Obama missing 'rambutan, bakso and nasi goreng'

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a telephone conversation with U.S. president-elect Barack Obama during his stopover in Seattle, and invited him to visit Indonesia, tempointeraktif.com reported on Wednesday. 

When the presidential flight touched down at Nagoya airport in Japan on Tuesday, Yudhoyono made a statement to reporters over the airplane's intercom. 

"He addressed me with, 'Apa Kabar Bapak President?' (How are you Mr. President?), with his fluent Indonesian language," Yudhoyono said. 

Obama was missing several local delicacies such as nasi goreng (fried rice), rambutan and bakso (meatball soup), he added. 

Yudhoyono had congratulated Obama's election as U.S. president and suggested he visit Indonesia after attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Singapore next year. 

Yudhoyono said they had both agreed to maintain good relations between the two countries. 

"I felt his warmth and friendship in the conversation." 

During one of his campaign speeches, Obama said he would visit Indonesia within the first 100 days of his presidency. Obama is due to take office on Jan 20, 2009.