I feel as though we have scratched only the surface of Penang. I could happily spend many more weeks and months among the heritage streets of George Town. Having visited two only recently developed islands off the west coast of peninsular Malaysia, we haven't honestly managed to do justice to the country as a whole either. But what we have seen, we have liked. A lot. I realise this is akin to professing a love for the British Isles after visiting only the Isles of Wight and Man, but so be it. Another time, Malaysia.
Today we were Bali bound, taking a flight via Kuala Lumpur - commonly abbreviated in speech as "KL".
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| Penang airport breakfast |
All airports are weird zones - both representative of the country (we were offered nasi lemak for breakfast in Penang's airport lounge) but also oddly neutral (where can't I buy a Toblerone?).
KL airport is odd in that it combines both the anglophile nature of the country with traditional Asian tastes. When one is finished taking tea at Harrods' café, WH Smith's awaits to supply the latest Grisham for the flight. But alongside the Burberry handbags are 'premium gifts' with a more local flavour, such as durian sweets, bird nest, tambun biscuits, and tongkat ali.
The flight from KL to Denpasar was ever so slightly comic. Nothing went seriously wrong, but there were a few things that one could certainly classify under 'first world problems'.
Initially, K and I weren't sat together, instead sat several seats apart, either side of an aisle and in different rows. We mouthed answers for the immigration form to one another from our respective locations.
Unlike the other uniform seats, K's row of seats were staggered from those in front, in an OCD-enraging arrangement, such that the viewing angle to the video screen rendered it too dim to see. That didn't matter so much after the announcement that there wouldn't be any headsets available owing to "lack of stock". Instead, we were treated to the information screen that insisted on telling us the current time in Amsterdam, the relevance of which was lost on me.
The staff were cheerful and friendly, and seemed blissfully unaware that anything should be other than the way it was. The general impression was that the aircraft had seen better days, but at least it got us there in one piece. Also, lunch was a decent croissant generously filled with egg mayonnaise and cheese.
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| Malaysia Airlines lunch |
Arriving in Denpasar, we had our first glimpse of Bali. The route from the airport was busy with traffic. Busy in a way that the roads around Langkawi and Penang airports are not. Glancing down side-streets revealed narrow lanes, not provisioned for such volumes of motorised vehicles, similarly thronging.
Eventually we arrived at our accommodation. Away from the popular coastal resorts of Kuta and Seminyak, but also not in the heart of the capital city, the streets here too were thrumming to the sound of motorbikes racing by. The residents are local and one has built a set of five cabins in his garden to rent.
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| Garden cabin |
The garden is beautiful and full of heliconias and ti plants, while the cabins are built and furnished entirely in distressed wood, giving every surface a white glow. There is no road noise here. It is a haven.
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| Distressed bed |
Our host is delightful and, after coffee and a chat, took us to the supermarket so that we could source provisions. He apologised that the area in which we are staying offers little in the way of western food, as few tourists frequent it, and if we didn't want anything spicy we should avoid anything red in colour. He soon got the message and started recommending places to eat spicy Indonesian food.
The supermarket was our first stop, and was a treasure trove for vegetarians. Under one roof we found the products we have been searching for to make cooking easier: vegetarian oyster sauce, mushroom stock powder, vegetables and herbs of all kinds, and tofu and tempeh of such variety.
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| Tempting tempeh |
Lazily, we decided to eat out for our first meal in Indonesia. Having shopped extensively, the sun had set and we bid farewell to our bemused host, who must really have been concerned that he wouldn't see us again. This turned into a fool's errand for Waroeng Baba. Warung (also waroeng) are simple eateries, like canteens, providing buffet fare. In the darkness, the journey was quite a gauntlet. The narrow streets had become no less busy after rush hour, and motorbikes with full beams blazed past on one side, while an open drain (a feature of many SE Asian countries) gaped on the other, while we wobbled precariously between the two.
Needless to say, we did not find the 'warung' we were seeking. It may well have gone out of business. Instead, in its alleged location, we found Chat Café, which I initially ignored as it styled itself as a pizzeria. However, it also displayed a vegetarian sign and a vague indication of serving Indonesian cuisine.
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| 'Beef' rendang and gado gado |
Gado gado is one of the few naturally vegetarian Indonesian dishes. It is a warm 'salad' of vegetables cooked to the point of tenderness and no further, including potato, French beans, cabbage, as well as bean sprouts, fried tofu, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber. These are smothered in a spicy peanut sauce. I had another Indonesian classic (from Western Sumatra) of beef rendang. I guessed the 'meat' used in this rich curry was wheat gluten based, but the texture allowed it to be pulled like real slow-cooked chunks of beef in a slightly unsettling way that left me wondering whether it was real meat. It later turned out, I suspect, to be young jackfruit (gudeg), which has a similar fibrous texture and is used in curries. This property is well known to the hip vegan crowd and vegan 'pulled pork' is apparently a thing.
The ingredients and flavours in Indonesian are enticing and I am looking forward to tasting them and getting back to cooking a bit more in our kitchen.
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