Special thanks to Ophel in Bandung for sponsoring me at Immigration and to Charli in Surabaya for support and putting me up to the whole thing
12/31/10
CELTA course; A month in Bandung
I decided to get an English teaching certificate here in Indonesia to ensure work in other parts of the world (Cambodia, China, Europe?) and after extensive research there seemed to be only two worth getting, the CertTesol or the CELTA, so I chose the CELTA. The certificate is through Cambridge in England which offers many International locations to take the course. I was very skeptical handing over a very large sum of money to a British Organization because, as history shows, the British can hardly be trusted (just ask the Maori, Aboriginals, Native Americans, Ect...). So with a 'these British bastards better not rip me off' attitude I set out for West Java and took the very intense one month course. All jokes aside the course definitely exceeded my expectations as it was very thorough and I learned an enormous amount about both the English Language, and how to teach it. This came at the expense of 10-16 hour days, lots of writing assignments, and a grueling daily teaching practice which was observed by the tutors and my peers. I was very fortunate to take the course alongside 9 other teachers, all of whom were so cool and such a pleasure to be around. I was the only one (or two?) that had no previous teaching experience and everyone was so helpful and supportive. The day the course ended I immediately missed all of my new friends!!!!
Special thanks to Ophel in Bandung for sponsoring me at Immigration and to Charli in Surabaya for support and putting me up to the whole thing
Special thanks to Ophel in Bandung for sponsoring me at Immigration and to Charli in Surabaya for support and putting me up to the whole thing
12/20/10
A couple months in Dinoyo, Suroboyo
Surabaya (Suroboyo) is an east Javanese city named after the Javanese words suro 'shark' and boyo 'crocodile'; Two bad ass animals and Suroboyo is a pretty bad ass city. The main language spoken here, in addition to Indonesian, is a very crass and slang ridden Javanese and the people here are friendly but also very forward in relation to other more passive Indonesian cities I'd passed through. Also Surabaya is home to Southeast Asia’s biggest prostitution district which is of course shut down for the holy month of Ramadan in October. This district, 'Gang Dolly', is infamous throughout Indonesia and I quickly learned that I can get a genuine laugh out of almost anyone (especially police) by simply mentioning the name when asked “what is your favorite part of Indonesia?”
I often wonder if the existence and acceptance of Gang Dolly has anything to do with the fact that Indonesia was occupied by the Dutch for some three hundred years until the end of WW2, and of course the Dutch have the biggest 'Red Light' district in the world in Amsterdam...
I’ve been in Surabaya many times now, using it as a pivot point to visit other Indonesian islands (Kalimantan (Borneo), Bali, Madura). After returning from the villages in Madura and Bayuman, I wanted to spend a month or two in Surabaya and there was only one neighborhood that I really wanted to live in; Dinoyo.. Dinoyo is the kind of place that carries a rough reputation throughout the city and I was definitely the only foreigner living there. I rented a tiny room for the first month in a 'kos' (open air boarding house) for about $30 which had a mat on the floor for sleeping and I shared a bathroom with the rest of the inhabitants. After that first month I stayed with friends. In the beginning I was often stared at, but after the first two weeks the shock of a 'bule' living there wore off and I was just a normal person. I made many friends (and some enemies!) and talked daily with nearly everyone in my area enjoying the gossip and drama of everyday life. When asked “Why do you want to live in Dinoyo instead of a nicer neighborhood with other westerners?”
I would always say “It's the only part of town that reminds me of my neighborhood in Brooklyn!”
Dinoyo is about two square miles of winding mazes made up of narrow alleyways, most of which are impenetrable by cars, and I've never seen a police officer inside. This neighborhood is a polar opposite to the pure and picturesque Islamic villages where I'd spent the previous month in Madura. Dinoyo, by nature, is pretty grimy with open sewage canals on either side of all the alleys which require caution when walking at night and can be less than pleasant as the area often floods from heavy rain. Alcohol and gambling are the norm in Dinoyo and nearly everyday at dusk miraculously intelligent pigeons are taken about 2 miles away, then released and bets are made on which one returns to Dinoyo first. My daily activities involved lots of walking around, eating, teaching English to young kids in exchange for Javanese lessons, and a ridiculous amount of chess. My game improved so much in this month due to the vast amount of brilliant men always looking for a game. Despite being very smart and well versed in the ancient game, some of the guys I played with were homeless and slept on concrete slab tables in the open-air market after it closed, sharing a home with thousands of rats and roaches (these rats are well fed and literally the size of small cats, twice the size of their cousins in the NYC Subways). Every night I would play chess with these guys, usually until 4 or 5 am, and they would always offer me a glass of 'arak' (homemade rice liquor) which I would graciously accept.
All in all I will miss all my friends in Dinoyo and cherish my time here. This neighborhood has taught me a lot, it has that raw edge that evokes a sense of the 'real world', and a lifetime of enduring hardship can be seen in the still smiling faces of the elderly people...
I often wonder if the existence and acceptance of Gang Dolly has anything to do with the fact that Indonesia was occupied by the Dutch for some three hundred years until the end of WW2, and of course the Dutch have the biggest 'Red Light' district in the world in Amsterdam...
I’ve been in Surabaya many times now, using it as a pivot point to visit other Indonesian islands (Kalimantan (Borneo), Bali, Madura). After returning from the villages in Madura and Bayuman, I wanted to spend a month or two in Surabaya and there was only one neighborhood that I really wanted to live in; Dinoyo.. Dinoyo is the kind of place that carries a rough reputation throughout the city and I was definitely the only foreigner living there. I rented a tiny room for the first month in a 'kos' (open air boarding house) for about $30 which had a mat on the floor for sleeping and I shared a bathroom with the rest of the inhabitants. After that first month I stayed with friends. In the beginning I was often stared at, but after the first two weeks the shock of a 'bule' living there wore off and I was just a normal person. I made many friends (and some enemies!) and talked daily with nearly everyone in my area enjoying the gossip and drama of everyday life. When asked “Why do you want to live in Dinoyo instead of a nicer neighborhood with other westerners?”
I would always say “It's the only part of town that reminds me of my neighborhood in Brooklyn!”
Dinoyo is about two square miles of winding mazes made up of narrow alleyways, most of which are impenetrable by cars, and I've never seen a police officer inside. This neighborhood is a polar opposite to the pure and picturesque Islamic villages where I'd spent the previous month in Madura. Dinoyo, by nature, is pretty grimy with open sewage canals on either side of all the alleys which require caution when walking at night and can be less than pleasant as the area often floods from heavy rain. Alcohol and gambling are the norm in Dinoyo and nearly everyday at dusk miraculously intelligent pigeons are taken about 2 miles away, then released and bets are made on which one returns to Dinoyo first. My daily activities involved lots of walking around, eating, teaching English to young kids in exchange for Javanese lessons, and a ridiculous amount of chess. My game improved so much in this month due to the vast amount of brilliant men always looking for a game. Despite being very smart and well versed in the ancient game, some of the guys I played with were homeless and slept on concrete slab tables in the open-air market after it closed, sharing a home with thousands of rats and roaches (these rats are well fed and literally the size of small cats, twice the size of their cousins in the NYC Subways). Every night I would play chess with these guys, usually until 4 or 5 am, and they would always offer me a glass of 'arak' (homemade rice liquor) which I would graciously accept.
All in all I will miss all my friends in Dinoyo and cherish my time here. This neighborhood has taught me a lot, it has that raw edge that evokes a sense of the 'real world', and a lifetime of enduring hardship can be seen in the still smiling faces of the elderly people...
11/27/10
INDONESIAN FOOD; EAST JAVA, MADURA, AND BALI...
this post is long overdue... this is just a very small glimpse at the massive amount of amazing food in indonesia.. this is all pretty much from a 2 day span when my friend muddy came out from nyc..
the last 6 months in indonesia, as well as my time in mexico, is what im basing my new 'happy food' theory on. it simply states that the general happiness of a people is less based on economy, military strength, or wealth as much as it is based on a cheap, accesible overload of amazing food!
indonesian food has origins from many cultures including chinese, indian, dutch, and arab... its hard to categorize indonesian food because it varies so much, not only from island to island, but from city to city! its extremely regional and things that all indonesian food seems to have in common are rice, garlic, shallots, and CHILE. lots of chile...
literally every street corner in every town has people with makeshift 'warungs' or foodstalls, filling the air with amazing sounds and smells of chile, onions, simmering broths and sizzling meats.. selling a variety of made to order meals from the staples like nasi goreng (indo fried rice) and bakso (soup made with meatballs) to off the wall things like grilled chicken intestines and goat brain soup.. all of it is amazing and between 50 cents and 1.50 US... another thing i enjoy about it, from a cook's point of view is that all the ingredients, especially outside of big cities, are grown and raised very locally and with little or no profit enhancing poisons (i.e. pesticide, steroids, hormones, ect...) the farmers make their trips to the town markets every morning and the cows have beautiful brown coats, a far cry from the cattle 'factories' that i saw spread out across texas and oklahoma that nearly turned me vegetarian, and i LOVE meat...
SAMBAL: the staple ingredient in indonesian food (aside from rice) is chile.. small red or green, these chiles are extremely spicy and usually come in the form of sambal. sambal can be made thousands of different ways which vary from cook to cook.. a basic sambal would be made fresh by hand with a mortar and pestle and contain raw chile, garlic, some form of fermented prawn paste, salt and citrus.
the last 6 months in indonesia, as well as my time in mexico, is what im basing my new 'happy food' theory on. it simply states that the general happiness of a people is less based on economy, military strength, or wealth as much as it is based on a cheap, accesible overload of amazing food!
indonesian food has origins from many cultures including chinese, indian, dutch, and arab... its hard to categorize indonesian food because it varies so much, not only from island to island, but from city to city! its extremely regional and things that all indonesian food seems to have in common are rice, garlic, shallots, and CHILE. lots of chile...
literally every street corner in every town has people with makeshift 'warungs' or foodstalls, filling the air with amazing sounds and smells of chile, onions, simmering broths and sizzling meats.. selling a variety of made to order meals from the staples like nasi goreng (indo fried rice) and bakso (soup made with meatballs) to off the wall things like grilled chicken intestines and goat brain soup.. all of it is amazing and between 50 cents and 1.50 US... another thing i enjoy about it, from a cook's point of view is that all the ingredients, especially outside of big cities, are grown and raised very locally and with little or no profit enhancing poisons (i.e. pesticide, steroids, hormones, ect...) the farmers make their trips to the town markets every morning and the cows have beautiful brown coats, a far cry from the cattle 'factories' that i saw spread out across texas and oklahoma that nearly turned me vegetarian, and i LOVE meat...
SAMBAL: the staple ingredient in indonesian food (aside from rice) is chile.. small red or green, these chiles are extremely spicy and usually come in the form of sambal. sambal can be made thousands of different ways which vary from cook to cook.. a basic sambal would be made fresh by hand with a mortar and pestle and contain raw chile, garlic, some form of fermented prawn paste, salt and citrus.LONGTON BELAP (SPICY SOUP WITH STEAMED RICE, BEAN SPROUTS, AND TEMPE..)
only found in surabaya (i think) this soup contains longton (rice over-steamed in banana leaves) bean sprouts, fried fermented soy whey (tempe), tofu, and crispy shallots.. in a semi sweet broth with a very very spicy deep brown sambal.. not bad for 70 cents!!
RUJAK CINGUR (BRAISED COW NOSE IN A SPICY PEANUT SAUCE)
rujak cingur is another surabaya classic with its roots coming from madura.. a typical rujak vender would be an elderly woman who mixes a massive amount of ingredients in a large shallow mortar and pestle and grinds them to order.. this sauce mixture contains, fried peanuts, chile, patisse (sour fermented prawn liquidy thingy?), salt, sugar, and about 10 other ingredients that i dont know.. the sauce is poured over bean sprouts, steamed rice cakes, cow nose, and tofu.. there are few things on earth that can bring this kinda smile to my face for 50cents!
SATE GAMBING (GOAT SATE)
this famous madurese dish is almost always sold alongside 'gule' (next photo), and rice.. the sauce is similar to the rujak above and served with sambal and raw shallots.. the sate themselves contains various cuts of goat meat which are grilled, usually over slow-burning coconut shells which are continuously fanned by the man selling them... i say man because ive never seen a woman 'manning' the grill! the universal tradition of men standing there grilling meat may just be as old as mankind itself and probably dates back as far as 400,000 years when we first mastered fire!!!
GULE (SOUP MADE WITH GOAT INNARDS)
found in east java and madura alongside sate is gule.. it is a semi sweet, but still savory broth made from (i think!) coconut water, lemongrass, tumeric, cinnamon, chile, garlic, and goat bones...
the meat varies and is usually offal (innards)
somewhere in the separation of our european roots, we americans have lost a love of innards (except in hotdogs of course) but in the last ten years there has been a huge resurgence in fine dining restaurants throughout nyc, chicago and sf.. which is great to see and as a cook one of the first things you come to love and appreciate is cooking and eating offal.. anyone can put salt and pepper on a ribeye and grill it and it will taste amazing, but i give much respect to those who can make a 5 star meal out of lamb brains or pig cheeks!!
the meat varies and is usually offal (innards)
somewhere in the separation of our european roots, we americans have lost a love of innards (except in hotdogs of course) but in the last ten years there has been a huge resurgence in fine dining restaurants throughout nyc, chicago and sf.. which is great to see and as a cook one of the first things you come to love and appreciate is cooking and eating offal.. anyone can put salt and pepper on a ribeye and grill it and it will taste amazing, but i give much respect to those who can make a 5 star meal out of lamb brains or pig cheeks!!
BAKSO (MEATBALL SOUP)
perhaps the most universal dish, served in variations all over indonesia.. a typical bakso will contain a meat broth poured over finely ground meatballs made by hand by the man selling them.. the soup will typically have glass noodles, kecap (a thick sweet soy sauce pronounced like 'ketchup') and tomato paste.. and of course with sambal, one can expect to pay around 50-80 cents per serving...
MIE AYAM (NOODLES AND CHICKEN)
not too different from basic bakso setups, this is made from freshly made noodles quickly boiled in a chicken broth and served with sawi (spelling? a leafy green veg) crispy krupuk (fried things made originally from fish?!) sambal and kecap.. wonderful meal for 60 cents...
BABI GORENG (STIR FRIED PORK)
apologies to all my muslim friends but in bali (a hindu island) amazing pork can be found in abundance.. i previously highlighted 'babi guling' balinese roast pig which is one of my favorite meals on earth.. here pork is stir fried with vegetables in a sweet spicy sauce not unlike the american version of chinese food.. i likey!
KARE GAMBING (SPICY SOUP WITH GOAT BRAINS, INTESTINES AND OTHER SOUL NOURISHING THINGS...)
one of my favorite meals in east java, this spicy soup has a meaty rich broth and lots of perfectly stewed goat guts which give the soup a variety of textures and flavours.. this soup is notably spicy and requires a well adapted stomach, not for beginners to the indo dining scene.. slightly expensive, it costs around a buck..
SOTO BANJAR (BANJARMASSIN SOUP)
banjarmassin is a city in indonesian borneo which my good friend husny's mom comes from.. this is one of many amazing meals in her repertoire and includes boiled eggs, longton, crispy shallots and a fried potato cake in a chicken broth.. amazingly gratifying meal..
11/14/10
surabaya wedding...
my buddy sofi in surabaya invited me to come spend 3 days at his fathers' home in the northern part of the city for his nieces wedding.. both husband and wife were madurese and many family members made the trip to java for the occasion.. they closed down the street and set up a large tent with speakers blairing traditional music.. my friends husny and sofi took photos and shot video and i enjoyed the processions of my first muslim wedding.. it was really interesting, on the final day all of the men sit at tables and eat while an imam speaks, then at night, after the cerimonies, its just a big party.. lots of fun, did i mention amazing food!!!!
10/12/10
back in east java.. bayuman
returned to east java after an amazing month in madura.. stayed with my friend iis for a week.. iis is a friend of a guy i met on a boat and she invited me to come hang out with her in her village where she is a teacher.. had a great time with her and all of her students as well.. everyday we would cook and hang out with iis's extended family, and of course, bathing in the river which is my favorite way to bathe ;)
10/1/10
in sampang with sofi....
sofi is my good buddy from suroboyo, he and his family returned to their home in madura to celebrate the holiday.. we met up in northern madura where i was stranded with a broken bicycle.. sofi picked me up and we spent a couple days with his family near sampang, the capital city of madura... it was such a nice time and his family is so cool.. we ate enormous amounts of amazing food courtesy of bibi, sofi's aunt...
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