Good Vibe Zone

Pregnancy update

2012-03-06T13:15:00.000+07:00

On our way to the doctor, at 27 weeks.

I don't intend this blog to be a pregnancy journal but I just can't help taking notes.. hehe..
I'm just going to keep it simple.

At 27 weeks the doctor reconfirm the akachan's gender. It looked obvious so we hope it won't change until delivery. I also had other tests besides ultrasound and once again it's free of charge :).

How does it feel now? At 6.5 months I really feel pregnant, hehehe... I started to feel muscle pain in my legs and sometimes in my shoulders/back especially when I wake up in the morning. My belly feels like bloating and stretching everyday, although it doesn't feel heavy yet. Anyway it's still comfortable to walk everywhere or to stand but I feel more tired afterwards. Maybe I need additional exercises to stretch my stiff muscles.

Weight gain? This month I gained back what I've lost last month, which is good. So in total I gain 4.1 kg in 6.5 months. It's been constant with no drastic changes. Well, let's see if my target of 8-10 kg weight gain can be achieved :p

Japanese snacks (part 3)

2012-03-04T00:02:00.000+07:00

Time for my favorite sweet snacks!

Chocolate

Best cocoa products in Kyoto are the local chocolates from local brands. I think Jakarta has better variations of imported chocolate products. But, Japan has these exceptional Kit Kat products from Nestle :)

Variations of Kit Kat's crazy flavors can only be found in Japan!

Green tea and red tea flavors are easily obtained in Kyoto. I'm hunting for more Kit Kat flavors but it's a little bit harder to find.

Other chocolates in a snack shop:

Ice Cream

Once again, ice cream products in Kyoto are dominated by local brands. Besides the standard flavors, matcha and azuki flavors are also common.

Local ice cream products from Meiji. Haagen-Dazs isn't local but we love it and it's cheaper than in Jakarta :)

Pudding

Frozen puddings are common in Kyoto, you can guess it's mainly from the local brands. Yummy flavors including custard, creme brulee, chocolate/vanilla, fruits, and the cheesy one like this:

Be sure to check the ingredient & the expired dates. Mostly puddings have short due date.

McDonald's pies

McD's pies are my guilty pleasure. I know I shouldn't eat junkfood but we can't help running to McD (especially) when they have promotions. McD in Japan has the regular apple pie plus the seasonal pies like blueberry cheese or maple custard. And it's quite good (and cheap) :p

Bakery

Hmm.. I guess the popular breads in Japan are baumkuchen and melonpan. The first one isn't original from Japan but it's largely sold in supermarket with many forms: small, big, chocolate, buttery, mostly in shape of ring. It tastes like lapis legit in Indonesia but in lighter mixture. Melonpan is also sweet and shaped like melon. Mostly come with sugar on top or with sweet cream inside, but I never have one with actual melon jam, hehehe..

Modification of shape and flavors of baumkuchen.

Happy snacking!

Japanese snacks (part 2)

2012-03-01T19:46:00.000+07:00

Here we go my part two...

Udon

This is actually not a snack, but a main dish. Udon is thick noodle with certain broth and toppings. It usually immersed in clear broth with variations of tempura as side dish (toppings). But certain restaurants also provide udon with seasoned broth (savory, spicy, sweet). Why we like it? Because it's warm, affordable, and has selection of chicken, seafood, or vegetables.

Tantan udon in Nakau Restaurant

(Chicken) karaage

It's basically a deep-fried chicken fillet. What makes it different? Because it's often sold in small food stalls or convenience stores as a snack.

Chicken karaage in Nakau Restaurant. Price 300 yen for 10 pieces.

Oden

This snack is served in a very hot broth with certain seasonings. The contents usually include fish cake/fish ball, tako ball, stuffed tofu, squid cake/ball, fried vegetables or some tempura. Often sold at convenience stores, or food stalls especially in chilly outdoor recreational area. Supermarkets also sell the oden broth seasoning and contents in case we want to make it by ourselves (like we used to do!).

Branded salty snacks

Popular snacks in Kyoto aren't that weird: potato chips, seaweed snacks, vegetables snacks, cheese snacks, sweet snacks, and so on. Famous brands include Calbee, Meiji, Morinaga, Glico, Megmilk, etc -> some of those I guessed already familiar in Indonesia. Our favorite? Cheese & seaweed flavors or vegetable snacks, mainly because it doesn't contain pork, hehehe..

A snack shop in Osaka. It's Calbee's edamame snack!

Roasted chestnut

Indonesian loves peanut, but Japanese loves chestnut! Roasted chestnut is frequently sold in food stalls in hot condition. It's a little bit pricey so I decided to try the cheaper version of the snack, found in supermarket. It tastes sweet and soft, not crispy like roasted peanut.

Roasted chestnut snack on the left.

It's the end of part two. In the next part I'll write about the sweet snacks, my favorite!

Tabehodai

2012-02-29T19:00:00.000+07:00

Tabehodai, or all-you-can-eat restaurant, is a popular form of easy dining in Kyoto (maybe Japan also). The country has extensive choices of tabehodai, from the traditional yakiniku (like Hanamasa in Jakarta) to western-styled seafood (like the one we had in Kobe).

Now I want to write about two tabehodai restaurants that we've tried in Kyoto, both located in Kawaramachi (oh how I love this street :p).

Sweet Paradise

This is a unique concept of tabehodai, as their main courses are the desserts! Yes, they have wide range of delicious cakes from sponge cakes, strawberry/chocolate/green tea mousse, pastries, sweet pies, tiramisu, cheese cakes, black forest, and many others I don't remember the names. Besides the cakes, they also provided ice creams, fruits, yoghurts, and fondues. Sluuurrp!

How about salty dishes? The other dishes were quite simple. They served 3 sauces of spaghetti (seafood, beef, and tomato), rice-potato-salad, sandwich, and curry rice. The price? Around 1,400 yen per pax, and in busy days they only allow you to stay for 90 minutes.

Basically, it's a dessert heaven!

Sorry if the pictures don't look convincing. But it's actually good!

It's almost Christmas time so they provided a Santa Claus touring the tables and gave candies. But why it appeared as a deer instead of a bearded man? No idea. Hahaha.

Shakey's Pizza

Pizza is quite expensive in Kyoto. But if you're willing to eat a more modest form of pizza, Shakey's is the right place. They served two spaghetti (only tomato and squid with slight flavor, almost bland), potato fried with skin, curry rice, salads, and many choices of pizza.

The pizza's flavors weren't that rich or creamy, but for a price of 892 yen (or 690 for lunch time) who would protest? I like the thinner crust anyway, it's crispy and prevent my stomach from getting full easily. I fed myself extremely well here, hehehe.

The appearance of the potato fried with skin looks bad but it tasted nice. Spaghetti looks and tastes bland, but the seafood pizza & the strawberry chocolate chip pizza are pleasant.

The toppings, although not really special, were quite generous for its price tag. Of course, we avoided everything with bacon strips or sausages, and chose cheese, seafood (tuna, squid & vegetables), corn & onion, corn & paprika, tomato & onion, or corn & curry instead. But the unique part was the sweet pizzas! Yes, although they didn't provide decent desserts, they served several sugary pizzas: custard with strawberry/chocolate sauce, custard with a piece of strawberry & chocolate chips, custard with chocolate sauce & brownies. Hmm.. it tasted similar to crepes I think.

Once again, during my visit to restaurants in Kyoto I can't help noticing how the waiters work. With only 5 people (1 cook, 1 dishwasher, 1 cashier & 2 waitresses), they managed to efficiently serve the guests, in a crowded Sunday night. We won't see a waiter standing & hanging around doing nothing. They work in matrix, one person can multitasks and covers up the others. Great.

Japanese snacks (part 1)

2012-02-28T18:01:00.000+07:00

We love to eat! Despite our budget and niku (meat) constraint, Yasser likes to try food and snacks just to fulfill our curiosity. I'm not a food reviewer so I'm just going to write some of it as a memory keeper.

Takoyaki

I bet this snack is already famous. Made from tako (octopus) cooked and shaped into balls, this traditional dish is a specialty of Osaka city. The cooked tako balls are poured with takoyaki dashi, mayonnaise, fish flakes, seaweed, or chives. There can be many variations!

The taste? Hmm.. when I first tried it in Jakarta it tasted weird, especially the dashi. I think it tasted better in Japan, hehehe... it served in very hot condition with overflow dashi, yummy...


This is a simple takoyaki in Osaka Takoyaki Museum in Universal City, the price was 500 yen for 15 pieces. They have many types with different toppings :)

Okonomiyaki
This is also a traditional dish that used to be sold in bazaar/flea markets, although sometimes offered in certain restaurants. Same as takoyaki, it used okonomiyaki dashi, seaweed, fish flakes, mayonnaise, and chives as toppings. But the fillings are free to modified depend on our preference. Do you want a seafood, beef, chicken, or vegetables-only filling? Up to you!
I never try okonomiyaki sold in food stalls because they usually put bacon strip on top of the cake, but I've tried one before in Jakarta. We should beware of this if we want to avoid pork. They usually sell for around 500 yen/pieces.

Self-made okonomiyaki with cabbage, octopus, and chicken floss as fillings. Doesn't look good huh? Hehe

Taiyaki
This is my favorite sweet treat! Shaped like a fish, filled with overflow of azuki (red bean) or sweet cream/custard, covered by thin crust of flour (tastes like kue cubit), it feels sweet and warm inside while almost crispy outside. The price? Only 100-150 yen each, usually sells in food stalls.

Taiyaki from bazaar in Kitano Tenmangu.

Imagawayaki
It looks similar to dorayaki, but it's different. It tastes like taiyaki but with thicker crust so it feels softer outside, while just as warm inside.

A modification of imagawayaki with green tea filling. Taken in Kitano Tenmangu.

That's all for part one, I need to go doing laundry. I will write more and more about Japanese snacks, food, and drinks!

Birthday conversation

2012-02-28T08:51:00.000+07:00

Dear God,

It's already the end of February, the end of my birthday month, my month.

And I feel more and more grateful each day. You have given me so much this year, God. From the daily things like my time, my health, my family, my friends, to the more complicated things like our marriage, our two "honeymoons", our pregnancy, our trips and opportunities. This is probably one challenging year for me, from making decision to settle down to finally had the courage to say "it wasn't the job/career that I see myself in the future".

But we're not really "settle down" yet, God. Being a human being as I am, I still have many plans and wishes for the year to come. With my (new) family along, I get more excited and encouraged to achieve it. It even becomes more complex God, as now I want my husband to achieve something too, and I want my (future) kids to reach something too. I set my standards, now I leave the rest to You. I don't have to write it down, as You should have known because I try to always communicate with You, through my prays and whispers.

Please hear it, OK?

So here we go again God. Thank you.

Happy birthday me.

Osaka's Universal Studios

2012-02-27T23:48:00.000+07:00

When I was younger and made trips to Dufan (a theme park in Jakarta), I often laughed to read the signboards written to prohibit certain people from riding intense rides, including expectant mothers. I used to make jokes about it. How on earth does a pregnant woman want to visit a theme park?

Several years later, thousands kilometers apart. There I was, six-month pregnant in a theme park. Hail to my second Universal Studios (USJ)!

It's a good thing that I've been to Universal Studios before in Singapore so I could imagine how the rides would be like, and I could measure my condition. I knew I'm fit enough to take indoor rides, but outdoor rides were too scary (or too cold!). But I really really don't recommend this for everyone, deal?

Interesting rides in USJ including Space Fantasy, Amazing Spider-Man, Back to the Future, Hollywood Dream, Jurassic Park, Jaws, Backdraft, Waterworld, Shrek/Sesame Street 4D, and Terminator 3D. I didn't ride all of those, but I won't write exactly how many rides I took. Jaws were under construction, and I definitely didn't ride the big Hollywood Dream. Only Hollywood Dream and Space Fantasy that can be called rollercoasters. The rush and the bumps in my chosen rides weren't that hard, although I could feel the baby's kicking harder when I watched 3D/4D shows. Probably because of the loud noise. Sorry, akachan.

My notes:

- The ticket cost 6,200 yen, better book in advance to avoid queue in ticket counters.

- Arrive very early in the morning as most rides ended on 5 pm.
- All the guides and shows are in Japanese. But it's still enjoyable nevertheless.
- I was told that USJ in weekends is crazily full, so I went on weekday and spent 30 mins to 1 hour in one ride, including queuing time.

- Bags weren't checked at the entrance, so I supposed we could bring some food inside. Yasser and I brought onigiri and mineral waters. Food inside were quite expensive, around 1,000 yen per menu.

- I didn't see people in cartoon-figures costume, but it has several interesting spots specially made to take pictures.

- There's a ride that required our bags kept in a storage locker. Prepare 100 yen coin to lend the locker but it will be refunded afterwards.
- The Shrek 4D movie was the same as in Singapore.

- It's quite simple to access USJ from Kyoto as the train go directly to Universal City Station.

Overall opinion, this was a satisfactory theme park, but not really different than in Singapore.

Our parade of photos.. =)

As for the merchandises, Kitty-chan (Sanrio) and Snoopy (Peanuts) are two distinctive features of USJ. I think it's only available in Japan. Sesame Streets characters were also available, which I didn't see in Singapore. The combination of the characters were also cute, such as Kitty-chan doll dressed in Pink Panther costume.

Snow trip to Hakodate

2012-02-26T23:30:00.000+07:00

I know, I know I said I hate winter. But one cannot refuse a should-be ski trip to a ski mountain nearby. At least it intended to be a ski trip but since I was pregnant, skiing could be too risky so we chose sliding instead, hehehe..

Hakodateyama, or Mount Hakodate, is located in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture. Our journey started in Kyoto Station, took train to Ohmi-Imazu and then took the bus to Hakodateyama Ski Resort. We spent almost 2 hours to get there.

During our trip, the view from our window looked like this:

... wheww Shiga got heavy snow while Kyoto was only having snow-dusts.

It was a ladies day when we arrived there so every woman got a free entrance! Yippie!

First we hopped on a cable car to get to the mountain. It was quite high and the view was breathtaking (although everything was white and dry) ^_^

My outfit of the day was sponsored by Uniqlo. I wore Uniqlo parachute jacket & pants, with a warm fabric inside. Not really made for skiing, but at least it's water resistant & warm!

Next, hopped off in the mountain and enjoy the panoramic view. We can go straight to the ski or snowboard gears rental if we don't own one.

Last, choose the desired sloping area! Hakodateyama has 11 sloping areas and it also has special area for kids. If we want to be an expert in skiing, it provides ski-class for an additional fee.

In case you get hungry it provided several restaurants with body-warming dishes. As for us, we chose to bring our own lunch as they didn't prohibit us from taking it inside.

The full team in action, while waiting for the bus to get back to Kyoto:

I was around 17 weeks pregnant when we made this trip and I found myself almost forget about having a baby, hehehe.. Sliding seemed like a piece of cake but when I got home I felt muscle pain all over my body and it lasted for 2 days.. ughh. But it was worth it anyway :p

Gloomy winter

2012-02-24T22:44:00.000+07:00

We almost cancelled our trip to Nara because on that day, the morning view from our apartment looked like this:

This was actually a rare scenery as most of the time we only have thin snow. I hate winter and snowfall just make me lazy to go out, moreover playing in the snow. Fortunately the snow melted towards noon and we decided to go anyway.

Lucky us we don't experience extreme weather in Kyoto. The average temperature is 2 to 3 Celsius degrees in day and can drop for as low as -1 to -2 at night. It doesn't sound too bad, does it? But for me.. errrrrr.. I'm freezing. The cold penetrates the walls and it's also freezing inside the house. I feel like being stabbed repeatedly.

Now it's February and the temperature has started to rise. Suddenly, an 8-Celsius-degree day feels warm. Then I think there's something wrong with my body! Hehehe...

But still, nothing beats the tropical weather in my hometown. As my husband points out, we should be grateful to experience winter. However, Indonesians should also (more) grateful to have sunshine all year long.

Home of the deers

2012-02-23T21:25:00.001+07:00

Imagine a modern city with a huge park on the center, occupied by friendly deers that run freely. That's Nara!

The deers have been part of Nara's history since ages. Deers are the city's official symbol, they appear everywhere from souvenirs, signboards, shops and stalls, even Doraemon is pictured wearing a deer costume in Nara.

Nara's deers are nice but when it comes to food they become aggressive. Yes, we can feed the deers by buying shika senbei, the official deer crackers for 100-150 yen. I supposed the deers can only be fed by these crackers, as guests are not allowed to give anything else (and I didn't see anyone doing this). Besides the food rules, we are free to touch and play with the deers as long as we don't hurt them. The deers even bit my coat to get some crackers!

Here's Yasser in attempt to feed the aggressive (but cute) deers,

This is me with the deers,

Nara, like Kyoto, is a city with long history. It was once the capital city of ancient Japan, before it moved to Kyoto. Due to this, Nara is also famous for its big temples and shrines around the city. We had limited time so we only chose one temple, the Todaiji. We already had enough temples in Kyoto anyway, hehehe...

the pathway towards Todaiji, it filled by deers!

The gate of Todaiji:

The Great Buddha Hall:

Inside the Great Buddha Hall, there's a giant-size Buddha statue, accompanied by two other super-size statues.

The funny thing was, after strolling around the complex of ancient Nara, I felt like 'blast from the past' when I got back to the Kintetsu Station. Suddenly the city looked so modern with the traffic and the high buildings.

It was a cold day in Nara with little snow and rainfall, and it's kind of ruining my mood to take pictures :p

Kyoto in a glance

2012-02-21T22:29:00.003+07:00

The city

Kyoto-eki

Kyoto is surrounded by many temples and shrines, scattered all over the town. But this city also has busy roads full with cars and buses (but no traffic jam) and spacious pedestrian walk for people and bicycles. From the old-fashioned temples to the modern Kyoto Station, it's basically provide the best of both worlds.

To get around

ichi nichi kippu (one-day pass)

Kyoto is served by buses, subways, and trains/trams. We can also walk, ride bicycle or drive private cars. Bus is the main public transportation as it covers all area, while subways and trains cover big streets and trips outside the city. One way bus trip costs 220 yen but we can buy a Kyoto City Bus One Day Pass for only 500 yen for unlimited use of bus trips.

The language

a restaurant's signboard in kanji and romanji

What else? Learn Nihongo if you want to survive in every aspect of the city. At least try to read hiragana and katakana. If it's still too hard, it won't hurt to know several common Japanese phrases. But don't worry, being a tourism city itself Kyoto provides most of the signs in latin (romanji). They also have tourist map in English, available in Tourist Information Center, which is important for foreigners.

The food

mushroom & vegetables pizza in Jolly-Pasta

Familiarized yourself with Japanese cuisine. It's hard to find pure halal food in Kyoto as most of the restaurants serve pork. Seafood, vegetable dishes, and Indian/Pakistani restaurants are best options if you want to play safe. We can buy halal meats in Kyoto Islamic Center, or in Gyu Mu supermarket when they're in stock. Oh and halal meats also available online throughout Japan. Open these links to find out more about halal food in Japan http://www.jhalal.com/english, http://baticrom.com/, http://mall.azhar.jp/oc/. Be sure to also check online for some non-halal snacks and drinks. Hint: it's super important to memorize certain kanji, like pork kanji :o

Shop in Kyoto City

2012-02-20T18:45:00.000+07:00

I'm hooked by Japanese fashion. It's interesting to see how Japanese girls (and boys) can pull off layered clothes, colorful fabrics, or uncommon mix-and-match while still looking fabulous. Sometimes it's just too much for me, but most of the time I enjoy examining how well-dressed they are.

Although it's still bizarre how they can wear short skirts and pants on winter, or boots and pile of clothes on summer, like that Harajuku looks.

Kyoto is not famous for its fashion, but you can still find some cute trendy stuffs in the city. One location to find famous fashion brands is the Shijo Kawaramachi street. This busy street is always full with Kyoto's local youths, especially on weekends. It's not only the home of international brands such as Zara, Gap and Benetton, but also local brands like Uniqlo, Comme des Garcons, and others.

One of the stores... kawaii! Fashion stuffs in Kyoto mostly come in reasonable prices.

Shijo Kawaramachi is also the home of our favorite udon restaurant. Warm and affordable, perfect match for winter.

We can also find other famous restaurants like Burger King, Mos Burger, Godiva Chocolatier, and of course, Starbucks (they have several shops along the street).

A Harborland and a Fisherman's Market

2012-02-17T19:08:00.000+07:00

"We may be poor, but we must eat good food,"

That's my husband's saying. This expensive country has forced us to live in a tight budget, but we couldn't help ourselves from the indulgence of good food. Especially him. Daily food should be complete and delicious with meat/fish, fruits, vegetables, and desserts -complemented by tea, milk, ginger drinks, or Calpis-. As for me, I'd like to save food budget in order to travel more, hehehe.

That's one of our intentions to go to Kobe. Yasser wanted me to try this seafood all-you-can-eat restaurant named Fisherman's Market in Harborland. Harborland is an area still around the Port of Kobe.

There are many lovely birds in Harborland. I especially love when they floated in the sea. So peaceful and cute!

The Fisherman's Market is a western-style seafood restaurant, unlike the Chinese-style seafood that more popular in Indonesia. It served fishes/prawns/squids with many kinds of gravies, seafood spaghetti, seafood pizza, seafood salad, seafood soups, seafood fried rice (paella), seafood sushi, grilled seafood, and desserts with cakes and ice creams (but not seafood). The price was less than 2,000 yen on weekdays. Yummy! Let's enjoy life!

The interior design of the restaurant:

it was a weekday so the place was empty and the price was cheaper :o

Fisherman's Market is located in Mosaic:

I read that Fisherman's Market has already opened a branch in Singapore, located in Clarke Quay and embraced a more fine-dining concept.

See you later Harborland!

The day after 26

2012-02-17T14:53:00.000+07:00

Alhamdulillah. We have many things to celebrate this year.

The day after my birthday Yasser finished his thesis defense. So we had our celebration dinner in our favorite sushi restaurant. My birthday and his graduation!

Let me write a little bit about this sushi restaurant. I love going to a sushi restaurant in Jakarta but I've never seen a kind like this. All sushis are served in a conveyor belt and we have everything we need in our table so we don't have to scream for the waiters/ess.

This is how the sushi belt looks like:

If we don't see our favorite sushi in the belt, we can order through this touchscreen below. The screen will then tell us when our chosen sushi is closer.

Feeling thirsty? You can pour as many matcha as you want, right in your table:

Since I'm pregnant I'm not allowed to eat raw fish so I have to make sure it's well-cooked.

I won this thing from the lottery..

One note: Japanese restaurants/shops tend to have very limited human resources so they rely on technology, just like the sushi restaurant above. They usually have less than 5 people (including the cooks and the waiters) to run an entire shop. Maybe because human resources are very expensive here as the country has a high-standard salary. Despite all that, they maintain an excellent efficient service. Hmm.. in Jakarta a restaurant can have many waiters but still we think they deliver a slow service...

Can we have one sushi restaurant like this in Jakarta? Please?

Birthday indulgence

2012-02-13T13:01:00.001+07:00

It's my birthday! Time to have fun!

On every birthday I have conversations with myself and with Allah. Birthday is not only the perfect time to contemplate yourself, but also a chance to have fun. At least it's the day you have an excuse to do things you love and have your own indulgence.

Starting my day sipping my favorite Van Houten Cocoa, I'm having my usual morning routine and having lunch at our apartment that day. Since Yasser was busy preparing his thesis defense, I'm alone.. but free to do what I want to do :p

I'm only have simple things in mind, so I did a small escape that day.

First, I went to Kiyomizu-dera. I've been wanting to visit this Buddhist temple for some time but I haven't got the time. I thought Ginkakuji already make me do few hiking, but turned out Kiyomizu made me do more, hehe.. We have to pass through many stairs to get to the main temple.

Kiyomizu is famous for its blossoming beauty of flowers in spring, or the yellowish reddish landscape in autumn. But when I got there, it looked like this:

a very dry Kiyomizu in winter.. ughh

The waterfall downstairs where we can taste the water. The name Kiyomizu means pure water.

Another corners in Kiyomizu:

This is me in front of the temple's entrance. At 24 weeks, my baby bump now has become obvious, not just look like extra fat on my belly.

From Kiyomizu I went to Shijo Kawaramachi to relax a little bit. I remembered my after-swimming routine in Jakarta, reading a book in Starbucks. I never go swimming in Kyoto and this was my first time to try Starbucks here. I'm not really in the mood to drink coffee, and I wanted to match the drink with the novel so I chose Mango Frappuccino instead.. hehe

they also give me a small cup as compliment to taste a coming-soon flavor, Orange Brulee Frappuccino

From Starbucks I got stuck in Kawaramachi. Nope, not because of the traffic (although Kawaramachi is a busy street), but because I got confused by the bus stops. They have several bus stops in each corner of the street and I couldn't find the one that served the correct bus straight to home. I spent one hour wandering around the street before I finally hopped on a bus. And it's still not the bus that I wanted (huhuu). The bus took me to Kinkakuji, and from there I took another bus to the apartment. Kinkakuji is actually within a walking distance from our apartment but it was already 9 pm.

When I got home, I found Yasser (and Keisuke) already holding a birthday cake for me!

Whoaa suddenly I felt bad as I figured that they must have waited a long time.. sorry.

We still have our little celebration anyway.. hehehe..

And this is Keisuke with the delicious chocolate cake:

Thank you Allah, thank you guys, and love you husband! =)

A day in a port city

2012-02-11T02:10:00.001+07:00

What comes in mind when you hear about Kobe? One can points out the Port of Kobe, the cooks can shouts Kobe flour (tepung Kobe?), or one can remembers the great Kobe earthquake. Nowadays Kobe is known for its beef (and the cows).

Port of Kobe's history can be traced down to the Meiji Era, when Kobe served as an important door to trade with other countries especially China ---> therefore established the one and only Japan's Chinatown.

My impression was, Kobe is busier and bigger than Kyoto. Especially with those big containers and ships in the busy port. Due to this fact Kobe was also very windy. We took Hankyu's rail train to get to Kobe from Kyoto. The journey lasted around 1.5 hour for one way, and arrive at Sannomiya Station. This station kind of looked like Gambir, with small stalls along the way and even under the flyover railway.

we found a nice stall of pepper fried chicken wings.. yumm!

Adjacent to the Sannomiya Station there's this Sannomiya Shopping Street. Kobe is also the city of fashion! The layout of the shopping street was quite similar to Shijo Kawaramachi in Kyoto. Local brands were dominated the street selling cute pieces with reasonable price.

As I wrote earlier, Kobe is a home of a historical street of Chinatown in Motomachi. Decorated in red and gold, China's ambiance was intense in the area. There were many small stalls selling traditional Chinese snacks which very tempting, especially the smells! But we managed to restrain ourselves from tasting because the meats and the sauces looked suspicious, hehehe..


welcoming the dragon year!

Here's another sneak peek to the street's decoration, including one food stall that very tempting..

looks delicious right? There were also many birds along the street. Cute!

Next we made a visit to the historical Port of Kobe. This port was once the ichiban busiest port in Japan, until it's destroyed by the great earthquake. They still preserve one destroyed area of the port to remember the disaster.

the Tower of Kobe Port

This is the part one of our little journey to Kobe. I'll continue to part two later, it'll involve a lot more photos =)

Bamboo illumination

2012-02-10T13:55:00.001+07:00

I almost forget to write about this trip.

Near Christmas eve we went to Arashiyama to see a special winter festivity --> the illumination in Sagano bamboo forest.

Well, basically they just put many lightnings in the bamboo forest. But lot of people (including us) actually come to see it in a cold winter night. This was my first time to visit Arashiyama, and I hope I can visit the area again in midday so that I can enjoy the sunny view from the famous bridge.

Arashiyama is a little outside the city so we use a small train to get there.

the train was decorated by christmas ornaments

This was how the illumination looked like. Sorry for the bad quality images as the camera doesn't really support dark night scene.

This is me and the bamboo forest. The traditional lamps were spread along the path between the bamboo forest, gave you the romantic atmosphere :o

No Arashiyama without the famous bridge. Unfortunately in the dark night there's not much to see besides the lamps.

There are many shops around Arashiyama, mostly wooden-structured stalls and restaurants serving traditional food and snacks.

There's also a temple in Arashiyama but we didn't get to see it. So yeah, maybe I can visit this area again some other time..

The Kyoto's doctors: more on about pregnancy

2012-02-06T23:30:00.000+07:00

23 weeks pregnant

It's been 5 months.

We're halfway there.

Our first visit to a Kyoto's hospital was accompanied by Yasser's friends Mas Andika and Mba Ulul who have the experience of delivering their baby girl in Kyoto 2 years ago (they also can speak Japanese better). We have to set up a registration and requested an English-speaking doctor. We chose this hospital by recommendation from our Indonesian friends.

Yasser and I went alone afterwards. As we could imagine, we have to force the nurses to speak English (combined with Japanese). Luckily, we really got an English-speaking doctor, a woman too :)

Japanese women tend to go to the obgyns by themselves, so Yasser felt awkward as he was the only guy in the waiting room, hehehe.. In Jakarta it's uncommon to see expectant mothers in hospital alone, there must be husbands or parents around.

When we arrived to the obgyns waiting room, we went directly to the blood pressure measurement machine, the weight scale, and the toilet to take urine sample. Don't expect the nurse to assist, we have to do all this by our own.

Doctors don't rely on supplements, vitamins, or medicines. As long as the baby is OK, they will not give you any medicines at all. The pregnancy food guidance has already been covered in boshitecho so they believe in the quality of our food. Since I got here I never had any supplements from the obgyn, however I still consume some supplements I had from Jakarta.

A corner in the obgyns' area

The best thing about pregnancy check-up in Kyoto was the existence of government subsidy. In my boshitecho there's one set of check-up coupons to get payment reduction. This was very useful on my 23 weeks pregnancy when we had additional tests. Besides the usual USG check-up, I also had pap smears and a complete blood test. After we finished, the nurse handed me a bill amounting to 1,179 yen (around Rp 120,000). We figured that this already a reduced amount since it was cheap. But when Yasser went to the payment machine, he got confuse because the printed bill showed zero amount. We confirmed it to a friend and he assured us that it's the correct amount. Therefore all the tests -and the 4 pages of printed USG- were free of charge! Alhamdulillaah!

With all these facilities for pregnant women, Japan still maintains a minus growth of population. I can't imagine if the same treatments are applied to Indonesia...

How does it feel to be pregnant? During this 5 months it feels normal. It doesn't feel heavy yet so it's still comfortable to have a long walk or stand in a crowded bus. I no longer grow new pimples but my skin turns dry and red due to the winter. I can already feel the baby's movement especially in very late at night. Oh and the doctor gave us a hint of the baby's sex, but I don't want to write about it yet. It suits our expectation by the way, yeaay :)

How about weight gain? This is a sensitive matter, hahahaa... I'm not really concern as long as it's normal and healthy. I'm a little worry this month because I've lost weight instead of gaining one. But the baby keeps growing bigger so I guess it's okay. So now I've gained 3 kg in 5 months. I hope it's not too much not too low!

About pregnancy

2012-01-31T22:31:00.002+07:00

Me, 4.5 months pregnant

For me marriage and kids don't come together. So when I decided to get married, I did not decide to have a baby right away. In fact, we planned to postpone an additional member until like 2 years from now. I'm not a fan of little children anyway, so I thought God wouldn't be in a rush to trust His creation on me.

But I never realized that an ovulation period could be so strong. I was angry when I found out I was pregnant. It was reaaallly a shock that haunting my head for days. It's a relieved that my husband's reaction was way better than me. He likes kids and well, he's older so having a baby can work on him, hehehe.

Now each day I'm trying to be grateful. At least if I'm not pregnant I won't have this experience of knowing a little bit pregnancy stuffs in Japan.

Pregnant in Kyoto

First, I'm so so thankful that I don't experience morning sickness, or pregnancy symptoms, at all. Yes, my nose was more sensitive and I had pimples all over my face but that's it. I didn't have stomachache, I didn't feel nauseous, I didn't throw up, I didn't even get too emotional about everything. I can eat a lot. Like a lot.

It's a good thing that pregnancy doesn't disturb me from taking a long walk and visiting new places in Japan. Maybe one day I can tell the baby "hey you were there when we visited Japan!"

This city is quite serious in taking care pregnant women. The process to get an insurance card and register a pregnancy is fast and easy (but you need someone who can speaks Japanese well). As a foreigner, you must have an Alien Card (foreigners' ID card), and then you register for an insurance card. After getting the insurance card, go to the Public Health Center (semacam Puskesmas gitu) to register pregnancy. The Puskesmas will give you one package of pregnancy handbook (boshitecho) like this:

These handbooks contain everything you need to know about pregnancy. From pregnancy do's and don'ts, food guidance, employment regulation for pregnant women/family with babies, taking care of newborns, to notes for recording child's growth and health. It also contains check-up vouchers which we can use to get payment reduction in hospital. It's accepted by all hospitals in Kyoto, public or private.

Another special content is this:

I call this the pregnancy sign. We wear it in our bag (or other places that can be seen) so that people know we're pregnant. With this sign we're entitled to priority seats in the bus. The city bus has this same sign on its window to mark the priority seats.

So far my pregnancy has been great. One thing that bothers me is the cold weather. Having lived in a hot country all my life, it's hard to adapt to the cold weather. My trips to the bathroom become even more often. It also makes me hungrier. If I want to eat something, I have to cook it. And I'm not a good cook so most of the time I'm just craving for Indonesian dishes, especially the traditional snacks... *Sigh*

Okay, that's an introduction to my pregnancy. Next time I want to write about visiting a doctor in Kyoto and in Jakarta. Insya Allah.

The flea markets

2012-01-28T10:42:00.000+07:00

Japan is famously known as an expensive country, especially Tokyo. And for a citizen from a third-world country (ugh!) this is totally true.

I personally feel the big shock in food and transportation prices. And this is only in Kyoto, people said that Tokyo is way more expensive ---> maybe I can observe the price comparison when I visit Tokyo later (^_^).

One-time ride in a city bus cost 220 yen or 24,000 rupiah. That's the price to pay if you want a clean, safe, and reliable public transportation. The sign of bus coming in major bus stops looks like this:

Cheap restaurants in the streets of Kyoto cost around 300-500 yen, or around 35,000 - 55,000 rupiah. In Jakarta we can eat in a fancy restaurant in a mall with a price tag like that. Groceries are also expensive, one piece of carrot or one piece of garlic can cost around 12,000 rupiah (98 yen). In Jakarta we can get one kilos of carrots for only around.... well I don't know the price of groceries in Jakarta, hehehe....

But I'm sure it's less less less expensive than that!

Wait.. I'm also sure that the shape of those groceries are different in Kyoto. The fruits and vegetables are bigger, cleaner with brighter colors. The carrots and the eggs are very orange, the tomatoes and strawberries are glowing in bold red. And the prices of any kind groceries are fluctuating. Tomorrow's price probably won't be the same as today. They will discount the prices if the expired dates are closer or the shapes are deteriorating.

By the way, why am I blabbering about groceries?

Back to the topic, I want to write about two big flea markets/bazaars held once a month in Kitano Tenmangu shrine and Kyoto's City Hall. These markets are one option to pick some quality goods with cheaper price. They sell anything... like anything!

1. Any kinds of food, fruits & vegetables: Japanese snacks namely takoyaki, okonomiyaki, soba, taiyaki, dorayaki, and other yakis; fresh fruits, dried fruits, sweetened fruits, green teas, red teas, black teas, oats, nuts, beans, mushrooms, candies, and other groceries.

Me holding taiyaki and grilled squid. The hiragana letters behind me reads 'taiyaki'.

2. Second hand appliances, housewares, and collectible items.

3. My favorite --> new and second hand fabric from kimono/yukata dresses, cloths, scarfs, to casual items like pants, tops, & jackets. I got winter jacket, some skirts and shirts for only 100 yen each.. nice bargain huh..

Kyoto's City Hall

Kitano Tenmangu shrine is within walking distance from our apartment so visiting the market is good for exercising my foot as well :).

Nijojo

2012-01-28T00:24:00.000+07:00

So this was one castle that we could actually go inside. But still... no cameras allowed. And we also have to take off our shoes and change to slippers.

Located in the center of Kyoto, Nijo Castle was initiated by the famous shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu as a residence of Tokugawa shoguns. Same as other historic structures in Kyoto, this castle is surrounded by a typical Japanese garden. Japanese garden is definitely one of a kind. One can see a picture of a garden and guess instantly that it's Japanese-style. It usually consists of cherry blossom (sakura), plums, a pond, some rocks, and a wooden bridge that resemblances Japanese traditional structures.

This is the big entrance to the castle, followed by a bridge towards the central building.

This is the front side of the central structure, the Ninomaru Palace. Pardon my close eyes, hehehe..

The palace's construction is quite interesting. It was built with special wooden floor that would release a chirping sound if someone walked above it. All visitors must used a house slippers so that we wouldn't wreck the floor. Inside the palace, there are several big rooms decorated by lovely wall paintings of birds, flowers, wars, and landscapes.

Japanese traditional chambers usually measured by the amount of tatami mats. Tatami mats, made from rice straws and wood chip, are used as flooring material. The size of one tatami mat is varied among regions. Kyoto has its own measurement of tatami mats. So we can say "that's a 5.5 tatami mat room" for instance.

I figured the rooms in the palace have more than 10 tatami mats. The shogun had different rooms to receive different guests, such as the head of the regions, the messengers, personal guests, and of course he also had his own room, where he should be served by several maids. These conditions in the past are pictured by many dolls and statues dressed in gorgeous kimono inside the castle.

The beautiful garden:


the pond

aghh it's blurry

And our all time favorite place, the bench!

Rainy day at Ginkakuji

2012-01-27T07:44:00.001+07:00

In the other corner of Kyoto City, stand a silverish coating Zen temple named Ginkakuji, or the Silver Pavilion. It stands on highly ground so be prepare to do a little hiking. Learning from my past experience in visiting Kinkakuji, I honestly didn't expect much grandeur from the temple. I figured it would be the same, one big temple surrounded by a Japanese garden which could only be enjoyed from outside.

And... I was mostly right. Except this time I couldn't find where the main silverish temple was.

Nope, not because I was lost in the garden's labyrinth whatsoever... but because the temple was small. No offense, but it was small and didn't look silver!

After doing my research on its historical background, I found out that the temple was intended to be silver, but the plan was never realized. Okay, that explained. Hehehe.

That fact didn't discourage me to enjoy the pretty complex. Although once again the visitors couldn't see inside the temple, we could still enjoy the beautiful garden and the view from the hill. It was a rainy day when I got there so only few people around.

the lovely entrance to the temple, guided by several flowers-trees

sand garden was a distinctive feature of the complex. I was curious to know how it feels but they didn't allow us to touch. >___<

if I'm not mistaken it's called Togudo Hall

the green pond adjacent to the main temple. You can see some drops of rain.

I didn't know the name, I just thought it was pretty and uhmm.. very Japanese. Hehehe.

the view from observatory in the hill

So where's the main supposed-to-be silver Zen temple? Here it is with me in the picture! This time I know I wasn't allowed to use tripod so I asked some two nice local girls to take it.

I read that there are several wall paintings inside the temple. Too bad we couldn't see it as I like Japanese wall paintings, it's lovely.

The golden pavilion

2012-01-21T10:23:00.000+07:00

I bet most people have seen this photo before, when they browse Kyoto:

That's one of Kyoto's most famous temple, Kinkakuji or The Golden Pavilion. It got the name from the goldish coating of the structure, owned by, of course, a shogun hundred years before.

I prefer to see it as a garden complex, as it's only one temple surrounded by an exotic Japanese garden. And too bad visitors aren't allowed to go inside or even peek inside the temple. Probably because the original structure had been burned down, and then it's fully reconstructed so they left nothing inside. I don't know.

So visitors mainly enjoy the exterior design, as well as the breath of fresh air in the garden. Especially for foreign visitors who don't understand kanji, they won't be able to read most of the signs except if you rent an audio guide in English.


it was a school visiting day when I got there


the visitors were throwing coins for good luck

Some people were praying also

And this is me! I took this photo by mistake as I just realized later that they weren't allow tripod. No wonder the locals were staring at me. Ugh. Sorry.

Menikmati Kyoto

2012-01-21T09:38:00.000+07:00

Menikmati Kyoto adalah menikmati pertemuan paradoks kota yang tradisional dan modern.

So traditional yet so modern.

Menikmati Kyoto adalah menikmati kota yang begitu kuno dengan kuilnya, begitu cantik dengan pohonnya yang menguning, begitu dingin dengan hujan saljunya, dan begitu teratur dengan sistem transportasinya dan semangat going green-nya.

Kota ini tidak sesibuk Tokyo atau Osaka. Bahkan nggak sebising Jakarta. Manusia-manusianya tidak seheboh paradigma orang asing tentang Jepang. Mereka tidak berpakaian aneh. Mereka bertubuh kecil dan berbicara dengan logat Kansai (ingat Heiji Hattori di Detective Conan?). Mereka menyukai produk dalam negeri yang dihargai tinggi. Mereka mencintai makanan fresh di supermarket dan akan segera mendiskon makanan sesuai dengan tanggal expired-nya. Mereka mengandalkan sepeda dan bus kota tapi tidak suka duduk di sebelah orang lain. Mereka mengendarai city car dan Toyota Prius yang hemat bahan bakar. Mereka bisa memakai rok super pendek tanpa stocking dalam suhu di bawah 10 derajat celcius. Mereka suka mencat rambutnya menjadi coklat atau kemerahan.

Menikmati Kyoto adalah menikmati hospitality orang Jepang. Mereka ramah tapi cepat dan praktis. Mereka mau membantu tapi berharap kita mengerti bahasanya. Konsumen adalah raja, tapi para raja harus sigap berpikir, menentukan pilihan dan membayar. Dilarang bengong nggak efisien. Irama hidup di kota ini begitu pasti, sepasti jadwal bus yang selalu datang tepat waktu. Nggak ada alasan macet di sini. Satu-satunya alasan terlambat adalah bangun kesiangan. Hehehe.

Menikmati Kyoto adalah menikmati hasil Kyoto Protocol. Memilah-milah sampah harus dilakukan di dalam rumah. Tidak ada biaya yang dipungut petugas pengangkut sampah. Sebagai gantinya, penduduk harus membeli kantong sampah resmi keluaran pemerintah kota. Jadwal pengambilan sampah diatur oleh tiap 'kecamatan' dan 'kelurahan'. Kalau nggak nurut, sampah akan menumpuk tidak diangkut.

Menikmati Kyoto adalah menikmati kota sejarah. Menikmati rumah-rumah kayu simbol peradaban. Menikmati kuil-kuil besar yang sakral. Menikmati kisah para shogun. Menikmati sisa-sisa geisha di Gion. Menikmati malam minggu di Kawaramachi. Menikmati hutan bambu di Arashiyama. Menikmati pegunungan yang mengelilingi. Menikmati sungai yang bersih dan bebas bau. Menikmati suara burung gagak yang bersahutan. Menikmati musik-musik dan suara announcer dari kendaraan komersil yang lewat setiap hari.

Menikmati Kyoto adalah menikmati kota kecil bersama keluarga kecil kami. Mempertahankan kuliner Indonesia sambil mengenal oden, okonomiyaki, udon, gyu don, mochi, taiyaki, dan sushi. Minum teh manis hangat disela-sela minum teh hijau. Menikmati pertumbuhan manusia baru di tengah-tengah kami, walaupun masih di dalam perut. Menikmati kebersamaan dengan rekan sebangsa sebagai sumber pertolongan.

Menikmati Kyoto adalah mempelajari masa lalunya, mengagumi masa kininya, dan memimpikan masa depan bagi Jakarta dan kota-kota lain di Indonesia.

Menikmati Kyoto adalah menikmati waktu kami.

Happy new year 2012

2012-01-16T22:09:00.000+07:00

What did you do on new year's eve? Yasser and I hosted our year end dinner in our apartment. Well, actually it's a potluck dinner because the guests also bring some food, snacks and drinks to the party. It also intended to be my introduction to the colleagues :)

We also served an oxtail soup. Sorry for the bad image quality.

The crowd

Japanese people accustomed to go to the temples or shrines on new year's eve to pray and remember their ancestors. The will stay praying until late at night or even past midnight. They also spend their new year holiday coming home visiting their parents and relatives. And of course, they also attend some new year's parties!