Reflection

It's coming to end of the year now & little that I realised this blog is not even updated since October. Yet, I've seen daily visits to this blog. Whoever r u out there, thanks a lot. There must be something that keeps the visits running.

An eventful year indeed in many areas, especially in working life, divine service & others. More details to be shared in later posts. Life is funny. If we actually sit down & reflects on all the happenings to us & around us as well, all are actually connected to each other. I've seen deaths, newborns, emotional breakdown, renewed zest of life, unions of 2 loves thru marriage, arguments etc. Each of them carries messages for us to learn as well. There' s saying "Everything in heaven & earth is the voice of God". The idea here is to know & to learn about the "messages". These learnings from the present are to be brought to the future. We may not know, but there will be one day we will get to utilise these learnings.

Going to the new year, what's in store? I personally dunno. U can predict, u can forecast, u can guess but in the end of the day, who will knows what will be the outcome? Which is why strengthening our faiths & foundation should be the upmost important aim. Enough of this for now. Going off to Cherating tomorrow to wind up the final moments of the year with Akurians & back after new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!!

Jalan Jalan Cari Makan - Nasi Lemak Cikgu

It's Malaysian favourite breakfast. It's used to be available only in the housing areas / villages in the morning where u see those aunties (or mak cik in Malay) sells them in roadside stalls. Coming to the present time, now it is sold almost everywhere at 24/7; kopitiam's, mamak's, market stalls's and even some posh restaurants.

But still, how to judge & diffenciate the best from the best? Some people say it's the coconut rice. Some say it's the sambal. The answer is up to u actually. Who else can judge our own tastebuds? Get what I meant? Went to these 2 places recently which in my opinion, serve among the best nasi lemak in town. Talked about Nasi Lemak Cikgu first, located in SS3, Kelana Jaya.

Opens daily till dinner

U need to wait for a while, especially in the morning

Ordered with fried chicken & squid. Reasonably price at RM 8.00

The sambal is pretty mild, suitable for those who love nasi lemak but cant take too spicy food. Rice has that distinctive coconut flavour & the difference compared to other is the cooking style of the rice. "Nasi lemak kukus" as they called it in Malay was cooked in a steaming hot wok, instead of the normal electric rice pot. This process, they say helps preserve the coconut & pandan flavour in the rice.

Pretty accessible alongside LDP highway. If ur coming from Damansara towards Sungai Way, keep left after passing Giant hypermarket. Turn left immediately on the junction after passing Customs headquarter. Drive forward till u see a row of shophouses on ur right. Turn right & the restaurant is situated at the middle. If ur driving from Puchong, Subang Jaya etc on the other side of highway, the only way is to make a U-turn after Giant & follow the path earlier.

Shall talk bout my next Nasi Lemak stop in next post...:)

Simply Durian

Durian...u just love it or hate it. I'm a self confessed fanatically crazy durian lover and very sure there are many more people out there who are willing to scream "I'M A DURIAN LOVER!!!". U will be very surprised to know what will people do in order to get the taste of the best ones.

True story: my boss actually went all the way to a Mantin durian farm in early morning to sit and wait...Wait for the durians to fall from the trees and make his picks from there. Mind u, it's BIG business out there for durian sellers. Some best ones can fetch till RM 30.00 per kilogramme. This caused some selfish and unscrupulous people who are selling the low graded ones for over-the-market prices.

Question here is how many of us actually know what type of durians are we eating. Anyone wonder what's market rate for each type. It's important so to avoid being conned. Here's the tips of the durian species available in Malaysia, taken from unknown sources..Do take note these are not list of ALL durians available. The best of em' all is not listed here. Go out there & check it out yourselves....

HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD DURIAN
A good durian must be ripe, fresh and free from larvae / worms. Do bear in mind, a durian with worms does not mean it's bad, it could be soo delicious that even worms are attracted to it...
1) Look at the tip. If it's too dry, it's no longer fresh. A little dry is fine.
2) Look at the bottom. If it's cracked, it maybe over-ripe or not so fresh. Some sellers will use rubberband to tie it to prevent from cracking. It could still be delicious but since we're paying for the best, why bother taking the risk?
3) Smell the durian. If it has strong smell, it's most likely to be good. If no smell, it's probably not ripe.
4) Put the durian close to your ear and shake it. If there's a moving sound inside, it's most likely to be good.
5) Look for holes around the durian. If there is, most likely it has been infested with worms.

Bear in mind, these are not SOP (standard procedures) for choosing durians. It's only a basic guideline for us to know and not necessarily will get us the best tastes of durians. Like what people used to say, dont judge the book by its cover. Same applies to durians. Will post more on this subject later. Meanwhile, Happy Eating !!!

Jalan Jalan Cari Makan - Steven's Corner

This Steven's Corner needs no introduction to foodies, being a must-visit place for whoever around OUG (Old Klang Road) or Pandan Indah (Cheras). Recently moved to a new premise at its OUG branch but food quality pretty much the same.

My favourite has to be the cheese naan which is probably the best in town, and tandoori chicken. Most restaurants in town will have cheddar cheese as ingredient for cheese naan being a cheaper option. Steven's motto is to provide the best quality with best ingredients available. Thus, staffs used mozzarella cheese. When ready to be served, u better dont wait any longer with the cheese still steaming hot. It's that good that u can eat it immediately and dont need to eat it with dhal curry or anything else. Garlic cheese naan is also highly recommended. In fact, any of its dishes with cheese are great since all of them have mozzarella cheese as ingredient.

Cheese naan

This is what we called a cheesy meal

Tandoori chicken

It's Still Here??!!

Almost forgotten about the existence of this blog...it's like sooo long ago since the last updates. My fault for not updating.....Blame also World Cup for one month of absence here.

Actually finding something to do as need to stay awake till 3am, where I need to go monitor some works in Subang airport with some Jap bosses..long story. Maybe to talk bout it on next blog. Probably need to make it a point to update every 2 weeks at least...we'll see

Accepting & Overcoming

If ur diagnosed with a terminal case disease & doctor gives u 2 months to live, how would u accept it? Another question is would u inform ur families?

Attended a relative's funeral recently. He was diagnosed with advanced stage liver cancer. Prior to his death, he informed family members that all is in preliminary stage & that the cancer cells are under control. It's only after his sudden collapse which leads to his death days ago, families were informed of his actual condition which he did not disclose to members. His reason for doing this lies together with him and would not be known. Knowing his character, he probably do not want to cause distress & inconvenience to family members if he's to disclose his disease details. Instead he prefers to suffer alone rather than together with his families.

He couldnt be blamed for his decision now that he's gone. I truly believe one of the reason God gives us family & friends is to share our joy & sorrow with them. This is so that we can get the strength from the love & support to move on. True, death is inevitable. Accepting death together with the families will at least help the person to "go" without any attachment and with free mind and peaceful state. I've seen people in that situation (when death is foregone conclusion and person only waiting time to "go") but dont want to leave yet. U can really see it in their faces as if they're saying "I've got so many things to do for my families etc and I dont want to leave here yet!!! " and that leads to more sorrow to the families who are helpless by then.

What will you do if ur in this situation?

Jalan Jalan Cari Makan - Vishal Banana Leaf

Serving Chettinad banana leaf rice, Vishal Food & Catering is always packed with people during lunch hours. Being in KL's unofficial Little India, Brickfields, this place has to be one of it's best kept secret. It has 2 branches in Bricksfield actually. One is situated in Jalan Scott & another in Jalan Tun Sambanthan. The one in Jalan Scott is the first branch & has the chefs cooking its meals even for the 2nd branch.

Tried banana leaf rice in many places but what makes me going back there is the freshly cooked dishes, especially the side dishes that is normally served with the rice. Unlike other places which have dishes that are left for too long, leaving the food cold. U see, the place is packed & people is always queuing up waiting to have their shares of food. Naturally, the food turnover is high. Thus, we can always see the chefs are cooking non-stop & we will see new dishes coming out often. A must try is the chicken / mutton briyani rice. Other dishes are pretty tasty too such as chicken varuval, mutton varuval, chicken 65 etc. A glass of mango lassi will be refreshing after the meal.

Serving multiple dishes

Waiting to be served

My chicken briyani

Service is good even during peak hours. No need to wait long to be seated as the supervisor will arrange effectively according to no of pax. The food servers (or rather waiters) immediately attend to u whenever we call for them. Being in a secluded corner of Jalan Scott, finding this Vishal Food can be challenging. If ur coming from Jalan Istana towards Brickfields, Jalan Scott is immediately situated on the left side of the road. Restaurant is visible from the main road. As Jalan Scott is a one way street, one has to turn left after the next junction (after Petronas petrol station) to make a big U-turn to get into Jalan Scott.

Jalan Jalan Cari Makan - Yut Kee Restaurant

I had a thing for Hainanese food. Always looking to check out the old time Hainanese kopitiams in town. Some of these coffeeshops did not really changed its look & image despite the changes of trends and times. One of them is Yut Kee restaurant, situated along Jalan Dang Wangi.

Here, they serves most Hainanese fares such as chicken chops, Hainanese noodles etc besides their own home made marble cakes & kaya rolls. Service is pretty fast with food served 10 minutes after u ordered. Naturally, most popular dishes are already prepared in advance so that to cope with the orders. However, that did not affect the tastes. Dad & Mum said it still taste the same when they first eat here during the early 70s.

Pork Chop

Roti babi (Pork bun)

Fish & chips

Toasted & steamed breads

Home made marble cakes & kaya rolls
Rules here is u gotta be prepared to share tables with strangers and not to hang around too long after finishing ur dishes. The queues here are long during lunch hours & weekends. Thanks to the efficient staffs, u dont need to wait long to get ur seats. Just prepare the follow the rules.

Forgot to get the GPS coordinates for this shop but it's pretty easy to find. Along Jalan Tun Abdul Rahman, keep left when u see the old Odeon cinema on ur left & Pertama complex on ur right. Turn left after the traffic light junction. Drive forward till u see Wilayah Complex on ur right. The restaurant is on ur left. It will be quite obvious to know which lot as people will be queuing outside, waiting to be seated...:)

It's Langkawi...Again !!!

Another long overdue post on the annual Akurians' trip last December. This time, again to Langkawi. Still can't figure out why we went back to the same place. Personally, I felt the island has much to offer & we've yet to fully explore all places yet. Same quartet plus Paul, Emma & Eriq this time.

At the hotel pool

Arrived there on New Year eve and checked into this Langkawi Boutique Resort at Cenang beach. For RM 150.00 per nite, room pretty big with 2 queen-size beds although the whole hotel looked a bit runned down. No complaint about the pool though. With its man-made waterfall & lagoon styled design, we guys just need to have a dip. Later, we joined the gals at the beach across the street to witness the best sunset scene I've ever seen on Malaysian shore. Truly amazing to see how the sky changed to some unimagined colours within minutes. Had delicious seafood dinner at restaurant nearby before joining the New Year eve party, held along the Cenang beach. Thousands, especially the expatriates thronged the beach to watch reggae band performance, fire-show, some lantern lighting activity & of course fireworks. Typical Patong style.

Sunset shot as seen at Cenang beach without any touch of Adobe

Scene on New Year Eve in Cenang beach

This trip around, we decided to go beach hopping, other than where we went during the previous visit. Next morning, we went to the secluded Pasir Tengkorak beach at the other side of the island. Beautiful turquoise coloured water with clean, unhabited beach. Maj said it's frequented by locals only. Thus, not many people around & still unspoilt. Sincerely hope it will stays like this till the next visit again. Later, went hanging out besides the Temurun waterfall, located 5 minutes drive away. The water is so crystal clear that it's almost looked non-existent. Next stop to Pasir Hitam (Black Sand) beach. With name like that, no further explanation required on what's the attraction available.

Serene & quiet - Pasir Tengkorak beach

Skinny dip in lagoon like this is sooo tempting. Almost did it

They said the water is so clean that u can drink it straight away

And finally to Tanjung Rhu beach where Shangri-la & Four Seasons are located. Here, u can see a wonderful work of nature where u can walk to the island nearby on foot when it's low tide. It's as if there's treasures to be uncovered at the island and the secret path has been unlocked for us to reach there. We had dinner at a Russian USSR restaurant at Telaga Harbour before got back to hotel. We went to Kuah town for shopping the next morning before going back to KL in the afternoon.

The gang at Tanjung Rhu beach

On the long beach stretch

Notice the naturally made walkway to the island

Telaga Harbour at night with multiple choices of international restaurants

Made a promise to myself that i shall be back to the island to finish the tours of other attractions in the island. There are still eagle feeding, sunset cruise, Payar island snorkelling, island hopping & others...Who's joining me ehh??

Vote Vote Vote

Finally managed to register myself as a voter today at a booth opened by Election Commission today at Subang Parade. Took only 3 minutes to write my details...The lady staff looked at my IC & gave a strange look. Hey, I know I missed 2 elections before this but better late than never rite?? Reports said that 2.1 million eligible Malaysian voters has not registered & at least 50% of them are below 35 years of age....So, peeps out there who are not registered yet, what are u waiting for?? Go register at your local Election offices & visit the web http:// www.spr.gov.my

Family Tree

It's not an everyday thing where u can check out all ur relatives under one roof. Who got married to whom? Who are the latest additions to the family? How has all the children grown? Chinese New Year is one good occasion to do so. Cant resist posting this up after meeting a hot babe for the first time.

Babe with Mum. Photo taken with my hp

So cute that ur tempted to make one...LOL

Meet Mila. I guess her parents named her after Mila Jovovich. This cutie pie of Swiss-Chinese parentage is my grandniece who is in town from Zurich. Yes, it's correct & no typo error here. She's my father's sister's daughter's daughter's daughter aka grandniece.

Our family on Dad's side is sooo big that there's 4 generations still living in the family & my siblings and I are in the 2nd generation despite of our ages. With this, even relatives in their 30s & 40s in the 3rd generation are suppose to address my siblings & I "uncles & aunty". Too complicated for me to explain how & why. Younger bro thinks this is a burden..scratching his head counting how many angpows he need to give during his marriage in future. I see this as a beautiful moment to be cherished for a lifetime. Not many can lay claim for having more than 3 generations under one roof....:)

In the CNY Mood....

It's around the corner. One more day to be exact to the first day of Chinese New Year. Time for reunite with all family members for dinner tonight. Call me being traditional or conservative or whatever.

My preference for a reunion dinner is just a home cooked dinner with all members of families instead of doing it in hotel or restaurant. The more people the merrier....The usual shopping trips with Mom to purchase the CNY necessities, that's something to look forward every year too. OK, I'm a Mummy's boy & proud to be one. Hey, it's something need to be done when ur married too. So, who else can give u all the priceless tips for bargains etc? Where to get the cheapest prawns around? Where to buy the cheapest lime tree? When is the best time to get the fishes ar reasonable price to keep till the reunion dinner, without storing it for too long?

Multiple coloured pussy willows

Lucky bamboo plants on show at Sungai Buloh plant nurseries

Lime trees on sale. Price depends on the size of tree & age of tree

Gourd plants

This is the usual scene in all the dried meat stores in Chinatown, KL

To all celebrating Chinese New Year, may u have a great one with your families back home...

Hong Kong

This has been pending since last November. It was a hasty arrangement by bosses for myself, Will & Hiraoka to make a 3D2N trip to Hong Kong to study their newly integrated operational system in airfreight forwarding & look if can be adapted to our local environment. Arrived on Sunday evening to check into our rooms in Park Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui. A standard HK-sized but cosy & comfortable.

Cosy room

Walked to the tis Japanese restaurant Tonikaku nearby, highly recommended by tis Jap colleague of us. He ordered the food as if there's no tomorrow but I must admit they were good, especially the fresh sushi. And the bill came up to four figure sum of HK dollars (although I dont see exactly how much). Surprisingly, no one seems to know what to do next, especially the Jap who make countless trips to HK already. Being a self appointed tour guide, I took initiative to take them to Avenue of Stars, approx 20 minutes by walking. Too bad, we missed the Syphony of Lights show but at least got to enjoy the beautiful HK skylights at night. The weather & the setting around was just perfect that u just wanna sit down on the bench & watch people passing by. Went back for early nap, knowing the next day will be packed with activities.

This plate of sushi costs RM 240.00 !!!!

Beautiful HK skylights along the Avenue of Stars

You just wanna sit down & admire the scenery like this

The next morning, we walked to our HK branch HQ located nearby the hotel for initial discussion with the people concerned (with only me & Will being the only non-Japanese!!!) Had a dim sum lunch in tis reataurant. I must say the "ha kao" was one of the best tasted so far, 2 BIG prawns wrapped in a thin layered smooth rice flour. Later, we made a visit to our airport warehouse & operation office located in this Hutchison Logistic Centre nearby Kowloon border. Still a distance from the Chek Lap Kok actually but it was strategically situated between airport & sea port. Gasped, looking at the total volume of their cargo handling. Besides servicing the local HK area, others nearby such as Macau, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Dongguan & even Guangzhou were included in area of servicing. Naturally, their volume was probably 5-6 times bigger than our KLIA branch.

After trip & discussion in airport, we went back to HQ for another round of discussion before having dinner in a Szechuan restaurant. The night was way too young to call it a day after dinner. The Jap went for his own plan while Will & I made a trip to the Mongkok/Yau Ma Tei area for night shopping. Cant remember how many streets we prowled..Ladies Market, Sai Yeung Choi Street, this street, that street...even walking along the same street twice or thrice !!! Ended the shopping trip with a supper meal of smooth "flavoured tau fu fa" with fresh polo buns in one of many desert stalls nearby. On the last day, Had one more endless round of discussion in HQ to wrap up the whole program before taking train to the airport

KL team & HK colleague on the left

Ladies Market

With image like this in billboard along the busiest street in Hong Kong, it's no wonder traffic jam is sooo bad

Mango tau foo fa

Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 !!!!

Still not too late to wish all peeps out there. Just back from Langkawi with the Akurians & man, it was a blast. Frankly still feel the Langkawi islands are still yet to be fully explored despite of 2 previous visits. Definitely will be back again in future. Will post bout tis soon

Coming to tis new year 2010, are new resolutions required?? Not necessary, especially if the ones set on previous year are not fully achieved yet. It should be to achieve the previous resolutions with reinforced vigour. What's in store tis year ? What will happen in areas of politics, economy, environment & others? Nobody can claim to be Nostradamus and can foresee this & that. We can only do our very best in any situation & leave the rest to Him.