THE INDONESIAN SPICE ISLANDS

24 July 2023"This Kashmiri dish is a very famous traditional dish. My friend's kashmiri wife cooked this for us in the 70s and the taste still lingers. We are going to cook this dish this week and thought of sharing it with you all. If u dont have  garam masala use your own garam masala. Zafrani garam masala is not available in Doha but i am getting it fm Kochi this week. But always manage with substitutes." I do have garam...

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BALI CULTURE

16 July 2023The lady first on the left is my landlady. She looks younger than she is, a lot younger, maybe it's the yoga, she is very busy but always hugely relaxed and friendly. ✓ Naben (a Balinese cremation ceremony).  This was remembering my landlady's grandfather, back in her village. Again, many cremated at the same time, they pool their money to reduce costs. Different colours for the different...

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WEATHER IN BALI

1 July 2023 Bali is year-round warm and humid, as it's a tropical island just south of the equator. Ubud is inland and very green and a bit cooler at night, around 29°C and for me 20° as A/c is on ha ha.Higher up or further North you go, the cooler it gets. Kintamani, Mount Batur, climbing the Campuhan Ridge before sunrise...all ok (I don't walk in the dark, nay nay). This morning, I was halfway up the Ridge, it was around half six, what...

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NABEN - A BALINESE HINDU COLLECTIVE FUNERAL

30 June 2023 You have to attend and talk to local people before you can understand what otherwise seem to be bizarre local customs and rituals at a Hindu Bali funeral, called a "naben".Cremation is believed to drive off evil spirits linked to greed or excessive desire, allowing the person a second chance following his or her rebirth. It is a purification of the soul.However, I am told that the cost of an elaborate cremation ceremony in...

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