After the friendly traditional game match with the kampung boys at the badminton court earlier, we’re finally off for lunch.

Our host’s house. The host has taken the trouble to not only prepare lunch for us but also attends to our needs for refreshment and prayer break for the Muslims.

Generous lunch spread prepared by our host.

They have certainly gone all out for us. Just take a look at all these dishes. They are all authentic kampung dish delicacies.

A humble plate of plain steamed rice with traditional dishes. Clockwise from bottom left; nangka masak lemak cili padi, sambal tempe, kangkung goreng belacan and a side of jantung pisang, ulam daun tenggek burung and sambal belacan. These are not strange dishes to me. In fact my husband and I buy these from the Malay economy rice stalls pretty often…and would gleefully eat them by using our fingers if we buy takeouts and dine at home, but these are strangely addictive. Believe it or not, my husband had two huge plates of these, and took plenty of ulam to go with the rice, especially the ‘tenggek burung’ leaves (literally translated as the perching birds leaves).Being almost a carnivore, I was reluctant to try the leaves at first. I don’t always fancy greens, but when I did, I ended up like him; keep adding up a handful of the leaves to go with the rice. The leaves goes well with rice and sambal belacan, and tasted pretty much like sourish mango, slightly on a bitter note.

Lunch was a pretty interesting gastronomic affair, I must say. Something that we definitely wouldn’t mind doing over and over again in Banghuris Homestay, but such pleasure must come to end. Fortunately for us though, the day is still young and more adventures and surprises awaits us.

Next up: A visit to the bamboo farm.

It was scorching hot and our media entourage was on on the way to lunch in one of the host’s house when we were stopped half way by some kampung boys whom issued us a challenge to a friendly match to traditional game when we passed by the badminton court. 😛 They were so persuasive that we thought, oh hey…why not? The people are so enthusiastic and it is just so wrong to say no to their invitation.

Here’s city boys turned kampung boys, wearing their batik sarong in a rather fashionable way, just before the friendly match 😉 Spot a hijabista wannabe in the photo? Well, everyone had a good laugh over this one.

The boys gets to play this game: Kicking The Feathers or locally known as ‘Sepak Bulu Ayam’ (Tating Lawi). I’m not quite sure of the rules on playing the game but as far as I’m concerned, it is a traditional game where a group of people form a circle and try kicking the ball that is made from chicken feathers as much as they can without dropping it to the floor. Those with most kick wins the game.

Us ladies were given a chance to play the traditional tag, chase and catch game, Galah Panjang too and boy, despite the fact that we did not really know how to play the game, and chaos ensues with excited scream and screech when we chased each other, we really had fun!

Here’s us, taking a break after the game before really heading to lunch. 😛 As I was resting and rehydrating, I keep thinking that Banghuris Homestay is definitely an interesting place to visit, and how simple kampung life is. We are often caught in rat race and the city kids are mostly glued to the gadgets rather than play games like this that provides real fun that enables you to interact with the people around you. Modern life is indeed sad and even more so for children who are usually locked away in tuition centre most of the time after they started schooling. Even their weekends are stolen from them in the name of academic achievements.

But for what it’s worth,I’m never the conventional parent who believes in just academic achievements and I never bother putting my son into any extra classes and whatnot, and throughout it all, I’m glad to be able to let my son see and experience all these in Banghuris Homestay first hand, and I sure hope other parents who are looking for a holiday with a difference consider a visit here. 🙂

I visited Banghuris Homestay with Sahabat Media/Santai Travel in 2013 for the launching of Voluntourism Program in Bagan Lalang, Sepang. It was a very memorable experience where we were treated to first class kampung hospitality. You can read all about my adventure in Banghuris Homestay HERE.

And so, when I was invited again for a revisit by Tourism Malaysia Selangor this year to Banghuris Homestay for their ‘A Day With Selangor Javanese Community at Banghuris Homestay in Conjunction of Nasi Ambeng Festival‘organized by JKKN, I couldn’t resist. I knew I had to say yes. Deep inside, I knew without a doubt that it will once again be a fantastic experience although the program is completely different from my previous visit.

Banghuris Homestay won The Best Homestay Award in 2014 by Tourism Malaysia and is an abbreviation of three kampung names; Kampung Bukit Bangkong, Kampung Hulu Chuchoh and Kampung HuluTeris. Basically it is three villages forming a homestay with 80 participating houses providing homestay service. It is about 35km from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and 97km from Kuala Lumpur. The nearest tourism attraction to Banghuris Homestay is Sepang Gold Coast, which is about 15km away. Definitely a much more laid back choice of accommodation instead of the commercializes and expensive chalet should you want to spend some time in Sepang Gold Coast.

Our journey began as early as 7.30am from Shah Alam and here’s part of the the media entourage. 😉 Us ladies posing with the kain batik provided by our host. How’s that for a kampung girl image? 😉 Can you spot me in there?;

Upon arrival, we were taken to a kampung house for breakfast by our host.

Tuan Haji Wasir Wagiman, Manager of Banghuris Homestay, fondly known as ‘Wak’, giving his welcoming speech and introducing us abit about Javanese culture and their food.

The breakfast served is catered to give you a complete kampung experience where the breakfast spread was carefully laid on the floor and you are required to sit and enjoy your meal communal dining style. 🙂

Here’s the traditional dishes served as our breakfast.

The common Nasi Lemak and Sambal Tumis. Being a fan of all things savoury, I enjoyed this dish very much and had three plates of it. The coconut rice was rich and flavourful while the sambal was surprisingly more on the sweet note. I would go for the fourth plate, but I was feeling rather shy to add anymore onto my plate. 😛

Lemet Singkong Gula Merah is a traditional Javanese dessert made from steamed rice flour, brown sugar and ripened cassavas as the filling. Wrapped up in banana leaves, the texture is very chewy and tasted very sweet. I’ll be honest, I’m not really a big fan of sweet stuff so I find this dessert a bit overwhelming on the palate. However, I’m happy to report that everyone else seems to enjoy it a lot.

Tumtuman. Similar to the Lemet Singkong Gula Merah this coned shaped dessert is also made from steamed rice flour, but instead of cassavas, it was made with sweet, ripe bananas. Wrapped in banana leaves, this moderately sweet kuih is irresistible and provides instant comfort to a growling tummy.

Lempeng Tepung is actually the humble flour pancake. It’s bland to be eaten on it’s own but to die for when taken with savoury or sweet dips.

Taucu Ikan Bilis. I foolishly thought this was supposed to be paired with Nasi Lemak so I had these as my Nasi Lemak gravy along with the sweet sambal, only to be told that it was actually meant to be the accompanying dip for the Lempeng Tepung. Silly me. But the taste was good, even when I paired it wrongly. 😛

I enjoyed the kampung style breakfast very much, and after chit chatting with our friendly host who insists on giving us all the food that we couldn’t finish, it’s time for a little trip around Banghuris Homestay. Since the Nasi Ambeng Festival 2015 is going on, there are plenty of things for us to see and to experience, and so, off we go to our next stop.

Right now Banghuris Homestay is offering RM250 (per pax) for a 3days 2 night package that is inclusive of meals and planned activities. Great for kids during school holidays and for those who wants to experience a kampung life.

Info on Banghuris Homestay, should you interested in staying there:

Address
Banghuris Homestay
Jalan Tailong
Kg. Hulu Chuchoh
43950 SG.Pelek
Sepang Selangor

Phone: 03-31421019

Email: banghuris_homestay@yahoo.com

Next up: A Day with Javanese Community in Banghuris Homestay, The Air of Festival.

So what did we do next? There are plenty of interesting things we did, so for now, stay tune for the next post.

I am not really a coffee drinker but my husband is and nothing beats chillaxing with him in a coffee house or a cafe over a cuppa or two. While we were in Melaka, we visited Mods Cafe. It is located just a few minutes walk away from the hotel that we stayed for the night.

Mods Cafe have been operating for about 3-4 years.

It is a very eclectic cafe with A 1978 Volkswagen Kombi Campervan in Hippie floral orange parked inside. The van served as the coffee bar and cashier.

We were informed that it is not a merely decorative tool. They drive the van out every now and then and served as a coffee van outdoors.

Mods Cafe is a very unique and vibrant place with all sort of antiquities decorating the quaint cafe. One of a kind, I must say. The place is perfect for photography enthusiasts and of course, selfie queens like myself.

Anyway, Mods Cafe have a roaster inside the shop, hence they roast their own beans. And here’s what we had that day.

Piccolo and Cappuccino. The taste is a tad too robust and strong for me but my husband loves it very much, so I guess that’s all that matters. 🙂

Price wise, the coffees here is rather pricey, much pricier than my regular coffee and tea lurks in KL, even but I’m not complaining. The ambiance and the coffee is worth paying for, in my humble opinion.

Do give a visit to this lovely cafe if you are ever in Melaka. Below is the info for it.

Mods Cafe
14, Jalan Tokong , 75200 Malacca
Tel: 012-756 4441

https://www.facebook.com/modscafe

How can you not love a man who will go the distance just to be with you, literally and figuratively? 🙂 I’m blessed with such a man.

I went on a solo trip with my boy to Melaka for the Lantern Festival a.k.a the Chinese Valentine’s day celebration ans my husband went over soon after he finished work to spend the weekend with me.

Anyway, as I said earlier, it was the Chinese Valentine’s festival or commonly known as Chap Goh Mei over here in Melaka and men and women were given oranges and bananas respectively to be thrown into the river to find their love match.

Chap Goh Mei is associated with the traditional myth of young unmarried ladies throwing mandarin oranges inscribed with names and telephone numbers into rivers in search of a boyfriend or husband.

However, ‘Chap Goh Mei’ itself means the 15th night of Chinese New Year in Hokkien, which also marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration.

The day is celebrated similarly to the day before Chinese New Year is celebrated –with much joy and festivity. During Chap Goh Mei, families gather over a grand meal which includes glutinous rice balls and homes are beautifully lit with red lanterns. At the temples during Chap Goh Mei, people offers prayers to the God of Prosperity (Cai Shen Yeh) to bless their family with good fortune for the coming year.

Traditionally, the day is punctuated by the sounds of the love ballad called Dondang Sayang that is sung in streets to the instruments of a violin, two drums and a gong. Sometimes this becomes comedy when the lyrics are changed by the singers.

I told my husband I’ve thrown an orange too when he came to meet me in Melaka. 😛 Oh hey…I’m spoken for but I’m a hopeless romantic. Can’t blame me for that, can you? My husband asked me what I wrote on the orange before I threw it into the river. I said….I just wrote my blog link https://cleff.bia.garf.us. 😛 but that’s not all I wrote, actually. I was just too shy to tell him. Yes yes, 12 going on 13 years together and I still blush around him every now and then

😉 I wrote ‘520, for all eternity’. 😉 Nobody knew what the numbers really meant, but my husband and I shared something really significant about the numbers. 😉

I don’t usually celebrate Valentine’s day, be it the Western or the Chinese version, but hey…I’m not complaining. 😉 it was indeed an experience to remember and a wonderful memory to cherish.

Did quite a lot of things during the Chap Goh Mei weekend and I will be sharing with you about Melaka Alive cultural performance and more interesting places to visit soon, so stay tuned for more. 🙂