Poland -- Conference announcement and upcoming Zamosc synagogue dedication

 Zamosc synagogue. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland announces a conference in April that will coincide with the formal rededication of the synagogue in Zamosc after its restoration.

The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland and the Polish-Jewish Literature Studies of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin invite for an INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC CONFERENCE “HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE JEWS IN ZAMOSC AND THE ZAMOSC REGION” WHICH WILL TAKE PLACE ON APRIL 5-7, 2011.
The conference will be held in the Renaissance synagogue in Zamosc. It will be combined with the official opening of the synagogue which is being restored by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland within the framework of the project “Revitalization of the Renaissance synagogue in Zamosc for the needs of the Chassidic Route and the local community”. The project received a grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.
The conference will inaugurate a multi-year research project devoted to Zamosc Jews, gathering researchers representing different academic disciplines interested in the subject.

Colombia: Part 4 Into the Coffee Triangle

After lunch we took off in search of the “PaNaCa”, the Parque Nacional de Café, apparently one of the best places to go and learn about the ‘black gold’. When we finally found the park it was pouring with rain and the guide at the gate advised us to come back another day. Praise be to him, because as the kids fell asleep on the back seat, Karin and I embarked on one of our little side trips and ended up in the most pristine and fairy-tale cloud-forest I have ever seen in my life.

Back on the main road from Armenia to Pereira we took the exit to Salento and from there drove on to the Cocora Valley. Following a small, winding road, creeping over two mountain ranges and through a beautiful valley, and ending up in the town of Salento, a hidden away backpacker’s paradise, and the gateway to the Cocora Valley. Recently inaccessible due to guerrilla activities, this wondrous place is now open to visitors and is receiving its first curious outsiders with open arms. We drove 11km from Salento to “Don de Juan B” a small local tourist complex, consisting of a great restaurant, a playing field for children, some shops, all the horses you could wish for, and the best cappuccino I have had in a long time - all in an idyllic setting in the middle of this beautiful valley, green and lush, even at 2500masl.

The views in this region are spectacular and during our visit the temperature varied from fresh in the sun, to crisp in the shade. The purest of air filled our lungs and we were immediately smitten by the sheer beauty of the land. We had wandered pretty far off our planned route and only had an hour before we had to get back to the hotel to put the kids to bed, but we unanimously decided that we would return tomorrow.

28 June: Armenia, Salento

Colombia claims to be the country with the greatest variety of palm trees in the world (some 250+ varieties if I am not mistaken) and the lower Cocora Valley has literally thousands of them. These beautiful tall trees are home to an endemic species of yellow and green parrot, one of many different birds and animals to be spotted here - deer, puma and even spectacled bears are known to roam the higher lands of this magical stretch of Colombia. Higher again the valley leads to the “Parque Nacional de los Nevados”, about one day’s ride on horse-back, and we made a solemn pledge to return and make that journey as soon as Noa is old enough to sit on a horse by herself.

After enjoying two sublime cappuccinos and buying a couple of kilos of organically produced coffee beans, we began a 1.5hr ride following a small and treacherous path of mud and rocks, apparently a piece of cake for the well-trained horses. Strong and well-fed, these docile animals seemed very much at ease with carrying us (myself and Noa together) up and down the hills and through the valleys. Once again the variety of greens was overwhelming as we slowly moved from wide grasslands into cloud forest. Sunlight was breaking through the clouds here and there, and we could see the haze of far off rainfall in the distance. A delicate grey curtain lined with golden specs hung across the sky, and all was fresh air and a peaceful silence broken only by bird calls and the soft gurgle of water making its way down to the Quindio River - the ride was one of spectacular views and great peace. Knowing that we were riding at an altitude of almost 2800masl, and that this area, until five years ago, was almost completely unknown to the outside world, added to the feeling that again we had stumbled upon a very special part of South America, a continent that has already given us so much.

What can I say? I feel privileged to be allowed to roam these lands, to get to know the geography, history, flora, fauna, and the people. This great mix of cultures, ever changing, developing, growing, more and more conscious of its own existence and the attributes it has, is simply too much to take in sometimes. I do not think I will ever manage to fathom the depth and the wealth of what the Latin American continent has to offer, or even understand most of it, but I sure am thankful to be a spectator of some of its heritage and its culture, forever blossoming and becoming a more and more integral and valued part of the world.

29 June, Armenia

We had managed to draw up an extensive list of things to do and places to see, but this was our last day in the Coffee Triangle, so most will have to wait until next time. We settled on a coffee tour at the Eco Hotel Combia, where we were staying, followed by a visit to the renowned butterfly park and botanical gardens of Armenia. We were not disappointed. Although not as spectacular as the day before, both visits were very interesting. I never knew it takes about two years (!) to create a cup of coffee. Three months for a seedling to be planted, another four for it to blossom, eight more before the first harvest can take place and then two months to dry. Then the selection process can begin (about two thirds of the beans are pre-considered not good enough for export). The one third that is good enough is sold to the Coffee Federation of Colombia who handles export to foreign buyers who will roast the beans and sell them off. All in all a minimum of twenty-four months before I wake up and smell the coffee. The other two thirds are divided in two classes; half is sold for national consumption and the rest stays at the farm to be either sold locally, or used right then and there. Colombians therefore, like so many producers of our fancy stuff, are allowed only the worst of their own produce, or perhaps they only allow themselves that. What is true is that most Colombians seem to have no need for the exquisite espresso that is one of the final products of the crop they have grown for generations. That will probably change soon enough, especially with more and more tourists coming in and asking, like I did at the end of the tour, “So, where is the machine? I could use a double!”

The Butterfly Park and Botanical Garden were also quite impressive. The knowledgeable guides and a variety of things to do and see, especially for the kids, made this a far nicer little outing than I had expected. Whilst our guide explained the different species of palm trees (which happened to be his specialty), Edie and Noa went haywire running through the park, getting lost in the maze, freaking out over the robotic insects show and chasing all kinds of insects, some wild butterflies included. It helps in these cases that we have two blond, blue-eyed little beauties, which has the effect of immediately making people smile and say things like : "oh what beautiful eyes!” and, "your daughters are so pretty, such lovely little girls!” If only they knew...

Edie and Noa both possess a raw, unpolished inner energy that bursts out unexpectedly, loud, with fierce joy and usually a lot of noise, accompanied with wild body movements they call dancing. This is especially charming when staying in a fancy hotel or eating out in, for example Holland, where dining with kids is a little frowned upon. Dinner usually ends with Edie frantically bouncing around the restaurant, making all kinds of pirouettes, pliés and what have you, with a wild-eyed gaze that lately makes me think of Billy Elliot. Maybe one day she actually will pick up ballet and everything will turn out just fine… Noa has had a princess fetish for some time now, which I silently pray will be over very soon, but on the other hand I must admit she makes me laugh every time she walks into a room with her air of disdain for all the lower people (she is 2.5), climbs onto a chair and attaches all kinds of girly stuff to my hair, claiming I am a princess too… only 5 minutes thereafter going down on all fours, dress torn to shreds, fingernails, hands, knees and face all filthy, pretending to be a dog.

All in all it was another great day in a great country. I really do not understand how this place has been the stage for so much violence for so long and until so recently. Intelligence and humor, commonplace everywhere we go, should not be the root for it, or the stunning beauty of the landscapes, or the friendliness and hospitality of the people. This is a country of great artists, writers, even politicians, and so far, I seriously think it has the potential to be one of the great destinations of this continent. Looking forward to tomorrow…

Happy New Year - Shana Tova

 I wish all my readers a sweet, scintillating, and satisfying year!

Vienna -- Pebbles on Gustav Mahler's grave

 Pebbles on the top of Mahler's tomb, following Jewish tradition. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

We are in the midst of Gustav Mahler year -- a double whammy anniversary: July marked the 150th anniversary of his birth; next May marks the 100th anniversary of his death.

Researching a couple of articles (see my article in the nytimes.com here), I spent much of the past few days following the footsteps of  young Gustav  in central Moravia -- the lovely Vysocina upland region, one of my favorite parts of the Czech Republic. I stayed in the pension that now occupies the house Mahler was born in in the village of Kaliste, found the gravestones of his grandparents in the Jewish cemetery in Ledec nad Sazavou, visited various Mahler haunts including Zeliv, the village where his first love lived (and committed suicide), and the house in Jihlava, where the composer lived until the age of 15 and which is now a Mahler museum; I also spent hours driving through the wonderful landscape, listening all the while to Mahler symphonies on the car stereo..... (more on all this in a later post, with pictures).

I skipped over his adult life as a composer, conductor, world star and -- because of anti-Semitism -- a convert to Catholicism in order to get the job of director of the Vienna Opera.

But I did conclude my Mahler weekend with a pilgrimage to his grave in the Catholic cemetery in Grinzing, a wine-making village now on the northern outskirts of Vienna.

Mahler's tomb is a simple upright slab. And on its top, in Jewish tradition, visitors to the grave have placed little stones in his memory (I did so myself). As far as I can see, his is the only tombstone in the cemetery where people have done this.

PS -- Mahler's widow, Alma, is also buried in the cemetery in the next row (other family members are also interred there, too). Which compels me irresistibly to attach this video of the classic Tom Lehrer song about Alma and her three prominent husbands: Mahler, Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel.

Lehrer wrote his song after Alma died in 1964. As he put it:

Last December 13th, there appeared in the newspapers the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary that has ever been my pleasure to read. It was that of a lady name Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel who had, in her lifetime, managed to acquire as lovers practically all of the top creative men in central Europe, and, among these lovers, who were listed in the obituary, by the way, which was what made it so interesting, there were three whom she went so far as to marry.

One of the leading composers of the day: Gustav Mahler, composer of Das Lied von der Erde and other light classics. One of the leading architects: Walter Gropius of the Bauhaus school of design. And one of the leading writers: Franz Werfel, author of the song of Bernadette and other masterpieces. It's people like that who make you realize how little you've accomplished. It is a sobering thought, for example, that when Mozart was my age he had been dead for two years. It seemed to me, I'm reading this obituary, that the story of Alma was the stuff of which ballads should be made so here is one.

Slovakia -- I find Bratislava's Museum of Jewish Culture disappointing

 These portraits of rabbis in the museum are prominently signed  but it is far from clear if those signed "Boruth A." were actually done by the Slovak painter Andor Boruth, who died in 1955 -- and it's really doubtful those signed "Szekely" were done by the Hungarian academic painter Bertalan Szekely. Yet there is nothng to identify the artists, the subjects, how and why they got to the museum collection. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber.

I paid a visit yesterday to the Museum of Jewish Culture in Bratislava, a branch of the Slovak National Museum that was reopened in 2009 following the revamping of its original exhibition, which dated from 1993, when the museum opened.

Alas, I found the new exhibit a big disappointment. The wonderful collection of ritual objects, everyday materials, textiles, artwork and more is laid out well -- but the items on display are exhibited with almost no contextual or other information about them: no information on the date, the provenance,  who donated the object, the place of origin; nothing  even on the artists and titles of paintings, even when these are known.

 Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

A collection of photographs of Slovak synagogues identifies the towns but omits even rough dates as to when the pictures were taken, not to mention the names of the architects, information as to when the synagogues were destroyed, etc etc etc. One item on display is a decorative paving stone rescued from the great Neologue synagogue next to the Cathedral, which was destroyed in 1969 when the old Jewish quarter was razed during construction of the New Bridge. But the stone just lies there, a decorated lump, without any explanation as to why it is included in the exhibit...

Nor, in a "symbolic Jewish cemetery" in the basement, an installation of fragments of tombstones, is there information provided as to which cemeteries the stones came from, or about the number of Jewish cemeteries around Slovakia. There is rudimentary information about burial practices, and a bit about inscriptions, but that's it.

What's more, no distinction is made between photographs and copies (such as that of a ketubah) and original objects. And some of the items that did have labels (albeit generic ones) were incorrect: it seem as if meal coupons issued by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee are identified as  certificates issued to guarantee kashrut!

All in all, it was very frustrating -- a sadly wasted opportunity.

Modern museum practice does not seem to have entered here: the only provenance shown was a label on an oil lamp bought in Israel guaranteeing that it was ancient. The objects shown could have come from anywhere: there was little sense of their connection with Slovakia, and even when this connection was presented, it was not elaborated.

The young woman who showed me around could answer only some of my questions -- she went somewhere to consult when I asked her who the artist was of a very lovely water color of a Jewish cemetery. (She found the name of the artist, but nothing more: other, Holocaust-related, works of his, too, are hung with no identification, as is a nice installation of collaged photographs of the Chatam Sofer memorial.)

She told me she informed someone on the design team about my concerns and said he assured her that labels were being prepared. But I have my doubts.

Master Chef Western Food Restaurant at Taman Daya, Johor Bahru

The Master Chef Restaurant (N1 32.742 E103 45.729) is located at Jalan Sagu 8 of Taman Daya, Johor Bahru. They only serve Western Cuisine with No Pork. This was the first Zero Decoration Restaurant we visited at Johor Bahru area, the ground floor dining area was totally plain white without a single picture on the wall...

The plain white 'Decoration' might be one kind of the Art, but too bad I have no idea how to appreciate it...

The Zero Decoration Western Restaurant

I heard about this restaurant serving a good western food with reasonable price, so we decided to have our dinner on one of the Saturday night...

Our order :-

1)  Sirloin Steak

2)  Seafood Baked Rice

3)  Seafood Spaghetti

4)  Chicken Stuff and Prawn

Sirloin Steak

Seafood Baked Rice

Seafood Spaghetti

Chicken Stuff and Prawn

All main course are served with a Mushroom Soup, Dessert and Ice Lemon Tea.

The Mushroom Soup was serve with every main course

I had the Sirloin Steak and it was well marinated and flavorful! Like it very much! The Seafood Baked Rice had a good aroma and it was tasty! Spaghetti was just nice with squids and the Chicken Stuff and Prawn was Delicious! We were satisfied with all the foods here!
Beside that, the Mushroom Soup was disappointed! It was too thick and felt like having some glue in our mouth! The carrots which serve together with the main course was too hard!

The price for all the dishes above are Not exceed MYR20.00...
Sirloin Steak - MYR18.90
Seafood Baked Rice - MYR14.90
Spaghetti - MYR9.90
Chicken Stuff and Prawn - MYR14.90

The Damage of the night : MYR64.46 included 10% Service Tax and drinks for 4 adults and one child.

Well, I felt it's worth second visit! Beside the decoration of the restaurant....

Rated : 4/5

Master Chef Restaurant

Master Chef Restaurant

68, Jalan Sagu 8,

Taman Daya,

81100 Johor Bahru.

Tel : +607-3511868   Fax : +607-3591868

The Location Map of Master Chef Restaurant at Taman Daya, Johor Bahru.

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An evening at Jalan Tan Hiok Nee (Street) of Johor Bahru Town, Johor.

Jalan Tan Hiok Nee (street) (N1 27.385 E103 45.814) is located in the heart of Johor Bahru Town. The street is approximate 300 meter long and there are many colonial buildings situated at both side of it. Every Saturday evening, there will be Chinese culture activities or charity performances along the street. It's just started from this year 2010. This was one of the reason attracted me to visit and interested by the History of Mr Tan Hiok Nee.

Jalan Tan Hiok Nee during Saturday evening

This is some History of Tan Hiok Nee :-
Tan Hiok Nee (b.1827- d.1902, Chaozhou, China) alias Tan Yeok Nee, was a powerful and influential Teochew businessman in 19th century Singapore and Johore. His name in Chinese is Chen Yu Yi, although he was more popularly known as Chen Xu Nian. Tan, who amassed great wealth through opium and spirit farming, played an important role in the development of the region, particularly Johore.
Early life
Tan was born in Jin Sha village in Shang Pu (present day Caitang) of Chaozhou, China. He lost his father when he was young.  As a youth, Tan was such a compulsive gambler that he used the money he borrowed for his mother's funeral.  At the age of 17, Tan left his hometown to seek opportunities in Nanyang (Southeast Asia).  He reached Pahang and worked in the mines of Pahang to pay for his travel expenses. After paying off his debts, he shifted to Singapore and became a textile peddler. Tan operated daily at Telok Blangah area and was popular among the residents due to his honesty. Among his regular customers was Temenggong Ibrahim whose son, Sultan Abu Bakar, became his good friend.

Some History of Tan Hiok Nee written on the wall

He was the most prominent businessman in Johore with seven Kang-Chu rights. This meant controls over the entire left bank of the Johore River which spanned from the south of Kota Tinggi to Pulau Ubin.
In 1868, Sultan Abu Bakar gained the title of Maharaja and two years later, he appointed Tan as Major China of Johor, the highest-ranking Chinese official in his government. In 1874, Tan was appointed as one of the two Chinese members in the State Council...
(If you like to know more about Tan Hiok Nee, please click Here)

We parked our car in front of the AIA Building at Jalan Dhoby and started to walk around the street. By entering Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, there were groups of senior citizen having their Karaoke performance.

Senior citizens performing some oldies on the stage

Opposite the mini stage, you can play the Chinese Chess with some expert there...

The box was for charity fund

The Foon Yew High School students were everywhere that evening to promote some of their handicraft and others activities for charity. I saw some special security officers along the street taking care the safety for the activities between the street. That was Great!

We were attracted by one of the street stall which located at the junction...Oh! the stall was selling some street magic toys!

The street magic toys stall

I found one unique outdoor Cafe which selling the Heineken Draught Beer at the junction too.

The outdoor Cafe

Too bad, there was No customer around! Maybe due to No washroom within the Cafe. Next to the cafe, it was a small saloon with creative design. Do you notice there are chairs on the roof?! :)

My Little Corner Saloon

There was an attractive building just located right at the junction...

This is building had been restore and I have no idea what kind of business it will be...

THAT'S cafe is just next to the restored building

I wanted to visit this cafe initially, but the door was lock with an access control system...

Continue stroll down the street, we saw the Chinese Martial Art Performance by one of the Local Association...

Chinese Martial Art

I spotted this old Shogun Pub and I believe it was belong to the 70s, seems like stop operation now...

Below the pub, there was another Unique Boutique shop still in business...

Well, it was almost the end of the activities! Another part of the street was occupied by all the night stalls of JB Bazaar where I'm gonna blog about it later...

Stalls of JB Bazaar

The activities start from the intersection of Jalan Bukit Timbalan and Jalan Tan Hiok Nee and end at the intersection of Jalan Trus and the time is 6pm- 10pm every Saturday. According to one of the coffee shop owner, there will be a Unique night bazaar (The Junk Sale) every second week of the month on Friday night, only once a month. Have a visit to the street if you free!

The street still busy during that time (about 9.30pm) when we were leaving...

But it was empty and silence after 10.30pm...

The Location Map of Jalan Tan Hiok Nee (street) at Johor Bahru

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