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Message:	[quote author=deyana board=asia thread=4553 post=93918 time=1288357886][quote author=kerouac2 board=asia thread=4553 post=93806 time=1288287220] Deyana, rice fields are supposed to be flooded part of the time.[/quote] Okay, I get it now. I just wondered if it was normal to have them [i]that[/i] flooded though.[/quote] Expand
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Topic Summary

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 26, 2010, 7:08pm

Well, it hasn't effected my trip at all, I'm alive and kicking!

I'm in Indonesia for business, 9 days, four of which are 'working' days. As usual I'm more concentrated on the culinary aspects and I haven't been disappointed.

Day1, caught a flight to Surabaya and lost my colleague in KL on the way. Reason was that his passport was only valid until 11th April 2011. Therefor not the full 6 months that Indon immigration demands. This was 22nd Oct., 12 days missing. The airline refused to board him and he flew back to Phnom Penh the next day.

Our twin rooms were turned into singles, something I didn't mind.

Air Asia going through the motions. I believe they have the prettiest stewardesses in SEA.

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Straits of Melacca

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As we arrived at the low cost carrier terminal we had to take a bus into town. Don't know why the airport authority didn't extend the train tracks to the LCCT, it'd cut the ride into town in half. So by bus it was about 45 minutes, we arrived at KL Sentral and immediately took a taxi to Mid Valley for lunch.

We started with dessert. I had cendol, shaved ice with green noodles, lots of 'gula melaka' (palm sugar) and a dollop of red beans while my colleague had 'ais kacang', shaved ice with red beans and peanuts and a dash of 'zero'. Both easily available in PP. The green noodle dish is called lod in Khmer, available around the bigger markets though I've only had it around Orussey.

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This was followed by otak- otak, in this case steamed, big surprise, it turned out to be a near cousin of amok. Hadn't realized it turned out that way nif steamed because I always order the BBQ'd variant which contains less coconut and more chillies and 'belacan', shrimp paste.

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Last was fried kuai teov, which isn't easy to find even in PP.I've only had it as pat si eew at the Noodle House (which is pretty good).

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After that back to the airport, the fiasco with my colleague and the onward flight, alone, to Surabaya.

The northern coast of East Java, shortly before the landing.

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After checking in I immediately followed the advice of an acquaintance and got a taxi to a place called Rawon Setan, Devil's Rawon.

This little shop only serves rawon, a herbally, brownish, clear soup with beef. It comes with rice and an extra plate with fried beef, fried lung, a salt egg, deep fried tofu and 'tempe' something I'm not sure about but also made of bean curds. You also get a saucer with bean sprouts and a very nice chillie dip that I've only had in Surabaya, best there anyway. I also ordered the first Bintang of the trip and I have to say it beats Anchor or Angkor upside down tastewise, cheaper too.

At the top is the rawon (i ended up having 2), at the left the side plate with the stuff described above.

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This is the otak- otak I described above, but BBQ'd. Not only does it come in a different shape but it's much tastier than the steamed version too. It's basically fish paste held together with egg white with spices added. Look familiar in the open state?

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The restaurant. It's right opposite the Marriott, every taxi driver knows the place.

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The next morning I had a very average breakfast at the hotel, The Surabaya Plaza, a non- smoking (but with a smallish smoking room) business hotel in the business district, no pool; then went out for an appointment.

This took so long I jumped into a nearby mall for lunch and headed to the food court. Very crowded and the food was surprisingly good.

Had pencen with cut up beef balls (something like that anyway) and the Indonesian version of 'zero', they add coconut water and flesh

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Fried moring grory

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And a clear soup, which was good for cleaning the palate.

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Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 26, 2010, 7:26pm

Mount Merapi certainly didn't spoil your appetite! I didn't think you were anywhere near there anyway.

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 26, 2010, 7:31pm

I'm not sure how far it is but I've now arrived in Jakarta and Merapi is somewhere in Eastern Java.

Yesterday I got a lot of text messages warning me, also about the earthquake off Sumatra, also a world away.

The food is a real change, you definitely notice Indonesia is the original spice islands. I'm smoking a kretek as I wriye this!

Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 26, 2010, 7:41pm

Yes, it's next to Yogyakarta, my favorite place in Indonesia.

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 26, 2010, 7:49pm

I stopped over in Yogyakarta when I flew to Bandung the day before yesterday. Raining like hell but cool and quite spectacular with the mountains.

We had to leave the plane (an ATR 73) for 45 minutes and I thought I'd get a smoke in. Asked a guy in uniform and he said better to leave the transit lounge and reenter at the departure lounge, there'd be a smoking room there. Big mistake! I had to go through the whole rigmarole of checking in, avoiding paying airport tax again and got to the smoking room as the flight was called up...

Posted by deyana on Oct 26, 2010, 9:20pm

Quote:

Air Asia going through the motions. I believe they have the prettiest stewardesses in SEA

Air India has some stunning girls working for them as stewardesses. I swear they only pick them for their looks.

The food does look just scrumptious, hwinpp. And the view from the plane is awesome.

Posted by bixaorellana on Oct 27, 2010, 12:09am

So interesting, as always, HW, and so filled with things I want to eat!

Too bad for your colleague, but I'm glad you got the room to yourself. The pic of the Straits of Melacca is a thrill.

The cold dessert things are intriguing, but I'm failing at trying to imagine how they'd taste.

The two things I most want are the fried morning glory and that clear soup with the meatballs.

What is pencen and what is zero, please?

You ate two foods that resemble tamales!

I actually found your recipe and explanation of amok. Here:
http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/ind....read=602&page=1 (#8)
and here:
http://anyportinastorm.proboards.com/ind....read=602&page=2 (#36)

Posted by imec on Oct 27, 2010, 2:41am

HW, your photography of Asian food is one of my most favorite features of this site. Thank you!!

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 27, 2010, 5:55am

More to come later. A bit busy with my second reason for coming, work!

Posted by bixaorellana on Oct 27, 2010, 5:58am

What are you doing online?! Get out there and eat, eat, eat! Your public is counting on you!

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 27, 2010, 11:22am

The show ended about an hour ago but nobody's at the bar yet so I'll do my duty... ::)

After the dinner above I took a look at the supermarket in the basement. Don't ask why, but I like looking at the fish sections. This one was small but there was sea fish as opposed to fresh water fish in the markets in Cambodia.

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Around 8500INR are a USD. Those prices are per 100g.

On the way to the airport, WTF is holding up the traffic?

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These guys are...

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Plain sailing after we'd passed them...

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... all the way to the airport.

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Flooded rice fields as we took off from Surabaya

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What I didn't know... we'd be landing in Yogyakarta, spectacular in the bad weather and mountains

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Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 27, 2010, 11:31am

I want photos of airport workers sweeping volcanic ash off the wings of the plane with straw brooms.

Posted by bixaorellana on Oct 27, 2010, 1:11pm

Those fish are practically still flipping ~~ and cheap!

A classic US-style marching band?! Note the girl at the end in the first pic. No scantily clad baton twirlers there.

I adore that rice field photo -- wow. Did you all land in Yogyakarta because of bad weather? Hope you got out & about there. Can't wait for the next installment -- this is fun!

Posted by deyana on Oct 28, 2010, 10:43am

Great pics, hw. The rice fields look like they are drowned! Is that a good thing for them?

Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 28, 2010, 11:30am

Actually, Mount Merapi has indeed had an effect on hwinpp's trip. It has increased his appetite.

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 28, 2010, 1:23pm

No pics tonight. Arrived from Jakarta an hour late because of bad weather.Then a Chinese woman took the middle seat on the plane and ate something during the whole two hour flight and insisted on crawling over me before the plane had 'come to a complete standstill' and while on my lap decided to switch on her mobile hone...

Anyway, the internet's a bit slow here so nothing tonight.

I'm going to eat 'nasi padang' for the rest of my stay here, didn't manage to get out much in Jakarta, had two A& W meals there... (and the first ice cream floats in 30 years probably, so not all bad 8-)

)

Image google nasi padang and you'll see what a feast it is

Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 28, 2010, 5:33pm

Oct 28, 2010, 10:43am, deyana wrote:

Great pics, hw. The rice fields look like they are drowned! Is that a good thing for them?

Deyana, rice fields are supposed to be flooded part of the time.

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 28, 2010, 6:58pm

Agree. It's probably the flooding part of the cycle. Look how close the sea is though...

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 28, 2010, 7:10pm

The hotel just bullshitted me. They have 'Green Sands' listed as a beer in the minibar and so I cracked the can... and got carbonated apple juice!

Nighty, nighty.

Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 28, 2010, 7:14pm

Apple juice is good for you. See you in the morning!

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 29, 2010, 3:14am

Day 3, 4 and 5.
Ccontinuing the flight from Yogya, 2 days in Bandung and overland to Jakarta

Departing, after I'd finally had a smoke, more rain than volcano ash

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This guy working hard on my way to the hotel

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A very flat city, no skyscrapers

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Dinner was a bit of a highlight

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This somehow reminded me of Spain, but the receptacle was filled with water

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Beef soup

Fried caramelized fish, one of the best dishes of the whole trip

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Fried rice in an unusual setting

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Bandung by night

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Leaving by bus, we passed the restaurant I'd enjoyed...

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and also passed some international competition

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And more from the bus trip

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Tea plantations

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Pickled snacks at a rest stop

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And on entering Jakarta, familiar scenes during the rains

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A very wet becak

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And after 2 1/2 hours, arrival

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Posted by kerouac2 on Oct 29, 2010, 5:06am

Rain is always a good thing in Jakarta as far as I'm concerned. Those canals get so foul with raw sewage that anything that can rinse them out is a godsend.

Posted by deyana on Oct 29, 2010, 1:11pm

Oct 28, 2010, 5:33pm, kerouac2 wrote:

Oct 28, 2010, 10:43am, deyana wrote:

Great pics, hw. The rice fields look like they are drowned! Is that a good thing for them?

Deyana, rice fields are supposed to be flooded part of the time.

Okay, I get it now. I just wondered if it was normal to have them that flooded though.

Posted by deyana on Oct 29, 2010, 1:13pm

so much rain. I guess those stores get flooded out each year? What a hard life for them that must be.

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 30, 2010, 3:28am

Quote:

What is pencen and what is zero, please?

Pencen seems to be a kind of cut up meatball.

Zero is what the Cambodians call a very sweet syrup that doesn't even have a whiff of fruit. Just sticky and sweet. They also have it in green and yellow, terrible stuff. In Cambodia you can order fresh milk with shaved ice and red Zero...

D, what I was thinking about is how they keep the salt water out. Look how close it is...

Those stores are used to the floods, I'm sure. Right under the equator, it rains all year.

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 30, 2010, 4:11am

Arrival in Medan on 28th, these will be my last days in Indonesia... :-/

And now for the 'nasi padang', literally rice space. I think this might have been the origin of the Dutch rijstafel. Originally it's a way of serving food in Sumatra.

You get a bowl of steaming rice and then tell the aiter the general direction of what you want to eat. If it's mutton, he'll bring all the mutton dishes available, plus an assortment of some of the other stuff, like fish, beef, chicken or vegetables. It's all arranged in front f you, you pick and choose and in the end only pay for what you've eaten.
This is a Muslim style, so no beer.

Beef rendang (rendang is a dry curry), mutton curry, chicken rendang, sweet chicken curry (very 'Thai', not my favourite)

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Chicken deep fried with coconut, curried veggies, boiled veggies (no idea what it was), fried fish with sambal (the chillie dip)

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The whole spread

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The left overs, I clearly didn't much like the chicken!

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Oh ya, an extra portion of mutton innards

And this is what the shop looks like, lots more stuff than what I ordered

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And back to the hotel by 'becak'

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Posted by hwinpp on Oct 30, 2010, 4:18am

I went there again yesterday, concentrated more on the fish and realized I'd forgotten the memory card of my camera. But I think you get the picture.

Today I had actually planned some sales calls but yesterday, all the places I'd made appointments with turned up at the show... so today is free!!!

Posted by bixaorellana on Oct 30, 2010, 4:32am

Finally getting to catch up with your doings and dinings in Indonesia. Was very relieved to hear you finally got your nicotine hit and to see the nice Bintang beer after the cruel apple juice surprise.

That does look like a Spanish water pitcher, except that it lacks one nozzle & is glazed.

What are the curly objects in the glass box?

My life will not be complete until I get to eat a caramelized fish like that!

You got some really beautiful landscape pictures. That reminds me -- what does the reference to Mount Merapi mean?

Thanks for the explanation of pencen and Zero. What's the deal with countries that have interesting and delicious cuisines, but retain a fondness for a few infantile and tasteless items? (here it's "gelatina")

All so fascinating, but I'm going to have to come back later to see all your pictures of the nasi padang. For some reason, those photos are not loading completely on the page.

Posted by cheerypeabrain on Oct 30, 2010, 6:08am

Thank you! Absolutely amazing images and an excellent narative....I could almost taste the food (which is nice because I'm on a diet...) I am really enjoying this thread, what an adventure

Posted by hwinpp on Oct 30, 2010, 6:24am

Hi CPB! Thanks and welcome to the board. There's only very little more to come as I'm returning to Phnom Penh tomorrow.

I'm not sure where to go this evening, have something different (for a change) or have more curries (because I'm only coming back in March...).

Though if everything goes as planned, which is very probable, I'll be here as often as I am in Vietnam


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