook ku, posting ato publish tentang politik aja, bisa dibilang jarang. Biasa aku lebih suka posting yg lucu dan sharing sesuatu yg bisa lihat kawan"ku pada smile. Anyway,  this time around aku dengerin dan baca di koran tentang pilpres ini dan semakin aku hanyut didalamnya. Terutama saat salah satu calon presiden dan calon wakil presiden diserang habis" an dengan kubu lawannya.  Mulai dah aku penasaran, ini berita kok seperti ini?? Ini bener ato tidak? Mulai aku kontak kawan"ku yg ahli dalam hal sejarah, perpolitikan, basically orang yg lebih tau dari aku!  Aku butuh ilmu kebeneran dan belajar ilmu kepalsuan!

Ternyata politik itu bener" politik!!! Ampooonnn dahhhh.  Seremnya bukan main! Semakin aku baca berita semakin aku dapat masukan dari semua kawan"ku, dari keluargaku, semua ini membuatku belajar banyak! Jujur aku ini bukan orang religious walopun kedua orang tuaku sangat religious sekali. Bisa dibilang aku ini rebel ato apalah namanya, kamu bisa sebut aku kafir pun, aku gak masalah walopun aku masih memegang islam sebagai agamaku.  Pointku disini, aku menghargai kebeneran absolute dan kejujuran!! Itu suatu hal yg aku sangat aku pegang dalam hidupku dan sangat aku tanamkan ke anak"ku. Walopun sangat menyakitkan mendengar semua kebenaran, selama itu memang faktanya, lebih baik untuk aku dibandingkan "comfort with the lie".

Akhirnya sebulan ini dari pagi aku melek (setelah sahur) sampe sebelum aku tidor, yg aku pelototin komputer!! Reading reading chatting chatting dengan semua temen dan sodara soal pilpres ini. Yang akhirnya aku tahu dimana kebeneran itu berada, dimana kejujuran itu dibalik dengan fitnah.  Negara aku lahir ini memang sedang belajar demokrasi. Bukan kepalang judulnya dengan barang baru ini. Aku ingat" selama aku besar di Indonesia, belum pernah aku merasakan hal seperti ini! Semua orang mau gak mau dan dipaksa untuk belajar dan berpikir kalo mereka ingin menulis dan menyampaikan apa kata hati mereka!  Ini suatu hal yg menggembirakan karena kita dituntut untuk memahami sejarah yg sebelumnya mungkin kita dah lupakan, kita harus ulas semua yg pernah terjadi di masa lampau untuk bersilat lidah dengan sesama teman ato sodara.   Banyak aku perhatikan baik teman ato keluarga yg jadi pengamat politik dadakan ( included me) hohoho.

Bukan hanya itu aja, masih ada efek lainnya! Dengan adanya dua kubu 1 (satu) dan kubu 2 (dua) ini, pendukung masing" kubu sangat antusias dan bahkan sangat loyal dalam pembelaan walopun yg dibela belum tentu benar! Hadeehhhh .. ini yg bikin rame dan akhirnya sampe ke judulnya tarik urat leher dan saling bermusuhan! Walopun dengan sodara kandung pun! Unbelievable. Sama temen laen lagi, banyak banget baca cerita yg gak di 'unfriend", banyak jg dari kubu satunya yg dapat temen banyak, so cute.

Alhadulillah, semua ini berakhir pada tgl. 22 July 2014!  Thanks God. It's time to move on.  Lebaran dah tinggal 6 hari lagi.  Semua orang sudah sibuk memikirkan hari raya dan mudik ke kampung halaman mereka untuk bertemu dengan sanak saudara mereka.  Melupakan sejenak kalo dah sebulan ini mereka ribut di dunia maya! sekarang waktu mereka untuk bersilaturahmi dan saling memaafkan.

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1435 H. Mohon maaf lahir dan batin.

PARIS 2

Our train to Paris is still 7 p.m! and we have to check out from our apartment in Venice @ 10 a.m.  I know it's gonna be a very long day for us. Basically, we are going to stroll in Venice for the whole day before we go to Maestre station and took a train to Paris.  We took a lot of a good pictures and I love to see my boys get along really well and we're really take our time to enjoy every moment of it. This is the experience one of the life time that we had with them that never repeat it again.

Time flies and we're heading to Santa Lucia just walking instead of taking water bus. The weather is perfect and the boys are so excited to take a train to Paris. This is the first experience for them to take a sleepover train.  For me this is not the first time, when I was young my mom used to take me travelling  from Surabaya to Jakarta with a sleepover train.  I remember when I was their age, I did not quite enjoy taking a sleepover train as I don't like the idea if I have to go to the washroom and there is no compartment for ourself,  I felt I have to be on guard all the time. Basically you don't feel so safe as people walking around in the train.

Anyway, we got to the train and we got one compartment just for 4 of us instead of 6 peoples.  The boys sleep downstairs and the owner is on top hahahah  Behind our compartment there are two washroom, one washroom with toilet seat and one washroom for brushing teeth and clean your face if you wish.  I like the washroom, it's so neat and super clean basically.  In our compartment, we got pillows, blanket and toothbrush.  Since we've been strolling the whole day,  all of us so damn tired, just want to sleep!

Finally we arrived at 9:30 a.m  in Gare de Lyon - one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris. From outside looks so old but the inside is very modern train station. This train station is one of the busiest station in Europe.  From this station, it takes 9 minutes to Saint Lazare from line 14 metro before transfer to line 12 to Jules Joffrin. We paid only euro 2 per person.  I like this station, all the directions  is very clear and easy.

Italian and Parisian are totally different in terms of dressing up. I like the way Parisian dressing up. It suits my personality as I am very free spirit but I still wanna be sassy hahaha.  Travelling like a local is much better as  no one see you as a tourist! The best feeling when you take a train and you can blend in well without people noticed that you're not local!  Felt am so Parisian now hohoho.

Parisian loves leather jacket! Every where you see on the street, people wear leather jacket. As the weather is not too hot and not too cold as well, just perfect! Don't forget to wear a scarf! That's one of the item that you must wear as a Parisian hahahaha.   The clumsy neat you're the more Parisian you're hahaha

Got to our apartment and meet the owner of the apartment. He's very straight forward kinda guy, he asked us where we are from and he said that we're already like local, hahahaha. It's so funny and make us laugh.  Jules Joffrin is very close to Sacre-Coeur - a Roman Catholic church and minor Basilica.  This  area is kinda Brooklyn of States.  It doesn't make me afraid at all to hear that even you see a lot of homeless or people asking for money, it's quite safe as long as you dress down like a local. Even you went home very late is still quite safe.

Bonnie Nuit

SOTO Mie Jakarta

What you need:

yellow chomein noodle

green cabbage

tomato

 springroll

Ingredients:

beef broth

 garlic

shallot

candle nuts

coriander seed

tomatoes

 Salt and pepper

Green onion

lime leaf

How to make it:

Make beef broth first (boiling beef bone and meat, tendon as you like)

 Ground all the ingredients

Sautee all the ingredients that is already been ground finely as a paste

 Pour it to the beef broth

PARIS

I do really fall in love with this city of France! It's my second time around and it's not gonna be my last time for sure! I will go again and again and again hohoho.  Even I did not speak french but I am not afraid at all as long as I still can speak english and there is my pocket dictionary and google translate hahaha.

This is how it works, if you're in the shopping district, the shop keeper is know how to speak english, that is for sure as shopping is one of the first destination people from all over the world come to this city besides sight seeing! For eating, usually the menu on french - this is when you need a google translate, but sometimes they have menu with two languages - english and french.

I have never seen this scenery in North America! They're selling the fish outside the store!! Love to see this fresh fish on display, without wrapping it  like in supermarket. It remind me when I was a little girl, my mom used to take me to traditional market.  I still remember when she asked how much the price of the fish and if it's a bit expensive according to her, she will bargain and my mom is very good at it! As every time I went shopping with her, she got all the stuff in her grocery list!   If I did not think that am on vacation, am gonna buy and cook it hahaha. 

Talking about the food in this city, damn .. I am mouthwatering already! Wake up in the morning and line up for the best croissant in one of the bakery close to our apartment. Totally different than my country right now!   I am totally local and love it every step I walk in there.  I love our apartment in here. It's just across from Jules Joffrin (Paris Metro) and to get all the grocery and the food is only a block away!! Damn, it's superb. I wish I live here! even both of my son and my husband is agree that we are dreaming first to live in this city hahahaha. 

The owner of the apartment is a very nice couple (french guy and philippines gal) with a little fruit salad - that's what he called her daughter.  This is our best apartment while we're travelling in europe. Love their apartment! 2 spacious character bedroom with a small african ethnic living room and modern medium kitchen and bathroom, beside a beautiful garden.  The beautiful bird song in the morning   wake me up peacefully,  the best feeling that money can't buy!  

The feeling that I had similar as if I live in a small village either in my homeland - especially when am on vacation in Ubud, Bali or I live in here, Calgary. The different in here is I only can hear bird song on Spring and Summer time! But I value that sounds even very short period of time. Feeling peaceful is the best thing you've ever had when you just open your eyes.  Thanks God for it. 

to be continue ...

VENICE 2

What I love about Venice is walking, walking and snap here and there, having gelato in the hot   weather and having the best pesto for my lunch. That's make me smile and happy for my feet! Sound like I am so easy to pleased hahahaha.  Well .. first of all, I did not exercise (swimming while I am on vacations) so walking is the alternate for my swimming regime.  I love walking too! I enjoy walking and grab some pictures.  

Venice is quite clean even I see so many people who visit this city.  We're planning to go on May as we thought the school is not over yet means less busy.  Actually, it was wrong. Italy, Paris and London are still first destination all year around. Well ... I am thinking probably because so many small european city that neighbour with Italy, Paris and London.  

San Marco .. the landmark of Venice.  Don't ask me how many people there! Speechless to see so many people from around the world! I even met a couple gals from my country accidently while I am browsing in the neighbourhood vintage sale. 

The good part when exploring Venice is walking to the neighbourhood. It remind me when I was kids and living with my grandma. So many narrow street and you have to pay attention to the sign where it will turn, either right or left.

I love shopping, I can't deny that but shopping in Venice is no no for me.  Even, from one corner to the other corner is all  boutique especially selling bag.  Hello? Yes, I admitted that I addicted with bag but this time I will not spend my money to get one here. The bag that they're selling from one store to the other's are all same and all made in China!! Means .. it's almost like the one that I see in my country, fake bag without brand with no no quality with higher price. Even there is one or two store that are selling a good stuff made in Italy but I already changed my mind not to get it here.

Beside fake bag, there are a lot of store are selling clothing from the cheap one to expensive, not interested.  Also accessorize from murano glass that's very famous, well .. am not interested also! They also had neat stationery (paper and all stuff) .. am not interesting also.  Sorry .. just want to take a lot of picture hheheh.

Bye Venice!