The Best of 2010

Another year zoomed by and now it's the start of a new decade.  2010 was a year of travel for us, not just for holidays (Las Vegas, Singapore, Manila, Miami, Buenos Aires, Jogjakarta) but a big move too from Marbella to Bali.  Since there were so many places visited, choosing the best of 2010 wasn't easy but after several edits, here they in no particular order. Happy New Year and here's to more gourmet travel in 2011!

BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK - Menega Cafe (Bali)

Sand, sea and al fresco dining are what make Jimbaran beach special.  From the many open-air restaurants that offer much of the same, Menega Cafe stands out from the rest.  The fish is fresh, the service pretty good and the place is always packed.  Head here for a sunset drink and a simple meal of grilled fish and seafood.  Don't forget to have a few freshly-grilled corn on the cob from the vendors on the beach - here is street, or rather beach, food at its' best.

BEST ICE CREAM - Gaya Gelato (Ubud)

I just had to add this.  A tiny place in Ubud that serves (in my opinion) the best gelato on the island.  Fresh flavors that vary depending on the season.  My favorites are espresso and mango, when they have it.  A loves the chocolate orange and J, the dark chocolate.  Say hello to Massimo, the friendly owner, have a scoop and sit outside at one of their cool ceramic tables. 

BEST WARUNG - Ibu Oka (Ubud)

This tiny, bare warung (roadside eatery) near Ubud's main temple bring the crowds in for their very limited menu.  Only one thing is on it, babi guling (Balinese-style roast pig) served in all ways possible.  A single meal portion will set you back a few dollars and comes with steamed white rice, spicy jack fruit and green beans, a few chunks of blood sausage, slices of roast pork in spices topped with a piece of pork crackling.  Grab a space on the floor, sit down and eat.

BEST BISTRO - SIP (Seminyak)

Bali's most authentic french bistro.  Unfussy dishes, a fantastic wine list and the presence of deux Francais running the show.  Add to that red leather banquettes, large mirrors for people watching and faultless, friendly service. Go for the steak au poivre or the warm goat's cheese salad or the duck in green peppercorn sauce - whatever you have will be good and keep you coming back for more of the same.

BEST COFFEE - The Tuck Shop at the Cornerstore (Seminyak)

I don't know what it is about Australians and coffee but it seems that they have mastered the subtle art of coffee and can give the Italians a run for their money.  The Tuck Shop is Australian-owned, tiny and found inside a boutique but don't let that fool you, the coffees at this place are addicting - espresso, macchiato, flat white, cappuccino - they are all very, very good.  I sometimes go on the twenty-minute drive to get there just to have a coffee. There is also a small menu of sandwiches and salads along with some cool clothes and surfer wear.

BEST WINE - 1996 Romanee Saint-Vivant Grand Cru (Joseph Drouhin)

The best thing about having a mom who's a wine importer is being able to ask for special wines for special occasions.  On Thanksgiving, we celebrated with a babi guling from Ibu Oka (see above for best warung) and some grand cru wines from my mom's collection.  This grand cru pinot noir from Burgundy's famed Vosne-Romanee was perfection.  A few weeks after Thanksgiving we had our first dinner party and shared our last two bottles of Romanee Saint-Vivant with some appreciative friends.

BEST BREAKFAST - Jones the Grocer (Singapore)

This was a tough one as a really good breakfast is often hard to find.  In Singapore's hip and happening Dempsey Hill is Jones the Grocer (another Aussie import) where the coffees are good, the cuisine simple and the ingredients top-notch.  I've been several times for breakfast, once for lunch and a few times for a quick afternoon snack.  It's expensive but worth it.   The deli and cheese selection are topnotch and their pains au chocolat, the best ones I've had in a long time.  (They've also opened another branch on Orchard road at the Mandarin Gallery.)

BEST COMFORT FOOD - Michael's Genuine Food and Drink (Miami)

Tucked in Miami's up and coming Design District, Michael's serves large portions of American comfort food that seem deceptively simple but are actually a wonderful mix of well-sourced ingredients.  For example, a steak salad is not just a salad but one that includes Harris Ranch skirt steak and heirloom tomatoes.  Desserts from their in-house pastry chef are the best I've had this year.  My favorite was the pucker-your-mouth lemon meringue tart with buttermilk sherbet.  It's comfort food in a casual setting.

BEST DIM SUM - Din Tai Fung (Singapore)

Always packed with both locals and expats queueing for their consistently good dim sum.  Check-in with the hostess, grab a tiny clipboard, place your order then wait for your number to be called.  As soon as you're seated, the food starts coming out - lots of steam baskets filled with one-of-a-kind dumplings, sweet and savory buns and a few other stir-fried dishes come out of their open kitchen.  It's a bit chaotic but it works and the food is always the same.

BEST FRENCH - L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon (Las Vegas)

My best French meal (and most expensive) in 2009 was Joel Robuchon.  No surprises in 2010 as my best meal was at his much more reasonably-priced and more hip, L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. (This was our second meal in his Vegas outpost and we had been to the one in Paris when it first opened years ago.)  The food is traditional with a twist and come served in small portions, tapas-style.  Each mouthful was a revelation.  This is one of those meals that you wish you could have at least once a year (which is why we might be back when we're in Vegas next week).  French but not stuffy, classic but fun and above all really, really good.

BEST JAPANESE - Akanoya Robatayaki (Singapore)

Noisy, informal counter restaurant that is almost like having a meal in a market.  This is as close as you'll get to what's on your plate.  Ingredients (vegetables, fish, seafood and meat) are displayed on crushed ice right in front of you.  No menu is offered.  Just ask, point and order.  All the food is cooked on a robata (Japanese-style charcoal grill) and is served directly from the grill onto a long wooden paddle that the grill man places in front of you.  Interactive dining at it's best but with amazing flavors.  Great for a family dinner with kids or for a quick meal.  Ignore the loud shouts in Japanese which happen for all sorts of reasons and just enjoy the food.

BEST MARKET MEAL - Salcedo Saturday Market (Manila)

Weekly market right in the middle of Makati, Manila's chi-chi business district.  Food of all kinds - organic fruits and vegetables, Philippine delicacies, roast pig, homemade jams, barbecue - sold in open stalls.  Some of these food items are only available here every week and since they come from all over, it's a good way to get to know Filipino cuisine and take home a few goodies or enjoy a takeaway lunch on one of the benches nearby.  Prepare for the heat, get there early, bring a basket and make sure you're hungry.

BEST THAI - People's Palace (Manila)

Fantastic Thai food in Greenbelt, Makati's swishest boutique row.  The food is always good,  the flower arrangements are always large, the place is always packed and the service is always friendly.  It's the best Thai restaurant in Manila.

BEST GOURMET TRAVEL - Borobudur (Jogjakarta)

The most impressive ancient temple I've ever seen, our short break to Jogjakarta was my 40th birthday present.  Not only was our room at the Amanjiwo amazing but the temple was visible from our large terrace.  After a 4:00 a.m. wake-up call and a trek up Borobudur to watch the sunrise, we had a private gourmet picnic on nearby Dagi hill with the temple looming in the distance.  My birthday dinner was a romantic diner a deux in a dirt-floored Javanese joglo (wooden home) with just candles to light the meal, live gamelan music in the background and simple grilled Indonesian specialties.  And who said that turning 40 was going to be difficult?

Jogjakarta Day 2: BOROBUDUR TREATS

Chic picnic overlooking Borobudur temple

Our Borobudur temple tour lasted more than an hour so by the time it finished, we had been up and about for four hours and were starving.  We were taken to nearby Dagi hill which is still inside the archaeological park. Up a winding one-lane dirt road until we reached the top and came to a large clearing.  It was here that a Buddhist monk from Thailand was cremated in fulfillment of his dying wish to finish his life overlooking Borobudur temple.  We walked a little way down the side of the hill and were amazed at the delightful picnic spread before us - a rather ordinary concrete bench and table for those who wished to take a rest after the climb was covered in cotton batik.  Laid out on the table were two covered rectangular baskets, bottles of orange juice and rattan-covered thermoses of coffee and milk.  As soon as they served our juice, they discreetly left us alone to enjoy our early morning picnic - blueberry muffin, jam doughnut, fresh fruit, muesli and an egg and ham on an English muffin.  Then for an hour or so, it was just us both, the chirping birds and Borobudur in the distance.

Fruits and vegetables at the Borobudur market

Post-breakfast we were scheduled to go an andong (horse-drawn cart) and do a little tour of the villages nearby but we opted to go and visit the market instead.  It was a large local market already bustling with shoppers rushing around with baskets and vendors setting up their wares.  Markets are a great place to see the produce and understand what ingredients are typical in the local cuisine.  This was my first visit to an Indonesian market and it was an interesting experience of noise, colors and lots of different smells.  There were colorfully-attired ladies separating red and green chilies while chatting away, fresh egg noodles piled up on shallow round baskets, lots of red-skinned shallots and mounds of garlic, knobby galangal and ginger, palm sugar, tempeh (a tofu cake), tofu  and even small fish packed in matching baskets tied up and ready to go.  Tiny stalls on wheels were offering fresh-cooked breakfasts of fried melinjo crackers, rice and vegetables were wrapped in banana leaf cone-shaped packets, soups with bakso (meatballs) and noodles being ladled out and eaten on the spot and lots of tiny coconut husk grills smoky with the smell of chicken satay cooking.

Colorful market vendors

Despite the noise and heat, everyone was getting on with their business.  It was a pity that we couldn't do a bit of food shopping and cook our own lunch.  We circled the outdoor portion of the market then went inside the covered area down dimly-lit alleys to see what the rest of the market had to offer.  It was cooler and surprisingly more calm with the vendors slowly and quietly measuring things out on antique metal scales.

Clockwise from top left: shallots and garlic, red and green chilis, palm sugar, fish in baskets, local oranges

We spent an hour in the market poking around and having a look at everything.  I was surprised to see so many fruits, vegetables and delicacies that I knew and recognized since as we have them in the  Philippines as well - sweetened rice cakes (we call them suman), organic red rice, green-skinned dalandan oranges,tiny red and green bird's eye chilies or  siling labuyo, and bitter melon (ampalaya) used in a classic Philippine vegetable dish.  If we hadn't just eaten a big breakfast, 

I wouldn't have been able to resist buying a few snacks to try.

Pak Bilal making palm sugar

Our gourmet tour ended with a visit to Pak Bilal's house where we were also going to have my birthday dinner later that same day.  Seventy-year old Pak Bilal makes palm sugar daily in his hut using a bamboo-stoked clay six-burner stove where his pots and paraphernalia are set.  This special coconut sugar is made from the sweet coconut juice collected in tiny bamboo containers at the top of the coconut tree.  Pak Bilal himself climbs to the top of the coconut tree and to siphon off the sap collected near the bottom of the palm fronds.  This sap is then cooked over high heat and made into palm sugar.  When the desired consistency is reached, Pak Bilal then pours the boiling hot liquid into empty dried-out coconut husks and leaves them there to harden.

Crispy Melinjo crackers and javanese tea with freshly-made palm sugar at Pak Bilal's home

We ended our morning there where we sat at the rough-hewn wooden table to have some hot Javanese tea sweetened with a small chunk of palm sugar.  Along with this, Pak Bilal's wife gave us some crispy melinjo crackers and palm-sugar sweetened rice cakes.  So in the end, I did get my snacks after all. 

Jogjakarta Day 2: BOROBUDUR

Borobudur stupas before and after sunrise

The phone rang for our wake-up call at 4:00 a.m.  It was quiet and dark outside when we walked up to the bar for a light breakfast of coffee, orange juice and a croissant before we were driven to Borobudur.  We arrived there in about twenty minutes and were given small flashlights to light our path towards the temple.  At the foot of the temple, we couldn't see a thing, just a big black structure looming over us.  As we started the long and steep climb to the top (around 150 steps), we still couldn't make out the stupas (bell-shaped structures that represent Buddhism) that ring the structure on the upper levels.  We finally made it to the top where a few people were sitting quietly, waiting for the sunrise.

Borobodur, another UNESCO world heritage site, dates back to the 8th and 9th century and is the largest Buddhist temple in the world.  It is huge structure made up of black stones and built on three tiers.  The pyramid base is made up of five square terraces decorated by bas reliefs of Buddha's life.  Then comes three more levels of circular terraces topped by a total of 72 open-work stupas, each housing a seated Buddha.  Finally the top level has one large central stupa that stands empty but may or may not have housed a large Buddha.

A few of the 504 Buddhas of Borobudur 

Sunrise was at 6:10 a.m. and as we reached the top of the temple just before 5:00 a.m., we had over an hour to sit and listen to the sound of silence. As soon as a bit of light appeared in the sky, the stupas started to become visible and little by little Borobodur made itself apparent to us.  The sheer breadth and height of the monument is hard to imagine and a surprise to discover as the sun started to appear on the horizon.  It was misty that day and so we didn't see a perfect sunrise but being on top of the temple in the quiet of dawn was a spiritual experience.

We found out later from our guide that Borobudur was hidden underneath volcanic ash and left undiscovered until 1814 when British governor Thomas Stamford Raffles (Singapore's founder), heard the legend of the ancient monument and sent a Dutch engineer to investigate.  It was only much two decades later in 1835 that the entire monument was unearthed.

Bas reliefs telling the story of Buddha's life and gargoyles guarding the gates to the temple

Our guide also told us about the 72 Buddhas seated inside each open-work stupa, all facing outside.  When we peeked inside a few, we could see that indeed there were Buddhas (most without faces or with broken hands) that were housed inside each structure.  He told us of a legend that those who could touch Buddha's hands through the openings would be granted luck.  Apparently, hardly any Asians have the long arms to reach in and touch Buddha's hands making it impossible and showing a basic tenet of Buddhism stating that life is suffering and that the path to enlightenment or nirvana is extremely difficult to achieve.  My husband reached in and with a bit of stretching touched Buddha's hands easily while I couldn't even get anywhere close to Buddha so I guess the guide was right.

We continued our tour by going around the five lower levels looking at the bas reliefs of Buddha's life from when we has conceived by the Southern Nepalese king Shuddodana Gautama and his wife Mahamaya.  Hundreds of bas reliefs depicting Buddha's life and teachings are preserved and show the noble truths and eightfold path of Buddhism.  He also told us how the number nine figures prominently in Borobudur - 72 stupas (7+2=9), 8 levels plus 1 giant stupa at the top (8+1=9), 504 Buddhas (5=4=9), the significance of which I missed.  We went down slowly and just as we were descending the steep stone steps, the temple started to fill with other tourists who had been waiting at the gates for the 6:00 a.m. opening. At the bottom, we took one last look upwards at this amazing monument and then slowly walked away.

AMANJIWO

Clockwise from top L: Borobudur suite, Bale overlooking the fields, outdoor bath, bedroom

I celebrated my birthday at the end of July with a very special treat from my husband - a trip to Jogjakarta to visit Borobudur and stay at Amanjiwo.  What a fantastic two days and two nights at the resort and went around both Jogjakarta and Borobudur.

We left Bali very early on a Sunday and arrived in Jogjakarta after a 55-minute flight.  As soon as we were picked up at the airport, we went straight to visit two temples the smaller Buddhist temple - Candi (temple) Plaosan, and the UNESCO World Heritage site  and the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia, Prambanan  (more on that later).

Scenes from Amanjiwo (clockwise top from top L):
fruit platter, paints and a palette, our room key, the lily pond at the entrance, petals by the reception, a glass painting

After a very cultural morning, we went to the Hyatt hotel for a leisurely and much needed breakfast before meeting up with a driver who would then take us for a bit of retail therapy to two shops recommended by a friend - one for stingray bags and accessories and another for handmade batik.  Unfortunately, the stingray shop didn't have much on display at that moment so I settled for a shagreen-lined wooden tray and a black shagreen wallet.  We were luckier at the batik store though and came away with several reasonably-priced cotton batik fabrics which we will have made into cushion covers, place mats and coasters.

Afternoon tea ceremony at Amanjjiwo's bar

After our hectic morning, we finally made our way to Borobudur, about an hour away from Jogjakarta, to Amanjiwo where we were welcomed by the general manager.  After a welcome drink of homemade chilled ginger beer (fizzy and non-alcoholic),  we were escorted to our suite - a large room with his and hers dressing areas, a private plunge pool and a bale overlooking the fields with Borobudur temple in the distance.  We immediately changed into our swimsuits and read by the pool.  We woke up from our nap staring and had a delicious goat's cheese, tomato and red pepper bruschetta then went to the bar for some ginger tea - a freshly-ground infusion of ginger, lemongrass, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, cinnamon, mint leaves and lime juice.  

That evening we had a simple dinner at the restaurant - nasi goreng for me and the lamb with hummus and pita for A and turned in early in anticipation of our 4:00 a.m. wake-up call for the sunrise at Borobudur.

________________________

Amanjiwo

Ds. Majaksingi, Borobudur, Magelang

Central Java, Indonesia
tel:      + 62 293 788 333fax:      +62 293 788 355email: amanjiwo@amanresorts.com