Year 9 - 10 Indonesian Excursion

On Wednesday 15th September, Year 9 and 10 Indonesian classes went for an excursion to the Consulate General of Indonesia in Perth and an Indonesian Restaurant for lunch. When we arrived to the consulate, we were warmly welcomed by Pak Nanda Avalist, Acting Consulate General, and his team. We were then divided into two groups and participated in traditional music and dance workshops. My group first learned gamelan, Indonesian traditional instruments originated from Java. At first it was difficult to stay in time with the beat but it was fun. It was also great to be able to switch through the different instruments. After that we learnt a Javanese dance and I personally enjoyed it. We were given a sampur, a scarf type of fabric that we put on our waist, and used it in the dance. We also had some Indonesian snacks, such as putri ayu, a kind of steamed sponge cake with shredded coconut on top, and bolu kukus, also steamed cake. They both were manis and enak sekali. We were also entertained with a beautiful dance performance by Pak Tohirin, the dance instructor. After our trip to to the consulate we headed to Dapur Van Java restaurant which was kecil but nyaman. At the restaurant we met the owner, Ibu Ana, who was ramah and also baik hati sekali, especially when we got confused on pronunciation of words and she helped us find the correct words and sentence structure. Saya pesan nasi goreng Jawa it was ENAK SEKALI!!!! I was also able to get a little more food when I was still hungry. After our main meal we had martabak manis, an Indonesian chocolate pancake, for dessert. It tasted menakjubkan and what a great way to end the day. (Serena Valentine)

I really enjoyed the Indonesian excursion today. The staff at the Consulate were really nice and friendly. The musical and dance activities were so much fun and the food they provided at the end was really good. The restaurant was cozy and nice. The staff were lovely and the food was so good. Overall it was a fantastic day. (Sienna O’Reilly) 

I loved going to the restaurant and the consulate. I really enjoyed learning how to play the musical instruments. I found them challenging but fun. I love learning new things. The restaurant was really lovely. All the people who work there were really nice. The food was enak sekali. I would definitely go again. I think this excursion was a great opportunity to practice our Indonesian and experience Indonesian culture. (Lauren Healy) 

I thought that our Indonesian excursion was a success because it was fun and I really enjoyed it. The food that I tasted was very different to the Australian food but it was delicious. The mie goreng spesial was delicious and sweet, and the es soda gembira was very good as well. I learnt that doing the Indonesian dance was really hard at the start, but after you get used to it, it became really simple. (Boss Jantong) 

The excursion went really well. I really enjoyed going to the consulate. I really enjoyed playing the gamelan as it was fun. The dance part was also really fun as I got to experience and do an Indonesian dance. I loved how friendly everyone was and how excited they were to have us. The restaurant was amazing. The owner and workers were so friendly and the food was delicious. I really hope I get to do this again because it really was an amazing experience. (Mimi Fong)