Jom, Colour Me

REUNION DINNER AND FINDERS KEEPERS

2010-03-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

Reunion dinner seems only yesterday but it was celebrated on the 14th of Februaury. What is it with getting older that makes time seem to move faster. I still remember when a day takes soo... long to move from waking up to bed time and then suddenly... waking up and bed time are seconds apart.

This year, the reunion dinner with my brothers and families was at my place. It was "pot-luck" so I did not slave over a hot "wok" and look drenched in prespiration. The temperature this February was hovering at 38 C with a humidity of over 90%. Sweating is what we do best in Malaysia. Together with pre-menopause and the hot flushes, I can get really get sweaty in a jiffy. Why is God so unfair that he made men with "no-pause."

My brother did not want to spent his Saturday cooking so he bought take away - satay (skewered beef and chicken) with peanut sauce and "ketupat" (rice pieces). My 14 year old daughter, MartianGirl made fried rice (very Asian) with parmesian cheese (very Italian). She wanted to contribute something.
I baked some coca cola pork ribs and

tamarind prawns.

For vegetables, I had button and Chinese mushrooms, clams, snow peas, dried oysters and cauliflower. My brother said it looked more anemic than a ghost. I should add some red capsicum next time.

There were gifts from everyone - pineapple tarts for good luck,

barbeque pork,

oranges and chocolates.

When buying the barbeque pork, I lost my wallet. I didn't realise it till I got home that my wallet with money, credit cards, identity and driving license was all gone and this was at 10 pm. My husband, GizmoMan, and I drove to the police station to make a report. The officer was a super kind and patient gentleman helping me type out the report in Bahasa Malaysia and that little gesture reduced my frustration level as it was already midnight. When he told me that the printer was not working and that I had to pick up the report from another police station the next day, I really couldn't get angry. After that, we drove to the bbq stall which was still open to meet the heavy orders for the New Year. No, he did not see the wallet.

Then at 4 am, I got a call from the guy at the bbq stall that some one had left all my cards on top of a public phone booth next to his stall. He found my number from my name card - one smart guy. He said he recognised GizmoMan and MartianGirl from the family photo. But the money and wallet was gone.

Lesson to learn - keep your name card and family picture in your wallet. Findes keepers but they only want the money. Some Good Samaritan may just return the rest to you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - YOU ARE ALL ONE YEAR OLDER TODAY

2010-02-20T22:04:00.000-08:00

The seventh day of the Chinese New Year (20th February for 2010) is called "yan yat" or "riren" which translates to "everybody's birthday". It is the universal birthday of man, everyone is one year older.

On this day it is tradition to toss "yee sang" - a toss for prosperity, good health, happiness, success, great business deals, good husbands and did I miss anything else?

"Yee sang" or raw fish consists of extremely thin slices of raw fish (salmon, tuna or jelly fish, abalone and prawns) mixed with finely shreded raw carrots, white raddish, pickle cucumber, papaya, ginger, garlic, pomelo, dried winter melon and crackers. It is topped with fried peanuts, seame seeds, spices and different sauces (sour plum sauce, Thai chilli plum sauce). The raw fish is mixed well with the other ingredients, you cannot taste the raw texture at all.

For the uninitiated, the dish now does come with cooked fish and has even gone vegetarian. All the ingredients are packed into small separate containers. The dish is colourful and each ingredient symbolises a different value - peanuts and sesame seeds for harvest, pamelo and the carrot for luck, fish for abundance.

The ingredients are then place onto a hugh dish for tossing, I used a baking tray this year.
The peanuts and sesame are placed last on the top of the other raw vegetables.
Every one grabs a pair of chop sticks and lifts up the ingredients and let them drop back into the dish again while saying "lou hei, lou hei" (lift up prosperity and fortune). The believers will of course lift up the ingredients so high. We keep lifting till the ingredients are properly mixed. It is exactly the same as tossing a salad except that in "yee sang," as many as 10 people or more toss the same salad together from one plate while shouting "lou hei!"
My family likes to toss to great heights that defy gravity in the hope for more luck. MartianGirl alway stands on her chair to compete with the adults. Whatever that falls on the table is returned to the dish and whatever that falls on the floor belongs to Demon K9. Although he does escape with some from the table too.

The dish is then distributed to everyone to eat before the main meal is served. Yes, Demon K9 gets his share in his doggie bowl. After all dogs need luck too. As everyone is so busy with family and work, we toss "yee san" during the reunion dinner on the first day when all of us are together instead of on the seventh day. Some of my friends toss to prosperity with all their friends, they actually do the "lou hei" five or more times with different groups. When it comes to luck, everyone wants more and more...

Good Luck and fortune to everyone for the Tiger year.

FOOD ON THE REUNION DINNER TABLE

2010-02-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

I am not quite sure why the Chinese place great emphasis on homonyms or even how or when this came about. A word is not just a word to the Chinese cos' it can mean something quite different when its pronuciation "sounds like" another word. This is especially important during the Chinese New Year Reunion dinner.

The Reunion Dinner is like Christmas/Thanksgiving dinners where families meet for the one big annual gathering. Flight, bus and train tickets are booked one year in advance for the exodus from the cities back home. Even schools close for a one week holiday and there is a national two-day holiday for the occassion. The Reunion dinner is at our parents' home. If our parents are no longer living, the honour goes to the eldest son. In my family, we take turns to hold the dinner as it involves a lot of cooking. It is not fair to my eldest sister-in-law to be bestowed with this "honour" every year.

WHAT FOOD must be served to ensure a New Year filled with prosperity and good fortune? PLENTY and they are all dictated by homonyms.

FISH - a silver white pompret. Fish is "yue" which has the same sound as "excess." Serving fish measn to have excess/abundance every year. Never serve a BLACK fish.

Arrowheads - Not the arrow heads for archery but a bulb that is only available during the New Year period. In Chinese it is called "nga ku." They are sliced and added to other dishes or more popularly deep fried into chips. Symbolically, "nga ku" has a tiny shoot at the tip and as all plants grow towards sunlight, it signifies a bright new start. I am not particular fond of "nga ku" in my food so I have planted them in water and in earthern pots for my family's shinny New Year.

Mandarin oranges ("kam" - gold) - treasure boxes of gold Waxed meat - Waxed duck, chicken and sausages bring abundance for the year and they are specially imported from China. The meats are hung and dried by the winter winds, after which they are preserved in wax in hugh drums for export. We steam them to melt the wax and eat the meat which is quite tough but it has lovely salty flavours. Waxed duck was my dad's favourite and he always got the drumstick but, we kids did not mind at all as none of us wanted dried tough and chewy meat.

Reddish pork sausages and dark brown liver sausages

Leeks - I hate leeks as much as President Bush hates brocholli. I believe it must be an acquired taste. But leeks in Chinese is " shuen" and this sounds like "counting." "Counting what?" Money, of course, thus leeks are associated with wealth. I absolutely never eat this and maybe that's why I am just "cukup" (enough, not rich or poor).

Lotus root - Haa... I love this. "Lin ngau" rhymes with "every year got" in Chinese and this means the year will bring everything that is needed. I reckon it is true as I am not counting money but I got everything in life - happiness and good health.

And it is a noisy affair right from the start. Respect and filial piety like all other cultures is practised. No seating at the table until the elders have sat down, no picking any food until the eldest has taken and the most fun is calling every elder to eat. We have to call the elders (all grand parents, uncles, aunties and parents) to eat before us.

So it goes like this, "Yeye, seet fun (paternal grand father, eat rice); "mama, seet" fan (paternal grandma eat rice), pak-pak (paternal uncle); ah ku (paternal aunty); mummy and papa, "seet fan." Just think the table is filled with children and grand children all wishing the same words at the same time. The elders reply "seet, seet..." which means "eat, eat...'

CHINESE NEW YEAR AND ITS TRADITIONS - FOLLOW OR PERISH

2010-02-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

We may be modern in our ways and thoughts, but come Chinese New Year, we stop being anybody else but Chinese. PERISH if you do not follow the traditions and UNFORGIVEN especially in the presence of the elders.

RED and GOLD is the acceptable wear. Turn up visiting the relatives in BLACK 0r WHITE and you will create shock waves larger than a tsunami. Black and white are morning colours as in many other cultures We never SWEEP or MOP the house or its surroundings on the FIRST DAY of Chinese New Year, not even if some little rascal has left a mess like hurricane Katrina. We just bear with the mess and the sticky floors till the second day. Sweeping means "sweeping away the good luck/fortune and prosperty that comes with the New Year Make sure that the rice bins are filled to the brim with rice and there is sugar and salt. These are the essentials in any Asian house hold and the New Year must begin with an excess/abundance of these."BERAS" - RICE
We have as many rice varieties as you have different types of bread

Settle all your debts before the New Year or you will always be in debt during the in coming year. My mum was quite strict on this one and when we were kids, the four of us will be asking each other, "How much I own you?" "Ten cents," says the sibling. "OK, here is your money." Every debt to be settled, however big or small!

No swearing, cursing or mention of words like death, poverty, sickness - you know what I mean. To prevent getting into trouble, we kids really watched ourselves cos kids like squeeling on each other, and one wrong word will be promptly brought up to the elders, "Popoh (grandma), koko (big brother) called me stupid." Even though kids never got punished on this day, but one glare from grandma was enough to kill the New Year mood.

In the days when fire crackers were legal in Malaysia, the floors in front of our gates and entrances to our homes had a carpet of red from fire crackers. At the stroke of midnight, we lit our first fire crackers and continued doing so till the red papers covered the ground. But I am glad fire crackers have now been banned as they caused a lot of injuries to kids, burnt down houses and the sounds were deafening during the 15 days of the New Year.

We hang RED lanterns and a piece of red cloth at the entrance of our homes to bring in luck and fortune

And to top the list - have the lion dance. The lion is accompanied with thundering Chinese drums and cymbals and brings much prosperity. The lion dance is a very important event for businessmen, hotels and restaurants during the 14 days of the Chinese New Year.

A lion dance in school

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR (GONG XI FATT CAI)

FEBRUARY 14 2010 - FEBRUARY 13 2011

A CRAFTY RAT AND A GREEDY PIG

2010-02-08T06:35:00.000-08:00

The Chinese zodiac is based on a 12 year cycle with one animal honoured for each year. The 12 animals rotate in a specific sequence and 2 different legends tell how the 12 animals were chosen from all the animals in the kingdom. As one goes... a race was held across a river by the Jade Emperor to detemine which animals will represent the Chinese zodiac. All animals were invited to participate and who ever arrives first will take the first year of the zodiac followed by the second till the twelfth and last. The rat and the cat were good friends at the time and both hitched a ride on the strong ox across the strong currents in the river. However, the rat wanted to win the race and pushed the gentle cat into the river. When the ox almost reached the end, the crafy rat hopped off and ran across the finishing line first. Thus, the zodiac starts with the crafty RAT followed by the strong OX, TIGER, Tiger decorations to paste on our front doors to welcome the New Year RABBIT, DRAGON

SNAKE, HORSE SHEEP, MONKEY
ROOSTER, DOG AND LASTLY THE PIG
The pig got hungry during the race and stopped for a meal and rest. The cat did made it to the finishing point at number 13 and thus, was not included into the zodiac. This is why rats and cats do not get along today and cats hate water!!

THE 12 ANIMALS IN SEQUENCE
In another legend, Lord Buddha asked all the animals to visit him before he departed from Earth. Only 12 animals turned up and in return, he honoured each animal with a year. Both the cat and the rat agreed to wake each other up to go together in the morning, but the rat went alone, while the cat over slept.

Characterisitics of people born in each animal sign:

RAT: 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996 - charming, hard working perfectionists, easily angered, generally successful; compatible with Dragon, Monkey and Ox; incompatible with horse and rabbit

OX: 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997 - patient, inspire confidence in others, easy going but stubborn, compatible with snake, rooster and rat; incompatible with tiger and horse

TIGER: 1962, 1974, 2010 - Brave, competitive, born to lead, tendency to be selfish; compatible with dog and horse; incompatible with goat and ox

RABBIT: 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 - Creative, compassionate, avoids confrontation, classy, stylish; compatible with pig and dog; incompatible with rooster and rat.

DRAGON: 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000 - mightiest of the animals, driven, ambitious, loner, quick tempered; compatible with monkey and rat; incompatible with ox and goat

SNAKE: 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 - intelligence, graceful, analytical, materialistic; compatible with rooster and ox; incompatible with pig and monkey

HORSE: 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002 - strength, wit, energy, multi taskers, self centred and tantrum throwers; compatible with dog and tiger; incompatible with rat and monkey

GOAT: 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003 - dependable, calm, creative, excellent care givers, simple; compatible with rabbit and pig; incompatible with rat and ox

MONKEY: 1968, 1980, 1992 2004 - curiosity, mischievous, city people, adaptable; compatible with rat and dragon; incompatible with horse and snake

ROOSTER: 1969, 1981, 1993 2005 - confident, pompous, loyal, blunt; compatible with ox and snake; incompatible with goat and rabbit

DOG : 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 - deep loyalty, honest, stubborn, care little for wealth but always have money; compatible with horse, incompatible with rabbit, tiger

PIG: 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007 - dilligent, generous, entertaining, brand consious and not exactly thrifty; compatible with rabbit and goat, incompatible with monkey and snake

WELCOME TO THE YEAR OF THE TIGER: FEB 14 2010 - FEB 13 2011

SOMETHIN' LIGHT FOR THE WEEK END

2010-02-05T20:37:00.001-08:00

My mum was a great giver of advice. She had a saying for everything in life and being bilingual, she dished out earfull of proverbs in English and Chinese. Her most frequently used one "When God shuts a door, he opens a window," was always used when we kids got stuck in really sticky situations where there appeared to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

But for the following sticky situations, is there a window?

"Honey, I've lost the kids..."

Someone's entire home furniture may be all wet
This cannot be true, it must be computer generated

Forget about Tiger Woods, it's Bear from the Woods

"Boss, I need to ask your advice regarding insurance claims

"Where is the emergency exit!"

"Did you bring a pair of goggles?"

"Darling, I had a small accident with our truck"

Transformers in real life

"He's going to get a ticket for illegal parking""MayDay, MayDay, send me a boat.."

These pictures were taken from the internet so acknowledgements go to the photographers. I am not sure if they are all real situations, I have a feeling some were "doctored" for fun.

HAVE A NICE FEBRUARY WEEK END.

LUNAR NEW YEAR DECORATIONS

2010-02-01T04:05:00.000-08:00

Westerners celebrate their New Year on 1st of January. The Chinese celebrates theirs on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calender. This year, it will be on 14 February and coincides with Valentine's Day. Red and gold is the colour for luck and good fortune.

FIRE CRACKERS AND LANTERNS HAVE BEEN ON SALE SINCE JANUARY

YEAR OF THE TIGER: 14 February 2010 - 2 February 2011

The Chinese zodiac works on a 12 year cycle with one animal being honoured each year. The 12 animals rotate in a specific sequence and as legend goes... a race was held across a river to determine which animals will represent the zodiac. Whoever arrived first was honoured with the 1st year and so on until 12 animals crossed the finish line. Thus, the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig were the winners and chosed ones.

The Year of the Tiger symbolises vibrancy but some Chinese do not feel it will be a good 2010 as the first day of the New Year falls after the start of Spring when seeds are sown. TIGERS ARE THE FEATURE IN MANY OF THE DECORATIONS THE CHINESE WORD "福" (Fu) means good fortune and luck
ALL DECORATIONS ARE IN RED
CHILDREN WITH THE WORD "FU"

PINEAPPLES - DON'T LAUGH, PLEASE... IT IS COMMON TO SEE THESE HUGH PAPER PINEAPPLES HANGING ON THE PORCH OF OUR HOMES

THE CHINESE WORD FOR PINEAPPLES IS "WONG-LAI" WHICH SOUNDS LIKE "GOOD FORTUNE-COME." Thus, pineapple lanterns are hung at the entrance of our homes to invite in luck, prosperity and wealth anytime of the year.

OH NO, THAT SOUNDS LIKE...DEATH

2010-01-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

The English language uses a play of words, the Chinese use a play of sounds. We take the sound of words very seriously as it could mean life or death, prosperity or bad luck.

A LUCKY CAR

We go to the extend of choosing our house, hand phone and car numbers based on sounds. Chinese love the number 8 the most, as "patt" (8 ) sounds like "fatt" which means prosperous. Three and nine are also favourites as "san" (3) sounds like "sang" which means birth; "gao" (9) sounds like "kho" which means high.

Car number plates with 3, 8, 9 or any of these combinations (88, 899, 388) are highly sort after and Chinese businessmen are willing to part with thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to book these unique number plates. Even big money will sometimes not buy these number plates as there is only one such combination. Take 168 which translates to "all the way (road) to prosperity," as "lok" (6) and "lo" (road) sound similar.

A much sort after number plate is 138 which means "born to prosperity"

Sad to say with limited money, my car number plate is "none of the above" but it DOES NOT have the number 4 which is a taboo. "Sei" (4) has exactly the same sound as "death." Cars with 4 in their number plates have lower resale value when sold as second hand cars. Chinese would not buy cars with this number.

This car definitely does not belong to a Chinese

Even house numbers are changed to avoid the sound of DEATH. In Malaysia, houses are numbered with even numbers on one side and odd numbers on the opposite side. Thus, the first house No. 2 is followed by house No. 4, then No. 6... Here, house No. 4 has been changed to No. 2A. So the house numbers are No. 2, No 2A, No. 6, No.8... down the road.

House No. 44 hs been changed to No. 42A

We are definitly a superstitious lot - my friend's father forbade her to buy a Suzuki or Daihatsu, 2 car models that have small engines that are affordable. Why? "Su" means "to loose" in Chinese. It even went to the extend that we did not openly carry books around her house on days that her dad bought his lottery tickets (Chinese have an affinity for gambling too...) as the Chinese word for books is also prounced "su." But, he placed great emphasis on books and studies, is a fantastic dad, and gave us pocket money (when his lottery number wins a prize) for ice creams and junk food. We enjoyed hanging out in her place, just extra careful on lottery days.

House No. 34 has been changed to No. 32A

It may seem so illogical or weird for other cultures to understand this. But, some Westerners have accepted this, as when a certain automobile company launched their new car model in Hong Kong, the model XXX 164 was changed to XXX 168 for the Asian market. From "All the way to Death" to "All the way to Prosperity." What a difference ONE NUMBER makes!

GETTING AROUND

2010-01-26T16:58:00.000-08:00

I don't have a license to drive so I have to be driven to get around.

Balinese ladies sit side-saddle gracefully in their tight "sarongs"without tumbling off.

Pooch sits in the basket in the front of the motor bike, no license again. Gounded helicopter cum taxi in IndiaCommon mode of transport in Laos - the tuk-tuk.

Note how the tuk-tuk becomes lopsided when the passengers are too heavy.

I am coming home, mum - in Pakistan.

PET RESCUE IN THE COLD

2010-01-24T04:03:00.000-08:00

ONE LUCKY DOG AND ONE BRAVE MAN.

Pictures taken from the internet, many thanks to the photographer who posted them.

It is amazing that this young man would risk his life to rescue a dog that does not belong to him. He could have been washed out by the choppy waters or even caught pneumonia after. Judging by the coats and sweaters the other people were wearing, it looked like a cold and windy day. While everyone else was looking scared and sorry for the dog, he just nonchalantly stripped down and climbed over the rails. That was the picture I liked most in this series - it was as though saving the dog was something he had to do that day.

After seeing these pictures, I reflected on how much or often I had REALLY GONE OUT out of my way to help someone. I have out of reflex action, jump up from my seat on the bus or train to offer to an older person or one with children, help ladies carry heavy boxes to their cars, given money to strangers at the auto-pay stations when they had no small change to pay their parking tickets, taken strangers right to the correct clinics when they ask for directions in the hospital and carried a lost dog back to its owner when I found it lost and wandering away from home.

But these are the normal gestures that all of us will offer to strangers as we have been brought up to respect and help others.

But I had never risk my life for someone else or for an animal. I wonder if I would ever do it if such a situation arises?

ICED FLOWERS?

2010-01-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

I have seen snow images but these photos of iced flowers taken in China are incredible. Mother Nature provides the best scenes and she did it with the unusual winter spell this season.Icy lacy petals

Iced chrysanthemums Like a popsicle in orange flavour

In lemon flavour?

Winter Olympics?

I feel so sorry for the flowers, I wonder if they do recover from being iced up.

WEEKEND MIND TEASERS

2010-01-16T07:41:00.000-08:00

I always thought I came with a pretty good brain - well good enough to sort through my daily mess and on some days, even think up some pretty good ideas. So it was with great arrogance that I accepted some brain twisters from my 13 year-old daughter. HAA... the little squirt wants to test my brillant mind with her puny teenage mind games. If I win, she has to do HER chores without any grumbling. If she wins, I have to do HER chores without any grumbling. Well... I will teach her a lesson for even thinking she can outwit her mummy.

Brain teaser 1:

You are running in a race. If you overtake the last person, what position are you?

My answer came quickly: Second last, of course. But really, if you think about it, How can you overtake the last person in a race? BLEAAT...

Brain teaser 2:

You are a bus driver and there are 10 passengers on the bus. At the first stop, 5 passengers get off and 7 passengers get on. At the next stop, 2 passengers get off and 15 passengers get on and at the next stop, 5 passengers get off and 8 get on. What is the colour of the bus driver's eyes?

Stress out with all the Maths like I was, and then get confused at the last sentence. As you are the bus driver, what colour are your eyes? BLEEAT again...

Brain teaser 3:

Mei's father has 4 children. The eldest he named Ini, the second was Mini and the third was Maini. What was the name of the 4th child?

Moe was my answer and it came out too easily. If Mei's father has 4 children, the fourth child must be named Mei!!

Brain teaser 4:

Name the wife of Orpheus whom he tried to save from the underworld?

I told MartianGirl that this was a really unfair question as I did not study Literature. She said, "What is literature? My friends can answer this question and we have not heard of Literature before in school."

Her and her friends' answer: Mrs Orpheus.

Brain teaser 5:

Where was the American Declaration of Independence signed?

Another unfair question as we in Malaysia do not study American history. Apparently, it appears you do not need American history to anser this.
The answer: At the bottom of the Declaration.

MarianGirl: 5; Mummy: 0

NOW, IF ALL OF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME, I HAVE TO PUT THE DOG OUT, CLOSE THE WINDOWS AND SOAK THE DIRTY CLOTHES ....WITH A SMILE.

A LITTLE BIT OF COLOUR FOR YOUR WINTER

2010-01-12T03:31:00.000-08:00

I know most of you are having too much snow this winter. I have been reading all your posts on schools being closed, scrapping off snow and ice, being stuck indoors and driving on dangerous icy roads. I hope the winter eases off and some sunshine arrives. I can't offer any advice cos I have only seen snow once (for 4 hours in the mountains) and have never even seen falling snow. Do take care and bundle up really well so you will not get frost bitten and drive extra carefully. These pictures are of the Butchart Gardens, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada .

I wish I could bottle up some sunshine for you all as we have lots to spare over here. But since I can't, I hope these pictures will bring a smile and lots of warmth into your homes until spring comes along.

The Law of the Garbage Truck

2010-01-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

Work has always been generally fun and I am one of those lucky people who enjoys the job. The alarm rings at 6 am and after a few stretches I am up and running around getting MartianGirl ready for school. She follows her father when it comes to waking up - a lot of proding and a tiny voice from under the sheets, "5 minutes more, Mum." I am in the office by 7.30am multi tasking or things never get settled - talking on a hands-free phone, reading something on the computer and while data is loading, signing documents. Meetings, dead lines, proposals and research have always been handled with little frustration but sometimes "people" can really make me "vomit blood" (a Chinese expression, "aw heet").

Some people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.

Just smile, wave, wish them well and move on.

Don't take their garbage and spread to other people at work, at home or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

So here's what I do to destress:

Work in my vegetable plot

Visit the Forest (Rimba) of Knowledge (Ilmu) Check out the ferns
Join the bird watching group
And the ultimate destresser is telling it all to Demon K9
I didn't write the enlightening phrases, they are from the internet. I have had this Law stuck on my fridge door for almost 2 years now. I'll be honest and say I do not smile, wave and wish them well, I am not a Saint and full of forgiveness.

Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.

THOUGHTS FOR 2010

2010-01-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

These photos are some Christmas scenes in Malaysia and at home together with some thoughts to ponder

A Chrismas tree made and painted in polystrene by MartianGirl when she was 7

There is no good or bad in life, it is all about choices...

A centre court decoration in the shopping mallMuch of our growth as a person comes through hardships and challenges as these will make us better, stronger and wiser

Christmas cake baked and sent over by my neighbour Jeanny There are no conincidences and accidents in life. Everything big or small is for a reason

Some presents under our Christmas treeGod puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others

An outdoor decoration in the shopping mall Never underestimate the power of your actions.. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse

Daemon K9 enjoying his New Year car ride Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly

Christmas decorations saved from our first Christmas tree when I was 6 years oldI don't make many New Year resolutions, always only one so I can remain true and keep it. So for 2010, my simple wish is:

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special. Live for today, for tomorrow is promised to no-one.

FOR ALL MY FRIENDS IN BLOGSPHERE, WISHING YOU LOVE, JOY AND PEACE IN THIS NEW DECADE

BOYS WILL BE BOYS

2009-12-27T06:48:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted a daughter to be the eldest child and a daughter even if I have only one. God surely did listen to me as a daughter I got. Boys are wonderful and I have two elder brothers who have always watched out for me. My eldest brother was one naughty boy and my mum had to deal with skipping school, running away to the army (and then he showed up one morning after pranking a discharge), motor bikes and late nights. My second brother was the opposite - good grades, always helping around the house and a reliable man of the house when my dad was transferred to another state for work.

I have nightmares just looking at the pictures!

It must be the hormonal surge!
This is the curiosity surge - too young for hormonal!

Give me a costume and I will play the part.

Nooo... please...

The zoom function really works

I don't know what to say about this one except ALAMAK (Malaysian expletive)!

Creative creatures
To mothers with sons - I salute you all cos I think it is a tougher job than having girls but correct me if I am wrong.

UNUSUAL HOTELS

2009-12-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

There are 7 star hotels like the Burj Al Arab Hotel - designed to reflect a sail billowing in the wind. An architectural feat of glass and steel. I like these 2 hotels better where there is a bit of personality and OK, they do not look as grand, but don't you think they have more character?The first one, I present the Tianzi Hotel....

Tianzi Hotel (Son of the Heaven/Emperor Hotel) in China. The 3 statues represent what every Chinese is taught as soon as they can understand - Fu, Lu and Shou; Gods of Happiness, Prosperity and Longevity. Fu on the right holds a scroll and Shou with the high forehead (left) carries a peach which represents long life.

These Gods are built up to 10 stories high and have been listed in the Guiness Book of Records as the World's Biggest Image Hotel in 2001. The peach in Shou's hand is actually a suite with the two holes as windows.

The Hotel does provide the basic recreational activities like tennis court, massage and sauna, and entertaiment Karaoke and night club. The website exists but most links are still probably under construction as when I tried to find more information, the pages were blank.

Acknowledgment to David Eaves who broke the story and the link to his article is: http://www.killerdirectory.com/blog/architecture/strange-hotel.html

Image credit: godeyes.cn

The word "Ren" in Mandarin means people. A hotel cum sports cum conference centre in the shape of the word has been proposed for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. It lookd good and will represent the vitality of the Chinese people, but will it materialised?

WHAT's IN A NAME?

2009-12-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

Apparently a lot, if you have been stuck with an unusual one. One day when Martian Girl was 7, she came back from school and announced excitedly," Mummy, the new girl who is sitting next to me is called Beat Rice." I have heard of unusual Chinese names before but "Beat Rice" takes the cake (sorry for the poor pun). "OK, write it down for me," and she wrote "Beatrice." Now, Beatrice is a lovely name and I think one of Queen Elizabeth's grand daughters is so named. But in Asia, it is a rare name and the kids prounced it as they understood the English language - Beat-rice.

Note the director of Mulan is Jingle Ma

All this got me thinking of my friends who have unusual names. A girl in school was called Diana Soh. Soh is a common surname for the Chinese, but put Diana as the first name and she was mad every time we called her -"Dinosaur." And kids are cruel and we were, cos we called her that for 5 years.

At Uni, I chose to do Science. Met a senior called Atomic Leow. He was brillant and doing his PhD. So after getting to know him quite well, I asked THE question, "Is your father a scientist?" "No, but he wanted my brothers and I to be scientists." "Haa..." said I, "what are your brothers' names. "Nuclear and Hydrogen." Look, I never got to meet Nuclear and Hydrogen and I could have ben tricked but he was dead serious.

Then on a roll call for new students a few years ago, I shouted "Khor Chicken." There was a hugh roar of laughter, it should have been pronounced Khor Chi Ken." But when you have 50 names to register, my brain registered Chicken. Khor Chi Ken completed his Science Degree and is now a singer. During a lecture without my glasses on, I called out "Superman." It should have been "Supraman," a Malay name.

And we have parents that give cute names to their kids cos they themselves have not grown up. A male friend was super cool and added another e to his name. What should have been Lee was spelt Leee. But did he have to call his daughter "Tinkerbell?" The girl next to me in college had her name "Little Flower" on her room door. It was a blessing she was little and cute.

Of course we have parents who name the kids after the months they were born in - April, May and June are fine. But January and Julai (a male friend in college) are unusual. January Low is a beautiful Malaysian Chinese girl who is an accomplished Indian classical dancer.

And to save the BEST for LAST and this is true, in fact ALL the names above are TRUE. I worked at the Institute for Medical Research many years ago. The IMR had a lot of staff of Malay ethnic origin, and the Malays, sometimes for endearement, tag the prefix "Si -" before the first name especially for pets, Si-Puteh (White) for cats; Si-Kancil (mousedeer); Si-Belang (stripes) for tigers; Si-Comel (cute).

Well, my cute soft spoken friend has a lovely name - Phyllis. And the guys endearingly called her Si-Phyllis.

Imagine being called Syphilis by the guys at work!!!

Have any of you got an UNUSUAL NAME to share?

COMMUTER DOGS

2009-12-10T18:18:00.000-08:00

This is a story I got off the internet, it has not been verified. I think it might be true as dogs are intelligent and resourceful. These are the commuting dogs in Moscow who take the underground trains to the streets in the city centre every morning. Reason: they get off at selected stations in the city areas where food scraps are plentiful. In the evenings, they board the public transport to return to their suburbs for a good night sleep.

Observers noticed that they even work in groups helping each other. They "recognise" their stops by gauging the time taken between stops. They are clever enough to select the quieter carriages in the front and end of the trains. I presume they have not been fined for not possessing tickets as it would be difficult to ask a dog where it is getting off.

There is even a theory put forward for this unusual phenomenon. Dr Poiarkov of the Moscow Ecology and Evolution Institute states that the industrial complexes in the city used by the dogs as homes, were moved to the suburbs after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990s. Thus, the dogs moved together to the suburbs . But, as more food is found in the city, the dogs adapted by taking the trains to the city every day and returning home in the evenings.

I hope this tired doggy does not miss its stop Thanks and acknowledgement to the author(s) who posted photos and text of "The commuting dogs of Moscow" in the internet.

FLOODS IN MALAYSIA

2009-12-08T02:21:00.001-08:00

During the months between November and January, the North East Monsoon blows into the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia. The Monsoon crosses the South China Sea and brings almost continuous thunderstorms. Strong winds, rough seas and heavy rains are just going to worsen the floods. A family in Kuantan looking out into their frontyard where the flood waters have not receded Secondary school girls walk on school benches to get to classes. School still goes on as the major examinations are held in November. Note the teacher keeping a eye on the grils as they move along.

Store owners stacking their goods. Note the bags of supplies and goods tied to the ceiling of their shop.

Floods or not, it's time to take a break and just watch television The 13 year old boy is missing and rescuers have been wading in the waters looking for him "Bomba" (fire brigade) on duty during the night

Mr Ismail Wan Chick, 46, leading his cow to a drier area

There are a total of 2,205 evacuees in flood relief centres (schools that serve as shelters now that it is the school holidays) Azhar Osman, 47 saving his chickens after his home was flooded by overflowing waters from Sungei Pahang (Pahang river).
Secondary school girls wading in flood waters to school

Nur Ain Syafika Riduan revises for her examination while Samihah Mohamad Afandi makes a phone call home to her dad to update him on the flood situation in their school. These girls attend school that is far away from their homes, thus they live in a dormitory near their school. Poor girls, their dormitory was flooded and they had to be evacuated to another school.

All pictures on this post were photographed from Star - The people's paper

SIMPLE LIVING IN LAOS

2009-12-06T03:05:00.000-08:00

The simple life of people in Laos, a developing country that only opened to tourism in 1988, offers little stress and tension. This little recreation area under some shady trees is actually a taxi stand. The taxi drivers play board games while waiting for customersDraughts or Checkers, whatever the name of the game? There is no need for expensive branding. The board is a used wooden piece of wood painted over with squares. The pieces are used bottle caps of different colours. The checkered board is also painted permanently on the top of some tables.

Dominos on the side walk. The owner (grey jacket) of the dominos set plays with anyone who wants to make a bet with him. He sits at the same spot from morning till evening to earn a living. I guessed there was some betting involved as there was cash exchange with different people as they squated for a game.

This family has a shelter where they sit and chat while waiting for customers to buy their trinklets and statues

Come lunch time and a simple meal of glutinous rice, salad of local vegetables, soup and a side vegetable/meat dish is shared and enjoyed

One unusual dish is the spare parts - I think they eat every part of the pig and chicken, insides included. The different entrails (liver, kidney, stomach, intestines, tongue and including cubed pieces of solidified blood) are boiled and displayed in large pots. Customers pick the spareparts and they are mixed with noodles and soup for a hot hearty meal. I need to get use to this spare part thingy - it's like something from the TV series "Fear Factor."

But generally, I noticed Laotians eat healthily with lots of leafy local salads accompanying every meal. The salads are not mixed with any creamy sauces like mayonaise or thousand island dressings, rather the greens are eaten with hot chilli paste or just raw chillies. WOW - the little red chillies there are brain busters. One bite and I felt my mouth on fire. They eat glutinous (sticky) rice with every meal but the people are slim. Recollecting my 5 days there, I did not see anyone who was over weight.

UNUSUAL HAIR SALONS

2009-12-02T04:45:00.000-08:00

Washing, cutting and curling in hair salons can cost RM 120 to RM 400. The expensive ones have a better ambience and they serve you tea but one can do without the extras and save some money. But the hair salons I encoutered in Laos were so simple and reasonable priced, yet the hair dressers got the job done well and to the customers satisfaction. Imagine a hair salon in the wet market besides ladies selling spices, vegetables, baguettes, chickens and motor cycles. The water for washing the hair is stored in large plastic drums. The customers have their hair over hanging make-shift plastic wash basins. The hair dresser uses a scoop (red scoop as seen in the drum) to pour water over. Nothing fancy. The water from the plastic sinks flow through a attached tube straight into the drain.
I found the scenes totally incredible. If someone had asked me to start a hair dressing salon in a market, I would have thought it impossible with a hundred cannots - Where to get the water? Electricity for the hair dryer? Sinks? Inlets and outlets? Basically IMPOSSIBLE.

Yet, these girls have made the IMPOSSIBLE, POSSIBLE with a bit of ingenuity and preserverence. I will admit I have been spoilt with too many conveniences and with that maybe I have also become a little less creative and more lazy. Too comfortable with piped electricity, gas and water arriving at homes with just a flick of a switch or turn of a tap. Visiting Laos has awaken me, made me think about how lucky I am to live in a developed country. To leave my comfort zone and try things that I had in the past thought to be impossible. To take less and give more.

FOOD FOR THE BRAVE AND STRONG

2009-11-29T01:58:00.000-08:00

Anyone for a meal of stir-fried grass hoppers with basil leaves

... my friend bought a packet and said it was quite crunchy and tasty

This must be the elixir of life in Laos - wine with cobra

For an even stronger dose - wine with cobra biting another snake

For a triple dose - wine with cobra biting a scorpion and another snake coiled in the bottle
This is nothing after seeing those wine bottles - just boiled chicken and spare parts (also known as entrails in the West) knotted together

There is a vast variety of roots, bark and dried plant parts to "cure" any ailments

All sorts of horns, tusks and bones for good health

Laos offers an incredible source of natural products to "cure" ailments. I am sure they work as the markets are filled with bones, bark, roots and dried fruits. Just name your ailment and you will be sold a concoction of herbs to boil for drinking or to apply to the body. Traditional therapy is a way of life the people accept. I am sure it works, just not scientifically proven as yet.

HEAVEN IN LAOS

2009-11-20T04:50:00.000-08:00

We were in Laos during the first week of November for a short educational trip. Laos is surrounded by Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand and China. Compared to its neighbours, Laos only recently opened up to tourists in 1988, thus it has maintained its "old" look and remains one of the few Asian countries unspoilt by rapid development and tourist influences. The capital Vientiane can be covered on foot and it was fun to detour into the little quiet roads and observe the people.

We took a ride to Buddha Park, about 40 minutes from Vientiane, a sprawling area with over 200 statues towering us, a place to walk and enjoy the fresh air. The Mekong River meanders at the peripheral and Thailand is just across. One structure towers 3 storeys high in the park and one starts in Hell, climb narrrow steps to Earth before seeing daylight in Heaven. It is not for people afraid of heights and only 4 of us in the group of 9 dared to brave Hell to reach Heaven.

We were in the jaws of Death - HELL

The path to Heaven is littered with challenges and how true as we climed narow steep cement steps higher and higher in darkness
Light at the end of the tunnel and we enter Heaven.
The 40 metre high reclinning Buddha as seen from Heaven

The statue of Buddha with many arms

After having seen Heaven, we still had to come down to Hell and continue with life as before. SIGH, there is really no short cuts to Heaven for us mortals
If in Vientiane, this is a worthy visit.

METAMORPHOSIS

2009-11-14T01:28:00.000-08:00

Four fat caterpillars on my Desert Rose (Adenium obsesun). I have three pots of the plant and the caterpillars had invaded all, muching on the leaves. Rather then killing them, we decided to rear them as we have done twice before. Altogether, MartianGirl collected 10 Kathy Kims. We put them into plastic containers away from the plants as they were eating far too much and the plants were getting bald. They were running out of food. We tried giving other types of leaves but they would not eat. Instead, we asked for food donations from the neighbours as the Desert rose is a beautiful plant common in many homes.
Ali Baba doing the "cat" (erpillar) walk.
MartianGirl fed them as much as possible and cleaned their homes before school and in the evenings. She gave every one a name and took very good care of them.

Smokey BBQ is her favourite and must be the prettiest with lovely blue spots. They have a pair of eye spots in the front which makes them look quite scarry and prevents predators from eating them.

As they go through metamorphosis, they all changed from the lovely green with blue and white spots to brown with white spots. Here you have 2 Katy Kims at different stages - young green caterpillar and brown matured caterpillar before it forms a pupa. On the far right, there is a leave with eggs on the underside.

This beautiful creature just before the pupa stage is Hello Yellow

They "poo" a really, really lot and it's all in the form of dried pellets. Thank goodness as it makes house keeping so much easier.

When they turn brown, they stop eating. They stop their "cat" walks and a new hardier layer forms around them.

Momok Jin in the pupa stage. The pupa looks like a bullet with eyes. They are inert from the outside but there is a lot of action going on inside. We left them in a safe corner to continue their life cycle. Every now and then, the pupa will do a bounce or shake a little on its own. Little Boo in the pupa stage. It has been almost 2 weeks and they are still in the pupa stage. We also have Plump Daisy and Bloated Submarine in the pupa stages.

We left the plastic covers opened so they can morp into moths and fly away without damaging their wings. Butterflies form chrysalis so I think ours will be moths. One morning, only some remaining pupa bits were left behind, they had morph some time when we we sleeping. Our garden seems to attract many butterflies and now moths to breed so I guess it won't be too long before we another brood of Kathy Kims again.

FOOD IN HER BACK YARD

2009-11-09T21:02:00.000-08:00

It is now the rainy season in Malaysia and the East Coast region is flooded with people being moved to 3 evacuation centres. This happens every November and December when the North East monsoon sweeps into the East Coast and unburdens its load. Vegetable prices have increased 100 %. We are grumbling and moaning, but there is one smart lady who will not have to worry about this.

Madam Loo in her vegetable plot protected with fencing from "friendly" dogs who need to squirt frequently. Ceylon spinach with purple stalks climbing on the fence . This vegetable goes into making a soup flavoured with salted duck eggs. Banana trees fruiting

Hairy gourd - a herbaceous climber and salad vegetables.
Simple technology and the vegetables are growing so well.

Just when I had got over the envious feeling of the the hugh winter melons on my neighbour's fence, I uncovered Madam Green Fingers during my morning walk. Madam Loo is 84 years old, lives with her daughter's family and has 3 grandchildren. Her exercise is potting in her vegetable plot every morning after the family has left for work or school. She must have seen me "oggling" as she came out the back door. She's very friendly and spoke only Cantonese, a Chinese dialet I am not very fluent with. But, we crossed the language barrier and had a good half hour conversation with some sign language.

The large purple banana flower can be stir fried or cooked in coconut milk.

A large variety of vegetables, fruits, gourds and aloe vera in pots
All planted on government land at the back of her house
Hairy gourd covered with short silky white hairs for soup. The best ones I have seen are only a quarter of this size. This can feed 20 persons.

All these are planted in her back yard. She uses natural fertilisers (vegetables and fruit peelings and rice water). Do you know that water from washing rice before cooking is pretty nutritious for plants. I did explain to her how I wiped out my vegetable plot with too much fertiliser, how the insects were enjoying the vegetables more than me and how punny my egg plants and gourds grew.

She is a gardening encyclopedia and lectured me on how to water the plants (not using the garden hose and drowning them), plant seeds into pots first and how to mix soil. She gave me 3 hairy gourd seeds which I preciously wrapped in my sweaty hanky. I asked her permission to photograph her vegetables, she asked me to take some photos of the gourds once the plant bore fruit. I don't think I will get the gourds as large, something half the size will make me happy.

Bougainvillea - Paper flowers

2009-11-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

"Bunga kertas" - Paper Flower Unusual mixture of orange and pink colours in my garden. Each flower has 3 petals joined in the centre.

Bougainvillea was discovered by the French botanist Philibert Commerson in 1760. The plant was named after his close friend Captain Louis A. De Bougainville who commanded the French ship Bordeuse that sailed around the world between 1766 - 1769. The plant is native to Brazil. It is very common in tropical regions.

The fashion now is different colours grafted into one tree

These master pieces are expensive- over RM 1,000 (US$ 270).
Bougainvillea is called "Bunga Kertas" or Paper Flower in Malaysia. The flowers do look and feel like thin sheets of paper. It is a very popular plant here becos' of its versatility. It can be grown in pots, as large trees for shade, hedges along the roads and kerbs and as especially as decorative shrubs along garden walls and on balconies. Another added value of "Bunga kertas" is, it is a hardy plant and needs little looking after. It is grown from cuttings and all one has to do is to cut an "older" part of the plant and stick it into the ground.

Bouugainvillea is frequently planted in gardens to brighten up walls.
It's so hot here, the bougainvillea is a great plan to grow as you do not have to water daily. I don't know if you can find it in temperate areas with the 4 seasons, if it can survive the winters. Over here, it just flowers throughout the year. The Bougainvillea is like "Gardening for Dummies" like me - a winner always.

HALLOWEEN IN MALAYSIA

2009-10-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Halloween is just not a Malaysian celebration but it has crossed International borders and arrived whether we like it or not. The shopping malls have quickly "cashed" in and set up Halloween corners.
Events like Creeky Door Knock, Halloween Family and Costume party will surely sell to the youngsters.

Freddy Krugger has left our nightmares and appeared in day light. He actually was quite friendly and tapped me on the shoulder to ask if I would like to photograph him.

The sweets and chocolates on sale.

How does a caricature drawing stall fit into Halloween. I guess, anything sells.

A Malaysian witch on the prowl.

MartianGirl went over to a friend's house to carve little pumpkins. We don't celebrate Halloween and I am not into her dressed as a ghoul. But, they had never carved pumpkins and it was something unusual for them. Their handicraft at night. I guess it's not too bad for a first attempt but I am sure in countries where Halloween is celebrated, pumpkin carving would be serious business. She wasn't scared at all. Maybe he was....

Divali and Neighbours

2009-10-28T01:23:00.000-07:00

I live in a surburb where the community is large and our houses are "within hearing distance from each other. "Within hearing distance" would be the most accurate way of imagining how close our homes are. If I am in my garden, I actually can smell what the neighours are having for dinner and I am not lying. Once we got the lovely smell of bacon and MartianGirl argues with me, "why can't I have bacon for dinner instead of rice, meat and vegatables which is sooo boring." And if we are truely sticky noses (which we are not), we can actually see what they are eating by peeping over the fence. So it is with much gratitude that I have lovely neighbours on both left and right sides or life would be really misearble.

GismoMan celebrates Deepavali, a festival of lights to remember the victory of good over evil. The festival usually falls in October or November every year. For Divali which we celebrated just 3 weeks ago, my neighbour Jeanny baked us a lovely orange butter cake with lovely peacock icing. The tail of the bird was made to look like a "rangoli," an Indian art made of coloured rice grains or powder drawn at the entrances of homes. She used coloured sugar to make the "rangoli." She even delivered the cake in a beautiful box.

I sent over some Indian sweets and cookies. The kids receive a little money in coloured packets and MartianGirl collected RM 80 this year. She deposited half of the money into her savings account and she will buy some clothes with the remainder.

GRADUATION DAY

2009-10-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

These cute floral (soft animal?) arrangements are popular gifts on graduation days. In the past, graduation bears wearing motar boards were the in-thing, but as MartianGirl says, "they are so last season." These squirrels with their large eyes and wide smiles are pretty irresitible with the lovely packaging.

These girls are of Malay ethnic origin and the graduates usually wear head scarfs that colour coordinate with the colour on their graduation gowns. The colours differ from one faculty to another and on any one graduation ceremony, there will be greens, blues, mauve and silvers moving around.
Graduation week takes on a fun fair and carnival atmosphere with many stalls that "mushroom" overnight to sell food, drinks, trinklets and flowers.

Mini or Mickey in grauation outfit?? I can't figure out the gender.

The undergraduates set up stalls and the profits support their activities on Campus. The University does give out grants for various student activities, but the extra money means the Societies can have more projects throughout the semesters.

MONDAY BLUES

2009-10-24T23:44:00.000-07:00

It is 6am on a Monday morning in Malaysia and I feel as grouchy as Smokey BBQ. The weekend was busy with grocery shopping and the usual running around getting things ready for this week. Saturday had 4 loads of laundry to be done. Started at 7 am with the first load of bedsheets, pillow and boster covers out by 8.30. Everything was dried by 12 noon. The morning started a little cloudy so it took a little longer for things to get dried. Second load was out at noon and dried in 2 hours (the temperature here is 28 - 30 degrees Celcius and with a slight breeze, everything dries super quick (including myself in the sun). We don't need a clothes drier in this climate. Third load was out and hanging by 2.30 and the fourth load by 4 pm. Everything washed and dried by 7pm. The sun is up by 7 every morning and sets at around 7pm, so we get lots of light if thunder storms stay away. I love living in this country, its shorts and T-shirts all day and I never have to waste time bundling up in winter woolies or getting frost bitten. The only bites I get here are from mosquitoes.

We had to get to the super market (usuallyTesco) for groceries on Saturday night. That took 2 hours, we had run out of everything from toilet paper to food. Sunday had only one laundry load. MartianGirl has at least 3 clothes changes everyday - pyjamas into the basket every morning, uniform in the basket after school and home clothes in the wash again every night when she changes into clean pyjamas. The humidity here is around

90 % so it can get very sweaty. I do at least two changes, thank goodness for sunny days.

Smokey BBQ looks angry and grouchy inspite of all the food (leaves) I have given him/her. The Catty Kims are getting fatter and 3 have already gone into pupae stage. They eat so much and my plants have become quite bald. This is the flowering plant that they love so much to munch on and all 10 caterpillars were found chewing up the leaves.

DEEPAVALI AND RANGOLI

2009-10-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

"Rangoli" or "kolam"is a floor art that is made from coloured rice grains and rice flour. The drawing is made by first having a design outlined by dots on the floor using rice flour or paste. The dots are then joined to form the full pattern. The painting is patiently filled in by pouring or sprinkling coloured grains within the patterns by hand. It is tedious and back breaking, but the product is a beautiful welcome "mat" at the entrance of the house.

During the celebration of Deepavali or Divali - the Festival of Lights celebrated by the Hindus, the kolam welcomes the Goddess Laxmi. This kolam was drawn at the entrance of a shopping centre during Deepavali which was celebrated last Saturday - 17th October. Depending artist's skill, the kolam can take a 3-Dimensional effect with the use of contrasting colours. The designs are intricate and flowers and the peacock are popular traditional rangoli designs.

GOOD MORNING & HAVE A SWELL DAY

2009-10-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

It's a good life I have here - lots to eat and nothing to do all day except get fat and morp into a butterfly. Hope all of you have relaxing days - don't take LIFE too seriously.

SEAFOOD WITH A DIFFERENCE

2009-10-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

We were browsing at Chinese Sea Food Restaurants last week in search of lunch. The sea food here looked really fresh. How more fresh can they get? They were still swimming and alive. We were not into picking out the sea food and having them cooked so we did not have any of these.

The Emparau Fish is the most expensive on the menu - normal price at around RM 1000 per fish as it is RM 100/100g. It was on special that day for Rm 65/100g. They did not look very impressive but the guy said even the scales can be eater. For a thousand dollars a fish, I would even eat the eye balls!!! The best way to taste it is to lightly steam the fish in soy sauce. Not for us or we would have to starve for the rest of the month.

The Morey Eel at RM 10/100g. I wouldn' t be eat these, I don't think they will go down too well with my sensitive stomach.

The Giant Mantis Prawns at RM 13/100g. My lunch buddies say it's quite tasty just stir fried with dried chillies and oyster sauce. NOPE - not me for too.

Prawns - this is the only sea food I can eat.

Just when you think you have seen it all - The GeoDuck. Oh NO...you can pay me and I still won't try this. At RM13.80/100g, one Geoduck is about RM 400. It is suppose to taste like abalone - either eaten in steam boat or as sashimi (raw).

The Japanese Escargot. I know the French eat SNAILS and I am glad I am Malaysian.

I guess, "To each, His Own."

LANTERNS - DIFFERENT TYPES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS

2009-10-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

It was really difficult choosing lanterns for the Mid-Autumn festival last Oct 3rd. Did I want the traditional type like the paper ones above. These come folded flat in grooves and are sold in a pack of differnt colours as seen in the plastic piles on the table top. One just need to pull them open like acordians, stick a candle in the wire holder and viola....we are ready for the lantern parade.

The little kids have plastic ones and the 7 dwarfs are pretty amusing. Since paper and polythene lanterns catch fire very easily, these are much safer especially when the little ones get really excited and swing the lanterns. No candles are involved, the plastic ones are powered by batteries with artificial light. Notice the holes in the hearts above the dwarfs, well, now they can walk their lanterns accompanied with music. We, Asians are pretty ingenious!

The shopping complexes compete for the best decorations to attract customers to the moon cake stalls. There is so much variety from so many brands, it is hard to make a selection especially when the packaging is lovely. Special sections, usually in the Centre Court, are built to look like traditional China town.
These are lanterns made from wire frames to form different animals and then covered with colourful polythene paper. The lanterns are then hand painted for extra colour and to fill in the essential features - eyes, wings, beaks.

These are my favourite and I have had a different animal every year till I was 17 years old. I know, 17 is way too old to be doing the lantern parade but lanterns are irresistible. If one kid in the neighbourbood (even at 17) wants to walk her lantern, we have get our own and join in the fun. It happens in every home, "Mummy, Kim Lian has her lantern and Aunty has invited me to walk tomorrow." So even at 17, together with my sister and dad, we will be at the Chinese shops agonising over which animal to buy. Every animal has its own characteristics and vibrant colours. My very first was a squirrel, and rabbits, butterflies, dragons, flying horses have accompanied me over the years.

And... when we think we have finally outgrown the lantern parade, we have to start all over again with our own kids . Choosing the animals, buying boxes of candles, matches and lighters. The Mid-autumn festival of moon cakes and lantern walk on the night of a new moon - a tradition no one can ever out grow.

GRADUATION CHEERS AND TEARS

2009-10-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

The sweetest time of a student's life - the end of 4 years of blood, sweat and tears. Blood? YES, when you are in a science degree and taking your own blood to be used as a normal control is part of the curriculum. August to October is covocation time over here. After 4 years of seeing the students in T-shirts, jeans and very often I have wondered if they wore their pyjamas to lectures, it is really fantastic to see them all dressed up.

It is amazing to see the guys in, not only neck ties and collars, but in full suits. They are quite unrecognisable when they get all spruced up and then you think, "OK, they are ready to handle the real world." It is a joyous occassion for them but graduation is always sad for me. It's like your own kids leaving home - after 4 years of nagging and drilling them everyday for their examinations and dissertations, and sometimes wishing they will disappear from your room forever. Graduation reminds you they are really leaving forever.

I always feel guilty on this day for having been impatient when they did not understand their work or for getting angry when their assignments were late. On this day, as I watch their smiles, I am reminded that actually my students have taught me more than what I have taught them. I may have taught them facts and figures, but they have taught me about life and living life differently.

CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK

MID-AUTUM FESTIVAL - LANTERN FESTIVAL

2009-10-03T23:25:00.000-07:00

Traditional Chinese lanterns

Yesterday, October 3 was the Mid-Autum festival - a time for mooncake parties and lantern walks beneath the full moon. Unfortunately, we had to forget about the full moon as she got hidden behind a very cloudy night. We could only see her shadow trying very hard to peep out but unsuccessfully. The lantern walk was just as fun with many of the kids in the neighbourhood taking a stroll with all sorts of animals lighted up!

Mother hen

It's changing the candle time on the tarmac road. Extra candles, matches and a lighter are necessary for the lantern walk.

Modern aeroplane

Kids in the park lighting up

Monkey bars to hang the lantern display as the kids started something more interesting and dangerous - making a small bonfire in the park with dried leaves and candles.

Teddy bear

Even the DADS carried lanterns and it wasn't for their kids

CAKES TO START A REVOLUTION

2009-09-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

Moon cake festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the eight month, on the night of a full moon. It falls on October 3rd this year. The festival has its origins from the 14th century when during this period, China was ruled by the Mongols. Unknown to the Mongol rulers, moon cakes with secret messages inside were distributed to the citizens during the Mid-Autum Festival. The messages contained information on plans to coordinate a revolution to overthrow the Mongols. The revolution was a success and moon cakes now commemorate the legend.
The cakes come in many varieties in beautiful boxes and paper bags. Moon cakes are exchanged as gifts during this time.

The baked golden skin (outer layer) of the cake contains Chinese symbols of the Mid-Autum Festival. They are very sweet and rich in flavour and is nevert eaten as a whole, but cut into wedges and shared. When the moon cake is cut into half, the full moon (duck egg yolk) clearly stands out in the centre of the brown lotus paste filling.

The traditional ones are filled with a sweet lotus seed paste with a single salted duck egg yolk (represents the full moon). You can order moon cakes with double, triple or four duck egg yolks (this is way too extravagant for me even though I love duck eggs). The cakes with the egg yolks are an acquired taste. Imagine eating a sweet cake with the subtle flavour of a slated duck egg yolk, not mixed into the batter like Western cakes, but baked as a entire egg yolk.

70th BIRTHDAY BASH

2009-09-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

My brother-in-law turned 70 three weeks ago and his family organised a family bash for the "young man." They live in another state in Malaysia, Perak, in a smaller town called Ipoh. We travelled about 200 km north from Kuala Lumpur and the journey took 2 hours. It was a good reunion and Gismoman drove his brother's SUV as there were 7 of us - parents-in-law, brother and sister-in-law and the three of us. MaritanGirl was pretty excited at meeting her cousins and her 3 1/2 year-old neice. Her cousins stay relatively near us but with school and all sorts of activities, they do not get to meet often, only during family reunions. The curries were spicy and we ate them with "chapati," a flat bread made from wheat flour, quite similar to tortillas.

The cousins and their little niece. They become "Aunties" very early due to the large age differences among the siblings in GismoMan's family. They all wanted the little one to sit on their laps so she had to do the "musical lap" to please the 3 aunties. Note their normal daily clothes.

The girls in their traditional costumes for prayers in the Gurdwara (Sikh temple). The costumes are called "salwar kameez." It consists of a collarless tunic in a rich colour with matching or contrasting coloured pants and a shawl (dupatta). The pants are pyjama-like, wide at the top and narrow around the ankles. There is a lot of bead-work, sequins or embroidery in the tunic and dupatta. The dupatta is a long rectangular veil/shawl. It is an essential part of the salwar kameez as it is used to cover the head before entering the Gurdwara or is drapped over the head in the presence of elders as a mark of respect. The girls are flanked by their grand parents (great grand parents for the little one) who are 84 years and 97 years old. The entrance to the Gurdawa.

The girls with dupatta covering their heads. Even the boys have the heads covered with turbans or knotted hankerchiefs. Their cousin is knotting his hankerchief over his head (behind far right). Vegetarian meals are served after the prayers.

It was a good reunion. I feel it is essential to bring MartianGirl back to the traditions and religious activities of her ethnic group. She gets so carried away with the modern ways of life. The only occassions she wears a salwar kameez are during these reunions and festivals.

STEAM BOAT IN SUMMER

2009-09-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

This is a steam boat that I would have liked to travel on. It would have taken months to reach my destination but it would have been worth the experience of a slow and relaxing journey. I can't buy tickets for steam boats like these anymore, not even in themeparks. So the nearest thing to this steam boat is...

...THIS STEAMBOAT. It sure does not look quite the same, the only similarity is both produces STEAM. In Asia, steamboat refers to food cooked in soup in a pot that sits on a covered gas burner. Modern times now dictates that electric pots are safer but many restaurents still use the old fashion pots attached to gas cylinders beside or under the tables. We put all kinds of food into the soup that comes in two flavours - traditional plain broth or the spicy tom yam.

This plate offers squid cut into long strips, snails, bamboo clams and dried oysters.

Here is fish and meat paste made into balls, and Chinese mushrooms. There is also white pomfret (diamond-shaped fish) and prawns. The side dishes include honey chicken wings. We eat everything with chopsticks including the chicken wings. I know Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken says chicken is "finger-linkin' good" but why get our fingers dirty. It is a skill eating chicken wings with chopsticks but we start our chopsticks training with noodles very early - at around 2 years old .

Steam boat starts with selecting what we like and popping them into the soup. Close the lid of the pot, chat with our friends as we start on the side dishes of chicken wings, fried rice and curry chicken.

When the steam rises, the soup is bubbling hot and it's done. We scoop the meat into our little bowls and eat the meat with the many sauces provided. We start with the meat first followed by vegetables and lastly put in some noodles and crack an egg or two in. The soup with all the flavours of the meat and vegetables makes a yummy broth thicken with eggs and noodles.

The traditional clear broth steam boat.

It is a really perfect dish for winter. My friends studying abroad have steamboat very often as it is so easy to make. Boil some chicken bones and season with salt and pepper for the broth. Cut slices of all sorts of meat (chicken, beef, pork) or seafood. "Bung" it all in (that's what they tell me) and it's done. Anything goes!

PUMPKIN FENCE OR PATCH?

2009-09-13T04:40:00.000-07:00

Only leaves on the pumpkin plant Pumpkin flowers on the fenceBaby pumpkin starting to grow GROWING BIGGER...

AND BIGGER

This pumpkin fence started like Jack and the Beanstalk, only it did not grow overnight up to the sky but took about 2 months . I bought a pumpkin from Tesco supermarket for about RM6. Made some stir-fried pumpkin with coconut milk and washed and dried the seeds. Dug a little trough next to the fence in the back lane and spread all the pumpkin seeds inside. I must have planted about 25 seeds or more and only 2 grew. Six pumplins grew to full size, the remaining flowers fell off or the baby pumpkins dropped off after some time. I gave one to my father-in-law, one to my sister-in-law, one to share with friends at work and one each to my neighours on both sides. The other two I kept to make pumpkin dessert, pumpkin soup and vegetable. Both GismoMan and MartianGirl were really excited when the plants started to grow, but after having had to eat pumpkins for weeks, they got quite depressed with the pumpkin fence.

CATY KIM

2009-09-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

Meet Caty Kim II, our pet pupae to butterfly. We found Cathy Kim on the underside of a wild lime tree in my vegetable plot. The wild limes, also called " limau perut," have very fragrant leaves that are commonly used as spices in curries. Obviously, the caterpillars must find them quite delicious too as they can destroy a small tree as they nibble the leaves voraciously. We transferred the pupae to a plastic container as we did not want it to be pecked by the birds. Punched some holes in the cover and left it quietly in the kitchen. Not so quietly as MartianGirl kept peering and moving the container hoping to see the butterfly emerge. What is it with teenagers that they do not listen and have absolutely no patience? After about 2 weeks, it completed its metamorphosis. I got up one morning and found the butterfly waiting patiently for me to throw open the kitchen windows.

This is the second time we have kept a pet grub. Cathy Kim I was a bright apple green caterpillar when we found it. I picked lime leaves and put them into the container everyday. The word "diet" does not exist in a caterpillar's vocabulary - it actually ate so much I had to buy fresh lime leaves from the market as my wild lime tree became bald. I did not know if caterpillars needed water so I sprinkled water inside daily. It was one fat, greedy, nibbling grub that eventually progressed into a brown pupae. It might be that mornings are cooler as I had the opportunity to watch it slowly emerge as I prepared breakfast. It took a long, long time and I was so tempted to help it along as the wings struggled to unfold from the small cramped pupae. But, I controlled my fidgeting hands as helping it would have only damaged it's wings. The whole process from caterpillar to butterfly was pretty educational for MartianGirl, a city slicker who onced called a goat a dog.

DUKU AND MANGOSTEEN

2009-09-03T01:27:00.000-07:00

The duku is a not so common fruit that makes its way to the markets in seasons. It is about the size of a golf ball and can get slightly larger. It has a thick pale skin with shinny pips (about 5 - 6) inside and the taste range from sweet to sourish. Opening it is easy, just put one duku between both thumbs and first fingers and press gently. It will just split open to show the edible translucent bits inside. It is not everyone's favourite as the fruits can be slightly sourish and don't ever bit into the seed as it is very bitter. The tree is quite tall and the fruits grow in bunches. I remember my first adventure in the "dusun" (orchard) plucking duku. We followed out Aunt's helper back to her village. When my brothers poked the bunches of duku using a long stick, the fruits came raining down from way up high. Being real city slickers, we were so daft , we were looking up when the dukus came pelleting down. It was a "starry" affair as our faces and heads were bombarded. The country kids had a really good laugh at us. I was only about five years-old then and it hurt a lot. And another advice about the duku, don't let anyone call you a duku, it's not a compliment cos it means you are stupid and as thick as the duku's skin. The phrase is usually used like this - "He's a real duku." I bet the country kids called us a bunch of dukus on that unfortunate day.

MANGOSTEEN

Mangosteens are cool fruits. Cool, not as in fashionably cool, but cool as it having a cooling effect on the body. Asians rate food as "heatie" or cooling - "heatie foods are those that warm up the body. Mangosteens have a very rich purple colour and inside the thick pulp are pure white, sweet fleshy pips. There are only 2 fruits in Malaysia that are strictly not allowed into Hotels - the durian because of its strong smell and the mangosteen because the pulp leaves a permanent stain. The fruit has high anti-oxidant properties and the pulp has been dried and processed into capsules. There is even a drink made from the pulp and available in cartons in the supermarkets here, but believe me it doesn't taste all that good. Opening the fruit requires some practise, you need to hold it inbetween both palms and gently press hard and the pulp layer will just break apart. I will not advise you to eat the almighty durian even though it is called the King of fruits but, the mangosteen, YOU MUST TRY it.

BASKET OF FLOWERS FROM MY NEIGHBOUR

2009-08-28T03:27:00.000-07:00

My neighbour, Jeanny, is fantastic. She enjoys baking and frequently attends classes to improve her skills. This is her work after going for a cake decoration course where they learnt to make roses, pansies, chrysanthenums and many other different types of flowers. This was one of her examination pieces - a flower basket. I think she should graduate with distinction.

She gave us the cake after the grading. I just couldn't cut up the masterpiece so I brought it to work and showed every one in the office. We eventually cut it by evening for tea break and it tasted better than it looked. MartianGirl and GismoMan were really mad with me cos' I did not allow them to cut the cake at home, and to make things worse, there's wasn't any left to bring home for them to eat. They called me "Rampas Queen" - Snatch Queen for snatching the cake from right under their noses and running away with it in the morning.

Living in a township where the houses are just next to each other is tricky. It gets trickier (if they is such a word) when neighbours do not talk to each other. In my previous township where I lived for 10 years, I actually did not know who my neighbours on my right side were cos' they never wanted to be friends. MartianGirl and the front neighbours' kids played in the evenings, I had some good chats from my kitchen with the back neighbour and Mr Goh, my left neighbour came over to pay his respects when my dad passed away. These neighbours came over when a male intruder, high from sniffing glue climbed the gate and entered my compound. In fact, it was my neighbours kids' shouting and screaming at the intruder that alerted me to call the police. The front neighbour even left work and came home when his son rang to inform him that some guy had climed into my house. He came over immediatley to check if everything was OK. I do miss them all.

I moved to this new township only about 1 1/2 years ago. I am good friends with the left and right side neighbours and we have had dinners with each other. However, the ones in front keep to themselves and have not responded to my nice sunny smiles. I think I will actually be rude and start talking!! Living next door to Jeanie has its advantages - imagine having apple pies, cheese cakes, cup cakes, fruit cakes and chocolate cakes delivered through the back gate.

Nigella bites but Jeanie rocks!!

BALI - TEMPLE FESTIVALS

2009-08-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Bali - the island of a thousand temples. Hinduism is the main religion and temple ceremonies or "upacara"are frequent . There is a temple ceremony every day to celebrate different occasions - "adalan" to celebrate the first day when the temple was built and "pamusapati" where the spirit is invited into sacred objects like masks and amulets. Men and women wear traditional Balinese clothing and offerings are brought in cane baskets.

Cremation ceremony at "Pura Agung," or Bali's Mother Temple in Besakih.

Some of the "upacara" are accompanied by men playing musical instruments.Note the four colours of the umbrellas at the ceremony - black, yellow, white and red.

BALI - PADI FIELDS

2009-08-14T01:58:00.000-07:00

Padi fields in Ubud. The padi is grown on hill terraces as Ubud is a town in the hilly region of Gianyar.

Padi fields in the flat lowlands. Irrigation canals cross-link the fields as the young padi plants require a lot of water.Pieces of cloth and other material to scare off the birds.Padi ready for harvesting.

When the padi plants are mature, they turn golden brown and are harvested by hand using a sickle shape knife. Padi farming is a back-breaking job as the planting and harvesting is done manually.

MORNING OFFERINGS

2009-08-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Hinduism is the main religion of the Balinese. Every morning, the women will make offerings in a tray containing little plates weaved from coconut palms and filled with fragrant chopped screw-pine leaves and colourful balsam flower petals together with lighted joss sticks.

The offerings can be bought in the markets with the palm leave plates already filled with flowers or the items can be bought separately and put together later.
This little girl has already learnt the art of making the plates by cutting and shaping the palm leaves with the large blade. She is so young yet she has learnt how to handle the large blade so carefully. When there is a need, kids grow up so quickly. Looking at her, I realise I am too protective with MartianGirl who has only recently started to chop and cut fruits and vegetables. And I am still wary when she handles the kitchen knife.

In the markets, the ladies arrange the many different coloured clower petals in the palm leaf trays for sale in the morning. The trays are quickly bought for the morning offerings.

The offerings can be made in specific prayer areas,

by the roads just next to their shoplots, homes or at the entrance of ther shops.
These offerings are carried out without fail every morning and the roads and streets are lined with palm leaf trays, flower petals and joss sticks.

UBUD MARKET

2009-08-09T01:30:00.000-07:00

Ubud was founded by Rsi Markandya, a Hindu priest from Java on his spiritual journey to Bali. Ubud may have come from the word "Wos," the name of a river in the area. The root word of "wos" is "usada" which also means Ubad (medicine) and the river was believed to have healing properties.

The market is really worth a visit with fruit, vegetable, clothes and handicraft already in display by 8.30 in the morning. Do a little bit of bargaining.

I never knew cinamon sticks were this long since the ones sold are only about 4 inches. The dark brown items in packets are vanilla beans where you can scrap the pods and get the natural pure flavour. Again, I always figured vanilla was an artificial falvouring and had only seen it in bottles in the cake isle in supermarkets.

The spice shop with cloves, vanilla beans, saffron, tumeric, cardamon and a whole lot more that I wouldn't know what to do with.

Chillies and garlic anyone?

BALINESE LADIES

2009-08-04T01:09:00.000-07:00

Women dressed in traditional Balinese clothing walking to a temple festival. The women wear lovely transparent lace tops with a sarong and a sash. Many of the women are svelte with hour glass figures and they look really great with their hair tied back into a neat bun. Busy making handicraft at her beach front shop.

Balinese ladies sit side saddle style so gracefully on motorbikes just like the women in India and Vietnam. In Malaysia, we sit with our legs across like the drivers. If I had to sit side saddle style, I would look pretty graceful but I would slide off as soon as the motor bike moved.

Young ladies on a trip to Sanur Beach.

Teenages catching the sun set in Sanur Beach.

On the way to a temple ceremony.

The Balinese women are fantastic as they can balance large loads on their heads.

Young ladies on their way to work. After my trip to Bali, I have started exercising to get some shape back. It will take some time before I look as good as the 2 young beauties but at least I have started.

BALI BEACH BABES

2009-07-31T08:56:00.000-07:00

BALI - THE ISLAND OF SMILES,HAPPY FACES,

ADVENTURE,

RELAXATIONAND SUN-BAKED CHILDREN. As the sun sets, the weather gets cooler and the kids warm up in their colourful cardigans and hoods. The Best Things in Life are FREE - Fresh Air, Water and Sunshine.
This is really true with the Balinese kids as theyhave fun with simple things - a kite, stick, a ducky float, a rented kayak and sand castles. I did not see any handphones, MP3s, iPods - stuff that city kids find so necessary. They posed and smile for the pictures so happily and naturally

The sun has gone to bed and so must I start my journey home

YOGA AT SUNRISE

2009-07-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

The locals at Sanur Beach, Bali, Indonesia doing yoga at sunrise. This is what living should be - exercising in the fresh air and to the sound of pounding waves. At sunrise, I am already stuck in traffic jams while driving MartianGirl to school and rushing to clock in at work by 8am. It was a surprise catching this scene on a recent trip to Bali. Some came walking and others on bicycles.

We rolled out our hotel towels in the sand and stretched our creaky stiff city bones. The class was conducted in Bahasa Indonesian but we could sort of follow by example. My muscles were stretched as I tried so hard to follow the Bird, Snake,Lotus, Hare and many more unbelievable postures. The instructors had to prop me up as I was quite out of balance and falling to the left and right. Imagine, keeping my legs right up pointing to the sky and supporting my entire body on the shoulders. Come on people, make me feel better and tell me this is simply not natural. I couldn't get them up and it's not my fault cos' gravity was pulling my thunder thighs (that's what MartianGirl calls them) right down. Issac Newton's law of gravity states that every thing that goes UP must come DOWN!

SALUTATIONS TO THE SUN

COBBLER TO GIVE NEW "SOULS"

2009-07-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

You can always find our dependable cobbler busily giving new souls (soles) to our favourite shoes. They do not need fancy shop lots within air-conditioned shopping complexes where they have to pay exorbitant rental. They occupy a little space along almost any side walks. All they need for the job is a stool, a metallic shoe-like horn, their tools and an extra pair of slippers.

Why the extra pair of slippers? He offers direct emergency services and it's for his customers to slip into when he is repairing their shoes. Many a times, I have limped my way to the reliable cobbler for a quick "fix-my-heel-up as the bottom rubber of my stilleto falls out with my heavy walking. Graceful I am not. It only costs RM3 (US$1) to get new stilleto rubber soles.

Sometimes it's a bigger job, something my mother calls a "Crocodile's mouth," that is when the front of my sneekers becomes undone from the bottom sole to show a hungry crocodile about to attack. He just glues it back together or switches them back. The cobbler is definite a neccesity in my life and someone I cannot do without. I hope he passes his precious trade on as he has been a part of Malaysian life for as long as I can remember.

A THORNY AFFAIR WITH DURIANS

2009-07-16T02:53:00.000-07:00

An achivement always feels better if I have worked hard for it. I spent hours digging, weeding and planting in my vegetable plot and end up really sweaty, stinky and hot. My reward is a cold shower followed by a Magnum (vanilla ice cream coated in chocolate in a stick) resting on the swing in the cool evening breeze. What has this got to do with the durian - a Malaysian fruit with menacing thorns? Well, if I can get to eat the fleshy fruits inside, it means someone had worked very hard trying to pry open the darn thing. I will be truthful, I have never opened a durian in my life. Being the first girl after 2 boys, the men in my family would take care of these "difficult" tasks. My task was to just scoop the fruits out with my fingers and enjoy them. There is no etiquette when eating durians - use your fingers.

Like every Malaysian, I love durians. The fruit is covered with hard sharp thorns. It splits along specific grooves that open up at the base once the fruits over ripens. Thus, to eat the durian when it tastes at its best, we have to hit the base with the cleaver and find the grooves before they open.

We use a large cleaver to widen the grooves,

and then both our hands to fully open the fruit.

The fruits with large seeds sit snugly along each groove. Even our dog waits patiently for his share.

Durians are considered "heatie," and one way of cooling the body after a large durian feast is drinking Coco Cola with a bit of salt added. That's our family tradition, others pour a little water into the grooves and drink from it. I swear by the Coco Cola and salt.

Everyone has had a thorny encounter with this King of the Fruits - a durian fell on my dad's toe when he was carrying the fruits to the kitchen, and in another incident MartianGirl really fell backwards onto a pile of durians during a party. Her poor bum looked like a pin cushion with red dots.

STREET FOOD IF YOUR STOMACH CAN HANDLE IT

2009-07-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

Asia is famous for its street food. It's delicious and cheap provided your stomach can handle it. Most times, the food is uncovered and it does attract flies and bees (yes, lots of bees on the sweet sticky yams and cakes). It is common to pack lunch at these places - get a polystyrene container from the stall owner, pile in the rice and select whatever dishes you like. An instant meal at a budget price. I guess in the West, lunches are sandwiches and hot dogs on the run. We have these too but, we love our rice and noodles. It is funny how our tummies can get use to specific "contamination." I call it "contamination" as the water and ingredients used to prepare the food is different in each country. I enjoy street food in Malaysia and happily sit by the wooden tables and chairs by the road side, but street food in Thailand or Indonesia will give me a "rumble in my stomach."

Even with franchaise food where our taste buds may not detect the slight differences, the stomach knows what it is digesting. I will confess I am a McDonald's addict. I even have McD (as our family calls it) coupons in my wallet all the time. Some of you have shared your addictions to coffee and "pop drinks." But nothing makes me happier than my Happy Meals at McD. My 2 all time favourites - Bic Mac and the Fillet-O-Fish.

When I was in UK for a conference a few years ago, I happily tucked into the Fillet. The bun was just as soft and the fish warm and crispy on the outside and perfect inside. Tasted more delicious than the ones at home because of the cold winter. But a few minutes after finishing, my stomach protested. It just was not possible. Being a scientist, I had to do more experiments on this really unusual phenomenon. So I actually ate the Fillet-O-Fish thrice more at different times (lunch and dinner), a good scientist must test all variables. The same thing happened every time - stomach rumble. Conclusion - It must be a slight difference in the tartare sauce, maybe there is more lemon juice as I know my stomach is sensitive to acidic stuff. Anyway they were the most enjoyable experiments I had ever done. Does anyone else have a queer tummy like mine?

Thank God It's FRIDAY?

2009-07-03T07:06:00.001-07:00

The Almighty Crane

This will be ONE UNFORGETTABLE FRIDAY. Here I am in the laboratory...BLOGGING. Normally, I wouldn't dare as there are rules about blogging at work and I sure don't want to get caught. But it is 10.10 at night and I have been stuck here for over an hour. I had to work late this evening cos' the new students will arrive on Monday for the start of the University's new academic year. Thought I had better get things ready for Monday when I get to meet them for their first lecture and not be all flustered like a chicken. I had completed everything by 8.45 pm and got into my car to head off home. MartianGirl had already called 3 times as she does not like me driving home late at night.

Oh..Oh... something big and nasty was stuck on the only road that leads uphill to my Department. A hugh crane cum trailer with mechanical problems! It wasn't moving and you can see the poor guy's legs sticking out from all those wheels as he tried to fix it. . There was already a line of cars ahead of me - having waited for over 30 mins.

I strolled over to the guys who were very apologetic, " Sorry Miss, You have to wait for at least another hour." I forgave him - anyone who calls a middle-aged lady a "Miss" deserves instant respect!! So I returned to the Office, went to the tea room and stole my colleague's Maggi instant noodles and had dinner. Then I raided the fridge and stole another colleague's Snickers bar for dessert.

Now that I am feeling better, I wonder if the "Miss" thing-o was due to the very little lighting on the road and that I shouldn' feel so pleased!!

LIVING BY THE CANALS

2009-06-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Dogs can live happily by the canals Making a living by the canals

Home is where the heart is. A prince stays in his palace and I stay in my little township - both of us are happy and comfortable in our own settings. Humans can live anywhere, when necessary and all we need is a roof and walls to keep us safe from the elements. These are pictures of people who live by the canals.

A shop selling provisions.
The boatman buying ice.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

2009-06-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Decorated by MartianGirl

It had been one rough week at work, one of those where however much you complete and stack into the Out-tray, the In-tray doesn't seem to reduce in volume. Anyway it's Father's day today in Malaysia. I though I'd better state "in Malaysia," cos' Mother's Day seems to be celebrated on different dates internationally. I am not sure whether we follow the British or American dates, but as long as we have a day, it does not matter when.

In my previous posts, I mentioned I have a wonderful neighbour who cooks and bakes like a professional chef. Jeanny sends over dinner meals, cheese cakes, breads, chocolate cakes, fruit cakes, local delicacies and even smoothies. She is a real Gordon Ramsay without the colourful language. In addition to all that, she even takes MartianGirl out to movies and lunch together with her daughter during the school breaks.

So for Father's Day, Jeanny baked two heart shaped butter cakes, got the two girls together in her kitchen to decorate the cakes for their fathers. Isn't that fantastic? I returned from work to a lovely cake in the fridge. MartianGirl was so proud of her work, she must have opened the fridge a hundred times to look. Of course GismoMan was estatic with the cake, he took all the photos and proudly announced it was the most beautiful cake he had ever had... blah, blah .... and that his wife (me!!) had never baked or decorated a more lovely cake...and promptly took us all out for dinner. It was Father's Day and he paid for dinner cos he was so pleased! I am not complaining... I had a lovely dinner..Burp, excuse me.

THANKS A MILLION JEANNY.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY .

YOU ARE SPECIALLY REMEMBERED TODAY AND EVERYDAY .

Soccer in the Tropics

2009-06-12T03:09:00.000-07:00

11th Soccer Championship - Dato' Subahan Kamali Trophy

Waiting for the game to start
Players and supporters

Never too young to start

A game is not one without the Burgerman

Packed and ready to be eaten

The Gombak team waiting for play-off

OK, I have had enough, time to go home

The photos were taken during the Dato' Subahan Kamali Soccer Championship. Caught the supporters, yound and old in action. Hotdogs are not all that popular in Malaysia, the Burgerman is "The Man."

"Illegal" Vegetables

2009-06-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Winter melon on the backyard fence. Maize by the side of the house.

Aloe vera in the back plot .

Salad, chillies and a lime tree on the kerb in front of a house.

We do not have much land in our township but the government has left idle bits and pieces of vacant plots in between houses and especially in our back yards. Of course we are not allowed to build anything on this land, but no one has stopped us from planting our greens. It is not that we are obsessed with vegetables over here, but the Malaysian weather is so "kind" with high humidity, good rainfall and eternal sunshine. "Everything grows so well" as Carolyn puts it. It seems like a waste not to make use of God's gifts to us - the free land and the good weather. As Maternal Tales said, "Imagine not having to wear coats and scarves all the time," it's really so convenient to go from inside to outside in the same shorts and T-shirts. I have taken photos of how we "squeeze" every bit of land for vegetables in this township.

Papaya tree

Government land put to good use.

Cabbages and Ceylon Spinach (purple stems) in troughs in the front of a house.
More cabbages, purple spinach in a pot and Chinese Chives in the trough.

This winter melon is truely as large as a bowling ball. We use it in our soups. The inside can be scooped out, chicken, mushrooms and other ingredients placed inside and the melon is then steamed.

ONE MAD SPITZ AND ONE COOL LABRADOR

2009-06-04T06:23:00.000-07:00

Daemon K9 (3 months) and Raya (8 years)

When Deamon K9 came to live with us in 2005, he was the cutest ball of fur. He was so cuddly, no one could resist him. We already had a gentle 8 year old labrador named Spike "Raya" (prosperous in Malay). The two of them were exact opposites. Raya had the patience of a Saint and the perfect temperament befitting a labrador. He would allow MartianGirl to do anything to him without snapping back - pull his ears, sit and sleep on him, snatch his toy and food. He lead a very contented and uneventful life with the family. It was so peaceful at home until ...the fur ball arrived. We named Daemon after "Demon" cos there was not a moment of peace after one month of him joining the family. Daemon could push a Saint to commit suicide!

Daemon (1 year) with Raya

Life was like a broken record being played the entire day, "Stop it; give it back, don't go there; come here; where are my slippers; do not do it in the house." It was never ending and he would shoot around the house like lightning and break everything in his way. It was probably our fault, we should have enrolled him in Obedience Class. He never slowed down. It was impossible keeping him white and when he escaped from the house, he would come happily home all smelly and dirty. He has never returned home without a roll in mud.

He had a passion for scrunchies (hair braids). He would jump and snatch our scrunchies right from our hair and we would be screaming after him. The scrunchies had to be washed cos they would be wet and coverd with slob. I have had many dogs in the family but none like Daemon. He did fall out of my sister-in-law's lap when he was about two months old. I like to think that the accident was responsible for his "rabid" personlaity, and not his genes. Daemon's father was a very elegant dog.

The little devil bullies passive Raya, though they both get along very well. You can see who is the boss, but Raya would sit on Daemon, pin his head onto the ground and growl when he could not take any more nonsense. It did not happen often but enough times for the devil to back off for a while. Daemon would be around Raya all the time like an unmatched clone. Raya passed away from a heart attack on Valentine's Day this February. They were Best Friends Forever.

A SPOTTED DOVE'S FAMILY

2009-05-30T07:19:00.000-07:00

Mama dove hatching her egg.

Egg sitting precariously on the window's edge
Papa dove building the nest.

GismoMan "spotted" this Spotted Dove husband and wife team building a nest on our bathroom window ledge. He came waving and whispering to me early this morning - I thought he had seen our resident rat again. The Spotted Doves are the commonest of all open country pigeons here and have moved into villages, parks and gardens with the widespread clearance of forests. It builds a flimsy nest and that's what the couple were doing all morning. The mama was sitting on her egg while the papa kept bringing back twigs for the nest. They made this lovely sound "croo-croo-croo" as they worked. We took these few pictures and left them alone to carry out nature's duties. We don't quite know what to do as the egg is sitting so precariously on the ledge. If we moved the egg to a safer place, the doves may not find it again or they may not want it. We decided to leave the egg where it is and just watch the progress.

Both parents busily arranging twigs and making a nest around the egg.

Opps, please don't say anything about the really thick layer of dust on the glass. The rest of the house is not like that! The window opens outwards and it is almost impossible to clean from the inside without climbing onto the roof. OK, you could probably do an art masterpiece drawing on the dust but maybe it was the dust that attracted the doves to build a nest there. It looked so back to nature!!

Dumplings In Memory Of A Poet

2009-05-28T01:05:00.000-07:00

It is that time of the year again when we can buy different types of "bak chang" as the festival is celebrated today 28th of May, the fifth day of the fifth moon. "Bak chang" or rice dumplings are glutinous rice parcels wrapped tightly in bamboo leaves, tied and cooked in boiling water for at least 2 hours. It is quite a laborious task. What goes into the dumplings depends on who is making it. The Nyonya (decendents from immigrant Chinese who had adopted Malay attire and food but not the religion) use mushrooms, raddish, soy bean paste and colour the dumplings blue. OK, it sounds weird eating blue dumplings but you won't regret it.

Picture by C. Jason

The Hokkien (immigrants from Southern Fujian in China) include beans, chestnuts, mushrooms, chicken or pork and salted eggs. Salted eggs are usually duck eggs mixed with salt and left to mature till the eggs develop a salty flavour. These dumplings are brown as thick dark soy sauce is used as seasoning. My neighbour who is a fantastic cook sent some over and below is what it looked like before I attacked it. Dumplings are really delicious but the glutinous rice sits in your stomach and takes a long time to digest. We don't usually eat them at night or we will end up tossing and turning in bed.

The "Bak Chang" festival is celebrated as an annual tradition in honour of China's ancient poet and statesman, Qu Yuan (340 - 278 BC). He commited suicide by drowning in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth moon after the fall of the Chu kingdom to General Bai Qi in 278 BC . A number or reasons were given for what he did - as an act of grief when his country was taken by invaders, as a protest and shame to the corrupt government of which he was Deputy Prime Minister or he had fallen out of favour with the King. The people who greatly loved and admired him threw dumplings into the river to stop fishes from eating his body.

Hey, where's my bitter gourd!

2009-05-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

My bitter gourd in the sun.

Life is full of surprises. Last week I proudly wrote about my attempts in vegetable gardening - feeble attempts I would say judging by the size of my produce. The next morning, my precious bitter gourd went missing. The two smaller ones higher on the fence were still hanging on for their dear lives but the larger bottom gourd was gone. I live in a community where we take along plastic bags when we walk our dogs to make sure we do not leave any "accidents" behind. So, we definitely do not take punny gourds without permission. I can figure out a few answers to the disappearing gourd:

It fell off cos' it was ready to be plucked.
A rat climbed up the fence and ran away with it.
A squirril took it home for dinner.
A kid just plucked it for fun.
Moon light shrinks bitter gourds to undetectable sizes.

GismoMan says, "Who wants your bitter gourd? 1. it's bitter ; 2. it's a waste of effort cooking cos it would have taken more time to clean, cut and cook than eat it." I do think he has a point.

Anyway, there are more pressing issues to worry about. When I got home from work yesterday, MartianGirl came screaming, "There is a "buaya" (crocodile) in the garden." We live miles away from rivers and the nearest crocodiles are basking in the zoo. But, I had to go pretend and look out for it. It was probably a large monitor lizard - they can grow up to 3 feet. I have seen 6 feet ones in the wet lands. They are carnivores and live on small animals. They look quite clumsy with their large bodies and short legs, but they are fast. MartianGirl was five years when we visited Kuala Selangor, a town on the outskirts of the city with parks and wetlands. She had wandered off about 6 feet away from me and a really hugh monitor lizard came up from the pond and fested its eyes on what he probably considered was lunch. MartianGirl wanted to make friends, "Cicak, cicak." It was terrifying, I just ran, grabbed her and fled in the opposite direction. A "cicak" is a harmless house lizard, similar to a gecko, that feeds on insects and runs up and down the walls of our homes. The monitor lizard that wanted MartianGirl was truely as large as the one in the pix below.

"Cicak" (house lizard) - pix from internet source

Malaysian monitor lizard - pix from internet source

This morning, GismoMan announces, "I saw a rat in the kitchen last night and it was as large as a cat." Prone to exaggerations, I would say it was as little as a kitten. But I hate rats and they are the only animals that will actually make me jump up a chair and go hysterical, typically as shown in movies. I have gone after a snake and fierce dogs but I cannot handle rats. So, I had to put out the Rat Bait in the cupboards and made very sure that Daemon K9 could not get to them. But no rat as yet.

This is what I call excitment in the city. I can't imagine living on a farm where a lot more surprises can happen in one day. I would't be able to cope.

"Delay coming home if you feel unwell"

2009-05-22T04:29:00.000-07:00

A little "bug" million times smaller than a pin prick has created havoc in the world today. As of yesterday 21 May, 41 countries have officially reported 11,034 infected cases with 85 deaths. US has reported 5,710 confirmed and probable cases in 48 states with 8 deaths, and UK with 109 cases and no deaths. The Influenza A (H1N1) virus officially arrived in my country, Malaysia, on board MAS Flight MH 091 from Newark, New Jersey on 13th May. A Malaysian student returning home for his summer break was infected and the second confirmed case was his friend on board the same flight. Today, our Health Minister advised Malaysian students in US to stay back for a while if they experience any flu symptoms. Pretty sound advice to keep the virus away but pretty unfair to the students.

When I was studying abroad, I missed home so much - my family, my dog, the food and just the feeling of security. I only came home once in the 7 years I was away due to financial reasons but home was always on my mind. My parents must have missed me more cos' before I left my mum said, "We will always have the altar lighted until you come home." The "light" was a glass bowl with oil and a lighted wick. The wick was kept lighted 24 hours a day for all those 7 years. How do I know? Becos' my brothers wrote to me frequently, "Hurry up, we are very tired of keeping the wick lighted." I don't think my parents did that to ensure I would top the class (cos I didn't) or become a Nobel Prize Laureate (not in this life time). They just kept the flame to pray for me to be safe. Isn't that what we want most for our children?

What is this "bug" that will delay our kids from coming home. The Influenza A (H1N1) virus belongs to a group called the orthomyxoviruses. "Myxo" refers to viruses that infect the mucus membranes. The orthomyxoviruses comprise of 3 types - Influenza A, B and C. While Influenza B and C viruses mainly infect man, Influenza A can infect both man and animals. This allows Influenza A viruses to cause pandemics - a situation where a disease crosses national bounderies - like what is happening now.

The viruses are spherical and covered by an envelope from where spikes or surface proteins -haemagglutinins (H) and neuraminidase (N) - project out. Influenza viruses are able to change their antigens and result in different serotypes - H1N1 caused the Spanish Influenza (1918), H2N2 the Asian Influenza (1957) and H3N2 the Hong Kong Influenza (1968).

Pictures taken from the Internet

Spread? Influenza A (H1N1) is not transmitted via food. Virus is spread through aerosols from sneezing and coughing or by contact with the virus and then touching the nose or mouth.
Prevention? By avoiding crowded places and good hygiene practice. The virus is rapidly "killed" by detergents and soaps, thus frequent hand washing will control the spread.
Vaccine? At the moment there is NO vaccine for the nfluenza A (H1N1) virus. The only vaccines available offer no protection against the current "bug" as they will only protect against the human seasonal influenza viruses.
Research at the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, US) report that the current Influenza A (H1N1) virus is a genetic recombination of 4 different influenza viruses:
Human influenza gene segments
Swine influenza from North America
Swine influenza from Euroasia
Avian gene segments from North America

A new strain with no immunity in humans, this is why the fatality rate is much higher compared with other flu outbreaks. The good news is that the current fatality rate of less than 1% shows that the virus is not as powerful as intiallly predicted. There are 5,400 Malaysians studying in the US, I hope they will come home safely.

VEGETABLES NOT FOR SALE

2009-05-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

Brinjal or egg plant in my tiny vegetable plot.

Bitter gourds on the fence.
Vegetables in the market were getting quite expensive since last year so I decided to plant some of my own. I have a really tiny piece of land ( don't even know if I can say that, maybe a tiny space will be more appropriate) in the back of the house. I started with digging out the stones and mixing the hard clay soil with bags of potting mixture and vegetable waste. I actually had to go buy and PAY for organic fertiliser - processed chicken and goat "poo" pellets. Does this strike an idea for anyone to venture into an export business to Malaysia? Ohh...the dried pellets were OK but once they got wet, they looked exactly like how chicken and goat "poo" should look like. I am a city girl, was I suppose to know that? I got more potting mix to cover the mess.

My better half, seeing my enthusiasm in the vegetable plot, gave me an assortment of gardening tools for our wedding anniversary. I was thinking of something a little bit more romantic for our 19th anniversary, instead I got a spading fork, shears, weeder, gloves and packets of seeds. GismoMan, being the expert in gadgets and not gardening, bought seeds for peas, capsicum, carrots and salad, stuff which I think are not going to make it in this really hot 30 - 35 C temperature. Surprisingly, the peas have sprouted but the rest are having much difficulty germinating.

Every day I am out there watering, digging and mixing the soil. It's a really cheap way to get off the excess pounds cos' its a sauna out there even in the evenings. Now that the beans and gourds are growing, the pests are enjoying the fruits of my labour. Chemicals are a definite "No, No" and GismoMan suggested using ginger, chilli or tumeric mixed in water as natural pesticides (something he read). The chilli made my hands all hot and swollen, the tumeric stained them a yellow as bright as the monks' robes and I got a back ache bent over pounding ginger for juice. Does anyone know a simpler form of natural fertiliser?

I shouldn't complain as I have already start eating my own produce. But, the salad leaves are slightly bitter, not sweet like the ones from the supermarket, the brinjals are puny and the okra so fibrous, MartianGirl just kept chewing at the dinner table until the rubber bands in her braces snapped. GismoMan was very supportive, "Maybe you should not mix the bitter gourds with the other vegetables, the bitterness probably gets transfered."

Something's not quite right but I will not admit defeat. We Asians have this saying, "Never say die." My tomatoes and peas should be fruiting in about a month and then, there will be another story.

Pea, salad, chillie and tomato seedlings.
Four-angle beans.

A PLACE I CALL HOME

2009-05-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

Road into my township - the mad rush of traffic to the city lies just beyond.
Double storey terrace houses line the inner roads.
Plenty of trees planted 7 year ago by the developers.

Kids are out on their bikes by 6 pm - note the setting sun.

Its shorts and T-shirts everyday.

When I read the blogs I have been following, I am a bit envious of the acres of land. There is just miles of greenary with creeks and rivers in your photos and I just wonder what it's like to wake up, go out the front door and see all that space. Breath-taking must be the only word for it.

I live in a township about 20 km from the city. The houses are a mixture of terrace and semi-Ds (semi-detached where 2 houses are connected by one wall). There isn't acres of land, we measure our land in square feet. If I walk 9 normal human paces to the left of my house, I already hit my neighbour's wall. We share roads, drains and playgrounds.

Us mothers having our evening exercise. In the evenings, the boys ride from house to house.

MartianGirl and her Great Escape - Martians never use gates.

Living in a community with so many neighbours has many benefits. The kids meet at each others home or at the playground every evening. MartianGirl makes her get away at 5 pm and does not return till 7 at night. Many times I have caught her sneaking out by 4 pm even before her homework is finished. During the weekends, she is out by 3pm. She is quite safe wandering around, as we look out for each other's kids and pets. I have rescused Crystal, a top poodle, from the fish pond when the kids were too engrossed playing, and settled squabbles in the playground. The kids get fed with cakes, buns, fruits, chocolate, ice cream and what ever else is available in the different homes. I have chips on standby for the forever hungry troops. It is amazing how fast they drop in, wish a polite "Hello Aunty," grab some food or a cold drink and their skinny legs are rushing out the gate. At 7 pm, all mothers "chase" the kids home for their dinner and homework - it's an unwritten rule. Life here seems very different from the farm.

NET BALL IN THE TROPICS

2009-05-14T02:17:00.000-07:00

Netball Championship - Datin Nik Fara Shalvane Trophy

Resting in-between games
Shoot it in

Supporters including baby - note cutie under umbrella

Who says you don't do the splits in netball

Almost there

Any excuse for a picnic

Ambulance on stand-by

I got you covered

Thanks for the game

The "CHAMPS" at half-time

Shot these photos during the Datin Nik Fara Shalvane Trophy Netball Championship. The championship was sponsored by the UMNO (United Malay National Organisation) Selayang Branch. The temperature must have been around 30 C at noon, I was sun burnt just taking the photos. The girls have been competing since 8 am and they were still not finished. The picnic baskets were all over the field, families and supporters were having a ball of a time.

Breakfast from the kerb

2009-05-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

Pak Cik (Uncle) gets his stall ready by 7 am. He is meticulous laying out the pink table cloths. A large variety of dishes are available - from noodles, rice, chicken to kuih (Malay cakes).
His customers are mainly students from colleges, schools and people just driving past on their way to work, note his large red tub of warm freshly cooked rice.

Motor-cyclists will stop when they know the food is good. It's a Help-Yourself service.
Breakfast for most Malaysians isn't quite the same as in the West with cereal, fruit, toast or eggs. We kind of love our rice and noodles and we like it hot with lots of chilli. Just as many Westerners have breakfast on the run, we have adapted our lives to start each day fed and happy. We get our complete breakfast from the many stalls that "mushroom" from the kerb in the mornings. Under tress and umbrellas, entreprising housewives and the men too set up their "instant stall" early to catch the school, college and office crowd and "close shop" by mid morning to return home to take care of their families. These "instant stalls" do supplement family incomes as the owners can make between RM70 - RM 200 a morning.
Another stall under a shady tree by the kerb, note the car parked just next to the stall for easy transport of good and equipment.
Food is feshly cooked very early in the morning.Puan Normah sells "Nasi lemak" - rice in coconut milk, fried anchovies, boiled or fried egg, cucumber slices, roasted peanuts, chicken and "sambal ikan bilis" (anchovy chilli paste).
My breakfast all wrapped up in grease-proof paper.
All of this for RM 4.00 (US $1.11 cents), what a great way to start the day. I can't vouch for high work efficiency after breakfast, all the blood gets drained from my brain to digest this. Yawn...wake me up for lunch and don't tell the Bozz!

ORCHIDS FOR MOTHERS

2009-05-09T22:16:00.000-07:00

MartianGirl's home-made card for me. She specially made me into a MartianMum. I guess I deserved it for naming her MartianGirl in my blog, pay-back time!

FOR ALL MOTHERS - MAY GOD BLESS AND THE ANGELS GUIDE YOU

Ever told your child

We'll do it tomorrow

And in your haste

Not see his sorrow

Just for this morning, I will not rush you out from bed, I will let you sleep in and enjoy your dreams.
Just for this morning, I will not go for my walk, I will make your favourite bacon sandwich and sit with you to eat.

Just for this afternoon, I will turn off my computer and listen to your stories about teachers and school.

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell to finish your homework, I will sit with you and watch one of your girlish movies.

Just for this evening, I will not nag you about finishing your rice and vegetables, I will let you have your favourite cheese burger.

Just for this evening, I will not worry about what you will be, I will let you choose and have fun along the way. Just for tonight, I will forget about my work and tell you stories about daddy and me and how much we love you.
Just for tonight, I will snuggle beside you, and thank God for the most precious gift he has ever given me.

When we run so fast

To get some where,

We miss half the fun

Of getting there.

When we worry and hurry

To get through our day,

Life is like an unopened gift
Thrown away.

Life is not a race

Do take it slower,

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY