One Summer in Russia -- a Brief Reminiscence

My name is Nadia Vetta Hamid, I was an Incoming Exchange Global Community Development Program Manager, and I was also an EP for SunShine Project in AIESEC LC Engec Guap (E&G), St. Petersburg, Russia. The first time I arrived there, i thought Olga, my project director would come to pick me up. Then, to my surprise, no one came to me when i got out the gate! Luckily, my project director told me that her friend, Arseny, would come for me and the other EPs from Brazil.

Shortly, we got to know each other and we went by bus from the airport. My big luggage was around 34 kg (i know, i was crazy--but it was for the sake of global village and cultural presentation!) so i had trouble to lift it to the bus! From then, i knew that my belongings would be troublesome. After the bus, we had to take metro to Ligovskiy Prospekt, the location of my hostel (apparently, i stayed in Location Hostel -- pun intended) and it was almost all stairs. It was much more worse in the hostel, they only had stairs and we stayed at 5th floor. Welcome to Russia!

I met my project director there and she said i would go to my camp the next day. My camp is Lager Medved, lager means camp and medved means bear. From the beginning, I knew i would be sent there so i was really prepared for it. I was really shocked especially when she told me i would go there by myself! But my Brazilian friends apparently came along with me so there were four of us. The next day, we took elektrichka (regional train) to a small town called Losevo, around 80 km north of the city of St. Petersburg. It was like an authentic Russian experience  for me. When we arrived, nobody from the camp showed up. Then, 45 minutes later, the camp director, Leonid, picked us up with Katya, a Russian volunteer. He bought us ice cream :") He kept saying "Sorry, my English is extreme," then we realized it was another form of "Sorry, my English is extremely bad".

the view from the boat. yes, we need to row the boat to get to the camp! beautiful mother nature!

we slept in tents like these

with the kids

We were there with volunteers from France and Turkey. The French volunteer was actually an AIESECer! He was in Novosibirsk, Russia for GIP project. Well, the camp had the most extreme living condition among other camps. We had to; brush our teeth and was our face in the lake where everybody spat there, and we had to wash our dishes by dunking them to the same water used by others before, and don't imagine the toilets! But we had fun nevertheless, and we got to swim in the river almost everyday!

We got back to the city after four days. Actually, we supposed to attend a national summer conference but it turned out that they didn't have many spaces for interns! So we were just being tourists everyday and waiting for Olga to come back to St. Petersburg. I thought it would be only 5 days of not working, but then we had no job for three weeks, so we left for Moscow with other EPs.

me and Luky, my classmate in University in front of Kazansky Cathedral

Peterhof! my favorite tourism site in St. Petersburg!

in front of St. Basil Cathedral, Moscow!

I met my friends from LC UI and Bandung during my stay in Moscow. We had fun and spoke Indonesian (it was sometimes really tiring not to speak in your native language) and they recommended me shopping places! So I was just being a typical Indonesian tourist there :P

I came back to St. Petersburg after spending around 13 days in Moscow. Only one day after I came back, Olga told me that i had to be back to Lager Medved! This time, i was the only girl so I was being a princess in the group and still the only Asian but it was more diverse being the others were Czech, Egyptian and Colombian. I certainly didn't regret the fact that i was there twice :) we had crazy times together, like......taking shower in the river!

with our infamous camp leader. "You....go...river! very many many water." Extreme English at its best.

On my last week, I was working at city camp, at last. I was with my Brazilian and Hungarian friends, we were close so it was really cool to work with them. We visited different places everyday and we had terrible lunch, also everyday.

lit up the heart-shaped lantern~

on my last weekend, we also had Global Village! I gave presentation about Indonesia and danced Saman! I also let others try my Chilli sauce. it was funny to see their reaction >:)

After the Global ViIlage

It was also the week where i shed tears the most :""( I got close with everybody because we stayed at the same hostel, and I felt like I didn't have enough time there because I had fun.

to all people I met throughout this journey; AIESEC E&G, Lager Medved, Spanish Steps EPs and especially Sunshine EPs, thank you for making July-August 2012 to be my best summer ever.  Special thanks to Ramona and Senya for always helping us out and really patient with this crazy Indonesian hehe. YA LYUBYU TEBYA//AKU CINTA KAMU!

With my face on

Zara outerwear, vintage puritan collar top, unbranded belt, Nikicio pants, platform wedges from Haji Lane, Singapore, Charles and Keith bag

Derp

Cotton Ink outerwear, Cotton On tanktop, vintage belt, Mango jeans, black platform wedges from Haji Lane, Singapore. H&M rings, jade green bracelet from Turkey, jade green small bracelet from Bali, wooden bracelet from grandma

Schoolgirl

NN:02 grey long tee, oneandahalf sleeveless shirt, Levi's denim pants, Longchamp Le Pliage bag, Dr. Martens Corin

yellow tribe

came home and seeing this baby arrived safely was such a cure for a swollen face, thanks to a long painful facial treatment. I've always imagined how does this necklace look like on a light grey shirt, but sadly, my namesake NN:02 grey long t-shirt was being washed this afternoon.

been waiting for this day to come since march

on Topshop cropped sweatshirt

on Cotton Ink's Adele top

in case you guys want to order

fffff I'm gonna miss Ladytron on Djakarta Warehouse Project tonight ;________;

THIS IS A FOOD POST: En Dining

Went there for Mom's early birthday dinner. We spent an hour searching for restaurants at Plaza Indonesia - EX, we didn't really know exactly what we wanted to eat! We actually went to Kitchenette and Pizza E Birra (my personal favorite) but it was too crowded, I suggested The Goods Dept. Cafe but my parents thought the place is only for youngsters (they're a pair of cool parents by the way). We also checked Bistro Baron, but we weren't in the mood for western delicacies. Also, too much pork in Katsusei's menu (and too pricy for a plate of katsu). So we walked to EX, and chose En Dining instead. First time eating there, I was intrigued when I found out that their specialty was Okinawan dining! Not many Japanese restaurants here using that concept, I guess.

Let's see the dinner, shall we?

Dad's salmon belly and mackerel sashimi. LOOK AT THOSE FABULOUS LAYERS OF FAT. I thought the mackerel was cooked - at least steamed, because they didn't taste raw!

Mom's Okinawan Tofu Steak, the gravy was tasty! Watch out for the price, though.

my sister's Curry Katsu. my all-time favorite, but I ordered cod roe spaghetti instead ;___; Probably the most expensive curry katsu I've ever tasted (Rp 90k each, doesn't include sets with refillable ocha, miso soup and salad like the one at Taichan), it was also come with a good taste. Seriously, this one's wonderful!

my Cod Roe spaghetti. I never, ever regret the fact that i ordered this instead of curry katsu. totally loved the wafu cream sauce, mixed with cod roe! Reminded me of Pasta de Waraku's, they also got one there, right? I thought i wouldn't be full eating this but I was wrong, I could barely move. My new favorite.

our Kimchi Wings. didn't taste kimchi-ish at all, or rather gochujang (Korean spicy red pepper paste) flavored. It was just spicy, but didn't leave any unforgettable impressions. Quite pricey for 2 chicken wings, around Rp 36k.

our dessert, Honey Toast with vanilla ice cream and blueberry sauce. had a really good time eating this, I especially loved the crust!

my suggestion would be.............take your parents to eat with you, if you know what I mean.

THIS IS A FOOD POST: Kemang Fish & Chips

(ps: This was happened before the Ramadhan month.)

Dinov and I got nothing to do on a hot, humid day at Kemang. We actually visited 707 for their Melissa shoes (they got up to 70% Melissa shoes on sale) but left disappointed because i didn't want to spend 500k on rubber shoes. then we walked to McDonald's for coffee (we almost went to Casa but again, we didn't want to spend so much money on coffee so we ended up there). Had been craving for fish & chips all day, we decided to walk to the legendary Kemang Fish & Chips, in front of the Wimo building. Before it, we went to a pet shop on a halfway there and waited for my driver to pick us up (yes, the restaurant was a bit far by foot).

3 sizes of fish n chips. if I'm not mistaken, the prices have gone so much pricier when I visited. source: thediplomaticwife

Their fish & chips are available in 3 kinds of portions; Sailors (small), Captain (medium), and Admiral (large). We felt like we couldn't eat so much at that time so we only ordered one Captain fish and chips. oh, the place was so small and hot and at the corner of the street so it might not be the coziest place to hang out - because it was intended for take-away, not eating in.

probably the best fish & chips i've eaten in years--the fish wasn't amis and had beautiful layers beneath the batter, they use real chips (i mean, not french fries), and the tartar sauce was just perfect. Combine these three elements, and they'll send you to the fish n chips heaven.

Next time I'm eating there, i'll make sure i order Captain (or Admiral) for myself.

THIS IS A FOOD POST: Ebisu Curry

Remember the restaurant I mentioned in my last post? so here it is, I actually visited Ebisu before having red velvet at Convivium! had lunch there with 3 of my best friends, we certainly had a good time together. Ebisu Curry is located in the same building with Starbucks Melawai and Kamome, Japanese supermarket; next to the first Ramen Sanpachi 38.

the place was not too big, not too small, but made enough for having people eating in at lunchtime and neatly decorated.

E (small), Bi (medium), Su (GIGANTIC- i mean large)! fellow curry katsu maniac out there, did it ever cross your mind to order the Su portion?

the menu. I ordered Indonesia original sauce curry, E (small), with curry katsu.

gorgeous. the most authentic curry katsu i've ever had, too bad it wasn't that spicy! the katsu wasn't too oily, which is a good thing!

Dinov's ebi curry!!! i thought the shrimp would be like any usual tempuras but i was wrong!

i ate them as snack and topping for my curry~ apparently, snacking on garlic won't do any justice to your breath.

personally, i think the price for one small plate of curry katsu in Ebisu was quite expensive -- it cost me 60k-75k plate. the price is depending on what size and topping you order, but fortunately, you don't have to order a drink if you think a refillable lemon mineral water is enough ;D they also sell curry (around Rp 40k) to take home, a la Japanese instant curry. all you have to do is put the pack in a boiling water!

THIS IS A FOOD POST: Red Velvet Edition

I've been eating at new places this holiday, i think making some comparisons between similar or the same food would be fun -- take this lightheartedly as a subjective review from me! for the first edition, i will be reviewing everyone's favorite cake at the moment: red velvet (cup)cake which tastes like chocolate when in fact, the cake itself is red. (ps: i ate 2 cakes when writing this post)

The reddish-brown color of the cake originally was from a reaction of the cocoa powder with an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk, however red food coloring is often added especially if the cake does not contain chocolate. (wikipedia)

on to the 1st place: Souly's Butter Kitchen.

the cupcakes! left: red velvet with mascarpone cheese, right: chocolate cupcake.

the texture

Souly's Butter Kitchen is located in front of KFC Kemang. i love this mini-cafe's ambiance! too bad the place is too small that I had to hit everything around me. for the red velvet cupcake, i think it was nice. the mascarpone cheese topping was OK but didn't do any justice to save the cake.

2nd place: Convivium

the front door, from my table

the ever talked-about Red Velvet Cake!

I'm in love with Convivium! the ambiance there is really homey, definitely the place where you want to spend the evening with your loved ones. haven't tried their main course though - i went there just after i had my lunch at Ebisu Curry (I'll post about it soon!) so basically we only had afternoon tea there.

my personal favorite for red velvet cupcakes actually goes to Serradella (I had it at Brightspot Market, now available at The Goods Dept.) but Convivium's own cake is absolutely delish! the cake was moist, the slice was big enough for two, and I won't forget how gorgeous the topping was! it was quite unusual to have coconut on the top of your red velvet cake, I think.

PS: I haven't tried other places such as Tea Party Cupcakes or Sugar High, but i will definitely write about them once i get to taste theirs!

SORRY FOR THE UNEXPECTED ULTRALONG HIATUS OMG

i will make it up to you by posting manymanymany photos from events i've attended and of course, food! during my hiatus, i've attended several local fashion-related events like.........................

1. Love Garage

I met Nina Nikicio in person, at last! also, Love Garage means a lot to me because of some personal reasons.............. :)

ps: i beg you not to look at my enormous thighs and calves...............

my local favorite, Rock n Roll Mafia!

The Goods Dept.'s infamous Coffee Rub Burger, it does taste good and i tasted coffee beans spilled on the beef patty! above: meatball carbonara

2. Stradivarius' Launching

held at La Moda Cafe, Plaza Indonesia. I forgot the date, my bad! as one of Spain's biggest clothing brands, Stradivarius has the same vibe as its competitor, Mango.

3. Nikicio Mixte Vol. 06 Presentation

held at The Goods Dept. as usual. I didn't get to see the presentation because of Jakarta's traffic :( bad traffic, bad! as you can see below, black and other dark colors are dominating the collection. some items are see-through so you may need a good pair of underwear to be worn beneath them. luckily, they got underwear set! i personally love them (don't get me wrong) because they're really useful and the bra top can also be worn as a cropped top! pair it with high waist pants and you're good to go~ surprise, surprise! they're also a two-piece swimwear!

the crowd

2 life-size cutboards of the models.

I wore: round collar shirt (worn beneath) - blogger yard sale; cropped long shirt - oneandahalf; pants - Zara; bag - Mango; clogs - June+Julia

that's all for my comeback post, do expect food pr0nz coming through!