Ajisen Ramen @ MKG

Udah 2x-nya aku kecewa sama pelayanan Ajisen Ramen di Gading..
Yang pertama kali waktu mereka baru buka.. Aku n hubby ke sana malem2, almost 9pm, pas nyampe situ semua meja sudah terisi, so kita dimasukkin ke waiting list.. setelah nunggu beberapa saat, kita liat ada meja yang sudah kosong.. aku tanya ke waiter-nya, dia bilang meja sedang dibersihkan dulu.. tiba-tiba ada sepasang orang (co n ce) main nyelonong aja masuk ke resto n duduk di bagian lesehan.. ada waiter-nya yang samperin n bilang kalo itu udah reserved.. dia minta pasangan tersebut buat nunggu dulu.. tanpa aku sangka-sangka, tiba-tiba pasangan yang baru dateng itu, dikasih meja duluan, sementara kita masih aja berdiri.. wah rasanya udah bete banget.. akhirnya kita putusin untuk gak jadi makan di situ..
Yang kedua kali kejadian Sabtu malem kemarin.. ceritanya abis selesai nonton, hubby kelaparan n ngajak makan.. setelah kita keliling di area food court dan Eat 'n Eat di MKG 3, akhirnya diputuskan untuk makan Ajisen Ramen.. hubby pesen Ajisen Basic Ramen yg small plus his favourite, Jelly Fish.. trus aku pesen Fish Katsu Fried Rice 'n Ajisen Salad.. yg pertama keluar tuh Ajisen Basic Ramen-nya.. hubby lgs mulai makan.. sampai tuh ramen abis, pesenan yang laen gak ada yang keluar lho.. bayangin, bahkan salad n jelly fish-nya pun gak keluar, after 15'.. huaaaaaa, lgs emosi meningkat ke titik tertinggi.. setelah aku protes, baru tuh salad keluar.. padahal saladnya tuh isinya cuma irisan kol n jagung rebus doank lho.. ckckck.. pas waiter-nya nganterin salad, aku bilang nasi gorengnya cancel.. udah gak peduli lagi aku.. trus dia tanya soal jelly fish, aku bilang aja batal juga..
Duh beda banget deh sama Ajisen Ramen yang di TA.. pelayanannya ok banget, padahal kita lebih sering ke TA lho.. tapi gak pernah tuh ngalamin yang kayak di MKG ini.. mudah2an management Ajisen Ramen MKG bisa mengatur dengan lebih baik ke depannya..

Friends..

Friends is a very strong word.. we are always looking for one to share our happiness or sadness or emptiness.. to share every things that we've been through without being judged.. to share our secrets that we have..

There's one song that will remind us of how we value our friends, especially to those who really supported us all of this time..

That's What Friends Are For

Verse 1
And I
Never thought I'd feel this way
And as far as I'm concerned I'm glad I got the chance to say
That I do believe I love you

And if I should ever go away
Well then close your eyes and try to feel the way we do today
And than if you can't remember.....


Chorus
Keep smilin'
Keep shinin'

Knowin' you can always count on me
for sure
that's what friends are for

In good times
And bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

Verse 2
Well you came and open me
And now there's so much more I see
And so by the way I thank you....


Ohhh and then
For the times when we're apart
Well just close your eyes and know
These words are comming from my heart
And then if you can't remember....Ohhhhh

I would like to thank you to all of my friends for being a good one..

The Origin of Ceng Beng Festival

Everybody of course recognizes that he/she was delivered of by father & mother (parents). But among so many parents, who gave birth to them? Then, parents of Chinese People, who gave birth to them? These are questions about the origin of Chinese people.

At the moment of Ceng Beng Festival (usually falls on the 4^th or 5^th day of April every year), is the time to clean grave/tomb, the time for Chinese people pray for their ancestors (grandparents or parents, etc) who have passed away & commemorates the merits of ancestors. It is not a superstition, but it is to say the highest sense of honor to the ancestors, meaning that we don’t forget our origin, in other word we don’t forget where we originate from.

Qing Ming festival {Hok Kian = Ceng Beng} is a Festival to clean graves, also called Hari Raya Musik (Music Festival), is a day containing the deepest meaning.

These 2 letters清明 of Qing Ming, means clear sky with bright weather, in which daylight is longer than the night, atmosphere of spring is seen everywhere, flowers are blooming, plants and & creatures lives cleanly, freshly& chilly. Clean weather, bright view, so that it is called Qing Ming Festival (literal meaning = clean & bright).

Ceng Beng is the 5^th day of 24 Jie Qi (a day stating a part of 24 parts of Solar Year in Chinese calendar /Imlek), is the season where farmers sow seeds & plant flowers. Before starting to farm, the farmers pray first to their ancestors, thank to the ancestors who have given paddy field - dry field, life, property (legacy), goodness, etc. it is a very meaningful matter. Thus, this day is called思親節 Si Qin Jie namely Festival to Commemorate the Ancestors.

In the past, at the moment of this Ceng Beng Festival, rice, vegetables & fruits that have been prayed to the ancestors, distributed to the shepherds, poor child, or poor people around the graves. It states that goodness of ancestors is also distributed to be enjoyed by others.

Chinese ethnic group is called 中華民族 Zhong Hua Min Zu
{Hok Kian = Tiong Hoa Bin Cu}. The first ancestor of Chinese people was 軒轅黃帝 Xuan Yuan Huang Di (read: Sien Yen Huang Ti). According to a legend, Xuan Yuan Huang Di was born on the 5^th day of the 4^th month of the year 4608 Before Christmas. At that time, around the watershed of Huang He {Huang Ho}, The Yellow River, there were so many ethnic groups. All ethnic groups attacked each other, so that people couldn’t pass a safe & peaceful life.

When Xuan Yuan Huang Di & Chi You (one of cruel and brutal ethnic group leaders) engaged in battle, Huang Di troops attacked to Zhang He, get severe resistance from Chi You & his troops, so that failed to challenge Zhang He. Then, Xuan Yuan Huang Di invited music expert Ling Lun to compose “Song for Passing Zang” sung by
the whole troops. Finally within heroic and authoritative song & musical strain, Xuan Yuan Huang Di & his troops succeeded to pass Zhang He, & conquered Chi You. From this matter, it can be understood that music is not only able to entertain ourselves, can also bring in the victory.

After Xuan Yuan Huang Di conquered cruel & brutal Chi You, he united the entire nation, then founded a new country & improve people standard of living in safe and peaceful condition.

After displacing the capital city to Nan Jing, the Chinese Government stipulated Ceng Beng as Festival to Clean graves of Chinese People, stated that all Chinese people don’t forget the first ancestors, founder of state, Xuan Yuan Huang Di.

When anti-Japan war (1937 – 1945), the China Government stipulated the 5^th of April as a Music Feast Day, as well as to commemorate the presentation of Great music work created during Xuan Yuan Huang Di era.

Hanoi..

Many times in our life we felt that we're not treated rite by others.. according to our own point of view of course.. like what i experienced recently.. since 2 months ago, i've been told that my hubby get 'high flyer' reward this year.. and we're going to Hanoi by end of November.. i'm so happy 'coz previously i told my hubby that i wanna go to Vietnam.. for me it's like a miracle come true.. i've been many things.. i bought book about Vietnam, what should i see or eat there.. telling my friends in Singapore that i'm coming to Singapore first before going to Hanoi since it's connecting flight.. and talked what we're going to do in Singapore..
But last week, my hubby received email and it said that trip to Hanoi is being cancelled.. *sigh*
i feel so sad.. but dunno what to do.. it's just beyond my capacity.. why it happened this year? and all never ending question about it.. i have to say to Hanoi even before i go there.. hope there will be other opportunity to go there..

Trip to Bangkok - Just arrived

Sawasdee.. that's how the Thai people saying welcome to other people.. this picture is taken at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok.. it's the biggest international airport in South East Asia.. my impression when I first came is not much different from Indonesia.. I was arrived at 7.45pm.. no time difference between Jakarta n Bangkok..
Immigration is not difficult.. the immigration person checked my passport, took my immigration card for arriving and stamped the passport.. she said nothing to me.. but we have to stand in the marked sign coz they want to take our picture.. baggage claim also very fast.. no baggage checking after that.. just went out the airport..
My hubby arrived 1 day earlier.. he told me that taxi from the airport to the hotel is about 600 baht (around 180k rupiah).. phheeeww.. so I prefer to take the public bus.. but the information centre in Suvarnabhumi is not that informative.. I had to find the information for this public bus by myself.. I went to the 1st floor and I found Airport Express to the hotel in the Silom area.. It's like DAMRI in Indonesia.. it cost me only 150 baht (around 45k rupiah).. the funny thing is Bangkok almost the same like Jakarta.. the bus dropped me in the traffic light, not in the proper shelter.. hahaha.. wow, it felt like home I thought.. I was staying at Dusit Thani Hotel in Silom.. it is an expensive hotel but thank God it was paid by the company.. also have an excellent room service.. we were treated very well..
After registering my name in the reception, we went to the room and put all the baggages inside.. then we went out to have dinner.. we walk around the hotel to see what we wanted to eat.. on the way we saw a nite market across the street, it's crowded.. but i was curious to take a look what's going on inside.. so we crossed the street n went inside.. it looked like the famous Patpong Nite Market I saw in the website.. when I checked in the map, it is Patpong Nite Market.. I was so surprised that Patpong is near my hotel coz my friend told me to go there.. but we were so hungry so we planned to go there the next day n find dinner first since it was 11pm already.. finally we chose Burger King coz we want to know what BK like in Bangkok.. it's quite cheap, around 300 baht ++ for 2 persons.. include 1 king package, 1 regular package n hot brownies as the dessert..
Then we went back to the hotel.. get some sleep coz it was really tired..

Trip to Lampung (2)..

Story continues..
Hari Minggunya aku bangun jam 6 pagi kurang dikit, trus buru2 mandi karena rencananya mo brangkat ke Negeri Sakti (kuburan) jam 6 pagi.. selesai mandi & beberes, trus makan pagi.. Ii udah bikin bubur sapo gitu.. enak banget deh.. kapan-kapan mo tanya resepnya ah.. hehehe.. akhirnya brangkat sekitar jam 6.30-an gitu.. untungnya jalanan gak terlalu rame, jadi cepet nyampe di sana, cuma sekitar 15 menit..
Aku baru pertama kali ikut sembahyang kayak gini.. jadi agak-agak gak ngerti juga.. tapi ya sudahlah yang penting kan maknanya.. jadi aku doain aja yang udah meninggal itu biar dosa-dosanya diampuni dan diterima di sisi Bapa di surga pake cara yang aku tau.. trus buat keluarga yang ditinggalkan semoga bisa menjalani hidup ini dengan sebaik-baiknya.. selesai sembahyang jam 9-an gitu..
Abis dari kuburan, kita pada kelaperan.. trus akhirnya pada mo makan cwie mie malang.. tapi aku gak gitu tau daerahnya.. yang pasti lewat jalan Kartini & Raden Intan di Tj. Karang.. kita makan sampe kira-kira hampir jam 11.. trus anterin sepupu my hubby ke sekolah Xaverius buat belajar Krisma.. bis itu kita ke Teluk Betung buat ambil pesenan pempek yang dah diorder sehari sebelumnya.. pempeknya sih enak tp harganya.. mahal euy.. hehehe..
Pulang ambil pempek trus balik ke rumah.. siap-siap buat pulang ke Jakarta.. aku mandi lagi 'n beresin semua barang-barang.. trus pamit-pamitan sama semuanya.. eh gak taunya ujan deres bgt.. tp ya mo gimana lagi.. dah mesti pulang secara perjalanan ke bandara butuh waktu 45'.. trus mesti nyampe di bandara 1 jam sebelumnya..
Jam 2 siang akhirnya nyampe lagi di kota tercinta Jakarta.. kembali ke kemacetan Jakarta.. hehehe.. kembali ke rutinitas sehari esok harinya..

Trip to Lampung (1)..

Weekend kemarin, aku pergi ke Lampung buat sembahyang Cheng Beng di kuburan papi & mami-nya my hubby. Mungkin ada yang gak tau Cheng Beng itu apa. Cheng Beng itu salah satu tradisi kaum Tionghoa yang artinya adalah tahun baru-nya orang yang sudah tiada yang jatuh setiap tanggal 5 April tapi karena satu dan lain hal jadi kita sembahyangnya sebelumnya. Aku berangkat ber-4 naik Merpati jam 8.10 pagi. Berhubung kita mo naik bis damri & check in harus 1 jam sebelumnya, so mesti bangun super pagi deh. Alarm hp diset jam 4 pagi, tapi akhirnya bangun ampir 4.30 gitu, bis ngantuk bratz euy.. hehehe.. Jam 5.30 keluar rumah dengan berjalan kaki buat naik angkot or bajaj ke terminal bis damri-nya. Bis-nya baru jalan jam 6 lewat dikit ternyata. Nyampe di bandara jam 7 gitu. Ternyata perjalanan dari Jakarta ke Tj. Karang tuh cuma butuh waktu 25', gak berasa banget deh. Jadi jam 9 dah nyampe di Tj. Karang.
Di sana dah ada yang jemput, trus kita diajak ke tokonya dari Ii-nya my hubby di Teluk Betung. Perjalanan ke sana butuh waktu 45'.. lebih lama daripada naik pesawatnya.. hahaha.. sampe di toko-nya si Ii dibeliin locupan.. enak deh nyam nyam nyam.. bis itu kita pergi beli perlengkapan sembahyang buat besok paginya.. kita beli sepatu, emas logam, hp, paspor, visa, baju, etc.. tapi semua itu dari kayak karton gitu.. nantinya buat dikirim ke orang yang meninggal itu.. caranya dibakar..
Abis belanja-belanja itu, trus kita dianter ke rumah Ii yang ada di Tj. Karang.. rumahnya gede bangeeeett.. ada 4 lantai plus lantai 5-nya itu terbuka.. jadi dari lantai 5 kita bisa liat kota Bandar Lampung.. di sini kita cuma taro tas sama istirahat 15' aja soalnya dah mo dijemput sama Ii yang lainnya (btw, itu panggilan untuk adik atau kakak dari nyokap dalam tradisi Tionghoa) buat beli oleh-oleh.. baru dateng dah beli oleh-oleh.. hehehe.. abis waktunya mepet sih..
Tapi sebelumnya kita makan siang dulu di Rumah Kayu.. kita makan ikan bawal bakar, ikan gurame acar kuning, cah kangkung, karedok, fuyung hai.. makanannya enak-enak tapi kebanyakan vetsin.. secara aku gak tahan kalo makan vetsin banyak-banyak..
Dari situ kita beli oleh-oleh di toko Yen Yen, Teluk Betung.. aku beli kripik pisang, krupuk ikan, semprong, manisan pepaya & mangga..
Malemnya kita gak kemana-mana soalnya banyak yang mesti dikerjain untuk sembahyang besok paginya.. semaleman kita ngelipetin kertas jadi seperti bentuk uang yang ada di film-film silat gitu.. pegel bener punggung & mata.. finally jam 10-an selesai juga.. trus langsung deh kita tidur..