Pissing Prawn

China- Day 3 (28/09/09) Part Two

2009-10-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Continued from Part One.

Chor Pek Kong
(The family's ancestral saint)

I was brought up as a Buddhist with the usual disciplines of Taoism, Confucianism and more than the six of the best thrown in. I started to lapse in my belief in God during 9/11 and ultimately gave him up when the Beslan disaster took place. But one thing that’s been ingrained in me is the Confucian virtue of filial piety; in short an absolute and interminable respect for my parents and ancestors. As the McCartney’s song goes; When I find myself in times of trouble or in my hour of darkness I turn to my Dad, Grandad and the good chap above. By resolutely believing in their spirits; words of wisdom and the proverbial get out jail card are always granted on me. Religions cause too much dependency for anyone and I can’t deny the fact that my conviction echoes that. Ancestral worship without a belief in God is my religion and I don’t speak for my Mum, my daughter, my brothers or my relatives. Let it be.

Warning, this post includes some graphic shots of animal butchery that may prove too gruesome for the fainthearted.

Cousins Juneberry and Hua.
This is the preliminary session at the 'home' altar

The game of Mah Jong is played whenever and wherever, be it weddings, Chinese New Year, funerals or religious festivals. Excuses are plentiful when this form of gambling is considered. No Chinese person (except for those brought up in the West) would ever play the game without the vital accessory that's money; it would be too pointless!

Richard with his winning hand.
Just in case you're wondering, I can't play...Mum never taught me for obvious reasons.

Oink no more.

This was one of the six pigs that has been slaughtered earlier.
It's quite unnerving to observe how similar the skin is to us humans.

Preparing brawn

Sacrificial kid

It was unusual to see the animal...

...goat or lamb is hardly eaten in this part of China...

...so much so that it didn't appear on the menu...

...and that same table was later used for dinner...

...all prepped and propped for the altar.

Getting ready for dinner

Chopping bamboo shoots.
The board! No one suffered from food poisioning as far as I was aware.

Salting to taste or it could well be MSG

The Chinese have their meals comparatively early, brekkie at 7AM, lunch at noon and dinner pronto at 6pm; for some reason or the other we always seem to be in a rush!

Uncle 7
Not the eldest but certainly the most important, he 'runs' the family interests.

Hai Yun
Or Sea Cloud in English; she's the redoubtable tour guide that the family have been relying on for years whenever they visit China. She's accompanied them from Urumqi to Shanghai. Tibet is probably the only place in China my Mum and her siblings haven't been to. Give Hai Yun a problem and she'll always fix it!

Most of the villagers here are farmers and the above was nice enough to let us interfere with his work.

Soy beans

The farmer's son clearing excess foliages

Sweet potatoes

Uncle 9
The youngest of Mum's siblings, she has thirteen of them. Like Uncle 8, they both went to Japanese universities and are suitably bilingual. If I ever have aspirations to write a Wild Swans on the family then I'll need to consult him as he is the only one who bothered to chronicle the tree. Unfortunately the knowledge he has amassed is also in his head; I need to spend some time with him soon.

Sweet girl, sweet potato

Dinner imminent

Perspective showing my granfather's 250 year old birthplace.

Bamboo shoots and pork

I've gone off pork belly on my third day in China!

Clam soup with tofu and pork again.
Two different kinds of soup plus a minimum of five other dishes are normal during lunch or dinner.

The Deities await

Prompt start of the ceremony at 7.30pm.
This will go on for the next eight hours.

China- Day 3 (28/09/09) Part One

2009-10-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

The climate in Fujian province is pretty similar to the rest of South East Asia. Hot and humid, no wonder why my Grandfather and his contemporaries chose the likes of Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines to find their riches.

Yong Chun at midnight...

...and at 6AM.

Our hotel for the next two nights. For the town of Yong Chun it's 5* but in reality it's more like two and a bit. That bit accounts for free broadband.

When in China don't diss the colour red!

Rush hour time at 6.45AM

Guava and peaches.
I really feel sorry for these fruit sellers when Tesco and the French counterpart Carrefour move in big time into China. Currently the number of Tesco superstores in Malaysia is enough to spook me.

Sea Cucumbers anyone?
I can't think of a more slippery texture than these costly delicacies.

Gross...no they're not the jaws of some rodents but dried deer tendons.

Ah, the cigarette vendor. He invited me to have a cup of tea with him (a common practice in this part of China where tea brings the people together).

The Chinese only smoke brands that are made locally, it's difficult to find the usual brands like Marlboroughs or B&H here. Fags range from 30p to over a hundred quid for a packet of 20! The above is a posh brand that carries an alarming reputation of- if smoking is going to lead you to an early death then might as well do it pleasantly with Chunghwa cigarettes. It was dead smooth tasting and so it ought to be as it set me back £7.50.

Breakfast at 7.30AM
The plastic tablecloth is off-putting to say the least!

Fried dough stick in warm soy milk. It's amazing to think how blandness can equate to deliciousness.

Julie and Gwen

Cousin Chris from little Tawau in East Malaysia

Mum
(Gawd I do miss you!)

My Grandfather's village near Nan'an.
Nearly everyone shares the same surname here.

The whole place is surrounded by hills upon hills.

Newfound wealth is responsible for these new buildings...

...or extensions of little architectural value.

Wells are still widely used

Intrusion time

Grandfather's home before he left as a teenager.
(the above shown is a new building that might well surprise him if he was alive today)

The gathering of the indigenous and overseas relatives.

The altar being prepared for tonight's marathon ceremony

Chor Pek Kong
The patron saint so relentlessly dear to the Hokkiens.

Spirit Tablets
These are signs that designate the seat of my Mum's ancestors (Greatgreatgreatgreatgranddad and more). I believe that ancestral worship of this kind is unique to the Hokkiens, Hakkas and Teochews. A defaulted and surefire family tree going back hundreds of years is thus guaranteed.

Counter altar

The room where my Granfather was born in more than a hundred years ago. I've been told that the furniture are even older.

Makeshift kitchen to cater for the next 48 hours.

These cooks are devastatingly skillful.

Sweet and sour fish
Filleting the above is simply not allowed, besides, the head tastes the best!

They could be related but I didn't bother investigating (there were too many 'relatives' to ask which football team they supported!), like myself they were watching lunch being cooked.

There's a video of the cooking and the subsequent luncheon here.

Hong Bak
Braised pork belly in soy sauce with aromatic spices. This is the all defining dish of the Hokkiens, it appears on every meal except breakfast. The near overdose of this dish was enough to put me off pork altogether!

The sign of a toothpick in use means that lunch was satisfying.

Setting off for a temple crawl after lunch.

Temple One

With the exception of the Christians, we're all obliged to burn joss sticks dutifully and that's at any Buddhist temples around the world.

No nails! I'm filled with wonder!

Monetary donations are acknowledged by writng the donor's name and uttered loudly to the deities.

Bicylces in China are fast becoming rare, they're being replaced by motorbikes and scooters.

Bedmat trader

En Loong and Pei Yi decided to hitch a lift from an unknown 'relative' instead of walking the entire three mile crawl.

It was a pleasant surprise not to witness any rude behaviour in the village. The hundreds of folks we met have been amazingly friendly and welcoming.

Every household here keeps pigs and that's a simple fact. The Chinese simply couldn't exist without pork!

She was supposed to help her mum but I interrupted.

Temple Two

The roof and the fittings are over four hundred years old.

Jiao or sedan chairs. Early 19th Century.

My late Grandfather, Yap Hui Hong.
The accreditment of his above portrait in the temple is for his philanthropic contributions to the village.

Back in London I can drink 1.5 litres of water a day but here in Oolong country it's quite different. Caffeine doesn't seem to be a problem for the folks here.

Seng Kee
One of the Kaikeelang or 'one of ours'. His story is interesting and tragic. He left the village when he was young to work at one of my Grandfather's sawmills in Malaysia. When he made enough money he decided to come back and retire. Unfortunately he renounced his Malaysian citizenship believing that China would welcome him back with open arms like Israel does with the Jews. Erm...the Chinese authorities turned him down citing they have enough of the population on their plate and he should return back to KL. The Malaysians on the other hand said sorry mate and serve you right for disowning us in the first place. He's basically stateless and he can also forget about paying me a visit in London. On a more cheery note at least he can enjoy his retirement in the village where he was born. A toast to you my good man!

Eyesore.
We have to get used to this, out with the old and in with the new. If I do come back here in ten years' time the old Chinese buildings would all disappear as the villages and towns don't preach the 'listed building' philosophy like they do in Blighty.

Part Two

China- Day 2 (27/09/09) Part Two

2009-10-10T18:28:00.001-07:00

Continued from Part One

Yuchanglou 裕昌樓

Way before Marx wrote about The Communist Manifesto, the Hakka settlers in the mountainous region of south-western Fujian province were already parctising collectivity, communalism and egalitarianism. As one of the reasons to support their socialist leanings they constructed tulous or rammed earth buildings like the one above.

The main entrances are decidedly and relatively tiny to discourage invaders.

Geezer One

This tulou is still home to the descendants of the original tenants, but these days in order to supplement their income from farming they've also adapted to selling souvenirs to the tourists.

Unfortunately my limited photography know-how failed to capture the sheer scale and beauty of these buildings...

...I'm better at snapping pics like Geezer Two.

Fujian province is famous for its Tie Guan Yin tea.
In fact I'm reliably informed that this is the only region in China where tea is served gratis; from hotels to shops. Apart from pork, tea here is sacrosanct. (I was somewhat bemused when I was offered tea at a cigarette kiosk in Yongchun County, methinks rude to turn the offer down).

There's nothing more refreshing than a hot cup of premium oolong tea in the sweltering heat and humidity.

Video of the tea ceremony here.
(In the background there are both Cantonese and Hokkien spoken in addition to Mandarin, a sign of Malaysian Chinese folks hanging about anywhere in the world!)

Rice and tea are the main crops here.

Our final village before the descent.

Geezer Three.
He babbled to me in Hakka and I replied back in Hokkien. He probably thought I took the mick, oh bless him. Like the rest of the world most peeps are intensely camera shy; kids and old folks don't really give a monkey's.

Young Geezer

His Mum fed him too quickly and too much, the poor urchin puked his entire lunch out soon after the photo was taken!

Aunt 4 choosing and sorting her Tie Guan Yin tea before being vacuum packed.

Xiangqi
Or Chinese Chess, I used to play this when I was young but lapsed since I morphed into a banana (white inside, yellow outside).

Handmade brooms for 50p each. I actually bought one of them and the rest of the family thought the purchase as rather idiotic, as did the airport security, tour guides, hotel staff and so on.

I should have bought one of his paintings; they were less than a tenner and miles better than the crap you find on Bayswater Road. Regrettablly gutted : (

Memorial poles that are dedicated to the spirits of the village elders.

Pei Yi and Hakka girl.

It's always gratifying to find natural beauty...

...without the need to tart up...

...or the nip and tuck.

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig.
Believe me these trucks carrying pigs are as common as the Ocado vans in Central London!

Dinner in Yongchun (Eng Choon in Hokkien)

Etiquette is of course less regimented than the Japanese, but please be reminded not to hold the chopsticks with your left hand and dip them in the bowls of soup. If the latter was abused, you'll be history!

Delicious Steamed Freshwater Perch

Herbal Duck Soup

Wonderful tasting Pink Mushroom Soup

Pei Yi at near midnight playing with her new toy. She and her Dad were my room-mates during the trip. Contrary to what others thought of her I found her impeccably well behaved.

Good Night

China- Day 2 (27/09/09) Part One

2009-10-10T07:06:00.000-07:00

Xiamen
Or Amoy to those who are still stuck in the Victorian times. We never had the chance to see the city proper as it was purely included as a base for our flighst to and from Kuala Lumpur.

Our hotel the night before.
5* wont.

Cousin Corina.
Our lass from Singapore. She still looks the same after 40 years!

Breakfast of porridge (rice gruel), mantou (plain steamed buns) and sorrowful coffee.

Cousin ~~Édouard~~ Edward
Boy 'bout town who knows where all the good massage parlours are in the Far East and only the non-seedy ones I was reminded.

Cousin Donny
Repo Man in the banking world of corporate loans.

Our form of transport for the next ten days.

I don't think drought is an issue in Fujian province.

Leaving Xiamen

The speedo on our coach was well kaputt!

Our destination.

A bit of camera tossing during a loo break.

Fujian Province is hilly and mountainous.

It's like a massive version of the Lake and Peak Districts combined together.

Approaching the territories of the Hakka people.

This huge stag beetle must have been at least 4" long.

Lunch of pork with everything. The simple peasants' dish of steamed taro (yam) on the foreground was outstanding.

Video

Chin Lang Chek
Tranlates literally as Dear friend of the family (ours that is) Sir.
He's the keeper, shaman and priest of the family's clan temple back in Klang near Kuala Lumpur.

Uncles 9 and 4.
China is a haven for smokers, my kinda place.

Cousins Cindy and Rose.

Aunt 4

Chin Lang Chim
''Dear friend of the family Lady''. Wife of the above. The sullen looks belies an otherwise high five personality...she's a right cheery old bird.

Cousin Junebug.
She makes me laugh. Excellent company.

Wondered how he felt about a bunch of overseas Hokkiens intruding on his patch?

The incredibly beautiful Tianluokeng Tulou (Snail Pit Village) cluster.

Cousin Felix wife wife Connie and son Andre.
Imagine them in Mao suits and gear; perfect Communist propaganda.

Nadine and Gwen

Swine Flu masks are not needed this time, the air at 570m above sea level is apparently safer.

Cousin Terence
He's next in line with the unenviable task of managing the family's trust. His job is vaguely, the family's version of the Prince of Wales.

Ground level of the Snail Pit Village.

The Family.
This only constitutes about a quarter of the entire family, the rest are in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Tajikistan(?), etc.
Don't bother looking too hard for me, I'm not on the receiving end. This was also my last shot using the tripod which I carelessy left on the hill coach (apologies to Adrian and thanks for the brief loan).

Part Two

China- Day 1 (26/09/09)

2009-10-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

China, what delectation! Irrespective of the absence of the usual places like the Great Wall, the Forbidden City or the Terracotta Army on the itinerary of my first ever visit to this vast country; I was still profoundly gobsmacked. Before that I felt exactly the same way as what my sis-in-law, Liz, said about the country- a longing to visit China has never been a priority. Well now that I’ve been, I regret to say that I should’ve done it a lot earlier. For that matter alone I think it’s only sensible to put both Africa and India back on the must visit list before one fades into nothingness.

The nature of the jaunt (in my books, an 11 day one is as such) to the Fujian province is twofold- ancestral worship and ~~eating pork~~ touristic preoccupations. The whole purpose of this blog was intended as a daily diary but the constraints imposed by les autorités en Chine on sites like blogspot, facebook, and twitter have somewhat curbed my enthusiasm to upload tons of snapshots and the captioning.

In addition, the four weeks away have very nearly taken a toll on myself; I miss my daughter (hey Bron!), the flat whites in London and selling turntables from my store. Routine dictates my everyday life to the hour; a long holiday severs that rhythm…so thank whatever for blogging- a perfect antidote for killing time. Let’s proceed nonetheless.

A convoy of four minibuses picked the family up from the long house.

Uncle 6 saw us off.
He remained in KL. He also has an uncanny resemblance to my late Grandpa.

KLIA
(Kuala Lumpur ~~Inept~~ International Airport)
This is one huge and thoroughly modern airport that is consistently underused. I can only imagine that the exorbitant fees demanded by the airport dorks to land here have put the majors like BA, Qantas and American Airlines right off. The various airlines from the Middle East are of course most welcome to KLIA plus the token small airline companies that don't interfere with the routes of the national carrier that's Malaysian Airline System.
KLIA should be included in the World Heritage list by UNESCO as a prime folly of immense pettiness.

Check-in hassle (there were over 50 bags!)

The six young things who tagged along.
From left- Andre, Ryan, Pei Yi, Gwen, Nadine and Tristan.
The swine flu (they call it H1N1 here) paranoia here is greater than in Britain.

Cousins
From left- Cindy (she's a happy person because she's married to a Bhutanese), Junegirl, Johnboy, En Peng and wife Evelyn.

Our plane, I had my doubts about unheard-of airlines.

We must have taken up about a third of the 737's seating capacity.

Xiamen Airlines is wonderful.
Beautiful and smiling air stewardesses, edible plane fodder and commendable piloting over the turbulent South China Sea.
Malaysian Airlines; shame on you!

Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport
I think Luton Airport is a tad more tantalising.

10.30pm dinner at The General restaurant.
The place was deserted save us.

The first of many pork dishes to come for the next eleven days.

Egg slurry only the Hokkiens can concoct.

Bedtime beckons at our near empty 5* hotel.

26/09/09

2009-09-25T18:19:00.001-07:00

I'm off to China today. It's a well known fact that blogspot is banned there, I shall try my utmost with the updates using proxy servers, etc.

Laterage.

25/09/09

2009-09-25T10:00:00.001-07:00

I'm serious

When you get the chance this halal restaurant at Jalan Ipoh is worth a visit.

Adrian's Nasi Campur.
The brinjal (aubergine) curry alone warrants a destination status for this restaurant.

Mee Goreng
The one I had yesterday was better. I'm still on a lookout for the bestest but time is running out fast.

Incredible Murtabak.
This is roti filled with spicy minced mutton and onions.

There they are again. Three girls and their Papa.

Uncle 3

Dinner at the Long House

The Hokkien Spring Roll of Po Piah is on the menu tonight.
The popiah event is a good excuse to get everyone together, it epitomises an ideal social tuck.

Some of the ingredients that go into making a popiah.

I premise that if you're tolerant of murky vids, then here's one I prepared earlier.

Three is really enough for the average person.
They were absolutely delicious, thanks Aunt 2.

Lest I forget, geckos are really the flies on the wall in every household here. They don't bother us and we don't likewise. The insects obviously beg to differ.

24/09/09

2009-09-24T18:10:00.001-07:00

***Due to a massive cock-up on my behalf the above isn't a Proton!***

Proton Cars
Malaysia wouldn't be one without them. 3.86 out of 5 cars here are Protons. A triad of government subsidies, high import duties on foreign cars and the token patriotism is accountable. If Jeremy Clarkson were to evaluate the car, the BBC would be banned in its entirety here.

Aunt 2
Mum and Grandmother of the folks below. She's also one of my favourites, a strong sense of validity to all the questions thrown at her is always guaranteed. She ought to have been an advocate.

Breakfast of Pisang Goreng (Banana Fritters) and...
There are some alarming rumours about vendors adding drinking straws to the cooking oil to prevent the batter from going soggy and thus maintaining a longer-life crunch. I shudder to think about the toxic consequences but rogue practices like this are rife in this part of the South East Asia!

...Fan She Tan (Sweet Potato Balls).

The bananas are so naturally sweet, toffee and syrup are unnecessary.

Lunch at The Royal Lake Club

A posh and private sports club for the well heeled needing more than a respite from the hoi polloi.

Hai Yen and Pei Yi
Mother and daughter making the art of photography lemon squeezy.

Coconut Drink.
The whole fruit was like a meal unto itself.

Mee Goreng, Rojak and Teh Tarik
All Mamak (Tamil Muslims) classics.

Pei Yi munching on her California Roll, amazingly she had three of them!

Ikan Bakar
Grilled Stingray, all spiced up no less. The fish compared to our skate from Grimsby is probably analogous to the comparison between the luxurious turbot and plain plaice.

Cousin En Loong and Missus.
Hai Yen is actually very tall (she's from Xi'an don't you know!) and EL is standing on a step above her. EL is public school educated but thankfully didn't turn out to be a clenched-arsed and toffee nosed git!

Their girls-

The eldest and the cheekiest.

Twin major.
Quiet, selective and straight hair.

Twin minor.
Assertive, sociable and wavy haired.

The Long House.
The house my Granfather built more than thirty years ago to house the entire clan, think of it as four detached houses conjoined into one. These days most of the young ones have all but moved out, I guess it's down to the Western necessity of privacy that has been embraced.

The photo gallery needs updating, the huge fourth generation is missing.

Mum's rather delicious fried rice dinner.
For those who suffer from chronic insomnia, a cure is at hand here.

23/09/09

2009-09-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

Day of indolence and not much else.

Curry Mee
Or laksa or maybe not. I think the idea was to create first and foremost a chicken curry and then with a carb choice of either rice, noodles or bread to suit one's whim. Curry Mee is more watery and generous on the chicken pieces whereas the denser laksa is concocted primarily as a noodle soup dish.

Tiffin dinner...

...of fried chicken, sambal ikan bilis (anchovies), fried tofu and beans and mercilessly overcooked beansprouts. Sook Yian prepared a meaningful salad to offset the discrepancy. I gladly accept that I'm fastidious.

Mum's living room, the din courtesy of the kids is part and parcel.

Night time reading for most kids but Godzilla art for Nic.

They knew I was working there and chose to disregard as such by forcibly emptying the bin of toys to declare their intentions instead.
Ryan and Ethan- thank you(s) very much!

22/09/09

2009-09-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

An epic upload of pics from a magnificent day out.

Stayed overnight chez Henry and Liz in Sungai Buloh, a town north of Kuala Lumpur.

Breakfast of roti canai at a local Tamil restaurant.

Swirling and turning the dough into a paper-thin sheet.

Folded four times to make a pseudo puff pastry base.

Griddled with loadsa ghee and additonal Planta margarine.
Ghee almost sounds like a swearword when it comes to dietary issues, clarified butter seems more forgiving.

The usual accompaniments of fish curry sauce (no morsels as standard) and dhal apply.
The best roti still comes from Uma Rani, see here.

Driving through rural Selangor.
Our destination was the small town of Kuala Selangor on the west coast of the peninsula.

Climbing up the steep steps leading to Bukit Melawati.
You know you're old when you've been lagged behind at some distance!

The lighthouse on top of the hill is supposed to be iconic to the town of Kuala Selangor, but no mention of it in Mikipedia.

There's always something about the sky near the coast...

...and unlike KL, no smog to speak of.

Not quite the Amazon, but the country still has a decent amount of rainforests. Catch it while you can.

The benches don't look too unlike the headstones found in the Chinese cemeteries nearby.

Nephews Nic (6) and Ethan (3).
Boisterous and hyperactive are polite descriptions of them.

Their Mum, Liz...

...and Dad, Henry.
I've been incessantly reminded that we look alike.

Nic gaining a good depth effect of...

...the eagle.
If only I had a 500m lens. A group of keen birdwatchers from the States were euphoric with the sight, one of them even went on to say that it was more difficult to see their own bald eagle in the wild.

The top of the hill is also home to an old fort in ruins. The Dutch were responsible for these historic remnants, the fort was constructed to protect the lucrative tin trade in late 18th century.

Hitching a free ride on board the hill bus
(We found out later that it wasn't supposed to be free, just a case of poor policing and the staff have given up on the passengers' leisurely hopping on and off antics. Henry did at the end of the day make a purposeful contribution.)

Long-tailed macaques or monkeys.
This lot are less extrovert than the one shown below.

Our next destination.

The girl who sat next to me on the bus.
She totally ignored the scenes on the descent, she was fixated by my camera.

Male Golden Pheasant captured at the forest reserve of Taman Alam Kuala Selangor.

And his missus.

Mangrove plant life.

Cheeky monkey.

The small fishing village of Pasir Penambang.
The cars shown belong mainly to the city folks from KL in search of a seafood meal.

Sleepy village, time forgotten shops.

Hyperactivity postponed for the time being.

The seafood restaurant, perched rather precariously on wooden stilts.

Food is one of the primary reasons why Malaysians thrive on getting together. They'll also travel great distances just to have lunch or dinner.

Mum and a tired looking Ethan hoping for a glimpse of mudskippers.

Steamed Grouper.

There's only one way to serve fish freshly killed from the tank, simply steamed.
Delectable.

None of us were that hungry after the roti breakfast. In addition to the fish we had some forgettable butter prawns and excellent locally grown beans.

For afters Henry popped over the road to the bakery.

One can't beat deliciousness that come out straight from the oven.

Bay Tay Saw.
Hokkien biscuit filled with sticky maltose.

The boy has regained his form and relishing the warm biscuit.

This is a fishing village, so the following snapshots apply.

Salted Fish.

Prawn Crackers shop/factory.

Sun drying the discs of precooked crackers.
You can forget about the ones they thrown in at the Chinese takeaways back in Britain or the prepacked supermarket variety; this the real thing and they contain real prawns.

Bucket of Pissing Prawns.

The one shown is around 5" long. They crawl with their legs and I think of them as aquactic woodlice. The pissing tag comes from the excitable squirting of water when they're manhandled. Like crayfish, they taste bland.

Fisherman/fishmonger/villager taking a well earned break away from the frightful sun.

A big thank-you to Liz and Henry for an illuminative ~~Sunday~~ Tuesday.

21/09/09

2009-09-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Aunt Kay

She's the last surviving sibling of my late father. The snapshot was meant to be included in the Singapore post but it's here now. By default I'm closer to my Mum's family, it's a pity that I hardly know any of the cousins from my Dad's side- too terribly Western and totally against the Chinese ideology of the family (no matter how distant the relation) as preeminent.
Khoo Ma, it was a pleasure to see you again after nearly a decade and a half.

Breakfast with Mum, Adrian and sis-in-law Sook Yian.
Roast pork, char siu and roast chicken with rice.

My noodle soup of rice noodles (hor fun), sausage (tai cheong) and meat balls (yoke yin).

This caff is well known for its cold triple layered coffee drink.
It consists of coffee, condensed milk and gula melaka (sago and coconut palm sugar).

Sook Yian's claypot loh she fun (rat-shaped pasta).

Te Pan Pau
Filled buns griddled or cooked on an 'iron plate' (teppan- note the word is Chinese and it gave rise to the Japanese teppan-yaki).

This delicious bun is filled with sweet bean paste (tau sa).

Kacang Putih Man
The above in Malay means white peanut. Streetstalls selling nuts and crispy snacks are rife.

Filling the bag up with one of my favourite peanuts. Pan roasted with sugar, soy sauce and the omnipresent MSG.

Duku langsat
Another fruit that originated in Malaysia. Sweetish, texture similar to a more leathery longan and a signature tannic after taste.

Thai dinner with my immediate family.

Obviously all very authentic (Thailand borders to the north). The Tom Yum and Pad Thai are nothing like what's supposedly available in London.

20/09/09

2009-09-22T05:34:00.001-07:00

Singapore- 2nd and final day.

Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

The Malay term for celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid.
Guys, Selamat Hari Raya and thanks for the pose.

Breakfast at Kopitiam near Bras Bersah road. A highly sanitised and approximate version (to appease the more compulsive Singaporeans) of the traditional coffee shops found in Malaysia.

Another kopi tiam breakfast classic of boiled eggs over easy. Crack the runny eggs yourself, douse with plenty of soy sauce and add plenty of white pepper. Mix with a passion, then with or without bread- enjoy.

Breakfast for some folks is Tiger beer drunk with a straw!

Personally I wouldn't mind reading my Sunday papers like the way he does except that a cup of Flat White would make it more pleasurable.

People's Park, Chinatown It was too early at 9am, the place was deserted...

...so much so that no one was going to nick this cake placed outside a bakery.

Hari Raya is followed shortly by the Mid-Autumn or Mooncake festival. The colourful council block helps liven up an otherwise chaotic and overlooked area.

In both Singapore and Malaysia, they stand on the left as opposed to the right back in London.

Lunch of Hainanese Chicken Rice at Lucky Plaza on Orchard Road. Lunch was so-so, but what the heck I was more impressed by the thousands of Filipina maids who gather at this shopping mall on their only day-off of the week. First church then Lucky Plaza. The sight of these gleeful and smiling women made me likewise.
Ladies if you're reading this, hats off to you.

The Ion Orchard

Subjective it may well be, but this is one beautiful building!

People watching. Iced Mocha Vanilla.

There are so many other pictures I could take of Singapore, but it has been done by others and it's a case of once you've seen one Merlion, you've seen them all. So I'm going to end my trip with the ice cream vendor-

Put your prejudices aside, the Wall's stuff here is different to what we get back in Blighty.

Yes that's bread all over the place, they make ice cream sandwiches here in Singapore!

Choose your flavour from the usual suspects to durian, red bean or taro.

Wafer biscuits are a viable alternative to the off-putting multi-coloured loaves of bread!

Singapore is too bloody near to the equator and that means a least a degree or two sultrier than Kuala Lumpur. You'll need an ice cream sandwich like the above to put things in perspective. Yummy!

Malaysia- back to the land of fifteen years adrift (fair guesstimate).

The services along the Malaysian motorway offer more than a Little Chef and fuel, fruitstalls are numerous! Contrary to the notorious reputation of durians (odour of rigor mortis or poo), they are actually delicious. All the durians that are imported into the West are from Thailand; they're inferior tasting and harvested by forcibly chopping the fruits off the trees. Durians are only perfectly riped when they naturally fall off their branches due to their mature weight. Like Jersey Royals, Malaysian durians can only be purchased and eaten within home.

Chempedak and Nanas
Breadfruit and Pineapple

The breadfruit is as offensive and stinky as the durian, again if you get the chance it's terrific eating. I would say that it's less acquired than durians.
The flies concur.

Dinner at a fabled crab restaurant in Seremban, the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan (about a hour's journey from Kuala Lumpur).

The Seremban Grilled Crab Restaurant is an incredibly huge and busy place. Like all the best Chinese eateries in the country, they are dirty, no service to speak of and the buildings are usually withered tin sheds.
(Might as well mention that the bogs are unisex and filthy holes in the ground!)

Local clams, South East Asian cousin to the Italian vongole.
The serving looks measly but it was only about £1.50; gorgeous.

The name of the blog; Pissing Prawns fried with salted duck eggs.
I will post a picture of this sea insect soon.

Oh...a caucasian fella doing the rounds among the diners selling trinkets or badges! To be fair he did have card on him stating that he was a deaf-mute, but everyone in the restaurant was surprised to see him let alone a white tourist in this 'no attraction whatsoever' town!

Fly Lice
Velly good.

And there you have it, the best crab dish I've had. Succulent, sweet and umami laden. There was simply no way the restaurant owners were going to reveal how the barbecued shellfish was marinaded or basted. I thought kecap manis and sugar, my Mum reckoned Worcestershire sauce was more likely. After consulting my foddie bro Henry, he said Marmite. I agreed. Marmite is now a popular ingredient with the Chinese in Malaysia when it comes to cooking chicken, pork and now crabs!
Superb!

19/09/09

2009-09-20T23:55:00.001-07:00

A drive to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur takes around four hours if it doesn't involve stopping. The trip was planned as a brief one, two days and one night. Mum, Adrian and sis-in-law Sook Yian completed the quartet.

Jasin
A small town in the southern state of Johor that has seen little interference or regeneration from the 21st century. For my next trip to Malaysia I plan to visit little towns like Jasin in the Peninsula, purely to satisfy my newfound and deep-rooted interest in them.

Kopi Tiam
The above two words translate into coffee shop, the last word comes from the Hokkien dialect. The one shown above is typical of the breakfast culture in Malayisa. The kopitiams are (if authenticity rules) rickety, olde worlde and perceivedly unhygienic. One comes here for thick swampy coffees (kopis), margarine and coconut jam (kaya) toasts, and the odd bowl of noodles. These places were once facing an indeterminate future but thankfully there is current resurgence, the young folks have now realised that there's more to a bowl of cornflakes or $tarbuck$!

Instant coffee costs more than the real thing!

The motorways in Malaysia are riddled with tollgates. A foolproof way for the government to regain the constuction investment, except that it's being going on for more than fifteen years!

As far I'm concerned there are three good things about Singapore; the skyline, the girls take the trouble to make themselves beautiful and no chewing gum debris to speak of. It's different world here to Malaysia, more of a Westerners' cuppa- clean, disciplined, insignificant crime and English spoken everywhere.
(the spot where I took this picture is where the Formula One cars will be roaring through as well)

Orwellian high-rise state housing for the masses.

Shopped pic to compensate for the overexposed sky in the original.

Work is good. Even if the bodily functions have limitations, it stops the brain from rotting away.

Our one night stay at The Rendezvous

Don't be deceived by the atrium, this hotel is supposedly three stars but it's more of an upmarket backpackers' inn. No Wi-Fi here and one has to fork out for a connection by landline. Avoid this crap hotel!

Equally crap and overpriced lunch at the famous Rendezvous restaurant (same name in same hotel but not related). We had a Nasi Padang (rice with a variety of dishes) lunch at this Indonesian influenced eatery. The prices charged were extortionate, ideal for ripping off tourists like us.

The Singapore MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) It makes our London Underground hopelessy out of date. I was awed by its efficiency and sterility.

Like Malaysians, Singaporeans thrive on eating, shopping and working.

This country is a curse for smokers. The bureaucrats have succeeded in making addicted souls like me feel like lepers. This was one of the few places where one can have a puff with a cup Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee.

Jaywalking is discouraged and deemed illegal; you've been warned!

Unlike Britain, the citizens here are proud of their F1 night racing contribution.

A bit of friendly retail espionage. The hi-fi scene in Singapore is more prevalent and extreme than in Blighty. I stock all of the above except the speakers. You'll need at least 30K GBP before I get out of bed.

Dinner at Jumbo, one of many supersized restaurants along the East Coast that specialises in seafood. This restaurant was recommended by one of the most beautiful blogs I've come across, ieatishootipost.

Jar Jee Kai
Crispy Fried Chicken or literally fried paper chicken. The paper describes the crispy skin.
Below average.

Fried dough sticks filled with cuttlefish paste
Below average.

Deep-fried Tiger Prawns with rolled oats
Potentially very good but let down by too much sugar added.

Steamed Soon Hock fish.
The fish is marbled goby.

Highlight of the night.

Singapore Chilli Crab
The national dish of the country. There were countless of Singaporeans tucking into this dish when we were there, they were obviously proud of this dish. As for me, a Malaysian swinging between trees in the jungle I wasn't impressed. The Sri Lankan crab was fine, sweet and meaty, but the spicy sauce was once again over sweetened (they love their sugar!) and spiciness was toned down. The grotty seafood shacks across the Causeway know more when it comes to crab dishes.

The Singapore Flyer
I'm quite pleased with this photo shot from a car travelling at 80km/h (it's metric all the way here). Our London Eye is still the best looking, the u-shaped fork/assembly lets it down!

18/09/09

2009-09-18T08:47:00.003-07:00

The huge bowl is also home to a large amount of tiny guppies.
They reduce the amount of mosquitoes by eating the eggs and larvae.
I'm never comfy in tropical gardens as I keep imagining a snake is going to appear from anywhere.

Been handed the unenviable task of child-minding.
The kids are actually fine until their parents turn up, then all hell breaks loose!

Getting the boys to clear the mess up is psychologically painful.

Nic's creative efforts are constructed to be obliterated by none other than...

...his dear brother, Ethan.
He's crying because he fell on his face whilst on strict instructions not to; clambering a table!

Lunch with Mum at another tumbleweed alley of a place.

Prawn Mee (noodles).
This is another well known local dish where the intense stock is made with prawns and chilli spices. Additional trimmings include slices of pork, chicken, boiled eggs, morning glory, beansprouts and too many shrimps. Delicious and a no brainer 90p for the bowl.

Ice Kacang or ABC
This must be the country's most popular dessert, basically shaved ice with red beans plus tons of other ingredients like green grass jelly, sweetcorn, condensed milk, rose syrup, etc.
40p

Uncle 1's house, shot from Grandmother's Long House.

Cousin Pei Yi
Kids in the household are expected to read and speak Mandarin, English and Malay plus the main dialect of Hokkien (not a terribly eloquent lingo I might add) which my Grandmother can only converse in.

Eggs with preserved vegetable.

Uncles and Aunties gathering.
The once a week dinner where everbody gets together is mandatory.

Tonight's meal revolves around the Hokkien dish of Hong Bak.
Belly of pork and trotters braised in both light and dark soy with star anise as the main spice. And yes every morsel of the pig was indeed melting.

Cousins Piers and Donny.
These guys like my brother Adrian, are a generation after me; they're all impossibly lanky and that includes the girls!

Ah Teen, she's a heroine.
Another supermaid, she heads five others in The Long House. She's Indonesian and her fiance is Burmese (the latter being Buddhist has to convert to Islam once they tie the knot).

I'm off to Singapore tomorrow.

17/09/09

2009-09-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

My Mum's Mum.
She's the matriarch of the family, although frail at 98 her mind is astonishingly sound.
I'm one of her 100+ grand and great grand children!

Little sis looking up to big sis.

Breakfast at roadside stall.
This is a workman's caff, no Prada wielding yummy mummy would be seen dead here!

Iced tea and coffee, the temperature at 9.30AM was 28C

Dim Sum as it should be eaten in the morning

All rather crude and disparate to what we're used to in London

Pau
Most folks just have a couple of these steamed meat buns and a pot of tea before setting off to work.

Lor Mai Kai
Normally steamed and wrapped with lotus leaf, this meaty glutinous rice dish was served simply as above. Nothing special.

I have seen bicycles vandalised and parts nicked in London but not yet scooters.

Smog!

If you think the British Library is ugly, well the KL equivalent is sadder.
My brother Adrian calls it the reptile house.

Mr See Kee
His curry puffs are 2 die 4. He has been making them since 1960 and selling them from his tiny stall. Incredibly he still rememebers me!

I need to try out a couple of outlets in Singapore before I decide to call these the best curry puffs ever. 30p each.

In Malaysia we don't have to sneak out for a cheeky fag. Coffee needs nicotine and fags need caffeine. Disgusting and selfish but undeniably elating.

Dinner at Kim Gary, a chain with a vague concept based on Hong Kong food.
The large number of different menus was bordering on silly!

Their signature dish of Hong Kong style baked rice with cheese!

This is mine with pork chop. It was atrociously awful. This might go down well in Switzerland where they have everything with cheese but there was no way I fell for the gimmick.

My brother loved this and so did the rest of diners. The queue outside the restaurant was unbelievable. I think that the younger people like my brother and his wife welcome this fusion twist as a change from the norm.

Ethan doing the Jackrabbit Slim's Twist before beddy time.

16/09/09

2009-09-16T09:03:00.001-07:00

We're lucky in London that we don't have the smog like Kuala Lumpur has. This sad sight is courtesy of illegal logging and forest clearing in nearby Indonesia and Malaysia as well. Some people are just plain thick and ignorant when it comes to caring about this little planet of ours.

All the national dailies are 'advised' by the government be it in English, Malay, Mandarin or Tamil. The Independent should feel at home here.

There's milk in the coffee, but this is Malaysian kopi, it stays resolutely dark.

Supposedly the best laksa in the country is sold by Madam Q. She has been selling her legendary dish for forty years and like most people from this part of the world they'll only stop at it till they drop!

Vermicelli or egg noodle or mixed; choice is yours.

70p as opposed to £7 in our Chinatown's Malaysian restaurants.

Coconut milk is eschewed in favour of a more kickass watery stock.
Needless to say this is the best laksa I've had.

Parking attendent bloke, I'm convinced that he owns the piece of land where our car is charged to park on.

Cousin Siew Mei

Cousin Cassandra

Hungry Ghost Festival.
Tonight is the last night of the brief amnesty whereby the ghosts are allowed to roam free. This happens once a year and tonight's closing ceremony is a Hokkien version.

Huge incense or joss sticks line the main road of Jalan Ipoh.

The temple compound.

Offerings of anything edible like rice, cakes and cooking oils are offered to the Gods and I believe the dead to follow.

There were the sacrificial animals as well. I counted there were at least fifty pigs on one long table alone.

Por Tor Kong.
Hokkien for the God of the Underworld. Thanks is given by the worshippers for his help in providing a trouble free passage for the ghosts' return journey from the land of the living.

Mum and Aunt 2 lighting their joss sticks...

...and placing the joss papers in the hallowed furnace.

The temple of Guan Yin or the Goddess of Mercy.
She's the most popular deity among the Chinese Buddhists.

(before you shriek the swastika is sacred and totally original to Buddhism)

Chinese opera, sung in Hokkien, is staged to...

...entertain and appease both the living and the dead.

It's often difficult to lug a camera around in any holy places. I'm not entirely sure if I was allowed to do so this evening but I'm sure that the gods would approve somewhat. The grainy pictures were due to lack of flash photography and a tripod.

Came back to Mum's and found Nic's assemblage of bots. He wouldn't go to bed until I took a picture of it.

Night Market from the previous night thru' to 15/09/09

2009-09-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

14/09/09

Pasar Malam or night market in Malay. There are hundreds of them in full flow all over the country

Fried noodles store.
Notice the woman in the middle wearing a mask, it's quite a common sight in the capital. This is due to the H1N1 or swine flu scare.

Satay as it should be cooked.

Fried white radish cake.
The nearest thing I can relate the texture to is that of frying blanched gnocchi.

Crispy prawn fritters.

They're laid back in Malaysia when it comes to shopping.
It's around half nine by now.

Stall selling Po Piah.
Springrolls served without being deep fried but au naturel. Tremendously yummy, another unique dish that the Chinese Malaysians are proud of.

Fried gram flour twists.

Dragon fruits from local farmers.
The fruits look better than they taste.

Lantern indicating that bubble tea is sold herewith.

15/09/09

Accompanying Mum on her twice weekly trip to the market at 8AM.

Chicken Lady
All the chickens shown are organic and reared by her. We're probably looking at £5 for a fat hen. Those black hens are incredibly expensive, in Britain they're known as the Silky.

Tweezer time.
All birds are sold with their heads and feet intact, the Chinese don't do half-way houses...

...likewise fish.
The above are lantern fish and they're the be all and end all for the Teochew people when it comes to seafood.

We bought this local fish (Goh Ma Soon), not quite sure what the name in English is, but it's an expensive delicacy.

Cocky veg seller taking the mickey out of my camera!

Now, in a Chinese market there is a large amount of pork butchers, you'll need to go to a Muslim one if you prefer beef or mutton (people here laugh at you if you ask for lamb!).

Chinese cuisine is simply incomplete without pork.

By and large everybody found my camera acceptable, this was probably down to the way I dressed and suitably unshaven; they thought I was a Japanese tourist. Markets here are not the sort of places that visitors from other lands would venture into; the smell, the lack of hygiene that Westerners perceive and there's obviously the intrusion that the stallholders are unlikely to embrace.

Locally grown sweetcorn.

Fried doughsticks and wheat buns.

Boy about market.

Butcher having his noodle breakfast.

Sundried anchovies or ikan bilis.

Stocking on joss sticks and joss papers for tomorrow's epic last day of the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Another South Indian lunch, I was supposed to eat with my right hand...but keeping the camera clean took precedent, cutlery please.

Sungei Wang
The most successful shopping centre in Malaysia, it's not the largest nor the poshest, but its turnover is astounding. The name says it all- river money.

Low Yat Plaza
A one stop shop to rival Tokyo's Akihabara.

Otai Burgers.
The word francais is not French but Malay for franchise (a misspelling of nouns borrowed from the English language is a common practice). Otai burger stalls (no restaurants!) have a cult following in the country and I dare say Macs are pissed off with their presence. Otai have taken over the mantle from the older Ramly Burger as the best tasting burgers by the working-class.

Chicken patties; beef's sold out.

All the special burgers are served with eggs.

A paper thin pancake/omelette is created to wrap the burgers with.

This one messy eating sandwich, drips and sogginess comes to mind. It was bloody good despite whatever fears or prejudice I might have!

14/09/09

2009-09-14T08:53:00.001-07:00

Been taken to another obscure part of town...

...just to sample this local hero's speciality of...

...the best wonton or gon loh noodles in KL.
Optional additions to your plate of noodles include honey roasted char siu, phoenix talons (chicken feet to the rest) and Chinese mushrooms. Unfortunately what we get in London's Chinatown doesn't come close.

Taking away a bag of laksa for the maid.

The gate to the surgery of the family's GP

This is the jab that's recommended for my trip to China next week.
A vaccination to counter not swine flu or bird flu or SARS but the plain and simple seasonal one!

Dr Lian, thank you for allowing me to intrude.
For obvious reasons, no flash involved.

A brief trip to say hello to Aunt One (Mum's eldest sis).
This is her urban pile.

We've heard of supermodels and superchefs, well Leng here is a supermaid or to be ethically correct; a female butler. She runs a network of other maids and has established herself as an institution at the above mansion. We've known each since we were ten and before you know it; she's richer than me by a long way. She insisted that I tried some of her homemade mooncakes.

Gulp...I'm not crazy about them. Acquired and most other Chinese peeps would concur as well.

The KL I love

Although the number of monks in KL are not as numerous as in Bangkok or Rangoon, any sighting of them still touches me.

Jalan Petaling or Chinatown

Fried Rice for 20p?

Chestnut stall.
We may only eat roasted chestnuts during the colder months in Britain, but here they're snacked on everyday.

Fried sweet potato balls.
That elegant lady has been perfecting the art ever since I can remember as a child. She has aged well.

Barbecued rashers of streaky bacon. This is relatively new, the cure is sweeter than usual and they're simply sold as street snacks (no sandwiches or fryups).

If only you can smell here!

The Chinatown in Singapore is cleaner and more sanitised, but this is the real thing.

Dinner at Mum's.
The tiffin containers simply give the game away. Dinner is cooked by an aunt of mine who caters professionally for some of the other members of my Mum's huge family. Hokkien cooking is terribly simple and unsophisticated compared to the Cantonese.

Lunar Festival.
Perfect for the kids in Malaysia to stay up even later than usual.
Candles and fireworks are introduced at an early age; probably a good reason to deter them from becoming pyromaniacs!

13/09/09

2009-09-13T08:07:00.001-07:00

At least Kuala Lumpur has the Petronas Twin Towers it can identify with.
My Mum calls them the Corn on the Cob twins.

Jalan Imbi Market

Nasi Lemak woman.
See her apron. One of the undesirable legacies the Japanese left the rest of the East with other than itself; Ajinomoto or monosodium glutamate.

Breakfast

Dunking toasted rolls filled with kaya (coconut jam).
27p

Porridge (hate that word congee) with fried pig intestines.
90p

Salted Fish

Malaysian bananas are vastly sweeter than the Caribbean ones that we get in Blighty.

The abundance of lowrise shop/flats make up Kuala Lumpur but you won't see them featured by the Malaysian Tourism Board.

My nephew Nic.
Like his father and myself he'll probably end up studying architecture.

Cousin Gwen.

Japanese dinner at Rakuzen

Unagi Set
£7

Chirashi Set
£7.20

We simply cannot get away from noodles!

12/09/09

2009-09-12T09:59:00.001-07:00

View of the red palm trees from my Mum's bedroom. They're thirty years old and at least two stories tall.

Mum's House. Hers is one of four in a complex that also contains the homes of three of her brothers.

My Mum.
Best get this out of the way before she objects to the pic being posted on this blog.

Breakfast at Old Town White Coffee on Jalan Ipoh
This is a Malaysian chain of restaurants (133 of them in the country) offering local specialities and the famous White Coffee from the northern town of Ipoh.

The coffee is strong and sweetened with condensed milk.
Not as sophisticated as a cup of capps or flattie but still drinkable.

Nasi Lemak

Brown toasts and potato curry
In this part of the world we spice ourselves out for the first meal of the day!

A fair share of skyscrapers is duly noted in Kuala Lumpur.
These four look vaguely passable, but the majority of the designs are appalling and amateurish in excution. Plus they're mainly unoccupied as well.

South Indian lunch at the famous Sri Nirwana Maju restaurant.

You come here for the Banana Leaf Rice.
There's a poorly shot video here.

I need some new glasses.

Eye test gargoyle.
Believe me this posterized pic depicts me in a better light than normal.

A great Malaysian pastime is shopping.
Kuala Lumpur has an indecent amount of shopping malls that makes our Brent Cross positively titchy.

And they don't close till 10pm everyday of the week.

If any of you are afraid of monsters, seek my nephew Ethan out. He'll sort them out, he is after all Ultra ~~Man~~ Boy.

Siew Yeh (midnight snack)
The Chinese in Malaysia eat as much as the Italians do with pasta, if not more.

My Char Kway Teow with added 'mee' noodles and by now, the taboo cockles.
Local cockles are linked with shellfish-acquired hepatitis A

11/09/09

2009-09-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

If my Mum can grow these grapes in her garden inspite of the heat and vicious humidity, then anything is possible.

My nephew Ethan.

Breakfast, starting with cold pulled-tea of Teh Peng.

Oh this is a perfect example of how the typical Malaysian geezer dresses up when they're not at work. Colour coordination is unheard of, indeterminate patterned shirts and ill fitting shorts that Bart Simpson would choke on if he ate his!

My Roti Canai
(Indian Malaysian flatbread accompanied by dhal, fish curry sauce and sambal- you can only find this dish in Malaysia and it rocks!)

Adrian's Roti Planta
(Same as above but made richer, scrummier and ultimately more unhealthy by adding the Malaysian staple of Planta margarine)
Breakfast for the two of us including the teas came to less than a quid!

Cousins Ryan and Gwen, and nephew Ethan.
We have English first names because we're Malaysians (most of us embrace them as Mandarin names can be difficult to pronounce) and the above are also Christians.

Adrian filling up the form for our lunch of Yong Tau Foo.

I don't care when I state that this dish is also unique to Malaysia.
Assorted veg and tofu stuffed with fish paste. There's currently only one restaurant in London that approximates the original and that's MKT in Chinatown.

Side order of fried stuffed beancurd and prawn dumplings.
Lunch for three came to six quid.

A minor gathering at my Grandmother's house. There were four generations in attendance this evening, it would be five had it not for the latest addition being a newborn baby and slumbering elsewhere.

Basic and ok-ish dinner of veg curry, Hokkien sesame chicken, roast duck, and fried fish.

11pm. Kids here go to bed when they feel like it and so long as they don't throw a tantrum when they have to get up in time to go to school. The idea is that we end up happier and more independent.

10/09/09

2009-09-10T09:13:00.001-07:00

Every country in the world has its fishmongers. The ones in Malaysia do not need the aid of electricals to keep the fish cool, just ice and the ambient temperature is always hovering around 30C.

Food hawker preparing my breakfast of...

...stirred wonton and char shiu noodles with curry sauce.

A cup of tar pit coffee that's Malaysian Kopi O

The non-identical twin girls
Qinyi and Jinyi

My extended family is diverse as it's huge. Some are fabulously wealthy and some are needy.
My aunt shown above is of the latter; she's a street food seller.

Habitual rinsing of teacups, chopsticks and plates using hot tea in a restaurant before a meal. This is purely optional and most definitely DIY.

Large Prawn Noodles.
Lunch with a variety of uncles and aunties.
In Malaysia, prawns are considered more discerning than lobsters. The latter are purely a status thing and ultimately less tasty.

Streetfood stall. A common sight in Malaysia.

Dinner with my brothers Henry and Adrian. If I maintain an ounce of their integrity and intelligence then it would make me a better man. They're dudes and I love them to bits.

Dessert of shaved ice with fruits and coconut milk.

Intro

2009-09-09T16:10:00.001-07:00

This is going to be short lived blog. More of a daily reportage of my trip back to Malaysia with a bit of China thrown in. It’s worth pointing out that this is also my first holiday in about three and a half years, it’s difficult to get time off when one’s a shopkeeper. I’m in the essence a Londoner and by birth, Malaysian; but they’re neither homes to me. I’m at this point in life (in fact for the last thirty years as well) clueless about where and what home really is, I have dreams about obscure places like Bolivia or Mongolia being able to provide the spirituality I identify the term home with. Best thing is to stay fit and save as much as I can so that my passage to either La Paz or Ulan Bator can be realised.

The trip back to Malaysia is primarily down to two things; my family (I have loads!) and the food (doubly loads!). Hope you enjoy the documenting from this part of the world.

One of my numerous cousins.

Malaysia is home to satay.
Unfortunately the above is not indicative.