WHERE AM I?
When you order a coffee at one of the elegant salons in this city, the capital of a country that produces no coffee, a tasty morsel of melted chocolate comes in a glass thimble. Where the pure cacao comes from, I am not sure, could it be from Baracoa, my beloved village in Cuba? Or Ghana?
Tourists by the hundreds mill around ornate edifices of 17th century in this 19th century city. I cannot figure out any words in a popular language here which sounds more like a sore throat. I particularly enjoyed the Exhibition opened today, depicting the culture of the maritime conquest of Muscat, Porto Novo, Hormuz, Cochin, Malacca, Molukku and Macao, by people referred to as Ninbars (the southern barbarians) by the warrior lords of a hermetic archipelago. I thought of Dr Tan, founder of the Zheng He museum of Malacca!
Now the Quiz:
And the prizes are: Dinner at NonYa Restaurant at Hotel Equatorial prepared by my friend Chef Bong, the best Nonya food I have ever tasted. ( airfare and accommodation not included)
In which countries in Africa and South America, something similar to the language I was trying to decipher, spoken?
Consolation Prize: Lunch Buffet at Palms Restaurant at Metropolitan Hotel in Ernakulam, the best Kerala food you would ever taste in your life.(airfare and accommodation not included)
Which are the SIX plus FOUR islands in the western hemisphere where the natives of this country may be understood?
Bonus Questions:
1. Prize is dinner at my favourite restaurant in Buenos Aires, La Bodeguita with a bottle of Rutini Malbec ( airfare and accommodation not included)
Name a poet from the country in South America in question, but he wrote in an Asian Language.
2. Prize is Roti Canai with Teh Tahrek at the place of your choice in Kuala Lumpur.
In which hill will you see tombstones in the language in the quiz or name other places in Asia you may have seen the tombstones in that language?
Special Question:
Cuban Dinner in Miami, with Cortadito either at La Carreta or Versailles in Calle Ocho.
Name a descendant of this language speakers who has made a name for himself, writing well in another language, and he lives in Canada?
