A Simple Pleasure
May 12, 2009
I often frown or smirk at people who insist on going to some kind of café or fancy restaurant for their weekend getaway, or places where one can spend his/her hard-earned money. Or people who insist on getting the latest mobile phone or MacBook Pro, even though their last one is still in like-new condition (believe me, people like this DO exist!). Or people who generally would sacrifice their savings for a little bit of prestige, or what Indonesians call gengsi. I don’t think these people have learnt the real value of identity (or money), and as a result, they probably will never get beyond what they already have (unless they can somehow find a rich significant other… but then, if the other guy/girl was even only slightly smart, he/she would run away as soon as these people approach them).
I had my dinner at Moro Seneng yesterday, a rather ordinary, streetside bakso/noodle shop that only offers bakso and mie ayam as their menu. You probably won’t find it in any Bali food map or other fancy restaurant reviews, but as simple as they may seem, they taste great. And guess what, I bet you will never find them in the streets of Sydney or Vancouver (or even if you manage to find something similar, they won’t taste half as good). Best of all, a bowl of noodles cost Rp 5000, a mere 50 cents in the land of Canada. Complementing is a glass of fresh-squeezed tangerine, served hot for those rainy evenings, priced right at Rp 2000 too.
Great noodles, great drink, great price. No gengsi, but who cares about prestige anyway? Sometimes a simple pleasure is best.
(Well, not the noodle dish that I mentioned above… this one was from circa 2003, back when I was still a student, with no money and lots of frozen veggies left over in the freezer. Great dish for those cold Vancouver winter evenings.)
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And instead of spending all of your hard-earned money to pamper yourself, why not donate it to a local charity? (Advertisement: Mitrais’ own YKIP.org takes both money and volunteers to help both victims of Bali bombings and the poor and undereducated children of Northern Bali… give some of your money or time for their cause, and you’ll get that loving warmth from your own glowing heart! – YKIP should pay me for this… haha…) You’ll be doing yourself a lot of good (do believe what your priest/pastor/imam/guru/other religious teacher says: too much money in your hands is not going to do you much good), and also spread the goodness to the people who actually do need the money. And you keep the wheels of economy turning too! (ironically, to get out of economic recession, people must be willing to spend money…)
No I’m not against going to cafeteria… I love going to cafés and restaurants. It’s just that I think some people have no idea what they are really after in life, that they end up barking on the wrong trees.
