Pet: My Cat is Doing His Cicak Hunt

Ask Yourself. Have You Come Across A Food and Drinks Service Centre?

Always believe what you see. Coz always what you see is what you get. I have heard lots of service centres but this is the first time and I guess last time I am gonna see this. LOL. Car service centre? Check. Customer service centre? Check. Computer service centre? Check. Handphone service centre? Check. Food service centre? UNCHECK.

Obviously I am wrong here cause there is a thing called Food and Drinks Service Centre in reality. Reality check, please. Yes, done! Here is the evidence as depicted in the picture. I figure they might have these services when you are facing some ordeals such as:

1)The next time you have yeast covered breads, don't forget to pay this place a visit. They will meticulously remove all the teeny weeny "friends" on your stuff. 

2) Nowadays people are simple too busy to prepare their own food and drinks. During Cheng Beng and Hungry Ghost Month, please kindly call them to display some food and fruits on the altars. 

3) They are just a call away when your indoor cat stole your fish away. 

4) After you have overcooked your veggies, tell them. They will "fix" and replace with a new "part" for you. 

5) And most of all, lazy people like me will enjoy their service during my chow down time in a seafood restaurant. They put forward the best service to peel (or sometimes de-vein) the shrimps shells and crack the Crustaceans hard-shell with a huge smile on their face.

All the above might sound great but I am clouded with doubts so I refer to Professor Google and he shakes his head showing disagreement. How can? Who wants to crack the crabs shells for me? Tell me, tell me!!!!

9-Day Glorious China Trip - Part 1

Destination: Guangzhou, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Cangzhou

Date: 27 Nov 08 - 5 Dec 08

Season: Winter

Temperature: Day - 2-5 degree Celcius, Night: minus 10 - minus 15 degree

Total budget: RM3K (partially subsidised)

Winter gear: Winter coat (possibly long to cover lower part of your body), Face mask, Bobble hat, Sweater, Boots, Gloves, Cotton scarf, Thermal earmuffs, Long johns, a pair of jeans.

 

China is not always in my destination list if you asked me but for some reasons I am glad that I was given the opportunity to be in the delegation in support of  China cultural and educational exchange. The core objectives of this programme are to strengthen ties between China and Malaysia universities and at the same time foster the long-term collaborative efforts, educational and cultural resources that will benefits involved parties. 60 delegates including lecturers were all set to go on 27th November 2008 (almost a year ago).

 

*I spent Day 1 and Day 2 mainly on travelling so it might be a little dry for Day 1 and 2*

Day 1 (27th Nov 08)

After the press photo-taking session, the delegates were divided into two buses and off we go to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) for catch the flight with AirAsia.The return air tickets were not too expensive mainly because we gained sponsors from university, private companies and donations from the public. After 7 hours of bumpy ride in the bus, we finally arrived at LCCT. If you have extra time before boarding, there are a bundle of facilities that will buy you some time off. Do check out the eateries (Mc D's, Coffee Bean, KFC, Mary Brown, The Chocolate Boutique, Old Town), duty-free shops, convenient stores (7-eleven), foreign exchange counters and most of all......"space" for people like us to shoot a few syok sendiri photos.

  Ladies, just smile and wave

Day 2 (28th Nov 08)

We spent 2 hours making a bee-line thronging the check-in counters for our luggages. A decent amount of RM10 will be collected as your luggages are being sat on the conveyor. After a long tiring hours, finally we boarded Airbus AK114 at 5am. I have to admit flying on budget plane is definitely something not to my liking. The aisle is very narrow, the seat is small and the feeling of being a Siamese twin with the person next to me was totally an unpleasant experience.

 

View outside the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport

After 3 hours of flying, I landed in the sub-provincial city, Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is as crowded as purported and to my surprise most of the employees speak Cantonese. And I will go ??????!!!!!!!!!!???????? tiu. While waiting for our tour guide (ground arrangement from China) to collect all her "babies", we headed down to McD's. Yum yum. I paid 12.95 yuan (about RM7.50) for a set of China McChicken version. They have other meal selections like pork burger, nai cha (milk tea), yam and peach pies and etc.

Majority are locals waiting for the passengers to arrive. Can you see the Mc D's sign at the far end?

After 2 hours of long waiting, we travelled on a bus to Guangzhou Railway Station. I could not agree more if someone were to complain about the road traffic in Guangzhou. You go horrified with terrible traffic . We managed to bypass the bumper-to-bumper crawl scene to the railway station. The moment we put up at the designated place, I was startled dumbfounded to see the overwhelming crowd making a bee-line just to board the train! I have been praying hard enough for stampede not to happen that day.

The pontential stampeders getting ready for headlong rush

Then it was our turn to get into the train. After a crazy morning, battles through the jam, we were already in the train. This time, I was not dumbfounded but devastated to see my "pigeon hole". The room is utterly small, the aisle is ......... speechless. Or maybe it is trying to prove that I am fat!

These carriages travel at 110km/h for 22 hours to Beijing.

The walking aisle in the carriage is very limited

 P/S For those who want to get to Beijing, AirAsia now offered direct route from LCCT to Tianjin. Take a bus or cab to Beijing which is about 2 hours ride.  

6 "pigeons" were squeezed into this "pigeon hole"

Basically, the food-selling concept was the same as AirAsia. There were three carts selling three categories of foods namely fruits, tidbits/junk food/cup noodle, and box rice/porridge. As a matter of fact, I do not eat beef, and mutton but in China, they only eat beef and mutton to warm up their bodies.

My breakfast - A cup noodle with minced beef and spicy soup costs only 5 yuan (RM2.50)

My lunch - Lunch box with cabbage, ham, egg, beef costs me 15 yuan (RM7.50)

By the time I can almost cleared up my food, I already plopped down on my bed and sleep. I can feel the carriage was getting colder as it travelled north. As exhausted I was, I dozed off to sweet dreams in a blink of eye.

Stay tuned for 9-Day of Glorious China Trip - Part 2. Next post will be more on the places of interest i.e. The Forbidden Kingdom, Bird Nest (The Olympics Stadium), Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, Wang Fu Jing Street.

Apologies for the poor photos quality because cheap digital camera ma!!! Enjoy!

Reasons why we love Hokkien language....

I have been living in the Hokkien dialect predominant society for the past 23 years and I am very proud of it and still very proud of it. I love Hokkien so much not because it's my mother tongue or it is used in my daily conversation but:

a) Hokkien dialect is funny and full with profanities (not for prudes and goody-goody)

One day, an old man was driving along the road when a policeman wanted him to pull over to the road side.

Policeman: Ah pek, mana lu punya IC (identity card) dan lesen memandu?

Old man: Ai see? Soli, encik. Wa pandu lao phok kar pun ai see ar?

Policeman: Bukan, ah pek. Gua mau itu kad ada muka kedut lu and alamat rumah punya la. Buka dompet lu tengok.

Old man: Oooo....lu nanli sekijap. Wa punya lompet mau koyak ...... liap-liap lali guna....sudah 75 tahun loh.

Policeman: *checking on the IC and driver's licence* Eh ah pek, lu tau apa kesalahan kamu kah?

Old man: Gua ingat lu stop keleta wa mau lompang ma. Tapi lu tarak lompang tapi tanya wa ai see. Wa manyak takut looo....

Policeman: Oi...apa lompang lompang. Lu pandu kereta macam dalam "Tokyo Drift" bahaya la.Ah pek tak boleh macam tu. Nanti langgar kereta lain banyak susah tau, ah pek!!!! Nanti lu betul betul see!

Old man: *scratching head* Ma ta, wa galanti tarak salah hamik su kong wa salah? Wa ada ikut law hali-hali. Lampu melah, wa stop. Lampu hijau, wa jalan. Tali wa nampak papan suluh panlu macam itu,  wa ikut la. Mana wu salah?

Policeman: Papan apa?

Old man: *Pointing delighfully to the road signage*

Policeman: *%#$@*&#*&%!@#$ Chee buy punya ah pek. Gua mau bagi saman.

Old man: Sam ban? Wa ikut law pun luan luan ho wa sam ban. Wa bo ikut, pun ho wa sam ban. Wa eh cuh wu goh chap ji sam ban ko boi heng. Poo kee mak betul!!!!! Ti si ka eh huat?

b) Hokkien dialect probably has influenced Bahasa Malaysia (BM)

*meaning is in English*

1) Mata - Ma ta (policeman)

2) Mana - Mah na (where)

3) Sila - Si la(Yes la)

4) Kira  - Khe la (Calculative)

7) Lori - Loh li (Lorry)

8) Lambada (Eng) - Lam pa la (Balls)

9) Durian - Lui lian (Durian)

10) Topeng  - Toh peng (Overturned)

11) Sabun - Sa bon (Soap)

12) Go astern (Eng) - Gostan (Reverse)

13) Kopi - Kopi (Coffee)

14) Saman  - San ban (Summon)

15) Jilat  - Jee lat (lick/ bored of the food)

16) Lidi - Li di (a broom made from veins of coconut)

17) Cubit  - Chu bit (Pinch)

18) Pasar  - Pa sat (Market)

19) Celaka - Ji la kak (Damn)

 20) Tumpang - Lompang (Car sharing)

 c) Hokkien food si pek ho chiak

Hokkien mee

Hokkien char

Loh bak

Ee fu mee

Hence................

We are proud to be Hokkien lang/Penang kia

My Chinese New Year 2009 gathering picture

P/S: All images depicted are borrowed from www.google.com.my. I do not own these images and no copyrighting intended.