Makanan

Makanan might have been one of the first words that I learned in Indonesia.. It means food.   As I study primates' responses to food availability, I think it is important to discuss my feeding practices in Indonesia.
One of the quintessential food items in Indonesia is "Nasi goreng".  It was the first thing I ever ate in Indonesia because Jeff and ChiChi, from "Learning Indonesian Podcasts", taught me how to order it in lesson 4.  Therefore, I went to a street vendor and kept asking for nasi goreng till someone gave me some fried rice.  It would be hard to classify it as a fallback or a preferred food because often it is the only thing on the menu/ or on the street cart that I know I can eat (fallback food), but I often go on expeditions to try to find it (preferred food).  Maybe I can't classify my foods, until I know some more language words (since language is dictating my foraging behavior).  Either way. I eat a lot of fried rice.  When I want to be wild, I get Mie Goreng rather than Nasi Goreng (fried noodles)- but that is harder to find.
 One of the important things to mention is where I am getting most of my foods.  Along every street are little food carts that sell an item or two. The price can't be beat,  I usually get lunch or dinner for under a dollar.  There are tons and tons of fried chicken carts... I just  walk right past those, but every once in awhile, I will find a Gado Gado cart.  Those are good days (they have very low densities).  Gado Gado is currently my favorite food item in Indonesia, it literally means mix mix.  It has a whole bunch of veggies with a peanut sauce. Yum Yum.
As for other things I eat.  Well, I have branched out of my cart eating, and stop at these little 'restaurants' for fine food.  Restaurants are not the proper word, they are permanent structures that have maybe a table and a couple of chairs.  They have a front window that has stacks of food, and you pick what you want, kinda like a buffet.  If you want it to go, they wrap up the food in a big banana leaf, if not they just put it on a plate.. how unoriginal.  I have expanded my diet when I eat at these restaurants.  I will usually get a fried egg, some tempeh with chilies and sweetness, white rice, and some veggies (usually sprouts or green beans).  I then cover it all with sweet soy sauce.  
As for the locals, what do they really eat.  Well, I was talking to my permit guy and he said, "for breakfast, we have rice, for lunch, we have rice, for dinner, we have rice."
I have some picture for you guys, but I left my cable in Jakarta, so I can't download them.