Chicken Satay (Sate Ayam)

This is a kind of food that you will like it most when you come to Indonesia. This one is called as Chicken Satay, or in Indonesian is called sate ayam. It's easy to find sate ayam in Indonesia, because it's well famous then you can find it everywhere in Indonesia. Sate ayam has different recipe and delicious taste depends on what variety and the recipe that different city has. The most popular sate ayam comes from 3 cities. There are sate ayam Ponorogo, sate ayam Madura, and sate ayam Padang. Every sate ayam from those cities has own delicious taste, different version with other.
Sate ayam is originally comes from Indonesia, but it popularity has reached another Southeast Asia country such as Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Philipine.

Here is the recipe for sate ayam (chicken satay) :


Ingridients:

• pound chicken breasts, boneless, or leg meat, with skin if you desired
• ounces chicken livers, trimmed
  
• cup soy sauce, sweet or 1/3 cup each regular soy sauce and molasses
• peanut sauce
• tablespoons onions, finely chopped
• tablespoon fresh lime juice
• tablespoons chile paste

How To Make:

• Preheat the grill to high.
• If the chicken has skin and you plan to use it in the recipe, remove it from the chicken and reserve; otherwise, discard it. Rinse the chicken, chicken skin (if using), and chicken livers (if using) under cold water. Then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Cut the chicken and livers into 1/2-inch dice and the skin into 1/2-inch squares. Thread the pieces alternately on the skewers; each saté should be about 3 inches long. Place on a platter, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate while you prepare the marinade.
• Combine 1/4 cup of the sweet soy sauce, 1/4 cup of the peanut sauce, the onion, and lime juice in a shallow dish and stir to mix. Roll the satés in the marinade to coat thoroughly.
• When ready to grill, oil the grill grate. Arrange the satés on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until lightly browned and cooked through, 1 to 3 minutes per side (2 to 6 minutes in all). Brush once or twice with the chicken fat as the satés cook.
• To serve, place the remaining 1/2 cup peanut sauce in a small bowl and spoon the remaining 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce and the chile paste into the center (the motion of dipping the satés into this sauce will mix the ingredients together). Transfer the satés to serving plates or a platter and serve accompanied by the sauce.

Sate ayam is perfect food to be eaten at night. Don't worry how to get one. Because you don't have to go to some cafe or restaurant to buy one. There will be a lot of people at night that walking around in neighborhood to sell sate ayam. You just order it and it's not really expensive.
Make sure when you traveling in Indonesia, you have to eat sate ayam.

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What Traveling Means To You

What traveling means to you?
For me, traveling means a lot. Traveling means a lifetime learning lesson. It's beyond just relaxing, taking picture, or playing in the beach. Traveling is a effective method to accept the difference among us. Traveling doesn't have to be expensive. By the time you take your first step, you already decided that you are in it. Traveling can be effective way to create peace and spread love to the world. Imagine if you have a chance to know a lot of good people around the world, chance to feel the the atmosphere of different place, have a good time with local people. Giving you a hard lesson that not everybody in the world is just happy as you are. A lot of people keep dying, poverty, diseases, war, and another. It's a noble if you are planning to go to some underdeveloped country. Helping the kids, the people, and to know how they suffer.

Just as John Lennon's Imagine Song
Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try
No people below us, above it's only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no country, it isn't hard to do
No need to kill or die and no religions too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And world will live as one

Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger a brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing for all the world

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will live as one

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
Take my hand and join us
And the world will live as one

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Lawu Mountain

This review is suitable for you if you prefer to have an adventure especially if you have hiking as your hobby. The one that I'm talking about is Gunung Lawu. The term of gunung means mountain in English. Lawu mountain is a mountain that suitable to be a hiking place. The mountain itself is located in the border between East Java and Central Java. Half of the mountain is located in Magetan (East Java), the other one is in Solo (Central Java).

Lawu's height is 3265 above ocean surface. When you have a plan to do hiking in Lawu you can choose 2 different options about your route. If you like to try to do hiking with challenging road, quicker time, you can start your hiking from Cemoro Sewu. Cemoro Sewu is an entrance of Lawu mountain that located in Magetan. However, you may get tired easily when you pick that path because it's not gonna be easy way. The journey itself takes more of less about 7 hours from the entrance to Argo Dumillah, the name of the peak. While the other path, Cemoro Kandang in Solo (Central Java) is a easier way to the peak with flatter road but longer time. If you're planning to do easier way of hiking, Cemoro Kandang is the right choice for you. It takes about 9-10 hours ow walking without stopping. The road in Cemoro Kandang is flatter, in contrast to Cemoro Sewu, which has a hard challenging road. The texture of the road in Cemoro Sewu looks like a natural stair made from big rocks. You have to step more than thousand rock stairs until you find you don't want to count it anymore.

Lawu is a very cold place. Make sure you all have everything that your need is packed in your backpack. Warm jacket, gloves, pair of shocks, everything that makes you feel warmer must be taken. Flashlight, food, water, camera and don't forget plastic bag to collect your trash. Most people start their trip at night. So that's why you will need a flashlight. Don't worry because you won't get lost at Lawu because there will be only one road that you can follow from every entrance. However it's good idea to have somenone who experienced to accompany you.

Near the location of Cemoro Sewu entrance point, there are some house selling food, kind a traditional cafe. You may want to fill your stomach first to satisfy yourself. Give you more energy to start your hiking. Lawu would be so crowded with so many hikers come from every place in Indonesia. The most crowded event occurs in The Independence Day of Indonesia (where they have big ceremony at the peak), New Year, and 1 Syura (New Year based on Islamic Calender). That would be a mass hiking. You meet another people over and over again in every turn, every step. When you are in condition like that, the common way is to say "monggo" or excuse me and say hi.

The road to the peak of the mountain , there will be 5 different checkpoints. From the entrance up until the 3rd post, you will most likely walk in the forest. You will find a lot of gigantic rocks along in the way. All you can see in Lawu is spectacular. Feels like you are part of nature. Actually there is a reason why it's better to start the journey at night. The first one is to fight the cold. By the time when you walk at night, you will find that is not that really cold, because when you walk, your body produce more heat. So when you arrive at the peak, there will be less time left to wait the sunrise come, means less time to fight cold when you are resting in your tent. The second one is I mentioned it already, the sunrise. People go hiking in Lawu to watch it legendary sunrise. The last reason is when you are walking at night, It makes you harder to see the texture of the path so it helps you mentally to face the difficultness of the path.

When you arrive at the peak, which is called Argo Dumillah, you will feel that you are in the top of the world. Your position is above the clouds anyway. So when you look downside, you will see a ocean of clouds below you. Make you feel you wish you can fly and go to the clouds. It's so pretty. You would realize how amazing your world is. Prepare to watch the most beautiful sunrise on earth after your hardwork climbed up the mountain. Then take a picture to memorize your wonderful journey. When you are about to leave the peak, make sure you don't leave any trash. Kepp the mountain clean. Well, you ready to go home now. Visit Indonesia Read More ..

Health Tips For Traveling

When you are in a trip to somewhere for few days or more, it's always important to maintain your health. When you are planning to have a trip, you must consider how well your body is. Because if you are traveling and then you get sick that makes your trip screwed.

Something that has to be in your mind is if you are taking a trip with your family or traveling abroad for several weeks, it's easier for you to get sick when you are in a new place because your body hasn't had adjust to the weather, food, and the environment itself. I remember my first time when I came in USA from Indonesia, that was my first time going abroad. And then I got pretty bad cold even in USA was in summer. And when the winter came, It got worse and I got sick again with worse cold than before.

The first thing you should do if you're heading overseas is to find out what kinds of vaccinations you'll need in advance because different countries have different requirements. In the United States, contact your doctor or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a list of necessary vaccinations. You'll want to allow plenty of time for this step in case you need to get vaccines that require more than one dose. Before I went to USA for student exchange program, I had to get some vaccination.

Sometimes the excitement and the stress of travel can make you more likely to get sick. When you are a teen, your immune system is as strong as an adult. But make sure you have a enough time to get sleep. And avoid poor diet because that causes you get sick easier. If you come in a new place, when you are going to eat something that you don't familiar with, ask the waiters, or look on the menu. It gives you detail what ingredient is included in the food. So you know what kind of food you need to avoid if you have a allergy. After long drive you should take a rest by taking a good sleep. So you will be fresh again and ready to start your journey.

Three of the most common health problems that you may experience when traveling are jet lag, altitude sickness, and diarrhea. When you fly across time zones, the differing amounts of light can change your internal body clock, resulting in a condition known as jet lag. Jet lag may cause some symptoms that are bummers on a fun trip, including upset stomach, insomnia, and tiredness.

There are some things you can do to combat jet lag; for example, if you're traveling from west to east, you should stay out of the sun until the day after your arrival. If you're flying from east to west, go for a brisk walk as soon as possible after you arrive.

Altitude sickness is caused by dry air, a decrease in oxygen, and low barometric pressure when you travel to a higher altitude than you're used to. As a result, you may have problems, such as headaches,dehydration, and shortness of breath. Some people are affected at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), but others aren't affected until they reach altitudes of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) or more. Find out what altitude you're traveling to before you go to see if altitude sickness could be a problem.

The best prevention for altitude sickness is to gradually increase your altitude every day to get used to it. If that isn't possible, a drug known as acetazolamide can help relieve and even prevent symptoms of altitude sickness. If you think that you might get altitude sickness, talk with your doctor before you leave home.

Diarrhea can be a serious problem for traveler. Traveler's diarrhea known as turista, often occurs when a foreign type of bacteria enters your digestive tract, usually when you eat contaminated food or water. The best way to prevent turista is to be very careful of the food you eat and the water you drink on the road.

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What Kind Of Traveler Are You ?

What kind of traveler are you?

It's a question to everybody who likes to travel around. Are you a kind of traveler who likes to buy experience or you the opposite way. Are you a kind of traveler who likes to buy a thing?

For people who have enough budget it's not really a problem when you are in situation where you can buy a lot of expensive souvenirs or getting involve in the new experience of the place has. You can purchase all of them if you want in the same time. But this is for the traveler who only have low budget. When you have a chance to go somewhere new, you might want to spend your money to get some nice and yeah kinda expensive one. But when you realize your money is running out, you get only few left to eat and stay at hotel. And the sad part is you miss your only chance to feel something new that your place doesn't have. Like riding elephant in Thailand, scuba diving in Lombok, watching Barong Dance in Bali. Or you want to buy expensive purse at Singapore, nice jacket at Paris. It's nice when you getting older, you have some souvenir at your home to remember your travel, but the thing is there is more than just a stuff that are so valuable when you want to memorize what have you done in the new place. Experience. Picture speaks more than a thousand words. I believe that what you must get is what you feel new and different about tourism object. Souvenirs and stuff can be purchased whenever you want, even if you are not in that place (export import I guess).
But the real experience is the one that you can may get another time, but sometimes you cannot get another one. Because there is always a first time for everybody.

So what kind of traveler are you?
buying thing or buying experiences?

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Kuta Beach

Wellcome to Bali. Kuta Beach is the most popular beach in Bali among the others. Well yeah I feel sorry to admit that most people don't really know where Indonesia is but they know a lot about Bali. Sometimes they do know Indonesia is, but with wrong idea like Indonesia is a part of Bali. I am as the part of Traveler Portal team will glad to tell you guys that Bali is a island of Indonesia. So okay back to the most beautiful beach again. When I asked people around the world, what are you thinking about Bali? Most of them will answer my question like the beach, the sunset, bikini, sunbathing, blue water, and white sand, sunset and the beach again. Yeah you are right, most of my people around the world have the same thinking about Bali, and they were thinking about Kuta Beach.

Kuta Beach is located in southern of Bali, in the Denpasar city the capital of Bali. One thing that really interesting is in the beginning where Kuta was not famous as it now, Kuta Beach was only a little village where the people passed by from Denpasar to Peninsula Cliff. But right now, Kuta Beach is so famous in the world. We can even compare it with another famous beach such as in Miami or Hawaii, Kuta is as good as the other world famous beaches.

Kuta has become major tourism spot of Bali since 70s. When you visit Bali you will feel different excitement than your tourism place in your country. You might feel as a king, with a flower necklace handmade given by the people of Bali when you step first outside the airport. The airport runway itself is located in the south of the beach means while you are in the plane ready to landing, you see the famous Kuta. Give you the feeling you must go to the beach.

Kuta is a perfect one for you to spend holiday. Sunbathing, playing with the sand, the waves, nice sunshine, everything are fit together. Coconut trees line the sand as long as you can see, it's nice spot to give you relaxing time in Kuta. The waves is good for surfing. For you who are young and like to feel some adventure you have to try surfing in Kuta's waves. There always a surfing board for you to rent if you don't bring one. I'm suggesting you to stay in Kuta for longer because you cannot miss the breathtaking scene of sunset. The sunset is so beautiful more than you can only imagine. It's the major attraction that Kuta has, as opposed with Sanur Beach. Sanur is well famous for sunrise beach, and Kuta is famous with sunset beach. Make sure to take a picture of the sunset, because it's a long time memory for you.

Some guy in Bali will offer you to give a temporary tattoo for you. The tattoo usually last for 2 weeks. You can find them easily, they always carrying some books filled with all the designs of the tattoo. It's not expensive to get the tattoo, they will create the tattoo with the ink, don't worry because they use the pen, not the needle. For your friend, it's nice one to give them some souvenirs. Along the way in Legian street, you can purchase some unique Balinese handicraft. It's not a rude thing to have a bargain with the seller, but don't insult them with bargaining with too low price that irrational. If you want to spend the night at Kuta, the accommodation in Kuta range from a modest home stay for a few dollars a night to luxurious, five star, international hotels costing several hundred to several thousand dollars a night. It's up to you.

Make sure you visit Kuta Beach when you have a chance to go to Bali, because you will never regret what you see, what you feel, the excitement of Kuta Beach. The kindness of Indonesian people when they meet tourist, you are not gonna miss your country because you will be accepted as a family to them. Not mentioned that Indonesia is the country with the most smiling people in he world. Visit Indonesia 2009

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