Awwww.

Over romanticised, sure.







But, awwwww.

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Langkawi Chronicles: DITLO: SNAKE!

Got a call today from one of the guests at the resort. 

Guest: Encik, datang segera ke Chalet Kenanga 1, ada ular. Cepat Encik!

Razee: Baiklah, saya datang sekarang and dashes out the door.

Guest: Terima Kasih Encik, tu dia haaa (and points to it while I take a look).

Razee: Okay, Tuan dan ahli keluarga semua masuk ke dalam Chalet semula dan tutup semua pintu masuk sementara saya usahakan ular ni.

Proceeds to usher the snake away with a long safety pole, while guests continue looking and agape (blithely ignoring my instruction to stay indoors). 

Carefully guided the snake to a drain chute a distance away. Little that the guests knew that the snake was a venomous one, a Monocled Cobra that can grow to be close to 2 meters long and occurs throughout the Peninsula Malaysia, Thailand, India, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam and sporadically in China. 

The 'O' pattern on the neck is the Monocle.

The trick is to guide the critter away to a direction we want it to, without actually touching it, bashing it, or worse, picking it up. Harassing it will only cause the snake to Hood and force it to stand its ground, prolonging the process. So, let it go on its way by corralling it in the direction we do want it to go. I absolutely detest killing a creature and so this method is the best as it removes the need for physical contact (besides, being bitten can really ruin one's day!).

As a precaution against it returning, we liberally sprinkle Sulphur along the perimeter of the chalets and structures. 

Crisis averted in 5 minutes. 

Langkawi Chronicles: Buah Janggus

This my dear friends is the fruit of the Cashew plant. What we normally eat is the seed, either fried or baked to a crisp and salted. Many, like me, are painfully unaware to the joy the fruit itself bestow.

Cashew fruit, or locally called Buah Janggus or Gajus.

The fruit is a fascinating little anomaly. When unripe it is firm with a waxy sheen and has an astringency that makes it rather unpalatable. As it ripens, it develops a sweet sourish aroma and the formerly firm crisp fruit develops a spongy and ridiculously juicy texture. And lets not forget about that weird comma shaped seed pod (and its poisonous, caustic sap!)

What did it taste like? 

Imagine a eating a slightly rubbery skinned fruit. At the bite, the flesh has a texture akin to sopping wet rubberised cotton-balls that immediately release lashings of fragrant juice with a light yet lasting finish (but not stickily so). A few moments later an interesting dry-mouthed feel pervades, thanks to the residual effect of the astringent compounds.

The aroma is the one most difficult to place, the slightly sourish aroma is reminiscent of rotting apples (that wonderful yeasty sour-sweet tang). I would say cider-y is the best closest memory I can pin it on. Locals often eat the fruit sectioned and sprinkled with salt & sugar. 

Sprinkled with salt & sugar and them babies leach the fragrant juice!

The seed is encased in a hard, pistachio nut like outer shell. This would need to be roasted until blackened to burn away the caustic sap. The seed can then be eaten accordingly as a nut.

The shoots & young leaves can be eaten as a herb or ulam, with sambal belacan or any spicy condiment. The leaves too carry the characteristic astringent quality. Locals, sometimes finely shred the leaves and add it as a leafy component in Laksa Langkawi. When just enough shredded leaves are added, the slight sour hit of the herb cuts across the rich 'fishiness' of the gravy. 

Give it a try if you find yourself in Langkawi and looking for interesting things to eat.

Langkawi Shellfish Hunt

15 months in Langkawi and I finally relented to go to the beach for some fun and frolic (not a beach person lah, what to do!). The gang suggested we go hunting for some shellfish as it was low-tide season.

Morning light

Golden light ablaze! 

Had loads of fun. Our haul was not that much though, as we were largely concentrating on not falling into the water (and laughing aloud at any given opportunity). We hunted for baby octopi, clams, scallops, mussels and some other odd cockles.

I see you!

Much fun!

Ugh, like wtf is that? Probably a seasquirt of some sort.

This phallic looking thing is a sea cucumber!

Fan worm!

Bag-o-lunch!

Weird cauliflower looking anemone/soft coral!

Sea star

This lil fucker is an anemone!

Sea star part 2!

posted from Bloggeroid

Langkawi Chronicles: A day in the life of a resort keeper!

Snake: Nom nom nom nom!

Snake: Uh oh.... must nom quikly!

Me : Heeebie Jeeebies! *Shudders*

Snake: Escape, escape! *Rolls around ineffectively*

Scoop!

Done.
Like.A.Boss!

Transience

Langkawi Chronicles: Beronok Breakfast

Game on!

On a whim, I decided it would be fun to sample the local delicacy 'Beronok' as fresh as it could be had, raw.

Woke up, got ready and drove to the wet market and snatched a small bag for 3 Ringgit. Thought that it was ridiculously cheap, but my colleagues who are locals thought that it was a tad expensive (Really?). I got a total of 27 sausages for it, which works out to 11.11 sens a Beronok.

Got to the kitchen, unloaded the pack and boom!

Barrel-o-Beronoks!

This thing is edible? Really? Errr... Okay.

 They are said to be a similar life-form to the Sea Cucumber, and yes, just as ugly! To prepare it for consumption, you slit the belly open and rinse out all the gungy bits and mud (scraping it with a knife works well).

The Beronok is a bottom feeder ingesting bits of food found
in the sandy/muddy seabed, so yeah, slimy gross insides.

Rinse the whole thing under running water and toss it in a colander. Try not to leave it in liquids as it will quickly lose moisture by leaching its own juices. Slice the thing up into thin rings (for older, firmer specimens) or fingers (for younger, tender specimens) and use it as needed.

Generally locals do not have it cooked in any way due to massive shrinkage brought about by moisture loss, so it is eaten raw, or tossed as an ingredient in a Kerabu or Urap.

I have had Beronok (Kerabu style) and Sea Cucumber (Stewed with Shrooms, Chinese Style) in the past, but never raw like this, so it was a little weird, being watched by 2 Beronok-eating colleagues, as I took a big bite out of another one I cut into 2.

(o_O)  ......... Eewwwww.

Perhaps having it Sashimi style would be wonderful.

A dash of Kikkoman soy sauce and Wasabi.

To be fair, I guess, I was a tad put off by the ugly appearance of the creature itself and the fact that it was still alive after I slit open the belly! Despite the interesting looking innards. there was no off odours at all, which was a relief, just a faint murky seawater/squid like aroma.

Beautiful briny bites!

Biting into it was the biggest joy and surprise, it was at once briny fresh and clean tasting. Its texture squarely between the resisting crunch of jelly fish and the density of Ika (cuttlefish) Sashimi. In fact the flavour too, is closest to Ika, complete with the slightly gelatinous finish.

So,the next time you come to Langkawi, give Beronok a try. Cultural experience and all that!

Out & About: Langkawi Bird Paradise & Wildlife Park

Another tourist trap I tried out in Langkawi about 2 months ago. I went in totally not expecting much (the basis here is that if one is not expecting anything therefore one cannot be disappointed) in terms of experience and yet again I was pleasantly surprised.


It was of course situated fairly a distance away from the usual tourist haunts, along Air Hangat Road (one of the original trunk road in Langkawi) closer to Kuah town than the rest of the scenic spots here. Fairly easy to find with several road signs directing intrepid souls.

First off was the special entrance fee of only RM15 (dude, this is a steal!). Senior citizens were allowed the Child rate of a low RM 6 (Yeayy for Warga Mas!). Then there is a few small pens of Hedgehogs, Rabbits and Guinea Pigs positioned before the entrance, so visitors could get in some free Squees beforehand.

Hedgehogs in Langkawi!

Guinea Pigs, which is a weird misnomer really as they aren't related to pigs nor are they from Guinea.

Roger!

Third would be the picture station directly in front of the entrance gate for photo opportunities with several super tame Macaws and Parrots, of you and your loved ones with them birdies. I have always appreciated birds from the Parrot and Macaw complex and at one time considered having one as a pet. The reality is however pretty alarming. Many of these birds live upwards of 20 years, therefore making keeping them a lifelong commitment. Knowing I may not have the ability to keep them healthy and well looked after certainly kept me off this path. 

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Peek A Boo! I See You!

Once in, you would notice how the large the actual place is (the collateral doesn't quite say how big it is but I would guesstimate approximately 4 to 5 acres). The fauna in here is largely Avian with the occasional mammal and reptile here and there.

Flamingos! I bought a pack of bird seeds and it was fun to watch them sift it out of the water with their bills. Looking at them up close makes me realise how ridiculous their design is. All legs and neck! :)

 Colourful pheasant with multi hued feathers

Ground brooding hen.

I love these furry fowls!

After a short maze of cage-based displays, the park opens up to an open air enclosure, designed to allow limited flight within the compounds.

Wall of Orchids greeting us before entering the center enclosure.

Common quail.

Mated pair of white doves

Mousedeer!

Greater African Crested Crane. These perform a very complex courtship dance during love season.

 

Man made waterfall

Arapaima gigas pond.

Then came the Cassowary & Ostrich enclosure. Got to feeding them seed and vegetable matter and it was fun. Who would have known they possessed such precision in aiming for the food bits. And long eyelashes too! Cute! Never once did any of them pecked the other while feeding.

Then there were some mammals.

Abu the Binturong. He smells of pandan and popcorn weird but he smelled really really pleasant. None of those off odours associated with caged animals. In fact, this dude is so placid he was positively cuddly (never mind the 1inch long claws he sports!)

About the size of a Labrador, Binturongs are opportunistic omnivores that supplement their diet with some animal protein (which explains those long canines!). In this place, guests are allowed to feed him only fruit matter as the keepers manage his vegetable and protein intake.

The balance of my animal feed went to these 2 jokers. These 2 were inseparable during my trip here. They shared a carrot, an apple and a few slices of orange.

What? Hahaha! These were pasted on many of the open air enclosures. I think in part to remind guests to not litter and to protect the denizens inside.