Cukup Sudah...

..ku katakan..
Untuk kesekian kali...
(taken from Cukup Sudah, Glen Fredly)

Cukup sudah... Aku dah tak nak pi Bandung lagi! For the past 3 years I've been going to Bandung..every year. Dah cukup la asyik bershopping and beli merepek2. Tak payah la Indonesia nak promo, Visit Year what not.. aku datang dengan rela hati. Next year (mark my word)... nak pi somewhere else la.. maybe Jakarta.. or Yogjakarta.

This trip around, I went with Ija. Aku jugak la meracun dia, Bandung shopping best. Bandung shopping best. It's RM600 per person for 4D3N with Air Asia, flight and accomodation. To me, RM600 is rather pricey... coz I think my last trip cost about Rm300. Everytime pergi.. I told myself ala duduk hotel murahan aje... tapi bila browse2 website tu.. hati tu gatal.. nak jugak duduk area yang best. Kalau boleh nak stay kat dalam factory outletnya.. supaya tak payah jalan jauh.

So we stayed at this 3-4 star hotel call Grand Seriti... in Jalan Hergamanah. Area kat hotel ni, aku regard mcm area Hartamas or Bangsar. It has rows of huge mansions... and high class supermarket. Ala2 standard Mercato or Cold Storage. Besides that, there's McD and Pizza Hut within walking distance. We also discovered that there's a SPA nearby. Dan yang paling penting sekali, it's quite near Rumah Mode and gerai2 nasi goreng kegemaranku.

Highlights of the trip:

1. Hotel Grand Seriti

Hotel ni brand new and there's a promo on. Takpe ke jakun sbb most of the hotels in Indonesia takde carpeting. This hotel sbb nak class sket kan.. so ada carpet. The bathroom.. siap ada shower stall. Nice cozy beds... and the room has.. wait for it.. a flat screen tv! Sempat la tgk promo drama title Manohara which will be aired during Ramadhan!

I think the hotel are renovated mansions. It has two blocks, side by side and connected by a covered.. sort of sky bridge. Hari-hari pergi breakfast.. has to cross over. Tak jauh pun.... but at least some exercise for us.

So the next day, lo and behold.. what a spread waiting for us at the breakfast buffet. Well, again, my comparisons are against other Indonesia hotel that I've stayed in before. There's separte cold cuts, pancake and egg station, and dessert and bread stations. Kalau kat KL mmg la biasa. Siap ada jus mak neka plak tu. Minum sampai nak terkencing. Anyhoo, the bubur and all it's condiments (siap ada telur puyuh pindang) was nice and everyday ada aje tempe for breakfast. Need I say more?

2. Ice cream durian

Tu dia! Here's the picture of the ice cream durian that I mentioned in my previous posting. So... it's vanila ice cream, durian, ice cream again... and top of with chocolate flavoured condensed milk. Eh.. wait a second.. chocolate flavoured? Tak pernah jumpa pun kat Malaysia. We had a couple of shots of the ice cream.. then, apa lagi.. dig in! After the first bite, we were in heaven. We sat at the steps of Grande factory outlet while enjoying the heavenly (memang turun dari langit!) treat. Sure orang yang lalu tu pelik, because we keep on Oohhh.. Ahhh ing while eating. I almost want to get a second.. tapi lepas makan and shopping, rasa perut dah pusing sbb banyak sgt makan.

3. Kedai Kain at Pasar Baru.

I did plan to buy kain nak buat baju kurung. So, we stopped by this shop because it was so meriah. There were another group of ladies from Malaysia already there. I was quickly attracted to this colourful god knows what type of material. But according to the other ladies, this would cost about Rm40 per meter in KL. This place is selling it for RM18 per meter. Wah, tetiba the saudagar kain in me has awaken. The folks at the shop was very helpful and friendly. They even served us Teh Botol while choosing the kain. I suppose this is a cheap version of the mat salleh being served champange while shopping at Dior or Gucci. I don't have pictures here, though I remember berposing sakan dengan kain-kain tu semua. Must be with Ija's camera. Hahahahah...

After rolls and rolls of material being laid before my eye, I grew tired. So I sat down instead and ask the guys and girls to parade the materials that I have choosen from the rack. Very entertaining :

Guy no 1: " Ya, kak.. ini kainnya fashion baru. Jika kakak pakai ni.. sama seperti Maya Kebungita (or something that sounds like it..)

Me: " Ha, sape?"

Guy no 1: "Dia pelakon kak..."

Me: (while thinking to myself mesti a cross over of Luna Maya with Manohara...)"Err tak nak la.."

Guy no 2: (while placing the materials behind him.. and holding it like a super hero cape) " yang ini kak... warnanya lemmbuut sekali.. jika kakak pakai yang ni, rasa macam nak terbang sajaa..

I kid you not

Me: "hahhaha ngarut la..." (while thinking to myself, kepala hotak kau)

So I walked out from the shop with 1.5 juta (rupiah.. hehe) worth of kain. Ambik kau.

4. SPA on sale

During one of our trips to the supermarket... mostly just browsing, we stumbled upon this Spa. And guess what? It has a promotion! 50% off for all Spa package. Apa lagi, we were pampered from head to toe. Dari pukul 4 sampai pukul 8. Sampai kedai nak tutup. I fell asleep during the pmeni/pedi. Ija sneaked a snap of me sleeping. Sekali tu the flash went off, minah yang tengah sental kaki aku terkejut beruk.. aku pun terkejut. Nasib tak tercabut kuku kaki aku. Hahah. So in the end, I paid about 150,000 rupiah.. which is about RM50 for pedi, meni, massage and lulur. Tak dapat kat KL. Err ni pun gambar must be in Ija's camera.

5. Jus Mangga

Ok, kedai or rather gerai makan ni was at the end of the jalan nearby our hotel. Kalau tengok dari luar, ya rabbi memang tak sanggup nak try. It's built around a lamp post ok. The tables were placed around a frickin huge lamp post. It has a old dirty tarp as it's roof. Macm khemah pelarian Kampucia pun ada jugak.. We had to wait outside for a bit because the place was packed. Takde meja. We contemplated to eat on the bench outside.. tapi lapar sangat lepas the rejuvenating yet cheap spa, we decided mesti nak makan betul2, hence we need a proper table.

So we waited for about 10 minutes, while giving the evil eyes to those yang dah habis makan but still nak lepak situ. While waiting we were checking out the menu. Oh My! Never looked at the menu while hungry. Semua benda nak makan. Finally we got a table. I opted for the standard Nasi Goreng... almost nak makan Nasi Goreng kambing, tapi habis pulak. Then, we were eyeing something that looks like yong tau fu which turn out tak berapa sedap. And Ija had Indomee sup. Then for drinks, we had our eyes set on the ice blended juice. I order Mangga and Ija order Durian Belanda.

Here's what puzzling me. Dari mana dtg the electricity? Did they steal it from the lamp post? The gerai had 2 ice blender going. Hebat. And here comes the food

OH. MY.GOD. The jus mangga just won Anugerah Turun Dari Langit ke 6 dari aku. Do you guys know Kuini? It's a sedara mara of buah mangga.. Maybe some people call it buah bachang. Tapi my family call it Kuini la. So imagine, this buah.. already over riped and sweet, the smell mengancam... then u take it and blend it... but don't blend it till it's all juicy.. just leave it at mushy stage. Just look at the picture. It's 99% pure mangga je, takde tambah-tambah air. Pekat and tak tau nak cakap macam mana..except... BEST GILA!

6. Saudagar Brownie

Right, I spend, maybe 10 minutes... top, at the Brownie factory/bakery/ whatever you call it. Disebabkan ramai yang mengirim dan kerana juga syaitan telah memberikan kata-kata semangat, I ended up buying close to 12 boxes of assortment of Brownies and Kek Lapis. Tetiba, keluar dengan kotak besar siap berikat cantik. Sungguh memalukan sebab naik flight kena bawak kotak ok. Macam orang kampung balik bawak ayam, la tikar la apa la. Dah la dalam flight semua overhead compartment dah penuh, so terpaksa la steward tu letakkan my precious cargo in the compartment a few seats in front of me. Takut plak ada orang hijack brownies aku. Besides the kotak, kat airport sempat lagi borong brownies lagi. Ya rabbi! Hahahah. Tapi takpe la.. puas hati dapat makan puas-puas and dapat jamu orang di office and friends. Anak sedara aku makan.. sampai nak jilat kotak. Si Ija kata dia pun belasah makan satu kotak sorang-sorang. Brownie ni ada 2 jenis. Kukus and bakar. Semuanya murah dan meriah. A box is about 28,000 rupiah.. which around RM8 je. I prefer the kukus one.. makan panas-panas dengan ice cream. Ulalalla!

Aku dedicatekan entry ni for Ija, who went shopping frenzy in Bandung with a tear in her Achilles tendon. Err, bukan tear, it's koyak rabak sebenarnya... to the point borderline sket lagi dia tempang. She had to go thru surgery this week and kena rest for 6 weeks. No, dia tak jatuh kat Bandung. She was injured masa main netball. Heheheh

Kak Non, next time leave the netball to 16 year olds. Hope your leg heals soon and you'll be back as good as new... and boleh pergi Bandung lagi. Boleh aku kirim Brownies and chocolate condensed milk kat kau. And, please mark my word... I'm not going to Bandung again! (err.. at least not in the next 5 years :P)

Anugerah "Turun Dari Langit"

This is how I rate if food sedap ke tidak. 1) Macam Turun Dari Langit 2) Macam Muntah Kucing 3) Tidak lah lagi. Ok yang no 1 and 2 tu, untuk yang memang sedap gila dan tak kedapatan di tempat lain... while yang no 3 tu memang hampeh sehampehnya, I won't even give my cat (if I have one) to take a bite. It's not worth mentioning at all.

Don't get me wrong ... sedap macam muntah kucing is just my expression of saying.. sedap sampai tak dapat nak bayangkan. Has anyone tasted muntah kucing before? Takde kan? So tak boleh bayangkan, kan? Hahahahah and actually it's to put off people from having a bite of whatever that I'm eating yang sedap sangat sampai tak boleh nak dibayangkan itu. So if people ask, sedap ke? Sedap. Macam muntah kucing. Ha? Eiii .. Aaa bagus tak payah share.

Sedap macam turun dari langit tu.... paham sendiri la. Memang nikmat yang rasanya cuma boleh turun dari langit aje. Sometimes, ada extension to this award... sebab kadang-kadang rate tu boleh dinaik taraf kepada... macam turun dari langit ke 7... or macam turun dari langit ke 5...

Hahahahha.. weird? Who cares. I follow this rating system closely, so everytime makan memang puasa hati .. lagi gemuk gedempul.

And honestly, mostly makanan yang dapat rate sedap macam turun dari langit ni mostly ada kat Batu Pahat aje :). Perhaps they are everywhere else in Malaysia. But since I'm from Batu Pahat, my taste bud mostly gets it's exercise here. Sape-sape nak datang Batu Pahat, I could plan an eating itinerary for you. 6 meals a day. Dari pagi sampai pagi esok, makan non-stop. Amacam, berani?

Oh, well.. here are some of those that I have awarded - "Macam Turun Dari Langit", in no particular order.

1. Apek's Beverage Stall at Kg Merdeka

Kedai apek ni has been around since god knows when. Dari aku kecik sampai sekarang. Not sure if it was the same apek all these years or the baton was passed over. One thing for sure, all the drinks that he sells, memang sedap macam turun dari langit! Lagi la if hari panas. Ada air soya, cincau, sarang burung and our favorite.. air cendawan putih ! It's the green/yellow thing in the picture. Cendawan dari longkang mana dia kutip jadi air, I have no idea... but the taste...sighhhhh boleh minum 3 baldi. Ok exeggarating... sebab minum satu cawan dia yang besar, dah nak kembung perut. It only cost RM0.60. Some years ago.. RM0.40.. then RM0.50... Nak datang minum... drive your car right up next to his stall.. roll down the window and order.. Minum dalam kete. If ada banyak kereta.. you either queue.. or kena la keluar and order. Please understand, walking more than 100 meters in Batu Pahat is a crime, ok. Kalau boleh park kat dapur orang tu.. memang nak park :P

2. Apam Balik from Bus Stand.

Well, there use to be Apam Balik from Pasar.. tapi selalu pergi pasar dah petang buta, kedai pun dah tutup. When I was 7 years old.. I use to eat the apam balik or what I used to call it kueh potong, from pasar every single week. Dah la beli kat kedai Cina.. tah halal tah tak. Tah-tah ada minyak babi. Yummyyyy! But then the market evolved.. and now ramai orang Melayu yang dah pandai buat apam balik. And apam balik kat Batu Pahat ni... is the real mc coy. The jagung is really jagung and banyak and guna Ayam Brand.. not like pitiful portion, brand caplang. Butter, gula.. kacang all cukup sifat. No cutting corners. I bought apam balik once and it had chocolate sprinkles in them? Apakah? In KL, apam balik now cost about RM2.00 and.. mmg tak sedap. But here...it's still RM1.50. Beli 2 pun belum tentu cukup. Bila makan panas-panas, memang macam turun dari langit. Nak beli... standard procedure, drive your car next to the stall.. roll down window and order :)

3. Nasi Beryani Mat Shah

Ok.. acik ni aku tak sure yang ni ke Pakcik Mat Shahnya. Rasanya bukan :P Tapi dia la tukang kutip duit. There's a lot of people selling.. Beryani Gam Batu Pahat la apa la.. To me, if you're not eating them in Batu Pahat, jangan la percaya. To begin with... the price: RM5.50 (ke RM5.00).. it use to be RM3.50.. then RM4.50. Mana la ada orang jual beryani this dead cheap? In KL, mau RM6-7 .. tak tentu lagi sedap. The chicken or kambing... melt in your mouth ok. Nasi dia.. if makan macam tu aje pun sedap. Tak payah nak lauk2. Pastu, if you buy today.. esok panas balik pun still sedap. The 2nd picture tu is actually a picture of 'yesterday' nasi beryani. Eh ada pulak asam pedas.. but let's save that for next time. It will take me half a day just to talk about the asam pedas pulak. Going back to the beryani, jangan terkejut if orang batu pahat makan beryani for breakfast. This shop is ready as early as 10.30am. And according to my uncle..you have to eat the first batch.. coz it's the one that is being cooked over kayu api. Rasa lagi authentic. The afternoon batch, masak dlm periuk karan (term orang dolu-dolu) .... so gaya, mutu dan keunggulannya ada sikit kureng. To me, semua sedap aje. My sister told me that some people in KL order the nasi from BP and it is send over/ delivered via the express busses to KL. Orang tunggu pulak kat Puduraya for their order. Gila tak gila namanya. Aku tak pernah try...tapi jangan tak tau, I have their number in my phone. Senang nak order untuk raya. Tahun ni akak dtg tapau dgn periuk la. Kesedapannya? Repeat after me. Sedap macam turun dari langit.

4. Roti Kedai Bee Bee

Before there was Dunkin Donut, Krispy Kreme, and all the signature bakeries.. there were Bee Bee Bakery in Jalan Rahmat. And there still is Kedai Bee Bee. Hahaha the cheapest roti, is the roti coklat and roti kaya. It use to be just RM0.20... then became RM0.25.. then RM0.30.. Till recently RM0.50. Roti ni pulak nak bagi best lagi, beli plak kacang cap kupu-kupu (which is a different story all together) ... letak dalam roti. Then you'll get all the sweet, creamy and salty taste all rolled into one. We introduced this to my nephews.. and they were hooked. Hari tu balik Batu Pahat, siap habis roti ni. Ceh kecewa banget! Kesedapannya.. memang turun dari langit.

Goodness, I've worked myself an apetite now. Malangnya, all these things ada kat Batu Pahat aje. Takpelah.. cuci mata saje. There's a lot more from where they come from.. tapi semua takde gambar.. sebab makan dah habis baru ingat nak ambik gambar. Hehehe next time la aku update.

Hmm...agaknya batal tak puasa if tengok gambar-gambar ni lama2?

Selamat Menyambut Ramadhan, people.. and may you find your buka puasa "macam turun dari langit" everyday.

I rest my case

http://mstar.com.my/berita/cerita.asp?file=/2009/8/18/mstar_berita/20090818173509&sec=mstar_berita

.... need I say more?

Akak smile :)

Nor Evraniza: Ballack... jaga kau. Aku korek2 bijik mata kau

Ahmad Ballack: Elehh... tak takut punnn... sakit tak tadi kena body check? Hahaha

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Who cares? Chelsea won! Yippeee , win over penalty.. with Manure :) with Nani the flipping boy wonder ended up witha dislocated shoulder. Well... maybe Frank's goal was a cheap shot.. but then when Ballack struck Evra.. the ball went to Rooney then to Carrick who didn't put the ball out of play. Skang siapa yang bersalah? Mereka dan keluarga mereka. Evra pun kena siku kat dada.. tapi bila jatuh tutup muka. Malu tak sebab dah tergolek tapi takde siapa layan?

Ok fine... I hate it bila menang dalam controversy ni. So, nasib baik la si Rooney strike at the last minute. Offside pun offside la... janji fair. Nanti kena layan sore loser susah pulak. So we went to penalty. Ha.. si Evra lagi... siapa suruh dia sepak macam budak perempuan 5 tahun nak pergi SmartReader? Dah kalah.... heheheheh

Actually I fell asleep most of the match.. till all the commotion between Ballack and Evra. When Rooney scored the goal, I thot.. celaka.. will this be CL semis against Barcelona all over again? Refree ni pun mcm dodgy aje. Tah apa-apa. But it turns out, it's not... 4-1, Chelsea wins.

Indeed.. it will be a great season ahead. Akak smile aje uols :)

Let the game begin - 09/10 season

all I can say is @5$#!!!&&^@@!!!! kepada certain cable company for raising the charges for the sports channel. Tapi takpe.. akan ku bayar RM12 extra setiap bulan untuk memastikan boleh tengok footie.

This weekend macam lemau.. tapi the thought of tonite's curtain raiser to the new season made me smile. Though a certain someone is still sidelined I'm all out for things to kick start. Semoga esok, I'm will smile a lot for more :)

Go Blues!


..and here's a picture of Joe Cole for good luck and wash away the rumors of him moving to Spurs (apa gila ke?)