Weblog
Saturday, 25 July 2009
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Visiting the Food in Penang - Jul 2009
Christina and I took a brief holiday with our friend Shannon to the island of Penang in Malaysia. Christina is getting close to when she shouldn't be flying as she enters her third trimester, so we took the trip out to visit our old friends who moved to Penang as well as some of Christina's extended family. While there, we had tons of awesome food in a place known especially for good eats (more about that at my food etc. blog, Epicuriousity & Technogadgetry).
While in Penang, we finally got to eat some durian that wasn't so stinky. We had heard that you need to eat it really fresh and that the longer it's been off the tree the worse it tastes. There's tons of durian in Jakarta but we just had it once and it was not that good. This one was sweet and creamy, in a really rich way. I could only eat so much mostly because of the richness. There was that distinctive durian flavor after eating a number of pieces but not really stinky. Now I feel ready to try some more.
Monday, 22 June 2009
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Bumps - June 2009
It's been rather strange feeling the little bumps that appear on Christina's tummy. Sometimes I put my ear to her tummy and I'll feel a little bump near my head like my baby's trying to hit me. It's nice to know that she's active and healthy though.
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
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Goodbye Beastie Boy
Today Christina and I said goodbye to Beastie Boy, the truck/SUV/AUV/vehicle that has carried us around Indonesia for the past year and a half. I've never really known what type of vehicle it was since it didn't quite fit the styles of vehicles in the States. I think it's listed as a minibus or something like that in the registration docs.
Anyhow, some friends of our nicknamed the loud diesel-guzzling machine soon after we purchased the vehicle and the name seemed to fit. The loudness and smell of the vehicle was part of the reason we sold it. Also, it was rather large. It was great for when we traveled around with lots of friends but most of the time it's just me and Christina. Many of our expat friends have left or are leaving so it's mostly just us now. We're switching to a smaller but not too small vehicle. Hopefully it runs as well as Beastie Boy. It ran well despite its other qualities. We'll miss you Beastie Boy.
Sunday, 05 April 2009
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Recent travels and food ~ Mar 2009
Recently I got back from traveling to an island off the coast of Sumatra. It was a nice quiet natural peaceful kind of place for the most part. At one point I stayed at a hotel on the beach (easy to do on a a small island). The view was great and the sound of the waves is always comforting to me.
That was in contrast to the mud trekking I did on a motorbike taxi to get to a place I needed to go.
I'm going back with Christina in a couple weeks. Meanwhile, we've been living in the city. Food seems to be the main event for us when we're in the city. I've been making dinners with Christina using a Rachel Ray cookbook I got for my birthday from our friends, the Quons. They're quick dinners so that's been nice, especially after a long day at work.
Something funny that was food-related we saw recently was a produce section of a supermarket we frequent. The only thing "exotic" to us is the Terong Belanda, translated as Dutch eggplant, used to make a sweet sour drink.
Monday, 05 January 2009
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Passing through Taiwan again ~ Jan 2009
I'm sitting in the Taiwan airport again on my way back to Southeast Asia. Happily it's with Christina this time. Our visit to the States went by quickly, especially the last week. It feels funny heading back. I'm not sure if I'm ready but I'll have to be. Hopefully jet lag isn't too bad.
