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Published: July 12th 2013
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It was a spur of the moment trip. I had a weekend to spend in Jakarta and thought of going to Cirebon. I had not been to Cirebon for more than 20 years and with the increased popularity of batik, this place has become a popular attraction among the Indonesians. It used to be known for a place for spa and it is a historic city as it is the home of the Sultanate of Cirebon. During the Dutch colonial days, it was known for its busy port being used for the exports of spices, sugar and tobacco out of the country.
Thankfully, my sister Lucy agreed to come along with me. We managed to get our rented car with a driver on the day of our departure on Friday afternoon. We had wanted to leave earlier but had not found the right mode of transportation as we wanted to take a train but it was fully booked (the idea way to visit Cirebon from Jakarta is to take a train as it saves you one or two hours of traveling time but you need to book the tickets way in advance).
The car ride via Cikampek toll road
took approximately 5 hours was not as bad as we had anticipated. There are rest areas and plenty restaurants along the ay. The road was smooth and traffic was not too heavy if you leave earlier on Friday. We arrived around 9 pm but had a chance to stop by along the way for our dinner (don’t expect a fancy dinner along this road). Upon arrival at Cirebon, we were relieved to check in at a four star hotel, Aston, located strategically at the heart of the city. The hotel was brand new; the rooms are clean. There was a free wifi too if I am not mistaken at the lobby area.
The next day, we started early by visiting the two of the palaces: Palace Kasepuhan and Palace Kanoman. The former was built in 1447 and was the older kingdom compared to the latter. Interestingly, you can see the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism in this palace as reflected by the pair of Tiger status in front of the palace, linking its history back to the last King of Padjadjaran (it was said that the tiger reflected the King reincarnation). The hall of the palace is still being
used for many official events by the Sultan who still lives there, but I must say that the entire compound was not well maintained due to lack of funds (unlike the Special Region of Yogyakarta of which Sultanate received contribution from the government, the Sultanates at Cirebon are self funded). I had spoken to one of the royal family members who expressed her concerns that this Sultanate history might soon be wiped out if they are not properly maintained.
There is a museum next to the Palace which kept all the precious artefacts such as Kereta Singa Barong (the royal gilded coach), gamelan, a day bed of the princess, canon, Pourtugese armours, and many keris (or Indonesian curvy daggers). Once a year during Sekaten or Ied, the sacred Keris is being cleansed while the gamelan is being played.
Kraton Kanoman, built in 1677 by Sultan Anom I, was equally poorly maintained even though it has interesting Chinese and Dutch ceramics embedded into the plastered walls. While at the palace, you can have an Abdi Dalem as a guide who are available to provide information about the palace with a small contribution. Abdi Dalem is a few
An item at the Museum
which was being used to transport prince and princesses when they were young relatives of the Royal family who dedicate their life and time for the Sultan. Some believed in karma and stated that had the prior Sultanates remained honest, they would not have gone into this financial difficulties.
After the visit to the two palaces, we had a chance to visit the wet market located next to Kanoman palace before heading for our lunch. We visited one of the nasi jamblang restaurants for lunch; it's a food stall concept where you picked your dishes served with rice on a banana leave. It is extremely popular among the locals along with empal gentong and tahu genjrot (fried tofu with prawn paste sauce). There many local dishes that you can try while you are in Cirebon; our overnight visit was too short for us to try much.
After lunch, my sister and I had to go for our ultimate destination: batik hunting. The well known area for batik hunting is in Trusmi, which is a strip of road that has many batik shops. Cirebon batik has its distinct look and typically is more colorful than the batik from other part of Java. I must say we made the right decision to visit
only two out of hundreds batik stores and keep our mind sane.
We came back to Jakarta with a smile on our face but less money in our wallet.
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