Tuesday, January 22, 2008

every one wants a free bite!

My Mom was famous for making these cookies for the Chinese New Year market among friends (and to their friends). It became so popular and we could hardly keep up with the demands. She and Dad would sit for weeks making these little coin-shaped cookies by hand, then brushing them with beaten eggs with a skill that could only be acquired over time (that if one brushes it a little too hard, the cookie would break). They would work on them for weeks and into the wee hours of the morning to meet up with the orders.

This was my parents’ “baby” and would like to keep it as our family’s “secret recipe”. They had worked very hard on perfecting these cookies after many attempts and time spent. The payoff was that the sales from these cookies managed to help us put food on the dining table during those festive seasons of the early eighties when my parents were going through some financially difficult times.

Then a few years ago, friends of friends and relatives began to pop up. They would blatantly ask for the recipe and mom would gently tell them that it wasn’t like she didn’t want to share her recipe, but it was a “family secret and business”. These thick-skinned insensitive idiots would not give up so easily and would persistently attempt with cajoling and GIFTS! When it finally sank onto their thick skulls that my parents would never give them the recipe, these so called relatives and old friends remain as they are in memory (since they are never heard of ever again)!

I have people younger than me who would respect my decision when I tell them that there are certain things that I would like to keep as confidential (and that include the cookies recipe). They wouldn’t feel offended nor our relationships being hampered. I would understand when my best friend couldn’t give me a list of his clients but would look for new potentials for me. I understand that those were his bread and butter and I wouldn’t want to take those away from him. Do I hate him? If I do, I am no better than a selfish, greedy shithead!

I don’t mean to sound prejudiced but is this a Chinese thing? I remember my neighbor asking my sister for her “perfected through multiple experiments” Melting Moments Cookie recipe and agreed to give us their ice cream’s (recipe). They never did and kept on making excuses like they had misplaced, lost, or the dog had eaten the recipe yet, they always had homemade ice cream in their refrigerator!

Assholes!

Posted by Brien in 06:19:49 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

so whether it is “pedo”, “paedo” or “peadal”, you like cycling…

So, if you are a bicycle enthusiast and you happen to be at a party when someone asks you of your hobby and you say, “Pedalphile”! It is almost guranteed that they would ask you to repeat, or to avoid you altogether!

Posted by Brien in 05:09:35 | Permalink | No Comments »

Monday, January 14, 2008

timmy and val

My nephew Timmy dropped by over the weekend from Singapore after about a week there. He brought along his (latest) Singaporean girlfriend who studies in Perth (where they met).
 
I had my guest room ready for them but he changed his mind at the last minute citing preference of reliving the nostalgic elements from my parents’ house. He says that he likes the gentle whiff of incense from the altar in the morning that permeates into the guest room among other smells, and the sounds from the neighbors (Yeah! Wait until he lives here long term!)!

He used to come at least once a year when he was a kid (and I miss that kid too)! All time passing too fast!

Images:

1) Timmy and his latest girl friend Val.

2) My cheeky nephew Timmy playing with his food during dinner on his recent visit . In the background, my othyer nephew seemed to be in a reverie with food still in his mouth! 13 January 2008.

Timmy's 2008 Visit 2Timmy's 2008 visit

Posted by Brien in 09:48:37 | Permalink | No Comments »

Monday, January 7, 2008

age-ing while sage-ing but never get your dog stuffed!

I was rather pleased to have read two delightful memoirs over two weekends. Two books that I couldn’t put down and at the completion of these two books, a tinge of sadness came over me for having finished reading them too soon! I wished it had been longer or thicker but nevertheless, these two books have made my life even more meaningful from a certain point-of-view! “Richer” to be more like it.

First off would be Shirley MacLaine’s “Age-ing while Sage-ing”. Unlike her last, “Out on a Leash” that was her first disappointing book to me (after 9 books), this one is a reminiscent of my all-time favorite memoir of hers, “Out on a Limb” that came out in 1983. If one is not familiar with “Out on a Limb”, or Shirley MacLaine per se, be fore warned that this one is written, as one Amazon reviewer would describe, “as a channel for physical, metaphysical, and spiritual information, delivered with a sense of enthusiasm, open-minded intelligence, and always a willingness to learn, discover, and evolve as a result of her quest to know more. The fact that she doesn’t let criticism or ridicule stop her from reporting on controversial topics is a testament to her courage. The popularity and financial success of “The Secret,” “What the Bleep?” and a myriad of other metaphysics-based endeavors owe much to her trailblazing”! To put it simply, her later literary works aren’t every body’s cup of tea!

I have been a Shirley MacLaine fan for as long as I can remember way back when I was a 9 year-old kid watching her do her song-and-dance thingy on our little Toshiba black-and-white. Then, I was totally smitten when I saw her as Sweet Charity (and had only realized later that I didn’t like her singing after watching “Sweet Charity” for the umpteenth time)!

I especially like her in “Madame Sousatzka”, “Steel Magnolias”, “Sweet Charity”, “Rumor has It (and I think she redeemed the movie)”, “Waiting For The Light” and “The Apartment”!

As for Alan Alda, he is another actor that I grew up watching constantly for years through the television series M*A*S*H. I obviously didn’t know what the series was all about when it first premiered in 1971 over here, but during those days, there were nothing much being offered from our two-channel (and only) television station. The cartoons would end by 6 p.m. and we only get Japanese man-in-a-monster-suit-eventually-gets-bashed up-by-a-gargantuan-hero-in-a-zippered-up-suit on weekends. Only when I reached my teens that I began to understand what the series was all about. Some episodes were funny but there were some that would bore the pants off me.

Anyway, I had never thought Alan could write so well but when I saw the title, “Never Have your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned”, I was curious because it sounded funny. With the high price of the hardcover edition, I thought I would wait for the soft cover to come out but as time went by, I had forgotten all about it!

It wasn’t until last week when I saw an episode of Martha Stewart with Alan as one of the guests. They talked about the book and I thought it was funny! They also talked about how Alan’s dad got Alan’s dog stuffed after it had eaten left-over Chinese food and suddenly died from a suspected piece of undetected bone in the food and the following events that made me laugh! I went out during the weekend and nailed one of the two copies at Times Bookstore.

True enough, it was very enjoyable and I couldn’t put it down! I took it out with me when I went out with May Yee fearing that she might hit the boutiques and true enough, she did! The only exception was that this time I was armed with that book and wouldn’t have minded if she took the whole day at the boutique! Talk about the power of good writing style and wit!

Will be getting his second book, “Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself”. By the way, he looked like Elijah Wood when he was a kid.

Posted by Brien in 09:57:32 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Friday, January 4, 2008

a house on a hill

Took half day off to visit my older cousin brother who just bought a cool bungalow on top of a hill somewhere in Sungai Long (because my parents would never be able to find this place on their own). The house is HUGE with three floors! The façade would have a Balinese design when completed (and my cousin is in the landscaping business so, it wouldn’t be a problem for them)! The whole visit had been fun and relaxing!

Images:

1) Still in the process of renovation, this house (that belongs to my older cousin brother) would have a Balinese influnce when completed. 4 January 2008.

2) Taken while half-way on the staircase to a children’s playground on a hill in front of my cousin’s house. 4 January 2008.

3) We were asked to stay on for a ’simple’ dinner by my aunt (my cousin’s Mom) but we never expected this and there were 2 or three more dishes that had yet to be laid out on the table when this picture was taken! 4 January 2008.

4) “Family” (or should I say “Relatives” ) Portrait. 4 January 2008.

Kwai's hse IIKwai's Hse IKwai's Hse IIIKwai's Hse IV

Posted by Brien in 04:30:14 | Permalink | No Comments »

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

ushering 2008 with a snap, crackle and being pooped!

Okay, no wine as I had intended to usher the new year with (as being so called, “planned” in my last entry) because I was too pooped (from work) and after a packet of instant Nissin noodles with a can of braised peanuts, I just couldn’t stomach anything else anymore! I had forgotten that I had moved my CD player out of my bedroom (into the living room) to make space for my new LCD television in my bedroom, so I watched 4 episodes of “Will & Grace” instead!

I only realize that it was 12 a.m. when I heard crackling noises outside my window. I had been drifting in and out of consciousness while watching television. The skies were lighted with fireworks when I peeped out from the window/sliding door of my bedroom. Some nearby houses were firing up their own fireworks and I wondered where they got them from since a license is required to own or use them. I was told that there was a fireworks show at KLCC but from my balcony view of the twin towers, I could see no special activity going on there!

MM’s voice then boomed from below my balcony for me! She and her friends had wanted to “borrow” my balcony to see the fireworks. I invited them up for the view, but everything was over within 10 minutes or so. By then, I couldn’t see the twin-towers at all. A thick blanket of smoke had blanketed it!

On the first morning of the year, I did nothing out of the ordinary. I blended my usual fruit and vegetable juice and felt so unexpectedly full afterwards that I couldn’t have my regular cereal that I normally have an hour after my fresh juice every morning. The rest of the morning was quite regular (uneventful) /routine/normal until later when I had to prepare to go to my cousin’s wedding ceremony.

My cousin, another one of my generation (11 years my junior), one of the ‘babies’ in my family was leaving the nest. Another one whose parents got married in their twenties and I thought they were OLD then (my uncle was 25 then and his bride was 23. She was timid and exceptionally quiet. Today, 32 years later, my Aunt is hardly timid and loves to talk). My cousin is 32 but I still see him as being “the baby” – despite being seven years older than his Dad when his Dad married his Mom. Mmm!

As usual, I became the subject of entertainment or comedy relief at the ceremony for being the oldest unmarried one of my generation. I was forced by the groom’s father to be first in the line to receive a gift in the form of a “red packet (with money)” from the newly weds. That was supposed to be for kids! Virgins!

Anyway, after all the laughter (from the floor) and embarrassment (that was me!), I had a pleasant surprise when I discovered that they had given me two very BIG “red packets” contents-wise! I also see that as a sign from my Aunt and Uncle saying, “GET HITCHED SOON!!”

Me? Na! I think I want to be Yoda!

Images:

1) My “baby” cousin and his bride at the altar paying respects to our ancestors (his parents married when his dad was 25 and I thought he-the dad was old ! Now his son is 32 and I still see him as one of the “babies” in our family)! 1 January 2008.

2) The newlyweds giving out money packets to the kids and I was cornered/FORCED by the groom’s dad to be first in line! Lots of embarrassment (of being laughed at) but I got the “heaviest” gift packet of all! I can buy lots of Haagen Daaz half-pint Ice Cream with it! 1 January 2008.

3) The newlyweds serving the groom’s parents tea. 1 January 2008.

4) After having served tea to my parents as a mark of respect to the older generations. My parents gave to the new couple monetary gifts. 1 January 2008.

5) The first dish of a 12-course dinner at my cousin’s wedding. This dish consists of four smaller dishes of stir-fried scallops with cuttlefish bits, Japanese-style baby octopuses, salad prawns and fried oyster cutlets. Delicious! 1 January 2008.

Wai's Wedding IVWai's Wedding IIIWai's Wedding IIWai's Wedding IWai's Wedding

Posted by Brien in 07:10:19 | Permalink | No Comments »