Once upon a time in the District, there was a young lawyer who quit his job as an attorney to pursue his real passion: « Baking cakes from scratch » His name was Warren Brown. Nineteen months later he opened his first bakery with cupcakes as its main feature. The baked goods shop's name was cakelove. Three weeks into the grand opening, word-of-mouth promotion elevated the tiny pattiserie into cultdom with people lining up to get their sugar fix.

Almost four years later, it has indeed become a dc institution just like Madam's Organ in georgetown Adams-Morgan though this one has much much more frosting on it. There are now two cakelove shops (the original one at U Street and a recently-opened one in the getting-hipper-by-the-minute area of downtown Silver Spring) and a cafe called lovecafé serving all cakelove gourmandises, light entrées and beverages.

The sit-in version of cakelove also proved to be successful. Located just across from the original cakelove bakery at DC's up-and-coming bohemian neighborhoods, U Street, lovecafé is the perfect spot to meet up with your friends (not too many though, because it's tiny) and relax among the vintage furniture strewn all across the rectangular eatery.

Obviously all the stories about its success made me a bit skeptical on how good it actually was. Now and then I heard people saying that their cupcake is actually not good at all. Most often people complained that they're dry and the frosting was hard. So when we went there after our brunch at Tabaq Bistro, I didn't really expect much.

I guess sometimes things are as good as they seemed (^_^) I got this Strawberry on Chocolate cupcake. It's basically chocolate cupcake (double-dipped in chocolate ganache, they said) with strawberries & cream frosting. Granted it was not exactly heavenly but I'd be lying if that wasn't the best cupcake I've tried. (And believe me, if you've lived in the States long enough, you'll eat tons of cupcakes since it seems to be the one thing everybody knows how to make, those baked sugary simple carb confections always make an appearance at potlucks.) The chocolate base was actually chocolate-y, not just sweet & brown like they normally would and the texture was heavier than most over-raised home-made cupcakes. The frosting was sweet (well, it was cream & sugar, it'd be a bit hard to make it not sweet) but I don't think it was too sweet, plus you can taste the strawberry instead of just tasting butter and sugar.

But... I guess cakelove will have to settle for mixed reviews instead of raves. Even though Octa & I loved it, Weize and Myra weren't too impressed. They think it was simply too sweet. Hmm... Octa & I are the sweeter of the bunch though... LOL j/k.

WARNING: Improper use of this technique during a violent match might backfire resulting in your own knocked-out status as exhibited by Japanese MMA fighter, Yoshihiro Nakao here. Nevertheless, he did end up winning while Texan Heath Herring, his opponent, ended up being disqualified.

The match (that never took place).

It's been four years since the last time I went back and somehow that was a very productive four years. At least in terms of the expansion of my extended family. All of my Puri cousins have got married and I got four nieces and a nephew over there. I finally saw each and everyone of them. It's amazing how quickly they all grow up. In my mind it's always the baby picture from the e-mails they sent me at their births. The eldest among them is the 8-year-old Indri, and the youngest is not even a year yet, Kelly. Between them there's Ditto, Ashley, and Audi. So nice to see them all and see my Jakarta cousins whom I haven't seen for the longest time. My sibilings and I (the Dago kids) used to be very close to them (the Puri kids) when we were little. But I guess you grow older, you start to find friends outside of your family and plus with my siblings' and my being in the US, it's kinda hard to stay as close. Too bad I couldn't see Riksen and his wife that I've never met because they live in Palembang now.

Of course it's nice to see my Moms and Dads. Nope, I did not make a grammar mistake there. I do have two dads and two moms. But no, it has nothing to do with either of them getting divorced and remmaried, it's just that my aunt and uncle (and their daughter whom my brothers and I call sister) live in the same house as us. So all of us practically grew up with having these four parents to scold us or spoil us. Even though I haven't been back for some time, in recent years, they have been quite often come to the States though. Ever since all of us [the kids] lived in the US, they've been visiting us quite often. It felt really strange to have my Dad drove me around, I felt like I'm back in grade school, LOL. It's a bit frustating too though not to be able to do it yourself.

I guess living in Indonesia really change people, hahaha, which can be easily seen by looking at the transformation of my sister ^_^ From the sweats & jeans kind of girl, she became this jeans-in-the-boots kind of girl. Haha, she is so gonna kill me for this. But it's great to see her again, the one girl in the family ^_^

I also met Oma — my grandma. She was supposed to come to the US for Thanksgiving but her health didn't really allow her to do that, so I haven't seen her since my brother's wedding a couple years ago. She's turning 90 in 2006. Yes, ninety! Seriously, I don't think I'd be in such health that she is in when I turn 90. I mean look at me now, I'm only 25 and I got a herniated disk, a set of teeth requiring immediate root canals, high cholesterol, and the list just goes on and on. In the meantime my grandma is still very much in good health and she still lives by herself (she refused to stay with any of her children) in a house in Roxy - Central Jakarta. My mom and aunts offered her an apartment nearby that would be easier to take care of than a house but she just doesn't want to move anywhere. I really hope she can make it to my other brother's wedding later in July... Hmm.. that reminds me of the Es Mambo Sirsak — these frozen soursop juice sticks she used to make us when we were little. Everything's sweeter with a pinch of nostalgia.

One thing at the top of my list was to go see my brother's grave. He was placed next to my paternal grandparents plot in Cikadut, a hilly cemetery area in Bandung with a city view. This is the first time I saw it because I couldn't get back home when the burial took place. I really like what my parents did for him. Instead of marble for the tomb, they chose a natural piece of stone and have it engraved. Umang would've liked it much, much better than some square, shiny stone. This is more him. Another thing was they let the plot of land be grown by this low lying ivy-like plant with little yellow flowers, just like what we'd find in the mountains when we go camping.

One more person that I was so happy to see was my Nanny. Hmm... there isn't an exact translation for the word English, nanny is the closest I suppose. Basically, she had been helping my parents raised all five of us since the birth of my eldest brother. So to us, she's just like a third mother and she does have the authority to act as our parents. I think she's around 80 now, ever since all of us went to college, she moved to Semarang to live with one of her daughters, but every time any of us come home to Indonesia she always comes to Bandung. I was quite close to her, so much so that at one vacation — second grade, I think — I went with her to spend the vacation at her house in Magelang.

I finally met Matthew again after two years (I think?). Matthew's parents, Sonny & Vanda used to live in Maryland. Vanda is the sister of Arief who is my cousin Rica's husband. So... we're somewhat related ^_^ They're pretty much the closest thing I got to family here when I just got here, knowing nobody. Naturally I spent so much time hanging out with them, playing with Matthew who had only a handful of words at that time. It's so cute that he still remembered me although at the first ten minutes he seemed unsure, but in the next hours I pretty much hung out with him instead of with the parents, LOL.

I find it so amazing how easy it was to fall back to my old routine when I still lived there. The first few days it was as if I were to live the next day, every day I would talk a lot with everyone but after a week, it became so normal to see my mom making breakfast in the morning (not that I could get up early often enough to actually eat breakfast, LOL), or my dad telling me to wait for him so that we could just live together in one car, or everybody calling everybody for lunch and dinner, or my parents picking me up from somewhere and then taking me to a restaurant for dinner. I definitely miss all that the first few weeks I'm back here. It feels strange to start saying gua all the time again instead of saya. *Sigh* I love my family and everything that's somewhat annoying yet comfortable about them. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

I was browsing the Thorn Tree language forum and there was a language mistakes thread. Needless to say my coworkers were looking at me strangely since every few seconds I would be trembling violently holding my laughter. So... thought I should share the joy.

portuguese / brazil
my last trip to brasil in 03-04 i made quite the mistake the last day. everyone in town got to know that i really wanted to buy a hammock (rede) but couldn't find them anywhere. then all of a sudden there was an influx of northern brazilians in the southern town i was in that came to sell their redes. the southern part of brazil is full of gauchos (cowboys). so after i bought my hammock (there were guys waiting for us at our apt when we returned home...that's how well known it was that we wanted one!!) i immediately went to the hardware store and asked for...

"um gaucho para pentear (os meus cabelos) no rede"
(a cowboy to comb my hair in the hammock)

instead of "um gancho para pendurar o rede: (a hook to hang the hammock)

they told me they were all out that day but to come back tomorrow!! and i swear when i was leaving town i saw a few cowboys (gauchos) look my way as i rolled out of there w/ my new hammock (rede)

french
In a car with three frenchmen, one of whom worked with me as a post doc here in the states, I finally heard something I understood, a discussion of the tobacco pipe resting in the console between the seats. So, I jumped, having had two semesters of french, "Ah, souvent la pipe?" small chuckle all around the car. I then, since I'd been understood and slightly amusing, I followed it up with, "Le tabac ou l'autre?" The car erupted in laughter! I'd intended to imfer that he might be smoking something more fun than tobacco, of course. Normally when I screwed up my french, Gwen would inquire, "Do you know what you just said?", but on this occaision he immediately exclaimed, "I did not teach him that!" Many of you will already know that "pipe" is french slang for "blow job".
souvent = often, le tabac = a small convenience store, l'autre = the other

spanish / mexico
i was in mexico after about half a semester of spanish in high school and i thought i was hot shit. we stayed in a hotel with a kitchenette, and we wanted to make breakfast the next day, so mi amiga y yo fuimos al supermercado.
"tiene huevos?" snicker snicker snicker "claro que sí. pero debes saber que..." and he proceeded to explain why i should ask "hay huevos?" instead. "oh. lo siento. ahora estoy embarazada" snicker snicker snicker
TWO classic spanish mistakes in one conversation man. they must've thought i was the dumbest gringa ever.
1) both 'tiene' and 'hay' means 'to have' but 'tiene' is used for things that is with you. so 'tiene huevos' means 'do you have "eggs"' instead of 'do you have eggs to sell'
2) lo siento = i'm sorry, ahora = now, estoy = i am
3) embarazada = to be pregnant, avergonzado = to be embarassed

arabic
Syrian Border guard: Where are you from?
Me : Aerlanda! (Ireland)
Taxi Driver and Border Guard: He is from Aerlanda Ha Ha Ha! (Aerlanda means dick-land, earlanda ,means Ireland)

spanish, portuguese / chile, brazil
In Brazil, there is a famous woman called Xuxa, who presents a TV Show for children. In this show, there are many young girls helping her, that are called paquitas.
In Chile, Xuxa (probably with a different spelling) is a slang for the vagina and paco is how the policemen are called by the population (like cop). Paquita would be a diminutive and female word for paco.

A friend of mine almost got into serious trouble when he asked an officer in Santiago if he had ever seen the Xuxa Show with the paquitas. It happened just at the end of the Pinochet time. Some years later, the Xuxa show was transmitted in Chile, making the children laugh and the parents cry.

spanish
I was in Cuba, first time trying my spanish outside of classroom. I met a friend who was injured after a basketball game. As I want to be helpfull, I asked if he had put "helado" (ice cream) on his anlke instead of "hielo" (ice)... He looked at me as if I were crazy and said "NO"!

chinese
4.00 am, China, Xiamen
A tired foreigner to his noisy neighbors: 'I want to sleep! '

Neighbors: 'Huh? Sorry we, don't have any dumplings!'

Turns out, the numbers stand for tones: shui3 jiao3 = dumplings shui4 jiao4 = sleep

german
A postcard I wrote to my German girlfriend's mother, whilst lying on a beach in Africa:
"Ich bin Heiss, Du Bist Kalt, Ich Bin Rot, Du bist Blau" which rather than meaning I'm hot, you're cold, I'm red, you're blue" translates colloquially as "I'm horny, You're frigid, I'm a Communist, You're a drunk."

english
When I was slingy drinks in a bar in Canada, we had a lady who was from Poland, who used to make some funny mistakes. Two large cocks please! (cokes, that is)

Not one, but two of my close friends here in Maryland tied the knot. Oh, I should say four of them tied the knot to each other: Acis & Lia, Lim & Agnes. Hey! Look at that, I just realize that they share initials as well! Didn't notice that before. Also, for both couples, the events in Indonesia were just receptions and parties. The actual wedding was already done. Acis and Lia got married in Melbourne, Australia while Lim and Agnes made it official here in Maryland. Similar fact number three: They both had 2-day events. Acis/Lia separated their Vow Renewal Ceremony and the Wedding Reception while Lim/Agnes had two receptions: one in Purwokerto (Agnes' hometown) and the other one in Surabaya (Lim's hometown).

Lia & Acis' — Jakarta

Thanks Lia, Cis for having me as... hmm... what exactly was my role again? LOL I'm never quite sure actually. It's the Best Man / Ringbearer I think. Anyway, it was an honor to take part in your happy day. Yea, even though it was not exactly the wedding day, but since we're Asians... it's not official until we have a big party (^_^)\/
The Cathedral was very nice, enough flowers for understated decoration complements very well the ornate gothic church. The pastor was actually OK, especially after the rumors on how strict he is LOL. It was a nice ceremony even though we can hardly see anything happening at the altar since the 6 photographers were all over the place, hahaha. But I suppose we got nice pictures as a result. After the ceremony ended, we walked out and took some pictures at the entrance before proceeding to the function room for lunch with what seems like a hundreds of people. It was unexpected because in Indonesia, there usually are not that many guests at the church. I guess you two are just special ^_^
The Cathedral was nice but the Reception Hall at the Ritz-Carlton was fantastic!!! It was both grand and cozy. (Yeah, I totally agree Li, Nefi absolutely outdid himself. I'm so recommending him for my sister's wedding.) So the theme was « Secret Garden » and true enough, you'd be hard pressed to feel like you're in a ballroom anymore. At the entrance the walls were literally covered with greeneries and the entrance gate has glow globes made of flowers hanging off them setting off the romantic atmosphere of a garden under the moonlight. In order to get to the ballroom from the entrance, you have to go through this passage of flowers and greeneries and trees (yes, actual living trees). The ballroom had circular tables instead of rectangular ones, so the organic feel of the whole decoration was maintained. The seating area for family was a gazebo structure with candlelit tables and low hanging flowers. In short, it was very beautiful!
 
 
 

Agnes & Lim's — Surabaya

I've just found out about this in the past couple of years. All through my life I thought Indonesian weddings are always a standing party due to the number of guests. But it turns out, not too far from where I live, just over the next province, not even the next island, it's the norm to have a sit-down dinner for wedding receptions! Especially in smaller towns apparently.
Obviously Surabaya is not a small town, but Agnes & Lim's wedding reception was a sit-down dinner. A 10+-course meal plus entertainment that includes singing, dancing, parades, karaoke, and even a cabaret show! Hey, wipe that thought out of your head, it's still a wedding! and plus it's Indonesia not France! That was the first time I went to a wedding so full of events. Plus, the MC-cum-lead singer went pretty much all across the room to see if anyone would like to sing a song for the couple. Red was basically the theme of the whole event as in the Chinese traditions.
It was a fun event, very relaxed. I came in a suit and I think I was totally overdressed because only the wedding party wore suits while the guests were much more casual in shirts. Who knows? It was only about 900km away from Jakarta but so different.
  

Selamat ya guys! Semoga langgeng-langgeng aja, rukun-rukun aja, dan tetep serame dan secerewet (ini berlaku buat cewek-ceweknya doang ^_^) waktu pacaran.

The Winter Olympics has never achieved the truly global event status its Summer cousin has (well global excluding the US where the Superbowl is still the most-watched event), but I think that's actually what makes it more athletic, less showy. Watching the Winter Games feels more like watching a sports event, while the Summer Games sometimes feel more like a week-long ad of Benetton Sports. Although, thanks to the whole judging controversy at Salt Lake 2002, more people know about the event.

This year, it's going to be held in Italy. Torino 2006 starts this Saturday, 11 February. Since December all the major media have been mocking the city's preparation on the games since even last week, only 30% of the tickets have been sold. This lower-than-expected public response plus also lower-than-expected government grants has led the city to find other sources of funding including a lottery. Apparently, if it doesn't involve 22 grown men, 2 goals, and a ball coverd with a 2-color-block of pentagrams, Italians aren't really into it.

Well, those are the minus points which they [TOROC: Torino Olympic Committee] totally balanced off with the plus points from design! Hey, they're Italians, this is what they're born to do! From citywide modernization that includes a major revamping of an old train station to constructions of sleek new easy-on-the-eyes facilities to the über cool graphic designs to the ultra cute mascots, this could be the best-looking Olympic Games ever!

The pictograms for the sports events are the first ever to not be based on 2-dimensional images. They are instead art-deco-inspired, multi-layered silhouettes of an athlete with block colors background, very much reminiscent of those vintage travel posters. The ones that are going to be framed in my room are definitely the rouge dynamic Figure Skating girl and cool blue Biathlon guy. Not to forget the Torino 2006 logo, a slanted, slightly right-twisted modern imagery of Turin's landmark, la « Mole Antonelliana ».

What can I say about the Portuguese-by-design mascots Neve, which means snow, and Gliz, meaning ice? They are totally adorable without being sickeningly cute. The slim, clean lines are very stylish while the color use and emotion that they use is just so sweet (but remember, not saccharine). There's also a third mascot, Aster, which is the mascot for the Paralympic Winter Games. Just as cute as the iceboy (Gliz) & snowgirl (Neve) and just as cool. Do not miss the short presentation video of Neve & Gliz (Broadband - 56k) on the official website.

Also on the film section, make sure you check out all the tv ads of the Games. They are absolutely works of art. My favorite is the one titled Celebrate Humanity: Opponent (Broadband - 56k).

All images are registered trademarks of the 2006 Torino Olympic Committee.

Well, I am officially being paid for nothing. It's so quiet here at my office that nothing actually needs to be done. So here I am, totally bored. After careful considerations, I decided to post my whole trip back home last month. It's going to be a 5-part entry: Weddings, Family, Food, Friends, and Health. The five reasons why I went back.

Oh and I've uploaded the pictures to my flickr account (which is also accessible by clicking the flickr box on the top left, right below the blog title) or check out my Yahoo!Photos page.

The premise is that luck's role in someone's life does play a quite important role, more than what people are willing to admit. The title could actually be anything else though. Match Point does sound quite catchy but in relation to the story, it's somewhat vague. It's not exactly unrelated but you can hardly call it the representative two words of the script either.

Chris (Rhys-Meyers/Velvet Goldmine, Vanity Fair) is a poor Irish boy who became a pro tennis player. He had some success but he didn't want to do it for the rest of his life. He ended up quitting the tour and started working as a tennis coach at a posh tennis club in London where he met Tom (Goode/Chasing Liberty) whose family owns the Hewett Corp, a multibillion multinational. The two immediately hit it off and Chris becomes the Hewett family's friend. Tom's sister, Chloe (Mortimer/Young Adam) was instantly attracted to Chris who was immediately taken by Nola (Johanssen/Lost in Translation, In Good Company) who turned out to be Tom's fiancée.

In terms of originality, I think Woody Allen did good once again. Sure, we all know about the premise but the way he weaved it into a story is just top notch. Not all stories have to have an unpredictable outcome and if that's your criteria for a good movie then by all means, do skip this movie. The entertainment in Match Point lies within its storylines, the web of delicate yet passionate connections between the characters and the decisions they make. You might be able to guess how everything will ultimately end but every turn of event is an absolute surprise.

Genius screenwriting and superb directing can only do so much if the cast weren't as spectacular, which was not the case with Match Point. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that all of the cast were at the top of their game. This is why I love an ensemble movie, every character can be explored thouroughly giving the actors and actresses to get into the roles. All in all, this is one piece of cinema that no moviegoer should miss.