Hamdanil is an Indonesian who moved to Bay Area a few years ago. He and 250,000 other muslims in Bay Area are observing Ramadan this year. It’s the biggest holy month that muslims worldwide are celebrating by leveling up their spiritual game. The main focus of Ramadan is fasting, as one is required to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk. Even one sip of water is not allowed, or else the fast is invalid.
Thanksgiving, which is held the fourth Thursday of each November, is my favorite holiday; the one I missed most while I was living abroad in the United Kingdom. I describe Thanksgiving (to my non-American friends) as Christmas, without the presents. Growing up, my mom always hosted Thanksgiving. She would spend all morning cooking and several days before doing all the prep work. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins arrived around noon, and the chaos began. There were usually 15 of us crowded around a couple of tables, stuffing our faces until we were too full to move. As everyone in my […]
Tipping is tricky. The customs are different for every country, and sometimes even for different regions of the same countries, and tipping too much or too little can be either expensive or offensive.
After a few months of living stateside I felt like I’d pretty much mastered the San Francisco ‘grocery store’, but one aisle still gave me trouble: the baking aisle.
To me, Oktoberfest means that fall has arrived, and with it comes change. The changes are more subtle in California, but they are there. In other parts of the United States it is the changing color of leaves that signals a switch of season. In the Bay Area, the first sign of cooler weather is the appearance of Oktoberfest activities. Oktoberfest actually begins in September but I can’t seem to get excited about it until October. A short history: The first Oktoberfest was when Crown Prince Ludwig was married to Princess Therese on Oct 12, 1810. The citizens of Munich […]
I moved to California ten months ago when my husband was offered a position in Google. Living far away from home and family might sound daunting, but fortunately, I was rather trained in that. Or so I thought. I come from Solo, a small town in Indonesia who recently came to spotlight since the mayor rose to become the newly-elect president of Indonesia. Right after high school, I moved to Singapore for my undergraduate study and spent one third of my life there. Still, Singapore is very much closer to Indonesia in terms of culture and proximity. It’s just a […]
Apparently, being an Italian in America is a synonym for good food and good cook (Well, ok, I can understand that!). The Americans love buying Italian-branded stuff which has nothing in common with real Italian food. This post of mine is a short list of tricks to distinguish real Italian food from an American interpretation. I don`t mean that you need to change your eating habits, but to know what you are buying when you go for an Italian meal. I can start by mentioning the Italian salad dressing: no dressing in Italy, just extra virgin olive oil and salt […]
