Masakan Padang di Waterina

Dengan ambisi menjadikan Kedai Ibu sebagai salah satu saingan terberat restoran Garuda yang baru buka cabang di Singapura, Teh Ellen sedang mencoba kemampuan beliau untuk memasak makanan Padang/Minang (yang asli, tentu saja, bukan nasi padang Melayu ala Singapura). Alhamdulillah, saya dan istri pun turut "kecipratan rejeki" dan diundang sebagai salah satu (eh, apa salah dua, ya?) tester untuk mencoba masakan Padang hasil karya beliau.

Acara tersebut diadakan hari Sabtu kemarin (30 Desember 2006) di tempatnya Niko dan Mirna di Waterina. Tadinya acara makan malamnya akan diadakan di apartemen, tapi ternyata walaupun mendung, alhamdulillah tidak turun hujan, sehingga akhirnya acara diadakan di BBQ pit yang terletak bersebelahan dengan beberapa kolam renang yang ditata dengan apik. Inka dan Irza pun segera mengenakan pakaian renang mereka dan ikut menceburkan diri ke kolam renang, menyusul teman-teman mereka yang sudah berenang seperti Iffah dan Wafa.

Sambil mengawasi anak-anak mereka bermain dan berenang, para orang tua mulai menikmati masakan asli padang buatan Teh Ellen. Saya bold-kan kata asli-nya karena memang benar-benar masakan padang asli, seperti sate padang, ayam bakar, dendeng balado, rendang, gulai nangka, ayam goreng, ayam pop dan segala macam lauk padang lainnya. Memang cukup mengherankan, Teh Ellen yang asli orang Cirebon ini ternyata ahli memasak masakan padang.

Setelah selesai berenang, Inka dan Irza pun bergabung dengan teman-teman lainnya seperti Dandy, Algo dan Aily, serta Izan dan Ika, untuk bermain di playground yang juga terletak tidak jauh dari BBQ pit tempat acara diadakan. Saking asyiknya mereka bermain, sampai anak-anak tetangga lain yang ada disana juga ikutan main, dari mulai kejar-kejaran sampai bermain sepak bola. Bahkan, ada satu anak tetangga yang ngikutin Inka dan Irza sampai ke apartemen Om Niko di lantai atas! Walah, apa ngga dicariin tuh sama orang tuanya? :) :)

Foto-fotonya bisa dilihat disini dan disini (terima kasih kepada Judhi).

Padang Food Banquet at Waterina

Tante Ellen, the master chef of the famous Kedai Ibu food stall in Tanjong Pagar Complex, was trying her skills in the real nasi padang (Minang) culinary. Not the usual Malay-type nasi padang, of course. So she invited some of here friends, including my wife and I, fortunately, to try her real Padang cooking. The feast was conducted yesterday (Saturday, 30 December 2006) at Om Niko and Tante Mirna's place at Waterina.

The food is, simply, spectacular and wonderfulicious. :) :)

Inka and Irza were having a great time swimming at the swimming pool, which is located next to the BBQ pit where the feast took place. They were also having a great time playing with their friends, such as Aily and Algo, Dandy, Iffah, Wafa, Izan and Ika.

More pictures can also be found here (thanks to Om Judhi).

Mudik Trip #9: Pondok Indah Mall

One of our favourite shopping mall is the Pondok Indah Mall (PIM). Since it's quite near from our place in Cinere (about 30 minutes' drive during normal traffic without unexpected traffic jam), it's full of amenities. Parking is also now no longer a problem since the PIM 2 has plenty of parking space in the basements.

Sorry, didn't manage to take quite a lot of pictures of the mall, instead I took pictures of the kids. They had a good time exploring the mall. Their favourite place is, always, the Timezone, which is located on the second floor of the PIM 1. On top of that, Inka also had a great time playing at a playground, which is located on the third floor of PIM 2.

Our favourite makan place is the Bakmi GM, which is located on the same floor as Timezone, in front of the 21 Cineplex. The new PIM 2 building also has a very nice food court on the third floor.

Other pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/indrapr/tags/mudik2006/
Some of our other pictures taken during our mudik trip from end November 2006 to early December 2006, which was not inside the Photo Album.

Mudik Trip #8: Depok

My mother-in-law is going to Saudi Arabia for her Haj pilgrimage this year. Since she lives in Gandul, Cinere, which is (now) part of Depok, she needed to go to Depok quite often to make the necessary arrangement and preparation. In Indonesia, it's common for the whole family, relatives and neighbours to escort a Haj pilgrim to the departure point. Therefore, one day before her departure to Saudi Arabia, we went to Kelapa Dua, Depok to "escort" her to the buses waiting to take her and other pilgrims from Depok to a temporary Haj accommodation in Bekasi, before going to the Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta International Airport the next day to board the flight to Jeddah, which is the gateway airport to the Holy City of Mekkah.

After the buses left Kelapa Dua for Bekasi, we went to Margo City, a new shopping mall which is located along Jalan Margonda Raya, the busy main road leading to Depok from Jakarta. The shopping mall is located not too far from my ex-University campus, where I studied there for more than four years. Margo City is indeed a luxurious shopping mall, with Centro Department Store as the anchor tenant. J.Co Donuts and BreadTalk are also housed there, and there's Timezone amusement centre and food court on the second floor.

Inka and Irza were happily playing at Timezone while we were having our lunch at the food court there. Aunty Tessa, my wife's younger sister, ordered a Makassar-specialty grilled ribs (konro bakar) for me, which turned out to be very delicious! :) Before we left Margo City, we also stopped by at the counter of the famous J.Co Donuts to buy some nice handmade doughnuts. Inka is indeed, a very big fan of J.Co donuts!

Mudik Trip #7: Andung's House in Cinere

During our mudik trip to Jakarta, Indonesia, last month, we receive invitation from Andung, which is my mother-in-law's elder sister, to have dinner at her place in Cinere. "Andung" actually means grandmother in Minang language, and that's how Inka and Irza usually call her.

One of Andung's specialties, which is a hit for the kids, is her macaroni soup. I believe Inka finished couple bowls of macaroni soup at that time.

Happy New Year 2007

Wishing all my Christians friends a joyous and wonderful Christmas.

Wishing everyone a happy new year 2007. Hopefully we're looking forward to a better and wonderful year ahead.

Restoran Garuda

Restoran Garuda adalah sebuah restoran Indonesia yang menyediakan masakan Padang/Minang yang asli, bukan nasi padang yang banyak dijual di kedai-kedai Melayu Singapura. Berpusat di Medan, restoran tersebut sekarang sudah merambah ke kota-kota besar lainnya di Indonesia (termasuk Jakarta), dan bahkan sudah membuka cabang di Singapura. Mereka mempunyai cabang di Orchard Road, Singapura, di belakang pusat perbelanjaan The Heeren Shops, dan baru saja membuka cabang baru di VivoCity, Harbourfront, di lantai basement two (B2) dekat hypermart Giant.

Berita mengenai pembukaan restoran Garuda tersebut cukup mendapatkan sambutan yang cukup "meriah" dari komunitas Indonesia di Singapura di mailing list Indo-Sing. Harap maklum, di Singapura yang dipenuhi tempat makan Nasi Padang ala Melayu ini, sangat sulit untuk mendapatkan makanan khas Padang/Minang asli yang autentik. Beberapa rekan di komunitas Indo-Sing malah sudah pernah mencoba makan disana. Feedback dari mereka, makanannya lumayan enak dan asli Padang, walaupun harganya cukup mahal karena termasuk dalam kategori restoran kelas menengah di Singapura.

Selama di Singapura, saya belum pernah makan di kedua outlet tersebut. Saya malahan berkesempatan mencoba makan di Restoran Garuda pada waktu saya sedang mudik ke Jakarta bulan lalu. :) Restoran yang saya kunjungi terletak di Jalan Arteri Pondok Indah, di sebelah kiri jalan kalau kita dari arah Pejompongan ke arah Pondok Indah, pas sebelum perempatan lampu merah Kostrad.

Makanannya memang asli Padang, dan saya dan istri pun menikmati semua masakannya seperti gulai otak (hati-hati kolesterol!!), dendeng balado dan ayam bakar. Lumayan lah untuk perut yang biasa dikasih makanan Singapura dan selalu "rindu" masakan asli Indonesia. :) Tapi, untuk ukuran Jakarta, kayaknya makanannya tidak jauh beda dengan restoran-restoran Padang lainnya yang banyak bertaburan disana, seperti Sederhana dan Simpang Raya, padahal harganya lebih mahal. Sebagai contoh, satu potong gulai ayam di Garuda harganya sekitar 11-12 ribu rupiah, dibandingkan dengan di Sederhana yang harganya cuma sekitar 7-8 ribu rupiah.

Selain itu, kebetulan restoran yang saya datangi, walaupun ber-AC, tidak bisa bebas dari problem lalat. Banyak sekali lalat yang bertebaran di dekat meja, dan staff-nya pun tidak berupaya untuk membantu, misalnya dengan menyalakan lilin di atas meja untuk mengusir lalat. Dan, last but not least, istri saya pun kehilangan nafsu makannya setelah ada salah satu lalat yang jatuh dan masuk ke salah satu piring berisi kuah salah satu makanan yang disajikan...

Foto-foto (makanan) -nya bisa dilihat disini.

Mudik Trip #6: Garuda Restaurant

Garuda Restaurant is an Indonesian restaurants chain serving authentic Padang / Minangkabau food. They have a branch in Orchard Road, Singapore (behind The Heeren Shops), and just opened another branch at VivoCity's basement floor.

I haven't visited both outlets, instead, I managed to visit one of the restaurants in Jakarta during my mudik trip to Jakarta last month. The one I visited is the branch located along Arteri Pondok Indah highway. If you're taking the highway from Pejompongan towards Pondok Indah, the restaurant is located on the left side of the road, before the Kostrad junction.

How about the food? Well, we might appreciate its Minang-authenticity in Singapore, but in Jakarta? Not too much different from other Padang restaurants such as Sederhana or Simpang Raya. Furthermore, each dish is priced a bit more expensive compared to its competitors, so I don't see any added value to it. But still, the food can satisfy our Singapore-fed stomach craving for authentic Minang food. :)

Mudik Trip #5: Villa Cinere Mas

During our mudik trip to Jakarta, we also got the chance to visit Papa Dodi, Mama Inda and Naya's new house at Villa Cinere Mas, not far from my parents' house in Cinere. Mama Inda is my wife's closest cousin. Inka and Irza were very happy to play with Baby Naya. We also got the opportunity to have the famous Bakmi Villa as lunch.

Senayan City

Pada waktu kita mudik ke Jakarta kemarin, kita berkesempatan untuk mengunjungi Senayan City, sebuah pusat perbelanjaan baru di seputaran Senayan, tidak jauh dari Plaza Senayan. Saya pertama kali mengetahui tentang keberadaan pusat perbelanjaan baru ini setelah membaca salah satu postingannya Devi, salah seorang teman blogger saya di Jakarta. Tadinya saya pikir Senayan City ini adalah gedung baru yang terletak di pinggir Jalan Sudirman dekat Hotel Atlet Century Park itu, eh ternyata bukan. Itu malah mall baru yang lain lagi! Halah, memangnya harus ada berapa mall sih di sekitar situ, apa ngga kebanyakan? :)

Pusat perbelanjaan Senayan City itu ternyata terletak di seberangnya Plaza Senayan di Jalan Asia Afrika, dekat kampus Universitas Prof. Dr. Moestopo. Kalau tidak salah, dulunya disitu adalah taman bermain yang cukup rindang, sayang banget yah kok taman hijau tersebut malah dihilangkan dan diganti pusat perbelanjaan. Shopping mall ini benar-benar mewah, dengan banyak toko yang menjual barang-barang yang kita pun tidak sanggup beli. Salah satu keunikan mall ini adalah sebuah sepatu merah raksasa yang di-disain "menyangga" eskalator panjang dari lantai satu ke lantai tiga. Hmm.. apa hubungannya ama Sepatumerah partner-nya Dodol Surodol, ya? Jangan-jangan Okke itu disainer-nya? :) :)

Di lantai basement (atau lantai lower ground floor?) ada toko donat Krispy Kreme dengan salah satu petugasnya yang membagikan donat gratis! Wah, lumayaaaan... :) Krispy Kreme ini benar-benar menjadi saingan beratnya J.Co Donuts, yang tokonya juga di lantai yang sama, bahkan seberang-seberangan! :) Sayang yah, baik Krispy Kreme maupun J.Co ngga ada cabang di Singapura sini... :(

Untuk anak-anak, Timezone tetap menjadi tempat favorit mereka. Di Senayan City, Timezone terletak di lantai lima, satu lantai dengan food court. Food court-nya juga bagus, dengan suasana yang asyik. Inka dan Irza suka banget dengan pizza dari Trattoria Pizza, salah satu kedai di food court itu, karena pizza-nya tipis dan crispy, mirip pizza-nya New York Pizza yang mereka suka makan di Harbourfront Centre, Singapura.

Foto-fotonya bisa dilihat disini.

[English version]

Mudik Trip #4: Senayan City

During our mudik trip to Jakarta, we took the opportunity to visit Senayan City, a new luxurious shopping mall at the vicinity of Senayan, south Jakarta, not too far from Plaza Senayan. I first knew about this new mall from one of the posts written by Devi, my fellow blogger from Jakarta. She said that she really loves the mall (well, who doesn't?) so we went there just to have a look.

The mall is, indeed, luxurious, with many shops selling things we cannot afford. Somewhere in the basement -- or is it lower ground floor? ah, who cares... :) :) -- there's a Krispy Kreme donut outlet, with one of its staff giving out free donuts! Wow! This Krispy Kreme is really a stiff competitor to J.Co Donuts, which outlet is located on the same floor, just the opposite! Unfortunately, we cannot find both outlets here in Singapore.

As for the kids, Timezone is still, and will always still be, their favourite destination. In Senayan City, Timezone is located on the fifth floor, on the same floor as the food court. The food court is also nice, with great ambience. Inka and Irza really likes the pizza from Trattoria Pizza, one of the stalls in the food court selling pizza. Why? Because the pizza is thin and crispy, similar to New York Pizza which the kids usually eat at Harbourfront Centre in Singapore.

[Indonesia version]

Ulang Tahun Inka

Hari ini, 11 Desember 2006, adalah hari ulang tahun Inka yang ketujuh. Rencananya, Inka akan merayakan ulang tahunnya di rumah orang tua saya di Cinere sore ke malam nanti, bersama keluarga besar disana. Duh, sayangnya saya sudah berada di Singapura lagi sekarang jadi tidak bisa ikut menghadiri acara ulang tahunnya. Jadi sedih juga nih. Walaupun demikian, tadi pagi saya sudah menelepon Inka di Jakarta untuk mengucapkan selamat ulang tahun.

Jadi ingat acara ulang tahun Inka yang keenam tahun lalu, acaranya diadakan di McDonalds King Albert Park di dekat rumah. Waktu itu kita mengundang teman-teman Inka di sekolahnya yang dulu (Modern Montessori International), termasuk Gail, teman terdekatnya Inka di sekolahnya pada waktu itu. Selain itu, kita juga mengundang beberapa teman Inka, yang beberapa diantaranya baru kenal pada waktu itu. Diantaranya yang datang pada waktu itu adalah adalah Marsya dan Fadzil, Aidan, Hanan dan Haifa, Fira dan Adam, Qurratayun dan Qiratullah, Rifa, Nigel dan Ernest, dan beberapa teman lainnya. Tanpa terasa, setahun sudah waktu berjalan sejak saat itu hingga sekarang. Foto-fotonya pada waktu itu bisa dilihat disini.

Insya Allah, nanti kalau istri dan anak-anak sudah pulang ke Singapura, foto-foto ulang tahun Inka hari ini akan saya upload juga. Hingga saat ini, saya masih belum sempat meng-upload semua foto-foto selama saya dan keluarga mudik kemarin, akhir minggu kemarin baru sempat upload sebagian aja ke situs Multiply saya. Nanti kalau sempat akan saya upload semuanya disana.

Duh, jadi ngga sabar pengen cepet ketemu istri dan anak-anak... *sabaaaar.... tinggal tiga hari lagi...* :)

Singapura, 11 Desember 2006
*yang lagi kesepian dan kangen berat sama istri dan anak2* :) :)

Mudik Trip #3: Gandul

We also went to my mother-in-law's house in Gandul, a small village which is located east of Cinere. Normally, it will only take around 10-15 minutes to reach Gandul from Cinere, however there's a bridge construction which leads to the closure of the Jalan Bukit Cinere road, the main artery road from Cinere to Gandul. Therefore, to reach Gandul, we need to go through south Cinere (near Limo), and the roads are not in good condition, and the journey is taking much longer, around half an-hour's drive.

My mother-in-law held a small dinner event at her house in Gandul, since she would be going to Mecca for her Haj pilgrimage (she's currently in Saudi Arabia at the time of writing). We invited some of our relatives, and the food were marvelous. :) Dendeng balado, one of my favourite Padang dish, was on the menu list (my mother-in-law is a Minang). Some cakes were also being served, and to my surprise, comro (oncom di jero, a traditional Sundanese snack), is included as well.

Aunty Tessa (my wife's sister) bought frog balloons for both Inka and Irza, while the horse-cart toy was bought during our trip to Kelapa Dua, Depok for my mother-in-law's Haj departure.

Mudik Trip to Indonesia #2: Cinere

In my parents' house in Cinere, south of Jakarta, Inka and Irza were so happy to meet their cousins, Alif, Kayla and Baby Rafa. Alif and Kayla are the children of Uncle Arief and Aunty Via, while Rafa is the son of Uncle Firman and Aunty Ria.

Mudik Trip to Indonesia #1: Changi Airport

End of November until early December, the whole family went back to Indonesia to perform our mudik ritual. We usually went back to Indonesia during the Hari Raya holiday, but for this year, we can only go back to Indonesia during our children's school holidays, since Inka is already in Primary 1 this year (will be in Primary 2 next year) so our mudik schedule will now have to be synchronised with her schedule.

My wife, Inka and Irza flew off to Jakarta on 23 November 2006, while I followed two days later. I came back to Singapore last Tuesday, while my wife and kids are still in Jakarta now (at the time I write this article) and they will only be back mid next week.

Below are their pictures while they were at Changi Airport on 23 November 2006, on their way to Jakarta. They took Valuair flight to Jakarta. Valuair is a subsidiary of JetStar, and we chose them since it is the cheapest airline we can get for the days of our travel. Actually, Lufthansa had a promotion and their 7-day ticket was cheaper than Valuair's, however we couldn't use them since our stay in Indonesia would definitely be more than 7 days.

Amazing Race Asia to Jakarta and Bali

I'm sorry if I have to write another article about my favourite reality show, Amazing Race Asia, after my previous article with regards to the show. It's because on its second and third leg of the race, they are going to my home country, Indonesia. Jakarta and Bali, to be exact. I was wrong when I predicted that they went to West Sumatra, after seeing the Minangkabau-style houses and the "plate dance" (tari piring) show. It turned out to be that they performed the dance at the West Sumatra pavilion of the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, instead.

On the second leg of the race, which I watched last week, all teams left Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. Using Asia's biggest budget airline, AirAsia, I believe that it's Mr. Tony Fernandez -- AirAsia's CEO -- himself, who greeted one of the teams at the tarmac before the team boarded the plane. After touching down at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, all teams were on a taxi race on the busy highways of Jakarta, to Ragunan Zoo on the south outskirt of the city. The taxi race really shows the "turmoil" of Jakarta's traffic, with most of the taxi drivers were speeding and used the road shoulder to overtake other cars.

At the zoo, all teams would have to go inside a snake pit to get their next clues. The Indians Prashant and Sahil took the fast forward by going to SMA Negeri 60 school, which is located at Kemang Timur, not really far from Ragunan. This fast forward brought Prashant and Sahil to become the first team to arrive at the pit stop, the National Monument (Monas) of Jakarta. All the other teams went to the West Sumatra pavilion of the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah to perform "plate dance" (tari piring), a Minangkabau traditional dance. Once done, they then went to Kebayoran Baru area, around Jalan Panglima Polim, to be exact, to perform the detour, Push or Sell. Yud, I believe it's somewhere near your house? :) :)

The detour is related to bakso, or meatball soup, a popular Indonesian dish. In "Push", the teams had to push bakso pushcarts without spilling any soy sauce, while singing the "Abang Tukang Bakso" song, an Indonesian children song popularised by a (then) Indonesian child singer, Melissa, about a decade ago. Not too sure why they called it an Indonesian traditional song. It's not, actually. In "Sell", the teams would have to try selling 15 bowls of bakso for 2,000 rupiah each. Once they finished the detour, they have to go to the National Monument (Monas) as the pitstop of that second leg of the race. The Indonesians Mardy and Marsio become the second team to arrive (after Prashant and Sahil who took the Fast Forward) and my favourite team, Malaysian Zabrina and Joe Jer were the fourth team to arrive, while Filipino Ernie and Jeena become the first team to be eliminated on the race.

On the third leg of the race, which I just watched earlier this evening, all teams headed to Bali, again by using an AirAsia flight from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Once touched down at Denpasar's Ngurah Rai International Airport, they headed straight to Kuta beach to perform their roadblock, digging the sands. The task was quite tiring, causing 5 (read: five) of the teams gave up digging and chose to take a 4-hour penalty instead. After accessing the Internet in an Internet cafe nearby to find the next clue, all teams went to Ubud.

In Ubud, they needed to explore the Ubud Monkey Forest to find the next clue, which leads them to a detour: Wet or Dry. In "Wet", they need to perform white-water rafting down the Ayung River while in "Dry", they need to ride an elephant at the Elephant Safari Park nearby. From Ubud, they needed to go to the southernmost tip of the Bali Island, Uluwatu, and went inside a cave near a surfing centre there to get their next clue. The pit stop of the leg of the race is the Tanah Lot temple, located at the southwest coast of the island.

In this leg of the race, the Sri Lankan team Howard and Sahran came first, since they were the first team who find the "treasure", which is a small wooden surfboard, while digging the sands of Kuta beach. Zabrina and Joe Jer came in the fifth place, while Marsio and Mardy came in the sixth place, because both teams didn't finish the roadblock and chose to take the 4-hour penalty instead, which was served at the pit stop instead of at the roadblock's scene.

The good looking Filipinos, Aubrey and Jacqueline, become the second team to be eliminated from the race, following their fellow countrymen Ernie and Jeena. No more team from the Philippines remains in the race! The only Singaporean team Sharon and Melody came in the third place because they never gave up and managed to finish the roadblock and avoid the 4-hour penalty. Two thumbs up for their perseverance!!

Based on the trailer, it looks like all the teams are heading to Sydney, Australia for the fourth leg of the race. Well, I'm not too sure whether I would be able to watch the next week's show since I'll be in Jakarta, Indonesia next week. Let's just hope that I would be at my parents' place (which TV subscribes to AXN Asia), and not at my mother-in-law's place, at that time. :)

Open House Lagi

Selama bulan Syawal tahun ini, sudah beberapa kali saya dan keluarga menghadiri acara open house yang diadakan oleh teman-teman di Singapura. Di hari pertama Lebaran, sampai tiga tempat kita kunjungi, Hougang, Tampines dan Braddell, belum lagi acara open house yang kita adakan sendiri di rumah, dan alhamdulillah cukup sukses dengan banyaknya teman-teman yang datang dan hadir di acara tersebut. Dan itu belum termasuk acara kumpul-kumpul lainnya, yang walaupun bukan berjudul open house, tapi tetap saja tidak jauh dari gathering dan makan-makan, seperti acara ulang tahunnya Zidan dan Arya, serta acara perpisahannya Wiwie.

Dalam seminggu terakhir ini, tercatat dua kali saya menghadiri acara Hari Raya open house lagi. Hari Minggu, 12 November 2006 yang lalu, saya membawa Inka dan Irza ke acara open house-nya Edianna, mantan rekan kerja saya, di rumahnya di Choa Chu Kang. Kita meninggalkan rumah sekitar jam 11:30 siang, dan menjemput Natalia dan kedua anaknya, Nigel dan Ernie dulu di Bukit Panjang, dan janjian ketemu dengan Ling Ling di bawah blok rumahnya Tante Edi sebelum naik ke atas. Natalia dan Ling Ling juga adalah mantan teman kerja saya dulu.

Kita sampai ke rumah Edi tepat waktunya untuk makan siang. :) Mertua-nya Edi memasak ayam goreng bumbu kuning khas Melayu yang enak sekali, dan Inka menghabiskan total empat potong ayam disana! Inka dan Irza juga asyik menonton film The Incredibles bersama-sama dengan Nigel, Ernie dan ketiga anak-anaknya Edi (yang sayangnya saya tidak tahu nama-namanya).

Anak-anak senang sekali disana. Kita meninggalkan rumah Edi sekitar jam setengah tiga siang, dan kita mengantar Natalia, Nigel dan Ernie dulu ke rumahnya sebelum pulang ke rumah. Foto-fotonya bisa dilihat disini.

Hari Sabtu, 18 November 2006 kemarin, saya, Inka dan Irza pergi ke acara open house lagi. Kali ini, giliran Yosi yang menyelenggarakan acara open house ini dengan mengundang beberapa teman anggota komunitas Indo-Sing lainnya. Acaranya diadakan di BBQ pit dekat dengan kolam renang, sehingga saya pun menyiapkan pakaian renang anak-anak, apalagi Inka dari siang memang sudah meminta ingin berenang.

Kita sampai disana sekitar jam enam sore, dan bertemu dengan Muda Ikhsan, Hani dan Anto di BBQ pit. Ikhsan sedang sibuk menyiapkan masakan spesialisasinya, sate Madura ala Moonstone Lane. :) Sedikit berbeda dengan Sate Braddell-nya Hany, sate Moonstone Lane ini lebih berbumbu, dan rasanya juga enak. Masing-masing sate itu memang punya rasa unik tersendiri, dan kedua-duanya memang enak. Ah, siapa ya yang bilang kalau di Singapura itu susah nyari sate yang enak? :) :)

Inka dan Irza pun segera mengenakan pakaian renang mereka, dan langsung nyebur ke kolam renang. Kolam renangnya besar dan bagus, dengan beberapa kolam kecil khusus untuk anak-anak dan untuk whirpool. Ketika mereka lagi asyik berenang, Ichan dan Nicole datang, disusul dengan tuan rumah Yosi yang juga baru turun lagi dari atas. Sayangnya, Alif dan Namira (kedua anaknya Yosi) tidak ada karena mereka sudah terbang ke Jakarta untuk berlibur.

Sekitar jam tujuh sore, Inka dan Irza selesai berenang, pas pada saat sate-nya sudah siap. Satenya dihidangkan dengan garlic bread dari Prima Rasa, dan mi goreng bikinan Yosi. Saya pun sempat mengantar Ichan (bersama Inka dan Irza) yang ditugaskan untuk membeli ikan bawal di supermarket Cold Storage di Katong Mall, dan Ikhsan pun membakar kedua ikan tersebut dengan saus khas Moonstone Lane spesialisasinya. Hasilnya adalah ikan bakar yang enak sekali, dan Inka dan Irza pun menyantap ikan bakar yang disajikan dengan nasi tersebut dengan lahapnya.

Walaupun tidak ada anak-anak lain seusia mereka, Inka dan Irza tetap senang sekali berada disana. Mereka langsung akrab dengan para Om dan Tante-nya, terutama Om Ikhsan dan Om Ichan, bercanda dan bermain. Inka dan Irza pun malah sempet akrab dengan pembantunya Yosi, yang kebetulan acara ngasuh anaknya lagi libur mengingat Alif dan Namira lagi ke Jakarta.

Foto-fotonya bisa dilihat disini. Sayangnya, batere kamera saya habis, padahal saya tidak membawa batere atau kamera cadangan, sehingga saya hanya bisa mengabadikan foto-foto selama satu jam pertama saja dari acara tersebut. Bahkan, tuan rumahnya saja sampai tidak sempat terfoto. Foto-foto lainnya harusnya ada di kameranya Ikhsan, mudah-mudahan bisa cepat beliau upload. :)

Yosi's Open House

On Saturday, 18 November 2006, I took Inka and Irza to Yosi's place around Haig Road, east of Singapore, to attend her Hari Raya Open House. The event is conducted at a barbecue pit next to a swimming pool, so I prepared swimming gears for the kids, especially since Inka has requested to go swimming since the afternoon.

We reached there at around 6pm, and met Muda Ikhsan with Hani, and Anto at the BBQ pit. Ikhsan was preparing for his specialty, Madura satay ala Moonstone Lane. A bit different from Hany's Braddell satay, Moonstone Lane satay is a bit thicker in sauce, and also just as nice, each has its own unique taste. Who said that we can't get good satays in Singapore? :) :)

Inka and Irza proceeded to the changing room, to change to their swimming gears, and splashed onto the swimming pool there, just next to the barbecue pit. The swimming pool is big and nice. While they were having a great time at the swimming pools, Ichan and Nicole came in, and so did the host, who just came downstairs. Unfortunately, Alif and Namira, Yosi's two kids, were not around since they were already flying off to Jakarta for their holiday.

At around 7pm, the kids finished swimming, in time for the satays to be ready. The satays were served together with Prima Rasa's garlic bread and Yosi's mee goreng. I also accompanied Ichan, together with Inka and Irza, to Katong Mall's Cold Storage to get some prompet's fish (ikan bawal), and Ikhsan also grilled the fish using his Moonstone Lane's sauce. The result is a very nice grilled fish ala Moonstone Lane, and the kids loved it very much!

Even though there are no other kids around, Inka and Irza were really having a great time there. They immediately got along with the older chaps, especially Ikhsan and Ichan. Unfortunately, my camera was running out of battery, and I didn't bring extra cameras, so I could only take pictures during the first one hour of the event (didn't even manage to take the pictures of the host). Other pictures should be inside Ikhsan's camera, hopefully he'll upload the photos soon!

Bukit Panjang Plaza

Bukit Panjang Plaza is a shopping mall in the heart of Bukit Panjang town, about 15 minutes' drive from our home. Recently, the shopping mall was undergoing renovation, and on the 4th of November 2006, we went there before going to Zidan's place for his and Arya's birthday party. That was the first time we visited the shopping mall after it was renovated.

It was the northern wing of the shopping mall which was renovated, and the new wing was equipped with quite a lot of eateries. There's also a big and new children playground on the second floor, just outside the Bistro Delifrance cafe. Inka and Irza were having a great time there.

Edianna's Open House

On Sunday, 12 November 2006, I took Inka and Irza to my ex-colleague Edianna's house in Choa Chu Kang. We left home at around 11:30am and we fetched Natalia with her two sons, Nigel and Ernie at their Bukit Panjang apartment before going to Choa Chu Kang. We met my another ex-colleague, Ling Ling at Choa Chu Kang before visiting Edianna's house.

We reached there in time for lunch. :) Edi's mother-in-law cooked a very nice Malay-style fried chicken, and Inka had four pieces of it. Inka and Irza also watched The Incredibles movie together with Nigel, Ernie and Edi's three daughters (unfortunately I couldn't remember their names).

The kids were having a great time there. We left Edi's house at around 2:30pm and we dropped off Natalia, Nigel and Ernie at their house before heading home.

Acara Perpisahan Tante Wiwie dan Ulang Tahun Tante Ellen

Pada hari Sabtu, 11 November 2006 yang lalu, saya, istri saya dan Inka pergi ke Pasir Ris Town Park nun jauh di timur Singapura sana, untuk menghadiri acara perpisahan Tante Wiwie dan ketiga anaknya, Abang Dzaky, Athaya dan Alita, yang akan pindah mengikuti Om Bubun ke Riyadh, Saudi Arabia pada akhir bulan ini. Walaupun hujan terus mengguyur Singapura sejak siang hari itu, kita sampai di Pasir Ris Town Park sekitar jam 5 sore. Sayangnya, Irza tidak ikut karena dia tertidur pas kita baru mau berangkat, mungkin kecapean karena dari pagi belum tidur.

Secara kebetulan, pada hari yang sama, Tante Ellen juga berulang tahun, sehingga kita pun sama-sama merayakan ulang tahun beliau disana, dengan kue ulang tahun berwarna biru yang khusus dibuat oleh Tante Neng, dari Dapur Bunda. Tante Ellen ini ternyata penggemar warna biru, dan itu juga yang menyebabkan adanya "pesan sponsor" yang meminta para tamu untuk datang memakai baju biru. Sayangnya, istri saya tidak memberitahu saya mengenai "pesan sponsor" tersebut, sehingga saya tidak tahu kalau saya harus memakai pakaian biru untuk datang ke acara tersebut. :) :)

Seperti biasa, makanan banyak tersedia disana, dan sate mendominasi menu yang disediakan disana. Sate kambing dan ayam panggang bumbu kecap (khas Indonesia, yang sungguh sangat enak sekali) disediakan oleh Tante Enji, sate padang dari Tante Ellen dan tentu saja, "the one and only" sate ayam Braddell dari Tante Hany. Om Iif dan Om Yan yang volunteer menyediakan waktu dan tenaga untuk kipas-kipas dan menjadi "tukang sate" pada hari itu.

Mengingat hujan gerimis yang terus turun, Inka tidak mempunyai banyak kesempatan untuk bergabung untuk bermain bersama teman-temannya. Athaya dan Aily ada disana, dan juga Hanifa, Falin dan Ika. Zidan juga ada disana dan sempat menanyakan Irza, yang sayangnya tidak ikut pada hari itu. Padahal, Zidan dan Syifa keesokan harinya sudah pulang kembali ke Jakarta, dan akan tinggal bersama Ummi-nya disana.

Foto-fotonya bisa dilihat disini, dan juga disini (courtesy of Tante Hany), disini (courtesy of Tante Shinta) dan disini (courtesy of Tante Kandy).

[English version]

Wiwie's Farewell and Ellen's Birthday

Last Saturday, 11 November 2006, I, my wife and Inka went to Pasir Ris Town Park on the east side of Singapore, to attend the farewell party of Wiwie and their three kids, Dzaky, Athaya and Alita, who will be migrating to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the end of this month. Despite the heavy rain which was pouring Singapore since the early afternoon, we managed to reach Pasir Ris Town Park at around 5pm. Unfortunately, Irza did not go with us since he was asleep at the time when we were ready to go.

Coincidentally, Ellen's birthday also falls on the same day, so we were also celebrating her birthday on the same event, with a special blue-themed birthday cake made by Dapur Bunda's Neng Indah. That was also the reason why the guests were specifically being requested to wear blue. Unfortunately, my wife didn't inform me about this so I didn't know that I am supposed to wear blue to go to the event... oh well... it's OK, I'm not the only one who did that. :) :)

The food was plentiful, and satay was dominating the menu, with mutton satay and Indonesian-style grilled chicken from Enji, Padang-style satay from Ellen, and of course, the-one-and-only Braddell chicken satay from Hany. Iif and Yan were, again, volunteering to become the "tukang sate" of the day. :)

Since it was still raining, Inka didn't manage to mingle around and play with all her friends there. Athaya and Aily were there, for sure, and so were Hanifa, Falin and Ika. Zidan was also there and asking for Irza, which unfortunately were not coming there on that day. Quite unfortunate, since I heard that Zidan was going back to Jakarta with Syifa permanently the next day, to stay with their grandparents there.

Other pictures can be found here (courtesy of Hany), here (courtesy of Shinta), here (courtesy of Kandy) and here (courtesy of Judhi).

[Indonesian version]

Amazing Race Asia

My favourite reality show, Amazing Race, now has its own Asian version. Amazing Race Asia, its premiere was shown by AXN Asia just now. There are ten teams competing on this race, including one team from Indonesia, one team from Singapore, two teams from Malaysia and some other teams from other parts of Asia. The show is hosted by Singapore-based Allan Wu, who has participated in the US reality show, Fear Factor.

The race started at the Dataran Merdeka (or Independence Square) of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Their first destination was the Berjaya Times Square shopping mall, and Sahran, one of the participants from Sri Lanka, cried when he learned that he would need to climb down the void of the shopping mall, from the 8th floor down, using a rope. But he finished the task, eventually!

I was also laughing to see the contestants from Indonesia, brothers Marsio and Mardy. Looks like they are not "too athletic" enough for the race, seems to be already exhausted while reaching the mall, even though they took the cab from Dataran Merdeka to the mall. My wife even commented that the Indonesian brothers wouldn't be able to even pass the second or third leg of the race.

From Times Square, all the contestants had to go to Kompleks Kraf (Craft Complex) for their detour, either batik painting or pot making, using pottery wheel. Once they completed the detour, all the contestants headed to Shah Alam Stadium for a gokart ride, before going to the pit stop at the top of Menara Kuala Lumpur (the KL Tower). And I was very surprised to see that the Indonesian brothers, Marsio and Mardy, managed to take the lead and become the winner of this leg of the race! Well, actually the Malaysians Andrew and Syeon were the first to arrive after overtaking Marsio and Mardy on the last race to the pitstop (of course!), however they didn't follow the instruction on which route to use to go to the tower, so they had to redo their steps, and Marsio and Mardy became the winner.

It's quite difficult to predict who will be at the top three at this stage. The Singaporean girls Sharon and Melody seemed to be quite difficult to keep up, and came to be the sixth to arrive. My favourites are the Malaysian girls Zabrina and Joe Jer, who were actually the first team to arrive at the Times Square and finished the detour at Kompleks Kraf, but were being overtaken by Marsio and Mardy on their way to Shah Alam.

For the second leg of the race, based on the next week's trailer at the end of this week's show, it seems to me that they are going to Indonesia, West Sumatra to be exact, because I saw some Minangkabau-style houses and "plate dance" (tari piring) show, which is Minangkabau's traditional dance. But I guess, we'll only be able to find out next week!

So, now, I have marked two important times of the week: Monday 9pm (Singapore time) for the Amazing Race 10 show, and Thursday 9pm (Singapore time) for the Amazing Race Asia show. I had to rely on AXN Asia to watch the show now, since Mediacorp's Channel 5 is no longer showing the latest season of Amazing Race, not too sure why. Thanks AXN Asia!

FeedWordPress and Multiply, WordPress Upgrade and Akismet

FeedWordPress and Multiply

For the first time, I tried to syndicate a Multiply-based blog into Planet Singapura, an aggregator blog which uses FeedWordPress. Even though I can syndicate the RSS feed successfully, however the output is a bit different from others. Usually, a hyperlink from an article will point to the permanent link at the origin blog, however, for Multiply-based blog, the hyperlink will be pointed to a page within Planet Singapura itself.

For example, an article titled Planet Singapura by one of its contributors has its hyperlink to be pointed to a page within Planet Singapura itself (http://planet.sg.or.id/?p=1586) instead of to the original permanent link at the contributor's blog (http://lailanurhayati.multiply.com/reviews/item/28), not too sure why. The non-existence of a link to the original blog causes difficulties for Planet Singapura readers to read the full article and add comments, especially since I turned off the comments option on Planet Singapura, to encourage the readers to post comments on the original contributors' blogs instead.

WordPress Upgrade to 2.0.5 (Ronan)

I also have upgraded all my Wordpress-based blogs (Minda Indra, Planet Indra and Planet Singapura) to version 2.0.5. Not too sure why they named this version "Ronan", its website said that they would like to congratulate Ryan Boren (who is Ryan Boren anyway) on his new son, Ronan.

Upgrading WordPress, as usual, is a breeze. The website provides detailed instruction on how to upgrade from version 2.0.4 to 2.0.5, which is exactly the same method as when I upgraded from version 2.0.3 to 2.0.4.

Akismet Activation

Earlier today, I read an article on JalanSutera regarding how the Wordpress-based blog fights spam using Akismet, an anti-spam plug-in for Wordpress to fight spam comments. Pujiono, JalanSutera's administrator, mentioned that the number of spam comments received by the blog reaches 10,000, and thanks to Akismet, all the spam comments were caught.

This reminds me that every day, I also need to delete at least 100-200 spam comments on Minda Indra per day (not reaching 10,000 though), and such spam-deleting work is really time-consuming and irritating. I have heard about anti-spam plug-ins such as Akismet or Spam Karma, but I also received some reports about quite a lot of false-positive incidents on both plug-ins, discouraging me to activate or install such plug-ins.

However, something needs to be done to resolve this, and I tried to activate Akismet on Minda Indra today. To activate Akismet is very easy, I just need to go to Dashboard > Plugins, and once activated, I need to key in my WordPress.Com's API key to get it running. I don't have any issues in obtaining the key since I already have an account on wordpress.com.

So far, the Akismet has caught 28 spam comments since it was installed several hours ago, and I have checked, no false-positives so far. Hopefully this will make my blogging life much easier. :)

Acara ulang tahun Zidan dan Arya

Pada hari Sabtu, 4 November 2006 kemarin, Inka dan Irza pergi ke Regent Heights untuk menghadiri acara ulang tahun Zidan dan Arya. Zidan, putra dari Om Haris, merayakan ulang tahunnya yang keenam, sedangkan Arya, putra dari Om Yan dan Tante Damar, merayakan ulang tahunnya yang kesembilan. Acara tersebut diadakan di barbeque pit yang terletak di dekat kolam renang bersusun dan playground yang ada di kompleks apartemen itu.

Kita sampai di tempat acara sekitar jam 1 siang, dan Inka dan Irza langsung bermain bersama Zidan dan Arya di playground. Selain keluarga Om Haris dan Om Yan, beberapa tamu yang sudah datang diantaranya adalah Om Budi dan Tante Echie, yang datang bersama Adam dan Maira, serta Tante Hany yang datang hanya bersama Hanan (tanpa Haifa dan Om Iwan).

Beberapa saat kemudian, Inka dan Irza pun mulai mengenakan pakaian renang mereka dan langsung terjun berenang, diikuti oleh Zidan dan Arya. Mereka asyik sekali berenang dan mencoba setiap kolam yang ada (ada beberapa kolam renang yang disusun bertingkat, bagus sekali), membuat anak-anak lain seperti Hanan, Izan dan Ika pun ikut terjun ke kolam renang.

Setelah selesai berenang, mereka berganti baju dan kemudian kembali ke barbeque pit. Inka kemudian bergabung dengan Tante Iif untuk ikut membantu membakar sate. Biasanya Inka mendapatkan "kursus" membakar sate dari Tante Hany, tapi untuk hari itu, Inka mendapatkan "kursus" membakar sate-nya (paling tidak, bagian "kipas-kipas"-nya) dari Tante Iif dan Ummi (nenek-nya Zidan). Selain sate ayam, mereka juga membakar sate udang, dan ternyata Inka dan Irza lebih memilih sate udangnya dibandingkan sate ayamnya, tumben. :)

Acara berikutnya adalah acara tiup lilin dan potong kue. Ada dua kue ulang tahun yang dipersiapkan oleh Tante Neng dari Dapur Bunda, kue Batman untuk Zidan dan kue Superman untuk Arya. Zidan sempat kesal ketika teman-temannya (dan bukan dia) yang meniup lilin di kue-nya, sehingga akhirnya acara tiup lilinnya sempat harus diulang, setelah anak-anak yang lain diberi pengertian untuk tidak meniup lilinnya, mengingat bukan mereka yang berulang tahun. :) Zidan dan Arya juga memotong kue-kue tersebut dan membagikannya kepada semua anak-anak (dan orang tuanya juga, tentu saja). :)

Semakin sore, semakin banyak tamu-tamu yang datang. Beberapa tamu yang datang diantaranya adalah Om Niko dan Tante Mirna yang datang bersama Kinara, Om Adhi dan Tante Cindy yang datang bersama Dandy, Tante Shinta dan Aidan (tanpa Om Wisnu), Om Roni dan Tante Gita yang datang bersama Fathir, Om Judhi dan Tante Ami yang datang bersama Aily and Algo, Om Duddy dan Tante Ellen yang datang bersama Iffah, dan juga tidak ketinggalan Tante Wiwie yang datang bersama Athaya and Alita.

Selain itu, masih banyak juga tamu-tamu lainnya yang datang, yang saya tidak bisa sebutkan satu persatu. :) Bahkan, setelah melihat foto dari Om Judhi (yang memang datang agak sorean) disini, terlihat masih banyak tamu-tamu lain yang datang setelah kita meninggalkan lokasi acara pada sekitar jam 4:45 sore. Padahal, secara resminya acara akan selesai sekitar jam 5. :) Menandakan, banyak sekali tamu-tamu yang datang pada hari itu.

Foto-fotonya bisa dilihat disini, disini (courtesy of Om Judhi) dan disini (courtesy of Tante Hany).

[English version]

Zidan and Arya's Birthday

On Saturday, 4 November 2006, we went to Regent Heights to attend the birthday party of Zidan and Arya. Zidan, son of Om Haris, is celebrating his 6th birthday, while Arya, son of Om Yan and Tante Damar, is celebrating his 9th birthday. The party is conducted in a barbeque pit within the apartment complex, just next to a very nice multi-tier swimming pool and a children playground.

We reached the place at around 1pm, in time for Inka and Irza to play together with Arya and Zidan at the playground. Other than Om Haris and Om Yan's family, some of the guests who had arrived earlier than us were Om Budi and Tante Echie, who came with Adam and Baby Maira, and Tante Hany who came only with Hanan.

Moments later, Inka and Irza prepared their swimming gears and headed to the swimming pools, followed by Zidan and Arya. All of them were having a great time at the swimming pools, trying one pool to another, inviting other children such as Hanan, Izan and Ika to follow suit.

After swimming, they changed and returned back to the barbeque pit, in time for Inka to join Tante Iif in grilling the satay. Usually she got her satay grilling lesson from Tante Hany, however for this time round, Inka is getting her satay grilling lesson (at least, the "kipas-kipas" portion) by Tante Iif and Ummi (Zidan's grandmother). Surprisingly, Inka and Irza prefers the prawn satay instead of the chicken satay.

The next event is candle blowing and cake cutting ceremony. There were two birthday cakes provided by Dapur Bunda's Tante Neng, Batman cake for Zidan and Superman cake for Arya. Zidan was a bit upset when his friends, instead of him, blew the candles so the candles had to be re-lighted up and the candle blowing ceremony to be repeated. :) Zidan and Arya also cut the cake to be given to their friends (and their friends' parents, of course). :) :)

More to the evening, more guests were coming. Some of them include Om Niko, Tante Mirna and baby Kinara, Om Adhi, Tante Cindy and Dandy, Tante Shinta and Aidan (without Om Wisnu), Om Roni, Tante Gita and Fathir, Om Judhi, Tante Ami, Aily and Algo, Om Duddy, Tante Ellen and Iffah, as well as Tante Wiwie, who came with Athaya and Alita, among others.

Some other pictures can also be found here (courtesy of Om Judhi) and here (courtesy of Tante Hany).

[Indonesian version]

Marine Cove

On Saturday night, 21 October 2006, I went to Marine Cove, East Coast Park with my wife and Inka, to watch After Five on stage, upon invitation from Tyty. After Five is a jazz group band which three of its personnels are Indo-Sing community members: Audi, eRBe and Gani. We also met Tyty, Erina and Evie, who also gave their supports by watching their husbands' performance. :)

After watching their performance, we stopped by to have a not very nice chocolate frappe at Gelare Cafe, before proceeding to the amusement park nearby. Inka was having a great time trying all the rides there, such as the merry-go-round and the pirate ship.