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November
Temanggung is a regency in Central Java, flanked by 2 mountains: Mt Sindoro and Sumbing which are famous for coffee and tobacco producing areas. Moreover, Temanggung has a variety of unique culinary and delicious delight. One of them is Bajingan (Bastard). This culinary’s name sounds harsh. In Indonesian, Bajingan is indeed a harsh curse. However, the people in Temanggung know Bajingan as a sweet snack with a soft texture.
Bajingan’s basic ingredients are quality cassava, brown sugar, thick coconut milk, and pandan leaves. Not all types of cassava can be processed into this food. Only soft and best quality cassava can be selected as raw ingredients. Usually, the cassava is planted in fertile land, such as in rice fields or fields with high rainfall. When eaten, the sweet and legit taste of cassava is immediately felt. Bajingan is very delicious when eaten warm in the morning or evening. Moreover, it’s more delicious, if you eat it while drinking a cup of coffee or warm tea.
Usually, Bajingan is served directly in the form of stew. But now, some Bajingan is also fried. The fried one still tastes sweet. For those of you who want to try the pleasures of Bajingan, you can look for it in traditional markets in Temanggung; one of them is in Pasar Kliwon Temanggung. In addition, you can also buy at Papringan Market, a market that carries the theme of handicrafts and culinary specialties of the local area. Bajingan is sold at a relatively cheap price around IDR 10.000 per portion.
November
Tempe Mendoan is special food from Banyumas district, Central Java officially designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage (WBTB) of Indonesia. This determination was decided through the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Higher Education during the 2021 Indonesian Intangible Cultural Heritage Determination session in Jakarta on October 29. In this edition, we would like to invite you to get to know more about the typical food of Banyumas Regency. The word, ‘Mendoan’ is from Banyumas language, Mendo which means half-cooked or mushy. Mendoan means to cook with a lot of hot cooking oil quickly. So, the food does not cook properly. The most common ingredients of Mendoan are tempeh and tofu. However, tempeh is more often made into Mendoan.
Besides tempeh or tofu, other ingredients of Mendoan are flour, leeks, spices, such as garlic, nutmeg, coriander and pepper. Before the tempeh is fried, first, slice the tempeh thinly, and then prepare the dough. The flour is mixed with water and spices. Next, put tempeh into the dough and then fry it. Its uniqueness is that tempeh is not fried until it is dry, but is still wet and soft. It tastes delicious and crunchy. Mendoan is served hot, accompanied with cayenne pepper or soy sauce. Mendoan can be a side dish. Or it can be enjoyed as snacks to accompany by drinking a cup of tea or coffee in the morning or evening.
In Banyumas, it is not hard to find Mendoan. You can buy Mendoan in Sawangan, Purwokerto, which is a typical hawker center of Purwokerto. In addition, the good taste makes Mendoan spread outside Banyumas. Tempe Mendoan can be found in big cities in Central Java, even in Jakarta. The price is also relatively cheap from Rp 2,500 to Rp 5,000 per piece.
November
What do you usually do when you go to the beach? Surely, the answer is swimming, snorkelling or diving. What if you could also feel the sensation of vacationing in the desert while on the beach? This one tourism destination must be included in your vacation list. It is ‘Oetune Beach’ located in Tufanu Village, Kualin District, South Central Timor Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province. This beach is about 115 kilometres from Kupang City, with a travel time of 2.5 or 3 hours by motor vehicles. You don’t have to worry about getting lost because the directions to the beach are quite complete.
The beach is open 24 hours; it’s very unique and the only one in Indonesia. When you arrive on this beach, you will not immediately see the deep blue sea but a very wide mound of desert. Cassowary and palm trees scattered around the desert make you feel like you are in the Sahara desert. Just imagine hundreds of square meters of soft sand mound welcoming you. If it’s the first thing that you see, you are in the right place. This can expand your activities that you usually do on the beach. Sandboarding or surfing on the sand is one of your choices. But you have to bring your own equipment because there is no sandboarding equipment rental facility. This rolling sand is certainly very interesting if you capture it with your camera.
Oetune Beach is still very natural, clean, and wide enough. The location is not too crowded; it’s perfect for you to be alone. The waves on this beach are quite strong and chasing each other, so it is advisable to remain careful if you want to swim. If you suddenly feel hungry, don't worry because there are food stalls. There are no hotels or lodging around the beach, so you can spend the night in Soe City. You can find hotels with varying prices. Keep this Oetune beach clean, so that our next generation can enjoy it too. Happy Holiday!
November
If one day you can visit Indonesia, try to enjoy a variety of Indonesian typical culinary. When exploring Indonesian food, you will find some kinds of culinary that are almost the same in several places, such as ‘Rujak’. Rujak made from a mixture of any vegetables or fruits and doused with rujak sauce or rujak spice can be found in various regions with their own peculiarities. Take for example, Tegal has its typical salad known as ‘Rujak Teplak’.
Rujak Teplak is made from several types of vegetables such as kangkung, violaceous, sweet potato leaves, papaya leaves, cassava leaves, bean sprouts, banana heart, bitter-gourd, and boiled cucumber. The uniqueness of Rujak is in the sauce. In general, Rujak uses peanut sauce as the main ingredient. But, the main ingredient of Rujak Teplak is boiled cassava. Then, the boiled cassava is crushed until smooth and mixed with red chili, Javanese sugar and Kencur.
To serve Rujak Teplak, you can enjoy all vegetables placed on a banana leaf sheet and then, they are doused with the cassava sauce. It tastes delicious, especially when eaten with yellow kerupuk or crackers fried in sand. The crackers are seasoned with grated dry coconut. Spicy or non-spicy Rujak Teplak can be adjusted according to taste and it depends on the chili sauce made from red chili mixed with ulenan or mashed cassava. It’s easy to enjoy this dish. Rujak Teplak is easily found in various corners of Tegal City, especially in traditional markets. The price is relatively affordable from Rp. 2,500 to Rp. 5,000 per serving.
November
Nusa tourism village is one of the tourism villages in Indonesia, which carries the theme of disaster education. Located in Lhoknga, Aceh Besar district or 30 kilometres away from downtown of Banda Aceh City, Nusa tourism village is a village that was built by the community independently after the tsunami that hit Aceh in 2004. If any tourists may visit the village, they can learn about disasters in the area as well as local wisdom owned by the surrounding community.
To enter this tourism village, visitors would feel the atmosphere of the village that is so beautiful. To travel to Nusa tourism village, one can see the green rice fields and rivers around. The scenery looks perfect with Baisan hills as the background. They can also enjoy the scenery while camping and fishing in the area that has been provided. Besides enjoying the natural beauty of nature, visitors can also learn about recycling trash processing. The residents of Nusa tourism village process proper waste to make handicrafts worth selling. The handicrafts that can be found in the area are tissue boxes, pencil cases, synthetic flowers, vases, and other home decorations. The visitors can also buy typical woven clothes of Aceh Besar Regency as well as bags and hats made from processed trash.
The people of Nusa tourism village still keep their traditional and local culture values so that tourists can feel the experience of the village’s culture. They can see the art performances, such as Sedati dance, Rapai Geleng dance, Ranup Lampuan dance, and Ratoh Duek dance. As a gift, besides buying handicrafts from the local community, tourists can also buy Oen Temuru chips. It is one of the creative economic products from the people of Nusa tourism village. The snacks are based on curry leaves processed as chips. Curry leaves are generally known as mixed ingredients of Aceh’s typical cuisine, Ayam tangkap. Besides the Oen Temuru chips, visitors can also taste Beulangong soup, banana chips, honey, Kembang Goyang, Timphan Asoe Kaya, Seupet cake, Kekarah and Emping Melinjo. If tourists want to stay in this village, they may stay at the traditional wooden stilt houses built by the local people independently.
November
Kepa Island is a small island in Alor Regency, East Nusa Tenggara which has stunning clear blue waters. Enjoying the sunset on Kepa Island is so special, unlike anywhere else. Those of you who like water activities will definitely be interested in visiting this island, because Kepa Island has a stretch of white sand like flour with a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Looking at the ocean with a charming stretch of green hills and small islands around Kepa becomes a special color for your vacation. Alor Regency has 15 islands and six of them are inhabited. Kepa Island is like a forgotten island because it is far from civilization. However, this condition is the main attraction because it still has its original enchantment.
You will feel a new adventure on Kepa Island. You can stay in the traditional village bamboo huts of Alor, which are built on a cliff close to the beach, don't forget to book a place before coming. There are few huts available and they were built to maintain the authenticity of the environment around the island. Kepa Island is the best destination for you to explore nature and enjoy the underwater panorama. The coral reefs around the island are still very authentic. Because this area is surrounded by the Timor Sea, Sawu Sea, and Flores Sea which are breeding grounds for whales. If you are lucky, you will see a group of whales appearing on the surface. If you want to see the rich marine life, you can dive or snorkel in the waters of Kepa Island. You can swim with the colorful fishes that sometimes hide in the coral reefs.
To get to Kepa Island takes about 10 minutes by boat from Keil Pulau Pier. Alor Island itself can be reached by flight about 45 minutes from El Tari Kupang Airport, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara to Kalabahi, the capital of Alor Island. Kalabahi becomes a transit point for tourists before continuing their journey to the small group of islands that surround Alor, including Kepa Island. From Kalabahi Airport in Alor, you still need to continue the journey for about one and half hours by car and continue by boat. This island does not have adequate infrastructure. There are no asphalt roads, public transportation or food stalls. In fact, only 30 people live on Kepa Island. So, make sure you bring all your personal needs before going to this island.
November
Last October 25, the 7th Sekala Bekhak Festival (FSB) in 2021 was held at the Liwa Botanical Gaden (KRL) in Lampung, Sumatra. The event which was held in a hybrid way aims to preserve arts and culture of the ancestral heritage, while at the same time to awak entourism and the local creative economy with the theme “Enjoy the Nature and Culture”. The Sekala Bekhak Festival was enlivened with a various of interesting activities, such as Bumi Sekala Bekhak Gambus Orchestra performance, Nyambai Tradition, Sekura Dance, Tourism Culture Photo and Video Competition as well as Tourism and Cultural Destination Story Telling Competitions. Now we will introduce you to one of these activities, namely Nyambai Tradition. According to Suntan Sarif, who is Lampung traditional figure, Nyambai is a gathering of unmarried men and women for social bond, getting to know each other by showing their ability to dance and reciprocate pantun or rhyming poetry.
According to the webpage kemdikbud.go.id, Nyambai customary procession is found in the nayuh ritual or wedding ceremony, which is only done by Saibatin indigenous people in West Lampung. This tradition has a standard procedure. This procedure is determined by Sutan or the local traditional leader of Saibatin, so that in the procession, you just have to follow the same phases. The sequence of Nyambai traditional activities among Saibatin indigenous people of West Lampung are: preparation, opening, implementation of Nyambai and closing.
Preparation for the Nyambai event is carried out the day before the nayuh ritual is held or at noon before the nyambai is held. The night before the nyambai event, there is a procession where meghanai or some bachelors representing the baya (the event owner) pick up the muli or girls in the village around the nyambai will be held. These bachelors come to the girl's house and ask for permission from the girl's parents to take part in the nyambai event and will take the girls back home when the event is over. The girl will start to prepare or dress up if her father or mother allows her. Normally, the event owner has built a ward which is used as a place for nyambai to be held and the next day it is used as a place for nayuh invitees. After the muli and meghanai gather at the event owner's house, the nyambai event can begin. The nyambai executive committee has prepared 4 shawls. Later these shawls are used to determine who will show their skills in dancing and rhyming. This activity is called Throwing the Shawl. The Nyambai tradition begins with an opening by the head of the meghanai (Keala Bujang). Then it is followed by dance performance and welcoming rhymes from the baya (the event owner).
November
Kali Uluh beach is located in Klesem Village, Kebonagung, Pacitan, East Java. This beach is only 35 kilometers from Pacitan City, and it takes 1-2 hours by motor vehicles to the beach. Land transportation is the only way to get to the beach. But you have to be careful with the roads that are up and down, and the roads are steep.
When you arrive at the Kali Uluh beach, you can explore the typical areas of the beach. If you go to the west side, you will find high cliffs that become a barrier between the coast and the mainland. Furthermore, you will also find a collection of colorful fishing boats there. Due to the strong flow, you are recommended not to swim too far from the beach. And if you love surfing, you need to get permission from the coast guard first.
Strong flow with typical waves in the south coast and dominated by corals and rocks is the characteristics of the beach. In Kali Uluh beach, you can also enjoye a beautiful waterfall. The waterfall is usually used by tourists for cleaning their body from sand and sea water. They also can enjoy the view around the waterfall.
October
If you visit an area, it will be perfect if you try to enjoy the special cuisine of the area visited. Take for example, if one day you have a chance to come back to Indonesia, please visit Malang City, East Java. Malang is well known not only for its culinary, such as bakso (meatball), bakwan, perkedel tempe or mendol, but also for its typical culinary dish called Nasi Buk or Buk rice. This is a popular dish in Malang, East Java. Even though it's popular in Malang, Nasi Buk turns out to become Madura’s special food. In the past, Nasi Buk was brought by Madura people to Malang. The name of 'Buk' came from customer's greeting, that called the seller as 'Buk' or Ma'am. In East Java, using "Buk" is a special call for Madura’s adult woment or mothers. After all, this dish has been growing up and better known in Malang than in Madura itself.
Nasi Buk consists of rice mixed with cow innard and also special seasoning of jackfruit and Rebung or bamboo shoots. The main dish is cow innard which is processed to be savory and tender. Consumer does not need to worry if he or she does not eat innards, the seller also serves fried chicken. One portion of Nasi Buk is usually served with Lodeh vegetable with bamboo shoots mixed with spit meat, yeast jerky, fried empal and lung crackers. The last thing is sprinkled with Serundeng. Nasi Buk is delicious to enjoy while it's warm.
Before being sold at the stall like nowadays, Nasi Buk was peddled around. Rice and the side dish were put in a basket and carried to be peddled. The seller went around the Pecinan and Kota Lama area until it got famous in Malang. In Malang, there are a lot of restaurants selling Nasi Buk. But if you want to try the authentic one, you can visit 'Warung Nasi Bu Matirah' in Trunojoyo. It is said that the Nasi buk Matirah stall is a pioneer in serving this Madura cuisine. Nasi Buk is relatively cheap; it's around Rp 20,000. This dish is usually sold in the morning as breakfast.
October
If the situation is getting better and you can travel again, please come to Indonesia, there are various interesting tourism attractions and activities. For example, if you visit Boyolali City, Central Java, there is Indrokilo Botanical Garden. While recreation, you can get more insight about the variety of lowland rainforest plants here. This Botanical Garden is located in Kampung Tempurejo, Kemiri subdistrict, Mojosongo district, Boyolali regency. It takes about 10 minutes from Boyolali square to this tourist attraction. During this pandemic, Indrokilo is only open on weekdays, from 8 am to 4.30 pm. At the entrance, tourists get their body temperature checked. In fact, it is mandatory to have at least the first dose of vaccine. In the tourist area, tourists are required to wear masks and keep their distance.
Indrokilo Botanical was built on an area of 9.35 hectares. This botanical garden has more than 900 specimens of plant collections with 7 themes of plants. They are medicinal plants, ferns, conservation, labyrinth, bamboo, local fruit and honorary plants. The special thing about Indrokilo Botanical Garden is that there are seven icons that will later become the characteristics of this tourist attraction. There is Pasingsingan Gate. The gate with the 12-meter height and 25-meter width is inspired by the gates of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall monument in Taipei. This gate is a welcome door into the Indrokilo Botanical Garden. Passing through the welcome door, you will see the statue of Sosro Birowo. The statue with a height of 17 meters is the closest icon to the entrance of Indrokilo Botanical Gardens. Sosro Birowo is a magic spell from a man named Mahesa Jenar. He is a former soldier guarding the king who is very tough and strong. Another icon is Taman Paku. Taman Paku is one of the thematic parks in Indrokilo Botanical Gardens. As the name implies, this park stores various collections of ferns (pterodophyta) which are divided into two, outdoor and indoor. In addition to increasing knowledge, at Taman Paku, you can also take pictures as much as you want. Besides Taman Paku, you can also visit labyrinth garden. When photographed from above using a drone, the shape of this park has the concept of Gunungan Wayang which symbolizes the unity of the Indonesian nation.
The next icon is a miniature of Niagara Falls in the United States. This waterfall is located on the west side of Indrokilo Botanical Garden with a height of seven meters and a width of 34 meters. The source of this artificial waterfall is Gandul and Sombo Rivers whose flow is dammed and the water is channeled through pipes to the upstream side of the cliff with a pump. There is also the management office of Indrokilo Botanical Garden. There is a building called EBU, which stands for Electronik Banyu Udan that has rainwater processing technology into ready-to-drink water. Don’t forget to visit the Pond Painting Feature too, a replica of Prophet Noah’s ark. According to the story of Prophet Noah, the plan is that the ark will be equipped with statues of several pairs of animals. The Indrokilo tourism management has also provided public facilities such as outbound game rides, free wifi, bathrooms and prayer rooms.