Sunday, April 30, 2017

NGOPI DI MUSEUM AT MUSEUM BANK MANDIRI JAKARTA

Lately I've found myself liking to write daily short stories to share you guys in this blog and I found that a bit more personal & different compared to the common restaurant reviews, anyway today I met up with my college friends: Nanda and Qaedi whom I have not met literally for years and today we went to the last day of Ngopi di Museum event at Museum Bank Mandiri Kota Tua to check out the event and some of the stuff there!

Getting here was seriously easy, and because I live not too far from Kota Tua it literally only cost me less than 10 minutes to arrive, and if you make your way from Sudirman Street, keep it straight to Kota Tua and I believe you'll easily find the museum.
The event has been running for two days and in that short period of time, it manages to feature a lot of coffee houses/roastery/ice cream along various F&B vendors, latte art competitions, cupping sessions and more. There's no ticket nor entrance fee required to come to this event so everyone's more than welcome to come for free! I noticed a lot of my favorites such as Kopi Kina, Ottoman's, Rubiaceae, Coffee Smith and more! I didn't really try everything one by one because people were packing the event and the hallway where the coffee booths were mainly located was a bit narrow for people to go back and forth so not many could really pack certain coffee stand to be honest, and not to mention it was humid.
Because this event was sponsored by Mandiri Bank, the payment for every purchase/transaction here should be done with Mandiri E-Money (and not sure about other Mandiri related stuff). I personally am not a Mandiri user but my friend is so I kinda borrow his money and changed him with cash afterwards. To be completely frank, if you're planning to buy anything/coffee beans/products, I notice most of the booths provide free samples of their products.
It has been a very laid back Sunday and I wasn't being very ambitious with all the browsing and stuff because what really matter was meeting my friends today and the good talk. Thank you Nanda for the picture on the left :p
Qaedi
To the irony of the event: Thai Tea, but this wasn't my favorite tho.
Dutch "Cold Brew" Coffee from Coffee Kulture
I saw they have some food stands selling Cumi Matah, Soto and this Tahu Gejrot!
After spending around two hours at the event, we went to have late lunch at Padang Merdeka which was located just nearby (just a short 5-minute walk) and as expected, left feeling VERY FULL! Anyway their Ayam Pop was seriously so good (only IDR 19k) and you guys have to try (I haven't written the blog post of my frist visit there two weeks ago sowry a bit lazy)

Even though as a freelancer everyday kinda feels like Sunday (meaning I can work anytime and doesn't need to stick to the office hours) but I have been loving these two 'back to back' long weekends! Another holiday tomorrow where should I go? Hmm.

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Saturday, April 29, 2017

THE MORNING AFTER BRUNCH AT COMMON GROUNDS NEO SOHO

Before I start this mini-article I want to thank Hadi from Manual Jakarta for inviting me to The Morning After brunch earlier today at Common Grounds Neo Soho.

The Morning After is the collaboration between Common Grounds, BEAU and MALT Studio where occasionally, they'll provide unique breakfast experience at random destinations throughout the city of Jakarta, so if you participate in this brunch like I did earlier today, expect to always indulge on great BEAU feasts, top notch Common Grounds Coffee, while MALT Studio's in charged for all the design stuff, as detailed as the yellow paper where the toasts and coffee stood on.
On this session, the brunch adapted this canteen style service where the guests would have to carry the prepared trays and queue to get the coffee and toasts, and upon getting my coffee I understood the purpose of the design on that yellow paper, there are three smaller squares on top for three small coffees (filter coffee, milk coffee, batch brew) and two bigger squares for the toasts (one savoury, one sweet) and BOY I AM DIGGIN THIS IDEA! Special thanks to Talita and Glo for actually giving me everything to try (aka four toasts) instead of two.

Now my favorite from the coffee has got to be the milk coffee, simply I am not a big black coffee drinker, but I did try everything tho and no doubt, good coffee as always! Kudos to Aston and the team yays!

Toasts from left to right: Truffle, Chorizo, Banana Tiramisu, Poached Pear
From the toasts, tough call because I genuinely love everything, but good old Mushroom with generous truffle dressing and runny poached egg never failed me, and from the sweeter side, the Poached Pear with Chantilly cream was DA BOMB but I was in love with the chocolate toast on the Banana Tiramisu! Dear Talita your baking talent is seriously hideously awesome!!!
Looking forward for the upcoming brunch, I seriously wouldn't mind paying for the ticket.

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Friday, April 28, 2017

KOPI SAGALEH: KOPI TUKU'S STRONGEST COMPETITOR?!

First knew about this when Andra Alodita tagged me on her Instagram Stories saying this coffee was crazy good and I've been wanting to try this ever since, but unfortunately (but fortunately) constantly being sold out at random hours every day (read: good business), and FINALLY just earlier today I got the chance to try this and weirdly excited about it!

I've been hearing a lot of good buzz about SAGALEH and when I uploaded this on my Instagram Stories earlier actually a lot of you told me that this tastes better than TUKU but in my personal opinion it's pretty challenging to decide which one is my favorite and I am not obligated to. I personally enjoy both and I think TUKU makes very good Kopi Susu and we can't disregard that even though technically Kopi Susu has been around for a long time, but it was them and the social media that really lived up the hype back and they really open ways to the other coffee shops who are giving shots of this particular product, and modernized it in a way that we all enjoy.
I found SAGALEH's coffee to be a little richer and bold with this bittersweet caramel aftertaste that's altogether beautifully sweet and interesting as well! It was genuinely good and price wise: cheaper (if not cheapest) around their peers at IDR 15k/glass! They have a small outlet located at Jalan Petogogan but to be completely frank I would recommend you guys to just have it delivered to you via Gojek or whatever you normally use, but do check their Instagram because they always let everyone knows if they're sold out that day.

Quick update from my friend, Aline: apparently they use 8 different local coffee to create their signature blend, no wonder why their coffee is a bit stronger.

This Kopi Susu trend is currently one of the most happening in town and somehow as a coffee addict I found this trend very interesting because more and more shops now come with their own version of Kopi Susu and each has their own take and it goes back to one's palate to decide which one is their favorite.

Kopi Sagaleh
Jalan Petogogan I/V No. 2
Gandaria Utara, Kebayoran Baru
Jakarta Selatan 12140
Opening hours: 9 AM-sold out hours

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Tuesday, April 25, 2017

INNISFREE INDONESIA REVIEW - FIRST IMPRESSIONS

This blog post is seriously HIGHLY requested and when I say highly requested literally every single day after I posted my purchase on my Instagram Stories at least 2-3 people ask me for the review and guess what? You're now looking at the review aka first impressions of the products that I have been trying from Innisfree Indonesia!

First of all, this is not a sponsored post, I purchased all the product myself and the review will be based on my personal experience trying the product for one week aka 7 days after the purchase and I have to point this out at the very beginning: since skincare and food review is VERY PERSONAL, so the products that match me and don't might do the opposite to your skin, that's just how it goes.

Innisfree just recently officially expanded & launched its brand to Indonesia last month and Central Park mall became their first launching space and outlet, followed by Senayan City where I purchased these items. The grand opening was a HUGE success and rumors speculated that they made over a billion rupiah on its first three days of launching, again this is just rumor that I heard spreading on the air, but if they really did make that much I won't question it, the queue was seriously insane on that first three days.

Initially did not plan to purchase Innisfree products because I have been very loyal with my long term relationship with Kiehl's and Laneige, but a few days prior the purchase when I dropped the question about your Holy Grail Skincare Regime on my IG Stories a lot of you actually recommended me to try Innisfree, and since this bitch is a sucker for skincare products I decided to try them out along with the hope that the products actually work and won't cause any freaking breakouts!

I really did not have any idea that they were having gifts to spare and I was lucky enough to actually get the Green Tea Fresh Kit and New Member Kit. Customers will get the Green Tea Fresh Kit for free if they spend IDR 340k or above at checkout and the New Member Kit is a free complimentary when you guys signed up as members on their official website. I asked the staff there about the length of the promotion but unfortunately they couldn't give a fixed answer because the gifts are available for giveaways WHILE STOCKS LAST, so if they're now running out of products, even though you sign up as new members or shop IDR 340k & above, there's a possibility that you won't get them.

Disclaimer: I did not do any research/background check about the product that I am testing on my face, I was a total virgin to this brand, have heard about it and saw the store when I went to Korea last year and I didn't know what to expect.

REVIEW
New Member Kit - free sign up gift!
The New Member Kit consists of three mini versions of their best selling products: Orchid Enriched Cream, Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask and Green Tea Seed Serum. Now I am going to start my review from my most favorite to the least from this kit. The best for me has got to be their Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask, this is a wash-off mask that's suggested to be used maximum twice/week and the texture of the clay mask is creamy making it very easy to be applied on the face. All you need to do is basically apply an even amount on your face, wait for 15 minutes then rinse it off with warm water, PS: I did not smell any fragrance from this product, the smell was actually very natural and clay-ish if you get what I mean.

Personally, the most seen effect for me is that the clay mask helps controlling the oil & sebum on my face and I normally do the regime at night before I go to bed then followed by the green tea toner + essence + serum. I feel like everytime I do the regime the night before I woke up the next day with a fresh and well-moisturized face, dewy but not oily. HOLY GRAIL MATERIAL! (the phrase that beauty guru loves to use LOL).

To be honest I don't really give a shit about the steps because I feel like the products with pretty much the same consistency and thickness will eventually absorbed in your skin tho and steps shouldn't really matter because afterall skincare should give benefits to your skin, almost like make-up but not too significant, some people can go with concealer first then foundation, or even contour first before the base, so I personally think it's totally fine to go either with the cream, essence or serum first.
Close up of the clay mask texture!
Green Tea Seed Serum
The texture of the serum is watery and it dries out fast when it's applied to your skin. I don't know man I am not a big serum believer nor I have found one that really does all the magic trick to my skin, I expected the texture to be slightly thicker but not creamy as I found that the serum didn't give me the amount of moisture that I expected.

If you wonder what all that hair is I literally put the product to my thigh and take picture, so much easier than putting on my hand so unglam wtf!
Orchid Enriched Cream
This was unfortunately the product that I was not super fond of, aka F A I L and I hate the fact because this was that product that smells the best in my opinion. I tried applying it on my face for a casual day out and my face got super oily after 2 hours of application! I immediately know that I will not be liking this product further and apparently after I posted my verdict of this product on my Instagram Stories a lot of you actually gave mixed reviews, yes the orchid cream is specially formulated for dry skin and for those with combo/oily skin like mine, you guys recommended me to go for the gel version. Should have known about that but yep I didn't do any research about the brands and these freebies before.

Ended up giving this to my mom and this actually works very well on her! She told me her skin felt more moisturized and smoother.

So CREAM for dry skin, GEL for combo/oily skin, yet I found more than 10 comments from people with combo/oily skin and their skin did just fine with the orchid cream, well yet again, different skin takes certain products differently.
Green Tea Fresh Kit - free gift after purchase of IDR 340k and above
This kit consist of three small versions of their best selling products from the Green Tea range: Green Tea Fresh Skin Toner, Green Tea Fresh Essence and Green Tea Fresh Cream. I totally change my regular toner (aka the majestic Bioderma) to this for one whole week and as what toner does: expect the toner to clean your skin by lifting the dirt, excess dead skin and elements from your skin making sure it's clean and giving you a hint of freshness, I was personally fond of the light fragrance of this toner.

I personally found the texture of the essence and cream to be a little uncommon, somehow I think the texture of the cream fits 'essence' better and the opposite, not to mention the cream itself actually has this gel-like texture instead of cream.

To be completely frank, I am LIKING their Green Tea series because I think they are doing a very good job controlling the oil and sebum on my face. Out of the 7 days of trial, I used the serum + essence + cream alone 4 days and the other 3 days layered with BB cream (plus the olive mist below) because I have events to attend, judge me bitch but I like to make sure I look BETTER at events. Anyway, after the whole day of application I notice my skin felt moisturized but I wasn't as oily as I normally would (before I converted to Kiehl's and Laneige), mostly around the T-zone (forehead and nose) and eye lids but not too much, and completely matte underneath the eye, and cheek.

Now the cons of this product, I haven't had breakout in a very long time, but after a week of application and as this post is written, I notice I am now having several small breakouts around my forehead, my cheek and jaw line, not sure if it's really because of this product or what tho.

Olive Real Oil Mist - IDR 135k
I used to have a love-hate relationship with mist because I don't know, I just feel like a lot of them are bullshit, but this one actually changed my mindset a bit because they did infuse this mist with real olive oil and after days of application, I notice that this gives extra moisture to my skin and making it feel dewier compared to the days when I didn't apply this, the only thing that I really didn't like is the fact that this runs out very quickly. In just a week and an average of 10 sprays per day, the mist is already gone by almost 50%, not to mention each spray didn't feel like much (which in a way good because you want to appear dewy not wet). If you're into super matte look then you might want to skip this.
The mist had this fresh olive and lemon-like fragrance that's light. I never carry this around everyday and I just spray this right after the skincare regime before I started my day.
Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask - IDR 190k (real size selling package)
So there you have it my review aka first week impressions of Innisfree Indonesia products that I have been trying and as this post is written been more than a week. Again, every single one of us has different skincare regime, and mine is pretty much what I've explained above, some of you might add sunscreen, eye cream, face cream, anti-aging cream or whatever in between because each one of us has different skin need. I generally found Innisfree products to be good and fun, but it can perform better, I feel like my face is better controlled with Kiehl's products but better-moisturized with Laneige products, but when you compare the price tag Innisfree is considered pretty affordable compared to the two other brands, or if you need something extra you can go for 'her fancier sister', Sulwashoo, which is under the same management.

Will I repurchase? maybe, mainly for the green tea series, but I am still comfortable with my long term relationship even tho it always cost me a lot.

Thank you for reading!
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#CERITASENSODYNE WITH SENSODYNE INDONESIA (WIN IPHONE 7+)

If people ask me what's the 'it' weapon to become a good food blogger, well aside from being able to write and take good food pictures, your palate is everything, after all one's review will always be based on what the palate tasted and then you write a story about it, that's why it's very-very important to take good care of it! (FYI your palate = your mouth and its main features: tongue, gum, teeth)

I go to food tasting events almost every day and I am faced with various food & beverages served to me and most of the times you don't know what to expect because restaurants don't normally give the menu preview before (except for ice cream shops because you obviously know they're serving ice creams duh), instead you'll know what you're getting on the spot. The appetizers, main courses and desserts can be either very hot or very cold or things in between.

Now I have a little story, my teeth are in a much-much better condition now, but my childhood wasn't exactly unicorn dreamy when it comes to my uber sensitive teeth, long story short the most epic case happened when I was on my second year of junior high school, I was having sensitive teeth condition PLUS a pretty large hole on my left back molar (aka gigi geraham belakang) and I vividly remembered I was having ice cream with two of my best friends. I was totally aware that I had hole on that molar so I chose to digest using the left part of my mouth, sometime in the middle of our conversation, I might be too carried away with how fun that day was that my brain skipped to continue using the left part of my mouth and instead going with the opposite and BOOM the cold ice cream reached and sneeked in to that hole and I was instantly in such a terrible pain I CAN STILL REMEMBER HOW IT FELT UNTIL NOW and I just dropped my ice cream like that and rushed to the toilet just to wash my mouth and hold the terrible plain, I swear I almost cried it was that painful.

...and just like that my precious moment with my best friends got ruined, and trust me I think it's a complete bullshit when people say that heartache hurts more than toothache, whoever says that might never have experienced toothache problems I believe.

While the holes can be covered with surgery, sensitive teeth is something that needs an extensive and continuous care to keep the teeth healthy, and to be able to eat as much ice creams (or other cold dreamy stuff) as we can is just one of our childhood's most simple dream (and probably until now), yet I wasn't exactly living it back in my childhood.
SENSODYNE
I am pretty sure you guys have already known about Sensodyne, the well known toothpaste brand dedicated specially to solve sensitive teeth issue that it barely needs anymore introduction from me, now I am more than happy to tell everyone that I am completely free from all the dental issues including the sensitive teeth topic that we're talking about here, but it's always important to take care and that's why I am suggesting you guys this dental kit from Sensodyne Indonesia.

#CERITASENSODYNE
Sensodyne Indonesia is running a campaign where you guys can grab the chance to win some weekly and grand prizes just by sharing your inspiring #CeritaSensodyne sensitive teeth stories:

#CeritaSensodyne contest mechanism:
1. Indonesian citizen with minimum age of 17 years old
2. Participants should be following Sensodyne Indonesia on Facebook, @GigiNgilu on Twitter and @SensodyneIndonesia on Instagram
3. Share your #CeritaSensodyne on your social media accounts, don't forget to tag Sensodyne Indonesia on the platform used along with the hashtag #CeritaSensodyne
4. Contest ends on April 2017

The two chosen stories at the end of this campaign will grab the chance to win new iPhone 7 plus and will be announced via Sensodyne Indonesia social media channels, and weekly winners until April 30th will get the chance to win IDR 250k phone balance (reloads) for 10 lucky winners!
No need to be ashamed because we're all the same! Now it's time to share your stories, inspire other people and grab the chance to win cool prizes! Now that I've shared mine I can't wait to read yours.

More details -> CLICK HERE

GOOD LUCK!!!

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email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com
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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

SEMASA DI KOTA TUA - OLVEH BUILDING JAKARTA

Had a satisfying lunch at Padang Merdeka last week and realizing I was in the Kota Tua area and since I have been hearing buzz about this pretty little coffee shop called Semasa, so why not have a cup of coffee after a "brutal" Padang feast? Yay!

Semasa is located at the third floor of Olveh Building which located precisely across Stasiun Kota-Pinangsia, it's a white building that's normally occupied for exhibitions and funny thing about my visit was that I accidentally bumped into my friend who was decorating for the Raito's exhibition (which I failed to come sorry :p), total coincidence. Anyway there's no elevator here as far as I remember and the stairs was the only access to reach Semasa.

Upon entrance, Semasa looked to me more like a little concept store in a room with a space to sip your coffee instead of an actual coffee shop, the fact that the shop was not spacious really gave you this calm vibe that could be relaxing, on the day of my visit the shop was on its full house hour (it was around 3:30 PM on a Tuesday) and inside they only have one large (but not so large) communal table, a mini table for two and random seats located outdoor for smoking guests.
The shop sells various stuff from home amenities, handmade crafts, paper crafts, fashion stuff, amenities, fragrances and more.
Some special desserts you can pair your coffee with, not sure if they're changing the menus daily but I have a good feeling they are.
The one man show: cashier, barista, storekeeper - I initially thought they did the coffee all manual here but when I peeked the little bar inside, they actually had this mini espresso machine. Cute stuff.
Iced Latte - IDR 35k
Ordered Iced Latte with no sides/cakes because I was super full from my glorious Padang lunch, but honestly after browsing the store and bar around, I didn't expect much from the coffee, you know that moment when you enter a store and somehow they're giving you this 'warning' from the vibe of the store (despite this being comfy), but yup, not the best coffee I've had.
Anyway, had a good short time here, hoping when I return it won't be as crowded as my first visit (I know right selfish LOL!) and spent two good hours reading my favorite book or working on my stuff.

Semasa di Kota Tua
Gedung Olveh Jakarta
Jalan Jembatan Batu No. 50 RT 01/05
Pinangsia, Taman Sari
Jakarta Pusat 11110

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Map for Gedung Olveh/Semasa