[Photo & Review] European Foodbash (Bistro Baron & Canteen)

It was my second visit to Bistro Baron at Plaza Indonesia last Saturday, and it continued to indulge my taste buds, leaving me in awe of its delicate taste. This time, I had their Chicken Sandwich. And while the name sounded simple, the taste is contradictorily rich! I can't help but to open it up, dig it up and see with my own eyes what made up the delicious sandwich, and there you can see yourself in pictures below. The mix of fresh veggies, layers of tender chicken, with glimpses of soft and crisp mushrooms. YUM!

And thank God for it didn't finish there. Then I took the first bite of the frites, and man, it was one of the best fries I've ever tasted. Not that crispy to the point it becomes cracker-ish, not to soft to the point of soggy. Its just the right texture, fried to the just-right point of maturity. Added to that, the thin cheesy hints, and the sprinkle of oregano enhance the taste even more. SCRUMPTIOUS!

OH! And squeezed there in the photos is Canteen's Grilled Chicken. Look at the colors! Look at the slight burns here and there! Look at the mustard sauces! Heavenly! It was a well-grilled chicken with the right portion. Good, good, good foods.

And so I left those two places twice happier than I was when I came in. Real thing. Give it a shot if you question me, and let me know how was it. In the mean time, drool on these pictures (behind the camera was me, the girl behind the great styling was Andrea Sharon) =)

Smile on, Eat on, Shine On!
Rubs

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Surabaya Food Galore (A Lebay Review)

Dear Surabayans,

I don't know how to say this. I'm afraid I am too frank. I am afraid it doesn't take up to your expectation. I am afraid this isn't mutual. But a guy has to do what a guy has to do, and a boy has to become a man. So I dared myself to tell you this after days of yes and no. Those four words I've been keeping for some time. Allow me to say:

I'M IN LOVE WITH YOUR FOODS! *lebaylevelone*

Wait, that's six words. Haha. Well, your foods are just too good to be expressed in four words I guess. =p It feels good to finally get it off my mind. *fiuhhhhhh So much love that I decided to make a blogpost for you. These are some of your delicacies that I tried while I was in the city for 3-days of business trip. Its awesome when business and pleasure can coincide. I would say the highlight was definitely Kwetiau Siram Apeng, Nasi Campur and Boncafe's Steak. I can still remember the very second that slurp of wet and steamy-hot kwetiau on my lips, the touch of your spicy sauces on my tounge, arousing every tingling sensation on my mind, oh and your steak, dangling it from left to right in my mouth, savouring the tasty bbq sauce, heavenly, heavenly, you gave me such a magical tastebud orgasm. *yum!* *lebayleveltwo*

OH! And Igor's pastry. I didn't get the chance to took the shot of their scrumptious Hazelnut Crispy, but here's a *thumb* for the founder. I ate so much, but there's still lotsa place I didn't get the chance to visit. I'd like to try that Kapin restaurant next time who said to have the most expensive fried rice (500K!), and Layar Seafood Restaurant, and Bebek HT, and the list goes on. Dear Surabaya, I had to say goodbye, it was hard leaving you, but you know my heart is with you. *lebaylevelthree*

For fellow Jakartans, if you have the chance to visit the city, my suggestion is, forgot the extreme-heat, enjoy the much much less crowded traffic, and of course the food!

Surabaya, until I see you again. I am missing you much. *lebaylevelfive*

xoxo
Rubs

*lebay-o-meter-jebol!*

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Merci Beaucoup

Six months ago when I started I didn't expect this blog to be much other than a media to stream my thoughts. Then it grows as a place to share many things from daily bits of wisdom,  to releasing my creative works of poetries and photoworks. The point that this blog is now show that everything started out with a small seed, and if we remain faithful, we water them daily, treat it proper and eventually it will grow and bloom (though its far from being a tree or producing tons of fruits, but I've seen result).

I've always been taught to start with what I have, and six months ago, the passion to blog was what I have. And today its great to know it has reached more than 2000 pageviews, and been viewed as far as the States, Australia, Canada, even France. I hope that what I do can and will continue to inspire you in a way. 

Taking that into mind. All the viewers, you guys are the ones who fuels this passion. And for that I'm thanking you. (why does this feels like a farewell post? nvm). And and you could start leaving comments at the end of every blogpost (that little orange word that says 'comment', click on that) or click on the simple LIKE button, that would double my joy and of course that enables me to hear from you, your thoughts, what kind of post that you enjoy or challenge me, I'm open for that.  From me, there'll be more improvements in this blog, there'll be more pretty photoworks (i can guarantee you this), OH! I'm gonna start video-blogging (hope you like the idea of this), and maybe I'll host a competition one day, who knows! And please pray for me for the many projects I have in list now, one of them is having an official pro photography services.

If you're up for my other short musings, reach http://lyricalrelease.tumblr.com or for completely dedicated blog for photos click on http://rubyboy.tumblr.com

So yeas! Once again, Merci Beaucoup.

Smile on, Shine on!
Rubs

[Photos] Billy Simpson at 107.9 FM

Billy asked me to accompany him in the interview and so I sat through the two hours. I thought, while I'm at that, might as well taking some pictures. And here some of the selected results. The interview itself went great. That was his first time so its normal to be nervous, but despite all that he tackled all questions greatly. The message comes through well. The testimony part and how he finally found his passion, I think that could really bless a lot of people. Its just that one question that he found it hard to answer. It's from one of the text messages coming in to the station, the listener asked: "Bil, do you have any girlfriend at the moment?" At there he tinker and took a long trip to answer a simple question of yes and no. Haha.
So yeah, the beautiful VJ name is Clarissa. Guess that's what you've been wanting to ask right? =p Haha. Anyways, a short profile. Billy is now the member of True Worshippers Youth, a singer/songwriter by himself outside of that. To check his latest tunes go: (1) Billy Simpson Youtube (2) Billy Simpson My Space and you can also follow his tweets on Twitter @BillySimpson or his Facebook page here.
Well, enjoy the photos. The music, let me know what you think.
Smile on, Shine on!
Rubs

A Thought On Prosperity

Kekayaan bukan pada uang. Kekayaanmu ada pada apa yang tersisa pada dirimu saat semua materi diambil darimu. 

Your money is not your wealth. Your wealth lies in what's left in you when all you have (possessions/money) is taken out from you. (AC Mahendra Datu, Ph.D)

 
A short quote I've heard months ago has came back and tickled my thought all in the account of brainstorming for O2 May Videos. The theme given for the videos is prosperity. A word I'm sure many of you will directly associate with that scrumptiously sensuous beef burger from McD. But save your appetite. We're not talking about it, and looks like you gonna have to wait until next CNY to get 'em. And so I tweeted it, asking what comes to people mind when they hear the word, prosperity? Some of the responses are:

Wealthy. Out of debt. Peace of mind to live life without worrying cause you got everything you need. Heaps of money. The boy with the most toys win. Financially successful.

I guess that pretty much summed up everything. But I didn't stop there. I question, like I always do. Those are all end-results, the outcome of something. Something that if we work on it will eventually reward us wealth, money, prosperity. So if you give it a thought, that something is actually what's important. Without that something all those dreams are just empty dreams. In other words, what I'm saying is .... that 'something' is the true wealth. Ha! Now you're thinking.

But you have doubts. Well, I'm not finished yet. Check out this article 8 Lottery Winners Who Lost Their Millions about people who went from Millionaire to scraping for changes.

Finished? Good. Now you see what I'm saying. These are examples of instant riches. What is that 'something' that earn them their wealth? Its a sad fact but in their case, that 'something' is pure-luck, no effort, no knowledge, no hard-work whatsoever. As a result, when they lost it all, they simply don't know how to bounce back, cause they don't have the real 'something' that suppose to take them back to prosperity. What's the good use of having all the money and yet you don't know how to manage it? Pretty soon you're gonna lose it. And that can only comes from owning that 'something'.

Now back to the question, what is the true 'something' ? And it finally dawned on me all the Proverbs, came in like streams of eureka(s):

You're blessed when you meet Lady Wisdom, when you make friends with Madame Insight. She's worth far more than money in the bank; her friendship is better than a big salary. Her value exceeds all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.With one hand she gives long life, with the other she confers recognition. Her manner is beautiful, her life wonderfully complete. She's the very Tree of Life to those who embrace her. Hold her tight—and be blessed! (Proverbs 2, Message)

 It is Wisdom and Insight / Understanding. It is proven then it is much more important to gain wisdom on how to reach prosperity, rather than prosperity itself. Cause when you earn that wisdom, prosperity is automatic. How does it applies in life? Simple. Some that came up to my mind right are:

• In a job, don't get by barely for salary. Look for place where you can learn the most. Especially if you're freshgrads. You are nothing. Seriously, nothing cause whatever business you got yourself into you have not any idea of the tricks of the trade, the annual trend influencing your product, your typical customers and how to handle them. Seek knowledge and understanding on those stuff and it shall reward you in time (yes, in time, i'm gonna cover about it in another post). The best thing when you've learned all of them is you get to open your own business. How's that for a reward?
  
• In life, from events to events, especially the downs and the problems take the best out of it. It is indeed the best way for you to learn. Your understanding and know-how in dealing with obstacles are what people look for, those who could provide answers are rewarded well. That's why job openings always mentioned one needed skill 'analytical thinking and problem solving'.
  
• Learn the principles and laws of life. Take it to the heart and apply them. I believe what I've been taught in church since the beginning of the year about purpose, vision, passion, excellence, faithfulness, they are all wisdom in the free-est form available. But it takes our action to apply it to finally let the wisdom sip in and becomes one with us.

I believe when we've done that phase of learning and gaining understanding over and over again, we'll set yourself a habit. We'll come to the point that prosperity follows and the joy will always be in searching, in learning, in discovering new wisdom. As in the word of John Mayer who've won himself the highest reward anyone can expect in the music industry, the Grammy, have 6 multi-million sold out albums:

Part of me doesn't like it when everything works. I don't think anybody likes it when everything works. When I was 25 I didn't want anything to work. I knew those are the years that I'm supposed to be fighting it out. Its only fun when you're trying to get it in your grasp. Its like once you catch it, throw it back into the water, and catch it again. That's what I really want to do with my whole career. (John Mayer)

Pursue wisdom and understanding, for that's where the true wealth is. Even when things go wrong, and everything stripped out from you, you'll soon bounce back in no time cause you have the wisdom in you, that 'something' that earns you prosperity.

Cheers,
Rubs