THE PROBLEM IS...

Guilty as charged!! :P

THE RARE GEMS

First thing first, Happy Independence Day, Indonesians!! To commemorate it, I intentionally post this recipe because tempe and tahu are Indonesians' fave. But why the title? Well they went AWOL from the market for a bit because of the sky rocketed price of the ingredients.

I actually had the craving to cook this for iftar a few days ago. And now since the-once-rare-gems are back in the market, I feel the need to post my favorite Sambel GorengTempe Tahu recipe....just because (okay, actually was also practicing my photo-composition). Super easy and super delish! 

Balado Tempe Tahu

3 large cloves garlic
3 cloves shallots
5 large red chilies, deseeded if you like
3 chilli padi
3 cm galangal
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup water
1-2 tbsp sweet soya sauce
250 gr tempe
250 gr tahu
sugar, salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying

1. Cut all the tempe and tahu widthwise like match sticks about 0.5cm thick and fry until golden brown. Set aside.
2. Put garlic, shallots, all chillies, galangal, and water in a food processor, blend them until everything combined but still coarse.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan, and once it's hot, pour in the blended spices. Stir the mixture until bubbly and put in the bay leaves. Add sugar (bare in mind you're going to add sweet soya sauce later on), salt and pepper to taste. 
4. Mix the fried tempe and tahu into the spices and mix well. Add 1-2 tbsp (depending how sweet you want it to be) just to give it a nice brown color. Stir and...you're done!

 Loving grandma's china collections :)

Anyway, I spotted Ayu's foodie blog, she's an Indonesian blogger living in Sydney. I love her recipes and especially the photos! Looking at her gorgeous photos inspired me to keep practicing..Teeheee!!

SHAKESPEARE AND CO.

When you're in Abu Dhabi's The Souk Central Market be sure to stop by this cute cafe called Shakespeare and Co. Cafe & Restaurant! It was recommended by the then-groom-to-be few nights before when we stopped by on our way for fitting his suit. He told me that every piece of the furniture in the space is related Shakespeare's stories. I didn't pay too much attention to this when I was eating there because we were rushing like mad to catch our bus to Dubai (I could only describe the process of eating as shoveling food to our face). So when you stop by, do lemme know what's the story behind the furniture :)

The space is located at one of the corner of Central Market, on the side area (okay, that's vague enough). But surely you won't miss it because their shabby chic Victorian chairs will definitely catch your attention. One could say that the interior is such an eye-sore or eye-candy because there's too much to see in every inch of the cafe. I figured most of the customers must be female although I spotted some guys in kendouras and keffiyeh sipping coffee outside. Interesting view :P

 They have branches in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain and RAK

 Cozy sofa setting reminds me of the familiar FRIENDS' Central Perk cafe

 This one especially...I really could imagine Ross, Monica and the rest of the gang would walk into the space at any second and hang out here!

 A superbly ornate corner

 Did I mention this place is very ornate?

 Mocha. The symbol of my loyalty to Melbourne memories haha. It was nice, the right amount of bitersweet. Mom's cappuccino was also nice too.

 Complimentary butter cookies

Halal eggs benedicts. Loved everything in this dish except the hollandaise sauce which was a bit too runny for my liking.

Mango lassi and Love potion

 And your bill comes in this cute folder!

 Oh yes, of course they made it to Time Out Abu Dhabi!

 Some of their cakes selections

 Managed to save something for the trip to Dubai...

 ....which was totally forgotten along the way and I ended up eating these on the evening.

 Caramel, pistachio, chocolate, rose and vanilla

The rose macaron was a bit dry while the rest were still okay. I'm not sure what LuxBite has done to me, but I still found their macarons to be the best that I've tried haha

MOM'S BIRTHDAY

August 3rd is my mom's birthday. It was a really sweet birthday because everybody (including my parents) had flown in to Jakarta for my oldest brother's surprise show. Made this framed scrapbook as the gift and was a little bit confused on how to decorate the gift wrap. So I dedicated myself to learn how to make these bright orange and peach pom-poms from Domestisfluff (once I knew how, I just couldn't stop. Pom-poms were all over my niece's hair and arms at one point haha)

a glimpse of the scrapbook-in-a-frame

Now what a birthday would be without something to munch? Saw this lovely package of cookies from Andra Alodita's blog and I just couldn't wait to munch them myself order them for mom's bday. These cookies came out from the lovely Surely/Someday+Kitchen. Mom got the green tea and peach+passion fruit sable, chai, Earl Grey, honey lemon cookies, plus pineapple cookies and the purple rose Haabu tea...ooh I LOVE all of them!! Would love to order from them again soon :)

Albeit the simple humble handmade gifts....we love you, Mama!

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y !

RANDOM RANTS

For some weird reasons *cough* obsessions *cough* I just feel the need to post my fave David Mitchell's rants from British TV show "Would I Lie to You". These are the antidote to any of my bad days.

THE GRAND MOSQUE

One of  Sheikh Zayed Mosque's dome in the female ablution room

So the elaborate planning that I mentioned last time was the entire trip to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Istanbul. The main point of our UAE trip was to attend the wedding of a couple, two dear friends of mine. We spent five days in Abu Dhabi, where I met the then-groom-to-be before we head out to Dubai for the Mehendi and wedding celebration. It was super warm at 38C when we arrived at midnight, so imagine the blazing heat during the day. Z has warned us about the heat and I was still in shock anyway during the first direct contact with the temperature.

Anyway, as it is one of the prominent examples of contemporary Islamic architecture in the UAE, we definitely couldn't miss visiting Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and in fact dedicated an entire morning to spend in the mosque. I haven't been to Makkah/Madinah (just yet) and I know the feeling was probably nothing to compare about, but that feeling of praying inside this mosque...just...Masha Allah!

My friend told me that what we see today is only 25% of the initial plan. Had it been completed, then truly a grand display of opulence it would be!

Bright lights lit up the mosque, made tourists like me go "ooh-aah!"

Those are 24K gold at the the top of each dome and minaret

Loving all the details!!

Colorful marbles from 10 different countries, cut in vine-y floral pattern

With 7 Swarovski chandeliers in total, this one's the biggest weighing 9.5tons!

The mosque can cater up to 40,000 prayers at once and it is open for visit to non-Muslim visitors too. And upon arrival, we can borrow headscarf and abaya for free (refer to the mosque manners/dress code from the photo below). Have to bare in mind to keep the head covered at all times inside the mosque. I joined the free one-hour tour that's available at 10am, 11am, and 5pm and got fully informed with the magnificent facts about the mosque. The tour starts from the entrance and finishes at the main praying room which is used for Eid prayers and taraweeh (yup, the one with the extravagant chandelier in the middle).

That's it for now. More Dubai and Istanbul posts soon!

RAMADAN KAREEM!

It's been over a month since the last time I posted. Time has passed by too quickly sometimes I wished there's a pause button somewhere (look where we are, it's already Ramadan again :)

What I've been up to? I just came back visiting some dear friends of mine. Will shortly update you guys (hopefully) after suhoor. Now, happy fasting to all Muslims in the world...may Allah make everything easy for us and bless us every step of the way :)

RAMADAN KAREEM!!!