PJ Section 14 Chee Cheong Fun

the pride of PJ

I love Chee Cheong Fun. In Malaysia, we get quite a good variety of the stuff.

We have the Yong Tau Foo Chee Cheong Fun which comes with Fishballs and other fish-stuffed veggies. And then we have the Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun which is rice flour rolls with Shrimps and/or Char Siew bits inside. We also have the Teluk Intan variety which comes rolled with potatoes and minced meat. And from up north, we get the Penang-styled dish that's a plain cut rice flour sheets with chilli sauce and shrimp paste. And finally, the most basic of them, is your elementary no-fuss, no nonsense Chee Cheong Fun served with a combination chilli and sweet sauce. And this is the one that I love best.

The reputation of Section 14's Chee Cheong Fun has been legendary. In fact, I've written about this once before about a year back. But I never got to try it until now, simply because they're sold out by 9:00am! Anyway, I've had it twice - most recently during that silly Warehouse Sale that got Mae and I up and about at 7:00am.

Anyway, the secret of this Chee Cheong Fun is definitely in the rice sheets they make. The superiority of a Chee Cheong Fun must surely be in the rice flour mix, which lends this one its smooth, silky texture. In the folds of the rice sheets are bits of poached dried-prawns. The dish is topped with a brown sweet sauce, a chilli sauce, green pickled chillies and garnished with a generous sprinkling of toasted sesame. It's such a simple dish that you just marvel at how something so elementary can taste so good.

The last time I was here, I was practically fighting off some aunties who came in droves to order packets upon packets of the stuff! So this weekend, get up early, take a drive down to Jalan 14/20 in Section 14 and find the Hai Keng Coffee Shop. Just make sure you arrive before 9:00am.

Other Chee Cheong Fun posts:

• Taiping Chee Cheong Fun
• Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun

We Were At That Blogger Gathering

driven mad

We were there. And the moment we got there, Mae decided that we should rent one of those little pushcars-trolleys for the boy. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made. The boy loved it. RM4.00 pays for an hour of peace and quiet.

We met a whole bunch of bloggers - Dustyhawk, Peter, Minishorts, Nilesh, Menj, Sashi, Naoko, Yvonne, 8Dee, Albert, Frostier, T-boy & Hani, Andreas, Redzuan and Fazri - most, for the first time. If I left anyone out, do forgive me. Uncle's memory isn't what it used to be lah. It was a pretty big group and I would have loved to have met more of you but I'm sure we'll have more opportunities in the future.

We didn't manage to stay very long, since Jesse had to be changed. These days, our schedule is very much determined by the boy's shit and piss. He was also getting a little restless. So, after 20 minutes of mingling, we hauled ass.

In case no one thought so, Midvalley is a pain to get to on the weekends. Next time we should go somewhere less packed - like Amcorp Mall. It's got LRT access and a cheap cineplex. If we ever meet there, the first person that asks gets a free movie from me. Heh!

Month-Long Birthday Festival

Yesterday was Mae's birthday. But we didn't actually celebrate, save for the steak meal we had last night.

Instead, I was on leave and at the doctor pretty much all morning for a follow-up medical exam. That turned out to be a long wait at the clinic for a short time with the doctor. To make matter worse, his female clinic assistant walked right in on us while the good doctor was examining my... erm... self. Heh. Damn woman has done that to me twice in the three times I have visited this clinic. If she were a sweet young thing, I'd be flattered. Thankfully, the doctor gave me a clean bill of health. And no, I wasn't flattered, thank you very much!

Anyway, Mae had a day off too, helping her cousin with the wedding preparations for this weekend. Despite both of us taking time off work, we didn't get to do any celebrating. These days, finding time for each other seems quite tough with us juggling our work, family commitments, church, bla bla bla.

And so, looks like it's gonna be another one of our newly-instituted month-long birthday festival in the Tan household. The last one we had was in March to commemorate my day of birth. It was glorious month filled with Paan Mein and Char Kuey Teow meals. Ahhh... I'm such a simple man, with simple needs.

Mae, however, if far more complicated than I am. *shudder* I'm expecting a series of shopping trips.

Cheap Diapers & Other Stuff!

This is a community service announcement. Diethelm is having a warehouse sale tomorrow and Sunday from 10:00am onwards. I got this via email along with an Excel file (geddit here) of the prices. Here are some previews.

Mamy Poko Disney diapers are incredibly cheap! Medium-sized 52-pack are only at RM 25. It's usually RM 33.90 or on a good day RM 31.90. That's a saving of RM 6.90 per pack. Buy 10 packs and you save RM 69.90. My goodness. Imagine the savings you get if you buy a thousand packs!? Heh.

You also get some nice deals from Mattel toys, Kellogg's cereals and a whole load of other stuff. I can't really tell you how you'd save since I only know the price of diapers. Yup. Just diapers. I'm ignorant about everything else.

Parents will appreciate this. I know I will. And no, I don't get anything from promoting this. Diethelm is not even my client or anything. But heck, if you save some money, you owe me Char Kuey Teow!

UPDATE @ 10:57am
Mae and I made our way there early this morning because Mae's sis had a staff entry card. Apparently, staff get to shop at 8:45am! However, upon arriving at 8:30am, the crowd had already formed outside the gate. Inside, we saw a whole bunch of people buying stuff, carrying crates of MamyPoko diapers and Sofy sanitary pads. We ran to the counter - but alas, it was all gone. Some dumbass at DKSH (the company holding this sale) decided to let people in at 7:30am. There was no control so people bought as many as they liked. There was an auntie with a push-cart carrying some 6 crates of diapers. Grrrr.... And we got nothing. *sigh* Luckily we managed to get some good deals for Kelloggs, Mattell, Fisher & Price, Toblerone and M&M. So if you're going there solely for diapers, think again.

I Believe I Can Fly

I had the weirdest bloody dream this morning.

For some reason, Jesse had turned into a housefly. Only thing was, despite being an insect, he still had his baby voice. And the whole experience of having turned into a fly was so traumatic for him that he started crying. And there was nothing I could do for him since he was crying and buzzing around my head.

And then horror of horrors, while trying to catch the little guy, Mae accidentally squashes him a little. His abdomen was dangling from his thorax, and he was crying his heart out! I was mortified. And the only way I could console myself was to dig deep into my memory for my long forgotten Form 6 Biology lessons to convince myself that insects don't really have the necessary anatomy to feel pain.

My son turns into a fly, my wife squashes him and I have to remember Biology. This is the worse dream I've ever had, by far. I must be losing my mind, what little I have left of it. Trust me, Form 6 Biology will zap your mind away. The two textbooks were 7 inches thick combined!

Any psychoanalysts out there willing to give me a free dream interpretation?

As Seen On TV

Inspired by Lilian's take on House, here's a quickie review of what's playing in our household these days. Sorry, no links. Too damn lazy. :)

HOUSE
Is this the best new dramedy series or what? Hugh Laurie plays the cynical but clever Dr. House. The show revolves around the ongoings at the hospital and the baffling cases they get every week in which Dr. House, armed with his wit and sarcasm, saves somebody's life. Okay it sounds stupid when I tell it like this but trust me. Good show.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
Like every woman in the world, I love the women of Wisteria Lane. Wait. That didn't sound quite right. Hah! But a good show, this is. Okay, so I cheated and watched everything on DVD and I know who killed who. Muahahah.

MALAYSIAN IDOL
We love Malaysian Idol, even though we're not particularly fond of Daniel, Nita, Farah, Faizull, Ash, Xerra, Ejay, Adam, Azam, Trish or Atilia. Okay, maybe we like Farah a little. At least enough to send in two votes this entire season. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save her. We fully expect the finale to suck eggs but we'll still watch. Besides, Jesse really like the show. It's the only show he watches from start to finish. Strange.

ROCKSTAR: INXS
Now here's some real talent. We have a bunch of guys and girls fighting it out to be the frontman of this over-the-hill rock outfit that was once pretty cool before Michael Hutchence went and killed himself. Anyway the show kicks ass - except that I think Dave Navarro, occasional axeman for Red Hot Chilli Peppers, looks kinda weird in a poofy sort of way. Grow some stubble, dammit! Still, Mark Burnett rules! Finale tonight. I hope Mig wins. He reminds me of a young Mick Jagger.

FEAR FACTOR
Who can get enough of watching crazy people eating bugs and all kinds of shit? Apparently, we have Fear Factor Malaysia now but something tells me that's gonna suck.

CSI:ANYTHING
We love CSI. CSI, CSI:Miami, CSI:NY, CSI:Batang Berjuntai! We love 'em all.

AMAZING RACE
It's time again. Personally, I feel that Amazing Race has nothing on Survivor, being a shitty game of chance and all. The only thing that made me a fan was Boston Rob in the last season. Too bad he lost. He was one competitive SOB - the kind of guy people pay good money to see. I don't care for nice guys. I want the best guys to win because they did their best, not because the producer fixed the game and had a plane wait up. Mark Burnett sucks!

APPRENTICE
We love The Donald. Richard Branson is a dumbass compared to Donald Trump. Rebel Billionaire sucks. Donald Trump should fire Richard Branson. Mark Burnett rules!

We never watch sports. Unless it's got sexy women in tights, or men intentionally hurting each other. We don't watch football - not enough blood. And we don't watch F1 either - not enough crashes. That's why we don't subscribe to any sports channel. But that might change when the new season of The Contender starts on ESPN.

A Heart For Hope

Yvonne is 19. She has Neurofibromatosis. While most people her age are out there living their life, she is fighting for hers.

Today, there are numerous tumours growing in her brains, her spine, her neck and even her fingers. But the ones that are most dangerous are the ones that grow in in her brain. There are three. One grows on her brain stem threatening to take away what's left of her hearing and, possibly, her balance. And that, is her best-case scenario. Worst-case; it grows to cut off oxygen supply to her brain and she dies.

Her best bet now is a surgery in US. But that will cost a whopping RM 200,000. However brain surgery is a delicate procedure and so far, only the doctors in US have been able to offer her a good chance of a safe surgery that would also preserve her hearing - the 5% that she has left of it.

Yvonne needs RM 200,000 by Christmas this year. But she will not take your money without giving something back. She is making T-shirts for sale, to raise funds. I am helping her with the design. My company has also helped negotiate a good price for the production of the T-shirts with our vendor. We now need someone to help come out with a name for Yvonne's campaign.


Lance Armstrong has his LiveStrong and Bob Geldof has his LiveAid. We need one for Yvonne's campaign too. As per Yvonne's request, I have incorporated a heart in the design of the shirt. She wanted something that would symbolise love. A campaign name along those lines will help. The picture is the design that we have pretty much settled on. Right now, our working name is Heart4Hope. If you have a better suggestion, do leave it in the comments section, and we can get started on the production. Beyond that, you could contribute to Yvonne's operation by buying a T-shirt or two.

You can find out more about Yvonne here:

• Yvonne's condition
• The low-down on her surgery
• The collection so far
• Her T-shirt campaign

Some people have told Yvonne that she is being lavish, and that she could probably get the operation done at a fraction of the price somewhere else. Some people have also accused her of exaggerating her condition. Perhaps these people need a brain surgery more than Yvonne. But right now, Yvonne has asked for help. If you can, please do.

A Thirty-Year Saga

1985: 20 YEARS AGO

The beatings started in 1984. It was now 85. Mom had been going to school to see the principal. Her boy was getting his ass kick and he wasn't fighting back. But her visits didn't help any. Paramjeet wasn't simply a naughty kid or the school bully. Something about the way he laughed revealed his mental condition. No amount of caning would work on the boy.

"Are you worried about embarassing me?" Mom asked. She had always instructed her kid to be on his best behaviour. And that means no fighting. We were a peace-loving family and I was expected not to be the black sheep.

I nodded my head and resumed counting my toes.

"Hit him back," Mom's voice changed. I looked up and saw an Amazon Queen towering over me, the sweat on her brow glistening in the sunlight. "I want you to hit him back," the queen commanded, articulating every single word. And her loyal subject knew she meant business.

In 1985, I hit back. And I hit hard. I hit whenever I was hit. And soon, I just hit whenever I felt like it. Oh no, Paramjeet never did stop trying to torment me. Not even when I beat him till he cried. At the end of that year, my anger turned to pity. Paramjeet wasn't malicious. He was just plain nuts afflicted with a mental condition. And at that very moment, James the boy became James the Man.

At Christmas that year, the Man groped a little girl's ass. Heh. But that's another story for another day! Who wants to hear it? :)

1995: 10 YEARS AGO

Anuar left. He'd been embezzling company funds. He was the partner, but we were also good friends. Would she think I was a part of it? Would she fire me? Or worse yet, would she report me to the police? Where was Anuar?

Then it sank in. The bastard left me to take the heat.

She calls me in. The room lights were off, as usual. I stood before her huge mahogany desk and squinted my eyes to make out her face in the darkness. "I'm making you partner," she said in her mild-mannered fashion. And just like that, at 24, I became the director of a small, fledging advertising agency. That year, we would turn it around.

We did brisk business until it all went sour in 1998. I never saw a single cent of my supposed partnership.

2000: 5 YEARS AGO

The new company was already 2 years old. This one, too, was having its share of partnership problems. Unlike me, I realised too late, people never really like to share.

I like to share.

In fact, I liked it so much I was sharing a girl with another guy. She was rightfully his, simply because he was there first. But then, he was never really there. He was on the other side of the Causeway mostly, and so I filled in for him.

She loved me, she said. But she would never leave him for me. In the end, she left. And when she did, I died. I was only 29.

But in that very same year, I was Born Again. He brought me back and promised me the world. I asked if He would make it all right again. He didn't answer; at least not in words.

But things happened. The partner left and the company flourished. Business was good once again. I bought a home. And Mae came into my life. And subsequently, into my home.

2002: 3 YEARS AGO

I was 31 when I realised that it was possible to love someone enough to want to spend the rest of my life with her. And so Mae and I got married. It was July 27. It rained like crazy that day, like it sometimes does in life. But just like our wedding day, whenever it rained, we just went indoors and made the best of it.

2004: A YEAR AGO

One day, while indoors and making the best of it *ahem*, we made ourselves a baby. Jesse came into our lives on August 26. At 33, I was a father for the first time. It was a crazy year but Mae and I enjoyed every moment of it. Almost.

2005: THIS YEAR

Jesse turns 1. Mae and I are no longer spring chickens. It's getting hard to keep up with the boy. And so I enrol in a gym for the first time in my life. I also begin a program to help me finish reading the bible in a year.

2006: NEXT YEAR

By then Jesse would have gotten tired of playing with us all the time. We'd have to make a companion for him. I hear little girls are nice to have around the house. With a new mouth to feed, Mae and I will have to find other means to bring home the bacon. Perhaps a new business venture - one that actually makes money. Heh. By now I would be 35, and having completed the bible, I can finally talk like a smart ass. :)

2015: TEN YEARS FROM NOW

Mae and I retire to Ayer Tawar or some other small town where we own a tiny but profitable little business serving breakfast to the townsfolk. And when the kids come home, we'd sit by our little duck pond chowing down dinner and watching the sun set.

Thanks Bob. That was more fun that I expected! I'm tagging Gina. Also AhPink whom I expect to blog this pictorially. :)

Two Shots

Yesterday was a rough day for Jesse. Having turned one recently, it was time once again for his shots. This time, he would be getting vaccinations for MMR (Measles, Mumps & Rubella) and another for Chicken Pox.

"How bad will it hurt?" I asked Dr. Soh remembering that a doctor once told me that it was the drug, and not the needle, that determined if a shot was painful. "The chicken pox one will be bad," Dr. Soh proclaimed solemnly.

My heart sank. But the good doctor had more bad news. "You hold him over your shoulder," she said, "and we'll go zoop! zoop!" If it weren't my son, I'd have found that funny. Because her hand gestured like boxers do, when they do their one-two combination jabs. Plus, she said, "Zoop! Zoop!" which is something you never expect doctors to say.

I held the boy up while Mae stood behind me with a toy. Jesse tinkered with it cheerfully, laughing and babbling, oblivious to the fate he was about to suffer. It was heartbreaking. And then it came. Zoop! Zoop! Once on his left buttcheek and another on his right, giving new meaning to the phrase, "turn the other cheek."

The boy cried and cried. And nothing I did would console him. Then Mae took him and he regained his composure in record time. 30 seconds tops!

I tried to carry him after. Someone needed comforting, but I think it was mostly me. But the boy flatly refused to have anything to do with me. I had betrayed him. I had thrown him to wolves and he wasn't about to let that slide. I took a whole day for me to be his Daddy once again

*sigh* Fatherhood can be tough.

Women That Women Hate

Some people are only adored by members of the opposite sex. While men and women both love Gwen Stefani and George Clooney, the same cannot be said for Nicole Kidman. Most women I know can't stand Nicole Kidman.

We were out shopping for some concert and music DVDs. Jesse seems to prefer such shows, with a special preference for Malaysian Idol, I might add. And so we ended up checking out Speedy's collection. But music DVDs were expensive ranging anything from RM69.90 to RM99.90. And then I found a cheap, lovely disc for all of RM29.90.

"Check it out, boy," I tell Jesse, "it's Kylie!"

Unbeknownst to me, I had inadvertently spoken the magic word that would open Pandora's Box and unleash all hell on earth. "NO KYLIE!!!!" Mae's thunderous voice booms across the land. At that precise moment, I saw my life flash before my very eyes. As the blood returned to my hands I timidly put the offending DVD back to its lonely spot on the shelf as it awaits to entrap another unsuspecting male.

That's when I remembered, most women can't stand Kylie. I can only wonder why.

Must be the very same reason that men hate that that achy-breaky SOB, Billy Ray Cyrus or, Fabio. But Fabio is special. Even birds hate the bastard.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Jesse got his first haircut last Saturday. The boy's hair had grown quite unruly for awhile now, looking every bit like the little thug that he is. So, Mae and I figured we would take him to the barber. And there, I would be able to take a few snapshots of his first ever haircut and keep it for posterity.

Unfortunately, my mother-in-law decided to take matters into her own hands. She snipped off my baby's beautiful hair while Mae and I had gone out for an appointment. I was devastated!

You see, I enjoy being a father. I cherish every one of Jesse's firsts, and I relish being part of it all. I helped bathe him at the hospital when he bathed for the first time ever. I put on his first diaper. I wiped his first poop. I was there when he first crawled. I was the first to see his tiny little first tooth. And I wanna be there for it all. When he walks his first step. When he start his first day of school. When he drives for the very first time. When he graduates. When he loses his virginity. Okay, maybe not that last one. But you get the idea.

So, yes. My mother-in-law robbed me of my firstborn's first haircut. Despite her good intentions, I have to admit I'm a little upset. I had wanted to take some photos of the boy's first haircut. But most of all, I would have been happy just to have been there for him - this being his first haircut and all. And even though her hairstyling didn't suck too badly, it wasn't great either.

Now I'm thinking revenge. And whaddya know, my mother-in-law's firstborn just happens to sleep in my bed. Muahahahhaa...

I Love Cold Cha Soba!

where have you been all my life?

It's taken me years but I can finally say, with conviction, that I love Japanese food. I love Teppanyaki. I love Sashimi. And now I love Cha Soba. Love, love, love! Impassioned. Enraptured. By the taste of cold buckwheat noodles slithering down my throat. OOooOoWaaaah!!!!!

Just two weeks ago, I decided to try some Cold Soba for the first time in my life. While I am fairly adventurous where food is concerned, I had always stayed away from cold noodles - after all, why would anyone eat noodles cold? But having seen many a Japanese guy slurp down his Cha Soba hungrily, I had finally decided to take the plunge myself. And what a plunge it was.

Last Sunday, I was overcome with powerful desire to eat the stuff. And so I dragged Mae down to KLCC where we lunched in style. Nippon Tei is as upmarket as Japanese restaurants go. Unless you count that super-expensive place down at Shangri-La Hotel (whose name eludes me now) where we once ate, in a party of 8, up to RM 1,600 worth of ingredients! But Nippon Tei was bloody expensive too. RM 32 for a single serving of Cha Soba and a side of Tempura Prawns.

Most places serves Cha Soba with a cup of Mentsuyu soup, a raw quail egg and spring onions for garnish. You break the egg into the soup, throw in the spring onions and dip your noodles inside. One of the reasons I never ordered this was also for the fact that I didn't quite know what to do with all the stuff. Heh. Thanks to years of observing Japanese guys go at it, I was finally ready. And now, thanks to my posting of the subject, you too can go out now and enjoy a cup of healthy, delicious, cold buckwheat noodles without making a fool of yourself. Besides, it's a really great diet food too!
By the way, after lunch that day, we stepped out of Nippon Tei and walked past Genki Sushi. Genki sells their Cha Soba for only RM 8. Dammit! I could have had 4 servings of the stuff. Last week alone, I ate cold noodles three times. Yes, I'm making up for lost time. And writing this has stirred up my appetite for the stuff again. *sigh*

"Honey, I wanna eat cold noodles," I tell Mae. "Again!?" Mae exclaimed, annoyed, "Why don't I just cook you a Maggi Mee and keep it in the fridge for you." Yeah, Mae is a regular clown. She mocks me again and I'll have to seek solace in a nice cup of Cha Soba.

Sexual Circus

Mae and I were loafing around in front of the TV last Friday when a promo spot of Cirque Du Soleil came on air. Cirque Du Soleil, if you didn't know it, is one of those artsy-fartsy new-age circus act - where they intertwine a stylised visual and auditorial experience into a regular circus act. Sexy stuff.

"It's like a sexual circus," I gave Mae a shit-eating grin as I attempted to educate her. We stare at the TV, fixated, as a bevy of scantily-clad ladies writhed and gyrated erotically. It was too much for Mae. "So?" Mae scoffs, as she gives me this mildly annoyed look, "you want me to do THAT?"

That caught me with my pants down completely by surprised. Why on earth would I want a circus act in my bedroom? Though, now that it's laid out in the open like that, I have to admit it's... erm... intriguing. Heh!

My wife thinks I'm a perv. I'm not. Not really.

I'm A Freakin' Movie Star!

Okay, maybe not quite. But I did play a bit part in a short film. My colleague Cracker's brother called me up last weekend and asked if I would participate in his short film project. Being the attention-whore that I am, I of course agreed.

The project is a Chinese black comedy and I would play the part of a Triad boss. Hehhehh... I did say it was a comedy, didn't I? Anyway, I'm a bit of a wuss in the film. Which is NOTHING like my true, macho self. *ahem*

The shoot was at some creepy haunted house somewhere near Seputeh. And for my 1 minute presence on screen, they bloody shot me for 3 hours. That was my Sunday. Anyway, that's done and I debut in few months time on Astro. I'm not sure if I can stand to watch myself since I always look like crap on camera.

Oh well. Autographs, anyone? :)

Stand By Me

stand up and be counted

The boy stands, unassisted! OOooWahhh!!!!!

We were watching the Malaysian Idol result show tonight, which is incidentally Jesse's favourite show, when I decide to experiment with the boy's motor skills. Most babies his age have begun walking, but Jesse is a slowpoke in that area. Come to think of it he seems to be a little behind in the other stuff as well, but more on that in another post. So, yeah, we've been encouraging him to walk by holding him up by his hands but he'd always chicken out when we loosen our grip.

So there we were, tonight, during a commercial break when I held him up by his hand. He stood up supporting himself on my hands when I slowly let him go. He was a little wary at first. And so he bent his knees a little and assumed the Tan family secret Crouching Tiger kungfu stance, lowering his centre of gravity considerably until he found his footing. And just like that the boy stood tall!

Mae and I were astrounded. We cheered the little guy and he smiled from ear to ear, amazed, at his newfound ability to stand on his own two feet. What an important milestone! I know how silly this must sound to you folks, but every tiny little thing that Jesse does is such a major achievement to us.

That's it. I think we have officially been inducted into the insufferable, annoying parents Hall of Fame. :) Better run or soon we'll be cornering you with our 1,500-picture slideshow of Jesse in various actions.

I Need a Brain Transplant

One of the things that happens when you get older is your memory tends to fail a little. When I was sprightly young lad of 22, I'd remember everything - faces, names, numbers, passwords and everything that required remembering.

These days, 12 years on, I can't remember anything without writing it down. Somedays I'd even forget to write things down. And when I did remember to write, I'd forget where I wrote it. *sigh* Someone suggested I get a PDA. I doubt it would help very much since I'd probably forget when I left the damn thing. As it is, I'm having enough trouble with my keys and mobile phone. Heh!

I'm not sure why it is, but I suspect my failing memory has a lot to do with my work. The advertising industry is a pressure cooker on the brains. And having to worry about sales and bottomlines isn't helping any. Maybe I oughtta quit the damn job and sell Char Kuey Teow or something.

My Mother-in-Law tried to help, bless her wonderful heart. "Gingko Biloba is good for the memory," she told me some years back. The woman is a walking encyclopedia of remedies and nutrition - sometimes annoyingly so. Heh! Unfortunately, the Gingo Biloba didn't help. I could never remember to take it.

So yeah, if you ever bump into me on the street and I have this glazed-over look in my eyes and saliva dribbling down my chin, don't worry too much. I probably just forgot your name.

Picnic In The Park

lil' Jenny trashes Jesse at congkak

We had a rather fun little Merdeka Day yesterday. The folks from my church Cell Group decided to go on a picnic and so we headed off to Taman Rimba Kiara, which is a nice, secluded little forest park near Taman Tun. There, we ate Nasi Lemak, Beehoon, Potato Crisps and goodness knows what else! My mind is a blank - either from waking up too early on a public holiday or from the superbly, delicious Nasi Lemak we had. Yumm~

When I was younger, I cringed at the thought of going for picnic. Picnics are for nerdy people, I'd tell myself. But now that I have become a nerdy person myself, it makes perfect sense. It's nice, lying down on a mat in the midst of nature and eating away without a care in the world. There's something very pristine and pure about the whole deal. But mostly, I just like the lying down part. :)

So, yeah, it was fun. Mae and I enjoyed ourselves. Our buddies from cell liked it too. And Jesse quite enjoyed the change of pace. So if you've never gone on a picnic before, do go. It's always wonderful to gate-crash Mother Nature's place and make a mess. Heh.