Indonesia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 167

dark. You simply place your order and
they cook it up on the spot. Warung are
the bottom line in Indonesian
restaurants, usually just a few tables, and
offering much the same food as kaki lima
for under a dollar a dish. Rumah makan
are bigger, offer a wider range of dishes
and comfort, and may even have a menu.
Outside of major cities, most eateries
labelled as restaurants are likely to cater
to foreigners, with fully-fledged service
and possibly international food. Most
warung, rumah makan and restaurants
are open from around 10/11am until
10pm, though few operate to strict
timings. Many of the moderate and all of
the expensive establishments will add up
to 21 percent service tax to the bill.

Alcohol can be a touchy subject in parts
of Indonesia, where public drunkenness
may incur serious trouble. here's no
need to be paranoid about this in cities,
however, and the locally produced beers ,
Anker and Bintang, are good, and widely
available at Chinese restaurants and
bigger hotels. In non-Islamic regions,
even small warung sell beer. Spirits are
less publicly consumed, and may be
technically illegal, so indulge with
caution. Nonetheless, home-produced
brews are often sold openly in villages.
Tuak (also known as balok ) or palm wine,
made by tapping a suitable tree for its
sap, comes in plain milky white or pale
red varieties, and varies in strength. Far
more potent are rice wine ( arak or brem ),
and sopi , a distillation of tuak , either of
which can leave you incapacitated after
a heavy session.

DRINKS
Most tap water in Indonesia has had
very little treatment, and can contain a
whole range of bacteria and viruses.
Drink only bottled, boiled or sterilized
water. Boiled water ( air putih ) can be
requested at accommodation and
restaurants, and dozens of brands of
bottled water ( air minum ) are sold
throughout the islands. Indonesian
coffee is among the world's best, and
drunk with copious amounts of sugar
and, occasionally, condensed milk.

4

CULTURE AND ETIQUETTE
Indonesia is the world's most populous
Muslim country, but the practice of Islam
across the archipelago has been shaped by
centuries of interaction with Hinduism,
Buddhism and other faiths, as well as
traditional animist practices. As a result,
Islam in Indonesia is far removed from
the more austere practices of the Gulf

TRADITIONAL DANCE AND MUSIC
Given Indonesia's enormous cultural and ethnic mix it's hardly surprising that the range of
traditional music and dance across the archipelago is so vast.
DANCE
Best known are the highly stylized and mannered classical dance performances in Java and
Bali, accompanied by the gamelan orchestra. Every step is minutely orchestrated, and the
merest wink of an eye or arch of an eyebrow has significance. Ubud on Bali and Yogyakarta on
Java are the centres for these dances. Yogya is also the main place to catch a performance of
wayang kulit , shadow puppet plays.
GAMELAN
A gamelan is an ensemble of tuned percussion, consisting mainly of gongs, metallophones
and drums, made of bronze, iron, brass, wood or bamboo, with wooden frames, which are
often intricately carved and painted. The full ensemble also includes vocalists and is led by the
drummer in the centre. A large gamelan may be played by as many as thirty musicians, and is
a communal form of music-making - there are no soloists or virtuosos.
Sundanese (West Javanese) degung is arguably the most accessible gamelan music for
Western ears. Its musical structures are clear and well defined, and it is played by a small
ensemble, but includes the usual range of gongs and metallophones found in all gamelan.
By Jenny Heaton and Simon Steptoe