Off The Beaten Track...Matang, Kuala Kurau

After the zoo, it was back to the hotel for some rest. It's nice to be able to bathe and rest a while. Not so tiring. A bath makes all the difference sometimes... Then it was off to cari makan. We drove round a bit, but ended up at Larut Matang Hawker Centre. This kuih stall has been there for as long as I can remember and their kuihs are still very nice. We had chicken rice and our gal had her usual dried wantan mee. Both of us had our rice from different stalls. Other Half's was better than mine. The wantan mee was nice... I'm beginning to think wantan mee in Taiping is nice generally.

Then we went back to the Lake Garden area to try find Mr. & Mrs. Tan Yee Ho's place. Mrs. Tan was our MYF Counsellor, while Mr. Tan was my Econs teacher in F6; he's pastoring a church in Taiping now. It's been 4-5 years since I last saw them. We managed to find the house without much problem... with the GPS' help. It's good to see them again.

We did not take the highway home. Instead we headed towards Matang. We thought of going to the mangrove forest reserve... but patah balik 3 km from the destination, after the unpaved road got even more uneven and bumpy. We'd probably have continued if we were in a 4WD. Anyway, it was just as well, cos we found out later that the place were were heading was right in the middle of the mangrove swamp.

We took the road up north and headed towards Kuala Kurau... Made a U turn for the bridge and these rather big prawns were being dried under the bridge.

This is the view of the 1.25 km bridge from below... from the looks of it, a half completed bridge. It's a beautiful place, idyllic fishing village. Apparently the bridge was supposed to be built at the cost of RM53 million but I read in another article the cost was RM80 million. Am curious how come it looks 'half' completed. It seems like it was planned with a 4-lane carriageway in mind. But now it only has 2. Ah! Well, this is my country, where costs keep escalating, but quality and quantity usually heading the opposite way.

In the middle of the river you see all this kelongs and houses that jut into the river. I could hear banterings from the houses which 'hung' over the river... We'll be coming back to this place again. The Kuala Gula Bird Sanctuary, one of the biggest bird sanctuaries in Asia is somewhere nearby... am already making plans. 8) It's nice to wander off the highway a bit and have our sense of wonderment ignited a little.... so here's to jalan-jalan Malaysia, my memang beautiful country... LOL!

Taiping Zoo..

We thought we'd bring a little fun to learning about the animal world... hence the main destination for this trip was the zoo. Flemington Hotel is ideal cos it's really near. You can walk to the zoo! The view is great cos you see the whole lake garden when you wake up in the morning... 8)

At RM128 with two buffet breakfasts thrown in, it is reasonable. And this hotel food actually tastes quite 'hawkerish'. Simple food but tasty. For our gal, we had to pay an extra RM6.90. Compare this to Ritz Garden in Ipoh which we stayed in 2 weeks ago on our way to Cameron Highlands at RM125, also with 2 breakfasts thrown in, Flemington's a better deal.

Then it was off to the Zoo. We were the first at the entrance I think. And this greeted us soon after we started our walk... bathed in the rays of the sun.

This fler's family member was a recent star in the recent attempts to stir up emotions... poor animals...cow and wild boar. Man tussle for influence and they get caught in between. As though being slaughtered for food is not enough...

We were trying to encourage our gal learn and remember the names of the animals and their parts. Good thing there are books and electronic dictionaries which read for you. 8) Other Half even downloaded the animals and their sounds to his Ipod, which our gal had fun listening to the night before. I think my own Mandarin vocab has probably gone up a tiny bit. LOL! Talk about educational tour.

Because we were early, we are able to catch the feeding time. These 'hei xing-xing' (black chimpanzees) get imported fruits as food twice a day! Grapes, oranges, pineapples, bananas, watermelon, carrots... the poor humans don't even eat so well! There was this old chimpanzee which would ask fruits to be thrown to him. Others would just pick it up from the ground. But we noticed that grapes were a favourite. LOL! Even chimpanzees know how to tell the good stuff!

And as we we were about to exit, we notice a big group of foreign workers (could be Vietnamese or Nepalese) and they were so animated and excited just to be in the zoo. Could be their day off and they decided to have a trip to the zoo. Anyway, Daughter wanted to go on the 'train'. She finds it fun... 8) Kids, they're easily excitable.

And got another round of tour.... and discovered that we had covered all the grounds on foot. But the zoo guide was rather boring... he kept saying "Di sebelah kanan ialah ...., di sebelah kiri ialah...." the whole trip. There were no explanations. Would have been nice... At the Night Safari in Singapore, the zoo guide gave a very good description of the animals....

Generally worth a visit... not just to bring the kids. It's also nice for us the adults to be awed and reminded of God's other creations which He has given us dominion over. And the beauty (be it raw or refined) that each of these creatures (and plants too) possess... A keeper also told us the slow loris which he was cajoling to eat a banana used to be someone's pet. But because the owner had no license, it was sent to the zoo. The loris was really cute. His 'owner' still visits him once a month at the zoo!

And this... This is still the time... and it'll run out soon, when our gal will turn to us and ask us over the littlest thing that catches her attention and accept in totality what we tell her, share all her world with us... no holds barred. This is still the time when her papa and mummy know everything.... This is reason enough for our spate of cuti-cuti, jalan-jalan.

It was nice to be able to walk around. But be careful at the children's playground as the mats are slippery.... the authorities should look into replacing them. My lil one slipped and fell; burst into tears. Overall, kudos to the Zoo Director and his team...

Weekend Away... Taiping

Have Netbook and broadband will blog... LOL! In Taiping now. Since Son is still away.... next week he goes off to Cambodia.... He seems to be enjoying his SUSOM lots. Been sounding more and more cheerful and chatty each time we talk to him... nice! 8)

This weekend we thought we'd give Taiping a try. Have not been here for a long time. Been maybe 7-8 years. I remember my gal was still in the stroller when we last came.

Checked in Flemington Hotel at the Lake Garden... this is the view of the roundabout at night. Place is fully booked this weekend, it seems. It's supposed to be one of the newest hotels. Hotel is okay... but the corridors are kinda stuffy as they switched off the air-con. If I were them, I'd switch them on... give a good impression, fully booked. And their advertisement about wi-fi being available in all rooms; not quite true.

So, we came down and had dinner here. Actually we went to the Larut Matang Hawker Centre first but at that hour, most of the stalls had already 'sau-tong'.

And yup! Taiping hawker food is generally nice. This is the curry mee, with 'lor' egg. Prices are reasonable too. The herbal tea tasted quite original for a change. LOL!

Fried oyster... oyster still too cooked for my liking but it's texture is just nice. Not very sticky and has a nice fragrant smell, appetizing.

My memory of Taiping has always been the chee cheong fun and kuih. I've vague memories of my parents bringing us to Taiping for these. Taiping is one of the places my parents took us when we were kids. They'd pack us all in the car and begin the journey early in the morning. And we'd visit as many places as possible in that one day trip... now as l look back, it must have been tiring for dad to drive us around. And cars were not so comfortable those days... neither were the roads. Trips were always a whole day affair... begin before sun up and reach home near midnight... with all of us asleep in the car while he would drive and mum kept him awake.

I wanted another round of chee cheong fun and we ended up in Restoran Prima Taiping but no luck. Chee cheong fun only sold in the morning there. So we settled for popiah instead. Definitely better than any of the popiah that I've had in Alor Setar... hawker centre fare, I mean. Ah Ho's popiah is still way, way better. Home cooked - no fight! 8)

Saw these parking meters in the lake area. These must be the older type of parking meters. I saw some of the newer 'green' coloured meters in town. Kinda reminded me of Alor Setar, how we've been changing our parking system in the last decade... ticket - meter - coupons - meter.... We fix up the meters, take them down, fix new ones up again, somebody(ies) must be making tonnes of money.... more to come.

Sunny Restaurant @ Chai Leng Park

This was on our way back from CH... these days we tend to be more adventurous in looking for food. After a quick stop to get something from the nearby mall, we drove to this place... with the GPS in the lead. 8) Sure beats manual map reading. And manual maps don't give suggestions.... LOL!

This restaurant is located in Chai Leng Park, Seberang Perai, an area well known for food. It's supposed to serve Taiwanese and local food; fast food style. But I wouldn't rate the service as fast. You've got to look a little harder for the restaurant as their signboard really blends into the surroundings.

This is tumeric fried rice... Other Half had this. Anything tumeric, he usually likes. I found it quite nice also. Funny thing, Other Half asked the waitress to recommend their popular choices and he was given this answer.. everything is the same! LOL! This is a shop with no popular dish! Either that or she didn't understand very much English and the easiest answer was "All same".

I had this... Szechuan Bean Curd & Seafood Rice. I don't know whether it was because I was really famished but this is also not too bad; kinda appetizing in its own way. A little spicy with a slight sweetish and sourish taste.

Daughter had this.. Taiwan fried beehoon. Unlike Singapore fried beehoon which is dry, this seems a bit more moist. They are quite generous with the prawns and meat which gives the beehoon a rather natural sweetness. A little oily I feel, but okay.

Also had this for our side order; fried kailan in braised pork. The braised pork makes this dish nice. It was a bit unfortunate that the kailan tasted a little bitter that day.

Also, we had their Pork Maw with Peppercorn Soup. Not bad. I noticed a steady stream of patrons as we had our dinner. It seems popular with the local residents which is not surprising given their pricing.

And their toilet is very clean too. We had to walk to the back past the kitchen to get to the toilet and the whole area is very clean. This I like! We might go back there for seconds.... 8)

Ipad... Wish List

... think I am going to shelf my dream of an IMac and settle for this instead. I currently have a 2-year-old MacBook which is serving me very well and a Touch which I feel is the best PDA I've used so far.

The Touch has provided hours of reading pleasure, and also some occasional games. Currently Scramble is my favourite. Also, the Ipod has been a great tool for me to keep track of my mileage and reminds me often the way I drive affect my fuel consumption. There is also the Period Tracker... 8). A woman's best friend. No need for me to keep going back to the manual calendar. On the same note too the Bill Tracker... helps organize my bill paying.

Oh there are so many other apps that keep me really happy. I haven't gone on to the paying apps simply because I'm still wary about the credit card thingy. But I think it's only a matter of time before I do that cos there are many apps which I think will be useful to me and they're cheap.

Bible reading has also been made easier. There have the Planner as well as the Bible... it makes it so convenient. But there are time when I still slack. I'm enjoying the news that I get from New York Times and BBC. Also Pop Sci... these are really treasure troves and they allow me to read wherever I am. Suffice to say, most of my waiting time is now spent fiddling on my Ipod. Meetings have also become more bearable as a result. 8)

Let's see what else... ah yes! Gym workouts. I carry my personal trainer everywhere. No longer do I need to ask the gym guy how to use the equipment or what exercise I should do... I can always refer to the Ipod and some of the free apps come with video, which reminds me. Video display is simply awesome even on the Ipod. I'd download stuff from TED and watch them on the go. Very inspiring sometimes!

There are plenty of other apps which keep me occupied one way or the other... so if the Ipad will provide me that sort of experience with that sort of ease at home Ipod does for me on the go.... it's going from my wish list to ownership when it's made available here... 8) The 3G connection makes it an attractive replacement for my Netbook for sure. If they had incorporated multi tasking as one of the features, I'd probably be bowled over.... never mind if I have to be reminded of the tampon each time I use it. LOL!

Carrot and Stick...

The gahmen is mulling over the implementation of this carrot and stick thingy... nothing new, except that it hasn't quite worked in the public sector..... part of the reason, uninspiring bosses... lack of ethics among others.

Carrot and stick... from my little world. Let me illustrate this in this little story which I'll just entitle Chronicle of the 3rd & 4th Periods.

Form 4 Wira. 3rd and 4th period of every Monday is set for Sejarah. First week of school... orientation and briefing for the Form Fours. So, no 3rd & 4th periods as the actual classes had not yet started.

By the second week, lessons had begun. Students and teachers did not sense anything amiss as 3rd & 4th periods came and went without the teacher entering. It was after all still the first week of teaching. Maybe there was some confusion still. Maybe the teacher got mixed up....

Third week came... again the same thing. But this time something happened. A small scuffle broke out. Some tables and chairs were flung. Two window panes got broken. Other students sent for SOS.... the discipline teacher came; took the feuding parties to his room. Peace and quiet! But it did not last long. Soon the noise broke into a crescendo again! Students wandered in and out. Another teacher nearby sent the students to call the teacher concern. 4th period came and went! No teacher. Student said the teacher was busy. Convenient!

Fourth week... part of 3rd period was eaten up by some talk. Students were late coming in. But classes soon proceeded. 4th period came, and still the class was teacherless. By now, the students were getting bolder. They wandered in and out of their class as they pleased. A teacher who soon came by and asked the class monitor to call their teacher. 4th period came and went. No teacher! The class had reached the apex of their noise making by then. Thankfully, the bell rang! And they were off for their lab class.

How will the carrot and stick thing work here? What if the said teacher happens to be one of the bosses? Who awards the carrot and stick thing to him? And how do you know such bosses will award the carrot to the right people? How do you know if they will not wield the stick for the right reason? I stirred the carrot in the cauldron with the stick and out came this story....

Anyway, whatever weaknesses and wrongs in the system will be hard to adjust or change.... I've just in the past few weeks watched in fascination at workplace, this huge brouhaha about being forced to pay an exorbitant sum for a farewell. There seemed to be this groundswell about boycotting it one way or the other.... But as expected, as time drew near, mostly meekly dug into their pockets and came out with the money. We're a forgiving lot... LOL!

So, the conclusion of the matter is... there is no need to be a 'good' boss... or a subordinate because all will be forgiven in the end. So crap on.....

Ladies Night

This was on Monday night.. our Methodist Women's (MW) first meeting for the year. New year and a new committee also.

Like Zacheus they stood, while the teacher taught... LOL! Only different was they wanted to know the secret to a good cookie. 8)

Anyway, I was there to lend my support. I've not attended many of their meetings cos it coincided with my lessons with my boy and co the last 5 years. So, this year, I thought I'd try to make it for a few of their meetings since I'm done with him... I've written about it in the church blog here.

Ladies.. I think they are like the backbone of the church. Many of these ladies I've known for many years. And they have contributed a lot and silently. Anyway, it was a nice night out... I was there more for the food and fellowship more than anything.

We had a learn-to-bake-cookies session. Ah Ho conducted. I helped to eat.. and so did a few. 8) These are Cheddar Cheese Sables.. Tasty and savoury; what more fresh from the oven.