When Your Food Stares Back at You

To say the past 3 days has been a whirlwind would be an understatement.  There is really soooooo much I could tell.  I've known August has lots and lots and LOTS of relatives here but it didn't occur to me that they would all want to schedule time with us!  Our wonderful hostess (August's Tante Inga) has had to manage our social calendar this week!  :)

Since last posting, we've been on a lovely trip to the more mountainous region of Java (the island on which Surabaya is located).  The beauty and magnificence of the landscape is overwhelming at times with mountains (some volcanic, some not) and terraced rice fields as far as you can see.  I think Marina and Olivia may be planning to write more about our trip so I'll leave that for them.

I did want to wrap up our first day though by describing our dinner out that night.  We were taken by our hosts (Om Sioe Thoen and Tante Ing) as well as their daughter-in-law and grandson to a popular fish restaurant.  I was very hesitant because we really don't eat much fish back home.  So when they placed three or four of these guys on our table, I became very, very afraid.  (Yes, that's Marina's "friend" from the previous post.) I just knew the kids and I would go home starving.  I'm so pleased to share that I was WRONG!  

This was truly some of the best fish I've ever eaten - crunchy crispness on the outside and flaky white on the inside with a very mild flavor.  It was served with sweet Indonesian soy sauce.  Once I got past the appearance (and avoided eye contact!) I think I probably ate more than my share.  Some at the table went so far as to break off fins for munching.  I drew the line there!