ONE hours of travel from Soekarno Hatta Airport, Tangerang, to Sultan Baddaruddin II Airport, Palembang. That morning, Monday, 8 October 2021, I'm from Travel Diva, Founder Indonesia Hidden Heritage (IHH) as well as Chairman of Heritage Development in Indonesia, Nofa Farida Lestari and four members of the Founding Team of the Bappenas Museum, coordinated by Ismet Mohamad Suhud from the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, flew to the city called Venice from the East using an iron bird.. The goal is to hunt for traces of the history of the National Hero who is also founding father Bappenas, Adnan Kapau Gani, better known as AK Gani. The results of this hunt will be curated as a collection of the National Development Planning Agency which is planned to be established in Jakarta.
We went on a different flight. Travel Diva flies at 9 morning by Super Air Jet from Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Nofa and the Founding Team of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) each depart at 10 morning and 11 Afternoon using Garuda Indonesia and Batik Air from Soekarno-Hatta Airport and Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport.
Travel Diva's Super Air Jet flew on time. Shortly after take off, from the top of the plane looks a cluster of white clouds. Ten minutes before landing, You can see the green grass from behind the airplane window. It was a sunny day. The iron bird also landed smoothly on the land of Palembang.
Get out of the garbarata, passengers are greeted with murals and text containing storytelling about the history of Palembang as well as instructions on tourist destinations that can be visited.
Hottest Airport
Sultan Baddaruddin II is an international airport. Hot air immediately greets you shortly after arriving at the airport. Of all the airports I have visited at home and abroad, this is the hottest airport.
Before exiting the arrival door, the officer asked me to fill out an e-HAC form through the Peduli Protect application. Fail, because my residence number or NIK is not registered. Finally the clerk helped fill out the form manually. "Just say that the officers have helped"," he said giving instructions so that I could walk out of the plane smoothly. That's right. Enough with the "sacred" sentence, I can get out without being detained by other officers.
The heat was rising when I got out of the airport. I stopped by the ATM on the right side of the exit. Just like the air at the airport, ATM room also feels hot. Exit ATM, I immediately looked for a cafe to hang out while waiting for the next group to arrive.
Pempek Taste at the Airport
Not many cafes open at this airport. My guess, the pandemic has forced a number of cafes to close their stalls. Next to the ATM there is only the ‘O’ Bread stall. I glanced to the other side. It turns out that there are rows of pempek merchant outlets there. And, at the end there is a food court. The choice fell on the Pempek Nony outlet 168 because there are no visitors there. Pandemics make me a little uncomfortable when in a crowded place.
Remember 2 lunch time, I just tasted 2 mini pempek fruit. One peel, one more thing. The situation here is savory with a fairly strong coconut milk taste. Not many drink options, there is only Aqua brand mineral water and tea water that says Teh Pucuk Harum. I choose to drink mineral water.
There is no air conditioning at Pempek Nony outlets and other food outlets. Most food outlets at Sultan Badaruddin II Airport are only equipped with fans. To reduce the feeling of stifling, I point the slightly dirty fan towards my body. Sweat started pouring down my blue shirt.
After tasting the delicious pempek, I moved to the waiting room outside the airport. Around 20 minutes later move to the Information Room. This room feels so cool because it is equipped with air conditioning with perfect cold air. And, the officer there kindly invited me to wait for the group while 'cooling down' in the room.
An hour in this room, the group that flew with Garuda Indonesia arrived. We met in front of the Information Room, kemudian bersama-sama menuju gerai Roti ‘O’ untuk menunggu rombongan berikutnya yang menggunakan Batik Air. Around o'clock 12 noon, the last group landed at Sultan Badaruddin II.
Pindang Patin Lunch
That afternoon, the six of us were picked up by representatives from Bappeda and taken to the Bantiqa Hotel on Jalan Captain Rivai Number 219, 26 Illyrian, Palembang using one car. Before arriving at the hotel, We had lunch first at Pondok Kelpo Restaurant on Jalan Demang Lebar Daun Number 184. The main menu of this restaurant is seafood and pindang. At that time, we compactly choose the typical Palembang menu, Pindang Patin.
Pondok Kelpo is a Palembang restaurant with a taste of Bandung. This restaurant provides a hut with two choices, eat while sitting in a chair or lesehan. Indoor plants cool the hot Palembang air. Pondok Kelapa is a convenient culinary destination, especially for groups. The parking area is spacious. The same goes for the dining area. Dark wood and bamboo and wicker chairs make the atmosphere feel more calm so that dining activities become more comfortable.
Pindang patin in the style of Pondok Kelpo comes with a tempting warm sauce. Served in a stainless steel container so that the warmth is maintained. The taste of the sauce is sour and spicy with a touch of savory. The sour taste comes from pieces of pineapple which are often found in Palembang. The gravy is made fragrant with a sprinkling of fresh basil leaves. Patin fish for pindang cut into three parts. Head, middle and tail. The head is the best choice for fat lovers. It takes perseverance to disassemble the head. Starting from the eyes, mouth, to the brain. The brain and fish eye sipping moment is the most fun part for fish head lovers. While lovers of thick and juicy fish meat should choose the middle.
The chef at this restaurant is really good at concocting pindang catfish. In his hands, The catfish on the pindang doesn't taste fishy. The service is also quick to serve. Someday, if you return to Palembang with a group, I will invite them to dine here because for the sake of getting a bowl of the pleasure of pindang patin, guests do not have to wait long.
Pempek Candy Dinner
After lunch, we were escorted to the hotel. Rest until evening. When the night comes, the six of us walked to Pempek Candy which is not far from Bantiqa. So many variants of pempek here.
We ordered a complete package to eat together. Hurry up, order arrived. The pempek we ordered was placed on a plate with a leaf. The contents are complete, there is something, pistol, submarine, curly, skin and looseness. We enjoy this Pempek Candy following the way of Palembang people. Cuko is poured into a small bowl, then sipped while eating pempek. The pempek sauce here already tastes spicy even though it hasn't been mixed with chili sauce. Pempek Candy dinner was the closing of our activities on the first day of our working visit to Palembang. Because it's near the hotel, I decided to come back here to eat while buying Pempek souvenirs to take back to Jakarta.
Pempek Candy dinner ended our activity that night.
