A Good Lunch at Indische Koffie Jogjakarta

Visiting a modern cafe isn't really in my priority list when wandering off at this cultural city. However, a random act out of the list doesn't hurt, right? After all, I am a type of rule-breaker though. 

It was a hot sunny day and we arrived at Vrederburg Fort just about lunch time. This cafe will be seen on the right side as soon as you pass through the front gate. Such a nice place to see when you were on an-empty-stomach-and-overheated mood, so my friend and I decided to stop by.

Indische Koffie turns out to be a great place to dine in. Its interior is the typical style of Dutch colonial architecture in Indonesia with blue-grey and brown color dominating the building. Furnished with nicely designed lamp and furniture, not to mention the paintings and old photographs on the wall, this cafe gives the classic and elegant impression.

Nice Interior of Indische Koffie 

The cafe has a quite big space for indoor and outdoor. I prefer staying inside with the dim sunlight and artificial lamp illuminating the room. Calm and chilly. Perhaps it's because of the weather, haha.

The serving is quite slow, but it's okay for me personally since I have enough time to see around the cafe. It offers the traditional and western menus. We ordered Tahu Guling, Teh Tarik, pasta, Cream Soup, Orange Punch, and Lime Squash.

I had a nicely plated Tahu Guling. Its broth has savory taste of peanuts sauce with fresh sour flavour of vinegar and citrus.The Tahu (Tofu) is fried slightly, giving a crispy skin texture. The addition of fried onion makes the final touch to its rich flavors. 

Traditional & Western Cuisine in one frame:
Tahu Guling vs Aglio E Olio
Both are yummy!

Orange Punch

Overall, the foods are tasty. Plus, the price isn't as expensive as we expected ( of course, it's a habit to compare to Jakarta's standard ). The soothing oldies songs with "Keroncong" ( Javanese music) style will make you enjoy to stay for a bit longer. A good ambience for drawing, reading or writing. Surely worth to visit!

Between Worship and Tourism

Worship places nowadays are known not only for praying activities but also for the tourism destinations. Supported by gorgeous buildings, they are surely interesting to be visited, especially for the architecture lovers ( like me, btw ) . I got a chance to visit two famous worship places during the trip around Semarang city ( Central Java ) , The Great Mosque of Central Java and Sam Poo kong Temple.

It was a lovely day when my photography club friends and I woke up early to chase the morning view at The Great Mosque. It is the biggest one in Central Java. Established in 2001, the building's designed with the mixture of Javanese, Arabic, and Roman architectural style. There are six large hydraulic umbrellas in front of the mosque. The yard is surrounded by 'Colosseum-style' pillars and decorated with Arabian calligraphy. Another attraction is a 99-metres -high tower named Al Husna that provides a museum, cafe, and viewing tower.

Agung Mosque 

Beautiful Architecture of Agung Mosque

Pretty curve of 'Colosseum Style' Mosque Pillars

Al Husna Tower 

Luckily, on the last day of our club's trip schedule, we got a half day of free time . Most members spent it leisurely in the city mall. Meanwhile, two of my friends and I decided to visit Sam Poo Kong Temple. We thought it's gonna be such a waste to miss this place since we could find a mall in any city. We took a public transport ( angkot ) there in the midst of sunny day. Yeah, Semarang city's so hot.

Sam Poo Kong Temple is the oldest Chinese temple in Semarang. It was first established by Chinese explorer, Admiral Zheng He ( Cheng Ho ) . Sam Poo Kong temple complex has five temples : Sam Poo Kong, Tho Hee Kong, Kyai Juru Mudi,Kyai Jangkar, and Cundrik Bumi Temple. There are also stone carvings on the wall illustrating the journey of Admiral Cheng Ho.

The Complex of Sam Poo Kong Temple 

The temple is full of beautiful carving

One of the Altar Inside Temple

The Front Gate 

The Stone Carving of Admiral Cheng Ho's Journey

The Statue of Admiral Cheng Ho 

Both mosque and temple buildings are so beautiful. Just try to see the differences with an open mind and heart, and you can always find the good in them. Despite what religion you believe in, you will feel one thing for sure, filled in every worship places, The Serenity.

*taken on August 2012, copyright: Dian Permatasari

 please kindly insert the credit for reposting

Bali-Lombok Photostream

Ulan Danu Temple 

The Guardian of The Cave ( Tanah Lot) 

Garuda Wisnu Kencana 

The Faces Behind the Barong 

Balinese Traditional Musician in Garuda Wisnu Kencana

A Beautiful Italian Girl who Kindly Posed for Us at Dream Land Beach 

Catching the Flare through The Cliff at Dream Land Beach 

Sasak Tribe's Traditional Architecture, Lombok 

Paddy Harvest ( Sasak Tribe )  

The Spinner Granny 

Sasak Tribe's Crafts 

A Granny is Chewing Her Betel Leaf 

Sunset at Senggigi Beach, Lombok

 *taken on April 2011, copyright: Dian Permatasari

 please kindly insert the credit for reposting

The Hidden Mystical Village in Bali, TRUNYAN

What places come to your mind when Bali is mentioned? Kuta beach, Tanah Lot, and Ubud probably are on the top list. What about Trunyan? Have you ever heard that name?

Trunyan is a village located near Lake Batur, Kintamani subdistrict. This is a special interest destination for those who are curious and fond of mystical or strange thing. What makes Trunyan “not an ordinary village” is how the locals treat the “dead body”. Instead of being buried or cremated, the corpses are only laid on the ground and guarded by bamboo fence. The strange thing here is, though they are exposed to the air, THE CORPSES ARE NOT SMELLY!

The sky looked pale. The sun was hiding behind the clouds when my photography club partners and I drove down to the small dock by the lake. The wind was blowing quite strong. In brief, it was overcast ( sometimes I wonder why writers must use many sentences just to describe one word but now I’m doing it too, lol ). The road was small and rough with forest on one side and cliff on the other side, therefore you must be careful ( jadi please siapin sopir yang udah berpengalaman, yah kira kira yang selevel sopir kopaja atau metromini gitu lah, lol ).

We got into a small boat. No one was there beside our small group, I could only hear the sound of crickets and ourselves. The rain started to fall. The mist was chasing behind, making the atmosphere more chilly. We met another group who departed before us and waving happily to them. We crossed the lake for about 45 minutes.

A view of Mount and Lake Batur, Kintamani. It's where we took a rest before driving down to Trunyan. 

The misty and serene Lake Batur 

Another group of tourists we met on the way to the village

Trunyan Village 

We were accompanied by a local people to the cemetery called Sema Wayah. Only the people who died naturally, already married, single, and kids who had lost their milk teeth can be put here. Meanwhile, babies are put in Sema Muda, and people who died in an accident in Sema Bantas. A huge tree caught my attention when I reached this place. Its name’s Taru Menyan ( Taru means tree and Menyan means fragrant ) and later became the village name. The tree was the reason why the corpses were not smelly. It was believed to be able to release a certain chemical that neutralize the rotten smell.

There were lots of skulls neatly put below the tree. At first, I was doubt to take a look at the corpses, but my curiousity won over my fear. I walked slowly to the bamboo fence. There were several corpses with different death timing  but none of them recently put at that time, so all you can see were the bones of heads, hands and legs since the bodies were covered by clothes. And yes, there wasn’t any smell except the humid ground because of the rain. Unfortunately, the rain was getting harder, so I could only take several pictures in hurry.

Skulls from different ages are neatly arranged 

The cemetery  

The Taru Menyan Tree

The corpse was covered by white fabric. It's a head beside the plastic bag.
I usually remove unnecessary thing like the plastic,
but obviously not for this case :) 

It wasn’t as frightening as I thought actually. Yeah, you could call me weird but when I looked at the corpses, I wondered they were once a human like us. Like a lesson in religions, whether you are beautiful or not, rich or not, we will eventually become like that. And what’s anything left to take beside the good that we done? Though in fact I’m not a religious person, I couldn’t agree more. Well, let me end this post by a quote from Albert Enstein :

" Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life. "

TOBOALI, Where Everything is Started

Growing up surrounded by the beauty of nature is a precious thing I have in my early life. Toboali is a small town located in Southern tip of Bangka island, about two hours drive from the airport in Pangkalpinang city, Indonesia.

I remember my childhood playing time was spent mostly outside. The afternoon sun light was biting our skin as my friends and I rode our bikes to the beach nearby. We pushed the bikes along the shoreline, letting the waves swept our feet with their warmth. There are many lovely sea creatures on the sand such as kelomang ( hermit crab ), remis ( mussel ), etc. The breeze messed up our hair, but we didn’t care. We ran, laughed, and sprayed each other with the sea water. And when the sun goes down, we were standing silently watching the orange light decorating the skies.

Then, we rushed to come home and got rid the sand out of the wheels so that our parents didn’t know we were from the beach ( they wouldn’t let us to play on the beach without the watch, lol ). Well, we were actually afraid of getting caught, but the excitement out there wouldn’t wait, right?

Enjoying the sunset

Bom beach, 5 minutes from the downtown

Batu Perahu and Bom beach are muddy so they are not recommended for swimming. They are used by local fisherman as docks. Yet, the beaches are often visited by the teenagers or families to gather and watch the sunset.

If you are looking for the nice places to swim, I will say Gunung Namak and Kerasak beach are the favorites here. It takes one hour drive from the downtown. Like the typical beaches in Bangka Belitung province, they have piles of giant granite rocks. Though the beaches are wavy at the certain season, there are some calm spots near the rocks.

Gunung Namak Beach 

Rocks, rocks, and rocks ! 

A lovely hemit crab

* the pictures were taken on August 2013