Phuket

My Phuket trip over the weekend was short but fun. We left on Friday afternoon and came back last evening. I had wanted to spend the remaining baht I had on underwear but the shops were closed after we finished our dinner… so I went to Boots and splurged on dessert looking body creams and lotions.





The island’s a fun(ny) place with a fair share of thai culture like the he-shes, nice restaurants and pubs. Check out the photo of this gwai-lo or ang moh ballerina! He was standing around talking to people and I stole a shot of him. He shouted and came after me. We thought he wanted us to pay for or delete that shot but he actually wanted to do a sexy pose for us. That posy photo is unfortunately in my friend’s camera but watch this space. Phuket is a mix of bintan I think, in terms of the resort feel and with a touch of Bangkok with the shopping. Of course food and shopping are no match for bangkok. I’m not into water sports but the beaches are really beautiful, so is the resort we stayed in. Traditional thai massage was good but I must say regular yoga makes a real difference. My bones could have cracked otherwise.

And I DO agree with my colleague who suggested I rent a motorbike to get around the island. Transport is really expensive! Especially for someone who stayed in a resort on the hill! A trip from Patong beach to hotel cost us between 100 to 200 baht! The thought of having to go into another bargaining battle after a long day was equally tiring as the game itself. Talking about the peaceful Singaporean-owned baan yin dee resort, it was a mix of good and bad service. The aircon in our room was making a lot noise when we were about to doze off on the second day. The technician came but couldn’t fix the problem, so they gave us the room next door for sleeping. There’s a one-way free shuttle to Patong beach but the last one was at 4pm. Everything else from phone calls to taxi booking was money and money. Trip to patong by limousine would cost 300 to 1000 baht, 3000 baht for one-way airport transfer. Siao ah!!! I’d rather splurge it on seafood or even underwear.

My favourite experiences from the trip? Definitely the ride on the elephant back! Every step of the gentle giant was slow and steady! And the tune the mahout hummed was really pleasing!The rides on the fast boat was simply memorable, esp the non-stop 40 min ride right after lunch. It was high tide and the sea was extremely choppy. We were flying all over the place and getting knocks on the head and back. One uncle from Msia onboard who was talking throughout the morning became quiet after lunch.... cuz he said he wanted to puke out his food. Thrilling!

My Healthy Diet

When i tell people i eat fish at least once a day (doesn't count when i eat out, they won't believe me. Let pictures shed some light on what i have been eating and telling people.

What i had for dinner last week (not in chrono order cuz too similar, i lost track):

(Overcooked) pan fried fish. The one on the left was leftover from the day before.

Fish in ketchup and uncooked huge onion pieces. Glad there was bittergourd!

More pan fried fish. Oh, there was canned pig trotters!

Back to plain fish soup. There were also fishballs!

The McDull Flu

Mcdull has been pretty busy days, going around telling people that he and his friends are NOT down with flu. However, b4 he could fulfill his job as “no-flu” ambassador, his comrades in the land of pharoahs have already been culled. But his ‘shake leg’ disease has yet to be cured….

Mc Dull under self quarantine.

And I guess Nemos, moo moos and the chickens (maybe it will soon be their turn when swine flu is renamed chicken flu) must be in fear as humans turn to them for more meat.

As for me, I’m enjoying my time frequenting the no-queue bak kut teh stalls and the abundant supply of pork. And I’m flying off to Phuket tomorrow for more PORK. Long live swines!

Wine VS Salted Fish

People often say men age better than women. Maybe it’s true for some, like Miao Qiaowei is a classic example of men who grow old like wine – the longer the better. But more often than not, I see a lot of salted fish (those still continue to exist with time) around me – getting fat, balding… actually, the same goes for women. So what’s the difference if at the end of the day, they all sag? I think most women lost their figure to childbirth, rather than to beer, wine and dine or lack of exercise. The most important thing is, most women don’t around commenting on the (bad) looks and figures of the opposite sex. And if you notice, it’s usually those fat ugly men (of all ages) making such remarks. But we can’t blame them cuz they don’t walk around with a mirror in their face. Sigh…even their behaviour doesn’t mature gracefully with time.

Ok lah, I’m pretty lucky cuz my friends look their age or if not younger or much younger than they really are. 30 year olds look like college kids and 50 year olds like 40s. Gorgeous freaks! I hope to get some of those good genes through breathing the same air, tat’s why I’m pretty selective when it comes to friends. Hmm…

Penang = Assam Laksa + coffee (that’s about it)

I went to Penang over the long weekend and concluded that my takeaways are assam laksa and coffee on one extreme, and the bus terminal on the other. The walk on the deserted streets was quite relaxing. The Indians (my favourite!) and Malays were very very friendly but my own people….errr…. maybe I didn’t speak hokkien. The Penang friends and colleagues I know in Singapore are definitely not like that (at least they gave me tips for my trip and even offered me accommodation)!

Went to the glutton’s square at Gurney Drive. Remembered to snap pictures only when I almost finished eating. Recommendation – assam laksa from the 2 Thai/Philippino ladies at first stall from entrance. I thought they were Chinese and tried to pass off as a local with the accent but it turned out that they didn’t understand a word, so back to English. Next to it is Gurney Plaza run by capitaland which probably explains why it looks different from the rest (you won’t want to shop at the rest).

The famous kway tiao teng near chulia street (little india – my favourite!) was something new and could be said to be yummy. The roti babi was salivating – minced meat n vegetable filling in bread, deep fired. Actually, the name itself is enough to tempt!

Had the signature penang white coffee at Mr Pot and Georgetown Coffee. Tasted good cuz maybe I’m a evaporated milk lover. Apparently, white coffee is coffee beans from anywhere in the world (Georgetown coffee’s beans r from Rome) ground into powder, then added in the evaporated milk and labeled penang coffee.

Hot Wok Café – the nyonya restaurant highly recommended by lonely planet, the ang mohs who probably haven’t tried the best of peranakan food. Assam curry fish head and stewed pork (not biased) were nice, bedsides the décor. And can someone pls update the location? I made a wasted trip to Jln Pantai Molek at Tanjung Tokong (half an hour bus ride from my hotel in Georgetown, really Tokong!) when it is actually within walking distance on Jalan Burmah.

Yes, this IS the bus terminal (not rubbish collection point or something) behind the centre of activity Komtar shopping centre, which is like a rundown and smaller version of Bangkok’s MBK, or maybe slightly better than Singapore’s Golden Mile. But buses seem to be the best option besides our legs cuz the taxis don’t run on meter but on the mood of the driver.

I would prefer Melaka anytime, nice place with the small town, heritage feel but too bad when I went there, I wasn’t into photo taking yet. Good food too and plus the so much shorter distance: 4 hours vs 12 hours!

No, not the Daiso u see in Singapore. It's a sundry shop.

Some nice places - Penang Hill, Cheong Fatt Tze mansion and Khoo Kongsi

Of course, I had to bring my closest with me! He was worn out by the coach ride too...

The last we saw of my friend's Elmo... or is it Ernie?

Calling People Names

I went to the ktv with my ex-colleagues (now friends) yesterday. One of them has always been disturbed by one particular singer’s name – Fish. I have constantly been amused by names such as Yoga, Show, Noodle, Jam…but I can’t fault them for trying to be close to our daily lives or wanting to stand out. To get into their world or understand their mentality with the choice of names, I suggested these names to my friends:

-Venison Lim
-Beef Tng

And of course, I am Pork Lee.

Pet Lovers

Recently, an upcoming joint promotion by the People’s Association (PA) and Pet Station to hard sell the Passion card, which never seemed to have taken off after all these years and which is why they are still trying so hard, was aborted after protest by outraged animal lovers and intervention by SPCA and AVA. At this road show at tiong bahru plaza, discounts would be given to Passion card holders, and Pet Station would give away a free hamster to anyone who spent $25 or more (or maybe it’s $35 but doesn’t matter). It was a dumb idea but I could understand why – for years, the PA has been associated with people a.k.a human beings, so we should be more forgiving that it’s not sensitive to animals. As Pet Station, maybe it just wants to clear its stocks? To prevent such hoohas from happening in future, maybe they can offer cooked animals – like grilled hamsters or stewed rabbits, and keep these as mystery gifts, so the public has no time to complain in advance and ruin their promotions.

Many years ago (i think even before attended kindergarten), McDonalds also gave out free goldfish for the purchase of a set meal (I supposed). I got to choose from a pail of black, yellow goldfishes. Of course, I went for the gold one – goldfish has to be in gold mah! I was so excited to own a pet for the first time in my life and started to fall in love with fish rearing! I couldn’t sleep that night, waking up every now and then to check on my goldfish. It could blow bubbles (like Ponyo) at me. My parents certainly shared my joy with me. My mom went to the market the next morning and bought my pet a companion – a little green fish with a sharp tail. Then, my goldfish turned on its tummy. It was only much later that I learned the murderer was called “sword tail”. And till today, I haven’t got to know the sex of my goldfish, but I guessed it’s a boy cuz it enjoyed playing with me. Subsequently, we also bought guppies, some which got caught in the sink or washed down altogether while we were changing the water. 10 guppies dwindled to nine, then eight, then… My mom bought a pair of angel fish which avenged my goldfish! Their fate – my mom poured them into the drain cuz they turned out to be nasty pets.

When I closed the windows this morning, I saw the pail which came with my little goldfish hanging next to the windows. My mom uses it to hold clothes pegs, and it should be around for quite a while. I hope SPCA wont contact us cuz it really happened ages ago…ages…