Christmas in Indonesia
In Minnesota, Christmas usually centers on a single glowing pine tree. In Indonesia, the idea stretches much further — trees made of chicken feathers, recycled bottles, bamboo poles, even a 26-foot chocolate tower unveiled in Jakarta in 2011. Our Indonesian Christmas date leaned into that inventive spirit while marking one of our own biggest seasonal traditions: the day we put up and decorated our family Christmas trees.
The morning opened with dishes shaped by Indonesia’s layered history. We ate poffertjes — a Dutch influence that lingers across Indonesia — served on our wooden Indonesian plate from a past trip. A cinnamon-clove-nutmeg hot chocolate sat alongside thick, sugary kopi tubruk, giving the kids a sensory crash course in the Maluku spice trade that once reshaped global commerce.
Craft time reflected Indonesia’s playful take on Christmas décor. First came the chicken-feather Christmas tree, a nod to the quirky mall displays scattered across Java. Then we built our own miniature version of Jakarta’s 2011 chocolate tree using tiny molds perfect for nibbling. By mid-morning we were deep into decorating: our feather tree, our chocolate tree, and — most importantly — our own family Christmas evergreens, which officially opened the season in our home. Indonesian Christmas music played as ornaments went up, giving the whole morning a tropical, caroling glow.
Lunch brought coastal Sulawesi to the table: smoky ikan bakar covered in sambal and bubur Manado, a pumpkin-studded rice porridge beloved for its warmth and comfort. Afterward, we watched short videos exploring Indonesian Christmas traditions — Bali’s soaring penjor poles, Wayang Kulit shadow-puppet retellings of biblical stories, and the booming bamboo cannons that echo through villages each December.
Inspired, the afternoon shifted toward games and homestyle fun. Our “Floor Is Cocoa” challenge turned blankets into simmering cocoa lava with paper-plate marshmallows as stepping-stones. Homemade lava-cake “trees” waited as prizes, dusted with powdered sugar to resemble volcanic Christmas cones.
The canon of the day—literally—came next. We abandoned any thought of real bamboo and kerosene and fire cannons (for obvious safety reasons) and started with a homemade confetti cannon of toilet paper tubes and a balloon. It was fun but Ben wanted more and unveiled a candy-cane-striped PVC air cannon that had been secretly in the works for weeks. Confetti launches escalated into flying ornaments and marshmallows, eventually forcing us to relocate to the park after one overpowered shot knocked loose a fence plank. The kids were ecstatic: an Indonesian-inspired Christmas tradition rewritten for the suburbs.
Evening shifted toward the deeper flavors of the archipelago. We mixed Sopi Sunset cocktails — palm-sap spirits with tropical brightness — before serving Batak-style roast pork with liver sauce and coconut-rich sayur lodeh. Our red-and-green batik runner from our 2017 trip made the dinner table feel like a bridge between Minnesota pine and Indonesian rainforest.
Dessert was classic and nostalgic: kastengel cheese cookies and golden nastar pineapple cookies, the latter a redemption bake after a less-than-perfect attempt back during Christmas in Asia in 2020.
In the end, this Indonesian Christmas day blended familiar rhythms with Indonesia’s creative holiday traditions — from feather and chocolate trees to bamboo-inspired games, spicy coastal foods, and a homemade Christmas cannon echoing island fireworks. Paired with the moment we officially decorated our own family Christmas trees, it became a celebration that felt both deeply rooted and entirely new, proof that Christmas can take countless forms and every one of them can be magical.
Activities
Chicken-Feather Christmas Tree Craft
Mini Chocolate Christmas Trees
Decorating The House With Indonesian Christmas Music
Watching Wayang Kulit Shadow-Puppet Bible Stories
Floor Is Cocoa
Kids’ Confetti Cannon And PVC Candy-Cane Launcher
MENU
Dutch Poffertjes
Spiced Islands Hot Chocolate (Nutmeg, Clove, Cinnamon)
Kopi Tubruk Boiled Coffee
Ikan Bakar Grilled Fish With Sambal
Bubur Manado Pumpkin Rice Porridge
Lava Cake Volcano Dessert
Babi Panggang (Batak Roast Pork)
Sayur Lodeh (Coconut Vegetable Stew)
Pineapple Nastar Cookies
Kastengel Cheese Cookies
