MOVE.LEARN.EAT

I discovered these inspiring videos by Rick Mereki and I feel guilty if I don't share them with all of you, you know, just to make you all feel just as excited as I am.

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....

= a trip of a lifetime.

Don't you just feel the urge to board on a plane (now) and be somewhere amazing? I REALLY DO! :)

I especially LOVE the 'MOVE'. 
Which one is yours, travelholic?

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[Me] Eating in Beijing

I was browsing my RECOVERED photo folders (I was scared to death as I didn't have any backup of them) and realized there are few photos of me eating/drinking when in Beijing. That's how I survived winter cold Beijing :)


This post is to appreciate and celebrate those photos I might be losing if the minor operation wasn't successful. So ladies and gentlemen, please have all your documents especially those VALUABLE TRAVEL PHOTOS BACKED UP ok. And now I'm getting myself another hard disk. Is 1TB too big?



First breakfast in Beijing, leftover spicy chicken from dinner with bread.

Snacking at Temple of Heaven. Chocolate is a must in my packing list!

Hot steamed corn at Summer Palace. I need something to warm me, it was cold. Brrrrr....

Breakfast at hostel - egg sandwich, to keep me energized the whole day.

Proper dinner at Niujie Street restaurant.

It look delicious but hey, look may deceive. Snacking in Wangfujing.

Ahh, nothing beats hot chocolate before shopping!

You haven't been to China if you haven't drink their chinese tea. That's the proper way of holding the cup :)

That are not entirely what I ate in Beijing, a usual post on foods will be coming when it's time :D

Do you have any specific food you like to try when travelling? Insect anyone?




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The Love For Delicious

Delicious, a cafe with western and fusion food selection is place where I usually spend the afternoon or evening together with my girlfriends. The ambiance of the cafe is enough to make us stay for many hours eating their scrumptious meals, chatting up, people watching, drinking away, look at the menu again, order dessert, order more drinks and more chatting :) 

I fell in love with the place on the very first visit. The crave for somehing sweet aka dessert after heavy meal of Banana Leaf Rice at Nirwana Maju had lead me, Ayun and Sayra to come to the cafe that looked very cosy from the outside requesting table for 3.


After the menu was handed to us by a more-than-average looking waiter *ahem, we were browsing each page guessing how they would taste. They have long list of drinks, starter, main dish and dessert. Undecided, we looked around to find inspiration from other table's foods. Every plate on the tables looked good and delicious. Still, neither of us succesfully made up our mind what to order and with the intention not to spoil the already good impresssion of Delicious by ordering something not nice, we called up the same waiter *on purpose, he's good looking!* for recommendation. 


The waiter helpfully explained each drink to us and only after few minutes he finally got something to scribble on his order pad :'). He was quick to recommend Chocolate Brownie (with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream) as dessert to us, claiming it was the best dessert in the house. We trusted his words and agreed to share one serving together.   

The waiter was right! The brownie tasted perfectly, rich in flavour!
We went ohhh-ing, ahhh-ing when the warm brownie with its combo entered our mouths. Handsome waiter never lies :') 


The tasteful dessert we had was not enough to evaluate Delicious (although we already liked the place so much) so we made a deal to return for other dishes some day. And it was not too long before we returned to Delicious (Bangsar Village II branch particularly) for birthday celebration, treating visiting friends from out of town, Sunday evening hangout etc.

We even met the iron lady, Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz!

Delicious had clearly become our new favourite place for any occasion since then. And the same chocolate brownie had become the official dessert. I can't stop spreading words to everyone I met how wonderful the chocolate brownie tasted. So, if u haven't been to Delicious and feel like having to spend your time with love one, go and order yourselves the Chocolate Brownie and take your time indulging it. You'll understand what I meant :)


So last two weeks, when Dian asked whether I'd be available after work for Delicious Appreciation Dinner, I immediately said yes. Oh, how could I resist the invitation?! It's DELICIOUS!!!

Me & Dian

The dinner was held at their Marc Residency branch at Jalan Pinang. The place have slightly different interior than my usual Bangsar branch, but with the same concept - cosy and condusive for eating.   

That night, guests were treated with food other than what Delicious put in their menu but were prepared by the same chef. How did I know? I got the chance to talk to the chef :') It was a special occasion, so he prepared special food for everyone that night. 

The event got livelier after 7.30pm when every corner and nook was occupied by guests.

We were introduced to the new COE of Delicious Group, Michael Saxon.

He also presented an Illy's coffee maker to the lucky guest. Now, all coffee in Delicious are made from Illy coffee, a reputable brand of coffee from Italy. So, don't regret paying more for coffee here, they're the best one!


After that, the guests were entertained by Malaysian Dreamgirls. I like watching live performance let alone these powerful voice of the trio. Simply entertaining and stunning.

So now, in total Delicious has 5 outlets in KL (One Utama, Bangsar Village II, Dua Residency, Marc Residency and Mid Valley) and people in northern region can also get the taste of Delicious at their newly open branch at Strait Quay, Penang. 


The only branch that serve steak is the one at Dua Residency, Jalan Tun Razak. And since me, Sayra and Hana (and Ikhlas) managed to squeeze some time out from busy work schedule, last weekend saw us lunching at Dua Residency - to try their steak!

For starter, we had Red Velvet Cupcake that came with generous cheese frosting instead of soup or salad :') Sweet tooth we are!
My favourite drink here is Hot Honey Lemon.

Then only the Caesar Salad came with other dishes.

Wait! Weren't we came for their steak?!



It came a little bit later and this was what been presented to us - Delicious' Tenderloin Steak. Oh yummmm......

Ahhh, my mouth watering when I look at these picture. Do you?


The earlier Red Velvet Cupcake didn't count as a dessert, so we ordered Black Forest In a Glass to complete the course :)

When you're with great friends and great foods, time flies so swiftly. We didn't realize we spent 5 hours *I've told ya* just sitting there talking and eating :') It brings us more closer each day. Thanks Delicious for having such a wonderful place!
  


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Central-East Java: Nasi Gudeg & Ngamen

We can have so many reasons to like a place. It could be the warm welcome u received, the cheapest breakfast u ever bought, beautiful scenery just outside your window or the feeling of being young again after a ride on roller coaster. But for me, my stomach always have good connection with my heart. Enjoying food with good company never fail creating sweet memories of the place and that was the reason I never forget my first night in Yogyakarta. I agree when people say food bring people together, no matter where the place.

The day I arrived was hectic, I straight away visiting places in my itinerary without putting my backpack at a place I would be spending my night at. My lunch was just a bar of Snickers chocolate and raining the whole afternoon didn't make my travel any easier either. I was tired and glad when finally I reached Lisa's house at about 6-ish. At least I could put my head down to rest for awhile before having dinner *I hadn't eat any meal except my in-flight Nasi Ayam Chin*

Lisa was so friendly and she's a chatter box! We talked almost about anything for hours like there's no tomorrow and like we were good friends that hadn't meet for ages and need a lot of catching up to do. I had a good laugh, really! Then I totally forgot about my dinner. My sister already laid herself down and lost in her dream. During the conversation also I decided to change my plan for tomorrow and day after. It was all because of Lisa! Now, I just need to rent a car with driver for my trip to Dieng Plateu, a place 5-hour drive from Jogja. But at 9pm, we were still talking and I hadn't book any car yet for tomorrow's trip that should begin at 5am! And I was still in the same cloth since I arrived without shower nor dinner. Pathetic! I am such a well-prepared freak sometimes, this kind of arrangement doesn't fit me, I need to at least secured the booking then I can be comfortable with anything afterwards. This conversation needed to stop and we should be going out doing the arrangement. Luckily Lisa's helper came into our room and interrupted our conversation, brought 3 plates of Sate Madura for each of us. So, we stopped talking for awhile and I finished them in no time. I was famished! 

This is the look of Sate Madura. Similar to our Malaysian sate but with additional of sambal and kicap. The taste? As yummy as it looked *burp, excuse me :p

If you have been to Prawirotaman to look for mid range accommodation and place to eat, you've probably come across Via Via Cafe. In Lonely Planet, it is rated as top place to eat in Jogja and have been travelers' choice to hang out too. What was I doing at Via Via Cafe while I supposed to look for car rental company? Well, besides cafe they also provide car rental service and as I guessed, the price was a "little" too expensive for my type of travel :( So, I passed and together with Lisa we walked out of the place to look for more wallet-friendly price although I really would love to sit and enjoy the company of other travelers while drinking some refreshing juice there. The cafe had very relaxing ambiance, perfect for me who had tiring day today. 

Just as we were about to leave, our motorbike bumped into Lisa's friend motorbike who also happens to be one of Jogja CSer I requested to be my host. I was very elated when Rose recognized me and she invited us to join her for some meet up with other CSers. How could I say no?! At that instance, I nodded in agreement and put the finding-rental-car mission aside first :p Inside, there were already Fauzi, Taufik and his surfer from Germany, Basti. So later that night, the 6 of us (4 Indonesian, 1 Malaysian and 1 German) shared a table and many stories over our favourite drinks and live jazz music. Oh, how I love travelling...and making new friends!

Although Via Via Cafe serves local Indonesian dishes, Taufik suggested we should go some other place that have more authentic Indonesian taste and ambiance than the contemporary cafe setting Via Via have. Agreeing with him, Fauzi, Basti, Lisa and I hit the road with motorbikes to look for the best place to eat Nasi Gudeg, Jogja signature dish. 




I fell for this place! I never expect such food stall could make me like Jogja so much. It's Jogja not at its surface!

I know, the video is very dark :( and there was no lighting except from the sidewalk but what I want to share is the songs from ngamen. I quite enjoyed their singing :) Do u? Ngamen is what Indonesian call a group or solo street performer. They could be singing any song at any place, including at the market, in a bus, food stalls etc. Usually people give them some money to show they enjoy their performance.

When I arrived at Gudeg Permata, it was almost 11pm but there were still a lot of people queueing for the food. As u can see, they are specializing in gudeg and have a lot of lauk to eat the rice with. Besides gudeg (young jack fruit cooked with palm sugar and coconut milk) I chose chicken with gravy and tempeh-playing safe by not choosing any peculiar lauk. Then Lisa suggested to include beef skin sambal. She claimed it is not as disgusting as its sounds and I was convinced and had some on my plate. 

    
In the end, what left on my plate was the beef skin sambal. I just didn't have the courage to be food adventurous that night :D And I didn't finish the gudeg as well since jack fruit can caused wind in my stomach. But afterall, the gudeg taste just nice when combine with some sambal since eating it itself can be too sweet for my liking. 

From the video, I did show there's a place for them to boil water isn't it? This is how it looked when I took the photo with flash on.

How classic! A coal stove.



But the more classic was the eating place at this stall. What do u think?

The empty space on the rainbow mat was where I ate and had a good taste of true Indonesia lifestyle (maybe). And that's how I could record the ngamen playing songs uninterruptedly *super happy*

That's how I spent my first night in Jogja :) Awesome, no?

Do u think u would enjoy this place like I did? 




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The fastest way to Beijing from Tianjin

Although Air Asia offers dirt cheap flight to Beijing, they don't really landed in Beijing (Beijing Capital International Airport, IATA:PEK) but in Tianjin (Tianjin Binhai International Airport, IATA:TSN), a metropolis 140km away. However, landing in Tianjin and travelling between the 2 metropolis are still cheap than a roundtrip ticket to Beijing. Yay to frugal travelling! :D

While travelling with bus will take approximately 2.5 hours to reach Beijing, why not use a more convenient and fastest transportation, bullet train!

How to get to the station?
There are actually 2 options; Airport Shuttle Bus or Taxi

Airport Shuttle Bus

From departure hall of Tianjin Binhai International Airport, walk straight outside of the airport to purchase ticket at this Shuttle Bus Station counter.

Ticket to Tianjin Railway Station cost only CNY10. Although the counter is at international airport, none of them speaks english (don't panic, this is the time to use your Mandarin you've been practising). Or u can just point the destination at the glass window if u have difficulty purchasing your ticket :p Bus to railway station departs every 30 minutes and duration is 30 minutes.

Taxi

Metered taxi usually cost around CNY40-50 from airport to Tianjin Railway Station. It will take about 20-30 minutes depending on the traffic.


During my last visit, the bus stopped a bit far from the railway station due to some road closure and I had to lug my [heavy] luggage and tail other passengers to the station.

Tianjin Railway Station (back side)

Like at the airport, all your bags need to undergo x-ray machine for security check here. No exception. This procedure was effected since pre-Olympic 2008 and it gets extended to each subway station too.

The railway station is sooooooo big than I imagined it should! I was amazed at the massiveness and its modern interior. Nothing like any railway station i've been to (I haven't been to many stations to be honest). Well, I think it should be built like so to cater the billions population of China! For this station also connects to other cities in China as well.

If u need to purchase a local sim card, buy it here (near the entrance) at one of China's telco company. I couldn't find anywhere cheaper than here!


Purchasing ticket for bullet train need not to be in advance as there are 70 trips daily between Tianjin-Beijing. I opted to use the ticketing machine as it has english translation.

Sayra helping me buying ticket

Ticket is priced according to its class:
Top Class - CNY99
1st Class - CNY69
2nd Class - CNY58

For just 30minutes ride, the 2nd class seat is decent and comfortable enough. Seat is numbered and you'll get complimentary bottled water.

Just so you know, this is the look of the ticket and the important info u should be checking.

15 minutes before the train leaves, find yourselves queueing with the rest of these people. Did I tell u China has the largest population?

I was queueing impatiently to board the top 10 fastest train in world with them all and when I saw IT, I was super excited like a kid gets a free candy (it was more like 'jakun' actually :p)

 Oh yeah baby, that's the train :D

Let's see how the inside of this train in 2nd class coach.

The seat numbering

The seat

There's overhead bag compartment

Passage to another coach

Toilet

The complimentary bottled water

Ok, I guess enough about the interior of the train and its services. This CRH train is about speed y'all. It can goes to maximum of 350 km/h!

In 6 minutes;

And this was the fastest speed I captured during this trip; 

In exactly 30 minutes at 6.00pm, the train reached Beijing South Railway Station. And this is me, officially in BEIJING! Yippie :D

That's how u can travel from Tianjin Binhai International Airport to Beijing South Railway Station in total of 1 hour.

Beijing South Railway Station is another big railway station and interconnected with Beijing Subway Line 4. You can connect to any subway station from here. For me, here was the starting point of my Beijing's travel adventure :D I straight away making a ticket purchase to Datunlu East Station, where Steph's house is.

To end the day, I had my dinner (first meal in Beijing) at muslim restaurant next to Datunlu East Station.

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