Gudeg, A Traditional Culinary Yogyakarta

Leave Yogyakarta without bringing a gift feels less complete, one of good culinary for a gift is Gudeg

Each regions would have a special culinary, as well as Yogyakarta which has Gudeg. Gudeg is a traditional culinary Yogyakarta. This culinary made with the main ingredients is gori (young jack fruit) mixed with coconut milk and cooked about 24 hours. Gudeg has a sweet taste and savory, for dish Gudeg usually coupled with krecek condiment (cow skin), egg, chicken, tofu and tempe.

There are 3 types of Gudeg namely Gudeg basah, Gudeg kering and Gudeg manggar. Gudeg basah (wet Gudeg) is served with yummy coconut milk gravy. This food is very good for breakfast. Gudeg kering (dry Gudeg) is cooked longer than Gudeg basah until the gravy dry and the color turn into brown. This Gudeg will not stale for 24 hours or more if it is stored in a generator. The last, Gudeg manggar. Gudeg manggar has main ingredients is coconut flowers. This culinary is hardly found because coconut flowers as the main ingredients has limited stocks.

Really, this culinary is good of choice for tasted when visit Yogyakarta. Gudeg has become daily food by Yogyakarta people and to get it is easy, Gudeg can be found in every place in Yogyakarta, but Wijilan and Barek are famous area as Gudeg center. 

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A Tradition and Industries of Ngasem's Batik Village

Batik is a icon of Yogyakarta and a traditional works that are still occupied of Yogyakarta people. One of the village is Ngasem village. Ngasem village is a one of batik sell center of Yogyakarta and located in the west of Yogyakarta Palace, Keraton sub-district. The distance between this village and Adisuciptjo International Airport is 14 kilometers.

What are the features of Ngasem's Batik Village ?

Ngasem village is called batik village because all activities of this village is batik and batik has become the livelihood of the local people. In the Ngasem's batik village, visitors can see directly the process of making batik, from the pattern creation to the coloring process. This batik center offers various design and type of batik,  including hand-painted batiks from Yogyakarta and Solo, batik pesisir, stamp-blocked batik, Yogyakarta-style duster batik, Yogyakarta Palace unique batik and others batik. This village also offers fabrics for making clothes, bed sheets, pillowcases and others accessories in batik. Not only the process of making batik, Ngasem's batik village also sells their works in the souvenirs shop around this village. 

For the visitors who visit Ngasem's batik village will not admission charge, but there is a charge for parking area. The facilities of this village is parking areas, mosque and traditional food's restaurant.

     

Gringsing Woven Cloth - a Balinese heritage

Gringsing woven cloth is a handmade woven cloth originating from Tenganan village, Karangasem Regency, eastside of Bali island. This Gringsing cloth is made out of natural dyes which may take months even years to develop the cloth. The word Gringsing is derived from two words Gring which means not and sakit which means pain so the word Gringsing has a meaning "no pain", that is why Gringsing cloth is used on ritual ceremonies it is believed that when using the cloth, there wont be any pain and would be protected from evil spirits. The original Gringsing cloth can only be found in Tenganan village, it is also said that this kind of weaving technique can only be done by three countries in the world, they are Japan, india and Indonesia (Tenganan).

The colors of the thread are all from natural coloring. The red color originates from the roots of Mengkudu (noni fruit) trees, yellow from candle nut oil and black color is made from the mixture of indigo and red taum grass. First, the thread is soaked in a candle nut oil, minimal for 40 days, it may also be soaked for more than a year because the thread would have a better quality when it is soaked longer. The candle nut oil is exchanged every 24-29 days. After the thread is soaked, it would be dyed with natural coloring, when all the threads are dyed, the weaving process (without machine) starts which takes about one week for a small piece and 2 months for a large size.

Gringsing woven cloth is different to any other woven cloth, it shows stronger color as it gets older due to the natural process. One piece of a small sized Gringsing cloth is priced about Rp. 1 million and for the larged sized cloth is priced between Rp 5 million to Rp 30 million each. Many foreign tourists come to Tenganan village to see the process of making this Gringsing woven cloth.

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Penglipuran Village - a Neat and Interesting Village in Bangli

Penglipuran is a traditional Balinese village located in central Bali, Kubu Village, Bangli Regency. It is situated approximately 45 kilometers north of Denpasar and about 700meters above sea level, hence, the atmosphere is relatively cool and it is surrounded by bamboo forest and coffee plantation. Penglipuran Village is one of the Bali Age villages where inhabitants of the village are mostly farmers and have strict regulation like their ancestors centuries ago. The word Penglipuran is taken from the word Penglipur which means entertainer, it is said that in the past, all kings often come to this village to entertain themselves due to its natural beauty and peacefulness.

This village is built with three distinctive parts which is called the "Tri Mandala" concept. It describes a place based on the location, function and level of purity. Tri Mandala consists of a holy part with temples, housing part where people live and a burial ground where corpse are buried. The front courtyard is facing towards the holy mountain, Mount Agung where the family temple is located, the middle courtyard more westwards there are kitchen and housing where families live and the back courtyard is where the animals are placed. There is also a place to look after the livestock and vegetable plantation wich is called Teba.

The houses that are lined up from north to south look very beautiful with Balinese traditional entrance which are made almost the same to one another. When stepping down to this village, visitors would often see people earn their livings using traditional equipments and children playing traditional games. Penglipuran Village is famous for being different by other villages in Bali, it is a popular tourist destination for both domestic and foreign tourists.

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Batuan Village Traditional House - Feel the Real Culture of Bali

Batuan village is a famous tourist destination located in the southern part of Ubud, Gianyar Regency, about 15 kilometers north east of Denpasar City. It is very famous for its arts, temples and natural scenery, but another interesting tourist attraction located in Batuan Village is the Balinese Traditional House compound. With some donation , visitors can enter the Traditional Balinese house and see all the traditional activities done by the families in the traditional house.

The structure of the traditional house compound is old and traditional without modern touches. With the calm and simple atmosphere of their houses, their daily life activities and animals will bring all visitors back to the past time of Bali and would feel the real culture of Bali. The house compound is built in original Balinese concept, it is known as Kosali-Kosali concept. This concept is applied almost everywhere in the villages of Bali. Each building or pavilion has its own function. The pavilion to make offerings is located in the east, the kitchen building in the south, building for parents room in the west and building for children room in the north. In the northeastern side (the side of sunrise) of the house compound, there is a shrine which is known as the Family Temple, where families pray and worship God and Its manifests. 

This Balinese Traditional house compound is an interesting attraction to visit. All visitors get to see the real traditional house and culture of Balinese people. When having a tour to Ubud area, it is recommended to come by and have a visit to this traditional house.

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Sate Languan a Delicious Traditional Balinese Side Dish

Sate Languan is a traditional Balinese food originated from Klungkung Regency. Although it is originated from Klungkung Regency, it can easily be found anywhere in Bali. Sate Languan is a side dish, mainly served with rice and other side dishes. The main ingredient is sea fish, mixed with spices and coconuts. Balinese Hindu use this traditional food in ritual ceremonies, it is served to Gods and Spirits before it is consumed by families. On big Hindu ceremonies and family gathering, Sate Languan is one of the main food that is cooked, other foods that are cooked during Hindu holidays are Lawar and Babi Guling. This sate tastes more delicious when it is served after it is cooked or when it is still in warm condition.

It is a simple dish, anyone can try making this traditional food at home. Firstly, spices such as garlic, red onion, ginger and chilli is mashed. The mashed spices is then fried with coconut oil. Some sugar, salt, shrimp paste and coconut milk are added. Meanwhile, fish meat is also mashed, when it is mashed, it is mixed together with the spices. When it is mixed well, it is wrapped on the Sate stick and is ready to be grilled and served. Sate Languan lasts only one day, so it is recommended to consume the Sate directly when it is served. It is an interesting side dish and visitors who visit Bali should try this delicious culinary. It can easily be found in food stalls and restaurants all around Bali.

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Jajan Bantal Different Taste of Balinese Snack

Jajan Bantal is a well known traditional snack all over Bali. It is a snack made out of sticky rice and in the middle of Jajan Bantal is stuffed with peas and fruits (mainly Bananas). The sticky rice is wrapped in a coconut leaf, tied with a rope and steamed. This snack is basically made for a ritual offering in certain ceremonies and brought to temples. But sometimes it is just made as a snack, served in tea and coffee times as well as breakfast. Especially on family and friend gathering, this snack is one of the main snack that is served for the guests. Jajan Bantal is sold and can easily be found in all traditional markets in Bali, sometimes it is also served in hotels.

This snack is a simple snack, firstly the sticky rice is soaked in water for about 12 hours. Then it is steamed, after the sticky rice is steamed, it is mixed with shredded coconut, sugar and salt. When it is done, bananas or beans are stuffed in the midle of the sticky rice before it is wrapped by the coconut leaf. It is then boiled until the snack is well cooked. The snack doesn't last long, it is better to be consumed immediately after the cooking process. The interesting taste and texture makes Jajan Bantal as a popular snack in Bali. 

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Badung Market, A Traditional Place for Daily Cumsumption Bases Shopping

Badung Traditional market is the biggest traditional market in Denpasar located in Gajah Mada street apposite of Pura Desa (Village Temple) as one of the three biggest temple in Denpasar. Lots of domestic and foreign visitors visit this market, therefore Badung Market is included as an tourist attraction in the City tour programs. The market is is built in a four story building, daily household needs and various types of handicrafts are available in this market.

Local people who come and shop at this market are not only from the environment of Denpasar but also come from outside towns. Especially before big Hindu holidays such as Galungan, Kuningan and Nyepi, this market would be full and crowded by the local societies buying their needs for the ceremony. Badung Market can not be separated by the existence of a traditional market located across the Badung river, it is the Kumbasari Market. There are specialization of goods sold between Badung Market and Kumbasari Market. In Badung Market, daily consumption needs and materials are sold and the prices are cheaper compared to shops in Gajah Mada street. While Kumbasari Market is called Payuk market (pot market) where earthenware pots, ground plates, buckets water jugs, kitchenware and even clothing items are sold in this market. Nowdays, art items for tourists are olso sold here, therefore it is becoming one of the tourist destinations in Denpasar City.

Badung Market is opened from 5:00am until 17:00pm, but in the evening, this market changes and becomes an evening market called Senggol Market from 17:00pm to 5:00am the day after. Meanwhile the Senggol Market in Kumbasari is opened from 14:00pm until 23:30pm. Visitors can find various types of foods and clothes from adult cloths and children clotes. Cheap Balinese, Javanese and Chinese cookery are sold in the evening market. Visitors can enjoy many kind of foods and beverages, it is an interesting place to explore at night.

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	The Bridge that connects Badung Market and kumbasari Market
The evening market
Badung Market	Kumbasari Market