Empal Gentong (a spicy curry-like beef soup)

Empal gentong is a spicy curry-like beef soup originated from Cirebon, West Java. This soup is similar to gulai that usually cooked with firewood stove in gentong (Javanese for: clay pot). The ingredients are parts of beef meat, intestine, tripes, lungs, etc. cooked in curry-like spices in coconut milk, kucai and sambal in the form of chilli powder. Empal gentong can be eaten with steamed rice, ketupat or lontong.

this is a kind of curried soup with beef. It’s cooked with coconut milk and usually served with rice or lontong (steamed rice in banana leaf). Usually will be served with a chili powder especially made for this dish. Mostly Empal Gentong is a mix of meat and innards/entrails so request meat only (daging saja) if you’re not keen on the latter. 

Empal gentong originated from Battembat village, kecamatan Tengah Tani, Cirebon regency.  You will find this dish served all over Cirebon with many in and near the train station.

Tahu Gejrot (Fried tofu in salty soysouce)

Tahu Gejrot

this is a small portion of tofu served on a small clay plate. The vendor will usually be carrying 2 large baskets across his shoulders and walking around selling this. He will wait while you eat and when you finish collect the clay plate from you. The dish is fried tofu served in a sauce made from onions, tamarind, chillies, soy sauce and Javanese brown sugar. I guess there are various recipes but these are the basic ingredients as far as I know. If you are a tofu lover you should really enjoy this dish. Remember to ask for (sedang) if you’re not into spicy food this dish can be very hot sometimes.

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• Empal Gentong (a spicy curry-like beef soup)

Linggarjati Museum (Gedung Naskah Linggarjati)

This is an old Dutch colonial house set on the foothills of Ciremai Mountain. In Indonesian history it is a very important place where the Dutch and Indonesian authorities sign the treaty to give Indonesia back to the Indonesian government while being monitored by British officials in November 1946.

In 1946 the nationalists met the Dutch here at Linggarjati, a tiny village on the slopes of Mount Ciremai, above the city of Cirebon. Eventually the peace accord broke down and Indonesia had three more years of warfare before it was finally liberated. The small villa where the negotiations took place now houses a small site museum with period photos of the main participants. The beautiful setting high above Cirebon is perhaps a bigger attraction. 

This is a pleasant old Dutch villa set in some nice gardens and worth a quick look if your in the area. The buildings are kept in an original colonial style.Throughout the building are many old black and white photographs from the press at the time of negotiations there. If your a colonial history buff this is definitely worth a look but even if your not it's a nice place to stretch your legs if you are on the way to other tourist spots. A donation is expected by visitors put what you feel is

View of the villa with Ciremai Mountain in the bacground

 
enough but please do give as they rely heavily on these donations for the upkeep/staff of the villa.

This place is very little exposed but it is a little gem for those who are interested in the history of Independence of Indonesia. This should be part of place of interest if you visit Cirebon or Kuningan. Approximately 1-2 hours drive from Cirebon (depending on traffic).

Source:

http://cirebontouristinformation.blogspot.com/2011/09/linggarjati-museum-gedung-naskah.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g3442928-d3433066-Reviews-Museum_of_the_Linggarjati_Negotiations-Linggajati_West_Java_Java.html

Belawa Turtle Park (Taman Kura-kura Belawa)

Belawa Turtle Park (Taman Kura-kura Belawa)

This is a small place that may be of interest to animal lovers, situated about 20 km from Cirebon city centre. The turtles (not sure if they are turtles/terrapins or tortoise) here are endemic to this small area outside Cirebon. The Latin name for this species is "Tortoise Aquatic Ortilia Norneensis". They grow to be about 100kg or more. I have tried to contact turtle conservation groups for more info on these turtles but have not been successful. The myths of the local people says that they cannot be raised/bred anywhere but this area. There are stories of people taking these turtles away to other places but the turtle always die or disappear from their new surroundings. There is a breeding program here to try and repopulate this very rare species of turtle. Unfortunately like many places in Indonesia they are under-funded so the place isn't really too nice. The workers will gladly show you around and if your lucky you may get to see hatchlings breaking out of their eggs.

Since I was last at this place about 70% of the turtle population contracted a disease and died. I have heard that many of the big ones have gone now, such a shame as there were turtles here over 100 years old. After the tragedy there was some money injected into this small park to improve water and living conditions so I can't comment on the state of the place now. There is a legend surrounding these turtle and a local boy hundreds of years ago

Belawa Turtle Park (Taman Kura-kura Belawa)

Also having trouble locating the place on google so again I will update soon with google link. It is in the Kanci area 20 Km East of Cirebon off the main coast road.

Sunyaragi Cave (Gua Sunyaragi)

 Sunyaragi Cave is one of the cultural heritage, which located in Kesambi, Cirebon with the land area of 15 hectares. Based on its history, Sunyaragi Cave was built for meditation as well as the rest place of Sultan Cirebon and his family.

Sunyaragi Cave (Gua Sunyaragi)

Even though this place is called Sunyaragi Cave, it isn't really a cave. This is a man made building but it has a very unique construction. It was built in 1703 by one of the sultans of Cirebon as a water palace to relax with his harem. The locals say it is built from coral but I've yet to find out if that's true. In the 1800's the place was renovated by a Chinese architect and they say he was killed after so as not to reveal the secrets of the palace. Anyway, there are many stories surrounding this unusual building which I will translate and research some more. If your in Cirebon it's definitely worth taking an hour or so to look around this maze of man made madness.

Sunyaragi Cave is a great place to visit and explore, especially for you who loves and interest in explore a cultural heritage site. The reason why I visit this heritage site is because I really love to explore its unique, which combined the architecture of Indonesian ancient and western architecture. This place is worth to visit within 1 hour and the place is located in the side of the road by pass Brigadier Dharsono. Based on my experience, the best way to get there is by a taxi since the location of the cave is quite far from the city centre. This is located on the ring-road (by-pass). Easily reached by pedicab from the town centre. By car head North on the by-pass and you will see the building on you left before a set of traffic lights. Turn left at the lights and the car park is on the left as soon as you turn.

However, based on the perspective of my visit I found that this heritage site is looked not too 'well preserved' by the local government. I think this heritage site would bring a lot of notable experiences and become an important historical lessons for the tourists if there are also like a board full of explanations about the history, function, facts and site-map about the site. 

source:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297707-d3331629-Reviews-Sunyaragi_Cave-Cirebon_West_Java_Java.html
http://cirebontouristinformation.blogspot.com/2010/09/gua-sunyaragi-sunyaragi-cave.html