What a great way to start the year!  The import crisis seems to be over and 50 containers of alcohol were cleared off the docks in time for the New year.  The prices haven't really changed a lot for wine, but you can now buy spirits for a reasonable price.

The ridiculous thing is that the government, in introducing the 300% duty on booze, now has a new problem on their hands - black market alcohol.  So they are losing out on their "legitimate" excise to the bootleggers!  And to make it cheap and up their profits, the black market spirits are doctored.  Yup ... those industrious little indos are now producing bootleg spirits that "smell like" the real thing if you have already had a few, but are dangerously laced with methanol.  Speculation is any day now an expat or young Indo who dares to imbibe will die from this and only then will the government do something about the new problem.  Thankfuly they aren't tampering with wine!!

Our guard told us about 3 months ago he could get some things on the black market (at that stage we were oblivious to the methanol addition) so hubby  ordered a bottle each of Jack Daniels and Scoth.  As he sipped the first JD and coke, he said "This tastes wrong - could it be off?"  I had a smell and immediately detected what I though was pure alcohol in it - what we now know is methanol!!  How scary.  And yep, we binned the bootleg booze that night and warned our guard and his friends not to drink it lest they wish to be poisoned!

Imported food is starting to reappear on the shelves and we don't have to go to the "secret room" to find things not on the shelves, such as brown or caster sugar, or imported breakfast cereal.  But a box of Special K still costs around au$10 and weetbix are not much less for a large packet.  One thing unchanged is cheese - I bought a packet of Bega extra tasty 250gm the other day and it worked out at about au$7.20!!!

The Indonesians counter the expat food shortage complaints with "Well, you are living here so buy Indonesian produced food".  Most of us would be happy to, but some things you can't subsitute in recipees and there are no locally produced equivalents.  Well, they produce "caster sugar" but it is actualy what Aussies call icing sugar - try making chocolate brownies with that!  Or putting what Indonesians call brown sugar (similar to raw sugar) on the kids' porridge of a morning .... just won't cut it!

So for now we just sit tight and wait patiently ... and continue paying stupendous prices for some luxuries we can't live without 

Expats are now all discussing who is going to get the axe as the economic crisis casts it's shadow across the world, but the ridiculously funny thing about this country is that, thanks to the extremely high levels of corruption and dirty money being laundered, it will probably be minimally affected by the worlds downward spiralling financial woes!

Can't stop the kids excitement.  Tomorrow we're off to Bali.  It's funny, but every time we tell them we are going there, they groan and say "Oh, it's so boring there".  And inevitibly, a few days before we go they are happy about it.  Can't work kids out - if I had have got overseas holkidays and to live in different countries when I was a kid I think I would probably have loved it!!  Maybe not.

So my Minti friends, if I don't reply to mesages for a while, that is why.  Bali has dodgy internet connections in many places (although ti gets better each visit) and I don't use email much there.

Stay safe, don't let your kids drive you nuts and I will be back about 22 Jan.

Sharon

HAPPY NEW YEAR MINTIERS!!!  I hope Santa was good to you all 

Well, all the work and build up and it seems Christmas is always over in the blink of an eye.  All those months of planning, buying and wrapping gifts, putting up decorations, lights and the tree, buying extra food, planning the Christmas lunch....  If it wasn't for the kids I would seriously wonder if ti was worth it LOL

I went to no trouble with Christmas lunch again this year as one with the higher cost of imported food items over the past few months, and lack of availability of a lot of things, it was easier to go to the Ritz Carlton for Christmas lunch. 

They have a Sunday Brunch buffett every week that is the largest selection of cuisine in a Jakarta hotel.  The go a bit further with it for special occasions such as Christmas, New Year, Easter, Mothers/Fathers' Day.  It is a veritable foodies' paradise and they have almost anything you want - Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese (including beautiful fresh sushi and sashimi), Korean, a huge range of fresh seafood and not just a dessert table, but a whole corner section is dedicated to everything sweet - the centrepiece of which is a huge chocolate fountin replete with strawberries, marshmallows and lollies on sticks just waiting to be swiped through the warm chocolate! 

I was expecting arguments from the kids about having to eat healthy stuff before they could hit the chocolate fountain, but this year, not a peep!  Amazing!  It was the lure of the new wii and WarHammer kits that made them not want chocolate.  They scoffed down their food in half an hour and said "Ok, Can Pak Usup drive us home now, we are finished and bored" and off they went

Easy peasy.  Messaged the driver to pick them up at the front door then sat back and enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch with hubby and a friend from Australia.  Actually, I didn't even eat much because the time was spent talking, laughing and drinking.  Oh, did I emntion that this wonderful buffett comes with "free flow" of wine, champagne or beer?  LOL For those of you wo have read my previous blogs, you will understand that it is REALLY the drinks that hook me in now that acohol is so damned expensive here!! 

All in all a great Christmas Day, followed on at home by more wine and laughter.  It's a good thing none of us had to drive!!

Another boring blog about wine.  but this is quite funny...

I made it to the DF wine store this morning.  After ringing them yesterday to see when was the best time to visit, and avoid bumping into the customs inspectors, the woman whispered into the phone "You coming around 9-10am, no problem".  I asked if I "made a donation" could I exceed the 3 bottle limit, and she said yes.  Unreal!  So excited (sad, I know).

Got there and bloody customs were there, so the very proper sales attendant checked my KITAS and passport and said in a loud voice "OK, KITAS 3 bottle limit".  I quietly explained that I had called yesterday and been told that for a "special administration fee" of rp50k I could buy a case or two of wine.  He said "Oh, ok, how many you want?"   I replied "At least 12 bottles".  "Ok, special administration fee now rp100k".  Of course it is!

Driver came in with me and pushed trolley around while I wandered through my idea of heaven - a fully stocked wine store - and salivated over such a choice of wine. 

The funny thing is that at home when you buy in bulk, you usually get a discount.  Here I had to "pay" to buy in bulk.  Too bad, don't care.  Christmas is nearly here and I now have 18 bottles of wine and champagne.  much better prices than the retail stores - Margaret River classic white cost me around au$18 which is pretty good.  Although I am now sick of it and didn't buy any more, the Lindemans chardonnay I had previously bought retails here for about au$27 and was in todays' store for about au$17 so quite a huge difference. 

LOL  I know where I will be shopping from now on!  And yep, this will be my last wine whine on ehre   ..... that is, unless the "good" wine store burns down (god forbid)

Arrgghhh!  We seem to be a cat magnet in our family!  At 5am yesterday morning Ms 10 woke me up saying she found a little kitten crying at our kitchen door.  It must have been loud for her to hear it from her room where the air con was going and her door/windows were closed!

She is verrrry cute!  About 6 weeks old, white with grey patches and a grey striped tail.  Yesterday she was snuggled up in her basket and I was playing with her.  She rolled over and was actually pulling my hand down with her paws, getting em to scratch her tummy!  Soooo cute!!!  I thought cats didn't really like their tummies scratched.

We thought we had a home for it with a friend of my sons'.  but his Mum said e can't take it.  No idea what I am going to do as many expats have left or are leaving town for Christmas, so the verbal messages can't get passed along.

And the funniest thing is our cats' reaction to her.  As I said in another blog, there are heaps of stray cats here because most people are too poor to afford desexing.  Sometimes a stray (we have about 4 regulars who pop in when our backs are turned) will wander in and eat our cats' food.  She often just sits on the floor watching them, but really doesn't seem offended or worried about it.

The kitten arrived and our cat is soooo angry.  She won't even stay in the same room with it and the minute she sees it she hisses, her fur stands on end and she growls like a tiger!  Weird.  It's so tiny and the others who actually dare to eat her food get no reaction at all.

I always knew cats were strange!

Damn, I knew I needed a new topic in my blogs.  Seems even Google ads knows it.  Just noticed that all the ads on RHS relate to wine and getting a flat stomach LOL

We've just had a long weekend here, in celebration of (Muslim) Idul Adha.  Idul Adha is also the last day of the holy pilgrimage to Mecca, the Haj, and commemorates God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son.  Obviously human sacrifices aren't used, but sheep and goats instead.

On Sunday afternoon the call to prayer came in the afternoon and the mosques held all night prayers, in readiness for the Monday sacrifices.  Close to our house there are two mosques and a musholla (small, neighbourhood mosque) and they were all in full swing so we had it coming from all directions.

All night prayers made watching television a bit hard without extra volume, and we really noticed it when the power went out for about an hour. 

For the past 3 weeks or so, the streets around Jakarta have had something new on display - goats and sheep!  Wealthier Muslims will buy a sheep or goat, and take it to their mosque on Idul Adha, where it is slaughtered on sacred ground, facing Mecca, so it is Halal, and the meat is then distributed to the poor - who come in with vouchers to claim their share.

Last night I went to the outside kitchen to speak to the staff and Mariyah was out there cleaning goat stomach and intestines to make some sort of stew out of.  Had to make a fast exit from that one.  Arrgghhh, how do they do it???  She gave some of the scraps to our cat, and she wouldn't even eat them!

The funniest sight was yesterday morning on a trip to the shops (which we soon found were not open, like on Easter Sunday at home!) and we saw 3 men trying to secure a large goat on the back of their motorbike in readiness for it's trip to their mosque.  The goat was about the same size as the bike, and was making the job of getting it onto the bike quite difficult.  No idea how the men were going to fit on it too!

Seriously, they carry everything on their bikes here as many people cannot afford a car.  It is not strange to see whole families of Mum, Dad and up to 4 children riding along, or two gardeners - one riding and one holding a lawnmower hanging off one side and an edge trimmer off the other, and all their brooms and tools tied on wherever they will fit.  A few weeks ago I even saw 3 guys on a bike and the two passengers were each carrying a large sheet of glass - no O'Briens trucks with glass racks here!

Yep, sad, sad, sad.  I have been looking for caster sugar for 2 weeks just so that I can make lemon sorbet.  And today I found just ONE lonely little packet of CSR on a shelf in my local supermarket.  Miss 10 is thrilled that we can make sorbet tomorrow.

God, I just realised almost every blog I've done on here is about food or wine.  Must come up with some new ideas LOL

Ok, ok....  yesterday the wine crisis finally got the better of me, and I know, I was weak!!!

I was sick of turning up at the Duty Free stores, KITAS and passport at the ready only to find them closed because they had already sold their "quota" for the day or had changed the rules on who could buy (one day anyone with any pas can buy, although KITAS holders like me have a 3 bottle limit, then the next day if customs officials are in attendance, only Diplomatic pass holders can buy alcohol, and they don't have a 3 bottle limit .... sooo unfair!!) 

It was Friday, so I finally gave in and paid ridiculously high retail cost for 3 bottles of wine and a bottle of vodka.  Seems as stocks start to run out and each store knows they have us bule against a wall, the prices rise again and again. 

I managed to find a bottle of Smirnoff for only rp475,000 - which made it about au$55 but as I am not taking the money from my Australian bank account I didn't care.  i haven't had vodka since August and desperate times call for desperate measures!!

I did stop short at paying rp750,000 (about au$90) for a bottle of Jack Daniels for hubby though - he likes Bintang beer anyway, so is happy with that.

I still got hammered with the wine price though and took Jacobs Creek and Lindemans chardonnay which were about au$33 each (I know, that's just shocking, but better than the other wines that were about au$50> a bottle).  No idea why, but savignon blanc is a very rare find here and I prefer that to chardonnay.

Got  Mariyahlt to put one straight in the freezer, and drank most of it over the course of the afternoon whilst supervising dinner preps and chatting to a girlfriend in Sydney on Skype - it almost felt like a regular Friday at home when we would get together and have a chat about the week over a few drinks.

Then got an invite to a local bar where hubby was with some consultants from his job - all fellow Aussies and as someone else was sponsoring the drinks on their company account, 3 of us drank wine.   Oooooh, sucha  luxury.

Moved on after that to another expat hangout called Eastern Promise - kind of like an english pub, full of expats and south Jakarta locals.  They serve pretty ordinary Indian food, but surprisingly the tandoori chicken wasn't bad last night.  Shame we didn't ask the friends to meet us at the first bar instead though, as it has  an Indian restaurant upstairs and the food is about the same cost, but far nicer.  Oh well, drink more wine and forget about it!!

It's funny, but the topic of imported food and alsohol shortage is the main line of conversation with most people, from the Aussie headmaster at my sons' school, to the Indonesian wife of our Australian friend last night.  I guess it could be worse.  The upside is that hydroponic and organic vegiesare reasonably priced, imported meat is about the same cost as Australian supermarkets and they Indonesians have mastered the art of making good baguettes!

Ahhh, will survive another weekend  LOL

Gotta laugh at this place or you will cry!  Word filtered through that a duty free alcohol store near my place had reasonably priced Aussie wines and for a small donation to the cashier, you could surpass the show visa 3 bottle limit.  Yay!!  What a way to start the week thought I ... tonight I should be sipping nice cool chardonnay or sauv blanc.  It's amazing what excites you here LOL

So after hubby was dropped at work, I told driver to be on standby so take me wine shopping, settled sick son into my bed so he could watch cable tv and excitedly got ready to meet some friends at the DF store where we would buy wine and then go somewhere for lunch.

Not to be was it?  Arrived, walked in, saw sea of wine just waiting to be bought and lovingly carried home to my fridge.  Then ... STOP!  3 store employees almost ran over to us and said "Sorry, customs officials doing audit.  Do you have Diplomatic pass or KITAS?"  Two of us responded that we had KITAS, the other has none as she is an Indonesian married to an Aussie.  In hushed tones they told us to ring in 2-3 days and handed us their business card as they ushered us back out the door.  Despite offering a donation, we were still turned away this time.

DAMN!  What is wrong with this country???  I complained to my friend (Jokingly)  "What the hell is wrong here?  Doesn't your country want to make money of those of us who drink?"  She said "They don't want us all getting drunk".  "But I'm not Muslim and I might want to get drunk every now and then"  I replied.  We all laughed and decided to go to a restaurant in a nearby hotel so we could at least share a bottle of wine there.  Arrived and sign in capital letters on door said "Due to the shortage of alcohol and exhorbitant prices, we have a limited range of wine available".  We asked to see the wine and after discussing the fact that (a) it was an awefully strange colour for chardonnay and (b) none of us had ever heard of it, there was no way we were spending about au$65 on it just in case it was crap!

So, another night without wine and can't face another beer (yep, got desperate for a drink on Saturday and dove into Bintangs over a BBQ).  I guess at this rate I will not have put on any weight once Christmas has passed.  Will have to save wine drinking for whilst I am in Bali and sniff out the local wine with fingers crossed and a peg on my nose LOL

And no, despite my rantings here, I am not a desperate wine-o!  I think the fact that I haven't hd any for so long is just making me crave it more and more each week.  Oooohhh, I envy those friends who are going home to Australia for Christmas and are already excited about buying cheap wine without making a half day mission out of it!!