Bayu?s bubur

Just before 9am this morning, I grabbed my camera and headed out for my daily blip safari. Well, that was the plan, but as so often happens, my blip was patiently waiting outside my front door for me, that's my house, No4. Bayu had stopped outside to capture passing trade from my neighbors shop, Benny and Lili, whom I featured a few days ago.

Although I was well up for a morning stroll, but if the blip monster wishes to make life easy on you, then you must accept the gift with gratitude because on another day, he is going to give you such troubles that you would not believe.

Bayu was not too keen on the photo idea, backing away nervously, but displaying this broad smile that I just had to have for my collection. I tried to explain that it would be good advertising for his business, attracting customers from UK, America, Australia, New Zealand and all over the world, as I pointed to his BUBUR AYAM sign on his little cart. He seemed to be convinced of my argument and I quickly rattled off half a dozen frames, before he backed off again. I left him with a pen and paper to write his name down, while I nipped upstairs to fetch a dish.

The first time you see bubur, you ask what it is, being a sloppy white substance, not particularly appealing to the eye. The explanation is a rice porridge, I guess a well over cooked rice, so that it turns to mush. This idea makes the dish even less appealing and so you decline the dish and opt for something else. But, after many years, I finally got around to trying the bubur ayam (ayam = chicken), to discover that I was missing out on a real treat. After adding a sprinkle of this and a dash of that, spread some shredded chicken and a good handful of chackers over the top, he had conjured up a culinary masterpiece to really tickle the taste buds.

In fact, I had just minutes ago, finished my breakfast of a dish of spicy noodles and fully intended saving the bubur for later, but after a quick taste just to see, I found myself scoffing the lot. So now I feel much like I imagine a beached whale must feel and probably look the part too, with my distended belly. Not bad for US50c.

Bayu will spend the day pushing his hand cart, riding on two bicycle wheels and a pivoting nose wheel, up and down the street, well into the late evening, along with the many other mobile carts, trading in noodles, baso, nasi goreng, pecel lele and so on. He is a clean cut young man of 21 years and once again, the smile is a permanent feature of his pleasant character. A charming young man.

Dave