School holidays are here again!

I'm forever lamenting here in this blog that time flies way, way too fast. It's one month since I updated this blog. We're in the midst of school holidays, again! This time it was preceded by the Hari Raya holiday which fell on last Thursday and Friday and school has been out since then till end of this week.

It's a good thing that C didn't get any homework at all from school this time around. Either that, or she decided not to bring the work home! She's capable of that at times! But I trust that the teachers really didn't give any homework this time :)

As usual, we, or rather C, has grand plans to do many things during her free time. But since she is the type who dawdles and lives in the moment, she is pretty slow (by my standards) in getting things moving.

She however surprised us on the first morning of the holidays by waking up at 6.30am. On normal school days, that would be rare as we'd have to shake her out to get to school on time! She couldn't go back to sleep so I jokingly suggested she went and got breakfast ready. Lo and behold, she did. She came to us with a notebook and pencil and asked us for our breakfast orders *rolling my eyes*

While E and I continued to laze in bed for a while, she made sandwiches with butter and jam, and a fried egg for E, cereal with milk and an omelette for me, plus coffee for both of us.

 

 

During the Hari Raya break, we caught two movies, Wolverine and Percy Jackson on two separate days, at two different movie theatres. The two sweet-tooth people in my family had to have popcorn, of course.

 

Apart from movies, tv, iPad and computer games and videos from Brainpop, C started another 'storybook' of her own, writing an assortment of her own stories.

 

Yesterday, we sent her to a 3-day, 2-night nature camp at Janda Baik. She was so excited to go that she awoke at 4am. After dropping her off and returning to KL, E and I decided to visit Petaling Street, KL's Chinatown.

 

It's been more than 10 years since I last went there. Things have changed in that old part of KL. The roads were rather messy with the construction of LRT tracks. Some old buildings were demolished to make way for them, what a pity. What's 'Chinese' that remains of Chinatown is the food, some of the shops selling clothes, bags, shoes, etc. As for the stalls lining the roadside selling all sorts of knock offs, most of them are now manned by foreigners like Bangaldeshis :( 

 

 

Murals by a group of people who want to preserve the heritage on Jalan Sultan where six lots of buildings have been demolished to make way for development. Watch this video for more info:

 

 

Foreigners manning stalls

 

But some 'historical' gems are still there if you've lived in KL long enough to know. For a foodie like me, I took note of the stalls that have been faithful residents there for decades, although they could now be manned by a younger generation.

 

The daughter of the original salted roast duck seller is now continuing the business. They have been here for decades, selling their roast ducks and wrapped duck feet delicacy out of this cart by the roadside.

 

The roast duck seller's well-known name, 'Sze Ngan Chye' (Four-eyed Guy). This highly recognisable signage with red and white letterings in this typical typeface has not changed at all. Talk about strong branding! 

 

 

This 'air mata kuching' (longan drink) stall has been here for as long as I can remember, at the corner of Hong Leong Bank. It used to be a must-buy for E long ago during our single days when we visited this place, so yesterday, he re-lived 'history' by buying a cup, now priced at RM1.50. Those days, they served it in a bowl and many people would stand around the stall, drinking from the bowl.

 

 

This is another decades-old stall selling fried snacks and some specialty Cantonese kuih, including 'sat kei ma', 'siu hou chou', 'ham chim peng', 'mah kiok', 'hup tou sou', etc.

 

 

On our way home, we had to stop at a the traffic light junction facing Central Market. The former wet market of old, now a cultural/handicraft centre named Pasar Seni (Art Market) is now painted in light blue (I remember it as greyish or green back then). Alongside it, the alley has been transformed to what's called Kasturi Walk, with a giant wau (Malaysian traditional kite) fronting it!

 

 

It's good that I got to visit Petaling Street and drive past the areas surrounding it yesterday to take a look at the changes in town. Puduraya, the old central bus station got a facelift and the busy roundabout there is gone. The Klang Bus Station also got a facelift. The heart of old KL feels totally different from the one I used to know when I first moved here to live and work in the early 1990s....

 

Driving past Jalan Pudu on our way home, I could still at least feel that there wasn't as much change on that road, despite some new buildings coming up and the Pudu Jail gone. The popular Teochew porridge shop behind Berjaya Times Square (I can't stop thinking about food :-p) is still there too! 

 



 

The recent school holidays

The one-week school holiday was over too quickly! A and C spent the entire week at home, while E went to work as usual except for Friday when he took the day off for Good Friday. We got into a routine of work and play, mostly led by C herself as she drew up daily checklists of work items she  needed to look into, such as household chores I said she had to do, homework given by her teachers, music practice, and ideas/projects of her own.

Day 1: C's handwriting is very untidy! Since we told her she needs to earn her own money to buy things she wants, as well as for savings, she's been thinking of ideas, but so far, her ideas have yet to be put into action. Obviously, 'optional' in item no. 5 indicates some reluctance!

 

Day 2: She did quite a good job washing her shower stall but concluded that she would "never, never, ever want to do it again". It was hard work scrubbing the tiles, and floor and washing the glass door.  Her illustration on the whiteboard echoed my dream of being on a paradise island, instead of being stuck at home!

 

Later in the week, 'help do chore' got bumped to the bottom of the list, and indeed she did only one chore, insisting that she had written 'chore', a singular noun according to her, and not 'chores'.

 

Helping to mop the floor was one of the 'help do chores' activities.

We made meatballs for a soupy noodle one afternoon.

 

Caitlin's home-made lunch

 



We took a day off our work-and-play routine and went out to a mall for some fun and shopping in the middle of the week. Coincidentally, there was a free workshop with an eco-friendly theme at the concourse. You could participate if you had a certain credit card, or spent at least RM50 at the mall. She made an accessories hanger using recycled wood from tree stems or branches.

 

 

 

 

 And we did more cooking. One evening, C cooked a dish of basil chicken all by herself, with me providing the verbal instructions. We had it for dinner and it was a rare instance where she actually ate leafy greens (the basil leaves). This is one example that proves (although not all the time) that kids are more willing to try new food or food they dislike when you involve them in the cooking.

 

Caitlin's basil chicken stir fry.

 

On Saturday afternoon, C's five-year-old cousin came over to play and they made some cookies.

Apart from these, C managed to complete all her homework, and practised her piano and drums adequately. Her BM tuition and music lessons went on as usual. We went to church on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. She played the drums at church for the praise and worship session.

Phew, we survived the school holidays quite well this time, and now we're back to the grind. Earlier this week, we had some difficulty waking early and getting back into our daily routine.

This month of April, we will have a few events to take note of -- C's school sports day, a field trip for a theatrical play of Roald Dahl's 'George's Marvellous Medicine', and of course, the long-awaited 13th General Elections. The PM had announced the dissolution of Parliament yesterday and now we're waiting for the announcement of the polling date. Also, E will be another year older this month.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - places to visit

ACE spent four days, three nights in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on the first week of the school holidays. It was an adventurous experience having to go everywhere in a tuk tuk as that was the cheapest, fastest and most convenient mode of transport in the busy, traffic-choked city. The traffic on Phnom Penh (PP) streets is rather haphazard compared to KL roads. Vehicles are driven on the right-side of the road and there's hardly any traffic light junctions so one has to be very brave driving there considering the number of cars, motorbikes and tuk tuks moving around very closely to each other.

 

 

It is best to wear a face mask, especially if you have nasal allergies like C, when on the roads of PP as the air is rather polluted with dust and vehicle fumes.

 

If your hotel is within the city centre, a tuk tuk ride to almost anywhere you wish to go would cost you USD2. The drivers would usually ask for more but it is not too hard to negotiate it down to USD2. Agree on the price first before you board the tuk tuk.

 

We visited the Silver Pagoda, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, National Museum, Sisowath Quay, Russian Market and Central Market. You may Google or read other travel websites for more details of each place as there's too much to write if I were to provide all the information. Here are some pictures and info of the places.

 

 

 Statue of Buddha under a Bodhi tree at the entrance to the Silver Pagoda

 

 A stupa inside the compound of Silver Pagoda

 

 The Silver Pagoda is a temple within the Royal Palace grounds. It is called 'Silver' because the entire floor inside is laid with silver tiles. The silver was mined in Cambodia but sent to France to be made. Each tile weighs more than 1 kg.

 

 There is a scaled-down replica of the Angkor Wat in the Silver Pagoda grounds. Angkor Wat is in Siem Reap, outside of Phnom Penh. It takes a six-hour bus journey to get there from Phnom Penh.

 

 The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is also known as the S21 Prison. This was where Cambodians captured by the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot were detained, interrogated and tortured for confessions. The victims were then taken to the Killing Fields (15 km away) to be killed and buried in mass graves.

 

 A room where a victim was detained and shackled to the bed frame, fed only with about 3 tablespoons of poridge daily.

 

 small detention cells measuring 1 metre in width

 

 Graves of the last 14 victims found dead at S21 after the Khmer Rouge was toppled.

 

 A structure within the Royal Palace grounds facing the Mekong river, currently mourning the late Prince Norodom Sihanouk who is lying in state in the palace until his cremation in Feb 2013. Until then, the Royal Palace is closed to visitors.

 

 Wat Ounalom, a temple at the quayside, said to be the centre of Cambodian Buddhism. We did not enter this temple.

 

 Sisowath Quay by the Mekong river.

 

A sculpture at the quayside.

 

 The National Museum is located near the Silver Pagoda/Royal Palace. It takes about 10 minutes to walk there. It showcases artifacts from ancient Khmer and also gives a detailed look at research done of Angkor Wat.

 

 Central Market is located near Sorya Shopping Centre, one of the more modern malls in PP. It is more organised than Russian Market. Sells lots of semi-precious stone jewellery, accessories, bags, clothes, household wares, souvenirs and also has a wet market section selling fresh produce.

 

A stall selling local crafts such as scarves, bags, silk...

 

 A flower stall on the outer periphery of the Russian Market

 

 A fruit stall outside the Russian Market.

 

 Inside the Russian Market, a maze of narrow alleys flanked by small stalls crowded with loads of 'antique' ware, clothes, souvenirs, bags, silk, handicraft, household wares, hardware, machinery, wet market, food stalls....

 

 

Other places you could visit in Cambodia:

 

Choueng Ek Killing Fields

Independence Monument

Historical sites like the Angkor Archaeological Park (Angkor Wat)

Bokor National Park

Siem Reap

Kompong Chom

Koh Kong

Sihanoukvile



 

 

 

School holidays are here!

We are in the second week of the school holidays. As I'm writing this, I'm recovering from a mild flu which I caught upon returning last week from a four-day visit to Cambodia. We had chosen to visit Phnom Penh after rather intensive deliberations within a week, from the aspects of airfare and accommodation cost, weather, travel time, and of course, suitable sights and food to suit both young and old. Lately, our short holidays have been rather last-minute in terms of actually deciding to take a holiday to deciding on where to go and what to do. Somehow, we always hardly have the pleasure of planning way ahead for holidays....

We're taking this week slowly as we recuperate from our travel and sickness (C's cough has been a prolonged one and she also had a fever for two days a few days ago). There's still the music classes and BM tuition for her to get back into momentum again, while my writing has been on the backburner for a bit too long...

And there's the Christmas shopping to start on too, although I still don't get it as to why we need to spend so much effort and money on getting presents and on feasting. Yes, Christmas is a time of celebration but I much prefer a quieter reflective one once awhile, and maybe give presents to the less fortunate instead of ourselves. C is involved in a church musical on Christmas eve so there's the additional practice sessions to attend starting December, which is just over a week away (!)

Although this year-end school holiday is seven weeks long, I foresee it whizzing past pretty quickly. While there's a lot one can do and be productive in seven weeks, especially for those super-achiever moms who somehow manage to get their kids into a myriad of activities indoors and outdoors, I'm resigned to the fact that I can't be, and don't want to be one of those. I'm sapped of energy just coping with the daily demands of life. As long as C covers the minimum requirements in terms of playing and learning, I shall try not to allow myself to get caught up with getting her to be a 'high-achiever' in every field.

I will certainly write a pictorial account about Phnom Penh soon, so you just have to wait if you're curious about what we did, saw, experienced and ate! Meanwhile I shall leave you with a picture of an eye-opening experience we had at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum which detailed the atrocities inflicted upon Cambodians by the dictator Pol Pot.

 

A sombre display of skulls of victims of the Khmer Rouge

Melaka, UNESCO World Heritage City

It was a hot and sunny day on 16 September, the day Malaysia celebrates her 'birthday'. We took a day trip to Melaka and became tourists for a day so that C could see with her own eyes what she had learnt at school about this place and its history.

Finding a carpark in Melaka these days, especially on weekends and public holidays, is just as difficult as finding one in KL. Luckily, where the big padang facing the sea (which has since been partly reclaimed and developed) once stood, there is now a huge shopping mall called Dataran Pahlawan Mall.

Arriving at around 11 am, we managed to find parking in the mall's basement carpark, and facing the exit of the carpark are the St Francis Institution and Sacred Heart Convent schools. The road along that school which was once an ordinary two-way street is now a huge open carpark. Gone are a lot of the greeneries surrounding the area. The padang has been reduced and is now choc-a-block with structures, all in the name of tourism. How I wish, when I was a teenager living in Melaka, I had taken pictures of Melaka then so that I can compare it with Melaka now visually, instead of relying on my memory....

These pictures will the rest of the story of our day out.

St Francis Institution

 No longer an ordinary two-way street - there was no tall building beside the school either.

 

 Just across the schools - Dataran Pahlawan Mall. I can imagine students hanging out here after school.....

 

 Sacred Heart Cannosian Convent

 

The Merdeka Memorial Museum - we did not enter this place. It showcases the history of how Malaya got its independence in 1957 from British colonial rule. The first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman had officially declared the date of independence at the padang, then known as Padang Bandar Hilir (for events leading up to the declaration, see here).

Walking on from the Merdeka Memorial, we arrived at the A Famosa, the gateway of the fort the Portuguese built when they conquered Melaka in 1511. Back in my day, it was surrounded by more greenery and there were hardly any tourists, and certainly no fancy trishaws charging a bomb for a short ride around the area. Behind the fort is St Paul's Hill, where the ruins of St Paul's church is located.

 After climbing up the steps to St Paul's Hill, we visited the Dutch graveyard located at the compound surrounding St Paul's church. It is now partly fenced up but one may walk along the path to view the cemetery and the tombs. 

 

One of the centuries-old tombs, - probably broken by vandals.

Inside St Paul's church is the grave where St Francis Xavier was buried temporarily before his body was moved to Goa, India.

 

 The many stone memorial plaques of the Dutch deceased along the interior walls of the church

 

 St Francis Xavier's statue - see here and here to find out why his right arm is cut off.

 



The bell tower outside the church

 

The tourism authorities have certainly made things easier for us now that there is a walkway down another side of the hill that leads you directly to the Stadthuys, the Dutch administration building located at Dutch Square, recognisable by its red facade.

 

 Click on the picture to read the description.
 

 The Queen Victoria fountain erected by the British, in front of the Stadthuys, there are souvenir stalls under the umbrellas in the background, and more trishaw rides available too.

 

Entrance to the museum inside - Melaka has many museums showcasing various aspects of its history. This museum gives a general overview of history and culture, and connnected to this building is the Cheng Ho museum. You need to purchase tickets. Those with Malaysian ID (MyKad) get a discount.



 

Admiral Cheng Ho outside the museum showcasing China's involvement in trade with Melaka, and the part he played in bringing the legendary princess Hang Li Po to marry the sultan.

 

 Part of the Dutch Square, Christ Church is an Anglican church.

 

 

After walking so much in the heat, we sought lunch at a small cafe housed in a traditional Malaccan house across the bridge over the Melaka River from Dutch Square. At the back of the house flows the Melaka River, now spruced up for tourists to take a cruise. Many of these old houses have been turned into souvenir shops, bed & breakfast lodgings, restaurants and cafes.

 

 A river cruise boat laden with tourists - to take a cruise, you need to head towards the Maritime Museum and look for a sign (next picture) which points you to its location.

 

 

 

 If you walk along the riverbank, you might just spot some giant monitor lizards basking in the sun.

 

 

The clock tower at Dutch Square - after lunch we returned towards Dutch Square to double back towards the fort, crossed the road and headed towards the Maritime Museum.

 



The Maritime Museum is spread out into several buildings, one of which is a replica of the Portuguese boat named Flor de la Mar. MyKad holders get a 50% discount on entry tickets.

 Another tourist attraction is the Menara Taming Sari, located at one corner of Dataran Pahlawan. It is a revolving tower which takes you up to the top for a 360 degree bird's eye view of Melaka.

 

 At the big padang, near the entrance to Menara Taming Sari, this cross marks the spot where St Francis Xavier first set foot on Melaka when he arrived.

 

This explains it.

 

We ended our tour of those few historical places in Melaka at around 4.30pm. We felt hot and tired after walking around so much. Since our car was parked at the mall, we got some refreshments there before calling it a day.

 

The Taiwanese bubble tea craze is now back in Malaysia. This is a mango snow (iced smoothie) version.

This is the original flavoured bubble milk tea.

 

As it was only a day trip, we did not manage to visit other tourist sites like Bukit China, Hang Li Po's well, St John's Hill (another fort location), and Jonker Street with its various 'antique' and souvenir stores. I also did not manage to take C to visit my alma mater, Methodist Girls' School, or further towards the Klebang and Tanjung beaches which I hear have now undergone massive reclamation works....Melaka is no longer the sleepy hollow I once lived in, with plenty of greenery around, slow pace of life devoid of traffic jams.....

 

It is a busy place now with loads of tourists and many Singaporean weekenders thronging its streets and devouring its local food. Once upon a time, its popular local food like Hainanese chicken rice balls, cendol, homemade ice kacang, popiah, pork satay, satay celup and fried oyster omelets were truly authentic.

 

Now, if you want a taste of authenticity, you have to do some legwork and seek out the real McCoys instead of visiting those drop-in-quality-formerly-superb-but-now-overrated places frequented by tourists. One example is the Hainanese Chicken Rice Ball place located at the Melaka River bridge corner facing a big food place called East West (or something), formerly the OCBC Bank. You will always see a very long queue of people waiting to get a seat inside to gobble down the succulent steamed chicken and ball-shaped rice. I guess it's a novelty for them.

 

 Worth the wait in this crazy heat?

 

 

View from the back of the queue. Jonker Street and its adjoining streets are now spruced up for tourists. It now sports a long dragon overhead.