Pandoraspace

Dear Uncle G,

For as long as I remember, people have always warned me not to eat roadside food.  Most of the time, I heed their advice.  But sometimes, roadside food is just too irresistible to pass up.

Love, Pandora

In Indonesia, I could not resist eating grilled corn, which is sold everywhere.  LS, Danang and I were in Ketep Pass, Java to see Gunung Merapi when I first saw someone selling grilled corn on the side of the road.  The next time I saw someone selling grilled corn was when we were in Jimbaran, Bali with Tito L and Tita D.  Grilled corn with salt or basted with butter is also sold in the sidewalks of the Philippines.  In Indonesia, however, other than salted or buttered grilled corn, you can also opt to have your corn basted with chili butter.   (more…)

I had to eat corn to see Gunung Merapi

I read somewhere that to get to the Indonesian volcano I wanted to see, Gunung (the Indonesian word for mountain) Bromo, I had to take a five-hour bus ride from Jogjakarta. Danang later told us that Gunung Bromo is actually much farther than that, i.e., a ten to twelve hour ride to a town beside Gunung Bromo and a two hour trek to get to the viewing point. As we had limited time on our hands, I decided to forgo with the visit to Gunung Bromo on this trip.

As he sensed my disappointment, Danang suggested we see Gunung Merapi instead. I knew nothing about Gunung Merapi but decided to see it.

On our second day in Jogjakarta, LS, Danang and I headed for Ketep Pass in Kaliurang, Jogjakarta. We left town at 8:00 a.m., fell asleep on Danang a couple of times during the two hour drive to Kaliurang and stopped by a Museum before we actually got to Ketep Pass. When we got there, Gunung Merapi was covered by a huge cloud. We took a look around the Ketep Volcano Centre for about an hour before deciding to head on to Borobudur. On the way out, I saw someone selling roasted corn on the street. As roasted corn is one of my favorite food, I told LS and Danang that I would treat them for corn. After pigging out on corn, we walked back to the car.  On the way to the car, I saw Gunung Merapi. It waited for me to eat corn before showing itself. I was extremely pleased and grateful.

Gunung Merapi is not a perfect cone-shaped volcano like Mt. Mayon in Legaspi, but, Gunung Merapi is massive and radiates energy.  Thick smoke plumes are seen coming out of its mouth. I sensed that, anytime, it could explode. I did not, however, sense any anger or negativity from the volcano only passion and fire. I was not, therefore, surprised to learn that merapi is the Indonesia term for “full of fire”, and, Gunung Merapi is just that – a volcano that is full of fire.