Shanghai Blue 1920 Restaurant

Address: Jl. Kebon Sirih 77-79 Jakarta Pusat
Telephone: (021) 391-8690
Operating Hours: 10.00 – 23.00
Reservations: Recommended
As with all the Tugu hotels and restaurants, Waroeng Shanghai Blue 1920 is very unique. The first time I came here, I was struck not only by the cuisine, but also by the romantic ambience with its muted amber décor, the vivid colors, and the art deco style of 1920s Shanghai. Shanghai Blue has created a fusion of Babah and Batavian culinary disciplines, with many of the recipes having been passed down through the generations. There are several offerings for appetizers, such as Lumpia Udang Kaca Saos Tauco, Hakau Kepiting, and XO Scallops. Tasteful soups include Sop 3 Sisters of Shanghai 1920, or Sop Ikan Warong 1920. Exciting main courses include Tjwie Mie Babah and Bebek Panggang (BBQ duck on a bed of emping crackers in Peking sauce). The Buntut Resep Shanghai in Chinese spices and herbs simply bursts with flavor. Alternatively, Ayam Masak Merah Shanghai Blue 1920 is also excellent. The house specialty is a colorful vegetarian delight offering a myriad of different textures and tastes. I sampled the Ketoprak Japit Mak Leha (ketoprak clasped in cassava crackers and served with sweet soy peanut sauce). Other mouthwatering favorites include Tape Panggang Arang and Ronde Kacang Merah. Shanghai Blues also provides takeout meals, home delivery, and catering service.

Samarra Restaurant

Address
Jl. Kebon Sirih Raya 77-79 Jakarta Pusat
Telephone: (021) 391-8690
Operating Hours: 11.00 - 01.00
Reservations: Recommended
It’s time to head over to Samarra, another stylish restaurant designed by the Tugu Hotels Group. The fragrant arome of Indonesian cooking in Middle Eastern spices alone will be enough to stimulate your appetite. The menu is simple, but each dish is a creation of intense flavors based on unique Middle Eastern spicing and ingredients. A special treat is the unique Sate Pasar Kuno (The Old Souk’s Satay) in a wooden boat with its twelve varieties of sate that includes meat and fresh seafood to tempt your palate. The chef delights guests with Samara’s creations, such as Sate Lilit Ikan Gianyar (Bali), Sate Ayam Ponorogo (tender chicken sate from a famous village vendor from Ponorogo), Sate kambing Kapuran Camaram (Semarang), Sate Tempe Panggang Kecap (grilled soybean cake sate marinated in coconut milk), Sate Kambing Muda Giling and Sate Ikan Kelapa Blambangan. End your excellent meal with Summer Night in Soenda Kelapa (a white wine Sangria mixed with pineapples, mangos, bananas, lime, and Havana rum) or perhaps Amor on the Dessert Oasis (a red wine Sangria with peaches, strawberries, red guavas, cantaloupe, and cinnamon) to treat your taste buds. The lunch special at Sammara is of great value, and the table d’hote will satisfy even the hungriest customer, while the Middle Eastern décor creates an ambience of pure delight.

Sajian Sambara Restaurant

Address
Jl. Cipete Raya No. 14 Jakarta Selatan
Telephone: (021) 769-7913
Operating Hours: 10.00 – 22.00
Reservations: Recommended
The warm modern Sundanese feel of the sajian Sunda Sambara restaurant and the friendly service create a cheery atmosphere that is enhanced by the ethnic tunes played at the restaurant. Here there are no rules as to which dish you should start on first: just get yourself a bowl of rice and an assortment of dishes and tuck in! you could start with a bowl of Sayur Asam (a light yet flavorsome vegetable soup with beef broth and tamarind). Highly recommended are the well-marinated and succulent Ayam Madu Sumbara (sweet honey chicken) and the sweet and subtly smoky squid Balakutak cumi-bakar, grilled to tender perfection. A must try is the Gurame Goreng, a farm raised fish with such a unique flavor that no seasoning or marinade is needed when preparing it. Try the Sate Maranggi, a tender meat satay which presents authentic Sundanese flavors. The main menu covers a good selection from meats to seafood and vegetables, while a separate dessert menu is also available upon request. No alcoholic drinks are served at this halal restaurant. Even as you tuck into their signature dishes, be sure to save some space for their breathtaking desserts. Top picks are the Jajanan Pasar, such as Surabi, Colenak, or Katimus. On the drink list, try the Bajigur, Sekoteng, or Bandrek. The service staffs are casual, yet very attentive and efficient. Sajian Sambara has additional locations in Bandung at Jl. Trunojoyo 64, Jl. RE Martadinata 17-21 and at Foodlife on the 3rd floor.

Riva Restaurant

Address:
The Park Lane Jakarta
Jl. Casablanca Kav. 18
Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 8282000
Operating Hours
11.30 – 14.30 ; 18.00 – 23.00 (Mon – Fri)
18.00 – 23.00 (week end and public holidays)
Reservations: recommended
Riva continues to evoke an aura of timelessness and the power of prestige while enduring as one of the most refined restaurants in town. The softly lit interior presents a tacit intimacy reserved for those who choose to indulge. And when you do, one of the choice entrees to sample is Escargots à la Provencale en Petits Pots Crouton à l’ail. Other delicious dishes include Minute Smoked Salmon, Riva Gourmet Salad, and Pan-seared Goode Liver. Seafood dishes such as Dover Sole Meuniere Style or Pan-seared French Britanny Turbot are freshly prepared in the kitchen to deliver the final taste. Meat lovers will enjoy the Steak au Poivre (Wagyu beef rump), Roasted Lamb Rack or one of the many Riva signature dishes such as the Pan-roasted Milk-fed Veal Chop. Tempting desserts such as the Chocolate Soufle, Riva’s Dessert Sampler, Crème Brulee. Chocolate Praline Dome, Strawberry Mille Feuille, and Raspberry Sorbet await guests at the end of the meal. Riva also offers Degustation Menus during dinner with the choice of five or six courses. The health conscious will enjoy gourmet dishes during lunch with ‘Riva Petit’ small portions. Riva has won many awards since opening, including a recent achievement for the Best Wine List.

Pearl Restaurant

Address:
JW Marriott Hotel
Jl. Lingkar Mega Kuningan Jakarta
Telephone: 9021) 579-88888
Operating hours:
Lunch: 11.30 -14.30
Dinner: 18.00 – 23.00
Reservations: Recommended
Pearl, the signature dining establishment of the JW Marriott Hotel, is a perfect Chinese restaurant serving authentic Cantonese cuisine. The elaborate menu is served daily, and is very popular with regular patrons. Located in the central business district in Jakarta, Pearl is a very comfortable hot spot for Jakarta’s trendsetters. The restaurant interior is classically luxurious with red and yellow colors. The menu features Cantonese cuisine such as Deep Fried Scallops with Thai sauce, Fish Fillets with black vinegar, Taro Dumplings with seafood, Steamed Fresh Lobster with minced garlic and egg whites and Braised Whole Abalone and Sea Cucumber in oyster sauce with vegetables. Enjoy any of the fresh seafood simply steamed or explore interesting pleasant dishes such as the Salted Fish or Chicken and Bean Curd Hotpot. If you really want to splurge, we suggest you to try the Shark’s Fin. The décor is dominated with creamy and red colors and this modern Chinese restaurants also provides Chinese wines as well as the best wines from around the world. Pearl offers dinners a Cantonese gourmet heaven!

Lara Djonggrang Restaurant

Address: Jl. Teuku Cik Ditiro 4 Jakarta Pusat
Telephone: (021) 315-3252
Operating Hours: 11.00 - 01.00
Reservations: Recommended
The legend of Lara Djonggrang lives on through time, symbolizing a daughter’s undying love for her father that ended with her sacrificing her life for him. Touched by her noble deed, Lara Djonggrang was transported on a Javanese mythological lion by the gods to heaven, where she finally found eternal peace. In line with its mission to keep alive the forgotten romantic history of Indonesia’s beautiful history of Indonesia, Tugu Hotels & Exotic Spas dedicated the Lara Djonggrang and other artwork presented throughout the restaurant bring to life the luxurious romantic and ancient atmosphere of the Prambanan temple in Central Java. The statue of Lara Djonggrang and other artwork presented throughout the restaurant bring to life the luxurious romantic and ancient atmosphere of the Prambanan temple in Central Java.
The primary influence on Lara Djonggrang cuisine is the royal journeys during the reign of King Hayam Wuruk who ruled over the Kingdom of Majapahit at the beginning of the 14th century. The menu at Lara Djonggrang blends with the mystical, romantic atmosphere created by the setting of the restaurant. Dishes offered include Nasi Goreng Desa (humble but delicious fried rice with fresh vegetables of the day), Javanese Baby Chicken Liver (a special recipe from a Javanese village warong), salted fish crackers and Soto Daging Madura (turmeric and ground coconut soup with tender beef slices and bean sprouts, served with candlenut sambal and lime).
Another tempting dish is Tahu Telor Pasar Senggol (bitter fried tofu pancakes from an East Javanese local market, served with bean sprouts and shrimp paste sauce), a dish that will surely tempt your taste buds. Vegetarians enjoy a wide array of dishes such as Pecelan Tumpang (Javanese vegetarian dish of asparagus bean, cassava leaves, water lettuce, and Tumpang soybean and coconut sauce, served with sweet potatoes and thin rice fish crackers). The atmosphere and tempting cuisine will more than meet your needs for a special evening out.

Lai Ching Chinese Restaurant

Address: Four Seasons Hotel, 2nd Floor, Jl. HR. Rasuna Said, Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 252-3456
Operating Hours: 10.00 – 22.00
Reservations: Recommended
Among the growing number of Chinese restaurants in Jakarta, Lai Ching at the Four Seasons Jakarta stands out for its presentation of Chinese cuisine and culture in a refreshingly different atmosphere. You don’t have to be a gourmand to recognize a great food bargain. Dining at Lai Ching (which means beautiful jade) on sumptuous Cantonese dishes, in a cozy oriental setting, is hard to beat. The décor is elegant with the mahogany wood floors, bringing a natural, warm, and comfortable feeling for customers. The restaurant ensures its guests will never forget the excellent taste of Lai Ching dishes, especially with its Dim Sum Extravaganza which offers unlimited dim sum and dishes such as Roasted Crispy Duck. Among menu highlights are Stir-fried Beef Cubes with Black Pepper and Braised Whole Abalone in Oyster Sauce, Sautéed Sweet and Sour Prawns with Pineapple, followed by the pleasant surprise of Bamboo Piths with Prawns Soup, a scrumptious treat. Scallop lovers should head straight to the Wok-fried Scallops with Broccoli and Chinesen”Ke Chee’, with the added bonus of improved eyesight and stamina. These dishes are complimented by Lai Ching Ice Cream served in glutinous sauce. Above all the tastes are precisely as Chinese food should be!. Lai Ching is also a perfect venue for afternoon tea.

Kembang Goela Restaurant

Address
Plaza Sentral Building, Parking Lot
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 47-48
Jakarta Selatan
Telephone
(021) 520-5625
Operating Hours
10.00-22.30
Reservations: Recommended
Evidenced by the lunch and dinner crowds at Kembang Goela Restorant was ready for another Indonesian Restaurant. The menu was quite impressive and the service is very good, despite the crowded tables. The restaurant was always filled with diners enjoying their somewhat fires at traditional dishes, such as Huzarensalade-carrot, beet, pineapple, apple, green peas dressed with homemade Dutch sauce; Asem-asem Iga-Boiled New Zealand Ribs in Tamarind Sauce, or the Yuyu Djeroek Bali-Fried Soft Shell Crab Fresh served with Balinese Orange Salad to start the meal. Don’t miss a-must-try delicious and generously portioned Nasi Langgi Lima Serangkai. Also tasty was a deceptively innocent looking Oedang Kapiten Jongker-Fried King Prawn served with special black pepper, shallot & garlic sauce which is spicy enough. This quality did not obscure the rich, complex flavors of the dish. Another scrumptious taste treat was the Bebek Boemboe Lengkoas. A find way to end a meal at Kembang Goela is with Poffertjes Van Orange and Baked Banana, all of which were wonderful. Every dish I’ve ever tried at Kembang Goela was exceptional; I’ve been back numerous times, as it’s almost addictive. Kembang Goela is a great venue to dine with friends, but make sure you make reservations.

La Mian Xiao Long Bao Restaurant

Imperial Treasure
Address: Plaza Indonesia, 1st Floor #113, 127 B & C
Jl. MH Thamrin Kav 28-30 Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 3983-5100
Operating Hours
Weekdays (Mon – Fri) 11.00 – 22.00
Weekends (Sat – Sun) 10.00 – 22.00
Reservations: Recommended
The city of Shanghai is known for its large variety of delicious culinary delights. One of the signature dishes at the Imperial Treasure La Mian Xiao Long Bao Chinese restaurant, located in Plaza Indonesia, is a homemade La Mian Sliced Beef in Chili Oil, which is served in a large bowl. All dishes are prepared using Shanghai recipes with authentic sauces and ingredients by professional Chef. He works with the freshest ingredients and infuses each creation with delectable flavors and spices. Without exception, his intention is to delight the palate, soothe the senses and immerse you in a dining experience that is beyond compare.
For the main course, Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab with golden garlic, or Lazy Fish steamed with fresh cut chili, is suggested. Dim Sum lovers will enjoy the Shanghai Steamed Chicken and Crab Meat Dumpling, which is fresh and not fishy. Enjoy the ‘Wu Xi’ style Crispy Eel – in homemade sauce, and also look out for the delicious Stir Fried Prawns with Chili Sauce. The Imperial Treasure’s special offering of desserts includes Soufflé Egg White Balls with mashed red beans and banana. Don’t miss the Golden Pastry, called Chinese Pizza by patrons. The restaurant also offers select health beverages including Lo Han Guo with pearl and coconut for health and beauty. The Imperial Treasure la Mian Xiao Long Bao features an open kitchen with the finest quality cuisine in a fine dining atmosphere.

Jittlada Restaurant

Address: Jl. Sultan Agung No. 10 Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 829-6126
Operating Hours
Lunch 11.00 – 15.00
Dinner 18.00 – 22.30
Reservations: Recommended
Prepared to be amazed by some of the best Thai food in town. Those who cherish a fine dining experience can make their way to Jittlada, otherwise known as the House of the King. The tasteful surroundings and authentic Thai cuisine will lure you back time and time again. In the midst of Jakarta’s maddening traffic and perpetual dust and noise, Jittlada provides a welcome oasis with soothing colors, music, good food, and a fine selection of wine. Its cuisine is both fragrant and colorful, with tastes and textures to be remembered. The wide-ranging and legendary menu covers the full spectrum of Thai cuisine. For appetizers, Jittlada offers dishes such as Tod Man Kung (three prawn patties). Salads include Yam Pla Duk Foo (spicy mango salad with fluffy crispy catfish) and Yam Ma Muang (green mango salad mixed with chilies and lime juice). For you main course, try the Fried Crab Cakes (ground shrimp, crab, and Thai herbs fried and served with sweet and sour sauce). Curry lovers will enjoy the Keng Phed Ped Yang with Lychee (red duck curry with cherry tomatoes, sweet basil, and lychee), something that should not be missed! Kai Yang (grilled whole chicken marinated with Thai herbs) is notably satisfying and tender. Whatever you choose, you’re guaranteed not to be disappointed. The delicate of fiery taste of each dish will give all your taste buds some delightful moments. Jittlada can also be found at Pondok Indah Mall 2, Senayan City, and Grand Indonesia Bridge.

Imperial Treasure International Restaurant

Address:
Wisma 46 BNI Bldg, 1st Floor
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav 1, Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 574 – 4888
Operating Hours
Lunch (Mon-Sat) 11.00 – 15.00
Sundays/Holidays 09.00 – 15.00
Dinner (Mon – Thu) 18.00 – 22.30
Dinner (Fri – Sat) 18.00 – 23.00
Reservations: Recommended
Enjoyed visiting the Imperial Treasure International Restaurant, renamed from the original Crystal Jade Restaurant about three years ago. Though the same management and the staff are the same, a big change is evident in the comfortable dining room, which was greatly expanded beyond the previous space. The friendly fine dining restaurant attracts a lively crowd who enjoys eating good food. Be sure to try three fantastic appetizers offered at Imperial Treasure, the Deep-Fried Seafood Sauce Roll with salad sauce, Deep Fried Shrimp Dumplings served with mayonnaise and the Baked BBQ Chicken Meat Bun.
A popular dish for frequent patrons is the Crispy Aromatic Duck, the skin of which is almost dark brown but the meat is tender and tasty on the inside. A meal by Chef So Yeung Tat Kee is quite a pleasant experience, where each and every dish is an artistic composition with a gentle blend of colors, texture, and form. Dessert at Imperial Treasure consists of many offerings. My favorite and a simple, yet delicious, choice is the Almond Tofu topped with strawberry or Longan. Lunch or dinner at the Imperial Treasure is highly recommended, as it is very well worth of the journey.

Golden Jade Restaurant

Address
Bellagio Boutique Mall
Ground and Upper Ground 21-24 Kawasan Mega Kuningan, Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 3001-9936
Operating Hours
Mon-Sat 11.00 – 23.00
Sun: 09.00 – 23.00
Reservations: Recommended
Golden Jade is a modern-day Chinese restaurant retaining the candor and ingenuity of traditional Cantonese cuisine. The restaurant encompasses the key fundamentals of modern contemporary décor and exemplary service. Aside from their signature dishes, the legendary dish from Fu Zhou county in China, Buddha Jump Over Wall (for complete fortune and longevity), is highly recommended. This dish contains Shark’s Fin Abalone Fish Maw Sea Cucumber, cooked slowly until the ingredients melt into a rich chowder that fills the restaurant with its aroma. Golden Jade offers other tempting and delicious dishes, such as Steamed Live Fish Kung Fu Style, Fujian Steamed Crab over Rice, Beijing BBQ Beef Wrap, and Roasted Crispy Chicken Golden Jade Style. To end your delicious meal, try the Double Boiled Hasima in Almond Cream or the Almond Tofu with Strawberry Slices. Golden Jade can also be found at Golden Jade Kitchen, MKG, dll.

Dapur Babah Restaurant

Address: Jl. Veteran I No. 18-19 Jakarta Pusat
Telephone: (021) 385-5653
Operating Hours: 11.00 - 23.00
Reservations: Recommended
Dapur Babah is an increasingly popular blast from the past, providing a boost in the preservation movement of old and historical buildings in Jakarta. This fine dining establishment serves the mixed culture that resulted from marriages between Chinese settlers, and the native Javanese women, referred to as Babah. In daily life, the Babah culture in Java developed from the gradual fusion of three cultures living side by side: Chinese, the local Javanese, and Dutch. The fused culture includes a specific dining culture, which encompasses the dining ritual as well as the choice of dishes. The dishes served in Dapur babah are the result of the experiments of the babah wives (known as Nyonya) as well as house-cooks and maids (known as Bedienden) who cooked without any previously documented recipes. The Babah kitchen, with its delicious food and the homey, motherly rituals, inspired the creation of Dapur Babah. The owner/designer of Tugu Hotels and exotic spas by Anhar Setjadibrata is thr proud owner of Dapur Babah.
Dapur Babah showcases the history of the Oei Family, a wealthy Babah family that lived in Java at the end of the 19th century. Dapur Babah keeps the statue of the Goddess of Protection as well as an image of the Oei Family in the kitchen, to give them confidence in the quality of their dishes. Most diners would agree, and we can understand why. Specialties include Nasi Tjampoer Babah (pandanus rice mixed with lavish Javanese crisp-fried shrimp, marinated grated coconut, salutéed tofu and soybean cake in ketjap sauce, marinated beef, stewed vegetables in coconut milk, fricadel van garnalen, chicken cooked in chilli sauce, peanut, Javanese crackers, sambal) served with piping hot and robustly-flavoredly Sayur Lodeh (stewed vegetables in coconut milk). Bebek Goreng Boemboe Lengkuas (half fried duck marinated) in their special galangal sauce) that was served fresh and tasty. Make sure you don’t miss the Wedang Ronde (Babah style sweet ginger dessert with little rice balls filled grilled nuts) served hot before leaving Dapur Babah.

Court Yard Restaurant

Address
Plaza Indonesia, 3rd floor
Jl. MH Thamrin, Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 310-7706
Operating hours: 11.00 – 22.00
Reservations: Recommended
The courtyard at Plaza Indonesia has succeeded in taking classical Chinese cuisine and carefully tweaking it to create elegant contemporary dishes. The first-time diner should not miss the restaurant’s signature Braised Duck (with orange peel in a clay pot). Topping the list of must-try dishes are the Deep Fried Scallop Stuffed Prawns and Stewed Bean Curd with Seafood and X.O. Sauce. Other recommended dishes include Beef Ribs in Black Pepper Sauce, Braised Whole Abalone in Oyster Sauce, and Braised Superior Shark’s Fin and Bird’s Nest Soup. These dishes are something that you cannot afford to miss. If you have room to spare, the chef’s special Fied Chinese Noodles is an excellent side dish. Don’t hesitate to ask the staff about the variety of Dim Sum or vegetarian dishes. Dessert choices are limited, but the flavorful Coffee Pudding and Mango Pudding are deliciously refreshing. The service echoes an Oriental charm that is both courteous and unobtrusive. They know when to pay attention and when to leave customers in peace to enjoy their food. Needless to say, Courtyard only serves the freshest of ingredients to create a perfect combination of flavors. It’s hard to get a table, if you don’t come early. Stop by at Courtyard on your next visit to Plaza Indonesia.

Cilantro Restaurant

Address
Wisma 46 Kota BNI, Level 46
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 1
Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 251-2822
Operating Hours: 10.30 – 22.30
Reservations: Recommended
The indoor dining area of Cilantro has a warm, inviting atmosphere, and tranquil, charming music. The menu is just a page long, but the culinary creations offered are so tempting, you will salor every one of them. Start your meal with exciting dishes that present a delicate blend of flavors, such as the Peking Duck served with plum sauce, or Cilantro Deluxe Four Seasons (four different dishes of prawn cake, jelly fish, beef shank, and maki roll served together in one plate). Or, for something familiar, yet just as satisfying, have a fresh double boiled superior Shark’s Fin with Consommé Soup. Main courses include the Drunken Prawn (live prawns grilled in Chinese wine at your table), Stir fried Beef with Sze Chuan sauce and ‘Nenek Moyang’ Beancurd (stir-fried pok cay, beancurd, and mushrooms mixed with oyster sauce). No run-of-the-mill dessert will do for this classy international restaurant, so save some space for innovative desserts like the Deep Fried Macha and Cilantro’s Strawberry ice Cream. Helping to complete your dining experience is an excellent team of wait staff that impresses with their professional yet lively service.

Bunga Rampai Restaurant

Address:
Jl. Teuku Cik Ditiro No. 35, Menteng, Jakarta Pusat
Telephone (021) 3192-6224/5
Operating Hours: 11.00 - 23.00
Reservations: Recommended
Bungarampai is an upscale traditional Indonesian restaurant that serves high quality Indonesian cuisine with real flavorful depths. With the same owner and management as Kembang Goela, you’ll recognize the look: fresh flowers, white linen, ivory walls, soft lighting, elegant local paintings, and portraits of people from the 14th century. The resident Indonesian chef serves up a wide range of lavish dishes tinged with exotic local flavors in his state-of-the-art Elegance menu. Start with a tasty and tender. Lumpia Ny Liem (deep-fried bamboo shoot spring rolls) or try the Konro Bakar (beef back ribs in a sweet soy and coriander sauce with homemade pickled vegetables). Select from an array of main courses that includes the Sate Bungarampai (assorted meat and seafood skewers), Kerapu Goreng 9deep-fried Kerapu fish served with mango sauce), Nasi Buketan (green rice served with beef satay, fried chicken, ebi, potatoes, eggs, sliced beed, perkedel, and spicy peanut sambal). Another tempting dish is the Palu Marra Bunaken (fish soup cooked with shrimp paste and local starfruit). Bungarampai is not just a restaurant, it’s a state-of-art dining experience.

Bumbu Restaurant

Address: Sheraton Bandara Hotel
Telephone: 559-7777 ext 746
Operating hours: 18.00-23.00
Reservations: Recommended
Named for the mix of spices used in all Indonesian dishes, BUMBU offers authentic Indonesian cuisine at the Sheraton Bandara Hotel, prepared by Chef Rosid Muhammad. The spices are distinctively flavorful but not too spicy for the average diner. Featured starters include Selada Daging Sapi Manis Pedas (tossed grilled beef salad in chili-citrus dressing with cucumber, tomatoes, and coriander). Among popular main courses are Ikan Kerapu Tausi (fried whole grouper with chili-black bean sauce) and Sari Laut Asam Pedas (steamed king prawns, grouper filet, scallops, and mussels with hot and sour soup). The selection of ingredients assures that dishes are consistently at their freshest and finest. The most popular dish on the menu is Udang Karang Bakar atau Panggang Mentega Pedas (grilled lobster with chilli-tomato sauce, served with a dash of garlic-and-butter sauce). The quick-fried Medallions of Australian Beef Tenderloin in Green Chili Sauce are a most and tender meat dish, whilst the Bebek Betutu (Balinese steam-roasted duck in banana leaves) is another must-try item. Bumbu is currently open for dinner only.

Bogor Café Restaurant

Address
Hotel Borobudur Jakarta,
Ground Floor
Jl. Lapangan Banteng
Jakarta
Telephone: 9021) 380-5555
Operating Hours: 24 hours
Reservations: Recommended
The international cuisine at Bogor Café will truly tempt your palate on every visit. This remarkably spacious restaurant, bathed in glowing colors, presents a beautifully spread buffet and an a lá carte menu set for easy dining. Bogor Café has won an award for the best restaurant in the International Food category by a leading lifestyle and entertainment magazine. The buffet menu features a wide selection of grilled dishes, pasta, and local offerings. The chef’s signature Oxtail Soup is well applauded by fans, and has been lauded as one of the most popular dishes in Jakarta. Every month Bogor Café offers special menu items such as Wagyu Beef Oxtail Menu. The comfortable chairs and dining room will help you ease into a late evening meal or drink. When it’s time for desert, try the homemade Italian ice cream available in many delicious flavors and with side toppings. If you prefer a cup of tea, the wide organic tea selection in the adjoining Tea Lounge is recommended, especially in the afternoon. The service is prompt and exceptionally attentive.

Bengawan Solo Restaurant

Address: Hotel Sahid Jaya Jakarta, Ground Floor
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 86 Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 570-4444
Operating Hours: 09.00 - 23.00
Reservations: Recommended
Bengawan Solo is named of the longest river in Indonesia, which is located in Central Java. The restaurant is a down-to-earth establishment that brings diner’s back time after time with their tasty culinary creations. The staff is forthcoming with recommendations for diners who may be unfamiliar with Indonesian cuisine or are simply overwhelmed by the extensive menu. Check out the Southern Sumatra dishes of Otak-otak Tenggiri or Tekwan, followed by a Javanese dish such as Empal Gepuk (fried beef). Soto Bandung (a flavorful yellow soup served with hot steamed rice) is a good match for the main dishes. If you don’t want a complete meal, try the Sosis Solo (a light beef sausage), an additive side dish which is hard to forget. Soups from other parts of Indonesia are offered as well, such as Soto Ayam Banten, Sop Buntut Padang, Soto Lamongan, and Soto Buwono. Bengawan Solo Restaurant also provides a good selection of desserts from throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Regarding this, Bengawan Solo Restaurant also provides a good selection of desserts from throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Regarding this, Bengawan Solo Restaurant is one of the first choices for all those who love the Indonesian cuisine. Combined with the comfortable feeling which will materialize while being there, a dining out at Bengawan Solo Restaurant is an unforgettable event for any occasion and for foreigners it will open Indonesia in an excellent culinary way.

Airlangga Restaurant

Address: The Ritz Carlton, Lobby Hotel
Jl. Lingkar Mega Kuningan, Jakarta
Telephone: (0210 2551-8888
Operating Hours: 06.00 – 23.00
Reservations: Recommended
Often packed during lunch or dinner, Airlangga is a popular dining destination offering a wide range of Western, Thai, Japanese, and Chinese cuisine. While the attractive buffet arrangement entices one to feast, those who feel like a light lunch can also choose from the ala carte menu which features a range of dishes such as Grilled Beef Medallions, Salmon Rosado, and Roasted Lamb with Aubergine. Asian specialties such as Chicken in Szechuan and Tongseng Kambing are available for those with a craving for local flavors. Dishes are beautifully presented and invite one to dig in. these can be described as of the highest quality, light, seasonal, fresh, and innovative. Check out the salad section with specialties such as German Potato Salad, Star Fruit Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette, and Favorite Greek Salad with Capsicum and Feta Cheese. Or you can explore a restaurant specialty, the Singaporean Deep Fried Crab. Sweet dessert offerings ranging from familiar local sweets to American Strawberry Cheesecake complete the dining experience. All in all, Airlangga has a bit of something for everyone with a highly competent and well-trained group of waiters. At Airlangga you are guaranteed service with a smile, no matter how packed the place may be!

Ah Yat Abalone Restaurant

Address
Mid Plaza II, LG Floor
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav 10-11, Jakarta
Telephone: (021) 570-7333
Operating Hours:
Lunch 11.30 – 15.00
Dinner 18.00 – 22.30
Reservations: Recommended
This Chinese restaurant focuses on abalone dishes, but also displays live lobsters, prawns, and fish of many varieties in florescent-lit tanks. The menu will thrill abalone lovers as this is no simple chili crab joint. The Angsio Shark’s Fin with Abalone, and Angsio with Abalone sauce proved to be satisfying starters, while the GeoDuck in Steamboat or Sashimi (highly recommended by the Chef) were equally flavorful. Be sure to ask for the chef’s seasonal recommendations that showcase more creative items, such as the Deep-fried Alaskan Crabs (steamed with Chinese wine and white egg) that move away from regular Chinese restaurant fare.
The daily Ah Yat Style Seafood Set Lunch is an extremely good value for your money. Pick one of their deluxe dishes such as the Crispy Soft Shell Crab with Floss or Crabs in Salty Eggs that can be ordered by request. Their modest selection of wines originates from Australia, Chile, Canada, and Korea. Chinese Rice Wine, appropriately served warm to compliment the fine cuisine, is also available upon request, including Shao Xing Hua Tiao Chiew in bottles. Besides Ah Yat Abalone, you can also visit Ah Yat Ballroom at the Golden Boutique Hotel, Lobby level, Jl. Angkasa No. 1, Jakarta.

Anatomy Dictionary (1)

Abdomen: Lower part of the trunk (central part of the body) between the thorax (chest) and the hips.

Absorption: Process by which the products of digestion pass through the wall of the small intestine into the bloodstream.

Accommodation: Adjustment made by changing the shape of the lens of the eye so it can focus on near or distant objects.

Acne: Skin disorder causing spots that result from inflamed sebaceous glands and hair follicles.

Adolescence: Transition period between childhood and adulthood that occurs during the teenage years.

Aerobic respiration: Release of energy from glucose that takes place inside cells and requires oxygen.

Alimentary canal: Hollow tube which extends from the mouth to the anus, and includes the pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, and small and large intestines.

Allergy: Illness caused by overreaction of the body’s immune system to a normally harmless substance.

Alveoli (sing. Alveolus): Microscopic air bags inside the lungs through which oxygen enters, and carbon dioxide leaves, the bloodstream.

Amino Acid: One of a group of 20 chemical compounds that are the basic building blocks from which proteins are made.

Amputation: Surgical removal of all or part of an arm or leg.

Anaerobic respiration: Release of the energy from glucose that takes place inside cells and does not use oxygen.

Anaestheticts: Drug used to temporarily abolish feelings of pain in a patient during surgery or while giving birth.

Anatomy: Study of the structure of the body, and how its parts relate to one another.

Angiogram: Special type X-ray that reveals the outline of blood vessels after a dye that absorbs X-rays has been injected into them.

Antibody: Substance released by lymphocytes of the immune system that disables a pathogen and marks it for destruction.

Antigen: Foreign substance, usually found on the surface of pathogens such as bacteria, that triggers the immune system to respond.

Antiseptic: Chemical applied to the skin to destroy bacteria and other micro-organisms before they can cause infectious.

Apgar Score: System of scoring used to assess the condition of a newborn baby.

Appendicular skeleton: Part of the skeleton made up of the bone of the pectoral and pelvic girdles, and those of the upper and lower limbs.

The Greatest Classical Musician (part 2)

Johann Sebastian Bach
Born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany. In 1723 he was appointed as choir Director of the Thomas School and also as an organist in Leipzig. It was here that his genius reached its greatest heights and his fame was spread throughout the land. Bach was a very prolific composer and many of his greatest creations were written for the church like The B Minor Mass and St. Matthew’s Passion. Due to the great amount of work he had been doing he became blind in 1749 and on July 28, 1750, he died.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Born on May 7, 1840 in Votkinsk. In 1844 he wrote his first song Our Mama in Petersburg, Dances of the Serving Maids are his first orchestral composition performed in public. Among his great compositions are The Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and his tenth opera The Queen of Spades. In 1892, he finished The Nutcracker ballet and cholera ended his life on November 6, 1893 in St. Petersburg.

Johann Strauss Jr.
Born on October 25, 1825. Strauss was extremely prolific as a composer. During his lifetime he produced more than 500 songs of which 165 are Waltzes; one of them is An der Schȍnen Blauen Donau (1867). Between 1871 and 1897 he wrote some 15 operettas and the best known is Die Fledermaus (1874). His supreme compositions are unbeatable in richness of melody. He died on June 3, 1899.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner
Born on May 22, 1813 in Leipzig. He was a remarkable innovator both in harmony and in the structure of his work, creating his own version of the Gesamtkunstwerk, dramatic compositions in which the arts were brought together into a single unity. Wagner’s involvement in the Revolution of 1848 and subsequent escape from Dresden led to the staging of his next dramatic work, Lohengrin. His other music dramas are Tristan und Isolde, and his final work, Parsifal. He died on February 13, 1883 in Venice.

The Greatest Classical Musician (part1)

Ludwig Von Beethoven
Born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn on Rhine and is reverenced as the greatest instrumental composer of all times. About 1800 a malady, which later resulted in total deafness caused Beethoven acute mental suffering. In spite of this condition his opera Fidelio and Missa Solemnis are created with unique power. His works comprise of 138 opus-numbers and about 70 unnumbered compositions. He died in Vienna on March 26, 1827 of Pneumonia.

Franz Schubert
Born on January 31, 1797 in Liechtental, Austria. In 1810 he wrote a fantasy for piano four-hands and in 1813 he composed his first symphony. His first great song is Gretchen am Spinnrade which he created in 1814. In a year (1815) of enormous productivity he composed his second and third symphonies, 4 operas and 150 songs including Erlkȍnig. He organized his public concert, the only one in his lifetime on March 1828. He died on November 19, 1828 of Typhoid fever.

Frederic Francois Chopin
Born on February 22, 1810 in Zelazowa Wola-Poland. He made his first public appearance playing a concerto by Gyrowetz when he was nine years old. In 1825 he published his first work The Rondo in C Minor Opus I. Chopin reached greater heights with the piano than any of his predecessors. The beauty and the originality of his melodies prompted Rubenstein’s: Chopin is the soul of the piano. His failing health did not interfere with his composing until 1847. From then on, racked by Tuberculosis he waxed progressively weaker and died on October 17, 1849.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg. At the age of 5 he started creating his first composition. He started to compose The Marriage of Figaro in 1785 and produced it with a huge success in Vienna and Prague in 1786. Despite ill health he composed without cease and produced The Magic Flute in 1791. Mozart worked feverishly but his condition deteriorated. He died on December 5, 1791 of Nephritis, leaving The Requiem unfinished.

Classic Author Stephen Crane

When Stephen Crane was born in 1871, in Newark, New Jersey, he was the last in a big family of fourteen children. His minister father was very strict and wouldn’t permit his children any amusements except reading.

Although Stephen enjoyed reading, along with writing and baseball, he rebelled against a formal education and dropped out of college. He then moved to New York City, where some free-lance writing for newspapers kept him from always being broke and hungry.

Then a series of magazine articles on Civil War battles gave him the idea of writing a war novel. While the veterans who wrote these articles described what happened, they never described how they felt. Stephen Crane would change all that in his novel.

So, although the 21-year old writer had never been in a war and was writing about one that was fought before he was born, Crane described with uncanny accuracy the fears and sorrows, the cowardice and courage of the soldiers as they fought one of the war’s bloodiest battles-Chancellorsville.

Crane couldn’t interest book publishers in his story, so he sold it to a newspaper syndicate, and in December, 1894, The Red Badge of Courage appeared in serial form in over 700 newspapers. For his 18,000 word story, Crane was paid a half cent a word, for a total of $90!

The story was greeted with great enthusiasm, especially by many Civil War veterans, who insisted that Crane had to have been in the war himself to have described so accurately all that the soldiers felt.

Stephen Crane later did report on wars, in Cuba and in Greece. But these assignments left him with his own red badge-malaria and tuberculosis. These diseases led to his death in 1900, at the young age of 28.



During his short life, Crane also published four books of short stories and two books of poetry. But, he is best remembered for his classic American novel of the Civil War.

Steinway Piano (part 2)

The Duke of Brunswick personally purchase a Steinweg piano for 300 talers and master Heinrich no longer has to worry about the strength of his reputation. After making 482 pianos and advancing to become a sought-after manufacturer, the lean years suddenly set in. Famines, bad harvest and customs duties cripple trade.

Steinweg looks for a way out and therefore sends his son Karl to New York. The boy is supposed to find out whether the country of unlimited possibilities holds similar prospects for the Steinweg family. Karl’s forecast is extremely positive-he implores his father to make the courageous move to the New World.

On May 19, 1850 53-year-old Heinrich Steinweg, his wife and his children embark on their long voyage from Hamburg. Six weeks later the family lands in New York. The city is big, and the neatly clad, bow-tied gentlemen is uncertain. Unable to read or write, will he be able to find his feet here? As competent workers, luck is on their side. Heinrich and his sons find work with an American piano maker. The Steinwegs know their trade, they are hard-working and their pianos are of high quality. But the rewards are low and so, on March 5, 1853, they again risk founding their own business. “Build the best possible piano,” instructs the father who Americanizes their name in the following year. Heinrich Steinweg is 57 when he renames himself Henry Steinway. Steinway & Sons benefit from the spirit of the age.



In America, the most popular instrument is the piano. The first Steinway piano to be produced, correctly numbered 483, is sold to an American family for 500 dollars-it now stands in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Demand and profits continue to increase, the original premises soon become too small. Steinway & Sons moves to the district of Queens in 1860, the year that the piano makers from Germany beat all their American competitors for the first time. In Queens the company still manufacturer pianos in one of the largest factories in the whole of New York. Time seems to have stood still: grand pianos are still made by hand, and it often takes over a year to produce one instrument. So, it is hardly surprisingly that present-day prices start at 40,000 dollars.

Parallel to their progress in America, the Steinway also secured their market lead in the old continent and was appointed as suppliers of European monarchies, the German and Austrian emperors and the Tsar of Russia. Recalling its family roots in the 19th century, Steinway again set up a factory, this time in Hamburg. This company now sells about ten percent of its piano in the family’s old home country.

Steinway Piano (part 1)

Steinway-a resounding name: pianists and composer throughout the world love it. It stands for the finest quality and expert crafting, for concert grand and luxury-class pianos. And nothing has changed for 150 years. Steinway grand can be found in the world’s great concert halls, everywhere between Tokyo and New York.
But the Steinway story had its beginnings in the tiny town of Wolfshagen in the Harz mountains in the central Germany, on that bitterly cold day in 1797 when Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg was born. Little Heinrich, the youngest of twelve children in he family of Steinweg the forester, is slightly different from the rest. Of delicate build and highly musical, he is not exactly suited to his father’s kind of work. He thinks of becoming a carpenter-yes, that would be more to his liking. But first of all his country calls, and he dutifully goes to war.
Instead of a rifle he is armed with a bugle which he blows on June 18, 1815 at the legendary battle of Waterloo. And while his fellow soldiers are cleaning their weapons, Heinrich sits in camp skillfully making zithers and mandolins.



The war ends and Heinrich Steinweg returns in mourning. All of his seven brothers and his father have lost their lives in the war. As the only remaining man in the family he now bears heavy responsibilities. He begins his apprenticeship as a cabinet maker. His dream is to build musical instruments, but the strict rules of the guilds prevent this. Heinrich finds work in an organ builders’ workshop and decides to learn to play the organ. He spends every one of his rare free moments practicing until he becomes a church organist. All men are equal in the eyes of God and the rich and the poor meet at church. Heinrich Steinweg is still one of the poor when, one day, he catches sight of a charming young lady, Julianne Thiemer, who comes from a prosperous family. In February 1825, he married the love of his life. The happy groom has thought up something very special as a wedding present: he proudly presents his first Tafelklavier. A square piano of the highest quality secretly constructed in months of meticulously work.

The Steinweg marriage is happy-and fertile. Their first son Christian Friedrich Theodor is born on November 6th in their wedding year. In the following years, Juliane has four more boys and two girls while Heinrich steadily earns the money needed for the growing family. Ten years after the wedding he fulfills his lifelong dream and opens his first piano workshop in Seesen in the Harz mountains.

Spanish Painters: Joan Miró & Salvador Dalí

Joan Miró (1893-1983)
Miró was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1893. After an unhappy period as a clerk, he studied in Paris and Barcelona, and exhibited his work with other surrealists in 1925. In his early years, he had great admiration for primitive Catalán art and the Art Nouveau forms of Gaudi’s architecture. In 1920, he settled in Paris and invented a manner of painting using curvilinear, fantastical forms that suggest dreamlike situations. His paintings are predominantly abstract, and his humorous fantasy makes play with a restricted range of pure colors and dancing shapes. Miró’s work has been described as lively, colorful, and fantastical. His other works include ballet sets, sculptures, murals, and tapestries.




Salvador Dalí (1904-1989)
Dalí is one of the most recognizable and enigmatic painters of the 20th century. After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, Madrid, he moved to Paris and joined the surrealists (1928), becoming one of the principal figures of the movement. Dalí’s paintings derived from the world of dreams and symbols. His study of abnormal psychology led him to represent objects in landscapes that he remembered from his Spanish boyhood. In 1940, he settled in the United States, became a Catholic, and devoted his art to symbolic religious paintings. He wrote The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí (1942), and collaborated with Luis Buñuel in the surrealist films Un Chien Andalou (1928), and L’Age d’Or (1930). One of his best-known paintings is The Persistence of Memory known as The Limp Watches, 1911.

Spanish Painters: Pablo Picasso & Frida Kahlo

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Picasso is considered by many to be the greatest painter of the 20th century. He is best known as the inventor of a revolutionary art style, Cubism, and for his work as a painter, sculptor, and designer. He was born in Málaga, Spain, and spent most of his life in Paris. It was there that he met writer and art collector Gertrude Stein, who helped support him by purchasing many of his early works. One of the more remarkable qualities of Picasso’s career was the rapidity and ease with which he evolved from one artistic style to the next. His work between 1900 and 1906 was representative of the Impressionist style founded by masters such as Matisse, Monet, and Seurat. At that time he also experimented with a style borrowed from the Art Nouveau movement. The years between 1901 and 1904 are considered as his Blue Period. His work between 1904 and 1906 is known as his Pink Period. In 1907, we see the beginning of Cubism. During the Spanish Civil War, he painted his most historically significant work, Guernica (1937), as a protest of the bombing of the Basque town of the same name.




Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)
Frida Kahlo is perhaps the most recognizable female painter in the world. She was born in 1907 in Mexico City. Frida began painting while convalescing from a serious road accident at the age of 15. As a young girl, she sent her work to the painter Diego Rivera, whom she later married (1928). Characterized by vibrant imagery, many of her pictures were striking self-portraits. Pain, which followed her all her life, and the suffering of women are recurring and indelible themes in her surrealistic and often shocking pictures. Andrè Breton likened her paintings to ‘a ribbon around a bomb’.

Spanish Artist

Tito Puente (1923-2000)
Tito Puente was one of the most prolific musicians in the world. When he died at the age of 77, he had recorded over 100 albums. Most of the rock generation is familiar with Tito Puente through Santana’s cover of Oye Como Va. This Juilliard-trained musician is credited with fusing Cuban rhythms with big-band swing and bop. The son of Puerto Rican immigrants, Puente grew up in the Spanish Harlem section of Manhattan. By age 13, his family, friends, and band mates regarded him as a musical prodigy. With his innovative and highly danceable blend of Latin rhythms and big band jazz, Puente found success quickly. Puente also benefited from much collaboration with other musicians, including jazz greats like Buddy Morrow and Woody Herman and vocalists such as Celia Cruz. In 1963, he recorded the hit song Oye Como Va, which became a modern classic and a huge crossover hit for Santana. He won five Grammy Awards over the course of his career.




Carlos Gardel (1890-1935)
Gardel’s skyrocketing career was cut short in 1935, when he lost his life in a plane crash while on tour. A wave of grief and mourning spread through the Spanish-speaking world: a woman in Havana committed suicide, thousands of people made a pilgrimage to see his body in Buenos Aires, some of them traveling from Columbia, New York, and Rio de Janeiro. Known as el zorzal criollo, the song bird of Buenos Aires, Carlos Gardel is a legendary figure in Argentina. His career coincided with the development of that intrinsically Argentine cultural icon, the tango. Gardel made the music his own by inventing the tango-song. Radio performances and a film career extended this appeal. Instantly immortal and preserved forever young, his enduring fame is measured by the popular expression, “Gardel sings better every day.”

Sakura Wars 2

Here was a little-known game released on the Saturn about three years ago that came up and bit every Saturn owner righteously in the butt.

Its name was Sakura Wars. With the passing of time, it seems that the Saturn is now in its last day, but to paraphrase the works of many a classical writer, Sega is drawing upon its dying breath to strike one last palpable blow against its competitors at that time. And what a blow it is. Taking the form of a three-pronged attack, the Saturn launched games that redefined their respective genres through ingenuity and sheer, raw power. Burning Rangers and Vampire Savior are two of the. The last, and probably the greatest, is Sakura Wars 2.

Strapping on the boots of Oogami once again, you re-enter the ranks of the Flower Squadron a year after the events of the original Sakura Wars. Your mission is now to defend your local territory and defeat a newly formed faction that is intent on world dominance, the Black Demon Marauders. As was the case in the original game, you get to roam about the Hanagumi mansion and converse with your fellow pilots in between each fight sequence.

As you make a somewhat tearful return to the Hanagumi mansion, you will be met with characters new and old. Old flames like Sakura, the exquisite Sumire, the revoltingly cute little Iris (who would realistically be quite illegal to chase after), and the other characters have all made a return. New to the fold is a stuck up Italian girl named Soretta and a 12-year old boy genius called Reni.

Bigger and better animation during conversations is enough to make any true anime fan drool. For those who have been deprived of the pleasure of playing the original Sakura Wars, the conversational element basically allows you to select from a variety of responses to which the ladies will react negatively, positively, or indifferently. A positive response earns a point, and a negative response deducts a point.

Chalk up the most points with any one particular girl, and you’ll steal her heart at the end of the game… or is that the other way around? When the alarm bells go off, the characters jump down the secret chutes, change into their battle uniforms, and get ready to rock in some isometric mech strategy action. The magic of Sakura Wars 2 comes from the fact that, like its predecessor, it is set out like an actual anime series.

Saga Frontier II

The description of Saga Frontier II is about the history of Gustav’s battle in 100 years, and the players write this 100-years-chronological table by themselves.

According to the fun series, it is easy to understand and visualize Romancing Saga II. However, in the history which passes over 100 years, general events can be determined beforehand. With creating one occurrence/event, several next occurrences are filled in chronologically. So, the players select the event which is played and makes the 100-years-history come true. Neat?

In Saga Frontier II, the player makes the chronological table and history. This generation events keep advancing and become the subject of this game. Even tough the history outline is determined, the details of history change according to the creation condition of the event.

For example, the earliest hero is Gustav as we have mentioned before, but his 49-years life time has already been fixed. However, what kind of life he passes through and what name (image) is cut on the history are decided/determined by the players.



In this game where history events become the subject, the players can see each event from various points of view. At the vary beginning of the event, they are playing Gustav, the main character but they can also have a glimpse of a different side. It is because while playing other characters as the enemy’s side at the same event, it seems that number of heroes which are chosen by an event change the playing method.

Classic Authors Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850. He was a frail child, who was greatly influenced by his father’s punishments and by his nurse’s horrifying tales of demons.

Stevenson refused to follow the family profession of engineering and chose law when he went to the University of Edinburgh to study. But he soon gave that up and turned to writing, which his poor health could not deter.

After he married an American woman, Stevenson and his devoted wife traveled throughout the world trying to improve his delicate health while he continued his writing. In the four years between 1883 and 1887, Stevenson wrote his four longest and greatest novels: Treasure Island, The Black Arrow, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Kidnapped, and his famous book of poems, A Child’s Garden of Verses.



The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was born in a nightmare, but Stevenson remembered enough of it when he awoke to get it down on paper. Within three days he had the entire first draft written. He intended this book not only as a “thriller,” but also as a study of good and evil, which are always at war within man.
Stevenson and his family spent his last years on the South Pacific island of Samoa where he continued his writing until he collapsed and died in 1894 at the young age of forty-four.

Love and New Beginnings

The essence of life is renewal. If we are truly alive, we are re-born everyday. We cannot assimilate even the most insignificant thing without being affected by the experience. Every minute offers the potential for newness and discovery, for realization and actualization, for new opportunities to love and be loved.

We spend most of our lives among the same people day in and day out. On the surface, they appear unchanging and it does not occur to us that perhaps beneath their surface a whole world of change may be going on, undetected and unappreciated.
Even if we resist change, it is said that at the moment we are born we are already moving on our inevitable path to death. It is no secret that our bodies undergo dramatic changes. It should be acceptable that our minds, our tastes, our opinions, our beliefs and our dreams are also changing each day.

Lovers know that they can never assume anything about the people they love. They must allow each person, each object, each day, each moment, to tell its own story. They know that their senses may betray them, but that through love they are encouraged toward the acceptance of a lifetime of new beginnings.



Speak about the environment of love, if we are wise, we strive to create our loving environment. We are content where passion does not overshadow fondness; where physical needs are no more important than emotional needs. Differences are celebrated here, not just tolerated, and respect grows instead of being allowed to erode. This is a place where there is real sharing rather than indifference. This loving environment encourages when nothing else does and nourishes like nothing else can.

Classic Authors Johann Rudolf Wyss & Lyman Frank Baum

Johann Rudolf Wyss was born in Bern, Switzerland on March 13, 1781. He was the son of a pastor who entertained young Johann and his brothers at bedtime with adventure tales of a shipwrecked preacher and his family.



Johann had a fine education at several German universities, and in 1806 he became a professor at the University of Bern and also its head librarian. But Professor Wyss never lost his love of literature. This led to his collecting and editing Swiss folk stories and to his writing of the Swiss national anthem. But it wasn’t until 1813 that Johann Wyss gained worldwide fame when he wrote, edited, and published his father’s bedtime stories under the title of The Shipwrecked Preacher and His Family: An Instructional Book for Children and Their Friends in City or Country. This was later to be shortened to the now famous Swiss Family Robinson.

Immediately after its publication, The Swiss Family Robinson was translated into many languages, including English. Over the years, it has become one of the most popular books for generations of European and American children-a popularity which Wyss lived to see and enjoy until his death in 1830.

Lyman Frank Baum was born on May 15, 1856, in Chittenango, New York. He began his writing career as a teenage reporter for the New York World. Within two years, he was the publisher of a small town newspaper in Pennsylvania.



As a young man, Baum also acted in road companies and wrote plays. One of his musical comedies was produced in New York. He returned to journalism in 1880. Lyman Baum married and had four sons. He settled in Chicago where he founded a trade journal, which helped him to support his family while he continued writing fiction.
The Wizard of Oz, which was first published in 1900, became so popular among its readers that Baum wrote thirteen sequels to the original story. In addition, he wrote books for girls under the pen name of Edith Van Dyne. L. Frank Baum died in 1919.

Classic Author Jack London

Jack London was born in San Francisco, California, on January 12, 1876. Even though he quit school at 14, London was a great reader. While still in his teens, he worked as a coal-shoveler, a jute mill worker, and an oyster pirate in America. And then as a seal hunter in Japan and Siberia.

Returning home from this expedition, London became a tramp and was jailed for vagrancy. In 1897, after the Gold Rush started, 21-year-old London went prospecting in Canada and Alaska. There, he learned about the lives of trappers, Indians, gold prospectors-and very importantly-sled-dogs. His experiences in the North formed the basis for many of his adventure books, especially his best-sellers, The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea Wolf.



During his 17-year writing career, London wrote 50 books, novels, and short stories in addition to newspaper articles and political essays.

By the time he was 40, London had earned a million dollars through his writing, but his own personal suffering led him to leave man’s world, just as it led Buck, his Call of the Wild dog hero. And on November 22, 1916, Jack London committed suicide. He had experienced more of life than most people, and he told the world about it in a fascinating, vigorous, and memorable style.

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Roberto Clemente (1934-1972)
It has been decades since his unfortunate death, but Roberto is still remembered as one of the greatest athletes and humanitarians of all time. Roberto was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico. During his 18-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1955-72), he compiled a lifetime batting average of 317 and was considered baseball’s premier defensive outfielder. After he obtained his 3,000th hit in the last game of the 1972 season, his life tragically cut short when he perished in a plane crash. On New Year’s Eve, Roberto’s plane was taking medical, food, and clothing supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua. Despite bad weather, an unstable cargo plane, and the advice of his friends and family, Roberto was determined to take off. He was infuriated that the previous supplies had not made it to the victims. Roberto was going to personally see to it that the victims received the much-needed supplies. Unfortunately, the plane went down off the coast of Puerto Rico. Clemente’s body was never found. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973.





Raúl Júlia (1944-1994)
Many theatergoers mourned Júlia when he passed away at the early age of 50. After graduating from the University of Puerto Rico (1964), where he majored in drama, he moved to New York City to pursue a stage career. In the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared in a number of Broadway productions. He also worked steadily for the New York Shakespeare Festival. He was nominated for a Tony for his proposal of Macheath in Brecht’s The Three-Penny Opera (1978). Mr. Júlia created the role of Valentine in the Broadway musical, Two Gentlemen of Verona. In the 1970s, he began his movie career, which brought him great success in films such as Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), Tequila Sunrise (1988), and The Addams Family I and II (1991 & 1993). In addition to his successful stage career, Júlia frequently appeared as a spokesperson for Puerto Rican tourism.

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Fernando Botero
Fernando Botero is one of the most influential contemporary artists in the world. Botero comes from a humble background in Medellín, Columbia. He has received numerous awards and his works have been exhibited in many of the major galleries and museums around the world. Botero is famous for his characteristic rotund figures. His manner is satirical, reflecting social commentary with a political overtone. In 1956, he taught at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Bogotá and traveled to Mexico to study the work of Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. In 1969, the Inflated Images exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York established him as one of the Masters of the Twentieth Century. Although at first impression his signature style seems purely esthetic, a deeper interpretation of his work suggests a mockery of the excesses of militarists, people of power and the morals and manners of the bourgeoisie.




Pedro Almodóvar
In 1988, Pedro Almodóvar received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film for his film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. In 1999, Almodóvar took the film world by storm with his critical smash, All About My Mother. That year, he was awarded with a coveted Oscar and with the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Almodóvar’s outrageous films have no problems breaking taboos. A provocative director known for his compassionate portrayal of women and outcasts, he started his career as an amateur director while working at the Spanish telephone company in Madrid.

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Desi Arnaz (1917-1986)
Desi Arnaz was instrumental in the creation and the production of one of the most beloved TV sitcoms ever made. Soon after Arnaz arrived in America at the age of 16, he joined the Siboney Septet and later put together his own rumba band. In 1940, Desi appeared in both the stage and movie versions of Too Many Girls. It was on the set of this movie where he met his future wife, Lucille Ball. Later that year, Desi and Lucille got married. When the couple came up with the idea for a TV Series, they fought to do it together in spite of the reluctance of the network’s executives: They didn’t think the TV series would work because Desi was Cuban. In the summer of 1950, they went on tour, performing for live audiences to prove that the show savings of $5,000. In no time, he and Lucy became the most famous couple in TV history. He convinced the show’s sponsor that Lucy having a baby on the show would give them great publicity. He was right. The Birth of Little Ricky drew 44 million viewers. As a successful executive at DesiLu productions, he also produced many other shows for television.





Luis Buñuel (1900-1983)
Buñuel was one of the greatest European directors of the 20th century. He was the founder of surrealist cinema, a man who enjoyed a career as diverse and contradictory as his films. He was a master of both silent and sound cinema, of documentaries as well as features. His greatest work was produced in the two decades after his 60th year, a time when most directors have either retired or gone into decline. Although frequently characterized as surrealist, many of his films were dramas and farces in the realist or neorealist mode. Yet despite all the innovations and permutations of his work, Buñuel remained surprisingly consistent and limited in the targets of his social satire: the Catholic Church, bourgeois culture, and fascism. His friends included several of Spain’s great artists and writers, including Salvador Dalí and Federico García Lorca. Some of his famous films are Un Chien Andalou 91928), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), That Obscure Object of Desire (1977), and Belle De Jour (19670, starring Catherine Deneuve.

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Antonio Gaudí (1852-1926)
Gaudí was one of the world’s greatest architects. No trip to Barcelona is complete without visiting his majestic buildings, parks, and monuments. He studied at the School of Architecture in Barcelona, and became the most famous exponent of Catalán “modernism”, one of the branches of the Art Nouveau movement. He is best known for the extravagant and ornate Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona, which occupied him from 1884 until his death. The Sagrada Familia Church is a work in progress; it will take many years before Gaudí’s masterful and detailed designs come to fruition.




Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)
Federico García Lorca is Spain’s most deeply appreciated and highly revered poet and dramatist. His murder by the Nationalists at the start of the Spanish Civil War brought sudden international fame. He must now be bracketed with Machado as one of the two greatest poets Spain produced in the 20th century, and he is certainly Spain’s greatest dramatist since the 16th century. His reputation as a playwright rests mainly on the three “folk tragedies”: Blood Wedding, Yerma, and The House of Bernarda Alba. The setting of this trilogy recalls some of his poetry, deeply associated with earth, blood, sex, water, fertility, death, and the moon. These plays are richly poetic, with an almost ritualized primitivism. They have captivated audiences around the world for decades.

Genso Suikoden II: Play or Not to Play?

Back at times when the PS is still a little weenie at its first year of appearance, Suikoden was one of the first generation RPGs released for it (besides other title like Beyond the Beyond) released in late 1996 by Konami. The game quickly became the console’s most heralded RPG, acclaimed for enhancing the traditional RPG experience with innovative additions such as unheard of 108 playable characters, a castle headquarters (no cheap inns or clunky airships for this cast of characters), and two unique battle types: the one-on-one duel and epic battles pitting entire armies against each other. And now Konami looks to treat its audience with same formula for success that made Suikoden a hit with their impending sequel, Akatsuki Teikokugawa, roughly meaning “Scarlet Moon: Imperial Side.”

In Scarlet Moon, Konami has decided to stick for the unique elements that made its predecessor a success. Staying true to the Chinese fable around which the Suikoden series is loosely based, the game will revolve around a central figure and his 107 allies. Army battles and a headquarters for allies to hang their hats in also included and improved upon. Even the battle engine will remain basically the same as the original, but will be souped up with a higher number of individual combination attacks.

The story of Scarlet Moon will be tightly intertwined with its predecessor, taking place just three years afterwards. When in this sequel, you play the part of the same empire that you battle against in the original the Imperil Side which your character coming from.

There’s the traditionally nameless hero, Joey and Nanami. The hero and Nanami (described a a cheerful tomboy) share the same father via adoption whose name is Genkaku, a master of a local dojo. Joey is the hero’s childhood friend and a member of the distinguished, well-to-do Atreido family. The hero and Joey join UNICORN, a military youth corps of Highland Kingdom after the death of Genkaku. While in this unit, they participate in a series of border dispute fueled battles against the Jouston Cities Alliance that only result in a stalemate.

When a truce is finally achieved, the animosity between the two sides still lingers as the story unfolds. The bulk of the allies the hero gains along the way are defectors from the Jouston Cities Alliance, implying that Highland Kingdom is a member of the Scarlet Moon Empire. Expect appearances from about one third of Suikoden’s characters in Scarlet Moon, including Flik and Victor.

Enjoying Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy series is one of the most breathtaking games ever. The universe introduced in Final Fantasy XII is huge, deep, beautiful, rich, and complex. The quests are many, the foes fierce. As always, secrets and mysteries abound.

Fortunately, you hold in your hands the ultimate insider’s guide to that universe.
This is about the story of Ivalice. A great era of peace and prosperity is fading. The stability bestowed upon Ivalice in the founding days of the Dynasty King has been darkened by the likelihood of war between empires. Rozarria and Archadia seem destined to collide, crushing whatever stands between them.

Indeed, the Archadian push west toward Rozarria has already consumed Nabradia and its sibling sovereignty, the small, peaceful Kingdom of Dalmasca. Final Fantasy XII opens with a quick glimpse of the last throes of pre-Imperial Dalmasca and its desperate fight for freedom, followed by an equally desperate negotiation for peace. In the opening tutorial mission, you participate in a final, fateful attempt to deliver land and king from the cluthes of Archadian domination.



Fast forward two years: In the Dalmascan capital city of Rabanastre, a new consul, Vayne Solidor, son of the Archadian emperor, arrives with a message of hope and renewal for the citizens of that subjugated land. However, his silver-tongued speech doesn’t fully convince Vaan, an orphaned street boy who sees the Empire as a thieving bully that has robbed his country of wealth and dignity.

Vaan dreams of escape, seeing his future in the skies as a sky pirate. First, though, he wants some measure of revenge. His bold attempt to infiltrate the Royal Palace during the consul’s inaugural fete to take back some of the treasure that belongs to Dalmasca leads Vaan straight into the clasp of a destiny none could foresee. It is a destiny that includes an exhilarating adventure in the company of pirates, a princess, and a great fallen Knight of the Order. As such, the tale begins.

Charles Dickens: Is He One of Your Favourite Classic Authors?

Charles Dickens was born in England, in 1812, the second of eight children of a debt-ridden government clerk. Because his family had handled their money poorly, young Charles was sent to work in a London factory at the age of ten. This experience upset him so greatly and left such an impression on him that he later created poor, suffering people as the heroes of many of his novels and cruel, selfish rich ones as the villains.

An unexpected, small legacy permitted Charles to break free of the slave factory and return to school. He became a newspaper reporter-a job which helped him to observe people and to create scenes that live in his readers’ memories.

With the appearance of The Pickwick Papers in 1836 and 1837, Charles Dickens, at age 24, became the most popular novelist in England. This popularity increased with the publication of David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, and A Tale of Two Cities.

Dickens had a keen interest in politics and in improving social conditions. He used this interest to weave the exciting characters and events in France and in England that led up to the French Revolution in his historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities.

Much of Charles Dickens’ life was spent writing, editing, touring to read his novel, and promoting many charities to help the poor. He was active in all this work until his death in 1870.

Classic Authors Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

As a boy in England, Arthur Conan Doyle enjoyed reading detective stories. But he was working his way through medical school and didn’t have much time for writing.

However, in 1886, as the twenty-seven-year-old Dr. Doyle sat in his new office hoping for patients. He decided to try writing a detective story. And so, Mr. Sherlock Holmes was born.



Over the years, Doyle himself came to be recognized as an expert on crime. He solved many real-life criminal cases and proved the innocence of men who had been imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit.

Doyle interrupted his writing career to serve as a doctor with the British Army during the Boer War in Africa. Afterwards, he wrote two books explaining why the British had to fight the war. For these efforts, Doyle was knighted by King Edward VII and he became Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

During a visit to the moor country in western England, Doyle became so interested in a legend about a hound, that he used it as a plot for a new book. This book became the greatest of all of Holmes’ adventure, The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Many of sixty Sherlock Holmes stories have been translated into other languages and have been made even more popular in plays, movies, radio, and TV.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died in 1930 at the age of seventy-one. But each day, the number of his readers increases, as someone discovers, for the first time, the amazing Mr. Holmes.

Berlin: Old & New

Berlin originated in the 13th century from two marked towns, Cȍlln and Berlin, on the sandy banks of the river Spree, and even today it is possible to see how four historical periods have left their mark on the town. The first is the age of the Electors of Bradenburg; in 1470 they made the Palace in, Cȍlln their residence. Frederick William of Bradensburg, strengthened the banks of the Spree and made out of Berlin, abandoned by half of its inhabitants in the Thirty Years’ war, a clean and respectable town, and it soon became an important cultural center, which was due in no small measure to the hospitality given to exiled Huguenot scholars and craftsmen.

In its second historical period of Berlin was the town of the Kings of Prussia. We are reminded of this today by Charlottenburg palace, which Frederick I, the first King of Prussia, had built for his wife Sophie-Charlotte. Frederick William I enlarged Berlin and built the new suburb of Friedrichstraβe and the Wilhelmstraβe, which were later to form the government quarters. It was Frederick the Great who laid out Berlin’s most famous street, Unter den Linden, at the end of which the Bradenburg Gate was erected in 1789.

In 1871, when Berlin became the capital of the German Empire, the third great period began for the town. During the industrial age it had flourished tremendously and could soon boast one million inhabitants. All this part of the old Berlin of the kings and kaisers with its neo-classical buildings is today situated in East Berlin. Up to 1860 the present town district called Mitte around the Alexanderplatz was Berlin proper, and the Brandenburg Gate formed the architectural boundary of the town. Only at this time did the town begin to expand westwards, and smart residential areas center around the large new connecting road, the Kurfȕstendamm, extended out towards Grunewald.

The fourth period is the time between the end of the First World War and 1933, when Berlin became a town of international standing. This Greater Berlin came into being in 1920, when the whole growth of town districts, suburbs, villages, and land with its total of four million people was merged together under a uniform administration to form an organic whole. Thus a major city was born, with one-fifth of its total area of 350 square miles consisting of woods, lakes, and rivers, and which, with its fresh climate, could rightly call itself the healthiest city in the world.

This period was Berlin’s great age especially as far as culture is concerned. Since as early as 1700 Berlin possessed Germany’s first Academy of Sciences, as far back as 1696 the first Academy of Arts and the University founded by Humboldt in 1810 had long been Germany’s intellectual center. But now, in addition to all this, Berlin with more than fifty theaters, became a town with world-wide influence on the drama, a world-famous opera and concert town, a town of museums, whose art treasures could well stand comparison with those of London and Paris. But, this heyday was short-lived.

How well do you know Alexandre Dumas?

The year was 1807. Five-year-old Alexandre Dumas knew that he was different from the other boys in the sall town of Villers-Cotterets. For Alexandre was half black and half white. And nobody ever let him forget that.

Education bored young Alexandre and as he grew, he preferred spending his time hunting and leading an outdoor life. But when Alexandre turned sixteen, his whole life changed. He saw his first play-a performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and from that moment on, his dream was to go to Paris and become a playwright.
Dumas worked for years as a clerk and wrote in his spare time. He had success writing plays and travel books. But, it wasn’t until 1844 that Alexandre Dumas hit upon the one kind of story that was to make him rich and famous. That was the historical novel.

In his many historical novels, Dumas took people who really existed in French history and events that actually happened. He added main characters from his own imagination and created entertaining and amusing adventure stories around them.

The most famous of all Dumas’ historical novels are The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask.

Alexandre Dumas wrote more than six hundred books in his lifetime, more than any other man, living or dead. And he made money from them. But he spent everything he earned building elegant mansions, entertaining great artists and writers of Paris buying theaters and newspaper, and romancing many women.

The man who made the world rich with all his books died in 1870-penniless!

Wine: The Making & The Storage

Wine is made from two ingredients: yeast and grape juice. Though, any fruit can be used, like pineapple for tequila, but still grape dominated. Traditionally, the wine making process is to crush the grapes. Today, the wine maker used crusher machine to break the grape skin to release the juice.

Yeast turns grape juice into wine. Wild yeast spores in the air and all that is really needed to make wine is time and an open container of grape juice.

During fermentation, yeast spores will reproduce exponentially until all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed. During this fermentation process, the sugars are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

The making process of wine is not simple and either the storage. Avoid bottles that have wine residue near the foil covering the cork. Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this those bottles were laid down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.

The wine may have been damaged by heat. Wine must be stored in a cool place and away from direct sunlight, with bottles on their sides to keep the cork moistened. Wine stays fine for several days if recorked and refrigerated.

Sparkling and white wines should be opened just prior to serving. Red wines can be opened well before serving to allow them for “breathing”, mix with air to develop their full aroma and flavor.

The screw cap on wine bottle seems to have a divisive effect on wine drinkers. It puts some in mind of lower quality wines. But to others, it is the savior of wine by protecting its quality. The screw cap wine has been used since the mid-1970s. In the last 10 years that it has become an acceptable alternatively to corks.

The alternatives are not cheaper than corks. The price that wine makers pay for them is similar to that of high grade corks. Lower grade corks have more grains in them and, depending on the way they are handled, have a great risk of mould infection.

Wines that are meant to be consumed within five years should be put under screw caps. The technology has improved and wine producers have become more aware of the downsides. The major one being that the seal is so good that the wine is not exposed to enough air. This can cause odd smells from trapped sulphur. If you encounter this, just let the wine breathe or better still, decant it.

Winemakers now take every effort to ensure their product is free of faults and they deserve a reliable closure. The issue is when it comes to store wine is that it needs to be maintained at a cool temperature of between 12 and 16 degrees Celcius. Several modern wines do not need to be aged over a great period of storage time.

Philosophy in Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist means spirit of times, the drift of thought and feeling in a certain period. Philosophy had a long journey to each Zeitgeist. Existentialism is one of main core of philosophy. Since René Descartes with his famous “I think therefore I am” until the post Word-War years were the great time of existentialism. The most varied philosophies schools of thought and ideologies have always coexisted. What is meant here are those ideas which penetrated beyond the small circle of the philosophically interested into the public at large and influenced thinking in many fields where each in its way for several years determined zeitgeist.

Zeitgeist is linked with the names of German philosopher, Martin Heideger and Karl Jespers. The main works of both had appeared decades previously, but only now met with a broader response, whereby no doubt misunderstandings and over-simplification occurred. In the time of crisis and period of deprivation following total defeat in 1945, where often enough the issue was mere survival, many could identify with a philosophy whose main precepts were Angst (fear), Sorge (worry), Scheitern (failure), Geworfenheit (being cast down) and which radically threw the human being back to that innermost core which is preserved even in the face of death.

The people who live at that zeitgeist, stood in a make-or-break situation the moment had come for this teaching to prove its worth. Thus it is no coincidence that among the many whose in philosophical seriousness pronounced on the question. Karl Jespers had the weightiest utterances to make. He and Martin Heideger contribute to increase public philosophical awareness. When economic rose in German, the attractiveness of existentialism gradually paled. People live in consolidating, prosperity, and social security advanced year by year and there appeared to be no limits to their growth.

In such a climate one readily tended to think that fundamental questions such as the meanings of history or human coexistence had lost their importance and that the only thing which still mattered was finding pragmatic solutions for individual problems. To some this was not enough. They took the view that to reject Communism with its self-contained ideology one needed a counter-ideology which had to rest on such precepts as “freedom” and “Western civilization”. But on the whole, the fact that on German soil two conflicting models of society were being tried out was felt to be more of an annoyance than a challenge. The majority wanted nothing to do with such problems. Sociologist of the time spoke of the “skeptical generation” and of a progress of “de-ideologization” which they regarded as irreversible.

Insurance as Life Protection Plan

At this time, maybe you’re no doubt in good health and leading an enjoyable lifestyle. You’ve probably got some degree of financial commitment, such as a mortgage, stock, or bond. You may even have a family to support.



But have you ever considered what would be happened if you couldn’t work due to an accident or serious illness? How would you manage? Worse still, how would your family cope if you were no longer there to support them? You may think nothing serious could ever happen to you. Yet every year in the world, million people suffered a heart attack, having some form of cancer, got a stroke, and some others need to receive kidney dialysis.

So wouldn’t it be reassuring to know that you could benefit from a cash lump sum if you were to fall ill?

Or that your financial responsibilities would be taken care of if you were to die? You can do something about this now, and sooner is better.

At each stage of your life-when you are single, then you got married, setting up home, bringing up children or waiting for grandchildren-your responsibilities, and therefore your protection needs, are change. Any solution needs to be flexible, capable of changing with you throughout life.

An insurance polis means to make life protection plan. Choose an insurance company that offers complete protection-for you-if you got serious illness, or for your family-if you die. The polis you take should focus on your needs right now and is easily adapted to reflect your needs anytime in the future.

If you’re single, how would your lifestyle suffer if a serious accident or illness stopped you from working long term?

Many life assurance policies only offer a lump sum in the event of death-hardly useful if you have no dependants. So, what you should do is to choose an insurance that you can receive financial support when it matters most, when a serious illness is diagnosed by your physician.

It’s also important to have a plan that can change as your life changes. For example, if you get married the increase commitment will mean increased responsibility. The polis you took must allow you to increase the level of cover to protect your new partner and perhaps your mortgage as well.

But don’t leave it too late to think about the future. Because the younger you are when you start a plan, the lower the premiums will be.

Whether you’re married or you’ve set up home, you should consider how best to protect your health as well as secure your future.

If your budget is tight now, perhaps with a mortgage and other monthly outgoings, then your lifestyle is in all the more danger should either of you suffer a serious illness. Choose the polis that flexible enough to protect your children, if you decide to have one. With no need for further medical checks, you can increase the level of your cover in the plan for up to three children.

If you have a family, who will take over if a serious illness or death stops you from providing for your family? The right insurance polis can ease what could be a huge financial burden on you and your family.

Looking ahead on the brighter side, your lifestyle will hopefully change for the better-perhaps you’ll move to a larger house to cope with your growing family. In most cases, insurance polis can protect the increase in your mortgage without the need for further medical checks.

Renaissance of Marxism

Speak about existentialism, thinkers came to the fore whose works had long been in existence. One should mention here are Max Horkheimer and Theodor W Adorno, whose “critical theory” fused Marxist criticism of society with the findings of psycho-analysis. They had great influence on the anti-authoritarian student movement which began in 1966. Also important, albeit less direct, was the impact of Ernst Bloch, probably the most original Marxist philosopher, who incorporated the entire. European cultural heritage in his philosophy of hope, innumerable other variations of Marxism found their adherents. But non-Marxist analyses of society were also discussed Gesselschaft (society) became the fashionable word of the age.

The interest in Marxism and sociological inquiry in general was in large measure prompted by doubts being articulated more frequently than previously. Too high, sometimes simply utopian hopes were placed in reforms begun in the late 60’s. They could not be fulfilled on the scale hoped for, especially when the economic crisis beginning in the 1970s greatly curbed the material means available. There upon disappointment, disillusionment with reform and an anti-utopian mood spread. Many observers saw in this a turn of the tide, a return of Conservatism.

Probably this interpretation is too superficial. It is true, however, that the belief in simple theories which claim to offer an explanation of all social phenomena, has become shaky, as has the idea that society could be changed quickly. One testimony to this is the growing following attracted by critical rationalism, a school of thought whose leading representative is Sir Karl Popper.

But beyond this, new problems have arisen which seem to fit into none of the inherited ways of looking at the world. Where the issues are destruction of the environment, depletion of natural resources and the possible limits to the economic growth, categories such as “progressive” and “conservative” are no longer applicable in their traditional meanings. Quite new fronts are coming into being cutting across all ideological camps.

Perhaps indicative of the latest developments is that natural scientific and socio-scientific thinking are again moving closer together. When Werner Heisenberg, one of the great nuclear physicists of the 20th century, published his unitary theory of elementary particles in the 60s it found respectful recognition in the interested public, but hardly influenced philosophical thinking about mankind and its position in the world.

Half a generation later things look completely different. Heisenberg’s pupil, Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, formerly a physicist of renowned himself in 1970 founded an Institute for the study of the Preconditions of Human Life in the Modern World. He is representative of a generation of thinkers-who have turned to the new inter-disciplinary inquiry.

Philosophy are coming into being here and elsewhere do not yet have generally recognized names. But there is no doubt that they will lastingly influence public awareness in the immediate future.(*)