Roti Jala at 20,000 feet or This is not an Airasia PAID advert.

Airasia recently introduced several new items to their in-flight menu and one of them was the popular local dish Roti Jala.

Roti Jala or 'Net Bread' in Malay (net as in fish-net, not inter-net) is a lacey crepe that is usually eaten with curry or dhal.

This is what it looks like (or rather, the Airasia version). Four rolled up pieces of lacey crepe plus a small portion of curry gravy.... for RM7.00!

But wait! As I dug into the first piece of dough, I realised there's something else within the roll. It tasted like ground meat, although what kind I couldn't make out. My guess would be chicken since pork and beef would be a no-no for various religious reasons (that only Malaysians would understand hehehe).

And it tasted really good.... especially when it was dipped in the curry gravy.

I only have one beef with the dish. As I said, it was really delicious and the inserted mysterious ground meat was a nice surprise. But I realised something was missing. And if you look in the picture above of the wrapper closely you will also see that....

THERE WERE NO POTATOES IN THE GRAVY! HOW CAN ONE HAVE A PROPER ROTI JALA DISH WITHOUT POTATOES??????

Irresistable

The recent earthquake in China not only affected the human population, but also a big majority of the wildlife as well, including the endangered panda bear.

Here we see rescue workers erm... rescuing the baby pandas from the Wulung Panda Breeding Ground in Sichuan province.

The babies were given milk as they had not been fed for a long while after the quake.

After a hearty meal, it's time for their afternoon siesta....

This little fella went and got himself some more....

Then, it's feeding time again! Amazing, they actually know how to hold and drink from a feeding bottle.

This baby panda is not very willing to get his shots..... reminds me of some of my patients. :p

Awwwww... SO CUTE!!! pic #1

Awwwww... SO CUTE!!! pic #2

Awwwww... SO CUTE!!! pic #3

"I didn't do it. No one saw me do it. You can't prove anything!"


"Please, Your Honor! I am innocent!!!!"

Thanks to TK for the pics.

How Malaysian Are You?

TK forwarded me a humorous quiz to gauge how 'Malaysian' we are. I am happy to report that I passed with flying colours and proudly call myself a top-quality belacan who can't live without roti pisang and a tall cold glass of cham. How about you?

**********
HOW MALAYSIAN ARE YOU?

NO CHEATING PLEASE, We're Malaysian.... !!!

1. How much is satu kupang?
2. Where's the favourite spot to take wedding pictures in Taiping?
3. In what dialect is Apo Nak Di Kato?
4. Name at least five variations of roti canai.
5. What is the staple food of native Sarawakians.
6. Name a popular Malay ointment made from "sea-cucumber"
7. Name the sauce made from fish or shrimp that the Kelantanese love.
8. What does pi mai pi mai tang tu mean?
9. Which fruit is Ipoh famous for?
10. What is the English name for putu mayam?
11. "Lah" is to Peninsular Malaysians as"..." is to Sabahans.
12. What does ABC stand for?
13. How long is a sari?
14. What does the Cantonese phrase" ngam ngam " means ?
15. Name Penang's famous beach.
16. How do you order coffee mixed with tea at a kopi-tiam?.
17. What's on Malaysian TV at 8pm?
18. On one side of our RM1 coin is the bunga raya, what's on the other?..
19. Now what's on our 10 sen coin?
20. What was the name of the KL Commonwealth Games 1998 mascot?
21. When you fill in a form, if you're not Malay, Chinese or Indian,you are...?
22. Who is Malaysia's favourite Kampung Boy?
23. How did the word "gostan" come about?
24. Lobo's Whispers in the Wind is the English version of which famous Malay song?
25. When did Malaysia last win the Thomas Cup?
26. What is the name of our national flag?
27. If you want 4D numbers, who do you consult?
28. What's the name of the Malaysian-made 175cc motorbike?
29. Name our national bird.
30. If the father is a baba, and the mother is a nyonya, then what is the son?

ANSWERS

1. Northern slang for 10 sen
2. Lake Gardens
3. Negri Sembilan, meaning "What's there to say?"
4. Roti bom, roti pisang, roti planta, roti telur, roti sardin, roti tisu, roti bawang
5. Sago
6. Minyak gamat made from sea cucumber, for wounds
7. Budu
8. Northern dialect that means coming and going but ending up at the same spot
9. Pomelo
10. String hoppers
11. Bah
12. Air batu campur OR All Asia Broadcast Centre
13. Six yards
14. Just in time or just fit or just right.
15. Batu Ferringhi
16. Kopi cham
17. The news
18. Keris
19. Congkak
20. Wira
21. "Other" or Lain-lain
22. Lat
23. A corruption of "go astern"
24. P. Ramlee's Getaran Jiwa
25. 1992
26. Jalur Gemilang
27. "Datuk"
28. Jaguh
29. There's none - lah
30. Baba


SCORES AND EVALUATION :

0-10 - Malu-lah you! We suggest you spend at least one hour a day at your nearest coffee-shop.





11-20 - Boleh pass. Okay, you may claim to be the average Malaysian with a score in this range but you could watch less CNN on Astro and more local content on RTM.





21-30 - Wah, you one true blue Malaysian-lah. Top quality belacan. We are truly impressed, especially if you know the answer to No. 24 which we admit is very tricky!

Steamboat For Daddy Day

A couple weeks ago, the entire Gan clan (meaning me, my sisters and my parents) wnet out for a Father's Day dinner celebration. We gave Daddy the choice of what to eat and he insisted on steamboat even though he had just had that two weeks earlier. So we went to the usual place at Sri Petaling.

The place had just started for the day, so they were still getting things ready, arranging the tables etc. So we had lots of time... and guess what we did....

Even my dad and mom were sporting enough to pose for me. :p

Before long, the waiter came to switch on the gas and light the mini stove to heat the soup.

Sis made sure the waiter brought lots and lots of sambal and cut chilli. This woman has a stomach of steel!

The plate by plate, the goodies came. First up was the seafood platter filled to the brim with prawns, squid, jellyfish and wanton.

My dad practically drooled down his shirt when he saw the prawns....

This semi circle pastry is called erm... Sui kau. (Water dog?) It's made of prawn and fish meat wrapped in a wanton-like dough paper.

The balls were next. There were fish balls, sotong balls, pork balls, even beef balls.

There was also the vegetable platter, which included lettuce, spinach and various kinds of mushrooms. Don't they look cute?

So, everything goes into either one of these two compartments. The left is filled with clear seafood broth, while the right is filled with tom yam soup.

Just look at that 'fierce' red hot soup.... and it tasted soooo delicious!

"Hey, you took my prawn! Stay away from those lovely beef balls. They're mine! All mine! Bwahaha!!!"

"I'll fight you for it! En garde!"

"Oh God..... I'm so full!..... I think I'm going to faint......."

Love Drug

One thing about Indonesia that stuck in my mind long after I've returned home was the sheer variety of music styles and ideas that brews in the Indonesian music scene. Indeed, many of Indonesia's pop icons are also very popular here in Malaysia, including Sheila On 7, Samsons and of course Kris Dayanti.

I was most impressed by an R&B artiste by the name of Marcell, who performs a blend of pop, old-school R&B and traditional Indonesian gamelan music that is very soothing to the ears.

In this video for the song Candu Asmara (literally, Love Opium), he sings of his lady love casting a spell on him making him become addicted to her like a love drug.



One minor gripe tho: He should fire his hairstylist for that ghastly 'electrocuted' look. :p