=

Continuing my prev post on relationship, I've come across this statement. This I think is the defining equation. And no, its not me being articulately romantic in trying to convey my love to a girl (though it sounds like a perfect catchphrase, really). But, naah, its dedicated to my friends around me at the moment, especially the ones I've been close with since I came back to Jakarta. You guys made going back-for-good much easier. You've added value to my life in a way. I'm forever grateful for your presence in my life.

I guess I'm saying I'm inviting you guys to be part of the equation. The inner circle. I'm looking forward in venturing the awesome days ahead with you guys. Cause, in the end what's the point of having it all without the people you love?
You're in? If so then simply tweet the equation mark " = " or post on your Facebook. That would be my cue, or, you can also tweet the equation mark " = " followed w/ ur friends twittername just to say how much you appreciate them as in being part of the equation all this time. Happy February.

 
Rubs

 

 

Relationship: Make or Break.

Over the course of February, I've been pondering about people and the chemistry that happen between them, relationship.

Couple days ago, a friend of mine tweeted about Corrinne Bailey Rae's latest album and how it changed so much from her previous one. From the uplifting "Put Your Records On" and heartwarming "Just Like A Star", to the somewhat gloomy "Are You Here?" and "I'd Do It All Again". Well, there's a reason for that. She lost her husband about a year ago due to drugs overdose. Its a sad story to draw on. I hate to point out that fact cause I admire her work so much. But as strong as she is in starting again by keep on writing and producing songs, I believe its an experience we can all take lesson from.

It proved what people say that relationship can either make you or break you.

Musically, as a saxophonist, Jason Rae had such an empowering presence to Corrinne's music. He has performed with Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and Corrinne Bailey herself. I believe her success in music is much attributed to having a life-partner that is so encouraging and shared the same vision in art. More than that, I can assure you that he was the first one personally that believes in her and her talent, they met in university and got married in 2001, 5 years before Corrinne launched her first successful album that was nominated in Grammy's Album of The Year Award. A wonderful example of how one can add value to the others life.

On the other side of the story, Jason's other circle has dragged him to the distressing end. Let's just stop here. I can't continue this. Lesson's learned.

This two contrasting outcomes from the same two individual has opened my eyes of how volatile a relationship can be. It can either make you or break you.
Or worse, it may (appear) to make you but then break you. So choose wisely.

Smile on, Shine on.
Rubs

GURIH GURIH HALELUYA!

Semua ini berawal dari kepulangan saya ke Jakarta. Saya lupa bagaimana dan kapan tepatnya kata 'gurih' tertangkap oleh indra pendengaran saya, namun yang pasti 'gurih' terus tergiang-ngiang di benak saya terutama saat saya kembali menikmati hidangan-hidangan khas Indonesia yang sungguh kaya rasa.

Indra perasa saya kembali dibangunkan dengan variasi rasa yang luas dalam makanan-makanan Indonesia. Saya mulai mencari-cari dimanakah rasa 'gurih' ini. Bagaimanakah wujudnya, dalam makanan apakah rasa ini bisa saya temukan, dibagian lidah manakah rasa ini bisa saya cicipi. Sampai pertanyaan aneh pun saya lontarkan kepada beberapa teman-teman saya yang membuat mereka mengernyitkan alis, saya kira karena tidak siap dengan orang aneh di depan mereka (yaitu saya -red), namun ternyata kernyitan itu juga karena mereka sendiri sulit menjelaskan 'gurih' dan tampaknya masing-masing memiliki definisi 'gurih' mereka sendiri.

6 bulan pencarian, tidak terlintas untuk meng-google kata ini, mungkin jiwa detektif di dalam saya lebih tertarik berdiskusi kata langsung, mengekori temuan kecil demi temuan kecil dibanding mencari jalan singkat lewat dunia maya. Sampai akhirnya minggu lalu saya berbincang dengan seorang teman dalam perjalanan pulang dari Puncak, sebut saja namanya 'Mimi' (bukan nama asli). Dari sanalah saya menemukan sebuah pencerahan yang memicu pada penggalian yang dalam dan inilah jawaban yang saya temukan. (Gila, sebuah introduksi yang panjang, namun saya janji penjelasan saya akan lebih panjang lagi, agar supaya tidak merugi. Eh engga deh, pendek ajah).

Ternyata dan ternyata, gurih bukanlah hal baru. Bersiaplah anda akan cukup dikagetkan oleh pewahyuan ini. Semua bermula di tahun 1908 ketika seorang peneliti Kikunae Ikida dari Tokyo Imperial University melakukan riset terhadap kaldu seaweed (rumput laut), dan berakhir dengan mengisolasi senyawa glutamat yang menciptakan rasa yang kuat pada kaldu seaweed itu. Rasa yang kuat ini pun disebut dengan nama Umami. Dalam bahasa Inggris, umami diartikan sebagai Tasty atau Savoury atau bahasa Indonesianya ... Gurih.

Kemudian dengan bantuan dari Ajinomoto senyawa ini pun dikembangkan dan dipatenkan sebagai Monosodium Glutamat (MSG). Sejak itu mulai lah dikomersilkan MSG atau vetsin yang sekarang menjadi bahan bumbu masakan yang populer terutama dalam masakan Asia. Glutamat sendiri banyak ditemukan dalam makanan yang berbahan dasar daging, kaldu, keju, dan segala-sesuatu yang kaya akan Protein. Aha! Pantaslah ada yang menggunakan kata gurih untuk makanan Indonesia yang bercampurkan santan.

Perlahan dan perlahan mulailah pencarian saya terjawab. Tidak heran ada sebuah sensasi yang berbeda dengan tambahan MSG dalam makanan. Tidak asin, dan tidak sepenuhnya manis. Saya pun menemukan sumber lain (baca: Wikipedia -red) yang mendeskripsikan gurih adalah percampuran antara rasa manis dan asin. Alangkah! Lebih terkaget lagi saya ketika menemukan kalau berbagai penelitian di dunia mendukung adanya rasa ke-5 selain manis, asin, pahit, dan asam, yaitu gurih alias savoury. The Fifth Taste Bud. Google that and see how many articles you can find. Lebih lanjut lagi bahkan ada pula sebuah teori dari seorang food connoisseur, Alan Davidson dalam The Oxford Companion to Food yang menganalogikan rasa layaknya notasi musik yang terdiri dari tujuh nada utama. Wow, tujuh rasa? Okay, perlahan-lahan deh yah, lima dulu. Lima ajah bingung nih.

Dan berakhirlah rasa penasaran saya akan gurih. Sekarang saatnya keluar dan mulai mencicipi rasa kelima ini dan menggunakan kata gurih dimana gurih itu berada.

Gurih-Gurih Haleluya! Tersenyumlah, Bersinarlah!

Rubs

Coloring Twenty Ten

I should have post this in early January but well, I guess everyone will be posting similar stuff, so I hesitated in the defense of staying different with others. =p. To start off, I guess some of you still pondering why I used Rainbows And Wishes as my Posterous account. Ooh, here's a funny story, one of my Sydney friends commented on my page saying this "Rub, cool post, keep writing, although I don't see the connection ... Rainbow and Sandwiches?!" . DANG! So I'd like to make one thing clear, its RAINBOWS AND WISHES. And the mystery behind is as simple as the beautiful colors that compose rainbow pretty much resembles the colors of my life. There's the bright shiny ones, there will also be the dark misty ones, but together it create one of the most magical landscape.

So in that spirit, I'm coloring my another great year ahead with these new stuff. I might add some along the way, but here's what I've been cracking with for the whole January and will keep doing so.

ONE
Its a book with exactly 365 pages. I named it Minimal Details. I believe its the small details in life that attracts happiness and its our human tendency to forget it. So I've been writing the tiny bits of bliss in my life, my statement of gratefulness, journal entries, artworks, and things that excites me like photos and stuff. Also I'm learning to make sort of scrapbook-artsy thingy, not very satisfied with 'em so far, but I'll get better. Hope somebody would share some of the tricks.

Oh, and also by the end of this year, on Christmas I'm gonna share this book with some of my dearest. Enjoy the rainbow with me and see if you made into one of the entries. =)

 

TWO
As a loyal Twittizen, I've been trickling with ideas as how to improve and make a better use of my tweets. So here what I resolve with:

- #Foodporn : this will be a series of food and drinks nudity displayed with no censorship for your visual pleasure. Also with the small hints of the taste. I'm not into numbering / scoring foods. That's subjective, I mean 7 for me could be 4 to others. So I prefer to speak out what my tongue tasted. Keep in touch with this and before you know it, the next time you think about porn, all you'll get is images of prime ribs, salmon skin roll, chicken kang pun ki, and seaweed salad.

- #Winegasm : pretty much similar, but as the name represent, specially dedicated for wine. Wine is an even more intricate being, its even harder to rate, and I'm way behind from being a wine-taster. So I'm just gonna share who I enjoyed it with. For me there's no bad wine, there's only good, very good, or awesome!

- #1Word : a very simple tweet. One new english vocabulary a day, and at the end of the year I would've learned 365 new words, and maybe inspire some to use them as well.

If you're up for it, you can follow me here @captainruby. That is all for now. I've got some more colors to display here, that's gonna be part two, keeping the post short. Just gotta wait for it.

Smile on, Shine on Peeps!
Rubs