Playground – Plaza Indonesia Jakarta

I’ve been hearing about this new restaurant that opens in Plaza Indonesia for sometimes, but only recently I had the opportunity to visit and taste the foods there. The restaurant is located on the corner of Plaza Indonesia extension 4th just opposite Ootoya. The atmosphere of the restaurant is certainly very unique, with very dim lights and as the name suggests, there are hanging chairs that look just like swings and rolling chairs. But other than those, it looks just like another restaurants.

Interior of Playground (sorry for the blur pic..)

My order was Red Cheddar Dory, which was pan-fried dory served with cheddar cream sauce, spinach and baked potatoes. The presentation was really nice, as you can see, but the fish was not as crispy on the outside and soft on the inside as I thought. In fact, I think the meat was a bit too soggy and too thin. However, the yummy golden sauce saved the day. It was creamy, but not overly thick and the taste complemented the fish quite well. It was so good I didn’t leave any drop of sauce on the plate ;p

Red Cheddar Dory (58k)

My friends ordered Katsutti and Autopsy Burger, which I think is one of their signature dishes. I heard many people recommended Katsutti, which basically is spaghetti covered with generous slices of tonkatsu and eggs. It was indeed good as my friend testified, so next time maybe I’ll try that dish.

Katsutti (65k)

While Autopsy Burger was quite an impressive dish on the appearance, standing tall around 20-30 cm high. Basically it was a burger with its various fillings stacked up together, among others, beef patty, onion rings, cream mushroom croquette, served with french fries, potato wedges and chips. While impressive on the appearance, the taste was quite mediocre and I guess you would have a better bet having normal burgers at BK or Fatburgers, and not to mention much cheaper too!

Autopsy Burger (125k)

The drinks…

TWG tea (30k) & Strawberry Juice

Playground

Plaza Indonesia Extension 4th floor

BonChon Chicken – Grand Indonesia

OK, since eating good foods is my other obsession (besides manga ;p), I thought I will give it a shot at reviewing restaurants and foods that I tried. Jakarta’s culinary scene has become very vibrant where a lot of new restaurants opening up at the speed of lights, offering various different type of foods and themes. With the recent waves of Korean pop culture, not only Korean dramas, songs, singers and actors/actress became very popular, but Korean foods as well. Recently, a very popular dish in Korea, fried chicken, has also made its way to Jakarta with the opening of BonChon Chicken in Grand Indonesia.

BonChon Chicken originates from South Korea and has made its way to USA, Thailand and Philippines. When you heard of the word fried chicken, you might instantly think of the big KFC-styled fried chicken with super crispy skin (or flour?). But Korea-styled fried chickens (in this case, BonChon) beg to differ, just look at the pics below!

Bonchon Chicken Take Away Box

I ordered 4 pieces of chicken drumsticks with spicy sauce (Rp 50k). They have choices of thighs, strips, drumsticks and mix with original or spicy sauces.

Chicken drumsticks with spicy sauce

Bonchon Drumsticks with Spicy Sauce

As you can see on the pic, the drumsticks have thin layer of skin coated with sauce. And they tasted very damn good! The skin is thin yet very crispy and not greasy at all. In fact, the skin is very thin, it is almost like a crust. The meat inside is cooked perfectly, which is soft and moist and I didn’t find any layer of blood on the bones which I often found on many undercooked drumsticks. I read on the internet that the chicken is cooked twice which renders out all the fats on the skin.

Besides the crispy skin crust, what I liked most is the sauce! It’s hot, spicy, tangy and sweet, the sweetness is a bit like teriyaki sauce but on a more mellow side with spicy kicks enough to make your lips swell. If you like spicy taste, then this is the sauce for you! I kept licking my fingers when I ate them, afraid of wasting the delicious sauce! XD

The downside is that I had to wait quite long for them to prepare my order, I guess I was waiting for more than 15 mins for the order. I don’t know if it was because the cooking process took a long time, or it was just because of slow service since the restaurant wasn’t crowded at that time.

The next day, I had a chance to taste Bonchon again since a friend would like to try them. This time I ordered beef Bulgogi set, which consisted of Bulgogi and rice, with a choice of soft drink. For side dish, I order kimchi soup (forgot to take pics of them). When the dishes came out, I was quite disappointed to see the bulgogi looked dry and quite unappetizing, and indeed the beef was dry with almost no sauce on it and tasted mediocre at best. And the kimchi soup was too sour yet bland for my liking and it lacked of the spicyness that I usually love when eating kimchi.

Nevertheless, I would still come back for their fried chicken and meantime I hope that they continue to improve their other menus.

BonChon Chicken

Grand Indonesia Shopping Mall, West Mall 5th floor Unit 2-3

Kami no Shizuku – The Drops of God

Woww..I can’t believe that this manga has just recently been published in Indonesian version! I haven’t read this manga before, but I read that it has received numerous positive reviews and very much popular in Japan. It’s basically a manga about a son of a renowned wine critic trying to find famous and rare wines in order to inherit his father’s invaluable wine collection. It is so popular that any wine mentioned in the manga will soon enjoy an increase in sales in Japan since many people will look for it (O_o)

I will definitely buy and read the manga, and I’ll try to post the summary of it after that…

Glass Mask Manga Vol 43 – Summary~

Since I realize that many people find it hard to get hold of Glass Mask manga therefore not able to follow the latest development of this great-but-oh-so-long manga, and since I have lots of times in my hands now (^^), here is the summary of Glass Mask manga Vol 43 which was published early 2009.

The book started with the practice scene for Kurenai Tennyou at the studio. Maya was having trouble understanding the feelings of Kurenai Tennyou and how to express it. Meanwhile, Mai (Sakurakouji’s girlfriend) came to the studio. She decided to come since Sakurakouji never answered her call or returned her emails. Accidentaly, she saw Sakurakouji was talking on the mobile phone and was upset since he never answered her calls. When he left with his mobile phone inside his jacket in the pantry room, Mai decided to take a look and was shocked to see what’s on Sakurakouji’s phone. She went screaming angrily at Maya inside the practice room, showing the picture of Maya and Sakurakouji together and accusing her of stealing her boyfriend.

Later that night, Sakurakouji invited Mai to a cafe and talked to her. He apologized to her and said that he liked her, but the feeling was not love. At the end, he broke up with Mai.

After that, Sakurakouji went to Maya’s apartment and asked her out. Maya wanted to return the dolphin pendant that he gave her, since it hurt Mai’s feelings. Sakurakouji revealed the other pair of pendant that he was wearing and asked Maya not to return the pendant, since it represented his true feelings for her. He told her that he already broke up with Mai and confessed his love. He realized that in Maya’s heart, there is someone very special to her that she can’t forget. He told her that he will wait until the day when that person is no longer in her heart. Maya agreed to it, but asked him if he could wait until the Kurenai Tennyou performance finishes and she will answer him when the time comes.

Meanwhile, Masumi and Shiori were in the car after a date and coincidently saw Maya and Sakurakouji on the side of the street eating ice creams and laughing together ( I wonder what is the probability of bumping into someone you know in such big and crowded Tokyo streets -_-‘ ). Shiori commented on how suitable they are as a couple, which was agreed by Masumi (with his usual sulken and miserable face :p). When Sakourakouji dropped Maya at her apartment, they saw a falling star on the sky and he asked her if she had any wish. Maya replied that it was fine, since she already understood that her wish would never come true. At the same time, Masumi and Shiori also saw the falling star and she asked him what was his wish. Masumi replied that he had none, since wish was something that a person needed to strive to achieve it and to wish something that was never going to happen was useless. Shiori was pretty surprised to hear that.

The following day in the studio, Maya was having trouble in the practice and was repeatedly yelled at by Kuronuma sensei for not being able to properly express Kurenai Tennyou’s feelings  and how she acted and behaved. She was kicked out of the room by him and told to think about it alone. She went to to storage room and started to chant Kurenai Tennyou’s lines. As she repeated the lines, she realized that each and every words said by Akoya had meanings and reflected Akoya’s feelings. Whispering of the earth..voice of the wind..spirit of the water reflects its feelings, happiness, sadness, anger.. Maya realized that until now she just memorized the lines not knowing the meanings behind those lines. She then asked permission to Kuronuma sensei to practice outside where there was sun, wind, trees and water. He then took her to Asahi Park nearby and asked her to try talking to the trees, but Maya was not quite able to do it. She recalled her feelings when practicing in The Valley of the Plums and started to remember the sensations she felt there.

Meanwhile, the press had gathered in the Ondine Studio where Ayumi will perform her Kurenai Tennyou live in front of the media. Newspapers and magazines highly praised Ayumi’s performance. Maya and the others in Kids Studio watched Ayumi’s live performance on TV and Maya felt more stressed and inconfident of her own ability to compete with Ayumi.

Masumi and Shiori had a date that night in a restaurant, and outside restaurant Shiori saw a flower shop and suggested to look inside. Masumi offered to buy her any flowers that she liked. Shiori saw purple roses and asked for it. Suddenly, Masumi’s face turned kinda upset (or angry) and sternly said she can choose any flowers, except that one. Shiori was startled to see such expressions on Masumi’s face and suddenly Masumi realized what he had said and offered her to buy another flower that was more suitable for her.

Ayumi’s live performance caused huge publications and suddenly everyone seemed to support Ayumi and unofficially regarded her as the Kurenai Tennyo. Back in Kids Studio, everyone was upset and suspected that Daito with Masumi and Onodera were behind all of this. Kuronuma sensei yelled at everyone to go back to the rehearsal and comforting Maya to stay calm and find her own Kurenai Tennyo.

Ayumi was upset with all the publication and demanded explanation from Onodera. She just wanted to make Kurenai Tennyo more known to the people, but not by discriminating Maya as the other candidate.

In the evening, Masumi invited Kuronuma to an oden stall, and asked how the other candidate was doing. Kuronuma replied that Maya was shocked to see Ayumi’s performance and further realized the gap between her and Ayumi. He added that looking at the things right now, it was impossible for Maya to win. However, Kuronuma felt that it was only Maya who could portray “the real Kurenai Tennyo” and make the audience believe of that it was real. He asked Masumi if he believed in gods or goddess or God of Dragon, and Masumi replied that he didn’t believe it. Most of people didn’t believe it or never thought of it, and if, even though a little, people were made believed of their existence, it might change the world that we are living in. He added that Maya is probably capable of doing it,  capable of making the audience believe of the real Kurenai Tennyo…

In the park, Maya was practicing but still unable to get the feelings of Kurenai Tennyo. Meanwhile, rain started to fall and suddenly in the rain, she saw Masumi coming towards her. She was very surprised to see him and asked what he was doing here. Masumi replied that Kuronuma told him that she was practicing here and commented that she could not win from Ayumi with the current situation. Maya was a bit upset and said the she already understood that and that right now she was trying to find her own Kurenai Tennyo. Masumi asked what kind of Kurenai Tennye she will perform and Maya was speechless. Not far from there, Sakurakouji came bringing umbrella for Maya and saw the whole things.

Suddenly Masumi pulled her hand and forcefully took her to the top of a bridge over a crowded street with tall buildings on the side. “Look! This is our real world..Maya, could you perform Kurenai Tennyo here?” he asked. Maya hesitated for a while, then started chanting Kurenai Tennyo’s lines but stopped shortly afterwards and said that she couldn’t do it. Masumi told her that just t like her, he just realized that  in this big city, no one believed in the existence of Kurenai Tennyo. She only existed on the stage, and it will disappear as soon as the play ended just like a dream at night.

“Maya, make me believe in Kurenai Tennyo..!”

“Masumi-san..!”

“Make me feel the reality of Kurenai Tennyo! That she exists in this world..for me and the people who watch you..if you can do that…”

Suddenly (doh!) Sakurakouji interrupted the scene by saying that they were all wet and offered the umbrella to Masumi. Masumi rejected it after noticing that Sakurakouji would share the umbrella with Maya if he took the other one.

Soon after that, Maya suddenly realized that she didn’t believe in the existence of Kurenai Tennyo herself before. How could she make people believe if she doesn’t believe it herself? She was thinking of how Akoya felt when taking water from the river when she heard a kid saying “Thanks” to his mom for giving him a drink. Maya quickly realized that this must be how Akoya felt all the times, the feeling of gratefulness and appreciation to the mother nature, and thought that she might be able to do this.

To be continued..I need a little break..:p

Jakarta Traffic Hell

One of the most frustating things of living in Jakarta is, of course, the traffic. It has become such a daily routine that people begin taking it for granted, Jakarta is not Jakarta if there is no traffic jams.In fact, it has become people’s daily battle on roads.

You can think of all possible things that might happen in Jakarta roads..accidents, constructions, floods, demonstrations, dead traffic lights, “important” officials passing through..literally everything…but there are two things that I dislike the most from Jakarta traffics, motorcyclists and public vehicles. The number of motorcycles have increased so much (thanks to the cheap costs and easy credit) that it feels like Jakarts roads are swamped with motorbikes everywhere. I have no problem with people riding motorbikes, since it’s more cheaper, convenient and perhaps emits less carbon than cars. But the big problem is that there are now so much of them that they feel they own the roads and can do whatever they want. Ignoring traffic lights and signs, forcing their ways through narrow gaps between cars when traffic jam (and often scratching the cars in process and just pretend not knowing about it), using pedestrian sidewalks and honking people walking there to get out of their way (hello..that’s pedestrian for god’s sake), taking shelter under bridges or flyovers when raining and causing terrible traffic jams, and so many other arrogant behaviours. The worst thing is that when there is an accident involving a motorbike and a car, the car always gets blamed for it even though sometimes it’s very clear that it’s the biker’s fault O__o

Things are more or less the same with public vehicles, especially buses and the so-called “angkot”. Cutting other vehicles’ way, stopping abruptly in the middle of road to take passengers, stopping on the side of busy roads to wait for passengers and blocking the roads are normal things for them.

So, if the roads are owned by motorbikes and public transports, what’s left there for the private cars? Nothing except whatever left after taken by the motorbikes, buses and other public transports. Giving ways, stepping on sudden brakes when the angkot in front of you suddenly stops, grumbling inside and holding your anger when the motorbike scratches your side mirror or side of your car and quickly escapes after that while you’re stuck in traffic jam.

How I miss the trains and subways in Japan and how I hope that Jakarta’s first MRT will finally come into realization in coming years…

Global Warming

It doesn’t take scientific evidences to prove that global warming is indeed taking place now, and at a frightening speed. It is already so evident from everyday life, Jakarta is getting hotter and hotter everytime I came back and from the news around the world, typhoons and tropical storms in Japan and Philippines etc. In fact, one of my Philippines friend from college passed away due to landslide that swept away her home and others in Philippines. That was the first time that such natural disaster felt very close to me, as so far I only saw it from safe distance on TV.

The question now is, what can we do about it? We are just common people who knows nothing about green technologies or carbon-reduction technologies. And little that we can do to prevent those big greedy companies from cutting down our tropical forests in Sumatra and Kalimantan.  But I believe that there are always something that we can do, no matter how small they are.

From my living experience in Tokyo, I was very impressed on how advanced Japan is in regards to preserving their environment. A lot of shops, especially grocery shops, will charge small amount of money if you need plastic bags. So most of people will bring their own shopping bags and that was what I did too. Tokyo neighbourhoods also impose a very (and I mean, very) strict garbage disposal rules. Garbage must be separated according to their material, such as papers, plastic, PET bottles, raw, glass, etc. Not only we have to think which garbage goes to which category, but also we have to remember which days certain garbage needs to be thrown away for collection, otherwise you will end up with that garbage for the next few days or even for a week. Try to throw away garbage that is not supposed to be collected on that day or not separating your stuffs, and you will end up with a note stuck on your garbage bag telling you to separate it. It was a very frustating experience at first, but I do think that this is a very good education for people that protecting environment is not only government or activist’s job, but it all starts with the people like ourselves.

How about in Indonesia? Well, it is obvious that Indonesia is far behind Japan in regards to this matter. Everytime I go to supermarket, I often see the cashier staffs generously putting our goods into lots of plastic bags, even though there are stil lots of spaces in the other bags. Garbage? Well, we just need one rubbish bin for all kinds of stuffs :-p Recently I have been bugging my mum about the importance of doing our part to help environment (hahaha), so I’ve been telling her to bring our own shopping bag everytime we go groceries shopping and not taking so many plastic bags. It seems to be quite a successful campaign since now she’s the one telling the cashier staff not to use so many plastic bags and to put the stuffs into the available bags..hahaha..

Recently I also saw more and more supermarkets selling reusable shopping bags, even though I haven’t quite seen many people using it. I also saw that one of big supermarket chain advertised their new shopping bag which was designed by one of Indonesian famous fashion designers which was quite fashionable. I definitely want to use the bag 😀 Hopefully all those efforts will encourage people to do more for the environment..

So, there is really no need for rocket science to do our part to help our environment, right?

Glass Mask Manga Vol 44

The latest Glass Mask manga (Vol 44) was finally released yesterday, Aug 26 in Japan. I didn’t follow the chapters published in Bessatsu Hana To Yume, so I don’t know the difference between the two versions. Here is the summary of the tankoubon ( I hope I didn’t make mistake in reading the Japanese..>_<)

Tsukikage sensei came to see Maya’s Kurenai Tennyou rehearsal. Maya did well in the rehearsal, tranforming herself into magnificent goddess and stunned the other players. Meanwhile, in Daito’s office, Masumi was deep in his thought when Mizuki came bringing a cup of coffee and asked what has been occupying his mind. He innocently asked if it is possible to love someone that he/she never meet even once. Mizuki giggled and commented that it sounded like a question a boy would ask. She replied that it is not at all impossible for a person to love someone that he/she never meet before, as through words and thoughts they can understand each other’s feelings. They are connected by a strong bond that they themselves don’t realize and Masumi immediately thought of Maya on this.

After the rehearsal ended, Maya was still in Kurenai Tennyou mode. Tsukikage sensei saw Maya and decided to test her. She brought a cup of water and offered it to her, calling her “Akoya”. Maya accepted it with deep bow and respect, just like what Akoya would do.

Tsukikage sensei then went to see Ayumi’s rehearsal. Ayumi performed beautifully and professionally. At the end of practice, same as Maya, Tsukikage sensei offered a glass of water to Ayumi, which she gladly accepted as Ayumi. Tsukikage sensei went away without saying anything and it puzzled Ayumi. She asked Genzo why and Genzo explained to her about what happened when sensei did the same thing to Maya. Ayumi got worried and once again realized the difference between her skills and Maya’s talent..

Tsukikage sensei visited Masumi in his office. Masumi assured her that he will not disturb the whole Kurenai Tennyou things and will just watch it. He also explained that he intends to get Kurenai Tennyou from his father and transfer the contract to the play’s leading role. Tsukikage sensei asked what he would do in case of Maya, since she hates him more than anyone else in the world because of her mother’s incident. Masumi was very upset with the remarks, and replied that she would never forgive him just like Tsukikage sensei never forgive his father. But he was determined to get Kurenai Tennyou with his own hands, as he would like to see the real Kurenai Tennyou on the stage.　Inside the car, Tsukikage sensei commented that Masumi has changed, the cold fire in his eyes has disappeared and wondering what has happened to him.

Back in his office, holding a purple rose, Masumi slumped into despair. He very well knew that Maya would never forgive him, and thought about how Maya loves her purple rose fan whom she never met. “What should I do? This is the first time I feel such painful feeling…”

During rehearsal, Maya couldn’t do well in the love scene between Akoya and Isshin. Kuronuma then suggested her to try doing it as if she does it with her purple rose fan and it succeeded. Sakurakouji was more determined to wait for Maya and believed that one day Maya will look at his way, the one that is always by her side and show her love.

As usual, Ayumi performed excellently in her rehearsal. At the end of rehearsal, she noticed that Hamil was there and asked him why he didn’t take her pictures like he always did. He replied that he doesn’t take pictures of doll or things without heart. He also said that he doesn’t have interest in Kurenai Tennyou’s “form only”. Ayumi was shocked to hear this and wondering why he said that her Kurenai Tennyou has no heart. Meanwhile, it started raining outside and some actors jokingly recited sentences from the play’s script that “Weather is god of dragon’s feelings”. Ayumi startled at the words and started thinking that she has neither thought nor believed such things. She believed that if it were Maya, she would definitely believe it and think that way. Then, in the rain, she started chanting the script’s sentences in front of everyone and was more determined to win the battle.

During another rehearsal, Ayumi had an accident when trying to push an actress out of falling studio lamps. Instead, the lamp fell down on her. She assured everyone that she was okay, but started having dizziness and brief moments of lost of sight after that.

Meanwhile, Ayumi’s parents received international awards in France as best director and best actress. After talking and congratulating her mother through phone, Ayumi tossed glasses of champagne by herself congratulating her parents and wondering if they, as a family, would celebrate it together if she wins the Kurenai Tennyou’s role.

Ayumi continued to experience the dizziness and lost of sight in the rehearsal and decided to go to hospital the next day. However, at night in the changing room, she had terrible dizziness and the room turned dark. She panicked and reached for her mobile phone to call her mother. However, her mother was in the middle of party and didn’t realize the phone was ringing. In despair, Ayumi fell unconscious while keep thinking of how badly she wanted to get the role and to finally get herself out of the shadow of her parents..

In another rehearsal, Maya and Sakurakouji performed the love scene between Akoya and Isshin. During the break, they went to the roof where they shared a piece of bun. Sakurakouji mentioned that it must be the same with Akoya and Isshin, always sharing things between them. He was also wondering how it feels when you meet your other half of soul (soulmate?) and how one would think of their previous selves before they meet their soulmate. Maya’s thought went to the moment when she met Masumi in Kurenai Tennyou’s village and said that how one would realize how lonely they were before meeting their soulmate.

Later when going home, Sakurakouji bumped into Masumi outside the building and they went for a short coffee. Masumi commented how Sakurakouji has changed to become more manly and casually asked how the rehearsal is going with his lover on stage. Sakurakouji replied that it was true on stage, but in real life it was unrequited love since Maya has someone very important to her, the Purple Rose Fan. But he continued saying that he determined to make Maya love him eventually, since he is the one that is always besides her. Shortly before leaving, Sakurakouji mentioned how he remembered what Masumi has said before about how if miracle happens and you meet your other half of soul, and how one would realize how lonely they have been until now. He informed him that strangely Maya also said the same thing, which left Masumi surprised that Maya also had the same thought as him..It can’t be..Maya has the same feeling as I do..?

During rehearsal, Maya and Sakurakouji performed the scene where Akoya and Isshin were to be separated. Kuronuma was dissatisfied with them and instructed Sakurakouji to try using real ax as if he was really going to cut off the plum tree which harboured Kurenai Tennyou’s soul. Sakurakouji couldn’t bring himself to even lift the ax when thinking that he was going to kill his beloved soulmate. Meanwhile, Maya was frustrated over her inability to understand the feeling of “soulmates” and decided to seek Tsukikage sensei for advice.

On her way out, she met Eisuke Hayami and was invited to have parfaits. They ended up having huge parfaits and lots of fun. Maya offered to treat him next time, saying that she can’t afford this kind of big parfaits but she promised to take him to cheaper but yummy parfait shop. His assistant commented that that was the first time he saw his master laughed and had fun like that.  He replied that Maya was an interesting girl and wondered why Masumi was able to maintain his cold attitude even after knowing her for 7 years..

Meanwhile, Shiori bumped into Rei and Sayaka on the way and invited them for tea. When she asked about Maya’s purple rose fan, Rei and Sayaka explained that that person has been supporting Maya since the beginning and for Maya, the person was more than just a fan, but more like parents. Her purpose rose fan paid for her high school education, and Maya gave her graduation diploma to express her gratitude. She also sent a lot of pictures from her various stage performance in an album. Upon hearing this, Shiori decided to go to Masumi’s cottage where she previously found an album containing Maya’s stage pictures. She searched around and found the album and Maya’s graduation diploma and realized that Masumi was indeed the purple rose fan and that he was deeply in love with Maya. She cried in despair, ripping off the album and swore to do anything to take Masumi’s heart away from the girl..

Maya finally arrived at the place where Tsukikage sensei was and was taken by Genzo to meet her. To her surprise, Masumi was also there in the same place..

The book ends with the scene of Ayumi on hospital bed with her eyes wrapped in bandage…

Glass Mask Vol 44..will be published soon!

After sometimes not following the series, I just found out that Hakusensha will publish the latest volume of the long-running manga Glass Mask (ガラスの仮面）and will be for sale from Aug 26, 2009.  After such a long break in publishing the tankoubon, 2 volumes in the same year seems like a record-breaking :p

Looking forward to reading the latest volume…

Glass Mask Vol.43 ~ ガラスの仮面 Vol 43

I finally got a hold of a copy of the latest volume of Glass Mask vol 43..!! Yeaaaahh!! My god, how long has it been since they last published the tankoubon? Like 2 years ago?? The latest volume just went on sale in Japan on Jan 26, 2009, check this Suzue Miuchi sensei’s website: http://homepage2.nifty.com/suzu/info/info_top2.htm#garakame43

I am also amazed at myself for being still attached to this manga for more than 10 years..I think this is the only manga that is still able to keep my interest for sooo long. I used to read the manga from manga rental store, I wish I had bought the manga instead..the manga now becomes so rare in Indonesia that people can sell a complete set of this manga for a good amount of money. I guess I will just complete my collection with the Japanese version..:D

For the story..I haven’t been following the complete series in Betsu Hana, but for the series that I did read, there has not been a big difference between the story in Betsuhana and the tankoubon. Maya is still struggling to understand the feelings of Kurenai Tennyo, while Ayumi seems to be far ahead of Maya, as usual. Relationship between Maya and Masumi is also going slow, which annoys the hell out of me :p So far, in my opinion, there hasn’t been a significant event in the story..maybe we have to wait a bit more…

Hisashiburi…

It’s been a long time since I last wrote on this blog :p As expected, I really am not a kind of person who has enough willingness or dilligentness(?) to regularly update a blog…maybe I need more motivation to do that..

The theme of this post is..my first onigiri..!! I’ve been living in Japan for more than 1 year now..but this is the first time I’ve ever attempted to make onigiri myself. Usually I can just conveniently buy them at the conbini or supa nearby, but making them myself gave me a sense of satisfaction even though it’s not really original onigiri..:D

It was very easy to make, just use a onigiri-making tool in which you just put the rice and fillings in, and press them hard..tadaaa…perfectly shaped onigiri is ready to serve! It was smaller than the normal onigiri sold at conbini though, but still shaped like onigiri 🙂 This time I just filled the onigiri with canned yaki sanma, next time I’ll try to improvise more.

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