One of the great finds FY2010 would be Dancing Fish, located in Bangsar Shopping Center. Dancing Fish Malay-Indo Restaurant is a place that serves Indonesian food from Bali, Java and other parts of Indonesia. The food here is prepared very well and tastes delicious. Dancing fish comes highly recommended if you want to partake of excellent Indonesian cuisine, with simple yet well crafted desserts to boot. Honestly, it does not get any better than this. Of all the dishes that really intrigued me and had me bowled over was a simple vegetable dish, called the gulai pucuk paku. I mean, I have eaten this fern like green vegetable many, many times in the past but the one here at Dancing Fish is just the most wonderfully prepared one I have ever encountered. I am talking about a fragrant mound of stir-fried green baby fern leave tendrils, soaked in a rich coconut base sauce and shredded coconut, flecked with crunchy bits of tiny fried onions. The best thing about this pucuk paku is that there wasn’t any old and fibrous stems used. It was all, baby ferns. The texture can only be described as delicate yet crunchy. If you ever eat at Dancing Fish Malay-Indo Restaurant, be sure to have the Gulai pucuk paku.

Gulai Pucuk – RM9.90

Left – Emping Sambal RM9.00; Right – Spicy Mango Lime RM11.00

Tahu Telur – RM11.90

Terong Sambal – RM9.90

Rice rice RICE!

The rice was so good even I had to have some. The other interesting dish of course was the  “Dancing Fish” i.e. the Kedongdong. The way the fish is flayed and fried makes the fish really “come alive” and reminds me of a flying fish (minus the wings), that is in mid flight out of the water. Very artistic stuff. Not only that, it tastes good too.

Dancing Fish a.k.a. Kedongdong – RM39.90

Bebek Bali (duck) – RM43.90 for a whole duck

Being a big fan of the duck, this next dish here, called the Bebek Bali knocked my socks off. The entire duck is fried so well that the flesh retains its succulence whilst the other layer is browned to a crisp, and you can even eat the smaller bones in certain parts because they have the texture of ‘keropok’!

Cumi cumi (not my husband but the squid!) – RM15.90

Another hot favourite of mine is the squid. I have to say that the way Dancing Fish marinades it is even better than the ones I have eaten in Indonesia. Whatever spices they use here would be a trade secret worth guarding.

Cendol (Durian Gelato) – RM9.50

Even-though I seldom eat durian, this cendol with a huge dollop of durian gelato is a must have. So creamy and smooth it almost made me a believer. Almost!

Lemongrass jelly with mango dessert on the side was the best dessert for me. The smoothest creamiest mango in a crispy shell, eaten with tiny exploding beads of asam flavoured pearls in a cool lemongrass jelly. So refreshing it makes you want to start eating all over again.

Lemongrass jelly – RM8.50

We have no complaints about the food at Dancing Fish. One should endeavor to try everything!

Dance lil Fish, dance..

Christmas is a time for sharing and caring..

and monkeying around.. and ,

presents… ,

and pigging out !

Gazing up from the bottom of the steep hill, one cannot help but feel as though one has entered an exclusive haven reminiscent of a traditional kampung or village. Green plants and blossoming flowers, basking in the lushness of nature.. this place is a sanctuary from the bustle of daily life.

As we walk up towards the rustic chalets, we sense the unspoken invitation to enjoy the simple and laid-back atmosphere of a kampung way of life. Here you’ll feel relaxed and completely at ease.  The wood carvings, the attap roofs and the signage that says Nada Lama Jamu and spa, indicate to us, that we have arrived at the right destination.

Nada Lama serves simple kampung food in both Indonesian as well as Thai styles of cooking, but it is the spa that really peaked our curiosity. We had heard that the Traditional Indonesian Massage, Pijak (by stepping and using the feet to massage) would cost RM90 for 60 minutes and the Ayurveda Yoga Thai Massage was priced at a mere RM60 for a 120 minute session. Wow, pretty worthwhile we thought.

Unfortunately there was a wait that day for the massage, and as we were in a hurry, we decided to try the food but go back on a later date for the very enticing spa massages.

Here’s Cumi talking to the manager of the place.

Cumi & Ciki try Jamu!

What is this foul smelling, thick, pungent, yellow liquid you ask? Well, let us introduce you to the Jamu.
The practice of making and drinking Jamu, dates back to the time of the Buddhist empire that built Borobodur, and its association with the royal family. These people drank it as a tonic. Till today, Indonesians still cling to their belief in jamu’s transformative powers. Jamu makers often are elderly women  - Ibu being an honorary title meaning mother, and jamu recipes vary from seller to seller. Most are highly guarded family secrets passed down over generations. The manager tell us with a sly smile on his face that this tonic covers nearly every infliction imaginable, from easing labor to increasing strength to treating coughs and fevers and protecting children from disease. He grins at Cumi and tells him, “there is one to make Boys strong too”! Cumi says, OK, let’s try it!

A few of the most common herbs in Jamu and their uses:

Turmeric = for detoxifying, to curb snoring, to ease menstrual cramping and reduce body odor.
Galangal = for seasickness and sore throat. Singers often drink concoctions with this root to keep their vocal cords performing at top notch.
Ginger = for detoxifying, morning sickness and to warm the body, improve circulation.
Lemongrass = for alertness, to stop gum bleeding and repel mosquitoes.
Tamarind = for constipation and to improve skin softness.
Sulfur = for rashes and itchy skin. Also used frequently in beauty products.

And, an egg! Sometimes they add a raw egg in for good measure. This is the one that Cumi had. Totally grossed me out!

How they make the Jamu is by pounding up the ingredients with a pestle and mortar, till what you have before you are bowls of herbal pulp, pots of elixirs and various smaller cups for mixing. Then after mixing the pulp in a brownish liquid  you should squeeze out the juice over a strainer. The result is a bitter-tasting tonic.. Voila! you have Jamu- the traditional herbal medicine venerated by Indonesians of all ages for its power to heal ailments or enhance one’s beauty, strength or stamina! Apparently people say,  “It can grow a mustache on you,”  and I totally believe it. It’s hard not to wince every-time I take a sip. I just knocked mine back in one swift gulp and chased it with cold water.

Relaxing atmosphere at Nada Lama

Even further up the steep slope from Nada Lama, are the newer, more modern Malay houses. This area is truly gorgeous. With so much green foliage and lush flowers, it is hard not to fall in love with this place..

After our quick excursion, we go back to Nada Lama for lunch

Gado-gado

Gado-gado or also called Lotek (Sundanese and Javanese language) is an Indonesian dish comprising a vegetable salad served with a peanut sauce dressing. The one served at Nada Lama was light and refreshing, bordering on bland, but in a good way. The sauce was not too sweet nor salty and all you can taste is the rawness of the vegetables. I liked the Gado-gado this way. Cumi found it tasteless.

Homemade peanut sauce. Low in sodium and sugar – we found this a refreshing change from the norm.

And somewhere in the background, a cat watches..

Chili powder

A generous squeeze of lime brings out the heat in the chili

Thai Fried Noodles, at only RM8

Lots of nuts, cilantro, bean sprouts, vegetables and tomatoes. This dish lacked wok-hei but again was a non-greasy, healthier version of the pad thai. They were really generous with the nuts. This felt more like eating a bowl of health-spa noodles than a wok fried pad thai. Light on taste and flavour. We ate ours with the lime-chili powder as it was a bit tasteless to us.

Soto Noodle Soup at RM6 per bowl

This was served as a bowl of yellow noodles, coconut, tumeric soup, diced chicken breast meat. Again, the bowl of Soto was light tasting but full of vegetables and succulent chicken. I think us city folk will find it too bland, but for RM6 I really could not complain.

All in all,  this is not a place I will go out of my way to eat at, but I will definitely be back for the spa.. oh, and more Jamu;)

Today we leave for Yogyakarta, and hopefully in about a day, I will finally get to see the magnificent Borobudur. Yogyakarta is one of the foremost cultural centers of Java. This region is located at the foot of the active Merapi volcano, Yogyakarta was in the 16th and 17th centuries the seat of the mighty Javanese empire of Mataram from which present day Yogyakarta has inherited the best of its traditions. After having landed in Jakarta, and making our way through Bandung to Pangandaran, this was Day 4 and we were pretty psyched to get to a new destination.

photo from www.indonesia-tourism.com

Going by train to Yogyakarta meant that we could 1. stretch our legs whenever we wanted too and walk around, 2. we could appreciate the changing landscapes and scenery of Java from West to East of the Island and 3. we did not need to worry about the legendary traffic jams entering towns by road. Since we were coming from the Pangandaran direction, we would take the train from the Sidareja Station (south west of Java), known as the Lodaya. The fare was Rp 140 000/person and was rather luxurious with air-conditioning, ample leg room and reclining seats.

Stasiun Sidareja (SDR) is the main train terminal in  Cilacap, that links you to Yogyakarta in Central Java. It is one of the most southern located stations in Java Island.

The Lodaya

Our ticket for Rp140 000/person

The Lodaya train, executive class is pretty comfortable with ample leg room and reclining seats.

We met a nun on the train. She turned out to be a lovely lady and chatted with us about her only niece whom she was on the way to meet in Yogyakarta.

Outside, from inside.

Yogyakarta Train Station – White and Red and totally grand!

Yogyakarta! This province is one of the most densely populated areas of Indonesia. The city came into being in 1755, after the Mataram division into the Sultanates of Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo). This place is famous for their Gamelan, classical and contemporary Javanese dances, the wayang kulit (leather puppet) as well as traditional theater and other expressions of traditional art.  On almost every corner you will see craftsmen selling batiks, silver and leather works. Both traditional as well as contemporary art has flourished in Yogya’s culture oriented society, the most famous Indonesian impressionist being the late Affandi.

We arrived in Yogyakarta at 5 p.m. By the time we checked into our hotel, freshened up, and whipped out our Lonely planet to plan for our itinerary for the next day’s visit to  Borobudur, the sun had set and it was time to go out for dinner.

Street vendors in full swing.

If you do not have a sweet tooth, like me, beware. Yogyakarta cuisine is known to be extremely sweet, as we found out first hand over the next two days. That night we went in search of some good street food to fill our stomachs. We found that not unlike Bandung, Yogyakarta was peppered with hundreds of stalls selling inexpensive food. They are located throughout the city, though the food stalls mostly set up after dark and only serve local snacks and food. Also, food stalls at major spots in the city stay open until the early morning. Some are more delicious than others and you really need to explore for yourselves.

Lesehan dining – sitting on bamboo mats and eating off short legged tables.

If you are in Yogya, the one thing you must try is the Gudeg (pronounced Goo-dirk). Gudeg is a concoction of young jack-fruit, coconut milk and other local condiments such as garlic and coriander. The color is reddish brown, as the result of the jack-fruit, coconut water, and palm sugar, being boiled for several hours. Some people are said to add some young teak wood foliages into the jack-fruit pot in its early cooking stage, to attain that nice rich brown colour.

Maliboro Street is the most happening street in Yogyakarta in terms of shopping as  well as for food.  As you walk along this rather long, straight street, you will see many gudeg outlets  that have their diners sitting on the floor. This is called lesehan dining. The eateries are small, outdoor stalls, on the sidewalk. Vendors load their clay pots and jugs on a three-wheeled pedicab or horse chariots called andong and started to set up their place around 7 p. m. and this goes on till the wee hours of the morning. You’ve got to sit on a bamboo mat and have your meal in front of you on a short table.

Welcome to Gudeg Dining, say the sign!

The Gudeg Paradise

We were really lucky. Because of a wonderful tip from Ebee (of Friedchillies) we managed to find this other hidden area that specialized in the famed Gudeg. It was located just past a huge white gate/entrance and lo and behold! a hundred stalls to choose from, or so!

Gudeg comes with a massive array of accompanying side dishes which include fried chicken, chicken curry with rich coconut milk sauce called ‘santan areh’, hot ‘krecek’ (beef skin) curry, tofu, tempe, and chili sauce.

Gudeg is usually served on a clay plate, on top of a sheet of banana leaf. Sometimes the vendor just folds the banana leaf, and using a palm leaf rib, he forms a connical structure known as a ‘pincuk’. Many people prefer to eat their gudeg in a ‘pincuk’ because banana leaf produces an appetizing aroma when the hot temperature from the cooking reacts with it. The ‘pincuk’ is big enough to hold a portion of rice, gudeg and its tasty accessories. A number of options are prepared on the table, for instance, fried chicken, chicken curry with rich coconut milk sauce called ‘santan areh’, hot ‘krecek’ (beef skin) curry, tofu, tempe, and chili sauce. The gudeg itself is processed in a big clay pot. In the traditional method  of cooking, the gudeg is stirred with a wooden stick. Materials such as aluminum, should not be used as they might contaminate the flavour of the dish.

The restaurant we picked was really cool. Check out the Verite speakers the restaurant owned. Very cutting edge sound system !

Walking around the Alun- Alun grounds.

After dinner, we continued walking until the Alun-Alun (town square). Yogya’s Alun-alun is divided into 2 parts the North and the South, the more popular one being the South. Basically it’s a huge open grassy area  with lots of street food vedors selling their ware, and a lot of youngsters just milling around and enjoying the food, each other’s company and the night breeze.

The North Alun-Alun (alun-alun utara) is actually the Sultan’s Grounds. It is the venue for the quarterly parade known as Garebeg. I was told by a local whom we met that in this parade, the Sultan’s servants offer up prayers and offerings during the Garebeg and after the parade, the people watching the parade scramble to get a scrap of this offering, as it is believed to bring good luck!

Bottom left of collage – lady selling the infamous Satay. Top left of collage – lady selling chicken feet and neck.

This was one funny encounter that Cumi had with the Satay (charcoal grilled skewered meats) in Yogya. When he asked the lady, what satay is was, she said “chicken”. He bought half a dozen and proceeded to eat them. Little did he realize (until it was too late) that it was Chicken skin and other internal unmentionables of the bird! Poor Cumi. That was the last time he ate Satay, that entire time in Yogya. However, we did find a great place for Satay on the way back, in Bandung – stay tuned!

This was an exceptionally good experience we had with the “Fresh Milk” Stalls. These concoctions are incredible. The fresh, warm cow’s milk can be served with ginger, or a raw egg, or honey (called STMJ – susu, telur, madu, jahe) or even Tongkat Ali . And for an extra strong brew, All of the Above! I do not like milk but Cumi had this almost every other night we were in Java. He said it was fantastic.

‘Yogya chicken’ the equivalent to Marrybrown or Chicken Rice Shop in Malaysia

Another gem we found near the Alun-Alun, but hidden from the eye, as you need to walk down a narrow lane, was this Shiatsu Massage place. Totally professional and clean, they did an amazing shiatsu massage. The petite masseuses kneaded our tired muscles with strong hands and even ‘stepped all over us’ hitting many of the right pressure points.  It only cost us something like RM30 for 1 hour (Less than USD 10). Amazingly relaxing. Notice the sign that says ‘No Sex’. If you are worried about the place being sleazy, that sign is suppose to tell you otherwise!

Next up, Borobudur!

Books on Yogyakarta:

Essential Backpacking equipment:

Heading southeast from Bandung, the road passes through rolling hills and scenic volcanic peaks – this is the Bandung Yogyakarta road as far as Banjar. If you go via road taking the bus for example, it will only drop you so far as Ciamis or Banjar. That is why taking the 4848 is actually the best bet as it brings you straight to Pangandaran Beach. The 4848 left Bandung at 5.00pm finally arrived at Pangandaran at 11.00pm at night (2 hours over the stated travel duration with the multiple stops for passengers and dinner) and we arrived in darkness once again. We were fortunate to have the whole rear seating in the van 90% of the way until a family of 8 hopped on.

map from www.indonesia-tourism.com

A Rp2500 admission charge is levied at the entrance of Pangandaran ( the Lonely Planet states Rp3500, but it has since been reduced). The good thing about the town of Pangandaran is that there a many hotels along the beach front and you can take your pick by just walking along the strip. We found the hotels here lovely – clean, modern and affordable at approximately Rp250,000 per night. There are also many losmens/guesthouses to pick from, which have varying degrees of comfort vs price but it was late, drizzling and we thought of treating ourselves to a nicer place after the long ride. 2-3star accommodations here  are far better than similar accommodations in Bandung.

Pangandaran is a small coastal town and a sub district in southern Ciamis regency, West Java, Indonesia. It is a popular tourist destination by locals and the dutch travelers. It is considered to have one of the  nicest beaches in Java, with great surfing opportunities due to strong winds and good waves. We found that  if one were to compare, the beaches in Thailand are more beautiful to look at, because of the white sand. Beaches not only come in all shapes, sizes, and textures, they come in a virtual rainbow of colors. Most beach fans know that sand color can range from pale cream to golden to caramel, but few realize that in select places around the world, sands can be red, brown, pink, orange, gold, purple, green, and even black! Well, it suffices to say that the volcanic brown black sand at Pangandaran though not as pretty as the bleached white ones, was fine and soft to the touch. Walking along the beach, we did not pick up any unappetizing smells so we concluded that the beach was generally pretty clean.

Further down the beach is a 3km peninsula that is the Penanjung Pangandaran Nature Reserve. About eighty percent of the nature reserve is secondary rain-forest. For Rp100,000 (for groups of four) – for a 2 hour walk or Rp200,000 for a 5 hour walk, there are jungle treks, waterfall, caves, wildlife (porcupine, bats, wild buffalo, barking deer and monkeys) and flora (mangroves, hardwoord trees and if lucky, there is the rafflesia) to spot. You can hire a guide or walk on your own. On the beach, friendly touts will approach to sell you boat tours around the nature reserve and treks to waterfalls and may be some snorkeling.

Other attractions here include Batu Karas which is a little Village 1 hour away from Pangandaran. It’s famous for Surfing. This small fishing village 32km from Pangandaran is one of the most relaxed places to kick back in Java and has one of the coast’s best surf beaches, sheltered by a rocky promontory. Most surfers stay in accommodations found 1km beyond the fishing village at the headland beach. Surfboards can be rented for Rp35,000 – Rp50,000 per day and lessons are available at Rp80,000 per day. Then there is Batu Hiu, a place between Pangandaran and Batu Karas. It is 23km away from Pangandaran and has a recreational park atop the cliffs with views along the coast. Batu Hiu translates to Shark Rock and obviously it’s a shark shaped rock. Green Canyon is possibly the biggest attraction in these parts. A river cruise  can be arranged on the emerald river to view limestone outcrops laden with trees, vines and waterfalls to visit.  Boats cost Rp 75,000 for a maximum of five people and operate daily from 7.30am to 4pm. Once you get to the most beautiful part of the canyon you can stop to swim, or go for cave visits and  there are many fine moments for taking  ‘postcard pictures’. However, boatmen work on a schedule of just 45 minutes, so that only gives you about 15 minutes to swim and explore! If you want to stay longer they will ask you to pay extra. I read somewhere you could jump into the river from a waterfall.

We didn’t get to do any of the above. Why? because it started raining after lunch and continued till evening every evening! So much for renting a scooter! We only managed to get 10km out of Pengandaran before we  had to seek shelter at a internet cafe/car repair depot.  Since we needed to cover a lot of ground getting to Yogyakarta the next day, this ended our adventurous opportunity to explore the outskirts of Pengandaran.

On a grimmer note, a tsunami hit the area on the 17 July 2006. An undersea earthquake measured at 7.7 on the Richter scale triggered a three metre high tidal wave. Extensive damage was caused and hundreds were killed including a small number of foreign tourists. After the Tsunami’s reconstruction however,  Pangandaran Beach now  has many upgraded and modernized hotels and looks better than ever. Pangandaran is of course a fishing village and is famous for its seafood.  Early in the morning we saw a lot of the fishermen in action, and we also got to sample their catch of the day,  by having dinner at one of the BBQ seafood restaurants and it was pretty good. There are also many cheap local stalls for Indonesian food along the beach.

Pangandaran beach already bustling with activity early in the morning.

Amateur surfers gettin jiggy with it

A fisherman casts his net

Arriving late on the first night, we stayed here, at Pantai Sari Hotel – clean, modern and close to the beach.

On the second night, we stayed at this hotel called Hotel Century which faced the beach. Also modern and new, it only cost us Rp250K per night.

The Fishing Village – the villagers sell dried fish and shrimp along the roadside near the beach

Lots of fresh fish, squid, prawn and crabs are sold here too (left). On the right, the lady sells dried shrimp. We learnt that the Indonesian word for squid is ‘cumi’. (Cumi, he was happy to know this..!)

care for some fried shrimp?

There are many restaurants to pick from – you can select your fresh seafood and have it cleaned on the spot and cooked for you for lunch or dinner

Here is someone’s lunch! The prawns looked delicious and we vowed to come back for dinner

The Tsunami hit area still has skeletal remains of buildings that remind you of the disaster.

We spotted very few stray dogs or cats in Java, unlike Thailand. These dogs were so cute we had to stop and take a photo

Driving into the ‘kampung’ area, we saw life in a fishing village 1st hand

Families working together to sort out the catch of the day

We spot a Mie Ayam (chicken noodle soup) stall and break for lunch.

Noodle soup refers to a variety of soups with noodles and other ingredients served in a light broth. Noodle soup is an East and Southeast Asian staple. Indonesian Mie Ayam (chicken noodle soup) comprising a bowl of chicken stock, boiled choy sim, celery leaves, diced chicken cooked with sweet soy sauce or in this case, tomato ketchup on top. (left picture of collage). We also had the mee goreng (fried noodles) which is not unlike the Mee Mamak you find in KL. Both were mild tasting and just so-so in flavour.

The ice cream man pulls up and we order some ice-cream. He adds chewy sago beads into the ice-cream as well as coconut flesh and tops it off with chocolate fudge for good measure. This is heavenly on a hot day!

Ladies are seen everywhere in the kampung selling these shells (with sea-crabs still intact) as ‘pets’ for children. It seems cruel if you ask me.

An old, weathered lady selling duck eggs. The lines on her face say plenty.

We go back for dinner that night. This is the lady who cooked our BBQ seafood dinner.

The customary Bintang Beer that is a must for Ciki!

BBQ fish and chili sotong. The Fish was freshly BBQ-ed and the sotong was slightly spicy, fried in a tangy, tomato based sauce.  The side portion of chili was really hot! We found the texture of the fish light and flaky and pretty darn delicious.

After dinner, our motorbike hits a flat. Luckily, we find a repair shop nearby and fix it, because it is still raining (and has been raining since noon)

A cute Vespa that we saw, that doubles up as a gas delivery vehicle.

Early the next morning, whilst walking along the beach, Cumi sees fishermen in action.

Fishermen reeling in the catch for the morning. It is a huge community project. Early morning, boats go far out into the ocean to cast the net then upon returning to shore, 2 teams begin pulling in the net on opposing sides.

It was a very long process. Each fisherman/woman retreated backwards pulling the line. The last person would then walk back front to start the process again. Cumi stood there a long time waiting.

At long last.. Success!

Then begins the task of sorting the catch.

Oh, for the love of fish!

Spot the Barracuda!

Some unusual fish we saw. Can you help us identify them? What fish are they?

What fish am I ?

Next stop, the beautiful Borobudur.. Jogging around in Jogja!

Books on Java:

Essentials for Backpacking:

Old Bandung from www.bandungheritage.org

Bandung the capital of West Java province, located about 180 kilometres (110 miles) southeast of Jakarta, is the fourth largest city in Indonesia. This once upon a time idyllic, quiet town has been hit by urbanization and is now a cramped and over populated metropolitan area, a living space for over 2.5 million people!

During the Dutch occupation, Bandung was known as the ‘Paris of Java’, making it a resort town for colonials. Today, it is touted as the new Jakarta by some locals and often visited as a cool weather getaway since the temperature drops several notches. Bandung is 768 m (2520 ft) above sea level and we found it cool in the evenings and cold even when it rained! Many come here for its rich history, art deco building heritage, the shopping malls all around the city and factory outlets in Setiabudi, Dago, Jalan Riau and Cihampelas. Outdoor adventure seekers and nature lovers will not be bored as they can escape to jungle trails in Dago section of town, Tangkuban Perahu volcano to explore, Ciater hotsprings and even more green attractions in the outskirts. (We will cover these places in our coming posts)
We chose Bandung as our first destination instead of Bogor to cover more ground enroute Yogyakarta. Arriving evening in a downpour, we found shelter at Pasteur Hyperpoint – a small shopping mall with Malaysia’s Giant Supermarket as its anchor tenant. After an average tasting dinner, a purchase of a local prepaid number and a 2hour wait, the rain subsided to a drizzle and we began our accommodation hunt. Most mid level accommodations in Bandung are in a poor state. After walking out 2 hotels nearby we decided to catch an angkot to Cihampelas. Not having found our bearings in this very large town, the angkot dropped us off at a large dark intersection (most places in Java are dark). A friendly ‘lady’ on the street pointed us to Cihampelas Street (see photo attached later in the post). After a long search with help from locals, we settled on Hotel Cihampelas. A mid end hotel which had a sister hotel not too far away. At Rp280,000, this was a mid end hotel, not terribly clean or new, but it was late and we were tired from trudging on broken sidewalks in the rain. As mentioned before, the mid end hotels are dilapidated and this was just acceptable. We crashed onto the beds wishing for those nice affordable guesthouses in Thailand.
Morning. Our second day in Java and our first of the many, many, many Nasi Goreng and Roti Bakar (Fried Rice and Toasted bread) breakfasts from the hotels.

Welcome to Bandung.. !

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Bandung. We were here to experience the ‘magic’ first hand.

Funny how bittersweet this turned out to be – it was an outcome for something that was wished for but with unforeseen consequences. We were taken with the land, the people, the food but shocked by the appalling depth of poverty. Apparently, the government has made strenuous efforts to alleviate poverty by stimulating economic potential in the province through an economic cluster strategy, such as developing sugar producing centers, but this was not evident in the state of affairs around us.

Zany, upbeat and optimistic people everywhere.

The t-shirt reads ..Young, Rich, Handsome and FREE

BB rifles/Air rifles are sold openly by the roadside and Java seems to feel safer than Malaysia

Traffic on Cihampelas Street is constant, ..up till 10pm even

Cihampelas street – shopping mecca for jeans and very memorable with its giant superhero statues

monkey business

As we made our way from Cihampelas street to the train station, we saw some interesting street  ‘performances’.

The Indonesian government itself says that least 8 million people in Java are still categorized as poor, since 6.5 million of them are under-employed with no proper job, while 1.5 million others are registered unemployed. The poor people in the province are scattered across almost 9 thousand villages and sub-districts in 36 regencies. The number of poor people is still above the national average – around 15 percent of the total population.

under the flyover, beggars wait for kind souls to give them money.

my pets, my monkeys, my daily income.

take anything, but don’t take my friends.

Waiting

Sometimes, business is slow under the flyover.

This is who I am

This kind-hearted person we met was a really nice “lady”. On the day we arrived, the city shrouded in darkness and rain beating down relentlessly from the above, she actually pointed us in the direction of our hotel on Cihampelas Street. Never judge a book by its cover.

Another ‘must not miss’ in Bandung are the local snacks/oleh-oleh shops along Cihampelas street. The pisang salai goreng or smoked banana fritter is to die for.  Anyway if you are wondering which shop to buy from,  Odjolali is one of the popular snack shops. Their fried snacks are fresh and crisp and you can see them packing them right there in front of the shop. Once you enter Odjolali, you’d be amazed at the variety of snacks available. They have banana fritters, dodol, keropok (varieties from very spicy to not spicy at all) and all sorts of sweet savories. Plenty of sampling available!

We bought many packets to eat on the long-haul between towns.

The second “cannot miss” in Bandung is the infamous Durian ice-cream. Cumi shudders at the thought of eating the ‘king of fruits’ since he doesn’t enjoy the lingering stench after consumption. He made an exception this one time since he likes ice cream. In case you are wondering what’s so special about Durian ice-cream here, the Bandung one comes with a huge durian pulp (and seed) in it.  Other towns may have the pulp already blended in with the ice cream. How is it served? 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream (we actually couldn’t taste much vanilla), a durian pulp, another 2 scoops of ice cream then topped with your choice of evaporated milk, chocolate syrup, chocolate sprinkles and/or black glutinous rice. The taste was simply magnificent!  This had been one of our favourite eats in Java. There are varying degrees of  good tasting durian ice-cream since its dependent on the quality of the durian. Our 1st vendor was the best since his durian was the bittersweet variety. There is a no sure fire way of knowing which one is the best unless maybe re-visiting the same vendor but then again he might not always have the same fruit from the same source.

animal coffins. notice the cross is the wrong way round.

This is the same guy with the rifle in the 1st two photos.

Rifles, guns, leather, metal music and coffins.

Welcome to Columbine Bandung!

More snacks. Various oily fritters. Banana, Tofu, Tempe (soya based) and Yam. That white one was just fried flour.

Various dodols (gooey candy made with palm sugar/jaggery, coconut, flour) in various flavors

A perfectionist scrutinizes the barber’s cut.. and us.

Mirror doubles as weapon.

Street barbers only use the imported blades from Czech! Don’t be duped by imitators, homey!

Also doubles as a weapon! (hehe)

Interesting contraption above. Cumi’s dad had one that was purpose made, unlike this street version. With this one, it brings a whole new meaning to a perfect hair design since you can adjust the shave to varying degrees.

” Toni&Guy” Bandung

Reservations FULL for next 3months

the huge sign on the roof translates to ” There is only one word for success.. Quality!”

Notice how dilapidated the station and the buses. Quality.

On this entire 9 day trip, the best Nasi Padang we had was found in Bandung. This shop by the train station had the most delicious, dry rendang beef that we have ever eaten.

This is my plate of Nasi Padang and I finished the RICE!

(Ahpa, are you reading this:P)

Nasi Padang, restaurants serving Minangkabau cuisine. Padang people are an ethnic group indigenous to Southern Sudan. Over the next 9 days, we had the pleasure of eating food representing different parts of Indonesia.

Generally speaking, we found that the food in Java tended to be sweet and less spicy if compared with say, for example food from Sulawesi. Sulawesi cuisine tends to be spicy and savory and not as sweet as Java cuisine.

“magic java” come to take you away..

Me, waiting for the 4848 bus to take us to Pangandaran, en route Jogjakarta

Notice the driver sleeping behind me? This waiting room doubles up as a bedroom for the poor tired drivers of the 4848 who have done  more than a few shifts a day. It does not instill any confidence in me. He will probably be our driver pretty soon(and I was right). This is a far cry from the luxurious Cipaganti we arrived in.

What to do? This is the fastest and soonest way to get us to Pangandaran , en route Jogjakarta and so we decided on it. Actually I am pretty glad we did this because the experience is worth a thousand words. Me and Cumi actually had a great time getting integrated into the system and we will do it again, and again.. gladly! (Anyone out there wanna sponsor our trip to say.. Cuba?! )

Shake and Bake .. 4848!

What music is Ciki listening to? Place your bets now!

Compare and contrast the Cipaganti with the 4848 (photo before).. See what I mean?

Next stop.. Pangandaran

Books on Java:

Essentials for Backpacking:

My personal favourite read that covers Indonesia: