A nice coffee shop is... (Part Two)

I don't normally favor franchised coffee shops, but I realize that what sustains a big brand is its story. "A drink from paradise... Available on earth." Something like that. Many of us believe that "We only live once", so who wouldn't be tempted to taste something from paradise while on earth? There is no warranty that once we die, we'll taste such a drink in the paradise. Assuming we'll go to heaven slash paradise. Assuming heaven exists. Black Canyon did play with my ego there. I just finished reading "All Marketers are Liars" by Seth Godin, yet I willingly let myself fooled.

A section in Godin's book says something about the problem of franchise business. The story that a brand creator made in the first place sometimes does not translate correctly in a different setting, although the written SOP's are exactly the same. Have you experienced food poisoning in a McDonald's? Or seen that the chicken was not thoroughly cooked? In this case, the problem is in the execution, you may say. But it can also be the case that a franchiser doesn't care of the story the brand is aiming to tell. Who cares if the story translates or not. McDonald's have always made good business so far, meaning that some aspects of the story do get to the costumers, and one of those aspects is "being part of the 'cool' Americanized community." Some brands are not 'lucky' enough though. Costumers feel betrayed because a story is not consistent; they feel the brand only wants their money, so they leave.

Now, back to the coffee shop that provides the "drink from paradise," particularly the one located on Jalan By Pass Nusa Dua - not so much an upbeat location, unfortunately. I have seen a restaurant with a 'story' close down because they failed to win people's attention, and this one seems to walk in that direction, too. Too bad. A place like this is almost perfect to my taste: you can sit for hours, good wi-fi, quiet enough for you to play with your laptop and produce a blog post or two, good music, well mannered waiters, and this "drink from paradise"! Their coffee tasted really good, I tell you. The downsides: poor interiors! The fridge was wrongly placed near a guest's table, giving it a cheap 'warung'  feel; the plastic flowers were a big NO; the electronic cables were carelessly attached across the walls. It did feel like I was in a warung, not a cafe. I was close to dismissing all of those downsides, though, due to the fact that I could work peacefully with my laptop, sipping my coffee that tasted just right.... when... the waiters started to stack the chairs and lift the outside tables in. "We close at six pm," two of the waiters said in unison. You must be kidding! What kind of coffee shop closes at six?! Maaaan... I was politely sent off. I didn't feel bad for myself, or least not as much as I felt about this coffee shop. To me it was a confirmation that they will close down for good within a few weeks.

Location is important, of course. But that is not everything. Tell me a good story, a lie that I want to hear. If I'm your potential ally, you should embrace me, not send me off. Black Canyon Nusa Dua, I was soooo close to liking your story! So I left. Betrayed.

A nice coffee shop is...

I'm a PR, so how can I not be social? On the other hand, I enjoy doing things by myself. What the hell am I trying to say? I mean to say that if you have a local, non-Starbucks coffee shop business, you have a chance to make good business with me. I visit coffee shops quite often, especially if I have a good company who appreciates private no-talk-to-each-other time even when we sit at the same table because each of us is fixated on our own gadget. That's about how social I am.

Do I care about the quality of the coffee, tea and cheese cake offered by a coffee shop? Of course. That's why I don't normally go to Starbucks (unless someone matters in my life insists) or Cafe Moka (that has terrible cheese cake and hot tea that's not hot enough) even though they are popular in any Bali dining directory. I like a place that is underrated because of its business scale or location, not because of its quality. It's hard to find a place like Henry's or Aimee's - the small coffee shops in downtown Lawrence, Kansas,US - here in Bali. The reason is because Bali is too commercial for a small scale, local, non-chain coffee shop business to exist and survive. For this, I praise Warung Italia and Massimo for selling only what they are good at, including coffee and gelato. The downside of these places are they are not designed for comfortable web surfing.

I don't think that I will be able to run a coffee shop business, but here's what I thought a nice coffee shop should have:

• Good quality products, including cheese cake if it is on the menu. Sell only what you are really good at! 
• Comfortable seating (some cute sofas wouldn't hurt)
• Fast wireless Internet
• Good, easy listening music (no Kenny G, please!)
• Staff that appreciate high degree of quietness (Honey & Bread Nusa Dua needs to train their staff to stop singing along with the music!)
• Non-mainstream location (cross out Kuta completely!)
• Reasonable prices, naturally

Please contact me if you know such a nice coffee shop. Thanks in advance! :)

Traumatizing Noodles & the Noodles Guru

It has been more than six months since I visited Warung Chili, or Warung 'Mie Pedas' (hot spicy noodles) located in Taman Griya, Jimbaran, Bali. The Chinese Indonesian owner wasn't pregnant the last time I was here, and here she is with a big bump.

"Hey, what happened to your belly?" I ask her. I don't remember her name.
"I just swallowed a whole watermelon," she says with a big smile. "Where have you been? I didn't know you were still alive!"

The small warung has a wide selection of noodles, udon (Japanese big noodles), and rice. Their rice dishes are not very special, but their noodles are another story. Even the cheapest noodle dish, 'Mie Ayam' or noodles with seasoned minced chicken in chicken broth, IDR 13,000, tastes clean and just right. I order their signature 'Mie Pedas', as usual. Here, you can choose from seafood, chicken, or both to go with your bowl of superhot noodles. There is some sourness in the delicious red hot soup; my guess is they mix it with kimchi paste. It's so hot my lips swell just after a few spoons. My eyes get teary and my nose running. Maybe because I have not eaten such spiciness for quite a while, I give up after eating 2/3 of it.

"Your noodles are so mean!" I say to the pregnant lady. She laughs victoriously.
"That was nothing, really. Only Level One!" she says. By 'Level', she means level of spiciness of the hot spicy noodles. She says that the level can go all the way  to Ten.
"You must be kidding me!"

A guest who has been listening to our conversation and has just finished her bowl of regular noodles is interested in trying hot spicy noodles. She orders one.

"You shouldn't," the Lady Owner says. Eh??? Why not? This is what I love about this place. The owner doesn't just sell her stuff for money. She doesn't only think about number. Most importantly, she is a culinary master, specifically in the area of noodles. She has been to Korea and Japan to study noodles, and has had years of experience with trials and errors in experimenting with different types of noodles and customizing them to her Indonesian customers' taste. Not only does she know how to make a delectable bowl of noodles, she also knows very well how to enjoy it best.

"If you order another bowl of noodles after you finish your first, the second one won't taste as good as it should be. This is because you have lost a certain degree of appetite after your first bowl. It's better to order double bowls at the same time, trust me!" and thus the master goes.

She continues:

"And if it is your first time trying 'Mie Pedas', NEVER go beyond Level One, otherwise it will be a traumatic experience." She reports that the majority of her customers who did not listen to her advice never came back for 'Mie Pedas' ever again.

'Mie Pedas' at Warung Chili always looks intimidating, I can verify that. Actually eating it is another challenge. Then, the aftermath is a warm sensation in your stomach that will stay overnight, and in the morning you will crave for more. Man, I am traumatized or what!

Even the most understanding soul needs comfort food...

I am not by any means the most understanding person in the world. By 'world', I mean my small circles of kinship, friendship, or work. I just enjoy exercising my brain by looking into people's personalities, trying to connect the dots how certain personalities tend to react under certain circumstances. Even when I do it earnestly, without pretense, in some cases it can be tiresome. Especially in a situation where you know what's going on, but for some reason you should keep the knowledge for yourself in the name of harmony. The idea of being a harmony keeper, and not exactly a harmonizer, is something I often detest. Maybe this is why some people tend to eat more when they are stressful. Comfort food is harmony keeper's best friend! This kind of food helps stabilize the psyche, whatever the physical impact is. And tonight, my best friend is not Sherly or any of my colleagues; my best friend tonight is a bowl of oxtail soup from Warung Ahong, Jimbaran.

The oxtail soup (without rice) at Warung Ahong is IDR35,000, much less expensive than the one in MM Juice, and more homey. Warung Ahong doesn't always have the best of everything. I like their seafood fried rice, but their 'kweetiaw' (large rice noodles) tasted like the Indian Ocean the last time I had it. S-A-L-T-Y. Their 'karedok' (fresh vegetable salad in peanut sauce) is not special. My neighbor Sherly always - like ALWAYS - orders sauteed beef vegetables. I know, we have to try more varieties!

Oxtail soup always reminds me of my late Mbahti, grandma who made the best oxtail soup in the world: with the best oxtail, diced potatoes, and lots of red beans! The oxtail soup from Warung Ahong is far from perfection, but for a moment I feel that life is worth living anyway. I'm not sure if harmony has been restored, maybe that should wait. I just know that I should go to bed earlier tonight and bounce back in the morning. Good night, loves!

Brunch with good friends? Go Oriental!

When I lived in the US, one of my favorite weekly routines was going to this Chinese restaurant where you could eat all just by paying USD 7.00++. But of course, 'all-you-can-eat' wouldn't be so much fun without a bunch of good friends. We always failed to remember the name of the restaurant; we called it "Chinese Place." And our Chinese place never failed to make us - stressed out grad students - as happy as toddlers!

There are not too many 'all-you-can-eat' places in Indonesia, alas! I'm not very sure why, but I suspect not many restaurant owners are willing to risk hosting too many greedy eaters and hurting their revenue. To me, this shouldn't be the case, because satisfactory 'all-you-can-eat' is addictive. Happy customers will keep coming back, and will invite more and more friends to join them, and so the word of mouth goes. For this reason, I hail Golden Lotus restaurant at Bali Dynasty Hotel on Kartika Street, Kuta, Bali. They offer all-you-can-eat dim sum every Sunday from 10:00 to 12:30 at IDR95,000 nett (around 10 bucks).

I got there a few minutes past ten. The hostess greeted me warmly and a pot of hot jasmine tea was ready on my table less than a minute after I was seated. As my friends were still stuck in traffic, I didn't have to wait to start my small feast. I decided not to take any rice as I wanted to stuff my stomach with as many varieties as the restaurant got to offer. I took a little soup as opener. Not bad.

There are two food corners: the regular corner (with fried rice, porridge, soup, a selection of fried dumplings, spring rolls, egg tarts and dessert) and the steamer baskets corner where the real deals are. Chicken feet is a must-try. Steamed buns are available with option of fillings: chicken, beef, pork, and vegetables. What else? Various kinds of 'shaomais' and dumplings: prawn, chicken, pork come in satisfying sizes. Oh, and the squid in oyster sauce and chili is soo good too! It's hard not to be greedy!

Eight steamer baskets were already empty on my table when my companies finally arrived. And the journey continued. All-you-can-eat is always more fun with good friends. We ate, talked, laughed, ate, talked, laughed, ate again... and two and half joyful hours passed! No time to take pictures of the dessert, because no matter of how good the main course is, dessert is always the happiest time for me, and I enjoy it heartily. But I let you know what I had: mix fruit in lychee syrup and 'matuan' or fried dough filled with red sweet bean paste, Indonesians call 'onde-onde.' Schweet moment!

I'm hoping there will be more all-you-can-eat restaurants available in the future. For now, Golden Lotus, you are my new Chinese place!

My body tells me...

I'm knocked out by my menstrual cycle this time. Fortunately, it's weekend, so it doesn't really matter if my body aches and I get cranky. I've been sleeping, waking up, sleeping again, waking up and not feeling hungry. My morning routine includes coffee and Internet surfing; but since I found out that I ran out of gas for my stove, I skipped the coffee this morning. I needed to go out to buy gas, and I had been craving for something sweet. But 90% of what I read on the Internet told me to avoid sweet stuff for reasons such as gaining weight and upset stomach. Only two articles suggested to follow my craving because it was the way my body told me of what it needed to keep my system back in balance. I did not follow the majority.

I walked to the nearest convenience store to get what I needed: oatmeal cookies, white chocolate sandwich biscuits, 1 slice of brownies, and 1 chocolate chip muffin. They didn't have stove gas (boooo, Circle K!), so I also got myself two cold Nescafe's. On my way back, I saw a couple of warungs displaying selections of dishes on their windows, but they didn't appeal to me at all.

A Blackberry message came from my neighbor Sherly: drop by at my place, I got some wedding cake from last night (Sherly works as a WO). I think my body just made successful communication with the universe!

Happiness is simple. And cheap!

Happiness happens at lunch time, outdoors, while majority of the clouds are taking a break from the blue, blue sky...

... when the water is calm and turquoise blue, as idle as sleepy tourists on beachfront long chairs...

For happiness less than a dollar: a bowl of Bakso (how would you like it? No egg? Chicken feet?) and an amazing setting absolutely FREE (beach, sky, breezes included)!

... and Mas Untung at your service! Very efficient guy - not very keen on smiling, but he makes his customers smile happily...

Nice weather... Nice views... Playful breezes... A bowl of Bakso customized by Mas Untung just for you... Great companies...

Happiness is very simple. All you need to do is just be there and happy!

 “And Joy is Everywhere;

It is in the Earth's green covering of grass;
In the blue serenity of the Sky;
In the reckless exuberance of Spring;
In the severe abstinence of gray Winter;
In the Living flesh that animates our bodily frame;
In the perfect poise of the Human figure, noble and upright;
In Living;
In the exercise of all our powers;
In the acquisition of Knowledge;
In fighting evils ...

Joy is there Everywhere. ”

(Rabindranath Tagore)

Coto, soup with attitude

Service is everything in a business. Have you been in a restaurant where the food is good, but the waitress looks like she has just swallowed acid every time she comes to your table? How many times have you fallen 'victim' of poor service attitude? When business fails to take place because of a shop attendant's stupid behavior, the business itself IS the real victim. Not all people in hospitality business are aware of the importance of positive service attitude, even in Bali where people smile easily and almost automatically when meeting other people. Needless to repeat it over and over that service is everything. Or... Is it?

I will get back to the theme of service attitude next time. Now, I'm going to say that in some culinary cases, 'service' does not lie in a waiter's or restaurant owner's attitude. The 'service' is in the food itself. This warung (small, simple-looking restaurant, with relatively cheap items) on By Pass Ngurah Rai, Jimbaran, Bali, does exactly that. When you enter the family-run Warung 'Parakatte', don't expect warm greetings and big smiles from the waitresses/owners. But don't let that discourage you. Just seat yourself and tell them what you'd like to order. These people are from Makassar, South Sulawesi, and they don't have the 'big smile culture' as the Balinese. It doesn't mean that they don't appreciate your business. They do. It's in the dishes they present to you. In my case, it is their signature soup Coto that keeps me coming back every now and then.

Coto is not for you with cholesterol problems. It is not for you either, Picky Eaters! Coto is soup that uses beef and cow's innards - intestine, liver, lungs, tripe - as fillings (if you're a health freak or these stuffs scare you, forget it!) The beef and innards are slowly cooked with some other ingredients and spices to make mouth-watering thick soup to die for. This soup is the main course, so you eat it with white rice or rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves they call Buras or Burasa. Oh, and don't forget to add a few drops of lime juice, sweet soy sauce, and hot chili paste into the Coto. Believe me, it's heaven on earth!

A bowl of Coto with a plate of rice is priced IDR19,000 (roughly USD 2.00), quite pricey for a regular lunch for most Indonesians like myself. It's a once-in-a-week kind of treat, but considering the cholesterol contained in it, that should be fair. A note on the location: far away from centers of business such as the strips of Kuta or Legian, Parakatte is quite easily overlooked. The sullen looking attendants/owners could be easily misunderstood amidst the growing service awareness. But I'm not a fool in the Coto's case. If a food is capable in making me burp shamelessly and happily at the end of a course, it does all the justice. 

Staff canteen, a love/hate story

Big hotels or resorts normally have staff canteens within their properties. I have worked in as many as five different resorts in Bali and I can say that the common relationship between an employee and a staff canteen is always that of love/hate. A staff`canteen can make your life more practical. It can bore you to death, too. Below are my notes on each of the hotel canteens, in a random order.

• Resort A Canteen: The metal trays didn't give me a good vibe, really. Walking with a metal tray (rice and all on it) in my hands to the dining table felt like I was in a scene of The Shawshank Redemption. Food tasted good, cooked by (grim-looking) in-house cooks, and you could take as much as you wanted, but I suspected that the ingredients came from what was left in the fridge after all the best ones were taken for the guests. Too bad, the closest restaurant outside the hotel was about 15 minutes away.
• Resort B Canteen: Food were not bad with good varieties. This came as a result of the hotel using a catering company service based on a six month contract, after which a new catering company would replace. The drawback of this system is not all caterers were consistent in complying with the hotel standard. There were days when food was poor, both in quality and presentation. 
• Resort C Canteen: If the previous two resorts apply a certain allowance per employee, for example IDR17,500/staff/day, this resort had a different system. At the beginning of every month, every employee was given monthly meal allowance in form of hotel money (similar to monopoly notes), with values range from IDR1,000 to IDR10,000. There was a good selection of main course items to desserts in the International-standard canteen, each was given a certain price. They even had an a la carte menu (burgers, salads, steaks, etc.), given that order was placed one day in advance. But still, some of the staff got tired of the food options and preferred eating in a food stall just outside the hotel.
• Resort D Canteen: Similar to Resort C in terms of food options, minus the hotel money and ice cream selections. The only drawback was inconsistency in taste and cooking methods. Different cooks, different methods, and there were these hotel kitchen trainees who might still need to learn how to make a dish correctly.
• Resort E Canteen: It was by far the lowest in standard in terms of space. It was quite a tiny canteen for hundreds of staff with quite poor ventilation. There was a fan on the ceiling for air circulation, but some staff smoke in the room, too. Food-wise, it was fair. The servers were kind and strict at the same time facing staff who asked for additional this or that. Good thing was there were quite a lot of options outside the hotel within walking distance.

Some hotels also have separate eating spaces for management level staff and common staff. I don't favor this, to say the least. I may write about it some other time.

A midweek holiday = clean-up-your-fridge day

The Ascension Day of Christ, celebrated as one of national public holidays, falls on Thursday, which means a very long weekend for many Indonesians. Hoteliers not included. A day off only for today and thinking how tourists pouring down on the streets of Bali make me decide to stay at home. (It's the middle of the month, so... time for saving, everyone???) A headline of an online lifestyle magazine reads: How to overcome stress of having to stay at home on a holiday. What stress? I'm stressful when I'm on my motorbike trapped in the middle of heavy traffic of By Pass Ngurah Rai in a hot afternoon.

Let's open your fridge, A! Almost empty. It doesn't take much of an inspection to see which items there should go, and which can stay. I really don't have much left. Mid-of-the-month poverty! There is no need to be ashamed of. Really? I have to swallow my dignity to report that some of the things I keep in my fridge should have gone months ago! That mayo, the funny-taste low-fat Kraft Thousand Island dressing, Kacang Garuda peanuts, and that instant Bolognese sauce. No, the sauce can stay. I opened it two days ago, I guess I can still make spaghetti Bolognese with it this afternoon. I'm not going anywhere for my lunch today!

This green thing below can stay in my fridge, too. For as long as it takes. Can you guess what this is? :) Happy long weekend to some of you! (Happy Defrost Day to me!)

Bitten by chocolate!

My neighbor Sherly said she wanted to eat chili tonight, so we went to this food stall in Taman Griya, Jimbaran, Bali. This place (couldn't remember the name although I am quite a regular here) sells a selection of fried or roast chicken, fish, and catfish served in a terracotta plate with red hot chili paste and some vegetable. We eat it with rice; so yes, tonight I broke my no-rice diet (Sherly, you!) With red hot chili paste in front of your nose, how could you eat only a little rice? Indonesians loooove red hot chili paste, and we eat generously with it, often using our (right) hand as spoon. A spoonful of red hot chili pepper always goes with a plateful of rice. Guilty pleasure!

But waaaait!!! Red hot chili pepper goes with chocolate too! I was stung by instant curiosity when I saw this Monggo chocolate bar displayed in Pepito supermarket. This one stood up with the picture of red chili against its creme wrapper. Chocolate and chili? Interesting! I knew that Monggo is manufactured in Jogja, my hometown. I knew that the owner is a Belgian chocolatier, and therefore Monggo uses premium Belgian chocolate as the main ingredient. I knew that even though Monggo (Javanese word, meaning "Yes, please") is a local brand, the quality is comparable to International brands. It certainly tastes more chocolaty (read: better) than Hershey's, trust me.

Red Chili is among Monggo's new variants. It contains 58% dark chocolate cocoa, vegetable oil, and spicy crispy rice (real red chili is used). The taste is quite a sensation! The spiciness bites your tongue as your teeth  crush the crispy rice. Then it blends with the quality dark chocolate with sweetness that is not overpowering. The spiciness lingers in your mouth for a while, just like the sensation you have after eating regular red chili paste (minus the shallot and garlic, of course!). It is truly a product customized for Indonesians or other Asians who are fond of red chili. It is also for anyone who craves a little adventure.

No doubt, Monggo IS a good chocolate. Very innovative, too. Monggo chocolates are available in major supermarkets and some luxury hotels. For more information, you can check their interesting homepage: http://chocolatemonggo.com/en/home.

My Identi-Tea

Black tea is truly Indonesia. The darker, the better. Dark and sweet. Javanese tea fanatics only take loose tea, brew it in freshly boiled water in a teapot for about five minutes, then pour the tea in a cup filled with lump white sugar. Tea bags are a big NO. I'm a Javanese, never attached to anything in this world to the point of fanaticism, but I do love tea.

As much as I love the bitterness in traditional loose black tea, I grew up digging other tea variants, too, tea bags included. When I'm in a supermarket, I always go to the tea section. To me, these historical Indonesian black teas as well as modern fruity flavored teas are more attractive than potato chips, chocolates, or instant noodles. And this morning I was happy to find that Lipton produced a selection of flavored black tea and infusions at a reasonably low price (compared to pricey Twinings or Dilmah). Some local tea factories have produced similar products before, but I don't really like how the tea left a funny feel in my throat that I suspect coming from too much use of artificial flavors.

I bought two boxes of Lipton tea: apple flavored black tea and peppermint plain infusion. Each box contains 15 individually packed teabags. Other flavors available are strawberry, vanilla, and caramel. For infusion (no tea leaves used), there are two kinds: peppermint and chamomile. I read the information on the carton box about the ingredients, and I am glad that they use real (dehydrated) fruit. A little artificial flavor is still used, though.

It is raining again outside, and it's a little bit chilly. A cup of hot tea would be heaven! And I got this new tea to taste. Born and raised as a Javanese, I always like my tea sweet. Instead of adding sugar, I add one block of Lo Han Kuo in my tea this time. Healthy and... hmmmm.... You should try it!

What's on your plate, and what's not? I wanna know!

If what you eat defines who you are, what you don't eat completes the picture. My neighbor Sherly eats a lot of vegetables and avoids McD, KFC, and the likes at all costs, even though they are the closest to your door after your empty fridge. Sherly doesn't use tap water for brushing her teeth and washing her hair, let alone drinking. She buys water in gallons from a supplier. Thanks to her, I also subscribe to water gallons for drinking. Tap water is fine with me for washing hair and brushing teeth, and once in a while, I still eat junk.

So, those are the rough pictures of Sherly and me seen from some of what we decide to do and not do. Can you read our personalities? Roughly and partially, yes. It is easier to read someone from what they consume, because they are usually tangible. If you're interested in trying to get into someone's personality, I would suggest that you also try to find out about what they do NOT consume. What can you see in someone who only drinks sweetened drinks (and tends to avoid plain water), smokes two packs of cigarettes (sometimes more but never less), and indulges himself in fatty and fried food (and skips vegetables) beyond physical consequences, such as possible bloated stomach and high cholesterol? Could we at least say something about his low level of self discipline? Can't jump into a decision too quickly, but details like those are also hard to ignore, are they not?

Some people change their diets along the way, so this is also interesting to study. The 'why's' behind the decisions to consume things and not consume other things can say something about someone's character, or a change in character, in the case of a changed diet. Given that people have the choices, of course. Let me tell you of what I have quit consuming: cigarettes (since 3 years ago). I used to have two or three glasses of coffee a day; now the number is reduced to one (since one month ago). I used to be matter of fact about drinking water; now I spend IDR3,500 (45 cents) every day for a bottle of 1.5 liter water to be consumed at work. What can you tell about me, apart from the slight financial change in my wallet? Skip that. Now, what can you tell about you from what's NOT on your plate?

My buddy Lo

When I was in college, over 15 years ago (darn it, I'm old!), I caught a very bad cold with nasty coughs. One of my best friends, Lani, gave me a super-tiny jar of super-super tiny Chinese pills, a box of chrysanthemum tea, and this oriental looking green box with "Lo Han Kuo Infusion" inscription on it. Lani, a Chinese descendant, said that these trio would help end my suffering. They did.

The Chinese pills, we can forget. I think my friend Lani got them from her great, great grandmother in China or something. Chrysanthemum tea is not the topic of the day either. It is my buddy Lo Han Kuo that I want to introduce you to, in case you have not met this low-key healer. Lo Han Kuo Infusion (the word 'infusion' evokes my memories of these Chinese martial art series of the 80's) is sold in major supermarkets and drugstores. Lo Han Kuo fruits are cultivated in Southern China; they are processed to make small blocks that are packed individually. Well, at least, that is the most common Lo Han Kuo that I know. Take one or two blocks, and dissolve it into a glass of hot water to make tea. The sucrose in Lo gives it its mild fruity sweetness. When I have a sore throat or any other cold symptoms, I don't drink anything else but Lo Han Kuo. I sometimes  replace my regular tea with Lo not (only) because it makes me feel like Beatrix Kiddo, but because Lo simply tastes good.

I don't remember how many friends of mine I have recommended Lo to. The last person is the new girl in the office who, since her first day of work, had coughed incessantly for days. Being the person sharing an office with her, I couldn't rely on my iPod to keep concentrating on my monitor when someone sitting next to me suffered that much. So, I introduced Lo to her. If it didn't cure, at least it proved to give a relieving effect on the itched throat. The next day, the coughs were gone.

Obama, bakso, and the lucky guy...

"Let's go to the beach!" is quite often heard in my office around lunchtime. That's a sign of someone tired of the staff cafeteria's food. And the idea is almost always welcome by the rest of us. I work in a resort in Tanjung Benoa. This area in Bali does not have the most beautiful beaches, as compared to Nusa Dua, for example, but Benoa is always famous for its wide selection of water sport activities. And for us, hotel staff, we love Benoa beach for its wide selection of delicious, cheap treats offered by various simple-looking food stalls.

One of our favorites is 'tipat kuah', rice cake in milky chicken soup, with boiled egg, vegetables, fried shrimps, and Balinese chili paste on the side. Yummy! 'Tipat kuah' only costs IDR10,000, roughly USD 1.00. If you're lucky, you can get a seat by the window with an ocean view and the best breezes. While eating, you can see tourists in swimming wears on speedboats, banana boats, and colorful parasailings.

Our second favorite is meatballs soup we call bakso. You know, I personally think that 'bakso' as a word should be internationalized because US President Obama who spent  several years living in Indonesia still favors it. If you don't believe me, try search on YouTube with key words: obama bakso, and see yourself.


A lot of bakso sellers in Bali, unlike in many other parts in Indonesia, sell bakso on motorbikes. One of these bakso sellers is a Javanese guy named Untung, literally meaning 'lucky'. He always serves us kindly and efficiently. He acknowledges me instantly because, like him, I am a Javanese and therefore speak Javanese to another Javanese.

Bakso is a perfect treat in a hot afternoon. A bowl of bakso consists of five small chicken meatballs, fried and steamed tofu, rice noodles, and fried dumpling. If you're like many other Indonesians who call a non-rice meal a snack, you can add rice cake into your soup, and your lunch is valid! All of these costs only IDR5,000 (50 cent!) If tomorrow I go to the beach to eat bakso again and Untung doubles the price, I wouldn't mind at all.

Saved by the beer!

From November 2011 to Mid April 2012, I worked at home, and this totally changed my sleeping hours. Because I was the one who set my own deadlines, I let myself go to bed early morning, and wake up late. I was the bat girl, really. Then this should change when I got a 9 to 5 job. There was no other way: I had to end my 'alive at night and dead in the morning' habit. I only had less than a week to reset my sleeping hours. Shoot! I started to panic.

An idea came to me: cough syrup before normal bed time. This would make me drowsy and fall asleep. But then I feared that it could become addictive, so I thought this should be the last resort. Days passed me by without any success. I stayed up till morning, still. I only got three nights left before my first day of work.

Help came when I started to tweet my concern. A friend replied: 'Try beer. Always works." So the next day, I went to Circle K and bought myself Bintang Beer, the big one. At 8:00 pm I drank and finished it in 15 minutes. I fell asleep an hour afterwards. Sleeping hours reset! To seal my success, I repeated the process in the next evening.

I think one of my recent achievements is I managed to be a morning person. With help of my Blackberry alarm, of course. Gone are days when I woke up feeling beaten up. And no more beer needed for a loud and clear,  "Rise and shine!"

PS. I tweeted and mentioned my friend, saying thanks for her brilliant suggestion. "Bintang works!" I said. Then she replied, "Well, Heineken works even better!" Doesn't matter. To me, if I can go local, I'll go local.

Optional Rice-not Dinner

Maia Estianty, the Indonesian singer, song writer and producer, said that she doesn't eat rice to keep in shape. I took pride in people saying I look like her, but I wasn't proud of my tummy at all, so quite foolishly, I followed what she said.

I've been hearing about this carbo diet thing, but I never really made time to research on it. I just jumped into some key points I read on an online woman's magazine: 1. eating all but rice will make your tummy flat; 2. It's not torturing at all, because it allows you to eat whenever you want. Then, I bumped into this lady, a middle-aged human resources director of a hotel I worked for. We shared a table in a lunch time when I saw that her plate was filled in quite abundance: chicken satays, beef curry, steamed vegetables, tofu, and not a single rice. And this lady looked elegantly slim. She went like that day by day: eat generously and stay slim.

This note is not meant to encourage women to do a certain type of diet. I was a scholar before, but I keep the ethics of not perceiving anything as truth without proper research and literature. Let's not go into that for now. I'm just going to say that I have formulated my own diet. I need to feel good for myself, and I guess I love myself too much to torture my body and risk ruining my mood even in the name of 'ideal shape'. I eat rice for lunch and anything but rice for dinner. I nearly got the tummy I've desired, and most importantly, I eat all I put on my plate. No leftover. 

From Hero to Zero, to ME!

May 2008. I moved to Bali as an 'undercover agent'. From 'somebody' to 'nobody'. A 'hero' falling from grace. That was pretty much how my situation was. I had a promising career as a college professor, got my MA and all, then.... BAM! Some illusionist turned me into no one. That illusionist was me.

It was not very easy to lead a life as an 'undercover'. I wasn't who I had been, because in this place, no one knew nor care of what I had achieved. And me? I lost the case completely. I lost appetite to even trying to prove myself. I sat on a throne when I was still teaching; I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I was superior in the eyes of my students. They believed what I had to say. Well... talking in general, of course! But in Bali, I was a rookie in the hospitality business. I was a rookie in everything Bali. I was a rookie in humbleness.

May 2012. I think I'm in control again. I hold my pen, richer in perspectives, yet humbler.