“Almost an Island” & Nobody’s an Island

This is not an island. Pseudo-island!, I said to Mamet, Hamok, n Ricka. As fas as eyes can see, Pulau Santolo is an unlikely island. it is like a large piece of land cut off from the mainland. It is about 5 meters away from the mainland. You can cross the river by swimming or 30 seconds boat trip! But who wouldve known that the island later revealed itself in its own way.

So after a long journey that produced a pain in the ass (for sitting for 8 hrs), we arrived at Pulau Santolo. Relieved, we hung the hammocks. The sea breeze lulled us to a deep daydreaming… I gazed to the roaring south sea, and thought, phew, a tsunami hit this area not long ago.

I put the terrifying thought to sleep and later off I went to the nearby hut-cum-resto and ordered coffee. I continued reading Nigel Barley’s shallow yet entertaining travel book, titled In the Footsteps of Stamford Raffles. I like it. I have read it through years ago and still find some chapters entertaining. Had Raffles been here to Garut anyway? Apparently no.

That afternoon after rain, we found a bale whose owners are very friendly. They din overprice the food. So we ordered 1 kg grilled ikan baronang, ½ kg grilled squid, ½ kg deep sea dwelling crabs aka rajungan, and ½ kg rice. A feast it was! I havent eaten any rajungan for decades! All tasted well and sooo delicious. A feast by the sea indeed.

At 22.00, nightmare began. The wind blew so strong it scattered anything. We woke up frightened. The wind literally screamed! We rushed ourselves to the nearby hut. The minute the hut owners shut their hut, I really began to panic. I felt I was left, exposed to the harsh wind. While we moved things, I saw friends looked so calm and I wondered how they did so. Have they been in this situation before?

Oh Lord, what if a tsunami happens?

The hut to which we moved ("salmon hut") was covered only on one side. The wind slapped the plastic spread like crazy. I tried hard to fix it. Hamok came to rescue and we were half wet. It rained, too!

I couldn’t sleep. I felt so tiny, dwarfed by the big storm…. I began to call on God’s names....I felt so exhausted that I fell asleep...

We woke up at 05.00. the sea was particularly calm. what a relief.

I thanked the island. How did i thank it? I said to it, how beautiful your rocks are! 

The island is a huge piece of solid rock. It has a natural "extension" of rock-beach about the size of 2 football fields. The wave will crash on to the rocky surface. That explained why we, despite the strong wind, stayed safe all the night.

Eating, Ubud style

It was good for us to postpone dinner until 9.30 pm. After brisk shower of superhot-and-icy water (Fajar got the last, sorry buddy tee hee), we headed to Bebek Bengil I at Jalan Hanoman. Only Rama'd been there before, so he acted as our guide. It was nice of him.

Lucky us, somebody was late that the reserved bale was given for us three. Forget the few mosquitoes, we were enjoying the view and ourselves. even in darkness, the sawahs looked beautiful. I could imagine how it looked in the daylight.

It was upscale eatery and we did our best to enjoy. Rama and I ordered Bebek Bengil Punch (?) one that combines coco milk (santan) with citrus juice (it tastes good). and of course the famed roast duck.

It arrived with fried sambal, mixed veg (urap), and the-long-expected-eventually-comes sambal matah (sliced chilli and garlic infused in heated oil). Yuuuummmmm...... the halved poultry was crunchy and tasty. and i had the sambal matah just for myself. And we were eating puluk--with hands, according to Sukarno. Life's good, no?



the morning after--after a light breakfast of sliced fruit and egg sandwich, and coffee--thank goodness Fajar remembered to try this roast suckling pig, Balinese style. the one that i watched on Discovery Channel. the place looked the same only with more people eating. we got the table at the bale and started the meal with hot orange drink (pomelo juice). and when it arrived.....hmmm my, my mouth watered. it looked heavily spiced and inviting. so i dipped my fingers and shoved it into my mouth.....and of course i got my tasty company, the sambal matah condiment. yum yum

the gravy was heavy and the meat soft and spicy. the meaty dish also got a hard piece of bacon. dry outside, soft and juicy inside. and the blood sausage also tasted good although it wasn't my favorite.

eating while sitting on the floor was good. loved the experience. surely i will come back



and dinner by the sea..... how romantic was that? not romantic but surely it was pleasant. we arrived at 8 and the wave was 3 meters away. in the distance we could see the twinkling private beaches, like 100 m away and on the right side was the airport. Rama was deeply drawn to the latter scene. no surprise since he's a son of a pilot. i din see the beauty until Rama counted every movement and maneuvre of planes. we stayed about one hr until the waves began licking our feet.

back to the table, we grilled red snapper, doughed squid, sauted watercress, and roast clams. the food was of medium taste but the experience was cool.

one thing i notice from Rama was he stopped eating when he felt full, while moi wouldn't stop until i felt fully stuffed. I respect his choice of lifestyle :)

It felt good, so good (Kuta)

previously this thought entered my mind: how nice it would be to sit on the sand, eating.

last week, i did it almost daily at Kuta. (And I have just realized it when i arrived in Jakarta.)

And it felt good, relaxed, and I was like, i could eat the whole ocean. I was constantly hungry at the beach hahaha. Even when i frequented the menu (nasi bungkus or nasi rames, always with a glass of coffee and a glass of hot tea), it felt awesome. After that, Fajar, Rama and I would lie on the sand, sleeping and then run into the water to welcomingly greet the neverending waves.

Life is good!

Seaside Rendezvous (Nusa Dua)

I am excited at the thought of having meals by the sea. Beach is my fav holiday spot but it has just got into my mind that to this day I have never munched anything by the sea. Just a regular sip of soft drink at Kuta with Johan and Delsy was blissful. That was a good 10 yrs ago.

Sitting on the sand, not chair, while holding plates and chatting will be more interesting.

Behind the Boards (Balikpapan)

bird's eye view of the city by the coast

Kittens at Patra Beach

The nationally acclaimed chili crabs :)

I've heard these many times: Dia sudah ada di balik papan (he is already behind the "boards". Boards means coffin) or dia ada di suka bumi (he loves earth) to say that a person has already died. Silly jokes.

This Tuesday to Thursday, I was in Balikpapan! I don't know why but I love this city already.

i hadn't read much about it only remembered that Kompas ever highlighted the city for four days last year. And unfortunately, i forgot to bring my Lonely Planet. So i was left to discover the city myself. and that was fun.

I had not much time, but i've got Patra Beach entirely for myself (i went there at 06.00 am) and local night food market where i felt much at home. You can find "bakso Malang", "sate Kediri", "Bakmi Jakarta" everywhere (One chaffeur joked, Balikpapan is 1/3 part Java, 1/3 part native, 1/3 part oil companies). If you want to find local taste, it is a bit difficult. I expected to find some sauted fern (pakis), fried patin, deer satay, but found no other than yummy chilli crabs. Yum yum! especially deep fried chilli crab with black pepper sauce.

to me: its face is a bit Bintaro here, a bit Malang there, a bit Depok here and there. but of course, local touch (Dayak motifs and carvings) is ubiquitous. Most importabtly: it's clean.

Carbs!

Eye candy: red cenil and green jenang

one day i had nasi (steamed rice), sayur nangka (unripe jackfruit with coconut sauce), tempe (soy cake), and kerupuk (chips) for lunch. and for the dessert: cenil and jenang (meals made of rice flour).

then i was so full and hardly move. i wondered why. my, those menu above are consisted mostly of carbs!


my thesisi: Indonesians are carb nations. we love carbs because it is affordable. Most importantly carbs are comfort food. They have the ability to stuff stomach.

Carbs here also make good desserts, especially traditional ones that we call jajanan pasar. My favorites are cenil and jenang with brown sugar sauce (they're sticky and 'bouncy'), tape singkong or fermented cassava, tape ketan hitam or fermented black glutinous rice (the alcohol level is high, tee hee), gethuk or cassava paste rolled on grated coconut, klepon or rice flour coated brown sugar, and dawet or cendol (rice flour cakes in brown sugar and coconut milk sauce). oh, just mentioning the names makes me salivate. i'm hungry.

the good thing is, I can find them most anywhere.

Sem

Gaudi-ful

by Dadan Ramadhan

Whenever I come home for holidays, I think it should be meaningful ones for me. I always feel I am like a tourist. Back then, I took it for granted. I'd never known what I'd got until I missed it. But it was not too late because I still can come home and spend much time there.

One particular hotel that had long attracted me was Hotel Tugu in the center of the regency. It is a place of eclecticism, full of totems, Bhuddas, miniature Sphinx, chunky Moroccan garden lamps, and all fascinating artifacts.

I love one special spot which in my opinion it draws inspirations from Antonio Gaudi's art nouveau. It was special moment just lingering there.