CHOCOLATE NDALEM: Something Sweet from someone

Hello, hivers around the world. When was the last time you received chocolate from someone? Anyway... since I don't have a sweet tooth, I rarely buy chocolate or sweet foods. There are certain times when I crave sugar, but it's not often, for example during premenstrual syndrome.

And a few days ago, I received a sweet gift from a friend. I don't know why she suddenly gave me a box tied with a maroon ribbon that said ‘CHOCOLATE NDALEM’.

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When I opened the package, there were four chocolates of various sizes: one large, one medium, and two small chocolates lined up very cutely. After that, I found out that this chocolate is one of the souvenirs that can be brought back from Yogyakarta. NDALEM is a term often heard in the city of Yogya as ABDI NDALEM, or special employees who serve the royal palace of Yogyakarta.

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And what's even cuter is that each chocolate package is very cool and informative, like the packaging on the large chocolate. It has a batik motif and is labelled as Sidoasih batik. Inside the packaging is white chocolate. Isn't the batik pattern beautiful? I almost didn't have the heart to open it. Huhu.

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Then, on the medium-sized chocolate packaging, it's no longer about batik, but about a traditional game called GANGSINGAN. This is very nostalgic. In this digital age, children rarely play with traditional toys like this, but Cokelat Ndalem has created a very nice packaging that reminds us of traditional games that are rarely known by children today. Gangsingan is a game where a long rope is wound around a spool and then released, causing it to dance and spin on the ground. The materials vary depending on the region, some use bamboo and others use tree wood. I used to make my own when I was little with bamboo tree trunks that my father had just cut down. As for the rope, I used dried banana tree bark by twisting several pieces of the bark together or tying them together by twisting them again. This is a unisex game and very exciting.

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Finally, there is a pair of black and white chocolates. They are just plain paper with the brand name written on them. Thank you, my friend, for the sweet gift. Hopefully, this will be a sign and reminder that our friendship is also sweet. See you later.

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