Le Meridien Jimbaran

Last August, me and my girls stayed at this brand new Le Meridien hotel on our final two nights. This place gave me a good experience so I'm gonna post this thing up. As we stepped into the lobby, we were welcomed by the modern decor. The bright, vibrant colours and the hip, upbeat vibe immediately lifted our moods. The employees, from the front desk staff to housekeepers and the buggy drivers genuinely look happy to be working and take pride in ensuring our stay was a delightful one.

The lagoon style pool
view from the lobby

I don't have a decent picture of the room so I grab from google
mad girls having fun with bubbles

There may be more luxurious hotels in Bali, but this one is affordable and worth it. I'll surely give this hotel another try one day.

Wedding Day (Erick Shienny)

It's been 3 months since my last post. I know it seems like I neglect this blog. The fact is I don't have enough time to blog as much as it used to be. My time was mostly spent on travel and thought about what step I'mma take after my almost-perfect-well-prepared plan had to be terminated for a good cause. Don't feel like talking about it here, so let's moving on… I've posted the holy matrimony of my oldest bro earlier, so I have no reason not to share the wedding reception photos. Before we jump to the photos, I'm gonna give a brief description about how Chinese Indonesian wedding reception goes.
Compared to most wedding receptions in modern countries like USA, England, and Singapore, the wedding reception here is extravaganza and uber festive. Wedding invitations are sent out 3-4 weeks before; number of guests may vary depending on the size of the party itself. The most common is 600-1000 guests. Friends, families, friends of families, and colleagues are welcomed and expected to attend. They mainly donate money (red envelope) as their gift to the bride and groom. There is a huge presence of flowers in Indonesian wedding because they believe that the more flowers you have on your wedding day, the richer you will seem LOL.
A long procession leads to where the guests await the newly wedded bride and groom. As the reception begins, the groom or family stands up and thank the guests for attending the wedding. Bride and groom make their way up to their seats near the stage to watch the performers (nowadays, they invite celebrities to perform).  Enough with the small talk, so here are the photos!

   

souvenir for the guests, it says ES 
Photo Booth

Special performance from the Groom and Bride

Domicile Kitchen & Lounge Surabaya

I know it's a bit too late to make a post about this place, but better late than never, right? So I am motivated to blog about this place because I think they serve good food plus the fact that I have spare time this week (I'm gonna be back busy next week T.T)

We (me and boyf) went eating at this fancy upscale restaurant named "Domicile". They don't put service at its best, but when it comes to food, they do a good job. We were being seated at just the perfect spot, full air-con outdoor with great natural daylight and obviously that's a plus point because I love natural daylights for taking pictures.

I was kind of full so I thought I was just going to have a pan of thin pizza and dessert, but right after looking at the menu and display, I instantly ordered another foods :D I thought that I should go here next time because there were so many options. If you're wondering how big this restaurant is, they have both interior and exterior dining seats, so I think both will fit maximum 100 people. They designed the interior to be very comfortable, yet crowded. Domicile is located at the city centre, near another upscale restaurants such as The Soematra, Isola, and Historica. I went to those places but have no plan to blog about them (yet).

Ice Lemon Mint Tea IDR 25K (4/5)  -  Bacon Beef Carpacio Pizza IDR 80K (5/5)

Truffle Fries IDR 35K (4/5)

Hot Chocolate IDR … sorry I can't remember (3/5)

 Wagyu Cheese Burger IDR 85K (5/5)

Cream Chicken and Mushroom Pizza IDR 70K (4/5)

 Banana Bread Pudding IDR 50K (2/5)

I hope this post helps. Anyway I want to share my current favourite song. It's by Robin Thicke, Get Her Back. The song is published to show his desperation after break up with his spouse. People said it's creepy but if you don't put it within the context of his life, the song is pretty good and sweet. Have a great day! ♥

What to eat in Medan

Holla! It's been so so long since my last post. I was busy maintaining my blogging activity and my first month working as a math teacher, so I've been having a little trouble managing time for myself. Here are some places that I visited and foods I tried during my food hunting trip in Medan.
1. Ondo Batak Grill (Jl. Pabrik Tenun No.45)
My favorite dish is the grilled pork which are thinly sliced and grilled to perfection.

2. Sam's Patisserie (Jl. Uskup Agung No.15)
Stopped by here for a tea and dessert during heavy rain in Medan, and we were well impressed with the beautiful desserts and relaxed atmosphere of this place. It looks like a cozy villa with foliage and flowers outside and beautiful wooden-style furniture and decor. I sat at the best spot, the terrace, which allows me to enjoy the outdoor view. For the foods, cronut and cake were so-so. It's good but I think I expected a lot more. Sam’s Patisserie Boulangerie is located right beside Roemah Kopi Wak Noer.

3. The Traders (Jl. Pattimura No.423)
One of the most famous western restaurant in Medan. It's a good place to hangout or have a meeting because of the formal ambience. It's well known for the steak but I ordered pizza instead because I didn't feel like eating steak and spending much money for it. The pizza was average though!
5.Selat Panjang Street
It is definitely a must visit culinary spot in Medan (lucky me it's right behind my hotel, Swiss Bell-inn). The first thing you have to try is Mie Tiong Sim. It's just noodle with pork meat and pork dumpling, but the taste is so delicious!
  

After spending 4 days in Medan, it's time to continue my trip to Singapore :D So I headed to Kuala Namu International Airport. Anyway, I was amazed by how nice this Medan new airport is. The Indonesia’s second largest airport to-date is certainly built to accommodate future growth. Once inside the terminal, I could feel how neat, clean, and modern the building is. The interior is dominated with glass walls which offers bright and spacious atmosphere. There are also some shops and cafes; Starbucks, Swatch, Cotton On, Kipling, NewLook and Accesorize.  

La Maison & Howey Medan

For those who follow my instagram, you might have known that I checked myself in to Medan last month. The main reason is to gain weight, and yes I was so curious and wanted to authenticate how good the culinary spots are. This time, I wanna share my experience with these two popular patisserie shops in Medan, La Maison and Howey. (PS: this is my personal opinion and I don't have any intention to offend anyone).

LA MAISON

My long wait is finally over. I want to try La Maison so badly since I'm a fan of the chef. In fact, I've been a fan far before she had the idea to open La Maison hehe. So, I took a cab from hotel and visited La Maison with my best friend who's also have a sweet tooth. The store was small and well arranged. I started to stare at those yummy cakes, eclairs, and gorgeous macarons in the display. I think cakes at any restaurant in my city have nothing on their beautiful handmade desserts. All pastries seemed so delicious and I really wanted to try every single of it. However, they're expensive for their sizes so I hold my craving and tried to choose wisely. Finally, we decided to buy two cakes, croissant, one dozen of macarons, and an eclair.

 

The macarons were perfection, texture, sweetness, flavor, everything is on its place. Though all flavors were great, the salted popcorn is definitely a winner and it's highly recommended (sorry Laduree, La Maison wins my heart). Move on to cakes - both cakes were so yummyyy, I think I finished it in less than 2 minutes.  How I wish the price were cheaper so I could buy more. The eclair was average, very small, and expensive (40IDR), definitely not a favorite. The croissant (no picture) was good, it's like one of the best croissant ever! The day after, I came back and buy another croissant (along with cupcakes and macarons too). Cupcakes were awesome, texture was soft and fluffy, but very expensive for the size. All flavors were delicious, I couldn't choose one.

Selection of macaron boxes in different designs and sizes 

with the beautiful & talented chef <3

HOWEY

Howey, another great patisserie in Medan. Unlike La Maison which is located in a house, Howey has its own store. The place was cozy, chic, and modern. The display was amazing and colorful, with lovely christmas decoration. We bought macarons, flaky doughnut, quiche, then took a sit there. The macarons were bigger than La Maison's and price was slightly higher. The texture was chewy and good too, but if I have to choose, I'll choose La Maison's. Doughnut was too hard for me, while quiche was nice and definitely worth trying! Actually, we wanted to try the cheesepots but the minimum purchase was 12 and we're quite full that time, so we canceled our desire.