Computer Problem

My computer monitor gave me a black and blank look when I switched it on this morning ........ after checking here and there I pronounced that it is dead. Always without fail or a complaint for the past six years it always light up from Windows 98 to XP and almost Vista. Looks like it's useful life had expired.

Hey!! Pikom Fair is on this weekend, good timing .......... should I get a twenty two inch wide screen? ;) any sponsors?......hehe!! I am currently using my Princess laptop at the moment.

Spring Cleaning

Last Monday was spring cleaning time again, the yearly ritual of having a clean home to welcome Christmas and the new year. We live in the equatorial area and there is no spring time just sunny or rainy time but we still use the term spring cleaning.

This year I was lucky because my old worn out back acted up a day or two before Monday so I was allowed medical leave ........ hehe!! It's a real scary thought of having to clean all the 30 windows with 6 panes each totalling 180 pieces not counting those from the door panels and upstairs too. This year the home minister engaged the help of a foreign professional, her mum's maid from Indonesia and it took her more than a day just to do the downstairs only. My wife did the upstairs herself and the kids did their their own rooms.

In my younger days when I was a kid, spring cleaning was much more severe because my father liked lots of unnecessary things like ornaments for display and framed calender pictures. Cleaning the ornaments and picture frames of the dust and cob webs that gathered over a period of more than 360 days was really a tough job. Everything that hang on the walls and ceilings have to be removed and cleaned. Display cabinets have to be cleared out to be cleaned and the items on display will also need to be cleaned. Not only the floors need to be washed but the furniture too. It was crazy!!!

Thanks to our home minister for keeping our home clean everyday and super clean now, Christmas and 2009 here we come!

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?