When hunger strikes

Hungry

I had a more sedentery drive from Pasir Panjang than normal yesterday. Thursday nights is where I go to the National Service camp there to train the kids. This week, I arrived there with 5 boxes of chicken rice and drinks only to find the camp empty of trainees. The food in these camps can be off putting and they really like these once-a-week treats. Thanking the alcohol reeked Punjabi pak guard with a pack of rice, I wonder what I should do next? Its already after Zohor and is dark. I wonder whom can I pass these sweet smelling rice packs to?

Hungry

.. and almost giving up. Did not find anybody in the strectch of road to pass these food to? The mind races on the next possible steps. Much time have been spent 'petrol'ling areas that I think have possible candidates. Felt like a car hunting for potential women-of-the-nights :) . Port Dickson generally is quite a well off town. Only on one occasion did I meet a person in need of food, but he was looking more at money to feed his drinking habits. Another dilemma is that I can't pass the food to Muslim friends even when the food is cooked by Indonesians. I gave up and think that the excess food should perhaps just go down the rubbish bin or at most my fridge.

Hungry

As I was driving home, I thought of another hungrier person whom would have enjoyed a warm treat. I decided to turn around and head back to the town. 200 metres away, I saw a shadow by the road and blinked. Upon a close check with a pack of food in my hand, I knew that it was a blessed hunch. She spoke Tamil and I could not understand except the word " Besok". My guess is that she normally waits at this location daily. She said her thanks with her thin hands and I wished her back with both hand clasped.

Find her sitting beside the street near the UMNO/BN Service Centre ( who unfortunately lost in the last General Election)

I met with another elderly gentlemen who spoke no English or Malay at the Port Dickson Bus terminal. Am glad that the youth beside him translated for me. " Suppadu?" I asked and he took the box of rice. If the youth is not his kindship, I am honoured that he stuck around to this elderly gentlemen. The third gentlemen was collecting cardboards and was hostile when I pass him the food box. After speaking in dialet, he seemed to be convinced after looking at the pack of food.

I am not hungry any more but satisfied that the gesture was small yet appreciated and the food was not a waste. I do understand the parable of banquet. As i reflect, it is true that you will not find until you know what to look. And now that I find that there are people whom we can help in our doorsteps, what is our response? For one, as simple as packing up food that we can't finish consuming, drive out of your normal radius and start looking. I think it is doable especially at my work area. We have a lot of food in our functions normally. That is why I am so fat nowadays.

But it did not stop me from chowing this down :)

In search of food

Could not sleep the last 2 nights. It is a combination of the ruckus down my apartment at early mornings and also knowing that I missed something out. Yes, the important food aspect. For the record, I DID NOT eat anything gross in Sydney in the effect that i could not find anything there that fits. It is also harder to find the Aussie staple - fish and chips in Sydney than in Melbourne. Is this the sign of a cosmopolitizing city?

Max Brenner chocolates for lunch. One chocolate free and chocolate pankage with vanilla icecream, wonderful sweet strawberries & pisang. I have higher hopes.

Berries yogurt on the go. Was going down the escalator to walk to another area. I had 2 yogurt food that day as it ain't cheap. N there aint nobody to cafe with me. Mix of strawberries, raspberries, wildberries . Nice but looked bloody.

Hot emperor's puff at Chinatown consist of dough and egg custard. Pipping hot and goes in pretty well. Was doing the goldfish while walking.
Finally found my fish and chips at one of the 2 fish shops in Bondi Beach. Loaded it up with vinegar but a tat bland. THe portion is humongous even to fit the phone camera.

The china bloke with an Australian sheila. I was hoping this is not their first date... u know. Strewth !!

She was much more happy after digging in. Phew, i guess this chap still stand a chance. But when they stand to leave the shop, I notice that she was standing 1 and a half head taller than him. Well, love can be vertically blind... u know..

Oh yes, we had a wonderful Italian dinner for 3 nights in a row. Should try out this place called Critini's in Paramatta. The best Italian i had over here. One more at the Rock called the Italian Village which has a nice ambience and the last one called Sicilian , Parammata which I regret. Anyway, just to note that there is a HOOTERS in the small town of Parammatta. Just for the record, interested to try at least once but did not go. ahem ... You can check their records. I think this is a joint for truckers.
My first night at an Aussie neighbourhood of Henne. At AUS72 per night that includes outside bathroom and some cereals for breakfast, I wish that another person is around to share the heat. Look at the lonely bed beside mine. The neighbourhood is very quiet and so is the house. Any noise can be heard miles away so i have to watch TV very softly. Owner is an Australian married to a Guandong lady. At the Rydges Paramatta carpark while waiting for taxi. Taxi is a scarcity in this town so we can have more time to do other things while waiting.
Upon arrival at KLIA, was shocked to come back to reality of Malaysian efficiency. The baggage line was broke and just started moving again. Millions of people were waiting and obviously some decided to get married while waiting. So, waiting for taxi in Parammatta ain't too bad. Do need to remind our Tourism Ministry to inform tourists to change out of their wedding suits before coming over. But knowing our tourism minister, he would probably ask for more money to do this simple thing....

Here is my letter to the Malaysian press which surely will not print it. ( cause the newspaper belong to the same political party that this chap belongs too. )

Refering to the report by your newspaper on Sunday that Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai requested and obtained an additional RM170 million in budget for 2008 in addition to RM850 million allocated, bringing the 2008 budget of the single deparment beyond the RM1 billion mark. We have spent close to RM1 billion this year to obtain a projected 'revenue" of RM44 million. (http://web7.bernama.com/events/tmm2007/news.php?id=297871) and even the figure is an estimation. I would trust that the ministry have done its accounting well but just could not understand the logic of extending "Visit Malaysia Year 2007" into 31 August 2008. Does it mean that we will continue our VMY2007 banner and advertisements well into 2008? We might be the first country in the world to have this unique campaign!

The ministry can at least do a review of its strategy & be creative to target the tourist ringgit. It can remarket it as "50th Year Celebration", " 50 years of existance" or continue on with the "malaysia trully asia" branding with a twist. Singapore have come out with a new campaign to target weekend family tourists and Hong Kong have redefine itself to capture more tourists during winter. Both countries obviously have done their homework in defining target areas and then their strategies and plans. So it is more alarming that the minister were only able to justify the request by using the latest demonstrations as the reason. There are many things that one can do effectively without spending money by being creative. We are asked to be creative to stretch our ringgit during this time and certainly leaders need to lead by example.

In summary, Macau is about gambling ...

You will most probably not agree but in my book, Macau is a passe. I did get to eat some nice food there but HK food is much better. The only thing here worth a second look is the Portuguese food and egg tart. ( 7 HK dollars ). OF course, the plethora of mushroomed gambling hotels here. There is a total of 34 BIG gambling areas here. And because they provide free transport, drinks ( water and coffee ) and entertainment, we happily obliged checking out 5 of the 34 casinos...

Between new and old, Grand Lisboa and Lisboa Hotel belong to Stanley Ho, the richest man over here.
Not so high tech stuff, great entertainment with skinned girls parading their stuff. Can see all the saliva of old men on the floor. Where else can you get shows like " One night in Tokyo" in Macau? I did enjoy this place , they have an area for football and I caught Manchester United getting whacked that night.
The Venitian is an excellent place. I tot i took much more pics of this place but could not find the photos. Very grand , super large the the feet hurts from walking. 2 of the chaps nearly died and became extremely grumpy. hehe. There are 4 man made canals with shops littering it. I just love the fake sky.
Shi and I. ohhh .. looked hideus. Against my advice, she lost HK40 dollar in slot machines. Hey, nobody win in Casinos.

So, the 'trick' is to always go to the ferry terminal to get the free rides to these hotels. And one can basically walk from one end to another. Some restaurants are open throughout the night as well as pawn shops. And of course, there are loads of 'side business' here. No girls approached me with their 'call cards' no matter how hard i tried - dressing like ah pek, dress nicely, looked like hamsap etc. So sad.... even Nick got it. :)

Of Boredom and food.

Ah .... u again.

What to do during a 4 hour journet at the back of a van, rumbering thru traffic and uneven roads? Ok, I gave a decent photo in the end. Sue me. hehe

Yam Seng!! Mr Lim, Alvin and myself gorging it down since it is free. IN fact, they pretended to drink it and so I was the first one to had it.

Mystery food challenge in Laos - drink 2 cups of alcohol brew consisting of King Cobra & Pagolin with herbs. Tasted almost the same ... really.

For Monita birthday, our surprise for her is tasty Thai dessert of poppia roll and cocunut sugar. .. with 1 worm and extra juicy grasshopper. Alvin and I packed it and went over to the girls room and gave a smoke screen by eating it first. Trustingly, Monita took one. Only grossed up when Sam showed her this visual and she went to the toilet to almost threw up.. This is a birthday that you will not forget. :)

Place to go. Thai food in a clean, comfy environment. Not too expensive. Called Kad Luang Airport. Then take a free taxi ride back to hotel.

'I kick u' .... spoiling the shot for Sam ( haha.. learning from me ) and sharing secrets like " Brother, why your stomach looked so slim in this photo?"

Family photo pulak...

Yang with a Maggi sticker in the plane. Made such a ruckus that the ah pek in front have to go to the seat behind me. Then the big kids began to talk loudly like in Pak Cik stall.. and Ah pek went back to the front seat. He went back and forth. It was quite a ride.