Ha.ji.me. Co.co.Tei

Coco Tei

I know it's been too long since my last post. Work has been really hectic for me. I'm enjoying the challenge though. In fact, I just got back after spending 10 hours in the office. Not the best way to spend my Sundays, but I'm really satisfied that I managed to complete my work. :) Anyways, I've been meaning to publish this post for a while but I could only publish this post now because blogging on weekdays at the moment is impossible. Maybe in the future, things will change hopefully.

I never got around to blogging about Hajime. It was probably the best Japanese restaurant in KL for me, and I enjoyed my trips there. I went there for lunch and dinner and whenever I felt down and needed a little pick-me-up (sushis and sashimis are my cure-alls to any problems and always lifts my spirits up). Sometime early this year, they closed down without warning and left its regulars scrambling to find alternatives =( But, it just wasn't the same (Fukuharu came closest, though. Read about it here).

Date for the night.

Lovely interior

So, when my cousin Mia Suraya tweeted me the other day that Hajime was reincarnated as Coco Tei, I was sooo happy! I googled and went there the very next day (that was on the 12th of June 2011). It was heartening to know that most of Hajime's menu was still intact, although the menu seemed to have fewer items. I suppose that's understandable because it just opened, but the most important thing was that my favourites were still there (yay!). They even retained most of their serving staff who recognized me and told me I could still use my Hajime vouchers here. So sweet! :)

All set for some sushi munchin'!

After surveying the food blogs that reviewed Coco Tei, we decided to try some new items we haven't tried before. We first ordered the Golden Triangle maki which I think was the best. Crispy soft-shell crab, raw salmon and salmon skin roll served with homemade avocado sweet sauce had just the right combination of crispiness, juicy fresh salmon and also avocado. It was super scrumptious and gave me a sushi high effect.

Clockwise from top left: Salmon Ginger, Hotatei Ninniku Yaki and Miami Ink.

Then came the Avacado Lover maki, which was avocado with baby octopus and garlic sauce. The baby octopus was succulent and chewy, but the maki was nothing special. Maybe because the Golden Triangle was just too superb and had overwhelmed my senses.

The Golden Triangle. Even more delicious than it looks

Avocado Lover for avocado lovers

We also ordered the Salmon Ginger maki which was cucumber, crab meat, ginger avocado and flying fish roe wrapped around a salmon roll (instead of rice). I loved the thick salmon roll, it was wrapped properly and added more flavour to the maki. This one I would recommend as well. The Miami Ink maki was also yummy. I thought the mixed raw fish retained its distinctive flavours well and the crispy soft shell crab added a nice touch to it.

And of course, I just had to order the Salmon Sashimi. Normally, the salmon sashimi at Hajime would be huge chunks of salmon slabs; they were really big. But Coco Tei's slices were juuuuust a bit smaller. It did not spoil the night for me, because the salmon were fresh and juicy.

The Legendary Salmon Sashimi, in smaller size though =(

We also ordered one of our faves, the Hotatei Ninniku Yaki which was grilled scallops with a special garlic cheesy sauce. It's a must try.

Whilst waiting. Service was unusually a bit slow that night though but they were friendly as usual.

Honestly, I'm still not sure whether the service that night was a little slow, or whether it was just my insatiable half-year long craving for Hajime which made time seem a lot slower than it was. Haha. But the quality was of the same excellent standard (apart from the sashimi slices). I sort of had to rush through dinner because of last minute plans to meet up with my girl Shai Ezani for desserts and was running late. But I'll definitely be back for more. You can bet your house on that!

Our Tatami seats.

What I wore :-

Wide legged pants/Chocolate Fondue Bell Bottom : Yadotsa
Tank top : Zara
Cardigan : Forever 21
Scarf : Hasanah

Speaking of Yadotsa, I'll leave you all to enjoy Yadotsa's latest video below :) I love it! Well done team.

yadotsa - wildwood from Saifuddin Musa on Vimeo.

If you look closely, I'm wearing the same limited edition Yadotsa spiky bangles here. Hehe. Til my next post =)

Yogyakarta with Love 4: The Unique Museum Affandi

Hi guys, I'm back! I know I've been MIA for almost 2 weeks without any updates here. Truth is there are just too many things to blog about but I have been really tight up with work, family and other things these past few weeks. In fact, I just got back from my brother-in-law's wedding just now. This has been long due so I'll just do a quick post on my visit to the incredible Museum Affandi in Jogja the same day I went to Kraton.

Me posing with the life symbol, the symbol Affandi draws on his favourite paintings

The late Affandi was an Indonesian artist from humble and simple beginnings, who started out drawing from left-over paint when he was working as a painter doing movie posters and billboards. He became famous and was then known worldwide for his unique expressionist paintings. The museum was one of the first places I planned and in fact I wanted to go there on my first day in Jogja (but I had to shuffle my plans). I can't describe how excited I was to go here. We went there with Ibu Kartika, Affandi's eldest daughter (also my dad's friend) as her guest. I guess I'll have to blog about her in another post.

So here I was, after arriving at the museum. The whole building s architecture was individually unique and the interior and exterior of each building was really artistic. The whole compound was where Affandi lived (his several houses were all in the compound) and it was even where he was buried. The compound now houses 4 galleries of Affandi's paintings and personal collection as well as his daughters' and grandchildren's paintings.

On my way to one of the galleries

The museum cafe and the gift shop. I love the designs on the floor.

At the souvenir & gift shop

They sold postcards of Affandi's most famous paintings. Got myself some of my favourites and also some books.
Nothing beats seeing the gorgeous paintings in real.

Affandi's swimming pool. Isn't he just a funky, artistic genius or what?

The staircase in one of his galleries. If you notice closely, the steps resemble human hands. I love it!

A picture of me and Ibu Kartika with one of her daughters and a cartoony statue of Affandi looming behind

Going up to see one of Affandi's bedrooms. He had a few. This one was in a tree house.

Pictures of his bedroom, the hand-shaped staircase, his other bedrooms (one looked like a carriage, the bottom left is the one in the tree house) and a fascinating sculpture on the wall above his grave.

After finishing walking about in the museum, I just had to have a teh botol to quench my thirst.

Spent some time talking to Ibu Kartika and her many daughters and son. They had so many siblings it was fun to see them interact. They are a very close-knit family.

They insisted that I try this Es-nangka. Nangka (jackfruit) Ice-cream coated with chocolate. It was really delicious and so so nice on a hot day. Hubs tried the Es-kelapa (coconut) ice cream and he liked it too.

Just had to take another pic of the pool before I left.

Guys, do pay a visit to the museum if you're there. It's not boring like other museums. I was really sad that I couldn't take pictures inside the galleries to share his paintings. But they were really, really good. The guide will also explain Affandi's life story through his paintings and it will give an insight of how he led his humble life.

Till my next post! :)