Rockwell Philippines (Manila 2004)

I love this place. We had a nicely manicured garden and lots of amenities within the complex. Not to mention the mall attached to our home. It was fantastic. No need to cook dinner during weekends. We just splurged and enjoyed those days when we were posted here.

I was feeling odd on the first few days when we started living in this circle building. I just needed sometime to get used to it. After a year everything was alright.

Pakubuwono Residence (Jakarta 2011)

We liked this place because we were able to find instant friends and neighbors. It's a place where my children can play with other kids even if they are not really friends. No need to beat the traffic to attend a party, no need to worry about driving after drinking because you don't have to drive. Just press the lift and voila!
 

A view from the kids playroom.

Baby Back Ribs

I was craving for baby back ribs for dinner. I got the recipe from  Allrecipe.com if you want to try.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds pork baby back ribs
• 1 (18 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce

Directions

1. Tear off 4 pieces of aluminum foil big enough to enclose each portion of ribs. Spray each piece of foil with vegetable cooking spray. Brush the ribs liberally with barbeque sauce and place each portion in its own piece of foil. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
3. Bake ribs wrapped tightly in the foil at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 2 1/2 hours. Remove from foil and add more sauce, if desired.

Micro Business (Jakarta)

I was trapped in Jakarta's traffic jam and happened to pass by this mini eatery slash mini market. You can find some basic needs like tissue, bottled water, candies,snacks and many other stuff.

 

Macarons

I was searching the web for some Macaron recipe and so far this is my favorite. Many of my friends says that its very difficult to make but look how it turned out and it's my first time to make this.

Here is the recipe just in case you want to try from Martha Stewart.

  Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon confectioners sugar
• 1 cup (4 ounces) finely ground sliced, blanched almonds
• 6 tablespoons fresh egg whites (from about 3 extra-large eggs)
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Macaron Filling

Directions

1. To make the macarons: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and ground almonds. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites with salt on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar. Continue to whip until stiff glossy peaks form. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the confectioners' sugar mixture until completely incorporated.
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch #4 round tip, and fill with batter. Pipe 1-inch disks onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. The batter will spread a little. Let stand at room temperature until dry, and a soft skin forms on the tops of the macarons and the shiny surface turns dull, about 15 minutes.
3. Bake, with the door of the oven slightly ajar, until the surface of the macarons is completely dry, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet to a wire rack and let the macarons cool completely on the baking sheet. Gently peel off the parchment. Their tops are easily crushed, so take care when removing the macarons from the parchment. Use immediately or store in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
4. To fill the macarons: Fill a pastry bag with the filling. Turn macarons so their flat bottoms face up. On half of them, pipe about 1 teaspoon filling. Sandwich these with the remaining macarons, flat-side down, pressing slightly to spread the filling to the edges. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
5. Variations: To make coffee-flavored macarons: In step 1, add 2 drops brown food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, blend 1/2 cup macaron filling with 1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder dissolved in 1/2 teaspoon warm water for the filling. To make cassis-flavored macarons: In step 1, add 2 drops purple food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, use 1/3 cup good-quality cassis jam for the filling. To make pistachio-flavored macarons: In step 1, add 2 drops green food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, combine 1/2 cup macaron filling with 1 tablespoon pistachio paste for the filling.

Ubud, Bali (2012)

Batik Factory. This is the second time we visited the place. The first one was with my in laws.

I love this flower. We call it Gumamela in my country. Brings back lots of childhood memories!

This was an additional dish that we ordered when we visited Ubud to eat Babi Guling by Ibu Oka.

This was the main reason for the trip to Ubud. To eat Babi Guling but I liked their sausage more. It was tastier than Babi Guling. I like the "tons" of chili they mixed with it.

A not to miss spot. My second time to visit this place.

Jimbaran, Bali (2012)

We made a short trip to Jimbaran  for the weekend. summer of 2012. The kids are getting bored. Our good family friend tagged a long and we had a blast!I enjoyed eating grilled shrimp, squid and fish by the seaside.

The girls had so much fun with their friend playing in the sand building sand castle

Early morning this fishermen carry fish., fresh catch from the ocean!

Summer 2012 ( A Summary)

This is the longest holiday ever! My youngest started her summer holiday in June. The new school year is starting in August.Two more weeks and kids will be back to school. I already have some plan on what to do during my additional free time. I enrolled to learn Bahasa yey! Goodluck to me (with a grin on my face) I tried learning Japanese but my teacher gave up on me. She returned all learning materials that we provided and she had a hard time saying that I'm hopeless. I understand a bit of Japanese but my vocabulary and grammar is completely messed up. Same with my Russian. My Italian is not bad even without proper education, hahaha (something I'm bit proud of). I'm intersted in two more languages, German and French. Hmm way to go!Have a look at how I made it through good and rough time.

Ebi tempura by Aya san. We did a lots of "happy hours" at the playground. This is just one of those days where we had potluck.

Best friends forever.

Monica and Eliana visited us again. She was my friend way back 2007 when we were posted in  Manila. This is the second time she came to visit  us during our posting in Jakarta.

We went all the way to Bali for a short weekend. I can't think of anything else to do here in the city after a month.  All their  friends is not around.

I love you Haagen Dazs, my life saver and part time baby sitter. You're ice cream kept my children occupied for hours and hours for the whole 3 months. Thank you very much.

We had lots and lots of playdate with Natanya, almost everyday :-)

Cupcakes

Yup, you got it right! One more friend down. She is leaving Jakarta forever after almost 5 years. We've known each other from school where our kids used to attend. Bit sad but that's how life is when you're a "globe trotter". You make friends, spend some time together, build a relationship then it's time to say "GOODBYE".

I made these cupcakes for Kako and her mom. I made the cupcake toppers by myself and they were very pleased about it.

We had tea party.

with marshmallows

cupcakes

more marshmallows and cupcakes

and lots of other sweets!!!

Look at how the girls enjoyed feasting  with all the treats ;-)