My new neighborhood buddies invited me on a bike ride at 5:30 a.m. last Sunday. Things are usually in full swing at 5:30 a.m. I mean like brunch hour on Sundays on the Upper West Side. Did I mention I was up at 5:30 a.m.? It still startles me to think of it. Anyway, I was prepared for some sweat and some hills, but apparently "bike ride" here means a leisurely roll to this cordoned off exercise area where Ibus were heaving, children were running, and folks were mildly jogging around as food stalls were aromatically beckoning with rewards for exercising.
So after "warming up" to Hava Nagila Turbo (i.e., vigorous calisthenics), we thought better of it and decided to eat Bubur Ayam at a nearby food cart instead. Bubur Ayam tastes like Korean Jook, cooked sort of like oatmeal, but with rice. Hearty and savory.
And then we went on to find a sweet conclusion to the savory beginning. My two young friends (my host sister and my counterpart's daughter) introduced me to this loveliness called Serabi: Coconut pancakes dry-roasted in a ceramic bowl over charcoal fire and eaten with warmed coconut milk. Yes. It tasted as delectable as it sounds.
