A Journey Called LIFE...

Oyster Omelette

2009-06-12T23:24:00.004+08:00

I love the Oh Chean (蠔煎) or oyster omelette I had tonight. The oyster are so ~~gigantic~~ big and juicy. Tua-tua liap. Think about it also I can salivate.

*Slurp*

Who Am I?

2009-06-01T22:12:00.002+08:00

I'm cute, I'm adorable. Who am I? :)

Bak Chang

2009-05-28T20:43:00.000+08:00

It's the time of the year again. Just in case if you "catch no ball", I'm talking about Bak Chang Festival or Duan Wu Jie (端午节) or Dragon Boat Festival. Today is the 5th day of the 5th month in Chinese Lunar Calendar. Actually hoh, I just realised Bak Chang festival was today two days back, after I take a look at the Chinese Lunar Calendar on my iPod Touch. :P

Which one do you prefer?

The ~~healthier~~ mini kee chang or kan sui (alkaline) chung?

Or the bigger bak chang or ham yuk chung?

Regardless which ever chang u like, home made chang is still the BEST. :)

Queen of the Fruits

2009-05-24T23:50:00.004+08:00

It's now the beginning of the seasonal tropical fruit season again. Hence, we can see the seasonal tropical fruits such as rambutans, langsat, mangosteen and durian starting to flood the local market.

One of my favourite is the Mangosteen, aka the Queen of Fruits. (The "wife" of durian? Since Durian is known as the King of Fruits. Hahaha). Well, well.. One is "Cooling" whilst the other one is "Heaty". Hence they can become good and loving couple. :)

Even my dog loves it. Ya, my little Min Pin eats almost everything, be it meat, vegetable or fruits. :)

Sibu Night Market

2009-05-14T23:45:00.008+08:00

Besides the ~~piggy head and chicken head and neck~~ exotic foodstuff in the Sibu pasar malam @ night market, there are several other yummy mouth watering foodstuff at ~~cheap~~ affordable price.

Setting up and preparing their stalls for the night market.

Wow... they even sell pre-packed economy rice or chap fan. If you are not a fan of those exotic foodstuff, u can buy whole grilled chicken or chicken thigh/drumstick here too. :)

Gigantic meat roll. Frankly speaking, this is the first time I see such gigantic and fat meat roll. Looks yummy though.. I should have buy one lah that day. *Regret*.

Colourful pao or steamed bun. :)

Soya bean drinks and other drinks refilled inside mineral water bottle. Not only that, the mineral drink labels ~~not yet removed~~ are still intact.

The most yummy foodstuff in town... Siew Mai. :)

Deep fried bread or roti goreng daging.

The meat-stuffed kompia, also known as the "chinese burger". Good stuff. Only 40 cents per piece or 5 for RM 2.00 :)

The mouth watering siew mai again. The siew mai here are gigantic with different shape, enable more fillings. :)

Everything is huge here... including the steamed cake. :)

And last but not least... wanna some?

Exotic !!

2009-05-12T23:56:00.003+08:00

Grilled chicken head & neck. Dare to eat this? Fear Factor foodstuff. No way. I will give this a miss. Too gross :P

Wah.. This is even more interesting. Piggy head. Btw, this has nothing to do with Swine Flu.

Good to see, but I won't eat it too. Too exotic to be consumed. :)

*Photos taken at the Night Market (or Pasar Malam) in Sibu, Sarawak.

Chicken Market

2009-04-27T23:55:00.000+08:00

After bidding farewell to the wrapped chicken & ducks in the market, now we continue our "chicken talk", by paying a visit to the nearby chicken market.

Hundreds of hen available here in the market. I will refer them as chicken instead, although these are "grown up chicken" :P Most of the chicken here are awaiting to be slaughtered few meters ahead. And the poor chicken have to witness the slaughtering of their own kinds. So traumatizing for the poor kokokai..

I won't include in the bloody scene of slitting the chicken throat. Too ~~scary~~ bloody to be included here. Anyone knows what is this black cylindrical container with a wider white container underneath for? Yeah, the slaughtered chicken will be placed here, and the narrow black container will prevent the chicken from moving around ~~prevent the headless chicken from running around hence thrasing the blood all over the place.~~ The white container underneath collects the drained blood.

This scene is not suitable for those who are phobic of blood as well as phobia of chicken. Notice the pool of blood on the floor? And the blood stained chicken feathers were all over the place.

I haven't see such scene for quite some time already. Reminiscing the days seeing my parents slitting the chicken's throats, draining the blood and plucking and removing the chicken feathers in the backyard in the 80's. I believe kids in big cities won't have the opportunities to witness such scenes.

Cleaning the chicken after plucking and removing the feathers.

Notice the slit mark at the chicken's throat with clotted blood stain?

Uncle is cleaning the chicken and plucking the remaining fur with scapula prior to ~~marketing~~ selling the "manually processed" chicken.

Happy 4th Blogiversary

2009-04-25T15:01:00.000+08:00

Although I didn't blog much for the last few months, but I haven't abandon this space of mine yet. Today (25.4.2009) marks my weblog's 4th birthday. Time really flies. I have get to know many of you all out there throughout the year, and quite a number has become my friends in real life, not only virtual acquaintances. Although quite a majority of people that i know of via blogging have stopped blogging as time goes, but I think I won't join their bandwagon yet. With this 4th blogiversary, I'm planning to revive this weblog again.

Happy 4th Blogiversary to http://chen22.blogspot.com aka A Journey Called Life... Should i give it a new home? I meant getting a new domain?

And last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for spending your valuable time on this little humble space of mine. Terima Kasih Banyak-Banyak :)

Chicken & Duck Talk

2009-04-22T23:59:00.000+08:00

Is this something new to u? Why all the chicken being tied up? Did they do something wrong, hence being punished? :)

These are common scenes seen in Sarawak Market. The chicken & ducks are rolled and tied up with newspaper and raffia string for sales.

Some sellers even write the weight and the price on the wrapping newspaper, as in the photo above.

Duckie praying.. "Anyone wanna bring me back home? But please bring me back as a pet duck, and please don't cook/eat me" :P

Sarikei Jetty

2009-04-18T16:01:00.004+08:00

Many might just ignore those small "insignificant" details in life, but I don't. I love to observe the happenings and little details around me, unless if I'm rushing for time.

This was taken at the Sarikei jetty in Sarawak three weeks back.

The wooden plank or footbridge.

Watch out your steps. Look at the "holes" or missing wood in between the plank.

If you step wrongly on the plank, u might drop into the river instead. By the way, what is the girl doing here?

The filial girl is waiting for her granny. Her granny's boat had finally arrived.

Granny or Nenek walking bare feet on the boat toward the connecting wooden bridge, which is a piece of wood.

Granny started to walk on the little wooden bridge.

Granny passing her slippers to her grand daughter.

Scary lah seeing how the granny cross the bridge. I don't know whether I dare to do that or not as I scared I might lost balance and fell into the river. :P

Granny managed to cross the bridge, safe and sound. :)

Poor Cat :(

2009-04-11T23:25:00.002+08:00

I took this photo while walking on the street in Sibu, Sarawak.

What u see in this photo?
Electric pole?
A huge flower pot with green plant?
An old tree trunk?
or A kitty cat?

Yeah, a poor kitty cat being TIED UP to the electric pole. This is the first time I see a cat being tied up leh. Poor meow meow. Why your owner tied u up? :(

Gosh...

2009-04-02T14:20:00.002+08:00

Time really flies. It's already April 2009. Sorry for the lack of posts lately (till I kena scolding by someone for ~~neglecting~~ not updating my blog) :P

I'm now in Sarawak, went back for Ching Ming Festival (to pay respect to my beloved late daddy in Sarikei), and had a good time catching up with some old friends (old classmates) whom I haven't meet up for ages. Reminiscing those good old days. It is amazing how time flies. Everything seems like just happened yesterday. I went back to visit my old school too (my kindergarden, primary school and secondary school). Will go back to Penang this coming weekend. Will post up more pictures soon.

Fishing Boats @ Gurney Drive

2009-03-17T19:49:00.000+08:00

Do you ever wonder how the fishermen reach their boats which are placed quite a distance away from the beach?

This is how they reach their boats.. :)

By using another "mini boat".

Or to be exact, it's more like using a piece of modified floating wood/plastic?

Another fisherman rowing to his boat :)

Both of them have reached their "destination" :)

Thaipusam 2009

2009-02-26T21:52:00.000+08:00

I'm kinda lazy lately, hence the delay in posting. The following are photos taken during the recent Thaipusam Festival (earlier this month, on 8 February 2009) at Waterfall Road, on the way to Botanical Garden in Penang. I have taken a total of 600++ photos but I will only post a few here due to space constraint.

A group of Hindu devotees assemble in front of Waterfall Temple.

Devotee carrying pot filled with milk as offerings.

Devotee receiving blessing as well as a dab of ash onto the forehead, by the Hindu priest.

Milk overflowing..

Small kid drinking milk while the adult devotee carrying pot of milk as offering. :)

Parents carrying a small boy/or girl to the temple using sugar canes.

"People mountain people sea" aka human traffic jam, definitely not for those with crowd phobia.

A young kavadi bearer, I wonder how old is this little boy?

A group of devotee coming out from the Hindu temple. What u notice in this photo? Besides the body piercing and the colourful Hindu God statues on top of the milk pot, the second guy in the picture walked with closed/covered eyes.

Extreme body and face piercing with mini pots hooked to curved needles.

Oucchhhh...

Piercing the cheek with skewer.

Close up shot of the back piercing.

Huge hooks with the gigantic heavy weight pot..

I can feel the pain by just looking at the gigantic hooks piercing the skin and muscle, but it leave no pain to the person in trance.

Chinese devotee. Not for the faint-hearted.

*Gulp* I can't help but to think of... Will it leave behind a big hole on the cheek when the skewer was removed subsequently?

Devotees along Waterfall Road.

Till we meet again next year :)

Pineapple

2009-02-16T21:40:00.002+08:00

I saw this ~~Pineapple~~ Ong Lai joss stick or incense last weekend (on Chap Goh Mei/last day of CNY when I strolled along the Pitt Street (aka Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling). We are so used with the Gigantic Dragon joss stick but pineapple joss stick? Interesting... First time I came across such a scene. Hence I can't resist but to take one snapshot. :)

Chap Goh Mei

2009-02-09T18:59:00.004+08:00

So fast time flies, today is Chap Goh Mei, aka the last day of Chinese New Year. Have you had enough lokam or tangerines? I haven't have enough yet. Since today is also the Chinese Valentine, anyone throw any lokam into the river/lake/sea? If u have any extra lokam or tangerines, don't waste it by throwing into the river but pass it to me. But NOT the rotten one, please ... the edible one, of coz. LOL

Arrowhead

2009-02-03T23:59:00.001+08:00

I had read about chinese arrowhead (also known as nga ku or chi ku in Cantonese) but never get to taste this little ~~bugger~~ waterchestnut-like thingy in the past as it's not available in my hometown. ~~Poor me~~.

Finally I get to eat the thick arrowhead chips this year. My goodness.. It's so yummy and addictive. Chomp... chomp... chomp... and within minutes it's all gone. Forget about my favourite potato chips. :P

Too bad.... Arrowhead chips is only available during Chinese New Year period. Sigh.. :(

Happy "Niu" Year

2009-01-24T11:33:00.005+08:00

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a blessed and prosperous Chinese New Year, and enjoy your gathering together with family members, relatives and friends, either physically or virtually.

祝新年快乐，万事如意，身体健康，恭喜发财.
Gong Xi Fa Cai

MOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
Mooooooooolaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Red Durian

2009-01-20T23:04:00.001+08:00

I have read about the exotic RED-coloured Sabah jungle durian and have always wanted to taste it. (Curious mah, since we are so used and so accustomed to the white and yellow coloured durian flesh. But RED? Interesting). I believe many of you have never heard about the red durian. I don't know whether it's only available in Sabah? At least I have never see it in Sarawak, nor Peninsular Malaysia.

My dream finally come true when we passed by the local market in Beaufort, Sabah. I was so happy when I saw those red-flesh durian. Kekekekkekekke... Words cannot describe my feelings at that time. So of course I won't let go and buy some. The taste is similar like the wild jungle durian in Sarawak, just that the colour is different ( The local version in Sarawak, the flesh is orange or yellow instead of red colour).

Yeah, now I can proudly proclaimed that I have tasted the RED DURIAN! :D

Potato Talk

2009-01-07T11:22:00.002+08:00

Mmmm... First post in 2009 and I'm talking about Potato? Nope, this has nothing to do with Couch Potato. :p

Nothing to do with my dying Potato Plant either, which had already RIP :(

But my favourite potato snacks, presenting...

Lay's Potato Chips. (Used to like Pringles in the past, but that was way back in the past = in the early 90's).

And the Pik-Nik Shoestring potato crisps (original flavour) :)

p/s: Potato, u are still the best, if not the best-est. :)

2.0.0.9

2008-12-31T21:00:00.000+08:00

Ah Boy & I wish everyone Happy ~~New~~ 牛 Year 2009.

p/s: Ah Boy wants siew pai kuat :)

2008

2008-12-29T19:55:00.004+08:00

Two more days and 2008 is coming to an end. Too many things happened this year. My younger brother just get married recently in Kuching, Sarawak. I had done the Silk Road Tour and visited Western Australia. Not forgetting to mention I managed to meet back online with lotsa long lost classmates, schoolmates, coursemates, uni friends, ex colleagues via Facebook. I have also bought few lenses this year ~ Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8, Sigma 18-200 mm f/3.5-6.3 with OS and Canon 50 mm f/1.8. Get myself an 8Gb Ipod Touch too & I love it very much. However, just recently, my ~~MacBook~~ Mackie had a "heart transplant" due to hardware failure. :(

Two most heart breaking events that happened this year were I lost two dear close friends and colleagues, Dr Tan Bee Hooi and Dr Alison Lim Yee Hoon within few months this year. Their passing is really shockening but their presence will always remain in my heart. I'm truly glad knowing them and to have them as my friends. Their passing reminds me that I shall treasure and cherish what I have and and do not take things for granted nor procrastinate as life is short. And to those who loves to complaint about small matters in life, I want to tell u that "Just being alive is such a lovely and wonderful thing". Some unfortunate ones are denied of that priviledges. I miss both of you dearly, Bee Hooi and Yee Hoon. Although both of you are no longer here with me physically, your spirit will continue to live on...

Hopefully 2009 will be a better and more promising year...

Winter Solstice

2008-12-20T20:30:00.001+08:00

I have totally forgotten that tomorrow is Winter Solstice @ Dong Zhi (冬至/过冬) till I visited Air Itam market this evening (for ~~few bowls~~ a bowl of pipping hot mouth watering delicious air itam longkang laksa) and saw several road side stalls selling the colourful GRB (glutinous rice ball) or tang yuen next to the market. Time really flies. It's the time of the year again...

I haven't made any ~~fish ball~~ tang yuen yet. Will only do so tomorrow (I still have half a packet of glutinous rice flour). The above glutinous rice ball or tang yuen photo was taken during my brother's wedding end of last month, and yeah, I made those tang yuen. ;)

Coconut Jelly

2008-12-13T16:36:00.003+08:00

Yeah, Coconut Jelly. I'm not talking about Nata de Coco, but this....

I get to know about the Coconut Jelly (aka Manjung Jelly) from CK Lam's post few days back :)

Bought few coconut jelly back home since I love coconuts at the price of RM 3.70 per coconut (from the coconut shop in Dato Keramat Road, nearby the Patani Road Police Station). Instead of coconut water, u get the smooth and yummy coconut jelly. I'm lovin' it. :)

Marmite Breadstick

2008-12-08T18:28:00.000+08:00

While buying my groceries @ Cold Storage today, I saw packets of Marmite Breadsticks on the shelf. I remember reading it somewhere (Can't remember whether is it from Fibrate's blog or somewhere else?). The product is pricey, one small packet for RM 6.99 (product from UK). But since I never tasted it before, and out of curiosity I bought one packet back home.

Errr.... My verdict is... I won't buy it again cos I can hardly taste the marmite. :( I rather have marmite on my bread or toast instead of eating this. Btw, that's just my own personal opinion. Anyone here tasted it before?