Mora Mora - 73%

Mora Mora adalah single origin coklat yang diproduksi dan dikemas di Madagascar dari biji coklat Criollo, Trinitario dan Forestero yang juga diproduksi oleh petani di Madagascar. Meraih medali perak di World Chocolate Awards tahun 2007, Mora Mora merupakan coklat yang dairy free dan cocok untuk dikonsumsi oleh vegetarians and vegans.

Kemasannya menarik.  Dibagian dalam kemasan tertulis sejarah singkat coklat ini. Antara lain disebutkan bahwa Mora Mora merupakan produk Equitrade, dimana prinsip fairly traded diterapkan.  

Mora Mora memiliki kriteria coklat berkualitas tinggi.  Berwarna merah gelap kecoklat-coklatan dengan permukaan yang glossy.  Aroma coklat berkualitas tercium jelas; kompleks, rich dan sweet.  Rasa pahit menyenangkan timbul dalam gigitan pertama sebelum rasa khas dark coklat yang beragam serta rich terasa menyelimuti diikuti after taste yang ringan.  

Ingredients: Cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, GMO free soya lecithin

Swimming with Dolphins in Pismo Beach, CA

Every time I watch the sun disappear into Pacific Ocean in Pismo Beach, I am reminded of one evening about 7 years ago when we used to boogie board at this very location. Until this day, I still remember one amazing moment I had when I boogie boarded for the first time in Pacific Ocean. So after riding my first wave, I was hanging on my board in the ocean enjoying the very blue color and quietness of the ocean. The set could not have been more perfect - a gorgeous sunset in a distance and a full moon slowly arising from the ocean on the other side. I just sat there for a while feeling good after riding my first wave. And all of sudden I saw a dolphin coming up from the water next to me. The dolphin was unbelievably close, I could have touched it easily if I wanted to. But I was so mesmerized by its present that I just floated on my board cherishing every second and enjoying the beautiful creature while a few arms away a group of young dolphins playing freely. I can't believe it; I am swimming with dolphins in the beautiful pacific ocean on the gorgeous sunset! 

Well, I am no longer boogie boarding; there is no safe place to do it in my neighborhood. Pismo Beach is no longer less than 10 minute drive from where we live.  But, now and then we come to this place watching sunset  - just like a couple of nights ago - or getting a bowl of clam chawder soup or just passing by on our way up north to the Bay area.

Santa Barbara, December 2006

Di musim dingin sekalipun, Santa Barbara tetap terlihat cantik.  Langitnya berwarna biru cerah, pohon-pohon palem disepanjang pantai tetap berdiri kokoh tidak terusik oleh dinginnya udara bulan Desember yang terasa mulai menusuk tulang buat saya yang tidak tahan dingin. Yang membedakan musim dingin dengan musim lainnya adalah sepinya pengunjung di Stearns Wharf.  Good for us. :-)  Jadinya kami berdua dapat tenang menikmati Laut Pacific sepuas-puasnya tanpa merasa terganggu oleh pengunjung lain.  Serasa menikmatinya di halaman belakang rumah sendiri.  (Mimpi)


Ini adalah tempat istirahat yang sempurna buat kami berdua; lokasinya diujung pier, jauh dari keramaian, dan hanya beberapa langkah saja dari Santa Barbara Shellfish Co, restoran sederhana yang tidak pernah kami lewatkan setiap megunjungi Santa Barbara.
Sejauh ini kami selalu menikmati setiap makanan yang kami pesan di SBSC.  Selain rasanya yang segar, shellfish disajikan secara  simple tanpa meggunakan banyak bumbu sehingga rasa asli shellfishnya terjaga. Delish! Dungeness Crab misalnya yang disajikan dengan semangkuk kecil coleslaw dan onion rings, hanya di rebus tanpa dikasih bumbu sama sekali.  Untungnya kami datang pas sedang musimnya Dungeness Crab sehingga dapat menikmati kembali rasa manis daging kepiting jenis ini.   Kepiting jenis ini hanya ditangkap di perairan di sekitar Santa Barbara pada bulan November sampai awal bulan January.

My Los Angeles - Griffith Observatory

Hubby and I decided to visit Griffith Observatory in the Griffith Park/Los Feliz neighborhood this morning. We're so glad we did! The drive was a brisk and the weather was perfect for December. It was truly an amazing place to visit. 

The astronomical exhibits and the light shows of Tesla coil were just awesome. The planetarium is the real deal, not the kind of observatory I visited for school trips zillion years ago. The best part is everything -except the planetarium- is free! Walking outside the Griffith Observatory is as enjoyable as wandering the exhibits inside the observatory;  we can see the breathtaking views of all over Los Angeles. It is near 360 view that made me appreciate how beautiful the city of LA can be. Especially today, when not so many visitors were present - it's Chritsmas Eve after all. 

And here is Indonesia! 


Griffith Observatory

2800 E Observatory Rd

Los Angeles, CA 90027

(213) 473-0800

http://www.griffithobservatory.org

Family and Mangoes

Family.....work....and super yummy mangoes!!!

I was back in Jakarta again in November and had a fabulous time with family.


Enjoying a relaxing afternoon with my parents in a cozy cafe  (the name of this particular cafe has slipped my mind) becomes a routine when I am back in Jakarta.

Or spending time with my nephews and niece at the pools   here and here . I stayed in two different hotels this time. :-)

or eating mangoes. A lot of it!

Lucky for me mango was in season during my entire visit so I could indulge myself with different varieties in season! Golek, Arum Manis, Indramayu, Manalagi, Kwini to name a few. I grew up eating mangos - or mangga Indonesians would call it - when we lived in South Sumatra. So I have a pretty high standard for mango - hence I don't buy mango in the U.S. after trying several mangos imported from different countries.  I found mangos in the U.S. just was not as tasty and fresh as the ones I used to enjoy. Cannot wait to taste such fresh and delicious mangos again when I am back home next year! 

A Day Trip to Solvang

aebelskiver anyone?

After just passing by the town hundreds of times for the past 9 years, I finally was in Solvang on one Saturday this month. Solvang, a little Danish replica village nestled in the Santa Ynez valley has everything "Danish"; windmills, horse drawn wagon, Hans Christian Andersen Park and of course Danish pastries! But when I look at the architecture of the houses, I felt like I was in a small traditional town in Germany.Maybe houses in tradionational towns in Europe are similar? I don't know. I have never been t to any tradional towns in Danemark. But a few houses off the main road in Solvang looked very similar to those of houses I saw in Koenigswinter in Germany. 

Obviously you cannot compare a small town with a big city, but other than a copy of the famous Little Mermaid statue, Solvang didn't remind me of Copenhagen I visited in 1989. It is also a little bit too touristy for us.  But, overall, Solvang is a charming little half-day escape destination.

We had lunch at Greenhouse Café at 487 Atterdag Rd for tasty, beautiful open-faced roast beef Danish sandwich for my hubby and hot grilled chicken sandwich with danish cheese and pesto for me. I wanted to try some danish entree such as danish meatballs & red cabbage, but they are made of pork which I don't eat. Oh well I guess sampling aebelskiver, a hearty dough balls with powdered sugar and raspberry jam just do the trick to consume some Danishes.

Beautiful Marigold flowers near Solvang

Relaxing in Jakarta

Is it all possible?

It is for me... As I don't go places or to the shopping malls there. Unless I am on a business trip, I just stay put in one place with my family for a few days or a week to relax, eat delicious food and spend a great time with the gang. Hubby and I just did that on our most recent visit to Jakarta.


All together, at last! 

Untuk pertama kalinya setelah hampir 10 tahun nggak ngumpul (gimana bisa ngumpul, tiga dari 4 bersaudara hidupnya mencar-mencar di lain negara) alhamdulillah bulan Juni-Juli yang baru lalu kami bersaudara bisa berkumpul lengkap dengan kedua orang tua. 
Walaupun cuma sebentar dan tidak semua pasangan kami bisa gabung, we had a lot of fun. Every minute of it. 

Kami tidak buat rencana apa-apa, yang penting kumpul dan menikmati kebersamaan. Kebanyakan waktu kami habiskan buat leyeh-leyeh di kamar hotel. Kecuali adek sekeluarga yang rumahnya dekat hotel, seluruh keluarga ikut menginap dengan kami. Kebetulan bisa dapat kamar-kamar yang berdekatan. Sempat juga semua boyongan dan menginap di Bogor untuk beristirahat beberapa hari dan menghindari Jakarta untuk sementara.  Kadang kami berempat adek kakak seolah lupa anak dan suami. Untung mereka kompak dan get allong well together. The boys akan main kartu cangkulan di kamar hotel, berenang atau pergi makan.  

Bicara makanan lain lagi ceritanya.  Setiap  waktu makan tiba, pasti butuh waktu lama untuk mutusin makanan apa yang akan dipesan atau kemana akan pergi makan.  Seperti biasa, anak-anak maunya fast food kaya' McD, pizza hut dsb.  Sementara para ibu maunya makanan tradisional. Tapi karena ibu-ibunya cerewet dan dominan hihihi, keseringan kita menikmati makanan tradisional.  Untung anak-anak akhirnya selalu suka dengan semua tempat makan yang kami pilih.Kegiatan lain yang dilakukan sama-sama adalah berenang. Maklum para ibu dari masih bayi sudah dicemplungin ke air oleh orang tua. Jadi sekarang tertular ke anak-anak.  Semua jadi jurig renang. Kolam renang hotel serasa milik keluarga. Yang nggak ikutan berenang, pada nongkrong di pinggir kolam nontonin yang berenang. 

Of all restaurants we visited on this trip, here is a list of my top 6. 

- Warung Daun, Jl. Walter Monginsidi, Jakarta, (021)7278 6138
- Sate khas Senayan, Jl Kebon Sirih Raya 31A, Jakarta, (021) 326238
- Rumah Makan Cibiuk Bogor, Jl. Pajajaran No.21C, (0251) 380303, Bogor
- Satoo at Shangri-La Hotel, Kota BNI, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav.1, Jakarta 
- Gado-gado at Plaza Indonesia Food Court, Jl. MH Thamrin, Jakarta
- Toscana Kemang, Jl. Kemang Raya 120, Jakarta, (021) 7181216

On the plane: Cakep read, I played with camera :-)

Tio Pepe Jerez de la Frontera - What a small world

Waktu nonton x-men tadi sore, satu keluarga Spanyol duduk di samping kita. Sambil nunggu preview, kita sempat ngobrol dengan si Bapak yang duduk disebelah suami. Mereka berasal dari Madrid tapi sudah tinggal di LA hampir 10 taun. Cerita dia aslinya dari Southern Spain. Ceritalah kita ke Bapak itu bahwa taun lalu kita jalan-jalan ke Selatan Spanyol ke daerah Andalusia. Si Bapak bilang lagi kalo dia asalnya dari Jerez de la Frontera. Ya langsung nyambung deh ngobrolnya karena kita sempet mengunjungi Jerez 2 hari. Cerita juga kita mengunjungi Bodega Tio Pepe di Jerez. 

Surprise: ternyata Tio Pepe, bodega yang kami kunjungi taun lalu itu milik keluarga si bapak ini. Si Bapak adalah generasi ke 5 dari Tio Pepe. Jadilah ngobrol ngalor ngidur soal sherry mereka dan Jerez. Dunia memang kecil.

Pouring Sherry 

San Francisco, May 2006

Why SF: to attend the 2006 Women Leader Conference.

Where we ate: breakfast and lunch were served during conference so we ate at the hotel. Fortunately, the food was not bad so I didn't feel so bumped out for not exploring new places to eat in SF. We went to the Slanted Door for our dinner on the first night of course. The next evening we decided to try Maya for Mexican food. Though I am not a big fun of Mexican food, I liked what I had that night. If I am in the city again, I wouldn't mind going back to this place. Haha.

What I remember: the first lady of California was on the same flight we took on the way to SF.

Slanted Door's caramelized tiger prawns with garlic, onions and chili sauce - a must-have dish. 

Kuleto's and John's Grill

In addition to having dinner at the Slanted Door, a must-visit restaurant for both of us when we are in San Francisco, we went to Kuleto's and John's Grill as well. The dining area at Kuleto's is very beautiful. I had Farm Duck Breast which was really tasty. Hubby liked his Petrale Sole very much. I tasted a bite and it was out of this world good. 

John's Grill is a historic restaurant and was said to be a place visited by famous people from every walk of life. I found the ambience of the restaurant was not inviting at all, and the place felt cramped. I guess I am not into  a classic old city steakhouse? The fresh oysters were delicious but my Rib Eye Steak was so so, so was my husband's halibut. I don't think we will go back to John's Grill. 

A blurry view of San Francisco from our hotel room. 

Kuleto's

221 Powell Street

San Francisco, CA 94102

415.397.7720

John's Grill

63 Ellis Street

San Francisco, CA 94103