Happy Lunar New Year

It is time the tiger says farewell and hands over the reign to the rabbit. As a guy born in the year of the tiger, the previous lunar new year was a mixed one for me. On the workfront, it didn't turn out as I expected but the brief hiatus from work commitments allowed me the time to re-connect with some old friends and share some happiness.

The rabbit brings to mind the image of prolific reproductivity.... but don't get any ideas, of course the missus and I are well past that stage. Perhaps the aspiration we can wish for is for the abundance in health, wealth and good fortune for the coming year. And I relay that wish to all my Chinese friends and readers.... Gong Xi Fa Cai...

The price of getting hitched

I attended two weddings and one engagement ceremony this month. The weddings are those of my former co-workers while the engagement is that of my niece that I have posted about previously. All these events were held at different parts of the country (Temerloh, Tangkak and Melaka) and it was interesting to observe the different ways people celebrate such occassions.

Wedding and engagement ceremonies in the big cities such as KL and JB can be elaborate affairs. The scale of such events depend entirely on what the families can afford. But nowadays, I note that the average asking price of the `wang hantaran' the prospective groom has to fork out is around RM10k, and even that I am told, is towards the bottom end of the range. It is not too surprising to hear asking price of RM15,000.

During my day in the late '80s, five-figure wang hantaran are the realm of the rich and famous only.

I have three sons. I wonder how much the rate would be when their time comes to get hitched...

01.01.11 (Temerloh) : Bride Zalina Mohamed getting the final touch-up

30.01.11(Melaka) : Groom Norfaizal Khafid (ex-colleague) and bride Norahayu, at the bride's house.

A different taste of KFC (kampung fried chicken)

On Thursday, The Star Online carried a news item about a blogger and Google being sued by the owner of a fish head curry restaurant in Kota Kinabalu. Apparently the blogger had written a negative review of the restaurant in May of last year and this supposedly caused a drop in the restaurant's business.

Although the suit has just been filed, does it mean that bloggers cannot do anymore food reviews, or at least the negative ones? I have read the blog posting in question and except for a demeaning phrase, I consider the rest of it as the blogger's personal opinion of the food that he had tasted. If the restaurant's business can significantly suffer because of that one review, then whoever wrote that piece must've been one influential blogger indeed! Instead of trying to improve the taste of his dishes, the restaurant owner has decided to sue the blogger... and amazingly dragging Google into the process at the same time. Let's pause for a moment and consider the reverse scenario. If the blogger had written a ravingly positive review and this helped improve the restaurant's income, would the owner pay the blogger some form of reward?

Lest I get sued next, I am not naming the restaurant or the blogger, or linking the post that caused the restaurant owner to be upset.... read the Star article and google the names for yourself. I note that a few other blogs have also picked up on the story.

I have written a few restaurant and food reviews myself... and why not? Food is my second most favourite subject. Will I be discouraged to write anymore reviews because of this incident? I don't think so... in fact, I am writing one right now...

Ever since being transferred to Kuala Lumpur early last year, I have heard a few friends mention of a certain makan place in Cheras that serves tasty ayam kampung goreng. The proper translation for this is actually `fried kampung chicken' but saying it as `kampung fried chicken' gives it a twist in comparison to the other more famous fried chicken variety. The operative word here is `kampung', which is the adjective describing the chicken. Translating it to `village chicken' somehow does not sound quite right. The closest equivalent in English that I can offer is probably `free-range chicken'. This is the variety of poultry reared in open farms as opposed to the broiler chickens bred in closed pens strictly for their meat where their lifespan is a mere 42 days (or thereabouts) from hatching to slaughter.

Restoran A. Hassan is located next to the KL velodrome in Cheras. Their signature dish is ayam kampung goreng. Yesterday, with the help of a colleague, I visited the place for the first time. It was packed with the lunchtime office crowd but there were tables available because the restaurant has additional eating areas on the upper floors. That fact alone tells us how popular the place is. If fried chicken is not your fancy, not to worry.... there are plenty of other dishes to choose from. Prices are reasonable and parking surprisingly is very convenient. Made me wonder why I had not discovered this place much earlier.

So the next time I am in Cheras during lunchtime... you know where you can find me. That concludes my first food review for the year.

Sorry for just including the pic of the building. Pic of the actual ayam kampung dish is too blurry...

The first engagement of the year

Ever since I got hold of a DSLR camera about a year ago, I became the unofficial photographer at most of our family functions and events... namely weddings and engagements. I cannot claim to match the pros because my arsenal of lenses and photo gadgets is still very basic. But the joy I derive from taking pictures becomes meaningful because after loading them online, the pics can be viewed by other relatives who could not make it to the event.

Yesterday was the first engagement ceremony for 2011. Our niece, Siti Nurul Solihin bt. Zaid, is now promised to be married to a handsome young chap from Besut, Terengganu. The ceremony was held at my brother-in-law's house in Tangkak, Johor.

Congratulations to the family of Zaid Md Amin and Noraini Ali Afendi on the prospect of welcoming a new member into the family. God willing, I will join the trip to Terengganu next year.

The future groom is Muslim bin Mausin

Sweet... but brutal too!

Used the old road on the way back to catch this view of Gunung Ledang

Badique in memory...

On this date last year, I posted a story about 2 birthdays... the second of which was the birthday of my friend, Bahruzzaman Abdul Kadir, or better known to us as Badique.

Badique and I studied together for our A-levels at the UK, first at Centre for Business Studies in London and later at Aston College in Wrexham, North Wales. He later continued to do his degree in Mechanical Engineering at Birmingham while I went to Sheffield. I met him once in the early years of our working career back in Malaysia after which we lost touch for a long time, only to be re-connected in December of 2009 by way of Facebook. I visited my friend at his house in Shah Alam on 19.01.10, the eve of his 48th birthday.

If Badique were alive today, he would be 49-years-old. Alas, he died of cancer in April last year. I can't help but shed a tear as I type this...

Rest patiently my brother... we will be there to join you soon. May Allah swt place you among the soliheen..

Badique is third from the left with yours truly on the far right, Wrexham 1980