Traveling and Cooking

I bought cook books in Morocco

Among many things that traveling has done to me is that it has tremendously improved my cooking skill. Not up to professional skill but it definitely brings my amateur cooking to more variation and enthusiasm.   Traveling has inspired me to try new gadget, authentic spices and a different styles of cooking. 

Cooked meatballs in my new tagine

With Morocco, I'm so impressed with the cool conical pot, tagine and I end up getting a tagine for myself. The unique slow cooking style allows the pieces of meat to tenderize perfectly. Moroccans use lots of cumin in their food and even the fresh cut oranges are drizzled with dash of cumin.  The lovely cous-cous which come with vegetable or meat is always my choice whenever I visited any Moroccan restaurant.

Sipping mint tea and nibbling several tea biscuits are just marvelous activities which I find enjoyable in the late afternoon. But to spend time learning the culinary of the countries we are visiting takes time and not when we're rushing to cover many places. I am hoping to combine both traveling and cooking in my retirement years. These years of traveling have always been a hectic one mostly due to my tight working schedule that has not enable me to take longer vacation.  I have been trying to do so many things when I travel and squeeze my itinerary to fit my short break. I'm looking forward a more relaxing journey in few more years to come.

I just realize that I've not been writing on my blog for a long time.  So bogged down with work, i think it's about time to update this blog and this is my second article for this year :).  Thank you my dearest readers who have faithfully visited this blog and I'm looking forward to continue writing on my journeys again. 

Souvlaki Grilled Chicken - inspired by the Greek spice

Malaysian beef beryani tenderly cooked in Tagine 

Grilled prawn marinated with Moroccan spice

The beauty of Rubiah Island, Aceh, Indonesia

As we approach the gorgeous Pulau Rubiah, Aceh

The water surrounding the island is stunningly beautiful

 

I feed the fish with bread and here they come!

While searching for places to stay on Weh, we found Freddies and Iboih Inn which are equally comparable in terms of their beautiful surrounding.  But we decided to take Iboih Inn as it is close to Pulau Rubiah. From Iboih Inn, this tiny remote island is pretty close and visible. It took us about 15 to 20 minutes to get there.  No electricity on Rubiah, no hotels or any accommodations for tourists. Most people would do a day trip and return to the near by Weh island on the same day.

I heard so much about Rubiah Island and they say,  it's the divers heaven. As our boat approached the island, the pristine turquoise water, the green jungle and white sandy beach caught us speechless. It's amazingly beautiful! The many people in the water will not disturbed you since everyone is busy dipping their heads in the water. Snorkeling or diving are the two most popular activities here. 

The mesmerizing underwater kept everyone busy paddling to enjoy the superb view.  If you're tired of swimming and paddling in the water, then just sit in the shallow water near the beach, throw some bread and the fish will come for you.

The locals complained that the corals were destroyed during the 2004 Tsunami but still Rubiah's beauty is enthralling.  Can't imagine what was it like before the tsunami.  After the water activities, we had tea and grilled fish just before returning to Iboih. Of course the fish come from other parts of the deeper sea and not around these Islands.  No one is allowed to catch fish for food or fun around Rubiah and Weh Islands. It's forbidden to protect the underwater lives.  

The white sandy beach

The fish enjoying my bread

A local girl joins the tourists

Snorkeling very close to the beach

Forever hungry :)

Just sit under the tree and enjoy the view

Posing for the camera

The local girls swim like mermaids :)

Everyone is busy with their own activities

 

The boat man sends the tourists and picks them before dark

You enjoy the underwater from above