Batik making

Yogyakarta, as the reputed leading cultural centre of Java, had many different types of art forms on offer. There were numerous Batik shops scattered throughout the city, not to mention many creative touts with imaginative ways of trying to lure you into them. There was also the famous Ramayana Ballet, a dance-drama possessing exquisitely fine hand movements, and was performed with the well known Prambanan Hindu temples as backdrop. It told the story of Rama and Shiva and set good against evil.

Then there was J. Co Donuts and Coffee. First some background: I stumbled across the store on my first day here when I wanted a coffee break. What surprised me as I sat with my coffee and free glazed donut was the number of locals who had purchased a box of a dozen donuts to share amongst only a few, eg, three or four people. In the few days since then, I came to notice that it was quite a common feature of local life to have Yogyakartans carrying around a box of a dozen J. Co Donuts and Coffee. So this afternoon I paid the store a visit to try and understand why they were so popular, notwithstanding the fact that I would get to eat some yummy donuts.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the donuts had really fun, arty and creative names and flavours. For instance; the ‘Copa Banana’, a chocolate coated donut with banana cream; the ‘Hazel Dazzle’, a hazelnut chocolate donut with a coffee fudge centre; the Alcapone, a white Belgian chocolate donut with almonds; the ‘Why Nut’, a peanut butter donut topped with white chocolate; and the ‘Snow White’, a white chocolate donut drizzled with shredded coconut, but to name but a few.

Da Vin Cheez (a garlic and cheese donut)

Interestingly there were also savoury donuts like the ‘Da Vin Cheez’, a donut with a cheese and garlic (yes garlicy cheese ) topping; the ‘Mona Pisa’ donut, a chicken sausage tomato and cheese beauty; and the ‘Cheese Me Up’, another cheesy donut. In total there were some 30 different types of mouth-watering donuts on display.

Don Mochino (chocolate coated cappuccino cream)

I wasn’t permitted to take photos of the counter at J. Co Donuts and Coffee, but the ones I tried: the Da Vin Cheez, which was definitely cheesy and slightly garlicky, and the Don Mochino (chocolate coated with cappuccino cream) which was mouth-wateringly delicious. The centre was light and creamy and the cappuccino flavour made a great contrast to the chocolate topping, and which I preferred to the savoury donut. What a combination! Not only tasty, but also arty.

The donuts were about 50p each, although if you ordered a drink from their range of coffees and tea, you received a free glazed donut. J. Co Donuts and Coffee is an Indonesian venture with stores in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. It’s looking to expand and one is due to open up in Beijing shortly so watch this space.

J. Co Donuts and Coffee at:
Malioboro Mall
Tel: +62 (0)274 555 333
Web: http://www.jcodonuts.com

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On the streets of Yogjakarta

My health restored to full strength today after my stomach virus, I felt like a phoenix. Reborn anew, I was once again keen to engage in the role of foodie discoverer. Having befriended an intrepid Canadian explorer yesterday on the tour bus (she once travelled continuously for two and a half years), we decided to set off together in search of our dinner. With me at the helm, and my newly found friend in tow, we headed off to navigate the minefield of shops, curio stalls, warungs (food vendors on mobile carts), pedestrians and traffic that was law of the land on Yogyakarta’s high street, Marlioboro.

Lumpia ayam (chicken spring rolls)

The warungs on Marlioboro offer up all sorts of Indonesian food including the standard Indonesian fare; curries, sates, noodle and rice dishes. Some vendors cooked to order, but as was quite typical in Indonesia, there were also a number of warungs that served pre-cooked dishes. Chillies act as a preserving agent, thereby allowing Indonesian dishes to be pre-cooked and served throughout the day.

With so much choice, we finally settled on lumpia ayam (chicken spring rolls) (about 10p each). Plump full with an abundance of finely shredded chicken, it was served piping hot from the deep fryer and drizzled with a sweet chilli garlic sauce. The sauce was delicately sweet and the garlic added great zing to the spring roll which was so delicious I couldn’t stop at just one.

(Continue reading her story…)

I’m of the belief that the only way to kill a stomach bug is to starve it as much as possible. This seemed to have held me in reasonably good stead when I backpacked South America for five months. However, starving the bug means starving me, and I couldn’t decide which was worse – enduring the discomfort that comes from bathroom woes, especially with third world toilet facilities, or enduring the pain that comes from not eating, for I truly love to eat. However I tried to commiserate myself, searching high and low for that silver lining. “You’ll lose weight”, I told myself. “You’ll look better trying to squeeze into that bikini on Kuta Beach.”

True to my word, in the last 24 hours or so, I had subsisted on only one chocolate cookie, one packet of crisps, two coffees and two deep fried banana cakes topped with shredded processed cheese which I devoured this morning at the Buddhist temple, Borobudur. Having had a 3:30am start this morning to catch the sunrise at one of the most-visited tourist attractions in Indonesia, I was absolutely famished. I thought the cakes rather tasty, even if the cheese was a little rubbery. One of my Swiss travelling companions wasn’t too impressed however, so perhaps my taste buds had been tarnished due to my recent food deprivation.

After Borobudur, we visited another famous Yogyakartan temple, Prambanan. On the way back from our tour, I asked my tour guide about a matter which had been perplexing me over the last week. Why was it that every time I tried to book accommodation, the standard response had always been “sorry missus, we’re full”, even if the hotel wasn’t in fact full. As an example, I told him about how when I checked into my hotel in Jakarta, I tried to extend my stay beyond the one night that I had booked, to only be told, “Sorry missus, we’re full”. Thinking this implausible in a hotel with several hundred rooms, I made my way to the internet cafe, whereupon I was able to make the reservation online instead. My guide had no explanation. “See Mister, like me, not full”.