So whenever I read someone in the west write a recipe that calls for ‘sambal’ and they mean ‘sambal oelek’, I get very irrationally angry. Sambal should NOT be sour. It should not have only vinegar notes. It should arguably not have vinegar at all!
So because I have visible tattoos and I speak the equivalent of a 10 year old’s Indonesian, and all my friends here are Chinese Surabayans, people basically read me as ‘dumb ass local kid who went to Singapore or the US to study and now can’t speak properly’, but maybe that’s better than being coded as a foreigner
When I was growing up I was a devout student of southeast Asian colonial and post-colonial history but my studies largely focused on the British empire. I am now spending my free time reading about the Dutch.
Another film / airport update: Changi Airport terminal 4 scans bags immediately after immigration (other terminals sometimes defer that to at the boarding gate). Spoke with an officer, he said they were happy to hand check but I was in line specifically at one of the lower powered film safe scanners (had a huge sign that said film safe on it), so I just went ahead with the scan. Will share what happens when I develop the film!
When I worked in Indonesia, lots of folks would read about founders talking about the times they had to ‘eat ramen to survive’ and we’d all be like, so? Indomie IS delicious! Even if I had lots of money, I’d still be eating Indomie!
Then I had to explain to them that not everyone has Indomie as default ramen, and that instant ramen in some places can be.. awful
Desperately looking for a way to DIY our own Indomie seasoning from scratch because ‘export version Indomie’ (the ones sold outside Indonesia) are not as good as the original.
They’re just.. nowhere as spicy, or umami?! (The export version that says hot and spicy is closer than the normal one, but also has the same problem)
The only place in the world where there’s an accurate description of my ‘palate’ was Indonesia.
People knew exactly what foods and flavor profiles I like when I say ‘gurih’.
I’ve never liked plain or light tasting food (unless exceptionally high quality: like steamed fish, Teochew style, but the fish has to be world class); so I found it wonderful that all of the food east of Jogja was basically ‘food I’m obsessed with’, especially East Java, and NTT cuisines.
A Singaporean cook I follow lives in Amsterdam. She was asked for her thoughts on food there.
"The food scene in the Netherlands is very potato-centric - mashed potatoes, fries etc. People are just more utilitarian here when it comes to food - the complete opposite of Singaporeans haha. The silver lining for me is the amazing Indonesian restaurants here"
(It's true, we don't love potato in Singapore and we are never utilitarian about food)
How's the weather where you are, #SEA / #Indonesia folks? It looks like I'm on the "right" side of Java as far as cool weather goes, because it's been like the north of England in Yogyakarta. Very cold, grey, and raining here and there. It's actually cold enough at night that I'm going out with my wife's turtleneck underneath my jacket.
I initially went to #Indonesia, back in 2011, because of the country’s troubling history with deforestation, driven primarily, historically, by demand for tropical commodities including #palmoil#paperpulp & #rubber.
In the past decade, as I’ve covered these issues for numerous outlet, much has changed. In some ways there has been real progress in increasing traceability and stemming deforestation, but at the same time, much of the supply chain remains opaque.
From 2010 to 2017, there was a thing called #AseanCitizen that we Aseans started as a grassroots movement. We were all bloggers from across, well, #ASEAN or South-East Asia.
Some of us joined together to produce one of the best multi-authored regional blogs. We talked about our cultures, write about what makes the region awesome. As well as, try to address the oftentimes silly and sometimes heated debates.
It's all gone now. Forgotten. The blogs dead or offline. We all grew up, got busy with our personal lives, and moved on separately. And the important reason? We lost interest in it as we started to see ASEAN was, is, and will never be for the grassroots.
That was the end of what was once a vibrant grassroot ASEAN Citizens effort. We did it all voluntarily. Without a single recognition from the top-down organisation that is ASEAN.
But today? ASEAN is still a top-down organisation. They kept trying to get the grassroots involved, but they are always failing. Why? Because it is a top-down organisation, as simple as that. They will never understand until they shift their mindset and approach to bottom-up.
(P.S I want to restart this grassroots movement, but I just no longer have the spark. Give me a very good reason why I should give it another chance. Or, at least, guide the new generation.)
Q : Apakah mengunduh aplikasi akan mendapatkan dosa?
A : Tidak, itu hanya mitos saja
Q : Apakah aplikasi tersebut mengandung virus?
A : Tidak, sudah lolos di semua antivirus
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This application only avaliable for third world countries & developer country, except first world countries. #indonesia#fedi22@indonesia
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I went down an Indonesian music rabbit hole recently to update my knowledge. I mostly listen to rock galau from the 80s to mid 00s, so this is a change.
I can’t even begin to tell you what a massive improvement it is for my mental health that there is now an Indonesian coffee shop near where I live in SF; that PLAYS LAGU GALAU (emo Indonesian music; one of my major music genres!)
It just opened, and.. hearing this music, and this language, around me in a place where I sometimes feel unmoored and far from home, is just a godsend.
Today in Labor History October 8, 1965: The Indonesian military, led by future dictator Suharto, began torturing and massacring thousands of "suspected" Communists, leading ultimately to the overthrow of leftist President Sukarno. Other targets of the murders were members of the Gerwani women’s movement, trade unionists, ethnic Javanese Abangan, ethnic Chinese, atheists, teachers, students, and alleged leftists in general. The U.S. embassy provided the death squads with the names of suspected “communists.” Intelligence agencies from the U.S., U.K., and Australia provided anti-communist propaganda, as well as military and logistical aid. Overall, the genocide (1965-1966) led to 500,000 to 1.2 million civilian deaths and 1.5 million imprisoned. A top-secret CIA report from 1968 called the massacres "one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century, along with the Soviet purges of the 1930s, the Nazi mass murders, and the Maoist bloodbath of the early 1950s." Nevertheless, Western media either downplayed the events, or celebrated them. Suharto remained in power until 1998, continuing to imprison, torture and slaughter workers and civilians. He also presided over the East Timor Genocide of up to 300,000 people in the 1970’s.
Saw it on my watchlist & was reminded of this Wiki bio I wrote in summer 2021. One of the articles I struggled with the most in terms of tone, as Schoonheyt was for most of his life a truly horrible fascist and colonialist. I'm still not happy with some parts of it.