Indonesian Daily Life

Indonesian Daily life

Indonesia has a very diverse life styles. There are many rich people, and at the same time there are poor people too. In big cities, like Jakarta, you will find big houses which may be more expensive than houses in Beverly Hills. (The land itself is so expensive, as if there is gold underneath.) In slum areas, you will see homeless people live on the street. In street intersection you will see beggars going from car to car begging for money.

Ø  Food

Most Indonesians eat rice as the main dish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In fact some Indonesians feel they don't eat a meal unless it is rice. There is a joke that says, even if you have eaten a loaf of bread, you are still hungry. It's gotta be rice! Other Indonesians are fine with bread or noodles. For those Indonesians who have been abroad, they got used having breakfast with bread.

Indonesians eat rice a lot. Lunch, for example, you'll see people with a plate full with rice and a piece of chicken, or fish, or eggs and "sambal" (chillie souce). Indonesians like to eat hot (as in spicy) food. I mean really really really hot, it is hotter than Mexican food. Even we put chillie in pizza! If you order food, make sure you say no chilly or no spicy. Otherwise, the default is HOT! There was a friend from Netherland who think that he can handle hot food (The Dutch like spicy food too). But, he was wrong. He spent two days in his hotel to recover the stomachache.

Each area in Indonesia has its own traditional food and custom. Here is a list of some of them.

• Sundanese ("orang Sunda") in West Java likes to eat fresh vegetables and sambal. There is a joke that says you can leave them in the garden and they will be fine.

Sundanese like to drink tea without sugar. So, don't be surprised when they offer you tea but not sweat. Ask for sugar.

• Javanese likes to eat sweet. Tea will be sweet.
• Padang (West Sumatra) likes to eat hot/spicy food. They are famous for their spicy food and fast delivery. The waiter can bring dozens of plates with various dishes with his two hands (like juggling) in one trip. You'll eat whatever you like and at the end of meal the waiter will calculate the price. You'll find "Rumah Makan Padang" (Padang restaurant) everywhere in Indonesia. We think that there must be a Padang restaurant on the moon.

We do have fast food like Mc Donalds, KFC, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Arby's. Other restaurants include various Italian restaurants, Tony Roma's, and others. You name it. Expensive restaurants are also available. A restaurant that serves Kobe steak, it costs US$100/plate! Whoa!

Ø  Eating Habits

Eating is a part of our daily life. People work hard to fulfill this daily need. Indonesia is a very vast country. It has so many different tribes so that there are so many different kinds of food and eating habit. Indonesian will never say that they eat when they only have bread, pizza or chips. They really need rice to eat. So it is better we talk about rice first. Rice is the main food for the people. When they are very poor, i mean they are not able to afford to have more than rice they can make rice into special food. There are many ways people cook rice. Before Indonesian were introduced to the rice cooker, they cooked rice traditionally. A lot of people say the taste of rice which is cooked traditionally is very yummy, i mean delicious. Indonesian are picky in cooking. Let's see. Even they cook rice they say it is better to use fire made from hard wood. It keeps the heat stay the same.

       These are steps to cook traditional rice. We call all the process of cooking rice “NGLIWET” :

1. You have to make sure the rice is clean.

2. Wash the rice twice

3. Put in the rice into boiling water. traditionally they use their fingers to get the right measurement of water and rice For example, a kilogram of rice, the water is about 5 centimeters from the surface of the rice.

4. You have to stir it while you are boiling it. make sure the fire is not too hot because it can burn the rice or the rice will not completely be done until the inside of the rice.

5. After the water is gone, lift the pan. close the pan not to make the steam out because the steam will make the rice inside soft.

6. Prepare a pan with enough water and put the KUKUSAN and wait until the water boils for a moment to make sure the KUKUSAN hot enough.

7. To make the taste of the rice better you can put in PANDAN leaves. Then Put the rice in the KUKUSAN. Close it with something that will not let the steam out of it.

8. After about, at least 45 minutes, the rice is done and ready to serve.

Next, after they have rice, what they think is vegetables or what to eat with rice. There are many kinds of vegetables, so many. Sometimes if we go to a different place we will find or know some vetetables that we don't know before. Just try to mention: kangkoong, cabage, long bean, spinach, the leaves of papaya, the leaves of sweet potato, bitter gourd, mushroom, soy sprouts, etc.  The simples way to cook them is to make fried vegetables.

Ø  Typical meal

A typical Indonesian meal consists of steamed rice and one or two main dishes made of fish, meat, chicken or vegetables, sometimes including soup, all of which are served together. A common side dish is sambal.

Ø  Manner of eating

Food is eaten with the fingers or with a spoon and fork. When eating with the fingers, Indonesians use their right hand only. The left hand is used for less hygienic matters. Most of them always leave some food on the plate or drink in the glass to indicate that they have had enough.

Ø  Hawker food

For a quick bite, there are street vendors peddling their food on their 3-wheeled carts. These stalls are known as kaki lima. Many of these vendors have their own distinctive calls (a beat on a piece of wood, a yell or a bell) to announce their wares ranging from drinks, sweets, rice and noodle meals. Each kaki lima vendor sells only one dish and many sell miebakso.

Ø  Favorite foods

A popular Indonesian dish is satay (pronounced sah-tay) served with peanut sauce, ketupat (pronounced ke-too-paht), cucumber and onions.

Other popular foods are sotoayam, tahutelor, nasigoreng, gadogado and kerupuk.

Pork is hardly eaten because most Indonesians are Muslims; their religion prohibits eating pork.

Ø  Regional favorites

Food varies from island to island. Chicken and fish in Java; beef in Sumatra; duck and pork in Bali (where most of the Hindus live); and seafood in South Sulawesi.

Padang food from West Sumatra is hot and spicy. A favorite is beef rendang. The typical nasipadang meal consists of many small dishes that are brought in by waiters who can carry up to eight plates on each arm. When the table is set, a plate of hot white rice is served. You choose from this selection of dishes and would not be charged for the dishes that were not touched. You only pay for the dishes that you have eaten.

Famous Balinese dishes include bebekbetutu and babiguling.

Desserts often consist of tropical fruits such as starfruit, mangga (mango), manggis (mangosteen), rambutan, durian and nangka (jackfruit). Indonesian desserts are often made from glutinous rice flour, palm sugar and coconut milk. Some favourites are kuelapis, buburhitam and escampur.

Ø  Traditional Fast Food vendors

In the early hours, starting at 06.00 o'clock local time, in several places there are vendors of ready made food. Usually, they occupy a very small plot of place. In the corner of a street or in any strategic spot along the street, usually they offer a special warm dish, for instance :

Nasi gudeg : nasi is a boiled rice and gudeg is prepared from jack fruit cooked with coconut milk, sambel goreng, a boiled leather buffalo with spices and chili peppers, and other dishes upon choice : boiled eggs, chickens, tofu (tahu and tempe).

Nasi pecel : Rice with vegetables. Nasi is basic food as bread for westerners.
Bubur ayam : Porridge of rice with chicken.

Bubur kacang ijo : sweet porridge of mung beans, cooked with coconut milk.

Excepts those traditional food vendors, there are also stalls selling susu sapi (fresh cow milk) and roti panggang (baked bread). These food stalls are of a great help for many people who have no times to cook their breakfast, and for those who have no time for breakfast at home.

Ø  The traditional markets

There are two types of the traditional markets in Java; Daily traditional market and weekly (once a week) traditional market. Both are very interesting and attractive. It starts to break the solitude in the morning too. Sellers and buyers with friendly faces exchange needs, the negotiations are part of the game is the spice in traditional commerce, where the agreed price is satisfactory to both sellers and buyers.

Ø  Office workers

Thousands of people work in offices, public and private in different areas, on five or six days a week except holidays. Government officials are starting to 07.00 am, private companies usually start at 08.00 am.

In the old days, the priyayi (family court) prefer to work for the palace / Karaton or institutions of government, but today many of them also work in private companies. In fact, there are two types of priyayi: The first is by birth, are the descendants of Sultan or king. The second, by profession, occupying senior positions in government offices. Those who work in the private sector consists of: the owners (a small percentage), the management and employees, or employees. Stores, shopping centers and malls in the area of  downtown also opened at 08:00 hours local time. Factory workers are also abundant in the areas of different products for domestic consumption and for export.

Ø  Students and Teacher

Young people are a big part of the community. So early in the morning a huge column of students and teachers, who filled the streets on their way to their schools and universities, public and private. Classes start at 07.00 a.m o’clock. There are some schools that start in the evening, some courses and training at night. Most young person is aware that education is a bridge to a better future.

Given the huge participants in this area colleges and universities today are not considered as mere education but also as a thriving industry.

It should be noted that even local education system is improving and that some aspects are good, some lucky parents send their children to study at universities abroad, as in Australia, Europe, Japan and the USA but not surprised that some foreign students, mostly graduate study in Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta on various topics. This should give a positive result for broad international cooperation in an era of globalization.

Ø  Clothing: What to wear in Indonesia

In general people wear clothes that are similar to western style. In many rural areas and on celebrations (special occasions) people wear traditional dress. But we don't wear it (traditional dress) on daily basis. Batik is considered a formal dress. Each regional area in Indonesia has its own traditional dress.

Many men wear ties when they go to work. But, most of them do not wear tie. Just regular shirt and pants. For informal occassion, people wear jeans.

(On the picture on the left, you'll see a picture of a boy wearing traditional Javanese dress)

Indonesian men generally wore sarongs (usually with a checkered pattern) in the home. In public, the sarong is worn only when attending Friday prayers at the mosque. For formal national occasions, the men wear batik shirts with trousers or telukbeskap, a combination of the Javanese jacket and sarong.

Women wear dress just like ordinary people in the west. For formal occasions, Indonesian women wear the kebaya (a beautiful, figure-hugging embroidered blouse worn with a batik sarong that is usually dyed with flower motifs and in bright colours). On these occasions, women often tied their hair into a bun, or attached a false hairpiece. In addition, they may drape a long stretch of cloth, called "selendang", over one shoulder. This cloth can be used as a head shawl or on less formal occasions, used to carry babies or objects.

Traditional Dress: Indonesia has 300 ethnic groups; each has their own traditional dress variations.

• The Minangkabau ethnic group is indigenous to the highlands of West Sumatra. Their traditional dress consists of silk robes with metallic thread woven into the material. Their headdress is shaped like buffalo horns.
• The Toraja people live in the mountainous areas of South Sulawesi (Celebes). The women's traditional costume features elaborate beadwork and tassels.

Ø  Transportation

Following the era of modernization, Central Java is in the period of transition. There are traditional means of transportation, such as bike, becak (three wheel rickshaw), dokar (two wheel cart) andong (four-wheel cart) drawn by ponies and sometimes gerobak sapi, a cart drawn by oxen, are still operating in the area. More Modern City transports are motor, bikes, cars, buses, and trucks. In the cities of Yogya and Central Java, those means of transport are mingled together everywhere, especially in the peak hours; in the morning, at noon during lunchtime and in the afternoon after office hours. But traffic in this region is far better than in Jakarta. One can still ride or drive more relax, but cautions is a good advice.

For transports in the city, regular small buses, buses, taxis and trains are available. For comfort, take the ones with air conditions. Flight to and from Yogya, Solo and Semarang are available on regular schedules.