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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Twisty Tales : Buying My 2nd Folding Bike

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Buying My 2nd Folding Bike

THIS REALLY HAPPENED TO ME!

I have recently taken up biking, riding bicycles as a leisure sports and not competitive biking. This, after a close friend Sin encouraged me to buy a foldie, i.e. folding bikes. Foldies can be, well, folded up and put into the car boot. Drive somewhere and assemble the bike within a minute or two - and off we go riding.

Sin seems to have taken his bike to many places, riding with one foldie group or another to small towns, parks, long-trails, etc. Reading his blogs hApPy HaPpY, encouraged me further. After all I need the exercise too.

Initially, I bought a basic foldie. One with bare minimum gear-speeds and not to expensive; as I wasn't sure whether my foray into biking would last. Whether it would just mushroom up and fade away all too soon. I started riding on my own, then joined Sin for some group rides getting to make new friends. We soon formed our own smaller group of 6. And I was really enjoying biking.

Just after 2weeks from my first purchase and I was bitten by the biking bug!

But some of the rides were tough, going up steep roads, and my basic 7-speed foldie just wasn't built for it. At some of the steeper and longer slopes I just couldn't make it to the top, humbly dismounting & pushing my bike up.

So what should I do? Up-grade! My biking buddies advised me. Upgrade!

Off I went around town with my son Nitaro, looking for better bikes - lighter and with more gear speeds. Surprisingly, there were so many shops around; and so many choices available. And I learnt a fair bit during my shopping stint. Frames as light as possible (from steel frames to aluminium alloy to reinforced carbon ones). Number of gears is also important with light gear ratio to go up the steep slopes, and heavy ones for speeding along the flats. Prices ranged from 2 times to 10 times my basic foldie.

I saw a few models, good bikes at just the right price, but I wasn't sure. So I went back to Johnny, the guy I bought my first bike from as he was a helpful fellow and should be able to give me good technical advice. He was just about closing his shop. I showed him the pictures I took of the bikes I viewed.

While he was advising me, out of the corner of my eye I say a midnight black foldie with lime green stripes - an 18-speeder. It was love at first sight and I just have to get that bike. As his shop was closed for the weekend, I told Johnny that I will be back the following Monday to purchase the bike.

All through the weekend, I was dreaming of my new love. On Monday, just after work I picked up Nitaro & drove anxiously to Johnny's.

Woe and behold! The bike was gone, my love was not there anymore. "What happened?" I asked Johnny. He sheepishly answered that there was something wrong with the bike, etc. etc. etc. I strongly suspected that another purchaser must have bought the bike in the morning! When will the next shipment come, I inquired. Johnny sadly replied, "Perhaps in another month's time." ONE MONTH!

Nitaro had to rush back to meet some friends, and I grudgingly left Johnny's, grumbling all the way back home. Reaching home, I was surprised to see my wife back home early. The look on my face told of my disappointment.

I was ready to flop into bed and sleep off my sorrows, when I heard Nitaro shouting, " Hey Dad! something is wrong with the guest bedroom. I rushed over and.... 
Lo and Behold! There was that bike standing mysteriously at the corner of the room.

You see - my wife was the other purchaser!

She, Nitaro & Johnny had conspired to give me a good surprise! My first love had bought me my second love! Mwaaah!

POSTSCRIPT:
They are two stories behind buying my second foldable bike, this is the hilarious one. For the serious, technical one read - Buying My 2nd Foldie

You are at - Jotaro's Blog / Twisty Tales / Buying My 2nd Folding Bike

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WoW! : No.5 Uncle 65th Birthday

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NO.5 UNCLE 65TH BIRTHDAY

Nice Birthday Cake

My 5th Uncle came back to Penang to hold a nice birthday celebration with relatives and friends. It was a reunion of sorts, one that was eagerly awaited by many of us. My 5th Uncle is the youngest in his family, and because of that he is closer in age to many of his older nephews & nieces - sharing the same views and experiences. To the younger ones, he is also a fun uncle.

The dinner was held at May Garden Palace Restaurant at upper Penang Road. This is a simple, cozy place with delicious food.
When I was informed by Nico that he is helping Uncle 5 to organize a birthday do, I was telling myself that this is one that I should not miss and quickly re-arranged my schedule accordingly.

The Elders

I believe Uncle 5 held this dinner to remind us, the younger ones, about the importance of family and how lucky we are to be part of such a big and diverse one.
Most of the elders, few they may be, came to join in the celebration. Many others came from all over; with Uncle 5 and his better half, Adrienne comng over from New Zealand. The Lau's elders came up from Kuala Lumpur.  

The Chang's & Ooi's from Taiping & Butterworh

The Tan's from Penang

New grand-father August (with daughter Celeste) came from Ipoh, & the Chang's

Tor Pooi, Uncle 5's best friend, came with his wife Belinda. They sat with some of the Tan's from Penang.

And then there were the girls - in-law, nieces,  grand-daughters & grand-nieces.

The young guys, who were trying to act like old guys.

And the old guys who were trying to dress like young guys.

Cute, adorable nieces.

 Uncle 5's daughter brought her whole family from New Zealand too.

Kiriana was a warm host, seen here posing with Uncle 3's daughter & grand-daughter

Having not seen each other for a long time, there were hugs aplenty.

Cousin Nico, the organizer, was also a lively emcee - cracking jokes and making everybody happy with his laughter.

He made sure that the elders felt welcome with his warmth. Seen here with Uncle 1.

And his hugs - here with Auntie-in-law 5.

And smiles - here with Auntie 4.

And more hugs with Auntie 5

And even more hugs with Auntie 8.

More smiles with Uncle-out-law.....Oops! I mean Uncle-in-law 8.

Uncle 5 also kept us in laughter with his wit. There were many jokes especially about Uncle 5 famous saying - "Seh Moh Au Booi?" (In English - "Grow hair yet?"). You see, Uncle 5 during his younger days likes to take his nephews to go swimming or just for a short drive. Many of us were eager to follow him as he was a fun uncle. The younger ones who wanted to follow were simply asked "Seh Moh Au Booi?" No hair means no go!

But all too soon, the cake was brought out.

And the candles lighted up.

And Uncle 5 then blew out the candles. When asked what he wished for, I could hear him whisper "My wish has already been granted."

He gave a short speech on the importance of family closeness, love and forgiveness. We all sang "Happy Birthday" and "For he's a jolly good fella" And then he cut the cake to our cheers of "Hip Hip Hooray!"

The dinner ended, but the reunion didn't. Most of us stayed back and traded stories of the past and caught up on the present.

Thank you Uncle 5, it was a wonderful reunion. And Oh... the food was good too.


P.S.  - Sorry. No photos of the food. Too busy taking photos of relative and chatting with them.

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If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
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