A First.

So I've just started blogging. There. I said it. I mean, I've been wanting to do this for a while now but my good friend procrastination has always put his foot down. But now, I'm doing this. Right now.

This being my first post, I guess I should explain what I'm doing here instead of watching the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory - I'm still wondering how the producers are gonna handle Sheldon coping over the death of Leonard Nimoy - or performing the favourite activity known to medical students worldwide; sleeping, or even enjoying my Friday night out. Or watching Walk the Line for the umpteenth time (okay so I think that Joaquin Phoenix did a great job, don't judge me).

Well to explain that, I should first clarify how last August I moved to a little place called Palembang ( which is in South Sumatra, Indonesia) to pursue a medical degree. Now I am a born and bred citizen of that food haven called Malaysia, and in my haste to research medical degrees and to plan my path to being a doctor I neglected to consider how I would adjust to a whole new cuisine. Neither did my batch-mates.

In retrospect nobody in their right mind who's serious about pursuing a medical degree would give it up for food, but hey, I'm a Malaysian, and good food is just no laughing matter. Seriously. Which is why I left my beautiful home country with loads of ammo in the form of Maggi Instant Noodles and enough Milo to feed a battalion.

I remember the first time I stepped into a local Pizza Hut, I was thirsty for something that would remind me of home ( cause they have Pizza Huts in Malaysia too, duh ). I had been living off nothing but bread and instant noodles and crackers for days, and I was sick and tired of it. A Pizza Hut seemed like the Parthenon, where the gods gathered for the great feast ( right so I'm exaggerating, but at that time it was as sincere as could be, really!)  But as I ran through the menu my initial excitement slowly turned into a feeling I can only describe as horror. No kidding here. I shit you not; the local Pizza Hut has the craziest assortment of toppings you've ever seen. I was exposed to the atrocity of having potatoes, corn, fish fingers, POTATO CHIPS and worse of all, SPAGHETTI on a freaking PIZZA. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I regarded the picture of a pizza with curly spaghetti on it. For real. And that was before I discovered that locals eat compressed rice like a burger in KFC. When I say compressed rice I mean plain white rice neatly compressed into wax papers, and you see people peeling off the papers, smothering it with garlic chilli sauce and munching into it like a burger. Just that. And thus I knew I was in trouble.

Within months I realised that finding food in this place was going to be no mean feat. Indonesian local cuisine is basically different methods to burn your ass off. I actually do enjoy some of their local dishes, but being one of the few Indians who can't tolerate a chilli without being blasted into outer space, I quickly learnt not to push my luck.

 Apart from that, the golden rule of RICE EVERYWHERE is unspoken gospel. It doesn't matter where you go , there's not a place where you can't find rice. And for someone who isn't that into rice, it's tough life. And woe betide if you're a ketchup person. Be prepared for people to stare at you like you're a zoo escapee if you dare ask for a bottle of ketchup. They don't usually say anything, but I spot the derision in their eyes - yeah I'm talking to you, that girl behind the KFC counter!

Anyhoo, life here isn't without perks though. I've had the opportunity to sample some pretty good food in Palembang and at the encouragement of my close buds, I've decided to record down my experiences with food in this place so that future medical students in Palembang will not be lost sheep like I was. Frankly when I found out I would be coming here, long and frantic Google searches about Universitas Sriwijaya gave me zilch. Well actually there were a couple of blogs which were in Indonesian, and the language gave me a sense that I was drowning before the storm even started. So in the interest of future students who might wanna know what they're in for, and also for me to spend time without going insane, here's my blog.

And I'd like to credit my good friend Ying for making the idiotic holy biscuit comment that gave me the idea for this blog's domain name. And Jessica and Vejitha for providing inspiration. You guys are great :*