Padahal gw ini pernah bernapas di Bandung selama lebih dari duapuluh tahun... tapi setelah lima tahun merantau di kota yang kini cuma 2 jam jauhnya ini, pas balik Bandung (kembali ke Bandung, bukan istilah sepakbola) gw kebingungan buat nyari tempat makan.

Setelah ada pembangunan jembatan layang Pasopati, ternyata warung Cak Jali langganan gw ikutan tergusur, pindah entah kemana. Sedangkan dulu karena ada rumah di Bandung maka waktu sarapan ya makan dirumah, boro-boro boleh jajan... Tapi karena sekarang dah nggak ada lagi rumah tinggal, walhasil akhirnya gw ikut2an mereka para fanatik BAMHO (Bubur Ayam Mang Haji Oyo) buat nyantap hidangan ini buat sarapan... mungkin sekedar nostalgia, berusaha meraih kembali kenangan yang dulu pernah lekat didalam diri. Terwakilkankah dengan semangkuk bubur? Kurang lebih begitu... Duduk di cafenya yang baru sambil menikmati segarnya udara pagi Bandung, pikiran melayang ke masa silam saat makan bubur seperti ini bukanlah hal yang terlalu menarik. Nggak jarang BAMHO ini gw banding-bandingin sama bubur ayam seberang Sekeloa - Dipatiukur yang rasanya lebih lekoh dan topping lebih beragam. Tapi apa daya sang saingan yang buka malam hari ini nampaknya sudah tergeser perubahan jaman... akibat dari kurang kuatnya branding dan konsistensi.

Dalam sarapan pagi itu... mungkin yang gw beli bukan sekedar bubur... tapi sebuah nilai kenangan

Anyway, berikut ini daftar sebagian tempat makan ngetop di Bandung, jenis non-restoran:

1. Bubur Ayam (Talaga) Mang Haji Oyo. Buburnya variant kental lengket, kalau mangkuknya dibalik juga gak akan tumpah. Setelah pindah dari lokasi aslinya, sekarang ada dua kubu; Kubu binaan Mang Oyo asli, dengan pusat di Jl. Sulanjana, dan cabang di Gelap Nyawang, serta kubu binaan "teteh" di sebelah Edward Forrer, Dago.
2. Bubur Ayam "PR", mangkal didepan kantor redaksi HU Pikiran Rakyat Jl. Asia-Afrika. Perasaan gak terlalu spesial sih, apalagi dulu sempet dikuasai preman dan calo bubur.
3. Gudeg Yogya deket perempatan Riau - Cihapit arah Bank NISP. Rasanya mungkin nggak se-top Gudeg Yogya asli karena taste-nya sudah lebih Sundawi, tapi rasanya konsisten, kualitas makanan baik, harga murah, makanya jadi inceran para pengantor sebelum berangkat kerja, serta para ibu rumah tangga sehabis mengantar anak sekolah. Biasanya jam 9 pagi sudah sold-out.
4. Gudeg Yogya Pasar Gempol, deket pasar Rangga Gempol. Rasa lebih tajem dibanding yang Cihapit, tapi harganya juga lebih mahal.
5. Kupat Tahu Citarum, perempatan seberang Bank NISP. Bukanya siang. Rasanya sendiri gak terlalu spesial tapi konsisten dan pelayanannya cepet.
6. Kupat Tahu Gempol, bertahan sejak jaman dahulu kala. Bumbunya medok dan kental, gurih, manis, kalau beli selalu ngantri. Langganan para pembesar dan kasepuhan Bandung.
7. Gado-gado Angkasa, Jl. Angkasa (belakang UNPAD). Porsi dahsyat, bumbu kental gurih manis. Seporsinya rada mahal (buat standar Bandung) tapi worth it.
8. Warung Ma' Uneh, Jl. Pajajaran seberang GOR. Kalau dulu ada warung aslinya ma' Uneh yang nyempil rada kedalem, buka hingga sore hari. Sedangkan malamnya, ada gerai portabel mangkal didepan bengkel dibagian muka jalan masuk warung ma' Uneh. Kalau yang ini binaan putra dari ma' Uneh. Hidangannya khas Sunda, tapi kadang ada menu-menu yang unik dan nggak ada di tempat lain.
9. Nasi Goreng Cirebon, Simpang Dago (malam). Nasi gorengnya pedes luar biasa! Dan sebenernya termasuk gak terlalu enak, tapi spesialnya, dia punya daftar topping mulai dari telor dadar, kornet, keju, daging kambing, daging ayam, daging sapi, baso, udang, kerang, sosis, ati-ampela, dll. yang bisa dipilih salahsatu, atau tumplek semua sekaligus! "Nasi Gila" Jakarta? Kalah insane...
10. Nasi Goreng Kumis Helm, Jl. Dipatiukur antara UNPAD - Sekeloa. Nasgornya cross antara ala Jawa Timuran dan ala Chinese. Murmer porsi banyak, tapi si pak kumisnya suka rada sewot dan metode order kacau.
11. Nasi Goreng Cak Jali, Jl. Cikapayang belakang Gereja. Ada nasgor "mawut" yang merupakan percampuran antara nasi dan mie goreng. Nasgor standarnya warnanya merah, believe it or not. Gayanya padahal Jawa Timuran, tapi karena Cak Jalinya pernah lama kerja di restoran Chinese Food, jadi cara masaknya gak full Jatim-an. Kadar vetsin makanan-makanannya luar biasa, tapi Fuyunghaynya gak bisa dilupakan...
12. "Pisang Nanas" dengan taburan gula tepungnya (malam), awalnya mangkal didepan Diponegoro (sekarang Islamic Centre), lalu pindah ke daerah Citarum deket SPBU.
13. Road Cafe (malam -- gak tau masih ada atau nggak), spesialis steak dan Italian food dengan harga mahasiswa. Terakhir ketauan masih ada dan mangkal deket Rumah Nenek, Citarum juga.
14. Soto Betawi Citarum (siang), bisa dibandingin rasanya sama soto betawi di Jakarta itself! Terakhir dagang didepan masjid Istiqomah, sisi dekat MQ Cafe.
15. Jagung Bakar Lima Rasa Dago! (malem only) Entah kenapa makanan murmer dan gampang ini gak pernah sampe ke Jakarta, mungkin karena gak enak makan Jagung Bakar di Jakarta? Think again... Jagung Bangkok yang manis dibakar dengan lima pilihan rasa; manis, asin, asem, pedes, dan keju, atau campur semuanya sekaligus... masa sih gak akan laku di Jakarta? Di daerah Dago sendiri, gerai yang menjual makanan jenis ini tersebar mulai Pasar Simpang hingga ke perempatan Jl. Dago - Merdeka. Tiap gerai memiliki saus racikan masing-masing. Yang gw rasa paling top, adalah yang mangkal didepan kantornya Melsa Net. Pisang Bakar Keju ditempat ini juga termasuk dahsyat walaupun hyper-calorie; Potongan pisang bakar disiram susu kental manis hingga meleleh-leleh, lalu ditaburi meses coklat, kacang tanah tumbuk, dan keju yang menggunung. Siap-siap eneq tapi nikmat.
16. Seafood Moro Seneng, buka malem. Dulunya di Jl. Sulanjana, tapi terakhir gw liat pindah mangkal ke Jl. Tamansari deket kompleks pertokoan gusuran Balubur. Aneka ragam seafood dengan aneka bumbu, harga murah porsi murah hati, biasanya pesanan dilakukan lewat si ibu untuk lantas dimasak oleh si bapak yang selalu kelihatan bete (tapi orangnya baek koq).
17. Ayam Goreng Balubur (dulu), trotoar BAAK ITB, depan toko-toko Pasar Balubur, buka malam hari. Yang meladeni adalah sepasang manula Tionghoa! Istimewanya dari gerai ini, adalah nasi putihnya gratis!

Segitu dulu kayaknya, jadi laper nih...

Kalo ini dari 15/04/04, masih dari blog gw di Livejournal. Ntar diterjemahin.

Final Conclusion on Sex Differences

Laughing alone at QB last afternoon... people perhaps thought I'm weird.. but "Why Men Don't Listen: And Women Can't Read Maps" was so hilarious...

A woman who's by nature are sensitive to emotional changes in her family members can spot other woman's hair on her man's jacket, but she can hit things as big as a garage door while parking.

Women who often chooses words freely in her speech (since what matters for them is the overall impression, not the vocab) when arguing with strict-defining words of men, it would lead them anywhere but connecting and understanding. Women tends to listen more to tones of the speech, not the words used, men are opposite.

Women uses chat as a mean to connect to other person and be social, while men speaks when they have something to tell.

Women relies more on the body language people uses while they're talking, thus making women are natural in spotting lies, while men focuses on what the person has to say and naturally are clueless to other 'language' the person is emanating.

Women relies more on their aural senses, while men on their visual senses. This made women gets excited more on how the man speaks, while men on how their women looks.

The book even said that a naked man makes women laugh, while naked women made men....... u know....

And women check outs men too.... (even more often than we men do), just that they have a wider field of view that enable them to do it 'secretly', while seemed like looking elsewhere... while us men with more tunnel vision have to turn our head thus making us seldom get away with it...

Stressed women goes shopping, while stressed men invade other countries.

Stresses men sees sex as a relieve, stressed women put sex in the last list of things they would want to do.

Men solves problem by shutting up and going into solitude-focused problem-solving mode. While in women, shutting up means there's something terribly wrong. Women tends to talk out about their problems so they can acknowledge it.

When a woman say there's nothing wrong, usually there is.

When a man say he does not understand, usually he is.

Women are better on doing a multi-thread processes, like doing house chores while talking on the phone (and perhaps watching telenovela also), or talking to a friend while putting on a make up, listening to the radio, and driving. But their bad spatial ability often made them lost, or don't know how to reach their destination with the simplest route.

And the book said it's mostly because we have a different brain-mapping scheme on our heads, and not to mention about different amount of hormones and different specs on some of our body parts.

And the book say that it rooted in the basic roles of the two genders; Men are the lunch-chaser, food-providing, while women are the family care-taker, nurturer. And they come with equipment, configuration, and settings that suit their roles the best.

Yes, we're different! Though some have imbalances with tendencies to either sides, but on general we're two different kind of being with it's own advantages and disadvantages.

Somehow I still find "The 13th Warrior" amusing, despite the fact that it had made some of my friends think I'm suicidal.



But the movie managed to sneak in some believes I've tried to belly for some times; why should we not fear death.



The movie tells about the story of an Arab royal who was politically
banished to the Northern lands and eventually met the Vikings. The
Vikings at the moment were facing one of the most horrible beast of all
time; a band of ancient Evil that should not be named. Bulliwyf
(Beowulf) was to lead his tribe's band of twelve warriors to fight the
Evil. During the forming of the band, in the end the soothsayer said,
that God wanted their last men, to be the Arab...



And so they got involved in the journey to pursuit the Evil. And also
we got a glimpse of look at how the Vikings life. It was their view of
death that amazed me. Took into notice that it was just a movie, but
what was shown and said somehow made sense to me.



During the days of the Islamic government forming, the moslems are
feared for their courage and strong will in the fight, as if they do
not fear their own death. I think it's a result from their trust in God
and the Holy Prophet, that they're doing the right thing. They're
promised Heaven, and so they pursue the promise heartfully.



As with the Vikings, they have this believe that they're off to a
better place when they die. They believe they'll enter the halls of
Valhalla, where their father, mother, brothers, sisters, and the early
members of their people will bid them to take their place among them.
In the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever. Thus
affected are their way of living.



There were sayings in the movie like:

"Hurry to meet Death before your place is taken" - Herger the Joyous



"The Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in
a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is
fixed. Fear profits a man nothing". - Herger the Joyous



True? I felt that I am as a moslem share the common believe... In Islam
we've been told that our fate is already fixed eversince we're still an
embrio inside our mother's womb. That include the amount of wealth
we'll have, and the amount of days we'll have. This has borne some
related believes. I.e. that no matter what we'll do, if it not ours
then we'll not gonna get it. And no matter how carefull you are, you
can never cheat on your own death, or vice versa; no matter what you
do, if it's not the time for you yet, then you wont have your death. So
there is no need of fear.



But attached with the believes also are the rules. Ijtihad in Ikhtiar:
the maximizing of our efforts in pursuing the best result of our
actions. Sabar (patience): not rushing things or loosing faith when
troubles and obstacles arises, and Tawakal (faith): Believe in God that
every result is for the best of ourselves.



And surely, there are also restrictions that apply, which some I
believe are also common among other God's descended religion. In
example is about the damnation of suicide, or any other attempts at
ending your own life. So that we know eventhough we do not know about
our fate, it's not up to us either to decide when!



Those views of our fate are the basic believes that based the past
glory of the moslems, and should also based our live at present time.
In doing our work we should aware that there will not be a thing happen
upon us, that is not in God's will, or that is not good for us. But
also take into concern that we've done the best that we can do.



Death will visit us when it's the time for us to go. By then, all that
matters is what we've left behind, which is how we lived our life. So
what's really important now is that we strive to make the best of our
life... and not busy fearing how or when we would "go".



So it's true, fear profits a man nothing...



foto: © 1999 Touchstone Pictures. All rights reserved.