Last post of 2011...

2012 is coming in a blink! Suddenly 2011 is almost over. Before this year end, I said to myself, let's make a list of what I could be grateful for throughout this year.

1. I'm thankful for my parents ♥. I thank God that they're healthy, and take a really good care of me.

2. I'm thankful for my sister & my brother in law. I'm glad their wedding day went very well last July. Though my sister is annoying and talkative most of the time, I should thank her that she often treat me, hihihi.

3. I'm thankful for my friends. This year, I've been through several ups and downs, but God always helps me to get through all of my problems, one of His way is by giving me such great friends, who are always there when I need someone to listen, when I need a shoulder to cry on, when I need someone to pray for me. Thank God for them ♥

4. I'm thankful for my job. It might not be my dream job, or the best paid job, but still, millions of people are jobless out there and hardly fulfill their daily needs, meanwhile I could enjoy good food regularly.

5. I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve Him. I'm sorry Lord, If I didn't give my all, but I'm learning to.

6. I'm thankful that I could travel several times this year.

7. I'm thankful for the people who read my blog, especially for the ones who read it regularly :D

Actually there are still sooo many things I am thankful of, but this post gonna be super long if I write it one by one, besides, I love the number 7 :D

So, at my last post of this year, I just wanna share with you, that every time I try to rewind my days, weeks, months, years, I get one big conclusion, GOD IS GOOD and His goodness will never end. Never stop give thanks!

Have a blessed 2012 readers! ♥

Reflecting on God’s faithfulness in the past

brings hope for the future.

(ODB)

Munchies...

This one gonna be a quick post. So, few days ago, me and my friends were looking for a lunch spot at Gandaria City, and after a few options, we picked Munchies. The place looked cozy.

They offered food like pasta, sandwiches, meaty main course, and munchies (snacks).

That day, all of us decided to order the lunch set menu. The menu consisted of a few selections of pastas / a few selections of sandwiches / a few selections of rice menu + tea / coke for 58K++

There were 6 of us, 1 ordered the Aglio e Olio Spaghetti (I did), 1 ordered the Mushroom & Almond Spaghetti, and 4 ordered the Salmon Marinara Spaghetti. Mine came first, it tasted quite good, lotsa garlic in it, a bit spicy, with beef slices on it, but I think it wasn't special. The Mushroom one was creamy, I didn't taste it. The Salmon Marinara came last (I almost finished mine when they came), well, not my favorite kind of pasta sauce, that's why I stick with pesto or aglio e olio.

Overall, the pasta were good, but not special, also they came in small portions (at least for my tummy). If you came here, maybe you should try their burger & sandwiches, for they all look appealing.

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Munchies
Gandaria City
Mainstreet Ground Floor,
Jl. KH. Syafi’i Hadzami No. 8, Kebayoran Lama
Jakarta Selatan
Tel. (+6221) 29053076

Collage...

On Christmas day (MERRY CHRISTMAS!), I had dinner with my family at the newly opened hotel Pullman - Central Park (hotel yang attached sama Central Park), nama restorannya Collage. Oh, me love buffet! Sebelumnya, kakak gw sebagai sponsor utama acara makan malam ini telah menyurvey beberapa restoran di hotel lainnya, dan di hari Natal, harganya langsung pada meroket, nah mungkin karena Collage ini baru buka, jadi harga untuk festive season pun masih harga normal, yay! Untuk dinner, Collage available @ 6PM.

Kegiatan setelah duduk, dan berdoa makan, pastinya beredar from station to station, memantau apa aja yang menarik untuk dimasukkan ke dalam perut. Variasi makanannya cukup banyak, dan menarik, here are some of the stations (from sandwich, salad, to dessert):

Okay, targets locked! Below were some of the food I managed to taste:

Salmon Sashimi

Oh, how I love raw salmon more than the cooked one. This one was quite fresh, yum!

Spaghetti with Mushroom, Bacon, & Pesto Sauce

Bingung gak penampakan spaghetti kayak mie keriting? Sama, eke juga bingung, haha. Di pasta station, pastanya dimasak langsung saat kita pesan, jadi bisa milih, mau pastanya apa, isinya apa, pake sauce-nya apa. Rasa oke lah.

Roasted Lamb, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Lobster Ragout, Baked Cajun Potatoes

Semuanya enak!

Vegetarian Briyani, Roasted Duck, Seafood Kurma, Chicken Curry

All was quite good, but I didn't really like the briyani. Roasted duck-nya agak out of the group yah, haha, Chinese in between Indian.

Pumpkin Soup

I never had a pumpkin soup before, ternyata rasanya manis-manis gitu yah, jadi rada ga cocok di lidah, but tasted better when I added some salt & pepper.

Fried Dumpling, Smoked Salmon, Chicken Katsu
Dumplingnya standard, smoked salmon-nya tasty, chicken katsu yang standard lah.

Siew May, Steamed Dumpling, Hakau

I only ate the siew may, not bad, tapi banyak siew may lain yang lebih enak :D

Assorted Fishcakes with Tom Yam soup

Yang di atas ini dari noodle station, benernya sih pelengkap kalo makan kwetiaw atau mie gitu, tapi karena cuma tertarik sama bakso-baksoannya yah jadi ga pake mie. Kuahnya bisa pilih mau yang biasa ato tom yam, I chose tom yam. Baksonya sih yang kayak bakso-bakso ikan yang dijual di supermarket gitu lah sama, sama-sama enak juga, hehe. Untuk kuah tom yam-nya sendiri menurut gw rada keasinan.

Tuna Quiche

Perut udah hampir meledak sebenernya waktu nyobain ini, tapi tetep enak rasanya :D

Tiramisu, Sus Praline Mousse, Blueberry Cheesecake, Sus

Dalam rangka Christmas, dessertnya banyak yang dihias dengan coklat berbentuk snowman, lucunya. Tiramisunya terlalu pait buat gw, cheese cakenya delicious, susnya oke.

Apricot Green Tea Pannacotta, Macaroon

Untuk panacotta-nya, gw suka bagian green tea-nya, karena gw ga terlalu suka yang asem-asem. Untuk yang into sour, mungkin suka sama apricotnya. I'm not into macaroon, cm karena warna-warninya menggoda mata, jadi pengen nyoba satu, and as I predicted, it was too sweet for me.

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I'm full! Super full! Setiap makan all you can eat juga gini, datang excited, pulang dengan perut hamil 4 bulan. Overall, Collage worth a try, apalagi selama bulan Desember, weekdays, masih discount 25%, jadi pas Minggu malam kemarin, per pax kena 175K nett (udah termasuk air putih free flow), untuk normalnya sekitar 230K nett. Tapi untuk buffet hotel, The Cafe masih jadi favorit gw sampe saat ini :)

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Collage
Pullman Jakarta Central Park Hotel and Resort
Jl. Let. Jend S. Parman Kav. 28, Jakarta
Tel. (021) 2920-0088

Jackrabbit [CLOSED]

Biar terlambat asal nyobain, begitulah kira-kira tema review gw kali ini. Nama Jackrabbit ini sempat hip beberapa bulan lalu di Jakarta. Gw pernah baca beberapa review dari tentang tempat ini, dari awal-awal dibuka yang bilang makanannya oke, sampe beberapa bulan kemudian dibilang ada penurunan soal rasa. Berhubung waktu itu ada voucher-nya, yawda dicobain aja deh daripada penasaran :)

Letaknya di daerah Kuningan, tepatnya di gedung Cyber 2, di bagian luar-nya. Bentuk ruangannya memanjang, antara smoking & non smoking section tidak ada pembatasnya sih, cuma beda area aja. Di bagian depat ada bar-nya. Overall suasananya cozy, pas saat datang jam lunch & weekdays, ga terlalu banyak tamunya.

Judul dari restoran ini adalah : Jackrabbit - Cuisine & Libation, apa itu libation? Coba lihat gambar di bawah, di napkin mereka tercetak artinya :D

Menu lunch-nya ternyata cuma sedikit, dan setiap minggu ada weekly special-nya. Sementara kalau untuk minumannya banyak banget, terutama seputar wine, cocktails, liquor, dkk-nya.

Our orders:

Iced Tea (Free - for every purchase of main course)

Jarang di restoran tipe gini bisa dapat minuman gratis dengan pemesanan makanan, ini mungkin salah satu nilai plus-nya!

Complimentary Bread (Free)

Dan seperti restoran-restoran setipe lainnya, selalu disediakan complimentary bread. Nothing special, but nothing to complain either :)

French Mushroom & Truffle Soup (45K++)

The soup was served with homemade baguette. The baguette was delicious. Awalnya gw pikir yang akan disajikan adalah sejenis cream soup, ternyata soupnya encer & dark. Rasanya unik, but sadly I couldn't describe the ingredients.

Japanese Garden Salad (50K++)

Isinya ada wakame, shitake, garlic sheet, dengan soy ginger vinaigrette. I'm not a salad lover, but nothing to complain about the salad. But my friend said, it wasn't as fresh as the other Japanese salad she has tasted.

Chicken Quesadillas (69K++)

I love the quesadillas! Fillingnya pas, rasanya pas, salsa-nya jg pas!

Duck Confit Risotto (85K++)

The risotto was good! Erm, sesungguhnya saya tidak mengerti jenis beras apa yang digunakan untuk membuat nasinya, ukurannya lebih besar dari beras biasa (kurang pengetahuan neh -_-) Keseluruhan rasanya oke, dagingnya juga banyak. Jamur yang digunakan untuk menu ini, jamur champignon, dan lembaran tipis di atas risotto itu adalah keju jenis grana padano.

Baked Lava Cake (48K++)

The lava cake was super! Pelengkapnya caramel ice cream. Hiasannya juga lucu, coklat berbentuk kelinci yang awalnya ga tega untuk gw makan tapi akhirnya dimakan juga, isinya melted chocolate & cherry. The lava cake was gooey and warm, dengan rasa rum yang cukup kental, tapi kalo disuruh habisin sendiri, gw gak bakal sanggup, I couldn't stand too much sweet. Cocoknya ini untuk dimakan berdua. My friend also loved this dessert very much!

Overall, we had a nice lunch experience here, the service was also good, considering a few restaurants gave a bad service because we were using vouchers.

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Jackrabbit
Cyber 2 Building
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said X 5 No. 13, Jakarta
Tel. (021) 2902-1357