Trip of Wonders: Day 1 Eat Gudeg Yu Djum - Drink Epic Coffee

Let the coffee tell the story ~~ hee hee~~

 

The fun part of Trip of Wonders is that we usually don’t need to lug our heavy luggages around – the challenging part is to pack your luggage and check them out at the lobby at around 5am in the morning and you won’t see your luggage until you check in the hotel way later in the night. Most of us woke up at 5 to drop our luggage at the lobby when tried to get some more sleep but unfortunately hunger strikes and most of us were crying on whatsapp about how hungry we are now ~~ hahahha

 

 

Fortunately for us ~~ the breakfast opened earlier than usual and we walked in happily to enjoy the breakfast ~~ though not everything was ready yet but when you’re hungry ~ food is food ~~

 

No matter where ~ Gzul always seem to emit an aura of awesomeness ~~ even when he’s hungrily staring at what to eat ~~ look at that pose ~~ natural swag I tell ya ~~

 

Salad station ~~ I decided I wanna eat healthy ~~ so I took more salads first ~~ me walking towards the salad on an early morning really feels like plants vs zombies and the plants are surely winning this ~~ lol ~~ oh there’s Haley looking at some yummy yoghurt ~~

 

Beef Bacon and Sausages for breakfast ~~~~

 

Desserts desserts galore ~~

 

Good morning mr Gzul!

 

I was glad to see some lontong ~~~ steamed rice that’s usually served with a curry gravy

 

Goes well with keropok and tempeh ~~~ ahhhhh Indonesian breakfast for the win ~~~

 

 

 

We all finally got on the bus to the airport – the morning traffic wasn’t bad and we reached the airport in record time!

 

woo hoo ~~ we have arrived at Yogyakarta airport ~~

 

Wefies in the bus ~~ compulsory thing to do ~~

 

We arrived first for 2nd breakfast ~~ a famous place for an iconic Yogyakarta dish called Gudeg ~~ Yogyakarta could be known as the Big Jackfruit ~~ as they love Gudeg ~ a dish made by cooking young unripe jackfruit for hours in palm sugar and coconut milk. The Gudeg is usually served with fried chicken and rice as well as other spicy condiments ~~ such as beef tendons ~~ woo hoo ~~

 

We checked out the legendary Gudeg Yu Djum, where we were welcomed with a live acoustic band singing local tunes ~~

 

 

The ambience is very much outdoor and down to earth ~~ this is as traditional as it gets ~~

 

 

Gudeg Yu Djum is legendary according to many foodies ~~ I read a great piece by Time Travel Turtle for a very well documented behind the scenes where they cook gudeg in the kitchen ~~ looks like a very time consuming task for such a simple looking dish! I wished I ventured inside the kitchen to take more photos but do check out the Time Travel Turtle’s blog for great pictures of how this dish is prepared to truly appreciate this dish.

 

 

As you can see – The Nasi Gudeg consists of the main hero ~ the hours of boiled young unripe jackfruit with spices, palm sugar and coconut milk served with spiced softened gelatinous beef tendons, boiled chicken egg and scary looking chicken leg with feet attached to it ~~~ looks scary but it can be very indulging to try ~~ it’s more on the sweeter side so you need to balance it with the spicy hot beef tendons ~~ which some might find too spicy (Kisty was blown away by the hotness) - As Eleanor Roosevelt says – do one thing everyday that scares you – this is one dish you must try when you visit Yogyakarta ~~ I heard there are some less sweet versions which might suit my palate more ~~ but this is indeed a culinary experience for foodies ~~

 

 

Of course ~~ be sure to have some glass bottled tea~~~

 

 

These rice crackers were soooooo addictive!! Once you bite ~~ its hard to stop ~~

 

Picture of Kisty Mea enjoying these crackers ~~ ahhhh gotta love my Fujifilm 35mm f1.4 lenses ~~

 

Jia Qing and Gzul excited to try out the Nasi Gudeg ~~ while we take photos forever and ever ~~~

 

The behind the scenes nom nom Gudeg shots ~~

 

Gudeg Yu Djum

Jalan Laksda Adisucipto Km8.7, Yogyakarta (easily found on Google Map)

 

Next Stop ~~~ EPIC COFFEE ~~~~

Epic coffee combines is like a combination of a furniture warehouse and coffee shop ~~ showcasing hipster looking furniture as well as good quality coffee ~~~ you know what time it is?? It’s OOTD TIME!

 

To some ~~ the coffee is not the only story ~~ but also the amount of OOTD pics you can take while visiting a cafe ~~

 

So much space ~~ ahhhh ~~ so much ~~~ furniture ~~~ #furnitureporn ~~ LOL

 

Ahhhhhhh La Marzocco Coffee Machine and their own designed takeaway coffee cup ~~~ legit signs of good coffee ~~~

 

You can order food here as well ~~ but this is not my food ~~ a customer ordered it ~~ but I intercept it and took photos of it ~~ hu hu hu ~~

 

Oh a hot day ~~ this is indeed a great sight!

 

Naturally ~~ I’ll wanna play with my drinks before actually drinking them ~~

 

Use them to take awesome cheers photos like these first ~~

 

or pose with them to take pretentious hipster cafe shots ~~~

 

Quite a lot of places to take nice photos here ~~

 

Lissa obviously can make a better pose than me ~ lol ~

 

The chemistry between the two ~~~ hee hee hee ~~~ already since day 1! (this is not a pose ~ haha)

 

Gzul with his OOTD Iced Coffee ~~~ or was it Tea ~~

 

This photo was simply epic ~~ funny as well as I was trying to take this picture ~~ I did not notice a tree with a glass lantern hanging on it ~~ and knocked my face onto it ~~~ the pain was worth it though ~~ this pic summarizes what we influencers love to do when we are at hipster cafes ~~ LOL ~~ we help each other take pics ~~ while holding our drinks or food ~

 

Shasha: Ohhh yes Qing ~~~ move back a bit ~~ then I want you to Luuuurve meeee~~~~ then hateeee me ~~~~~ give it to me ~~~

 

Yes~~~ you can see the symmetry of the trees and signboards ~~ all that green ~~~ perfect for that holding a drink shot ~~~

 

Rebecca Saw asked me to help her take OOTD pic also ~~ hee hee ~~~

 

Gzul: I will accept your offer to sing for your concert in Cambodia if you pay me $1 million

Longdy: Sure ~~~ 1 million Rupiah right?

Gzul: no no no no no no ~~ I million Breeetiiish paaunsssss ~~~

 

Pretentiously sips coffee ~~ while wondering why no one else is asking to take photos with me ~~ lol ~~ #foreveraloneinfluencer

 

Leya: Wow your husband is North Sumatran? No wonder he’s so handsome

Shasha: Yesssss ~~~ oooo you know Thanis is pretty handsome too ~~ maybe he has some North Sumatran blood in him ~~~

 

Jokes aside ~~ I got the chance to try out some good v60 filter coffee with their Luwak Gayo beans and it is soooo smooth and delicious ~~~ ahhhhhh goood goood goood coffee ~~~

 

 

Jia Qin trying out the filter coffee ~~ but it appears she’s not used to black yet ~~ don’t worry girl ~~ more practice with black coffee and you will soon say once you go black you don’t go back ~~

 

More hipster drinks for you to enjoy and do OOTD poses ~~ hahah ~~~ do check out this place when you are in Yogyakarta and on a lookout for hipster cafes ~~

 

Epic Coffee

Jalan Palagan Tentara Pelajar

no.29, Yogyakarta

 

Thank you Indonesia Tourism for sponsoring my trip to Indonesia through Trip of Wonders 2016! Follow them @Indtravel on Instagram or visit their website Wonderful Indonesia

Trip of Wonders Wonderful Indonesia: The Foodie revisits Indonesia - Day 0

I must say Indonesia has always been a country I wanted to explore and blog about but I never seemed to have the opportunity to. I first visited Jakarta and Bandung before on a government sponsored trip to assist a fellow education officer in giving a talk at Institute Technology of Bandung almost 6 years ago and really enjoyed the food in Bandung especially. 2016 was a very interesting year for me as I was first asked if I wanted to go on a FAM trip with Indonesia Tourism early in the year but naturally I couldn’t go due to my work commitments.I was also surprised again to receive an email from Trip of Wonders to join for their first batch ~~ but naturally couldn't go as well. Fortunately for me, they replied and gave me the dates for two more upcoming trips. I decided to go on the October trip to Yogyakarta and Bali and after a long wait ~~ the day has finally come!

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism wishes to highlight the 5 wonders of Indonesia which includes natural, cultural, sensory, modern and adventure wonders of Indonesia – from their divine tropical beaches, heartwarming local traditions, inspiring art performances, exquisite cuisines and handicrafts as well as majestic mountainous landscapes! Oh how I can’t wait to explore as much as of these wonders as possible ~ though I am more towards the sensory and cultural wonders ~~ LOL

 

I was glad that fellow Brunei Foodie Gzul Yusof was able to join on this trip as he’s been a walking bundle of joy throughout the trip of wonders and its hard not to love this guy! He’s also more experienced than me when it comes to Indonesia as he has visited many times before as well as being an avid traveler to many countries ~~ a valuable travel companion!

 

Picture of me being a millionaire ~ woooo ~~ Indonesian Rupiah is the currency used here and you can easily change them in Brunei airport before you depart for Jakarta or Bali ~~speaking of flights ~ our favourite airline Royal Brunei Airlines has direct flights to both Jakarta and Bali so you don’t need to worry about long hours transit flights. Both flights are estimated short two hours flight!

 

 

Gotta say the food I had on the flight to Jakarta was pretty yummy! Prawns with nasi briyani and eggplants! Thumbs up RBA!

 

Window seat privileges ~~ checking out the sky view of Jakarta!

 

We arrived at the airport on time and I was surprised at how much has changed especially when it comes to immigration as I needed to wait almost an hour in my previous trip due to stringent procedures of taking pictures and fingerprints. Now it takes just less than 5 minutes through customs for me. Woo hoo! At the airport, we got to meet fellow social influencer Satya Winnie who is more of the adventurous traveler type ~~ We got a taste of Jakarta traffic as it took us some time to get to our hotel in Swiss Belhotel where we meet Vesta and Leya, two lovely organizers of Trip of Wonders! We handed them our souvenir from Brunei – a bucket of Jollibee Chicken Joy! LOL ~~ it appears that they don’t have it here ~~ so this makes a pretty good gift as suggested by Maurina and Marul who were in the first batch Trip of Wonders. In the photos, we have Satya Winnie and Leya! 

 

This is our hotel room for the night as this is the most convenient place to stay to transit to our next destination in Yogyakarta! Only 12 minutes from the airport (without traffic) and is conveniently situated at the airport hub with shops, cafes and restaurants as well as place for massages. Naturally I couldn’t wait till dinner so I went scouting for some good food ~~

 

At the food court – I was spoiled for choice but decided on this plate of delicious rice dish which includes stewed chicken and some gorgeous spice braised beef tendons, which the Indonesians are expert in cooking! Bon Appetit!

 

During the dinner, we were allocated seats to mingle with one another and also listened to speeches and the program. It was good to get to know other social influencers from the ASEAN region and I must say I was really excited to know everyone! We were asked to introduce ourselves and I must say I only tell them I love to eat ~ and that’s why I am fat ~~ OMG THAT’s a BAD introduction ~ but anyways .. If I could change it I would had said I am 1) North Sumatran and 2) I love to add cheesy travel quotes from Google to my Instagram travel posts ~~~

 

Naturally being the pig that I am ~~ despite the meal just now ~~ I still went on to enjoy more of the food ~~ tsk tsk ~~~ no wonder I’m fat ~~ LOL

 

Useful gift from Indonesia Tourism for our Trip of Wonders group ~~ these proved very useful throughout the trip – and I would also be using them for future trips!

 

Being the social creatures we Bruneians are ~~ Gzul and I joined for late coffee session at Starbucks at the airport hub ~~ to get to know the other Indonesian bloggers better ~~

 

 

Stay tuned for more upcoming Trip of Wonders updates!! Where to eat in Yogyakarta ~~ the beautiful Borobodur Temple ~~ and Instagram photo tips ~~ woo hoo ~~

 

 

 

Thank you Indonesia Tourism for sponsoring my trip to Indonesia through Trip of Wonders 2016! Follow them @Indtravel on Instagram or visit their website Wonderful Indonesia

Brunei Restaurant Pancake House International relocates to Rimba Giant

Pancake House International is a very popular franchise from the Philippines. In fact, they’ve been around for almost 40 years and opened more than 150 outlets alone in the Philippines – the success owing to their famous soft and fluffy pancakes and combined with Filipino favourites make them a big hit.They were open in Kiulap but recently relocated to another popular spot at the new wing of Rimba Giant Hypermart on the first floor (on top of Burger King).

 

The CEO of Max's Group International, Peter King, was present to officiate the opening ceremony with Director of Pancake House International Brunei,  Del Goh. Max's Group International owns many other franchise eateries such as Pancake House, Yellow Cab, Jamba Juice, Krispy Kreme and others - spanning more than 700 over outlets!

 

The ambience uses the colors of Pancake House International – mainly orange and white theme colours – comfy sofas on the sides and white themed furniture in the center. The place is confortable for small to medium size groups.

 

Let’s have a look at the main attraction here – their famous soft and fluffy pancakes ~~ I have to say there’s quite a lot of choices here – you can order 2 pieces or 3 pieces stack but more is always better when it comes to pancakes!

 

They have two pancake stacks – one lemon and one orange flavoured one ~~ This is the Sunrise Orange Stack, slightly smaller pancakes, with cream cheese in between, topped with cream, orange rind and served with orange syrup ~~ oooh yes ~~~

 

Hubba hubba ~~~ can't wait to sink my teeth onto those pancakes!

 

Oooo would you look at that ~~ *drools* I have to say this is my favourite as I like the soft fluffy moist texture of the pancakes which goes well with the cream cheese filling and balanced by the fragrance of the orange. A thumbs up from me ~~

 

Oh hello there ~~~ pancake stacks with crushed walnuts, bananas, caramel, scoop of cream and drizzled with banana syrup

 

They also have savoury versions of their pancakes ~~ such as this Panwich (sunny side up egg in between two pancakes) served with chicken ham (or you can choose sausages) with cream. *drools* #eggporn I wouldn’t mind waking up to that!

 

Or if you are a fan of waffles ~~ be sure to check out their thin and crispy waffles ~~ *drools*

 

Mango with waffles or pancakes? Hmmmm ~~ so hard to decide!

 

Speaking of waffles – in their desserts corner ~~ they have this waffle foldover – you can choose your scoops of ice cream ~~~ served on a waffle spread with PEANUT BUTTER!! with candy coated chocolates and drizzled with chocolate syrup ~~ a combination of my favourite peanut butter, ice cream, waffles and chocolate ~~~ Mmmmmmm #dessertporn ~~~

 

Or you could order this dish that caught my attention and I thoroughly enjoyed when I had my first Pancake House meal in KK; Southern Maple Chicken, served with rice or fluffy waffles ~~~ OOoooooooOO of course I'll have them with waffles ~~ CHICKEN N WAFFLES!!

 

I have to say – the chicken is very delicious – the flavour and skin of this chicken is superior to their fried chicken and goes well with their fluffy waffle.. This ladies and gentleman is the my all time favourite at Pancake House *big applause* Die die also must try this chicken and waffles ~~

 

Let's face it ~~ even if you are in a mood for pancake or waffles ~ you might have one friend or family member that wants to have something else ~~ but don't worry ~~~ Pancake House has a lot of other dishes such as their house special spaghetti!

 

Besides pancakes, they are also famous for their delicious crispy tacos! I personally like how crispy the taco shells were! I really enjoyed them but be wary not to take too long to snap pictures for instagram or the juices from the filling will make the taco shells brittle. I made a big mess after biting into one of these as I took too long to snap pics of these yummy tacos. These are  must try at Pancake House!

 

Let's say you want to have pancakes or waffles for breakfast but your colleague's aren't ~~~ I bet they'll be in a mood for a simple grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast! Try Pancake House's version ~~

 

Simplicity at it's best I must say ~~ A grilled cheese sandwich to start your day ~~

 

or they can have omelet for breakfast! I have to say their breakfast omelets are delicious as well ~~ quite a few choices for your omelet fillings ~~

 

They cook my omelet the way I like them ~~~ creamy ~~~ *drools*

 

The Pancake House Pan Chicken is a very unique style of fried chicken as you can see from the coating of the chicken ~~ be sure to give them a try as well!

 

Aziz definitely enjoyed the Pan Chicken! Nom nom ~~

 

I'm actually impressed by their burger steaks ~~ especially the Salisbury burger steak ~~ the sauce was lovely with the pan fried burger steak!

 

Did I mention they serve some great Filipino favourites? Beef Tapa!!!! A classic Filipino favourite – marinated Australian strip loin, stir fried and served with garlic rice, sunny side up egg and their in house green mango salsa. I have to admit I really enjoyed the mango salsa, and it goes well with the tender beef ~~~ and of course ~~~ more #eggporn just makes this dish better! Besides beef tapa, they also got other Filipino favourites such as smoked golden tilapia and Daing Na Bangus ~~ Friends of mine have raved about their fish dishes and I would definitely try these next time since I am a big fan of Filipino food – and more excuse to have that MANGO SALSA! #delicious

 

Pancake House has quite a few savoury dishes so if you want a bit of everything, you can order their Special Sets which let’s you try more of their food in one go and it comes with a free iced lemon tea ~~ kind of like a value meal! The House Special Set – which has their spaghetti, fried chicken with mini pancakes, delicious taco and their special gravy sauce. Good dish to have a little bit of everything at Pancake House

 

A Filipino specialty right here! Halo Halo, which is a popular Filipino version of our Ais Kacang; sweet corn kernals, jackfruit strips, yellow sweet potato, bananas, shaved ice, home made pudding and yam ice cream ~~ mmmm ~~

 

Pop by with more people so you can try more things ~~ order more to take Instagram worthy shots ~~

 

Pancake House International

Unit EF05, First Floor, Giant hypermarket, Tasik Rimba

Opens from 9am till 10pm

Tel: 2463593

Sosro Fruit Tea Lemon Flavour: Win an iPhone 7 or iPad Mini 4

Great submissions for far from the Brunei residents! Now let's see if we will get some more submissions before the deadline on 9th October! The heat is on! Who will be the winner of the brand new iphone 7!?

Click here to view album of the submissions: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/ilovesosrobn/

 

Update: Contest is extended to coincide with the launch of the new Iphone 7! The heat is getting hotter! Who will be the winner of the brand new iPhone7!?

 

Brunei's favourite Sosro Fruit Tea recently launched their Lemon Tea Drink and in conjunction with this launch - they will be giving Bruneians a chance to win an iPhone 6S or iPad Mini 4. Three lucky winners will be chosen for the most creative photo taken with their new flavour. Just follow the instructions from the poster.

 

Terms & Conditions :

1) This competition is open to all residents of Brunei

2) Only those who did all three steps will qualify.

3) You may send in as many photo entries as you wish

4) Participants must keep their IG profile public during the duration of this contest

5) Last day of entry on 9^th Sept 2016.

6) All winners will be notified by phone.

7) Prizes are not exchangeable, transferable or exchanged for cash.

8) All prizes will be presented at the Mall during the launching of FT Lemon in Sept.

9) Organizer decision is final.

10) By submitting the photo, contestants grant the Organizer the right to use the photos submitted in their promotional campaign.

 

Examples and ideas

 

 

The key part is to have the Lemon Fruit Tea drink in your picture. The rest is up to your imagination!