CCH: My favourite Karen Carpenter song which I can actually sing from beginning to end :-)
Leon Russel's Version
George Benson's Version
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Penang Hawkers Food : Char Hor Fun Rediscovered
I turned around and saw a thin chap smiling at me. He looked vaguely familiar. He said "Char Hor Fun Yin Yong Keh Kea Nooi" Out of the blue, I suddenly remembered that he was the Char Hor Fun Hawker in Fettes Park.
During my MICPA student days ,I usually stay overnight at the MACPA Student Society Library at Jalan Siput Remis. This was during the exam seasons (May and Nov) between 1981 - 1983. With only 4 weeks paid leave to prepare for each exam, I was pretty disciplined and studied 3 sessions at the Library and usually for dinner, we would walk over to Fettes Park and yes, Char Hor Fun was one of my favourite food then.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago. I was at the Mount Erskrine market with Tracey. As usual, she went marketing and I went looking for breakfast. For such a large market with a huge variety of hawkers food, I still struggled to find something suitable to my taste. That morning, I had the urge to eat Char Hor Fun and asked the newspaper vendor whether the Char Hor Fun near him was tasty. He replied that it was cheap but there is more tasty alternative to the right of him but hidden from view.
I sat down and guess what, the very same hawker form Fettes Park came over and took my order. Wow, what a coincidence to rediscover the tasty Char Hor Fun shown below :-)
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Datuk Lee Chong Wei, the Fighting Champion !
Why do I call him a fighting champion ?
Simple, Chong Wei has been the World No.1 for more than a year and look at the way he has demolished all his nemesis such as Peter Gade etc. Lin Dan may have beaten Chong Wei in the Olympics, World Championship. But he did it the chicken way i.e hiding away and only playing in the majors. In fact, he registered to play in the Malaysian Open but chickened out at the very last minute.
BTW, just like World Lady Squash Champion Nicol David, Chong Wei is also a Penangite :-)
Other relevant articles...
- http://hsudarren.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/chong-wei-won-the-all-england/
- http://mindnoevil.blogspot.com/2010/03/chong-weis-homecoming.html
- http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2010/3/15/sports/5864746&sec=sports
- http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/20100315090929/Article/index_html
- http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=44328
- http://malaysianmirror.com/sportsdetail/11-sports/33807-chong-wei-an-all-england-champ-at-last
- http://www.mmail.com.my/content/30240-fifth-element
- http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2010/3/16/sports/5870730&sec=sports
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Chinese New Year Cultural & Heritage Celebrations
Yesterday, on the 7th day of the Chinese New Year, we decided to check out the Chinese New Year Cultural & Heritage Celebrations held at the George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site organised by the Penang State Government, Penang Chinese Clan Council Clan Associations Youth Committee.
Apparently, the whole celebrations was based on a historical touch of the four Chinese core moral values of "Faithful, Filial Piety, Etiquette & Justice" . The Faithful Area was centred on Chulia Street whilst the Etiquette Area and Filial Piety Area were on Ah Quee Street (off Pitt Street). The Justice Area was along Soo Hong Lane between Armenian Street and Ah Quee Street.
Having agreed to meet at the Chinese Restaurant opposite Yap Kongsi Temple, I dropped off Tracey and the kids and a neighbour, Laura at the junction of Jalan Masjid Keling (aka Pitt street) and was lucky enough to find a parking space at the Esplanade end of King Street which is pretty far from Armenian Street, the cente of the celebrations.
Walking along King Street took me through Little India, I could see all the Indian shops virtually in the CNY celebrations with Indian music at full blast :-)
On reaching Chulia Street, I could see a Lion Dance prancing on stilts and the street was full of people. All along Chulia Street, there were stalls after stalls mainly manned by youths including an interesting stall by the Penang Chinese Girls Private School which was showcasing Zodiac animals made from traditional Chinese paper cuttings !
On turning into Pitt Street, there was simply a sea of people. As I stood there, I could help feeling amazed at the kaleidescope of sound coming from the loud Indian Music, the banging of drums and cymbals as well as the sound of the Azan coming from the Majid Keling Mosque. No wonder Pitt Street is also known as the Street of Harmony with a Church, Mosque and several temples co-existing peacefuly on the same street !
As I very slowly moved forward through the mass of visitors (According to the Star, 100,000 visitors thronged through the 150 + activities and stalls) , one can see the 88 Chinese drums which was banged on as people passed them. Once passed the drums, one can see an imposing gateway into the Main Area of the celebrations.
At the Main Area there was a huge stage where singers were belting out Chinese New Year songs and directly facing it was a Teow Chew Opera depicting the story of the legendary Chinese General Yue Fei who had defeated the barbarians but was betrayed by the then evil Prime Minister and fatous Emperor of Song.
More to come...
Apparently, the whole celebrations was based on a historical touch of the four Chinese core moral values of "Faithful, Filial Piety, Etiquette & Justice" . The Faithful Area was centred on Chulia Street whilst the Etiquette Area and Filial Piety Area were on Ah Quee Street (off Pitt Street). The Justice Area was along Soo Hong Lane between Armenian Street and Ah Quee Street.
Having agreed to meet at the Chinese Restaurant opposite Yap Kongsi Temple, I dropped off Tracey and the kids and a neighbour, Laura at the junction of Jalan Masjid Keling (aka Pitt street) and was lucky enough to find a parking space at the Esplanade end of King Street which is pretty far from Armenian Street, the cente of the celebrations.
Walking along King Street took me through Little India, I could see all the Indian shops virtually in the CNY celebrations with Indian music at full blast :-)
On reaching Chulia Street, I could see a Lion Dance prancing on stilts and the street was full of people. All along Chulia Street, there were stalls after stalls mainly manned by youths including an interesting stall by the Penang Chinese Girls Private School which was showcasing Zodiac animals made from traditional Chinese paper cuttings !
On turning into Pitt Street, there was simply a sea of people. As I stood there, I could help feeling amazed at the kaleidescope of sound coming from the loud Indian Music, the banging of drums and cymbals as well as the sound of the Azan coming from the Majid Keling Mosque. No wonder Pitt Street is also known as the Street of Harmony with a Church, Mosque and several temples co-existing peacefuly on the same street !
As I very slowly moved forward through the mass of visitors (According to the Star, 100,000 visitors thronged through the 150 + activities and stalls) , one can see the 88 Chinese drums which was banged on as people passed them. Once passed the drums, one can see an imposing gateway into the Main Area of the celebrations.
At the Main Area there was a huge stage where singers were belting out Chinese New Year songs and directly facing it was a Teow Chew Opera depicting the story of the legendary Chinese General Yue Fei who had defeated the barbarians but was betrayed by the then evil Prime Minister and fatous Emperor of Song.
More to come...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Bak Kut Teh in Kota Baru ? [Updated 13th February 2010]
I love Bak Kut Teh with its nutritious herbal soup, spare ribs, pork belly, tendons, leg cuts, pork balls and of course 'Yu Char Kueh'. My wife prefers to add the pig intestines, stomach and liver.
I then ordered my usual favourite combination of spare ribs, tendons, pork belly, pork balls and of course "Yu Char Kueh". How was the taste ? Surprisingly, delicious and yes, I got my spare ribs and all for a sum of RM 7.50 !
But wait a minute, isn't this Kota Baru, the capital of Islamic Kelantan ? According to Fei Loh Heng (in picture) , he has been openly selling "Bak Kut Teh" for the last 28 years at the Coffee shop fronting Jalan Kebu Sultan with no harassment from the municipal authorities. He claimed that in neighbouring Terengganu, such shops would need to have a plastic sheeting to hide them.
Sometime in January, I was at the Metropole Food Court at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah (aka Northam Road) and ordered a bowl of Bak Kut Teh and specifically said that I wanted spare ribs and not the spine and lots of "Yu Char Kueh". Imagine my sheer disappointment when it was finally delivered after a long wait with no "Yu Char Kueh" and totally no spare ribs ! To add insult to injury, it cost a bomb at RM 35.00. What a rip off and in no uncertain terms, I told the delivery person that her boss is really a dishonest hawker !
Fast forward a couple of weeks later, I was back in Kota Baru to supervise the parallel run by my client. After being sick of eating at Pizza Hut, A & W and the lone Chinese restaurant at Jalan Padang Garong, I decided to look for Kota Baru's China Town.
Taking a left at the Traffic Light and turning into Jalan Kebun Sultan, I walked across the road and saw a solitary Indian Restaurant and thought to myself... Perhaps I can get to eat Mamak Indian Mee after all. A short distance later, I saw shop selling Bak Kut Teh but did not stop as it did not look to clean. Then, I saw a couple of coffee shops selling a respectable variety of Chinese hawker food and then I saw "Feilo Heng Bak Kut Teh" :)
But wait a minute, isn't this Kota Baru, the capital of Islamic Kelantan ? According to Fei Loh Heng (in picture) , he has been openly selling "Bak Kut Teh" for the last 28 years at the Coffee shop fronting Jalan Kebu Sultan with no harassment from the municipal authorities. He claimed that in neighbouring Terengganu, such shops would need to have a plastic sheeting to hide them.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Best Sea Food in Penang ?
I am sure that you have heard of the "Beginning of the World" in Batu Maung or the "End of the World" in Teluk Bahang. But have you heard of the "Fishing Village" also in Telok Bahang ?
This is what we had last Sunday at the Fishing Village :-
The lobster (about 800 gm) was fresh and very tasty with the delicious cheesy onions and sliced mushrooms combination. Even, Kimberley asked for more :-)
The Shark Fins soup was pretty delicious.
Look at the size of the crab roe, yum yum !
The Honey Buttered Squids was simply delicious !
To get there, at the Telok Bahang roundabout, take a 3 O'clock turn and you will see the "End of the World" restaurant at the corner, proceed straight until you see a left turn and there you are...
This is what we had last Sunday at the Fishing Village :-
The lobster (about 800 gm) was fresh and very tasty with the delicious cheesy onions and sliced mushrooms combination. Even, Kimberley asked for more :-)
The Shark Fins soup was pretty delicious.
Look at the size of the crab roe, yum yum !
The Honey Buttered Squids was simply delicious !
To get there, at the Telok Bahang roundabout, take a 3 O'clock turn and you will see the "End of the World" restaurant at the corner, proceed straight until you see a left turn and there you are...
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