(nattō)

Before I brush on the topic, I want to share this picture with all of you... what do design students *really* do in class? This was what happened in open access session today:


Pattern-drafting tables make good makeshift beds ^__^;>

And now, following the oohs and aahs, my opinions on nattō.

According to Wikipedia, nattō is one of the world's four soya-based superfoods. As of a couple of days ago, nattō was one of those exploratory food items yet to be tried on my list of things to eat... er, or at least try to. My housemate is an avid lover of nattō, and so are everyone in his family! So there we were, spending an evening talking about how his dad never fails to prepare nattō for breakfast at 7AM on Saturdays, to a point where his father's zeal earned a request from his sister to have some toasts for brekkie.

Oh yeah, my housemate's tales spurned me to try nattō once and for all... so that I can say "I have tried the stuff and it tastes like __________." (you can fill in the empty space ^.^ ) Given other non-Japanese foodies' experiences in savouring the supposedly stinky stuff, I decided that I should have mine with miso soup on the side... just for insurance.


Verdict:
Eeeek Not as bad as I expected. I could tolerate the taste although I'm not exactly looking forward to devour the remaining nattō just because "I love the taste". Aesthetically, the neba neba (sticky strings) were fun to play with, but eating nattō can potentially be messy because of them (I wonder how beauty queens would eat nattō given the neba neba.) The smell was strong, but it wasn't a problem since I have previously eaten tauco/douchi, terasi and durian. I would definitely eat this stuff with miso soup, as miso's mild saltiness provides a pleasant distraction from nattō's foamy neba neba texture. I wouldn't mind repurchasing it, as a box of four servings costs 53p.

I wonder where I can buy tempeh in London...

Probably next time I should try to eat stinky tofu. *glances at list of things to eat*

(irony, in Javanese)

This animation vlog is rather insane and strangely refreshing. It offers banters and old jokes that I often came across when I was a kid. The narratives and dialogues are carried out in everyday Javanese, and the captions are in Indonesian... although I believe it'd do the animators good to release an English-subbed version as a supplement.

Enjoy! ^__^

The God Debate

Without doubt, the debate of faith is already securing a large preoccupation in today's society.

I just find this article interesting to read and digest. It's one of those articles where two people compare their different perspectives on life in a clear, intellectually engaging and friendly manner... a manner which, in my opinion, makes all the difference between being educational versus downright patronizing.

There are times when I feel justice has not been done in this world, but then the thought of one day everything will be settled once and for all is appealing to me. There are times when I'm being shunned and/or avoided by pretty much everyone, but love and goodness keep me going. There are times I wished there is nothing bitter to life, but bitterness is there to highlight the sweetness of life. I'm still lacking understanding in many areas, but I guess that is what life is for... to find out answers about yourself and those around you.

My favourite lines of all are these:

We're both betting. He's betting his life that he's right. I'm betting my life that Jesus was not a liar. When we die, if he's right, I've lost nothing. If I'm right, he's lost everything.
I'm not willing to make that gamble.

Enjoy the read! (And yes, comments are welcome as always ^__^)

-edited 24/04- the link to the article still works, but you might be barred by your network admin from visiting ninemsn sites... (that was the case I had with hotmail back in high school)

(ba-thump)

With about 40 hours left to my first ever design interview, I'm reassembling my portfolio for a freelancing job at PromOcean. What got me interested to apply were two things: (1) it was a freshly advertised post, and (2) the company is part of the Li & Fung group. My mom had been nagging for me to find a decent holiday job, and given her preference for M&S and L&F, this one is a shot worth trying.

What lovely Marija (the person-in-charge) asked me for is also a useful pointer of what I need to do: an online portfolio. Sure, nothing beats a face-to-face interview, but an online portfolio is needed... especially if I'm applying for jobs located in far-flung places.

To break some good news, my mom had been discharged from the hospital. I haven't managed to give her a call, but I believe it's some good news she's heading home! Thanks for your concerns in the past few days :))

Alright then, it's time for me to get myself cracking. Take care!

(thoughts from other sides)

I'm quite shocked to find out Picasa is limiting the picture upload limits to 1GB. There are still ways to host and upload pictures through flickr, but it's quite an inconvenience compared to the existing system. One gigabyte of free data hosting is generous, but the restriction is like a lame leg to those who upload massively sized picture files.

In the past 48 hours, I watched Schindler's List... twice.
By the way, my friends are chatting behind my back (literally), and somehow I'm interested to put down several lines that they verbalise. I want to verbalise myself too, but I find it more interesting to be on the listening side of things.

You can't stick to one rule and make yourself all... difficult.
--Magdalene

Do you believe in fortune-telling? --Mag
Let's say... I believe what they say, but I intend to prove they're wrong. --Anne
Then you should go. --Mag

How do you define what's beautiful and what's not? --Mag
It depends on yourself. --Anne

If people have the courage to kill themselves, they should have the courage to live on.
--Anne

You have to get worse before you can get better. --Anne
Frame of reference, hey? --Mag
'Cause sometimes when you pass the worse, you don't really realise it, but when you get the sun you realise that you pass it. I know there are more worse but at that moment, you know you're there because you were worse. --Anne

Take care from me and my friends ^__^ (although I'm borrowing their names because they didn't know what I'm typing out)

Whenever Whereever Whatever

I have got quite a lot of things on my mind lately. I really don't like thinking and talking about it, let alone blogging on it, but I feel like I'm going to rot on the inside if I try to make myself seem invincible.

I'm quite disheartened to hear my mom isn't doing too well with her health. This came to me as a quite a shock as she's a woman who excercises almost everyday and looks after herself particularly well (albeit with a tendency of pushing herself too far at times). As far as I could recall, she's always the healthy one at home, save a few occurences when we had food poisoning a year ago (and another one in the States) which usually occurs after we eat too much seafood. For a lot of reasons, this hit to her health is definitely scaring me... my brain runs at a slower rate because of thinking about her. Despite these, I really appreciate my family's openness about what's going on, because I hate to think everything is going well and smooth when everything isn't.

(I'm somehow glad my sister is going back to Indonesia soon, as it means she can look after mom when she's there. She was planning to go back to be with our parents, and the timing couldn't have been more coincidental... I don't quite believe in pure coincidence but hopefully all turn out well.)

I'm currently staying over at my friend Magdalene's place for the Easter weekend. It gives the landlady at home some extra breathing space, and I'm kind of keen to have unlimited showers at Mag's due to the fact her water bill is already included in her rent rates (which are unlikely to increase.)

Mag's apartment is sunny and small, and wasn't exactly interior magazine-prim... it's her 'creative chaos'. Anne and I ended up cleaning up the whole place out of our own initiatives just to make our stay feel nicer... and Mag was definitely pleased when she came home to find her apartment to be pristine and clean (she confessed that the clean state was actually better for her psychological/mental health.) I then realised that staying with that clean-obsessed, clutter-clearing landlady of mine has definitely done something good in terms of making zealously good efforts to be clean and proper. I know I have complained before about how strict she could be with water droplets in the bathroom taps, but I'm glad for her disciplines. It's like living with the headmistress of a finishing school.

On the funnier, more vain side of things, I've got a friend who's going to JRP. She's got a pristinely clean skin thanks to her mother's cravings of avocados when she was expecting, and back in Melbourne I would love to have her kind of skin (even now I still want to.) Also, she's the kind of person you would last ask for lotions or creams. If her class instructor at JRP found out what kind of skin maintenance regime my friend keeps, she's so bound to be shell-shocked... ^__^

I'm heading out to church now. Take care and happy Easter! ^.^

Lead me on girl if you like
Take my heart and my life
Take of me all that you want
And if there's a thing that you need
I give you the breath that I breathe
And if ever you yearn for the love in me
Whenever, whereever, whatever baby
Whenever, whereever, whatever baby

Wish I knew if I could
Be the one that you would
Love forever and a day baby