Jakarta ` Ta Wan

Jakarta has a lot of eating places. It is just that one don't know where to eat.

Found this Big Bowl restaurant named Ta Wan.

They serve a la carte that you can order to eat with plian rice.

But I feel they are famous for porridge.

This is Century egg Chicken porridge.


The porridge was really smooth , reminds me of Macau porridge.
Price?? Quite reasonable too, around Rp15,000.




This is fried rice, your normal fried rice, Yangchow style.
The chillies on the table gives you the kick, spicy and hot too.
And they put three different types on the table for you to scoop as much as you want.



The last dish is Singapore seafood noodles at Rp20,500.
They gave small prawns and qguids as seafood.
The taste reminds you of Sang Meen.
Not too bad though. But I still love the porridge, ordered two bowls in the end.

This is their logo.

And while leaving the place, saw this sign at a lot.......

Wah, not bad, not too bad....

Ah Tuan Ee is coming to town with their jiu hu char and nonya asam prawns....



Dunno when they arrive, I hope soon.....keke

Jakarta...Transjakarta Busway

Another way to beat the traffic in Jakarta.

This is the busway...cross between LRT and Rapid KL/Penang.

The ticket is priced at Rp3500 one way, and like the LRT, you have

many Lines, 7 in total.

So you can go to a certain station and switch to another line,

exactly like the LRT.

There are dedicated lanes for the buses and no other buses are

allowed to use these lanes. (KL did it before)

So, it is a smooth ride.

It solves the residents' problems. Thay are able to travel across

to another section of Jakarta easily, and cheaply too.

This is a look at the substation.


The structures are the same everywhere.


The exits are labelled according to the Lines....and one lines up at the entrances inside .


And to add to the peoples' convenience, there are overhead bridges too.


The bus lines are recognised by the colour of the buses.

See, the bridges are nice.


See, the lanes are solely for the busway, and look at the traffic jam, they called

machet.


Inside the substation, the crowd is unbearable, because at each stop,

the buses pick up around 15 passengers only. So one has to wait one's turn

patiently. And the people of Jakarta are a real patient lot, I never see

them pushing their way around, ven when it is so suffocating.


See what I mean, it is like a LRT station. You use also a card to go in.


It is really an experience to travel in the Busway.

At least you can feel how the locals go about their daily chores.

Happy Buswaying using the Trasnjakarta.

Ah Mei Cafe in Jakarta

There is a Ah Mei Cafe in Jakarta,

Origin: Singapore.

The surrounding is quite nice... It is in the Puri Indah Mall.


Service is good. To call the waiter just say, mas...

the waitress, call mmmmmbak.

They will come to you. Whatever you want just call them.


Inside the cafe are photos of Singapore on the walls.


Most of the menu are Singapore food.



This is Mee Rebus. See the green chillies. Not too hot though.

Its quite thick, maybe that's the way Singaporeans like them.


I love the Roti Canai. They call Roti Prata. This is the set with chicken curry at

Rp29,000, if I am not mistaken. The roti canai was very crispy with a very

good taste too. Just love the roti,

Curry was the usual thick version.



They have also murtabak, this is the one with mutton filling.

They also gave the mutton kuah, quite nice.



Dessert, bubur cha cha....It's good but very very sweet, had to add water twice.

I guess that's the way Indonesians like their food. They have a sweet tooth.


Overall, the food was good.

Jakarta ~~ Travelling around town

Travelling in Jakarta is quite convenient, but tedious.........

One has to mingle with the daily crowd, be it adults or school children.

After their school , joined the school kids on a minivan ride.


Got into the minivan, took a seat, this is what I saw...........


It's quite miserable to be inside a minivan, suffocating and outside the traffic was

blaring their horns as well.

The minivan driver know all the shortcuts, weaving in and out to beat the jam, or

what the locals call machek (for jam)..........

Anyway, to while away the time, just look around,..............many nice houses

along the way.








And even a helipad.....


Well the trip was worth it, at least you know the locals feel and live their day.

A ride in a minivan costs Rp3,500 per head, the driver however insisted

Rp4,000 each. Gave him the money, just don't want to create a scene.

Just not worth it, anyway.

Corn soup~~ not pureed....

Had some corn left in the fridge.....searched online for a recipe to play with,

but found most of them where the soup is to be pureed.

So, decided to cook the clear soup style.

Fry garlic in hot oil, add the corn

(two of types of cutting up: cut in 4 pieces / cut up the kernels),

Stir fry until fragrant.

See the hot corn with steam???

Add chicken pieces and diced up carrots.

see the burnt corn???

Add chicken stock and bring to boil,



That's the simple way of cooking corn soup, without any measurements.

The soup.....

Happy cooking.

Why Garbage enzyme??

Garbage enzyme...what is it??

It is enzyme that removes odor, molds and grime, it's antibacterial and anti-viral.

We can contribute to the climate change through this simple DIY formula using kitchen waste

(fruits' skin and unwanted vegetables).

It helps in protecting our ozone layer and lower global temperature.

It also provides a natural and environment friendly by using the enzyme liquid as a household

cleaner, air purifier, laundry and floor detergent, shampoo , body care, car care and or course

as fertiliser.

It's all natural, and in fact, it doesn't even smell and actually acts as an insecticide as well!

I use it to keep away ants.

But in a summary, its is used to make the world a better place to live in.

I know how to make it and use it.

I use them this way:

You mix one part of the enzyme to 10 parts of water and add to your shampoo.

Proportion is up to you, I suppose.

Wash your hair and you will feel that your hair is cleaner and won't itch.

Add to the pail of water for mopping your floor and you will feel the floor

squeaking clean. A lot of uses for the enzyme in the house.

So, I am going to teach you how to make this garbage enzyme.

Ingredients

1. 1 kg brown sugar
2. 3 kg orange peel~ skin ( or any flavour that you like, pineapple skins, etc etc)
3. 10 litres of water


You must have a water tight container, if not you will find worms wriggling).

Furthermore, you cannot fill the container until the brim, gases will be produced

in the process.

So, for a 5 liter water bottle........

I used 1.2 kg orange skin.

After eating an orange, I keep the skin in my fridge.

This is what I got from many days of eating.


The water container.....

Cut the orange skins up to small pieces and push them into the container.



Dissolve the brown sugar in 1 litre of the water.


Top up the water to only 4 liters..............because we use only 40% of the whole recipe.



See, there is still some space in between the water level and the cap.

So the procedure is complete.

The enzyme will be ready to be used......only after 3 months.

So, if you make it today, your enzyme will be ready only on 12 February 2009.

Below are some bottles of the enzyme which are ready to be used.......

I made them three months ago..

See how the mixture looks like after 3 months.




Happy making the enzyme. It really is useful and very effective to be used.

Really liked the enzyme. That's why I need to share it with all of you.

Langkawi ~~ Long time no see...

Away to Langkawi.....

In Langkawi, it's quite easy to travel around.

It's either by taking their taxis, sedans or vans and telling them where you

want to go.

Or, one can also rent a Kancil at RM40 per day or Iswara at RM50 a day.

Renting a car will make visiting tourist spots easier, but one has to look

out for the turns here and there.

You cannot get lost in Langkawi as it is an island, you just have to go

round and round if you miss a turn.

So this is where I went, of course, not in one day, but several..

Touched down at Langkawi airport.

The view from the plane.

The airport.

The important eagle in Langkawi town, Kuah.

Look out from where the eagle landed.

Another famous legend in Langkawi.

The island is engraved on the stone.

Managed to enter a very nice hotel, the cheapest was RM1800 a night.

A very nice surrounding, indeed.

Really nice architecture that they have.

See, even the toilets were not spared from our peering eyes.

The reception, the people were very friendly.

The place to sit while you relax ....in front of the scenery below.

See, such a scenery to behold.

The other corner of the same place.

The surrounding.

Lucky, as we were there , sunset was about to begin.

By the beachfront.

See, so many people checking in as when we were leaving the place.

The wonderful resort, Four Seasons Resort, Langkawi.

Adjourned to nearby Tanjung Rhu beach to get a clearer view of sunset.

That concluded part of my journey on Day 1.

On Day2, decided to go and see TunMahathir's bakery that
a lot of people were talking about.
Harbour Place.

Harbour Place is like a parking lot, but it's not for cars but for yachts to anchor.

Tun's yacht was also there, but we didn't snap a picture of that.

See, the boardwalk at the Place.

Really soothing to walk by the sidewalk.

See the number of yachts there.

Finally saw the bakery, the Loaf.

By the time we bought the bread there, there were not many choices to choose from.

According to the cahsier, there are more choices in the morning.

Bought a few buns, they didn't taste any special to me..

That concluded my tour of Harbour place.

This is the view from Langkawi's top, so it seems.

Tried to follow our way to Datai Bay, supposedly nice scenery there.

But didn't manage to reach the end because it's private property.

Passed through this 100 m tunnel on the way back from there.

So, had a disappointing tour to Datai Bay.

Left the island, but while waiting to fly, had a muffin and Americano coffee

at Kenny Roger's at the airport.

Tooks some final pictures of Langkawi....won't be coming again in the not too distant future.

Had to take photos of the plane, because it looked very very new.

Scenery of Langkawi from the top.

Had to prove it's new alright.

That's the end of my Langkawi trip. Tata.