Because Candy Says So....: Dinner Prepared For a Queen.

Going back to my Bali/Jakarta trip, I MUST MUST MUST tell you about the most incredible dinner I have ever had. I felt right at home because it was truly meant for ROYALTY!! I am not exaggerating when I say that this dinner is like no other that I have ever had before!

Since it was TR's birthday, as soon as got to Jakarta, we went straight to the parlor to have our hair blown dry while DL went around the mall to shop. DL pointed out what the Indonesian's refer to as simple.

Naloka kami.

Anyway, going back, we went to a place called LARA DJONGGRANG. After more than a thousand years, the timeless, mystical legend of Lara Djonggrang is now documented into a most uniquely romantic restaurant in Jakarta , the capital city of Indonesia, a city known among connoisseurs for the heat and chicness of its evening life.

Tito Mon (TR's husbandry) reserved a room for us to celebrate the birthday of my beloved Rosette. The waiter offered to give us a tour of the restaurant and the story of how it came to be is astounding!

Once upon a time during the times of the Hinduism in Java, there lived Lara Djonggrang, a princess renowned for her stunning beauty. In during kingdom of Prambanan , Lara Djonggrang's father was killed by a powerful man Bandung Bondowoso, the son of king Prabu Baka. Blinded by her beauty, Bandung Bondowoso madly fell in love with the princess and was determined to marry Lara Djonggrang, whatever it required to do.

Lara Djonggrang vowed not to ever marry the man who had murdered her own father therefore she demanded Bandung Bondowoso to construct a thousand temples for her overnight. Unable to complete this task all by himself, Bandung Bondowoso seeked for the help of hundreds of demons to help him. So when dusk came, they set up to work.

As dawn approached, the demons had completed a large number of the temples at a startling speed. Worried that one thousand temples would be finished by sunrise, Lara Djonggrang aroused her palace maids to begin pounding rice in the barns and to scatter fragrant flowers all over the kingdom. The sound of the pounding woke the rooster who then beganto crow. When the demons heard the noises and smelled the flowers, they mistakenly understood that day time had come and flew away for their lives. At last, they only constructed 999 temples one short of the requirement.

Enraged beyond imaginations, Bandung Bondowoso turned Lara Djonggrang into a stone statue so that she would never be able to love others forever. The story of Lara Djonggrang lives through time, symbolizing a daughter's undying love for her father, finally sacrificing her life for him. The Gods heard the prayers sent by the maidens of the kingdom.

Touched by the story, they sent for Lara Djonggrang to be taken to the heavens, riding on a Javanese mythological lion, where she finally found eternal peace. The stone visualization of Lara Djonggrang on her way to heavens is one of the masterpieces in this beautiful restaurant, as well as a statue portraying her refusal to Bandung Bondowoso's plea to marry him. The artworks presented in this restaurant bring back to life the luxurious romance and ancient atmosphere of Prambanan.

The legend of LARA DJONGGRANG, although still could be heard deep in the lands of Java, remains only as one of the most enchanting, well-kept secrets that has been told only from parents to children through more than a thousand of years, it show each younger generation of the unconditional love and respect a child is to give to his or her parents. In line with its mission to keep alive the forgotten, romantic history of Indonesia , Tugu Hotels & Exotic Spas dedicate the Lara Djonggrang restaurant to become, in itself, a part of Indonesia's beautiful history.

The Party Peeps