Trip to Kampar

My son decided to further his studies in UTAR after completing his STPM. The course that he is doing is conducted in UTAR new campus in Kampar. As usual for everyone of our child by default we had to send them and their belongings to their new temporary homes. Princess is the record holder for the largest and most number of items that was packed into our old faithful and our Only Daughter got the least number of items.

We left on late Sunday morning and we took the trunk road to Seremban instead of the highway as it is more interesting. We were rewarded with a rare sighting of the train passing by the most probably only railway crossing in Malacca state. Travelling by train is not popular because it is very slow and inconvenient. The infrastructure of road and air travel was upgraded with time but the railway seems to had been frozen in time only until recently. Anyway we were excited to see the train including me ..... hehe!!!

Seremban beef noodle was a real treat for us because the last time we pass by this way we missed it by a couple of minutes because they were closing up for the day. It was a real disappointment that time so it was a really great to be able to enjoy it this time. Yes, yummy!!yummy!! Thought of having two bowls to make up for the last time but I had to refrain myself or else I might fall asleep while driving with a fully loaded tummy on a very hot afternoon :(


The rest of the journey was on the highway and it was kind of a boring with occasional stops at rest area to attend to nature call. Stopping at rest area is also a great way to take a break from the monotony of travelling on a highway and to stretches oneself.

At three pm with the sun burning real hot we arrived in Kampar, a place that is new to almost all of us except me but it was like donkey years ago since I was here last. No memory of this place at all but had no problem locating the the hotel whereabouts. Kampar is a small town so it was really easy to get around. The first stop is the Grand Kampar Hotel to freshen up a bit before the tedious task of room hunting for my son.

From earlier research done we understand that there were mainly two areas of housing which is West Lake area and Taman Perdana. Our first stop was in Taman Bandar Baru a newly completed area and was turned of by a foul, loud mouth Nicole who seemed to have a little monopoly of the area. Next stop was the West Lake area and there were like hundreds of people crowding at a house turned into some kind of office to cash in on the influx of new students starting their courses in UTAR and KTAR. This is the first year where UTAR and maybe KTAR is conducting most their courses here in their main facilities in Kampar.

After checking out a few houses, this area is syndicated by a few wanna get rich quick capitalist. Any area in the house that can be partitioned into a room is being partitioned off thus increasing the number of occupant per house and so is the cash return. It is like a refugee center and paying good money for unhealthy living. Not liking what we saw we went on to Taman Perdana where the accommodation is in flats. The area did not look safe or decent so we did not even bothered to make any enquiry there.

After going round the older housing area with no sign of any room to let we decided to head back to the West Lake area and check out some of those houses that we bypass earlier on. Luck was with us we managed to meet up with someone who have a house across the road where foul mouth Nicole was. The house is brand new and the owner only wanted six people to stay in it. Our son got a room with his own attached bathroom and I guess he should be very comfortable in it. It is a really decent and nice place.

Having settled the most important item in our agenda for the trip we headed to Kampar old town to have claypot chicken rice which is famous in this little town. It was nice and yummy cooked almost to perfection. Next stop TESCO the only modern store in Kampar to buy some more necessities before we call it a night. The whole of TESCO was flooded with outstation people doing a bit of last minute shopping before settling into their new abode. Extension cords, brooms, brushes, detergents and buckets were really hot items as the racks containing these items were almost empty.

The next morning breakfast was in the hotel as in was included in the room rate and the spread was really miserable. Oh well since it was included and there were fried eggs, it was still something to fill the tummy right?


It was registration time for my son after breakfast and all of us went to UTAR with him. Princess was really proud to be there because it is her alma mater ....... incidentally she graduated with first class honours,congrats and well done my dear. OK registration was really fast and we walked around the campus to have a look see before heading to Ipoh for lunch. We wanted to eat the famous Ipoh white flat noodles with chicken and drink the old town white coffee. Having not been to Ipoh for a long time I was really surprised that the amount of traffic had really grown and it was really congested in the town center. We were unable to locate where old town is but we got our yummy food and white coffee.

We headed back to Kampar after we were done in Ipoh and went straight to Yau Kee restaurant for the famous curry chicken in the bread which is a unique dish maybe made famous by this restaurant. We had a loaf of chicken curry in the bread and pork knuckle noodles .... they were both good.

After sending sonny back to his new abode and said our goodbyes we headed back for home with a quick stop in Isetan for some take away sushi for dinner. It was really a hectic two days and I am really glad to be home sweet home.

Languages

I was born with a Hokkien tongue, yes Hokkien is my mother tongue and Hokkien is a dialect of the Chinese language. Both my parents do not speak English and I wasn't sure when I was exposed to the English language. I attended an English medium school and everyone speak English in school. In Malaysia it is compulsory to study Bahasa Malaysia which is the national language of the country.

By the time I finished school I could only speak English, Bahasa Malaysia and Hokkien. In Malacca where my home is most Chinese speak Mandarin but Hokkien is acceptable to a certain level. Being educated in an English medium school and every one I know seems to speak English only, in my own little world I thought I was from England when I was a little kid .... hehe!!!

When I started working in Kuala Lumpur, the majority of people speaks Cantonese which is also a Chinese dialect which I couldn't speak a word of. Anyway I was able to get by with some kind of universal sign language and managed to learn a few word for my own survival in this vicious place. Then there was this Cantonese TV soap opera series "Man In The Net"which I have no idea how I got myself deeply interested in watching it. I don't even understand the language or dialect but I was watching it. With sheer determination I learned to understand and speak Cantonese, not to master the language but enough to get by. I was able to enjoy the Cantonese soap opera series more and continued to watch more soap operas ........ hehe!!!

My children all went to Chinese Primary School where the main medium of instruction is Mandarin and are very fluent with the language now. We parents were non speakers of this language mainly because we do not know how. Me, I had a little lesson while in primary school, very very little ...... just enough to write my own name and sometimes I even get it wrong ...blush! blush!

Recently my Princess who had just finished her final year university is back home with us and she had been speaking alot of Mandarin with me. I do not know how it started but we converse a lot in Mandarin and this really help me in improving my spoken ability for this language. I am now confidence enough to engage in a Mandarin conversation with anyone who can speak it. Princess had started blogging too, just click on Princess and you will get to her blog.

A language learned even though just spoken is very vast knowledge earned.

Pandan

The pandan is a very versatile plant even though only the leaves are useable. It's fragrant is really pleasant and is used in cooking and baking. Just as vanilla is to the Europeans, pandan is to the Asians. Yes I have it in my mini farm and it is one of the first residence.

Before planting the pandan, it was always a big challenge to get it whenever Home Minister need it for a certain dish that calls for pandan as part of its recipe. First there is the reconnaissance mission so that proper tools can be brought along for the infiltrate, retrieve and run mission ..... hehe!! In impromptu cases it is normally snatch, hide and look Innocent ........ this is only possible when the plant is by the road side.... hehe!!

Pandan is a must have for 'nasi lemak' or else it is just not 'nasi lemak'. When cooking rice just add a leaf of pandan and you will extra fragrance rice. A leaf of pandan in a kettle of boiling water for drinking will give the plain drinking water a wonderful aroma too. 'Kaya' without pandan is nonsense.

One of my favourite cake is pandan chiffon, not any store bought pandan chiffon but only home made by Home Minister herself is the best. To make pandan chiffon guest who have to extract the juice from the pandan leaves, yes yours truly...... me!Extracting the juice is no easy task, it takes about two hours and the leaves from two pandan plants to get about a quarter cup of juice concentrate. The effort is really well worth it because the juice is natural and organic while the pandan chiffon is really yummy!!

Having not eaten pandan leaf chicken for a long time, together with Princess we decided to make it ourself. She did the seasoning and baking while I did the wrapping. She had a great idea of her own to weave a basket of pandan leaves and bake the chicken in it. I preferred the traditional way of wrapping bite size pieces of chicken meat with the leaves because of the close contact of the leaves with the meat.

Pandan leaf chicken is actually a Thai dish and we had the cooking process modified to make it healthier. Instead of frying it we baked it and the aroma was fantastic. The end result was a real yummy dinner.

Stall No.1

Our Princess gave us a treat a couple of weeks ago at this open restaurant in the Portuguese Settlement. Stall no.1 as it is commonly know to many is the first stall located in the row of food stalls serving Portuguese styled seafood in the Portuguese Settlement. The actual name of the restaurant is Sea Terrace.

The first time we went there with the intention to eat was with a very close long time friend of the Home Minister from her uni days and her sister from England. We were disappointed because it was not open and we were crowded with very hard selling representative from all the other stalls....... luckily we managed to sneak away from them and made a quick getaway. We were told that if we cannot get a place in store no.1, don't bother to try the others. I guess it must be the very over selling by the hard selling from the other stalls that turn us off from even eating at any of the other stalls that day.

From our experience at stall no.1, the food is generally very much Malaccanised and there is not a hint of Portuguese in it at all, even the name of the dishes. The calamari deep fried rings were really good and it is a must eat. The BBQ clams and mussels were good too but the dip is a disappointment. The otak otak is nice and only male crabs available ......... hmmm wonder whatever happened to the females crabs, haven't had crab roe like for a thousand years.

On the whole we enjoyed the seafood dinner ....... if you are thinking of Portuguese food then it will be a real BIG disappointment, but then again were they promoting Portuguese food?? Or is it just by default that we expect Portuguese food because it is located in the Portugese Settlement and operated by them.

Oh ya! the crowd seems to be in Stall no.1 only.

Japanese Cuisine

Japanese food is one of my favourite and will never ever get enough of it. Yes I can have it everyday without getting sick of it. My family share this same passion and we will enjoy it whenever we can.


In Malacca I guess the best Japanese restaurant is Kampachi in the Equatorial Hotel ...... I think it is the only true Japanese restaurant in Malacca. There was a Japanese owned ramen restaurant but it did not last long. Another is teppanyaki style and is locally owned ...... the food is very much localised but it is still OK.


Our favourite at the moment is Kampachi especially their Sunday lunch buffet. The spread is great and it is a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon by having breakfast, lunch and dinner all together at a leisurely pace. Shall we pig out??

BURRRP!!!

Taking Shape

Day by day, inch by inch with sheer determination the weeds were removed by hand even though the memory of the agony suffered from the sciatica was still very fresh in my mind. Every evening depending on the condition of my poor back and butt, I had to decide whether to make use of bare hands, sickle or hoe. Heavy machinery ....err... I mean lawn mower was a no no at that time cause starting it after such a long time in a state of inactivity was no easy matter.

Bare hands is the most relaxed because I can either sit on a stool or the ground ....... set back, creepy crawly can craw up you know where, bitten by bugs and if not careful poke by mimosa weeds in the butt ....... ouch!! ouch!! Sickle can cut very quickly and close to the ground ........ set back, to much movement either in a crouching or squatting position which is quite taxing on the back. The hoe is great for removing weeds at the root level but it is taxing on the waist and butt.

Brrup!! brrup!! after four or five times I was still unable to get the lawn mower started ........ oh my poor back!! My back was much better last week so I thought it was time to bring in the "heavy mean machinery" aka the lawn mower to get more done. Hmmm!! changed the spark plug and brrrup!! pup!! pop! One more time and it came to life again hungry for weeds.

I did suffer some consequences the next day but lucky for me it rained that evening and I was spared the agony of deciding to do or not to do. It had been raining of and on so my progress was slowed down a little. Got an okra, a couple of brinjals and a lime planted and they are all doing very well. The mini farm is really getting back into shape now and I am looking forward to be able to start planting leafy veggies real soon.

Me.......I am getting out of shape with lots of aches everywhere and lots of extra weight to carry around ..... hehehe!!!

"Satay Celup"

"Satay Celup" is a unique dish that is only available in Malacca City as far as I know. "Satay" many says it is from the Hokkien word meaning three pieces of goodies on a stick roasted and "celup" is Malay for dip or something like that. Japanese also have goodies on a stick like "yakitori" which is also roasted and "satay" in Malaysia is a commonly known dish of roasted meat on a stick. "Satay celup" well there is no roasting at all but lots of boiling, some even refer to it as a volcanic meal due to the likeness of the boiling gravy to boiling lava.

My first taste of "satay celup" was when I was in secondary school and they were located just behind the Cathay cinema build across the Malacca River. The one that I can remember very well is Kingtu. Eating there was an experience itself with the stinking river underneath you. It was really a very popular place for a snack after a movie and it was quite pack on weekends. I was not a real fan of "satay celup" then because "satay celup" was always almost equals to diarrhea for. Some basic requirement was required to eat "satay celup" at that time, a sharp eye and highly sensitive sense to smell so as to avoid stale food or a stomach of steel. I had neither and had to gain experience the hard way.

If my memory does not fail me I think there were two way of eating "satay celup", express and leisurely. Express was stand up at the counter and dip into a common pot of sauce and leisurely was to sit down like nowadays but the sauce was never changed.

Recently I had been enjoying "satay celup" on a few occasions in the most popular shop which is Capitol Satay. A new pot of sauce is provided for every new customers and the food is not stale because I did not suffer any consequences......hehe!! There are a couple more of these "satay celup" shops and I was told that they were OK too. "Satay Celup" anyone?