Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in Indonesia Part II

We've talked about Tony in Jakarta, here's what happened next.

GARUT

"The Sound of Home"

Tony didn't stay long in Jakarta. He went right away to Garut. Garut is located in the west side of Java island. About 3-4 hours by car from Jakarta. The segment showed Tony in the middle of rice fields with the view a mountain top from a distance. It was probably near 6 pm, so the sky was humble and the sun was setting behind the mountain. It was the real deal. Indonesia at one of its best situations. It was quiet and peaceful. Only the sound of nature played along with the beautiful melody of silence. Bats (big ones) were flying away from a big old tree and you can hear the flocking of their wings. Tony stayed still for a few seconds, then the sound of adzan (reminder for moslems to pray the maghrib prayer) came from the nearby mosques. 90% of Indonesia's population are moslem and this constant reminder to pray is part of the daily routine. Tony said a sentence that instantly hit me, "This country has beautiful acoustic." It's true. And for me, eventhough I'm not a moslem, it would always be something that reminds me of Indonesia. It's not about the belief, it's about the sound of home.

Garut was no disappointment for Tony. After being acquainted with the "sound of home", he then went to see a Ram Fight. Basically it was about cheering and rooting for two male goats that constantly bang their heads until one of them was put in a submissive position by the other. It was a torturing view, but hey, come to think of it, the goats were doing that urged by their own fighting instict. It was what usually happened in nature. Although in nature, they don't usually have hundreds spectators that cheer everytime they bang their heads together. One thing so embarassing for this country happened while Tony was watching the fight. A boy, probably in his early teenage, was smoking heavily next to Tony. Why is this embarassing? He was a child and it shouldn't have happened. Especially not on a show that is viewed by people all over the globe.

Anyway, Tony stayed in a resort called Kampung Sampireun. This was a beautiful resort. I haven't had the chance to stay there, eventhough TAMASYA, the magazine that I used to work for, wrote over and over again about the tranquility and uniqueness of this resort. (damned it!) Tony felt the same way about Kampung Sampireun. The resort offered "floating" villas. Well, they don't actually float, but they were built on a lake and you (or anyone else) could only travel from one villa to another by using a simple wooden boat that you must paddle yourself. Every morning a boat would come to each villa and brought breakfast. It was serabi (Indonesian pancake) with sugar syrup. Tony adored it. I was jumping up and down when he said that it was delicious.

After breakfast, Tony went to a dodol factory. Dodol is a kind of treat. When you're having a tiny dodol, you could consider it a treat or candy. But they come in other forms too. Dodol Garut is made from durian. The strange fruit that usually arouse a kind of nausea to westerners. But not to Tony. This american loved his durians. He ate it in Thailand and he was absolutely looking around for it while in Indonesia. He described this fruit as: "the stegosaurus-shaped stink-fruit of Asia". He likes it so much,he cut the fruit himself and plunged his hands in to get the best parts. Wow.