The Wasted Fortune

I was in a restaurant when two young ladies came in. They ordered food which was beautifully garnished. They took several pictures with the food. After a few bites, they asked for the bill and left the nearly untouched food. Saw it before? I guess so.
The era of social media has led people back to the belief of anthropocentrism - human beings are the central of the whole universe - and sadly, combined with excessive level of narcissism. It's all about 'me'. Everybody should notice 'me'. Hey! See 'me' can afford to buy this food which I do not eat. Statistics said people averagely took selfies 3 times a day, with total over than 1 million selfies per day! However, let's leave the facts about selfies number and look back on the untouched food left on the table. What are they going to do with it? Most of the time, it will be thrown away on the trash. Does it matter? Of course

The Appetite Escalation: Things You Think You Would Never Find in a Restaurant

When I was traveling to Dieng Plateau in Central Java, Indonesia, my friends invited me to go to a small restaurant. We sat there and order a noodles called 'Mie Onglok'. This dish is typical from that area. The taste was so-so but it's nice to try what people eat there.

Same thing happened when I went to another place: I wanted to try their typical food. You know, pizza in Italy must be more yummy than pizza in Indonesia. So, it's a great opportunity to try the dish from its origin place.

Besides, different places have different food characteristics and it's worth to try. Like in Yogyakarta, people like something sweet. Most of the foods are sweet. If you ordered ice tea, you will get sugar with tea, not tea with sugar :D In North Sulawesi, people like something spicy with fantastic number of chili. They even have dish called 'rica-rica' ('rica' means chilli, 'rica-rica' means, well, A LOT of chillies).

Go to different place and try their foods~

With this post, I will not write down a list of foods, the characteristic of the dishes, or its recipe. Here, I would like to invite you to the place where you could buy the food: the restaurant *applause*.

Let me give you an advice before you visit a restaurant in Indonesia: lower your expectation. Again, lower your expectation about the restaurant. Don't compared it with fancy restaurant you have visited in this, there, or that country.

Now, I will give you some hints about things that you may find in the restaurant in Indonesia. Maybe it makes you laugh or wonder or lose your appetite. At least it makes you well-prepared. So, be ready! :D 

Food #1: Bakpia

I went to Bali a few times. When I came back, my family asked me,"where's the gift for us?" Other time, I went to Bandung. My family and friends asked the same thing,"where's the gift for us?" A couple years ago, I went solo to Thailand for a month. Still, they asked same question when I came back,"where's the gift?"

So, the idea of travelling in Indonesia is bringing back gift as many as you can. Family and friends rarely ask you 'how was your holiday?' or 'how do you like the places you visited?'. It is just like: I don't care where you've been gone, just give me some souvenirs :D

That's why, each area in Indonesia has their own unique souvenirs. In Bali, they have brem. In Bandung, they have peuyeum. In Yogyakarta, we have bakpia. Many travelers (usually domestic tourist) will go the shop and buy bakpia for their relatives and friends back home when they visit Jogja. Well, you can say it is also as a prove that they've visited Yogyakarta~

Q: But, what is bakpia?
A: Bakpia is the name of a famous pastry from Yogyakarta with mung bean filling~
 

Bakpia

Wanna know more about bakpia? Here some brief explanation. (The information is based on personal knowledge from simple interview with the employees) :D