WATASHI NO INAKA

Serene Taiping Lake Garden

Picture from previous fei chai trip - taken by Sekinchan Boy

Inaka means hometown in Japanese. Having signed up for Japanese class (for beginners) two weeks ago, I guess it is good to put them into practice?

I was in Taiping last weekend for my late grandma’s third death anniversary. Even though she had passed on for only two years, the Chinese considered it as three. We were to “invite” her soul back to our home in Port Weld, so that we don’t have to go to the Siamese temple in Aulong for every festivity to make an offering to her. Wah.. talking about the dead giving convenience to the living. Heh!

Of course, there would be a big makan on the day itself. Unfortunately, I could not take pictures as my camera decided to call it quit after Ann’s marriage registration. Thank God this happened AFTER Ann’s marriage registration where I was assigned the photographer or else, I would be as good as dead.

I took my dear Canon Ixus II to the camera shop and they said, my old faithful camera (less than 2 years with almost 10k shots to date) had served me well. I overused it till the LCD is overheated.. and now burnt. Got such thing one meh? So, I would be loafing without my camera for two weeks – max.. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Please forgive me if the pics are a bit “lau yeah” as I had to be very gentle with Mr Ixus here.

Taiping is famous for its hiau peah or heong peng made of sugar, Jerry sugar (whatever that is), wheat flour, salt and oils. This time round, my colleagues made me ta pao for them. So all in all, I spent about RM100 on heong peng alone! There are a few brands which are quite nice but I believe the most authentic ones would be the Seahorse Brand – Eng Huat Food and also the Taiping Lake Garden Brand - Sin Heng Guan. I think I had the Seahorse Brand my entire life till someone told me Sin Guan Eng’s is better… I still don’t really know how to differentiate both – but my boss prefers Eng Huat’s. To me, anything from Taiping is good.

Other than the famed heong peng, there is also lou poh peng and kaya kok which can be bought at this nice little white wooden house in Aulong. At first we could not locate the little nice white wooden house as it had turned into a cemented bungalow over the years! Must be very good business. The kaya kok is priced at 70 sen, 20 sen more than last year! (Probably to pay for the renovation cost!)

Taiping is famous for its beautiful lake and its inhabitants. I was lucky enough to have caught this pic of three monkeys with its offsprings. They are so adorable. I wish I had higher optical zoom for this picture.They were caught helping themselves with left over Deeparaya murukkus given by public.

It is relaxing and totally stress-free while going out in Taiping. No jam, the food is cheap, groceries come cheap also, everyone is friendly, etc. All roads are quite simple to follow, almost every turn is connected. There is actually nothing to complain about being in Taiping, apart from having no cinema (that is what pirated CDs are for! Ha ha!) Ah.. I guess I know where I am going to spend the rest of my retirement days.

LOVE ENDURES ALL THINGS

As I was walking to Petaling Street with Ann on Thursday night to collect her wedding bouquet, I recalled the incident where she was hospitalized due to blood clot in her lungs caused by the complication in her heart. She has a hole in her heart since young.

She was only 23 years old then. I found out about this only when I text her one morning to tell her I was on the way to Genting for the weekend and asked how she was? She told me she was in the hospital. She had been in the hospital for a week! I cursed those “well meaning” friends for not informing me.

I quickly went to see her at University Hospital, the moment I came home from Genting. She appeared to be in a perky mood, albeit looking anorexically thin. I guess my gift of Ribena cheered her up a little. Any kids and adults alike love Ribena!

I learnt that she was unconscious for a few days and heavily sedated with loads and loads of morphine to make her sleep. She had been hallucinating. She didn’t even know she was bed ridden for the whole week. The doctors told her mother to be prepared for the worst. 50-50 chances on survival.

Friends who had visited her said, she looked quite horrific and some even wept at the sight of her laying motionless on the bed. I could feel the pain as I had seen my own aunt bedridden due to removal of a tumor in her stomach before.

What touched me most, was her boyfriend, Alvin, who had kept vigil by her bedside since the first day she was hospitalized. She learnt from her mother that, he had not been eating or sleeping well for the past few days when she was unconscious. Hence, he lost so much weight and looked gaunt. I have seen a few relationships faltered if an issue of such grave magnitude occurred. It is sad sometimes, that the one that you think you loved with your whole heart, deserted you when you needed him the most.

So what if he is not a romantic person who doesn’t send you flowers on Valentine’s Day? So what if he is not a man with many surprises? So what if he is a man of a few words? So what if he only cooks you maggi mee once in a blue moon?

Action speaks louder than words. He has proven that he is someone worth to spend the rest of her life with, just by being there when she needed him the most.

Their relationship withstand the test of time and they remain having faith in each other. They had seen the best and worst in each other, yet love each other just the same.

Last Friday, I was honored to be invited to attend their marriage registration ceremony at Thean Hou Temple, after 9th years of courtship.

I firmly believe that such great love will see them through till they are old and grey, as LOVE bears all things, believes all things and endures all things.

BET? WHAT BET?

This was written 3 weeks ago.. in good faith…

As agreed, Chubby and I weighed ourselves on a “standard weighing scale” at Yvonne’s house when we went to her house for a Hari Raya BBQ. Dennis, her brother, was laughing at us and thought we were weighing ourselves before and after the BBQ – to see how much we have put on after gobbling up all the food. (Yvonne, please tell your dad, that the BBQ sauce on the lamb shank and beef cutlets kicked ass! Oompph! Salivating now at the mere thought of it).

Both of us were actually surprised that we lost some weight without even trying. It is like, we thought we were Venus, nearer to the Sun (destruction) but were happy to find that we were actually the third rock from the Sun. The scale showed that we were very much further off (Earth) to hit 100 kgs (the Sun) than expected (Venus)… Someone must have tampered with the weighing scale to make us eat more in the BBQ? Yvonne? Can you explain this?

If you see that I am talking gibberish here, I couldn’t really reveal the actual weight of Chubby’s and mine – weight and age are big issues for the ladies. We will let you know how much weight we have lost as and when… or if, we managed to shed some.

I am happy to say, that I had lost about 2-3 kgs over last month. Thanks to reduced social obligations – I drink less, (Ok lah. I drank quite a bit last weekend, but I managed to cheat on drinking (meaning – drink less), even during the October Fest), declined dinner engagements with friends – postponing them to breakfasts/ lunches instead and trying very, very hard to have ONE concentrated food at ONE time. (The lion not having baked potato together with the zebra theory – Fit For Life) and eat less oily food. Chubby on the other hand, is seeking professional help (not on sanity matters) – a slimming program of which Ms Charmaine Seah endorses.

So, let the bet begins!

P/S Deeparaya is far from over. Everyone in office is still feasting on cookies, kuihs and murukkus brought from home. Temptation lurks everywhere… but I must persevere!!

**********************************************************************************
Today….

I doubt it though. Sigh. I had been pigging out the past few weeks – wedding dinners, makan-makan with friends, nasi lemak spree with office colleagues etc.

Yesterday, the management decided to throw us a buffet lunch for DeepaRaya celebration.

I guess I would need more than sheer will power to overcome this. May God be with me through this!

WEDDING IN KEROPOK LAND

I was whisked away last weekend to Kuala Terengganu (KT), the Land of Turtles and Keropoks, to attend WY’s younger sister, WM’s wedding.

We went in two cars to KT from Kuala Lumpur. There were 7 of us. The journey to KT had been quite pleasant, apart from Mr Grumpy (my driver – WY’s elder sister, WP’s boyfriend), who thought the road is an F1 circuit or maybe each occupant in his car has nine lives. I thanked my lucky stars I am still alive to blog this.

Scenic Picnic Spot at Rantau Abang

If you were to go to Terengganu, I suggest you to take the coastline. (As if you have a choice!) The scenery is scenic and breath-taking. We stopped by one of the spots along the coastline to have a lunch picnic of lemang, serunding (Malay: Beef floss) and sata, somewhere near Rantau Abang. Sata is something like otak otak – but instead of being shaped rectangular, sata is triangular and the fillings is as delicious, if not better than conventional otak otak. And it costs only 20 sen per piece!

On the way, there were many sightings to see. Small little huts by the seaside, swaying coconut trees, rows and rows of lemang sellers, air nira, sweet corns, etc. The most intriguing is probably this picture. I was quite disturbed by the sight of a giant sotong humping a giant prawn while being watched by some kerangs somewhere in Marang. As it was situated at the side of the traffic light, I could managed only to snap the two gigantic thingy in action and not pics of the kerangs. Talk about being a reserved and conservative state. I will never look at seafood the same way again. Mr Grumpy commented that only I would think of such things.

Giant sotong and giant prawn in action

The monsoon season is here, at this time of the year. I was quite surprised that it was sunny in Terengganu. I text my sister, Ann and Ed to tell them about the sunny weather and that I had reached Terengganu safely, albeit traumatized. And boy! Was I wrong! Immediately after I text them, the rain began to pour like cats and dogs!

Primular Beach Resort and Moonlight at Night

We stayed at Grand Continental while the bride and bridegroom stayed in Primula Beach Resort in the executive suite. It was a nice hotel by a small town standard. KT is such a dead town. It reminds me of my stay in Swiss Garden in Kedah, with my ex colleagues in the research line. We finished work one day in advance, we decided to go to our supervisor’s hometown and splurge the last night on a luxury hotel. There was a built-in Jacuzzi – so we had a few rounds of soaking! He he. Also, I went swimming the first thing before the break of dawn in the swimming pool. I was alone and tempted to do skinny dipping instead. Heh! Those were the good old days.

WM had been a tremendously generous host during my stay in Singapore early this year. She proves to be an equally generous, if not more, this time round when we go to KT. It is simply amazing she planned her wedding together with her husband, all by themselves. Every detail was not spared – from the decoration of their wedded bliss room to the minute details of the corsages for the bride and bridegroom’s families. If I were to recommend to friends to hire a wedding planner, she would be the first person that appears in my mind. But she is not in this business! I say, she should start thinking of being a wedding planner!

Oh yes. How did they meet? WM and TW had been together for the past 10 years. They first met while working as part time promoters during a semester break. WY had told me many times of the story before but I wanted to listen to it again and again.

WM was punching in her attendance card by the staircase while her husband, TW was walking down the stairs. She cast her eyes on him and their eyes met. The rest was history. It was love at first sight. Auww….

In a Chinese wedding, the girl would be staying at her parents’ place for the night and both bride and groom cannot meet each other on the night before the wedding. Early in the morning, depending on the date of the Lunar calendar, there is an auspicious time to come for the hand in marriage.

I still couldn’t comprehend the need to hold the door and extort money from the groom before he claims the bride though. Well, we were not prepared to play tricks on the groom before he came to claim his bride, we cooked up something silly impromptu like forcing the groom to drink two packets of black coffee and eat one whole red chilli. We even made him do something mushy like declaring his love out loud for his future bride.

We dismissed the request to produce us a piece of red underwear after the groom threaten to teach us a lesson (Read: obscene boozing) for playing too many pranks on him. Heh! Kidding! He was sporting enough to give in to our whims and fancy and to top it all, we got a collectively RM399 ang pow for opening the door. WAH LAU YEH! But our happiness were short lived when we realized we need to share it with 2 others who didn’t even lift a finger to shield the door.. sigh.. But WY and I got a small hamper of Body Shop toiletries as a token of appreciation for providing the “bouncer” service!

Usually, there would be a toddler, preferably a boy, to roll on the bed of the newly wed as it said to bring descendant luck to the couple. The designated toddler didn’t show up due to rain so, they got JJ instead, to roll on the bed. Ha ha ha. It was hilarious to watch a grown man rolling and jumping like a monkey on the bed. Ha ha ha ha! Man! I simply couldn’t get over it!! Ha Ha Ha!

I was pretty much drained towards the end of the late afternoon – the bouncer job at the door, tea ceremony, snapping pics, congratulating aunties and uncles again and again, cracking some jokes there and then, laughing at JJ rolling on the bed and had buffet lunch of the famous nasi dagang, nasi minyak, steamed keropok, etc (it was a very muhibbah wedding – with choices of Malay and Chinese food). I didn’t go out to check out KT town and preferred to catch some winks of sleep before the wedding dinner.

Sleepy KT Town

The wedding dinner went on without a hitch despite the rain. Everyone was on time – it is such a small town with zero traffic jam! We were surprised that everyone turn up by 7 pm sharp and started dinner by 7.30 pm, and finished the 9-course dinner by 9.30 pm! Instead of having the cliché shark fin soup – we had something similar to the most expensive soup – Buddha Jump Over the Wall – with abalone, sea cucumer, shark fin, oysters, and other unidentified seafood. The picture of the humping giant sotong and prawn suddenly smogged my mind. I quickly dismissed the thoughts.

Kuala Terengganu at Night

The night ended with some informal booze party in the Executive Suite in Primula Beach. It was good to catch up with old friends from Singapore. Sharing happiness with Ong, being a new dad to a 4 months’ old Sing Yee, Lau Chaur getting hitched next year, Foo Seong being happily married to his lovely wife, Pei Ling, and See Thiam Teng found the love of his life. Some of the gang didn’t turn up as they had to attend to their cousins’ weddings or exams, etc. Nevertheless, they were pretty much missed. We made it a point to see them again whenever we pop by Singapore for a visit.

A Scenic Spot when we stopped to buy corn

I didn’t get to capture as much scenic pictures as I would love to, as I was traveling with other people. On my way home, I came across a few missed nice shots : a picture of two small children running to the beach hand-in-hand, passing by two fishing boats washed at the shore and a couple sitting in a wooden hut overlooking the sea. The pictures would now remained vividly in my mind. Sigh. They could have made very picturesque black and white shots.

Hai Peng's Famous Vietnamese Coffee and Stuffed Crabs at Tong Juan

We stopped by to have authentic Vietnamese coffee at Hai Peng, Kemaman and had stuffed crabs in Cukai before making our way home to KL. It was a long, long weekend, but undeniably a fantastic one. It was like going on a free holiday: you don’t need to plan a single thing, your accommodation, transportation and food are well taken care of, and all you need is to pack your bags, just go there and have fun… which I immensely did!

I quote Rumi, "Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along."

When I see WM and TW together, I couldn't agree more.

FRIENEMY

I got this word from an article in the Star a few months ago. I couldn’t help but flinched at the thought of having frienemies.

Frienemy is a word derived from Friend + Enemy. I might sound like a bloody hypocrite if I say I don’t have a frienenemy. Frankly speaking, I think everyone does have a frienemy, whether they realize it or not.

Lai Ma once told me she had a good time with her classmates in school and how they always asked her to be in the group whenever they go out for an outing. It didn’t look that rosy on the other side of the story. Some shallow friends even had the cheek to tell me that, they were merely using her because she was the only one with a bigger car, That was the sole reason that they hang out with her. I was shocked beyond words and thought of ways to break it to her subtly.

I cautiously warned her to be careful and always keep her eyes wide open when it comes to having friends – to check if they have ulterior motives. But she seemed happy that she was able to go out with the popular gang and chided me for being a wet blanket or accused me for being obviously jealous of her hanging out kakis. I dismissed this as an utter waste of time and let her do as she pleased till she discovered about the ugly truth herself.

A friend once told me, “I am not going to burn my bridges. Who knows, I might need her help in the future?” when I told her to ignore the friend who has been giving her hell by being ridiculously pretentious. Yes – I agree. No man is an island, we are interconnected with each other, it’s Hobson’s choice.

But how far can you tolerate your frienemy?

For example, how could you keep a friend who seemed to be very nice to you and yet laughed behind your back? How could you keep a friend, who always have breakfast with you on weekends, yet bad mouthed about your bad taste in men? How could you keep a friend who tells the world about your affair with other people’s husbands? How could you keep a friend, who always bring you down and never offer a word of comfort? How could you be friends with a friend who never see good in others? How could you tolerate friends who always take advantage of you because you are just too nice? How much longer can you tolerate friends who never offer help when you needed it the most?

I cannot tolerate this kind of friendship – I would rather end the friendship. Some people might think I could say that because I have so many friends. I do have many friends as I believe, if you like your friends to treat you good, you should start by being good to them. Good begets good. Evil begets evil. Many is just a number – it is not important. I would prefer to have quality friends, which I am grateful to say, most of my friends are.

One thing about me is, when I give my friendship – I give it wholeheartedly. If I think my friendship does not mean anything to you, I maintain my distance.

I have my own way to deal with my friends. I would give my friends personal attention. I remember your likes and dislikes, your mom’s specialty dish, your medical appointments, your most embarrassing moments, your preference for tomato ketchup instead of chilli sauce, etc and would not hesitate if you need a helping hand. I remember every word you tell me. And whether you like or not, I give you a piece of my mind to keep you in touch with reality and both your feet firmly on the ground, rather than bitching about you behind your back.

It simply amazes me that certain friends are able to tolerate someone they loathe so much and still hang out with them occasionally. I would rather stay put at home, with a good book or watch some tv than to waste time listening to their non sensical crap and feeding their empty ego. Sometimes, ignorance is indeed bliss. Instead of putting a superficial face and treat as if nothing has happened, I would rather avoid this kind of friends like a plague. I think it is a sheer waste of time to be with people who don’t appreciate you for who you are.

I am not painting a picture of myself being holier than thou either. I didn’t say I am all goodie goodie. I am also human and I would bad mouth about other friends to others – which I think is a tasteless tactic of oneself and I should stop doing so, which I eventually did and asked for forgiveness.

As I grow older (and wiser – hopefully), I find it easier to forgive people for their shortcomings and look within myself to improve the areas that I am lacking, so I would be a better friend. We cannot change the behavior in others – but we could take the initiative to change ourselves.

Since it is unavoidable, (the “No Man’s an Island” theory) it is alright to have frienemies. I guess as long as we play our cards right, we have nothing to worry about. As long as you don’t let them get to you, it is fine. If it is going beyond that, and started to challenge your beliefs and sanity, I guess it is better to cut lose. Illustratively speaking, it is better to lose an arm with leprosy, rather than keeping it and letting it spread to the entire body.

ENDLESS PURSUIT

A few months ago, I received a thoughtful text from Ryne, enquiring my immobility status…

Hi Gina. How are you? Is your car back from kenari hospital? There was a time when I didn’t have my car for 3 weeks so I can definitely sympathize. Hope all is ok with you.

Actually quite syok having no car. Can buat buat kesian and get free rides. Ha ha. It’s gonna be ok this weekend. Hope so! A lot of shit to do. Thanks for your thought. Very sweet of you.

Playing the damsel in distress are you? V good. Keep up the good work. Milk it for all its worth. It’s not often we have ppl worry and fuss over us.

But all my knights in shining armour are women. Do you think I should change my sexual orientation? I seem to have better luck with women. Ha ha. Eh. You have people to fuss over you with or without crisis. This is the beauty of having a relationship.

How true. Perhaps you shud change your sexual orientation. Don’t all straight men hang around lesbians coz they are hoping they can see some woman on woman action? Isn’t it ironic that you have to be gay to attract the opposite sex? Does that mean a gay has to be straight to attract the same sex? Food for thought…

Okay.. I don’t know how we could end up having this conversation. Come to think of it, doesn’t this make life more interesting?

Do we have to pretend to be someone else in order to attract people?

Do we need to fake it to find love?

Why humans are always pursuing something they can’t have?

If curiosity kills the cat, it is the endless pursuit that kills a man.

Every year, it seems to be harder for people to be together, even with the internet, radio, telephone, efficient transportation, etc. I have loads of friends who are still single at my age. Mind you, they are working professionals with high flying jobs and reasonably good looks.

Don’t we all wish that, things were as simple as the good old days where the arranged marriage of our grandparents and parents’ marriages and their marriages were built to last a lifetime.

People’s perception changes as the years go by. People now have more expectations of the person they are going to spend the rest of their lives with. Some of them even have unrealistic expectations too impossible to fulfill.

When they could not find someone, they would come to you and complain of their woes – “Why am I not attached? What is wrong with people? Why God is so unfair??” – When in actual fact, the question that they supposed to be asked is, what is wrong with themselves?

Well meaning friends would console you that your turn is not up yet, or you haven’t really found someone who truly appreciates you. Blah blah blah.

I think this is all quite subjective.

You have your own expectations, and people have theirs too. If you could write-off a person for not fulfilling your requirements, the person that you would be/are interested in, could do the same to you. Like the saying goes, what goes around, comes around.

Here are the sample stories of endless pursuits:-

No. 1

An acquaintance is superbly materialistic. She expects her dates to bring her dining in posh places, shower her with presents whenever the men travel overseas, and she judges a man by the car that he drives. She would measure against her own Key Performance Index (which measures only rich, filthy rich, bloody rich) on how this man would fulfil her luxurious lifestyle. She once stop dating a man coz he ONLY drives a Kelisa. She, on the other hand, is not even close to rich. She drives a Wira and has a modest job in a small company, yet she lives as if she is Paris Hilton. And she wonders why she is still single.

No. 2

A friend who always condemn other people, claiming that the girls are either too ugly or too fat, etc to be his girlfriend, when he himself, didn’t even take a good look into the mirror before saying that. And he wonders why he is still single.

No. 3

Another acquaintance who only knew how to condemn her dates and never had a good remark about them. How on earth would others see the good in you when you yourself could never see good in others? And she wonders why she is still single.

No. 4

This friend cannot accept the fact that certain couples are meant to be together. She complained about her girlfriend who married a good looking and rich architect and now living comfortably in a semi-D house. She condemned that if such an ugly woman could get a handsome prince, she would’ve gotten an emperor. I told her to seek psychological advice and stop wondering why she is still single.

There is no explanation of attraction when it comes to love. People would just fall in love even if they knew you are a drug addict, a whore, a lazy bum, etc. There have been living cases on these.

I guess the only way to make it, is probably learning to give, stop condemning each other – if you don’t like him/her, just leave and move on, accept the fact that certain old habits die hard, accept the fact that everyone is imperfect, always be considerate when it comes to a relationship, please look into the mirror before condemning the other person and stop wondering why are you still single and enjoy a day at a time as if it were your last.

THE STORY OF AH LONG

While having lunch at Kanna Curry House one fine Saturday afternoon, Mae asked me about loan sharks.

Mae: Say, if you were to borrow RM10,000 and the interests come up to RM50,000. Would the loan sharks accept it if you pay them back only RM20,000?

James: Why the hell you ask that question for??

Mae: It is better than not returning money at all, right? Afterall, you already get back your cost of RM10,000. So, how? Can ah?

I was dumb founded.

I went home and asked my mother. She laughed. She asked me if Mae is in need of money, we could ask favors from our “uncle”. I have distant relatives who are/ were loan sharks.

Lok Lok and Sasha’s dads were loan sharks. Now it is difficult to do business since there are too many highlights on Ah Long messing with people's lives. A few rotten eggs spoiling the market. That is why sometimes, they even owe my mother money for baby sitting their kids. My mother in turn had to threaten them to pay us or they can take their kids home. (Nobody wants to baby sit these two monsters – trust me). I think they should hire my mother instead to help them get their debts back! Now, since their loan shark business flopped, both dads had venture into business – must be something legal or else, why are they still broke?

Frankly speaking, if you have a business at risk, you would do anything to salvage it. When the banks or financial institutions close their doors on you, you would have no choice but to turn to Ah Long’s help.

Not all Ah Longs are cold blooded and menace of the society. They loan you money when other means failed, and the people who took loan from them should understand the consequences rather than blaming them as blood suckers or is out there to give you a shit life, when you cannot afford to pay back.

I have some friends who get money from Ah Longs and when they paid them back on time or delay a few days, they are alright. Afterall, Ah Longs don’t want you to die because if you were to kick the bucket, who the hell would pay back your debts? You don’t have insurance to cover debts to Ah Longs.

One piece of advice – for WHATEVER reason, NEVER EVER BORROW FROM AH LONG. If for some reason, YOU HAVE TO, remember you will HAVE TO PAY BACK with HIGH INTERESTS. They can be hostile when provoked. Some people loan money without thinking of how they are going to pay them back. They ran away leaving their shit to their family to clear up. Let their families being humiliated. It is not Ah Long’s intention to do this. It is to act as a deterrent to others from doing the same shit, borrow and run away.

Some people, for the love of God, borrow money to feed their gambling habits, or to maintain glamorous lifestyle when their businesses failed to bring profits just to boost their ego, etc. So far, I haven’t heard of anyone borrowing money for noble deeds like helping their loved ones who are sick. When they couldn't pay back and Ah Longs came after their asses, they cried murder, acting as victims - when in the real light, Ah Longs were the ones at the losing end.

In fact, credit cards nowadays are the legal Ah Longs. The difference is, as long as you pay your minimum, they won’t come after you. And they charge you a high interest on your debts, 18% a year! Credit cards are the money making machine of the century.

It is not that I condone the unscrupulous acts of the Ah Long’s. Not all Ah Longs are pieces of shit. You can put yourself in Ah Long’s shoes – they are the ones who helped you when others refused. But be prepared to pay more, as the money loaned are all instant cash. Ah Longs too have families like you and me. They have to work too, hungry mouths to feed, bills to pay, etc. They are like us, working their asses off to go on with their lives.

If you don’t intend to pay them back – DON’T BORROW. When your business flop, declared yourself a bankrupt, rather than borrowing for the sake of protecting your bruised ego, living in the run, and giving your family hell.

If you think I am saying this because I don’t know what hell had the victims of loan sharks been through, well you are wrong. I have seen living proof of families wrecked by senseless borrowings and it involved people close to me. I know what I am talking about.

Answer to Mae’s question?

Yes you may. But be prepared to run for your life.

RASPBERRY DREAMS

Ed's cozy loft

Over the weekend, we had a blast at Ed’s house. Swimming, makaning, boozing and marathon DVD sessions. Invitation e-mails were sent one day beforehand. We love impromptus.

Ed wrote:-

welcome everyone, i will get the ice cream soda la. just bring ur ass!!!

Gina wrote:-

tonight have to shave ketiak if going swimming. malas betul. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

WY wrote:-

Why ketiak? I thought you are going to shave your pubic hair... wahahahahhaha

Gina wrote:-

I am not wearing a bikini mah. I am wearing a gusti suit.

Pornstar Tiffany wrote:-

aiyoyo... why suddenly talk about all this bulu bulu things ah? just be simple, wear t-shirt n long pants then no matter ur hair(whichever parts of ur body) long until 30cm also no one knows!!

Note: Pornstar Tiffany might have 30 cm hair on a certain parts of her body. *Cringe*

Absolut Raspberry, Absolute Heaven!

It was an unofficial house warming party, as Ed gathered his very good friends together to have a quiet vegetarian dinner, chit chat and some games cum boozing. Ryne and Dan were there as well. Pornstar Tiffany couldn’t make it as she needed longer notice to shave her 30 cm body hair.

I haven’t been drinking that much since my birthday this year. I was glad that the party was not too hardcore – very hard to accept the fact that I am aging and my alcohol tolerance level is not that high anymore.

We went for a dip in the swimming pool before having dinner and booze. Had to teach WY to swim all over again since the last time we actually swam was a few years back in a friend’s apartment. Is there anything that WY can drink/eat so she could swim like a mermaid? I am a self taught swimmer – and I had taught two friends so far, and they could swim like a fish now.

Dinner was good – all vegetarian – we have fake fish, fake char siew, fake pork ribs, fake yong tau foo, etc. The drinking started right after dinner at 9 pm, and we were already tipsy by 10 pm.

WY got totally wasted and began to lap dance on Ryne. Ed was enjoying himself way too much and started to snigger like a seahum. I tried to act as drunk as possible, in order not to get myself to drink too much. Control! Cocktail of Raspberry Vodka and Ice Cream Soda is simply heaven. We had a hard time trying to get the right concoction out of Bombay Sapphire though. Any tips?

Ryne and Ed were hardcore drinkers. It was good that I didn’t challenge them to drink or else I might end up puking on the expensive wood flooring. Dan couldn’t drink and it would take only half a glass of beer to send him straight to dream land. He had to drive Ryne home, hence avoided alcohol. Excuses, excuses!

Poker cards proved to be a lethal combination with liquor

All in all, it was an enjoyable night. WY and I slept at Ed’s place as it was too dangerous to drive home drunk. Ed would make this a monthly event till we know how to mix the gin properly.

So, now you know where I will be spending my Christmas and new year’s eve this year!

OFF YOU GO!

Well, your service is no longer required. Off you go!!

For those salaried employees (like yours truly here), we are always complaining having to do the job yet, at the same time worrying that we might lose it. It was like, “Hey! If you hate your job so much, why are you worried that you might lose it? Why can’t you just change your bloody job and move on?”

I used to have the habit of quitting my job as and when I feel like it as I fully abused my advantage of being young and available. I was never afraid of losing my job till lately.

A colleague of mine, let’s call her Ms Stiletto, (she wears a 5 inches stiletto to work) who had been with the Company for 7 years, was suddenly asked to leave. She was the President’s Personal Assistant. She had been with the Company and started off as a PA to the Deputy President, then slowly climb the corporate ladder of secretary ship to where she is now.

She was seconded to be a Customer Service Consultant (a de-motivating demotion) as the President thought her service is not needed. How could a president not have a secretary? We all know, most of the time, secretaries or PA to the President/ CEO/ MD are quite important, as they are the people who would be the mediator between the management and the VIP himself (And some really rotten ones too, who are out to give you a shitty working life). For your information, Ms Stiletto not only act as a PA to the President, she is also reporting to an Executive Director and another General Manager. The dismissal, whatever the reason is, I guess is totally befuddling and cruel. It is not misconduct for sure.

Instead of being seconded to Customer Service, she insisted to stay on and boldly demanded for other valid reasons, as the first one – service is not needed is totally absurd. He made a sweeping remark that there isn’t much work for her to do from his side and other directors as well. How could you even make a statement on behalf of other people? This is insane. This is unfair. The other deputy, who shared the adjacent room to Mr Xmas was furious as he had to share the same PA with him. Downsizing? Cost cutting?

Instead of getting an explanation, all she’s gotten is an alternative. She could pack her bags and leave. She opted for the latter, with a heavy heart.

Today is her last day, and I am very depressed to see her go.

How would you feel if you had been working and slogging your ass off for the Company and towards the end, all you get is this?

Life is cruel, whether we like it or not.

How do we safeguard ourselves from such pitfalls?

Venturing into your own business is risky, and you need loads of capital. You can be either very lucky or very unlucky. Marrying off to a rich man/woman would temporary solve your problem, but would the marriage last? A friend of mine married a rich bugger and hesitant to leave, even if the husband abused her. Reality can be so harsh.

Well, all I can say is, probably one need to have a buffer even with a good job – it might be gone tomorrow. Nothing is permanent.

I am already in the midst of contemplating to take up a teaching course (My first ambition when I was a still a child, was to be a Cikgu). Some friends commented that I would be a good Cikgu – since I am so garang. Ha ha. That is not the case now, you smack the child a bit, you would be seeing the spoilt brat’s parents at the headmaster’s office. Sigh. Not a good job prospect for someone who already has hypertension, I think.

There are a few jobs which one can do, with almost surety, that you won’t get fired - doctors and nurses, unless you commit grave misconduct – but doctors and nurses have professional negligence insurance….

Ah.. and Sekinchan Boy should consider being a padi planter, as everyone still needs rice, unless everyone is on Atkin’s Diet.

Like the old Cantonese saying, "If cannot work in the East, we can always go to the West." As long as we still have the ability to work, just slog on and be hopeful that tomorrow will always be a brighter day.

Good luck, my dear Ms Stiletto.

SENTIMENTAL FOOL

I was driving home one night, and the song “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Savage Garden was played on the stereo. It brought back so many memories.

Being born on a Valentine’s Day probably has its price to pay. Call me a sentimental fool but my mind automatically paints a picture whenever a song is playing on the radio – I would remember the occasion, the special someone or just a plain makan session with friends. I somehow have a photographic memory, which at times, fascinates my friends.

Truly, Madly, Deeply – Savage Garden
Winds of Change - Scorpion

It had been raining for all week. I was on my way to college, with a radio walkman glued to my ear. Either song would have me thinking of Leong Char Chai and the night when we went to the open air concert in Shah Alam – Big Mountain, a Reggae rave. We went there on a borrowed bike from my housemate.

We held hands for the first time – not romantically linked though. It was drizzling that night. We were just cheering the group and were drenched in the rain.

I remember vividly the pain in my ass for riding the bike for 45 minutes to Shah Alam all the way from Setapak!!

You’re in Love – Wilson Phillips

I missed the good old times in secondary school where the phone would ring at about 3 pm everyday and I would be on the phone, yakking for hours, much to the disapproval of my mother. It was the Monk. A classmate once commented, “Entah dia cakap dengan siapa? Tiap tiap hari aku nampak buntut dia tertonggeng, berborak dalam talipon”. (Malay: I wonder who he was speaking to. Everyday I see him bending over* and busy yakking on the phone). No one in school knew of our friendship.

*Ed: Don’t get any silly ideas!

He told me to get a cassette on Wilson Phillips and from that day onwards, I was hooked to these 3 pretty ladies’ sweet voice.

It is irony that every time this song is being played; it would make me think of him. In fact, any songs from Wilson Phillips remind me of him.

Push – Matchbox20

A fellow chatter from IRC, Tristan*, invited me to Kuching, Sarawak to see him perform in a gig together with his band mates. He even offered to buy me air tickets to make sure I would be there. And we haven’t even met!! This had caused his girlfriend, Sydney*, so much jealousy, which I find kinda silly as I haven’t even met him and of course, being my prudent self, I declined his generous offer politely.

We kept in touch for a few years till he went overseas. It was kind of ridiculous that his girlfriend accused me of stealing her boyfriend – when we were merely writing to each other and only talking about bands and stuffs. We were not romantically linked. In order not to cause so many problems, we stopped writing and went our separate ways. We haven’t even met till today.

* nicknames they used in MiRC.

All My Life – KC & Jo Jo
Luka – Suzanne Vega

Had dim sum with James and his stepsister, Joanne in Jalan Ipoh. “All My Life” was James’ favorite song at that point of time.

James once lanyak me habis habis for thinking Luka is a Malay song. “My name is Luka… I lived on the second floor”.

I am still waiting for his compilation CD of the songs of the millennium. *Yawn*

Dying Inside To Hold You – Timmy Thomas

I was going for tuition class when I was in Form 5. The whole of Petaling Street was blasted with this One Hit Wonder. It was my good friend, Lenny’s favorite song. We keep in touch till today. I bought her the album as her birthday present and parting gift after Form 5. Today, she is a proud mother of a baby boy and resides in Singapore with her husband.

Don’t Call Me Baby – Madison Avenue

Clubbing scene back in the early 2000. Also, I heard this song first time in Snow’s car and she could actually sing to it, which I find quite impressive. Whenever this song is being played, I would remember Snow and the lesbian party that I was invited to.

Also, I remember Galvin and Phoebe were still together, we were dancing to this song in the newly renovated Bravo (now defunct).

Freshmen – Verve Pipe
I Believe I Can Fly – R. Kelly
Palm (Chang Sing) – Victor and Michael (Mandarin)

Reminds of my salad days in TAR College.

One of my very quiet and mild mannered housemate, Yu Niq, always answered the house phone with a courteous “Good Morning, Good Afternoon or Good Evening” till my friends thought they dialed the wrong number and called an office instead. He always say, I made him very restless. I mean, with my endless babblings, nothing else. Ha ha.

My other housemate, nicknamed Harry (because he is very, very hairy – I heard he is balding now, at the age 27), like this R. Kelly’s song very much. Everyday without fail, he would play this song repetitively and sing along to it. I was a little bit annoyed (little bit only considering he is so leng chai) and sarcastically remarked, “Everyday you sing, but I never see you fly.”

When William Hung belted it out, I laughed my socks off, reminiscing the old times with Harry.

Before Victor and Michael hit stardom, they performed a gig in my college during an Architecture night, and we were all swooned by the melodious voice of the duo. We had the chance to talk to them personally. I remembered Victor asked me what course I am taking and advised me to study hard. I promised him I would buy their albums when they are out. Too bad they are no longer together. I think they are really good, together.

All songs by Nirvana

Rebellious days. Was exposed to grunge by YY’s gorgeous brother, Joe. Not only grunge – I was also exposed to illegal car racing and alcohol as well. When alcohol touched my lips for the first time, when I was 18, I knew I could drink like a fish. I stayed sober, albeit feeling deliriously happy, after having 7 shots of vodka lime/ rum coke in less than an hour.

She – Elvis Costelo

Watching Nottinghill in Cheras Leisure Mall with WY and U Chi. I was hungry when I went into the cinema without dinner. We bought popcorn. I ended up gobbling the popcorn and didn’t leave some for the girls. When we came out from the cinema, I had popcorns all over my white shirt because of my beastliness. Dang.. I will remember this forever.

Superstar – Jamelia

Current clubbing sessions with WY, Ms Lactose, Sekinchan Boy, the Dancing group and the BarFly boys. Just in case you think I am a beyond redemption party animal, I haven’t been clubbing since I started working full time at the end of 2000. I resumed clubbing only late last year and till now.

Right Here Waiting – Richard Marx

A gorgeous Fifth former, Ong Beng Hui, played this song on the piano when the choir group took a break from practice for Interact Club I.U. Day presentation. I was in Form 3 then. All girls would be swept off their feet, whenever he played that song. He was the cutest guy in school.

Beautiful – Christina Aguilera

My sister in her darkest days. I just want to let her know, she is loved, no matter how she looked like. And she is the most important person in my life after my parents.

Why, Why, Tell Me Why – Anita Mui (Cantonese Song)

My cousin brother, Ricky. When he was four or five, he could imitate Anita Mui and sing this song with a hair brush, acting like a super Diva, exactly like her.

Superstar – S.H.E (Mandarin)

The first time Sasha started walking and dancing to this tune. Only this song would hook her to the TV and leave us alone for awhile.

All time favorites

More Than Love – Los Lonely Boys
Promise Ain’t Enough – Daryl Hall & John Oath
Every Breath You Take – The Police
Crazy For You - Madonna
Mouth – Merril Bainbridge
Morning Train – Sheana Easton
Always – Jon Bon Jovi
Summer ‘69 – Bryan Adams
Return to Innocence - Enigma
When A Man Loves A Woman – Michael Bolton
Fairy Tale (Tong Hua)– Michael (Mandarin Song)
Sweet Dreams – Eurhythmics
Where Did You Sleep Last Night? – Nirvana

Yes – I still live in the 90s.. geez.. this is not bad considering I am tone deaf.

MISSING YOU

Have you ever love somebody so much, it makes you cry
Have you ever needed someone so bad, you can’t sleep at night
Have you try to find the words but they don’t come around
Have you ever? Have you ever?
-Brandy, Have You Ever-

I had a nagging thought about someone last night which made me sleepless. This morning, a friend sent me an e-mail which described the whispers of my heart (well.. almost), which I couldn’t find the words, no matter how hard I tried.

Have u ever missed someone and felt terrible because you think that he doesn't miss you? Almost everyone has.

Missing someone is terrible but at the same time, a sweet feeling.

You will be sitting around wondering if you meant anything to him.

Thinking if he ever cares about you.

Rushing to the phone once it rings, hoping that it's him.

Looking out of the window hoping that he will surprise you by appearing downstairs.

Sitting in front of the television but thinking of him missing the final episode of your favourite show.

Laying on your bed, thinking of the last time you went out together.

Thinking of how nice it will be to sit under the stars again, talking about everything, your dreams, plans, and future.

Logging on to the Internet hoping to see him online. When you realise that he isn't online and did not return your page, you will start worrying if he is okay.

Missing someone is a way of growing up I guess.

It exposes you to loneliness.

It teaches you how to cope with being lonely and let you know that there is actually a feeling known as emptiness.

Sometimes it feels good to miss someone.

You know that you really care and you indulge in the feeling of loving/ caring for him.

But missing someone and not knowing if he is feeling the same is terrible.

You feel as if you are being left alone.

So if you miss someone, tell him and let him know.

At the same time, ask if he misses you.

Don't let the feeling of missing someone become jealousy or paranoid.

If you are the one being missed and you know it, let the other party know.

If you miss him too, tell him.

Don't let him wait.

I miss you oh-so-much.

Other jiwang posts:-

Solitude
No Man's An Island
Love of a Lifetime
Crossroads

YOU’RE SO VAIN!

A friend once accused me for being a vain pot when I told him I was about to go for a facial and a hair cut that weekend. In my defense, I said it is a basic personal hygiene.

I have a mini pharmacy of my own in the bathroom. When I was a teen, my face was infested with volcanic pimples which made me looked as if someone had slash me on my face and had stitches all over. No kidding. I looked like a Frankenstein’s bride.

My housemates (I was in TAR College at that point of time) complained about the cluttered bottles of tea tree oil from all the brands in the pharmacy you could find.

Thank goodness, the pimples miraculously disappear after I refuse to even think about it. I find, the more you fuss over your face, the more problems it will give you. I just leave it to the professionals.

My sister – who only has less than 10 products for her entire body: A bottle of shampoo, a bar of soap, a cleanser, a moisturizer, a baby powder, toothpaste and a bottle of body lotion. And yet, her skin remains porcelain clear. I guess it is her diet. She eats more fruits than I am. I, on the other hand, use 10 products on my face alone!

No wonder they always say, it is easy to do a woman’s business. Just take a look in my bathroom!

My face alone costs me about RM2,000 (products and facial courses) to maintain every year.

For the Face: Mostly Cellnique products

1. Gentle Foaming Cleanser with AHA and Tomato
2. Total Daytime Protection SPF 15 eith Procyanidolic Oligomers
3. Skin Active Sebum Gel with Tea Tree and Eucalyptus Oils
4. Oasis Soothing Gel with Aloe Vera, Collagen and Horse Chestnuts
5. Soothing and Hydration Lotion with Ginger Root extracts
6. Derma Brightener with Bearberry and Vitamin C
7. Skin Glowing Mask with Papain and Bromelain
8. Elemente Pimple Gel
9. Loreal’s make up remover lotion
10. Kao Biore’s Pore Strips

For the Body:

1. Shokubutsu’s bathfoam
2. Glycerine lavender soap
3. Body Shop Body Butter
4. Loreal White Perfect
5. Florentina Fiona’s hand crème
6. Prolin feminine wash
7. SkinFood cellulite crème
8. Aiken’s body powder.

Not in picture: Toothpaste, toothbrush (I was thinking of getting an electronic toothbrush), Walnut foot scrub, Body Shop’s peppermint foot scrub, Rosken for dry skin and Cotaryl crème for Dry Skin

For the Hair: (I have short hair – I try not to imagine if I have long hair)

1. Schwarzkopf’s energy shampoo and conditioner
2. Loreal Elseve hair mask
3. Hairtec intensive serum hair
4. Ludicol hair wax

I used to rub tonic on my scalp, but abandoned the idea after I realize that the bald spot on my head is a permanent one due to genetics.

So, now I know, where all my money goes towards the end of the month. Instead of saving 10% of my earnings, more than 10% of it goes to vanity every month. Hmmph.. I guess narcissim is necessary afterall.

AMUSING REMARKS

I have my fair share of making and getting remarks from friends – sometimes, they are too amusing to be ignored…

On me being a smooth talker….

Ya.. thank god u r not a man, otherwise a corpse also would stand up and listen

On love being blind…

If love is not blind.. no one gets married

On dating…

Never ever date a feng shui master. His life is shortened for the advice he gave which foretold the future.

My remark: So? It is better to date an office worker then? Stress, smoking, clubbing, drinking, never exercise – would he live longer than a feng shui master? What load of crap! I would give both arms and legs to date Joey Yap!! He is so hot!

On dieting…

When the lion ate the zebra, it wasn’t having a baked potato with it. It is strictly ala carte out there in the jungle.

On cheating…

Which cat doesn’t eat fish? Just make sure you don’t choke on the bones.

On disciplining your kid…

Well, we just let him roll on the floor for two months throwing tantrums. By two months, when he noticed his tantrums don’t work anymore, he would get over it.

My remark: Two months??? You let your kid roll on the floor for two months??

Pilot boy is a patient dad.

On a useless person who doesn’t work to earn a living to feed his family…

He should just buy a RM1 million insurance, wait for a year, then kill himself.

On getting a partner for life…

WY: You are pushing 30 already. Remember your promise?

Self: I regretted making this promise. Can I pay someone else to go with you instead?

* I promised WY a few years ago, to accompany her to some dating agency if we are still single by age 30.

On watching a horror movie…

Self: I hope I don’t piss on my pants.

Sharon: I hope I don’t rip your clothes off.

* Sharon once ripped a classmate’s pinafore while watching a horror movie.

On the lousy service from streamyx to reconnect…

I can’t take this anymore!! I haven’t been getting my daily dosage of porn for the past one month!! My hormone is imbalanced now!!

HEAVENLY THAI

Want to know how to dine, have a cup of designer coffee and catch a movie for less than RM10? I did just that last night.

Yesterday, sexy Sharon decided to pop for a visit to KL. So she called me and WY up for dinner at Mid Valley since she is staying in Cititel with her husband and two children for the week.

Boring old Mid Valley. What is nice there anyway? The only place that I frequent for my meals there is probably Little Penang where they serve my favorite Devil’s curry.

“Let’s go for Thai food!” exclaimed Sharon. She is a fan of everything spicy, sour and hot. Tom Yam Goong fits the picture perfectly.

She suggested that we go to Amarin. I haven’t heard of this place. Sounds exotic and freaking expensive. It was situated just above Madam Kwan.

I love Thai food. But since I returned from Hadyai a few years ago, I cannot seem to find an authentic Tom Yam which could replace the heavenly one that I had there – the sister of Tom Yam – Kheng Som. Only hotter, spicier and send your tongue into a temporary paralysis within 2 spoonfuls. The next best authentic Thai food I had since was in Burmah Square, Penang – a small resident restaurant, run by a lovely lady, Sandy, Party Girl’s friend.

From the outside, Amarin looks quite intimidating because only two tables were occupied. Since both of us (WY and me) were broke to our very last penny, (me – partying too much and other family commitments, WY – sister’s wedding – she had to look her best, too) we decided to play safe by checking out the prices on the menu before entering. It was surprisingly alright. We asked for a table for four.

The ambience is cozy. Very exotic and the staff are friendly. A Malay chap was assigned to us. Sharon joined us soon with her pretty Kelantanese friend, SY.

As usual, I, being the Glutton Goddess, Sharon let me have a say on the dishes to order, even if I haven’t been to this place before in my life. A tip for ordering in a new place – go for anything recommended (they are either marked with an asterix, a star or in this place – a heart shape). Prices range from RM8 to RM45 per dish. The Tom Yam comes in one serving for individual person but you can actually share one serving of tom yam if you are a small eater.

We were surprised by the appetizer: Mieng Kum. At first, we didn’t even know what to do with the leaves. Are we supposed to eat it? Is this a sirih leaf?? But where is the pinang?? Is this a decoration?? Can we ask for help? In order not to look like sua goos, WY braved it by taking charge of the situation. This is the good thing about WY, she is always the one in control of things.

All of us followed. The appetizer is amazingly delicious. It comes with 7 fillings –finely chopped ginger, lime, dried coconuts, peanuts, chilli padi, onions and dried shrimps. The oomph thingy about this dish is the sauce that comes along with it. We could only identify: there are peanuts, coconut and red sugar in it but the staff subtly refused to let us know the exact ingredients in the sauce as they said, this dish is the best kept trade secret of this restaurant.

The rest of the dishes: green curry, mango kerabu (my mother makes better kerabu), snow peas with shrimps, two servings of tom yam goong (for me and WY) and one serving of tom yam talay for Sharon. I have found the tom yam that I wanted since Hadyai. It’s here in Amarin. The authentic Thai Tom Yam comes in clear soup rather than red colored. Tom Yam Talay is quite spicy and hot. When the Chilli Padi queen (yours truly) say, spicy, it is really spicy. Not for thin tongues and faint hearted.

SY ordered special Thai drinks – which look exactly like the three-colored tea I had in Kuching earlier this year. Taste like teh tarik though. Not much of the winter melon taste.

All in all, I guess this would be the next best Thai place that I would go to, besides traveling north to Sandy’s place in Penang or Hadyai for that matter.

The bill? RM131 for 6 dishes and 4 drinks. Not too bad. And the best part is, Sharon decided to buy us dinner to celebrate WY’s belated birthday.

After dinner, we went to Coffee Bean while waiting for the uncollected reserve seats to release for The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Since WY has two free vouchers for drinks, we only top up RM1 to upsize the ice blended Black Forest Mocha. We bought Sharon a drink to thank her for our heavenly Thai dinner.

As we were at the cinema, lining up at the ticketing counter, Lady Lucky smiled at us again when a stranger asked me if I would like to have 4 free tickets. I was dumbfounded as it was too good to be true. Seeing my jaw dropped, WY quickly thanked the man and took the free vouchers. They are valid for 4 movie passes – any movies. Wow! We couldn’t believe our luck. We managed to get the best seats. Thank you, stranger!

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is based on a true story. As much as I fear watching horror movies – I still wanted so bad to watch this one. I would worry about it later, even if I had to sleep throughout the entire night with the lights on.

RM10? You gotta have a generous friend, a resourceful friend with abundant free vouchers and sheer good luck.

TAIPING CHEE CHEONG FAN

When I was little, there was this nice elderly gentleman riding a motorbike, selling Chee Cheong Fan and dumplings in our neighbourhood. Every morning, without fail, he would yell, “Chee Cheong Fan! Bachang!” and pressed his little black honk. *Peet Poot Peet Poot*

My mother would flag him down and brought along 6 ceramic plates – for my sister, brother, cousin brother, cousin sister, myself and herself (mother). I would helped my mother to carry the plates home, at the same time, watched the elderly gentleman with freckles on his hands, cut the kueh teow up, then mix them with the taucu manis paste, sesame oil, fried onions and sprinkled sesame seed generously. If I remember correctly, it only cost 50 sen per serving at that point of time.

Today, my household, took a stroll down memory lane, remembering the nice gentleman with freckly hands, by making our very own Chee Cheong Fan ala Taiping style.

You would need only four (4) ingredients for this ready-to-eat instant Chee Cheong Fan.

The paste:-
Taucu manis* – Bidor Kwong Heng Sdn Bhd brand
(other brands are not as authentic as this one)

*made of soya bean, wheat flour, salt and sugar

To prepare the paste:-

Use the left over oil from the fried chopped onions, pour the entire bottle of taucu manis and add some sugar to taste. Simmer it.

The garnish:-

Fried chopped onions
Sesame seed

Chinese pasta:-

Packs of Kueh Teow

All you need to do is,

1. Put the kueh teow on a plate (duh) – you may heat it up by pouring hot water over it and then strain it.
2. Pour the taucu manis paste generously and mix.
3. Sprinkle some fried onions and sesame seed.. and….
4. Voila – it is ready to eat!

Easy eh? And today, since it is Deepavali, we had it with curry mutton, courtesy of our very good Indian neighbour.

I had two servings of this during dinner just now… but not after having a scrumptious seafood lunch with Anny + husband, WY and Sekinchan Boy in Telok Gong this afternoon. Look at the size of the giant pissing prawns!!! Thanks, Anny and hubby for lunch!!

P/S Useful tips from Anny - to eat crabs on full moon as it is when the crabs have the most eggs (Cantonese: Kou - they are called eggs??). For a crab lover - shame on me for not knowing this!!