There's no such thing as a free lunch...Or is there?

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It's official. The next president of Indonesia is former army general Prabowo Subianto. Quite how the next five years will pan out is anyone's guess but hopefully the foreign pundits who always bring up his dodgy human rights record will be proven wrong. Nonetheless, on policy making, Prabowo's popularist move to literally offer the poor 'a free lunch' every day of the week does not augur well for the future. Such a policy - if it ever came to fruition - would cost a phenomenal amount of money and likely lead to huge inefficiencies (food waste) and poor incentives (make people lazy). Another concern is Prabowo's strong nationalist bent. Thus, in the possible event that he finds himself with his back against the proverbial wall in the face of stern economic challenges, there is a big chance that he will simply scapegoat foreigners. But he will have to be careful. Construction of the new capital city, Nusantara, for example, is highly dependent on foreign in

Bitchy Brits say no to Indonesian frogs’ legs!

You want yourselves some fried frogs to go with them greasy chips? Well, Shame on you!

animal rights protestors in Sunderland
“No frogs’ legs!” croak the hopping mad animal rights protestors in Sunderland (one of them even dressed in a bloody frog costume – hahaha!) 

Demonstrators from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) stood outside Katie Mac's Fish Bar at Pennywell shopping centre, to try to persuade the shop's owners to stop selling the unusual treat. Peta claims that the majority of frogs' legs sold in the UK come from Indonesia, where they say villagers snatch the amphibians from swamps before cramming them into sacks and killing them in a cruel manner. "I think more and more people are starting to realize that it's a barbaric thing to do,” said the group's special projects co-ordinator, Terry Yaki. 

Barbaric? Well I wouldn’t say so. Cos let’s face it: killing frogs may not be the sort of thing that Buddhist monks would get up to at the weekend but - at the same time - it’s hardly on a par with invading foreign lands and lopping people’s heads off, is it? 

So perplexed by this nonsense I decided to make a moral stand by risking life and limb in a torturous cross-Jakarta journey to the wayward outpost of Kelapa Gading for – you’ve guessed it – a nice frogs' legs dinner (called swikee in Indonesian)!

Swikee restaurant, Kelapa Gading
This is a small restaurant located in the food court of Kelapa Gading Mall. I ordered a plate of fried frogs' legs and a bowl of really delicious tauco (frogs' legs soup with a really distinctive flavor). 

Highly recommended and I was so impressed that I even ordered another portion of frogs' legs soup as a takeaway. Perfect.

Kermit
Although Kermit might beg to differ! Hahaha!

Comments

  1. I never knew the people of Sunderland were so avant-garde!!!
    I am sure its all pies and mushy peas up north.
    As for the claim the frogs come from Indonesia, I dont want to be too cruel to my fellow countrymen, however I would be surprised if they could point to Indonesia on the map!!!

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  2. If the frogs were originally 'free-range' and harvested by Indonesian farmers, then they're nuts and don't understand that these amphibians eat the malarial mosquitoes which breed in the swamps, or munch on the bugs which infest their crops.

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