Jogja Tei - 不值得

For our weekly restaurant search, the hubs and I decided to go to Jogja Tei, a Japanese restaurant at Grand Quality Hotel. When I visit any town and goes to a restaurant in a hotel for a meal, I always expect some level of standard; especially if the hotel is a chain hotel and not a local one. But since I arrived in Jogja, I have learned to manage my expectations and I’m glad I put that into practice tonight. The food was disappointing. Maybe cos their speciality was teppanyaki but we had the normal Jap food instead.

For starters, we ordered salmon and scallop sashimi as well as California Rolls. The salmon was ok; nothing to wow about. The scallops were bad. We suspected they boiled the scallops a little. Maybe they were frozen scallops and thus boiling was needed to remove the smell. Fresh scallops had a different texture to it and comes with a little saltish taste. The ones we had tonight had none of those.

Next came the California Rolls. The rice was most definitely not Japanese rice. It was sticky, alright. But doesn’t taste like Jap rice. So we suspected they use the normal rice and just added in more water to make it stick.

The hubs ordered an unagi set and I had the tempura set. The unagi was atrocious; rubbery and tasteless at best and the batter for my tempura was soft. There was no crunch at all. After a very disappointing meal, we decided to have desserts. So we ordered the Teppan Pancake Ice-cream. Under normal circumstances, I would have expected the pancake to be a Japanese pancake. But given the location as well as the food we just had, I expected it to be a normal pancake. And true enough, when the dessert arrived, it’s just ice-cream on normal pancake and that cost us Rp32,900.

The saving grace for the whole dinner was the miso soup as well as the drinks. The hubs ordered a mohito and I had a frozen margarita. The hubs tasted better mohito and while my frozen margarita didn’t turn out frozen at all, the taste was quite ok. I mean, this is a country where alcohol doesn’t come cheap or easy. Damage for the whole dinner? A hefty Rp694,200. Totally not worth it. 不值得. I told the hubs I would probably not return to it again. If I do, I’ll try the teppanyaki instead. Otherwise, Happy Puppy would have been a much better choice.

Dallen's Almost 1!

Dallen is almost 1 year old. The year fled past so quickly. It didn't feel so long ago when I excitedly called the hubs to tell him I took the pregnancy test and voila! I'm pregnant! That was followed by worries and anxieties that the sperm would dislodge itself and cause a natural miscarriage. But all was well and I had quite a smooth pregnancy, less the shingles that attacked me during my second trimester. I seldom had heartburn; not a lot of backache and the water retention was acceptable. Yes, there were stretch marks. Ugly, red, angry lines. But one year on, they're forgotten and disappeared. So I guess Clarins helped.

The delivery was something out of the expectation. I was all eager and ready for a vaginal birth. But again, man proposes, God disposes. I had to be wheeled into the OT for an emergency C-section. So now, instead of stretch marks, I wear a permanent rank of motherhood across my belly. Some women find that nark offensive. I find it quite endearing. It's a mark of my love for my son.

I started out as an ignorant mother and I still remember the horrible day when Dallen cried non-stop as the confinement nanny made her way home and the hubs had to stay for some work dinner. I swear I've never heard a baby cry like that before. Nothing helps and he was just crying non-stop from noon till night. I'm serious! I'm not exaggerating. I was so desperate I wanted to run and knock on my neighbours' doors to see if they have some tricks to make him stop. Out of sheer desperation, I called the hubs and made him come home half-way through his dinner. By the time I see him walk through that door, I was so relieved I broke down in tears. He took the baby away from me and he stopped crying. Damn! So much for a baby's bond with the mother. And I was still breastfeeding him, no less. And the romper he was wearing that day states: "This Is The Life". It's almost as if the romper was speaking to me, mocking me.

But I learned along the way and am proud that I raised an adorable lil boy, with very little quirks and problems. Thank God! The hubs has been very supportive and that made life so much easier for me. I hate men who go home after work and just plant their butts on the sofa watching tv, leaving the wife to deal with the kids alone. Hello! These are your kids too! Your responsibilities too!

Anyway, Dallen filled our lives with so much joy (and frustrations, of cos...that's part of the package deal) and it's just amazing to witness how he developed from a helpless baby to an active and energetic boy he is today. Now that he is older, he's a lot more fun (and trouble!). Crawling here and there and getting things into a mess; trying to speak and articulate in the ways that he can manage and everyday now, I'm expecting to see him take that first step on his own. He's such an easy boy with little fuss (except when we try to get him to sleep). I'm glad I stuck to the principle of making him sleep at least 12 hours everyday, if not 14. I firmly believe that's why he's seldom, if not never, sick and so bubbly and fat. I love him more than life itself and the only regret I have? That I didn't breastfeed him longer. By the time I discovered the joy of breastfeeding, I was drying up cos I wasn't trying hard enough. So when we have our second kid, I'm gonna endure the pain and breastfeed.

Well, we'll be celebrating Dallen's birthday in less than a month's time. It's been a joyful and backbreaking year. And I'm thankful the hubs was with me through it all. Thanks, hubs! Thanks, God!

Via Via - A Nice Surprise!

Last Friday, the hubs and I set out to find a new restaurant to dine in for our weekly night out. So far, we’ve only been to restaurants that have been recommended to us by friends or those they have already been to before. That night, we went to a restaurant that has never been brought up in conversations before and it turned out to be the best so far. Not used to making reservations, we simply jumped on a cab and just hauled our butts there. But when we arrived, the restaurant was actually fully booked! So we had to wait for a table and while waiting, I had the chance to look around the place and I liked the décor. It gave the place a very relaxed, small-town kinda ambience. Nothing fancy; but enough to transport me outta Jogja. It felt like I was in another part of the world.

Throughout my stay in Jogja so far, tourists are rarely seen, except in the touristy area of Marlioboro. Even then, the numbers are scarce and you just felt like still being surrounded by locals. Ang mohs are littered here and there and we can go for a long time without seeing one. But at Via Via, the whole community of them gathered. I was taken aback! And cos of the crowd, it didn’t feel like we’re in Jogja. 90% of the patronage are ang mohs, with the exception of 3 tables (us included). Needless to say, I already had enough of the locals and it’s a nice change to be able to immerse myself in another culture. We were eyeing tables and hoping one would come up empty. So everytime we see someone finish their drink, we get hopeful. Only to have them go on to their mains and their butts still stuck to the chair. Aperitifs! Something that totally slipped my mind cos the locals dun practice it. So there…we’re back to our waiting game again. Finally, one of the server decided to set up a make-shift table for us and we gladly took it. Simple set-up but we didn’t mind. We dined alfresco under the stars with a table of ang mohs playing Uno next to us. Nice!

Gadjah Wong was nice. But the ambience was still very much Indonesian. Via Via has a totally different atmosphere and is more our kinda hangout place. Food was ok…not exactly authentic western cuisine but tasted just as nice. Without the wine, the bill would have been a very comfortable number. So there you have it! A nice restaurant with decent pricing. Wine was costly. But the availability of it was an added bonus. It’s always good to have choices. Having said all these, the next time someone comes to visit, to Via Via we shall go!

Happy Birthday To Me!

I've been too busy to blog cos I was preparing to go home (to Singapore). Now that I am home (in Jogja), the routine is in place again.

Just before we flew off for the weekend, the hubs celebrated my birthday and attemped to surprise me with a bouquet of fresh flowers being delivered to the house. Fresh flowers in Jogja is quite difficult to find and I do appreciate the effort. We then had a nice dinner and to top it all off, went home for a simple cake-cutting with the lil one. Though there was just us, I revel in the hubs' love and enjoyed having the lil one celebrate my birthday for me for the first time. My very first mummy's birthday!