Asia Trip 2012 - Bukit Metarjam

The long awaited Asian holiday has finally arrived!

Yesterday was a full day in transit... 9 hour flight from Syd to KL, 4 hours in Kuala Lumpur's LCCT airport (where we spent a few hours chilling out at Starbucks with Mel and Mike), then a 50 minute flight to Penang. We finally arrived in MP's family home town of Bukit Metarjam at around midnight... and it was straight to bed as I had already turned into a walking zombie.
MP described Bukit Mertarjam (BM) as a town similar to Taree of Sydney. Small town with houses sprawled all over the place. But that's where the similarities stop. Driving around BM, you do witness life in a third world country. All the run down vacant shops, the stray animals on the sides of the streets, the piles of rubbish at the front of people's houses... Iots for the mind to take in.

We spent today driving around BM in search of the best Malaysian grub. MP's "Ah Yee" (I.e. auntie) and his cousin Pete, took us to all these local haunts known for serving "the best" of everything. For brunch, we drove to a place which specialized in "the best" taro rice with pig stomach soup. I ate the taro rice and took a nibble of the pig stomach, but ended up devouring a bowl of Asian meatball soup instead, which Ah Yee kindly ordered for me in anticipation of my sensitive Aussie stomach. After brunch, we drove around in search of seasonal fruits. It is the start of the Summer fruits season in Malaysia, which means a tropical feast of durian, rambutan, mangosteens and lychees. In BM, you don't venture into a supermarket for fruit. Rather, locals set up stalls lining the side of the road, showcasing their harvest. Ah Yee has a keen eye for good fruit and she scoured stall after stall, finally walking away with a Durian and bags of lychees and mangosteens. It was fruit heaven.

For afternoon tea, Ah Yee drove us to a renowned local vendor who made "the best" "mung jung kueh", a kind of sticky cake with has a thin layer of crisp on the outside, and crushed peanuts, butter and sugar on the inside. We ate it hot as it was fresh from the pan and it was absolutely sublime. Afterwards, we drove to a little shop which served "the best" Cendol in BM. Ah Yee told me that they made their coconut milk fresh (i.e. it does not come from a can). Boy does that make a difference! The Cendol was a perfect balance of shaved ice, coconut milk and gula, with thin green Cendol jelly and perfectly cooked red kidney beans. At this shop, we also found these trianglular, banana leaf parcels which MP had always told me about. This was traditional Nasi Lamek (Coconut rice). Because we were quite full, we bought one to share between the two of us and It only cost us a dollar twenty ringgit! (I.e. forty cents AUD). We picked one which had anchovies and egg... honestly, that little parcel of rice was better than any Nasi Lamek you could buy in Sydney for $10-$15 . MP and I scraped up every last rice grain and thought about buying another. But Ah Yee told us that we should save our stomachs for dinner...

For dinner, Ah Yee and Ah Tiew (MP's uncle) took us to a secluded restaurant in a small village, an hours drive away. The Asian alfresco style restaurant situated next to a farm, is renowned for it's amazing fried pork knuckle. So we ordered that as well as steamed snapper, fried squid, prawn noodles and stir fry potato leaves. The food was unbelievable. The steamed snapper was topped in this delicious chilli, soy bean and shallots sauce. The moorish fried squid had a hint of curry powder in it's crunchy coating, and the pork knuckle had perfect crackling covering a layer of soft chewy fat. It was an amazing meal and the perfect end to our first food filled day in BM.

The whole day has been unbelievable. It was on the car ride home from dinner, as I reflected on my day, that I realized how lucky I am to have married into a great family with a cultural background so different to my own. Today just would not have been possible if I was a tourist. I am the luckiest.

Photos to come.
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Guardian Angels

I believe know that every event happens for a reason. Every person that we meet... It is all exactly as it should be.

This week, I had lunch with a colleague who I was only introduced to a few months ago. It's only the second encounter we've really had outside of day to day work liaisons, but after lunch yesterday, I knew I was meant to meet him. That I was meant to meet him at this exact point in my life.

He reminded me of thing I've forgotten. He shone light on the ideas, the beliefs and the notions, that I've always held, but seem to have ignored in the past few years. He reminded me of life's purpose. He reminded me of my purpose. He reminded me of the gift I have and how, unbeknownst to me, I may be using it every day to help those around me.

I hope I gave him something in return. Even if it's just an ear for his own personal predicaments. He shared with me this great life philosophy he holds, where he feels that his purpose is to turn every frown he encounters, into smiles. At the end of life's journey, if his frowns vs. smiles balance sheet tips in favour of smiles, then he has served his purpose. He would have done good... What a great philosophy.


He also reminded me that every day you get the opportunity to start over. Just because today is a terrible day doesn’t mean tomorrow won’t be the best day of your life. You just got to get there.

I have always believed in Guardian Angels. But the static drone of life, often blocks my ears and blindfolds my eyes to them. Only after they leave do I realise who they were and what they did for me.

I'm so grateful that I recognise this one. That I can say to him face to face, thank you for coming into my life.

Another week... another feast

It's been a momentous week. Thursday, 3rd of May was the day MP and I got back into the black, and we celebrated with a nice "Date Night" meal at Cafe Lyon in Lindfield.

We drive past Cafe Lyon almost every day. I don't know why we waited so long to make a reservation. But after last night's meal, you can bet your cotton socks that we'll be back.

This cute little French Bistro really surprised us. You can choose two courses for $55, or $65 for three. Both of us scanned the dessert selection first and after seeing the Pear Tart Tartin (with Butterscotch Sauce and Vanilla Bean Ice-cream), we made an executive decision that no matter what, we had to make it to dessert.

The menu was simple yet had a good variety. Four entrees, four mains and four desserts. They also had the Specials (one of each course). MP ended up selecting all three of the Specials.

For entrees MP had the Scotch Egg which came on a bed of crunchy celeriac with a rich Balsamic dressing. I had the famed citrus cured salmon, spiced avocado and crunchy prawn tempura. This was the dish Terry Durack rated as the "Must Try" in his Good Living review.
  

They had us hooked at entree...

We were both really impressed! The flavours were fantastic and you can tell that every ingredient on the plate was well considered.

For mains, MP had the Lamb Shanks with polenta and Eggplant Jus. I had the Quail Ballotine, which had chestnuts inside. It came on a bed of braised red cabbage. MP won out with the mains - his lamb was cooked to perfection.

But the biggest surprise came at dessert time. MP selected the Special which was Profiterroles with vanilla bean ice-cream and a decadent chocolate and Grand Manier sauce. It was yummy...

... But my Pear Tart Tartin was ethereal. A full pear poached to absolute perfection, wrapped in a crunchy pastry and drizzled in Butterscotch Sauce. The Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream accompanied the warm pear perfectedly. One word - Amazing.

It was a wonderful meal. The perfect end to a stressful work week. And the perfect start to the weekend.

It was an overwhelming week at work. I have so much to do before we go on holidays. I hate working on weekends, but I don't think there's much of a choice this weekend. Just have to keep reminding myself that holidays are only 14 days away...

I also stumbled across a beautiful blog challenge from Ez at Creative Comforts - Things I'm afraid to tell you In a nutshell, the challenge is based on the idea that within blogland, people's lives appear shiny, pretty, happy and perfect, when in reality, life is very different and we are often afraid to reveal how things really are. I've been reading blog posts from all the inspirational bloggers who have taken on this challenge. This post by Lynn has especially struck a chord. I've been a follower of Lynn's blog for about a year, as I am a big admirer of her letter-press business Satsuma Press. After reading her post, now I'm an big admirer of Lynn.

I've always thought that I was pretty honest and transparent in my writing. But if I was, then I wouldn't have been so scared to make public this blog which I started in 2008, a good three years before this one.

Royal Escapades was my "dear diary". A private outlet for me to post my honest thoughts and opinions about life, which ranged in light and dark shades. When I decided to create a public blog to document my journey to start a crafting business (yes, that was my original brief for this blog. Yes, I know I have digressed...), the thought of making Royal Escapades public was not an option. So until two minutes ago, this private blog was only visible to me.

I have just noticed though, that over the last 6-12 months, I have stopped posting exclusively on Royal Escapades. There are even posts over this period, which appear on both blogs.

Maybe it's because I've had less bad days... or maybe I became braver in posting about the bad days here... I don't know. But it's time I reveal the things I'm afraid to tell you.

So much eatiing...

It's been four weeks since the end of my Easter Staycation and the days have just blitzed by. MP and I celebrated the anniversary of our first date, thirteen years ago, with a delicious dinner at Restaurant Arras. We went on April 10th, the day after the Easter long weekend, and found ourselves the only patrons at the sleek and stylish restaurant. Alon, the Maitre d, informed us that it usually costs $10,000 to book out the restaurant. We felt very special.  

Since Justin North shipped his crew up to the new Westfield, Arras moved into the old Becasse site at 204 Clarence Street. MP and I dined at Becasse on New Years Eve 2009, and the meal was spectacular...

Arras was even better.

From start to finish, the meal was an artistic affair. Ten courses of mouth magic delivered through duck liver parfait, flavour punching clam noodles, tuna nicoise with bean puree, juicy scallops (potato and the seafood kind), tender duck, veal cooked to perfection... and the desserts! Oh, the desserts! Even with the petit fours, we were presented with a smorgasbord of peanut brittle, toasted marshmallow on sticks, jellies, chocolates, meringues and more... and we were free to take whatever we wanted! I was so taken aback by the big platter presented to us, that I completely forgot to take a photo. But you can see in the picture above, the small pink and blue platters which housed our final selections. By this stage of the meal, we were both supporting rolly polly bellies and were ready to be tipped over and rolled home, so we were conservative with our pickings.

I haven't even mentioned the wines which complemented each course perfectly. I must say that you really get your money's worth with the wine course. It was a one to one pairing and we even got a cocktail with our H'orderves!

All in all, we had a fantastic meal. The food, the wine, Alon and Ralph (our waiter) made it a very special night for us.


MP and I have been eating out a lot over the past few weeks. Yes, we're enjoying the DINK lifestyle as much as we can, now that we've seen what bubbies do to free time through all our friends who have had recent new additions to their family. Just yesterday, we had lunch at a new cafe which has opened up in Alexandria called "The Grounds". It was only it's fourth opening weekend and was absolutely packed to the brim. We had to wait 45 minutes for a table, but they had a sweet little herb and vegetable garden outside where queuers could grab take away coffees and wait. I enjoyed a rich hot chocolate and MP, a smooth, velvety cappucino, as we sat amongst aromatic oregano, adolescent aubergines... and chooks. Was the wait worth it?

"Yes" for me.
"Not really" for MP.

I'm a sucker for Ginger Beer and this one came in a rustic jar with a sprig of fresh mint. Lunch was chicken schnitzel complemented with home made coleslaw and mint sauce. The chicken was tender and the mint sauce added a unique touch to the coleslaw. MP had the roast beef salad, which was thrown together with pecorino, capers, roasted tomatoes and rocket. We also ordered a side of their hand-cut fries which came with a delicious chilli-mayo. Lunch came to around $45, including a piccolo coffee. Very reasonable in my opinion.

I really liked The Ground, but MP ducted points due to their bad queueing system. They don't take your phone numbers down. Rather, the maitre d writes down your name and a guestimate time of when he thinks he'll have a table ready for you, and tells you to come back at that time. When you come back at that time, there are other people mulling around who have also been told the same time. Then it's all down to the Maitre d's memory on who arrived on time first, as to who gets seated first. It's all a bit messy and can be unfair. For example, we were welcomed to a table first, even though there was another couple who had been told they were next.

The Grounds is a great place to go if you live in the area. The address is 7A, 2 Huntley St, Alexandria. MP thinks that the queues are just because of their "shiny and new" tag, but I think the rustic environment, the fresh food and the reasonable prices, makes The Grounds a keeper.

So yes, we've spent the last few weekends feasting. Other new places we have tried include Kitchen at Mikes (also in Alexandria) and Restaurant Sixteen in Neutral Bay. Both are highly recommended. Eating aside, life has been pottering along nicely. Our Asia Trip is just three weeks away and I very much look forward to seeing all our family and friends. I've been dreaming about all the amazing food we will be gauging on. 20 days and counting!

Easter Break - Day 5

Eek! I blinked and five days went by... can't believe that I'm half way through my Easter break!

I'm currently sitting at the hairdressers, waiting for all the smelly chemicals in my hair to do it's thang. After two years of having wild, kinky hair (and getting away with calling it my "messy look"), I'm bringing back some order into my hair (life?) by getting it chemically straightened. For those of you who know me, you may be thinking "What the heck? You're Asian! You already have straight hair!" Yes, that is true. My hair is relatively straight. But I am gunning for the Head and Shoulders, hair-like-a-waterfall straight. The Salon Selective "look like you stepped out of a salon" hair. This special treatment is meant to give me that after every wash, for three months! I have big expectations for this hair. Fingers crossed.

In other news, lots more tick, tick, ticks (off the Staycation To-Do List) over the last few days. Got the car headlight fixed, booked Tokyo accommodation for our upcoming trip, and finally got all the forms signed and sent off to Anglican Retirement Village. No, we are not sticking our parents in homes.... yet. (hehe Just kidding mum!) MP and I are wanting to start volunteering once a week at the Retirement Home up the road. Just reading to residents and helping out where we can.

I did have a thought this week which I've been mulling over. It's not a great insight, but it is how it is.

When a person doesn't work, they lose power. Power in a relationship. Power to do what they want, when they want, and sadly, power over their subconscious demons. The ones which preys on all our inner insecurities.

Work provides a framework to our sense of self. It forms part of one's identity and for many (me included) it is a quantitative measure of one's self worth.... I HATE that, but I admit that it is true.

I'm not even unemployed (just on a break!) and already I feel it. The loss of power by not being at work. I don't want to go into all the details. But this insight has definitely added another pro to the list of reasons for working.

Ok, Hairdresser has started bantering. Time to go.

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Easter Break - Day 2

Four glorious days of annual leave, coupled with the Easter long weekend, means 10 work free, staff free, stress free days of nothing but me! Yes, my long awaited Easter Staycation has finally come. 

Today is Sunday, day two of my break. Yesterday, I went back to the Hills and spent some time with my mum and dad. I love going back to the Hills. It's my safe haven. My rejuvenation sanctuary. My Matrix reset. Whenever I go back, I get reminded of all the things that are important in life. Family. Nature. Me. Have to endeavor to go back more often...

I know people have mixed thoughts about To-Do Lists on holidays, but there's just so much I haven't had a chance to do, I've had to write it all down. Last night, I organised the printing of my wedding thank you cards (yes, six months late but better late than never!) and today, I finished picking out pictures for the wedding album. Tick! Tick! Two things struck off the list.

One of the things I promised myself that I will NOT do, is think about work over the next ten days. So far it's been pretty good... barr the occasional moments when my subconscious though drifts. However, without work consuming the majority of my thoughts, it's surprised me how little I have to do. I've suddenly discovered all these pockets of spare time simply because my mind hasn't been running on work overdrive.

So I've decided to put these pockets of spare time into good use. There are all these things I have always wanted to learn, but I've never had the time to. So I'm picking three simple things, and I'm going to endeavor to do them every day -

1) Draw something - whether it is a masterpiece or a little doodle, I'm going to draw something every day. I was a great drawer as a kid and I loved it. But somewhere along the way, I stopped and now I can barely muster stick figures. I'm going to start again. Whether it be just penning a doodle or tracing a picture, I'm going to pick up a pencil and draw.

2) Practice Wolf Whistling (in the shower) - I've ALWAYS wanted to be able to hail a cab with a whistle! This needs to be practiced in the shower as my attempts have always lead to sprays and showers of spittle.

3) Learn Chinese - My Chinese is really bad and it annoys me that when I go back to Hong Kong, I can't even read a menu. So I'm going to learn one Honkie Menu item every day. MP and I have an Asian holiday planned in May so hopefully, I would have a few dozen dishes up my sleeve by then.

And that's my plan.

We'll see how it goes...

First crafty project for 2012

I didn't take a photo of the finished Paddington Wool Baby Blanket I made last year, before giving it away. However, I had such a great time making it, that when I received Morris and Son's newsletter annoucing their annual Christmas Sales, I went back and bought enough of the lucious wool to complete two more blankets. I finished one of them a few weeks ago.

The process was long and arduous, but as always, seeing the finished product made it all worth while.