golagong It started when my second son, Gabriel Firmansyah, who is currently pursuing his Master’s in Abu Dhabi, sent a message: “Dad, I have a friend named ‘Yahya.’ He wants to host you, Jordy, and Natasha in Almaty.”
On Wednesday night, January 28, at 7:00 PM, the staff at Tastak Family Hostel booked us an online taxi. The fare was 1,100 Tenge. We were directed to a place called Seker Cafe in the heart of Almaty.
The taxi sped through the biting night chill. Luckily, I had brought a Batik shirt so my appearance was somewhat formal. From the taxi window, I watched the high-rise buildings glittering with lights.
The taxi pulled up in front of Seker Cafe. Upon entering, we were greeted by a young man. He introduced himself as Dias Erlan. He led us to a VIP corner, which was a replica of a traditional Kazakh house.
The servers at Seker Cafe brought out all kinds of Kazakh specialties. There was lamb leg-head-breast, bread with butter, strawberry drinks, and the milk tea favored by Prophet Muhammad SAW. Dias mixed the tea himself.
Jordy and Natasha were very enthusiastic about the lamb menu. I really enjoyed the cold strawberry drink.
“Seker is my grandmother’s name. She was a hunter,” Dias shared. The photo spots with the wolf, deer head, and bear in the background were authentic, all trophies from his grandmother’s hunts.
As we ate, there were customers across from us celebrating a birthday. It was an atmosphere that truly made me miss home. My wife is alone at home in Serang, Banten, Indonesia. Our eldest is in Beijing, the second is in Abu Dhabi, and I, as her husband, am traveling with our third and youngest children. I had actually invited her to come along, but she chose to stay with our in-laws to care for our first grandchild.
There are many unexpected things that happen during a journey. Like this moment. We were treated with such honor. We felt like we didn’t know what else to say except: thank you.
To top it off, as we were about to head home, the Chef at Seker gave us a gift in the form of a wooden platter, the same kind used to serve the lamb head earlier.
29 Januari 2026
Gol A Gong
@seker.alma
