Inimitable Indonesia: Our Fruits!

I wonder how Indonesia’s tourism party works, but I’m sure it has not done a great thing. Visit Indonesia: official tag line from its government seems not working well. Some people (I wonder why) still think that Indonesia is a part of Bali. Some others merely know Jakarta, Java and Sumatera (mostly because of the capital city, its coffee, and its tiger respectively). So sad in my opinion. Fortunately, there are many other people know some funny, cool, and interesting facts about Indonesia, even they never come to one of 17.000 islands of Nusantara (nickname of Indonesia). For that reason, I want make lists of all great and interesting things which you can get, see, and feel in my beloved home country. Even some of Indonesia people do not really realize about these little good things in their soil. So, here we go, in the first article: Our Fruit! The reason is my Germany friend says this and I just thought that he is definitely right! Indonesia has so many kinds of fruits. The facts are:

1. We have many kinds of Banana!

When I was a kid, my friends always said, “You’re like a monkey” if they saw another friend ate banana. Banana is a good fruit, because of its carbohydrate. Many marathon athletes also eat banana before they make a run. Why? Because, it has high calorie but just a little liquid. Just compared with melon which also has high calorie, but also has a huge amount of liquid.

In Brazil, some guides will take tourists to see banana tree. In Indonesia? Never. Actually, Indonesia has many (definitely, more than ten) kinds of banana. Raja, kepok, ambon, tanduk, nangka, abu, susu, and so on. You will be amazed if you see all of them!

2. Spiny round fruit: Durian!

They ban it in the plane, they ban it at the hotel. You can smell this one even before you see the thing and also one of my favorite. Maybe the most famous durian is durian Bangkok from Thailand, but Indonesia has other species and I can tell you, it’s also not bad

3. Salak! (Salacca zalacca)

No, don’t translate it! Uncle google will translate it into “bark” in English. Salak is a native fruit from Indonesia. Pondoh, bali, condet are just some of them. Feel free to taste it.

4. Duku (Lansium domesticum)

You can find this almost in all country of South East Asia. Amazingly, one more time, Indonesia has much more kinds of this fruit compared than the others. So, yes! You should try it too.

5. Oriental persimmon

Yes, this is from China and you can find the best one in PRC (China Mainland) or ROC (Taiwan). They have a very great kind of this fruit. Fortunately, different climate makes persimmon in Indonesia is tasted differently than the original one. So, why not give it a try?

6. Gandaria (Bouea macrophylla)

It’s hard to find it even in Indonesia, but if you can find the good one, then you’re lucky .

7. Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum)

Again, this is tropical species and you can find it in many country in South East Asia, but in my humble opinion, I think the best one still in Indonesia. My suggestion: pick the red one (dark red, if you can find it ).

 

I will stop at here, because I think I cannot finish to write all of fruits in Indonesia. It has also orange, mango, papaya, strawberry (in some areas), apple, guava, rose fruit, purple mangosteen, pomelo, ……….., so many!

The most interesting part: we have a children song dedicated to these fruits (especially papaya). It tells the listener that you can find any fruits in a place called Pasar Minggu (Sunday Market) and by eating those fruits you can maintain your health. My friend asked me to sing this, but I prefer to give this video

Enjoy this song and also enjoy fruits in Indonesia, because Indonesia is inimitable!

Jelajah Nusantara: Pulau Cubadak

Menyambung tulisan pertama tentang Misool Eco Resort, maka kali ini saya akan melanjutkan menulis tentang tempat-tempat menarik yang bisa dijadikan tujuan wisata di negeri kita nan kaya dan indah ini.

Agak sedikit ke selatan dari daerah sebelumnya, kita bergerak ke Sumatera Barat. Nah, di bagian ini banyak sekali terdapat tempat wisata indah, khususnya wisata pantai dan laut. Kenapa begitu? Karena di lepas pantai provinsi ini terdapat jajaran pulau yang mempesona. Salah satunya adalah Pulau Cubadak. Hmm, ini bukan daerah tempat makan daging dewa di Bandung yah (itu mah Cibadak, bzzzz)!!! Pulau seluas 7 hektar ini terletak sekitar 40Km dari lepas pantai Padang.

Jelajah Nusantara: Misool Eco Resort

Kata orang, Indonesia adalah negara yang paling kaya akan sumber daya alamnya. Lempar batu, bisa jadi pohon; gali sumur, dapet tambang emas; bahkan ngeruk pasir bisa nemu mutiara.. Luar biasa!!!

Tapi, seberapa menikmati-negara-ini-nya kah kita sebagai WNI??

Waktu SMP, saya nelpon temen saya pada saat libur long weekend (dr kamis kalo ga salah), dan dijawab sama papanya, “Oh, si xxx lagi di LA..”.. Yah, namanya juga liburan, wajar lha. Naik kelas ke SMA, abis liburan, topik yang hangat biasanya, “Liburan kemaren ke mana aja?”, dan jawabannya berkisar antara Oz (bahasa gaulnya Australia), NZ (Selandia Baru), Jepang, SG (Singapur), yah paling jelek kayanya Malaysia deh.. Masuk kuliah, mulailah orang-orang sibuk bilang, iya nih mau ke Singapur, iya nih mo ke Paris, lagi beres-beres buat ke Penang. Buset dah.. Ini orang Indo koq kerjanya jalan-jalan ke negara tetangga mulu yah???

Well, yang paling baik mungkin kalo ada orang bilang liburan ke Bali, at least masi Indonesia lha.. Tapi apa ga bosen yah Bali mulu?? (fyi, saya aja belom pernah tu ke pulau dewata.. hohoho..). Apa sih sebenernya masalah orang indo dengan negaranya sendiri sampai-sampai males jalan-jalan di negara ini kecuali Puncak, Bandung, Bali, dan hmmmm WaterBoom???

Jawaban yang paling masuk akal pasti bilangnya, “Jorok ah, banyak sampah!”. Yah, dari sekian tempat yang pernah saya kunjungi di Indonesia ini, emang sih kayanya hampir semua penuh dengan botol aqua bekas, kaleng coca cola, atau plastik kresek item. Di manapun pasti tipikal ini-ini juga hiasannya.

Alasan lain yang agak pengen minta digampar adalah, “Gengsi!”. WTF??? Tau lha rumah lo gedong, mobil lo jaguar, maenan lo pacuan kuda, tapi blagu amat sih!!! (maklum orang kere, jadi suka keki kalo ada orang kaya sok gengsi..) Dan masih banyak lagi alasan lain yang mengikutinya…

Apa di negara ini emang ga ada yang tempat yang bisa dinikmati???