Javanese Warungs.

I ate at another roadside warung again. This would be my 2nd time eating at these kinds of places because the food there is just.... unhealthy. It's either fried or stir fried.

Since I was alone this time, I am not shy about taking pictures of my surroundings and food.

Location: Ring Road Utara, near the junction of Jalan Kaliurang KM 5,8 and Ring Road Utara and near the Kentungan Transjogja Halte
Time: 6pm

So, here's how my surroundings looked like:



Ya, that's the kitchen where that guy is preparing the food.



And the cars were zooming by the warung.

My food came!
I ordered fried chicken (on hindsight, I should have ordered roasted chicken - oh well) and omelette with rice.



The finger bowl comes with just water. A plate of greenies would be provided. Notice that I had some leaves in the finger bowl. The green leaves are from the greenies plate and they smell like mint with oil-repelling properties. They are edible, but I don't like the taste of it. So, I put them in the finger bowl (as taught by my Javanese friend) to wash my hands with.

Steps to eat, Javanese warung style:
1). Wash right hand in water bowl (forget about using your left hand - it's RUDE. I use my left hand to hold the plate, that's all). Water bowl can be with or without leaves.
2). Tear off a piece of chicken/egg/whatever using the 4 fingers and thumb of your right hand. Wave your food morsel in the gravy thoroughly (found on a separate plate or under the food).
3). Pop food in your mouth. Do not chew yet.
4). Line the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and last fingers of your right hand together so they form a kind of shovel. Ladle up some rice with those fingers and pat the rice down with your thumb so the rice is formed into a small, neat lump. Be realistic. Don't ladle too much rice or you'll have too much to handle.
5). Bring your hand to your mouth and (using your thumb) push the lump of rice in.
6). Chew and repeat from step 2.
7). When you are full, wash your right hand in the finger bowl. Make sure to get rid of the oil on your fingers.
8). Ask for bill. (rice, omelette, lime drink and fried chicken came up to Rp12.000)

When I got there, the Javanese guy manning the stall was saying everything in Bahasa Indonesia, complete with hand signals. For example, he said, "Minum?" complete with hand signs, when asking me if I wanted a drink. My Bahasa Indonesia may be merely passable (I speak slowly, though), but I do understand street language. And miming the word 'drink' for my benefit is just .... *sigh*.

And throughout the time I was there, I was stared and whispered about.
*sigh*
I was only there for dinner, for goodness sake.
Ah, well. I'm an outsider here.

Things about Yogya that I would miss.

I had the crappiest test today ever, since I was the only student in my class. And the teacher had her eye on me all the time - can't cheat! =D
The test had so many components, and my vocabulary is like a child's. And I didn't know that my vocabulary would be tested in the "Listening and Speech" test.

SO OH WELL.
Whatever. I'll pass overall anyway. I think I did relatively okay in the rest of the tests.

With the Bahasa Indonesia tests over and done with, half of my semester here is over.
And I'm just beginning to settle in.
My internship starts next Monday.

I'm beginning to do a list of things that I might miss when I'm back home in Singapore.

1). The nasi padang place near the UGM Graduate School





The food there is very affordable, and has a homecooked flavour to it. 3 types of side dishes, 1 glass of es teh plus rice would cost around Rp 7000. Today I got 5 types of side dishes (can't resist the little little pieces of gorengan)), half a slice of papaya and a glass of es jeruk cost me Rp 9000.
Thinking about it makes me hungry again.

The male undergraduates who go to that place usually pile their plates high with rice (I've seen mountains sitting pretty on those plates before). I think the cost of the meal is calculated by the types of food and not the amount. I'm not sure. I haven't tried piling it on high yet since I don't think I could finish the types of mountains they have on their plates.

2). The wild little buses that go round and round in the city

Sorry, no picture. I'm usually too busy trying not to fall off the bus while boarding/alighting. I can't whip out my phone to take a picture. Earlier today, I took the bus from my department to Feng Yi and Shalina's area since I needed to post some postcards and to get my laundry. I was on the bus for a very long time and it cost me Rp 2500. Okay, so the seats are small (and the elbow of the guy sitting beside me was in my side the whole time), but it does get me to wherever I need to go. The time of arrival is dependent on how many stops the guy makes, and how long he stops each time. Not for the faint-hearted (the bus driver was driving against the traffic this morning!) or the impatient.

3). Mad laundry service

Laundry in Yogyakarta could be a luxury in Singapore. I drop my laundry at a laundry shop. How much I pay is dependent on the weight and the charge per kilogramme of clothes that shop charges. For example, I dropped off 3kg of laundry last Sunday at the laundry place near Shalina and Feng Yi's place and it was ready yesterday. The guy writes me a note (which he ultimately doesn't use because he knows my face and name) for Rp 7500. My clothes came back today nicely ironed, with a lily scent and in a clear plastic bag. 1 kilogramme of laundry cost Rp 2500 to launder at the shop, and customers need to drop off a minimum of 2kg. The people at the laundry shop label each piece of clothing article with the customer's name (which I have to cut off in a bit) so they know what belongs to who.
Some laundry shops along my street can charge up to Rp 4000 per kilogramme of laundry!
(Ah, current exchange rates are at Rp 6775 = S$1 or thereabouts)
Please compare this to Singapore's rates and level of service.

4). Snacks and instant noodles

I'm surprised I haven't mentioned this yet, since it's a whole culture here.
There is an entire row dedicated to instant noodles in the supermarket, as well as another row dedicated to snacks and other munchies. Forget Twisties. This here is the real deal.
And, things like Milo powder come in small sachets so people can buy small amounts at one time. It's easier to store too!

Although there are many things I like about Yogyakarta, one thing continues to puzzle me. The national post offices.
I go to 2 different branches, depending what I have to do during the day. I get charged differently for posting the same thing! For example, I posted a postcard back home for Rp 3000 at the post office near S and FY's place a few weeks back. Today, a postcard back home cost me Rp 4500. And then, I got charged Rp 4000/postcard at the post office at the university last week. When I tried to ask about it (with my inadequate language skills), they got impatient (there were lots of other people sending stuff at the office) and told me that it was the normal rate. =\
It's in the same city, kan?