The year has rolled round very quickly. Doesn't seem long since our last farewell for the Malaysian students, and here we were again, saying goodbye to another batch over another delicious Sundanese spread.

Ramadan changes our eating habits somewhat, as our normal breakfast foods (nasi, bubur, or soto) and snacks (pisang goreng, bolang baling, or kue pukis) are not available in the mornings. So we need alternatives. Our normal sliced bread is just not adequate for breakfast. It hardly keeps you going five minutes. So we've been exploring more substantial breads. Hani's sunflower rolls, for example, which are great with tuna. And ViaVia's onion bread, which just loves cheese.

Bu Nani, one of our breakfast purveyors, opens up at 3 pm during Ramadan. She serves some of the same things, but there are also deliciously different things to try. She does cendol, for example. Somewhat different from Malaysian cendol, this one is served in a glass, and is very simple, consisting of coconut, gula Jawa, and little white rice-flour bits. Fantastically refreshing. She also does the most delicious grilled tofu (firm, sweet, and wonderful), plus -- and I don't quite know how to describe these -- little cakes made of fried tempe and beans.

On the subject of tempe, Tembi served me up a lovely "jangan tempe lombok ijo Wonosari" the other day. Jangan is Javanese for vegetables, and the other main ingredients -- tempe and green chilli -- are pretty obvious. The result is a thick, delicious, spicy soup.

And finally, I'm still on the pancake trail. The latest experience was Milas's savoury version. Take a fat spinach pancake and a "tropical salad" (with veges, raisins, cashews, and a curry/yoghurt dressing); share them with your favourite person, in the cool of Milas's lovely garden; and accompany them with lemongrass tea -- and you get a perfect dry-season evening.

I am so, so, so, so lucky...