Kampung Betawi

This last fall, I joined a group called the Indonesian Heritage Society. This group does many things to preserve the culture and history of Indonesia. One of the main reasons I joined the group was for Exploring! There are many groups of women that come together and organize outing to different places in Indonesia. I joined a group that only goes out once a month (due to my schedule and sweet children) but there are other groups that go out every week.

So far, we have been to a spice demonstration with Ibu Molina, an Indian woman who has lived here for over 18 years and taught us all about Indonesian spices and their uses. We went to Kampung Betawi (the Betawi Village) where we saw and tried traditional music and dance, foods, martial arts, and architecture. And most recently we went to Gunung Mas which translated means Gold Mountain, a tea plantation about 1 1/2 hours out of central Jakarta producing mostly black tea.

Here are some pictures of Kampung Betawi:

Betawi dancers put on a lovely performance for us, then taught us some steps. It was way harder than it looked!

A gentleman making Kerak Telor (egg crust). It's essentially a scrambled egg with powdered shrimp, onion, salt and pepper, and good old MSG! They cook it in a pan on a fire, then literally turn the pan upside down with the egg stuck to the bottom and cook the top directly on the open flame.

This brown stuff, is called Dodol. It is a kind of candy, that sort of reminds me of molasses taffy but it's more gummy like a gummy bear texture. These ladies stir it over the fire for 7 hours! It's thick and takes some serious muscle and leverage to stir with that paddle.

Indonesian children love having their picture taken, especially if you show it to them on your digital camera... that's some serious entertainment right there! These guys at the bottom were real posers!