Ivy's Travel: Snacks To Buy in Japan

Since I am still working through hundreds of pictures from my Japan trip, let's start with something less editing stressful. I bought quite many snacks to bring home though of course, there are many many other snacks that I didn't buy. I'm going to show you only what snacks I bought, where to buy and whether they are recommended or not. And no, I'm not crazy, most of them were for my family, my nieces, nephews and friends, they were not all for me. 

Ivy's Travel: Singapore Food Diary IV

A short post on what we ate during our last SG trip. Don't expect any trending cafes since we didn't go to any. It's funny how I changed so much now that I'm not really into the rapidly growth food scenes. Normally my trip to SG won't be complete without visiting few of the trending spots, but now I am more into locals and food that I do enjoy rather than wasting my tummy space for fancy cafes' typical food, not that I won't be going there for good, it just won't be my priority anymore. 

BISTECCA JAKARTA

How anything under Union group never failed my taste buds. I was here at Bistecca last weekend with my girlfriends, in need of good food and we got them. Bistecca is located in the same building as the other establishment of Union group, The Dutch. As soon as we stepped inside, the design immediately reminded me of Union group's signature concept. Except for Casa, I personally always feels every restaurants under the group has similar vibes and ambiance, that New York pub style classic. 

IZAKAYA KAI PLUIT JAKARTA

As picky as I am lately with trying on new restaurants, I can't hold my excitement to try Izakaya KAI as soon as possible, with three main reasons, first, it serves Japanese, my favorite cuisine. Second, it is the brainchild from the talented Chef Adhika Maxi and his gorgeous wife, Chef Karen Carlotta, and they teamed up with Tempura Master Chef Hitoshi Kimura. Third, it nestles in my neighborhood. Yes, Northerners, you heard it right. 

HOOLALA CHICKEN GANDARIA CITY JAKARTA

When it comes to fried chicken, personally I am always leaning towards more to Korean type of fried chicken rather than American. I won't say no to KFC or McDonalds, I mean, who would? I'm just saying that in terms of personal choice, I like the Korean way better when it comes to fried chicken as they can make it less greasy and oily.

LARB THAI PIK JAKARTA

And yes, yet another newly opened restaurant at none other than Pantai Indah Kapuk. With countless restaurants keep on opening here, PIK has confirming its stand as one of the frontliner in the neighborhood filled with cafes, restaurants, and nowadays, coffee shops.
 
Thai food has always been one of my favorite cuisine, so to find Larb that focusing on bringing authentic Thai certainly excites me. Larb located at the same row as Saine Daise and Bienvenue. The restaurant occupies only one ruko with a standard family restaurant interior.

Ivy's Travel: The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter - Osaka Japan

Let's start our Summer in Japan travel diary with one of the highlight from the trip. I have been a fan of Harry Potter, probably not a super avid one, but I read and watched all the series. Yes, I am a book nerd and a movie slut. In that context, I was beyond excited to finally witness Hogwarts off screen. 

THE KINGDOM BUFFET & SHABU SHABU PIK JAKARTA

As it's approaching end of July, I can safely say that this place is my best find of the month. The perfect example to not judge first before you try. Honestly, I have probably the lowest expectation on this place. Though the restaurant looks all grand and nice from the outside, I somehow kept them off my list and didn't really excited to try, until earlier today, I was meeting my girls for lunch and there were 3 of us, perfect for the "Buy 2 get 3" promo that The Kingdom currently have.

KILA KILA by AKASYA JAKARTA

So how's everyone holiday? :) If you've been following me on snapchat or instagram, I have just got back from my holiday trip and going to write my travel diary series soon. But for now, let's share some thoughts on one of the newly opened restaurant in town, shall we? 

SAINE DAISE PIK JAKARTA

Be hold girls, Saine Daise is the kind of place that girls, specifically will fall in love at the first sight. At least that was what happened to me. The place is tooooo pretty! The bright room, the shabby chic wall paneling, the gorgeous ceiling, the marble table with that orchids. Everything fits an enviable pinterest picture. 

EPIGASTRO PIK JAKARTA

If you're looking for something different in the neighborhood of Pantai Indah Kapuk, head over to Epigastro. The recently opened bistro doesn't come with the same concept as the others, in a good way. The moment you step inside, you will be pleased by the natural lighting and green plants welcoming you, making you feel that you somehow are inside a green house, with indoor nature surrounding you. 

MAPLE & OAK MENTENG JAKARTA

As a brunch person, I always have higher interest whenever a new brunch spot is opening up in town, especially one that comes with positive feedback like Maple & Oak. The new kid on the block of Menteng area might just opened for few days when this post was written, but it had gained its own popularity over the social media. 

Ivy's Travel: Bangkok Travel Diary {Part III}

Story on my previous posts on Bangkok travel diary can be read here. 

Ivy's Travel: Bangkok Travel Diary {Part I) 

Ivy's Travel: Bangkok Travel Diary {Part II}

Ivy's Travel: Bangkok Travel Diary {Part II}

My travel story on Bangkok part 1 can be read here.

Ivy's Travel: Bangkok Food Diary {Part I} 

Ivy's Travel: Bangkok Travel Diary {Part I}

Writing on travel post is never an easy one. The amount of time for choosing from hundreds of pictures, then editing them and the long writes. One of the reasons why I'm forcing myself to always do this after travel is because I enjoy rereading them and memorizing back those travel days. Also, I hope it can somehow be helpful for people who plan to travel to the same city, since I gained a lot of knowledge from blog walking on others' travel posts as well.

BELLYCIOUS MUARA KARANG - PLUIT JAKARTA

It's an exciting news how Muara Karang and Pluit area has evolving with many coffee shops and new cafes where it used to be more like humble family restaurants in the neighborhood. One newly opened cafe caught my attention from their exterior alone, positioned few shops away from Ottoman's Coffee.

BIENVENUE BISTRO PIK JAKARTA

Blogging has been, hard work, lately. I always am one of the moodiest woman on earth, and I have been having the worst mood swing these couple months. Can't recall how many times I switched on my laptop thinking of writing a new post and then changed my mind, having it shut. 

I won't lie, I am feeling a bit bumped when I saw the page views stats has been slowing significantly, but I just hate my writings when it was a forced one. 

Ivy's Travel: Hong Kong Food Guide

Hong Kong has always been one of my favorite cities in Asia. I grew up having most of my holidays here since Mom and Dad often take us to China, and we always make sure to transit several days in Hong Kong. I can't exactly recall how many times I've been in the city, probably around fifteen and still a visit here is always, always irresistible.

3 Days Juice Detox With Cold Press Indonesia

I have been wanting to do a juice cleanse since forever. I have once, but only a day and being a food enthusiast that worship food, never had crossed my mind that I'd be able to do a 3 days juice detox. The thoughts of having only liquid for three whole days was just impossible. But that was then.

RUTH's CHRIS STEAK HOUSE JAKARTA

The first time I noticed Ruth's Chris will be opened here was on February when I went to Raffles hotel for my birthday brunch. Ruth's Chris is located on the lobby floor of Somerset which I had to pass by on our way to Raffles, and I quietly marked the place in mind (since it wasn't yet opening that time). We were supposeably planning to have our Valentine lunch here, yet they were fully booked the whole day, so I kinda forget about the place until few weeks ago when Hubs initiated the idea. 

POKENBIR LIPPO KUNINGAN JAKARTA

Pokenbir is a humble restaurant located at the lobby of an office building around Kuningan. It's the kind of place where the owner doesn't really rely on social media to promote their restaurant. I happened to know them because this whole one week, one of my group chat has been dominated with their name. My friends rave about this place so high that I have to go check them out. Oh, fyi, my friend knows this place from her friend that works in the building, so I guess Pokenbir rely on good words of their customers, and that's what a good restaurant really should be right? Mouth to mouth good words from satisfied customers instead of only huge endorsements in social media to promote their place. 

Ivy's Travel: Christmas Festive in Singapore

It always fun to be in Singapore during Christmas since we hardly see any Christmas celebration in Jakarta. Though I'm not Christian, I do admit Christmas decorations are the best. One of my bucket list is to be able see Christmas in New York in person.

This post won't be long, since I only want to show you what Christmas look like in Singapore. Orchard Road, the heart of the city, was filled with lights, Christmas trees and ornaments. A sight to the eyes. 

CHIR CHIR PIK INDONESIA

I gotta say, I am a proud fried chicken gal. Of all junk food, fried chicken is arguably one that I mostly find hard to resist, after pizza. And when it comes to fried chicken, I am leaning more to Korean one rather than the popular American like KFC or Mcdonalds, I mean, I like them too, but something about Korean fried chicken is just so irresistible, and by something, I mean their crunchiness. 

AMKC ATELIER - PLAZA INDONESIA JAKARTA

When it comes to listing a good let alone consistent cafe in Jakarta, I am positive that anyone who had been to Union would agree that they are in the top list. Since its opening till date, I am impressed on how consistent they are on keeping the food quality and taste, many arguably find hard to achieve. The success of Union can't be separated from the genius behind, Chef Adhika Maxi and Chef Karen Carlotta.

OTTOMAN's COFFEE BREWERS PLUIT JAKARTA

Although I'm not a coffee person, it is still exciting to see more and more coffee shops opened around my neighborhood. Especially the one that non coffee person could also enjoy, something like this. 

Ottoman's Coffee Brewers comes with interesting breakfast menu or if you prefer the trending word at the moment, we can call it brunch instead of breakfast. But before I get into that, I want to talk about their facad/ interior which was the first thing got me intrigued to enter the place. I love the sky blue color, makes them different than others which normally comes with black to get that monochromatic feels. I never thought blue actually looks good pairing with natural wood color.

SOULFOOD KEMANG JAKARTA

With so many new restaurants opened up with mostly Western food, it always good to see slightly change of view. In this case, Indonesian food at SoulFood Kemang. I know them the first time during their #popuplesehan some time ago at one of the bazaar in town. They haven't had a physical store back then. 

REUNION DINNER CNY 2016

Chinese New Year has never really been something that my family and I celebrate in a big way, probably because we are a small family and don't have too many relatives in town. Mom's family mostly stay in Medan, while my two aunts from Dad's stay in Hong Kong. Honestly, if not because of my new nephew, baby S, I think all of us prefer to go on short trip rather than celebrating it in town.

BAO JI PELASPAS DHARMAWANGSA JAKARTA

After I went back from my short new year trip, I have few days to spare before going back on the healthy catering I've been taking recently. I used that few days to visit some restaurants I haven't been to, including this one.

VIVERRI COFFEE MUARA KARANG JAKARTA

Viverri definitely gives no reason for people to not wanting to come in, even for non coffee person as me. The strategic location, the monochrome, the fact they serve all day breakfast, you name it. They are not exactly newbie. This new Muara Karang outlet is their second outlet after the first one in Pluit. The first outlet is located inside house complex, petite and only serve coffee. Their second outlet is much bigger with wider menu serving all day breakfast and light snacks as well.

Ivy's Thoughts: After 5 Years

Hello Everyone! Happy new year 2016! Is it too late to ask how's everyone's new year? It's been 11 days but I still find it hard to believe that it's 2016 already. In blink of an eye, here comes Chinese new year. Time flies. 

I'm sorry for the quite long hiatus I've been taking. It was literally the longest blogging-less I've ever done. I was planning to just write a new post without some explanations on the hiatus part, but I decided to write one on reasons behind my absence, not that anyone care. :D

So, if you kind enough to pay attention, I'm not only taking some time off from blogging, but also food hunting. For the past few months, I did cut back on my crazy food hunts. I no longer immediately go to any new restaurants who just open like I used to do. That explains how my social media, instagram to be exact was lack of posts in these past couple months (except during my recent HK's trip).

Okay, it's getting personal. 

After 5 years of marriage, Hubs and I, we decided that it's time to be really serious on planning a family. Since we got married, we never postpone on having a baby, we love kids and never not want one, unfortunately, our journey on having one is not as smooth as other lucky couples. From taking it easy to serious, to on and off doctors' appointments, until at some point, we or to be exact, me, just had the kind of phase that probably every women who's trying to have a baby once had. I stopped trying. Disappointment sucks and sometimes does reality and I stayed at that phase for quite some time, shifting my focus to something "funner". I blogged, I write, I go crazy on restaurant hunting, anything that makes me happy suits me at that time.

It went on for I think couple of years before I realized that I've been focusing on some things that makes me happy temporarily rather than what I really want in life. Everyone wants different things in life, but mine has always is, to have a family. That's all that matters to me but the past disappointments had let me to kinda run away from it.

I love social media, but I'm so glad that I came to realization that getting some time away from it, is actually a good thing. I used to be constantly checking my phone, but now I limit my self to only check instagram couple times in a day. I often leave my camera at home while I go out to eat, something which I never did before. Oh, but I do have Snapchat now. I feel it's the right social media for me at the moment as with snapchat, I can snap casually, not like instagram which need to use a good camera and right angle to get that instagram worthy shot.

For the past few months, we had been on track on getting our purpose refocused. Unlike before, Hubs and I are in committed program with our doctor, no more on off treatments. From that too, we found out that I have Toxoplasmosis history. It's a parasitic disease where adult people are getting infected from pets or raw food. I don't have pets, nor like to be near any cats or dogs, so mine was 100% infected from raw food. I do eat sashimi probably more than normal people who are not Japanese. I love sashimi, I love caesar salad, and I never did know that I have low body immune that got me infected to it. I was on therapy for 3 months and thankfully now I'm Toxo-free but our doctor strictly still forbid me from having any uncooked food until I'm pregnant and gave birth. We were also been advised to not consume too many seafood (besides fish), no junk food (bye bye KFC), and nothing with preservatives like instant noodles, canned or frozen food.

That's why I have been limiting my self to my food hunting hobby and more on clean eating right now. I do miss it sometimes, but this is important for me, for us. On whether I'll be pregnant or not, besides Him, who would know? But at least I know that we are giving our very best on pursuing it.

I'm not saying that I'll stop blogging or posting on my Instagram, it just wont be as intense as previously. I'm not going to be like immediately go to any new restaurants in town like I used to do, probably more selective on choosing which one to visit or not to.

Another thing is, being blogging absence for a while and getting back on it today makes me reminded that blogging is really not as easy as what some people might think. You need commitment, and an amount of time to do the writing and photo editing. It's a privilege knowing that some of you spent time to visit and read my babbling. So, really, I mean it, from the bottom of my heart, when I write, thank you for reading at the end of all my posts, I really really really mean it. Thank you for reading!

-Life is about options. You win some, you lose some.-

Until next thoughts,

Ivy