An easy but important mistake which tourists to Indonesia often make is when they see food being offered which is familiar and/or healthy.
Firstly, what is familiar to Westerners is often unfamiliar to most Indonesians. They may not be familiar with the proper way to handle unusual (for them) types of food.
Secondly, salad or any uncooked vegetable is a dangerous area. Do you really think they wash that lettuce in bottled water? Of course they use the tap for washing vegetables! They even do that at big franchise food outlets.
In the clip, you see a familiar food from home, kebabs. But don’t forget kebabs have lettuce! Furthermore, don’t let that nicely gloved hand fool you. Yes, everything looks clean, but looking clean is only half the way to sparing you from botulism. The first ooopppsss! episode is when he uses the same tongs to handle the salad as he uses for the meat. Sure, it’s ok to do that at home where you only prepare enough food to use immediately, but it’s not a good idea for food that’s being handled all day. At the end of the clip, watch carefully as he wraps the kebab – he uses both hands, but only one hand is gloved! He’s got his great big thumb all over your healthy pitta bread.
Anyhow, the amusing part is of course the middle, where he makes it a little bit too spicy. That can happen if the lid is a bit loose. But it could also be that the sauce has hardened around the spout. Maybe because it isn’t being used much because the place isn’t popular. That’s another thing to avoid – if the stall isn’t popular, there’s usually a good reason. Unless you’re a local, it’s best to avoid places that aren’t busy.
At first I thought the meat was uncooked! It looks so red and raw. Another danger sign – if something doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t. That colour is probably because of artificial die. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a little bit of preservative in that meat. Not to mention stuff to soften it and goodness knows what other chemicals.
The vendor says the meat is ’sapi’ (beef). If you think you might ever be tempted to eat kebabs again one day, don’t look at the following pics:
Is cooked beef supposed to be bright red?
Kebabs waiting to be delivered to the vendors
(not for me, Ana, the nightlife is dead, most of the shops are closed and the restaurants are quiet – Mister James)
Crime in Indonesia: Hypnotists Rob a Cashier
This CCTV clip is like a silent movie. Dialogue is unnecessary in this case, where the action unfolds entirely within the camera’s range of view.
A typical Jakarta restaurant, empty, and maybe mid-afternoon, when most of the other customers have left and the staff are tired and ready to relax. There is an elderly cashier and perhaps four staff. The hypnotist and his female accomplice come to the counter to pay for their meal. From their appearance and manner, they seem to be Indians (there is a large Indian community in Jakarta). While the woman distracts the staff, the hypnotist sets to work on the cashier, confusing her with various requests concerning money, eventually ‘helping’ her by helping himself to the cash drawer, even putting his had right up into the drawer. Eventually they get what they came for and the cashier is left to puzzle over what happened to the days takings.
Restaurants are an easy target for hypnotists. The routine of restaurants is predictable, they are easy to ‘case’. There is almost certainly going to be cash in the till.
Hypnotic fraud is a common means of robbery in Indonesia. Violent crime is still very unusual, although there has been an increase in the number of shootings in Jakarta recently. Even so, Jakarta must rank as one of the safest cities in the world, for its size.
Hypnotists generally work around train stations and bus stops, places where people might be a little confused or dazed. They pick their targets carefully, usually going for elderly people. However there are many cases where they will sexually assault a female victim while also relieving her of her cash and valuables. If you are an English native speaker, you are far less likely to be victimised by the hypnotists because of the language and cultural barrier and the natural caution which most travellers have in a strange country. But don’t discount the possibility that it can happen to you.