The Economics of Cup Noodles

Jeremiah has been eating cup noodles quite a bit over the past few weeks. He has tried the various brands of cup noodles available here, ranging from the humble and least inexpensive Indomie cup noodles (S$0.50) to the most pricey Korean kimchi noodes (S$2).

One thing Jeremiah could not fathom was why all the various cup noodles came with forks in them. Afterall, the manufacturers, expecially the lower-end ones, could cut back on costs if they did not include the forks.

It was only today that he figured out why. Though a humble product elsewhere, cup noodles, even the least expensive ones, are quite "luxurious" here. When eating instant noodles, less well-off Indonesians would often buy packet instant noodles, which are about one-fifth the price of cup noodles, and add boiling water to the noodles before eating them.

The times we tend to take for granted at times...

Yogja, Round 2

After spending a short weekend in Singapore to decompress, Jeremiah is now back in Yogjakarta and ready for Round 2 of his Bahasa Indonesia training. Jeremiah would like to thank those who met up with him over the past few days. Thanks for providing a listening ear and for taking the time of your busy schedule to meet up. Jeremiah is also thankful to those who indulged his craving for Japanese food and is amazed by M, who guessed his craving for Japanese food. You are the best =) Terima kasih!

On a side note, the cabin crew did not have any immigration cards and customs forms on board during Jeremiah's flight from Singapore to Yogja. They were only distributed at the immigration counter in Yogja upon touch-down. The scene at the immigration counter was a tad hilarious.

At the line for foreign passports holders (who were mostly Singaporeans), the line was quite long. However, everyone was busy filling up their immigration and customs forms, with bored immigration officers at the counters looking bored from waiting. After helping an elderly Singaporean lady and her family get the necessary cards and forms, Jeremiah figured that the immigration officers would not give a hoot if he did not complete the departure segment of his immigration card and customs form, so long as the arrival section of the immigration card was completed. Hence, Jeremiah completed the arrival segment, mentioned aloud that he had completed the documents and was quckly ushered to the front of the line. The immigration officer at the counter behaved as predicted. Jeremiah managed to clear immigration quickly and after which he then completed his customs form. When he left the airport, he could still see people filling up their forms.

Local knowledge is important =)

Shopping on the Go, Indon-style

Yogjakarta is a renowned shopping paradise. Batik, art, wood and silver products can be found readily in Yogjakarta, often at a fraction of the price they command in Jakarta and outside of Indonesia. At Jalan Malioboro, the main thoroughfare in Yogjarkata, small warungs (stalls) selling food and trinkets line the street alongside shops, contributing to a festive atmosphere. Navigating Jalan Maliboro on weekends can be as challenging as making your way through Chinatown in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year.

Outside of the tourist strip and in certain parts of town, warungs are also a common sight. The route that Jeremiah takes every day to and from the gym, for instance, is packed with warungs on the pavement and the road shoulder. They sell a wide range of products including durians (as per the photo above), cooked food, drinks, sunglasses, rat poison and rabbits (hopefully as pets). When the locals see products that they want, they would pull over and do the necessary. From time to time, the stallholders would also tout passerbys.

Obviously, the overhead for such a set-up is low as the stall-holders do not need to pay rent and, possibly, tax. All these often translates into more competitive prices for the consumer. Welcome to shopping on the go, Indon-style.

Learning Bahasa Indonesia

A common difficulty faced by learners of Bahasa Indonesia is the use of affixes. Different situations call the use of different affixes. On top of that, a particular affix takes different forms, depending on what is the first letter of the word that it will be attached to.

For instance, the affix "men" takes the form of
(a) "me" if the first letter of the word is l, m, n, r, w, y, "ny"
(b) "mem" if the first letter is b, p, f, v (if p, then the p is dropped in the process)
(c) "men" if the first letter is d, t, j, c ,z (if t, then the t is dropped in the process)
(d) "meny" if the first letter is s, but the s is dropped in the process
(e) "meng" if the first letter is k, g, "kh", a, e, i, o, u (if k, then the k is dropped in the process)
(f) "menge" if the word is an one-syllable word.

When explaining this set of rules the other day, Jeremiah's grammar teacher said that there was no need to memorize the rules. Instead, it would suffice to remember the phonetic rationale for the rules as illustrated in the photo.

Hands up and out if you had at one point or another told Jeremiah that Bahasa Indonesia was an easy language.

If I Have a Million Dollars

Jeremiah came across this old ringtone of his in his handphone. It is one of the ultimate ah beng songs. Enjoy!

Excuse Me, Are You a Singaporean?

Jeremiah bumped into a fellow Singaporean today at the water section of a local supermarket. The other Singaporean was in Yogjakarta on business and was staying at a hotel next to the supermarket where Jeremiah was shopping. He looked like a Singaporean and when Jeremiah saw him checking out the price of the various brands of water on sale, Jeremiah knew that he had to be a Singaporean.

Singaporeans, it seems, are always on the lookout for a good deal when shopping.

How Much is Your Trishaw?

Of late, Jeremiah has been taking bacaks, the Indonesian version of the trishaw, quite a bit over the past two weeks. One is supposed to haggle with the bacak operator the cost of the ride before the start of the journey.


A typical exchange would be as follows:

Jeremiah: Ke Galleria Mall, berapa harganya?
*Confused look and after a pause* Becak Operator: 20,000 Rupiah
*Shakes Head" Jeremiah: Mahal sekali! [Very expensive]


Berapa harganya literally means how much is that. However, Jeremiah just learnt today that it should only be used for goods. For services, one should use berapa onkosnya . When Jeremiah asked berapa harganya , the becak operators could have interpreted the question as how much their becaks cost. Hence the confused looks.

Oops.

The Art of Wayang

Over the weekend, Jeremiah visited the Kraton, or Royal Palace, in Yogjakarta. The Yogja Kraton is believed to be one of the grandest in Indonesia. Every day of the week, a show highlighting a particular Javanese cultural tradition is staged. When Jeremiah visited, a Wayang Kulit (puppet shadow play) was being performed.

The set up of the Wayang was quite elaborate. The cast, equipment and screen occupied more than half of the pendopo (Javanese open pavilion). There were all in all about 90 to 100 performers for what appeared to be a simple play. Most of the performers were musicians playing the orchestra. The job of the dalang (puppeteer) is one of the most difficult. He must not only pull the strings but must also give the various cues to the rest of the cast, particularly the musicians. This means that he not only controls the puppet but is also the conductor.

Well, Wayang is definitely not for any Tom, Dick or Harry. Wayang is an art. Staging a good Wayang requires skills.