La Maison Kopi Luwak @ Plaza Indonesia, Jakarta

I was preparing to leave Plaza Indonesia to head back to Four Seasons Hotel to check out when I caught a glimpse of this cafe at the corner diagonally opposite Mango. I knew I wanted to try this at least once and thus I asked Hue Gee to give this cafe a try. What attracted me was the name of this cafe - "La Maison Kopi Luwak" because I haven't really given a chance to savour one of the most expensive coffee in the world.

Back in 2009, I wrote about this coffee called Kopi Luwak here and I cringed at the thought of forking a small fortune for just a cup of coffee. Afterall, why are we paying gold to drink shit right? That's right, the coffee is really made from coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) or other civets and then the beans inside pass through their system undigested. While the bean is in its stomach, it undergoes chemical treatments and fermentations. The bean finishes its journey through the digestive system, and exits. The still-intact beans are collected and cleaned, then roasted and grounded just like any other coffee.

One small cafe, the Heritage Tea Rooms, in the hills outside Townsville in Australia, has Kopi Luwak coffee on the menu at US$33.00 per cup, selling approximately four cups a week, which has gained nationwide Australian press. However, I spotted this one here in Jakarta selling at USD$8 a cup or Rp 82,500 in their local currency. That is just about RM24 a cup and it's definitely worth a try. Afterall, RM24 would just get you 2 tall coffee at Starbucks.



The coffee powder comes in individual packs and they each comes with a nice cloth bag. A porcelain cup with gold rims and cover is used to depict its luxurious experience and the waitress makes the coffee right before your eyes. She first opens the pack and passes on for me to have a nose of the aroma. It's aromatic, nutty and earthy. Then she pours the coffee powder into the porcelain cup, adds 150ml water and then covers it for 2 minutes to brew.

As you can see, the colour is not really black or the darkest brown. It's brownish and thick. Mine has quite some amount of sediments and I think the 150ml water was a bit too little because I feel that it's too overwhelming in its taste and texture. I wasn't sure if all Kopi Luwak tastes like that but I certainly felt that USD$8 a cup won't get you good Kopi Luwak. The taste is earthy and bitter, almost like ginseng but with coffee aromas.

I don't believe that this is authentic Kopi Luwak as I know that nowadays the coffee beans are from civets that are kept and fed with berries instead of collecting the beans from the wild civets that fed on wild berries. Isn't it true that only the wild civets would be able to choose the berries they would want to consume and thus producing a better quality of beans?

Anyways, Hue Gee wasn't interested with coffee. She had a Rum & Raisin instead but I suspect there wasn't any much rum in that drink. All I can taste is caramel and sweetness. She had a taste of my Kopi Luwak but ended up having a stomach upset. I guess afterall, it's still an acquired taste.

But still, I think the person who came out with this way of appreciating coffee was brilliant. I can't believe someone out there would actually pick up the animal's feces and made good money with it! Cherry popped for Kopi Luwak!

La Maison Kopi Luwak
Lot E11, Level 2,
Plaza Indonesia
Tel: +6221- 299 23548

Adhikarya Dewangga

Photo by Arselan

In Sanskrit, it means "great work" or "masterpiece" from beautiful cloths (mahakarya dari kain yang indah). That's the theme of the recent fashion show held by Lina and Lim H at Four Seasons Hotel in Kuningan Jakarta on last Friday the 17th. And that was also the reason why I had to fly to Jakarta on Friday morning at 7am, taking the earliest flight on Air Asia to show some support to my dear friend from college whom is now a fashion designer.

Hue Gee, Lim & Me

Lim has always been fashionable and little do I know that he had teamed up with his sister, Lina to come up with such wonderful batik wear. I could still remember us studying together at our degree programme but I didn't know that one day, this classmate of mine would have his own fashion label and his debut fashion show in Jakarta today. An invitation to such an important event in my friend's life is not to be missed.




His sister Lina started designing in 2009 after finishing her studies at Raffles in Singapore. After his study, he also returned to Jakarta and there's where his interest in fashion designing begins. Lim creates the menswear and Lina designs the female gowns. People in Jakarta wears batik and it can be seen almost everywhere. They even have batik dresses, shirts and evening gowns. Once, my gf almost mistaken a guy in batik shirt to be a waiter. Instead, he's actually a customer. Lol...



Lim and his sister wants to have a modern batik line of clothes where everyone who adorns batik feels special and unique. Most of the batik dresses and shirts looks like they are mass-produced and that is not fashionable! For the past 3 years, they have been receiving orders to design wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses and evening wear. It's a good start and this fashion show of 23 designs has received good reviews from the press and guests attending the show.



His fashion show was indeed unique. It was simple, sleek and effective. There were even surprises underneath some lucky chairs where he give away batik bags and accessories to the guests.



The show lasts for 20 minutes and after that, everyone had a good dinner at the hotel and some photo sessions with Lina and Lim. And you know what happened? Of all the events I went to, I actually ended up wearing the same dress as Lim's other sister! He was so cute by texting me "Eilinggggg did you wear the same dress as my sister?" and I said yes! He then told Hue Gee that he knew that my dress is from Zara. Haha... what a joke. Next time, never wear any Zara dress for events as many people would have bought the same dress and colour! Lol..

Lim & Lina looking happy

It was also Lim's birthday and one of the staff brought a cake to the stage after the show ended and even his parents were up on stage to embrace him. At the same time, they presented him with a mock key and I wonder if it's a key to a house or car?!! I asked him the next morning we had breakfast and he answered...

a jet maybe?!!

Lol... Anyways, this guy is truly hardworking and he's early to rise and early to bed. Can you imagine he buzzed me and asked my gf and I to have breakfast at 8am?!! Who the hell wakes up at 8am to have breakfast at a hotel (and it's Four Seasons for God's sake) on a weekend?!! Well, eventually we did wake up and arrived at the breakfast table earlier than him.

Keep a lookout for these two talented young siblings as they might be on their way to our shores for their next fashion show stop!

I was in Jakarta!

I was in Jakarta for the weekend. Come to think of it, it never crossed my mine that I would be visiting this city anytime soon, not especially if it's my own trip. Well, so what brought me here? If it's not because of a dear friend, I wouldn't fly here for 1 night and having to take AirAsia because that's the most economical way to do so. He's having his debut fashion show and I have to come to show my support for him. I'll leave the fashion talk for my next post.

Air Asia has its own budget terminal which is Terminal 3 and it's new and modern unlike Terminal 1 & 2. When arrived at the T3, there's only 2 immigration counters opened, resulting in a long queue. I have done my research about taking taxi in Jakarta because you won't want to get yourself into trouble here. The only taxi a tourist should take should be from the Blue Bird Group which includes Blue Bird & Pusaka taxis which are economical and Silver Bird if you want an executive taxi. If you can't find any Blue Bird taxis, just take the free shuttle service to T1 or T2 arrival area to take the taxi.

Staying at Four Seasons Hotel

The trip from the airport to our hotel at Four Seasons in Kuningan took almost an 1 hour and a little bit more due to traffic congestion. Make sure you have enough cash for the taxi because there's a charge of Rp 10,500 for toll and a fare of Rp 120,500. Don't forget to prepare Rp 150,000 for airport tax on the return trip! It's very kind of my friend to put us up at such a beautiful hotel. I love the rooms because it's cosy and the beds are heavenly. Both of us almost didn't want to leave the beds alone and she even suggested that she would transport the bed back if there's such thing as a Doraemon magic door!


One unique thing we noticed about the buses here is that these are no ordinary buses. Look at the doors, it's too high for anyone to get onto it and thus, look at the bus stands! It's not on ground level but it's located on a higher platform. From what I knew, this is a shuttle for some areas and then they also do have the normal buses for other areas.

Living the Jakarta life

But, to live the high life of Jakarta, we decided to treat ourselves to a posh taxi. No, we did not come in those two white Porsche Panamera but we took a Silver Bird which is a Merz E Class taxi to Plaza Indonesia which is just opposite Grand Indonesia, the two shopping malls. The Blue Bird has a fare that starts at Rp 9,000 and the Silver Bird starts at Rp 15,000. A 10 minute taxi trip on a Blue Bird will cost around Rp 12,000 and the Silver Bird around Rp 25,000.

Honestly, with those prices, I can now declare Malaysia taxis are way too shitty. The taxis in Jakarta are at least a Toyota Vios, just like Bangkok and even taxis in Manila is better than our Protons! There's no price haggling with the Blue Bird taxis and the drivers don't stink.



The malls in Jakarta are pretty big too. The one we went to on the 1st day is called Grand Idonesia and as its name suggests, it's pretty grand with all the big names like Louis Vuitton and Gucci. It's as big as our Mid Valley but the number of shops is just 1/3 of our mall. The place is spacious and there's even a big fountain in the mall. The restaurant area is very well decorated and it looks like a dreamland castle with trees and stone walkways.



For lunch, Hue Gee and me went to the food court called Food Louve at Grand Indonesia and I wanted to try some local food. After staring at the menu for the longest time, I decided to go for the Ayam Penyet which is a local Indonesian cuisine consists of a spicy, crispy fried and smashed chicken served with a variety of greens, sambal belacan and white rice. I wanted to see the difference between the ones I had in KL and here in Jakarta. Actually I don't think there's any big difference except that the chicken here tend to be smaller. heheh...



Well, I don't really love Jakarta but I'll say it's not too bad either when compared to KL. One thing though, it's quite difficult to get a taxi from the mall. But on the good side, there's always a doorman at the mall to help you hail a taxi and open the doors. I love the service and the spaciousness of the malls. It's nice not to be stepping on each others toes when shopping on weekends.

More stories to come...