boon's log 3807.01: Happy Mid Autumn Festival

I blogged about the Mid-Autumn Festival some time back in September 2003. [click]


One of Ab's Lanterns...

Well, 4 years later, here we are again, but we've got one additional member in the family celebrating the Lantern Festival with us. It's Ab's first Mid-Autumn Celebration and she enjoyed it to the max. We attended 2 separate Mid Autumn Celebrations - both at respective grand-aunt's housing communities. At one of them she went on for almost 5hours straight without food or sleep! What a marathon. But after which she was beat and hungry. She truly enjoyed herself. All the grand-aunts and grand-uncles kept on bringing her around from lucky draws to puppet shows to giant lantern displays. IL and I just stayed put enjoying the mooncakes and the atmosphere - to be honest, we were so ready to get out of there and go home, but since Ab's having such a good time, we thought we'd stayed a little.


Puppet show at Solok Slim...


Lifesize boat lantern

The second celebrations was rather mild compared to the first one. We just strolled around the park carrying Ab's lanterns while the adults had a go on the new exercise equipments in the park.


As with all lantern celebrations, it usually ends with kids playing with candles.

Here's wishing all boonspot readers a good time celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival with your loved ones...

boon out...

boon's log 3707.07: The weekend...

IL, sis and I went down to KL for Jacky Cheung last weekend. Yeah, I know, for those who knows me, it felt like an Englishman in China - :o). Anyways, my mission whether I chose to accept it last weekend was to drive and "chaperon" the ladies down to KL for the concert. Well, okay... I do listen to a little Jacky, but not enough to really understand what he sings most of the time.

We did not take any camera in, so only managed with my Z610i...


The Year of Jacky Cheung: World Tour 07

But I have to say, the concert was a little above my expectations. I quite enjoyed gig. Jacky's still got it in terms of entertaining the crowd. The night was filled with old to new songs. The only part that kinda got my yawning was the Snow Wolf Lake Musical presentation. The ~3hr long concert lasted up until 12AM sharp (to avoid >12AM fines by the Council...)

We again ended up at Times'. This time, we got bumped up from single to double room suites - a definite better deal than the last time) and we had a better view as well...


Suite with a view...

Well, one mission completed, what's left for the weekend was food, shopping and more food. Here are some photo-story...



Lunch at Tony Roma's at Sunway Piramid; Onion Loaf and Boneless Beef Ribs

It's been a while we've been back to Sunway and it's almost always a different place everytime we visit. It changes so rapidly, it's quite hard to keep track...


Skating-Rink at Sunway Piramid

Then we moved on to One Utama. And, I say, that place is huge. We actually got a little lost walking around and once more when were looking for the car. It was so huge that we had to take a break at Starbucks for a breather... Oh by the way, I managed to snap this following one especially for EYT - who's crazy about Honda ...


Honda Roadshow at One Utama; The HRT27A (far right), Hybrid, and Type-R (top left)

We then had dinner at Teluk Gong (Thanks, Uncle Mike!) - no photos - hands too dirty digging in on the seafood.

Sunday morning, woke up, showered, packed and checked out. IL's aunt came by and took us out for Yong Tau Foo at Ampang. Apparently, the one that she brought us is the second to the original, but tastes better.


Ampang Yong Tau Foo


Ampang Yong Tau Foo

Then it was IKEA - too full from Yong Tau Foo for IKEA's famous Sweddish meatballs, a shame. Then on the way back to Penang, it's most definitely Ngah Choy Kai and Ipoh's famous Hor Fun and wash it all down with Soya Bean Milk. Then with a packed belly, we completed the last lap back to Penang... All in all, packed and interesting weekend. Taking another day off tomorrow just to recuperate and just to R&R before heading back to work on Tuesday...

boon out...

boon's log 3707.01: The Sun rises from the North-West... (according to Program Angkasawan Negara)

Have you guys seen the full-page ad in the papers lately about our Malaysian Astronauts (a.k.a. Angkasawan), under the Program Angakasawan Negara? Well, it's a one full page of explanation on why is this program so important and why we should support it (instead of criticizing it). Well, honestly, from the bottom of my being, I do not see the importance of sending either Dr. Sheikh or Capt. Dr. Faiz into space. Sorry so say, they failed to make a believer out of me - no matter how they put it, I believe we have more important things to do here on my tanahair (homeland in Bahasa Malaysia) than to send someone into space for a holiday. The money spent on training, advertisement, and the actual trip itself can be used for other more tangible causes right here on planet Earth, or Malaysia to be more specific. Based on what I gathered from the web, we are dumping something like RM 95 million into this space program.

Here's an excerpt of the advertisement...

"... It is only by mastering science and technology that we will be able to compete in a high-tech world where all aspects of economic, financial, social and cultural life are intertwined with scientific and technological advancements. By mastering these fields, we can take out destiny into our own hands, and forge for ourselves a nation that is not just progressive, competitive and developed but one that embraces knowledge."

And here's what i managed to scanned.


The Northwest Sun.

If my bearings are correct, the Sun seems to be rising from the North-North-West (click here for Cardinal Directions) - based on how Malaysia is located on the globe. But according to my high school physics teacher, the Sun rises from East and sets in the West...

So, if we are truly "technologically-advanced" enough to send astronauts into space for further science and technology advancement, then I would assume that the image was intentional. If so, then the bright lights in the NNW would have been:

a) a huge explosion somewhere in the northern hemisphere, i.e. meteor-hit or something
b) a freakingly bright star (one that is as bright as the Sun)
c) a high school student made a mistake of mixing the wrong chemicals in a high school lab

or

d) it IS the Sun.

I hope that who ever published this ad actually skipped the buy-off or validation from the Malaysian National Space Agency because this would be pretty embarassing if someone from the agency actually bought-off of the publication of this ad.

Imagine this, our Angkasawan goes into space and argues with other Astronauts (or in this case Cosmonauts) where the Sun rises.

If you "wiki" Angkasawan Program, you will be able to see what is the expectations from our dear Angkasawan. And there, you will be able to find that 2 of the 6 items are

1. Having Roti canai (flat bread) and a glass of Teh Tarik (Pulled-Tea)
2. Play with a gasing (Top) and Batu Seremban (childhood 5-stone game) in space

By the way, in case you are confused by our National Space Agency - the Sun rises from the EAST!

boon out...

boon's log 3607.05: Remembering Pavarotti...

Luciano Pavarotti (1936-2007) is no stranger to the world of Opera. The powerful "King of High C's" has fought a long and tough battle against pancreatic cancer since his operation back in 2006. A true legend of our times. I was just reading about him being in serious condition in the Star. And just hours after that, the radio's announced that he's passed away.

Hailed as one of the greatest Tenors of his time, Pavarotti has brought Italian opera to many corners of the world, where without him, they would not have known the beauty of opera. And not only that, he has also blended traditional opera with many modern classics. Collaborating with many pop (non-opera) stars of today, where one of the most successful collaboration must have been that with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras, or better known as the The Three Tenors.

My first intro to Pavarotti, was undoubtly, "Nessun Dorma", from Turandot, which kinda stuck with him like his trademark song. If you've seen him performing Nessun Dorma, you will notice how emotional he gets, with tears rolling down his cheek, as he tells the story of Princess Turandot proclaiming that no one shall sleep and that they'll stay up attempting to find out the name of the unknown prince. The piece ends with the Prince saying that their efforts will be in vain... and that he (the prince) will win - "All'alba vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!"

Apart from the stage, Pavarotti's also well known for his humanitarian works, seen through his annual Pavarotti and Friends concerts to raise money to aid war victims, and other tragedies. A true spirited individual, Pavarotti shall be remembered always and as Wekgna puts it - "he shall always be rememebered through his music..."

... and truly, he has WIN many hearts of opera fans and he will always have a special place in our hearts.

boon out...

boon's log 3607.04: Food blog: In and about...

Here a little entry about food and makan-makan around Penang.

First of all, it's my turn to hog the kitchen/oven. And after a second try, I've finally managed to make something close to Maxim's Portuguese Custard Tarts. The first try was rather unsuccessful because of the wrong recipe (which was for normal egg-tarts) provided by our baking-needs-supplier (Demeters, along Jalan Jelutong). The pastry recipe that one needs for Portuguese Tarts is like that found in puffs or rolls, i.e. multiple thin layers of puff pastry. Well, from one of the recipe found on the web, the easiest way was to get it off the shelf. Failing find it from our local supermarts, I resort to doing the pastry myself, and I must say that it was rather rewarding(!). The toughest part of the whole thing is making the pastry, where you need to roll and fold and roll and fold...

If you are interested, I'd suggest the following website for the pastry; click here.

As for the custard, I'd suggest this following website.

The result of combining the two recipes? Simply Portuguese Tart heaven...


Portuguese Custard Tarts

Last week IL and I managed to savour 2 different (relatively) new noodle houses in Penang: Ajisen Ramen and Taiwan Bull. We first landed in Taiwan Bull, Queensbay Mall, during one of the weekdays (while the rest of the gang went to Sakae Sushi). Our overall assessment of Taiwan Bull is as it's name says - a load of bull. The pricing is a little steep to an extend that it does not make sense. Take the following as an example. If I remember correctly, the price of a bowl of minced beef noodle is RM10.90. If you want to add additional meatballs (with soup), that's additional RM2. And guess how many meatballs they give you? 2 mini little beef-balls!


Taiwan Bull: Food's so-so; portion is little; service's poor; price is weird

And the portion sufficient to fill your tummy to the level of what an appetizer does (non-American appetizer, that is). And the service is pretty bad. Even though they do not have many tables, with >5 persons working in the kitchen, they took >1/2 an hour to deliver IL's noodle soup (and we had to remind them twice).

Not recommended if you have any other choice for lunch/dinner - especially dinner if you don't intend to take supper 2 hours after that... Oh, we met ML a few days later and she had the same comments on the place and told me that I should blog about this... So, ML, there you go! ;)



Then, during the weekend, my parents were in town and we decided to check out Ajisen Ramen up in Gurney Plaza. The place looks crowded and not your typical Japanese-feel restaurant. The other problem that we encountered was that we barely had place to put Ab's stroller. Anyway, we managed to fit everyone in, in the end.

Overall, we kinda prefer this place compared to the former. The service was quick and the portion was huge - not just the noodles, but the meat portion as well. I ordered the soft-bone beef brisket noodle (or something like that) and it was more than enough to fill me. Green tea, as usual, is bottomless, for RM1.50 (if I remember correctly). So overall, costs less, tastes better, bigger portion, faster service.


Ajisen Ramen: Good taste, ample portion, good and fast service and better deal for your buck

Don't mind going back to Ajisen Ramen again, but I'll think twice about Taiwan Bull...

boon out...

boon's log 3607.02: What to do when bored in office...

... well, organize your very own Office Chair Race, of course!

No kidding, these folks from Amsterdam enjoy an Annual National Office Chair Racing Championship.


NK Bureaustoelracen (Nederlands Kampioenschap Bureaustoelracen)

There is a clip on YouTube (click here) showing the championship that just happened a couple of weeks ago on August 17th. It's hilarious. I mean to create such a sport and to get people to actually join in - is total wackiness! All you need is a person crazy enough to be in the front seat and another person behind the chair "driving" it.

Notice that the starting line is actually a desk! Well, if you do plan to engage in this "ingenious" office activity, please do practice caution and "drive safely"...

Oh by the way, in case you are interested in the sountrack playing behind the clip, it's by Gorillaz, 19/2000.

boon out...