Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Bak Chang

What is Bak Chang? I think it is Hokkien for Rice Dumpling. In Hakka, I know it as “Chung”, or Cantonese as “Chuong”. It’s the time of the year again, when I see people eating and/or selling Bak Chang. Is it a Chinese thingy? How come I don’t know much about it? Am I losing my Chinese heritage? As a young one, I recall my mum making Bak Chang, and I do like the taste of home made ones. I have tried buying in KL before, but nothing really matches the quality of home made ones. I love the ones with “lap cheongs”! Sluuurrppp!!! :P

So, a bit of history (source: Wikipedia). The origins of rice dumplings are traced to the legend of Qu Yuan, a well-loved poet who drowned himself in a river. To stop the fish from eating his body, people made rice dumplings and threw them into the river. Another version of the legend states that the dumplings were made to placate a dragon that lived in the river. Rice dumplings are made for the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar.

How is it made? I have no idea, and have never tried, but it is interesting to find out. The fillings for the dumplings vary from region to region but the rice used is always glutinous rice (also called "sticky rice"). Depends on the region, the rice may be precooked or only soaked before using. Fillings may be sweet, such as mashed yellow beans, or savoury, and may include pork, sausages, Chinese mushrooms, salted egg, and chestnuts. Some types of bak chang contain no filling at all, in which case they are usually eaten with sugar or syrup.

The rice dumpling is usually a pyramid of rice which encloses the filling and wrapped in dried (or more rarely fresh) leaves (I have seen some elongated shaped ones though). Bamboo leaves are perhaps the most common. Wrapping a dumpling neatly is a skill which is passed down through families, as are the recipes.

Dumplings may also be frozen for later consumption, but must be boiled instead of steamed when stored in this fashion. Now this I didn’t know! What I would normally do is put it in the microwave and wait for the “PING”!

There are quite a few Bak Chang recipes online if you care to search, but I think I will wait for some my friends who may be lucky enough to have home made ones to ask me over to makan. So, anyone? :)

Monday, May 29, 2006

Cluelessness

Looking at this caption and the phrase, it reminded me of... ME! There was this one time during one of the training sessions (while I was a freshie, still working in a bank - which does not exist anymore, as it was subsequently sold to a larger entity), the trainer was saying something and showing some scenarios, and I stopped him asking, "What if...." at least twice. Think he got a bit "mung" and replied "it won't happen"..... but I insisted "what if it did? Shouldn't you plan for it?"...

Alas, I think this must have been how he viewed me then....

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Simple Pleasures

Have just been tagged by the Nyabek king.
My 10 simple pleasures of life:

1. watching a beautiful sunset.

2. watching and listening to rain falling.

3. smelling freshly baked bread/cookies.

4. being hugged, and hugging someone you love.

5. getting absorbed into a good book.

6. enjoying a good relaxing massage.

7. getting lost in beautiful music.

8. sharing a laugh with friends.

9. watching the dancing flame of a candle.

10. eating a good dessert.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Huh?

Something to keep your mind active....

Three friends went for a meal in a restaurant. The bill came to £75, so they each contributed £25 and paid the money to the waiter.

The three friends were regular customers at the restaurant, so the owner decided to give them a discount of £5 & asked the waiter to return the £5 to them.

He was confused as to how to distribute £5 amongst 3 people so he kept £2 in his pocket & returned £1 to each of the 3 people.

So, each person had contributed £25 to the bill, but since each of them has now been given £1 back, their contribution has been reduced to £24 each.

They each contributed £24. 24x3=72, so the total they paid now comes to £72. Add on the £2 that is in the waiter's pocket, and the total comes to £74....but they initially paid £75, didn't they?

Where did the remaining pound go??

Monday, May 22, 2006

One of those days…

Have you ever gotten up from the wrong side of the bed (figuratively saying?). Have you ever had one of those days when nothing seems to go right? Such days can really spoil a person’s mood! GRRRRRRR!!!!!!

In one incident, someone asked me for dinner, and as I had a craving for sweet and sour pork, decided to go for Chinese food as opposed to my usual Indian food. My friend recommended to go makan at this so called “Happy Twin” eatery place. However before going for makan, have quite a few things on my mind, which somehow threw me off my usual happy and jolly self (I would like to think so). And yes…., turned moody’loh even before dinner!

Was perusing the menu on the wall, and this lady who was taking orders asked what we wanted. So, I asked innocently “Do you have sweet and sour pork?” (in Cantonese somemore!). The lady answered “So easy a dish, of course we have!”…. bugger!!! Damn chieun wan! Better be good after her bragging! Then my friend ordered some noodle dish (I had wanted to order the Singapore Fried Noodles, but compromised’lah… since I “dictated” one dish, will just keep quiet about the other dish) – which was ordered as some type of wet fry noodle thingy. Hmm….

First came the noodles…. Looked promising, especially with the noodles being deep fried first (which I kind of liked), but as the dish progressed, thought that it tasted a bit salty… (no my mood didn’t “sour” or in this case “salted” the dish)… but my friend said it tasted fine. Ok’lah, since I didn’t order this dish, will keep quiet. The more I ate, the saltier it tasted, and I commented once again, to be told “no, it taste fine”…….. no more comments on the noodles from me after that. Said enough already. And yes, still prefer "dry" noodles type as opposed to soupy type anytime.

Then came the sweet and sour pork. The dish looked promising, and hopefully tasted good, as it was supposedly easy to cook mah! But lo and behold, not enough ketchup taste. Bummer… if so EASY a dish also cannot get right, what’lah! What crap the lady was uttering earlier. So, no! My disposition did not improve. Luckily my friend agreed that there wasn’t enough taste (i.e. not enough ketchup taste). Otherwise, if said “no, the dish is fine”… I don’t know what to say liao… Yes, I compare restaurants by how their sweet and sour pork dish tastes. The better ones generally have brilliant sweet and sour dishes (there are a few in Amcorp Mall – be it chicken or pork!), but sad to say, not this “Happy Twin” place. Or maybe they are “Happy”lah, but definitely not me with the quality (or lack of it) of the dish.

Another thing, I ordered a “shiun kum peng”… and the lady said, “Hang on! Let me see got or not!”. She disappeared, and before I know it, a glass of “limau ice” was placed in front of me. And no, my friend’s drink order was not even taken! Talk about service… shish! Some more ah, the limau ice looked pitiful with only a little peel of limau inside… at least I could taste the limau. However, I could also detect some Barley taste, which I thought was weird, and yes, commented to my friend with no reply (I think my friend knew I was in a bad mood already!)…. Sipped a bit, don’t have barley taste, sipped a bit more, got barley taste!. Hmmm.. made me wonder if they washed the cup earlier or not after serving barley in it. Given my “generous” mood, was inclined to believe they didn’t, but suffered in silence after commenting once again in general “why got barley taste?” (and again, no reply from my friend).

After dinner, was concerned about MSGs in the dishes, as was feeling a bit thirsty. But only some immediate thirsty side effects. And no, was still not in a good mood. Alas, at 2:20am, had to wake up from my sleep to purge the “liquid crap” out of my system…… no, was definitely not amused.

And you say only ladies have PMSes?! :P

Friday, May 19, 2006

Grease

The arrival of Grease marked the growing popularity of foreign musicals in Malaysia, i.e. Cats, Saturday Night Fever, etc. This was showcased in the Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, starting 16May06 to 21May06. I recall first watching Grease a long way back, when I saw the film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. Both were way cool in the movie, about High School’s love and life in the 1950s!

I went in for the musical with limited expectations as I had a vague recollection as to how the story line went, but being my usual self, I didn’t bother doing research on it (and too lazy [err.. too cheapskate?] to buy the programme!). And yes, I had good seats (very kindly sponsored by a friendly Bank who supports the arts scene), right in the centre. Only grouse were the technical instruments just a few places in front, but will come to that later.

Before the show began, Vince (the radio host DJ for Grease) started the ball rolling, warming up the crowd, clapping, getting the crowd to do Mexican waves (almost made it), etc… as well as inviting a few people to go on stage to twist and dance. What’s more!, awarded two prizes to the top two “outstanding” moves (one young girl – who did the hula, and another lady got it by the way – where are the guys? Too shy to go on stage, I bet!). The young girl did some cool moves – I guess at that age (I think no more than 12) the shyness wasn’t there (then again, some kids are damn shy or conscious wan these days and are afraid to stand in front of a big crowd) – or maybe she’s a star in the making (watch out KL!). Vince was good, good voice, good energy. The crowd, well, was half way enthusiastic, has reserved – a difficult scenario for entertainers I can tell you.

And on to the show! Well, to be real frank, I thought it was a let down, even with my limited expectations. Something was missing, no ommph! To be fair, there were good moments in the musical, but these were far and few in between. My “issues”:

a. Main male lead was not up to scratch, vocally not as impressive as some of the support casts, even towards the energy channelled to entertain. Yep, no doubt he has the height, the looks (? – the cool rebellious type), but somehow, he was not quite “there”. There were also like moments of silence (which I thought was a bit awkward) when he had to do something or say something next.
b. Main female lead – had her moments, but generally so so I think not so much due to her per se, but more towards the technical support bits – mike-ing a bit inconsistent. Well, at least she reprised her role better than the main male lead.
c. Sound system – general disappointment. I went on the second day, would have expected issues like these to be ironed out, but sadly, it persisted. Some mikes were not properly balanced (muffled for one of the male support cast – who sang brilliantly by the way – but effect spoilt by the sound system – the female’s voice mike was way too loud in the same duet). When the musical started, I background music literally drowned the singers, and was adjusted, readjusted, reworked all through the show.
d. The technical gears and guys were just a few spaces in front of where I was sitting, so was distracted a bit at times. The various screen monitors around, admittedly critical for the production, should have been placed somewhere else. If no place to put elsewhere, then it’s the design of the Plenary Hall which is in question. One thing interesting was I could see the musical director/conductor giving cues etc on one of the screens, so was doubly distracting – but interesting to note whether the singers followed.

Enough about the negative bits, could have gone on a bit more, but better not. Was it a total waste of time? No, I don’t think so. There were some very good bits (wished there were more):

a. The lady principal’s vocals were very good, especially when she sang as the guardian angel or was it the fairy godmother. It was quite gospel like, maybe that’s why I liked it heaps! I think the crowd liked it best too, as after her rendition, she got the most cheer!
b. A few of the support casts were very good (while one of the Pink Ladies could have done with more energy - it showed as though the moves made were very half hearted – maybe it was. Hmmm).
c. The drive-in movie scene was simply hilarious! Good of them to have injected such humour.
d. Vince was good, full of energy, and I thought shone on stage. (Nice stage set up by the way).

Overall, I preferred the second half of the production, but bumped into another banker on the way out, and he said that he thought the second half was a bit “dry”. Each to his own I guess. I think one of my colleagues (who also went for the show) put it succinctly – this production of Grease lacked “heart”. The casts were mostly going through their motions, but didn’t reach out to the audience enough. Even with popular songs like “You’re the One That I Want,” “Summer Nights,” and “Greased Lightnin’” which could have help relate to the audience fell somewhat short. Pity though, but I guess it is difficult to outmatch the original film with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John, as the whole thing is “life” – either you do well, or you don’t. Let’s hope they do better in the ensuing shows.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Seafood mam-mam

Some friends suggested to go for seafood today. It was planned like a few days back after some of the girls got talking about food, and suddenly have a craving for seafood.

AH kindly volunteered to bring us there (Port Klang), though she still refuses to drive, so SG nicely volunteered. On the day itself, one friend (JK) chickened out, because he had an overdose of seafood the night before (and unfortunately suffering from an upset stomach due to overeating! – err… or was it due to the food?)

So, merrily we trotted on the highway, with SG religiously sticking to the speed limit. 90km means 90km, and 80km means 80km. Hmmm….Good in a way, but unfortunately, LL and myself got bored, and started pestering AH and SG, “Are we there yet” like numerous times, as well as cracking jokes on what’s the difference between a Fart and a Belch! (see previous post). Being quite tired, I kept yawning, and was “scolded” by the girls. Me being the odd one out for the occasion (only 1 guy amongst 3 girls), I was bullied left, right and centre. I suppose I am used to it, but I give as good as I take! :P The threat of either bearing with the yawn or smelling the “one that didn’t catch the lift” definitely did the trick! MUAHAHAHAAAA. However, I was threatened with being abandoned by the roadside (amongst other perverse thoughts by the girls) and saw fit to continue yawning. I lost count on the number of times I yawned. Don’t know why so tired, but just, tired’leh! Must be the age… and I can just imagine the 3 girls sniggering! Humph!…

Enjoyed the view in bits and pieces, took the Kesas highway, and directly to Tanjung Harapan. It was a near miss on one occasion when AH sort of lost her directions and wasn’t sure of the exit from the highway (she was our navigator) and had to call her “aunty” for directions. Phweew…. at least we got there correctly. Hang on a minute! The place sounded familiar, and lo and behold, it is the same place, and even the same restaurant as I came to a few weeks ago. The same cruise boat was anchored around the same position. And again, heard the honks and tonks on and off as we were munching through our dinner. And no, the honks were not me blowing my nose, and the tonks were not sounds coming from my nether regions! :P

First to arrive was the mantis prawn, or as they called it the mantis shrimp. Cost about RM2.50 each as stated on the tank, but doesn’t imply whether that’s for a life mantis thingy or a cooked one! You can just about make out a fish (no, I still don’t know what type of fish that is) lurking at the background, eyeing the 3 mantis(es?) suspiciously. I wonder why… I can just imagine them previously in a big fight. The mantis(es) in a defensive corner position, and the fish, oh well, must have taken some heavy beating, so lurking ever so warily at the back eyeing the prawn/shrimp mantis...hmmm… Anyway, the mantis shrimps/prawns or whatchamacallit, ended up on our dinner plate cooked “kungpo” style. Was really looking forward to it, but it was “a bit” hard. Coated with sugar I think, and the coagulated texture was not so pleasant to chew. First dish, I would rate it a 3 out of 10.

Second to arrive was the nestum prawns. Now, this I liked. The prawns tasted fresh (at least I hope so, well it’s port klang after all!), and the nestum bits were very yummy. Was picking the nestum bits even after the prawns were finished. The only drawback was that when I got to the bottom bits, I could see the layer of oil, and that put me off somewhat. Still, a good 8 out of 10.

What’s next? A platter of soft shell crabs. I looked at it, and was sorely tempted, but reminded myself that I have a sore throat. Still, held out for another minute, and thought, heck it, “makan’lah”…. Travelled so far already, might as well just whack! Will probably suffer the consequences later… Oh well… Good though, and just looking at the plate reminded me of eating it in a Japanese restaurant and being charged “a bomb” just to have it in a roll. And here, we are, a platter full, with some sweet chilly sauce to boot! A 7 out of 10.

La-la fried mee hoon came next. Supposed to be good, but thought that the noodles was a bit dry, and didn’t come up to mark. A disappointing 3 out of 10. But still, at the end, we also finished the dish. What a hungry horde we were.

On came the crabs. It was a toss up between sweet and sour, and sweet and spicy, but finally decided on the latter. It came with “mun tous” or buns to eat with the sauce. Quite nice, and the buns went well with the sauce (or is it the other way around? The sauce went well with the buns???). Hmmm…..

Was captivated by the nice shape of the buns, but the girls were being unimaginative, and kept saying it was just a bun!…. Don’t you think it’s a nicely formed shape? Well, the texture was nice and good, but I think I had eaten better buns elsewhere….. Still, I liked it, and as they were some left over (even after me having consumed two already), the girls harangued me to eating the last bits. Definitely need to drag a few of my other guy friends (and make sure they don’t “put aeroplane” me next time). Why is it girls always make the guys finish the last bits? DBKL ah! Anyway, one or two more of the buns, and I was up to “up there” already.

Starting the third bun, I began playing with my food. Normally, a nicely shaped piece of food like this, would just go into my mouth in one gulp! But alas, not this time, the bun appeared bigger than my mouth can open (so folks, I don’t have that big a mouth after all! No pun intended. Hahahahahaa). So, there I was, being quite full already, and thinking how to eat it. I know!, cut it into four bits, to represent the four winds (“tung”, “nan”, “si”, “pei”), and before the “four winds” can blow me off course, I drown the winds with lots of sweet and spicy sauce. Just to make sure, added a dab or two of the leftover nestum flakes (from the prawn dish), and voila!, edible after all…. :)

The fish came next, so called “Lotus Leaf Fish”. Nope, don’t know what fish it was, and I just whacked it. Tasted ok, was initially fried, and then cooked with a kind of beanpaste, not quite assam, not quite thai kind of sauce wrapped in lotus leaf. Not bad actually, but had too much already. Only ate a teeny weeny bit. (especially after eating four of the “mun tous”!)…. Also, the poor fish looked pitiful, with a sad face (probably suffered due to the horrible cook manhandling it!) :( It was dejecting looking at that particular fish. I think I would prefer to see a smiling fish on the table cooked up and ready to be eaten. This one, had paste covering its face, probably put by the cook who felt guilty, and tried to "cover up" the scene. Awww...

And the monetary damage? Not too bad actually. Didn’t cost as much as I had expected. Well, the dishes were not as big as could be, but having 6 dishes between us (and 3 girls at that, mind you), was pretty good, considering we finished everything. Overall, food quality this time around, not bad, but not brilliant. Maybe I am hard to please, but it had its moments, particularly the nestum prawns. A must have if we were to go again.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Friday

A day of holiday it is,
Supposed day of relaxation.
In a way, it would considered be;
A day of gradual deceleration.

An afternoon of music,
Tinkling of Schubert’s “Ave Maria”.
A run through for a celebration,
With ladies to the fore.

An afternoon of rain,
The sun’s gentle rays to cool.
A peaceful contemplation,
Of period pass and gone.

It was but almost a score ago,
When I first ventured solo.
Away from the comforts of home,
To a place where white cliffs have been sung.

Now sitting on my bed,
Sewing with a deft hand.
Or at least I would like to think so,
To mend my tattered apparels.

Studying is what I should be doing,
For an approaching examination.
Yet, the will is so weak,
Continuing my procrastination.

Instead, another book I do pick up,
Of drow elves and dwarves.
Salvatore’s dark elf masterpiece,
A better saga by far.

And here I am again,
Pondering upon the day.
Where have the hours gone?
Where am I today……

Monday, May 08, 2006

Protein Drink, anyone?

Was at a coffee shop yesterday evening at a regular hangout along Jalan Gasing for drinks and some chit-chat. Ordered a “Kopi-Peng” which was quite nice actually, as an alternative to my usual “Limau Ice”! Coffee was thick enough, and not too sweet. Was initially apprehensive about drinking coffee during the evening, as have sort of purged my body system from reliance on coffee (used to drink at least 5 cups a day when I was studying). Now, can do without coffee. However, the drawback is that if I take coffee during the evenings, I may have difficulty sleeping, with the caffeine keeping me awake. Never had this problem before, but I guess after not having coffee for a long time, the “wide eye” syndrome would emerge. I recall the first day I went without coffee when I started working, my whole body began to shake on and off as a withdrawal symptom. Luckily I am through that phase already.

Anyway, as the sky grew progressively darker with the approaching night, so too did the insects begin to get more active; with a bit of buzzing, a bit of hopping, a bit of flying, a bit of crawling, with the overall situation getting worse. Can’t recall ever been “attacked” by so many insects whilst having a drink at that coffee shop. It is said that usually when the insects are out in numbers, it is a prelude to rain. Don’t recall if it rained last night though. Being “annoyed” with the insects, I started picking them up slowly and putting them into my finished drink, drenching the pesky insects in the little pool of melted ice. Cruel? Yeah, admittedly a bit, but strangely, I didn’t feel any remorse. One of the “kaki” dared me to drink it saying it is full of protein!, but of course not! Mad ah!

But, do you fancy a drink? :)

Friday, May 05, 2006

Happenings

Whoah! Been tied up quite a bit, out of the office and attended a course in IBBM (“Institute Bank-Bank Malaysia”) for an exam this coming June sometime. Four modules to do for the PPKM exams, and just finished attending classes for the third module (Foreign Exchange). Quite tough, but I think do-able. Concern is on the time limit allowed, as it involves quite a fair bit of calculations. Heard that this is the module with the lowest passing rate. Hmmm…

Sunsets, oh beautiful sunsets! These shots were taken when I was leaving office last week. Snapped them whilst waiting for the lift in the office building. And talking about “lifts”, just reminded me of a joke I read in a little book a friend gave me last Christmas: “What’s the difference between a Fart and a Belch? A fart is a belch that didn’t find the lift, and a belch is a fart that caught the lift”! Hahaahaaaa. Was laughing when I read it. Anyway, can just about make out the Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers and the “Pineapple” shaped Telekom Tower in the background. Didn’t get to download to my PC and then blog it until now. Sunsets still captivate me somehow. The colours, the mood, the feel! It's the passing of a day, a time of reflection and thanks for getting through another day.

During the period I have been absent, been preoccupied with food again. Slurp! Yeah, met up with some friends for a karaoke, dinner and bowling session the previous week. Parked at Bangsar Shopping Centre and the parking fee was like RM14.40! What a rip off! Tried the Japanese outlet for dinner, and was pleasantly surprised. The prices were not as expensive as expected, quality not bad, although the shashimi (one of my friend ordered the set) didn’t look as fresh as I have seen at other restaurants. Me? I went for my Chicken Katsu Don! No raw food for me, thank you very much!

Also about food, tried the C-Jade outlet in MidValley. It’s like a fastfood Chinese restaurant. Order and pay at the counter (near the entrance of the outlet), find a seat, and then they will deliver to the table based on a number tag given. Prices were not as cheap as the typical coffee shops. A bowl of mixed BBQ meat dish (eg. CharSiu Duck or CharSiu Siew Yuk) can set the wallet back by about RM12 for each bowl (against about half that price in the coffee shops). I had the mixed Honey Ribs and Siew Yuk, but had better elsewhere. However, the “lat chiew yao” was good. Went well with the dishes. Also sampled the Sweet and Sour Pork (but of course!), and preferred it to the mixed meat dishes. The “SSP” dish came as a set with drinks. The eatery settings were quite ok, but seats were limited, especially if you go in a larger group. Another interesting dish was the “stewed ribs” (if I remember the name correctly), comprising soft ribs with rice, quaintly served in a keep warm kind of metal thingy, nestled within a wooden “pot”. Yummy!