Pahlawan Perut

Tinggal di dunia antah berantah jauh dari tanah air, tidaklah mudah, terutama kalo ngomongin tentang urusan perut. Sebab yang pertama adalah saya lebih suka makan daripada masak. Sebab kedua, meskipun lidah gak rewel, dalam arti saya pengunyah segala macem makanan, tetapi makanan yang saya nikmati lebih dari tiga puluh tahun adalah makanan nusantara dan rumahan buatan nyokap. Sebab ketiga, bumbu dan bahan makanan nusantara tidak lengkap tersedia. Dan sebab ke-empat, masakan Indonesia cukup sulit dibuat (at least buat saya). Maka jadilah meskipun saya juga menikmati segala penganan asli barat seperti cream soup, steak, panggang-panggangan, berbagai macam keju, berbagai macam penganan dari berbagai negara lain seperti kari-nya India, mezze dan shawarma-nya Arab, pasta dan pizza-nya Itali, laksa dan pad-thai-nya Thailand, pangsit dan ayam asem manis-nya chinese, dll, tetap aja keinginan untuk nguyah masakan nusantara gak luntur dan seringkali terlintas.

Sayang di tempat saya tinggal sekarang gak ada restoran masakan Indonesia dan sejauh ini cuma ada satu restoran yang menyediakan masakan khas asia yang cukup otentik, tetapi bukan masakan Indonesia. Bikin sendiri? Selain bahan-bahan susah dicari, bikinnya ribet, dan belum tentu enak. Cari bumbu jadi? Gak ada juga. Jadi gimana?

Saya ternyata cukup beruntung ketemu sama bu Minul (bukan nama sebenarnya). Dia perempuan sederhana setengah baya yang mengikuti suaminya bekerja sebagai staff lepasan di kedutaan Indo dan tinggal disini sudah lebih dari 8 tahun. Hobinya cuma satu; Masak. "Saya cape kalo gak masak", itu katanya suatu hari. Maksudnya dia bosen kalo gak masak. Dia gak suka shopping dan bergosip ria, juga takut kalo bepergian sendirian. . Ia bukan aja bisa bikin segala macam masakan dan kue basah khas indo, ia bahkan bisa bikin tempe! Cuma ada satu pembuat tempe di kota ini, ya si ibu Minul ini. Kelebihannya bukan aja bisa bikin segala macam masakan yang tentunya cocok di lidah saya, tetapi juga bisa mengolah dan menemukan berbagai bahan dan bumbu-bumbu yang ada buat menggantikan bumbu-bumbu asli. Saya seringkali heran bagaimana dia bisa menemukan berbagai bahan yang tidak bisa saya temukan di tempat biasa saya berbelanja.

Karena hobinya itu kadang-kadang ia membuat penganan kecil untuk dijual diantara teman-teman atau membantu memasak untuk keperluan kantor suaminya. Tetapi saya dan teman 'sealiran' (sama-sama senang makan tapi males masak) punya ide lain. Entah bagaimana awalnya, tetapi kami pun mulai mengkaryakan hobi si Ibu Minul ini dengan cara memesan berbagai macam masakan untuk konsumsi rumah tangga kami sendiri. Sejak beberapa bulan belakangan saya pun gak terlalu nge-ces kalo inget dan pengen makan masakan indo. Tinggal angkat telpon dan pesen. Ya tentunya terus harus kami ambil dan bayar. :) Bu Minul dengan senang hati belanja dan membuatkan masakan pesanan untuk kami. Saya senang, baby senang, perut senang, Hubby senang, dan bu Minul pun senang ... ;p

Gak pernah membayangkan kalau ternyata disini saya bisa menikmati sop buntut, nasi uduk lengkap dengan lauk pauknya dan sambel kacang, soto ayam, rendang pedes, baso, berbagai macam krupuk dan kripik, berbagai macam sambel, goreng-gorengan tempe dan tahu, dan bawang goreng, sampai makanan kecil seperti risoles, lemper, martabak, bakwan, dll!!

Buat saya,

Bu Minul, penyelamat lidah dan perut.

Bu Minul, orang paling penting di kota ini.

Bu Minul, is my hero :)

Saya pernah membayangkan kalo gak ada bu Minul di kota ini, aaargh,.... jangan sampe !!

Buddies

Just killin the time...

It's a rainy gloomy day today. Good time for snuggling up at home, had a cup of (decaf) coffee with mozart at the background, and played around with left over pictures.

(click at the picture to get a better look at it)

Aneh

Beberapa pesan dan peringatan dari teman dan keluarga hari ini di Yahoo Messager hari ini adalah: "Hari ini Rabu Abu lho. Ke Gereja?"

Iya, gue tau hari ini memang hari Rabu Abu buat umat Katolik sedunia, tapi sayangnya, kecuali untuk dunia bagian sini, dimana gue berada saat ini. Hari ini bukan hari Rabu Abu buat gue, dan buat umat Katolik di negara ini. Aneh?

Rupanya gereja Katolik di negara ini berteman sangat akrab dengan gereja Ortodoks. Ternyata pula masing-masing gereja menjalani rutinitas gerejaninya berdasarkan kalender yang berbeda. Ternyata lagi, ada berbagai macam kalender yang dipakai manusia sejak jaman dahulu kala. Kalau mau lihat sedikit penjelasannya (yang cukup bikin pusing), silahkan liat di disini dan disini. Singkatnya, kalender yang manusia sedunia pakai secara umum sekarang ini adalah Gregorian Calendar, yang merupakan penyempurnaan dari Julian Calendar yang mulai diperkenalkan Julius Caesar taun 45 BC (before Christ) - sebagai pengganti dari Roman Calendar yang kemudian dipake sampai dengan keluarnya Gregorian Calendar di tahun 1500-an. Gregorian Calender kemudian menjadi kalender umum yang dipakai manusia di dunia. Tetapi entah kenapa, Gereja Ortodoks ngotot mau pake Julian Calendar, sampai sekarang.

Keakraban gereja Katolik (dan Kristen) dan Ortodoks di negara ini menyebabkan mereka bikin perjanjian untuk merayakan Natal berdasarkan Gregorian Calendar yang dijalani umat Katolik dan dunia pada umumnya, dan merayakan Paskah berdasarkan Julian Calendar, yang digunakan gereja Ortodoks.

Jadi dimana dunia bakal ber-paskah ria tanggal 23 Maret, gue bakal baru mulai masa prapaskah - Rabu Abu tanggal 12 Maret, dan ngerayain Paskah tanggal 27 April.

Ya inilah satu lagi keunikan dan keanehan tinggal di negara bagian sini. Seru? Aneh? Yaa.. gak bisa laen selain dijalanin aja. :)

Tapi ada yang lebih aneh lagi. Gak ada hubungannya sama topik rabu abu sih..... ini nih. ;p

Anyway, selamat memulai masa pra-paskah, I hope that all of you have a blessed Lent.

Unexpected Holiday

Unlike last week’s snow where snow flakes fell down nicely and peacefully, it was only last for about half a day, leaving us only thin snow on the ground which then completely vanished the next day.

It was on Tuesday night, when the snow began to fall again quite heavily together with gusty wind. The city had hit by a blizzard! It went on all night, and didn’t really change on the next day. Though, we woke up in the morning with excitement, look out the window, everything covered in white, whilst the wind and snow still falling quite heavily. Grey sky, gloomy, cold, and silent!

One thing we just realised, that here, snow means time off!
No work, no school, no shopping, no going outside. Everything freezes. Just snow and waiting. Wait for the snow to accumulate, and then melt. Then everything will go back to normal, after a few days.

Anyway, it was gloomy and miserable day. But Hubby and I enjoyed it. We stayed in a warm house (thank God the heating works!), and got everything we need at least for a few days in the house. We looked out the window now and then, waited for the snow to stop falling. We couldn’t wait to go out and play on the snow. It was like a holiday! We went out couple of times that day when the snow and wind wasn't to strong. The snow was about 10 cm deep. It was cold because the wind and snow still falling.

That day was the day when I had my first walk on the snow, had a feel of it on my bare hand, stood under the snow fall, and first time for Hubby and I had snow fight. Was great! Although it was a terrible weather and we were technically trapped in the house, the snow also brought excitement and happy feeling. Wish to have it on Christmas day. That would be perfect.

It was Thursday morning, and snow still falls! But this time not as heavy as the last 2 days. It was nice flaky snow without gusty wind. The sky was clearer too. The snow storm has finished. What happened after snow storm was amazing. The view from the roof of our apartment building was fantastic. Everything is covered with snow,… and it’s thick! Maybe about 20-25 cm deep, made it harder to walk on. Lots of cars got stuck in the middle of the road and abandoned. Cars on the side of the road were buried about half of their tires. Definitely another day to stay at home. Also a perfect time to play on the snow again! Another day for Hubby to skip work, so we had a wonderful time at home and playing on the snow again - just two little kids. (*grin*)

This time we have companies. Some people and kids lives on our street were out too, just to have a little visit to their car or tried to drive their car out. Some people built snowmen in front of their houses, or had snow fight. As for myself, I built a tiny snowman outside my bedroom window. It wasn’t too cold as the gusty wind has gone. Again I and Hubby had snow fight (of course I got hit more!), walked bit further down the road, and took few beautiful photos.

Yesterday is Friday, snow was no longer falling, sky was clear, but still cold. Stack of snow everywhere paralysed city's activity. Supermaket started to run out fresh vegetables and fruits, people dig up the street and pathway so they can get their cars out, snowmen started to melt, snow and ice falling from the roof, and some people start to go to shop or work (only if they really have to - as Friday and Saturday is a weekend days).

And today, the sun is shining, the sky is blue. Snow blast has finished, no more excitement although everything still covered in white. Most of the snow on the trees and roof has gone. Leave alone snow on the ground, on the empty land and streets. The roads are wet and slippery, made it hard to drive on. More cars on the road, piles of snow in the middle or on the side of the road. The city started to be alive, but not completely normal. Snow became annoying. I can't wait to be able to mobile again as usual.

This city and it's citizen has never experience snow this bad since more than 20 years ago! People said they never seen this such of degree, weather, and snow. Apparently weather is going crazy everywhere in the world. Jakarta and NSW got flooded, South Australia got toasted by 47 degree, and many more - at the same time! It's crazy!

Snow is beautiful, it's cool, it's fun. But being snowed in, is not too fun! Back to the old school advise, it's not good to have too much on something, and it applies to everything.

Now it's time to see some cool pictures. :)