Foodilicious

I want to share some photos of my meals I consumed while I was in Singapore from 2010 - 2012. One of the thing that makes me always wanted to go back home as often as I could when I was there is that Singapore food doesn't really click with my appetite. To me, most of the food there was tasteless. Compare to Indonesian food which very rich of taste. Maybe it's because their government always suggest them to live a healthy life, and one of the way is by telling people that less salt is better. Seriously? Yes, very much serious. Haha, interesting right? So, everytime I found some nice food or drink, I captured it with my mobile camera. Here are the pictures of my lovely delicious meals I eat in Singapore. Enjoy! :D

Breakfast in my office canteen at Sentosa. I had a big breakfast every morning to fill up my energy. xD

Hainan Chicken Rice, one of my favourite lunch. It's a Chinese local food. Quite tasty. Yummy.

Nasi Goreng Kampong (Kampong Fried Rice). I used to eat it as my dinner in an Indian restaurant nearby my flat. They cooked it with egg and anchovy.

Padang Fried Rice. I used to eat it every morning, the restaurant was near to my office headquarter in Neil Road. I like the chili. Tasted very much like Malay chili.

Cheese and Egg Prata. Aah, I miss it very much! It's so yummy yummy yummy! My favourite midnight snack.

Seafood MuyFun. You can find it in restaurant at URA. I like the gravy sauce. Filled up my stomach a lot. If you want to have it with noodle, without rice, you can order it as Seafood HorFun. The lady there ever called me a BIG EATER by ordering this food. Hahaha. Because no one ordered it with rice! xD

Fried Chicken Rice at Indian restaurant nearby my HDB / flat. The super big chicken really boost my appetite.

Grilled Chicken Rice at Kopitiam Hawker Centre in Plaza Singapura. My friend introduced me this food once because it's quite cheap, since then I started to look for it everytime I went to this place. Highly recommended!

Roti John or John Bread. This looks like martabak telor in Indonesia. The different is they use bread and beef. Again, I eat it in Indian restaurant nearby my flat. Haha, they have various of nice foods there.

Indian Fried Snack. I forgot the name. But it's likely nice to eat too.

Indian Kwetiau. They always put some ingredients which will make the food looks very red. The fried rice more or less looks as red as this too.

Briyani Fried Rice. It's a very famous Indian food. Rice mixed with carrot slices.

Tea Chino from Seah Im Food Centre. This drink tasted like Tarik Tea, it's just more sweet and nicer. I think they put somewhat like chocolate powder or something to make it delicious.

Hot Tea-O. This simple drink used to accompany me at late night after coming back from office. FYI, there are 4 kinds of tea in Singapore. You need to know it before ordering it. First is Tea (tea+milk+sugar) or people in Indonesia called it Teh Tarik. Second is Tea-O (tea+sugar). Third is Tea-O-Kosong or Tea-O-Peng (tea without sugar). And fourth is Tea-C, tea with Carnation Creamer which healthier (tasted like Teh Tarik, but less sweet). These four names also applicable for ordering coffee.

Those are some foods and drinks I like in Singapore. Just so you know, all of them are HALAL. :)
Now I begin starving by looking back these pictures again. Kinda miss eating it, maybe if I gotta chance I will visit this country again. Okay, that's all I got. Hope you like it! :D

One Fine Day

When I'm done with all the things that needed to be done, I want to spend my time doing what I like to do.

Hmm actually, what are the things that I really want to do and could spend the rest of the time with it? Wanna know? :D

Here are the list of the things that I've been dreaming to do :

1. Learning about photography and how to process a photo in a dark room

Dark Room

I like photography, I really like taking pictures with a camera or a phone camera. I want to take a course to learn well how to take a good pictures. And maybe later I can join for some competition and having my works presented in an exhibition. I did it once a few years ago, my photo had been selected for a travelling photography exhibition. I took the photo only with a pocket camera when I went to Ijen Crater in East Java with my backpacker buddies. Haha, never imagine at all I could be selected. And it feels soooo good seeing your photo being presented well in a nice frame. :D Hopefully I can do it again one day.

My photograph was on displayed in an exhibition (the 2nd from the top right).
The photo title is "Serpihan Jiwa"

2. Learning at least 3 different languanges

Mastering other languange gives you more confidence and satisfaction about yourself. I feel good about myself if I can understand other languange. Right now the only foreign languange I know is English. I was quite interested when I learnt it, and using it frequently whenever I could - even just translating a song lyrics, I did it wholeheartedly. I don't have any difficulties in learning languange. So if I have time, I want to learn at least 3 other languanges. Maybe it will be Arab, French, Korean Hangeul, Japanese, and Germany. Just like my father, he understood 4 languanges. It was Germany, English, Chinese, and Bahasa Indonesia. I don't really interested in learning Chinese, though I am half Chinese. :P It's just not cool speaking with a languange which required you to produce a shrilling annoying sound. Haha, no offence. :D Just my two cents. 

3. Travelling or backpacking around the world

That's one of my never ending passion. Seeing the beauty of this world that Allah has created to us. :D I think it's such a pitty if you have time, money, and healthy body but you don't want to see the beauty of the world. So, I promise to myself that one day I must go travelling around the world. Seeing nature, mountain, beach, crater, river, forest, village, cities, civilization, culture, all the beauty things in this world I want to see. You can learn many things from your journey, experiencing new things, discovering something you never imagine, having an unforgetful adventure, meeting new inspiring people, and some people say you can find yourself from your journey. :) And another thing, of course you can hunt and take some good pictures while having your journey. :D Sounds nice, right? Hopefully I can do it with my lifetime partner. Should be a lifetime partner, because I want to spend most of my time doing this. Hopefully the partner have the same desire. :)

4. Learning how to read Al-Qur'an correctly and to memorize it

Al-Qur'an Al-Kareem

I can read Al-Qur'an, I learnt it since I was a kid. I have a very kind private teacher who taught me patiently how to read Al-Qur'an from the very beginning. But I know that I haven't fully learn it because I only had a very short time in learning it and I didn't go to Islamic school at all. I studied in a Christian school since I was in a kindergarden until highschool. I just really started to know Islam when I went to university. So I still need to continue my study in reading Al-Qur'an correctly. And if it's possible, I want to memorize it too as many as I could. I wish that one day I can have a small family who regularly read Al-Qur'an together and share the meaning of it. I wish that I can teach my children how to read Al-Qur'an correctly too. :)

5. Crafting or creating some nice artworks

Since I was a kid, I like to do craft. I have a good hand, I'm good in doing handicraft like quilting, knitting, anything. I like to paint on a canvas too. If I have time, I want to do some nice artworks in my art room. Maybe I will sell it or just collecting it in one room. Expressing yourself in art will make you see the beauty of colors and teach you how to appreciate it. I love art and love being a part of it.

6. Learning how to bake and cook

I cook occasionally, rarely, only if there's a good reason in doing so. I'm very lazy in cooking, because I don't like the mess and the long time required to do it. When someday I have a family, I know that I should be able to cook however. If I may choose, I prefer baking to cooking. Baking is more fun to me. Anyway, if there's a time better I learn both, baking and cooking. So I can feed all the people I love with my own food.

7. Gardening flower, fruits, and vegetables

I have a dream for so long that I want to have a large land so I can gardening many kind of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Then in the middle I will build a green house where I can do my experiments or just hanging around. And somewhere in the corner or in the middle too it's okay, I will put a gazebo to take a rest alone or together with my family and have lunch while viewing the garden. Lovely, isn't it? :D

8. Doing sports like basketball, swimming, baseball, and martial art

Ever heard in a healthy body there's a good soul? That's true. So I want to keep my soul in a good spirit by regularly doing sports. It's fun and will make your body healthy.

Those are some of the things that I want to do if I have spare time one day. Hopefully, wish me luck!

Stand Up For The Truth

I just watched a very inspiring movie that based on a true story. It's "A Civil Action".

The movie told about Jan Schlichtmann, a lawyer (casted by John Travolta), who tried to defend a small group of people in Woburn area, New England, against a big industry who contaminated the environment by the toxic waste which caused illness to death to several people who lived there. The industry dumped the toxic chemical waste to a nearby river and canal that connected to the neighborhood. Since the houses there certainly using tap water for drinking, so in a very short time it spoiled their immune system.

In the process of defending people of Woburn, the attorney had to spend everything they have to run the case. They needed to fund themselves with everything they have until nothing left, worse they had to borrow a big sum of money and even mortgaged all properties. Their objective was to make the industry admit their mistake and give compensation to the victims as an apology.


But as we know, defending the right thing is not that easy...

Jan Schlichtmann should face the mean and dirty world of court law.

Jerome Facher: What's your take?
Jan Schlichtmann: They'll see the truth.
Jerome Facher: The truth? I thought we were talking about a court of law. Come on, you've been around long enough to know that a courtroom isn't a place to look for the truth.
(conversation between Jan as a prosecutor of Woburn people & Facher as an attorney of defense for the industry)

Then after, he lost the case.

James Gordon: [Regarding the case and the following settlement] Mrs. Anderson, you're looking at four guys who are broke. We lost everything trying this case.
Anne Anderson: How can you even begin to compare what you've lost, to what we've lost.
(conversation between the prosecutors and the victims)

And then Jan began to drown in a debt and even worse, his partners gave up and left him. He's the only one who still have faith to defend the truth no matter what it takes.

In the trial to appeal the case, he tried all by himself with everything left. He didn't give up on the case. As a lawyer, of course he had a chance to earn money from the case he's been doing aside from whether he win the case or not. Facher, the attorney of defense for the industry, did offer him a big sum of money to push him giving up, while waiting for the judge's decision. It's about 10 million grand. But he burnt the offer.

“Rich and famous and doing good," mused Schlichtmann. "Rich isn't so difficult. Famous isn't so difficult. Rich and famous together aren't so difficult. Rich, famous, and doing good--now, that's very difficult.” 

Though he's all by himself, no money, no partner, not enough resources, only idealism and faith he's got, he suddenly found his way by giving up in the last attempt. He collected the witnesses, ask for their testify, and the last thing he's surrendered by writing to the environment protection from government side to ask for a sympathy and a help. Not long from there, the case was opened again, the truth revealed by showing some evidences, and at the end... he won the case!

What I found interesting from the movie is at the last part when Jan had a conversation with a woman who interviewed him about his wealth :

Kathy Bates (the Bankruptcy Judge): Mr. Schlichtmann,? Mr. Schlichtmann?
John Travolta: I'm sorry. Yes?
Kathy Bates: The purpose of these questions is not to embarrass or humiliate you but, rather, to verify the information that you have declared as your assets. 
John Travolta: I understand.
Kathy Bates: Because what you are asking your creditors to believe with this petition. Well...well, it's hard to believe...
John Travolta (with a chuckle): I know.
Kathy Bates: ...that after seventeen years of practicing law, all you have to show for it is $14 in a checking account and a portable radio? 
John Travolta: That's correct.
Kathy Bates: Where did it all go?
John Travolta: The money?
Kathy Bates: The money, the property, the personal belongings? The things one acquires in one's life, Mr.Schlichtmann. The things by which one measures one's life? 
[Long, silent pause with the camera focused on Travolta]
Kathy Bates (sighing): What happened?
[Another long, non-verbal pause and then the screen fades to black]

Later on, Jan Schlichtmann became a well-known lawyer who defends on environmental cases in New England. And though it takes years for him to pay the debt, but one thing for sure is he got his pride and stood bravely for his idealism.

By seeing this movie, I just want to say that no matter what happened, the truth will reveal sooner or later. So do as best as we can to stand for the truth as the truth will defend us one day, and do the right thing while we still alive. Don't sacrifice your idealism for money even it's very hard at the beginning and we will be tested for our own faith. Instead, give all you've got even it takes everything you have to do what you should do.


Wahai orang-orang yang beriman, hendaklah kamu menjadi orang-orang yang selalu menegakkan (kebenaran) karena Allah, menjadi saksi dengan adil, dan janganlah sekali-kali kebencianmu terhadap suatu kaum mendorong kamu untuk berbuat tidak adil, berlaku adillah karena adil lebih dekat kepada takwa, dan bertakwalah kepada Allah, sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui apa yang kamu kerjakan.
— al-Maa’idah [5]: 8

A Story Behind My Name

Some people say your name represents who you are. Your name is a prayer from your parents when you were born. Since a prayer from parents certainly answered without any barrier, so it becomes a gift to you. I believe it without any doubt.

My parents gave a very nice name to me, alhamdulillah... :) My first name, Mariana, came from my grandmother's nick name when she was a child. She used to be called with this name. Then she got sick from time to time and nobody knows why. Then somebody suggested it might caused by her name. The name might be too heavy for her. So then my great-grandparents add another name to be her new nickname : Sifat. Since then she never sick anymore. My grandmother full name becomes Sifat Mariana Tanjung. She's from West Sumatra, so she has the Minang clan name.

Appearently, might be happened by having this name as well, I got sick or injured more often than my other siblings. I got hospitalized several times, like hitting an aircon when I was a child, got nails stuck in my foot, injured my front head by a classical profile chair when fighting with my brother, got thypus, a few times fainted in school, got food poisoned, having an asthma, and now I've been suffering for tinnitus (a permanent damage occured in my left ear causing a continous soft buzzing sound). I don't know whether the name is giving a burden to me or not, but one thing I know for sure that I still survive until today. Alhamdulillah.. :) Hopefully I don't get any serious illness or injury anymore in the future, aamiin.. 

Anyway, when I look-up on the internet behind the name Mariana, I found a very interesting fact that there's a deepest part of the world's oceans called Mariana Trench. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The sea depth of Mariana Trench is able to submerge the highest mountain in the world, the Mount Everest in the Himalayas. Wow, feeling excited finding something cool exists in this world called with your name. :D

(click on the image above for a better resolution)

The original languange of Mariana comes from Spanish. Maybe it comes from the history of The Mariana Islands that were claimed by Spain in 1668. Spain established a colony there and gave the islands the official title of Las Marianas in honor of Spanish Queen Mariana of Austria.

The meaning of Mariana itself after discovering from world wide web are :

- a family speaker (maybe sometimes, but usually not)

- a sympathetic (incorrect, often being careless :-/)

- kind (well.. :D)

- always blessed (alhamdulillah..)

- decision maker (yes, correct)

- brave (will do whatever it takes to reach determination)

- stubborn (sometimes it's true :D)

- original, not artificial (prefer to be true expressing what I feel)

- unique (many of my friends told me that I'm weird, a freak, whatever -_-)

- has a leader soul (driven to lead somehow, finding it hard to follow and being dictated)

- a risk taker (might be closely to insane)

My last name is Rahman. It comes from my father's name. My father is a muallaf, he converts to Islam before marrying my mother. When he did the syahadat (a convert ceremonial of saying faithfully that we believe that There is no God but Allah, and Prophet Muhammad is the messenger), his name changed to be Abdulrahman Tanara, means God's Servant. This name was given by Buya Hamka, a national ulama (scholar/pious) who founded Al-Azhar in Indonesia. My father is a Chinese, so he has the Chinese clan name Tan, in Indonesia name becomes Tanara.

The Rahman name itself, comes from one of The 99 Allah's Name (Asmaul Husna) : Ar-Rahman, which means The Most Gracious. This name is one of the main characteristic of Allah that we as a muslim always call it in every single prayer. Bismmillahirrahmanirrahim : In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

I remember an Islamic proverb says : Man arafa nafsahu, arafa Rabbahu (whoever know themself, know their God). I hope by writing about my name, I will know a little about myself. By knowing about who I am, hopefully there's a chance insyaa Allah of knowing about our God, no other but Allah.

Then the last thing about my name is my nickname. It is taken right from the middle of my first name, maRIAna. Correct, that's my nickname. I used to be called with the nickname : Ria. :D My mother told me that this nickname means cheerful, came from the original Indonesian word Ceria. She hopes that I will always be cheerful just as my name. Aamiin. :)

Okay that's all a short story behind my name. I hope you get to know me a little bit better. See ya! ;D

Instant VS Manual

These days I've been busy posting things to my other instant social medias. I'm quite routine posting in Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. It's a lot easier to post things in those instant medias, even I can post from only one application which is Instagram then my posting can goes to other instant medias at the same time. Very practical and saving a lot of time.

What I usually post instantly are things that goes around me at the actual time with pictures. To me it's pretty fun doing it because I like capturing pictures, amateurly for sure :p, then giving a title related to it or a little story about the pictures. I hope you don't call me an alay (Indonesian slang for a teenager tacky acts) by doing it. Hehe.. :D

Well anyway here in blogger, it's kinda funny to me still everytime I said blogger - what do you think when you say a blogger blogs a blog in blogger, quite dizzying right?!? :D Well here in blogger, I really make some time to post something, which I more concern and give attention to. It makes me feel better when I write things that goes around in my mind. I have lots of things in my head that I want to write, I want to share, I want people to know my stories, my thoughts about life, or about anything happening around.

FYI, I'm an ambivert person based on a test I had a few moments ago, telling that I have a potential of being an extrovert and introvert as well. Most of the time, I don't really spend myself being an extrovert. It's a special thing to me when I become an extrovert, it means that I feel comfortable with the situation or the person. When I'm an introvert, means that I still beware of  a situation, still trying to adapt, or finding a distance to get close to. So when I don't really having a good time to be an extrovert, I spend my time here. In blogger. Quite happy, huh? :D

Okay anyway, you can find me on these instant social medias below. Just add me, follow me, and get in touch closely to my actual instant postings. ;)

Being Loved Gives You Strength, Loving Makes You Brave

Yesterday morning I watched a very touching reality show in KBS, Korean TV Station, that's showing about everyday's life of a cancer sufferer. She's a cheerful lady, named Jin Suk, aged about thirty something. When you see her, you won't ever think that she's having a heart and lung cancer, because she loves to smile and looks very energetic. :)

The positive life spirit in her doesn't come just like that. I may say that she's lucky. Aside from her illness, she's having a loving husband who takes a very good care of her. That what keeps her alive I think, amazingly. Everyday her husband cook her some healty food, preparing the medicine, giving massage, having a routine small conversation in the middle of activities, taking her for therapy session, and even more he's doing a construction work with his own hand to build her somewhat like a small pavilion to keep her warm from time to time. And he's doing it all the time by himself wholeheartedly. Oh dear, how envy I am..

And not only that, he even quited from his job beforehand to take care of her. Another thing that makes me amazed as well is that, she looks just like an ordinary woman, even now she lost her hairs due to some therapy I think. But her husband sincerely able to flatter her with words like saying that he's having a beautiful wife, calling her with miss that reminds her of their old times before married, and many others just to cheer his wife up.

I almost shed tears.. :')

It's 360 degrees from what I usually see. My family's not a kind of family that usually show our feelings to each other. We often fight and argue to show our careness, instead of being affectionate. Different family different ways for sure. Well but I prefer those couple's way of showing careness if I may choose, it's more warm and soothing. Isn't it?!? :P

These days when I often think that I better die, I don't wanna live long, I just want to vanish, then suddenly seeing those people wants to live so badly.. I feel a bit guilty. :-/ But hey, they have a reason to live. Well I do as well, of course (sounds like denying, yea right)... it's just that I'm not motivated that well. I'm so sorry dear God.. :'( for still needing small things from this world which could be huge to me. 

Anyway, I remember some inspirative words came from them, which might be what they have been learned from their life and keep them positive : 

"Be happy today to be happy tomorrow. If you happy today, tomorrow you will be happy. If you sad, tomorrow you will be sad." 

"Instead of thinking how many days still left to stay alive, better I think how to enjoy the life as I can."

I just read a proverb of Lao Tzu saying that "Being loved gives you strength, Loving makes you brave", I think it's true. Obviously after watching this TV show. So, keep in love and enjoy the life! ;)