Author: Yupa

Es Teler, a Hint of Freshness to Awaken Your Appetite

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Es Teler, in literal translation is drunken ice, but with zero amount of alcohol in it. The word “teler” or drunken, came from a customer who commented that the ice drink made them drunk as it is too delicious. But in fact, Es Teler is a name for a variaton of fruit cocktail mixed with shaved ice. It originated from es campur or mixed ice, added with a few of new ingredients, thus, became Es Teler.

As a tropical country, there are so many variations of tropical fruit drinks in Indonesia. A few cuts of avocado, young coconut, grass jelly, and jackfruit can be found inside one portion of Es Teler serving. With added sugar, coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, and pandan leaf, it has a fragrant aroma and a sweet flavor. Its colorful appearance will awaken your appetite.

Es Teler is perfect to drink for Jakarta’s hot weather in dry season. Es Teler menu can be found in restaurants, as well as by the side of the street, sold by street peddlers in their carts. And because majority of Indonesian population are Muslim, especially around Ramadhan or the fasting month, many people are selling Es Teler as takjil or appetizer before iftar comes. It is to freshen the throat before eating a full meal.

The original creator of Es Teler, Tukiman Darmowijono was selling es campur in a small cart in some street in Jakarta in the 1970’s. After starting to sell Es Teler, his business had been grown rapidly ever since. In this present day, his stall is still standing in the heart of Jakarta, known as Es Teler Sari Mulia Asli.

With a price as affordable as IDR 23.000 or around $1.5 USD, you can have a glass of fresh and sweet Es Teler on your table. Not only Es Teler, but you can also choose to have other menu of ice fruit drinks such as avocado ice only, coconut ice only, or just a simple orange juice.

Join our Food Tour, and we will take you to experience a refreshing journey. Taste a glass of Es Teler, a drunken ice that will not make you drunk, but make you sober instead!

A Sip of Refreshing Drinks in Jakarta Amidst the Heat

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Refreshing Drinks in Jakarta are all you need to ward off the hot weather in Jakarta. Indonesia is a tropical country, which only has two seasons throughout the year, dry season and wet season. Especially in Jakarta, the weather is particularly hot during the dry season. To sooth their throat amidst the hot days, Indonesian came up with varied creations of iced drinks, therefore, iced beverages are easily found almost everywhere in Indonesia.

The most popular iced drinks are iced tea and iced coffee, as Indonesia is one of the largest producers of tea leaves and coffee beans. Most restaurants, food courts, or warteg includes iced tea and coffee on their menus. Aside from those two options, as a tropical country, there are also many kinds of iced drinks made from tropical fruits, es teler, es cendol durian, soda susu, and es kelapa are a few examples of Drinks in Jakarta.

Es teler is some kind of Indonesian fruit cocktail, it is usually consisting of avocado, coconut milk, grass jelly, jackfruit, and other fruits, added with ice. While for es kelapa, only consists of coconut meat, coconut water and ice, sometimes with sugar. Another variant of fruit drink is es cendol durian, durian fruit combined with a kind of snack made with rice flour, shaped with a sieve, mixed with sugar and coconut milk. There is also soda susu or soda gembira. Some kind of drink made from milk, red soda, and ice. Most of them have a sweet and refreshing flavor.

Not only iced drinks, hot and warm drinks are also popular as an option for Drinks in Jakarta. Hot tea and coffee are no question. In addition, there is a drink named wedang ronde. It is a product of assimilated culture from China. Wedang ronde came from Chinese traditional dessert, called tangyuan. Made from ball shaped glutinous rice, served in ginger broth. Wedang is the name for hot drinks in Java, while ronde refers to the round shape of glutinous rice balls, hence the name, wedang ronde. It is perfect to drink on rainy days or cold nights in wet seasons when it is always raining.

By only imagining Drinks in Jakarta, you can already feel the sweet and refreshing taste in your mind. Join a mouth-watering experience on our Jakarta Food Tour. Walk a little, and stop for a while for a refreshing Drinks in Jakarta to recharge your energy. Once you are ready, let’s continue our journey!

The Capital City Specialty, Nasi Goreng Jakarta

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First timer in Indonesia? Try Nasi Goreng Jakarta. If Indonesians are asked any kinds of food to recommend to foreigners, no doubt the answer will be nasi goreng or fried rice. Fried rice peddlers are easily found in almost every part of Indonesia, usually at night. They will be pushing their cart around the neighborhood and waiting for to be called by customers to buy their fried rice. Aside from fried rice, they usually have other options like fried noodle and boiled noodle. As it is a very popular menu in Indonesia, it also can be easily found in restaurants.

There are countless types of fried rice in Indonesian, some of them are named based on the area they are residing, like Nasi Goreng Jawa, Nasi Goreng Aceh, or Nasi Goreng Jakarta. Some of them are named by the ingredients, like chicken fried rice, mutton fried rice, seafood fried rice, rendang fried rice, and many more.

While there is also fried rice in different parts of the world, Indonesian fried rice has their own uniqueness, which is using an ingredient that most of the other countries didn’t have, kecap manis or sweet soy sauce. The texture of sweet soy sauce is thicker than the ordinary soy sauce and has a sweet flavor from palm sugar. Sweet soy sauce is an essential ingredient to cook many other Indonesian food such as satay, tongseng, semur, and many more. However, there might be some versions that only use original soy sauce.

If you stay in Jakarta, of course you don’t want to miss finding the capital city version, which is Nasi Goreng Jakarta. Fried rice is a convenient choice to be eaten any time and anywhere in Jakarta. It is a perfect menu for dinner, lunch, or even breakfast. The key to having perfect fried rice is to use an overnight left-over rice as it will provide a crunchy texture. It also has a unique dark brown color from the sweet soy sauce.

While most of the populations are fond of spicy flavor, some sellers will naturally add chili to add some spiciness, so if you have a low tolerance of spiciness, you might need to request the chili to be left out in your fried rice. Now enough with the description, join our Jakarta Food Tour to try the authentic Nasi Goreng Jakarta firsthand. No need to be fancy, just prepare your tummy!

Kerak Telor In Jakarta, a Delicacy for Delightful Fiesta

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Crack some eggs, add some spices, roast a little, then Kerak Telor will be ready to serve. It is another indigenous cuisine from Jakarta, a Betawi traditional omelet from chicken or duck eggs, but in crunchy version, thus the name is Kerak Telor, from kerak or crust, and eggs or telor.

Asian is well known to eat rice with almost everything, even snacks. But the main difference in Kerak Telor, instead of steamed rice, glutinous rice is directly added to be roasted along with eggs and other ingredients, such as dried shrimp, along with other spices, producing a crunchy sensation.

Using eggs as the main ingredients, you can choose between chicken or duck eggs. Some people prefer using duck eggs as they have more savory taste. Kerak Telor is known to be easily found around Central and West Jakarta, near Jakarta’s landmark, National Monument or Monas. Other than in those areas, the dish is not easily found elsewhere because it is rarely found in restaurants’ menus. Kerak Telor is usually sold by a street peddler who carries their bakul or traditional basket on their shoulders by walking around the city.

There are some convenient ways to find Kerak Telor peddler, one of them is visiting Jakarta Fair, it is an annual festival held every year to celebrate the capital city’s birthday. There will be many Kerak Telor sellers setting up their stalls around the area. It usually starts around the middle of June and will end in the middle of July. It is called Pekan Raya Jakarta, or in literal translation, Jakarta Fair. There will be many kinds of activities, including shopping, concerts, and many more.

However, if you want to try Kerak Telor even though the annual event hasn’t started or already ended, you can still find it around Jakarta area. Not every Jakartans know when and where to find an original Kerak Telor, but you can leave it to Jakarta Walking Tour Happy Walkers for guidance. Join our Jakarta Food tour, and we will gladly help you find a route full of delicacies as you stay in Jakarta. Have an unforgettable journey to find the authentic taste of Jakarta with us.

Find A Bowl of Soto Betawi on A Sunny Day by Walking Around the City

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If the weather is scorching hot, find Soto Betawi to the rescue. It is said that eating piping hot food in hot weather will lower your body temperature. For weather like in Jakarta, which is almost always sunny with average temperature around 27-33 °C throughout the year, the perfect lunch menu is soto. It is a soup-based dish that is extremely popular around Jakarta and the rest of the archipelago.

There are so many variants of soto in Indonesia, some said between 16 until 40 kinds of soto can be found in Indonesia, from Sabang to Merauke. In Jakarta, of course Soto Betawi is the main star. Even though it is called Soto Betawi, it is first introduced by a Chinese descendant, Li Boen Po in 1971. He created this name because there were already many kinds of soto in Indonesia. Soto Madura, Soto Kudus, Soto Sulung, Soto Bogor, Soto Bandung, and many more for example. So, in order not to lose on the competition, he decided to use the name that didn’t exist before. And since native people of Jakarta is from Betawi ethnicity, he named it Soto Betawi.

The main difference of Soto Betawi from other variants of soto is in the broth, which is using milk as the ingredient. It also contains almost every part of cow’s body, from its meat, offal, liver, and the rest. For many restaurants, they usually provide options if you only want to eat only the “daging” or flesh, without offal or other parts.

Not only using milk and coconut milk as a broth, but there are also many spices and other ingredients to add in. Along with beef, diced potato, and slice tomatoes, with also ghee as a main ingredient, Soto Betawi is rich in flavour. The savoury and slightly sour taste are perfect to taste in a sunny afternoon. If you have a sweet tooth, you can add sweet soy sauce to add the sweet flavour.

Don’t miss the chance to taste the delicious Soto Betawi by walking around the city. Our Happy Walker Agents will help you experience a delightful journey to find what the best delicacies that the city can offer. So, see you on the next Jakarta Food Tour!

Indonesian Style Salad, Gado-gado Jakarta

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Set aside your salad, choose Gado-gado Jakarta instead. Gado-gado is derived from “digado”, or usually eaten not with rice, but with lontong (rice cake) instead. It is made from many kinds of ingredients, which contain various kinds of green vegetables, from lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, long beans, cucumber, and bitter gourd.  Also combined with tofu, corn, and tempeh, with peanut sauce as the dressing, it adds a nice combination of flavors between sweet and savory. Most of the ingredients are boiled, and you can request the level of spiciness from the vendor. The ingredients may vary according to the location.

Indonesian culinary are rich in spices, condiments, and flavors. While it is enjoyable to eat, depending on the ingredients or the cooking process, eating too much of certain food can lead to health problems, too much fried food for example, is not good for your body as we need nutritional balance. So, Gado-gado Jakarta is the right choice for you. Only one thing that you need to pay attention to. Make sure that you are not allergic to peanuts, as some people may have it and resulting in a terrible reaction, or you can confirm to us before about what you can and cannot consume during our Jakarta Food Tour.

Gado-gado Jakarta or better known as Gado-gado Betawi in some areas, can usually be found in the mornings. Gado-gado is one of Betawi cuisine, native ethnic of Jakarta. Several sources stated that the founders are from Tugu Village community, situated in North Jakarta, who were originally of Portuguese descent. There might be some different version around Java area. Gado-gado is popular among Jakartans.  Usually sold by street vendors on the side of the main roads and often sold out right before afternoon comes. However, if you want to find places that sell Gado-gado Jakarta on the normal working hours, some restaurants or warung makan may have it on the menu.

You can ask locals or search independently about these restaurants or warung makan, or feel free to make inquiries to our Happy Walkers Agents during Jakarta Food Tour. We will gladly guide and provide you with useful information about delicacies around Jakarta. Don’t hesitate anymore, come join our Jakarta Food Tour and we will gladly help you find and try not only tasty, but healthy Gado-gado Jakarta.

Explore A Tasty Culinary Experience for Food in Jakarta

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If you are travelling to Jakarta, don’t ever skip to try various Food in Jakarta. Jakarta is known as a “melting pot”, which many people from various ethnicities with different cultures meet, resulting in a rich and abundant culinary option that you can choose.

Start from the west part of Indonesia, there are many Sumatrans residing in Jakarta, therefore you can easily find Padangnese restaurants, at almost every corner in Jakarta. Rumah Makan Padang or Padang Restaurant offers many menus and a unique experience where they will present you with many options on the table and you can just pay for what you eat there. Meanwhile, sate Padang are usually sold by street vendors at night.

Moving a bit to the east, Java as the most populated island and Javanese as the most widely spread ethnicity in Indonesia, Javanese food can be found almost everywhere in Indonesia. Soto, sate, bakso (meatball), pecel, fried rice, and fried noodle are only just a few examples. Food from other islands such as Borneo, Sulawesi, and many more also exist as an option for Food in Jakarta, nonetheless, not as popular. Aside from traditional Indonesian food, you don’t have to worry if you find those are not suitable to your taste. Western cuisines, Chinese food and fast-food chain are readily available if you prefer to choose a familiar taste. Availability for Food in Jakarta also comes with many options, from fine dining locations to fast and cheap street food often served by pedagang kaki lima (carts or modified bicycles), or in roadside warungs (modest local restaurants).

While many kinds of Food in Jakarta are originated from cities outside Jakarta, the city itself also have interesting delicacies that it can offer. Betawi as a native in Jakarta, also have some popular specialty dishes. They are gado-gado, soto Betawi, kerak telor, and nasi goreng Jakarta. All of them are made with different kinds of ingredient, with different flavors, and by different techniques. From sweet, sour, salty, and spicy, you name it. Seasoned by variety of unique spices that can only be found in Indonesia, a taste that of the country that you can always remember.

A mouthwatering experience that you can imagine. So, are you ready to join us exploring nook and cranny of Jakarta to find the best culinary experience? Say less, don’t hesitate anymore! Book a Jakarta Food Tour with us, and Happy Walker Agents will be ready to guide you.

Another Way of Using Spices: Drink It!

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jamu benefits

Indonesia has various types of spices or “rempah-rempah” which known worldwide since 16th century. Apart for cooking ingredients, spices that grow in Indonesia could also be used for different purposes, such as for the ingredients of herbal drinks or “jamu”.

Jamu is a kind of herbal drink and that people of Indonesia, mainly Javanese believed can cure some illnesses. Some of the most popular jamu are rice galanga drink or “beras kencur”, turmeric tamarind drink or “kunyit asam” and curcuma zanthorriza drink or “temulawak”.

Rice Galanga Drink
Beras kencur or rice galanga drink is a type of drink made with rice and galanga as the main ingredients. White or brown sugar is often used as the sweetener. It has a light brown color and had a sweet taste. Rice galanga drink is believed to be having some medicinal use, such as increasing appetite and vitality, and also reducing fatigue.

Turmeric Tamarind Drink
Kunyit asam or turmeric tamarind drink is a herbal drink made from turmeric, tamarind, brown sugar and water. It has an orange color and taste a bit sour. It is believed that drinking kunyit asam can aid digestion problem, maintaining body weight, and relieve menstrual cramp.

jamu benefits

Curcuma Zanthorriza Drink
Curcuma zanthorriza or temulawak is a kind of spices similar to ginger. The drink is made with mixing the curcuma zanthorriza extract with water. The medicinal use of the drink includes reducing cholesterol, preserve liver function, and prevent cancer.

Where is the place to drink jamu in Jakarta?

Jamu sellers. Image Source: Solo Pos

These jamu usually available in traditional markets and offered house to house by a peddler carrying bottles on their backs in residential complexes. Nowadays, some restaurants also provide them in their menu. There is also one restaurant in West Jakarta that only serve jamu in their menu. However beside curcuma, turmeric, tamarind, do you want to know more about other spices in Indonesia? Join the journey of Jakarta Walking Tour to discover more about it and “spice” up your life a little bit. 😉

The Magnificent Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta

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As a country with a majority of Moslem population, it is no question that it is very easy to find their place to worship, mosque. If you are in Jakarta and want to visit mosque (yes, you can visit it, we are very welcoming you!), don’t just go to your nearest one, because you have a huge opportunity to visit one of the iconic mosques in Jakarta, Istiqlal.

History of Grand Mosque Istiqlal Jakarta

As the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia, this place attracts many locals and international visitors to come here. They come basically to pray together, which is known as “jamaah”, because for Moslems, it is believed that prayers or “shalat” will bring more merit if is done together. Aside from praying or doing other worshipping rituals, this place also open to anyone who wants to look around.

 

Located in Jakarta, right in front of Cathedral Jakarta. The name “Istiqlal” itself is an Arabic word for “independence”, since the mosque was built to commemorate Indonesian independence. The design of this mosque is created by Friedrich Silaban, a Christian architect from North Sumatera, the winner of design competition for this mosque. The late former president of Republic of Indonesia, Soekarno, also involved in this mosque’s planning and construction. This mosque was opened to public in 22th February 1978.

Istiqlal Mosque Jakarta

Friedrich Silaban

Istiqlal has seven entrances that was named after “Asmaul Husna”, the names of God in Islam and consists of two rectangular structures. The rectangular part of the building is covered by a 45 meter diameter central spherical dome and the number “45” itself symbolizes the 1945 Proclamation of Indonesian Independence. It also has a main dome that decorated with a stainless steel ornamental pinnacle in the form of crescent and a star.

Crescent and star symbol on the top of mosque dome

Istiqlal Mosque Jakarta

Most of the mosques in Indonesia have a dome on the top of the building, so does Istiqlal Mosque. But, besides that, in the center of the dome or somewhere in the highest place of mosques building, there are almost always a symbol in the form of crescent and a star. In the world, it is also known as a symbol of Islam. It is like a cross for Christian. Moslems often use this symbol to represent themselves as a Moslem. Why a crescent and a star? Actually there are some versions of this. One is from historical version, and the other is religious version. I will explain it from historical version first.

Two meaning of crescent and star symbol in Mosque

Historical aspect

It is said that the biggest and most successful civilization of Islam is the Ottoman dynasty that rules the heart of Europe, Constantinople and nearby areas. That time, the caliphate using a symbol of a crescent moon, which represent the position of three continents. On one end of the crescent moon, referred to Asian continent that located in the east, where the other end referring to African continent. For the center part of the moon, it is meant to symbolize Europe that actually from geographic aspect, is located between those continents. The star itself represents the capital city in Islam from those times, Istanbul.

Religious aspect

From the religious aspect, the crescent moon means a new moon, where Moslems acknowledged it as “hilal”. This hilal became a sign to determine when it is time for Eid Al-Fitr, the big day of Islam religion that celebrated after a full month of fasting in “Ramadhan”.

Fortunately, I had experience of doing Eid prayer or “Shalat Ied” in Istiqlal once. The building is so magnificent, full of people who come across Indonesia that especially come for Eid prayer in this biggest mosque of Southeast Asia. I can understand how big it is because actually I have to take a “wudhu” or ablution first before praying. Since it was the first time I come there, I almost get lost to find the place to do it, but luckily I found someone who is familiar with the building and show me how to get there. It was an unforgettable experience for me.

Istiqlal Mosque Jakarta

Bedug – a drum used to signal time for prayer – made from meranti wood from Borneo and cow skin

(pictures below)

So, if you are still curious about what kind of feeling would you have inside it, or what can you see in the mosque. Don’t have a second thought and just visit it. Are you from different religions that want to come and see? It’s fine. The caretaker will welcome your presence with open arms, but maybe you will have to put on some proper clothes that cover most of your body. But if you don’t have, the mosque will lend you a robe for both female and male visitors.

Istiqlal Mosque Jakarta

Robes for lend

As Cathedral Jakarta, where you could learn about Roman Catholic in Jakarta, you could also learn about Islam in Jakarta in Istiqlal. Both of these places will show you how to live with tolerance in this diverse country and bring peace to your heart. So, if you are in Jakarta, be sure to visit these places. You would not regret it. Find out more about how to visit Istiqlal Jakarta and Cathedral in one day here. Cheers!

5 ‘Things You Will Found When Locals Celebrate Indonesia’s Independence Day

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It is August and it is a special month for Indonesians. Why? Because August 17th is the independence day for Indonesia! People use to hang a national flag in front of their houses in this day. Suddenly, there are a lot of flag sellers in the street or offering flags or a pole to hang the flag.

Independence day, usually students in national school and public officer are required to attend a flag raising ceremony in the morning in schools or offices courtyard. And after the ceremony ends, they are free to go home to enjoy the national holiday.

Usually there are a lot of celebrations in independence day. There will be a lot of competition and fun games to participate. This series of competition is called “Agustus-an”. Usually it is held around the neigborhood or we call it “RT”. There will be a lot of competitions and you can get some gifts when you become a winner.

So, what kind of competitions you can join in? Here are a few of them:

1. Sack Race or “Balap Karung”

Balap karung is one of the most popular competition in Indonesia’s independence day, it is where you race with another person by running as fast as you can and become the first one who reach the finish line.

2. Climbing Slippery Pole or “Panjat Pinang”

Source : The Jakarta Post

Source : The Jakarta Post

There will be a pole with a lot of prizes in top of a pole, or in Indonesia we use a “pinang” tree, hence called “panjat pinang”. It is a competition where you compete with others to reach the top of the pole to get the prize that you want. The rule of the game is the fastest to reach the item, get to bring the item home.

3. Nightgown Soccer or “Sepakbola Daster”

This a sport that men likes and men will participate in this sport. But what makes it different from a usual soccer is that men who participate must dress in a nightgown. If you are a man and want to join, maybe you could borrow your wife’s nightgown or from your neighbor first.

4. Tug of War or “Tarik Tambang”

I think this competition is not new for many countries. It is where you compete in a team and pull each other with one thick rope until one of the team fall to the ground first. You need a lot of strength and if getting dirty in the mud is not a problem for you, then this game is for  you.

5. Eating Crackers or “Makan Kerupuk”

It is the perfect game for the one that is hungry. You can have fun while filling your stomach with crackers. You have to eat one full piece cracker that hangs over your head by some kind of rope. The fastest who finish eating will win the game. Even though it is not quite fullfilling, it will be enough to rise your appetite.

Source : kaskus[dot]co[dot]id

Source : kaskus[dot]co[dot]id

There are still a lot of other games or competitions, depends on the location that you lived in Indonesia. I guess there will be traffic jams and roadblocks too because of the games. So, instead of going to malls in national holiday, maybe you would rather join an “Agustus-an” game.