Central Asia sojourn After watching the wildly popular movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, you might well ask yourself: “Who in their right mind would want to go to a country where people drink fermented horse urine and the women were purportedly locked in cages?” If nothing else, the film drew the world’s attention to a region that is slightly off the beaten track for most tourists but which, nonetheless, has much of historical and cultural interest for the intrepid traveller. Central Asia is bordered by the Caspian Sea (on the west), central China (east), southern Russia (north) and northern Pakistan (south). The region has been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that criss-crossed the Asian continent, and which also became an important conduit for the exchange of culture, technology and ideas.    Foreign tourists to the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan – nestling between China, Russia, and other ex-Soviet Union countries such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan – will be pleasantly surprised by its rolling steppes, Alpine views and modern, yet quaint cities, making it a great destination for nature-lovers.

When tradition strikes back “It’s a sign of optimism and reality that Indonesian food is now so attractively presented,” says William Wongso, an expert on traditional Indonesian and Peranakan (Chinese-Indonesian) cuisine. He was expressing an opinion on the rise of fine-dining Indonesian restaurants over the last few years in the capital city. This is something of a departure from the conventional wisdom that the cuisine is normally associated with simple warung (roadside food stalls). Laksmi Pamuntjak, culinary expert and author of Jakarta Good Food Guide 2008-2009, says that setting should ultimately play a secondary role to taste: “People are always readier to be seen as a flavour-chaser than ambience-chaser … However, ambience plus flavour is an irresistible package ... “ For example, while the interior of Harum Manis is a replica of a Javanese aristocrat's house, Cengkeh features some art deco nuances, and Kembang Goela has a broadly colonial ambience; each has its own individual approach to food. Palalada has made a mark as a representation of modern Indonesia in both its innovative interior design and the food on offer.