Balinese Cuisine (Part 1)

 Ayam Betutu is the beginning and the end of this story. It's a type of food that visitors to Bali simply must taste. 

In Gilimanuk and Badung, I had two tastes of them. Aside from Ayam Betutu, during those five days, I also enjoyed a variety of Balinese dishes.

Late August was a scorching month. I arrived with my team at noon, which was ideal for our first schedule item: lunch. We were taken to Ayam Betutu Khas Gilimanuk by our tour guide.

Situated approximately 2 km from I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport, the eatery presents a unique cuisine featuring chicken dishes. There will be four platters brought to you. Each plate has rice, fried nuts, spinach with a fresh sauce, and steamed chicken with broth.

A few hours later, I walked around two km from Legian Street to Kuta Highway. It was only my decision to add a sporting touch to the afternoon. You can drive or ride a bike, but getting stuck in traffic can cost you more than  you want to spend on dinner at Nasi Tempong Indra.

That was packed.  Fortunately, there was a long, solid table that could seat six people. However, our wait for the serving of our menu was rather lengthy.

We all placed an order for "Nasi Tempong Ayam Pedas," or spicy tempong chicken-rice. After I finished the rice, fried chicken, stewed eggplant and veggies. A sauce which is offered separately made my lips felt bold.

I'll tell you another gastronomic experience in the next post, one that comes from Buleleng as well as Gilimanuk, as I had promised. Stay hungry! []

Totok

 I went to Bali a few months ago. I had a very knowledgeable driver accompany me for several days. He goes by Totok.

I sat next to him and we had a music guessing game. It's interesting to note that certain songs relate to his experiences in life.

If we don't listen to Bali's indie grunge band, Navicula, our trip won't be complete. Through the car's speakers, "Saat Semua Semakin Cepat, Bali Berani Berhenti" was played.

Totok informed me about the band's vocalist, Robi. The grunge guy is now a farmer as well as a musician. A coffee plantation belongs to Robi. It must have felt alive when Robi performed a song about a coffee farm for the 2015 film Filosofi Kopi's original soundtrack.

At an intersection Totok proceeded to play Metropolutan, another song from Navicula. The title makes sense in light of his background.

In 2006, the man moved out of the "metropolutan" existence in Bekasi, West Java. He began his career on the island of God, in order to experience the tranquility.

In Bali, Totok supports himself by working as a tour guide while living with his hobby of riding on a motorcycle. One of his three Honda RX Kings was recently used to visit Lombok Island.

"100 km/h." I mention the title of a song. However, it turns out that I was referring to the incorrect song. It was The Brandals' Lingkar Labirin.

The Brandals, a self titled album published in 2003, featured both of these tracks. It was through a compilation album that Sony BMG Music Entertainment issued that I became acquainted with Lingkar Labirin.

I remember the tape so well that I am aware of a few significant bands from it. Superman Is Dead, Rocket Rockers, Purgatory, and The Brandals were some of the big names that participated in the album.

"Sampeyan referensinya banyak," Totok made me feel good even though I didn't win this song-guessing game. He said us farewell for the day with a promising "sampai jumpa di album berikutnya" in his Klaten accent. []

Sherina

Petualangan Sherina 2 dikemas sedemikian sederhana. Karakter protagonis-antagonis dipisahkan ke dalam spektrum yang hitam-putih. 

Dulu Kertarajasa, kini Syailendra. Kita bisa rasakan posisi mereka dalam kisah ini sejak kemunculan pertama. 

Meski bersegmentasi "semua umur" sekuel ini terasa lebih tepat ditujukan bagi penonton film pertama. Penonton yang berusia dewasa diajak menengok lagi masa anak-anak, saat Petualangan Sherina mempengaruhi gelagat anak tahun 2000an.

Saat itu saya masih SD. Begitu pula istri saya yang mengaku banyak terinspirasi gaya sherina: cokelat M & M's, bekal sekolah, you name it. Dua puluh tiga tahun kemudian, kami melihat Sherina yang sama, tampil dalam kemasan kisah serupa.

Sherina kecil dan dewasa harus menghadapi perbedaan realita dengan ekspektasi. Jika Sherina 2000 sedih dan gundah karena tak ingin pergi berpisah dengan temannya di Jakarta, maka Sherina 2023 digambarkan marah karena peliputan ke Davos batal. Sherina yang sudah jadi reporter televisi malah ditugaskan ke hutan Kalimantan.

Bandung dan Palangka Raya bagi Sherina kecil dan dewasa terasa sama saat dia melintasi rimbun pohon yang tampak serupa. Ia menatap ke luar jendela mobil dalam komposisi visual yang mirip.

Kejutan: Sherina kecil bertemu Sadam di Bandung, Sherina dewasa jumpa Sadam di Palangka Raya. Mereka kadang kompak, tapi beberapa kali juga beda pendapat saat menghadapi tokoh antagonis pemburu satwa liar.

Riri Riza dan Mira Lesmana, sebagai duet sutradara dan produser, kini menawarkan gagasan konflik pelestarian orang utan. Dua puluh tiga tahun lalu, isu yang mereka sodorkan berupa perebutan lahan. 

Saat pencaplokan wilayah masih relevan di saat ini, mungkin masalah pelestarian hewan juga akan tetap penting disampaikan di masa depan nanti. Mereka sedang menandai zaman.

Penanda era lain yang juga tampak sengaja disisipkan, terlihat ketika Sherina diminta segera pulang ke Jakarta untuk meliput konferensi pers Presiden Jokowi. Dua puluh tiga tahun dari sekarang, penonton film ini akan punya sebuah konteks menarik saat menilik lagi kondisi yang dihadirkan dalam jagat Petualangan Sherina 2. 

Di luar hal-hal simbolik itu, Petualangan Sherina 2 sesederhana surat cinta buat inner child kita. Sherina dan Sadam terlihat bersenang-senang dengan karir dan tantangan kerja di dalamnya. Hingga di usianya yang kepala tiga, mereka belum menikah dan itu nggak apa-apa. 

Dalam beberapa hal, film ke-25 rumah produksi Miles Film ini nampaknya ingin membuat generasi 2000an sumringah, serupa ekspresi Sherina ketika dihadiahi tas lama. []