Starting Points

Aug 18, 2012

Sleepless in Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Sleepless in Soekarno-Hatta Airport:
Hints and tips for spending the night at Jakarta Airport.

Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport, a.k.a. Soetta, has many evening international arrivals and early morning domestic departures. For example:

International Arrivals | Domestic Departures

TK67	Istanbul	18:20	\|	Y6-851	Ambon	01:05
QR670	Doha	22:05	\|	RI92	Medan	04:30
EK358	Dubai	22:30	\|	JT34	Denpasar	04:30
CX797	Hong Kong	22:50	\|	JT776	Manado	05:00
PR535	Manila	23:55	\|	XN800	Sorong	05:00

Some visitors are therefore choosing to spend the night at Jakarta Airport.
This is not just to save money; with jet-lag and the time difference, tourists may not feel tired yet, especially if they slept on their flight.
Here are some choices for how to spend the night at Jakarta Airport.

Rest | Eat | Other Ideas

Rest

Even with jet-lag, some people find it easy to sleep any time, anywhere.

The authoritative guide on the subject, the website Sleeping in Airports, gives a positive review of Jakarta Airport. Having said that, Jakarta Airport is 1 of 12 nominees for Sleeping in Airports' 2012 Award for the Worst Airport (i.e. most uncomfortable airport for sleeping) in Asia.
If you want to lie down, here are some suggestions:

- Do it inside the secure area (i.e. after the security check), which is passengers and staff only. It is safer than the open/public-access areas.
- Have your valuables in a place that cannot be accessed or at least not easily.
- The inter-terminal bus may not operate very often overnight. Get to the right terminal first before relaxing. You can see which flights depart from which terminal here.
- Take the eyemask and/or earplugs from your international flight with you; failing that, have your sunglasses ready.
- Reconfirm your flight's departure time first; there may have been a last-minute schedule change.
- Set an alarm on your watch or phone, so you don't miss your flight. Don't forget to set the local time first.

Alternately, Plan B is to book a room at a nearby hotel. Many of them include free airport transfers upon request.

Eat

If you have a severe case of the munchies or your domestic flight does not include food, the following restaurants are available:

As well as the usual assortment of burgers and fries, the Indonesian version of the Golden Arches also has fried chicken, rice and ice tea... but curiously no thick shakes. Open 24 hours in Terminal 2. Local rival A&W is also available during daylight hours in Terminal 1.

Japanese fast food chain mixes it up with a wide range of package meals for only a few dollars; it is the cheapest place to get a healthy cooked meal. We recommend the Beef Yakiniku, but it is also good for green tea and fruit juice. Open in Terminal 2.

Good not only for donuts and drinks, DD also does salad rolls called "Boston Sandwich". Branches are in Terminals 1 and 2 but are not open overnight, so best suited for breakfast.
Please note: Indonesian domestic flights do not have restrictions on liquids, so you can bring a drink with you. While AirAsia forbids its passengers bringing their own food/drinks on board (so they have to buy items from the AirAsia menu), personal experience is they do not enforce it.

Other Ideas

- Buy a local SIM card ("perdana") for your phone

This avoids potentially expensive roaming charges. Indonesian SIM cards require the user to register before using it, (in theory) to prevent the phone being used for crime; the shop assistant will help you with this, if you ask them nicely or give them a tip. The most popular pre-paid SIM card is Simpati.
- Visit the viewing/observation deck

Ironically, it is one of the few places where you definitely will not be stared at by others. Perfect if you want a bit of quiet/reflection time. The stairs to the deck are to the left of the entrance of Terminal 1A.

- Get some local currency

Some more remote destinations rarely accept credit cards and have few ATMs. As foreign banks charge per transaction, it is usually recommended to take the maximum amount: Rp1 250 000 ($US135) for ATMs that dispense Rp50 000 notes; Rp2 500 000 ($US270) for ATMs that dispense Rp100 000 notes. While ATMs can be found throughout the airport, the greatest concentration can be found in the Departures area (upstairs) in Terminal 2. Don't forget to set aside some money for airport tax later.
- Use the toilet facilities

Jakarta Airport was recently judged to have the second best airport toilets in the country. So, chances are they are nicer in Jakarta than at your destination. No showers, though.

- Get a free "tour" of the airport on the yellow inter-terminal bus

If you have little else to do, this passes the time in relative comfort.
Have you stayed overnight at Jakarta Airport? What did you do to pass the time? What activities would you recommend to others?
Sleepless in Soekarno-Hatta Airport is brought to you by Indonesia Matters, where you can book flights in Indonesia, and features listings of Indonesian hotels, like Kuta hotels, Sanur hotels, hotels in Jakarta and near Jakarta airport, and more.

Streetfood in Georgetown

Streetfood in Georgetown:
By Mike Aquino
No town in Malaysia can match Penang for its head-over-heels devotion to good food. Every Penangite is a natural foodie, with very strongly-held opinions on where you can get the tastiest char koay teow and which mamak (Indian) stall in Georgetown delivers the best value for your ringgit.
Blame Penang’s colonial history for the hotchpotch of flavours; Georgetown’s past as a British trading depot brought together a rich mix of ethnicities, allowing Indian, Malay, Chinese, Thai, and Arab communities to rub elbows, taste each other’s food, and come out the richer for it. Trade also opened access to a mind-boggling variety of ingredients, allowing cooks to improve on traditional recipes.

Ordering a meal at Gurney Drive, Penang. Pic: Tourism Malaysia.

These days, when the conversation turns to good eats, your average Penangite will mention one location first: Persiaran Gurney, or Gurney Drive, in Penang’s historic Georgetown district. A 1.5 kilometre-long esplanade on Georgetown’s northern end, Gurney Drive is famous for the hawker centre next to the roundabout.
This is an ideal place to start your Penang culinary journey. The place is packed with dozens of food stalls, each one generally dedicated to a single dish. Some of these stalls are family affairs, started long ago by an enterprising ancestor and staffed by the second or third generation. The hawkers are arranged around a foodcourt with tables and seats. The fun begins around 6-7pm and continues into the wee hours shutting down at 3am (weekdays) or 5am (weekends).
For something less hectic or more upscale wander the length of Gurney drive to try the other, classier cafes and restaurants facing the promenade. But say you’ve made your way to Gurney Drive, what Penang food should you try first? Allow us to make a few suggestions.
Char koay teow: the name of this calorific noodle dish translates to “stir-fried rice-cake strips”. To make char koay teow, flat rice noodles are drenched with soy sauce, chilli, shrimp paste, shelled cockles, bean sprouts, chopped Chinese chives, egg, pork lard croutons, and whole prawns, then stir-fried in pork fat.
If that sounds heart-clogging, that’s because it is: the high cholesterol and sodium content of char koay teow does not endear it to cardiologists, but the average Penangite laughs in the face of cardiac arrest, if only for the sake of a good helping served hot from the wok.
The dish’s origins lie among historic Georgetown’s coolies, for whom char koay teow was a delicious, affordable and energy-rich meal. Its ingredients were easy to come by – the adjacent sea is a rich source for cockles and shrimp. Its popularity continues in present-day Georgetown, where more expensive char koay teow come with giant-size prawns and other premium ingredients.

Line Clear Nasi Kandar in Penang. Pic: amrufm / Creative Commons.

Nasi kandar: the archetypal Penang rice meal combines the humble grain staple with assorted Indian-inspired side dishes which tend towards a surfeit of broth, gravy or curry. The point is to drown your rice before eating it, a practice known as “banjir” (flooding).
Nasi kandar takes its name from the days when Indian hawkers would sell rice meals from the street, bearing their wares on rattan baskets suspended from a yoke (kandar) that sat on the hawker’s shoulders. The menu has improved vastly from days when customers ate simple but hearty dishes like curry beef, hardboiled eggs, and okra. Today’s nasi kandar has a significantly improved repertoire with choices that include fried chicken, fish roe, squid, and curried spleen.
The best nasi kandar comes from stalls that have been serving the stuff for generations using the same recipe, staffed by cooks directly descended from the ambulant vendors from the old days.

Gurney Drive Hawker Centre, Penang. Pic: Tourism Malaysia.

Penang asam laksa: this is a hot, sour, and spicy bomb of a noodle dish! Thick rice noodles are drowned in a thick broth brewed in tamarind water with minced fish, onions, turmeric, prawn paste and chilli, with lemongrass to taste and Vietnamese coriander on top.
Asam laksa has no pork, making it a healthier noodle choice. Laksa is usually served with prawn paste on the side, and true aficionados think nothing of spooning it on liberally, but the smell takes getting used to.
The dish is very open to adaptation, too – walk around and you’ll encounter an asam laksa cooked in many different ways such as Malay-style, Chinese-style, or Thai-style (with coconut milk and lime), among others.

So what’ll it be? Whether you stay on Gurney Drive or wander deeper into Georgetown to explore other food outlets lining the historic streets, you’ll find rich pickings for the foodie determined to explore Penang’s variegated culinary landscape. Bon appétit!
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Author Bio
Mike Aquino

Mike Aquino is a writer, which means his office is anywhere he plugs in his laptop. He is based in Manila at the moment, but has had spells working as an advertising copywriter in Singapore and Malaysia. He is currently the guide in charge of About.com Southeast Asia Travel.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out more about travelling to Malaysia, please visit the Tourism Malaysia website

The Mooncake Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival in Malaysia

The Mooncake Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival in Malaysia:
By Joanne Lane
The Mooncake Festival in Kuala Lumpur is held in September, the eighth month of the year. Now before you think I’ve been eating too much mooncake or drinking too much moonshine, let me tell you why.
It’s simple. The Chinese New Year begins in February so September is not actually the ninth month on the Malaysian timetable. But whatever your calendar is, it’s a dazzling spectacle, especially at night when the city lights are complemented by the colourful paper lanterns of all shapes, sizes and colours displayed outside homes and shops or in street parades.

Incense coils are a common sight around Malaysia particularly in districts such as Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown. Pic: Joanne Lane

The festival is celebrated to signify the end of the harvesting season but it also celebrates the overthrow of the Mongol warlords in ancient China. Here we’ll have to take back in time to 1280 AD to explain. This is when the Mongols overthrew the Soong dynasty in China and imposed the Yuan dynasty in China.
Why is this important in Malaysia you may well ask? Well there are a lot of Chinese in Malaysia and until quite recently they were the largest ethnic group. Even though they aren’t any more, that honour belongs to the Malays themselves, Chinese festivals are celebrated with gusto. In fact in multi-ethnic Malaysia festivals of all traditions are celebrated including those of Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist and Christian origins.
Today lanterns form a big part of the celebration, as they are to remind the people of the time they used lanterns as their only source of light. Kids in particular love this aspect of the festival and are often seen roaming around with lanterns in the shape of animals. In Malaysia this particular event is often called the Lantern Parade. There are also lantern parades during the Chinese New Year celebrations, so if you see any such parade advertised just consider what time of year it is. If it’s around February it’s Chinese New Year, if not it could well be part of the Mooncake or Mid-Autumn Festival.
One of the best displays of Mooncake Festival lanterns is the Thean Hou Temple on Robson Hill. In 2011 a lantern parade was held at Central Market in Chinatown.
The best bit about the festival is of course what you get to eat. The round mooncakes are sweet or savoury and often given by younger Chinese to their seniors as an attempt to gain favour. Eating mooncakes in the market place is a delight; biting through crunchy pastry into red beans, ham or creamy egg yolk. Some are also sweet with chocolate and cinnamon flavours. Others have a distinctly Malaysian twist with pandan leaves and durian inside – eek some of you will no doubt say!

Mooncakes. Pic: misbehave, Flickr.

The best place to eat them in Kuala Lumpar is Jalan Petaling in Chinatown where eateries display them in brightly coloured boxes.
While you may not be surprised that mooncakes are round, their shape represents the unity of the family to the Chinese. So in Malaysia the Chinese celebrate the festival with family gatherings and prayers.
There’s some tradition to this. In Chinese Halika and Foochow families the oldest women lead the prayers at the moment when the full moon appears. Before you eat a mooncake they are first offered on altars to deities with the customary lighting of joss sticks, red candles and the burning of golden joss paper. Thirty minutes later the eating begins.

Another Chinese festival that is very popular around Malaysia is the Festival of the Hungry Ghost.
If you miss the Mooncake Festival this year, Malaysia has a wealth of public holidays and special holidays. There are 44 public holidays each year largely based on the Muslim calendar or the Hindu and Chinese calendars.

Guandi Temple in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur. Pic: Joanne Lane.

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Author Bio
Joanne Lane (Australia)
Joanne Lane is an Australian freelance photojournalist based in Brisbane. A love of writing from an early age led her to complete a university journalism degree in 1996 with the idea of pursuing sports journalism, but she soon found the constraints of the newsroom too much. The travel bug soon hit and Jo has now travelled to some 40 countries or more and lived in a few as well, writing and documenting her experiences for newspapers, magazines and online sources around the world. For more details, see www.visitedplanet.com.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out more about travelling to Malaysia, please visit the Tourism Malaysia website

Enjoying the hospitality of headhunters in Borneo

Enjoying the hospitality of headhunters in Borneo:
By Joanne Lane
Rumah Bundong is a 60 year-old, 50-door longhouse near Kapit in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is inhabited by about 40 families of Iban ethnicity, who are famed, amongst many things, for headhunting.
Yes that’s right—headhunting—and 40 families means there are a lot of them. Still, I’m encouraged to learn they ceased the practice around WWII because I’ve elected to stay with them for two nights and frankly I don’t want them getting any ideas.
When I first arrived at Rumah Bundong, one of the first things I saw were skulls swaying from rafters in front of the headman’s bilik (door). Whether it was a warning for unruly guests or a gruesome souvenir for tourists, who knows? In any case I soon took little notice of it because there were so many other things to take in.

Skulls hanging from the rafters at Rumah Bundong. Pic: Joanne Lane.

The longhouse was located about an hour’s bumpy drive from Kapit and across a suspension bridge; in many ways a dramatic arrival that added to the experience.
A ruai (verandah) connected the 100-metre long structure with doors leading to individual family areas. The verandah was a communal area where women dried grains, divided the fish catch, worked on handicrafts, minded children and chatted. The men also grouped together to smoke, mend fishing nets and carve hooks. There was a real sense of a close-knit community.
I was given accommodation for a fee with the headman, Tua Rumah Bundong Tajok, and his family. His married children lived with their own families in a series of rooms in the same quarters, while single members slept in the lounge or near the guest quarters – a loft above the living area.

The 100 metre long stretch of the Rumah Bundong longhouse. Pic: Joanne Lane.

There was electricity, a television, they had mobile phones and lived in basic but comfortable rooms. An outhouse was used for washing and toileting, but most people bathed down at the river.
Few in the family spoke English but it didn’t matter. The headman’s wife and daughters prepared delicious meals of meat and vegetables that we ate communally on the kitchen floor. It was wonderful to be included in family life and not treated differently and I dived into the bowls with everybody else.
The first day I spent playing with the headman’s grandchildren, bathing in the river and exploring to get a sense of the rhythms of the longhouse. Most people were farmers and spent the days working in the fields. There was also a school on site for younger children. In the afternoon the workers would return home and gather on the verandahs.
On the second day I accompanied the headman, some of his family and a dozen workers to their fields. We set out at dawn, walking for 30 minutes across hillsides and rivers to reach what appeared to be a series of burnt out, hilly paddocks.
It didn’t look too promising to me but I guessed they must have recently cleared them for replanting – the task for today. While we sat eating breakfast one of the older men, covered liberally in tattoos, produced a chicken and slit its throat. When he dipped the feathers in the blood and set them in a dish of food—perhaps to bless our work—visions of headhunting came to mind again.

The lunch time feast after a sweaty morning in the fields. Pic: Joanne Lane.

However it was soon clear the chicken was our lunch. The headman burnt its feathers in a fire and began to prepare it. Meanwhile the men started making holes in the ground with poles and the ladies trailed behind filling the pockets with rice seeds.
After watching for awhile I joined the women and was soon scratched, sweating and covered in ash. It was hard work. When we broke for lunch the women gave me a long sleeved shirt, pants and a conical farming hat for protection.
We feasted on chicken, rice and vegetables in a hut by a small stream. Before returning to the fields we all jumped in the water to cool off. As the midday sun came out in burning glory I wondered if I could bow out gracefully, but I didn’t want to let the side down.
By the time we were finished I realized I had earned my kudos and back at the longhouse was invited into homes, had food pressed on me and treated as part of the community.
On my final day a tour group visited the longhouse. Each was given a sip of tuak, rice wine, and food to eat and there was music and dancing. I was seated with the headman’s family throughout this and it seemed an acknowledgement I had become part of the family even just for those few days.
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Author Bio
Joanne Lane (Australia)
Joanne Lane is an Australian freelance photojournalist based in Brisbane. A love of writing from an early age led her to complete a university journalism degree in 1996 with the idea of pursuing sports journalism, but she soon found the constraints of the newsroom too much. The travel bug soon hit and Jo has now travelled to some 40 countries or more and lived in a few as well, writing and documenting her experiences for newspapers, magazines and online sources around the world. For more details, see www.visitedplanet.com.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out more about travelling to Malaysia, please visit the Tourism Malaysia website

Close encounters of the primate kind – visiting the Semenggoh Rehabilitation Centre

Close encounters of the primate kind – visiting the Semenggoh Rehabilitation Centre:
By Joanne Lane
Borneo is famous for its orangutans and the highlight for many travellers here is to see them in the wild. While it is possible to join trips going deep into the jungles of Sarawak and Sabah, these can be expensive and while there are an estimated 20,000 or so orangutans in Borneo there’s no guarantee you’ll actually come across them.
Orangutans are naturally shy creatures and live solitary lives mostly up in the trees so it can be hard to come across them.

Orangutans are mostly arboreal, meaning they live in the trees. Pic: Joanne Lane.

So many short on time that want guaranteed sightings will visit places like the Semenggoh Rehabilitation Centre, just outside Kuching (Sarawak) or the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary near Sandakan (Sabah).
I visited the former during my visit to Kuching as I was very keen to see these “people of the forest” – the direct translation of the name orang utan. What’s important to note about the orangutans at Semenggoh is that while they aren’t purely living in the wild, they are largely free to come and go as they please.
Food is provided twice daily to supplement their needs as there simply isn’t enough protected forest left for them to roam. Apparently large adults will naturally roam a large area of forest each day just to find enough to eat, so without the supplemented diet at Semenggoh there wouldn’t be enough food for them all.
Orangutans are of course an endangered species and thankfully protected by law in Malaysia. Authorities have been trying to counteract their loss of habitat, and the live animal trade, that has decimated their numbers, by setting up these rehabilitation centres.

Feeding time at Semenggoh. An orang-utan reaches down for an egg. Pic: Joanne Lane.

We had a car and driver to take us to Semenggoh from the hotel in Kuching as there were quite a few of us. This saved us a 20 minute walk from the gate, as the public bus, number 6, only drops you at the entrance. It also returns at 5pm so you have to watch the time if you go in the afternoon.
It is best to visit during the feeding times which take place daily from 9-10am and 3-3.30 pm. There’s usually a considerable crowd gathered for these so it’s not a completely unique or camera free experience, but once the orangutans start arriving you forget about everything else.
Around 9am workers at the sanctuary started putting out fruit for the primates. This seemed to be predominantly bananas and pawpaw but apparently they are fond of figs, eggs and even the pungent durian. For awhile we all stood there with our gaze skyward to the trees hoping to catch a glimpse of them.
Before long the first of the primates appeared – its long reddish hair distinct against the green foliage of the trees. It was a confident adolescent male and it worked its way along a well placed rope with incredible agility until it could reach down and pick contentedly at the offerings. It seemed unfazed by the crowd gathered nearby.
Minutes later a mother and baby arrived. The youngster seemed almost dumbstruck by all the attention and gazed at us with wide eyes, hiding intermittently in its mother’s hair. Meanwhile mum herself barely blinked at the waiting audience while she took the offered bottle of milk and sucked away. They seemed almost human in some of their mannerisms and it was easy to see where the name “person of the forest” had come from.

A mother and baby at Semenggoh. Pic: Joanne Lane.

By this stage more and more orangutans began to appear—1, 2, 5, 10… I lost count—and what had originally been a large group of 30-plus tourists began to dissipate as people wandered off to follow a particular primate.
We had been instructed about how to behave around the orangutans and not to give them food, smoke in front of them, touch them or get in their way. At times it was impossible to follow the last of these instructions as occasionally one of them would simply appear within metres of the made paths, above you in the trees and occasionally on the path with you.
When they did come to ground they lumbered along in an almost comical way, babies clutched to their chests, but would then suddenly swing gracefully up by a branch and disappear above you.
There was a notice board in the vicinity that listed the names of each one and some of the park wardens pointed them out when they appeared. There was Ritchie, Rose, Anaku, Selina, Murray and many others. Their date of births were given and their age and mother, if known.
When the food ran out soon after 10am, and they were contented with the feast, they began to leave just as they had arrived. One by one they flitted off into the trees; there would be flashes of red hair here and there and then they would vanish behind the leaves, exactly like people of the forest.
For more information you can contact the Visitors Information Centre at the National Parks Office, tel: (+6) 082 248088 Fax: (+6) 082 248087 or the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre (+6) 082 618423.
—————————————
Author Bio
Joanne Lane (Australia)
Joanne Lane is an Australian freelance photojournalist based in Brisbane. A love of writing from an early age led her to complete a university journalism degree in 1996 with the idea of pursuing sports journalism, but she soon found the constraints of the newsroom too much. The travel bug soon hit and Jo has now travelled to some 40 countries or more and lived in a few as well, writing and documenting her experiences for newspapers, magazines and online sources around the world. For more details, see www.visitedplanet.com.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out more about travelling to Malaysia, please visit the Tourism Malaysia website

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EX MALAYSIA PMProbe Dr M for treason, Sabah RCI urgedAthi Shankar | August 17, 2012It is an open secret that the former prime minister was directly involved in illegally granting citizenship to immigrants, says the DAP.GEORGE TOWN: A DAP MP has called the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants to also investigate former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and others for treason...Expand this post »

EX MALAYSIA PM
Probe Dr M for treason, Sabah RCI urged
Athi Shankar | August 17, 2012
It is an open secret that the former prime minister was directly involved in illegally granting citizenship to immigrants, says the DAP.
GEORGE TOWN: A DAP MP has called the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants to also investigate former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and others for treason...
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Dirty money ? ‘DAP’s haram’ accuser ‘rewarded’ RM2m?Teoh El Sen | August 17, 2012An Umno minister handing over a cheque for RM2 million, posted on Facebook, to a religious teacher who labelled DAP as 'haram' has set tongues wagging.PETALING JAYA: A religious teacher who last week labelled DAP as haram (forbidden) to Muslims has apparently received a RM2 million cheque for his school from the government...Expand this post »

Dirty money ?
‘DAP’s haram’ accuser ‘rewarded’ RM2m?
Teoh El Sen | August 17, 2012
An Umno minister handing over a cheque for RM2 million, posted on Facebook, to a religious teacher who labelled DAP as 'haram' has set tongues wagging.
PETALING JAYA: A religious teacher who last week labelled DAP as haram (forbidden) to Muslims has apparently received a RM2 million cheque for his school from the government...Expand this post »

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Manufahi

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Buddhists Behaving Badly | Foreign Affairs

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Aug 16, 2012

Ex-Military and C.I.A. Officers Attack Obama Over Bin Laden Leaks

Ex-Military and C.I.A. Officers Attack Obama Over Bin Laden Leaks: Former special operations and C.I.A. officers accused President Obama of leaking information for political advantage, an attack Mr. Obama’s aides compared to the Swift Boat ads in 2004.

For most undocumented immigrants, life in the shadows continues:
For thousands of undocumented immigrants who rushed to apply for new protections from deportation, Wednesday was the life-changing day many had dreamed of for years.
But for most, it was just Wednesday.
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