'I would probably go for the Super Noodles. Or the peanut butter." I'm in a corner shop in the University of Leicester's student quarter with three undergraduates, here to buy ingredients for a fast, easy dinner. The instant noodles and peanut butter feast will, if they have anything to do with it, be bolstered by frozen pizza and bacon.
The reason student cooking cliches never change is that being a student never changes. There are always the same restrictions – lack of money, space, equipment, time and ability – and food is low down on the list of priorities. Going to gigs and dressing well will probably always trump eating good food.
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| Graduating to cooking real food … Amarildo Adams, Brogan Rogers and Olawale Alaba-Yusaf. |
Amarildo Adams, Brogan Rogers, and Olawale Alaba-Yusuf spent last year in halls, where cooking was mostly the assembly-and-heating-up school of cuisine: "I'd buy bread and ham, frozen pizzas," says Adams. Alaba-Yusuf had good intentions, realising it was cheaper to cook spag bol than order a takeaway – but lost interest. "I don't like cooking alone." Rogers worked as a chef before university: "I did mainly desserts ... It was basic." This stint in kitchens hasn't ignited a passion for cooking, as evidenced by his fondness for instant noodles. None of them owns a cookbook, and they are more likely to turn to YouTube for instruction than recipe sites, magazines or food blogs.
The food revolution that is meant to have swept up young people across the UK, with its emphasis on good food at music festivals, pop-ups and street food, seems to have passed students by. It is the twentysomethings who are into slow food and supper clubs. But there are signs of a shift. Fiona Beckett, who runs Beyond Baked Beans, a website for student cooks, has noticed a difference: "More students will admit to enjoying cooking rather than glorifying in eating unhealthily," she says.
Joy May's Nosh 4 Students is in the top 10 most popular cookbooks on Amazon, while student-friendly blokeish YouTube channel Sorted ("recipes, video, banter") has amassed 13m views. And this shift isn't just bottom up. Loughborough University has set up an online student cooking channel, and other universities are following suit.
The University of Salford runs free cooking classes, including a masterclass from 2011 MasterChef winner Tim Anderson. "There's been more interest than we could accommodate," says Amanda Rigbye, the healthy lifestyles manager. "We are looking at ways to expand the classes." The university is also establishing ties with local businesses. "We're linking in with the Biospheric Foundation to provide students with a fresh fruit-and-veg box each week."
Katie Siddall at the University of Leeds student union tells me there is a farmers' market that is "really popular, although a little more expensive than some local shops".
Back in Leicester, as the grocer tots up the vegetables and herbs, I ask the guys what they reckon it will cost. Rogers and Alaba-Yusuf guess £7, Adams says £15. It's £4.11 – rather less than they spend on Domino's twice a week, even when we add a chorizo and some flour. Back among the blunt knives and scratched pans in their kitchen, we make chickpea and chorizo stew with flatbreads. "I've never cooked so many vegetables at once," says Alaba-Yusuf. When the finished dish is put on the table 30 minutes later, he is amazed: "Did we just make that?"
I ask the three housemates if they will do more cooking this year. "Come back next June and find out," says Rogers, chest puffed out. I just might.
Taken from HERE.
More articles about British students and their food at The Guardian web site HERE.
Describe your STUDENT DIET and COOKING ACTIVITY five weeks into this semester! Use the COMMENTS feature below.
Describing my cooking activity as a student, if we only talk about our 5 weeks into this semester will be very short, as I have not cook a single time so far since I arrived in Jogja, going out to eat here for me is very convenient and also really cheap compare to Europe, I think I spent less money eating out every day here in Indonesia, rather that cooking in France if I want to eat healthy. Here in Jogja I eat most of the time in Warung near my house where the food is really tasty and good, I couldn’t cook something like that myself. To talk about my cooking activity in France, I cook all of my meal myself, usually simple dish like pasta with cheese and tomato for example, and I also have an oven in France so it’s easy to cook pie and quiche, my grandma taught me some recipe when I was a kid, so thanks to her I know how to make good food, even on a student budget.
ReplyDeleteBeing in Indonesia for this year is really great because there are a lot of possibilities to eat out. Going out to eat in Jogja is less expensive than cooking in France. So, since I arrived here I’ve eaten out every day because it is really convenient and the food is better than if I had cook it. I wouldn’t say that I am a bad cooker, but I’ve never had a big interest in cooking, so I don’t know how to cook sophisticated meals. When I am in France I am forced to cook, as I leave alone and I can’t eat out all the time. So, most of the time I cook basic meals like pasta. If I really don’t want to cook I usually invite one or two friends so we can cook together which is less boring than cooking alone. And when I come back to my parents’ house for the week-end, I try to come back with as much food as possible to have already prepared meals.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interestong topic, especially for students who live in a boarding house. Actually not all students can cook. I think those who live in a house, most of them cannot cook, because their mother or maybe their maid have already cooked for them. So, they just eat, without have to cook by themself. But, the story is different if we discuss about students who live in a boarding house. Sometimes, with limited money, they are forced to cook by themself, because with cooking, we can spend less money, than if we buy food outside. But i think, base on my experience as a student who live in a boarding house, my skill of cooking is only a little. I usually cook an egg, nuggets or something. Even only a little, at least it is better than sudents who live in a house i think. But, with that experience of cooking an egg, nuggets or else, i become more interested in cooking other foods that are more difficult than just cooking an egg. So, i think it is the starting point of a student to learn how to cook. Especially for a boarding house students once again.
ReplyDeleteThe living cost in Jogja is considered very affordable compared to other cities in Indonesia. This becomes the reason why I prefer to eat out or use Gojek most of the time since it would save me lots of time because I don't have to do all the cooking and the wash all the dishes. Don't get me wrong though, I love cooking, but why would I spend an hour just to prepare a decent dish? It is very different when I used to study in Milan, Italy where it is considered as the seventh most expensive city based on goods and services purchased according to UBS. Most of the time, I would prefer to prepare my own dishes and save money so that I can travel at weekends. In Jogja, I can spend approximately Rp 50,000 for healthy meals throughout the day which includes all the protein, carbs and vegetables. When studying abroad, every time I eat out it would cost me at least €10 per meal. I would say that circumstances influence the preference for students to cook or not.
ReplyDeleteEver since I moved to Jogja, I have never cooked a meal for myself. Not even once. The only time I turned on a stove was only just to brew water so I can make myself a cup of coffee. Other than that, I never cooked food. With the various kinds of activities, it is hard for me to set aside time for cooking. Most of the time I depend on Gojek to buy my meals. When I have a little spare time, I usually go to a warung near my place. Because my place is in front of a Warmindo, it is easier for me to search for food when I don’t have time to prepare. This condition is different comparing to my life in Jakarta. When I was at home, I didn’t need to think about my meals, because I know that someone was going to prepare it for me. In conclusion, if you want to be more independent, you should divide your time for doing your tasks while taking care of yourselves.
ReplyDeleteIn college, not many people want to spare their time to cook a meal, they rather do something else rather than cooking their self a healthy meal. As a result, a lot of students eat junk foods or the most famous college student’s food, instant noodle. Personally, I never cooked throughout my college here, in Jogja. The reason is, I originally can’t cook and I just didn’t have enough energy to learn how to cook. I usually just go out to eat because the foods in Jogja are very affordable compared to where I came from, Jakarta. I could eat 3 times a day outside without spending all of my money for the day. If I’m too lazy to go outside for a meal, I can always use Gojek and have my food in my room. But often, students who rarely or even never cook, they become unhealthy and have the wrong diet. I think that students, including myself, should at least cook a healthy meal once a day to balance their diet and keep themselves healthy.
ReplyDeleteDespite my identification as a man, I do have an unsignificant but adequate (at least to survive) cooking ability. I have been living in Jogjakarta for 14 years and several months since I moved out from Kediri, and I rarely cook my food myself. Living in a family is far more convenient than living on our own, but of course, the lessons we get from living on our own are more valuable. I learned some basic food from my mom and sister (she’s 4 years younger than me but cooks better than I do). Ever since I embraced my new life as a university student, my cooking skills take action during dire situations when no one is in the house but myself or when I wake up very late in the morning and no food is available. It’s a good thing that my family keep the groceries at a good stock, so I am at my full freedom to utilize them to satisfy my hunger. I usually cook myself some omelettes, sausages, if I find tempe or some tofu in the cabinet I cook them as well, and just to let all of you know that I have retired from eating instant noodles and drinking sodas. And if there is someone to cook for me, I have more liberty to choose what to eat and that includes vegetables too. So, I think my diet is a good one because I don’t rely on fast food and I keep a balanced nutrition.
ReplyDeleteAre students finally learning to cook? Most of them might be, but not for me. I have never cooked any meal in Yogyakarta, and might have never been at all until the fifth week of Yogyakarta life. It is much more efficient to just order foods from Gojek or just going out with friends. It does not require time to cook; we can do a lot of things other than waiting for the Gojek and chatting with friends. For some people who have no ability in cooking, making homemade meals must have been a tough challenge. I’m okay cooking the scrambled egg and instant noodles, but not the one that requires me to measure and processing the ingredients. Buying foods is the only solution when you are too lazy to make an effort. It is not supposed to be costly as Jogjanese foods, especially the street foods, are so cheap. You can get a portion of Nasi Kucing for Rp 2.000 at the cheapest or Burjo for around Rp 10.000 per menu.
ReplyDeleteI suppose some of us are finally learning to cook, maybe not the highly sophisticated type or gourmet meals. But if we are looking at the context of the question, the answer is most of us are finally learning to cook. I suppose the majority of students in Yogyakarta would prefer to eat out, I too am no exception. The fact that food is incredibly affordable here is the main reason I suppose. Personally I think that cooking your own meal is a way of connecting with your roots and a form of personal independence. Yet as much as I want to cook my own meals, my access to the equipment and kitchen utensils are limited. The last time I cooked a proper meal I had to go to my friends flat to cook. I have only cook twice in Yogyakarta, one for an assignment and another for my self. I know that I could ensure the safety and quality of meals if I cook, so if in the future I am given the opportunity to cook I would love to do it.
ReplyDeleteBeing a college students really encourage most of us to cook ourselves. This happens mainly due to the limited amount on money we have living on our own which not only spent on food but also other neccesities. This situations forced us as a student to suppress our consumption budget. But, personally this is not the case most of the time for me and my friends at Gadjah Mada University. Living in Indonesia especially in jogjakarta are way cheaper than living in other country abroad. We can buy affordable food almost everywhere, and at any time. In Jogjakarta, it is far more convenient buying our meal than cooking on our own, unless we have a big family. The average cost spent on a meal does not differs a lot compared to buying our own ingredients and cooking it ourselves. However, this is not the case for most of my friend who study abroad : Japan, Netherlands, Australia, etc. They prefer cooking their own meal because it saves them a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteI think I can fairly relate to this article. I mean, I feel the urge and laziness every student gets when it comes to food. Sometimes, I just give up on food and order whatever seems appealing through the Go-Jek app. On the other hand, as a self-proclaimed food lover, I personally love to go out and try to find new food. I like to explore Jogja’s food scene by myself and also with friends. I have considered cooking, yet I never really ventured into it ever since I came here. I realized early on that I don’t really have to cook just to save a quick buck because food here is reasonably cheap, compared to the prices of food in Jakarta. Despite those factors, I would actually like to try cooking here in the next months. I think that food will not only broaden my food options, it will also add to my skills for the future. Nonetheless, I have to ultimately beat my laziness first in order to actually start cooking, so we’ll see about that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved to Yogjakarta to continue my studies, I’ve not been cooking ever since. Cooking takes time, it can’t be done in just an hour or less. I’ve so many activities and homework since I moved, the time just wasn’t right to do household cooking, even when I have to cook, I’ll just cook Indomie in my boarding house with public kitchen full of not just my utensils but also my room-neighbors, which are unsightly to look at. Usually I just went to the small shop/tavern, what ever you want to call it (in Indonesia we call it warung makan), and order my food independently with many proportions of rice and side dishes as I want and add some sambal, that’s my way of eating from now on I guess. I know it’s not healthy with the unknown components of spices that they used, but with cooking by myself will take my time management through a busy schedule, I’d rather buy my foods from those places.
ReplyDeleteOver the last two years, I’ve always tried to have a healthy lifestyle. I’ve always tried to consume just healthy foods and exercise for at least for four to five times a week. I’ve also tried several diets such as the keto diet and the vegan diet, in which keto involves reducing the consumption of carbohydrates, while vegan diet limits the foods to just plant-based foods. But, since I breads and steaks are two of my favourite foods, I stopped doing those diets after just a few months. When I was still in Jakarta, it was not hard for me to do these things. I had quite a lot of time to prepare my own meal and make it as nutritious as possible, although it wasn’t taste really good actually. After I moved to Yogyakarta though, I realize that it would only burden me if I follow a certain diet which refrain me from eating certain foods. Thus, to stay healthy, I usually just make sure that I consume at least a portion of fruit each day and try to avoid junk foods if possible. It is not easy though, because I can’t cook my own foods at the place where I stay. But, the great thing about living in Yogyakarta is that the price for foods are less expensive compared to in Jakarta. I’m really grateful for that.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with this article not just because food is essential for human but also we gotta be independent like our ancestors that make food by themselves or what we call now as cooking. As a more modern people we should be better than them in cooking not worse, but in reality there are only a few students who can cook on their own. Of course this doesn’t happen in a snap of a finger. More and more restaurants, delivery food, catering makes us lazier than ever resulting in less students who cook on their own. This article also changed my mind about cooking. Before, I really underestimate cooking and its function but after reading this article i realize that cooking is really important in our life, not just as a student but as a human. So i really suggest to those who never cook before to start learning how to cook. It doesn’t have to be a complicated food but at least it can satisfy your stomach and not your tongue. -Dimas Aditya Permana
ReplyDeleteAs I am an independent student in Jogja, living like a college student makes me save my money, since my parents only give me minimum wage. In my opinion, cooking is a must when you are a college student. Be able to cook is one way to save your money, by preparing you to have to buy the raw materials and convert it to many varieties of food, it is cheaper than you buy food in the restaurant. Cooking also makes your meal more hygiene because you know what’s inside your meal, it can taste as delicious as a restaurant meal or even better if you can cook right. You can learn to cook from the simple way, such as make an instant noodle, when you get used to it proceed with a more elaborate meal such as fried rice or noodle. Those meals are enough to make you survive as a college student in Jogja
ReplyDeleteAs a kid who’s away from home, cooking is a skill that can be really helpful especially when I’m facing “tanggal tua” aka end of the month. I personally love cooking, especially grilling something including meat, pork, chicken and duck. Back in my home, it’s kind of weekly basis. Every Friday my friend come to visit me and we have a barbecue party. I also love making another dish such as tjap tjai, fried rice, and any other simple dish, so for me, cooking here is not a burden. But, as I live in a pretty tight budget, buying more preferable than cooking. Let me explain, now days groceries are really expensive, and when you combine your expenses including the seasonings, gas, etc. It comes in a really huge number. Luckily, in Yogyakarta there are some cheap restaurant that can serve you a pretty good food with a really good portion in under fifteen-thousand rupiah. But, that’s just my opinion and that way kind of suites my style. If you ask about the hygiene or if you easily allergic to something, I will recommend you too cook your own food, as one of my friend do. But as a college student who lives in a boarding house, who has a time to do such things like that or maybe it’s just me.
ReplyDeleteAre students are finally able to cook? Such an interesting topic to be honest. Me personally tried to cook back when I was at home since the raw materials are there and it was a huge success to be honest. One thing that I find it difficult is the purchase of raw materials instead of making it, since you have to choose the good quality materials, and the part when you go to the market is the one thing that I most last to perform since I hate the crowds and the noise. Yes, you can visit the supermarket to eliminate these problems but my grandma always said that the best quality materials is the ones that you grabbed from the local market as well as the most affordable ones are there as well. since I moved to jogja, I did not get the chance to visit the local market either due to the fact that I’m too lazy or just cannot find the time to do so. However, I find it interesting and I always got inspired when watching some quick cooking tips from Instagram or YouTube which inspired me to cook but then, the raw materials are not available which demotivated me to cook.
ReplyDeleteThere is one part of our lives that we cannot separate ourselves from and it is the act of feeding ourselves also known as eating. The comfort of having food on the dinner table ready to eat now seems like a dream as we slowly adapt to college life. We start to learn what and where to eat, as we are given a certain budget from our parents to feed ourselves. As long as I have been here I tried to experiment a little bit. By this I mean that I try everything from warung, street food to even restaurants. This experiment gave me a point of view in which I have never had before. It gave me a wide variety of choices to select and eat from. Honestly one option which I have not touched is cooking. Because in my point of view I just don't have the time and energy to prepare my own food, even though I am able and like to.
ReplyDeleteIt seems really nice that some universities in UK are opening cooking classes and the discovery of many cooking channels too in YouTube. I envy that many Europeans and Americans are raised to be more independent than the kids here in Indonesia because the price for hiring maids here are so cheap that maids can be seen to almost any house I visit that do all the chores and cooking for us Indonesians. Many, if not almost all Indonesians are raised like this that many Indonesians are just very lazy and can’t do simple house chores. I am relieved that around my teen years, I had the urge to be independent, so I could sweep and mop the floors, wash the dishes and take out the trash myself but it’s still a pity that I never learned to cook; only able to cook eggs or fry some nuggets and make instant noodles. Even if I want to learn how to cook now, I am very busy with organizations and classes that I’m barely at home. Maybe once semester break comes around, I’ll learn how to cook at least some simple dishes.
ReplyDeleteFood is a very important thing for human, without food, we will die. As a student far away from home, i believe that at least each of us must be able to do basic cooking. I understand that modern technology like gojek can make life easier by giving us flexibility to order food or to take us to certain place to eat, but there are times where we have to cook at our own place so because of that we have to learn how to cook so we can create our own food at home. But the problems for most student is that you have to go to the market to buy the raw material which will took a lot of time and sometimes a lot of money. But we have to remember that our body needs healthy food so be able to make our own food is important for the sake of our daily life.
ReplyDeleteI realized that since I became a college student in IUP FEB UGM, I started to cook for myself more than before. I think that it is because I am far from home. I forced myself to be able to cook mainly because of the amount of money that my parents give to me every month. Because of that amount, I have to be clever on using the money. Being a person who loves to shop, it is hard to not be able to buy the things that I want. Actually, it is quite heartbreaking. So I rather save some money and cook for myself than buy cooked foods. Because it is more cost efficient or cheaper. Then I could buy the clothes, makeup, or skin care that I want. But living in Yogyakarta is quite cheap. So I don’t have to save my money as much as I think. The foods in Yogyakarta are mostly cheap but also delicious. This made me happy because I can go shopping for the things that I love. However, I believe that it is different if I went study abroad. For example, if I studied at Australia I might not be able to go shopping as I like because of the price and I also might cook for myself every day because it will save me a ton of money. And also the fact that the living cost in Australia is far more expensive than Yogyakarta.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I rarely cooks even when I was in Bandung. Now that I am living in Yogyakarta, which is a city where you can get tasty foods for cheap prices, I never cooks again. I mean, it is only been two months since I moved here so I haven't cook anything. Even for Indomie, the only thing that I cooked back then in Bandung, I could just buy them at Warmindo (A Restaurant who sells Indomie). Everything about food in Yogyakarta is so much easier and cheaper. Meanwhile for my brother, who is studying in the Netherlands, he cooks almost everyday. When I visited him last May, he cooked for me and I was like, "Oh my god. Bro since when did you cooked?" And he said that the living expense will be so expensive if you don't cook. I pity you, Bro. But I really want to learn how to cook though. It will be useful for me later when I went overseas or when I am short on cash or something. Also, cooking your own food will makes it healthier than just buying from restaurants.
ReplyDeleteSince I moved to Jogja to continue my study, I’ve never cooked here in Jogja, because food in Jogja is very affordable, and Jogja city has been known for cheap living cost and food among other cities in Indonesia, this is one of the reason students who study in jogja and came from another cities in Jogja never cooked because of that reason. Beside affordable food price here in Jogja, lacked of equipments could be a problem for students who lived away from their parents. As well as the fact that the lack of time for students to prepare their foods by themselves, even when cooking a simple dish took at least around an hour or more makes most students felt it’s time to consuming foods for them to prepare their own dish to fulfill their culinary desire. Lastly, students felt too lazy too cook is because in my opnion, in Jogja a satisfying dish (that can satisfy their hunger) is highly available in places and most dorms or Kostan are situated mostly nearby those places which is one of the demotivating factors for students to cook their own meals.
ReplyDeleteBeing a student far away from home is always hard. Being used to have someone to cook for us, taking care of us, and the other habits have to be dissapeared when we start living our education far away. We have to be independent, living everything and taking care of everything by ourselves. It is definitely hard because we are not used to it. One of the hardest is to taking care of our food, keeping it healthy and delicious, but have to suit our budget too. For this problem, one of the best solution is to cook our meal by ourselves. Cooking is cheap, healthy, and suits our own taste. The problem is that cooking is taking time, space, and energy, while buying food is just more practical. Everything has its own plus and minus, but we are the one who knows what is the best for ourselves. And also, cooking will not be hard if we already make it as a habit.
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ReplyDeleteI don’t think is a must but it would be better if I can cook for myself. Since I live alone and couldn’t manage my time effectively, sometimes I get so hungry and have no enough time to cook, I would rather using GoFood application to order food than cooking, it is easier and has wide variety of choices to eat. I rarely cooks when I was in Banjarmasin,which makes me completely a passive cooks and by now living in a city where I can get the affordable meals I don’t have to worry about it. I usually eating out at warung or café but I must admit that I prefer eating at home, home-made foods are easy to digest and healthier, I believe. Actually eating out can be just as healthy as eating at home, it is all about the choices we make. But again, I think if we prepare our meals by ourselves we have control over the ingredients that importantly we added to foods and we can make sure we use the good/healthy ingredients.
I believe it is in our nature to eat. And not to mention the deliciousness, but our bodies just never stops demanding food and that is a good thing. Either we are able to cook or we dont, hunger keeps on hunting us. Me myself, i prefer to be able cook just because i love experiencing different stuffs on different levels. On the other hand here i am in Yogyakarta studying in Universitas Gadjah Mada, i am a top level student right now lol at least that is just how i am supposed to be. But eversince i need to spend my time on these studies and all the campus activities, i have got to manage my time. There is less and only lesser spare time to spend. So maybe the only time i cook is only for Indomie. The rest is burjo’s history. I love Jogja, i love Burjo.
ReplyDeleteLiving far away from home can sometimes be hard for me especially when food is the problem. In my house, I have someone to cook the dishes for my family, so I rarely feeling hungry. And now, I live alone in Jogja and have no time to cook for myself. But thanks to online delivery service, everything now can be easier, more effective and faster so food is no longer my problem while I am living alone in Jogja. My parents always remind me to eat. Certainly, they are really concern about my health. That way, they said to me to always eat whenever I feel hungry and never hold it just because I want to save money. Though I really want to learn to cook, 24 hours a day is enough time for me to sleep, study, have a break, attend a class, and hang out with friends. That is why I prefer online delivery service to buy food or go to a café nearby because I don’t have enough time to cook.
ReplyDeleteAs a student, cooking takes up a lot of time, especially when we have other activities throughout the day. I’ve never cooked anything ever since I moved to Yogyakarta in August. The dormitory I live in is right next to a Warmindo, and that’s where I eat most of the time. The price of the food is considered cheap, it is only Rp10.000,00 for rice and chicken. Other than the Warmindo, I also often go to cheap Padang restaurants. Although the cheap ones aren’t owned by an actual person from Padang and taste a bit different, I am always satisfied after eating because of the portion of the food they offer. With cheap and tasty food found everywhere in Yogyakarta, I don’t think it is an obligation to cook for myself with the fact that I’m really bad at cooking, so I’d prefer spending my money to buy food.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never imagined that university life would be so hectic with all the assignements, responsibilities to events and organisations as well as doing chores. It’s been two months since I stayed in Jogja and the times that I cooked could be counted by the fingers of one hand. Since my neighborhood is pretty crowded, there’s an abundance in restaurants and food stalls, especially those opening late. I find this beneficial since I could just order food through online service applications or walk in at anytime, even if I finished my assignments late, I wouldn’t have to worry or starve myself and die from hunger. Although the foods are generally cheap here, I’m often concerned with the hygiene standards since I’ve experienced severe stomachache after eating in some food from roadside food stalls. Back at home, my mom is a very diligent cook, if you could name it, she could cook it, so I rarely bought food outside. My throat is especially sensitive to artificial preservatives and additives because my mom would strictly control my diet as a kid growing up. Now, cooking on my own is a very rare occasion since I don’t have the time as well as convincing abilities and questions like ‘what if I accidentally poison myself ?’ or ‘what to do with the food if it turns out to be so bad I can’t even bear to eat it myself ?’ came flocking across my mind. Asides from that, I’m also too slothful to go grocery shopping if it’s not urgent and oftentimes, the groceries would go moldy or rancid before I realized and that’s just another workload since I have to clean them out.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never cooked during my time in Jogja. This is mainly because of the food price here that is quite cheap and the busyness of college activities that keeps me away from cooking (It’s probably because of my poor time management). What I usually do when I want to eat here in Jogja is to go to the restaurant directly or order the food using the gojek services. I have the feeling that I’ll eventually start to cook during my time here in Jogja. This is mainly because of the food choices that I got near my boarding house. The food choices are not few, there are actually many. But as I try all of them I became bored and wanted to explore new recipes. How I do that is by cooking the food myself. Probably I will start by cooking Indomie with eggs because that are the only things that I can cook at the moment. By the way I haven’t eat Indomie since I moved to Jogja. So sad.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is very relatable for any college students that living apart from their family. They have to be independent on doing anything since they live alone by their selves including cooking. For college students, cooking a meal is pretty hard. Some of us never taught how to cook when we lived together with our family. The reason why we never taught how to cook is because there is someone who already prepared a meal for us so we don't have to think about cooking. In order to fulfill our needs in food, sometimes we have to do self-cook or we could buy it from the outside. Living apart from family is one of the most valuable things that we could experience. We could learn a lot of things including self-improvement. Its also mean that we need to learn how to self-cook. Living alone with limited amount of money make us consider of buying foods from the outside so it pushes us to cook. With this condition, students are forced to learn how to cook for themselves in order to survive. In the end, students are finally learning to cook because it is their necessity.
ReplyDeleteNot many people know this but cooking is actually one of my hobbies. Ever since I was in middle school, I used to spend my Saturday morning cooking for my family especially my little brother. I prefer cooking desserts rather than savory dishes since I do have a thing for sweet dishes. When I first moved to Jogja I was so excited to start cooking for myself so that I could save up money and eat healthier meals. But then I got my class schedule and noticed that almost all of my classes start at 7 AM; which was quite a bummer.
ReplyDeleteI do realize that not everyone enjoys cooking as much as I like to cook. I also noticed that cooking is not the only way to save some money especially for students because here in Jogja burjo(s) are everywhere and they’re pretty cheap as well. Despite the fact that there are lots of delicious and cheap burjos in Jogja, I suggest that it would be better if students learn how to cook. I’m not saying that students should learn to cook a Michelin Star dish but learning to cook an easy meal for yourself might be an advantage.
Back in Jakarta, my maid always cooked for my meals. When I moved to Jogjakarta, I have to wait for my permanent residence to finished being renovated. For the mean time, me and my housemate have to search for a temporary place to live in. At that time, my only choice was only by buying food using go-food or cooked for myself. I usually cooked a simple dish that didn’t involve me to put too much effort in it such as making pasta, cooked instant noodle, and etc. Right now, I have moved in to my permanent residence and I have maid that everyday cooked for me 3 meals a day. I realize if every single day in my college life I have to buy food through go-food or eat in a restaurant, it won’t be good for my health considering the hygiene of the food and also spending to much money on buying food will cost too much. I am grateful that I have maid that will cooked for my meal.
ReplyDeleteNot going to lie, I really can’t cook. I can’t even make instant noodles without supervisions. Once, when there’s only me and my brother at home, I tried to make instant noodles by my own and it turned out being overcooked hehe. Here in Jogja, I never cook and just buy things from stores. In the first weeks, I went out to get some food from Warmindo or Rumah Makan Padang. But now, I got lazier so I just order food from Go-Food. I also buy foods from stores available around campus. I bought some snacks before, so if I’m lazy to order some food I could just eat some cookies for dinner. Here, my eating pattern is so messy that I only eat probably once or twice a day. Oh, I also don’t eat veggies since a long time ago and it’s hard to buy fresh fruit here since I don’t have any refrigerator. I know that my eating habit is so bad, but at least I still feel healthy.
ReplyDeleteCooking had been introduced to me by my dad since I was in my primary years. Whenever he is home, we like to spend our weekends by cooking seafood, grilling meat, etc. Since I moved to Jogja, I rarely cook due to there is a helper cooking for me. Tight campus schedule and tons of tasks given by lecturers are also another factor. I personally think that the skill of cooking is important especially for university student as cooking is beneficial to everyone. Even though most of us eat outside, but, we cannot rely fully on these “warung” as most of them are close on national holidays and they are not open for 24 hours. I personally think that there is no disadvantage of spending our time to study a skill that we need for survival. As eating is one of our main needs, we should be able to prepare ourselves for the worst situation. Better learn cooking before it’s too late.
ReplyDeleteSince the first time I moved to Jogjakarta in June, I can say I had cooked a lot of dishes here. I’m not saying that my cooking is good and I am a good cook, it’s just because of I enjoy my time cooking and I am not really into going out and looking for a good food. First, my vehicle here is not that reliable and I think I am more productive when I stayed in my room because I can eat whilst doing my work and studying. As a chef, my brother taught me to cook a lot of thing especially western food like fillet mignon, beef wellington, risotto and a lot of other things. The only problem I had cooking in my boarding house is the lack of room and equipment and I really think that it is the main reason why there are a lot of students who prefers buying food instead of cooking it themselves. Whilst cooking has not always been a piece of cake, especially when I had to look for ingredients, looking for food in jogja has always been easy and the food here are mostly quite good. And I am really grateful that I live in Jogjakarta, the city of students, burjo and good food.
ReplyDeleteI am very passionate when it comes to cooking. Almost everyday, during my highschool years, I would cook for myself. I tried to cook eggs benedict, steak, satay, etc. I thought that the daily routine of cooking will follow when I move to jogja. In reality, it doesnt follow. The house where I live in right now does not provide a kitchen for me to cook. The first time I moved in, I immediately buy a rice cooker, with an expectation that I will cook my own brown rice. Until today, 2 months after moving in, I havent even touch the rice cooker. I guess, it is because of my laziness. I am too lazy to cook because it is very time-consuming. Cooking the rice would make me do many things, starting with cleaning the rice, putting water into the container, heating it, and waiting for it to be done. By knowing those steps, my body rejected itself to do that particular activity.
ReplyDeleteHonestly i can only cook simple meal like indomie, instant pancake, or another instant food. So from the first time i arrived in Jogja, i started to search for catering because its efficient and cheaper than to cooking by myself. I take catering for breakfast, because i have GERD, i have to take breakfast every morning before class started. For lunch usually i bough it from cafetaria or Go-food, and for dinner i only eat fruit, salad or juice because i feel bloated when i eat too much dinner. I already taste many fruit salad in Jogja but my favorite fruit salad is from Salad Nyoo i order it from Grab-food. Maybe in the future i will learn to cook because that skill is needed and its healthier to make food on my own since i know about the cleanest and its allowed me to cook healthier food since i know whats the ingredients of the meal.
ReplyDeleteI personally love cooking. My grandma is very good at cooking, so she usually teach me how to cook. I like to watch youtube about food, then try to make it in my own way. But since I went to university, I rarely cook. I stay in a boarding house, so it’s hard for me to find place for cooking because at my place, there is no kitchen. So I bring a mini portable stove to cook rice, and instant noodle. Sometimes, when I feel very lazy to cook rice, I prefer to order food using Gojek, I guess it is more easier and more efficient, and also Gojek provides us many choices for food. I am very aware that the skill of cooking is very important, especially for woman. Nowadays, there are many restaurants that use low quality ingredients for their foods, thats why the skill of cooking is very needed, it helps us to maintain our health.
ReplyDeleteBack home, my maid used to be the only cook in the house. There’s this stigma in Indonesia that girls have to know how to cook so they can cook for their husbands later, right? Well, my mother can’t cook because of some personal reason that includes my dad not liking home-made food. So, he never actually demands his wife to cook for him. Since my mom never cooks, I’ve never actually try learning cooking. Even sometimes I’m even afraid of just turning on the stove, and I admit it is a pretty lame excuse. Moreover, moving to Jogja doesn’t actually change that. It’s also driven up by the fact that the foods are much cheaper here. But lately, I have been really inspired by my ‘kosan’ friends that cooks most of her meal all the time. It inspired me to try to cook my own meal, and just experiment with it. But anyway, that plan has to wait, since right now I pretty much have no time to even balance my academic life with any other leisure activities.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons why I chose to study in Jogja is because of the affordable living cost. The first time I went to Jogja was when taking the IUP intake 1 test, and I was surprised by how cheap most of the food here is. It instantly increased my interest in living here. And so far, I haven’t cooked for myself at all. Other than the usual instant food, I always eat outside or order through Go-Jek. I just find it more convenient to eat after class or before class with some friends, considering how most of the places to eat offer food that aren’t too pricy, compared to food in Jakarta. And when I’m in my boarding house, I’m always either lazy or too tired to cook, and end up ordering food through Go-Jek or delivery. Sometimes it takes less time and definitely less effort which allows me to just focus on my tasks or work I need to do for college.
ReplyDeleteCooking is an essential activity in our daily life. However as students, there are always reasons as to why students do not cook. Either because we don’t have enough time, it’s inefficient if we only cook for one person, feeling lazy, not having sufficient cooking skill, there are always excuses for students to not cook. However cooking is actually quite beneficial. We can cut down our spending for food and even transport. We don’t have to travel anywhere to get food. If we’re having trouble because the ingredients are too much for one person, we could always share it with our friends. The price would also be cut down that way, too. However, I haven’t cooked a single thing in Jogja. Not even water. The only reason for it is because I’m too lazy to cook. Since I don’t exactly have transportation, going to the supermarket to grocery shop would be too much of a hassle for me.
ReplyDeleteFive weeks into the student life and I have not cooked a single time. We have been piled up by works and responsibilities such as assignments, studying for quizzes, and taking part in organizations and events to the point where we are too busy to have any time to cook. This is why many students, especially here in Yogyakarta, much prefer to eat out considering the fact that most foods here are very affordable compared to other cities in Indonesia. You may argue that cooking would save some pocket money but if we do the calculation, there is not much difference between the price of ready-made food and the cost of cooking. Although I always eat outside 3 times a day, I try to make my diet healthy by eating different meals each time I eat and I try to incorporate at least one healthy dish a day such as fruit salad.
ReplyDeleteLiving in my own house instead of a boarding house gave me the advantage to save my money and learn to cook more! For me, my mother always say that it's important for a woman to have cooking skills, even if it's just a simple dish like fried chicken or soup and any other basic food that we know. I know in this era, most women tend to care more about building up their careers and futures but I will say that as a women, one way or another, we would need those cooking skills. I think living far away from home, having limited amount of money force us to minimize our expenses and improvise with the goods that we have instead of spending more money to buy more food. Anyway I do think it is important for women to have cooking skills and I would choose doing it wrong now than to have my husband or my kids not liking their wife/mother's cooking.
ReplyDeleteThis case usually happens to the college students which go to the town which has a high living cost, such as Jakarta, Bandung because it considered as a metropolitan and even megapolitan city. This cities have a high living standards among the citizens so the living costs also high, thus this typical city wont fit the living standards of typical college students with limited amount of pocket money. They tend to save money by cooking for themselves rather than to buy food from restaurant or fast food chain which the price is expensive and wont met with the normal daily expenditure of a college students, so they usually decide to try to cook for themselves. Yet in other city such as Jogja it is not the case where there are plenty of food options which is relatively cheap, so me personally will prefer to buy because it is easier and not time consuming rather than cooking for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteEver since I moved to Jogja, I have never cook my own meal. I live in my aunt’s house and she always prepare food for me. Even though that my aunt came from Medan, her cooking has adapted to the taste of Jogja cuisine which is sweet and does not contain many spices. I personally does not like sweet food as a main course like gudeg. So whenever she cooks gudeg and the sweet beef stew that I forgot the name of the food, I usually just eat outside. It is really cheap to buy food in Jogja. There are so many cheap burjo and ayam geprek in the streets.
ReplyDeleteI personally want to learn cooking. I enjoy watching cooking tutorial in youtube or instagram, it is really satisfying to watch them preparing food step by step. But in reality, cooking is tiring and not as easy as shown in those videos. I can cook Indomie, egg, and fried rice using the instant seasonings that sold in Indomaret but it is not really cooking in my opinion.
When I was in Jakarta, I never cooked because my sister and my mother are both good cooks. I always came home to different meals everyday. However, my mother encouraged me to start cooking when I moved to Jogjakarta. Before my mother left Jogja, she bought me basic ingredients like bread, eggs, rice, frozen processed foods, condiments, and some seasonings for me to cook. At first, I would cook simple meal for lunch before heading to class, but eventually I get tired of it. Although it is cheaper, cooking require so much things to prepare and sometimes take a long time also you’ll have a lot of dishes to clean up. It is so much easier to get foods delivered through Go-Food or other fast food deliveries. Obviously, getting your food delivered is so much expensive than cooking your own meal. Now, I decided to order catering for lunch. I pay a certain amount of money at the start of the month and they will deliver my lunch everyday for a month. From doing this, I have saved money and effort.
ReplyDeleteDue to it affordable costs, I usually search outside for food. For me, cooking is just a wasteful of time. It is tiring and sometimes not worth it to cook a decent food for at least half an hour and then eat it just for around 10 minutes. In addition, we have to wash the dishes, which takes up more time than just going outside, in front of my boarding house in my case, and take out a meal. However, when I’m not in the mood for going outside or when my allowance is getting low, I cook basic foods such as eggs or fried rice, instant foods such as noodles and instant pasta, or sometimes frozen foods such as nuggets. It would take a little time and need not cooking skills, which I don't have. In my experience, there’s no improvement in my cooking skills, because sometimes at home I liked to cook basic foods even though someone cooks decent foods for me, and up until now I still only can cook no more than frozen or instant foods.
ReplyDeleteCooking is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I would dedicate this comment on how I made a simple sandwich that only takes a couple of minutes to make and resulting into one of the most delicious meals that I have ever tasted. It was an easy recipe: two slice of bread, an egg, a sliced ham, tomatoes and some salad. It took me about twenty minutes to make, and I still remember the taste till this day. My baseless hypothesis on why a simple meal could be so memorable is that, when you put in the effort of making your own meal, your brain would expect it to be delicious. The good mood that was built up when I made the sandwich was probably also a contributing factor that made the meal taste better. The whole process opened up an un-touched door of possibilities for me, since than I’ve been making meals that are easy to make, but wonderful in taste. To cooking!
ReplyDeleteI always love cooking. Despite the fact that I lived with my parents, who always prepare the food for me, I learned how to cook meals since I was a child. Both my parents are capable of cooking. Seeing my mom or my dad cooks really inspire me to learn about cooking. I never think that cooking is a burden, on the contrary, it’s a very interesting thing to do. It’s just like doing a science experiments, mixing raw ingredients and processed it into something delicious. Well, sometimes it does turn out bad, but then you can always try something new to improve your skill and your recipe. The key is to never give up learning because failures lead to success. Things could be a lot easier if you can cook, as in my case, I could provide my own meal if I get hungry at night.
ReplyDeleteI personally hasn’t given much thought into this topic, more or less a consideration. I live with my family here in Jogja, so I don’t particularly worry about my next meal. Most of the time though, I would eat outside, just because I spend most of my time away from home. But since I don’t have a lot of pocket money, I would try to limit my consumption of store-bought food. I can, and have the means to, cook but it’s something I don’t do often. Mostly because I have other more important things to do, such as worrying about my assignments and mid-terms. My family doesn’t cook often because most of us don’t have the energy, so we would just buy food from outside sources. When we do cook, it will always have leftovers, it’s okay though since both my sister and I have grown accustomed to eating fridge preserved leftover. Both me and my sister can cook, but we only cook under certain circumstances, or special occasions. If I were to live alone, I doubt that in would be able to balance my time with cooking for myself. To me it’s not the actual cooking that bothers me the most, it’s cleaning up after.
ReplyDeleteAre students finally learning to cook? I personally think it depends where they are staying. If we compare to other countries, Indonesia has a very low living cost, especially living here in Jogjakarta. Everything is very affordable, and when we compare the cost of cooking to the cost of eating in a near restaurant, both of them has more or less the same cost. However, the hassle of cooking is that it took a lot of preparation such as buying the ingredients, preparing the cooking materials, until cooking the meal itself. For me, there is a lot of ways that I need to go through when I’m cooking and I think I have spent too much time on cooking the meals meanwhile at the same time I’m also just too lazy to cooked my meals. Therefore, considering the cost of the material and the time of having my meals, I personally prefer to eat outside rather than cooking my meals.
ReplyDeleteliving alone independently as a college student inquire us to prepare for our own meal. Its our duty to take care or ourself and make sure that we have the right amount of nutrition that we need for our daily activities. But what about immense ammount of assignments that needs to be done or the packed schedulle? we certainly has no time to cook. I usually buy foods outside or at the cafetaria or using the gofood app because they have lots of option, but if im in the mood for comfort meal aka instant noodle, i would definetely cook it myself. Maybe in the following weeks when im bored or had a spare time, i would take myself for a grocery shopping and prepare a home cook meal (if i had the opportunity though). Since im not a great cook, i will ask my friend who’s a better cook than me to come over.
ReplyDeleteI have been living in Yogyakarta for almost 5 years starting from high school until becoming the university student. When I was in the high school I stayed in the dormitory because my school was a boarding school. Being the dormitory student I had no time to cook because living in the dormitory included lots of activities particularly in social activities because my former school had a focus on social movement.
ReplyDeleteAfter graduate from high school I also have no time to cook due to the activities in organization, event, and community. That’s why I have to buy meals every day from one restaurant to another but I actually have a master in cooking especially Javanese foods. In my family , me and my father are the only two that are able to cook. My mother has a very bad cooking skills. Therefore, every day when I was in Junior High School I have a must to cook a dinner in some specific days while my father cooked for the breakfast and lunch.
I think that whether you are a male or female, cooking is an essential skill that you need to have. That does not mean that each one of us should be able to make the perfect creme brulee, but just having the basic of cooking is important. Back in Jakarta, I used to cook at least once a week. This is only possible because I had the ingredients and tools available in my house. However, ever since I moved to kost in Yogyakarta, I find it very difficult and time consuming to cook. If I want to cook a decent and healthy food I need to put effort to shop all the ingredients needed to make the meal. Considering the time and energy spent, I don’t think it is worth it to cook on a regular basis. As a student living in kost I find it very convenient to just order my food via Go-jek or simply walk and find a cheap cafe or restaurant.
ReplyDeleteOne of the challenges I have to face when living in a boarding house is that the availability of proper-healthy meals. Back home, 'food' is the least thing I have to think about in a day because I live with my parents and maid that provides me food in abundance. But now I have to think what will I eat for breakfast, dinner, and lunch. I usually buy my meals through Go-Jek when I am too lazy to go out or eating together with my friends. Good thing is in Jogja the price for food very affordable. It is also important for me to buy food from the place that is clean, taken into account that I have a sensitive stomach, and sometimes it is hard to find one. I really want to cook but unfortunately it is quite hard for me to balance my time for academic purposes and other things including cooking. But now I have my solution, I don't eat in a different places 2 times a day anymore but instead I join a catering that provides healthy, clean, and balanced meal.
ReplyDeleteHaving a first time experience of living alone is such a lesson. It encourage myself to become more mature and independent on how to deal with life and make decisions. But there is also one thing that I need to adapt in my college life now, which how to maintain my diet. “Maintain diet” does not really meant that I’m in a diet program to reduce my weight; however, what I meant by maintain diet is actually maintaining the type of food that I usually eat when I stayed with my parents. When I lived with my parents, I can have different menu of food everyday, I can have the various type of protein or ingredients in my food, and one thing for sure is that I don’t always have to pay the food every time I eat. But now, entering a college life, my diet is getting worst; all I know is how to get my tummy full within cheap price of food, no need to think whether the food is healthy enough or clean enough. However, the idea learn to cook as a college student is very interesting. It can certainly give us an experience to try new things that will indeed beneficial for our future, especially for girls.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the success of a productive and healthy life of a student has to start in the kitchen and with a good sleep. Students need an active brain in order to pay attention and memorize the learning materials; therefore, a healthy brain is a big deal. The foods student eat play a role in keeping their brain healthy and can improve specific mental tasks, such as memory and concentration. Here is a list of “Brain foods” that all students should implement in their diets: fish, coffee, blueberries, broccoli, dark chocolate, nuts and eggs. Eating instant noodles or pizza will not lead to a good performance in the university; students should stop being lazy and look for better options. Personally, I have seen how my performance in the university improved when I change to a healthier lifestyle: I stop drinking alcohol, eat wholefoods, exercising regularly and sleep between seven and nine hours.
ReplyDeleteI live together with my brother and a household assistant here in Yogyakarta, therefore i don’t really pay too much attention about my eating activity. I felt so because i used to get cooked by someone else since i was a little, second of all my brother him self like to bring me food every time he arrived home, therefore i rarely get worried about getting out of food. One thing that i‘ve noticed is that, since i lived in Yogyakarta and entered the university life, i started to do fitness and other kind of exercise more often. Therefore i tend to eat healthy food and i usually ask or make a request to my household assistant about the food that i want to eat for today. Normally i would asked for 3 boiled eggs and a bowl of green bean porridge for my breakfast, while for lunch and dinner i usually ate any kind of heavy protein food like chicken breast or red meat.
ReplyDeleteFor eighteen years I have been living with my parents, so my source of food always come from my parents. My mother always cook everyday even if she is working, she always tried to cook healthy food for our family, she always tried to serve us vegetables and fruits on a daily basis. Sometimes my father also cook for us, but I prefer my mother cooking. The fact that my parents always cooked everyday, does not mean that I cannot cook, cooking is one of my hobbies, I have been cooking since I was little. I can cook several dishes, such as: fried rice, fried eggs, stir-fried vegetables, soups, fried fish, fried chicken, and much more. I even can bake some cakes and pastries such as croissant and brownies. Since I entered college, I have been rarely cooking, I do not have the chance to cook as often as when I was in high school, due the fact that there are a lot of assignments, and I have been away from home often and found myself eating outside. But, every now and then I always tried to eat and cook healthy if I got the chance.
ReplyDeleteThis a really interesting topic to cover. Because most of us students didn’t really have time to spare for cooking. Me personally, I always eat out. Because in Yogyakarta, food is a lot cheaper than in Tangerang. And being one of Indonesia’s leading tourist spot has it’s perks. There’s a lot of good cafes and food stands with reasonable price. If push comes to shove, I will cook instant noodles at home. But that’s not really the case these days, since there are a lot of warmindo scattered across Yogya that actually serves better tasting noodles. Personally, I would love to cook. One of my idol is Gordon Ramsay. Cooking has a certain allure to it that makes me attracted. But, I simply don’t have time to spare because of college and other activities. And probably this is the common problem faced by every student in Yogyakarta, if not everywhere. Perhaps I’ll start in the near future. And I don’t know, probably a career change wouldn’t be so bad either.
ReplyDeleteTo me, cooking is one of my biggest problem. I spent years living with my parents, and they provide food for me. As a result, when I moved to jogja I have a problem with cooking. I can only cook egg, instant noodle, and instand noodle with egg. But, because of i am living away from my parents that provide me with food my curiousity towards cooking rises. I begin searching for some recepies online, and I managed to cook a frried rice. This case made me think on a certain way for a person to be interested in cooking, one of which is by start to live by themselves. By living by themselves a person's curiousity towards cooking could emerge, because need to fulfill their needs of food. It could be because of the students finalcial problem, as the student's wallet gets thinner, strudents will find solution on decreasing their expense. In my opinion, students will start cooking in the future.
ReplyDeleteCooking is probably one of the most exciting things I have ever done, even though the food that I could often make is just some simple scramble egg and fried rice. I think that if you could make you own food it would be very convenient for your own self. Since I don’t have a maid that would cook the food or do the laundry, my parents did most of them. My mom would do the cooking and my dad would do the laundry. At first, I was curious on how to make a simple food. But after I asked my mom if she could teach me, she gladly accepts it. Since then, I would help my mom to prepare the food for the family. Even though I already moved to Jogja, I still want to hone my cooking skill and improve it. But since I don’t have the equipment to make a food, the only thing I could make is an oatmeal in the morning. After that, I would go to the nearest restaurant or café for lunch and dinner. But if I have to say, if you could make some decent food for your own, it’s safe to say we already reach one point of independency in our life.
ReplyDeleteI’m actually very jealous of my friends who are now in their “kos-kosan”, because I don’t get any chance to live by myself even though I came here all the way from Jakarta. I’m currently living with my grandma in her house and also we have one assistant. I can say that it’s just like moving house instead of “wandering” like others. Living with my grandma is way more convenient since my grandma always cooks for me, thank God. So, describing my cooking activity is more like just describing how I helped my grandma to cook. Like, taking stuff from the refrigerator, cutting some carrots to make soup, or even just to serve the dish out aesthetically. So, what is student diet? Thank God I don’t necessarily have to experience that. Moreover, my body seems just very kind to me. Since I was a kid, I can’t gain weight easily nor lose weight easily too. So, my weight is just going stable in that position even when I eat like a monster, nor eat nothing but air.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, these past months being college student have been very normal to me. I am very grateful that I have never experienced starving badly in Yogyakarta. I even gain eight kilos during my study in University of Gadjah Mada and it is absolutely weird to me. I started eating rice and sweets I do not usually prefer such as ice cream and candy. I used to eat only fish and kale in high school with drinking a lot of water. Now, I have become very lazy to even drink adequate amount of water in daily basis. I even started to really love midnight snacking. My favorite snacks so far are tic tac, mango pie, and other unhealthy snacks. I also begin to drink a concerning amount of milk. I can drink up to four 300 ml bottles of milk a day. But above all, I am really happy at the moment so my fat does not bother me at all.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is a little bit hard for me to relate since me and my family live in the same city as my university. However, analyzing from my friends behavior, I don’t think that students here are actually learning to cook. Some are probably interested in cooking food, but some are probably too busy and can’t make the time to cook by themselves. Considering Yogyakarta’s living cost is relatively low compare to other big city. Students who came from other place outside Yogyakarta would probably choose to buy food which would cost about Rp. 50.000 a day. I personally interested in cooking food. I have been watching Youtube for recipe and how to cook food and turns out it is pretty useful to be able to have learned cooking skills in my life. I would spend less of my allowance if I cook at home. Cooking your own food is also much healthier than buying it. Food that available to buy usually don’t have fresh ingredients and it is bad for health if continuously consume. It is really important to keep our health by eating good food.
ReplyDeleteBeing a college student doesn’t really give a big difference for me because I still live with my parents. I actually feel really curious and have a willingness to live all by myself without my parents so I can be an independent person and do anything all by myself. But since my family live in Yogyakarta and I also study in university that is placed in Yogyakarta so I do not have a chance to feel it. To help cleaning my house, my family hire a housekeeper but she only works for 5 hours per day and her only jobs are sweeping, mopping, washing the clothes, and ironing. So, the one who cooks the meals every day is my mom. Well, if I don’t have to go to the campus or when I have free time I usually help my mom to cook but sad to know that I have three morning class every week so I don’t have a chance to cook meals by myself like every single day. But anyway,I like to search on google or watch cooking tutorial video in You Tube to find out some new recipes.
ReplyDeleteSince I was in senior high school, I had a willingness to learn cooking especially cookies, cakes and stuffs. One day I tried to bake some cookies. Why cookie, it is basically because I like eating cookies and feel curious about how to make it. So, I started googling the recipe. At first, they were still overcooked, too sweet, and etc. but then I kept baking and then I got used to it. My other favorite food that I like to cook is waffle. The recipe is sooo easy and I believe everyone is able to make it. Because of that, cooking becomes one of my favorite thing to do. But I don’t know why some of my friends who live alone without their parents and stay at rented house are soooo lazy to cook even just to cook instant noodle. I take Helga as an example, she never cooks anything even just boiling water. I think she needs to learn how to cook so that she could really find out how satisfying it is to be able to cook by herself.
ReplyDeleteFor your information, Aly, I once (maybe twice) cooked my own fried rice and that tasted VERY DELICIOUS. I also cook boiled noodles by myself if the situation calls for it (if I, by chance, feel extremely hungry and cannot eat unless I cook the food myself—even though I'm super lazy). Anyway, I know how satisfying it is to cook by oneself, thank you very much. By the way, I believe that laziness is not the only factor that makes people who live alone feel slothful to cook their own food. If people have too many activities, they will look for ways that provide most efficiency. In my case, that is by not making the meals myself. Cooking your own food needs many tools to make it: frying pan, bowl, spatula, spoon, etc. My focus right now is to study hard so that I could make much money. If that so, I don’t need to cook by myself because I’m going to hire my own chef to make me meals every day.
DeleteOh really? I just knew that you ever cooked ONCE and you thing it is super delicious for you. That’s a good thing, I guess, because it shows me that later on you can be such a great wife and mom because AT LEAST you can cook fried rice deliciously. I know your priority right now is to study hard and I can understand that you have a lot of activities in your life that related to academic and stuffs. But, if you are good enough at managing your time, it is not hard enough to be such an independent university student. Moreover, if you only make breakfast, lunch, dinner for yourself it won’t take a lot of your time. Not only it will be a good thing for you in the future as a woman, but also it can save your money for now. I know you cannot be such an economical person moreover your number one favorite thing is eating. So, by learning to cook, it will give you more advantages rather than buying food every time you want to eat, like you have to buy food three times a day or sometimes it can be more.
DeleteI have some suggestions for you, Helga and for anyone who read this comment. For breakfast, maybe you can buy one pack of bread with jam or, for another option you can buy a box of milk with the cereal. For lunch, it seems so fine if you buy the food in campus because probably you are too busy to get back to your kos-kosan but IF you want to be super frugal, you can cook your ‘delicious’ fried rice or try another recipe to improve your cooking skill as well before going to campus. For dinner, I believe normally you will be at kos-kosan not more than 7.30 (if you have evening class) so you can cook your own dinner too after arriving at kos-kosan. Maybe if you still crave for food as your additional ‘dessert’ you can buy that without needing spend much money comparing to buy food three times a day plus buy more additional food as your ‘dessert’. Well, the point is, if you have a desire to do something, you can and you will find a way to do it well. So, it’s better for you to instill the intention of being not-so-lazy anak kos start from now. Anyway, if you find cooking is satisfying, you should google more recipe and keep practicing because there is one quote that we both always remember; practice makes perfect.
DeleteSince this is a very common topic to talk about here, I also asked this to my friend. As a student living far away from home, she has to make do with the meals she has to survive here. Stocking multiple packets of instant noodles is a must, not only that the instant noodles are cheap, it is also quite fulfilling, so she said that it’s like killing two birds with one stone. Cooking is almost impossible to do since her boarding house is not lavish enough to provide her with a proper kitchen. There is a kitchen there sure, but it’s really not a kitchen that you’d like to cook a meal in. So her student diet comprised mostly of instant noodles, or eating out in burjo (burjo is a local café that serve simple fare such as fried rice or egg and rice, etc. For a very cheap price, basically a staple of every college student in Indonesia) and sometimes eating out somewhere better than a burjo.
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