Drunk & Fabulous

BBQ Beef

I made, I like :D

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons white sugar (or more to taste)
  
• 1.5 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic(the more the better!)
  
• 0.5 teaspoon of powdered ginger
  
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
  
• 1 (2 pound) thin sliced beef
• more sesame oil to bbq
  

1. In a large bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar, 1.5 tbs of chopped garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and white pepper.
2. Place beef into the mixture, and stir to coat. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Prepare grill pan over high heat. Brush sesame oil over the pan, add beef. Cook, turning to brown evenly, for 3 to 6 minutes, or until done.
4. When the meat is done, add more oil to the pan, stir in the rest of the chopped garlic for about 45 seconds (not too brown). Top the beef with garlic.

Perfect with hot steam rice :)

P.S. if you want something instant (a.k.a cheating), you can just mix sweet soy sauce + sambal belibis (3:1 proportion) for the mixture. But don't leave out the garlic, it definitely jazzes it up!

The Magnificent Green

One of the things that I used to take for granted when living in Indonesia is how beautiful and how green it is. Living abroad gives me a new perspective and realization that my country is blessed with such rich soil and vegetation.



I absolutely love this view - it's so serene, oh so beautifully intoxicating.

I'm in love..

..with Joshua Radin's music!

I mean, how can anyone not adore his beautiful music, sexy voice, and knee-weakening lyrics?

Since Ellen introduced Joshua to me (sounds like I know Ellen personally, doesn't it? :P), I couldn't stop listening to him.

He sang "Today" on Ellen and Portia's beautiful wedding (and of course I want to do the exact same thing on our wedding..except that.. we cannot afford Joshua Raid :-< plus..the whole visa thing...ahh)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the song as much as I do:



P.S. aren't they beautiful, btw?



P.P.S. Disc Tara doesn't have his albums..where can I get 'em?

Toasty Morning

...and melted butter is how I like to start my day lately.

3 weddings ( and no funeral )

...in one weekend, in my home town.
IN RECAP:

The biggest compliment: "You looked perfect tonite!" (thanks - my dad gave me a hard time about how much time I spent in front of the mirror, I better damn looked perfect :->)

The most asked questions: "When are you getting married?" in various versions.

The most told comment: "Why, you're much taller now!" thanks to my 10 cm Kenneth Cole heels.

The best food tasted: Black sweet sticky rice + coconut juice made by Mom

The most fun moment: When 10 of my old classmates and I unconsciously creating a big circle and became the center of the party by laughing and screaming out loud obliviously.

The most embarrassing moment:

Me (smiling big and friendly) : HEEEEY!!! Where is your brother?!!!

A guy (smiling confusedly): err..

Me (still smiling and all friendly, yelling even louder): YOUR BROTHER, D! IS HE NOT COMING?

The guy (looked a bit scared and gave me the "who the heck are you talking about" look): err...

Silence was in the air.

Me (caught in the moment of realization, in a slow motion way): oh, wait..you're not D's brother, r ya?

The guy (in a bit of a relief and annoyed): NOPE (then he quickly disappeared, rolling his eyes)

Me (laughing awkwardly): haha...ooppss

The whole group of my friends were laughing at me by then.

The moment of enlightenment:

Realized that someone who can't be happy for her friend is really not a true friend.

And despite all the drama n parties, my fave pic:

the most adorable kitteh

Must Love Cats (meow meow meows)

Mom found a dirty stray kitten a couple of months ago.
She fed him, bath him, did what she needed to do, and officially made him hers.

The kitteh himself, receiving love, attention, and such warm welcome, felt at home immediately.

Here are some of the things that he loves to do:

1. Jumps into my dad's lap and watches TV with him. FYI, Dad doesn't care for pets and cute kittehs. He can't help but falling in love with this one - just to find out later that the kitteh also likes to non-chalantly walks across his shoulders and gives him tail!

2. Rumor has it, he likes to dress in my doll's clothes (I'll post a picture when I confirm this rumor). I think he has a model in his blood, or maybe even designer!

3. One chilly evening, Mom was slipping her frozen feet on her comfortable bedroom sandals. She unexpectedly felt something fuzzy and fluffy touching her skin. The next second, she heard a "meow", and two tiny fangs sink in deep into her left foot. Since then, little kitteh got his purrrfect bed. He hates it when others use his bed for other purposes.

4. He attacks every moving foot in the house.

I'm going home this weekend to attend 2 weddings. I haven't been home in a while, will definitely see and hang out with friends that I haven't seen for a long time, and get to chat, gossip, and laugh with my Parents.

But this weekend, I'm looking forward the most to seeing this kitteh, my so-called brand new brother.

On another note, he and I are both a cat person. We like the idea of having a cat, but not so sure how to handle the raining furs and the scratching brand new furnitures :D. Someday maybe, we'd get a kitty, and he/she would be named "Mr./Miss MeatBall".

And for gals who's looking, how about one of the cat lovers, single heterosexual guys outthere? :) Cats are in their closets, nothing else to hide!

That hump we passed two Octobers ago

image taken from the best vid every made
when we say girlic fries, we meant garlic, of course u know that, rite?

Please consider yourself warned - I am drunkblogging, so you'll probably find some un-understandble sentences and typos scattered around this a bit melancholic a bit nostalgic post.

2 years ago my bestfriend Yuko and I joined the Nike marathon. We never even used the gym at our apartment, let alone jogging, let alone practiced for a marathon. Ever.

The only thing that we REALLY prepared for was getting a pair of brand new Nike running shoes. HAHAH! We're such a sucker. Well, Yuko, actually got them as a wonderful surprise from her family in Japan. I went to Nordstrom and picked a pair of beautiful white with a dash of pink Nike shoes. I mean, it's a Nike marathon, I couldn't have ran in my Puma shoes? (Seriously need help in the spending and reasoning departments).

A couple of weeks before the big day, out of desperation to try our new shoes (cough ), we went hiking (freaking hiking) up a small hill just a few miles behind our apartment. We got to the top, but didn't really finish the whole trail. We took a short cut on the way down, and in the end we were chased by a mad cow.

...

Okay. not really. We (kinda) scat like a cat, when that big cow moohed at us.

I'm going to stop a little bit to say that I really miss her. I've been through a lot with her during the past few years when I was in US. We shared everything, we told secrets, we laughed, we LOL-ed, we loved, we've been through thunder storm (literally and metaphorically)we fought, we made up, we love the same things, we hate the same things, she cried when I cried, and afterwards she always managed to make me laugh.

She's in Japan now and I'm here in Indo.

October really was a big deal for us, for we finished 13.1 miles (26.8 km) half marathon in San Francisco in 3.5 hours. We did it. No fainting. No complaining (ok I lied. lotsa complaining, but no giving up). Only the cute guys from Tiffany giving out hugs and cute necklaces to the finishers welcoming us at the finish line. It's a proof that we did it our own, the two of us.

Yea, so if we could do the ups n downs of San Francisco, without preparation, and yet still alive afterwards (only one of my toe nails is totally broken), we should be able to kick ass the ups and downs of life. (hang in there, girl, cuz i'm hangin in here too!)

Ok..i'm too sleepee to continue this post..*giggle* I've got a duty to do yaa sleeping.

So I will see ya when i see yA!

Day dreaming

she's dreamy
she's pretty
she's up in the silky sky
she's sitting in the velvety sands
she's in her own world

These things about me

1. My first name is Starlet. As in toyota starlet; as in those young starlets hollywood. My dad named me after a rising star runner in Indonesia who was nicknamed starlet. Btw, Toyota Starlet was born a year later after I was.

2. For at least 15 years, my dad owned a Toyota Starlet 3 times in a row. Whenever he bought a car, I "forced" him to not buy one other than a Toyota Starlet.

3. I have 3 homes in this world: Indonesia, Japan, and US. I was born and grew up in Indonesia. I went to japan for one year for a cultural exchange program. I went to college in US and worked there for about 1.5 year after graduation.

4. My fiance is currently in US. We officially declared a war towards the long distance and time difference ( and the visa process :-/).

5. I love light beer better than most cocktails, but you have me at the moment you give me a glass of peach bellini from Cheesecake Factory ;-)

6. The best wine for me is merlot Parducci 200x (too busy trying to stop myself from an unstoppable giggling to remember what year it was).

7. But above number 6 & 7, I prefer a glass of water. I have an on/off allergic reaction to alcohol.

8. Oh, I also am allergic to cold. He says I turn purple whenever I am exposed to too much cold weather.

9. I have an unusually high level of passion, love, and enthusiasm towards culinary.

10. After a couple of culinary trips with me, my friends finally found out that there are only 2 types of food for me: good and REALLY good (except for some yucky stuff that I won't even mention here).

11. My co-workers almost did "Intervention" to me because of my stadium 4 addiction to Tapioca Express (jasmine milk tea + crispy chicken baby!)

12. My fingers automatically type in "youtu" whenever the cursor is in the URL bar. I don't even go to youtube that often anymore.

13. Since my client is in US while I am in Indonesia, I have to start my work at 5 am Tuesday to Saturday. You'll find me enervated and droopy at around 8 pm.

14. I am thinking to go to grad school for Law, User Interface, or Fashion (or not).

15. I used to be a tomboy who wore my dad's clothes when I was 14ish (my unsuccesful mission was to bring oversized shirts as a trend for girls).

16. I recently regret the fact that I was such a tomboy. If I weren't you might be reading a blog of one hella succesful fashion icon now (HAHA!)

17. I like going to the mall by myself. I like enjoying my own pace and my own space.

18. I just found out that one of my bestest friends is as notorious as I am in terms of fashion and shopping. We keep up with each other and almost get into trouble for alluring one another to get a Louboutin shoes and an OVERLY priced Bebe dress. Mind you, we're hardly a millionaire.

19. I am a sucker for merchandise in an adorable, cute, exquisitely designed packaging. I am talking about most of those items at Sephora.

20. I thought writing 20 things about myself would be harder. I will do another 80 later. Sometimes in the near future. When I'm not lazy :P.

Thanks to navinot for tagging me.