Pas kapan itu, kita sekeluarga makan di Bu Kris di Fatmawati. Buat yang belum tahu, Bu Kris itu restoran yang menyajikan sajian masakan bergaya "penyet" khas Surabaya. Yang di Jakarta ini adalah cabang langsung dari restoran Bu Kris yang udah ngetop duluan di Surabaya. Di menu nya semua serba penyet, dari mulai ayam penyet, iga penyet, sampai bakso penyet pun ada! Sambal nya bisa pilih sendiri tingkat kepedasannya, mau yang tidak pedas, sedang, atau pedas. Buat yang gila sambal sih harus pilih yang pedas dong, sementara buat yang agak seneng pedas tapi perutnya suka gak kuat ya pilih yang sedang (note: yang sedang juga lumayan berasa kok pedes nya ;p).

Kalau saya sudah pasti pilih yang pedas hehe tapi kalau perut lagi susah diajak kerjasama ya berarti musti pilih yang sedang. 

Anyway, kalau ke Bu Kris saya pasti pesan ayam penyet atau iga penyet. Dua-duanya super maknyuss. Ayamnya gak keras, gak alot, dan gampang disobek dagingnya. Digorengnya gak terlalu kering, jadi pas banget dimakan sama cocolan sambal penyet nya.
Sementara iga penyet nya juga mantab banget deh, dari segi porsi, tekstur dagingnya, dan bumbu yang meresap di dagingnya berpadu sempurna sama sambalnya yang pedas bikin nagih. ...Ohhhh bikin review ini jadi kepengen makan di Bu Kris lagih *tenang ya perut*

Sambalnya sendiri merah dan pedas menggugah selera, pokoknya bikin nafsu makan banget deh. Biasanya sepiring nasi + ayam penyet paha atau iga penyet + satu potong tahu penyet langsung ludes disantap sampai piringnya licin hehehe Kalau cowo-cowo sih kudu nambah satu piring nasi putih lagi ;p

Trus minumnya es markisa dong ! Sebagai penggemar berat es markisa, dimanapun yang di menu nya tercantum es markisa pasti saya pesen minumnya itu ;)

Yang membuat Bu Kris jadi favorit resto keluarga adalah selain menu nya banyak pilihan, semuanya enak, lokasi nya nggak terlalu jauh, dan pastinya harganya murraaaahhh... Makan ber-empat paling abisnya sekitar IDR 120.000 - 150.000. Harga segitu biasanya budget saya makan di mall berdua suami -__-

Jadi buat yang lagi di deket area Fatmawati, restoran Bu Kris bisa jadi pilihan. Buat acara traktiran bisa banget nih karena murah, enak dan bikin kenyang hehe Tapi berhubung suka penuh dan antri jadi ya tahu diri sedikit lah supaya jangan lama-lama nangkring di meja kalau udah selesai makan ;)

Restoran Bu Kris

Jl. RS Fatmawati Raya No 37D, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia

To see other Restaurant reviews, click "Where To Eat". 

Places: Ocean Dream - Ancol

(Versi editan tulisan ini sudah saya publish terlebih dulu di Kompasiana untuk Kompasiana Ancol Blog Competition - and I won 3rd Place ! Yayy! )

Desember lalu tepatnya 3 hari menjelang tahun baru 2012 saya diajak kakak sepupu saya yang kebetulan ingin mengajak anak-anak nya ke Ancol untuk liburan akhir tahun. Berhubung saya lagi haus hiburan jadi berangkatlah saya bersama rombongan sepupu dan keponakan ke Taman Impian Jaya Ancol di utara Jakarta.

Sesampainya di Ancol karena sudah memasuki jam makan siang kami memutuskan untuk makan siang terlebih dulu. Di area Ancol banyak sekali tempat pilihan makanan, dari fast food sampai restoran sea food, tinggal pilih mau yang mana. Berhubung hari itu rombongan kami banyak anak kecilnya jadi biar praktis kami memutuskan untuk makan siang di salah satu restoran fast food di area dekat pantai. Wah begitu turun dari mobil dan berjalan menuju resto langsung terasa hawa pantainya. Pohon-pohon nyiur yang tinggi semampai ditambah hembusan angin yang sejuk langsung membuat suasana liburan makin terasa, benar-benar pergantian suasana yang segar dari pemandangan Jakarta yang hiruk pikuk. Hmm…sepertinya kalau lagi suntuk boleh juga datang ke Ancol, walaupun cuma duduk-duduk di sekitaran pantai aja rasanya sudah cukup menyenangkan.

Selesai makan baru deh susun rencana. Ancol itu luas banget dan banyak banget arena rekreasi di dalamnya, selain Dufan dan Atlantis Waterpark juga ada Gelanggang Samudera / Ocean Dream Samudera, area bermain Outbond, Eco Park, Pasar Seni, sampai Putri Duyung Resort. Karena kita sudah punya rencana awal untuk ke Gelanggang Samudra jadi akhirnya kita langsung meluncur kesana setelah makan siang. Saat itu parkiran penuh! Tapi area parkirnya luas banget kok jadi nggak lama kemudian kami pun dapat parkir. Masuk ke area Ocean Dream Samudra bikin mata segar karena area nya rimbun dengan banyak pohon besar dan rumput hijau di kiri kanan jalan. Teriknya langit Jakarta hari itu tidak terasa terlalu menggigit di balik rimbunnya pepohonan. Andai saja di tengah-tengah kota Jakarta juga banyak taman rimbun seperti ini ya…

Di Gelanggang Samudra atau yang sekarang namanya menjadi Ocean Dream Samudera, kita rencananya mau nonton atraksi balet air “Mermaid &The Pearl” di Underwater Theater Ocean Dream, dan pastinya juga nonton teater 4 dimensi dong! Teater 4 Dimensi ini dalam sehari diputar beberapa kali, sama seperti semua atraksi lain di Ocean Dream ini. Di pintu depan kamu bisa minta brosur berisi jadwal atraksi lengkap dengan lokasi dan jam nya.

Poster film-film teater 4 Dimensi

para keponakan sedang diskusi menentukan show mana yang akan ditonton selanjutnya

Tiket masuk Ocean Dream seharga IDR 90.000 (weekdays) dan IDR 110.000 (weekend) berlaku untuk semua atraksi di dalam Ocean Dream kecuali “Swimming with Dolphins“. Berhubung saat itu sedang ada diskon kartu kredit jadi kami membayar dengan harga diskon yang lumayan. Setelah melihat jadwal tiap pertunjukan di brosur kami pun memutuskan untuk nonton Caribbean Pirates Show terlebih dahulu.

Caribbean Pirates Show menggabungkan seni peran dengan atraksi air seperti atraksi jet ski ditambah aksi-aksi seru para pemainnya yang meluncur di tali, loncat salto, dan lainnya. Ditambah pula dengan adegan “bom meledak” yang mengagetkan penonton dengan suara keras dari semacam petasan. Sesuai judulnya tema dari show ini adalah bajak laut. Karena saat kami datang semua kursi belakang sudah penuh jadi kami mendapatkan tempat duduk di bagian depan (yang terik kena matahari huhuhu). Lalu pada beberapa adegan, si bajak laut ini beraksi tepat di depan kursi penonton dan bahkan sampai loncat ke depan keponakan-keponakan saya hahaha mereka semua (termasuk saya) jadi ikut terhentak karena kaget. Dan karena ini adalah atraksi air jadi di beberapa area tempat duduk bagian depan ikut terkena basah karena cipratan air dari jet ski yang sedang beraksi hehehe tapi seruuu…!

Selesai dari Caribbean Pirates kami segera menuju ke pertunjukan Singa Laut & Lumba-lumba. Ini termasuk pertunjukan favorit saya sedari kecil (dulu saya pernah difoto sambil dicium singa laut lho hehehe). Di pertunjukan singa laut ini seperti biasa ada atraksi singa laut yang lucu-lucu dan menggemaskan. Ada singa laut jantan yang bisa goyang dangdut ala Sule lho hehehe dan yang betina nya bisa dansa berdiri sambil pegangan tangan dengan instrukturnya, sungguh bikin kami tertawa lebar.

Setelah singa laut selesai lalu keluarlah hewan favorit saya: Dolphins alias lumba-lumba! Di Ocean Dreams ini juga ada arena “Swimming with Doplhins” lho, mungkin lain waktu kalau saya ada rejeki bisa ikutan berenang bareng lumba-lumba disini, soalnya mahal sih hehe.

Usai pertunjukan singa laut dan lumba-lumba kami langsung menuju ke Underwater Theater untuk melihat pertunjukan Mermaid & The Pearl Aquatic Dance ala Rusia. Pertunjukan ini adalah tarian di bawah air yang dimainkan oleh para underwater dancer dan juga lumba-lumba, tema nya adalah putri duyung & mutiara. Jadi kita menonton dengan cara duduk manis di depan aquarium raksasa yang ada di dalam gedung pertunjukan ber-AC di arena Ocean Dream Samudra ini. Seperti ini nih aquarium raksasanya:

Dan berikut adalah cuplikan show nya:

Setelah pertunjukan usai kami pun segera bergegas ke teater 4 dimensi karena pertunjukan selanjutnya akan segera dimulai. Dari beberapa film yang diputar hari itu kami kebagian yang judulnya “Dora Adventure”. Teater 4 Dimensi ini adalah teater unik dimana kita tidak hanya menonton film dengan kacamata 3 dimensi tetapi juga dikejutkan dengan hembusan angin serta percikan air sesuai dengan alur film. Menurut saya sih jauh lebih seru film Turtle Vision yang dulu saya pernah tonton disini dibanding film Dora ini, keponakan saya juga bilang yang sama.

Dari teater 4 dimensi ini kami beristirahat sebentar sebelum melanjutkan adventure kami hari itu. Hari semakin sore dan pengunjung Ancol masih tetap ramai. Untungnya area publik yang luas dan rindang tidak membuat suasana menjadi sumpek.

Petualangan kami di Ancol tidak berhenti sampai disitu. Kami pun melanjutkan petualangan kami dengan keluar dari arena Ocean Dream dan menuju ke tempat Gondola. Ya, kami berencana untuk menikmati sore hari yang indah melalui gondola. Harga naik gondola IDR 40.000 dan banyak diskon yang tersedia juga, bahkan ada papan yang khusus memberitahu diskon spesial yang sedang berlangsung. Gondola nya sendiri muat sampai dengan 6 orang, dan jangan khawatir, Gondola ini cukup aman kok, terlihat dari fasilitas nya yang nampak masih baru dan terawat. Di dalam gondola nya juga cukup luas, bersih dan nyaman. Pintu nya pun otomatis, ditambah lagi jendela-jendela besar yang menampilkan pemandangan indah dari segala sudut.

Yang membuat gondola di Ancol ini unik adalah pemandangannya; di satu sisi kita bisa melihat hampir keseluruhan area Ancol yang super luas, dan di sisi lainnya kita bisa melihat pemandangan laut yang seakan tidak bertepi, lengkap dengan kapal-kapal di kejauhan. Sementara di bawah gondola kita dapat melihat jalur pantai di sepanjang Ancol. Benar-benar pengalaman yang unik.

Tidak terasa hari sudah semakin sore, turun dari gondola kami memutuskan untuk beristirahat sejenak sambil menikmati bakso panas di salah satu area makan yang tersebar di Ancol. Matahari sudah mulai terbenam, langit pun siap berganti malam, tandanya kami harus mengakhiri petualangan seru kami kali ini.

Tak terasa sudah seharian kami menghabiskan waktu disini. Satu hari di Ancol adalah salah satu cara menyenangkan untuk melengkapi liburan akhir tahun. Banyak sekali aktifitas yang dapat dilakukan disini, dan semuanya seru, baik untuk anak kecil maupun dewasa. Jadi tidak salah kalau Ancol dapat dipilih sebagai salah satu alternatif tempat berlibur, dan rasanya satu hari di Ancol pun belum cukup untuk menjelajahi semua tempat.

Bagi rombongan kami, satu hari di Ancol kali ini adalah sebuah liburan akhir tahun yang menyenangkan. Hari itu, kami pun pulang dengan hati gembira dan senyum super lebar.

Restaurant Review: KIN NO TAKI

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 ...