One of the things that I’ve not seen a lot lately is Jamu. I still remember that in the past, Jamu was sold by a lady carrying a woven basket filled with various concoctions from roots and leaves. They were mostly wearing traditional javanese garments and were walking around the neighborhood and the market offering their Jamu. These days, Jamu are sold in plastic bottles with sellers that are dressing more modern and rarely wear traditional javanese garments. Not only that, Jamu seems like a luxury experience because it’s not available that much anymore. However, in the past I stumbled upon a cafe that sells Jamu which I thought was unique. In the past, people were using Jamu as part of alternative medicine and many shops were popping out and was always packed with people. There were some in my hometown that were never empty yet today, it has been closed down. So, when I was walking down with my mom after swimming, we found this lady with various bottles of Jamu. Since there were many varieties, I stick to something called Kunir Asem which is basically a mixture of turmeric and tamarind. You can never go wrong with those because it tastes sweet, refreshing with a dash of sourness. Jamu can be bitter that’s why in the past if you got a Jamu shop, they always sold candies that you can have after drinking the liquid bitter concoction. You certainly can make your own Jamu but it’ll never taste the same as the one sold by these ladies. Also you will never find male sellers of traditional jamu and I have not seen any male traditional Jamu seller either . They were all mostly_ female perhaps with an exception in modern times that they sell it at the store. But one researcher mentioned that female chooses to be Jamu sellers to increase their household income and making jamu seems to be a viable and easier entry for them.