Stay, Stray, Play and Feast

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Dufan is Fun; Jakarta, Indonesia Series 4

Dufan Is Fun

Dunia Fantasi, Ancol Jakarta

(Jakarta, Indonesia Series 4)

On our second day in Ancol, we visited

Dunia Fantasi or (Dufan), which is Jakarta’s

counterpart to the iconic Disneyland.

We were greeted at the entrance gate with

various Dufan characters who gamely

posed with the kids for some photos.

The fun began on their beautiful Asian themed

Grand Carousel that kids enjoyed.

We then went around the park and watched

the Paddle Pop Animatronic Show,

...that later led us to the American Zone which was

designed like an the old American West

...and had attractions like
the Tilting House,

...the and Mirror Maze.

The zone also had
the Bonanza Restaurant,

...which offered yummy snacks
of French Fries,

...and the very delicious
Iced Mixed Fruits.

We also ha a lot of fun on the next zone that

offered kiddie rides like Poci Poci which was

very similar for Disney’s Mad Hatter Tea Cups.

The Istana Boneka was beautiful boat ride and an
imitation Disney's signature It's Small World ride .

We were able to ride a kiddie rollercoaster,

the wet , wild and very exciting white water

rafting adventure ride called Arung Geram,

...very similar to Shipwereck Island

in Sea World San Diego,

^^^Shipwreck Island Sea World San Diego

...and Disney’s Grizzly River Run

in California Adventure Park.

^^^Disney's Grizzly River Run, Anaheim

While we enjoyed the more benign rides,

The kids decided just to enjoy watching

the people screaming at the top of their

voices on the more extreme rides .

Dufan had a lot of western themed

4D rides like Happy Feet,

…a Space Adventure Ride that I failed to take a photo,
and there some exciting rides the would
soon open like the Ice Age, the Ride.

The kids had been to several Disneyland Parks

in the past, like Euro Disney in Paris, France,

… the brand new Hong Kong Disneyland,

…and a number of times in the original

Anaheim Disneyland in California,

DuFun is a beautiful theme park,

not as massive as Disneyland,

…and as what Lonely Planet said that some of its

rides cloned from the popular theme park may

raise the eyebrows of Disney’s Imagineering Team,

…but for me and my family Dunia Fantasi

or Dufan, call it a copycat or what,

just like Disneyland, it was just as fun.

No one, and nothing can stop
the fun in Dufan.

Jakarta Indonesia Series Blogs

Mercure Hotel Ancol

Jakarta Indonesia Series 1

Sea World Jakarta and Ocean Dream Samudra

Jakarta Indonesia Series 2

Sunda Kelapa Restaurant

Amazing Indonesian Buffet

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 3

Dufan is Fun

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 4

Ancol Epic Cable Park

Jakarta’s Hip Wake Park

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 5

Ancol Dreamland Jakarta

Indonesia's Fun Capital

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 6

Hotel Manhattan Jakarta

Modern Hotel with a View

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 7

Kidzania and Wendy’s

Pacific Place, Jakarta

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 8

Historic Jakarta City Tour
Traffic Choked, Rain Soaked City Tour

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 9

Ikan Bakar Cianjur

Binge Eating on Indonesian Food

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 10

Taman Mini Indonesia and

Caping Gunung Restaurant

Binge Eating at Taman Mini

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 11

Ritz Carlton Mega Kuningan

Unwelcoming Fortress Hotel

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 12

Restaurant Haka

Chinese Food Galore

Jakarta, Indonesia Series 13

Sarinah Shopping Mall
Jakarta's One Stop Souvenir Mall
Jakarta, Indonesia Series 14

Jakarta a Fun Filled Kiddie Paradise
and Traffic Choked Culinary Adventure
Jakarta, Indonesia Series 15

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sunda Kelapa Restaurant; Jakarta, Indonesia Series 3

Sunda Kelapa Restaurant

Mercure's Superb Indonesian Buffet

(Jakarta, Indonesia Series 3)

After a fun filled day in Sea World Jakarta

and Ocean Dream Samudra, we returned

to Mercure Hotel to dress up and have dinner

in a popular Restaurant in Ancol that

offers authentic Indonesian cuisine.

When we arrived at the hotel, we found out that

they are having a buffet of Indonesian Cuisine

for that night at the Sunda Kelapa Restaurant-.

the hotel’s main restaurant at the ground floor.

Since we were all tired and weary from

the all day walking at the theme park,

we decided to dine there instead.

The buffet spread was impressive and the

waitress who speaks English well was kind

and patient enough to describe the different dishes

the ingredients, the place where they originated

and sometimes their cultural significance.

Most of the dishes on the buffet were spicy

so we ordered an a'la cart dinner of

Hianese Chicken for my very young son.

The rest of us wanted to try the

all Indonesian fare at the buffet.

It was rather difficult to decide which and

where to start as they have this massive

spread of dishes on several buffet tables-

…so I began on the appetizer section where they had several
entrees and I decided to try the Taho Petis Surabaya,
peanut based dish made of tofu and, veggies.

It was a little bit spicy but tasted was very good.

I followed it up with a type of Indonesian soup

called Soto Jakarta, which tasted like our own tinola
made creamy as it was cooked with coconut milk..

Another soup dish that I really enjoyed in the buffet was
the Soto Bandung, which was made of pork broth,
small pieces of pork, tomatoes, peanuts and assorted
vegetables and soy sauce. It tasted like the Filipino Sinigang
without being sour and without the intolerable sting of tamarind.

There were a lot of choices for the main course,

which included Tongseng Kambing,

which is made of lamb meat and stir fried

with various fresh vegetables including

whole red hot peppers that sometimes one

could confuse for bits and pieces of carrots.

They also have Bundu Ayam, which is

a very delicious and sweetish chicken curry,

Tumis Kacang Paanjan Dengan Tampo

tasted very familiar as it was very much

like our ‘ginisang sitaw’ mixed with beef

hot red peppers and green on the dish-

and there’s a whole lot of them.

There was also Ikan Tumbu Prenjol,

which I cannot remember what it was

made of, but I believe it was curried beef

and it was so delicious that I recall having

made several servings of this dish.

For dessert, they had Kolak Campur,

which was made of native yams, a root crop

cooked in sweetened coconut milk.

It wasn’t hard to love and enjoy Indonesian cuisine,

as they are so similar to most of the Filipino dishes,

…same ingredients, and similar condiments.

And for Bicolanos like my family, it was even easier
for us to adjust to Indonesian food because just like us
they also use lots of coconut milk and lots spicy capsicum.