Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Bak Kut Teh

The other night i was eating at Lip Sin SuperTanker, and i spotted a bak kut teh stall there. Prior to that night, i've never tried BKT in Penang, so i thought- what the heck, give it a shot.

Verdict?




















Bleh................Super unenjoyable. Never again.

We all know that THE thing that makes the BKT is the soup. This one's soup was, o-kay ler, but the stuff in the bowl...All sorts of funny things. Like in the picture, i'm holding up soft white tau foo, not the spongy-hole-filled kind and a meatball. Where got such things in BKT wan?!?

Not only that, they had lotsa flacid siew yoke kinda fatty bits, but hardly any nice actual pork meat; of the 3 chunks given, it was more bone than meat.

And it didn't have the oily, BKT rice, it was normal white rice. Huuuuuu.....

So my question is this, does Penang have any nice BKT stalls?
(Please dont answer me saying the best BKT is in Klang. Thats not the point.)

Monday, October 29, 2007

Bangsa Malaysia

Event : Malam Bangsa Malaysia

Date : 3rd November, 2007

Time : 8.00pm

Venue : Room A, Dewan Sri Pinang, Pulau Pinang.


There will be a charge of RM10 per person to cover rental and refreshment costs.


The event can only accomodate 200 people and attendance is by invitation.


The organising team has also put together a forum entitled 'One People, One Nation' which is open to all who are registered to attend the get-together later that night.


The forum is scheduled to start at 5pm. Registration will start at 4.30pm.

Speakers for the forum are :
1. Dato Lim Chong Keat (pending confirmation)
2. Khoo Kay Peng (independent political analyst)
3. Malik Imtiaz Sarwar
4. Haris Ibrahim


What you need to do to get an invitation.

Firstly, as places are limited, please be sure that you can attend before you ask for the invitation.

If you are very sure that you can make it, please send an e-mail to bangsamalaysiapenang@gmail.com

In your email, please provide the following details :

1. Name (as per IC) and IC number

2. Contact number

3. A little bit about yourself ( where you're from, what you do ).

Also tell us what your feelings are about the last fifty years of independance and what your hopes are for the coming fifty years. Also, share your thoughts on what you think needs to be done to make the aspiration of one people, one nation a reality in Malaysia.


All e-mails will be replied.


All particulars furnished will be treated with utmost confidence.
Meanwhile, please help to spread this event to bloggers, non-bloggers, students, uncles, aunties, activists, NGOs and any Malaysian!Should you need any further clarification pertaining the event above, please do not hesitate to email: skthew@gmail.com

Friday, October 26, 2007

Sawadika !

So the other day while preparing hard for my coming finals *caugh*, i was taking a walk around Queensbay Mall with Mr. Ho (in attempts to find me a nice, semi formal top) when we came across a makeshift Thai massage place. Normally i'd just go by without stopping cause massages are way too expensive, but i came to an abrupt halt when i noticed their poster saying : 1 hour Thai body massage RM30.

What?!? Sure or not...

Asked the guy at the counter and sure enough it was only thirty bucks, woo hoo! However, couldn't go just then but vowed to come back soon.

Last night, after mentioning it to Auntie Sarah, we three decided to give it a shot. And so, 3 Thai Body Massage virgins ventured to the area which is located on the 3rd floor, take the escalators nearest to TGIF and you'll see it. Seriously, i didn't quite know what to expect clothing-wise as its in the middle of all the shops and for only RM30. Dah la had the embarrassing experience with the previous exposed-cheeks massage. However, i was right that they didn't have any frills or special garb to wear (eg. paper thong; as related to me by Jess). More Air Asia style than MAS.











Anyways, we told the Thai's, with much difficulty because their English and BM is very limited, that we 3 all wanted body massages and after some confusion we were lead to the hanging batikish print cloth 'walls', and inside were three flat mattresses and pillows.

We dumbo's hesitated and then the Thai's say 'Lai, lai...' and gesture for us to lie down. Most of the conversation from then on consisted of single word orders and much hand gesturing and laughing; them at us and us at ourselves. Fully clothed, they began with our feet. For the first 10minutes we sporadically burst into laughter, out of ticklishness or funny comments made.

Auntie Sarah got the chatty-est masseur, super cute and friendly 56year old, but we totally couldn't get what she was trying to say.











Kevin got a pleasant but quiet lady who went about her work without saying much, but smiling often at Kevin's contorted face as he tried to tahan from laughing.












As for me, i got a 50 year old Thai....











dude. Yeah....Ho-hum...So anyway- moving on.

After the initial bliss and warm up, the mild torture began. I only managed to capture some using Kevin's handphone but trust me when i say we were taken by surprise at all the different twists and turns that our body was capable of. The most gila for me was when Mr. Chulalongkorn pulled me under my armpits from behind till i made a bridge (upside down U) with his knees supporting my back. He pulled till i yelped, not so much in pain but, surprise.

Other moves:














































The funniest and 'scariest' part was when they were 'kneading our buns', i muttered to Kevin, "Oh my God...I hope i don't fart!" I think its cause all the pushing and pressing kinda, pushes the gas closer to the surface? Haha, no idea! But i wasn't alone as Mr. Ho shared the same sentiment moments later when it was his buns getting the same treatment.





(Most male action i'll be getting all year...From a 50year old. Great.)





After all the kraks and kruks, we wound down with a relaxing neck and head massage. We three left the area very much loosened up and feeling kinda sore-ish in a nice way cause they really massaged deep into the muscles.











I definitely recommend all reading this who are in Penang, go check it out - well worth the RM30. They'll only be there until the 15th of November. After that their moving to BJ and then some place called Peta...(?) We couldn't quite make out if they were meaning Pisa, Tapak Pesta or maybe there's a place in Penang called Peta that i just dont know about.

So go, treat yourself to a body bending experience.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Nooooooooo.......

i-dont-wanna-go-back-to-Penang syndrome is back.

I've got a 2pm bus.

Its 12.40pm now.

I've not packed.

=p

Friday, October 19, 2007

Shallow Shel

Tony Robbins: Hal, don't you think you're being a bit shallow here in the way you look at women?

Hal: Well, no! You know, I'd like her to be into culture and shit, too.

Tony Robbins: Ok Hal, hypothetical situation; Which do you prefer, a girlfriend missing one breast or half a brain?

Hal: Hmmm, toughie. What about the remaining breast? Is it big?

* * *


I had a lightbulb moment a few weeks ago. *ting!*

I wanna try being like him for a while. I mean, why not? If guys get away with it so easily, maybe i should just be, as my Beautiful friend said "so shallow, i think even got no water."

Whats the point in feelings and being deep and all that jazz... No no no no no. To complicated.

Shallow's the way to go.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Ladies' Choice

I watched Hairspray, again. Third time's the charm. =)

I enjoyed the music and loved the songs SO much that i've done something i've not done in many, many years; i bought the original soundtrack.

WOO HOO !

So happy!
















Its got 19 tracks, and 3 of the songs are not actually in the movie.
















One thing that helped me make my decision to buy it is it has all the lyrics. I'm very particular about that- i hate it when i spend RM40 on a cd and the inside booklet is only 2 pages with some useless pictures and no lyrics. Peeve!

This one has super colourful pages, all the lyrics and some pics of the characters. Joy!

















Its such a toe-tapping movie la. Each time i've come out of the cinema happy and inspired to go join some local musical. Of course there are some dumb bits, like all Hollywood movies have, but its overlook-able.

So anyone who's not seen it yet, please go before it stops showing in cinemas.

Kuching : Part 1

It was a semi-last minute decision to go to Kuching; the tickets were only booked two days before we left. Everyone, including me, thought it was crazy to be flying over to East Malaysia just for one night, but my mom thought that my relatives would enjoy it, and boy we sure did!

Since starting uni, i've really wanted to go over, especially since my roomie is from Sarawak. After this trip, i dont care- i will go next year! Hopefully i can time it for the Rainforest Music Fest.

Got up at 4something am (groan) to make the 7am flight, arriving at Kuching airport by about 10am.















Took a taxi to Merdeka Palace Hotel, which is directly in front of their Padang Merdeka, and very near the Waterfront. To be honest, i didn't do much homework on Kuching so had no clue what and where the heck Waterfront was till we got to our hotel room, which was lovely, and i saw the river from our window.
















As host and "in charge", i went to the Sarawak Tourism Centre to see about hiring a van to take us around. We basically only had time for 2 things; day one orang utan sanctuary and day two cultural village, both about 45mins away from the city.

Luck was on our side, and we got a driver/guide named Jumat who was great. He was really helpful, friendly, nice and sincere, not fake. Not only that, i felt that he didn't overcharge.

So first stop, Semenggoh Wildlife Centre.














It's a reserve for the orang utan, and we were warned that we actually might not spot any of them. Although there's 2 feeding times a day, if there's enough food in the forest they wont appear. Before going in, we gather at the entrance for some do's and don't from the Ranger. Photo's must be taken without using any flash because it hurts their eyes.




















Luck was still on our side, because we saw a total of NINE orang utan within the feeding hour. Jumat told us that we were VERY lucky to have seen so many. There were 3 sets of mommy and baby orang utan, one big 80+ kilo called George and two other solo ones swinging about.

Its amazing how great their sense of balance is; even on a thin rope they make it look so easy. George even reclined on the rope as if it were a hammock, holding on with only one arm, while munching on fruit.

The sanctuary originally took in 11 rescued orang utan many years ago, and since then they have been fruitful and multiplied to 23. A newborn stays with its mother for 3years before their old enough to be on their own, so thats why it takes longer to repopulate than say, rabbits.

Such a wonderful experience. At only RM2 per entry, i dont know how it survives. Thank God for the rangers who care and look after them.








<--Dont they look like typical tourists...















I definitely wanna go back there again.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Ambivalence

I should be asleep. Stubborn me still trying to stay awake for goodness knows what reason.

I've been thinking about a significant thing that happened the day I left for USM this semester, when i went back for the start of my third year. I had found out some wonderful news from a family member, and the only person i wanted to share my joy with, wasn't there. It was sad because, of the few people that knew about the issue, she would've understood how important this news was, and i'm certain she would've been happy with me and for me.

But i couldn't find her. She had gone on a holiday and i've not seen her since.

I can clearly remember the day i first told her about it, more than a year ago now. She didn't say much, but she sat by me in understanding. Others have heard but never understood. Or bothered. And that cut me in the past because i was revealing secret scars ,hidden beneath years of endurance and hardening, to listeners that just shrugged their shoulders. But i knew that she saw the scars, she could feel my grief and sorrow.

Which is why, till now, my happy news just stays with me.

Maybe when she gets back i'll finally be able to tell her about my answered prayer.


Saturday, October 13, 2007

22 2day
















And Selamat Hari Raya !

Friday, October 12, 2007

Homeward bound

Saying goodbye to the 5 Scots (Scots are people from Scotland, 5 means five of them) later on.
Will prepare tissues just in case.
















Will eventually blog about Kuching, Wedding, Penang dll.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Traveling Again

More travelling to come, as i head back up to Penang, just to sit for a stupid 20% test, and bringing the 5 Scots up with me... Hopefully there's no rain.



Saturday, October 06, 2007

I Can Hear The Bells

Congratulations to my big bro and sis-in-law,




*Been so busy no time to catch my breath*

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Monday, October 01, 2007

Happy Birthday Mum





















Such a happy day, where my mom got to see her mom again after almost 4years. Perfect timing.

I wish i could be able to give her whatever she wished for when she blew out the 5 big candles.

An amazing woman, who's been through much and still goes on.

















*Five of my Scottish relatives came all the way over for the big day on Saturday. My gran, Uncle William, Auntie Margaret, and cousins Aynsley and Suzanne. Will be spending all the time i can with them. Going off somewhere i've never been before on Wednesday. Cant wait!*