Angel Unaware

I'm happy for Angel, no doubt.
In mind, I saw the six of us bursting into laughter at bale bengong. Phew that was 11 yrs ago.

This tired old mind goes back and fro Bali these days. It pays a visit to Pak Simon's house in Tabanan, where Angel was temporarily stationed: Pak Simon, his old Mom (?), the neglected (then adopted) Kamus Inggris-Indonesia, and his lovely house with tatched roof and of course a green-snake killing near the pigs' den. And of Angel wanting to open small business.

One lazy day (as every day was back then at Jl Ratna), Angel was 'inhabited' by a crafty Spirit, that's people's term. She returned to her long lost skill: cooking traditional dessert. This time she chose dawet or cendol. She ground some big amount of rice on the cobek. The stone bowl was big--enough to grind spices for cookings fo 100 people. and she let the wet powder 'rest' for awhile.

later she cooked the dough and made it pass through syringe (a hole-y part of dandang) unto a bowl of cold water. I din remember whether I helped her. She grated some coconut to make cocomilk (super-water-diluted) and sweetener made of a mixture of cane sugar and brown sugar.

We gathered at bale bengong. Everyone celebrated the rare--indeed rare--dessert. Faces couldn't lie. There was something about it.

Laughter exploded. It tasted ... hot! Angel must have forgot to clean the cobek entirely. LOL

In just two hours, everone suffered from stomachache...
I just imagined, what if Angel insisted on us taking more of this supposedly green and white drink...
I'd answer, thanks thanks. One glass is my limit
(of course it would be a lie LOL)


Back in Tabanan (like 5 km away from Canggu where Yohan and I were stationed), Angel fretted, Sem, let's go find Simon & (?). Perhaps he can lend us some money. That's what people now call micro credit.

To this day, i still think, why couldn't I utter to them that Angel was thinking of opening small business. Simon and his friend was celebrating their discovery of naming a cat Sambal. She wanted to teach local people how to earn more money by selling desserts. what a noble heart. my mind was certainly the size of a walnut then.


Angelina Filippiana--I don't know what her name now is. I think she is now in the state of hilarious happiness. She must have adopted her husband's. "He's from Sydney, you know". Ah yes.

She's won the mental battle. There's nothing sweeter than having the last laugh.

(Visiting Pak Simon's was much delight. On the way there, I enjoyed the paddy fields. One time light green, one time dark green, and then entirely yellow. One can wax lyrical about it. So picturesque, so were the kampongs. Yohan even found a 'Pythagoras' short cut through the ripening fields on the way back to Canggu. He even noticed some string beans on the muddy tracks. think Farmers there are quite smart to use their lands to the best result.)