Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

“He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go,’” Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, “like what’s going on here?” Diaz says. “He asked me, ‘Why are you doing this?’”

Diaz replied: “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.

“You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help,” Diaz says.

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

“The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi,” Diaz says. “The kid was like, ‘You know everybody here. Do you own this place?’”

“No, I just eat here a lot,” Diaz says he told the teen. “He says, ‘But you’re even nice to the dishwasher.’”

Diaz replied, “Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”

“Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. “He just had almost a sad face,” Diaz says.

The teen couldn’t answer Diaz — or he didn’t want to.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, “Look, I guess you’re going to have to pay for this bill ’cause you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I’ll gladly treat you.”

The teen “didn’t even think about it” and returned the wallet, Diaz says. “I gave him $20 … I figure maybe it’ll help him. I don’t know.”

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen’s knife — “and he gave it to me.”

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, “You’re the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch.”

“I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world.”

Guess where this is… Hawaii?

Say hello to Kake Udon! Hot udon topped with onions. I love the soup, it is perfect for those craving for spicy food.

On the side of the main course is Fish Tempura. It’s crispy and delicious at the same time, especially if you put on the sauce.

On the business side, I think Marugame Udon is genius. In the booming era of Ramen, Marugame Udon create a perfect diffetentiation, not only with a slightly different menu, but also a fresh dining experience. You choose the menu on the front-kitchen, just like school-canteens. You can also refill your ocha by your own via dispensers near the cashier.

For the fresh experience they are providing and the quite good taste of their food, I give Marugame Udon an 8 out of 10.

Experience : 9/10
Taste : 7.5/10
Price : 40k-70k/pax.
Overall : 8/10.

I don’t think the name is catchy enough. KrangKring is the sound of telephone, and I am really curious on why it is called KrangKring.

After a very bad traffic jam at Suropati fly over, we finally arrived at KrangKring at 2pm. It is not far from Gedung Sate. Just follow the Cisangkuy street, then turn right into Citarum street. Turn left when you see Istiqomah Mosque, and you’re there.

KrangKring is divided into 4 areas. The first one has a bar, where they sell their drinks. There are quite a lot of seats right there, including a few sofa, and it was crowded! I am lucky to be able to find one empty seat.

The second area is the food court. There are hundreds of menu, from Sushi, Dimsum, Iga Bakar, and even Waffles, Pancake. I asked around and the most popular food in KrangKring is “Nasi Bambu” (Bamboo Rice).

The third area is full of accessories shop, and the fourth area is a DVD shop, which sells a lot of movie DVD inside. It is very crowded at the time of my visit, and I don’t have the chance to enter.

Because I had my lunch already, I ordered coffee and snacks instead trying the popular Nasi Bambu. I ordered Hot Cappuccino and Ice Cream Poffertjes.

The Hot Cappuccino is slightly disappointing. The foam isn’t served well, and the coffee is too sweet. Looks like they are using a vending machine. It was relatively cheap though, only IDR 11.000/cup.

On the other hand, the Poffertjes was awesome. The poffertjes is dipped in chocolate, and served with Ice Cream (flavor of your choice). The softness of poffertjes, the sweetness of chocolate, and the chilling effect of ice cream makes a perfect combination in this comforting dessert. It is available for IDR 32.000/cup.

After chilling there for one hour while enjoying the live music, I leave KrangKring and drove straight away to my sister’s place. Overall it was a very good experience and I am looking for my return to try the Nasi Bambu.

Have another experience on KrangKring? Put them in the comments below!

My other Restaurant review :

• The Traders Coffee Pantai Indah Kapuk
• Cafe Review : Cafe Bon Francais Jakarta

We travel around Jakarta to eat at Sari Bundo, walk at Monas, and hanging out at Societea. All to celebrate Maxie’s success on his thesis defense!

26/03/2013.

Setelah menikmati Friday Night terakhir di 2012, akhirnya tiba lah saya di kasur tercinta. Posisi tidur paling pewe sudah diambil, dan dalam hitungan detik saya pasti akan terlelap.

Bagaikan mimpi, tiba tiba terdengar suara gemuruh yang sangat kencang. Seperti guntur yang menghajar bumi berulang-ulang. Seperti suara bom yang menghancurkan sebuah bangunan di film film.

Dengan mata 5 watt, saya mencoba meyakini bahwa saya sedang bermimpi. Tetapi suara teriakan tuako membuat saya sadar bahwa ini bukan mimpi. “GEMPA! GEMPA!“, teriak tuako.

Saya pun segera bangkit dan berlari keluar. Ternyata tidak ada gempa, tetapi langit langit kamar tamu di rumah saya RUBUH!

Sungguh sebuah kejadian yang tidak terduga. Saat kejadian tersebut, siko sedang tertidur pulas, dan (thankfully) tuako berada di dalam toilet.

Ketika saya membuka pintu kamar, siko sedang dalam posisi tertidur sambil menahan plafon yang jatuh tepat di atas badannya. Papa dan mama yang terkejut mendengar bunyi tersebut segera datang ke kamar dan membantu saya mengangkat plafon yang jatuh agar Siko dapat keluar. Sungguh kebetulan saat itu Siko sedang terbangun karena suara pintu saat tuako berjalan ke toilet sehingga Siko sempat menahan plafon itu sebelum menimpa Siko.

Ada satu hal yang sangat mengejutkan. Posisi kasur tuako berada tepat di bawah sebuah kaca, yang pecah akibat kejadian ini. Kaca tersebut pecah tepat di kasur tuako. Kasur yang kosong karena tuako sedang berada di dalam toilet. Bagaimana jika kejadian tersebut terjadi saat Tuako sedang tertidur? Membayangkannya saja sudah mengerikan.

Sampai sekarang masih belum jelas apa yang mengakibatkan rubuhnya langit langit tersebut. Beberapa diagnosa diantaranya karena adanya perbedaan tekanan udara di kamar tersebut. Kamar tamu tersebut kosong untuk berbulan bulan lama nya, dan selalu dalam keadaan hangat. Malam itu, AC kamar dinyalakan sehingga menjadi dingin, dan kemungkinan perbedaan tekanan tersebut menekan langit langit yang memang sudah rapuh itu ke bawah.

*Edit : Setelah dicek pada pagi harinya, ternyata kayu penyangga langit langit telah rapuh termakan rayap. Inilah yang menyebabkan rubuhnya plafon tersebut.

Apapun penyebabnya, saya sekeluarga benar benar merasa relieved bahwa tidak ada yang terluka dalam kejadian ini. Kami benar benar tidak pernah menyangka sebelumnya kejadian seperti ini dapat terjadi.

Pesan yang dapat diambil : berjagajagalah. Ini mungkin peringatan dari Tuhan bahwa hal buruk dapat terjadi kapan saja. Hal baik pun dapat terjadi kapan saja. Pastikan ketika waktunya datang, kita sudah siap.

God bless.

- Yohanes Steven

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Christmas Manger at my house, designed and decorated by Ci Siska.

Mom and Dad pose happily in front of the manger.