Archive for July, 2011

So here I am, alone sitting in the deli’s corner in Menteng Central, mining my own business, which is really, and essentially consist of my diet coke, and sandwich.

In a sense, it’s  a heaven, a run away time, where I can do my own things, thinking only my own being and care nothing of the world and the works around it. And quite frankly, I rarely found my self alone, at least lately.

Usually, when I ‘m not hanging out (or spending quality time) with my girl, I’m always in a company of my mates, and doing nothing useful in particular, like taking a swing in the driving range, chatted on the coffee shop or walking around the mall aimlessly.

But situation changed, and I with some of us caught or occupied in the busy world of trying to make a living, I found my self quite lonely in so many occasion, which suffice to say, its neither fun nor enjoyable.

So here I am, again, alone, typing this sort of grumble, while flashing off my new MacBook Air.

If there is any consolation, well at least my sandwich is crisps and my coke is ice cold.

If people said that Jakarta is a mixing pot of Indonesian’s diverse cultures, then there is one food that can represent the mix better than any other food.

Hail the esteemed noodle (bakmie). No Jakartans will ever argue that along with Nasi Padang, Bubur (Porridge) and Soto, noodle is one food that comes in abundantly great variety. There is almost one comes from each Indonesia’s provinces in additional of other that comes with a cutting edge look.

Historically a direct descendant of the Chinese Noodle Soup, the Indonesian variety version was much more diverse in terms of noodle type, topping and the seasoning, thanks the centuries of acculturation with the local taste. On top of your head, you can easily name Mie Aceh, Mie Ayam Medan, Mie Ayam Palembang, etc.

Let’s recalled the Jakarta’s great three noodle vendors, the Bakmi GM, Naga and Gang Kelinci, all started from the rather insecure spot at city centre slum, and grew larger in to million dollars business and franchises. Though the three vendors deploy pretty similar form of Bak Mie and soup, you can always bet that there are people who prefer one better against the other.

Today, Jakarta noodle library are as diverse and as exciting as the international wine list. Quick Sunday drive to area like Kelapa Gading, will expose you to several famous noodle vendor such as Bakmie Tan (with its fish fried cake), A Loy, A Sui,  or A Haw, all comes with their own interpretation of how a bowl (or in same case a plate) of noodle supposed to be, and served along a bowl of chicken soup, and various topping (from chicken only, to mixed chicken-pork).

Order a glass of cold Liang tea (Herbs tea) and some fried wonton, and you will have your self a perfect Sunday brunch.

Any discussion about which one is the best will usually incite a prolonged and heated argument, without any conclusion. The content of discussion will usually revolving around the texture and shape of the noodle (thick, thin, wide, rubbery, soggy, soft, curly), the taste of the noodle it self (flat, salty, salty sweet, fish, prawnishy or simply tasty), the soup (tasty or not tasty) and the topping (chicken, pork, wonton, beef balls or porky materials). Price and place is usually discussed at the very last, or never entered the discussion at all)

At the end, as for the variety it involved along the ingredients in between, and like any other cuisine, it is a very subjective judgment. Good things that no body every fallen victim from this sort of discussion.

As for me, I like the Bakmie Tan’s fried thin fish cake, and Aloy’s Palembang noodles. But for the beef balls ultimate experience, A Guan at Lao Tse is the best. What about you ?

Right step, pull, left step, push, right step, pull, left step, push and on and on and on…and thats how the rhythm goes in my brain, one step at a time, as I jogged on the ever hectic Sudirman road – this time with hordes of bicycle- on Sunday morning.

Running has become one my new hobby, along with hiking, surfing, gold, and few other stuffs. And just like any hobbies, it comes with price (they usually does). And you’ll asked, what does it cost ?

For one, the shoes. Sure you can run for free, that is you only need both of your feet to get started. But in order to run faster and efficient you’ll need a good shoes, and good shoes doesn’t usually come cheap. Of course there is no stopping for you to run barefooted, but good shoes, do not only buys you protection, but also comfort and in some case confidence. This experience is not a generic one, but its true for me.

The shoe in question is the esteemed Nike’s Lunar Glide 2, in black. Especially suitable for flat footed being like me. The glide (that’s how I call it) provided nice support for the ankle and keeping my stride consistent along the course.

But the shoe aside, running, like any other sports running pretty much about mental preparedness. It requires consistent approach in every aspect of it, and it requires you to be prepared. My story is one example.

At first, I can barely run 2 minutes over 10 minutes of treadmill time. Next time I add few minutes extra, which after a week, it mounted to 5 minutes extra. Next run, I adder another 5 minutes, 5 minutes and another 5 minutes, until I can run 30 minutes, non stop with a speed of 7k/h.

Next run, I tried to to be faster, and make the last 10 minutes a 8k/h jogs. It goes to another last 15 minutes, 20 and finally I can run to a full 8k/h in 30 minutes. Not satisfied enough, I use the same steps to get myself faster and run 9k/h. By this time, I’m able to run 4 point something k. I set my target higher, 5k, 7k and finally 10k, which is inaugurated in the the Jakarta 10k International Race few weeks back.

If you ask me, what keeps me going ? My answer will be a determination to better and better, the euphoria feeling that I can get from running, enormous satisfaction from achieving my target, a few kilo loss here and there, and a hell of an iPod playlist.

So now, I can run 10k, I set my self to complete a Marathon.

Run Rihan Run.