Selamat Hari Raya，my old friends

Today is Hari Raya 

Today, I read the exchange of greetings between my daughter and her Muslim friends on her FB and it makes me wonder what happen to my malay school friends. Practically   blank in my head. Where are they now ?

My friend Sheik , the fat Gani and one Nordin.  They have became my imagination as my old memory travels back  half a century to recapture their image.

I remembered that I traveled to their house and I played with them and we were quite close. At that time, we don't have IPhone and computer and I have to walk to their house to find them after school or during the weekends. It was fun and joy then.

I don't know where they are and whether they are alive or not. But for a short spell in life , our path cross each other and there was a reason for it. Maybe, the reason was that I at least have three Muslim childhood friends.

So, Sheik, Gani and Nordin wherever you are , I would like to wish you and your family ' Selamat Hari Raya'.

We may not meet in this life again, but it was fun to know all of you.

Namaste.

The battle of biscuits - Penang (ext)

Battle of the Biscuit: Ghee Hiang v Him Heang

Posted by sisi on December 19th, 2010

Apart from its famous street food, Penang is also famous for its tau sar pheah. The Star newspaper had an interesting article today about the history of two iconic biscuits brands in Penang, Him Heang and Ghee Hiang.  Ghee Hiang was the pioneer of Penang’s tau sar pheah, established in 1856.  Its popularity in the past (circa -1960 through 1970s) amongst locals made the company neglectful of customer service.  And like typical family-run businesses of yore, it did not have aggressive ambitions to expand.  What it meant was that customers tended to get the short end of the stick, i.e. queuing up for biscuits and getting turned away empty handed when the day’s production has been sold out.

This naturally led competitors, specifically Him Heang, to fill the gap in demand.  Credit to Him Heang that they also innovated by introducing the Tambun biscuit (or dragonball biscuit) which is half the size of the Ghee Hiang tau sar pheah.

That got me to thinking, which one do Penangites actually prefer?  

 

I personally don’t mind either in terms of taste.  The only consideration is that the original Ghee Hiang tau sar pheah is a little messier to eat because of its size compared to Him Heang’s Tambun biscuit (I note that they also have the smaller sized version of the popular tau sar pheah) and packaging (remember the five pieces in a white paper roll?).   With a little effort, I can fit a whole Tambun biscuit into my mouth in one go. *wink*

So which biscuit do you swear your allegiance to?  Vote on the poll below (or click here):

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 Posted in Food Polls  Tags: Ghee Hiang, Him Heang,Tow Sar Pheah

« Top Tips to Avoid the Streetfood “Delhi Belly” Syndrome

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1. Tweets that mention Battle of the Biscuit: Ghee Hiang v Him Heang | Penang Street Food | Penang Delicacies -- Topsy.com says:

   December 19, 2010 at 8:20 pm

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Si Si Wong. Si Si Wong said: RT @PenangStFood: Battle of the Biscuits! Vote for your favourite #Penang Tow Sar Pneah here!! #streetfoodhttp://fb.me/A39xLEtn [...]

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2. Barnabee says:

   February 15, 2011 at 8:19 pm

   Ghee Hiang is da best!!!

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Him Heang, the biscuits of Penang

Him Heang , Penang

I took my wife to buy some Tau Sear   Peang at Him Heang on Wednesday and I was surprised at the long queue and I was told that we have to wait for 40 minutes for our turn. How come they can do such roaring business?

I have tried to buy some some these biscuits in the morning and they told me to come back at 3pm today as they have sold out the biscuits in the morning.

On the way , my wife told me that she is expecting a queue as many people will buy to being the biscuits as presents for family out station but I did not expect such a roaring business. There must be something special I these biscuits and where is the trade secret . If you can analyses the formula you will be millionaire in no time. Hurry sent it to the research lab.

I think the biscuits is already synonymous with Penang and it is not available anywhere in the world and that is why it is so famous.

Have try it ? Be proud of Penang , ok? Join in the fun.

Namaste

My pre-birthday lunch at Kampachi, EQ

Lunch Buffet at Kampachi , EQ ,Penang.

I was having a pre-birthday lunch at Kampachi ,EQ today with my family ,ES and my two nieces and one nephew. I have note been there for a long time for buffet and in my younger days , my family favors all the buffets in town. I have come to realize that buffet is not good for health.  It has been a value for money but the cravings to eat as much as possible male us eat more than we need. It is actually a waste if we think carefully.

The spread was thinner than the last time I went there for the Japanese buffet . The cost per person is about RM65 and this price have not been adjusted for more than 5 years. So we can now understand why the spread is thinner compared to the yesteryears.

Notably absence is the grill selmon fish heads which I used to favor but now it is only selmon bones and the fish heads are smaller。

Although the spread is thinner , the taste of the Japanese buffet was good and it is still value for money if you consider the current cost of living.

For me ,I enjoyed the food and occasion even I have overeat abit. It was a grand time for us to meet and catch up on the progress of everyone. Family is very important and we must spend time with them as much as possible on whatever occasions.

Namaste

The blissfulness of Yoga.

Yoga - stretching 

Yoga is actually a wonderful exercise where you can fell the movements of every part of your body.  What you need to do is just close your eyes when you are in the pose and be aware of the movements your body and your breath.

This morning, my yoga teacher put us through a stretching exercise and I was still half asleep when the class starts. I did not have a good sleep and so I close my eyes most of the time when we change pose to pose.

I just try to relax my body and heart and concentrate on my breathing and when I was holding in the pose, I could feel a kind of joy swelling up inside me and I felt erected in the pose. A peaceful moment of suspension and bliss.  My yoga teacher have pre-warned us of there delightful moments.  These are the so called glimpse of peace in our practice.

When I joined yoga initially I felt so painful and suffered light injury because of the stiffness in my body and joints. However, when are deep into it, we will start to enjoy and such moments of delightfulness will come into you at the right moment and the right pose.

Never feel shy to enjoy your body and also the wonderful moments that will swell inside you. Just enjoy it and move with it.

A healthy body and mind will give you a perfect body which will come with moments of pleasure and peace.

You will need to come into the practice to understand my experience.

Namaste.

A full day's job ?

what the feeling of a full day's job? Exhausting ? Fulfilling? Breathless? Not a single word can described the feelings. A mixture of all. A strange felling.

It is a day which the mind is restless,the body is tired and there is a feeling of completeness and yet not so complete. Satisfying and feeling good but yet something is missing or muted. What is our mind trying to tell us. Is it a worn out feeling  but yet not that . A mixed feeling and as if the good and the bad feelings are struggling against each other and in a delicate balance. Shifting on to either sides.

Nasty  isn't  it ? No need to control or change it . Let it be. Not re-acting to it. Let it drift or flow whatever. Just be aware of it. Strange feeling . It is something like the shit stuck in the ass and blocking the gas. The gas is getting out bit by bit. What a nasty feeling. 

In a delicate balance. A stomach full of gas. A mixed feeling.

Namaste.

My lunch at Pikapita,KL.

My lunch at pikapita cafe

I dropped in for lunch at KL  and meet two SYT, my two nieces.  They are joint owners of the cafe. Business life is not so easy and I could start to see the strain on their faces.

I have the experience of investing a business long time ago. When a business open their door for business , there a cost to it just to breakeven. If the business closed for one day for any reason, the cost will be incurred and you have double the business the next day to breakeven. To be a business owner is never easy.

For those people who have been working for other people, they do not know how the business will affect them. At the end of the month, they do have to responsibility to pay the wages, rental and all the dues. The boss will  have to take care of all these problems.

For my two niece, they are very eager to do their business when they are working for other people but when they are into business, they will regret initially for all the trouble of doing a business. For business, it needs a different breed of people to do it. Not everybody can stand the hard work and stress.

It is almost a month now and everyday is a test for them. They will have doubts whether have make the right decision or not. All the hard work and stress and whether it is worth it or not.

It is like starting to do Yoga. All the stretching and pain at the  beginning . You start to feel that you are torturing yourself and other exercise easier. After more training , you will start to feel less pain and stress and you look forward to  the class and to improve yourself more. You body and mind gets stronger everyday and you start to enjoy yoga. This is the same process of doing a business.

Never give up and learn to control  your mind and  the response from your body. Tell yourself ,you want to do it and doing it right. Your inner demon will try to scare you and create fear in you. The question of giving up will keep poking at your weakness and making it stronger. Tell these negative thoughts to stop and go away. Enough is enough, Stop re-acting to it.

If you keep at it. You will get stronger by the day. You may not recognize it but it is surely getting stronger. It will surprise you how stronger you have become one day. That is the day you will be proud of.

Namaste