Andie Summerkiss

Since coming back from the Philippines, I have tried to get a new passport - mine is about to get expired in August. It has been 3 weeks ago. And now, I still have not got it. The reason? They run out of books!

Have you ever heard of a country that ran out of passport books? I went to the immigration office three weeks ago to have my photo taken. The broker said that everybody in Indonesia has to wait for the new books to be printed, which will not be till mid of April. I also talked to at least 6 other friends who try to get their new passport around the same time and they were given the same answer (by different brokers).

I did ask her. What if someone is gravely ill and needs to leave the country to get medical care? She said in that case, the immigration can “speed” up the new blank book for three times the normal price.

Money talks, bullshit walks (a famous saying around my circle of friends). 

How delightful.

During our trip to Chennai, India a couple of years ago, we met a lovely Indian lady. Here is our conversation :

Lady  : Is he your husband?

Andie : Yes. *smiling sweetly*

Lady  : Oh *looked hesitantly*

Andie : Is there something wrong?

Lady  : Can I ask you something?

Andie : Sure.

Lady  : You marry for love?

Andie : Yeah.

Lady  : Your parents didn’t choose him for you?

Andie : Err .. No. I met him myself

Lady  : Nobody marries for love in India! You love later.

Andie : Really??

Arranged marriage (or forced marriage) is still very much of everyday practice in that part of the world. For us, it’s just a scene picked right out from the movie “Cinderella” by Drew Barrymore.

Guys and girls who are not asked for hand in marriage yet when they come of age will be put into advertisement in local newspapers with details of education, personal information and social status. They will be contacted by suitors’ family. The couple will not see each other until after they actually get married. The “Lady” in my story confirmed that she didn’t see her husband till after they were married. She referred to herself as being “lucky” that the husband is indeed good looking.

I can’t help but think very highly of young people who would actually trust their family to find them husbands or wives. I don’t even trust my mother anymore to pick out my clothes, let alone to get me a husband.

The family thinks that young people should not be trusted in making a decision of such a big impact as choosing a spouse. Maybe they have a point? South Asian countries do have very low divorce rates. But again, the domestic violence is not that low either.  

I received some coffee samples for export earlier this week. After sending them to prospective buyers, I got some leftovers which I kept in the freezer. I had some spare time today so I tried roasting them by using skillet.

Home roasting is not difficult at all, providing you have access to fresh coffee bean and a bit of time. The appliances needed is right there in your kitchen. Anything can be used, like skillet, and toaster oven - even popcorn maker.

These are what I did with the beans :

1. Picked out the beans that are not same size - split beans or defected beans can affect the overall roast quality as they will prevent the beans to roast evenly and also affect the appearance and taste of coffee. Always roast in small batches - enough for one or two serves.
2. Heat up the beans - I used skillet so the heat would be medium high and keep on stirring to ensure even roast.
3. The beans will begin to roast as the moisture evaporates, the oil will secrete and sugars caramelize, the longer the beans are roasted, the stronger and more flavorful the coffee will be. (In fact, I believe I over-roasted mine)
4. The cracking noise is normal. Rule of thumb is the first crack is light roast and the second is fairly dark roasting. When your beans cracks like yuppie ducks, you will know that your beans are definitely burnt.
5. The whole process should not take more than 15 minutes.

When the colour turn to darkish brown, get it off the stove. It will continue roasting naturally. I did grind it right away and make myself a nice cup of black coffee.

It is a great cup of coffee, chemical free with no fillers or fluff. Excellent for a picky coffee lover like myself.

The first couple of shots are from my recent trips. The others are from Lake Toba, North Sumatra. Weekly Winners are the courtesy of Lotus Carroll. Click on the button for more photos from this week.

Skyline of Makati, Philippines

Pollution of Manila

Lake Toba, North Sumatra

Flowers at Merek

Green Frog in Solitude

Moonlight

Every year, the state government holds North Sumatra State Fair. It shows exhibits on most of the 18 regencies in the province. The fair displays the resources and the unique culture specific to that particular regency. It is aimed to promote tourism and economic development as well as local and foreign investment.

This year, a strange trend took place. As far as I see, Malaysian and Thailand booth were stealing the thunder. Their booth are so interesting. Especially the Pulau Penang both. It has small food stand in front complete with the roti canai and teh tarik attraction!

The fliers that most visitors picked up were fliers from Malaysian booth. It is safe to say that none of the other local booths give out fliers! Some of the ones I picked out even has the Georgetown map on it. The fliers are very informative, complete with the deal Malaysian Airlines has on Penang - Medan flights.

Only one reference on Visit Indonesia Year 2008 was made too, which is in the joint flyer of IMF-GT 2008 between Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai tourism event.

The only fliers they have on Sumatra is on the event that is coming in August and its about the price they are charging the future booths.  

The local state booths are pretty boring, they stay the same year after year. No apparent changes have been made and no effort was put in making the annual show of North Sumatra culture and heritage more interesting and appealing for visitors. The number of visitors are declining in alarming rate each year. I know for sure since we are participant for four years in a row now. It is a definite waste of time this year. It goes on for a month and this could be the last time we participate in it.

All I can say is that it is merely seen as a way to rent out booths at ridiculously high price for the state government. For the participants of the fair, it is merely an annual hit-and -run project to make quick profit.

What’s a difference between a frog and a princess?

Apparently, it’s the way they use the loo.

I know, Colson will think that I post way too much on the topic of toilet and the related subjects. I just couldn’t help myself to snap the shot in the toilet of one of my favourite restaurants in Legaspi City.

So, by the show of hands. Who’s a princess and who’s a frog?

I am definitely a princess!

It was D’s birthday on 1st of March. On the mark of the 48th year of his life, we celebrated that day a la Filipino style. Of course the presence of birthday cakes, stir fried vegetable, snacks and booze were felt, the most special is the Lechon.

Lechon (Spanish word for suckling pig) is whole roasted pig slowly roasted over charcoal. It is a specialty treat prepared during national festivities, holiday season and other special occasion such as birthdays, weddings or family parties. Served with brown sauce gravy, it was the highlight of D’s birthday party too!

When he suggested to get a Lechon for his birthday, I thought we could just call and order one. Turned out that we had to go to the roaster and pick out the one we wanted ourselves - from the cage, kicking and alive still. Not a pleasant thing to do. Kind of kill the joy of the lechon eating. But it turned out great.

The whole Lechon proved to be too much for the guests. As leftover holiday roast turkey, it was recycled into another dish the next day. It was cooked into Paksiw na Lechon - involves cooking left over Lechon by boiling it in vinegar to make the meat moist and skin very soft.

Most of Philippine cuisine is almost the same as our home-cooked meal from home. They use a lot of pork in the dishes. The spices are also generously used, like vinegar, black pepper, ginger and small limes. Filipino cuisine is distinguished by its rich combination of sweet, sour, salty and spicy taste, though most dishes are not typically spicy. In dining times, all food is delivered in a single presentation, giving the diners a continuous visual feast and incredible bouquet. It has amazingly similar taste to Malay dishes, with a hint of Spanish touch.

This long weekend in Indonesia is to celebrate resurrection of Jesus Christ, which in most countries known as Easter. During these times I suspect that a lot of beautiful and yummy chocolate eggs are circulating, of course, but I have seen none here so far. Christians still dress up and go to church since Thursday morning. They might have eggs there, but since I didn’t go, I couldn’t tell for sure. I did some reading on the topic, where the eggs came from etc. It said that the eggs are symbols of new life/birth. It kind of the same as Chinese culture. We have red-dyed eggs (hard boiled) for birthdays, don’t we. Some other information on the history of easter just didn’t sink in.

I just survived a long abusive relationship which was financially rewarding but mentally straining. So I feel quite liberated, finally, after five long years. Nothing else needed to be said or remembered, it’s over and hopefully the new leaf is going to be a good leaf, don’t you think?

Another note on Easter, I watched Steel Magnolias for the first time last night. I have high praises for it. It is such a great movie. The all star casts did wonderful job in giving depth to all the characters. They appeared to be real characters, even the goofy Daryl Hannah. I love the story, since I have deep relationship with my mother as well. Isn’t life wonderful when we have family and friends close by? We are social loving people by nature, but all these technologies have made us, willingly or not, engaged in more verbal-less communication than ever. I am not sure if this is a good thing.

What do we do when we have abusive boss? When is enough is enough?

There are two sides of stories. But I am talking about one side story, from the employee side. Verbal abuse simply means assaulting somebody using abusive or intimidating language. In theory, it doesn’t amount to much damage. But in reality, it causes the same destruction as physical abuse.

W h a t ?

Verbally abusive relationship arise between employer and employee can go much further beyond name-calling. People in authoritative positions often abuse employees for small mistakes, sometimes for untrue and made-up reasons to further upset the employees - which is seen to be a punishment and satisfaction ego and also impose their superiority.

Verbally abusive relationships in the workplace give rise to loss of production and strained work atmosphere. In extreme cases, these all may lead to the development of mental conditions among the victims, and even contribute to workplace accidents.

W h y ?

Any workplace is more successful if the employees work in high spirit and proudly take responsibility for their work. Verbal abuse from their employer alienates the workers from their work. The employer should try to boost the spirit of the workers through positive inspiration, not through verbal abuse.

 Verbal abuse can leave a large scar on one’s psyche, that may last for years. It might make you doubt your potentiality and lose faith in yourself. Such abuse from someone near or dear makes an even greater impact. People who are subject to this type of abuse for a long time eventually begin to behave erratically and many develop mental conditions.

Victims of verbal abuse also face social humiliation. At times, they become reactionary. The devastating thing about this abuse is that it creates tension at many levels. Both, the abuser and the victim bear the brunt, and thus lead troubled lives. 

H o w ?

First you must understand that verbal abuse cannot solve any problem - in fact, it aggravates them. When dealing with others, treat them with respect and dignity. Always! Never use any words that impugn the dignity of the any individual.

If you are subject to verbal, or any other kind of abuse from a relative or anyone else, you must first talk to the abuser about it. You must discuss the behaviors, and try to find out why they are abusing you. Try to correct any fault on your part, but don’t take responsibility for other people actions.

Sometimes people use words harshly, without appreciating how they can hurt others. If you bring this to the attention of the abuser, maybe he will become more conscious of his behavior and not abuse you further or he will know where your soft spot is and go after it more. If you tell a person what he is doing is hurting you, and the person increases that behavior that is a sign of an abuser.

If a person in authoritative position abuses you verbally, you must talk to them and ask them about the reason for using such harsh words. However, if a person abuses you intentionally for a long time, you need to move away from that relationship for self protection.

I put up this article from various research I did on the subject. The what and why part is very easy to understand. The how part is tough. But sometimes you just need to do it. Nothing is worth the why
 

These photos were taken not this week, but last month when I was in the Philippines. I did not have time to post them then, I hope you enjoy them. Please click on the button above to visit the official site of Lotus Caroll.

Santo Domingo Cathedral

Bird’s Eye View of Legazpi City

Serenity in Capture

Bluest Sky

Coconut Trees

Girls in Shelter Project

Construction at Work

Mayon Volcano

Flood in Rural Village

Beauty and Beast

Secluded Beach

Girls from Fishing Village

Fish Collector Girl and Fishing Net

Family of Five in Temporary Shelter

Pretty Little Girl

On my last trip, I have changed dates on my ticket about 3 times. I paid the price of my undecisive nature at the airports of my destinations. I had trouble in both airports where I had transit stops. Both times I just barely made it to the boarding gates. In the modern age of travelling, I would like to share my bits of tips and wisdom from my recent travel :

In Philippines’ airport (both domestic and international), you are required to take shoes off at the detector gate and put them in a basket and then place it on the conveyor of the x-ray machine. So it will be more convenient - and less embarrassing if u wear comfortable but nice shoes - and better socks!

I also learned that even you confirm your ticket more than three times in two different countries, it doesn’t guarantee everything will go smoothly. To avoid heart attack and making scene at check-in counter, please be at the airport 4 hours before departure time. So you can yell at airline staff leisurely.

I had to run just to barely make my flight. High-heeled shoes should be banned at airports, especially gigantic ones like Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Luckily, they got nice thick carpet.  

Please refrain from having too much hand luggage. They always grow twice heavier when you have problems at check in or get late and have to (again) run.

Some airports do impose terminal fee. Some at minimal amount, some not so minimal. To make use of my money, I had exchange all my pesos to US dollar (in delight) - just to find out minutes later that I had to pay terminal fee! So in less than two minutes time I lost about USD 5 in foreign exchange. Not smart move, don’t you think.

Leave early! If you think you can make it by leaving the hotel in 2,5 hours, please add two more hours. The lines in any airports are getting ridiculously long. Really really long. You have to queue to get taxi. At the airport, you queue at the entrance. Then queue at the checking in counter. Then queue at the immigration. Then queue at the boarding gate. I once queued at the entrance to terminal in Jakarta for 2 hours - it was 5 block queue - I almost missed my flight. I hope we don’t have to queue at the gate to heaven. But that wouldn’t be too bad.

After a bit of effort from my side and a lot of help from Adit, I finally managed to put up the site. It is undoubtedly too plain, but it will get more crowded as soon as grasp the essence behind the alien languages I came across as a must-learn in blogging - css and html. (By the way, I think HtmlDog has really good free tutorials)

It is very exciting to finally have a “home”. Using free blog is kind of like renting an apartment / house. You are there, but it’s not really yours - kind of feeling.

So welcome to my new home

Please drop a line if I miss your site in the new blogroll ..

And most importantly …

Welcome to Andie Summerkiss’ Blogwarming Party!