The day we "Balik Bandar" (KL-JB)

I always have this little irk whenever someone asks me "Tak balik kampung?" or "Kampung kat mana?". Not because i am ashamed of being called a kampung girl nor am i being a bloody stuck-up girl who has forgotten her roots. It's just not particularly correct because my home in JB is really NOT a kampung and Johor Bahru is a city. Moreover, both my paternal grandparents and my maternal grandma all reside in JB town too. Hence as much as it's merely a figure of speech because we Malay originally are all from kampung, but truthfully, my kampung is actually a bandar.

Anyway, we were really looking forward to this trip since the last time we went back was during Hari Raya and every visit prior to that were all short ones (including the one during Hari Raya) due to our nature of work. So this time, we drove down south for a few days' stay after the last minute two-night stint in KK. We started our journey at 10.30pm from the LCCT Airport and finally arrived at my parents' home at 1am.

I had this idea in mind where this entry would be exclusively about makan-makan because JB is such heaven when it comes to excellent food (i couldn't wait for the indulgence - yes, this skinny girl loves food! And what's more, my little nephew was there too! Mum is looking after him because my SIL was away in Terengganu for a training course). We already had a list of requisite places to visit in our minds, however i would be lying if i say that i am not at all disturbed by the development in JB and i personally feel that i need to have a write-up on this. So this entry will be anything but a short one, let me warn you.
[Sha, if you're reading this, i'm sorry to have to put up more entry on local food].
First, i thought of bringing hubby to a stall, near the fire station in Larkin for their famous Kacang Pol, but when i woke up to hit the shower, i saw Kacang Pol was already on the dining table served for breakfast. Obviously dad had gone out early in the morning to get them. Mum must have told him that i asked about it the previous night. Sigh. Felt kind of bad, but was grateful nonetheless. (But i forgot to take a pix, sorry).

Later in the afternoon, we went to Ayer Molek for an ice kacang session. This is a place where i have been to all my life, along with my brothers and cousins when we were kids. Grandpa used to treat us with the ice kacang after dragging us around JB town (and left us in the hot, steamy car under the scorching sun) while he went off to meet his suppliers and customers. The place is right next to the Immigration office building, opposite the Istana garden. Gerai Tan Kee serves the best ice kacang in the world, seriously! (Ok, i may be exaggerating, but i honestly never tasted any ice kacang that came as close to the one they have here elsewhere). They also offer local desserts and appetisers to die for like the rojak (buah), tahu bakar, sotong kangkung, ice jelly, cikong sejuk/panas other than the ice kacang! Hubby loves the charkueh rojak.. Everything isso yummy! I can drool just by typing about it.. hihihi. We actually made a second comeback on our third day of stay and i wish i had a bigger belly to stuff myself with the cikong. Yummmm... (gluttony alert!!)

The ice kacang yang tersangat sedappppp.

You must think that the above pix was suppose to be the other way round, right?
Well it's no accident, friends. The one below is him gorging on the second helping.. tsk tsk..

The ice jelly.
(It's shaved ice covered with fruit cocktails on top and sweet orange coloured jelly at the base.
Squeeze the lime, and you'll get a heavenly dessert!)

Hubby tried it for the very first time and concurred that it was indeed very good! We also had tahu bakar but i'm sure you know how they look like. Words can't do justice in describing how delicious the ones the have here. On top of that I had Nasi Ayam Goreng (from the stall next to Tan Kee's) which you can never find at any other place in Malaysia. It's different from Nasi Goreng Ayam, mind you - where you'll get ayam goreng alongside your fried rice. The nasi ayam goreng is fried rice served with chicken (as used in chicken rice) cooked in sambal and served with the chicken rice soup.

That night, we went to another eatery next on the list (it's a steamboat restaurant) called "Rawa" at Taman Pelangi. They serve chinese dishes and the steamboat is gooood! Our fav is the Lemon chicken in which they prepare like no other. The fried rice and Singapore beehoon are awesome too!

on the right is the almost finished Singapore fried beehoon.

We went to Singapore the next day (details on the trip will be posted next).

On the fourth night, it was ikan bakar night at Gerai Tip Top. It's another hawker stall which used to be at the famous Tepian Tebrau. They are now located at a brand new place near the English College at Kg. Mohd Amin. The crowd was already flooded with patrons but we somehow managed to get a seat for 4 as the owner opened a small table specially for us, *grinning from ear to ear*! You can also get similar snacks & desserts as served at Gerai Tan Kee here but as i said, the one at Ayer Molek is the best! They don't even come close though located just a few minutes drive from one another. But the ikan bakar holds a different story altogether. Before, my family and i never actually had ikan bakar at eateries because they tend to smell for not being properly cleaned until being introduced to the ikan bakar here by hubby (then a mere friend of my brother's) years ago and it immediately changed our perception! The spicy sambal is devilishly lip smacking! If you are a fan of ikan bakar and happen to be in JB, you MUST try it!

He digs the crispy baby crabs. The otak2 isn't the typical orange coloured otak2. It's different.
A good different, i mean. Otherwise, tak le tinggal 2 je when the crabs baru sampai ;)

Ikan pari bakar smeared with the marvellous spicy sambal........

On Saturday night (our last night in JB), we get to dine at an old restaurant which serves local dishes as well as Western food. They are well known for their Chicken chop which was featured a couple of times in the newspaper and rated the BEST Chicken Chop in town by The Star in 2003. The cafe is situated in the heart if the town at Jalan Dhobi. I've been meaning to bring hubby to this place for so long and i finally get the opportunity this time round. We were lucky mum made a reservation or else we would have to wait for seats as the place was full!

the place is called IT ROO CAFE, don't ask me why.

Now, this is a before & after pix. It was Deep fried Chicken chop and Chocohcino for me.
Tinggal tulang je on the plate. What does that say??
Yes, i eat A LOT :)

The crowd (with 2 familiar faces).
You can also sit outside if you're a smoker or that if you prefer the "fresh" air.

The walls are mounted with loads of old photos. Old radio, old clock, old F&N bottles are also being displayed as decor....

Oh, my eldest brother (left) arrived the night before to see how his kid was doing. Rindu katanya.. heh

Before i start my ramblings on the heart-rending development of the town, my makan-makan entry ends with breakfast bought from Warung Saga on the morning we were to leave the city. Even though mum said the lontong is no longer as good as before, my say is that it was still much better compared to other places and we picked up 9 pieces of Murtabak from Kg Melayu Majidee the day before to distribute to family and friends in KL. The only thing i did not get to eat was goreng pisang. I know you can get good goreng pisang in KL too but Johorean eat their goreng pisang with sambal kicap. KL takde..

[On second thoughts, think i'll post a separate entry on my observation on the city's dev & infrastructure because it'll be too long an entry here].

Anyway, here's another reason i enjoyed the stay as mentioned earlier:

he's grown so big in so little time!

gerammmmm....!

Camera shy? Kalau ikut mak dia, tak kot... hehehe

Isn't he adorable? Tapi, dua2 pun cute.. that's baby Harris with my atuk.

The day he was posted to the Land below the wind (KL-KK)

He came back one late night from work and told me that he had been called up for tomorrow's duty (he was on standby the next day), that he was to operate from KK and had to stay there overnight. I was told to pack our stuff as we planned to go back to JB for his 6 day off duty and we could drive to JB straight away once we get back to KL. And so i did.

We arrived at KK around 9am and and waited for the pickup to our hotel. That's when i spotted this beautiful car how i wish it could have been the pickup to the hotel. Hehe..

Looks like a 2-door GS 300, but am not too sure.

Since he had to work at 4pm, (and the F1 race at Sepang was on at 2pm) we did not leave the hotel to wander around the town that day. We just ordered in and took a breather at the hotel instead. It was around midnight when he got back from work (i was already in la-la land). Being in KK, it is a MUST for you to enjoy their fresh, succulent seafood the eateries offer at a much lower price. And since we didn't have the chance earlier during the day, he thought we could do so once he gets back. Indeed we did (even though it was past midnight!) The seafood restaurant next to our hotel was already closed (obviously) but luckily there was a string of stalls just across the road and the food was not at all disappointing. It was actually really good! (the nasi goreng was much better than the one we had for lunch at the hotel). We had chinese fried rice, deep fried sotong (a must have dish), butter prawns (also a must have dish) and sweet & sour garoupa. I didn't snap a shot of the dishes as i was actually half asleep walking across the hotel in the middle of the night. But we finished everything anyway ;)

He told me that if he was not to work the next day, he would want to extend the stay so that we could have some time exploring the place (and have more seafood, of course). It wasn't our first time in KK, we were there last year for his brother's wedding and manage to discover a little bit of the town with the parents. We visited this particular restaurant called the Port View Seafood Restaurant by the sea and i knew there was a big chance he would want to make a second visit to the place given our awesome dinner experience the first time, last year.

The next day he was told to work on the same scheduled time. (So another free stay for us! Yay!). And so, we travelled on foot to the familiar restaurant (i was right afterall..) and found out that the restaurant will only be opened in about half an hour's time (12.30 noon). We then made our way to the opposite building - the Warisan Square to kill time and have a drink before the restaurant opens to starving seafood-craze patrons like us. We had coffee at Big Apple and that's where i befriended Charles & Keith. I was elated! It was just opposite Big Apple. Apparently there are only 2 outlets in Malaysia so far, one in KK & another in Kuching. Made some purchases and i was gleaming all the way to Port View! :D

The restaurant offers a wide array of tasty and a generous helping of seafood dishes with prices ranging from moderate to expensive. There are also cultural dances being performed if you come at night. You won't miss it if you drive from the airport to town using the road by the sea front. The restaurant welcomes you with lots of aquariums be-decked at the entrance, where they keep the terrified sea creatures waiting to be grilled and turned into scrumptious meals. The ground floor is an open-aired space accommodating about 100 people and the second floor is where you can enjoy your food in an air-conditioned private, glass rooms.

Here are some pix taken at the restaurant last year. Just to show you the ambiance as I did not snap many photos this time. (Sorry for the rather dire quality of the pix, though):

at the entrance

the wide eating space. Us with mum & ayah

the cultural performance

Lunch was great, but i think the portion was bigger the last time. Or was it just me?

We had a room change at the hotel due to the unexpected extend of stay and was upgraded to a deluxe room (although i could not see much difference from the other room apart from the mini bar and a little more view of the sea) *eyes rolling*. Once he's off for work, i contacted my Sabahan college friend and she came to pick me up from the hotel straight from work and i accompanied her for dinner at a kopitiam at a mall. I only had a hot chrysanthemum tea as we still have leftovers from lunch and i didn't want to waste the food (unemployed kena berjimat, hehe). We then headed back to the hotel after her dinner for some good gossips and catching ups. He arrived much later than the previous day but i was still wide awake as the friend had only left the hotel 30 minutes ago.

We bade farewell the next day (though, i was actually ready to explore the town by myself should he have to go to work again this day). However, our plans to drive to the next destination once touched down at the airport had to be abandoned as he had to work that afternoon (on his off day!) and our journey to JB started only at 10.30pm that night. I had to drive since he was weary after a day of working.

Doing my thing, minding my own business
Venue: room 935, Promenade Hotel

His americano, my kopi susu (latte) and donuts for later

Dishes (clockwise): butter prawns, sabah vege in garlic, deep fried squids & chinese fried rice.
(told u the butter prawns and the deep fried sotong are must haves!)
Drinks: fresh coconut for me, and pepsi for him.
Venue: Portview Restaurant, KK
Was also my dinner since it was too much for a lunch for two.


After the mouth watering lunch.
Posing at the harbour with the significant other.


Ijan & me
venue: room 327, Promenade Hotel


My best friends who kept me company when he's away at work.


The sun was setting
venue: room 327, Promenade Hotel
(i had to climb on a chair to capture this because the window was all mucky! lol)


muka orang kena kerja on an off day! hehe..


I am looking forward to his next posting to KK for the delightful seafood and also to meet my new wonderful friends, Charles & Keith! Hehehe..


Waiting for the pickup to the airport. Goodbye KK. It was a short but a very tasty stay.

Just a short one

I wanted to put up posts about my being away (KK-KL, KL-JB, JB-SG, SG-JB, JB-KL), but the house is screaming for my attention after being left for a week. Will do it later when i'm done with the crucials :)

Have a good day!

Asexual - A new sex orientation??

I thought 3 orientation was more than enough - straight, gay & swinging both ways!

I stumbled upon an article about this while browsing thru magazines when i was out doing my hair this afternoon and find it rather interesting. They are people who do not experience sexual attraction. Seriously? Some people just haven't any libido in them?? I mean, really?? I understand celibacy or people who are traumatic from being sexually abused during childhood, or people who are medically challenged but i, for one find this Asexuality just too confusing.

Okay, first of all i have trouble understanding the definition. It says that Asexuals are people who do not experience sexual attraction. And at the same time it also states that while some has never or experience very little attraction, many experience the attraction but feel that they do not need to act out that attraction sexually (not the same as a platonic relationship). Do they experience sexual arousal you ask? The answer is YES, some of them do. So what do they do when they are sexually aroused?? Since they claim that each Asexual person experiences things like relationships, attraction, and arousal somewhat differently, and that they feel that they do not need to act out that attraction sexually, i thought maybe they paint or bake to fulfill the urges. :p However, according to this article i read further online, some of them masturbate occasionally. But they just don't see the need to get a partner for the urges. (Umm, isn't masturbating is an act to achieve sexual gratification?) It's pretty sexual if you ask me. Therefore i don't see any difference in the way they manage the the arousal because that's what some of the non-asexuals do too - when they haven't any partner or have no desire to perform sex with their partner etc.

So what is it exactly then? Are they saying that Asexual people are that of those who do not see themselves as having to engage in sex with another individual? Or that those who simply find sexual behaviour unappealing? If that's the case then, i THINK i get it.

Secondly, as much as these are group of people who does not appeal to sexual behaviour in their daily lives, my opinion is that it is more of a condition (or more like a dysfunction) instead of a sex orientation whereby the Asexuals prefer doing something else rather than having sex, given that Asexual people who experience attraction will often be attracted to a particular gender, and will identify as gay, bi, or straight. The article says so. Maybe they basically don't feel like having sex more often than they do as compared to most SEXUAL people or for a much longer period of time. But despite the duration, a similar situation nonetheless. So why is there another category or orientation altogether? Perhaps i need to be further enlightened.

There's actually a Web resource striving to create open and honest discussion about asexuality among asexual and sexual people alike called AVEN - Asexual Visibility & Education Network. And you can read more about Asexual people here.

[I imagine myself saying something like this the next time i'm not in the mood, "I feel rather asexual at the moment.." but of course this will be considered utterly incorrect by the proclaimed Asexuals :)]

And we thought asexual is only associated to the reproduction of a single-celled micro organisms like the amoeba. Hahh! (Science subject form 1 dulu.. ingat tak??) Anyhoo, here's a sneak peak at my new do.. hehehe..

Well said

The pandemonium over the general election results are beginning to be too unsettling and exasperating, don't you think? All i have to say is that the writer of this article says it all. Once your fate had been decided what else can you do? Well, best is to admit the defeat and walk off gracefully.

Click here for the full article.

No rice for dinner

This was announced by my Mr. the other night while having our usual staple food during dinner lately. He told me that he wanted to start watching his weight. I could not believe my ears! I thought it was all a dream because i have been trying to get my point across all this while but he said the expanding waistline was a sign of "PROSPERITY" and that i've been feeding him well (pandai,la kan). So when his heart had finally opened to go on a diet, as a good wife, what am i to do but support his WISE decision, right? ;) (i didn't wanna make fun of it because i was afraid that he would change his mind). I need to be more creative now, i thought. So the next day i started googling for recipes to add to my existing collection.

Today, i took the liberty to prepare one of his favourite dish, Roti Jala for dinner (and not to waste the curry i've cooked earlier). Mum-in-law got me the pan and the err.. yellow plastic scoop not long ago (i don't know what it's called, that yellow thing made of plastic with holes at the bottom and a handle to scoop the batter to form the jala) because i once told her i wanted to learn to make them (very thoughtful of her, or could it be that she wanted me to walk my talk.. kekeke). Called mum for the recipe this morning and this was how it turned out the first few attempts:

(i know, i know, it's not suppose to look like this. The batter was a bit too thick at first.
Imran said it's more like roti bintik2. Hahaha)


After the ball's rolling, i finally get them to look the way they are supposed to.
Well, more or less.

(My brother came by with the wife and his brother-in-law, Imran to get me help babysit his son - which i love doing by the way, and i'm not sure whether to say it's langkah kanan or langkah kiri for them..hehehe)

Imran came in and wanted to try his hand at it and this is his product.
Slightly off, but not bad. Haha!

But the STAR of the evening was this guy, not only he loves eating them, he actually knows the technique to making them! Impressive!

Ingatkan tau makan je...

Learn from the pro!

I now know that not only the batter should not be too thick, you shouldn't hold the yellow scoop too high up, and swirl it slow and steady in order to get that Roti Jala look. (Well, it was my first time and was nervous too, hence the speed).

Hullabaloo in the kitchen over the Roti Jala


Almost done now..


Voila! Served with chicken curry.
(Not bad for a first time, eh?)

I'm glad they enjoyed it. Everything was gobbled up. And therefore i think it was a success. :D

Thanks mak for the the apparatus and mum for the recipe!

2008 - Visit Kelantan Year

Hubby and I went to Kelantan to visit his brother's family recently. They moved to Kelantan a few months back before the wife gave birth to a baby boy in Jan. The poor baby has been in & out of hospital since the day he was born due to some complication. They did a lumber puncture but still could not identify the problem. He suffered some kind of fits from time to time and at times his face turned all red as if he was choking. But thank god he's all better now. He still have to go for follow ups but he's fine.

Anyways, given that the trip was decided at the last minute, i didn't have ample time to gather enough info as to where we should stay and places we could go. In the end we stayed at this old hotel -Perdana Hotel. Renaissance was out of the question as the rate was RM280 per night. Luckily when we arrived at the airport i found out from the brochures (that's when i found out it was Visit Kelantan Year.. haha) that the hotel was a mere 5 minutes walk to the cultural centre. The events for that evening include top spinning, kite flying and playing the rebana so i thought it was a good idea to check it out and snap some photos. So after lunch at Bro-in-law's place at Kubang Kerian or should i say, Kube Keghie hehehe.. we headed for the hotel. It was a run down hotel and i was already feeling bad because i am guilty for the reservation.. Money not well spent. Note to self: The Grand Riverview for next visit.. if there's another visit.

I must say it was the longest 3-day trip i've ever been on... there's nothing much there (well, not many places to go in JB too). Apart from the cultural show that we were SUPPOSED to go (we fell asleep), we only went to see some places of worship, a pasar malam that opens every night (Wakaf Che Yeh) and the Pasar Siti Khadijah for some keropoks and scarves. I know there are places of bargain like the Pengkalan Kubor and Rantau Panjang but we're not there to shop so those places were not of priority. They have museums of course, but Dad took me there once when i was in Form 1.

That morning we went to the Pasar, i thought leaving the hotel at 9am was a good idea. So after breakfast we went to the city but to my surprise most of the shops were closed! So we decided to have a drink while waiting. By 10.30am, most shops (at the dry market) were still closed so we ended up buying stuff from those that were already open and not to wait any longer. After having done our shopping i was astounded to see the shops were finally opening. That was 12 noon! Berniaga setengah hari je??... that's odd.

We then made our way to Tumpat to visit this 40m of reclining Buddha that is believed to be the largest in Southeast Asia. After studying the map, we made our way to Tumpat and started looking for signages to this temple called Wat Photivihan (given that it's Visit Kelantan Year proper signages are expected to these places of interest, right?.. Well, WRONG!) we never did find it. Instead we found his 2 brothers:

The standing Buddha at Wat Laikatong


The sitting Buddha at Wat Machimmaram
(2nd largest of its kind in Southeast Asia)

No reclining Buddha, just the one standing and sitting. The rest of the evening was spent watching malay soap "Bella" at our little dismal hotel room since we didn't know where else to go. Hahaha.. Oh well.. so much for visit Kelantan year. Some of the other photos taken. Enjoy!

Baby Haziq sleeping

The Buddha we're suppose to go see (pix taken fr brochure)


In-laws making their purchase at Wakaf Che Yeh
I bought a RM10 scarf


The waiting... at Pasar Siti Khadijah
(hubby pandai2 je nak tukar nama to Pasar Fatimah.. kekeke..)


Pose istimewa :D


Us

Navigator at work


Full moon in Kota Bharu


err.. UiTM dihatiku. Right.


We came across this restaurant while looking for a place to get lunch, hihi..
No, we did not dine there.


Lagi pose istimewa.. Goodbye Kota Bharu.

On Going Domestic

After four years of employment, hubby and i decided for me to opt for a premature retirement. I finally waved goodbye to secretarial practice. Think i’m done with that for now. To answer those who are wondering what i’m up to these days (for whatever reasons) well, I cook, clean, garden, run errands, read, (blog) and whatever that qualifies me as a homemaker.

It has been about four months since i left work (after having gone thru a dreadful surgical episode), and the other day i suddenly find myself in the position of a shrink. Friends started coming to confide in me for problems regarding career, relationships (particularly this), health, even financials and i thought, Wow! Maybe i should start charging!! Haha.. There are days gone by where i exclusively attend to the free advice-dispensing and view-exchanging activities via the instant messaging with my usual comrades simply because i CAN :D. But the days are often filled with purely domestic chores such as cooking meals, ironing and cleaning the house. I definitely enjoy to finally having the time to read, going to the movies and travelling when hubby is off duty. We didn’t get to do much travelling before (even to the nearest mall) as we don’t always get the luxury of having weekends together.

Anyways, i think i have been procrastinating to apply for a part time job long enough now. Need to update that CV and get it going (before more questions come deafening my ears from the parents). And hopefully i get to earn some bucks soon to at least fulfill my shoe cravings among others :)

I’m ready

I’ve been blogging anonymously in the past, only to express my personal thoughts and emotions especially to channel my anger so as not to hurt anyone and at the same time to secure my mental steadiness (well, i still do as and when it requires me to). But i’m coming out of the shell. Welcome to my blog.