A weekend of shopping and dining in Cirebon

A weekend of shopping and dining in Cirebon

Hera Diani
The Jakarta Post
Cirebon, West Java

On a recent weekend, my colleagues and I were all really burned
out and in need of something rejuvenating to recharge our
batteries.

Watch a movies, take a massage or hang out at cafes? Been
there, done that. Boring.

"Let's just get out of this damn town," a colleague said.
Cool! Besides, it was just after payday, so the budget was not
really a problem.

The destination that we had in mind was not a quiet and serene
place, but rather a town where we could eat out and go on a
shopping spree.

The initial choice was Yogyakarta. But then, we thought, it
was too far for a two-day weekend, with 18 hours trip back and
forth by train. By plane? The budget wouldn't cover that, lah.

Bandung, meanwhile, was already out of question because
despite the proximity, the food and the places to shop (now there
are just too many, though), the town is always packed on the
weekend.

"Why not Cirebon? It's only three hours by train. It's hot but
the food is varied and delicious and the batik is great," I said.

So, off we went to Cirebon, West Java, some 254 kilometers
east of Jakarta. As some of us had to work a half day on
Saturday, we left at 6 p.m., hoping to reach the city before 9
p.m.

"We have to eat nasi jamblang right after we arrive, OK?" a
colleague insisted, referring to the Cirebon specialty dish of
steamed rice wrapped in a leaf and served with an array of side
dishes of your choice.

Fortunately, we bought the train tickets (Rp 45,000 or US$4.9
for executive class, one way) a day before because the train was
full.

However, the train was two hours late -- a occurrence that has
happened so many times that we didn't feel like complaining
anymore.

We finally arrived at around 11 p.m., and went straight to a
hotel which is in the same business group as our office, so that
we could get a discounted rate.

We did not reserve a room, thinking that it was not necessary,
but it turned out the hotel was fully booked.

But the hotel then transferred us to a three-star hotel on
nearby Jl. R. A. Kartini. We were burned out and sick of living
in a non air-conditioned room kost (rented room), so three-star
hotel it was.

Despite being tired and sweaty, our spirits were soaring high.
After taking a shower, we went out to look for nasi jamblang,
even though it was already midnight.

After asking directions from a becak (three-wheeled pedicab)
driver, we walked to Grage Mall which is just a few hundred
meters away from the hotel. In front of the mall a line of the
vendors was seen on the street.

On a table were rows of neatly arranged aluminum bowls where
side dishes were placed. The dishes were varied, from chicken and
egg, to liver, brain, mussels -- all cooked in several different
ways. Yummy.

The portions of the rice itself were so tiny that we ended up
eating at least three servings. When it was time to pay, however,
we were a bit surprised because we had to pay some Rp 60,000 for
four persons.

But then we remembered how much food we had gobbled up, so we
just shrugged it off and went back to the hotel.

At the very same hotel, there were two discotheques and a
karaoke club. The karaoke was already closed so we checked out
the discotheques. The first one plays Arabic music, the other
house music, so we decided to just sleep.

The day after, we went to Trusmi Batik village, some six
kilometers to the west. But before that, we had a very nice
brunch at Ayam Kalasan Pringgadani just across the street.

We had this traditionally seasoned fried chicken with crispy
flour toppings, plus sambal tempeh, fried tempeh which is mashed
with chili. Just heavenly.

For the meal including rice and fruit juice, it cost us some
Rp 80,000. Definitely worth it. In fact, it is quite cheap.

It was extremely hot outside, so we took a cab. It turned out
that the cab was not air-conditioned, and did not use the meter.
We had to pay Rp 20,000 although the village was quite close.
Yeah, well.

Most of the residents in the batik village are engaged in home
industry. Packed with small houses, the area features many old
houses with classic Dutch colonial architecture.

We quickly got into the shopping mode, the first stop being a
small shop called Saidah. Despite its small and very simple
interior, the shop has a variety of batik, both printed and
handmade.

Some come in really classic motifs which, later we found out,
cannot be found in other shops (or maybe we didn't look enough).

Cirebon batik itself is known for its brighter, glaring
colors, opposed to the dark brown and black hues of batik from
the Central Java cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

Known among aficionados as coastal batik, the motifs sometimes
include folk stories and landscapes.

Prices vary, from as cheap as Rp 15,000 to almost over Rp
500,000. The material ranged from cotton to silk.

One shop, quite a posh one, even had this Rp 1.9 million
length of batik. But it was gorgeous, very classic with a beige
background and brown motif.

"The cheap section is over there," the owner of the shop
repeatedly told us every time we asked about the price. Got it,
lady.

We browsed through store after store for several hours, until
we got a little bit sick of seeing batik. And because we ran out
of money too.

We then just browsed around the area, took pictures of the
houses and bought some traditional snacks.

We spent the last night browsing the mall, which was a bit
boring and then went out to find something to eat.

It is apparently difficult to find street vendors with
specialty dishes aside from nasi jamblang after 9 p.m.

Well, there is satay and seafood, and regular restaurant, but
we wanted something unique.

After riding becak for, like, half an hour, the driver then
took us to this vendor which sells Bubur Sop Ayam (Chicken
Porridge Soup) on Jl. Tentara Pelajar.

It tasted just heavenly. Basically, it is chicken porridge
mixed with soup, vegetables and rice noodles. But the mixture
works well.

The next morning, post weekend syndrome attacked badly as we
had to return to Jakarta. But it was not as bad as usual, because
the trip really did rejuvenate us.