Take me, take me to the riot

Jakarta looks like it's gearing up for some major civil unrest. In Freedom Square there were loads of police, trucks with barbed wire spools, and piles of riot gear like this. The cops were all lounging around in the park, no doubt mentally preparing themselves to bust some heads open, but they were all big smiles and waves when I walked by.

Fruits from Carrefour

Dragon fruit. I think I saw these once in Barcelona or maybe it was Vancouver, always too expensive to try, not here though :)



Yummy



I saw this in Malaysian Borneo at a bus station but didn't try it there. Now was my chance. The skin is like snake skin and very dry. Inside it's like a garlic cluster but with a seed in the center of each clove. It sort of has a garlic like taste too, but not very strong. It's very crisp and only has a slight hint of fruityness to it. I would eat them again as a snack. I can see why they would sell them at a bus station, they are very easy to eat and not messy.

Ke Carrefour aja, ahh...!

I didn't think I'd get to Carrefour in Indonesia so soon but I'm in a good neighborhood and there is one close by!



Here's what I got: a bag of Tamarind candy, I've been living for these since Pulau Labuan, but the only other place I've found them had been Kuching. I ate almost the whole 250g bag yesterday though and now I'm sick of them; Jungle Juice brand Soursop juice, the Carrefour brand was cheaper but I had to buy this because the name Jungle Juice brought me back to old highschool and college partying days; Nestle Bear Brand canned milk. I wanted to drink more milk on my trips even though I don't drink it at home, trouble is most milk in other countries comes in unrefrigerated Tetra Pak boxes which I'm very suspicious of. This milk, although unrefrigerated came in a can and for some reason to my mind that made it safer so I thought I'd try it; I also got Dragon fruit and some other kind of fruit to try.

The Pilgrimage

Since I was in Indonesia I thought I ought to check out the boyhood home of our new president! Turns out it's right here in Jakarta not far from where I am staying. And this is it! And it's where I personally believe Obama was raised as a Muslim by his stepfather. Islamic law requires parents to start teaching their children how to pray at the age of 7 and to enforce the keeping of the 5 daily prayers on them when they turn 10. Obama lived in Indonesia from age 6 to age 10, and in this house from age 8 to 10. He says his stepfather wasn't a devout Muslim but I don't believe him. I also don't believe that his mother wasn't a practicing Muslim either. He paints a picture of her in one of his books as someone who studied multiple religions and had holy books from many different religions on the bookshelf, but I personally think she went through a Muslim phase in her life. How else do you explain her marrying two Muslim men in a row? It's too much to be a coincidence. I would think after the first one she would avoid Muslim men from then on if she wasn't a Muslim herself. We already know Obama lied when he promised "hope" and "change" in his campaign for president, what else has he lied about?



Did Obama pray here? This is the mosque down the street from the Obama house. I'm not sure how old it is but if it's at least 40 years old then this is the most likely place that Obama's family would have gone to pray. I also could have gone to the Islamic school where young Barack went to classes but I was getting bored with all this and wanted to get back to looking for street food.

Street food in Jakarta

This stuff is so good!



Here it is being prepared, a peanut flavored sauce is crushed in the bottom of the bowl.



And I had something similar for breakfast, but this one was a base of porridge and included some chicken.



Sweets steaming



and being popped out of their steaming tubes



and ready for eating!

2 more meals in Kuching

This is called Sarawak Laksa, it is the state dish of Sarawak, and it's really good!



The was the bean curd I had at Mr. Bean, also really good!

Random food pictures in Kuching

My first meal in Kuching was a group meal with a couple vegetarian options for me.



The only new street food so far has been these sickly sweet peanut pancakes



Here they are being cooked up... ummm look at all that sugar!



Random meal. I was assured that it was vegetarian but I wasn't so sure.



Despite being a majority Muslim country the eateries in Kuching seem to be predominately run by non Muslim Chinese, and finding vegetarian or halal options is not always easy



I want to have a look in this place today. They advertise that they use high grade beans from Canada! They also are the shop that has the no pork sign.

Deep in the jungles of Borneo along the river Sarawak

Not really, this little group of houses is actually right across the river from Kuching a fairly large city.

I really need to get one of these things

Too bad it wouldn't fit in my backpack.

Niah Caves National Park

Oh the way down Borneo from Brunei we stopped at Niah Caves National Park for a nice walk through the jungle to a spectacularly large cave. Humans had been living in this cave as long ago as 40,000 years! There weren't many tourists at the cave and it was quiet and peaceful so it was really easy to switch off the flashlight and imagine myself an early human exploring the cave for the first time.

Ice cream

Almost everyday on Borneo I've gotten these ice cream bars called Potong. The major brands Nestle and Walls both have Potong and they are the easiest to find, but the best variety comes from this local brand King's. Here we have Yam and Sweet Corn flavors. Also available are Red Bean, Durian, and Black Glutinous Rice flavors! Nestle only has Red Bean and that's the one I usually get. Walls only has Red Bean and the Black Glutinous Rice but the rice one is not as easy to find. The King's brand I haven't seen in awhile, but I keep looking for it!