melt

NST - "Take a course to be an actor"

2009-01-10T07:05:00.000-08:00

Only the second week into the New Year and I can't believe where we're already headed towards. I find some of the quotes here pretty amusing -

"Currently, anybody with the looks and the right connection can become an actor."Some don't even have any basic skills in acting." Fernandez said all actors had to undergo a one-week training to be accredited.

So, one week of acting training is really all one needs these days? Interesting...

Read the full article:
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/2447613/Article/index_html

The Little Sister Is Engaged

2009-01-05T05:10:00.000-08:00

Ann at 4 - Devilishly mischievious and relied totally on her cute looks to get away with murder.

24 years later, a certain courageous Mr. Truong has finally claimed her from the Teoh Family.

Congratulations Ann and Kent.

(looking forward to the wedding planning extravaganza)

Christmas in Camerons...almost

2009-01-03T22:57:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It's time to get back to regular blogging and while I'm at it, perhaps pictorial posts will be much more interesting.

After 20 years of whining about not having been to Cameron Highlands, one of Malaysia's more well known tourist site which houses the infamous BOH tea plantation, strawberry farms and fresh local produce outlets, I finally made a trip there with Joe and a group of our students. It was an enjoyable 2n-3d trip, though I strongly suggest a longer stay if you can afford the time. Before our departure, I had envisioned myself in the cottage-like Bala's Chalet, devouring in their famous homemade scones served with fresh cream and strawberry jam and sipping tea while enjoying a good book. Needless to say, I came home not having even opened the cover of my book.

We found that with a day of jungle trekking (more like 1.5 hours), visiting the tea plantation and farms, night market and playing Pictionary, charades and card games, our schedule was already full to the brim. One thing's for sure, we planned to be healthy this trip. Long walks, hiking, steam boat dinners (nothing fried), lots of veges, you get the idea.

Day 1

Our first stop on Monday Dec 22nd at 11:00am - Burger King for breakfast.

Bala's Chalet

1:00pm: Arrived at Bala's Chalet. Love the atmosphere. Lots of greens; warm and cosy. Price: reasonble. Cons: limited parking - beware during the holidays and weekends; amenities not so great - passable. We were assigned the "Tinkerbell" and "Robin's Nest" rooms. The weather was lovely, comfortably cool so you can walk around in shorts and a tee in the afternoons.

Strawberry Farm
Trotted down to The Big Red Strawberry Farm after lunch. There is quite a selection of strawberry farms to choose from - we just picked the one with the biggest ad on the map (guess the marketing investment paid off). Rumour has it that the pick-your-own-strawberries farms aren't as great, but I guess it would be a fun experience if you're travelling with children.

The thing about being on a holiday is that you find everything so interesting, didn't matter if it was some kind of flower you see everyday wilting along the curb, or some kind of pastry that could have had better crusts. The holiday bug has bitten and you respond with 'ooohs' and 'aaaahs' at every little thing.

Snapping away at flowers; one must always have time for blackmail pics such as this

Tomatoes

Rows of fresh vegetables...puts you in the mood for a salad, doesn't it?

Strawberries!

We took the opportunity to indulge in some strawberry delicacies. Here you have the fried strawberry ice cream and pancakes with strawberries. Very yummy.

The kids reverted back to the good ol' days when they could comfortably fit into these kiddy rides.

After the farm, we went back to Bala's and had a few games of Pictionary. Joe must have been a Pictionary Guru in his past life. Dinner: steamboat at OK Tuck, Tanah Rata. Perfect meal for cold weather.

We went to the night market after dinner, hoping to burn some of the calories we put on today. What we really ended up doing was devouring more strawberries (this time coated with chocolate), fried mushrooms, corn (very very good), fried sweet potatoes and honey.

Raw honey

Day 2
Robinson's Waterfall & Jungle Trekking
We found a short jungle trek (or rather, it only appeared to look short) on the map which would lead us to the Boh Tea Plantation and thought it was about time we embarked on an adventurous journey. We saw a glimpse of the waterfall 10 minutes into the jungle and was determined to find our way to the bottom of it. 45 minutes into the walk with the path getting muddier and narrower and the waterfall being out of sight; and finally witnessing a tree falling from 50 feet above us, we decided we were not going to find the way to the bottom. We turned back, stopped at the first spot where we saw the waterfall, and decided to enjoy the cool water for a couple of minutes.

You know when it's a tourist spot when there's a souvenir hut 3 minutes into the trek. This place sells very good raw honey (I used some of it to make honey clasps treats for New Year's and they were absolutely delicious!). Their homemade marmalade and blackberry jams are good too.

The owner tossed a homegrown lemon to Howard.

Boh Tea Plantation
2:00pm: After our brief jungle trekking experience, we drove off to Boh Tea Plantation. Caution - if you are prone to car sickness, bring some sour plums. The road is awfully windy, but the sight is worth the trip.

Don't be fooled by this picture - this is not what you see the minute you step out of the car. For breathtaking views of the plantation, it's another 15 minute hike up the hills. We were practically panting when we got up there...not because it was undoable...I guess we were just lacking in daily exercise. It was a little cloudy that day, hence the dark skies.

Path to the top of the hill - Roger and June

We made it!; Howard's handstand

Pretty hibiscus

Scones and tea at the cafe (June). The scones were really tasty - smooth, buttery texture and melts in the mouth. I haven't had such good scones in a long time.

Went back to Bala's for a rest. While resting, we had more scones. Apparently their scones are the best in town - hence, how can one not try them? (sorry, no picture - was too busy eating and making comparisons). The scones and tea set was quite pricey at RM 22.50 per set (compared to RM 12 for both at Boh Cafe). It was good, but the texture was slightly different. Bala's had flaky layers at the top, making it a little rough (still melts in the mouth), where as the other one felt richer and smoother.

We repeated our dinner menu tonight, with the addition of 2 meaty dishes at OK Tuck; did the night market again (with double the food quantity we got yesterday); bought some beers and headed back to the Chalet for an early night of fun and games...or so we thought.

Pictionary...charades style

Day 3
The Smoke House & Market
After a hefty breakfast, we headed to The Smoke House for some photos. The Smoke House is a pretty Victorian-style chalet with lots of scenic photography opportunities. You can walk around the surrounding areas and are only allowed inside if you are a guest. Our last stop was at the produce markets. We ended up with bags of fresh vegetables, flowers, strawberries and corn (look for the ready-to-eat ones that is white and yellow in the inside - these are the BEST!)

All good trips must end with a decent family picture
(Roger in the front; Olivia, Howard, Joyce, June at the back)

Got back to KL around 4pm. It's Christmas Eve and traffic was already starting to get heavy, the air warmer and then thoughts of unwrapped gifts and gifts still to be bought occurred...back to reality.

Here is a link to a useful website if you're planning a trip to Camerons. My recommendations: strawberry farm, tea plantation, hiking, steamboat dinner; must buy raw honey, corn and fresh jams; must try: scones and tea.
http://www.cameronhighlands.com/

2008, where art thou?

2008-12-31T04:17:00.000-08:00

Where did all the time go? I just realized that my last post was on Nov 17 2007, a little over a year ago. Perhaps instead of gracing the city packed with thousands of people drinking champagne and toasting to the New Year, the next 3 hours could be spent on reflecting upon 2008...wishful thinking. Hah.

Somehow everything seems like a blur. I see lights flashing by, coupled with framed moments from 2008. Dates and days don't seem to be making much sense - chronologically I can't seem to recall at the top of my head right this second what I have done in the past 12 months.

Nevertheless, it's been an exceedingly good year in many ways, and not so good in some ways. The not-so-good I intend to put aside and the good I intend to maintain, if not increase in 2009. Ah, optimism.

2008 has been a blessing in many ways - set designing with ICT in the local theatre scene, being back at Furious again in April re-designing the revival of Saturday Night At The Palace; new-found friends and re-connecting with childhood buddies, time spent with the family and ocassionally too much time spent with students. :) What I've missed is really time spent alone. I no longer believe in making New Year resolutions, though I've promised myself more time next year for travels, self development and healthy living.

Here's wishing YOU a wonderful New Year, filled with joy, laughter, good health and success.
CHEERS to 2009!

My new permanent resident status...

2007-11-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long absence peeps. Been wanting to post pics from the Perth trip, which got delayed for a few months...and then the L.A. trip happened, and pics and updates from that were also postponed for a couple of weeks...

So...I have decided to start with the easiest update of the lot - my recent trip to Melbourne.

I was granted an Australian PR a week before I left for L.A. in September. To complete the process, I had to make an initial entry into Australia by Dec 12th to “activate” my PR status. Hence, the mini-break. I hate to use the word “uneventful” to describe any kind of holiday, but this almost felt just like that. Perhaps it’s the first non-work related trip of the year, so it felt odd not having to be at a certain place at a certain time and having x amount of minutes for a quick bite in a new found café or browsing through the endless shelves at a bookstore.

What did I do then, you ask?
Indulged myself in devilishly delicious desserts whenever we got a chance. Ann and Kent took us (mum went with me) to a string of very nice cafés. And thanks to my sis, I am now proud to say that I have finally watched a production of The Phantom of The Opera onstage. I will no longer have to live that embarassment of not having seen it all these years.

Note: This is not by all means your guide to visiting Melbourne. I kind of did all that touristy stuff a few years ago when I was there to visit Ann - the penguin watch at Phillip Island, tea at Mount Dandenong, National Gallery of Victoria, etc. And there are lots more to explore! I was very laid back this time around about taking pictures during the trip. But here are some for your enjoyment - take note of the foodie comments!

Day 1: Arrived in Melbourne
Breakfast at Madame Sou Sou's, Brunswick Street

Ann took us to Madame Sou Sou's for breakfast. It's a small, cozy french café located on Brunswick Street. As we got closer to the area, Ann turned to mum and I and said, "I know this area looks really dodgy, but it isn't! It's safe" Think Santa Monica - 2nd and 4th Street...just quieter. I had a yummy eggs benedict and mum had that pizza looking egg thing above. It was tasty, just that the portion was too huge.

Crate&Barrel vs Wheel&Barrow
I couldn't have left without taking a picture of this. Specially for my American friends and Crate&Barrel fans (like moi). What in the freaking world is WHEEL&BARROW??? Check out the typeface. Lets not get started on the products (I had a peek through the window on Sunday before leaving Melbourne) - they resemble what you might find in C&B, just that C&B's got more varieties. I asked Ann if she's been in there, and she said yes. On top of that, she also asked on of the employees about the resemblance to C&B and the answer was, "Well, we were inspired by Crate&Barrel."

Right.

Day 2
Lunch @ BECCO
Do you like Italian food? Do you like fresh seafood? Are you game for something new?
This is a place you ought to visit even if you're on a 3-day trip to Melbourne. I came across BECCO in the lonelyplanet guide book and decided to give it a try, especially since it's a 3-minute walk to The Princess Theatre where we were headed to after lunch.

This chic and trendy restaurant/bar is located on Crossley Street (a block away from Chinatown and His Majesty's Theatre) - a small lane on the side of Crossley Hotel. Being the fish lover I am, I ordered the grilled King Whiting. It was super yummy - seafood at its freshest, grilled to perfection, and with each bite the juiciness and tenderness of the flesh will keep you craving for more!

Pictures from visitvictoria.com.au and mettias.com

The Phantom of the Opera
@ The Princess Theatre
Caught the matinee performance of Cameron MacKintosh's touring production of Phantom directed by Harold Prince with Anthony Warlow playing the lead. Fantastic performances by the cast.

We passed His Majesty's Theatre on our way to lunch.

One of the many artsy installations at Southbank; Shoppers' paradise along Elizabeth, Bourke, Little Bourke and Swanston Streets (we stayed in a service apartment property called Somerset at Elizabeth - great location, everything's within walking distance; tram stop just outside)

Desserts @ Bernetti's
After bowls of hot and tasty Vietnamese noodles for dinner, we headed off to Bernetti's for a cup of java and something sweet. After what it felt like 15 minutes of trying to decide what to get, I ended up with a chocolate-raspberry cake.

Yum...; Like Mother Like Daughter? - any resemblance?

Day 3
Queen Victoria's Market
I have a thing for markets. Flea markets, outdoor markets, night markets, whatever market...and on some ocassions - even our Malaysian wet markets (and by this I only mean if they have stalls of yummy nasi lemak, chee cheong fun and yau char kuai).

I fell in love with the QV indoor market. This is your everyday pasar in an air conditioned building. Very European looking with rows and rows of little shops selling a variety of cheese, meats, breads, ingredients, antipasto, you name it, they've got it. I think I'm in love with the aesthetics of this place more than anything else. It makes an instant noodle chef champion feel like a sous chef. You want to cook up a storm just because you feel like buying stuff.

There is a second and third section to this market - this is where you'd find fresh seafood, poultry, meats, fruits and such. Miraculously it doesn't smell one bit (with the exception of the goat meat area). Mum and I were salivating over the scallops and oysters.

"Low fat" minced meat??? (click on the picture for a bigger version)

The outdoor market where there are hundreds and hundreds of stalls selling Aussie souvenirs, arts and crafts, clothing and accessories, homewares, etc. resembled most of the other markets (hence I didn't take any pictures). If you're looking for souvenir tees, you can be sure to find something here at bargain prices. We bought 2 paintings from a local artist - will post a picture another time.

Here are some pics of an Australian specialty store selling rock candy. These rock candies make great gifts for anyone with a sweet tooth. They're tasty and very pretty to look at.

Federation Square - Melbourne's Meeting Place
We trotted off to Federation Square, Melbourne's "public hub, imbued with a healthy cultural heart" (lonelyplanet). There is a variety of cultural activities one can be engaged in in this one-block square in the city centre. The building facade is made out of 3 different materials: sandstone, zinc - perforated and solid, and glass. Some of the highlights aside from the architecture of the buildings themselves are ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) where interesting screenings of shorts, films, etc. from all over the world are screened from time to time; National Design Centre that showcases Australian designs; Australian Racing Museum & Hall of Fame and The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.

ACMI

Courtyard performances are a hit!

Lunch at Chocolate Buddha @ Fed Square
This place serves organic Japanese cuisine. Didn't venture into anything exciting here. Probably too tired after all that walking in the morning. Nice atmosphere though.

Fresh sashimi

Passed Flinders Street Station on our way to Fed Square

Max Brenner's Chocolate
HEAVEN ON EARTH. Becareful not to start drooling at the sight of the desserts when placing orders. Apparently there's an outlet in Singapore...so for those of you cocoa fans out there, hunt that place down next time you're there. I love how they serve the hot beverages in these "Hug Mugs" which are cacao bean shaped mugs (see picture below).

Clockwise from top: Strawberry waffle; chocolate souffle - you literally feel the thick creamy milky chocolate melting in your mouth; this little chocolate number was delivered by mistake to our table..I have no idea what it is or how it's meant to be eaten but it sure looks good; my special hot chocolate with a hint of toffee flavour.

If you're looking for interesting gifts for a chocolate lover, check out their online store (products also available at outlets). Pics from http://www.maxbrenner.com/

Dinner @ Ragazzi Italian Restaurant

Tiny place filled with tables slightly more than a couple of feet apart. Reservations recommended. Great pasta selection.

I can't remember what the first one's called - got to check - it was very good; Tiramisu

Day 4 was spent shopping.

Day 5
Breakfast @ Gingerlee
Click on Gingerlee for a review of it in The Age newspaper, Australia.

I was adventurous and decided to go with something I've never had before:
Syrian style french toast with orange blossom syrup, honey labne, stewed rhubard and pistachios. Definitely an interesting mix of sweet and sour.

The toast was yummy with the syrup and pistachios.

New home
And introducing the new home of Ann and Kent. Interesting layout with little nooks here and there, very cosy. Especially loved the "family room" with the piano and a single arm chair in the corner...and not forgetting the peanut seat as well. They're still in the midst of decorating and such...it's a never ending process when it comes to a new home.

Living room, dining & kitchen, family room

Backyard - think they may need a bbq set to complete the picture

Domesticated. (She's going to kill me for posting this pic - but I like it. hah)

Thanks for the great hospitality, guys!

And that concludes my 5-day trip to Melbourne. I was updating dad about our daily activities via sms while we were there. On the 3rd day, he sent me a msg that read "You are a PR now but act like a tourist", to which I replied, "It will take me years to feel like a PR in here, so therefore I am still a tourist."

No, I am not moving to Australia anytime soon in case you are wondering. :)

More soon, promise!

THE TIME HAS COME...

2007-09-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

www.savethepeaches.com

Of Butterflies, Siam and Peaches...

2007-07-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

Perth seemed like a dream. It came and went by so quickly. Our daily routine - jobs, pending projects, etc. kicked in the minute we arrived at KLIA on June 13th. Was actually starting to enjoy the slow, relax lifestyle in that city when reality kicked in, and I realized that I only had 2 days left to unwind myself from the show, explore the city and shop for last minute gifts...a holiday is not a holiday without one frantically purchasing last minute gifts, checking the who-did-i-forget list and more likely than not, ending up with too many boxes of chocolates in one's suitcase (tip: if you're buying chocolates, be sure that they can't be found in the duty free shops in your country).

Dama Orchestra's Butterfly Lovers was a hit in Perth, and we all had a brilliant time. It also marked the first Malaysian production to perform at the prestigious His Majesty's Theatre. This would also be my first Asian touring production. There are plans to bring the show to other cities and countries, but more of that later. Will be posting journals and photos from my 2-week stay there soon.

Since I took two weeks off work (I have great bosses) for the gig, it was payback time when I got back. Replacement classes, extra classes, LOTS of grading and then there was finals. Joe, my good friend from college turned collegue, and I are blissfully enjoying our quiet time at work while the students are on break. The only drawback to this 4-week break is that I spent 2 weeks working on The King and I, and will have to spend the next 2 working on prepping for the National Accreditation Board's visit in August.

My work with Broadway Asia Entertainment's The King and I began early July. The show played at Istana Budaya, our National Theatre, between July 13th-26th. I was hired by Intan Budaya Presentations as Technical Coordinator for the production. First gig at IB, and all I have to say is it was nothing like I expected it to be, at least after much advice that was given by others. The head of departments assigned to us were efficient and very, very courteous. The production went very well, which resulted in me getting tremendously bored with nothing to do (except for the ocassional Melissa, we need... / have a slight problem...) I almost felt bad for accepting my salary! Met some very nice BAE people, a couple of which went on tour with the Brown Brothers! (Mike and Brad - rest assured I only speak of nice things about the two of you...ha ha...) Speaking of a small world.

Next up - am designing the set for Alex Jone's Canned Peaches in Syrup. Damaso and I touched base re: Peaches about 3 weeks ago. It is always so inspiring to talk to a director like him. Went over some very general but fundamental themes and concepts for the production. Setting is post apocalyptic by the way. There are hundreds of images swimming in my head, but I have yet to come up with anything concrete. It's called mental constipation. The next few weeks will be somewhat exciting for me as I begin conceptualizing the ideas and thoughts as discussed with Damaso, and putting my drawing tools into good use again.

OPENING OCTOBER 6!
A WORLD PREMIERE PLAYCANNED PEACHES IN SYRUP
Written by Alex JonesDirected by Dámaso Rodriguez
October 6 - November 10, 2007 (Previews October 3-5)

Alex Jones' timely and hilarious post-apocalyptic comedy, CANNED PEACHES IN SYRUP places us in a seemingly absurd and inconvenient future, where water is scarce, the sun has gone crazy and love still survives. The world is divided into two tribes of nomadic humans: Cannibals and Vegetarians. Can star-crossed lovers Rog and Julie cross tribal lines?! Can Rog's taste for flesh be suppressed?! Can Julie deny her parents' "meat is murder" mantra?! And, who exactly is Blind Bastard? A lone can of peaches in syrup holds their fate...and the fate of all mankind.

Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $15 - $25 (Previews: $12)Buy online and save!Or call 1-800-595-4TIX
Listen to the all-new Furious Podcasts!

I guess it's about time to book that ticket to L.A. as well. Tentatively I will be gone between mid-September thru October 8th. Am anxiously waiting to see everyone again! Christie will be so pregnant when I get there and there's also meeting Baby Price for the first time. The kicker is that I will have a sibling by next March. My adopted parents, Shawn and Vonessa, will be expecting their first born then (and these are people who once said, Melissa - we can't even wake up in the morning, how are we supposed to have a child??) We will just have to wait and see.

LA peeps - keep your calendars free in September. Looking forward to seeing you at Peaches!

Greetings from Perth!

2007-06-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

The group on a performance night...feeling happy and inspired.

Butterfly Lovers goes to His Majesty's Theatre

2007-05-29T17:23:00.001-07:00

So I'm off to Perth for the production! Currently posting from Singapore. Sorry, couldn't get any pics up here, but will update when I get back!

A Dama Orchestra Production
BUTTERFLY LOVERS THE MUSICAL
梁山伯與祝英台

China in 265-420AD... A woman... against tradition... in a love, doomed
from the start... Romeo & Juliet meet Yentl... in a contemporary Chinese musical...
a Dama Orchestra production not to be missed.

PUN KAI LOON artistic director / director
KHOR SENG CHEW music director
GAN BOON WE concert master
LOO FUNG CHIAT & LOO FUNG YING composers / arrangers
MELISSA TEOH production stage manager
WONG KIT YAW choreographer
DOMINIQUE DEVORSINE costume designer

Featuring
Tan SOO SUAN, TAN WEI HAN & LIAU SIAU SUAN
with
SAMUEL TSEU english narrator
JANET LEE, JASON LAI, CHAN NYIM, KAREN KWAN, TEOH SHEEW YONG,
SEAH SONG FAN, OON KIM SIONG, CHENG SING KIONG, SEBASTIAN NG,
YANG SY YEONG, MARTIN LEONG, ADAM SANG, TAN SOO TZE

Dates / Time
8 - 9 June (Friday & Saturday) 8:00pm
10 June (Sunday) 2:00pm

Venue
His Majesty's Theatre

Event Information
For more information please visit www.hawaiian.com.au/butterfly

Special Event Information
Suitable for all ages.
Children aged 3 years old and over must have a ticket.
Performed in Mandarin and English. Surtitles are provided.

Seating Information
Reserved Seating.
Row D is the first row in the Stalls.
BB row seats in the Dress Circle will incur restriction to view.
Please view the Seating Plan for Price Reserves allocation.
Upper Circle tickets are not currently available.
Event ScheduleApproximate duration: to be advised. Prices Available Online

Groups Booking Information
Groups are 10 people or more. One complimentary ticket every ten purchased.
To organise a Group booking, please contact Group Bookings Department Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm on (08) 9321 6831.

Wheelchair bookings
Patrons requiring wheelchair bookings should contact BOCS Ticketing on (08) 94841133 or visit a BOCS Ticketing Outlet / Agency.

General Information
For further General Information please contact BOCS Ticketing Mon to Sat 9:00am to 8:00pm
on (08) 9484 1133.

His Majesty's Theatre

“Building bridges Down Under... Dama Orchestra has established a reputation for praise-worthy productions, meticulous preparations and inspiring presentations. Building on mile-stone upon milestone... another stepping stone: a stint in Perth’s His Majesty’s Theatre, h
ome to the West Australian Opera and the West Australian Ballet.”
SUNDAY STAR

“Dama’s Butterfly Lovers is a significant cross-cultural experience for theatre-goers in Western Australia as well to the expatriate Chinese community in Perth, and around the country. We take seriously our commitment to ensuring the arts are available to as broad an audience as possible. Sponsoring Dama Orchestra is a further extension of our already existing arts relationships with His Majesty’s Theatre Foundation, Western Australia Opera, Western Australia Ballet and the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra.”
RUSSEL GIBBS, CEO, Hawaiian

“Dama’s musical production Butterfly Lovers is an excellent opportunity to show the world what we, Malaysians, can do. It is HELP’s small contribution to cultural development, something that we should rightly be proud of.”
DR PAUL CHAN, President and Founder, HELP International Corporation

A Teacher Celebrated

2007-03-09T22:04:00.000-08:00

Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition
- Jacques Barzun

This sentiment does not stem from the fact that I am now part of the teaching profession. While many factors form the equation for the lack of regard for teachers and the teaching profession, I was very much enlightened on the subject matter after attending our choreographer, Kit Yaw's, 50th birthday celebration on January 27th.

Kit Yaw is one of the most celebrated choreographer/dancer in Malaysia, having garnered multiple recognitions and awards for his contributions to the world of dance in our country. In just three short months of working with him last year, I realized that he is known to most just as lao shi (Chinese for 'teacher') and has gained the utmost respect from his students and the people he's worked with.

A group of us were invited to his 50th birthday bash, held at Precious Old China (Nonya Restaurant with very tasty food) in Central Market. It was NOT just a birthday party. It was an event. An event that left a very warm feeling in our hearts. Though there were more people than the place could hold, somehow the whole thing felt personal. And then it hit me. Everyone was there to celebrate Kit Yaw. How often do you go to a party and really felt like you were there to celebrate someone?

What really touched us was the presence of his students - not only did they add energy and colour to the whole evening, but their specially choreographed dance pieces and skits for him meant more than any lavish present Kit Yaw could have gotten. And with all that effort and love put in, one can only guess how much he has influenced the lives of his students.

all smiles...always

the restaurant decor and ambience was perfect

Kit Yaw's students from Akademi Seni Kebangsaan (National Arts Academy)

2007-01-27T23:16:00.000-08:00

4 more weeks to go before this short semester comes to an end. Many of you have been asking me about this new profession of mine, in hopes of hearing amusing stories about my classes and students. Since a student of mine tracked me down on Friendster a week ago, I'd better watch what I say about them here.

Funny, am actually beginning to enjoy teaching. Perhaps I am just enjoying the group I have this semester. The first week was a bit overwhelming as I was constantly worried about not doing it right. But what is right? Then there's the bit where you're worried about not being able to connect with the students. Anyhow, I think I'm slowly getting over trying to be overly anal about being prepared for class and covering every possible topic I can think of, which is not in the books. Yes, my students have been whining about the workload. To which I will always reply, "I'm just giving you your money's worth." And then I add a big smile to that.

Am leaving for Perth tomorrow with the Dama bosses and our TD. We're flying over to check out His Majesty's Theatre, where we'll be performing at in June. Very much looking forward to this mini-getaway, even if it's for work. This will be my first visit there, we'll try to sneak in a walk into the city or something. Apparently nothing happens after 5pm, so I'm also looking forward to getting some much needed sleep.

Can't believe it's 3 weeks till Chinese New Year. No CNY blog series this year since I've gotten most of it covered the last time. Plus parents will be away in Melbourne making sure their other daughter gets some TLC during the holiday season...so yours truly will be home alone.

More after the trip!

Farewell 2006, Welcome 2007

2006-12-31T23:58:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, I was told that 2006 would be a bad year for me. You know those Chinese horoscope thingy that's in your face everywhere you go during Chinese New Year. Honestly, you turn on the tv and there's some feng shui master telling you what you need to do to protect yourself from bad luck or how much you need to spend on renovations so that you have the right chi at home. Am not a particularly superstitious person, but you got to admit that this sort of thing can be quite interesting. So there I was, being told by the books, by the feng shui master on telly, by the DJ on the radio stations that us Dragons need to be careful.

As I spend the last 20 minutes of 2006 reflecting on the year, I really have no idea what was so bad about it. Aside from having 5 months off work, which was by choice, the rest of the year has been nothing less than exciting. Perhaps the most worrying part of it all was the relocation back home. It took awhile, and still is, to really settle down and figure out what I want to do and where I'm going to go from here. But I'd rather look at it as an unfolding of a new chapter of my life. And so far, the journey has been good.

2006 for me is a year of discovery. I have been blessed with the good fortune of meeting new friends and colleagues; getting job offers via a phantom agent; meeting mentors who are going to be great supporters of my work and discovering new avenues in a field that I want to stay in.
This year has also been particularly important in the growth of family ties and old friendships by just being here, at home.

Here's to a fabulous start to 2007!
May the New Year bring you joy and happiness, and all that your heart wishes for.

The new job

2006-12-31T23:34:00.000-08:00

Had a week off before starting work on the 16th. My first day at work was the Open Day weekend. Was stuck at our dept booth for almost 8 hours both days. Torture. But I got to meet some of the students which was good. I had a hard time trying to picture myself back when I was 18, a college newbie. Somehow these kids seem very much younger than I remember myself to be.

My office is still in the works. It's literally the size of the bathroom in my Moorpark apartment. In addition to that, Joe and I will be sharing it. Okay...so I guess the diet better start soon.

Everyone's been asking me about the job. I can't tell how it's all going to turn out yet since classes only begin on Jan 8th. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to have to work hard on getting the kids excited about Stage Management. I can hear David snickering.

Anyhow, December is December. Full of birthdays, anniversaries and festivities. It's a great month, my favourite.

Post birthday get together at La Bodega

For the first time, my friends have decided to be brutally honest about how I look. I assume they got me this i-care eye massager for a reason. My permanent eyebags may be starting to look too permanent. What a thoughtful gift!

Before I knew it, Christmas was just around the corner. Spent half the day at Lisa's with the god family and dinner at Chili's with the group. Popped by at Dom's the night before. Quiet weekend, but eventful at the same time.

Wonder bricks!

2006-12-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

I made it to NYC after all! AND to San Fran, Washington DC and the rest of the United States... all in just 3 hours.

Stopped by at Legoland on my way back to LA. The highlight of the park was Mini USA. In actual fact, I just about realized I paid USD57 to see only that. For those of you who have yet visited Legoland, I'd say that unless you're a Lego fan or are travelling with younger children, you can almost pass it up if you run out of time during your stay in San Diego.

Mini USA was really fascinating. I remember spending hours playing with my Lego set when I was a kid (of course back in the 80s you didn't quite have the variety you find in Lego stores today - Star Wars, Pirates, etc.) and never even thought of half the things these people did with them. Well...building miniature cities and buildings...honestly.

Mini USA

mechanical boats that move

From LA (Mann's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood) to DC n(US Capitol)

Mardi Gras (the float travels around the block); Daytona Racing

San Francisco (Pier 39); Godzilla in town (this is the guy whose job is to play with the Lego dollhouses and to make sure everything is running smoothly)

AND...NYC - this for now. The real thing another time.

Mount Rushmore - the best thing about the picture is the bird

Just like any other theme parks and places of attraction, you've got to have busts. Shakespeare and Marilyn's other Lego buddies include Queen E, Arnold the Governor and Beethoven.

After 3 hours of Lego, I was more than ready to go. I also decided there and then what I would get for a certain little boy for Christmas.

Balik Kampung Part I

2006-12-31T14:02:00.000-08:00

It's Dec 31st. I have half a day to finish posting for the year. Back to my balik kampung trip. It was nothing more than pure exhaustion. Christie can bear witness. Managed to catch almost everyone I wanted to see, plus Erika!

Needless to say, this 16-day trip has done some damages to my bank account, what with stocking up my personal library, Christmas shopping and the 2-week car rental. Nonetheless I got a great deal, thanks go Christie, on the car. They gave me a PT Cruiser for less than half it would normally cost much to my surprise; AND much to THEIR surprise, I had said, "do you by any chance have a honda or a toyota instead?" ie. give me a economical, reliable, use-friendly Japanese car please. The guy looked at me as if I was crazy. They didn't have any. Fine.

Thanksgiving was a couple of days later. No turkey grilling on the PPH rooftop. Megan invited the whole gang to her parents'.

The very next morning, or should I say a couple of hours after we went to bed, Christie and I did the unthinkable. We went shopping. Yes, we did. It's the American Boxing Day so to speak. We were out at 530am and got to the outlets by 6. Every year, thousands of people camp overnight outside stores for bargains. It's like everyone's gone crazy and have loads of dough to throw away in just a few hours. The lines in the stores can rival those at Disneyland. AND if you're lucky, you might even get your 30-second of fame on national tv. ABC's Eyewitness News have been covering this once-a-year shop mob at Camarillo.

The next day, I popped by at the Learys and spent some time with them, the Nolens and the Gilmores. Stacie made this incredible raspberry cheesecake! Don't think the dessert plates needed any cleaning after we were done.

Couple of days later, it was time to visit the Pattersons in San Diego for a post Thanksgiving weekend. It's always so nice to see them, my adopted family really. Plus I had the pleasure of meeting George for the first time after all I've heard about him.

It's never really a San Diego trip until I see Lauren. For some reason, I keep reminiscing back to the days when we shared that lovely Malibu townhouse with Rachel, our third housemate. Making smores by the fire, knitting (like spinsters!) and having endless parties...which led to endless cleaning sessions.

Lauren suggested breakfast at Naked Cafe. Sorry folks, not even one single half naked guy was there to serve us. But I got to say the blueberry-banana pancakes I got made up for it.
I was flipping thru the menu while waiting for Lauren and couldn't help taking a second look at what I thought I had read wrong - something called Malaysian Mocha on the beverages page. What in the world is a MALAYSIAN MOCHA? The first thought that came to mind was MILO. Wait...are they selling a cup of RM1.20 (USD 0.35) milo for USD 4.5??? What a rip off!
When the waitress came to take our orders, I asked, "What is the Malaysian Mocha? I'm Malaysian and I have never come across something like that in my country." She was dumbfounded for about 5 seconds before she answered, "Well, it's a chocolatey drink, with an Asian flavour to it. It used to be called the Asian Mocha but Malaysian Mocha sounded better."

This, my MALAYSIAN friends, is the Malaysian Mocha. It has CINNAMON in it! When do Malaysians put Cinnamon in any drinks?

I'm 30!

2006-12-01T23:52:00.000-08:00

33 more minutes and I can no longer say I'm a twenty-something. While I don't feel any older today than I did yesterday, it's still a little overwhelming to think that a decade of your life has just gone by. 10 years. What have I done with my life thus far? - most dreaded question of all times (the second most dreaded question of all times - when are you getting married?)
Check back next month, I may have an answer for you then. :)

So, I thought I had it all planned out. For my 30th birthday I was going to go to NYC. But alas, due to unforeseen circumstances (like getting a new job) I've had to cut short my trip to the States. So here I am...sitting at a computer, 19 minutes till my 30th birthday, blogging. Now you may think that I'm disappointed. This is where you've got it all wrong.

Shawn and Vonessa took me to dinner last night and we had the best creme brulee ever. Today, I spent the day with Christie and Joshua, had a pre-birthday night out with my Pep peeps, got a birthday pizookie (thanks for the treat, guys!), and my phones haven't stopped beeping from the many birthday msges from home and wherever in the world the rest of you are.

It doesn't matter where I am or what I'll be doing tomorrow. I am extremely blessed.

Back 'home' for Turkey Day

2006-11-23T23:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!
I thought I would be missing turkey day this year, but somehow I made it back in time for another feast. Nope, no turkey cooking on the top of the theatre roof. We were invited to Megan's this year. It was great to see the old gang again. Funny, since some of them didn't know I was coming.

It's my 4th day in LA. The Gilmores are great. Thanks for letting me invade your home for two weeks, guys! Well, if you think about it, they got a better deal than Shawn and Vonessa who put me up for 3 months last year. I miss the Martins.

When I got out of LAX on Monday, the first thought that came to mind was 'f***! I'm in KL! Why is so hot???" It was about 85 degrees fahrenheit, but in just 2 days the temperature dropped by 15 degrees. Welcome to Los Angeles.

Anyway, am having a great time. Lots more people to see next week.

Christie and I are doing the crazy day-after-Thanksgiving shopping tomorrow. We'll be out the door by 5:15am. Trust me, that's late. It is 11:32pm now and there are already people standing in line waiting for the stores to open. So, time for bed.

See you soon!

2006-11-08T03:59:00.000-08:00

Alright peeps - mark your calendars! I will be back in La-La Land between November 20th - December 6th...yup, in just about 2 weeks' time.

Jim, Brooks, Zac, Victoria, Christie, Vicki, Don, Cassia, Sarah, Erika, Stan & Angela, Lauren, Jonny Mac, Anne, Jason, Dustin, Doc - can't tell you how excited I was to hear from you all again, and I absolutely can't wait to see you guys! San Diego folks - I will be popping by for a day or two as well.

Am starting a countdown calendar. 12 days to...

JAMBA JUICE!!! (you have absolutely no idea how much I miss my Mango-A-Go-Go, the cravings are unbearable)

Butterfly Lovers - The Players

2006-11-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

How's this for a start? Photos taken on stage on Sunday, October 15th.

THE COMPANY

THE CAST

MUSICIANS, STAFF & CREW

Back to real life

2006-11-06T23:02:00.000-08:00

It's November.
September and October flew by in a swish! I told myself I would try to keep up with my blog and even start a stage manager's blog to document my first Asia production ever...but alas, it was all but a fleeting dream...or rather, yours truly was in self-denial - thinking that there would be time to write. I DID start a stage manager's blog, but am embarassed to say that I only have 2 entries in it. And I also started a travel blog, thinking that I would somehow have the time to travel to a few exquisite places in 2007. HAH.

Butterfly Lovers completely took over my life for the past 2 months. It closed on October 15th, after a weekend of extended performances. Since then, I have been busy with post production work, and pre-production planning for the re-staging of it next year. A few surprises are in the making, unfortunately I am unable to publicly announce them. It is impossible to sum up my feelings and experience working on this show in just a paragraph or two. But in short, this has been an exceptionally exciting production to work on in terms of learning and discovering the way things work in this part of the world and fitting yourself into the big picture; making connections (and realizing that it is indeed a really, really small community); and gaining another extended family.

In my next few posts, I will track back to rehearsals in September thru the closing of the production. Am sure you will be entertained with the stories and pictures!

Cocooning Butterflies

2006-08-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

21 days till tech. 31 days till opening night.
Astro promo to air.
Radio interviews to be done.
Press conference on the 5th.
Costumes in the making.
Rehearsals at 3 different venues.
Cast recording till 3 in the morning.

Pretty much sums up where I've been in the last 7 weeks.

World Cup blues

2006-07-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

I'm working my way towards a normal life again. Meaning, after this weekend (Monday at 6 a.m.) yours truly and millions of other World Cup devotees will welcome back what we've lost in the past few weeks - sleep. 2-4 hours seem to be what most of us are getting each day. You (my American friends, that is) will have no idea as to how the World Cup has impacted our lives. Managers, Directors and CEOs of companies anticipate high leave-taking weeks as June approaches, while mamak stalls start preparing their new creations for their football watching customers - eg: Roti France, Roti England and Roti Brazil.

As with most international events, the World Cup is no more than an assembly of world class players. Players who have emerged as celebrities over a series of football matches, years of hard work and training and not to mention, the occassional 'talent' factor. However, do not make the mistake of expecting consistently hard core world class matches throughout this event. If you do so, you will be greatly disappointed.

The "greater" teams have been disappointing this year. England, no matter how much they are putting the blame on Christiano Ronaldo for causing Rooney's red card, did not play well (I guess I'd better watch what I say. I may be getting some hate mail from friends later.) Here you have most of the world's top players in a team, but they were each playing an individual game...okay, perhaps Gerrard is an exception. What's up with Lampard and his 21 misses? Anyhow, I am depressed and heart broken that the World Cup has now become the Euro Cup. I cannot believe France beat Brazil in the semis. If you ask around, the matches that were most exciting to watch were those of mid-level teams (eg: Ghana). And who wants to see a team win a match via penalty shoot out? I don't.

I guess I am done with my soccer rant. The past few weeks have been unexpectedly busy and eventful. Charlene and Alice were in town from HK. We enjoyed a great eating weekend.

Indian breakfast (that cone thing is called paper tose); as Alice has yet tried durian, my friends and I decided to give her THE best souvenir from Malaysia

On the work front, I went to Singapore a week and a half ago for an interview at The Esplanade. It went pretty well. Spent the night with Pam so we managed to catch up before her wedding, which is tomorrow.

After a series of unexpected events, the director of the company invited me to a meeting at the Ministry of Arts and Cultural Affairs last Tuesday. Apparently he didn't realize that he had been selected to be part of the newly formed National Arts Council. The whole event was pretty funny actually. Firstly, neither of us was dressed appropriately for a meeting at the Ministry. But circumstances were such that we had to go as we were. Next, once we got in, I realized that I was sitting in the midst of VIPs, including ministers and Dato's and Datins at the meeting. I was the only who was not a part of any real organization and was probably 2 decades too young to even be present. You can probably imagine how awkward it was.

We spent two and a half hours discussing the arts situation in the country, went over the 5 committees that have been formed under this council, talked about the council's missions and future developments, etc. We have been in need of an Arts Council for many moons now, and it looks like the Ministry is finally taking some serious steps. Much emphasis was placed in preserving cultural arts as well as the development of local works and artists. What was interesting was the fact that we weren't just talking about the performing arts. We were looking at a much bigger picture - education, tourism, etc. As much as I felt awkward being there, it was just thrilling to be sitting there listening to the plans which will slowly be taking place. All in all, the answers to the questions I had with regards to the arts development situation in my country were unravelled within those two hours. Funny how things work out at times.

Side note:
Took Dad to Jogoya at Starhill Gallery for a sumptuous Japanese Buffet on Father's Day. This place is HUGE! And they have everything from sushi to roasted bbq duck to chicken masala. It is supposedly a Japanese buffet, but they do offer a variety of western and eastern food as well.
The sashimi is fab! Very fresh. The interior is modern chic, with a tropical flare around the food presentation areas. There are visible cooking and food preparation stations which makes walking around the buffet areas more fun.

Sushi, sashimi; coconuts; soups

Fresh seafood; veg samples

Hot seafood platter; indian dishes

Happy Birthday Christie and Vonessa!

An update

2006-06-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

What are you doing this weekend?

If I were you, I'd be at Furious watching Back of the Throat. Watch out if you should write me this weekend and complain about being bored.

Read Sara's Furious blog a few days ago, and couldn't help but feel the exact same thing she's going thru (minus the baby, that is. now...wouldn't THAT be news?). I meant being in time out. The difference is - she's on temporary time out from FTC, where as I'm in a situation quite the opposite. Am not going on a self pity rant, but while she says she watches the rest play from her "time-out rug", I have no source from which to watch them play at all. BOT will be the first FTC production which I will not be a part of. In a conversation with Brad a few weeks ago, I confessed (regretfully) that I sometimes hate getting ensemble e-mails. It makes me depressed about coming home, and not being able to participate in any FTC stuff. There's nothing worse than being a part of something which you don't feel a part of.

So...thank goodness for blogs. Some days I see Christie and Damaso online and we get to catch up for a few minutes. Word has it that the production is going very well. Everyone's actually getting sleep! If that is not a good sign in theatre, I don't know what is. GET OUT THERE AND SEE THE SHOW! And please...DON'T.BE.LATE.

While every FTC ensemble member is busy slaving themselves away for opening weekend, yours truly is busy planning a weekend eating-trip for Charlene, who will be arriving in a few hours time from Hong Kong. Can't wait!

Butterfly Lovers rehearsals are going well. Am anticipating a lot of work in the coming months. There's loads to do outside of my regular stage manager's duties. Word has it that IMG has picked up the show and will be selling it as a touring production.

Last week, the directors called me in for a meeting about my 'future plans'. For some reason, they like me (...for now. I have yet shown my true self to them) haha. I decided to be honest with them and mentioned what my ideal career would be. Whether or not what we talked about will materialize is another matter, but for now, there is great opportunity for me to finally embark on a career in managing and presenting in the performing arts. While our discussion began on a somewhat modest scale of programs for next season, in no time it escalated into long term plans with no boundaries.

Also received a reply from The Esplanade in Singapore a week ago, and the Production Manager asked me precisely about my career plans. Until I came back to KL, I was quite contented with the idea of being a freelancer since I would still very much like to design. The ugly truth is that it is just not practical. We have a lack of stage managers in this city. Why? There is little appreciation for stage managers, perhaps it's more accurate to say that there is little appreciation for the profession in itself, and not the person doing the job (anyone here can be a stage manager, hence it's just 'another job') - the pay is crap, and after years of slaving yourself in the name of 'art', you will find yourself penniless, not being to afford a decent living and with no job advancement opportunities. Yes, there are exceptions and you've got to pay a price for doing what you love. But at a certain point in life, one would have to start making plans for the future. Whether you want to or not.

On a more personal note, I have greatly disappointed a close friend by informing her that I will not be present at her wedding in LA due of work. Though I may not be a very expressive person, there is a huge part of me that puts the people in my life high on my priorities. Over the years I have disappointed more people than I can keep count of, and I feel that this needs to change. While I consider work and theatre my life, there is a need for me, at this time, to start working on a more balanced lifestyle. There is no doubt that I will still jump at every opportunity to work in theatre, but for now, I'm thankful for being blessed with a chance to finally focus on moving forward with my career in the arts.

2006-06-21T01:35:00.000-07:00

furious theatre company

presents

BACK OF THE THROAT

by Yuseff El Guindi

directed by Dámaso Rodriguez

Previews: June 21 - 23 2006

June 24 - July 29 2006

Tickets: $15-$30

Box Office: 626.356.PLAY

For more information, visit Back of the Throat.

Make a date with furious today!

How many dumplings can you have in a day?

2006-06-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yes...there are still China posts! I realized that if I don't finish posting these, I will never get them done. Enjoy!

Friday, May 5th 2006
If you remember, when we first got to Xi'an we visited the Great Goose Pagoda (also known as Big Goose Pagoda in Chinese). Naturally, if you have a 'Big' one, there must be a 'Small' one. Hence, today we visited the Small Goose Pagoda.

See...the first characted in Chinese (from Left) on the sign says "small"

Courtyard; that's a rice blending machine? well, maybe more like rice crushing machine

This building houses a bell (photo courtesy of WW); this is called the Dragon tree and if I remember correctly, it is about 800 years old

If you think the Small Goose Pagoda is just a miniature of the Great Goose Pagoda, you are wrong. You still have to c-l-i-m-b it. And that was just exactly what we did. Though, this one's a little different...and you'll see why.

Diagram of pagoda construction

This one's for shorties...like moi
So, climbing this pagoda is a little different. The height of each floor decreases as you keep going up. On each floor, you have windows (by the time you reach the higher floors, they are more like pigeon holes) on two sides of the pagoda. When we first started out, we could walk to the door-height window and look out. Soon, you had to bend and watch your head, and later (if you're like Wang Wei who's about 6'), you would start looking like a prawn...or shrimp.

Sorry...we didn't use a flash. But the picture on the left was taken on the 3rd floor, and the one on the right probably on the 6th.

By the time we reached the 8/9th floor, we were crouching.

Once you got up to the highest floor, you can choose to climb a 90 degree stairway, get out thru a trap door...

to see a polluted view of the city of Xi'an. I hope you get better weather when you visit. It's also a little cloudy today.

The Ultimate See-No-Eat (or even touch!) Food
Alright...I have seen a lot of unappetizing (is there such word?) food around the world. But this has made it to the top of my list. This man was selling some kind of caramel-looking candy outside the Small Goose Pagoda.

What he does is this: He starts with making a tube out of the candy liquid. Then he places it in his mouth and starts blowing. No, there is no stick, no straw, nothing. He puts the candy in between his lips, blows and shapes it into animals and then ties it off at the end.
Care to taste someone else's saliva? You've got to pay for it too.

...not so cute...

Drum and Bell Towers

Situated in the city center of Xi'an, they were built in 1380 and 1384 respectively. In ancient times, the drum that was housed in the tower was used to tell the time, and was struck once every day at dusk.

Bell Tower

The building is surrounded by intricately crafted panelled doors, which convey stories of legendary people

Managed to catch a cultural music performance (photo courtesy of Wang Wei)

You've got to ring the bell three times.

City view from the top

Walking thru the ancient city towards the drum tower; market

Drum tower

Check this out!

Each of these drums have different functions. They are labelled according to the weather and season - eg: "rain", "wind" and even "harvest" (i believe)

Lanna is posing in front of the biggest drum in the world.

Exhibition in the drum tower:

Food Food Food
It's lunch time again, and we're back at the food market. Okay, there's got to be a proper name for it but I can't find it in the DK guide book and online. So I'll just have to ask Ren and add it in another time.

Lunch time crowd; these grilled-food stalls are everywhere...and they offer everything

...even goat's leg...is that what it is?; candy floss; huge bread

...yes, they do display the raw meat before cooking them; fried dumplings

butcher; grilling device; anyone for goat's head? poor thing...

that's a cooking pot believe it or not; even larger bread/wrap

we had to have our grilled lamb again (trust me, eventhough the stalls may look unkempt, there is something about the grilled lamb, it's the spice they use, absolutely delicious!); No "PLUMP JUICE" today

See my smug face? It's because of what I have in the mouth

DUMPLINGS!
When in Xi'an, you've got to try their SIU LOONG PAU (or just called "bao zi" in China). Xi'an is famous for their paus. Apparently we're in the right place. There was a line outside the entrance into this 5-storey restaurant. And it was PACKED inside! But...it was worth the wait.

Queue; Siu Loong Pau dipped in sauce; we had three baskets of them. Be very careful when you eat these paus. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that there is soup wrapped with the meat inside the dumpling...and it is HOT. The trick is to bite it gently on one side so that you can extract the soup before eating the dumpling.

More dumplings!
Ren invited us to visit her aunt and uncle, whom she hasn't seen in 6 years. Her aunt said she was going to make us some dumplings for dinner. Well...it was not "some" dumplings. It was "a lot of" dumplings!

We got there at 5pm. They live about 15 minutes away from the city center in a tiny flat with several other relatives. There is nothing like visiting the locals when you're visiting new grounds. You learn and observe so much of their lifestyle, it beats reading books and watching documentaries anytime.

We helped make dumplings (that's Ren and her aunts); dumpling ingredients; that's my hand...I guess my face didn't make the cut

They even made their own wraps from scratch; can you guess how many dumplings they made? Each plate had about 30. That's 120 dumplings on our table - plus more in the kitchen. No, obvoiusly, we didn't eat them all.

Stuffed. Called it an early night.

Ole Ole Ole Ole!

2006-06-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

FIFA WORLD CUP GERMANY KICKS OFF TODAY!

"I cant. I have rehearsal."

2006-05-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

Best excuse EVER to avoid social functions and gatherings with relatives.

Have officially accepted the job today. Company meeting on Sunday (aka meet and greet and get to know your stage manager nazi) and rehearsals begin the following week. The show opens on September 23rd at KLPAC and runs for approximately 3 weeks.

Am I excited? Yes and no. Yes, because this will mark my first Asian production and Dama Orchestra is notably one of the best theatre companies around which has a reputation for producing good work; and no, because I will be missing Sarah's wedding in LA which falls on opening night (am not sure what's causing this stroke of bad luck with conflicts between very important dates in my life and work. Am thinking that designing and a full time job in management will be a good choice for the future.)

It's been 3 years since I've stage managed a full blown production. I can hear you - Jeff, Lee, Dustin - 'ah, easy-peasy.' Um. Yeah. Easy-peasy. I forgot to mention that it's a full blown musical in CHINESE. I do not read Chinese. Well, maybe I do, but very minimal. The next few months are going to be rather exciting. Come to think of it - how am I going to prompt?

Still, after 5 months of bumming around, travelling, annoying mum, and having my eyes glued to the idiot box, it is time to engage myself in the world of theatre again. And I am quite excited about working with this group of people really. Surprisingly, they made me a pretty reasonable offer. I say reasonable because we all know what pay is like in our field. So when one says it's reasonable, it is usually a good sign.

Set designers - have you come across anyone who can design a set using Excel...to scale? (and ultimately have it constructed based on those plans) If you haven't, remind me to enlighten you on that subject the next time we chat.

Tombed!

2006-05-23T23:39:00.000-07:00

Thursday, May 4 2006

Weather: rainy
Air: polluted
Hotel water: still stinks
No. of tombs visited: enough to last a lifetime
No. of hills/mountains hiked: too many in a week
No. of times we drove on the opposite direction with on coming traffic on the highway: 1

Qian Ling (Qian Tomb)

Today, we took an hour and a half long drive to the outskirts of Xi'an to visit Qian Ling, the burial site of Emperor Gaozong and his wife, WuZetian (the only female king in Chinese history)of the Tang Dynasty.

What can I say? It was another tomb. Okay, so maybe I should sound a little more ecstatic about it. I think the fact that we visited the tomb of the ONLY female king in the history of China is more fascinating than the actual tomb itself. We didn't really SEE the tomb. And to be frank, I found the drive thru the village more exciting than looking at twenty-five more sculpture tomb guards.

There is something about the Chinese Imperial families and their burial grounds. Do you know how much land has been put to waste? You can probably build Disneyland on each of these sites. You're going to say, "But China is so huge. They can afford the land." That is not the point. By the way, many tombs have been robbed and destroyed over the years, but the Qian Ling tomb is said to be very secure and hence, has never been visited by intruders.

The two towers used to house the guards of the tomb; this is on the opposite direction of the guard houses, going towards the tomb

There are more than a hundred human and animal sculptures that line path towards the tombs

Apparently they represent certain officials/generals of the time

There's a story that Ren told us about the missing heads from the sculptures - I cannot remember the details, but it has something to do with hiding the identities of the people they were modelled after; and I guess if your master's head is gone, so is yours

Human sculptures are meant to have heads; this 100 tonne tablet is called (are you ready?) the "Wordless Tablet"...how original. There are no words on it except for a few carved dragons because it's supposed to show the grandeur and mystery of the masoleum. I guess that's why no robbers found Wuzetian's tomb after all these years.

On our way out, I came across this "cave house." Was most fascinated by it. Ren says that these cave houses are better than brick houses. They're warm during the winter and cool during the summer; Sign reads: Side Tower of Eastern Nipple Peak. You can't leave China without pictures of somewhat awkward Chinese-English translation (more to come)

Princess Yong Tai's Tomb

After we were briefed and reminded of the greatness of Wuzetian, we were shuttled to Princess Yong Tai's Tomb. Now we find out that our heroic female king had Princess Yong Tai's mother beaten to death because she had talked about Wuzetian's affairs with her male prositutes (by the way, Wuzetian ended up marrying one of the Emperor's son after the Emperor died.) According to some historical facts, Princess Yong Tai died a tragic death - except no details were given. But there are stories about her being murdered by Wuzetian.

Tunnel leading to the tomb; murals

Lots of pottery, figurines, etc were found; ceiling details

Famen Temple

At around 12:45pm, we got to Famen Temple.
History (DK): The remote Famen Temple is not easy to reach, but is well worth the long journey. This shrine is one of China's first Buddhist temples, and a venerated place for Buddhist pilgrims the world over. It was built in the 2nd century AD to house a finger bone of Sakyamuni (the Historical Buddha) donated by the Indian king Ashoka, who was dispensing Buddhist relics (sarira) around Buddhist lands...

Beware of ANYONE selling you ANYTHING. Also, they can be very persistent. This lady stalked Wang Wei for at least five minutes.

Souvenir stands. Most of the souvenir stands sell the same thing. When bargaining, don't feel afraid to walk away and check out other stalls. You will most likely find the same thing you were bargaining for, and sometimes you might even get a better deal!

Those lantern-shaped red balloons are everywhere in China; Main hall

Prayers and wishes being made

Interior of the main prayer hall

Wang Wei bought ice cream. Bad news. Apparently, we were supposed to be at the temple dining hall for lunch just as we started stuffing our mouths. Not wanting to be late, there we were, all 4 of us, walking into the TEMPLE DINING HALL with ice cream in our hands AND mouths, waiting to be fed lunch. First class idiots.

4-sided gold statue; room where the "finger bone" is being kept

From the Famen Temple Museum

When a freeway means 'free way'

We left Famen Temple around 4 and headed back to the city. It started raining cats and dogs the minute we got into our van. Nice. We can take a nap all the way back, enjoying the pitter patter of the raindrops on the windows. Hah. After 45 minutes, the driver slowed down and pulled over. We were lost. The rain was so heavy that he couldn't see the signs clearly. So, what do you do when you're going the wrong way? You turn around. And that was what we did. LITERALLY. WE TURNED AROUND ON THE FREEWAY. And we drove for a mile going the opposite direction of on coming traffic. Lanna and I were the only ones who panicked.

We got back to smelly-water hotel at 6pm. After half an hour (no shower necessary) we took a cab to Xi'an Fan Guan (a well known restaurant in Xi'an recommended by Lanna's boss) for dinner. It wasn't just a dinner. It was a feast.

When dishes become a fashion statement

The name of this dish is "Fashionable cold meat"...honestly; and it was liver they served I think, or tongue? I don't remember

Dates (really really sweet); veg; one of the tastiest lamb I've had

Fish in the shape of crysanthemums; mini meat sandwiches (Nonya's much better!); some stir fry meat and veg dish

We also had persimmon cakes for dessert, plum juice and rice. And all for RMB198 (about USD25.)

Needless to say, there is a reason why they put that weighing machine outside our room.

To bathe or not to bathe

2006-05-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

This trip has taught me something about myself. I'm going to be conceited for once and say that I think of myself as a seasoned traveller. If not seasoned, at least somewhat experienced and an easy going one as well. Accommodation is rarely a priority when planning trips - 5 star hotels and resorts are great, but I've also had great times at B&Bs, inns, youth hostels, etc.

Hence, when yours truly arrived at our hotel in Xi'an, I obviously thought nothing more about the following than the fact that Ren was trying to get us a good deal at a 3 star hotel and here we were!

-the non-English speaking staff
-the non-existing English translations of any signs/notices whatsoever
-the key card that would not open your room door, but instead served only to turn on the power in your room (to get into your room, you had to get one of the staff stationed on that floor to open it. I will never understand the logic of this)
-the worn out carpets and slightly stained walls
-the tub-less bathroom with dim lights and half a roll of toilet paper that was left in there

There was also a weighing machine, a big one I might add, that sat outside our room door. WHY? We tried to avoid looking at it everytime we left and came back to our room, but there it was, staring at our guilty faces every night after we've come back from our eating escapades. The good thing about it is that it is not quite accurate. Everyone weighed 3kg lesser than we normally did. There is justice after all.

Great. As long as there's a clean bathroom, I can stay anywhere! It is now time for a shower. I turn on the tap, and in about 10 seconds, the bathroom was filled with a horrible, indescribable stench. Surely there must be a sewerage or drainage problem going on. After a minute of standing in there, not knowing what to do, I decided to just hold my breath and took the quickest shower in all my life. It was Lanna's turn next. She went in, showered, came out and said nothing as well. Then I noticed a sign that was posted outside the bathroom door. It was in Chinese of course. I understood enough to know that it was a notice about the water. Fabulous.

The next day, over breakfast, Ren told us that the area we were staying in is close to the hot springs so the water comes directly from there. That stench was the smell of sulphur and other minerals in the water. Well, at least we know it's not going to kill us.

Lanna and I survived the first 2 days. But on the 3rd day, when the jewellery she wore turned colour after a shower, we decided to buy bottled water to wash our faces and brush our teeth. We also resorted to using wet wipes to dry clean ourselves one night because we just couldn't bear taking a second shower. I remember passing a group of people outside the hotel elevator one morning - lets just say that Channel No. 5 and Eternity would be considered a necessity in this situation. Of course, who are we to complain? We must have smelled just as bad. It took me 3 days and 6 washes to get the stench out of my hair after I left Xi'an. Fun, eh?

This is what I've learnt about myself. As much as I think I can bear staying just anywhere, I can be wrong. It's more like - as long as I can get a clean shower at the end of the day, I can care less if I was in a village hut or a hotel room. Oh, and no sewage smelling water. Please.

When I die, I want...

2006-05-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

...an entire terracottta army guarding my tomb, just like Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Not. Why would you start planning your own burial at age 13?

Maybe I'll just throw in a couple of Malaysian chefs.

Wednesday, May 3rd 2006

Terracotta Army

You can't leave China without having visiting the Terracotta Army, now enlisted as a world heritage site. First discovered by peasants in 1974, the site consists of 3 pits and an exhibition hall. There is approximately 8,000 terracotta warriors and horses to be found. Excavations are still ongoing and much time, money and research are being put into developing new technologies to unearth these pottery figures.

Terracotta is literally “baked earth” which is kiln fired at relatively low temperatures. After firing each figure in the Terracotta Army was coated with a lacquer finish to improve durability. Various colors were also applied in order to create a more realistic appearance of the figures and their clothing and equipment. Some excavated materials still retain traces of this coloring; however their exposure to air quickly causes the finish to chip or flake off. (Wikipedia)

Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi; Main building

Diagrams of the emperor's chariots

Army in Pit 1
The main pit - consists of over 6,000 warriors, in battle formation

The expression on each of these 6,000 (or 8,000 in total) warriors are different from one another. You will not find two that are alike.

The photo on the right shows a section of the army that's being restored. I like to call it the "mix and match" section

Pit 2 and Pit 3

Kneeling Archer and a General

This kneeling archer is an example of the intricacies of the hand crafted figures. Check out the sole of his shoes. You can even see strands of hair being crafted onto each figure's head. From the details of each individual hair style, clothing, footwear, body shape, you will be able to determine the rank/position of the warrriors. (it is said that Generals have portruded bellies so the figures of Generals will most likely have bigger bellies)

Pictures of the terracotta army when they were first discovered

Qin Shi Huangdi's Tomb
The Terracotta Army is just one part, the defending army, of a complex necropolis. A mile west of the pits, a large hill, yet to be fully excavated, is believed to be the burial mound of emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, a tyrant preoccupied with death and the legacy he woud leave behind. He spared no expense, enlisting 700,000 people over 36 years in the tomb's consruction. Historical sources portray a miniature plan of his empire: a floor cut by rivers of mercury beneath a ceiling studded with pearls to represent the night sky. The complex is also said to contain 48 tombs for concubines who were buried alive with the emperor, a date also reserved for workers, to prevent the location and design of the tomb from becoming known.
(DK guide)

Cultural performances; information on the underground palace, etc.

Are you beginning to follow the trend? Notice the orange/yellow stuff at the very back of the photo? that was where we started the hike from; and when we got to the very top, I was disappointed to see that apart from the view of Xi'an (I swear I have seen the view of Xi'an from every mountain/hill there is here) there were only more info boards, snack stands and a dress-like-an-emperor/empress photo shack. Also, food and drinks cost twice as much up here than they do at the bottom. I guess someone's got to pay for that hike.

Anyone for pig's ears?

After that lovely hike, it was time for lunch. But first, we stopped at this outlet meant for tourists. I guess our tour guide gets a small commission for every tourist she brings in there, whether or not they bought anything. It was like walking into Costco, except the food products here are um...pretty exciting.

Pigs ears

Huaqing Hot Springs

After lunch, we popped by at the Huaqing Hot Springs. Remember Yang Kwei Fei or Yang Guefei as some spell it? Our beloved concubine whose plump figure became the classic figure of all Tang women? Well, the Huaqing Hot Springs is the love nest of Yang Guefei and Emperor Xuanzong. Don't laugh - but we actually came here to see the bathing pools of Yang Guefei. Of course those weren't the only highlights. Huaqing Hot Springs is surrounded by wonderful landscapes. Also, many visitors come here to enjoy a bath in the hot springs.

Yang Guefei sculpture

Yang Guefei's bathing pool

A bigger one for when the Emperor joins in the fun

This one's for officials of higher ranks; the little holes you see on the right were supposedly used for massaging one's feet

The Huaqing Hot Springs is located at the foot of Lishan Mountain (the name means "black horse" because its shape resembles one). So after 45 minutes of walking on flat land, we did what was expected of us again. Climb.

Lishan Mountain

We took a 5 minute cable car ride to the path where we would start hiking this mountain.
I will be honest and say that I did not reach the top. After half an hour of hiking, Ren and I decided that we have seen enough Xi'an views for the day, and that it would smarter to reserve our energy for tomorrow. So off went Wang Wei and Lanna.

Putting a tree trunk into good use

While we were resting at one of the view points, we noticed ant-size people hanging on wires gliding from one point of the mountain to another. Pretty scary if you asked me. On our way down, crazy Wang Wei decided to give it a shot. I think it was the look of the mechanism that scared me more than anything else. It looked as if it could snap in half at any given moment. But Wang Wei went and got a kick out of it.

Next.

Tang Paradise

My second favourite place throughout the trip.

If I ever had a choice as to which dynasty I'd like to live in, it would be the Tang Dynasty. Aside from the architectural splendours (simplicity is always better. The vibrant colours of the architectural structures in the other dynasties are brilliant and amazing to look at, but it would honestly drive me up the wall having to live in a colour wheel my whole life), the Tang Dynasty was considered the peak of Chinese civilization, rich in creativity of sorts - arts, literature, commerce - which stemmed from contacts with India, Japan, the Middle East, etc. AND, the one and only female king in China ruled during this era.

Ren told us we were going to Furong Park to see a cultural show at 7pm after we left Lishan Mountain. Little did I know that this Park is not just any ordinary park. It is the Tang Dynasty Reconstruction Project which only opened in April 2005. It's not even listed on the DK Guide - SHAME!

So here are excerpts from its brochure:
Tang Dynasty Reconstruction Project is one of the largest tourist programs in the northwest of China. It covers an area of 1,000 mu (about 165 acres) and is established with an investment of 1.3 billion Yuan.
...Tang Paradise is the first theme park fully demonstrating the charm and grandeur of the royal garden in Tang Dynasty.
...attractions include Elegant Lady Area, Imperial Banquet Hall, Tang Paradise Hotel, Phoenix Theatre, Tang Marketplace, Floating-drink at Qujiang Lake...
...Tang Paradise boasts many new records - the largest show on water screen in the world, the first theme park of five senses, biggest outdoor fragrance project in the world and the biggest reproduction of the Tang royal garden complex in China

Tip: If you don't get the hint yet, this is a MUST SEE attraction in Xi'an. Reserve at least half the day; also get tickets for the cultural show - it's pretty cool. There are also shuttles and camel cart rides if you're too tired to walk the grounds of the park.

Royal Garden Gate, Imperial Banquet Hall, Silver Bridge Waterfall

Royal Garden Gate - the entrance to the park; the glass screens depict women walking in circles, hoping to be picked by the Emperor as concubines; Imperial Banquet Hall; Silver Bridge Waterfall

Tang Marketplace
This is a microcosm of East Market and West Market of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty that presents the bustling commercial activities between Chinese and foreign traders. People can observe and experience the social life in the style of the Tang Dynasty here.

What better way to experience the streets of Tang Dynasty? There are lots of arts and crafts stores, candy stalls, and also a staging area for performances.

Views of the marketplace; the two men are both selling handmade candy (as Ren says, "Just see, don't eat") - the first one is making figurines out of colourful dough (it was weird to see a tellytubby one) and the second is using a caramel like liquid to make animal shaped candies; guess your weight game

Ziyun Ruyi Tower and The Phoenix Theatre

Ziyun Ruyi Tower houses sculptures, murals and paintings reflecting the prosperous time in the Zhanguan period. There is a showroom on the top floor where you can have tea while watching singing and dancing performances of the Tang Dynasty.

The Phoenix Theatre was where we watched the cultural show. Apparently, entertainment was very popular in this dynasty. There were many large scale productions and theatres built during this era and rumour has it that one of the kings even performed in an opera himself.

Ziyun Ruyi Tower (1 & 2); that's a world map created on the grounds of the Tower - this particular section reads "Malaysia"; The Phoenix Theatre

Cultural show "Dream Back to the Great Tang Dynasty"

Yes, I did. I took three photos during the show. In normal circumstances I would've said that I'm a bad theatre audience. In fact, I shouldn't even be allowed to be in the profession. But like I said, rules simply do not apply in China (at times). I was probably the only one who did not use a flash.

It was like having a strobe light in the audience. People next to me, in front of me, behind me, above, below, whatever, were using flash photography. And then I remembered not hearing any announcements on photography, so either they forgot or they just didn't realize they could make one.

I would like to add that this show is most impressive. The set, lighting and costumes are first rate. It would be interesting to know the budget of this hour long production. There wasn't a live orchestra but the sound system was acceptable. I hate to say this, but even if this production cost under half a million, then it has definitely put M! The Opera to shame in terms of production design.

ps: the theatre loos are 3 1/2 stars by my standards, which is considered good

Imperial Banquet Hall

We headed out at around 8:30pm. I have never, ever, experienced a mad dash out of any place like I did here. Am still not sure what the rush was all about. All I remembered was being crushed and squashed at the exit gates.

Off to dinner and back to the smelly water at the hotel.

History Overload

2006-05-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 2nd 2006

Arrived at Xi'An around 10am, and was greeted by our lovely tour guide...(I forgot her name) holding a sign and a yellow flag. I had forgotten that Ren had arranged for a guide and a private van for the next three days. I was disappointed that we didn't get matching yellow hats like the other tourists. Not.

Brief history of Xi'An (DK guide): Capital of modern Shaanxi, Xi'an has served as capital to 11 dynasties over a period of 4,000 years, including the Western Zhou, Western Han, Qin, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang. The Chinese trace its lineage back even further to the mythical Yellow Emperor, who made Xianyang his capital (2200-1700 BC). Xi'an peaked during the Tang dynasty, when its position at the eastern end of the Silk Road transformed it into a bustling metropolis, luring foreign merchants and faiths, including Nestorian Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Manicheans, and Buddhists. The city declined later but has some splendid sights and thriving touring economy.

As soon as we left the airport, we were shuttled from one tourist attraction to another. I had no idea we were on a sight seeing mission. My brain has been on leave for what, 5 months? And all of a sudden I'm cramming all this historical information in it. Oh, and of course the same rules apply here as well - you can't get anywhere or see anything interesting without having to CLIMB something ...and beware of the loos.

Tip: Best to get a local tour guide when visiting Xi'An. It will make your trip much more enjoyable and organized. You can also get an English speaking guide but the fees are much higher. The trip cost around USD 500/per person, including plane tickets, accommodation for 4 nights, sight seeing tickets, food, tour guide fees and van rental. Things are very much cheaper in Xi'an in comparison to other cities. The food portions can be rather large at times.

Xi'an City Walls
Our first stop was the Old City Walls. It's a 9-mile long wall built in 1390 under the reign of the first Ming Emperor, Hongwu, on the foundations of the Tang imperial palace. The walls are still intact and now circle the city center of Xi'An. Interesting fact: according to the DK guide, these walls were built using rammed earth, quicklime and glutinous rice extract. And yet, after 616 years it still surviving. I hope the leaders of the ever growing construction industry in our times are taking notes.

Drum beating; that's Ren on my left.

Weapons used to attack enemies from the towers

We were given a feng shui tour; the guide reminded me of Jai from The Fab Five, except he's Chinese. They had photos of buildings around the world with the best and the worst feng shui. Jim and Erika: I wish you were here.

Forest of Stelae Museum
Otherwise known as the Handwriting Park.
After our feng shui tour at the Old City Walls, we were shuttled here. To see stone pillars. And tablets. Many tablets. Many, MANY of them. After the first 10 minutes, I lost interest. Hey, at least I'm admitting it. I blame it on hunger and the lack of sleep from the night before.

Anyway, this "Handwriting Park" is where the Chinese Masters used to teach. Also, you will find religious artifacts, tablets, historical records (of Buddhism, Christianity, etc.) dated back to their early discoveries. For historians, there are reference materials on the local history and society during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing eras.

Notice the three entrance doors in the picture on the right? A lot of the palaces, parks, etc. have the same design. The center door is reserved, or used to be reserved, for emperors and officials of higher ranks, and the side doors for people like you and me.

A Jingyun bell in Tang - the bell was cast in 711AD during the Tang dynasty. Weighs about 6 tonnes, and is engraved with inscriptions and adorned with the images of lion, phoenix, dragon, etc. The contents of the inscription tells of the mystery and abstruseness of taoism and some words of praise of the bell.

Tablets.

Thought the details of the steps were pretty interesting; these small pillar-like things with different designs at the top were used for tying horse ropes; tablet designs

Buddha artifact; one of the 6 famous horses; a prince's tomb; tomb door

Okay, so Vic - this one's for you:

The sign reads "STAR-STYLE WASHROOM"

Toilets
What's with the toilets? For starters, here's what the DK guide has to say (although I would recommend getting the Lonely Planet guide for a better version):

Public Bathrooms
Public bathrooms are typically of the squat variety and are squalid, filthy and rarely cleaned, unless watched over by an attendant. There is little privacy - doorless cubicles, separated by low walls, are the norm. Toilet paper is a rarity - don't forget to carry your own supply. Toilet paper should be put in the receptacle, if provided, rather than down the toilet, as septic systems are often unable to handle paper products. You will be expected to pay a few jiao for using the facilities. Use hotel and fast-food restaurant bathrooms whenever you get the opportunity.

Get it?
On my second day in Beijing, I was already rating the toilets. So far, I haven't had to use anything lower than 2 stars. If you think restaurant toilets are cleaner, you are wrong (unless of course you go to an upper class restaurant). Having said that, the toilets in Beijing are quite alright. I haven't had to use a doorless cubicle at all the entire trip. My mum went 12 years ago, and she said people had their umbrellas open to cover the sight of their posterior. Lanna was proud to show me the Grand Hyatt hotel toilets in Beijing which she visits ever so often when she goes to town. Someday they will have a photo of her in front of the doors with a no entry sign across it.

The toilet situation in Xi'an is a whole different story. It's an old city, generally dirty and not as developed as Beijing. I've never been on a trip where I had to watch how much liquid I consumed before. Pretty pathetic really. I've managed to avoid using public toilets as much as possible. Also, it would probably be wiser to use those at tourist attractions. Lanna heard a rumour that the toilets in McDonalds are actually quite clean. At least the golden arches is worth a visit in China.

Lunch!
Finally at 2ish, we were off to get some lunch. Xi'an is mainly populated by Chinese Muslims, hence, you will find men in white hats everywhere and also the lack of pork dishes (Chinese love pork). Instead, this a city that's famous for it's lamb specialties.

We had lamb noodles. They give you this huge bowl of soup with veg and lamb and a basket with slices of bread - hard bread I might add. What you're supposed to do is tear the bread into small pieces and throw them into the soup. So, I took 1/4 of a slice and did what I was told. When I was done, everyone was looking at me. How am I supposed to know each of us got an entire piece of hard bread that's the size of my face?

I don't actually know the name of this street, but it is THE street to go to for food and souvenir shopping.

This young lady is selling some kind of multi-coloured dessert. Ren said, "Just look, don't eat."; hand made slippers and bags

Shaanxi History Museum
Off to Shaanxi History Museum after lunch. Since my travel blogs are beginning to become annoying long, I will try to be brief when inserting a description of a place. Click on the link and read about it yourself. :)

The Shaanxi Museum is pretty big, and house approximately 400,000 relics which chronicles the Shaanxi civilization and culture. Some of the articles found here date back to prehistoric times. My favourite part was browsing thru everyday kitchen items like kettles, decanters, plates, etc. Perhaps Crate and Barrel should consider adding an Oriental section to their collection.

One architectural note: You will notice a lot of the buildings here are built in grey or black and white tones. These are distinctively from the Tang dynasty. The colourful structures that we've seen in Beijing, with gold, red, green and whatnot were prior to the Tang dynasty.

The museum buildings

Loom; a model of the chariot used by Shih Huang Ti (we will see the real one at the terracotta tomb tomorrow); very cool teapot - you pour the water in upside down thru a plum-shaped hole at the bottom. The pot is filled when water spills from the spout. When the pot is put upright, the pouring in tube holds the water so it doesn't leak from the hole at the bottom.

The one thing that all women must love about the Tang dynasty is this: Just like women in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, plumpness was the epitome of beauty. History tells us that Yang Kwei Fei, the most beloved and beautiful concubine of the Tang Emperor was plump. You know the rest of the story. All the women depicted in paintings, pottery, murals, etc... of the Tang dynasty are plump. 2nd picture - some kind of decanter; first form of paper

Zhou Wine Decanter; musical instrument; pottery figures

The Great Goose Pagoda
If all that wasn't enough to tire us, we still had one more place to go before checking into our hotel. The Great Goose Pagoda, also known as the Dayan Ta. Why goose? I don't know. If you want to see a pagoda, go to Xi'an. Seems like they are everywhere.

Built in memory of Empress Wende, Dayan Ta has exhibitions on pagoda designs and history, a large temple complex and several halls that contain statues of Buddha

People lighting candles and joss sticks

Main temple complex

Of course we had to climb to the top. It's the trend. It was packed and then there was the tiny staircase. I felt a sense of deja vu. It was like climbing the Wallace National Monument in Stirling again - except that was much higher. Anyhow we got our reward in the end - a nice view of the city of Xi'an.

We checked in at the hotel at 7pm and left for dinner at 7:30pm. At this point, I could've eaten a cow. We had some muslim food which was pretty tasty.

I will have to write about the water situation in the hotel in my next post.

One of 15.244 million

2006-05-13T00:58:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 1st 2006

It's the official Labour Holiday today, but most people have the entire week off. Enough said. Imagine walking along the streets, worming your way in and out of, not hundreds, not thousands, but tens of thousands of people.

Electronics Market
We started out the day with a trip downtown to the Electronics Market. Apparently you can get a 1G memory card for your camera at only RMB 220 (depending on your bargaining skills - that's approx. USD30. I bought a 512MB one in KL for USD50). When we got there, we were greeted by over enthusiastic sales promoters in front of the building, with flyers, sandwich boards, placards and whatever marketing tools you can think of ready to get us to purchase something. It looked as though a demonstration was going on.

After 20 minutes of haggling over prices and being harassed by a middle-aged Chinese man (it's better to not understand the language sometimes), we left the building with my 1G memory card that I got for USD30. 5 days later, at the Oriental Plaza shopping mall in Wang Fu Jing, we saw the same SanDisk card for RMB1280. Two British ladies were about to make the purchase when we interrupted and told them to go to the Electronics Market. The sales lady wasn't too pleased with us.

Note: When the say 'market' (eg: Pearl Market, Silk Market, Electronics Market), they really mean an indoor complex, not a street market.

Tian'an Men Square (Square of the Gate of Heavenly Peace)
We took the subway to Tian'an Men to avoid heavy traffic. Apparently this was a good day for family picnics at the Square. There were also thousands of mainland visitors from other provinces to share the heat with and too many hawkers trying to make a few yuan out of foreigners.

Tian'an Men - where Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st 1949. That is one huge portrait.

Great Hall of the People - Seat of the Chinese Legislature

Okay, I have no idea who that is (sorry), Monument to the People's Heroes

The Forbidden City

Counting the space enclosed by four pillars as a "room", there are more than 9900 rooms in nearly 900 buildings. Tradition has it that there are altogether 9999.5 rooms in the Forbidden City, only half room less than the Heavenly Palace, which belongs to the Jade Emperor in heaven. So it is said that the Forbidden City is the largest palace in the world.
(http://www.china-travel-tour-guide.com/attractions/forbidden-city.shtml)

I've come all the way here to see that the Hall of Supreme Harmony is UNDER RENOVATION for the 2008 Olympics! (it's the largest hall in the palace; used for major occasions such as the enthronement of an emperor) Okay, so we did get to see the throne room, but still. Who wants to get all excited about a blue tarp-like screen and scaffolding?

...and STARBUCKS in business! WHAT IS STARBUCKS DOING IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY? We're not even talking about a snack area outside or near the entrance, it is actually IN the Forbidden City. Feel completely cheated from my cultural experience in China.

I met a Shanghainese who works in Finland on the plane. In front of us were two Australians. They were asking him for tips on travelling around Beijing and soon after the plane landed, they looked out the window and asked Bill, "So, is this just cloudy weather or pollution weather?"

Well...lets just say that we had 'pollution weather' all week. The photos are proof.

Was really looking forward to visiting the Imperial Gardens. 20 minutes after we'd started in that direction, I asked Lanna where this so-called garden is. She looked at me blankly and said, "We're standing IN it." It was so crowded, I couldn't recognize a thing I saw in pictures. Only bodies and heads. Everywhere. I vow to come back again in the winter when no one else would be here.

The Pavilion of A Thousand Autumns in the Imperial Gardens; ceiling decor; roof guardians; doorway

The picture on the right show's a concubine's room. There are between two to three thousand concubines in the Forbidden City.

Restroom sign that reads "Star-Rated Toilet"; door bar; walkway

Also visited the imperial clock collection exhibit which was pretty interesting.

Was quite disappointed with the trip here. It was just too crowded. We left at around 2:30pm, having only covered about 40% of the place. Here's an excuse to go back I guess!

Tip: Entrance ticket is RMB60. You can also get an audio guide featuring Roger Moore for a total of RMB100. I reckon it would take you at least half a day at the Forbidden City if you follow the audio guide, but am sure it would be worthwhile if you don't want to miss out on anything.

I realized that I would be spending the next five days in Xi'An and will not have time to do any souvenir shopping/antique hunting when I get back to Beijing. So, we rushed ourselves to Liulichang after Lanna insisted we visit the 5-star restroom at the Hyatt Hotel. I promise to explain the many referrals to toilets and restrooms in a later post.

Liulichang was really fun. It's located near the hutong area. It's a fabulous antique market, complete with century old architectures, specialty shops, gritty food shacks (which we were adventurous enough to try), etc. Great place for souvenir shopping.

Tip: you should not miss the hutong tour by rickshaw should you visit Beijing. It was the one thing I wish I had time for.

Tip: Be prepared to walk off before you start bargaining for something. Sometimes the prices the vendors quote can be up to 10 times of the actual value. Counter offer them 30% of the original asking price and see where it takes you. No one wants to be taken for a fool, and it makes you a little upset when you know they're all out to take foreigners for a ride. I tend to bargain until I get the price brought down to at least half or 40% of the original asking price. But I usually let loose after that and don't go any further. If you think about it, here we are spending thousands of dollars on vacation, and these people are only trying to make a living (I'm referring to street vendors, especially those in smaller cities like Xi'An). So, do your bargaining, but don't stress over it!

Main street; scary looking bar which neither of us had the urge to even peek into

Shops; someone's grandson whom I thought was rather cute

That's the food shack we ate in; fresh food vendors

Main street; candy seller

My flight leaves for Xi'An at 8:10am the next morning, which means we have to be up at 5 to get to the airport, and meet Ren and Wang Wei there at 7am.

Summer Palace: The Imperial Resort

2006-05-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

Possibly my favourite place on the entire trip. Its beauty is beyond words. We got there around 2pm, and was surprised that it wasn't as crowded as we thought it would be.

Brief history (DK travel guide): The sprawling grounds of the Summer Palace (Yihe Yuan) served the Qing Dynasty as an imperial retreat from the stifling summer confines of the Forbidden City. Despite existing as an imperial park in earlier dynasties, it was not until the time of Emperor Qianlong, who reigned from 1736-1795, that the Summer Palace assumed its current layout. The palace is most associated, however, with Cixi who had it rebuilt twice: once following its destruction by French and English troops in 1860, and again in 1902 after it was plundered during the Boxer Rebellion.

Empress Dowager Cixi: A higher ranked concubine of Emperor Xianfeng, she was one of history's most powerful women who became the ruler of China in 1881.

Entrance to the Summer Palace

The Longevity stone; Urn; Chinese lion - there is always a pair of them to guard entrances (the male has a ball under his paw while the female has a lion cub under hers)

Hall of Benevolence and Longevity

I swear there is a hall for everything in Chinese palaces (eg: Hall of Increasing Longevity, Hall of Nourishing Pleasures, Hall that Dispels the Clouds - who named these things???). Am not sure how long it would take someone to remember where to go for each ocassion. This is the principal ceremonial hall which houses Cixi's throne.

Entering the Tower of Hill-Lake Scenery (I think)

Our lunch spot; another tower; more gardens; trash can; Beijing 2008 Olympics ad - they've even started selling Olympic souvenirs, a bit odd to buy them 2 years before the event though

Imperial Food?

This shop has a sign that reads "Imperial Court Food Specially Prepared for Cixi". Sounds interesting? Wondering what it is? Check out the window to the left of the sign - those are cup noodles. Oh wait, imperial cup noodles, perhaps! (actually they had some rather scary but colourful and ornate looking desserts in there)

Garden of Harmonius Pleasures

I forget the name of the place in the second picture. It's got to be a Hall of some sort. Sorry, after awhile they all look the same. :) All I remember was having to lug myself up another 100 steps or so to get there (after the Great Wall and another 2000 steps or so around other areas here), and that the steps were all made of marble. Way to spend your contrymens' money, emperor!

Jade-like Firmament in Bright Clouds

The complex along the central axes of Longevity Hill starts from the Jade-like Firmament in Bright Clouds, implying the enhancement of each other's beauty between the clouds and the palace. It is inscribed with the historical function and intention of this complex - celebrating Empress Dowagers Cixi's birthday

Jade Belt Bridge

Built with the shadowy blue stone and white marble, this bridge has a thin and high curved arch just as a jade belt. Passing underneath is the estuary of Kunming Lake. This bridge is the only way to YuQuan Mountain for the emperor and empress.

Clear and Peaceful Boat (Marble Boat)

First built in 1755. The 2-story boat was carved out of the shadowy blue stone with a length of 36 metres. It was supposed to be a symbol of stability of the Qing Dynasty, an idea derived from the saying "Water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize a boat", warning the emperor to be diligent in attending to state affairs and love his people, and be prudent in handling the relationship between the rulers and the common people.

Architectural details

Strolling through a Picture Scroll

Long Corridor: The Long Corridor stretches 728 metres long from the Gate of Inviting the Moon in the east to the Shizhang Pavilion in the west, with the Gate of Dispelling Clouds standing in the center and composed of 273 sections. It is the longest and most famous of its kind in the world, with over 14,000 different pictures painted on the beams and crossbeams.
Who designed this thing??? It's brilliant.

Check out the pebbled design of the sidewalks

Painted ceiling in the halls and corridors

Am very disappointed that I cannot trace the designer and/or architect of this place. You'd think that he would be given credit.

The Grand Theatre

And grand it is! Located in the Garden of Virtue and Harmony, it was first built in 1891 and completed in 1895. One of the 3 grand theatres in this Qing Palace. The building is exquisite and elegant, and appraised as the "Cradle of Beijing Opera."
My mind was filled with random shows I'd like to see done here...and none of them were Chinese. How about a Shakespearean play?

This is Cixi's seat, located in the quarters opposite of the Grand Theatre. The sign says "NO PHOTO."
Note: In China, nobody follows rules. That much I have learnt. I would have refrained from taking a picture if the 49 others around me weren't doing so either.

These are some special kind of natural stones. Check out the ones on the right - do you see faces? Actually, they remind me of the sea sponges that I use for scenic painting.

Suzhou Street
Suzhou Street was a famous shopping street in the imperial gardens. It lies in the middle section of the back lake of Longevity Hill, imitating the shops along the canal in Suzhou. It was first built in 1751, destroyed in 1860, and was not restored until 1991.

The Summer Palace is arguably one of the most beautiful places in the world and eventhough I have enjoyed exploring it, I couldn't stop myself from cursing the imperial family for such extravagance. Building a replica of an entire Suzhou street complete with shops, etc... just for the emperors is outrageous, espeically when people are dying of hunger in the country. Superstitious Chinese will say that it is due to these sinful extravagance that led to the downfall of the Chinese Imperial families.

Tip: Best to arrive in the morning and spend half the day here. There is too much to see. There is a boat ride you can take to a small island within the palace which I missed because we ran out of time. Perhaps have tea in one of the traditional tea houses on Suzhou Street. Avoid the burgers at the quick snack stalls - the buns are hard and flaky!

Tip: When buying tickets to tourist attractions in China, it's best to buy full package ones. What happens is, you pay say, RMB 40 to enter the place, but within the place itself, there are museums or exhibits which you will need another ticket for. You can choose to purchase just the entrance ticket and buy the extra ones inside, or purchase a full package one right from the start. The full package one will include entrance fees to all exhibits/museums and is a much better deal.

Note: I would also like to add that a lot of the descriptions used are quoted from my handy dandy DK CHINA travel guide. Just in case, you never know who's reading this.

And the adventure begins at The Great Wall

2006-05-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 30 2006

The Great Wall of China
Our adventure began at 8:30am when we tried to hire a taxi for half the day - taking us to The Great Wall and then to the Summer Palace. The first taxi driver was a crook. He even looked like one. We had Ren talk to him on the phone, negotiating the price (we were extremely hopeless, but rest assured, it got better during the next few days). He wanted RMB 500 (about USD 65) and we had to pay him in advance. Fool. What if he left us at The Great Wall and ran away? After 15 minutes of negotiating, we got out of the taxi and got into another one. The guy only charged RMB 350 and was extremely nice as well.

After an hour or so, we got to The Great Wall at Badaling. Brief history (DK China & travelchinaguide.com): Built as a defensive fortification by three states (Yan, Zhou and Qin), the wall runs for several thousand miles. The wall was created over the course of several dynasties, but only got its name after the unification of China under Emperor Qin Shi Huang (221-210BC) (the Emperor who brought thousands of terracotta soldiers with him when he died), who decided to have the walls joined to fend off Hun invasions. The wall enabled efficient communication via smoke, flares, drums and bells and allowed rapid transport of troops throughout the country. Parts of the wall have crumbled, and much effort have been put into restoring it. The section at Badaling was built around 1505.

Entering The Great Wall
Seeing how bad the crowd was, our taxi driver thought we were going to pass up the hike or perhaps we just looked like lazy travellers, so he conveniently left us at the cable car entrance at his own discretion. We walked to the other end of the entrance and set out on foot.

Entrance to The Great Wall; that traffic light is so out of place; introduction to The Great Wall at Badaling; souvenir shops

Starbucks has taken over the world!
Lanna and I were both shocked to see Starbucks here. It's outrageous. I don't want to be walking along one of the seven wonders of the world or the 'ancient city' and see Starbucks Coffee staring at me.
This picture is for Christie and Vonessa.

Don't be fooled

So, I must have not done the necessary research about climbing this thing. Have been thinking to myself all week - How hard can it be, honestly? Well, we had at least 1/10th of China's population at The Great Wall that day, it was hot, and most parts are STEEP. I was smart enough to wear my Sketchers slip on trainers of course, so my feet were slipping out of my shoes as I was climbing the steeper parts of the wall. Fab.
Tip: Better to visit Beijing in March/April or September/October. Do not go during their week-long Labour holiday. Do not wear slip on trainers or slip on anything for that matter. Bring lots (I mean LOTS) of tissue and moist towelettes/wet wipes, and always carry a bottle of water with you.

Passed the first three towers, but unfortunately could not get any photos from inside the towers. Reason being they were packed with people sitting, standing, squatting, eating fruits, peeing, etc. It was at least 10 degrees cooler in the towers, made a great picnic area for some I guess.
The second picture shows one of the highest towers. We didn't get there as our route ended on the tower before that. The views are breathtaking. The wall stretches so far you wonder if it will ever end.
All the stone slabs had writing on them. Click on the photos for bigger versions.

That's us, and at this point we were halfway there; watchtower, more climbing
Note: If you're an attention seeking Westerner (preferably blonde as well), China is the place to be. Lanna warned me that we will be stopped for photos (of her, not me), but I could not believe the number of people who stopped us. She was really getting quite annoyed after the 5th one (who wouldn't, especially if you've been there for a year). So, if you're American and blonde, beware!

We got to the top at noon, bought our cheesy I've Climbed The Great Wall certificates on our way down, and said goodbye to one of the seven wonders of the world.

Note: Was pissed to find that they were selling certificates at the exit - why climb that thing when you can cheat and get one on your way out? Ah, but here's the catch - those at the exit are not as cool, so you know if someone's faked it. Hah.

This guy is etching a picture of The Great Wall on a marble slab. You can even have him put your name on it.

I believe this is a Mao Memorial Exhibit of some sort which neither of us felt the urge or had the energy to visit. We passed it on our way back to the car park.

Next stop: Summer Palace.

Welcome to Beijing

2006-05-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 29 2006

My flight got delayed for an hour. Nice way to start off a much anticipated trip. Apparently we were waiting for 9 passengers who seemed to have problems locating the departure gate. They were obviously greeted with death stares as they walked down the aisle on the plane to get to their seats.

Met Lanna at Beijing Int'l Airport around 5:30pm. Got a cab to Capital Bio (where she works and lives), which took us about 45 minutes. The minute we started talking to the cab driver, I knew this trip was going to be an adventure. I'm Chinese, but I speak Cantonese. My ability to converse in Mandarin is quite limited in my own country, now imagine me in China, where they have different accents and dialects. Between me and Lanna, she's the one who's spent a year living in Beijing. But of course wherever we went, people would talk to me because I'm Chinese. When I open my mouth, out comes the Malaysian Mandarin accent. Most of the time they get it, other times they either correct us or just stare at us blankly. Sometimes they pass comments like "But she looks Chinese", or "I think she's Chinese" in Mandarin, thinking I don't know what they're saying. In fact, I actually understand more than they think I do. And at times it's best to pretend to not speak the language totally, so you appear to be less of an idiot when they prolong the conversation.

We get into the cab, and Lanna starts pulling out her Lonely Planet phrase book, various maps of the city of Beijing, and her Oxford English-Chinese dictionary. Very amusing really.

Arrived at CapitalBio, near the Life Science Park, at around 7pm. This place is huge and quite impressive. Lanna's boss, David Sun, had arranged for me to stay at one of their guest rooms - I like to call it a really nice apartment. It was like living in a five star hotel suite. By the way, CapitalBio is a life science company which develops and commercializes biochip technology products.

Lanna; an exhibit of their products on the ground floor; indoor garden/fountain area and the view outside the building

On the 4th floor of the housing area, they have several guest rooms named after different places like Paris, Rio de Janeiro, etc. David Sun put me in the Paris room. Pretty nifty, eh? I didn't want to leave.

At 8pm, we caught a bus to Hou Hai Lake. The bus ride was an adventure. We passed a place called Cow Village. Lets just say that the smell of the place was more memorable than the sights. Hou Hai is a really hip and trendy place, catered to tourist and expats mostly I think. The restaurants have really cool decor, and you can get anything from local to fusion to western food (there's one that's called Sex and da City. Go figure), souvenir shops, pubs and bars, and to top it all off, this whole area is surrounded by a lake. Really puts Third Street Promenade to shame.

Know what's in the second picture? Starbucks. Yes. That is a Starbucks coffee shop. In traditional Chinese architecture.

Lanna suggested dinner at Kong YiJi restaurant - listed as the most famous HangZhou restaurant and one of the best restaurants in Beijing, also a favourite among expats and foreigners. I suggested walking to the restaurant since it looked so close to where we were on the Hou Hai Lake map. Lanna suggested the trishaw. It was a 15-20 minute trishaw ride, and we would have never found this place if we had walked. When we got there, we asked for an English menu. I laughed when it came. See that notebook Lanna's reading? That's the English menu - there is only ONE of it in the entire restaurant, and it's no more than a beaten up notebook. We didn't want to end up with a table full of animal intestines, tongue, tail and whatnot, so we decided it would be best to know what we're actually ordering. The food was delicious I have to say but they served the smallest bowl of rice I've ever had.

I survived China!

2006-05-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

I should say "I survived travelling in China during the May holiday" to be more precise. NEVER EVER visit China in May. Just take my word for it. Had a fabulous time despite the crowd. It is a whole new world out there, especially in Xi'An. My Beijing trip was more like a Xi'An trip as we spent almost 5 days travelling the old city. I must have taken about a thousand photos, so it will take awhile to post some of them.

I spent the first few days with Lanna, who works in Beijing. On May 2nd, her friend, Ren and Ren's husband, Wang Wei, went to Xi'An with us. Actually, they planned the entire trip, which turned out awesome. I'd like to think that the four of us brought the people of Xi'An much amusement - we had an American who lived in Beijing for a year who travels around with her Lonely Planet phrase book and Oxford English-Chinese dictionary (oh, and at least 3 different maps in her bag); a Malaysian Chinese whom most people think looks Chinese and assumes speaks Mandarin fluently, until of course, I open my mouth and start speaking broken Mandarin (the dialects and accents are very different in China); a local Chinese who speaks fluent Mandarin (of course) but also speaks in English half the time to Lanna and me, and then there's the husband who understands English but only speaks Mandarin.

Am still overwhelmed by how much we did in such a short period of time. I've seen enough tombs to last me a lifetime, and climbed enough walls, pagodas, mountains, and whatnot for the rest of the year. And here's proof that I did climb the Great Wall (okay, so it's a cheesy souvenir but you've got to do it at least once). I have to be honest and say that we didn't get to the highest fort - only because there are many entrances to the Great Wall and the one closest to us, called the Badaling Great Wall, doesn't take us to the peak. Nonetheless, we hiked till we could go no further.

Zai Jian!

2006-04-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

I'm almost all packed and ready to go! Leaving for the airport at 6:30am tomorrow. Am hoping for lots of photography opportunities in the next week. It's been awhile since I've been on a sight seeing trip. Ever wonder how much you actually spend before, during and after a trip? At least I'm putting this year's tax return cheque into good use.

Have a good week all!

Joshua: Happy 1st Birthday!!!

2006-04-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

Where the * is my *ing travel bag???

Another Sunday

2006-04-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Spent the morning helping Grace move. She now lives a minute away from me. When she told me she was moving to Jalan Robson a few weeks ago, I told her that I live around the area too. After a few minutes of bad road and landmark descriptions on my part, we realized that she's about to be my new neighbour. Not immediate, but close enough to be considered neighbours.

Anyway, I volunteered to help her move. When I asked her how much stuff she had, she said "oh, just three boxes." I almost laughed out loud. THREE BOXES??? In all my years in LA, I've never had less than twenty-five boxes to move each time, and I moved three times (with the help of Jeremy, Don and Peter on seperate ocassions - thank you!) Okay, so I moved an entire apartment whilst she only had a room. Still. What an idiot. I don't even need half the stuff. And what did I do with all of it when I moved back to KL? I sorted, packed, sealed, labeled and put EVERY DARN THING on a ship.

Had coffee with Kim at Coffee Bean (Vonessa will be so proud of me) later in the afternoon. Paid RM9.45 for a small cup of mocha latte. Who says living in Malaysia is cheap? In LA, if you make USD2K, a cup of coffee only costs between 3-4 bucks; in KL, if you make RM2K, the same cup of coffee costs Rm9.

Melanie will be back from Sydney on Wednesday (she's tying the knot with Sung at Pangkor Resort in two weeks time before returning to Sydney). I haven't seen her in almost 10 years. Can't wait to meet up again. We were secondary school classmates for a year before her family moved to the US, and then to Australia. She wrote me the funniest letters about living in America which I still have until today. Whenever I think of her, I think of recess time at school because she used to steal my food. Well, not steal but that's how she puts it. She had a thing for mum's chocolate cake. Mel - if you're reading this, I plan on asking you for permission to publish this photo when I see you next.

6 days to Beijing and Xi'An! Great Wall of China, here I come!

Hawkerdus foodulum

2006-04-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

"Hawkerdus foodulum is a well known disease, very common especially in tropical countries where food is abundant and varied. Symptoms include constant cravings for a poisonous food type called char kway teow, inability to resist second helpings and tendency to eat sambal or other chilli types. In serious cases, patients have also reported fondness for chicken rice, roti canai, and bak kut teh.

Remedy - there is no known cure for this disease and prolonged exposure appears to exarcebate the symptoms, resulting in increasing girth,"heatiness", sore throats, and in the worst cases, zits. Sufferers have the writer's sympathy and are advised to expand the universe of food that they consume to include fresh vegetables, and copious amounts of warm water and honey, and fruit juices".

By Tang Leng Lee

Am down with a fever and flu. Yes, I have been sick since I got back and cannot explain why. After a lengthy e-mail to Tang Leng, whining and moaning over bad health - blaming it on the weather, the air, the food, the people and everything else besides my well-balanced diet (of course), my very smart, witty and often sarcastic friend came up with the above diagnosis. Very Harry Potterish, eh? It's absolutely brilliant and I think ALL Malaysians have at one point or another been diagnosed with such a disease - in fact, some may spend their entire lives fighting it. Like me. BUT I would like to add that I'm really only addicted to sambal...and nasi lemak...and curry.

Interview!

2006-04-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting to post this entry. Finally, an update on the job hunt. After a few weeks of whoring (excuse the indecent term, but I cannot think of a better suited word) my resume around town and out of town, meetings are beginning to take place.

Went for my first interview last night. Actually, it was more of a tell-us-about-yourself meeting with the producers and artistic director of a production company. I cannot remember the last time I went for an interview but I know I couldn't have possibly been this unprepared. I DIDN'T HAVE A COMPLETE PORTFOLIO! Lets just say that most of the stuff are still packed away in boxes. The meeting was impromptu. I had 3 hours to get ready, so what did I do? Thank God for the internet, I managed to put together a folder (yes, laugh all you want) of production reviews and photos, etc.

I regret that I won't be able to disclose any details about the meeting as some of them are confidential but all I can say is that they are an impressive group of people and have a strong vision towards cultivating a love for the arts in the community. They are not government funded which proves to be a big setback in terms of development. But the company is 10 years old, has a huge following, has produced large scale productions and has managed to get funding from private sectors for each project thus far.

I wasn't there to interview for a specific job. But at the end of the meeting, I was invited to work on a show scheduled for September, and to my surprise, they also mentioned a full time position with them. I have two weeks to get back to them. It was a good meeting. They've given me some helpful insights on working in the arts here. I feel encouraged, and not at the same time. We are lacking in government support and funding big time. Even when there is funding, it is limited and often only for specific groups/genre. But I will leave all of that for another time.

So there. Here's your answer to this week's Have you got a job yet?

For Doc

2006-04-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

I finished reading tuesdays with Morrie about a week ago and decided to send Doc an e-mail to see if he's read it - silly, of course he's read it! He's read just about everything. This was his reply:

Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2006 8:03:15 -0700
From: "Jerry Henderson"
To: "Melissa Teoh"
Subject:Re: Hey

I have read Tuesday with Morrie and gave copies to so many people that it became embarrassing...it always seemed like I was saying "I'm about to die so come and visit me"....so I began to restrain..It was given to me by a past student, who thought of me and I appreciated it so very very much...it is amazing how quickly we forget!!!! As a teacher, I' m sorta used to it, but one never totally does. I look back sometimes and think of some of the kids whose lives I changed tremendously, especially through recruiting and giving scholarships to Pepperdine, and it does cause some pangs of remorse to not hear from many of them....but, really, that is the way of things and I don't feel bad about it or them...

I was so thrilled at the guys who spoke at my retirement event and the things they said...it really made me think of "Tuesdays with Morrie".

It's funny how I had started to think of him after the first few pages of Morrie. Perhaps it's because he's made such an impact during my years at Pepperdine, as a mentor and a dear friend. I'm sure those of you who are reading this who knows Doc will agree. Of course if you've been in his Role Development class you might choose to differ, ha ha, but nevertheless, all the directing students will agree with me. In the past 9 years, I have been blessed with the still growing friendship I have with Doc. His encouragement and support in all matters, small and large, is beyond words.

While reading the book, I had all these thoughts swimming in my head that I'd like to post, but lets be honest, how do you write about your perspective on life in 1000 words or less? The one thing I felt very strongly I wanted to do after reading the book was to amend any friendships or relationships that have been rocky in the past. Sometimes it's not entirely the fault of one or the other when things go wrong, but rather a combination of factors that could be out of our control. While most of us hate confrontation, very few realize that it is the saving grace for most relationships.

I have been blessed with many good friends. Some of which I haven't seen in years even, but miraculously sends an e-mail or calls just when I needed a chat. I wouldn't say that I have many relationships to amend, but there are a few that needs work. Learn to forgive - yes, easy to say but hard to do. But isn't it even more depressing holding a grudge against someone? I guess the difficulty in the amendment process is that it takes two hands to clap. Have you ever felt tired and frustrated for being the one who has to call or write or make an effort all the time?
(no, this is not a hint for flooding my inbox with love mail today)

All I'm saying is that it's so easy to forget. Just like Doc said. It's convenient to come up with reasons why we can't keep in touch - there's work, there's a show, kids, babies, traffic, I'm tired, etc. It takes very little to make someone happy. Everyone likes to be thought of. Don't wait for someone to write or call, make that effort. You know, we have e-mail now. It'll take you only a minute. Alright, maybe two if you type slow. And no excuse for not writing to the older folks -there's always snail mail.

tuesdays with Morrie

2006-04-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

READ IT!

Failed attempts

2006-04-07T03:22:00.000-07:00

This morning I attempted to 'add colour' onto my blog site. Well. I failed. Miserably. Going from a completely white background to a completely black background isn't exactly "exciting", is it? I tried using several other templates with more colour on them, but was having so much problems getting the template settings right, I just gave up! Then all of a sudden I felt completely useless. Surely a 12 year old can even figure it out. Am I getting more and more behind technology? Or am I just getting old and impatient???

Birthday lunch

2006-04-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

Happy 30th Lisa! Was adventurous and decided to make Lisa a birthday lunch. We had Taglietelle with mushrooms, Chicken Cacciatore and Potatoes with Sage and Garlic. No, I did not make creme brulee. Reason being - if the lunch didn't turn out good, at least the store-purchased dessert will make up for it. We had a nice lunch together with mum and Lisa's parents. Probably had too much to eat really. Okay, so the food turned out fine. And pasta is so easy to make! (yes yes yes...I know some of you have been telling me this, but one never believes it until one does it)

"It's my day off today"

2006-04-06T23:48:00.000-07:00

It's one of those weeks. There is just not enough hours in a day. Just when you think you have an hour to spare, something else pops up. And this is coming from someone who is yet back at work.

Everyone is asking me this: SO, WHAT DO YOU DO EVERYDAY?

Well, the answer is this:
Typically I start the day at 7:30am and go to bed between 12-1am. I wake up, get online, answer questions about my daily life, eat, check my planner, run errands, eat, answer questions about my daily life, watch telly, read, plan trips, eat, get online again, answer questions about my daily life again, eat, watch telly, go to bed. Sometimes I even answer questions about my daily life in my sleep.

Believe me when I say that I am almost as busy as I was when I was working full time during the summer, excluding FTC stuff.

This week I was asked twice (from complete strangers) "Not working today?" My current answer to such question, knowing that I will never see that person twice the same week is "It's my day off today."

So far, I have claimed Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays as 'day off.' Someone needs to add more days to the week, nevermind the hours in a day.

Blessed are those who can't speak

2006-03-30T18:35:00.000-08:00

A trip to the pharmacy this morning turned out to be most upsetting. While I was busy packing the basket full of stuff on my list, I overheard a small commotion near the hair products section. I turned and saw a slightly plump sales promoter talking impatiently to what seemed to be a happy, smiling man. After a few seconds I realized that this man was, unfortunately, not blessed with the gift of speech. The woman obviously couldn't converse in sign language either. While he was trying very hard to convey what he was looking for - which had to be some kind of hair product, this woman was getting more and more irritated. Before he can finish explaining, through a series of body/hand/head movements, she snapped and yelled, "APA?" ("WHAT?") He was still smiling and again tried to explain what he wanted. What did she do next? She walked off. I waited to see if she was going to get help. Nope. She walked off and proudly stood by another aisle. I turned to look at the man. He didn't seem to mind that tactless behaviour at all. Perhaps he was used to such rudeness. He continued in search for what he wanted with a smiling face. I'm sure that sales promoter had better things to do for the next 10 minutes (besides displaying her annoying self in front of the cosmetics section) than to help a man who's less blessed.

Can't think of a post title...

2006-03-26T15:08:00.000-08:00

Grandma's back at the hospital again. It will be a week tomorrow. This time it was chest infection and a minor stroke. We are back to our hospital routine.

Will be planning a trip to Beijing! (to see an ex-uni mate and of course, to learn more about my ancestors. hah) Desperately need to get away for a bit. Charlene invited me to watch Love In A Fallen City at the HK Repertory Theatre on Saturday, April 1st. Would have loved to go see it but heck, am too busy this week. Can't believe I'll be missing her twice this year. No worries - Beijing next month. Will pop by to see her!

Have been watching a Chinese series based on the story of concubines in the Imperial Palace and have just finished reading Anchee Min's Empress Orchid so am quite excited about going to the Forbidden City and Summer Palace to see it all for myself. My family took a trip to China in 1995 - I didn't go, fearing the lack of proper public toilets. Yes, I have a thing about public toilets. It's been 11 years since, surely it's much better now.

My copy of 1000 Places to See Before You Die arrived a week ago. That box took almost 3 months to get here from LA. Unbelievable. Anyhow, after flipping thru pages of the book and feeling somewhat "culture-less" and ignorant about the rest of the world, I have decided that it's time to bring out the "travel fund" piggy bank and put it to good use again.

Sunday tv programmes are awful, no matter which country you live in.

Malacca - Mum's hometown

2006-03-20T15:22:00.000-08:00

Vonessa says I'm slacking. So I'm trying to catch up. A few weeks ago my friends and I took a day trip (more like 8 hours really) to Malacca. Haven't been there in years. My family used to go when I was younger as we have relatives there. It's about a 2 hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. Siew Li and Nava took off work and decided to take a quick drive to Malacca for some good food. Of course yours truly is ever willing to embark on a food related trip.

Short history on Malacca (you can read all about it should you wish by clicking on the link) - founded in approx 1390; it is culturally rich due to the colonization by various forces - the Portugese, Dutch, British and Japanese. The Straits of Malacca was once one of the most important ports in the world, bridging merchants from the east and the west. What is left in this small town now consists of rich architectural designs from all the abovementioned colonies. The Baba and Nonya heritage stems from this small town and many who live here are from the Baba and Nonya descent.

AmazingMelaka.com has all the details you'll need when planning a visit here. Though, should any of you make a trip out here, I will be doing the planning.

Christ Church - 18th century Dutch architecture - the oldest functioning Protestant church in M'sia; trishaw (am quite upset about the current tart-like decorations on them. They were great as they were - simple, classic, old) ; souvenir stands; the famous Chicken Rice Balls which originated from Malacca

Baba and Nonya heritage buildings. The Baba and Nonyas are also known as the "Straits Chinese" (or Peranakan). They can either be of Chinese descent who have adopted much of the Malay culture or they stem from mixed marriages of the Chinese and Malays. The architectural details on these buildings are beautiful. The building interior is very long, with an open courtyard in the center. Most of these buildings along Jonker Street have been turned into antique stores, restaurants, etc...
ps: Try NONYA Restaurant at 61 N. Raymond Avenue in Pasadena if you're feeling adventurous. It's a pretty chic restaurant with zen-like interior that serves good Nonya food. The lamb with scallion pancake appetizer is a must. Even the sambal is pretty tasty.

Chinese Temple along Jonker Street (a must visit street - especially if you're antique hunting)

Going to the museum; Siew Li & Nava tells us what NOT to do at a museum - flip the pages of a 200 year old manuscript; Nava says they must have gotten the idea for the rice balls from these mini cannon balls.

This is "The Bridal Chamber of Baba Community". It is breathtakingly colourful - although am not sure if I can ever sleep in peace with such vibrant colours surrounding me. Very important - we noticed that the green curtains have divided the chamber in two sections - the inner section for two people and the outer section for one. Any guesses as to why?

A bird sampan; this thing is called The In-Law Box - I have no idea what it's for but I'm sure it must be from some Chinese culture I am not aware of - perhaps this is a box (looks more like an urn) for presents and such used to bribe one's in-laws with; The Royal Press - located along Jonker Street

The A'Famosa Fort - Portugeese fortress built in the 1500s after the arrival of Alfonso d'Albuquerque and his fleet; one of oldest European architecture left in Asia
(read about the Malacca Fort)

Jonker88 (you guessed it, located at 88 Jonker Street) is NOT to be missed. This is a museum/dessert cafe in a Baba Nonya style house. The seating areas are located in all three sections of the house. We chose to sit in the open courtyard and got to enjoy the slight drizzle of rain. The ambiance is great and they even play French and English oldies while you enjoy your bowl of ice kacang and cendol.

Baba Durian Cendol (the BEST ever! @ Rm2.70, that is USD75 cents) and Mango Ice Kacang
By the way, durian is that green spiky fruit which you will either love or hate. I, of course, love it.

Slurp or Burp?

2006-03-10T23:51:00.000-08:00

The International Etiquette Dining Quiz:
Don't Gross The World Out

Are you American?

2006-03-09T00:10:00.000-08:00

I know this is long overdue, but better late than never. To those of you who have been dying to take this quiz, here it is.

This is the infamous American Slang Quiz which my alma mater presented us (International Students) during our Orientation week in '97 (yes, yours truly has managed to keep this for almost 10 years) instead of giving us a handy dandy American Slang Sheet. Have never been made to feel so stupid in my entire life - read some of the answers provided and you will understand what I mean. A few of us thought of picking all the wrong answers to be funny, but since this quiz suggested what they must have thought of us, we'd probably be put in a special "Getting to know the American Slang" class or perhaps even in English 100 (and of course we'd have to pay for the units). Little did they know that more than half of us grew up watching Threes Company, The Benny Hill show and Friends.

In case the picture isn't clear enough, I'm doing you a favour by retyping the quiz.
To my Fall '97 International buddies, care to take the quiz again for old times' sake?
To my American friends - don't tell me if you get anything lesser than a 10/10.

Have fun!
ps: Personal favourites are questions 7 and 14.

American Slang Quiz

1. If something is "your bad," it is:
a. Your lack of style
b. Your mistake
c. Your problem

2. "Catch ya later" means
a. Stay away from me, I don't want to catch your cold
b. You will have a race and someone will find you
c. See you soon

3. If someone is "stoked" they are
a. Excited
b. On drugs
c. Very wet

4. If something is "tacky", it is
a. Wobbly
b. Over-priced
c. In bad taste

5. "Cop a 'tude" means
a. Beat up a cop
b. Become suddenly violent
c. Act or speak with a bad attitude

6. If something is "on the house," it is
a. Free
b. Upstairs
c. Avoided because it is dangerous

7. What is "cramming"?
a. A contest of seeing how many hot dogs one can fit into one's mouth at once
b. Studying last minute for an exam
c. Jamming as many people into a phone booth as possible

8. "I bombed the test" means
a. I did really well on the test
b. I did very poorly on the test
c. I set my test papers on fire

9. What does it mean to "hang"?
a. It is a form of capitol punishment
b. To gather together with friends
c. To go bungee jumping

10. If something is "dope," it is
a. An illicit drug
b. Cool or hip
c. Messy

11. What are you doing if you are taking a "rain check"?
a. Accepting a check from a person who does not have enough funds in his/her bank account
b. Postponing an offer until a later date

12. If something is "humor," it is
a. A type of ice cream bar
b. A medical term for a cancerous growth
c. Funny

13. "The party was the bomb" means
a. The party was not fun
b. The party was at the club "The Bomb"
c. The party was really fun

14. "Chill"means
a. To get a fine wine ready for dinner
b. To stick your head in the freezer on a hot day to cool off
c. To relax

15. "Get outta' here!" means
a. Pack your bags and leave immediately!
b. You're kidding me! (What you're saying is unbelievable!)
c. What you said really made me mad!

Time out

2006-03-08T23:35:00.000-08:00

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. Grandma was admitted to the hospital for a serious case of stomach ulcer. It was one of those very unexpected in-your-face type of situation. One which made you think of all sorts of things you never thought you'd have to prepare yourself for. When I was in LA, all I could ever do was worry and feel sorry whenever a situation like this came about. This time around, having witnessed grandma almost passing outside the apartment was more than frightening. I cannot explain in detail how it's been the past few weeks, except that situations like this make you realize how vulnerable we all are. You start thinking of things way ahead of your time and tend to pay more attention to everyday things around you. You learn to be thankful for little blessings, and especially for people who truly care. While grandma was in the hospital, it was heartrending to see the number of old folks who weren't really cared for by their own family. Dad's mum was put in a home before she passed, which wasn't our choice, and visiting her was a torture each time. Mum and I never got out of that place without shedding tears. These are people with families - normal families. Is it so difficult to give some love to the people who raised you?

Many have said that it's a cultural thing. In Asia, children are expected to take care of their parents when they're old. This is no longer true. Almost everyone I know do not expect to be taken care of by their kids. In fact, the percentage of Asian children immigrating abroad is growing day by day, as seen in my family of four. The question is - why should the task of taking care of one's parents come out of sheer expectation or obligation?

Playing Cupid

2006-02-14T17:30:00.000-08:00

So, the weekend papers were filled with nothing but pages after pages of Valentine's gift ideas (of course they were the same old chocolate and flower gimmicks, only packaged differently this time around, as they always are each year apparently), restaurant recommendations, jewellery ads and so on and so forth. But much to my surprise, there were also articles on the increasing percentage of single people in today's society - therefore, in addition to the pages of V-Day specials for couples, this time around there were also write ups on local matchmaking agencies like Lunch Actually.

Actually, the paragraph above doesn't really have anything to do with what this post is all about - a fab dinner I had last night - except some of us took it upon ourselves to play matchmaker to a friend. So, why pay RM100 for an agency to arrange a date for you when you have friends like us?

Apparently my guy friend, X (friendship at stake - no names will be disclosed) was set up by our mutual friends on Sunday night at a party. At the end of the night - whether by choice or by force, I know not - X and the young lady had each other's numbers programmed into their phones.

Last night at dinner, my friends and I decided to help X make the first move - actually, I decided it was time and conveniently took his phone out of his hand while he was showing me the young lady's number as proof of being set up. We assumed that he was probably interested but was too embarassed to do anything about it. So, I took it upon myself to send her a text message asking her out to dinner this week. Nothing wrong, yes? Well, to my horror, my other friend, Y, had accidentally sent the first message I typed asking the young lady out to dinner "tomorrow" - which is today - Valentine's Day. WHAT AN IDIOT (yes, and if you're reading this, it's your fault!). He thought he had only saved it, but what he actually did was SAVE AND SEND. So she received two messages from X, minutes apart from each other asking her out. How desperate does that look? Honestly, we should have been blacklisted as friends.

But, what's funny is that she had responded to the first message - I will not repeat what it is here - but lets just say that it was nothing less than saying "Yes", only in a very indirect manner. Seconds later, she called (after receiving X's 2nd msg). I don't think I have ever seen X sweat so much. It will be mean of me to say it was funny, but I'm going to anyway. It was funny. By the end of dinner, Y and his wife and I were having a jolly good time speculating the results of our matchmaking efforts. We'll see what comes of it.

The moral of the story - when in doubt, give it a shot, you never know (and if you're too embarassed or afraid, get a friend's help. Just be sure to get competent ones.)

Oh, and Happy Valentine's!

Look, Ma! My "kum" got me a husband!

2006-02-12T10:41:00.000-08:00

Day Fifteen or Chap Goh Meh:

The last day of Chinese New Year and the birthday of the God of Heaven. Single women throw oranges into the sea or river while eligible suitors wait below to catch or pick up the oranges. Tradition says the man who picks up the orange will marry the damsel who threw it. Lighting lanterns to generate yang energy and prayers at temples will ensure a prosperous New Year.

By Lee Lee Tan

Today is the last day of CNY (or Chap Goh Meh as we like to call it; sometimes referred to as the Chinese Valentine's Day). If you've checked out the links to CGM, you're probably thinking to yourself, "is SHE going to throw some tonight?" The answer is, "NO!" Are you crazy? I have better things to do. Mum once said to me while I was studying in the States, "Go throw some oranges into the ocean. After all, you're only 2 minutes away from it." Hah. Now, THAT is what I call a joke. I don't think anyone really takes this tradition seriously. Of course, us Chinese have tonnes of other traditions and beliefs when it comes to matchmaking.

For fellow M'sians who missed out on Reggie Lee's view of CGM in The Star today, here it is (click on it for a bigger version):

*Ah Lian

Another funny entry submitted by a young reader in today's Star:

Anyhow, one more day and it's back to reality - no more excuses for putting things aside because "it's still CNY!" or "wait-lah, only 3 more days to go."

So...GONG XI GONG XI one last time. Now... should I use the regular A4 size paper or the 8 1/2"x11" American size paper for my resume?

Too stuffed to blog

2006-02-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

Vonessa, you are absolutely right. Chinese New Year seems to last forever. Can you tell I have gotten a little slower with the blog postings on the festival? The consistency of laying on the sofa watching tv and munching cookies MEANT FOR VISITORS certainly don't help either.

Day Nine:
Make an offering to the Jade Emperor as today is his birthday. Go to a temple and pray to him to grant your wishes. The Jade Emperor's wife is the Lady of the Nine Heavens who first introduced feng shui to humans, and she will favour those who honour her.

Day Ten to Day Thirteen:
Telephone friends and relatives whom you seldom see and convey your New Year greetings. Reaffirm family bonds with siblings and children. Don't use utensils made of ceramic or stone to avoid discord.

Day Fourteen:
Clean the home in preparation for the Lantern Festival the next day. Ensure a supply of golden mandarin oranges. A good day to hang "Double Happiness" symbols for romance or conjugal happiness. Wear rose quartz rings or jewellery for love.

Lets put it this way - I did none of the above in the past week. I did enjoy a steamboat dinner with some high school friends and that is much better than a two-minute phone call.

Hong Kong - Stanley Market

2006-02-05T22:22:00.000-08:00

Day 2, Friday Jan 27.

After all the times we visited Hong Kong, we finally took a trip to the infamous Stanley Market, your one-stop Chinese arts and crafts shopping paradise. Took a double decker bus as it is the most convenient way to get there. Along the way, you will pass Repulse Bay - famous for its long beach and multi million dollar condos. Property prices here start at a few million dollars at the least, and can go up to the hundreds of millions. Here is a picture of a very well known property due to its spectacular feng shui. Properties that are built with its back facing the mountains and the front facing the ocean are considered to be the best. Take note of the hole towards to the right of the building below (I watched a documentary on Hong Kong a few days ago and they explained the significance of the hole) It was created based on a feng shui master's advice. As the building is built between the ocean and the mountains, this hole is created to allow the 'dragon' in the mountains to get to the ocean for water. Pretty interesting. I am not a feng shui fanatic. In fact, I have done many things that have considered to be bad feng shui throughout the years, like sleeping facing a mirror for three years when living in Malibu (which according to feng shui masters and my Caucasian friends brings bad luck). Bad luck or not, I am still healthy and in one piece.

Hole in the middle of a building - Dragon passage to the ocean?; the ocean view of the condo

Stanley Market sign; rows of shops selling a variety of oriental goods at bargain prices

Entrance to Stanley Market; souvenir shop

Fine Art shops where I got some cool oriental artwork; these Chinese stamps are a gem - there are hundreds of crafted jade designs to choose from and you can have your name engraved on the stamp in just about 20 minutes. Made one using our family name that came with a really cool dragon crafted on the jade block. DO NOT buy these at duty free shops like Galleria - they are three times more costly there

And when you get a headache, you can purchase an instant reusable heatpack at the market. Dad bought it for fun. This heatpack is filled with some sort of liquid that will crystalize. Once it is fully crystalized, it becomes hot and will last for a couple of hours.

On the way to Stanley Plaza; The Boathouse - for those who fancy Western food (there is also a pub a few doors away)

Little prayer huts along the streets

Temple at Stanley Plaza

"Ti Kong"

2006-02-05T10:08:00.000-08:00

Day eight:
If Hokkien, have another reunion dinner and at midnight, pray to "Ti Kong" or the God of Heaven. A sunny day means a profitable year and a rainy day means care must be taken to avoid losses.

--Lee Lee Tan

My dad's side of the family is Hokkien. When I was kid, we used to Pai Tin Kong (or Bai Tian Gong in Hokkien). My sister and I will accompany dad to Seremban just to buy a roasted pig for this ceremony. A table is set outside the house with various Chinese foods meant for the gods. A little before midnight, friends, neighbours and relatives will come over and we will eat, drink and chat till dawn. After the midnight prayers, the roast pig will be sliced and served. In the morning, we will give some Chinese cakes and the likes to our neighbours. It was really fun and exciting. I remember looking forward to it every CNY. We don't celebrate this day anymore, the last time was back in the 80s.

Tonight, we anticipate a massive jam outside our place. There is a huge temple about three minutes away from us - Thean Hou Temple - and the traffic there is horrendous during CNY. Anyhow, we'll be avoiding that disaster by going up to PJ to see some relatives.

Chinese raw fish salad

2006-02-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

Do's and Don'ts of CNY By Lee Lee Tan

Day seven: Invide loved ones to dinner. Serve long noodles mixed with seven types of vegetables to denote longevity. A great day for yee sang or raw fish salad. Everyone at the table should stand and toss the salad together.

Have yet had my share of yee sang this year. You don't necessarily have to have it on the seventh day of CNY. Any day is fine and just as good. It's really fun and everyone tries to top each other by tossing the yee sang as high as they can.

Busy day today. My god family came to visit - cannot get over how adorable my god children, Alex and Shannon are. Later in the evening, my family went to visit my grandma and uncle. It's ten and Mel and Khim are popping by in about half an hour.

Alex enjoying a game of catch the finger with the lion's mouth with my dad, behind are my godparents.

Enjoying my chinese wind fan; Lisa, godsister cum childhood buddy, and hubby David; baby Shannon

Godfather and Shannon

ps: The seventh day of Chinese New Year is also called Yan Yat which means Everybody's Birthday. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY everyone!

Hong Kong - Introducing the fabulous Octopus

2006-02-04T01:25:00.000-08:00

To those who are looking forward to detailed description of Hong Kong's top tourist attractions, I fear you might be a bit disappointed. Whenever my family goes, it's really just to be out of town, to enjoy different food, and to relax. As we know our ins and outs of the place, we did not sign up for any 12-hour day tours which starts with a complimentary 6am morning call. However, we did make it a point to visit a few places we've never been to on this trip.

Day 1. Thursday, Jan 26
Get yourself an Octopus card. This is one of the most efficient and helpful thing to have as a traveler in Hong Kong. You can use it on all of Hong Kong's transport systems - MTR, buses, ferries; fast food restaurants, supermarkets, 7-11, cinemas, vending machines, etc.. You can reload your card at any time should you run out of money on it. It will save you a lot of time from having to buy single tickets every time you travel on the MTR (which you will be doing a few times a day). The MTR is connected to practically every and any main buildings/hot spots you need to get to. Everything is just a few minutes walk away. Ocassionally you may have to take a bus or taxi, but it's cheap enough that you won't mind the extra cost. The underground connections between the entrances to these stations from the buildings/streets are really clean and cool (they're mostly air conditioned). Also there are bakeries, 7-11s, and lots of shopping that can be done while you walk from the station to your destination. Do not fret if you don't speak Chinese, everything is written and translated into English as well. There is no way you will get lost.

Arrived in the evening so we didn't do much but have dinner and walked along Victoria harbour on our way back to the hotel.

Buying an Octopus card; single/round trip ticket machines; the train is here

In the MTR; map indicating the train stops; an example of the MTR station connector

For Christie and Vonessa (Starbucks is everywhere. I failed to locate a Coffee Bean though); tram and bus

Anyone has a sweet tooth?

2006-02-03T23:50:00.000-08:00

After a relaxing week in Hong Kong, we finally got home yesterday. Today is the 6th day of Chinese New Year. Thought it might be interesting to post the do's and don'ts of the 15 days of this festival. (This is from an article written by Lee Lee Tan in 2003. Lim in this article is the head of retail at the World of Feng Shui shop)

Day six:
Time to go visiting again! It's very auspicious to visit friends and relatives from the sixth to the tenth day. Bring kum or golden mandarin oranges to give to loved ones. Never recycle oranges given to you, says Lim. "Give oranges you bought. You shouldn't give away oranges which were given to you as you would be giving away all the good wishes and luck meant for you."

Well, I didn't visit anyone. Tired, and it's too warm to go anywhere. My aunt and cousin popped by tonight. Spent the day cleaning cookie jars and filling them up with the stuff that we've bought to offer visitors. It was fun - what's better than nibbling at goodies while you work?

Cookies: Peanut, green bean, almond, chocolate, bee hives, coffee

Left: Sweets - Chocs in ancient 'gold' money form, pineapple cookie, chocs in 'gold' oranges, Japanese cookies, chocolate pigs, and more chocolates!
Right: Japanese cookies, chocolates wrapped in paper with auspicious words, Japanese jellies, peanuts, dried ginger and cranberries, japanese biscuit

Putting cookies into jars; very cool ang pow packets for children which didn't exist till the last couple of years; the more traditional ang pow packets

Preparing the house

2006-01-24T10:34:00.000-08:00

And guess who gets to do the hard work? I was just the assistant. I don't think mum trusted me enough with her plants.

Mum repotting the money tree I bought two years ago; we also have a new addition to the family - this bonsai looking thing - mum just told me it's a Jade tree/money plant - crassula argentea

The banner on top of the door says Kam Nguk Mun Tong which sort of means that the house will be in abundance of good things; and the word on the door says Fuk which means luck; interior of our apartment; my piano that sits staring at my face everyday

See the fire crackers hanging from the speakers?

Mum's friend gave her a bunch of these flowers - really really pretty. Some kind of a lily.

Granny's Christmas turned New Year tree; Uncle's patio and pussy willow tree (associated with growth and prosperity)

Welcoming the Lunar New Year

2006-01-24T07:57:00.000-08:00

With 4 more days left to the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone is busy preparing their homes for the 15-day Spring Festival celebration. Malls are crowded with all sorts of New Year products - plants, decorations, cookies, specialty food, etc... Asians are typically very family and tradition oriented and very generous, so a lot of people are willing to spend during the festive seasons - even the younger generations can't help but indulge themselves in the New Year preparation frenzy.

One can easily spend a few thousand dollars during this festive season decorating the home, buying kam (oranges/tangerines) and New Year cookies and treats for visitors, giving ang pow (best tradition EVER! ... for children and single adults, that is!), indulging in over the top 8-course dinners, exchanging gifts (typically people will bring kam - a must as it means gold and thus means good fortunes; peanuts, and other food stuffs), etc. But one can also celebrate it the simple way like my family does. Note: no matter how simple, you can never escape the abundance of outgoing cash for ang pows during this 15-day period. This is when I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever for being single. Only married people can give ang pow. Traditionally it is given to children, single adults and the elders, but now it's also given to show one's appreciation to employees and to people who are less fortunate.

This is the first in the past nine years that I'm home early enough to help prepare for Chinese New Year. Mum and I went to Petaling Street, aka Chinatown a week ago to get some decorations just for kicks. We have never really celebrated CNY in a huge way - probably did more when I was a kid, but that's the way it is. When you have children at home, you tend to go all the way out during festive seasons. I remember one year my dad hired a lion dance group to come 'bless' our house. I was so terrified, I cried the whole time. What an idiot. Even have a picture to prove it which I will not post online today. (Jeff L. and Matt Q. - I think you should consider this outfit for Halloween this year. Seriously. I'm sure Lee can come up with some smart mechanical device that could make the lion's head move on its own)

Anyway, in a nutshell, all we did was get some CNY decorations (including red banners with auspicious phrases), New Year plants (like the money tree) and lots of cookies and treats.
We never have to spend days cleaning the house (which is what most people do before the New Year) because - if you think I'm a neat freak, you haven't met my mum. This place is almost always spotless. I cannot understand how I survived growing up under her roof.

So, 4 more days to go and we're almost ready for the New Year! We won't be here for the first 4 days, and are actually not having a family reunion dinner on New Year's eve as we will be in Hong Kong. Sister is busy working in Melbourne so we're missing one in the family this year!

Here are some pictures taken at one of the many shops in Petaling Street that was packed with people buying CNY stuff.

Store front; the two huge dolls on the table are Choy San, aka Prosperity God; huge lanterns and extra large fire crackers with auspicious phrases - we have a pair at home too

More lanterns; banners with auspicious phrases; crackers

Mum buying some banners; These are red packets (ang pows) - I thought it was funny that they even have Doraemon and french fries red packet designs now

Mid Valley mall - there are always tons of booths set up during festive seasons that offer a variety of specialty goods - here we found a jade booth, chinese wood block carving booth, etc...; Lanterns! We bought two!; view from the escalator; This little stall is called Tart Wonderland - we got all sorts of goodies

Who's the fool?

2006-01-21T08:26:00.000-08:00

Following the unfortunate death of the late Dr. Liew Boon Horng (one of the youngest corporate figures in our country) a few weeks ago due to construction safety negligence, our local authorities have been bombarded with letters of complaints, concerns and anger by the public. In this case it is obvious that the developers and government bodies should be held responsible for safety negligence.

Three days after this incident, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the pictured parking lot open for use. This is the construction site of an on going project right next to Mid Valley. There was actually a line of cars turning into the building, or half a building so to speak (by the way, you also have to pay to park here). I have yet seen any complaints of this in the papers - perhaps it's because no tragedy has happened yet, plus this place is a bonus to those who cannot seem to wait another ten minutes to get a spot in real parking lot. So what if someone gets hurt this time? While it is the fault of the developers for opening grounds for danger, is your life not your own responsibility as well?

Chili please!

2006-01-21T03:54:00.000-08:00

SICK SICK SICK by Sam Brown

That sums up my 10-day absence from the internet world. After 4 days of intense food poisoning, I am six pounds lighter and have an appetite again. Well, I better since Chinese New Year is only a week away. How else am I supposed to indulge myself in all the sumptuous food! After two days of not being able to consume any food and a few days of really really bland food, what bliss it is to be able to have nasi lemak, sambal belacan and dried chilis again.

ps: The colour of vomit in the picture is not exaggerated. Trust me.

Bir, biiru, pi jiu, bia, mek-ju, BEER!

2006-01-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

That's beer in Malay, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Korean and Hindi (yes, and English as well.)

Public holiday today in accordance with awal muharram celebrated by the Muslims. Went to the nearby mall, which by the way, is not called Mid Valley Megamall for nothing - mega stores, mega sales, mega cinemas, mega crowds and mega traffic congestions. But I live only 5 minutes away from it, so it is still the most convenient place to go.

Anyhow, the point is I was walking by the liquor store and saw the Hennessy Cognac promotion. That made me think of Sara, and she made me think of the FTC group. And when you think of FTC people, you think of good times and...beer. So there. Enjoy, my friends. (Malaysians love beer too, and in most cases they don't pass out after one bottle)

TIGER BEER. The label says RM31.00 for a six pack, approx. US 8.50

JOLLY SHANDY, a product of Carlsberg that got my sister drunk after consuming 2 cans at the age of 6.

For the Hennessys. Heineken and Anchor on the shelves.

All time favourites: Guiness and Carlsberg.

Anglia Shandy. RM 1.80 per can, approx. US0.48. That is crazy cheap. Can't find a website for it but I know it's manufactured under Guiness Anchor Ltd.

Sign language

2006-01-09T23:15:00.000-08:00

The Malaysian government should stop wasting tax payers' money on parking signs. It seems that people not only fail to understand the universal sign for "No Parking" but are incapable of reading the words printed below it as well. And I guess when you cannot read the words, you put a sticker on them. (sign reads: No parking at all times. RM 300 fine)

This is a daily affair. It is THE most irritating thing about living here. A four lane street turns into one lane because drivers double park AND triple park wherever they like - including places like bus stands, taxi stands, street corners, etc... When you use the honk, you get a death stare. I was driving past a busy street in Bangsar the other day and counted 17 cars that had parked illegally along that one street. I used to be really annoyed with the many parking signs in Santa Monica. You cannot park your car anywhere before reading three signs in front of the spot. However, I have to admit that I would rather comply to that than having to sit in unecessary traffic everyday and having to squeeze between cars every now and then to get thru a street.

There is probably a Freedom of Parking law that I am not aware of in this country. What are the authorities doing? You tell me. Imagine the amount of money the government could be collecting for necessary funding from parking tickets each year. Perhaps it's just easier to increase taxes.

Pasar Malam - Malaysian night market

2006-01-09T08:13:00.000-08:00

Pasar malam, malay for night market, is a pretty fun place to go if
you like crowds, cheap bargains and food. There is a pasar malam
going on in town every night of the week depending on where you
live. I live closest to Bangsar so on Saturdays (now held on
Sundays) my sister and I will leave the house at 5 (to avoid the
crowd, although at 5:30, it starts to get a little claustrophobic) and
spend an hour or two roaming the pasar malam there. There are
streets of vendors selling everything from fresh seafood to
clothing to electronic gadgets. You will see people with carts filled
up to the brim with fruits, cakes, clothing and all sorts of knick
knacks along the streets. Also a great place to bump into your
friends who live around the same area. Everyone goes to the
pasar malam! This is an event not to be missed for travelers.

Was there last night with my parents and thought it might be
interesting to show you guys what it's like.

Always a crowd; tables of snacks, biscuits & sweets,
accessories & sunglasses

Fresh flowers. Need an iron? You even get a demontsration.

Nangka (jackfruit) ...yum!; removing nangka

Fresh fruits. Dragon fruit - perhaps the young Brian Pargac can
enlighten us with the story of its origin?

Squid, cuttlefish, etc...; Ikan bilis (anchovies) and fresh seafood

SATAY - this is the real thing. Priced between 40-50sen
per stick, depending on the kind of meat you want, it also
comes with cucumbers, onions, ketupat and peanut gravy

Fatman Steamboat. Steamboat...one of my
favourite meals of all time. Having it at home is
much more fun.

This lady actually smiled for the picture.
She's selling Otak-Otak. Otak in Malay means brains;
Otak-Otak however is fish cake (or BBQ fish according
to the sign)

Veggie dumpling; this man is making some kind of
Chinese bread-like dessert; and the last pic is of a girl
selling a kind of Chinese dumpling called Zhong

Wait Mr. Roti man!

2006-01-07T01:21:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, seeing the roti man (in Malay, bread is called roti. Roti man = bread man) was a real treat. He comes around in his motorcycle packed with all sorts of goodies - breads, candies, junk food and has a container (where all the breads are hanging off in the picture) that has ice cream in it. Back in the 80s, 1 ringgit can get you two pieces of cream bread, a packet of cheese rings and an ice cream. Great deal for a kid! I saw this roti man a few days ago near my uncle's house and felt a sudden urge to go over and buy something. Got a piece of pandan bread, cream bread and two packets of cheese rings for $1.80. Honestly, where can you get that these days? Had to ask him to pose for a picture as I don't know how many more of them will be around in years to come.

More places of comfort

2006-01-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

...for my Starbucks Asia Tour friends ;)

What "lah" you!

2006-01-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

Where is your American accent?

...the second most asked question after my move home to K.L. (no doubt, the most dreaded question is "So, what are your plans now?")

It's rather interesting to me that no matter how much time I've spent in the States, the minute I step foot at KLIA, out comes my M'sian slang (or better known to some as Manglish). Okay very soon becomes Okay-lah; Hey becomes Oi; and the use of Manglish suffix very naturally takes place in my speech once again. Having said that, when I'm back in the States, it disappears like I've never known that strange language before. I don't think it necessary to speak with a foreign accent in your own country unless it is somewhat called for. We need to be able to adapt to new surroundings and for that matter, we do whatever it takes to blend in. I can understand it if one has spent most of his/her life abroad, but deliberately speak like a foreigner in your own country because you think it makes you a little classier than the other locals is atrocious. Really cannot tahan. Speaking proper English does not necessarily mean you have to speak like an American or British. Most of the time we make fools out of ourselves by saying silly things, with or without the lahs or ahs.

A brand new year...

2006-01-01T06:23:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

After much procrastination with regards to blogging again, I'm finally posting my first blog of the year. Have been encouraged to blog about life back home in K.L. since none of my American friends have set foot on Malaysian soil...
Well, how about this for a start? To wish someone Happy New Year:

In Malay, you say "Selamat Tahun Baru"
In Cantonese, "Sun Nin Fai Lok"
In Mandarin, "Xin Nian Kuai Le"
In Tamil - I have to admit that I have yet figured that out. Shame on me.

Since arriving home almost three weeks ago, yours truly have been busy with the many Christmas and New Year festivities, which obviously included good company and food, food and more food. Daily/weekly activities summary as follow:

Number of suitcases unpacked: 1 of 3
Number of headaches acquired from overly crowded shopping malls: infinite
Number of foul/semi-foul language spoken in car towards bad drivers: indefinite
Number of heart attacks derived from the thousands of motorcyclists on the road: indefinite
Number of theatre related jobs enquired: 0 of 0

Having said that, I realized that I won't have to pack another suitcase again for quite sometime.
By the way, those of you who WILL BE planning your trip to SE Asia, it is supposedly Visit Malaysia Year in 2007 ;) Speaking of which - Christie and Vonessa, these pictures are for you. Told you you'll feel right at home...

Starbucks @ KLIA (Kuala Lumpur Int'l Airport)

Anyone for a mocha frap?