Mummynista!

I had a huge Yakitori craving last week, and my friends suggested me to check out Kado at Intercontinental Hotel MidPlaza. Kado is apparently quite very famous for Yakitori in Jakarta and very popular with the Japanese travellers and expats. Hubby G and I had already tried couple of Yakitori places in Jakarta however we only found them pretty average; we certainly hoped Kado would be ' the Yakitori place' to go to. Tucked at a corner of the basement of Intercontinental Hotel Midplaza. Located at the basement of Intercontinental Hotel MidPlaza, Kado wasn't what I had expected of a restaurant in a hotel. It looks like a family-run Japanese eatery(though belonging a chain of restaurants), unassuming and easily missed- definitely not your usual high end intimidating hotel restaurants. This place is good for anyone who just want to come casually dressed and enjoy an easy evening with family and friends. The manager/chef is a very friendly Japanese lady and almost a...

My Indonesian girlfriend and I decided to check out this cafe- Tana Merah Coffee Shop for brunch last Saturday. Tana Merah Coffee Shop is located near Thamrin City amongst a row of shophouses. It is quite hard to find if you are going there for the first time. Just give the cafe a call (like we did) and they will give you or your driver precise directions to the cafe. This post will have lots of foodporn! Yay! For once, I made a conscious effort to take pictures of the food before digging into it. The reason I can't be a food blogger (despite I am such a foodie!) is that I can barely have the discipline to take pictures of all the delicious yummy dishes before I already poked one of my utensils in. Upon entering the cafe. Situated amonst a row of shophouses. I eyed the next table's order and the sandwiches looked great so I decided to order one for myself. My friend went for the french toast. The food presentation (for Jakarta standards) was pretty good and th...

I am sure those who frequent Kemang will not fail to see the big white building with a huge signage- Miracle Aesthetic Clinic. For those who follow my blog, you will know that I am always on a lookout for a nice spa or beauty/facial places. Just as I was about to check out the clinic, Miracle Aesthetic Clinic dropped me a note to try out their treatments; great timing isn't it? :) Many of us will probably be very skeptical about trying aesthetic treatments in Jakarta or anywhere in Indonesia, after all Jakarta is not famous like Bangkok for beauty treatments. So on the Saturday before I left Jakarta for our holiday, I dragged Hubby G with me to check out Miracle Aesthetic Clinic. They offered a consultation before trying any treatments including facial. I met one of the aesthetic doctors and she took me through the list of available treatments the clinic offers- Botox, Fillers, IPL, Facial, etc. As usual, the cynical me checked with the doctor if the products are legitimate and...

I totally forgot about this. I did this interview with Expat Arrivals (www.expatarrivals.com) when I first moved to Jakarta (like 7 months ago from the date of this post) . Hopefully this may help to shed some light to those who are considering to relocate/move to Jakarta or those who has just arrived. And well of course some thoughts and feelings have changed after being here for a while, I'll write a part 2 really soon.. Taken from: http://www.expatarrivals.com/indonesia/expat-experiences-in-indonesia About Cassandra   Q: Where are you originally from?  A: Singapore, and my husband is from Canada.   Q: Where are you living now?  A:  Jakarta, Indonesia   Q: When did you move to Indonesia?  A: September 2013.   Q: Did you move alone or with a spouse/family?  A:  We moved here as a family; with my husband and one year old toddler.   Q: Why did you move to Indonesia; what do you do?  A: ...

The joys of pregnancy does not just stop at morning sickness. 2nd trimester arrives and say hello to Mr Backache! Oh you didn't experience either morning sickness nor backaches? Go away! You shouldn't even be reading this post..Just kidding! On a more serious note, most pregnant women like myself will start to feel aches around the body once 2nd trimester hits. The increased weight from the belly adds more pressure to our backs as well as legs, hence the aches begin. And for me, the need to gag into the toilet bowl at least twice a day causes my neck and shoulders to ache too. Yes I know, I feel like I've aged fifty years being pregnant. However as much as we need the comforts of a massage, one can't just step into any massage place now. Firstly we can't lie face down anymore...duh! Hence we need massages that are tailored for us while we lie sideways which means options are kind of limited. I decided to check with my good friend once again, Mr Google and ta...

Are you like me who's attracted to things that have a history or looked like they have a history? Or maybe you are looking for some more interesting artefacts to add to your home decor? Well my buddy J and I definitely were and we decided to check out the famous antique street/market in Jakarta- Jalan Surabaya. This made me miss those times when I used to type essays with a typewriter. One has to have patience to go through the piles of collectibles.  Was tempted to get the gramophone for G. Just love these vintage binoculars/telescopes. J got one of these for her son. There's a couple of things to note over there:  1. You need to haggle. A lot. Most of the shopkeepers start with higher prices; although some must just be out of their mind or don't want your business, they quote you ridiculous figures. They quote us a vintage fan at 20 million rupiah..yes  20,000,000idr  (~2,000usd). We laughed and walked away. This is clearly a lost...

Have you ever wondered what a private make up lessons are like or perhaps you are thinking if you should take up one? Perhaps my experience below will help you to decide better.  It was almost another typical morning in Jakarta for Katie, an expat housewife with three lovely children; just that in between her usual schedule, she has squeezed some time out for a makeup lesson. The great thing was that she did not need to waste any time travelling as the lesson will be conducted right at the comfort of her home and the lesson fee costed her less than her usual grocery bill. Katie was kind enough to allow me to crash her make up lesson. I had been to beauty classes organised by some beauty brands like Dior which took place in classroom settings with at least ten other people, so I wonder the difference between those type of lessons as to private ones. Founder of Sahana Sky, and also a good friend of ours, Janet arrived at Katie's promptly at 9am. With Espressos, notebooks and m...

Our friends were telling us to visit Potato Head Garage when they learnt that we were visiting Bali; the food bloggers are also raving about this place in their blogs...so we decided to check it out. Arriving ten minutes prior to Potato Head's opening hour at 11am, we were refused by the security as well as the restaurant staff to enter the restaurant. I was trying to explain that we have a toddler who was very flushed from the heat and that we would just like to take a seat in the restaurant till they can take our orders at 11am...which is like 10 minutes away... No, we can't take a seat at the restaurant while we wait and the staff wanted us (G, a pregnant woman and a young toddler) to stand under the scorching hot sun for 10 minutes until the magical clock strikes 11am. The chairs, which were in the shade were just couple steps away, and NO..WE HAVE TO STAND UNDER THE SUN WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE MAGICAL OPENING HOUR.   I thought it was pretty ridiculous. I asked fo...