The Boy With the Bread

"Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor" is probably one of the most common thing that you will heard from the society nowadays. You'd probably had stumbled upon the trailer more than a couple of times when you were watching Tv. You may have over heard your friends squealing over someone whose name rhymes with Ginger Ale. Some of you might have flipped when you heard someone pronouncing the term for men's genital part out loud, thinking that the both of you ship the same couple from the story, which made you squeal and spaz like someone who is being electrocuted therefore making you the center of attention for doing such bizarre and slightly-perverted thing. And you might know someone, who is beyond hyped up to read the book but continuously missed the opportunity to grab one at the local bookstore, so she decided to order the trilogy online despite knowing the fact that you can leisurely read the Hunger Games online. If you are aware of such situation, then let me welcome you to the era of the Hunger Games. 

Being a gullible person myself, I got caught up in the Hunger Games the moment Sally blurted out about how awesome the movie is. I watched the movie twice and finished all three books in a week. It's like being hypnotized. I fell for one of the male character in the book, Peeta Melark, who happens to be one of the tributes from district 12 and a baker's son. The image of Peeta's home, which is a bakery, made my stomach grumbles and my mouth watery. I can't escape from the fact that I'm in need of my daily dose of bread.

Bread Talk is one of the most common bakery that you can visit in Jakarta. I usually stop by at the one which is located at Mall Metropolitan, a simple mall near my house at Bekasi. Whenever I get the chance to hang out with my friends at this particular mall, I always find myself passing by the delicious bread corner. There are usually lots of middle-aged ladies filling her personal tray with mountains of appealing bread. Some are decorated with almonds and cream, some are filled with meat and cheese, some are coated with butter, and some are generously covered with chocolate chips. It's an excruciating pleasure to window shopping at Bread Talk.

A tray of almond and vanilla cream coated buns and perfectly
baked buns decorated with sesame seeds on top

Would you eat such buns that look overly adorable?

Other than the fact that owning a bakery is like an having your very own all-you-can-eat event in which you are the only participant, you can also create your own master piece. You get to work with numerous amount of ingredients. Endless buns idea is beyond endless if you have a spoonful of imagination and the urge to please the customer. You don't have to order a birthday cake for your Sweet Sixteen Birthday when you could just make one instead. Dozens of strawberry cheese cakes welcomes you every time when you are in need of something sweet and delightful to indulge. And the fact that you will never go hungry again is simply delightful. 

If I were Peeta, I would probably be surrounded by breads and cakes all the time. I'm not sure if I can decorate cakes as good as the blond teenager, but the thought of drawing on an edible canvass with an edible paint is amusing. Would you like to live the life of the boy with the bread? The worst thing that could happen is that you burn a couple of buns until it's black in color and get a smack on the head. Nothing big. 

A tray of strawberry and raisin creme brulee behind more than a dozen
cheese buns that would make your stomach thumps in happiness.

A couple of tray, filled with buns just came out of the oven.

Martabak Bandung

Martabak is one of the most common food that you can find in Indonesia, other than Gorengan. Martabak is actually a pancake batter, cooked in a particular frying pan, that you can mostly find just besides some sidewalks. There are Martabak Manis, or sweet Martabak literary translated, and Martabak Telur, or a Martabak which was made from a deep fried dough filled with eggs, vegetables, and meat. I love both kinds of Martabak, but the sweet one is my favorite. As a walking tooth myself, I managed to get myself some sweet Martabak a few days ago. 

Martabak Manis, or sweet Martabak, is a cooked pancake batter which is decorated with shredded cheese, crumbled nuts, chocolate sprinkles, and some canned milk. It has a very sweet taste, which came from the sugar which was mixed with the dough, the chocolate sprinkles, and the milk. But, it also has this salty margarin-like flavor, which originated from the margarine that the seller glazed over just after the Martabak was perfectly cooked. The combination of the flavor is just perfect, not to mention if you get yourself a bite of the crust. The crust of the Martabak is my favorite part of the food. Its crunchiness is, somehow, amusing. 

If you managed to stumbled upon any Martabak seller across the street, you should definitely buy some, if you have never tried a bite that is. But then again, if you considered yourself a monthly consumer of Martabak, why not buy yourself a box? We need to eat something so that we could survive through the day, right?

The sight of the Martabak maker beating the dough, so that
it can be cooked on the pre-heated pan

Nuts and chocolate sprinkles as toppings on your
sweet and savory Martabak

A well-cooked Martabak, coated with margarine just so that
it will taste both sweet and a bit salty

Shredded cheese as the first toppings, which is going to be
followed by other toppings on top

A spread of chocolate sprinkles for those who loves chocolate

Some nuts to complete the topping combination

Last, but not least, add a little bit of canned milk so that all
of the toppings will stick together with the Martabak 

Finally, cut the Martabak into a rather palm-sized parts
so that it will be easy for you to consume it

Enjoy your plate of Martabak while it is still hot

A Reward to Myself

Got myself a nice chocolate muffin as a reward 

for being rather productive at school

Have it Your Way

Last Sunday, my Mom and I had the chance to enjoy the weekend. When the mass was over, we rushed to Blok M Square to grab some lunch. Since I had a sore throat on that day, I told my Mom that I was in the mood for some Tamarin Soup. Mom agreed that we were going to have Indonesian cuisine for lunch. But then, the moment we arrived at the city walk, we saw a humongous sign of the famous fast food restaurant. Yes, it was the almighty Burger King, a place where we can dine like kings in our very own castle, a place where we can have everything according to our likes and dislikes, a place where we can have the burgers our way (extra bacon, no vegetables, less onion rings, and stuff like that), and a place where we can get a free wifi. Last Sunday, my Mom and I had lunch like kings!

A tray of delicious burgers and french fries is served! 

When the rich people were too busy choosing the right spoon to finish a bowl
of cream soup, my Mom and I were pretty occupied with burgers and fries

Mom, being a mushroom and cheese enthusiast ordered a Double Swiss Mushroom, along with some mineral water and some freshly fried french fries. As I bacon lover, I got myself a Double BBQ Bacon with french fries and, also, a bottle of mineral water. When I usually eat at Burger King, which is probably once every six months, I go with the single instead of the double. But, somehow, the urge to indulge on such monstrous burger was unbearable. I magically forgot that my throat was hurting. 

Just look at how that swiss cheese melts in between the meat and the bun!

Mom took a bite and the combination of the swiss cheese and the beef
literary explodes in her mouth into fragments of savory substance

My Mom is not the kind of person who would pig out during breakfast, lunch, or dinner, but this time was an exception. She literary devour the Double Swiss Mushroom that she ordered, along with the french fries, and the bottle of mineral water. It's rare to see such imagery, as my Mom doesn't usually order double burgers at any other junk food restaurant, and she couldn't barely finish a stack of french fries claiming that she was full. Mom surprised me by finishing all of the food that was on her tray.

Double BBQ Bacon burger of Burger King is my all-time favorite burger

Spotted a small piece of bacon peeking through the bun as if
it were calling my name, "Eat me, Kinan! Eat me!" 

After lunch, we went to the cinema which was located at the building's seventh floor. We bought two tickets to watch the Woman in Black, who was awesomely and handsomely played by Daniel Radcliffe, and two tickets to watch the Hunger Games. To be honest, Hunger Games was the best movies that I watched on that day. Not that the Woman in Black sucked, but I can't make friends with horror movies. Slasher movies, on the other hand, is one of my favorite movie genre. I am a fan of both Saw and Hostel, just so you know, and other gore and dark themed movies, such as the Human Centipede and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. To those of you who fancy horror movies, Woman in Black is a must watch, not to mention Potter is role playing as a father who works at a Law Firm in the movie. Hunger Games, on the other hand, was beyond awesome! I have not read the book, as I just found out that the movie was based on the book on that day. I cried, giggled, overwhelmed, and amazed by the movie. Yes, it was THAT awesome. I'm planning on re-watching Hunger Games tomorrow with some of my classmates after school.

This week was hectic as usual, and stressful, but I managed to survive. It's Thursday, and tomorrow's Friday, so that means I am going to be reunited with the weekend once again. I hope that you had a great day. Thank you for visiting Milky Way Cafe. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

Keep Calm and Indulge Food