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Stolen

The fireworks Pyro Musical Competition and Display on the 22nd of August 2007 has stolen my heart, and i could not sleep well after the showers of colours and lights. It’s the perfect getaway for the numbness behind this skull. One pyro after another, each was celebrated with crazy ooohssss…aaahhhsss.wwowww…syok nyaaa…

“The sky light up with one of the world’s largest pyrotechnic exhibiton and show for two weeks in Putrajaya. Teams from Malaysia, Italy and Japan will vie for the “Golden Merdeka” Trophy as each team tries to outdo the others by presenting its most uniqe and spectacular fireworks display. (You got it right, i straight away cilok this from Putrajaya Shangri-La’s study desk.)”

 I just had to say, they’re like dragons in the sky and watching them dance with the stars sent a calmness to my head.

 Citizens of The Sky

  Stared at YOu In The Face

 

 I’m Inside Your Head

 Heat Showers

 Loll Your HEads

They sure did rock!Whoopss..Craks!

Nurturing Future Bridge-Builders

 Ubah perahu kapal berlabuh,

Membawa dagang ke dalam kota;

Bertopang dagu berpeluk tubuh,

Generasi mendatang menempelak kita.

Sarang kerengga di pohon nangka,

Tempat orang menambat gajah;

Nama sahaja negara merdeka,

Diri dan hati masih dijajah.

Pecut pedati hendak ke pekan,

Melintas desa hari pun senja,

Kerana nak pulang dengan segera;

Pengecut, pendusta kita singkirkan,

Kedaulatan bahasa pasti dibela,

Biar putih tulang jangan putih mata.

*Siri Pantun Nusantara-Bukit Lagi Bintang Berkarang, Wan Khazim*

Malaysian 20th Film Festival (FFM) Comes to USM!!!!

Since the 20th Film Festival’s going to be held in Dewan Tuanku Syed Putra, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), on the 4th August 2007 and the launching in Queensbay the day before…I got these..

   and.. 

FFM is organized by these parties: 1. Kementerian Kebudayaan Kesenian & Warisan 2. Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional Malaysia and 3. Persatuan Pengeluar-pengeluar Filem Malaysia. USM, GAFIM, the States, astro, and Sinarfm  play a big role too in getting this event to the limelight.  This year it’s held in Penang, surprise! We’re currently trying to accommodate the FFM20 Secretariet in terms of getting their Secretariate Room ready, wireless, phone lines, photostate machine and other dingdongs. But i would like to say my thanks to USM Centre of Knowledge, Education and Technology (PPKT) ’s CIO, engineers and technician for providing me the best assistance. There are also other parties involved into making this event a success, but i would personally thank PPKT. Last time Jins Shamsudin dropped by the hall after a meeting regarding this event and gave a talk to the students with great gusto.

Malaysian Films should be given a chance to speak for themselves. We do have crappy movies but we often forget the remarkable ones, as Bukit Kepong, Sarjan Hassan, Kaki Bakar, Jogho. Take these as leaders to move forward our film industries.

Going Crazy With C.A.S.H.

I need to confess. I woke up rather late so we (Mayrie and i) actually missed this run. Larian Semarakkan C.A.S.H.. It’s organized by The Penang Municipal Council in conjunction with the 35th anniversary of Penang Municipal Park, a.k.a. Taman  Belia a.k.a. Youth Park. The main theme, SEMARAKKAN C.A.S.H. (Clean, Active, Sporty and Healthy).  When we arrived, braving the crowds, , the others had already ran. Or walked. So we started laughing our heads off and tried to search for the running group, but failed miserably. We took a detour and ended up jogging in Botanical Garden instead, since it’s only 5 minutes walk from Youth Park. We had a perspiring time and returned to  this humongous crowd affair ever!      Turned out all the participants had come to the finish line while we went jogging. What a crowd! Several programmes like aerobics session, fun run, hikathon, telematch, line dancing and treasure hunt were held simultaneously. Though we missed the Fun Run, we stayed put throught out the whole event and joined the aerobics.   Like the Malay saying..GILER PENAT AH!!! See these succulent babes from Saint Georges Covent and Sekolah Seri Mutiara. They were cheerleading like WOW!  Next i did the craziest thing, i joined  Line Dancing. These aunties rock man. But as usual, being miserably bad at dancing, i began to do haywire steps, and totally converted line dancing into a mind of its own.  

I stepped onto people’s feet.   But everybody is having too much fun to care. Line Dancing is extremely popular in Penang among the veteran Chinese women in Penang. the steps are light and easy yet flirtatious in a way.

The event ended somewhere around noon so i took off. What a Healthy Day. I was in fact, glowing and grinning all over.    There are more than 20 sports Clubs who put life into this park, such as Tai Chi, Dragon Boat, and lots of others. Meet the crowd. and get C.A.S.H!

No Survivors but Heroes

Takziah kepada family member crew Nuri which crashed on Friday 13 July 2007. They’re all heroes and we’re proud to have bravemen like them.

1. Pilot Capt. Nor Azlan Termuzi

2. Co-pilot Kapt Nor Intan Asykeen Mohd Arof

3. Air quartermaster Sgt Khusnizam Ariffin

4. Air quartermaster Sgt Azmie Md Yassin

5. Senior airman Saifulizam Alias and

6. Senior airman Muhammad Ridzuan Ahmad

Putting Night into the Market@Feringhi

The Night Market along the Feringhi coastline has exactly everything. But you need to be a smooth talker to talk your way out of the cut-your-throat price. You’re a potential loser if you come here unarmed. Literally speaking. If you’re not, Feringhi Night Market will be just another..ordinary market. See? that’s the magic. This place to the bargain hunters is like Valhalla Halls to the Vikings. Heaven.  It’s a long strecth of stalls along the Feringhi Beach and don’t wear high heels. Most visitors are tourist who stay in nearby hotels and resorts who wish to hype up their nightlife in this area.

Take note to make some time allowance for parking. Shouldn’t be a problem if you ride a motorbike, but if you drive, there ar e a few parking areas along the market. Since i had a dinner at The Ship, i don’t have any trouble parking. I straight away walked from the restaurant. If you see The Ship, then you’re okay. 

 Feringhi Night Market operates around 10 pm to midnite. You should comea bit earlier to get the best parking and while waiting for the buzz, have a sip at nearby cafes first. From CDs to Altantuya Shades to House Decorations to CAndles (which might drive Eric Casa Impian nuts) to t-shirtsd and pirated goods. Name it, they have it. Prada, Guess, Gucci bags and batik printings. All. I bought 3 Cds, to obey my traveling rules: Buy Only What they Offer Best. Nelly, Snow Patrol, and Mika.

Eventually you’ll bump into this hilarious prayer for tourist.  

And other interesting things as well.    creative designs. Colourful. Costume jewelleries are hand made and delicate, prices vary. Salt and pepper shakers are almost cute and cheap, enough to make you smile during breakfasts I had my eye on a set of squared plates, but they’re too expensive, RM58 for 4 pieces of different sizes.

The main reason people flock this place  Cds and cds and cds.

The market bustles with people from all walks of life. The volume increases towards midnight and you’ll begin to feel like a small fish swimming vigorously upstream. Careful for pickpockets, just in case.

Nice place to let your hair down.

Going Loco Over Coconut with Abu Siti

I have a critical skin problem. For that, i frequent Dr. Lim Skin Specialist Clinic along Lorong Abu Siti. Abu Siti Street. Due to boredom and low self confidence, i succumbed to Abu Siti Street’s little treat. Ayaq Nyok. In other word, Coconut Milk ( though the milk is transparent in colour and has zero resemblance to milk).

This is me. And other coconut lovers.

 Some are children  Most are locals

I have no idea who Abu Siti is. But this Indian guy, he rocks. We even went nuts over his never ending supplies of coconut.

 ”BUKAN saya punya plantation sendiri la. Saya jaga saja” Was his friendly reply when asked. I took a sneak at the lorry downloading the coconuts, they all come from a massive coconut plantation in Perak. There are a few coconut vendors operating along this simple street.   But i had to recommend this guy’s stall. He and a bunch of hardworking friends are friendly and cool despite the scorching sun of days. He recommended me Air Kelapa Pandan, for some reasons. Dubiously i took a polite slurp straight out of the humongous nut. Dude it sure tasted like pandan man! This one costed RM2.40. Fragrant and refreshing, i scooped the soft white flesh from the shell using a piece of the coconut cut by the guy. For a plain coconut, it’s RM2.20. Not bad considering it’s two-in-one.   They even have another type of coconut which might be quite hard to get in other places, the Sea Coconut. It’s way smaller and dark purplish in colour. I associate this with Minyak Cap Kelapa Laut Africa You don’t drink it’s milk, but you EAT the flesh. I think Kedahan calls this Buah Kabung. The flesh is covered with a not so thick white layer which is consumable. Said it’s a good cure for stomach ache. Well, aching or not, i ate them all. Tasted sweet with a hint of bitterness. Bittersweet Symphony.  Funny looking thing. You cut it open and this is what you get,  Nice..

I’m directionally challenged. I can’t exactly described you how to get to Lorong Abu Siti. But it’s just across Georgetown Giant Supermarket and you need to cross the road if you’re coming along the Burmah Road. It’s near Nagore’s Palace. It’s opened daily from 7:00 am – 8:00 pm, depending on demands. This place is a big hit among Penangites. Drinking coconut in Lorong Abu Siti is never the same minus the venue.

Ice Cream Roti

Botanical Garden Entrance, Tanjung Bunga- “Bukan thank you lah! TERIMA KASIH! We’re Malaysian what!” The jolly ice cream man grinned happily while both me and my friend blushed. Even the shocking pink of his strawberry ice cream could not match the colour on my face. Ice-Cream man handed us our changes, together with two succulent creamy chocolate ice cream sandwiched between two softest pieces of buns on earth. Since when did you have a brutally honest roti ice cream? And flower top ice cream cones, the classical triumph of innovative gastronomical experience. Ice Cream man here has it all, loyally perched on top of his motorbike, tending to burn out runners who religiously lap up each savour of the ice cream. But it’s his roti ice cream which has become the main attraction. Slabs of freezing ice cream are generously sprinkled with nuts and chocolate rice, makes your brain begs for mercy! Yep, you can even call it a fatal attraction, since its sinfully delicious, and after a hard workout around the Botanical Garden too. Vanilla, chocolate and strawberries, he puts Hagan Daazs to shame man.  Cleanliness is also the main agenda here. Our ice cream man puts on his clean apron and a nice cap before operating his stall. He then wrapped the roti ice cream diligently with abundant tissue papers, biodegradable to as to prevent the melting ice cream drip on the customer’s hand. But seriously, I don’t mind, I’d just licked the drippings off my hand. Amazingly, at each bite,my mind raced back to when ice creams were innocently be put in this rectangular packaging in three infamous colours, red for strawberry, yellow for vanilla and chocolate, for yeah, chocs. It’s universal, and it’s simply Malaysian in a way. Ice Cream man still holds onto the tradition. Each ice cream costs not more than RM3, extremely affordable, but hey, with Ice Cream Man’s patriotisme and candid smile, it’s worth one million ringgit.

  

 

Delicious Afternoon in Baling

These are humble kampung dishes from Baling, Kedah.  The centre dish is amorously called masak lemak siput sedut, the ingenious way of tackling the dish is to learn how to suck out the slimy flesh out of the shell . Reminder:This is only for those with guts. Truth is i have no idea what the Western call this little shell life. (refer to the first photo) Clockwise from the simple curry in the white bowl is sayur asin-asin (LEafy veggies) added with sweet pumpkin, ulam paku rawan, pais ikan temenung (fish charcoal baked in banana leaf), sotong bakar (freestyle grilled squid), the must have sambal belacan (cut-your-throat-hot-chilli paste) dan finally, pinchuk belimbing buluh (sour and juicy mini belimbing buluh, a species of the starfruit i guess, mixed with prawn paste and lotsa chillies to create a gastronomical expericence). Pinchuk is simultaneously hot, sour, salty and easy to make. While pais ikan is fragrant from the baked banana leaf enveloping it. The flesh is soft and immediately melts in your mouth together with its authentic thousand tastes and smells. Paku rawan is just another plain ulam you can get around Baling night market along with the likes of petais, pucuk paku (fern shoots), pucuk putat, pucuk gajus, ulam cemumaq and more. These are all consumed with plain white rice, and with great gusto too. On a scorching hot but graciously windy afternoon, wrap up this gorgeous dishes with refreshing cold sirap Ros Saga (Rose syrup cordial), followed with strong kopi o. Burppp..