In-Between Arts Festival
IN-BETWEEN ARTS FESTIVAL LAUNCH PARTY
Peder and I were very lucky to be visiting during the In-Between Arts Festival! On November 26th we took the ferry from the mainland to Penang to visit the city for the first time and attend the festival launch party. On the ferry we climbed up the steep stairs to the top to see Penang slowly grow, starting from a miniature toy city. To the left the ocean and sky could only be separated by a crisp dark blue line, one side with boats randomly spread across the surface like freckles and the other cushioned with soft clouds. As we drove into Georgetown I enjoyed taking in the murals, storefronts, and plethora of other things new to my eyes.
Arriving at Hin Bus Depot Art Center for the first time was wonderful. As soon as I saw the huge murals and open-air stage I could tell it was going to be a fun few days. The party did not start for a bit so we took some time to walk around the space. I visited the Pokothings workshop and spent some time in the Run Amok gallery (featuring tons of local zines), both which I would spend much more time in during the days to come.
For dinner we visited the newly opened Wholey Wonder vegan cafe & yoga studio. Kai Yee knew the owner, Johnathan and his partner Tammy. She is also the owner of and teacher at the yoga studio right above the cafe! Johnathan showed us the menu, full of many items I was eager to try. Myself and Kai Yee both got the Supremo Potato: potato, black bean, sweet corn, red pepper in potato jacket served with pesto spread. Peder tried the Naked Burger: quinoa, sundried tomato, chickpea patty with portobello mushroom as bun and babaganoush spread. To drink I had a fresh cold pressed juice and Peder had the Savasana smoothie packed with delicious bananas, blueberries, coconut water, spinach, dates, hemp seeds, and coconut meat! All the food was delicious, I was already excited to try their other dishes, especially from the impressive dessert menu. After chatting with Johnathan about hikes in Australia, Muy Thai, scuba diving, and more! We chatted with Tammy about menu ideas and yoga. Wholey Wonder is thinking of adding a vegan pizza to the menu! They gave us some dessert to try and I absolutely loved the passion fruit tarts and the cheesecake. If you ever make it to the delicious restaurant you cannot leave without trying the passionfruit tart!
After we were happily nourished we walked over to The Swagger Salon to check out the launch party. We got our wristbands and then headed over to the bar to get some elderflower cider and honey cider. The cozy venue was packed with people drinking, dancing, and talking. I got introduced to some of Kai Yee's friends and enjoyed soaking in the space. The DJ was loud and the energy was high. After a bit, we went outside to get some fresh air and i stumbled upon a pink fuzzy book titled, "PUSSY POWER". I was immediately intrigued and enjoyed flipping through the pages of badass feminist artwork. I even hilariously enough found a drawing referencing an ex-boyfriend with a certain name and just happen to have an ex-boyfriend with this same name. I left Hin excited for the experiences I would have in the days to come.
POP-UP MARKET & CHOPPING BOARD WORKSHOP
Sunday, we woke early to drive in to Penang for the pop-up market and Pokothings chopping board workshop. Peder was also attending the fruit crate workshop. Upon arriving at Hin, Kai Yee went to set-up his market booth while Peder and I explored the details within the walls of Hin. It was obvious from the large murals that this space is a home full of creativity and art. When I gave myself more time to examine the details, it was clear that this space had been crafted by many different types of artists who pay close attention to detail. The first workshop Peder and I attended was the chopping board workshop in the Pokothings workshop. The class had 4 students and 2 teachers. In an hour and a half we crafted our own cutting board! It was a sleek and simple design. After the class we walked around the pop-up market to find some lunch. There were many colorful options. We decided on getting a variety of filled dumpling/pastries (I wish I knew what these were called!) and a selection beverages including charcoal water, goat milk, and two cold pressed juices. Peder then had to go to the fruit crate workshop. I relaxed, munched on a pastry, sipped my dragonfruit juice, and drew in my sketchbook in front of Tavern in the Park.
After some sustenance I walked around the market some more and meet some wonderful people. First, I went back to a booth selling tea, red dates, and goji berries to buy some red dates. I met two wonderful people here and we chatted about tea. After sampling a few I decided to buy a bag of red dates. Later, when I sat down behind the booth I found out that pickie-go is a family business. If you're ever in Penang you can find them, along with many other people I met at this market, at the Sunday organic farmer's market. Next, I bought a gorgeous hand crafted necklace from Bracciale & Charms. I then got the opportunity to talk to a table that 3 people were sharing. The first, Xin, was from Serukam Farm and told me about the healing wonders of gelanggang cream. It helps heal skin problems, especially pesky mosquito bites. Next, I met one of the farmers from Wonder Wilder Farm at the same booth. Finally, I met Akane, who sells Mochi and Green Tea. I had never tried mochi balls before and decided to try both kinds, the red bean and the green tea. The unique texture of mochi, a Japanese food, is a bit like a thick smooth candy. Akane served her mochi in little hand-made origami containers. When I went back to the booth later telling her I was saving the container, she offered me a clean new one! I plan on bringing it home and figuring out how to fold more.
Finally, after quickly peeking into the food photography workshop, I snuck off to Run Amok to read some more Zines. I could have stayed in this gallery for days if I had the time. I picked up book after book full of stories making me smile, laugh, and think deeper about cultural differences and similarities. After reading and skimming dozens of zines, I picked out two to buy: Ugly Malaysiana and a cute smaller animated zine about Durian. When buying them I started talking with two guys that worked at the gallery, Hoo Fan Chon and Trevor. I began sharing stories of my travels with them and explaining the documentary project myself and Peder are working on. They told me about another farmer named Fred living close to Sungai Pentani that had just told them about their blog, and sent me on a mission to find a tall blonde man with dreadlocks named Fred. I easily found this farmer and discovered he lives and farms with Xin! We exchanged numbers before leaving for dinner in hopes to go visit their farm soon.
YOGA, TASTE THE LOVE WORKSHOP & COOKING DEMO, FARM TO PLATE
For my third day at Hin I was excited to start with a Yoga session taught by Tammy at Wholey Wonder. The class was refreshing and calming, just what I needed to start my day. The next workshop was Taste the Love, a talk about veganism from Pamela. She is a vegan activist and speaker as well as a very active member in Life Love Vegan, a vegan community in Penang. She spoke this day about the moral reasons to become vegan. She explained veganism as a lifestyle where no animals are harmed and made a compelling argument that if you want to be someone who doesn't torture animals to death, you should probably become vegan. Some of the facts she mentioned were from a documentary that I really enjoy titled Cowspiracy. Peder had been learning about the benefits of becoming vegetarian for quite awhie, and after watching Cowspiracy it was the final straw that pushed him to make the change and become vegetarian.
After Pamela's talk, there was a live cooking demo showing how to make fried rice and another veggie dish. We got to sample each and they were both very tasty. After the talk and demo Peder got some lunch at Tavern in the Park and I settled for some fresh juice because I did not want to eat any dairy or eggs after hearing Pamela's talk. Later we ran into Fred and Xin again and I got some delicious flower pizza that Xin helped make! It was a flatbread covered in roselle jam, mint, dill, and edible flowers. I did not know pizza could taste this fresh! Our final event of the night was Farm to Plate, an event that featured Kai Yee as the farmer! Julian Ooi from Yella Fork was the featured chef. Peder participated and I filmed because one of the main dishes was fish.
First, Kai Yee introduced himself and talked about the importance of getting to know local farmers. He then brought the people taking the workshop over to the three small aquaponics he designed that are currently at Hin. Here, they picked their lettuce for the salad. Next, they washed it in the sink. The chef, Julian, then started explaining how to cook the fish, fresh from Kai Yee's aquaponics farm. She said it was a very simple recipe everyone should be able to make at home! The attendees even left with a recipe card so they could re-create the dish when they want. Once they put the fish on the grill Julian made everyone set a timer on their phone so the fish didn't over-cook! Next, the salad was made. It consisted of the freshly harvested greens from Kai Yee's aquaponics systems, a homemade dressing, and a garnish of fresh roselle, also from Kai Yee's farm. Finally, they made a delicious mojito, again harvesting fresh greens from the aquaponics system. This time they harvested herbs. Right on time, all the phone alarms went off and everyone grabbed their fish from the grill. At last, we all sat down at a beautifully decorated dinner table to share the meal and chat. The atmosphere was full of energy and happy people eating fresh food. Before heading back to Sungai Pentani, we stopped at a delicious vegetarian Indian restaurant in Little India. I left Penang nourished with good food and conversation for the third night in a row.
KOMBUCHA WORKSHOP, THE ART OF FLAVOURING, CHEESEMAKING WORKSHOP, closing picnic
The final day of the festival was full of fermentation, vegan food, and spices. Our first workshop was all about kombucha! I have brewed some kombucha at home before and was looking forward to expand my skills. Anna was the leader of this session. She became interested in fermentation in a very unique way! She started traveling a lot around warmer climates in Asia to Thailand and beyond and wanted to find a way to still cook while staying in a variety of places, often without a fridge or stove. This is how she discovered fermentation and has been making her own food and cleaning products ever since. The workshop went over the basics of kombucha including the SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), starter tea, tea, and dissolved sugar water needed to make the drink. After mixing the brew, you can just set aside the kombucha for anywhere between 2 days and just over a week and let it do its thing. If you're interested in brewing kombucha I highly recommend looking up instructions online or chatting with Anna. It's a simple and fun process that doesn't take much work. Anna explained the importance of keeping one scoby in a simple brew while experimenting with other scobys, just in case one experiment doesn't turn out so well. One of the main things I learned is that while brewing, kombucha should be kept in a place that has good air circulation. Another important thing I learned is that there aren't many strict rules when it comes to kombucha! Anna told many stories of fun experiments using different types of sugars and tea to make the drink. To learn more about fermentation from Anna check out her chat group here. After the workshop we each got a jar with a scoby and some starter tea! Later that night I found myself contemplating how ridiculous or reasonable it would be to travel with a scoby.
Before one of our last workshops of the day, the Art of Flavouring, and the closing picnic we grabbed some lunch at Wholey Wonder. Peder and I both ordered the naked burger and a smoothie. It was just as delicious as before. After chatting with Johnathan a bit, went out to the deck for our second to last workshop, all about flavouring. I paired up with the one other vegan girl in the class, Stella. She came all the way from Indonesia to come to the festival! As everyone else was seasoning chicken, we seasoned some carrots and pineapple. Chef Jack Yap emphasised the importance of having fun with spicing dishes and not being afraid to mess up! You can always try again next time. We then grilled the food and finally added some herbs and garnishes to see what tastes best together. After having fun trying new combinations of herbs and garnishes, we headed over to our last workshop. We learned about another fermented food, cheese, during Anna's cheesemaking workshop. She explained how one can use milk Kiefer (which she explained in a previous workshop) to make many different kinds of cheeses!
After the workshop we got to share one last meal with everyone at the closing party. Attendees were given a check-off sheet and got to go around to different booths to choose bread, sandwich fillings, dessert, and a drink. As people filled their plates the energy in the room grew. The night went on with an open-mic full of live music and a bit of comedy. I was so happy to have been a visitor during this festival. Without it and the community at Hin I would have never met so many creative food-loving people that I have hung out with several times now since the festival. I hope Hin puts on another food festival someday!
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