[ Final Examination Creative Writing ] Special Culinary: Kembang Waru Cake

Special Culinary: Kembang Waru Cake
 by Fantastic Baby Group

This Article is made for Final Examination in 

Creative Writing Class A, 

English Literature, 

Faculty of Cultural Science, 

Universitas Gadjah Mada

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Special Culinary: Kembang Waru Cake 

          Who loves doing culinary trip? If you do, we would like to suggest you to go to Kotagede, Yogyakarta. Although Kotagede is mostly known as silver city, but in there you can also find some delicious foods or snacks one of which is our recommendation, Kembang Waru Cake. The cake looks alike waru flower. The cake has been  produced until now since 1965 in Kampung Bumen RW 06, Kelurahan Purbayan, Kotagede. Before it became the production centre of Kembang Waru cake, they used to make household tools from old can, but then it was not sustainable. One of the Kembang Waru producer which is still exist until know among 20 other producers in that place is Mr. Basis Hargito and his wife, Mrs. Gidah. Here is the picture of their Kembang Waru cake!

“I’m not going to be arrogant or what, but here is the best production place of Kembang Waru cake. In here, a bowl of dough is used for 70 cakes, but 90 in other places. That must lessen the amount of the ingredients. Consumer is the one who can judge our product. For us, we keep the dough stable. Other places, that got much order, usually make the ingredients less, increase the price, so the taste of the cake is different. In here, whether the order is few or much, we still keep the recipe. In the other hand, buyer is a king. We have to be punctual to make consumer satisfied and trust us,” said Mr. Bas to our team on June 13th, 2013.

What makes this cake becomes our recommendation is its taste and the fact that the cake is Mataram King’s favorite cake, even his family and his colleagues also liked it. For regular used, usually it is used for dishes on a wedding party or other special traditional moments, while its taste is as sweet as combination of sugar and milk and the texture when you bite it is soft just like a sponge cake, besides that it smells pretty good and if you eat the cake while it is warm, it will make you want to try it soon, more and more. It seems worth to try right? 

 

Is there any secret behind their cake? Yes of course. Although its ingredients are as simple as the ordinary cake such as chicken eggs, sugar, milk, butter, wheat flour, vanilla, and no preservatives, but the secret is on the making process. They make it by mixing all the ingredients except wheat flour around 20 minutes without stop with specific volume and wait until it becomes fluffy. After that, the dough is mixed with wheat flour and put in cake mold and located it onto traditional oven, then baked it in traditional stove which using charcoal. The well-cooked of the cake is not based on how long the cake is in the oven but based on the feeling of Mrs. Gidah. The ingredients have to be exact as one teaspoon = one recipe = 70 cake. Too much or too few milk will make the cake color is not good. The wheat flour used is only “Segitiga Biru” because they said it is the best flour and does not make the cake stick to the mold place when it is well-cooked.

So, where to buy their cake?

Unfortunately, you cannot find it in any store because Pak Bas has never put his cake in a warung or store. He and his wife are only made the cake if they got order in that day. So, if you want to try, just come to their place and order it! Don't worry about the price! It is only IDR 1200/each cake. Are you ready to try? Enjoy it!

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About the owner:

Mr. Basis Hargito and  his wife, Mrs. Gidah. Besides producing and selling Kembang Waru cake, Mr. Bas is an art activist. He is a traditional dancer for Ramayana's story in Purawisata and artist for Ketoprak also Wayang. Their life is supported by Kembang Waru cake and Mr. Bas works as an art activist.

Location:
Kampung Bumen RW 06, Kelurahan Purbayan, Kotagede, Yogyakarta.

Act Like a Professional Editor

It's Tiyan Nuno's "'He' is Beautiful' that is asked to be edited. Here they are.


           Left the last two meetings of Creative Writing class for Bali, Mas Dalih sent her friend to replace him, Mbak Abmi, whom we met before as a guest. The second time she came to the class, she was with a beautiful female-look guest.
           
           Five different topics and groups are prepared to interview 'him'. Surprised? Yeah, the female-look guest is a ladyboy.

           He, Olivia Sonya Aresta or Mbak Sonya, is an activist in PKBI (Perkumpulan Keluarga Berencana Indonesia) who came from Klaten. He really is active, not only as an activist, but also beauty consultant, online shop owner, and make-up bride.

           Having some good occupations right now doesn't mean that acceptance and confession, as who he really is, are easily to be reached, especially from his mother. And that things become his lifetime homework.

           It is started when his parents didn't allow him to play with boys because boys are naughty. Playing with girls lead him to be more girly then. Making up, girl dressing, and playing dolls become more often along his teenage in junior and senior high. Teasing and mocking are commonly heard because his accidental meeting with his friends in a Yogyakarta mall, when he dressed like a girl. He moved out from Klaten after junior high to restrain his family inconvenience due to his decision to become a waria (ladyboy), not because his family had thrown him.

          "Jogja is the pleasant place for me and the atmosphere is different from others". Metropolitan cities such as Bandung, Jakarta, and Bali didn't make him want to stay there. He found himself useful for others as he became volunteer for Bantul earthquake victims, PKBI, and HIV/AIDS organization. He got the meaning of real friends in Jogja too. His waria friends accompanied him when he was hospitalized. For him, it doesn't important to see who he really is or how does he look, as a waria, as long as he gives real contribution to the world by doing useful things for others. 

          Is 'he' beautiful? Yes, he is. A real beauty from his heart. Wonderful inspiration can come from everywhere. And this time, it comes from him, Mbak Sonya.

ART CURATORIAL: Paintings of Kim Yee Seul

She is an English Department student who likes painting. Starting from 4 years old, she was inspired by Van Gogh and taught by her grandparents who worked as an artist. She likes to paint something cute, chic, cool, and gorgeus.

This is one of her painting where she got the inspiration from her picture when she was in Port Sherpen, Sydney. She needs to see something whether it's from picture or environment to build an imagination to paint. She draws because she likes the things that she wants to draw.

And this one is the other examples of her painting. It's her dream car, Volkswagen Beetle. She has difficulty in painting person, so that's why she is prefer to paint models and objects. She likes to paint something happy because she is always happy everytime she paints, but when she feels sad, she paints something happy too, to make her happy.

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Website: www.equinoxpublishing.com

SPECIAL GUEST: Efforts for Fighting Identity

We called her Mbak Sonya when last week she came into our class and became a special guest to be interviewed by us. She was born in Klaten, Central Java but her identity card is from Bandung, West Java. 

Being the first child from three siblings of the family, she liked to use girl clothes and played with them too. "I played kasti with the boys and after that I cried after some of them annoy me. Then my parents told me not to play with the boys."
After that, she mostly played with girls and feel comfortable with it until now she wants to fight for her identity as a waria.

"My step father supports me with what I am, in contrast with my real mother who sometimes support and accept me but then in the other day, she rejected me."
It has been three years since  she hasn't talked with her mother because of differences in opinion. "My relationship with my family is still being 'homework' for me,' she said with a smile in her face.

"I used to really want to married and have children. But now, I just want to volunteering myself in social events for HIV/AIDS and PKBI, and have a happy life with my friends who accept and support me as I am." She is now working as a freelance make up artist and also volunteer in PKBI (Persatuan Keluarga Berencana Indonesia).

Review: BAG IT, Is Your Life Too Plastic?

The last Creative Writing class was watching a documentary movie Bag It: Is Your Life Too Plastic? which told about the plastic usage and its effect to the human and environment. Even though I was so sleepy at that time, here I'll try to write what can I remember from that movie. 

Directed by Suzan Beraza, the actor in this movie, Jeb Berrier, started to stop using plastic in their life for his wife pregnancy that will born soon. He knew that plastics have quite big role in all of the human stuffs because it's easy to be formed and produced. But, he also knew that it will harm human life and the environment too because of its material that cannot be degraded. Because of that, he wanna know more about plastics.


With some help from the experts, he went around the world to have a research about plastics. He looked for government's regulations about plastic which are different in one country and another. For example in Ireland, using plastic is charged and it affects 90% of plastic usage there, while in the US, American Chemistry Council tries hard to make plastic usage is free of charge.

Berrier also observed the effects of plastic waste from the river to the sea. It can harm the fishes and when the fish is eaten by human, its effect is not just disappear. All of Berrier' curiosity ends up with this question:

"Think about it, why would you make something that you're going to use for a few minutes out of a material that's basically going to last forever, and you're just going to throw it away. What's up with that?"

Berrier' observation, with the help of experts, about plastic from its advantages and disadvantages made the audiences were motivated and educated to use plastics wisely.

GROUP TASK: Poem Intrepretation

HAMPA
Chairil Anwar 

Kepada Sri

Sepi di luar. Sepi menekan mendesak.
Lurus kaku pohonan. Tak bergerak
Sampai ke puncak. Sepi memangut,
Tak satu kuasa melepas-renggut
Segala menanti. Menanti. Menanti.
Sepi.
Tambah ini menanti jadi mencekik
Memberat-mencekung pundak
Sampai binasa segala. Belum apa-apa
Udara bertuba. Setan bertempik
Ini sepi terus ada. Dan menanti.

                                                                       LONELINESS

                                                                      quiet. deserted.

                                                        Wait for the one he loves
                                                   But then he left
                                          Because she will never come

                                                                   
         And the love is going away with his hope and loneliness is the one that still remain.

FOOD REVIEW: Homemade Opor Ayam and Rendang

                It will always be my favorite, my mom’s cooking. It is not as beautiful and luxurious as chef made food in a five star restaurant. It is just a simple homemade food by my mom. For me, it always tastes good. The hygiene and health of that food can be guaranteed. Moreover, it will always free because my mom is the one who paid for the ingredients and cooked it then later on I will just eat it.

                This Monday morning, I ate Opor Ayam and Rendang for sahur. It is not served as beautiful as Opor Ayam and Rendang in a restaurant where they separate the rice in one plate with dome form, put the Opor Ayam in the different bowl, and put the Rendang in a different small plate. It is just served in a plate where I put the Opor Ayam, Rendang, and rice mixed.

                My aunt made the Rendang by herself when I went to Lampung last Wednesday. It is a typical food from West Sumatra. Its major ingredients are beef, coconut milk, and chilies. It was delicious, but it really is delicious if you’re lucky. Some of the beef were not perfectly cooked. It was really hard to be bitten and it was almost impossible to be swallowed. You wouldn’t get the deliciousness of the Rendang if you get the imperfectly cooked beef even though the spice tastes good.

http://www.aglugofoil.com/2010/09/beef-rendang.html

                   The one that were made by my mom is the Opor Ayam. It tastes good at my tongue. There are no salty taste came from additional flavor, only from salt and sugar. The yellow kuah  tastes so good when it is mixed with rice. It feels like making you addicted. The chicken meat is also good because the spice is well absorbed in it so it didn’t taste plain. It can be easily eaten whether you use hand, spoon, or fork because it well cooked. 

http://resep-masakan-baru.blogspot.com/2012/08/resep-opor-ayam.html

               

One of Hundred Stories from Merapi

"I don't know where to go. At that time my dad wasn't home and my sister couldn't drive the car yet. So, we were just praying and hoping for the best at that time."

That is how Rara (20) told us the story of herself and her family when the Merapi eruption happened.

She could hear the huge sound of the explosion when Merapi erupted from her house which is 25 kilometers from the peak of Merapi. It was happened in the middle of the night, on 5 November 2010, where everyone were in their deep sleep. 

"This makes me so surprised. The government have already warned us to move to the safer place since last night, but I don't think it will happened. The last biggest eruption was in 1930 and it made Jogja dark. I don't even think that Jogja will be dark again."

Lots of prayer and a little help she gave to the victim. Her house which close to the one of the biggest shelter for Merapi victims made her feel to help them, although she also needed to clean her house because of the ashes rain.

Write Back to a Letter from England

Reading that letter makes me thankful for what I have now. I get home, family, friends, and love. I have to be  better than you. Coz I get something that you can't get when you were child. But, I know every person has their own fate. You are good in writing, but I'm good in something else.

God leads you to your path because God knows what is good for you. Nothing of the God's plans are bad, coz God has the reason for us to face it and God wants us to know that reason to take the better path. And I believe God will show us the way. Everything would be much more different now if you used to get love in your childhood. You wouldn't start to learn to write, you wouldn't be an awesome writer and you wouldn't live at Sherborne. 

I'm not experiencing what you had already experienced. And I don't want to take the path that you have taken. I don't wanna be a writer -true writer- like you. I don't really like to write. I find much difficulties in choosing the interesting topic, using the right words, and inspiring people by my write or even making them stop for awhile- sacrificing their time and energy- just to read my write. I don't think I have that kind of talent. My old man asked me to write anything I have experienced in a blog. But I don't know I feel too lazy to do it. I don't think I will make a good passage to be read if I write. I'm not confident with my ability to write. My best friends around me -Rara, Nara, and Ukky- have good ability in writing. I can imagine what they want to share by their write and somehow it can inspire and entertain me. Their diction is just ease to be read and somehow emerge a feeling to not stop reading their passage. Somehow I feel worse reading their passage coz I think I can't write as good as them. I'm not confident.

But, I have a strong willing to learn writing. It really is a useful ability. Most of scholarship require essay for their applicant. Most of academic task also have to be written. If I wanna graduate I have to write too. When I want to apply for a job they will look and consider me from my writing too. Even I don't think I have talent in writing- like I don't have any talent in painting- I wanna learn writing and I have to. That's why I take the creative writing class. I hope in the future I can improve my ability to write. I can explore my imagination more. I can be more creative. I can let go of myself. I can express my self freely in a form of words that will turn out into a passage later. I have to learn much from you and others like you. Your letter really inspire me. It makes me thankful and motivated in the same time.

I know that

Knowing is not enough, we must APPLY. Willing is not enough, we must DO -Bruce Lee

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere -Albert Einstein

I shouldn't stop to learn everything. Because in our life, we will never stop learning.

Yogyakarta, March 15, 2013
Sincerely yours.
Anindita Wisesa

Malioboro: Past and Present

It's always making me curious talking about something in the past that I never knew before. History. That's what people call it. According Merriam-Webster Dictionary, history is a chronological record of significant (as affecting nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes, or a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events, etc. It's interesting when talking about history but then when it turned out into a subject and it has to be done in an exam, it would be a problem for me ._.

Nothing in this world come without history. Present and Future exist because of the Past. We're never be here if our parents don't exist. We will never have or invent a sophisticated technology if we don't learn from events in the past. Every single place, event, person, or object has their own history.

I live in a city called Yogyakarta, where it is said that it is a student city. There are many schools and universities in here. But it doesn't mean that you can't find any interesting place for tourism here. One of the well-known tourism place is Malioboro, the city center of Yogyakarta. It is stated in Blog Walikota Jogja that Malioboro has became the center of the city and government activity. That is why Gedung Agung, a presidential building, and Vredeburg Fort are located there. 

taken from: http://bekabuluh.com

Malioboro in the past- taken from: http://angkaraku.blogspot.com

Malioboro now- taken from: http://angkaraku.blogspot.com

As we can see in both of the picture above, Malioboro in the past and now are very different. Of course. Age changing will change all of their aspects too. Malioboro used to have few street vendors, but nowadays street vendors are along Malioboro. It used to have a wide sidewalk for the pedestrians, now the sidewalk is used for motorbike parking lot. It used to be two ways for the vehicles, but nowadays it's only one way because there are lots of cars, motorbikes, and buses passing there. Buildings were not so much built, big trees could be seen, but now everywhere is big buildings for the shopping malls or hotels. It feels nice seeing the pictures of Malioboro in the past where I imagine it was cleaner, fresher, and more comfortable for the pedestrians compared to this time. However, Malioboro nowadays is not that bad. Malioboro is one of the well-known tourism destinations in Yogyakarta. It is said that it helps increasing of Yogyakarta revenue a lot. It is an attraction with lots of memories. Attractive and be hoped-for. Always brings out the feelings to go back, again and again.

ME, MYSELF, and I

This is my family. I’m the oldest daughter and I have a younger sister and brother. My dad comes from Lampung, but actually his ancestor is from Jogja. My mom comes from Magelang, where I was born at. My mom told me that her ancestors were actually Chinese, and here come the story.

            My grandmother had parents. The parents that she knew were not her true parents. Her father once married with Chinese woman in Rangkasbitung, West Java. But then, when my great grandmother was pregnant and then 9 months later she gave birth to my grandmother, but she passed away. Then after some other time, my great grandfather remarried with one of their maids. And she is the one who was known as my great grandmother, coz my great grandfather never told anything to my grandmother.

Then, how could I know this kind of story? My mom told me, but I don’t know where she got this story. Maybe from his brother who has an ability to see something we can’t see. This story about my grandmother’s ancestors still becomes a hot issue in my big family. Some of my uncles and aunts want to find out but I don’t know how. They said they wanted to do superstitious things. The real drama. Lol.

I lived in Magelang until 2 years old (If I’m not mistaken), then I moved to Jogja with my family. I spent my kindergarten, elementary, junior and senior high, and also university, in this lovely city. I’m thinking to move out from here after senior high, but my father didn’t allow me. He wanted me to stay here, go to the university, and teaching in his English course.

At first I didn’t know what major I should take in the university. I thought about communication or international relation things. But then when my father asked me what I want to take in university, I answered with anything with no math in it. There it is the idea of going to English Literature illuminated me. I hate math. From elementary, I was always sick if I was going to have a math exam, except in the national exam. I always got remedial too in math. The fear of math came because my first elementary math teacher was so scary. She was a killer teacher. If she asked you and you didn’t know the answer, she would be angry. I thought that is the reason why I do not really like math.

Why English Literature? It has a connection with my dad’s business. He bought one of English course’s franchises and he wanted me to teach there and later continued it. Even though the idea of going to English Literature was my dad’s but I don’t feel like being forced to go here. I like English. I love watching western movie, listening to the song, and I amazed by someone who speaks English fluently. I want to watch movie without subtitle, listening to the song and know the meaning, and speak English fluently with foreigners. That is why I’m here now. And I’m happy to be here.

Complete 5 senses

It's always making me grateful to have this all five senses. God is good :)

The first lesson that I got from Creative Writing class on last Monday is how to describe something using our 5 senses. It wasn't easy though. I had to think much how to make the reader also feel like seeing, smelling, tasting, hearing, and touching the same thing that we've described to them in a sentence. But I tried. Here we go.

1. Sight
       My favorite place is always my home. The small purple and green house with three bedrooms in it makes me feel comfortable and relax. I can stay all day in my home doing nothing important.

2. Smell
       Smell that disgusts me is the smell of defecation, from human or animal. It makes me covering my nose with my hand and going away from that place or else I will feel nausea and want to vommit.

3. Taste
        My favorite food is called risoles salad. It tastes crispy, salty, sweet from the mayonnaise, and fresh from the vegetable. It makes me want to eat that more and more. One is never enough.

4. Hearing
        The first sound I heard last morning was my mother's voice waking me up to eat sahur. She told me that the chicken satay for me had already prepared and because I felt hungry too, it made me open my eyes, got up quickly, and ate the chicken satay.

5. Touch
        I have one favorite sandals. It is black. This black sandals is just like the other thongs. It has small pentagon patterns all over the surface, but the bottom side is just smooth because it's old. It makes me always be careful when I'm walking with that or else I will slip.

I'll take care of my 5 senses to show my gratefulness to God.

Have a good day with all the things that God gives to you :)

Creative Writing for 6th semester

Creative writing. This. is. going. to. make. me. creative. in. writing. lol

Last Monday, I was in this class and it was lectured by Mr. Dalih, who once I met before in Travel blogging workshop. It was quite fun and interesting. One thing that got stuck in my head is describe by showing and telling and I got their differences. Now I know how to make a sentence which not only tell but also show.

I thought at first, this class is going to be in a relation with the graduating paper, I mean the serious one, like creative writing for lingustics or literature things. lol. But then, on Monday, I knew that it wasn't going to be like that. This class taught me how to be creative in writing, in a fun way, to make the reader interested in what we have written. Creative is the things that can not be forced. Like, I don't even know what do I have to write if I don't have the idea to be creative. But I think, this class will give me not only theories in writing (for any purposes), but also much practices to make me more and more creative. Practice makes perfect. Even though now I think I'm not too creative in writing, I hope after studying in this class, I can improve my writing ability. And also I hope I'll have a big booster to write in this blog every time I can (throw away my laziness :p). Coz I've realized how important writing ability is.

I know how interesting this class is, from the material and the lesson too, but the thing that disturb me a bit is how small Mr. Dalih's hand writing in the white board. I have to tighten my eyes to see the hand writing from the back row seat, although I'm using my spectacles. However, the positive thing from that is I shouldn't be late to this class so I'll not sit in the back row seat anymore. And I have to be grateful being in this class so I got the simple-but-precious lesson.

Have a good day and have a good writing time!

xoxo