Back Home Once Again!: To My Hometown (Part 2)

I woke up early on the eve of Chinese New Year (CNY) only to find no one else has woken up except J. After washing up, I rummaged through the refrigerator and pantry for food. I was famished! Munching away at my breakfast, 3rd aunt woke up to get breakfast ready and I had a smile plastered on my face the entire morning. I just ate and I was going to eat again that morning.

As the clock ticked away, one by one in the family got out of bed. The remaining ones is Aunt Anne and Melissa a.k.a PIGS. Rachael and I decided to wake Melissa up. We kept knocking on the door of their bedroom like there was no tomorrow. Aunt Anne finally opened the door out of irritation. However, the real pig was unfazed and was eminent about staying in bed. Rachael and I did all we could to wake her up from pushing to poking and sitting on her. The one thing that I did not do this year was grab Vicks and medicated ointment and apply it on her nose to wake her up. There is ALWAYS next year.

Lying on the couch watching the ‘Arowana’ swimming in the enormous fish tank, I was planning to climb Maxwell Hill that evening only to be disappointed when it started to rain. When it rains, the hills get slippery and leeches come out to play. There goes my plan for the evening. Right then, Kelvin my cousin brother invited me to pay respects to his late wife at Prestavest Crematorium and Memorial Park. Kelvin has always been close to me despite our geographical distance. He is like my younger brother as he did at one time stayed with me and my parents from the moment he was born until the age of six. In summary, Kelvin, Melissa and I are inseparable.

Nonetheless, we were welcomed by the wave of incense and smoke when we reached the crematorium.

Warning: Please be advised that the following pictures at the crematorium may be offensive to some. View at your own discretion.

Kelvin igniting the candle

Kelvin and kids i.e. Ivan and Clarice paying their respects

Offerings

While waiting for Kelvin to complete the ritual, we came across some hell bank notes with outrageously large denominations. Hell bank notes are afterlife monetary paper offering used in traditional Chinese ancestor veneration. Majority of the bills feature the image of the Jade Emperor the presiding monarch heaven in Taoism.

Hell Bank Notes

To the uninformed, hell bank notes may look like toys and superstitious items. There is however considerations concerning the use of hell bank notes. It is not advisable to give hell bank note to a living person as gift even if it is meant as a joke. This action translates to wishing the person’s death.

Avoid being the uninformed like my crazy cousins here….sigh (shaking head in embarrassment)



Hell bank notes are usually kept away in proper places as leaving these notes in the house is considered bad luck. Hell bank notes are treated as real money thus, are not casually tossed into the fire but respectfully placed in the fire. In some customs, each note is folded in a specific way before placing it in the fire; an extension of the belief that burning real money brings severe bad luck.


(Melissa - now you know the reason why your friends were giving you a hard time when you posted those pictures on your blog.)


On a lighter note, we made a quick stop to obtain the following.

TESCO: Food for hotpot on the 4th day of Chinese New Year

Fireworks! There were more secretly stashed away in case of a police raid

Illegal? Yes, it is illegal to sell or obtain fireworks. Then again, this is a small town hence the probability of being arrested for playing with them is rather minute. Can they be obtained openly? No. We got our loot from a friend of Kelvin’s. The quick stop was a residential home in some remote village in my hometown...heheh.

To be continued.....

Back Home Once Again!: To My Hometown

It felt like yesterday when I wrote about my last Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration at home. Yet this is another new year, the year of the Ox. This year CNY falls on January 26th. Like every year when I return to Malaysia, I would go through the same ritual. The moment I arrive home , I will drop off my luggage, have breakfast with my family ('chee cheong fun' will always be the first thing I eat in Malaysia) and then go for a much needed haircut. By the time I am done with a theraupetic session at the hair salon, it was time for dinner. My mom could not comprehend what would take me close to 4 hours in the salon. In short, I have my hair cut, highlighted, washed, steam treated and blown dry.

The outcome?

I went from this in 2008.........

to this.................. (short red hair)

The following day, we were off to Taiping, Perak as usual. Once there, the fun, the noise, the laughter, the jokes, the food and the family pretty much come together. Instead of elaborating on what happens year after year during this festive occasion, I will let the photos speak for themselves. After all, a picture speaks a thousand words.

My cousin Melissa called me a Pig on her blog. If I am a pig, she is one too coz we are a family....hehehe

Family preparing food: Chinese spring rolls
clockwise from left: Dad, 3rd aunt, 2nd aunt, Aunt Anne, Mom

Family having dinner
clockwise from left: 3rd aunt, Mom, Aunt Anne, Dad, 2nd aunt, J, moi
ooppssss.....Rachael popping out from nowhere :)

Grandma, the duck leg and drink!

After dinner: Kids, Melissa & Me
clockwise from left: Me, Rachael, Michelle, Melissa, Clarice, Ivan

Clarice and Me: I look terrible here and still half asleep..eeekkk

That was the first day in Taiping, a day before the eve of CNY 2009. I slept the entire afternoon and turned in very early that night. Adjustment to a different time zone proved difficult.

To be continued......

All It Took Was Gustav: Invasion of Jin Joo and the Pearl Harbor

(How long has it been since my last entry? September 2008. That long...Nonetheless, here is the continuation of the Gustav series).

Breakfast was almost over by the time we got to Rainbow Lanai. Exhausted from the activities the day before, I overslept. On top of that, nobody in our party was in the mood for food that very morning. After a slow morning, we decided to take a drive to Pearl Harbor.

‘Why are going back to the airport? I am not ready to go back!’, I exclaimed.

‘Are you sure this is the right way?’, J asked as we drove towards the airport.

‘Yes! That’s what NeverLost says’, I replied.

Sensing that NeverLost will not get us there, I had my Garmin nüvi 360 switched on to get us there. When we were finally on the correct route, the crossbreed announced,

‘Let’s get something to eat before we get to Pearl Harbor’.

‘Huh? Eat again? Where at?’, I said as my parents chuckled.

‘I saw a few plazas on the way. We could see what they have there’, J said.

We turned around to stop at plazas J mentioned. The first plaza we stopped at had Genki Sushi. It was located in Pearl City along Kamehameha Highway. Instead of going in we ended up asking a candy shop operator where we could find something local and less ‘tourisy’. He told us to drive down the highway and we will come to a shopping center with eating places.

True enough we saw plenty of restaurants located at the shopping center called the Waimalu Shopping Center. Since the selection was aplenty, we pulled up into a parking space and got down to peruse. We stopped at Jackie’s Diner and took a look at the menu to see what they have to offer. Jackie’s Diner serves authentic Hawaiian food. Seeing that I had Hawaiian food the day before, I decided that the party should have something else. As we walked out, I spotted Jin Joo. I was in the mood for something spicyyy….

A row of eating places

More shops

Jin Joo restaurant that caught my eye

The décor was minimal. However, I was more concern about the food. Having the suspicion that the portions would be huge, I decided to order a dish to share with my mom. Dad and J had their individual portions. When the food finally came, I was more than impressed.

The menu in Jin Joo

Jin Joo's Interior

Soup

Appetiser/Side dishes commonly served with the entree

Kimchi Jaegi at the far end (black clay pot)

One of the main dishes

The total cost of food at Jin Joo’s was less than $40 including tips. For four people and huge portions to boot the price was reasonable. We were more than satisfied after filling our tummies with good food. With that we continued our journey to Pearl Harbor.

There was quite a lot to see at Pearl Harbor. We spotted the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center on the way to the parking lot. The visitor center opens daily from 7.30 am to 5.00 pm. The 23 minute documentary film about the attack and the boat trip to the USS Arizona Memorial begins at 8.00 am. Adjacent to the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center is the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park that opens daily from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm with the last tour of the submarine at 4.30 pm.

We made our way to the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park. Dad, J and I loved the outdoors and the sun. We proceeded to walk around in our caps and took pictures. Mom on the other hand preferred to stay in the shade. Lucky for her there were ample tables and chairs as well as concession stand in front of the museum. Our personal opinion; she needs to get out more, be active, let loose and have fun.

Dad in front of the USS Bowfin

J in front of the USS Bowfin

I have always loved the navy. The white, crisp and smart uniform puts a wide smile on my face. I may not be part of the navy but it sure made me happy to pretend to be one.

Me pretending to be part of the navy. Don't I look the part?

Having taken enough pictures, J and I went on the USS Bowfin submarine. We were given a walkman-style cassette player that narrates as we explored the historic WWII submarine. The USS Bowfin was launched on December 7th 1942 and completed nine successful war patrols. The bowfin has also earned both the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Commendation during her wartime service.

Excited as I was when I went into the submarine, one word came to mind; cramped. Walking in the tight confined space made me think what it was like for those living on board. There was certainly a space issue. Exacerbating the less than ideal situation is the hot temperature of the submarine. J and I were not the only visitors on the bowfin. To avoid the feeling of being overcrowded, I moved into another section of the submarine from time to time. I cannot really imagine how up to 80 crew members operated and walked in this submarine. Amazing…

Inside the submarine

A Way Out

Dining Area

Menu for the crew members: Looked like a good selection

Kitchen

Looking below: The pantry to store food

Working Room

Bed

A row of beds

Controls

Pipes

Device used to generate fresh water

Posing in the submarine

Exiting the bowfin, I welcomed the fresh cooling breeze with zeal. We walked around a little more and posed for photographs.

Standing and Saluting

Weapons and Me

After goofing around for sometime on the submarine, J and I decided we had enough for the day. The last place to visit was the museum. Dad and J went into the 10,000 square foot museum to enjoy the impressive collection of submarine-related artifacts such as submarine weapon systems, photographs, paintings, battleflags, original recruiting posters, and detailed submarine models, all illustrating the history of the U.S. Submarine Service. I joined my mom seating in front of the concession stand to enjoy the quiet and cooling surroundings.

Just as the museum and park was about to close, J and dad came out from the museum. It was time to head back to the hotel and the beach!

I donned my zebra print bikini and headed for the beach. Clearly, my 30 year old body needed to go under the knife to sculpt away imperfections….sigh. Deep down, I knew it was only going to go downhill after 30 hence, I decided to have a few photographs taken as remembrance. Perhaps, next year with more discipline on the type of food I eat and a BETTER photographer the pictures will turn out better (I knew better than to have J take these photos…sigh).






The sun was setting, the day was almost over and I did not get a tan. I decided that the next day would be a day dedicated to frolicking by the beach, goofing in the sea and getting a tan.

To be continued…..