Dinner at Jln Putera...

Jalan Putera is well-known for its hawker fare. You can find quite a number of hawker centres with quite nice food along the road, especially the section nearer to Masjid Zahir and Star City... Anyway this was after the hike up Pokok Sena.

Dining is alfresco, the Malaysian kind, complete with the blood suckers buzzing around! But because we were still reeking with the stuff that we sprayed to keep the mozzies off for the hike, they sort of steered clear. LOL! Anyway, we thought it'd be a nice experience for our very seldom exposed to such kind of place lil one... This is one of the 2 kuih-kak stalls. I ordered one to share with Other Half. Okay-lah.

It's this wantan mee at this stall that was surprisingly nice. Dining was under a big tree with the sky as our roof.

This is the type of wantan mee that is nicer if you pack it home and let the gravy soak into the mee. If you eat it there, it's a little hard. There are a few other places which serve such kinds of wantan mee, one being the shop in Taman Berjaya and the other, a stall under the flyover leading to Taman Saga. As you can see, the day was getting really dark by the time my order came. But we enjoyed this, just the the same.

This kuih stall is the rave for those who seek after them at night. Been there for as long as I can remember and people are usually there before the stall waiting. Some of the kuihs are actually quite nice. I've not bought for a long time. Must remember to go back and get some after CNY.

My boy simply loves this karipap, straight from the fryer, hot and crispy. The oil is of course a little overused; so we only indulge in these once in a while. This karipap is thinly crusted and is crunchy to bite with a slightly spicy potato filling.

This hawker place is also a place where you can find quite a few things at night.. CDs, DVDs and at this time of the year, firecrackers. We used to come here a lot early during our stay in Alor Setar for the cheap mee.... pure carbo fried with lard. Those days, it was 50 sen for a serving. Cheap food on a tight budget.... we survived! 8)

Up the hill...

Been almost a year since our last hike up the 8888 hills of Pokok Sena... but since we did not have anything in particular planned out last Saturday, we decided to pay our favourite hiking haunt a visit... Anyway, we thought it would be good for our lil one. Many kids find themselves in unfamiliar territories when it comes to such activities these days... in part because time for physical games and activities has been sucked up by the all-important and pervasive tuition.

I try to think back of my childhood and the things I remember are all those related to play and games. I used to follow my dad for tuitions - he was a good teacher but the memories etched in my mind are that of the times he took us to places like Lumut and challenging us to a race (our little legs could never quite catch up back then), trips to Simpang Tiga to visit grandma followed by a stop at the konlo mee shop, evening badminton with him and his friends. And also, how Audrey, Jean, Victor, Ko-Lyn and I used to play hide-n-seek before tuition at Ko-Lyn's place.... hiding on the roof, drain.... those are the memories I carry with me.... not much of the tuition. Then the afternoon Chinese school where we'd play 'ah-chi-lok' swinging from the monkey bar and all the way up (and down) the two trees beside the monkey bars. Those things I remember.....

I wonder what memories our kids will remember of their childhood..... theirs is a hard pressed gen, life evolving around tuition. Perhaps like the rise of the hippie culture of the 60s after post World War II which required lots of discipline and hard work (with great obsession), the generation that followed went the opposite direction.... and 'hell' did break lose with all the dope and the misunderstood mix of Eastern and Western philosophies. Sometimes, I feel we parents have lost the balance some where.... but that's just my opinion.

It was just the 3 of us but we met familiar faces at the foot of the hill. Lil One sobbed half the hike up. She was apprehensive about the tiring trip up but in the end, I think she found it rather easy. All the squash and swimming have paid off, I would say... her fitness level is definitely way up. 8) She'd probably be faster than me in a couple more runs...

The hill at this time of the year is like summer and spring lumped together. It's so hot that the trees are actually getting to be quite bare of leaves and the footpaths, layered with dried leaves; which can be quite slippery. But while we were there, I noticed that the leaves were slightly wet. It had rained..... it's been so hot that lots of vegetation is drying up. Regular gym visits and swims have also made the trek up rather relaxing for me. 8)

The journey home was interesting because of the changing skyscape. The sky was a golden hue just as we passed Pokok Sena town. The sky is always more colourful at this time of the year.... evenings and mornings now made up of vivid colours.

Five minutes down the road, and the sun had turned red; the clouds making it look like as though it was playing a game of hide and seek. The sky was really fun to watch cos you'd see cracks appearing in the cloud and suddenly rays of sunlight would burst forth. Then as suddenly as they appear, these cracks would seal themselves up and you're left with the gray again.

We had dinner at the stalls and was followed by this. We dropped by to collect some CNY goodies (pies and my favourite 'SCS' butter cake) and Ah Ho was baking this.... muffins, with jam inside and cinnamon sugar toppings at Other Half's suggestion. He had gotten her the recipe for this from the net. Because it's vegetable oil that is used, they're not buttery like the usual butter cupcakes that we're so used to...

Tis a blessing to be her friend, definitely... 8) My stomach says so.... LOL! And while we were there, it rained cats and dogs, the first in many weeks! Showers of blessing!

Dinner...

... at Ah Ho's last Friday.

Everyone is busy at this time of the year... getting ready for Chinese New Year. But it still didn't stop Ah Ho from organizing another dinner get-together; that despite she not having any help at the moment. This was a western... chicken chop with mutton sausages.

It was a small group but as usual, food was good. The gravy for the chicken chop doubled up as soup for me too. And I got to ta-pau the rest home. 8) Food always tastes better in good company...

These are Chinese sausages... they are homemade. George and Ah Ho have this gadget made from parts of an old ice-kacang grinder to pump the marinated meat into the tubes. I had fun the week before, turning the handles to stuff the meat into the intestines; so did my lil one when I dropped her off there while I went for a wake. These sausages definitely beat the commercially made ones; very, very little preservatives and lots and lots of wine to preserve and minus the ever sinister red colouring, hence the fragrant smell when you steam it. 8)

The Rise of the Fourth Reich by Jim Marrs

Interesting book this one... but not your regular fix of fictions.... and it took me super long to finish it, almost a month. In between I read Sold about Zana Muhsen. This makes it 3 books so far for 2010. Not too bad, considering I told myself I would read at least one book a month. 8) First Reich - the Roman Empire, Second Reich - the period created by Bismarck, Third Reich - Hitler's Germany. The Fourth Reich here is supposed to refer to America, where a lot of Nazi science and ideology fled to in the aftermath of the collapse of the Third Reich.

If you buy all those conspiracy theories about everything, this one will go down well. It talks about the conspiracy that goes on to control the world throughout history. Guess what, Communism was actually supported by American industrialists like the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, etc... Then when they found it too hot to handle, they supported the National Socialism in Germany. The Nazis! Hitler's Germany plunged Europe into her darkest moment in modern history. The bankers, industrialists, weapons producers - all of them made a killing while lives were lost in the battle fields all over the world. These industrialists had their feet planted on both sides of the conflict. So, regardless of who won, they didn't lose! They still laughed all the way to their banks, fattened by the slaughter made possible by the weapons they financed!

Interesting to note that there is a belief that Hitler's goons set the Reichstag (Parliament building) on fire in 1933. Germany at that time was rich, cultured and peaceful. But that event set off another chain of events... and the 'Enabling Act' was passed to deal with the communist threat. Hitler became the Fuehrer and the rest is history. Now if you compare that to the 'cowhead' and 'torching of churches' incidents in Malaysia, there might be lessons for us in this sort of modus operandi. Incite hatred, bring forth deep seated fears that our way of life is being threatened, and suddenly everyone clamours to give up their personal freedom and rights...

Also, conspiracies after conspiracies... from space exploration to the water we drink to the transformation from homeopathy to allopathy, the dumbing down of us and our children by our education system.... seems to me like there're plenty of them. All the maneuvering for wealth and power. Plus selection and continuity of the superior race, annihilation of the weaker races and those perceived as threats. Every country has those bigots. We are no exception too. If Americans have the white supremacist thing, we have our own ketuanan concept. Same indignancies... lots of stuff in the book is believable cos it's the same thing that fuels all those bigotries and push for power - greed!

I'd give this a read....opens our minds up to possibilities and also not to be so naive. Money and power rule and there are many who will go great extents to achieve both.

And by now, my Ipod Touch is worth every single sen that I paid for it.... which gives me excuse enough to get an Ipad...LOL!

A different sort of instruction..

I taught Jovaynne for 5 years.... and for this short break while waiting for her results she volunteered to coach my gal in Mandarin and I get to tag along, meaning I get taught also. Never too old to learn from anyone. 8) It's a new experience, but something I will cherish, nevertheless.

It's nice to know that someone whose progress I've followed and had a hand in has come of age, grown and growing in stature. 8) So, here I am, a teacher being taught by my student now... a different sort of instruction, one that is helping me move along in my Mandarin. LOL! And oh yes! The few occasional badminton games which we still squeeze in here and there plus the makan-makan time. I count my blessings and these are among them...

Retirement...

Today another boss retires... I've witnessed a few; including colleagues.

Do all bosses deserve grand send-offs? It doesn't seem to matter whether you've been a good boss. Cos in the end, an unbelievably glossy picture will still be painted, even though sometimes you feel it's like a script from a make-believe fantasy, one that makes you squirm in your chair when you listen to it. But most of us will say the most unbelievable things... sugar coated. Makes you wonder how believable they are during normal times...

Heads are important. An impotent head will render policies and institutions useless. There are good heads... there are bad heads. But in the end, both get the same send-off. You actually get rewarded for not doing your job. Great, isn't it?

And yesterday too, a colleague who applied to teach Form 6 found out that her application has not been successful. Of four who applied, 2 were given. One deserves it but the other... a 'sleeper' in class, one whose classes the students say they don't comprehend her teaching... well she's moving on... up, I mean. And my definitely more competent-than-this-particular-teacher colleague? She is staying put. No upward movement for her.

I dread to think how the F6 students will 'benefit' from the 'sleeper' teacher. Bosses... they are the ones who, to a large extent determine who gets to go where.... and these days so many factors come to play first... kulit-fication, bodek-fication, connection among others, heading the list first.

We're a compromised fraternity....

Sports...What Do They Actually Want?

This is supposed the time of the year when Sports Day is being carried out... that was until a sudden directive from the Education Department yesterday to postpone it to May; even though some schools have carried it out. (See how insignificant sports is these days, this is only the 6th week of schooling and for some, the sports season is already over) Apparently some of them had gone for a study tour in Australia, and were impressed by how sports is run there... the details given to us are sketchy.

Anyway, we've been told to push our sports later so as to give more time for students to get trained. That is so us, now. Instant reaction without much thought. Sports is dead in most schools, except for sports school like BJSS.

Picture this... sports practice. Students are warned that if they don't come, punishment will be meted; i.e. run round the field, caning, fines, etc. So, students show up. They are asked to run round the field once and sent home. That is how some sports practices are run now. And some teachers go for practice in their stilettos with attires to match.... looking ridiculously out of place. There are now very few teachers who were once athletes themselves during their school days.

And it's appalling how few teachers actually know how to teach proper techniques of throws, jumps, even baton passing! This despite PE being a core subject at teachers' trainee courses.

Once upon a time, they used to take in those with sports inclination for the teaching profession. Then they switch policies and took in those who had no where to go... And when the teaching profession got a boost of 'better' service terms, the teaching courses suddenly became quite difficult to get in universities. However, years of emphasis of cramming to score at the expense of games and other co-curricular activities took its toll... Not forgetting too the teaching profession generally is no longer appealing for those who are more talented...

In my last few years, I've come across trainee teachers who sit in the classes and teach, sleep with their saliva drooling down in the staff room, etc, etc.. There are still some exceptional ones but these are generally far and few.

So Sports Day to be delayed so as to give students more time to be trained.... I think it can be a good thing. But the system is too rife with the shortcomings of our own doing to have it actually work.

And the biggest joke is probably this.... the MOE has slashed more than RM4.5 million from the annual MSSM budget. This year we're only given RM1.5 million for the running of games and sports. Last year's budget was RM6 million! You can read more here and here. Many games and sports events are being cancelled! And the biggest joke is even squash has also been axed. We've the World No.1 women player, Nicol David and it is being axed. LOL! Most of the Under-15 events are also in the same situation. Talk about training the next gen of athletes, or even a holistic education...

As a friend of ours was saying... sometimes it's hard to justify why our kids need to go to school when they feel they don't need to. School sometimes seems to do the harm that it's supposed to overcome in the first place... we continue to be dumbed down by poor leadership, planning, double standards, lopsided assessments, excessive paperwork.... and increasingly, uninspiring people.

Fried Porridge @ Fong Ting Siew, Serdang

This was something new to us... fried porridge at Serdang, near Kulim. We were meandering our way home after Taiping through the Federal Route decided to give this a try....

The exact location of the shop...

This is the shop.... it's hard not to miss it cos it's just beside the road.

And as were waiting for our orders, I saw this on the wall... all the 'famous' people who have eaten here and also the newspaper cuttings, their accolades. We waited for our food in anticipation.

This is the 'fried' porridge. It doesn't look appetizing, does it? Anyway, we dug in. The first mouthful was kinda spicy. Then all the flavours start to find their way thru. We could tell that a lot of dried shrimps are used... the fried dried shrimp signature smell was there. There're also plenty of bacon, strips of meat, spring onion... it's a different porridge experience... 8)

Ribs with shredded ginger and other stuff... the meat was a little over fried, I think. But still, they were tender enough.

The fish that we had... by the time this came, we knew we had over ordered. This is small time Serdang, where portions are generally still quite big. We also ordered a plate of veg to go with the porridge...

My little girl was surprised to see this...

She didn't know that cotton grows on trees... and she was quite amazed to see this cotton pods growing on the trees. LOL!

And her Papa went around collecting a small bagful for her to take home to show her friends...