New drinking apparatus

16 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Cool Stuff, Restos & Food, Super Power

Just when I thought I’d mastered the basic functions such as ‘drinking’, I discover there are new ways of making this daily activity even more fun and interesting!

I’ve never been a pro at ‘drinking’ – it sounds silly but this is not something that comes naturally you know! It takes practice and training, and learning the appropriate technique also helps. Since birth, I’ve been spending alot of time and effort trying to become more efficient at drinking ‘from mom’, the bottle, the non-spill baby cups – with and without handles, and then there was the basic cup. The latter still gives me some grief… Mom & dad still won’t let me hold my cup on my own, as a change of clothes would be required each time. Personally, I wouldn’t mind cuz I could then change my look more often, but this would require more investment in my limited wardrobe…anyhow, that’s an issue I need to discuss with my parents…

Recently, I was introduced to a new drinking apparatus. We were at the resto, and mom started putting this plastic tube in my mouth. I had no clue what to do with this, so I started chewing on it, like I do most things that go into my mouth…Kinda boring and uneventful. Then, my parents showed me that I needed to suck air from this tube and within a few seconds I had a surprising rush of flavours in my mouth… Sweet banana-strawberry-mango lassie – yummy for the tummy! I liked it so much that I finished off half of mom’s drink in only a few minutes.

New drinking apparatus!

Drinking from a ‘straw’ has been the easiest drinking technique to learn, thus far! No special technique is really required, and it is much cleaner than the other methods, most of the time! And in general, when a drink is presented with a straw, it’s usually some kind of ‘cocktail’ that beats drinking plain ol’ milk or water 🙂 Bring it on…Cheers!

Gardening tools

10 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Bugs and creatures, Cool Stuff

When we moved into our new place in Canggu, mom and dad hired a gardener to do a major clean-up of the lawn. The land is beautiful with different types of trees, flowers, a temple and even a ‘river’ in the back. However, it was starting to look a bit like a jungle-in-the-happening, and what’s scary in the jungle is what’s hidden underneath all that ‘Natural’ beauty 🙂 We needed someone to come freshen up the place and set free the many creatures that most definitely were lurking around…and fast…

Our gardener did an amazing job in only two days, it went from a ‘wild-jungle-adventure’ feel to a ‘serene-bed&breakfast-like’ ambiance! What makes it even more impressive is the tools, that he used to transform our landscape!

I’m sure you won’t find this lawnmower on sale this spring at Home Depot or Sears…

Old-school lawnmower

Oh, and he only had to kill one scary snake during the ‘clean-up’. Unfortunately, it was The undesirable ‘Green Pit Viper’, with a red tail…

Green Pit Viper Snake

House Cleaning Ants

10 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Bugs and creatures, Cool Stuff

There are many creatures here in Bali, from dragon flies, bees, geckos to bats and snakes. Ants may seem like the most harmless little buggers, but when they’re packed together, boy it’s extraordinary what they can do!

Trust me, in the few months since I’ve been here, I’ve seen my fair share of ants: migrating from one home to another, clearing out the last crumbs of a bag of peanuts, feasting in our garbage cans,… Although they can be a nuisance sometimes, it can be handy to have them around, especially for keeping the house ‘clean’ or for ‘Dead-Pest Control’ rather.

They pretty much force you to keep the place ‘clean’ or at a minimum, to clear out anything that’s edible from any open surface area. But, I learned that they can also help ‘clean up’ your home…of dead bugs.

We had a dead gecko in our living room the other day, and before we could get our broom to sweep him out. The ants had already carried him out, in just a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, the video came out too blurry but here’s a pic. You can imagine them moving the poor gecko at about 1cm/sec…pretty fast!

A few days later, they were trying to move a dead cockroach from our bathroom but mom was too impatient to wait for them…With all this ‘food’ they’re getting, let’s just hope that I don’t come face to face with an army of Giant Ants soon!

 

Viva Glam Pink lips

05 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Beauty, Restos & Food

Missoni F/W 2011

I’m really excited to have discovered a natural way of getting the hottest, kissable lips here in Bali. Rather than going for red or nude, I’ve opted to go Pink this spring, as presented by M.A.C. for Missoni’s Fall/Winter 2011 collection.

Rather than going with expensive cosmetic brands such as M.A.C, Nars, Chanel, Dior, etc. to get my look, I’ve discovered the Dragon Fruit. It’s perfect for spring as they are in season here in Bali during the month of March.

Note that there are two types of dragon fruits, white (Putih) or Red (Merah) – so be sure to get the right one for your desired look!

 

Red dragon fruit

 

 

Although the application technique can be a little messy, the final look is great and the fun part is that they taste yummy as well. What more can you ask for, something to fill your tummy and gives you a trendy look at the same time. I’ve also tried using beet, but it doesn’t taste so great and there’s more prep work required. You need to boil them first, where as the dragon fruit is ready-to-go, so you can be ready for that party in less than 5 minutes!

I keep the rest of my ‘makeup’ natural, so the lips get the full attention…Like the pros recommend, only highlight your eyes or your lips, but not both at the same time – but heck, I say you should do whatever makes you feel good 🙂

Don’t forget to lick your lips for the full glossy effect!

Resto Review : Deus Ex Machina (Canggu)

24 Mar 2011 2 Comments

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Fun Spots, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

March 12, 2011: We have just recently moved to Canggu, which is a beautiful quiet area still lined with many rice fields. Mom and dad have been exhausted and are not really in the mood to cook these days. Besides the kitchen is not yet ‘setup’, so they say,  therefore we had no choice but to go out to grab a bite to eat. Joined by our friend, we headed out to Deus Ex Machina, which is not too far from our new home.

When we arrived, we were nicely greeted and brought to our table. We had a few sections to choose from: by the bar, in the front where it seemed a little more crowded, or in the back, which was more quiet. Unfortunately, they did not have a high-chair for me, but no worries – my parents had already prepared for this likelihood and had brought along my portable chair. Anyhow, it didn’t bother me too much as I had plenty of free space all to myself to crawl around on the floor back there! Well, I didn’t actually have the space all to myself, but let’s just say I claimed my territory 🙂 Besides, I had already eaten and was bursting with energy…

Mom and her friend ordered the Seabreeze cocktail (Cranberry, Grapejuice, Vodka). They both seemed really happy with their drinks. Refreshing with just a hint of sweetness, and the right amount of alcohol…

They were starving so they ordered some appetizers to start off:

  • Fried Calamari, which sounded like an amazing idea. Everyone was salivating at the thought, but when the plate arrived, the excitement died down. The portion was a bit skimpy, as were the calamari, and they were simply not crispy…Not the best start to the meal.
  • Deus Three Ways: A sample of three dishes nicely presented in Chinese soup spoons. There were tofu, chicken and beef tasters. They were all yummy and got the taste buds going. Dad liked the beef so much, that he ordered it as his main course.

Mom ordered a whole fish with lemongrass, which was served with a bowl of steamed rice. It was tasty and not too spicy. Mom’s friend ordered the Green Thai Curry which was also delicious, and was served with ‘roti’ (sorta like flour tortillas). Note that the prices here are slightly higher than the average restos we’ve been to thus far…

Dad’s beef plate still tasted great. There were no surprises for him, since it was just a continuation of the appetizer dish. However, the surprise, or should I say the ‘Kick’ came, when mom and dad traded plates as they usually do. Mom was already familiar with the taste of the dish, but suddenly she started crying and ‘fan-ing’ her mouth. She grabbed her friend’s beer glass without asking and downed it all in a matter of seconds. She then took the last ‘roti’ and ate more white rice in search of relief for the fire that was exploding in her mouth.

It turns out the culprit to the burn-o-rama was the tiniest piece of red chili, which looked like a piece of red pepper. Poor mom! She immediately spit out the chili, but it was already too late. The damage was done and she no longer had feeling on her tongue, or her entire mouth for that matter, for a good 10 minutes! Feeling sorry for mom’s pain, dad and her friend each tasted a minuscule piece of chili out of compassion. It was indeed extremely spicy and all three were now suffering. Another round of Bintang for everyone to help soothe the burning tongues…

Meanwhile, I was having a blast on the floor crawling on all fours. Later on, when the drama had died down, dad decided to see if I could take a few steps holding onto his hands…Wow, I realized that this is pretty fun! Woo hoo – I can walk!!  This will definitely be a night to remember! First, mom’s burning tongue and my first steps at Deus Ex Machina!

Food: *** (minus 1/2 point for the killer chili!)
Deco/setting: ****
Service: ***1/2
(out of 5 stars)

Deus Ex Machina
Jalan Batu Mejan No. 8
Canggu, Bali

Office – +62 361 368 3386
Restaurant – +62 361 368 3385
Bengkel (workshop) – +62 361 368 3395

Blog : http://www.deusbaliblog.co.id/

Toast for breakfast?

23 Mar 2011 1 Comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Cool Stuff Tags:

On most days, my parents and I have toasts for breakfasts…If you read my other post, you know that they get the good stuff (Skippy or Nutella) while I get to have ‘dry toast’ or “Vache qui rit…” cheese, which is actually really yummy – so I’ll stop complaining now!

But since arriving here in Bali, we noticed that the toaster takes an extremely long time to ‘toast’ the bread…When I say a ‘long time’, I mean almost an ‘eternity’… Five minutes in the toaster, and the bread still does not come out brown/golden even when set to maximum…We thought it may have something to do with the electricity, or perhaps the toaster was simply broken…

Well, we may have figured out the problem this morning! Mom had placed a few smaller pieces of bread into the toaster and one piece was just too small and got stuck. Poking through with a knife (Note that you must always unplug the toaster when doing this, as mom & dad have gotten a few shocks here in Bali) and turning the toaster upside down did not manage to get the piece of toast out. So the last option was to open the toaster from the bottom (like when you want to clean out all the accumulated bread crumbs from the toaster)

Well, guess what we found? It’s quite sad, but to our surpirse, we found a poor gecko that got ‘fried’ in the depths of our toaster. Who knows exactly what he was doing there? Maybe he was there to get slight tan, like people who go to tanning salons. And as he was relaxing with his eyes closed in the initial warmth of the toaster, he may not have realized that it was getting hotter and hotter in there and that the tip of his nose was starting to burn. By the time he realized what was occurring in his ‘spa’, it was probably already too late for him to make a speedy evacuation from the toaster. The poor thing! All people who go to tanning salons should take heed – these rooms heat up pretty fast, and by the time you feel the heat/burn, it may already be too late – Result: Orange skin (not so bad compared to our ‘toasted friend’ here, but is it really the look you’re going for?)

In the end, we finally got our little piece of toast out…Who knows, perhaps the toaster will start working properly tomorrow now that it’s been ‘cleaned out’!

Resto Review: Zula

17 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

March 8th, 2011: For a late lunch, we were headed to a cool cafe spot in Legian and as we turned the corner onto Jalan Dhyana Pura, dad’s friend leaned over and asked if we’d ever gone to Zula, a vegetarian/organic food spot. Mom said let’s go! She was dying for some healthier food…

Zula has a nice organic cafe feel to it. There are comfy wooden benches and chairs for you to sit down and enjoy a tasty vegetarian meal, cool down or get an energy boost while sipping one of their many mixed juice drinks or stop by to pick up some organic products for your home (food, tea, soaps, vitamins, etc).

It was already quite late so the adults were starving. I, on the other hand, have a ‘regular’ schedule that I try to stick to. Having my daily routine where I eat/sleep/play at pretty much the same time every day helps me to keep my energy high (so much so, that mom and dad sometimes call me the Energizer Bunny who just keeps going and going and going…) It also helps keep my digestive track in check. If only my parents could apply the same ‘rules’ on themselves as they do to me, they may be less tired and have less ‘Bali-Belly’ symptoms as they’ve been experiencing…Ah well, maybe they’ll learn one day…They’re old enough to take care of themselves. Who am I to tell them what to do – they should know what’s best for them!

At least coming to have a healthy meal at Zula is a step in the right direction! Feeding the body some yummy healthy food is better than going to McDonald’s for a Big Mac (More on that in another post…)

Dad ordered the Nachos Lite plate (32 000 Rp) to start off. The plate came with a tomato salsa and guacamole. Less than one minute before the appetizer arrived, the waiter had just cleared the table beside us, where they’d left their Nachos Lite plate almost untouched. Dad was sure that we would get their ‘leftovers’… but it turns out he was wrong…Our nachos were nice, warm and crispy!

Mom ordered a falafel sandwich (39 000 Rp) which was huge. It consisted of 3 homemade falafel balls, which were just the right texture – not too hard and not too soft, caressed by tasty hummus and tahina spreads and a cabbage and greeen salad to add some crunch – all this wrapped in a very fresh pita bread…yummy…she looked really happy. Luckily she got some help from dad and his friend…

Daddy was a little less impressed by his Tofu Cheese Sandwich at 32 000 Rp. It was similar to mom’s in that it was also served in a fresh pita with the pickled cabbage salad, but the Tofu and ricotta cheese combination seemed to be lacking some ‘umph’ for his liking, despite the herb seasoning. As they usually do, mom and dad exchanged plates and mom ate most of dad’s sandwich, but again the portion was quite generous so she was not able to finish.

Dad’s friend took a large Planet Platter (65 000 Rp) which looked really yummy, almost like a colourful sunshine in his plate. There was brown rice, tofu/tempe , grated carrot & red cabbage salad, seaweeds, greens and stir-fried mushrooms (which according to mom was the tastiest of the ‘sun rays’ on the plate).

Overall, the food was very tasty and they seemed to be happy to be putting some healthy food into their bodies (for a change…), especially mom! The ambiance was cozy and relaxed, despite the leaky roof 🙂 There was a bucket in the middle of the resto, which was catching the little drips from the ceiling. It did not seem to bother anyone and was quite understandable given all the rain we’ve been getting.

I have a feeling we’ll be coming back here in a not too distant future!

Food: ****
Deco/setting: ***
Service: ***
(out of 5 stars)

Zula
Jl. Dyana Pura (Abimanyu) No. 5
Seminyak – Kuta, Bali 80233
Phone: (0361) 732723/731080
Open daily 8 a.m.-midnight

Website : http://www.downtoearthbali.com/

Skippy and Nutella…Here I come!!!

15 Mar 2011 2 Comments

by Little Sumo Girl in Restos & Food

I’m almost there! I’m now able to reach the second shelf (from the bottom) of the kitchen ‘pantry’. This is where they keep some of the good stuff 🙂

I can see them everyday and they’re calling to me…Eat me! mmm Yummy! Eat me! It’s those two bottles with colourful labels on them, that mom and dad eat pretty much everyday. If someone is going to eat this every morning on their toasts, it’s gotta be tasty…or perhaps it’s for the nutritional value they bring – but somehow, given my parents’ dietary habits, I truly doubt it!

The bottle on the left (Skippy – Creamy Peanut Butter), I’ve been seeing everyday since the first week we arrived in Bali. Mom and Dad seemed truly excited to have found this bottle and since, have officially started their Skippy bottle collection. I think they’re already up to 3 bottles in less than 3 months!  The bottle on the right (Nutella) only appeared very recently…Not sure that the Nutella bottle collection will grow as quickly since it’s a lot more pricey and is more of a ‘luxury’ product here…

But let’s just wait til I get my hands on these spreads, and I know my morning toasts will be that much yummier 🙂 and I’ll do my duties to help the bottle collections grow too… Ooooohhhh, I just can’t wait!!

 

Resto Review: Tekor Bali

07 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Beach, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

March 6th, 2011 – The day after Nyepi (day of rest & silence on Bali), I was invited out for lunch with 2 other girlfriends and their parents, who are also here in Bali for a visit.

We head out about 12:30pm and it’s already steaming hot. We couldn’t figure out where to go so we headed out towards the beach, where the breeze should be good.

Dad had heard of a place called Tekor Bali which was a fave spot of a girl who wrote in the Bali Gazette. We were able to get a seat in the back of the resto, given we were a large group. Luckily there were fans, cuz it was hot day! It was nice to be in the back cuz we almost had the entire back way to ourselves, which was particularly nice for my girlfriend who is actually walking (and is in her exploring phase…) Occasionally, she had to watch out for the waitresses who were coming out back, trays in-hand, and weren’t expecting to see tiny people like us down there!

After ordering, they served us complementary bread with Aioli while we waited. Unfortunately, the service was EXTREMELY slow on this day. The adults’ drinks arrived at 10-15 minute intervals and finally the food arrived approximately 1-hour later. Luckily, mom had brought my lunch with her, otherwise I would’ve been starving to death! Thank god there were sufficient fans blowing to keep us cool. Waiting so long in this scorching heat would have been unbearable!!

Eventually, the guacamole appetizer with tortilla chips arrived! The guacamole was quite tasty, but I think they could’ve been a bit more generous on the chips…

Mom and one friend ordered Gado Gado – a traditional indonesian dish with lots of veggies, fried tempe and fried tofu. It came with a bowl of steamed rice and a peanut-dressing sauce. Mom’s friend had ordered it here previously and was quite disappointed with today’s servings. The presentation and the food were simply not to the same standards as the last time he came. In addition, the peanut sauce was much too watery so he asked them to change it. They did so without hesitation and the non-diluted version of the sauce was quite yummy.

Dad shared the Indonesian Rijstaffel with two other friends (60 000 Rp/person – minimum 2 person order) – A sample of 20 different Indonesians dishes, including:

  • Sate (Tuna & shrimp) – Best of the lot
  • Tempe Manis
  • Corn Patties
  • Fried Tofu
  • Vegetables
  • Beef Rendang
  • Pulled Chicken
  • Chicken curry
  • Quail eggs

The platter looks quite impressive and overall was quite good. This is a good way to get a sample of all the traditional Indo dishes. One day, when I’ll be able to eat more spicy foods and when my hand coordination will be better, I’ll be able to pick at the different plates on this buffet platter.

Mom’s other friend seemed to have enjoyed her shrimp salad dish, but it didn’t look out-of-this-world…

It was the day after Nyepi, so that would probably explain the slow service and the below-average taste/presentation of the food. People were still in the ‘No-Work’, ‘relaxing’ mood…

We were in good company and still had an enjoyable time, but Tekor wasn’t all it was decked out to be…this time around!

Food: **1/2
Deco/setting: ***
Service: **
(out of 5 stars)

Jalan Double Six (Arjuna) St.
Legian Village, Kuta

+62 361 735 268

Daily 7:30am – 12pm

Resto Review : Biku

07 Mar 2011 1 Comment

by Little Sumo Girl in Bali, Restos & Food, Travel Tags:

February 27th, 2011 – On what started out to be a stormy day, turned out to be nice family outing on Jalan Petitenget!

It was pouring rain in the morning and I was sure I was going to be stuck at home for yet another day. The rainy season has been quite intense this year in Bali. During breakfast, mom even had to pull my chair in as I was going to get soaked with the strong winds and the heavy rain in our outdoor kitchen.

The skies cleared out and after my morning nap, we headed out for family day 🙂 Mom and dad had been meaning to try Biku restaurant/Tea House. One of their friends had recommended the place, especially the Carrot Cake, which was the best he’d ever had. Given that mom has a major sweet tooth, we had to go check this out! A real yummy dessert in Bali – that is definitely something she had to discover!

We hopped into a taxi and upon arrival at the restaurant, we were greeted by a smiley waiter. It was quite busy so he asked if we would mind sharing a table or if we would like to sit outdoors. Finally, a table cleared out and we were seated at a large table for 6. He brought us a large wooden high-chair (still no straps) and a toy for me to play with – Bonus points for this guy!!

Soon after, they moved us to a smaller table for 2, which was fine by us – more intimacy for our family-time together…

The menu was varied and provided many choices for my parents, who were eager to get a good taste of ‘western flavours’. They were starting to get tired of Indonesian, or Italian (which was their default for take-out food lately). They opted for the Biku Deluxe Beef Burger (45 000Rp) and the Homemade Shepherd’s Pie (50 000Rp), and they ordered a side order of steamed vegetables for me (15 000 Rp) (not too hard they asked, so that I would be able to chew them with my 4-teeth gums!)

Since the resto was quite busy, service was a little slow. While we were waiting for our food, mom took me for a walk around the resto, which has a nice Antique style decor. There is a section with couches, and the whole place feels very cozy with little trinkets displayed along the shelves. At the front of the establishment, there is also the Ganesha Bookshop of Ubud which displays old, rare as well as modern books.

Finally, time to EAT! I was starving by now. Not so much because the service was slow, but also because we had a late start to our family day. When my vegetable plate arrived, I scorched down those carrots, green beans, and zucchini which were steamed to perfection (not too hard and not too soft), with just a hint of salt and light flavouring – Yummy! Oh yeah, there was also cauliflower in the plate, but they’re not my favourite, but they were good too…

I started to get so excited by the food, that I started standing and crawling in my high-chair to reach my veggie plate! Since the chair had no security straps, dad found a fix and used his belt to keep me seated during the meal.

Dad’s burger arrived – it looked delicious…and it was! I think I ate a quarter of his beef patty, it was so yummy! It came with sautéed mushrooms, a sweet onion jam and pickles on the side, a little bowl of ketchup and was accompanied by a nice house salad. Let’s just say the plate was almost sparkling clean when we were done eating 🙂

The shepherd pie came in a hot ramequin (good size) and was also served with a house salad. I also enjoyed this dish, the mashed potatoes had that homemade feel (but were less smooth than grandma’s back home) and the beef was tasty. It had slightly too much Savory (Sariette – in French) flavour for mom’s liking. No worries, dad helped to finish her plate and she finished up both house salads cuz the dressing was so yummy. Wow, I don’t think I’ve seen my parents clean their plates off so neatly in a restaurant – Ever! They were obviously able to satisfy their cravings here!

Unfortunately, we were too full to taste the carrot cake – so we ordered a piece to take home 🙂 Both mom & dad agreed that it was de-li-cious!

This lovely tea house/resto has a great ambiance, friendly service and delicious food. For those who enjoy tea-time, they also offer a tea service, with a layered tea-platter of sandwiches, small quiche, scones and small desserts at 75 000Rp/person (min. 2 persons, I believe). From what we could see, it looked quite ‘traditional’ and tasty. For those who are interested, you may also request a tarot reading while you enjoy your cup of tea….

I have a feeling we’ll be coming back to this place 🙂

http://www.bikubali.com/

Food: ****1/2
Deco/setting: ****
Service: ****
(out of 5 stars)

No. 888 Jl. Petitenget
Kerobokan, Bali
+62 361 857 0888

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