Giethoorn River Trail

Lunch @ Picca Steakroom

Another viral new restaurant in Jakarta, and I was pleasantly surprised to be able to walk-in, as they happened to have an empty table for our group. The largest concern was the tiny dead grub on our Caesar Salad, to which they graciously replaced. While I’ve had steaks just as good at a lower price point (this is Indonesia after all), their bottomless seasoned chips and pomme purée made up for the cost difference. The tiramisu was decent, albeit missing the traditional lady fingers, however the escargot was delicious, and the mocktails were refreshing (no alcohol though, sad).

All in all, definitely a place to sample if you have the money to splash, and either the time to make a reservation in advance, or the luck to walk-in without a huge queue.

Tulips @ Tesselaar

A spring-exclusive. Come for the tulips, stay for Australia’s largest clog! They’re on until Mid-October.

Wedding Dinner

Menu presented by Chef Yvonne Yuen.

Jackpot!

I remember when I played at a game arcade back when I was little, I was fixated at this grown man who’s hunched over a game machine where he pushes a ball at just the right power to land at a jackpot slot practically every time. Many years later, I realised that there is a strategy to profiting while having fun at a game arcade. Sure, it’s a very narrow strategy, limited to specific games while exploiting more favorable winning probabilities, but having exploited Power Roll machines to win 2 Nintendo Switches at market price, I’d say the planning is fun in and of itself, and having perfected a strategy, you get to experience the joyful “jackpot” moment over and over again.

I Queued For 2 Hours to Eat African Chicken

Stowaway

Pre-Wedding Feast

Boxing for my Dinner @ Haidilao

After such a long time of seeing reels on Instagram, I finally tried dining at Haidilao. Apart from having a huge menu, I’m simply surprised by the loads of free stuff offered on the side, from free chips and ice cream while you wait, to a full-blown nail salon and shirt tie-dyeing! One thing that caught my eye was the boxing challenge to get up to 20% off the bill. Had a few practice rounds before I did an attempt, but fortunately someone who went before me showed the best trick: repeatedly hitting the last two spots where the lights appeared to rapidly get points. Thanks to that, I got on the leaderboard and that 20% discount. From the large bill racked up by the family group that night, the 20% really added up.

Hofbräuhaus Feast Platter

Sure to leave a group of hungry friends satisfied. They have spots everywhere, including in Australia.