Here comes the final dish of the series (sorry for the delay) where the bak kut teh soup has been stewed through all those two recipes, absorbing all the tastes and flavors in the process. The soup is delicious. It’s orgasmic. It just needs:
A bleeding heart! *cue “We have a bleeder!”
Well, a pig’s heart anyway. These things are pretty cheap, you can get a whole pig’s heart for about RM 4. I’ve cooked with pig’s heart before and can attest to the taste and texture of this wonderful organ in the portfolio of porcine delights.
Start by slicing the pig heart into manageable pieces…
…before dumping it into the soup. There’s a lot of clotted blood inside the poor pink animal’s heart and you might want to remove that or just cook it as clotted blood. It really doesn’t make much of a difference as long as you wash it first. 🙂
Let the pig’s heart simmer for about 30 minutes and you’ll end your bak kut teh adventures on a high note. The broth is hearty and the pig’s heart is chewy and absorbs all the flavors, producing a delectable slice of <3.
Okay, check this out! I was pretty impressed by this music video made by The Promise. They based it on this post of mine. It’s basically a satire/parody thing that they’re doing for bloggers. I like how they customize each of their videos to the personalities of the blogger.
The Promise is a band that’s trying to raise awareness of the safety of online shopping. Surf over to the We Promise You site for more details.
I have to say, it’s a great initiative by both The Promise and Text100 Malaysia. I’ve always thought Text100 was one of the best PR companies I’ve ever seen and here’s an example of it – they actually make the video before contacting you and asking you for permission to post on the site. Now that’s initiative – actually doing stuff instead of calculating ROIs and all that. It’s the only way to go for the digital front. 🙂
Heh! I’ve always wanted to title a blog post like that. In this case, there is at least some semblance of logical justification for it. I was in Singapore a few weeks ago and one of the things that we did was have breakfast with orang utans. There were also pythons for you to hold, it was a great start to the morning, truth to be told.
However, the highlights of my trip there were mostly towards the arts and theater scene that Singapore has to offer. I bugged Kristine to organize my itinerary around this show by Yukichi Matsumoto which I have been itching to catch. It showed at the Singapore Arts Festival 2011 and this is the first time the Ishinha theater group has done a performance outside of Japan.
Ishinha has very high standards for their stages and choreography. They build the set and props themselves and they’re quite partial about how it turns out. It was one of the most amazing shows I’ve ever seen. It’s held outdoors and I love the passion they put into their work – “This is a rain or shine event”.
I expected this to be a niche show but I was surprised to see the packed. There were two Japanese men seated to my right and a bunch of Caucasians on holiday on my left. The seats are stadium type wooden boards – no frills but we managed to sit very comfortably by NOT sitting on the seats itself but on the one below you and using your seat as a backrest.
I can’t credit myself for that though – the bunch of Caucasian ladies started sliding down and I thought that looked like a mighty fine position to be sitting in. You’re not disturbing anyone and your chiropractor would thank you for it. It’s all about the back support. Thus, I slid down as well and the woman grinned at me and said “It’s much more comfortable this way, eh?”
Yes, it is ma’am. Yes indeed. 🙂
When A Grey Taiwanese Cow Stretched is a 120 minute performance with no intervals. You have to come in before it starts or the doors close. That’s the way to go about it. No disturbances from late arrivals.
I was actually very surprised by the performance. I expected it to be good but it just went and blew my mind.
The stage structure is built in front of a city landscape which is integral to the story as a juxtaposition. When A Grey Taiwanese Cow Stretched explores a lot of themes from migrants, to the war and occupation of Japanese troops and how it affects their people. It’s all in Japanese and there’s subtitles to the side but what I really enjoyed was they way it was performed.
In lieu of dialogue, they use a form of rap to communicate. Known as Jan Jan Opera language, it’s a kind of Osakan street rap – it goes from a rapid staccato to a slow, ponderous chant. It’s quite unique and a very effective way to get the narrative across.
It’s a very intense performance, especially if you have good seats (Thanks Kristine!). Don’t be surprised to see a troop of performers staring you down and intensely shouting about the pain they feel. One particular bit of dialogue that I found very well executed and poignant is:
You had affairs!
South American women.
With big bottoms!
Did you notice their breasts?
Shangri-la.
Paradise, isn’t it? *sarcastic
I just wish I had enough money leftover to buy the soundtrack, it’s definitely worth it.
I also visited the ArtScience Museum for Salvador Dali’s work. The museum is shaped like a lotus (though some say it looks like a baseball mitt, including myself) and it’s actually quite vast inside.
I don’t think captions would do the great man’s work justice so I’m just going to post up the photos:
The other thing that I really enjoyed was The Lion King at Marina Bay Sands Singapore.
I’ve seen the West End production but the Singapore one was even better. The acoustics and the seating arrangements beats the one in Lyceum Theater near Convent Garden.
It’s just progress – the Marina Bay Sands theater is just more modern.
I also loved how they localized The Lion King Musical with a sprinkling of Mandarin and references to the Merlion. Don’t expect them to break into a refrain of “The (Mer)lion sleeps tonight” but there’s enough little touches that differentiates it and it’s an awesome performance by a new cast assembled from around the world.
Now, why don’t we get all this stuff in Malaysia? Oh well, at least I can visit Singapore instead of flying all the way to London next time I want to see a good theater performance.
Oh, by the way these are some of the upcoming performances in Singapore:
Cirque Éloize iD – Now until 26 June 2011
Kylie Minogue – Aphrodite Live -29 June 2011
The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber – 7 to 17 July 2011
Korean Music Wave 2011 – 15 July 2011
Paramore Live in Concert – 21 Aug 2011
If you’re interested in all that Singapore has to offer, hop on over to YourSingapore.com where there’s something for everyone!
Why do I keep on breaking eggs? It seems that the shell crack sometime during transport and I don’t get a full dozen when I get home.
I don’t know.
Psychologists may say it has something to do with my “crucial formative years” and throw around prescriptions (yes, there is a medication for everything – all diseases real and imagined – better living through chemistry, ya know, they can even treat previously non-existent mental conditions nowadays too) and I totally forgot where I was going with this paragraph.
I shouldn’t have made that aside, that one really made me lose track and go into another line of thought, chasing it through the neural pathways, perusing the synapses okay I’m going to stop with stupid oh-i-forgot-what-the-blasted-word-is-suppposed-to-be-called now).
Anyway, you probably may (or may not I don’t really care which) have probably heard that I have broken up with my ex-girlfriend. She’s leaving today and going back to Sarawak.
Goodbye and all the best! Take care! 🙂
I was about to end this with something related to egg yolks but I totally forgot what I wanted to say. No matter.
I read something in a book about practical jokes when I was a kid. I didn’t know it at the time but it was actually a psychology experiment. Basically what the book tells you to do is to stand in the middle of a crowded place and start looking up – at nothing in particular. It goes on to postulate that people would either pass by and take furtive glances at what you’re looking at or plain stop and stare with you.
It’s universal and also called “rubbernecking”. You’re basically inciting curiosity just by actively participating in something.
Anyway, the reason I suddenly remember that good ol’ book of mine was coz I was at Sunway Pyramid with Bonnie last weekend. There was this installation with boards, a dune of molded sand and a letterbox with a background vista. It was an ambient structure and no one even paused to glance at it…
…until we started to fool around and camwhore with it. It’s quite interesting to see how people stop, gape and start to want to participate. It went from a stone cold installation when we first got there to a hot one where we even had to queue to take more shots with it. Funny how it just takes one to get the ball rolling eh?
This is an AirAsiaX Perth contest where you take a photo with the installation in the most creative way possible to stand a chance to win a trip to Perth for two. The theme at Sunway Pyramid is sandboarding in Kalbarri and there is a picture of two girls in a default pose, which most people (that came after us) emulated. I reckon we could do much better (or at least Bonnie could, with her flexibility).
1. De facto pose
2. Cheesy dual camwhore
3. My #fail handstand. Sorry AirAsiaX, I nearly destroyed your structure when I fell down. 😉
4. Bonnie does a headstand – she’s into capoeira which comes in very handy for this. I, on the other hand, is very good in looking nonchalant. Heh.
5. Our piece de resistance! This is the one I’m going to submit. Bonnie is doing the Escorpio (Scorpion in Brazilian Portuguese) in the foreground to enhance the ambient installation – she is in fact, a prop in this pose. She’s the scorpion in the sand dunes in Kalbarri, Perth while I am dusting imaginary sand off my flip flops while sitting on a sand board.
There are installations in 1 Utama, Pavilion KL and Sunway Pyramid and all you need to do is to pose with the installation and email it to get a chance to win a trip for two to Perth. If you have terrible bearings, the first thing you should do is to approach the information counter and have them point you in the right direction. If you’re not comfortable with posing in public spaces, hey, be like Nike and Just Do It. I guarantee you there will be people looking and wanting a piece of the action once you get started.
Who did you think took our pictures? Random strangers posing with the structure who helped us with our photos once they were done.
I think our submission is pretty good. I really hope we win this contest. I swear, we spent almost an hour there doing various poses. We even came in the appropriate attire. I didn’t destroy the structure from a bad fall and Bonnie emerged intact without having to put on a neck brace. 😉
Try and beat our awesome poses by going to one of the installations. Check out the Perth contest post on the AirAsia blog for more details! We really want to win the contest but we’re confident our submission will be a pretty formidable one anyway. #winning
It all started on Friday night at Brussels Beer Cafe. It was during this inspiring round of drinks that the impromptu trip hatched. I was supposed to meet Bonnie there and truth to be told I don’t even remember how I got to know her and inquiring minds want to know. I also had half a mind to FFK the drinks on Friday thing coz I was really sick but I’m glad I didn’t coz it turned out to be one of the best weekends I’ve ever had. 🙂
We were having drinks in Jaya One when I finally got around to around to asking her how we know each other. It turns out that we don’t. She reads my blog, added me on Facebook and it was a random and casual “Okay, let’s have drinks sometime” that led to this particular day. Bonnie turns out to be 22 (!!!) and she’s a student at Monash. She also acts part time in local productions.
Anyway, it seems that we have something in common so we were just talking and suddenly I thought about going on a road trip. It was 12 am at the time and the plan was to head down to Ipoh for the dim sum.
I’ll follow her car back, pick her up, and then head down to Ipoh and stay the night at a hotel before waking up for breakfast.
Losing my wallet
The first thing that went wrong was losing my wallet. I think what happened is that I took it out and used my credit card to pump gas. I remember leaving the wallet on the boot of the car and taking the receipt but I did not remember taking the wallet back into the car. I suspect my wallet was still on the boot when I drove off. FML.
I had about 1-2k inside but what’s worse is the MyKad, driver’s license (!!!) and credit cards which I have to replace.
I only realized it when I got to Ipoh coz when it came to the toll, Bonnie paid for it but I was puzzled as to where my wallet was – it was supposed to be on the dashboard. However, after a prolonged search when we arrived there, it was nowhere to be found. My car can be a black hole sometimes, but it’s still a confined space so after looking into every nook and cranny, the most plausible explaination is that I left it on the boot and drove off.
Naturally, without any money, Bonnie had to withdraw from an ATM and we went in search of a hotel.
She also took over the driving.
Dodgy hotels
I think we went to 5-6 hotels but all of them were full. It was insane! There’s apparently some kind of military function going on there and it was about 5 am when we finally drove up to this dodgy looking place called Shanghai Hotel.
They had one room left and it was RM 40. I guess some would call it rustic and charming and maybe even full of character but it’s the kind of place where you’re afraid you’ll get syphilis, gonorrhea AND herpes just from sleeping on the sheets. >.<
This is what the hotel room looks like.
Anyway, my pillow had this really weird smell to it so I shared Bonnie’s pillow and we slept, fulling intending to wake up at 8 am in the morning.
It was 11 am when I woke up.
Foh San dim sum
This is what we were down in Ipoh for. Bonnie swears by the lam mei pau. It’s a bun that’s filled with fatty pork and it’s absolutely fabulous. It was well worth the drive down.
We also had some other stuff – my usual har kao (prawn dumplings) and a memorable dim sum made with juicy succulent prawns and salted egg yolk.
However, the lam mei pau was every bit as good as Bonnie said it was. We were afraid we’ve missed it but apparently even though the dim sim place tells you it’s no longer available, you can get it by going to the take away counter and ordering it.
Try it, and thank Bonnie (or rather, her mom) if it works. We even got a box to tapau back home.
Caption: Why drink canned Ipoh white coffee in Ipoh?
Anyway, since I didn’t have a license and Bonnie was rushing for her class, she drove down instead. It was an interesting experience to have someone else drive you car at 160 km/h and swerving through lanes to avoid traffic. It’s like a roller-coaster, without the safety features. 😉
Oh, and I also lost my rear bumper somewhere during the drive to Ipoh.
It’s not an epic weekend unless you’ve lost a car bumper, your wallet and all the identification in it, slept in a dodgy hotel and sped back to KL…and the weekend is still not over. Bonnie crashed at my place last night and helped me out with something I had to get done during the weekend.
I know it sounds like a tragic weekend, but it’s really an awesome one. Seriously, it’s not a havoc weekend unless you’ve lost something and now I’m driving with no driver’s license, MyKad and with a missing bumper.
Cop magnet much? This illegal PRC immigrant says yes. I’ve been diligently avoiding roadblocks so let’s hope I can keep up with that until Monday.
Sentosa! You know the best thing about traveling solo is that you meet all sorts of people from different countries. This is Mai from Thailand. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here and there’s a lot of new additions…
…like the luge. My first luge experience was when I was 13 while on family trip to New Zealand. The luge in Sentosa is from a Kiwi company too.
I stayed at Studio M Hotel which has an awesome concept – your room basically has two floors – the ground floor is where you work, chill and take care of your sanitary needs and there’s a loft upstairs where you sleep. I was half afraid I’ll wake up, fall out of bed and come crashing down to the ground floor but no, that didn’t happen, so fear not. 😉
Singapore Arts Festival 2011. I was particularly interested in this one. It’s an outdoor arts fest which happens annually and there was one show in particular that I wanted to catch.
When A Grey Taiwanese Cow Stretched. I ran out of hyperbolic adjectives trying to describe this Osakan rap theater performance – moving, groundbreaking, engaging. It’s every bit as I had hoped it would turn out to be. It’s the first time they’re showing it outside of Japan too.
Salvador Dali had an exhibition in the ArtsScience Center too. I love his work. You feel like you’re tripping when you’re not. Hands down my favorite artist overall – my favorite piece of work would be Edmund Munch’s The Scream but Dali is in a class of his own.
Pre-theatre tapas at Santi. I love the Iberico pork. Lovely porcine delights.
The Lion King! Yup, the Singapore performance is every bit as good as the West End cast and they had a lot of localizations too. Gotta love that touch.
Drinks @ Ku De Ta with Joyce and Clem after the show. Amazing views.
Universal Studios Singapore!
I headed straight for the Battlestar Galactica rides – it was a staggering 75 minute wait for the Human and a 90 minute wait for the Cylon but I went for both anyway…
…and got some of the merchandize to boot. Yay! I’m a huge fan.
I ended it with a large bowl of Tai Wah Pork Noodle and a bottle of Tiger in the Singapore Food Trail. 🙂
There’s so much I still haven’t written about – the trip was amazing, loved the art scene and theaters in particular. Thanks to Singapore Tourism Board for having me!
I’ve always identified more with villains than heroes. Growing up, Professor Moriarty was more my cup of tea than Sherlock Holmes. Lex Luther appealed to me more than Superman. I can relate better to Darth Vader than Luke Skywalker. Magneto and his band of evil mutants seemed way cooler than boring old Professor X and his cadre of do-gooders.
It was thus the natural choice for me to prefer the Super Villains event to the Super Heroes party. I just came back from Encore’s Super Villains party in 7atenine at the Ascott on the 1st of June and it was awesome! There was a photo wall where you can write a quote on this speech bubble and mine goes “Being GOOD is for LOSERS. Evil FTW!”.
I also came dressed in black, as did Lainey – every villain worth his salt instinctively knows that having a wardrobe full of black articles of clothing is essential. It’s the color of choice when it comes to villain attire. 😉
7atenine was decked out in decorations straight from a comic book – there were “POW!”, “BAM!” and even “SMACK!” signs all around the place. There was a Super Heroes party held about a week before the Super Villains bash. The four cocktails are specially concocted for these two events and features two villains and two heroes respectively.
I tried all four of the cocktails. It’s the best part about Encore’s parties – I’ve always appreciated a nicely done cocktail and with acclaimed mixologists coming in, you can always expect a new and different signature cocktail every time.
Captain Jack
This is a cocktail inspired by Jack Sparrow (of Pirates of the Caribbean fame). It’s made primarily with Jack Daniel’s (thus the name) and Poire William eau de vie, which is French for “water of life” but is actually a fruit brandy. The pear Poire William goes very well with JD and this is one the strongest cocktails amongst the four.
Lady Luck
It’s made with Finlandia vodka with watermelon and citrus. It’s pretty good but I liked the others better.
Juggernaut
This was my first drink when I went in. It’s served in a tall glass and at the first glance, it didn’t seem like anything special. However, when I tasted this Jack Daniel’s and lemonade cocktail I was really impressed. What sold me was the grated toasted walnut that lined the rim of the glass. It’s like a martini but with toasted walnut instead of sea salt on the rim. It’s the most interesting cocktail among all the four available. Licking the finely grated toasted walnut before chasing it with a sip of the drink is a treat for your palate. Two thumbs up for innovation!
Red Sonja
This cocktail is a concoction of various berries (Bavarian black berries, blueberries and raspberries) with Finlandia vodka. It is thirst quenching but it doesn’t pack much of a punch, alcohol wise.
The cocktails go for RM 17 nett but you’ll get a better deal when you buy 2 at once for RM 30 nett. I spent over RM 100 for drinks that night, although I didn’t drink all of it. Fresh was quite enthusiastic – she practically shouted “I CAN HELP YOU FINISH THAT!” happily towards the end of the event, and hey, who was I to stand in the way of ethanol induced gaiety? 😉
Anyway, there’s an upcoming event called Heroes Vs Villains on the 8th of June which is the culmination of the two parties. Super Heroes and Super Villains will come head-to-head in this ultimate party!
Check out the poster above for more details!
I managed to meet Hui Wen from Singapore who came to Super Villains. Now that’s someone I haven’t seen in ages. It was good to see her there. 🙂
There’s also entertainment in the form of dancers – click play on the video clip I took for an idea of what Encore’s parties are like. It’s all about fellowship, entertainment and deliciously made cocktails.
Come and join us at Heroes vs Villains for more fun than you can shake a stick (or a light saber) at.
…and don’t forget the hot DJ who will be spinning music the entire night. You won’t be able to sit still, the music is so good you’ll be grooving to the beats in no time. Especially after you’ve downed a cocktail or six. 😉
I put my iPad 2 in this small The North Face sling bag during the time I spent in Australia. It fits the iPad 2 snugly in the back compartment where you zip it.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer any protection at all. I dropped the bag numerous times and must have hit the side of the iPad 2 once coz that side shattered and spread into two long cracks down the entire screen. Crap. It still works though…but there’s bits of glass that comes off every time you accidentally touch the side where it shattered. 🙁
I just came back from Australia and we went to Queensland and New South Wales for a proper Northern Rivers experience. We actually landed in Queensland but the border to New South Wales is just about 5 minutes away from the airport. This is the obligatory “straddling the borders” photo and the hotel we stayed in actually has one half in NSW and the other in Queensland! It helps with legislation, they had a casino in one part of the hotel.
Here’s some of the fun stuff that we did. Hand feeding a wallaby.
Deadliest Catch: New South Wales. I love the series so I’m just going to go “Yeah, sometimes you just have to set the pots and follow your heart. It’s been six weeks out at sea and I think the greenhorn ain’t gonna make it”. Heh! No, seriously, we actually pulled up some crab pots.
Yabbie pumping with Irina!
Here’s what a yabbie looks like – it has one huge claw and apparently, it’s edible. I wish I could say I caught this one but none of us had any luck with the yabbies.
I had the most awesome mud crabs! Just look at the size of the claw. Now imagine sucking off the tender flesh and filling your mouth full of pure fresh crab meat with all the natural juices. I could eat it for the rest of my life!
(if only I can say the same about my relationships)
I also learned how to eat it by picking out all the flesh with a crab fork to produce a bowl of sinfully pure crab meat. OMG I just love the way they prepare it, no sauces, just pure fresh crab. I would probably shank you with the crab fork if you took this bowl away from me. NO SHARING! *glares
Alright, don’t try this at home kids. Hand feeding is not recommended. Damn birds have tiny little teeth and they bite.
Double bacon with two poached eggs on Turkish with grilled tomato and rustic potatoes at Cafe d’bar.
This is the view you’ll get while you’ve having breakfast. I know, it’s amazing. The tiny dots are people surfing.
This is an Australian bush finger lime. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen – shaped like a finger and with perfect pearls of caviar like lime that bursts in your mouth. It’s not as sour as regular limes too.
The famous Flutterbie cakes with fresh cream, strawberries and jam in a quaint little cafe at Tyalgum – a tiny town with just a small row of shophouses right in the heartland of the Northern Rivers area. I can camwhore quite well eh? Reckon I got the act cute look down pat in this one. Yup, figure I did. 😉
Lunch at Mavis’s Kitchen at Murwillumbah – the acclaimed organic low-food-miles restaurant which is featured in MasterChef.
Yes, you’ve been to Mt Warning…but have you planked in the middle of a road with Mt Warning as the backdrop? 😉 Mount Warning is said to be the best place to catch a sunrise in Australia.
Cattle auction at Casino Beef Week in…Casino. Yup, it’s a small town in New South Wales. I just wish they had a casino so I can say I’ve been to a casino in Casino. It was awesome, we sat on bales of hay to watch the auction.
Babe was there too. The pig I mean. No, not that one, you mean, mean person. You outta be ashamed of yourself! The pink pig.
The very manly wood chopping competition. You can just smell the testosterone in the air…and also flying bits of wood chips if you’re not careful.
Skydive Byron Bay! Jumping out at 14,000 feet and experiencing a 60 second freefall is pure bliss.
Imagine sea kayaking around this bay with the waves crashing through your kayak as you power into the great blue sea. We spotted a pod of dolphins too!
This is the “After” photo with Alycia, my team mate in the kayak. We felt more exhausted than we look, or at least I did. She’s awesome though and we were the only team that didn’t overturn the kayak (insert asterisk for small print). #purewin
This is the best steak I’ve had, bar none. Medium rare with tender beef that melts in your mouth. It’s at Byron at Byron, the only 5 star resort in Byron Bay. The steak is locally sourced and all the ingredients are from organic farms a couple of miles away. Perfect farewell dinner for the trip.
I wish the trip had lasted longer. Thanks to AirAsia X, Tourism New South Wales and Tourism Northern Rivers for organizing this trip. I really liked the limo. Yup, we had our very own limo, complete with champagne. Move out of the way, important people coming through. 😉
#winning 
