Menurut saya, memasak bersama keluarga bukan hanya soal makanan, melainkan juga cara sederhana untuk berbicara, tertawa, dan saling membantu setelah hari yang panjang.

Yes. Menurut saya is a very natural way to say in my opinion or as I see it.

• menurut = according to / in the opinion of
• saya = I / me

So literally it is something like according to me, but in natural English it is usually best understood as in my opinion.

It is neutral to slightly formal. In casual speech, you might also hear:

• menurutku = in my opinion
• kalau menurut saya = if you ask me / in my opinion

Because Menurut saya is an introductory phrase.

In English, you often write:

• In my opinion, ...

Indonesian does the same thing quite often in careful writing. The comma helps separate the speaker’s comment from the main statement.

In informal writing, people may omit the comma, but with standard punctuation, the comma is perfectly normal.

It is a verb in form, but here it functions like cooking in English.

Indonesian often allows verbs to act as noun-like ideas without changing their form. So:

• memasak bersama keluarga = cooking with family / to cook with family as a general activity

This whole phrase is the subject of the sentence.

A learner might expect something extra, like a word meaning the act of, but Indonesian usually does not need that.

You could also say:

• Memasak bersama keluarga itu ...

The itu adds emphasis, a bit like As for cooking with family, ...

Because the sentence is not talking about I cook with my family. It is talking about the general idea of cooking with family.

So the structure is:

• Menurut saya, = In my opinion,
• memasak bersama keluarga = cooking with family
• bukan hanya ... melainkan juga ... = is not only ... but also ...

The sentence is making a general statement, not describing one specific action by the speaker.

Bersama keluarga means together with family or with one’s family.

It is similar to dengan keluarga, but bersama often emphasizes togetherness and shared activity more strongly.

So:

• bersama keluarga = together with family
• dengan keluarga = with family

Both can work, but bersama keluarga sounds especially appropriate in a sentence about bonding and shared time.

This is a set pattern meaning not only ... but also ...

In this sentence:

• bukan hanya soal makanan = not only about food
• melainkan juga cara sederhana ... = but also a simple way ...

So the pattern is:

• bukan hanya X, melainkan juga Y

It is a fairly polished, formal, or written-sounding structure.

A very common alternative is:

• tidak hanya X, tetapi juga Y

That version is also correct and very common.

Because bukan is often used to negate nouns, noun phrases, or identification, while tidak is usually used to negate verbs and adjectives.

Here the phrase being negated is:

• soal makanan = a matter of food / about food

That is a noun phrase, so bukan fits well:

• bukan hanya soal makanan

If the sentence were negating a verb or adjective, tidak would be more natural.

That said, in the full paired structure tidak hanya ... tetapi juga ..., Indonesian speakers often use tidak as part of the fixed expression. So both patterns exist, but they are slightly different combinations:

• bukan hanya ... melainkan juga ...
• tidak hanya ... tetapi juga ...

Not here.

Soal can mean question in contexts like school exercises or exams, but in this sentence it means:

• matter
• issue
• topic
• something to do with

So soal makanan means:

• about food
• a matter of food
• just food-related

In this sentence, it means the activity is not only about the food itself.

Melainkan is a contrast word that often appears after a negative idea, especially in more formal or careful Indonesian.

Here the speaker says:

• bukan hanya soal makanan
• then corrects or expands that idea with
• melainkan juga ...

So melainkan has a strong rather/but instead/but rather feeling.

Very roughly:

• tetapi = but
• melainkan = but rather / but instead

In everyday speech, many speakers would use a simpler version such as:

• bukan hanya ..., tapi juga ...

But in this sentence, melainkan juga sounds elegant and natural.

Let’s break it down:

• cara = way
• sederhana = simple
• untuk = to / in order to
• berbicara = talk
• tertawa = laugh
• saling membantu = help each other

So the structure means:

• a simple way to talk, laugh, and help each other

The word untuk introduces the actions that this way is for.

This is very common in Indonesian:

• cara untuk belajar = a way to study
• waktu untuk istirahat = time to rest
• tempat untuk duduk = a place to sit

They both use the ber- prefix:

• berbicara = to speak / talk
• tertawa = to laugh

These are standard dictionary forms for those actions.

A learner may notice that Indonesian sometimes has both more formal and more casual options. For example:

• berbicara = speak/talk, a bit more formal
• bicara = talk, common and less formal
• ngobrol = chat, very conversational

So in this sentence, berbicara fits the slightly polished tone.

Saling shows a reciprocal action: each other.

So:

• membantu = help
• saling membantu = help each other

This is a very common Indonesian pattern:

• saling mencintai = love each other
• saling mengenal = know each other
• saling mendukung = support each other

Without saling, membantu would just mean to help, not necessarily mutually.

So saling membantu specifically shows that the family members help one another.

Yes, but it would be more repetitive.

Both of these express reciprocity:

• saling membantu
• membantu satu sama lain

You can combine them for emphasis:

• saling membantu satu sama lain

But often that feels redundant, because saling already gives the each other meaning.

So saling membantu is the cleanest and most natural choice here.

That phrase gives the time/background context: all of this happens after a long day.

Breakdown:

• setelah = after
• hari = day
• yang panjang = that is long / long

So the whole phrase means:

• after a long day

It is placed at the end because it modifies the activities just mentioned: talking, laughing, and helping each other after the day’s work or responsibilities are over.

Because yang panjang works like a descriptive clause: a day that was long.

In Indonesian, adjectives can come directly after nouns, but yang + adjective is also very common when the description feels more expressive or clause-like.

So:

• hari panjang is possible in some contexts, but sounds less natural here
• hari yang panjang sounds smoother and more idiomatic for a long day

It has a slightly fuller, more descriptive feel.

Yes, it is natural.

Hari yang panjang is a normal way to express a long day, meaning a day that felt extended, tiring, or full.

If you wanted to emphasize tiredness more directly, you could also say:

• hari yang melelahkan = a tiring day
• hari yang sibuk = a busy day

But hari yang panjang works well and sounds natural.

It sounds natural, polished, and slightly formal or reflective.

That comes from words and structures like:

• menurut saya
• bukan hanya ... melainkan juga ...
• berbicara
• saling membantu

A more casual version might be something like:

• Menurutku, masak bareng keluarga bukan cuma soal makanan, tapi juga cara sederhana buat ngobrol, ketawa, dan saling bantu setelah hari yang panjang.

So the original sentence is not overly stiff, but it definitely leans toward a careful written style rather than casual everyday chat.