coriander in pho

not a food blog

  • A café staff in Senayan, Jakarta

    Before joining Automattic, I was a lecturer + staff in my university (my alumni) on our R&D department, specifically, on Case Studies Development.

    One time, my manager asked me to have out-of-office meeting/1:1 meeting. It was end of the academic year, and we ramped up our case studies process (contacting the writers, coordinating with the Research Assistants, editing and proof-reading, etc) and the tensions were all-time high. I mentioned “out-of-office” because my manager looked at the chaos on the room and she went “nope” in a heartbeat.

    “I need coffee, I need food, and I need to get the hell out of here. You in?”

    “Say no more; Imma pack my laptop.”

    So we went to this café in a mall next to our university building, and the service staff greeted us outside.

    You won’t believe what happened next

    The staff looked at us, looked at my manager, looked at me, and suddenly quipped, “mbak gede banget.”

    In English, it means, “you are big.”

    Okay. Okay. I know what some of you all going to think.

    I never seen someone shut their mouth that fast with life force drained out of him.

    Now. I wasn’t mad. At all. Even as I remembering it right now, it makes me laughing. It’s just so comical, you know? The quip and the instant regret following it.

    At that time, I replied with, “wah, mas seringnya liat yang kurus-kurus ya?” then I walked inside.

    In English, “whoa. It seems like you always see the skinny ones?”

    I legit had no other intentions when I replied that. I wasn’t mad at all. It was a reflex.

    I can’t blame the staff, though. I mean, maybe that’s what happened! The café is on an upscale shopping mall in a lifestyle and business district (it’s in Senayan, South Jakarta,) so the view of good-looking skinny folks are really common.

    Then, ta-da, an outlier popping in.

    I’m big-bodied, yep. And it got even more so after I got pregnant and birthed Wira. My shoulder is wide, thanks to swimming lessons when I was in the elementary years, and I always been the tallest one in school.

    Before you asked; no, I’m terrible at basketball and volleyball. I always opt for individual sport such as athletic (and even that, I’m not super good at it.)

    I’m wondering how he is doing today. I hope he’s doing alright.

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  • Building book-reading habit

    I like reading, but I personally feel something has been lacking lately on my reading habit.

    Recently, I have been reading self-help/motivational book, and my current two favorites are Ryder Carroll’s “The Bullet Journal Method” and James Clear’s “Atomic Habit”.

    You might notice those two books actually connected in some ways. “The Bullet Journal Method” gives me deeper understanding on the technical side of bullet journaling, and “Atomic Habit” puts me on track on building the habit of journaling (Ryder actually put habit-building on the bullet journal book, but “Atomic Habit” elevates the habit building level to a new heights.)

    Now. The problem.

    I keep forgetting some topics and discussions on the books. There are so many good notes throughout the books, but it’s really easy for me to forget about it — and I ended up re-reading the previous chapters and unable to proceed to the next ones because I keep re-reading it again and again ad infinitum.

    Just recently, I learned to highlight some words on the books and put sticky notes. You might protested that you have been doing that for ages and it’s really normal and “everyone is doing it” and so on, but not me, okay ? I grow up in an environment where books are considered sacred, considering how expensive they could be. Now that I have adult money, I can buy stupid stuffs and books — so yeah, the act of scribbling on books is really really new to me.

    Aaaaaand yet I still forget.

    It’s frustrating, really. There are some stuffs that I really want to remember and apply, but I only managed to remember it like… 80% of it? For example, to build a good habit, we should make it into three things. Make it close, make it attractive, and goddangit I forgot the third one.

    … OK, I just peeked at the book and apparently I got it all wrong. Make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying. I can’t confirm or deny I typed this with the book opened in front of me.

    I’m asking you folks, especially the book lovers. How do you approach reading, and how do you collect the information and retain it? I would love any insights or tips.

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  • Cilantro

    This might already known: I love cilantro/coriander leaves.

    Nothing annoys me more than asking for extra cilantro at the restaurant then they gave sprinkle of it — No. I don’t want a “touch” of cilantro. I want the nation’s stock of cilantro to be put on my plate ?

    Anyhoo, I got myself cilantro seeds (and tomato!)

    I planted them a couple of weeks ago and look who’s here!

    I haven’t see any signs on the tomato. Hopefully they are doing well too.

    The tomato is on the rounded pot
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