By day a motor shop and by night.....makan!

If you want to see 100% utilisation of a shop, this is one place to go. And the food is not bad. By day it is a motor shop...known as Heng Giap, located on the same side of the road as SMK St Michael. The 'famed' Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid (just celebrated their 100 years) is down the road on the opposite side. Anyway, by night this place turns into a popular eating joint made up of 5 stalls if you count the 'siu-mai stall'.This is one of the main reasons why people come...for the famed porridge. It is so well known it seems that people from Jitra also know about it. It sells chicken porridge and kuey teow soup...if you want boiled taugeh with onion oil and soya sauce and steamed chicken and chicken parts...this is the place to go. I always 'tambah' extra gizzard to my porridge. By 8.00 p.m. the place is usually filled with people. Price is still reasonable.... RM2.20 per bowl (porridge and kuay teow). The rest of the stuff; you pay as you add. Often, by 10.30 p.m. the 'moi' will habis.Lil Rainbow is into wantan mee now. So this is what she will usually have...dry mostly. Can order a bowl of wantan soup to go along but it is so-so only. Sitiawan wantan still beats it anytime....hands down!The char-kuay-teow and char-mee stall. I usually have a problem choosing between the 'moi' and 'char-mee'.The 'ying-yong' stall. Used to be one of John's favourite stall. John has passed on but whenever I come to this place, it reminds me of him. Somehow food is one thing how we are reminded of our lives and friends. Maybe, that's why we have all these celebrations that involve food. Food brings people together..and also closer. So goes the saying...the way to a man's heart is through his stomach...LOL!Anyway, I think if you compare the prices here to KL's, you'll still find the prices here very okay. I don't think you can get a bowl of mee soup or porridge at RM2.20 in KL....

The 4 Stages of Life

Read this from The Straits Times on Why They Hate Singapore. The writer is perplexed as to why the highly-educated and well travelled Singaporeans who studied in Oxford, Cambridge, Sydney, Yale, etc. seem to accept the authoritarian rule of their country without much whimper. Got me thinking about the 4 stages of life. It's kinda simplistic but it tickled me..

Stage 1 - which I shall call the obedient stage
This is from birth to right to about 13 years of age. Up till this point, kids listen to everything (well, almost everything) their parents or teachers say. They tend to follow and do as they are told. It's a fun age for parents too as kids are generally compliant. The kids are generally happy too as long as you provide them with the necessary. Think Stage 1, think Singapore....I'll come back to that later.

Stage 2 - this is what I call the insane stage
How long does it last? Oh, I don't really know. For some, it's the late teens, for others it could be the twenties. Yet for some, it could go on forever and ever. I think writers draw their inspiration from this stage when writing about dual personalities and all that. Jekyll and Hyde being one example. Good vs Bad. Kids trying to break out or away to become their own individuals...it's a crazy existence. And it's a long road...but sanity reigns somehow. What do you think? Does Malaysia fit in here? 8)

Stage 3 - the sane period
Have to be cos this the time we move into the working or family world. Life is spent basically on work and family. Day in, day out the same grind. But you plod on to build a better tomorrow for yourself and your children. Think Stage 3, think China.

Stage 4 - permissive period
You've done the hard work. You sit back and reap the fruits of your labour. You become grandparents. Where once as parents you were strict you are generally more relaxed with your grandkids...you'll tell your kids not to be too harsh on your grandkids. America is probably here....once they held on to solid moral principles. These days, anything goes.

So which stage is better? Singapore can be akin to still being in the first stage. There's little dissent. So they move together for a common goal. In Singapore, her people always say, If the government say this is good, then it must be." Just like a primary school kid...they do well as long as their parents/teachers guide them and they obey. Because everyone moves together...parent and kid, everyone does better.... Maybe Singaporeans know something we don't? LOL!

Malaysia fits the bill of the second stage - the juvenile stage...wasting her energy on trivial matters. Tantrum throwings, bending principles, etc. So long as you get what you want. Principles, justice be damned....very much like the teenagers I deal with daily.

China?? The middle age drive to succeed...at this rate, not much can go wrong for them...except maybe their human rights thingy. They are working for a better future.

Fourth stage....America??? They've worked hard...it's a permissive society now. If they are not careful, the very fabric of their country may tear with the erosion of values which got them where they are today. So, there you have the 4 stages of life, from the micro to the macro. My quirky observation. ROFL!

I wonder whether it's possible to skip Stage 2 and move straight to Stage 3. Would save so much heart aches....etc., etc... Ha! Ha!

BASE Jumping from Menara Telekom

Friday morning...usually our morning to wander round the town a bit. After friend called, we went to my favourite makan stall. Lil Rainbow and Son came along ... today the sun rises real early for him. 8) Anyway, after we finished eating, I asked Nancy to turn into the Menara area so that I can check out the time for the BASE jumps. Had read about it in the papers a couple of days ago but they didn't state the time. Turns out they were practice jumps and there were BASE jumpers coming down every now and then. So we stood around and waited. Didn't wait long though.

Suddenly there was this whoosh sound and when we turned our heads up to the sky, there was this guy almost landing.So we waited some more. There were a couple more jumps after that. The guys would jump off from the pillars jutting out by the side. This is not a sport for those faint hearted! 8)Another pic of a jumper making his run. The landing area is actually almost at the foot of the tower.
Managed to capture one of the jumps on video... Anyway, today I learnt a little bit more about base jumping. BASE actualy is an apronym for Buildings, Antenna, Span and Earth. An apronym basically means the word itself is relevant to the phrases in it. Thus BASE is also relevant to this particular sports in itself.

Why blog??

Been blogging since March...must say that it's actually quite fun. In the beginning, it was actually quite difficult to put things / events / thoughts into actual words. Penning (typing) the actual words can actually be quite tedious. Sometimes the trains of thoughts are all zooming past so fast that it's hard to pin them down. And sometimes they float past and no matter how you reach out to grab them, they're just not there. But as the months went on, it actually became quite fun. The brain gets the exercise that it needs.

And my reasons for blogging have also undergone some revamps! 8) But mostly, I think it helps me remember some of the more wonderful things in my life...from the more memorable events to the little mundane things that we do ... even after just 3 months, sometimes when I click on the pages of yester-months, I'd find myself actually 'oo-oohing' & 'aa-aahing' that we did those things or that I thought of things in a certain way. We tend to forget!

Apart from friends and also maybe perhaps the few strangers who wonder into this domain of mine, I guess it also keeps the people I know (and don't know) what goes on...kinda sharing experiences and thoughts. It's always kinda nice to know that despite the differences all of us may have......we share some common grounds and experiences....and ideas. I've borrowed some ideas from others online and I get motivated too!

And oh yes...it also gets this creaky brain of mine to start learning new stuff again too. We settle too easily into a routine after some time. Somehow as we age, we become more rigid. Blogging has in a way perpetuated continuous learning in me. I find myself reading more into other people's thoughts and also what goes around my world and the world beyond. In short...I trying to push in as much mileage into this otherwise under utilized gray matter.

One more thing, it also helps create a real time-line for me and my loved ones. It's kinda nice to actually access one's thoughts back in time. This can be likened to what journal keeping does for us but a blog post is more dynamic....plus because you put in online, you tend to watch what you write...kinda like life. We have to watch what we say, how we act...to keep that equilibrium.

It also makes me more willing to stop by and look at things....pause a moment and take in all the events that happen around us. Otherwise, i usually would find them too troublesome.....excuses being...too many people, hot, uncomfortable, etc., etc...

And who knows, someday, some historian in the future may use what I have recorded as a source of his research. He! He! If the historians of the last century depended a lot on archeological digs to piece the lives of those who preceded us, I think the historians of the future will be digging through pages and pages of blogs and web content for insights to how we think and live. That is assuming this world that we know makes it that far! History is after all made up of perceptions, assumptions and conclusions formed from the primary and secondary sources. It's our stories....put together!

And lately, I have also started putting in adverts....in case the few wanderers are mouse-clicking friendly and start clicking away on them...I get a few cents here and there. So faster click-click on the adverts.... 8)

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Random Shots of Food

I shall call this our little food adventure. As kids we never got to try much food outside, so wherever opportunity presents itself, we'd let our kids try different stuff. Hopefully they won't be spoilt by them.

Son had this for breakfast. He's a curry fan, so whenever we go anywhere, he'd go for this. But this one had something that he won't touch....pig's blood cake! LOL! He didn't realise that in Penang, most outlets serve curry this way, with mint leaves and more diluted also.After the PISA, it was Queensbay. The kids always love western. So this time they requested for TGIF. Personally I don't know why there is so much hype surrounding it. But like so many other outlets, they have their own signature dishes and average ones. Can't have everything super nice, right? Then other establishments 'tarak' business.

Their tagline....."Come for the food" I can understand. "Stay for the fun"... What fun? I thought they were a bit 'kedekut' this time. When the waiter gave Lil Rainbow the kiddy activity page, they didn't give any crayons. We had to ask for it. And then also, the crayon was broken! They shouldn't scrooge on that cos little kids pester their parents to go places like this for the colouring sometimes...maybe they forgot the 'purchasing power' of little children....which they shouldn't since this place is 'pricier' than your average dining place!Our first experience quite some time back taught us the portions can be a bit too much for one to finish. So we decided to share. This is salmon... nothing spectacular about it. We ordered it cos we wanted to try something other than meat. Mashed potato is nice though.I think this was fried mozarella...something like that. Lil Rainbow took most of the pieces. Boleh tahan-lah. But how spectacular can fried stuff get, right? Most of the flavours already masked by the frying.The main course...beef ribs. If you are beef ribs fan, this one is worth a try...but you have to dig slightly deeper into your pockets. Nice and tender. It's quite a big serving for one.
The mini deserts - the one with the pineapple reminds me of the condensed milk candies that we used to have when we were kids. My mum would make them and we would be allowed to pat it down. The other one is mocha something... Mini deserts are nice...you can try all without actually feel overwhelmed by just one. Should've ordered the 5 mini deserts instead of 3.Later in the day....a do-it-yourself dinner. This is one of Son's more favourite eating joints at Gurney cos he can take the stuff that likes. And the drinks and desert bar is also well-liked by both kids. Why not when you can pile loads of jelly and other sweet stuff into your cup and come up with any concoction that you fancy. And it's cook and eat all you want....fried or soup! However, be warned, you will smell of your food cos the frying gets to your clothes! But you get the best of both worlds. All in one day... so this is truly an eating binge....but one that we have not done for some time.

Towering Malaysian & Bar Council Debacle

I was going through Disquiet by Malik Imtiaz Sawar. He is a lawyer. I do not know him personally but I have been keeping up with his thoughts through his blog for quite some time now. I am always heartened when I read his posts cos I feel people like him proves that there is still hope yet for our country. Lately he has been writing in The Malay Mail too. His most recent post, A Towering Malaysian touched base with me, sort of. In it he gave sort of an eulogy to his former teacher, Mr. Tan Har Yong whom, if I read correctly have left a great impact on him and countless others who passed through his hands.

I quote him,

Over time, we learnt of his (Mr. Tan HY) uncompromising adherence to fairness and right over wrong. He was rigid at times but for all the correct reasons. His even temperament, compassionate nature and sometimes strange sense of humour ameliorated what few effects there were of this characteristic. He reinforced what many of us were being taught at home. To him, it did not matter that we were Chinese, Indian, Malay or of any other ethnicity. He made us see that though each of us was unique and different, we were all the same for each of us being deserving of the respect of the others.

I occasionally heard Pastor Tan over the pulpit. I don't know him personally but there are many like him, Christian teachers who go into full-time ministry. These are a special breed of people who answer to a higher calling. It's not that they are special because they are Christians but because they live out their faith. Their faith is reflected in the way they live their lives and by the fruits they bear. And try to live it, they do, till their very last breath. They hold true to these verses from the Bible....

Tim 4:7-8
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Reading Malik's piece affirms the life of Pastor Tan...he thinks it befitting to call him a towering Malaysian. May God Bless Pastor Tan's soul.

The Bar Council Debacle... read this and this by Farish Noor for some insights to it. I think many of us are aware of that. I think too that those who overzealously reacted to the forum may have forgotten that the principle of fairness is espoused by all faiths. And that we should carry ourselves with dignity and compassion so that we become witnesses of our faiths as asked of the believers. By closing all doors to dialogue and discussion, we close even our own doors because we are so filled with our own fears, mostly unseen.

I think when God created man, he created man with a free will...so that he'd be free to choose. So who are we, mere mortals to dictate what other mortals choose to believe in. Our first calling....to lead a life that is pleasing to God....unless you're telling me that the God you believe in says calling people deragoratory names is what He wants his children to do! My two sen tonight!

Breakfast for Lil Rainbow..

Little girl's lunch box...today she has started calling this her lunch box, even though her recess is actually at 10+ a.m. Guess all the Enid Blyton stories she has been reading are 'getting' to her. This we got when we were in Penang, but it's also now available in Tesco at a cheaper price some more. Sigh! When you buy things in Parkson...you have to pay Parkson price. Tesco has just recently stocked their shelves again...and Dora the Explorer is now available. Her friends at school have been asking why she changes her lunch box so often. In a 'small' city like Alor Star, stuff like this can excite. However, this is no where near the 'canggih' bento arrangements that I've been looking at.But it is something Lil Rainbow looks forward to in the mornings. Bro took the sandwich....sausage-cheese-egg-tomatoes with pudding and choco bar with rice crispies to school. He belongs to another 'generation' already. But still, regardless of age, they still enjoy the same tidbits.