Sad News from Lippoland

Delifrance has closed. No more Riz au Bouef.

Strange Things Indonesian: Goats in My Neighbourhood

"Jakarta is a nice city offering a high standard of living"

This was a headline from the Jakarta Globe's Opinion page on March 27. Here is the actual quote with a bit more context:

"[Jakarta] is a very nice city offering a high standard of living. Of course we all know about the two or three major negative aspects: the pollution, traffic and floods. I was trapped in a traffic jam yesterday and it took me almost three hours to get home because it was raining."

A brilliant line by the Tunisian ambassador to Indonesia, being interviewed about living in Jakarta. This should really be used by Jakarta's travel bureau.

So it's late...

... and I really should be in bed, but as my friend Becky said, I haven't updated my blog lately, and I had an indo-moment I thought I'd share.

Becky and I went to Bistro Delifrance, which is one of many restaurants in our community. I like it because it has good coffee and good breakfasts.

So, we went for a quick dinner. She ordered some chicken sandwich thing. I ordered "Riz au bouef" (I tried to pronounce it the French way, but the waiter corrected me: "Rizobeef") Anyhow, the Riz au bouef was supposed to be a beef stew type dish over delicious oven-baked rice. Sounds good, no? Anyhow, the server mentioned it would take about half an hour. We thought this alright, and ordered appetizers. Everything came quickly, except the "Riz au bouef". We waited half an hour, chatted about politics (specifically Obama's inauguration tonight) and leafed through newspapers.

Riz au bouef: nowhere to be seen.

We talked about school, about the workshop Becky was at and summer holidays... pretty soon an hour was up since we ordered.

Riz au bouef: yet to arrive.

So we talked about the people who might be leaving indo, and the people we want to come back (hint: Liz Borchardt) and pretty soon an hour and a half had passed. I waved to the waiter.

"Would you like your bill?" he asked

"Bill?" I responded in alarm. "Where's the Riz au bouef?"

The waiter turns pale and has a glazy stare. He darts into the kitchen, followed by Indonesian curse words. A few minutes pass and he comes to our table with 5 'complimentary' slices of baguette with jam and butter.

He then smoothly saunters through the restaurant, out the front door and into the restaurant next door.

"This isn't going to be good," I tell Becky.

A few minutes pass, and the waiter walks past the window with a plate of white rice. A waitress meets him at the front door and covers the rice with a paper serviette. The man then walks through to the kitchen.

Minutes later I'm served Riz au bouef on a plate of plain white rice.

The Riz au bouef was nothing to write home about, but at least the story was.

Boycott Christmas!!!

I posted this last year, but feel it's relevant again at this time of the year.

www.adventconspiracy.org

Spend less on gifts.
Give more presence.
Love like Jesus.

Strange Things Indonesian: The President is Watching

Something a little different here, is that in rooms where people tend to gather (like classrooms) it is common to have a picture of the president and vice president of Indonesia, with the pancisilla in between. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is on the right and Vice President Muhammad Yusuf Kalla is on the left. The photos are symbolically placed a little lower than the pancisilla (which represents the basic ideology of Indonesia).

Growing up I remember having a large portrait of the Queen in our classroom, but she wasn't looking straight at us. She was a silent observer of our maths and language lessons, patiently and gracefully standing next to the Tom Thomson print. Bambang and Yusuf are looking at us, however, watching everything that happens. If I go to another classroom, they're there again! This is a bit of pressure not to corrupt these young minds.


At our school, each classroom has a picture of a blue-eyed Jesus too; a much more calming, pastoral element in the classroom (and His portrait is placed a few inches above the presidents'.)

Strange Things Indonesian: IndoCake

I've been thinking of making a series of 'different' things in Indonesia. There are many, many things Indonesian I love, and a few (in my own ethnocentricity) that I don't quite get. It's much more entertaining to hear about those followed by my jolly quips. So here goes.

Indonesians love cake. Every special event must have a cake and a banner (more on those later). Cake in Indonesia is different from Canadian Cake.

First of all, the cake itself is usually spongy. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it isn't the fluffy deliciousness one often enjoys in other cake-loving countries.

Second of all, the icing is oily. Not just a little oily, exxon valdez oily; I've immersed my lips in a tub of vaseline, oily.

Thirdly, cake may appear to be covered with white chocolate shavings (over oily icing). Beware! All is not what it appears. Cake often comes with grated processed cheese on it. I tell no lies.

"I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm not saying it's right. It just is."