Cikelin Chronicle

It matches my distro purple t-shirt and it's only $ 0.50. (Argh, now you know that it's not 'really new'. Hehehe). A.K.

I spent a week reading "Buku Memasak Untuk Orang Bodoh", practically to improve my knowledge of cooking. But you can't improve your cooking skill unless you go to the kitchen and doing some 'dirty job'. That book can only improve my reading skill, in English. Two days ago, Nino and I tried a recipe: Chicken Wings with Oyster Sauce. It's a simple recipe (that's why we dared to try). We, however, still had an argument on one of the spice. We didn't know what 'spring onion' was. First, I tought it was bawang bombay. Nino thought it was bawang merah. But in the recipe picture, it looks like prey/daun bawang. I looked it up in my "Buku Bodoh", but it didn't help. Desperately, Nino said, "Oh, for someone didn't know what spring onion was, he did'nt have a hope in cooking." Finally, we put bawang merah and prey to our chicken. And it was not bad. Yesterday, I tried to make spring rolls, snacks for breakfasting. I put ve...

Hari pertama puasa berjalan dengan mulus, nyaris tanpa gangguan (kecuali angin yang bertiup sangat kencang). Menjelang buka puasa, Nino dan aku bingung, mau memutuskan buka jam berapa. Ikut jam di hape Nino (yg lebih lambat) atau ikut jam di hapeku yang lebih cepat. Kami juga punya 3 jadwal buka puasa yang berbeda, poster dan leaflet yang didapat dari Nino Jumatan di kampus . Yah, cuman selisih 4 menitan sih, cuman kurang mantap aja. Nunggu bedug magrib? Bedug magrib dari Hongkong kale? Masjid terdekat dari sini jaraknya 30 menit pake mobil (nggak deket lagi dong...). Akhirnya aku nyetel radio muslim di Sydney ... lewat internet (soalnya kami juga nggak punya pesawat radio, hiks). Argh, akhirnya denger suara azan juga... Buka puasa kali ini, aku bikin kolak. Nino nggak suka kolak, tapi tetep aja aku bikin, sudah tradisi! Pengennya sih pakai pisang, nangka dan ubi. Tapi, apa daya, pisang di sini harganya $13 sekilo. Gilak kan? Nangka, kira2 segitu juga. Ada sih yang kalengan, sekitar $3...

Rating: ★★★★ Category: Books Genre: Teens Author: Abdel-Fattah, Randa The slide opened and I heard a gentle, kind voice: What is your confession, my child? I was stuffed. The Priest would declare me a heretic; my parents would call me a traitor… The Priest asked me again: What is your confession, my child? I'm Muslim. I whispered. Apa salahnya jadi seorang muslim? Apa salahnya memutuskan memakai hijab di sekolah? Emang enggak begitu bermasalah kalau kamu bukan Amal, remaja yang lahir di Australia keturunan Palestina, muslim, dan sekolah di sekolah elit kristen. Satu lagi novel remaja yang bercerita tentang rasisme di Australia setelah Looking For Alibrandi (Melina Marchetta). Does My Head Look Big In This? adalah versi Arab dari Looking for Alibrandi, di mana generasi kedua warga negara yang lahir di Aussie mengalami gagap budaya. Di satu sisi, mereka sudah tidak terlalu terhubung dengan akar budaya negara kelahiran orang tuanya, di sisi lain, orang-orang Aussie 'asli' mera...

Do you believe that chocolate can boost your sex drive? I do. "Aha, that's why you feed me hot chocolate, Mamapong?" Nino asked me one day. "Ehm... don't you love the result, Darling?" Hehehe... A.K. (welcoming spring!)

The word "Book-Fair" for me and Nino might be sounds like "Mango-Sale" for a shopaholic. Nino and I are not a big spender on anything but books. In the Sydney Uni Book Fair last week, we bought books like crazy, as those were very-very-very-very cheap (even if you convert it into Rupiah). So, Didi got several good books including Where's Wally? (soon become our family's favourite book), Where Did I Come From Book, Pop Up Book, several early reading materials (for 5 cent each, crazy!), and many more... Nino got some heavy-and-serious textbooks you-dont-want-to-know-what. Lucky him! Also Covey's Leadership book for $2, Rich Dad Guide for Investing for 50cent (we've already read it in Indonesian, actually), and many more... I also got my favorite: Sophie Kinsella's for only $1, The Last Time I saw Mother for $1, Bryce Courtenays , Adrian Mole's Diary (two books), Oxford English Dictionary for $2, Chicken Soup for The Teenage Soul (hahah, but ...

"How to make a baby, Mommy?" Finally, my dear Nindi (4.5 year-old) asked me that question. A question that made me red in face. She asked me because she desperately wanted to have a little sister/brother. I knew she would ask this, but I wasn't ready yet. And my abrupt answer was: "Why don't you ask your Daddy, Dear?" Hehehe, menghindar dari tanggung jawab. But her Daddy wasn't ready either. He said, "Well, that's a hard question, Darling. Let Daddy thinks first. I'll let you know if Daddy gets the answer." The next day, she asked me the same question. And I kept telling her that Daddy knew the answer. Then she said, "Tapi kan adek bayi itu ada di perutnya Mama. Kenapa kok harus tanya Ayah? Kan kalau mau bikin adek bayi nggak perlu sama Ayah?" *gubrag* Finally, Nino found a good book about that in his campus book fair. A "Where Did I Come From?" book by Peter Mayle for one buck. It's really a-biology-lesson-book...

What is your 'heaven'? Mine, is a life with a fast internet connection and an access to a good library. I have a wireless broadband at home, and access for thirty loans in Marrickville library and unlimited loans in Fisher library. What can I expect for more? A.K. (more heaven: Nino asks me for a coffee at starbucks and a walk to Kinokuniya next Tuesday. Argh, can't wait. Lalala...)

I read the latest interview in www.pembelajar.com and couldn't believe my eyes. How could he mentioned me as his favourite writer? Argh, he must be joking... [yang bener aja, Pak? Nggak kebalik?] A.K.  

Last Tuesday, Nino and I had our private time (huray, Nindi's at school   ). We sat down at 'lazy chairs' in level four, Fisher library. Soon, Nino was busy with his pile of journals (readings w/ small fonts and half of the pages are references lists, hiks). While I enjoyed the city view from the full glass window. Ten minutes passed, and he asked me, "What are you doing, Mamapong?" Uhm, he had no idea I was doing something. "Me? I'm working with my imagination. You know, catching some scenes for my next novel..." "Oh, sorry. I see you're working now," Nino smiled. Hehehe. Isn't it the coolest job on earth? getting paid for daydreaming? A.K.