Lunar New Year 2563

The year of Golden Rabbit or 2562 in Chinese calendar ended and the year of Water Dragon has begun.

Didn't want to lost the moment where many Chinese were happily welcoming the new year with colorful ornaments, delicious delicacies, and also the smoky temples, I decided to visit the famous Jakarta China Town again!
If last year I visited this place by myself, this time I brought along my daughter who was very excited about the year of dragon when she was born 12 years ago, at the year of Golden Dragon. ha...ha...
This is a good time for her, not only to enjoy the festival, but also to learn about the beauty of the difference and the pluralism. It doesn't sound too heavy, does it?



On Saturday morning, two days before the big day, we visited this place. Only took about 30 minutes by riding the city train "Commuter Line" from the nearest train station from our home, we arrived in Jakarta Kota Station. We walked about 10 minutes to get in the famous Petak Sembilan area, in Glodok neighbourhood.

The vivid color of the ornaments, the aroma of Chinese food, red lanterns hang everywhere, busy people around us; it gave us different experience than our daily life.





We walked through the Petak Sembilan main alley, and visited the first temple; the popular Vihara Dharma Bhakti. Since I had visited this temple last year, this time we only stop by for a while, walked around the temple, took some pictures, and also I had to answer lots of questions from my curious daughter :)
I knew, she learned something here. It's good for her to know and to respect the belief of others.



We were at the temple yard when suddenly we heard the noise of drum from the alley. We rushed following the sound that we recognized as 'Barongsai', the dragon dance background energetic 'music'. At least there were three 'barongsai' performances we saw during our trip to Glodok.
It was two days before Chinese New Year, but it seemed the festival had already started.

Enough enjoying the performance, we continued our journey to another Chinese Temple, Toasebio, also known as Vihara Dharma Jaya. Comparing from the size of the temple, it is smaller than the previous temple. From what I saw, I know that every temple has their own uniqueness.





The temple was so quiet at that time. We both enjoyed our private time exploring the temple. We walked to every corner of the temple, enjoyed the lanterns that hung on the ceiling, looked at the details, smelled the smoky incense, ...all were beautiful!
The Chinese Temple always amazes me.



We left the temple after took many pictures, not using the main alley... we tried to go through other small alleys. I had never been to that alley before, but I felt so lucky for our decision.
We entered an alley that full of home bakery and food stalls! The aroma of the home baking blowed everywhere... ohh! So tempting!



On one side we saw how the sellers lively prepared the Wonton; rolled the wrappers, put the filling, and fried or steam it. On the other side. we watched a seller finished his fresh Kue Pia from the grill. Very interesting to see Kue Mangkok, fresh from the steamer and the color was red, not pink, not light green or light brown like usually. It was RED!

Interesting to see special delicacies gathered in one small alley. All were looked delicious. ahhh...
For sure, I'll be back... Next time I'll bring along my son.

After tasting food here and there, we decided to end our exciting journey. We brought home the special Nian Gao a.k.a Kue Keranjang, some delicious Kue Pia with durian and mung bean filling (I can say this is the best in the city!) and also... some new props! Yay... I bought some enamel bowls and a small tray from Glodok.



We left the colorful festival, went back home with happy face and full tummy.
China Town has never dissapointed me!

Bringing home the Nian Gao, I knew exactly what to do with it.
I remember that last year, a friend of mine; Eliza, posted a recipe on her beautiful blog about a new way to prepare this sticky cake. Before, the only way I know how to prepare this cake by frying it. Now I like how Eliza prepares this cake by steaming it and coat with shredded coconut.

So, by following Eliza instruction written on her blog, for this cake, I just cut it in square, steamed it (don't forget to grease the steamer with oil before putting the cake), and at the same time I steamed shredded coconut with pinch of salt. After the cake was soft enough and the shredded coconut was cooked well, then I mixed them together... and tarraaa...
Delicious Steamed Nian Gao with Shredded Coconut is ready!It is soft and chewy, sweet and tasty, so yummy!



Have a wonderful weekend, Friends.

Another beautiful escape; Jatiluhur Lake, West Java.

For many of us who spent our primary school in Indonesia, we must have learned about 'the biggest dam or the biggest hydro-power in Indonesia' name Jatiluhur nearby Purwakarta, West Java.

For many of us who live in Jakarta or Bandung or both and spend many-many times travelling through Purbalenyi toll highway, must be familiar with this exit signage. See the picture below.

After about 30 years familiar with the name of Jatiluhur, and after countless times passing this road signage without paying too much attention or even having any desires to explore that place, finally 2 weeks ago we managed to visit that one of the most important infrastructures in this country.

Actually, the idea came from my husband, who had experience visiting this place long years ago. So in one beautiful morning, we travelled from Jakarta, took about 1.5 hour from our home, enjoyed our homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee along the way, then finally ...the mighty dam was right in front of us!

For your information, this area is located about halfway between Jakarta and Bandung via Cikampek-Purbaleunyi toll roads.

A huge massive concrete dam is standing strong on the one edge of Jatiluhur Lake facing north. Its official name is actually Ir.H.Juanda Multipurpose Dam, but most of the people call it 'Jatiluhur Dam'.

We were amazed. Our curiosity children were busy walking around and asking questions. Their father had the job to answer them, from A to Z.

The Jatiluhur Dam could accommodate 3 billion cubic of water from the mighty Citarum River. It was the first multipurpose dam in Indonesia. It took about 10 years to build in 1950's to generate electrical power for the expanding Java island. It also provides irrigation to millions acres of farm lands and fresh water fishery industry has been developed as well.

If you have the same curiosity like my children, you can go to this link about Jatiluhur Lake.

The area around the lake has been developed for tourism. Some facilities such as hotels, cottages, countless of restaurants and even a waterpark are available.

Since we went there only for a day trip, having limited time to explore the big area, so after the dam we continued our journey to visit the floating fish farm village, yes, right in the middle of the lake.

Using a rental traditional boat, we went a bit around the lake, approaching the dam and stop by in "the water village", that is a big fresh water floating fish farm that famous as a Ikan Keramba Jaring Apung or Keramba Fish Floating Net.

We walked together on the narrow floating bridges and piers made of bamboo, steel structures & steel drums.
Enjoying the the fresh air, the wind, the sunshine and the waves.
Beautiful, very relaxing.
What a great experience we got.

Tired walking around under the sun, then we enjoyed delicious Sundanese lunch; steam rice, fried tofu and tempe, stir fried water spinach and fresh grilled fish. oh lallaa...

Back to the land, our children asked not to go straight home. They wanted to play kite that they bought before we went to the water village. No problem, why not.

It was a beautiful weather that time, clean air, clear sky, windy, good for flying kites.

Fresh young coconut water accompanying us while watching the children. Sweet and fresh.

Lots of families had picnic on shores of the lake. Many traditional snack were sold there.

I never imagine before how fun was the trip to Jatiluhur.

Now, I can say that this is one of good places to escape from the hectic metropolitan city! Not only refreshing our body and mind, but also giving good experience and knowledge for the children.





If you live in Jakarta or Bandung or Bogor or around one them, I recommend you to visit this place. Bring along your children, they will have fun and great experience.

Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Icing

"First step is always the hardest"
hhhm, sometimes I have to agree.

Some of the 'first things' were happenning this week.
First day of school and work after 2 weeks of beautiful holiday, and all of us struggled with 'wake up' time in the morning. It was hard!

First time driving again through the busy-crowded-chaos Jakarta traffic, after 2 weeks break (my husband was the driver during the holiday), not too hard. Everything went smooth, I worked hard to manage our time, took it easy and enjoyed what I have to do.

First food photo session after 2 weeks break, hmmm not hard at all, because I kept my camera with me all the time during holiday.

Next week, we'll face another 'first'. We hire a driver to drop/pick up kids to/from the school. My kids are not happy (for now), I am their favorite driver. Again, first time will not be easy for them, but I need to say goodbye for the stressful traffic especially during the busy morning and afternoon peak hours.

When I saw this recipe, under the article 'Sweet Spot' on BHG magazine (April 2011), I fell in love for the first sight! I bookmarked the page after reading the foreword; 'Whether you have just a little time to bake or a lot, bring fresh-from-the-oven goodness to any spring celebration with these luscious breads' and the simple recipes. I said to myself, I'm gonna try all of those recipes.
Actually it's not spring here right now, but almost everyday we got heavy rain.
This soft bread is really nice to accompany our hot beverage at anytime.

Making this quick bread as simple as preparing muffins. Just mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Not require mixer or food processor or other fancy machinery. The bread itself is not too sweet (it only uses 2/3 cup of brown sugar and little ground of cinnamon). But the Cream Cheese Icing, give extra sweetness to the bread. I used the remaining cream cheese after baked the stollen on Christmas Season :)
At the end, I put a handful of dried cranberries to give extra flavor on the bread. Oooh, we're still on the 'cranberry mood'.

We like this delicious bread a lot, and my son loves it so much!


Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Icing
Source : Better Homes and Gardens Magazine (US), April 2011
Makes: 16 servings, Prep: 20 mins
Bake: 350°F 55 mins

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom or nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded carrot
2 beaten eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 recipe Cream Cheese Icing, recipe below

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan or three 4-3/4x2-1/2x2-inch loaf pan; set aside.

2. In a bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, soda and salt. In another bowl combine carrot, eggs, milk, and oil; add to dry ingredients stirring just until moistened.

3. Pour batter into prepared pan(s). Bake for 55 to 60 for the 8x4-loaf pan or 30 to 35 minutes for the large loaf pan or 30 to 35 minutes for the small loaf pans or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (check the loaf 10 to 15 minutes before the end of baking time. If it is browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil). Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove and cool completely on a rack. Wrap in foil; store overnight before slicing. Store up to 3 days at room temperature or freeze up to 3 months.
Glaze with Cream Cheese Icing just before serving.

Makes 16 servings.

Cream Cheese Icing
Ingredients
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 - 4 teaspoons milk

Directions
Whisk together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a little milk until smooth and glazelike. Drizzle over Carrot Bread.

Enjoy your weather, friends...
Have a nice weekend.

Visiting Domas Crater, West Java.

Good evening Universe, hello blogosphere!
Happy New Year to all of you!I hope you had a wonderful time welcoming this new year.

Ooh, I'm still in the 'holiday mode' until now. Five more days to go, before we'll start our normal routine. My bodyclock is still following the 'holiday clock'; almost every day (except the 'exercise day') I wake up at 7am or more! I hope we'll not get the 'back to school/work blues' next week, ha..ha..

Last Christmas was our 3rd Christmas here since we moved back to our home in Jakarta. Following the big family tradition, after Christmas we spend time together, out of this crowded city, and have a short vacation together.

This time, we chose Cikole nearby Lembang, West Java as an outbond place to stay for 3 days. The famous camping ground is located right at the foot of Tangkuban Parahu volcano, about 25 km north of Bandung, the capital city of West Java province.

One interesting part of the short vacation is hiking!
Two years ago we hiked from Jayagiri, Lembang to Tangkuban Parahu volcano for about 5-6 km uphill! This year, we decided to have a shorter distance hiking. We walked to Domas Crater, a smaller crater of Tangkuban Parahu volcano.

Fresh air, beautiful plants around us, happy and relaxing time ...

We walked for 1.2 km through the beautiful elevated tropical forest before got to the crater.
It's a short distance, with good & well maintained walking track and stairway for family hiking. The smell of sulphur welcoming us, and confirming that we were heading to an active crater.

It was an interesting experience to visit this particular crater and the most interesting part for the children is... boiling some eggs, straight into the boiling hot spring in one part of the crater. It took between 10 to 12 minutes & the boiled eggs are ready. The raw eggs are sold there.

Other than that, we can soak our feet in warm water and explore the moon-surface around the crater.

Walking back another 1.2 km to the parking area is another 'happiness'. Heading to the crater, the track is going downhill. Leaving the crater: uphill. Don't worry, the beauty of the forest and the super fresh air give us a great experience for our body and soul.

If you have no idea where to bring your children for a short vacation, Cikole in Lembang can be a very good alternative. Hiking to the Domas Crater is a good experience for the whole family.

Just for information, we rent two cottages in Cikole Camping Ground, just beside the Bandung Treetop Adventure Park. It is a good place for family, with good facilities. We built two tents around the cottages and had bonfire & fireworks at nights.

Food? Don't worry. Lots of delicious food can be found in Lembang. The thing that we should worry more is 'gaining weight'. The cold weather give us the hungry effect all the time :)

Here are some pictures of the street food that we enjoyed around the camping ground.

All are delicious and cheap (for sure). We didn't have a problem with our stomach after eating all of this. Other than that, you can drive about 7 km to Lembang, for heavier meals. Traditional fried domestic chicken will be the good choice. Or try the colenak (fermented cassava serve with brown sugar and coconut sauce), fresh milk, variant type of tofu, and grilled corn with variety of flavors. Lembang is famous for its delicious culinary.

Have a wonderful new year, Friends.