Indonesian Day: residents invited to experience food, culture

THE Indonesian consulate general in Cape Town will host an event where the public can experience the culture, history and cuisine of Indonesia.

In conjunction with the celebration of the 73rd anniversary, Indonesian Day 2018 will take place at the Indonesian Consulate courtyard in Kenilworth, free of charge tomorrow.

The celebration will include Javanese noodle or ba mee in a cooking demo session presented by Lemongrass cooking class, a promotional stall brought by the Indonesian Trade Promotion Centre, will display Indonesian best products from coffee and Indofood instant noodle.

Revellers will find a section of Indonesian cultural and innovative products, such as batik. The word refers to a drawing technique on a handdyed garment and its final products.

Krishna A Poetranto, consul general of the Republic of Indonesia said, “seeing is believing”.

“By engaging the public at the event, we hope to build mutual understanding between Indonesia and South Africa.

“Throughout decades, we have shared many common things.

“With a common root of history and a typical multicultural society, the consulate of Indonesia shows a keen interest to expand the people-to-people relations between Indonesia and South Africa on many levels that in turn, could result in prosperity between us.”

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago country, consisting of more than 17 500 islands. An area of mega-biodiversity, it has the second longest coastline after Canada.

The country sits between the world’s most active seismic region – the notorious Pacific Ring of Fire.

Indonesia has proven a haven for divers, surfers, hikers, and nature adventurers alike due to the geological and landscape diversity of Bali, Raja Ampat, Lombok, Mount Bromo, to name a few.

The world’s largest living species of lizards, the Komodo dragon is found at Komodo Island, one of the New7Wonders Nature sites.

Indonesia is one of the top pilgrimage destinations for Buddhists around the world for the largest Buddhist temple, Borobudur.

The Indonesian Day event will also feature folk dances from Indonesia’s major islands: Sumatra, Java, and Bali; Indonesian bamboo-made musical performance – Angklung – by Indonesian language class; and other traditional musical instrument performances.

There will also be quizzes and door prizes.

The event takes place at 124 Rosmead Avenue, Kenilworth from 9am until 5pm.