Alun Alun (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

"Alun Alun" is a huge empty field in the middle of Yogya which from I understand is sort of common area for everyone in the city. It is essentially a big grassy field with large patches of dirt where the locals drive their motorcycles, buses, cyclos, and cars to and basically just hang out under the stars. What is nice about this area however is that it attracts lots of little food vendors and makeshift restaurants. My mom, Aunt, and two of my cousins came by to Jogya last weekend to visit me and we went to Alun Alun twice because the food was really good.

Yum. My moms fresh egg noodles with egg and fried rice mixed with noodles (best of both worlds I say)



Ronde: Hot ginger dessert (think ginger tea with peanut and palm sugar mochi balls and palm jelly)

Hard at work making some awesome food

The street cart they work out of

Makeshift restaurant space

Rice

Alun Alun

Food cart central. Most of them serve the exact same things though.



Mt. Merapi Volcano Hike (Jogyakarta, Indonesia)

Jogyakarta sits at the base of Merapi volcano so it was impossible not to visit it. Merapi is currently, and has been for the past several years ranked the most active volcano in the world. In 2010 Merapi blew up and caused widespread destruction. The volcano itself has also changed as the top of Merapi blew off when it erupted and now has a large gauge on it's south side which you can see in my pictures.

We began the 6 hr hike at 5AM (we were suppose to leave at 4AM but it was raining) hoping to catch the sunrise but we unfortunately missed it because of the delay. I was a bit disappointed we were unable to climb further up the volcano because of the toxic gas, but I was still happy to be way above the cloud line. It was however amazing to see how fast plants are able to grow back when just two years ago every on the volcano was destroyed by the volcanic gas, ash and lava. I was told that you are able to hike further up the volcano from the north side so I will certainly have to put that on my list for next time.

All the greenery you see is brand new within the past two years since it exploded in 2010





Night view. You can still see the  smoke coming out of the volcano.



Hiking through the new brush and dead trees

Dead trees from the last eruption

Gorges carved by the hot lava when the volcano last exploded. You can see the solid lava in the 'river bed'

Solid lava

My hiking group

Meal Time 2 (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)



I went with people from my office to a Padang Restaurant (Padang is a region in Northern Sumatra) this weekend and had a good time eating a lot of the Padang dishes I use to eat when I last lived in Indonesia. In Padang restaurants they put 12-15 dishes on your table and what you pay only for the items you eat (there is usually two of each items on each dish). My favorite dishes are: steamed papaya leaves, green chili sambal, jackfruit curry, and the fried chicken (only because I like the seasoning its fried in and I rub the seasoning on hot white rice and typically give the chicken to my mom)

Padang food for lunch.



So cute. And yes there is actually a coconut drink inside.

Mix vegetables with peanut sauce and grilled fish

Nasi goreng (fried rice) with lots and lots of red and orange chilies.

"Bubur Ayam" aka rice porridge with chicken, green onion, sweet soya sauce, sambal, and slices of
fried Chinese doughnut. My favorite.

Bubur Dagen: specialty dessert porridge made from glutinous rice flour and coconut cream mixed with red palm sugar syrup.

"Mie" aka noodles with egg.



Eating on the side of the road :)

Pecel Solo Restaurant (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

I was taken to lunch the other day to Pecel Solo Restaurant here in Yogya and was fascinated by the restaurant. Forget the menu, it was the style of the restaurant that was its highlight. The restaurant is styled with old Javanese teak furniture, ceiling beams, and decoration. The most unique thing about the restaurant however is that you can eat on the beds! They've taken beautifully carved solid teak beds and turned them into eating platforms. Very cool.

This gives an all new meaning to eating in bed

Lol

Beef soup with rice, 100 year old egg, and a big Indonesian shrimp craker

Legian Restaurant (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

Cusine: Indonesian
Location: Jl. Malioboro

I decided I had to make a stop during my time here to a restauarant that my family has been going to ever since my dad first came to Indonesia nearly 30 years ago. The restuarant is situated on a busy corner on Jl. Malioboro and overlooks the the main drag full of batik sellers in the city. When I was younger I remember the restaurant having many hanging plants coming down from the ceiling (like in Koutukis Restaurant in Edmonton) and was sorting an oasis in the city. While the restaurant is not as good as it use to be, it was certainly still worth a visit to not just the only real restauant on that street but also an iconic one.

View from my table overlooking Jl. Malioboro

Melon soda: melon syrup and soda water

Tempeh and tahu goreng (fried tofu) with sambal bawang (garlic sambal). I wish they gave me more sambal, it was
really really good.

Beef rendang: I've had better. This was more like beef curry. Rendang is supose to be beef slowcooked in coconut milk, spices and chili untill it is soft enough that they beef is supose to fall apart.

Love this

Cute eating area

Street Food (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

Yogya's specialty food is a dish called "gudek" which is essentially young jackfruit slowcooked in coconut milk, palm sugar and spices. It is a rather sweet dish and is served with rice and "krechek", beef skin cooked in some sort of spicy sauce. I couldnt tell you what it tastes like because I find the thought of jelly-like beef skin quite nasty, but you are more than welcome to try it yourself and let me know.

Forget eating on a patio, how about on the ground on the side of the road? :)

My gudek (the brown stuff), with rice, tofu, and that nasty beek skin which ended up on my plate dispite telling them
I didn't need it. I just made sure it did not touch anything I was actually going to eat :)

Kretchek

YUM fresh sambal

Making my food

Sasanti Restaurant (Jogyakarta, Indonesia)

Cuisine: Indonesian
Location: Next door to the Grand Hyatt Jogyakarta

I recently had my birthday here in Jogya and to celebrate some of the people from the office took me for a lovely dinner at Sasanti. The restaurant itself was absolutely beautiful. There was a nice little garden and pond at the back of the restaurant and all the furniture and decorations where done in the modern Javanese style.

View of the garden

Clockwise: garlic stir fried kankung (morning glory), grilled praws, duck, and rendang. All served with a side of
various sambal (chili sauce), stir fried papaya leaves, and spicy tempeh. We also had salmon wrapped in papaya leaves
with beans and shrimp in a coconut broth.

Fish with tomato chili sambal sauce

Three differnt types of rice to choose from: yellow, coconut, and brown rice