May 27, 2007: His Love

HE appreciates fine food and drink.

HE is an 'expert' in fine food and drink.

HE enjoys food and eats abundantly.

IS HE a good cook? Yet to be verified untill August.

May 22, 2007: Time Flies

Time Flies

By Josephine Wall (www.josephinewall.co.uk)

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May 17, 2007: Penang Hill

Penang Hill also known as Bukit Bendera is 830 meter high (2,750 foot) and it's much cooler than in the city below. It's about 3 degrees cooler than the places near the coast. Visitors can ascend to the top by either hiking up or by the funicular railway which has been operational since 1922. Apart from the cool, refreshing climate and the fantastic view at the summit, visitors can also view the picturesque bungalows, a beautiful flower garden and a bird park.

Maybe on the next visit we can try the walking track up the hill. It takes 4 hours to reach the top (but is recommended only for the more energetic.) The jungle trail begins at the 'moongate' at Jalan Air Terjun, approximately 300m from the Botanical Gardens entrance.

Anyway, during our last day in Penang we took a train up and down Penang Hill. We are unlucky because the Canopy Walk is temporarily closed.

We also discovered quite a number of unique and beautiful flowers. This is me being followed by the paparazzi while trying to capture the picture of 'bunga kantan' flower bud of torch ginger)!

Here's the outcome!

It looked like the paparazzi can't leave me alone!

Walla, the beautiful orange flower .... lily I think

Here is the slideshow of more pictures taking at Penang Hill.

May 13, 2007; Journey Down Memory Lane

Sharing with you videos taken during Howard's holiday at my hometown in Kulim, Kedah.

On the second day, we drove to Sedim River which is known for it's waterfall and and also the newly launched Tree Top Walk (the world's longest tree top walk). This is video of us stopping by at the Kedai Kopi (Coffee Shop) nearby the road in Sedim where H had his 'kampong coffee'. In fact, on our way back we stopped at the 'kedai kopi ' again and H had 2 cups of 'kampong coffee'!

The following video where we were approaching the river and your can hear the sound of the river and the jungle ..... The so-called road is big enough for only one car - so when there's cars coming from the other direction there's some kind of understanding who has to give way .....

After the picnic, we went straight to my sister's house in Bikan and were greeted by little Farah Dania (my sister's grand daughter). She's about 4 years old, was very shy but so eager to show us the fish at the nearby pond.

But on our way to the pond we saw few monkeys - that sounded very happy - they just eaten 10 chicken eggs from my sister's place! This is video of Farah chasing the monkeys - she's just mimicked what my sister normally did to chase the monkey I think.

Farah is no longer shy .... she's now falling in-love with H, and fell asleep in H's arms!

The next day H experienced how lemang is being made. In this video, my brother in-law was layering banana leaves inside the bamboo. While I was eating 'apom' - the traditional kueh that my sister cooked that morning. Most of the time, you will hear Malay language being spoken in this video - but in Kedah dialect (because my sister and brother in-law can't speak English). BUT, if you noticed there are few English words that are common in Malay language and being used widely - i.e my sister said 'fresh' kelapa (coconut)

And that's me trying to 'help' ....

April 25, 2007: Life in a Kampong

Hi everyone,

I was brought up in a 'kampong' (village) and lived there until I was 20 years old when I first left my kampong to further study in Universiti Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. But I always looked forward for semester holidays to go back to my kampong. Even though I am currently lived and worked in Kuala Lumpur, deep inside me I am still a kampong girl who loves nature more than anything else.

So, one of the agenda during Howard's holiday in Malaysia was to take him to my kampong for him to experience the kampong's life. But because of the house that I bought in my hometown, Kulim is located in a modern housing estate I took Howard for 2 days and 1 night in my eldest sister's house in Bikan. Bikan is quite a remote area with a very minimum basic facilities.

Here among other things, H experienced 'the making of lemang' - glutinous rice cooked in a bamboo. Here are some pictures:

My brother in-law preparing young banana leaves that is used to line the inner side of the bamboo. Banana leaves are cut into strips and later rolled up to cover the entire inner surface of the bamboo.

While my sister preparing the coconut milk.

After all the bamboo have been lined with banana leaves, it's time for my sister and I to put in the glutinous rice into the bamboo.

Only 3/4 of the bamboo is filled with the glutinous rice - the rest will be filled up with coconut milk.

H feeling bored, no one to play with.... So he's peeping my little grand niece Farah Dania who's still asleep . Hehehe

We filled up all the bamboo, while my brother in-law preparing the fire. My sister is checking out to see whether the fire is ready.

The coconut milk is poured into the bamboo.

My brother in-law showed H how to do it.

It's now time for H to try..... while little Farah looked with full amazed! hehehe

Camera, action! Smile darling!

While waiting for lemang to cooked, we wondered around my sister's fruit orchard - but unfortunately it is not fruits season yet. Can you spot the 'rambutan' flowers - it will only bear fruits somewhere in August!

Wait! I saw a pink fruits! This is not a seasonal fruits - we called it 'jambu air' (Herb called it water apple)

I'll get it for you Hon!

Here it is!

While I was busy looking for fruits, H is now happy because he has friend to play with. H playing 'give me five' with Farah.

Well, this looked familiar! One of the kampong chicken soon will be turned into chicken curry! Yum yum! My sister cooked chicken curry to be eaten with lemang.

After almost 3 hours - with my sister checking on the fire from time to time and also turned the bamboo every few minutes to ensure that the glutinous rice is evenly cooked, the lemang was ready! BUT unfortunately because we are so excited to eat while it is still hot AND because the chicken curry that my sister made is soooo delicious we forgot to take picture of the cooked lemang!

Anyway here's picture of lemang that previously posted on my blog

You should be able to see more pictures when H uploaded it on flickr. And maybe he would like to share his experience being beaten by lots of mosquitoes while staying at my sister's house!

Love - Larra

April 21, 2007: Thinking of You

I've learned that good-byes will always hurt,

pictures will never replace having been there,

memories good and bad will bring tears,

and words can never replace feelings.

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~ I am just keeping myself busy here ~

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H resting at my house in Kulim (my hometown)

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Can't live without - coffee!

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Tarzan's big brother has just landed! Kimberly Trail, Fraser's Hill

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Off into the water - Chilling Waterfall.

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Swimming time! - Berjaya Beach Resort, Tioman

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View of the sea from our balcony at "Tree Top Chalet", Japa Mala Resort, Tioman

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At your own risk "Beware of falling coconut" at one of the resort in Tioman

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Blue team: Herb in Malay dress - 'Baju Batik' and 'Kopiah' and Larra in 'Baju kurung'

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H admiring the big tree - jungle walk in Tioman

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The big tree in Tioman

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Herb enjoying beer on 'Hard Rock' cafe during our jungle walk in Tioman

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Boat ride in Tioman

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He keeps saying "I can't smile!" Do you believe him?

April 19, 2007: Tioman Island ....

Hi everyone,

We are back from Tioman Island! Happy .... and also tired. Herb is already asleep .

Just sharing with you few pictures of Herb and I climbing the rock near the resort.

This picture was taken from the jetty of our resort. You can see few chalets, but ours - called the "Tree Top" chalet is somewhere behind the tree. Can you see two rocks on the far left of the picture? Those are the rocks that we climbed on the 4th day of our stay in Japamala Resort, Tioman Island.

Picture of the highest rock.

Breathtaking view from the top!!!

H busy with his camera. At the back is the jetty to our resort.

The winning team! Hehehe ......

Good night everyone! I am off to lala-land now .....

Love - Larra & Herb