A Fresh Loaf

Today the familiar aroma of freshly baked bread once again filled the air in our home and it was really good. Yes the home minister had got a new bread maker for our home and it is a Kenwood this time.

We had not had home made bread since our first bread maker died on us about a month ago. It was not easy to shop for a bread maker because it is not popular here. My wife knew that Jusco had some Kenwood bread makers in stock and we went to have a look but was disappointed because it was not the model she had in mind. According to the sales person that was the only one left and there will not be any new stock coming in.

A couple of days ago while we were in Jusco, my wife noticed something that looked like a bread maker amidst other electrical appliances on display ....... it was indeed a bread maker and it was the model she wanted. Having had a lot of experience of being a regular customer she knew exactly what to do to and got a hefty discount ........ hehehe!!! It is now sitting pretty exactly in the same place as where the previous bread maker was.

It is great to have home made bread again...... yum!! yum!! Join me for a slice...

Note: This loaf was made with left over ingridents and it did not rise properly so it is kind of a funnily flat shaped on top......... hehe!! According to home minister the yeast had retired. Will post a photo of the second loaf when available.

Wolferstan Road, Malacca.

Driving down a road is very much different from walking on it especially if the road is familiar to you for a very very long time. I just recently found out how much had changed when I took a walk down Wolferstan Road recently, lots of memories too. I have had very many a time driven through it to get to my destination without noticing the changes except for the obvious ....... guess it is just to get from point A to B.

I started from Bayview Hotel and remembered that Wearnes Bros was located just opposite. Wearnes Bros were dealers for British cars and the memory of brand new Mini cars, chain saws are still very fresh in my mind not forgetting the then very popular Minor 1000. My father was in the automotive industry and sometimes he bring us there to do his business while we waited. Beside Bayview was Malacca Motor Supply selling Opel and GM cars in the past and is now a 24hrs convenience store.

Further down the road opposite where the Renaissance now stand was a shop selling branded shirts like Arrow, Lifting and Van Heusen. Opposite this place where the Orchid Hotel now stand was a florist ........ my mum used to do some of her gardening shopping here. The big mansion now CIMB bank is still standing with full of glory but can't say the same for the ruined Capitol cinema. Hey! the aquarium shop in the lane just beside the CIMB bank is still there and it looks exactly the same as I remembered it about 40 years ago ......... could it be frozen in time??

Wisma Bendahara, the very first shopping complex in Malacca is now very much an eye sore, from day one when it opened, to me it looks sleazy! Just behind this so called shopping complex was at one time a very famous place called Malacca Coconut Island or MCI in short. Most Malaccans in my generation knows about what this place is famous for and I shall not disclose its secret.... hehe!!!

The Savoy cinema now is no longer there, beside it stands the 9 storey flats which was the first high rise and tallest building in Malacca. Being the first tallest building in Malacca it was really a popular place for people to end their sorrows the quick way. Before the flats were build it was the Malacca fire station.

Ahh!! yes!! Bee Loon, the brand that was on every school going kid waist and collar, not on the outside but on the inside ....... during my time no free advertising. I got some of my school uniforms and a scout uniform from this place too. When they first started they were located in the street behind and at that time it was just a home industry.

Wolferstan Road is now Bendahara Road ........ some people in Malacca have this strange urge to rename roads as and when they like it. Why?? Your guess is as good as mine.

Dinner

My "Only Daughter" ................remember the one that is thinking of becoming a Chef ........... finished her SPM today and she prepared a complete dinner for us. This is her first time to prepare a whole dinner by herself for us and it was delicious. I do not know what are the dishes called but I'll describe them ............ err!! she doesn't know what they were called too!!!!

It was potato wedges, American potatoes, baked with butter, fresh sweet basil and rosemary........ I am guessing. The wedges were topped with fried minced pork in some kind of delicious gravy and real creamy kind of cream .......... it was a simple meal but delicious.

KFC

KFC or Kentucky Fried Chicken is the first fried chicken fast food to be in Malaysia and I have no idea when did it happened. I have no memory when did I ever had my first bite of KFC and from which outlet, all I can remember is that once in a very long while it is OK to have KFC.
My last experience before this recent visit to KFC was just eeee.....yucks!!! it was a terrible experience. It was a couple of years ago and I suddenly had the urge to eat KFC and so off we went to the outlet in Jusco Malacca. The ambience was terrible, gloomy and musty ......... the chicken pieces were pathetic looking, smell of stale oil and loaded with oil .......... what happened!!!!! I swore I would never eat KFC again after that ........ what a let down.
My wife was rewarded for outstanding performance at work with quite a fair bid of KFC vouchers and so we went for a KFC treat last week. This time base on Princess recommendation we went to the very first outlet that was established in Malacca in Mata Kuching Road. The place here is more welcoming and as usual I ordered my usual original recipe which is my favourite. Yes it is the real KFC here and it's finger licking good.

Malacca River

Last Sunday I took a along the Malacca river ........... wow! it was interesting!! I felt like a tourist taking pictures of almost everything that I thought was interesting ...............

Started my walk from "Taman Rempah" or Herb Garden in English .......... not Spice Garden as indicated .......... bad English. It is a good choice to start from there because the parking is free ........ yes, Malacca government charges parking even on Sundays, terrible!

The first thing I noticed about the river is the familiar smell of used engine oil, diesel mixed with rubbish is still there but faint and noticeable. The water is very much better kind of a greyish brown unlike in the past black with a layer of oil on top with floaties too ......... yucks!!! and double yucks!!!

As a child I used to hang around the area opposite the Majestic Hotel after my hair cut under the angsana tree by the river while waiting for my father to take us home. At that time Malacca was a real sleepy hollow and really safe to wonder around by myself. His office was just across the road from the barber. I was always fascinated with the colourful fiddler crabs that were residents of the mud banks and would only show itself during low tide. There were mudskippers too and very interesting to watch how they actually crawl on the river banks in search of food ....... funny creatures.

During high tide there were thousands of disgusting "belukangs" or catfish scavenging for food. It was really a disgusting sight watching them with their whiskers and gulping mouth taking in anything that were in their way ........eee!!..... just like a scene from a scary disgusting movie .......... it is making my skin crawl. This is the time also when fishing boat leave for their fishing trips and those that had left a day or so earlier would return to their berth. Sometimes I wished I could just go fishing with them ......... wishful thinking. But if given the opportunity even now I would jumped at the opportunity ........... anyone like to invite me?.......hehe!!

Further down the river around Kampung Pantei area I can still remember the barges carrying rice and other dried foodstuff to warehouses in that area. I like to watch the people moving the barges with just bamboo poles pushed into the river bed and just using their legs to move it. Such a big thing being moved by just a few person.

All those are gone now even the high and low tide in the river .......... the river near the mouth is now diverted to flow through a gate. The water in the river is always kept at high tide level so that the river cruise boats can navigate along the river.

It was a nostalgic walk and I really had a good time ....... join me?

It's Up

Yes I have finally put up the trellis. It still look flimsy even though I made another hoping that they can lean on each other to be more stable. My mum's first comment is "Mana u kau lat!!" in Hokkien ........ in English "It's not strong!!" Errrrr ............ me no comment just keeping my fingers crossed.

From logical point of view I don't think it is big enough or strong enough ...... I have four plants there and they are Goa Beans, French Beans, Petola and Cucumber. Just naming the veggies made it sounds like there is not enough space on the trellis............. should I start looking for stronger and longer poles?????

The pedometer, ah yes!! I opened it up and fiddle fut with the switch like thingy inside and it is now working not perfectly but more reasonably.

Malacca Daily Photos

Just to let you know that I have changed the url to Malacca Daily Photos. Inconvenience cause is most regretted and THANK YOU for following my humble blog.

Morning Walk

This morning I restarted my morning walking session after a break of almost or is it more than a year!?!? It took me almost a month to do it ........ I suppose I have to force myself to do it to assist in lowering my current enemy number one cholesterol ...... hehe!!!

The night before I chartered a course around my neighbourhood with Google Earth for a distance of about four kilometers. This route that I planned out have many turning back point just in case I could not complete the whole course...... hehe!!!

I really enjoyed the walk and completed the whole course with no thoughts of taking a short cut at all. I really feel good after the walk instead of feeling worn out...wow!!! it's refreshing.

The pedometer is a disappointment, at the end of my walk the pedometer only showed 2,289 steps. Let's do some maths ........ OK according to Google Earth the distance is about 3,854 meters and if my step length is about 50cm then I would have walked at least 7,708 steps ........... I guess the pedometer is just a gadget to add some fun to the walking ............ what am I talking about ......... grrrr!!!! Anyway I got myself walking again.

"Pasar Malam"

"Pasar malam" is a Malay word that literally means night market and in my vicinity there are three different "pasar malam" sites that operates on different days of the week. The “pasar malam” that we frequent is the one on Thursdays and is just about two hundred meters opposite our house.

In the past “pasar malam” almost equate to cheap stuff at a cheap price but nowadays it is still cheap stuff but more likely at an expensive price. Most people expect the prices to be lower than those in the shops because these vendors do not have to pay maintenance and rentals for shop space but this is no longer true. Like any other business people I believed these people want to maximize their profits too. So to play this game we have to be smart shoppers, target for reasonable prices and do not assume the prices were cheap, check it out first and compare prices.

The "pasar malam" is a convinent place to get veggies, fruits and sundries, sometimes snacks too. Comparing to the open air market in my area the "pasar malam" varieties of products are much more. Patronising the same stall has it advantages, we get regular customer treatment ........ sometimes special discount too! Anyway being a smart shopper is always the best way to shop.

"Saba Shioyaki"

"Saba Shioyaki" is one of my favourite Japanese dish and I have not had it for quite some time. It is a real simple good eating dish ........... “saba” is mackerel, “shio” is salt and “yaki” is grilled ......... as the name suggest it is just grilled mackerel seasoned in salt.

Last week the thought of having "saba shioyaki" just quitely crept into my mind and made me craved for it. Googled the recipe and was happy to learn that it was real easy to prepare. So on Monday bought a 1.5 kg mackerel and got it filleted by the fishmonger.

About 30 minutes before lunch I prepared the fillets to be grilled and got the oven pre-heated to the max temp at the same time. Yum!! yum!! It was really good.

Bandar Hilir

When I first migrated to Malacca in the sixties from Seremban, the in place here was Bandar Hilir. Bandar Hilir in English is downtown or literally town end. Yes I am a migrant to this beautiful place called Malacca and it has been wonderful staying here. Strangely enough I have very early memories of Malacca but not of Seremban from where I originated.

Bandar Hilir was just a place where lots of hawkers sell their food under the large raintrees in front of the A'Famosa from evening to early hours of the morning. The sea then was just after the very large field and the Coronation park was just beside it. The smell of carbide lamps, roasted cuttle fish, freshly scalded clams and cold cold iced "pat poh" or "leng chee kang" drinks are still very fresh in my mind. Yes those carefree wonderful years of doing nothing, just running around and making a nuisance of oneself .........hehehe!!!!

Then during my teenage years, Bandar Hilir was still the place to hang out and it was THE place to be on Saturday nights. By that time the hawkers under the trees were already relocated to where the Taming Sari Tower is now located and was popularly known as glutton's corner by the locals. The hawkers were upgraded to stall owners and the sea was just across the road from the stalls. The seafront had always been very popular for strollers and there were large crowds of people every evening enjoying the sea breeze.

Today the seafront is no longer there and neither is glutton's corner. The seafront was reclaimed and a shopping center was built on it together with some other concrete structures. Then the very large field was mutilated to make way for another shopping mall proudly named after the field that was there before - Dataran Phalawan. This very large field was where our first Prime Minister announced our independence from the British the very first time upon returning from England. At that time this very big field was only known as Padang Bandar Hilir or Bandar Hilir Field.

Bandar Hilir will always be a popular spot .............

Pedometer

At one time I forced myself to walk about six kilometers a day to control my cholesterol and it did helped. I stopped ...... why??? I do not know!!!! The farming did help a little in arresting the increasing level of the total cholesterol ......... as a matter of fact it did reduced the level.

Recently I bought a pedometer from Tesco and wanted to start walking again to get into shape ......... hehe!!! For two weeks I had been monitoring the number of steps I walked per day and today is the day that I am supposed to start increasing the number of steps by twenty percent until I can average ten thousand steps per day.

Aacchooo!!!! I am down with a cold, sore throat and flu and I only managed three thousand steps today ........... arrgh!!!! Guess just have to work harder on the remaining six days huh!!!