October 2007 Archives

Yesterday while I was having my lunch in Penang, a big group was sitting right beside our table chatting away.

These people were probably educated middle class Penangites around 30-50 years old and they were chatting away very loudly about everything under the sun.

What really caught my attention though was when they started talking about our government's recent comments about wanting to become a space nation.

I quote, "Our garmen (government) ah - now saying want to become a space nation ah... they all ah, Ploton (Proton) cars also cannot get right they want to become a space nation. How can???"

I nearly choked with laughter.

I think almost all the surrounding tables were hiding their laughter too.

Had this on Friday night for supper after my mum picked me up from the Penang airport.

If you're headed to the airport from town via Bayan Baru, this famous "Seafood Bee Hoon Soup" place is on the left side of the road just roughly about 500 metres from the airport turn off.

In case you're wondering what 'Bee Hoon' is, it's simply the Hokkien word for vermicelli.

Anyways I had the Prawns with Bee Hoon option as it was quite late and all the fish meat was sold out.

Just fish meat bee hoon alone is RM10 per bowl. I'm not sure how much my prawn ones cost as my mum paid, but I'm pretty sure it's around RM14.

I might do a proper review on this place someday.

Had dinner the other night at Sin Kong coffee shop in Taipan, USJ.

My aunty and I had the duck rice, which was served on a hot bowl (is this what you call these things?).

You picked what you want in there, we went with duck breast meat, pork, tofu and a boiled egg.

It was RM14 total for the 2 of us, inclusive 2 bowls of rice.

It looks pretty good and all but I thought it was average in the end. I like the idea of serving the dish like this, but the problem is they should have warmed the gravy and what you've chosen more in the beginning.

The first few bites wasn't warm enough for me. But hey, still something different - haven't had duck rice like this before.

Porridge option also available.

Two weeks ago was our Raya holidays - and I took the opportunity to hop out of the country to visit Bangkok in our good ol' neighbouring Thailand.

We stayed right in the heart of the mall shopping area in Pathumwan Princess Hotel, which can be seen at the top of this picture (blue building) right beside the MBK shopping center.

First thing I realise about Bangkok is that the traffic is practically on par with Kuala Lumpur. OK, maybe Bangkok traffic is a little crazier, as things do seem more haphazard there especially with the amount of taxis and tuk tuks blazing around.

Note: One thing I have to comment here is this - the minimum standard of taxis in Bangkok are Toyota Corollas. What do we have in Malaysia? Proton Saga/Iswaras. What a difference in standard.

Anyways, we arrived just around lunch time on our first day here so we took a walk to the neighbouring shopping centers to have a look see.

Going through MBK, we proceeded to the Siam Discovery - then finally ending up in Siam Paragon. Siam Paragon is large mall which is similar to KLCC in terms of environment and shopping outlets. However, I feel that the interior of Paragon is so much more well done and beautiful - even though I am not much of a fan of shopping malls.

Oh, when you enter any shopping mall (or decent hotel) you were also subjected to security checks - metal and chemical detectors airport style! Still wondering if it's because of the fear of terrorist attacks or if it has anything to do with the recent military coupe.

Just to move away from the recent "Life in Malaysia" rants, I'm going to write about this seafood place that my uncle took us to recently.

This restaurant in Putra Heights really looks like its at an obscure location to me (partly because I'm not local here) but I thought the trip there was pretty worth it.

Their address - 1, Jalan Putra Bistari 2/1P, Seksyen 2, Putra Heights 47650 Subang Jaya (call 012 - 741 0226 to make reservations).

Apparently this place was recommended by a friend for its good prices as well as the variety of seafood available.

My uncle was pretty excited to try this place so we decided to give it a go.

I just got back from my holiday in Bangkok on Tuesday to be told of all the sad and tragic news that happened in Malaysia during the long weekend.

The one that really gets to me is the ferry disaster that has happened near Pulau Tioman.

I was horrified this morning when I heard that they had found the body of one of the missing men. I was even more horrified and disgusted when I read about the manner in which the search and rescue has been carried out.

The first 72 hours are the most vital in any search and rescue. In any rationally planned search and rescue this would be the time where air searches and extensive combing of the surrounding areas are carried out.

How did they do it here in fucking Malaysia (excuse my language but this is warranted!)? HOLY CRAP they run the operation from 9am - 6pm and even have the balls to start the operation 3 hours late! And wait, they didn't even call in the helicopters earlier on, and worst of all - all they did were to drive the boats around calling out the names of the missing people.

Do you think someone that has been floating in the sea for so many hours without food and water will actually have the energy to call out to you to answer???

FUCK ME SIDEWAYS! You call that a search and rescue operation??? That's a fucking search for bodies operation!!!

OK I shall stop with the bad language now.

There is also this "Must wait for the YBs" issue that has been highlighted by a fellow blogger who's girlfriend is the sister of one of the missing. Further digging up on The Star brought up who these YBs are. They only left at noon to begin the search on that day.

Remember a while back, we had a bit of a hoo haa because it was discovered that our now confirmed Malaysian space traveller will be going up there to test "Teh Tarik" and play batu seremban in space?

In case you have forgotten, here's the link to the article that The Star should really take offline out of sheer shamefulness.

Well guess what, every Malaysian should have a reason to be even more upset now.

The NASA website has officially confirmed that WE the Malaysian public has been fed a whole bunch of cock and bull to date.

While every member of the space crew has a designated role and "Space Engineer" title, our Angkasawan is labeled a "Spaceflight Participant".

We have paid millions of tax-payer funds to send Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor up into space for the holiday of his lifetime. Wah, you dunno meh? Air Asia is not enough, MAS and SIA also cannot give this type of holiday. Where to find la this type of bullshit holiday?

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor must be the luckiest Malaysian tourist in the 50 years history of our shameful BN-run country.

Clowning Around
Originally uploaded by t3mouse74

A lot of bullshit has been surfacing of late because of the infamous Lingam video scandal here in good old Boleh-land.

In case you haven't heard, this Lingam video clip is the new in-thing here in Boleh land because it puts our whole judiciary system to shame.

In another case of Boleh-stupidity, our good ol' politicians seem to have figured out that the best way of tackling the problem is to go after the person who brought it up. What better way to make sure the video is real right?

Why should we go after the fellows who are 'videotaped' doing dirty deeds? Why should we solve the problem that this video is highlighting? Ya why? Kenapa-lah? Just look for the fellow that shot the video la - problem solved.

For the last few days in the papers it has been the same, "Come out la brother/sister, you made the tape wat, we need you to expose yourself so we can do something".

But hey, that's not what made me almost gag on my breakfast bread, it's Nazri saying this in The Star today. Let's have the first three paragraphs from the paper for context sake.

"A new identity or even new look can be arranged for the person or persons who took the controversial video of a prominent lawyer allegedly brokering the appointment of judges, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz.

He said such measures were defined under the Witness Protection Act to ensure the person's identity was protected.

“Under the Act, they will not only be protected but can also undergo (plastic) surgery to change their look,” he told reporters after handing out duit raya and goodies to old folks in Lubuk Merbau here yesterday. "

Wait, I think I just heard someone say "HAAAaaarrrrrrrrrrrr??????".

Obviously our Nazri has been watching too many Mission Impossible and James Bond movies. Plastic surgery and change of identity in Malaysia??? HOLY CRAP!

Traditional Hokkien fare can be difficult to find, especially if you don't know where to look. In a state like Penang, where there are tonnes of places to eat, especially hawker fare everywhere, traditional Hokkien food is often overlooked.

One such place is Quan Zhou Cafe on Jalan Sungai Pinang - if you're looking for this place, it is located near/opposite the Honda service center, right beside the Perodua dealership.

Let's see what we had here during this visit.

Siam Express was recommended to us by a family friend of SY's so we decided to go give it a try. Located at the basement level of Queensbay Mall, Penang beside Manhattan Fish market, this Thai restaurant has its menu up on the wall outside for all to see.

Since we visitted during the Malay pre-Hari Raya month, they also had a "Buka Puasa" special that we decided to order. This set was designed for about 4 people with 6 main dishes. At RM 111+ we thought it was pretty good value considering that it seemed enough to feed up to 6 people.

After a two month plus break from working life, I have resumed with a new role in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

I started out at 6:30 am in the morning from my aunty's house in USJ 2, taking the Kesas Highway --> SMART tunnel --> Jalan Sultan Ismail route to reach my office at 7 am in the morning without much traffic woes.

The cost of the toll? RM 6.20. Cost of parking for the day? RM 3.50.

At the end of the day, I took the Federal Highway --> NPE --> Bandar Sunway route which carried a toll cost of RM3.20.

So in total, I have just spent RM 9.60 in a day on tolls.

Today I decided to test fate and join the peak hour traffic along the same route to get to work. I started out at 7:15 am and only arrived at the office at 8:30 am.

The Chinese Mid Autumn Festival is associated with lanterns and mooncakes all over the world.

Here's wikipedia's explanation about the Mid Autumn Festival.

"The Mid-Autumn Festival (Simplified Chinese: 中秋节; Traditional Chinese: 中秋節; pinyin: zhōngqiūjié), also known as the Moon Festival, is a popular East Asian celebration of abundance and togetherness, dating back over 3,000 years to China's Zhou Dynasty. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is also sometimes referred to as the Lantern Festival or "Mooncake Festival", which is just the same as "Mid-Autumn Festival" but with different names."

For the first time in many years, I had the opportunity to be in Penang last week during this festival.