graphs of my Universe
Start the day, my love
With bright eyes and dancing tongue.
A day to excite--
a bowl of “pempek from Palembang & “sambal ijo” from Padang with a piece of boiled duck leg starting my day
time to clean the house & packing for tomorrow’s exciting trip 😍
Kitchen calls, my love
Those in love with life and taste
And the folks in heart.
today’s ifthar with so much love
we call it bothok not the Botox injection — it’s tempeh, anchovy in grated coconut + santan wrapped by my hands in banana leaves 😍
sayur asem (sour soup) normally the sourness is from tamarind but today I used buah kedondong peel
Japanese cracker that I love always
still the Bac Ninh oranges
kedondong
This heart, Beloved
Lives a limited timeline.
It can't wait too long.
I believe you can guess which one is today’s star: “sambel goreng kentang hati sapi” 💕
deep frying the Brastagi potato
heart that gives a kick!
the hardest work today after work
in Singapore it’s called “Indonesia potato”, in Indonesia we call in “Brastagi potato” aka “kentang Brastagi”; it won’t break when deep fried not like other types of Australian and American ones
With love, Beloved
The breeze blows the flying leaves
To where sweetness waits.
bamboo shoots & corn in love
Less looks more daring
When this heart wishes to rest,
Avoiding dead end.
today’s dinner — less favourite noodle, the udon
Life seems effortless
As it's flowing river
To the sea.
All with love--
all with love — today’s breakfast
Sometimes
I ignore the name
When I know it is the same.
Dear
You,
How your beauty and majesty
Has encapsulated me
In one existence called
Life!
Now I can only choose either
To love or
To leave.
they call it “Mie Kari” in KL, it is “Laksa” in Penang 😘 in Singlish it is called “same same but different” 😁
Weather, Beloved
Changes with the wind and sun.
Different from my heart:
Stubbornly dances for you
Even when the rain falls hard.
rain stopped when i reached home (with my keys) but the cold was wrapping my wet body — after some light shower, i decided to cook my favourite oxtail soup (lucky i boiled the oxtail this morning – i am blessed with every luck)
who said blessings don’t come when someone is under the weather? the weather waves white towel to this person just because of a bowl of oxtail soup, a bowl of pomelo and plums and a bowl of yoghurt
trust the gut and even bad weather will turn to a sweet evening
The sound of splashes
Echoing around a pond
Shows a frog refreshed.
home dinner gets me truly refreshed — not so much time to cook, so let’s eat raw then enjoy the music and books
❣️
Get rest, Beloved.
You've raced with a packed schedule
That's tamed by weekends.
the drink is “Teh Botol Sosro” the most legendary bottled tea in Indonesia 😘
mini tumpeng for today’s birthday dinner (most components by me) – need to rest my hands after cooking; this weekend is gonna be biking to east coast
Beloved,
It is about whether or not
The path is walked.
Not about prediction,
Not about opinion,
Not about hurting or getting hurt,
Not about giving up,
Not about result.
This journey is
Mine.
The destination is
You.
The end is
Heaven knows.
Today’s dinner
please don’t judge hungry stomach — today was another reading, cooking and eating plus a bit of napping, laundry was missed and will be done tomorrow night after office 😎
this plate is a work of 3-hour labor of an amateur: potato perkedel (potato hash mixed with minced beef), fried rice with corn in Balinese sambal matah & teri kacang (my 1st attempt soooo challenging, too sweet, almost giving up, next time better with different recipe) – yay❣️
i made chicken soup for my own soul and my friend sent me sourdough from her bakery — alhamdulillah….
RAMBUTAN!!! 😍 exotic tropical fruit
After 40′ swim, I continued Saturday with reading (I’m left behind target of my Goodreads’ 2024 Reading Challenge), cooking then eating. Some instagram checking inserted to check if my bestfriend sent me silly meme and videos to refresh our day–
Weekend, please don’t go too fast. I still have 2 books, cleaning and some laundry to do.
Maybe just one extra hour for tomorrow to be 25…. 😛
tada! today is about reading, cooking and eating — ice cream soon 😍
😍
peanut, garlic, chili, fragrance ginger (kencur)
palm sugar, kefir lime leaves
And so does it, Love
Doors closed are blessings to those
Needing to move on.
duck never fails me….
….and so does mango salad
oh so fresh and refreshing, gone in less than 30 minutes; let’s move on…
Dear kitchen,
I promise you
To love you
As long as
You let me sing
While cooking.
grilled saba from my kitchen and friends from outside (i ate 1.5 saba….)
i’m crazy about deep fried & carrot – all from my kitchen
the chicken in the heart shaped bowl is garang asem, favourite! my kitchen loves me!
Long life's, Beloved
Feel the breathing one by one,
No matter how long.
eat noodle to live long? today’s dinner is shirataki noodle soup with shredded chicken breast and carrot
Pleased and guilty, love
Intertwine with her black hair,
Making some balance.
They will fall and get flushed out
When the root is weak or dried.
today’s dinner after work (from remote on Monday)
i started cooking almost all my meal in early 2020 when working from remote was applied due to the pandemic; since then i only eat out with colleagues, friends or visiting families or when i myself want to eat Japanese food (good Japanese food needs refined ingredients and high skill that can only happen in a pro place) — no one can cook my Indonesian food better than me 😀
i also started doing all household chores that were before done by a paid assistant
since then i don’t want to give up doing it, even if i have to stay up late i will do all by myself for self satisfaction — so pleased to be moving around at home
just yesterday my regular assistant finally requested to go back to take my weekly chores like before (since pandemic i only call her in emergency situation) — i could not say yes or no as it is not about money anymore although it is not a big expense to do (my mother will complain and say it is an act of ignorance — i’m sorry, Ibu 😘)
i’m still feeling guilty since i finally said no this morning, i told her that i might call her just for occasional need and include her in my meal list when i have something special in my kitchen 😘
i feel that giving up household chores is like giving up some part of my moving meditation
cooking, cleaning, gardening (small group of potted plants), laundry, etc give me sanctuary from routine at work — also honestly give me excuse to reject some (unnecessary) invitation from (unwanted) people
this guilt will be difficult to go away i know
but i prefer losing compliments rather than losing my sanity
💕
A noise in my head
Is a noise in my stomach
And in the kitchen.
weekend is a noisy kitchen
Stuffy, Beloved
It's airless and no laughter.
Go out for breathing.
tada!!! tofu-stuffed squid for today 😍
tofu, carrot, spring onion
squid — now I know why it should be big squid, the small will be difficult to be stuffed
This plate's, Beloved
As sweet as a throbbing heart
Craving for calmness.
dinner today — sweet, sweet, zweettt!!!
🥹
After hour is where untamed dreams
Knock on the door
And where hidden appetite
Spills on the floor.
There is only one antidote that you know.
deep fried food? go to kitchen after work — deep fried not healthful? let’s deal with that later 🙃
tada! tahu isi aka tahu brontak aka tahu susur aka stuffed tofu
a day with deep fried cannot be better
healthful and tasteful before deep fried
healthful and tasteful before deep fried
This lunch is coming from
That evening noisy kitchen.
This calm evening is coming from
That afternoon hard work.
This glorious afternoon is coming from
That morning humble smile.
That that passed
Has left
What is blessed.
full set – いただきます❣️
tempe, beancurd and duck — all fried; btw, i thought it was chicken until i chewed the flesh 🫢 i’m such a bad chef who didn’t check the label, just took it from the fridge and threw it to the boiling water and tadaaa!!! 😁
Chinese cabbage is sweet when boiled
the best sambal on earth ☺️ sambal terasi
all boiled together in harmony 😀
A plate full of gifts,
Colourful to sum up a day
Before the sun sets--
pho bo & tien ly leaves with garlic, lunch in Ho Chi Minh City
Weekend, Beloved
Perfect with noisy kitchen
And finished laundry--
—
today’s healthful brunch❣️ we call it urap in Javanese cuisine — the raw leaves are “kencur” from the pot in the balcony ♥️
About kencur
wanted to eat raw veggies but i didn’t trust the source so boiled it was — missing my home in Yogyakarta where greeneries grow organically
the grated coconut
i still haven’t bought a new food processor after the old one was spoiled so today i had to do it with my favourite pestel and mortar — now my hands feel burnt of the chili heat 😎
Today's dinner of a dreamer
Looks like a dream
Tastes like a dream
Smells like a dream
Sounds like a dream
But feels real
At a table for one
Of epic dinner.
—
Today’s dinner was way beyond my expectation especially the size. The taste was still as predicted as Thai food to be yet the vibe where I enjoyed my dinner was so relaxing that everything became good!
Let me show you today’s epic dinner.
In fact I surpassed the word gluttony. Please forgive me for being so greedy yet not finishing the order.
Next time better (better means eat more???) 🙃
💕
namprikapik muang kung: mackerel, deep fried eggplant, omelett cubes plus all the raw vegetable (some leaves like coriander leaves and others i know not, long bean, cucumber, small eggplant) and the shrimp paste sauce
❣️❣️❣️
fabulous💕
miang krob bai mara: deep fried bitter gourd leaves❣️❣️❣️
kaeng leang: spicy herb vegetable soup with prawns
butterfly pea leaves tea❣️❣️❣️
this… is… the pinnacle! i thought it was a warm drink as a gift — lucky i asked: it was to wash my hand 😂😂😂
and so i did
it smelled good yet my hand is coloured now 😂😂😂
Best local delight's
Bangkok's 7-Eleven's.
Fresh presentation--
—
this is what’s fabulous about Thailand, not pictured are grilled banana, etc, etc, done for dinner!!! 💋💋💋
Javanese is rich of philosophy in its daily life. Even food is full of it. Lupis is one of those.
Lupis is a cake of goutinous rice. Its stickiness symbolizes close relationship. Its shape which is triangle represents love triangle among God-Messenger-Human, Divine-Human-Nature, me-you-others.
What a nice cake to enjoy! Physically, emotionally and spiritually!
💕
—
bon appetit 💕
21 pieces of cake!
bigger pot was needed to contain more water so all could fully drawn in the water
i ground the pandan leaves to get both colour and fragrance
i am proud of myself 😁 to be able to fold the lupis the way it should have been done
some of the ingredient (glutinous rice that was soaked for 30′, banana leaves to wrap, toothpick to lock the wrapping, pandan water to boil, (not here were the palm sugar, tapioca starch and a bit of salt)
In between breathing
There's a space to insert time
That means forever.
—
nikujaga is a favourite for guests visiting me but they consider it snack in between meals as it is too sweet for them to enjoy with rice; for me it is good to cook: simple and fast
today’s lunch and dinner 😍 the meat isn’t the best as the slicing is too thick — it’s still ok
When hunger invites,
Would you attend or fight back?
A game anyway—
——
rambutan behind the green
spring rolls
Some words are spicy
Touching sense with its slight heat.
A silo of joy—
——
not spicy enough yet fully healthful ♥️
Cooking is a sweet distraction from a busy mind. To me
💕
About CARANG GESING
cooking is a sweet distraction; and this is sweeeeeet!!!
done!
steam for 30’
5
4
3
2
1
my tweak for carang gesing — sago pearl
i didn’t use egg
rike jokanan 
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