Jonker St and More

马六甲, 我来吔!

TODAY WE SET OFF FOR MALACCA FOR A DAY TRIP. Also nothing much happening in kl CITY as it is Raya/Aidilfitri and pre-Merdeka Day.
Yesterday I re-scheduled my trip back to Oz to depart KL 14 Sep. On 3 Sep I will be leaving for Singapore and I am not expecting to make anymore trips outside of KL; so I am counting down my sleeps to return home ====== 16 sleeps from today.

We decide to have brekkie @ 新记牛腩 Seremban Beef Noodle which is located at the Central Market. The food stall is not hard to find and we have 2 small bowls of "dry" beef noodles and one bowl of beef balls (5 pcs) to share among us for RM11.60. It's not really cheap, but good.

Seremban Pasar Besar

We arrive Air Keroh and detour to take a look at this new resort - PHILEA. It has an interesting roof supported by timber beams of a type that I can't name and the timber chalets look inviting. I later jump on the net and find their site contains very interesting and beautiful photo shots.



Darren and I get into Melaka town center by 11am, after a leisurely drive on the highway. However due to the amount of vehicular traffic it takes us a good 1/2 hour from Air Keroh.

We want to spend some time browsing OJ (Old Jonker) and have our dinner before hitting the highway back to Serdang. We do not want to do other touristy stuff. That's the plan.

Jonker St or Jonker Walk or Jalan Hang Jebat is at the very heart of Malacca. OJ is part of the old Chinatown. What we see are people/tourists everywhere jostling for food and stuff to buy.
From the car rego plates we figure more than 90% of the visitors today hail from KL.

We have no interest in buying stuff that we don't need or want but we enjoy seeing the old buildings and want to try out some food.





Lord knows. We do not think we will have luck fighting to get food and so we decide to have each a bowl of durian cendol at Jonker 88 by the side of Jonker St and we are happy.


We notice crowds queuing for chicken rice but Darren has already been to these joints before and comments that they are just normal chicken with rice shaped into "rice balls" - noting to shout about so we give these restaurants a wide berth.



We love these original 咸菜缸 but they are priced at RM2800 each!



Darren's in the budget hotel business so I take these pictures for him - renovated shop lots in the Jonker Walk operated as hotels.



There is this old Mosque (MASJID KAMPUNG KLING) in the Jonker Walk (on Jalan Tukang Emas) that was completed in the 1748 with Sumatran architectural design (note the Minangkabau roof) but influenced by Hindu, Chinese and Malay designs (e.g. the Indian pulpit). I later found out it was commissioned by Indian Muslim traders. Many of the shops in the area are at least 70 years old.




Our plan has to change, and change fast! It's 12 + afternoon and we need to get out of OJ in order to get food. We decide to have lunch at Ole Sayang Nyonya Restaurant at Melaka Raya (not far from Equatorial Hotel). Their address is 198-199 Jalan Merdeka, Taman Melaka Raya phone 06-2831966.

We head out there and "fight" with other restaurant patrons to get a table and order small portions of prawn sambal, duck soup cooked in preserved vege and omelet jinjaruk style. Then it comes time for us to drive back to Serdang .....

Ole Sayang Nyonya Restaurant @ Melaka Raya

Bookfest at KL Convention Center

I WANT TO HAVE A TOUCH & FEEL OF THE 2011 BOOKFEST. I have never been to one and so I am interested to find out what it's all about.

I get to the KL Convention Center which is next to KLCC by LRT from Bukit Jalil. I will not say the signage and directions in the stations are atrocious but they are not illuminating and user-friendly. Anyway. It's ok that I have to change stations at Masjid Jamek because of 2 different operators but one has to cross the street to get on the next train. Of course the street is chock a block and perhaps a "god's breakfast" is a better description; but hey, we are in the boleh-land so to speak.

I find the following carpet motifs interesting.....



Just outside KLCC I take these pic's of the twin towers.



The following pic's are taken of the twin towers from inside the convention center. From some visual angles one has to say the skyline is impressive. I do find the KL skyline looks "much better" in 2011.




Anyway I buy a few books at the Bookfest that I think are interesting read for me and cart them all the way back to Serdang by LRT again. Next challenge:- am I going to cart them all the way back to Australia? Aiyah.

Think we will visit Taiwan next year. This guide book seems to have interesting insights into the country. "Managing the dragon" gives practical insights for an entrepreneur or a down-home tourist who needs to navigate the fascinating and often bewildering colossus of a country like China. Should be useful for me who wants to visit China more in depth next year.


日子再苦我还是原来的我 says it all. Never lose my true self. Should be a good read.
这一辈子一定要出走一次， 这是【人】过的生活啊！

At Masjid Jamek I take a pic of this mosque which has got black domes. Can't figure this out.

Ipoh Mali 28 August

WE WANT TO MAKE A TRIP TO IPOH TO SAMPLE some food and also because there is nothing much happening this Sunday. Darren and I set off at 6am from Serdang and we arrive Kee Mun's shortly after 9.00am.



There are reasonable traffic going up North and I keep to the speed limit of 110 kph. I exit Simpang Pulai after consulting our Ipoh Mali pal because I want to avoid exiting the wrong side of the highway ....

I ask KM to let me have this picture taken of my primary school for memory sake. Of course it looks and feels a lot smaller than I remember it to be.

Brekkie is at 文东记 (CHEAH BROS) my usual noodle and 料 joint. We are taken around 八角亭 to look at some old shop buildings that Darren is interested in. After which we adjourn to Old Town for a cup of coffee.

Of course we drive past familiar places such as Sam Tet, Ave Maria, old town pasar, Kinta River, Jalan Bendahara, Pasir Putih, Padang, St Michael's, Royal Ipoh Club, Tun Razak Library, Greentown, Chateau Garden, Tiger Lane (to admire nice homes there), the Haven and Lost World at Tambun.

Lunch is of course again my favourite Nasi Ganja (Nasi Kandar) opposite the former "Tanjung Rambutan Bus Station". Yum.

Then we agree to have foot massage at Huang Ting Reflexology (Jalan Foo Yet Kai) before having a cup of coffee at 新长江 and a plate of rojak which is nice. This is afternoon snacks for us.



We rest a bit at KM's house and have dinner near Simpang Pulai before setting off for KL at around 7.15pm. It is raining dogs and cats almost fro the word go. Darren "Be Careful" Low is nervous and keeps giving me his worried "be careful's". Ha ha ha. I HATE TO SEE how his face changes color if he goes flying with me or his son!

The downpour stops around Rawang and we are happy to be back and reward ourselves with the "salted chicken" 盐鸡from Ipoh. Nice day.

It's not impossible

Two blind friends set out on a mission to walk around Samosir Island in Lake Toba in Sumatra, and came home with memories to last a lifetime.

This is impossible!

But this is a true, real event. These 2 Malaysians caught a ferry from Port Klang to Tangjung Balai, Sumatra, Indonesia and walked. Their story was inspiring and quite amazing.

The author says, ".... and we felt that we had seen more of Samosir Island than most tourists."

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2011/8/25/lifeliving/20110824173058&sec=lifeliving

The Faces Of Cambodia

Prologue:

These Cambodians I have come across in Phnom Penh & Siem Reap have in some ways affected me personally. It's who they are and what they do.

They do not have many material possessions in life and will never have what we have. I can say they look, in their eyes, empty out. They want more from life, and they have the right to.....

She's a waitress of a Khmer restaurant on Pub St in Siem Reap. She warms to me after initially being quite rude perhaps I am just another tourist. At the core of things she is a very friendly and lovely person. She's surprised that I want her picture taken.

He is a waiter colleague. He lost his grandparents to the Pol Pot regime from 1975 to 1979 for 3 years 10 months and 25 days. I can sense he is ambitious in life and wants to achieve great things.

This little girl is picking a drink can from the rubbish bin when I walk by her at Angkor Wat. She's barely 10 or 11 years old. I can sense she does not want to do that job for the rest of her life

I give her a paltry $1 (beat myself that I should have given much more) and ask if I can take a picture of her. She does not expect money, and is so sad-looking. She smiles .... maybe just for me? Then she says, quietly, "Bye". My heart breaks for her

This boy is also collecting drink cans and plastic bottles in the Angkor Wat ground

Vichet is our Angkor tour guide. He is the eldest son at 28 years old and has 6 sisters. He lost his grandparents, uncles and aunts to the Khmer Rouge's brutality. I call him "Brother". Brother is the only one in his family to have completed high school and he spent another 2 years getting his tour guide licence. He is well-articulated and trust worthy

This little girl is selling postcards at Ta Phrom. She asks, "Mr. do you want to buy?". I ask, "How much?". "$2". I give her the money and she beams; happy that it is a sale. She is so little and defenceless.

This girl sits quietly with some friends at the Ta Phrom ground.

Jatna is talkative and speaks quite good English. She is 14 years old and goes to Grade 9 at a high school. She starts telling me how many steps there are up to the Chisor Mountain Wat. She walks with me and talks to me about what she knows

This young man wants to sell me a couple of Angkor guide books. "$8, Mr" he says. I say to him "$5 ok?". He replies "Let me make $1 so $6 ok? And this other guide book for the same price". I give him $12 and buy the 2 books I ask him "Are you happy now that I buy 2 books?". He beams into a wide grin and says "Yeah!"

Penya, the tuk tuk driver in Phnom Penh. He asks for $30 for the fare to take us around for one full day, and agrees to $25. At the end of the day I pay him $30 and he is surprised, and smiles. He knows it is his "lucky" day, because there are hundreds of tuk tuks willing to accept less.

Epilogue:

The people of Cambodia, the Khmers; are proud and courteous people. They are hard working ( I don't see any of them not wanting more work from tourists) and are hungry for more. But they are not jealous of the tourists. They cajole for business and try hard because it is so competitive out there - like they have to fight to live another day.