Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi, Penang

Penang is a melting pot of cultures with east-west influences. Apart from its exotic food, what piques me the most would be their heritage.

The Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi (龙山堂邱公司), or simply, Khoo Kongsi for short, is a clan association in Penang that was built by the immigrants from Sin Kang village in the Hokkien province of China for the purpose of looking after the welfare of their fellow clansmen.

Before my visit, I wonder why many have commented on the elusiveness of its location? It was only when I was there in person that I truly understood what they meant.

The main entrance at Cannon Street bears no clue as to what might be inside as it looked just like any of its neighbors along the entire row of pre-war building.

Happy 14th Barkday!

Some people suffer difficulties

Making friends for life

But when it come to you, my Pal

You're better than a wife!

You're always pleased to see me

You hang onto my every word

You will follow me to the ends of the earth

completely undeterred!

Maybe because you can't talk back

that helps the situation.

But I'll do anything for you, my friend

Without any hesitation.

Gurney Drive, Penang

Gurney Drive

Mention Penang and what comes to mind?

For me, it's the iconic Penang Laksa and Char Kway Teow (Penangites spell it as Char Koay Teow). And where better to enjoy Penang hawker fare than Gurney Drive - home to Penang's most popular street food?

Well, just think of it as Penang's equivalent of our very own Newton Circus.

Flamingo Hotel By The Beach, Penang

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After visiting Kek Lok Si Temple, it was time to check-in to our hotel.

It was already early evening when we arrived. The hotel was situated atop a steep slope but for some reasons, the coach was unable to drive us in and we had to walk in, lugging our own luggage behind us. 

With the horrible experience of our previous hotel at Hat Yai still fresh in my mind, I am wary of what is to come at this hotel.

Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang

In my previous post, we visited the Padi Muzium in Kedah. After that, we are headed for Kek Lok Si Temple (极乐寺) located at Air Itam, Penang.

Kek Lok Si Temple, or Temple of Supreme Bliss, was founded more than a century ago by the benevolent Beow Lean, a devout Buddhist from Fujian province. 

Do you know, the project received the sanction of the Manchu Emperor Guangxu, who bestowed a tablet and gift of 70,000 volumes of the Imperial Edition of the Buddhist Sutras?

Muzium Padi, Kedah

This is a long overdue post!

Remember my previous trip to Hat Yai where I complained about the lousy hotel with cockroach-infested bathroom and being served the same breakfast every morning?

I will be going to Hat Yai again next month and I still have not completed blogging about that trip from 11 months ago!

I gotta stop procrastinating and pick up where I left off to complete this trip!

Check out my last night at Hat Yai here where we visited the Transvestite Show.

So, the next morning, we boarded the coach to the Thailand - Malaysia border where we exited Songkhla to re-enter Malaysia.

Video: The Magic Castle By Dong Woo Baek

Recently, I have fallen in love with this song "The Magic Castle" by Dong Woo Baek.

I got to know about this song while watching Qualifications of Men on KBS Channel when one of the participants they are auditioning for their choir sang this song.

Yes, Qualifications of Men is coming up with their third choir and the theme this time is "Family".

More on that later in another post, but first, let us enjoy this song "The Magic Castle" by Dong Woo Baek.

The Amy Cheong Incident...

The repercussion from Amy Cheong's incident has set me thinking.  

Sometimes, words that come out of our mouth may inadvertently hurt someone without us realising even though the malice wasn't intended in the first place. 

While it is understandable to feel indignant by her offensive remarks (especially if you're a Malay), let's not get too personal over this. Retaliating with name-callings doesn't make us any holier than her.

There's no denying what she has done was indeed wrong, but I wonder have we Singaporeans over-reacted? I mean, is it really necessary to fire her from her job? Would a community work service have suffice?

Whatever the case, she has received her due punishment so let's be magnanimous and move on. 

The lingering shame and ridicule that she is going to live with should be punishment enough, yes?

Cheng Ji - Steamed 'Song' Fish Head In Hot Sauce @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

I first had this steamed 'Song' fish head at the temporary market near the MRT station when Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre was undergoing renovations a few years ago.

I haven't had another after the hawkers have shifted back to the newly renovated complex. That is, until last weekend when Mum had a last minute errand to do at Chinatown and Dad suggested having this as we did not have it for a while.

There were a couple of stalls tucked away at a corner of Chinatown Complex all selling this same dish but from what I observed, only two stalls were doing a roaring business.

One of it was Cheng Ji, featured on Sizzling Woks (煮炒来咯) season 2 hosted by Li Teng and Pornsak while the other stall next to it (separated by a drinks stall) have gone on a cooking segment on Channel 8's Golden Age (黄金年华).

Krispy Kreme Is Coming To Town

Haven't you heard?

The doughnut company has awarded the franchise development rights to Star360 Group, a premier lifestyle leader in Southeast Asia.

And you know what that means? 

Krispy Kreme is finally coming to Singapore and they are opening 15 stores here within the next five years!

REJOICE, Krispy Kreme fans!

Say goodbye to the days of lugging boxes of Krispy Kreme back from Batam or Malaysia!

Video: Oppan Gangnam Style - Red Army Version

Totally wicked!

This Oppan Gangnam Style has really taken the world by storm. Not only is everyone making parodies of it, even Britney Spears tweets about it.

I am LOVING this video - so fun! Thinking that I should possibly learn the choreography. Anybody wanna teach me?! haha britspears.me/159zje
— Britney Spears (@britneyspears) August 28, 2012

My favorite parody so far has got to be this Red Army version!

Heng Ji Chicken Rice @ Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre

The queue at Heng Ji

Heng Ji Chicken Rice has been around Chinatown Complex Market & Food Centre for decades and my family has been patronising them ever since I was a little boy.

Other than Tiong Shian Porriage at the main road (opposite CK Department Store), Heng Ji Chicken Rice seems to be the only other thing we eat whenever we visit Chinatown.

The thing about Heng Ji is that they only sell poached chickens and there is always a perpetual queue for it's chicken rice.

I remembered their rice used to be served in tiny blue colored bowls and because the bowls were really small, we always had to order extras.

Heng Ji's rice is fragrant and slightly oily which is fine with me but they uses broken rice which crumbles easily in the mouth.

We continued to patronise Heng Kee for many more years until the opening of the Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle stall (#02-127) a few doors away. 

The chickens hanging off the hooks gleamed under the lights and looked so much more tantalising than the pale looking ones from Heng Ji.

We decided to give the new stall a try and we are glad we did for we have never looked back since.

Mid-Autumn Festival @ Chinatown

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Mooncake Festival, falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month when the moon is at its fullest and brightest.

It is a celebration of reunion, when families gather to admire the full moon and sample Mooncakes - a traditional Chinese pastry, over a cup of unsweetened tea.

I missed the official light-up and opening ceremony at Chinatown last weekend but I managed to make a trip down to immerse myself in the festivities this week.

Other than the celebrations at Chinatown, there are also floats over at nearby Clarke Quay which you must not miss!

Video: The Lorax OST - Thneedville

This is another song I like from The Lorax.

It is the opening song and if you listen to the lyrics carefully, it pretty much explains the situation in Thneedville which gives you a better understanding of the later developments in the movie.

Enjoy!

Video: The Lorax OST - Let It Grow

I especially like this quote and soundtrack from the movie, The Lorax because it is a gentle reminder to the environmental issue that we have on hand.

Everyone plays a vital role in protecting this planet we call home and it is up to us to fight for it's well-being because we do not have an alternative planet to move on to should this one fails.

Please do not have that "but I'm just one person; it does not make any difference" mindset. If you think you are too small to make a difference, be reminded tha tthe ocean is made up of many drops of water!

No effort is too insignificant because everything adds up.

Many a little makes a mickle.

It is never too late to start caring for your environment today.

Delays On SMRT Train Services

After the series of major train breakdowns that inconvenienced thousands of commuters, I noticed that SMRT has taken to social media to disseminate news of any breakdowns or delays. 

I think that is a good move as we could then plan our journey accordingly.

I am not sure if that is a tactic to alleviate rising tensions against the transport company but from what I see, the tweets are getting more "personalised".

Graffiti

Graffiti at Teck Lim Road (behind Tong Ah Coffeeshop)

Happy Birthday, Kai Kai!

Kai Kai, the male Giant Panda who is here on a 10 year conservation program celebrates his 5th birthday today. He's seen here enjoying a special birthday cake made of carrots, apples and high-fibre biscuits all frozen in ice.

Kai Kai and his female counterpart, Jia Jia, are currently undergoing quarantine at the River Safari.

Movie: The Lorax

This movie is adapted from a children's book of the same title written by Dr. Seuss which was first published in 1972.

Perhaps it might be a little late to write a review for this animation now but I only got to watch it on cable last weekend and I must say I could totally relate to the storyline which brings forth a very strong message about the crisis that we are facing right at the moment.

The story revolves around twelve-year old Ted (Zach Efron), an ordinary boy living in the walled-up town of Thneedville where everything is artificial.

In this climate-controlled town, the air is not clean and the townsfolk had to buy bottled oxygen from Mr. O'Hare, the greedy proprietor of a bottled oxygen company and who's also the mayor of Thneedville. 

Trees had long been extinct and the only trees and flowers they had were all made of plastics.

When Audrey (Taylor Swift), the girl whom Ted is carrying a torch for wished nothing more than just to see a real, living tree, he spared no effort to sneak out of town in search of the legendary Once-ler (Ed Helms) who knows what exactly happened to the trees and most importantly, where to find one.

Giant Pandas Kai Kai And Jia Jia Arrives In Singapore

After much anticipation, two VIPs - Very Important Pandas - have finally landed in Singapore on a Boeing 747 cargo freighter. 

They were here on a ten-year loan from China with the objective of promoting Giant Panda conservation and raising public awareness of this critically endangered species.

There to receive them at the JetQuay Terminal at the Changi Airport were 60 guests including Mr Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State (Trade & Industry), chairman of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) Claire Chiang, former President S.R. Nathan and the chairman of CapitaLand Hope Foundation, who is the sponsor and conservation donor of the Giant Panda collaborative programme,.