ONE FINE DAY IN SOLO THE SPIRIT OF JAVA

by: Dian

It started with a simple offer by Muthia, “Would you come to our welcoming party for new students of English Department this Saturday?”. Unfortunately, Mrs. Fischer could not make it. Since she was a guest lecturer in our major, she had another agenda already. Then, she asked us instead, “Why don’t you guys take me around the town next Saturday?”. Without thinking twice, Muthia, Ayu, Alvina, and I agreed. Yay! We are going to explore Solo!

D-day

We actually had planned some special destinations to go to on that day such as Pasar Gede, Keraton Surakarta, Selat Mbak Lies, and Kauman Batik Village. So, we decided to gather before 9 a.m. in UNS Inn where she stayed during her business in Indonesia. Mrs. Helga Fischer came and was ready with her scarf and summer hat. With a smile curved on her face, she greeted each of us with a warm hug.

1st destination : Pasar Gede

That was actually our first time visiting this traditional market even though we had been living in Solo for years. Thus, we were as excited as Mrs. Fischer was to explore this market. Pasar Gede is known for its Es Dawet Telasih and Indonesian traditional spices. Mrs. Fischer seemed curious about many things, especially about spices. So, we walked around the market and visited one seller to another.

We did not forget to ask the names of spices to the sellers, so we could learn a lot. Well, since the sellers could not speak English, we were translating everything the sellers told us about the spices and then explained it to Mrs. Fischer.

Mrs. Fischer said that she loved cooking, so she asked us to accompany her again on Wednesday to buy some spices to bring back to Berlin. Before we headed to the next destination, she treated us some bowls of ‘Es Dawet Telasih’- traditional drink of Solo which consists of black sticky rice, basil seeds, fermented sticky rice, small pieces of jackfruit, melted brown sugar, and coconut milk.

2nd destination : Keraton Kasunanan

The online taxi we ordered took us to Keraton Surakarta. As we just got there, we saw an ‘Es Potong’ street vendor, we told Mrs. Fischer that it was our childhood snack. She said that she did not like ice cream at first but after tasting one durian-flavored Es Potong, she changed her mind and fell in love with the ice cream. Next, we were going to explore the palace but sadly the palace was closed due to renovation, so we were only able to enter the museum together with the tour guide. We learned a lot of new things there, such as the family tree of Pakubuwono, the culture in that era, the ceremonial properties, the history of Keraton, and many others. We could not help but laughing when we saw Mrs. Fischer tasting Bilimbi – a very sour fruit – which was planted near the holy well or Sendang, her expression was so cute. Mrs. Fischer was interested in many new things, she paid Rp5000 for washing her face with water from the holy well. It was so fun there but three of us–Muthia, Ayu, and I– had to pray dzuhur before heading to the next destination.

3rd destination : Warung Selat Mbak Lies

It’s time for lunch! It took about 15 minutes for us to get to Warung Selat Mbak Lies. It is a restaurant with Surakartan traditional vibes embellishing the place and known for its delicious Selat, a western-derived Javanese cuisine specialty of Solo City, Central Java, Indonesia consisting of braised beef tenderloin served in thin watery sauce made from a mixture of garlic, vinegar, sweet soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, water, and spiced with nutmeg and black pepper. What made us mesmerized after coming into this place was the pictures of public figures that had ever been there before such as President Joko Widodo, Puan Maharani, Cut Meyriska, Ruth Sahanaya and many other artists until politicians. We did not forget to take some pictures there because the room decoration was so cute.

4th destination : Kauman Batik Village

After having lunch, we went to Kauman Batik Village. Mrs. Fischer said that she only wanted to look around and did not plan to buy anything there. However, after visiting one store to another and ending up in one Batik store, she was interested to buy a handmade batik skirt. She tried to wear three batik skirts and asked our opinion whether it suited her or not. Finally, she found one that suited her. She was so happy with her decision of buying that one. She also liked the ambience there, Kauman Batik Village was so pleasant, prosper, and far from the crowd.

5th destination : Kayu Manis Coffee & Steak

Mrs. Fischer requested to end our activity with having an evening coffee. We searched for a place that was cozy and kind-of traditional. Then we found Kayu Manis Coffee & Steak. She ordered a cup of hot cappuccino. She seemed really enjoying that coffee. We talked a lot, times ran out very quickly. It was dark already and Mrs. Fischer said she wanted to take a rest. We ordered a taxi and arrived at UNS Inn hotel at 6 p.m.

That was our one fine day in Solo with Mrs. Helga Fischer, a guest lecturer coming from Berlin, Germany who was really interested with Indonesian historical places, foods, fashions, and the last but not least, spices. Our trip travelling around Solo was a wonderful memory we will never forget. It is not about the places we visited or foods we ate, it is like many things we shared together such as personal experiences, stories, and fun things we did during the trip are the most meaningful among everything.

She gave each of us her ID card and told us to visit her in Berlin someday, “Don’t take too long” She sighed and by that time, we promise to visit her someday. We cannot wait to see her again. As she hugged us for the last time, we gave her a gift with some souvenirs including Silk Batik scarf, two bracelets, and a sweet printed picture of us taken in Warung Selat Mbak Lies. We love her already. See you soon, Berlin!