Month: August 2007

Loaded becaks


Bicycle taxis aren’t just used to transport humans — they also carry goods, as seen this morning near the hotel where I’m staying in Surabaya (East Java). I’m pretty sure two out of these three becak peddlers couldn’t see where they were going. Which was all the more exciting because I myself was riding in a becak, going the wrong way on a four-lane highway.

Hungry for cyberspace?

This is a typical warung: a roofed metal frame with sheets hung on the outside. The fabric serves the double purpose of advertising the menu and giving diners a modicum of privacy.


This place lists “Internet” at the top of its menu, along with roasted bananas, boiled noodles, fried noodles, and soft-boiled eggs. I initially wrote that there must be a computer place behind the warung, but in fact, as Treespotter astutely points out in the comment section, this is actually an abbreviation for noodles with an egg and corned beef (Indomie, Telur, Kornet). They also offer an assortment of juices, from avocado to guava, and other drinks including milk with raw egg, honey and ginger (Susu Telur Madu Jahe, abbreviated STMJ).

Last but not least, there’s kopi susu, probably made with half as much coffee and twice as much condensed milk as I use at home.

Warungs are where most people eat most of the time, since they’re fast and cheap. You can also get food from the carts that make the rounds of all the streets, but there’s only a few kinds of carts: they’ll usually offer fried rice or meatballs-and-noodles or chicken-and-noodles. In Jakarta they’ll also have ketoprak, which is tofu and bean sprouts with peanut sauce, especially in the morning. But if you want more variety you go to a warung.

Kemang

Kemang is one of the most expat-y, and also one of the funkiest, parts of Jakarta. I’m usually too lazy to go there because the traffic is a nightmare — everything’s crammed onto one long narrow winding road, and the taxi always slows to a crawl. But the other night a friend had her birthday party at a bar there, so we roused ourselves to go, and I have to admit it was pretty fun.


There was Indian food for $5 a plate and a band playing Donna Summer and Metallica. The dance floor was packed and the beer was free. I don’t think you’re even allowed to give away beer in the US anymore. I remembered why when I saw a guy throw up on his shoes. At least he went outside first.

I tried to take a picture of Chad but he wouldn’t stay still.


Around midnight we went out to catch a taxi home. All these children in headscarves kept walking by asking us for money. I was surprised, because it was awfully late for proper little Muslim girls to be out on the street. Then Chad pointed out that most of them were boys. I suppose they get more donations that way.

Saved by the bus


We were so happy when we discovered that the airport bus goes right by our neighborhood. Not only is it fast and cheap (about $1.50), but it means we can avoid the voracious cab drivers that hang out in front of the terminal. If you show the slightest interest, they surround you, badgering you with offers and lies (“it’s cheaper if we don’t use the meter”; “there’s a $5 surcharge”; “there aren’t any buses”). Airport cab drivers seem to be specially selected for their dishonesty. It’s a shame that the few tourists who defy the odds and come to Jakarta get browbeaten and cheated the moment they stumble out of the terminal.

Anyway, the bus is like garlic to vampires — utter the word to taxi drivers, and they fade back into the night with a look of horror and vexation.

Junk food of the week: Biskuit Kelapa


Biskuit Kelapa are crunchy little coconut-flavored cookies. They are comfort food: uncomplicated, pleasant, but not so addictive that you’re in danger of eating the whole box. They taste a bit like Sea ‘n Ski suntan lotion, but in a good way.

Bintang mug shown for size comparison

As you may have noticed on the package, Biskuit Kelapa are fortified with vitamins. A lot of cookies are marketed as a nutrition supplement here, especially for kids. There are TV ads showing kids eating cookies and then leaping impossible distances or facing down tigers or whatever. I wouldn’t mind, as long as the cookie companies were required to buy an equal number of ads showing kids doing miraculous feats after eating broccoli or spinach. Unfortunately, my Equal Time for Vegetables bill has not yet been passed by any legislature in the world.

Becaks

I took a lot of pictures of becak (BEH-chahk) drivers last time I was in Yogyakarta. (Becaks are banned in most of Jakarta now because they allegedly mess up the traffic.)

These are pretty tough guys, and a lot of them aren’t so young. Often they’ll come into Yogya from the surrounding villages and stay for a few days at a time. They’ll sleep in their becaks to save money.

Becaks face a lot of competition from ojeks (motorcycle taxis) these days. The drivers say sometimes they go all day without getting a passenger. On a good day they make four or five dollars.

Even though they’re all vying for passengers, they seem to get along pretty well. They play chess, chat, and bum the inevitable cigarettes off each other while they’re waiting.


Some have their vehicles painted up with pretty scenes of mountains and rivers. They name them after characters from the Ramayana (the Hindu epic that the shadow puppet plays are based on), or after their wives or kids. Some have expressions of appreciation or happiness on them, like “Sumber Rejeki” (Source of Livelihood) or this one: “Satisfied” (Puas).

Square pigs

My Hello Kitty showdown with Michele (see the comments on Inspirational notebook for the day to catch every exciting moment) got me thinking about Square Pigs. Well, that’s what I call them. Apparently their proper name is Monokoro Boo or Monokuro Boo. They are described on YouTube as “a couple of monochromatic pigs who appear on everything here in Japan.”


I first got acquainted with Square Pigs in Singapore. I had to rent a shared room because there weren’t any singles left at the hostel, and I didn’t have a proper nightgown, so I went out and bought this ovesized t-shirt thing with big pigs on it for $3. As you can see, it’s quite an attractive bit of sleepwear.


My favorite part is the thought bubbles that don’t connect to anything, that say “Happy?” They seem kind of wistful, as if to remind us that happiness can’t be taken for granted; you have to fight for it, with Square Pigs or any other weapon that comes to hand. Or as the official website puts it, “The pose arts of “PIG” are a symbol of happiness and is worshiped as methods of achieving happiness.”