hmmm. haven't updated my blog for quite some time. here's something i wrote recently that i think deserves to be in the net:
ZOOM IN
By JON JOAQUIN
jonjoaquin@skyinet.net
Instant coffee solutions
How do you make your coffee? If you’re like most everyone else, you spoon some instant coffee and sugar into a cup, maybe add some creamer (the powdered non-dairy type) pour boiling water in it, stir, and drink. Me, I prefer taking my time to get a perfect cup o’ joe. First I grind some roasted coffee beans (a mix of arabica and robusta), then put two cups’ worth into my cappuccino maker. Then I carefully measure out two cups of water in the carafe and pour it into the machine’s container. After turning the machine on (it takes a while for it to heat up) I pour out three-fourths of a mug of fresh milk into a mug (I’m told it’s better to use a small pitcher but I don’t have one) and wait for the machine to start pouring out the coffee into the carafe. At a certain portion – just as the steam begins to hiss – I put the mug of milk into the steam spout and divert the steam from the coffee grounds to the steamer to make some frothed milk. That done, I turn the machine back to finish the coffee, which I then pour into two mugs (one for myself, the other for my wife). Then I pour the frothed milk into it, first the liquid, then the froth on top, which I dab onto the mugs with a spoon. Finally, I tap some cinnamon powder onto my mug (none for me, thank you, says my wife): my cappuccino is ready.
-oOo-
You might say that’s too much trouble for just a cup of coffee, but anyone who has tasted real cappuccino will tell you there’s a world of difference between that and instant coffee. But most of the world – well, at least most of the Philippines – will make do with instant because it’s easier. That is the distinguishing characteristic of this generation that has grown so used to short cuts it cannot tolerate anything that takes more than 10 minutes to prepare. You want noodles? Get Lucky Me. Want oatmeal? Get the quick-cook variety. There’s even instant scrambled eggs. We’re all in a hurry, and we want our food to catch up with us. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing (although most instant stuff do contain chemicals that are bad for you); what I’m saying is we’re missing out on a lot in terms of taste and, perhaps more importantly, satisfaction by relying on instant.
-oOo-
Unfortunately our penchant for all things instant has crept into other areas of our lives as well. And I’m not just talking about texting or emailing instead of writing out a letter on a piece of stationery: I’m talking about how many of us apparently think our society can be ruled by instant coffee methods like the oft-repeated threat of “people power.” Many people have the misconception that the first (and many say the only real) People Power in February 1986 was a quick fix to the Marcos regime, that it was a short cut to kicking out a dictator, that it was an “instant coffee solution” to the slumber that had been induced by the conjugal dictatorship. In truth People Power was only the climax to two decades of suppression against which the people rose slowly but surely. We were like a cup of cappuccino that had percolated long enough and was steaming out the oppressors.
-oOo-
But that aspect is all but forgotten now, and what most people remember are the four days in February 1986 that resulted in freedom. And with those four glorious days in mind, hundreds of thousands again took to EDSA in January 2001 to boot out the corrupt President Joseph Estrada, hoping an instant-coffee solution could again be mixed to drive him away. I rejoiced when Erap did leave Malacañang, but later on I, and I believe a lot of us as well, began to think we should have simply waited and let the legal process take care of him. While it may be argued that Erap’s friends in the Senate were already cheating the people and making sure he got acquitted, we should have trusted the impeachment process to do the kicking out for us. As it happened, we decided it was time to take out the instant coffee solution from the cupboard, and we are suffering the consequences of it to this day.
-oOo-
Aside from the instability that had characterized the Arroyo administration (thanks to people who think destabilizing the government is part of their service to the people), we are now faced with the very real possibility that any group with substantial numbers can invoke People Power to get their way. Candidate FPJ’s followers have been threatening us with a revolution from day one, saying if FPJ loses – or if he is disqualified for allegedly being an American citizen – they will take to the streets and claim government for their own. That is nothing short of inciting to sedition and is the height of presumptuousness. Just because FPJ is popular doesn’t mean he will win, or that he will lose only if he’s cheated, or that his citizenship will not be questioned.
-oOo-
Now we have FPJ’s followers, and perhaps FPJ himself by saying he will continue to fight even if he is disqualified by the Supreme Court, boiling water to mix an instant coffee solution to their problem. Since they’re not satisfied with how life is treating them, they’ll just take the short cut, even though the short cut, as we have seen and are still suffering from, is often fraught with its own set of pitfalls. In the end we will all wish we had taken the long route, taken time to grind the coffee beans, taken time to brew the coffee, taken time to handle problems the right way instead of using instant coffee solutions which do nothing to really wake us up.
ZOOM IN
By JON JOAQUIN
jonjoaquin@skyinet.net
Instant coffee solutions
How do you make your coffee? If you’re like most everyone else, you spoon some instant coffee and sugar into a cup, maybe add some creamer (the powdered non-dairy type) pour boiling water in it, stir, and drink. Me, I prefer taking my time to get a perfect cup o’ joe. First I grind some roasted coffee beans (a mix of arabica and robusta), then put two cups’ worth into my cappuccino maker. Then I carefully measure out two cups of water in the carafe and pour it into the machine’s container. After turning the machine on (it takes a while for it to heat up) I pour out three-fourths of a mug of fresh milk into a mug (I’m told it’s better to use a small pitcher but I don’t have one) and wait for the machine to start pouring out the coffee into the carafe. At a certain portion – just as the steam begins to hiss – I put the mug of milk into the steam spout and divert the steam from the coffee grounds to the steamer to make some frothed milk. That done, I turn the machine back to finish the coffee, which I then pour into two mugs (one for myself, the other for my wife). Then I pour the frothed milk into it, first the liquid, then the froth on top, which I dab onto the mugs with a spoon. Finally, I tap some cinnamon powder onto my mug (none for me, thank you, says my wife): my cappuccino is ready.
-oOo-
You might say that’s too much trouble for just a cup of coffee, but anyone who has tasted real cappuccino will tell you there’s a world of difference between that and instant coffee. But most of the world – well, at least most of the Philippines – will make do with instant because it’s easier. That is the distinguishing characteristic of this generation that has grown so used to short cuts it cannot tolerate anything that takes more than 10 minutes to prepare. You want noodles? Get Lucky Me. Want oatmeal? Get the quick-cook variety. There’s even instant scrambled eggs. We’re all in a hurry, and we want our food to catch up with us. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing (although most instant stuff do contain chemicals that are bad for you); what I’m saying is we’re missing out on a lot in terms of taste and, perhaps more importantly, satisfaction by relying on instant.
-oOo-
Unfortunately our penchant for all things instant has crept into other areas of our lives as well. And I’m not just talking about texting or emailing instead of writing out a letter on a piece of stationery: I’m talking about how many of us apparently think our society can be ruled by instant coffee methods like the oft-repeated threat of “people power.” Many people have the misconception that the first (and many say the only real) People Power in February 1986 was a quick fix to the Marcos regime, that it was a short cut to kicking out a dictator, that it was an “instant coffee solution” to the slumber that had been induced by the conjugal dictatorship. In truth People Power was only the climax to two decades of suppression against which the people rose slowly but surely. We were like a cup of cappuccino that had percolated long enough and was steaming out the oppressors.
-oOo-
But that aspect is all but forgotten now, and what most people remember are the four days in February 1986 that resulted in freedom. And with those four glorious days in mind, hundreds of thousands again took to EDSA in January 2001 to boot out the corrupt President Joseph Estrada, hoping an instant-coffee solution could again be mixed to drive him away. I rejoiced when Erap did leave Malacañang, but later on I, and I believe a lot of us as well, began to think we should have simply waited and let the legal process take care of him. While it may be argued that Erap’s friends in the Senate were already cheating the people and making sure he got acquitted, we should have trusted the impeachment process to do the kicking out for us. As it happened, we decided it was time to take out the instant coffee solution from the cupboard, and we are suffering the consequences of it to this day.
-oOo-
Aside from the instability that had characterized the Arroyo administration (thanks to people who think destabilizing the government is part of their service to the people), we are now faced with the very real possibility that any group with substantial numbers can invoke People Power to get their way. Candidate FPJ’s followers have been threatening us with a revolution from day one, saying if FPJ loses – or if he is disqualified for allegedly being an American citizen – they will take to the streets and claim government for their own. That is nothing short of inciting to sedition and is the height of presumptuousness. Just because FPJ is popular doesn’t mean he will win, or that he will lose only if he’s cheated, or that his citizenship will not be questioned.
-oOo-
Now we have FPJ’s followers, and perhaps FPJ himself by saying he will continue to fight even if he is disqualified by the Supreme Court, boiling water to mix an instant coffee solution to their problem. Since they’re not satisfied with how life is treating them, they’ll just take the short cut, even though the short cut, as we have seen and are still suffering from, is often fraught with its own set of pitfalls. In the end we will all wish we had taken the long route, taken time to grind the coffee beans, taken time to brew the coffee, taken time to handle problems the right way instead of using instant coffee solutions which do nothing to really wake us up.
posted by jonjoaquin | 4:59 PM
