An Acquired Taste Supper

So, today we're on a topic of food that people would classify as 'an acquired taste'.

Here's the starting point:
For lunch today, I had a bowl of rice topped with natto mixed with spring onions and umeboshi, and then to finalized I had some durian chips, snacking on Djungelvrål licorice.
Here I was trying to be friendly to my colleagues and offered them with some durian chips and licorice (courtesy of Ms. Montchan). What surprised me the most was the response I got from them. They steered away from me. They went, "YUCK!" And that really hurt my feelings. Why? Because they're simply my favorite food!

So, I think it is as good a time as any to introduce what these foods are all about. Let's start with licorice.

Licorice*


Licorice is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, from which a sweet flavour can be extracted. It is basically a chewy candy. Popular in Northern Europe, in particular Scandinavian countries.
According to this article, licorice is supposed to be good for your teeth and is also used for expectorant (medicine for coughs).

...my story

I have to admit, I took my time adjusting to licorice. My first introduction was through my mother. She went on a trip to Australia and came back with a big bag of licorice. That was some 10 years ago. I hated it then. I didn't care much for the taste and continued about my life deciding to hate it.
Until I met Malaco salty licorice. My Swedish friend brought a bag of it over one day. She said, "I think you'll like it. Try them. Just have one full licorice, it might change your mind." So I did. I ate one licorice, and then another one, and then one more, and then the whole jumbo bag was finished. Since then, licorice is my new best friend.

Now, let's move on to another food in the list.

Durian**

Durian is a fruit with a spiky hedgehog like shell and has a very strong odor. It is native to South East Asian countries such as Indonesia or Thailand. For those who have tried durian and didn't grow up with it might think it's far-fetched to call it a fruit. Well, I have news for you, it is not a vegetable. It's a fruit.
The taste of a durian is really sweet with sticky texture. Opening a durian is an art and skill in itself. Think of a hedgehog and how exactly would you hold it... yes, it is THAT tricky.
Usage of this fruit is whether you can eat it raw (must wait until it's ripe to be enjoyed), or it is also commonly used for making sweets. Durian is found in medicines, useful to antipyretic (reducing fever), it is also believed by Javanese (my people!) as a strong aphrodisiac.

...my story

Durian, while loved by many South East Asians, are also equally hated by the other half of the population. Simply because of the odor.
I grew up with it. I love it. People steering away from the fruits odor? Fine by me. I get to eat it all for myself. Yumm!

Finally, let's talk about natto.

Natto***


Natto is fermented soybeans. Typically eaten for breakfast on top of rice, mixed with some dashi (fish broth), spring onion and umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum).
Natto is very sticky in texture. It actually looked like some food that has gone bad. You pull one soybean, there is a spider-web like thing that comes with it, making a big string. Pretty crazy. Pretty gross-looking, too.
Natto has a funny smell, funny texture BUT very delicious taste.

...my story

It took me 7 years to finally bring myself to eat it. And the reason why I didn't want to touch it in the first place was because of how people asked me whether I like it or not. "Do you like natto?" (high pitch at the second syllable, crunched face, daring me to say 'yes'). You see the way people asked me was as if it was some rotten thing that is not worth eating. New to Japan then, I figured... heck it must be something real bad.
And then over the years I grew more and more curious about it, simply because it's a Japanese staple food, EVERYBODY eats it.
One day I was at the grocer. Mr. Hooper #1 asked me whether I'd like to try one. He said, "It's good for your health." Somehow I agreed to buy one. You know what... It was YUMMY!!!! The way to eat it is an art in itself. Since then, when in Japan, everyday I eat a pack of natto. By the way, on your poor days, natto is the way to go. At Mr. Hooper's store by my house, you get 4 packages for only 100 yen (not even 1 USD). Good for your health, and good for your pocket.

Who wants to join my acquired taste supper?

==
*Licorice picture was taken from here.
**Durian picture was taken from here.
***Natto picture was taken from here.

Good Saturday

TV series provide good education. Or at least provide enough base to trigger the research of the day.

I was watching CSI Las Vegas the other day (season 2), there was an episode of a curator found dead and Gil Grissom the bugman and his team was analyzing the crime scene. The curator was found dead in a room full of rare books, locked, with limited lightings, the whole nine yards. The only witness they have is a librarian by the name “Aaron” who is autistic. Aaron saw everything, but because of his disability, he couldn’t communicate what he saw in ‘normal’ people language. He speaks in Shakespearean verses, describing every incident in great photographic details.
Aaron sees everything in picture frames.

This got me into thinking. What is autism exactly? What causes it? What effects it has? Is there a cure? Is that at all a disease?
Wikipedia to the rescue again. Here is the elaborate information. However in a nutshell autism is a developmental disorder that appears usually below the age three. It is characterized by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationship and disability to communicate with others and by stereotyped (or ‘normal’ as we’d call it) behavior patterns.

Fascinating. In the episode Super Grissom successfully extracted the information from Aaron by speaking to him with special approach, asking the questions the right way.

That is all it takes, understanding a disability, and approaching it correctly. One can’t stop marveling the medical research wonders, eh?

On the side note, met lovely Miss Montchan and Mr. Montchan on Saturday for crepes brunch. It was so nice to meet her in person. She is every bit as fun, as nice and as lovely as I thought she would be.
AND just like Santa Claus, she brought me so many bags of salty licorice (among other things).Mmmmm!!! Yum yum yum!


Hmm… I’m wondering, did you get to have your special haircut??? Me want to see!!! Please!!!

Montchan, Taiko Tari and Deenster

===
Restaurant information available at my other spot:
Au Temps Jadis

The one day I forgot my phone at home...

I got home just now and saw my phone blinking notifying that I had a missed call.

I opened it and there was a message.

I dialed 1416 and told that there was 1 message.

And... it was MONTCHAN!!!!

Oh, my first favorite blogger that I get to meet in person! I'm EXCITED!!!
Spoke to her just now, she sounded like a true New Yorker. (Although she did say that she had some type of nasal allergy).
I'm going to surprise Deenster with a surprise guest for the brunch. ;) - unless of course she read this post before tomorrow morning.

See you tomorrow, girls!

ACHTUNG!!! ACHTUNG!!!

I forgot to mention this.

Got a new spot on the blog where we'll be talking about restaurants.

Come and play!!!

Oh, I am also looking for contributors who want to add to my restaurant collection. Anybody interested?

Another Tuesday Night with Tuesday People

So, last night I met up with some of the Tuesday people bunch for an impromptu dinner.

Wait, Tuesday people, you say?
Well, it is actually an unintentional group. From time to time, me and a few friends often get together for a din-din out. After the fourth meeting, we discovered that somehow we always meet on Tuesday evenings. Thus we declared ourselves the "Tuesday people".

Yesterday we set out to go to a new French joint that just opened up in my neighborhood - Bistrot d'Artemis. Alas the bistro was closed on Tuesdays, so we have to find another place.
Then we walked to Angkor Watt (Cambodian, as you can tell from the name), also in the neighborhood; since it's a safe choice for us since the restaurant is spacious and the food is tasty and cheap. And then another restaurant name struck, Rucola. So since we all have been to Angkor Watt, we decided to venture the Italian restaurant instead.

Let me tell you all about Rucola at my new spot on the blog.

At dinner, Tuesday-People-A from England talked about Lady Godiva*.
He shared with us the legend on how she took pity on the people of Coventry. She pleaded to her husband, Earl of Mercia, to bring down the tax for the people. He refused, but finally he said that he would do that only if she rode her horse naked around Coventry.
She announced her intent to the citizens of Coventry, asking them to stay in their houses or if on the street they should look away when she's out to do it. All obliged to that except for tailor Tom. He hid in a tower and made a whole so he could see Lady Godiva rode by. He achieved two things that day: the name Peeping Tom and he was also struck blind.
From then on, the people of Coventry was granted tax free (or maybe just a small amount. Tuesday-People-A from England wasn't very sure of the small details).

Which brings me down to another research.

Always a big fan of Godiva chocolates, I later on discovered that the name for the Chocolatier was indeed derived from the legend. But the relation stopped there. The company originated in Brussels, Belgium (not Coventry, England); and the recipes have nothing to do with Lady Godiva.
Oh heck, with every piece of chocolate that tasted this PHENOMENAL, who cares?

==
*Picture of Lady Godiva is a painting by John Collier, ca 1897. Digital image was taken without official permit from a Wikipedia article.

Generation X or MTV Generation?

So, I was working on a proposal for a client the other day, when I stumbled across “Baby Boomers” segmentation, being a part of the screening criteria.
I have heard this term many times and of course I understand generally what that means, but it always piqued my interest what the names are for other generations.

This is what I learned.

Wikipedia, my favorite first-stop on my search routine, categorize all generations by birth year and elaborate in greater details. Click here and find the information.

Now, according to the chart, in this lifetime there are at least 17 generations that are still living, from Interbellum Generation (born 1900-1910) to New Silent Generation (born 2000 - 2020).

Where am I?

Born in 1976, that means I am either Generation X (born 1963-1978) or MTV Generation (born 1974-1985).

How do they differ?

Generation X

The article highlighted that “…one of the defining factors of Generation X is the transitions resulting from the decline of colonial imperialism to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. The transition between colonialism and globalization is thought to separate the Baby Boomers from the Baby Busters, a sub-generation of Generation X made up of the earliest born members.”
It is also said that Generation X is someone who is twenty-something sometime during the 1990s.

Common denominators

- Nihilism
- Cynicism
- Postmodern attitude to life
- "So what," "who cares," and "what is your point?" attitudes ("whatever!")
- Distrust of political, religious, and societal institutions
- Atypical jobs and checquered careers
- Lack of marital commitment and disintegration of traditional families
- Distrust of science, religion, technology, or ideologies as narratives
- "Take the money and run" attitude toward work
- Childlessness
- Pessimism about the future
- Carpe diem attitude about living
- Almost complete disregard for religion
- Networking and globalization
- Liberalism and libertarism in the guise of a "who cares" attitude
- Slacking
- Flexibility and disregard for traditional values

OK, now how about the other one? Let’s see, shall we?

MTV Generation

The name is much cooler, I have to admit.
In this Wikipedia article, it is said that “…MTV Generation is a term used in order to define those who partake in both Generation X and Y - being that today's media targets the youth of tomorrow. The worldwide acknowledgment of an MTV Generation has been proven through the success of MTV and its by-products on a global scale as well as its influence upon youth culture and society throughout the 1990s. The term defines a generation of teenagers and young adults or Twixters influenced by fashion trends, music, and slang terms shown in music videos on the newly created cable channel MTV. MTV Generation has often been associated as a neologism for Generation X.”

Global Factors Defining the MTV Generation

Most notable factors relevant to the MTV Generation is the overall nihilistic attitude of the teenagers growing up through the 1990s having been brought up in the 1980s and recently becoming adults of the 3rd millennium, as well as
- The launch of MTV
- The fall of Berlin Wall
- The first Gulf War
- The Waco Siege
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- And so forth...

So… I was set out on this research to figure out which generation I belong to the best, only then to realize that I am both. I don’t relate to all of the denominators in Generation X nor MTV Generation, but I feel belong to both equally strongly.

My point is… (and I do have one), it is fascinating to understand that there are many boxes that you can claim your own. In Market Research perspective, the more segmentation box you can fit in, the more chances you can get invited to a market research discussion.

It’s fun. Which generation are you?

Lion or Dragon?

So... this is it. Got this from Sister Mary Lisa.
I rather like the look for the card. Lion and Dragon. My favorite beasts.

You are Strength

Courage, strength, fortitude. Power not arrested in the act of judgement, but passing on to further action, sometimes obstinacy.

This is a card of courage and energy. It represents both the Lion's hot, roaring energy, and the Maiden's steadfast will. The innocent Maiden is unafraid, undaunted, and indomitable. In some cards she opens the lion's mouth, in others she shuts it. Either way, she proves that inner strength is more powerful than raw physical strength. That forces can be controlled and used to score a victory is very close to the message of the Chariot, which might be why, in some decks, it is Justice that is card 8 instead of Strength. With strength you can control not only the situation, but yourself. It is a card about anger and impulse management, about creative answers, leadership and maintaining one's personal honor. It can also stand for a steadfast friend.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Self Pity

Just when I thought I cannot get anymore narcissistic in my blog, I have decided that today I am going to blog about how I am pitying myself.

I came home yesterday evening and slumped right into the couch and nearly fainted, my stomach was lurching as if I was going to throw up. Not only that... my house is at it's dustiest state. Even though all things were in place, I am just bottom line unhappy with the way the apartment feels.
Man, I was feeling very sorry for myself.

Basically there are two things that needed to be analyzed. My own physical state and my apartment's physical state.

The first one, I finally concluded, was a result of doing too much work out in a very short period of time. When I looked back at my planner since I returned to Tokyo, everyday I had put a work out agenda, one day can be more than the others. For example this past Saturday, Sunday and Monday was filled with 2 hour soccer/futsal training, 3 hours taiko drumming, and 6 km run respectively. All of those combined with 1 hour speed cycling each day.
OK, these are no hard training if I was in shape, but I'm obviously not. My last routine work out was pre-bone incident, so that was... oh October?? Shame on you, Taiko Tari!

What should I do, then? Oh heck, I'm going to continue the work out regimen. What happened last night was a punishment on how I haven't been taking care of my own body. Your body is your temple, goes the saying. If you don't love yourself, then who will - goes another saying.
And I will try to remember to eat something at 6 PM before I work out. Yesterday I was stupid not to eat anything prior to the run. No wonder the stomach wasn't happy.

Now for my apartment's physical state.
Never mind the vacuuming. I've done that twice already within the past week, and the dust kingdom persisted. I'd like to blame my books, and carpets and other stuff. One need not to point fingers, regardless what it is, the dust needs to go.
Since I cannot seem to get to the bottom of it, lovely Pauline to the rescue. I called my devoted cleaning professional. She knows how to do it right. I'm not going to even bother to ask her how she does it. Sometimes you just have to leave it with the professionals.

Oj! I'm looking forward to going home tonight. It will be nice and fresh and clean...

Lights at the end of the tunnel

Spoke to dad this morning. He's feeling much better. No more IVs, no more oxygen mask, liquid's completely out of his lungs and he is overall improving.
Thankful, grateful, hopeful and happy have been the spirit of the day.

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words and encouragement. You have helped me stay sane. I'm sure dad will go home in no time.

In the meantime. Visited a friend out in the suburb. She had the cutest 8 month old baby. With someone with a face like this, how can you resist smiling back right at her?

A Daughter's Prayer

God on high,
Hear my prayer,
Please make him feel better,
Please let him heal,
Please return him back to us safely,
The funny, happy, and joyful;
The wonderful person that he is,
Please give us our Dad back

Audzubillahiminassyaitaan nirrahiimi,
Bismilahirrahmanirrahiim,
Ya Allah,
Engkaulah yang Maha Menjadikan,
Engkaulah yang Maha Menyembuhkan,
Engkaulah yang Maha Memiliki,
Apabila ini sudah menjadi kehendak-Mu,
Sembuhkanlah ayah hamba.

Allah humma Rabbig firlii
Wali wali daiya
Warham huma kama rabbayanni sagiraa

Amiin. Amiin ya Rabbal Al-Amiin.

Note:
My darling Dad was submitted into the hospital on Thursday, January 11, 2007.
He has been having some breathing problems since about a couple of months ago. Having been healthy all his life, going to the hospital or to see a doctor is something that he despise the most.
After much persuasion, we took him to see a doctor during our second week in Bandung. The doctor then demanded a thorough check-up.
On Thursday, January 11, 2007; Dad went to see the doctor with the results from his check-up. The doctor would not let him leave the hospital. He was immediately sentenced to have a full bed-rest, for his heart is swelling. Because of the swelling, his heart didn't get enough oxygen. This is all caused by some virus infection. He now has to stay in bed, with the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth until his heart is no longer swelling.

I hope he gets better soon. He has to be. Because he is my Dad. Because he is Dad, I know he will be better in no time.

New Years Resolutions

So... I've lived long enough to see New Year's resolution came and went unnoticed. I have come up with a resolution for year 2007, but I need to be sure that I can find somewhere in my little mind to stick to my willpower which sometime is just not visible anywhere.

The following are some case studies from the past couple of years.

Resolutions for 2004

1) To be spontaneous
2) To pick up a new musical instrument

All who knows me are sometime frustrated with how extremely organized I can get. I plan and research everything to the very last detail, to ensure that I have all the information I need and might need in hand. You know, just in case. And I usually take advantage of all the information to make it 100% useful.
Back then, I was working my full time job during the week and every Sundays I hosted shows at the Tokyo Sesame Place with Big Bird, Elmo and the likes. In a week I only had 1 weekend day. I had to plan my Sundays a month in advance, because I only get 1 Sunday free. The Sundays I work with Sesame Street I had to leave my house at 6.15 AM and I will return home at 7 PM at the earliest or 9:30 PM if I had to host birthday parties at the park.
Because of this, for almost two years, I lived on a schedule. The only available day I had for personal life is on Saturdays. Therefore to be able to utilize a Saturday to the max, I had to plan ahead of time and make sure I can pack as many things or see as many friends as I could in that slot.
Anyways... after sometime I got so depressed. Relaxing shouldn't be this hard. So, I decided to take charge and be more spontaneous. So I stopped planning. I stopped looking at my diary and confirm with friends 4 days ahead of time max.
This approach didn't work. One thing I didn't take into account was that to be spontaneous with your friends require your friends to be as spontaneous as you are. While I deliberately stopped planning ahead, the other people didn't need to. So with the action = reaction theory, I realized that it wasn't working. Besides... I'm a planner, it is bothering me when I can't anticipate what's going to happen.

At the end of my 2nd year contract, March 31st 2004, regardless how much I loved being with the kids, performing, singing and dancing - the pay didn't foot the monthly bills. It was a hobby job. And sometime grownups have to make smart decision. I quit the MC job and freelanced whenever they have big shows that required an English speaking MC for the off-site shows. It was a big decision, saddening, but ever since then I was finally able to have a quality life.

This then left me with a new window to pick up a new musical instrument. I picked up taiko drumming... and hey! the rest is history. Still doing it, still loving it.

Resolutions for 2005 and 2006

1) To have one night off every week
2) To pick up a new hobby or pick up a new musical instrument

The first one had been rather successful. While not 100%, at least in 75% of my weeks in 2005 and 2006, I was able to have 1 night off every week.
For item number 2, in 2005 I was sticking to my taiko drumming life and was shopping around for new hobbies. This became much more challenging than I thought it could. I've instruments-hopped so much in my life that I couldn't think of any new instruments to pick up. And thinking of a new hobby actually pained me. I had so much going on hobby-wise that it was draining me.
So, in aggregate, I came down to this

2005: sticking to taiko drumming and returning to classical guitar.

2006: I ditched my acoustic band, sticked to taiko drumming and classical guitar and latter in the year I began studying fue (Japanese flute).
New/old hobby: I joined an all-female futsal team

Finally... Resolutions for 2007

Oh, I'm scared. I have 3 things in my list

1) To have one night off every week
2) To pick up a new or return to a previously studied musical instrument (maybe returning to a piano again. It's been 10 years...)
3) To go back in shape: more committed to my weekly sport schedule (never skip anymore of that weekly futsal/soccer training, cycle everyday to work, to make full use of that darned gym membership, go jogging a lot more)

Well, I'm trying to be realistic. I just don't know how I can do so many things at once with an increasingly busy schedule at work and a pile of books waiting to be read at home. Oh dear... What have I got myself into?

A friendly farewell the characters threw for me to say goodbye after 2 years of togetherness

Welcome 2007, I am back!

So, I'm back.
A lot to catch up on and a lot to tell. But basically I'm happy to say that I am coming back to Japan with a fully energized spirit and positive attitude and readiness to take on my life in the challenging months to come.

God knows how demotivated I had been for an extended period of time, on my personal and professional life. It seemed as if I was stuck in a hole somewhere, unable to get out. This hole that had been looming above me since mid September had made me closed the year 2006 with some news and decisions that - whilst not final - were deeply disappointing in many ways. A lot of these were beyond my control, thus the disappointment.

The 17 days I had at home, not doing anything substantial had helped me to put things into perspective. I am now ready to take on the world and make constructive steps and approaches to move forward, fully charged.

Many thanks to my parents, especially - for finally understanding and respecting the space and time that I needed. By not pushing or asking too much questions, you have helped me climbed my way out of the deep and dark hole and surely reaching up to the lights above. Thank you.

Happy New Year (also happy belated Christmas!)!

Wow… it’s been almost 2 weeks I’m here in Indonesia.

Dec 26, Mum’s birthday, we had a little house party where we had our North Carolinian neighbors (a.k.a. my parents’ tenants), where we cooked some Indonesian and Japanese foods and finished it off with some American and Swiss desert.

Dec 30-31 was the Eid Al-Adha. This is also known as the celebration for the end of Hajj pilgrimage.
For this celebration we went up to Subang, a city 1.5 hours drive away north of Bandung. We spent a glorious weekend with my paternal uncle’s family. My brother came to join us. This short trip was particularly special because it’s been some 10 years that we took a trip together as a family that didn’t involve seeing anyone off at an airport.
Food was great and super delicious at this visit. Normally for this celebration goat or lambs are the typical meat to be feasted. You know what - this is another topic to blog about. I’ll blog about it when I returned to Japan. My parents’ internet connection is dial-up, thus running a research on this can take a very long time and I just don’t have the patience to do it right now.

New Year’s Eve was never very monumental in our household. With the mad rush of visitors from the capital, my little hometown Bandung turned into a forest of cars and traffic jams. I was planning to meet up with some friends, but with the insane traffic situation, we called each other up and rescheduled to the following morning brunch instead.
So, as an alternative I figured that the wisest thing to do would be staying put at home with a bunch of DVDs to watch in a marathon manner.
I got Alias Season 4 and 5, so I was all set.

The 17-days holiday turned out to be as speedy as the year 2006 had been for me. Time flies so quickly. I am sad to think that I will have to say good bye yet again to my dearly beloved in a matter of days, but going home to Tokyo is a happy thought as well.

Ps: thanks for the visit, I’ll catch up with yours as soon as I return to good ole’ Tokyo.