Ceker's the Dish
Like the saturday night before, the three of us (me, Mico, and Rini) hanged out again to fill some hollow space in our loveless lives ... As people spend time when their couple, we go out as three old high school friends to wherever our heart want to go ... or specifically where Mico wants to go as he is the official chauffeur.
The band rehearsal was a little bit dull, except for the time when we played "Baby I Love Your Way", one of reggae songs that I love very much. After a couple times of disagreement about how we would play the song, especially how to lower the key a little bit so my voice wouldn't come out too squeaky, the band finally managed to play it quite well. Not as well as how Big Mountain performed it, but well enough to our auditory senses, that we played it for at least four times.
The rest of the repertoir, as proposed by a member, was completely beyond my own musical know-how. I couldn't remember whether I had ever heard those songs, or perhaps, oftentimes, I did recognize them but couldn't play them well enough.
So while other players kept on jamming inside the studio, I stepped out and chatted with other friends who already had some fried tofu and bananas with them.
As Mico badly needed a new pair of sandals, we rushed to a spot where we thought would be the nearest place to find a good collection of them, ITC Kuningan. Bomb terrors in Jakarta and Kuningan being the target slipped out as we conversed, but like any other cool Jakartans, we didn't let those subjects freak us out. After a good 7-level spiral ramp, we found a good spot to park the car and soon, we were in the middle of hundreds of shops and thousands of shoppers in the trade center.
Apparently a good pair of men's footwear was very difficult for Mico to find. After two hours of browsing, Mico didn't find what we initially came to that place for, but we did find some good sweet corn, writable CDs, and pirated DVDs.
Rini suggested that we go to Centro, a mere 15 minutes from ITC Kuningan, where Mico might find arrays of collections of sandals that would be suitable to his taste and budget. So down the spiral ramp we went.
I instantly know it was going to be lo-ooo-ong night. Experiencing a shopping deja vu, where I knew it was not me who shop, but should tailgate somebody with a very careful consideration when it comes to buying footwear.
Of course, the more collection the more difficult to choose. After searching in vain for almost an hour, I told him to pick out three pairs that he liked the most so it would be easier for me to give him a recommendation, hence, shorter time elapsed for this mission accomplishment. It worked.
It was almost nine, and our stomachs were longing something more satisfying than some fried tofu. Another suggestion from Rini: Bakmi Ceker Tebet.
This small restaurant offers many dishes with Bakmi Ceker Bandung as their specialty. Many restaurants and street vendors add "Bandung" to their name and most of the times the association to the city bring a lot of customers to business. In Bandoeng Tempo Doeloe, you could find that Bandung was renowned for its mild mannered people, enjoyable weather, and good-priced tasty food. Bandung has already its own brand and win the first place in people's mind.
I ordered Tebs. It was a snap decision, right after saw it on the menu.
From the moment I saw its ad on O Channel a few days before, I knew I should try this novelty drink. Stranger to my palate, this soda tea was not a soda as much it was tea. "Just like a fake Greend Sand", Mico said after taking a sip. To me, it was just OK. When it comes to tea, my favorite is still MaxTea Lemon Tea.
Meanwhile, Rini was taking her first sip of her Es Sekoteng. No ginger added to it like ordinary sekoteng, it looked and tasted a lot like Es Campur. Despite of its misleading name, I enjoyed its level of sweetness that's just right.
Then came three dishes of Bakmi Ayam Ceker. Not a very enticing first impression. Ordinary Bakmi Ayam topped with four or five ceker. A scary sight, one might say, as ceker might look like extra terrestrial creature's amputated hands. Once you overcame the fear, you could take a first bite and find that it was delicious, and you could stop wondering why people kept crowding this restaurant. If I could suggest one thing, it would be for them to replace ABC chilli sauce with Belibis sauce. The latter would bring a better sensation to customers' palate.
To eat ceker ayam was not any harder that to use chopsticks. Put one in your mouth, sip it good to get the whole meat and juice, and then spit out the bones slowly and place them into a saucer thoughtfully provided by the restaurant.
We talked a lot as we enjoyed our meal. I even brought the subject about how I love ceker dim sum but couldn't manage to find one with good taste and affordable price here in Jakarta. Lucky my old friend Rini brought me to this place. Yum!
The band rehearsal was a little bit dull, except for the time when we played "Baby I Love Your Way", one of reggae songs that I love very much. After a couple times of disagreement about how we would play the song, especially how to lower the key a little bit so my voice wouldn't come out too squeaky, the band finally managed to play it quite well. Not as well as how Big Mountain performed it, but well enough to our auditory senses, that we played it for at least four times.
The rest of the repertoir, as proposed by a member, was completely beyond my own musical know-how. I couldn't remember whether I had ever heard those songs, or perhaps, oftentimes, I did recognize them but couldn't play them well enough.
So while other players kept on jamming inside the studio, I stepped out and chatted with other friends who already had some fried tofu and bananas with them.
As Mico badly needed a new pair of sandals, we rushed to a spot where we thought would be the nearest place to find a good collection of them, ITC Kuningan. Bomb terrors in Jakarta and Kuningan being the target slipped out as we conversed, but like any other cool Jakartans, we didn't let those subjects freak us out. After a good 7-level spiral ramp, we found a good spot to park the car and soon, we were in the middle of hundreds of shops and thousands of shoppers in the trade center.
Apparently a good pair of men's footwear was very difficult for Mico to find. After two hours of browsing, Mico didn't find what we initially came to that place for, but we did find some good sweet corn, writable CDs, and pirated DVDs.
Rini suggested that we go to Centro, a mere 15 minutes from ITC Kuningan, where Mico might find arrays of collections of sandals that would be suitable to his taste and budget. So down the spiral ramp we went.
I instantly know it was going to be lo-ooo-ong night. Experiencing a shopping deja vu, where I knew it was not me who shop, but should tailgate somebody with a very careful consideration when it comes to buying footwear.
Of course, the more collection the more difficult to choose. After searching in vain for almost an hour, I told him to pick out three pairs that he liked the most so it would be easier for me to give him a recommendation, hence, shorter time elapsed for this mission accomplishment. It worked.
It was almost nine, and our stomachs were longing something more satisfying than some fried tofu. Another suggestion from Rini: Bakmi Ceker Tebet.
This small restaurant offers many dishes with Bakmi Ceker Bandung as their specialty. Many restaurants and street vendors add "Bandung" to their name and most of the times the association to the city bring a lot of customers to business. In Bandoeng Tempo Doeloe, you could find that Bandung was renowned for its mild mannered people, enjoyable weather, and good-priced tasty food. Bandung has already its own brand and win the first place in people's mind.
I ordered Tebs. It was a snap decision, right after saw it on the menu.
From the moment I saw its ad on O Channel a few days before, I knew I should try this novelty drink. Stranger to my palate, this soda tea was not a soda as much it was tea. "Just like a fake Greend Sand", Mico said after taking a sip. To me, it was just OK. When it comes to tea, my favorite is still MaxTea Lemon Tea.
Meanwhile, Rini was taking her first sip of her Es Sekoteng. No ginger added to it like ordinary sekoteng, it looked and tasted a lot like Es Campur. Despite of its misleading name, I enjoyed its level of sweetness that's just right.
Then came three dishes of Bakmi Ayam Ceker. Not a very enticing first impression. Ordinary Bakmi Ayam topped with four or five ceker. A scary sight, one might say, as ceker might look like extra terrestrial creature's amputated hands. Once you overcame the fear, you could take a first bite and find that it was delicious, and you could stop wondering why people kept crowding this restaurant. If I could suggest one thing, it would be for them to replace ABC chilli sauce with Belibis sauce. The latter would bring a better sensation to customers' palate.
To eat ceker ayam was not any harder that to use chopsticks. Put one in your mouth, sip it good to get the whole meat and juice, and then spit out the bones slowly and place them into a saucer thoughtfully provided by the restaurant.
We talked a lot as we enjoyed our meal. I even brought the subject about how I love ceker dim sum but couldn't manage to find one with good taste and affordable price here in Jakarta. Lucky my old friend Rini brought me to this place. Yum!
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