Indonesia

  • rendevouz
    blog,  Indonesia,  Padang,  Singapore,  Travel

    Polemik Rendang Babi

     

    Kehebohan di tanah air dalam 48 jam terakhir adalah Rendang Babi. Berawal dari seorang pengusaha kuliner yang sepertinya kurang pemahaman dengan suku tertentu dan ingin berinovasi dengan bisnis kulinernya. Diciptakan menu seperti bawah ini:

    babi ambo

    padang babi

    Reaksi netizen berbagai macam, dimulai dari yang sinis ke pihak yang protes, pihak yang protes merasa dilecehkan, ada yang mencoba untuk open minded, atau ada yang menganggap netizen Indonesia hanya mempermasalahkan hal-hal yang remeh.

    Kebetulan, istilah babi rendang bukan kali pertama aku dengar, sudah dari beberapa tahun yang lalu sering mendengar teman-teman Indonesia di pusat ngejoke tentang rendang babi, hanya tidak sampai viral seperti Babi Ambo.

    Di tahun 2018, secara gak sengaja menemukan Restoran Padang dengan tulisan Mandarin di Clarke Q, Singapura. Tentunya hal ini menarik bagi seorang Minang yang sedang berada di perantauan negara orang. Aku tertegun, meski semua staffnya berparas Cina, dan juga tidak ada logo Halal dari MUIS Singapura, tapi aku tidak menemukan bahan-bahan yang mengandung daging babi di menunya. Kenapa??

    Pindah ke Singapura di tahun 2004, meski sering on and off antara Singapura – Indonesia, aku kenal negara ini dengan sangat baik. Racial Harmony sudah ditanamkan sejak dini, mereka mengerti kalau etnis Melayu itu tidak makan babi, dan babi merupakan hal yang tabu atau ‘disgusting’ bagi etnis Melayu. Sementara itu, etnis Melayu juga tau kalau daging babi itu Cina banget – mereka juga tidak mengolok-ngolokan pemakan babi.

  • Asia,  blog,  Europe,  Indonesia,  Padang,  the Netherlands,  Travel

    The Explorer

    The Story Begins

    I’ve been traveling before I realized I was traveling, that is when I was 2 months old. I was born in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta. However, I am originally from West Sumatra, – located on the western part of Sumatra Island, almost 2 hours by plane from Jakarta, or 30 hours by bus or car across the fifth biggest island in the world named Sumatra, then take a 2-hour ferry to land on Java Island, it’s not finished yet. Still, there’s around 3 3-hour road trip to reach Jakarta city.

    After 2 months of giving birth, my mom brought me back to West Sumatra by plane. It was my first flight experience, and I only heard my mom’s story, of course, I can’t remember anything from my first flight since I was still a newborn baby.

  • milk
    Asia,  blog,  Germany,  Indonesia,  Malaysia,  Singapore,  Thailand,  the Netherlands,  Vietnam

    A Coffee Addict on the Road

    I start my days with coffee, wake up and smell the coffee. If I didn’t drink a cup of coffee before noon, I’d feel very depresso and wrong.

    Wherever I go and travel I always drink multiple cups of hot coffee every day. I’d love to taste local coffee. Life feels very beautiful and perfect every time I sip my coffee, tell me I’m not the only one. I believe my fellow coffee addict around the world can relate to this!!!

    a cup of coffee

    Coffee in The Middle

    Local Coffee in Singapore

    yakun kaya toast

    Although there’s no coffee plantation in Singapore, they have a local coffee chain. Yakun Kaya Toast.

    At Yakun Kaya Toast, I first knew how the way Singaporeans have their coffee time. It is still my favorite local coffee, I like to watch the way they serve the coffee. It is always a middle-aged Chinese man (Singaporeans called him ‘uncle’) who prepares the coffee. Never have I seen a woman or girl handle this coffee-making job, I guess it is part of their ‘branding’ since the founder is Ah Koon from Hainan, China.

    In Singapore, it is very common to see people drinking sweet coffee with half-boiled eggs and Kaya Toast. The price is reasonable, around SGD 1.50 per cup.