Jakarta: Dining Experience in Metropolitan City

Jakarta today offers an excellent variety of sophisticated fine dining restaurants located in many parts of this sprawling metropolitan city.

The best Indonesian cuisine and international restaurants are found in unique surroundings as they are located in elegant and well appointed colonial buildings that enhance that special nostalgic atmosphere of fine, graceful dining  like in those colonial days long gone.

The Oasis Restaurant on Jalan Raden Saleh in Central Jakarta, the Buddha Bar on Teuku Umar, Bunga Rampai on Jalan Tjik Ditiro and the Jittlada Thai restaurant on Jalan Sultan Agung are just a few prime examples. The Café Batavia across the old Stadhuis at Fatahillah Square in Old Batavia takes one back to the grand style of grand meals in the Dutch colonial era.

Meanwhile, Jakarta’s top hotels serve grand buffets for lunch in one all inclusive price where diners can pick from a wide selection of cuisine from Japanese sushi to juicy steaks and roast beef, to crunchy salads, and close the meal with chocolate cake, fresh fruits and delicious aromatic coffee.

Malls have also gotten into the fray to pamper diners, where entire floors are today dedicated to upscale restaurants, but there are also smaller bistros, cafes and fast food to cater to the thousands of busy professionals from the surrounding office towers, and shoppers and cinema buffs filling the attached cineplex.

The Kemang area in South Jakarta is a small world all its own where are some top international restaurants, among which the Turkish Anatolia restaurant, but also others serving first class Italian, Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, or Dutch cuisine.
And everywhere around this city one finds simple restaurants and street stalls so that no one can ever complain of having to go hungry for lack of food available.

Indonesia’s favourite food are satay and Gado-gado or Ketoprak, Sate, sometime spelled satay is Indonesia’s kebab. These are thick slices of chicken, beef or mutton skewered and deliciously barbequed then poured over with hot peanut sauce or soya sauce.
While Gado-gado is Indonesia’s salad consisting of boiled spinach, watercress, beansprouts, boiled potatoes and boiled egg, poured over with ground peanut sauce sometimes eaten with lontong, which is rolled rice boiled in leaves. Another variety is the Ketoprak which consists of beansprouts, tofu and rice noodles served with fresh peanut sauce mixed with spices. 

Dragon Village

If you are tired of life in a metropolitan city with its sky scrapers, you should take a few days off to stay in the Dragon village within Neglasari village, Salawu sub-district, Tasikmalaya, West Java.

This 1.5 hectares village is still 'green' and not influenced by modernization. Some 311 people live in this village. You will have to take several hundred steps to cover the villages over 500 meters. You will see hundreds of high ebony trees, large green paddy fields and the long Ciwulang river. In addition, you will feel the cool air and sounds of river waterflows in the distance.

Makassar : Historic Port for Spices and Sailing Ships

Formerly called Ujung Pandang, the city of Makassar is the largest city in east Indonesia. Capital of South Sulawesi, Makassar enjoys a central location in the Indonesian archipelago and today Makassar is Indonesia’s busy air hub, connecting Sumatra, Java, Bali and Kalimantan in the west with Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Papua in the east.   

In fact,  ever since the 14th. century Makassar was already known as a thriving sea port where merchant vessels from far away China, India and Cambodia called regularly to trade in silks, tea and porcelain in exchange for cloves, nutmeg and pearls from the Moluccas and gold and forest products from Makassar and its hinterland.  And when in the 16th century the Europeans discovered the sailing route to the coveted Spice Islands, the Spanish and Portuguese made Makassar their important entrepot to store valuable spices before shipment to Europe.  

Meanwhile, in this southern peninsula of Sulawesi, the Bugis, Makassar and Mandar ethnic groups, known for their seafaring prowess and boat building skills, had already developed powerful kingdoms that encouraged trade, fishery, rice cultivation as well as literature and the arts. The Bugis epic poem I la Galigo is a recognized masterpiece in Bugis literature, as are the graceful dances and bright silk costumes of court dancers with their richly decorated accessories of wide gold bangles, opulent necklaces and tiaras.  

In 1667 however, through the Treaty of Bungaya, Dutch merchants succeeded to oust the Portuguese and Spanish from Makasssar to make this port their stronghold, banning other Europeans from trading in Makassar.   The Dutch destroyed the fort of Ujung Pandang  built by the king of Gowa in 1545, and fortified this into Fort Rotterdam, which today still stands prominently on the waterfront of Makassar, while the king of Gowa was allowed to stay at Fort Somba Opu.  

Many Makassar aristocrats who refused to be dominated by the Dutch, left the city and settled in Kalimantan , the Riau Islands and present-day  Malaysia. The sultans of Selangor and Johore are Bugis descendents as are the sultans of Kutai Kartanegara in east Kalimantan.

Located on the busy trading route along the deep Straits of Makassar, the city of Makassar is a bustling cosmopolitan town with settlement of many races and ethnic groups, of Chinese, Europeans, Javanese, Balinese, Ambon and others, where local and international cargo ships continue to call at its busy port. While at its traditional port of Paotere, Bugis pinisi schooners can be seen lining the quay to unload goods from near and far away islands, and various types of fishing prahus, such as the pantorani, the lepa-lepa and the sandeq unload the day’s catch.   

Today Makassar is also a university town, where youth from all over the islands, especially from the eastern archipelagos gather to gain higher education.

And, to provide entertainment for its population and to attract tourists especially from east Indonesia, Makassar now boasts a large theme park called Trans Studio, touted as the third largest indoor theme park in the world. Makassar’s Sultan Hassanuddin airport is today Indonesia’s most modern airport. Makassar has a wonderful esplanade called the Losari Beach, the only place in Indonesia where one can see both a beautiful sunrise as well as a spectacular sunset. The Losari Beach is lined with luxury hotels and in the evenings comes alive with food stalls.   

Makassar is the Gateway to East Indonesia, as well as the entry point to an adventurous tour to the Tana Toraja highlands, where awesome mountain scenery and the unique rituals of the Toraja people await.

Makassar's Circle of Tourism Writers, LPP, the travel industry and travel lovers of Makassar have created a new web in conjunction with the Visit Makassar Year 2011 to provide up to date information on this destination. The web is bilingual, in English and Bahasa Indonesia.

Prambanan : The Exotic Hindu Temple

As the largest Hindu temple in Southeast Asia, the beautiful and graceful temple of Prambanan is a magnificent spectacle and an icon of Indonesia’s cultural heritage.

Located not far from the Buddhist Borobudur temple, the proximity of the two temples tells us that on Java, Buddhism and Hinduism lived peacefully next to one another.

Prambanan is known locally as Roro Jonggrang, coming from the legend of the ‘slender virgin’. According to the legend once upon a time, there was a young and powerful man named Bandung Bondowoso.  He wanted to marry a beautiful princess named Roro Jonggrang. Her father, the king, agreed and forced her to marry Bandung Bondowoso. Butm Sita did not love him yet could not refuse him.

After careful consideration, she thought of a way to refuse Bondowoso, whose magical power was well-known.  She decided she would agree but only if Bondowoso built 1,000 temples in one night before the break of dawn.

She insisted that the work must be completed before the rooster crowed, something she believed was impossible. But with the help of genies and his own magical powers, Bondowoso managed to complete 999 temples. Panicked, Jonggrang told the women of her village to start pounding rice so that the rooster would wake up and begin to crow.  When Bondowoso heard this he was deeply disappointed and wildly enraged. When he found out that Roro Jonggrang had made the roosters crow, he turned her into stone, The statue of a slender virgin graces the main Prambanan temple, while a group of temples nearby is called the Candi Sewu or the Thousand Temples.

The  temples at Prambanan were built in the 9th century. The biggest temple is dedicated to Shiva – the destroyer, and the two smaller ones which sit on its right and left are dedicated to Brahma -¬ the creator and Wisnhu – the sustainer.  The tallest temple of Prambanan is a staggering 47 meters high. Its peak visible from far away and rises high above the ruins of the other temples.

After hundreds of years of neglect, the Prambanan temple was rediscovered by CA Lons, a Dutchman, in 1733. Since then, this temple has been revitalized and today is widely regarded as the most beautiful and graceful Hindu temple in Indonesia.

The grandeur, complexity, and integrated architectural concept of Prambanan makes this a truly amazing structure. As a unique cultural and architectural marvel, Prambanan was declared a World Heritage site in 1991 by UNESCO.

Bogor Botanical Gardens

Just 60 km south, or a mere one hour by road from Jakarta lies the town of Bogor, once known as “Buitenzorg” meaning “free of care”, located at the foothills of Mt. Salak. It has a high, year-round rainfall and a much cooler climate compared to metropolitan Jakarta.  Here are spread out the 87 hectares world famous Bogor Botanical Gardens (Kebon Raya Bogor), with the impressive out-of-town Bogor Presidential Palace fronting it and soaring Mt. Salak at its background.

Bogor Botanical Gardens boasts over 400 species of palm trees, 5,000 trees gathered from around the tropical world, and an orchid house containing 3,000 varieties. Records show that the Bogor Botanical Gardens harbours 3,504 plant species, 1,273 genus in 199 families.

The Gardens are said to have been initiated by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who, between 1811-1816, became Governor General of the East Indies during the interim reign of the British over the archipelago. With the help of botanists from London’s famed Kew Gardens, Raffles first laid out a small garden. However, the Gardens were officially established by the Dutch in 1817 under the directorship of CGC Reinwardt. A memorial to Raffles’ wife still stands in the Gardens.

The Bogor Gardens today function as an ex situ conservation site, a research center for taxonomy and plant utilization. In horticulture the Gardens study adaptation, planting and propagation of plants and develop the science of plant growing.

Borobudur : A Wonder of Indonesia History

The magnificent Borobudur temple is the world’s biggest Buddhist monument, an ancient site widely considered to be one of the world’s seven wonders. Built in the 9th century during the reign of the Syailendra dynasty, the temple’s design in Gupta architecture reflects India's influence on the region, yet there are enough indigenous scenes and elements incorporated to make Borobudur uniquely Indonesian. This awe inspiring monument is truly a marvel. After a visit here you will understand why it is Indonesia’s most visited tourist attraction and a famous icon of Indonesia’s cultural heritage.

Located on the island of Java, the temple sits majestically on a hilltop overlooking lush green fields and distant hills. It covers an enormous area, measuring 123 x 123 meters. The monument is a marvel of design, decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues. The architecture and stonework of this temple has no equal.  And it was built without using any kind of cement or mortar! The structure is like a set of massive interlocking Lego blocks held together without any glue.

The temple has remained strong even through ten centuries of neglect. It was rediscovered in 1815, buried under volcanic ash. In the 1970’s the Indonesian Government and UNESCO worked together to restore Borobudur to its former majesty The restoration took eight years to complete and today Borobudur is one of Indonesia and the world’s most valuable treasures.

The temple is decorated with stone carvings in bas-relief representing images from the life of Buddha. Commentators claim that this is the largest and most complete ensemble of Buddhist reliefs in the world, unsurpassed in artistic merit.

This monument is both a shrine to the Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. The ten levels of the temple symbolize the three divisions of the religion’s cosmic system. As visitors begin their journey at the base of the temple, they make their way to the top of the monument through the three levels of Budhist cosmology, KÄ�madhÄ�tu (the world of desire), Rupadhatu (the world of forms) and Arupadhatu (the world of formlessness). As visitors walk to the top the monument guides the pilgrims past 1,460 narrative relief panels on the wall and the balustrades.

The whole monument itself resembles a giant stupa, but seen from above it forms a mandala. The great stupa at the top of the temple sits 40 meters above the ground.  This main dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues seated inside perforated stupa.

Historians suggest that the name of Borobudur comes from the Sanskrit ‘Vihara Buddha Uhr’ or the ‘Buddhist monastery on the hill’.

Mount Bromo : Witnessing The Fascinating Sunrise

While it may be small when measured against other volcanoes in Indonesia, the magnificent Mt Bromo will not disappoint with its spectacular views and dramatic landscapes. At 2392 meters tall, Mt Bromo is not among the tallest of Indonesia’s mountains but its stunning beauty lies in its incredible setting.

From a vantage point on Mount Penanjakan (2,770 meters above sea level) visitors from around the world come to see the sunrise over Mt Bromo. From this spot the vista is magnificent. All you will hear is the click of cameras as visitors snap their camera’s hoping to capture the incredible scene of Mt Bromo in the foreground with Mt Semeru smoking in the distance and the sun shining brightly, quickly rising in the sky. 

The eerie landscape has spurned countless legends and myths. Mt Bromo has particular significance for the Tengger people who believe that this was the site where a brave prince sacrificed his life for his family. The people here appease the Gods once a year during the annual Kasada festival where offerings of vegetables, chickens and money are thrown into the crater of the volcano.

Surabaya : A City of Heroes

This big thriving city is the crowded capital of East Java. Home to many of the nation’s fiercest independence fighters, the city is known to locals as Kota Pahlawan (City of Heroes) and around the city you will see scatered statues commemorating many heroes of the independence movement.

Historically this city used to be the trading hub for the illustrious inland empires of Java, that included Majapahit, Singosari and Kediri.  Situated on the mouth of the Brantas river, Surabaya was officially founded in 1293 on the site of a legendary battle between a shark (sura) and crocodile (baya).

Today Surabaya is a modern industrial city, considered the economic and trading centre of Eastern Java as well as home to the nation’s navy. Second only to Jakarta in size, population and commerce, this is a massive city of over three million people.

With 21st century shopping malls, colonial era buildings and business high rises, this city represents a melting pot of Javanese culture with modern industrial development.

For visitors, highlights of the city include it’s zoological gardens, the immaculately presented Sampoerna museum or a visit to the island of Madura where you can experience the excitement and thrill of a local bull race. The city is also an ideal base to explore the other attractions of East Java including Mt Bromo, the cool mountain retreats of Malang and the natural beauty of Ijen Plateau.