Villa Imogiri

The magnificent estate of Villa Imogiri lies high on a lush green canyon above the Wos River near Ubud in the historic Regency of Gianyar.
Villa Imogiri offers the highest levels of privacy and supreme luxury within a setting of breathtaking vistas and beautiful gardens scented with frangipani, hibiscus, orchids and bougainvillaea.
The estate's name, Imogiri (Mountain of Mist) is derived from the beautiful and ancient place in Java chosen by the Imperial family as the eternal Royal resting place: a place closer to heaven than to earth.
Carefully integrated within terraced rice fields festooned with mature coconut trees, the Villa Imogiri estate comprises five primary Balinese-styled pavilions, brilliantly designed to capture the spiritual essence and magnificent vistas that abound the property Villa Imogiri was conceived as an alternative for that special group of discerning travellers who seek the privacy of a residence with expectations of all the comforts and services offered by an exclusive five-star hotel. At Villa Imogiri the guest party of six have the exclusive use of the entire estate.
Created after the style of the great water palaces of Bali, the architecturally designed estate features three luxury guest villas. Two villas are located at either end of the imposing thatched–roofed lounge pavilion that spans the full width of the property. This building is surrounded by water and appears to be floating on an 850 square metre reflecting pond adorned with colourful lotus blossoms

source by en.wikipedia.org

Kota Gede

Kota Gede also known as Pasar Gede - is the site of the remains of a palace Kraton of the late 1500s and early 1600s for the rulers of Mataram.
Legend and myth surround much of the information available for the time the palace was intact, and only the Kota Gede Royal Graveyard (precursor to Imogiri) and a few small sections of wall of the palace remain.
In the expansion of the city of Yogyakarta in the late twentieth century, Kota Gede is merely a suburb within the city. At the time of Indonesian independence in the 1940s and after considerable publicity was given to the silver workers within this locality.
The name of the location in higher more respectful level (Kromo) Javanese is Pasar Gede.
The Royal Graveyard holds important graves that trace connections of Mataram with earlier kingdoms, and the placement of the graves within the covered area of the graveyard can be considered as a physical representation of 'silsilah' or genealogy of the rulers and their progenitors. It is guarded and maintained by Juru Kunci who are employed by the two palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta.
In the twentieth century the location became synonymous with silver workers and traders.
source by en.wikipedia.org

MASJID AGUNG

Masjid Agung lies on the western side of the north square. It is a place for praying and place for holding religious ceremonies as well Religious ceremonies like Sekaten and Garebeg are held every year to celebrate the Islamic holidays. The mosque provide the Kraton for religious activities. This Mosque is designed with traditional architecture. The style has a special roof called "Tajug", such a roof that is especially used for religious buildings. This traditional mosque becomes the most interesting part of the building because of the architecture.
source by

GEDUNG AGUNG

Gedung Agung is located on the right at the lower part of jalan Malioboro traveling south. It was once the residence of the Dutch Resident (administration) and between 1946 - 1949, during the struggle for independence. It functioned as the residence of the first President of Indonesia Soekarno.

source by http://www.jogjatourism.com/html/gedungagung.htm

Lemper Ayam

Tasty Indonesian snack of Chicken wrapped in sticky rice.
The rice (Ketan) used is sold as "Sticky" or "Glutonous" rice. Although the name might suggest otherwise it contains no gluten but is very rich in starch. Use 2 cups of water for every cup of rice and boil for about 12 minutes. (make sure it doesn't stick to the sausepan). Then steam for a further 15 to 20 minutes.
Ingredients:

500 gr. Ketan (see above).
200 gr. Chicken breast.
1 large red Onion.
4 cloves Garlic.
1 stalk Lemongrass.
2 Tsp. Trassi.
2 Tsp. Cummin. (Ground)
2 Tsp. Coriander. (Ground)
250 ml. Coconut milk.
2 Tbl. Oil.
Preparation:

Boil the rice as explained above and leave to cool.
Boil the chicken in some water. Set aside. Finely chop Onions, Garlic and Lemongrass. Heat oil in a wok and fry Onion, Garlic and Lemongrass mixture. When browned add chopped chicken and other spices. keep frying for a further 3 minutes then add the coconut milk and reduce so the mixture is almost dry again. Leave to cool. Follow procedure below to make the Ketans.

On a lightly oiled square of tin-foil spread out the cooled down rice in a rectangular shape (12cm * 8cm).






Place a tablespoon of the chicken mixture in the centre of the rice and, using the foil, lift the rice around the mixture so that the end result is croquette shape with the rice covering the filling on all sides.




The lemper can now be individual wrapped in Banana leaves or tin-foil. They can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days max. or frozen.

To serve the Lemper, reheat in a steamer and when hot serve as a snack with Sambal Ulek and Kecap Manis.
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Soto Bandung

onSoto Bandung is another traditional Sundanese dish worth savouring. Just like Lotek has a Javanse cousin called Gado Gado , Soto Bandung is related to the more widespread Soto Ayam (chicken soup). As opposed to soto ayam which uses chicken, soto bandung uses beef and santen (coconut paste).

Soto Bandung consists of a powerful clear broth, filled with beef strips, peanuts and slices of a white carrot named ‘lobak'. It is usually spiced up to flaming levels with a green sambal (chili paste) but that is only advisable if your tolerance for pedas (spicy) is off the charts.

Soto Bandung has a powerful aroma that instantly gives you energy and warms you up. This would be a great dish for cold rainy days (which by the way are plentiful in Bandung ) when you find yourself sneezing and snottering. Unfortunately it is not too common to find Soto Bandung these days.

Instant noodles are obviously far more practical and fast to make but the difference in taste can't be ignored. Fresh spices such as ginger, sereh (lemongrass) and salam leaf definitely beats the artificial MSG flavourings that come with instant noodles nowadays. So if you are lucky enough to spot a soto bandung stand, take your chance and taste soup like your Indonesian grandma would make.

source : www.streetdirectory.com

Es Campur

Es campur literally means ‘mixed ice' and although you may expect an ice cream cone or a sorbet, the ice in this sweet little dish stands for ice cubes. The ice cubes float in a mangkok (bowl) filled with milk, coconut shavings, avocado, nangka (jackfruit) and several kinds of jelly.

Indonesians seem to have a thing for jelly. With Es Campur, you have the chance to taste three kinds of jelly at the same time. First of, there are little cubes of cing-cau jelly made from the cing-cau leaf. Next there’s sekotang which are little pink balls made of tapioca. Finally there is the cengakeleng which is made of coconut.

They all differ in taste and texture but share the ever present sweetness factor. Es Campur is a very colourful dessert with the green of the avocado and the pink and black of the jelly. As far as taste is concerned, it is probably a tad on the sweet side for the average Westerner. Still, the Sundanese prove to be masters in combining different tastes turn out to fit together. Es Campur can be found in most food courts located in malls or in traditional Sundanese warungs. Make sure the milk that is used is fresh and the ice cubes are made of purified water which in this day and age is almost always the case. Expect to pay about Rp.5000 for a large bowl of jelly filled sweetness

source by www.streetdirectory.com