What a cup of coffee can do to you...

"D'accord, il exixtait d'autres facons de se quitter
Quelques eclats de verre auraient peut-etre pu nous aider
Dans ce silence amer, j'ai decide de pardonner
Les erreurs qu'on peut faire a trop s'aimer

D'accord la petite fille en moi souvent te reclamait
Presque comme une mere, tu me bordais, me protegeais
Je t'ai vuole ce sang qu'on aurait pas du partager
A bout de mots, de reves Je vais crier

Je t'aime, Je t'aime
Comme un fou comme un soldat
Comme une star de cinema

Je t'aime, Je t'aime
Comme un loup comme un roi
Comme un homme que je ne suis pas
Tu vois, je t'aime comme ca

D'accord, je t'ai confie tous mes souriers, tous mes secrets
Meme ceux, dont seul un frere est le gardien inavoue
Dans cette maison de pierre, satan nous regardait danser
J'ai tant voulu la guerre de corps qui se faisaient la paix

Je t'aime, Je t'aime
Comme un fou comme un soldat
Comme une star de cinema

Je t'aime, Je t'aime
Comme un loup comme un roi
Comme un homme que je ne suis pas
Tu vois, je t'aime comme ca"

("Je t'aime" chanson par Lara Fabian) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-roGMGyFu0

Browsing and listening to Lara Fabian. Checking out some interesting blogs at http://blogs.indonesiamatters.com/.

My goodness, it’s 2.25 am already! I haven’t had any sleep yet. Tried to… No luck. So not me at all… Try to figure out why I can’t sleep…

There you go..., it’s the coffee I drank this afternoon at the meeting… Lesson to learn: never drink coffee again... ;p

Places where I splurge myself with shopping

One of my favorite pastimes is shopping. I don’t know why, but I really like shopping. I enjoy buying things, from clothes, shoes, bags, books, towels, bed linens, kitchen wares, interior accessories, etc. etc. There is no month passing without me indulging myself with shopping, even for a small thing such as hair clip… ;p I too put aside certain amount of money for my shopping every month in an expectation that I would not exceed the budget that I set at the first place. But in the end, I usually end up spending more than I budgeted… Well, what can I say? I still can’t resist it. However, I think I still can manage my spending though… (does it sound like another excuse, huh?!)

To give you some ideas of where I usually splurge myself with shopping, here are some of my favorite shopping places, which are varied from the stylish mall to ‘pasar kaget’. I hope you too can enjoy your shopping as much as I do mine… Happy shopping!

Plaza Indonesia or Plasindo
It’s near my house. I just take ‘bajaj’ or cab to go there from home. But I usually go there on my way back from office. If I walk from office to home, I sometimes stop there and pamper myself to buy something that I need, such as shoes and clothes. Or, I just grab some foods and snacks.

My favorite places to shop clothes there are Zara (1st floor), shoes at Charles & Keith (2nd floor), books at Periplus (ground floor) and Kinokuniya (3rd floor at Debenhams), and foods & snacks at Food Hall (ground floor). I don’t spend much time when I shop, especially when I shop alone, I just grab what I need and go back home straight away. I don’t do window shopping. I just come there and get things I need.

Plaza Senayan or PS
It’s similar like Plaza Indonesia. And I usually go there when I’m in the neighborhood or when I want to buy something that I can’t find at Plasindo, and when there is sale at Sogo or Metro. It used to be my favorite place back then, but now I don’t go there as often as I did before since I can find the same items at Plaza Indonesia. But still, PS is my favorite place to shop and splurge once in awhile.

Senayan City or SenCi
I go here for the same reason I do for Plasindo and PS. Shops that I stop by are Zara, Charles & Keith, Vincci, Body Shop, Debenhams, and Food Hall. Places to eat: Shabu2House, Starbucks, Sushi Tei, and Burger King. It’s a posh mall and I enjoy being there just to see what’s happening and what’s trendy at the moment.

JaCC
This is my favorite place to shop clothes. It’s at Kebon Kacang area, about 500 meters from Plaza Indonesia. Here, you’ll find from trendy lady’s clothes to Moslem clothes, jilbab, mukena, batik, sarung, bags, t-shirts, shoes, sport wear, sport shoes, etc. You can find those at 'Pasar Tasik' which opens on Mondays and Thursday, it's located at Ground Floor JaCC. The price is varied and quite cheap. You can buy trendy lady’s clothes from Rp40,000.- up to Rp150,000.- If you compare the price from JaCC to ITC for instance, for the same clothes, it’s half price cheaper at JaCC than ITC. Off course, you have to bargain to get good price, but do not bargain for half of the offered price because they usually reduce the price from around Rp5,000.- to Rp10,000.- at most. And if they can’t reduce anymore, it means that it is the price. Tips to get cheaper price, buy at least 3 pieces at one store as they will give you price for ‘grosiran’. Go there with friends, so you can share to buy things and get good price.

Java
It’s near my office, across Sarinah. I usually go there when I need to buy towels. They have reduced price all year long for towels, bed linens, bolster, pillow, converter, quilt cover, etc. I once got a Terry Palmer towel for only Rp6,000.-! Cheap, isn’t it? They also have cute kitchenware there, like tea cup, dinner plates, food container, garlic grinder, and clothes hanger. They also have reduced price all year long for sport wear, such as running shoes. The prices are around Rp100,000.- to Rp250,000.- for shoes, and around Rp50,000.- to Rp100,000.- for sport wears.

Gang Senggol
The place is like ‘pasar kaget’ or ‘Sogo Jongkok’. You can get there from Thamrin (left side of SarPac Hotel and right side of Bank Syariah Mandiri building) or from Jalan Sabang (right side of Duta Suara). It can be very crowded at lunch time. Basically you can find almost everything here, from baby clothes, foods, books, fake-branded watches, sunglasses, VCD and DVD (bajakan), electronic stuffs, man and lady’s clothes, shoes, bags, swimsuits, sport wears, etc. You name it, and it’s there with lower price if you know how to bargain. I once bought a training pants for only Rp35,000.- and long sleeve t-shirt for Rp25,000.- It starts from 10am to 3pm everyday except Saturdays and Sundays.

Kedaung Group
It’s in Jalan Raden Saleh (about 500 meters from Cikini hospital). Here, you can buy kitchenware, dinnerware, crystal glasses, glass container, cutleries, etc. with lower price. If you apply for membership, you will even get a 10% discount too. If Lebaran or Christmas seasons, they offer more discounts and reduced prices for special items.

Unagi (Denpasar)
It’s in Jalan Tengku Umar Raya, Denpasar. But people are more familiar if you mention Jalan Marlboro. From Jalan Imam Bonjol, at the intersection, go left and go straight about 1 kilo meter from there. The store is at the right side of the road. I love to go here when I’m in Bali. I used to go to Pasar Kumbasari before I knew this place, but at Unagi you can find more and various items with lower price and it’s nearer from Kuta than Pasar Kumbasari which is in Denpasar. If you take a cab from Kuta area (for instance from Hard Rock or Mercure or Alam Kul Kul Hotel), the taxi fare is around Rp35,000.- for one way. You can also ask the driver to wait up for you while you shop at Unagi to take you back to hotel, and also ask them to turn off the meter. They’ll happy to do it. But don’t forget to give the driver a tip (about Rp10,000.-).

At Unagi, you can find all types of Baliness handy craft, from paper lamps, wood lamps, resin lamps, rattan lamps, stainless steel tray, wood tray, glass candle holder, resin candle holder, table mate, rattan boxes, rattan container, rattan trash bin, bags, purse, coaster, etc. etc. If you love interior accessories, you’d love to splurge yourself here.

The price is supposed to be cheap. But since all items are not tagged and priced, you really depend on the waitress to tell you how much the price is. Make sure you know exactly price of each item you bought, otherwise you’ll end up paying more expensive than it’s supposed to be. You can also bargain and insist the waitress to give you a discount or reduce the price. Or, you can be friends with the waitress, so next time you go there she will help and give you good price. And also, please make sure that you check all items that you bought when the waitress packs and prepares the bill. Just to make sure that she won’t give you different price and different items.

Ikea (Petaling Jaya, KL)
It’s in Petaling Jaya or PJ, at Ikano Power Building exactly. If you travel from KL (let’s say KLCC), it takes about 20 minutes drive and costs you around RM25 to RM30 for taxi fare (if there’s no traffic). It’s quite far from KL actually. But since my sister’s house is in PJ, it’s near. It takes 5 minutes by taxi and costs me about RM7. So I always enjoy shopping at Ikea when I’m in KL.

Here, like most Ikea stores worldwide, you can find almost everything that you need for your house, kitchen, room, office and garden. You can find furniture and accessories from lamps, file boxes, toiletries containers and purse, coasters, mouse pads, CD containers, cutleries, bed linens, rugs, etc. Prices of items are varied from RM1 to RM1.000. I like to buy items that I can’t find with cheap price in Jakarta, such as lamps, kitchen wares, rugs, office accessories, CD container, etc. If I don’t think of how I will carry those things back to Jakarta, I’d like to buy more stuff from Ikea. But at the end of the day, I need to think about avoiding excess baggage and how I can carry all the stuff I bought back to Jakarta. I don’t like having too many baggage to carry when I’m traveling. But it’s always nice shopping at Ikea. It’s a new kind of shopping experience for me.

Aussino (Ikano Power Building, PJ)
After I shop at Ikea, I usually stop by at Aussino store. It’s still at the same building, you just go straight from Ikea, and take an elevator to the 1st floor. And there you go, Aussino is at the right side of the elevator. Here you can buy lower price bed linens with good quality, especially when there is 50% to 70% discount. You can get queen size bed linen for only Rp95,000.- And it’s pure cotton! Even at Aussino store in Jakarta (Plaza Semanggi), you can’t get it as cheap as that. You can also find bed linen with cute motifs, from flowers, stripes, squares, polka dots, leaves, cartoon characters, embroideries, etc. Really, if you like good quality bed linen, you should come here and buy some for you. So, next time you’re in PJ, drop by at Aussino and buy some bed linens for yourself!

Vincci Stores (in KL)
What I like doing when I’m in KL visiting my niece other than playing with my lovely Nadia, is shopping shoes at Vincci stores. I can do this everyday! Every time I’m in KL, I have to go to Vincci stores, either in One Utama, KLCC, Ikano Building, Mid Valley, The Curve, Bukit Bintang, or Bangsar. I just have to go there… It’s like ‘my trip to KL is not complete yet if I don’t go to Vincci store yet!’ What I like about Vincci shoes is that the price is reasonable, the style is trendy, and it suites my needs and taste of shoes. I’m just a Vincci-shoe-adict. In fact, I still have 5 pairs of Vincci shoes that I haven’t even put on from my last trip to KL last year… Now, can you see…?

My Favorite Cheese Cake...

This is my favorite cheese cake recipe. I made one today, and I’m typing while having my slice… Hmmm… Yummy…

Ingredients
1 cup sweet biscuit crumbs (I use one pack of McVitties contains of 20 biscuits and crush it)
½ cup butter, melted (or unmelted)
2 x 250g Philadephia brand cream cheese, softened at room temperature
2 teaspoons gelatine dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water (make sure you use halal gelatine which was made by non-animal ingredients)
1 x 400 grams can sweetened condensed milk (I use Indomilk)
½ cup lemon juice (I squeeze 1 fresh lemon instead of juice)
2 tablespoon grated lemon rind (I use lemon zest)

Directions
Mix biscuit crumbs with melted butter (I prefer unmelted butter), and press into base of a 20cm springform pan. Chill.
Beat the cream cheese with an electric beater until smooth, mix in gelatine mixture, condensed milk, lemon juice and rind.
Pour onto crumb base and chill in refrigerator (2-3 hours or overnight). Top with a selection of fresh fruits and serve (I never put any toppings, just like it plain and original).

Tips: 1 cup biscuit crumbs equals approximately 10 sweet biscuits, crushed.

There you go… A plain and simple cheese cake with original and luscious taste… Hmmm… Really yummy…, I scoop my last bite of cheese cake on my plate…

Friday Morning Walk...

Today, I’m off for Nyepi holiday. I’d made a plan to walk in the morning with Nuke in Tebet, near Nuke’s house. Nuke told me that there was a green lane at Tebet area that was used by Tebet residents for sport activities, like walking, jogging, aerobic, etc. So, Nuke picked me up at 6.30 am. There I was, with Nuke and her son, Nugra, took a walk along the green lane.

We had about 30 minutes walk there before taking another 30 minutes walk again to traditional market, still in Tebet area, to buy some veggies and stuff. Nuke told me that it was cheaper to buy some groceries in traditional market than supermarket. It actually was. It cost me only Rp30,000,- for a week veggie stock!!! I bought some veggies for my weekly meal plan. I planned to cook for my lunch box the following week.

The reason why we both did this was, not only as part of our plans to start living a healthy life, but also for our weight management program. We both wanted to loose some weight and maintain it. So, we started by walking and cooking healthy meals. It was really enjoyable and fun… We should do this again sometimes, Ke…

Thrill...

I’m reading this book now “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”. Real thrill… Asli seru banget…! It’s a true story but it’s like a novel. Really… I can’t wait to finish it soon. This is a true story about how global empires and corporatocracies (corporations & bureaucratise), which are similar to the Mafia, have created the world of today, economically and socially.

Economic Hit Men (EHM in short), as described in the book by John Perkins, the writer, are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoff, extortion, sex and murder. They play a game as old as Empire but one that has taken on terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.

John Perkins himself was once an economic hit man for an international consulting firm and he was sent to Indonesia in 1971 to run the electrification project as part of a comprehensive plan to ensure American dominance in Southeast Asia. The primary goal of American that day was that Indonesian leader would serve Washington and that Indonesia would serve as a model for other countries in the region as well as to gain positive effect throughout the Islamic world, particularly in the explosive Middle East.

What’s happened next…? Since I haven’t finished my reading… so this writing will continue…

My Favorite Preacher

I would consider this experience as the precious one in my life. It happened last January this year when the company that I work for invited a religious preacher to give preach about syariah law and product at the annual agency convention in Jakarta. And I was appointed to arrange all the preparation. Then, we invited Ustadz Ikhsan Tanjung to give preach about syariah fundamental and syariah product to match with the company’s objective which is to boost syariah product selling in the market.

I was so happy that my company chose to invite Ustadz Ikhsan Tanjung to the event because for me he was one of my favorite ustadz. And I really honor him. When I had a chance becoming the moderator on his preach, I was feeling so nervous and blessed at the same time. I was so nervous because for me he was such a great man so that I was so afraid of making mistakes when I was moderating his preach. And I was feeling blessed because I had a chance to meet him personally and learn many things from him, which I did from his preach that day.

Ustadz Ikhsan Tanjung was not a stranger for me. I’ve known him long time ago from his TV preaches. For me he was one of few ustadz that had strong commitment in telling only the truth according to Al Quran and Hadist. He has the quality that I find rare amongst the other popular and famous ustadz that are nowadays.

I remembered that I used to watch his preaches at TV stations. I was so impressed by his intelligence and sharpness. And one of my favorite of his TV preaches was when he discussed about Tafsir Sayyid al-Qutbh. He was so intelligent and sharp. When he conveyed a message, he delivered it so clearly and organized that the viewers, like myself would clearly and easily understand it. He is also one of the few ustadz that has strong commitment to say the truth according to Al Quran and Sunnah. When he delivered a message from Al Quran or Hadist, he delivered and explained it as it is, nothing less, nothing more. He never worried what his audiences would react or whether they would agree with it or not. What mattered for him was that what he explained and delivered was the truth according to what it says in Al Quran and Sunnah. He would never have a doubt of delivering the truth. And he would never bend his commitment just for the sake of his audiences’ satisfaction. He has that strong commitment and quality which are hardly found in other ustadz that are well-known. Some people might say that he is too strong. But in my opinion, you must be strong and convinced when you deliver something that you believe in, right?

For Pak Ustadz Ikhsan Tanjung, I really honor you and I pray to Allah that may you always have that strong commitment and quality to only tell the truth according to Al Quran and Sunnah. May you always have Allah SWT blessings and merciful. Amin ya Robbal alamin…