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25 Januari 2011

Kecombrang ???

apaan ya?

berawal dari postingan foto "Asam Laksa" seorang teman yang looks yummy, jadi keinget menu spesial di pinggiran Gurney Drive. Semangkuk mie dengan kuah 'buteg' kecoklatan yang mendidih ditaburi sesayuran dan aneka seafood didalamnya. Sruuupuuuut, kuah panas itu rasanya asem! Ya, sesuai deh sama namanya.

Asam Laksa di Gurney Drive Hawker hanya RM 3.0

Jadi kepengen deh buat nyobain buat makanan ini yang memang jarang ada di Surabaya, sepertinya cuman satu resto dengan nama Penang Village yang ada dalam satu list menunya. Finally, browsing-browsing resep Asam laksa yang cukup banyak di Google. Salah satunya dari tabloid Bintang.

Kalau dibaca sih keliatannya gampang banget bikinnya, walhasil mulailah nyiapin bahan-bahannya dan ntar malem mau nyoba bikin . Cuman ada satu bahan yang aneh dan ngak pernah denger namanya. KECOMBRANG! bahan apaan ya ini???

bunga KECOMBRANG alias HONJE (Sunda)

Satu lagi jawaban saya dapat dari google, ternyata oh ternyata. Satu bahan yang dibutuhkan buat bikin Asam laksa ini adalah bunga cantik. Saya pernah melihatnya sekali di hotel Margo Utomo , Kalibaru. Pohonnya mirip dengan jahe atau lengkuas dengan tinggi kira-kira tiga meter. bunganya merah merekah, cantik sekali. Waktu itu sih saya ngak tau kalau bunga cantik ini rasanya juga enak :)

tunggu besok ya, bakalan diposting hasilnya! hehehehe...

13 Januari 2011

Live in: The SUNTI UBUD resort and villa


the restaurant
deluxe room interior with moderen minimalis style
standard room exterior with Balinese style
the pool


Selama mengunjungi Bali beberapa tahun terakhir, saya punya angan-angan untuk bisa stay di Ubud. Mungkinkah mimpi itu bisa terwujud? Setelah beberapa kali mencoba browsing hotel di Ubud yang memang (kebanyakan) bergaya tradisional Bali, akhirnya saya menemukan resort villa bergaya moderen minimalis.

The SUNTI UBUD, nama khas Bali seperti nama-nama perempuannya. Hanya memiliki tidak lebih dari 20 kamar yang terdiri dari 8 standard room dengan bangunan khas Bali dan 12 deluxe rooom dengan bangunan moderen minimalis. Semua bangunan terdiri dari dua lantai yang menghadap taman dengan hamparan rumput dan beberapa tanaman khas taman-taman di bali. Ada 8 kamar deluxe yang langsung menghadap kolam renang, sedangkan 4 yang lain menghadap taman di belakang lobby.

Saya dan keluarga menempati deluxe room di lantai bawah yang menghadap langsung ke taman, kamar ini cukup strategis karena dekat dengan lobby. Pintu kamar berupa jendela besar berbahan kaca sehingga view lapang langsung ke arah taman. Satu bed besar nampak nyaman dengan bantal-bantal ornamen. Kamar mandi pun lega karena ukuran cukup luas dan yang penting bersih. Disediakan lemari es kecil dan mini bar, sayangnya tidak ada mesin pembuat air panas tapi jangan khawatir karena kita bisa minta ke staf hotel.

Hotel ini memang kecil tetapi memiliki kenyamanan luar biasa, apalagi kalau hanya untuk bersantai. Mereka juga melengkapi dengan restoran bergaya joglo tepat di sebelah lahan parkir yang langsung menghadap ke jalan raya. Selain itu kita tidak mati gaya karena TV cable dan layanan wifi gratis pun tersedia 24 jam di tiap-tiap kamar.

Menu sarapan pagi standar banget, hanya 3-4 macam masakan dengan rasa yang standar pula. Tapi bukan masalah besar , karena secangkir kopi susu dan omelet sudah cukup memuaskan pagi saya.Terdapat stall sarapan a la barat berupa roti panggang dan telur yang siap dimasak oleh chef. Sarapan cukup menyenangkan dengan tempat yang nyaman, berupa open space yang langsung menghadap taman sambil memperhatikan orang yang lalu lalang di jalanan.

Lokasi hotel memang agak dipinggir kota, tetapi di daerah ini terdapat banyak butik, restauran dan cafe. Apalagi diseberangnya terdapat ARMA museum yang merupakan museum terbesar di Ubud. Bila ingin menikmati kota Ubud bisa berjalan kaki sekitar 30 menit menuju Pasar Seni dan hanya 10 menit menuju Monkey Forest.

Saya tidak melihat satupun sisi negatif dari hotel ini, staf hotelpun sangat membantu!! Saat hari-hari terakhir, hujan turun cukup deras dan staf hotel membantu kita menyediakan payung-payung besar untuk kita bawa jalan. Di hari kedua itu juga listrik di kamar kami padam, staf hotel pun dengan cepat dan tanggap memperbaikinya. Bila membutuhkan info tentang tempat-tempat menarik di Ubud, kita bisa langsung menanyakan kepada mereka dan disana disediakan beberapa brosur yang cukup informatif.

Kami sekeluarga sangat menyukai hotel ini, we'll back another time soon!!!


The Sunti Ubud Resort and Villa
Jalan Raya Pengosekan Ubud, Gianyar, Bali - Indonesia
Phone :+62 361 - 8000 668
Fax : +62 361 - 8000 668
email : resort@thesuntiubud.com

Location

The Sunti Ubud, located in a Pengosekan Village which is as a central of artist community in ubud. The Sunti Ubud is really a strategic place to stay. It takes only 5 minutes on foot to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary and just across the street of Arma Museum, Ubud's biggest Art Museum.

Villa facilities
Exclusive rooms with king size bed, Air-conditioner and LCD Television 34 inc, bathroom with bathtub (hot and cool running water). Private swimming pool, akitchen set and dining table set up.

Room Facilities
Exclusive rooms with twin or double bed, Air- conditioner, Television, bathroom with bathtub and or with shower (hot and cool running water) and balcony overlooking to the rice filed and swimming pool.

7 Januari 2011

5 best places to visit in Surabaya

Soerabadja (photo by dhixxx)
Kenjie (photo by ThePutro)

My travel friends, Patricia who founder GotSaga.com ask me about 5 best places to visit in Surabaya? Well, actually it's a confusing question for me because I never think about it ☺. And here I'll try to answer that, and you can check out at Got Saga too.

Oke let me tell you a bit about Surabaya's facts :
☑ Surabaya is a shortening from Suro (Shark) and Boyo (crocodile), which is the symbol of Surabaya.
☑ It is one of oldest cities in Indonesia, which was built more than 700 years ago. We celebrate Surabaya's anniversary every 31 May.
☑ We also called it the HERO city as a lot of heroes died in the war to fight the Netherlands in the World War II in 1945.
☑ It is the second biggest city after the capital city Jakarta, with population around 3 million people.
☑ Surabaya is located in the east of Java island and it has an important harbor Tanjung Perak to link the east of Indonesia.

Now, here are the 5 best places to visit in Surabaya :

1. China and Arab Town
Located in north Surabaya, this is the first business and culture area. Many old buildings with European-Chinese style are located here,
including: The House of Sampoerna which used to be a cigarette factory and now it become a museum and cafe, Jembatan Merah (historical bridge), Kembang
Jepun Street, Ampel Mosque, the old post office, the PTPN XII building which
was built by the Dutch.

2. Kenjeran Park
The one and only beach in Surabaya, but don't imagine a beautiful white sea shore because we don't have it. Although the beach is not that clean there are a lot of things that you can do and see here, like motor racing, horse racing, and also shopping for seafood snacks and seashell
ornaments. There is a Buddhist Temple with a huge "Kwan Im" statue at sea side. You can also see Suramadu bridge, the first bridge to connect Java island and Madura island. If you loves photography, this is the place that you can found a beautiful sunrise.

3. Tugu Pahlawan
Or the Hero Monument, which is a monument to commemorate the heroes that died during the war. There is a historical museum in the area. It is located at the heart of Surabaya. In this area there is also a big old building, Bank of Indonesia, Kepanjen Catholic Church , the Head office
of Indonesia post, the first ballroom in Surabya where the Dutch used to
have parties and the first radio station in Surabaya. This is the old city
area. If you want to try "bebek goreng" (crispy duck) wait until 6 PM, there's
a famous street hawker opposite the monument.

4. Jalan Tunjungan
A very popular street in the 50's to 80's. As the street was so famous, a song was composed for it : ♪Rek ayo rek mlaku mlaku nang Tunjungan ♬ (friends, come and let's have a walk at Tunjungan). Tunjungan is the main street from north to south of Surabaya. There are some famous old buildings here, including: Siola (the first department store), Genteng Traditional market (with any kinds of snack stores), The Majapahit Hotel (the Sarkies Hotel, which is also a historical place where the heroes fought for Indonesia's independence on the 10th of November 1945), the last but not least is the megamall Tunjungan Plaza (the biggest mall complex built in the 80's)

5. Kebun Binantang Surabaya
The Surabaya Zoo, is the oldest zoo in Indonesia. We have a collection of more than 400 species in the area of 30,500 m2. Located in the south of Surabaya. In front of the zoo we can see the Suro and Boyo Monument and Mpu Tantular Museum at opposite.

Officially website: www.surabaya.go.id

"SPARKLING SURABAYA"