What’s another year (2)…

My! My! How time flies…and in just a blink of an eye, another year has passed. This coming Thursday – the 5th Day of the 5th Month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the Chinese community will be celebrating Duanwu Jie or the Dragon Boat Festival. If you do not know the history or background behind this festival, you can always go and google it up yourself as I am not going to delve into that.

In conjunction with this festival, everyone will be making and eating chang or those triangular-shaped rice dumplings. Here in Sibu, we can only buy the Hokkien chang which is darker and contains pork belly and maybe, shitake mushroom as well, cooked in soy sauce. My mother-in-law used to make this kind of chang but it does not look like she will be making any this year. Anyway, there isn’t much of a problem getting these and my favourite would be the ones sold at the Kim Tak Mini Supermarket just round the corner from my house at only RM1.80 each…

These are darker in colour than the nyonya chang that I will feature later in the post…

…and being made for sale commercially, do not expect too much meat inside. In fact, it seems that they use minced meat these days instead of the usual pork belly slices that one could find in the past…

…and even that, they only give you a little bit. Well, what can we expect – considering that the prices of everything have been going up?

You can buy bigger ones with a salted egg yolk inside at RM3.00 each which are also quite nice, and these days, they also have the pillow chang which I think, comes from the Cantonese community but some other dialects also claim it to be theirs. These are quite big and sold at RM5.00 each. To me, it is something like the dimsum delicacy – Lo Mai Kai wrapped in lotus leaves.

We can’t buy my favourite – the nyonya chang here in Sibu, only in Kuching. They usually wrap these using pandan (screwpine) leaves instead of the traditional bamboo leaves and inside, there is minced meat with shitake mushrooms fried with soy sauce and pounded ketumbar (coriander seeds, a kind of spice) which gives it that unique flavour that I particularly love. I was told that if you use pandan leaves, the chang may go bad quite fast, so my friend and ex-colleague, Richard, would put a piece of bamboo leaf inside and wrap the whole thing up using pandan leaves for its additional fragrance.

I remember this time last year, I was lamenting in my post over the fact that I would not be able to enjoy any of these nyonya changs when out of the blue, Richard posted a comment in the post saying that he would be sending some over to my house. Praise the Lord, my prayers were answered! LOL!!!

Needless to say, I was so delighted when I received a message from him on my wall in Facebook the other day, saying that he had not forgotten me this year and would be delivering some to my doorstep and that was exactly what he did yesterday evening…

I don’t know how many there were exactly but I think there were no less than half a dozen or more. I did not count as I just could not wait to sample one of them despite the fact that I had just had my dinner before he arrived. As you can see, they are whiter than the Hokkien ones…

…and being homemade for own consumption, he was more generous with the meat filling. It seems that he is not using pandan leaves this year, being harder and more difficult to wrap, but I gather that alternatively, he puts some in the water when boiling the dumplings instead.

Just one bite into it and I felt like I was being transported out of this world! If anyone had told me at that point in time that Heaven was a place on earth, I would have just quietly nodded in agreement. It simply took my breath away and left me quite speechless…

Thanks so much, Richard, for the dumplings and thanks a zillion for remembering me again this year. For those in the know, he is the nephew of a family friend whom we would respectfully call Ah Hiok Ee (Auntie Ah Hiok) in her presence if we knew what was good for us. LOL!!! She was renowned for her cooking and baking, and it certainly looks like this nephew of hers has inherited her culinary skills from her.

Perhaps around this time next year, Richard, you can start taking orders? I would want at least 20…or 30, if you can manage that many! Hahahahaha!!!

You’re no good (2)…

I bought these otak-otak udang (prawn cake) from my regular Bandong stall the other day…

They looked pretty good on the outside, so I bought 4 – 2 for my missus and 2 for myself, at RM3.00 each – totalling RM12.00. But unfortunately, they were not nice at all…

I did not like the taste. I wonder what ingredients they used as it tasted sort of peculiar. Normally, it should be fragrant with the use of kunyit (tumeric) and the leaves. Even the texture was all wrong. It felt as if there were grains of rice in it whereas I would expect it to be smooth and firm – something like the texture of fish cakes or fish balls.

I guess it is the same with people. Some may look very nice externally but you do not know what lies within. In the words of Shakepeare, “the false face hides what the false heart doth know.” Like these lines from this Carole King song go, “…people can be so cold. They hurt you, and they desert you, they’ll take your soul if you let them…”

But then of course, there are people who may not look very pleasant or may not be so pleasant to look at, but they actually have hearts of gold and there are yet others who are just as nice as they appear to be…like this char siew pork that I bought the other day from the Master Bakery Cafe where I used to buy those nice butter pastries…

There is a restaurant at the back alongside the bakery and I had been wanting to buy the irresistable-looking phak lor (braised five-spice) pork that had got me drooling each time I walked past the shop but I never did. Finally, that day I decided that it was time to do just that, so I went there only to find that they had done it differently – with char siew sauce. I went ahead and bought two slabs of the pork anyway, for RM14.00 altogether…  

Not only did it look nice but it was very delicious too – tender and juicy (not dry as in the case of some char siew or barbecued pork from other places) but there was so much my missus and I could not possibly finish, so we had to save one slab for another day.

Well, compared to the otak-otak, it was just RM2.00 more and a lot tastier and satisfying in comparison and there was simply too much for two persons in one sitting. Don’t you wish sometimes that people are just like that – what you see is what you get – as nice as they look and much more? What do you think?

King of the road…

Last Sunday, I had to take the 8.50 a.m. MAS flight direct from KLIA to Sibu. That happens to be the ONLY direct flight daily from the national capital and in order that I could get to the airport on time, I had to leave the hotel in the city centre by around 6.30 a.m. It used to be earlier but I still think it is too early, preferably around 10.00 a.m. or later.

I could not have any breakfast, so I decided to stop by Burger King in the departure area for a bite to eat…

This was the Double Cheese Swiss Mushroom burger, and if you turn it over, this is what you see…

If I take them literally and can have it my way, I would eat and leave without paying. LOL!!! Inside, there were two beef patties with two slices of cheddar cheese and a topping of somewhat discoloured/dark button mushrooms…

I cannot remember how much that was but if you opt for the value meal with fries and a drink, it would be RM11.90. I reckon it is cheaper elsewhere considering that things are sold at jacked-up prices at Malaysian airports but for that amount of money, 3 persons can go for kampua noodles and kopi-o-peng (iced black coffee) breakfast here in Sibu and still have change.

If anybody needs to go on such early flights, I feel that a cheaper option for breakfast would be to buy packet/canned drinks – Milo, coffee or tea (unless he/she is staying in one of those hotels that have complimentary coffee/tea-making facility) and some buns, biscuits or cup noodles…instead of eating at the airport and getting fleeced.

They are encouraging people to travel (locally) but at such astronomical prices of food at the airports plus the current not-too-encouraging economic situation, I would much sooner stay at home. What about you?

Somewhere out there…

Teachers’ Day, May the 16th, came and went unceremoniously, I’m afraid. I did get a few smses from a few teacher-friends and as I was caught up in all the action over the weekend, I just gave them a short “Same to you” reply. However, I do not recall getting any from any of my ex-students which I must say was kind of disappointing. It brought to mind the lines of this Peter Allen song:

Baby saw that
when they pulled that big top down
they left behind her dreams among the litter
And the different kind of love
she thought she’d found
There was nothing left
but sawdust and some glitter
But baby can’t be broken ‘cos you see
she had the finest teacher.
that was me – I told ‘er

Don’t cry out loud
Just keep it inside
And learn how to hide your feelings
Fly high and proud
And if you should fall,
remember you almost have it all

Well,  it certainly felt like there was nothing left of the love we’d thought we’d found – just some sawdust and some glitter…but I didn’t cry out loud as I have learnt how to hide my feelings and I do remember how I almost had it all.

Then, just when I thought that all hope was gone, one of them sent me a message saying that he had some cakes that he had got for me from Secret Recipe in Miri – the marble cheesecake…

…and some Swiss Liquor Chocolate that he had brought back from Labuan…

It was not so much the gifts but the fact that at least somewhere out there, somebody still remembered…but I was in KL at the time.

When I came back, he wanted to send the stuff over to my house but I suggested going out for lunch, nothing fancy – just this plate of Taiwan sui ciao (meat dumplings)…

…and this chicken claypot rice for two… 

…but we had a great time, catching up with the latest developments in our lives. He has successfully secured a government overseas scholarship for outstanding students and will be leaving next month to do a degree in Education. Yes, he’s going to be a teacher…like me but of Chemistry.

I wish him nothing but the very best in his undertakings and in the years ahead. Good luck, Xavier, and thank you…

P.S.:

Happy Birthday, Gundot
The weather is so…hot
Let us go for steam…boat
Happy Birthday, Gundot

Hahahahahaha!!! At least it rhymes! Too bad I’m not in Kuching…

Ain’t nothing like the real thing…

Well, that’s what people always say – ain’t nothing like the real thing! For instance, Kuching kolo mee and Sibu kampua noodles may be available elsewhere, even overseas, but many will claim that they are not the same and definitely not as nice. Here in our country, each state may have its own delicacy but pretty often, it is available in the other regions. For instance, when I was in Kuching recently, I had the Penang prawn mee at a stall run by some guy from the island state and I thought it was not too bad.

Well, last Saturday, in KL, peteformation took me and the others to this O & S Restaurant at Paramount Garden in Petaling Jaya. According to him, this place has the best Penang food around and one thing of interest that I noted was that there were so many stalls selling all kinds of stuff and the place was so very crowded compared to the one right behind it which was pathetically empty.

I had the Penang char kway teow (fried rice noodles), the special at RM4.50 a plate…

Pete said that it was kind of pale because that was the Penang style as opposed to the KL ones which would be darker as they would add a lot more soy sauce. It was very tasty and to me, it didn’t matter whether it was black or white. (Oops! That’s Wacko Jacko! LOL!!!) As I’ve always said, they have nicer kway teow or rice noodles over there compared to what we have in Sibu that is thicker, white (not translucent) and not as smooth.

Pete had the Penang prawn mee…

It looked all right to me but I did not get to sample, so I can’t say anything about the taste. Daniel had the Penang assam laksa…

I took a piece of the fish – it was sardine. It tasted fine to me and I thought it was a lot stronger than what we can get at the roadside/kampung foodstalls here in Sibu.

I’m kind of mixed up with the photos that I took, so I’m not really sure whether this was the same prawn mee that Pete had or whether it was the Penang Hokkien noodles that Drumsticks had…

Cibol had the beef noodles…

…but unfortunately, I can’t recall what coolku had, probably the same thing that Pete had. We did share the po piah (spring rolls) though…

…which were fine but not as yummy as the ones KNB bought for me when I was in Kuching. Coming to Sibu anytime soon, KNB? Hint! Hint! LOL!!!

Pete also ordered this plate of chee cheong fan – Penang style for us to try…

 
…with the prawn otak-otak/paste that people use to make rojak. He did warn us that we might not like it as we could find the otak-otak paste sort of offensive. Personally, I felt it was pretty okay but I think I would prefer the one I had in Kuching.

All in all, it was a delightful brunch, considering that we got there towards the later part of the morning and thanks a lot, Pete, for going through all the trouble of taking us there and sending us all the way back. I owe you one…

Let me get to know you…

On my very brief visit to Kuala Lumpur, I grabbed the chance to get to know as many bloggers as I could. I like meeting fellow-bloggers in person so that we can progress to the next level and become blogger-friends.

The first one that I got to meet was peteformation…

…who caught me across the road taking photographs of the hotel for one of my previous posts. It was not difficult for him to identify me, he claimed – just one look at me and he knew that it was STP. Probably the fact that I was taking photographs using my old, lousy handphone gave the game away. LOL!!!

He looked bigger and taller in person, unlike the little boy photo in his blog.  He brought along some dried Teochew mee teow (long life noodles, as stated on the label) for me, thanks a lot for that, Pete. I will try to cook it one of these days and publish a post on that.

We waited for the other bloggers to turn up before Pete took us all the way to PJ for breakfast, but that will be in another post. The next one to arrive, if I remember correctly, was Drumsticks…

My! My! Isn’t she so very sweet-looking and pretty…and so very fair too? The poor girl did not know KL very well and had a bit of a problem with directions.

Then came Daniel…

…who decided not to drive and took the LRT instead. He also looked much bigger in person compared to the photos of him that I had seen in his blog or in Facebook…and if you read his recent post in his blog, he, for reasons known only to himself, does not want to be introduced as a “blogger” but as “someone who owns a blog” or “the owner of danielliew.com”. If you ask me, as Bill Shakespeare would say, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet!” PERIOD.

The last one to arrive that morning was coolku who had to come all the way from Bangi…

Actually he was my ex-student and he kept reminding me how I used to scold him for his poor command of the English language. Well, he certainly has improved a great deal over the years, no thanks to me! LOL!!! For one thing, he has put on weight and is now fairer than the time when he was in school.

So off we went, all of us and Cibol as well, for breakfast in PJ (Paramount Garden) at the O & S Restaurant where, according to Pete, they serve the best Penang hawker food…

Photo courtesy of peteformation

On the way back, I had a call from zewt who, at that point in time, was at the hotel. Unfortunately, he could not stay long and was not able to wait till we reached the hotel. I must say that I’m sad that I missed the chance to meet him in person…and eiling.

I was supposed to meet her at the Pavilion for tea soon after I arrived the previous afternoon but I was held up, chatting away with my radio friends. She was busy the following day, so I did not get to hear from her again, after that.

But Jing came to the hotel after we got back from our brunch outing in PJ…

…and we went to Secret Recipe up the road where he had a pie. I just had a slice of Mango Delight which was nothing to shout about. I should have stuck to my favourite – their white chocolate macadamian.

In the evening, JL came to the hotel and went together with Cibol and me to the “family” gathering…

At the gathering, we met this outspoken and dynamic lady, Grace…

Photo from http://www.magandpat.com

…who works for The Star and she too has a blog of her own. Zee from my radio family, who also has a blog, was there too, of course. In fact, she and Cash were the ones who picked us up at the hotel. Another one from the “family”, Zul, started a blog as well but it died a natural death after one post. I can’t even remember the url now. LOL!!!

Later in the night, another blogger dropped by to join us there but he/she would like to remain anonymous – in every way, and so be it. This is nothing new as I have met some bloggers who would like to remain anonymous in the blogosphere and I have no problem with that. If that is what they want, I would give due respect to their wishes and would not mention any personal things when commenting in their blogs or say anything that may give readers a clue to their identities. For any private matters, I would just call or sms them (as we, as friends, would have exchanged our handphone numbers) or send them an email or a message on Facebook.

However, I would think that it is somewhat awkward to have a “friend” and you don’t know a thing about him or her, don’t you all agree? Imagine if one were to come to my house and my missus (who is not in the least interested in blogging or reading them) asked questions like “What does he do?” or “Is he married?” and so on and I could only answer, “I don’t know!”, I am sure she would find it really odd and might even start wondering what on earth was going on! But let’s just say that it’s a person’s prerogative…so whatever it may be, I would just have to quietly oblige. 

Anyway, to get back to my post, the last but definitely not the least, blogger that I got to meet was Chriso. I really appreciate the fact that he insisted on meeting me even though we could not find a suitable time…and he came to the place where we had the gathering at around midnight as he had a prior engagement elsewhere earlier…

Photo courtesy of Chriso

Wow!!! Don’t you look small and slim in the photo, Chriso? You really should take more photographs with me in various poses… Ummm…on second thoughts, never mind! Just forget I said that! Hahahahaha!!! We had a long chat and then, he left…only to come running back a couple of minutes later, asking me to have my photograph taken with his shitzoe…

Photo courtesy of Chriso

Despite what it is, it certainly was an honour as judging from the photos in his blog and on Facebook, it seems that shitzoe is Chriso’s prized possession and he goes everywhere with it and has had many of his snaps taken with…that thing! Don’t ask me why he has this fetish attraction to that thing ‘cos I really don’t know! LOL!!!

Well, to all you bloggers that I got to meet, it was my pleasure meeting and getting to know all of you and to the others, perhaps we will meet some other time…

Love will keep us together…

Oh dear! I accidentally deleted the original post, so my apologies to those who have commented earlier…but it was about the reunion gathering of the family members on the “Pat and Mag in the afternoon” show which used to be aired on national radio 1.00 to 4.00 p.m. Monday to Friday but unfortunately, the people at the top saw it fitting to end the show.

Anyway, this is Pat…

…and this is Mag…

…and this is Martin from the UK…

…who was a regular on the show despite the fact that he had to wake up at 5.30 a.m. UK time to catch the show online…and this is part of the family – those who came together on Saturday night, 16th May at this place called “Baywatch” in Kelana Jaya…

That’s Cibol, Pat and Zul in front while standing in the front row, you can see yours truly, Christie, Azreen, Marie (Martin’s missus who incidentally is Pat’s sister), Zee, Shiranie, Mag and Mandy and at the back are Pat’s friends – Grace and Terence, Cash, Martin, Mubarak…and my blogger-friend, JL aka Jim Long. It was Cash’s birthday on Sunday and Azreen’s was a few days before that, so we grabbed the opportunity to celebrate the occasion with them.

Mag’s hubby, Steve (of FlyFm, I think) was there…

…to record Webisode 10…

…which if anyone’s interested, will be posted on the family forum or website at http://www.magandpat.com or on youtube. There are more photographs on that website, so everybody can just click the link to go and have a look. Click PHOTO ALBUM and click on the thumbnail. By the way, Mar and Pam, Mag read your dedications, so make sure you catch the webisode when it finally appears on the website.

Well, it certainly was a pleasure meeting everybody in person after all this time…and I look forward to more gatherings like this in the near future. Somebody suggested in a comment in the original post that we could all come together again on my 60th birthday. That will be in December 2012, so let’s just KIV that in the meantime…and start saving up for a BIG present for me! LOL!!!

Bon voyage to Martin and Marie on their flight back to the UK this coming weekend…and to the rest, cheers! As Pat would always say at the end of the show, keep the peace and spread the love!

Stay on these roads…

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Friday and Cibol came to see me at the hotel after he finished work at 7.oo p.m. At 7.00!!! Thank goodness I only work 2 hours a day – 4.00 to 6.00 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, and earn a lot more – eat your hearts out, everybody! Hehehehehe!!!

We went for Thai food at Bangkok Jam which was just across the road but it was too dark, so I did not bother taking any photos there to post. After that, we took a cab to Concorde KL for drinks at Crossroads, the lobby lounge at the hotel. This is my favourite place to hang out in KL as it is spacious and comfortable – not dark, smoky, crowded and noisy like most clubs around, and to me, the main attraction is the bands. In the past, they used to have three bands – one Malaysian and two Filipino groups but that night, they only had two.

Cibol was not too impressed…

…with the Malaysian one which to me, was not too bad but personally, I think they would need to work on their harmony. The voices did not blend well at all and it stuck out like a sore thumb…

As for Power J – the Filipino band, it was a different story altogether…

The lead singer among the three female frontliners looked a bit mature but when she sang Journey’s “Faithfully“, she got herself a new fan…especially when considering that it is actually a guy song. I never liked “Poker Face” but I thought they did it better than Lady Gaga. And when the group sang “Bohemian Rhapsody“, even that difficult-to-please music critic, Cibol, had to admit that they were really very very good. The video link does not do them justice – you will just have to go there to watch them live. They simply blew me away with their rendition of that Queen’s classic… It seems that they were originally an 8-piece band but at the Crossroads, there were only 5 of them left.

When they came back for their next set as the witching hour approached, everyone was getting ready to party…

…starting with just a couple to break the ice before the rest joined in to dance the night away…

…and this Mid-Eastern- looking guy in the red t-shirt was really having the time of his life – shaking away to the band’s rendition of Shakira’s song…

Should I be going to KL again, I’ll definitely be dropping by the place again, that’s for sure but I don’t know about Cibol…

Look for a star…

I flew over to Kuala Lumpur at 11.55 a.m. on Friday on a nice and comfortable golden airlines flight and landed at KLIA at around 1.30 p.m. There to meet me were two from my radio family, Zee…

…and Cash…

…even though I said that I could easily take an airport limo to the hotel. We finally got to the Bukit Bintang area at around 3.00 p.m. and since the two had not had their lunch, we went to this chicken rice place next to Bukit Bintang Plaza…

Zee had the chicken rice (roasted)…

while Cash and I had the nasi lemak special…

It certainly was expensive at over RM11.00 but then we got a huge piece of curry chicken to go with it. Cash preferred breast (LOL!!!) but I asked for a drumstick (No, not you, Mary! You’ll be in another post!)…

We sat and chatted like long lost friends and it was already around 5 when I finally went and checked into the hotel…

Many would just walk past the hotel without realising that the hotel was there because there was no big sign with the name of the hotel in sight – just something in very small print on the glass panel at the entrance. You will have to look up…for the bintang (star) – the Bintang Warisan…

At RM138 a night, which is considerably cheap for a decent hotel in the Golden Triangle of KL, you get a twin-sharing room…

…and breakfast for two. That, however, wasn’t much to shout about so I would not bother to post on it. Given a choice, it would be better to go to some nearby coffee shop or hawker stall to eat to your heart’s content…

So, there I was…in KL, at last! Step aside, folks! STP is in town! LOL!!!

I’ll be there…

If you’re wondering where I’ll be in the next two days, I’ll be in Kuala Lumpur for the TraxxFm Family reunion. Before I started blogging, I was very active on the radio on the “Pat & Mag in the afternoon” show Mondays to Fridays from 1.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. In fact, I was such a regular on the show – sending messages to ask for songs, share comments and opinions on matters arising and so on that Pat once said that I was like part of the furniture in the studio or in other words, an integral part of the programme.

Pat & Mag with bloggers Cibol and Bongkersz

I made a lot of friends through the show but so far, I have only met one of those in West Malaysia – Cash, the friendly cabbie, who will be picking me up at KLIA later. Martin who listened to the show all the way from the UK will be in town, so this Saturday, the members of this “family” are getting together and meet one another face to face. That is why I’ll be flying over to KL later this morning.

Of course, I will be taking this opportunity to meet some of the blogger friends. Cibol will be expecting me…

…as there are certain businesses that we would need to settle, and I understand from him that Daniel, Coolku, Drumsticks, Jing etc… will be around as well. Jim Long aka JL will be in KL around the same time, so I’m hoping to meet him and he may bring foongpc along with him.

Peteformation responded to my email and has asked me to go out for breakfast tomorrow morning at 8.00 a.m. Well, I will confirm with you, Pete, once I get to KL and have a rough idea of whatever arrangements there may be.

I also managed to get in touch with some via Facebook and got their contact numbers. I gave them mine as well and some of them took the trouble to get in touch with me. Chriso, for instance…

…sent me an sms saying that he would like to go out with me for a makan. I also got a message on Facebook from eiling who suggested that we met for tea…and I hope to meet the first person to post a comment in my blog – zewt (but has stayed away lately for reasons known only to him himself).

Gosh! So many people and I only have one full day there. That reminds me of a waitress I saw in a coffee shop once. She was wearing a t-shirt and on it these words: “So many men, so little time!” I wonder if she knows what it means! ROTFLMAO! In view of the fact that I will not be around, therefore, I will not be posting anything for the next one or two days.

Do have a blast this weekend! Cheers to one and all!