The Penang Food Hunter

BIG BIG apology for not been updating my blog for long! For yours truly had suit up and got a new life (a job).

It was a fantastic start to this new life when I was 'shipped' to the world infamously dubbed 'Pearl of the Orient', for my first assignment. Instantly, I knew I gonna be very fat, very soon...

Hence, my Penang food hunting days, begin!

1. Lee Chee Kang & Claypot Chicken Rice
It was never like the famous Penang laksa and the cooling Teow Chew  Cendol combo at Jalan Penang. But what I stumble upon during my after work hunger pangs, was a rather interesting combo- Hot steamy claypot chicken rice and cooling Lee Chee Kang (a mix of peanuts, kidney bean, jelly, white fungus, and other ingredients in a sweet cooling broth).

The rice was cooked upon order. One big scoop into the center of the pot, I released the pleasant tingling ginger and soy sauce fragrance. Exposed then was abundant chunky chicken and juicy mushroom. Aside from that tongue burning sensation, you can find tiny chunks of salted fish hidden within the rice, adding a real tinge to the already sinful flavour. Dunk into the egg- 80% cooked- to add a layer of awesomeness into the rice! And to cool down all the heat, I gulped down the freshly sweet and cool Lee Chee Kang. 

Awesome find @ Taman Chai Leng food street, Lebuh Kurau 5, Taman Chai Leng, Perai.
Open at random days after 6 pm. Good luck!

2. Egg crusted chicken floss and BBQ meat sandwich.

I was given the 'Its normal laaaaaaaaa' respond when I describe to my friends how god dammit delicious this was. One piece of BBQ meat and chicken floss stuck between lightly pan-fried egg crusted soft breads, and glued up well with honey.

One bite into the cloud like soft bread with a crispy egg exterior, you flew up to the clouds. A deeper bite into the juicy meat and flavour packed floss, you just hit the stratosphere. One final bite released all the sweetness them honey can offer, you'll reach heaven and scream out loud: OHHH MY GOD!!!!
It was not normal people! Not at all!

The trip to Bahau, Negeri Sembilan

I spontaneously got myself invited to one of my university senior's wedding at a place called Bahau. Bahau where? I asked that same question to my long time friend Ang PY when he came from Penang to Klang to head down there together. All both of us got was a not so reliable address, even less reliable Google Map and a whole lot of heart.

I had an idea to make this trip even better, I suggested we eat all the way down, from Klang to Bahau. And that is exactly what we did!

We first hit Qi Xiang Restaurant at Taman Eng Ann, Klang to savour upon Klang's infamous delicacy- Bah Kut Teh. Sipping on heavenly herb thicken gravy, biting on those sinfully succulent pork, top off with fragrant rice and yao cha kue, was an unforgiving taste bud pampering.

We almost forgot that we just had a heavy meal just minutes before when order our self some Klang famous Mee Hoon Kuih (a type of flour based hand kneaded noodles) @ Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih House, Taman Berkely, Klang. To stand there waiting for seats and still drooling without your food after seating for a long period of time is a norm. Our waiting was later paid off with a bowl of tenderly bouncy thin Mee Hoon Kuih, bathed in  sweet fragrant anchovies soup, and garnished with pork lungs, succulent pork meat, and crispy fried anchovies. I would not mind come here and wait all over again.

With our stomach heavily filled. We next head to Seremban to continue with our next chapter of food hunting. Frustratingly, Google map failed me again. We missed the exit we suppose to exit out from the highway. Plus my decision to take instruction from my friend and his outdated GPS, cost us an extra 30 minutes before we manage to met with some of our Seremban's friends. 

Go, Job Hunting Go!

It had been a good time going job hunting!

Here I wanna share some interesting findings and perhaps some useful tips that I had discovered throughout my time being a job hunter (roar!). Is all of my personal experience and my own accounts being a fresh graduate looking for a job. Some of you might agree with me and some of you might not. But let hope it do become a good read for anyone that were recently graduated, soon to be graduating, or had graduated since god-know-when but still haven't get a job (like me).

A brief introduction about me. I am a food science graduate of one of Malaysia public university. Been taking a 'long leave' since I graduated last November only recently beef myself up to go job hunting.

Here goes...

1. Take The Time.
Most of the graduates 'oven' freshly out of their study life, will be eager to hastily get into the job market. Most of their reason being wanting an income, being the family breadwinner, hastily stocking up experience, and most predominantly, doing what they 'suppose-to-do' like what most graduates did. I will say, take your time. In Malaysian public university scene, I can daringly say that most of us do not get the courses that we wanted. So there is no wrong in taking the time to figure out what you ultimately want to do.

In the long run, taking that time, will be better than spending 1-2 year in some job that ultimately you will quit because you did not enjoy it. Go travel, go do volunteer, go do some peacekeeping project, or go do whatever you been longing to do. Take that time to do some self discovery, in the meantime, reward yourself of the long study life you had been committing for years. Take that rest that you thoroughly deserve, that you would not regret, before braving into having a job, your life.

2. Open Doors.
My first interviewer said to me. 'Shian, life is about opening doors, not closing them.' These few words was the pivotal point during my job hunting days. That I decided to go look for more, rather than sticking to one opportunity. Do not put barriers in yourself, but go explore every opportunities. Don't limit yourself with your own understanding, but go broaden that understanding.

Love

Love is those tears you shed,
knowing that there is someone that loves you.

Love is those sweet smile,
blossoming out on a sight of the one you love.

Love is never giving up,
even when the world is against you.

Love is about holding hands,
imagining yourself getting old, still holding her hand.

Love is about giving,
and receiving.

Love is not to be valued,
It weigh of nothingness, not exchangeable, and only adds up.

Love is in the sweat of your parents,
in the heartbeat of your child, and in eyes of your one and only.

Love is about getting caught,
of doing everything right.

Love is not to judge,
but to share.

Love is about looking up to the sky, and fall.
Knowing that there is someone there to catch you.

Love is about spending time,
not money.

Love is about changing,
from being you, to being together.

Love is on the thought of love,
there is someone love represent.

Love is the biggest thing,
that came with the smallest gesture.

Love is simple,
complicated, complex, silly and controlled.

In the end,
Love is still that four letter word,
that give meaning, to what we do everyday.

Live well people,
Shian

So people, tell me, what is your love? Feel free to leave a comment =)

The Barbershop

I am going Nostalgia again...

Remember the scent of soap and talc, mixed with the smell of rusted steel and rotten wood? Remember the outdated magazine and Old Master Q comic you flipped through while waiting for you turn? Remember the lightness you felt after a good trim? Well, that was the barbershop of our childhood.

This barbershop, was always filled with grumpy men. Complaining about politics, aimlessly flipping through newspapers, talking on how close they are in winning yesterday's jackpot lottery, reminiscing about the good old glory days and hiding from their wives. But was never there to trim their hair. All in the midst of noise from the TV nobody watches and oldies on the radio nobody listens. And that was the barbershop, we grew up with.

Remember then when hairstyle was recognized through numbers? "Uncle, today number one!" And you will come out looking like a monk. Or if you are up for it, you can choose your hairstyle based on a few poster of famous pop star of that time like Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau or Jacky Cheung, pasted all over the wall. But was rare to see your hair turned out like theirs and left you wonder what magic they possessed to make them look that good! And that was the barbershop, of dreams being handsome, broken.