Impressive Jewish Visitors' Center in Brno

This post originally appeared on my En Route blog, for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal


By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Once again I have to hand it to the Czechs for the exemplary way that they preserve and promote Jewish heritage, heritage sites and memory.

I spent a day this past week in Brno, the Czech Republic’s second largest city and the capital of Moravia. I was there for a totally different —- non-Jewish—reason (a country music concert and a meeting related to the Czech country music and bluegrass scene) but I took the time to visit the Jewish Tourism and Information Center that was opened last year at the city’s Jewish cemetery, a sprawling and beautifully maintained expanse that includes about 9,000 grave markers, from simple matzevot to grand family tombs.

The Center operates as part of the Jewish Brno Project, a collaborative initiative of the Jewish community in Brno and the city’s Tourist Information Center.

A deceptively boring view of the Jewish Visitors Center. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

I was already a big fan of the project’s web site www.jewishbrno.eu—an informative and easy to use portal to Jewish heritage in Brno and at least 16 towns in southern Moravia where there are historic synagogues, cemeteries and old Jewish quarters – Mikulov, Boskovice, Trebic, Ivancice, et al.
The Brno Jewish Visitor’s Center opened in January 2011, and it sports the green “i” logo of general Czech tourist info centers. It occupies one of the three early 20th century buildings that form the mortuary complex.

The Cemetery is located at Nezamyslova 27, in the Zidenice district of town, an easy tram ride from the city center. Trams 8 and 10 from the main railway station stop right in front.

The Visitors Center provides a range of services, including guided tours of Brno Jewish sites, tourist packages and itineraries outside the city. There are stacks of free informational material, including well-produced brochures in various languages on local and regional Jewish heritage. The Center has free WiFi internet access, and there is an English-speaking staffer.

For the cemetery itself, it provides individual free tours as well as free audio guides. A brochure guide to the cemetery includes a map locating the graves of prominent people interred there – the brochure provides brief biographies and photos of their gravestones. And there is also a computer screen with a link to the cemetery database, so that you can search for individual tombs.

I didn’t have much time the day I visited, but I spent a very pleasant half hour strolling around the cemetery and following the map up and down the rows of tombs – most of them stately obelisks, and many (in the style of the late 19th century) bearing laminated photographs of the deceased.

Brno was a center of modernist architecture. Here's a modernist gravestone in the Jewish cemetery. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Jewish Tourism and Information Center

Nezamyslova 27
615 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Email: tic@jewishbrno.eu
Tel: +420 544 526 737

Brno Tourist Information Center

Radnicka 8
658 78 Brno, Czech Republic
Email: info@ticbrno.cz
Tel: +420 542 427 150
www.ticbrno.cz

Nyonya Popiah at MaMa Nyonya Restaurant, Taman Molek - Johor Bahru.

We were having a Nyonya Popiah party at MaMa Nyonya Restaurant (N1.52416 E103.78535) on one of the Saturday evening. The lady boss - Ms Grace Lim prepared all the necessary ingredients for the popiah and let us wrap ourself! That was fun!

Ms Grace Lim told us the important of the Yum Bean (jicama) that make a good popiah, we learned something here...:)

Homemade chili paste

Cucumber

Bean Sprouts

Eggs...

Yum Bean (Jicama)

Vegetables

And the restaurant also prepared the ingredients for Nyonya Pai-Tee for our second round...
Then Grace show us the way to wrap a Popiah...well, seems like a Nyonya class to me...:)

She wrap it nicely and show us the tactic to balance every popiah we are going to wrap... 

Grace Lim show us the way...

After about 10-15 second, the first Nyonya popiah was ready on the table!

The Nyonya Popiah from MaMa Nyonya Restaurant

This popiah was Delicious! Especially with the Nyonya home recipe, we like it very much! Then follow by the popiah making session by us...

Put in everything as what Grace told us...cannot be too greedy to wrap A big size popiah, haha!! Then wrap it slowly follow by A Big bite!
 

Nyonya Popiah from MaMa Nyonya Restaurant

Oh! Man! Didin't expect I can made such a nice popiah! Haha!
After about an hour, Grace show us the way to top up the Pai-Tee by using the same Yum Bean from the Popiah...and taste as good as the popiah too!
 

The cup for Nyonya Pai-Tee

The first Pai-Tee I made in my life! 

Well, you can judge the food by the impression of this lady (friend's wife). She was not the only one but everyone have the same impression! :)

 Hmm...delicious popiah!...

My friends didn't forget to order the Famous Nyonya Cuisine - Ladyfinger and special chili paste. The chili was really nice and special where I ever taste it before!

Steam ladyfinger with special chili paste

We were satisfied with the Popiah and Pai-Tee from the Nyonya restaurant, and we spent almost 3 hours there to slowly enjoy the foods...! 

Worth try it again!

MaMa Nyonya Restaurant

8, Jalan Molek 1/28, 

Taman Molek, Johor Bahru

Tel : +6016-7167190 (Grace Lim)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/MaMa-Nyonya-FOOD/110292562374357

Location map of MaMa Nyonya Restaurant at Taman Molek, Johor Bahru.

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Jewish Cemetery Rescued in Slovakia

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Bravo to the local Leustach civic association for organizing a clean up operation for the long-abandoned and overgrown 18th century Jewish cemetery in the village of Janikovce,  near Nitra in central Slovakia!

Here's a link to my  Jewish Heritage Europe report (with links to galleries of before and after pictures):

Dozens of volunteers, aged from 9 years old to over 70, took part, clearing brush, cutting down trees and removing waste from the cemetery, which for many years has been used as a dump site. They found discarded refrigerators, construction waste,  car parts, tires, construction material, plastic and asbestos tiles on the site. Many of the volunteers were pupils at a local middle school. [...]

The idea is to clear and clean up the cemetery and maintain it as a sort of park, but also to restore the memory of the Jewish community that had lived there for centuries until the Holocaust.

IT Roo Cafe at Johor Bahru Town

IT Roo Cafe (N1.45687 E103.76360) is located at the intersection of Jalan Dhoby and Jalan Pahang. The slogan of this cafe is "The Best Chicken Chop in Town" which patronized by chicken chop lover around Johor Bahru. We decided to try it again after our last visit decade ago...

IT Roo Cafe at Jalan Dhoby, Johor Bahru

The cafe is operate in the pre-war building which bring us back to memory lane...the decoration in the cafe is unique with many old black and white photos about the cafe itself and the Johor Bahru town back on the 70s.

The deco on the wall of IT Roo Cafe

I assume this is the First cafe in town who selling western food and the Best Chicken Chop in town during 70s era...
And the cafe name was direct translated from Chinese name as the photo below...

They have indoor (air-conditional) and outdoor section which cater for customers preference. We chose the air-conditional area because there was still a table available...
Nice and comfort environment.

The indoor air-con section

The ourdoor section just next to it...

I ordered the Black Pepper Chicken Chop and it taste nice! The chicken was grilled with moist which was succulent! The chop served with some potatoes, cabbage salads and piece of cucumber and tomato. I would prefer if they serve mashed potatoes...:)

You no need to worry about the price because the cafe charges very reasonable for every dishes! I will be back to try out the Famous fried rice again!

Do try it out if you are chicken chop lover! :)

IT Roo Cafe

17, Jalan Dhoby,

80000 Johor Bahru.
Tel : +607-2227780

Business hour : 10.00am - 9.30pm

Location map of IT Roo Cafe at Johor Bahru town.

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Web Site Aimed at Jewish Visitors to the Summer Olympics in London

This post originally appeared on my En Route blog on the Los Angeles Jewish Journal


By Ruth Ellen Gruber


The Summer Olympic Games in London, July 27-August 12, are just around the corner (more or less) and to help Jewish visitors and sports fans, the Jewish Committee for the London Games has launched VISIT JEWISH LONDON —a web site with a wide variety of information, from sightseeing to synagogue-going.

It looks like a very useful and easy to use resource. This is what the web site says it aims to do:

Our goal is to ensure that all visitors have access to relevant Jewish cultural and religious information. To this end we have created this website for you, which aims to provide a one stop shop presenting comprehensive information on Jewish London and the U.K. as a whole in order to help you access everything that you may need during your visit.

The site is also intended to provide appropriate and updated information about the 2012 London Olympic Games, which includes links to partner groups and networks concerned with the wider values and the future legacy of the Games, as well as the Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Metropolitan Police, public bodies and other faith based and religious organisations specifically involved with the Olympic Truce. The Olympic Truce is an original Olympic ideal which aims to ensure that competitors and visitors travel to the Games in peace and security.

You may want to attend a synagogue while you are here in order to participate in a shabbat service, make up a minyan or perhaps you have a yahrzeit and want to say kadesh. We can point you in the direction of a designated commemoration associated with the Games or where shabbat hospitality is available. We have also provided details of the Jewish Museum, Judaic books and gift shops, guided walking tours as well as particulars of other interesting iconic, cultural and famous historical Jewish sites in London.

We aim to provide you with a variety of opportunities to ensure you enjoy a warm, welcoming and interesting visit whilst taking advantage of all that the great city of London has to offer its guests. If you keep strictly kosher, you will need to know where to go to eat, so we have provided information about where you can find kosher or deli style provisions and dine in a wide range of supervised and unsupervised restaurants. So whether you’re into chopped liver, chicken soup, shwarma, falafel, humus, pitta or pizza, we’ve got the nosh for you!

The Singapore Zoo

"For over 30 years, Singapore Zoo (N1.40459 E103.79004) has been known to have among the most beautiful settings in the world, where animals roam freely in open and natural habitats. 
 
Covering 26 hectares, the park is home to almost 3,000 animals representing 314 species of mammals, birds and reptiles.

Singapore Zoo was named Best Leisure Attraction Experience in the 22nd Singapore Tourism Awards in 2008. This accolade is its ninth win since the award category was introduced in 1985.
As Singapore's premier leisure venue, Singapore Zoo receives about 1.6 million visitors annually. With that, the park will continue to ensure its service quality, product offerings and physical surroundings adhere to world-class standards."  Sources from www.zoo.com.sg.

Me and my family visited the Singapore Zoo during the CNY 2012...

The Main entrance of Singapore Zoo

Ah Meng Kopitiam

Ah Meng Kopitiam just next to the main entrance. "Ah Meng" was the Icon for the Singapore Tourism and she had passed away on 2008..."Ah Meng" was the Famous Orang Utan.

We purchased the Zoo tickets (Zoo per saver) with the unlimited boat and tram rides which was SGD27.00 for adults and SGD17.00 for children.

Different types of ticket prices at Singapore Zoo

I'm sharing the photos of the Zoo included the animals, please be patient while waiting for the loading...:)

The area is clean and tidy...impressed!

One of the walkway...

Rest and dining area...

With this signage, we won't lost in the Zoo...

One of the signage in the Zoo...

The first garden area we walked in was the 'White Tiger' terrirtory...

The White Tiger at Singapore Zoo

Pygmy Hippo

Pygmy Hippo

Austraria Kangaroos

Then we enter the 'Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia'...I called it the home of Baboons...

Here comes the Hamadryas Baboons...

The home of Hamadryas Baboons...

The Hamadryas Baboons...

On top of the Baboon's home, I spotted the Nubien Ibex...

Nubien Ibex

And some tortoises...

Diffeerent types of monkeys, the right bottom photo are the shy monkeys when in front of camera...:)

Proboscis monkeys

The home of Orang Utan...

The mother and the baby Orang Utan having fun...

The Orang Utan might be the son or grand son of 'Ah Meng'?! I have no idea...

We missed most of the animal feeding time, except this...we were lucky...
The feeding time for Giant Arapaima!

They allow the visitor to feed the giant, it's huge! Too bad I wasn't fast enough to capture it!

The stream we waiting for the Arapaima...

One of the visitior trying to feed the Arapaima...out of sudden, the giant jumped out the water for the small fish and I couldn't get the photo of the whole Arapaima...only the small portion of its head...

The Arapaima jumped out from the water in split second!

Then we came to a some kind of cave which is the cute little animals home, too bad I forgot the name of it...

The face of the cute little animal...

Most of them were sleeping except the one...

We were lucky enough to getting in and out of the Tram many times because of the Unlimited Tram ride ticket...that really save a lot of troubles. Especially bad weather, we got into the tram for 'merry-go-round' the Zoo during the raining time! :)

The Tram in Singapore Zoo

The Zoo introduction was continue to broadcst in the Tram once it start the tour...I'm surprised with the Bose Audio System, nice audio!

Bose satellite speaker in the Tram

The tour continue...

Rhinos...

Some kind of wildboar...

The Green environment and the Giraffes....

Please disturb me while I'm sleeping...The Lion

Me too...

The group of cute Penguins...

YeeeeeeHaaaa! It's cold...

We spent almost 8-9 hours in the Zoo and having a rest at the Kids World...

after some cold drinks...we waiting for the last boat to go back to the Zoo exit (from point 2 to 1), you can see from the small map below...this was our Only boat ride during that day...

'Ah Meng' is the name of the boat, I believe this is one of the reason to remember the Greatest 'Ah Meng' for Singapore Tourism.

The jetty for the boat ride...

The boat was nice and comfort, you can see the life jackets are clearly under every seats...

At last, I managed to capture the scenic view of the lake from Singapore Zoo.

The Zoo is a 'Smoke Free area' where you can enjoy the fresh air in this Huge garden. The area is even comfort enough to have a walk from the start point to the end point. My family like it very much!

For more information about Singapore Zoo, please visit their official website : http://www.zoo.com.sg

Location map of Singapore Zoo at Singapore

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