Friday, May 29, 2009

Coconut juice with... SUGAR?

Ok, I was pissed with this shop in Shah Alam, Ani Sup Utara at Section 9. If you ever come here and order a coconut juice, tell them you want it WITHOUT sugar.

But in the first place, it's already absurd to serve coconut juice in the fruit with sugar. I almost sputter it out due to the shock of finding sugar grains in my mouth after a sip. When I called the waiter over, he said it's the way they serve coconut juice in their shop.



And when I demand to change with a non - sugar-added one, it was refused. Hello, it was not stated in your menu there, it was absurd, and what if I have diabetes? Since they totally refused to changed it, I have to order a new one since I badly wanted to drink coconut juice, minus the sugar.

The only good thing was that they serve it as a whole fruit.

I'm saying this again, it is freaking absurd to add sugar into a fresh coconut juice.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The blue sky above... Kampong road from Lumut to Selangor.

We used the kampong road instead of the highway to return to Selangor just to explore but unless you have the patience of a Buddha, it can be very stressful indeed, what with most car driving at 60 - 70 km / hour and the samseng lorries that would not give way.

Anyway, when we switched turn to drive, I managed to snap more pictures of the sky, though I can't exactly remember where these were.








I just love the clouds on that day!

But I hate the road! Highway for me next time! Or maybe because it's weekend, that's why...

Lumut, the seaside town of Perak

Recently I went to Lumut, Perak for some conference that I managed to sleep through most of the time to wake up later with an amazing appetite. But the resort I stayed at sucked real time so I won't make it a mention here.

Anyway, compared to the last 10 years when I first visited, Lumut town had changed way big! Being the gateway to one of Malaysia's most beautiful island, Pankor Island, the beautification and upgrade of the town infrastructure is indeed worth a hearty round of applause. And much to my surprise, which was a pleasant one, the town has become very clean and well - maintained; not a single litter on the road of this quaint town.


Nobody can see it, but I positively think that that white arch thing is an abstract replica of a fish.





Another angle of the "fish" arch.


The seaside resting area.


The weather on that particular day was amazingly... Ok, I'll rephrase that. It was sunny, and freaking hot!!! But still, I bought myself a hat from the craft center and was soon snapping photos around more comfortably.

Anyway, the sky was simply amazing that day! These were taken near the jetty.







Such vibrant colours at the souvenir shops.


After a long walk on such a freaking hot day, we stopped for my favourite Malay dessert called cendol pulut, a dessert prepared from glutinous rice, cendol, coconut milk, gula melaka and shaved ice. It was amazing!



We bought it from this mamak, near the mulyi - storey parking complex. He was selling in front of a warong (small restaurant by roadside). For RM2.50, he loaded your bowl generously and you can opt to sit in the warong or just stand there and eat. FOr take - aways, he'll pack it in a cup but there's no thrill in that compared to slurping off the bowl.



Besides all this, many eateries in Lumut boast to serve the freshest seafood, and there are MANY eateries to suit your taste, and most of them are Malay restaurants and nasi kandar restaurants. I ate way too much fried squids that day, all fat with their eggs.

Other than these, there are many shops selling seafood products too, though mostly are dried stuffs. I bought my stuffs at a shop called Jamilah, where I found a delicious keropok ikan @ fish crackers.

Anyway, for those more interested with Pangkor Island, there are many agents here that can assign and arrange for accommodation, and also car parks with certain price for those who drive to Lumut.

As for me, after shopping for seafood products and souvenirs, I simple drove home. It's just too hot to go to the island in this dry season, I'd be ROASTED!


Monday, May 18, 2009

Bukit Cerakah (02): the cute part

I'm huge on animals, be it cooked or alive, especially if they are cute. For the cooked ones, as long as I don't watch the slaughtering process, I'd eat them with the exception of Bantam chicken and non - halal ones.

Anyway, I visited the Animal Park there since such thing is always in my priority if any animal park exists anywhere.

Bunnies!!!







I wonder why this one had a blue streak on its fur...



I forgot what this was but it's a turtle.



And porcupines.


I love it how they used their hands to eat!



There are many more but the conditions were too pathetic that it'll just ruin the image of this place if I post it up.

Again, I was disappointed...


Bukit Cerakah (01): That "Damn Hill" (?)

Last time they said that the origin of this place name is from the word "celaka" @ damn, pronounced cerakah because the locals couldn't pronounce it properly. Correct me if I’m wrong. Later on, they upgrade this place and gave it a better name, Taman Pertanian Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam @ Shah Alam Malaysia Algriculture Park. The latest re-naming was Taman Botanikal Negara @ National Botanical Park.

After many years since my last visit when I was, like, 10 maybe, I decided to pay homage to one of my childhood places. After all, it’s just a 5 minute drive from my house.



Surprisingly, the car park was pretty full though it’s only 10 on a Sunday morning. Turned out that many people like to come here for cycling activity and to hit the outdoor adventure activities (flying fox, paintball shooting and the likes), we found this out at the bicycle renting center where all the good bikes had already been taken up and we had to book and wait in the long waiting list for the next batch of bikes.

So we took the tour bus instead, which in a way was more convenient of me to catch a glimpse of the changes that the place had gone through.



Which I may say, yielded a disappointing result. Many of the places of attraction were poorly maintained, I’d say, what with the buildings looking sad and dilapidated, needing repair, mostly unopened to the public and the likes. The plant - based parks were a jungle of weeds and crumbling replicas, which did not live up to the name of National Botanical Park.

The only place that remained unchanged is the 4 Season House. It was spring time so flowers were in bloom. Enter the "refrigerator" to enjoy the season's best. You'll get what I mean if you visit this place yourself.





After the near-freezing experience in 4 Season House fridge, we took a walk at the nearby Mushroom park which had nothing special to offer except for mosquitoes at different breeding stages (sarcasm) and old mushrooms. But I snapped this delicious flower called bunga kantan which was in full bloom. This flower can be cooked up or eaten raw in several Malay dishes.



Ok, so I give you some nice views to ooh and aah at. Not much though since I omitted most of them due to such embarrassing details.


The watchtower which had such steep stairs that I crawled on all 4 at certain parts.



You can find more info on the place here: http://www.malaysiavacationguide.com/shahalam.html

Suffice to say, I was disappointed with the outing so permit me to use this word... DAMN!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Beware of "secondhand" phones!

Read this carefully, and read this well!!


Previously I was enlightened by some friends on this issue; apparently some phone vendor would open up and use all the high-tech phones he received from the supplier before selling it off as a "secondhand" to the customers. Of course, most stories centered around those shady, "basement" joints vendors. This happened at Shah Alam Mall, Selangor for God sake!



SO imagine my shock the other day when I myself was cheated, and this coming from those bright - light, supposedly legal joint. It was a simple Nokia 2600 series, mind you, but cheating is cheating. Upon reaching home, I switched on this phone without inserting the simcard first to play around with it, and was shocked beyond words to find 800 of sent and received SMS, pictures of unknown family and people in the phone memory. The stupid culprit, lucky me, forgot to wipe off his trace.

Of course I went back to that joint, with my brother to create some ruckus and demand for an exchange. The salesguy indeed, to his credit, displayed such a rude and defensive behaviour, one is to grab the phone from my hand when I refused his request to let him hold it to view the contents, that I suspect that he himself is an accomplice. After much shouting threats to bring in the police and lawyers, they relented to the request to exchange the phone with a new one.


Moral of the story:

1. Check the phone thoroughly inside out before slapping down the cash (This phone looked brand new, so I suspect they change the inside and uses the new casing as cover)

2. Bring a tough guy to help you settle the exchange job. One who would brandish the shop's heavy metal chair to break the display cases.


I was really disgusted, but satisfied since all the ruckus made all potential customers at that joint walked out promptly after witnessing that.

And those stupid salesguys, in the new phone I discovered 2 pictures of them (when asked earlier, they told me they were testing to see whether it's functioning well) which I shall keep for future use if such need arises.



Monday, May 11, 2009

A day on Gaya street (06): my favourite bunnies ^_^

As a kid, I loved bunnies. And I still do. Gaya street provided me with many to pet on that day.

The bunnies were displayed in open cages so that the visitors can play and pet them. There were many types of breed but I'm in no position to describe since I'm no expert. I was there just to play.

My favourite was the black bunny with the white stripes. Aren't they just so adorable, "burr"ing to each other? ("Burr" as in the sounds, I don't know how else to describe it because they were definitely nor purring.)






As noon approached, they got more restless. Who wouldn't, if you have a thick coat on on a sweltering day?


But some still chose to snuggle close.


Hello neighbours...


And the price tags that shocked me. There goes my bunny dream... ^_^





A day on Gaya street (05): fluffy friends

Did I mention how much I love animals?

Puppies! I love puppies, despite my religion prohibiting us to touch them but it never says that I can't look. I love those fluffy chaps at the left end especially.




And hammies! Cute, but they stink...


Baby mice for a few ringgit.


Ok, here comes the bad part.

Can you imagine just how crampy those cages are? My God, the puppies were mashed up upon each other.


RM650 dog and bunnies squashed in their cages. For the bunnies, I guess it's fine since their sizes were smaller as compared to that poor doggy.


I suppose since there's no authority coming to impose any animal law, that's why these are happening. No surprise for the Pulau Ketam's incident, people are already treating them badly while on the trade.





A day on Gaya street (04): avian delights

This was a time where H1N1 had not made a headline yet.


I was wondering where in the world are those chirping coming from when I noticed a large group of tourists snapping photos. Much to my delight, I found these cute chirpers. Boy, taking a close snap was impossible so I'd to satisfy myself with this.




But I manage to snap this at another vendor. Boy, it was so chirpy and friendly, and more than happy to pose for us.


Grade A bantam chicks! And for only RM35! So fluffy and white, but I don't think the airport officers would feel the same way so I'd to quash my longing...


These are the normal chicks, some are to be bred for meat and eggs, some for fun. The prices very from RM3 - 10, depending on type of chicks.

A day on Gaya street (03): water creatures for sale

Gaya street fair share of water creatures to bring home which includes...

Tortoise! I used to love them as a child but after they grew up and became too large for their tank, I had to release them at nearby park's lake. Too many heartaches, so I have long given up on having them.





Larger version, and some rounders one for big ponds.


I call them ikan bandaraya because they are supposed to be some sort of "cleaning" fish. You put one in the tank to help slow down the process of alga growth and spread. And this fish really stays vertical most of the time on the tank wall.


Another childhood favourite of mine, ikan laga @ fighting fish. I like them for their brilliant colours and they are easy to care for.


A day on Gaya street (02): Orchids galore

I'm no orchid expert but I love them. And Gaya street has a lot to offer, from the common ones, local, imported to the wild jungle orchids. Some are sold as a small cutting that you can sneak into your hand luggage, but the bigger ones, sorry to say but they will be stuck in quarantine at the airport.

Don't ask me which is which, I really can't discern which are the common ones and which are the wild jungle orchids, but the ones with bizarre or extraordinary colours are usually the wild jungle orchids.













These are a type of cactus, and the pinks are actually their flower. I could not resist snapping a pic.