Loving Singapore

Had visited Singapore 3 times now, and loving it even more. There's always something that makes me want to go back and back again. It is a small city (or is it a country?) tourist-friendly. Most people there are friendly, some uncles were not hahaha.
My first visit was way back on May 2004, went with my co-workers, three of us didn't explore the city that much as we spent most days on the training center.

My second visit was on June 2011 with my college friend Bertha and some co-workers, this time really meant something, not for training or any work related, purely on vacation for 3 days. Bertha and I didn't waste our time as soon as we arrived there. Went to the hotel, checked in, went straight to Marina Barrage. Nice place for capturing the Singapore city view, cuz no matter how bad the camera or you in taking pictures, the photos are just gonna be awesome ! You have to walk a bit though from the bus station, but hey there's always a taxi. ;-)
Went to Clarke Quay in the evening to have dinner with a good friend of mine, the place was quite dim for me, it's good for those who want to have a romantic dinner or just drinks, some spots were crowded though and the dinner was quite expensive (for me), anyways, it was a nice visit and dinner too ! :-)

The next morning Bertha and I spent the entire day exploring the city using the Hop On Hop Off bus, it was a complimentary from the hotel. The hotel was hotel Ibis on Bencoolen by the way. We loved our stay here, the room were small but enough for both of us, breakfast was okay.
We decided to explore Little India at 0500AM and it was drizzling ! Went shopping to Mustafa Center, a 24 hours mall. It was amazing watching the Indians start their day, if you can't stand the strong smell then don't visit the Little India, but it would be a waste, Little India has some interesting points as well as the rest of the city. Every part of Singapore is nice to checked out.


My recent visit was a couple of weeks ago, went with my cousins. This time I didn't go exploring so much, went to Orchard Rd most of the times, visited the Universal Studio as well. But I did love the food, I think my last visit was more like a culinary experience, tasted the food that I haven't tasted before. It was amazing.

I am a well-ordered person, who loves a clean environment, less smoke, perhaps that is why I love Singapore. I live in Bogor, and the city is always crowded during the day, junk everywhere, people spit, smoke anywhere anytime they like.. Despite the negativities of Bogor, this is where I grew up, where I live, where I earn money, so gotta love it anyway. And Bogor is not all bad, it has some beautiful things too, where you can't find anywhere else. :-)

To see pics from the trip, here and here

From Makassar

Just got back from my trip to my hometown - Makassar. Arrived in Sultan Hasanuddin Airport on 20.02.2011 afternoon, went straight from the airport to a place that has an awesome waterfall, Bantimurung. The trip to Bantimurung was lovely, greenery on both sides, great hills, the river, combined with some traditional houses.
In Bantimurung, you can also see butterfly museum, as it is also well known for their butterfly conservation. So, you can easily spotted some butterfly souvenirs sellers in there. Too bad I didn't get the chance to see the museum as we were running late.

Went to visit the fish market called Paotere because it's actually very close to the Paotere Dock. In this area you can also see the traditional ships called Pinisi. The market was so smelly and dirty, but the fishes were so fresh and cheap.

The next day I went to visit Galesong, Takalar, small cities in Makassar, the trip view was kind of similar to the trip when I visited Bantimurung, lovely with its traditional villages.
Went to visit the famous Fort Rotterdam, the buildings had been restored on 1974, but we could still catch the old ambience, specially when we entered the Museum. This Fort turns to a hip place at night, lots of people (mostly young) hang out in front of this Fort. Right across the street you could find Popsa - the culinary village - as they say, where you can enjoy dinner while watching the sunset, or just hang out with your friends enjoying the beach, although the food are kind of expensive here.
And last but not least, went to Trans Studio. A huge mall combined with huge indoor amusement theme park, the entrance fee was so expensive and you can only play with 15 games, but if you wanna play with all available games, they offer a package, still it's expensive. :-)

The trip this time was an awesome journey. Met families and relatives, lost a dearest uncle at the same time...... happy and sad were mixed up. But I loved every moment of it, the people, the food, the view. I couldn't ask for more. Thanks to all my families that made everything was so beautiful.

More Pictures here

Solo - Irae - Picasa Web Albums

Solo ..... Solo ..... Solo ... The city of Batik.
Let the pics do the 'talking'.

Jakarta ohh Jakarta ...

A couple of weeks ago, I had a thought of being and experienced as Jakartan ? (haha, made that up, was trying to say as Jakarta citizen). Why ? nothing in particular, wanted to try something new, that's all.

I used to live in Jakarta when I was 8 years old, lived there for two years in a place called Cempaka Putih Tengah street. It was kinda sad remembering those moments back, it was the early years of Dad's carreer, we lived in someone's garage. :-(

But thank goodness we finally moved here, in Bogor. Ever since we moved in here, I rarely (almost never) went to Jakarta anymore. Until I started working and sometimes made me have to go to Jakarta for meetings or some papers/documents settlements. That too, always by a car or at least a train then usually took a taxi. :D

So, there I was, on one sunny Saturday morning, got on the train to met up with one of my bestfriend - Etha, she picked me up at Gambir then took a taxi (haha yeaah ..) to go to Pelangi - that's what she calls Plaza Semanggi. We hung around for a while in there, saw a movie, lunch, a little shopping. Then the time finally came, her home is in Sunter, somewhere in Tanjung Priuk Jakarta.
We took a bus (hmmm), it hadn't changed, the busses in Jakarta, they never really stop when you get on it, so you have to be quick ! ;-)

It was so very hot inside the bus, phew ! And it wasn't over yet, after that bus, we still had to take another bus called Metromini. God, this one was even hotter, not to mentioned the noise that came from the bus engine, was sitting in the front, Etha had to stand up as there was none seats available.

The next morning, we decided to go to Mangga Dua, had enough with the busses (sorry ... ) so told Etha to stopped a taxi. When we were done shopping at Mangga Dua, we decided to go continue shopping to this market called Asemka, the building is old, dirty and HOT !

We took a Bajaj to got there, haha yaa the noisy vehicle. Shopping in Asemka was okay, the price was cheap, although the place wasn't too convenient. Specially when you shop in the outer section, such as the streets, motorbikes, Bajajs, cars, people, all use the same street, too much smokes from all of those vehicles, and to top it all, the sun ....
We didn't spend a lot of time in Asemka, and finally decided to leave.

Now, it was okay to have experienced all that, I liked it. But I don't think I would wanna do it again hahaha ... I love Bogor, although it's always marked with the traffic which caused by its million Angkots, and dirty streets, but I enjoy leaving here. :-)
Thanks Etha for the awesome weekend ! ^_^

Apple Pie

I have been wanting to learn to make (or is it to bake ?) an apple pie, ever since a Dutch friend taught me how to. But that was a very long time ago, and I lost the recipe she gave me (sorry Jazz !)

The other day, I was so bored, and was just surfing here and there, and finally stumbled upon this nice blog "seTiap langkahku...", and I was like, 'hmm... this one looks kind of simple to make, perhaps it's worth to try'. So I tried.

And, voila ....



At first attempt, it didn't taste so good, was okay, but not that good. So I tried to 'modify' the original recipe that I got from mba Ine , added some of the ingredients. And finally, it tasted a lot better. Hahaha, I am so happy ! :-)
At last .......... I can bake an apple pie !! Thanks so much mba Ine !

Here's the recipe, the modified one, if you wanna see the 'original' one then go to mba Ine's blog

Ingredients :

I. Fillings :
- 500gr of apples, sliced into small pieces
- 50gr of raisins
- 1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder
- 100gr of sugar
- 1/2 cup of water

II. Crust :
- 250gr of flour
- 2 egg yolks ( 1 for brushing the surface)
- 50gr of powdered sugar
- 125gr of margarine
- a pinch of salt
- a bit of cold water, not too much.

Directions :

I. Fillings : cook all the ingredients until the water (almost) runs dry and the apples are softer, dont forget to stir it once in a while. Let it cool off.

II. Crust :
1. Mix all the 'II' ingredients, use a pastry blender (I dont have one, so I just use my both hands hehe ...)
2. Split it into two pieces and put it in the fridge for 15 mins.
3. Flatten them using a rolling pin into 1/2 cm of thickness, gently place it onto the pan, use a fork to make holes on the dough so when it's baked, the dough won't rise. Flatten the other dough as well to cover the surface.
4. Pour the cooked 'I' ingredients into the dough.
5. Place the rest of the flatten dough on top of it.
6. Brush the surface with egg yolk
7. Baked for around 60 min. (well, I used my Mom's very old oven, so it took longer).

If you tried the recipe above and it tasted awful, haha then I dont know what's wrong, it worked just fine for me. Perhaps you should go look for another recipe on the web ;-)

Happy Idul Fitri 1430 H

It is always hard.
For the past two years, just the thought of Ramadan was coming, would instantly melt me, thinking of you're not here with us anymore to celebrate the Hari Raya Idul Fitri.
I wonder when will I ever get this feeling go away, but then would that means I finally managed to forget you ? I don't think I would want that either.



People might think that I (or Mama or Kandar) am too sentimental about you. But perhaps that's because they've never ever felt of losing someone whom so very close to them, or perhaps, they're just stronger that I am.

I am thinking of you, always, in every breath I take, see you in every corner and dreams, feeling you close to me as if you were just miles away from us, not really gone forever. But what I am missing so much of you is to hear you calling out my name, to hear you laughing and tell stories, to feel your warm hand caressing my head.
Prayers after prayers I wish for you, and yet I still feel I haven't prayed so much for you.
How I miss you Pa ...

May Allah always Showered you with countless blessings and forgive every mistake you did.

As for me, God has given me so much blessings already this year, and I am happy that I could share those blessings with some people whom needed it most. I am very grateful of what I got, families and friends who were always there to help us. Thank you for those who's been always remembered and helped us, and for sticking up with us after all these years without expecting something in return. May God blessed them all. Amien ..