There's not much actually along Jl. Taman Marga Satwa except that it's near the Oxfam Country Office and just a turn away from the expressway to the airport.
It was for me a lonely hotel with a forlorn bar, crappy internet connection, busy traffic with no pedestrian lanes, and convenience stores selling non-alcoholic beer only.
Thank God for Google Maps who led me to the Sate Tegal Ibu Tri where getting lost in translation locked me on Nasi Goreng Kambing [fried rice with mutton] on my first lunch, to Pondok Geulis for the Nasi Bakar Special [fried rice in a banana leaf roll with tofu, tempeh and chicken] for dinner, the next day's combo of Satay Ayam and Satay Kambing [chicken and mutton satay] with grilled gurami and a tasty beef rib soup, the last day's lunch of Satay Sati Kambing which turned out to be grilled goat liver and the Sop Kambing [goat soap] that came with it, and a last day dinner of the Sahati Hotel's version of the Satay Ayam.
Throw in the chicken spring roll from a place called The Great Indonesia Restaurant at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and I say it is overall a good food trip!
The best spread however was served at 19 Jl. Kedondong Blok C where the Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan feted us to a lunch of Indonesian vegetable platter with peanut sauce and a really delectable chicken dish from Aceh.
The downside is except for the two bottles of Bintang in my mini-bar, the hotel has nothing else.
I rummaged at a 7-11 outlet and a gasoline station store, usually bastions of alcoholic beverages, but in vain.
The hotel reception said the nearest watering hole will be some two kilometers away which is not really a desirable option considering the traffic and the rain.
So I settled for two pricey Heinekens at the hotel bar where I was the only guest.
That plus the two cans of Bintang at the airport is all that it is of my Indonesian beer quest.
But that is enough to justify a weekend in the trails of Nueva Ecija...
It was for me a lonely hotel with a forlorn bar, crappy internet connection, busy traffic with no pedestrian lanes, and convenience stores selling non-alcoholic beer only.
Thank God for Google Maps who led me to the Sate Tegal Ibu Tri where getting lost in translation locked me on Nasi Goreng Kambing [fried rice with mutton] on my first lunch, to Pondok Geulis for the Nasi Bakar Special [fried rice in a banana leaf roll with tofu, tempeh and chicken] for dinner, the next day's combo of Satay Ayam and Satay Kambing [chicken and mutton satay] with grilled gurami and a tasty beef rib soup, the last day's lunch of Satay Sati Kambing which turned out to be grilled goat liver and the Sop Kambing [goat soap] that came with it, and a last day dinner of the Sahati Hotel's version of the Satay Ayam.
Throw in the chicken spring roll from a place called The Great Indonesia Restaurant at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and I say it is overall a good food trip!
The best spread however was served at 19 Jl. Kedondong Blok C where the Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan feted us to a lunch of Indonesian vegetable platter with peanut sauce and a really delectable chicken dish from Aceh.
The downside is except for the two bottles of Bintang in my mini-bar, the hotel has nothing else.
I rummaged at a 7-11 outlet and a gasoline station store, usually bastions of alcoholic beverages, but in vain.
The hotel reception said the nearest watering hole will be some two kilometers away which is not really a desirable option considering the traffic and the rain.
So I settled for two pricey Heinekens at the hotel bar where I was the only guest.
That plus the two cans of Bintang at the airport is all that it is of my Indonesian beer quest.
But that is enough to justify a weekend in the trails of Nueva Ecija...
