Travel: Jimbocho Old Book Festival

Supposed to go to this event last Saturday, but the squall (well, not really but still it was harsh rain with lots of wind, made me more reluctant to get out of bed) made me stayed at my room. Went on a sunny Sunday instead. And apparently there's a lot of people who had the same plan.

This was my first time to go to this district, a very well known area for publishers, rights agents and book store it turned out to be! Duh! should have known that before... Passed the sign for Iwanami Shoten along the way...

As the name "festival" pointed out, me and my friend took the wrong turn and went to the less crowded part of Jimbocho and browsed around there, until we finally realized that we should went to the center of the festival first while the time was still young. By the time we got there, the place was sooo swamped with people, we barely can see anything that was displayed.

I went with a tight budget, and a more tighter strain inside my head, because it was the end of the month and the monthly life support hasn't came. But alas, "kalap" was the word, as I always do when it has anything to do with books, I went and got myself five books, one postcard collection of old jimbocho street and one Shinhwa CD (boy, I was such a sucker for cheap price! It was only 500 yen! A brand new CD!!!)--the little sis would probably like it.

So I got this:

1. The Charlie Brown Dictionary, cause I'm such a Peanuts' fan

2. Charlie Brown's Super Book of Questions and Answer, look at the reason above...

3. Lonely Planet: Korea, yup, I'm going there next month, might as well be prepared

4. Nihon wa naze sensou wo hajimetanoka (= Why did Japan start the war?), for my "light" reading... NOT!

5. Sumatora no Yoake (= Sumatra's Morning Star), also for my research

Right now, I'm a bit regretting the fact that I didn't go to Yasukuni Jinja and see what it's all about. Probably because my backpack was heavy with all those books... **sigh

Note: Jimbocho can be reach using several lines, but I chose the Shin-Shinjuku line from Shinjuku station to Jimbocho station. Jimbocho is weel-known for its rows and rows of book stores and publishers' office; guess this is why they called it the book area.

Travel: Hitotsubashi University

Among other things that I like about my campus are its old romantic buildings. And the surrounding of it also. It has two campus area: West and East, which are separated by this beautiful street called Sakura Douri.

As the name itself has suggested, in spring, this street is filled with rows of sakura trees from different kinds (pink, white, greenish, etc). That is why many people come to the university for hanami (flower viewing).

The vast area inside the campus complex sometimes also served as a garden for families, children, or anyone to spend some time, sitting and reading, painting and so on.

Too bad I didn`t took any good pictures from that period of time (the sakura only bloom for about a week). I'll definitely gonna took some more next year :-)

Oh yeah, the campus itself can be reached after walking about 5-7 minutes from Kunitachi station (JR train, Chuo-sen).

Images: taken by chihiro, May 2nd, 2007

Travel: Korean Restaurant "Gahyo"

GAHYO
Jl Jenderal Sudirman Kav. 52053 Lot. 6
Jakarta Selatan
Telp 021-52897044

If you ever want to taste some of the Korean delicacies (Hanguk Emsik), I would very much recommend you to Gahyo at Jalan Sudirman. Though did not look too promising from the outside---you cannot see it from the main road; it’s located at the back of Milenia, at one of the alleys. On busy days, you barely can see it, as it is covered by cars parking at the front of it---once you’re inside, you will become a bit reassured.

The rectangle restaurant is divided into two types of seating: western style (with tables and chairs) and the oriental style (with platform, short legged tables, and seat cushions). There was also a small island of bar at the middle of the room. Wanting to have the complete eastern experience, we chose the oriental style seating; taking our shoes off, hoping our feet would not betray and go dead on us ;-p

There were of course the barbeque selections on the menu, but as we want to try the foods with gukgi (clear soup) or cigae (thickly spiced, sometimes oily, soup), we only had our eyes on that group. I wanted to order the Kimchi Cigae (cigae with meat and kimchi), but too bad they only have the pork one, so I have to pass. I order the Jukkejang (cigae with beef and mushrooms) instead.

What I loved about this restaurant was the complete banchan (side dishes) that they served. They were many of them!!! (Quantity sometimes does still rules over quality!!! Hahaha) On my first visit, I counted them, and there were about seven types of banchan: including kimchi, vegetable pancake (a bit like Japanese okonomiyaki), and bean pasted spinach (my favorite!), and eggs tofu, etc. You can see more from the pictures I took. And I found out at my second visit that the set of these banchans were not always the same, so you expect different sets on one day and the other.

The tea they served tasted and smelled like the Japanese mugicha (usually drink cold during the summer). I instantly fell for it. I didn’t expect that mugicha also tasted delightful when served hot. Oh, and thank god for the free refill!!!

Stepping out from Gahyo with full tummy probably can well be expected with the price over Rp100.000 each. But, guess what?! We only spent about Rp60.000 each after tax, only because of the cigae’s price. The banchan is for free and if one serving wasn’t enough, you can get another refill!!! So I guess now you’ve known why I like this place so much. The thought of coming in and order only white rice will certainly come to mind… ;-p

Amidst all the good review, sadly the restrooms were not as those of the high-class restaurant. And where taste is concerned, I will have to admit that at the second visiting, the taste of the Jukkejang could not be described as mind-blowing, but if you’re insist on having great collections of banchan, this is definitely the place.

Pictures taken by Chihiro 2006: (1) Banchan (2) More Banchan ;-p (3) Jukkejang and bab (rice)

Travel: Solo's Culinary Experience

When coming to Solo (in central Java), you definitely cannot escape from the Javanese delicacies, which are more often than not, made with those rich santan (milk made from squeezing the white flesh of coconut kernel). Here’s my full recommendation for the complete culinary adventure of the one-day menu in Solo---always successfully made my waist shapeless every time I’m spending a holiday there:

Start your MORNING with a tall glass of super sweet tea (the term “add sugar” is probably won’t be needed for Javanese people, as I always go with “add water/ice, please”. The thought while sipping this beverage is always “I’m drinking sugar with a splash of tea, instead of drinking tea with sugar.” And of course the traditional nasi liwet: rice made with santan, usually accompanied with boiled chicken, boiled scramble egg, and the delicious white sauce-look-alike made from---can you guess??—santan!! YUMMY…

The NOON won’t be complete without Hayam Wuruk’s great fried/grilled tender-bones chicken, the fried ones usually accompanied with delicious golden crispies that goes soooo well with warm rice… slurphhh… the bones are so tender, you barely can tell the difference between bones and meat. And, oh, of course, don’t forget the tall glass of super sweet tea… (Oh my dear poor bladder.) For dessert, don’t forget the sweet traditional snacks jajanan pasar such as onde-onde, kelepon, etc.

In the AFTERNOON you’ll hear the soft ding ding sound drifting in cool afternoon’s air that come from the wedang ronde vendor’s bell, luring us to call the vendor, and enjoying the warm and sweet wedang ronde: ginger beverage.

And then for DINNER, the whole experience wouldn’t be complete without a nice warm beef clear soup, famously known as soto kwali. Even though there are several other warungs (delis/stalls) or restaurants that are offering this menu, my recommendation is my family’s all time favorite: “Soto daging sapi, Kwali Asli, Pak Kasiyo.” The warung is located in front of SMP Negeri 13 Surakarta (beautiful old building, by the way), at Jalan St Syahrir (widuran), before number 83-85, next to Adam Air and a notary’s office.Only opens at night, I think, with long hours, maybe until three in the morning or when the soup all sold out.

As the term “warung” suggested, don’t be too surprised to find it rather dark, cramp (mostly caused by so many people trying to get a seat there), and a bit lack on the clean side. But I always find the look has a certain charm: all that Salman Khan and Rani Mukherjee’s and F4/other Taiwanese idols’ calendars, local celebrities (perhaps) doing their first project as the glasses' or automobile garage’s model calendars on its walls. Stuffs like that really can create a classic atmosphere rarely found in other places nowadays.

As for the food: HEAVENLY! Especially after the long drive from Jakarta, when your whole body had seemed to go dead on you, and the car’s air conditioner had froze you for hours. The warm nice clear soup is usually accompanied with empal gepuk (sweetened beef fry), steamed eggs, perkedel (fried mashed potatoes), etc; it’s your choice. Ah, and then after that, don’t forget to wash all that down with the super sweet tall glass of tea… ;-p

Felt a bit guilty after gulping all that? Well, to tell you the truth, I did too. Cause while some people are loosing their puppy fat when they get older, I seemed to have been gaining them this last few years… *shucks… But, hey, it’s okay! We’re on holiday! (^___^)v

Travel: Hotel Plaza, Semarang

Hotel Plaza
Jl Setiabudi 101-103
Semarang 50263 Indonesia
Ph. 024-7473188

After estimating that we would not be able to pass Cirebon before midnight with the mudik rush traffic, my dad decided to stay at Semarang on our way home to Jakarta from Solo (October 27th, 2006). The hotel he chose was Hotel Plaza, located at Setiabudi Street.

The hotel was built with bungalows concept (little houses-like) complete with garages. The houses, the rooms, and garages' size differ, of course, depends on the rate. Our room consisted of one comfy king size bed, one cupboard, a sofa and an armchair, one big mirror, and a desk, a 17-20-inch TV, and a small fridge. The bathroom was with bathtub and hot water. It was fully satisfying for a mere Rp240.000 (felt like something more!). Don’t expect ESPN or CNN or Cartoon Network or cabels, though, the channels were strictly local. The room was clean, no funny odor on the sheets and pillows, nicely air-conditioned, bathroom’s appliances even looked new.

The downside was that you’ll have to climb the stairs from the garage to your room. But of course if your luggages were too heavy, you can always asked the bellboy to help. There was one more minor problem: getting breakfast. I found out that we have to walk for about five minutes or more (depends on whether you are a slow-walker or a fast-walker; I considered myself as a rather fast one) to get to the main building where the breakfast was served. I didn’t mind the walking, I kind of enjoyed it actually, but then I found out that the dining hall was better to be left unexplored.

The hall was too dark to bring out your appetite. After sitting a while, you’ll realize that the air was a bit damp and felt rather suffocating. I was not sure whether this was caused by bad air conditioner, or the drapes that were left un-open even though it was already eight o’clock of a hot and shiny morning (it looked rather filthy, or was it just because of its color?), or the gloomy and dirty covers that enveloped the tables and chairs (the table cloths were almost solid pink while the chairs’ were navy blue!). I caught a glimpse of a rusty folded chair under its depressing blue cover.

The food was nowhere from making you better, the food utensils made it worst. But thank God, there was this nice porridge made with santan (milk squeezed from coconut kernel white flesh) and hot tea. But I guess in this case, expecting anything else could be ungrateful. **Hey, with that rate, you already got a good night sleep and now you demand star hotel’s gourmet?

Over all, a recommended place if you want to crash, but as a place to eat… ummm, better find somewhere else.

Notes for pictures taken by chihiro Oct 28, 2006: 1) Front view of Hotel Plaza 2) Front view of our room 3)&4) Inside view of our room (sorry for the little mess ;-p)

Travel: Sam Po Kong Temple, Semarang

After all those years just driving through, we finally got the chance to visit this historical temple last long weekend (August 20^th, 2006). The temple was located in the city of Semarang, central Java. You can easily drive past it on the way to Yogyakarta from Jakarta. No charge on admittance but I think it’s best to wear something modest—there were no written dress-code at the temple but nevertheless… after all the temple was a sacred place and many people still come and pray there.

I was really surprised to see how spacious it was. Up until now I always pictured it as one big temple, but instead I got to see a complex of one big main temple, two small temples each on its side, and one under construction—I think this one is going to have some kind of water features in front of it, also a quite large inside-ground in front of the temples, and all of this was surrounded with high, so very forbidden city like, walls. Lovely.

The complex was so much bigger than the one I went to see in Melaka, Malaysia, and Sam Po Kong’s statue was thinner in Semarang ;-p If you enter the main temple, you will find a long relief that told the story of Sam Po Kong’s journey in three languages: English, Indonesian and Chinese, at the back of it.

In addition, there were also some construction works for the gate. Looks like they’re going to make it grander than the main entrance. Maybe we can expect a complete new Sam Po Kong temple next year.

Though the toilet was better off to be left unmentioned (the toilet for gents was an open row of urinoirs under a big tree! Hehe), there was a small shop at its side that sells beverages, T-shirts and stickers for those who like souvenirs. Don’t expect designer’s work, though.

Too bad I didn’t bring along the camera with a bigger memory space, so there were not much space left for pictures.

Travel: SPBU 44.521.08, Tegal

If you’re on a drive to central Java through the Pantura, or to any other places, there will come a time when you need to stretch out your legs and answer those nature calls. Ten years ago, though this may be too far away back, you simply could not find a decent toilet everywhere on the road. I remembered having to hold my breath and focusing hard on not noticing my surrounding when using the public toilets; they were usually dirty, icky, dark, damp, cramped, and especially funny smelled.

But thanks to the recent revolutionary development on SPBU, we seldom need to torture our bladders by holding the calls anymore. Almost everywhere you look, you will find grander, cleaner, and even mall-like gas stations in Jakarta or at any other roads on main routes. Some of them have Starbucks, Indomaret, decent mushala, etc.

SPBU 44.521.08 in Tegal certainly know how to win its crowd by putting the BIG sign of “Pemenang Penghargaan MURI untuk Fasilitas Toilet Terbanyak 67 Toilet”; some of them maybe stop there to satisfy their curiosities, while some… well, simply because they need to go. My family and me were there on the account of both, and the place was turned out to be truly accommodating. The toilets (for the ladies’ at least, didn’t went to the gents’ ;-p) were clean, bright, and spacious enough to have a comfy shower, and there were no funny odor there. The mushala also nicely build with air conditioner, clean carpets, and good place to take your wudhu. They also had some clean mukenas to lend.

Over all, this SPBU will be a good choice for us to rest a while. Oh, but just for a little tip: don’t be too surprised if you find a lot of foods/beverages that were overpriced on its store. Anyway, here’s the record found in www.muri.org for more details:

1297. SPBU YANG MEMILIKI FASILITAS TOILET TERBANYAK 67 TOILET (15 KAMAR MANDI/WC, 12 KAMAR MANDI/WC PRIA dan 40 URINOIR)
Pemegang Rekor: SPBU 44.521.08 Sintha Irawati-Tegal

Ibu Shinta Irawati menumpangkan rekor lamanya sendiri di SPBU yang sama dahulu pada tanggal 16 Januari 2003, tercatat di MURI dengan jumlah fasilitas SPBU 44.521.08 tegal sebanyak 25 toilet (10 kamar mandi, 10 urinoir & 5 kamar mandi khusus pria) dan pada tanggal 30 Oktober 2004 sudah berjumlah 67 toilet. Fasilitas toilet ini layak masuk MURI sebagai SPBU yang memiliki fasilitas toilet terbanyak. Penyerahan Piagam dilakukan oleh Ibu Sri Widayati.

P.S. Sorry, no pictures. I got there with only one super urgent thing in mind. ;-p

Travel: Pandansari Beach, Kampung Samas

My father was feeling a bit adventurous, so he dragged us to this small beach in Kampung Samas—I used the word “drag” cause we were actually planning to go to Yogyakarta that day, even though we still visited it afterwards. To get to Pandansari Beach, we drove through Bantul and Kasongan—two areas that had suffered major destructions on Yogyakarta’s earthquake last May 27^th. So the journey was somewhat felt like a disaster area tour; this made me remembered a TV report about a woman who was a tour guide in New Orleans. She changed her tour theme after the Katrina hurricane and showed devastated areas to tourists. It was really sad to see crumbled houses and building—some were still hopelessly standing with lopsided parts and torn apart roofs, the survivor’ tents, etc.

By the way, Kasongan was a great area for those who like to buy ceramics or other ethnic decorations for your house. You can find artistic wooden flowers; shellfish picture frames, wind chimes, etc; water fountain statues; drapes; and many more with reasonable—sometimes even considerately low—prices. After the quake, the shops were looking rather heartbreaking, but seeing some of them already began opening their businesses again—with high spirit—made my heart warm.

The beach itself was a bit desolated, there’s only one warung (foods/beverages vendor) active, but there were also two or three other empty huts in its surrounding. Perhaps they were out of business after the quake, or maybe earlier than that, judging from the not-so-developed-area. One interesting point of this beach was the lighthouse; never saw a lighthouse first handily before. It was white and cool and made me remember a lot of romantic stories ;-p. You can climb its stairs with 2000 rupiahs, but I didn’t try it.

The wind was so strong that day; I have to set my feet rather deep into the sand when taking pictures with my back facing the sea. The waves were menacingly big, really gave me the chill when picturing such powerful waters hit the land as tsunami. The lighthouse keeper told us that there were small earthquakes very early that morning, and this probably was the reason for the strong wind and big waves. Oh dear God, cannot image living with constant fear after a natural disaster, wondering when will it strike again…