Floating Markets near Hua Hin. Part 2

Hua Hin Sam Phan Nam floating Market

Hua Hin Sam Phan Nam Floating Market

After the Hua Hin Floating Market I rode to the nearby Hua Hin Sam Phan Nam floating Market. To me it seems crazy to have 2 floating markets in such close proximity, but that is commercial interest for you.
Sam Phan is considerably bigger than Hua Hin and was also much busier with several busloads of tourists there and a large school group just turning up as I did. There were also more open shops and a busy series of restaurants.

Superman was not in sight

Generic view of decking and shops

Keeping the floating theme intact

It is a large complex with a central eating area built onto the lake and what turned out to be a stage also built onto the lake. I managed to miss the main performances but did catch some glimpses of dancers in beautiful costumes as I wandered around.

Dancers on a floating platform

There is also a passenger train that runs from one end of the complex to another.

I found this much more exciting than the first market that I had been to. This is a place where you can take the family for a day out and do some shopping, watch the shows and have a nice lunch overlooking the lake. It caters for both locals and tourists.

and my heart went "boom boom boom"

Once again though it is a clothing, trinket and souvenir market and is built around the lake. You can take boat rides around the lake also.

Huay Mongkol Floating Market

This market is so new that it has not hit many of the guide books and online travel guides yet.
Not a lot further on, maybe 10 km from the previous markets it is about 1km from Wat Huay Mongkol (see next post).

When I went there the place was almost deserted. Most shops were closed and still looked vacant, only a handful were open. I spoke with one lady and if I understood her correctly the market does not officially open until November 2013. I was 2 or 3 weeks too early!.

Still it is a pleasant spot and I can see the potential for growth. It is so close to the Wat that it makes a good day trip from Hua Hin you can knock off a temple and market in one go. There are also other attractions in the area that could make a full days outing.

However there is not a lot to report. A large complex with bridges linking sections together and providing shortcuts from one section to another. I saw a bored person using a sling shot and ball bearings to try and shoot fish in the lake. Not the most clever way of using time.
The Bludger was finished with markets for the day.

Floods?

Ayutthaya is a city at the confluence of 3 rivers namely the Pra Sak, the Chao Phraya and Lopburi rivers. The old town is built on an island formed many years ago by building a canal to link the Pra Sak and Chao Phraya rivers.
This area is low lying and flat. In 2011 it flooded extensively when Bangkok and other parts of Thailand were also flooded.
There have been extensive rains in the catchments of the above mentioned rivers and local authorities have had to release water from dams to alleviate the high water levels. Parts of Ayutthaya province are already flooded and although we are not officially on flood watch I have met some worried locals. It reminds me of the atmosphere of Brisbane just before the floods. One lady that I know has left to look after her mother who is in a flooded property. We drove by her mother's place only yesterday and all was well. Today I have been down to the ferry terminal on the Pra Sak river. Normally you walk down a floating gangway to reach the ferry terminal, today I walked up it.

Normally you walk down that ramp. Not today you don't.

The river is in spate. Ordinarily Tug boats tow several large barges in a chain full of building materials down the river to Bangkok. Today there are 2 tugs, the one at the front is barely making headway and is just going with the current and keeping the barges on track. A second tug at the rear is facing backwards and slowing the barges down and preventing the rear most barge from swinging out of line and overtaking the other barges.

Front tug. Slack tow ropes. Just maintaining headway.

The chain of barges

The rear most tug, being dragged backwards.

I ate lunch in a restaurant overlooking the river today. The restaurant owner spent many minutes looking at the river obviously assessing the potential danger of flooding to his property.
Otherwise all good here.
The Bludger is irrigating his stomach with beer.

I wish I could understand Thai

I spent the morning trying to organise a Thailand phone number with Internet for my Smartphone. Technically not difficult but being me I tried to find the best deal which turned out not to be too easy in Ayutthaya as I could not find a store for the major service providers. I wanted a post paid service to achieve better per MB rates. Foreigners cannot sign up to long term plans, unless they have a visa that allows a long term stay. But there are some short term plans that you can get. Too hard to explain to people what I wanted, I eventually gave in and got a prepaid service from a local shop. I have no idea if I got a good deal or not.
Later that afternoon I discovered a whole range of phone shops that probably could have got me a better deal. Such is life.
Setting up the phone was not easy as all the instructions were in Thai and I relied heavily on the daughter of my girlfriend and various others to help me out. But I now have internet and voice & text working. In places where there is no free wifi I can link the laptop to the phone and use it as an internet gateway.
In the process of the search I had a long walk around the streets which helped with my orientation and getting my bearings.
Breakfast was Duck Noodle Soup with a drink for 35 Baht and lunch Pad Thai, which was really nice, for the princely sum of 40 baht ($1.50). That made dinner which was 2 large beers (60 baht each), 1 small beer and a red chicken curry for 290 baht quite expensive.

Pad Thai - ผัดไทย

The Bludger had an early night as both he and gf were tired.

Bali Day 4

With my stomach almost back in control I decided on a long walk. Turning left out of the hotel I headed towards what I believed to be the beach. Just for the hell of it I had a massage along the way. A very good one. I eventually came to the end of the road and what turned out to be the ocean. The waves were large and signs indicated that the beaches were closed for swimming.
I turned left in the direction of Legion. A long walk, but a nice walk. I would have liked to have a dip in the ocean as by now the day was hot, but common sense prevailed, the surf and undertow could be dangerous. I walked on and eventually came to the Seminyak club. A nice looking spot by all accounts.

Continuing on I came to Potato Head. Potato Head is the current trendy place to be. It has taken over from Ku De Ta as the hip and happening place. Being a westerner and being well dressed I was able to walk in without being stopped by the security guards. I saw others being asked for identity, or maybe the bouncers were just checking that they had enough money to be there.

Not exactly sure how to describe Potato Head. It is a beach facing bar and restaurant and accommodation area. The prime activity seems to be reclining on day beds and drinking. Not a bad way of spending a day but the day beds are very close together. The clientele are almost exclusively scantily clad pretty young things both male and female with some decidedly older people trying to be hip and with it. As far as dress standards go, James Bond says it better than me. "that's a nice little nothing you are almost not wearing". Not being a pretty young thing I decided to leave before I was taken for a pervert, or forced to pay for an outrageously expensive drink. The odd thing was I could not find an exit, except back to the beach. Of course there had to be one, but not being a guest I had no idea where to look.
Continuing on I came to Ku De ta. Golly gee willikas I had walked all the way to Kuta. This was not the Kuta that I remembered from my first visit in the mid 80's. Which at the time was grass huts facing the beach. In fact I did not recognise this area at all. Ku De Ta was quiet and I had no desire to linger, so I managed to find an exit, was asked if I needed a taxi as I left, which I politely declined and ended up on a road paralleling the beach. I took a punt, made a left turn and walked up the road for a few minutes and saw a sign pointing to Seminyak Square. Before I knew it I was back at the location of Vivai. I now understood where I was.
So I took a lunch break at one of the restaurants in the complex. A few drinks and a nice Steak and chips went down well. I knew where I was now and decided to continue my walk back to the hotel.
After a short while I began to realise that Bali Belly was not gone, in fact it was starting to come an urgent thing to deal with. By this time I was in the middle of nowhere. No toilets in sight. No Taxis in sight. Nowhere to "relieve" myself. I pushed on doing that stilted stiff legged walk, designed to minimise movement in the lower abdomen, that those in extremis seem to adopt.
My brain was calculating how long I could hang on and how far I had to go. The results were not encouraging. Eventually with what I thought was only a few hundred meters to go I saw a cab and flagged it down. The remaining trip was further than I had thought, continued walking would have been a disaster. I hobbled to my bathroom.
Relief.
Pure blessed relief.
No mess.
No disgrace.
Relief.
Stomach eased.
This was my last day, with a late night flight ahead of me, so I rested the rest of the afternoon and packed my bags.

Brutal is the plain honest truth

Late afternoon I wandered out and had another massage. The same place as the morning, it was worth going back. Pretty close to the massage place was Naughty Nuri's. This place is legendary. The original restaurant is in Ubud in the hills north of Denpassar, this their second restaurant is an experiment. Their claim to fame is fantastic slow cooked ribs which are finished on an open grill before serving. Their real claim to fame is wicked Martinis so strong that they would fuel a Space Probe. I have an experience of the original Naughty Nuri's and no memories of much of the rest of the evening.
I had ribs which were pretty dry and "ordinary" and a couple of Martinis, but was careful not to have excess. I left , caught a cab back to my hotel, picked up my bags and headed to the airport.
The Bludger got home about 4am, had a couple of hours kip and headed for work.

Bali Day 3 - Lovina and back

Bali Day 3.
This morning I awoke with a rumbly stomach and all the signs that I had potentially contracted Bali belly. Not the best way to start the day before a long car trip. I made my way to breakfast but ate sparingly and mainly took the opportunity to fill up on fluids. By the time the taxi driver turned up I had vented what I could and was as ready as I was going to be for the journey.
We left Seminyak, and to be honest I had no real idea where we were going, other than later in the day we would make it to Lovina Beach.
Our first stop was a Temple. A small entry fee and I was able to wander around at my leisure. I am writing this up a month later and too be honest I have forgotten which temple it was and what it was devoted to. It had lovely grounds and a huge sign suggesting that menstruating women should not enter the temple. It also had a toilet and I made good use of that. It was a nice day and very serene and a pleasure to be there.

A nice Balinese Temple

You may need to schedule your visit

Our next stop was a water temple. The Lake Bratan and Ulun Danu Temple at Bedugul. Bedugul is in the mountains and comparatively cool. It was once more a pleasant spot with the lakes and the mountains and lovely lush grounds. On the downside it is very much a tourist attraction, even for the Balinese, and it had more a feel of a botanical gardens with amusements included. Boats for hire, performances, which I missed, from local acts and a very private ceremony in one of the smaller temples, that attracted a lot of visitors and some security to keep the visitors out. A religious ceremony that foreigners would not and should not be invited to. I saw some of the ladies afterwards in their lovely costumes and one of them flashed me a smile. My heart went boom,(stop it Bludger there is no hope there), and she passed on by.

I also found a toilet here and made good use of it.
Along the way we had stopped at a the top of a mountain pass, at a Strawberry farm. I am not sure why we stopped, I think that it was an opportunity for me to eat. But food was pretty low down my list of priorities. I had a pot of tea to keep the fluids up. It did have a magnificent view across to Gunung Agung (Mount Agung) a large volcano - not quite extinct.
So we headed onward toward Singaraja and then to Lovina Beach. We stopped at the GitGit waterfall so that I could visit the falls. I was happy to do so, but was put under duress to hire a guide. I was given a rather pathetic story about how he took no money and all the takings were donated to a local orphanage. He wanted an outrageous amount of money. One of those situations where you end up having little choice, unless you want to create a scene. I bowed to the blatant rip off and allowed this man to lead me around. Shortly after it peeved me to see other tourists, without guides, walking around quite happily. Crappity crap.

However there was a plus side, the guide was happy to take piccies of me, it is not often that the person with the camera gets into the pictures, and he also provided 2 cold and very welcome beers, which he was happy to carry around for me. The waterfalls were nice, the break from the car was nice and if I had been prepared it would have been a nice spot to spend some time and cool off in the pools beneath the falls.
Next stop was Lovina, I had a cat nap in the car on the way. In the process missing some beautiful tropical rainforest countryside.
Many tears ago, (yes I meant "years" but I made a typo, in hindsight it is not a bad mistake to make. There have been many tears.), probably around August 1983, I spent several days at Lovina Beach. My memory is vague, and I have very few photos of that era to remind me. At the time it was a remote destination, the Lonely Planet Guide of the day had little information. I remember staying in a grass hut, a Losman, and that the beach was a volcanic beach. I took a boat out and snorkeled a reef a little bit offshore. You had to live and eat with the locals. There were very few backpackers and the only permanent "white man" was a person called "Kiwi John". One of the early pioneers of a Westerner living in Bali.

Black volcanic sand at Lovina beach

Anyway modern day Lovina Beach is a tourist resort area. Not as built up as Kuta and Sanur and Seminyak, but well on the way. It has a seafront walk, with a myriad of shops and people selling all of the traditional Balinese things, i.e. shells, massages, drugs, beach ware and whatever. Also some very nice looking restaurants, cafe's and assorted bars and eateries. Probably worth a longer trip next time.
Anyway I took a walk around and did not recognise anything and made my way back to my driver. Incidentally I never got his name. It was foreign and remembering unusual names is something that I have difficulties with. I need to see the name written down and I need to hear it several times. Even for common western names I have learnt when meeting new people to repeat their name several times under my breath or else I will forget it. That applies to "babes" also, it isn't a disinterest or sexist thing.
The trip started getting a bit creepy at this stage. Previously my driver had asked if I minded if he dropped in on his sister in law. I did not mind at all, the opportunity to see a Balinese family going about there daily business was a good thing for me. One of my likes of traveling is the opportunity to learn about other cultures.
It turned out that the sister in law was the sister of his wife. And she was single. And she was looking for someone. And I was placed right next to her when we had a coffee (Kopi). And one of her sons suggested that I should stay the night. And if I came again to Bali I would be welcome to stay there. And she was struggling to make ends meet. And she needed a "good" man.
The warning bells were triggered and ringing in my ears. The lady was quite nice, somewhat younger than I, so I made polite conversation. My thoughts were roaming back to last years Vietnamese encounter and how that had not turned out very well, so I went into "protect myself mode". I didn't make any overt suggestions of interest but was polite and hopefully interesting.
I was saved, if that is the word, by the passage of time. My driver told me that to get back to Seminyak we should leave now. It was almost 5pm and we got back to my hotel at just after 8pm. During the trip back I decided that I would not mention his sister in law and leave it to him to make a move. He never said a word about her. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was not creepy after all.
 We parted on good terms. I had paid the equivalent of AUD 50 for the private use of a driver for the day, had seen some lovely places and not crapped my pants. He had a days pay and seen some of his family.
But for The Bludger the day was not over.
No a day of forbearance of food had left me hungry and I decided to risk eating.
After freshening up I walked a few minutes from the hotel and came upon a Restaurant called Piduh. It looked really nice, although almost empty, and one of its charms was 3 for the price of 2 cocktails. I sat down and ordered a Mojito. Nowhere near as good as the ones from Vivai. Pity about that. I ordered a meal and then was promptly ignored.
OK, the picture is, an almost empty restaurant with 2 bar staff and 3 waiters. I was ignored. My meal was brought out and I took the opportunity to ask for another Mojito. My first one had been emptied 10 minutes ago. No one noticed.
As I was eating a group of people came in. About 10 of them. An imperious acting woman demanded drinks and menus and acted as if she either owned the place, was a regular expecting good service, or was some sort of starlet. All 5 staff leapt to attention and pandered to their needs.
Situation: 5 staff, 1 group of 10 customers and me. After some difficulty I managed to get my free Mojito.
Once I had finished that I could not attract attention of anyone to get my bill. I seriously considered doing a runner. When I did finally get attention, the person who brought my bill turned his back on me and paid full attention to the group. I had to shout at him to get his attention to pay.
Basically I will never give this restaurant my money again.
I went home. Final trip to the toilet and sleep.
The Bludger was pretty knackered, too long in a car.

Bali Day 2 - Wandering the streets of Seminyak

Once again I was up early and had a leisurely breakfast. Once again I succumbed to the Omelet so I definitely needed some exercise to work it off.
I decided to take a walk and try to find some accommodation options for a future trip. I intend to re-visit the Seminyak area of Bali next year as part of a group. The party girl has already nominated times and places. The accommodation selected is a bit pricey for a single person. It is certainly OK for couples wanting a splurge. So part of my tasks while here was to look nearby for alternates that better suited my budget.
I wandered along my chosen path and got tempted by a massage along the way. My Masseuse was quite insistent that I should be having 2 massages, one to be conducted later in the evening in the privacy of my hotel suite. I declined the offer, much to her disappointment. A nice hour long massage is not a bad way to start the day however.
A little further along I then got tempted by a Barista and had a nice coffee in one of the cafe's that I passed. I felt very relaxed by this stage.
By the time that I got to the area to search for accommodation the day had warmed up and the thought of imminent dehydration was beginning to concern me. However I held off from having a beer and did some door knocking in the area. This part of Seminyak is just off the main road and has several private (and expensive villas). A little bit far from the beach, so it does not attract the beach crowd, but close enough if and when you want to get there. As it was I ended up back very close to Vivai restaurant the scene of yesterdays Cooking class. This was a fortunate coincidence not so much planning or design.
By the time that I had inquired at a few places, it was hot and basically lunch time. I popped into Zappaz Bar and Restaurant and had a couple of beers. Having a paying customer in the place seemed to be all a bit difficult for the staff, who were more interested in chatting to their friends, so I moved on. A nearby restaurant in the same complex as Vivai caught my eye and I settled into a chair and a Mojito and a very nice Nasi Campum (they insisted it was Campum not Campur) for lunch. This variant had Beef Rendang as the meat and was very tasty. Washed down with another beer also after the Mojito.

Nasi Campum - delicious

 After that I wandered back to my hotel and had a late afternoon swim in the hotel pool. The water was very cool and not very pleasurable.
That evening I had booked at Vivai for their Spit Roast Suckling Pig dinner (Babi Guling). I was a bit surprised when I was the first person at the restaurant, at 7pm. It will no doubt get busy later I thought, but in fact it never did. I settled at the bar and had a damn good Mojito. So good that I had another, and later on another and after that who cares.

This baby hit the spot

The staff began to bring my meal out to where I was settled. That was OK as it was all pretty much nibbles and finger food at this stage. A succession of Satay, Corn fritters (Perkedel) and other nibbly bits. Each was very well presented and very tasty. I felt like I was being treated like royalty.

Prawn nibbly bits

When the main course came out I asked to move to a proper table. I was presented with a huge plate of pork belly and crispy pork crackling and a plethora of side dishes to go with it. It was obvious to me that as the only person eating pork that night I was not eating off a spit roast. I was not upset by this however as the meal was delicious. Far too much to eat but I struggled on.
I have found that it is common practice in Bali to have to order suckling pig and in some cases even whole duck, a day in advance. This is due to the length of time to cook it and the expense of the meat. Restaurants simply do not cook these meals and hope somebody comes in and buys them. I was lucky that the chef at Vivai had accommodated my desire for Pork, and he had also done a fabulous job.

The Roast Pork with accompaniments. The camera angle does not do it justice.

A close up.

 After the "pig out" I returned to the bar area, where I was presented with 4 different ice cream samples for dessert. Rum and Raisin, Lemon and I cannot remember the other flavours. All freshly made on the premises (as far as I know).

Dean the chef joined me and we sat talking and drinking for some time. The restaurant was very quiet that night. When I left Vivai, I discovered that the other restaurants and bars were also quiet and my taxi driver who took me back to my hotel lamented how little work he had that night.
In fact during the drive back the Taxi driver convinced me to book him for the next day and have a tour of various parts of the island. I had been considering that so it was an easy decision. We arranged that he would pick me up at 9am the next day.
The Bludger was overly full but very happy.

Bali Day 1 - Cooking Classes with Dean

I awoke very early, it was still dark outside, and fought the desire to get up, however by 7 am I was ready to head down for breakfast. A fairly typical range of options for this class of hotel, the Coconut Suites. I had babur ayam (rice porridge with chicken), followed by fruit and then an omelette with Bacon and some chicken rings. I did have a trace of guilt about the hot food but not too much.

Babur Ayum

The main item on the days agenda was to find the restaurant where I was booked to attend a cooking class. I elected to walk and sought the aid of the reception staff for directions. I was advised to take a taxi, but I chose to ignore their advice and walk. After all it was not far on the map.
I boldly set off, being careful to avoid holes in the foot path, and walked and walked.  Street signs are rare in Bali, but I did find one and referring to my woefully inadequate map taken from a tourist brochure determined that I was still on track. Time was passing however and I needed to be at the restaurant by 9am. I considered it may indeed be time for a taxi but still felt that I was close. Just another few minutes walk and I would surely be there......
However I had not had an opportunity to change money so before calling a taxi I needed to change some money. Up ahead there was an ATM sign so I kept going toward the ATM. At 8:59 I arrived at the ATM and from there I could see my destination! Yay.
I made it basically on time. At Vivai I was greeted by Dean the head chef and person who would conduct the class. Dean proved to be an excellent host and friendly and hospitable. I joined the other two participants and we chatted over a very nice coffee and then a shot glass of chocolate drink to start the day. Dean talked with us and showed us the special coffee beans that are eaten by Civets (Paradoxurus) and shat out and collected to make Luwak Coffee.

Combat - so tiny

After this introduction we piled into a minivan and were driven to and conducted around the Denpasar  market. Having been in plenty of Asian markets it was not new to me but I relaxed and went with the flow. We were joined by “Combat” a young girl whom Dean referred to as a shopping trolley. I thought it a bit rude at first and it had overtones of the western superiority but in a way this made sense, if you could put that thought aside. Combat carried a basket on her head and all the groceries went into it. We didn’t actually buy too much so she had an easy trip. Her fee for this service did not seem much, but apparently Dean was paying double the price that the locals paid.
We headed back to the restaurant. By this time it was close to 11am and I was beginning to wonder how much cooking would be done. Back at the Restaurant I was offered another coffee and then Dean took us through the ingredients that we would use that day.

I was familiar with many but there were certainly some new ones on me. Finally we put on our aprons and started on a basic curry paste. By this time it began to become apparent how the day would run. We all had chopping boards and made a token effort at chopping some vegetable. The helpers gathered our chopping’s and then did the hard work of making the paste. And so it went. This was the “glamping” equivalent of cooking, with people to clean up after you, others to prepare parts of the meals and cook. To be honest it was not hard work, more like going round to a friend’s place and having a chat in the kitchen and lending a hand while others did the work.

Dean and some of the staff

Between us we turned out a surprising amount of food. We all did little bits and pieces, I ended up stuffing the duck, while the helpers had done all the hard preparation work and then took it away to cook. The three of us also prepped a whole fish each, we scaled it, gutted it, filleted it, pin boned it, and then de-skinned the fillet. That was good learning. We also de-veined a prawn in a way that I had not seen before leaving the shell intact, and prepared a whole squid, which I have done before. It was all jolly nice with the helpers cleaning up all the mess and doing the cooking. In between we chatted and took photos.

That Duck will never fly again

By this time we were all getting a bit hungry and the food preparation had got the digestive juices flowing.  By about 2:30 ish it all started to come together. Technically the class was meant to end by 3pm so I was wondering how this was going to turn out.  We cleaned up and sat down at a restaurant table, drinks came out and then plate by plate a veritable feast of Satay, fish balls on lemongrass skewers and corn cakes.

Entree's

This was just the entrée’s and already far too much to eat. Then came the mains, the whole duck had been baked in banana leaves then the leaves removed and finished in a hot oven. There was a lovely chicken curry, pork curry, rice, a bowl of simply incredible seafood soup and a lovely fresh salad. The seafood was the popular dish of the day, but it was all superb and we had “cooked it ourselves”. By now we had all conceded defeat and then were offered black rice pudding and rum and raisin ice cream. Groan. We all tucked in anyway.

Duck - an after shot

Seafood Soup - it was magnificent

Dean joined us for mains and desert. All day he had been a genial host, willing to explain and share his skills and knowledge. All of the would be cooks were well satisfied with the day.  It was gone 4:30 when we eventually left
I walked back to the hotel which took a solid 50 minutes with stops to change some currency and pick up some drinks for the evening. I was too full to consider eating that night and even the drinks were a struggle to find room for.
The Bludger was full and more than happy.

Warung Ibu Amye

On one of the main roads, the Stuart Highway, leading into the Darwin CBD you pass by Sexyland on the right hand side. As you may gather, from the name, Sexyland sells adult erotica. Allegedly, because how would I know? It is said that you can purchase magazines, DVD's, clothing, blow up articles, things that need batteries to work, similar things that do not need batteries and a host of other stuff that consenting adults know about. However my eyes are drawn to what is on the opposite side of the road. A small, somewhat dilapidated looking shop called Warung Ibu Amye. The signage proudly declares that it sells Laksa, Indonesian food and Timorese food. On Friday and Saturday nights there is a sign outside advising that "Amees famous spicy BBQ Chicken" is on the menu. The name in English means something like Amye's Restaurant.

I have a fondness for Laksa but passed it by many times before venturing in one day. To be perfectly honest it is not the most appealing place to visit for what one hopes to be food that is not going to give you a good dose of the trots. Entering inside reinforces the impression that one should have not bothered to stop the car and kept driving. Cheap tables, resin chairs that sell for about $7 or so dollars in the local hardware chain store and walls that look like they last saw a paint of coat when Noah was doing odd jobs to find money to build his Ark. On the plus side one can see into the kitchen and it looks well organised and clean.
My first visit was in the wet season, the room was stinking hot and two men had the air-conditioner disassembled on a bench. Anyway I ventured in and ordered my Laksa. While I waited I had time to look around. I soon worked out that Amye does not have an extensive menu. Typically she offers up 2 or 3 dishes for Lunch or Dinner. The day's offerings are placed on a Chalk board. Like it or lump it. The food is basic, it is earthy, it has the feel and taste of home cooking, it is lovely. When the Laksa arrived what a surprise it was. A large bowl with a very generous serving of the Soup, noodles and Chicken that comprise the main ingredients and a couple of lumps of the fried tofu that absorbs all that lovely juice. The Laksa had a very rich sauce, it was thick, it was spicy, it was tasty and almost overflowed the very generous bowl. Put simply it was one of the best Laksa's that I have ever had. I am sure that most of my readers know what a Laksa is so I will not explain it here, other than to say that as it is a Coconut Milk based soup this one got some great ticks in the "avoid at all costs if you are on a diet or trying to control your cholesterol" stakes.
From that first visit I have been back several times, sufficient to be recognised as a semi regular customer. Amye herself is a very friendly woman and is always good for a pleasant hello and a quick chat while she works. As I mentioned above she does not have an extensive menu, but what she does do she does well. This seems like a labour of love for her rather than a money making proposition.
I have also observed that she knows most of her customers, so I guess that she gets a lot of repeat business.
Amye is also, in her way, a perfectionist, putting her customers before profit. I was in her Warung one day having lunch. One of her regular advertised specialities is Ox Tail Soup. I am not a fan of Ox Tail Soup, although my dislike is based on ignorance not actual experience. A customer came in and asked for the Ox Tail Soup. Amye apologised and told him that it was not properly cooked and she would not serve him the soup. She had tasted it and it was tasteless and not up to her usual standard. She then went on to explain that Ox Tail needs a long time to simmer, which I knew, and this batch needed a further 2-3 hours before she would consider serving it. I am sure that many would have eaten the soup without fuss, but she was not going to compromise her own standard of quality. Isn't that refreshing!
Her restaurant is in fact quite an authentic Indonesian Warung transferred to Australia. Building codes and Food preparation safety codes have modified the idea a bit, but if you travelled in large parts of South East Asia you would find similar establishments.
However this post was meant to be about the famous spicy BBQ Chicken, the last few paragraphs have been just an entrée to the main course. I have been waiting for the right time to buy the Chicken. Some barriers to overcome such as no food in the house, no motivation to prepare something, feeling hungry enough to cope with what I know will be a large serve. Tonight was the night as I did not finish work until almost 6pm. (On a Saturday!) I drove there and was surprised at the transformation of Amye's Warung. We are now in dry season. There is no seating inside the Warung, it has all been moved outside.
Outside was charming, in comparison, if a little rustic. But the seats and tables were well patronised and I even saw some people drinking wine. The Warung is not licensed so this was obviously a BYO arrangement. With outside seating and the temperature mild and humidity dropped off this place now has quite a pleasant atmosphere.

Outdoor eating in the dry season

As normal I had only limited choices. Chicken Laksa or BBQ Chicken with rice and salad. As I had planned I chose the BBQ Chicken. I was informed that there would be a slight wait as the Chicken was just being cooked. I waited. While I waited I shared a table with a Malaysian couple, who turned out to be regulars and raved about how authentic the food was.

Yum yum on the BBQ and being prepared for my consumption

After being delivered a Laksa, which I pointed out was for someone else, I ended up with my Chicken. I had asked for takeaway. So I took it home. The meal proved to be a half a Chicken, with a pile of rice and a token effort at salad, mainly consisting of shredded lettuce and a few slices of cucumber. The Chicken was drenched in a thick sauce. It was basically a Sweet Soy sauce, but the cooking had given it a slightly bitter/burnt flavour. By intent I think and the salad provided a good counterpoint to the sauce. The Chicken itself was well cooked but not over cooked.

A somewhat blurry image of what I ended up with

The Bludger will not be racing out to have Amye's Chicken again, but will not turn his nose up if he is presented with it again.