went for my first archery class this morning..
honestly before i went i was trying to imagine what the class would be like
i was imagining a middle aged balding uncle with a paunch to be the instructor
dun ask me why
stereotype tt middle aged uncles muz haf a paunch
n instructors muz be middle aged..
hahaha
in the end everything was right except for the paunch..hahaha
when i first stepped into the CC
i saw a grp of kids carrying their own bows and quiver filled with arrows
i was thinking "Oh no! will i be overage for the class?"
haha
in the end they were members of the archery club of the cc la
according to the instructor, the archery association is trying to train up pple to take part in the youth olympics next year..so far only 2 qualify for the youth olympics..
anw in the end the class is pretty small 5 pple only
2 little boys who were accompanied by their father
the father's name and the boys' name were only different by 1 alphabet
so the CC staff made a mistake in keying in the name of the boys which resulted in the father signing up for the course rather than the boy...
haha
den got 1 army regular n another lady n me
nobody near my age...haix
haha
class size small gt 1 advantage
everybody get to have their own bow n arrow..
hee
den the instructor went thru the safety rules etc...
n he also showed us how to set up the bow n arrow
n we got to try to set up the bow n arrow too...
we use the recurve bow for our lessons..
think the compund bow maybe not so suitable for beginners..
haha
setting up the bow and arrow i think needs practice
when the bow is al taken apart it's like a jigsaw puzzle trying to set them all up
for today was pairwork..
so i was setting it up wif the other lady
i couldn't really diferentiate the front and the back of the bow
while the other lady scared me to death when she wanted to take out the string without using the stringer..
the instructor also explained a little of how archery is played in international competitions
it's really a sport tt requires endurance
actually all sports does ba..
the competition is like u haf to shoot 144 arrows for 2 or 4 rounds at 90m (for guys) or 70m (for gers) depending on the organiser
the bow and arrow weighs like 44pounds when the string is pulled back leh...
can u imagine hw tiring it is..
anw the instructor said next week we'll be able to start practising...
1hr of practise n 1 hr of theory..
yay!
i'm looking forward to next week alr!
btw the junior archers at the cc r really adorable!
since i've been living life like a recluse,
maureen aske dme if i wamted to go volunteer at sri narayana mission last sat...
i've passed by SN countless times
coz it's in the yishun area
and 858 goes pass it
but i nv knew what it does
i was enlightened last week..
it's an old folks home
although the founder is an indian
it caters to people of all races..
they have residents of all races staying there..
i feel bad abt saying it
coz all along i thot it was a charity/NPO meant for the indians..
oops!
talk about stereotype
haha
there was supposed to be an outing to bishan park for the residents of SN, a sister home maranti as well as the beneficiaries of the outreach programme of SN and the volunteers..
unfortunately, it rained poured 15 mins after we rched bishan park...
so we had to seek shelter with all the wheelchairs and all..
and so coincidentally, the shelter was where the toilet was..
well so the rain was the dampener...
but nvm
we sat outside the toilet n while waiting for the rain to stop
we ate, we sang and we drank
n we deterred a lot of pple frm gg to the toilet n frm coming out of it
haha
in the end the rain didn't stop
so we had to go back
the elderly had their dinner at the hme while we sang for them
i dunno if the elderly were disappointed or nt
or were they juz glad to have the chance to come out and breathe in fresh air
n be away frm their 'jail' for a while
when we were young
we look forward to the next day
coz it was another play day
when we go to sch
we look forward to the day tt we can stop studying
we look forward to growing up
so tt we can earn money n be as 'sophiscated' as the adults
when we start working
we look forward to our career progression
we look forward to setting up a family with our other halves
when we have our families
we look forward to seeing our children grow up as well as possible
when our children grows up
we look forward to having grandchildren
if you are still living with your family by then
you'll probably look forward to spending time with your children and grandchildren
but what if all these were taken away
you are sent into an old folks home
what is there to look forward to?
to them
they are just waiting for death to come to them
in the meantime
the home is just a jail or holding area before death..
of course there may be socially acceptable reasons for sending their parents into the hme
like inability to take care of them coz they need medical help, or they need attention 24/7
but no matter the reason
the elderly juz feels tt as long as they r nt in their own homes, they r in a jail
cruel world..
anw after the volunteering
we went for the singapore entertainment awards organised by SPH
coz maureen had free tix
hehe
it was held at the floating platform
cool!
i've never been to the floating platform to watch any performances before
fortunately the rain had stopped by then
it was nt the usual boring awards session
but it was more like a celebratory concert
the featured performers were
derrick 何维建
he got the 最佳新人奖
shi xin hui
ang mo pai (AMP)
AMP is made up of v solid pple u noe..
gt 黄韵仁，英魁，林琪玉, and someone else (act i dun really noe the chinese words for their names..agar-agar de haha)
they r all qt big names in the chinese music industry i think
coz all o them except for 林琪玉's chinese CMI
tt's y the name ang mo pai
黄韵仁 is the boss of funkie monkies i think
wu jia hui
gong shi jia
臭皮匠
i dunno them..
i dun find their rapping v nice leh..
royston tan
ya he was rapping with 臭皮匠
is he thinking o gg into the music industry too?
haha
energy
stefanie sun
budak pantai (or sth like tt)
an acappella grp made up of uncles...
u think they muz be thai coz o their names rite
nope they r a local acappella grp
hahaha
n they sang an acappella rendition of 橄榄树 with stefanie sun
joi chua
林锋
超帅的!!
but he din sing
aska yang
goh kheng long wu吴庆隆
he gt some 成就奖
jj lin
he rawks!
haha
n the压奏 was SHOW 罗志祥!!
altho i gt say i think he's ego v big
but i still like to see his performances
nice!
but then we were sitting a bit far away frm the stage...
all in all i thot it was qt a good show!!
i think it's qt cool to have performances at the floating flatform la!!
they shud have more!
n thx ger for asking me along!!! =D
hello hello
i'm back! (i guess most of u alr noe tt!)
haha
was away in penang from last wed till sat..
took the night bus on tues nite (freezing cold can! i was shivering even in my fleece jacket which everybody thot i was crazy to buy coz it's so hot in sg)
n came back on the nite bus on sat nite...
in case u all dunno
i was born in penang n my father's side of the extended family is in penang
so dun be surprise if i'm gg to penang...
altho there's nth there
in my opinion
haha
anw..
the last time i went back was 5 yrs ago in J2 for my grandfather's funeral...
all my cousins have grown since then...
frm cute little boys to not-so-cute boys
lol
anw took some pix...
be warned..
dun expect to see me or in fact anyone in my family posing in any of the pix..
1. coz i was behind the camera..
2. i haf a cam-phobic family as opposed to me being the camwhore..
i guess 1 camwhore is enuff for 1 family?
haha
my parents totally looked amused when i kept taking pix of things n the food tt we were eating...
n my bro was totally exasperated with me for taking pix of anything n everything tt i see..
anw for this trip the 2 people who were the most excited were my parents...
u could just feel their excitement
sth totally rare
they hardly get excited
not even during my graduation
bah
so excited tt my father went drinking juz b4 we left for penang
or maybe he was trying to fortify himself against the cold cold bus?
lol
anw photos ahead!
FOODcome to penang..
of coz muz eat their local food..
afterall tt's wad they r known for rite?
hokkien prawn mee
looks totally diff frm the sg variation rite?
it may look really red..but it's nt tt spicy...
n the most shiok part is u can taste the prawn in the soup
see tt tiny little shrimp there
penang food comes in small portions..
typical of nyonya food
so tt bowl o prawn noodles wasn't a lot
i'm sure sp can finish it..
haha
curry mee
can u see wad r the ingredients
i think nt many pple will like
but i like coz gt all my favourite ingredients
like pig's blood, h'am, cuttlefish, prawns (it doesn't usu cum wif prawns)
super unhealthy...
i'll die of high blood or hepatitis if i stay there for long..
haha
anw the one tt i took a pix frm is at gurney...
yikes taste terrible...so did the penang rojak at gurney...
hw can a rojak taste terrible i wonder..
so the pix is only for illustration..
i ate nicer ones at the market...
hehe
fried lok lok
this is the fried variation of lok lok
lok lok is like steamboat on skewers...
so fun..
din manage to take any pix of the original version
coz when i ate it i left the camera n my hp in the hse..
haix
i forgot the name of this alr...
it's like indian rojak...
ok la
nt really my fave...
but it's nt bad too..
fried kway kak
this is like the black version of the fried carrot cake
i dunno wd they add
it juz taste nicer than the black carrot cake
it's nt as sweet as the black carrote cake here
n they r like really generous wif the eggs
n there's beansprouts as u can see..
by the way the bright light at the side of the pix is nt coz it's overexposed..
it's coz it's in a plastic bag..n i juz ate it out of the plastic bag to avoid having to wash any dishes..hehe
this i really like
this dish is actually turnips
it's the filling in the popiah
but they also eat it as a dish in penang
dun look down on this dish k!
a lot of ingredients n effort went into making this leh
this innocuous dish contains turnips(duh), carrots, mushrooms, shrimps n cuttlefish
compare with the ingredients in our popiah turnip in sg...
sigh
n the thing is the turnips n carrots n cuttlefish muz be cut really finely for it to be nice
see the effort
this is prepared by my auntie by the way...
for my ahma's death anniversary..(to pray la!)
n of the the famous penang assam laksa!!
do u noe hw much i miss it?
i ate it practically everyday when i was there can!
coz there's this uncle who peddles assam laksa at the village tt i was staying in everyday..
it's difficult to find this in sg n the last one i ate at city plaza sucks n stinks...
it's either the fish or the h'eh gou
which is qt hard given tt so many spices go into the making of the soup...
n let me give u a lesson on inflation
yr 2000 - this exact same bowl o laksa cost RM1.50
2004 - RM1.70
2009 - RM2.20
this is wad i call inflation
n we r complaining abt the few cents rise in bus fares over here??
there were a lot more stuff eaten but i forgot to take pix or i think it's nt worth taking the pix or i couldn;t take coz my bro was getting exasperated wif me..
like the loh bah...a pity i only ate it once i was there...super nice!
n char kway teow,
n the 四果汤with the chewy sago balls...
ah...i was in heaven there
food heaven tt is..
haha
ok as u can see frm the above pix, i'm nt cut out for food photography...
but nvm la
i juz wan to share wif u all hw nice the food there is
haha
IN AND ARD THE HOUSE
while i was there i stayed in my uncle's hse which technically speaking is also my father's hse coz he grew up there n my ah gong/ah ma left the hse to the children...
it's like a kampong with zinc roofing, wooden walls, cemented floor, toilet oustside the hse...
n i swear it hasn't changed much since i was born..
except maybe the extension to the hse was built later..
enuff said..
let the pix do the toking!
the exterior of the hse at nite..the car there is a total goner...cant be used at all...instead they travel ard on motorbikes...faster as they can weave in n out of the traffic...but dangerous.. 2 of my cousins kena injuries frm motorbikes when i was there for the short few days... 1 gt burned by the exhaust pipe of some other motorbike on both legs, the other fell in the middle of the road after getting banged into by another motorbike..fortunately he only sustained scratches..
the kitchen cum washing area...
nteresting..
they wash clothes in the kitchen
haha
alfresco bathing?
lol
the bedroom tt my family shared..it's tiny can..considering tt we r all grownup..
unlike last time when we were younger all 4 o us could squeeze comfortable into this room..
the uncle who peddles his assam laksa frm his motorbike..
he sells the laksa in the picture above
he goes frm place to place to sell his laksa den he cums back to our place last..
so tt by then the soup would haf simmered for v long n would be very flavouful
yummy!
btw did i mention tt this uncle happens to be a neighbour too?
haha
the temporary stalls set up coz there's some celebration gg on here..
sell porridge, loh bak (the penang equivalent of ngoh hiang) and my fave 四果汤(penang equivalent of cheng teng)
the road outside the hse
super dusty...
opera..coz got some temple celebration so also gt opera for pple to watch as well as for the deities to watch..well i dun understand a word of it coz my hokkien is so lousy alr..what's more pure hokkien opera..so i juz went there took some pix n went hme..haha
act the next day they had firecrackers..but it was so freaking hot tt i was sweating like a pig at hme alr tt i din feel like gg out o the hse to where the firecrackers were which was act a 30 sec walk away..haha
SIGHTS, SCENES & SUCH
do u recognise.....
this?
thIS?
or THIS?
or THIS!
or THIS!!
and THIS!
yes! this is one of the filming location of little nyonya, chen xi's hse..it looks exactly like in the tv show la!
this is the peranankan mansion museum in penang
it was really a hse b4 it was sold to the present owner who converted it into a museum
the 5th generation of the original owner still comes here to pay his respect to his ancestors everyday...
the add on the webbie says
29, Church Street, 10200 Penang, Malaysia
so my dad, my uncle, my auntie n my cousinwere were all cracking their heads thinking of where's church street...
typing this exact same add into googlemaps din help
until we key in the name of the museum
den we found out where is it
it's at lebuh gerkeja or sth like tt
when my dad saw this name he was like
"ya! ya! this is church street! gerkeja is the malay word for church.."
faintx
where gt pple write add in diff language frm the street name de
testing our malay is it?
the game of cher kee or wad tt they alw play in little nyonya..my dad was explaining to us hw it was played...
the original basin of the hse
nice hor! the basin still gt pattern de...
can tell tt it was really used b4...
the baby pram tt our bangledashi museum guide was proudly pointing out to us came frm england n had springs..so? pram gt spring in the wheel is it supposed to be rare in those times?
do u noe wad is this??
this is the coffee grinder frm london
cool!
the meat grinder frm london too
the water heater frm london
can tell this family qt ang mo pai hor?
the servants dining area
wah..the servants get cushioned seats leh...
rich pple 就是不一样..
having been to the peranakan museum in sg n comparing it wif the one in penang i like the one in penang more..
ok la i'm nt saying sg's one nt good
it's act qt good if u really want to understand the peranakan culture frm the origins to the various occassions..very systematic
but i find it lacking in description
n most if nt all the display r behind glass panels for preservation i guess..
so u cannot act feel the peranakan culture...
can only admire frm afar..
for the peranakan musuem mansion in penang...much of the stuff haf been kept as it is...n only the fragile or expensive stuff r kept in display cases
so it actually looks like a hse tt u can live in..
den u can find out more abt the peranakan culture thru the stories told by the museum guide (which happens to be free)
the explanatory for u to read here is non-existent..
the only thing i din like was tt the tour is limited to 1hr..
so act still gt qt some rooms havent explore yet or havent really looked closely at yet
but i like this museum in tt i can take pix!!
very rare!
different approaches ba..
kek lok si
this is a temple...used to be qt grand..but now it can do with some maintainence...they actually haf a v tall guan yin statue here..but when we went there they were building a shelter for the guan yin, so nt very convenient to go up..haha
anw nth much to share here...juz pix..
Air Hitam Dam
well since the air hitam damn was on the same mountain as the kek lok si temple..my dad decided to drive us up to the air (ah-eh not air) hitam dam...walao all those yrs we've been there he nv bring us...anw it's juz as well coz last time i dun haf a camera so cannot take pix..hehe
pix of the scenery...
on the first day there we wanted to go 汕头街 coz it was introduced by 都市大发现..so we went there..who knows we went too early..so the food stalls weren't open..n it's called kimberly street i think...who will link 汕头街 to kimberly street...anw juz to be sure, we walk the whole length of the street..but we din see the foodstalls...n probably coz it's wed n they rest on wed...
i managed to take some random pix along the way..hehe
an old fashion barber shop with the uncle slping the in background..
kimberly street
as kimberly street wasn't open yet, we ended up gg to gurney drive..yes the tourist attarction...like the newton circus of sg...haha anw gurney wasn't open yet either...so we walked along the beach...i dunno if it's like this coz the beach dried up or coz it's low tide...i dun dare to climb over the ledge like my dad..anw so cool..the mudflats had a lot of creatures like mudskippers a lot of them..i can can see them skipping away from far away..do u noe that after so many time of visiting sungei buloh in sg..the no of times i see a mudskipper can be counted on 1 hand...but there gt so many...
den since there's nth else to do at the beach, we went to gurney plaza, a new shopping mall...some shop a bit atas..esp the departmental stall...
n i saw this bakery n i couldn't resist taking a pix of it
lol
bread history...lol breaktalk n cake history combined?hw abt prima leaves?
they have a lot of clinics or surgery places with the name sg on it...like the above..i also saw a singapore dental clinic, singapore infertitlity centre or sth like tt...haha so i guess singapore has become a synonym for high medical standards..
macdonalds & kentucky?
market in penang
everyday my parents will wake up early to go to the market to buy food for us...
i try to wakr up to join them..
but i alw give up...
finally on the last day..
i was determined to go wif them so tt i can get capture some shots..
n yay! i went!
haha
bustling market...
do u know tt the markets there r like drive thrus? motorbikes can juz drive in to buy wad they want..obviously cars cant coz dun think they can fit into the narrow lanes..
pity i din manage to get a shot wif the bikes in it..
1. i din wan to get knocked down by the bike
2. i was scared tt someone will snatch my camera
3.i was scared tt i'll lose my parents in the crowd coz they juz happily walk walk walk in front of me..fin really fancy getting lose on my last day there..haha
the 贡糖 (peanut candy) stall...the uncle was making 贡糖 when we went there..n apparently he was an old neighbour of my dad...so i was paiseh to take pix of him making 贡糖 even though i was v fascinated by it coz i was scared tt he will luff at me...so we left without taking a pix of him making the 贡糖..den as i was eating breakfast i kept thinking of what a great it would be if i can catch him making 贡糖...so on our way back i asked my parents to turn back..which qt a long way back..ya so act i gt a earful frm my mum...lol
in the end when we walked back, the uncle said
"小妹，我做完了"
faintx
in the end can only take a pix of this..
his equipmnt for making 贡糖 the brown stuff on the table is the peanut filling in the 贡糖 which he is gg to throw away alr..haix..missed him by 10mins..
tadaa! freshly made 贡糖!
freshly made peanut candy...they use this peanut candy to make 贡糖...they pound it into make the outer crispy layer of the 贡糖...den they will fold the skin over the peanut filling..
bus stop...each ride is only RM1...damn cheap..haha U303 goes home!! anw their buses qt nice de...aircon n all..but they take forever to cum..
freshly made tau sar piah...the box was still warm when my dad brought it back frm the shop...yummy! erz expiry date is on 14 mar so gers sorry ar cant bring for picnic liao..hehe
do u noe wad this packet contains??
sniff sniff
it's the nutmeg seed...so pretty rite? n it smells really nice! it's used for cooking..cook wad i dunno..haha
n guess wad's this?? it's the 榴连糕..yep..the colour's like so dark tt we were qt suspicious of it...but the shopkeeper said tt this is made up of pure durians unlike the normal light brown ones tt we see...i havent try yet..haha
n den all too soon it was time to leave...sad...i was totally missing penang even b4 i left..it's like so laid back n so relaxing...even the drivers there r so much nicer..like u can juz cross a bz road n the driver act slow down for u to cross...nt like in sg..u'll prob get a honked...
i miss penang life even though there was no hot water to bathe in (at least in the hse tt i stayed in la) so i bathed super fast i gt bitten to death my the numerous mozzies which were excited at the thot of new blood the weather can get so hot until i can juz sweat by sitting there...which in turn attracts the mozzies..n it doesn't help tt the hse ha a zinc roof so it acts like an oven...oven baked humans anyone? haha
left on sat nite came back on sun morning..
when i went online on the nice sunday morning...my mananger msn-ed me
Mananger: u back alr?
me:ya..came back this morning
manager:got a lot of work for u in the office
me:ok
sigz..back to reality...
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Love
misstamchiak
12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004