On December 19, we hosted an event at our Kedai Kopi Hilly (KKH) at the Center for Marine Conservation. The intimate event was attended by CTC Bali staff and partners, including representatives from the School Partners of our kids club, Ocean Keeper Club, and Joe Curtin, the Consular Agent of the US Embassy.

The audience savored the authentic menu of KKH while enjoying the ambiance of our eco-friendly cafe, complete with a refreshing welcome drink—lemongrass tea with lime and soda. The food menu featured vegetable spring rolls, vegetable samosa, Brazilian spinach tempura, French fries, sweet potato fries, and klappertaart.  Some of the menu were made with the vegetables grown in the CMC garden.  The beverage selection comprised marigold and ginger tea, iced coffee, hot chocolate with a cinnamon stick, and ginger coffee.

Kedai Kopi Hilly is an integral part of the Center for Marine Conservation. It is a place where families, friends, and all the Center visitors can gather to enjoy delicious beverages and snacks. Opened in 2019, Kedai Kopi Hilly is now integrated with our Swirl Garden facility. We harvest some of the ingredients for our snacks and drinks from our small garden at the Center. CTC staff learn and use the practice of permaculture to manage the garden as part of the zero waste initiative at this learning facility.

Kedai Kopi Hilly was inspired by Hilly Lapian who was born in Minahasa, North Sulawesi. She inherited her love for cooking from her mother and she kept her culinary passion throughout her time in Holland by attending ‘Pasar Malam’ in The Hague and showing people the diversity of her culinary experience through cooking demonstrations. It was in her nature to greet everyone every day with a smile, and we want to honor her legacy in Kedai Kopi Hilly at CTC Center for Marine Conservation.

“We thank our partners for the collaboration throughout the year. Through this event, we also hope to strengthen these partnerships in the effort to raise awareness about marine conservation among children.” said CTC Executive Director, Rili Djohani.

After the warm welcome from the CTC Executive Director, the event concluded with the presentation of tokens to the School Partners. This included a marine conservation-themed book for children, created in collaboration with Let’s Read Asia – Asia Foundation. Additionally, there are also tomato and celery seeds for adoption by the audience before they leave. Through events like this, CTC hopes to strengthen partnerships and foster new collaborations regarding efforts to raise awareness about marine conservation among children.

Writers: Adam Putra
Photos: Adam Putra/CTC, Prama Sima/CTC