Mung Bean to the Rescue!

AirAsia’s in flight meal has always been my number one backup during those time when I was hungry, but currently undergoing a no-carbs no-sugar diet. I usually go for the mung bean porridge that costs me Rp20.000,00 for each bowl. The portion is not much and the presentation is rather dull and unattractive, but good enough to give me a boost of energy to finish the flight. 

It’s quite decent for an airplane food. The soup tasted sweet and creamy. I once thought that they were using milk and sugar to make the soup, but then my Mom got to try it during her flight to Bali and she confirmed that the soup was made out of coconut milk and palm sugar. True it contains sugar, hence it’s not suitable to be consumed during a no-sugar diet, but palm sugar is way better than those confection sugar, so it’s fine. On the other hand, the mung beans was not mushy and still chewable just how I like them to be. 

The cabin crew can serve the mung bean porridge how you want it to be. In my case, I like my porridge hot, so they put it in the oven first before serving it to me. If you like it cold, they can definitely add some ice cubes into the porridge. Or, if you’re on the safe side, a room temperature porridge is also available.

My New Favorite Restaurant

My new favorite restaurant in town! Kaca Mata Restaurant has the most awesome menu so far. In this particular restaurant, you can find lots of pork and lots of century egg. What is more awesome than a restaurant that serves both pork and century egg? I was beyond excited when my Mom took me to this restaurant. I was ready to order myself a bowl of pork noodle, but when I glanced through the menu, the word "Century Egg" caught my attention. Goodbye noodle, hello black egg!

Mom's lunch, a bowl of Pork Noodle

Those roasted pork were very tempting

Savory broth, brought to you by Kaca Mata Restaurant

Second serving, maybe?

While Mom fill herself with thin and skinny noodle, I spoiled myself with a bowl of porridge. This porridge came in a beautifully drawn bowl that has a lid. I was very very excited as I opened the lid, who knows what manna from heaven could be in there? I was welcomed by a stack of Cahkwe, a deep fried rice dough which originated from China, a large amount of hot and steamy porridge, and two slices of century egg. My mind went, "YAAAAAY!!"

The porridge is very delicious and savory. My Mom said that sesame oil was probably added to the porridge because it tasted different than any other porridge I have ever tasted. The century egg, on the other hand, tasted delicious in an odd way like usual. Very acidic and vinegar-like, and the texture is very mushy yet chewable. I finished the century egg first for some reason, I'm not sure what it is. I usually save the best for the last, but this time, I want to devour it first. The Cahkwe was very crunchy and it went well with the porridge.

My lunch! 

Piles of Cahkwe ready to be indulged

Want some?

The almighty Century Egg, we meet again

The egg yolk is very black and creepy, yet it tasted awesome!

The crunchy and savory Cahkwe

"Mom, what's that over there," I asked my Mom, pointing at the dark red rope-like object hanging behind a glass. "That's what you called Casio Goreng Madu. It's crispy pork, fried with honey, and it tasted very delicious," she answered. Those Casio looked very very very tasty, so we ordered a plate and dig in. 

See those dark red object hanging behind the glass?

A close up of the Casio Goreng Madu

I took a bite of the so-called Casio Goreng Madu, and I immediately lost my sanity. "What is this why can it tasted so delicious I don't even asdfghjkl," I said to myself. I sounded crazy, I know, but wait until you take a bite of this delicious delicacy yourself. You would probably be as sane as I was. 

Casio Goreng Madu is the name of the dish. Crispy pork, bathe in honey and fried until it's crispy. It's very sweet, thanks to the honey, and I love it very very much, especially the burnt one. I have found my new favorite dish of all time, and you can find it at Kaca Mata Restaurant. Do try this dish. It's very delicious, the first bite made me feel like as if I was watching Super Junior's concert. 

Manna from Heaven 

God's epic fingers

Kaca Mata Resraurant

Grand Wijaya Centre

Jl. Wijaya II, Blok C No. 4

Jakarta Selatan, DKI Jakarta

Phone: (021) 723 5228

A Well-spent Saturday

A couple Saturdays ago, Icha and I went to our best bud's house to catch up on things. We were going to pick her up and go to a fancy mall named Central Park - I found out that there was this photo booth at the ground level of the mall that we can use for free, plus we could get some souvenirs after we used it. Free stuff at its best! - but a sudden change of plans occurred. We ended up spending the entire day at Dila's house, simply reminiscing the good old times we had back then when we were in junior high. 

It was in the late afternoon when Icha and I couldn't bare the urge to nibble on something. "I got some hot chocolate drinks if you want," said Dila. Both of us cheered happily and followed Dila to the kitchen. She took three packages of Cadburry's Hot Chocolate Drink and some glasses. I was overwhelmed by how pretty the packaging was. "Do you have cookies," I asked to Dila. She shook her head and told me that we could just walk to the nearest Circle K around the neighborhood to buy some. I agreed, then the three of us started to make our finest Dila's Style Iced Chocolate.

Milk is the key to make a good chocolate drink. After we mixed the Cadburry with some warm water, Dila took out a carton of Ultra Milk's full cream milk. She poured some milk to each of our glasses, then she took a tray of ice cubes from the freezer and let us take as many ice cubes as we want. I'm not that fond of ice cubes because they make me have sore throat, but I put aside such thought at took five thumb-sized ice for my chocolate drink. Boy, do they look fine!

Add some full cream milk to achieve an A+ in the art of iced chocolate making

Voila! Your homemade iced chocolate is ready to be indulged

Store them in the fridge to make them even icier

After we were done with the iced chocolate, we store them in the fridge and headed to a mini market. Since we were a bit hungry, we decided to buy some instant food other than just a pack of cookies. I didn't feel well that day, so I decided to get myself a nice instant noodle, while Dila and Icha stuffed themselves with a couple of spicy instant noodles.

A couple bowl of instant noodles for Icha and Dila, and some instant porridge for me

The soonest we arrived at home, we took out our heat-and-serve food and started to prepare. I was taken aback by how my instant porridge looked like. When I put the so-called dry porridge in the bowl, I'm a bit disturbed by how similar they looked like to shredded candles. Yes, candles. They share the same look like candles, all shiny and waxy and plastic-like. Icha and Dila told me that it was okay to consume such alien food, so I immediately poured some hot water in to the bowl and started mixing. 

The candle-like object started to melt and gradually turning into a normal porridge. Good, it started to look eatable, I said to myself. I added some seasonings and some crackers, and had a spoonful of it. It tasted fine, just like how a normal porridge would tasted like. But, the moment the previous sight of the uncooked waxy objects came back, I lose my appetite. I managed to finish half of it though. I don't think I'm going to eat instant porridge ever again.

On the other hand, Dila and Icha were busy preparing their instant noodles. Watching them pouring some hot water to the normal-looking instant noodles that they bought made me regret my decision of choosing the porridge. Their noodles were spicy, especially Icha's. I took a sip of each broth and the first thing that popped out in my mind was "chemical substance". The noodles were as chemically bad as the porridge, only more normal-looking and contains more flavor. Well, at least we had something to eat. 

After we were done with the main course, the desserts were served. Three glasses of iced chocolate milk and some cookies decorated the table, and we were all excited, despite the fact that the three of us were a bit full from gulping down the noodles and the porridge. 

The iced chocolate was icier than before it was stored in the fridge and, somehow, creamier and thicker. A pack of Good Time's chocolate chips cookies contains three parts, which four pieces of cookies in each part. We divided the cookies fairly and started dipping them into the chocolate drink. It tasted nice! Milk-dipped cookies tasted better than your regular dry cookies, the same theory that can be applied with Oreo. The cookies got sweeter, creamier, and a bit cold by getting dipped into the iced chocolate. We finished the dessert in about half an hour and we were pleased.

A pack of Arnott's sinful chocolate chips cookies

Bon appetite!

KKKID, the name we call ourselves, were reunited and we ate delicious food the entire day. We also watched some episodes of Glee Season 3 and danced to our signature songs, which was followed by watching Vantage Point while waiting for Icha's driver to pick us up. It was a well-spent Saturday indeed. 

During One of Those Windy Nights

What could be better than a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallow, or a nice cup of warm lemon tea, during a cold and windy night? Any warm or hot food and beverages are always welcome to be companions for those who are in need. I, personally, am a type of person who would mindlessly indulge a cone of cookies 'n cream flavored ice cream during winter season (Not that Indonesia has winter season, I meant in those countries that has snow roaming around the city on January). I cannot state that it is not cold, nor freezing, when I eat an ice cream when the temperature is at around 4 degrees or lower, but I find it amusing to do such thing, not to mention I'm a big fan of ice cream. You can say that I have no problems with eating cold treats during a chilly day.

It is now the rainy season in Indonesia. Jatibening, Bekasi, has been a victim of a brutal heavy rain and tornado-like wind, pouring and blowing through the day. Sometimes it occurs during the day, sometimes during the night, and sometimes both. As a person who can stand cold, I somehow cannot manage to go to school without a sweater during this kind of season. The temperature here is not surprisingly low, but the wind that blows and the chilly atmosphere are the things that I cannot simply bare. This is the kind of breeze that would make you fall ill in just a matter of time. To prevent diseases to occur, I took the liberty to stop by at the nearby food stall near my house to grab myself a hot bowl of porridge on Tuesday night.

What is more awesome than to indulge porridge, with shredded chicken, cheese sticks, kerupuk, and cakwe as toppings, during a windy and chilly night? I am thankful that I still have the time to enjoy such things. I still remember the taste of the porridge, that goes swell with the sweet soy sauce, that made a perfect combination with the cheese sticks. The moment the spoon, which was filled with porridge and other food stuf, goes into your mouth, you will get this warm and fuzzy feelings running through your vein. This kind of activity is delightful, not to mention if you eat it when your stomach is empty. Porridge will always be one of my favorite food to indulge, other than sweets and meat. 

A bowl of porridge, fresh from the pan, ready to be
eaten along with its delicious toppings