1. God - the One who continuously listens to all my problems, the One who gives me good health and guides me through every steps of my life.

2. Arman - the one who continuously supports me with all the most comforting words, who never asks for more than I could give, the one who always try to be the 'superman' in our family so that we don't have to suffer.

3. Andrew - the one who always cracks me up with his cuteness and the one who with his own ways try to comfort me when he sees me sad or cry. (Andrew saw me crying these past few days, he quickly grabbed a tissue and wiped all my tears then said mommy, don't cry)

With these 3 best medicines in the whole world and kind supporting words from other members of the family, relatives and friends, I am sure I will be able to go through everything. Thank you all!

Above are the pictures taken at our nearby park. Every Saturdays, the park has a farmer's market and some activities for young kids. The vegetables and fruits sold at this market are fresh and spray free. At the park, they also have 2 playgrounds separately for older and younger kids. Andrew enjoys playing at the playground so much. It is a great place to spend a nice Saturday morning.

In Indonesia, we don't have a Father's Day, and I don't actually know why. It seems like the appreciation only goes to the mothers. Hehehehe. Anyway, I am really glad that now we are in the US, we get to celebrate the Father's Day. So today, is the 1st Father's Day for Arman.

Below is the wishes that Andrew likes to say to his daddy:

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Thank you for all you have done for me since the day I was born!

Thank you for working so hard to provide for our family!

Thank you for being a loving and protective daddy!

Thank you for being the funniest daddy!

And....once for all, thank you for being the best daddy in the whole world!

I love you so much!

...looking forward to celebrate more father's day with you!

Love,

Andrew

The new Ridhima looks less like the earlier Ridhima and more like Arman!

P.S. Better than plastic surgeries though!

Galería Jean Paul Perrier, Barcelona

Del 6 de Junio al 19 de Julio.

Después de su presencia en el mes de mayo como stand galerístico en la Feria de Nueva York así como la de Shenzhen en China, la Galería Jean Paul PERRIER de Barcelona tiene la voluntad de reunir unos 24 artistas internacionales en torno al propósito de aprehender la realidad de cada uno.

Serán esculturas de: Arman, Arroyo, Aubert, César, Hugué, Miró, Morvan, Picasso, Man Ray y Rodin entre otros.

Representan referencias ineludibles de nuestro patrimonio artístico mundial que tenemos la suerte de poder contemplar en Barcelona hasta el día 19 de Julio.

Imagen1:Mercedes R. Elvira/“Modernista”/2006

Imagen2: Jordi Cases/“Dispute” (Gatos)/2008

::MENTES-INQUIETAS::

Today, I decided to experiment a chicken meal. It turns out really good, I made 2 pieces of chicken thighs and Arman finished them all.

INGREDIENTS:

2 pieces of boneless chicken thighs

1 piece of lime

pepper

vegetable oil for deep frying

5 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce

2 handful of shredded monterey jack & cheddar cheeses

2 pieces of button mushroom - cut into thin slices

INSTRUCTIONS:

First marinated the boneless chicken meat with lime and pepper, leave it for at least 4 hours. Then deep fry the chicken until it is cooked and the outside turns slightly golden. Then put on a baking plate (I used pyrex), pour in 5 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce. Add some thin slices button mushroom on top of the chicken, then put the shredded on top of the chicken and the mushroom. Put into the oven, bake in 350 degree Fahrenheit for 15 minutes or until the cheeses melt. Ready to serve.

Entre uma data e outra, a programação ainda não está fechada, mas algumas presenças mais que ilustres já estão confirmadas e já vale ir se preparando.

Doisneau e Arman, em mostra no MAC.

Matisse

Pierre Léger

 Jean Mazon

O cinema autoral de Chris Marker

Serge Gainsbourg pela Orquestra Imperial

I then started collecting some items. My first collection is different kind of erasers. Anytime I go to the bookstore, I would always visit the erasers section and get myself funny shape erasers like sushi shape, burger and french fries shape, animals shape and many others. Then I thought that seems like a younger kid or teenager's collection so I stopped collecting erasers but still keep my remaining collections.

Then, when I was studying and working in San Francisco, I laid my eyes on Precious Moments collections at the Hallmark store that I often visited. I enjoy looking at them and then started to collect them one by one. I have some given by my loving husband, some from my dear older sister and sister-in-law, one from my good high school friend, and the rest I bought them myself.

Here is the picture of my Precious Moments collections.

The following pictures are zoom in picture of each figurines. What I love about the Precious Moments Collections is that not only they are hand painted, but they also have title for each figurines.

The following are the title of each figurines:

1. May Emerald Jewel Box - A gift from Arman for my birthday 2003 together with a Precious Moments Hippo

2. A Love Beyond Measure - I bought it myself

3. The Lord Bless U And Keep U - A gift from Arman on our Wedding night. The similar figurine was used as the topper of our wedding cake. When Arman gave this figurine to me the night after the reception, I thought he took it from the cake. :P

4. All done - A gift from my older sister, Nat, this figurine representing Andrew

5. Giving My Heart Freely - I bought it myself

6. Figural Porcelain Hinged Box - A gift from my older sister, Nat

7. Mommy's Little Angel - I bought it myself

8. Reaching For The Stars - A gift from Arman for my birthday 2008

9. Good Friends Are Forever Jewel Box - A gift from my sister-in-law, Amelia

10. There's Always A Place In My Heart For You - I bought it myself

11. Love One Another Jewel Box - A gift from Arman for my birthday 2004

12. Daring To Have True Fun - A gift from Arman for Christmas 2006

13. Our First Xmas Together - A gift from Arman for our first Christmas together 2003

14. Baby First Xmas 2005 - A gift from my older sister, Nat, for Andrew's first Christmas 2005

15. It's Time To Bless Your Own Day - I bought it myself

16. There's Always A Place In My Heart For You Frame - I bought it myself

17. Girl With Gift Mini Waterball - I bought it myself

18. Love One Another - A gift from Arman

19. It's Time To Bless Your Own Day Clock - I bought it myself

20. It's Time To Bless Your Own Day Candle Holder - I bought it myself

21. Coasters - A gift from my sister-in-law, Amelia

22. There's Always A Place In My Heart For You Jewel Box - I bought it myself

23. Congratulation Princess - A gift from Arman when I finished my graduate school in 2004

24. A Love Beyond Measure Frame - I bought it myself together with the figurine

25. Tea Mup with the filter - A gift from my sister-in-law, Amelia

26. You've Got All The Write Stuff Graduate - A gift from my good friend, Liana, when I got my bachelor degree in 2003

Aren't they lovely? I can look at them for a long time and have a really good feeling. :)

We left Santa Monica around 9AM, then arrived at Residence Inn Marriott Anaheim a quarter to 10AM. After having a bad phone conversation with uninformative reservation staff the day before, I was a little bit nervous as how our experience at this hotel would turn out to be. It turned out to be.....GREAT! I love this hotel, it is unlike the common tall building hotel, it is more of like a condo type. We were given a very early check in (when the reservation staff actually told me that early check in wouldn't be until 2PM), got all other stuff (extra towels, extra pillow, etc) that we requested when we book the room online. The room is very clean, completed with a kitchen (with full equipment such as coffee maker, toaster, microwave, oven, ice maker, plates, cups, bowls, utensils, medium size refrigerator and even detergent for dishwasher). The living room has a sofa that can be converted into a bed, it was where Andrew slept. :) See the picture below or visit their website for more pictures.

After checking into the hotel, we went back to the hotel lobby and got ourselves tickets for the shuttle. The shuttle takes us directly to the theme park entrance. The cost of the whole day ticket is only $3/adult, children under 3 is free of charge. Compare to paying $12/day to park at Disneyland's parking lot, we have saved $12 buy taking the shuttle. The shuttle comes every 20 minutes and Andrew enjoyed getting into the shuttle.

With the ticket that we got, we can visit Disneyland on one day and then California Adventure the next day. Both with in and out privilege, just be sure that you get your hand stamped before leaving the park. You will need to show it when you enter again. As we entered Disneyland, we immediately walked all the way to Mickey's house first. Below is the picture taken at both Mickey and Minnie Mouse's House. You can see a picture of Andrew sitting with Daddy in Mickey's living room, sleeping on Minnie's bed, playing with Mickey's miniature car, sitting on Mickey's chair, driving Mickey's car with Mommy, playing Minnie's computer, making a wish at the well, sitting in Minnie's kitchen and opening Minnie's fridge that is full of cheese.

We then went to the Princess Fantasy Faire, waiting in a long line to take picture with the Princesses. Unfortunately, Cinderella wasn't available at that time. We ended up taking picture with Princess Belle and Princess Jasmine. The pictures with Snow White were taken at California Adventure. Andrew loves taking pictures with the Princesses and even gave them big hugs (Well, they are very pretty, who wouldn't want to give them big hugs). Unexpectedly, he was scared of Mickey Mouse. :P

From all of the rides at Disneyland, Andrew loves the King Arthur Carrousel the best. He was first accompanied by me, but then the next round he was ready to ride the horse himself. :)

At Disneyland around 9:25PM, they have fireworks. It was so amazing and it felt like we were seeing millions of bright lights in the sky. They even have Tinker Bell flying over the sky back and forth. It was really amazing. Arman tried to capture the moments but it didn't turn out as good as we expected, so I didn't include the picture here.

The next day, Sunday, May 11, 2008, we visited the California Adventure. Although, we didn't enjoy it as much as we did with Disneyland, California Adventure offers its own attractions. The photos of the C A L I F O R N I A word were taken in front of the park, just right before the entrance. Inside the park, there is an ice cream place inside of a train. See picture below.

We waited until 5.15PM to see the Pixar Parade and I have to say it was worth the wait. The Pixar Parade was great, I tried to capture all of the characters and here they are as shown on the picture below.

I felt so tired that I decided to sit on Andrew's stroller. You can borrow strollers and wheelchairs at both parks. Amazingly, the stroller is strong enough to carry me in it. :P See pictures below on how Andrew tried to push me on a stroller.

Overall, we had a wonderful time and will certainly looking forward to our future trip there. To see more pictures in slide show version, please click here! It is written in Indonesian, but you can still enjoy the pictures.

On May 4, 2008, we went to Todai to celebrate Arman's birthday. We went to the one at Beverly Center. When we got there, around noon, the restaurant was about half full. I told the waitress that today is Arman's birthday, and she told me that by showing a valid picture ID, Arman can get a voucher that would entitled him for a free lunch good for future visit. In addition, he will also get a small birthday cake.

So we started our lunch, picking some items from cold bar, sushi bar, hot bar and dessert section. The cold section offers variety of salads, cocktail shrimp, and a lot more of other choices. There were like 40 kinds of sushi at the sushi bar starting from the california sushi with masago, futomaki, philadelphia, smoke salmon sushi, unago and many more. The hot bar has anything from baked green mussels, mix vegetable and shrimp tempura, calamari, teriyaki chicken, udon noodle, steamed fish to different meat of teppan yaki. The dessert comes in variety of fruits, jello, tiramisu, cheesecake, etc. For the complete menu, check out their website.

I got Andrew a bowl a udon noodle and added some crispy tempura on top of it. He actually finished the whole bowl. He also ate 1 pieces of cookie, some grapes and edamame.

The cold food are fresh including the raw meat on the sushi. I think both Arman and I each ate nearly 15 pieces of Salmon Sashimi. The strawberry birthday cake was really good too. We paid a total of $48 including tax and tips. The lunch price for the weekend is $18.95 per person (not including drinks). Andrew was consider under 3 Feet, so he didn't have to pay. They have lots of restaurants in all over US, in Hongkong and expanding to Asia soon this year (including Jakarta - Indonesia).

Overall, we were very satisfied, with the reasonable price, they certainly offer many varieties. We surely will come back again.

Today is my dear husband's birthday and luckily this time, with the money that I earned from selling Indonesian food, I was able to buy him a cake and a gift. I still remember the last time I bought him a gift, it was back in 2004. The following year, due to my pregnancy, where I had to stay bed resting for 7 months, not working which mean no income, I wasn't able to get him anything. I had to tell him to get himself a gift for his birthday. And of course, a good husband, as he always is, he never did get a gift for himself.

So this year, I planned something for him, I thought of giving him a Haagen Dazs birthday cake. Knowing how much he likes Haagen Dazs Strawberry Cheese Cake, I searched around for Haagen Dazs Strawberry Cheese Cake in a form of a birthday cake. I was first didn't think that I would find it, ever since, in Jakarta, we were told that Haagen Dazs discontinued their Strawberry Cheese Cake flavor. In addition, since we moved here to the US, we never able to find this flavor at any grocery stores. Luckily, the Haagen Dazs' stores in the US still carry this flavor.

As for the gift, I bought Arman his ticket to enter Disneyland for 2 days next weekend. Since we moved to LA, Arman has always wanted to go to Disneyland, but since the ticket is always pricey, I told him to wait until there is a good deal or when our family is here for holidays. Luckily, Disneyland offers a special price and this offer is good until May 22.

This afternoon, we celebrated Arman's birthday at Todai's Restaurant, it is a Japanese Buffet restaurant. I will write a separate posting for the restaurant review. Luckily, at this restaurant, they have a program where the birthday person, with a valid picture ID, get a voucher for a free lunch/dinner (depending on when you go on your birthday) for the next visit.

The birthday celebration continued with our favorite family time, shopping at a mall. :)

Happy Birthday, Arman! May you always be blessed by God in the coming years! May you always be surround with us, your loving wife and son! May you always be healthy and lucky! May you have a bright career! And no matter how old you are, you will always look good in my eyes. :) I love you, my dear!

Yesterday, after the church mass, we were starving and decided to try out a new restaurant nearby the church. We passed by this restaurant called Sushi King on Wilshire Boulevard and saw there was a parking on the street/ So we parked and entered the restaurant. It is not a big restaurant, they have perhaps 6-7 tables and the sushi bar. When we got there, the restaurant was half full. We sat down and asked for a booster seat for Andrew but the one and the only one that they have was being used by one of the customers.

Their menu is only 2 pages, after looking at the menu, we decided to order the Dynamite $9 and Tempura & Teriyaki Dinner Set $20. The Dynamite is a mix of baked mushrooms and scallops with mayonnaise. It tasted really good although I thought there were a lot more mushrooms than scallops. The combination of mayonnaise with mushrooms and scallops was just perfect. The Dinner Set consists of the bean sprout salad using sesame sauce, cucumber pickle with shrimp, miso soup, rice, tempura (2 shrimps, 1 string bean, 1 broccoli, 1 potato, 1 yam and 1 zucchini), salad and chicken teriyaki. The miso soup was really good, you can actually taste the miso (unlike some restaurants that put more water). The bean sprout salad using sesame sauce was really good, Arman who doesn't usually like bean sprout nearly finished the whole thing himself. The cucumber pickle with shrimp was good too, with a balance mix of vinegar and sugar. The tempura was just ok, not too special. The salad on the chicken teriyaki plate doesn't have enough dressing. The chicken teriyaki was just perfect, it was grilled nicely and the taste of the chicken blends very well with the teriyaki sauce. Overall, we love the food (especially Andrew, he ate a lot of the chicken teriyaki with rice and miso soup), only that it is slightly pricey compare to other Japanese restaurant.

We spent a total of $37 including tips and tax. The chefs at the sushi bar were very friendly, I saw them chatting with customers on the sushi bar and toasted their beer glasses. The waiter and waitresses were friendly too, they are very knowledgeable of everything on the menu. This restaurant doesn't open on Mondays and they only opens for dinner. Street parking wouldn't be easy to find since this restaurant located on the main street of Wilshire Boulevard. I think the best time to go to this restaurant is on Sunday evening. I will certainly come back to this restaurant again.

When I was living in Jakarta, this is one of the dish that I love to make. I would used about 16 - 20 pieces of firm tofu, then make the rest as meatballs. You can also add some soy bean into the soup, but be sure to soak the bean over night and cook until tender. See my recipe below and picture above for instructions.

INGREDIENTS:

SOUP: 5 cups chicken broth, 1 teaspoon of salt, pepper, 1 stem of scallion - cut into thin slices, a few pieces of cilantro leaves, vegetable oil for deep frying

STUFFED TOFU: 600 gr minced pork, 400 gr minced shrimp, 8 tablespoons of tapioca starch, 6 teaspoons of fish sauce, pepper, 2 pieces of eggs, 2 stems of scallions - cut into thin slices, a few pieces of cilantro leaves, 16 - 20 pieces of firm tofu (approximately 3 x 3 x 1.5 cm).

INSTRUCTIONS:

SOUP: Put the chicken broth, salt and pepper together then bring to boil. When finished, you can add the cut scallions and cilantro leaves on the soup.

STUFFED TOFU: Mix all ingredients together except the firm tofu. On each tofu, scoop out 1/2 teaspoon of tofu and put it aside (see picture above). Put the mixed pork meat into each hole, then add some to build tiny mountain on each tofu (see picture above). When finished putting the meat into all tofu, you can either deep fry or put the stuffed tofu into boiling soup. Then take the scooped out tofu, smashed it and mix it with the left over meat. Shape it like small balls then you can do the same thing to what you did with the stuffed tofu (deep fry or boil). I did the two versions, you can see them in the picture above.

Ready to serve. Enjoy!

TIPS: You will get 16 - 20 pieces of stuffed tofu and around 40 meatballs. You can store them in the freezer and put them in a boiling soup when ready to eat.

Every once in a while, my parents, especially my dad, likes to make the Chicken Noodle with Wonton. The noodle is also made from scratch. But here today, I will use ready fresh/dried noodle or rice stick, you can also use your favorite noodle (egg noodle, rice noodle, etc). See my recipe below:

INGREDIENTS:

NOODLE: 1 piece of dried/fresh noodle/rice stick, 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce

CHICKEN: 2 pieces of chicken thighs meat - cut into small chuncks, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of cooking wine, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1/4 cup of water

WONTON: 400 gr of minced pork, 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 200 gr of shrimp - cut into tiny pieces, 2 teaspoons of fish oil, pepper, ready to use wonton skin, water for boiling the wonton

INSTRUCTIONS:

NOODLE: Heat up a pan, pour in water to boil the noodle. Once the water boils and the noodle is cook, put it aside on a serving bowl. Add in the vegetable oil, soy sauce and fish sauce. Mix all ingredients until well blended.

CHICKEN: First marinate the chicken with salt and cooking wine, leave it for about 15 minutes. Then heat up a pan, pour in the vegetable oil, stir fry the minced garlic until slightly golden. Then put in the previously marinated chicken meat. Stir fry until cook, add the fish sauce and water, then cook until boils. You can simply put this on top of your ready to eat noodle.

WONTON: First put the minced pork in a large bowl, add the garlic powder, stir until well blended. Then add in the salt, tiny pieces of shrimp, fish oil and pepper. Mix all ingredients until well blended. Then using a ready to use wonton skin, put in the mix minced pork in the center of the wonton skin, fold it into a triangle. Then tie each end to make it a wonton shape. See picture above for instructions. Once then wonton is ready, put it into a boiling water, let it boils until cook and the skin is tender. Ready to eat with your chicken noodle. If you like a soup, you can see my previous recipe on Meatballs Soup.

TIPS:

The noodle measurement is for one serving only. ***WARNING*** The chicken is intended to be slightly salty so that when you eat it with the noodle, you will have a more savory taste. The wonton measurement will give you about 45 pieces of finished wontons. For fried wontons, simply deep fry in vegetable oil then eat them with your favorite chilli sauce.

Today, I made a mix of chopped broccoli with minced chicken for Andrew. I also added some glass noodle, knowing that he likes noodle. The result is he really likes it. Arman, who is not a big fan of vegetable, also likes this dish. You may try this for your young ones. :)

When I fed Andrew this dish for lunch today, I put the soup on a separate bowl. I hold on to the plate with rice, and let him moved the broccoli chicken balls using a spoon to the rice plate. As the broccoli chicken balls move one by one to the plate, I asked him to do the counting. So there it went, our fun lunch together with counting....one....two....three....four....five....six. Before you know it, all the food in the plate already went to his tummy. :) He finished everything in less than 15 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

BROCCOLI CHICKEN BALLS: 200 gr minced chicken, 2 pieces of broccoli florets - chop into tiny pieces, 1 piece of egg, 1 teaspoon of tapioca starch, 3 teaspoons of fish sauce, pepper

SOUP: 5 cups of water/chicken broth, 1-1.5 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, pepper, a pinch of preserved vegetable (tong cai), 1 piece of lily bean thread - soak in a bowl of water

INSTRUCTIONS:

BROCCOLI CHICKEN BALLS: Mix all ingredients until well blended.

SOUP: Cook all ingredients together (except the lily bean thread) until boils.

Then make the broccoli chicken balls dough into medium round shape like meatballs, and cook in the boiling soup. Wait until the broccoli chicken balls are cook, then put in the previously soaked lily bean thread. As the soup boils, turn of the heat. Ready to serve.

But here in the US, at least from what I know now, all appointments are available Monday-Friday. So today, I had to take Andrew myself to the pediatrician. I know, it's not a big deal, but I was worried that I would miss asking the doctor certain things or not understanding certain things. When we first arrived, I was asked to take care of some paperworks and paid for the co-pay. In Indonesia, usually we would pay after the service is performed, but here we pay before. After that, we were asked to wait in the waiting room. We waited only about 5 minutes I think before the nurse called Andrew. Then she asked me to help Andrew standing on the scale and measured his height. He is 33 inches and 24 lbs.

I was also asked to provide all the vaccines data that Andrew has got in the past. In Indonesia, the date goes before the month, so I had to read out each vaccines with the date converted to US format (month first then date). After that the doctor came in, asked me more questions regarding Andrew's development so far. She did some examinations (eyes, ears, tummy, heartbeats, etc) and determined that Andrew is healthy. She suggested that we should start taking Andrew to pediatric dentist so that he can get used to going to dentist. Then after the doctor left, the nurse came in to give Andrew his Hepatitis A vaccine. Andrew was stunned at first that he didn't cry at all, but then started feeling the tingling sensation, he then cried out loud. I hold him for 2 minutes then he stopped crying and the nurse came in to give him a mini size plastic car. :)

Luckily, my experience today taking Andrew to see his first pediatrician in the US turned out to be just fine. :) We will see the doctor again in 1-2 months.

After living in Los Angeles for nearly 4 months, we finally made our way to the famous Old Pasadena. We got there 20 minutes to noon, so we decided to look for something to eat before we do our window shopping. My friend, Heru, recommended a few restaurants (the famous Italian Mi Piace, Japanese Gin Sushi and Thai Salangde not sure of the spelling). Since Arman didn't really feel like Italian or Thai, and reading how Gin Sushi is always crowded, we decided to try the Kabuki instead.

The restaurant was not crowded at all. They have the outside seatings as well, but since it was very hot yesterday (100 degrees Fahrenheit in Pasadena), we asked for the inside seatings. The person who helped as with the seatings also works as the cashier and taking to go orders. She looked very sleepy and wasn't focus. I clearly saw her dropped some to go food in front of the customers with no apology and dropped the chopsticks when she was filling up the empty chopsticks organizer. The waitress who was in charge of our table spoke very fast with a low voice that we couldn't hear her clearly.

Anyway, the restaurant is actually nice, but I personally think the lighting needs to be brighten up a bit. We ordered Baked Scallop California Roll $5.50, Eel & Avocado Roll $9.95, Samurai Deluxe $10.95, Regular Ice Tea $2.5, Ice Green Tea $2.5. We spent a total of $37.39 with tax and tips.

The Baked Scallop California Roll was just ok, the Baked Scallop wasn't as tasty as I expected. The Eel & Avocado Roll was good, but the size was too big, so when you pick it up, each sushi will break. The Samurai Deluxe is a set of chicken teriyaki, beef teriyaki and vegetable tempura. This set comes with rice, salad, edamame and miso soup. The beef teriyaki was perfectly grilled and the meat was juicy with just enough teriyaki sauce pour on top. The chicken teriyaki was just ok, not too special. The vegetable tempura, salad and miso soup were great. The vegetable tempura consists of shrimp, sweet potato, yam, string bean and zucchini. The drinks were just ok, regular tea and green tea.

Overall, I think the food was good, but the service was just ok. If we are ever around in Pasadena, we will perhaps visit this restaurant again.

Hi blog readers, it's been a while since my last post. I haven't been feeling great since last Thursday (sore muscle, headache, sore throat, etc). Anyway, I am a lot better now and have several postings for you today. Here is one.

I always like to make different kind of jelly drinks for family dessert. Here is one of them. This time I decided to combine fresh milk so that Andrew can get the calcium out of it. And since he doesn't like white milk, I added a few spoon of chocolate powder. The name of this recipe is Crowded, because that is how this drink is going to look like. Crowded with a lot of stuff in it. Tips: You can always play around with the amount of milk and water, as long as you get the same total of amount.

INGREDIENTS:

CHOCO BLOCK JELLY: 1 pack of Agar-Agar Swallow, 8 teaspoons of sugar, 5 teaspoons of chocolate powder (Milo), 1/2 cup of fresh milk, 2.5 cup of water

GLASS NOODLE JELLY: 1 pack of Agar-Agar Swallow, 120 gr of sugar, 2 cups of water

1 can of peeled orange

1 can of peeled and pitted lychee

2.5 cup of water

1/2 cup of hot water mixed with 12 teaspoons of sugar (syrup water)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cook the CHOCO BLOCK JELLY and GLASS NOODLE JELLY in separate pans, until each boils then pour into two separate shallow pyrexs. The store in fridge over night. After storing in the fridge over night, take the CHOCO BLOCK JELLY and GLASS NOODLE JELLY out of the pyrexs. Cut the CHOCO BLOCK JELLY into 1 x 1 x 1 cm dices. Shred the GLASS NOODLE JELLY to make it looks like thin glass noodle. Put both the cut CHOCO BLOCK JELLY and shredded GLASS NOODLE JELLY into a big dessert bowl, then add in the 1 can peeled orange and 1 can peeled and pitted lychee and the syrup water. Mix everything together, taste for sweetness. If not sweet enough, then add more syrup water. If too sweet then add more water. Put in some ice cubes, scoop some into a small dessert bowl or glass, then ready to serve.

Hmm muncul lagi satu penyanyi solist lepas Pria …

Di Indonesia sangat sulit menemukan penyanyi solist lepas pria, (yang bukan vokalis group band ) bisa bertahan lama.  Yang banyak terkenal justru adalah vokalis yang tergabung dengan satu group Band … sebut saja Once Dewa, Pasha Ungu, Ariel Peterpan, Kaka Slank, Arman Gigi, Giring Nidji, Noe Letto, Kris Naff, Fadli Padi, Bam Samson, David Naif, Ian Radja, Duta So7, Sammy Keris Patih dan sebagainya.  (oh iya Andhika Kangen juga …)

Sebetulnya ada banyak Penyanyi Pria Lepas yang bagus setelah era Harvey Malaiholo … ada Ari Lasso, Rio Febrian, Marcell (baik yang botak maupun yang gondrong), Glenn, Tompi, juga Reza Herlambang dan Chandra.   Ada pula penyanyi produk kontes nyanyi SMS .. Delon, Very, Haikal, Mike, Iksan dan dan beberapa lagi yang lainnya … Namun tetap saja popularitasnya terkesan hanya sporadis ketika mereka meluncurkan album, atau ketika kontes SMS masih berjalan … lalu setelah itu tenggelam lagi … Tidak seperti vokalis group Band … yang terus mencorong … sejalan dengan popularitas Bandnya.  Padahal dari segi kualitas .. penyanyi Solist pria ini banyak yang justru lebih baik daripada vokalis-vokalis Band terkenal. 

Kini keluar lagi … Afgan … sepertinya Soloist lepas juga … hmm ... mudah-mudahan bisa bertahan lama dia …

Aku tidak tau kenapa sangat sulit menjadi penyanyi Soloist Pria lepas yang terkenal secara konsisten dan dalam waktu yang cukup lama … Tidak seperti penyanyi solist Wanita yang justru lebih banyak berkibar menguasai belantara musik Indonesia.  Menurut pengamatan awam pribadiku mungkin hanya Ari lasso, penyanyi solist pria lepas yang bisa konsisten menjaga popularitasnya.  Kok Trainer tidak menyebut Iwan Fals ? … hmm ini fenomena lain lagi … aku lebih melihat Iwan Fals bukan sebagai penyanyi … tetapi sebagai pencipta lagu dan sekaligus tokoh pembaharu musik yang (dulu) lantang meneriakkan kritik sosial.

Memang bicara masalah selera industri musik di Indonesia tidak cukup hanya dengan kuping dan hati saja … namun juga dengan mata … !!!

Publik Musik Indonesia masih lebih suka melihat yang “bening”, “sexy” dan “cantik” … !!!

Juga suka sosok jantan vokalis group band yang memegang mike stand di panggung … !!!

Maaf ini bukan tulisan "pengamat" musik ... ini hanya tulisan seorang "penikmat" musik biasa saja ... (karena memang musik itu enaknya "dinikmati" ... bukan ... "diamati" ...)

(Judulnya … postingan test case … )

1. Understand your child's characteristics. Every child is different, even twins can have different characteristics. It is our job as the parents to understand the different characteristics that our child has. From learning their characteristics, you can slowly understand how to actually face your child in different condition. Keep in mind that we are the parents and parents always know their child best.

2. When taking your toddler out for meals at restaurant, make sure that you have something that will keep him/her occupied. For example, I know that Andrew shows a good interest in playing cars or drawings. So when we take him out to the restaurant, I will ask for crayons and paper. The good thing is most of the restaurants here are kids friendly and therefore, they already have those stuff ready. But what if they don't (like when we went to the Cheesecake Factory this past weekend), make sure that you bring them with you in your bag. I always keep a paper and pen in my bag. Make sure that you don't go over his/her meal time, when you take him/her to the restaurant. There was one time when Andrew was terribly hungry and the first food came out was a spicy Tom Yum soup and we didn't give it to him. He got really angry and started to cry. So be sure that you don't go over their meal time.

3. When taking your toddlers to church, be sure that you have some of his/her favorite snacks in addition to other stuff that would keep him occupied.

4. When you take him/her to sleep or nap, turn on some slow musics (not a heavy metal one of course), turn off the light or turn it slightly dimmer then lay down next to him/her. Sometimes I would chat with Andrew first, repeating things that he did that day, or ask him to do counting in different languages.

5. When taking him/her on a long trip, make sure that he/she has his/her tummy full, therefore he/she wouldn't be cranky of feeling hungry. Be sure to bring his/her favorite snacks too, just in case he/she gets hungry again.

Those are the tips and tricks that I can think of right now. I am sure you all have more that you can share with us. If you do, simply reply to this posting and share them with others.

The original recipe comes from my mother-in-law. She makes this dish usually on certain occasion like birthdays. All of us love it a lot. Before we moved to the US, I was able to get the recipe from her but didn't manage to get the exact measurement. So here is the recipe with my measurement slightly different in taste from hers.

INGREDIENTS:

2 pack of egg noodle (each pack is 200 gr net weight)

400 gr pork meat - cut into small pieces

5 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce

5 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 stems of scallion - cut into thin slices

3 cloves of garlic - cut into thin slices

3 cloves of shallot - cut into thin slices

200 gr of small shrimp - cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons of salt

3.5 tablespoons of sugar

3 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce

pepper

7 cups of chicken broth/water

1/2 cup of water - mix with 5 tablespoons of tapioca starch

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Marinade the pork meat with the 5 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce and 5 tablespoons of soy sauce. Leave it marinated over night.

2. Boil the egg noodle, then set aside (add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to avoid it sticking to one another). Then deep fry the noodle to the size of your palm (or like the shape of instant noodle). Wait until the noodle becomes crispy then put it aside.

3. Deep fry the thin slices garlic and shallot until they turn golden brownish. Then put it aside.

4. Stir fry the cut shrimp on a non stick pan until cook (with no oil).

5. Stir fry the previously marinated pork meat on a non stick pan until cook. Then pour in the 7 cups of chicken broth/water. Add in the previously stir fried shrimp, garlic, shallots, cut scallions, salt, sugar, pepper and sweet soy sauce.

6. Pour in the mix 1/2 cup of water with the 5 tablespoons of tapioca starch into the shrimp and pork gravy. Stir until the gravy is thicken. Wait until boil then pour on top of the crispy noodle. Ready to serve.

When I was studying and working in the US a while back ago, I've tried the Cheesecake Factory twice with some friends. The first one was in Pasadena, I was brought there by my good high school friend, Liana. Then, the Cheesecake Factory opened up another restaurant in San Francisco. On top of Macy*s department store, in the famous Union Square shopping area. I then went there with my good friend, Jennie and her family. As I remembered, this place always left me with a great impression. Nice place, big size dishes and fresh baked bread. Fresh baked bread.....what's the good thing about it, well....weirdly, I always have a thing for restaurants that provide bread while waiting for the meals. I don't know why, but I always enjoy those kind of restaurants. And I think Andrew loves it too, see his picture above nibbling on the bread :P

This time I went back to this restaurant with my lovely little family. We arrived at 6.15pm and the restaurant was already crowded. We put our name down and was told that the wait will be about 45-60 minutes. This restaurant very uniquely created a pager for the people waiting in line. That way, we can walk around outside the restaurant (within certain distance) while waiting for our table. When our table was ready at around 7.20pm, the pager vibrated. For bar seating, I don't think you need to wait in line.

We ordered the Mesa Chicken $14.50 and Famous Factory Meatloaf $14.95. The Mesa Chicken is a char-grilled chicken breast, served with cilantro herb rice, grilled corn salsa, spicy ranchero sauce. The chicken was perfectly grilled, the rice tasted really good and has a light green color , although I have to say that you can't really feel the cilantro. The corn was grilled nicely and has a sweet taste. The ranchero sauce wasn't spicy at all. Oh, one more thing, they put thin slices of brown onion that I think previously marinated with vinegar, it was really good. Overall, I love this food.

Arman loves the Famous Factory Meatloaf too. He thought the taste of the whole dish was really good. Although the meatloaf 's texture wasn't condensed enough and therefore broke easily. The mashed potato has thin slices of mushrooms in it. The only thing that Arman didn't like about this dish is the brown onion on top of the meatloaf. He said it was the only thing that didn't go well with the meatloaf.

Both meals were really big. You can order 2 dishes and share with 3 people. We were so full that we didn't try the famous cheese cake from their bakery. Unfortunately, this restaurant is not kids friendly. They didn't provide anything like paper and coloring pencils or crayons, unlike other restaurants. Which maybe is not a big deal, but I am sure kids can easily get bored, because I saw many kids running around the restaurant.

We spent a total of $36.88 including tax and tips.

I love this restaurant and I think this is a great place to get together with lots of friends. Will most likely come back again in the future.

Yesterday, after Andrew finished his music class, we didn't really know where we should go for lunch. I was sort of wanting to try the Curry House over at Sawtelle Boulevard. Our friends, Kak Aldrin and Ci Evy, highly recommended this restaurant when we came over to their place for a dinner last time. In addition, Arman's co-worker said highly about it as well.

Arman is not a big fun of curry, so he looks a bit hesitate at first, but then agreed to try it. We got there 15 minutes before 12pm and the restaurant was still closed. They open at 12pm sharp, which is very weird thinking that there must be a lot of people out there who eats at 12pm or slightly earlier. Anyway, we decided to wait, Andrew was so hungry that he kept on looking into the restaurant and told me that he wants to eat. When we got there, we were the only ones waiting. Exactly 12pm sharp, there were like almost 20 other people waiting behind us. Then, one of the waiter tried to open the door but was having difficulties. We waited again for almost another 5 minutes and finally the door was opened. I nearly wanted to scream hurry up, my son is hungry. :P

We immediately went in and ordered Seafood Curry $8.45 plus rice $1, Curry Noodle $9.25, Teriyaki Chicken Plate $4.95 and Sweetened Ice Green Tea (Free Refill) $2.50. The restaurant is not too big, but looks clean. The waiters and waitresses respond very quickly when providing us their service. The Seafood Curry and the rice came first, we thought the taste of the curry was too strong (it has a strong certain herb smell) and weren't able to finish the whole thing. The Curry Noodle came in a hot stone bowl. The noodle is udon and they put in one piece of egg that has been cut nicely into thin slices. Baby carrots, potatoes, some greens, mushroom and chicken meat were in this bubbly hot curry soup. We thought the udon noodle goes really well with the curry and the curry itself didn't taste too strong, unlike the Seafood Curry.

The Teriyaki Chicken Plate is one of the kids menu. It comes with corn potage, fruit, french fries and a tiny figurine. The Teriyaki Chicken itself was just ok. They were pretty flexible when we asked them to switch the corn potage with miso soup and the french fries with more rice. For each kids menu, they will give a clear ball that has a tiny figurine inside (Andrew got Lisa Simpson). This place is child friendly too. As we arrived, they immediately provide the kids with paper and coloring crayons. They provide Spiderman cup for boys and Hello Kitty cup for girls.

We spent a total of $30 including tax and tips.

This restaurant is located on the 2nd floor. On the same floor, you can find a Japanese bookstore. Down below, there is a Japanese grocery store, Nijiya Market. There are parkings on street level and basement.

I am sure we will come again in the future.