Hong CN - 封人院

It was a half-day trip to drive up to Genting Highland in Pahang state with my parents-in-law and relatives. My last visit to Genting was 19 years ago - year 1990! Worth for this trip and managed to capture several interesting shots.

Several interesting shots shared: -

Dragon


Tiger


Fortune Teller


Lotus Sea


Wooden Prayer


Check out the unique crafted giant pillars

Dragon Pillar


Perfectly Crafted Pillar




It was amazingly blue blue sky. The captures were naturally come out from camera. No editing and saturation level adjusted. No CPL attached. Truly beautiful and unbelievable stunning captures. I kept on pinching myself to make sure I was not dreaming :-) Check out the below: -

Lantern in Heaven


Route to Heaven


Fortune Lantern


Buddha Temple - 如来佛祖殿


9-Level Pagoda - 九重塔
I climbed up 9 levels in spiral staircase. Feel very comfortable on top of 9th level to view the scene. Stunning view and I feel inner peace.


Heaven Place


Buddha - 如来佛祖


观音菩萨

Composition creativity sounds very subjective to everyone personally. It's just like what you look at certain outcome based on your personal preference. Take photography for instance. Some may claim beautiful - some may not; while others may point out what the heck with focusing problem, another group of people may conclude blurred image provided moody session. Some may claim that composition is under-exposed, who knows small group of gang said this under-exposure creativeness draw the unique beauty of object. Who knows a tiny group of people appreciate much on taking photo of all rusty metals, while others may think - these people are nut to shoot on those rubbish.

You see, NOT everyone able to interpret creative composition in same way. I prefer - the term - different way - because there is no right or wrong conclusion. Let's forget about those technical terms - some people concluded how amazingly Picasso's painting done; show your parents Picasso's painting - they may question - what is happening with the composer? All the eyes are not tallied with same level :-) Don't laugh, it is personal preference. Beside paintings - throw Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 to someone - he/she may say within 5 minutes will fall asleep straight. Chopin's music lover will appreciate how beautiful the musical texture it was composed. Same thing goes to mid-age's parents on Metallica's heavy metal, parents hardly understand why teenagers are fond of noisy music. Different frequencies, I conclude :-)

Relax, it's only subjective view - as far as you open your heart and accept the different perspective view, you find creativeness within the search :-)

Food: Hainan Chicken Rice / 海南鸡饭
Type: Non-Halal
Location: Chulia Street / 牛干冬街
Price: Less than RM7.00 (depends on your customised order)

Shop Name: 新冠华茶室 (Sin Kwan Hwa Coffee Shop)
Shop Owner: 庄福海先生 - Mr. Zhuang (016 431 3315)
Shop Operation: 1100 - 1500 (depends on customer volume - may rest earlier if finishes)

Parking convenience: Fair (Suggestion: Try Cintra Street parking space before reaching )
Hygiene: Good

Direction:

T-junction in between Chulia Street and Cintra Street






-1964-



"How long you started your Chicken rice business?" I threw direct question. "Since 1964". Wow, this shop history is even older than me :-P I love the coffee shop environment which is giving me an old feeling in George Town. The table set at corner. Very hygiene place to eat. When I went near the shop - directly I can smell the aroma of chicken rice - drooling!~

Throw away your diet plan
Chicken rice itself is already melted it. I can eat it without any chicken, just rice. What a rice barrel you start to know me personally. Pssshhh... it's secret! The rice is not particularly oily - just fair and able to accept for those who is health conscious.



I love eating chicken breast, all lean meat - also favoured as those fitness practitioners one of the protein input. There are two type of version to choose - roasted or cooked. This round I ordered two version of chicken breast (didn't expect the portion was quite a lot, end up I need to add small bowl rice to finish it) to eat.



Roasted version - the roasted chicken taste able to flow in your lung via your teeth when you put in your mouth. The unique aromatic chicken oil mixed with soya sauce able to "melt" your tongue. The roasted chicken skin is superb. Little bit of crispy and dry. Don't get me wrong - when you have the roasted meat - the water within the meat is not totally roasted until dry. You can still feel the softness within. This is the roasting kungfu - control everything just in time in terms of roasted duration, smell, taste and the water within.

Cooked version let you taste another option to enjoy. When you eat cooked chicken - try best not to remove the skin though it looks oily. The reason why - it is because the moment you put it in your mouth and crunch - you will appreciate the juicy taste that caught your tongue seriously :-) Didn't I alert you to throw away your diet plan? Pay attention please - worth to sacrifice.




The sweet and fresh cucumbers able to refresh yourself - it is a perfect combination to eat with chicken.

Hainan chilly sauce
I love particularly how they keep their chilly sauce. This unique sauce able to keep you awake. Of course, I have to point out - if you are those who unable to accept strong ginger & garlic taste or smell - please give this up.



The chilly sauce consists lots of ginger (in fact, if you ask me to take raw ginger like that - I will reject), garlic, red and green chillies in blended liquids plus certain porpotion of pure water to mix it. For me, it's not so spicy but little bit sour to stimulate your tongue nerve. My style - beside I eat the chicken with chilly sauce, I also normally use few soup spoonful to put on the chicken rice. The rice taste become totally different experience. Recommended to try this.

Food: Wantan Noodles / 云吞面
Type: Non-Halal
Location: Jelutong Market
Price: RM2.30 (small) | RM2.60 (medium) | RM3.00 (big)

Stall Owner: Mr. Khoo Lee Koon (邱美焜) (016 456 8181)
Stall Operation: 0600 - 1100 (will rest on normal 1st & 15th Chinese Calendar month - except big day fall on Chinese Calendar month)

Parking convenience: Bad (You have to find a place to park far from the Jelutong market - advise - try best not to drive into market, you may stuck there from crowded place)

Hygiene: Fair (the stall location is not near with those wet market stalls - no worry)

Direction:

The stall is just beside the unique colour building - pinky colour with very yellow colour accompanied. Please don't assume this is Hello Kitty shop nor banana boat shop. Check out the hand cursor there by yourself.

Very busy - still have great customer service
When you come to this stall - first impression - Mr. Khoo is extremely busy. His wife and mum are taking order from customers nonstop. You may see them still getting prepared the final "touch" on noodles while talking to customer. Don't get stunned by not having eyes-contact with either one of them. They are listening to customer for specific order such as more chillies or "cham" (combined different types of customisation - allow me to show you one in my capture later). Impressive family business and still have great customer service. Every customer is their friends. Sold since end of year 1993 when Mrs. Khoo was pregnant for first child. Truly romantic.



Stall Owner --> Mr. Cool :-P


Accessories


Unforgettable taste - No. 1 super-duple fan shouted at me
Don't get misled by the subtitle. I was not having fight with someone. Just another portion to fuel you reading on. If you were to ask me about the taste - it's hardly describing in words. One word - great!~ Have you ever missed old taste? Have you ever heard a moving stall that selling "tok-tok" noodle? How the stall owner attracting potential customer? When move around, the stall owner will use spoon to heat the bowl to generate a high frequency sound. Certain time, certain moment - when you hear this "tok-tok" sound, you know the stall is near. I hardly assume all of you had this memory, probably some of you did. The fact is I gone through this and I missed the old taste very much.

Serving customers


Perfect teamwork


Basically, part of the noodles ingredient is made of egg. To retain the quality, they take high quality of raw noodles instead of cheapo one to increase profit margin. “The most important thing is the food quality and worth to pay to eat", highlighted Mrs Khoo

The interesting part is one guy claimed himself as No. 1 super-duple fan told me. His name is Jimmy, the clothes seller. He seriously described in words - When the wantan noodle served at table, DO NOT straight away pick up your chopsticks and start "slurpping". Give yourself 2-3 minutes, let the noodles absorb the dark soya sauce. Then starts your engine. The taste will be totally different from the impression you had normally for wantan noodles. Well, sounds very expert huh? This is according to that No. 1 super-duple fan. Why No. 1 super-duple fan? Whenever the stall is there for one whole week, he will only eat wantan noodles. Yes! No other food! You know what? Even the stall owner's mum smile tenderly to claim this guy also a bit insane to eat like that, from her smile - I quickly understand it is the food quality and taste hold someone's tongue firmly.

The freshly served wantan noodles is very springy and tasty. In Chinese - 弹牙 or very Q in Cantonese. The secretly made dark soya sauce mixed with pork oil plus sesame oil will directly stimulate your hunger via aromatic smell. This Jimmy even share one more secret - The raw noodle is even tasty after overnight. Wow, this is something new I never heard before. Jimmy did ask what kind of special ingredient added in for overnight raw noodles - Mr. Khoo said nothing and couldn't find a word on this to describe.

Wantan - the meat dumpling

Another options


Without this - the wantan noodles mean nothing at all. There are two version of dumpling you can choose. One is fried and another one is cooked. It may look small for you or you can easily stuck 3-4 dumplings into your mouth. Don't under-estimate the taste. It is not only minced meat. Little "adjusted" salt, pepper powder and other ingredients normally bring out the unique taste of dumplings. You can order separate dumplings with soup to enjoy.


Another secret weapon - my preferable version
If you are not yet ready - don't try this. Otherwise smoke will come out from your both ears and hair. Yes, I'm talking about sambal. My preference for this food - one soup spoon of sambal add in. Smelling the sambal before mix with wantan noodles is the most wonderful moment. Check out the texture of sambal.

Are you ready for this?


I can say my tolerant level of spicy sambal considered good (better than my wife - I used this training to tackle my wife :-P pssshhhh - don't tell her - I can treat you another spoonful of sambal). This sambal still make me drop tears and sweat like after bath. When you eat with sambal, you won't immediately feel terribly spicy. The spicy feeling will only come after you finish a few mouthful of noodles. Still wish to challenge yourself? Get prepared to order another two glasses of cold drinks :-) Hmmm... just love this.

Built-on-order

No sidetrack topic here. Not hardware, dude. I'm still talking about wantan noodles. There are normal noodle, the thin and thick one, Hor-Fun and Bee-Hoon. You can mix thin noodle with Hor-Fun or Bee-Hoon with Hor-Fun. As far you like - just let Mr. Khoo know.

Thick version


Thin version


Mixed version


Mr. Cool may look cool when taking order as he is very busy to cook the noodles with perfect timing. Talk to him several times - this firm mid-age guy may throw smiley face via your satisfaction to taste. Pardon me? I'm drooling while busy closing ceremony for this writing with several interesting shots... Can't stand for that anymore - I better grab my meal :-) Happy eating then!

Foods: Pancake / Apong
Type: Halal
Location: Penang Burma Road

Price: RM0.30 per piece

Stall owner: Mr. Uan Cheng Guan / Apong Guan (Mobile: 016 409 3701)
Stall operation: 0900-2100 (preferably 1100 to drop by to avoid queue)

Parking Conveniency: Bad (you only able to stop by but just beware of cars around as beside that has one traffic light. You may try best your luck to check out any available parking space nearby)
Hygiene: Fair

Direction:

From Penang Road (Komtar direction), keep left, follow the road, you will pass by Mekio Furniture (on your left), further down you will pass by one crossroad traffic light. If it turns red light - you will notice Penang Plaza on your right with Giant brand (green with yellow brand colour). On your left, luxurious cars able to catch your eye in See Hoy Chan building :-) Go straight, you will pass by Pykett School (on your left) and old shoplots... slow down and you will notice the Apong Guan stall on your left at roadside just before another small traffic light.



"Beng" indeed Mr. Apong

Did I say "beng"? Yes. This is local dialect :-P No worry for foreigner who may stun for 1 second :-) "Beng" means cool, arrogant... Oppsss... sounds negative. Don't get me wrong in the first place. Mr. Apong will chop me straight if he reads my writing. I arrived there not in the good timing. He was busy with big order. How big the order? 200 pieces for Kuala Lumpur (KL) order!!! He highlighted he already rejected some of the orders due to this big order. Unbelieveable? Look at the below picture. He didn't even have time to look at me. Geez, unless I'm pretty lady :-P





I used dirty trick to get his attention - my camera. Mr. Guan quickly asked - "are you a reporter?" I wish I am (me bluff again!) but the fact is no. "Ask whatever stuffs you wish to know - I'm ready to answer and cooperate with you", confessed Mr. Guan. Did I sound like Captain Soldier? hmmm... let me ponder after finish writing this. OK, I admit I'm talking crap to get you read on. Let's get into topic.

Solid experience
Over 40 years experience to sell Apong there, Mr. Guan is very fast on getting all the pancakes ready within 3 minutes. I clocked this silently. Apong is the term that used across cultures. In English, it is pancake.

Mr. Guan highlighted he uses a lot of eggs. Holy Mama!~ check out the eggs' tower below!



Get ready with your handkerchief
Yes, bingo. Another subtitle to make you move on - I say - get ready with your handkerchief - does not mean environmental hygiene problem. Look out your saliva leak, pal!

Before ...


After...


Apong consists of rice flour, eggs, coconut, coconut milk, sliced bananas and creamy sweet corn. You can see the nine-hole-griddle. At one time, there are nine pancakes prepared. Per piece only cost you RM0.30. The ratio of composition - pssssshhh... this is secret. See whether I can crack this secret or not. I'm bluffing though :-P

Beware - Dangerous roadside



It is advisable to take pre-cautious step to avoid standing in front of the stall - there are lots of cars and motorcycles pass by. When you enjoy taking order there, please please please beware of this. Safety first :-)

Foods: Indian Mee Goreng + Chinese Bak Chang
Type: Halal - Indian Mee Goreng; Non-Halal - Chinese Bak Chang
Location: 椰脚街 / Pitt Street / Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling

Price: (Mee Goreng) RM3.00 | (Bak Chang) RM2.80

Stall owner: Mr. Raja (Mobile: 016 432 0183)
Stall operation: 0930-1730

Heng Seng Coffee Shop (恒盛茶室) owner: Mdm. Au-Yong (欧阳坚苹) (House: 04 261 9716)
Shop operation: 0800-1700

Parking Conveniency: Good
Hygiene: Good

Direction:



From Pitt Street, drives all the way to Khoo Kongsi direction - you will see the Heng Seng coffee shop & stall located at cross junction in between Pitt Street and Armenian Street (本头公巷). Further down is Cannon Square. From the front of coffee shop, you can see another Muslim's Mosque in front of you at the end of T-junction in between Cannon Square and Acheh street :-) Lots of interesting things to catch with your eyes there. I guarantee personally :-)



Coincidence - when Mee Goreng meets Bak Chang
It was my selected location to have photo-shooting session with my friend at Armenian street. Right after exhausting photo session, to compensate both hunger and thirsty, mee goreng and ice lemon tea were the rewards I should deserve :-) Bak Chang was 2nd round "dessert" to wipe out for the sake of my weight-loss-program-failure :-P Seriously I'm kidding.

Part 1: Mee Goreng

My awesome misunderstanding - Mr. Raja's Mee Goreng
Few years ago, I tried out the mee goreng before but not up to my expectation thus I stopped trying. It was not Mr. Raja's fault - after Mdm Au-Yong shared out with me - Mr. Raja actually will work for 1-2 years here, then he will travel back to India for 1 year. This firm and strong old man still continue to send back money to his family in India. Respect him from bottom of my heart!~





According to Mr. Raja - he sold there for 23 years - Mdm Au-Yong argued that this may over 30 years the stall already there. Hardly imagine this!

Traditional taste



I still love to taste traditional mee goreng, no matter how good the other version of Mamak franchise restaurant. Probably this reminds me of my earlier age of tasting Indian food and impression was definitely imprinted so deep. No additional chicken meat nor any green chilly beautify the texture of yellow noodles. It's just a plain yellow noodle fried with spicy "sotong", special marinated fried flour, boiled potato and tomato sauce like that added the fried noodle taste. Not forgetting the well-sliced lime serve as an option to give you a fresh taste of sour in between this. You can find fried egg all over the noodles with crunchy peanut mixed around with the mee goreng. Fresh veges added on top of the Mee Goreng to enhance overall food presentation. Superb combination!~ I still have a major problem - the moment I wrote this - I already gone there for twice within 2 days. See - how sick am I :-P

Part 2: Chinese Bak Chang

Is there any official name for Chinese Bak Chang? I wonder or I assume myself already outdated on the so-called official name to google it :-) Well, you can call it Chinese meat dumpling or bak chang in Hokkien dialect. Whatever it is called - you will miss the taste definitely after trying this here.

Thanks for Mdm Au-Yong for giving me chance to further understand both delicious foods.



Bak Chang, anytime

For Chinese, normally during Duan Wu Jie (端午节), for foreigners - it is well known Dragon Boat festival. We normally able to have Back Chang to eat during 5th day of 5th Chinese calendar month (五月初五).



At Heng Seng coffee shop, you can have Bak Chang whenever the stock is available. Wonder why? Everyday Mdm Au-Yong only prepares Bak Chang for only 50 in total to ensure freshness. Each Bak Chang only sells for RM2.80. Worth try.

My dear Tongue - please pay attention
When you eat this Bak Chang, you can feel its solid taste and packed. If the packing done poorly, you will see "crackness" in between external wall of rice dumpling. Do I sound insane to use "crackness"? I disagree - by the way if you can find suitable term - shoot me please.



Fried sticky rice dumpling packed with both fat and lean meat marinated with special dark soy sauce, salted egg york (orange colour one if you hardly find :-P), chestnut (I'm nut with this!) and thin-sliced mushrooms. Normally chilly sauce will serve as an option for you. My preference - no chilly sauce to spoil the original taste.

Geez ~ don't be greedy
Bak Chang is made of sticky rice. If you have big appetite, two Bak Chang should be enough. Otherwise - don't let your stomach suffer from fullness :-) Come on - you should leave some rooms to have the mee goreng, didn't I write clearly at the abovementioned statement? :-)

在现今的群体生活中，孤独始终还是让大部分的人产生极大的误解和敌视。 孤独就像一种怪癖，隔离人群，逃避现实的一种藉口。到底你也是其中的一个人有这样的见解吗？

其 实孤独并不是一般人所想像中的怪僻习惯，它只是一种没有与别人做直接的交往，在某个特定的时间和空间内，正在享受开放，自在和自悟的心态。犹记得在大学读 书时， 有一位同学曾经问过我类似的问题：“你不觉得寂寞，时常孤独地一个人用餐？” 当时我真得找不到更好地解释来让这位朋友来明白，直到我读了 Philip Koch 所写的<<孤独>>，才知道我已开始明白孤独的初步意义。

傅佩荣在<<孤独>>释本的中文版序中提到他在读了<<孤独>>之后所得到的三种心得。

首先，孤独使心灵赴于宁静。外在的安静可以带来内心的平静， 在平静中可以关照历历往事，明辨成败得失，由此明白人情事理。 二是向内考虑自身言行，以求表现通情达理。这两点都是学习与教育的明定目标。至于思想的第三种作用，则是向上提升一求领悟人生意义。

Philip Koch 在他所着的<<孤独>>用哲学的角度来探索孤独这一人生无可逃避的宿命。最引人如胜之处要算是作者广泛的引用了来自希腊以迄今的宗教，哲学，文学大师的观点，在思想上作具有深度和广角的引导。

Starship - Abstract, originally uploaded by Hong CN.

（整理书橱，发现有一张发黄的稿纸，原来是十一年前凌晨所写下的几行字）

25 Sept 1998 (0320)

知 识 ，以字面作直接解释：知，知道；识 ，认识。知道后认识，是拿两种或以上的事物作比较，而得到的结论。知识可以通过读书和试验取得，它是一种受时间（时代）所限制的应用公具。这一点可以从爱 因思坦的广义相对论中推翻牛顿的力学定律中获得证实 （物质体在进行光速移动时）

智慧比知识更进一步地广泛涉及到创作和领悟。 它是一种累积多年的经验和心得的产物。 智慧是主动的；然而，知识是被动的。知识所偏重的是万物的差别相，越分越细；智慧所观看的欲是万物的共同相，能够异中求同。

The happiness cannot be taken by other, because it is not given by the other
~ Ralph Marston

Food: Indian Tosai
Type: Halal
Location: Nibong Tebal KTM Station
Price: Less Than RM5.00
Parking Conveniency: Good
Hygiene: Good
Contributor: Mr. Azmi Rahman (15 Feb 2009)
Owner: Mr. Rajan
Contacts:

(Mobile) 016 424 5411 / (Shop) 04-593 8522 / (Home) 04-593 8523

Direction:

From Penang, take PLUS heading south. After Juru toll, just go further. Take Nibong Tebal exit. After the toll, turn left and goes straight until you see big bridge. Right after the bridge, turn left. You will see the KTM Station.






Adventurous moment

It was my friend who captured the photo of Tosai with detailed introduction. Had been a fan of Tosai since my early age. Decided to drive south to Nibong Tebal to hunt for this shop. It was long while I never did this kind of so-called insane plan instantly – I assume the consideration time should be less than 5 minutes.

Drove for 30 minutes started from Seberang Jaya. This route took you for approximately 40km to reach Nibong Tebal exit from PLUS. You can refer to the direction I listed above. From Juru toll to Nibong Tebal exit costs you RM2.80.

Nibong Tebal KTM Station

Family business

This shop has been there in Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) station for more than 40 years. Inherited the business from his father, Mr. Rajan still insist to retain this traditional food business. I can see his passion through his eyes. Patient and friendly gave me a total satisfaction to sit there enjoying fresh Tosai. I couldn’t resist having the second piece, mixed with Chadgy, which I still have problem to pronounce it due to my tongue

Mr. Rajan & his daughter - thanks for his permission to snapshot.


Using banana leave as plate. Unique!~


Fish curry - another company for Tosai


The shop - check out the time schedule that set - exactly like old school board using chalk to write.

Attractions

Tosai is freshly made on the spot. Crispy, fresh hot and it carries salty taste – this is totally different taste from the Tosai I ate in Penang Island. Love the taste!

Here's come my B-lunch - starving indeed


Yum yum fresh crispy Tosai served


2nd round of Tosai - having problem to resist it...

According to Mr. Rajan, Chadgy is made of onion, garlic, ginger, curry leaves, spices, coconut milk and either red chilly or green chilly. Chadgy must serve in cold due to coconut milk. Beside that, Chadgy only can last for 6-8 hours due to the Asam. This Asam purposely enhance the taste.

Chadgy

There are two (2) types of Chadgy – you can see the different colour of Chadgy – slightly orange and white. How to differentiate this? The “trick” he shared – Mixed with red chilly will make the Chadgy slightly orange. The white colour is actually mixed with green chilly. If you come by Friday & Sunday – Mr. Rajan will serve the Chadgy (white).

Mr. Rajan insists to have the flour process done it in traditional way – using the stones to process it slowly. This process normally will take 1 – 2 hours to get it done. Nowadays the advanced technology will cause the flour processing over-cooked and this definitely affect the taste later.

Beside KTM railway

Other than Tosai, you can have a walk near the railway.

and the ticket counter is still ON - not for display purpose only :-P