ARAK

Sanurian

Many of us, expats and tourists alike, come across [b]arak[/b], sooner or later. And many of us posters, (myself included), to forums like this one, get side-tracked in various threads whilst 'responding' to something or other. The threads then fill-up with things that are totally irrelevant to the original topic. For a recent example, [b]Pak Roy[/b], in the thread about [b]No KITAS needed anymore for children?[/b], asks: [quote]...Who the dickens highjacked this string into a discussion of arak?...[/quote] In order to address this issue, I thought a string dedicated to [b]arak[/b] might be useful. (Now, all the administrator needs to do is collect all the [b]arak[/b] posts [b]and move them here[/b].) :shock:

Sanurian

For those amongst us who have been reading recent posts about arak, go back to the No KITAS needed anymore for children? thread, come back here and read on: Just thought I'd share a few gems related to GGH that I came across in my on-going internet 'research'. I think 'gwan' means 'food' and 'hoo' means 'good'. Maybe 'gwan-gwan' means 'foods' (plural). The GGH company's address is: Jl Suropati 21, Singaraja, Bali (Maybe Bert could take his 3-D camera equipment there, interview the staff and find out what, how much, or if anything, illegal and dangerous is in their Arak Beras.) They make other products as well, such as: 3 Ring Air Minum Barong Brem Bali (9%) Rioka Ridge Anggur Cincin Lima Minuman Beralkohol Gol B (mengandung alko 13%) I found a link to the Indonesian National Agency of Drug and Food Control (NA-DFC)... http://www.pom.go.id/e_default.asp The only reference to GGH gave me its Singaraja address and a company registration number. Whether or not the company has violated any food/drug laws is not clear. But we can all read about various cosmetics and some foods that have (formalin in tofu, borax in bakso, etc). I particularly enjoyed NA-DFC's Poison Information Centre which gives the following guidelines for people recently poisoned by Brand X:

...What data is needed to communicate to Poison Information Centre ? * Which substances can cause poisoning * How much substances that caused the poisoning * What are the symptoms * How old is the victim * How much weight of the victim * How long the poisoning has started * Does the victim have any other health problems * Is the victim under any medical treatment. * Where is the poisoning location * What is your home telephone number.

Moving on a bit further, I came across these shreds of pure brilliance:

......29 days (the wood) again tweet the can! But the wind it does strongly...

And my favourite, so far:

...It has sending to the hotel in Ozaki, because of that you could not drink with two person to the pub, “Shimotsu well port” it goes. You become the man and the being placed next which about 80 does stout with the counter, Ozaki, does the kind of introduction “Okayama leader”. When Ozaki transfers the leaflet, when particularly interest improbable but “it can go,” and so on calling, the [ru]. With dense ~ [obahan] company, the mother of the store of somewhere to seem and “as for secondary meeting be inside and others the [tsu] plain gauze be” with saying, the [ru]. We would not like to go never, because the inclination which is not audible. Ozaki, becoming drunk turned here to be terrible irresponsible expression was done. That you drink already, we have decided to return to one person hotel stopping...

Last, but not least, was the following link to someone who calls himself "Mad Dog" and his summary of arak in Bali: http://www.arakmadu.com/ I hope this helps somebody... :roll:

drbruce

Hey Phil, I see the arak thread immediately went dead once you made it a separate item. Anyway, thanks for the information. There is no local arak here in Sumbawa - or at least none that I've come across. I did have some arak tikus once when I had a young man from Manado working for me. His father made it at home and shipped some over to us in Irian. After a few tastes, we used it for science experiments.

Sanurian

[b]drbruce:[/b] [quote]...I see the arak thread immediately went dead once you made it a separate item...[/quote] That doesn't surprise me. I thought about it myself and wondered what more can people post about [i]arak[/i]? After all, it's just another 'drink', albeit one that everybody imbibing it should be careful about. The 'good stuff' is probably about 50-60% alcohol, or even more. Because of statements regarding "[i]arak[/i]- talk" hijacking the nitty-gritty of legitimate threads (on other subjects), I thought it might be well and good to collect [i]arak[/i]-related material in one place. That's all, really. Anyway, thanks for responding to this thread. I consider myself as a somewhat partially 'expert' regarding things related to [i]arak[/i]. I will even go so far as to say that a New Zealand friend of mine and myself invented, and gave a name to the first '[b]Arak Attack[/b]' in Bali. I still remember the time and place, sort of. Not necessarily something to be proud of, but we believe we did that. I sometimes get a kick out of how [b]that[/b] particular drink concoction has evolved over the years. Right now, I'm becoming interested in fake, corrupted domestic products like false toothpaste. Such as some recent versions of '[i]Pepsodent[/i]'. Whoops...there I go again...Pushing [i]this[/i] thread in another direction already. I hope everybody forgives me in the end...it's all in the interest of 'science'. My wife just brought me a few cans of [i]Bintang[/i], since I drank my supply of the bottled version earlier today. We nearly expired yesterday with the relentless heat we've been having lately. We had no electricity for nearly six hours yesterday. I'm glad we're still alive, but it was touch-and-go. [i]Might[/i] be related to [i]The Global Warning[/i] conundrum. There you go...even more avenues to get off the current topic. :P

tintin

Allow me to add my two cents’ worth to this discussion, by adding my “15 minutes of fame” regarding Arak. As Sanurian claims some credit in having invented and coined the “Arak Attack,” similarly, I claim for myself the invention and naming of the “Arak Api,” at least in the Ubud area. It goes back to the early 1990s (’91 or ’92), when practically every night I ended up, like many expats and others, at “Coconut,” on Jl Suweta (now the site of TeraZo Restaurant), for my daily movies and drinks. I used to imbibe Arak, which was served in a martini glass. One evening, I had a “divine” inspiration, and asked the barman to demonstrate the arak’s quality by setting it on fire in the glass. From then on, I would call my drink “Arak Api” to distinguish it from the cheaper quality, which is "arak beras." The drink would be delivered to my table with the blue flame dancing on the top of the glass. One evening, a new waitress was carrying the Arak Api, for her first time, to my table. She was rather shaky, walking cautiously with the drink, somewhat fascinated by the flame. In the process, she started spilling the fiery liquid onto the serving tray, and continued to do so when she put down the drink on my (bamboo) table. The flaming arak spilled on the table and on the floor to the dismay of the patrons and of the bartender (Like most places in Ubud, Coconut was built with bamboo, rattan, and with an alang2 roof. The fire was quickly contained, and everybody breathed a sight of relief. The next evening, as I entered Coconut and was greeted by the usual “Apa kabar?” I answered with an “Apa bakar?” (the first and only joke I ever made in bahasa Indonesia). :) :) :) PS. When my wife came for a visit that year, I took her the first evening to Coconut, and proudly ordered drinks. When she saw the flaming drinks come to our table, her comment was rather discouraging: “I wonder what idiot came up with that idea?” Discouraging indeed… :cry: :cry:

Sanurian

Hi there, '[b]apa bakar[/b]' ([i]aka[/i] tintin) Loved your story. My Kiwi mate and myself came up with the term "[i]arak attack[/i]" sort of like this. (This was either in the late 1980s, or the very late 1970s.) We'd had numerous experiences drinking the stuff (for me, as early as 1973). One day, in the old (original) [i]Puri Garden[/i] (Monkey Forest Road, Ubud), and a little bit under the weather, we gave some serious thought to whether we even wanted another one ([i]arak[/i]). I think I said something like it might give me a heart attack...so we decided to mix the straight stuff (from Karangasem, of course), with some Fanta Orange, ice, and a raw chili. Hence the term "arak (heart) attack". I love your '[i]arak api[/i]'. Wish I'd thought of it way back then...to think of all the places I could have burned down by 'accident'. :x

manc in oz

Hi Sanurian, your Arak post brought back memorys of my first visit to Bali. It was twenty years ago this year. Where has the time gone. I was holidaying with a mate of mine and we were staying in Kuta. A few doors along from our Hotel was a bar that was advertising an Arak Atak drinking competition that evening. Being young and foolish we decided to enter ( Im not young anymore :) As the night wore on there was only myself and one other guy still drinking the Arak. Using all the stupidity I could muster, I asked the barman to put my next Arak Atak in the pint pot that I had spotted behind the bar. After seeing me order my second pint of Arak Atak my competition sensibly decided to call it a day. With my Arak Atak drinking competition of 1986 T - shirt under my arm, I headed for the door and some much needed fresh air. On getting to the door I decided to sit for a while until the world stop spinning so that I could stagger back to my hotel. I awoke the next day with my Arak T - shirt over my chest and the biggest hangover I've ever had in my life. Needless to say, I've never drank Arak since.

mimpimanis

Dont know if you guys have heard but in a period of about 2 month, recently, 5 tourists died on Lombok from drinking Arak Putih. There is none now available to buy on the island except for old stock that some warungs still have. There are other brands available though. I wont be risking it again, thats for sure!