The Random Rambler

Rijsttafel at Poppies Restaurant

// March 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // Travel

Rijsttafel… I came up with five different ways to try and pronounce that word and every single one ended up with a blank, confused expression on our waiter’s face.

Pronounced [rahys-tah-fuhl], this Indonesian dish has its origins in the Dutch colonial era where it would be served as a representation of the various ethnic cuisines found across Indonesia. Literally translating to ‘rice table’, Rijsttafel generally consists of various side dishes (as little as 10 or as many as 40+) served with portions of rice… not unlike your everyday Thali. (more…)

Indonesia – Yogyakarta to Bromo

// March 2nd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Travel

Day 3 – One day a German, Japanese, Korean, British and Mongolian got into a minibus… no this isn’t the start of a really bad joke, just our fellow passengers/travellers on the 11 hour ride from Jogya to Mount Bromo. We started out from Duta Garden, Jogya at 8:30am and reached the basecamp at Cemoro Lawang around the 9:00pm mark… just in time to catch last order in the local restos. While the journey was tiring, bumpy, cramped and felt like 24 hours, I’d do it two times over after witnessing Mount Bromo! (more…)

Indonesia – Yogyakarta

// February 28th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Travel

Day 1 – Nothing but a lot of travelling! Dubai to Jakarta took about 8hrs or so reaching Jakarta at 3:30pm. We had to hang around the airport for our connecting flight to Jogya at 7:00pm. By the end of it we only reached our hotel (Duta Garden) at about 8:45pm… found a nice resto just outside and kicked back with a Bintang.

Day 2 – Was all about the exploring! Went to Borobadur, Merapi and Prambanan… pics below. More info later. (more…)

Countdown to Indonesia

// February 22nd, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Travel

3 days and counting to our first destination destination of 2009 – Indonesia! Managed to get bargain rates on an Emirates flight direct to Jakarta (one upside to economic crisis). (more…)