A well-cared for Tourist
Friday morning I went to Alor Star in northern Malaysia. The drive was surprising picturesque. We passed many area with paddy fields, which reminded me of the lushness of Bali. (Sorry no pictures - I'll try to do better next trip.) The city itself was unexpectedly pleasant- broad streets, walkable sidewalks, and clean!. The event that took me to Alor Star was the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Chinese Cultural Association. The day's events were a welcoming speech by a politician, some performances by young people, and two seminars on Chinese literature (everything was in Mandarin). After the seminar we went sight seeing. In Malaysia visiting temples and mosques is equivalent to the visting numerous cathedrals in Europe. Here I am with the core group that I travelled with. Going from left to right: Kwan from Singapore; me; a visiting professor at Columbia’s East Asian Institute; another Chinese scholar; Ong, my co-investigator on the Chinese portion of the study; Wen-Lung from Taiwan, he exuded great joy; Vincci, Ong’s assistant and my roommate; and another Chinese scholar.
Next we drove to Kuala Perlis, in another state west of Alor Star. Our first stop was Vincci’s mom’s bakery. We were greeted with plates of treats. Then we watched steamed buns being transformed into apples. A toothbrush is dipped into the coloring, rubbed along a comb, and color spatters onto the bun.. The indentations on the leaves were made with small knife cuts on each leaf.
Once we finished “dessert” and inspecting the bakery's ingredients and equipment we went to dinner. The restaurant was on a deck overlooking the river. We started with a steamed fish, the restaurant’s signature dish. We had prawns (from Vincci’s father’s boat), two types of clams, baked fish, cuttle fish wrapped in something (perhaps a noodle), soft shelled crabs, sate, mee, and broth. That’s all I remember. I can still recall the various dishes with pleasure. I will have to drag Doug out there when he comes.
When I described my trip and dinner the school’s chief clerk said “You are so damn lucky.” She is absolutely right.
Next we drove to Kuala Perlis, in another state west of Alor Star. Our first stop was Vincci’s mom’s bakery. We were greeted with plates of treats. Then we watched steamed buns being transformed into apples. A toothbrush is dipped into the coloring, rubbed along a comb, and color spatters onto the bun.. The indentations on the leaves were made with small knife cuts on each leaf.
Once we finished “dessert” and inspecting the bakery's ingredients and equipment we went to dinner. The restaurant was on a deck overlooking the river. We started with a steamed fish, the restaurant’s signature dish. We had prawns (from Vincci’s father’s boat), two types of clams, baked fish, cuttle fish wrapped in something (perhaps a noodle), soft shelled crabs, sate, mee, and broth. That’s all I remember. I can still recall the various dishes with pleasure. I will have to drag Doug out there when he comes.
When I described my trip and dinner the school’s chief clerk said “You are so damn lucky.” She is absolutely right.
posted by Liz at
11:14 AM
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