eats

Get a botok fix (the Javanese food, not the wrinkle eraser) at Gula Merah, a new restaurant promising Indonesian traditional food located at Gedung Setiabudi in Kuningan. Along with the tasty botok (steamed coconut mixed with either anchovies or tempeh), there is ayam bumbu roejak (chicken in spicy sauce), iga penyet (ribs in a crushed chili dressing), nasi bakar tiga rasa (three flavored roasted rice), nasi goreng kambing petai (fried rice with goat meat and stinky beans, delicious but a cholesterol overdose) and much more. In this city dubbed the "big durian" visitors should try a taste of es durian cendol, with the old-time dessert favorite given a potent taste punch with the addition of the notorious, and much loved, fruit. Looks promising.

gig

The Manchunian band Stone Roses may only have one album, but their influence has far exceeded their record sales. It is safe to say that without the Stone Roses there won't be any rave culture to speak of. This band plays the kind of psychedelic music, the mix of the Doors and Jimi Hendrix, best enjoyed while consuming mind-expanding substances. It is not an overstatement to say that the whole Brit rock movement would not materialize without the template set by this band. Oasis, for one, owed their "existence" to the swagger of Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown. Now, two decades after the fact, Brown will deliver a performance on Aug. 6 at the Gelora Bung Karno's basketball court. Opening for Brown will be another Brit rock act Kula Shaker, known in the mid 1990s for their tune Govinda. For tickets call 021-97425292 or log on to stellarentertains.com.

films

In the period following the country's independence in 1945, the government may have been cash-strapped, but this did not prevent it from intensively sending cultural missions abroad, part of the campaign to put the newborn country on the world map. As early as 1952, the government assembled a team of artists that would be sent to Sri Lanka. In 1957, the same team was dispatched to a number of Eastern Bloc nations, including Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union. Again in 1961, another team of artists was sent to the Soviet Union, North Korea, North Vietnam and the People's Republic of China. Even when the Sukarno government was leaning further toward the Eastern Bloc, it sent another team to the US, France and the Netherlands in 1964. Salihara Theater is scheduled to screen a documentary on the cultural mission, dispatched between 1952 and 1965. The documentary is directed by scholar on Indonesia Jennifer Lindsay of the Australian National University (ANU). The screening is on Aug. 5 starting at 1 p.m. Admission is free. For further information write to dita@salihara.org.

spa

Go fishing, with a difference. Dip your tootsies into a pool crammed with tiny carp (or opt for some bigger fish) and let the little nibblers get to work cleaning off dead skin and, supposedly, curing a whole manner of ills. Various places around the city offer the spa, but Kenko Reflexology & Fish Spa (Grand Indonesia, Senayan City) is a reliable choice with helpful attendants (wish the spa didn't require payment before treatment though). Ticklish at first, relaxing and an experience of being at one with nature in the concrete jungle!

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