Jonker Ho

This short video was taken at a community hall at Malacca's Chinatown, Jonker Street. The group of mostly middle-aged women (and a very enthusiastic teenage boy in yellow!) are having a great time dancing to the Slumdog Millionaire song, 'Jai Ho'. They regularly hold weekend dance gatherings which never fails to attract onlookers, particularly tourists who happen to walk by on their way to the night market just outside the hall.

Disco Clam

This is a giant clam which exhibited 'electrical sparks' running across its body when provoked. We saw it while diving at Lembeh Straits in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. We christened it the Disco Clam.

Don't ask

I've been invited to attend yet another friend's wedding ceremony dinner. While I am all for celebrating my best buddy's most joyous occasion of his life, I dread having to spend an entire evening seated at a table amongst strangers and old acquaintances whom I have not bothered to keep in touch with and vice versa. And since I don't drink, I don't have the luxury of having alcohol to soften the agony of boredom. And then there is the question that all singletons abhor getting at such occasions.

Yes, THE question.

"When is it your turn to get married?"

Gee, I didn't know I had taken a number and joined the line to queue up for my shot at matrimonial bliss. And I think that the person asking is often not that innocent, as he/she is usually implying that since others have succeeded in snagging their life partner, I have somehow failed at one of life's most important tasks.

To add salt to injury, they go on to justify their enquiry by saying, "...you're not getting any younger you know," and smile ever so sweetly, pretty much like how Cruella De Ville would smile when she's pleased with the slaughter of dalmations for her next fur coat.

To which I would answer (had I had the gall, of course),

"Well, you're not getting any younger yourself. So, when is it your turn... to die?"

I am so damned to hell. Mwuahahahaha

Holding Hands

A young Singaporean couple came in this morning for their regular checkup and cleaning. The poor girl was so scared that she insisted her boyfriend stand right next to her and hold her hand while I clean her teeth. You could see the fear and anxiety in her eyes and fidgety body language.

Oh boy.... part of me was touched and filled with all the 'awww...' type of feeling inside, while another part of me was fighting the urge to roll my eyes upwards till it disappears into my skull forever.

The cynical part of me won.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Lunar New Year 2009. Here's hoping that the year of the Ox will bring you bountiful joy, love, peace and prosperity!

Happy New Year 2009

Here's a to a joyous 2009 and may the new year bring you lots of good cheer, fabulous health and abundant wealth!

Brain Pattern

Just something i picked up while reading a friend's blog today. Try it.... it was quite true for me.

Your Brain's Pattern

You have a tempered, reasonable way of thinking. You tend to take every new idea in, and meld it with your world view. For you, everything is always changing. Each moment is different. Your thinking process tends to be very natural - with no beginnings or endings.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

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??????

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......."

A Day At The Zoo

A couple of friends came down to Melaka this weekend for a visit and I took them to the famous Melaka Zoo, arguably the best zoo in the country.

Melaka Zoo is the second largest in Malaysia (after Zoo Negara in KL) and contains over 1200 animals of over 200 species within its 54-acre land area.

One of the more popular exhibits was the pair of orang-utans, Moochie and BB (I forgot their given names so I made up new ones!)

Moochie seemed very animated and almost human-like in her mannerisms. She loved the attention and very willingly posed for pictures.

Her bf, BB was a bit more defensive and actually stood on his legs and hollered out loud when the flash from someone's camera went off in his face.

This is my first sighting of a porcupine, complete with the spikes on its back. Although its name is derived from a French word meaning 'thorny pig', it's actually a type of rodent (like the rat).

This is the Malayan Sun Bear. In Malay, it's called Beruang Madu or Honey Bear. Erm... suddenly Winnie the Pooh comes to mind.

"You must have patience, oh young padawan..." said the wise old baboon to his young red-butted apprentice. ;)

At the northern corner of the zoo is a lake that separates the zoo from a golf course. In that lake, there were many different types of water fowl and golf balls.

A flock of flamingos were busy preening while standing effortlessly on one leg. Showoff!

As we were about to leave the park, we spotted a pair of parrots 'calling' out to us.

Then, as I was getting ready to take a shot of them, they decided to give us an R-rated performance. I have always wondered how birds kiss. Now I know!

Ok, show's over. Time to take a bow!

Election Day 2008

This is a collection of random pics around Muar town on Election Day. It was relatively quiet today in town. I guess everybody's busy making 'x'es on their election slips at the polling stations. No, no chads poked, made pregnant or even argued about in court here. Just a simple piece of printed paper and a pencil. Simple.

The war of the banners are in full throttle in the town centre. A sea of blue, green and red can be seen flapping in the wind.

The ruling BN election machine is obviously the more wealthier one, as evidenced by the multitudes of flags, banners and posters EVERYWHERE. For every flag/poster by the opposition there are at least five of the blue scales.

Anwar's renegade party, Keadilan, also makes its own presence felt here with extra long banners sporting the infamous white 'black eye' logo.

The Pan Islamic Malaysia party or PAS has been trying to make inroads into Johor but so far has not been successful. Will 2008 prove to be a 'banner' year for them?

These hanging banners that criss cross the town's streets are becoming more of a nuisence as some of them have snapped and fallen onto passers-by and cars, causing chaos and traffic jams.

In the more urban constituencies, DAP is trying to woo the chinese votes. The party did win a state seat here in Muar a couple of elections ago, but promptly lost it to BN after just one term. Can they wrestle back this seat as well as others this time around?

This has to be the biggest poster yet in the whole of Muar. It depicts a picture of the ruling coalition's Chinese leader, Ong Ka Ting and the local candidate all thumbs up about the development in the country.

Even road dividers and traffic lights aren't spared from the banners and flags.

I saw this BN nominee come out of his sleek brand new Mercedes Benz the other day at the petrol station. Nice guy. Just a tad bit sloppy looking.

This is the Keadilan candidate for my Parliament Constituency. Ooh... she sure can strike a fierce pose....

...and she's going head to head with this BN's candidate. He sure does show a more approachable face, don't you think?

Ah, here is the primary school near my parent's place that is doubling as the polling station where I will cast my vote.

One by one, we first have to register at the front counter with our ICs before being given a identification slip and directed to one of the three polling rooms to cast our votes for the State and Parliamentary seats.

Even though the political parties these two ladies represent are rivals, it is heartening to see them being very friendly to each other. Maybe the claws will come out come results time. Hehehe

Well, I wish all the candidates and the political parties participating in this year's election all the best and whoever wins, please govern our country to the best of your ability with diligence, honour and integrity. One last thing: please remember to clean up the mess you guys did to our town.