There are many unique ways to celebrate Indonesia's 79th Independence Day, one of which was how ASTON Priority Simatupang held a series of "Gerebek Merdeka" events for hotel guests who had breakfast at the Canary restaurant on Saturday, 17 August 2024 from 08:30 am.
It is called "Grebek" (in English, it means raid) because hotel staff suddenly ask knowledge questions about Indonesia to randomly selected guests. If the guest answers correctly, they immediately receive a prize.
There were other "17s" competitions to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day, such as the cracker eating competition, the paper aeroplanes game called “Pesawat Juang”, involving throwing paper aeroplanes at a predetermined board target, and the snakes and ladders competition. Every activity was held at the Canary restaurant located on the G floor of the hotel.
Located in the Simatupang business district, this four-star hotel also provided a buffet breakfast and lunch entitled "The Beauty Indonesia" from 12 to 18 August 2024, featuring a variety of typical Indonesian culinary delights. The dishes enjoyed in the thematic area of the buffet were Ayam Sampyok, pickled vegetables, pickled fruit, batagor, coastal fish laksa, ayam Betutu, nasi liwet, fried rice, tumpeng rice, meat of rabeg, Ikan acar kuning, ayam serundeng, sayur ase, tekwan, tongseng, telur dadar berontak, wet spring rolls, tahu gejrot, grilled banana ice cream, es podeng, and many more.
Apart from the buffet, there is also a recommended menu from the Hotel Chef for the month of August 2024, namely Udang Bakar Nusantara which is made from processed shrimp marinated with spices and served with nasi liwet, stir-fried kale, sambal tempe, and rempeyek.
“We prepared this series of Gerebek Merdeka events as an additional activity, and we hope that our guests who were on holiday with their families enjoyed an Independence Day moment by participating in the 17's competition as they would in an Indonesian home environment. Specifically for guests staying on 17 August 2024, we also provided welcoming amenities in the form of pastry dishes with the theme of independence," added Andi Gevika Rizki, General Manager of the ASTON Priority Simatupang Hotel.