Job Discussion Forums

[Henry_Cowell]

I have had similar problems. Once I got violently ill eating at the (then) new Bali Hyatt Hotel. Nothing from a warung or typical rumah makan has ever made me so ill.

[butterflyefect]

Hope this isn't too late to say Happy upcoming new year to you, Henry from an old friend Butterfly!!!!
Thanks for your possitive posts but be a bit careful coz as an Indonesian I also don't eat at any place on the streets. But may be it's true when you are used to eating/drinking on the streets you will develop a better immune system? My friends who often do that have yellow eyes (for the white part). I always want to keep it white, though

[Salam]

Last year I was four days in a hospital in Jakarta after some dodgy sate ayam - haven't touched sate since. I still eat off the streets and in warungs though and my mouth/stomach is slowly getting used to Padang food so I'm not crying in agony when I hit a spicy bit.

[Henry_Cowell]

I would never eat off the streets. The pavement can be dirty. I prefer to eat directly from a piring or daun pisang.

[uilleannpiper]

[basiltherat]

[butterflyefect]

Uilleanpiper (sic), they also use hidroquinone and, vitamin C, and vitamin B3 derivative. Don't you know skin cream can't be applied onto eyes? Don't you know that mercury will damage your skin too after some time?:)Don't you know it will be wiser to eat clean food rather than eating cheap food but end up paying medical bills?:)Check out some advice from me for your own good. If you eat at warungs you have to check whether :
1. They have lots of customers which means they provide fresh food everyday and not re-heat the yesterday's food.
2. The population of flies in the warungs.
3. Like Basil said, check whether they really wash the plates or just soak them in water.
4. Always drink distilled/mineral water especially in Jakarta. PAM doesn't stand for Perusahaan Air Minum but Perusahaan Air Mandi.
5. Dont put ice-cubes in your drinks for the first month of arrival unless you drink in a restaurant or cafe. If they use a stone to break a big bunch of ice or if the shape don't even like cubes in your glass, don't drink it. It means they don't boil the water. If you want cold drinks, better ask for cold drinks from the fridge without ice. If you really want to try these ice-not-cubes after the first month, may be okay because your body immune is stronger. If not, even better.
Now, lastly, especially for uilleanpiper(sic), take a look at the mirror and check the colour of your eyes(cornea or retina?heheh). Good luck!

[uilleannpiper]

I think we're kind of verging a tad off topic here..sorry. Butterfly, what can I say? Your advice is well intended and first timers would do well to heed it. BUT....don't wrap yourself up in cotton wool for the sake of avoiding a bit of Bali belly, or giardia. In the two years I've lived in Indo, I can't recall ever receiving anything other than big blocks of chunky non-boiled ice in my drinks.

2nd, how sure are you that they don't have the same hygeine practices in hotels and restaurants? You say that clean food cannot be cheap -

"Don't you know it will be wiser to eat clean food rather than eating cheap food" -

However, I was violently ill after eating expensive but obviously recycled food from a 'Brandname' hotel frequented by expats in Semarang, not some little losmen or some tourist 'hotel' in Yogya. That was the only time I was ill so I vowed to only eat at warungs and small restaurants from then on. Oh, I forgot, my lunch used to be Mie Ayam from the push-cart seller who came to the school everyday. Yum!! Don't know how he cleaned his plates and chopsticks, but anyway, it sure tasted good. All the other teachers thought so too. I use tap water to clean my teeth too. Don't swallow it, just rinse and spit it all out. I gave up on bottled water for teeth cleaning long ago.

Maybe I'm just fortunate in that much of my time was spent in rural areas eating cold food in people's mountain homes - you know, the ones with earthen floors and we ate with our hands and all that - usually cooked that morning or the day before and kept on a table under a mesh cover with flies trapped inside. Dishes were washed in cold water with a bit of soap. Wasn't quite the 'bath in the river' scene, but the toilets were strictly the 'no tissue' thing. But then again, I always maintain that village life is much cleaner than city life.

And yes my eyes are white. What is your medical basis for warung food causing your eyes to go yellow? Are you saying that if you eat at warungs you will get liver problems and jaundice? I can think of other more likely causes of liver problems causing yellow eyes - generally among cashed-up, lonely, homesick expats who prefer to spend their time in bars and pubs.

Cheers,

UP

[butterflyefect]

Piper, my advice can be taken either by first-timers or intensive travellers. Of course you can always choose and take the consequence. I'm just referring to : basic cost of living in terms of food consumption pattern here. I've also been working in a small village with international workers who have been in more than 15 countries at least. Some of them got really sick and couldn't work for days because they ate at some local warungs without observation.It's true you've been fortunate but not all people are and therefore some precautions are needed. I have a friend (expat) who lived for years with some kind of parasites in her body that she got from food.I'm not suggesting that a foreigner has to eat in pubs/restaurants in hotels everyday.The combination of cooking, eating once in a while in pubs/restaurants, and clean warungs would be the picture of the middle class of Indonesian people. I think teacher's salary can cover it (6-12 million).I also eat mie ayam but not regularly coz I know for mie ayam, bakso, mie sop, or mie kuah, they put a large amount of monosodium glutamate. For brushing teeth, most of the time I use boiled tap water.Keeping my health has nothing to do with disrespecting local village people, really.Some of them follow this example after a bit of explanations.Living in this village is healthy in some perspectives (fresh air, no pollution), that's true and I do appreciate your humble down-to-earth approach to Indonesian way of life but I need to clarify a few things, that's all.

[TEAM_PAPUA]

Back on topic -

If you like Western food, beer in bars/clubs, hookers (or girls who like to shop) on a regular basis then better get a job with a western salary benefits package. Or stay at home.

If you like the occasional beer, a taste from home and you hook up with a decent girl - then actually get on with living in Indonesia rather than simply living your Western life in an Asian country you'll be ok.

Funny how the 'decent lifestyle' question always revolves around beer, and that moving to another country this is your main concern

[Winmarr]

Good point!

I got briefly and violently ill in Indonesia for the first time after eating some sort of western food (steak I think) at a place in Bandung where hospitality students were being taught to cook!