WoW! : Ang Choon Bok's 74th Birthday

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A YOUNG MAN'S 74th BIRTHDAY LUNCH : February 2013

The "Young Man" kicking-off the dinner with Loh Sang.

 My wifey & me were most honored when my younger brother Luke invited us to celebrate his father-in-law, Mr. Ang Choon Bok's 74th Birthday. We call him the Young Man because even at his age he is still so full of live and has a young man's attitude.

We held it at the May Chixuan Restaurant at Damansara Perdana.

It was a good choice as we had eaten here before and the food is unique & delicious (see YummY! - Sumptuous Seafood @ May Chixuan)

Many relatives attended.

A relative young couple and their son.

Luke's wife, Elaine with her father, uncle & auntie.

As it was near Chinese New Year, the lunch meal kicked-off with the traditional "loh sang" (prosperity toss). Sorry, no photos on the tossing as, I was busy tossing away too - cannot miss getting good luck for richness.

Next came the "Birthday Longevity Noodles", a must have for any birthday do.
Just in case that you may thinking - No, this picture is not blurred, it's the steam coming out from the mee!

The third dish was "Ham Yee Fah Lam Poh", claypot stewed pork belly with salted fish.

Spicy, salty and one of my favorites that goes well with fried rice.

Tofu with Japanese straw mushrooms topped with slices of carrots, button mushrooms and some whole pea pods.

Deep Fried Chicken with onion rings in sweet-sour sauce.

Stir-fried Paku vegetable in Sambal Belacan.

Stir-fried mixed vegetable - simple & colorful.

Steamed grouper in garlic-soy sauve, fresh and tasty.

Surprisingly, Luke's daughter Margie took to the head quiet well - she likes the eye-part including the eye balls! That is also one of my favorites, did she take after me - her god-father - as those are my favorites too.

Prawn curry in a whole coconut, this is one specialty that can only be found in a few places.

Close up of one of the Curried Prawns - YummY!

With the main meal over, the beautiful birthday cake was brought out...

... the candles were lit & a joyous birthday song were sung ...

with a quick puff the Young Man blew out the candles.

With his secret wish, he cut the birthday cake.

"Happy Birthday, Young Man"

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WoW! : Motherhood

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MOTHERHOOD

(This is a story of a friend of mine which I feel I should share with you all)

These days, women find it harder and harder to conceive, especially working women. Perhaps it is due to the pressure and the rat race of modern day life, or perhaps it could be due to the changes in the food that we eat.

This story is about a woman's determination to become a mother. After all, this is what drives humanity on - the urge to procreate. Let's call this woman B.

A couple of years after getting married, B found out that she had ovarian cyst. It was not something overly serious and could be healed by taking medication, no surgery was required.

Nevertheless, she was concerned about her chances to conceive, and regularly visited her gynaecologist to ensure that all is well with her recovery. After three months of medication, the gynae advised that the cyst have cleared and there should not be a problem for her to have a baby.

And after a suitable period of taking medication to strengthen her body from the effects of the cyst, she tried having a baby - of course with the help of her husband! They tried hard and as often as they could - but even after two years B was still not pregnant.

So, it was back to the gynae for more check-ups. The diagnosis  was discouraging, B has a condition known as hyper-acidity, her husband's little soldiers would have no chance of reaching their target.  More medication needed to be taken to reduce the acidity to level suitable for conceiving. B was disheartened but was still very determined; and tried all the medication prescribed. But it was to no avail! She still could not get a baby.

Having tried Western medication without results, she turned to traditional and also not so traditional Oriental methods. She was desperate. Very desperate!

She went to a Chinese Medium who through his mediumish ways diagnosed that her womb was "cold". He then had her stand at one corner,  while he stood about three feet away and started projecting warm "chi"  through his out-turned palms towards her. NO SUCCESS!

Another medium chanted prays for her and wrote Chinese "fish" characters on a holy paper for her to burn. The ashes she put in water and drank. ALSO NO SUCCESS!

Finally she went to a Chinese sinseh (a Chinese doctor trained in traditional Chinese medicine). The husband was a bit concerned as this sinseh operated from the back-portion of a Chinese Medicine Shop. A long queue of "patients" would line up at the back lane of this shop-house, waiting for their turn.

The sinseh was a scrawny old man - half sitting & half squatting on a low stool put on top of a long wooden bench (this is a very archaic way of Chinese sitting) he would just feel the pulse of his patients and be able to tell what was wrong and also what to prescribe.

When it came to B's turn she put out her hand in quiet respect, while her husband stood by with a disbelieving frown. The old man must be quite used to this situation and just nonchalantly proceeded to feel B's pulse and wrote a quick prescription.

With the prescription, B went to the front medicine shop. The shop assistant looked at the prescription, laid out three sheets of paper on the counter, opened a few drawers on a wall cabinet behind him and started to pile up the ingredients of the prescription onto the paper sheets. Three sheets of paper for three helpings and when all was completed, three bundles of medication were handed to B. She paid and went home.

When she got back home and opened the bundles, the husband stared with mouth agape! In each bundle were herbs of all kinds, ginsengs, some bark, fungus, roots, etc. Worse, there were even dried cockroaches and lizard's skin. Every three days, B was to boil each packet in a clay medicinal pot and drink the concoction. Who in their right mind would drink such an un-appetizing if not nauseating potion.
A woman determined to be a mother would!

And that concoction worked! A month later B was pregnant with her first child.

Unfortunately, she had a miscarriage. At the hospital bed she cried and cried into her pillow.
A kindly nurse consoled her, saying that since she already got pregnant once, her body chemistry has now changed and she should be able to get pregnant again.

She DID get pregnant again later without having to go through the whole difficult process.

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WoW! : My Son, The Chef Pt. 1

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MY SON, THE CHEF PT. 1

Well, technically he's not a chef - yet. He's a cadet chef, but he will be getting there. And this is his story up till now.

My son Nitaro is not much of bookworm, he just can't cope with mugging subjects.When in classes for these subjects, his attention just wanders. In junior and high school, he was a headache to many a teacher. Also a frustration to his parents - we try to let him have the best  but why oh why is he not proving himself?

Me and my wife, have tried several times to enroll him in various courses which we had hoped will interest him and which we hoped will bring him a stable and bright future. Over a period of two years, he attended a few colleges and different courses. But he just couldn't find his true calling.

In a way, part of the fault lies with us, his parents. He had - prior to all the "experimentation" of different courses - expressed his liking for cooking. He did ask me, "Dad, is it alright if I become a chef?" My answer was, "Yes, it's ok. You can be a chef. Just as long as you are good chef. Excel in anything you do.".

But somehow, that discussion became muddled in present day parents' expectation for their children - wanting them to have the best and not wanting them to fail in life. And so Nitaro went on a merry-go-round trying to live to his parents' expectations. I think that at some stage we have to just let go and let them find their own ground. Let them grow up on their own.

Anyway enough of that, we are here today to celebrate a happy occasion, his graduation as a Cadet Chef. The college put up its best for this ceremony. A proper hall with all the pomp and ceremony for presenting the certificates. Important academicians were there to present the certificates. When Nitaro received his cerificate, we were beaming with pride.

They even hosted a cocktail prepared by their student for us to savor.

There were this cute, blue Cointreau Macaron, something similar to cream-puff but with not-so-creamy-sweet filling. But I do not do justice with my description lest the French chefs come after me.

Croissants filled with a creamy filling.

Smoked Salmon Quiche

Nice bread with topping.

Smoked Duck Quiche

Nicely presented tiramisu.

Cherry Tarts.

Eating these nice food with it's wonderful tastes made me proud, not for their deliciousness but more for what my son can achieve.

His chef-teacher has also seen the potential in him and commented "Nitaro has that passion for cooking. If he puts more effort & focus into it he WILL BE a great chef!" So Nitaro, the ball is at your feet. Let's look forward to future graduations. Apply yourself full-heartedly and excel, then you will truly be - MY SON, THE CHEF - THE MASTER CHEF!

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Why Blog?

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Why do people blog? Most of the times it is just to share, other times to put down memories for their future recollection.

Me? I blog to first of all to share, and secondly (importantly to myself) to leave an impression to the world of myself. Yes, it could be a selfish reason - but I do hope that at the same time it does bring some joy to others.

Why impressions?

Most of us are mundane people. We may do memorable deeds, but most of it will be memorable to only a close group of friends or acquaintances. How many of us will be remembered when we are long gone? Yes we will be remembered, perhaps for a generation or two and probably at max three generations. And mostly by family and friends.

The question is - how many of us will be remembered by the rest of the world - by people who totally don't know us - by strangers.

Not many of us will be renown like Albert Einstein, John Kennedy, John Walton, Babe Ruth etc. And even less of us will have done infamous deeds like Jack the Ripper, Adolf Hitler or even Botak Chin. 

These people can easily be recalled for their deeds or misdeeds.

Writers like Enid Blyton, Jules Verne; and artist like Picasso, Leonardo will be remembered by the hard-copy of books and paintings they leave behind.

What about us, the man in the street, the general public?

Blogging gives us - the nondescript - a chance to leave that little mark in the world. That little hint that we were around; when someone in future click and search and found our blog.

They will read about us, about our experiences, our travels, our food, our thoughts, our likes and our dislikes.

Yes! Blogging gives us that chance to leave that small mark to show that 

WE EXISTED!

August 2017 - Postscript 1

After sharing my blogs with my friends and acquaintances, my perception of blogging have somewhat changed. I realize that now I blog more to share my experiences with my friends.

Sharing with them:

- my travel adventures

- the food I have tasted

- my hilarious life stories

- in biking, sharing with those keen to pick up cycling, the pitfalls one can face in purchasing bicycles and its accessories.

- with my biking friends, the fun and tribulations we have in riding together.

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