HOLY COW!

HOLY COW!

I haven't blogged in nearly 2 months and more importantly, I'm leaving Aceh in less than 2 weeks!

HOLY COW!

I'm sorry that I have ignored you. Life's been, well, life's been pretty craaazy!

The last time you heard, I had just arrived in Beijing, where there was a pork shortage. I spent a total of 24 days in China, gallivanting around the country.

Here's a synopsis of my China adventure. My parents met me in Beijing and the three of us travel south to Chengdu in Sichuan province, the cultural capital of central China, made famous by The Three Kingdoms. Chengdu is famous for its snack culture and spicy hotpot. So needless to say, we ate well here. Highlights included strolling down Jin Li, a renovated cultural street filled with Sichuan arts and crafts. The next day, we flew 45 minutes north to Huang Long and Jiu Zhai Go. Here, we were at an altitude of about 3500 meters and hiked through some beautiful scenery. Snowy peaks, romantic waterfalls, turquoise blue pools. We then returned to Beijing and Dad went back to DC the following day.

After a couple of days hanging out in Beijing, including me spending 3+ hours getting a perm, Mom and I boarded an overnight train to Shanghai where we rendezvoused with K and and spent a great weekend checking out the skyline from our 52 floor posh hotel room, strolling along the Huang Pu River, and introducing K to Chinese culture at Cheng Huang Miao, a Taoist temple and surrounding gardens.

The day after I returned from Shanghai, I got on ANOTHER train...this time an amazingly beautiful 47 hour and 28 minute ride to Lhasa, Tibet. I traveled to Tibet with my uncle. For 10 days, we toured monasteries, temples, palaces, and holy lakes in Tibet...well not to mention all the shopping stops on our package tour. Tea shop, bead shop, weird medicine shop, yak meat jerky shop, just to name a few! Tibet was definitely a memorable experience. By the way, click on all the links above, they're links to my photos!

OK, so now back in Aceh.

Movers are coming next Tuesday to pack up my stuff. My last day of work is Friday the 27th and I fly to Jakarta that night and on to Bali where Scott, Pete and Meg from high school will be joining me for 2 weeks of rest and relaxation in the sun!

That's all for now. More later!

The China Chronicles - Beijing

After a weekend in Bali, overnight stop overs in Singapore and Bangkok, I finally arrived in Beijing this afternoon. This is my first time in Beijing in 7 years, and the city of my birth has morphed into...well, a place I don't recognize!

Traffic is on par with Bangkok and Jakarta. Posh high rise apartments are everywhere. My family's condo was brand new when I was here 7 years ago, with construction sites surrounding the tower. Today, the apartment is very lived in, my grandfather has plants everywhere - just like the old place in San Fran. Outside, there are rows of fashionable eateries, both domestic and foreign chains. I may just have to go for a dipped cone at Dairy Queen tomorrow.

My favorite so far: on the evening news tonight, the headline news was about the price of pork skyrocketing. People are panicking for the other white meat! Here's an article about it from Financial Times. Love how China's got a "strategic pork reserve" No kidding! Read on.

I will see more of the city in the upcoming weeks. I'm also excited about exploring different parts of the country. Tomorrow, my parents and I head south to Cheng Du, the capital of Sichuan province (home of Ma Po Tofu and all those other flaming dishes that use the famous hot and numbing peppercorn!) I will write more about Cheng Du when I get back in 5 days.

Pork price rises fuel China inflation fear

By Richard McGregor in Beijing and Jamil Anderlini in Hong Kong

A disease killing millions of pigs in China has sharply lifted the price of pork, the country’s staple meat, fuelling fears about inflation and prompting a call from the top leadership for increased production of the meat.

Wen Jiabao, premier, provided confirmation of the seriousness of the crisis with a weekend visit to a market in Shaanxi province, where he said farmers should help “resolve the problem” of providing meat for 1.3bn people.

Pork prices have risen by as much as 30 per cent in Chinese cities over the last week. According to the agriculture ministry, wholesale prices for pigs have gone up even more, rising 71.3 per cent since April.

China’s 500m pigs are the country’s most important source of affordable meat, and any sustained interruption in supply would be a major political problem for the government.

While the price of feed, such as corn, has risen, the main culprit is an epidemic of a mysterious illness known as ‘blue ear’ disease, as well as the more common foot-and-mouth affliction.

“I have heard it has killed as many as 20m hogs,” said an industry executive on Monday.

The government has not issued any estimate of how many pigs have been struck down by disease, and in any case, China’s size and the number of small producers make it difficult to quickly tabulate reliable figures.

But the impact of the shortage of pork is apparent in many areas, from sausage makers switching meats, to rising offal prices, and attempts by Hong Kong to import meat from South America.

China cannot easily find competitively priced pork to replace the shortfall at home, because of its own health-related restrictions on imports from South America, where prices are relatively low. US and European pork is relatively expensive.

The government has a “strategic pork reserve”, established in the late nineties, including both frozen stocks and access to pig farms, which could provide a buffer.

“We are considering releasing some of these reserves into the market in certain targeted areas in order to reduce soaring prices,” said Li Xizhen of the Ministry of Commerce.

“We will not be giving free meat to people, but will sell pork and use market mechanisms to bring down volatility.”

Mr Wen, in his visit to the market, said the government “is going all out to ensure the supply of pork and keep it affordable.”

Soaring pork prices are also expected to add to inflation, already under pressure from rising food prices in other areas.

“The surge in pork prices will likely push year-on-year CPI inflation to above 4 per cent very soon,” said Hong Liang, of Goldman Sachs, in Hong Kong, in a research note.

“Meat constitutes about 7 per cent of the CPI basket, and its price pressures are likely to spread to eggs, fish and other food products.”

Although 4 per cent is above the central bank’s unofficial “tolerance rate” of three, core inflation remains low.

Singapore

I went to Singapore this weekend. Aside from catching Spiderman 3 on the big screen, we visited the Singapore Botanic Garden. The Orchid Garden was fabulous. Here are 2 of my favorite photos from the outing.

Plumeria aka Frangipani

This orchid makes a fab computer wall paper.
Set background to black, center it.

Things I will miss...

The countdown continues...I've got only about 50 more days in Banda town. Here are some of the things I will really miss.

• Riding out to the beach (the back-back way) catching a beautiful sunset, followed by a dinner of pizza, tomato and avocado salad and pineapple juice at Joel's
• Sunday afternoon volleyball
• Bags of freshly fried bread fruit, tempeh, and bananas in the office around 4pm
• Swinging by Intense Audio to peruse the latest pirated blockbusters and TV series
• Stopping by Billy & Mira on a lazy Saturday morning to get a cream bath (hair conditioning treatment + head/shoulder massage)...all for a few bucks
• Undercover booze buying
• Picking out our dinner of huge prawns and red snapper at the river side restaurants
• Being really excited by pork products
  

Shake Shake Shake

Earthquake #21

Magnitude? 6.3
Date? Friday, April 27, 15:02:48 AM local time
Epicenter? 50 miles WSW of Banda Aceh or 5.332°N, 94.606°E
What was I doing? Pretending to do work while daydreaming about the upcoming weekend.

This one was the biggest to date. A medium jolt followed by a few seconds of boat-like sway. Then about 10 seconds of big sideway sway. Then about a minute of more boat-like sway.

Cutting Out the Middle Man

Wanted: Fresh lobsters

About a hour and half south of the city, my project has been support a lobster fattening initiative. So it was the logical we went directly to the source when we had a hankering for lobster this weekend.

Hopped in a car Saturday afternoon and made the bumpy but scenic drive down the coast. When we got to the village, we were told that Pak Thamrin, our lobster connection, was out at sea fishing and won't be back until after dark. The fishermen on shore casually suggested we take a fishing boat and go out to sea and find him. We looked at each other and decided why the heck not? The guy told us to wait while they went to fetch a boat engine for one of the many traditional high-bowed Acehnese fishing boats docked on the beach. Within 10 minutes, we were heading out to open water. How far were we going? Where were the fishermen taking us? We had no idea! By this time, the boat ride was such a left turn in our excursion, we didn't really care if we didn't have lobsters for dinner. The whole process was just too cool.

In about 10 minutes, we sighted a group of fishing boats anchored in the middle of the sea. Waves and smiles were exchanged. Our boat pulled up next to Pak Thamrin's vessal. The fisherman did not skip a beat, as if just about everyday he had a random Bule guy and Chinese girl chance upon his domain in the middle of the Indian Ocean asking for some fresh crustaceans. Pak Thamrin's fishing partner, equipped with his simple face mask, hopped on board and we turned back. About 100 feet offshore was the lobster car - it's essentially four big underwater mesh tanks where the lobstermen chuck in lobsters they find in the reef and feed them until they're a good size and will fetch a good price. There are narrow wooden planks surrounding the tanks. We hopped off the boat and stood on the gang plank and watched as the lobsters were brought up. First some little guys. Slowly bigger dudes emerged. Soon enough we had 8 choice lobsters. Back on terra firma, lobsters were covered in a fine sprinkle of sand and chopped up kelp to keep them alive for transport. Then the feisty creatures were packed into a paper box ready for the 70km ride back to the city.

We had the freshest lobsters possible that night. Juicy meat doused with fresh squeezed lemon juice, clarified butter, and sprinkled with Old Bay (for me). All paired with a cold beer. 2 of us had 6 lobsters - total decadency! Sunday night was a bowl of delicious lobster corn chowder made from the remaining 2 'sters. Cleaned up with some fresh crusty bread from the bakery...

...and you probably thought I was getting by on plain rice and water.

Lobster Chowder
or you can substitute canned crab meat

Serves 4 normal people or 2 really hungry people (with leftovers)

• 1/2 pack of bacon or any cured meat product, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 medium potato, 1/4 inch dice
• 1/3+ stick of butter
• 6 cups of milk
• 1 cup of cream
• 1/2 can of corn kernels (or fresh kernels of 2 corns)
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
• 1/2 Tablespoon dried basil
• salt
• pepper
• 2 boiled and de-shelled lobster tails cut into large chunks
  

1. Fry bacon in stock pot.

2. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is transparent

3. Add potato and season with thyme, basil, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes on high heat.

4. Add butter and then add milk slowly, 1 cup at a time. Toss in bay leaves. Make sure everything is submerged under the milk. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce to simmer.

5. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes

6. Add corn and pepper and add additional spices to taste.

7. Add cream and bring to to simmer.

8. Add lobster to soup and turn off the heat after about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Security Overkill

I had to go to both the US embassy and the China embassy on Monday while I was in Jakarta.

At the US compound, the buildings are surrounded by a 3-meter tall solid concrete wall, with all sorts of fancy wiring up top. The buildings are set back pretty far from the road. I had my bag searched thoroughly 2 times, walked through 2 metal detectors, and had to pass through 3 heavy metal doors. In addition, my mobile phone and iPod were taken away from me. There were security personnel everywhere and in the visa application area, there were no less than 3 staff directing the very sedated/nervous crowd.

At the Chinese embassy, there was a tall but see-through fence. The building is not set very far back from the busy street. There were a couple of guards at the gate - sipping coffee. At the only metal detector, the guard looked at my bag (including a big plastic shopping bag filled with mint and cilantro) but did not search inside. The visa application area was a zoo, with 6 long lines that people casually walked in and out of line. Everyone was yapping on their phone or busy texting.

Obviously, US embassy is a target in Indonesia (and probably world wide these days) but relationship between China and Indonesia haven't been all that rosy either. As recently as 1999, there were anti-Chinese riots in major Indonesian cities where Chinese were killed and their businesses burned.

'em Q-Tips

I've had some weird requests when it comes to people asking me what I need from home or other more "civilized" places like Singapore. On multiple occasions, I've asked friends to carry out Q-Tips for me. Upon making the request, they've always answered with "ummm, ok" as if I were a nut (maybe I am).

Please see Exhibit A below. Left is a non-Indonesian Q-Tip, right is an Indonesian Q-Tip.

Exhibit A

Fried Rice Salad

Thought I'd share my favorite recipe from the Laos cooking class.

Laos cuisine is almost always served with sticky rice,
stored in cute bamboo baskets.

• 15 g ground pork/chicken/tofu
• 1/2 kg of cooked white rice
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 Tbsp chopped shallot (or red onion)
• 1/2 Tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 Tbsp red chili powder
• 3 Tbsp chopped lemongrass (the top white portion)
• 1 tsp thinly chopped kaffir lime leaves
• 3 Tbsp of chopped green onion
• 3 Tpsp of thinly sliced long beans
• 3 Tbsp of roasted chopped peanuts
• 1 Tbsp of chopped red chili peppers (optional)
• 3 Tbsp of chopped mint leaves

Dressing:

• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp soy bean paste
• 4 Tbsp lime juice

1. Mix rice, ground meat, egg yolks, shallots, and chili powder together.

2. Form mixture into 4 slightly smaller than tennis-sized balls and deep fry in hot oil until crispy golden brown; poke holes in the rice ball to allow oil into the center.

3. Remove balls from oil and let it cool for about 15 minutes.

4. Smash balls into small pieces and mix together with rest of the herbs.

5. Drizzle dressing over the top and stir in mint leaves right before serving.

Laos and Bangkok

After 10 days on the road, I'm back in Aceh. I spent 5 relaxing yet activity packed days in Luang Prabang, sandwiched by 2 blissful weekends in Bangkok.

Luang Prabang is nested in a valley in north central Laos. The old town is located on a peninsula wedged in between the Mekong and the Khan rivers. When Laos opened its door to tourism, UNESCO deemed Luang Prabang a world heritage site to protect its 500-year old Buddhist temples and French colonial charm. Eco-tourism has also picked up, with many agencies offering multi-day trekking trips through hill tribe villages, kayaking down meandering rivers, hanging out and bathing elephants, mountain biking down dirt paths, and combination of any or all activities to your liking.

I ran into 2 woman, an American and a Brit, both independent travelers as well. We were all on the same plane from Bangkok and coincidently were all staying at the lovely Apsara along the Nam Khan. Over the next 4 days, I went on an elephant ride (bareback), drifted down the river in a bamboo raft (its maiden voyage), wandered aimlessly around town, stumbled across beautifully preserved temples and stalked cute kids with my camera. I took a Laos cooking class one day and learned all about traditional ingredients and put together a yummy pork fried rice salad. In the evenings, a colorful evening market unfolds on the main street and Hmong women set up shop to peddle their intricately embroidered wares and shiny Laos silks.

The only downside to my time at Luang Prabang was the haze that covers much of Northern Thailand and Laos this time of the year. Due to all the rice burning and slash and burn agriculture, the entire place was covered in a gray haze. It was kind of like being in Jakarta, minus all the cars, concrete and pollution.


For the weekends, I was in Bangkok. Linda had a housewarming party the first weekend, and I had a great time seeing familiar faces and meeting new friends. The second weekend, K was in town from Banda and it was nice to hang out with Aceh friends "off campus". We had a great time bumming around Bangkok's shopping malls, eating Mexican food, and enjoying all the amenities a big city like Bangkok had to offer!

Click here for my online album from the trip.

On the Road...Finally

After 6 weeks in Aceh, I'm finally out! I arrived in Bangkok Saturday afternoon and Iam on my way to Luang Prabang in Northern Laos in 1 hour and 15 minutes!

I had a typical weekend in the big city. Had a very nice dinner at an Italian restaurant with Linda (my awesome hostess for the weekend), Marius (Dutch boy escaping Singapore), Linda's friend Sean (Seattle transplant working in Macau), and 2 of Sean's friends who are teaching English in Bangkok. The fab dinner was followed by a fun party at Linda Lounge which lasted until 4am. Sunday was dim sim lunch, followed by strolling around the Paragon - typical uber posh Asian mall. It happened to be 'Nikon Day 2007' and 3 of us, all photo buffs, got to try out amazing Nikon lenses. Then we went for a Thai massage (ahhh so nice). After sending Marius off in a taxi to the airport, Linda and I went on a shopping spree at the Suan Lum night bizarre. I got this really neat copper lamp...it's hard to describe, but I'll post photos once it's set up...now I just have to figure hot to get it to London (via Aceh and DC).

Off to Laos!

P.S. Only 194 photos taken in Bangkok over 1.5 days.

Poor Babies

Here are some numbers for you to ponder:

73 - how many staff in my Banda Aceh office
3 - how many healthy babies born to my staff or their spouse in the last 6 months
2 - how many still born babies born to my staff or their spouse in the last 6 months

I've been looking online for neonatal mortality statistics for Aceh province but no luck. According to UNICEF, the neonatal mortality rate for Indonesia is 18 per 1,000 births, based on data from the year 2000.

Before tsunami, I've read that Aceh province had one of the worst health care systems in all of Indonesia due to the 30-yr conflict. Those who could afford it went to Medan or Penang Malaysia for preventative care and for surgery. With the inflow of donor funding post-tsunami, condition and training of hospitals and clinics around the province have improved, but I still hear stories about cockroach infested hospitals or clinics with brown water or...I won't gross you out with other stories.

Back to the two poor babies. Both mothers are college educated. One of the mother is even a doctor (her husband works for me). Both mothers are healthy in their mid-20s. Both families live in Banda Aceh, the city with a robust communication system, a decent transportation network, and the best access to health care in the province. You beginning to wonder what the conditions are like in rural areas.

Alright. Hope for all happy healthy babies for my staff from now on!

Moldy Soybeans

I'm addicted to moldy soybeans.

Well...the whole soybeans are cultured in a controlled fermentation process and are bound together into cake form by white moldy particles called mycelium. The lovely moldy soybeans are also known as tempeh! Tempeh originated in Indonesia. It's got a nutty flavor and is high in protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins. They're used often in western vegetarian cuisine as a substitute for meat products. It's got kind of a strong taste. Not everyone's a fan.

I was first introduced to tempeh by the neighborhood Whole Foods on P and 14th in DC. They had a curried tempeh salad in the salad bar. Here in Aceh, tempeh is seen as a poor man's food, and my staff often make fun of me for liking it so much. I can get a big hunk of tempeh wrapped in banana leaf for about 20 cents at the local market. Tempeh can be cooked in a variety of ways, since the white moldy part is like a sponge and will soak up any kind of liquid around it. In Java, marinaded tempeh or tempeh bacem is quite popular. The tempeh chunks are marinated in soy, sugar and tamarind. In Aceh, the most common way to have tempeh is thinly fried pieces that kaki-lima (5 leg food stands) sell in the late afternoon to just before evening prayers. The fried stands also fry up banana, sweet potatoes, stuffed tofu, and my favorite - the fried breadfruit! Oooh they're so heavenly when freshly fried and then dipped in the sweet sticky soy sauce with green chili!

The bag full of friend goodies on the coffee table has inspired me to write this post.

Here is a tempeh recipe for you adventurous eaters. You can find tempeh near the packaged tofu in your local high-end grocery store. It'll cost more than 20 cents!

Tempeh Satay

• 1 package of tempeh, cubed (1/2 inch)
  
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• red chili
  
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 small piece of ginger, but galangal is better if you can find it
  
• 1 lemon grass
• 1 tbsp Salt
• 1 tbsp sugar

Put the onion, garlic, red chili, lemon zest, ginger/galangal, lemon grass in a blender.

Mix the spices with coconut milk and boil. Add the tempeh cubes and continue boiling until the liquid is reduced to about half. Cool down.

Put the tempeh cubes onto satay skewers and barbeque each side until golden brown.

6 Weeks in Aceh (Continuously)

Ooof. I'm beginning to feel a little restless! I've got 2 more weeks before I take off to Bangkok for Linda's housewarming party and then to Laos for 5 days. It's been kind of a crazy 25 days since I got back from my Orangutan trip! Here are some updates on what's been happening in Aceh.

Good friend Marion left Aceh on February 4. People are always coming and going, as it is just how things work here - most people have short 3-months, 6-months contracts, and I'm an anomaly (21 months and counting!) But I was still sad to see her go. She's off to bigger and better things! She'll be working in Sudan for the next 9 months doing monitoring and evaluation for an American NGO. Good luck Marion!

On February 8, Irwandi Yusuf, 46-year old former rebel strategist was sworn in as the first democratically elected governor of Aceh province. He'll be in power for the next 5 years. Irwandi was a political prisoner and escaped from his prison cell when the tsunami waves crushed down the wall. He studied Veterinarian Medicine at Oregon State (down with the Beavers!) and was a professor at the university in town. He won overwhelmingly with 37% of the popular vote in a pool of 8 candidates. Most of his support came from rural areas where there was a strong support for the GAM movement. Many observers are curious to see how he'll interact with the Jakarta-backed provincial parliament, if he will be able to move his agenda forward. His top priorities include providing employment opportunities to ex-rebels, introduce a performance-based system in the civil services, strengthen health and education sectors, and target anti-corruption. He has also said that he will reevaluate the sharia law and its implementation because it discriminates against women and the poor.

Flower boards along the main boulevard
wishing the new governor success

An accountant in our office got married on February 11. She did not tell ANYONE she was getting married, even her friend of 5 years who she carpools everyday. About a week and half before the wedding, everyone had a wedding invitation waiting on their desk in the morning. How do people keep secrets like that? I would just burst!

More wedding photos

The year of the flaming fire pig arrived on February 18! Sheep (baaah = me!!!) are suppose to have a great year. According to some website:

At pig's table, sheep has the seat of honored guest. Luck and good fortune in romance and business are the gifts offered to the lucky sign this year. Gifts of money may surprise the sheep. The pig smiles on family and will shower the sheep who becomes engaged or married during this year with many blessings. Sheep born in this year will receive good fortune from the banquet host. The shy sheep or one who cannot decide may miss the advantage of all the opportunities that this year brings.

To follow tradition (Year of the Cock in DC and Year of Dog in Aceh), I threw a Chinese New Year party last Saturday night. Deb and Graeme were kind enough to let me use their house. Guests were requested to wear red and we had decorations from Medan and even Beijing. Graeme was in Beijing a few weeks prior and picked up all sorts of fun wall hangings, lanterns, and a golden pig filled with candy from the Beijing Wal-Mart! Alexa and I made about 100 wontons and another 100 or so of spring rolls - both big and small. It was good fun and there were lots of beer cans to be cleaned up the next morning! Always a sign of a good party!

Kids having fun

On Monday night (Day number 2 of the flaming pig year) I found out I got into LSE! I had put in an application back in December to study MS in Local Economic Development. So it looks like I will be in London starting the end of September! I'm currently trying to figure out my whereabouts between now and when I land in London. It looks like I'll be leaving Indonesia on July 15 when my work visa runs out. I also have about 30 days of leave that I need to take. So it looks like this is the plan (as of today)

May 24 - 28 -- Bali for Vi's birthday bash
May 28 - June 30 -- China*
July 1 - July 27 -- Aceh to close shop
July 27 - August 15 -- Travel around the region**
August 15 - Sept 20 -- US (August 18 in Rhodes Island for Sarly's wedding)

* Think I'll be in Beijing for a couple of weeks and then will travel around
** Friends! Let me know if you have any suggestions or want to meet up somewhere

Feel free to shoot me an email if you'll be in London next year or if you have friends who are there. I'll need new friends to hang out with!

That's all for now! The end of an era is in sight!

More about Chinese Horoscope for the year of the pig.

Our Red-haired Cousins

Bukit Lawang

Orangutans are now found only in Sumatra and Borneo (Sarawak/Sabah provinces of Malaysia, and Kalimantan province of Indonesia). Orangutans are the world's largest arboreal mammal, but despite its size, they swing through the jungle canopy with grace and ease. The word orangutan is actually an example of a word in English that's been borrowed from the Melayu language. Orang means people, and utan means forest. Thus, our red cousins are people of the forest!

9 of us met in Medan on Friday evening. Marius flew in from Singapore, Alexa, Vi, and Tom came in from Jakarta, and Graeme, Greg, Marion, Anu, and I from Banda town. We met for a wonderful dinner at Sushi Tei. Most of us had an early night in preparation for the 6:30am departure on Saturday, but 2 boys stayed out until past 4am.

We drove for about 3.5 hours from Medan. The road was rather bumpy, but definitely better than I had imagined. We checked into the EcoLodge in Bukit Lawang and left for our jungle trek before 11:30. On our trek, we saw 5 orangutans, including one cute baby as well as a couple of other monkeys. The orangutans we saw were all female and they had all lived in the rehabilitation center at Bohorok which opened in 1973 to help orangutans readjust to the wild after captivity or displacement through land clearing. The apes were really friendly and we came within inches of them!

The hike included steep uphills and downhills and we had to trek down a slippery river bank for about 20 minutes. Luckily, the rain held until after we came out of the jungle! After a quick nasi goreng and pineapple lunch by the river bank, we hopped into inner tubes and cascaded down the river to where we started our hike. As we got into the river, the sky cracked open and rain poured down. I also got bitten by a large black ant which has left a big red welt on my forearm.

Click here for photos from the trip!

Club Mah Jong

Jewish grandmothers in Florida play it. Joy Luck Club brought it onto the radar screen of mainstream America. Aid workers in Banda town are now addicted to it.

3 sets of Mah Jong came back with us from Penang in November. Since then, I've hosted Mah Jong night at my house nearly once a week. Usually it's a Friday evening. Delivery pizza or homemade dinner at 7:30, followed by shouts of Pung! Chi! Hu! until about 11:00 and then on over to the WFP for a beer, or 2, or 3...

If we have enough people, there are usually 2 tables, one for the quiet/competitive type, the other for the yappy/social type. I'm sure you can guess which table I belong to. I've somehow been pegged as the really competitive girl, even though I totally am not! Well, I am a little, but not that much more than the normal person! Maybe it's because I've been surrounded by uber-competitive-over-achievers my entire life (GATE Program, GT and AP classes, tennis camp, living with pre-med kids in college and someone who is in the 99.9th %tile after college, and JPAs at the WB). Now that I'm in Banda and surrounded by chilled out aid workers, I guess I am competitive vis-a-vis my cohorts? Oh who knows. I like to win, but I have no problem with losing.

Anyway, back to Mah Jong...the game's caught on like wild fire. I think I've got about 5-6 friends who are now addicted and I know at least of 2 friends who bought sets over Christmas break and brought it home with them.

Anyone know how to keep score? I've played since I was 5 but have never learned how to keep score. I've looked around online but all of the systems are kind of lame.

Since there are always newbies joining. I made a little cheat sheet to help people remember.

The Great Pumpkin Experiment

I was uninspired to cook after I came back from the Philippines - maybe because I was porked out and was traumatized by the Balut. For a week, I was eating out nearly every lunch and dinner and I decided I had to snap out of it. A friend inspired me to make a pesto pasta with some roasted pumpkin for mahjong night. That idea somehow got transformed into pumpkin risotto since I had inherited a box of Arborio Rice from a friend who left Aceh. I bought this medium-sized pumpkin in the vegetable market. Mind that I've never purchased a pumpkin other than having the intend to carve it. I had made risotto once years ago in Berkeley and it's not high on my "meals to remember" list. I made way too much gummy rice goo that sat in the fridge until it went moldy because my 2 boy roommates were afraid to eat it or throw it out. But I decided 5 years was enough of a gap and I should give risotto another shot. Lesson #1, I only made one portion, Lesson #2, I watched the clock carefully not to overcook the starchy Arborio rice. I had full confidence that this was going to a successful pot of rice goo! With the help of my wonderful stirring partner Shirley, a lovely pot of risotto emerged from my kitchen and was promptly consumed!

But then I had the problem of figuring out what to do with the 3/4 of the remaining pumpkin. I hate to throw things out, ingredients or leftovers. Shirley and I decided to experiment with pumpkin. We decided to cook up some curried pumpkin soup and more of that yummy rice goo. So last night, for dinner we had the soup, the risotto and tossed in a pumpkin pie as well.

Yay the pumpkin is finally gone! I think I'll be able to face another pumpkin in about 3 months. Anyone's got any good pumpkin recipes? Pumpkin bread? Pumpkin muffins? Pumpkin pasta?

My Sweet Bike

I've had my bike for nearly 4 months now! The other night, the odometer passed 1000! Well...that's 1000 kilometers, not miles. I'm still smitten with my bike. It's great to just take it out for a spin. Hop on it to go to the beach for a run. Cruise down to the market to pick up fruits. It's great! I love not having to rely on drivers anymore! Plus I can stay out as late as I want to!!!

Thrilla in Manila

Happy New Year!

I spent nearly 2 weeks traveling through Philippines with my college roommate Lillian and her boyfriend Chuck.

Dapitan

This was our first stop. Dapitan is located on the northwestern shore of Mindanao island in the Southern Philippines. This town of 50,000’s claim to fame was that the Filipino national hero Jose Rizal – leader during the Filipino independence from Spain – was exiled there for four years. Lillian’s mother’s family is from the town. Her grandfather and uncle acted as mayor and her aunt is currently the congresswoman from the district. We went to a family wedding, where everyone there was a cousin of Lillian’s. Her parents built a sprawling retirement home here two years ago, although the zen energy of the house is disrupted nightly by the sound of (bad) karaoke from a nearby restaurant and noisy roosters from their neighbor - who raises fighting cocks.

Boracay

We rang in 2007 on Boracay, a tiny island famed for its powdery white sand, located about 1 hour south of Manila (via a Dash 7). Papaw (traditional bamboo sailboats) dot the shore line waiting to take tourists out island hopping, fishing, and snorkeling. The beach is flanked by rows of coconut trees, which also act as a barrier to the hotels, restaurants, and bars that follow most of the 2 mile stretch of White Beach (what a creative name!) On new year’s eve, we bar hopped our way down the beach and eventually ended up lounging on bean bags on the beach listening to live bands reggae-fying classics. It was funny to hear a Filipino with dreadlocks singing “I’m an Englishman in New York.” Talk about cultural hodge-podge!

Banaue and Sagada

We traveled 8 hours north of Manila to Banaue, located deep in the Cordillera Mountains of Central Luzon. Banaue is famous for its 2,000-year-old rice terraces and irrigation system built by the native Ifugao tribe. We did a half day hike in the misty rain, often performing a balancing act – walking on a slippery 20cm wide rock ledge with muddy irrigation canal to one side and steep drop off to the terrace below on the other. It was good to have a low center of gravity! Although we all ended up with wet and muddy shoes! We passed countless waterfalls and meandered through small villages where inhabitants carved wooden masks that are sold in curio shops around town.

In Sagada, we explored an underground cave (with a guide and his kerosene lamp, of course!) I had been in caves before, but they’ve all been “touristfied” complete with stairs, rails, and unnatural colored lights illuminating the formations. This one, was pretty basic when it came to caving amenities! We crawled on all fours, waded through chest-level pools of freezing water, and contorted our bodies to squeezed and shimmy through tight crevasses. I definitely put my headlamp to good use!

Photos from the trip are now at http://picasaweb.google.com/sharonzhao/ThePhilippines