Selamat Hari Sumpah Pemuda!

Sumpah Pemuda, which literally translates to “Youth Pledge” is one of the most important events in the history of Indonesia. Declared on October 28, 1928, it propels the youth movement towards Indonesia’s independence. The pledge says:

To celebrate this day, today’s blog post is going to be about my visit to Museum Sumpah Pemuda, Kramat, Jakarta.

Om nom nom.

While no one can really confirm where the term originally comes from—Cookie Monster? Random people expressing the deliciousness of their food?—it is now known as the universally accepted expression of enjoying a good meal. So, when a restaurant is named similarly to that term, you know it has to give you a good dining experience. Meet Nomz Kitchen and Pastry, a less-than-one-year-old establishment at Grand Indonesia, Jakarta.

Dusun Bambu is located in one of the “hippest” city in Indonesia, Bandung. Well, not exactly in Bandung, but a little bit farther: Lembang. Since the Dutch colonial times, Lembang has been widely recognised as a scenic location, perfect for weekend getaways. Dusun Bambu spans across a 15-hectare area surrounded by the Burangrang Mountains; it is equipped with a man-made lake, gardens full of blooming flowers, traditional Sundanese food stalls, and sweet Lembang strawberries.

Located at the heart of Jakarta's Chinatown is Yi Xiang, one of the few restaurants that truly have original roots from China. The cook’s family came all the way from Shenzhen, China. Even ordering is more efficient when done in Chinese language; they can only speak Bahasa Indonesia minimally. You can order through the waiter, but because of the language boundary, the waiter sometimes can’t perfectly communicate your order to the cook as well.

Yi Xiang’s speciality is pio/pioh, a dish made of the meat and shell of turtles. In Indonesia, it is said that the dish is made using green turtles, not the endangered soft-shelled turtles used in China. The turtle body parts will be poached in some Chinese herbs, goji berries, ginger, and God-knows what else. If you’re interested in trying pio, Yi Xiang suggests diners to reserve a day in advance, so they have plenty of time to prepare the soup to develop a more complex flavour.

Six months after my trip to Paris, there are a few things that really stand out amongst all the hundreds of memories I’ve made (including the free Paris Metro story that I told in the previous post), one of them is the French pastry. As a huge fan of eating everything pastry, coming to Paris was such an exhilarating experience. Even the most-likely-made-from-frozen-dough croissants sold at Carrefour Paris tastes très bien.

French pastry, je t’aime.

Paris, the city of lights. Dwelling of “The Iron lady”.  Home to one of the most complicated metro systems in the world. There are numerous comprehensive articles on the internet—like this one—that you should definitely read to get a better idea on how to survive on Paris Metro. But not this article. This article focuses on some fun facts about Paris Metro and my experience of using it for five days. I realise visiting Paris for five days doesn’t make me an expert, but here it is anyway! Click to read on!

Social media savvies most likely have seen a picture of cute-looking pandas on a plate of curry, or intriguing churros with chocolate inside a syringe. Those two dishes belong to Itadakimasu, one of the hottest restaurants in Pantai Indah Kapuk area. They look extremely cute that we can’t help but hopping on a car and visiting the restaurant as soon as possible. After all, what could go wrong when pandas are involved? A lot of things, apparently.