Small world of past Java

When you are going to Malang, do not forget to put yourself for a while in old Malang atmosphere. So, you can compare how it feels with this present era. How?? No need to go to museum, just going to Inggil Restaurant at 4 Gajah Mada street.

Actually I had no plan to go there, moreover, I did not know that place. After staying 6 hours by train from Yogyakarta to Surabaya, my friend Ri, kidnapped me to Malang directly. Pyuhhh…no plan, no rest, we run away on midnight, speed up black car through the quiet and silence freeway. Tiredness and sleepy did not come to me. Thanks God. I could accompany her on driving.

No time to book on hotel. We had to find one by one. Hard working as we did not have enough reference. Usually we stay a night at Trio Hotel, near Alun-alun but at that moment it was fully booked. Sure! We went on holiday season. No wonder! Finally we found Aloha hotel, at the backside of town hall and close to Tugu Malang. Yihaa…I got place. Suddenly I was really sleepy and sleepy and sleepy waiting for the upcoming day.

It was Xmas eve 2007. It was raining hard outside. We both staying nicely at bedroom, watching television, seeing xmas programs. Serenity was around us. At the end, we felt hungry. Felt lazy to go to down town after moving around all day long in the city, we decided to eat at restaurant in front of our hotel. Just using umbrella and warm jacket we walked carefully, little jump and stepped out of the water puddle.

We had no intention to go to this restaurant as the place outside look like was not interested in us. In a glance, we also thought it was expensive restaurant and the food taste was not good. Why? As there was not much car parked there. But we were tricked by our own subjective opinion. When we entered inside, we were impressed by the traditional and old atmosphere. We could see something unique hanging in the wall like old pictures of Malang city, old small billboard of advertisement like BATA shoes, cigarette Banjoe biroe, Tanco brand of soap, unused big batik stamps, traditional cookware completed with stove and bamboo sheet fan., ancient charcoal irons, old radios, old sewing machine, old paper money, traditional Javanese masks in front of entrance room. Waow!!
The eating room was like big hall with stage on it. You could see traditional music tools (gamelan) there mixed with modern music tools like guitar, keyboard. When we were there, woman singer, called Sinden, sang Javanese song. It called nembang. Lampion lamp hanging, shining on their medium light. Not too dark but not too light.

When eating you could choose 2 version on how to sit. Using wood chairs and tables, or just lesehan (sit at the floor above the leaf mat, like japanese style).
We chose to do lesehan. While waiting for order (Please not to try to sit at wooden toy horse, it was for kids only hahhaha), some overseas tourists then one by one visitor came. The place was rather full.
For menu, I forgot whether they had western menu or not as that moment we could not stand to order soon, so I did not care for another offering. We chose traditional menu. Fried fish, spicy fermented soybean (tempe), raw vegetables (lalapan), rice, mixed spicy red hot chili pepper and tomato (sambel) and two glasses of hot tea accompanied us passing the cold night. No silent night, no silver bells, no white Christmas melody around it. Just campursari and uyon-uyon. Kinanthi, dhandhanggula…

Ciao!

Sundanese says Surabi euy!

Finally I could eat surabi. Yupiii! . I went to Bandung many times but never had chance to try even in small piece. Poor me! So, just went through Setiabudi street then you could find some places, side by side, selling surabi. The places was full of people all the time. You had to be patient in ordering. Psst... I had an experience. When I ordered it, the waiter gave me number as I was in queue. Before me, there was a guy who ordered 10 pieces of it. But when the surabi was ready, the waiter called my number first, then called number after me, meanwhile the number of the guy before me was still not called. I heard the guy was angry and complained the waiter as he did not get what he ordered soon. The waiter could not explain,maybe he was scared to death, xixixi...just gave unsatisfied reason that the ordered was still in proccess, I thought it was easy to explain. The number is not number in sequence. It was just a name in order the waiter could easy to find who order it by calling the number.

Surabi itself was known as sundanese small thick pancake, made of rice and corn flower. I found there was two kind of style. Traditional and modern style. What I ordered was Surabi manis kinca kelapa. It was original surabi which was poured by liquid red palm sugar. Then, the modern style, combined with western taste, was Surabi sosis mayo, it was mixed by sausage and mayonnaise.

See comment of http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/indonesia/west_java_bandung/bandung_food_advisor/info-273-bandung_specialties_surabi.php about surabi.
“This culinary delight is then topped with either salty condiments such as cheese, egg, and sausage or sweet ingredients such as banana, chocolate and nangka (jackfruit). Surabi is cooked in a specific clay oven where every little pancake is placed in a steaming hot gap until cooked. The toppings are cooked on top of the pancake so they blend in with the mixture and the chocolate or cheese mel ts. The taste is somewhat similar to pancakes but it's these toppings that make the difference. Originally, surabi was flavoured with oncom (fermented beans) which makes it a spicy bite with the oncom almost resembling mince meat. Surabi has evolved and popular demand has created many new varieties. To make things interesting, creative toppings are added. Indonesian taste buds somehow categorize cheese under the ‘sweet' category and therefore cheese is often coupled with chocolate and coconut milk. To the Western palette it maybe a little strange, but Indonesians love it”

So, what are you waiting for guys, let’s come! Rush, rush….

From my deepest heart with love! (a.k.a Valentine day)

Opened eyes, trrrrtttt…my mobile was ringing. Oops, valentine greeting from my best friend. Let’s read carefully, sounds nice decorating my morning. Smile is d melody of d soul. Work is d service of d spirit. Love is d gift of d heart. So, start and end ur day full of smiles & love.

Hmm, my mind run away to 14 February history. Little knowledge about Valentine day, reading from one article long time ago, 14 February was the death day of Saint Valentines. He was holy person,martyr in Catholic Rome tradition. He was known because of her way in spread out love and care for somebody else. Actually Rome church did not celebrate it specially. From wikipedia I noticed that Geoffrey Chaucer, philosopher, poet maker, introduced this day with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. I did not know exactly how was it happened. I thought, as long as it was for celebrating something about care, so why not?? How wonderful when many people would love each other. No hatred, no war. Peace!!

Feeling lazy to wake up but I had to. Showered cold water to my body, brrrr….Then, get dressed, ready to go. Met my friend for a while before looking for breakfast. Pink ribbon chocolate bar moved from my hand to my friend. I was happy seeing my friend smile full of happiness. If love is blind, I’d like to see you in the darkness. If live is love, I’d like to fall in love with you and you love me too. So sweet!

Watching tv for a moment, seeing some valentine program. All in pink, all expressed it by enriching with roses, ribbons, heart look. Some advertisement of movie in many tv channel. Titanic, Ever After, There Is something about Mary, RobinHood..Kevin Costner, Leonardo Dicaprio, Drew Barrymore came to cheer us up! Some Indonesia celebrities memorized this moment by adding Valentine name to their new born baby. Such as Ian Kasela of Raja named his son Muhammad Valentino, wah??!! Then Pasya-Ungu with Valentina. Cool!

Going to mall, in one fancy store, one of sales promotion girl was busy in wrapping gift of pink bear toy in pink wrapping paper. In one cookie store, some pink puddings, some small heart cakes, some small chocolates displayed orderly. In one bookstore, some rosses in plastic wrapping combined by pink ribbon and valentine cards spread around the small table.

Trrrrtttt, my mobile gave me signed to be read. My friend sms me, “I hate received this sms. Celebrating your valentine with partner, two only. Free 50% in lovely dinner tonight. Use your ***Bank card. Moment that would be unforgettable”. I just smile, my friend just broke up with her guy some months ago. It was still unforgettable. It was suck separation! We all felt sorry of it. She was left suddenly without telling anything. Her boy friend was married with someone else, and my friend noticed from another person instead of person in charge. Polite?

Sun blazed behind my head. My stomach sang a song. It was a hint! Lunch time. Absolutely I was hungry but there was something happened on my stomach, made me not in the mood to eat. But I had to eat, even just 2 or 3 bites. Mcdonald was the last choice. Ordered simple menu, rice, fried chicken and a cup of ice tea. So noisy there… But it did not bother 2 person in expressing their love. They changed gift each other and opened it together. Heart shape gift! I stole a glance at them, hihihi….Both bought dresses and t’shirt for each other! On their heart, I thought, they would say…no matter who you are, what you do, me in front of you, care about you so much….
So sweet (part 2) !!

It was time to go home. I was not feelin’ better. I needed to take a rest. I ignored free invitation from my friends to see Maliq d Essential tonight. Well, I thought I required to care about my body too, by letting it took a rest after some 5 days in hard working. This moment reminded me to care about everything, everybody, animal, plants, especially your body and soul.

Traditional food: how proud we have it!

It was not our plan to wear black dress. We were not gothic follower. We were not women in black. We just made an appointment to meet suddenly. It was only one day spending fun and fantasy.

Enya sang, heard so slowly in music player, along the street, inside car who brought us runaway for a while.
“…. How beautiful the day and night; the earth is singing in the wind, the voices rise and touch the sky, telling all the earth’s believing and in the night sighs fall down, and from the skies sighs fall down on me…”

1st riding to fuel our body with energy was Pecel Bu Kus resto. Mixed vegetables as spinach, sprout, basil, kind of cowpea, poured by peanuts gravy and accompanied by peyek (java crisp, thin, kind of chip made of flour and peanuts, shrimp and small fish)

2nd riding to Kebun Kelapa resto. Tasted the delicious fried flour calamari, fried gurami fish, fried flour crispy shrimp, cah kangkung (leavy vegetables stir fried with soy sauce), sambal (sauce made by crushing spices in a mortar), lalapan (raw vegetables of cucumber, lettuce, tomato, cowpea)

Yummy!

Time went by so quickly. It was unexpected to end this day. Full! Happy! Tired! Sleepy! Mix in one feeling of the secret of deep heart! Oct1,08.

Ps. If your picture is not here, please forgive me as I just illustrate three of six person to draw the story….