• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Kampuchea Crossings

Bump to baby on the beaten expat track

  • Home
  • PORTFOLIO
  • Work Posts
  • Contact

Travels

Indonesia: Wayang Kulit

14 December 2008 by Nathalie Abejero 1 Comment

Wayang Kulit (wayang=show, kulit=skin, as in the leather the puppets are made of) is a type of shadow puppet theatre from the Indo-Malay archipelago. Its Javanese Hindu-Buddhist tradition has its origins in India. Hand-crafted leather puppets depict epic stories of the gods in shadow play.
This artist was prepping the puppet show, at the Museum Sonobudoyo (Javanese archeology museum) on Jalan Trikora 6 at north alun-alun. The puppets are usually made of buffalo or goat hide and mounted on bamboo sticks. The best puppets are made of young female water buffalo parchment with curing time of almost ten years.
A traditional Gamelan orchestra would accompany the story-telling. Their typical repertoire include an overture, travel and battle music, and character pieces.
The next photos are of musicians playing their Gamelan instruments, preparing for the same puppet theatre at Kraton (Sultan’s Palace). This first instrument is a Bonang and the one below is a Saron Demung, followed by a better photo of that instrument in red.

This musician was playing the Kenong, the next down is a Bonang, and the third is the setup behind the stage where Sinden singers are practicing.
Most shadow play is based on two epic stories from India – the Mahabarata and its sister work, the Ramayana. The Balinese and Javanese combined the Hindu stories with Buddhist and Muslim elements as well as their own folklore.

Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: balinese, Bonang, Gamelan, indonesia, javanese, keong, kraton, Museum Sonobudoyo, ramayana, Saron Demung, travel, Wayang Kulit

Indonesia: Making Batik

13 December 2008 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

Batik is a resist dye technique with hundreds of years’ history in Java. Since I wasn’t with K when someone showed him how to batik, here’s the general gist as I know it:
A natural light-colored cloth is used to make batiks (synthetics or blends won’t work). A rough sketch is made on the cloth as in the first photo. Then you paint wax on top of the areas you do not want to dye. This woman uses a tool sort of like a crude fountain(?) pen to take the dye to the areas she’s drawn. When the paint has absorbed into the cloth it is allowed to dry, then a hot water bath is used to melt off the wax.
Here’s the finished product. It’s a very thin cloth so it’s beautiful framed with light shining from behind, such as daylight or if indoors then a frame with an embedded lamp. I love bright designs, but this region (Jogyakarta)’s color palette consists of the varying shades and tones of brown.

Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: batik, indonesia, java, travel

Hong Kong harbor at night

5 December 2008 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment


—————- and in the daytime, other things memorable about Hong Kong:
We didn’t spend too long there to really get a feel for the city. We had consistently dramatic sky/lines at sunset, courtesy of the ever-present smog. It’s a great shopping destination, and has a vibrant culture and arts scene. What’s visually distinctive about HK is the immense billboards advertising anything and everything–EVERYwhere. Even on the harbor, the skyline’s marred by monstrous advertising signs on buildings. Back home it’s like something’s lost when a stadium was

But I love the food, and the gamut is available here for any price range. We ordered blind usually, having absolutely no idea what anything was and unable to communicate with the super friendly waitstaff beyond hand gesturing about something swimming (meaning fish) or flapping arms (meaning duck or chicken. we think.). Tastes here were a little on the intense side– not heat so much as strong spices.
The bird park is an early morning curiosity. The tiniest, most fragile little cages with colorful bright birds get walked by their male owners (no women were walking their birds) for a little bit of fresh air. It’s an interesting sight –so many people with their cages of small animals, comparing and showing off their creatures.
And this was just a cool photo of a koi(?) in one of the restaurants’ ponds.

Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: bird park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong harbor, travel

Kuala Lumpur: Culinary destination!

5 December 2008 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

KL is one of my favorite places to pass through. As in most Asian countries, legislation aims to protect the dominant native population against immigrant ethnic influence, sometimes to disastrous effects, and constantly keeping its politics on edge. This charged convergence of ethnic and religious mixes (it was my best introduction to the rich history and diversity of Islam) is what–to me, as a tourist–makes Malaysia such a fascinating destination.

And this is where I have always the best food experience! This time we had a true foodie take us around. Malaysia is a premiere culinary destination in SE Asia, and boasts a confluence of truly powerful taste sensations, blending many ethnic influences: Indo-, Malay-, and Chinese. Many thanks to Honey Ahmad, of the acclaimed food network Fried Chillies!

First some bahasa 101 (applies also in Indonesia):
Rice- Nasi
Fried- Goreng
Squid- Sotong
Fish- Ikan
Grilled- Bakar
Chicken- Ayam
Meat- (Daging- we usually use daging for beef as well)
Mutton- Kambing
Bread- Roti
Red- Merah
Black- Hitam

This is Indian cooking, usually places like this are called ‘mamak’ which
means Indian Muslim because they usually have corner 24-hour eating places that serve the usual curries, rice, roti etc. This particular dish is sotong goreng with some fried cabbage (kobis). Mutton curry is very common.
This is an Indian/ Mamak eatery, where the dishes are set out behind a glass counter. In the Philippines we call it a turo-turo (point-point, because you point at the dishes you want). Fish curry, ayam masak merah (chicken in red sauce/ tomato), and a squid curry and chicken in black sauce (ayam hitam).
Grilled stingray (pari bakar). A usual grilled fish place will be called ikan bakar. That sauce which comes with it is usually chillies, soya sauce and tamarind juice (a variation of these basic ingredients). We call it air assam (sour water is the literal translation).

Another meal that we had was Nasi Kandar (rice and curries and fried stuff). It’s usually the domain of Indian Muslims. Kandar means ‘to carry’ usually with the shoulder. IN the old days Nasi Kandar sellers will carry a long pole with rice and drinks on one side and dishes balancing it on the other side. A noodle dish they have is Mee Rebus.

What I don’t have a picture of and wish I did: The small dishes of chili that come with long beans and cucumbers, called sambal belacan (made of pounded chilies, fermented prawn paste– belacan, and a squeeze of lime). This is a condiment Malays eat with everything and make all sorts of variation from, eg sambal belacan with fermented durians or mangos etc…
If you can get past the requisite brightly-colored plastic tableware, there’s a lot to discover about Malaysian cuisine!

Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: ayam hitam, ayam masak merah, bahasa, Fried Chilies, goreng, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, mamak, mee rebus, nasi, nasi kandar, travel

Kuala Lumpur: Pulao Langat Seafood Center

5 December 2008 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

“Where the heck are we going?” We were bumping along on this dirt road in the middle of a palm oil estate trying not to run down goats and the occasional child on a tricycle. Even though there was a huge sign at the start of the road stating restaurant 3km, it’s still kind of ominous. In the back seat we had two travellers from Cambodia wondering what on earth they got themselves into.

And then suddenly the road opens into a clearing where a large boat with hanging tanglongs sits in one corner and the main restaurant at another. The view was wonderful. We are somewhere where the river meets the sea. The scene is languid, relaxing with even a tranquil boat puttering in the distance. I quickly grabbed my camera to go down by the rocks to take a picture, startling a Chinese woman squatting on a rock talking rapidly into her handphone. Ah well… we are not far enough from civilisation it seems.
After a glass of fermented coconut drink (no names shall be mentioned) which is very fresh and very good, we ordered. The waiter was a young, bright eyed bushy tailed guy who enthusiastically tried to explain to us every aspect of the menu. “You must have the snapped fish (red snapper?), very fresh…

We decide to do so after he assures us that the patin fish is not as fresh today. He said he will order it steamed for us with fried garlic, scallions and superior soya sauce. “You want to try the mantis prawn? With mayonnaise and sweetcorn?” “How about some other prawns, we can cook it Mongolian style”. Whoa… steady on boy. It seems that we don’t even need to look at the menu. Leave it all in Mr. Eager-Beaver’s hands. Looking around we realise that most of the staff here are young, articulate and enthusiastic. They really go the extra mile. When we ask for fried squid he shook his head and said it’s not really that fresh either and one of the vegetable dishes we want is too wilted for his liking.

I find it quite refreshing, this extra bit attention after years of being ignored in various Chinese restaurants. Seriously in some of these places it seems like the people there are doing you a favour just to serve you nuts. Pulau Langat bends over backwards to ensure you have the freshest thing from the boat. We also ordered chilli crabs with some fried mantou buns. And to cap it all off, some fried meehoon with small clams.

The meehoon is delicious with teensy little clams that add a chewiness and tastiness to the noodles. This is a good option to get if you don’t want to get too full from rice.

The mantis prawns was a little sweet but surprisingly good. The mayonnaise gives it a certain tang and richness. Prawns are fried first in flour so that it’s crunchy. Crabs are also on the sweet side so we recommend next time to have it with kam hiong style (curry leaves) or fried with duck’s eggs. We are rubber-necking looking at what other people are eating, already noting what we will order next time we come. The good thing about ordering crabs with gravy though is that you can mop it up with the fried mantou and this is so sinfully good, you won’t care about the fact that it’s all going straight to your hips.

Best dish of the day is the super fresh snapper. Flesh is firm and melts in the mouth. This is a real treat with bits of garlic and scallions giving it texture and pungency. Yummy… After we are satisfied, it’s time to sit back, order another bottle of that coconut drink and enjoy the sunset. If you come later do get a table on the boat as they light up all the lanterns at night so you feel like you are dining by some riverside in Old China.

Pulau Langat also does cattering and we reckon you can book the whole boat for a sunset chow down with friends. They claim that they can do it for you, whatever the budget.

Pulau Langat Seafood Centre : Chinese
Address: Lot 8620, Kg. Air Hitam,
Batu 6 and a half, Jalan Langat,
41200, Klang, Selangor
Tel : 03- 3122 0089
012- 670 7796

Post is courtesy of Honey Ahmad of Fried Chillies!

Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: Fried Chilies, Fried Chillies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Pulao Langat Safood Center, travel

Night over Phnom Penh

4 December 2008 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment


Check this out, a very close meeting of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon. Photo courtesy of Bill Tucker, from 01 Dec, 2 days ago.
.

Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: Jupiter, Moon, travel, Venus

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 9
  • Go to page 10
  • Go to page 11
  • Go to page 12
  • Go to page 13
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 17
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Those little feet pitter-pattering about rule our lives lately. But on the occasional free moment I get to tap out scatterbrained bursts of consciousness about raising toddlers in Cambodia, traveling with them and working abroad. These posts are my personal updates to friends and family. But since you’re here, have a look around. Thanks for stopping by…

Read More…

Blog Post Categories

  • Interests
  • Life
  • Travels
  • Work

Latest posts

  • Cheers to 2024, an important election year!
  • Some optics on how rapidly technology is changing the world
  • AI note taking tools for your second brain
  • Kids project: Micro-loans to women entrepreneurs
  • I ran the 50th NYC Marathon!
  • Bok l’hong with Margaritas or, memories from the Mekong
  • Getting the kids to like ampalaya (bitter gourd)
  • Gender differences in athletic training

Tags

aid baby Bangkok bush Cambodia christmas coconut covid-19 cuisine delivery development expat expatriate Filipino food food foreign aid holiday hurricane inauguration katrina Khmer Khmer cuisine Khmer food Khmer New Year kids levy louisiana mango Manila medical tourism mekong new orleans nola nyc obama parenthood parenting Philippines Phnom Penh Poipet running Thailand travel US xmas
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in