Almond Crispy Cheese

Indonesians are no slackers when it comes to souvenir shopping. If you hit the road in this country, you better bring something home to show for it and it better be representative of where you've been. This is so much a custom that this kind of gift has its own name: oleh-oleh. And Indonesians are so serious about their oleh-oleh that airports feature oleh-oleh stands so you don't miss your chance to buy the perfect gift before heading home.

Oleh-Oleh are always location-specific and are usually food-orientated. Given that Indonesians are snack maniacs, they typically represent local snacks (usually fried). Sometimes there are even restaurants near the airport that wrap-up their specialty dishes for plane portability. (Wrap your head around the smell of that if you can).

With that background in mind, allow me to share with you my first oleh-oleh experience.

John returned from two nights in Surabaya this week. Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia and the capitol of the province of East Java. It's known for it's hot weather and straight talking people. Before boarding his return flight to Jakarta, John approached one of many oleh-oleh stands and inquired, "what is the most famous oleh-oleh from Surabaya?"

Without hesitation and with an emphatic gesture, he was directed to a box of "Almond Crispy Cheese". (Does it feel like a word is missing from that title? I thought so too.) Almond Crispy Cheese: a most surprising snack to represent any place in Indonesia given that Indonesia produces neither almonds nor cheese. But there it was - clear as day on the box - "Oleh-Oleh Khas Surabaya," followed by a list of all five locations within the city where Almond Crispy Cheese is made.

If you were to hand me an Almond Crispy Cheese and ask me what country it comes from, Indonesia would be the absolute last country that I would pick. No part of it involves a tropical fruit. No part of it is fried or involves noodles or rice. No part of it is covered in chili sauce. Instead, the Almond Crispy Cheese is a delicate biscuit that is neither just sweet nor just salty, but instead a wickedly splendid marriage of the two, with just the right amount of baked-on grated cheese and a flake or two of almond. In all honesty, this is the best damn combination of almond, crisp and cheese I've ever had. I'd eat these things all day. As far as snacks go - check. As far as cheese flavor goes - check, check. As far as sweet-meets-salty - check, check, check.

The discovery of the Almond Crispy Cheese means the world of oleh-oleh has no limitations. It means cheese can be found in this country. Where do we go from here? Well, which part of Indonesia snacks on Parmasean cheese? That's where I want to go next.

What a Steal

Big time at the grocery today. These treasures were on the 50% off table.  $7 Cheetos and $9 Tostitos now available for $3.5 and $4.5, respectively.

It only dawned on us once home to think about why such a big discount. They're six months old.

We've never been so happy for preservatives.

Asia Lite: Part I

Filipino Jeepny

Greetings, from the Philippines!

While John is off bringing this island nation clean water, Miles and I are on something of a field trip. Weeee!

In true tag-along fashion I do no homework to prepare for the trip and know next to nothing about Manila, except it's one "l" not two. We stay in Bonafacio Global City (BGC), one of several newish developments in the capital city. When I say "development", what I mean is "an actual city". I count twelve high rises under construction within eye shot of our hotel. Manila is booming.



Bonafacio Global City

In BGC everything feels new and - I quickly realize - oddly familiar. It turns out Filipinos have an affinity for the United States and all things American, the legacy of a brief stint as a U.S. territory following the Spanish-American war. It's not just their crisp English (which is heaven-sent after two months spending most of my mental capacity struggling to be understood in Indonesian). I stop on a street corner and realize I'm standing between Old Navy and IHOP. It's like Tampa here, with sky scrapers. The roads are laid out in a grid. There are functioning crosswalks. The locals LOVE basketball. Bacon appears on every menu. A bar's chalk board reads: "Alcohol does not make you Fat! It makes you Lean...against tables, chairs, floors, walls & ugly people." Nope. We are most certainly not in Jakarta any more.

Asia-lite. That's how John describes it. I'm a little surprised to find myself very, very excited about all of this. Was I homesick and didn't know it? Armed with some local currency, the first thing I buy is a bag of Cheetos.

But Manila really endears itself to me when - after purchasing a local SIM card at a little telecom store - the lady clerk says to me, "I like your nose, ma'am". Oh, where were you when I was 14!

Of course, not all of Manila looks like BGC and not all of the Philippines looks like South Florida. This is a country, afterall, that televises cock fighting.

I'm determined to emerge from the Americana bubble and see some of the city. But Manila is massive and I'm dealing with the attention span of a five-month old. Where to start? I let my priority-compass guide us, which is how we end up in Marikina City, Manila's shoe district.



Shoe Museum

We search out the Marikina Shoe Museum because I think it's important to Miles' development to see Imelda Marcos' shoe collection. About 800 of her 3,000 pairs are in the museum. It's a tiny place; you can see the entire collection in about 10 minutes, especially since the majority consists of duplicates of the exact same pair in every color. I count about 40 pairs of house slippers...in blue. But the museum also has shoes donated from various politicians, even a ballerina. It's kind of adorable.

We find a little cafe. I order a giant plate of deliciousness. I admire Manila's wide array of motorized transportation options, most of which I won't experience because that would make me an irresponsible parent.



Single serving

There are amazingly colorful buses called Jeepnys, classic American Jeeps extended like limousines and painted like they were featured on MTV's Pimp My Ride. And there are "tricycles", or motorcycles with steel side cars for 2-4 people. Based on the clearance of the side car roofs, they are decidedly not meant for tall people.

Miles and I call Edmund, the taxi driver who brought us to the museum. He is sweet to Miles but is surprised that I only have one child. He lets me know he has five. I feel my uterus cry a little. But Edmund is lovely and shows me a name painted on his cab comprised of letters from the names of his kids. Also adorable.

Our trip to Marikina is our only cultural excursion for the week. I spend the remainder of my time in Manila popping into Lush because I've forgotten face wash and buying John a new moleskin notebook at the giant bookstore that looks just like a Barnes and Noble. Oh, and I stock up on Ziplocks, because a box costs $10.99 in Jakarta.