• A lot of people say Delhi is a place you fly into, then get out of as fast as you can to experience the real India. While I make it a point NOT to do what a lot of people say, my relatively brief amount of time to spend in India (5 weeks) led me to do just that.

    I ended up staying in India’s capital for just three fairly inactive days. My one touristy day was spent in Old Delhi, where I checked out Red Fort and the narrow, winding roads of the ancient city. The fort was pretty cool and I even found my way up a questionable looking ladder to the top of a building that I’m pretty sure visitors are not welcome. The view was amazing.

    What wasn’t amazing was the scale and omnipresence of abject poverty. The smells, sounds, sights and smells were everything you’d imagine them to be, and they were everywhere. It was raw. It was real. It was eyeopening.

    The food, nearly all vegetarian and served with some sort of bread, was different from any Indian I had prior. The flavors were complex, mouth-warming and delicious. Prices ranged from 20 cents to around a dollar, further enticing me to eat as much as possible. I subsisted entirely on street food and never developed the infamous Delhi Belly.

    After a few days of adjusting from an essentially “normal” life in Penang to a traveler’s life in India, I left Delhi to do as so many others do: visit Agra and see the Taj Mahal.

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  • Southeast Asia is home to a some great street food cities, but a few stand out above the rest, most notably Singapore and Penang. My 3 day eating stopover in the latter turned into a 3 month semi-residency that allowed me to taste quite a bit of what Penang has to offer. It was delicious! Like Singapore, Penang has substantial Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian populations and this cultural composition is reflected in the dining options.

    Most days for me started with a breakfast of roti canai at New Krishna in Little India. Roti Canai is Malaysian Indian flatbreads served with an assortment of curries. Krishna also makes a mean chicken masala dosa. My late night staple was also Kapitan has a few locations in town that are open 24 hours a day serving up the best tandoori chicken naan set I’ve ever had. Another Indian favorite in Penang was Veloo Villas, which makes exceptional banana leaf sets.

    While Indian food served as the bookends of my day, much of the rest was filled with Chinese. Penang hosts many hawker centers and my personal favorite was on 7th Avenue, which was also a 5 minute walk from my apartment. Local Hokkien Chinese specialties include char kway teow, laksa, hokkien mee, chee cheong fun, rojak, and many more.

    Nasi Kandar is possibly the most iconic dish of Penang and there is no shortage of quality establishments churning out the ricey deliciousness all day and all night. Line Clear ranks among the best and despite the tourist influx resulting from Mr. Bourdain visiting, it’s still mostly locals eating there.

    There are plenty of guesthouses in Penang, mostly concentrated in and around Love Lane (a 2 minute walk from Little India). You can find a decent, private room for about $10/night. Like the rest of Malaysia, alcohol is expensive compared to the cost of everything else. By far, my favorite drinking establishment is Antarabangsa. Located on the fringe of Little India, Antarabangsa is a small shop where you buy your beer as you would in a convenience store, then drink it outside on plastic chairs and tables; it’s grimy, cheap, and absolutely perfect.

    Penang is the perfect size, offers incredible food, and is a must-visit for anyone in the region. Be warned: you may fall in love and stay for much longer than anticipated!

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  • The best way to ensure something will not happen is to plan on it. When traveling, I try to maintain as much flexibility as possible. Sometimes, I plan on spending a week in a place and am ready to leave after a few days, as was the case in BARIO. There are also times when I think I’ll go to a place for a couple days and end up spending a week or more. You never know how much you are going to like a place until you go there and there is no telling what you may find or who you may meet.

    Due to its reputation as a premier food city, Penang was on the top of my list of places to visit in Malaysia. The plan was to spend about 3 days eating as much as possible, then move on and continue my journey. That was a month ago.

    I contacted several CouchSurfing hosts and they all responded warmly, but none of them were able to host for the dates I’d be in town. The Penang CS group is fairly active and meets for dinner every Tuesday. It just so happened that I arrived on that day of the week and was able to join them for dinner. If I knew we were going to a vegetarian restaurant, I probably would have passed. After dinner I went for drinks with a few people from the group. That’s when it happened.

    A classmate of Richard, one of the Penang CS people, happened to be at the place we ended up at and joined us. I’ve been to many places and met a lot of people, but no one like her. I didn’t believe in love at first sight until I met Michelle. We shared an instant connection of a magnitude I previously didn’t think possible and have been inseparable ever since.

    In a matter of days I decided to abandon my plans for the rest of the trip and spend the remainder of the year in Penang. Nepal and India aren’t going anywhere and I knew that I would regret it for the rest of my life if I were to just walk away. It is a huge bonus that she lives in Penang, which is a truly beautiful city full of delicious food and wonderful people.

    Rather than nearing the end of Nepal’s Anapurna Circuit, I’ve just found a longterm place to stay and am getting settled here in Penang. I haven’t doubted my decision for a second and feel better about it more and more each day. Ultimately, only time will tell what happens, but, I know at the very core of my being that I made the right choice.

    Due to the unforeseen turn of events, the blog will transition from travel mode to life in Penang. It’s a wonderful place and I’m looking forward to learning more about it and sharing with whoever is interested. I prefer not to discuss personal matters here, but figured I owed an explanation for the curtailment of my trip. This blog will not turn into a sappy profession of love and will be immediately returning to its usual content of food, people, and culture. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

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  • Borneo. The name inspired visions of wild jungle and indigenous peoples carrying on a way of life that has changed little for hundreds of years. My yearning for adventure took me to the Malaysian part of the island, which is also shared by Brunei and Indonesia. Searching for the most authentic, real Borneo experience brought me to Bario.

    Bario can only be accessed via prop plane or an 18 hour drive in a 4WD vehicle from Miri. A oneway plane ticket only runs about $30. The town of Bario itself has already abandoned the traditional way of life, has nothing of substance to offer visitors, and the food is horrible. Accessible by boat or a very scenic and beautiful 2-4 hour hike, nearby Pa’lungan was said to be the last vestige of the Borneo that was.

    Unfortunately, even Pa’lungan has fallen victim to the changing world. The town is literally dying. Once children reach 6 years of age, they move to Bario for school and only visit on weekends and holidays. When it’s time for high school they are sent to either Miri or Kuching and only come back home for holidays. Few return home for good after university.

    The old-growth forests that I dreamt of are also lost forever due to logging; the major treks from Pa’lungan take you through secondary growth forests along logging roads. If you are looking to join indigenous people using blowguns to hunt monkeys hiding in thousand year old trees, this is definitely not the place.

    In recent years, the aging population of Pa’lungan has been using tourism to generate revenue, with a number of homestays popping up in the small village. I arrived during rice planting season and at a time when several guides were in the jungle with a large group. The village was virtually deserted, but I was taken in by an incredible man named Balang Mudut.

    Although Balang Mudut isn’t in the business of operating a homestay, he let me stay at his home. He and his wife, Doreen, were like having parents in Pa’lungan. Their genuine and tremendous hospitality was among the best I have ever received anywhere in the world. They fed me extremely fresh, very delicious food and even let me help plant in the paddy. It truly put the “home” in homestay and was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had. If you visit Pa’lungan, Balang Mudut’s cell number is 01119198810. Call and let him know you’re friends with Jay from Hawaii.

    The only available trekking guide in town was a man named Mado, who also operates a guesthouse. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS MAN in any capacity. He tried to grossly overcharge me for a trek and I managed to talk him down to just overcharging me. We were supposed to spend 5 days in the jungle. Without me asking, he repeatedly boasted that his farm was organic. The sprayers and containers of RoundUp laying around his farmhouse were the final straw for me. Midway through the second day of our five day jungle trek we had been in the jungle for just a total of four hours, with the bulk of the time spent at his house or “organic” farm. I later found out that he has a reputation for short changing and even stealing from visitors.

    Disillusioned, I left Bario early. There was no problem moving my flight up a few days and it only cost $5 to change the ticket. Bario was definitely not what I had hoped it would be, but meeting Balang Mudut and Doreen more than made the trip worthwhile. You don’t always find what you expect and may even encounter a Mado, but, fortunately, there are Balang Muduts too.

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  • Miri is an oil city in Sarawak that has transitioned to producing palm oil after its fossil fuel deposits began to run dry. The city itself is totally void of character and charm and reminds me of the bad parts of America. There are cars everywhere, way too many shopping malls for a place its size, and people are fat.

    In Sibu I began to notice a change in the people. Instead of all smiles and welcoming faces, there were a lot more dirty looks and scowls. This was even more so in Miri. Not that there weren’t friendly people, but the place overall lacked the welcoming feeling I had grown accustomed to and quite fond of.

    The saving grace of my time in Miri was my wonderful CouchSurfing host, Kate. Her dad is Malaysian Chinese from Miri and her mom is Thai. She spent the first 9 years of her life in Bangkok, then moved to Miri. Her boyfriend, Alex, was a really cool guy. He is half Iban (the indigenous people of the area) and half Scottish. He provided a ton of awesome background on the area and the people. Despite him spending all of his life and her spending most of hers in Miri, they feel the same way about the place as I do. While I was sorry for them having to live in such a place, I was selfishly happy to have them as company while I was there.

    I wasn’t able to stay at Kate’s place, but she sent me to Dillenia Guesthouse. A dorm room costs 30 Ringgit ($10) per night, which is standard for Miri. Mrs. Lee, who runs the guesthouse was extremely sweet, warm, and welcoming. Dillenia is in a good location, close to the center of town.

    Kate went out of her way to show me what Miri has to offer culinarily. The food wasn’t horrible, but was far from great. I wasn’t wowed by Miri’s most famous dish, kolo mee. It was my first time seeing pandan chicken, chicken wrapped in pandan leaves then fried. On my last night, Kate took me for seafood. Bamboo clams were yet another first for me. We also had mussels, which were quite good, and oysters, which were not very spectacular.

    I took a day-trip to nearby Niah National Park to see its famous caves. A car ride out there costs 60 Ringgit ($20) return and the drive is 90 minutes each way. The park entry fee is another 20 Ringgit and the ferry from the park to the area where the caves are is 1 Ringgit each way. The ferry ride literally takes 30 seconds. I seriously wonder why they didn’t just build a bridge, but did enjoy the novelty of the world’s shortest ferry ride. Unfortunately, the Painted Cave, which contains 40,000 year old petroglyphs, was closed for renovation. The caves I did see were amazing though. They were way bigger than I thought they would be and I was pleased with the experience.

    My reason for going to Miri was to fly to Bario, a remote town in southeastern Sarawak that can only be accessed via plane (or an 18 hour drive in a 4WD vehicle) from Miri. Miri is also the access point for Mulu, home to the biggest cave and most popular mountain in Malaysian Borneo. If you plan to go to either Bario or Mulu and must pass through Miri, spend as little time as possible there.

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  • Kapit is your quintessential lazy little town on a river and my favorite place in Sarawak. The only way to reach Kapit is by boat from Sibu. A oneway ticket runs about 25 ringgit ($8) and the ride takes a couple hours.

    Lodging is not cheap and there are no dorms/hostels. The least expensive hotel I could find was 50 ringgit per night, but there was a catch. In addition to the usual “no durians” sign, this hotel also prohibited guests from bringing chickens in the building. You know you’re in the country when hotels post “no chickens” signs! I visited Kapit with Kevin, who I had met CouchSurfing in Kuching. This worked out well since, in addition to having excellent company, we were able to split the cost of the room.

    Being a sleepy little town, there isn’t too much going on in Kapit. The central market is definitely the heart of Kapit and we spent plenty of time there, tasting, watching, and interacting.

    Kevin sparked a conversation with a woman who was selling something she claimed to be octopus, but I think she just didn’t know the English word for what it was. The lady was really nice and ended up making us umai, a ceviche like dish unique to Sarawak. It was really tasty and we also got to try some fruits I’d never even seen before. Our presence brought a great deal of attention to the stall as we were the only foreigners in town.

    Outside of our great experience at the market, the food in Kapit wasn’t anything special. There is a small night market with food stalls, but it was unremarkable. The market featured an abundance of sate and chicken dishes, but little else. Kapit definitely proved that the food doesn’t have to be great in order for me to enjoy a place.

    As far as nightlife is concerned, Kapit literally has a couple bars. Kevin and I checked them out at about 9pm on a Thursday night and they were empty. We returned a few hours later and found that one was totally packed. It was surprising to see so much activity in a little town on a weeknight. We were given VIP treatment by the locals and had a great time.

    Kapit was a great place to relax and enjoy the simple life, but still had the option of getting loose with the local youth. The lack of foreign visitors creates an atmosphere where you are welcomed and greeted with smiling faces. There are similar places throughout the region, but it was very refreshing to visit this one in Sarawak.

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  • Kuching, the Cat City, was my gateway from Singapore to Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Located on the northwest of the island, Kuching is a common port of arrival for visitors to Borneo.

    Yet again, I was able to find a great CouchSurfing host. Elly already had an American Surfer named Jay staying with her when I arrived, but had no problem taking in another. The other Jay has been teaching English in Saigon for the last 3 years and was spending a few weeks in Borneo. The morning after I arrived Jay and I went to Bako National Park for 2 days and 1 night.

    Bako National Park can only be accessed by boat and the ferry terminal is a 30 minute drive from Kuching. The cost of the boat is 90 ringgit ($30) return for up to four people. The park entry fee is 15 ringgit and a dorm room costs 15 ringgit per night.

    The park is best known for its proboscis or “Dutch” monkeys. There are a range of hiking options at the park, but you can see the famous monkeys after just a short walk from the park center. The park center is inhabited by some “naughty” macaques and wild pigs that have interesting facial hair that makes them resemble American Civil War generals.

    Jay and I arrived in the early afternoon and had time to hike to Tanjung Rhu Beach and back. The hike took about four hours and went through some pretty jungle and by the extremely underwhelming Tajor Waterfall. The water at the beach was extremely murky and bathwater-warm. The slope of the ground under the water was very gentle and you have to walk quite a ways out to reach waist-level. Once we made it to that point, we noticed a jellyfish. Then another. After a very cautious walk back, we made it to dry land un-stung.

    Night walks are offered for 10 ringgit per person. Our walk lasted a little over 90 minutes and we saw green vipers, brown tree snakes, big centipedes, fireflies, a tarantula looking spider, a scorpion, and a stick bug. You can skip the organized walk and easily find all of those creatures yourself with a flashlight.

    The last boat back to civilization leaves at 4pm and my traveling companion didn’t want to attempt either of the two longest walks at Bako. Instead, we opted for the “Big Circle.” The first half of the hike was on the same trail we had walked the day before, but instead of heading north to the beach, it turned south to start the loop. The walk was nice and going clockwise as we had definitely made it easier with the changes in elevation; the second half of the circle looks like it would be no fun to go up.

    Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are offered at the Park’s restaurant. The food was not very good. The medley of frozen corn, peas, and carrots appeared in seemingly every noodle and rice dish. The prices were reasonably cheap considering the remote location. Dinner was 10-12 ringgit.

    Bako National Park was good, but not great. With the accommodations and amenities offered, you certainly aren’t roughing it, but you can still see some decent jungle and go on some nice walks. It’s not a destination I would plan my schedule around, but is worth seeing if you are in the area.

    When Elly picked us up from the ferry terminal, she was a third Surfer who was also American, but not a Jay. Kevin works in the Yunan province of China as a tour guide and is fluent in Mandarin. The four of us spent the next couple days together in Kuching.

    There isn’t much going on in Kuching. The Sarawak river runs through the center of town and is quite lovely when lit up at night. Elly took us on a one hour drive to Damai Beach. The water was very murky and the sand was far from golden. The Beach does host an annual Rainforest Music Festival each July that is supposed to be incredible.

    Kuching has a few open air markets and plenty of restaurants. Other than some good laksa, the food wasn’t anything special. Elly made us a few dinners that were tasty and we all chowed down on some durian.

    The city itself is not a place I’d want to spend a great deal of time, but is a good starting point for Sarawak and close to a few national parks and other points of interest.

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  • The worst part of getting food poisoning on my last night in Jakarta was knowing that I had to fly to Singapore the next day. I was going to Singapore for one reason: to eat. My sickness lasted violently through the morning, but I still managed to make it to the airport and arrive safely in Singapore. Like Michael Jordan dropping 50 with the flu, I put mind over matter and got my eat on.

    Last year, I met two great girls from Singapore in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. One of the girls, Esther, was leaving the day after I got in town, but was able to meet me for dinner that night. I had the iconic chicken rice as well as really good sting ray, mussels, and some Tiger beer. So much for food poisoning.

    Esther and I were joined by my AMAZING CouchSurfing host, Jen. Jen is one of those people that remind me how beautiful humanity can be. She has a great outlook on life and treats people so well that it’s almost too much. Jen’s mom is a great cook and a wealth of information on Singapore and Malaysia. Believe it or not, but her food was actually the best thing I had to eat in Singapore.

    Jen and I also met up with my other Singaporean friend I met last year, Charlotte. We had lunch, some great conversation, and walked around the water on Singapore’s east coast.

    Earlier in the year, I showed a food loving CouchSurfer around Honolulu. It just so happened that Lily arrived in Singapore the same day as me. Joined by her friend Yen, we shared a few meals and did some catching up. We started with claypot rice, curried fish, and morning glory with shrimp paste and chili at a place Bourdain hit up on Layover on Gilang Street. That was followed by the king of fruits, durian.

    Jen took Lily, Yen, and I for dinner in Little India. It wasn’t the best Indian I’ve had, but the company couldn’t be beat. Next, we met up with some of Jen’s friends, who were incredibly nice, and walked around the city. We went to a venue on Arab Street and met some more of Jen’s friends, then grinded down on some great Malay food.

    Jen’s cousin was having an engagement party while I was in town. It was an honor to be able to attend a traditional Malaysian Muslim engagement party, something not too many foreigners get to do. The groom doesn’t attend, but his family goes on his behalf to collect presents from his future bride’s family and to negotiate things like who will keep the ring if they split up. As you may have imagined, there was food, lots and lots of very delicious, home cooked food.

    After the party, we got to join some of Jen’s friends for visiting. After Ramadan, Muslims visit one another’s homes to celebrate and eat. It was really cool to experience this piece of culture as well.

    Jen and I went to the Newton Hawker Center to have chili crab for my last dinner in Singapore, but it was CLOSED. There was some stupid Chinese ghost festival going on and the entire hawker center was shut down. I was devastated. We drowned our sorrows in durian and beer.

    I booked a later flight so I could have another shot at chili crab. Once again, we were joined by Lily and Yen and had quite the adventure searching, but it wasn’t meant to be. Next time!

    Singapore airport has the best airport eating I’ve ever come across, but it’s a secret. The staff canteen located on level P2 of Terminal 1 is a full blown hawker center in the airport! Almost everyone eating there was an employee, but the place is open to the public and very, very cheap.

    I kept this post as brief as possible and had to leave out quite a bit. My three days in Singapore were unreal. It was perfect on every level and I will definitely be going back again to eat more! Seeing familiar faces and meeting new friends was just as good as eating all of the delicious food – well, almost.

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  • Indonesia’s capital was unlike any other place I’d been in the country. For starters, it actually resembled a proper city, most notably when it comes to transportation. Like any other major city, traffic is a huge problem, but it’s still possible to get around Jakarta very affordably in a reasonable amount of time. There are bus only lanes that connect most of the major points in the city that are free from the shackles of rush hour traffic. The bus costs just 3500 IDR ($0.35) one way! Taxis are pricy, but bajaj and ojek are very cheap and convenient.

    My CouchSurfing experience in Jakarta was definitely a first. I received an invitation to Surf at a guy from Singapore’s place and accepted. It wasn’t until after I arrived that I found out that my host was gay and had a big bed in his small studio for us to share. I’m a pretty open and tolerant guy and went with it. Herman was a gentleman and the sleeping situation was not an issue. He does dress rather….festive…and we received a lot of attention when he would show me around. Indonesia is a Muslim country and although Jakarta is a large city, it still has a somewhat conservative culture.

    It was not a situation I would have sought out, but I’m glad I experienced it. Herman was a great host and, although he was extremely busy with work, still found time to show me around the city. We visited the National Monument at night, where I had some durian ice cream. He also showed me Jalan Jaksa, a bar street whose patrons are ex-pats, travelers, and locals looking to meet foreign friends. Herman likes to have a get loose on the weekend, but, unfortunately, I was only there Monday to Wednesday and didn’t get to experience club Stadium.

    Herman isn’t as food driven as I am and, not being a local, wasn’t too aware of food from the area. He took me for some nasi padang, an assault of a couple dozen dishes, which is actually Sumatran. It was quite tasty and my favorites were rendang and calf brain. I had some really good chicken sate and mie ayam, noodles with chicken offal and water spinach. The best thing I had in Jakarta was chicken foot soup. Tragically, I got food poisoning on my last night in town. We went to an Indonesian place not far from Herman’s place and I ended up getting sick for the first time this trip. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t flying to Singapore – to eat – the next morning.

    While Herman was working, I decided to skip the touristy stuff and get lost in the outskirts of town. It was eye opening. Jakarta has big buildings, sports cars and every other form of first world opulence, but the outskirts were a different story. I spent hours weaving my way through winding alleyways of the shantytowns on the city’s northern limits. The sights, sounds, and smells were those of abject poverty. I feel incredibly awkward taking pictures in those situations and didn’t take my camera out. Other than of a couple kids asking for money, the people were really friendly and welcoming. They did look very confused as to what I was doing there; I could tell they don’t get many foreign visitors. It’s never fun to see people with so little, but I always appreciate the opportunity to gain the perspective one only can by visiting such a place. I returned to the city center and they went about their business as usual.

    Jakarta was quite a place for me. There were a range of situations that put me out of my comfort zone – in very different ways – and I’m grateful to have experienced them. The city is huge and possibilities are endless. It was nice coming to Jakarta after spending some time in the rest of Indonesia to see the contrast between the nation and its capital city.

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  • This may be an awkward opener, but I’ve got to say it up front. Yogyakarta has the cheapest laundry service I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world. The going rate is 2500 IDR/kilo, but I did see one place advertising 2000. That works out to about a dime a pound! The price of laundry is a good indicator of the rest of the city; it’s cheap.

    Yogyakarta, or “Jogja” as it’s commonly referred to, is a university town in Central Java. Being a college town, it is crawling with tons of cheap, good food and as Bohemian an atmosphere as one can find in a Muslim country.

    My CouchSurfing host for Jogja was Richard and I had the honor of being his first Surfer. After meeting so many wonderful Indonesian hosts, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Richard would be welcoming, nice, and extremely friendly. He did everything he possibly could to make my time in Jogja great and succeeded.

    We knocked out a few touristy things, the “must-dos” for Jogja. The Keraton, where the Sultan still lives, is a “must-skip” as far as I’m concerned. Admission is next to nothing, but the place itself was underwhelming to say the least. It’s not a pretty building and there isn’t much to see.

    Borobudur Temple is about an hour ride from town. It was strange that they had a separate ticket sales area for locals and foreigners. It was an absolute shock to see that they were charging foreigners $20 to enter. This is more than 5x the admission price for any other temple or site I’ve come across in Indonesia. The temple itself does not justify the price relative to what $20 can buy you in Indonesia, especially Jogja. That’s a lot of laundry! However, my visit was made into a positive one by the schoolchildren I encountered at the top of the temple. I was swarmed by a couple dozen cute little kids that gave me the rockstar treatment. It made me really happy to see their smiling faces and it was totally worth the price of admission.

    As far as food is concerned, it was pretty good and very cheap. One thing that I saw in Jogja and nowhere else is coffee with charcoal briquettes in the glass. It didn’t affect the taste, but unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo. Gado-gado, tofu covered in peanut sauce, is one of the better known dishes and I didn’t really care for it. The sauce was more like slop, there wasn’t much going on, and “spicy” was far from what I desire. Soto Banjar, chicken soup, was okay. We had Lonton Opor, chicken and egg in coconut milk curry, at the Sunday morning market and it was good. I also enjoyed nasi kuning, turmeric rice with chicken offal. We had some late night gudeg, young jackfruit in coconut milk with spicy chicken and chicken intestine sate, that was outstanding. The highlight was definitely oseng mercon, spicy beef offal.

    My last two hours in Jogja were spent at Happy Puppy Karaoke from 12-2 pm, sober, with Richard and his friend Vindy. I’m not a big fan of karaoke, especially under those circumstances, but it was definitely a unique experience and I had a good time.

    I only spent a couple days in Yogyakarta, but managed to squeeze in quite a bit, all thanks to Richard. Jogja was a lot of fun and I wouldn’t mind going back for more cheap eating and good times. It’s a definite stop on any trip through Java.

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