Kin no Taki is one of our favorite restaurant. It's one of our "go-to" restaurant whenever we crave for Japanese food. This restaurant has various options on authentic Japanese dishes such as Ramen, Miso soup, Donburi, Okonomiyaki, Japanese grilled meats or Teppanyaki, etc.
In fact, their specialty is the Teppanyaki or japanese grill. You can do the grill yourself on your table, or if you're too lazy to do it yourself you can also ask them to grill it for you in their kitchen and have them delivered to you once it's done.
I love their Teppanyaki menu, aside from their "USDA Choice" meats they also have scallops and beef tongue slices which is amongst one of my favorites ;)

The variation on the menu is one of the reason why we love Kin no Taki, many of the dishes are unique and authentic japanese dishes. Me and K have been eating here since we are still dating. And it is still one of our fave Jap resto so far! We even get our families to eat here too.

Other reason why we love Kin no Taki? Their price is affordable ! 

And I also love the decor and ambience of the place.

I love the thick atmosphere of the Japanese style decor on every Kin no Taki restaurant, it kinda helps to spruce up the all around Japanese mood, and they always play Japanese songs too ;) 

TV on the wall playing Japanese video clips and songs

In every Kin no Taki restaurant that we've been to, there are always two different areas of seating. You can choose to sit in the common "table + seating" area OR in low tables with built-in hollow area underneath, in which you can sit and put your feet underneath the table and experience the japanese traditional way of eating. When you choose the low table seating area then you are required to take off your shoes and put them in the small lockers that are provided nearby.

In this pic you can see the common seating area with Teppanyaki grill on top of every table, and the low seating area at the back (see the dark brown lockers there on the right?).

Every time we enter the restaurant all the waiter and waitresses would greet us with a simple saying of "irasshaimase" which means "welcome" or "please come in". You would notice this greeting in most of Japanese restaurants in Jakarta.

My go-to menu from Kin no Taki is either something from the Tepannyaki menu or the Spicy Chicken Ramen ! If you love ramen, and you love some spicy stuff then go ahead and order the Spicy Chicken Ramen, slurpy good! ;) 

Kin no Taki has several branches around Jakarta, we went to Kin no Taki at Pondok Indah Mall 1 for dinner a few weeks ago and here are what we ordered:

 For Appetizer, 

I ordered Agedashi Tofu (IDR 15.000) 

 Agedashi Tofu is basically a deep fried silk tofu dish served with dashi-based (fish stock) sauce, topped with spring onions and some kind of red paste (special Kin no Taki sambal?). 

I have always love Agedashi Tofu ever since I first tried it 6 years ago. And I would usually order Agedashi Tofu in every Japanese restaurant I dined in ;p But not all restaurants have good Agedashi Tofu, and Kin no Taki is one of those Jap resto who nailed the Agedashi Tofu. Me likey a lot!

K ordered Chawan Mushi (IDR 21.000)

Chawan Mushi is one of hubby K's favorite (although the menu says that Chawan Mushi is a girl's favorite ;P). Since I'm not really a fan of mushy things so this one is never my favorite. Chawan Mushi is basically an egg-based dish, a steamed egg custard served in a cup. It is served with some slices of crab cakes and green celery on top. Hubby K loves this and almost always order this whenever we dine at Kin no Taki.

Then for the main dish,

 We both ordered Ishiyaki Chicken Bibimbap (IDR 39.000)

I was very hungry that day so I decided to order rice instead of my usual Spicy Chicken Ramen. Kin no Taki have many rice options but I was feeling insecure about my health so I decided to choose Ishiyaki Bibimba which is basically "rice with veggies". 

This dish is very similar with Korean Bi Bim Bap, it's a bowl of warm rice topped with egg and vegetables, and served in a hot stone bowl. We mixed them all up in the hot stone bowl just before we eat it (see above). Kin no Taki now has the options of chicken bibimbap or beef bibimbap, back then it was just only vegetable bibimbap. It's a healthy dish but be careful, this is one VERY HOT dish. Wait for a few minutes before you start eating it ;p

and we also ordered Spicy Cuttle Fish (IDR 38.500)

This is from the Teppanyaki menu, we had it grilled on their kitchen so we don't have to grill it ourselves. I usually don't really like squids or cuttlefish because of their gooey texture but this Spicy Cuttle Fish is finger lickin good! We both loved it and would order it again the next time we dine in.

And Tori Momo (IDR 31.000)

Tori Momo is also from their Teppanyaki menu which we also ordered to be grilled in their kitchen. Tori Momo is basically just a grilled chicken thighs. It comes with a small plate of sauce and slices of carrots and yams. And just like we expected, these grilled chicken thigh were yummo! No wonder they specialize in Teppanyaki food, they really nailed it :)

And as for the drinks, 
I ordered Ice Macha (IDR 20.500) and K ordered Nihon Cha (IDR 16.500)

Ice Macha is Iced Green Tea, and Nihon Cha is Hot Japanese Tea. The Nihon Cha is Refillable for that price. The Ice Macha comes in a rather tall glass so if you're not a thirsty drinker or simply don't drink much (like me) then a glass would suffice, no need to refill. But the Hot Cha comes in smaller glass so you might need some refills and all you have to do is just ring the bell in your table and the waitress will come to your attention.

Total spend:

We use a coupon of "buy 1 get 1" so we only pay for one Ishiyaki Bibimba.
The total damage  are IDR 182.000 (before tax) and that was for two persons and five menus plus two drinks !

We prefer and would suggest Kin no Taki in Pondok Indah Mall 1 and Kin no Taki Plaza Semanggi. 
We tried Kin no Taki at Jl. Tanjung Karang - Thamrin, Jakarta Pusat but we personally think that it doesn't taste as good. I don't know why.. maybe different chef?? And the service there is not quite as good too, the food takes too long, and the waitresses are not as responsive either. But these are just our opinions ;p

Kin no Taki
Pondok Indah Mall 1 - 1st floor #140 

Jl. Metro Pondok Indah Blok 3 B, Jakarta Selatan

Daily Journal: UCIL, in memoriam...

Hey guys,

Have you entered my newest giveaway on my fashion blog Two Thousand Things ? You could win a $25 box of hair accessories from Cover Your Hair, and it's open for Worldwide !!

So today I just want to write a short post in remembrance of my cat Ucil. If you've read this blog long enough you probably read his name in several of my blabbering posts. Ucil is one of our cat, we had him since he was a baby. In fact he was born in this house (her mother was our pet too). Ucil has been in this blog since this blog was first published to public. He has been part of this blog along with his brother Blackey. I had several posts with their pictures or names written in. Ucil has been a cute little black & white cat of our family. He is basically part of the family! 

Ucil is so cute with black & white pattern and short blunt tail, he also had a smaller body if compared to other male cats, so what he lacks in body volume he covered it with a strong voice. His voice was loud and strong as though he wants everybody in the room to take notice. He sometimes would scream for food or when he just entered the room. He probably also uses his loud voice in the streets when he met with other cats in the neighborhood so that every cats would take him seriously, hahaha... (well at least that's what we think) ;p

Me and my brother always love a black & white cat, and Ucil is one of the cutest one we have. He has been loyal, kind hearted, entertaining, and adorable although he's not as submissive as his brother but he is soo cute especially when he's sleeping!

And the last time we saw him was at last New Year's eve...

I was spending all day at my in law's house that day on December 31st, and then came back to our house late at night to celebrate new year's. But when we were on our way back home we got a message that my mom and most of the families are heading outside to a location where we could watch fireworks, so me and hubby just make a quick stop by at our house for a quick outfit change and then headed straight to the door again to went out to join the rest of the families. And when I was heading through the door that was when I saw him sitting underneath the dinner table. And that was the last time I saw him. I still can remember it in my head as when I took a glance of him right there underneath the table.... T___T

He was already seems un-fit and always lie down weakly for the past several weeks, we thought he was sick but he still ate and drink like a normal cat does, so we figured maybe he was just getting old. And then on the first days of 2012 we never saw him again (*sob..)

Our cats used to go out and play in the neighborhood and they always come back 3 - 4 times during the day to eat or sleep. Ucil also does the same, although in his last days he didnt go out as often as he used to, he would just sleep much and seems a bit weak all the time. He seems so...old. Even when he sleeps he seems weak, just like a very old man. And since that new year's eve he never came home again...

Wise people said that a truly loved cat pet will choose to die somewhere so that their owner wouldn't see they died, to avoid making their owner feeling sad.
And I guess the saying is true..
We couldn't be more sad when he's gone without us knowing where he died and knowing that we can't give him a proper burial like we did with our past cats. But maybe Ucil did make the right choice, because he probably knows that he was much much loved in this house that if he died at home where we could see his lifeless body it would just too much to handle for us, he knows how we loved him so much and how we would be very devastated when we see him died right in front of our eyes, so he chose to die somewhere that we couldn't see..

Ucil has been through so many things growing old together with us. We secretly sensed that Ucil is getting so old and he is not as strong and energetic like he used to. His gesture really shows that his age is starting to get him. So we secretly knew that maybe his time is close.. but we still hope that he can live longer. Well he does live a longer life...

I remember how Ucil sometimes stand beside my dad's foot when my dad is sitting on the couch, and Ucil would just keep staring at him as if waiting for something. And if my dad moves or stands up from the couch, Ucil will automatically follow him because he thinks my dad will give him food ;)

 

One of me & my husband's most sweet memories of Ucil is the way he had soo many weird poses when he bathe himself hahaha :

this one is when he just had a fight with a neighbor cat :

One of his favorite spot for sleeping is on the stairs (oh how I missed seeing him there):

Dear Ucil,

Although we couldnt see you again but we will always see you in our dreams, we always think about you although you're not here anymore. I kept having dreams of you over and over again, I hope you didn't experience pain at all when you went to heaven, I thought you'd probably went while you're asleep so you didnt feel anything. And because I couldn't give you a proper burial so I thought I'd give you a proper goodbye with this special post instead..

Thank you for all these 6 years of loyalty and companionship, you're one of our cutest cats. Thank you for accompanying me in my happiest and saddest time. Thank you for all of the laughter and the smiles you've given to us. You have been a blessing for our family. We hope that we had given you comfort and love that you deserved for the whole of your life. And may we meet again in heaven when the time comes ...

Love,

Your Family..

Good night Ucil, sleep tight ...

 

Decor: The Attic

Just incase you need some inspirations on what to do with the attic ;)

Which one do you like ?

Note: There might be coupons or promos available for unique home decor items, if you are in the market.

I'll catch ya later :)

Places We Go: Tarzan D'Mighty Circus

As I told you earlier on my previous post me & K planned to see the circus that was playing in town. So on the last week of December we went to Parkir Timur Senayan to see the circus!! We picked the night show which started at 19.30 on that Friday, and as soon as we arrived there and saw this sight of a giant colorful tent, it automatically bring joy to my heart, I could just leap in joy the moment I saw the tent!

The circus was a collaboration between a renowned world circus and TSI Production (TSI: Taman Safari Indonesia or Indonesian safari park). So it's basically a circus filled with animal shows and professional acrobatic shows + entertaining musical show. The theme of the circus is "Tarzan D'Mighty". So it tells a story of the Tarzan tale showcased in a full-on animals-musical-acrobatic performances. No clowns included. ;p

look at the sleeping elephant ;p

Overall it's a great show, and although I was expecting a classic circus like all the circus I saw when I was a child but this one is still a memorable one, especially since I haven't been to a circus for so long and getting to be closed with animals are one of the thing that makes both of us happy, we are Huuugee animal lovers :)

Since this is a collaboration with TSI so outside the circus tent there are also several animal booths where you can ride elephant, ride camels, took photo with a tiger cub (like we did!), etc...just like in Taman Safari Indonesia.

Thanks to Groupon Disdus we got our tickets for 50% Off!! There are a few ticket price options according to "class" or seats. The cheapest was IDR 100.000 and aside from the Groupon discount there were also other discount offers such as from BCA, etc.

The circus played about 2 - 3 times a day for 2 hours, and right now the circus is still going on until tomorrow January 8th ! So if you want to take your family or friends to watch the circus then better hurry up, the Groupon discount is no longer there though.

 We Love Animals!

with Samantha, the tiger cub.

For online tickets and discount promotion price, click:
www.tsiproductions.net
www.tarzandmightycircus.com

2011 - A Year in Highlights

We've been thanking a lot for the last few years, there were just so much gifts that God has granted to us, and we can definitely see ourselves developed more and more in so many ways. In 2010 we're thankful we were able to bought our first car and our (small) apartment, upgraded my iPhone, attended my first Jakarta Fashion Week (and won 2nd place on a JFW competition held by Femina magazine). Then in 2011 hubby K got a new promising job (!), we bought a new camera, and hubby's turn to upgrade his iPhone ;)

Well of course there were other personal achievements as well as some down moments or things that we failed to achieve during those years but surely those down moments are not to be focused on. Let's just focus on the great things we've achieved so far and learned the lessons from the bad ones. One of the perks of having a personal blog is to be able to see and look back on your years just from re-reading your old blog posts archive. I love to read my old archived posts to see what I've been up to at those times and how much our lives have changed since that. I love to see how much my blogs have developed and how much I see myself evolved comparing to where I was a year or two years ago. And it is a great feeling knowing that you actually did pretty well all these past years :)

So anyway, here are the highlights from my 2011 :

JANUARY

There weren't many exciting activities during January, except for the couple of freebies I received that month (Words to The Rescue book, Shaw Treatment travel set, Kotex package, etc). I also redeemed my Centro vouchers that I got as one of the winner of the Nikicio blog contest that I did back in December 2010. I got a free maxi dress and a multi-colored bracelet from redeeming the vouchers :) I guess it's the "new year's luck" ;) - We also supposedly go to a big family vacation to Belitung island but had to cancel because of some unavoidable matters.

( words to the rescue book, Swahili set from Shaw Treatment, Kotex package )

FEBRUARY

Then in February we went to Snowbay Watertainment at TMII and had a fabulous day trying the Hurricane over and over again (long queue but really worth it!). In my fashion blog I also participated in Jane's Annual Capsule Wardrobe Challenge via her blog The Small Fabric of My Life. I"ve been participating in this annual challenge for two years in a row ;)

The Hurricane at Snowbay

MARCH

In March me and my family went to a family trip to Surabaya, Malang, and Madura. Malang is where most of my dad's family resides. We crossed the strait from Surabaya to Madura island via the Suramadu bridge, we satisfy our stomach with a full blown Surabaya feast which famous for their Spicy Duck as well as Seafood fare. And we also visited the Batu Zoo in Malang which was clearly the highlight of our trip! 
In this month I was also invited to Artistry new product launching event, and had my first ever Coach item, hahaha! It wasn't a real bag anyway, it's just a coin purse that I won in a blog giveaway. Free Coach, yay! I'm so pathetic, I know...LOL. Oh and this month we kinda officially adopted Blackey's son and named him "Kiddo" :)

 ( From top: Batu park zoo, My face analysis from Artistry, Coach coin purse, Blackey & son: Kiddo )

APRIL

On April the world celebrate the Royal Wedding (of William & Kate), it is a history in the making. As for blogwise, I attended the Make Up Forever new campaign launching, the Council of Chefs event, and I won a free tix from twitter for the CSI: The Experience exhibit at Mall of Indonesia which was awesome because we get to be a detective and try to solve a case as a CSI agent. Me & hubby are both CSI lovers so it is such an experience for us :)

 ( MUFE new ad campaign, Council of Chefs event, CSI: The Experience )

MAY

May was hubby K's birthday but I actually forgot what we did for his birthday, and I asked him but he also didn't remember, so we probably just had a little b'day-gift shopping and a casual birthday dinner at one of our favorite restaurant, and then probably had another dinner with our family. This month I participated in the Level One Project blogging contest and although I didn't win the first prize I still won some coffee vouchers. I also started a new blog post series in this blog called "Cerita Minggu Ini" >> which was apparently K's favorite part of the blog. (Note to self: dont be lazy to keep this series on!)

what's up there, hon? is it a bird? a man? a superman?

JUNE

In June we got great news because hubby K got a new job ! The office were much closer to home, the work hour is "normal", and the offer they gave were much better than his old job so we're thankful for all of that. Blogwise, I was sent an invitation to try one of the treatments at Sunsilk Hair Studio in Grand Indonesia. I got a much needed free hair cut instead! :D We also started to look for furniture things, compare prices, and so on for the "Apt Project" blog series (because we heard news that our pad will be ready soon, but turns out the news was just a false hope).

 ( furniture hunting, Sunsilk Hair Studio, K's first day on the new job! )

 

JULY

In July I was interviewed by Smashion for my fashion blog Two Thousand Things. I was also invited to the USDA Council of Chefs second event but I failed to attend due to a very bad eye infection that I had that day. We also finally visited the site of our new pad to try to see whether the rumors are true. We did get an invitation from the developer for a grand launching event, but when we get there it wasn't fully ready to live-in. The ready-units were those that located up until level 5, our unit was in level 15 so it would still need a couple of months I guess. But that's okay, that mean we can still have time to save up to buy our furnitures and kitchen cabinets ;p Oh and we bought this cute tuxedo print onesie for our nephew's birthday, isn't it the cutest onesie or what?! ^o^

 ( Smashion interview, Future pad, Cutest onesie )

AUGUST

August was my birthday and we also forgot where we went to celebrate it so maybe just another usual shopping + dinner, but I do remember I was sick on the day of my birthday and couldn't really go anywhere, but luckily we already went out to celebrate it on the day before my actual birthday date :) This month was also the Eid Al-Fitr celebration (the most celebrated day for Muslims) where we gather with our family to celebrate it. We went to Bandung to celebrate with K's big family on the first day and then we both went back to Jakarta to celebrate with my side of the family on the 2nd day.

( Top: me on my bday. Bottom: our Eid Al Fitr in Bandung, and in Jakarta )

SEPTEMBER

In September I went to Bogor with my cousins to have a culinary trip. Bogor is only 1 1/2 hour drive from Jakarta. The weather in Bogor was fantastic and it was a nice short getaway from the hectic capitol. Blogwise, I was invited to the Guess Fall/Winter preview at one of their flag store in Grand Indonesia. Another nice surprise was K's photo was picked as semi-finalists for the XL - Instagram Photo Competition ! We went to see the photo exhibition at The Rasuna Epicentrum where his photo was displayed and they also put the semi-finalist photos into a book !! So of course we bought the book. Although he did not win but how many opportunities do you get to see your creation and name in a book ?! I'm so proud of him :D

 ( Bogor trip, Guess fashion show, K's instagram photo exhibition )

OCTOBER

I was invited to the Hermes Paris Mon Ami event in October, and October was another month for freebies too. I received so many free stuffs, such as the Snowbay package which I received in a surprise, courtesy of Snowbay management team who happens to read my blog post about my fun day at Snowbay back in february! I also received free clothes courtesy of Roxy - Quiksilver who has been a great blog partner since last year. There were also a few other clothes from my cousin that she gave to me, a creamy body mist from Etude (from my brother who gave it to my mom and then mom gave it to me). I can't believe my luck. Oh and this month I also won my first-ever bid on ebay !! I won a leopard-print earrings from Betsey Johnson for about $2.99 !!

( Hermes event, Surprise package from Snowbay, package from Roxy Batik collection )

NOVEMBER

And the luck dust probably still have it's trace up to November because K surprisingly won a door prize of an Electrolux Washing Machine during his office's outing session (!), and later on he was also given 2 vouchers @IDR100.000 for Gramedia bookstore as a thank you gift for being a part of the outing committee. Super lucky, Alhamdulillah.

In November there were also some events that I was given invitation to. And I love attending events. These events invitation mostly came from a PR rep that found me through my blogs. I still couldn't believe how lucky I am to be able to have these invitations that were usually reserved for VIPs or professional journalists, and that's all Thanks to my blog !! So keep writing your blog guys, you'll never know what opportunities may knock on your door ;) So anyway this month I attended the Fimela.com Media Gathering for their Read2Share campaign & their FimelaFest, I also attended the Wolipop's Edgy Style fashion show, the Gala Premiere for Arisan 2 the movie, and of course let's not forget the annual Jakarta Fashion Week !! I had one other event I had to cancel too :( But overall, November was quite a busy work month for me.

( From top, left to right: Gramedia vouchers, Fimela media gathering, Wolipop fashion show, Arisan 2 gala premiere, Jakarta Fashion Week )

DECEMBER

December has also been a busy month for me, not work-busy, but fun-busy (if that makes sense ;p). Although I didn't attend any event this month but I was quite busy with all the fun outings I had. On early December we went to Bandung for a day trip with our friends. The 2 hours drive and all the foods we ate, and all the places we visited were really fun! I even had a short cookie making class! We plan to do another trip again soon, maybe to Bali ? ;p - And then we also went to see a fundraising mini show with K's parents at Sultan Hotel featuring Harvey Malaiholo, a famous Indonesian singer. Near the end of the month I also get to take K to the World Circus that are playing in town, and then we went to another trip to Snowbay Watertainment Park using the free vouchers and discounts that I got from the package that Snowbay sent me in October. And then I also went to Gelanggang Samudra Ancol with my cousins and her children. Gelanggang Samudera is roughly translated as "Ocean Arena", so it's like an ocean-themed arena/park where you can watch sea animals shows, etc. And lastly we get to spent New Year's eve together with both our families. What a wonderful way to end the year.. (plus we got a new camera in early December too!).

< From top, left to right: The Cookie Making certificate ;p, Fundraising show at Sultan Hotel, Gelanggang Samudera, World Circus (pictured with Samantha the cub), Snowbay Watertainment Park, New Year's eve >

Pfiuh, and that was my highlight of 2011. If you got bored reading this I don't blame you, it's such a very long post, even I got up late to make this post until 3:00 AM. But I know I'm gonna read this post again in 2013 and looked back to see how much our life has changed us.
As I was having quite many fun places to experience in 2011 so I'm hoping for much more fun and adventurous places to visit in 2012. If you would like to see my 2010 highlights and achievements you can read it in my fashion blog Two Thousand Things.

And although we had adopted Kiddo as our 3rd cat but right now at the beginning of this year we think we might say good bye to one of our cat, Ucil. He has been sick for the last month because he's old. He turns so skinny and looks really tired even though he still eat normally. His hairs were falling out and when he sleeps he seems like a very tired old man. Poor Ucil. The last time we saw him was at new year's eve, right under the dinner table. And after that we never saw him again until this moment. God bless his warm and kind heart...