It might all be gone

Did you say it?

'I love you'

Did you?

cause this is it...

... it might all be gone in a blink of an eye

What's in a name?

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet
William Shakespeare

I've been known to my friends by my first or my middle name. Sometimes I introduce my self with one or the other depending on how I feel or the person I am with, or which one I think easier for the new person to remember.

Sometimes those who at first knew me by my first name prefer to call me by my middle name, sometimes it's the other way around. It's cool.

Sometimes it leads to an interesting conversation like the one I had with U. He introduced me to his Chinese colleague who just moved to lowland from the US of A. U prefers to call me Triesti, eventhough when we first met I introduced myself using my middle name. So, he always introduced me as Triesti, and he introduced that gal with some fancy Western name. I was preoccupied with something else when I shook her hand and said my middle name. Now, being (mainland) Chinese, she asked if 'Triesti' is my Western name since my middle name is very Asian sounding. Then started the whole discussion about Chinese and Indonesian names and also Russian nicknames.

(Most) Indonesian Chinese has two names, Chinese and local/western name. But the origins of this practice is slightly different than their mainland Chinese counterpart. Back in the 60's, Indonesian government encourage Chinese Indonesian to take up local name in order to assimilate. The later generation however can be split into two groups. Those who just kept their Indonesian name, and those who kept both names. In the latter group, however, most of the time the Chinese name is not on their official papers.

Speaking of names, I think most Indonesian is known with 3 names. First, the official name, second the personal name, and nickname(s). Take Indonesian former president Megawati, her official name is Megawati Sukarnoputri, people call her Mega or Ega, but her family call her Adis. I wonder what her hubby calls her?

Very Good Taste’s Omnivore’s Hundred

When it comes to food, I try to taste everything. I've eaten some of unusual things, such as earth worms, jellyfish, bird's nest, and bee's larvae. However since several years ago I dont eat red meat, I even was vegetarian for some months.

I came across this list of omnivore hundreds, and went down memory lane of my taste buds. This list doesnt mean that you need to eat them once in your lifetime. It's just a list made, I think, by an English who grew up/ lived in the USA, since it has lots of things American, English and Indian.

Anyway, I've tasted 61% of them (could've scored more if I could put down 'caviar' or 'blini' in stead of 'caviar and blini' as I ate them separately, or (goat/cow) tripe in stead of Chitterlings, or how about expensive wine/port in stead of whisky for example)
How about you?

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Caveat Emptor

My mom had an accident the other day and she still is recuperating from it. It all started when she went to her dentist brother on Tuesday. She was told to gargle with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) 3%. I did that before. It is FDA approved to use that solution for gargling, as it kills pathogen by supplying with massive amount of oxygen. There's also the bonus of whiter teeth. Of course, it is not recommended for prolong use as it can erode your teeth enamel.

So, what happened?

I asked Hardy to get H2O2 3% as mine is already flat (I opened the bottle months ago). In Holland you can get it in any drugstore for about €2 for 100ml without any prescription. He bought it at a drugstore near our place cause the pharmacy ran out of it. It's a small jerrycan with a small bottle cellotaped to it. On the Jerrycan it said H2O2 3% and the name of the producer, on the small bottle nothing. We thought that bottle was a bonus.

On Wednesday morning mom was going to Central Java with her sisters for 1 night. So, I told mom that she needs to gargle H2O2 for 1 minute after brushing her teeth, and to just take the small bottle when she was going to pour the Jerrycan to another bottle. She did took it with her, and off to meet my aunts.

About an hour later, I got a frantic phone call from mom at her sister's place. She asked about how the solution should work because her mouth felt on fire and began to swell rapidly eventho she swished it for less than a minute. I told her to rinse it with plenty of water and no, it should not react that way. Yes, you feel a bit prickly. Yes, it forms lots of foam especially if there r lots of anaerobe pathogens. But not burning, and not swelling.

Something went wrong. Terribly wrong.

Luckily (if you can call that lucky), one of mom's sister is a ENT doc, and she was going with her. My aunt called me to ask what kind of solution did mom use. I told her it supposed to be H2O2 3%, at least the label said so. She told me to check again with the seller. Hardy contacted them, and they didnt know what was in the small bottle, they didnt even know that you could use it to gargle. All they knew was people using it for softening ear wax, which I had no idea you could use them for. Not a good start.

We tried looking for the producer's phone number but without any luck. I called the hospital where dad used to work, and talked to their pharmacist. I was told that normally they get concentrated solution of H2O2 30-35% and diluted it with distilled water before selling it as H2O2 3%, but she has no idea how to handle the chemical burn due to the concentrate. Not something you want to hear, but at least we are getting somewhere.

I told my aunt what I knew, and she gave mom some antibiotic and painkiller plus betadine for gargling. Thank gawd mom didnt swallow anything, as it is lethal.

Mom couldnt eat, had difficulty with drinking, and is in pain because some one didnt bother to put the correct information on the stuff they are selling.

Putting a label on the small bottle would've warned us.
Putting on the label that we need to dilute it would've helped.
Putting on the label what we need to do if the chemical burns the skin would've helped.
Having a law dictating that all those above should be done by the producent would protect consumers.