The Famous Restaurant in Indonesia - Rumah Makan Padang

 If one day the officials of The Guiness Book of World Record have time to visit Indonesia, I think they will announced that the world most largest franchise restaurant in the world is Rumah Makan Padang (simply means "Padang Restaurant"). It is true and I can bet on it. According to Ikatan Warung Padang Indonesia (The Indonesia Padang's Restaurant Organization, or simply called IWAPIN), there are about 20,000 Padang restaurant establishment, and the figure is in Jakarta only. There are hundreds of city in Indonesia. Try to count them all.....

Rumah Makan Padang is one of the most well-known restaurant in Indonesia. In every street of every city in Indonesia, you can easily find it. In fact, in every five to six house that you passed, there will be at least one Rumah Makan Padang. So you can imagine, how many of them in all city of Indonesia.

So what is the specialty of Rumah Makan Padang? Why it is so famous in Indonesia?


THE HISTORY OF RUMAH MAKAN PADANG
Padang is the capital city of West Sumatera, with an area about 694.96 square kilometers,with population more than 833,000 people. Besides its beauty scenery, Padang has been well-known for its cuisine which commonly called as Padang cuisine or Minangkabau cuisine (Minangkabau is the other name for Padang). In Indonesia dialect, it's called Masakan Padang or Masakan Minang (Minang's Cuisine).

Masakan Padang is famous for its rich taste of succulent coconut milk and spicy chili, similar with Middle Eastern or India dishes.

In the past (even until today), the city of Padang is not as good as today. A lot of unemployed people from Padang were go to other city to find a better job outside their city and island. That's why they were spreading all around Indonesia city and island. When they arrived in the city, most of them can't eat the cuisine in that place because it is not suitable for them (especially in Java, because most of its cuisine were sweet and less spicy). Eventually, most Padang's male are capable to do the cooking, so they cook the meal for themselves. Somehow, their cooking skill and food admired native. This result is giving idea for Padang's people to open restaurant that sell their origin food in their new place. And since then, Rumah Makan Padang is open widely in every city of Indonesia.


THE MENU OF RUMAH MAKAN PADANG
In the present, there are dozens of menu in Rumah Makan Padang that can be chosen. Most of them are cook using  coconut milk and spicy chili. Every Padang Restaurant served different variant and different taste of meals, depend of their specialty. Despite the variant meals of each restaurant, there are standard and regular menus that always available in every Padang restaurant :

1. Rendang : 
It's made from beef (sometimes chicken, mutton, water buffalo, or duck), slowly cooked in coconut milk, spices, toasted coconut paste, and spices (ginger, galangal, turmeric leaf, lemon grass, and chillies)  for several hours until the liquid almost gone.

2. Nangka / Nangko : 
Literally, Nangka means "jackfruit". Usually it is cooked with the mixture of coconut milk, lemon grass, turmeric, curry powder, and chillies. In some place, they are adding cabbage, long bean, and french bean to make the taste different. Nangka is served together with its thin sauce.

3. Sate Padang : 
Skewered meats that served with yellow (mixture of turmeric, ginger, garlic, coriander, galangal root, cumin, curry powder ad salt) and spicy sauce. In some restaurant, they are using goat meat, and some others using cow meat.

4. Gulai : 
It is curry soup that usually made with several combinations, such as liver (called Gulai Hati or Liver Curry), cow brain (Gulai Otak / Cow Brain Curry), cow bone marrow (Gulai Sumsum / Cow Bone Marrow Curry), cow internals organs (Gulai Cincang / Cow Internal Organs Curry), and others.

5. Sambal : 
Means Chili. There are two kinds of chili that always served in every Restaurant Padang : Sambal Balado (sliced red chili) and Sambal Lado / Sambal Ijo (sliced green chili). Sambal Balado usually very spicy, and Sambal Ijo usually mild spicy and tastier. To make the chili taste different, some restaurants add anchovy and shallot in the green chili.

HOW TO EAT IN RUMAH MAKAN PADANG? 
You'll be surprise to find out that eating in Rumah Makan Padang is very different comparing with other restaurant. All dishes are displaying in the window of the restaurant. While you are planning to dine-in, there are two ways you can do to ordering the food :
1. Direct choose : 
You just stand near the cuisines, then choose whatever you like. The waiter will get and prepare it to you in seconds.

2. Ala carte : 
Confused and can't decide what you prefer to eat? Just sit at any empty table in the restaurant. In less that a minute, a waiter will immediately serves the dishes directly to your table and fill it with dozens of their dishes such as rendang, curried fish, chili eggplant, curried beef liver, curry nangko, foot tendons, fried chicken, and sambal. While the waiter bring the dishes, you will see one of interesting act : All dishes - that place on each small bowl - were put and fill his both hands, then place all of the bowls on your table without spoil any of each meal. When you eat, choose and take whatever you like. The payment will be counted based on what you eat.

While you are having dine-in at Padang Restaurant, the waiter usually serve a bowl of tap water (sometimes with a slice of lime, to give a fresh scent). It's called "Kobokan", that used to wash your hand before eat. So, don't drink it....!!!

There are two ways to enjoy the dishes : eat with bare hands or with spoon and fork. Native in Indonesia mostly prefer to eat with bare hands.

WHY RUMAH MAKAN PADANG BECOME SO FAMOUS ? 

Most people in Indonesia love to eat in Padang Restaurant because several reason.

First, the choose of cuisines. Padang Restaurant have hundreds of cuisines that can be chosen. Each restaurant also provide different of taste and variant, which make the selection even bigger and wider.

Second is the portion. Padang cuisine have also been known for its large portion of rice. Whenever we ordered for take-away, the waiter will prepare a pack of rice that enough for 2 people. So, for rice-lover, Padang cuisine can guaranteed your stomach blow.

And the last reason is the price. Although some famous Padang's restaurant (such as Sederhana, Salero Bagindo, Pagi Sore, Simpang Raya, Sari Ratu, and Sari Minang) have quiet expensive price for its meals, but in small Padang restaurant, the price is affordable. The cheapest menu (rice with curry egg and chili) will cost not more than Rp 7,000 / pack (approx US$ 0.77). With portion that enough for two people, the price is quiet reasonable.

INDONESIA'S 10 MOST CONTROVERSY NEWS IN 2010

Within less than 2 weeks, we are going to leave the year of 2010 and welcoming 2011. Many things happened during this year. I can say this year is a "controversy year". There are a lot of controversy things happened during this year, and it is not happened only in USA, but also in almost all around the world. Here are some of the notable and controversy news from Indonesia :

1. ARIEL "PETERPAN" INCIDENT

Ariel (Left) & Luna Maya, his girlfriend

One of the most popular controversy top news in 2010 is Ariel "Peter Pan" Incident. Ariel - or Nazriel Irham - is the former lead singer of Peterpan Band, one of the most famous band from Indonesia. The incident started in June 3, 2010, when a viral sex video of him and his girlfriend, Luna Maya (one of the well-known model from Indonesia), was posted on a web site.

Several days later, another sex video which shown Ariel with another girl - Cut Tari, one of the most popular & talented tv presenter from Indonesia - also appeared on a downloadable web site. Although denied the video was him - and disappeared for almost a week - Ariel finally admitted on June 22, 2010 and handover himself. According to Ariel, the video was made for his private collections, but somehow leak to public. Although it was not Ariel who spread the video (later on it has revealed that it was one of Ariel's friend who plans to blackmail him), but the main trial of the case is him & it is still on progress. Rumors said that there are 36 more sex videos of Ariel that found and leaked to public. But until today. either hard evidences nor other proves was shown or reported to public.

This incident become very popular, not only in Indonesia, but also become hot topics in other countries, such as Korea and America.


2. GAYUS TAMBUNAN, THE TOUGHEST CORUPTOR 

Gayus (left) & his camouflage face (right) when he ran away to Bali

Another highlight of controversies news is Gayus Tambunan. He is known as "the toughest corruptor" due to his act as the tax "case broker" for most of the big tax cases in Indonesia. Before the case blown up, Gayus is only known as a very regular staff of Indonesia's Tax General Directorate. His recent position was The Tax Objected Review Officer. However, within 1 year of his service in the department and with salary less than Rp 12 million / month gross (approx about US$ 1,350), he can manage to buy a Rp 2 billion (approx US$ 222,500) of luxury house, have some collections of branded cars, and bank account with more than Rp 25 billion (approx US$ 2,8 million) amount.

Early this year, Susno Duadji - the former Commissioner General of Police Department - has mentioned his name as one of the suspect in most of the corruption cases in Indonesia. Police aimed target to Gayus and plan to started an investigation to him on March 24,2010. However Gayus disappeared and run away to Singapore.  His existence was detected in Singapore on March 31, 2010. After a very long persuasion by police, Gayus finally agreed to flown back to Indonesia and surrendered himself.

The trial of Gayus still in progress until today. And based on his testimony, there are a lot of big tax cases that have been settled by him. The compensation of his"hard work" usually is some amounts of money. He also admitted had bribed some judges to release him from the trial.

He also proved himself as "the most powerful corruptor" after been spotted in Bali - watching the international tennis competition - during his imprisonment time. When this news published, The Head of Warden was fired directly.


3. THE FAMILY FEUD
This year, the clash in local stars' family in Indonesia has become one of the most frequent headline in any entertainment news. At least 4 famous family feuds that have been exposed and become the most talk-about news.

Arumi Bachsin

The first feud was come from Anissa Bahar, one of dangdut's singer. After her divorce with her husband - Memo Sanjaya - several years ago, their daughter - Juwita Bahar - has been taken care by Memo. On March 2010, Juwita ran away from her father's house after Memo limited her activities and lived with her mother. After stayed with her mother for several month, on August 2010, Juwita ran away again and decided to live alone and take control of her own life. People started to wonder about the relationship between Juwita and her parents. However, until today, no further updated regarding this feud.

Another family feud came from Qory Sandioriva, the former Putri Indonesia 2009 (Miss Indonesia 2009) from Nanggroe Aceh Darrusalam (NAD), and one of the contestant of Miss Universe 2010. Since August 2010, after the Miss Universe competition ended, Qory is starting a clash with her mother - Feriawati - when her mother accused Qory has been blinded with black magic after met a guy nicknamed R. Feriawati also often issues a lot of statements to media about her daughter behavior and how she neglected her family. Qory replied her mother statements by cursing her mother on media, and refused to meet her.

Qory Sandioriva

Although the feud between mother and daughter are getting worse and worse everyday, but it turns out to be a fortune for Qory. It reported that since the clash of them has been blow up by the media, Qory has gaining popularity and get more job after that. A true feud or only sensation?

Another artist is Arumi Bachsin, who also have clash with her parents and run away from home two times. Her first run away was on May 10, 2010. According to her testimony, she did it because she felt being exploited by her parents. With the help from Indonesia Child Protection Commission (Komisi Perlindungan Anak Indonesia), Arumi finally agreed to return to her family. However, on November 18, 2010, Arumi run away again after having a dispute with her family again. Until today, Arumi is staying with Child Protection Commission and refuse to meet her parents.

And the recent feud is Ayu Azhari whose been reported by her two sons - Axel Djody Gondokusumo (20) and Sean Azad Taito Azhari (15) - for neglecting and abusing both of them. The case started on November 4, 2010, when Ayu reported her son - Sean Azad - for stealing her money US$ 50,000. After her son been arrested, Ayu revoked her report. But several days later Axel Gondokusumo filed a report against Ayu for holding his inheritance money. When Ayu denied to admit, Axel and Sean Azad reported her for abusing. They provide a lot of proofs, including the testimony from their younger brothers whose been abused by Ayu repeatedly. The case is still on process, and the news still can be read or watched in any of infotainment news everyday in every media. 

4. THE RAKE OVER THE SPECIAL REGION OF YOGYAKARTA
Since 1945, Yogyakarta has been stated as special part of Indonesia that become sultanate region. The position of Yogyakarta have become a very important part in Indonesia history after the sultan of the region, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX and Sri Paku Alam VIII, gave their full support to Indonesia Government when Dutch re-occupied Jakarta - the capital city of Indonesia -  during the ensuing struggle to secure independence in January 1946 - August 1950. In return for this support, the declaration of Special Authority over Yogyakarta was granted in full in 1950 and the region became its own province within the province of Central Java. Since become The Special Region, the people of Yogyakarta have authority to choose their own District Leader, in which come from sultan's family.

However this special treatment is become a huge national controversy after Interior Ministry is drafting a regulation concerning the special region of Yogyakarta. The controversy started in November 29, 2010, when The President of Republic of Indonesia  stated that it is not possible to have monarchy system in Yogyakarta, while the system that been used for Indonesia is democracy. This statement is raising controversy and critics, especially from the people of Yogyakarta. Most of them thought that The President did not understand the meaning of "monarchy" and had no consideration of history background. Even the regulations are not done and still debated, the rage against it have become bigger and bigger each day. People is hoping The President of Indonesia can meet The Sultan of Yogyakarta and discussing about the future of The Special Region of Yogyakarta. This meeting can be a solution to stop the misunderstanding. So far, no agenda that mention about the meeting between them will be held.


5. LUWAK COFFEE IS "HARAM"?

*** To understand about Luwak Coffee, pse read my previous articles as shown on this link : http://doyouknow-file.blogspot.com/2010/06/what-is-most-expensive-and-strangest.html ***

Although has been known for years as one of the best and the most expensive coffee from Indonesia, Luwak Coffee suddenly become a controversy this year, especially among the moslem communities in Indonesia. They are questioning about the "halal" (legal) of drinking this coffee because it made from the dung of civet.

This question raised up March 2010, when The President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudoyono went to Australia and gave a souvenir of Luwak Coffee to The Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. But since the coffee did not entering Australia Quarantine (AQIS) for further inspection - and they suspected there has any decease in it - finally the coffee had been hold in airport. Australia Media called this situation as "Dung Diplomacy".

Since then, The Head of MUI (Indonesia Cleric Assembly) KH Ma'ruf Amin, on April 2010 considered to declared Luwak Coffee as "haram" (unlegal) to be drank by moslem people. The consideration that stated on the media, created confusion among the coffee-lover in Indonesia. After long discussions and debates, finally on July 2010, MUI declared that Luwak Coffee is "HALAL", as long as it's been washed before use to drink.


6. VIRGINITY TEST FOR FEMALE STUDENTS 
On September 2010, one of the District House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah - DPRD) officer from Jambi Province, Bambang Bayu Suseno, came up with an idea to run the Virginity Test for all female students. According to him, the purpose of the test is to increasing the quality of education, especially in district area, and implementing the value of religion. The test is very important to safe the students from free sex among the youth. Female students that fail the test, will not able to continue her education anymore.

This idea is bringing up some polemic and controversy among the officers themselves. According to them Virginity Test is against people rights to have education, and the impact of the test result will be a discrimination for them.

Although the idea was never mentioned anymore, but the controversy of this idea is still continue until today.



7.COWBOY IN PARADISE  
On April 2010, people in Bali Island were shocked when a movie called Cowboy in Paradise was launched in internet. The movie is a documentary that following the daily lifestyle of gigolos in Kutai Beach, Bali Island. The director - Amit Virmani, a Singaporean - shot the film while following two men from Bali, who were introducing themselves as the gigolo from Bali.

Recently, the local government denied about the availability of gigolos in Kutai Beach. To prove that, they are holding regular unannounced inspections in the beach area.


8.  WAMENA GANTENG - THE RINGTONE THAT CAUSED WAR 

The Tribe's War in Wamena

I can say that the most controversy song of the year from Indonesia is "Wamena Ganteng" (The Handsome Wamena), an R&B song composed by FEM aka TM, a 17 years old teenager from Yuka Tribe in Jayapura, Papua. This song is fusing some hell that caused tribe's war between Wamena Tribe and Yoka Tribe. The incident happened on November 17, 2010 at 09.00 am (local time), when Wamena Tribe suddenly attacked Yoka Tribe's village, burned down houses and two cars. Three civilians from Yoka were injured.

The incident happened in the same day earlier, when one of the Yoka's was playing the song from their cellphone in front of Wamena's villager. The song that content lyric that insult Wamena's villager soon raise some hell. Less than an hour, the tribe's war began.

The police was trying to stop the war by shot their guns to the air. The condition finally can be controlled by security forces.


9. THE MOST CONTROVERSY BANK ROBBERY 

One of the most fantastic and controversy bank robbery that happened in Indonesia is happening on August 18,2010, when 18 people robbed CIMB Niaga Bank branch in Medan Tembung, South Sumatera. They were not regular robbers because they were holding AK-47 and FN pistol. While did the acts, all of them were wearing helm and seems like they really know what they should do. One of the bank security and a bank customer - who coincidently were Briptu Samuel, one of the member of The National Car Brigade Team - were killed during the robbery. Everything that happened that day described by the witnesses just like the sequences of Hollywood's action movies that we usually saw in theater.

Even all of the perpetrators of robbery have been found on September 20, 2010 - three were shoot to dead - and imprisoned, but some facts that happened during the bank robbery are still remain unexplained, such as : When they rob the bank in the midday, why the road can be so quiet? Is it coincidence or have been set up? How the robbers can posses guns?

The most strangest thing during the bank robbery is the collections of photos that have been made by one of the witness. The witness identity has been withheld. His photos are shown the sequences of the stage of  the robbery, starting from the robbers come to the bank use several motorbikes, entering the bank, kill the security, and then run. According to the witness, all pictures had been shot use cell-phone camera. But somehow, the pictures shot in a very perfect angles, sharp, and clear. Is the statement of the witness can be trusted?


(The complete sequences of the bank robbery photos can be seen on : http://www.tribunnews.com/2010/08/19/foto-foto-eksklusif-adegan-perampokan-bank-niaga-medan)



10. FFI (Indonesia's Film Festival) CONTROVERSY : 
Indonesia's Film Festival has become one of the most important celebration for Indonesia movie makers. However, since the first festival (1960) until today (2010), most of the festivals are gaining controversies.And the latest film festival also gaining controversy. On November 23, 2010, FFI Committee have elected 10 Indonesia movies. However, some movies - such as Sang Pencerah (The Lightener) and Darah Garuda (Garuda's Blood) - were not part of the 10 movies. Meanwhile, based on most critics opinion, those movies were suitable to be chosen as one of  FFI's nominator.


A surprising controversy happened when the board of juries - that choose "Sang Pencerah" as one of the nominators - dismissed and replaced with new juries. Accoding to the Committee, those juries were fail to find the incorrect history facts that shown on the film (Sang Pencerah is the biography about KH Ahmad Dahlan, one of most well-known national patriot and the founder of Muhammadiyah, an organisation that dedicated themselves to spread the pure Islam teaching in Indonesia). The festival itself has been held on December 6, 2010 at Central Park, Jakarta.

10 WACKIEST BANDS IN THE WORLD

Some bands - especially rock bands - are popular because of their music (you know Led Zeppelin with their memorable Stairway to Heaven, or Mettalica with their Enter the Sandman). But you also know that some others are popular just because of their acts on stage (well.... Greenday or Marylin Manson can be in the list....).

Apart from those two kinds of bands, there are some others that not only popular because of their music, but also their performance and what they wore on the stage. A little wacky, unusual, and totally did not support their music. But that's what make them stars. Well... let's see how wacky they really are:

1. KUBURAN BAND :

Kuburan Band

Literally, their band means "The Graveyard Band". They usually dressed up very scary : White face with a very scary make up and dress like vampires or zombies. You might thought they are heavy metal rock band (Well... Slipknot and Kiss also dress like that....). Wait till you hear their song.... you might be surprised that their song is much more a pop song than metal. Yep.... Kuburan Band is a very popular band from Indonesia. Founded in Bandung on September 11, 2001, they have been well-known in indie music community and oftenly contributed their performance in a lot of indie-music concert. Even they proclaimed themselves as THE 2ND MOST GOTHIC BAND IN THE WORLD, but in fact,their music is pop-rock with funny lyric. Their first commercial album was released in 2006 and it's called BOOMING ! BEE ARE THE KILL YOUNG PEN THINK GUN THANK (it's not actual English words, but Indonesia slank, which means "Even We Are Not Taking A Bath Yet, But We Still Handsome"), in which become a big hit. Their single "Lupa Lupa Ingat" (I Don't Remember) is a very phenomenal song a very popular during that time. This group is still exist and actively performing their acts.

2. PSYCHO LE CEMU :

Psycho Le Cemu

I don't think they are rock band, are you? Althought their wore anime outfits - and might be dress like a video game characters - But they really are. Known as Japanese visual rock band, Psycho (which formed in 1999) is one of the famous rock band. They always made different sets of costums for each of their performance. Their first album - Doppelganger - was released in September 2001 and become a hit. Their popularity is keep growing until May 2005, when Daishi - the lead singer of Psycho - was arrested due to the positivity of using methamphetamine while did urinalysis in Kanagawa. The band went into hiatus and all of the members are taking their own side projects, until 2009, when all members of the band reunite for the band's 10th Anniversary tour called 10th Anniversary - Legend of Sword.

3. PYRAMID BAND :

Piramid Band

Althought their outfit is Latino dress, but don't be surprise when you hear their song. The song and the outfits did not match at all. Pyramid Band (not to be confused with USA's band called Pyramid) is Indonesia pop-rock band. Founded in Palembang, South Sumatera, in 2008, Pyramid Band is a boy-band that usually played pop in Malay's tone, and become very famous in South Sumatera recently. One of their well-known performance is wearing Latino dress while performing on the stage.

4. THE CHANGCUTERS :

The Changcutters

Another bands from Indonesia that also have a weird performance is The Changcuters (literally means "men's underwear" in Sundanese - local dialect of West Java). Since their first performance in 2005 until today, they always dress-up like 60's rock and roll British Band. Same as what they wore, this band also performed Brit's garage rock and roll music, in which not a popular music genre in Indonesia that time. But later on, their music can be accepted by audiences in Indonesia. Until today, they already released 3 albums and still active do performances.

5.TRIO MACAN : 

Trio Macan

Trio Macan (Trio Tigress) actually is a trio-girl-singers from East Java, Indonesia who usually performing dangdut songs (one of Indonesia's music genre). They were formed since 2006 and become one of the most controversy dangdut group singers. Since their first appearance, people has critisizing their lack of singing capability. But somehow, they are gaining a lot of appreciation and awards, such as Best Dangdut Group in MTV Indonesia Awards  2006. Their trade mark is always wearing tiger stripe body-shape clothes, doing erotic & energic dances in every of their performance. Because of their hot jump, fast and raugh dances, sometimes one of their top cloth was accidently took off. Upps....

6. BOSS HOG:

Boss Hog

Nothing strange with this band actually. They are regular American punk blues rock band that offering a very loud and abrasive sound of their music (well... which rock band that did not play loud sound?). The only different thing is : their lead singer - Cristina Martinez - usually performed in confrontational full nudity. Yep, the band that formed in 1989, usually performed with such a controversy performance in their earlier show. They never did it anymore in the present, but... well.... who knows? ^_^

7. BLUE MAN GROUP :

Blue Man Project

Actually they are not spesifically music band, but a creative organization whose producing theatrical shows and concert, featuring music, comedy, and multimedia. They did some record of music and scores for film and television, such as Terminator 3 : The Rise of the Machines, Scrubs, The Tonight Show, Arrested Development, and Las Vegas. They never have same members in their band. However, they always performed in trio that appear to have blue skin, no voice, no hairs and ears. Most of their music is rock-oriented and experimental music. Mostly in their show, they perform percussion and any other "wacky" instruments (airpoles, drumbone, PVC Pipes and tubes).

8. GAY FOR JOHNNY DEPP :

Gay for Johnny Depp

Well.... seems like there are no any other band who obsessed to their idol as much as this band. This New Yorkers hardcore band is known for the lyrical content of their songs, which is often concerned with the band's homoerotic obssesion over the actor Johnny Depp. Well.... even their music is fine, but if I was Johnny Depp, then I prefer not to stay close to them.

9. THE B-52S :

The B-52S

Look at them : They wore very cheerful print shirt. They look pretty nice, clean, and smooth. You thought you are going to watch a performance of the reggae band (they look very much a like UB-40, the British reggae band). Don't get shock when they start to sing their song such as Private Idaho or Good Stuff. It's punk-pop-rock...!! It's true.... The B-52s is a pop-rock bands that established since 1976 in Athens, Georgia. Since their early year, they already performed rock and roll, then become much popular after worked in other genres such as post-punk, and dance new wave. One of their most-known song is the Theme Song of The Flintstones : Movie (1994).

10. SUPERNOVA :

Supernova

Ever imagine how spacemen performed their music in earth? Well... watch Supernova, a Costa Mesa - California pop punk band. Performed since 1989, Supernova has been known as a band that always dressing in silver jumpsuits and custom-made space helmets. Their song, Chewbacca, was featured in the smash hit indie movie Clerks.

Sinetron, The Most Favorite TV Show in Indonesia

If Hollywood have soap opera as their tv program that airs in episodic series, Indonesia have same show called "Sinetron". Sinetron is refering to "Sinema Electronik" (electronic cinema), and similar as soap opera, sinetron consists of episodic series of drama show. Each episode connect with the previous and later episode. The word of Sinetron have been introduced by Soemardjono - a lecturer from Art Institute of Jakarta - and this terms have been used since 1990.

Overall, sinetron usually tell a tale about the conflict that happen in lifes. But contrary with soap opera - which sometimes offer a very complicated story that last long - most of Indonesia's sinetron tell almost the same story-line for every one of it. The regular story that been used in (almost) every sinetron is : A regular (poor) girl fall in love to a rich guy. The family of the rich guy disapproved their relationship and try to ruin it. Then come another (rich) guy who fall in love to the girl, and make the girl confuse : Whose the one she should choose? But then, after several exhausted breaking-and-fall-in-love-again scenes, finaly the girl choose the right guy. They got married and the girl stay in the guy's family. End of story? No. Sometimes, the story continue with a show of desperation from girl while staying in her new family's house. She got beat, yielded, abused, and insulted. The girl did nothing but crying and praying. Then finally God hear her pray, and show mercy by make the guy's family suffer, inprison, or other ridiculous thing. And finally the girl live happy ever after with the guy.

If the show success, then the story will be continued with another show of desperation from the girl after she got the children. She got another abuse and insulted from her own family or the guy's another family. Her husband left her to another women, but then back again to her life, and then they live happily ever after again.

And if the show got another success, then you are going to see another series of desperation from the girl, while she got another abuse and insulted - either from her or her husband's other family (Indonesia's people have a lot of relatives in which till today they still connect each other. So this kind of story still make sense,  understandable, and acceptable to the viewers). And so on.... and so on....

Althought the story-line keeps repeating over and over again to the most sinetrons (including its sequels, and other titles), a lot of people in Indonesia still enjoy the show. Each of them have their own favorite sinetrons and they are very fanatic with it.

Since years, many people have critisized againts sinetron. Not because the repeating story-line, but more about the content of the show, which shown excersive violences and strong language that provoke agressive acts.  Most of the scenes (of all episodes) shown a lot of improper violence scenes that not necessary to be shown, such as abusing and insulting (throw water to the face of one character, slapping the face, kicking, harrastment, or even one-on-one fighting between girls). And mostly the female character who did it (either become the victim or the person who do the violences).

Sometimes the show also create incorrect perseption to the viewers about the personality of Indonesia's girls. It makes everybody thought that Indonesia's girls have some kind of psychopatic behaviour or personality disorder, like masochism. If not, why they seems very enjoying hurting others and / or love to be the victim (e.g. when somebody hurt them very bad, why they are not calling the police? Why not look for help? Why keep silence and do nothing but praying, asking for God mercy? Why they look so weak? Are they just enjoying every moment of being slap, punch, kick, insult, and torture? Or they just love to look so powerless, and let viewers took pity on them? If that so, Indonesia's girls really have personality problem....).

Also, some parents watch the show together with their children because there has no any rules and restriction againts young viewers to watch sinetron. By the the end, it influences some children to act aggresively. In some cases (mostly experienced by myself), some children in age around 4-6 have confident to challenge adults and said some strong words such as, "I will kill your family!", "I will rape you to die!", or "I burn your house!".


Even that, the production of sinetron is not stopping and keeps on going. The production quantities are increasing rapidly in suprising number each year, while the quality is still the same as the sinetron that made 30 years ago. Only more violence, more shouting, and more cursing. It is not only played in prime time (07.00 - 09.00 pm), but also in the morning (09.00 - 11.00 am) and noon time (02.00 - 04.00 pm). And the shown are broadcasted everyday in almost all of the local television stations. Sinetron have become a major entertainment business in Indonesia because a lot of people enjoy the show.

The longest run of sinetron is Cinta Fitri (Fitri's Love;broadcast by SCTV), which is already reached 777 episodes until today (first episode broadcast on March 1, 2007). Shareen Sunkar and Teungku Wisnu are two of the stars in Cinta Fitri and become the most favorable Sinetron Artists at the moment..

Alay - Who are they?

Alay Detected

If you were visiting some tv stations in Indonesia, you will meet a lot of youngsters at the parking lot or somewhere else around there, with unique - or sometimes described as "extreme" - and too tacky costumes. They are not performers, and they are not there to join any audition of any tv competition.They are Alay. Hmm...what the heck is that?

Alay (pronounced as "Aa - Lie") is refering to Anak Layangan (Kite Kid), Anak Lebay (Exagerrate Kid), and Anak Kelayapan (Hanging Around Kid). The term of Alay usually is given to people who usually act with pretentious style, tacky, plebeian, and very boorish, either their clothing style, their act, and their look. Everything that they have is a chaos.

Why they've been called Anak Layangan (Kite Kid)? Because usually they are villager kids which have red hair and dark skin, just like kids who usually play kites. Alay is a sarcastic words to described about these villager kids whose trying to be popular in the city.

An Alay in action

Nobody know who invented this word, but Alay have been recognized and become large communities since early 2000, especially when local tv stations are holding live-performance of local bands. To make the performance cheerfull, the stations usually hired some audiences (all of them are youngsters) to do some "acts" at the edge of stage (e.g. sing together, do some crazy acts, or dance). Since they are going to "performing" some acts on the tv show, allof them are wearing eyes-glaring constumes and make-up. The more ridiculous they look, the more opportunity for them to got shot by the camera. Not only once, but several times in quiet long time (let's say... 2-3 second). And most of them really enjoying these "3 second popularity".

For those people who do the acts, it was very fun. But most people dislike their act and thought that what they did is nothing but a shameless performance from some idiots who have problem with their personality (narcissic disorder).

A Full Description About Alay's 

 

 

 

Dress Code

Alay is very easy to be recognized by their look. Either boys or girls, Alay usually have unstructure hair bang (usually straight, long, and stiff at one side), wore saggy hipster pant (their underwear even higher and more visible than their pant), long pant with check print motive, cheap distro shirt (in black, spotlight green, brown, or any other glossy color),  belt with bucle and spike, and sometimes use hoodie jacket as an additional.

Overall, comparing with harazuku guys from Japan, people thought Alay is a disaster. They know nothing about trend, music, clothing, or computer. They know nothing about anything. Most of them are love to be published and shown on tv. They love to be popular, even in a very short time.

Even most people does not like them, but Alay is always there and will keep on existing. They do no harm for people. They just love to perform and show off. And they are proud to be called Alay. Only in Indonesia....

The World's Stinkiest Food

When we are talking about food, most people will think about tasty, good looking, and good smelly fragrant meals that serve in front of us. Those good things will make us think that eating is pleasuring ourselves. For some people, yes.But for some others - the one that I called "The Food Adventurers" - food is not about that. Food is about something that sounds extreme, with smell like garbage and gross-look, and really challenging to be eaten.

There are a lot of "yacky" foods like that in the world. In this article, I will only show the stinkiest food that can be found in the world. The appearance of it might be still acceptable for some people. But the smell.... well.... you need to close your eyes and stop to breath, before you might able to eat and swallow it. So, here are they....


1. PETAI BEAN (STINKY BEAN) : 

One of the most popular food in Asia is Stinky Bean. Better known as Petai Bean (Parkia speciosa or twisted cluster bean), it is a long, flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a peculiar smell, characterised by some as being similar to that added to methane gas.
Petai bean is very popular in Laos, Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, and northeastern India. Usually it being eaten fried and combined with garlic, chilli peppers, and shrimp, as in "Sambal Petai" (well-known dishes from Indonesia).
People who have not ever smell this bean before will feel very annoying by its smell. The odor is very nasty and like people's odor. But some people just love to eat it....

2. JENGKOL : 
Some people in Asia, like Indonesia,Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong just love to eat it. Jengkol (Pithecollobium jiringa or Pithecollobium labatum) is squashed bean, with dark brown color. The bean contains a lot of sulphure's amino acid that make the bean spread a very bad odor. Jengkol can be made into various traditional dishes. Mostly combine with curry, chilli, and garlic. Some peole even make it like Sate (barbeque on stick). Usually it's been boil quiet long, so become very soft like animal's meat and the smell is not so strong.

3.CHOU TOU (STINKY TOFU) : 
If you visit China, never forget to try this food : Chou Tou (Stinky Tofu). This popular tofu snack was actually came from Guangdong, then become very popular in most city in China and Hong Kong. It made from marinaded in fermented milk, vegetables, meat, and herbs. The smell is very strong and the taste is like rotten meat.

4. NATTO :
It is fermented soy beans that very popular in Japan.Usually served as condiment or side dish. The taste is like sweaty dirty socks.

5. KALA NAMAK : 
Ok... if all four above still not make you vomit, just try Kala Namak, a very well-known foods from India, and very popular among Vegans. It is actually spice that made from black salt and it is mimicing egg salads of omeletes. But the smell... fiuh.... just like the concetrated of rotten egg vapor, make it triple. Wushaaaa.....


6. SURSTROMMING : 
It usually sell in a can, this herring brine has a very strong rotten stench that make people stay on shock while smell it.  Eat it with crispy thin bread, and layered with sliced of almond potatoes, chopped onions, and fresh dill springs. Hmmm.... sound... delicious??? People from Northern Swedish enjoy it very much.....^_^

7. FAFARU : 
When you come to Tahiti, try Fafaru. It made from fish, lobster, or shrimps, then add with fermented seawater, and eaten with coconut cream. Sounds good to me. But why people is vomiting after smell it. Aiya.....

8. LUTEFISK : 
United States. Who thought that there is any stink food here? In Minnesota, you are going to find Lutefisk, the well-known stinkiest food. Its origins are Scandinavian actually, but Minnesotans have embraced this delicacy and made it their own. It made from Cod, saoked in caustic lye soda for days, then baked or boiled with butter to make its jelly-like consistency easier to tolerate.

Alrity....ready to vomit already?

Barack Obama in Indonesia

One of popular person in Indonesia is The President of United States of America : Barack Obama. Yep.... it because Obama ever lived in Indonesia in 1967 in Jakarta from ages six to ten. He also attended local schools in Jakarta, including Besuki Public School and St. Francis of Asisi School.


Even he only stayed for four years in Indonesia, but for many people in Indonesia, he left a lot of great memories. So when he has been elected as The President of United States of America, many people celebrated it. Since then, Barack Obama has become popular person in Indonesia.

There are some interesting happen right after Barack Obama has been selected as The President of United States of America :

1. Similarity with Obama :
When Obama has elected, Ilham Anas - one of Indonesian that been born in Bandung on January 25, 1974 - become famous. Why? Because he has a lot of similarity with Obama. This photographer that recently lived in Bekasi has an identical face with Obama. Not only face, but also the way he talks, acts, even body language... everything is exactly same (sometimes we wonder if he is actually Obama's twins).

Because of the similarity, Anas has become a superstar. Not only in Indonesia, but also in other country. He also been selected as a commercial star in Philippines. And he played as Barack Obama.


2. Obama's Statue :
On December 2009, a statue of Obama when he was a kid been made and put in Menteng Park, about 150 meters from Menteng Elementary School, the place where Obama's took his study while in Indonesia. Edy Chaniago - the designer of the statue - finished the statue in 2 month using US$ 10,000 of budget. However, the statue of Obama - that been known as "Barry Dreams Come True" statue - had became controversy because many people think that Obama had not give any contribution to Indonesia, either when he was staying in Indonesia or after become the President of States. After several months of controversy, finally the statue been moved to Menteng Elementary School. And since March 2010, the statue can be seen at the field of that school.

Everything About Batik

October 2, 2009 will be remembered by all Indonesia people as Batik's Day because today, UNESCO designated Batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. For Indonesian people, this acknowledgment also a statement and recognition from the world that Batik Cloth is originally belong to Indonesia, and not to other country such as Malaysia and others. Batik Cloth is the third cultural product from Indonesia named a World Intangible Heritage since Wayang (shadow puppet, status certified in November 2003) and Keris (ceremonial dagger, status certified in November 2005).

What is Batik? Why this cloth sound soooo special and interesting?

Batik itself is the name for cloth which traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. It's been developed in Java (Central Java, precisely) since 6th century. The most popular pattern, called The Gringsing Pattern was made in Kediri, East Java, & start to be well-known in 12th century. This pattern is only be created by means of the canting (the tools to draw batik's pattern), in which invented & only available in Java around that time.

Thanks to Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, whose brought and published batik cloth in London in 1817, people from all around the world start to know and like batik very much. One of Dutch Merchant, Van Rijekevorsel, gave one piece of traditional batik to the ethnographic museum in Rotterdam in 1873. The cloth still there till today. Batik has been exposed to the Exposition Universelle at Paris in 1900, and it impressed the public and the artisans that time.

There are several kind of Batik cloth. The most expensive and the finest one is Batik Tulis Halus cloth, which can fetch several thousand dollars. It also takes several months to make. You can find this fine batik cloth in Laweyan and Kauman ares in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. Meanwhile the cheapest one is batik cap (hand print batik) and usually use mechanical automation print.

Some batik designs are reserved for brides and bridegrooms as well as their families. Some others are reserved for the Sultan and his family. A person's rank also can be determined by the patter of the batik they wore. In some occasions, batik formerly decorated with gold lead or dust. It called Prada (in Javanese language, it means Gold).

There are some way to make batik. Besides hand-drawing, it also can be done in etching, discharge dyeing, or stencils methods. It also can be made is several different tools for waxing and dyeing and can be done in many kind of fabric, such as silk, cotton, wool, leather, or even wood and ceramics.

Batik has become part of fashion for young people in Indonesia, mostly for casual wear. For formal occasion, women normally wears it as part of kebaya (traditional cloth from Indonesia).

Recently, Batik has found worldwide popularity. Nelson Mandela wears batik shirts on formal occasions. Siti Nurhaliza, one of Malaysian singer, wore Indonesia batik on her wedding day. Ann Duhnam, the late mother of President Barack Obama, was a avid collector of batik. The flight attendants of Indonesian, Singaporean and Malaysian national airlines all wear batiks for their uniform.