Something small is sometimes not trivial. Even though it is small, when we know it and understand it, there is probably a value hidden on it. That is the wisdom that has been obtained after several young people who have their own dreams to do a little adventure by roaming, wondering, and learning about the small things in “Roaming Kotagede”.

The journey began with preparing the data about several particular places that will be visited. We visited the craftsmen, the silversmith, the making of the traditional cake ‘kembang waru’ or ‘waru flower’, Kotagede market, Joglo houses, the rest of the the giant fortress that has been eaten down by ages, ‘Watu Gatheng’ and ‘Watu Gilang’, Hastorenggo grave, and finally the complex of the Islamic ancient Mataram kingdom.

The first shock was caused by how great the craftmanship skill of Kotagede people who are able to make arch wire into a miniature of Harley Davidson in a single day without the assistance of the big machine. They work with their passion and at the same time with the limited simplicity technology that they have. As the proverb says that may not very well known: “The limited facilities will enhance creativity” is appropriate to this fact. It is a proverb said by one of the Jogja academician who also lives in Kotagede.

Tongue is the sensual sense that never say the untrue to interpret the taste. We felt that when we enjoyed the unique taste of ‘kembang waru’ cake in Uncle Bashiran house. He is one of the elders in Kotagede who loves Javanese tradition and culture. Last year, he received an award from the Kanthil Foundation Yogyakarta. This ‘kembang waru’ cake is often found in the public gathering events, like thanks-to-God feast, circumcision, and other ceremonies. Usually, this cake is packaged in a cardbox accompanied with other traditional snacks like ‘moro lego’. The ‘kembang waru’ cake is so delicious when it is immediately enjoyed after they are baked completely in the charcoal oven. It was still warm when we were eating them along with the hot-sweet-and-thick tea. We also listened to Uncle Bashiran’s story about Bumen Kampong. The experience of eating the ‘kembang waru’ cake straightly fresh-from-the-oven made us feel ‘alive’ since usually we eat them when they are cold which makes us cough and thirsty. Then, we wondered how if we put some chocolate or cheese on their toppings. Hmmm, yummy!

 After our stomachs were full of ‘kembang waru’ cakes, we continued our trip to see the ancient Joglo houses. We also noticed on their architectures and particular Javanese design, like ‘senthong’ or bedroom, ‘pawon’ or kitchen, and so forth. There is also a house which has a bunker as a storage place for valuable goods. Besides the traditional Javanese houses, there are also several ruins of the fort which its remains still look great and made our theater of mind imaginating on ancient memories when the fort was still erected hundred years ago. The fort is called ‘Bokong Semar’ or the buttock of Semar. This fortress stood around and protected the complex of Panembahan Senopati kingdom.

Kotagede is an old city that still keeps the value of noble heritage which is rich in its Javanese teaching wisdom and philosophy. As a man gets off from his bicycle when the road is turning, people who respect others by bowing his/her backs while he/she is sitting, and so forth. The noble culture still exists in the rural areas.

To release our tired feet, we rested our bodies and minds in the complex of the Great Mosque of Mataram. It is a quite cool and shady place since there is a giant Banyan tree that supplies enough oxygene to us. After we recharged our energy and our minds were fresh, we continued the journey to the secretariat of the Kanthil Foundation of Kotagede to do the evaluation and have a lunch.

Even though the trip was a bit tiring, but we were succeeded to roam a small part of Kotagede. In fact, there are still many hidden things that have not been revealed from Kotagede, such as the secret recipe of ‘kipo’, the mystery of Kalang people, the exotic taste of Sido Semi green peas ice, and others.

Hopefully we can continue this journey in other times, so we can find more the others ‘small things’ but extraordinary. We are proud to have those small and extraordinary things in Kotagede. Ganbatte!

Written by: Bima Surya (the student of Japanese Class)