Rambutan & Ramen

In the fridge today we have mangosteens, snakeskin fruit & hairy rambutan. Durian, lychee & sirsak-flavored yoghurts. Custardy winter melon juice & cans of Chrysanthemum tea. Baby bok choi & scallions. Those who know how well we eat at home will appreciate that we are mostly cooking ramen. The tofu is excellent.

I’ve started a photo set just for FOOD and will continue to update it as I gather images.

Sederhana is a good word—it means simple, easy, uncomplicated. When someone sees we’re westerners and assumes we (are Dutch &) hungry for five stars & a team of waiters, we demur & insist: sederhana. Give me a shaded bench outside, some noodles in broth, and a teenage band busking on guitars. Street food here is comfort food for a dollar or two: broths & noodles, fried vegetable cakes, meatballs, dried fish, rice & jackfruit—which is meaty enough to fool a carnivore. Lots and lots of meat & fish. There are also Tony Roma's, Wendy's, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, & KFCs all over. I finally managed to order Stir Fried Morning Glory at the little café downstairs. . I'd order it again, too, but if there was a morning glory in there, I couldn't say.

Today I saw a man tie a single durian onto his motorcycle at the end of a string & ride off with it that way, dangling. It looked like a medieval mace…but far, far more intimidating.