Fans throng Korean Street Food Festival 2015 in Indonesia

Many Korean events have been held in Indonesia. But this is the first time Korean Street Food Festival 2015 opened in Jakarta. Following the name of the event, it presented meals which are often sold by the street vendors in Korea, or in Indonesian it’s called “jajanan” or “snacks.”



Certainly, events with the nuance of Korea, is always crowded with visitors, especially young people who are hit by Hallyu, and Korean Street Food Festival 2015 is no exception.







Once I came to the venue in a place that is located in South Jakarta, I saw a long queue, which apparently queuing visitors who purchase vouchers, to exchange with the food they want to buy at the festival, among others odeng, tteokbbokki, pajeon, gimbap and sweet rice punch, sikhye.




Of enthusiastic visitors, clearly seen a great interest among young people in Indonesia to experience Korean cuisine. There are many Korean restaurant or café in Indonesia now, but the price is still relatively expensive, mainly for young people. While in Korea Street Food Festival event, the price is quite cheap where they can spend only 10,000 rupiah (it’s about 835 KRW) per serving, and enjoy Korean street food that were made by native Korean, so they can experience the original taste of Korean street food.

The head of the Pendidikan Hangul Jakarta An Dae Young said that when I meet him on the sidelines of the event. He said that the event Korean Street Food Festival 2015 was organized to celebrate of the first anniversary of Jakarta Education Hangul – Korean Language Institute KT & G ( A Korean language course institution in Jakarta ).

“We chose Korean Street Food Festival, because we want to introduce Korean food to the people of Indonesia, at an affordable price,” said An Dae Young.









Meanwhile, a visitor named Ayu, a university student in Jakarta, said she was very pleased to attend and enjoy a variety of Korea street food. Ayu who like Korean dramas and K-pop revealed, ” there are a lot of positive things that can be copied from Korea, for example, its creativity, discipline and hard work. So, we not only enjoy the entertainment and food alone. ”

Besides enjoying a variety of Korea street food, the visitors can also try on traditional Korean dress (hanbok) , buy Korean style clothing and accessories, and join the talk-show about Korea and Korean food. The festival is really entertaining by the performance of local singer sang Korean pop songs and cover dance. What is most interesting is the present Korean singer named Jojo, who is just starting his singing career in Indonesia.

I was chatting with Jojo and asked why he was interested in creating his musical debut in Indonesia. The singer who originally taekwondo athlete, saying, that he wanted to try his luck in Indonesia as a singer.

 



“I am now living in Indonesia, and I love to sing. So I wanted to try a career here and get recognition from the people of Indonesia, ” Jojo said. To support his career, Jojo often appear in various events and is now being actively studying Indonesian.

Although he claimed that he is not fluent in Indonesian, but in the Korean Street Food Festival 2015, Jojo sang an Indonesia fluently and beautifully.

What is clear that Korean Food Festival 2015 was a real fun, and provide a special experience for those who really want to taste the typical Korean snacks.

*this article also published at blog.korea.net