If I’m not happy, it’s not the end.

I can’t wait for Chinaaaaaa 😀 Actually, I really want to go to Malaysia again. Somehow, I have a very deep connection with Malaysia — yeah, it’s the FOOD. Sooooo, a friend of mine has been asking if I wanna go with them to Malaysia in around August. Yes, yes, yes I waaaannnnttt!! But hopefully it’s August or else I won’t be able to make it. I really really want to eat Malaysian food. Especially Petaling Jaya has awesome food too!

So during my summer holiday, I spent 3 days and 2 nights in Malaysia after coming back from China and HongKong. OMG I had the best experience in my life! Beijing was awesome, good food and super cold while  HK has awesome dessert and snacks, shopping too! Arrived in KL and went straight for badminton with friends in Petaling Jaya (I think it was near Taman Megah but it was at a school). They have very nice courts — carpets! After badminton, which I hadn’t been playing much in China and didn’t play at all in HK (felt like I hadn’t been playing for ages!), we went to MURNI 😀

Ice Limau (I think?)

Roti Prata

Roti Kosong

Fried Rice 😀

Roti Hawaii

Teh Tarik (my favorite)

I really have forgotten what this was

The next day, I was super super hungry in the morning as there was no food and we decided to walk from Bukit Bintang to…. crap I forgot what was this place called. But we decided to take a taxi cause I was too hungry to walk. So we arrived at this place called Colosseum or something like that. The place is quite old and very British style.

Mee Goreng

Rump Steak or maybe it was Rib Eye?

Ice Limau

After we had our lunch, I was very full. Then mum said, “Let’s walk all the way to Bukit Bintang.” Seriously, that was the longest journey ever. I think it took half an hour to 45 minutes of walk lol. And we went shopping at Pavillion. During dinner, a friend of mine brought us to this restaurant downstairs Pavillion which I couldn’t remember the name and we ordered heaps of food. Actually 3 dishes and we shared everything 😀

Asam Laksa

After getting super full for dinner, we went to Pasar Malam. I couldn’t remember where it was but apparently it’s the longest pasar malam that has ever recorded on earth! (he said so) I remember it was a Wednesday night.

Colourful Tofu!

They came with different colours and each colour has different flavour 😀

Stinky Tofu

This thing is my worst nightmare and still is my worst nightmare. The 3 of us, decided to take a bite together. Chris vomited after munching it for a few seconds.I tried to swallow it so hard and yeah I did swallow it. Mum managed to eat 2 of them so she was the winner.

It really smelled like sewer water and probably tasted like one too. OMG it was super super super bloody definitely positively STINKY!!!

As for badminton, I’ve been pretty into mixed doubles lately. I found ladies doubles is just so tiring. Man, I lost to kids the other day LOL. But did pretty well in mixed. Vincent said I did a good job controlling the front shot 😀 yaaayyy happy! Now I’m thinking to get another Victor racket which is the same with the one that I’m using now but I really really don’t know if I should get 1 cause it’s pretty expensive. But I really like the feeling 😀 It used to be really heavy for me but it somehow gets lighter now 😀

Uni…. I’ve been trying to work harder. I really hope this semester will be good as it’s my last semester. I want to graduate! I made a lot of good friends and still making new friends. Very very happy with my life right now as I have awesome people around me 😀 and yes, I feel really sad having to leave Sydney so soon 😦 I’ve grown too attached with the people here. Stupid visa thingy arghhh!

But anyway if I’m not feeling happy, it’s not the end 😀

ともだち

Mid-life Loneliness

I woke up this morning, opening my eyes and searching for my phone in the dark. 7.45am WTF?! I couldn’t sleep as I was holding my pee pretty badly and having stomach problems in the morning was so uncool. After doing whatever things that I did in the morning (which I couldn’t even remember), I crawled to the sofa in the living room and tadaaaa I decided to read a Chinese article. Man, translating it to English was a pain in the ass.

The author wrote a story about his life (assuming he’s a HE) talking about how he felt lonely as he grew older. In that article he said, as us humans grew older, we became wiser and eventually we would figure out who our true friends were. He also mentioned that when we were young, we tend to easily make friends — focusing on teenager — as we might have similar interests and other stuff. But as you grow older, we implement different kind of perspectives and views — and so we walk our own paths.

I grew up without having really really really close friends in highschool — wait, perhaps from junior high or maybe even before that — but I was cool with it. I didn’t mind not having really close friends as long as I have lunch buddy LOL. Having lunch by myself was no fun, I felt like crying. I was more like a type rather than sticking to a group, I mixed around with everyone which I’m still doing until today in Sydney. I like it. Ever since I was young, I’ve been pretty boyish. Until now, I don’t even really dress up like the typical Medan girl. They all just look so wow, pretty and glamorous. I don’t know why I’m not interested in joining their lifestyle. I don’t like branded stuff, or looking pretty bla bla bla. I guess cause I have this mindset that I haven’t reached to that level yet. I’m unemployed and I don’t want to rely on my parents’ money, or spending them just to buy stuff that I-would-rather-spend-the-money-for-epic-food. Thus it explains why I have more guy friends than girlfriends. I had no idea why but I found it really difficult to make friends with girls. So I spent my high school life hanging out with my baddie friends instead of my classmates. I also had no idea why I preferred to go and trained badminton rather than hanging out. Man, my social life… I guess, it was just easier for me to hang out with people that I was comfortable with.

Leaving Medan and studying in Sydney for three years made me realize that there are so many amazing people out there. I really make good friends with people in Sydney — uni friends, badminton friends, etc. When I looked back, I felt lonely. Somehow it made me feel like I had no one waiting for me to come back (except for my family). Well, as we grow older we become wiser. I don’t just simply make friends anymore. I make really good friends. I make friends with awesome people. Eventually, our number of friends will decrease as we get older. I don’t need many many many friends. I don’t mind having only a few friends but will last until breathe my last breath.

***

One fine hot day, I decided to say “Yes, let’s hang out!” instead of being an anti social. I knew we hadn’t seen each other for ages so I thought that it would be really good to catch up. I walked to Texas, where I saw everyone was there. In a blink, I knew I saw him. My heart skipped a beat. It was him, after three whole years, we met again.

Oh yes, everyone teased us. Looking at him in the eyes, man, it was difficult. It was pretty awkward but yeah, I gave him a smile. Having him sitting just right in front of me during lunch — cause the others made us to sit facing each other — then it got me into thinking. Ha, boy.. I would like to say this.

High school was fun. We used to have fun. You used to have a place in my heart. Ha, be proud of it. Distance that tore us apart and time that brought us back. Seeing you again, gave me a really good feeling. I was pretty happy that we could talk like normal again.

“Getting back together?” a friend asked.

I laughed. “Nope. Never.”

It doesn’t mean that I hate him or I already have someone in mind. It was good to be able to fix our friendship again but I won’t pick up on the broken pieces. Puppy love was cute and sweet and it has always been. He is always a sweet guy to me. Whenever I think back to high school, I smile. But boy, I know I’m not in love with you. Not anymore.

It feels really good meeting up with everyone again and I know I have such an awesome life. I feel really grateful for the people I have in my life. For now, I’m really looking forward to China. I can’t waiiiittttt!!!

Dear boy from the other dimension, rest assured. I’m yours.

When Dedek and Ardi paid a visit.

Hello readers! 🙂

So…. two of my buddies from Sydney (originally Bandung) paid us a visit in Medan! I’m aware that Medan isn’t really a city that has tourist attractions, instead, it’s the heaven of food in Indonesia. Many people domestically and internationally come to Medan JUST FOR THE FOOD!

Well, they came for a few days (four days exactly) which they spent a night in Medan and a night in Brastagi (mountain area). I wasn’t in charge as the food guide as I wasn’t the one who was the host and had the car to drive them around. So what I did was only to give them suggestions of what kind of food that are generally pretty popular and authentic.

Ateng Fried Vermicelli Noodles

Ateng Kwetiaw is one of the most popular kwetiaw (rice noodles) in Medan. Not only they serve rice noodles, they also serve vermicelli noodles and fried rice. It’s located few houses away from my place. What makes it nice? They use duck eggs instead of normal eggs which add to the flavours. The business is pretty popular and has been in Medan for more than twenty years. It has few branches around the town (I think). You can eat it with red chili sauce and chili padi (the green color chili). That portioning is pretty big for me so it’s quite filling. A dish should cost around IDR 28000.

Jln. Sumatera ; Jln. Wahidin; Jln. S. Parman

Satay Padang

This is the most popular satay in Medan. The gravy is still a mystery to me — like I have no idea what it’s made from. Perhaps it’s a mixture of turmeric powder, curry powder, coriander, ginger and many other things. I always forgot considering how spicy the gravy was as normal satays that I had in Australia were never spicy. This satays came with chicken, beef, intestine and lamb depends on your preferences. You can get it anymore at the street. They normally build stalls and “Satay Padang” written on them.

The next morning, I had to wake up super duper early as the guys wanted to get noodles for breakfast — too big for me. I’m not a big eater in the morning. So we went to Jl. Semarang at the intersection of Jl. Bogor. There you’ll find Tiong Sim noodles.

Tiong Sim Noodles

This is definitely not just some kind of ordinary wonton noodles. It does come with wonton, but the noodles texture and taste are different. If you have to compare it with other normal wonton noodles in Medan, this one has a better taste — more plain if you guys like plain stuff. This is my favorite soup noodles in Medan.

Ahhhhhhh, after that big breakfast — which is normal for Medan people as they can also manage to eat Nasi Lemak, curry and some other heavy stuff for breakfast. We went to the temple at Cemara Asri for few hours and at 11am we headed straight for lunch. Oh, I was so going to die. Next destination — Lembur Kuring

Fried Carp

Must order — so crunchy!

Kangkung Belacan

Fried Chicken

Fried Butter Prawn

Fried Octopus

Ice Limau

After getting very very full, we went back to the hotel at SwissBell. And look what I spotted!

Different colours of durian pancakes!

That was awesome being able to see there are three different colours. However, I’m not a big fan of colours so yeah, I won’t be tempted to eat them. But you definitely need to try durian pancakes. Heaven!

After walking for a while around the hotel, we went to Jl. Yose Rizal to get afternoon tea — to me, it wasn’t afternoon tea. I didn’t have the same space of food with the guys.

Laksa

Ice Cendol

Cendol is referred as bump or bulge. It has an appearance of green worm jelly thingy. The basic ingredients are coconut milk, palm sugar, cendol and shaved ice. It’s yum yum!

Ice Campur (Mixed Ice)

I prefer this than Ice Cendol as it has more stuff in it rather than just cendol. Normally it consists of shaved ice, coconut flesh, jackfruit, jelly thingy, cendol, black grass jelly and many other things depends on what ingredients are available.

Oh boy, afterwards we went to Sun Plaza — the most popular plaza that Medan people (especially Chinese) go to. Walking around, and we decided to go to the third floor and tadaaaaa Nelayan was there. It’s a dimsum place and yum! You should try the food there.

Chicken Bun (Bakpao/ Cha Siu Bao)

I’m not sure if the have pork bun but we ordered chicken bun. The bun was SO SO SO NICE! I seriously mean it, the bun is just sooo ah fluffy. I have no idea how to explain it but it was really nice.

Fried Lumpia

Lumpia normally consists of prawn but the one here, wasn’t that nice. It wasn’t crispy enough so I suggest not to order this dish. It might be disappointed.

Soft Shell Crab

Prawn Dumplings

Siomay

Prawn Balls

Another Prawn Dumplings

Leng Hong Kien

YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO GET THIS ANYWHERE ELSE BUT MEDAN. So this is a must-order dish. It’s basically prawn wrapped with a layer and mayonaise on top of it.

Chocolate Yoghurt

And lastly don’t forget to go to LG Floor and get yoghurt from Red Mango. They have the best yoghurt flavours in Medan!

Go Dutch?

“Iiiiinnnn!!!” my mum yelled at me.

“Whaaaatttt???” I asked.

“Lunchhhhh!!!”

“Okaayyyyy, where?”

First time I stepped my foot in this restaurant, I was like “WOW” this place is different. What makes it different?

What I really like from this restaurant is:

• the ambience — it has a pretty catchy atmosphere, very good place to chill and it’s not too noisy.
• the coffee — well latte and many sort of drinks
• the food! check out on their chicken menus

Nasi Perang

If you directly translate it to English, it’s called rice war which is a pretty funny name. Well basically in 1800ish in Indo, peasants were sort of required to go for wars in order to defend their territories, or invaded others’ territories. Basically to ease the journey, they carried these things around which consisted of brown rice (or can be normal rice too), peanuts and some fish — what important was being able to carry them around easily.

Caramel Latte

It somehow tasted like hazelnut — maybe something was wrong with my tastebud LOL. But this is the only drink that I normally order as I already like it heaps. Apparently, this place is pretty famous for the coffee. If you’re eager to try good coffee, you guys should try Kopi Luwak — Civet Beans — refer to those beans that are eaten and excreted by civets.

Nasi Goreng

Who doesn’t like friend rice? Most of authentic Indonesian fried rice are good, especially when they’re spicy yum!

Australian Sirloin Steak

Wanting to eat steak? Well, they normally have promotion for steaks (50% off!!!) — I couldn’t remember what sort of steaks but they’re plenty of choices to choose from the menu.

Grilled Chicken

Now this is the dish that I have been wanting to learn. Basically they are chicken breasts wrapped with smoked beef ham and spinach, and maybe they’re a little bit of cheese as well. Underneath the chicken you can find mash potato. They are also served with steamed vegetables. I found the gravy was a little bit too sweet for me to handle (as I’m not a sugar fan), but if you prefer something healthier and less oily, I would suggest you guys to order this dish.

Chicken Maryland

“Order this dish,” a friend said.

“But I’m not a big fan of fried food,” I replied.

“Just try it!”

This dish is cooked by dipping the chicken with flour and fried it. It is also served with fried pineapple and some vegetables and also not to forget to mention –> mushroom sauce. I would say it’s pretty good although it’s fried, and it definitely tastes better than Grilled Chicken.

And I saw this sign on the wall! LOL

Little do they know that in the process of producing wine, you need more water than you think.

Price is pretty okay for foreigners but may be a bit expensive for locals (hey we don’t go out and eat everyday. Inflation!) 😛 Very good place to chill with friends.

Roemah Kopi Wak Noer

Jalan Uskup Agung No. 15, Medan, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia

Coffee Shop, Café, Bar

It’s time for what…?

So, what is this fuss about?

“Hey, have you heard that there is a new restaurant open in Kingsford?”

“Oh yeah? What is it called?”

“It’s Time for Thai.”

When the first time I went in, I found this restaurant has pretty good atmosphere. Hey wait, I was here before, right? Oh, I was wrong. They have another branch in Randwick which is called… Crap, I forget. =___=”

So these are what I normally order and if you guys are newcomers, I suggest you guys aim for the curry first 😀

Crispy Chicken with Rice

This thing, this dish, is awesome. I really love it but wait, it’s pretty oily for me. I guess it depends on you guys whether you guys have problems with oily food or not. I’m very fussy when it comes to oily dishes but I think it’s not wrong for trying this dish. It’s very crunchy and I highly suggest to put a little bit of chilli flakes with them.

WARNING: THEIR CHILLI FLAKES ARE VERY SPICY. Therefore, don’t try to act tough lol. I had my lessons once 😥

Beef Noodles Soup with Egg Noodles

It usually comes with rice noodles but I normally get it with egg noodles cause the egg noodles are tastier compare to their plain rice noodles. Once again, it’s up to your preferences. But among all o

f the three noodle soups — Chicken Noodle Soup, Beef Noodle Soup & Duck Noodle Soup — I would recommend to either order the Beef Noodle Soup or Duck Noodle Soup. I didn’t find Chicken Noodle Soup amazing. It lacks of flavours.

Now, moving on to curry. If you’re a big fan of curry, ORDER ALL CURRIES YOU LIKE IN THE MENU 😀 Seriously I love all their curries. I found them pretty amazing especially the Karee Curry. You are given choices to get the curries with chicken, beef, duck or seafood if I wasn’t wrong.

Karee Curry

Beef Red Curry

Masamman Curry

So please please please please please….. order the fried rice! They are very tasty and smells good! I love their flavours — Tom Yum, normal fried rice and many others.

Chicken Fried Rice

Chicken Tom Yum Fried Rice

And if you do prefer dried noodles more than soup noodles, you can order the following dishes.

BBQ Chicken with Egg Noodles

Crispy Chicken with Egg Noodles

Singaporean Curry Noodles

Not really a big fan of it cause it tasted kinda off.

Lastly not to forget their Thai Iced Milk Tea

Cheers xx