Makan, Makan...Taman Saga

Dinner was planned with the girls in mind but since they couldn't make it back on time, we decided to try out this place in Taman Saga. One needs company to make a trip to a location like this as this is venturing beyond our usual boundaries. Since Molly was back, we thought it'd be nice to go there. Anyway, there was still some light when we got there. The 2 back-to-back restaurants seem popular. Can tell by the way the tables spill onto the road.After some thought, we decided to take this one since other half and I have been there with some other friends before.At the side there was this contraption which had been put up. Initially we thought it was a stage for some show. Then we realised it was an alcoholic beverage company's advertising blitz...plus the beer people immediately came and asked whether we wanted beer with our food; to which we said no.The tables were not yet filled but we noticed that quite many patrons were filling up the empty tables. We made our orders and service was surprisingly prompt. Kudos for that. But within a short while, loud music started blaring away. It is difficult to have a conversation with the speakers blaring away....one actually has to talk on top of one's voice. Chinese are always like that, I supposed. If loud, must be really loud; big must be really big; everything must be extra-extra... Pity those people who live around the area. Have to put up with the loud noise. Anyway, these were our orders...dunno what this is called but it was okay. This one is french beans in claypot. Everyone said it was nice.Tofu...restaurant's own make; cooked with bits and pieces of minced and sliced meat and mushroom. Sauce thickened with egg.... verdict-okay.Horlicks crab... thought we'd let everyone else try it. The Horlicks made the dish artificially sweet. Crabs were fresh though. Okay to try but I think crabs cooked with spices are still nicer.
We left as soon as we finished cos the place was not conducive for conversations. Maybe they want us to clear the table ASAP too as before we even left, they had put the sign 'booked' on our table! Can tell that the restaurant is doing a roaring business....doesn't feel like people are feeling the pinch of the price hike here.

The bill came up to RM61.80 for the food; except for the crabs which cost RM33.00, the rest of the dishes were RM8.00 each. With the drinks in, the tab was less than RM70.00 for 5 adults and one kid. I think it is quite reasonable! No wonder people flock there! Reasonable prices in times like this will keep people coming back!

Priceless memories...

Indeed memories are made of these... It's been a while since we did this, quite a long while. We used to gather to makan at the Loh's house quite often when the kids were younger. Since 'Aunty Molly' was around, the lady of the house decided to hold a makan... both of them cooked. The rest of us just 'pinjam' our mouths and stomachs to store all these. The two ladies cooked up a storm...'tu-kah-chor', sambal nenas, Molly's special fried vegetables and 'kamheong' prawns...and the 2 girls had also thoughtfully boiled 'sumboi' drinks as the finale....Suffice to say, all of us enjoyed the meal...cleaned up almost everything. One difference now though is the girls are old enough to do the washing up after the makan. *) Our attention turned to this too - rambutan seeds in the hamster cage. Seems the hamsters have developed the habit of exploring beyond their cage at night to forage for stuff to take 'home'. They can push open their door. These seeds were our 'leftovers' of the night before and they had carted them into their abode. Their precious booty all tucked in a corner for their chow time! And in the mornings the two hamsters will find their way back into their cage again. LOL!Apart from hamster talk, adults and kids alike...well that's how we entertained ourselves..while Molly slept on soundly on the reclining chair. This is what priceless memories are made of, don't you think? Tom and Jerry 'gelling' people together.... Ha! Ha!

Taman Jubli Emas..New Park in Alor Star

This poster is all over the town. So after dinner Lil Rainbow, bro, mom and dad decided to go check the out the place. I think the last time I passed the Suka Menanti area was last year and they were just filling up the paddy fields with soil. Anyway, this was what awaited us today....some semblance of a park. The 20-hectare Taman Jubli Emas is to commerate the 50th year of Sultan Abdul Halim's 50 years rule. There is another park known as Taman Rimba Jubli Perak to commerate the silver jubilee located near the Wisma Negeri. This is one 'monument' that stands out....a huge 'tengkolok' surrounded by some keris. I asked the guard whether we could take a drive in but he said it will only be opened to the public on the 5th. So I took some snapshots of the surrounding areas. This is the entrance to the park. The trees are not fully grown...will take a couple of years for them to mature and give shade.From the park, we could hear instructions being given out. Upon closer inspection, I saw hundreds of schoolchildren seated on the ground. Guess they are rehearsing for the opening night. Heard the name of SMK Tunku Abdul Malik being mentioned by the trainer. Anyway, come 5th August, Alor Star will have another park. For those staying in the vicinity of Suka Menanti, this will surely add value to their properties. 8)As we were about to leave, son pointed out this...caught in the act...open burning. It's haze season now and this is definitely adding to the already poor air quality. This is what the paddy farmers do and the authorities usually close an eye to it.For those with allergic rhinitis, this is probbly a terrible time for them to be in Kedah cos the air is full of allergens that can set off asthmatic attacks. Read this... today's The Star; it's about the haze making a comeback again. Forest burning, hotspots in Sumatra and this...paddy field burning! We just never seem to learn!

Here's the location...it's an old pic, not updated yet but at least it shows the exact spot. 8)

It's official....my Beijing Olympic Fever is On!

Olympic starts in less than a week...today I changed my Astro subscription to include the Sports Channel. And today too other half changed my banner.....it's going to be Olympic themed till the end of the Games. Done with Adobe Photoshop aided by the brushes effects to give it that surreal feel...

Olympic comes once every four year. I shall be one of the 4 billion in the world following it, most probably quite ardently. My favourite sports...athletics, badminton, swimming, gymnastics..... Anyway, I have more than 10 channels now to keep us all updated. Yay!

Enjoy the video previews of the Beijing Games.... Welcome to Beijing...the eyes of the world be upon her...

Is our education system better today?

Is it?? I am inclined to think no. But history shows that man always has a tendency to reminisce that the good old days were better. We have Socrates on record for that! 8)

Facilities are definitely better; there is no denying that. Students today are taught with gadgets which would seem like sci-fiction in my days as a student. I had my first exposure to the computer when I was in upper secondary. My little girl learns to use the computer in Std 1. The machines were XT machines, with no hard disk and running on DOS. The floppy disks were those 5 1/4 inch floppy. I learned BASIC at the school computer club in Form 4. The monitors were monochrome. You get only one colour...green! And we thought playing green PacMan was cool!

Fast forward 20 years....Pentium Core Quad is already out. The OS is more user friendly. Students are used to projections of animated stuff to aid in learning, fully air-conditioned computer labs, internet access...It would be mind boggling 2 decades ago. Friendster, Facebook, MSN, blogging....they would have seemed to us then like stuff from space age.

Discipline on the other hand is not getting any better. Read this take from The New Straits Times. And I think it is affecting the boys more than the girls. Male enrollment in the higher institutions is on the decline. In upper secondary, girls seem to be doing better too. XX chromosome build seems more suited to the modern world.

Better everything....yet, employers are lamenting that our graduates don't seem to have the skills to meet the requirements of the job market. Our young are spending more time social networking through the mobile and internet, yet they lack communication skills. They are exposed to more technology and gadgets..yet lack problem solving skills. They are given more opportunities at everything, yet lack resilience.

First class facilities....supposed to also produce first world mentality. What do you think?

New Fountains That Don't Work

I think they call this type of fountain a 'splash pad'. Well there are 4 of them just completed in time for the Sultan Kedah's Golden Jubilee Celebration about 2 weeks back. This was the happier times of the pad 2 weeks back. After that we saw it working for a day or two...Then it stopped. Only found out why recently when the workers started digging up the tiles. Noticed it last week when I went for a walk with Lil Rainbow. Thought it was only one that had malfunctioned. Turned out all the 4 splash pads have 'kaputed'.Looks like it is a major repair. These holes have been left there like this for almost 2 weeks.A close-up of the pipes down there. Something seems to be very wrong. But to have a fountain operating for a few days then dig them all out again...isn't that a waste of money? Or previously it was hastily made to work because the contractors were behind time in completing the project? Anyway, whatever it is, seems a waste of resources here. Hope they get it up and working soon. Seems to be the norm here cos even the decorative lights they put up for celebrations are also not working in some parts of the town. Compare that to Orchard Road in Singapore at the end of the year....you can walk down the whole road and the lights will be working...those not working are hardly visible.

Types of RON and our car...

Other half was telling me about the RON 92 (Silver) priced at RM2.62 and RON 97 (Gold) at RM2.70 sold in our petrol kiosks. I don't remember seeing it in Shell or Esso but I think it is sold in Caltex. Here's some useful info from Autoindustrie and Malaysian Motor Trader about the differences or similarities which I found rather useful.

All Perodua cars can run on RON 92 it seems. So can some of the other car makes from Honda, Nissan and Toyota.