A Trip to Bali (Part 4)

The night before the blessings for the newborn baby, we went out for dinner. We ate at a restaurant named Centre Point, which belongs to Aunt Tami herself. The restaurant was lacking of swarms of people that night, which gave us the advantage of being served faster. I had some difficulties in choosing what I should have for dinner. I mean, just look that menu! Grilled chicken, with some vegetables on the sides; how can you not drool and distracted? 

Mom, diligently studying the menu

Yes, people, you can get yourself a delightful cup of lychee flavored tea here 

These photos belong to my parents. They took the liberty to print them out and
sent it to Aunt Tami, so that she can use it to decorate this particular restaurant.
Looks pretty awesome, huh?

What I love the most about Aunt Tami's restaurant is the waffles. They are not like your regular waffle, circle and square in shape, because they are shaped like Mickey Mouse! Yes, I repeat, Mickey Mouse. It feels like I'm in disneyland, minus all of those people dressed up as Disney characters.

"A couple of Mickey Mouse shaped waffles, enveloped with nice and warm honey, and topped with ice cream," I sure like the sound of that. The ice cream comes in three different flavors, which are strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate. I chose the strawberry flavored ice cream because, in my opinion, the waffles tasted best with one. See that burnt side of the waffles? Those are the best parts! But I didn't save them for later though, because I love eating them from the ears, followed by the whole face. Make sure you eat your waffles with a spoonful of ice cream to create sparks of flavor in your mouth. Trust me on this, this particular dessert is beyond delicious.

I felt like I'm in Disneyland!

Waffles for dinner? Yes, please!

For the main course, I ordered myself a plate of rice and some deep-fried shrimps, topped with mayonnaise and sesame seeds. It had been a while since the last time I have shrimps for dinner, it didn't take me long to devour the whole plate. The shrimps were so good, I managed to finish all of them including the tails. Yes, the tails. You know how sharp deep fried shrimp tails can be, and I gulped them all because they were THAT good. The crunchiness of the shrimps was perfect, no to mention they blended well with the mayonnaise. My main course was savory, yet sweet at the same time. 

Look at how nice the shrimps are coated with mayonnaise

You're lying if you're not tempted to have one spoonful of this sinful dish

After I finished my plate of shrimps and rice, I ordered myself a plate of Centre Point's famous burger. I pigged out. It felt like as if I got hit by one of Cupid's arrow, only this time it was Ronald McDonald's arrow. But I regret nothing. It turned out that the burger tasted splendid! 

"Burger Centre Point," was the name of the dish. A plate of burger, filled with cheese and Centre Point's homemade beef, accompanied by some french fries on the side of the plate. Yum! The beef was my favorite part of the dish, because it was cooked with some onion, which made it more savory and rich in flavor. So, I took the liberty of eating the cheese first, which tasted fine, so that I could happily savour the beef later. The french fries didn't taste like those french fries that you can get at McDonald. They reek of a genuine potato and tasted like one too. I assume that the chef made this french fries out of fresh potatoes, that they bought early in the morning. 

The buns were soft and crunchy, and a bit burnt on the sides, just like how I want it to be. After I finish the cheese, I ate the buns. Then, I moved on to the french fries, and finally I managed to eat the beef. I took my time in finishing the meat, because it tasted really good, especially with some chilly sauce. All in all, Centre Point's burger is the bomb!

Potatoes gonna potate!

Save the beef for the last!

Centre Point, despite it being a restaurant and serves mostly lunch or dinner meals, is also a nice place to hang out with some friends. Ordered yourself a glass of iced lemon tea and some mini fried dumplings, then voila! another well-spent weekend you're going to have. If you have a bad day, stop by at Centre Point and spoil yourself with their delicious waffles and refreshing drinks. I guarantee, you'll come home with a big smile on your face. Make sure you have time to visit this particular restaurant on Wednesday, because they have live music during dinner. Cool, isn't it?

Centre Point

Jl. Puputan Niti Mandala Raya

Renon, Denpasar

Bali 80235

A Trip to Bali (Part 3)

It is a custom in Bali to give offerings to the spirits. With Hindu as its major religion, well-decorated offerings are ubiquitous. There are some which are placed accordingly on the streets, in traditional markets, in restaurants, at home, and other places you can imagine. The offerings are mostly made placed in a bowl which made out of leafs. Flowers, shaped rice, and fruits are what you usually find inside these leaf-based bowls. It is said that the offerings are like food to the spirits. They indulge on the aroma of the food so that they will have energy to survive through the day. A bit funky, huh? 

At Aunt Tami's house, to celebrate the blessing of the newborn baby, she build a large table just to place the offerings. Lots of fancy colors decorated the table. I was aware by the fact that crackers, shaped rice, fruits, leafs, flowers, and even ropes were used as offerings. The female workers, who happen to be Aunt Tami's acquaintances, prepared the table along with its offering for around one and a half hour. The three of them worked together as a team to make a luxurious table of gifts for the spirits.

The eldest female worker, who was in charge of decorating the table with the offerings

The Dynamic Duo, hand-in-hand carefully selecting the leaf-based bowls
to be placed on the rather large table of offering

One of the female worker was cutting a coconut to decorate the offerings

A combination of rice, flowers, and ropes as parts of the offerings

Those were the equipment and tools that were used to prepare the whole thing 

Some bananas, oranges, crackers, and shaped rice for the spirits

The thought of spirits need food to "live" never crossed my mind before

A container of mini ketupat and slices of eggs, and some shaped rice

There were lots of fruits and leafs on the table, I got flustered

I spotted some salted eggs in some of the leaf bowls

A luxurious offering table was luxurious indeed

An image of one of the offerings that were beautifully decorated 

A few done,  a few dozens to go

The sun was setting, but the female workers were still diligently decorating the table

This particular colorful offering caught my attention. I wonder what
that is and why it is rich in colors..

Offerings for the baby's placenta, which was buried on the
ground, adjacent to the baby's older brother's placenta

Who would have thought that spirits need food to "live"?

A Trip to Bali (Part 2)

The following morning, my Mom and I woke up at around seven to get ourselves ready to stop by at Pasar Badung. Pasar Badung is a large traditional market in Denpasar, located not far from where Aunt Tami lives. We went to this particular market to buy various foodstuff for the baby shower. But first, before we put ourselves into our scavenger-hunt mode, what we need is a nice breakfast.

Spring rolls and fruits for breakfast, boy did they blend well with each other. I was amused by Aunt Tami's particular choice of breakfast. The spring roll was well fried, as in crunchy on the outside and a bit chewy on the inside. It came with a bowl of sauce, which name escaped me, that tasted sweet, sour, and a bit spicy. I'm accustomed by the idea of having bread and milk for breakfast, but this was very enjoyable.

Breakfast is served!

A plate of deep-fried spring rolls for breakfast, and it came
with a handful of assorted chili pepper

After we had our breakfast, we hopped into the vehicle and drove to Pasar Badung. Aunt Tami's older sister, Aunt Wati, tagged along with us to help with the groceries. Aunt Nunung, Aunt Tami's friend, also joined us in our quest of finding meat and vegetables. 

To me, traditional market is like a portal that connects us with another peculiar place. Heck, another dimension if I may say. Despite its lack of hygiene, a traditional market is an amusing place to be. Butchers, green grocers, egg farmers, and traditional snack sellers are ubiquitous. Endless shoutings of "Come visit our booth", "We got the best meat in town", "Our vegetables are very fresh" are inevitable. It's like visiting Narnia, minus Mr. Tumnus and Aslan.

Meat section! 

The butcher lady, diligently choosing a nice meat to be chopped

They have such friendly and talkative sales lady in this traditional market

Fish for lunch, perhaps?

Handy with knives. Not afraid of sharing the same odor with fish.
This lady was my favorite character during my visit to Pasar Badung!

One of the fishmonger lady, scooping a handful of finger-sized fish

Why did the chicken cross the road? 

You can find lots of female workers in Pasar Badung, who offer you a service of carrying your groceries. This kind of service is quiet efficient for those who shops a lot and are not physically-capable, or probably just too lazy, to carry their own groceries. For a price of Rp 10.000,00, these female workers will trail around with you the moment you hire them, until you finish your shopping spree. 

During my visit to Pasar Badung, Aunt Tami hired one of the female workers to help her with the groceries. This particular worker is still young, probably at around my age or a couple of years older. I see her as a shy and physically-strong teenager. She followed us for around an hour with an occupied basket on her head. She carried various foodstuff which, I believe, weighed more than a kilo. We gave her Rp 17.000,00 and a glass of mineral water in the end, as a token of gratitude for willing to do such burdensome job.

Why bother going to the gym when you can just develop your
muscles by lifting this particular Mjölnir of Thor?

Those were the foodstuff that we bought. Can you imagine how heavy this basket was?

A boost to lift the basket to the carrier's head was desperately needed

Our adventure at Pasar Badung came to an end. All of us hopped in to the car and drove back home. Mom told me that she bought a package of Bali's traditional snack that I had never seen before. Kue Potong is the name of the snack. It was, more or less, a red-bean-paste-filled bread, cut into several pieces. I find this snack delightful, a bit similar to a Japanese Taiyaki though.

Mom, proudly presenting a package of Kue Potong Bali

Filled with red bean paste, this particular traditional snack is
a bit similar to a Japanese traditional snack named Taiyaki

Lunch at Aunt Tami's home was luxurious, as she ordered lots of Nasi Bungkus Bali for all of us. It was awesome and I was pleased. Who wouldn't be happy if they are served a plate of rice, with two kinds of cooked chicken, fried lungs, a stick of chicken satay, a handful of vegetables, and some chilly pepper? I ate like a pig and had a nap afterwards. It was a well-spent day indeed.

Nasi Campur Bali for lunch!

A luxurious lunch is luxurious

Pasar Badung

Jl. Gajah Mada, Denpasar

Bali - Indonesia

A Trip to Bali (Part 1)

I went on a quick trip to Bali on Monday. I didn't visit the mighty Pulau Dewata merely for vacation, but instead, to attend my Mom's best friend's baby shower. My Mom and I arrived to the airport at half passed twelve, and we still got a lot of time to spare before the plane takes off. So, we decided to stop by at one of the bistro in the airport named Beard Papa.

Beard Papa, you see, sells various trays of mousse-filled puff pastries. This particular bistro originated from Japan. With a santa-claus-like figure as its mascot, Beard Papa attracts dozens of customers and pleased them with its sinfully delicious dessert.

There were five different kinds of puff pastries, which were the original puff, chocolate-coated puff, chocolate-coated puff topped with nuts, chocolate-coated puff topped with almonds, and cookie-crunch puff. Other than the puff pastry, they also have three different mousse fillings, which were chocolate, vanilla, and green tea. Since I'm not a big fan of green tea mousse, nor vanilla mousse, I ordered myself a chocolate-coated puff pastry filled with chocolate mousse. Can you imagine how delicious my cream puff was? 

Then, after I devour my cosmic dessert, I bought half a dozen cream puffs for my mom's best bud. Four original puffs and a couple of chocolate-coated almond-topped puffs, all filled with chocolate mousse. I had to refrain myself from stealing a bite. Fortunately, I succeed and the cream puffs arrived at Bali in one piece. 

Look at that glorious chocolate mousse, almost dripping put of the puff pastry

The sales lady of Beard Papa, injecting the Vanilla mousse into the puff pastry

We were picked up by my Mom's best friend when we arrived at Bali. Tante Tami, or Aunt Tami, is what I usually address her. She's more or less like my Mom, tomboy and easy-going. We stayed at her house, instead of spending extra money to rest our bottoms at a fancy hotel. The night we set foot on Bali, Aunt Tami took us to a restaurant named La Pau. This restaurant is an outdoor restaurant, owned by a family of Chinese. What surprised me was that the food they served were Padang's traditional cuisine, instead of Balinese cuisine or Chinese cuisine. 

I didn't get myself a plate of rice with some meat, only a glass of iced lemon tea. But then, a waitress come to our table and served us a plate of fried bananas. It was Aunt Tami's. "Go on, have some fried banana," she offered. Without any further ado, I grabbed a piece and took a bite. It tasted like any fried bananas would tasted like, but what I like the most is the dough that the chef used to fry the bananas. The dough was crispy and a bit different from the dough that Mom usually used when she's making fried bananas at home. The fried banana tasted different, in a good way, but I enjoyed every bit of it. 

Come get yourself a fork of fried banana before it runs out!

Table Three was served a very nice platter of fried banana

This place is famous for its local band. Latin-Jazz music was the band's forte. I'm not a big fan of Latin, nor Jazz, but I have to say that this  deserved a standing ovation. I enjoyed the music, despite that I was occupied by the thought of me having some shut eyes. A couple of foreigner stepped up in front of the band and started dancing to the beat. They were amusing and entertaining, but still I was pretty occupied by how sleepy I was, not to mention I was holding in my bladder. There was a rest room in this restaurant, but it was dark and a bit creepy. 

Enjoy the rest of the night dancing along to an endless
Latin-Jazz music from La Pau's very own band

Beard Papa

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport

Terminal Three - Domestic Flights, Lt. 2

Tanggerang, Banten

La Pau

Jl. ByPass Ngurah Rai 178

Sanur, Bali - Indonesia

Dad's Lunch

Dad is back at Doha, Qatar. 
God bless those who created Whatsapp and Face Time.

A few hours ago, during lunch time at Doha, Dad IM me through Whatsapp. For those who are not familiar with this peculiar communication tool, Whatsapp is an instant messaging application that can be used by iPhone users. He sent me pictures of what he ate for lunch today. Two pictures were sent from his iPhone, waiting to be downloaded. "What did you have for lunch," I asked my Dad. "We had Tapsilog," replied me Dad, referring to himself and his Indonesian-Japanese room mate. "We had Tapsilog, chicken spring roll, and Capcay. I'm full," he continued. 

I've been to Qatar and I've ate this particular dish before. Dad bought this at a Philippine restaurant, the one that specialized delivery order. Tapsilog is a dish which originated from the Philippines. It consist of garlic rice, fried egg, and some meat. I love the meat the most because it tasted sweet, more or less like beef Teriyaki without the sweet sauce. The rice is savory and delightfully tangy because of the garlic, which goes well with some fried eggs. This dish is usually eaten by Filipinos for breakfast, but as for Dad, he either eat it during lunch, or during dinner. 

A bowl of Tapsilog for Dad's lunch at Doha, Qatar

Some vegetables and fried food as side dishes

(Both pictures were taken by my Dad)