Food pictures will be predictably awful. But it’s nice to be writing in this space again. I spend a lot of time trying to sort out messy thoughts. Writing about food is like treading shallow depths; I’m just appreciating what gives me comfort.
I was in Jogjakarta for 4 weeks. In those 4 weeks, 3 days were spent in Lombok. Thank goodness we only had to spend 3 days in Lombok. I only remembered to take photos of my food when my phone was on me (which was rare).
Some food was fancier than others. The only fancy stuff that was any good is already pictured. (It’s amazing that my fancy food photographed much better than my street food. It’s like my camera knew. Or maybe I was just more excited to eat street food. Likely.)
Italian food seems popular in Jogjakarta. Pizza Hut here is apparently mid-end dining. There are local twists to both pizza and pasta. I didn’t care much for any of it. They didn’t photograph well and weren’t particularly memorable, so…whatever.
I’m not a very enthusiastic food blogger, am I?
What I enjoyed was just simple food done well. Often times, it was just fried/grilled fish with sambal and rice. And I was a sucker for roast duck. I love duck.
And, my goodness, tempeh. I could have that day and night. Their local drinks were remarkably good, too.
SMTJ – highly recommended. Especially if you’re sick like I was. It’s an acronym for susu (milk), madu (honey), telur (egg), and jahe (ginger). If it were available everywhere…I’d order it everywhere.
There was also bubble milk tea at Calais. It’s a local brand of bubble milk tea, originally made popular by Taiwanese outlets. Pretty expensive. Always understocked. But their fried enoki was so good. I’ll have to try and replicate it. How hard can it be?
Calais was mostly a lesson in good marketing. Write inspirational quotes on the side of the cup, make your logo a mustachioed hat, and provide a phone booth that doesn’t work, so people can take very many photos.
They’re clever. I approve. Roast milk tea is the best thing they have, I’d argue. If you need internet in a pinch and don’t mind the pop-ups they inundate you with every 15 minutes, you’ll get very decent internet there.
Also, their toilet has toilet paper. That was the mark of a good toilet in Jogjakarta.
The frying of keropok and the preparation of tempeh totally deserves the screen space.
I went mad for local fruit. Like a kid in a candy store with all the money in the world. (Fruit > Candy, any day.) Durians not pictured because they were being sold off a truck and the lighting was terrible.
Why anyone would choose run-of-the-mill apples and pears is beyond me. Don’t get me wrong, there are excellent apples and pears. They’re just not often found in Indonesia. Why the heck would you buy them here?
It’s like buying a bleh Cavendish when you actually get variety in places like this. Pisang raja is particularly excellent. It’s hard to come by these days, though.
Playing Tourist
Couldn’t not go to Borobudur.
You need extreme patience to take photos with all the people milling around.
I had no such patience.
Could pass on the souvenirs, though. If it’s your thing, they are cheap, though. And sellers will drag their prices down in desperation toward the end of the day.
There was also Merapi. Only go in the morning. Stop by at a makeshift museum and admire the devastation that comes from living near an active volcano.
Also, go hoping that there is no cloud cover. Behold the clouds.
We also went to a local favourite at Pacitan. The beach was 4 hours from Jogjakarta. I had never felt so violently ill as when I had spent 4 hours on that bus.
Was it worth it? Yeah, sure.
More worth it, though? Bakmi on the roadside 10 minutes away from Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Anddd we’re back at food again.
What a good place to be.
Just Three Bites 