Food Adventures

Went looking for a meal this evening and found, as you can image, a wide range of options in Tunjungan Plaza. I definitely did not want American food (e.g., McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC, A&W). I was considering a restaurant called "Top Noodles" and its display of various, well, NOODLE dishes, when the shop across the way caught my eye. Lo and behold, I had found my dinner! How could I resist "Obama Pizza"?

The placard on my table read, "We created this pizza to celebrate the historical and unique situation of having an American president who had an Indonesian stepfather and who spent four years of his childhood in Jakarta. He was a Menteng boy! Who knows, maybe that's what helped him get elected as President of the United States of America." (Note: Menteng is a neighborhood in Jakarta).

When it arrived the pizza was thin and crispy, topped with spicy chicken and onions, and a bit of fresh lettuce or maybe cabbage on top as a garnish. Yummy! My slightly over-friendly waiter was clearly eager to practice his English, though I would rather have had a quieter dinner. He was quite excited about Obama and his Indonesian connection and gave Hilary Clinton high marks for her recent visit here. I thoroughly enjoyed the pizza, tried not to read any political significance into the 30% discount the restaurant offered on it, and was amused by the nearby table of teenage girls. They were dressed in trendy clothes, carried cell phones and digital cameras, and repeatedly burst into peals of laughter, collapsing backwards onto their chairs as they giggled.

While I'm on the topic of food, let me write a bit about lunch. Around noon, four of my new colleagues at UBAYA and I drove about ten minutes away from campus to an Indonesian restaurant. I got a kick out of trying to decipher the menu, which was completely in Bahasa -- could they really be offering Chicken Head? (Yes, they were, with a choice of fried or grilled.) Fortunately, I didn't have to make any choices as my lunch companions were happily ordering away, quizzing our poor waiter about the exact contents of each dish to make sure that we didn't order anything with peanuts. We ended up with: oxtail soup, fried rice with lamb, Indonesian fried chicken, fried chicken livers, some kind of fish cooked whole with a tomato-based sauce on top, Indonesian lamb curry, and kailan with garlic sauce.

Now, to some of you that might sound like the absolutely perfect lunch. But as you think about this you should keep in mind that Scott and I often joke that I would be a horrible contestant on Survivor or The Amazing Race because I have little tolerance for food with somewhat exotic ingredients. I guess you could say that I can't stomach them : )

I'm happy to report, though, that I ate some of everything and smiled the whole time. This despite a heated discussion among my tablemates about whether the lamb was really lamb or whether it was goat. They wanted me to eat all of the chicken livers but I talked them into finishing them off after I ate one. Actually, I ate part of one and hid the rest under my pile of chicken bones. Most of the food truly was delicious, although I admit that I am spoiled in the US by having to eat meat only when it is an identifiable cut or thoroughly de-boned! The kailan was especially good and reminded me a bit of Scott's and my favorite bok-choy dish from Singapore.