Jif's Mom: Adventures of a Yummy-loving Mommy

Listening to Barack Obama

2006-09-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

We are long on rhetoric but short on substance, so said Barack Obama, Senator from Illinois. Hes absolutely fascinating! My idol really. He's what every public servant should be.

I've long yearned to convert our office's website to something similar to his. He has this practice where once a week he opens his office to speak with constituents about their cares and concerns over coffee and donuts.Illinois residents are invited to attend, and the coffee and donuts are free.Something as simple as this will do wonders for public servants to learn whats really happening to the lives of their citizens.

Have we become such technocrats that we forget what we are really working for, whom are we working for?
(Pictures from http://obama.senate.gov)

In Taipei, Snakes are Snacks!!!!

2006-09-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

A new friend from Indonesia

2006-09-07T03:33:00.000-07:00

Hendra is my new friend from Indonesia. He works for the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle. Hendra has a last name, its Kusumah but it is not his family name.He says that the Rayes family name was carried only until his grandfather.

Hendra is part of an opposition party in Indonesia. There are 24 parties in Indonesia. Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle is a vehicle and instrument of struggle of the people’s political forces , based on the Pancasila (the national five principles). The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle promotes nationalism, democracy, and social justice to strive for the Indonesian peoples’ aspirations.

Hendra likes working in politics. He started as a Senator in the Student Council in the Bandung Institute of Technology, and now works as a Assistant to the Secretary General of the Indonesian Democratic Party. This is his 2nd workshop with the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats.

Yes Mama, Pancit Again

2006-09-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

Day 2. Yes Mama, we're having Pancit again. And again. And again. We were served an 11 course dinner last night. Mmmm food.

Course 1 - Cold Cuts. White Chicken. Roast Pork. Abalone with mayonnaise (a wee bit strange but good nevertheless). Pickled Asparagus. Pickled Bamboo shoots. Tofu sauteed with mushrooms.
Course 2 - Prawns Thermidore. Well, sort of. The Taiwanese version though has corn.
Course 3 - King Crab legs with tausi and chili.
Course 4 - Sauteed noodles with 4 kinds of mushrooms.
Course 5 - Fried Spring Rolls filled with Kani, Scallops, Mangoes and...Mayonnaise. I think they have a penchant for putting Mayo on everything. Except in Mcdonalds and Burger King. A friend went to Mcdo at midnight just to take the black bean and sesame oil taste out. But there was no mayonnaise. Interesting.
Course 6 - Sweet and Sour Fish. Enough said.
Course 7 - Braised Beef
Course 8 - Crab with Leeks or Celery or Bok Choy.Some overly bright green stalks.
Course 9 - Tapioca with Yams and Mung Beans...in other words: ginataan. hehe.
Course 10 - Sweet Buns with Mung Beans. Siopao meets Hopia. I call it PiaPao hahaha. Or SioHo.
Course 11 - Fresh Fruits.

Overall, 11 stars :D All were good. Interestingly enough, they don't really use MSG the way Chinese food leaves you with this overpowering heady feeling when you leave the restaurant. Tea is like water. They dont serve much water around here. So best to wash it down with Taiwan Beer. Possibly one of the best beers in the world...next to San Miguel. Sorry Carlsberg.

Scenes from Taipei

2006-09-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

Typical Taipei. Motorcycles abound. Siopao making as a family.

Enjoying Taipei but getting homesick...

2006-09-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

(At the Rose Tea Salon at Bookstore St. Taipei, Taiwan)

Day 3 in Taipei. Had an 11 course meal last night. Dying for a Big Mac or Sinigang na Baboy. Wishing I could have Chicken Inasal with Sinamak. But its not so bad. Still on a search for the inimitable Formosa Oolong Tea, the champagne of teas. Hmm...

Nihao

2006-09-06T02:27:00.000-07:00

Nihao!

Nihao means Hello in Taiwanese. We were greeted ‘nihao’ along with friendly smiles and waves upon our arrival in Taipei. On the first day of our CALD Political Communications Workshop, it was critical that we assess the capacity of our countries to use the different ways of communicating. It may be Nihao for others, Hello for some or Mabuhay in my language, clearly, knowing the right and suitable way of communicating is not only important, it is the only way of ensuring harmony and cooperation.

Connectivity is important if we are to reach across continents and oceans. But what if we’re not yet connected? One feels a sense of panic when you’re not wired, when you can’t connect, let alone, when you can’t even find the right buttons to get your laptop working in a foreign country. Speaking in both a figurative and a literal sense, our countries and our partners see our capacity to communicate as both a boon and a bane. We want to be wired but in some countries, its too expensive. In some countries, its not even available. In other countries, where its very cheap and the different modern tools are available, it is abused because of its pervasiveness and openness.

As a new friend, Abe Olandres, raised in one discussion, all tools have both advantages and disadvantages. I say, it is up to the user or the one that wields the tool that can determine if it will be used for good or evil…but this isn’t discussion on ethics. We all agreed that there must be transparency and accountability in all forms of political communications that are used to spread your message like wildfire. What is frightening though is if we don’t use these tools. Why so? Because you will be rendered obsolete if you don’t.

Connectivity is important if we are to penetrate the thoughts of an infinite number of people, and for them to delve into your ideas and use it maybe just maybe in their lives. All democracies are taking advantage of connectivity and utilizing it as the best platform to get their message across across their country and the globe. Liberal democracies use all the tools that the world has to offer – connecting to the infinite possibilities of the world wide web, texting to a mobile provider of information, really simple syndication. If these are not made available to all parts of the globe, then the fear of the unknown becomes real. The fear of not being able to touch base with the rest of world must be prevented. People need people. Saying Nihao. Logging on. Typing your latest solution for making the world a better place. The ability to communicate is the very first significant step to fixing the world’s problems. I found in the GCAST website that Bono’s One Campaign chose GCAST to help get the word out about Africa’s problems. We need to know what’s going on in the rest of Asia if we are to help each other as a region. When a tsunami hit Asia, the first to respond were those willing to donate by mobile phone. Wow. Imagine what fellow Asian Liberals can do to help other Asian Liberals…