Writing is like a therapy for me. I can observe, assess and share my feelings, thoughts, memories and anything what I have been through. Because one day, yes, one day, all of them will be precious things to remember.
Author: Saskia Rajayani
I consider myself as an honest person and if I have a dream I do whatever is possible to achieve it. I'm very friendly, enthusiastic,cheerful, lively, and simple person. I love having a good time, laughing, reading novels, having coffee, cycling and doing goofy things whenever I can.
I enjoy every little things in my life, such as Wearing my muddy boots,looking at the pop-corns clouds,eating my Scorched omelet,Let my hands full of scrawl-notes and yeap I'm proud being Me ;)
Kue bolu yang ter-excited yang saya buat. Just make me happy! Gimana nggak, pas keluar dari otang (oven tangkring), wangi lemonnya enak banget, nggak hangus dan bentuknya yang sangat cantik, nggak lecet sedikit pun.
Resepnya saya liat dari Youtube dari lovingitvegan.com
Bahannya:
2 1/2 cup tepung serba guna
1 1/2 cup gula pasir
1 1/2 sdt baking soda
3/4 sdt garam (saya pakai Himalayan salt)
1 1/2 cup susu nabati (saya pakai soymilk)
1/2 cup minyak kelapa
1 Sdm cuka apel atau boleh pakai cuka putih
1 sdt vanila ekstrak
3 sdt lemon ekstrak
2 Sdm parutan kulit lemon (lemon zest)
Bahan untuk lemon frosting:
4 1/2 cup icing sugar (gula bubuk)
1/2 cup vegan butter
2 sdt lemon ekstrak
3 1/2 sdm lemon juice
Untuk dekorasi:
Lemon Zest
Cara membuat:
Masukkan tepung, gula, baking soda dan garam. Aduk merata. Lalu masukkan susu nabati, minyak kelapa, cuka apel, lemon ekstrak, vanila ekstrak dan lemon zest. Aduk semua bahan hingga benar-benar merata dan pastikan agar tidak ada bahan yang menggumpal. Jangan terlalu overmix.
Tuang ke dalam loyang yang telah diolesi butter dan tepung. Masukkan ke oven. Panggang selama 35 menit dengan suhu 170 derajat Celcius.
Setelah matang, remove kue dari loyang dan simpan di cooling rack. Dinginkan.
Untuk frosting, mix semua bahan frosting ke dalam mixer. Gunakan slow speed trus tambah sedikit kecepatan mixer sampai bahannya halus dan tebal.
Terakhir, oleskan frosting ke kue dan beri lemon zest di atasnya. Yey, jadi deh!
Today onward, I would post my vegan cakes here. Tadinya saya mau bikin jurnal di buku tulis khusus untuk kue-kue yang saya buat. Sambil doodlean dan warnain gitu. Tapi setelah mikir- mikir, saya keep sementara disini aja dulu. Oh,iyah, jadi akhir-akhir ini saya lagi seneng baking/buat kue. There is always first time for everything. Itung-itung belajar dan manfaatin waktu aja, sih. Peralatan yang saya punya sangat sederhana, masih pakai oven tangkring (Yes, oven manual yang sudah ada sejak ratusan tahun yang lalu :P).
Seumur-umur saya nggak pernah belanja bahan-bahan kue, alat-alat baking sampai urusan ngulen adonan. Never ever. Entah saya kemasukan jin apa, tetiba kepikiran mau belajar buat kue. Akhirnya saya putusin untuk sedikit-sedikit belanja alat baking, oven tangkring punya temen bisa saya pakai, bahan-bahan saya beli online. Ngomongin bahan kue, saya pilih yang kualitas bagus dan kue/dessert yang saya buat adalah semua berbahan vegan-friendly. Bisaan, yah, buat kue vegan? BISA BANGET. Thanks to Youtube, hell yeah Internet yang memudahkan saya dalam baking-membaking.
Semua kue yang saya buat itu adalah salah satu bentuk self-care saya secara pribadi. I tried not to waste so much time ( mindless scrolling ) on social media, or being a lazy- ass gurl. At least, try something fun to do for myself. Kalaupun misalnya saya lagi nggak mood buat kue, yah paling nggak dance sendiri di kamar, puter musik kenceng-kenceng atau ke toko tanaman hias sekedar refreshing. Apalagi di masa pandemi yang mengharuskan saya stay di kosan sendiri, I need to stay sane, everybody! Well, we do!
Oh, iyah, satu lagi, foto-foto kue yang saya posting setelah ini adalah hasil jepretan saya sendiei, bukan dari Rio Motret atau ngambil dari Google. Ugh! Kenapa saya bilang gini? ya karena some of my friends told me that it’s not your picture, Saskia!LOL So, yeah, just so you know. *hi-five
Back to my therapy session aka nulis di malam minggu yang cukup tense. I set up Fleet Foxes as my companion. I try to collect my breath and my mind for this shitty nite. Here it goes, tulisan saya kali ini is just a random thought that comes to my mind lately, it’s about generosity.
Malam ini saya mau cerita soal saya diputusin kejadian beberapa minggu lalu yang saya alami. FYI, akhir-akhir ini saya lagi demen rawat tanaman biar Zen gitu eaaaaaakk. Suatu ketika saya ke pusat jualan tanaman hias di Tangerang. Saat ngobrol sama abangnya, tiba-tiba ada 2 orang Ibu-ibu yang turun dari Lexus dan langsung adain sesi QAs sama abangnya. Singkat cerita, saya dengan tanaman “murah” saya udah siap angkut ke kosan. Saya duduk sembari nungguin Gocar dan liatin abangnya yang lagi sibuk meladeni 2 Ibu-ibu tadi. Terlihat si abangnya ngaduk media tanam kaya lagi ngadon roti gitu. Trus tanemannya dipindahin ke 2 atau 3 pot gede baru yang keliatan berat dan mahal. Nah, abis itu abangnya ngangkat pot gede yang tadi ke mobil. Sisa-sisa adukan tanah tadi terlihat berjatuhan dari celana si abangnya pas waktu ngangkat pot. Sekitar 4 menit lagi Gocar saya nyampe, si lexus udah cabut duluan. Sisa waktu ini saya pake ngobrol dikit ama abangnya. Yah, common quests lah, taneman mana paling mahal, buka sampe jam berapa, taneman yang dibeli 2 Ibu tadi namanya apa, dikasih tip g’?. Abangnya langsung nyeletuk “itu aja Dia minta diskon, Ka.”
Dalam hati saya, gokil…. Are the rich the bad tippers? Secara gitu, yah, abangnya sudah ngasih pelayanan maksimal buat mereka, mulai ngaduk tanah, pindahin tanaman lama ke pot baru, ngangkat pot ke mobil. Nggak ngasih uang lebih malah minta diskon. Cek per cek, saat saya lagi di mobil menuju kosan, I surfed right to Safari and found a study yang bilang bahwa Rich people lack empathy. Dikutip dari HuffPost “According to researchers at the University of California-Berkeley, people who grew up in economically comfortable circumstances are less attuned to the suffering of other people”. Hmmm.. interesting!
Dari situ juga saya mikir-mikir apa iya orang kaya itu rada “pelit”? Karena jujur, saya nggak pernah liat langsung, sih, orang tajir yang sincerely generous ke orang kalangan bawah gitu. Apa karena inner circle gw aja yang pada misqueen, yah? HAHAHA. Saya tanya deh, pernah nggak, kamu, iyah elu, liat rekan kerja atau bos kamu yang beliin kopi Starbuck untuk drivernya yang sudah nungguin berjam-jam di basement atau parkiran?. Saya pribadi nggak pernah liat. Malah saya yang kaya gitu ahahaa. Seriously, bukan bragging, yah. Aduh, gaji saya aja nggak gede, beneran, bukan sekali dua kali saya treat driver kantor saya dengan Starbuck. Beberapa kali. Please, do not judge me, don’t be a shallow minded person. Karena gini, mungkin saya orangnya nggak enakan juga. Meskipun driver yah emang tugasnya gitu kan, nganter, nunggu. But, merasa nggak pantas aja saya bawa minuman trus dia nggak dikasih gitu. Saya ngasih mereka, yah saya samain apa yang saya minum atau makan. Kadang kalo lagi ada duit beli Starbuck, yah beli, kalo nggak yah paling teh kotak. Intinya adalah saya berbagi ke mereka. Bukan persoalan murah atau mahalnya, tapi pure bentuk empati saya ke mereka. And you know what, NUNGGU itu nggak enak huhu. Berbagi itu tentu bukan persoalan ke driver doang, tapi ke semua orang, lebih bagus lagi ke orang-orang yang membutuhkan. Kasarnya, penghasilan mereka lebih sedikit dibanding kita.
Nah, satu lagi yang mau saya ceritain. Kebetulan masih nyangkut soal generosity. Please keep in mind, bukan mengumbar keriyaan, saya pure berbagi saja apa yang saya lakuin. Kebetulan selama pandemi ini , saya nemu hobby baru, yaitu baking dan masak-masak. That’s a truly fun thing to do ternyata. Kue yang saya bikin cukup variatif, 100% vegan friendly. Nah, kadang saya bikin kue agak banyak ,yah, trus posting di sosmed karena bukan mau pamer,tapi itu buat reward saya sendiri. Pernah ada beberapa teman yang berkomentar, “Saskia, pamer doang nggak bagi-bagi blabla”. Saya pernah sekali bawa kue buatan saya ke kantor, pernah juga nawarin teman kosan. Tapi yang saya dapat malah banyak komentar. Secara vegan, yang pikiran mereka, rasanya pasti aneh nih. Ada yang bilang ” ini rasanya kaya minuman diet ya?”, ada yang mau nyicip tapi dipelototin dulu dan masukin ke mulutnya kaya’ disuruh makan sayur basi gitu. Atuh di coba aja dulu, kan?Bagus kalo dikasih langsung makan nggak banyak cincong, tapi kalo dianggurin aja atau simpen di kulkas ampe lumutan? Kejadian-kejadian itu yang buat saya, jujur, malas untuk membagi ke mereka-mereka. Alhasil, yang saya lakukan adalah beli box makanan dan kalau saya baking kue, saya bagi ke orang yang lebih tepat sasaran menurut saya. Ke tukang becak, tukang bersih-bersih dan abang gojek. Dan itu rasanya jauh lebih baik, jauh lebih ikhlas dan bahagia tentunya. Sudah beberapa kali saya membagikan makanan, nggak ada satu pun dari mereka berkomentar ina inu. Saat saya bilang “Pak, ini ada kue buat bapak” , semua responsnya sama “Alhamdulillah, makasih banyak neng”. Entah mengapa, it’s just uplifting. Dari situ saya mikir, kadang ada situasi dimana mereka-mereka yang dibawah kita itu jauh lebih beradab, lebih memanusiakan manusia gitu loh. Mereka mungkin nggak bisa traktir kita balik, nggak bisa ngasih kita makanan, tapi mereka treat us with respect! Enak nggak enaknya kue yang dikasih, urusan belakangan. 😀 Saya nggak ngecap teman-teman saya buruk atas responsnya terhadap kue buatan saya, yah. Not at all. There is only something that I felt different when giving them and giving to others. Itu aja, sih. Intinya, bener bahagia itu sederhana. Dengan berbagi ke orang-orang yang membutuhkan bener-bener release endorphin. Goal saya kemarin soal jenguk dan donasi ke panti asuhan agak ngadat tapi masih akan berlanjut, yah as we know situasi saat ini nggak memungkinkan. My wish to God, semoga tetep kasih rejeki buat gw, kerjaan, kesehatan. Semoga saya jadi orang yang senantiasa menderma.
Because I believe one thing seperti kata Anne Frank “No one has ever become poor by giving”. So have you ever asked yourself, are you generous enough? *winked
Wah! Nggak nyangka, hari ini (30 Juli 2020) tepat 100 hari saya memakai pakaian yang sama ke kantor, terhitung dari tanggal 3 January 2020—– 2020. Lama? Ya, iyah,ngga lain nggak bukan karena pandemi which is *alaanakJaksel* mengharuskan WFH. Well, tulisan kali ini lebih kepingin mereview aja,sih, yang saya rasakan personally setelah berbulan-bulan mengenakan pakaian yang sama ke kantor. Trivial banget, kan? AHAHA You know what, I’m fucked up karena di tulisan sebelumnya saya bakal update di Twitter. But, nyatanya nggak ke update. That’s bull, I know!
Quick review! First of all, saya nggak mikir banyak lagi buat pake baju apa ke kantor. Pake, cuci, repeat. Alhamdulillah, meskipun lumayan intens cucinya, tapi so far baju yang saya pake masih nyaman dan nggak rusak. Terus yang kedua adalah mixed-feelings; happy dan pernah merasa bosen. Secara yah itu-itu aja. Tapi lama kelamaan rasa bosan itu hilang dan believe it or not merasa happy aja gitu. Then, soal respons dari teman-teman kantor yang tadinya diawal-awal selalu komentarin, becandain sampai julid/ nyinyir tiba-tiba udah ng’ gitu lagi. Capek sendiri kayanya hehe. Nah, yang terakhir adalah side effect yang muncul dan obviously saya rasain.
Dan side effect tersebut adalah procrastination. Tapi, procrastinationnya ini dalam hal berangkat ke kantor yang dulunya on time jadi sering telat. I dunno why, it’s relate or not, yah. Padahal kalo dibilang drama “saya pake apa hari ini” itu udah g’ ada lagi. Make up pun paling nggak nyampe 5 menit. Tapi entah kenapa, sering telat aja gitu. Meskipun udah bangun pagi loh. And it happens till now. Nggak tiap hari juga, tapi frekuensinya lebih banyak dari kemarin-kemarin. Biasanya aktivitas setelah bangun itu yah shalat, meditasi, even biasanya yoga, masak buat bekal ke kantor. DAN ITU PUN NGGAK TELAT. But now, with the same activities, I am fuckin’ late like 30 min-1 hour. I swear that’s weird. Anyway, I am still wearing it that tho dan drama telat gawe semoga g’ ada lagi yak. *fingercross
PS : out of topic, saya share wardrobe saya (pic below) yang saya pakai buat kantor dan hangout.
That’s why they call it the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.
George Carlin
This unpopular quote remind me when I was dreaming one night and found myself walking somewhere in New York with one of my friends. It’s around mid 2017 I believe. Once I woke up, I texted my friend and told about my dream. He said “You Girl, will be there and shine. 2018 will be your year”.
You know what, surprisingly, a dream comes true. The question is Do I believe it? What I said to my friend was just “Amen”. In June 2018, I went to America as an exchange student. Anyway, I will not telling you what I have been through all the details since I was in The States. What I am gonna share now is HOW I MISS AMERICA so so so bad. Here are the few things what I miss from America;
Host Family. I miss my host family so much. Just so you know that I stayed with Heyton’s family in my first day landed in Phoenix, Arizona. Two weeks after that, I moved to the apartment nearby the school. I have an energic and curious lil brother and a pretty witty beautiful lil sister. Heytons took care of me since the beginning to the end of my program. They are still keep in touch with me till now, the pandemic era. My host Mom is one of the excellent mothers that I’ve ever seen. She’s a quirky Mom, an artist, creative and kind-hearted human. Every time I asked for her help, she always be there, from dropped me at the school, took me to the groceries, sewed my big-size slacks, made an apple pie for me, helped me out to bedazzled my graduation hat and many others. My host Dad is a cool, wise and funny man. He loves to cook for us. I had so much fun with them. Pool party, dinner, shopping, dancing and singing in the car, birthday party, watching movie at cinema and so on. I am so grateful having them in my life. Their presence is a precious gift. No wonder I miss them so badly.
Chipotle and Rolibertos’. Oh, I’m dying of these Mexican fast foods Restos. I tried burrito at Chipotle for the first time when one of the host parents took me and my friends for having dinner. Otherwise, my host mom introduced Rolibertos’s to me when she picked me up from the school. What I do like about them is the fresh ingredients and the big size of it. It’s affordable and the waitress don’t skimp on the ingredients.
Chick Fil-A and Popeyes. Another foods that I’m dying for. Popeyes! The big size of chicken breast, fried fries, biscuit, cream soup, a large soda on one tray. Always spent time here after my night class or in the weekend, took a bus to Popeyes at Broadway Rd, Mesa and ordered this huge yummy food. Who does not miss it? Then you, Chick Fil-A. I have no idea what’s the chick Fil-A sauce made of but I really really really like it. Combined with waffle fries and chicken nuggets. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I’m craving for this both. I still can vividly remember the smell of that fries and fried chicken. However, now I changed my diet and being a vegetarian. I know I couldn’t eat it again (No, that’s not true, If I can go back there again, of course I will try it, hahah).
American friends, host families and teachers. I can mention their names one by one. But, They are all good to me. They accepted the way I am, they never ever ever let me down, where I come from, judge my skin, my language, etc. They always helped me and supported me. They are very good people and I miss them so much.
Volunteer, School and National Events. Oke stop talking about foods, Saskia. Another thing I miss from America is a plenty of volunteer events. The website “Volunteer Match” is one of the best platform to look for volunteer activities. What I like about being a volunteer in America is they are fair and not a racist like Indonesians Volunteer Event Organizers. I am sorry to say this, but I felt it. I’ve tried one time applied for Agricultural Expo in Jakarta like a month ago and the criteria mentioned in the brochure said “15-25 years old who are regarded as energetic and active age”. What de heck! Forget it, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. That sucks. A’ight, another thing is school events and party. I like to collect brochures relate to events and party from the school and pinned it on my wall. Why? where is the party, there is free stuff. Everybody love free stuff, right? Free pizza, free snacks, free BBQ, burgers, lemonade and sodas, chocolates, ice cream, free stationaries. It’s so tempting. I don’t have to bring my lunch box to school or order the boring food in the cafeteria. Talking about national events, I was so glad that I could feel the vibes of Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s, Christmas and New Year’s Eve in America.
Library. A place that I can chill and relax. What I am talking about is my school’s library, MCC. I always spent my time here either for having lunch, reading books, working on the assignments and purely just having coffee on the couch or in the patio. Yes, it has a patio which is cool. Another thing that I love from this library is up to date books. I like just stood for some minutes in new arrival collection by the receptionist desk.
Cashless. I don’t need to bring cash. Yes, even a dollar for one donut. Everything is cashless. Swipe the card and you’re set, babe!
Super large Cokes. Not C O C K! 😛 I am done drinking soda for a year now. But lemme tell you that this it sometimes still running in my head. Craving for super duper large size and free refill cokes or lemonades or sprite or even Dr.Pepper. Imagine in the hot summer in Arizona, walking down to the school while holding 900 ml of cokes. That’s perfect, right? Actually there is more size of that, it is called BIG Gulp of 7 Eleven. Do you want to know how large it is? It large comes in 1,5 litre. Don’t tell me that I’d drink it all. Nooooooo! It’s just too much. Hahah
Amazon. I bet I’m not the only one who miss this. Mostly Americans have this app to buy anything they want. It’s all there, honey! Click “place the order” and sit nicely.
Do and wear whatever you want. I love Indonesia, but however I (sometimes) admire America. I don’t have to tell you the details what’s the bold point I mentioned but don’t get me wrong as well. A little thing that I miss out of hundreds of whatever- you-want- to- do items is keep wearing your shoes at home. It’s cool, tho. You don’t have to take off your shoes while you are at someones’ house. Don’t try to psycho analyse me either, because I know every country has it’s own culture. So Chill!
Weatherand Cactus in Arizona. God, why are you soooooo magical? Please don’t vanish the beautiful chill and windy November in Arizona from my head and the giant cacti, per favor!.
Goodwill. It just takes 4 minutes by walk from my apartment. I mostly went here every weekend. I just love it, I dunno why. It feels like hunting treasures in an old house. I bought a lot of things here such as stationaries, cloths, cup, books, shoes and cute stuff for bedroom.
Panda Express. I’m sorry but seemed like I missed one thing here. Don’t judge me because I love my tummy so much :P. This is another of my guilty pleasure. P A N D A E X P R E S S (you don’t have to spell it,tho). Full tummy less than 10 bucks. Asians menu and of course can’t miss the fortune cookies. I just love to crack the cookie and find out the Fortunote in it. I wanna confess 1 thing here. If I found out a bad note, I will throw it and crack another one. What? I am a human being. hahaha Just like to hear good things. You’d do the same thing, tho. 😛
Board Games. Never have I ever seen a plethora of board games before. Only in the US. I am not exaggerating but it’s true. Monopoly? it’s nothing. I can’t even mention it because most of the names of its are weird. HAHA. I was regret I threw out some of mine. 🙁
Take Starbuck Cards For Free. Am I guilty? Dear Starbuck staff, you may call me a pathetic customer but trust me, I like your card collections. Thank you for letting me grab them. 🙂
Hershey’s chocolate caramel coffee creamer. OMG! this creamer was introduced by my host dad in my very first morning in the US. It tasted so guuuuuud. Believe it or not, I never missed one single day without it in my fridge. Guess what, there is a jumbo size of it. Two times larger as the regular one which is 1,9 liters or 0,5 gal. The price is around $6 or IDR 93,000. It’s little bit pricey for a creamer but it’s totally worthy. C’mon it’s Hershey’s everybody. Unfortunately , I can’t find it here in Indonesia. To be honest, my coffee life routine has been elevated by this yummy creamer. Colombian coffee plus Hershey’s choco caramel creamer is HEAVEN!
I want to clarify that all of the bullet points mentioned above are just in a random order. It does mean that Chipotle is a thing that I miss so much rather than my American friends. Alright? See you and have a nice life, guys!
