Explore the possibilities.

Never be afraid to choose a road that nobody chooses.

Challenge new boundaries

Nobody knows what lies beyond.

There is always something new every day.

Pay attention to little details in your life and appreciate them.

Share the knowledge.

It is always fun to talk to someone who knows the subject as well as you do.

Be excited, and remember the excitement.

Never say you're too old to do something.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Food Blog Spamming!! - Part 1 (Japanese Food)

Okay, it's been sooo long since the last time I posted an entry here.

So, my winter break's been fun. I went to Bali for 4 days, although it rained on most of the days I was there. I spent the rest of the time with my big family, so to speak. It's been really fun :)

But before that, I'll post images of when I was in Japan for a transit. We'll begin with JAL business class food showcase!

Alright, this is the snack that I got. Normally I'd get a pack of crackers or dry natto (sticky, stringy fermented bean) in economic class.



Nice texture. The egg roll was really crispy. On the lowest layer, it's what I think to be some sort of concentrated wine. Or maybe it's umeshu, I don't know. But certainly, the bottom purplish layer tasted like wine. The white layer was almond pudding, and above the pudding should have been yuzu extracts (yellow one) and the brown one was some sort of cream that tasted like coffee. The entire set was a perfect balance - the yuzu adds some sour, fresh citrusy elements into the sweet pudding, and the cream of coffee flavor adds some bitter taste. Yum!






And this is the a meal. On the bottom right is salmon cooked in miso. I didn't really like it. On the left, you'll see some tiny stuffs. Nigiri sushi, black beans, and other stuffs there.. I should have taken the name of the menu, but I didn't think of that. Well, they're the appetizers. Oh, and another interesting thing is that the rice was packed in paper, which is on the top right corner of the picture. As usual, there's a bowl of miso soup to accompany the meal. Next to the miso soup is vegetables, which consisted of mainly yam, and next to the yellow vegetable bowl is sashimi.

I have to stay in Japan for a night when I was coming back from the US. And being in business class, I could order any menu up to 5600 yen. So, I chose the most expensive menu available at the restaurant.

This was the starters:



Below is yam (the white one), pumpkin, fish cake and carrot cut in maple leaf shape.


Kelp and some green, leafy vegetables with some sort of peanut sauce. The sauce somehow tasted like gomashabu.



The sashimi: red herrings!



Alright, and this is the main dish:


Persimmons (kaki)



Chawan mushi with eel:



Tasted a bit fishy~ but the texture of chawan mushi was really smooth!

Shisamo salad with some sort of white beans in it:



Then, chicken teriyaki. Not a fan of it. The chicken was hard, and it's not tangy at all.



It's funny how they decorate the dish with peanuts in the shell. I wonder why...

Kombu. Not a big fan of it either...


The above meal was 5000 yen, by the way. So expensive. A bowl of ramen at Aeon Mall cost only about 600-700 yen. I could eat about 8-9 bowls of ramen with this meal. LOL.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Goodbye Jakarta

I'm missing my home a lot. This holiday was filled with my big family, as if the entire world is made up of my big family and no one else.

I didn't get to go out much, partially because I was baby sitting my 4-year-old cousin. It was a troublesome work, since my energy capacity is much lower than that kid. But now I miss her and her endless singing... :(

Now that I'm flying back to Urbana, I won't be having my FF Dissidia partner anymore. Aah. Yeah, it's pretty sad that even though there are people who play games there, no one seem to have the same interest as me. Haha. I want a Dissidia partner...

One thing that still bugs me is that I couldn't win from my cousin on my last battle with her, even though I've been using my strongest and most familiar hero, Cloud. Perhaps the 20 level difference is the problem. Hmm... By June, I'll make Cloud reach level 99 and call for a rematch with my cousin! I'll defeat you, Metta!! XD

And... yeah, no more authentic Asian food for the next 5-6 months. I miss my Mum's cooking. She cooked lots of my favorite food on my last day at home, and... I was so touched. She woke up so early to cooked all those dishes. If I were a mom, I would probably cancel my plan and sleep for another hour because I'm not the type of person who likes waking up early. LOL. She's so cool.

Alright, time to embrace a new semester! Fight!!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Off to Bali

:)

Will post pictures after my return.

Friday, January 2, 2009

01.01.2009

Happy New Year!! I'm not late, I'm not late!! It's still January 1st!

Had good things and bad things happened.