newest obsession

On death of a former president

Soeharto, which had been president for three quarters of my life, died less than two weeks ago. I was slightly curious about the burial procession, after all it's never happened before in my lifetime that the country has to bury a former president. Otherwise, I had no emotion whatsoever over the whole episode. As unemotional as this article .

Video on wasteful packaging

A video on wasteful packaging featuring Mike Constantine of Lush cosmetics, a favorite of mine.

Another dumbo in the bureaucracy, God help us

My respect for Indonesian Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari just reached zero upon reading this. I can't even explain, so enraged am I. This is the kind of people we have leading the bureaucracy, she who accuse others of being inlander, she who is a medical doctor but with no sensitivity for a patient's suffering, blablabla about national pride and what nots. Even daring to blame the patient for not showing up, for disappearing; my God, what world is she living in?

Gumati Cafe in Bogor

Gumati Cafe in downtown Bogor is one big sigh for me. I'll be honest and say upfront that this place has perhaps the best view in Bogor, even better than Cafe Daun especially at sunset and evening. The ambiance is not bad, with music and, on Fridays and weekends, traditional dancing and other entertainment. But the food and service leave lots to be desired.

The menu is mixed Sundanese, general Indonesian and some western offerings. Last night I was there with friends for a mini reunion, and as I came late I was able to survey what others were ordering. And honestly, I could not bring myself to order any of the food. Sundanese cooking at 8PM does not really appeal to me, and the glass-enclosed array of food for picking, looking all the while like it's been sitting there through the day and more (and indeed it probably had) just don't whet any appetite. Somebody's leftover noodle-like spaghetti was on the table, and lefovers of a hot-plate something, with the veggies looking sorrier that if it had been left on the pasar floor overnight.

I finally ordered strawberry yoghurt, after confirming with the waiter that yes, it's made with fresh strawberries. Alas, it's not. It's plain yoghurt mixed with sickly-sweet strawberry syrup. My friend, who had ordered the same thing, fortunately got her order mixed up and received strawberry juice, which seemed to be mixed with fresh strawberries. I took a piece of the fried banana and it was too soggy, unfragrant, just plain plain (not the banana's fault, it was fulfilling it's role fantastically, but hey, had I wanted a ripe fresh banana, that's what I'd have ordered!).

I've always been disatisfied with their food everytime I go there, usually at the behest of out-of-town friends who've either heard of the restaurant's view or wanting to be taken somewhere cozy for a chat. But really, last night was plain terrible. So my advice is get your fill of food elsewhere, better value for your money and taste buds, and just enjoy Gumati for the ambience, maybe with a glass of iced water, or perhaps if you're feeling risky, a cup of tea or coffee. Sigh.

Climate change awareness gaining peace prize

The Alfred Nobel Foundation has just awarded the 2007 Peace Prize to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Al Gore, for "..."for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change"

This is great news. Climate change is happening, that is sure enough, but there are large unknowns as to the actual impacts, scale of the impacts, time line and possible measures to alleviate them. That doesn't mean we should do nothing; this generation, our generation, is burdened with the task of making sure that further activities down the line, from now on, take into account potential impacts on climate . That is the main message of UNFCCC and Al, and hats off to the Nobel Committee for recognizing an important message when they see one.

Congratulations to the winners!

images from http://www.nobelprize.org/

Public transport improvement in Jakarta

Unlike many people who whine about the current traffic jams in Jakarta (most of the non public transport-users), I look forward to all the public transport improvement measures, esp the bus corridors. On Friday I had the fortune to be stuck in traffic and seeing all the construction going on, soon all the major thoroughfares will be criss-crossed with these public busses.

As for all those whining masses, even more disincentives for them to take their cars on the road. I just don't get why it's so hard for most of these people to switch to public transport. Some are switching to bicycles, pretty daft to me, with all the smog and motorcycles on the road. Surely an enclosed vehicle, without the need for your physical exertion, is better? But I've given up trying to figure out these people. Their excuse has always been that public transport is not practical and uncomfortable. Well, hello! Millions of people take them and suffer the longer commute because others, more well to do, refuse to do so. Improvements take time to happen, and now the busway system and it's queueing method is more orderly. If you wait to switch until it's all perfect, well that's just not going to happen and you'll just add into the longer queue for everybody by not switching.

The next thing needed to punish those who insist on taking their own vehicles is a steep tax (congestion charge), including for motorcycles, with the proceeds to be used directly to improve public transport system.