Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner

Yes, yet another overdue post, but little delayed but better late than never.

Every lunar New Year eve, my parents wake up at 7 a.m. and start preparing dinner. You read it right, not breakfast, not lunch but dinner. This special occasion is commonly known in Cantonese as “chuin yuin fan”, which means reunion dinner and is the biggest event that happens in my parent’s home. Every year, there would be too much food for the 4 of them (or 5 of us, if I make it home) but according to mom, leftovers from the reunion dinner is very auspicious because we are bringing in the new year with plenty of good food and also means that we won't starve for the rest of the year. I don't know how true that is but cooking and eating mounts of food has always been great fun to me!

Here is the menu for this year’s reunion dinner.

1. Chow Tung Fun (dad’s specialty)
2. Dung Ku Pau Yu (braised mushroom and abalone)
3. Kai Lan Fa & Scallops (steamed broccoli and scallops)
4. Steam Pomfret
5. Hou See, Pai Kuat, Fatt Choy (braised pork ribs with oysters)
6. Gai Keok (braised chicken feet)
8. She-Chap Tiger Prawns
9. Sweet & Sour Dolly Fish
10. Pak Cham Gai (steam whole chicken)
11. Lap Cheong, Lap Ngap, Nga Ku (Chinese sausage and arrowroots)
12. Lotus Root Soup
13.Curry Chicken
14. Laichi and Longan (for dessert)


The many sauces used.


Lou hei dish


Lou hei!


She-Chap Tiger Prawns


Steamed chicken


Dad's infamous dish: Chow Tung Fun


Lap Cheong, Lap Ngap, Nga Ku (Chinese sausage and arrowroots)


Dad, mom and bro with his employees.

I’d like to share all of these recipes with you but unfortunately, I only had time to pick on dad’s brains for one recipe. This is a simple but delicious dish.

Dung Gu Pau Yu (braised mushroom and abalone) feed 4

1 can of abalone
8 med-size dried shitake mushrooms
A bunch of baby bak choy, slice in two
1 tbls oyster sauce
1 tsp chicken stock
1 tsp corn flour
2 tsp water (to mix into corn flour)

Method
* Soak mushroom in water until soft, about 30 minutes.
* In a small pot, fill pot with water until half-full and bring to a boil.
* Drain water and squeeze the mushrooms to release excess water.
* Cut and discard mushroom stems.
* Add mushrooms into boiling water.
* In the same pot, add chicken stock, oyster sauce and let simmer until about quarter of the liquid is left.
* Add liquid (only liquid!) from canned abalone.
* Let simmer for a couple more minutes to allow mushrooms to soak up all the yummy juice.
* Remove mushroom from pot, and set pot aside because we need the liquid for the sauce.

* On a separate pot, boil water and add some salt and a bit of oil.
* Blanch bak choy until slightly cooked (should be lesser than 30 seconds, do not overcook!)
* Remove abalone from can and slice into thin slices.
* Arrange bak choy, mushroom and sliced abalone on a plate.

Sauce
* Bring liquid from the first pot to a boil.
* Add salt or sugar to taste.
* In high heat, add corn flour and water mixture to thicken sauce.
* Pour sauce over cooked ingredients on plate.
* Serve immediately.


Abalone & Mushrooms

A Malaysian Chinese Wedding - morning session

I admit, it’s shameful but I just attended my very first Malaysian Chinese wedding. Since this is totally new to me (as opposed to the my other friends who has attended each other's weddings in the past decade), naturally, next to the bride and groom, I was the most excited and also the most clueless person at the wedding.

Foong, the bride woke up at 4 a.m. to prep for this.

The chee-muis.

As friends of the bride, I was part of the chee-muis or sisterhood. Chee-muis were summoned to be at bride's house by 7 a.m. on the wedding day where the first of two tea ceremony sessions would take place and before the arrival of the groom and his heng-dais or brothers.

45 minutes late but the groom and his heng-dais finally arrived with a lot of honking in 8 cars and a few "goodies".


Goodies include a whole roasted pig.


This is the dai kam che, I guess you could say she pretty much ran the show. Her noisy, high-pitched and high-volume voice gave me a headache but her energy level is impressive!

It's customary for chee-muis to hinder the groom from entering her home by testing his love for his soon-to-be wife. Some obstacles that the chee-muis came up with includes eating a 4-flavored sandwich; flavors include sweet (honey), sour (lemon pulp), spicy (wasabi) and bitter (Nescafe instant coffee powder) each representing experiences in life, washed down with some wasabi tong-yuen (rice balls, more spice for life!) and “lip-passing seaweed”.


Keith, the groom tasting the yummy 4-flavored sandwich. Can you see the wasabi oozing out of the sandwich?


Heng-dais had to help out.


Keith feeding the heng-dais spicy wasabi tong-yuen.


Passing of the seaweed.


The games are followed by some heavy angpow (red packets) negotiation (we’re talking about real money here!) and some sweet public confessions from the groom.


After about an hour of proving his love for her, the chee-muis unlocked the door and the groom saw his wife for the first time and followed by the many, many hours of tea-pouring to the elderly and the ancestors.

Smokeless joss sticks.

Click here for more pictures taken during the morning session.

Non-substance headache remedies

Where the heck is Po? This week (and a week more or so), I'm back in Bangalore to see my boy "A" before I finally head back to NYC.

For some reason, starting from last month, I was getting some really excruciating headaches around this time of the month. Last month, I was with my family in beautiful Redang Island so I thought this headache must've been caused by the heat and overexcitement of being around the pearly white sandy beach and crystal clear blue water. I found out this month, it's probably due to some hormonal changes.

After taking 5-6 pills a day with little relief, I gave up on paracetamol and gave in to my dad's nag. My family has this traditional remedy call "pau sa" where you scrape the skin on your back with a porcelain spoon and salt water when you suspect your body have too much "heat". Excess "heat" in the body is believed to cause fever, headache, etc, so scrapping your skin till it becomes swollen and red will release the "heat".


Ouch.

It doesn't look pretty and hurts like hell. This one here is done with fingers instead of a porcelain spoon. Using your index and middle finger, pinch a good amount of flesh and pull hard. Repeat for 50-100 times until your patient screams like her finger is being cut off. Or with a porcelain spoon, dip into salt water, then scrap the skin on the back over and over until the area turns reddish-black. This hickey-looking scar last for a week and a half. Result of "pau sa": no more headache after a couple of hours.

So this month, not expecting the bad headache would return, I came to Bangalore without bringing a porcelain spoon. Again, after a full day and a half of very painful headache, "A" took me to a spa to get an Indian head massage. It was one of the most awesomest massages ever! Her touches were soft yet strong, gentle yet firm. I was in total bliss. She first parted my hair to apply some olive oil onto my scalp. Then she must've spent at least 45 minutes applying deep, long and careful strokes with her fingers and palms. Result of Indian head massage - instant relief!


Uma, my Indian head masseuse

Taman Negara

I have heard of Taman Negara but have never been anywhere near it even though I've spent half of my life in Malaysia. I was convinced I had to bring "A" there when I read that Taman Negara is one of the oldest rainforest in the world, estimated at 130 million years old.

Hiking in the peaceful forest.

Taman Negara was a bit far and was difficult to get to (4 hours bus ride, 3 hours boat ride) from Kuala Lumpur but turned out to be quite pretty. Unfortunately, I think it got too popular internationally and with popularity comes touristy. During our stay there, there were two teams of TV people. We heard one was from MTV India and the other one from some Swedish reality show.

We made hotel reservations with Mutiara Resort who also arranged land and river transportation and our daily itinerary. A 4 day-3 night package for two, which includes accommodation, buffet meals and a guide into the forest and cave, costs about RM4000. I think it was slightly overpriced for Malaysian standards and "A" and I would normally prefer to self-explore a new place but the whole trip turned out quite exciting and trouble-free.

Boats at the jetty that will take us to our resort.


Canopy walkway.


Drumming on the roots of a tall tree.


There were at least a thousand bats in Gua Telinga (Ear Cave). This human-ear formed cave has narrow, slippery and wet passages that is filled with bat-droppings. It was definitely one of the more challenging explorations yet.

Perhentian Island

Crystal blue and calm waters of Perhentian.

Our Resort


"A" studying hard for PADI open water final exam in our chalet.

Bubbles Resort is a pretty modest lodge cum dive center that is located on the southern tip of Perhentian Island. There are no roads leading to this beach and you can only get here on a boat. Beautiful as it was, I admit I was slightly nervous when I arrived because of small beach size and the lack of activities but that quickly changed. On our first night, we saw some 20-30 baby turtle hatchlings on the beach, which apparently is a very rare event. They looked so vulnerable and exposed, you just want to pick them up and bring them to the sea but we were told by the turtle-protecting volunteers not to touch them because the little hatchlings need to learn survival immediately after coming out of their shells. Two days later, we saw a large turtle laying eggs on a similar spot.


Sand hole where the hatchlings came out of. I couldn't get any photos of the hatclings because I wasn't allowed to use flash on them.

“A” and I got our Scuba Diver license in the Andaman Islands and finished our Open Water license here in Perhentian. Our instructor Eric a.k.a. Old Man here at Bubbles Resort was both comical and strict. During our dives, I must have seen at least five billion fishes but the one amazing experience I had was swimming among 20 bumphead parrot fishes, some must’ve been as long as 5 ft. They moved slowly around us and made a stone-scrapping sound when they use their big teeth to bite off corals.

We also saw a 1.5 meter black tip reef shark and a 3-legged resident turtles and had our hands cleaned by some invisible cleaner shrimps.

Proud divers.


Merv - my bff and dive master.


Big lizard under our neighbor's chalet. Apparently, a python went under the resort's restaurant during our stay there.


Super friendly Bubbles Resort staff waving goodbye.

Getting there

The Air Asia flight (round trip RM230 per person) from Kuala Lumpur LCCT to Kota Bharu took only 50 minutes. We had prearranged transportation with Bubbles Resort in Perhentian Island, so a car was already waiting for us when we landed at the airport. Car ride (one way RM30 per person) to the jetty took about 1.5 hours and boat ride (round trip RM70 per person) from the jetty to Bubbles Resort took about 30 minutes.

Drive in Malaysia

I was very spoilt by how mobile I was in New York City. At any given day, nobody knew where I went or how I got around. The lack of mobility would be my biggest complain coming back to Malaysia. My biggest regret would be not renewing my driver’s license when I had a chance, four years ago.

The LRT system in Kuala Lumpur is reasonably convenient if you want to get to and around the city. If you are stuck in your suburban home like me, and the nearest supermarket or mall is about 15-30 minute drive or 50-120 minutes walk, it suddenly seems like the LRT is pretty damn useless. My brothers, dad and friends have been my drivers for the past few weeks and it’s time for me to take over the road.

How to renew your very-expired Malaysian Driver’s License
1. Fill out the e-rayuan form on the JPJ website with your information and hit submit. http://portal.jpj.gov.my/v5/index.php/en/erayuan-lesen-memandu-tamat-tempoh
(Confused? Yeah, I was too.)
2. You wait.
3. You get impatient after a few weeks (because your friends are hinting about not wanting to be your driver) so you go back to the JPJ site and login with your IC number and you find out the status of your e-rayuan is “berjaya”.
4. You are puzzled and (still) unsure what to do next. You call the JPJ toll-free number on the site. Someone on the line tells you that your appeal (rayuan) is successful and now a JPJ letter will be sent to you with your next steps.
5. You ask the person on the other line why this little simple information isn’t explained on the website. The person sheepishly says, “…oh ye, website will be updated soon, soon.”
6. You wait.
7. Your letter finally arrives (total wait time is 4-5 weeks). Instructions on the letter indicate you need not retake driving classes or the written test. However, you will need to get an “L” license and take a “special” test, which you can register with any driving school.
8. To get your “L” license, you will need to go to one of the JPJ headquarters (for Petaling Jaya residence, HQ is in Shah Alam. Take a GPS with you). You will also need to bring with you:
i) 3 license-size photos
ii) RM80
iii) Photocopy of your IC (front and back)
iv) A black or blue pen to fill out a form

You have to do #8 within 60 days of the date indicated on the letter but after getting your “L” license, you have 3 years to take your test. Yes, I find that strange also but not complaining since I left shortly after this and is now in India. Best of luck.

Layoff

December 13th, 2008.
My flight from Bangalore to Kuala Lumpur this morning was bad but what bothered me more is that the home I grew up in Malaysia may be my home for the next few months, or even years. Don’t get me wrong, I love visiting home, it is “living” here I’m feeling a little nervous.

A few days ago in a small conference room in the Bangalore "company" office, I had a conference call with my manager who was in California and my worst nightmare came true; my position has been terminated and I am where near my home in New York. Within minutes, my laptop, cell phone and badge were taken away and I was escorted to the entrance of the office building where a driver would take me back to my service apartment. I admit I have been worried sick about this day but I was also in major denial (or refused to acknowledge I might be a candidate of the layoff) and the worst of all is I had zero back-up plans. Naturally, like any self-respecting Asian, I moved back to my parent’s house.

January 13th, 2009
It’s been a while since my last blog, so I won’t spend too much time bitching about how the “company” has screwed me over because of unforeseen, uncontrollable and inevitable reasons. To summarize my whine, I won’t be able to work in the U.S. right this instance because my H1b visa is no longer valid (I was on my 7th year H1b visa right before I left NYC – 6 years H1b is the maximum for each alien), which means if I get a job offer tomorrow with a U.S. employer, I am not legally able to work for them. However, I was told that the H1b visa resets automatically if you are out of the U.S. for 365 days. I left the U.S. mid-June 2008, hence I have another 6 months to eat and travel.

Malaysia: Lil Jon and Harley Davidson

It’s Friday in Malaysia. I just got back from Bidor because it’s where my parents go to pray during Kwan Yin festival. I turned on my laptop and worked for a 3 hours and then hopped on a conference call that lasted an hour and ended just in time for Mervyn’s arrival at 10:45pm. We drove to a club call “Mist” in Bangsar where M (a hot Malaysian celebrity)’s boyfriend (a hot Malaysian businessman) was co-hosting a show with Harley Davidson and the performer that night is Lil Jon. Whhho? Lil Jon is the rap artist from Atlanta who frequently and obnoxiously says “Whhhuutt” in his songs. The tickets for the performance was Rm100 but thankfully, because of M, we got in the club at no charge and hassle-free. I love hanging out with celebrities.

There were two types of people at Mist tonight; A) kecik-mayung (young adults), both Blacks and Black-wannabes, dressed up in over-sized pants purposely pulled down half-way of the buttocks to show some underwear and B) Harley Davidson bikers. You will never, ever see both hip-hop and Harley Davidson fans in an NYC club.

Lil Jon was 2 hours late. During his performance, all he did was pranced around the stage and all I could hear is him shouting, which was concealed very well by the loud music.

Tonight gave me flashbacks of HELP College days and for the first time in a long time, I felt a little out of place. I was throwing back a few JD and Coke (another HELP days common practice) in hopes they will help me enjoy the party more but instead I found myself yawning and feeling bored.

When I got home at 2am, my brother Punn and I drove out to hunt for some Ramlee burgers.

Is this what being 30 is like; wiser, fatter and easily bored?