Rhandom

People are burning hell notes left and right. Large piles of notes printed with amounts amounting to billions of Ringgit? Dollars? Hell-ish Currency? Why are they called hell notes. I'm an optimist. I call then heaven notes.

And the fact that we mortals 'send' billions and trillions of Heaven Currency to the dearly departed can't help but make me wonder how high their rate of inflation is. I bet it costs close to a billion to get a decent meal.

And while we're on the issue of burning, am I allowed to just burn a single 'Heaven Cheque' as a means of sending the money up there. We would waste less, and pollute less. If people are willing to modernize and burn unusual things like clothes and credit cards and cars and electronic gadgets, they can probably just substitute all that with the burning of a single piece of paper.

I'm not against the burning ritual, I'm just trying to push it in a better direction.


When I go, just send me a cheque.
Stay tuned.

Happy Christmas

From the archives | December 06'

Stay tuned for more.

Vegan

Raya week is over and now i'm back in PJ. I was wishing they would never end. It's like you get a taste of the holidays and immediately you want more. But before you know it, your time is up and you're heading back to face your burdening assignments. I guess that's how i'm feeling. I dreadingly came back here. The only things i'm looking forward to are the Raya open houses i've been invited to! Oh, glorious food!

Speaking of food, once again it's the nine emperor gods celebration thing and today's the final day. Ergo, i'm going vegetarian today. I can't really seem to find those vegetarian make-shift stalls like in Penang. They are not rampant here and the only thing I can find are vegetarian restaurants. Air conditioned, proper tables, proper table setting and etc. They certainly cost alot more but it's okay for me since i'm only having it for a day :)

Yesterday, I went to one of the vege restaurants and since i'm not that familiar with Chinese words and Cantonese, I simply pointed to some dish on the menu to order. When it came, it turned out to be a noodle dish with insane amounts of cilantro and celery. I nearly died.

Stay tuned for more.

Glutinous Goodness

Today's tang chek which is the Winter Solstice and tis' was the time to maketh tong yuen again. Well, actually we made it yesterday night as everyone else does and ate it today. We usually don't observe this festive season much. It's more of an on again, off again practice. We make it when we feel like it. But in the past few years i've been drawn more and more into celebrating these festive occasions that make the Chinese culture unique. Maybe it's this innate quality I possess that urges me to practice old traditions that are now being pushed into oblivion and to research and find out more about my own culture. Am I babbling? I think i'm babbling...

Here's the tong yuen I made with my aunt:

- the balled up spheres of glutinous rice flour

- the finished product: glossy looking balls with varying colours in a sweet pandan leaf flavoured syrup

For detailed instructions on the making of tong yuen, check out Ivan.

*COMING UP

Pictures from my cousin's wedding!

The Puasa Month

I know I haven't blogged in a while [bad Justin] but it's only because i've really been caught up with my assignments. You know, I feel like they're snowballing now. The lecturers just keep hurling it at us and we have to whack it right back at them! I still have a few assignments to complete and I seriously need to manage my time properly.

Anyways, I just wanna say that I love the Puasa month! Well, I didn't realize I would like it this much until now. Why do I like it you ask? Okay firstly, classes end half an hour earlier in the month of Ramadhan. Well, that's coz the students and teachers who are fasting need to prepare and rest, don't they? Then, there is the awesome food! Street food that is. All the pasar malam food stalls are selling an array of good food this time of year. You get your briyani, your rendang, your nasi tomato, your this and that...there's a whole lot of food out there which I haven't even tried before! Plus, restaurants and food outlets also have special Ramadhan sets which are quite worth it sometimes.

Also, I just realised today that during the fasting month, the amount of people riding the KTM significantly abated when it comes time to buka Puasa. Yeah, I went to KLCC today to check out some stuff and to have lunch and dinner there. And as I was headin' back at around 8:30pm, the amount of people in the LRT and KTM were less than ordinary. Normally, at that time, I would get sandwiched so tight that I feel like i've become beef jerky! I despise the amount of people in KL and the inefficiency of the public transports.

But as I was saying, I love the month of Ramadhan!

- Sophia, Pam, Jon and I after we buka Puasa-ed at the Curve last Friday

As I mentioned above, I went to KLCC. I went there to browse some of the books in Kinokuniya and also some magazines (I got my Nylon: Guys and Men's Folio!!). I couldn't find the books I needed to do my research essay in the college library, so I thought of headin' to bookstores and doin' some reading there. I wish there are more books in the library. But anyhow, I enjoyed myself going to KLCC. And if you're wondering, NO I DID NOT DO ANY SHOPPING THERE! The mega sales are already over, to my dismay and to my parents' delight. The only things I spent on besides transport is on the magazines and food. I guess that's all my brain can churn out for now.



+ EXTRA

*LISTEN TO THIS*

"Starz In Their Eyes"
by Just Jack
from the album "Overtones"

I heard this song while YouTubing around the other day and I loved it. Absolutely brilliant! It's catchy and somehow I liked the monotonous-ness of it. This song has a groovy, cat-walky feel to it. Here's the video:

PS: I'll be back in Penang for the weekend. I might be busy though...

I got a waxing

No, it's not a leg waxing. And no it's not on my body at all. My waxing came from the candles which I helped to sell during Wesak Day! I wanted to go for the procession at night but Ivan's away in KL and it just wouldn't be the same. So instead, I decided to pledge some of my time and volunteer at the Burmese temple.

I started off selling the candles to the devotees but then I got tired of handling all the money (people kept forking over 50 ringgit notes by the way) and I switched over to arranging, relighting candles and scraping wax off the table surfaces and that's how I got my very own waxing! Even my t'shirt got a wax stain by accident but thank goodness I was able to get it out with some hot water and detergent. It wasn't just some colourless wax, it was like blood red wax. I tell you, if you're gonna deal a whole lot with wax, i'd suggest wearing a dark coloured t'shirt. Or something you're gonna throw away. Maybe I should've just worn an apron...

Today I got my self a hair cut, but the guy cut it just a little too short for my liking. And now I kinda look like DUHHHH... I'll probably just wait for it to grow back. Besides that, i've been spending most of my time today tuning in to the new channel on Astro, E!. I watched E! during my holidays in the states and now it's here! God I like celebrity gossip. After all, we are living in a celebrity-obsessed world. I sure hope the food channel shows up on Astro too, then I can watch Rachel Ray!