Bread vs. Coffee

Q: Who wins in a debate between bread and coffee?
A: Bread wins. Because, when the Bread-talk, Kopi-Tiam

Note:
Tiam = quiet/shut up in Hokkian

Big Miracle, The Vow, and other beautiful movies

Should have written this last month. I forgot most movies I watched on the plane now. Btw, I remember one particular movie: Big Miracle, starring: Drew Barrymore. The movie is about 3 stranded whales trapped in ice somewhere in Alaska, and a bunch of people from diff backgrounds and motivations came to the rescue.
The movie was so touching, I literally cried throughout the movie. Even my group members noticed my cries, hahaha…
If you haven’t watched it, here’s the synopsis

The problem is that I get curious about the true story behind it. Apparently the story wasn’t as dramatic as one in the movie, there was even a big question mark whether those whales survived at all. I wished I didn’t look for more information; it kinda ruined the beautiful image of the movie in my head. But it is still a very good inspirational movie. I didn’t shed my tears for nothing.
Kinda wish that Karawang whale could survive as in the movie, it would be nice. But she died anyway. Bohoo :'(
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another movie that makes me teary on the plane: The Vow. It also based on true story. Ughh, I am really vulnerable for touchy stories, shame on me. Btw, the movie is about a man who tries to win his wife’s heart back after she suffered amnesia. You can read more here.
I know it sounds like super-standard Indonesian sinetron plots, but it is not, seriously, it’s not a lame story at all.

I kinda refer this to myself. Maybe we have known each other before, long time ago, many times before. But I simply forget about it. And you! You remember it. Why can you just give me some clues?
Maybe the movie tries to tell something to us, rather than trying to dig back the old memories, why don’t we create a new one, the beautiful one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This movie is so cute, despite the movie is about ghosts and deaths, it doesn't give any scary feeling at all.
A Ghost of a Chance (English title) / Once in a Blue Moon (Japanese English title)/Suteki na Kanashibari
The movie is about trial of a murder (huaaa!) where the only witness is a dead samurai(huaaaa!!) and the lawyer is trying to get the witness to talk to the court (huaaa???)
You'll find the movie is cute and refreshing. It also makes us wonder about the after-life. Are they still lingering around us? Have we done any justice to those who deserve it?


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This movie was introduced by Edwin. It also made me cry (again!).
The Departures is a must watch movie. It'll give you a different perspective about love, hatred, life, death, and their last moment - the departures.

Mortician is considered the lowest job you could ever get, esp in Asian communities (I dunno how Westerners' view about this job). We acknowledge their importance, but we tend not to be associated with them. Well, unless if you have to, that's when your love one finally need their service. It's taboo!

The movie tells the story about a man who desperately need a job, and took a job as mortician, and he (after a lot of struggle) do the job with all his heart. After you watch the movie, I guarantee you'll have more respect to morticians, trust me.
Although westerner viewers have rather less excited about it, the movie still won an Oscar and Academy Awards. Congratz :)

Update about Robi. Part 2

The warung where they work is closed for fasting month. The aunt that owns the warung was sick too. So during this month, their income is kinda halted. People with hard life are trained to strive; without the warung, Robi’s mom managed to get some seasonal orders to make “kerupuk jengkol”.

“We do anything to ensure our next meal”, she said.

Here are some pictures taken when we visited her:

1. Half the jengkol bean

2. Lightly fry the jengkol bean

3. Fried jengkol bean

4. Crush the bean into sheets using some heavy stone, swipe a little salt during the process

5. What it looks like after crushing, still pliable - need to dry it under the sun

6. Drying it under sun, depends on the weather, usually takes 2 days

7. This is what kerupuk jengkol looks like after being fried and seasoned with chilli paste. Picture is taken from here.

and this is the video of Robi's mom crushing the bean into sheets

Update about Robi. Part 1

Here is a little update about Robi and his mom. (more story here) About 2 weeks ago, the team from Sby: Mr.HK and Mr.HW accompanied by Ven.K visited Robi to check out their real condition. They live in poor, messy and sad condition.
Their visit wasn't heavily published. In fact it was kept low-profile just to ensure the privacy of the mother and child. We (esp. me) do not want other parties to take advantage of this event for their own political benefits. I also worry that some people will "attack" the mother and child for their sudden lucky stroke.

Top: Look at the expression of Robi's mom when Ven.K gave them a surprise visit
Bottom: Ven. K, Mr.HK and Mr.HW giving the donation to Robi and his mom

I've received mixed opinion about this donation. I'll write about the negative ones:

•    Some have asked me “They only donate some fried noodles, what’s so great about it?  A lot of people donate more than that. So, will all people who donate fried noodle get such fund as well?”
• “I doubt that the noodle that they donate really from Robi and his mom. More likely it is from his aunty. So, they don’t really deserve such help”
•  “The amount of money raised for Robi and his mom is too much, too much for them to handle. They wouldn’t know how to manage it”. “Are these people crazy? Why do they donate such big amount?  Do they have too much money? Don't they know there are more people that live in worse conditions?”
•  “They have survived on their own for long time. Why suddenly they need help from outsiders?”
• etc



front yard



Interior

The truth is, I also questioned the donation fund, not about whether they deserve it or not, I worry more how to utilize the fund to benefit them only. I don’t want the money to end up to those who are not on focus. The money was raised in the name of Robi, I think we have to respect donors’ wish to help him, rite?

Ven.K personally interviewed Robi and his mom about what they want and need most. They wish to fix their house. As you can see in the picture, the size of the land is… I think it is quite spacious, but the building size is kinda small to accommodate 5 people. (They never offer us to have a peek in their current 2 rooms, so we didn’t ask too). According to them, Robi’s uncle is to sleep on common room because they have no extra space for him. Looking at the house condition, they really need a make-over.

So, the plan is to fix their house, build another room at their backyard, fix their bathroom/toilet (I doubt it works at all), fix their kitchen, removing the broken hand-water-pump, etc. A lot of things are to be done. Thanks to Mr.KT + Mrs.M, really appreciate your willingness to take charge of this project. Without both of you, I wouldn't have a clue how to do it.

backyard: where we gonna build a new extra room for Robi and his family

the kitchen

bathroom / toilet

We believe that the house make-over wouldn’t cost the whole fund; there’ll be some amount left. The leftover is to be put in bank’s term deposit; they’ll be allowed to consume their monthly interest, while the major fund is only to be withdrawn on rainy days. Btw, there was some discussion whether we should just help them to start up a small business, so they’ll be able to support themselves in the future, so we could utilize the money to the max. But we all agreed that Robi and his mom are quite dim-witted, so starting up a business will be too risky.

So, that’s my update about Robi’s case. I’ll be back with more report, hopefully their house can be fixed ASAP.

Btw, big thanks to Ven. K, Mr.HK and Mr. HW who have put effort to help the family, and flew all the way to Padang just give them a visit. Your effort is greatly appreciated. 

Crossing Waterlilies

Last month, before I was away for trips, my 2 of waterlilies were blooming continuously: white and purple ones. So, I did some research about how they propagate sexually, I just wanna know if one day I can make unique hybrid.

Based on what I read on WGI website, I started to cross them. Here is what I did:

white flower as pollen donor (male) / purple flower as recipient (female)

I took pollens from white flower (1-2 days old), and place it into the nectar-bowl (stigma) of newly bloomed purple flower. Sometimes I drank the nectar before the pollination process, leaving it damp enough for the pollens to stick on.

the pollination process

 The next day, the stamens will curl to cover up the stigma, you can no longer see the bowl. I guess that’s when the magic happens.

what it looks like next day after pollination

Within a week, I checked the sinking flower if they rot or swollen. If they rot, the pollination failed. If they sunk and have curly stem and swollen butt, it’s a good sign that the pollination have occurred. Since I want to collect seeds, I put a clothbag. The butt will get larger and larger until ….

top left clockwise: See the diff on non-pollinated and pollinated flower / Pollinated flower has larger butt-size / Pod placed in clothbag to ease seeds collection.

I don’t know what happened next, cos I wasn’t around for a month. When I came back that night, I dipped my hand to check the clothbag (it was dark), I was so disappointed not to feel any pod in the bag. I can feel mushy stuff in it. I thought the whole pollination has failed.

The next morning, I went to check again, and guess what I found! The seeds have sprouted inside the bag! I missed the pod stage. The seeds already released from the pod, and sprouted into little plants. Oh, so many of them. Too many!

left-right: They sprouted inside the bag // handful of them // placing them in dirt

Then I removed them into a new pot, tried to dip them slightly inside the dirt. But they kept floating around. I hope I didn’t hurt them. Really hope they’ll stay alive and grow well.

Now I am away again, I hope when I come back next month, they’ll give me nice surprises again J

Note:

I guess there are some differences between my experience and what’s written in the website. I couldn’t argue about the exact period for pod stage, and sprouting age. But I know that it all happen within a month only, and I didn’t do any special treatment (cold-storage period) to stratify the seeds. They just sprouted.

Kids' Report

Another year has passed.
Lisa has been so kind to send all the tuition receipts and their school reports.
The kids have done a good job at school. I am such a proud foster mother. Hahaha.

I am getting a new kid this year, so it'll be 3 boys and 3 girls this year.
Would this action contribute to my "caga" attributes?
Dear, do you know how hard it is to keep up to your noble qualities?