On the Road, Me and You, and a Dog named Boo

Ah, the rather comforting accessories on any travel trip, if we can get them.  Australian accommodation notoriously do not provide toothbrushes and toothpaste, but most Asian countries pamper hotel and motel guests with them.  (picture above) For nutrition and health, always get the local milk and orange juice (below).

The camera is vital, whether you have it on an IPhone, IPad, compact or an SLR.  On arriving home, you then have the leisure to look out for things that somehow you did not see whilst you were actually there. (image below by Mr Yong Chung Shen) I reckon its is useful to back up your images and videos somewhere routinely along the route, so that you minimise the risks of not having them when you arrive home. Camera equipment can be a hassle to carry, but in the end it is just to have a picture record.

A most awaited and welcome scene at the end of a rather tiring but satisfying day out (image above).
Occasionally, you need to dress up for the unique shot or function, a rather contrasting change to the boardshorts, cargo pants, thongs and t-shirt unavoidable in practical travel gear (picture below by Mr Yong Chung Shen).

And before I forget, always have a great travelling companion.  Apart from the passport, tickets and money! At times, you do meet memorable mates along the way, like Lucy above in Penang.

Return to Malacca

Malacca offers a kaleidoscope of colours, tastes and images.  Sitting on one of the world's most important trade and travel routes, this city state has much to reveal below its current status. Its rather small physical configuration belies the vast amount of riches and political power that it once held sway over. You can catch glimpses of traditional houses built on stilts in the

Malacca Malay style,  the Catholic Church of St Francis Xavier and the Melaka tree. You feel the past grandeur of China Hill and suggestions of connections to China's Ming Dynasty.  Control of Malacca meant great influence in South-east Asia.  The Eurasian iconic dish Devil's Curry came from Malacca.  The Cheng Hoon Teng and St Paul's Church attest to racial and social harmony long before its modern transformations.  Above, my favourite Malaysian desert of cendol and below, the otak-otak, a fish-based savoury mousse often seen wrapped in banana leaves before being steamed.

We  had a most interesting encounter with durians (above), sitting on a pavement table, savouring the freshly opened delights, in this case, bitter-tinged creamy custard fruit surrounding small seeds.

I could not resist capturing an image of the ice shaving machine (above) along one of the narrow side streets in Malacca. The petite bowls are used to serve the ice kacang, a concoction of a dessert incorporating various bite sized ingredients heaped with syrup on an ice cone.  There are many delightful discoveries for the eye and palate as you take the time to explore hidden and open alleys and streets - and these include the fast depleting supply of furniture and porcelain antiques, the fast emerging display of modern plastic junk and the variety of food and drinks in between.

The highlight of our day was sampling the cendol, a sweet based dessert using a palm sugar that bears the name of the city itself - Gula Melaka. I was very pleased that we had chosen the version served at A Formosa along Jonkers Street. Cendol refers to the slippery green coloured bits of mung bean included in the refreshing summer time dessert which comes served with ice shavings, syrup and jelly bits. (image above)

You can take home small sachets of the organic sugar (picture below), which is utilised extensively in Straits Chinese, Malay and Indonesian cooking, especially for cakes, snacks and drinks. In the foreground of the picture below are bottles of dark soy sauce, important as condiments to accompany Hainan chicken rice.  Malacca's historic quarter is great for walking tours, where, once you are hungry, you can encounter good versions of curry mee, Taiwan sweets, Straits Chinese or Nyonya cakes (like ondeh-ondeh), southern Chinese baked biscuits  (usually with almonds and bean paste as ingredients) , oyster egg omelettes, satay celup and tamarind-infused savoury dishes.  We had a local coffee brew before we left Malacca - there was even another shop offering the best coffee mixes from each of the 13 states in Malaysia.  I did not get to the Portuguese Village to sample influences from Goa, Portugal and Malaysia.

Capitol Satay reputedly offers consistently tasty satay celup, which is a form of steamboat satay (satay here being meat skewers grilled over charcoal).  Ondeh ondeh is a Malay term for bite-sized green coloured balls coated with coconut shavings - the sweetness inside melts in your mouth due to its essential ingredients of Gula Melaka and pandanus flavours.

We spotted an Indian lady literally feeding pigeons in a Malaccasque version of the "Feed The Birds" scene straight out of the musical Mary Poppins. (image above)   This was in the city centre, within walking distance from Christchurch and Stadhuys complex, the Dutch built town square with all surrounding buildings now painted in deep red. I noticed that the maroon shades had faded since my last visit to Malacca. I understand that it was not the Dutch administration that offered this red colouring, but as life is more strange than fiction, the colours were decided from a misplaced perception of a British officer who truly believed that all Dutch buildings had to be traditionally in this colour. Did this well meaning chap visit Holland before, that I am not aware.

A Formosa provided the venue for lunch.  We had the chicken rice balls accompanied by roast chicken cuts, pickled vegetables, the otak-otak and cendol dessert. I was amazed that the chicken rice balls were no bigger in size than typical fish balls in Hong Kong.  Those served at the coffee shop near Sim Lim Square in Singapore were more small bowl sized.  There was a roaring stream of lunchers at this corner shop - I was not sure if the school holidays had anything to do with the crowd, or perhaps there was not much competition along Jonkers Street for this type of food.  A Formosa of course is the Portuguese name for the landmark fort deemed "beautiful", built during the time of Vasco Da Gama's voyages around the world in the first spurts of European adventurism, international trading and colonialism.

Would I return? Malacca has always captured my historical, architectural and cultural passion, being one of the fusion city states taking advantage of strategy and location and with traditions that have inspired many generations of travellers, wayfarers and adventurers. Today the city looks insipid, many shades below its past glory but you never know of its future. Located only around 148 km from the bustling metropolis of Kuala Lumpur, on the highway back, I mused as to why it was not chosen as the political and social capital of the emerging nation of Malaysia, after the British colonials left.   Despite UNESCO recognition and related funding, its heritage area, in the worst criticism, remains a maze of narrow alleys with unsophisticated retail, unrenovated facades and continued decay. There has to be more in store for Malacca after several hundred years of capturing the imagination and drive of men and women from Amsterdam to Fujian.  To make an impact on the heart of visitors and residents, it has to offer more than stereo-equipped trishaws, plastic river rides and bazaar offerings.   I saw the harbour on the calm straits - and thought of those individuals from the past who came from far and near to build the legend and reality of Malacca.

Scenes From a Wedding - Kuala Lumpur

The venue was the Langkawi Room of the Bukit Jalil Country Club, south of Kuala Lumpur CBD in Malaysia.  The occasion was the KL reception for the marriage of my niece Miss Yong Tze Yin to Mr Shaun Tan.  The caterers were from the long established Tai Thong Cantonese Restaurant chain.

It was the first Saturday evening of June in 2012.  All images here from the photo collection by Mr Yong Chung Shen.

There were slide shows, a short video clip, a stage attempt at the Maori Haka posture dance and lots of toasts.  The food flowed smoothly.  Fathers of both bride and groom gave speeches in their own unique style, with memories of the beaches at Miri in Sarawak, references to the Star of Mount Eden and The Pearl of the Orient, what was said by a teacher at Convent Green Lane in Penang and tributes to the street food in Malaysia.

Another niece of mine , Su Hui, with her Mum, May Lai (image above) and a snapshot, below, of the dinner table with some of my seated cousins from Kuala Lumpur (left to right) - Wen Keong, Wen Meng, Lina, Lai Han and her Mum.  Standing are nephew Chung Shen and niece Su Hui.   I was also reunited with one of Shaun' s aunts, Ah Bo, from KL and whom I first met in Auckland.

Curry Puffs at Homi - Klang Valley, Malaysia

Curry puffs, as made in Malaysia and Singapore, are nothing like the samosas and other close pastries found in the rest of Asia.  The pastry is of Western influence, the fillings are Indian inspired and the cooking is rich in oil and from a hot wok. Golden brown in colour, buttery in pastry taste, always made with diced potatoes and with a spicy kick inside (normally dried chicken curry, my preference, but they can be in beef curry or sardine mix as well) Whether they are in the Restaurant Hock Seng Two in SS2 or at Mid-Valley, the first thing that captures your attention is the aroma and the swirls of texture on each piece.  I was first introduced to HOMI puffs by cousin Lai Han many years ago.

Above pictures were taken on the basement food court in the Mid-Valley Shopping Centre. The curry puffs from HOMI do not have the hard boiled egg as found in Singapore and in Sydney's Albees Kitchen, but they are tasty to the bite as well and serve as quick snacks from around one to two Ringgit per piece.  It is great to eat them with beer on a sweltering humid afternoon in Malaysia.  Such puffs are also popular for office or home parties and they have been around for at least a hundred years or more, originating from the period of British administration in Malaya.  To ensure the crispy texture, dough is carefully kneaded by hand with margarine and water and then sufficiently rested before being deep fried in hot oil.  My sister-in-law Sian Kin had demonstrated to me her own recipe.  Finely chopped red onions, chili powder and tumeric powder go to marinate the finely chopped chicken breast meat - and garnished with sugar, black pepper and salt.  Potatoes must be boiled and then diced.

Air Travel Trivia

Malaysian airports still have the persistent habit of placing a rather very sticky narrow piece of security tape over the zipper of your check in luggage, after the bags are first scanned by security officers, before the passenger even goes to the airline counter to collect the boarding pass.   This sticky tape is often irritating to remove from the teeth of bag zippers. This practice is , thankfully, not a feature of Australian airports, which scan check in luggage behind the scenes after the passenger submits the baggage to the airline.  Both Singapore and Australia strictly require the filling up of hand written arrival and disembarkation cards, whilst Malaysia has done away with such requirements. Mobile phones cannot be switched on in Australian airports, until after the passenger has cleared both immigration and quarantine checks (tell that to the typical passenger in Asia, who instinctively switch on their mobiles once the plane comes to a halt on arrival and the passengers have not even disembarked out of the craft).  Such is the variety of air travel practice that faces a passenger travelling across various time zones and countries.

Chicken, fruits and fish seem to be the safe options in food menu choices for the diversity of air travel passengers, being neither in the zone of culturally or religiously forbidden.  They also can keep well and are amiable to soaking in the flavours of spices and stock flavours. Travelling with different airlines also mean the opportunity to partake in the best food represented for each region, whether they are baked pastries,  savoury dishes or uplifting and unique side dishes.  Increasingly , better run airlines pamper to the needs of the gluten free, the lactose indigestible and the organic focused. The choice of meals do offer differentiation to airlines that care, but Air New Zealand does offer a refreshing variety of the safety video.

Most important is the creating of the experience, not just for business or first class passengers, as often articulated in the quality of passenger interaction by cabin crew.  It is also echoed in how various categories of air passengers are organised to check in at the disembarkation gate or treated at the boarding pass collection counter, and whether outsourced or internal staff are utilised for such critical first impression points.   It is also reflected in what languages an airline offers to passengers and how they are handled when connecting flight passengers arrive late through no fault of their own. And then there are so many budget airlines.

The effectiveness of scanning equipment at airports comes to more significance play these days, as security and other controls meet head on with the increasing volume of passengers and baggage handled. I have experienced certain scanners used that are not effective  in providing plausible views of luggage contents for security purposes - and those that possibly intrude the privacy of the physical features of air passengers.

There are nations that are more conscious of welcoming visitors and those which are more obsessed with not doing so.  There are airports that have no proper queuing arrangements, where different managers, of the various phases passengers are subject to, do not  communicate sufficiently with each other and where revenues are unduly prioritised over a country's image or friendly prospects.  There are nations that have a cultural heritage of engaging with customers (or are well trained to do so) and those with a more of less stiff upper lip tradition and with airline crews who obviously have a disdain for all or certain passengers.