I remember years ago when I didn't need any connection when we went overseas. I basically just put my phone on flight mode and enjoyed the trip unplugged. No internet connection, sms, call, no nothing. Just me, my family, and our camera.
HOW??? HOW YOU TELL ME?? How did I survive then given that nowadays I'll be pissed and panicky if I can't get a connection within an hour of landing??!!
Ahh, it was such a simpler time then~
Last time I went to China, I used up my XL credit not realizing I hadn't signed up for their international package. Even worse, my dad DID sign up and the internet connection SUCKS BALLS!!! It took gazillion years just to open up google *rolls eyes*. Pretty expensive too wtf. I ended up begging for connection tethering from a friend cos he used Telkomsel*** (I think it was Simpati) and the connection was way better (still not fast, but after that stupid XL connection, it felt like lightning speed).
Anyway, the point is, I'm so dependant on internet connection now that I'll gladly resort to begging for one than be left unplugged for a whole day. Sad.
I want NEED to open up Township ok, which needs an internet connection. SO SO SO addicted to this game it's terrifying. It's the longest I've ever been stuck on a game I think (I'm easily bored you see), aside from Harvest Moon (PS 1, still play it until now on emulator from time to time), The Sims, and Pokemon (not GO!, but sapphire, diamond, etc. ones).
***He said the previous time he went to China, the connection from telkomsel also sucked, so maybe just cross your finger and hope that it's your lucky day.
If you think this is already a smug-angsty-adolescent look, you'd be wrong 'cos it's even more emo-juvenille shit now smh.
We're going to Gotemba today, which is the famous shopping outlet that tour agents always bring the tourists to.
But FIRST, LUNCH!
Group photo.
The bento set. Everything was decent. The star was actually the plum furikake (rice topping) they made in-house! You can buy the furikake on the first floor. They also have the unagi flavored one!
simple noodle soup (was it udon? can't remember. it's been 2 YEARS 😱 )
Haha, I found this sign to be freakingHILARIOUS!!!
I imagine me pooping and when I'm done I'd be standing up, taking a bow and be like "thank you all, thank you very much."
And the crowd would go wild and make a standing ovation applauding my excellent performance of successfully dropping a deuce and go "WOW such performance, such girth, such viscosity!" then proceed to exuberantly applaud me again.
hi.la.ri.ous.
I know, I'm so childish. and disgusting. And I put that horrendous image on your mind. HA!
I digress.
We went to Gotemba Premium Outlet after lunch.
The place is like an outdoor mall with strings of shops on either side of the main street. There are WEST and EAST parts (or was it north and south?) and both are connected by this bridge AND you can see Mount Fuji clearly from this bridge when the weather allows!!
Actually, if I remember correctly, you can see Mount Fuji from various parts of this outlet, so you can very well dine at one of the eatery there and have Mount Fuji as the view! Nice, yeah?
Random R2D2 (is it r2d2 tho? can't be bothered to check on google) lego
Adorable elderly woman with 3 equally adorable Shiba inus (I'm pretty sure it's Shiba inu, not Akita, after I googled them both, but cmiiw).
I feel like this will make me sound incredibly creepy, but I gotta say that I love love that auntie's face (like I said, creepy). She just has this nice demeanor face, you know? Like the sort that is super kind and trustworthy. The perfect grandma type. LOVE! Seeing her face makes me calm wth.
Also, pretty sure the auntie wasn't posing for the photo, it was just pure perfect timing.
Made it black and white so it seemed more artsy fartsy.
To the measly amount of guys who got lost and ended up on my blog, you're welcome. Adorbs tho, right?
The Mount Fuji from the bridge that I talked about earlier!
*insert a photo of me here because there hasn't been any in this post (except for the group photo, but that doesn't count!)*
*insert another one just to remind everyone that this is indeed my blog*
Anyway!
Behind me is this sushi place that serves OMFG AMAZING SUSHI!
It's called Uogashi!*read about it on cheeserland*
Even until now after another 2 trips to Japan, I still think this place serves the best and value-for-money sushi. Granted I've never tried like the Michelin sushi *shrugs*. Who would be willing to treat me to one?
Also, side note, missing my long hair, but at the same time, short hair is super duper convenient I feel like chopping my hair off every time it gets to shoulder-length. *sigh, the first-world dilemma is real guys*
The awesome awesome awesome sushi!! There were more, but they were repetitions.
The unagi seemed so plain, but it burst with flavor and oh-so-soft melt in your mouth. Ordered this twice or thrice I think. Even the simple Inari is damn good.
OH! OH! And it was my first time trying Aburi Engawa.. It was... nothing short of MAGICAL, to say the least.
I know, I'm so extra haha.
But it's true! It was a marvelous experience for a foodie *read: glutton* like me. Soft, melty fish that tastes so buttery and indulgent even though it was simply torched. It's like there's a lot of fat, so when torched, the fat melts and you get this oily (in a good way), buttery, rich taste (I don't know if it's true, it just tastes like it has a lot of fatty goodness).
Aburi engawa (along with unagi) is hands down my most favoritestesttesttest sushi ever! And maybe oo-toro too.
p.s. I don't like non-aburi engawa tho, it's too rubery/chewy for my liking.
Waiting/rest area. It has wi-fi I think. Even the bloody waiting room is damn cute like a kindergarten of sort!!
Locker in case you have luggage with you. And Gachapon!
Random shot of this clothing store I really liked. It's a local Japanese brand I think. They sell pastel, flowy, fluttery, girly, spring-ish type of clothing. Very lovely. I didn't get any tho 'cox it's too expensive for me.
I WANT!! So delicate and cute.
One of my fav vending machine drink, Royal Milk Tea.
Okay, abrupt end here. See you on the next one! WOOHOOO, Almost halfway done with this travelogue!
Okay, so commitment obviously failed, but better late than never I guess. And I must must blog something to bury the embarrassing emo-ish crap post, right?
There are a lot of new, hip eateries popping up in Jogja, but I usually stick to restaurants that I've frequented for years. Not because I don't like to try new places to eat (I DO. SO MUCH.), but because most of these hip cafes/bistro/eateries that I've tried in the past were damn gimmicky only.
Most of them are winning in picturesque decor, cozy ambiance, all that hipster-ish shiz, just Instagram-worthy all around. But for the most part, the food is either bland, substandard, or okay only. The kind of eatery that I would only visit once, take photos, and never come back. Some more the price of this kind of place is a bit pricey for Jogja standard.
I don't really mind the price (they're still not as expensive as Jakarta's standard cafe price) IF the food is good, but that's not the case. I'm not even sure they know what the food in their menu is supposed to taste like. Even when I ordered a simple scrambled egg, what came was a horrific curdled mess of yellow dried bits (I'm looking at you Gadjah Brasserie 😒). A beef burger that used a sad piece of ham as the "beef patty". Bland baked rice. And so much more.
You get my point. They give you a menu with westernized/hipster-ish food and serve you their attempt at it.
Okay, rant over.
Anyhoo, 5 days agoalmost a month ago, I decided to go to this new eatery because I wanna try smoothies bowl and see what's all the fuss about (other than that it looks pretty).
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RAISIN Resto & Kitchen
The decor is the usual run-of-the-mill hip cafe decor; white walls, wooden furniture, hanging plants, huge windows, cushiony seating area, all that jazz. A nice, cozy, hang out place, but nothing I would shout about (I do love the huge windows tho, great for photo taking).
Okay, without further ado (because I've written 9 paragraphs without a single photo 😅), here's my order:
Milk Coffee
I know, I know, boo hoo boring choice. But look at the presentation!!! Not boring, right? Been done thousands of times, but still intersting imo.
I don't like coffee, so I can't really say what I think about it because my answer will always be "blech". But my brother and my Dad said their coffees are good.
Smoothies Bowl
Yes, the thing that made me come to this place. I ordered the avocado banana smoothie bowl with acai, flax seed, coconut, pineapple, granola, and strawberries topping.
Tbh, I was kinda disappointed when it came to the table because the color isn't as vibrant as I imagined smoothie bowl to be (I cranked up the saturations so damn high in these pics). The pineapple is canned pineapple, so it doesn't have that nice bright yellow color. It's also mushy, doesn't have that nice pineapple crunch. The strawberries are mushy too.
I do have to say that I love their home-made granola! I'm not a big fan of granola (I loathe oats, which are in abundance in granola mix) in general, but their granola is good.
The smoothie itself is okay. Taste like if you were to puree avocado and banana, nothing special. A bit too loose for my liking. A thicker texture would've been nicer because I just felt like drinking an avocado juice in a bowl.
Dory Sambal Matah
The 'it' thing right now is sambal matah. Everything has sambal matah on them. I, for one, am not complaining because I love sambal matah!
I like their sambal matah, but it was lacking a bit of punch (not like I need it to be spicier, but there's something missing, like that extra oomph). The dory itself is okay. I'd prefer the meat to be thicker though (you see how thin it is in the pic) -this is not cheapskate thing (which I know I am), this is a "it would have a nicer bite to it" thing.
I actually ordered this again via go-food a couple days after I went there.
Tofu Burger
I honestly don't remember how this tastes 😅. I don't even remember if the meat filling was fish or chicken, so that's probably a good sign that this particular dish is passable.
Fish Bowl with Orange Honey Sauce
This one is actually very tasty. I love the sauce.
This is one of the top two dishes we've had that day (the other one is another rice bowl). The meat is generous, the sauce too. All around great dish imo. The sauce has a slight tangy taste that is nicely balanced by the sweetness of the honey (omg, I sound like a food connoisseur or not 😂) .
Chicken bowl with Pineapple & Sweetened Soy Sauce
Another winner in my book
Just like the previous rice bowl, the sauce is what makes this dish. I recommend you guys go for their rice bowl if you decide to go there (their menu is quite vast it can be a bit overwhelming). Yummy .
Singapore-style Dory Fish
Ok, I'm not sure what the actual name of this dish is, but it was for sure have something to do with Singapore.
Overall, it was an okay dish. The sauce was nice, but the dory was a bit dry. I would have preferred that the fish is steamed to give that soft melt-in-your-mouth texture rather than being floured and fried like this one.
Random photo of other coffee drinks we ordered. I don't remember the name, but my Dad and brother said that the coffees are nice. So why don't you try them yourself if that floats your boat 😉
Would I come back again? Probably yes for that rice bowl (I mean I technically have eaten there again by ordering via go-food, right?).
Okay, that's all for this blog post! All photos are taken with my mobile phone. Super love it, not regretting upgrading at all. Maybe it's because my old phone was almost 4 years old, the camera upgrade seemed really significant. Anyway, I'm blabbering now. kthxbye!
RAISIN Resto & Kitchen
Jalan Sagan III No. 5,
Terban, Gondokusuman, Terban,
Gondokusuman, Kota Yogyakarta,
Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta
55223, Indonesia
Opens Everyday 10AM–11PM +62 274 2923797
There's this quote that I really like. You can say that it's my most favorite quote ever.
I love it so much it actually kinda becomes my mantra.
“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”
A bit too cliche? Well, it IS a good quote (it's by Marylin Monroe btw. Man, she could really churn out quotable morsels of wisdom). And something I truly believe in.
I believe in every core of that words.
People DO change, and there's really nothing you can do about it. You can't ask people to sincerely be what you want them to be on command. What you can do is lament the change for eternity. But that's just not productive, is it? So you just have to let go. Don't waste your energy on it. It's not easy, you know, letting go. So sometimes I have to do it bit by bit, but I'm doing it at least. At least I'm not stuck and keep being a baby about it. I'm not even sure if it's for the best, but it is what it is, for now.
Things DO go wrong, even when you have already carefully planned everything in your head. But, I do learn to enjoy the moments where everything's a bliss more. To really take a moment and appreciate how "just right" that moments are. To not take them for granted.
This might sound bitter, but I truly believe, that when it comes down to it, trusting yourself is your best bet.You never know with people, even the ones you ought to trust fully may surprise you. lol I sound like a scorned damsel in distress. But really though, I've learnt that you just can't place a burden on people to always be truthful to you. You can't place that great of responsibility on other people.
And the last thing might just be my favorite of all. Sometimes good things DO fall apart to make way for better things. I love the lingering sense of hope attached to that sentence. It gives me the courage to rise my chin, stand straight, and just keep on going. Not just it is what it is, but what it WILL be.
Not sure if I make much sense. I'm super famished now 😫.
Okay okay, just NOW as I finished typing on famished, my Go-Food order came 😍!!! ok brb to eat now.
Back.
This is totally not related to this post as a whole, but might as well share it while we're on the topic.
Ordered this Creamy Dory Rice Bowl from random tenant I saw on the "nearby list" and I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the portion. It's generous, especially for the price. It costs me 26.5k IDR. Quite cheap, huh? Tastes pretty yummy too. This is the name of the restaurant:
Worth every penny. Definitely gonna order from this place again via Go-Food ('cos I'm a couch potato and it's free delivery using Go-Pay, so why bother?). Man, I love Go-Food. It never disappoints, always delivers 😉.
Ok, i'm finishing this post now. Back to eating. It's amazing how much food can make me happy.
Have you heard about blue apron before? I first heard it from itsjudyslife vlog. It's basically a subscription service where they will send you prepped fresh ingredients along with recipes, so all you have to do is just cook it. I really wanted to try it, but too bad such thing didn't exist in Indonesia.
Fast forward months (or is it year?) later, I randomly googled "William Wongso" -because I always get sucked into the black hole of internet, jumping from one thing and another-, and Black Garlic website was one of the first few to pop out. I think William Wongso is like the advisor or something for Black Garlic.
Black Garlic is similar to Blue Apron, except it's not a subscription service, you order it food by food.
Of course I decided to order some (I also found 100k off coupon on instagram). I was kinda giddy about it actually. So now I'm gonna review this rather unique-in-Indonesia service.
One of the nice thing about Black Garlic is that you can choose which date you want your ingredients to come, and it will come on that EXACT date. No waiting around for JNE or TIKI or whatever to get your order to you. Make sense?
Although, you do have to order 2 days prior to the date you want it to be delivered. So that kinda sucks, especially if you're as excited as I was to try them.
They come in this box with styrofoam and ice pack to keep the freshness of the ingredients.
P.s. if you keep the box until you got three of them, you can contact Black Garlic and they will come to your house to pick them up and you'll get 50000 off coupon. It's their #GOGREEN effort.
For my first order I picked up 3 menus:
Honey Glazed Dory with Egg Salad and Sautéed Baby Buncis (4 portions)
Beef Burger with Sweet Potato Fries and Coleslaw (2 potions - the coleslaw is only included if you order the 4 portions option)
Rendang "William Wongso" with Ketupat and Sayur Labu (2 portions)
It cost me Rp 220,000.00 in total after the 100K coupon code. And I NEED to mention that I love the paper they print the recipe on! It's thick and doff-laminated, so if you spill something while you're using it, it won't ruin the paper.
Most of the ingredients in each menu is individually packaged like this. I usually just chuck this in the fridge without opening them up just so it's easy to take out of the fridge (as in I don't have to look through the ingredients one by one to see which one belongs to which recipe).
However, I do recommend you to take a peek inside to make sure there is no ingredient you need to put in the freezer. I made the mistake of not looking through the ingredients inside the bag, because I thought all things that's in the bag are the ones that only need to be put in the fridge, and ended up with a box of half gone-bad wontons (more on that later).
The stuffs you need to freeze if you don't wanna cook them immediately.
Alrighty, now let's get into each menu:
Honey Glazed Dory with Egg Salad and Sautéed Baby Buncis
the ingredients
All ready to be assembled
It took me 1 hour or so in total to cook this menu (I was filming the process, so it took longer than necessary), which I think is not bad for a three-dishes menu.
By the way, that's not ALL the dory they provided. I portioned it out for lunch and fry again later for dinner so that they stay crispy :) I made the baby buncis and the salad all at once tho, so what you see now is the actual portion they gave for both dishes.
The dory sauce is delicious. I like it so much that I try to recreate the sauce. The result is not exactly the same though, kinda similar, but mine lacks this "smokey" sort of flavor, which bring me to my next point:
One of the things that I don't like about Black Garlic is the fact that they don't write the recipe for the pre-packaged sauce. They only write the ingredients inside the sauce, but no measurement or how to create the sauce. This is the same with all the pre-packaged sauce and flavoring, even the prepped dishes like wontons (more on that later).
That's kinda a bummer for me as I'd very much like to recreate some of the dishes they have. I mean, it's not like they will lose business or anything if they share the recipe, given they change their menu every week anyway.
Also, for the extra dish they give you if you order 4 portions (in this case the sautéed baby buncis), they don't even write the ingredients they use inside the sauce.
Speaking of portion, their portion is GENEROUS! This three-dishes ended up being 8 portions instead of 4. I ate them with rice of course, so it helps in stretching the portions, BUT! each of those 8 portions was still generous, I didn't skimp on it or try to really force it into 8 portions.
So if you really want to make it a bit budget, I recommend you to choose the "family-style" menu where you portion the dishes yourself (as opposed to, for example, burger, where it's already portioned out for you. Make sense?). Other tip is, try to order the "4 portions" option instead of "2 portions", because most of the menus are cheaper if you buy "4 portions" and you may also get "bonus dish" on some menu ;)
Oh, The egg salad and sauteed baby buncis are tasty as well :)
This is the demo for this dish on my vlog:
Up next:
Beef Burger with Sweet Potato Fries and Coleslaw
the ingredients
bun, bun, bun
The burger bun is from Vineth, which I believe is a bakery by William Wongso.
tomatoes
the lettuce, which look sad
For a company that pride themselves in fresh ingredient, this lettuce doesn't look good. Note that I made this dish 2 days after it arrived (they say their ingredients can last up to 5 days) and when they arrived I immediately stored them in my fridge. But all in all, I'm not prissy enough to not eat the lettuce, it's just a bit of bruising anyway.
all prepped and ready to be assembled
This burger was only ok for me, like they're pretty good, but not amazing.
The highlight of this burger for me is actually the bun. Yup, the bun. The bun is sooo sooo good. It has this buttery taste to it, and combined with the crispy top and edges, it is amazing. The burger sauce is something worth mentioning as well. They're what make this burger decent.
As for the meat, they're not as big as I want it to be. I know, I know, it contradicts my previous statement about the generous portion, but for this burger, I can stand a bit more meat. You can see in this picture that the meat patty only cover half of the bun.
I suppose you can make the patty flatter for it to cover the whole bun, but I like my meat thick and juicy. that's what she said.
As for the sweet potato fries, they're okay, I don't really like the "floury" coating.
Next:
Rendang "William Wongso" with Ketupat and Sayur Labu
the ingredients
I made this one on Eid-Mubarak because, you know, it makes sense.
I don't have much to say about it other than that it's completely satisfactory.
Ketupat, good. Rendang, good. Sayur labu, good. All around a great lunch :)
Though I must say that the highlight is the Sayur Labu. It's so so yummy (how can it not with the exorbitant amount of coconut milk, right? Coconut milk has always been my favorite), I literally gulped every last drop of it, drank it all.
However, just like the others, unfortunately they don't give you the recipe for the "bumbu" (flavoring) of this awesome sayur labu either, which is such a shame because I so would make this again. and again. and again.
NEXT!
Sesame Chicken with Potato Wedges and Shrimp Wonton Soup
the ingredients
This one is my second order. I ordered two menus this time, but the other one I didn't take photo of, so this is the last one on this review. FINALLY, right? Sorry for the long post.
First I'd like to mention the potatoes. They're browning :(
I mean, obviosly they'll be brown after they are cut up 'cause they oxidize, so I think it's better if they give the potato unsliced, just washed. While it means more prep for us, it also means fresher potato. Plus the brown water residue kinda irked me.
Just random photo of the broth gel.
I was just amused, so I took more photo of it. I've never seen broth (or is it consommé?) in a gel form.
This is the wonton I've been talking about. I didn't realize that there was this box of wontons that you need to store in the freezer, so half of mine had gone bad. The ones that hadn't were good though. How do I know which one was good and which one was bad you ask? I bit into each one of them after putting them in the soup lol.
Bottomline, please make sure you check inside the bag to see if there's any ingredients you need to store in the fridge! Don't be a dodo like me.
Oh, and this wonton soup definitely need some extra salt.
From all the five menu I've tried so far, this is definitely my least favorite.
The sesame sauce was bland. like really bland. The marinate for the chicken didn't add much flavor either, so I ended up eating them with chili sauce to get some flavor. The potato wedges were meh as well.
The saving grace for this dish is definitely the wonton soup, which I really like, but unfortunately I had to dump half of mine away because of my stupidity -___-"
Alright, now I'm done with all the dishes!!
Here's a bit of summary:
Pros:
Reasonable price
New menu selection every week
Most of the menus that I've tried are good
They have #GREENBOX program
No preservative
No MSG
Safe packaging
You can choose on what date you want your food to be delivered
Generous portions
Cons:
No written recipe for the pre-packaged sauces and prepped dishes
I've gotten a couple ingredients (potatoes and lettuce) that weren't as, I don't know how to put it, maybe not in a condition that I want them to be.
Overall, I do like Black Garlic. I think they're an awesome service. It's definitely cheaper than getting take out/eating out. Of course, it's cheaper if you just go out and buy the ingredients yourself, but this is a great alternative if you don't have time to do your grocery or if you don't like to do too much prep. As for me, I like it because I get to try to cook all these different food I've never cooked before, kinda like food inspiration. foodpiration. It's great for when I don't know what I want to cook. If only they put the recipe for the sauce and the prepped dishes (like recipes for the wonton and ayam kuning), then they would be perfect for me. Will I order again from them? Definitely.
If you're interested in trying Black Garlic too, you can use the coupon code "PRISCILLA10380" to get 1 FREE menu ;)
FTC Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post. Paid everything myself. The coupon code is a referral code that ALL the people who have purchased from them have. All opinion are honest as always.
P.s. sorry for the catastrophe that is my grammar in this post.
