The difference between a boy and a girl

Pumpkin flowers aren't created equal. There's a girl flower (see the bulge?),


and a boy flower.


The pumpkin comes from the girl flower. The bulge slowly grows larger and finally forms the fruit.

Highland kittens

These kittens made their home in Genting.

They were very playful and their mom kept a close eye on them. You can't see her in the photo, but she's hiding in the shadows.

Happy Birthday Pa!

The whole family was in Genting on 31 August to celebrate, not our National Day, but something even more important and dear in our hearts - our dad's birthday.

There's something very refreshing and revitalising being home with family. Then there's the cool and fresh weather at our little sanctuary, far far away from the madness that is modern living.

My dad's got a green thumb. Anything he grows will flourish. - pumpkins, dragon fruits, roses, etc. I think my sister's got a little green thumb as well. Me? I'm all thumbs and none of them are remotely green.

Maybe I'll get a taste of the pumpkin on my next visit.

Planet TT

Maybe I'm heaping too many praises to Telok Tempoyak, but it was the only panorama image I had that could be used to create... Planet TT!

Make your own pano world from this link. And check out the impressive examples there. This may be a new twist to panorama photographs.

Here's lookin' at you, kid

Partings are such sweet sorrow. I got to experience what my dad feels when he's cruising around in his Coupe, even if it was only for two weeks.

TT:2

shutterjam came to my cube around 6pm. Zin was preoccupied with work in the opposite cube. We didn't have much to say. It was another quiet evening in the office, the day slowly dwindling down, the prospect of ending another day just like any other day.

I don't remember who broke the silence first, but it didn't matter. We rounded up cmos and the four of us were heading to Telok Tempoyak for the second time - TT:2.

The place is looking good. The tide was low, the seas were calm. Click the image below for a larger version.


Our Independence Day is just around the corner and the "scenic bridge" at Telok Tempoyak is adorned with the Malaysian flag.

shutterjam had the honour of selecting our meal for the evening. He chose a large siakap, 8 large prawns, a plate of fried squid and a crab for himself. The last time we were there, we complained that the sambal wasn't enough. This time, they gave us a bowl of sambal. Spicy and yummy!

Can you guess which plate is whose? I asked SP if she could guess which plate was mine. To my surprise, she guessed the right one!

Hint: it's the plate that's the odd one out.

Little Shanghai

My parents dropped by during the weekend and we had a great time! On their last night in Penang, we visited a steamboat restaurant in a area called Little Shanghai. We arrived early so the crowd was still thin.

It was a buffet BBQ steamboat affair, although I felt more food was meant for BBQ. Normally SP would use very little oil or butter when cooking, so I watched with amusement as SP and my parents apply gobs after gobs of butter for the BBQ. It was delicious.

Typical of alfresco streamboat dinners, expect to sweat... a lot. We were fortunate to sit at a corner, next to a large fan so we were outside the main crowd where it's the hottest.

The area is a fine example of how to refresh colonial shoplots into trendy and modern establishments without losing their historical heritage. This is a good start and if the momentum continues, I look forward to the future in the heart of Georgetown.

More butter!

Balloon doggy

I saw some great videos of doc demonstrating how he makes balloon animals. So I decided give it a try.

I got the balloons from Tesco, and when I got back, I realised that it is humanly impossible to blow up the balloon without a pump. Then I remembered I have a bicycle pump!

It took both of us, SP and myself, to tie the end of the balloon. Then it took me two more tries before I got the balloon doggy below. Success!

Eighteen

We're fortunate to live near several trendy restaurants. One particular restaurant is Eighteen. If I may take a moment to digress - what's Penang's obsession of naming restaurants with numbers? There's 68, 32 and now 18?

Anyways, Eighteen has been around for a few years now, and everytime we passed the place we'd tell ourselves we'd try the place. We finally got our chance today! It was another long day at work and I was too tired to bother driving to a food court. So we decided to walk to Eighteen.

We were the last customer there. The place was cozy with 80's music playing not so softly. It wasn't deafening, but it certainly wasn't mood music. SP brought my attention to their kitchen - Eighteen had an open kitchen concept where diners can see the chefs prepare their food. It's a good concept because no chance of hanky panky happening behind closed doors.


SP ordered the Lamb Leg in Mint Sauce while I ordered the Grilled John Dory in Lemon Garlic Sauce. The Lamb Leg was a nice change from similar dishes at other restaurants. Eighteen's lamb dish was much more tender and the best parts were the slices where there were thin streaks of fat. I could still enjoy the delicate flavours of the mint sauce together with the robust flavour of lamb and the juicy bits of fat. The lamb cuts were placed on top of slices of potatoes, carrots, asparagus and a generous sprinkle of deep fried strips of potato skin.

My grilled John Dory was prepared in a similar manner. 2 grilled pieces of dory on top of a platform made from potatoes, carrots, asparagus with a generous sprinkle of deep fried strips of potato skin. The lemon garlic sauce melded perfectly with the fish. I was pleased to see that the chef did not drown the fish in the sauce. Instead, the sauce complemented the fish very well. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed such a dish.


Eighteen also has a large selection of pasta dishes that looked very interesting. We are definitely be going back to try them out.

Pre-futsal dinner at the Junction

SP and I hardly ever go to town (read - Komtar area) on weekdays, but yesterday was an exception. We were heading to Kick Cafe where our colleagues were having a futsal competition. But first, we had to have dinner.

We decided on Junction Cafe, a quaint restaurant in a modernised colonial building. More establishments should utilise these colonial buildings instead of tearing these historical buildings down and replacing them with dull drab "modern" buildings.

The menu was quite sparse, but the selection consists of popular dishes. I had the Pineapple Fried Rice, SP had Nyonya Fried Rice and shutterjam had "mee suah tow".

The fried rice dishes were simple. Nothing to see here, move along. But shutterjam's "mee suah tow" looked mighty appetizing.

I liked my Ais Kacang dessert although I didn't fancy the nutmeg. Some people like nutmeg. I'm not one of them. Nutmeg discrimination aside, the Ais Kacang was rather nice. Not too sweet yet still tasty and refreshing.


Junction Cafe was filled with Chinese paintings, sculptures, Chinese calligraphy, all for sale if something catches your eye.


shutterjam and his "mee suah tow" - savouring every mouthful.

Buayas

SP and I were shopping at a popular hypermarket when I saw some familiar looking shoes. I thought they were crocs. Then I saw the price - RM18.

Wha... *rubs eyes*

Turns out, they weren't original crocs. I don't know what they're called, but I'll call them buayas.

The buayas were just as light as the real deal, although the feel of the material may be a little different - a little softer. It even had the heel strap! I'm not sure if these buayas have non-slip soles, so better be careful.

I tried a few but they were a size or two too small for me. Too bad. They do seem comfortable...

Taste of Japan

It was a spur of the moment decision as we headed towards the Aji Nippon Restaurant located at Ideal Avenue. Our original plan was to have dinner at Indiraas, a popular banana leaf rice restaurant. Then SP remembered she had a mild cough so curry was out of the question. So while waiting for the traffic lights to turn at the Bayan Lepas roundabout, we decided to have Japanese.

This was SP's second time at Aji Nippon. She's told me about her previous dining experience and how much she liked the place. I didn't have much expectation when I first saw the place. The exterior decor was very plain compared to the neighbouring restaurant that also served Japanese food.

But I learnt not to judge a book by its cover because the interior was very nice. There is a Japanese theme, but they didn't go overboard. Some Japanese art on the wall, modern Japanese pop music from a small portable radio, a few Japanese inspired wall lamps and dark wood tables and chairs completed the theme.

It was a weekday so there wasn't a crowd. Good for us because we had the first dibs on the private booth. This private booth had a low table with the floor recessed under the table so we don't have to fold our legs when we eat. You know what was the best part? The waitresses had to kneel when they served us. WOW! Talk about being pampered. Aji Nippon's waitresses were very attentive. Our cups of green tea were never empty. They kept coming in, kneeling beside us and filling up our cups.


SP ordered the Wakayama Ramen. It was a huge bowl! I liked the soup and goes well with the thick noodles and several generous slices of pork. The soup spoon was quite unique. It looked more like a ladle, but works surprisingly well.


SP suggested I get the Aji Nippon Special Set. First the raw stuff - thick slices of salmon, tuna and another fish that I couldn't identify, slices of octopus tentacles and a baby octopus. I thought that was it, but then....


the second part of the set - tempura, chawan mushi, miso soup, grilled salmon, rice and some watermelon dessert. WOW!


I was beaming throughout the meal. The meal was very satisfying and very substantial. I'm definitely going back to Aji Nippon. If you decide to try, don't judge the place by its exterior decor. Check out the place and taste their food. I think you'll enjoy it. We certainly did.

A quick google and I found out that the literal translation of the Japanese word Aji is taste. So Aji Nippon would be?

Splish! Splash! I'm takin' a bath!

Aaaah... finally the truck's clean! I've only got myself to blame. I'm just too lazy to do it myself. So after many months of neglect, I decided to send the truck for a wash.

The place is called "SS Car Wash", located on the same row as the "Golden eBay Restaurant". It's quite an efficient establishment. Workers were always busy and cars kept coming in.

I had to wait about 30 minutes before it was my turn, but I was pleased by their attention to detail. Even when I was about to drive off, one guy took a moment to wipe a spot he missed. It was a good experience, and the car wash only costs me RM8.

Argentinean cattle

I've been clicking the Fedex tracker website, every half hour for the past three days. Looks like it's not going to arrive until next week. Sometimes the ability to access too much information can be tiring.

Ikan Bakar at Teluk Tempoyak

When it comes to matters of food, my friends and I are pretty spontaneous. Memories of our last seafood excursion still fresh in our minds, we found ourselves heading to Teluk Tempoyak for a Malay-styled seafood dinner. This transpired after 15 minutes of Zin telling us about the place and us deciding to have seafood dinner there.

The seafood restaurant is in a village, Kampung Teluk Tempoyak, right beside the sea. Upon entering the restaurant, I knew the owner was not pretentious about what he offered - a seafood gastronomic experience. The tables and chairs were sticky, quite possibly from the remnants of many past feasts. I was a little uncomfortable, but at least the floor was clean. And in retrospect, not a fly in sight.

shutterjam and Zin had the honours of picking our dinner. The day's catch was so fresh that some were still alive! Zin chose 9 large prawns, their sizes perhaps only a close second to those my father normally get from the jetty in Kuantan. shutterjam followed closely with a large siakap and 3 crabs.

While waiting for our food to be prepared, we ordered our drinks - a large jug of iced coconut water. It was a refreshing treat after spending a day at work. Then we noticed our neighbouring diner having a strange creamy white drink with a generous ice cream topping. Even before our food arrived, we had already ordered another jug of drink - coconut shake. The drink had coconut milk, shredded coconut flesh, several large scoops of ice cream and maybe coconut water. It was a hearty drink. It reminded me of "ais krim potong". I prefered the fresh coconut water.

My favourite dish had to be the "ikan bakar". The sambal was exquisite, but the portion was much too small. We'll have to remember to ask for extra sambal the next time. The fish was expertly baked with the outer skin charred, but the flesh still moist and tasty. There was no denying the freshness of the fish from the texture of the flesh.

The prawns were splendidly baked over the barbeque pit, the shells slightly charred and their flesh still succulent. The accompanying sauce was tangy and I thought matched very well with the prawns.

I didn't really enjoy the baked crabs. However shutterjam and Zin were almost giggling with glee because the crabs were packed with crab eggs. So much so that there was hardly any meat. I prefer my crabs cooked in a sauce.

The place is run by a En Adnan Bin Hassan. They're closed on Mondays, and only opens for dinner from 5.30pm to 10.30pm. We arrived around 6.30pm and that's probably the best time because not long later, the crowd started pouring in.

According to Zin, there's another village on the opposite road. He said the place is a little pricier and he felt the food wasn't as good. But anyways, perhaps we'll try that restaurant next month.

Life Poster

That's our Life Poster - fragments of events that we've shared, cherished and remembered. Moments in time captured and recorded, and to be reflected many years later.

It took me only a few minutes to complete the Life Poster, but I gained much more. I remembered all the good times I've had with my parents, my sister and with sp - there was the time we had BBQ at my parents' place, times I spent with sp at home, cooking together, holidays together, getting married to each other...

Alpine Steamboat

shutterjam invited us to his home for a steamboat dinner last Saturday. It was the day before "The Great Water Outage of Penang" that would have affected the whole southeast portion of Penang Island.

I was looking forward to the steamboat dinner. I didn't know how much work would be involved in preparing for a steamboat meal. Now I know the amout of effort my mom made everytime we had a steamboat dinner.

It was a potluck dinner so sp and I went to Tesco to get some ingredients - some "patin" fish, squid, prawns, tang hoon noodles (which we later discovered is called "soh hoon" and nowhere on the package is written the words "tang hoon"), mushrooms and some vegetables.

I didn't know how to gut a fish, so I called mom and she gave us instructions. sp got the hang of it pretty quick! We prepped everything at home but left a few small things to do at shutterjam's home.

There was a flurry of activity at shutterjam's home. Quail eggs were boiled and shelled by sp and bigfish's wife. If I knew shelling eggs were that much fun, I'd join in as well.


We had quite a big spread. shutterjam wanted to try out his new "Princess" multi-purpose cooker and we were willing volunteers.


Steamboat has been around for some time. A quick visit to Wikipedia and we discover:

Hot pot, also known as Steamboat, is a communal dish which originates from Mongolia, but now eaten in a variety of forms throughout East Asia. It consists of a simmering pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table.

A watched kettle never boils... so is a watched pot. It took a long time for the soup to boil. We can't really blame the multicooker because nowhere on the packaging does it say to use it for steamboat.


Not to worry. We did get to eat the steamboat, and it was pretty good.


This is the part I casually move to the sofa - the cleaning up phase of the evening. Everyone's busy cleaning up the dishes and clearing the leftovers. Me? Well, you can see for yourself. I'm the guy behind the camera.


We had a great time. I was so happy that I suggested we do the next steamboat dinner at our place. Wait... did I read that right? Aaauuuggghhh!!! What have I done?!?

Making Faces

bigfish has succumb to our constant nagging by shutterjam and myself to "buy! buy! buy!" and got himself the Dell XPS 1210. It's a sweet deal, and look at what we discovered his webcam can do.

Scrumptious Seafood!

sp joined her friends for a Friday night barbeque and that left me to find something to do that night. So I rounded up my friends and we decided to try a new restaurant on the mainland.

How do you tell if a restaurant has good seafood?

1. It's really hard to get to.
2. It's nowhere near dinner time but there's already a large crowd.
3. The decor consists of gaudy lights complete with mismatched tables and chairs in an alley.

The restaurant we went to had the prerequisites for a good seafood restaurant. It's roughly 30 minutes away from Penang Island if the traffic is good. It took us about an hour to reach Ah Ean's restaurant in a small village somewhere in Batu Kawan. The road leading to the restaurant is narrow, barely enough to fit 2 cars side by side, and had potholes littered liberally along the stretch. An encouraging sign that the food will be good.

We arrived at 6.30pm. It's a little early for dinner but there was already a large crowd there to greet us. Tables after tables were laden with seafood and the diners hardly looked up from their meal as we gingerly walked across the wet uneven floor to find an empty table. Big crowd and it's still early. Another good sign.

We found an empty table at the end of the alley that is the restaurant. Gaudy lights. Check! Mismatched tables and chairs. Check! We're going to have an awesome seafood dinner!


There were 4 of us and we ordered 7 dishes - crab cooked in sweet and sour sauce, soft-shelled crabs, spicy steamed fish, "la-la", "ikan bakar", "hair-ko" and deep fried "sotong". My favourites were the crab cooked in sweet and spicy sauce and the deep fried "sotong". The crab was delicious. I could get at the meat so easily and the sauce was matched perfectly with the crab.

My least favourite was the "ikan bakar". It wasn't authentic "ikan bakar". I guess Chinese restaurants haven't mastered grilled fish like the Malays. The "ikan bakar" was hard, dry and the sauce didn't do it for me.


We cleaned up all the plates. 4 people. 7 dishes. Nothing left.

I've actually been to this restaurant before. Eight years ago. The place hardly changed. There's much more parking space and maybe extra tables. I couldn't remember how to get to An Ean's restaurant, but luckily we had a map.

I'm definitely going back again. This time with sp.

Mobile Tunes

Everywhere I go, chances are I'd spot someone using an MP3 player. The iPod's signature white earphone wires catches my eyes, drawing my gaze to where the wearer stashed the iPod on his person. Sometimes it's an iPod, other times it's not, but the wearers have something in common - they're usually alone.

I guess that's not surprising because that's the only time when wearing earphones in public wouldn't seem rude. I wouldn't be wearing earphones if I'm out with friends. And even if I'm alone, I'd remain alone because who would want to start a conversation when the person is wearing earphones. Then again, it may not be such a bad thing if I'm not feeling particularly chatty that day.

I found myself wanting an MP3 player - something that uses iTunes to transfer my music because all my MP3s are already organised by iTunes. Apple's iPods are probably the only MP3 player that natively works with iTunes, but they're not cheap. So what are the alternatives?

I surprised sp, and myself, when I set my sights on the Motorola Razr V3i. It was everything I wanted in a mobile phone, and has iTunes support! The Razr V3i is a clamshell design that's very slim and looks great. The body is aluminium with micro engraving that catches the light and makes the whole phone shimmer. The effect is very arresting and adds glamour to the already good looking phone.

Best of all is the iTunes support. The interface is pretty similar to the iPod's, but is not as smooth on the Razr. Transferring music to the Razr is a test of patience. It's slow. Very slow. The Razr is limited to 50 songs with a 256MB miniSD card, and transfering all 50 songs takes roughly 20 minutes. I didn't time it, but it felt like 20 minutes, maybe more.

These are minor faults for me. I'm enamoured by the good looks of the Razr and enjoy listening to my music with the iTunes player with the stereo handsfree kit from Motorola. The handsfree kit is uncomfortable to wear for long periods but the volume is more than adequate and the audio quality is pretty good for my untrained ears. I had no choice but to use the clumsy Motorola stereo headset because the Razr only has one mini-USB that does the charging, synchronisation and audio output.

I can't bear earphones so I decided I needed to be able to use my headphones with the Razr. Imagine my disappointment when a Motorola representative told me bluntly that there is no adapter for a 3.5-inch audio jack. Several emails and phone calls later, I had a buddy of mine who's in the US to get me an adapter from a Cingular outlet. The adapter is pricey but I think it will be worth it in the long run. I don't know when I'll receive the adapter, so I'll bear with the Motorola earphones for now.

I'm perfectly happy with my Razr V3i. I use the iTunes function the most. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?