(try to) Enjoy Jakarta!

This is not about coping-up with Jakarta's rhythm of stressful traffic jams, polluted air, and lack of public spaces. I was just wondering, what if there's a bunch of traveler who have never been to Jakarta before, and spent two nights in my house. Where would I take them?. After closing my eyes (and really concentrating), the itinerary would go like this :

Day 1

Out of envy with other big cities in Asia that seemed to have more sophisticated mass transportation system, I would take the tourists early in the morning and hop in to an express train to Jakarta Kota. There's a train station near my house and we would take angkot there. Paying $1 each, we'll blend-in with commuters from Bekasi area. The air conditioned train would be packed! and I couldn't wait for their reaction to see a lady selling breakfast in plastic boxes : nasi uduk, nasi goreng and other delicacies like pastel, risoles, lontong & bakwan. I'd even let them try it with cabe rawit! Hehehe...no food no drink in a train doesn't really applied in Jakarta!.

Two minutes before the train would arrive in Kota station, I would tell them to prepare themselves, keep alert & watch their belongings. As people pouring out the station into the underground-crossing to busway shelter, they would know it by then, that this is a hectic city! But they'll be quite fascinated with how old buildings are well preserved around this area, just like the nearby Bank Mandiri Museum "Traffic is hell out here, & what do u call those orange thing that looks like tuk-tuks?" most likely one of the tourist would ask, and another one will be surprised to see even more angkots spread. They couldnt possibly hide that they'd excited when we arrive at Fatahillah Museum, they'd take some pictures there & might have breakfast @ cafe batavia (if it's open yet). Bank Mandiri Museum would be the next destination, & they're going to admire the building more than what's inside!







"Cant wait to get on that red-yellow bus" I'd hear them saying and a couple of minutes later we'd be inside of the Trans Jakarta bus which operates in the first Bus Rapid Transit system ever applied in Indonesia!. We'll be heading to monas whilst they'll give credits to the tidiness of the bus, and enjoy the scenery of Jakarta's morning traffic. In monas I would let them have fun with the 'andong' and the dioramas on the basement, right after a quick tour to the top of Monas to see Jakarta from such height (It'd be a perfect timing, before the sky fill up with polluted air) one of my tourist friend would ask "so, is this monument a symbol of something?". Oh, I cant wait 'til this come up "Monas actually symbolizes fertility, it is an erected penis that "penetrates" a vagina" I'd explain, "Hahahaha...thats interesting" they'd burst into big laugh! "you're not kidding are you Treidy???"









After a quick browse to the National Museum, The Cathedral & Istiqlal Mosque (by bajaj off course), they'll be craving for authentic Indonesian food. Guess where I would take them! Nooo, not Sate Khas Senayan, Im gonna take them to the Jakartan's all time favorite : Bakmi GM Restaurant in jalan Sunda, and I will force each & everyone of them to eat nasi/bakmie daging cah cabai, with pangsit goreng & rujak as dessert!



Filled with satisfaction, it'd be a perfect time to : SHOP! I wouldn't (without a doubt) recommend Mangga Dua Kota as it's just too big & time consuming!.
First stop would be : Alun Alun Indonesia in Grand Indonesia Shopping town! It's a bit overprice there, but they'll get high quality stuff (most are never seen by them) They would also be enchanted by the grandeur of that mall, they have nothing like this in, say...London!. Hmmm Jakarta's malls, not many are worth to be proud of, but Alun-alun Indonesia certainly not one of them!





Their adrenalin will soon get pumped up when I'd tell them we'll have a more affordable shopping @ ITC Kuningan, where they can get some batiks & also fashionable clothes, pirated dvds & just about anything they want! But we'd make a stop first at Seribu Rasa Restaurant, just behind the Bunderan HI fountain for some traditional drinks & snacks where they'd mesmerized again by how chaotic & up-scale Jakarta could be @ the same time.






They would surely come out of ITC Kuningan with lots of bags "I cant believe this lovely batik dress cost less than 6 bucks" and "damn, this jeans is very comfortable" are likely what they'd be yelling to me. At that time, traffic will be horrible and I'd be nervous, what next? Since they all look exhausted, an idea would come up: "we'll have a foot massage!". So I'd be taking them to Kenko @ Pacific Place Mall.




After a good hour of massage, one of the tourists will ask me "Is there any cultural shows, like traditional dances, or puppet shows we can watch, I heard Indonesia have many puppet shows" I'd just smile to that question & respond "I'll make sure the minister of tourism aware about that, but this is what you get when you're here my friend!"




Surprisingly I'd be out of recommendations, I'll call a friend and discuss about where to take these guests, I really want to make good impression you know... until ka-ching! Kemang would be the place to be!!! (but where in the world in Kemang they would most enjoy? I'm not taking them to the busy cafes & restaurants along Bali-like codefin / food fest...Ah ya! Payon Restaurant! it may not be perfect, but they'd love the ambience and I'd be more than happy explaining about cha kangkung, sop buntut & ikan kakap asam manis in a quiet surrounding! Perfect! Then we'd stroll along to the busy Kemang Raya street, turn right and enter Aksara book store, where I'll grab Sore & Endah n Rhesa CDs to them "Here, buy these...wont be sorry, these musicians are genius!" so I'd say.






I'd already want to go back to Klender but it was 8.30 PM and the foreigners would insist to experience Jakarta's nightlife in a Friday night. I'd be too lazy to think and would tell them to go to Amigos or Hard Rock Cafe for live music!. Though people said that Stadium in Kota is the best, but I haven't been there & heard stories about that place, so I think southern Jakarta's nightlife is a lot safer for less 'hardcore' travelers.

"Make sure you take blue bird taxi home ya..." would be my goodbye before we split-up that night, I'd be heading home with curiosity about what they're going to say the next morning!.

(To be continued)

Underground Secret Dining - Exciting Curiosity

Something different happened to me and a group of food-frenzy on Saturday, 25^th October where good food, knowledge and fun rounded up in a trip to secret places around Pasar Baru area. This trip was seriously managed by a culinary-worshipper club called: Underground Secret Dining (founded by Lisa Virgiano and her best friend Sari) and was not just a food-themed tour made for the sake of entertainment, they made it an enlightening experience.

10.10 AM

(Supposed to be at…) Main Meeting Point - Galeri Antara Pasar Baru

I was late! Yes yes yes my bad! I shouldn’t be late but I was having this diarrhea that later made me suffer. I called mba Lisa and she sounded like a very nice lady – made me even more guilty -. She told me I should be hurry ( I know, yaiks!) When I finally got there. They already left! Great! Not just that this club actually LIMITING the number of people who can join their trip, but I happened to get the pass for today’s trip for FREE!, plus this trip will take you to ‘secret’ places, you weren’t told to which restaurant you’re going as we supposed to follow the group leader and be surprised to what we found!. So being late to an event like this is close to being late on your 1^st day of a new job!.

Not wanting to make the situation getting any worse. I ran to catch-up the group. They went inside Pasar Baru, BUT – as a result of panicking – I went the wrong way. I called up mba Lisa again and they say they’re heading to the first secret stop. Shooooot! if I asked her to meet up in the secret destination, that wouldn’t be a secret anymore!. She told me to wait in Akita Bank across Gereja Ayam (Rooster Church) still around Pasar Baru Area. I got there earlier and when I saw a group of people with sunglasses and cameras crossed the street, I knew that’s the group. As mba Lisa’s name appear on my phone screen, I apologized with the most sincere expression I could ever made.

Here we are at the 1^st Secret Stop!

10.35 – 11.00

Bakmie Ayam Kampung – Across Rooster Church

Truly nothing special with this stall, Its located in a busy street, and really, there are thousands of stalls like this in Jakarta. The place was clean, with modest chairs and tables, not so spacious though…but Im very curious about this secret stop number one!. Mbak Lisa who happened to be really nice and passionate about food, explained that we’re having bakmie ayam – kampung style. The noodle were homemade and they served mouth-watering swikiauw (similar to the common boiled pangsit) and other menu which are pork-based. Since I’m in a halal group, we can only eat the chicken swikiauw. First bite on the noodle : I believe that it was homemade, I just knew it, I have a radar for preservatives! The taste was okay, oily and a bit salty, and cooked in a prefect al-dente level. But I have to admit that the swikiauw was the stellar! It was just oh so tasty, fresh, with perfectly seasoned chicken wrap in a pangsit – made out of rice flower, with warm chicken broth (kaldu) and wow, there’ something crunchy inside of the swikiaw, its turnip (lobak)! It perfected the whole taste, adding texture and freshness and I want more!

11.05 – 11.20

Aneka Soto – Jembatan Metro Pasar Baru Blok CKS #13

Climbing up old-rusty disfunctioned escalator from the side of Jalan KH Samanhudi, I thought the second stop was still a long way to go. Surprisingly, just when we got to the bridge mouth, We found our second secret destination. Located in the corner, the food stall served Sop Buntut, Soto Daging (santan/coconut milk) and also sotomie.

Whlist still amazed by how USD could find these places. I spent no time to taste their delicacies. The sotomie was light, fresh and the fried meat were fatty, Yum!. The soto daging santan was perfect, the coconut milk soup wasn’t too thick, I saw them using magic car to heat it, and I think that’s brilliant, since the coconut milk won’t get thickened easily. The taste was slightly sweet but if you add sambal to it, the flavor orchestra would play great music in your mouth!. My favorite (entitled to get 4 thumbs up) would go to their Sop Buntut. It was perfect! Not to ‘herby’ yet you can still slightly taste the nutmeg, cinnamon, cengkeh, etc. Hands down for their use of real ox tails (a lot of them). The oxtails cooked perfectly, made it easy for you to chew! All and all, its better than any 5-star sop buntut elsewhere.

Sotomie available for IDR 14K, whlist Soto Daging Santan starts from IDR 16K – 18K, and the world-class Sop Buntut cost IDR. 30K. They also have a branch in Jalan Batu Tulis Raya.

11.25 – 12.00

Metro Atom Basement

From the bridge we moved underground and stopped at a Chinese herb stall. The shop owner was 83 years old couple, who made their own ‘arak’ (Chinese rice wine) from ‘angkak’ and ‘ketan hitam’. They’d been there forever and yet still managed to run the daily routine in that shop. I saw Mba Lisa drew two boxes filled with fried emping melinjo (gnetum gnemon crackers) there are two kinds, we were asked to taste both emping and guessed which has the best quality. The first emping was quite common, We all should’ve been familiar. But the second one, my tongue would express it as somewhat soft, it didn’t explode right away in your mouth, and there’s a deep-flavor and unique aroma of melinjo, burst-up my mouth. Lisa then asked which one we liked. Some said that the 1^st is better, but in my judgment the second one is definitely a killer. I was right : Lisa told us that the second emping was had to be the best quality emping made of roasted – not boiled – gnetum gnemon originated from Labuan, Serang (near Anyer beach) where they produce this export-quality crackers.

Fascinated by her broad understanding about food, Lisa then chatted with si Om the shop owner and took me in dazzled with their lectures about sop ayam obat (chicken soup made for recovering sick people), and some really new things I haven’t heard about Chinese herbs. No wonder the couple looked very healthy, they never buy medicine, they create their own from those Chinese herbs!

12.10 – 12.30

Soen Yoe Eatery

Filled with foods, and knowledge, we strolled along Pasar Baru lane to our last stop. All of a sudden Lisa turn right into a narrow alley ( I love surprises like this) and kept us in what I called “an exciting-curiousity”. We arrived in an eatery. They sell bakmie and other Chinese menu like nasi tim, cap cay, etc. But the reason we were there was for a drink called Es Lobi-lobi. I never had an Es Lobi-lobi before, and on this first attempt sipping this drink, I was speechless. Took a while to really ‘understand’ the sweet sour (and salty too) syrup filled with ice and a few sweetened lobi-lobi on the bottom of the glass. But as I try to figure out, the glass was nearly empty! Hahaa…It was addictive and soothing, totally fresh and its sourness is simply mind-blowing. It’s like when you’re not sure about something at the first place but ended up really liking it a lot (I don’t know if there’s any ‘term’ for that). Lobi-lobi (Flacourita inermi) is a sweet-sour fruit, well…strong sour flavor and just slightly sweet to be exact. Mostly grown in beach side in Jawa Barat area. People consume this as one of the member of rujak fruits or to reduce the sourness some processed it into lobi-lobi jam. Sincethe lobi-lobi in our drinks were sweetend, I’m curious about it real taste!.

12.30 – 15.30

Galeri Foto Antara for Ted X presentation

We headed to Galeri Foro Antara, and were still excited about what’s going to happen next!. Lisa told us that are going to watch a special presentation. Whilst waiting for the other group to come we got a package of crispy tofu-skin crackers, product of Sumedang. It was rich in taste and very crispy! As a souvenir, USD gave us a bag of Emping Melinjo from Labuan, Serang. I couldn’t wait ‘til I get home and bragged about this emping story to my Mom!!!

Ted X presentation

I had a loooot of new experiences, and got a looooot of knowledge as well, and Ted X was really the highlight of the day. Well for those of you who don’t what TED is please check www.ted.com ( pls go and check it right know, not that I’m lazy to explain what TED is, but you all should check it, and go amazed by it). Now that you know what TED is? TED X is an independently organized showing of TED’s presentation from people who have brilliant thing worth sharing. And for USD event, the Indonesia TED X team had prepared a presentation about foie gras. I tell you the conclusion : Some farmers are doing force-feeding to their geese so that the foie gras could pumped up 8^th times of its original size! But, there are a farmer in Spain name Eduardo, who practice sustainable farming, by simply letting his geese live happily, eat whatever they want, no force-feeding, in fact, everything went very natural. The result : the best foie gras in the world (according to the speaker)…The second video is about the miss-leading in education and truly about how education should support your passion, rather than being suffocated learning things you don’t like.

Never in my life, I went home smiling with how many things I’ve learned today. Things I really liked : foods and the presentation from TED X was absolutely opened-up my mind. There are way too many monotonousness and superficiality in our daily lives. There are many miss-leading and neglect ion. Its heart-warming that there are people behind USD (with TED X) that really helped us not to get lost at least in two things : Pasar Baru (since it’s a huge and confusing place) second, not get lost in what we want. They encouraged us to embrace and live up our passion, and leave the worn-out perspective that may against our passion!!!

I hope this writing is ‘edible’ to your brain!. If you have passion for foods, clubs like Underground Secret Dining is a perfect container to hold your passion. Where excitement is never-ending and curiosity is deliciously feed!

A Wedding Party that Rocks!

Just attended my dear friends since junior high( Opiq & Tania's) wedding on August 09th 2009, and it was awesome in many aspects, tell you why....
First, I was mesmerized by Opiq's proposal to Tania where he made a song, asking Tania to be his wife and then I was mesmerized again by their decision to use their own money for most of the expenses. I guess that is something unusual and rare to see lately, where many of us spoiled by our parents to celebrate wedding that sucked up hundred millions of rupiahs.
This 'brave' couple decided the wedding will take place at the bride's home with akad in the morning continued with the wedding party for families, and a dedicated wedding party at night for close friends. Invitation made only 250, split half-half for day and nite reception. The bride's are lucky to have a relative of famous catering, so they totally saved a lot for catering which in many case took the biggest portion of your wedding budget.
They've also decided not to take pre-wedding pictures which they think of as 'cheesy' and useless instead they made something really impressive with 'old pictures' of them.

I thought, this could be a great example of how middle-class Jakartans creatively created something impressive with a lot of adjustments to meet the budget, and turned out a.m.a.z.i.n.g. As urban-modern people we only need to be open-minded and put our personality to whatever party we're making. So that people would have certain memory and will last on their mind.
Luckily for the couple that their parents are really wanted to compromise between keeping up with the tradition and : go on, just do it what you youngsters are pleased to do!

So eventually, the result was a beautiful mix of culture, whereas the bride is true javanese from both sides and the broom's father originated from Betawi - and not to forget, they are a true urban couple who enjoys a simple modern life. During the Akad, most of the rituals are javanese with a splash of Betawi accentuation - when the broom came, we were cheered by the sound of cracking ala Betawi fireworks. The whole morning ritual was serene and touchy. Tania-the bride wore the same kebaya that her mom was wearing on her Akad 31years ago, Opik looked nervous, several times seemed wanted to shed tears. He was very human and his constantly wanting to cry showed that marriage is still a very 'seriouss' and 'holy' matter in one's life.
But the highlight of Akad ceremony was truly the 'tausiah' from our Headmaster - Prof DR Arief Rachman - of SMP & SMU Labschool where the couple actually spent their teenage years together. Prof Arief is well-known for his inspiring public speaking, and that morning, he successfully touched the bride & broom's heart and basically everyone in that room.

I went again to their night reception. The house looked more spacious as some tables were taken away. A beautifully-framed picture from the morning ceremony were placed at the door, off-course it showed the newly-wed wacky pose...I came with a group of their closest friends and found them by the pool. Tania wore a gorgeous evening gown, with classic 1950s make up and hairdo if I'm not mistaken, making this attorney looks like a hollywood's movie star back in the days, while Opik still wore Indonesian traditional 'tux', so different than his ala-Art-Director's -grungy-looking daily style, but again, it was a perfect blend! They looked matched!, it's the chemistry I guess.

We took tons of pictures, photographers are everywhere : the candid, the fish eye, and there were also disposable cameras where people were encouraged to help the couple gather even more pictures of their unforgettable night.

The food was great. The catering company, to me had done a great job. Again, it was a great budget cut too, luckt them!. They also got a good deal for : somehow they managed to get Endah & Rhesa, the new-comer acoustic band that stole Rolling Stone Indonesia's attention, to perform that night!!!

The unforgettable of all happened at around 8.30 pm, after a piano session, the couple gave out speech, expressing how thankful they were that we all could show-up and made their night, and theeen tarrraaaa : Opiq performed his proposal song!!! it was a bit jazzy-bozza tune, though his voice was not Sinatra we were all cheering for that romantic expression of love. However asking a girl to marry you thru a song is trully a killer way to make her say "yesss!!!" right?. After that little 'show' their friends from Junior High (yes, junior high) gave some surprise gift. It was a plate and caricature of them that really took their night way more unforgettable!

I have to confess that Ive never been into a such enjoyable wedding party. I had doubts at the beginning that it was going to be successful, since culturally we are not used to these kind of wedding parties. I have to admit that the wedded couple are very open-minded people, that had been through a lot of thinking to make this night memorable. They've really put their personality into that party without being superficial, they dont like pre-wed pictures but putting their old pictures from junior high and some scrap-book styled picture about when they were still dating, and it was a really quite stellar, people gathered to the table and giggled on the innocent faces of the couple's and their friends. Tania's mom wedding picture are mostly talked about since Mrs Susatyo was sooo similar to her daughter. Tell you what, most wedding like this, would end up with a DJ whoever dance session with a lot of alcohols involved, but since that's sooo not represent who these couple are, they decided to hunt down this electrifying accoustic band : Endah & Rhesa, and they did very very well!!!

As I congratulated the happily married couple before going home, I tweeted saying " this is a great wedding party", and people were actually saying the same thing as well on twitter. Until I went home, I was wtill impressed of how great they managed their party. The invitation was simple and not costly, the decoration is simple yet tasteful with fresh flowers in every right spots. The old pictures from junior high on the table, the band (oh mi god the baaaand!!!), and as I tried to figure out what else did this couple had given to impress us, I saw the wedding souvenir - its was a mini can of cookie, i thought it was Pringles inside but when I read the cover its actually made by Opiq's mom who is a cookie maker for celebrations and holiday parcels. I smiled as his being Art-Directorish seen from a text that said "Chemistry without Chemicals" a quote from Sondre Lerche. To me it was a perfect 'thank-you' token. Why? because they made the cookies themselves!. I have this 'thing' about giving something you made it by yourself to others. To me, it really showed how thankful they are - with all those baking and putting the cookies carefully one by one. I dont know if Im weird or something, but to me, giving something hand-made is way more memorable because you'll see there's a sincerity there, the willingness to do something to make other people happy....
I smiled and think how I can relate this story to our lives, until I figured that this is actually about : how 'love' can make a difference!!! Their love for both of them made them husband and wife, and their love of friends and family left beautiful marks, and their love of life has inspired us to make the best use of our life and enjoy it sincerely...

Congaratulations dear friends...
There maybe times when we would be busy, and dont have time to see each other, but the memories, oh God the memories...they will definitely remain in this tiny part of our brain cells that raised our lips and created a smile...

Thank you guys, have a nice life with kids and cats...
Love Ya!!!!

01082009399

Opening

these children : they save our valuable musical inheritance...

19072009023

19072009023