BREAKFAST AT YOGYA
LUNCH
AT KUALA LUMPUR
DINNER
AT PHNOM PENH
YOU CAN, THANKS TO TONY FERNANDES AND AIR
ASIA
The breakfast was sumptuous indeed! An omelette
and a variety of Indo dishes to taste. The strong Sumatran coffee becomes
sweeter with the addition of Hot Milk and Gulah Merah (brown sugar). A local
herbal concoction of tamarind, cucumbers drink to settle the stomach down.
My friends in Bogor at Joe Travels had
organized the transfer. A shiny black sedan appears and within 20 minutes we
are at the confusion, they call International Airport of Jogja. They truly have
to streamline it a bit. Air Asia is bringing in more passengers than all the
other carriers. Flight from KUL was full; the flight to KUL was full! The
waiting room can only handle one flight at a time, confusion at the Immigration
line as it snakes out of the entrance and people scrambling for the few seats
inside the waiting lounge with no amenities whatsoever. 100 K IDR to be paid as departure tax in cash,
so I have go out of the security area, find an ATM machine to take out some
money, back through the security.
Seat 1F, Joe Travels had organized that for
me, wrote postcards all the way to KUL so that I can post them at the airport
with the 50 cent Malaysian stamps that I have. I didn't feel good arriving at
KUL. After Indonesia, Malaysia appears akin to Singapore in its friendliness.
Long lines of Indonesians, poor souls, trying to better their lives, by
becoming slaves in Malaysia.
I found the Information booth, which was
hidden amidst the cacophony and WCs.
I asked where could I get some Teh Tahrek?
Always ask an Indian; you have a better
chance of a reply.
I arrive at a coolie resto- made me feel
warm at heart.
Roti Canai plate 12 MYR $4usd
Teh Tahrek 5 MYR $1.75 usd
Delicious!
Thought of a recent trip to Malacca and the
hotel Puri and the incredible Chinese hostess, who is also the curator of the
Cheng Ho Museum. A tinge of nostalgia. Malaysia no longer holds that strong
attraction to me, such things happen and one has to accept that… there are
other lovelier countries in the ASEAN..
A short flight to Phnom Penh. On Air Asia.
Seat 6 C. No one sitting on the row. What was disturbing to observe was a
gaggle of young Khmer women, all clad in Malay Moslem costume, head to toe,
returning home after indoctrinating courses in Malaysia! Their smiles and
giggle, despite their prison type uniform, set them apart! Shame on you,
Malaysia. For exporting this destruction of human spirit.
My Khmer friends in Phnom Penh insisted
that we walk from the Le Rit’s Boutique Hotel to the riverfront through the
active noises of a dusk time in Phnom Penh.
A soothing river cruise as the full moon
was lighting up the sky, ripples of its reflection waving to us as the boats
pass this part of Mekong River. After that relaxed boat trip, face massaged by
that strange mix of warm/cool wind of the tropics –to a newly opened Khmer
Resto my friends had selected
Fish Amok
Seafood salad with pepper from Kampot
Good pepper comes from that province, they
said
Three entirely different cultures;
But there is an underlying unity.
Hindu and Buddhist influences on the three
native cultures of INDO/MALAY/KHMER!
All came from South India and Tanjore,
which was the centre of Buddhist learning once upon a time.
Tibet, Mongolia, Malayas, wherever India had
preached her wisdom, had been through genuine human relations. To-day my
pilgrimage is to witness those historical evidences of man’s holy access
everywhere. Also to note is, that India of yore did not preach some cut and
dried sermons, but inaugurated the inner treasure of man through architecture,
sculpture, painting, music and literature, stamps of which remain in the
deserts, woods, rocks, isles, rugged terrain and difficult resolves………”. [Java diary, July 1927] Rabindranath
Tagore..
An excerpt in Bengali below:
Sagar jale sinan kori sajala elo chule
bashiachhile upala-upakule.
Shithila peetabash
matir pare kutilarekha lutilo charipash.
Nirabaran bakshe taba, nirabharan dehe
chikan sona-likhan usha ankia dilo snehe.
Makarachura mukutkhani pori lalatpare
dhanukbaan dhori dakhin kare
danranu raj-beshi
Kahinu “ami eshechhi pardeshi”
