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Wednesday 27 August 2014
Tuesday 26 August 2014
Brushing up on my Bahasa Indonesia...
A couple of months ago, the kind people at Tuttle Publishing sent me some books to review on learning bahasa indonesia and yes, I'm only getting around to posting about it now. But, you know, holidays happened, before that there was end of school year and well one thing after another meant that I didn't get around to giving the books my full attention until just recently. They sent me three books on learning the language that is spoken throughout the Indonesian archipelago. Of course, remembering that each island then has it's own dialect or dialects. For example, when I was in Flores I spent most of my holiday trying to tune into bahasa manggarai and pick up words as that is the language widely spoken in Manggarai province but then cross over into Bajawa or Maumere and you will find the dialect is completely different. This is what makes Indonesia such a fascinating country. You would be hard pushed to find another like it with it's vast range of dialects, traditions, dances and ethnicities. Thankfully, there is the main language of Bahasa Indonesia taught in schools so that across the archipelago there is a common language. It also means that coming to Indonesia you only have to learn this language in order to make your way from island to island. Phew!
Anyway back to the books...
The first book, Mini Indonesian Dictionary I found to be the most helpful. Small enough to fit into the palm of your hand and of course your handbag means it is easy to bring everywhere with you and use when you are stuck for a word you don't know. There are a whopping 12,000 words in it which pretty much means that when you are out and about you are certainly going to be able to locate words you need. In my opinion, when learning a language it is always handy to have a dictionary but carrying around a big thick one is never going to be fun. This mini dictionary really gives you a great resource at a quarter of the size.
The second book, Making Out in Indonesian, I found to be a tad more controversial. This book basically keys you in to street slang in Indonesia and at times, not necessarily slang that you might want to be using! There is some risqué language in here so if you are a tad on the conventional side this might not be the book for you. However, if you are curious to have a look at how people in this part of the world curse, flirt and basically strip down their language, then this will be the book for you.
Last but not least, there was Indonesian Slang. This was probably my favourite read out of all the books. The title is quite deceiving in that you think it might just be a book on Indonesian slang words. It is but it's also so much more because it takes these slang words or expressions and gives you the background to how these expressions came about into daily use. It places these expressions in historical context too so as well as learning some of the language you are also getting a history and geography lesson about Indonesia too. Perfect! I love covering lots of subjects at once. Language is such a beautiful thing and our ability to communicate and use words is our most powerful tool. I, personally, find it fascinating to see how languages have come about and changed and modernised to keep up with daily life. This book will give you some very pertinent insights into Indonesia and its' language.
Saturday 23 August 2014
Urban Remedy Indonesia
So in an attempt to reboot my system, I decided to embark on a three day juice cleanse. I felt blessed to discover a company here in Jakarta called 'Urban Remedy Indonesia' who basically make doing a juice cleanse incredibly easy and convenient. You let them know whether you want to do the one, three or five day cleanse and which date you want to start. They email you the price and transfer details for payment and once you have made your payment they send you confirmation. Then you sit back and wait for the chosen date. In the meantime, they provide fantastic support in the days leading up to your start date by sending you pre-cleanse guides and tips on how to prepare yourself for the cleanse so it's not too much of a shock to your body. In fact they are incredibly supportive throughout even sending you an email on your first day to wish you luck and provide you with words of encouragement.
On your chosen date, a delivery guy knocks on your door with your supply of cold pressed juices. For each day you are given 6 different juices to drink:
1. Glowing Green
2. Watermelon Mint
3. Tropical Growing Green
4. Spicy Lemonade
5. Beet-it
6. Spiced Almond Milk
The bottles are conveniently numbered and you drink them in the numbered order at certain periods throughout the day. Then in between you drink water or lemon water.
Today is my first day doing the cleanse and so far I've felt fine. I did wean myself off caffeine a few days before I started the cleanse because I didn't want to be cleansing and dealing with massive headaches from caffeine withdrawal. That definitely helped. The juices themselves are really good and the bottles are huge. I think I have felt incredibly full most of the day.
I would definitely recommend if you want to do on the inside of your body what most of us would like to do to the whole city of Jakarta, CLEANSE! I am extremely grateful to the service offered by Urban Remedy Indonesia and for their continuous support during my cleanse. I will definitely avail of the service again.
Thursday 21 August 2014
Gluten free might be catching on in Jakarta...
Ok, so you can't imagine my joy when recently during a visit to Ranch market in Lotte shopping avenue I saw perched on the shelf packets of gluten free flour. Healthy food products can be quite expensive here in Jakarta as most of them are imported. At the moment I am trying to make any baked goods, like my waffles, with alternative flours. So far I've worked with coconut flour, banana flour and almond flour. Banana flour was the cheapest but probably the more challenging to work with as it sucks up all the liquid in a recipe very quickly so you have to make sure you add extra. Coconut flour is similar in that it absorbs the liquids very quickly. Almond flour is more stable but is also very expensive. So once in a while when I feel like making a batch of waffles it's good to know that I can use some gluten free flour. When I bought this flour, I was a little dismayed to see that there were no ingredients listed on the packet. Not to be deterred, I emailed Ranch Market and asked them to let me know what was in it. They replied fairly promptly and informed me that there was :
1. Tapioca Starch
2. Rice Flour
3. Potato Flour
4. Corn Starch
This is quite a normal mixture for a gluten free flour as I have seen various websites listing these same ingredients for people interested in making their own versions of the flour.
Once I knew what I was dealing with I was able to set out on making my gluten free lemon poppy seed waffles. They turned out really well. They were very light and airy and didn't feel heavy in your stomach. There was a good crisp to the waffles and they freeze up very well. So, if you need to take care of that gluten intolerant member of your family, now you can, with a little help from Ranch Market.
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