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April 29, 2005
Sushi House (again!!) & Tony's Get Wasted House Party
From the Evite title that Tony sent, we knew well what he wanted to do for his house party last Friday.
But before we went there, once again we had dinner at Sushi House...ck...ck...ck...I guess you all bored just by reading it.
And this time we tried to be smart,wanted to come for early dinner, therefore Didi picked me up around 5.20, we had a little traffic on the way there. But when I arrived at the restaurant (Didi was looking for parking), there were already quite a few people on the line when I wrote down my name. Shut! do we have to wait another 40 minutes even for this early dinner. Luckily that was not the case, they called my name not even 1 minute later. Hmm that was a very good planning after all.
After done with dinner we went home, rested for a while, then went to Tony's house around 10 pm. We met Novi, Steve & Gregg over there too.
There quite a lot of people, all new friends to us (Tony went to school with Novi & Steve at CCAC-California College of Arts & Crafts).
Most of them (and Steve) left around midnight only a few stayed until 2 am, including us, Novi & Gregg. Basically we just joked around, the funniest joke was from Scott (Tony's dowstairs neighboor), who is a Scientist and graduated from Stanford (hmmm quite a different scientist, I thought they were all boring, I guess he's too different).
Here is the joke, Sorry for the XXX rated language though:
A father give his 17 year old a buck ($1) because he’s been a good boy. With a buck he bought a duck, then he passed a hostel and went in, he met with a prostitute, he told her he only can pay with a Duck, she doesn’t mind. Indeed the sex was extremely good; she returned the duck and gave him 25 buck. On the way home they got a hit by a truck.
He went home, and his dad asked him what he got for a buck, he replied,
“ For a BUCK, I bought a DUCK, for a DUCK I got F**K and for a F**K up DUCK I got 25 BUCK” (This last part you have to say it fast, so it rhyme), well maybe it wasn't funny after all, but when you're kinda tipsy it was hillarious, we were laughing so hard.
I'm not sure whether Tony's mission accomplished or not, but we gave him alot of tequila shots. I only had 1 shot and just drank wine, sure it was enough for me.
On Saturday we just hang out at home, unfortunately I had to work for a few hours. For dinner we bought food to go from Batavia Garden, new Indonesian Rest. in Sunset area (the owner is actually Didi's cousin). When we picked up our order, Gregg was actually having dinner with his friend, we also met Alvan, Nana, Anto, & Grace w/ her husband. This rest. is very good (seriously), but beware of the wait for the food you've ordered, especially when they got busy, it could take 30-40 minutes...yikes..I guess Cik Henny is still the only cook, hopefully they hire another one soon.
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Ordered the seafood (cheap! only $6.95), Kepiting Saus Padang is my favorite...yuuummm. Also the Ayam Bakar (Didi's favorite). The Sayur Lodeh not worth it, the portion is small and expensive $7.95, more expensive than the Seafood entree. I'm still craving for Mie Tek-Tek & Nasi Goreng Terasi pedas, but it only served during lunch. Well, I guess that's my amateur review for this rest.
And I've been cooking alot (we were broke after all the sushi dinner). I cooked sambel goreng labu siam from Astri's recipe last week and Didi said it was excellent!! and he wanted me to cook it again. Astri if you're reading this, Didi said you're an EXCELLENT COOK!!Also I made Sayur Lodeh & Mie Kangkung (w/out the chicken just the mushroom), so Didi got creative made his own meatball soup for his Mie Kangkung. I'm just lucky he never complaint because I never cooked anything with meat.
Posted by hamdani family at 03:19 PM | Comments (6)
April 23, 2005
Dinner date @ Blowfish Sushi & Dragon Lounge
Berhubung Novi & Steve lagi keluar kota, kita jadinya pergi berduaan lagi deh. Kali ini kita mau nyushi lagi (padahal baru minggu lalu ke Sushi House tuh) dan restaurant yang kita mau coba namanya BlowFish Sushi.
Kita udah sering banget denger namanya dan lumayan terkenal, soalnya katanya enak & juga terkenal gara2 mahal. Well hopefully worth it nih kita pergi. Kita bikin reservation yang jam 9.30 pm, dan pas kita dateng walaaah masih rame yak...kita nunggu meja 15 menitan gitu, ya udah kita pesen minum dulu deh, aku pesen Manggo Mojito & Didi cuma pesen bir aja. Restonya penuh sama gambar2 anime gitu deh, di dinding belakangnya sushi bar, ada projector gede lagi masang video anime, trus ada 2 tv kecil di main dining room juga masang video anime, cuma nggak kedengeran suaranya soalnya ada music techno gitu yang lumayan kenceng juga. Crowdnya hip banget deh, orang2 muda, ada yang trendy ada yang casual juga, pokoke enak aja diliatnya.
Surprise liat harga2nya, emang mahal, kayaknya cuma resto jepang ini yang kita liat jual blowfish/fugu, dan orang yang motong mesti punya license, soalnya kalo salah motong, bisa jadi beracun trus yang makan koit deh...iiihhh ngerii nggak sih...Kita sih nggak pesen fugu, soale mahal bener ($30 buat 5 slices sashimi), walopun penasaran juga sih rasanya gimana.
, Maguro (Tuna), Uni (Sea Urchin).jpg)
Kita cuma pesen 2 orders of maguro(tuna), hamachi(yellow tail) & uni (sea urchin), 1 hamachi sashimi (5 slices) sama 4 orders of rolls (soalnya kalkulator di otak jalan mikirin udah abis brapa nih). Servicenya top deh, order kita cepet keluarnya. Dan rasanya emang bedaaa...duuuh enaaknya tuh sushi, masih freeeesh banget ikannya, sampe kerasa salty2 gitu dari air lautnya. (Udah gitu Uni-nya juga rasanya sweet, nggak fishy2 gitu). Pertama aku pikir sih ikannya tuh direndem air garem gitu or ditaburin garem, cuma trus kita tanya si Ajas (yang kebetulan juga kerja jadi sushi chef di rest. jepang, dia bilang kalo ikannya super fresh pasti rasanya ada asin2nya gitu). Dan lagi yang beda, nigirinya tuh nasinya dikit2 dan fishnya tuh potongannya sampe nutupin samping gitu, padahal kalo ditempat2 laen kan nasinya banyak trus cuma di kasih fish slice diatasnya seuprit gitu.
Emang pantes dibilang rest. mahal, soalnya dalam waktu 20 menit dinner kita udah ludes des des. Dan Didi masih belom kenyang juga....hmmmm gawat...pdhal kalo kita makan di French Rest. dengan harga yang sama kan lama tuh bisa 2 jam-an kali baru kelar,dan pasti udah terkenyang-kenyang banget. Expect to spend $60/person di sini.
Herannya sih, kita puaass banget makan disini walopun abis banyak.
Jarang2 kita kayak gini nih.
Abis dari Blowfish, kita ke Dragon Lounge, ketemuan sama Reza, Gregg, Karlina, Andry, Fei-fei, Trisia, Ajas, Rudy, Alvin, Sandi, Bonda & Ina. Si Didi pas baru aja parkir mobil udah bilang, "aku mau mabok, jadi kamu nyetir ntar yaa..." yeeehhh ni orang curang bener, udah nge-tek gitu.
Kita disini sampe tutup jam 2-an gitu, trus si Reza, Ina & Gregg pada mau makan ke King Of Thai, cuma kita & yang laen2nya sih pulang, si Didi agak2 mabok dia gara2 minumannya dia yang terakhir. Pas nyampe rumah, nyalain tv eh taunya ada inauguralnya si Pope Benedictus XVI, langsung deh telpon ke Jakarta, soalnya nyokap fanatik banget sama acara2 gini, eh taunya bokap nyokap lagi ke Puncak, jadi ngobrol deh ma si Kiki. Ngomongin rencana mereka yang mau ziarah ke Lourdes & jalan2 ke Eropa summer ini, aduuuh kepengen ikut nih.
Posted by hamdani family at 05:45 PM | Comments (13)
April 17, 2005
Ke Sushi House & Ellen's 30th Bday @ Bucca
Hari Sabtu malem kita pergi berdua aja ke Sushi House di Alameda, tempatnya emang agak jauh dari SF, kira2 20 menit-an (abis mesti nyebrang Bay Bridge segala) jadi banyak yang nggak mau di ajakin makan disini.
Aku sih penasaran banget sama nih restaurant, abis tempatnya terkenal banget, udah gitu ruammeeeenya gak ketulungan.
Kita nyampe sana jam 8.15an, waaaak salah jam, orang2 udah banyak bener bergerombol di pintunya...gilaaa serasa ada pembagian jatah beras gratis...trus aku naro nama & pas nanya katanya nunggunya 1 jam....waadoooh....udah laper nih!!! akhirnya kita decided buat beli to go aja, ya udah pilih2 deh kita mana yang kita mau, pas kita naro ordernya & nanya brapa lama nunggunya....eeeh taunye same aje sejam juga...yeeeee....ya udah deh kalo gitu mendingan kita nunggu meja aja deh. Mending kalo makannya murah, gak juga tuh, 1 orang kira2 abis $25-$30-an deh, not cheap lhoo...cuma emang enak kok sushi2 rollsnya, dan potongannya lumayan gede2 juga.
Eniwei kesimpulannya tempat ini boleh dicoba, tapi kalo mau dateng either pas baru buka or pas udah mau tutup gitu deh, or telpon buat to go aja lebih praktis.
Hari Minggunya abis dari gereja kita pergi ke Bucca de Beppo buat ngerayain ulang tahunnya Ellen yang ke-30. Kita agak telat datengnya soalnya cari kado dulu buat the bday girl.
Yang dateng banyak temennya Ellen & Agus dari SFSU jadi byk yang gak kenal, yang kita tau cuma Jimmy doang.
Waah judulnya kita makan sampe kenyaang deh.
Thank you yaa Len & Happy Bday again!! coba minta 'kado' dari si Agus tahun ini...if you know what I mean...*wink wink*
Posted by hamdani family at 02:02 PM | Comments (4)
April 15, 2005
Gregg's 30th Birthday Party - Baraka & Ruby Skye
Temen bule kita, Gregg, hari ini pas ulang tahun yang ke-30. Dan dia udah dari jauh2 hari ngasih tau mau ngajakin dinner jam 8 di Baraka Rest. French Mediterranean cuisine, rame2 sama bokap, nyokapnya dia, best friendnya dia Haek & tunangannya, & kita2 deh (Indonesian gangs: Novi, Steve, Antos, Maya, Reza, Karlina, Andry, Alvin, Ina, Fei-fei).
Jadi pulang kantor aku sama Didi pulang dulu ke rumah, mandi & siap2 trus jemput si Maya deh. Kita emang nggak mau dateng telat, soalnya ada bonyoknya si Gregg, dan mereka itu biasanya dinner jam 6, kebayang kan kalo telat, nggak enak aja sama mereka.
Dan bener aja, kita nyampe jam 8 lewat dikit, udah gitu ber-hai2 sama mereka, trus jam 8-20an si nyokapnya bilang2 ke Gregg, kapan nih pesen makanannya, mau nunggu sampe jam brapa buat order....hehhehehee...aku sampe nggak enak sama mereka.
Untung aja, nggak lama abis itu pada dateng semua deh temen2 kita, dan acara makanpun dimulai.
Appetizernya ada goat cheese, crab cakes, maine scallops, foie gras, lamb tartare, moroccan meatball. Itu aja udah bikin perut kenyang, belom lagi winenya di-isi-in terus sama servernya.
Trus pas dinner aku pesen Seafood Paella, tapi biasa aja tuh rasanya, nggak ada istimewa2nya sama sekali (apa udah kenyang kali yaaa).
Trus kocaknya pas acara buka kado, si Steve & Novi ngasih buku judulnya "Making out in Indonesian" ..kekekekeeee(soalnya si Gregg cuma suka ma cewek Indonesia)...jadi segala kata2 or bahasa2 aneh ada semua...
Dan si Zap dengan nyantenya mbacain aja itu kalimat2 XXRated, dia sih enak (orang Armenian) jadi nggak tau arti sebenernya....nah kita2 ini yang denger kan risih....tapi jadi asli lucuu bener...aneh aja ada buku soal begituan.
Kita selesai dinner jam 12-an trus langsung lanjut ke Ruby Skye di downtown.
Si Gregg udah reserved 2 VIP tables soalnya. Yang nggak ikut ke Ruby Skye: Alvin (tumbeeen bener), si Haek & Zap. Tapi trus si Sandi & Anto joined kita disana.
Enak emang jadi VIP...kekekkeee....meja kita ada 2 diatas, secluded gitu deh, jadi nggak semua orang bisa masuk, soalnya ada securitynya. Trus udah gitu semua minuman udah dibuka-in, walaaahhhh.....ada Vodka, Champagne dkk gitu deh.
Si Didi yang tadinya bilang cuma mau stay 1/2 jam, yah right....kita baru balik jam 3 lewat. Abis dah lama kita nggak ke tempat dance kayak gini...dan DJnya lagi tob deh.
Trus kita2 emang bikin si Gregg super mabook bok...begitu udah lewat jam 2 kan udah nggak ada dancers yang dance tuh. Trus aku bilang ke Gregg, "Gregg, I dare you to go up and dance", well dasar lagi mabook..cuek lah dia, naek deh ke dance stagenya gitu, trus dance sendirian...sampe akhirnya disuruh turun ma securitynya...kakakkakaaa....cuekkk...
Jam 3-an pada pulang deh, kita nganterin si Maya, Novi & Steve.
Trus si Gregg dianterin pulang sama Ina. Judulnya kita semua had a great time, Happy Birthday again Gregg!!
Posted by hamdani family at 04:09 PM | Comments (6)
April 10, 2005
Oyster Picnic di Stinson Beach
Hari Minggu kemaren akhirnya jadi juga kita pergi ke Hog Island Oyster Company di Tomales Bay (1 jam dari SF - nyebrang GG Bridge). Tadinya sih mau hari Sabtu, tapi taunya Karlina ada latian band, ya udah di jadiin Minggu aja deh. Yang pergi ber-8 (Didi, Me, Novi, Gregg, Karlina, Reza, Fersan & Anton (Maya tadinya mau ikutan tapi trus dia diare gara2 makan cabe kebanyakan, si Antos juga gak jadi ikut soalnya masih was-was gara2 ada gempa di Padang).
Semua pada ngumpul di rumah Novi, trus kita brangkat deh jam 11-an. Sampe di Hog Oyster Island, taunya waalaaah ramee bener, tempatnya di booked soalnya ada beberapa private event gitu deh. Kita sih masih bisa beli oysternya, cuma nggak bisa pake piknik areanya aja. Jadi mesti piknik di tempat lain. No problem sih, pasti banyak.
Didi, Aku, Fersan & Anton beli 100 oysters. Novi, Karlina & Reza cuma beli 60 oysters. Si Gregg ternyata nggak doyan tuh.
Moga2 nggak kebanyakan deh kayak thn lalu, waktu itu kita ber-12an beli sampe 500 oysters kali yaa....kekekekkeee...pada laper mata (soalnya kalo di resto2 harga 1 raw oyster itu $2, kalo disini cuma .75 cents, makannya pada kalap).
Aku sama Didi waktu itu beli 100, duuuhhh...itu mah ampe muntah2 juga nggak abis.....makanya butuh waktu hampir 1/2 thn-an deh baru bisa kesini lagi.
Kita akhirnya pergi ke Stinson Beach, abis udara lagi baguuss bener dan emang banyak BBQ pitnya disana.
Setelah kita dapet tempat di Stinson Beach, waaah mulai deh oyster piknik kita. Si Karlina yang baru pertama kali makan fresh oyster langsung kesenengan...good deh, apalagi dipakein mignonette sauce bikinannya Novi & minum fresh lemonade (dari kebonnya si Reza) again Novi yang bikin. Kurang apa coba. Yang kasian di Gregg, dia cuma makan 1 tapi taunya nggak doyan, jadi sibuk deh dia nge-grill salmonnya yang sempet dia beli.
Udah gitu ada hiburan gratis dari si Anton, yang ngelawaaak mulu kerjaanya. Si Karlina sampe cekikikan ndengerin lawak2annya dia. Emang ajaib nih manusia satu, adaaa aja bahannya.
Aku sih nungguin si Didi mbukain oysternya dulu baru deh aku bisa makan. Abis kita cuma bawa 3 oyster shucks sih, dan mbukanya agak2 tricky, susah-susah gampang, kalo nggak ati-ati tangan bisa ketusuk tuh sama pisonya. Trus curangnya si Didi kadang2 suka lupa ngasih, begitu dibuka, eeeh dimakan aja sama dia, dasaaar!! padahal janjinya 'one for me, one for you'. Begini deh kalo berdua oyster lovers, rebutan jadinya. Tapi pas terakhir2 aku sempet juga buka oysternya sendiri, lumayan deh jadinya.
Oystersnya si Reza-Novi-Karlina abis, cuma yang kita beli masih sisa 15-an gitu juga. Nggak ada yang mau bawa pulang lagi, jadi kita deh yang mbawa.
Kita selesai kira2 jam 4-an kali yaaa, trus sempet jalan2 bentar juga di pantai, abis itu pulang deh.
Waah perjalanan pulangnya lewat Highway 1, duuh mabok deh eke, abisnya jalannya tuh berliku-liku gitu, kan ngiterin gunung ceritanya.
Untung aja nggak sampe muntah.
Tadinya buat dinner pengen to go makanan dari Tawan's Thai Rest, eh taunya tutup, kita berdua lagi tergila2 ma Red Curry Fried Cat Fish.
Cuma karena tutup, ya udah aku bikin ketoprak aja dirumah. Nggak kalah enaknya kok, apalagi udah lama nggak makan.
Posted by hamdani family at 11:50 AM | Comments (14)
April 02, 2005
Valen's Bar & Karaoke Night
Whole bunch of us went to Valen's Bar (Didi, me, Fersan, Reza, Alvin, Karlina, Andry, Fei-fei, Gregg, Rudy, Sandi, Ajas, Reka & Jeffrey). The last three were new comers.
Ajas, as a new comer, had a loot of fun. He was the cheerleader to get Alvin (well some of us too) more shots. It was totally fun. Then Karlina & Andry performed duet for us. They tried to get Didi to sing one of the Evanescence song, too bad he didn't know the lyrics.
They all wanted to go Karaoke right after Valen's Bar but Didi and I could't go, because we were going to Buca de Beppo with Didi's friends for dinner.
After dinner we went to Karaoke in Richmond (it's called Music Tunnerl KTV) with Gregg, Reza, Alvin, Andry, Karlina, Fei-fei, Rudy, Ajas & Sandi. Thanks to Karlina who made the reservation. The place is very good. Too bad there weren't many rock songs like GnR, Bon Jovi, Creed, etc. But they have alot of Mandarin and pop songs. So if you are into Mandarin, this place is highly recommended.
We were there for 2 hours and when the bill came we realized this place had alot of hidden fee, such as $2/person min beverages charge, 10% service charge & 5% cleaning fee. Hmmm not that cheap, maybe next time better if we go during happy hours.
We got home around 1 am, and tonight Daylight Saving Time ended, so we had to move hour clock 1 hr forward. So actually it was 2 am.
Posted by hamdani family at 04:42 PM | Comments (4)
Pope John Paul II Died
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Wojtyla), the Polish pontiff who led the Roman Catholic Church for more than a quarter century and became history's most-traveled pope, died at the age of 84. I heard this news when we were at Valen's Bar. I was very very sad.
He was a great and holy man. I wished I could fly to Rome and attended his funeral. (The closest encountered I had with him was when he came to Jakarta in 1989 and held Mass in Stadiun Utama Senayan. I was in the Korps Putri Tarakanita Marching Band. We performed together with Santa Ursula's Marching Band). Physically, he has gone, but his spirit still lives on among Catholics around the world.
Posted by hamdani family at 10:00 AM | Comments (1)
April 01, 2005
Sting Concert today!
Nope, It's not an April Fool's joke, indeed Sting has concert tonight @ HP Pavilion in San Jose (45 mins from SF) @ 7.30pm. Me and Didi are going after work around 5pm and hopefully we'll meet with Karlina, Andry, Alvin & Fei-Fei there. We've arranged who will stay in line between the 6 of us. Andry will cover from 4-5; Alvin, Kar & Fei from 5-6, we'll cover the rest. We bought standing floor tickets. It's gonna be fun!! Details coming up soon. Hopefully Karlina will be able to smuggle her digital camera.
Allrighty, hope all of you have a nive weekend!!
CONCERT UPDATE:
The venue was actually at San Jose State Univ. Arena Center not at HP Pavilion. We left SF around 6 pm, pretty late, and on the way there Gregg called us. I told him we were going to see Sting Concert, and right away he said he'd met us there. Well hopefully you still can get ticket there Gregg.
Didi and I got there pretty late, around 7.20 pm, suprisingly it wasn't pack at all. We bought the standing floor tickets. Good we were very close to the stage. The stage maybe only 10 meters from us. The opening band played until about 8.15pm, then Sting took it from there...Yeeeahhhh!!!!....(the arena was packed - about 7000 people). And Gregg finally showed up, good timing Gregg.
Too bad he played most of the old songs - The Police's Era - which I'm not familiar with. He only played a few new songs.
Regardless, the show was awesome!! Damn he's good and hot!!
The concert ended around 10pm, and they came back again not once - but twice, when the crowd cheered and shouted. That was unusual.
Maybe because he's not that popular compared to his glory days a few years back. (Last June'04 I was @ Madonna's Concert, she didn't bother to come back eventhough 40,000 people shouted 'we want more' - I guess she is too BIG).
After the concert, all of us had dinner at Pho Hoa in Santa Clara until around 11.15 pm. Too bad none of us brought camera.
Posted by hamdani family at 08:39 AM | Comments (2)