My Typical Sundays

最近，开始忙着为我们的台湾之旅作准备功课。所以，每一个星期天，我总是把手提电脑和旅游资料搬到院子内、再泡上一壶咖啡或茶，对着大山脚山的蓊郁想象着台湾。

遇到妈妈心血来潮，我还有新鲜出炉热烘烘的点心作我的下午茶。我究竟有多写意？我也不好意思说太多，否则家捷又怪我这儿的阳光比较晒了……嘻嘻！

妈妈刚刚烘制的Cheese Scones

突然想起……

妈妈家族里头，每一代总有好几个厨艺精湛的人物。记忆中，三姨婆正是当中的表表者。
小时候三姨婆住在亚罗士打，每年清明节到吉打、玻璃市扫墓的事都由她发落。大人们有否欲断魂我不知道，但小孩子们肯定都是非常雀跃的。
三姨婆的家是旧式的单层半独立，屋身很长，空地更是不小。屋前有棵水蓊树（追根究底或许是我嗜水蓊的根源），树下吊了好几盆非常漂亮的胡姬花、摆了好几张的小凳子。不必问，这便是小孩儿们最爱的‘火车’了。
老屋子嘛，诺大的空地，必会有条小水沟贯穿。“洗水沟”竟然也是大伙儿们爱玩的游戏。水沟旁有‘lidi扫’、洗水沟专用的‘圆头扫’等，全是我们胡闹的玩具。水沟旁还有一个最经典的‘游戏’--在铁桶内冲凉。
也不知究竟有谁开始，反正所有小孩都不愿意安安分分地在冲凉房内冲凉。大家宁死也要轮流把沟旁的铁桶灌满水，然后一屁股坐下去，就这样子享受一个炎炎午后。外婆的每一个孙子都曾经这样子冲凉，直到大家逐渐地、终于有了“羞耻之心”为止。
三姨婆家里还有一个特别的‘玩意儿’，便是那深锁在第二房内的4 poster bed。第二房鲜少“对外开放”，房门打开时小孩们免不了好奇想一窥全貌。而那张“高高在上”的铁床又只是‘长大了’才爬得上的地方，对小孩们而言是神秘又神圣的。至少，从来没有人敢放肆地在这张床上跳。
屋里头最迷人的地方，当然非厨房莫属。从客厅要到厨房去，得经过一个开了天窗的长廊。长廊尽头有一台针车，我的表姨们市场坐在这儿埋头苦干。经过了针车往下一跳（其实只是个小阶级啦，但小孩子们怎可能规规矩矩的走下一级梯级呢？）就是朱红水泥地的饭厅兼厨房了。厨房内不知怎的，无时无刻不在飘香（或许是我们每次到那儿都是大日子吧~）。家传油炸肉丸、卤肉、我喜爱的咸菜鸭汤等好像free flow似的，怎么吃也吃不完。还有很多现在已经失传的糕点，当时是日日新鲜、锅锅精彩……
三姨婆离开我们也好几年了，不知道为什么，在我记忆中有一些味道和她已经混为一体，在我不留意的时候，我会突然想起……

开始期待……

清迈傍晚市场

我们的这一趟清迈之旅，非常的轻松，终日悠哉闲哉的。我们在清迈的第二日，花了老半天才结束了我们的shopping之旅。陪雪萍回房休息后我和美美便在酒店附近闲逛，意外发现了这个傍晚市场。

和马来西亚的傍晚市场一样，这儿普遍上以上班族为主，因此熟食占了大多数。我们看得心痒痒的，却苦于只带了一张1000 baht出门，在这市场内什么也没买成。

Sweet Homebake N Coffee

清迈是我见过的，最悠游的地方之一（但是还是比起桂林还是输了点儿）。那些咖啡厅呀、餐馆呀、一天只工作几个小时。即使是背包客聚居的城门边的starbuck也是晚上九点就关门了。这儿的“正常作息时间”可想而知。而在这种地方，正是最适合泡咖啡小屋的。

我们在街头闲逛，无意中看见角落处有家咖啡小屋，虽然简简单单的，但花园打理得别有心思，从远处看来已经觉得很温馨了。我们从街头走到街尾，累了，还是回到了这家小店。

走进咖啡小屋的范围，才发觉座位寥寥无几。我原想坐在花园内，但苦于清迈那几天热死人不赔命的天气，只好躲进有冷气的小屋内。



店内空间很小，但胜于摆设恰当，倒不觉压迫。小店装潢非常简单，但有情调，看得出店主花了好多心思。那一墙的橙黄色把空间给点亮了，有一种活泼的感觉。店内每一个角落皆有些小惊喜，很合我意。而且，店主特意保留了旧屋的特色，我特爱那个五、六十年代流行的铁窗设计。

Sweet Homebake N Coffee不只有情调，而且价格廉宜。我们俩在那儿泡了整一个小时吧？只花了90baht。下次到清迈，要是有机会，别忘了去坐坐哦~ （不过他们7pm就关门了）
Sweet Homebake N Coffee就在Holiday Inn对面Cheroen Prathet街角。

Kannichikan (KNK)

I always love Kannichikan (KNK). It's a Japanese style Korean BBQ shop, which means you can have all your simple food grilled in high grade charcoal(^^). Brought my family there several times and my mum's conclusion is, "if you want to buy me Korean dinner in the future, this IS the place" (what an expensive taste!) ;p.

Yesterday, we have a small gathering there and this is the first time I manage to bring my camera along. However, I was so focused on the food, I only managed to take very few photos ;p

Our appetizer is yukke (yukhoe in Korean). Ever since I tried this dish in Korea, I just love it. However, this dish is with raw beef and egg so please don't simply order this dish in Malaysia unless you know the quality of their material. KNK is the only certified restaurant so far (certified by my boss - the guy with the Golden Tounge ;p ).

Coming up next is my favorite BBQ dish - Gyu tan (beef tounge). Most of the Japanese and Korean restaurant serve good gyu-tan but to me KNK serve the best gyu-tan in Penang. Compare to the super-thin-sliced gyu-tan in Miraku, the gyu-tan here is slightly thicker and hence more satisfying(更有咬劲英文怎么说呀？). Go real well with lemon juice.

The pork here is also great! I love the one that marinade with pepper. (I've learnt a trick from my Korean customers from their previous trip to Penang. To have an almost-perfect grill, you can turn your meat maximum twice (professional only turn once). First, place your meat on the grilling pan nicely. Wait until the whole surface get watery then only turn to another side. You will get a nicely grilled meat when this surface turn brownish.)


We orderred two types of wagyu, one is REAL Japanese wagyu while another one is cheong-ted Australian wagyu. (well, actually both are real wagyu lah, but once, when we told our Japanese friend that we ordered "Australian wagyu", his eyes almost pop out! "Wagyuu和牛" means "Japanese Beef", he claimed! So, ok loh, we told him that Australian wagyu is OEM one loh~). The picture below shown only Australian wagyu as I was too busy eating, only 'cin-cai' take some photos of food that put in front of me.

look at the marbling fat

Well, after the wagyu beef is served, I have decided to keep my camera in the beg and be more focused on the food ;p

It's until when the following sake is served, I decided to take out my camera again. So, what is so special about this sake?

See the words that I circled? It means this sake is with edible pure gold flakes inside. And there's 2 of them in each bottle!

Can you see the gold flake in the following photo?

How about this?


Well, after more than hundres tries, I finally managed to get one of the gold flake stick on the bottle. It's a nicely carved golden flower! This can only found in Japanese products~
Well, I have to say, I'm so sorry that I focused more on eating than thinking photos. Nothing much to show here. Next time lah~ Next time I'll take more photos. Hee hee hee.....


How to go to Kannichikan Yakiniku?
~ From gurney drive, keep right. At the traffic light in front of Island Plaza, turn right and immediately to the left where there stand a row of shop lots. Kannichhikan Yakiniku is on the first floor, above the teppanyaki shop.

How Silk Is Made

I visited Silk factory at Chiang Mai last month and posted some photos on Facebook. Sha requested for a process flow for the silk making process and I promised her then. However, when I wanted to start to write about it, I noticed that I didn't "audit" them and hence do not know about all the details of the process and decision making steps....... So, I finally gave up the plan of preparing the process flow. I think a simple "Show and Tell" will do.

1. The silk worm - The newly hatched silkworm multiplies its weight 10,000 times within a month

I dare not go near to these worms so I have to use the maximum zoom in the dark condition

The fatty one, almost near the days of spinning cocoon

2. Sorting the cocoon - The cocoons are sorted according to the color, size, shape and texture as these affect the final quality of the silk. The photos below show yellow cocoons and greyish cocoons from the factory.

3. Softening - I always love silk. I always tought that it was made from the cocoon after the silkworm moth left their cocoon (yalah, never do my research properly). It was to my surprise to find out that the cocoons are put through a series of hot and cold immersions, ALIVE! I doubt if I still love silk......

Can you see the fine filaments from the cocoon?

4. Reeling the filament - this lady is unwinding the silk filaments from the cocoon and combining them together to make a thread of raw silk.

5. Bailing - checked from internet and found that these are called "book"

6. Weaving - i love this traditional way of weaving. Timeless.

This Is It

薇薇和恩恩一定纳闷了很久，“大姐怎么还不写This Is It?”
是的，他们俩分别在自己的部落里写了观后感，他们也深信我一定也会写下这么一篇，我忙了一个星期，今天，我们姐弟仨终于分别以This Is It做标题各写了一篇。


就像薇所说的，这明明是骗钱的事，但，在我生日那天，我正是明知道被骗钱也“傻傻”到电影院去。无他，就是为了MJ。

和薇及恩相比，我根本不是歌迷。也因为如此，我相信自己是更为中肯的。和许多人一样，我也不喜欢他的外表，我也不喜欢他的歌声。但是我没有办法否认，当他站在舞台上，他就是有那种慑人的魅力，让你无法不承认，他确确实实是世界上最棒的entertainer。

媒体总是把他描绘成苍白、无力、病态的怪人，老实说，我们不都瞧不起媒体描绘的那个MJ吗？可是，你想想，他们，真的认识他吗？我们总是很奇怪的、轻易的相信媒体给我们说的故事。可是，我们总是忘记，我们既不是当事人，也不是他生命中重要的人，更不是他身边任何一号人物，我们知道些什么？我们凭什么给他判罪？我们凭什么瞧不起他呢？很多年前我已经学会把那些我所不知道的“事实”摆一边，放下一切成见，纯粹的以欣赏演唱会的眼光欣赏他在舞台上的精湛。

This Is It电影刚开始不久，我有一点疑惑自己是不是选错了影片作为我庆祝自己生日的方式。那是一种非常复杂的心情，在黑漆漆的戏院内得慢慢地调节。是同情那些舞蹈员、是感慨可能我有生之年再没有第二个同等的entertainer、是遗憾自己不曾看过现场的MJ演唱会、是惋惜一场更棒的演唱会最终没有成为事实、是为现今世界乐坛觉得悲哀。这位被大家视为过气的“老”歌手在保留实力的彩排内让我们看见先今当红歌手们所没有的精湛与震撼。影片缓缓地铺开来，我嘴角开始挂起笑意。那些大家耳熟能详的歌曲原来还有这么多新意。They Don't Care About Us的概念好像很有型、Smooth Criminal的新MTV有一班老演员助阵、The Way You Make Me Feel的音乐竟然比舞台更有画面、Thriller(我们几时有得看3D的？)这么趣味怏然、Beat It仍然神采飞扬、Earth Song比以前更为震撼……唯一的遗憾是，哪有没有moonwalk的Billie Jean的呀？

我庆幸自己有幸活在有MJ的年代，有一个永恒的轻盈，会常驻我心……

柏林围墙倒下二十年了？

很难想象，才一转眼，已经二十年了。
小时候的大事，记忆都很鲜明的。我记得那一天，报章、电视上全是伯林围墙倒下的新闻，那是屹立28年后终于倒下的围墙，那是墙的两边盼望了28年后终于倒下的围墙，那是冷战终于真正结束了的希望。那个载歌载舞的场面，我记了下来……
这墙倒下前是匈牙利把它和奥地利之间的“围墙”给拆下，然后像骨牌效应般，伯林围墙就奇迹般意外地被人民给拆下了。东、西德国并没有因这一次意外立刻宣布统一。但是，终究是在一年内再次成为一家人。
从小，我喜欢这种皆大欢喜的大团圆结局，所以我把那一幕幕的新闻给记住了。我喜欢倒下的伯林围墙，正如我被南北韩手牵手走在奥运开幕礼上搞得泪盈满眶。（虽然，围墙倒下后是不是真的皆大欢喜是另一回事）
才一转眼，伯林围墙真的已经倒下二十年了。这二十年来，德国人们，你们都还好吗？

Happy Birthday to Me

哦，别误会了，并不是像叶倩文那么哀怨，是真的生日快乐的！嘻嘻！

好多人都很好奇，什么都吃不下了，究竟该怎么庆祝生日呢？但是嘛，让自己快乐起来本来就是我的看家本领，这，一点也难不到我。

早上睡到自然醒，吃一碗热腾腾的鸡粥，上面子书搞搞笑，陪妈妈看了一部影片，然后硬把老弟给拉去陪我看This Is It，让the King娱乐我。看完后意犹未尽，再到Borders买了一本Jodi Picoult打算今晚通宵达旦。在回家的路上，我拿了Häagen-Dazs寄来的生日卡，到Autocity败了三桶不同口味的雪糕，一边吃一边玩Bejewled Blitz!

呵呵，真是生日快乐！