Tag Archives: Malaysia

A Malaysian Tropical Spice Garden Party for William Kraft & Friends

01 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by in Composers, Food, Georgetown, LA International New Music Festival, Malaysia, Penang Island, Travel, Uncategorized

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A late summer lunch with Jan and friends Heidi Lesemann, Bill Kraft and Joan Huang.

A late summer beef rendang lunch with Jan, Heidi Lesemann, Bill Kraft and Joan Huang.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. Mae West

If I had to define patriotism, it would be the tastes of your childhood. If I sample a mixture of brown sugar and butter, I can go all Proust on myself and remember my mother’s cookies. And if I had to define maturity, it would be the evolution of taste acquired over time and exposure to many different cuisines.

Which is another way to say that I didn’t grow up on the Malay specialty of beef rendang!

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Climbing the Batu Caves of Lord Murugan in Malaysia

25 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by in Batu Caves, Christopher Isherwood, Jacob Zeitlin, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Travel, Uncategorized

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The imposing Lord Muruga at the Batu Caves.

The imposing Lord Murugan at the Batu Caves.

Cheyon, Senthil, Velan, Kumaran, Svaminatha, Saravanan, Arumugam or Shanumuga, Dandapani, Guruguha, Subrahmanya, Karitikeya, Skanda. Let’s just admit that Lord Murugan, the son of Shiva and the Commander of the Gods and Victory, goes by a lot of names throughout India, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Phillipines, Indonesia, Singapore, the surfing island of Réunion and Malaysia.

With the inspiration of businessman K. Thamboosamy Pillai, the Batu Caves outside of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia became identified with Lord Murugan in the early 1890s. Since 1892 the Thaipusam Festival in early January/February is celebrated here with endless throngs of worshippers crowding the 272 steps up to the top of the caves. The imposing statue of Lord Murugan was erected in 2006 and is the largest Hindu shrine outside of India.

Climbing the 272 steps? Unforgettable.

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My Journey to the East: In Search of Hermann Hesse, W. Somerset Maugham & The Singapore Sling

17 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in Eastern and Oriental Hotel, Food, Georgetown, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Hermann Hesse, Jacob Zeitlin, LA International New Music Festival, Malaysia, Penang Island, Singapore, Uncategorized, W. Somerset Maugham

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A puppet shop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A puppet shop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I do not bring back from a journey quite the same self that I took. W. Somerset Maugham The Gentleman in the Parlour

I can now easily locate my fascination with Asia when I remember certain events and people of my childhood. I’ve already written about Harry Woo of Hong Kong, who worked for my parents, reading to me in Chinese while pointing to his calligraphy. My first memory of a world outside of my family is of being taken to Chinatown for dinner in Los Angeles. I doubt I’ve ever forgotten the blue silk dress and lavish blue mascara of the server. And my pediatrician’s nurse was Japanese and the kindest soul on earth to me whenever I was a sick child.

At least I now recognize that these memories help me piece together those now far away moments of Asian awakenings, creating a map of my life and the new decisions that shape its events.

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Finding the Best Asam Laksa in Georgetown on Penang Island in Malaysia

04 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by in Asam Laksa, Food, Georgetown, Malaysia, Penang Island, Singapore, Travel, Uncategorized

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A sunset over the Andaman Sea on Penang Island in Malaysia.

A sunset over the Andaman Sea on Penang Island in Malaysia.

Perhaps all of our lives changed 518 long and almost forgotten years ago.

On May 20, 1498, in the waning months of the 15th century, Vasco da Gama became the first European to set foot in India. The world would never be the same again. Food would irrevocably never be the same again. And as if ordered by fate, da Gama would die in Portuguese India’s Cochin on Christmas Eve, 1524. His death, 26 years after his first landing in India, still resonates in the 21st century. The geography of the Portuguese explorer’s passing reminds us that, like us, he would not be able to physically extricate himself from having made contact with the East.

In a global world that’s here to stay, we are all still trying to understand each other.

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Street Food Heaven: A Tour of Jalan Penang Road & New Lane Hawker Stalls

04 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by in Asam Laksa, Eastern and Oriental Hotel, Food, Georgetown, Hermann Hesse, Malaysia, Penang Island, Travel, Uncategorized

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The 1885 Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Georgetown.

During the time I was in the UNESCO World Heritage City of Georgetown on Penang Island in Malaysia, I didn’t recognize the big impact it would exert on my life. But as my memory takes over from those experiences with the Straits of Malacca, I know that I’ll never be the same again.

Not only are the peoples and religions of China, India, Pakistan, Burma, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka all mixed up with the remnant of former British Malaya in a dazzlingly vibrant textile of culture. What is now apparent, to the world’s intangible benefit, is a vibrant and alive composite cuisine that, for me, changed my taste forever. There is no going back. I’ve crossed a food Rubicon because of Malaysia.

Salt and pepper will never be the same again.

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Heaven on Earth: A Malaysian Soup Paradise in Georgetown on Penang Island

28 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Asam Laksa, Food, Georgetown, Malaysia, Penang Island, Singapore, Travel, Uncategorized

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A stockpot of asam laksa at Jo Hooi Cafe.

A stockpot of asam laksa at Jooi Hooi Cafe.

Soup connects the world. And here’s the recipe. Good anywhere on the planet.

Combine water with nature’s vegetables, or use a stock from chicken, pork, fish, seaweed, or beef, add the spices and herbs of a specific culture, stir, bubble and boil until you cannot stop tasting the broth. Add any number of garnishing ingredients, from croutons in France to bean sprouts in Asia or chicharrones in Mexico, grab a spoon and eat, then live your life, fortified for anything that comes your way.

If there is a Soup Paradise here on Planet Earth, Georgetown on Penang Island in Malaysia might just be the place. At least for me I found Soup Heaven here!

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