Cesta de Besos

Setelah lebih dari setengah tahun nggak nge-blog, akhirnya ada juga tema yang membuat gue bener-bener nyempet-nyempetin buat nulis… hehehe…

Actually awalnya gue gak terlalu tertarik sama restoran ini. Pasta tapi ala Jepang? Hmm… buat gue pasta itu mesti ala Italia (deui sombongnyeee… hahaha…) Tapi Sabtu siang kemarin suami gue tertarik buat mencoba, daripada makan Kenny Rogers, katanya, yang ayam lagi, ayam lagi. So, berhentilah kami bertiga di depan resto ini, dan mbak-mbaknya dengan cerdas menangkap perhatian si Mika dengan bola yoyo. Alhasil, sudah dengan yoyo di tangan, gak enak dong kalo gak masuk…

Begitu duduk, first impression gue akan resto ini udah lumayan. Dengan banyak sample makanan ditata di lemari pajang dan buku menu segede gaban yang full foto, mau gak mau air liur kita terbit juga. Penataan duduk lumayan cozy meski berkesan agak sempit. Tata cahaya terang benderang, dan AC full dingin. Brrr!

Setelah mbolak-balik buku menu yang kayaknya isinya semua enak dan membuat bingung itu, gue memilih spicy mentai mushroom-cod roe (termasuk jenis soup-pasta), dan suami gue pizza salmon and mushroom, serta sup jagung. Mika kami pesankan set carbonara yang terdiri atas sepiring spageti carbonara, kentang goreng dan ayam goreng, dan puding. Lalu minumnya ocha saja.

Lalu gue membawa Mika jalan-jalan sepanjang restaurant row biar gak mengacau di dalam, dan balik tepat saat makanan dihidangkan. Bentuk awal soup-pasta gue agak mengecewakan, karena piringnya kayak topi dibalik… guedeee buanget!… tapi dengan isi cuma di cekungan topinya, jadi rim topinya kosong. Gue pikir, yah, segini doang mana kenyang? Tapi saat diseruput, hmmm… rasanya membuat gue memaafkan ukuran (yang gue kira dikit) itu. Rasanya… gurih dan nikmat dan hangat, pas buat gue. Bentuknya cokelat dan agak kental, dengan potongan jamur serta telur ikan yang oranye serta irisan nori alias rumput laut tertabur di atas pastanya… tepatnya spageti rebusnya. Setelah gue aduk-aduk, tentu rasa benda-benda itu makin tercampur dan membuat kuahnya makin gurih.

Sementara gue berusaha mendeskripsikan rasa gurih yang tepat, Mika mulai menjarah makanan bapaknya. Pizza pesanan suami gue ternyata benar-benar tiker—tipis kering. Sekali lagi tampilan awal agak mengecewakan. Tapi setelah Mika menggigit sekali… wahaha… ekspresi Bondan Winarno pas bilang mak nyuss aja kalah! Pelan-pelan senyumnya terkembang, dan matanya berbinar-binar, lalu hidungnya mengerut senang campur geli. Anak umur satu tahun memang tidak bisa berbohong soal rasa. Meskipun tiker, tapi bagian tengahnya lembut dan mudah digigit si bayi. Campuran keju leleh dan saus wafu-nya (whatever that is) menciptakan rasa gurih yang memanjakan lidah. Jamurnya pun empuk. Mika suka banget jamurnya. Sayangnya begitu sampai bagian salmonnya, Mika justru tidak suka. Nggak papa sih, soalnya mamanya jadi girang dapat gigitan salmon… hahaha… Sementara itu tentu saja suami gue jadi nelangsa karena makannya dijarah-rayah sama anak-istri… hahaha… Terpaksa dia akhirnya makan set carbonara spaghetti yang kami pesan untuk Mika. Tapi untungnya menurut dia spagetinya enak.

Sup jagung yang dipesan suami gue juga enak, cuma gak terlalu spesial. Yang patut diceritakan lagi adalah ocha pesanan kami. Awalnya gue merasa gembira karena mendapati ocha asli Jepang yang puait, tapi masih bisa gue toleransi. Rasa pahitnya membuat gurihnya makanan kami ternetralisir, dan kami tidak mual. Tapi, saat gue membantu menghabiskan complimentary ice cream buat Mika, barulah gue menyadari betapa pahitnya ocha itu. Gluk! Paiiiit!!! Tapi, gluk-gluk-gluk, segar! Tapi, pait! Gila! Pait banget! Hahaha… Tapi, begitulah ocha Jepang sungguhan. Bahkan ocha yang gue temui di resto-resto sushi pun gak kayak gitu.

Soal harga, resto ini sebetulnya lumayan mahal. Dan mereka gak bohong. Mereka pasang tulisan, harga mulai Rp38.000 (which is kid menu). Tiap porsi rata-rata Rp50.000-70.000. Tapi karena kami puas dengan rasa hidangannya, dan masih ada begitu banyak variasi menu yang bisa dieksplorasi, gue dan suami gue akan kembaliiii….

(PS: tampilan porsi yang kecil itu ternyata menipu, setelahnya gue kenyang juga… Tapi, apakah itu karena gue juga makan segigit-dua gigit pizza, plus es krim ya? Hehehe…)

Pasta de Waraku ada di Restaurant Row PIM 2.

I’m growing fast and becoming a very lively boy. I can sit and I want to stand, even though all with geal-geol movements. Right now all I want to do is go down on to the floor. So, one evening, I was asleep around twilight, and Mama knew I just wouldn’t be asleep again on my sleeping time. So, after cleaned me up and prepared me in my pjs, she brought a newly bought finger puppets in to the room, to play with me. It was exciting! We had monkey, parrot, and zebra. And I could eat them all. So, when Mama wanted to get the lion and elephant out, I just wanted to help her and jumped out of the bed. My face hit the floor first and the pain! Oh, the pain! I wailed and cried out as loud as I could, making Yangti and Yangkung ran upstairs. And Yangti made Yangkung ran up and downs with, “maybe he wanted to drink”, “maybe he wanted minyak kayu putih”, etc. Mama held me close and kept saying, “Sorry, honey, so sorry.” and I could tell she’s holding back her tears. But, anyway, I kept wailing, until Yangti cough. Ping, Yangti, ping! I stopped wailing to look at her coughing. Ping, Yangti! Yangti’s so funny when coughing, so I smiled and forgot about my wailing. The right side of my face, near my eye and cheek was slightly bruised. But once I stopped wailing, the pain subsided, and I became geal-geol again, flip-flapping myself around the bed. Mama gave my bruise some thrombopop, and the next day, it was almost disappeared.

Now I have 2 perfect bottom front teeth. Mama made me havermout koekjes, very simple with havermout, butter, and sugar. And I love it! But it turned out that the havermout’s still too rough for me, so I had coughing fit after eating it. Then Yangkung made me castengels, I ate it again and again. I can sit still exploring my bit of castengels while waiting for the grown ups to finish their meal. This is my favorit thing to do lately.

My favorite game is of course, Ping-cough-ping-cough. Every time I cough, Yangti or Yangkung would say, “Ping, Mika!” So funny, I decided to cough again. So it became, “cough-ping!-cough-ping!” I would cough until my voice ran out.

The next favorite game is “geleng-geleng”. I love to turn my head here and there, geleng-geleng. And seeing this, Papa and my eyangs always say, “Geleng-geleng, Mika!” and I do the geleng-geleng faster. But, wait, Mama doesn’t like this! She always say, “Stop, Mika! Pusing!” Indeed it seems that my head can’t stop spinning afterwards, but it’s fun to look at the grown ups do the geleng-geleng too.

And speaking of wanting to be put on the floor, Mama and Sus Mariah already help me to learn how to walk. See, I can put one foot in front of the other, so Mama would say, “Left one, Mika. Right one. Great! You’re a clever baby, ya!” And unlike my Malaysian cousin, Marisse, who could open an entire shoes store herself, I hardly have any shoes. Right, I have one Oma Murni bought me from Germany. That purple one. Back when she bought it, Mama and Papa still didn’t know that they’d have a boy, so that shoes were more girly thingy than boy. And I have shocks from Bude. But I hardly ever use them. “Anak singkong”, that’s what Papa said about me. I hate shocks, I always managed to put them off, when Mama or Sus Isah made me use them. So then Mama let me go about anywhere without any shocks. Anak singkong and anak kampung indeed, I am. But now, when all I want ia to explore more, walking on the grass of eyangs lawn, etc., Mama said I have to wear sandals or shoes. So my parents went on to find me shoes or sandals. And fate still on my side, they haven’t found any to their liking. So until now, I’m still anak singkong.

My new house almost prepared. Right now Pak Sadiman and his crews are working hard to clean and paint it. So, we’re hoping to move there soon. I guess I’ll be missing my friends here, Dasta, from next door, especially, since we’re in the same age, but I know I’ll have new friends at my new home. Fanfan, daughter of Tante Susan and Oom Gatot, for example. And Mbak Kikan, from next door. I just can’t wait to get to know them personally!

So, until next posting!

So, I guess you’ve already know that I’m not a diligent writer, but can I stop just to write while there’s a whole wide world to explore?

Hiya, there! I hope everybody’s okay. I’m now 7 months and 3 weeks old. Let me see what can I report to you all.

Oh, oh, oh! I already have 2 front teeth, still very small, but already there. Now I have some help from my teeth to chew on all those delicious healthy food. I love salmon! See, Yangkung bought me salmon, and everyday, Mama or Sus Mariah would cut small piece and steamed it to well done, then blender it with some potatoes, carrots, and broccoli, and I would go… hmm! Each time the one who feed me stop to clean the mess on my face or to take another spoon full of salmon porridge, I would go, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!” or better, I would cry or scream. I don’t want the steady stream of salmon stop before I satisfied. But anyway, I also love other food like chicken’s liver, sup, etc. My basic carbs are potatoes and rice. And I have fruits once a day, pear (my favourite!), papaya, melon, or apple. I tried avocado, but don’t really like it.

I can sit on my own for several minutes. My sitting still geal-geol, but sometimes I managed to sit still for a while. Meanwhile my main interest still putting everything into my mouth. I have 2 teethers: one blue bear (which I don’t really like) and one orange pretzel. Today Mama put both my teethers into the fridge. And when I got them cold, oh, wow! I love it! I bite them again and again, I bite them here and there, until the chill runs out, then… no fun anymore!

What else? Oh, my onggok-onggok has improved to one slide forward at a time. But, jumping ahead, I already want to run. Every time Mama or Sus Mariah hold me, I want them to put me down on the ground and held me straight, so I can stand on my feet. Right, I want to run! No use to crawl if you ended up walking and running, right? Why can’t we do the running thingy now?

It’s already rainy season now, and I’ve found out that it’s no fun. There are days I can’t do my morning walk around our neighborhood with Yangkung because it’s raining. Then I have to stay inside, and it’s so boring. But I don’t mind the chill though. I love everything cold!

I’ve tried swimming again, about 2 months ago. Of course it was at Bude’s again. This time Mama got in the pool with me, and it wasn’t so windy. Althrough Mama surprised me by diving us down the water at first, it turns out I really like swimming! I smiled my biggy-biggy smile, and posed like a model when Papa took our picture. Mama even held me away from her for a while and I can maintain my balance. The future champion swimmer is on the way!

Now, we can’t go to the pool because of the rain, so I practice my swimming style in my bathtub at home. Every morning and afternoon, I will held a swimming competition with Riri Bebek in the tub. I love to splish-splash and of course soaking my entire body… it’s so relaxing, hhh… you all can imagine playing the whole day, doing the onggok-onggok with Mama or Sus Mariah yelling, “C’mon, Mika! You can do it!” or singging, “Ayo, Mika maju! Ayo, Mika maju! Ayo, Mika majuuu!” in the tone of Bangun Pemudi-Pemuda… ck! It’s all so tiring! No wonder, every time they took me out of the tub, I got angry at them.

So, it’s all my report for now. Let’s hope I found some time out of my busy playing schedule to write some more some time soon! Ciao!

Spa sudah jadi ritual ulang tahun saya. Hadiah yang saya berikan pada diri saya sendiri. Sayangnya, spa langganan saya sudah beberapa lama tutup. Terpaksa saya pindah ke spa lain yang lebih wah, dan memang sedikit lebih mahal, Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa.

Saya pilih paket Refreshing karena tertarik pada vichy bath yang ditawarkan dalam paket ini. Awalnya saya bingung juga, apaan sih vichy bath itu? Rendam-rendam? Bukan. Katanya kayak pijatan dengan semprotan air. Yang ada di bayangan saya semprotan air berkekuatan besar seperti yang dimiliki pemadam kebakaran. Kayaknya menyakitkan dan tidak terlalu membuat rileks ya… tapi saat si mbak menunjukkan foto seorang cowok tengkurap dengan ekspresi bahagia, tiba-tiba terlintas dalam benak saya, “Oh, kayak hujan-hujanan ya?” “Ya!” kata si mbak dengan gembira. Entah kenapa (mungkin karena terlalu sering dilarang waktu kecil dulu), hujan-hujanan adalah salah satu obsesi saya, (mungkin juga karena kalau kebetulan kehujanan di hujan yang superlebat hingga basah kuyup, saya justru merasa hangat, senang, dan rileks) jadi begitu diiyakan bahwa vichy bath itu seperti main hujan-hujanan, saya setuju mengambil paketnya.

Pijatan dan luluran yang saya lewati standar saja. Enak dan saya sempat tertidur, tapi bukan sesuatu yang baru lagi. Berikutnya, saya dibangunkan dan diminta membilas tubuh dulu sebelum dibawa ke ruang vichy bath (tadinya saya sempat mengira vichy bath ini akan diadakan dalam kamar tempat saya dipijat). Begitu masuk ruang vichy bath ini, mau tak mau pikiran saya sempat lari ke kamar gas di kamp konsentrasi Nazi di Austria sana. Ruangan itu berdinding abu-abu, dengan satu meja berlapis kasur di tengahnya, di atas meja itu terdapat palang dengan ledeng-ledeng. Berusaha membuang pikiran jelek itu, saya tengkurap di meja. Si mbak pemijat saya berganti pakaian juga dan mengenakan jas hujan. Lalu siraman itu dimulai. Awalnya dari telapak kaki dan dengan air dingin, meskipun bukan dingin yang dingiiiiiiiin. Perlahan kucuran air merambat naik ke betis, paha, punggung, dan pundak. Airnya pun semakin hangat hingga panas di suhu yang nyaman. Sensasi tenggelam dalam hujan yang deras dan hangat pun datang. Kamp konsentrasi menghilang digantikan gambaran akan gunung dan padang yang indah di Salzburg, tempat si suster nakal Maria ber-yodell, “The hills are aliiiiiiiiveee…” (Mestinya perawatan di spa ini membawa saya ke alam keraton Jawa ya, bukan ke perbukitan Austria… tapi yah…) Saya benar-benar merasa rileks dan bahagia. Inilah saat-saat uang bisa membeli sepotong surga dunia… hahaha… Tapi saat saya sedang tenggelam dalam pikiran, “aaah… heaven!” si mbak bertanya, “Mau bagian depan juga, Bu?” Bah! Ya sudahlah, ilusinya sudah buyar, sekalian bagian depan saya minta disiram. Sialnya, pada siraman di bagian ini, rupanya air sudah terlalu panas (atau mungkin sensitivitas kulit punggung dan perut berbeda) sehingga saya jadi tidak terlalu menikmatinya lagi.

Begitulah vichy bath saya selesai (saya curiga sebetulnya belum penuh 30 menit! Hehehe), dan saya harus membayar lumayan mahal untuk sepotong kenikmatan itu. Tapi… kalau tidak ketemu spa yang lebih unik, mungkin ulang tahun mendatang saya kembali ke spa dan menu yang memuat vichy bath ini.

Okay, okay, I know… long time no see. This sentence begin to appear at each one of my posting, but Mama said she’s busy. The minute she’s at home, she’s busy with me, and the minute she’s at work, she’s busy with… well, work.

Anyway, this past 1,5 months, there are many firsts for me. My first swim for an instance. Having an efficient couple as my parents, I was brought to Bude’s appartment for my first swim. Mama and Papa thought I was only going in to the pool for 15 minutes, why bother to go to public pool which isn’t gratuit (now you know what I meant by efficient). So, one sunny Sunday, we went to Bude’s. And after preparing me, Oom Wira took us out to the pool. BUT! The minute we walked out of the door, BIG and SCARY wind thrown at us. I clutched Mama tightly. What is this? Why is it so cold and windy? Well, er, because it’s strong wind of course, trapped between tall building so it goes circling around. But Papa and Mama braved me. Papa went in to the pool first, then Mama handed me to him. No, no, no, no, no! This was not funny at all. It’s so windy and cold, and the water was icy cold too. I clutched Papa tightly. Why, Pa, why? I thought swimming supposed to be fun. Then Bude came and took pictures. And Mama splashed water to my back, brrr. I hug Papa more tightly. Brrr! Then Mama remembered our camera and screamed at Sus Isah to bring the camera to her. But, sorry, Ma, it’s too cold for me. So Papa got me out of the water the minute Mama’s looking for the camera. Anyway, forgetting the camera, Mama instantly wrapped me in my towel and we ran, seeking the safety of the building. The minute we were in the building, pffiuuhh… that’s better, warmer. So, that’s the story of my first 5 minutes swim. I hope next time will be better.

Another first time for me was my first “Mam-ma”. I love to scream and shriek now. I will go, “Iiiiiiiiii!” in high pitch tone when I don’t like something. But I love to go, “Mmmmm” too. One sunny Sunday (this is a different sunny Sunday from the one we went swimming), I was home from somewhere (I think it was PIM, since I’ve never been anywhere else), and drink heavily from Mama. After sated, I look at her and say, “Mmm-mmm-mama.” to the delight of my proud parents. Papa laughed loud, and asked to say that again, so I said it again, “Em-ma-mama.” Great! They kissed me and told me I’m a very clever boy, which of course I am. But then, I forgot to say the “mam-ma thingy” for about 2 weeks. So, Mama keep repeating the word for me. Thank God, I remember how to say it again and now my favourite shriek will go like this: “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!! Mmmmm… em-ma-mama!” Then Mama will say, “Yes, Mika? This is Mama.” Duh, Ma, I know who you are!

And my first time being scolded. See, last week was hell for me. I had some flu, hidung meler, and I went to Dokter Tiwi (who’s now calling herself “Tante Tiwi”, a cause of my charming self, but for you guys who’s waiting impatiently for another word about my love life–na-ah, I stop loving her, that torturing doctor who’s shot me everytime I see her! No matter how beautiful and intelligent she is, I won’t be fooled again!) and had another DPT/HiB shot and Polio vaccination. It was awful-awful-awful. I can’t breathe and the shot was terrible. I screaaaaaaaam! HEEEEELPP! But, then I was cranky the whole week. I scream and cry the whole days. And when my flu was gone the next week, I keep my cranky mood, just for fun. One day, Mama had it, and she said, “Mika, stop it! I don’t want to hear about it anymore!” I look at her, and at her eyes, and listening to the tone of her voice. What is this? She’s mad at me? No, no, no, no, no! I can’t bear this. See, Ma, I don’t want to look at you. Nanana… you can say anything, I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to look at you. So in the end, Mama kept circling Sus Isah, who’s holding me, and I keep turning my head here and there, as long as I don’t have to see Mama.

But that night I had another first BIG thing, my first enlightment. You know, I’ve never had anything aside ASI these past 6 months (well, beside some honey, some keng hong san, and some formula at the very first month), but my parents already bought me a high chair as a preparation for feeding me in another 2 weeks. Dokter Tiwi already gave Mama permition to give me taste preparation. She said I can taste papaya and orange. But, looking at me sitting in my high chair and looking at the dishes on the table that night, Mama asked, “Do you want some, Nak?” (Nak = son). There’s clear soup that night, so Mama took some, and give it to me. The minute the brooth touch my taste buds, it was… heaven! O MI GOD, I didn’t know anything could taste like this! I put the biggest grin my my face. It was, oh so… oh so good! Oh! God! I can’t describe the feeling… the taste… Oh, well. Mama laughed so loud, that made Papa ran downstairs and asked what happened. So, Mama demonstrated what happened with giving me the second spoon of broth. Again I smile, BIG-biggy-smile. And Papa and Yangti and Yangkung laughed too. So, Mama took a bowl and giving me at about 30 ml of brooth, spooning little by little for me. Ah, ah, ah, something this tasty and you’ve been giving me all those ASI all this month? Ck, ck, ck… But the minute, I finished my brooth, and found out there’s no refill, I think my seat belt which in shocking orange more interesting.

So, that’s some of my first-thing-first, and let’s hope Mama have more time to update next time! Bubye!