All posts by teaforchandra

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Selamat Tinggal, Indonesia

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After just under a month touring Indonesia, it was very hard for me to say goodbye (or more properly in Bahasa, “Selamat Tinggal”).

I confess that I was already predisposed to like Indonesia and was really excited to see the country for the first time, but my visit completely exceeded my high expectations. Not only do I want to go back, I definitely encourage everyone to go!

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Indonesia has amazing natural beauty, and it would be easy to spend a whole trip watching the indigenous wildlife you can’t find anywhere else. The soft sand beaches leading to turquoise waters could convince almost anyone to spend a day as a beach bum. If the above isn’t enough, there are also bubbling volcanos and sulfur springs to climb, coral reefs to snorkel, and giant trees that according to local tradition contain the spirits of the ancestors.

Borneo

For me, the natural beauty is only a piece of why I am happy I went to Indonesia. I have been fascinated by the farmland flowing over the steep volcanic ridges, been enchanted by the food showcasing flavors and ingredients completly new to me, and completely won over by the warmth and kindness of the people I’ve met.

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Let’s just say that I’m in love…. and if you can make the trip to Indonesia, send me pictures 🙂

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Tea for Tuesday, Uncategorized

Steep Hillside Plantation!

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While on our fun roadtrip around Java, we visited the area around Mount Lawu. Much of the steep hillsides were covered in tea plants.
I hadn’t known how bushy the tea plant looks before this trip. After my youth seeing the farms on the American midwestern plains, I definitely didn’t imagine farms on steep steep slopes. (The tea plants like the cooler temperatures from the higher elevations)
So I bring you a photo of a tea plantation in Java…

Tea plants growing on the hilllside in Java
and if you were wondering, unprocessed mature tea leaves are slightly bitter and have almost no hint of the flavor of the final beverage – I had to try 🙂

Tasty Thursday

Gado-Gado, my new favorite Indonesian food!

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While on our road trip around the island of Java, our guide Heri encouraged me to try Gado-Gado. I was able to try it twice, and I am addicted. If making it at home, you could easily make it for a number of different diets (gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, chicken-lovers, just to name a few).

The dish is served cold, and consists of coarsely diced pre-cooked foods topped with a peanut sauce like a dressing. Between the two versions I tried, there were potatoes, green beans, water spinach, tomatoes, carrots, tempeh, tofu, shredded chicken, mung bean sprouts, boiled eggs, and shredded cabbage. One version was also topped with pieces of crisp rice crackers, which soaked up the sauce really well.

The peanut sauce was simple yet delicious. It is made from roasted peanuts, palm sugar, chilis, and lemon leaf. (Some versions also contain tamarind) Then all the ingredients are ground together (mortar and pestle style) into a thick, paste-like sauce that is a slap of pure joy to the palate.

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A beautiful tour through Candirejo, a Javanese village

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While we were in the area near Borobudur, we took a tour ofthe village of Candirejo by Andong, a horse drawn carraige. Our tour guide, Mr. Budi, was incredibly kind, and he taught us a lot about life in the village. We had the chance to watch someone making cassava crackers (and try them!), attempt to play gamelan (traditional Javanese music which sounds beautiful unless I am playing it), and enjoy jasmine black tea with palm sugar. Overall, we enjoyed seeing this beautiful village. Next time, I’ll have to do a homestay!

Cassava crackers cooking. They are flavored with garlic and onion. Yum!

Machine to help with the manufacturing of cassava crackers. It takes dough and presses it into thin noodle-like shapes. We met the man who designed it- it improved efficiency by a factor of 10.

Street Food Saturday

Stinky Tofu

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Yesterday, while at the Ningxia night market, I worked up the courage to try stinky tofu. I found a vendor who was working on a big grill surface and brushing sauce onto skewered fried stinky tofu. The smell was much more mild than many of the other stalls I’d walked past, and she’d serve it up to me with Taiwanese kimchee. I figured it was my best shot at liking this classic dish.
The good news is that the tofu was hot, with a nice sauce and the outside was nicely fried. The kimchi was mild. Overall, it was a much more pleasant experience than I feared. But I confess that I didn’t actually like it. The tofu didn’t smell all that stinky, but it tasted stinky.
This may be an experience you want to have to say you’ve tried it, but I think it is challenging for a western palate.

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Saying “See you later” to Japan

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Today we fly to Taiwan. We have spent 33 days in Japan, and there are still lots of things I would love to see and do and eat here someday. Overall, I would strongly encourage people considering a trip to Japan to go for it. It is a fantastic place to be a tourist!

Some quick highlights: delicious food for way less than you’d expect, kind strangers who go out of their way to help if you are lost or struggling with something, beautiful natural scenery, and great transportation.

I’m sorry we haven’t posted as many things as we want to – we have mostly been planning this trip on a night-to-night basis. More updates to come soon!

Wildlife Wednesday

Inokashira Park Zoo

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Squirrel in Inokashira Park Zoo, which works on conservation of this local Japanese species. Kawaii (cute!)
Inokashira Park Zoo, in the Tokyo area, is a really nice family-friendly zoo with a number of Japanese native species in it. We were especially excited to see tanuki (racoon-dog is the common English translation), the tiny local squirrels we had seen at a distance at the Daibutsu, and beautiful cranes and ducks.
Zoo Kickijoji
Zoo Kickijoji
We also learned about the leopard cat, which crossed over the ice to come to one of the islands, and the serow, an ungulate (think antelope) from northern Honshu. Both were super fuzzy and completely new to us!
Zoo Kickijoji
If you get a chance, this zoo is worth a stop… and foreign passport holders get a discount on admission!

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An Omiyage from Kamakura

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While reading about Kamakura, I learned that one of the favorite omiyage are a particular store’s rice crackers. I was interested, but didn’t believe the hype. (After all, it was a tourism magazine…) We went in and tried the samples – and I had to eat my hat. These were amazing!
I would have loved to buy out the store stock, but settled with three small bags. We chose the matcha, the mixed berry, and the tangerine. The three sweet ones we chose were all constructed in a similar manner, with a peanut in the center surrounded by crunchy airy rice cracker dipped in a flavored (yogurt?) coating and rolled in a powder of the same flavor.
The savory choices we tried at the store were completely different from the sweet options above and from other snacks I have had before (curry flavored toasted broad beans, for one). Overall, the Kamakura Mameya is really worth a stop. You should go with some room so you can try tasters!

Street Food Saturday

Candy Grapes!

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Since it’s the New Year holiday here, there are street food vendors en masse near the larger temples. One of the tasty treats we tried was a candy covered grape. One person skewers a large grape, the other dips it into a vat of hot grape candy and sets it on a sheet of wax paper. It solidifies quickly; by the time you hand them your change and grab your grape, it is encased in a hard sugar shell. Japan does a much better job with artificial grape flavor than the US, and this is a treat you shouldn’t miss!

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