The heart and soul of Javanese culture can be found in Yogyakarta, which is an extremely pleasant place to spend a few months.

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My article about the wonderful city of Vung Tau, Vietnam on the Free Press Journal

The Free Press: VUNG TAU- VIETNAMS INTERNATIONAL RESORT TOWN

My article about the wonderful city of Vung Tau, Vietnam on the Free Press Journal

The Free Press: VUNG TAU- VIETNAMS INTERNATIONAL RESORT TOWN

Indonesia's capital and largest city is a microcosm of the country. It offers the best and worst of the archipelago. Glitzy high-rises, heritage buildings and party zones go hand in hand with crowds, pollution and possibly the worst traffic jams on earth.

Although ignored by tourists, the city has plenty of offer to visitors.

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One of the best things about Kuala Lumpur is the wonderful food options. You can see people eating at any given point of day in any corner of the metropolis. There's the option of great Malay food at a Nasi Kandar or Chinese at many of the chicken rice shops and of course, delicious Tamil food in many parts of the city like the old Little India.

A Chinese friend and I had decided to have dinner at one of the street-side restaurants in Bukit Bintang. Looking at the elaborate menu, which included deer meat, I wanted to go simple with chicken and prawn fried rice.

For some strange reason, the waitress had a difficult time understanding the combo we wanted in our rice. And my friend was Cantonese and couldn't speak Mandarin. So we ordered and ate our delicious chicken and prawn rice. The chicken seemed extra tender and the taste was different in some way.

When it was time to pay the bill, there was a Mandarin-Cantonese argument between my friend and the waitress. When I asked for a translation, I was told it was something minor.


12 hours later, I get a phone call from my friend asking whether I had used the bathroom since dinner and after I replied in the affirmative, she told me that we were served frog and prawn. The waitress heard the prawn as frog and then got confused with the chicken part and finally chose to make it prawn and frog.

Since the food was well-digested, I didn't feel like throwing up. As much as I love meat and fish, I am wondering if I shouldn't look for more vegetarian food once in a while.