T

he capital is prepared for the festivities. Check out the twinkling lights on trees around Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD), the Christmas carols and decorations at shopping malls or the merry atmosphere at fancy hotels and restaurants.

They are all ready for the festivities which include Christmas as well as New Year’s celebrations.

Celebrating Christmas and New Year’s at hotels have become a routine for those living in the capital city, with big hotels and entertainment centers offering promotions, inviting celebrities and providing mouth-watering delicacies.

Hotel Mulia in Senayan pampers its guests with elegant white Christmas bunny chocolate decorations and baskets of goodies.

Communication manager Andry Kurniawan said the hotel’s kitchen has looked like a battle zone due to numerous orders from individuals and companies wanting to get baskets.

He said the highlight of the hotel’s cake shop, simply called The Cake Shop, will be the famous Yule Log, a traditional Christmas cake roll from France.

“The log cake will come with some flavors, such as Chocolate Choux, cheese and almond,” he said.

Traditionally, European families, especially in France and Italy, have a large log called a “Yule log” carried to a house. Owners of the house would light the log in the fireplace with fragments from the previous year that had been carefully kept.

Today, the pastry industry has documented the custom in the form of a cake smothered by various flavors.

The hotel will also present the “Poko & Jerry Fun Family Puppet Show” by ventriloquist Jerry Gogapasha on Dec. 24, 25, 31 and on Jan. 1. The performance of American R&B singer Brian McKnight and Keith Martin on New Year’s Eve will wrap up the year 2011 in the hotel.

Kempinski Hotel chose roasted turkey as the highlight of the Christmas menu in the hotel, thanks to the menu’s success in the previous year. This year, the roasted turkey with stuffing will be available for order at the Kempi Deli café and become a part of the buffet menus at Signatures restaurant.

“Turkey is an international cuisine — a typical Christmas feast in many parts of the world. It’s certainly a more American tradition, but everywhere else people have started to serve Turkey. It’s common for Indonesians too to serve turkey,” Executive Chef Andre Buser told The Jakarta Post recently.

The chef, who has not celebrated Christmas for 25 years due to the busy chores in the kitchen, shared some tips to enjoy roasted turkey, especially if your house is far from the hotel.

“The best thing is to take the turkey out of the pan and put it in the oven quickly on high heat, which is about 200 Celsius. Leave it there for about five minutes or more so you can get it crispy again,” he said.

The roasted turkey from the hotel, he said, will be about five to six kilograms, which will easily cater 10 to 12 expatriates or 15 local people. Buser also said that dry and cold white wine would be a nice drink to accompany the roasted turkey, which will have a separate stuffing comprised of chestnuts, white prunes and sausage.

“We stuff the turkey with orange juice, herbs, lemon and everything for marinating, so it has a little more flavor,” said the chef who has been around in the capital city for five years.

Buser said the most difficult part in cooking turkey was choosing the right temperature to roast it. He said many people set the temperature either too low or too high.

He gave a simple trick to tackle the challenge.

“You can put a [roasting] needle into the breast of the turkey before roasting it at a temperature of 130 degrees in two to two hours and a half. When the needle comes up, the turkey is telling that it is ready to take out,” he said.

Kempinski Hotel’s assistant director of public relations Shanti Setyaningrum said the New Year’s Eve party in the hotel will take place at Paulaner Brauhaus presenting music from the 60s to the 80s by Flashback Band.

Guests may also dance to favorite rock tunes including those from The Beatles, Bee Gees and Rolling Stones and dress up as your favorite 60s or 70s rock or pop icon.

Early in December, InterContinental Jakarta MidPlaza just launched the beginning of its festivities with a group of children from Mekar Lestari Orphanage, featuring the performances of some singers, including Franky Sihombing and Wawan Yap. The hotel also introduced a cute penguin doll that costs Rp 55,000 per piece, which can help cover the operational costs of the orphanage for the year ahead.

“I hope that our guests choose to participate in our Festive Penguin Doll charity initiative, which will raise funds for an extremely worthy cause,” general manager Ian McKie said.

An array of international Christmas buffet delicacies will be available to cheer up the Christmas Eve dinner at the hotel’s Java restaurant. Salmon tartare with lobster medallions and caviar, duck on braised cabbage and a foie gras station with fruit compote will be among the highlights.

On Christmas Day, you can expect a lavish menu including succulent turkey, grilled baby lobster, red wine braised lamb osso bucco, Christmas pudding and egg nog in Java and Scusa restaurants. The festive fare will be complemented with live music and a children’s choir singing medley of carols as well as an appearance of Santa Claus.

Teratai Restaurant at Borobudur Hotel in Central Jakarta meanwhile is preparing a special Christmas menu for Dec. 24 and 25, comprising of roasted crispy turkey with sliced mango and lemon sauce, thick pumpkin soup with seafood, braised homemade tofu, sautéed king prawn, Shanghai special fried noodles and chilled mango cream with mixed fruits and pomelo.

The Borobudur Gourmet declares Christmas Ginger Surprise Cake as the highlight cake of the month. The award-winning cake layered with raspberry mousse, pistachio crème brulee, ginger, and tangy apricot compote is available for order.

If you opt for outdoor entertainment, Taman Impian Jaya Ancol will present “Musical Laskar Pelangi” at Rama Shinta Hall from Dec. 24, 2011 through Jan. 7, 2012.

A Russian Christmas underwater show will also entertain the visitors with a collaboration of underwater dancers and dolphins from Dec. 24 to Jan. 8.

The corporate communications manager of Sofia Cakti said huge fireworks and a list of live music performances will take place at Carnival beach on New Year’s Eve.

“We expect a bigger crowd than last year as we have a larger venue. The visitors during last year’s New Year’s Eve were over 365,000 people,” she told the Post.

With the array of Christmas food, cakes and entertainment around the big hotels in the capital city, you do not have to go abroad to enjoy the fanfare.

Have a merry Christmas and very happy New Year!