Little India Walkabout

After a dinner of frog leg porridge in Chinatown with my sis and her Penang friends (there’s a whole bunch of Penang people in Singapore – I told my sis to set up her own Penang Club even), Nic and I decided to drop by Singapore’s Little India for a quick look-see.

The good thing about Singapore is, not many cars on the road!
The good thing about Singapore is, not many cars on the road!

After all, visiting Little India in Penang is my favourite pastime, besides eating banana leaf rice at Sri Ananda Bhawan’s. I wanted to see how similar things are down south, particularly as it was nearing Deepavali then. Singapore’s Little India would be bustling!

Was I right! The streets were decked out with gorgeous lights and a sense of gaiety punctuated the air. Although it was almost 10, the streets were still crowded.

Some Indian vendors were just in the midst of arranging their vegetables – oddly people were buying carrots and tomatoes at night. I guessed these people were very busy indeed and could only come out at night to shop for their food.
Night shopping!
Night shopping!

Within a specific bazaar place set up for this Indian community, we gawked at the trinkets and decorations, the bells and the incense, the biscuits and the prayer items.
Finally after walking about, I felt a little smug. This Little India, while clean and not very noisy, couldn’t really compare to our Penang version.

Ours is noisier, busier and an assault to all your senses. Loud music, smell of burning incense, people talking loudly – all these make our Penang an undisputed winner in the cacophony department.

With that, we were ready to stop for a cup of masala chai at one of the Indian shops.
Masala chai's such a comfort after a long day
Masala chai's such a comfort after a long day

One clear similarity was that the sweetmeats were still the same garishly pink and green!
All sorts of sweetmeats for your sweet tooth!
All sorts of sweetmeats for your sweet tooth!

Loi Ah Koon…Modernized

When I was visiting my sis in Singapore last October, we were of course feted.
I mean, Singaporeans are just as proud of their food culture as we are. We’re so similar in many ways. And to add to this, I met up with so many Malaysians (not to mention a whole group of Penang folks, thanks to my sis). Like all good hosts, food was definitely the order of the day.
As we stayed for a few days in the pleasant suburb of Tiong Bahru (actually come to think of it, which suburb isn’t properly planned and pleasant by Singapore standards? It better be nice or else the complaints will rain!), we particularly enjoyed having breakfast at Ya Kun, just a 5-minute walk away from her apartment.

Ya Kun's the place for breakfast
Ya Kun's the place for breakfast

Ya Kun is the modern version of the old-style kopi tiam – something like our Old Town Cafe. It serves half-boiled eggs with kaya toast. Small yet cosy (but with airconditioning), Ya Kun is really an old establishment, started yonks ago by a Hainanese man named Loi Ah Koon – the picture of the founder in the typical white cotton shirt is on the wall.
Probably Ah Koon would never have thought his old-style Hainanese coffee (made the same way since 1944) would be transformed into a modern coffee and breakfast place. Ya Kun is an upgraded version of the old days.  Ya Kun has personality too – there’s an indelible pride in the Hainanese coffee culture with a very Asian twist too.
How Loi Ah Kun started his Hainanese coffee stall
How Loi Ah Kun started his Hainanese coffee stall

Ya Kun is creatively funny – I liked most their cheeky and clever posters on the wall. It made me chuckle!
One said “Screw the French press – we’ve got the sock”. Another said “Want a skinny latte? Stop at half a cup!”
Love these posters!
Love these posters!

Like Andrew Sia’s article in The Sunday Star a few weeks ago, I find that we Asians have a lot to be proud of.
Slowly but surely we are realizing we are living in an area steeped in fantastic culture. That’s the reason why Ang Mohs are here.  While I love blue cheese, there’s nothing compared to durian. While I may enjoy going elsewhere for a while and wishing for spring weather all the time, there’s really nothing like rain which seeps into your bra and sun so strong it makes your skin freckle. Or the familiar smells of street food. One can never go hungry in Malaysia – there’s some food stall on some corner open at some ungodly hour.
Other than Ya Kun, there’s another famous breakfast place called Toast Box. Some who have eaten at Toast Box say it’s nothing special though people have been seen lining up for the food. But then again, every place we go to seem to have lots of Singaporeans especially cafes and restaurants.
What is lovely though is that customer service is taken very seriously in the island republic. You do get service with a smile, unlike some cranky waiters and waitresses in most restaurants in Malaysia. And if you complain, someone somewhere will respond to you. Here we’d be lucky if they even bother to open their emails!
I wouldn’t want to live in Singapore – but visiting for a few days and eating my way through the island is indeed fun!

Full of Beans

I was in Langkawi last week – it was a very quick trip to visit a client. At the same time it was also a meet up and discussion about a marketing project we are doing with another client.
As we were visiting a client who just had leg surgery, I was wondering what I could bring. Fruits was out of the question – I was not going to carry fruits onto the AirAsia flight (as an aside, I was on the same flight to Langkawi as celebrity chef, Chef Wan!).
Finally I settled on a very healthy gift – a packet of nutritious cereal powder from my favourite Buddhist society – Tzu Chi.

The green packet on the right contains Jew's Mallow.
The green packet on the right contains Jew's Mallow.

I’ve always been in awe of Tzu Chi because they’re a charity organization like no other. Instead of asking for handouts, they prefer to engage in honest business to help them fund their work. Their dialysis treatments for kidney patients are completely free. Amazing.
Nic and I decided to go to their Macalister Road building to get the nutritious bean powder. (You can also buy them from the Jing Si Book shop on Beach Street which is a lovely serene cafe with Buddhist books for sale. However, I prefer their Macalister Road outlet which is actually a huge grey building – you can’t miss this. Plus like everything else in Penang, parking is important. In this place, parking is very convenient. No doubt about it.)
Everything that's good for you is inside this beverage.
Everything that's good for you is inside this beverage.

The interesting part is, the ingredients for their products are mostly grown by themselves in Taiwan. Taiwan is the headquarters of Tzu Chi Merit Society – this is where they started some 40 years ago with just 1 nun (Master Cheng Yen) and 30 housewives. Today, Tzu Chi is a global phenomenon with a task force of volunteers all over the globe, ready to serve at any moment’s notice. Their dedication is truly incredible.
Tzu Chi sells about 4 different types of instant bean drinks
Tzu Chi sells about 4 different types of instant bean drinks

The bean powders are purely vegan and consists of ingredients like Job’s tears, almonds, Chinese yam, oats, sesame seeds, lotus seeds, black beans, brown rice and more. The bean cereal powder are suitable for both young and old and a good replacement for sugared beverages. I also discovered a plant called Jew’s Mallow when I bought one of the bean beverages which contain Jew’s Mallow which is cultivated in Taiwan by their master and her disciples.  Jew’s Mallow is also called Kerria Japonica – a yellow flowering shrub with leaves used as a vegetable.
While I was there buying these bean powder beverages for family and friends (and you know how suddenly one thinks of everyone who could and would benefit from this healthy beverage), the Tzu Chi volunteer asks if I’d like to try their instant noodles. She said their noodles were often in high demand and taste great, without the MSG! I am not a noodle fan so I politely declined.
They also sell a quick version of rice gruel or instant porridge where you just add hot water and presto, your porridge is ready. I heard that this was an innovation of theirs especially when Tzu Chi serves in disaster areas – easily cooked or hot food makes a big difference to disaster survivors. Even their rice is of this instant version – just add hot water and you get rice immediately.
What I especially like about Tzu Chi products is that they’re made with the Earth in mind. Their packaging is recyclable. And their design is simple yet elegant. None of the Jinjang designs – no way. Like their founder, Tzu Chi volunteers live a simple, practical lifestyle and often are serene, calm people. The entire Tzu Chi organisation lives and breathes simplicity and practicality.
And if I have a choice when buying responsibly, I will. In this case, you are not only buying a healthy bean beverage for yourself but also supporting an organization which does good.

In Those Days…

It came up when Nic and I were at Vern’s little birthday do a few nights ago.
After a very filling round of Japanese style cheesecake which her mom had lovingly baked, we sat around her dining table, talking with her friends.
“Remember those days of dial-up Internet?” I asked casually.
Now that set off a round of reminiscing – I thought Vern was not old enough to know “those” days, circa 1996  when dial-up Internet was the best we thought we could have. (She does remember!)
I was lucky – I was working part-time for my professor and could use her PC and it had a pretty smooth Internet connection, thanks to USM. Still when I got back to our shared student house, I borrowed my housemate’s PC and Internet to check email (which was Hotmail then! It was so cool to have a Hotmail address).
Remember those annoying dial-up sound which told the world you were connecting to the ‘Net?
Remember how you had to quickly download your emails to Outlook so that you could disconnect?
I had an obligation to disconnect the line quickly because in those days (gosh, I feel ancient now and it was just a little over 15 years ago) if one used the phone line for the ‘Net, no one could call in! And of course, every minute I was online was costing money so it was best to read one’s email offline!
So if there’s anything to be thankful for, it has to be broadband Internet and wifi.
It has to be the convenience of all the gadgets we all own and use now which allows us to connect easily to the cyberworld which has become part of our life now. (For most people, it is a MAJOR part of their lives.)
I mean, I wouldn’t even have a business if not for the Internet! I’d probably still be slogging in some 9 to 5 corporate job. OK, I did slog once many moons ago but I actually had fun when I was in the corporate world. I’m the sort who embraces the good of anything that comes my way.
Do you remember those early Internet days? What were you doing? What was your first online experience?
Mine was in campus. We lined up for PCs in the Makmal Komputer (we each were alloted an hour only!) and we could use the Internet for free. In those early days, we had Hotmail addresses and funnily enough, we only emailed our own coursemates, whom we saw each day during classes. That was also because not everyone out there was as sophisticated as we were. Email addresses were unheard of!
Isn’t it fantastic how far we’ve all come?
P/S: Merry Christmas to you too as you have been an important part of my Mayakirana –  my Internet journey. If you weren’t supportive, I’d have no one to write for! 😉

What's In The Air Over There?

Over the last few months, I have heard that friends of friends have decided to uproot themselves, give up their citizenship and go away to a better place.
The first question out of my mouth is “Why?”
Then I go all silent.
I know why. We all know why. It’s not just about “better education for our kids” or “free education” or “they use English over there”.
It’s all of the above and more. More is the unspoken fear and worry because Malaysia today is not like the Malaysia we grew up with. (I assume you are in your 30s and understand what I mean.)
And more and more people are leaving, whether we like it or not.
Our southern neighbour does a great job of luring people – better pay, cleaner living, safer living. I felt so safe when I was in Singapore although my sis cautions me with “Low crime does not mean no crime”. But you see, I have that much of faith in Singapore and its governance. I cannot say the same for Penang or Malaysia.
When I was 14, I had a friend who made the big move to Australia. Her entire family upped and left. Her parents were teachers and they decided staying in Malaysia wasn’t worth it anymore. I didn’t know it then that she was moving to Australia. She told us that she was just moving to Sabah. It was a convenient cover-up, lest we all probed too much. It never occurred to me to ask her why Sabah of all places?
Once her family was settled in Sydney, she wrote and apologized for lying to me. I didn’t see much reason to be angry with her. It was easier telling a lie than having to explain why she had to uproot and go to Australia.
Over the years, we wrote and wrote. In those days, we used the thin blue paper Aerogrammes, writing till the very edges before they were sealed and posted. I could see that her Australian education was so much better than what we were doing in secondary school. Her first Sex Education class surprised her – taboo subjects (well, taboo in Malaysian classrooms anyway) – were taught openly in a mixed class of teenage boys and girls. No one flinched or giggled embarrassingly either. Pictures were shown too.
It was a truly global experience back then reading her letters of how she was coping in school. In comparison, my school life seemed rather dull!
Most friends are upping and leaving for Australia or New Zealand. Some became Singaporeans (happily).
And through it all, I wonder how it feels like to move away.
Then someone tells me this – isn’t it very much like how our ancestors in China did it? One day they decided they had to leave for green pastures and to find a better world for their future children so they hopped on a ship sailing for this part of Asia. They heard of the money to be made. They landed here and decided to make this place their home.
Perhaps it is a new wave of ‘seeking greener pastures’. But I can’t help feeling melancholy over these news.
Will I also do this one day? Get fed-up of all this and leave, never looking back? But how about the people who are fighting against the system, hoping to change it so our future children can have a better country to inherit? Will I give up so easily or will I fight to right the problems in this current system?
It’s that one question which flummoxes me.
What do you think of emigration? Will you do it? What would make you leave and give up your Malaysian citizenship?

Ferrerro Rocher Chocolate Banana Muffins

Yeah, you read right.
And it all happened because Mary told me that chocolates never expire, especially if you store them well in the fridge. Sure, they may look a bit different but unless the white spots are fungus, you’re generally all right with chocolates.
She recounted how she dug out all her lovely imported chocolates and melted them all down in a bowl over a hot stove. Next she chunked them up into bite-size pieces and put them into an airtight container. So now she gets to enjoy her chocolates – actually all her chocolates – with one bite!
For me, I always get Ferrerro Rocher chocolates. You know, the type with gold wrapping paper? I have way too many of these chocolates in my fridge sometimes, especially with the holiday season and people look at me and think,”A-ha, I think she needs a box of Ferrerro Rocher chocs!”
So I thought about Mary and her advice.
I decided to make some Ferrerro Rocher chocolate muffins.
I always improvise a recipe when I have the time. And I like digging my fridge, unearthing all manner of ingredients I could pop into the recipe.
This time, I had some frozen leftover bananas and a box of Ferrerro chocolates. And making muffins are like the easiest thing to do on a Sunday night. You just mix up the wet or liquid ingredients; then mix up the dry or flour ingredients. After that, it’s really child’s play. Fold the dry into the wet, spoon mixture into muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes. That’s it.
I call this the basic muffin recipe. With this basic muffin recipe, you can add anything you like. Or in my case, I added anything I could find in my fridge. (I made dark chocolate and cranberry muffins previously using this recipe and it turned out fabulous.)
YOUR BASIC MUFFIN RECIPE:
Dry ingredients (mix in a bowl):
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients (mix in another bowl):
1 egg, beaten
180 ml UHT milk
125 ml corn oil
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Method:
Using a spatula, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Work quickly with swift strokes to blend them well. Add your Favourite Stuff* but do not over-mix.
Spoon into muffin cases and bake in a pre-heated oven (180 deg Celcius) for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the muffin comes out clean. This recipe makes 12 small muffins.
* Favourite Stuff
Here is where the combinations get really fun.
For this recipe, I roughly chopped up 8 Ferrerro Rocher chocolates. Don’t chop too fine or you won’t get anything to munch when the muffin’s done. I also added 3 large mashed bananas. The combination is good because anything chocolatey and banana-like is always yummy.
In my other muffin recipe, I added chunky chopped dark chocolate and dried cranberries which are also a good pairing. The dark bitter chocolate offsets the cloying sweetness of the dried cranberries.
You can make savoury muffins too. Using the same basic muffin recipe, omit vanilla essence and brown sugar. Replace with 1 teaspoon of dried thyme and 1 cup grated cheese. Then you can add everything else savoury which you like: olives, more cheese, bell peppers, nuts. It’s really about your taste and how you like your muffins.
Do try out the muffin recipe and come back with your feedback. I’d love to hear about your baking success.

A Tiger Muses…

After so long, I thought I’d start 2011 early with a new little design in my blog.
The black theme was getting on my nerves after a while. And to also give your eyes a break – the font size is a lot bigger and easier to read.
I thought of adding FUN into the blog with a splash of orange. It’s a lovely lively colour plus see those animals on the top and side of this blog?
There’s a silly-looking Tiger. And a goggle-eyed Monkey. And a pink Pig and a Hippo. And if you look really closely, you can see a tiny Panda balancing on a ball.
I’m born in the Year of The Tiger. Hence the major character is a Tiger. A cute one.
The other animals were chosen by Nic. He added the animals to complement the tagline: Life is a zoo, which animal are you?
I think life is always like a zoo. There’s fun but there’s also a little bit of pragmatic melancholy – seeing those wistful animals looking back at you. At times I wonder who is looking at whom? Who are the animals really? The ones hooting and making noises at the animals seem more like it.
Once in a while, everyone needs a new refresh and new look. It’s a burst of energy when you get something fresh and exciting.
As always, MayaKirana.com will remain advertisement-free and clutter-free.

Catching My Breath

I have been missing. I know. I have been terribly guilty of going AWOL.
The past few weeks have been busy times for me and Nic and the studio. We’ve been involved in so many new things – new clients, consulting work, etc. that it’s been a whirlwind. Who says the year winds down as it nears Christmas? It’s literally revving up for us.
I’ve barely had time to catch my breath but I really look forward to the remaining few weeks of 2010. I’m involved in some personal projects which I’m really excited about and that is always a great reason to look forward to 2011.
This year I’ve gone travelling quite a bit – HK, India and Singapore.
Muz asked me if I am going away for a year-end trip. Nope. I am staying put. I need a break from packing and unpacking. Even Margaret hates it when we go away – she goes off to Dr Sarah for boarding and boy, does she hate being cooped up in a cage after all the freedom she gets in the house.
I was thinking of Korea next year but maybe not. Perhaps we’ll be back in HK before we know it. There’s still so much of HK we haven’t explored. In many ways, travel for us is always about business research and discovery, not so much the touristy stuff. How is business done? Why does a concept or system work in that country? All travel does is stimulate more of our brain juices.
Over the past year, Nic and I have been thinking really hard about where we want to go with this business. While we are tugged in so many directions, I know we can do really well by focusing on what we are good at.
This also means we are moving higher up the value chain. It is great for us in terms of income and satisfaction. It means we are growing up and growing out of a phase. Which for me is truly an exciting time ahead as we challenge ourselves to grow to the next phase of our business. Our roles will change for sure. I remember those days when Nic used to tell me that he’d be happy as a successful freelancer, working from home.
It’s funny to think that we both used to work from home. I never worked in my pajamas but I loved and loathed the work-at-home ethic. I loved the idea of not having to submit to regular work hours but I also loathed that I never had to submit to regular work hours – the work hours just spilled into the rest of my life. Working with Nic meant seeing him all the time. We saw each other at breakfast, lunch and dinner. We shared the same home office. It could grate on my nerves sometimes. Luckily we now have an office we can escape to. When he goes to the office proper, I am in the home office. We get space this way. Odd but it works.
My WomenBizSENSE group is also coming along nicely now – we just capped the year with a very sentimental Xmas Party at the Handicapped Children’s Centre. I am reminded how beautiful it is to contribute to a child’s smile. This year we learnt from the events we undertook and our aim is to get better at this each year. Next year marks our 5th year anniversary for WomenBizSENSE. That’s truly a milestone I am proud of.
But the Xmas Party also reminded me of love and loss – there’s a little boy who won’t have that many days to live. And yet he looks so happy and carefree. The bleakness of this truth hurts and though I don’t know his parents, I somehow feel that it’s never right to lose a child with today’s medical advancements.
Which brings me back to my blog.
I’ve so many posts I wanted to write; some are half-written. My ideas and thoughts flow faster than my fingers can fly over the keyboard. And time, yes, time.
What perfect irony that Time eludes me.
It’s really odd that we all seek more time. But a friend taught me to value my own time. She said that we all have a fair amount of time. And we can’t keep saying yes to everything because these yes-es will rob us of that precious time.
She’s right.
And so these days, if the meetings are a time-waster, I do not attend. If the people aren’t the ones I want to meet, I do not go either. I want to only be with people I like and enjoy.
And I am unapologetic about it. I guess age helps too.
If I am not my own woman at 36 (going on 37), who am I going to be? So I can be brutally honest sometimes if people demand too much of my time. And don’t even talk about weekends either. I need to take back my time if I am to honour and respect myself.
Don’t be surprised that the next time you visit, there’s a new look for this blog. I am a bit tired of this old design too.
I promise not to go too AWOL…. I have way too many stories to blog about!
What do you intend to do more of, and less of, next year? I think resolutions are overrated anyway but I would love to hear what you think of this year. Did you get what you want? Did you learn some lessons of the heart?

Meeting Gorgeous Geeks

I was in KL last week – you can find out more in this post “Meeting the Gorgeous Ones Last Week”.
It was a very last-minute plan to go to KL but I am really glad I did.
Although some meetings did not materialize, I still had a grand time. And travelling on Aeroline was comfortable. The bus was fast without speeding crazily and I enjoyed the time (4.5 hours in the bus) amusing myself with Paul Theroux’s travel book on China called Riding The Iron Rooster.
I didn’t forget that my India posts are still on the back burner. I have so many more tales to share.
Perhaps one day I can be as prolific as Theroux and write these amusing stories into a book.
And to the brave souls who are doing the Penang Bridge Marathon this Sunday, good luck!