Last weekend I took the chance to make a return to Bogor at the kind invitation of Andreas & Devi (see wedding below). Andreas spends most of his spare time backpacking around his home country, from the forests of Lombok to the depths of remote Aceh, and is essentially a walking talking Lonely Planet guide to Indonesia. And so with the prospect of such an excellent guide I put my Sunday morning weariness aside and clambered onto the 'Aircon Express' from Kota Station Jakarta.
The Bogor Botanical Gardens were built by the Dutch in the early 1800s, and are regarded as one of the finest gardens of their kind; the orchid house alone contains over 3,000 varieties of orchid! The gardens are situated alongside the Presidential Palace and have been used to host a number of APEC summits. A proudly displayed photo in the orchid house of former President Megawati alongside cult bad guy Kim Jong-il aptly demonstrated the venue’s international pedigree.
Regarded as the culinary capital of Indonesia, a trip to Bogor is also a great opportunity to feast, and one that we grasped with both hands. Lunch was fried & barbequed Gurame (lake fish) served with customary chili and rice, and dinner the somewhat bizarre grilled macaroni. More to follow on Indonesian food in an up coming post…
Back to Jakarta for the International Film Festival and middle row seats for the Indonesian Premier of the Australian blockbuster “Love the Beast”, which included a Q&A session with the producer afterwards (he may possibly have been the assistant producer). And Tuesday, another badminton lesson from the local experts.
P.S. Reassuring result from last week’s poll with only 18% mildly authoritarian respondents wanting to ban the film 2012 from our screens. Check out this week’s quiz for a surprising fact about North Korea’s Kim Jong-il unearthed while checking how to spell his name on wikipedia; the man is clearly not to be underestimated.
The Bogor Botanical Gardens were built by the Dutch in the early 1800s, and are regarded as one of the finest gardens of their kind; the orchid house alone contains over 3,000 varieties of orchid! The gardens are situated alongside the Presidential Palace and have been used to host a number of APEC summits. A proudly displayed photo in the orchid house of former President Megawati alongside cult bad guy Kim Jong-il aptly demonstrated the venue’s international pedigree.
Regarded as the culinary capital of Indonesia, a trip to Bogor is also a great opportunity to feast, and one that we grasped with both hands. Lunch was fried & barbequed Gurame (lake fish) served with customary chili and rice, and dinner the somewhat bizarre grilled macaroni. More to follow on Indonesian food in an up coming post…
Back to Jakarta for the International Film Festival and middle row seats for the Indonesian Premier of the Australian blockbuster “Love the Beast”, which included a Q&A session with the producer afterwards (he may possibly have been the assistant producer). And Tuesday, another badminton lesson from the local experts.
P.S. Reassuring result from last week’s poll with only 18% mildly authoritarian respondents wanting to ban the film 2012 from our screens. Check out this week’s quiz for a surprising fact about North Korea’s Kim Jong-il unearthed while checking how to spell his name on wikipedia; the man is clearly not to be underestimated.
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