Bali’s Best Street Food #1

Since this is the first edition of my Michelin starred street food review in Bali, I would like to give a serious warning to whoever might tempted to try the food:

1.Prepare your tongue for a serious spicy-ness
2.Prepare your digestion for seriously vicious bacteria; infamously known as “Bali Belly”

3.Most foods reviewed here are NON-HALAL (read: contain pork, unknown indigenous bacteria, occasional human hair or various local insects)
4.Just in case you’re wondering: No, sadly I don’t get any compliment whatsoever this advertising reviw.

So, here we go…

What : Warung Ibu Sri
Where : Gajah Mada Street – Pupuan – Tabanan

If you happened to found yourself in Pupuan, which I believe to be the next Bedugul and not yet attacked by serious mass tourism in buses, you would most likely to find yourself strike by hunger. I blamed it for the weather: chilly, windy and always gloomy. What other options should you having other than strolling through the street food market, right?

It also most likely that the B & B or ‘losmen’ you’re staying doesn’t know the meaning of ‘edible food’ and so you should head down to the town. Around 3pm, you’d find the Gajah Mada Street full with vendors selling all kind of cheap foods which goes well with your pocket and not so well with your cholesterol. Anyhoo, “Warung Ibu Sri” (meaning “Chez Ibu Sri”) located in a small shop.

You can tell the giggling waitress to get you: “Satu porsi nasi campur” (read: One portion of mix rice) and in three minutes they’d bring out this:

Or, you can choose from the many assortments of meats and veggies, displayed in the glass vitrine.

I seriously order you not to miss the crunchy-deep-fried pork fat (also sold in small plastic portion). For the dessert, you can order a portion of traditional Balinese “cakes”, located beautifully in front of Warung Ibu Sri. That is if you can still walk out and talk. In my case, I was only able to moo.

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Dancing Adenium

Doesn’t it looks like it’s about to go dancing? It sort of reminds me to those giant Ents in Lord of the Rings.

Taken from a recent trip to a plant exhibition in Denpasar.

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Oh Indy

For two hours, I spent my precious Saturday night by being stuck to the average sized theater seat with a silent elbow battle to fight supremacy over the armchair rest with the stranger next to me. The opening score left me breathlessly happy. Ta-da-dah-dah, I hummed to the dismay of the elbow loser next to me. A kicked back to the good ol’ time when I was watching Indy with my dear Papi was just what I need.

However after two hours of speed racing in the jungle, in town and in library (!), crawling under spider’s web and between dead skull, and Double Indy actions (one with whip, the junior with comb), it started to feel flat. I don’t know what the problem was but the magic of Indiana Jones was lost for me. Perhaps because I am older or by now is so used to special effect, that nothing surprise me anymore. Not even the incredible collapse of El Dorado.

One thing I know for sure is:

Forget Hallmark and check this if you want to send someone special an e-card they would never forget. Or forgive, for that matter.

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From The Head of One Indonesian Today

In the spirit of joyfulness for the success of Indonesian Uber Team to go into final, I dedicate this post for them, those brave girls who by the terms of Sutiyoso (former populist governor of traffic jammed and flooded annually capital of Indonesia) are Davids which in the final will face Goliaths. Goliaths, of course, is the China Uber Team who’s dominating the world female badminton rank from Number 1 to Number 5 whereas our most brilliant David only smashing on Number 24. Just give them hell, oh my brave She-Davids! Make your countrymen proud, since lately we don’t have anything to be proud of or to be happy about.

This nation is as gloomy as my current view from the window. What with soon-to-be rising prices in fuel which automatically will increase all prices from books to already-far-from-the-marginal-buying-power tempeh and “the curse call issue” raging this archipelago. Wait, a curse call? What in God’s name is that? (by this question tense sapimalas imagine that this post is actually being read).

Politician are known for certain traits or in the words of Andrea Hirata in his best-selling book, Laskar Pelangi ( loosely translated as ‘Rainbow Warrior’) are gifted with few characteristics “…populist, opportunistic, big mouthed, theoretical, know-it-all”. This in general knowledge is well, true. But Andrea Hirata forgot one more thing in his honest description of a politician (which is by the way are applicable in all nations): they are very good at deflecting people’s attention. In our case, they are using their mega weapon: press.

The first time I heard about this rumor, I was on bed and ready to catch my beauty sleep. My brother bid his good night farewell and out-of-blue warned me “Oh and don’t answer if you receive a call from number 086xxx and the screen turns red”. And as usual I replied: “What happen if I answer?” He retorted in that tone when you tell your friend a ghost story while you were outside camping and owls are hoo-ing, “You’ll have seizure and die. Good night”. I turned off my mobile, put it away and sleep it off. This morning while I reached my office, I browsed the internet and here is what I found.

In a nutshell, a shaman rumored to test his power cursed a 086xxx number. Witness what the victims said to the press (read the complete news here):

Haryono, 23 years old, live in Situbondo, suddenly fainted and let go of his stomached dinner upon receiving a phone call from his mobile phone on Wednesday night, May 14. In his official press release he said: When I answered the phone suddenly my hand was jolted with a high electrical wave.

Rasmi, 20 years old, live in Sumenep, received a cursed text message and after reading half of it, suddenly fainted.

Irrational? You bet. But it made into headlines on major newspaper and successfully divides public’s attention from fuel or corrupted legislative member. Indeed, absurd news tend to appear whenever an honorable member of legislative is on trial for corruption or the fuel price take a hike into Doomed Mountain.

At least today, for one day, Indonesian public will be able to shake off the curse and the fuel from their head. Today is a Badminton Day. After all, as Scarlett O’ Hara put it, tomorrow is another day.

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Gabo's New 'Novel of Love'

I was afraid that he wouldn’t be writing anymore. Turns out it is not the problem since Gabriel Garcia Marquez new ‘novel of love’ is in the making. I just can’t wait. I hope it won’t be as flat as “Memories of My Melancholy Whores” or as perverted, although it is beyond me how a tale of a lusty old man fell in love with a virgin, could be readable. I supposed only a Gabriel Garcia Marquez allowed writing such a thing and capable of turned it into a poetic tale of love.

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French Movie Festival

Spring is coming. The birds are chirping. The flowers are blooming. We, of course, cannot feel ths joy of having a spring in Bali. It doesn't mean we cannot celebrate it, since luckily the French gift us the famous and much anticipated event of the year (at least for this sapimalas).

Yes, finally the French Movie Festival is coming to town! This sapimalas just couldn’t stop smiling although not laughing because the French Consulate in Bali only sponsored four movies this year (Where is “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”?). Can’t complain tough, four is still better than nothing at all. Greedily, this sapimalas mooing for four free tickets (yes, free) in the Alliance Francaise Denpasar. The helpful and kind staff who parlez such a enviable French assist moi and voila, four tickets are in my hand!

Those four movies will be played for two days on April 26 and April 27, 2008; obviously in our beloved two screens only cinema, Galeria Simpang Siur. Those four movies are:

-Serko (Adventure/100min./subtitle in English)
About an equestrian adventure of a horse named Serko and a boy named Dimitri. Set in Russia on 1889.
-Flandres (Drama/91min./subtitle in English)
Historical drama about love, war and everything in between. The intriguing part is it was showed in Cannes Festival 2006 Grand Prix. Should be good.
-Les Témoins (Drama/112min./subtitle in English)
The poster reminds me of “Closer” (starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen). The setting is on the year of 1984 where AIDS started to show up and haunt the lifestyle of person involved in the story.
-“Mon Petit Doigt m’a Dit…” (Comedy/Mystery/ 105min. /subtitle in English)
…or “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” in English telling story about Prudence and Belisaire Beresford from Agatha Christie’s detective story. It should be funny since the leading actress is Catherine Frot, one of the best French actress.

A Bientôt!

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A Night with Tiesto

It was splendid. The opening DJ, Redy, was doing a great job. It was already packed on midnight. The bules standing idly by with a Bintang beer in one hand and a young-tanned long-haired-local-bare-all lady in the other hand. Local kids stick together in groups, the ladies all prim and proper, clad in stilettos. I wonder who in the right mind decided to wear stiletto to trance party. Not me, definitely.

Better than last year, echoed the crowds. It was a sound system disaster last time, the other said. Around 1am, when the crowds has started to be drown in alcohol and the adrenaline was pumping crazily (of course after a quick AJ Hackett Bungee Jump near by), the DJ showed up. Track after track in his latest ‘Elements of Life’ album was performed to the overjoyed crowds plus few bonuses from his last album. It was a great night.

I went back home around 4 a.m in the morning. Tiesto was still pumpin’ the last track. All along the way leftovers from alcohol permeated bodies together with few transvestites hoping to be shadowed by darkness and alcohol fueled brain, filled the Double Six Road. It was another night of good party and great DJ performance in this paradise. Good job to the event organiser and 66!

When : April 22, 2008
What : Tiesto Elements of Life World Tour
Where : Double Six Club, Bali
Who : 3,000 adoring crowds

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