A Particular Valentine

Valentine’s Day is approaching, so is my birthday.

Since this year, I am going to be 32 (yes, you read it right – 32 and not 23 as I hope), a friend commented – better not have any birthday cake this year. It would mean lighting 3 long candles and 2 short ones (Cantonese translated it as – sam cheong leong tuin – meaning, you are done for/ finished/kaput-ed). Muahahaha!

As I was joking with Yuin on how to spend Valentine’s Day, he teased that; most likely I would spend it in church – like how I spent my new year’s eve. Going to church isn’t that bad after all, I guess.. but I doubt it. Got service on V-day one, meh ah?

So, I write down a list of terms and conditions to spend my Valentine’s Day this year:-

1. No church. (Ok lah. I will go on Saturdays when most cute, young guys would be attending or if they serve free food)
2. No restaurants serving mineral water at RM8 per bottle. I boycott any restaurants which do not serve plain water. It’s utterly stupid.
3. No dinners above Rm20 per person. Times are bad lah. We need to brace ourselves for more price hikes in near future, particularly this year!
4. No taking clothes off. I don’t do spa.
5. No singing. I just don’t fancy karaoke.
6. No presents. I don’t want to buy you any presents when it’s your birthday, so please don’t buy me.
7. No booze party – it’s a Thursday!
8. No going to the malls. I think the mall would be littered with lotsa couples going lovey dovey and they sort of reminding me of my celibacy – very sad.
9. No hot restaurants. Hot as in sweaty hot and not dining in a place where there are half naked waiters in hod bods (Do they even have this in Malaysia??) – so I don’t sweat like a pig.
10. No clubbing. So that the trauma of having a midget hitting on me would not repeat.

Okay. I am not fussy. I am just particular. (Eh, sounds familiar huh?)

Yuin said, if I factor all the terms and conditions into one – that would only mean one option.

I said, “STAY HOME!!”

He said, “No… Mamak stall with air cond.”

Old Chums, Old Bones and Red Underwear

Saturday was hectic. I went to work on boss’ request even when I was not on duty. Ok. Not on his request, but basically, on my own initiative to ensure his trip to Russia would go without a glitch. His documents, last minute requests for things, etc. I was glad I went. He’s an aging man and keeps forgetting things.

Saturday morning, before I wake up, my sis received a text message from our common friend, Jovy the beautician. She conveyed a bad news of the passing of her dad. I went to the funeral after lunch to console the sisters.

After attending the funeral, I went off to get manicure and pedicure done. Talk about lousy time management. It was supposed to be a 1.5 hours thingy and ended up consuming more than 2 hours. I had to rush back to my house to take bath and put on minimal make up for the night out, trying hard to prevent my make up from melting in the heat. It’s so damn hot these days, huh? Probably, I should bathe before the manicure and pedicure. Silly me. It was understood that we shouldn’t wet our nails after treatment because the coating on the nails are actually not dry till some 3 hours later, even if the surface appeared to be dry.

Hot Momma aka the Mee Hoon Queen – new nickname coined by ML came to KL for last minute new year shopping. We decided to hook up and go for dinner and drinks. I was rather surprise that Pilot Boy decided to join us at such a short notice. It was good to see this old chum again in a club after so long. We reminisced old times – the days in Waikiki when I got very drunk for the first time and ended up spending the night at one of his many girlfriends’ house – Ja-NERD. Hahaha. Yuin decided to come to meet up with our fabulous host when we were in Sitiawan. That made four of us.

Had dinner at Palacio and we were the only patrons there. I think most people would prefer having dinner at mamak than squander all their money on booze. The food was mediocre and we had our first drinks there – some sangria and laici martini. I had the paella (Spanish claypot nasi tomato).

Spanish nasi tomato

We proceeded to Bar Savanh and disappointed that the crowd was not there. Where did the hip and happening people go? After a few mugs of beer and long island tea, we decided to look for greener pastures. (Read: Girls showing more flesh in sexy little outfits and good looking men fresh out from commercial prints). We settled at Bar Club after walking around to search for a bar with the most people. It was a bit lala-ish but the crowd was more casual and fun, unlike the pretentious Bar Savanh. Pilot Boy called it a night because he had an early day the next day.

Attempted to dance – after much, MUCH persuasion and after a few glasses of drinks – one rum coke, one mai tai, a test tube shot of apple juice and vodka. Was surprise that there were hot ladies dancing up on the first floor behind a glass panel; wearing only a sleeveless shirt and black panties. No wonder all the guys kept staring up and the dance floor was packed.

A black guy suddenly swerved into our little circle and led me away much to Yuin and Meehoon Queen’s amusement. After 30 seconds, I already felt weird as everyone was staring at me and the midget. Yes. He’s very short, and it didn’t help either that I was wearing a pair of 3-inch heels. I know some of you might find this kinky but I don’t. Rather than having him dancing to my boobs, I quickly led the two laughing hyenas away from the dance floor. Thanks very much for not saving me.

After that trauma, Yuin knew that I very much needed a drink to wash the bad memory away and got me a Cosmo. I think I couldn’t drink that much anymore. Sangria, laici martina, 2.5 mugs of beer, rum coke, mai tai, apple juice vodka and cosmopolitan and I was already seeing stars.

We decided to call it a night after all of us starting to laugh at each other for NO apparent reason. *Hic* Time to hit the hotel. We are responsible citizens – we don’t drink and drive. I thought the night would end up with a blast. Indeed. It was a blast. I fell off the pavement minutes after we left Bar Club and almost busted my knee cap. HAHAHAH. Mr Ketchup said, probably ML’s jinx rubbed off on me. HAHAHAH. *Hic* Luckily I didn’t break my old bones or else, I don’t think Yuin – no matter how macho (and handsome) he is, he won’t be able to carry me. HAHAHA. *Hic* Stupid 3-inch heels! I think it’s karma for laughing behind a friend’s back for sleeping on the pavement when he was pissed drunk.

 

The Wicked Pitches with a P

We started the next day early. We were rather relieved that there was no hang over. We woke up early and had scrumptious breakfast at Yut Kee, the Hainanese restaurant. We were going to KL Pac Open Day event to watch Mr Ketchup performing with his acapella group, the Wicked Pitches with a P.

Hot Day

It was a hot day. There were hordes of people walking about. There were workshops on acting, reading, etc. Show cases of art, photography, stage props, etc. There was this thingy called Bhutto dancing which gave me the creeps. If anyone were to play that music at night, in fact, any time of the day – I think one would unknowingly attract spirits from the afterworld. When everyone was busy taking pics of the Bhutto dancers… I took the pic of this hot looking guy. Isn’t he gorgeous?

Hunk!

After watching Mr Ketchup belting his lungs out, we went home. It was a dog tired day. However, I still have another session to go at night and decided to put my sweet and sour chicken to test at Datin’s dinner for dear Ryne, who just returned from Australia for holidays. Imagine, cooking with 10 nicely manicured finger nails. I couldn’t even open a new bottle of ketchup without help from my mom! That explains the haphazard way of cutting the vegetables too. Tragic. Ok. No more excuses the next round.

The generous spread

Dinner was great. I had my first lou sang before the new year. The regular parasites were there for dinner and we had a new friend with us for the night. I guess this is probably the very few times we have a straight man (Is he? LOL) to dine with us; other than the ever vivacious Dr Andrew.

What does the title (red underwear) got to do with all the above? Well…. actually there is none.. I just want to bitch about Mr Beep Beep – when he asked me to do the impossible by booking an air ticket for one Mr X on days when there is no flight, I said to him, well, maybe we should ask Mr X to don on red underwear and fly back. He laughed.

P.S. Sorry for the terrible pictures. Was trying to snap with the camera phone and also getting used to my old Ixus50.

For other booze parties stories, click here.

Popularly Fat

Gas stove showed me this link.

It says that, Girls who feel unpopular more likely to get fat.

She was wondering since I am considered quite popular, why am I still so damn fat??

Nobody chooses to be fat. I especially loathe the stick insect girls complaining that they are fat and only eating one bite of their servings during meal time. These people ought to bring their own grass and chew on them or stay at home since food particles in the air will make you fat simply by inhaling!!!

I thought of my own fat issues and sad to say that I had been plagued with this problem since I was 8. I didn’t have much appetite when I was younger and was as thin as a stick insect till a bunch of pat pohs came to my house and commented to my mother that I needed some fattening up.

My clueless mom worried that I might be sick with my lousy appetite and diligently put me on Appetton. BIG MISTAKE. See what happened to me now. I am not longer “cute” as I was when I was 8. And the after effect of the Appetton did not wear off even after 20 over years!

To blame my mother is not the solution. What I need to do now is seriously have some will power and determination to shed some pounds. It’s not because of society’s pressure or what. I don’t enjoy being overweight but I don’t hate myself either. One last thing that I would do is damaging my own self esteem by hating myself. I accept whatever fate bestowed to me.

I don’t think I want to die of heart diseases or diabetic or any other complications related to being overweight. I am already on hypertensive medicine 4 years ago due to stress at work and home, not to mention because of my weight and no thanks to lousy genes hereditary.

Sigh. I find that my weight escalated since I started to work near home. Comfort to have lunch at home. No need to walk from car park some minutes away from office. No need to do the sprint, crossing a busy road. No more going to the gym because of high parking prices, toll and petrol. Get to sleep more. Thought of picking up jogging around the neighbourhood but you know, I might end up as one of the murder statistics while jogging. Yes yes! All the fei chai trips – guilty as charged! All these in small doses had made me ballooned additional 20 kgs from my already hefty weight.

Signing up slimming courses is a total bullshit. A friend actually paid RM5,000 in advance and till today, I didn’t see much changes in her. She did lose some weight within the first two weeks and I guess it was all due to the diet she religiously sticks to – soup consisting of only some vegetables for 2 weeks 3x a day. I told her, anyone would lose weight without going to slimming centers from the way she is eating. And I would rather die from terrible heart disease than to have to drink soup only for 2 whole weeks.

Another girlfriend signed up for a slimming course and managed to lose some baby fat before her wedding. Sadly to say, she doesn’t look good. She is all pale and the veins on her forehead are more visible now since she is now stick thin. She looks more like a cancer patient compared to a blushing new bride, seriously. Not that I am a wet blanket or what.. but she sure looks better with some meat on her.

I think exercise is the ultimate solution for people to stay healthy and fit, coupled with eating the right kind of food. It would take sheer determination to get rid of bad habits but everybody gotta press the start button sometime, somewhere. Why not press it now?

And also, my friends… please keep making me feel fabulously popular so that my weight doesn’t go up! If I put on weight now, I am gonna blame you! Hahaha!

Determining Self Worth

I have been listening and giving some advices to friends for as long as I could remember. The dawn of 2008 marks a lot of changes. Most friends are at a major crossroad of their lives.

Some are planning to change to better jobs, some got “elevated” to the next level in life by getting married or became moms and dads (congratulations!), etc. Not all are good news though. Some friends are losing their jobs due to worldwide retrenchment. Some friends are finalizing their divorces from their abusive spouses. Some underwent plastic surgery even when he or she is already too beautiful. Some friends are still depressed for so many years.

Recently, a friend asked if his relationship is considered a relationship. After all, they are only having dinner once a week and they don’t go out much to see each other.

For me, a relationship is not about how many times you meet or see the person in a week. I have a friend who is in a long distance relationship for 7 years. She was doing pharmacy in Perth while her boyfriend was doing phd in Wales, UK. They only met once a year during their 7-year courtship – during Chinese New Year. Then, they went on to marry each other at the end of the seventh year and now, happily residing in Sydney with a lovely baby daughter.

I feel a relationship is when both of you are working together for a future. It’s about wanting the same thing, well almost. Wanting to spend time with each other; no matter how limited the time is. It’s about you seeing him in your future, and yourself in his. We wish everything would last forever, but this is a cruel reality that nothing last forever. So, enjoy each other’s company while it last.

Some friends are still depressed because they are being ill-treated in office. Sometimes, I am so sick and tired of listening to their grumbles that I wish I could turn the volume down when they start complaining incessantly like broken radio.

I always tell them to divert attention from their already damaged self esteem. One has to remember that jobs are only there to assist you to pay your bills and sustain your needs. Once you are off work, you should switch it all off and put on a party mode. After all, our lives are not about work alone! There are more things in life than to worry unnecessary over a job. If you don’t like the job, quit and move to a new one. As simple as that. Be prepared to perhaps take lower pay for the transition, so long you are happy.

A friend commented why am I working in this lowly menial job (answer phone calls, dealing with moronic travel agents, full time photocopy girl, making tea, gossip monger etc) when I have the necessary qualification to strive it big? I look at the company secretary in my office and other friends who are in this line working till wee hours in the morning, sometimes bringing work home to finish during the weekend, as opposed to me, probably sleeping the weekend away or going on an impromptu trips that would color my otherwise colorless life… I guess I would not trade my lowly menial job to anything. Maybe for the time being, I am just feeling lazy to take on additional responsibilities. Ah.. I admit. I am just lazy. Haha!

For friends who are depressed, I can only say one thing. Depression is merely a state of mind. I used to be very angry and depressed at the world when I was in my rebellious teens till my early young adult years. I always thought the world is always against me. Then I think I came across a statement saying, whether you are happy or sad, the world still goes round. Who gives a shit about you wallowing in self pity?? Well, the statement is not exactly like that, but the gist is there. Whether you are happy or sad, the world still goes round. So, why bother to be sad when you can be happy, right?

It’s all up to you whether how you want to make this life work for you. You may not be the most beautiful, the most handsome, the richest, the most talented, the most popular, etc but you have something called self worth.

It is you yourself who determine your own self worth and make the most of everything that you have. There is no point fretting over what you should have, or you should have done. Living in regrets or wallowing in self pity is not the answer and it would only drown you into greater despair. Look forward to other areas in life where you can improve and make every detail, no matter how minute, to work for you and try to be a better person. To the hell with what other people think.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Somewhat challenged by a friend, I embarked on mission to cook the best sweet & sour chicken aka Ku Lou Yok in town… well, maybe not in town, perhaps within my circle of friends (non cooking people, mostly) – except Datin, who is a super goddess when it comes to cooking! Look what he made me for lunch some weeks ago??

Datin’s Ku Lou Yok and portobello mushroom sandwich!

You could have guessed it. It was Datin who taught me how to cook Ku Lou Yok. Datin is a vegetarian, so I started to learn to cook using fake meat made of flour.

As he waltzed around in his kitchen with perfection, I offered to wash the dishes, helped to prepare the ingredients to cook and watched a master at work.

After I watched him cooked almost flawlessly, I decided to cook for the family last weekend, much to my family’s surprise. My aunt said I never cook for them before in my entire existence.

Well, I usually cook for myself (does instant noodles count?) and a handful of friends back in school and college. I did picked up some tricks when I was in home science class in form 1 to 3. I fried rice for my best friend when I was 14 years old and it was somewhat overly oily. But she liked it. I made leong char for a friend who was coughing for an entire week that earned him a nickname: Leong Char Chai. I still remember I made some spaghetti for a hot guy next door when I was in college and he ended up marrying my best friend’s cousin. Oh well, let’s not talk about that.

So far I have experimented with only chicken, you might need the following ingredients:-

(a) Marinate the chicken strips with ginger, pepper, rice wine, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt to taste and egg.

(b) Instead of using batter as taught by Datin, I decided to just mix the meat with egg and roll them over a mixture of tapioca flour/ frying flour (KFC). Datin used corn flour, wheat flour and rice flour mixed with water and egg, salt and pepper to taste.

(c) As for the sauce, you need tomato sauce, orange juice, some vinegar and sugar.

(d) Vegetables needed are cucumber, carrots, tomato, pineapple and onions. You may add capsicum if you like.

If you ask me about the measurements, well, I would say – agak agak lah! Haha! Now I know why mom always tells me that. If you prefer “sourish” Ku Lou Yok, add more vinegar. Sweeter – then add more tomato sauce and sugar! In fact, this time round, I didn’t measure anything. I just go with my gut instincts. I guess mom’s culinary skills rub off on me a little, huh? Haha! Perasan habis habisan.

Here’s the chronology of what I did in the kitchen last week… if I remember correctly.

(1) Prepare the wok, pour in enough oil for deep frying.
(2) Roll the marinated chicken over the mixture of flour as per (b).
(3) When oil is super hot, put the chicken strips into the hot oil and deep fry till golden brown.
(4) Strain the oil from the deep fried chicken strips using paper towel.
(5) Brown some garlic on hot wok.
(6) Stir fry mixture of vegetables as per (d)
(7) Pour the sauce as per (c) into the mixture of vegetables and mix.
(8) Add some corn starch to thicken to sauce.
(9) Lastly, put all the chicken strips into the mixture.
(10) Serve while it’s piping hot.

I still couldn’t get the chicken strips to be extra crunchy though. Datin said, after deep frying the chicken strips, we have to put all the chicken strips back into the hot oil for a good 15 seconds before scooping them out for extra crunchiness. I am just a bit lazy.

Well, this is how my sweet sour chicken turned out to be.

Doesn’t look as pretty as Datin’s but it sure taste good! Haha! Try it!

*Sigh* I am so proud of myself.

Destination: Sitiawan/Teluk Intan

The day began with light breakfast at the Tiara Coffee House. Hot Momma waited for us at McDonalds’ and off we went to have a second breakfast for the day.

The heavenly Bak Kut Teh

We fancied some Bak Kut Teh and this is simply delicious. I cannot remember the name of the shop, but it’s along the road in Tmn Aman Muhibbah. We ordered a small steamed pomfret to go with the BKT and the usual yao choy. Even Mr I-am-not-fussy-I-am-particular gave his stamp of approval. The growing boy -Sailor Boy had two helpings of rice.

Packing Tau Sar Piah

After the scrumptious breakfast, we made our way to buy some seafood stuffs and mee sua, in which what Sitiawan is famous for. Along the way, we saw many pre-war buildings converted into nesting ground for swallows, where the expensive bird nests are produced. Sitiawan has many home industries and this is possibly one of the most expensive. They have famous pastries and cookies and we were spoilt for choice. We went on a shopping frenzy.

Kong Piah

After that, we went to try the delectable kong piah. As it was a Sunday, there weren’t many shops open, surprisingly. We had the second best – according to Hot Momma and it tasted somewhat good. I could still remember I had my first kong piah some 10 years ago when I went to Sitiawan with another friend. It was simply unforgettable. This one is not that bad. It’s quite torturing to be eating the freshly baked kong piah under the sun, sweating away profusely. We then decided to quench our thirst at the famous cendol along Jalan Lumut.

Temple along Jalan Lumut

*Mr James Muniandy

The famous cendol stall next to the temple along Jalan Lumut is manned by Mr James Muniandy and his wife. Because of his delicious cendol, Mr James was summoned by the Sultan Perak to prepare his much loved cendol for 250 guests in the palace. You can easily spot Mr James Muniandy. He is always wearing a white chef hat and a red bow tie. The cendol is such a delight to ravish on a scorching hot Sunday afternoon.

Some of us had second helpings of the cendol and our stomachs already hit the maximum capacity. We decided to take a break and went to Sharon’s mee hoon factory. This was probably the highlight of the day. Here, we were ushered personally by Sharon and learn how mee hoon is being produced [and also which worker(s) is sleeping with which worker(s) - muahahahahah]. After the educational tour around the factory, we were given souvenirs in forms of packets of mee hoon. Hahhaha! Thanks Sharon for being so generous!

White mee hoon

Furnace to boil water, using timber

After the mee hoon “prize presentation” (I took quite a lot as if our country is going to declare state of emergency soon), we went on to this seafood restaurant called Villa in Kampung Cina to have our lunch. Since we were still stuff till our necks of the food since morning, we decided to go light. Had only 3 dishes and they were simply heaven.

Pahat-pahat in oyster sauce

Sizzling calamari in curry

Marmite Crabs

We went to Teluk Intan to check out the leaning tower. This 6-storey pagoda-like structure was built in 1885 by contractor and philanthropist Leong Choon Chong. There is a road named after him nearby. For more description, please click here.

*Leaning tower

Took some pictures and went to hunt high and low for Teluk Intan Chee Cheong Fun but unfortunately, the shop only opens at 7 pm. In Teluk Intan, we saw groups of elderly people crowding together in coffee shops to bet on horses. We didn’t know how was it done but we could see money changing hands. These people are seriously hard core betters. Isn’t this a great past time? Squabbling over a cup of hot coffee and some kuih muih on horse racing with like-minded hard core gamblers to kill time. Ah, bliss.

Since the Chee Cheong Fun stall will only open at 7 pm, we dropped by the river near the town and took some pictures. We decided to call it a day and returned to Kuala Lumpur. Along the way, we stopped by Bidor again and had some dinner before we continue the journey to KL.

*The yummy duck thigh noodles

It was indeed tiring just thinking of the food we just had. I don’t mind repeating this but not for the time being. I guess I would need to fast for a few weeks to flush out the toxins off my body before taking blood test.

All in all, it was a good trip with great food, awesome company and a fabulous host. We couldn’t thank Sharon enough for being such a generous and accommodating (especially to Mr Ketchup with his unique preferences – I-am-not-fussy-I-am-particular) host.

P.S. Pics marked with asterix are courtesy from Mr Ketchup aka – I-am-not-fussy-I-am-particular. Thanks!

Destination: Sitiawan

You must be thinking I had gone mad for going on a road trip back-to-back for the past few days… well, you are right. As I am typing this, I am suffering some a mild ingestion. But this trip is worth every mouthful.

We drove to Sitiawan on drizzly Saturday evening, as soon as Kikuchi knocked off work. As soon as we turned into the highway, Sailor Boy complained he was hungry. It’s not even 6 pm yet. We made a brief stop at Sg. Buloh jejantas for a quick bite – KFC.

Mr Ketchup: I want snack plate – chicken thighs only okay! Hot & spicy. And I want orange. Thanks.

Kikuchi: I want snack plate – two breasts, hot & spicy and Pepsi.

Sailor Boy: Get me dinner plate please. Mix Hot & spicy and original with Pepsi.

Kikuchi: Eh? They don’t let you mix. It’s either hot & spicy or original. I worked in KFC before leh!

Sailor Boy: I have been ordering this since the day I was born.

Mr Ketchup: Why you ordered original? It’s not nice!

As for myself, I ordered a Zinger maxx combo.

Guess who is the uncomplicated one here?

After eating the intricately prepared dinner at KFC, we went on our journey and not even 2 hours later, Sailor Boy complained he is hungry again. And this fella is so damn thin. God is never fair. Instead of taking advised direction from ML to take Gopeng exit, we took the emergency exit to Bidor to eat at the famous Pun Chun restaurant selling Duck Thigh Noodles and Wan Tan Mee.

Apart from Mr Ketchup who traveled before to Lumut once last year, the rest of us are totally clueless on how to get to Sitiawan. Kikuchi failed his geography and Sailor Boy only knows how to read directions from the stars while he is at the sea and unsure whether it might be the same on land, we decided to just follow the road signs and our gut instincts.

We were quite relieved that it was actually a lot simpler to get to Sitiawan through the Bidor exit. You just need to follow the signboard all the way to Pulau Pangkor.

Mr Ketchup: Where is Orient Star?

Me: It’s in Lumut town. Jalan Iskandar Shah. The locals told me, it’s just along the road. You should not miss it. It’s huge.

Mr Ketchup: I don’t like the sound of this.

True enough. We didn’t see Orient Star Hotel along the road like what other people told us. Damn. It was at the end of the universe after the jetty towards Pulau Pangkor. The irony is, such “famous” hotel don’t even have a decent signboard to show the way. We think it would be better to stay in smaller and less expensive hotels or motels (never mind special effects sounds at night) in the future. There has been a few new motels mushrooming around the Lumut area, which look quite decent.

After dumping our knapsacks in the hotel, we went out with our host for the weekend, Hot Momma Sharon. She took us to this Malay stall in Seri Manjong for its famous kueh teow basah. Don’t let the picture conned you. It might look somewhat disgusting but the taste is unbelievably good! This is probably the best kueh teow I had, at the beginning of this year! Haha.

We called it a day once we finished planning for our breakfast, snacks, lunch and tea time tomorrow.

Destination: Melaka

“Where are we going now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay.. let’s drive around until we get lost.”

“Okay!”

Well, the three of us were seriously lucky that we didn’t get lost in Melaka yesterday. I had been to Melaka only thrice and I only drove once. I think Melaka is probably the easiest town to explore. Most places of attractions are within the town centre and along the highways. Go towards the town centre if you want to visit the historical monuments or shop at Jonker’s Walk, eat the famous chicken rice balls, etc. Along the road, just after the highway, there are crocodile farm, botanical gardens, zoo, shopping malls, etc. Things can never go wrong in Melaka.

Here’s a piece of advice for people who want to go to Melaka on a day trip though. It’s better to buy a whole day coupon if you are going on weekdays and Saturdays. There is no charge on Sundays but I was wondering why we were charged yesterday since it was a public holiday? It only costs RM5 for the whole day and you get to use the car coupon anywhere in Melaka.

The day started with breakfast in the car – egg mayo and scrambled eggs with tomato – with special requests from Mr Ketchup. Most things he eats, he would want ketchup on it. When it comes to food, there are lotsa requirements even when he blatantly insists that he is very “cin cai” one. Yeah yeah yeah. Here’s what the “cin cai” Mr Ketchup’s request(S) on how to prepare his egg mayo.

Egg mayo sandwich?? I like egg mayo sandwich BUT please go easy on the mayonnaise, no cheese please and use white bread only. Please use only Maggi or Heinz.

Okay. I regretted offering to make egg mayo sandwich. I should have just stuck to soda biscuits as breakfast.

I guess Melaka does not need any special introduction anymore. You know the makan drift – the chicken rice, the tarts, nyonya food, satay celup, Portuguese food, etc. The list is endless. I would just show some pictures here for you guys to salivate.

I love this shot of the chicken rice ball.

Egg tarts at Tart Tart, just along the side of the road after the chicken rice stall across OCBC.

We bumped into this famous rojak at Poh Piah Lwee. The owners are very friendly and nice. We were their last customers. Unfortunately, there was no more popiah left for us for the day. They asked us to come again the next day and make sure we come earlier.

This cendol is also from Poh Piah Lwee. Not that great. I miss the old place I had the cendol.. and I couldn’t quite remember where it is. I never memorized directions, usually follow intuition. Should have read my old post before I go!

While eating the ketupat, we found a strand of hair in it. One of the guys removed the hair. We asked if the hair is curly. Nobody would want to eat anything with a curly hair embedded in it.

That makes us wonder. Why is it that the hairs in hidden places of our bodies are all curly and never straight?

He has a good answer. Maybe the hair don’t have enough space to grow so, they had to be curly.

He could be right.

Not too bad. The fishball is fresh and succulent. This shop is just at the mouth of Jonker’s Walk, a few steps away from Poh Piah Lwee.

After walking around the museums, the new Dataran Pahlawan, stuffing ourselves silly along Jonker’s Walk, we adjourned to Portuguese Settlement to end our day with a bang. Somehow, we were somewhat disappointed because of the slow service. I kept grumbling for waiting too long (more than an hour!!!) and Mr Ketchup kept telling me to be patient. Patience is virtue.

If the food is okay, I wouldn’t mind waiting really. Not that fantastic. We had the Portuguese grilled fish, more than 1 kgs crabs – butter and kam heong (it’s more like curry instead of kam heong) and fried brinjals. Well, perhaps we should try other shops. Any recommendation from fellow Melaka friends?

However, the view was great though. I simply love this sunset picture.

Japanese Paper Dolls

Having too much time in hand over the weekend, I suddenly have the mood to do some handicraft work. Yes. This bitch can do handicraft work. Ever since I started working, I was simply too tired to do anything.

I have the idea of making these as Christmas presents but couldn’t find the time. I was too busy pigging away.

So this time, I tried my best to make some Japanese paper dolls. I used to give them as birthday presents to friends when I was in school. Nice or not?

 

Well, what you need are very basic things like gift wrapper, sugar paper (black for the hair – or you can have yellow or red, depending on your preference for the hairstyles), UHU glue (this is the only glue that stick fast and do not blotch), scissors, some color paper.

I was lucky enough to have gotten this nice Japanese prints gift wrapper from popular bookshop at only RM1.99 and one piece of wrapper could make up to 40 Japanese paper dolls!

To illustrate how to make it, I think it would be easier for you guys to look at pictures. So here goes…

 

1. Cut the shape of the face of the doll (Sasha asked me what the spoon is for? Hahahaha!). Preferably round almond shape faces. Shape the hair according to the width of the face. I think the hair is about 2 cm wide. The length is up to you lah.
2. Fold the black sugar paper to make its fringe. At this point, the doll will look a bit like Lam Ah Chan without a nice hair cut… so…
3. Give your doll a nice hair cut. My cousin sis was very creative. She made her doll curly hair.
4. Prepare the gift wrapper into 7 cm x 10 cm. Fold the shorter side as shown in picture to form collar.
5. Paste the head with the nice hair cut in the middle of the paper.
6. Fold into a kimono as shown.
7. Fold again as shown. Ensure both sides of the doll’s shoulder blades are proportionate. This one needs practice. Practice makes perfect.
8. Try to make the paper doll as thin as possible. There are rarely fat Japanese girls.
9. Cut the color paper into 6 cm x 2 cm width to form the doll’s obi (wide belt to secure the kimono).
10. Wrap the obi around the waist of the doll.
11. Use another 7 cm x 10 cm wrapper, fold into two to form the sode (kimono sleeves). Cut a hole in the folded paper as shown.
12. Paste the sode behind the stick thin doll.

And dozo! You got your own Japanese paper doll which can be used as a book mark! (Or the alternative el cheapo way to give as birthday gifts as opposed to giving those ripped-off birthday cards to your friends!)

Geez… I can’t believe this blog is turning into handicraft blog!

Three Shots of Whiskey

A friend from Sitiawan turned up in Kuala Lumpur unexpectedly and since I was free, I went to the Curve to meet up with her for a hot meal and juicy gossips. Hot babe Sharon, despite having to juggle between two kids and slogging her ass off at her husband’s meehoon factory, still looked fresh and smashingly sexy.

We had our dinner at the Apartment – I tell you, the Apartment’s food is deteriorating. The strawberry peach paslova doesn’t look that appetizing anymore. This is the first time Hot babe Sharon having this “yat pek yeh” (One lump of shit) but she claimed it’s orgasmic despite being so ugly looking.

After dinner, we adjourned to join a couple of friends at Sanctuary – the club. They have weird names for the watering holes at the Curve – the Laundry Bar and the Sanctuary. I have been to neither of these places. The last clubs I’ve been are probably Zouk and Maison last year on the same night itself. I have given up clubbing a long time ago.

The crowd at Sanctuary comprised of young yuppies and there were quite a handful of Ah Bengs and Ah Lians. I think, the Curve being near Kepong and Jinjang, it is unavoidable to attract some Ah Bengs and Ah Lians around the club. And.. I happened to know some of them. Hahaha.

I was with a slightly older group – those pushing 40s and above 40s. It’s a total opposite from whom I used to hang out with, the happening 20s a few years ago. Not that I am complaining. I find mature people are less pretentious.

After three shots of whiskey, I decided to go home as I had to work the next day, which is today. And now, I am having sore throat because of the shouting and yelling, when trying to have a conversation in the smoke infested noisy club.

Till today, I still couldn’t figure out why there would still be some people going to such places and risk being a second hand smoker, talking too loud till the throat hurts, end up slightly deaf due to loud music, trying to kill their livers with alcohol and rubbing bodies against strangers (hmmmph.. I tend to like this part – that is the closest contact I could ever get from the opposite sex, really).

Well, have a good weekend, everybody.