Pink's

No, this is not about the female singer Pink, it’s about the hotdog stall in West Hollywood in Los Angeles. Got there after a long second day of shopping at factory outlets. (Again! Yep, can’t get enough of shopping.) See post on The Boiling Crab for the first day outing. My friends told me it’s famous. Many Hollywood stars frequented the store. There is always long queue outside the store. It is located along a major trunk road and the queue attracts attention and hence provides free advertisement for the stall. We arrived there around 1am. It was a little breezy and chilly around 15 degree Celsius. We joined behind a long queue that bent around a corner of the store and stretched towards the store’s parking lots behind the store. Most of the people in the queue came after clubbing. You could see it from their ‘heightened’ state of behaviour. Not necessary a bad thing. At least their noise broke the boredom of having stuck in a queue. There were eager tourists like us in the queue taking pictures with the store as the backdrop too. We read the brochure menu under the neon light of the store’s overhead signboard in the queue. As most of us were new to the place, we were spoilt for choice on what to order. So we decided to go for variety for everyone to share. 45 minutes past and it was for us to order. Chili Dog, Polish Dog, Nacho Cheese Chili Dog, Mullholland Drive Dog were among the few we ordered. Oh yes, I ordered a drink called Yoo-Hoo which tasted pretty much like chocolate milk. Soon we realized why the queue moved so slowly. Each waiter served us from the start till the end, i.e. from taking order, preparing our order and handing over our food. Our dogs were cooked right in front of our eyes with smoke and smell filling our eyes and shirt. The kitchen was a little squeeze with about 8 to 10 servers shuttling back and forth preparing customers’ order. There was a small indoor dining area with pictures of celebrities hanging all over the walls. More tables and chairs were available behind the store next to the car park. Most of the dogs came with minced meat source which was not unlike Malay Rendang source. Some dogs were spicier and juicier than the other. After a few bites, they all tasted the same. But it did fill our stomachs. The spiciness mixed well with the cool outside air temperature. I would go back again. But the queue might stop me though. http://www.pinkshollywood.com/index.htm

The Boiling Crab

Rented a car while I was doing a layover in Los Angeles a few weeks back. After driving around and frequented shopping malls at Ontario Mills (http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=1258) and Desert Hills (http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=6), it was time to eat.

Went to a seafood restaurant named The Boiling Crab at Euclid Street in Garden Groove near LA. (http://www.theboilingcrab.com/)

First of all, the restaurant is not big. It was crowded when we arrived. We were told the waiting time about half an hour. So we took our queue number and went to a Vietnamese Café a few doors away. A unique characteristic of this Vietnamese Café is the presence of scantily clad Vietnamese waitresses around. Although there are a lot of LCD TV screens on the four walls, the eye candies are no doubt you-know-who. And one more interesting thing, no alcohol is served. Maybe they don’t have the license to do so. What goes around that looks like jugs of beer is actually Chinese tea.

First impression inside The Boiling Crab restaurant is that of a fishing village. There are fishing nets hanging on the walls and ceiling. Framed pictures of fishermen showing off their catch, fishing rods and boat anchor are part of the interior décor.

We ordered the signature Crawfish with Rajun Cajun (original) seasoning, Dungeoness Crab with Garlic Butter seasoning, King Crab legs with The whole Sha-Bang and Fried Catfish with Cajun Fries.

All our orders came in plastic bags. We were given plastic apron to wear. Tables were lined with oil absorbent papers for easy wrapping and getting rid of the shells.

The signature crawfish is not my favourite. The Cajun source was too hot. The crawfish was too small to warrant the peeling effort. The flesh did not absorb the source. It was a little bland.

Our favorite was the King Crab Legs. It was fresh and easy to handle. The Catfish came second. Nicely fried, warm and smooth on the tougue.

After eating a few dishes, all the sources tasted the same. Perhaps it was the chilly.

Try it if you have not been there.

It's the Spirit!

Human lives have four aspects: Mental, Physical, Emotional and Spiritual.

A well-rounded individual will seek to develop all four aspects of his/her live. Any aspect that is lacking will soon affect the other aspects and resulting in imbalance and unhappiness.

As I was watching the Olympic athletes dishing out their best in their respective competing fields in Beijing, I could not help but to take my hats off to them. To be able to be their countries’ flag bearers and compete in the international arena, they have put in countless years of practice and hardwork, not mentioning the obstacles and setbacks encountered along the way.

To be able to compete under pressure, the athletes need to be in their top-notch condition in all four aspects of their lives. Although the easiest to be seen is the physical aspect of the athletes – in fact, their performance is measured solely based on that – the other three aspects of lives play equally if not more significant roles in shaping their results.

China's national hero Liu Xiang was mentally, emotionally and spiritually prepared to take on the 110m hurdles event, but he failed in his physical aspect in that he suffered cramp at the beginning of the race. And so, his fellow Chinese supporters’ emotions and spirits were subsequently dented too.

During the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, as the athletes from around the world march into their respective rows, the TV commentator made a somewhat cruel but true statement: 90 per cent of the athletes there are going to go home without any medals, they might as well savor the glorious moments now.

If only three out of the ten contestants are going to get the top three medals, why are the rest of the athletes bother to take part? Yes, it’s the human spirit at play. Just like 95 per cent of the business start-ups fail within the first five years, why do people still trying? They don’t call it Entrepreneur Spirit for no reason.

Balance

Making things happen	Letting things happen
Doing	Being
Using my mind	Listening to my heart
Reason	Passion
Earth	Heaven

Hi, my name is Kedah!

I fly to New York Newark Airport every month. And I do not know what are the reasons that I am chosen, I will have to go through the secondary screening immigration procedure every time I step foot on the United States' soil without fail.

This secondary screening immigration procedure is called the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or NSEERS in short.

The following paragraph is taken off from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website (http://www.ice.gov/):
“Those who fall under the second category – nonimmigrants – must also adhere to the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) also known as Special Registration, put in place after September 11, 2002, to keep track of those entering and leaving our country in order to safeguard U.S. citizens and America’s borders. NSEERS was the first step taken by the Department of Justice and then by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in order to comply with the development of the Congressionally- mandated requirement for a comprehensive entry-exit program.”

Most of my colleagues, and I believe most of you reading this right now, do not have to go through this lengthy procedure. What you normally have to go through is like what is being practiced in many other countries: get your passport and customs form checked and chopped, finger print and picture taken and you are cleared to proceed to take your check-in luggage and clear customs.

What happened to me is that I will be identified as ‘the one’ who has to go through NSEERS when I submit my passport at the immigration counter and an immigration officer will take my passport and lead me to a smaller room located behind this row of immigration counters for further processing.

If you are a firstimer, you will probably feel nervous and impatient about the whole thing, especially after a long and tiring flight. And if you are not the first one there, or you arrive during peak hours, the room is filled with many other passengers, (or aliens, as what being referred to in the immigration form), like you. The look in their eyes focusing on you as you are walking into the room to join them will make you feel uneasy.

So on this particular day, like many other times I arrived in Newark Airport immigration, I was lead into the room for NSEERS. In my full company uniform and dragging my hand carry bag, I took a seat and made myself 'comfortable' as instructed by the officer. With my tiring eyes, I looked across the room to see who is in the same predicament as me at this time. It’s a United Nation. Their outer appearances told me that they are from Europe (most likely Eastern Europe), Russia, Korea, Indonesia, India, South America (Spanish-speaking countries) and Middle Eastern countries. Whether you are on a wheelchair or still sleeping in your cot, you are not spared. It’s a security issue here.

An Indian male passenger’s eye met mine and I smiled, he smiled back. If we could communicate via telepathy, it would probably be like this:

‘Hey, pilots also have to through this huh?’

‘Yes.’

‘What have we done to deserve all this? How long is it going to take? Am I in trouble? Will I get repatriated? How about my luggage? How about my connecting flight?’

‘Oh relax! It’s not that bad. I go through this umpteen times already. What they will do to you is, they will take off your pants, stuff their middle finger into your ass to check whether you are still virgin.’

His faced turn even more paled.

‘Ok, ok. I am just kidding. What they will do is to get some more personal data from you. They need to know where exactly you come from, your education background, your family details and your intention of coming to this ‘Land of Opportunities’. All that data will be keyed into the computer and they will pulled up the same set of data again every time you enter this country to make sure that it is you in person and not someone else. In other words, you are under closer scrutiny when you are in this country.’

‘Then why can’t they do this outside at their normal immigration counters?’

‘Because not all immigration officers are trained or authorized to conduct this procedure. And also, this is a lengthy procedure that takes time. They don’t want you to hold everyone up. And the waiting is also a way to test your patience and check your personality profile. That’s my conspiracy theory.’

‘It must be tiring for flight crew like you. You have been working for the last how many hours?’

‘Yes. My patience is running thin. Especially when you see how slow they are in their work and still find time to chat among each other. But they are kind enough to give flight crew priority. So I may get processed first before you. Please be patient.’

I winked.

An immigration officer lifted up my passport and looked at me. He shouted, ‘Kedah! Kedah!’

‘Ok, my friend, it’s my turn. Obviously he is calling me, but he is calling my home state. Should I call him California?’

I walked to this officer with a grin, wondering how he is going to react after realizing his mistake.

He looked at my passport again. Then he realized he was reading off the wrong line. And he said, ‘Oh, it’s Tan. Isn’t it? I am lucky the second time, yeah?’

I smiled back, thinking to myself. ‘Yes, you are lucky that I am in a good mood today. Don’t you owe me an apology, you idiot?’

Like many Asians who try to be nice and then lodge a complain behind your back, I said thank you when I finally got my passport back.

'Good luck! My friend from India. My crew is waiting for me outside to get to the hotel. Don’t be mad at these officials here. They are just doing their job. Cheerio!'

If you are traveling to the US, and need more information on their immigration procedure, type NSEERS under SPECKY POWER SEARCH on this blog. Good luck!

Cabin Crew Stories

The article titled ‘Planes, Slaps and Sex’ published on Asiaone digital news (http://digital.asiaone.com/Digital/Features/Story/A1Story20080527-67217.html) has garnered attention of the public on the ‘glamorous, scandalous and the ugly of life’ as a flight crew. Among others, the article mentioned how easy it is for flight crew to get involved in affairs and sleep with each other.

Like most of the curious readers, my wife and I were amused by the stories written by ‘ex-stewardess/steward’ bloggers like Beh and Boh Tong. So much so that my wife asked me whether those stories are true.

Yes, those stories might be true dear. But that doesn’t mean every flight crew is doing it. These crews represent only a small percentage of the whole profession, just like in any other industry. If one has the desire to have an affair, it can happen anywhere. It does not need to be in an overseas hotel room or in that particular uniform.

As human beings, we are often tempted to taste the forbidden fruit. But as responsible human beings, we ought to think of the consequences of our actions. Affairs are usually results of broken relationships at home. Instead of focusing on the fear of whether our spouse is going to sleep with other people, we should really focus on how we can strengthen our relationships in our marriage. We should constantly find ways to keep that ‘old flame’ going.

To me, rumors, affairs and scandals often make good stories. It is not surprising how much details bloggers are willing to reveal to capture readers’ attention these days. Although these stories make interesting read, I won’t spend too much time reading them, as there is not much substance that I can take home with that might contribute to my total wellbeing.

Pursuit of Happiness

I was watching ‘Your Baby Can Read’ video CD with my son and one of the segments featured a poem that goes something like this:

Babies like to learn new things
Because of the joy that learning brings

My son Caden has been growing steadily for the past few months. Not a single day passes by when he does not learn how to say a new word or communicate through the look of his eyes and his action, a greater understanding of how things are. And the realization that he has learnt new things brings us much joy.

How I wish I had watched that VCD when I was young. In retrospect, I did not realize that learning is the key to happiness until a few years ago. Prior to that, I went through schooling up till university level with the thought that the knowledge gain was to help me in securing a job in the society, not so much of the joy it could bring.

Not until I read the books ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ by Robin Sharma and ‘Awaken The Giants Within’ by Anthony Robbins that I start to realize learning is truly the key to happiness. In ‘Awaken The Giant Within’, Anthony explains how our brain and neuron system works at our subconscious level. Every time we learn something through seeing, listening, smelling, tasting and touching, formation of linkage or linkages between or amongst neurons occurs. This process brings about some electro-chemical activities that make us feel happy. So in order to feel happy, we should always bring about these neuro-chemical activities. That is why Anthony advocates his trademark term CANI! – Constant And Never-ending Improvement, similar to the Japanese concept of Kaizen mentioned in “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’.

The Chinese has a similar conventional wisdom that translates literally to ‘Live till Death, Learn till Death’ (活到老，学到老). It highlights the importance of keep on learning and upgrading oneself not just to remain relevant to the society, but also to achieve greater joy of living.

When we help someone learns, the joy becomes double, because joyful emotions are infectious. When we help someone learns, our neoro-linkages get reinforced, hence also brings about the neuro-chemical activities that will make us happy.

I get so excited when Caden managed to show me where his ears and eyes are when I ask him about them. Every time he stands up automatically and dances to the tune of the action song:

Heads and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes,

Heads and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes,

Eyes and ears and mouth and nose

Heads and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.

I could not help it but to also sing and action together with him. Although the song is still a little too fast for him to follow, but he will still stand up and goes for his toes straight away.

As adults, have we stopped learning? When was the last time we read a self-help book, attend a seminar, or attend a discussion group? When was the last time we opened our mind and be willing to admit that we did not know something and it is time for us to go and find out? Are we unhappy because we think that we have already known all, and life has become stagnant and dull? It is time to bring about that neuro-chemical activity.

Letting Go

Caden had a balloon dog. He walked the dog frequently for a few days. But every morning when he woke up and took a look at the dog, it got skinnier and skinnier. And finally one day, it got so sick that it could not walked anymore.

He took the balloon dog and walked to me with his curious eyes: Why wouldn’t doggy walk anymore?

As a first-time father, I was thinking hard on how to explain the fleeting nature of things to my one-and-a-half-year-old son. That the only constant in life is change, that all beings are impermanent and changing forms frequently.

I have been turning into a metrosexual lately. Thanks partly to my wife who is operating a spa specializing in massages and facials. www.scentdiscovery.com. I have been influenced by her on the importance of living healthily and looking good to boost one’s self-confidence. I have been putting on moisturizer and anti-aging cream on my face and skin, especially more so when I see wrinkles at the corner of my eyes in the mirror.

I flipped through the papers and I saw so many advertisements on beauty and slimming treatment. People are told to cling on to their bodies, to take measures to resist aging. But don’t we know that our bodies are aging and dying every minute? Although our cells are constantly being regenerated and replenished that we have a ‘whole new’ body every ten days, the regeneration process is going to slow down eventually and we are going to age and finally die.

So why are we still fervently trying something that is futile? That no matter how hard we try, we are still going to get old and die anyway?

Why do we have to work so hard everyday to make money to buy bigger house and cars and at the end of the day, we can’t take those things with us when we leave this world? Why do we have to get agitated when someone cuts into our lane while we are driving, when we won’t even remember each other moments after we drive in different directions?

Why do I have to try so hard to succeed when probably no one would remember me a hundred years from now?

Because not trying is suicidal. Not clinging on at all is not living. Not pursuing something right from the beginning knowing that that something is not going to last is not living life to the fullest.

Yes, I want to be healthy. I want to look good and confident, even though my body is going to age and die eventually. I cannot relent on my efforts to strive hard in everything I do. Doing otherwise is denying myself a chance to live at the highest level.

But when it is time to let go, let go. The key word is when. I believe we do not have to worry about when. We will know it one way or the other. Just like when Caden discovered his balloon dog could not walk anymore.

Is it Luck or Effort?

Pen Cai - a pot of delicacies comprising abalone, scallops, prawns, mushrooms, pork trotter, etc.. A symbol of wealth and presperity in Chinese culture.

Chinese New Year celebration is the time when we meet up with relatives and friends, some of whom we have not met for a long time. Apart from exchanging mandarin oranges, giving red packets to children and munching New Year cookies, we catch up on each other’s progress in life.

Some have not changed a single bit. Some remain status quo. Some might not have done so well, but due to festive moods, nobody can tell from their outer appearance. According to Chinese customs, we only want to say and hear ‘the good things’ during the celebration anyway.

I had a chance to visit a very big bungalow house belongs to a distant relative when I was in Melaka for Chinese New Year celebration two weeks ago. He bought the piece of land that the house sits on during the financial crisis around 1997 and only started and finished constructing his bungalow recently. The double-storey bungalow has six bedrooms. Each of his children has a specially designed bedroom of their own completed with pinkish colour theme for his daughters and non-pinkish theme for his sons.

The bungalow comes with a garden punctuated with a hut for alfresco dining, a Japanese carp pond, a huge living room with the latest home entertainment system, a big study room, dry and wet kitchen, all come with the best flooring materials available in the market. What impressed me most are the thoughts that have gone into each design. The location of each room and the facing of the house are built based on Feng Shui theory. The material and color of the flooring and the spiral staircase are chosen based on aesthetics and weather endurance. Up high hanging from the ceiling in front of the spiral staircase is a stunning chandelier equipped with motorized chain to facilitate the lowering of the chandelier for ease of maintenance.

Chinese often wish each other good luck, prosperity and wealth during the Chinese New Year celebration. My distant relative is definitely one of those who have acquired lots of wealth and prosperity in the past years. I could sense it through his explanation as he walked me around his bungalow.

And he is not the only one. A lot of my friends have gotten promotion, moved to bigger houses and driven larger cars. As a result of good food and good life, some have gotten rounder around their waist and lower chin too. As we seldom see each other on a daily basis, it is not appropriate for us to ask during the gathering on how such wealth is accumulated or how they become successful. This only leads to speculation behind their back. One prominent factor that often pops up is ‘they got lucky’. ‘He got lucky working for a nice boss.’ ‘He got lucky marrying a daughter of a wealthy shipping tycoon.’ ‘He got lucky that he bought that property during the economy downturn.’

It makes me wonder how big is a role luck plays in determining our success? If we did not put in efforts in upgrading our skills, increasing our market value or sharpening our sensitivity for economic cycles, could we still succeed when good luck fell upon us? If the reasons for success can be broken down in terms of percentage, how many percent should it be attributed to good luck?

A person who strikes lottery and wins a million dollars is often said to be lucky. But if this person did not put in effort in buying a lottery ticket, would he still succeed in winning the prize?

I believe 85% of our success comes from our efforts, 10% talent, something that comes with us when we are born, and only 5% luck.

Perhaps the next time I meet a successful person, I should get to know him/her better and emulate the efforts that have been put in in achieving success. This is much more empowering than just brushing off a person’s efforts and say that this person got lucky.

However, when we are asked how we got successful, we must always say that we got lucky. This is to show that we are humble, although huge chunk of our success is due to our own efforts. Just like when my sis-in-law said that we got lucky in being able to choose a capable domestic helper in taking care of our son, I could only agree with her, although my wife and I did put in some efforts in choosing which maid agency can best do its job and also in training the helper to help us in the way we want it to be.

Road to Taj Mahal II - Horn Please

Every country has its unique culture and interesting phenomena. I thought a drive through Serangoon Road in Singapore’s ‘Little India’ during the weekend was sufficient to give me a taste of the traffic situations in India, till I arrived at Delhi.Delhi International Airport’s terminal was undergoing upgrading works. It was dusty and cramp. Loose wires and air-con structures were clearly visible overhead. Ceiling over the luggage collection belt area was so low that I could touch it with the top of my head by tip-toeing. The wait for our luggage definitely took longer than that in Changi Airport. That was when I realized I had arrived at a third world country.

The road leaving the airport was undergoing upgrading works too. I was overwhelmed by a sense of deja-vu as I barely remembered I had been there during one of my working trips about three years ago. The roads were under upgrading works then. They still are.

Then came the irritating sounds of vehicle horn, all too frequent that they were hardly effective. Road users including pedestrians there had developed deaf ears on the horning sounds as they tried death-defying stunts in getting ahead.

I was amazed at how many different kinds of vehicle allowed on public roads there. Besides bicycles, cars and lorries, they have two-wheel motorbikes, three-wheel motorbikes, bull-carts, camel-carts and even farming tractors on roads between Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

My wife and I felt that we were very lucky to have a safe driver assigned to us throughout our tour. Shalinder is our driver’s name. He is an Indian Muslim. He did not drive recklessly. But he still horned too often that we expected him to. He would pressed on the car horn continuously when he saw a motorbike, or whatever vehicle that may be, in front on our lane far ahead. And as usual, the motorbike showed no sign of giving way as if the horning was some sort of singing in the wind.

As I tried to analyze why do Indian drivers horn so often, I came across some colorful messages printed on the back of some lorries, ‘Horn Please – Use Dipper at Night’. Apparently, the lorry drivers could not see what was coming from behind. Vehicles from behind were encouraged to signal either by horning or using high beam at night (to minimize noise?). And why was it that they could not see what was coming from behind? Because either the side mirrors were flushed with the vehicles' body and thus not usable or the side mirrors were not installed at all! The same situation occurred to cars and motorbikes. It was just that there was no space on other vehicles for such colorful messages.

And why didn’t they install side mirror, which is an important safety feature? To reduce aerodynamic drag and save fuel, I guessed.

Road to Taj Mahal I - Emblem of Love

Visiting Taj Mahal has been on our to-do list for a long time. Taj Mahal, being one of the Seven Wonders of the World remains a sparkling tourist attraction to us especially my wife, whose life’s goals include visiting all of the Seven Wonders of the World.

And so we did two weeks ago, when the timing and conditions were right. More significantly, having a picture of the two of us taken with Taj Mahal in the background signifies a milestone in our marriage. We have been married for six years. Our son is now seventeen months old. Taj Mahal as an emblem of long lasting love is witness to our strengthening relationship and our commitment to propel our marriage to greater levels.

Indian Emperor Shah Jahan built Taj Mahal as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child in 1631. The Emperor loved his wife so much that her death is said to have caused his hair to turn white overnight. It took 22 years to build and in total, it took 20,000 people from India and as far afield as Europe to produce the exquisite marble screens and marble inlay work made with thousands of semiprecious stones.

Poets have described its beauty using phrases like ‘a teardrop on the face of eternity’ and ‘the embodiment of all things pure’।

Snow in Singapore!

Will you be here for Christmas? Yes, it’s snowing in front of Tanglin Mall at Orchard Road in Singapore. My son and many other ‘kids’ big or small are having so much fun playing with the snow.
You might want to bring some spare clothing to change after playing in the 'snow' as it’s foam sprayed out from machines.

At the very least, come and enjoy the Christmas lighting decoration along Orchard Road. It’s breath-taking!

Botak Jones Western Food

Heard about Botak Jones Western Food from a colleague of mine. A westerner named Jones who is bald (‘botak’ means bald in Malay language) sells western food in coffee shops located in neighborhood areas, not in big restaurants or shopping malls in the city. The food is so good that the wait is about an hour even during non-peak hours.

So I drove for about twenty minutes with my wife to get to their main outlet in Ang Mo Kio, a township in the north of Singapore.

Yes, the western food stall is set in a typical coffee shop without air-conditioning. We were there at 2:30pm and the wait was about 15 minutes. We are very fascinated by the way the menu is written. Every item comes with some humorous explanation. And what impresses me is the way they explained why they have cut down the portion of the fries given. It is to reduce wastage. And we are always welcome to ask for more should we need them.

The staff was friendly and smiley. I ordered The Botak Burger and my wife, Cajun Chicken. The verdict? So so only, really. That means average standard, if you don’t understand Singlish. Although we were hungry, we should have just ordered the sandwich only instead of the set, which comes with fries and coleslaw. The portion was quite big for an Asian like me. The fries are spicy fries, not like the ones you find in Macdonald’s or Burger King, which made them unique but not commonly acceptable.

Well, have a look at their website. You will know what I mean by the humor that comes with their menu. Does it worth driving all the way to one of their outlets to have a western meal without air-con? I will leave it up to you. For me, I am quite happy with Macdonald’s or KFC.

http://www.botakjones.com

Risk

My wife was looking for suitable business partners to embark on a business venture together. So we talked to some of friends whom we think have great potential to work and grow together.

Most of them have these first reactions:

Is it safe?

Is the return-of-investment guaranteed?

Oh, I have seen these being done by others already. There are a lot of these products in the market. Is the market saturated?

Is it competitive?

Having read the books by Robert T. Kiyosaki, we know people’s core values can be divided into that of poor, middle-income and rich.

In decreasing degree, the poor and middle-income core values are that of safety and security, whilst the rich focus on risk and reward.

Coming from poor and middle-income families, we ‘inherited’ the core values of the poor and middle-income people. It took us years of education and experience to realize what is limiting us. There after we commit ourselves to change and still in the process of changing.

Ann Landers’ poem:

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk rejection.

To place your dreams before the crowd is to risk ridicule.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or love.

Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave.

Only a person who takes risks is free.

Bulgogi Beef and Spicy Tou Fu Soup

My first encounter with Korean food was in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. It was the beginning of winter and the air outside was chilly and crisp. There was a medium-sized family-run restaurant at Namdaemun, not too far from the hotel that our crews were staying.

Raw bulgogi-sauce-marinated beef was left on a portable gas-operated stove to cook while we savour the many different side dishes that come with the main course such as Kim chi (preserved spicy cabbage), marinated beansprout, fishcakes, black beans, anchovies and so on.

Slices of cooked beef were then wrapped in green vegetable and eaten while hot. It was love at first bite. The beef was so tender and juicy that I could not help wanting for more. The taste was a little sweet but unique.

Then came the Spicy Tou Fu Soup. The steaming spicy hot soup served in earthenware for keeping warm, coupled with the softness of the tou fu (bean curd) were just perfect for winter.

Subsequently, I discovered a lot more about Korean food in Korean Town in Manhattan, New York. There are a lot of Korean restaurants that open for 24 hour in Korean Town in Manhattan. Coming from the other half of the globe, 24-hour restaurants are perfect for people like me who are coping with jet lag. Even though Korean Town is about 20 minutes walk away from the hotel that we are staying, the love for Korean food often motivates me to make my way there.

Cuti-cuti Malaysia - Last Day - The Horror of Time-sharing Scheme

We left Sungai Petani (SP) with lots of mooncakes, Old Town White Coffee and pamelos in our car boot. The drive from SP to Kuala Lumpur (KL) was about four and half hour. Driving along the North-South Highway (PLUS), we made pitstops to break the monotony of the drive. Restoran Jejantas (literally, restaurant located on an overhead bridge spanning both sides of the highway) was our favourite place for stopping.

Not only the place has lots of carpark lots, it has big toilets and a variety of restaurants. We could choose among the many choices available, Malay Mixed Rice, KFC, Burger King, A & W or Dunkin’ Doughnut. There is also an Adidas sports goods outlet for us to shop too.

The journey would have been shorter if not for the time taken to locate Golden City Condominium located along Jalan Ipoh in KL. We took an earlier exit from the highway thinking that we could avoid the peak hour traffic jam in KL city. But we still ended up going round and round for a while getting stuck in a jam before we finally managed to locate this condominium allocated for us under our brother-in-law’s participation in a time-sharing scheme.

We have heard horrible stories of a time-sharing scheme. The hard-sell tactics used aside, participants are asked to pay a certain amount of fees upfront to secure a number of holiday stay in participating accommodation facilities such as condominiums, apartments or hotels. Our kind brother-in-law let us use part of his yearly quota since he and his family won’t be able to finish it all due to time constraint.

We already had a taste of what it was when we stayed at the condominium in Port Dickson on our first night of the trip. The place was poorly maintained and was not the best located. And the Golden City Condominium (http://www.leisureholidays.com.my/) located next to the Dynasty Hotel gave us the same rundown experience. The management office was located in one of the condo units in the building. We were greeted by two polite Malay ladies who were watching TV in the apartment when we stepped in.

After getting the keys and went into our allocated unit, we were quite ok to discover the place spacious and had a good view from the living room. However, it was quite obvious that this apartment had not been occupied for quite some time. The floor and bed were dusty. And we also struggled with the remote control to finally realize that only one of the three bedrooms had air-conditioning working.

So I called the Malay lady whom I had just met when I checked in. To my huge dismay, she replied matter-of-factly that all the condo units suffered the same air-con problem, only one of the rooms would have the air-con working. The last straw was that she did not express even a tiny sense of apology.

We have had enough of rundown apartments. We wanted our last night of this driving trip a pleasant and memorable one, so we decided to check out the newly renovated Crown Regency (http://www.crownregency.com.my/crown/). For a promotional rate of RM350 a night, the experience was a whole world of difference!

I am not sure whether all the accommodations available under this time-sharing scheme are of the same standard. Or is it just those available in Malaysia? All the apartments that we stayed in during this trip suffered from poor maintenance and management. A lot of my friends said that this is one of the major problems facing the Malaysia property scene.

Malaysia has a lot of natural resources that offer great tourism values, if only there is proper management and upkeep. Looks like a lot more need to be done to attract both first-time and revisiting visitors.

More info on time-sharing scheme:

http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/InPerson/MajorPerson/time_shares.htm

http://www.globalresales.co.uk/timeshare-resorts/Golden-City-Condominiums.html

Cuti-cuti Malaysia - Day 4 through Day 6 - Sungai Petani and Penang

My hometown, Sungai Petani, SP in short, is often mistaken as a place in Thailand, Patani. And most of my Singaporean friends thought that it is located at the Thai border. Well, it’s nearer than what you thought. It’s just 30 minutes drive away from Butterworth, the seaport town of Penang state in the northwest corner of Peninsular Malaysia. Of course, near or far, it depends on where you come from, right?

I left my hometown for further studies in Singapore 17 years ago. This trip is my first trip driving my first car home. It feels great. It has a sense of achievement attached, especially when I have a family of my own with me.

SP has developed a lot in the past 17 years. Lots of new housing estates sprung up like mushrooms after the rain. Population has grown large enough for big retail chains Giant Hypermarket and Tesco Supermarket to open their stores here.

The economic activities here are mainly industrial. There are a lot of plastic and electronic factories located around this town. They provide the main driving force behind the banking and retailing industries.

I don’t consider myself as a tourist back in my hometown, but the priorities are the same: eating and shopping. My wife has fallen in love with Penang Assam Laksa – noodles in sour minced fish meat soup. There is this particular hawker that sells laksa from a corner house located at a T-junction in SP that is only well known among the locals. My wife could go there everyday if possible.

But, why not go for an authentic Penang Laksa in Penang? And so we went to Penang on day 4 of our trip. Driving to Penang Island through Penang Bridge took us about 45 minutes. The first place that came to our mind was the latest and largest shopping mall called Queensbay Mall (http://www.queensbaymall.com.my/). I won’t bore you with the details of shopping and eating in this mall. But I had my haircut in a newly open Quickcut outlet there. I was quite happy with the service. Not only it was quick – done in ten minutes – the vacuum suction applied on my head and shoulder after the haircut through a flexible tube hanging on the wall left me feeling clean and neat – no more irritating tiny hairs strewn all over my shirt. Do check out their website: http://www.quickcut.com.my/

Of course, Old Town White Coffee (http://www.oldtown.com.my/) has a branch there as well.

After Queensway Mall, we stopped by a coffee shop along Macalister Road for a treat on some mouth-watering authentic Penang hawker fare. Char Kway Teow (Friend Flat Noodles in Hokkien), Penang Laksa, Pok Piah (Shredded Radish wrapped in thin flour wrap), Hokkien Prawn Mee, O Luak (Fried Oyster Omelette) and so on. Felt bloated? Have some refreshing sugarcane juice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang_cuisine

We spent the next day enjoying the mental peacefulness in SP – something that is hard to come by in Singapore. Met up with our uncle’s family for dinner before preparing for the drive back the next day. Before that, my wife, who is one of the lady bosses of Scent Discovery (http://www.scentdiscovery.com/), did not forget to check out one of the spas providing facial and massage services located in SP as part of her market survey. The service was just standard but overpriced, she said.

Cuti-cuti Malaysia – Day 3 – Around Ipoh

After leaving Fraser’s Hill with lots of mosquito bite marks on Caden, we headed for my hometown – Sungai Petani. But not forgetting to stop by Ipoh for the famous Ipoh ‘Hor Fun’ – white flat noodles that are served together with bean sprout and soy source steamed chicken. It was raining heavily. After much of going round Ipoh town center trying to choose ‘the best’ Ipoh Hor Fun restaurant, we finally settled down with one that said ‘original Ipoh Hor Fun’ coffee shop. There are many ‘original’ Ipoh Hor Fun coffee shops, of course!

We parked right in front of the shop and one of the waiters was really quick to bring us an umbrella. Talk about Ipoh hospitality!

We had a choice of hor fun in soup or in dry soy source. I preferred the soupy one as the steaming hot soup went well with cold temperature.

Guess what we did after eating? Shop! That’s right.

Ipoh, being the capital for the state of Perak, is not short of pamelos and White Coffee. One company named Old Town White Coffee has a franchise of coffee shops all over Malaysia serving white coffee and local hawker fare such as kaya toasts, laksa, curry noodles and so on. I fell in love with White Coffee the first time I drank it. Why is White Coffee white? Isn’t all coffee black? Check this out!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipoh_white_coffee

Our car boot was already three quarter full with our luggage. A few more pamelos and large packets of white coffee sachets had definitely added more load on our poor Nissan Latio.

It continued to rain heavily as we set off to Sungai Petani from Ipoh. However, it did not dampen our spirit to locate Perak Cave – a huge limestone cave which houses a Chinese temple, home to a large Buddha statue and many more smaller sized deity statues. It has a steep, tall staircase in the interior of the cave rising up to the top of its hill where one is greeted by a panoramic view of Ipoh and its surroundings.

We arrived Sungai Petani in the evening. Our Nissan Latio had a good shower by the rain. It also had a wash of ‘its bottom’ as we had to drive through some flood water before reaching our house.

Cuti-cuti Malaysia - Day Two - The Mosqito War at Fraser's Hill

We stayed at a rundown condominium managed under a time-sharing scheme at Port Dickson the night before. The buildings and the facilities were constructed quite nicely. However, the conditions had since deteriorated due to poor maintenance. Although the free-form pool seen from our apartment window looked inviting, we were cautious on letting our one-year-old Caden crawling around on the floor. The tiles were dirty.

Anyway, we were there just for a short night and we got out of there first thing in the morning. The condominium was not at the beach. So we had to stop by one of the many beach resorts located along the Port Dickson Beach to have at least a photo taken to prove that we had been there. Here it is.

The drive towards Fraser’s Hill took two hours. The road up the hill got more winding as we went further. The lush green tropical rainforest offered some refreshing atmosphere. We spotted some monkeys and colorful birds. But our boy was too tired to look at them.

The last 8 km up to the top was a one-way single lane tarred-road. This road was called ‘The Gap’. Before a new road was constructed not too far from The Gap, there used to have restriction on the timings to drive up the hill. Traffic was only allowed in one direction on alternate hour. For example, going up was only allowed during odd hours and going down during even hours. Not anymore now. Another one-way road had since been constructed and it had brought much convenience to the visitors.

We stayed at The Pines Resort at Fraser’s Hill. We were initially quite pleased to see so many plants and flowers that added to the serenity of the place. The big rooms of the apartment also came with kitchen and dining table. However, the sofa and carpet were dusty and moist. As a family, there was really nothing much to do except to drive around in the car for sight seeing. There was a golf course, a horse riding track, numerous juggle tracking paths and a small pond for canoeing. Dinner was settled at the resorts’ restaurant. The food was not too bad although pricy.

The weather was naturally cool due the high elevation and hence no air-condition. So we left the bedroom door open for fresh air and ventilation. Unfortunately, that also allowed uninvited quests – mosquitoes – to come in.

I was woken up in the middle of the night by the irritating buzzing noise of the mosquitoes. My son who slept on the same bed with us was busy fencing off the mosquitoes’ attack on his chubby face. I quickly applied some essential oil on his face and hands to repel the mosquitoes. That helped him quite a bit but not enough. His grandma counted twenty over mosquito bites on his face and hands the next morning. I felt quilty as a father. I could have done more to fight those mosquitoes. Although at that time, I could not think of any other way.

Both my wife and I agreed that we would not go back to Fraser’s Hill for a long time. Not just because of what the mosquitoes did to our son, that place was simply boring. Nonetheless, the place was great for practicing meditation. It was a perfect place for those who want to get away from the crowd to ‘find meaning in life’.

Cuti-cuti Malaysia - Day One

I did a seven-day driving holiday trip in Malaysia recently. The itinery went like this:
Singapore- Melacca - Port Dickson- Fraser’s Hills - Ipoh - Sungai Petani - Kuala Lumpur - Singapore.

Day One

We started off driving from Singapore up north to Melacca where we stopped for a Peranakan (Straits Chinese) lunch.

The drive through Singapore and Malaysia immigrations was a breeze. Not so much waiting as it was a weekday morning. Stopped by a money changer in the southern most town of Malaysia – Johor Bahru to get some local currency – Ringgit. The number of money changers in Johor Bahru astonished us. There were just so many of them in one area. And they offer very good rates too as a result of stiff competition.

Traffic along the North-South Highway in Malaysia was smooth. The gentle rocking movement of the car made my boy slept through most of the way.

First stop – Melacca. Malacca was one of oldest places where the Chinese Immigrants first settled in. They arrived in the 1800s and cross marriage with the local Malays gave rise to a unique ‘Peranakan’ (Straits Chinese) Culture. The men were called ‘Baba’ and women ‘Nyoya’.

A few well-known Peranakan foods include Curry Laksa, Mee Siam, Chicken Buah Keluak and Ice-kacang. We stopped by a restaurant in an old shophouse behind the OCBC bank for some Peranakan food. It was not our first time there. The carpark in front of this restaurant used to be free. Not anymore. We were warned by two friendly and helpful Melaccans as we parked the car. One even offered to sell us the local parking coupons.

The food used to be tastier as far as I could remember. The Ice-kacang (an iced dessert with red beans, green jelly, sweet corn and Atap seeds topped with colourful syrup and brown coconut sugar syrup) was as mouth-watering as ever!

Next, as requested by my beloved wife, we went shopping at Mahkota Parade Shopping Mall – a huge and spacious shopping centre with lots of variety of goods and services. Prominent shops include Parkson Grand Departmental Stall, MPH bookshop, Nose Shoes, etc.

http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/directory/shopping/view_shopping_centre.cfm?ID=F295A0E7-1792-11D6-B32A00D0B78F6634

And guess what did my wife and mum-in-law buy? Let me give you a hint: Women usually have more than one of these. Different colours and designs to match their outfit. And most of those bought are worn just for a few occasions, then kept in the rack for most of the time.

Got it? Yes, shoes!

As we drove away from Mahkota Parade, we discovered looking out from the car that there is a new shopping centre right opposite Mahkota Parade – Pahlawan Square Mall. There is an even bigger local women shoe retail brand in the mall – Vinci. Looks like we will go back there for more!

http://planet.time.net.my/CentralMarket/melaka1001/pahlawan.html