Kapilano

I was awoken this morning at 06:30 by the 'ring ting ting' of yet another street food vendor. I quickly put some clothes on, grabbed some money, dish and of course my camera, as not only is my breakfast being delivered to my door, but so is my daily blip.

Introducing Mr.Kapilano and his lontong box, for lack of a better description, as his cooking chariot did not have any wheels. Kapi carries his kitchen across his shoulder from one location to the next and at the same time raps a metal tube with a stick, to announce the arrival of his culinary delights to his faithful customers. I have put a few extra images into folio.

Street food is safer than you think, because it is cooked fresh. Where the street food fails, is the dishes that it is served in, as washing his few dishes in dirty water creates the germ problem. Last night I caught another vendor washing his dishes in a puddle in the rainy street, outside the internet café. Smart customers always bring their own dish.

Kapi is a very quiet guy and quite difficult to extract a blip from. He is continually moving about his mobile kitchen with his head down. I managed to hold him still long enough to grab a few images, by asking questions, with the helpful assistance of my security guard Mr.Rohana who helped with the translations, well, at least with the Indonesian side, he couldn't help me much!

Lontong is a kind of soup dish, with slices of some white stuff in it. I have no real idea what it is, but I suspect that it may be something derived from cocoanut. The flavor was nice, but it really needed more chili. Had I been paying attention instead of blipping, I would have noticed that he had spared the spice jar, thinking that white guys are not into pedas (hot). Not a problem, I just added some of my own from my kitchen.

Kapi is fifty years old and judging from his darker complexion, he has probably been outdoors, doing the lontong for 35 years or even more. I have a full belly and my blip in the bag. What am I to do for the rest of the day!

Dave