OHYOUKA

Japanese Garden within the Imperial Palace Hi! It's been a long time since the last time I posted something here. I would like to make this blog post a prologue because I think there will be several posts related to this Japan trip. So much to say about this Japan trip. I am also writing an e-book about it. Hopefully it will come out soon. At first, I just wanted to make a post here about it, but then I realized I wanted to spill everything I know. It would feel like Dumbledore pouring his memories into the Pensieve. There are just too many things I want to share, from the planning and preparation to the actual experience of traveling alone in a country I'd never visited before. Anyway, back to the topic. I am not a traveler at heart. I don't think I've ever done a solo trip before, by which I mean traveling to a place and staying there for a few days. And I don't think I'm brave enough to do that alone, even for a domestic trip. Traveling with friends or family...

Hello! If there’s one thing that’s currently taking over the internet—setting aside geopolitical or financial issues—we’re clearly in the middle of a fever. Yes, you guessed it right. We are currently in the Dubai Chewy Cookie fever. I wasn’t a fan of Dubai Chocolate. Until today, I still haven’t tasted the Dubai chocolate bar or any of its variants. Chocolate is always my number one favorite, but somehow I just don’t find it fancy enough to try that kind of chocolate bar. Until this chewy cookie came along and I simply couldn’t ignore it. After learning that kataifi is made from cake flour (or something similar), I imagined it would taste like crepes. That curiosity made me think, okay, maybe I could give this a go. So I started buying all the ingredients. Then on D-1, I bought a Dubai Chewy Cookie as a benchmark just to study the taste properly before making my own version. Well, turns out, I quite liked it. The kataifi was so crunchy, slightly savoury from the pistachio, blending so...

Did you know that, as long as I’ve lived, until September 2025, I had never tried a classic tiramisu at all.  Well, I believe everyone has their own timing, and that’s okay. I first tasted tiramisu during a work training lunch, where it was served as dessert. Turns out, I loved it, despite the fact that it contains coffee.  Since then, I’ve tried a few tiramisus around my area and started searching for various tiramisu recipes. I learned that there are two main types of tiramisu: the classic version that uses eggs, and the eggless one.  Tiramisu made with eggs tends to have more volume, denser, and custard-like, while the eggless version feels lighter on the palate.  It really comes down to personal preference, both are great in their own way. As for me, I prefer the lighter version. It’s simpler to make, doesn’t require eggs, and removing eggs also reduces the risk of an eggy smell or undercooked eggs.  Plus, it tastes like ice cream. At least that’s what my fr...

Source: Unsplash Hi, peeps! It took me a while to finally publish this post. This is not an excuse, but I’ve been on a holiday at the end of last year, and I had very limited access to my laptop. Well, intentionally so. I didn’t bring my laptop with me.  I’ve had something in mind as a new resolution for this blog in 2026. You might have noticed that I’ve started writing in English from now on (finger crossed). I feel like this could be a good challenge for me to slowly train myself to write in English. It feels more versatile, and hopefully, my content can reach more people. You might be thinking, “But there’s a translation plugin on the blog.”  True, but it kind of sucks. The browser’s auto-translation isn’t much better either as there are always some things missing or off. So I decided that the best way to deliver my thoughts properly is to write directly in English. Hopefully, I’ll be able to translate my previous posts into English too, one by one. Alright, that’s a q...

Sumber: Unsplash Hiya ! Setelah menyelesaikan postingan bulan September dan Oktober, aku langsung menulis rekap bacaan bulanan untuk November. Di sela-sela baking , aku juga mulai menyusun beberapa materi untuk  wrap-up  tahunan, mulai dari rekap bacaan hingga Matcha Mate. Mungkin itu sebabnya aku sering menunda waktu untuk mengisi blog ini. Mari kita lihat buku apa saja yang kubaca selama bulan November. Coba kulihat. Oh, wow, secara mencengangkan, di bulan November aku membaca 13 buku. Ini menjadi rekor bacaan terbanyak ketiga dalam satu bulan. Meskipun sebagian besar bacaan bulan ini didominasi oleh manga, hal itu sama sekali tidak menjadi masalah bagiku. Membaca tetaplah membaca, meskipun dalam bentuk komik. Di bulan ini, pilihan bacaan Overbooked Club jatuh pada pilihan teman kami, R. Ia memilih fiksi fantasi karya Emily J. Taylor,  Hotel Magnifique . Dari hasil diskusi bersama, kami cukup menikmati bacaan fiksi kali ini.   World-building -nya terasa kreatif, de...

Sumber: Unsplash Hello ! Tahukah kamu aku menulis postingan ini di bulan Desember? Aku tahu ini cukup telat, tapi lebih baik telat daripada tidak sama sekali, bukan? Maafkan aku tidak cukup aktif begitu memasuki bulan berakhiran -ber ini. Waktu akhir pekanku banyak tersita ke hobi baruku, seperti yang kamu tahu, yah: baking . Jadi, di sinilah aku sekarang. Menulis tiga draft postingan sekaligus di malam yang sama. 😅 Anyway , ternyata di bulan Oktober ini, aku hanya membaca empat buku saja. Entah ini reading slump atau memang kecepatan membacaku sedang menurun, atau tidak sempat saja. Banyak faktor, temanku. Di bulan Oktober ini sebetulnya aku cukup antusias dengan terbitnya buku baru dari penulis favoritku, Freida McFadden! Namun ternyata aku cukup kecewa. Buku ini menjadi buku dengan rating terendah. Alur ceritanya cenderung biasa saja dan aku dapat menebak jalan cerita sampai plot twist -nya. Meskipun tetap selalu ada plot twist tambahan lagi di akhir, Freida tidak menawarkan sesuat...