Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Food Container

lately there has been quite a number of unique food courts poppin up in town, like pasar santa and food fighters to name a few. they serve a wide variety of food and drinks under one roof, and the tenants are mostly comprised of start ups or independent brands. it slowly grows into a favorable phenomenon since the jakartans always LOVE to try something new and unique aside of the common dishes they usually eat. i recently stumbled upon a new joint that is located in lebak bulus area, and it apparently also presents a fun culinary destination concept with lots of mouth watering treats to try. that being said, welcome to food container!


food container isnt that hard to spot. it is located right by the roadside with a container-like appearance that lives up to its name. when i walked inside i was greeted by 23 different tenants with their own specialties. the 'brain' behind food container, wiyanna, apparently used to hold culinary festivals or events at malls or local bazaars. "as food aficionados, my husband and i aim to create a permanent culinary destination that is also supported by creative sellers in this industry. hence food container's visitors will meet many kinds of dishes that they wont find in any other food courts in general," she said.

you can pick your seat and a waiter will hand out the menu to your table. its good that the menu already covers each existing tenant so all you gotta do is confirm your choice and few minutes later your selections will arrive straight to your table. since the place is rather hot and humid (food container utilizes open aired space with fans instead of ACs), then it will be perfect to start your culinary journey with some cold and refreshing beverages that you can find at food container drink corner. the yellow painted booth offers a variety of drinks from flavored tea, juice, up to the bartender's special mixes such as green container (soda and melon syrup), strawberry sensation (milk, soda, and strawberry syrup), and container lychee (yakult, lychee syrup, and jelly toppings). the colourful appearance makes the experience even more exciting!

 
(Suwar Suwir)                                     (Mr. Panda Dim sum)

now lets shift to the 'heavier' course. if indonesian food is a staple meal for you, then there are a number of booths that you surely dont want to miss. one of them is suwar suwir that serves authentic local cuisines with traditional sambal selections. their signature menu includes suwir combrang (a combination of shredded chicken with the fresh and exotic sambal combrang) and suwir matah (a combination of shredded chicken, onion, chili, and sambal matah with a variety of spices that make this particular dish rich in taste). all menus are served inside a go-to box that is so simple you can carry it everywhere. for other local food alternative, you can also try out nasi kentjana that offers traditional rice dishes such as nasi bogana, nasi campur bali, nasi kuning cakalang, up to nasi liwet solo, and not to mention their unique dessert, pisang janda, a sweet treat served with condensed milk and cheese. it feels perfect when you enjoy it with a glass of wedang uwuh or wedang ronde, a classic traditional drink to warm up your body.

 
(Ichitori)                                           (Nasi Kentjana)

moving on from local cuisines, you can explore unique dishes from other countries as well. for japanese food lovers out there, you might have heard about ichitori for a while now. yup, the brand has been floating in local culinary scene quite often because ichitori often participates in numerous bazaars and festivals. some of their signature menus are mushroom karaage, chicken karate, and toriyaki, all comes with generous toppings. there's also ultradon, another booth that serves japanese food, especially donburi AKA rice bowl with various topping selections like mushroom, chicken, beef, or dory fish, served with their tasty homemade sauce.

meanwhile if youre looking for western food selections, theres no need to worry. just head over to curly, which previously has opened its booth at pasar santa. theres no way you would want to miss their highly recommended signature menu, curly's cheese steak. its a sandwich with 60gr meat, onion, mushroom sauce, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella cheese that melts in your mouth. fantastic!

 
(Pipa Bite)                                          (Martabak Dunia)

it feels incomplete to visit food container without getting your hands on the delightful desserts they got in store. head over to pipa bite for unique pastries with sweet fillings (cotton candy ice cream, anyone?), warung mamacha (they serve this roppan-style bread with a bunch of toppings like marshmallow, ice cream, and cereals), or offle (waffles with varied topping selections that you can pick yourself). but if you come along with some friends, then it would be perfect to order something sweet in sharing portion, right? if thats the case, martabak dunia might be your main option. its basically just like any other martabak, but what sets it apart from the rest is their uncommon toppings that are named after the countries they identify with; such as thailand (durian), italy (bolognaise), USA (cookies & cream), and china (chicken floss). pretty impressive i might say!

all in all food container successfully provides a remarkable experience for culinary hunters or simply anyone who's looking for a new atmosphere to spend their weekend with friends or family. with all the goodness that it offers, i wish all the good luck for food container in the future!

Food Container
Jalan Lebak Bulus Raya No. 30A, Jakarta Selatan 
Opening hours 10 AM-10 PM
Average spending: Rp 100.000/person
Instagram: @food_container

(photos by: Sofyan Effendi)

Monday, February 8, 2016

Sakamichi No Apollon

dont you love it when you get into a series because of the amazing soundtrack and turns out it's apparently as good as it sounds? so ever since i noticed yoko kanno's scores in zankyou no terror ive been an ardent devotee of her works; theyre always very genuine, well polished, and capable to elevate the mood of a series into perfection. thats the reason why i decided to land on sakamichi no apollon, another series directed by shinichiro watanabe with music provided by yoko kanno. yes, seeing these two iconic names in the production team definitely boosted my expectation up to the roof because its a solid throwback to their previous work that is cowboy bebop. so is sakamichi no apollon on par with that particular masterpiece?




this series is based off a manga with the same title by yuki kodama. it tells the story of kaoru nishimi, a new student who loves to play piano and is pictured as rather stoic in public due to his social anxiety issue. but later he made friends with sentaro kawabuchi AKA your typical high school 'bad boy' trope with a facial scar and nonchalant outer attitude, and also sentaro's childhood friend, ritsuko mukae, whom kaoru gradually grew feelings for. kaoru and sentaro happened to share the same interest, which is music. kaoru whos basically used to classical music slowly learned about jazz from sentaro, which leads them to numerous underground sessions beneath a record store. i get that this show is trying to pinpoint romance as its core strength besides being a musical series but in the end the relationship between kaoru and sentaro is what matters the most. sentaro, although being pictured as pretty badass on the outside, actually bottles up a lot of issues as well that he couldnt share with people. that's why he finds relief in playing drums, and kaoru is such a perfect complement for this. i really like how the music fits all of the scenes so well, despite of jazz being a quite rare genre to support slice of life series in general. this is also where music speaks louder than the actual dialogues!

the only drawback is that sakamichi no apollon tries to make the plot seem complex but sometimes it just gets overly melodramatic with kaoru making bad decisions almost every single time like hes 7. also im not sure what to feel about ritsuko since she doesnt undergo a proper character development, leaving her as she is from the start until finish. sentaro is so good though, he makes the viewers experience his emotional pain during hard times even though he doesnt express it so often. other than that, this is a pretty decent series to watch. of course it's not comparable to other watanabe works but the stylish art and over the top soundtrack truly make up what sakamichi no apollon lacks in other aspects. and with that i will leave yoko kanno's lullaby of birdland cover below which is also one of my fave pieces of the whole soundtracks.


Monday, February 1, 2016

Berserk

i wasnt sure what i was expecting when i started this particular manga, maybe because one of my friends has been marathoning it for the past few weeks or simply because its a legendary title that ive been craving to read for so long. but im sure that i made the right decision now that i finished it thoroughly. berserk is one hell of a ride, and i mean it when i say its hell in the most proper definition possible. its very mature, it has the plot that flows like water, and it has a breathtaking art style that consistently develops throughout the time. also i wasnt kidding when i said it felt like bathing in blood each time im done with a chapter. Berserk follows a skilled swordsman named Guts that walks around with gigantic sword, iron arm, and numerous scars from endless battles that he went through. the theme is set in medieval era, and while im not generally too fond of medieval settings, this one truly caught me real good. as an author, kentaro miura did a good research for his work for example theres a panel with people getting tortured in the exact same ways as the ones i once watched in a medieval torture methods video on youtube, or the way he put down the politic issues that wrap the wars between the respected kingdoms. also his art style is really detailed and crisp, with amazing shading technique that elevated the haunting atmosphere to a whole new level.





this manga definitely targets mature audience for it depicts tons of explicit violence and sexual scenes. it is enriched with great characters that stay true to their intentions as well as their own developments. it questions the depth of friendships and love, also how far would humans go to reach their one and true ambition. like at this point i still dont know how to feel about eclipse arc cos it has truly, mentally scarred me for life? it portrays the wildest and darkest imagination one would ever have and exceeds it with explicit graphic that is brutally honest. berserk offers a balanced ride of emotional and physically painful journey that can be too vile for some but it all comes down to reality, that life can be vile to anyone and that the good and the bad arent always like we expect them to be. if you can stand violence and psychological stuff then its a loss to miss a series of this caliber. 10/10 worth to read.