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I was back in Ipoh over the Raya weekend with Frances, with my family tagging along to attend her Granny’s 80th birthday. A gathering of everyone of all 4 generations meant that it is time for the very green dish of Lui Char, a Hakka specialty that i’ve tried once many moons ago, with my only recollection of it being a bit too minty for my liking.

To see the preparation of the meal however, is a testament to the preservation of the Hakka culture, and of our tastebuds in the future.

The dish begins with a preparation of many fragrant greens and condiments

which must all be finely chopped, and calls for a whole clan of knife wielding family members :

The vegetables are then simply fried with garlic. A special stock is made from ikan bilis, sesame seed, peanut, tea leaves and vege all blended together. In the old days, this would have called for some mortar and pestle action, but in these modern days convenience calls for the use of the electric blender, lest we are still grinding for 70 hungry people at nightfall.

All the laborious effort results in a medley of finely prepared vegetables and stock, to be eaten pored over rice with a sprinkle of peanut to taste.

As it turned out, this one tasted different from my first experience, and the authenticity of a home-made lui char meal sure beats the hell out of any you can buy out there. Would you like it? I would say that it is an acquired taste. If you have a liking for mint and fragrant leaves, with a burst of peanut-y crunchiness and slow explosion of taste from the many fresh ingredients, you would definitely want to try this!

The family reunion is not complete without some tong yuen, or glutinous rice balls to end the affair. I didn’t manage to catch my mom-in-law making it like last year, but with her Kaizen approach to cooking, this time round we get all organic BLUE tong yuen made from the natural colors of bunga telang.

NOW that i’ll have to try!

Sunday is categorically the worst day of the week. With Monday impending, ie: Work the clock just ticks away. So i decided to pay a 2nd visit to Typica with wife and friends, one of those rare places tucked away in a back alley in KL that serves caffeine in it’s purer form.

Typica specializes in drip/syphon coffee. I find it a great match for iced coffee. Just a sip and you come to the realization that the kopi O ping you’ve had the other day was .. distastefully unpure.

Iced Drip Coffee

Sin Hong – admiring his expensive coffee

I went on to order a cake. Some are better than others but generally homemade and all taste above average.

Chocolate and Marble Cheese Cake – anxiously awaiting coffee

To get a glimpse of the coffee making process, order one of the “blends”, a concoction of beans and insists on it done using syphon drip, instead of normal filtered coffee. You will soon be chanced with a whiff of the coffee beans that will make your drink.

Coffee Beans for Inspection

Take a seat at one of the bar top stools and observe ….

Fresh coffee beans are grinded

The beans are mixed into the upper chamber of the syphon where it is boiled in a controlled manner to bring out the taste

The coffee is stirred and timed by smell

When ready, the coffee is allowed to filter down

All the lab like apparatus gives you a cup of syphon coffee :

A cup of Syphon Coffee

The coffee’s pricey (expect RM14 for Syphon) but is safely better than any filtered/drip coffee out there. But since i like mine with milk i miss the crema and the texture of a cuppa done through an expresso machine. Ultimately – how many shops can you count in KL that laboriously cooks up coffee one at a time for you, with a passion and conviction that theirs is the best? That perhaps is worth the price of the experience.

When i was young, i’ve always dreaded waking up in the wee hours of the morning to follow my parents to sweep my ancestor’s grave during the Ching Ming Festival. Most chinese families do so to avoid the traffic jam arising from the once in a year occasion, especially when you have different “sites” to visit before the sun rises too hot.

My parents, as are most of the first/second generation Chinese community in Malaysia (My dad is 2 years shy of 80 and rode the seas to Malaysia from Fujian province when he was 2) are mostly into Taoism, mixed with elements of Buddhism.

Having some decorative fun with my nephew Rong

Like all things in life, Ching Ming takes on a different meaning when you’re older. While i am a self proclaimed agnostic,this has been an occasion where we used to have everyone in my family of 9 attend. And with many of my siblings away for work or migrated, and the passing of the older generation, the people who joins in gets scarcer by the years.

My Grandpa’s grave with the morning sun breaking. The colored paper has it’s roots from a legend to mark the presence of the next of kin.

My dad will normally talk of his deceased parents as if they were there – bringing back years of memories and history about our family – a poignant reminder that one day, he himself yearns to be remembered the same way. It makes all the incessant spewing of carbon dioxide from the burning of sacrificial papers worthwhile.

My cousin preparing for an ancestral offerings of joss-sticks, rice, fruits and tea.

Is this religious? i think not. Just like any other chinese festival,it is simply a gathering of family and relatives to reminisce and to give thanks, moments which are precious in our busy lifes. Like everything else,the symbolism of the act is meaningful but only if you subscribe to it. One thing’s for sure we’re all mortal beings – what nature taketh, nature giveth ~

Here’s not just one, but two choices of drinks for the undecided -

Saw it this morning when i dropped by Shell to pump petrol. It’s made in Singapore and expect to pay RM2 for the novelty.

Lame? Creative? Whatever.

After my recent ordeal with the baddies less than a month ago – i promptly lodged a complaint to dbkl@dbkl.gov.my and jka@dbkl.gov.my , emails i gathered via the DBKL website.

Yesterday – i received this letter in my mailbox :

I’m not sure if my local rep had a part to do in this – but credit must be given to DBKL where it’s due.  So … Terima Kasih DBKL for not relinquishing the last drop of faith we have in our governments and local councils.

Action speaks louder than words, or in this case a letter. How swiftly will my neighbourhood see the light? Or will i be a perpetual victim of earth hour and crime?

While slumdog millionaire was well told, the curious case of benjamin button is a marvellous show that everyone should see. A bit too long and melancholic for some, i nevertheless loved it to death because of the way it tickles our mind to interpret the themes of life.

Forgive Brad Pitt for acting like a wooden dork for most parts of the show, maybe he’s trying to act detached as he missed out playing with real kids. However Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton really shone in their roles. Go watch it !

Something unfortunate happened to me yesterday night. It feels rather surreal for me to write such a mail, when i see so many in passing in my own mailbox.

CRIME AT SETAPAK

Dear Neighbours of Jalan XXXX  -

My name is cglow and I stay at No YYYY, Jalan XXXX. I am 6 feet tall and by no means small sized.

On 6 March 2009 around 9:20pm I parked my car and wanted to enter my front gate when a man approached me and he mumbled something.  As I was very close to my gate, I immediately went in and he pulled me back and further hit me on both my head, neck and in a bid to protect myself my arm. Fearing for the safety of my family, my reflex response was to shout aloud and to struggle but little did I know he was going after my notebook bag.

His accomplice was ready on a motorbike to escape. At that point of time, I went a bit amok and actually went on to hit the man who robbed me and pulled down on my notebook bag. He lost balance, and I probably defended myself a few more times continuously shouting. I also lunged for my notebook bag and there was further struggle but as my family and neighbours was already coming out, fearing for their safety they escaped.

I then went to lodge a report at the Setapak police station, and when I explained to the Police on my bruises and my story – they asked me if I still wanted to lodge a police report? I said – YES, of course – Because I fear for the safety of my family and my neighbours. But later I found out that it seems that it is a dead case, as in the darkness of our neighbourhood and the panic I cannot even recognize the robber, his motorbike type and his license plate. In short – even if caught we have no proof. But nevertheless judging by the response of the officer, it’s sad to know that our Polis Diraja Malaysia is not here to PREVENT crime, they are available to you AFTER a crime happens.

The real point of this mail is to share my lessons learnt –

• When threatened – Drop your belongings do not struggle. In my case, I did not realize due to their timing of approaching me near my house, as I feared for my family’s safety.
• Shout as loud as possible. This is to bring attention and it probably saved me.
• Switch on your porch lights after dark. Light deters evil.
• Scan the roads with your car’s high lights. To check for robbers hiding out on your way home.
• Call 03-40232222 if there are suspicious activities. This is the Setapak Rakan Kop number. I cannot vouch for it’s effectiveness.

The irony is that we stay less than 100 meters away from the Setapak Police Station. If the police cannot help us we have to help ourselves. I will further progress this by checking with the right authority to get street lights for our roads. But for now – So please do what is right for your family’s safety and be vigilant.

_________________________
7 March 2009

I’ve always been intrigued with the idea of a detoxing, ever since one of my college friends explained to me the orific intricacies of coffee enema and how light it felt after that. Now dealt with a bulging waistline and fatty liver on my last health check, i thought i’d finally do something about it in the dying minutes of 2008.

My colleagues led me to Juvanex, a 7-days detox program that is supposed to flush out all kinds of stale matters dormant within you and makes you feel brighter, lighter and healthier at the end of the day. It comes with Total Cleanze(tm) which is supposedly a secret ingredient of fibres, probiotics and cleansing agents formulated into a lemon-ginger concoction.

On Day 2 i repeated my diet regime and by noon, i was getting a bad bout of carb withdrawal – i crashed. I weathered through it, ate the most fruits i’ve had in recent memories and had an early night as well. Needing a companion for this my wife joined me for 2 days on my day 3 and 4, where i was slowly adding back my carbs as there was just too many happenings and events to go to.  I ate healthily and consciously for most parts, and gulped down my final drink this New Year morning.

So does it work?

It’s really hard to tell. The effects was not drastic for a “solution” selling at RM135(discounted!) at Watsons. But one thing is for sure – when you are detoxing you tend to be super-sensitive of the food you consume and will naturally eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. You also tend to pay extra attention to your stool, inspecting it for special effects (hopefully of the nasty kind you never knew existed). End of day it does make me feel a bit lighter. Whether it’s due to the placebo effect of going on a detox or Juvanex itself i’m not too sure. Maybe both.

Not that i’m in the trend of setting new year resolutions but i would think eating right 358 days of the year is surely better than detoxing 7 days of the year. So here goes:

1. Breakfast - Gotta skip white bread. Eating muesli (need suggestions on brands most suck!). I’ve been taking lessons in carbohydrates
2. Lunch / Dinner – Gotta cut down on rice/starchy foods. Forcing through a portion of fruit or veg.
3. Workouts – Gotta fit in an additional day of aerobic sports in my week.

So there goes. Happy New Year 2009 !

Today is the day all chinese people get older, and families gather to eat glutinous rice balls. My mom-in-law has build an army of rice balls all from the natural colorings of dragon fruits, pumpkins and pandan leaves. Yummy.

Ok i didn’t take a picture of my phone as i’ve been using this for the past 3 weeks so the beautiful OLED screen is getting smudgy. Mine looks exactly like the well captured picture below – screen glare inclusive.

If you need extensive reviews get out of here and read some links below, like -

www.mobile-review.com -or- www.mobile88.com -or-  www.trustedreviews.com

because that’s how i decided to buy the phone, freaking reviews. And the fact that my Nokia Navigator 6110 was so badly abused it’s time to trade in a new one. Here’s my little Top 5s.

Top 5 +++++

1. Beautiful AM-OLED screen with excellent contrast
2. WIFI. 3G. Bluetooth…. and FM Transmitter !
3. Great Battery life. I turn on WIFI and Bluetooth the whole day it’s never turned off on me. Mini-USB charger.
4. GPS. Nokia Maps is constantly improving and the phone can geo tag images – of food.
5. It’s got Nokia’s menu. Everyone else’s don’t make sense.

Top 5  – - – - -

1. Keypads. The slimmer profile means the keys are more flushed and gives me finger ache.
2. Software Stability. Crashes once in a while needing a battery reboot procedure. Need firmware upgrade.
3. Totally Useless features – Navipad “wheel” navigation. Breathing? No wonder it’s in the same menu.
4. Sound levels. Even worse than my old phone and has a bit of cracking at top volumes
5. N-Gage Games. Totally Crap games. Stick to the PSP.

My Top 5 Uses

1. RoadSynch - i’m using this as Mail for Exchange can’t synch my corporate mail. I find Push mail really bad for spousal relationships but works wonders if you like .. work.
2. Opera Mini - i use this very much as an RSS reader to catch up at my bedside. Still the most intuitive mobile browser and it’s free.
3. Nokia Podcasting – i prefer short video podcast, but the good audio ones are great to listen to when travelling back in a car, with the FM transmitter in play.
4. Youtube - looks great on the OLED and streams great over WIFI
5. Audio Themes – Real fun to play with sounds. It makes me want to open and close the slide incessantly.