Archive for December, 2009

One thing that particularly captured my eye when watching this movie, other than the pretty girls and beautiful 60′s settings was the choice of suits that was wore by Bill Nighy.  They were mostly checked suits, combined with floral patterned shirts, either tie or scarf are used as a neck accessories, alternately, never at the same time, but always, always, always complemented with pocket square.

Now admittedly, there is small to nil chance that I will ever wear such combination. But I have to admit, that when I see the good old Bill wore it, it was pleasant to watch. It helps that he is Bil Nighy, I mean with his lean build and odd persona on silver screen, you kind of de facto accept it, that there is no outfit is too ridiculous for him to wear.

Anyway, I take some time to get screen shot from the DVD. Enjoy and comments are appreciated as always.

Bill Night in The Boat that Rocked, with gray checked suit, midnight blue shirts, and khaki/brown pocket fountain square

Bill Nighy in The Boat that Rocked, and you think dark suit and dark shirt don't match up ?

Bill Nighy in The Boat that Rocked, pin stripe navy blue double breasted, blue floral patterned shirt and silk purple tie

Bill Nighy in The Boat that Rocked, look at the fabolous scarf ? Michelle I really wish you give that scarf to me

Bill Nighy in The Boat that Rocked, very interesting lapel. Never seen like it these days.

Bill Nighy in The Boat that Rocked, my favorite suit, shirt and tie combination in the movie.

As planned, my Sunday goes uneventful. Well other than completing Royal Pains season one featuring, the irresistibly hot, superbly gorgeous, brunette of all time, Jill Flint. I spent my time pretty much drowsing on the bed, and treat me self with a series of high fat, high cholesterol, low fiber diets and snacks, especially, the mouthwatering, home cooked hearty breakfast of three eggs over easy, three beef sausages, a slop of baked beans in tomatoes, and cuts of baguettes. Nothing fancy, no chili sauces, just salt, pepper, and butter.

My own english breakfast, eggs over easy, sausages, baked beans and freshly baked breads. I wish I could have beef bacon too...Yummmm

Hearty breakfast for a lazy Sunday indeed. See you on Monday folks.

I woke up feeling rather gloomy this morning, despite the fact that today is Saturday and no Saturday should be faced ill hearted. But couldn’t help it though cause this morning I need to face a dreaded exam that every bankers in this country should faced.

Thankfully, it went pretty well, if not better than I expected. So after I got back, take an afternoon nap for three straight hours, I felt that it just fit if I rewarded my self with a newly cleaned apartment (of which my hands plays critical role), a cold evening shower and good treat of home made Spaghetti Bolognese.

I have a little story about Spaghetti Bolognese.  When I first studied in Australia, I home stayed at the residence of the Plummer Family. The patron of the house, Jenny Plummer who was no other than my home stay mom though I prefer to see her as a big sister, used to cook a spaghetti bolognese for the dinner, sometimes its for days in a row. Now understandably, as a single mom with one little daughter and a little dog at that time, her hands were pretty full, so the spaghetti bolognese became her main menu. Now Jenny might be good at other things, she was a great mom, a great sister to me, but cooking, wasn’t her specialty, and so her bolognese was barely passed as an edible. Yet, despite all these, the time I spent living under her care, is one of the most memorable part of my life, one that is very fond to me. And those barely edible bolognese ? Well I kind of miss it.

Years after that, one of my great personal challenge is to be able to make a good spaghetti bolognese. And after several trial and error (some are in-edibles), here are my take on the recipe.

Now dear readers, when you read my ingredients, I know that there will be some of you who loathe my choice of an instant spices/ingredients. Its not fresh, yes, inorganic, yes, but its quick and simple. And for many people like me who cooks occasionally, and spent no more then 3-4 hours  a week to do that, its good enough. On the other note, for girls who read this, I know that Spaghetti Bolognese is no brainer, but trust me there are many, many, many good people out there, who can barely sautéed garlic and onions, so please bear with me. Now the heat is on.

The Ingredients
• Half cut of onion, finely diced
• 4 pieces of garlic ( or 1 full table spoon of ready cut garlic)
• A jar of tomato paste (approx. 500gr)
• A dry spaghetti
• A pinch of Italian herbs (rosemary, oregano), parsley
• Salt and Sugar
• 200 grams of minced beef
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Some French butter

Spaghetti Bolognese Ingredients

Cooking the Sauce
• Heat up your cooking pan, when its ready pour a generous amount of the olive oil
• Lower the heat, throw  in the diced onions and garlic, sauté for 10-15 secs until the you smell the sweet scent of the garlic and onions. You will notice that both are turned yellowish, but not fried. This is a sign for you to throw in the minced beef

Sauteed Onion and Garlic

• Throw in the minced beef, give a good stir, mixing the meat with onion, garlic and oil. Try to stir thoroughly, so that every parts of it get the taste of the oil and garlic. After 5 minute-ish you can smell the cooked aroma of the meat, and the color will turned brownish.
• Put in a chunk of French butter, a finger size would suffice, and while it melts, direct your effort to open the tomato paste jar
• When its open, empty the content into the pan, don’t waste a bit, if there is some condiment left, wash it thorough with some water, give a good shake, and pour it in the pan. It will make the mix a little bit soupy, but after a while it will thicken again.
• Stir the mix, make sure that every parts of the beef is now soaked in the paste/soup
• Throw in a pinch of the Italian herbs, each of them. Now when I write a pinch, it means just a finger tip, not too much, cause you just want a hint of its flavor and aroma, and not overwhelmed the sauce.
• Put 2 tea spoon of sugar (this is important !!!). Stir thoroughly
• Let it simmer, with occasional stir for several minutes and its ready.

Finished Bolognese Sauce

The Pasta
• Heat up some water to boiled, give two pinch of salts
• When it boiled, put your pasta in (don’t break the pasta ! Just squeeze and release)

Cooking the pasta, squeeze and release !!!!

• Cook it al dente. Now I know it is easy to say cook it al dente, but the truth is , for un experienced hands, its difficult to determine. In which my trick can get handy. Look at the pasta packing there will some notes saying something like “cook in 13 minutes”, now get your timer, and just set it accordingly.
• When your timer rings, dried the pasta thoroughly, no need to rinse.

Served
• Very simple, get out a plate, put some pasta on it (the cooked one)
• Pour in a generous amount of the sauce on top if it
• You can garnish it with some parmesan cheese, and bread (especially useful to wipe out the sauce !!!)
• And prepare some salad as a side dish
• Drinks suggestion ? Red wine, Ice Tea or Sparkling Grape Juice.

Bon appetit !!!!

Simple salad for side dish

Your spaghetti bolognese is ready, bon appetit !!!

Three years ago, my wardrobe wasn’t even half of my wardrobe size today. As my work life progress so is my wardrobe, which explain why suits and shirts is now playing a major rule in my life.

Looking back at the time, I’m now contemplating, what is the absolute minimum wardrobe components that a man must have when he just graduated from college and now entering the workforce.

Now, it’s ideal to have at least one or two options for each of the components, but experience wise, I don’t think many of us – including me – have that sort of luxury. So in this list , I limit to one each. Here are my takes

• A dark grey suit. This is acceptable for formal ceremonies as well as business occasions. The bottom line of good suits is a fit, so put an attention on the fit and sizing rather than the brand
• A black woven silk tie. Which will complement most shirts and most suit to any occasion, funeral included
• Two whites/or blue normal cuff shirt – cotton only no silk. Far more important that any other color, in case you need to conduct interview two days in a row. As soon as you landed the job, expand the shirts immediately !!!
• A black cap toe oxford. Never fail options, works for business as well as formals. In Indonesia, this is probably one of the most formal shoes you will ever need for the rest of your life.
• A long sleeves – cotton or silk batik, in any color that suit your profile. Never forget that we live in Indonesia, and batik is inseparable parts of our culture
• Black plain socks. Why black ? Oh well , gray will work as well (provided that your trouser is gray). But mostly suitable because your shoes is black (much about matching socks color will be discussed in a different post)
• Stainless steel wrist watch. No need to be expensive, even the Rp.300k Casio will do just fine. This helps accentuate the smart/executive image when you are being interviewed
• Black belt. Absolutely essential, choose with the simplest buckle design as possible. Avoid expensive branded belt, that overly exposed their logo in the buckle (example of this would be Gucci)
• White cotton/linen pocket square. Handy for accessories as well as hygienic purposes. Better than pocket size tissue pack.

There are some major optional that you can add, if you think the above list is already in your wardrobe:

• Odd Jacket of any kind materials, handy for clubbing, and more casual occasion that doesn’t command full suit.
• A brown loafer, which will definitely go hand in hand with any jeans that you have. Excellent for dress down Friday.
• Short sleeve Batik in cotton.

For girls who read this, you may think that this list is no brainer, but trust me, there are plenty of lost souls out there that needs to be saved So please add if I missed anything.

When I arrived from the office about an hour ago, I was physically exhausted and worn out. Normally, in a Monday like this, I will spend the rest of the night by sitting on my beloved couch watching the DVDs that I just bought last weekend, whilst being accompanied by ice cold soda and a bag of chips, and just shut my self off the world and its problem.

But no, not tonight.  Tonight I have news too important to be hold and joy too important not to be shared.

Remember in my previous post that I found that Mario Minardi is made in Indonesia, and that I found an email address that I decided to contact ? Well, they replied, a gentleman comes by the name of Handiman Ali extended his invitation to visit his workshop, which is not far from my workplace. An invitation I’m gladly accepted and happily executed today.

Entering the gate of his workshop, I was received by a young gentleman, which happens to be Handiman Ali himself (he preferred to be called Handiman). He brought me to his meeting room where further conversation ensued.

We quickly started the discussions from historical perspective, Handiman quickly guide me on brief history of his company, much of it can be found on the company website (don’t get put off by the website design, in my pinion the website has not done justice of capturing the whole soul and full potential of the brand).

What quickly captured my respect for him  was his passion for shoes and dreams for his company, and to his credit he listens too.

Being a huge fans of the brand ever since I owned my first one (now I have two, and so is my Dad, and my younger brother), I quickly expressed my concern on how the design of the shoes has been dramatically change in the last few years, some for the good some for the bad. I also raised the issue  on how I found it difficult to find a red line that connects Mario Minardi’s line up from different seasons, and the difficulties that I encounter when I’m trying to find a refresh of the Mario Minardi classic product such as the simple smart black loafer.  It also annoys me , I told him, when I realized that it’s really difficult to find simple classic man shoes such as oxford, derby, monk strap in Indonesia, and that I have to go to Singapore to get one for my dad, or spend fortune to get it at more established brand like Zegna, Boss or Salvatore Ferragamo.

I also showed him my beloved J. Holbens semi brogue brown wing tip, which I acquired some months a go from Linea Plaza Senayan.  Like an expert he is ( he’s been working in the factory since 1998) he studied the shoes with care and attention.

To that, I further highlighted that knowing Mario Minardi’s quality, experience wise, I have no slightest doubt that Mario Minardi should have no problem producing one of the classic shoes. To this comment he grinned and barged me with his idea and plan (which in my opinion, deserves an entirely new post)for the future of his company. He also managed to impress me when he listed out some of the famous shoe brands (you will never guess) that outsourced the production to his workshop.

When I enquired about the possibility of enhancing the brand by opening a showroom and offering made to order shoes, he smiled and commented that he observing that possibility and has not ruled out the idea. To this remarks I smiled in return and offering him to commission my first bespoke shoes, to which he agreed.

Mario Minardi asembly line where shoes assembled with care and attention

When I first emailed him, I expressed my interest on having a tour on his workshop and witness the artisans in actions. Unfortunately, I came at a wrong time today, and the workshop was practically empty when I get my tour. It was during this plant tour that he showed me a beautiful, an absolute gorgeous, Goodyear welted – full brogue black wingtip oxford. Looking briefly on the shape, stitches and leather texture, it could be easily compared with the like such as Ferragamo, Church’s or Loake.

An adorable brogue black wing tip

He was also kind enough to introduce me to Marco, one of the company’s lead designer who oversee the product design and development.

To summarize the whole experience and knowledge that was acquired today in this short article would be very difficult. To say that I’m happy, and feels the joy, and all sort of euphoria, of finding and knowing that my favorite shoe maker, is actually Indonesian and in very short distance from where I live, is an understatement. And to knowing and imagine the future and possibilities that lies ahead this bright and prospectus company is priceless.

Now reality hits. Admittedly I  might be a little bit biased when talking about Mario Minardi, knowing fully that I’m an unashamed fans of the brand. But hey, as my blog tag proudly announced, this is an opinionated blogazine, meaning I am entitled to have my own opinion and is not required to be fair at any given time. But make no mistake, in weeks to come,  as soon as my feet measured and until my first bespoke shoes finally delivered  and my feet slips in it, I’ll be the fairest, harshest and toughest judge ever. Mark my words.