Australian Lunch Style - Travel Notes

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After wrapping up a meeting with the staff from the Indonesia Australia Language Foundation (I.A.L.F) in Denpasar, Bali, from December 14 to 17, 2011, the Kang Guru Indonesia reps and I were treated to lunch by them.

On December 16, 2011, my fellow Kang Guru Indonesia Champions and I had actually planned to grab lunch at NIKMAT Denpasar, a place we’d visited back in 2008. We had just come down from the All Seasons Hotel and were ready to head out and look for food at a warteg. .I put the picture belows

NIKMAT: Does anyone know where this is located? This NIKMAT stall is in Denpasar, Bali. Has anyone been here? We finally chose it for our lunch because the menu appealed to all of us. It’s cheap and delicious—just like the name suggests. I will write soom  Photo by Asep Haryono.

""Warteg" is short for "Warung Tegal", which literally means "a small eatery from Tegal" — a city in Central Java, Indonesia. It's a type of simple, budget-friendly food stall or small restaurant that serves a variety of home-style Indonesian dishes, usually displayed in a glass case at the front.

But those plans changed when Mr. Kevin Dalton, the Project Manager of Kang Guru Indonesia, told us all to just have lunch at the IALF building on Jalan Sesetan. He said something like, “No need to go anywhere — the boss already offered you lunch, so just enjoy it!” .

Well, since I love anything that’s free (Certified Freebie Hunter here!), I was more than happy to accept Mr. Kevin’s invitation. My seven fewllow Kang Guru reps from all over Indonesia felt the same way. Free food? Count us in! Hahaha. Free stuff usually tastes better anyway, right? Too bad we couldn’t pull the full-on aji mumpung (take-advantage-of-the-moment) move this time — but still, we had a great time! .

SANDWICH: This is the Australian-style sandwich menu — it comes with beef sausages, onions, and various salads. But my stomach is pure Indonesian, so I’m not really a fan of this “magical” menu. Photo by Asep Haryono

Apparently, We Could Use AJI MUMPUNG! .
Turns out, we could totally use the “aji mumpung” mindset — because everything had already been prepared and provided by Kang Guru Indonesia as a way of saying thanks for coming to their event. The seven of us (Syahrir from Makassar, Fadel from NTB, Keyko from Semarang, Wibowo from Medan, Ririn from Jakarta, Suryadi from Madura, and myself from Pontianak) were told that the lunch being served was an “Australian-style sandwich lunch.” What’s it called again? .

"Aji Mumpung" roughly translates to "taking advantage of an opportunity while it lasts" or "making the most of a chance" — often with the connotation of doing something opportunistically because the timing or situation is favorable.It can be used positively (e.g., being proactive or seizing the moment) or negatively (e.g., exploiting a situation for personal gain). The tone depends on context

There were several guests at the event too. .

“How come it’s not rice?” Fadel from NTB joked. Hahaha, well, we’re Indonesian — we’re used to rice with every meal. So if there’s no rice, it feels like we haven’t eaten at all. Since there was no rice, and the food was more like snacks, we just considered this “Australian-style lunch” as a light bite. “This looks more like KFC with wings and breasts,” Wibowo from Medan said, laughing. .


Food on the Grill.
< Before lunch started, we had a friendly gathering with fellow Kang Guru Champions. We also met and mingled with the staff from the Indonesia Australia Language Foundation (IALF) and some of the Kang Guru teachers — many of whom were Aussie expats. Though funnily enough, not all of them were from Australia. For example, there’s Sue Rodger — married to a Balinese man, but actually from Liverpool. “I love the Beatles so much,” she once told us. And I was like, “Same! I love Paul McCartney’s ‘Let It Be!’” Hahaha. .

Unlike typical Indonesian events that start with long speeches, the Aussies keep things short and sweet. There was just a brief speech by Mr. Kevin Dalton, the Kang Guru Indonesia Manager, to thank everyone and officially kick off the event. That’s it — no rambling. Maybe Mr. Kevin knew we were all starving by that point! It was already 1:30 PM in Denpasar — which is one hour ahead of my hometown, Pontianak. .

So if it was 13:00 WIB in Pontianak, it was already 14:00 in Denpasar. No wonder we were all ready to eat! As soon as the short speech ended, we dove into the food. The sandwiches were being grilled right in the yard. .

"Pontianak is a city located right on the equator and is known for its Equator Monument (Tugu Khatulistiwa). It lies on the banks of the Kapuas River, which is one of the longest rivers in Indonesia. The city has a rich mix of cultures, including Malay, Dayak, Chinese, and others, making it a diverse and vibrant urban center in the western part of Borneo Island. 

I even gave it a shot — tried cooking those oval-shaped pieces of meat (apparently they’re called sausages?) like I saw the chef doing. “Bli, can I try?” I asked. “Sure, go ahead!” he said. But wow — it was harder than it looked. I thought it was just flipping some meat back and forth, but I ended up burning a bunch of them! Guess I need more practice. .

Apparently… Not That Great.
To be honest though, it felt a bit awkward. We're used to big gatherings with rice and local dishes, so this kind of lunch — standing up, holding a paper plate with a sandwich — felt a little strange. Some of us weren’t really used to it. The only one who seemed totally comfortable was Syahrir Badulu from Makassar. .

He’s originally from Bandung but now lives in Makassar and teaches high school English there. We talk pretty often, and it turns out Syahrir is used to these kinds of Aussie-style events. Makes sense — he got his Master’s degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at the University of Victoria in New South Wales. So he’s probably had plenty of Aussie sandwiches already. .

But for the rest of us — who are more used to eating catfish pecel and bakwan — suddenly being served a sandwich instead of our usual food was kind of a shock to the system! .

There was even salad. I saw Mrs. Sue Rodger eating her salad happily, so I thought, “Okay, let’s give it a try.” I took a small plate filled with salad — onions, tomatoes, potatoes, radish, all mixed with mayonnaise. But once I took a bite... whoa. My tongue was not having it. It tasted really weird to me. I politely walked off to a corner and left the plate there. While pretending to smile and mingle, I quietly went back for a sandwich instead. .


Still Hungry.
Sadly, I didn’t have much luck with the sandwich either. It looked nice in the pictures, but the taste? Not for me. The beef sausage felt bland, and the fried onions smelled weird. I guess my Indonesian taste buds weren’t ready for this Western-style menu. .

UNIQUE: This invitation menu is pretty unique — no glass plates here! Wow, that’s kind of fun. Photo by Asep Haryono

STANDING PARTY: Maybe this is a common Aussie tradition — there aren’t many seats, so everyone just enjoys their food while standing. Photo by Asep Haryono.

RELAXED: The atmosphere was really laid-back. Most of the IALF staff and teachers were local instructors. Check out the guy I’ve marked with an [X] — that’s Adi. He was an alumnus from Australia and worked as a teaching staff member at IALF Denpasar. Sadly, he passed away from a heart attack in early 2012. Photo by Asep Haryono.

All I really ended up eating was just a plain piece of bread — you know, the usual kind with that “universal” taste that bread always has, no matter where you are. It was the same old bread taste. So after all that effort, I finally gave up and went in search of something more... Nusantara-style. And guess what — I found it! The good old Indonesian menu. Now this was what I call a real plate of food. Hiehiehiheee. Long live Indonesia. Merdeka!!! .

Actually, I had recorded a video of this event too — but unfortunately, I couldn’t upload it at the time because the file was too big and it was taking forever to load. In that video, I even “interviewed” Adi, an Australian master’s graduate, while he was enjoying his sandwich. For those of you who haven’t seen Adi before, I’ll upload a photo of him that I took back in November 2009, during the 20th Anniversary of the Indonesian Teachers’ Festival at IALF Denpasar. .

Sadly, Adi has passed away since then. .Rest in peace, Adi. .

Wait a minute

Have you ever enjoyed an Australian-style lunch or dined at NIKMAT Denpasar? Share your favorite dishes or dining experiences in the comments below — I’d love to hear your story!"

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