Sweet tooth

Never much of a chocolate amer person before like Mei”, if I had to describe myself with one of the cakes in the coffee shop display I would say I’m a fraisier. It’s a yummy cake with a lot of whole strawberries in it arranged in an almond sponge cake which has previously soaked on strawberry liquor. The contrasting color of the mousse and strawberries makes the cake look v interesting. But lately I’ve been attracted to chocolate amer, what could I say … the bitterness of the chocolate mousse and powder really leave a nice after taste on my mouth. The texture of the cake was really soft and I especially love to have it with a nice cup of latte or cappuccino.

I'm sorry fraisier ...

Porridge for the soul

The rain was pouring down on Jakarta’s street today. Traffic was bad, the rain top off the normal rush hour jam and the construction works on most major streets made it even worst. I took a taxi to Setiabudi to meet R & my SIL for her b’day celebration dinner. Thank god the taxi driver knows his way around Jakarta.

The dinner was simple and nice, we had delicious porridge at Ta Wan. The place was not that big, it has the typical red and lantern Chinese restaurant decorative ambience, simple furnishing and bright lighting. The porridges were great, they have extensive choices that you can choose from. Don’t expect the usual Indo porridge here because the way the Chinese cook their porridge is very watery and sticky. I think they used starch to build up the texture of the porridge but this is only my wild guest. My choice of porridge for the day was duck porridge, the duck meat tasted yummy against the thin texture of the porridge. R had snapper porridge and this really taste good as well; the snapper kind of melted in your mouth along with the porridge cause the meat was really soft and juicy. No fishy smell detected as well.

Eating porridge reminds me of the nites in Melb with Sid. We usually head down to Ori for a late nite (or should I say early morning?) meal. It was usually almost 3 o’clock in the morning when we consume the century year old egg porridges with Chinese donut. It was especially good to eat it during the winter nite, it warmed up your belly and your freezing brain.

BTW Im wondering how’s Sid doin lately? I text him but so far there’s no reply. Im dyin to hear it from his own mouth about the wedding plan news! When, Where … let me know!

Good morning Miss Moneypenny

I’m never much of a 007 fan that could tell you straight away the best line in a bond movie like R. But when I saw a book with the title The Moneypenny Diaries at Kinokuniya it certainly intrigue me cause I sure know who Miss Moneypenny is! I picked up the book and read the synopsis at the back of the book, which seemed interesting but since I still have so many unread book at my shelve I decided not to buy it.

But then when I visit Kinokuniya again during the 20% storewide discount I couldn’t help myself but to pick up the book.

From the beginning of the first page I couldn’t take my eyes from the book. It follows the story of Miss Moneypenny - Personal Secretary to Secret Service chief M and colleague and confidante of James Bond. The book followed all the storyline of Ian Flemming’s 007 series so its not too hard to catch up with all the fact. Plus the editor also gave a historical explanation of every event on the footnote.

It is kinda hard to tell whether the book is a fiction or a non-fiction because the editor relates the event on the book with an actual historical event. In addition instead of writing the author name, the book only said that it was edited by Kate Westbrook. It is explained on the beginning of the book that Kate was Miss Moneypenny nephew, she inherited Miss Moneypenny’s diaries when she died. It kind of make you wondered whether there is a real Miss Moneypenny don’t you?

Apparently this whole scheme was formulated by the publisher to make people wondering and therefore boost the selling of the book. Plus there are several issues escalating before the publishing of the book.

This months the second instalment of the trilogy is published and I cant wait for it to arrive on our shore and found out the next adventure of Miss Moneypenny.

Important numbers

I read an interesting financial advise on one of the fashion mags that I read. I guess fashion mags nowadays have more than what they used to, anyway being broke is so not fashionable!

2 Number of credit cards you're allowed to have.
15 Percentage of your salary you should save for retirement
20 Percentage of your monthly income for paying debt
100 amount of dollars for investment each month

and my own number would be 2.5 Percentage of your salary that goes into charity

Financial independence when you're still young? That would be fashionable!

The way we use to be

Been texting and calling all of my friends for the last couple of days to arrange for a lunch out, since I hardly see any of them since my pregnancy following the birth of Raysa. Seemed that 24 hours in a day are not enough to fit everything into it. But finally after several phone calls and cancelations later, we had our lunch out in Sushi Tei Plaza Indonesia and sat on the table near the bamboo tree - like we used to.

Things are different now - one pregnant lady and one sleeping baby on the stroller - but the friendship and the laughter that accompanied it is still the same. Although we're rarely see each other like the way we use to but deep inside everyone's heart we know that we'll be there for each other (hopefully!). That the quantity of meeting does not effect our quality of friendship.

And on Saturday morning we went to a friend's wedding followed by a visit to a coffee shop. We sat at the terrace of the coffee shop and the wind blew our hairs gently, it felt just like our usual sunday afternoon coffee ritual - but it was on saturday!

I missed those days where we carelessly spend our time together (all the time), but somewhere beyond the sunset those memories will lived on in my heart for eternity although I am not that careless girl anymore.

... for all the good time and the bad time that we spent together, for what it's worth I loved them all.

Red Devil

Yay! I finally have a red high heels court shoes, I'm very happy now. I was wondering through PS last sat with my besties and her BF and saw this adorable red court shoes. But I couldnt bring myself to buy it that day coz I've been buying shoes/sandals during the last couple of months like there's no tomorrow. The reason being is because I can't wear high heels during my pregnancy (so that's 9 months without the heels!), therefore I indulge in buying them ... silly me!

On thurs me, mom and Raysa went to PIM and I saw the red court shoes again! Me being obsessive over shoes decide to buy them but unfortunately the PIM store doesnt have my size. The poor store assistant have to called every other store to check my size, thank god they found 1 left in Pasaraya so I dont have to broke down and cry over a shoes (jokin!).

Finally today I went to Pasaraya straight from my lunch out with sunseters jut to pick up my shoes, and it is now stored safely below the mirror on my room! A red shoes finally! The red colour looks very vibrant, the pointy front cut is just perfect for my feet and the heels are the rite height, love it!

My name is Amalia and I'm addicted to shoes (among other things).

And here are my next wish list

A mother's wisdom

There are 2 toilets on my floor at the office and one of the toilets has couple of those wisdom words and quotes on its wall. One of them is about mother …

Mother … when we we’re a child she’s our world, when we’re growing up we thought that they didn’t know anything – that we knew more than her but when we’re mature enough to take life seriously, we’re beginning to understand our mother and hopes for the comfort of her wisdom when we’re having troubles.

But father … they’re different … they’re always the man of the family, they should knew better – about everything. When you’re a child and he carries you in his shoulder, you thought that there’ll be no place higher than a dad’s shoulder. But life has thought you many thing and you’re beginning to find answers on your own ... but dad is the man you still look up to.

The challenge that we found

Havent been in a decent work attire for almost a year. And today … I have an appointment with a head hunter. So I was back in front of the mirror with none other than my work attire.

On normal days I was never an easy person in choosing my attire, it would took me more than one shirt and skirts/pants. There’s always sumtin not right at my first try … and before I realize it … all sorts of clothes are lying everywhere. Its not the clothes … its just me and my mood. It’s the obsession on finding the outfit to serve my mood …

Today it’s been hard … none of my pants fit me yet because of the excess baggage from the pregnancy. Plus my boobs were not their normal size, which makes matter worse cause that means hardly any of my shirts will fit (I was one of those without cleavage girl, mind you!).

I felt completely challenged … not by the meeting … but by this small task of getting ready, for work that is!

My nite companion

In the last couple of days Dr Grey has been accompanying me when I wake up in the middle of the nite to fed Raysa. She’s been a good companion … at least she’s keeping me awake!

I love (love!) her series … who wouldn’t love a show with a bunch of cute doctors, complicated relationships and twisted and dark heroine? I like the fact that despite being a hotshot (intern) surgeon she still admitted that she doesn’t have all the answers. She faces the world with irony yet she is still being hopeful.

2 months old

2 months old, 4.7 kilos, have outgrown from her just born clothes and started to recognize the existence of a camera in front of her ... say cheese! Happy second months birthday Raysa ...

A melody from the past

Maybe Ive forgotten the name and the address
Of everyone Ive ever known
Its nothing I regret
Save it for another day
Its the school exam and the kids have run away

I would like a place I could call my own
Have a conversation on the telephone
Wake up every day that would be a start
I would not complain of my wounded heart

I was upset you see
Almost all the time
You used to be a stranger
Now you are mine

I wouldnt even trust you
Ive not got much to give
Were dealing in the limits
And we dont know who with
You may think that Im out of hand
That Im naive, Ill understand
On this occasion, its not true
Look at me, Im not you

I would like a place I could call my own
Have a conversation on the telephone
Wake up every day that would be a start
I would not complain of my wounded heart

I was a short fuse
Burning all the time
You were a complete stranger
Now you are mine

I would like a place I could call my own
Have a conversation on the telephone
Wake up every day that would be a start
I would not complain about my wounded heart

Just wait till tomorrow
I guess thats what they all say
Just before they fall apart

[Regret : New Order]

Had my computer fixed last month ... that means ... I can accessed my MP3 again! Yippee to that! Regret from New Order was one of the songs from my current playlist. I miss those days where I stayed awake cruisin the Net and spend my time downloading MP3 ... believe me its not as dull as it sounded! Now all I can get is MTV and Channel V ... no more MP3 downloading access cause internet in Indo is so unbeliveably slow.