Author archive
5 September 2008
Mooncakes are my favourite Chinese sweet apart from oni (a concoction of mashed taro/yam with lard and sugar). They are eaten during the eighth lunar month in the lead-up to the Moon Cake Festival (aka Mid-Autumn Festival) … supposedly secret messages passed in these cakes helped overthrow an oppressive regime. And then there was something about […]
4 September 2008
Above: Bunga kantan or torch ginger flower. A fragrant addition to some Malaysian dishes. Today we celebrated Mum’s birthday again. It felt like only weeks ago that we did this on a bigger scale but that was 9 months ago … when we celebrated it on her passport date-of-birth … but now we’re doing it […]
3 September 2008
My time in Kuching coincides with Ramadhan. The downside is that good Malay food is hard to find during the day … but the night markets come alive before sunset as people break their fast. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to patronise the goodies at the night markets due to other commitments and rainy nights. […]
31 August 2008
Today, as Malaysians, we celebrate our National Day. Fifty one years since we were released from the clutches of a foreign power and came together as a nation. Errr … actually that’s not quite right. 31 August 1957 which is fifty one years, as of today, refers to the independence of Malaya from British Rule. […]
30 August 2008
Today I fly from Macau at 1035 to my hometown Kuching, on the Malaysian part of Borneo, for some family time. AirAsia recently introduced direct flights from Macau to Kuching and this trip was initiated to make use of this new link. International flights from Kuching are limited and the occasional new routes don’t seem […]
29 August 2008
Getting shown around Macau I arrived in Macau by ferry and took a free shuttle to a nearby casino where I met Claudio, my host for my brief nightstop. Claudio is a fellow Couchsurfer … someone who hosts others and/or gets hosted through the www.couchsurfing.com website. He is from Portugal and has been in Macau […]
28 August 2008
I arrived into Hong Kong at 0645 in very good shape … the dryness of the aircraft cabin must be good for the sinuses … no more jaw-ache. By late morning, I was feeling pretty miserable again … I could hardly open my mouth due to the pain in my upper jaw. This has to […]
27 August 2008
About six months ago AirAsia had a big sale with ridiculously low prices. At those prices one doesn’t need a reason to travel! I joined up the places which I’ve longed to visit, the family obligations and the impulse decisions. In the space of an afternoon, I had bought seven tickets around Asia for NZD350 […]
25 May 2008
Sylvester was named after the cartoon character … he was nearly called Pingu, aftger the penguin cartoon character but not many people knew that one. He loves to butt heads with people. We realised his high IQ early in the piece and started to teach him a few tricks, beginning with sitting on command.
23 May 2008
We landed back in Auckland after an overnight flight. I consider the trip a success as I had successfully obtained my PADI Open Water dive certification. However, I’m still far from confident with diving. Only practice will help me improve. I already have plans in my head to make that happen.