What to do when your shoes are wet in the office?

This afternoon I had my lunch at a nearby food stall. When T and I were half way eating our bakmi goreng (fried noodle), the sky turned dark in a sudden. A few minutes later, it was raining cats and dogs!! 

OMG! We had no umbrella at that time!! When we finished lunch, the rain was still very heavy and it didn't seem to be getting slower. We stood in front of the stall and looked for a 'water boy' (kids who rent you their umbrellas during rainy days). We thought of renting an umbrella from one of the kids. However, the demand was higher than the supply and we couldn't get any umbrella.

Luckily, the stall owner offered his umbrella to us. He sent his staff to follow us back to the office and we returned the umbrella to him upon reaching our destination. On the way back, we walked pass tonnes of potholes on the road! On top of that, the passing-by vehicles were splashing water onto the pedestrian pathway. Even though T and I were sharing a huge umbrella, we still got wet, especially my leg.

I even stepped into a puddle of water and got my shoes totally wet! *Sniff* I thought this pair of shoes might be a total loss! I was thinking of shoes shopping already. :p

When I reached the office, I immediately wiped myself dry. I was trying to wipe my shoes also, but it was just too wet. Guess what happened after that...

That was what happened

Hahaha! I put my shoes in front of the fan! I fanned it from 1pm to 5pm. In between, I also changed the position of the shoes so that it can get dry from all angles. Hahaha!! During that 4 hours, one of my colleagues, W was kind enough to lend me her slippers.

W's 'fishy' slippers and my wet high heels

Her slippers were way too cute!! I was so shy to wear it to the toilet. Hahaha! Bottom line, it really works when you are drying your wet shoes under the fan for a couple of hours! My shoes are now dry and wearable. So, next time if you have the same problem, why not try out this way?

*Cheers*

Balinese crispy duck @ Dirty Duck Diner (Bebek Bengkil), Jakarta

Last week T invited me to join him and his friends for lunch in Menteng, Jakarta. His friend, M recommended a restaurant that serves great Balinese crispy duck (a.k.a. bebek bengkil). We wasn't sure the exact location of the restaurant and we thought the cab driver should be able to get us there.

On the next day, we took a cab to Menteng. The first cab driver had no clue where exactly Bebek Bengil was located! We got down from the first cab and took another cab. I told the second cab driver that the place is near Plaza Menteng (that was one of the landmark I saw in google map). The driver nodded his head and fetched us to Menteng.

About 10-15 minutes later, he stopped the cab in front of Plaza Menteng. He told us that he had no idea where was Bebek Bengkil. Gosh! We got stuck and we had no choice but to get down from the cab. We asked one of the shopkeepers nearby and she knew which restaurant we were looking for! Thank god!

She pointed to the left hand side and told us to walk down the road. I asked if it is walking distance (Bisa jalan ke tempat itu, ke?). She answered 'Yes!' (Bisa!) and nodded her head confidently. So, we thought it might be near. Then, she added 'lumayan jugak!'. T and I thought she was commenting the food in Bebek Bengil was quite pricey. Well, we thanked her for the direction. After 15 minutes of walk, we still do not see the restaurant! We even dropped by a few shops for directions but they do not seems to know where is the restaurant. 

Later, M sent an sms to inform us the full address of restaurant. The restaurant was at No.132, and we were right in front of No. 31!! The numbers were not even close!! Not only that, we were not even on the correct street! We started to feel panic and asked for more directions. 

This time, I asked for the particular street instead of the name of the restaurant. The lady knew the street and pointed its way. Then, I asked if its far (jauh?). She nodded her head and said 'lumayan..'... GOSH! T and I were speechless! We finally understood what was the meaning of 'lumayan'... it meant very far!!

Isshh! We were tired and sweaty after the long walk. So, we decided to take a cab to the restaurant. Finally, we managed to get to the restaurant after the misunderstandings due to language barrier.

There were 2 monuments at the entrance of Dirty Duck Diner

And pond with tortoises and fishes in the middle of restaurant =)

 Another view of the restaurant

I told M and MW about how we misunderstood the word 'lumayan'. They laughed out loud!! Hahah! I got to really brush up my Bahasa Indonesia. Or else, more of these may happen in the future. LOL!

For the restaurant, there were two sections - indoor and outdoor. Since the weather looked great, we preferred the outdoor seat. We were sitting under a 'pondok' (small hut). Looked cool huh?

M was distributing food to his daughter

My bebek bengil - the signature meal, came with vegetable and special chili sauce (not in the picture)

The crispy duck was simply great! Although I am not a fan of duck meat, I enjoyed this crispy duck very much! On top of that, the portion of food was pretty generous. I was stuffed even before I could finish up my rice.

 I was relaxed after lunch

T was even more relaxed!

This restaurant was also recommended by a travel magazine recently

Finally, here's the address of the restaurant...

*Cheers*

Tea time @ Kopi Luwak Cafe, Grand Indonesia

Wednesday was a public holiday too in Indonesia. T and I took a break from work and checked out places around Jakarta. We went to Grand Indonesia, one of the most famous shopping mall in Central Jakarta. 

We took the opportunity to shop around. T grabbed himself 2 big bags of discounted branded clothes from a closing down sales. Most of them were on 70-80% off!! However, too bad that I didn't see anything that caught my eyes.

After that, we marched into Sport Warehouse as we saw the 'SALES UP TO 70%' signage!! We couldn't resist to spend some time checking it out! We bought ourselves a pair of half-priced New Balance shoes! It was such a great deal! And I doubt I could get the same pair of shoes in KL with this incredible price. =)

We felt tired after that and dropped by a coffee house - Kopi Luwak Cafe. This coffee house serves the Indonesia most famous coffee, which is Luwak coffee.

Interior of the coffee house, where a lot of coffee bags were placed at the roof as decorations

According to Wikipedia, "Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is coffee made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and other related civets, then passed through its digestive tract. A civet eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through a civet's intestines the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world."

T decided to try out the special cup of Luwak coffee (IDR90,000; approximately RM30), while I ordered for a glass of ice-blended avocado coffee (IDR30,000; approximately RM10). When the drinks came, we were rather surprised. The waitress brought a thermos, a cup, sugar and a pack of coffee sachet (looked like the 3-in-1 coffee sachet). Then, she cut open the sachet and let us smelt the aroma of luwak coffee beans. After that, she poured the coffee powder into the cup, added hot water (from the thermos), stirred and covered the cup with a lid. She told T to wait for another 2 minutes before drinking the world's most expensive Luwak coffee.

Luwak coffee was presented to us in this manner

T snapped a picture of me with his precious coffee while waiting for the 2 minutes

And this is my ice-blended avocado coffee

That was my first time trying out the ice-blended avocado coffee. I thought it is something new and special. However, I found its taste was just so-so. I do prefer ice-blended avocado drink with chocolate more than this. *yummers!!* =)
 

*Cheers*

Great Italian food in Jakarta

Last week, my bosses and I had lunch in Caffe D' Angelo, an Italian Restaurant located in The East Mall, Jakarta. Mdm W recommended that their food was great. Hence, we gave it a try. 

When we entered the restaurant, we found that the ambiance and the designs of the restaurant were nice. Besides, there was a section with wine racks and it was full with wine bottles! Cool!

I had a piece of thin crust pizza and a plate of lagsane. The pizza was so crispy and cheesy!! And the lagsane was very cheesy too! I am a cheese lover. So, the cheesy Italian food can really delight me. Heheh! The food portion was very generous and I couldn't finish it. =( But it was really good!

The delicious lagsane *Yummers!!!*

I also ordered a cup of hot chocolate. Guess what... The drink was so thick! I had to 'eat' my hot chocolate with my spoon instead of drinking it from the cup. It was just like some melted chocolate in a cup. Hahah! I think it should be listed in the dessert menu instead of the drinks menu. Or probably I need some strawberry or marshmallow to go with the chocolate.

This is my cup of hot chocolate

I enjoyed my meal very much!! If I have chance to visit this restaurant again, I would try their cabonara spaghetti too!! Overall, Caffe D' Angelo serves great Italian food =)

*Cheers*