Ah, I can't believe I'm still with this café after almost three years. I was recruited by them hosts on December 18, 2005. There was a quick interview. I was asked if I could manage the logistics of the café and I said I could do not only that but I also chose good music. I only raised one question, why the name - here's what they told me. So there I was: managing and setting the playlist, while they were fixing econ drinks. Until I figured, hey I could do my own econ, too.
Café Salemba is entering its third year tomorrow. Many things have happened in the foregoing two years. The hosts now, except Rizal, are all in Indonesia. Rizal -- once a guest blogger then joined as a permanent host -- is now in Virginia, sipping coffee a lot at Cafe Hayek run by his boss there (of course Marginal Revolution and EconLog are also in the neighborhood). Ape (or sometimes he prefers A.p), is now wearing two hats: one when he is in Tanah Abang neighborhood, another in BEJ area, where he enjoins Sjamsu who in turns also visits Gambir frequently -- not the station, mind you. Ujang is in Jogjakarta now doing a big research project. Aco is still in Salemba (he now moonlights at EPI, by the way, with Dede Basri). Oh yes, we so far have four guest bloggers: MT, Puspa, Tirta, dHani. The first two are now in U.S., the third is in Australia, and dHani is in Jakarta.
On behalf of the Café I would like to thank all you visitors, commenters, critics, and competitors. We have learned a lot from interacting with you and we sure hope more to come. Should you have any suggestion to improve the café please let us know. For any inconvenience to date, we apologize.
In the meantime, enjoy Black Eyed Peas and Beyoncé. They are way more fun than J. Stiglitz or M. Yunus, I guarantee you.
happy aniversary.
ReplyDeletewish you good years ahead.
i'm glad the manager is expanding his/her taste of music. more hiphop would be great.
Happy anniversary. I've been your reg reader since some time last year.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, have you guys found any economic benefit through this blog? such as, ads, follow-up projects, paid seminar, etc. because of this blog.
Thanks, anymatters. In my case, this blog is a 'sunk cost' (or 'sunk benefit' -- if such term exists).
ReplyDeleteAnymatters, we might not reap such benefits as you mentioned but we do benefit from interacting and getting to know a lot of smart, interesting, and good people like you and other visitors. Thanks, guys!
ReplyDeletehappy anniversary. I still want to see the "off-blog" version of cafe salemba.
ReplyDeletethanks for the opportunity of becoming guest blogger.
oh, and i miss listening "play list of the week". it seems that the manager enjoys the econ discussion too much, she forget to update the play list. it's a good thing she enjoys BEY although i can't imagine she's humming de javu.
looking forward to buying affordable merchandise, books or any interesting ones via this blog.
ReplyDeletehey happy anniversary, cafesalemba...thanks to the manager for the reminder posting...Btw, I have been receiving many queries from readers with regards the identity of the elusive manager. My reply was "I don't know, I came on board through my agent, I had no direct contact with the manager..."
ReplyDelete*wink*
Happy anniversary for Cafe Salemba.
ReplyDeleteThere already at least 3 blog by your "adik kelas" (including us at KaFE Depok) that too quite an extent influenced by Cafe Salemba.
Keep inspiring and challenging the public (as well as economists-wanna-be).
Anymatters, hope Manager will produce that kind of merchandise :-)
ReplyDeletePuspa, we too are sometimes frustrated by the Manager. She only appears when she needs us, not the other way around -- she's obsessed with that guy Charlie, maybe.
dHani, surprisingly, the busy Manager told us yesterday that she'll resume the play list thingy. Only that she's now really in to hip hop, can you believe it?
Berly, we all are very glad to hear that there are more and more Salembanites now :-)
Only that she's now really in to hip hop
ReplyDeleteyeah...lets "big pimpin" up this blog a bit
Frankly, I feel the Cafe's too jazzy. Can we invite Megadeth to play at the Cafe when they're in Jakarta?
ReplyDeleteMegadeth? Why not? Hey, Manager where the hell are you?
ReplyDeleteMegadeth? Gosh, you guys are so yesteryears :-). When it comes into rock, try to think of Arctic Monkey. (HT: students of Microecon I at FEUI).
ReplyDeleteThe Manager told me that she didn't manage to get tx for Black Eyed Peas. She was really upset so I did not dare to ask my (stupid) question: What is the gender of Black Eyed Peas?
(Hey, don't throw cup at me. My first ignorant question was even worse: Is that a kind of canned food?)
Rizal, Megadeth is coming to Jakarta. That's why. Besides, oldies rockers seem to want to come back and get reunited. Oh, by the way, if you happen to remember, Stryper is also reuniting...
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteStryper Pe? Not many people know this, but they're a christian slash gospel heavy metal band.
I prefer old school hip hop such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five...
Fo sizzle?
Aco, now i got it. I caught the manager singing Promiscuous of Nelly Furtado the other day. I understand the Black Eyed Peas (What kind of vegetable is that?) mania but Nelly Furtado and Timbaland? that's something else. Not that i object to hip hop, but a good mixed of jazz, hiphop and rock would be nice (Although, for sure i'll skip megadeth)
ReplyDeleteI heard Sjamsu will be kicking some ass by playing The Police. will he be playing at the cafe or Metro TV?
you musical snob people :p, black eyed peas is good (although i prefer east cost hip hop).
ReplyDeletedhani, as a fellow new yorker, we should be proud of one new york's cultural product (wikipedia: "Hip hop arose in New York City ...") :D