Washing grapes with toothpaste

Do you notice that when you buy grapes, there is some white color stuff coated on the skin? In fact, it is a poisonous chemical "malathion" that is sprayed on grapes to get rid of insects. This is a very simple tip on how to remove those chemical from grapes. It is simple, wash the grapes with tooth paste, as demonstrated below.

An Angel has flown!

Ok those of you who grew up in almost the same era as me, would probably remember Charlie's Angels from the late 70s. There are short reruns on Astro these days but they dont do justice to this show and I try not to see them, cos some memries are better left where they belong!

Guys from my era would remember Farrah Fawcett differently than us girls...you know what i mean!? We girls were predominantly crazy over her hair!! Yes we bought those curling combs by the dozens hoping to get some semblance of her hairstyle. Hairstylists did booming business with teenagers to Ah Sohs all wanting the FF hairstyle!!

Perming was back in style as a result cos no way can you get the FF hair, without having some wavy hair. Unfortunately, my mum didnt believe that school girls should perm their hair, so i had to contend myself with hairspray(lots of it!) and curlers! The results were never the same and i use to admire one girl who came to class with that billowy hairstyle.Seriously memries like these never fade....
Of course, Charlie's Angels was also popular at that time, becos it showed girls in a different light....here were 3 pretty gals doing men's detective work instead of playing the victims. It was an instant hit to say the least. Mindsets were changed.

All the girls wanted the brains of Sabrina Duncan(the dark straight hair one played by Kate Jackson), the charm and serenity of Kelly Garrett (dark wavy hair played by Jaclyn Smith) and last but not least, the hair, face and body of Jill Monroe(played by Farrah Fawcett).



As I mentioned earlier, guys looked at Charlie's Angels in a different light and all they saw and perhaps remember the most would be this pin-up poster of Farrah Fawcett which was the hottest selling poster at that time. Many guys would remember posting this on their bedroom walls facing their beds if possible!! You know what i mean...?

Anyway in recent years, Farrah Fawcett never looked the same what with all the plastic surgery....so as i said, some memries are best left back where they belong..........in the 70s. Goodbye Farrah.

Pirated DVDs

We found this sign posted just in front of our hotel premises ie. Berjaya Georgetown Hotel(courtesy of my bro Steven's free timesharing rooms-thanks Bro!). You will understand why when you step into the Midlands Shopping Mall located beside the hotel which is the "one-stop centre" for pirated DVDs!! RM5 per piece compared to KL's RM8. LOL!

What to do in Penang?

Eating is a favorite pastime in Penang and I will not miss out on all my favorites.Am posting some of the hawker fav i ate during the trip.

This famous kopitiam along Penang Road has 2 ice-kachang and chendol pushcart stalls outside along the lorong and you wont miss it as you walk towards Komtar from Chowrasta Market

1. Lobak

2.Ice Kachang - particularly good after a hot hot day! Lots of toppings of palm seed, jelly, red bean, jagung and ice cream.

3. Char Koay Teow - my boy ate 2 plates of this!! Testament to how good it is....as good as or better than Lorong Selamat and Sisters but without the price tag.


4. Chendol - of course dont miss this!

Kopitiam Kek Seng at Penang Road - 1. Lobak

2. Ice Kachang with jelly and durian ice cream

3. Mee Jawa - soup

4. Mee Jawa - Dry and supposedly lightly fried.



Kopitiam Genting in Island Glades -

1. Loh Mee

2. Bangkok Pork Leg with taufoo and egg. Couldnt resist trying this tho its not as good as Bangkok!

3. Best Chee Cheong Fun in Penang(in my opinion!). If you are on your way back to KL via Pg Bridge, stop by here to pack it to enjoy back in KL. They will pack all the sauces separately and you just go back and mix it.

Love Lane off MacAlister Road - 1. Deep Fried Belachan Chicken parts eg. drumstick, butt, feet, skin etc.



Deep Fried chicken skin - very crispy and tastes delicious.

2. Fried Oyster Omelette - Or Chian - delicious man...

2. Chee Cheong Fun (not as food as Genting Kopitiam's one now)

This is the famous Balik Pulau Assam Laksa located on the main road in the town center. Didnt take pics of the durians we ate as well - Ang He, etc. Durians were around RM8-10 per kg. You can eat them inside any of the coffee shops but must order drinks from the shop la.

Island in Haziness

As we crossed Penang Bridge, my favorite sight of Penang Island was engulfed in a thick haze. What a disappointment! I thought we had escaped KL with its haze and smog, but never expected Penang to be also covered in a thick haze.

You can only see a vague outline of Penang Hill.

Pulau Jerejak, so near yet was a blur!

Ok....where is Komtar, the tallest building in Penang???

Well cant do anything but pray the haze would lift as expected thunderstorms during the next few days!

Sorry I have been away....

I have been away for a short break....at this lovely place by the sea. Updates to come.

I am such a twit...

I am such a twit where technology is concerned. My bro Patrick has been asking me to market my products thru Facebook and now Twitter woh!? Sigh...i havent even mastered blogging let alone Facebook and what the twit is Twitter???!

Pat just emailed me saying that Dell has sold more than $3 million in PCs and accessories through Twitter promotions and other activity on the microblogging service. Customers arrive at Dell’s online outlet store through the @DellOutlet Twitter account and many wind up buying new Dell PCs, pushing overall sales over $3 million. WTH, right?

Seriously tho, i have set up a Twitter account and i have some followers but i dont know what for!!? LOL. I know....i am so lost! Dont ask me anything about IT and gadgetries cos my mind will just go blank. I just bought a PSP as a birthday present for my son and that was already difficult. Whats a PSP? And so many models? Blur liao...dont bother asking me to play the games on it...i have enuf trouble playing the marble game on my handphone. Anyone has a pill that can update the memory and hard drive of my brain? I NEED it! Help.....

Whats wrong with my ting-kay?

I just brought back my "repaired" microwave oven yesterday and tried cooking rice in it when it again tripped the electricity and died on me. Yup and the rice was just halfcooked!! Sigh...some things are perhaps not meant to be repaired?? Took it back to Senheng again today and nearly got into an argument with one of the staff.

Me : The oven tripped the letrik again
Supervisor : Ok let me check...did you try and heat up something?
Me : Tried to cook rice - 10minutes but it tripped after like 5minutes.
Supervisor : I call the technician now...(on h/p)
Busybody staff : Hey this oven, i tested yesterday ok already ma...what she want?
Me : Excuse me, you think i have nothing better to do than to carry the oven here again?
Busybody staff: But i tested yest...
Supervisor : Shhh...
Me : Yeah pls listen to your supervisor...i am paying for this service, its not FREE right? (takes a deep breath...)
Busybody staff : So fast die again one meh?(mumbles while walking away)...
(P.S. the above conversation in Cantonese is so much more aggravating!)

Conclusion...gotta wait another week or so to see what else is wrong ...and if any $$damages...am really tempted to throw the oven at the busybody!! Breathe people...breathe....

Wuxi Pork Spare Ribs

The wittiness of Wuxi natives is legendary. A popular joke is that "they can sell you meat that is really bones and they sell you dumplings that are just air inside", i.e. Wuxi pork ribs and Wuxi fried tofu dumplings, which are hollow. Some consider this trait untrustworthy.

One of the most famous folklores is about the Wuxi traditional pork ribs. It was said that the ribs were created by a peasent Lu Xiaosheng. His wife was ill but he was poor. One day she wanted to eat pork. Lu went to buy some ribs and cooked with wrapping in a "Po Gao Jian"(translated is - damaged cushion).

Amazingly the taste of ribs was so good that his wife immediately recovered from the illness. Folks say that the cushion was used by a begger who happened to be a god. Lu then began to sell the pork ribs, and became rich and famous for the brand "Old Lu's Gao Jian".

Well all i can say is that the taste of this Wuxi Pork Spare ribs is delicious and eaten with rice or mun-tao(steamed white buns) is best! It has been cooked to tender perfection with main ingredients of wine, soy sauces, ginger, anise, cinnamon, sugar, and pepper. You can also buy them vacuum-packed back and eat them in the comfort of your home. Definitely a great "souvenier" as well for loved ones.

Wuxi -Land of Fish and Rice

Wuxi (无锡) is an industrial city located on the Yangtse River between Suzhou and Nanjing. It is half way between the cities of Shanghai and Nanjing, with Shanghai 128km to its east and Nanjing 183km to its west. In its south is Lake Taihu and to its north is Yangtse River.

The climate of Wuxi is moist and temperate with an average annual temperature of 15.5℃(Absolutely divine!!). There are 250 frostless days and the average rainfall is about 1,000 mm. There are hills, rivers and lakes in this area but the most part of it is plain area crisscrossed with canals and riverlets. With fertile soil and rich produce, it is the famous “land teeming with fish and rice” in China.

Belonging to one of the eight primitive cultural districts in China, Wuxi is a famous cultural city with a history of over 3,000 years. The establishment of the city can be traced back to the end of the Shang Dynasty. Taibo，the eldest son of emperor Zhouwu in the West Zhou Dynasty came here from the inland of China. He introduced the inland culture to the south and created the Wu culture. The place used to be rich in tin deposit during the Zhou and Qin dynasties. As the tin was depleted by the end of the Qin Dynasty, the place was called Wuxi, meaning “ a place without tin”.

It takes about 3 hours by car to get from Wuxi to Pudong International Airport. Alternatively you can do like what i did and take a 1-hour train ride from Shanghai Central Railway Station. Its a leisurely ride and you get to see the countryside along the way. There are also seven water routes to various places in the country along Yangtse River, the Grand Canal and lake Taihu.

With rich natural and cultural heritage, Wuxi is one of the top ten tourist cities in China. The typical features of the area is that of the regions of rivers and lakes.

Wuxi occupies the most scenic part of Lake Taihu and enjoys the beautiful scenery. Theme parks like the Tang City, the Three Kingdoms City, the Water Margin City which feature daily live shows are new tourist attractions. The 88-meter tall bronze Buddha statue (Linshan Dafuo) and the holiday resorts add more appeal to the visitors.

Wuxi is also famous for the many private gardens or parks built by learned scholars and rich people in the past. Among them, Li Yuan, Mei Yuan are good examples that have been well preserved. Xihui Gongyuan (Xihui Park), located at the foot of Xi Shan also houses historical relics, notably Jichang Garden. It is about 1770 km long.
Grand Buddha at Ling Shan: Located at the south of the Longshan Mountain, near Mashan town of Wuxi, the 88 metres Grand Buddha is one of the largest Buddha statues in China, and it is the ninth tallest statue worldwide.

Movie&TV Base: Located in the west of Wuxi, it consists of Wuxi Three State City Park, Tang City, and Shuihu City. Established in 1987，and it is the first Movie and TV base for shooting.

Ferris wheel: Completed in 2008, Wuxi Ferris Wheel is 115-meter high. It takes 18 minutes to complete a circle. There are some other recreation facilities. Sitting in the Ferris wheel, tourists can enjoy beautiful scenery of Lake Tai and the city center. At night, lighting effects make the wheel more attractive.

Shan Juan Cave: Located in Yixing(a region belongs to Wuxi), it is one of the 4-starts scenic zones. Chinese Romeo and Juliet, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai were said to study behind the cave.
Other Historical Places: Former Residence of Xue Fucheng, Former Residence of A Bin, Former Residence of Xu Xiake, Site of Luotuo Dun, Taibo Temple and Taibo Tomb, and Donglin Shuyuan, etc. These historical places are well protected by the city government.

All in all, this is a great place to go and relax with its cool weather and romantic beautiful scenic spots. Besides that, Wuxi has also one of my favorite dishes which i will post about later...simply delicious!

Tranquility...

I wish i was at this place....definitely wont be as hot as KL now with a river running thru my backyard....

Its in China...somewhere near Shanghai. More on this in my next post.

Electrical appliances failing on me!!

My 9-years old National microwave tripped the mains the other day halfway while heating up some food. Brought it to the repair shop and they just confirmed transistor koyak-replace RM150? It took me a few days to decide whether to repair or not as a new microwave just costs RM400 thereabouts and the repaired transistor has only 3months warranty.

Sigh...decisions decisions...finally decided to just repair it and pray it will last more than 3months!! Yeap i am doing my bit for the environment by not buying a new one too!! So kill 2birds with one stone...of course the main thing is save abit la!

Not much diff you say...but then now, my 3-year old laptop has failed me...My bro says hard-disk koyak. I dont know what that means...hopefully he can do something or else...another expense!

Electrical appliances are like people...they do break down!

Why the stadium collapsed!

This is one of the reasons being considered by officials, on why the RM300mil Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak, Trengganu collapsed. LOL.

Other Ipoh goodies

These are some of the other goodies i bought from Ipoh. In no particular order - medium sized pomelo RM11 (was abit dry and not that sweet-dont buy pomelos during hot season!!), CB chicken biscuit RM 2.20, Biskut Shat Kek Ma RM2.20, Biscuit Kachang that taste like Mooncake piggy biscuits RM3.20, black sugar Heong-paeng (very good!!)RM2.60, coconut candy RM2.00, So-paeng/groundnut bicuit which was a childhood fav and easily available in school canteen RM3.00.

Just a Joke

A Lawyer and a Chinese

A lawyer and an Chinese were sitting next to each other on a long flight. The lawyer is thinking that all Chinese are so dumb that he could get over on them, easy.

So the lawyer asks if the Chinese would like to play a fun game. The Chinese is tired and just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines, and tries to catch a few winks. The lawyer persists, and says that the game is a lot of fun. I ask you a
question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me only $5; you ask me one, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $500, he says.

This catches the Chinese's attention and to keep the lawyer quiet, he agrees to play the game. The lawyer asks the first question. 'What's the distance from The Earth to the Moon?' The Chinese doesn't say a word, reaches in his pocket, pulls out a five-dollar bill, and hands it to the lawyer.?

Now, it's the Chinese's turn. He asks the lawyer, 'What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four?' The
lawyer uses his laptop and searches all references he could find on the Net. He sends e-mails to all the smart friends he knows, all to no avail. After one hour of searching he finally gives up. He wakes up the Chinese and hands him $500. The Chinese
pockets the $500 and goes right back to sleep. The lawyer is going nuts not knowing the answer. He wakes the Chinese up and asks, 'Well, so what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four?

The Chinese reaches in his pocket, hands the lawyer $5 and goes back to sleep.

Moral of the story - Don't mess with the Chinese.

Grand Imperial Restaurant

Located at the newly revamped Bangsar Shopping Centre . Totally spacious and luxurious feel but personally i thought a waste of prime space.

Roasted 3-layer pork at RM12 per plate. One of the best in KL. Juices all rush out when you bite into it.

Braised Stuffed Seacucumber with goose web. You have to order at least 2 portions before they will serve you with this dish. Costs RM30 per portion.

Manohara Odelia Pinot-Modern Day Cinderella?

This girl is so beautiful, right? Of Indonesian-French descent but guess what she is only 17years old. Born 28Feb 1992!? Same age as my daughter...and she got married last year at the tender age of sweet 16!!

And she married the man in next pic who is a Kelantanese prince and twice her age.The Cinderella story that began with the prince sweeping her off her feet and flying her back to his castle in a private jet must have seemed romantic to the young but not innocent girl. She was after all a model, actress and socialite in Indonesia gracing covers and all the hottest events. The romantic Divyavadana myth of Prince Sudhana and the kinnari Manohara may have come to their minds enticing them to discard with all logic.

At last, their fairtytale became a nightmare amidst subsequent allegations of rape, abuse and fertility injections in her husband's hands. However Cinderella or Manohara was finally rescued last week from a Singapore hotel and has reunited with her mother in Indonesia.

The other side of the story from the royal household is that Mano's mother kept asking for large sums of money from the prince and was denied. And they claimed this is why Mano and her mother are concocting up this story. In anywhich case, the fairytale has come to an abrupt end in less than a year!