Kindly Yours

Wednesday, 25 February 2009

Sunday, 22 February 2009

While I was waiting in line at the Big W checkout aisle, I noticed various little packs of what supermarkets think we need, whether for travel or everyday use. They ranged from mints, napkins, moisturiser and toiletries to toothpaste, all packaged in unassuming white box packets. I chose the instant shoe shine.

I had the opportunity to attend a stage performance skilfully displaying a blend of martial arts, dramatic acting and ballet. It was unusual but emphasised to me the commonality in physical expression and exertion in the creative arts.

Most pleasant for me was unexpectedly catching up with someone whom I can be just be myself - no appointments needed. Each of us was in transit at a fast food takeaway between things to do, but I guess both of us appreciated the chat and break from the routine and the list of have-to-dos!

What fed my inner soul was cruising through early Sunday morning with saved versions of episodes of the sitcoms Two and A Half Men and the Big Bang Theory. I wish there was rain dripping outside the lounge doors, but I realised that I already had that the weekend before.

I made my attempt at a a fusion meal with rice noodles, Italian meat balls, white button mushrooms and Asian stock soup. It was tasty!

I was earnestly looking for household cleaning stuff and wound up with a couple of pretty flowering chrysanthemum pots. I went to collect my order for one of Shaun Tan's artistic creations, The Arrival, and also stumbled into a Deepak Chopra book.

I felt a huge sigh of relief after I finally had my hair shaped after weeks of self-diversion and neglect. Then on the way home at dusk, I saw a shop called Pet Style, just before the northern side of the Tom Ugly Bridge.

I had lunch of goat curry cooked by a Vietnamese cafe and felt revitalised while going through various emotions watching the Danny Boyle movie, Slumdog Millionaire. A childhood of actually seeing Bollywood movies did greatly prepare me to deeply appreciate the nuances and delights of this insightful film.

Sunday, 15 February 2009

Contrasts of greater Sydney

In the heart of what is essentially Sydney city, twenty somethings and retired couples took it easy late on Sunday afternoon, sipping coffee, browsing through the Sunday papers, making small conversation or just staring into each other's eyes. Never mind if the grounds were wet from passing showers throughout most of the day.
Vespas and like-minded motorbike models were neatly parked in front of shaven-headed men with big eyes and almost similar body hugging t-shirts. The women could be fans of the book Sex and The City, but in reality perhaps have more complex realities than anyone can imagine.

The service was not exactly top notch at this Challis Street cafe. There seemed to be a dearth of open coffee places in Potts Point. The Fratelli Fresh was lively - and so was a rather trendy Woolworths store along the main street. We sat in alfresco dining quarters where a car was driven to neatly park literally straight behind our backs. Perhaps after what we saw in front of a terrace in another part of Sydney city - when the last vestiges of the Southern Cross Drive met Flinders Street - we appreciated this precise and polite parking.

Earlier in the afternoon, we saw how bold and recklessly a man parked in a spot obviously too small for his Holden. He blatantly nudged the stationary vehicle behind by pushing it surely with the back of his car, and then did it again. I understand that this is done on Paris or New York cbd streets in the late hours of night, when one needs to park the car and urgently crash in bed - but this was inner Sydney on a Sunday afternoon.

For lunch, we had plunged into the exotic chaos and dynamics of street markets reminiscent of another place, another time. I reckoned there could have been a thousand and one things on sale - mangosteens, freshly cooked food, red cherries, kitchen ware, artificial flowers, longans, all types of gourds, various pancakes, steaming buns, pastries, cakes,recently made rice and egg noodles, bean sprouts, peaches, durians, multi-hued jellies and more. Shoppers were placed shoulder and shoulder, or back to back, as they passed by each other in narrow arcades.

The mung bean noodles I had were thoroughly mixed with savoury sauces and garnished with red chili cuts. It was expected to have difficulty to park the car but we found a spot on the top floor of the multi-storey car park. Cabramatta has a reputation in any angle you see it. There was no alfresco coffee sipping place in sight, and almost everyone there wanted to finish their business and move on. There were queues of people and vehicles. Service was quick and crowded. And even if space was really tight, I have not encountered a driver rudely pushing back another car to make way for his. Or maybe not yet.

Saturday, 14 February 2009

Further Food Adventures in My Hometown

I am not particularly a fan of the fruit mix called rojak (literally "hotch-potch"). It is a concoction of thin cut slices of fruit and other crunchy stuff that is meant to deliver a heavenly sensation once inside your mouth. It delivers a heady mix of sweet, sour and savoury tastes, which can be garnished with sesame seeds, chili cuts and a unique prawn paste blend called the hay koh. Originating from Malaysia and Thailand, variations can be found in Singapore, Burma and Indonesia. It can be confronting or instantly delightful to the initiated; even though I grew up with it, I have not been endeared to this dish, though like effect of the full moon,it is said that pregnant women may suddenly develop a temporary dire for this street hawker's magic.

I fell for its charms when a cousin of mine got two packs of this delicacy from Bukit Mertajam, a bustling regional centre located on the mainland portion of Penang State (the Brits named it Province Wellesley). I immediately liked this version, from a stall labelled Or Lang Hock (Tanned Guy called Ah Hock). Ah Hock does his street vendoring business near the old Cheok Sah Cinema in downtown BM.

Hainan Town near the Penang Ferry Terminus offers mostly Straits Chinese food but has the braised mutton which I love. I dined with three long standing friends between thick pillars in a setting copying the colonial style and with a constant view of the double-decker ferries plying between Butterworth and Georgetown, comparable to the Star ferries between Central and Kowloon in Hong Kong. The spring roll peculiar to Straits Chinese cuisine (choon pniah) is deep fried, and the curry historically made for a Dutch captain (Kari kapitan) has the in-depth authenticity here. I must emphasise that judgement of Straits Chinese food can be detailed and varies from person to person.

Both cousins Ah Nai Chee and Mu Che make their own variation of the pah kor dessert soup, involving blanched and cooked almonds, all full of glory in their attractive yellow, combined with dried longans, in a clear broth. The process of readying the almonds, and ensuring that they are just soft when eaten, can be an art by itself.

It is also traditional for the Lunar New Year to have a mee suah dish, as the long thin noodles are significant to suggest wishes of a long and good life. Mum and cousin Mu Che each had them made in their homes. When lunching out with Bee's family at Goh Huat Seng (Kimberly Street, Georgetown), I also was impressed with the oyster noodles and the Chiu-Chao fashioned tofu.

On previous flights with Singapore Airlines, I had dabbled in miniature portions of the Lunar New Year salad called the yee sang and had refreshing doses of the Raffles Hotel cocktail Singapore sling. This time around, there were satisfying portions of pork in red curry and Indonesian styled fried rice served on board. It was an amicable way to bridge between the food variations of Wollongong and Georgetown, although I am sure that the curry and rice were prepared in Sydney kitchens!