I got a new toy!

Pilot Volex fountain pen produced in 1977.  Comes with a soft Fine nib.  It writes much better than the last vintage Pilot fountain pen that I posted back in December.

I almost lost hope in getting my hand on this baby.  It took about a month for the local post office to release it due to certain restrictions (or lack of efficiency) at the custom office.  And they didn’t even send it to my address, instead they sent out a notification for the package to be picked up.  Why?  So they could charge a large fee for it.  A third of the actual price of the pen.  This is why I can’t trust the local postal office.  They never collected fees for the previous fountain pens sent from Japan, so why this?  Why now?  Sigh.

Anyways, let bygones be bygones.  My baby is with me now.  All slick and sexy.  It maybe vintage, but it looks very contemporary.  And it feels right in my hand.  Yay.

update (writing sample):

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?...

Do you know your skin type?  I do.

I’m no.2.

THIS is why I don’t go to the beach, let alone sun bath.

My sensitive skin prevents me from looking my best.  I have always envied guys with tanned skin, as I perceive tan = healthy + masculine, thus I feel I look rather weak and feminine.  And, well, Casper-like.

For many years I tried being outdoorsy as much as I could, hoping I could get some tan.  Unfortunately, that only got me visiting the doctors.  I now realized that I should give in, accept my paleness, and avoid challenging the sun.

I have enough skin problems as it is since youngster years, I don’t want no more skin problems.  Period.  Guess I just have to get used to my PF50+ protection to enjoy the outdoors.  Sigh…

There is a recent awesome development on ‘pen’ for designing by WobbleWorks Inc. that’s been a much talked about topic among the electronic and the writing instrument industries. They have created the world’s first 3D printing pen called 3Doodler.

Video -

On a different topic, a couple of guys dished out an epic rendition of the well known AC/DC song ‘Thunderstruck’ with their… CELLOS. They call themselves 2Cellos. This duo has done awesome covers of other songs as well, with one video dated back as early as 2011 filmed by MTV. Ok, so this group is not new. Yeah, I’m always late when it comes to music.

Video -

Whether it is black/red tea, green tea, white tea, or herbal tea, almost all teas have to be brewed with hot liquid to better release its aroma and flavor out. Well, with the exception of one; Oolong tea that is meant for cold-brewing.

I personally don’t know how many cold-brew tea varieties exist out there in this world, but I have been introduced to only one. It was a few years back when I visited relatives in Taiwan during a summer season that I had a chance to taste cold brewed oolong tea for the very first time. One try and I was hooked.

Taiwanese, in general, drink nothing but tea. Come winter or summer, tea would always be the preferred choice of beverage. So it is only fitting that they have invented tea that can be cold-brewed to quench their thirst during the hot seasons.

In Taiwan, many tea purveyors sell cold brew type of oolong tea. However, it is a type of oolong tea that is lesser in quality, in comparison to their cousins that are meant for hot-brewing only. These cold-brew oolong tea, in their dried state, generally tend to be smaller in size and darker in color, due to the need for a longer drying and fermentation process to give more flavor to the tea.

The hot-brew oolong variety does not need such an extensive process, for their higher quality leaves able to bring out good enough flavor while still in their lightly semi-fermented state.

Either way people choose, each has its own quality and I love them both varieties.

How to cold brew oolong tea:
1. Put in an ample amount of cold brew type oolong tea into a water bottle, filled with room temperature drinking water.

2. Leave it on the counter for about an hour or two to let the dried tealeaves to start soaking in the liquid. You’ll notice the tealeaves would already start opening up. Refrigerate it overnight or at least for 6 hours.

3. Come morning, the tealeaves will be fully bloomed.

4. The liquid should turn deep golden in color, the flavor will be strong, and the fragrant will be equally so. Filter it into another water bottle. If you think the flavor is a bit too strong/bitter, you may add in more water to balance out the flavor to your liking.

5. The now fully bloomed tealeaves that are left in the first bottle can be used for a second cold brewing.

6. Fill in the bottle with more drinking water.

7. Refrigerate it for the whole day, or at least for 6 hours.

8. This second cold brewing will result in a weaker tea than the first cold brewing attempt, but still decent for a cold tea.

Ever since I’ve tried the one made by my uncle when in Taipei, I have always requested him to get me some of that cold-brew type when he is ready to ship off some more oolong tea down my way. I now have a decent supply of these, year in year out. Living here in a tropical climate of South East Asia, sometimes I just need to quench my thirst with some cold beverages, and cold-brewed oolong is the perfect solution.

So now it’s time to kick back and let the tea further chilled in the refrigerator. Once I got back from walking my dog, I’ll pour some of those out and feel the icy oolong satiating my thirst as it glides down my throat and equalizing my heated body temperature. Cheers!

Recently, a cousin from the city of Medan came for a visit and gave me a box of one of my favorite Asian cakes, Kueh Bika Ambon.

For those who are still a virgin to the world of Bika Ambon, it is a baked leavened cake-batter that is made with coconut milk, eggs, tapioca flour, yeast, and flavored with sugar and pandan leaves.  It is often called Honeycomb Cake, for the texture look of the inside of the cake resembles just that.

Golden in color, slightly oily to the touch, delicate bouncy chewiness in texture, and coconut custard-like in tropical sweetness, this cake is originated from Kota Medan, in the north of Sumatra Island.

It is by far one of the best cakes ever invented in South East Asia.  I reckon it has a Dutch influence due to its baking technique, which is understandable, judging from the three hundred fifty over years of colonialism under them.

If you have yet to taste this Indonesian cake, I’d recommend you to have it on your list for things-to-eat from around the world.  And if you’d like to have a go at baking it yourself, you may go online to try out the many versions of the original recipe.

Here’s one by food blogger Kitchen Tigress.

Ok, to balance off the soft innocent voice of Jae Waetford’s from last blog, let me present you with the formidable voice of Dami Im.  Together with Jae, she is one of the three final contestants at the show, and truly is the worthy winner.  Here is Dami in my favorite performances of hers:

Purple rain

Don’t leave me this way

And I’m telling you

ok, this is by no means the latest buzz out there.  actually, i'm rather late.  but better late than never.  i've discovered this merely minutes ago and i have just GOT to share this.  it's WAY too good for me not to.

his name is Jae Waetford and he is only 14 years old.  here you go.  enjoy...

jae waetford

In the dead of night, my mind is swirling around in madness as I toss and turn, unable to doze off like a normal person should.  Outside, the thunder roaring like a lion, sending vibrations through the four walls of my bedroom and its wooden framed tinted glass window.  The room shook for few seconds each time the thunder rolled and blasted an ear defecting sound, worthy of a cringe.  I thought the glass window would shatter, prompting me to keeping my eyes wide open, to be on the lookout.

It’s been over a week of tired limbs, sore muscles, heavy eyes, and light migraines.  I digested all the pills.  Swallowed countless honeyed-minty throat sprays.  Drank pots of luo-han-guo tea.  Yet, the damn coughs lingered.  And now I have phlegm to deal with.  This sucks.  Big time.  With no energy for anything else, work seems like a relentless chore day in day out.  And my gym routine?  WHAT gym routine?  The thought of sweating it out just makes me want to crash into my bed as soon as I get home, and pass out.

Tonight, like many nights prior, my thoughts run wild.  Thinking things that I should not have at this hour of well pass 1AM.  Mainly, food.  I don’t know why, but whenever I get bored, or distressed, or mellow, or ill, food immediately took over my train of thoughts.  A bad habit that is hard to break.  With me feeling cold, under the cover, sarong covering my bare chest, and the rain keeps pouring down like nobody’s business, I begin to wish for some comfort food.  And the first thing that pops into my head is Hong Kong cha-chaan-teng.

Part of the joy in visiting Hong Kong is the breakfast food.  They have got it down almost to perfection.  A cha-chaan-teng place is an ideal spot to be at for an affordable comfort food.  Starting from its milk-tea, to noodle soups, to egg sandwich, to milk puddings.  I crave them all now.  The way I craved them on my last day in Hong Kong last December, as I sat by the window seat on my return flight to Jakarta, looking out at the sun setting.  As the plane parked on the run-away, awaiting for a take off, a rush of heaviness settled deep within, sending a stir of melancholy thoughts and making me wish to return to the city again.  Soon.

I visited numerous eating establishments during the six-day stay in Hong Kong.  Sharing many finger-licking delicacies with a special someone definitely worth the experience.  From Michelin star restaurants to street side hole-in-the-wall places, many have warmed and replenished my soul to a point that I could actually see myself living there.  But when I have to recall the memorable ones, immediately the cha-chaan-teng varieties that sent my tongue to salivate.

A food blogger, Ladyironchef, once blogged about the top 10 cha-chaan-teng places in Hong Kong.  Of the top ten, I think I have only had a chance to visit three or four.  Many of these establishments are named in Chinese characters, preventing me to recognize or pronounce the name.  I too have been to others outside the listed top 10, but one thing they all have in common is the milk tea.

It’s a must.  I don’t think there is a single cha chaan teng place that doesn’t serve a milk tea.  It is basically the core and basic item to be found on the menu.  Unlike chai, it is a plain black tea mixed with milk.  Unsweetened, it is just as delightfully fragrant as when flavored with some granulated caster sugar that one may find provided on the table.  They do serve coffee as well as plain tea with lemon slice, but somehow Hong Kong breakfast without a cup of milk tea is just not the same.

Moving on to something heftier, you’ll come across several choices for noodle soups.  You may go with the simple macaroni soup with ham slices or instant noodle with beef.  But I’d opt for a true noodle soup, ranging from thin vermicelli with sliced pork and pickled mustard greens, to thick vermicelli with pork chop and shrimp-pork dumplings.  What I truly like about these noodle dishes is the lightness of the broth that comes with them.  All tasting differently, but flavorful without the heaviness that certain noodle soups may have, such as with ramen noodle broth.

This goes beyond a meal of wanton noodle soup or rice porridge that many may associate Hong Kong with.  A legitimate and common association when it comes to Hong Kong food, but a totally different shear of satisfaction in comparison.

When one is craving for a lighter fare and less noodle-like, I’d vote for the always-satisfying egg sandwich.  Most often, you’ll be served with thrillingly-thick buttered toasted sandwich bread accompanied with perfectly wet scrambled eggs.  The shear thickness of the bread provides a false pillow-like texture that we Asians tend to die for.  Perfection comes only when married with the softness and joyous flavor of the eggs.  If that is not enough, you may opt for a sweeter version, the same bread slice topped with crunchy-gooey peanut butter and drizzled with sticky sweet condensed milk.  Heaven on a plate.

Many customers surrender to the optional pork chop in a bun/sandwich concept when they crave for bread.  Though tasty, this doesn’t particularly send me off to a foodgasm.  Oh well, I guess I’m not most people.

If a dessert is all you would want in the early hour of your day, you can settle with some silky smooth milk puddings.  Flavored in a variety of choices that range from regular, to egg, to ginger, to brown sugar.  My favorite has always been the yellow colored egg milk pudding.  It has the lightest flavor, for it lacks that milky heaviness in comparison or the sugary sweetness one may find in the others.

The next best thing is the regular one.  Though it is heavier in flavor than the egg variety, it is what most people preferred, hot, for its true milky aroma.  All puddings available in either hot or cold.  I personally prefer a cold one, as it gives off a subtler flavor and aroma.  Though my preference may change from time to time, especially when eating in the cooler December climate of Hong Kong.

Alas, I still lay awake thinking about what I could stuff my mouth with at a night like this.  Even when it’s close to 2AM.  The soothing and cozy-warmness I feel each time I had some Hong Kong breakfast food truly is bewitching and would forever be memorable.  It would be such a perfection if by some miracle there is a knock on my door and came a room service rolling in a tray of all those mentioned above.  Sigh… I would even settle for a dim sum selection right now.  Guess I just have to toughen it out tonight.  Stomach growling or not.

Here’s me being greedy over a perfectly baked barbeque pork bun at one of the famous breakfast dim sum places in Hong Kong.

I’ve been bad.  Real bad.  Surfing through the internet many a times to get my fix of pen porn.  Yup, it’s official.  I’m obsessed.  Downright spellbound by the many images of brown skinned beauties.  Each with its own distinctive swirls of grain, blotches of eyes, and shades of natural brown, they hit a cord deep within me.

Transfixing my eyes on my MacBook screen, my right middle finger slowly move up and down on the scroll pad, welcoming the many eye candies bombarding my vision.  Just when I thought I have seen the most beautiful creation, then another one appeared right after.  Then another.  Then another.  Then another.  Is it any wonder why I can’t seem to limit my credit card usage when confronted with such temptations?  My weakness for wooden fountain pens pleadingly needs a remedy.

From time to time, like any sane fountain pen enthusiast, I’d be online, surfing through the many sites selling fountain pens, just to get a feel of what’s available, what’s new, and what bargain one may find.  Not necessarily to make another purchase.  And so for many months now, I have been in and out of many sites and found myself eyeing several possible options for my next acquisition or two.

One of those potential purveyors is Fine Writing International (FWI).  A passionate fountain pen maker in Taiwan, who hand-makes stunning-looking wooden fountain pens using many varieties of wood material from around the world.  His creations seem to display his deep appreciation for working with natural materials.  The same approach that I would expect from Japan and the nation’s many arts and crafts.

Ever since I found FWI through Facebook, I couldn’t help but to keep following his many postings on new released products.  He is a stationary seller in Taipei that specializes on fountain pens and the many accessories to go with them.  He has custom-made many wooden fountain pens in various style and material, and the craftsmanship looks like the work of the highest artistry.  I personally have affection for a deeper shade of brown wood, especially those that come with an interesting pattern for its natural grain.  The following are some of his work that became my favorites:

Bocote

Circassia

Cocobolo

Mun Ebony

Shiraz

Taiwan incense burl

My hands are sweating from the itch of wanting to touch one of them fountain pens.  Just to feel the texture of the wood and to see, physically, the true beauty of their grain pattern and color.  I made a promise to myself that when I get a chance to visit Taipei again, I’d be sure to visit his shop and bring back one of these babies home with me.  If there is only one thing I could bring back from the trip, this would be it.  Hands down.  Now I just need to find out HOW MUCH one of these babies would cost me…

Recently, an unexpected gift came my way.  As always, a gift is always welcomed, especially when it is in fact comes in a form of something edible or drinkable.  In this case, a box of Orange Pu-er tea.

Skepticism shadowed the joy of this gift receiving.  Not for the reason behind the act of the gift giving, for the gift giver is a genuinely nice person, but for the impossible enjoyment of the gift itself by yours truly.

Anyone who have spent enough tea drinking sessions with me knows that I am not a big fan of a full-on fermented tea, such as the many black/red teas one may find.  Only because I have never truly enjoyed that strong tannin-earthy flavor that usually comes with black/red tea, unless it is mulled with something equally strong in flavor, such as bergamot, cinnamon, mint, or vanilla.

I have mentioned once, in my past blog on tea, that pu-er will never be a choice of mine.  I could easily pass this on to someone else to enjoy.  However, a gift is a gift, and a gift is only fully appreciated when it is had and tested.  And so I put a blind eye on the matter and decided to respect and prize the kindness of the gift giver, by testing it out at least once.

The tea is packaged in a bright persimmon-orange square box, adorned with a single sketched picture of a citrus fruit.  English and Chinese descriptions at the back of the box detailed an explanation on its content, an ‘Aged’ Orange Pu-er tea.  This is a product from China, but due to my lack of understanding in Chinese language, I can’t decipher its many Chinese characters to understand where in China this tea comes from.

Upon opening the lid of the box, I found a singular flat ball of an object wrapped in white paper and sealed with a dark red printed label sticker.  Inside this wrapping is a cracked and flaky whole skin of a dried charred tangerine, filled with pu-er tea.  The tea itself looks like what to be expected of any pu-er tea, blackened dried strips of tea leaves resulted from a long fermentation and aging, with a dark copper tint on the surface to reflect its predictable earthiness in essence.

It is said on the description on the box that these pu-er tealeaves have been aged inside the dried tangerine for many years, to fully absorb the sweet citrus aroma of the skin.  One that I was eager to find out soon.  And so I took out my white ceramic tea set, a gift I recently received from one of my uncles in Taiwan.  I think it is only fitting to test one gift together with another gift, both for the first time.

I took a couple of generous pinches of the said tea into the tiny teapot.  I filled it with boiling water, and watched as the liquid turned its bland regular self into a deep primal brick-brown in color.  A color, I reckoned, suitable enough as an ink color for my many fountain pens.  The tealeaves quickly collapsed to the bottom of the pot, while the few pieces of the dried tangerine skin floated still on the surface, slowly absorbing heat and moisture.  Couldn’t hold back my curiosity any longer, I poured some of the still-hot tea liquid into a cup and carefully picked it up to take a much anticipated sip.

In an instant, I was disappointed.  Expecting a rush of citrus aroma entering my nostrils, it never did.  I was confronted, instead, with what I was dreading to revisit.  That gush of scent resembling the earth and all its glory.  To its defense, I’m being bias, for I’m more used to the gentler flavor of green tea.  This particular pu-er is actually not as heavy in its earthiness as those other pu-er teas I have tested in the past.  I’m guessing its extreme subtleness in citrus flavor has steeped deep into the overall aroma, enough to mask the usual earthy boldness to make it seem mellower.  This mellow quality, for those who used to the flavor of pu-er, would be considered as the sweeter and gentler quality of pu-er tea, allowing the drinkers to detect the mild aromatic citrus aspect of this particular product, differentiating it from a regular pu-er, and making it a highly prized and unique type of pu-er tea that is uncommon and special.

So what’s my verdict?  This tea is NOT for me.  As they say, a rose by any other name, is still a rose.  This aged orange pu-er tea is still a pu-er tea.  Despite its distinctive quality and costly value, I’d still stick to my regular choice of oolong tea.  Once one is smitten, it is hard to untie the bind that one has with the one he is smitten with.  And in my case, I would happily be stuck with my oolong collection.

A friend is in need of a smile.  She is turning the big THREE O this year.  Hasn’t quite yet accepted the joy of getting older, she feels a bit down now that she is entering her 30s.

She got married a few years back and now has a two year old baby girl, yet she still feels this is a BIG deal.  The poor girl wanted to plan a solo trip to South East Asia to wave goodbye to her 20s, but canceled due to a lack of financial means and the need to be with her family.  Guess there will be no tropical sunshine on her b’day later this month, instead, a winter grey in New Hampshire, USA, where she lives.

So I’m handwriting her a brief letter to wish her a happy birthday and as an attempt to boost her low dose of merriness.  I’m guessing it maybe better than a regular Hallmark b’day card.  And since it is February, I thought it is only fitting to use a cheery red ink that I have been saving for few years for special occasions/letters.  A limited edition from the J.Herbin line of inks.

And just to make it a little different from the b’day cards she’ll be receiving, I thought it would be neat to use a sealing wax as well, using carved name stamps/seals by an awesome maker in Taiwan.  Hope all these will be enough to put a smile on her face, even just for a day.

Lately I’ve been heavily distracted by a couple of hilariously whacky dudes to a point that I’ve been loosing sleep on many nights.  They constantly joked around and made fun of themselves, and I can’t stop watching them.

I’m talking about SUPERFRUIT.  A weekly video posting on YouTube made by a couple of young musicians.  They are members of an awesome acapella group PENTATONIX, who won the Acapella Sing-Off back in 2011.

Since I don’t watch TV or follow the happenings in the music world, I have only found out about this awesome group last year.  A couple of years late, I know.  So shoot me.  But better late than never, right?  And when I discovered them on YouTube, man, they blew my mind away with their off-beat futuristic take from a traditional acapella.  So cool.

Since then on, I’ve been a fan.  I kept watching the videos of their many performances from the sing-off, over and over again.  Then I discovered a couple of the members actually have a weekly video blog on YouTube.  Their videos made me laughed out loud.  And that’s when they started to rob me of my sleep.

I’m better now.  I think I’m starting to get over the urge to keep watching their videos right before bed.  I’m trying to repair my damaged sleeping pattern.  And I got a dark ring around my eyes to prove it.  They are so fun to watch that I often loose track of time, and before I know it, it is almost 2AM.

Anyways, hope everyone had a great weekend, especially to those who celebrated CAP GO MEH.  May you all had a satisfying food-coma on Friday night, like I did

here's Pentatonix latest video (remember, NO musical instrument what so ever used in the making of this video, which is what acapella is all about):

daft punk by pentatonix

The rain has eased its intensity in these past two weeks.  Flooding problems seem to be almost a non-existent, leaving behind many potholes on the roads.  The sky still casts a gloomy grey on most days, yet the world seems more forgiving when you get clouds to break open and allowing sunlight basking down on the city from time to time.  It is during a rain season like now that weekends are almost always making one feels melancholy.  The humidity is more forgivable when in this season, making one craving for soupy noodles and teas.  And what a great way to spend this past solidary weekend by sipping a cuppa tea.

No.  Not Teh Tarik.  Not Matcha.  Not Masala Chai either.  Chinese blood runs too thick in my veins to want anything less Chinese at this particular mood, although Pu-er will never be an option of mine.  In most cases, I’d vote for Oolong.  I have a long love affair with this sensuous Taiwanese, with root linked to the province of Fujian in Southern China.  But this time I’d settle for something more floral in scent.  Something just as delicate, a touch feminine, with an easy-to-please character.  Enough to make want to cheat on my Oolong collection.  This will be my first date with Jasmine Mao Feng Tea.

Call me a snob, but something about an upscale teashop that just speaks my language.  It is easy on the eyes and a tempting ground for my palate.  Sophistication written all over it.  Such moneymaking spot is never difficult to lure me in for a stop-by.  And Fook Ming Tong did that.  A well know tea shop with many branches all over Hong Kong, it drew me in as I walked pass the shop and whiffed a scent of brewed tea.  It had me at hello.

I made my detour in the shop before I could make up my mind.  So many teas, so little time.  I sniffed a few variety.  My nose was begging for it.  I almost settled with another Oolong, when my conscious got the better of me and had me realized that it was best to settle with something different this time.  It was then that I saw Fuding Jasmine Mao Feng tea.  No tester available for my nose to sniff at.  But I knew it had to be it.

A souvenir for myself, it is something special that I brought back with me all the way from Hong Kong.  It would be unthinkable for a tea enthusiast wannabe such as myself to NOT bring back tea, any tea, when visiting China.  I even brought back some from Cambodia when I went to visit Siem-Reap, even though it is not a nation known for its tea.  So it is only appropriate that I spent some Hong Kong dollars for some dried leaves that may bring warmth to my weekends.

Now that it is in my possession here in Jakarta, I can confirm to you that it is an all around pleasant soft tea to sip and savor.  Came in a bowed box of 8 individual-serving silver colored packets, it had an instruction card attached to it, to inform buyers of the many more varieties of tea the brand sells, and how to properly prepare them all.

Upon inspection on the content of the packet, I was introduced to silvery-green needle-like dried leaves, unlike the typical round rolled leaves of Oolong tea.  It came with specks of yellow and pale orange colored petals of jasmine flower, which what the tea is infused with.

The skinny leaves fell easily into the depth of my teapot, as the hot water touched and steamed them one by one.  Each floated briefly on top, before falling down and start steeping the water with its intoxicating scent, and painted the liquid, slowly, into a light golden hue.  A little green and grassy, it imparts a very subtle toasty flavor, allowing its floral note to take dominant.  One that I don’t normally would look for in a tea, but still find it agreeable.

It is a personal pleasure when I later searched for the meaning of the words ‘Fuding Jasmine Mao Feng’.  Mao Feng is the name for a type of tea, which denotes the shape of the tealeaves.  Something I had not come across before.  But the real pleasure is when I found out the meaning of the word Fuding.  It is a city located in the province of Fujian, the birth province of my late fraternal grandfather AND the province of origin of my favorite tea of all time, Oolong.  This is such a wholesome surprise.

In general, I don’t favor much for a jasmine flavored anything, including tea.  It just somehow screams perfume to me.  But sometimes one comes along and had me to rethink of my preferences.  Especially now that I know what Fuding means.  It just makes drinking this Fuding Jasmine Mao Feng tea a sweeter experience of a moment.

It was in the month of December, prior to my 2013 end-of-year vacay in Hong Kong, that I went to my doctor to get a vitamin C shot.  It was to be a precaution to prevent me from catching that brand new mutant bird-flu-like virus that’s been going on in China called H7N9 (from which the new virus H10N8 is born).  As usual, my sensei doctor, who practices Chinese medicine, wanted to do a general check-up on me by checking on my blood pressure, my heartbeat, and the look of my tongue and eyes, prior to me getting the shot.  A standard procedure that he does to all of his patients.  No biggie.

He started out checking on my heartbeat by softly pressing his index and middle fingers on the back of my right and left wrists, to feel and read the pulse.  As he examined me he felt my heart was beating slower than it should be.  He then measured my blood pressure.  He knows how I genetically have a low blood pressure at an average of 110/70, but this time the reading showed that it was a tad lower than we expected.  Not only that, my heartbeat measured at upper 50s per minute, when on average it should be at least 70s beats per minute.

My doctor calmly shared his concerns, while confirming that my liver, kidney, pancreas, and inner abdominal areas seemed fine (yes, he got all that from touching my wrists).  I got all puzzled by his new finding.  I told him that I felt fine, though sometimes got tired easily.  I was not ill with any sickness, still went to gym on a regular basis, and ate normally. Knowing that I was to leave for Hong Kong soon, he advised me to return to the clinic after my vacation, for me to receive treatments to remedy my lazy heartbeat.  I succumbed to his request.

Upon leaving the clinic, it then hit me.  I remembered the result of last year’s medical check-up at a hospital.  One of the many tests I took involved a cardio examination and a mammogram scan of my heart.  The doctor in charged explained that one of the two valves, which regularly open and close to regulate the blood flow to the heart, didn’t close properly.  A minor condition that a lot of people have, he assured.  However, a concerning condition enough for him to caution me to stay away from strenuous activities that may put a pressure on my heart, such as diving and heavy weight lifting.  It dawned on me that maybe, just maybe, this could be a possible cause of my lazy heartbeat.

I took off to China leaving behind my worries.  The cold days in Hong Kong and Macau were filled with endless feasting that rejuvenated my spirit.  Endless smiles and laughter with the company of friends, old and new, eased my transition to adjust to the weather change and pace of lifestyle.  The company of a special someone had me longed to stay and be held captive by time capsule, with no urge to return home.  But to return home, I must.  There were no thoughts on my heart condition until days after my return to Jakarta, whereby a phone call from the clinic reminded me of my overdue appointment.  And so I went.

To make the story short, I had to go through an ‘intravenous infusion’ for 7 days to get my heart to beat at an acceptable normal rate.  The doctor is my family’s doctor as well, and so I put my trust in him to make me all ok.  For seven days I would lay down for about an hour, looking up to the florescence lighting on the ceiling, the long intravenous tube dangling above me, and let the liquid worked its magic.  The most uncomfortable thing was looking at the needle tip dangling right above my face, a moment before it was inserted into the vein in my arm.  But I toughened it out, like I always do.

After a weeklong of having my left and right arms pricked with needles and left with subtle bruises, I’m glad to say that the magic did work.  Each day they would measure my blood pressure and my heartbeat and record the numbers on my history chart.  The last time they checked, my blood pressure measured just a touch higher, and with the heart measured at 70s beats per minute.  If you ask me, yes, I do feel better.  And let’s hope it stays that way.  Because the last thing I want is to have another weeklong dates with needles.  Knock on wood. 

The greatest part of waking up in the morning of Chinese New Year (CNY) is that the first meal of the day will include my one and only all-time favorite wheat noodle.  That long silky smooth boiled thin strings of wheat dough called MISUA (pronounced mee-swah), equivalent to Somen for the Japanese.

Noodle is a must-have for Chinese on a celebration.  Any celebration.  But misua takes the top pick as THE noodle to have in my family, especially on CNY.  Thanks to my Hokkian heritage that goes back all the way to the province of Fujian, in the southern region of China, where my fraternal grandfather originated from.  It never mattered that my fraternal grandmother came from the province of Guangzhou, bringing with her a Cantonese influence in cooking (and what a great cook she was), misua still rules over other noodles after all these years.  It has always been a staple noodle on my family’s dining table ever since I could remember.  One that I gladly accept whole heartedly.

Misua noodle comes in various sizes, ranging from thin to slightly thick.  My opinion is the thinner, the better.  My mum’s favorite way to enjoy misua is to serve the cooked noodles at room temperature and coated in garlic oil. To go with the noodle are mouthwatering accompaniments that only enhance the flavor and texture of misua, which include garlic chicken, minced soy pork, pork stomach with shitake mushroom, mixed veggies with black fungus, fried black seaweed, fried shallots, fresh chopped green onions, and homemade red chili sauce.

Our love for misua noodles extends to the consumption of it outside the celebration of CNY.  Sometimes we would have misua noodles in a hot broth for breakfast, much like you would with ramen noodle soup.  But my favorite way to enjoy misua is still the dry version that comes with accompaniments.  This way I get to really taste the true flavor of the noodle itself.  Something that I will never get tired of until the day I die.

It is finally here!  HAPPY CHINESE NEW HORSE YEAR everyone!!  KIONG HEE KIONG HEE!!

It is officially a new year, which only means one thing… FEASTING is a must.  It is impossible to celebrate a Chinese New Year without at least one episode of a food coma.  An abundance of mouth watering dishes will be on display for family members and guests to dig in and show off their true nature.  That we all are pigs.  Sometimes, some families would even do an open house, sharing their wealth of food supply to those who would like to join in on the celebration.

Just so that no one would feel left out in the know-how on what to eat and how to eat like a true chinese, here is a food guide that a friend kindly shared with me…

It is imperative to always remember that there are many more delicacies than just what mentioned above.  Savory dishes are awesome, BUT DO NOT forget that there are also plenty of sweet treats to sample, including the towers of mandarin and tangerine oranges to be on display at every table.

Now that we already covered the business of eating, I would like to wish everyone a jolly good day, preferably one filled with endless amount of laughter and games of mahjong.  And so, let the ANG-PAO (red envelope) counting begins!

What’s the best way to take advantage of the non-stop pour in this wretched rain season?  RAFTING.

We were determined to have fun.  No amount of murky water able to deter us.  With the rain kept pouring down, the rivers by the mountain side gushed with strength, begging adventurers to join in on the adrenaline fun of water rafting.

And so we took off early in the morning.  Left the city by 5AM to take a four-hour bus ride to Sukabumi area, the west region of Java island.  All geared in shorts and sandals, we sat in anticipation and excitement, though dozed off in the first hour or two.  We were content, knowing a serious fun was about to put a big smile on our sleepy faces.  We would be divided into three separate rafts later, each accompanied by a professional guide.  Most of us have done this before, with only a few first timers.

The bus was large enough to accommodate 30 people, but there were only about 15 of us.  Leaving ample space to stretch and place our belongings.  Many of us carried extra snacks.  Bags of them.  Yeah, we are a greedy bunch.  The long ride was forgivable.  Seats were comfortable.  The air conditioner was cooling.  The large glass windows enabled us to see the green side of this island that we rarely get to see living in the big city of Jakarta.  A different region, a different landscape, a different way of life.

When we got there, nobody took his or her time in exiting the bus.  We got out, headed straight to the reception area, registered, got changed, applied some sun-tan lotion (mine SPF50, as I get burned easily), and was briefed by the head-guide, before we all walked down the large cobble-stoned steps leading to the riverside to our designated raft.

The entire three-hour raft ride was filled with a serious fun.  The water level and strength of current were perfect.  Our chatty bunch was constantly laughing and screaming (not me.  I don’t scream.  I swear).  We got all wet.  But we loved it.  We almost got thrown out of our raft numerous times.  But we loved it.  One of our friends on a different raft got thrown out, carried away by the current for a good five minutes, hurt his leg, and got rescued.  But he still loved it.  We were all in a very good mood.

We did get a 15-minute break in between.  At the appointed resting location, the rafting management team waited there to provide complimentary whole coconuts for us to quench our thirst.  That’s when we took out the many snacks we brought with us, which include Kueh Lapis Legit (local layered butter cake), cheese and chocolate cookies, fried snacks, and steamed bananas.  We gulped everything down like nobody’s business.  Something about playing in water and getting wet that always got us all craving for food.  And then we were ready to get wet again.

At the end of our three-hour fun, we got a buffet lunch.  It’s part of the rafting package we paid for.  Simple local fix that included soup, rice, meat, veggies, condiments, and beverages.  Then the rafting management team showed us on a computer slide show the photo shots taken at various locations during our three-hour rafting session.  A cd of the digital photos cost a little extra, but it was worth it.  We wanted to have fun and we got it and were satisfied with what we got.  No complaint.

Here are a few shots of me and my crazy friends in action.

By the time we were ready to leave, rain started to pour.  Hard.  We were lucky it didn’t rain the entire three hours of our rafting fun.  Not that it would make any difference, as we got all wet anyway.  But the sky was perfectly clear and the sun was out.  Only after we were ready to leave that the sky turned dark and the storm came.  We left at around 2PM but we didn’t get back to the city until after 7.30PM.  The traffic was bad and the rain made it worse.  But we didn’t care.  Most of us were sound asleep almost the entire ride back.  It had been a very tiring yet pleasant Saturday.  We were glad we did it and swore we would be back.

The event is called Manufacturing Indonesia 2013.  It is an international event for manufacturing-industry related companies from all over, to exhibit their products and/or services for potential customers.  This past December 2013 we (company) took part in the exhibition.  This is an annual event.  One that we had previously participated in four years ago.  And this is a huge one.  Unrivaled from a much smaller one we did back in 2012.  This time our booth needed to be much bigger.

The preparation started since late August 2013.  From working with a booth design company, to working with a printing vendor to print out catalogs and other promotional items, to ordering new uniform jackets for our staff, to booking lunches for the four-day event, to scheduling the pick-up arrangements for our Japanese guests.  The month of November was definitely the most hectic one, as the event was held in early December.  There were many confirmations needed to be made.  We needed to be prepared, to look good, and to be professional.

A day prior to the first day of the exhibition we all went to the location to check out the progress on our booth construction.  To our surprise, it was only half finished.  The promises made based on the agreed design were not fulfilled.  We actually had to intervene and corrected their work.  We stayed all day to make sure they were doing their job.  The environment was hot & humid, noisy, and dusty.  Our blood boiled.  Our patience ran thin.  But we stuck it out.  We didn’t leave until around 9PM.  And still it wasn’t done 100%.  They promised to get everything done the next morning before the event starts.  And so we had no choice but to leave it as it was.

These are the BEFORE pics, on the day before first day of the event.

This is what the booth looks like by the end of that same evening.

These are the AFTER pics, taken on the first day of the event.

As predicted, things don’t always turn out the way we planned them.  We learned to be flexible.  Learned to let go.  To think quickly on what can be done to rectify a mistake.  To find an acceptable middle ground.  And focused on the bigger picture.

Glad to say that our exhibition effort turned out great.  We had a successful run for the four-day event and had a positive feedback on our booth.  Our Japanese suppliers were also happy with what we had done for their product display, as well as for the facilities and services we provided for them.

The participation of this event took a tremendous amount of effort and planning on our part.  Not to mention a lot of money.  We certainly are glad it is over and done.  One that we don’t intend to participate in on a regular basis.  Maybe not until another four years time.

It's been a genuinely busy last few months.  It has always been this way comes December and January.  This past December we (company) partook in a massive annual international industrial exhibition, held here in Jakarta, which we had not participated in since four years prior.  This got all of us in a hectic schedule trying to get everything done by November.  Then there was the preparation for company’s annual bonus, to go with the December salary distribution, by the end of the same month.  And then the holiday came.

I took off right on the first day of our office closed for the holiday season.  I went to Hong Kong for few days to meet up with a bunch of mates for our second international gathering, trying to relive the excitement we had exactly a year prior.  This year I only got to spend an evening with them, unfortunately.  The whole group stayed in Hong Kong for the New Year’s celebration.  I flew back on New Year’s Eve, as work to resume on January 2^nd.  I figured that I could squeeze in a day of rest.  I arrived late, yet my exhaustion wasn’t enough to allow me to rest peacefully due to the constant noise of firecrackers in my neighborhood all night long until around 3AM.  Sigh…

When I thought I could sleep all day on January 1^st, I was then reminded that I had promised relatives of mine to spend time with them.  One family from out of town, Surabaya, and another family came back from Paris, France, for the holiday.  Both supposed to fly back the next day on the 2^nd.  The fact that it was their last day, it beckoned me to kick away my blanky, got up, showered, and readied my tummy for another food-coma day.  And so we went all the way out; spicy South Indian late lunch, late afternoon dessert-wine at a lounge, Japanese soba noodle dinner, and then icy Taiwanese boba dessert elsewhere.  I think they went home satisfied.

That was a decent day.  But the month of January didn’t exactly start off friendly.  We have tons of work ahead of us at the office.  What with the ongoing renovation project at our branch office which supposed to be done by December, AND a seminar event for our customers to be held later this week, AND 2014 new salary calculation to be effective as of this month.  My brain is in a constant pressure.  Not to mention the shareholders’ meeting come February.  There are many issues to be examined and debated internally prior to the meeting with the bosses.  As if the month is not short enough, Chinese New Year is coming up, in less than two weeks time.

When I thought it couldn’t get worse, last week the rain fell.  And it poured HARD.  For days.  Relentlessly.  The city is now officially flooded.  Bangkok had its whole city paralyzed last year.  Now it is our turn.  Many homes are now submerged in waist-high murky water.  Last week was the worse, especially this past weekend.  The only good thing came out of it is that it allowed me to stay in and sleep all day on Sunday.  Not that I could go out at all.  Today the flooding condition is much more bearable.  But I worry the rain will continue to fall and delaying our whole schedule for everything.  Not to mention the chance of ruining our upcoming important seminar day.

Oh yeah, I’m stressed out.  A bit.  This coming Chinese New Year better be good.  If I won’t be in a food-coma AND get lots of red envelopes, then you guys just have to deal with me complaining again.

There.  Me ranting.  Get use to it.

I swore to myself… NO MORE PENS!  But then I got weak.  I couldn't help but to browse online.  Just to see.  At least, that’s what I told myself.  Then I saw this gorgeous baby.  Simple, slick, black, beautiful.  I had it on my ‘Watch’ list, thinking that I shouldn’t buy one.  And if I put it on my watch list then it wouldn’t do me harm, ‘cause chances are I would forget about it.

I did forget about it.  But since it was on a watch list, a reminder email was sent to indicate that the sell will be over soon.  The email jogged my memory.  I went back to the site to see what had me interested in the first place and boy, was that a mistake.  My eye balls got larger.  It seemed more beautiful than I remembered.  And still within my budget.  I read the description again and it hasn't changed.  It is still a brand new vintage Pilot from the 70s and comes with a Fine nib.  Immediately, it reminded me of a similar vintage Pilot I got last year, also from the 70s, which I love.  Like someone who has just seen water after a 10K run, I reached out for my wallet and flipped out my card.

THAT was in late November.  The seller is based in Japan.  It took weeks to get my baby to finally land on my desk, thanks to the efficiency of the local postal service.  But it turns out that the timing is perfect.  Just in time to celebrate my upcoming bday.  This baby is a bday present I got for myself.

It looks just as nice as it was shown online.  And it feels right in my hand.  My hand is itching.  Begging me to quickly decide on an ink choice and to fill her up.  I can't wait to ink this baby up and bring it along with me to Hongkong.  Yes, I will take her with me on a vacation this month as I did last year with her distant cousin