Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine February 2015 | Page 111

Travel | Bandung

109

5 Senses – Taste
LEMBANG
FLOATING MARKET

Feast on the variety of
Indonesian cuisine. About a
half-hour drive outside the city
there is a unique place that could
qualify as one of the best places
in the entire country for an
uninitiated visitor to get a first
introduction to Indonesian food.
Lembang Floating Market has
more than 50 little boats offering
culinary specialities from all over
the world’s biggest island nation.
You can eat at covered tables
on the shore or rent pretty
little bamboo picnic platforms.
There are art and music
demonstrations, an adventure
playground and boats for rent,
and even a garden where
the kids can feed carrots
to the captive rabbits.
www.flomartlembang.com
Puaskan diri Anda dengan
beragam kuliner Indonesia.
Hanya setengah jam berkendara
ke luar kota, ada tempat
menyenangkan yang bisa
menjadi salah satu tempat
terbaik bagi wisatawan
yang baru pertama kali ingin
mencicipi makanan Indonesia.
Pasar Apung Lembang memiliki
lebih dari 50 perahu kecil dengan
beragam kuliner khas dari
seluruh penjuru nusantara.
Anda bisa menikmati hidangan
itu di meja-meja di tepi kolam
atau menyewa saung bambu.
Ada juga pertunjukan seni dan
musik, taman bermain dan
perahu yang dapat disewa,
bahkan taman tempat
anak-anak bisa memberi
makan kelinci dengan wortel.

An unusual delicacy
from the highlands around
Bandung is monitor lizard
satay – served in a deliciously
rich spicy sauce.
Bandung offers some of
Indonesia’s most tempting
streetfood...although some
visitors might hesitate to
describe monitor lizard satay
as tempting.

As a driver/guide at the Hyatt Regency Hotel,
Diky is used to seeing countless Singaporean
and Malaysian visitors who have fallen in love
with Bandung. Recently, however, he’s noticed
increasing numbers of tourists arriving from
farther afield as the fame of Bandung as an
outdoor activity destination spreads.
Diky and I left shortly after dawn to make the
most of the clear morning light and, about the
time I should have been drinking my second cup
of coffee, we were already standing above the
sulphur-spewing crater of Tangkuban Perahu
volcano. I skipped my third cup of coffee because
I was busy feasting my eyes on the beautiful green
of the tea plantations that covered the slopes and
the steaming waters of the hot springs at Gracia.
By mid-morning I’d already been completely
charmed by hot springs, majestic pine forests
and mountains covered by the emerald corduroy
of tea plantations and realised that Bandung
offers what might be some of the most accessible
trekking in Indonesia. An unusual delicacy from
this highland area is monitor lizard satay and –
after one of the stall-holders confirmed that the

meat came from farmed biawak, not hunted
animals – I was determined to try it. Served in
a rich, spicy sauce they were very possibly
the most delicious satays I’ve ever eaten.
Then Bandung threw me its final trick. I was on
the point of finally catching up with my caffeine
addiction when Diky told me about a Bandung
speciality called bandrek. A spicy mix of ginger,
pepper and palm sugar (and, sometimes, young
coconut), it is certainly one of the world’s most
refreshingly delicious hot drinks.
By the time I flew out from Bandung I was packing
a vastly improved wardrobe and a few dozen packs
of the delicious ginger mix. It’s safe to say that long
after the clothes have become a size too small I’ll
still be sipping my own homemade bandrek and
reminiscing about the Paris of Java.