Tag Archives: Indonesia

Special Six: Flavours of Bali

During my first visit to Bali, these are the flavours of Bali that greeted me.

(1) Nasi Kuning at Wanaku Bali:

Straight from the airport, our group was taken to Wanaku Bali for lunch and served a variety of traditional Balinese dishes such as sayur urab, deep-fried eggplant with a spicy sauce.

(2) Ikan Bakar at Jimbaran:

Famed for its seafood, Jimbaran was the location of our first group dinner in Bali. We were served grilled seafood on the beach.

IMG_1784 (3) Sate Lilit and Ayam at Kurnia Village:

On our way back from Tanah Lot, we stopped at Kurnia Village restaurant for lunch. I had some delicious sate lilit there as well as the spicy sambal matah.

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(4) Nasi Campur with Tum Ayam

Tired from my day out the second day visiting Pura Lempuyang, I chose to order room service and ordered Nasi Campur. The food at the hotel was actually quite tasty.
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(5) Smoothie bowl at Paperboy:

While smoothie bowls are traditional Balinese cuisine, since this is served at almost all cafes and hotel restaurants for breakfast, and especially since I had the most delicious and refreshing bowl at Paperboy on my last morning in the city, I am including this as my special flavor of Bali.

IMG_4790 (6) Coffee at Expat:

If a country I visit is known for its coffee, I usually like to try out a couple of coffee shops. During my brief visit in Bali, I tried out four different places. My favourite of the four was Expat’s (Seminyak) coffee and I brought home some of their coffee.

IMG_4742Which are your favourite flavours of Bali?

Special Six: Highlights of Bali

During a long weekend in November, I decided to take an impromptu trip to Bali. While I had booked a tour package, I found there were areas that I wanted to visit which were not covered by the package so I opted out of the two full day tours included in the package and I find that while writing this post, that those two days on my own private tour seemed to be the highlight for me.

The special six highlights of my 5 day trip are as follows:

(1) Pura Luhur Uluwatu:

On the first evening of the trip, our group visited Uluwatu and its famous temple for the sunset view.

It was the first time that I had visited a Hindu temple, which didn’t seem to have a shrine. Our guide said that Hinduism in Bali was different from that practiced in India and other countries and that images were not used in temples. Considered to have been built a thousand years ago by a sage who attained ‘moksha’ at this site, this temple is one of the six holiest places for Balinese Hindus in Bali. The steps led to the sunset view point and there were crowds moving to the location of the locally famous ‘kecak’ dance venue.

The temple is located on a cliff overlooking the sea and is considered one of the best spots to view the sunset in Bali.

(2) Pura Lempuyang:

I decided to opt out of the trip included in the tour package on my second day and hired a private car (guide seemed to be included with the car) to take me to Pura Lempuyang, on the east coast of Bali. Another of the six holiest places for Balinese Hindus, the temple is considered one of the oldest Hindu temples in Bali. This temple actually has a series of temples along the mountain and the main temple/ shrine is at the top.

Having seen the famous mirror photo taken at the entrance to the first temple at sunrise, I set out around 3.30am for the east coast which would enable me to arrive by around 5.30am at the temple.

IMG_1814Deciding to get the photo taken first before the crowds arrived, I waited in the short queue forming by the photographer. Basically, you give your phone or camera to the photographer who places a mirror underneath the lens and clicks a series of photos and you provide a tip for taking the photo.

While I had planned to try making it to the top of the mountain to the seventh temple, getting to the first one had turned out to be a bit difficult for me because of the steep climb, so I decided that I would only visit the first temple. Having taken some offering, I was allowed into the temple.

There were little shrine like structures but again, there were no images. I was instructed to place my offering on one of the concrete slabs in the courtyard and light my incense sticks for prayers. My guide, Suryanta, later explained that images were not used in Bali temples and that there were three types of Hindu temples: family temples, which were located within one’s home, functional temples, which were associated with one’s livelihoods (e.g. farming) and ceremonial temples.

After some peaceful moments of reflection in the temple courtyard, I decided to take a final shot of the gateway and Mount Agung from the top of the staircase of the first temple.

IMG_1959(3) Tirta Gangga: Suryanta, my guide, highly recommended us stopping at a water palace built in 1948 by the Raja of Karangasem. Since we were passing it on our way back from Pura Lempuyang, I agreed. It is now open to the public and apparently popular with families with children.

(4) Rice terraces of Bali:

Having seen beautiful photos of the Tegallalang rice terraces, I had asked Suryanta take me there as well but he basically stopped at one of the rice terraces we passed and said that the rice terraces look the same everywhere and that it was not necessary to go another hour or two out of the way simply to see the same rice terrace. Seemed like a fair point and since the rice terraces was not one of my priorities, I agreed with the alternative offered of going directly to the Bali Swings instead.

(5) Tanah Lot: This temple is part of the sea temples along the coast of Bali. One of the myths around the temple’s origin is around a powerful Hindu sage who had arrived in this area centuries ago and had caused the local priest to become jealous and retaliate against the sage. The sage then supposedly chose to separate a piece of land from the land and guarded it with snakes. This is one of the stories behind Tanah Lot.

Whatever it’s true story, it is today a pilgrimage point for many Balinese Hindus and there were many families there to pray and to obtain the water blessing.
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(6) Cooking Lesson: On the day the group went to Nusa Penida, I opted out to again set off on my private adventure – this time to try a Balinese cooking class I booked through cookly.com.

Wayan, that was how the instructress at Taste of Bali introduced herself, first showed me how to make an offering for their family temple. Had I not learnt the previous day from Suriyanto, about how naming in Balinese culture worked, I would have assumed that Wayan was her name. Suryanta had explained that Hindu families in Bali gave their children two names. The first would indicate the order of birth and the second, their actual name. Wayan indicates the eldest born, Made the second, Nyoman, third and Ketut the fourth. And if there were more children in the family, this cycle would be repeated. Thus I understood my cooking instructress was the eldest born in her family.

After making the offering for the temple, she showed me how to weave rice baskets in which to cook rice.

After we had put the rice to cook, she showed me how to cook several dishes starting from making the base sauces ( a red and yellow one).

Bali was quite the relaxing holiday destination, and I would certainly consider revisiting. Next time though, I would definitely book my own accommodation and trips as it is more fun that way rather than with a package tour.

What about you? Are you more of an independent traveler or prefer package tours?

 

 

 

 

 

Special Six: Overnight in Puncak

My friend, who was meeting up with me in Jakarta for the weekend, wanted to head out of the city on an overnight trip. I was not keen to travel far so suggested Puncak or Bandung. We settled on Puncak, after seeing the paragliding activities on offer.

These are our special six experiences in Puncak:

(1) Insane traffic from Jakarta to Puncak and back

Even though we read about complaints regarding the terrible traffic on the road to Puncak, during weekends, we decided to head there thinking that an hour added couldn’t matter much. We couldn’t have been more wrong.

Jakarta to Puncak 3.JPGAfter an hour or so, on our drive from Jakarta to Puncak, our car stopped due to traffic just after we passed a toll booth. Stretching ahead was this long queue of vehicles that seemed to go all the way to Puncak.  Since the traffic did not seem to be moving, the driver checked with the traffic police who  said that the road to Puncak was closed for 5 hours, as the highway had been made one way in the opposite direction. We decided then to turn around, as we were fortunate that we were just near an exit point, and decided to go to Bogor, which was close by and explore the place before continuing our journey on to Puncak in the afternoon. Once we reached Bogor, the driver said he could drive us straight to Puncak but through interior routes that would take a longer time. We were fine with it as anything would beat waiting in traffic for 5 hours.

I am not sure that I see the logic in making a highway one way for that many hours, especially on a weekend, when the traffic is heavy in the direction of Puncak from Jakarta. Anyway, our drive through Bogor and the interior roads took us through little settlements and villages, which was a much better view than the highway route. I was intrigued by the impromptu traffic policing by local residents, through the areas we passed through. There would be community members at key junctions, turn off points, pointing out the direction to turn and in some areas, there were even road blocks set up and which would be lifted only when the driver gave a few coins to one of the people by the block. In one way, it was a bit of a community service since people would otherwise get lost in the maze of the settlements and it would take time to keep inquiring about the direction each time. This was a streamlined approach, which generated a little income (around 1000 – 2000 IDR, roughly USD 0.07 – 0.15 per vehicle that passed through) for the people doing this voluntarily.

We reached our hotel in Puncak around noon, well before the time that the traffic block would have been lifted.

(2) Staying at Puncak Pass Resort

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After checking in and walking around the resort a little to check out the place and its views, we decided to have some lunch at the restaurant.

The rooms were comfortable, with great views of the valley.

(3) Yellow and pink mini vans – the local public transport

After finding out that the local public transport was the yellow and pink mini vans, we decided to use that, whenever we needed to get anywhere in Puncak. In the beginning, it was difficult to flag down a van and there were no prescribed stops. I told Aiying that we needed to confidently stop the vehicle, like some of the locals I had seen. Which meant, basically stepping on to the road bravely and holding out your hand firmly instead of hesitantly. It became a running joke between us whether we were being confident enough to stop a van.

Once, the hotel staff helped us flag down a white van, which they said was also public transport. It was more packed than the yellow mini vans. And, I had to sit with two other passengers in the front seat and wondering if the door might open during one of the turns along the hill road.

(4) Walking around Gunung Mas Tea Plantation 

We reached Gunung Mas, without any event, and walked down the road to the ticket booth and paid the entrance ticket of IDR 15,500 per person. There was a tea center just after the ticket booth, but there was hardly anyone there. There were some people seated outside, asking us if we wanted to take a motorbike to tour the plantation or a horse ride. We rejected both and walked along the road towards the tea factory and office. We passed little cottages, that one could probably book if they wanted to stay at the plantations.

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At the office, when we asked about any recommended walking paths, they gave us a map for a 4 km and a 9km walk. They also said that it would be better if we came in the morning, as the walking guides would be there. We decided to go ahead and go along the path, till we got tired. It was a bit of a warm afternoon and we were quite thirsty so decided to have some iced tea at the little café, infront of the office, before continuing our walk. I tried out the lychee iced tea, which was a bit too sweet for me.

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After the tea, we continued along the route marked in the map and passed through a tiny street of colourfully painted houses. We stopped to chat with one of the women, who was painting her house. We were only able to gather from the brief conversation that she was painting a batik motif on her house walls.

GM20.JPGI wanted to know whether they worked in the tea plantations, plucking tea, or whether they were more senior staff at the plantation. Since I only remembered a few words of Bahasa Indonesia, a language I was fluent in when I was a child, and the people we spoke to didn’t understand English, I wasn’t able to learn more about this.

GM17.JPGAfter walking down to the end of the street, and not seeing a path to continue, we realized we might have taken the wrong turn along the walk, and turned back.

(5) Offroad adventure at Gunung Mas:

We saw a four wheel drive with an adventure board pass us, and we stopped it to ask the driver about the offroad adventure. He took us to the starting point of the tour, so that we could discuss with the people in charge. They quoted an inflated amount of around 300,000 rupiah per person. We tried to bargain it down to 300,000 rupiah for two persons, instead of one. They refused and we walked back to the office to check out any tours they organized. They had a banner at the front, advertising offroad tours, camping and paragliding activities, and when we asked about the cost of the offroad tour, the senior person at the office replied 100,000 rupiah per person. We asked to take the tour and they said they would drop us off at the starting point of the tour. We found ourselves being brought back to the people, who had quoted 300,000 rupiah per person. They tried to fudge it off, saying that it was the ATV tour that was 100,000 and not the offroad tour. However, the senior officer from the office was put on the phone and after his conversation, they agreed to take us on the offroad tour at 300,000 rupiah for two persons.  GM14.JPGGM12.JPGGM8.JPGGM4.JPG

The offroad tour was the best part of the visit to the tea plantation. And, it was a lovely way of seeing the tea plantation, especially when standing at the top.

(6) View point at the paragliding site (and paragliding, if you are lucky)

The next morning, I woke up to see darkening skies outside and I realized that we might not be able to go paragliding on this visit.

View from hotel 2.JPGWe decided to go for breakfast and then see whether or not the weather would improve, by the time we finished.

Ahila and Aiying 2.JPGSince the skies had cleared by the time we finished breakfast, we decided to go to the paragliding site.  Aiying had also checked with the operator and he had replied that we should contact his colleague, once we arrived at the site.

Taking the yellow van, we went to the site. Once we climbed up the hill, we saw that there were others there taking in the view and photos.

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The view of Puncak, from the top of the hill, was worth the climb up. We were however disappointed when told that there would be no paragliding activity that day and there had been none for the past three days, since the wind was too strong. Aiying was upset because the activity operator had not mentioned this, as we probably would not have even visited Puncak if we had been told that there had been no paragliding activity for some days and the likelihood that the situation would be the same during that weekend.

Anyway, overall, I had a lovely time in Puncak, experiencing these special six with a friend.

 

Special Six: Taste of Indonesia

During my brief weekend visit to Jakarta and Puncak in November, I tried out a lot of delicious Indonesian food. Here are some of the six special treats I enjoyed, which I would recommend to anyone visiting the city.

(1) Martabak Manis

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There was a Martabak Boss outlet, just across the hotel I stayed at in Jakarta, and my first evening, I went there for a snack. From the variety of martabak manis available, I chose the Original Martak boss, with chocolate, peanuts and cheese. As I mentioned eating in and not take out, I expected to be served a slice of the steamed cake. However, this huge platter was what I was served. The slice I tried out at the outlet was delicious and warm. The rest of the cake, I had it packed and my friend and I tried to finish some of it, during the rest of our trip.

(2) Bubur Ayam

A quintessential breakfast porridge in Indonesia, this is a rice porridge cooked in chicken broth and served with strips of chicken, peanuts and other delicious topping. I enjoyed both times I had this for breakfast during my visit.

(3) Mie Rebus

I tried this noodle dish in Puncak and it touched the spot on a cool afternoon. The noodles is served in a gravy like broth, and topped with greens and crispy shallot.

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(4) Bakmi Special

Having lived in Jakarta during my childhood years, soup noodles was a key part of our food habits. I tried to find a noodle soup that came close to the taste I used to love in my childhood and came across a close fit at Bakmi GM, with their Bakmi chicken special and hot chilli sauce.

Bakmi(5) Nasi Goreng

This was another childhood favourite food of mine. However, I didn’t quite come across the taste I used to enjoy back then, though I tried at a few places. Though it was good, it always seemed to lack something… sometimes, it was because it was less spicy and sometime, it was because something seemed to be missing in the combination.

Nasi Goreng 2.JPG(6) A Padang feast

When my Indonesian friend, Dewi, invited me out for dinner and said she would take me out to try some delicious Indonesian cuisine, I didn’t expect to be overwhelmed with a feast. At the restaurant which served Padang cuisine, as soon as we sat down, the staff brought out an array of around 20 dishes and a bowl of rice. Dewi explained that while we were served the entire array of dishes cooked that evening, we could pick and choose the dishes we wanted to eat. I decided to follow her choice and ended up trying out pop chicken, petai beans (stinky beans) with chilli, cassava leaves and tender jackfruit curry.

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And, of course, I had cups of great Indonesian coffee throughout my stay.

What’s your favourite Indonesian food?

Oregon Girl Around the World

Jakarta – revisiting my childhood places

Indonesia was the first country I visited, outside of Sri Lanka, and it was at the age of four. So, with all the new sights and tastes that my four year old self absorbed with delight, and continued to absorb for the next four years that we were there, I have such nostalgic memories of Jakarta.

It was where I started kindergarten.

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It was where I moved on proudly to Grade I, delighted that I was joining my siblings at the school proper.

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It was also the time that I discovered that I loved to dance and enjoyed music. While I didn’t pursue either beyond my childhood, it meant a lot to me then.10I remember this particular dance that I participated in, not only because I have a photo to remind me of the instance, but because it was something that I pleaded so much to be a part of, and I don’t think I have ever pleaded for anything that much ever since. It was some international children’s cultural event, hosted by Indonesian authorities, and the embassies had been invited to participate with a cultural performance from their countries. I remember that the embassy had requested a Kandyan dance troupe, visiting Indonesia at that time, to train a group of Sri Lankan children (ages 10 – 15 years) for a traditional dance performance. Unfortunately, I wasn’t within the selected age group but I wanted to be so much a part of it, that I kept making my requests so much so that my mother and the other mothers, who were organizing the dance and costumes gave in (probably because I was being too much of a pain) and created a special and independent role for me in the group dance, that would allow me to dance while not disturbing the group dance dynamics of the older children.

2This photo was at the opening ceremony of the event, where all the children from all the countries were on stage and then we had to give the flowers to the people seated in the front rows. As much as I loved being a part of the dance group, this basically was my first and last major public dance performance.

When I finally left Jakarta after completing Grade III, I promised myself that I would one day return to the country of my childhood.

9However, decades passed and I was not able to make the trip back. Until last weekend. It was an impromptu visit, prompted by three factors – a friend who had been inviting me to go on a trip with her, the direct flights introduced by Sri Lankan Airlines to Jakarta and the convenience of free entry visa on arrival.

While my main interest was in revisiting places of my childhood to see if there still remained some semblance to the past, I also wanted to spend some time with my friends. So, I chose to do the visits to childhood haunts on my own.

Hiring the reliable Blue Bird taxi on two separate occasions, I had a lovely drive and fortunately, on both these occasions, I escaped the traffic that Jakarta is now so famous for.

Jalan Cik Ditiro, the road where we lived, still existed though it seemed more tree lined than it was before. Also, the houses all seemed to have put up high walls and security systems, as opposed to the low walls of the 80s. I did locate the number of our house and did ring the bell, hoping that it was the same owners. Lia, the daughter of our former landlady, was a friend of mine and I remember my first pet was actually Lia’s pet – Derry, a cute puppy, which she was generous enough to share with me. No-one answered the bell and I decided to go on to my next place.

Cik Ditiro 1I next went to my first school, Gandhi Memorial International School. I learnt that the main school had shifted to a new location but that the primary school was still at its old location at Pasar Baru. After asking for permission, I was allowed to visit the auditorium and different floors, but not the classrooms as there was an examination going on.

The auditorium looked the same, except that the writings on the wall had been removed as had the fans. It was also nice to see my Grade III classroom.

Corridor Grade 3.jpgOne of my memories of my primary school are the special days that the school celebrated: Gandhi Jayanthi (October 2), Children’s Day (November 14) and Teacher’s Day. Especially teacher’s day used to be interesting with the senior students taking over teacher’s roles and coming to our classes to take lessons.

After the visit to GMIS, I went over to the Sri Lankan embassy. There too, despite the embassy being at the same premises, the immediate change observed was the high walls and the huge security gates.

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The interior looked similar, with the little grass lawn with the flag, where the independence day ceremonies used to be held. The main hall, where the gatherings used to be held, had been decorated differently but the same oil lamp still took center stage in the hall.

In the evening, I went for a drive around the city, and especially asked to drive by Monas, the national monument which had a park, where we used to go in the evenings during weekends.

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As it was raining, I decided not to go into the park area without an umbrella. Since several people, including the taxi driver, suggested I should visit the old part of the city – Kota Tua, and I did not remember ever having visited it in my childhood, I decided to go there as well. On the evening I visited, there had been some concert or public gathering that had just finished in the old square, so there was still quite a crowd. I didn’t linger there but I could imagine it being a lovely square to explore in the morning, without the crowds.

Kota Tua 2.JPGBesides these few places that made up a large part of my childhood memories, Jakarta in 2017 has changed a lot from the 80s. Now, a bustling city with highways packed with private vehicles, high rise buildings and shopping malls crowding out the city, it is no more the city that I remember and recognize but it was still lovely to revisit and see the changes that have been wrought there. And, remembering my childhood and the child I was back then.