Treating. And Where to Eat in Banjarmasin

Sometimes theres always that one person who wont allow us to  pay him/her back when we ordered lunch with. Thats exactly why i insisted to pay up the office boy who delivered our breakfast first. But again told us that the meal was on her, probably since another co-worker has already bought in these tasty warm banana bread-okay that sounds wrong- ‘roti pisang’ a traditional food, or wadai (literally translated to cake, but not the modern one you’re thinking of) for morning munchies earlier.

 And so the drama goes off.

Theres this custom where one deliberately rejects to be paid back. Mostly this happens when a certain sum of money is considered to be insignificant for the lender. Hence they will try in any way possible to have you stop waving the supposedly worthy paper note to them, whether it is forcefully putting the note back into your palm, putting it on your desk, putting it in your front pocket, all the while shaking their heads and saying ‘jangan’ or don’t.

It will also happen if and when, one makes an accumulative payment of the things individually bought together but at the same time. Where one steps up and decide to pay it all in advance. Not that the lender dont want it paid back, but still, if its odds money or ‘ganjilan’ they have a hard time accepting it too. The reason might be the hassle of finding the change is too insignificant, or you simply want the trnsaction to have an end to it. Hm.

So I was left unable to pay back 18K worth of nasi kebuli. Then I found myself contemplating. I had the equivalent to that in ringgit when i received an angpao from a married friend for chinese new year. It has a red flashy design to the envelope and in it was three two ringgit notes. Looking back, now i know the nominal here is considered not as significant.

Or can that be the effect of a consumptive local thingy ? I spent 50 bucks in Malaysia to buy groceries for a week. Here i can’t spend less than 50 bucks each day to feed myself and jajan ? Overseas, the tradition of treating a friend is rather rather. Unless you go out to eat on somebody’s birthday. If though your friend paid up when both of you sat down had lunch and walk to the cashier together, that only means you pay back later to them. Here the case isnt so. Spending 50K a day doesnt arrive to any guilt. That is a triumph. 50K can get you 10K for breakfast, 30K for lunch, oh wait- thats not even enough. .

Due to the custom mentioned above, and the usual spending of us people, thankfully – and thank you God – we have an all week dine out when my co-workers took turns treating one another. By this rate, Im feeling great for the economy. J

Heres is a list of where our team usually heads off to when we’re having lunch together (limited to Banjarmasin area) :

 1 ) Depot Rudy Banjarmasin, A. Yani Pal 3 – High Value, Banjarese Smoked Food, Classic Venue, The usual visit for Businessmen. Try out Urap, Udang Galah, Haruan Penyet

 2 ) Pondok Permata, Gatot Pal 4 – Medium to High Value, Banjarese ‘Smoked’ Food, Stall Style Venue, Mostly Chinese. Try out Patin Bakar, and order iced syrup as a drink.

 3 ) Neng Yasmin, Sungai Jingah – Medium to High Value, Banjarese Food, Classic Venue, The usual visit for Civil Workers as it seems. Best deep fried fish, try out Nila Goreng, Lais Goreng, Sayur Asem and ‘Mandai’.

 4 ) Soto Bang Amat, Banua Anyar – Medium Value, Banjarese chicken soup (the best in town), Varied Visitors from young and old, couple and families. Dont forget the chicken satay to top off.

 5 ) Warung Yuni, Sultan Adam – Medium Value, Banjarese Oxtail Soup. Be early! The dish is limited. Most likely to be sold out by 1pm.

 6 ) Meratus Pedas, Meratus – Medium Value, Best deep fried fish. Try Patin, Peda, or Nila goreng they have here served with Timun Serut or Cucumber veggies mixed with fresh coconut milk. Ice tea jumbo size is also available.

..more to add later !