Flora and Fauna at Teluk Bahang national park

Teluk Bahang National Park is possibly one of the smallest but most interesting and easy to explore national parks in Malaysia. I have hiked both Monkey Beach and Keracut Beach with my mother, tourists that I met on travels and some of my friends. The pictures with the animals were taken as I hiked either completely on my own or with some Dutch travelers that I met in the park.

This time was the first time that I hiked with Couchsurfers from Malaysia. Couchsurfer Chau, his friend Chin and myself hiked to Keracut Beach. This is pretty much a local and quiet beach, due to the fact that people have to hike to this beach. Chau prepared a great picnic lunch and just name what is missing: sandwiches, different types of canned tuna, cucmbers, tomatoes, onions, drinks. Thank you Chau for organising such a great day.

We hiked in the morning and it was pleasant because we were not exposed to the scorching Malaysian heat. It was quite a big pity that the monkeys, lizards and other inhabitants of the national park had their day off on that Sunday. Nevertheless, Chau, Chin and me got to know each other quite well and we had great conversations. Actually I prefer such outings with local and non-local couchsurfers rather than an uncomfortable couch with a host who considers you a stranger and who provides nothing more than a place to sleep. Living close-corner with travellers whose company I don't prefer too much would add more to the suboptimal experience.

Well, Chin and Chau have been great company who enjoyed food and picnic lunches as much as they enjoyed nature and trekking.The National Park was well-organised and they maintain a little turtle sanctuary on Keracut Beach. I was lazy and tired in the afternoon and chose the boat to return instead of hiking in the heat. The boat was less expensive than I thought, RM 10,- or 2 EUR. For the first time I saw the whole national park from the ocean side from a boat. Something nobody should miss for such a reasonable price. It was my first time on a boat either and it is a great experience to experience the park from different viewpoints.

Hidden eating places on Penang island

Teluk Bahang national park bus station
If you are bored while waiting for the bus between teluk Bahang and Balik Pulau, you may stop at the mamak(muslim Indian) stall right next to the bus stop. Not only that the owners help you with travel information but they have one of the best home-cooked chicken curries. The vegetable stir-fry is unique and their protha delicious.

Balik Pulau
The Balik Pulau laksa is of course more famous and located on a busy street corner at Jl. Sungei Penang. It is tasty and unique. They prepare a unique home-made curry blend that he would probably not even disclose under torture. However, he explained that he put fish, tamarind and shrimp paste into his laksa. Please never forget to try his fresh nutmeg juice.

Just next to the Balik Pulau Laksa is a good durian vendor. A nice old man whose name I need to ask the next time I buy famous Malaysian durian from him. He gave me a durian which has been nibbled off by a squirrel. These little animals know exactly which durian is good and which is not.

The wet market close to the bus terminal is worth a visit. Here you will find more durians and delicious hawker food. Bus 501 leaves Teluk Bahang bus station every 1/2 hour past the hour and provide a marvellous ride through the hills and fruit farms. Make sure you'll be there 1/2 hour before because the bus doesn't wait for you.

Bukit Jambul Shopping Complex
is a great place to shop and Mydin supermarket is one of the cheapest next to Tesco on the island of Penang. If you arrive there in the afternoon, you will find a lot of cheap fresh food and fruits of the season. Just a sample of foods you may like to find here: Pulut udang(sticky rice with a spicy shredded shrimp wrapped in banana leaf and grilled on charcoal) for 50 c, pancakes for 80 c, nasi lemak with special curry for RM 2,50 etc etc.

Traditional Sundanese Wedding on 6 February 2011 in Garut

Last weekend my friends Wiwi and Novia invited me spontaneously to Garut to attend their friend's Daughter's wedding. I thought already that I would be thrilled but I never thought it would be that extremely unforgettable. Garut is a beautiful little town in the mountains just 60 km from Bandung. Tourist attractions include the Cipanas hot spring area, several treks and the Papandayan crater. Kampung Naga, a socially secluded village with members still living in the past without technology, electricity and transport is probably the most impressive place in the Garut area. It is reminiscent of the Baduy society which I have visited before but unfortunately I didn't have the chance to visit these beautiful places. Our schedule was very packed. Instead, I made some new friends like Pak Dadang and his family. We had a lovely food tour in lovely and fairly cheap traditional restaurants. The gurame fish with green chilli is one of the very great dishes

The next day was different from the original plan where we were supposed to go to the church and then eat. Because I was considered part of the Pak Dadang family,he started knocking on my door at 5.30. I was still asleep but didn't need too long to get ready and pack my suitcase. Afterall, it was worth all the energy. We did have an interesting cultural exchange already in the car and found Pak Dadang very openminded towards other cultures including the ethnic Chinese.

All the family was gathered at Pak Dadang's place and before getting my bridal make-up, I joined them for a small breakfast consisting of rice, chicken and some vegies. Later we had risoles(crumbed spring rolls) and lemper(chicken cooked in coconut milk stuffed in a sticky rice roll) for morning tea. The makeup artist started transform my face until probably nobody would recognise me. I thought she needed very long to transform the ugly duckling into a Sundanese beauty;-P. My hair was too short and stood out like a lion, so she modified my hairdo and put a Sundanese hair decoration into my hair.

The bridal escorts were dressed in blue kebayas(Sundanese Indonesian traditional tunic) and sarongs. I spent some time talking to the Wedding celebrant, MC, his assistants, Pak Dadang's relatives, the Ustads(Moslem scholars) and penghulu(traditional Moslem Wedding officer). The MC spoke some English but my Indonesian was actually fine.

So if I remember well the ceremony started in this order:
1. Serah terima or bridegroom handover from their family to the bridal family. The bridegroom's family handed over presents to the family of the bride. Everything was represented from quilts, fruit baskets, canned and dried food, crockery, pots and pans etc
2. The real ceremony, both parties agreed on the money and gold to "buy" the bridegroom
3. Praying several chapters of the Qur'an before and afterwards
4. Traditional Sundanese singing
5. The most fun of all, the "Nyawer" ceremony. All of us would throw some money and candies or instant noodles into the crowd. everybody will try to be the first person to pick up some money or candies. Well, in my beautiful dress I was the last and felt like an elephant dressed as a princess

Bridegroom and escorts got ready to go the the rented building where the wedding reception continued. Wiwi and NOvia arrived with faces so astonished as if they saw a monster from outer space. Apparently all the make up and dress had changed me quite a bit.

This was probably one of the highlights of my stay in Jakarta and meeting unforgettable people like Pak Dadang and his family.

German Christmas cooking with CS Indonesia

Magdalena and Faiza have organised many cooking classes. This time they planned to organise a German class, so I decided to give them a helping hand










They had many cooking classes starting from French, Cambodian, Thai, the several regions of Indonesia and recently the German class. German pre-Christmas(Advent)cooking has always been the highlight of the Christmas tradition in many countries. This time we decided to transfer this atmosphere from Germany to Indonesia. We haven't stopped enjoying the beautiful Rinderrouladen(beef rolls), Rotkraut(red cabbage) and an improvised mixture of potato dumpling and baked potatoes. It was perfectly organised and I started to doubt whether I'm professional enough to join in into the organisation








It was a fun experience making Rotkraut(red cabbage) together. The pot was so light that we needed four people in total, three to hold the pot and one to stir.















We had to wear name tags so it was easier to remember people's names. These are Bratäpfel(baked apples) a la CS Indonesia with them displayed on the dish. It was a wonderful cultural exchange, very playful with some sort of party atmosphere.Magdalena hosted me the night before and we went out for shopping. This has been one of the highlights how the Couchsurfing idea is transformed into practice by having cooking class parties

Katja Brüdermann's Shiatsu On-Tour Pantomime

We don't need to host or surf to enjoy Couchsurfing. Yesss....we don't even need to get too far from our house!!! Through a CS post on the Mainz(Germany) group I met Katja Brüdermann. She was looking for improvised pantomime performers to accompany the reading of her book:" Von einer, der sich auf den weg macht(Shiatsu on Tour)" at the Wiesbaden Wellness Fair, 16 km from Mainz. Katja likes to travel on her bike and offers shiatsu treatments while on tour. These are photos of our outstanding and funny pantomime performance at the Wiesbaden Wellness Fair! Katja and me reading excerpts out of her book accompanied by our pantomime.





SHIATSU ON-TOUR PANTOMIME and READING
"This is my shiatsu team!" said Katja Brüdermann while reading excerpts out of her book


Scenario: Hippie Festival. "I wonder whether I fit in into this crazy pack of tantra massaging hippies....."







Hippie Music Festival: The shiatsu team is building a yurt. Putting together the small parts or getting tangled up. Similar to shiatsu



At the end all the tiny bits and pieces form a well-rounded structure. That's what shiatsu is all about:-)







Treating a stressed woman with a noisy, sandwich smacking family in the background



Treating a hippie couple with sore legs after dancing




Man with excruciating backpain coming in after midnight


That's not yet one hour mein Fräulein! Don't wanna make more money??











Grrrrr...biking through Mecklenburg's bumpy roads and sand dunes. I continue my tour with heavy luggage on the worst trail since ever...........





Finally I have found a room to sleep in.......hooray!!!

Dumpster diving with Talley and Callum

Callum MacDonald had a very unique request. He wished to join into dumpster diving and to live in a squat. While I was unable to provide the latter, it was great fun to go on a dumpster diving tour.

My goal is not to promote dumpster diving for fun because this may result in shops locking up their trash bins and needy people will have no opportunity to find food. Callum has been an old friend and therefore I included him in our hunt. However, normally I don't do it with surfers that I have never met before. It is hard to imagine that organic super markets throw away such a huge amount of products. Callum and me had a gourmet organic meal of packaged German potato pancakes(Kartoffelpuffer) and a sealed jar of awesome apple/mango mark with some bacon from my fridge.

Dumpster diving is different in different countries. In Germany it is officially prohibited and considered theft. However, people don't bother to call the police and the police doesn't take much action either. In most conservative cities in Germany, large supermarkets tend to cover and lock their trash bins which they do in Mainz. Wiesbaden is less strict especially the smaller shops and we may need to look for small organic supermarkets. Giant supermarkets like Aldi or Nettokom calculate the purchase of their goods very carefully, so nearly nothing is left and thrown in the dumpster. It is the smaller organic shops which we have to look for because they don't calculate their purchase professionally. So we just have to remember that it is us who have to pay for their lack of professionality.

Tips for Germany:
1. Come when it is dark, preferably when it's colder after October
2. Carefully search the bins and tip them all over. Put them back in order and don't leave any of your footprints.
3. The foul goods or trash are purposely put on top as to discourage dumpster divers but at the bottom you will find all gems.
4. Look for small organic shops





Prepare to dive deep into the bin





Callum MacDonald surfing my couch. Dumpster diving in Wiesbaden with Talley

Ronneburg medieval market

" Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is fairest of all?"

"Oh Lady Queen, thou, O Queen, art the fairest of all" Mirror broken, don't believe it;-P
Patricia, a CS member, walking on stilts
Me in medieval lady attire

sword fighting

Clown/fire juggling





A wonderful castle ruine is the Ronneburg Museum Castle in Hesse, 180 km north of Frankfurt. A beautiful location in the middle of breathtaking mountainous views. It is the right setting for a medieval market where beautiful costumes and the middle ages come back to life.