Simply My Notes

One of the things I dislike here in Saudi is the ruling for women to wear Abaya -a long black gown worn over your dress. But, there are some public places that allow women not to wear one, that is if you can afford it. It's the private beaches of Jeddah. Durrah Al Arrus - the resort that we visited last weekend - has this feature too. It's an integrated tourist village up north of Jeddah and we can spend one day at the beach through the Beach Resort Hotel for 50SAR/person/day or stay at the hotel. The beach was nice with blue water and sandy beach and the resort hotel itself has a gorgeous park and swimming pool. Overall it's fantastic. But be discreet when taking pictures, it's actually not allowed to do in the beach and pool. Report Card (Durrah Beach Resort Hotel) Main Attraction: - The Beach: pure sandy beach, with a view of the North Jeddah Bay. Just like being in the Cote d'Azur. Superb! - The Marina to stroll along: Not as beautiful as in Port el ...

About couple of weeks ago, my hubby found a resort in the net called Durrah Al Arrus . So, one Friday noon, we went there to take a sneak peek. Cool beach! But the thing that attracted me most was: Women don't have to wear their Abayas (a long black gown worn over our dress). Since I came here to Jeddah, I've been bickering about the lost of my freedom. Freedom to independently walk alone outside and freedom of dressing myself. It's not the Abaya per se but the ruling that bind which bothers me a lot.

Asyiknya tinggal di negeri yang segala makanannya serba halal gini adalah bisa nyoba makanan yang pas tinggal di Belanda cuma bisa ngiler doang pengen nyoba, tapi trus tau ada ibabnya jadi ill-feel. Kemaren nemu real Spaghetti Carbonara - which is yang pake bacon. Dulu aku pernah coba baconnya diganti dengan smoked salmon. Spaghetti Carbonara Bahan: 300 gr spaghetti 150 gr bacon, iris sepanjang jari 150 ml double cream (whipping cream) 1 btr kuning telur 1 btr garlic, crushed 1/2 bh bw bombay, cincang kecil 1 sm cooking oil salt n black pepper (preferably freshly ground) Cara membuat: - Masak spaghetti sesuai petunjuk packaging - Panaskan cooking oil dalam medium heat dan tumis bw bombay smp harum - Tumis garlic dan bacon sampai bacon matang - Bumbui dengan salt n pepper lalu kecilkan api - Kocok (dgn garpu atau whisker) kuning telur dan cream dalam mangkuk terpisah - Campurkan ke dalam wajan dan aduk rata, masak sekitar 1 menit atau sampai telur matang - Matikan api, masukkan spaghett...

One of the recipe I've got from the Italian guys in my class. Original recipe was without garlic, but my Indonesian tongue just couldn't get a grip without one hehehe... Penne Salmon Bahan : 200 gr smoked salmon, cincang 300 gr penne 100 gr fresh cream 200 ml whipping cream (double cream) salt n pepper secukupnya 1 sm cooking oil 1 btr garlic - crushed (optional) Cara Membuat - Masak Penne al dente (kurangi sktr 2 menit dari waktu memasak di packaging) - Panaskan cooking oil sampai medium heat (lalu masukkan garlic, tumis sampai harum) - Masukkan salmon dan tumis sampai harum dan berubah warna. Bumbui dgn Salt n pepper - Kecilkan api, masukkan fresh cream, aduk sampai rata - Tambahkan whipping cream (sekitar 50-100 ml) sambil diaduk - Masukkan penne sedikit demi sedikit, ratakan - Tambahkan sisa whipping cream sambil terus aduk perlahan - Biarkan selama 1-2 menit di atas api kecil sampai mendidih - Angkat dan sajikan hangat-hangat Serve: 2 - 3 person Tips: - Kadang aku tambahi...

Gara2 salah ngukur gula merah, empalku kali ini jadi dendeng :(. Makanya mending stick to what Mami wrote in her SMS deh. Kapok. EMPAL GORENG CEMPAKA (C) Copyright Cempaka Katering Bahan: 500 gr daging sapi, potong kotak-kotak besar tipis 4 butir bw merah, gerus 4 butir bw putih, gerus 1 ST Ketumbar 1 ST Gula merah yg sudah dihaluskan/digerus Garam, gula Lada sedikit Cara membuat: - Rebus potongan daging sapi sampai matang - Ambil dagingnya dan sisihkan kaldu sapi (bisa dibuat soto atau sop) - Dalam panci atau wajan kecil, masukkan kira2 150-200 cc kaldu sapi, bawang merah putih, gula merah, dan garam gula. Tambahkan lada secukupnya. Aduk rata, lalu masukkan daging rebus dan aduk kembali. Bila daging tidak tertutup air, tambahkan sedikit saja kaldu. - Tutup panci (ungkep) sambil sesekali diaduk agar bumbu meresap rata. Lakukan sampai airnya habis. - Saat hendak disajikan, goreng seperlunya. Sisa yang tidak digoreng bisa disimpan sampai 3 hari.

Sing, tickle and make gestures with the kids... Itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout Down came the rain and washed the spider out Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain And itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again

Alhamdulillah... akhirnya laptopnya daddy bisa direstore! Gara2 dirusakin Rafi tahun lalu, kibor ga bisa jalan. Tapi yang parah, ada system yang rusak. Untung semalem ketemu tuh CD Recoverynya. Akhirnya bisa melihat foto2 Rafi waktu masih bayi lagi. Ngeliat foto2 kawinan kita. Hampir semua foto lama ketemu. Sebel juga sama custom di Arab. Isi kontainer semua diperiksa absis (100% scrutiny ). Termasuk juga isi PC semua diobrak-abrik, trus akhirnya semua data ilang. Bukan itu aja, poster souvenir dari Museum van Gogh juga ilang, beserta hampir semua CD yang masih baru dalam plastik. Sapa yang maling nih. CD yang berisi hampir semua balik. Hiks... Ah, sudahlah, yang penting sekarang senang dulu bisa dapet foto2 lama lagi.

Embarrassed with our lovely model stating “Indonesia is a beautiful city ” in the Miss Universe pageant? Think again. Not all “ bule ” (westerners in Indonesian) are native English speaker. Joop den Uyl (former Dutch Prime Minister) referred his nation as “A Nation of Undertakers” to a group of businessmen in Washington DC. What he meant was that the Dutch is a nation of Entrepreneur, but it went out wrong. In Dutch entrepreneur is ondernemer . Onder means under, nemer means taker. Well, you know what undertaker means in English :D. It was Dunglish, a mix of Dutch-English, just like Singlish , Singaporean English or Japanese Engrish . It's like trying to use English translated directly from Indonesian words, such as "Fruit child, "( anak buah : subordinate) or ”Not delicious body", ( ga enak badan : ill/sick).

Repot nih blogger... Ga bisa nulis panjang2... Sebelumnya liat ke Part 1 Spaghetti - Cook about 200 grams of spaghetti as directed in the box - Serve with the sauce and grated cheese on top - Half of the sauce serves 4 - Add some sliced olives if you like Lasagna (little bit more work needed on the bechamel sauce, so buy a ready-to-cook Lasagna leaf so you don't have to boil the pasta leaves) Ingredients: Bolognaise sauce Béchamel Sauce Lasagna leaves Grated cheese Ovenware dish Bechamel Sauce (consists of the following:) - 3 tablespoons of butter or margarine (preferably low fat) - 3 tablespoons of plain flour - 100cc of fresh milk Preparation: - Heat the oven to 220 degrees Celcius - Melt butter on low heat - Add flour little by little while mixing it. Be careful not to make it grainy. - Little by little, add fresh milk and keep stirring until smooth - Set Aside the sauce - Arrange the lasagna leaf in the dish, then layer it with Bolognaise sauce - Do the arrangement until the bo...

With my mom's recipe , I simply make 1 bolognaise sauce for two pasta dishes - spaghetti and lasagna. I even simplify it by buying the bolognaise sauce jar (:p) and add some more spices to my liking. BOLOGNAISE SAUCE (Javanese Style :D) Ingredients: 500 gr Minced beef 2-3 big tomatoes, blend into juice 1 big onion, sliced thinly 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed 50 grams of grated cheese (Gouda Jong Belegen is better, but Cheddar cheese will do too) A Splash or two Worcestershire sauce 50 ml fresh milk or cream 1 tablespoon Tomato sauce Spices: Oregano, Basil, Salt, pepper, sugar Margarine or oil for cooking Olive oil and sliced champignons - optional Preparation: - Heat the margarine/oil to medium heat and sauté crushed garlic and onion until it's sweet-smelling - Add minced beef and W.Sauce, mix thoroughly with all spices to your taste. - Add sliced champignons if you like - Cook until the minced beef gets juicy then add the tomato juice (and olive oil), mix - Continue cooking wh...

Hasil baca-baca buku n internet, katanya kalo mau anak bisa ngomong jelas, adalah kita harus konsisten. Ga perlu ngajarin bahasa asing dulu, pakailah bahasa yang sesuai dengan lidah kita. So, itulah yang aku terapin ke si mas. Tapi susah juga sih. Habis, pertama, akunya latah. Maunya pake bahasa Indonesia melulu, tapi kadang otak ngomandoin kata dalam bahasa lain. Kedua, aku mau bapaknya ngomong ke si mas pake bahasa Belanda. Nah inilah yang jadi masalah. Si bapak maunya ngotot pake bahasa Indonesia yang skillnya cuma tingkat Fluent. Bukannya mau sok-sokan supaya si mas bisa bilingual, tapi tolong deh. Nah, yang aku mau ceritain ini adalah contoh bahasa Indonesia ala hubbyku. Pertama kali aku kenal masku ini, aku pikir orangnya kaku amat sih ngomongnya. Ga ada gue elu. Cuma saya kamu. Ternyata, bahasa Belandanya lebih lancar dari bahasa ibunya. Ini juga, menurut mama mertuaku sebenernya sudah lebih bagus daripada kebanyakan anak Indonesia di Belanda lainnya yang bahkan tidak bisa ber...

Pesenannya Henny...(Kalo mo gampang sih, gue bilang juga beli Mushroom Soupnya Knorr, neng, hihihi) Creamy Mushroom Soup Bahan: 5-7 jamur putih segar ukuran besar, iris tipis 200 gr creme fraiche 1 buah onion ukuran sedang, iris tipis 1 butir bawang putih, crushed 300 ml vegetable or chicken broth* 1 sm margarine Garam, gula, lada (GGL) Cara membuat: - Panaskan margarine di atas api sedang, lalu tumis onion dan garlic sampai wangi - Masukkan jamur, tumis sampai layu dan mengeluarkan juice - Tambahkan GGL, sesuai selera - Kecilkan api, masukkan creme fraiche, aduk sampai rata - Setelah creme cair, masukkan kaldu perlahan-lahan - Aduk rata, and let it boil for a while - Angkat dan sajikan. Garnish with peterseli Serve 2-3 person *Sebagai pengganti broth, aku biasa pake Cup-a-Soup Helder (bening bukan cream) rasa Paddlestoelen. Belum tau apa ada di Indo, Spore or Arab

Sebel! Udah seminggu lebih bloggerku ngadat. Biasanya kalo nulis panjang2. Pasti deh tiba-tiba disuruh tes connection. Kenapa sih. Udah capek-capek nulis jugaan. Untung sekarang udah lebih pengalaman. Sebelum disave, gue copy dulu en disave di Word. CAPE DEEH....

Henny and I had an agreement in 2003 when we traveled together to Prague. We will send each other postcards every time we travel. But since I moved here to KSA, I have never received any postcards from her. Not her fault. It's simply because, we DON'T have ADDRESS here in KSA! Hah! Annoying isn't it? The address are not clearly arranged around here. The buildings don't have definite number. My apartment number is 12, but the building doesn't have that. So, the mail system here uses post office box. We should rent a PO box in the post office. BUT, I rarely see a post office. I have only seen 2 of them while I'm here in Jeddah and 1 in Makkah! Post boxes are also not a thing here. I've spotted NONE.