Fun at the Canteen

2 minute primer to ordering food in an Indonesian Restaurant (with the knowledge that we are still figuring things out)

Daging- Meat (used optionally)
Ayam- Chicken
Nasi- Rice
Mie- Noodles (rice or ramen noodles)
Ikan- Fish
Bakso- Meatball (usually Chicken)
Sapi- Beef
Goreng- Fried
Soto- Stew
Sopa- Soup
Dan- and
Simbal- Chile sauce (should be assumed to be on most things)

Simply combine above phrases to order what you want (for example):

Nasi Ikan- Fish and rice
Nasi Goreng- Fried rice
Ayam Goreng- Fried chicken
Mie ayam bakso- Chicken noodles and meatballs

If you are thinking this is simple…it is!
If you are thinking this is vague…it is! Here’s the twist.

When you order Nasi Ayam (chicken and rice), how it is prepared depends on the region of Indonesia it comes from. For example, I often order Nasi Ayam Padang (Padang is a region of West Sumatra known for its spicy food) at the lunch canteen and get Chicken and rice which is then cooked in a chile and curry sauce. The dish also contains steamed jackfruit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackfruit ), greens and some fried noodles (see picture below).

Nasi Ayam Padang a.k.a. lunchtime bliss

(clock wise from upper left: greens, fried noodles, jackfruit, chicken all smothered in chili)

Proper etiquette
“Native” Indonesians have never used chopsticks, although IndoChinese do when eating Chinese or Japanese food. Native Indonesians traditionally used only their hands (right hand only) in eating. During colonization, they began the custom using fork and spoons (no knives). It is interesting to cut with a spoon (which is what they do).

Proper eating technique (spoon in right hand, fork in left).

spoon can be used to scoop and cut.

What is the proper etiquette for eating a ice cream birthday cake?

For a mere $24, The family and I enjoyed a Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cake for my 41st birthday. Seeing as Indonesian sweets aren't very good, it was worth every penny!

Other misc. notes:

Update on the contest with the rats:

Tropical Weedas- 4

Rats- 0

Please answer the quiz question on the right. Talk more later and thanks for reading.

After a delay of a few weeks, I am once again blogging. Here are just a few miscellaneous events from the last week in our life.

1. We are in the middle of a rat infestation. Score so far:

Rats= 0

Tropical Weedas=3

Matches still in progress= ??? (hopefully not very many)

We have heard that the daily rains are driving them inside.

2. Lippo Village is hosting street car race on its new race track. This weekends events were small in scale, however in November, Lippo Village will host a Formula 1 A1 race that will draw teams from all over the world. This Sunday we drove down to the track, parked our car, and attended the race. When we returned to our car we found the following sticker "Achilles Radials: It's all about trust" on our car (in both the front and back). All the other cars around us also had the stickers as well. Apparently, you shouldn't trust your car with them when at a car race in which they sponsor.

Sticker on car before being scraped off

3. Neil and I competed in a fun run on Saturday morning where we got to run on the race track mentioned above. About 3 minutes into my race the heavens opened and downpour began. It was a miserable experience for a few minutes until I realized it cooled things off and it was a lot of fun! When the race was done, people were given tags regarding their place so they could collect prizes they had won. All the women runners were given a tag that said "winner's woman". Seeing as I didn't do very well, I'm glad Janet didn't run!

4. Neil will make his theatrical debut this coming weekend SPH High School's version of "The Wizard of Oz" where he stars as a munchin.

5. The weekend after next, I will be in the mountains with my Grade 11 students for a Spiritual retreat. It will be fun to be with students outside the school campus.

Following these two events over the next few weeks, I will return to a more normal blogging routine. Don't forget to email or comment!

sweeda