Coffee Talk ...

I went back to my sanctuary in Ayer Itam just so that I could type this entry. Hahaha .... had been quite excited lately because 2 of my special projects had moved on to the next level. One of it has got something to do with coffee.

Let me start first by explaining what inspires it. Among the tourism industry players, I am much closer or much in tune with the tourist guides in Penang, especially the more senior ones. Though they can be sooooooo vocal, but one assignment in 2010 brought us closer together, in a sense that, both organisations later understood each others job better. Well, it's human nature ... no one wants to admit they are wrong or weak kan????? Myself included.

But I learned something from that assignment as well. To introduce or to get people to trust in the product, we have to go through many trials and errors (try and error). It is always chicken and egg story. Many tourists guides in Penang complained to me that the tour packages offered by their 'towkey" (travel agency) were not interesting or creative enough. But talked to travel agents they said the products (attractions) and facilities were not interesting enough or the not enough facilities (or tourist guides demand so much). Talked to the attraction owners they said ... travel agents not bringing enough tourists to their place so how are they going to upgrade or maintain it. So get my point?

Therefore I decided to focus on Free Independent Travellers (FIT) and domestic tourists/ excursionists as a catalyst for these tourist attractions. If travel agencies and tourist guides giving me so much problems, better focus my energy to FIT. Having said that the attractions or products must also be wel-maintained, good and unique enough to attract tourists. Some places, I noticed ... truly under-promoted, unnoticed or in a dire need of fresh coat of paint. Budget Travellers Guide to Georgetown and Discover Autocity Juru program confirmed that. Lack of signboards, attraction owners were not commercially inclined (some people do it for passion or hobby - no intention to make it big) ... and some deserved to be repackage.

So when Vincent asked for my approval to do the Coffee Trail for our Penang Bloggers ... I asked him, "Just bring them to visit kopitiams is it?" He shrugged ... "Yeah?" Automatic some wild ideas crept into my already "wild" thinking hahaha ... yes, my mind is like a jungle now, so many ideas (and wildest imaginations, unhibited)... stored haphazardly!

I explained to him ... coffee is not just for drinking ... we can even use it for cooking and beauty. Let's explore more about coffee. So that day, Vincent, myself and KK had a wild brainstorming on this Coffee project. So finally yesterday, myself and Vincent came out with an itnerary - each with a special Coffee theme.

Photo from chrisau.wordpress.com

Drink coffee - savour the traditional Penang kopitiam black coffee (kopi-O) with traditional toasted bread (u know the one still using the charcoal oven)

Photo from http://blog.omy.sg/jaimeteo

Eat coffee - savour the taste of Coffee Chicken Chop or Oriental Coffee Chicken wash down with Vanilla ice-cream in coffee syrup.

Photo from myskinconcierge.blogspot.com.

Beauty coffee - give your body a good polish with the Coffee Body Scrub.

Make coffee - learn how to make good cup of coffee and some of well known coffee treats - cappucino, expresso, machiato, latte etc.

Blend coffee - blend your own coffee from selected coffee beans.

Photo from http://duckies-food-blog.blogspot.com

Gift coffee - Penang Coffee is great as a gift.

To be honest, last Friday ... I spent the whole day evaluating the coffee products and places. Sampai i mabuk coffee. Pening ... pening ... too much of coffee indulgence! Will update on this after 11 March 2012 ... stay tune!

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me

When I was told to lead Ministry of Tourism Malaysia office in Penang, I somehow got mix feelings... excited and nervous. Penang is my dad's birthplace and we often spend the holidays there but somehow I felt like going back to a strange city.

I had 2 main things in my mind then ... repackage the attractions and develop Penang Arts and Cultural Scene. Branding and packaging prove to be a very, very tedious work ... lots of networking, lots of negotiations, lots of patience, lots of rationalising and lots of eating hahaha. With different political parties ruling the State and Federal government certain things didn't progress smoothly.

But I will forever remember this law principle during my Ministry of Housing days that "the contract should be complementing, not contravening to the Act". So I decided that I should not be competing, but complementing my fellow competitors but in doing so, I will do it with style ... just like the Blue Ocean Strategy. With the Penang State Tourism inclining towards cultural, I focus my energy into arts ... any form of arts - especially the modern and contemporary ones. 

Recently the performing arts scene in Penang has become more vibrant with the opening of Penang Performing Arts Centre last year in Straits Quay, Penang. The art centre was built through a partnership between E&O Berhad and The Actors Studio (Malaysia). E&O has contributed a lot to the music and performing arts scenes in Penang. During Penang Tourism Action Council time, they sponsored close to a million for the Penang World Music Festival. 

To "mencemar duli" my first play or show at Penangpac, I decided to watch Someone Who'll Watch Over Me directed by Joe Hafsham yesterday. It was actually restage after a successful run in Kuala Lumpur.

The play deals with three men, an Englishman, an Irishman and an American who are taken hostage and held in a filthy, windowless cell in Beirut.  They are unsure of what the future holds for them. Will they see the light of day again? Will they see their families again? These are questions they do not have the answer for. As they fight to survive and stay sane, they escape into their fantasy worlds by shooting films or reliving Wimbledon, they provoke and taunt each other, they comfort each other and simply hang on…

After watching this play last night ... I asked Vincent, my projectpenang leader and good friend ... "Are you going to blog about the show?" He looked at me bewildered.

"Honestly, I quite blur about the show."

I couldn't blame him as I myself couldn't understand or couldn't get some of the lines, cracking my brain to digest and translate from American to Irish to English. To a certain extend, I suddenly found myself not that "open-minded" on reference made about God, religions, countries or race. Maybe because "lama sangat bekerja dalam suasana yang sikit-sikit isu sensitif". Hahaha... okay I was tempted to watch the play because of the review plus I miss indulging in modern and contemporary performing arts again. Seriously, I miss miss miss to be in the "cultured society" again hahahha

Next week, Vincent, Doris and myself will be challenging ourselves and see how open-minded we are about VAGINA issues. The Vagina Warriors, a drama play inspired by Eve Ensler's feminism master piece "The Vagina Monologue", aimed to knock down stereotypical thoughts about feminine, gender and sexuality, despite the fact that Malaysia is a conservative country where Patriarchal practice is just too strong to abolished. To be performed by the newly formed Neighborhood Performance Group wish to bring up unconventional ideas about VAGINA. 

Hmmmm ... interesting.

Missing Home

People say "home is where the heart is" and yesterday my heart was definitely in the beautiful and serene city of Kuching, Sarawak. Kuching may not be as busy or as vibrant as my other "homes", Georgetown or Kuala Lumpur. However, 18 years of my life were spent there and many of the best memories of my life happened there.

I think a dear friend of mine currently share the same feelings. Yes, it used to be fun and exciting to get out of our hometown and gain experience in other bigger or foreign cities. Yes, it used to be fun living with friends (or live-in partners? oppsss) but like Norzah mentioned in his latest entry ... "the more people have, the more unhappy they seem to be". I am not sure whether I am seeing enough (as I still feel envious looking some of my friends travel photos) or had enough (as I still things that I want to own) or experience enough (especially relationships and motherhood hehehe) ... but yesterday I truly felt like I wanted to leave everything behind, take the next available flight to Kuching and enjoy as many bowls of Kolo mee to my heart desire (huhu ..it has always been about food).

Another friend of mine commented yesterday that she was revisiting this blog as it used to make her laugh but many of my new entries seemed so serious, "mind-challenging" and depressing (okay I just add this) ... Hmmm ... honestly, I was (am) making an effort to write again on various topics and issues now that I am contributing a lot of "feature writings" in a local tourism magazine. She rebutted ... "leave that serious writings to the magazine or academic papers" but for this blog ... "I want that santai (laid-back) writings" ... my she sounded scary!

Hmmm .... after much soul-searching and analytical thinking ... I came to a conclusion that all of these were due to lacking of "the feel good feeling". Happy? Yes ... in certain areas and departments of my life. Content? Hmmm .... not quite, some areas are still a lot of filling up to do. I had embarked in a Happiness Project since January but what I had achieved so far is mostly enough sleep and enough eating hehehe. Yes, I miss the feeling of falling in love, I miss the feeling of childishly mischevious ... I miss the company of great friends. Huhuhu ... I am lonely ...

So yesterday, since I had a full day meeting ... I decided to take a 30 minutes break to the nearest Sarawak comfort food restaurant in Penang, Face to Face Noodle House at Penang Times Square which is about 5 minutes drive from KOMTAR. It may not be the best Kolo Mee I've ever had but enough to satisfy my craving for a taste of home. Sorry yer ... non-halal!



Having said that, since the owner hails from Oya, Mukah ... the kolo mee that their produce have the same texture and taste like the Foochow Kampua Mee. But the garnishing and toppings definitely resemble Hakka Mee of the Peninsular Malaysia. Tastewise ... a crossover between kolo mee and kampua mee. Don't care as long as it taste like any kolo mee or kampua mee in Kuching. I was soooooo thrill yesterday because they also served it with freshly cut red chillies in vinegar.... a must with Kolo Mee. Truly made my day :)



Face to Face Traditional Sarawak Kolo Mee



The Feast of St Valentine 2.0.1.2

I know many people have different opinions about Valentine's Day and this whole celebration of LOVE thing. However to me, Valentine's Day is just an extra special day that you must honour it for love, like your birthday ... when everything is all about you. It is not written in the law that people must celebrate birthdays or Valentine's Day ... but when it became a tradition, a norm or maybe culture ... it is a special day.

Many associated Valentine's Day with Christianity due to the fact that the early Roman Catholics observed it in honour of one of Christian matyrs named Valentinus. But honestly, in my 35 years ... never once I ever heard the Feast of St Valentine's or being taught by the church to observe it as a Christian Holy Day like Ash Wednesday, Easter, Good Friday, or Christmas. In fact, I think this festival of Christian origin has become more of something cultural especially in the West, just like how the Chinese celebrate Mooncake Festival (a festival of Chinese folk religion origin) or in modern Bidayuh context, how we see Gawai Dayak Harvest Festival - a festival in honour of our culture and tradition.

I can accept it as something Christianity especially on the honouring the Act of Love as it is written in the Scripture - Between love, hope and faith, love is the greatest of all. However, to first associate Valentine's Day with something immoral, lustful and then link with Christianity ... that angers me ... there I said it.

For the year 2012 and the years before, I celebrate LOVE, non LUSTfully (never pun unfortunately). Instead, it was more towards GLUTTONY. I asked myself earlier today ... How shall I love thee? True, there are many ways of showing that you love yourself, however I decided that I should love myself like how I love a child or how I spoiled members of my family. Yes, I show my love through food. 

Being brought up in a conservative Asian family, food is something many household tend to revere most. My late grandmothers from both side take food matter very seriously. Do we have enough rice to feed everyone? Have you taken your lunch/dinner? Make sure you finish your plate. Make sure you have something before you go ... those were their words that still ring in my ears. Despite now that many of my family members and relatives have turned obese (myself included) ... I still could feel their fear till their final days that we might not have enough to eat.

Unconsciously, I do fear that I might have not enough to eat ... and so do my mum, my dad and my aunts ... just look at the food stocks that we have in our kitchen. But at least, I love to cook ... and so does my mum, my dad and my aunts. Cousin Ruby came last weekend and brought my aunts shopping at Sunshine Farlim. I was so amazed when Auntie Rose told me that Cousin Ruby has tasted, tested and experimented with all sorts of food products. From rice grains, to pasta ... even to which brand of cheese nice to eat with what.

Ruby initially couldn't understand my love for wantan mee, always advising me to try other Penang hawker fares. But when I explained to her that my wantan mee got ranking and my benchmark is the Caunter Hall stall .... she somehow could relate to it, telling me how she was so crazy of Assam Laksa but couldn't find one that tasted quite right in Parit Buntar. But once she finally know how to cook the Assam Laksa correctly and at par with Grandma's and Auntie Rose's ... she could finished the whole pot of Assam Laksa gravy all by herself. Hahaha ... the story about her finished a whole pot of assam laksa was a legend in my family.

So commemorating today's LOVE theme of SELF Indulgence and EATING WITH PASSION ... I wandered to my green pasture ... the City of Georgetown, Penang. Forgetting for a while the expanding waistline and my recent recovery from tonsillitis. A total bliss! Happy Valentine's Day everyone ...

Breakfast of Kuey Teow Soup Utara and Air Bandung @Astaka Tanjung Selera.

Coffee break with Penang Coconut Jelly and Rojak Buah.

Dinner with Penang Sar Hor Fun and Teochew Chendol at Georgetown White Coffee.

Sawadee Ka Bangkok 2012 - Day 3

I wanted to publish this entry sooner but I left my travel note in Penang (a small notebook where I jotted down important infos about our Bangkok journey for future reference), so was a bit lost on what to write while was in Kuching. Anyway, I compensated my 2 lousy sessions at Dahra Beauty and Spa, Bangkok and the Baan Silom Heritage hotel's own massage service with a 90 minutes aromatherapy massage at my favourite Thai Odyssey@Straits Quay. Finally .... rasa sangattttttttttttttttttttttttt puas! I will definitely request for Ya (the name of the therapist) again for my next session.

Sorry .... sidetrack!

By the way, I forgot to mention in my previous entry that Zaini and myself got ourselves the BTS Sky Train Smart Pass (since we traveled mostly on the Sky Train) which cost about 260 Baht (60 baht deposit + 100 baht card price + 100 baht reload value). Actually, it is convenience to have this card around having learned some valuable lessons during my last trip to Singapore, especially when travelled during peak hours or weekends. Cut the queue, cut the hassle. The BTS Sky Train Smart Pass is valid for 2 years from date of purchase.

BTS Sky Train Smart Pass and Singapore EZlink card.

Madame Tussauds, Bangkok

Our first destination on the third day was Madame Tussauds Bangkok. During my previous trip to Bangkok in 2010, Madame Tussauds Bangkok had yet to be opened. In fact, I found out about this "must-visit" attraction when helping Emelia planning her trip to Bangkok last year. It is the first in South East Asia and third in Asia after Hong Kong and Shanghai. It is located on the 6th Floor of Siam Discovery Centre. To get there we took the BTS Sky Train to Siam Station.

The ticket counter.

Naomi Campbell, welcoming visitors.

The ticket price is 800 baht which include a guidebook and a photo discount voucher. This is my first Madame Tussauds Wax Museum visit so I will not complain on the ticket price or number of wax figures on display. Except that, it was a bit smaller than I expected. We arrived early, so that we don't have to queue or fighting for our turn to snap pictures with our "idols". 

Madame Marie Tussaud

Anyway, lately I truly felt blessed living in Asia ... many attractions now is coming to our region (i.e Madam Tussauds Bangkok and Universal Studio Singapore) so we don't have to spend so much money and travelling time just to visit these attractions in faraway countries. Plus the best low cost or budget airlines are also in our region ... therefore everyone can fly and everyday low fare! Seriously ... I am soooooo into Asian destinations at the moment.

The wax figures are divided into sections : The Royal Room, History, Leaders, Arts and Science, Sports, Music, Film, TV, A-List Party, Behind the Scenes and History of Madame Tussaud. There is a gift shop if you want to buy something back for your friends or love ones. I took so many photos and here are some of it ...

King Bhumibol parents

With our former Prime Minister, Tun M.

The First Lady of the White House.

Wow!!!! This is so scandalous.

Mie playing golf with Tiger.

I am sexy and I know it...

Slam Dunk with Yao Ming.

Help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Get me out from here.

Capt Jack Sparrow was not please with the "treasure" that he found.

(

Mie on Oprah ...

For other photos, feel free to check out Zaini's blog entry ....seriously, I was soooo envious of his photos with some of my favourite celebrities! (Yelaa kan some people kena "berdiri sama tinggi" baru nampak santek!)


Pratunam Market

We finished our tour at the Madame Tussauds at about 1.30pm. Initially we planned to go shopping at Siam Paragon but after seeing nothing really "unique" that caught our attention, Zaini suggested that we hit the Pratunam Market to look for costumes and accessories for shows. The taxi fare from Siam Paragon to Pratunam Market was about 50 baht (meter taxi).

Pratunam market comprised of retail stores and outdoor stalls, along narrow alleys. Most of the stalls I noticed selling textiles, clothing and accessories. Anyway, Zaini was looking for a tailor specialising in dance costumes whom he befriended many years ago. Of course we couldn't find the person, nor could he remember the exact location of the shop ... not when many of the shops looked identical.

Interesting T-shirt.

We found many shops selling costumes as we ventured further into the alley, complete with head gears and accessories. The costumes ranged from 800 baht and above. Most that caught my eyes priced between 1200 baht - 1500 baht (costume only). Consider veryyyyyyyyyyy cheap. In KL according to Zaini, one costume cost about RM 1000.00 plus plus ... The best thing is, they also do delivery. While Zaini was busy selecting the ostrich feathers, I got myself 2 beautiful batik sarongs (of all places) - my reason ... the designs were similar to a nyonya sarong and belt (only 79 baht!).

Berat OK!

Miss Universe

Fru fru

Hard Rock Cafe, Bangkok

We returned to the hotel to refresh ourselves for the Calypso show, happily carrying 2 big plastic bags containing headgears and ostrich feathers. I am sure, judging from the all the starings that we get, people assumed that Zaini was the cabaret dancer and I was his manager. It was sooooooo good to be back to the comfort of the hotel that I almost "terlajak tidur".

We hit the skytrain back to Siam Paragon and walk to Siam Square looking for Hard Rock Cafe Bangkok at Soi 2. Goodness I had forgotten that there were many great shops and booths at Siam Square selling fashion items. But time was limited and I really need to get to Hard Rock Cafe to get my T-shirt and shot glass. 

Couldn't come here during my first trip. Now I got what I want!

Dinner at Sizzlers, Siam Centre

Initially, I wanted to have dinner at MK restaurant, a very famous suki/hotpot chain of restaurants in Thailand. But we were too lazy and hungry to locate the restaurant, plus we didn't have much time, so I told Zaini we should try the Sizzler restaurant at Level 4, Siam Centre. Went there before with Aey and Jett.

Just to prove that I went to Siam Paragon.

Grilled vegetable salad from the salad counter.

Grilled Bassa Pesto serve with brown rice.

Calypso Cabaret Ladyboy Show

Personally, no trip to Bangkok is complete without watching this ladyboy show (serious!). Especially first timers.

From Siam Center we took the BTS to Ratchadewi Station (about 5 minutes). The Ratchadewi Station linked directly with Asia Hotel, the venue of the Calypso Cabaret so not to worry about not finding the place. Calypso has two shows per night, 8.15 pm and 9.45pm.The ticket cost us about 1200 baht per person.

Established in 1988, you get the feel of the 1950-60s cabaret when you enter the theater. The theater can accommodate up to 350 guests per night and the seating arrangement is 5 seats per table. 

We were among the first to arrive.

The ticket comes with a free drink coupon.

Mie and Zaini.

It was another full house that night and most of the patrons were foreigners and tourists. We saw (and heard) some guests communicated in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Tagalog, and of course the Queen's English and some other European languages. Some even make new friends especially those who came alone or with groups of friends but were seated next to each other like the China-Chinese guy and Japanese girls on the table next to ours.

The show was divided into few performances, each with it's own theme.

(Pre Show) First Lady-The Classic

(Pre Show) Italy - Young, Beautiful, Handsome

Opening Show - With all the feathers.

The Chinese Ballad

The Ostrich Parade

The Wondergirls

Blossom

Geisha

Can't remember but I call it Burlesque.

Contemporary Thai.

Taco fantasy.

Like The Flow of The River.

Finale

The show was entertaining but I think I prefer Simon Cabaret in Phuket. The "girls" in Simon Carbaret were also better looking, plus the performances were more colourful, modern and energetic. Plus I think they have to do something on the commentaries ... a lot of "Ladies and Gentlemen". The audio sound system also they have to improve, suddenly the music just stopped with a thud instead of slowly fading out.

End of Day 3.