Just observations...

Tuesday 18 May 2010

At the end of the day...

I recently came across an interesting book titled `It's Not Rocket Science... an other irritating modern cliches'. Written by two British authors, Clive Whichelow and Hugh Murray, the book is a collection of modern cliches which most of us have heard (or used) with much regularity. Cliches are very useful to spice up a conversation... but when overused, as they tend to be, they do make some listeners cringe.

In these days of online connectivity, everything is available at the `click of a mouse'. Some people boast of being so hardworking that they are at it `24/7'. And if you're not `up to speed' you'd be `left out in the cold'.

So how do we define a cliche? According to the authors, it not quite easy to do because one person's idiom is another person's hackneyed phrase and yet another person's cliche. One good test is if a phrase induces an inward groan... and possibly a roll of the eyes too.

Whichelow and Murray are TV and radio writers. They have grouped their collection of overused phrases into various chapters covering general, media, entertainment and political categories, although it must be said that some cliches are so aggressive that they can be heard in almost all situations. The classic one being, `at the end of the day'. Now you tell me if you have not heard this one mentioned by someone very recently... or perhaps it was you who used it!

The authors have listed many other lovely and familiar phrases but I'll just list down a few of my personal favourites for starters :-

Environmentally friendly : This is such a vague phrase to be virtually meaningless, but it puts a warm glow of self-satisfaction into most of us who like to feel we're doing our bit without actually changing any of our environmentally unfriendly ways.

Hearts and minds : Something politicians are always aspiring to win - haven't they got any of their own?

Your call may be recorded for training purposes : Yes, you often feel as though your experience at the hands of operators would be perfect illustration of how not to do it.

Quietly confident : Or `smug', as it used to be known.

The facts speak for themselves : Clever old facts, we say.

I can see where you're coming from : Why is this phrase so irritating? Is it because it is verbose or patronizing, or because you know that the speaker is just about to contradict you?

Having read the whole book, it seems to me that the authors may have missed out on a few other cliches... at least those that I would consider as such in my book. Among these are, `to be honest with you'. I've often heard this phrase used by someone who thinks he/she is bringing you into the inner circle by confiding something that is not being told to others.

`To be honest with you, we have spent more time preparing this proposal than our management allocated for.' Yeah, right... so you're honest with me only for this one. At other times you're not, is that it?

Another overused cliche is `the big picture'. I admit I'm guilty of saying this one too often in my discussions with my engineers when we come to minor disagreements. I use it when I need to overrule them on certain decisions without letting them know of the underlying reasons. Crafty, eh?

For better or for worse, cliches are almost impossible to avoid... so what's your favourite?

Saturday 15 May 2010

A dedication to all my teachers

I have previously noted the joy I experienced when re-connecting with old friends on Facebook. Many of these long-lost friends are those I knew during my days at boarding school in Kuantan. Most of them I have not met since we left school in 1979. We were 17-years old then, and now, some of us are making the effort to meet up again to strengthen the bond in friendship first cemented 31 years ago.

On three different occasions over the past three months or so, I met up with my MRSM Kuantan friends over dinner or tea, in what we call mini-gatherings or reunions. The most recent of these was held last Saturday at a friend's restaurant in Shah Alam. Twenty-three of the MCE'79 batch turned up, made up of 7 ladies and 16 guys. Also present was our English teacher Mr Peter Ng and our librarian Puan Faizah.

I had first thought to post a story about the friends I met during those gatherings but upon meeting Mr Peter again last week, I decided it is time I write something about my teachers, in particular, the ones who taught me English at MRSM.

We have a peculiar, if somewhat unique way of addressing our English teachers. In normal convention, when we call someone by their name, the `Mr' would be attached to the surname, and not the firstname. For instance, we would address Tom Jones as Mr Jones (and not Mr Tom). But not at MRSM Kuantan... our English teachers like Peter Ng, Stephen Ambrose, Michael Tan and Kamini Devi are addressed as Mr Peter, Mr Stephen, Mr Michael and Miss Kamini. This way, we feel closer to our teachers because we reduce the air of formality while still maintaining a measure of respect. It may not be technically correct but I agree with it wholeheartedly.

Mr Peter once headed the English Department at MRSM Kuantan. When we re-connected on Facebook, I was quite surprised that he took the time to read this blog of mine. I was doubly pleased when he said that he liked what he read... what can be more encouraging than getting praise from your old English teacher?

The other English teacher who I remember particularly well is Miss Kamini... because of her height. At six-foot plus, she was easily the tallest lady teacher we had in the whole of MRSM Kuantan. It's a pity I do not have a photograph of her because my memories of how she look is starting to fade away. A few friends have uploaded old photos of our time at school and some are pics of us with our teachers, but so far, there isn't one that includes Miss Kamini.

Apart from the academic side of teaching, the teachers at MRSM were also our homeroom advisors. A homeroom is a smaller group of students from different classes... a sort of small family of brothers and sisters with the advisor acting like a parent or big brother / big sister. That is why we feel very close to our teachers... and we know that some of our teachers are very close to us too. This can be clearly seen from the keen participation of our former teachers in many of the reunion events held by the various batches. Photographs of these gatherings are published in the FB profiles of friends and from these I can recall my cikgu-cikgu from yesteryears :- Cikgu Ramli (1st Principal), Cikgu Sharif (2nd Principal), Cikgu Idham (Geografi), Cikgu Fadhil Onn (Geografi), Cikgu Zamri (Chemistry), Ustaz Yusof (Pendidikan Agama), Cikgu Rahim (Physics) and of course, Cikgu Peter. There are certainly many more of my former teachers... some I am told, have already departed. My al-Fatihah and prayers untuk cikgu-cikgu yang telah pergi.

How do we do justice to the valuable knowledge and guidance that our teachers have imparted on us? My answer to this is, by trying to be the best person that we can be. This does not mean that we have to be successful professionals or rich entrepreneurs but simply being an honest and dedicated individual who pass on the noble values we have learned to our children and fellow human beings. The measure of this is when our old teacher whom we have not met for more than 30 years, comes to us and say, `I'm proud of you all!'. That, to me, is saying a lot.

Happy Teacher's Day to all my teachers, wherever you may be. You are the best teachers there are because you teach from your hearts and not merely from the books. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Teacher's Day greetings too are due to my K79 friends who have taken up this noble profession : Suzyanna Mokhtar, Zulika Abdullah, Siti Zaleha Md Said, Fauziah Abdul Ghani, Rohana Mustapha, Dr Adriana Ismail, Dr Khairanum Subari and Prof Shahrin Mohd. My apologies if I may have missed out anybody.

Then : The English Department staff at MRSM Kuantan, late 70s. Mr Peter on leftmost of the group. Pic borrowed from K79 friend Norila Yahya's FB album.

Now : Mr Peter (left) with one of his students, Norhisham Kassim, an airline pilot with MAS.

Monday 3 May 2010

Flooded prawn mee

It has been a while since I last posted about food... so let's do that now.

I'm not sure if I have translated the name of this dish correctly. In Malay it is called `mee banjir udang', the implication being that there are more prawns than noodles in one bowl of the stuff. Well... you know how people tend to exaggerate. The prawns don't quite flood the dish but there are a few large ones and fresh and juicy too.

Ada udang di sebalik mee? Ataupun ada mee di sebalik udang?

I am of course, talking about the famous prawn mee of Kuala Sepetang in Perak. Having heard of this delicacy from some friends and seen it on local TV food programmes, I couldn't resist heading out to the place although it is nearly a 40-minutes drive away from our project site in Taiping. But no distance is going to stop me from trying out something that many people claim to be so tasty. So tasty that some travellers going north are willing to make a detour and exit the highway at Changkat Jering just to have some of it.

I was told that there are many stalls that sell mee banjir udang along the road from Simpang Taiping all the way to Kuala Sepetang (formerly known as Port Weld). We stopped at a place called Warong Mak Teh, a few kilometres short of Kuala Sepetang town. The stall serves the mee udang in two sizes : biasa (normal) or besar (large). Of course I went for the large portion.

So what's my verdict? Ok, I guess... but certainly tastier that the other so-called famous mee udang of Sungai Dua in Penang. Maybe I did not stop at the correct stall. I'll try the other stalls on my next trip to Taiping before I come to a conclusive opinion. But then, someone told me to try the mee kicap in Ipoh first. Hmmm.... so many places to go and so many things to eat...

Sunday 2 May 2010

It's the end of the run...

Wak Amid is a neighbour of mine who drives a taxi for a living. His youngest son named Yusof, was a close friend of my own youngest son Imran. Two years ago, when Imran joined the Astro Run For Fun activity, Yusof wanted to tag along too. The story of this run was one of the earliest posts in this blog and can be read here -> Fun Run.

Notice that I referred to Yusof in the past tense... A few hours ago, I watched Wak Amid bury his son, who passed away last night. Yusof had been in and out of hospital since the beginning of the year. He had lost his appetite and became frail and skinny. I visited the young man at the Sultan Ismail Hospital, in Pandan, Johor Bahru last weekend and was close to tears at seeing his undernourished body, much like the image of the starving children of Africa. This morning, I could not hold back the tears anymore as I watched family members give their final kisses to the boy before the white sheets of the shroud were tied up for the final time.

Doctors could not really determine the cause of his illness but officially the COD was put down as tuberculosis. Yusof Bin Amid celebrated his 13th birthday in hospital on 31 March 2010.

Ya Allah, ya tuhan kami.... kami mohon kemurahan Mu untuk mengampuni dosa-dosa insan muda ini dan ditempatkan roh beliau di kalangan orang-orang yang beriman.

Running mates - Allahyarham Yusof (L) and Imran (R). Pic taken on 23 March 2008.

Monday 26 April 2010

Faster than CNN

In an earlier post in late February this year, I wrote about the updates posted by my nieces who are connected to me in Facebook, and about how I try to keep such news as private as possible. Even to the extent of feigning surprise when my wife tells me something that I'd already read online, as if I am the last person to know.

Well, today I reversed the process... and the effect is exactly as what I expected.

It is one of my niece's birthday today (Sunday 25 April 2010) and I dropped by her FB profile to post a birthday message on her wall. While there, I spotted an exchange of messages between my niece and some of her friends (or possibly, staff) about the rumour of a job transfer to Sabah. I later mentioned to my wife that it is the niece's special day today, and that she may want to send a congratulatory sms to the birthday girl. I also casually mentioned that the young lady may be re-posted to Sabah.

My wife was surprised and immediately texted the girl's mother. The girl's mother was doubly surprised when she texted back that she didn't know anything about this. My wife shot a look at me and asked how I know something even the girl's mother doesn't know. Well, maybe daughters don't tell their mothers everything, I said.

No... can't be! Not this niece, says the wife, with a firm shake of the head. So, go ask the young lady herself, I said.

A quick flurry of sms exchanges took place between aunt, niece and niece's mother. Finally the young lady clarified that the news of the job transfer is just office gossip... I can almost hear the sigh of relief from the mother (apparently she doesn't want the daughter to work too far away).

To my lovely niece Aliah... sorry if this old uncle of yours caused you a bit of bother by forwarding a piece of unconfirmed news. But if you do actually get that transfer, don't decline... grab the chance for a new working experience. At least then, we can find a strong reason to travel to Sabah, a place that we've been longing to go to.

By the way, Happy Birthday (yang ke berapa, ek?). May today and the next 364 days be filled with joy and good tidings.

Birthday girl is the one on the left. This pic taken eons ago and lifted from someone's FB album.

Thursday 22 April 2010

Pirates of the carribean

Two nights ago, I had dinner with my son at Mali's Corner in Setapak, the place that serves tasty char kuey teow. While having our meal, we were repeatedly bothered by salesmen peddling pirated DVDs. Even after declining one salesman, another guy would come by a few minutes later, pushing the same stuff. I have noticed that this a normal sales tactic at most other popular makan places in KL, especially the open-air 24-hours mamak restaurants. You don't find such DVD peddlars in JB.

Out of curiosity, I asked how much a DVD cost. The reply : Biasa la boss, RM8 saje...

Heck, that's double of what I can get in JB... yes, pirated DVDs retail for only RM4 in Johor Bahru. KL folks don't seem to mind the higher price, because judging from the way these peddlars are thriving, there must be a good market for the discs.

And this has got me wondering about a business opportunity... if I buy some of these movie discs in JB for RM4 each, bring them to KL and sell them at RM6, I can undercut the sellers here by RM2 and still make the same amount in profit. That's a 50% profit, my friend! I don't have to worry about the overhead costs because I travel to and fro KL-JB every week anyway. What I do have to worry about is probably getting beaten up by the syndicates running these operations in KL.

Well... just a thought.

Talking about movies, I went out to watch one at a cineplex last night because the boredom at a lonely bachelor's pad was killing me. I had read a posting from blogger matahari the day before and decided to see Kick Ass. She gave a 5-star rating for this movie and after watching it yesterday, I must say I concur.

The movie has violence (torture, guns, knives, swords and even a bazooka) and vulgarity (cursing and swearing). Exactly the type of film you wouldn't want to bring your daughter to see... and yet the heroine in this picture is a gun-toting, knife-throwing sweet young girl who I'd love to have as my daughter.

And another thing... when do you actually get to see Nicholas Cage act in a gun-blazing movie but yet not get the top billing? Bizzare.

Kick Ass is a good movie to watch if you are pissed off about problems at work, pissed off at someone or generally in a pissed-off mood. Forget about logic and reality for a while... watch this movie about unlikely superheroes and enjoy.

Tuesday 20 April 2010

Four brothers

It has really been quite hectic the past week, to the extent that I have not been able to blog for quite a while. Early last week, I was in Taiping to visit a project site. The very same evening, I drove straight down to Johor Bahru because I had a meeting scheduled in Singapore the following morning. Utterly back-breaking drive... but what to do? Better this than being idle.

Anyway, just a simple post to update my readers that I am still around. A bit tired from all that travelling, maybe... but generally not doing too bad.

I was in Singapore again on Saturday to meet up with my youngest brother at our mom's place. This brother currently works and stays in London and is en route to a business trip in Beijing. He made a stop-over in Singapore before flying back to the UK later this week, that is if the Icelandic volcano ash is no longer disrupting the European airspace.

The occasion gave the chance for mom to cook her special briyani dish for all her four sons to savour. Somehow, it just happened that none of our spouses were present and it was just the four brothers and some of mom's grandchildren. And when the ladies are not around, the guys are free to talk about anything and everything...

From L to R : Shahrin (No 4, London), Fadhil aka Oldstock (No.1, Kuala Lumpur), Zulkiflie (No.2, Singapore) and Azhar (No.3, Singapore)

Monday 12 April 2010

Jungle trekking at FRIM

My previous stint working and living in Kuala Lumpur was from early 2004 to 2007. At that time, I moved the whole family from JB to KL. We managed to obtain a transfer of my eldest son from his boarding school (Sekolah Menengah Agama) in Bandar Penawar, Johor to the equivalent school in Kuala Lumpur which was SMAKL. This school is located in Bandar Menjalara in Kepong and not really that far from where we were staying at the time in Taman Melawati.

It was quite a straightforward journey from Melawati to Kepong on the MRR2. Every time I visited my son, I would pass by the junction that leads off to the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia, or better known as FRIM. I told myself that I should visit FRIM one of these days. Of course over the three years, I never did.

A few days after my transferring to the present stint here, one of my staff told me that she's organizing a jungle trekking outing to FRIM and wanted to know if I'd like to come along. I immediately said yes. It is a bit ironic that after all this time, it needed another person to give me the push to do something that I had wanted to do many years ago.

And so, yesterday morning, a group of us headed out to Kepong to enjoy the natural beauty of the rainforest right at our doorstep. The heavy thunderstorm the day before and the early morning drizzle did not deter us. In fact, the muddy trail made it all the more interesting. We had arranged for a guide from FRIM to lead us in the trekking activity. En. Nizam the guide, took us trekking along a well-marked trail and made occasional stops at different locations to give us useful and interesting commentary. For example, I now know that the research station was established by British guy named Foxworthy. And that the merbau tree yields a dark brown timber that is highly-sought for the making of musical instruments. The valuable wood means that merbau is among the favourite target of illegal loggers.

The guide told us many more stuff about the jungle but most of the time I was concentrating on recovering my breath to remember what was said. The trail took us up and down steep slopes. Being the oldest guy in the group, I had trouble keeping up but tried my best not to show it... I seriously need to exercise more often. I am still feeling the aches in my leg muscles as I type this.

The highlight of the trek is of course, the canopy walk. Walking on the suspended walkways across the top of the trees is something really worth experiencing. The view from the top is simply breathtaking.

After completing the canopy walk, we trudged downhill back to the FRIM information centre. There are other attractions available but we were too tired to continue. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful way to spend Saturday morning. Looking forward to go there again soon.

The `about to get dirty' dozen

This view of the forest reminded me of the movie `Predator'

Canopy of kapur trees. Close, but not touching

Downhill trek

Canopy walk

Not quite the vines that Tarzan uses

Can't escape donating blood to some suckers

Thursday 8 April 2010

Berdua-duaan

For such a simple phrase, the title of this post has deep connotations, because it is often used in a negative sense. Consider the following statement : "Minggu lepas, saya ada ternampak En. Oldstock makan berdua-duaan dengan seorang wanita di sebuah restoran di AEON Jusco Setiawangsa."

Without the benefit of additional information, a seemingly simple statement can lead to serious complications. What more if the statement can actually be true? This is the case where the `implied' has more effect than the `explicit'. (My legally-trained blogger friends Versedanggerik and Snakebite can probably confirm this). If we are to take away the words `berdua-duaan' from the sentence, it would still carry a suspicious tone but the impact is somewhat lesser.

Anyway, what has that got to do with what I want to post about today? Well, nothing really. It is just my twisted way of telling you that this blog is two-years old today.

Thank you to all readers, followers and commenters who have made it such an interesting two years. Hope to have the drive and energy to continue writing for more years to come.

(Pic of two birds is a painting by Hsi-Mei Yates and borrowed from artistsnsuch.com)

Wednesday 7 April 2010

All that's left are the memories

I am a bit unsure on how to start this post. Perhaps I should first apologise for the brief absence from blogosphere. It has taken me a while to get things organized with the shift to a new working environment. Something happened today that has caused me to think about things and put my thoughts in a blog post. But I'll get back to that shortly...

Early this year in January, I posted a story about Two Birthdays. The second birthday in that story is about a close friend of mine named Badique whom I re-connected via Facebook, after losing touch for more than 24 years. We had talked for nearly two hours, mostly re-living the stories of our past when we were studying in the UK... the wild and adventurous years. The visit to my friend's house that day was on the eve of his 48th birthday.

I ended that story with a wish for my friend to recover from his illness and the hope that I would be able to meet up with him again for his next birthday.

That hope is now no longer a possibility... my friend succumbed to his illness and passed away at around 11.15pm last night. This morning, I headed out to Shah Alam to attend the burial. The large number of friends and well-wishers who turned up to pay their last respects is clear evidence that Badique was well-liked as a person. Those who came range from old school-mates, university friends and ex-colleagues.

Throughout the early part of today, my mind is mostly in recall mode... remembering the times we went through together. I revisited Badique's FB profile just now and lifted a photograph from one of his albums to be included in this post.

Four young men in London circa 1980. Badique is the guy on the right with yours truly on the left.

Farewell my friend. I have fond memories of you. May The Almighty place you among the soliheen. Amin.

Wednesday 24 March 2010

A change would do you good

In the past month or so, my blogging activity has been somewhat reduced compared to previous months. The amount of time I spend online nowadays is more to check/answer emails relating to stuff about work. Both blog-posting and blog-hopping are temporarily taking a back seat.

There is a particular reason for this.

Since the beginning of February, I have transferred to work at our head office in Kuala Lumpur. I am no longer based in Johor Bahru. With the said transfer comes added responsibilities and workload. While I previously oversee things at a regional level (Johor), I now have to handle projects at other locations in the country. That is why you see me sneaking in posts about Penang and Perak.

My preferred time to log on to blogger.com is usually late evenings. I like to read the stories posted by other blogger-friends and then dropping a comment or two. It is a nice way to relax the mind after a hard day's work and before turning in to bed. However, the place that I'm now renting in KL does not have Streamyx broadband and so I am deprived of my nightly dose of online reading and writing. I am thinking of getting one of those wireless broadband service from the mobile telcos but feedback from friends who have subscribed to the various packages are somewhat mixed.

Until then, please excuse my sporadic posts and visits. It was actually quite tough for me to decide on the move... but a voice within me said that the change would do me good. More about it, soon...

Saturday 20 March 2010

A town called Aubergine

I have always been interested in place-names, especially the strange ones. I always wonder about the history behind the names of such places. The state of Perak has its fair share of places with odd-sounding names. Places such as Parit (drain), Dinding (wall) and Lumut (moss). Even the state itself is named after `silver’ although it is more famous in producing a different mineral (tin).

Along the Taiping to Lumut road (Federal Route 60), there is a small town called Terong. Now... terong or spelled in modern Malay as terung, is the vegetable we know as aubergine or eggplant or brinjal. I am not actually sure if my translation is entirely accurate because the place is also spelled as `Trong’, without the `e’.

So what’s interesting about this town called Terong? Well… nothing much really. In fact, Terong can hardly be called a town. It is just a row of old timber shops lining either side of the road at a T-junction. But what caught my eye was the town’s post office that makes use of an old wooden building which was most likely an old government staff quarters. Very quaint and classic.

By the way, the aubergine is one of my favourite vegetables. Tastes lovely when cooked together in fish or mince-meat curry, or in gulai dalca…

Saturday 13 March 2010

The 8th photo tag

I've actually been mulling about posting my 4th makan-makan story in a row. The day after I had that beriani peha kambing, friends took me for lunch at Din Ikan Bakar in Kepala Batas... and for those of you who've been to the place, you'd know that it is something worth writing about.

But rather than upset blog readers with unending posts about food, I've decided to do this tag by blogger Wan Lili of Suddenly, Heta! So here goes...

The tag calls for me to browse through my photo files, select the 8th folder and pick the 8th photo in that folder to post in a blog entry together with the story behind it. Then tag eight other persons. Whoever thought of this meme must have made many assumptions... that the tagged person has photo files in at least eight folders and that each folder has at least eight pics.

Well... I actually cheated a bit in doing this task. I have plenty of photo folders for sure, but the 8th folder in the My Pictures directory was originally the download folder for my Canon digicam shots. The 8th sub-folder contained photos taken of my project site, and selecting the 8th pic would not have revealed anything interesting at all. I deleted an empty folder above the Canon download folder, causing another folder to move up to eighth place. This folder is also something related to work but contains only six files... so what to do? I decided to select the last one.

From L to R : Dr. Marwan, Oldstock, Ir. Noor Suzinee

The above is a photo taken in May last year during an engineering seminar held in Kuala Lumpur. The seminar was presented by a close associate of ours, Dr. Marwan Jabakhanji from Dubai. Yours truly chaired one of the sessions.

Dr. Marwan is a specialist in structural engineering. He is a very kind and soft-spoken person who is not selfish in sharing his knowledge and experience with other engineers. I remember him well because he was gracious enough to invite me share iftar (the breaking of fast) with his family during one Ramadhan evening when I was in Dubai a few years ago. I'm sure lucky to have met his acquaintance.

Wednesday 10 March 2010

Beriani Peha Kambing

If a thing is worth doing, then it's worth overdoing. I am going for three strikes in a row in posting about food...

I'm in Penang at the moment with a colleague. We left KL yesterday after lunch and after a leisurely drive on the NSE, arrived at Butterworth slightly past 6pm. It has been quite a while since I was last here having previously been a regular visitor while handling a project around five years back.

One of the things that I love about Penang is the variety of really delicious food that can be found. I know I've mentioned this previously but it is something that is worth overstating.

Last night, friends from Butterworth took us to a place we have not been to before, to taste fresh locally-reared mutton. The place is called Puncak Mutiara Cafe and it forms part of an agro-tourism enterprise located in Kg. Pelet in Permatang Pauh. The place is actually a goat farm and fruit orchard with a restaurant built within the compounds.

Putting our cholesterol worries aside for the moment, my colleague and I tried the Beriani Peha Kambing while our local friends had the so-called lighter meal of Grilled Kambing. The `peha kambing' in the name refers to a shank of leg bone with a huge chunk of meat on it. The taste was simply exquisite... soft, fresh and tender cooked to perfection. I'm not saying anymore except that I'll be coming to this place again for sure.

Sunday 7 March 2010

Nasi Ambang

It's back-to-back posting about food this week.

On my travel from KL to JB on the North-South Expressway, I would normally make a rest stop at Pagoh RnR. Apart from being located at about halfway of the total distance, the other main reason for stopping here is to taste the nasi ambang sold at one of the foodstalls. In all my travels up and down the NSE, there is only this one stall that sells it.

Nasi ambang is a speciality of Malay kampung folk of Javanese ethnic origin. It is basically plain rice with portions of beef rendang or chicken, sambal goreng tempe (a mix of vegetables and soybean cake), serunding kelapa (fried grated coconut), salted fish and sambal belacan (pounded chilli and prawn paste), all served on a piece of banana leaf. Sometimes a small portion of mee goreng is also added.

I have fond childhood memories of nasi ambang (sometimes spelled as nasi ambeng, because of the specific way to pronounce it). We lived in a neighbourhood of mixed communities but with a fairly large number of orang Jawa. Almost every month, there would be khenduri or thanksgiving feasts, and the ones held by my Javanese neighbours were those I most look forward to... because the nasi ambang they served were simply delicious.

After recital of the surah Yasin and prayers, the meal would be served in large round trays (dulang or talam, in Malay). Plain rice would be packed on the tray and layered with a piece of banana leaf, cut to a round shape slightly smaller than the tray. The other delicacies (meat, chicken, vegetables etc.) are then placed on the leaf. Four persons would share to eat from one tray but we were not supposed to finish it because the balance is meant to be packed and taken home. The task of splitting the stuff on the tray into four equal portions, so that no one party feel deprived, is actually quite enviable. The person who does it has to make sure that one guy doesn't get more meat or chicken from another. In the end, it is the spirit of cooperation and semangat bertimbang rasa that wins the day. That's why the relationships among neighbours were so close in those days.

I had a craving to eat nasi ambang again today... and so for lunch, we headed out to Bandar Baru Uda in Tampoi, JB where the best nasi ambang stall is located. The stall is called Mat Corner and a normal plate of nasi ambang daging or ayam costs RM4. The special plate which has both beef and chicken, costs RM5.50. My wife had the normal plate while my son and I both went for the special, of course. Selagi selera masih ada...

Thursday 4 March 2010

Kueyteow Doli dan Mee Kicap

In May last year, I posted about a makan place called Mali's Corner in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. That place is famous for its Penang Char Kuetiaw. Blogger friend Ladymarko then suggested that I should try the famous Kuey Teow Doli in Taiping, Perak.

I was in Taiping with a colleague on Monday, for the first time. I remembered Ladymarko's comment and decided to look for the place. We had to stop to ask for directions. An elderly gentleman manning a provision shop gave me vague directions but we found the restaurant soon enough.

Doli Kuey Teow Goreng, Taiping

The bill shows standard plate RM4 and large plate RM6

I had the big plate kuetiaw while my colleague had the standard sized one. The taste was okay la.... tapi saya lebih suka yang Mali's Corner.

Driving back to KL later that afternoon, I stopped at Tapah Rest Area for a break. Although I had just eaten a large plate of kuetiaw a few hours earlier, I couldn't resist buying myself a plate of mee kicap from the Chinese-owned Express Stall. This place was a regular stopping point during my frequent trips up north a few years ago.

Mee kicap at RSA Tapah, southbound

There's actually nothing much to shout about this mee kicap. It is an exceedingly simple dish of yellow noodles with beansprouts blanched in hot water, splashed with some soy sauce and topped with slices of fishcake and fishballs. I ordered an additional portion of chicken meat (the one meant for nasi ayam) to give the dish extra flavour. Complete the meal with a glass of apple asam boi from the stall next door and I'm one satisfied customer...

Thursday 25 February 2010

The last person to know

Not many of the younger generation on Facebook want to be friends with their relatives of the older generation for fear that news of their activity posted on FB profiles would reach unwanted parties, namely their parents. Not that they are doing anything terribly nasty or the like... but more on matters of the heart.

A few of my nieces have added me as friends and it has been interesting for me to see the things that are going on with their life from their status and photo updates. It is how I know who's just been traveling to where, who's having problem with boyfriends or other stuff young girls like to chat about. I drop in once in awhile, dropping a comment or two... mostly in jest. But the things I learn about them, I keep to myself... because I'm not a spy. I do not leak info to their parents or even to my wife. That's why I'm such a cool uncle :-)

One such niece, I observed, is seeing a new guy and I reckon the relationship is heading a serious direction with marital commitments becoming likelihood. But I wasn't sure if anybody else knew because nobody else in the family is talking about it... not even the young lady's parents whom I met a few weeks ago.

Last weekend, the young lady went home to her kampung. Accompanying her was her boyfriend who's being introduced to the parents for the first time. My sister-in-law received one of the biggest shocks of her life. The young man her daughter brought home is a Chinese.

News is now spreading fast through the family grapevine that so-and-so is dating a Chinese guy. The story reached my wife from another sister and she's just told me about it this evening. I feigned a little surprise as if I knew nothing about it.

This niece of mine is really a pretty lass and is known to be involved in relationships with a few Malay men before, at various stages. Apparently, none of them worked out. She's following her heart and hoping that her jodoh is now with a man of another race.

To my lovely niece from Mersing who shall remain nameless for now, I pray that you find the happiness that you seek. I wish you all the best and hope everything will work itself out in the end...

Monday 22 February 2010

Water Conservation Initiative

Bank of Sungai Johor near Ladang Sungai Papan in Kota Tinggi

I owe blogger Versedanggerik a tag since more than a week ago, so I guess I better get cracking. The tag is intended to raise awareness about water conservation.

I agree to do the tag because water used to be in my line of work. I was involved in managing and construction of water treatment plants for more than 5 years, part of it in a project to help reduce leakage and losses (Non-revenue water or NRW). Many Malaysians take our water supply for granted, as if it is an endless resource. As it is at present, Johor is facing a dry spell and the water levels at dams and reservoirs are falling . So here goes...

Water is precious, yet it is being wasted or poorly managed. You can help promote water conservation by sending on this meme.

If you do, simply follow these rules:

1. Create a blog entry entitled "Water Conservation Initiative".

2. Post the Water Initiative Network's Water Facts in your post.

3. List 3 things YOU will do to save water.

4. Add in the photo above, or any photo you have taken of a waterfall, river or lake.

5. End with the line: "Find out more about water conservation and good governance by joining the Water Initiative Network on Facebook! Visit us here at: Water Initiative Network!

Tag 5 or more blog/FB friends. Be sure to copy the rules, okay?

WATER FACTS
1. Of every 100 drops of water on earth, 97 are too salty to drink, 2 are locked in ice and snow, and 1 is fresh water.

2. The daily requirement for sanitation, bathing, and cooking needs, as well as for assuring survival, is about 50 litres per person.

3. Reducing shower time from 20 mins to 8 mins saves up to 360 litres of water per shower.

4. A small drip from a faucet can waste as much as 75 litres of water a day.

5. Two thirds of the water used in a home is used in the bathroom. To flush a toilet, we use up to 9 litres of water.

6. Water-efficient toilets and washing machines are good ways to save water.

7. A low-tech way to save water is to form the habit of turning on the tap to low flow and turning it off when the water is not needed.

8. Non-revenue water (i.e. stolen or wasted water) constitutes 36% of water 'used' in Selangor, Malaysia, and this raises the cost of water for everyone.

9. Water supply infrastructure cost billions of ringgit. This money could be spent in more useful ways.

10. Large areas of forests are cleared to make way for water supply dams to accommodate our soaring demand for water. These forests and their wildlife represent our natural heritage.

3 THINGS I WILL DO TO SAVE WATER

1. I will collect rainwater to be used for replacement of the clouded water in my fish tank. The dirty water would then be used to to water my plants.

2. I will fill my water bottle with filtered water from my RO unit instead of buying bottled water!

3. I will make sure that all taps in my house do not leak and the overflow valve in the toilet cisterns all work properly.

Like Pat of The English Cottage, I'm not tagging anybody because it seems that most of the bloggers I know are doing the same thing or have already been tagged.

Saturday 20 February 2010

Sunrise and sunset at Teluk Iskandar

Teluk Iskandar is a stretch of coastline a few kilometres to the south of Mersing town. It is named after the previous Sultan of Johor and became famous some years back for the discovery of gold. Hundreds of hopeful prospectors dug up the beach at low tide, in hope of finding fortune in the form of tiny specks of yellow dust among the dark grey sands.

At the peak of the gold mining activity in December 2007, many gold-diggers camped out on the beach. The price of woks and frying pans in Mersing town shot up like nobody's business.

The bay has now returned to normal. The beach itself is not really that pretty when compared to other beaches on the east coast of Malaysia. Nonetheless, it is a good spot to practice with some sunrise and sunset photography...

Sunrise Pics :

Sunset Pics :

Saturday 13 February 2010

Tiger buddies

Let's have a cheerful story for a change...

Regular readers of this blog would've noticed some stories about my working life while stationed outside my hometown. Many years back, I worked on a construction project in Terengganu, together with an ex-colleague named Steve Wong. We became very close friends even after we went separate ways upon completion of the project.

We kept in touch by way of emails, Yahoo Messenger and the occasional phone call. After Terengganu, Steve returned to his hometown in Ipoh and worked with a few companies before finally (I hope) settled in on a steady job with his brother's company in Singapore. Steve gave me a call when he first transferred to Singapore almost three years ago and I promised to look him up whenever I have the chance. Despite that promise, I never found the time to meet up with him although I travel to Singapore quite often to visit my parents.

One evening last month, I was still at the office when a buzz from my old friend came in on YM. We chatted for a bit before he asked me when I think we can meet up. I told him that my visits to Singapore are usually weekend trips and don't have that much free time.

He replied back, `Haiya brader... excuses only!'

It hit me instantly that my friend was right. If we want something to be done, we will try our best to make it happen. The Malay phrase is, `Hendak seribu daya...'

I then decided I'll make a specific trip to Singapore just to meet up with my friend. We exchanged messages for a bit more before deciding on the last Saturday of January to have dinner together. On 30.01.10, I drove down to Singapore to meet my old buddy whom I've not met for more than 5 years.

Steve took me out for a seafood dinner near his house in Choa Chu Kang. We talked about old times and old friends. He told me that he's settling down with life in Singapore and hope to move his family from Ipoh soon. On the work front, things have much improved although initially he faced many problems. Things are definitely looking up for my friend.

Steve and I are both tiger guys... we are 48-years old this year. We may be endangered species but our fighting spirit never dies.

During the dinner, I mentioned to Steve that another of our ex-colleague, CP Toh may also be working in Singapore. Steve asked for Toh's local mobile number and immediately placed a call. As luck would have it, Toh was actually in Singapore that evening, still slugging it out at his office somewhere within the National University of Singapore campus. We decided to meet up and have teh tarik somewhere not too far from the NUS.

Three longtime pals : (L to R) CP Toh, Oldstock and Steve Wong

And so that evening, three close friends who've never met in years ended up at a mamak eating place having some drinks and chatting up late into the night. Good friends are like gold... they'll never lose value.

Happy Lunar New Year to all my Chinese friends and readers. Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

Previous posts about my friends can be read here ->
1. The turtle state
2. Iftar with a good friend

Pic of tigers borrowed from National Geographic.

Thursday 11 February 2010

The second departure in 2010

It was Sunday evening on 7th February. I was already on the PLUS highway heading north to Kuala Lumpur when a text message arrived in my mobile. It was from my wife, informing me of news that an uncle of ours has just passed away.

I stopped at a rest area and then made some phone calls. I called my cousin to get the first-hand news of his father's demise. He told me that he was still at Pontian Hospital and arranging for the body to be brought home to Air Baloi. I then texted my colleague to inform her that I won't be coming to the office the next day.

I resumed my journey but rather than continuing to KL, I exited the highway at Simpang Renggam, turned left towards Benut and onwards to Air Baloi. When I reached my cousin's kampung house, he was not there yet. It was past 11pm when the hospital van carrying my late uncle's body arrived.

My uncle had not been in good health for quite some time. It was only two weeks earlier that I had a chance meeting with my cousin at Masjid Abu Bakar for Friday prayers and I asked him about his father's health.

I had a look at the death certificate where the doctor had written the COD as pulmonary edema leading to cardiac arrest. In layman's terms, that's an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the lungs leading to a heart failure. My uncle was 81-years old.

Buat Allahyarham Ayahanda Abdul Rahman Bin Rafiee, semuga Allah swt mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh ayahanda dan ditempatkan di kalangan orang-orang yang beriman. Amin.