Spicy Safari

Canon EOS 1000d/ Rebel XS/ Kiss F(18-55is)

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:04:00 +0000

Lately I am interested in photography world, I am thinking to join a club and go for photos hunting, that sounds fun.

So I started searching for type of camera that suite me. There are several types but finally as beginner I chose this Canon DSLR camera.

Unfortunately the price listed on net is different from price at the store. when I asked at the store it was Rp. 5.900.000,-but on net it was Rp. 5.450.000,- that is how I "delayed" my plan of buying this camera, I think I will wait for next couple of months.

Features at a glance:

10.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor
EOS Integrated Cleaning System
7-point wide-area AF system with f/5.6 cross-type centre point
Up to 3 frames per second
2.5” LCD with Live View shooting
DIGIC III image processor
Compatible with SD and SDHC memory cards
Compact and lightweight body
Digital Photo Professional RAW processing software
Fully compatible with all Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites

Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) is Still Allowed ??

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:12:00 +0000

Last week I had terribly flu, it was so bad that my throat felt pain even to drink water. So I bought flu pill to make me feel better. Next day, my co-worker showed me text message and it surprised me because the pill I took the day before is not recommended anymore since the product containing phenylpropanolamine (PPA) which already pulled from the market by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States.

Here are some others flu products containing PPA : Decolgen, Decolsin, Sinutab, Allerin, Bodrexin, Contac 500, Cosyr, Flusyl, Fludane, Flugesic, Inza, Komix, Mixaflu, Mixagrip, Nalgestan, Neozep Forte, Nodrof, Paratusin, Procold, Rhinotussal, Sanaflu, Siladex, Stopcold, Triaminic drops, Tusalgin.

Those are very common cold and flu medicine and sold without prescription at any counter. So I asked google to find more about this and the result is that true in November 2000 FDA already taking steps to remove phenylpropanolamine (PPA) from all drug products and has requested that all drug companies discontinue marketing products containing PPA.

Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) is a drug ingredient of the phenethylamine family used as a decongestant in prescription and nonprescription (over the counter) cough and cold, and sinus remedies, and some combination allergy medications. It is also present in an appetite suppressant. The study reports that taking PPA increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding into the brain or into tissue surrounding the brain) in women. Men may also be at risk. Although the risk of hemorrhagic stroke is very low, FDA recommends that consumers not use any products that contain PPA.

But our local BPOM said that the products containing PPA is still safe and allowed to consume as long as the dosage is not more than 15mg per pill for cold and flu remedies but never allowed for appetite suppressants for people who want slim body.

I remember that my friend told me once, the best medication for cold and flu are good rest, vitamin C and lot of water. So, better be avoid medicine contains PPA.

Lucky ......(Jason Mraz)

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:21:00 +0000

I've been listening to this song "Lucky" from Jason Mraz featuring Colbie Caillat....nice isnt it ...

What Worst Curse

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:17:00 +0000

Speaking about curse, it reminds me to this movie "Penelope". Somehow I think Penelope and I have one thing in common, the curse. Well, not exactly the same curse since I don't have a piggy nose, but my "curse" also keeps me as prisoner in my own life.

First, let's see about Penelope. Penelope is the only daughter of Wilhern Family, rich and wealthy family. She's been hidden by her parents almost in her entire life since Penelope suffers from a curse placed by a witch for her ancestor. Generations ago, Wilhern family's son impregnated one of the servant, who was the daughter of the witch. The son offered marriage but his family refused and married him to another.

The witch's daughter then jumped off the cliff and it made the witch upset and cursed Wilhern family. The curse is that next girl born into the clan will be having the face of pig. For generations, only boys were born into the family until finally Penelope was born. The curse could only be lifted if one of her own learns to love her. Its interpreted by her parents as a blue blooded man from rich and wealthy family should marry her. In the search for that man who will break the curse, her parents invited and "interview" many rich men but always ended up with those men ran scarily to see her face. Despite of her ugly look, Penelope herself is a smart and intelligent girl.

One day, Edward who was so frightened after seeing Penelope, teams up with a journalist name Lemon who has been stalking on Wilhern family since Penelope was a baby to get Penelope's picture. They paid Max to get in the house and snatch pictures, but they mistakenly take Johny as Max. Johny (Played by James McAVoy- I saw him first time in the movie "atonement") finds that Lemon and Edward plan is cruel and decides to renege his agreement with them. He refuses to take pictures of Penelope. He feels the love chemistry for her but for some reasons, he left Penelope.

Penelope thought that Johny dislikes her, being disappointed she runs away from home and journey into the city. Later, her identity is discovered, but public reaction is surprising and Penelope becomes celebrity. To see public fondness on her, Edward's father wants him to marry Penelope. Penelope's parents urge her to accept so that the curse will be gone.

At the last minute of her wedding, Penelope realizes that she doesn't need any wedding just to remove the curse. She refuses the wedding and tells her mother that she likes herself the way she is, even with the piggy nose. She accepts her ugly appearance and will live with that. Magically, Penelope's pig snout and ears are gone. So, the curse breaker is that simple, self-acceptance.

Penelope moves on her life, being horticulturist and teacher. At costume party which she wears a mask, she meets Johny who is still unaware of her transformation. He apologizes for not being able to break the curse and left her since he's just ordinary man, not a rich and wealthy. Penelope removes her mask and......yeah...the romance has just began.

What about my curse ? hehehe....I think that I also must accept what has happened to me, being gratitude to the situation that I am in now, no matter how I hate it, I should learn to accept and enjoy it. Who knows that things will get better with the positive mind, especially in this new coming year. So Happy New Year Everyone !!!

About Anggun C. Sasmi

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 15:41:00 +0000

I have a friend who loves Anggun so much. He admires Anggun, collects pictures of her and follows her newest updated story, he's just crazy about her. I think its very reasonable, we all are proud of Anggun. A talented beautiful singer who made a brave decision to pursue her international singing career and left her comfort life here in Indonesia.

I remember, I think I was in elementary school when Anggun's song "Tua Tua Keladi" stayed on the local chart and being played most of the time. She was very famous as young rocker lady. By that time, her trade mark was the caps hat. She won many awards and built her own recording company while she was just 19 years old !

On 1992, she met Michel de Gea -a french man- when she visited Kalimantan (Borneo). They got married after few months and he became her manager. On 1994, she surprised everyone when she left the country to expand her international career. They lived in London at the beginning, then moved to French. It was not an easy way to start a new singing career as being nobody in foreign country. I saw once her interview on TV sharing her experiences where everything was different and how she must survive and work very hard, doing house works by herself (no maid to help like in homeland) and at the same time fighting to make her dream comes true, exercise in gym and maintenance her vocal.

I quote this from her interview with Jakarta Post on 2001, people accused her that she despises her own country especially after her French citizenship granted: "I'm tired of having to explain myself. It doesn't mean that I hate my own country. It's because I think I have to improve. I have to know other countries, other cultures, learn other languages. It's for my own good. If people don't like it, well, what can I say."

In French, she faced another problem that her demo tapes were rejected, because English record was not too popular for market. Immediately she learnt French language at Alliance Français-Paris for few years. Finally, she was accepted by Sony Music, with the help of friend, she met Erick Benzi, a famous producer and composer. Benzi agreed to co-operate in one condition, Anggun must leave the rock style.

Anggun released her first album on 1997, "Au Nom de la Lune" (in the name of moon) and her first single La Neige au Sahara became the most aired song on the radio in French. On the next year, she launched her English album - "Snow on The Sahara" and being sold in 33 countries in Europe, Asia and America. Followed by second album on 2000 which also sold more than 1 million copies worldwide, she got international awards for her achievements and the world started to recognize her existence. Isn't she inspiring ?

Sadly she divorced from Michel on 1999, but she met Olivier Maury on 2003 in Canada when she moved to Montreal and got married in Bali. She divorced again on 2006 and now she's a happy mom of cute baby girl (kirana) from her relationship with Cyril Montana-a French writer.

Anggun-Undress Me - #1 Turkey chart on 2005

The albums :

You are My Sunshine - by Johnny Cash

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:14:00 +0000

I heard this song first time in a movie "Walk The Line" a life story of legendary country singer -Johnny Cash (starred by Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon). Then when I watched another movie -Penelope- I heard this song again. Its just nice to hear it, a soundtrack of brokenhearted, my favorite line is : You are my sunshine, my only sunshine -You make me happy when skies are gray........

Here is the complete lyric :

You Are My Sunshine

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head and I cried.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

I'll always love you and make you happy,
If you will only say the same.
But if you leave me and love another,
You'll regret it all some day.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

You told me once, dear, you really loved me
And no one else could come between.
But not you've left me and love another;
You have shattered all of my dreams:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me
When I awake my poor heart pains.
So when you come back and make me happy
I'll forgive you dear, I'll take all the blame.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

Nokia Tragedy

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:10:00 +0000

I've been abandoning this blog for almost a month, my main reason is no internet access because I lost my cellphone ! Ya...I was using my cell for internet connection. On 1rst November 2008, a pickpocket stole my cell (nokia 6120c), it happened in the mall among the crowd in the dvd store. I was kinda shocked being a criminal's victim, anyway now I am using my old 6610 which I bought more than 5 years ago. Good thing I didnt sell that old cell, bad thing is that it has no internet connection. Last week finally my speedy broadband net access was installed and I can get connected to the net again.

But my 6610 is so out of date, I need something "useful". I started hunting cell info and some nokia attracted me. I dont know why I am so nokia minded. from all types, I prefer nokia 6220c since it has almost all that I looking for , but the price is killing me. I wont be able to buy this cell even if I am saving all my life. So for now, I'll just enjoy the old n broken cell and admire the pic of nokia 6220c below.

Specifications : Quadband GSM 850/ 900/ 1500/ 1900 MHz, HSDPA 2100/ 900 MHz (3G) --Dimension 108x47x15mm, 66 cc. weight : 90 gr, screen : TFT, 16 million color, 240x320 pixels, 2.2 inch. Polyphonic, MP3, AAC, MPEG4 player, vibration, memory microSD (transflash), built in GPS receiver, GPRS Class 11, HSDPA 3.6 Mbps, bluetooth v.2.0 with A2DP, symbian OS 9.3, S60 rel 3.2, SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging, WAP 2.0/x HTML, HTML, camera 5 MP Carl Zeiss optics, Xenon flash, Java MIDP 2.0, FM stereo, office application, TV-out

Cubadak Island : Another Paradise on Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 12:23:00 +0000

I’ve been listing too many “must visit” places, even some of them are not too realistic to be true, like hiking in snowy K2. So when I read about this island I get so excited, its just located in neighbor province, Sumatera Barat / West Sumatera. The island can be reached by using the dedicated boat from the Village directly from Padang port in 1 hour 15 minutes or by car transfer (1.5 hours) to Simpang Tiga Pantai Carocok, and from there by boat to Cubadak in 10 minutes. I don’t know why this island somehow not too famous for domestic tourism, I just knew about this island from “The Naked Traveler” book. Most of visitors are come from Europe especially

Italy

. The island has been managed by Italian, Nanni Casalegno and his wife Federica and they have license for 30 years. Nanni and Federica came to the island 17 years ago, they left their job just to build their dream of owning a gorgeous resort which is now called as Paradiso Village.

The Paradiso Village has 13 bungalows, 10 water-front guest cottages, one suite above the water and one restaurant with annexed kitchen, boutique and reading area; plus a pier with a terrace and bar. All the buildings, except the kitchen and the personnel house, are made of wood and covered by roofs made from palm leaves. The furnishings, made of rattan, carpets, tablecloths and blankets, are hand made and the walls are decorated with antique Minangkabau wood carvings and clothes. . All cottages have a verandah, and except for the suite-cottage, all have an upper bedroom and a living room which can be transformed into an extra bedroom. All bathrooms are nice and big and offer a shower with hot and cold water. The management is fully Italian. In addition to English, Italian and Indonesian, the languages currently spoken here are French, Portuguese and Spanish. Maximum capacity of the village is 27 guests. So you can imagine this is a very private beautiful quiet island where we can run away from hectic of work, or……….for honeymooners.

The resort offers an all-inclusive package pick up service to/from international airport in Padang and meals (3 times per day). All meals are taken in the main pavilion and a bell is rung to announce the meal is being served. During meal time you can meet up with other guests because the dining table is designed to seat for 10 guests. The meals are a mixture of styles: Indonesian, Chinese and best of all, Italian. Of course the main choice of dishes comes from the sea, according to the daily catches of the fisherman: crabs, fishes, squids, octopus, lobsters, prawns etc. The food is light, delicious, tasty and mainly one of the winner choices of the management.

The sea in front of the Village is sheltered and completely free from waves so to facilitate the practice of water sports. Activities included free of charge are the following:
1. Snorkeling (equipment FOC)
2. Sailing - boats for every kind of experience
3. Windsurfing
4. Boat excursions to the islands in the vicinity with picnic, at least twice a week
5. Trekking in the forest with or without climbing, every day

Activities not included into the package:
1. Scuba diving: the Village operates a diving school SSI (Scuba Schools International) with the possibility to grant certificates up to the level of instructor helper (Divecon)

2. Water ski

Federica and Nanni are the consummate hosts and treat every guest as if they are a family member. Best time of year to visit is the dry season from March to October. It’s recommend to mail first and email will be answered promptly. I really hope one day I could arrange to visit this island.

Email: info@cubadak-paradisovillage.com
Telephone: 62-8126603766

Free Ticket : Bangkok Dangerous - Nicolas Cage

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:38:00 +0000

Free Ticket

Exciting week….. on 15 October 2008 I received sms from BCA, it said 2 free tickets watching Nicolas Cage’s movie “Bangkok Dangerous” for BCA credit card holder. I made reservation, they gave me the code and I couldn’t wait Saturday to come. I am not big fans of Nicolas Cage, but having free tickets is fun :-p. Finally on Saturday I went to the cinema at PIM, my friend- Lisa already there when I arrived almost on 9am, long time no see her and to see her wearing glasses was a surprise. They were almost about 200 people who got the free ticket, and we also got free soft drink and popcorn so I feel kinda lucky :-p

Bangkok Dangerous

From long time ago

Thailand

has been listed in my “must visit places”, I was expecting to see the unique of

Thailand

. Somehow me and my friend are agree that the movie was disappointing. I don’t think Nicolas Cage suited to be a hitman or maybe its more about the story which is not my type of movie. Nicolas plays as Joe, a lonely assassin, isolated, no friends no family. He travels a lot to many different countries to do his assignment of contracts to kill people. He has his own rules like never ask, never involve the innocent, erase the traces.

The last contract brought him to

Thailand

, he recruits a local pickpocket named Kong as some kind of messenger to help him get in touch with the person who hired him. Everything is too instant for me, like when he decided to take Kong as his student and his romance relationship with a deaf-mute girl who works in pharmacy store. I couldn’t feel the emotion, no chemistry at all in their relationship. He got 4 assignments to fulfill but he faces dilemma on the 4^th assignment. Btw, his last target, the politician looks like Syahrial Oesman, our previous governor who just lost in election, and the pharmacy girl looks like local actress named Asti Ananta :-p.
At the end of the movie my friend told me too bad that Joe is died, now who gonna spend his big money in his account :-p

Nicolas Cage

He was born on 7th January 1964, his real name is Nicholas Kim Coppola. He changed his surname at the early of his career because he didn’t want people to assume his success because of big name of his uncle Francis Ford Coppola. His father – Literature Professor- August Coppola is brother to Francis Ford Coppola. He chose Cage from Marvels comic character Luke Cage, a streetwise superhero. His father is Italian American and his mother is German descent.

He married 3 times, Patricia Arquette, Lisa Marie Presley and Alice Kim (till now). He has 2 kids, Weston Coppola Cage from Christina Fulton, a model that he was dating with for several years, and Kal-el from his recent wife, Alice Kim.

He’s been appeared in many movies and he won academy award for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas (1995). I remember few of his movies like : City of Angels, Face Off, Con Air, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, 8 mm, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Windtalkers, Adaptation, National Treasure and Ghost Rider. We’ll see him soon in Bad Lieutenant, Kick Ass and Ghost Rider 2. He’s not only an actor but also a director and producer, he owns a company name Saturn Films.

Back in University I had penpal from

Iran

named Alireza, we wrote letter by postal service for about a year or so. I told him that he looks like Nicolas Cage, just now I knew that actually they have connection is that Nicolas Cage owns a Lamborghini that used to belong to Prince Ali Reza Pahlevi the former Shah of Iran :-p

High Paying Keywords

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:01:00 +0000

I was googling and found this article in a blog about 1000 high paying keywords of 2007. Yes...a year ago...but maybe there are not many in changes, who knows if they are still useful :-) I cannot put all the 1000 words, so I'll just write the top 50 :

1. conference calling companies $51.66
2. purchase structured settlements $51.48
3. home owner secured loan $50.36
4. mesothelioma patient $50.23
5. austin texas dwi lawyer $50.03
6. phoenix dui lawyers $50.01
7. phoenix dui attorney $50.00
8. secured loans $50.00
9. insurance auto $50.00
10. car free insurance online quote $49.96

secured loans calculator $49.94
boston dui lawyer $49.87
student debt consolidation loans $49.87 new york mesothelioma lawyers $49.83
san diego dui defense $49.78
data recovery denver $49.56
adverse credit remortgages $49.47
bad credit remortgages $49.37
consolidating student loans $49.27
student loan consolidation rates $49.17
pennsylvania mesothelioma lawyers $49.05
auto insruance $48.69
dui attorney los angeles $48.60
memphis car insurance $48.59
mesothelioma attorneys san diego $48.57
endowments selling $48.34
phoenix arizona dui lawyer $48.32 dui san diego $48.28
los angeles dwi attorney $48.28
student loan consolidation interest rates $48.20

student consolidation loan $48.20
mesothelioma lawyers san diego $48.13 irs tax lawyers $48.11
nj auto insurance $48.08
los angeles criminal defense attorney $48.00
data recovery service los angeles $47.97
consolidating private student loans $47.96
free quotes for car insurance $47.73
in car insurance $47.68
personal injury attorneys pennsylvania $47.66
structured settlement investment $47.64
lemon law california $47.63
los angeles criminal attorney $47.59
uk homeowner loan $47.53
arizona dui attorney $47.45
consolidation student loans $47.44
injury lawyers 4 you $47.39
personal injury lawyer chicago $47.30
georgia car accident lawyers $47.28
philadelphia personal injury lawyers $47.13

Book : The Foreign People’s Wives

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:42:00 +0000

When I found this wrapped package in my room few weeks ago I was so excited. I thought that I won something or a secret admirer sent me a gift. But after I read the sender name, I realized that I was wrong. The package was a book ! I ordered that book from online bookstore http://kutukutubuku.com. The title is “Istri-istri Orang Seberang” by Fanny J. Poyk or we can say it as “The Foreign People’s Wives”. I read the review of this book in Chic magazine and it seemed interesting book.

The book tells real stories of 6 different women and those women have one thing in common, they married to foreign men. From 6 stories, only one story has a happy ending. The others are pain, miserable, horror and terrifying. I think its common that in any marriage the problems could occur, but what make it more difficult and complex because it involves 2 nations, complicated regulations, different laws and citizenship problem especially for the baby. Anyway, at least this book can be alternate reference for women, like me ..hehehe......

Laskar Pelangi The Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:21:00 +0000

Last time I went to cinema was few months ago with almost all co-workers and family watching Forbidden Kingdom, a movie by Jet Li, it was our bank’s program buy 1 get 1 free ticket using debit card. So on Monday, 29^th September 2008, I went to cinema to watch local movie “Laskar Pelangi”. I arrived on 3 pm and got the ticket for 5 pm shows. They open 2 theaters and all were full for each shows (in total they got 8 shows a day for this movie).

Laskar Pelangi could be the most waited movie of the year in my country. Produced by Mira Lesmana and directed by Riri Reza, the 2 names are guarantee for high quality movie. This movie is inspired by a phenomenon best seller book with the same title written by Andrea Hirata. Andrea Hirata wrote tetralogy books based on true story of his life, so its kinda his memoir books. Laskar Pelangi is the first book out of four tetralogy books (tetralogy : Laskar Pelangi, Sang Pemimpi, Edensor and Maryamah Karpov – which will be released soon after the movie broadcasted). So amazing how Andrea put together one by one the pieces of puzzle in his life. I hope one day his books could be translated into English and share the world with the beauty of Melayu literature.

Basically the movie tells about Andrea’s childhood in Gantong Village, Belitung island, small island near Bangka island, used to be part of my province – Sumatera Selatan. The setting was on 1970’s, when Belitung was famous and rich for its nickel mining. The poverty was part of their life and education was not priority. Those poor kids were struggling for education and the only school accepted them as students was SD Muhammadiyah (SD=elementary school). They were taught with heart by the headmaster Mr. Harfan and the teacher Ms. Muslimah. That 2 people run the school which has only 10 students (since no one wants to study or to teach there !!) and known as Laskar Pelangi. Roughly, Laskar Pelangi can be translated as the rainbow troops. They were called as laskar pelangi because they like to climb Filicium tree to see the rainbow after rain.

From 10 characters of laskar pelangi kids in this movie, I think Mahar is the most outstanding. His unique style and eccentricity are the magnet. It was funny when he sang “Bunga Seroja” to cheers Andrea from broken hearted …lol. All of the 10 kids are originally native local kids of Belitung island, they are not professional actress or actors but their acting was natural. But other adults characters are famous actors. Ikranegara, Slamet Rahardjo, Jajang C. Noer, Alex Komang, Cut Mini, Lukman Sardi, Matias Mucus, Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, Tora Sudiro are just to name a few. The soundtrack of this movie is also supported by famous band and singers, like Nidji, Sherina and Ipang. Along the movie you’ll be entertained by nice music, finds laughter and tears.

Well…just like other “inspired by book movie” we cant expect too much, especially if you have read the books before watching the movie. However, in general this movie is worth watching. Different theme and unique story are the strength.

2008 Election

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:08:00 +0000

Ok, its final now, today the election commission has announced that Mr. Alex Nurdin and Mr. Eddy Yusuf won the battle and they are our new governor and vice governor. The election was held 10 days ago but they just finished counting the vote cards yesterday. continued ................................

Batik Fever

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:39:00 +0000

Last year, my friend Devy gave me batik from Bali, a souvenir from her holiday. The pattern is beautiful and the color is not “eyes hurting”. I was planning to sew it for my office friday dress but till now the batik is still in plastic bag. Actually I havent decided yet whether the batik is for friday dress or for kebaya “skirt” that I will wear in my friend Desi’s wedding next year :-p

Batik is our traditional textile which now is known and popular again. Used to be only the oldies wear batik. Batik was firstly introduced to the world by former president Soeharto when he wore it in United Nation conference. Originally batik comes from Jawa, but we can find it also in other region with their own unique pattern, even batik can be found in other countries like Malaysia, Thailand, India, Srilanka and Iran . In Jawa (Java) language, batik means decorating a cloth with dots. Its part of tradition to wear batik in special ceremony but now we can wear batik in any occassion because the design is more modern and recently a new trend. Everywhere in the mall at the fashion corner, I saw batik in new style of dress.

There are 2 types of batik, batik tulis and batik cap. Batik tulis is a cloth that decorated by hands using “canting”, could takes 2-3 months to make it. Canting is a small thin wall spouted copper container (sometimes called a wax pen) that is connected to a short bamboo handle. Batik cap is a cloth that decorated using cap or copper stamp and needs only 2-3 days to make it. The best quality batik can take months to create and the costs will be very high. Somehow, there are types of batik that only people from royal family could wear.

Well.... lets just see what I am going to do with my Bali batik, could be for my own wedding :-)

Ramadhan is Coming : The Days of Rainy Season

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:49:00 +0000

Beginning of September, the weather starts changing from burning to chilling. Almost everyday now is raining, sometimes at dawn, in the morning but mostly in the afternoon just like today. Lower temperature, windy, thunder, lighting, stormy, but somehow we often relate rain with romantism especially drizzly one.

Rainy day is the best day to sleep behind the thick blanket, eat hot and spicy dishes, drink tea accompanied with chocolate biscuit or just sit and watch the water pouring down. I am thinking of a plate of chicken noodle right now, with some fried union on it or maybe a big bowl hot chicken porridge. The cold weather makes it easier to feel hungry and lazy.

Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadhan, for 30 days we’ll try to manage our self from passion especially passion for food :-) I went to a minimarket not far from home this evening, the atmosphere was unlike the days before, crowded of people were shopping bottle of syrups, nata de coco, and groceries just to welcome Ramadhan.

Welcome Ramadhan or Ramadhan Mubarak to all of you :-)

This Week ‘s Choices : Laptop and Digital Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:35:00 +0000

My choices for this week are laptop and camera, why ? because I dont have them :p. The laptop and camera that I am using right now belong to my sister, not my own property. So its very nice if I could buy those stuffs like listed below :

1. Lenovo IdeaPad U110 11.1-inch Laptop

Specifications

* Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 processor ( 1.60GHz 800MHz 4MB )
* 11.1 WXGA TFT with integrated camera LCD Glossy
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz
120GB 4200RPM Hard Drive
USB Super Multi-Burner 24X Max 24X Max (External)
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AG
Battery: 7 Cell Hybrid+4 Cell Prismatic
Windows Vista Home Premium
Warranty: One year parts and labor (system battery: one year)

At only 2.92lbs it is a perfect notebook for traveling and mobile users. The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 laptop has won some prestige, including best-of-show honors at CES 2008, and there is good reason. It's small, light-weight and stylish. But it doesn't skimp. It includes an external optical DVD drive and a 2nd long-life battery. It comes at a great price too. Price: $1799.0

2. Sony DSC- T 77

Specifications

* Choice of five fashion colors (including black, silver, green, pink and brown)
* 10.1 effective megapixels
* 4GB internal memory, stores up to 40,000 photos
* Powerful album functions to store, organise and share your photos
* Smile Shutter
* Face Detection and Anti-blink technology
* Extra-large 3.5 inch touchscreen LCD display
* Easy web upload for sharing images on social networking sites

Its ultra-compact with its 13.9mm thick, With a CCD 10 m with a 4x optical zoom lens, the DSC-T77 adopts a 3-inch color 230000 large LCD screen. It also supports up to 3200 ISO, shake hands detection and smile speed functions of people who capture the smiling faces.

3. Samsung Camera i8

High picture quality is obtained by employing an 8.1 mega pixel 1/2.5” high resolution CCD sensor. Clear picture quality can be achieved even for images larger than A2. A robust mounted image processor allows for rich gradation, fast and high quality picture processing On the camera side, the i8 offers typical specs for a current compact camera: 8 megapixels, a 3x zoom, and a 2.7-inch LCD screen. Key soft features like digital image and movie stabilization, face detection, and automatic red-eye fix round out the package. A Function Description feature provides on-camera descriptions of various functions, making the camera more accessible for novice users. Price: $299.00

1200 Word Power

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:05:00 +0000

Last 06-08 August 2008 I had 3 days training of Works Simplification and Office Management in Jakarta. At the first day, we were trained by Mrs. Evelyn Rientje Elsjelyn, Assistant Vice President in Learning Center Group in our bank. She was nice, kind and funny. She told us about her dream to travel and visit every corner of Indonesia to help and share her knowledge in learning english. She really concerns about the lack of skill and poor ability in practicing English . She informed us about her new published book “1200 Words Power“. For her, writing books is just a start to the next step.

“1200 Word Power“ is a book to improve the vocabulary through tic tac toe game. As Mrs. Evelyn said that the number of words needed by kid is different for each level of age, 5 years old kid needs 2.000 words, 7 years old kid needs 7.000 words and 14 years old kid needs 14.000 words. This number of words will affect the language skill like reading, writing, listening and speaking, that’s why its important to improve the vocabulary. The book is suitable for kids because its fun to play, the pictures and the colors are nice and attractive. The contents consist of several topics like food, people, colors and clothing, home, school and subjects, recreation and entertainment, etc. So we can say that the book is educating and entertaining J.

For more info : eva_hutagalung@yahoo.com

Kristin Kreuk : Lana Lang of Smallville

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:17:00 +0000

Every Monday - Friday on 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm, Trans7 our local channel is broadcasting TV series, Smallville. The story of Clark Kent in his pre- Superman days in small town of Smallville, Kansas. By that time, Clark’s object of desire is Lana Lang, his charming higschool friend. The girl who plays the role of Lana Lang is Kristin Kreuk. Smallville proved to be a giant step for her acting career. She had several roles in TV series and she also appeared in a movie “Partition” with Neve Campbell and Jimi Mistry. Next year we will see her again on widescreen, she’ll play as Chun Li in Street Fighter : Legend of Chun Li.

Kristin was born on 30 December 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She has such a unique exotic face, like asian but little bit westerner. That’s because her father is a Dutch and her mother is Chinese Indonesian. Her mixed ethnicity made her attractive in a highly distinct way. She’s not too famous yet but her name sometimes listed in the 100 most sexiest women for some world’s magazine.

I’ve seen her movie “Partition” last year, it was a sad love movie. In that movie she played as Nasheem Khan, a 17 year old Muslim girl that separated from her family when they tried to across the border going to Pakistan. By that time, August 1947, India is granted independence. A new border is drawn between Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan. Being lost, she was found by Gian Singh and put her under his protection. Gian Singh is 38 year-old career soldier who resigns his commission with the British Indian Army and returns to his childhood village, near the border with Pakistan. Haunted by the memories of war, he seeks a quiet life of farming, solitude and prayer. Very sad ending for a new beginning.

Biryani for BB

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:48:00 +0000

Biryani : rice dishes made with spices, rice (usually basmati) and meat/vegetables ~ Wikipedia

There’s someone I know whose favorite food is biryani. Biryani is derived from Persian word berya which means fried or roasted. We need basmati rice to prepare biryani. Basmati means queen of fragrance, it is a variety of long grain rice, famous for its fragrance and delicate flavour. There are many kind of biryanis and its very popular in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Biryani is generally eaten with a type of bread, "nan-e taftton". I tried biryani 2 years ago in Little India,

Singapore

. It was chicken biryani, the portion was too big for little girl like me so we shared it into 2 plates, for me and my friend. I am planning one day I want to cook biryani so I must start collecting some recipes. Here what I found on net, look at the ingredients ….full of spices :

1. Mughlai Biryani

By Petrina Verma Sarkar

A regal dish, Mughlai Biryani is fit for a king and was probably eaten by many too! This makes the perfect one-dish meal for when you have company. It combines ingredients typical to the Mughlai style of cooking.

Ingredients:

For the meat: 1kg lamb/ chicken cut into 2" pieces (if using chicken, use breast or thigh fillet)
4 large onions sliced thin
2 tsps garlic paste
2 tsps ginger paste
1/2 cup almonds
6 tbsps ghee/ vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
1" stick of cinnamon
5 cloves
3 pods cardamom
8 peppercorns
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 cup yoghurt
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup chicken/ beef stock
2 tbsps finely chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsps finely chopped mint leaves
Salt to taste
For the rice: 2 cups Basmati rice
Hot water
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Put the almonds in a bowl of hot water (enough to cover them) and set aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove skins from all the almonds by pressing each one between your thumb and forefinger. The almonds will slip out of their skins!
Mix the garlic and ginger pastes, the peeled almonds and grind to a smooth paste in a food processor.
Wash the rice in a sieve and add enough water to fully cover the rice - at least 4" over the surface of the rice. Add salt to taste. Set the rice up to boil. Cook till almost done. To determine when it has reached that stage, remove a few grains from the pot and press between your thumb and forefinger. The rice should mostly mash but will have a firm whitish core. Turn off the fire. Strain through a colander and keep drained aside.
Heat 3 tbsps of oil in a pan and fry 2 of the onions till caramalized - golden brown. Drain and keep aside on paper towels for later use.
Heat 3 tbsps of oil in another pan and add the whole spices - cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns. Fry till the spices turn a little darker.
Add the 2 remaining onions and fry till they are translucent.
Add the ginger-garlic-almond paste and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add all the spice powders - coriander, cumin and garam masala and mix well.
Fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala and then add the lamb/ chicken. Keep frying till the meat is fully sealed (it will become opaque and lose its pink colour).
Now add the yoghurt, lime juice, stock, coriander and mint leaves and salt to taste (if needed). Mix well.
Cover the pot and allow to cook till the meat is tender.
Grease a deep baking dish and evenly layer the cooked rice, meat (and its gravy) in it to form at least 2 sets of layers (rice-meat-rice-meat-rice). Garnish with the previously caramalised onions. Cover the dish tightly. If the dish does not have a cover use 2 layers of aluminium foil (shiny side of both layers pointing down towards the rice) and secure on to dish with baking string.
Put in a pre-heated oven set at 350 F/ 180 C/ Gas mark 4 for 20 minutes.
Turn off the oven and let the dish sit in the oven till you are ready to eat. Only open when you are ready to eat. The way to serve Biryani is to gently dig in with a spoon so you get through the layers.
While Mughlai Biryani tastes great by itself, add a raita like Chatpata Channa Raita (chickpeas in hot-sour yoghurt)and you're really in business!

2. Egg Biryani Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ghee / oil
8 large eggs (hard boiled)
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 flakes garlic (curshed)
2 bay leaves
1-inch cinnamon stick
1 brown Cardamom (badi elaichi)
4 green cardamom pods (chhoti elaichi)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chili powder or to taste
2 cups Basmati (long grain) Rice
21/2 cups warm water
Salt To Taste
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
3-4 tomatoes (thickly sliced) to garnish

Preparation:

Heat the oil / ghee in a deep sauce pan and fry onions and garlic together with the bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamoms, until golden.
Carefully prick the eggs with a fork and add to the pan.
Stir in turmeric, chili powder and fry for about 5 minutes.
Add pre-soaked rice and stir slowly and carefully for 2 minutes.
Pour in water and salt to taste, and cook over a modeate heat until the rice is tender and water is absorbed. Sprinkle garam masala powder over it.
Garnish egg biryani with chopped coriander and tomato slices, serve hot.

3. Easy Chicken Biryani Recipe

Recipe by Priya Madhan

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1 lb cut into medium sized pieces
Onions - 2 big (sliced)
Tomatoes - 2 big (sliced)
Green Chillies - 3 - cut slanted
Ginger garlic paste - 2 to 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 2 to 2 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seed powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Garam masala items - 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 cardamom, 2 medium sized cinnamon sticks, a pinch of saunf (if not available, substitute with 1 tsp garam masala)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 5 tbsp (with a little butter or ghee)
Food coloring/Saffron - a pinch
Basmatic rice - 3 cups
Mint leaves (pudina) -1/4 cup

For garnishing:
Coriander leaves (Cilantro) - a little
Fresh mint (sautéd in ghee) - a little
Raisins - 5 (optional)
Cashews - 8 (optional)

Method:

In a large pan, heat oil and add the garam masala items and onions. Saute the onions for a while. Then, add the mint leaves, ginger garlic paste and saute for a few minutes. Then, add the tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin seed powder and salt. Fry this mixture for a while maybe adding a little bit of water. Then, add the chicken pieces and saute for 10-15 min. Pour some water, close with a lid and allow the chicken to cook. This should be in a sort of a gravy consistency (the oil would have come out on top).

Separately cook the basmati rice (for 3 cups rice, add 4-4 1/2 cups water) ensuring that the rice is not sticky (Make sure not to overcook the rice). Soak the pinch of saffron in a little water. Roast cashews and raisins separately and keep aside. In a large dish, put in a layer of rice. Sprinkle a little saffron water. Add some chicken masala to this and mix. Then again add another layer of rice, saffron water, and chicken masala. Continue this until all of the rice and masala is exhausted. (Note: The biryani would have a mix of colors - orange (from the food coloring), partially plain white (from the rice), orangish brown (from the masala)). Toss in the cashews, and raisins, mint and coriander leaves and serve hot with onion raita or cucumber raita or plain sliced onions.

My First Chicken Biryani and Naan

The Sims : Profile of Mr. Fred Kent

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Profile 4 [(of)] a short description, esp. of a person’s life and character, esp. as given on television or in a newspaper ~ Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

The Sims is a PC game, we can create a character or a family that can hold up to eight members and starts with limited amount of cash $20.000. With that money you can buy a house or a vacant land to build your own. This game is simulation of the daily activities of a person or virtual character. The Sims had sold more than 6.3 million copies worldwide, making it the best selling PC game in history and it also has won numerous awards.

I’ve been playing The Sims for almost a month now. My Sim’s character is Mr. Fred Kent and here is the profile :

Bearded brown hair Mr. Fred Kent is a scorpion. He lives on 9 Sim Lane in a fully furnished house net worth for $ 30.305. He got married twice and both of his wives were died in a fire when they were cooking in the kitchen. He had changed his job few times, the higher salary he got was $500 per day. He just got fired few days ago from executive company but now he’s starting his career as a test subject at a local kinetic lab or we can say it as “human guinea pig” since tht was the only job offerred in the newspaper. Everyday he brought home $155 not enough to pay his bills arround $ 400, well....at least that’s a way to introduce him to the scientific community. In the neighborhood he got 2 close friends, Chris Roomies and Diane Grisham, they both are his heart’s desire. Chris is a taurus and she works as science teacher. Diane is a scorpion and she’s unemployment. He needs 1 more friend to improve his career and he’s trying to make friend with Lady Daryl who works in elite forces.

My Tips :

1. while The Sims is in good mood (green indicator), try to study cooking so The Sims wont be died coz of fire.

2. if the money is enough, dont forget to buy book shelf. The Sims could study cooking and mechanical. The skills are important to repair the broken stuffs at home.

3. its better to have pc coz searching job in newspaper is a pain in the ass, less paid and no other choices.

4. buy security alarm, you dont want the burglar comes and takes the most precious possesion. With that alarm when the burglar got caught you will earn some $ from the insurance and bonus reward from the police.

5. buy telephone so that The Sims could interact with other in the neighborhood.

6. you can skip from working not more than 1 day otherwise you’ll get fired. Use the day off at home to improve and fix the mood into green.

Note :

Mr. Fred Kent is now a science teacher, his salary is $ 325 /day but he’s still single ......

Gang of High

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:35:00 +0000

Gang n 1 a group of criminals ; b a group of esp. young men who cause trouble and/ or fill other people with fear 2 a group of friends ~ Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

This is a week ago brownies. My friend Desi was visiting her fiance in Bandung (Java Island) last 16 August 2008. She got back here on 18 August 2008 and bought that brownies and milk cracker for me. Unfortunately we didnt have time to meet up last week coz she works as doctor in palm plantation company located hundred of km from the city. Only by weekend she could go back home. Yesterday Desi, Lisa and I were meeting up, trading our stories and taking my brownies at the mall. We walked arround the household section and finally after an hour choosing Desi bought a towell. We’ll meet again next month after EID.

Desi and Lisa are old friends from high school, we go out sometimes just to the mall or travelling together. Few years ago Lisa was working in a bank in other province, so we visited her and stayed in her dorm. It was my first time travelling by train. Took us 9 hours by night train to reach the nearest city and another 1 hour by car to her small town. We saw waterfall and went to the beaches for the sunset.

With Desi, I tried “tornado” in Ancol amusement park and saw my first fireworks. Last year I had training in Jakarta and Desi was also in Jakarta with her brother’s family. The benefit of having doctor and banker friends are that I could get free prescription and pay the housing tax by phone without even give the money yet .....hehehe.....

7 Must See Places Before They Extinct

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:12:00 +0000

Extinct adj 1 (of a kind of animal) no longer existing ~ Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

I read an article in Chic Magazine about places that could be disappeared from tourism objects list within next 5-10 years. Here are the seven must see places :

1. National Glacier Park

Located in Montana, United States of America. The park contains a dozen large lakes and 700 smaller ones, but only 131 lakes have been named. Lake McDonald, St. Mary Lake, Bowman Lake and Kintla Lake are the four largest lakes. Glacier National Park is dominated by mountains which were carved into their present shapes by the huge glaciers of the last ice age; these glaciers have largely disappeared over the last 15,000 years. In 1910 there were about 150 glaciers, by 2005, only 27 glaciers remained, and scientists generally agree that if the current global warming continues, all the glaciers in the park will be gone by 2030, it means less than 25 years.

2. Mount Kilimanjaro

Ernest Hemingway once inspired by Kilimanjaro in writing his short story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” . Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa (5,963 meters), located in Tanzania. Mount Kilimanjaro's crowning snow and glaciers are melting and likely to disappear completely by 2020, triggering major disruptions to ecosystems on the dry African plains that spread out at its feet below, scientists have warned. So before 2015 take pose on the peak of Kilimanjaro.

3. Great Wall of China

It is said that The Great Wall of China is the one of the few man-made structures visible from orbit. Or, more remarkably, it's the only human artifact on Earth visible from the moon. Both are false, say astronauts and remote-sensing specialists. Although the Great Wall spans some 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers), it's constructed from materials that make it difficult to discern from space. This site was built on 9^th century and The Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600.. The guardian reported that 2/3 part of the wall has been damaged by tourists, contractors and erosion. If this continues, in next 10 years The Great Wall of China possibly only a memory remains.

4. Tibet

Unique Tibet culture is in extinction since the government of China started the strategy of developing the west teritory in 1999. Rapid economic development, espcially the use of machine in agriculture has made the impact to several communities in Tibet. Huge imigration of Han mayority ethnic from Beijing could vanish local culture which sentralized in Drepung Monastry in Lhasa. Its not a surprise in next 5-10 years the culture and the food of Tibet will be replaced by the culture of China in general.

5. Great Barrier Reef

This popular tourism destination spot is located in Queensland, North of Australia. A variety of boat tours and cruises are offered, from single day trips, to longer voyages. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. Thirty species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises have been recorded in the Great Barrier Reef. Four hundred species of corals, both hard corals and soft corals are found on the reef. But it is under siege from climate change and warming waters that have twice bleached its spectacularly colored corals white. In some locations, up to 90 percent of corals were killed.

6. Luxor in Egypt

Luxor is an old city on the south of Egypt. Luxor has often been called the worlds greatest open air museum. In ancient

Egypt

, Luxor was known as Thebes. Thebes was also known as “the city of the 100 gates”. As the more tourists visit the tomb of Pharaoh to see the mummy, some bacteria, humidity and other pollutants are coming inside too. Slowly the mummy will turns to be ashes because the raising of humidity in the room.

Egypt

has planned to limit the number of visitors to the tomb. No body can guess whether the tomb will be closed permanently for public.

7. Galapagos Island

The Galapagos islands are all part of Ecuador's national park system. Made famous by Charles Darwin with his book The Origin of Species.In the fall of 1885 , Charles Darwin arrived and began collecting and observing the archipelago's unique animal and plant life. At the time, Darwin did not fully appreciate what he was seeing. Only after he returned home to England did the scientist begin to formulate his theory of evolution. One of unique animal in this island is the giant tortoise hundred of years age.

"It appears to me that nothing can be more improving to a young naturalist than a journey in distant countries." - Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle

The Dream Shoes of Manolo Blahnik

noreply@blogger.com (Camellia) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:09:00 +0000

Shoe n an outer covering for the human foot, typically of leather and having a hard base SOLE) and a support (HEEL) of the foot ~ Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

How many shoes do you have ? Each color for each pair to match ur dress ? I am not good at taking care of shoes, after 3 months the shoes will start being broken, maybe its because the way I walk, deep and hard step such hurry in a rush. For the same reason none of my shoes is branded, as long as its comfortable and affordable offcourse J. At this moment I only have 3 pairs of shoes : 5 cm heel khaki brown shoe, flat dark brown shoe-both are for work- and the khaki airwalk sneaker shoe. Even I’ve already lost the left sole of 5 cm heel khaki one. Its difficult for me finding the right shoe because my shoe number is the smallest and sometime the smallest is still too big so couldnt fit me.

Speaking about shoes, have you seen the movie Sex and The City ? Remember that Carrie loves her shoe so much, well....that shoe is not an ordinary shoe simply because its Manolo Blahnik ! In real life, Sarah Jessica Parker who played the role as Carrie is a shoe freak who collects super expensive Manolo Blahnik’s shoes just to put them on the shelf and admire them. Look at those shoes ...who will not crazily falling in love with them ? They are just sexy, luxury, elegance, artistic ....and....EXPENSIVE. When I checked the price I couldnt breathe, baby ....those shoes are only in my dream.

So who is Manolo Blahnik ? Blahnik has become one of the world’s most influential footwear designer. This September he will receive the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award in LA for his contribution to fashion. This man’s boutiques are located in New York, Las Vegas, Hongkong, Korea, Singapore, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Kuwait, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puebla, Monterrey, Sao Paulo and Dubai. He also worked closely to group of fashion designers like Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein, Oscar de la Renta, John Galliano and most recently Zac Posen. He won a costume design award for Marie Antoinette movie by Sofia Coppola.

Manolo Blahnik was born in 1942 in Santa Cruz de la Palma, the Canary Islands to Spanish mother and Cezch father and he was raised on a banana plantation. He briefly studied law in Geneva but soon began concentrating on literature and architecture. In 1965 he moved to Paris and studied art. He moved to London in 1968 to work at fashion boutique Zapata and write for Vogue Italia. After showing his portfolio of fashions and set designs to Diana Vreeland, she told him that he should design solely footware. In 1972, Ossie Clark invited him to create shoes for his runway show. With a loan of £2,000, Blahnik bought Zapata from its owner and opened his own boutique.

His beautiful shoes :