Rainy days

So Marcel is home with some sort of virus. I'm thinking the flu or something to that effect. The weather hasn't improved greatly. It rains all day and through the night so you can't really do much. Everything is...well...wet...and gloomy.

Get well soon

Over the weekend we found out that our card for Lena hadn't arrived yet (thanks Indonesia Post). Thankfully we sent some postcards while we were in Australia. Meanwhile, here was the card we made.

A golfing weekend

We woke up bright and early today...5am so that Marcel can do 18 holes at the golf course in Cinere. We were a little surprised by the major traffic jam near Poin Square and Marcel was not in the best mood having to deal with this first thing in the morning but that quickly subsided when he T-ed off at 6:30am. The first 9 holes went by swiftly with Marcel scoring 48. I'm not sure about scoring in golf but I'm told that this is good. The last 9 holes was not so good. It just got too unbearably hot, even for me, and I wasn't even playing!


Throughout the course there are several pit stops of people selling foods, snacks, drinks, and of course golf balls. These golf balls are found in the course itself. All those lost balls drowning in the lake or caught in a tree are all collected by the locals, then grouped into bunches of 12, according to brands, then resold again to golfers. So you are literally buying your own golf balls back. It's like Indonesians have found a way to make ripping people off a business. The whole concept is quite funny but then again, this is Indonesia.

Mama needs a brand new car

This week Marcel reminded me, several times, that the annual golf tournament is on again this October. Normally when I hear the words golf, or any other sport related words, I often glaze my eyes over in boredom. This time, he casually mentioned that there is a rather tempting "hole in one" prize, actually, four tempting prizes. An Audi, VW, Mercedes and a BMW. So I quickly changed my tune and accompanied him for some golf time at the Pondok Indah Golf & Country Club for two rounds of driving. We did have a walk over to PIM for lunch, dumplings, yum!


After all the golf training Marcel had, we headed over to Bersih Sehat for some traditional massage. I've never been here before and was a little bit hesitant at seeing metal handle bars on the ceiling above my massage table but overall it was alright.

Kids who can cook really freak me out

So just before we left, there was this huge promotional work on Junior Masterchef Australia. It's a show that takes 50 kids from ages 8 - 12 and get them through cooking competitions, challenges and tests to determine who the best child cook in Australia is.

This show is kind of creepy. Check out some of the things these kids can make! Marcel thinks it's unnatural for kids this young to be able to make things like that. Judge for yourself!

Ricotta Gnocchi with Eggplant Sauce

Rabbit and Mushroom Ragu on Soft Polenta

Falsomagro with Crumbed Eggplant and Tomato Sauce

Lamb spring collection

Since we left Melbourne, Marcel has been craving lamb chops. I'm not sure if this has anything at all to do with the heavy lamb campaigns going on in Melbourne when we were there but I'm also craving a bit of lamb chops. We were eating them just about every night (to Marcel's delight) and when you stop completely, it really gets to your head. I'm dreaming of them as we speak.

Presto pesto

I was feeling like pesto pasta yesterday but didn't really get a chance to find out what the word "basil" was in bahasa til today. After realising that a small jar of pesto would cost me 50k rupiah at foodhall I thought it would be cheaper and healthier for me to make some pesto myself! So off I went to Carrefour for this pasta dish. I went and asked a staff if they sold basil leaves (daun kemanggi) but she looked at me puzzled. I presumed that I hadn't pronounced it properly but after hearing a laugh from a male customer then having him say "basil leaves are food for the poor, you can only get them at the traditional market" then walking off so I decided to try and look for it myself. I finally figured out the basil leaves by smell and happily paid for it - 5k rupiah for a bunch, enough to make a small jar.

I think sometimes Indonesians are so concerned about having expensive taste in food (amongst other things) that they forget to realise that their local produce, as cheap as they are, can make some amazing (and expensive) dishes!


The basil leaves here tastes kind of citrusy so somehow it makes the whole dish taste a bit more tropical. The pesto itself was incredibly easy to make, but I adapted the recipe a little. I used almonds instead of pine nuts because, well I had a bunch of almonds at home and used 5 cloves of garlic instead of 3 which I cooked in a bit of oil. I also don't have a food processor - nor do I know what it is so I used a stab blender that Ulla gave us for our wedding present which worked just as well.