What cruise, you must be asking? Well, so did I when I first heard that there were cruises in Cherating. That’s also why it’s always good to talk to the locals…in this case, the local wasn’t exactly local – she was a total Mat Salleh. Remember Amelia of Amies Cafe? Amelia was surprisingly engaging and told us we shouldn’t miss the mangrove river cruise up Sg Cherating…
Month: May 2005
The Batik Sifu – Part 3
Batik lessons weren’t really on our agenda when we were in Cherating. It just happened that we wanted to get some batik souvenirs – t-shirts, sarongs, scarves – and we saw that it costs just RM30 to paint your own batik shirt.
Being on holiday meant that one usually does nutty things. We got around talking and decided that we would take on the challenge to paint ourselves a shirt each. Despite that the last time I painted something was when I was in Form 3. And got C3 for my Lukisan paper during SRP.
Although we had wanted to learn from this grumpy guy at Limbong Art (Pantai Cherating lama), we were perhaps ‘saved’ when we dropped by a cheery Western cafe for a lunch of burgers.
Going Back to Nature in Cherating – Part 2
When we woke up the next day, the sun was out in full force and we only had one intention – to check out the Turtle Sanctuary about 10 minutes away from where we stayed. It was also next to Club Med Cherating and us being the proverbial nosey-parkers decided to drop by and see what the big deal was about Club Med. But we were in for a disappointment. More of that later. You’ll see why.
The Turtle Sanctuary is a Government-run entity and we weren’t really hoping for magic. We just hoped to see some turtles. Anyone can drop in to this non-airconditioned Malay house made to look like a mini museum with info on turtles because it is free. The place seemed rather empty that Tues morning. And the blazing sun didn’t help any.
Driving into the Unknown – Cherating, Part 1
This post is way backdated because I had meant to write about my trip to the East Coast, Cherating specifically the moment I came home to Penang. But my life, with all its swirls and turns and bumps, has a way of running away with its friends called time and opportunity. So that’s why it is, let’s see, almost 3 weeks late.
It’s not that I’ve not been to Cherating. I had.
When I was 19 years old and won a Fido Dido 7-UP Competition for teens. I think it was more of a ‘brainwash teens into gulping down 7-UP’ kind of competition because I got to invite 3 friends to a getaway in Cherating. I took along my youngest sis and my best friend and her younger sis. I forgot what Cherating was like. It was a 3-day, 2-night getaway in this obscure little hotel with some hyped-up organisers who looked like big little kids themselves.
Chicken Rice Fan
Chicken rice is very Malaysian. Everyone eats chicken rice (except of course if you are vegetarian) when:
1) they do not know what to order for lunch/dinner
2) they want something substantial (and in Malaysian terms, that means filling and what can be more filling than having rice?)
3) they want to compare chicken rice from different places
4) they help other people ‘tar-pau’ lunch/dinner and the person cannot decide what to have
5) they want some comfort food
Aim for Zero Waste
I’ve been very much into recycling ever since I was 15 and picked up a magazine on how to reduce and recycle waste. But I never got into the whole act properly until I stayed on my own, and bought my own groceries and stuff. I ended up with glass bottles, plastic containers, tin cans, junk paper, oil canisters and lots more.
Do I throw them away? Do I keep them and turn my storeroom into a junkyard of sorts?
What about used cooking oil? Can I just pour them down the drain and hope it won’t pollute the waterways?
And so, with more questions than answers, I joined an online recycling group. But the group is relatively silent on most days, and I sometimes feel as if the moderator and I are the only living creatures there.
Until I met Don Theseira and Mylene Ooi who are both not only passionate recyclers but famous as well (they’ve been profiled in the December 2002 issue of Reader’s Digest and invited all over the country to give talks on recycling and composting). I mean, really passionate. It resonates in their talk. I met them for the first time yesterday when they presented a talk on recycling at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Pulau Tikus, Penang.
A Little Bit of Kimchi at Sarang Bahng
I’ve never been very much impressed with Korean food. Aside kimchi, I cannot for the life of me remember what else is authentically Korean. Plus, I don’t take beef.
So it seemed that Korean food wasn’t much to rave about until I had to figure out a place to bring my 23-year-old cousin on her birthday.
Why I settled on Sarang Bahng, a Korean restaurant nestled near the famous (though I cannot figure why) Siriwan Thai restaurant at Krystal Point, Bayan Baru, Penang is also beyond me. Maybe I heard reviews that it was palatable. Plus I wanted to surprise my cousin too. She’s a funky young woman with eccentric tastes so I believed she would be game to try some kimchi.