You stupid Asian, what are you doing in my country? Get the hell out of here! Do I look Asian? Yes.. Do I look stupid, maybe but chasing me out from your country? That is way too much.
Travelling in foreign countries are not always fun, you get hiccups from time to time. That line was quoted from my travel diary back in 2005. I always wonder what will happen to the whole idea of globalization when there is a small community who still lives in the state of denial.
I felt sorry for them but hey, my journey still continues until today. If I stop then, I will not have a chance to see Fatema Indian Restaurant in the middle of Qingdao, China.
This restaurant is not in a shopping mall. It is by the roadside about 15 minutes from Qingdao Olympics Sailing Museum. The restaurant is decorated with authentic Indian decor with spices as background smell.
If you are physically in Malaysia, I don’t think you will find this restaurant interesting. If you are away from Malaysia for long long time, this restaurant will remind you of mamak stalls.
Finally I get to try cheese and garlic naan and roti prata after craving for it for so long. Not to mention, you get to try different type of Nasi Beryani too..
Let me try to recall what I ordered. If I am not mistaken (in clockwise from top left).. Vegetable Curry, Mutton Curry, Prawn Curry and Chicken curry.
Bear with the lousy photos as I took with my lousy phone in low lighting condition. The presentation of the food is not so good but the tastes of spices are marvellous.
Like many good food around, the portion come in small size. With that, it gives you opportunity to order more. So, I take my chance to maximise my order for second round.
With not a single glass of water yet, I ordered tofu curry, fish curry, potatoes curry and beef curry. Considering the place I am in, all these curries are considered great except the fish one.
Lastly, as for drinks, I ordered mango yogurt and teh masala. Mango yogurt is like a normal yogurt drink with mango flavour but the teh masala is kind of special.
It reminds me of the genuine teh masala that I used to drink when I was in India but slightly bigger cup than usual. I forget how much does this meal cost but I tell you it is not cheap. The price is almost comparable with Little India in KLCC.
Fatema Indian Restaurant
No. 10, Gutian Road,
Qingdao, China.
TEL: +86 137 3099 4178, +86 532 8300 6655
Email: shamimcy@yahoo.com
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Tags: asian, ChewSS, chicken, curry, delicious, dinner, fish, garlic, globalization, goat cheese, homemade, indian, lunch, mango yogurt, mutton, non halal, potato, spicy, stupid, teh masala, tofu, traveling, vegetables
Are you a fan of Korean Series, the one that has a lot of romantic crying scenes? I don’t! Not because I am not a romantic or emotionally sensitive guy but I don’t understand their language.
Subtitle is a bonus but crappy translation is not. Sometime, delay in subtitle makes you wonder why the girl cries again? Gosh.. if you watch with your girlfriend, I bet it will be close to impossible to console her when she is weeping with tears.
All my life, I only completed two, Lovers in Paris and Love Story in Harvard. That was before my puberty when I was still living in la la land. Not because I am crazy for it, but my mom watched it and we are poor enough to only have one TV.
Romantic aside, I spotted a singing/dancing teddy bear in one of the Korean series preview. Again, I am not a fan of soft toy but I love the technology of a multi talented invention.
This is not the one I saw in tv but the functionality wise is alike.
If you are not fan of polar bear, you can choose between frog, lion or panda bear. I have to tell you from the appearance of it, the polar bear is the best looking one .. hehe ..
All you need is just inserted 4 x AA battery and voila, the animal starts to move. You can switch between voice activated or plug in the audio cord into you iPhone and let it rocks and rolls.
Once you see it, I bet you will hardly resist yourself from not getting it.
This is not a post to show the softer side of me. This is also not a post to tell you I got this for USD 70 from Korea International Airport but this a post to show the bad repercussion of Korean Series.
Till now, I still cannot figure it out why I get this apart from impulsive decision. While writing this post, the bear is now dancing gracefully in front of me following the rhythm of a romantic song.. guess what.. I am loving it !
Kuchi-Paku Animal Speaker
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Tags: animal, cute, dancing, gadget, iphone, ipod, korean, speaker
Ouch.. I just got rewarded with sore leg from my RM 20 Crocs (with horn). After a marathon walk in Shanghai city for almost 10 hours, my painful leg refused to operate anymore.
It sent an impulse to my brain that literally direct me to the nearest Nike shop to get this pair of trainer or it will go on strike that need multiple massage to treat.
Ok, for clarification, I am neither wearing Crocs with horn nor having sore leg. I just want to make a point that I spotted a pirated crocs selling for RM 20/pair only.
As much as you know me, I am not a person that will spend few hundred bucks for branded stuff but I do make exception especially when comes to footwear.
For clothing, I do not mind wearing old clothes for as long as it is comfortable but I will spend a fortune for shoe as I believe it is a foundation of good posture (as if I have it 
).
This time, I spent approx. RM 600 for this pair of Nike Trainer 1.3 Max +. From the look of it, I know I am making the right choice. What so special about it?
Like many Nike+ shoe nowadays, a chip can be inserted and with iPhone or similar range device, it can track your running. Of course Nike is not dumb to supply free chipset. The chip comes as optional.
Honestly, I am not into those kind of stuff but my buying decision are purely relying on i) if it is comfortable ii) the design (not fancy on uncle design as I am still a VERY young iii) if my credit card can pay the bill.
At first this shoe is not as comfortable as it looks like but after a while, my feet adjusted accordingly. After about two weeks of wearing it, I feel like it become part of my body. I might sound a little exaggerating but I love this shoe as much as I love my leg.
From my “no taste” point of view, I think the combination of orange, grey and white turns out to be quite attractive. Therefore, I decided to capture this memory before it changes its color..
Nike Trainer 1.3 Max +
Web: http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-436324/pgid-436325
P/S: I still don’t know what the 1.3 means but who cares? Hehehe
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Tags: air max, all track, comfortable, fashion, latest, nike, nike +, shanghai, shoe, sports, trainer
Did you know that most Peranakans are of Hoklo (Hokkien) ancestry? Ok.. if you don’t know what is Peranakan, they are mixed-race descendents, part Chinese, part Malay/Indonesian.
Maybe the word Peranakan might be strange to you and I bet Baba-Nyonya will ring a bell. Normally, Baba-Nyonya is always associated with a historical place called Malacca.
Yes.. Malacca, A famous tourist spot where Red Stadhuys is located! Speaking of which, just few minutes walk from that spot will lead you to a busy “pasar malam” street on Friday night.
The place will start to get really congested in the late evening. Besides I get to buy my favorite cuttlefish, I noted that they sell a lot of cute souvenirs and chairs too! Quite impressive I would say.
My mission to this street was to locate Jonker88.com. What exactly is that? Isn’t you suppose to search on internet instead?
Jonker88.com is a famous dessert shop in Malacca. Many tourists will stop by at this to grab some chilly desserts. Considering that I am a tourist too, I joined others in queue to try out what is so great about this place.
The dessert shop isn’t a typical modern dessert shop like Chatime or Snowflakes but it is rather a museum to me. You get to see a lot of certificates, old notes, drawings etc here.
What amaze me is they kept many ancient artifacts over here too. If you are at my age, you will probably come across typewriter or ring dial telephone before. Believe it or not, they have it here too!
After spending few minutes in queue, instead of one, I decided to order two desserts. One is Cendol Gula Melaka and the other one is Sago Gula Malaka.
Both are really amazing. I love the taste of Gula Malaka although it is a bit too sweet for me. When I put inside my mouth, I can taste the nice coconut fragrant in it too! Yummie!
The desserts are quite affordable and it ranges only from RM 3 – 5 per bowl. Give it a try especially on hot sunny day!
Jonker88.com
same row as Malacca Chicken Rice Balls
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Tags: baba nyonya, cendol, chinese, cuttlefish, delicious, dessert, gula melaka, ice kacang, peranakan, Red Stadhuys, sago
Yawn.. Did you know I never like to read? Reading is like my sleeping pills .. I used to complain to my mom, I hate reading and why should I study. That was right after my first day in kindergarten.
History is never my favorite subject but I was so good with the first 2 pages on my text books because right after that, I was in my dreamland and when I awake, I restart the whole process. The cycle continues.
BUT did you know I love to visit museums and historical places? Am I contradicting myself? No..absolutely not. Visiting historical places makes me travel back to time “mentally”!
I experienced the same feeling too when I visited Zhan Qiao, 栈桥 (or loading pier) in Southern Shore of Qingdao where the octagonal pavilion is viewed as symbol of Qingdao.
What so special about this place? For Tsingtao Brewery Museum, the structure that was constructed in 1930 is a label of their beer bottle. For me, it means much more than that.
Apart from shopping on top of dead coral reef, this is the place where I saw a real fisherman casting the net with my own eyes. You can call me cityboy but this is another serendipitous finding for me.
The entrance ticket to this octagonal pavilion is only RMB 4/person (~RM 2/person). As soon as you enter the building, you are greeted with this mysterious black rock. Yea, it still remains mysterious until today.
I don’t think there is any significance about this place except they sell a lot a lot of creative souvenirs at “tourist price”
One of the creative souvenirs that I saw is burned art on wooden sheet. Considering my mom was also a tourist, she bought this as a souvenir for my sis at the price of RMB 50 each (~RM 25).
I did not spend much time here as we have tight schedule to follow but this place is worth to pay a visit. The place might not be as interesting as it is but the hawker stalls by the roadside around this vicinity are VERY attractive.
Zhan Qiao, 栈桥
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Tags: art, coral reed, fisherman, hawker stalls, history, octagonal, pavilion, reading, souvenir, Tsingtao Brewery
Money is not everything. Money cannot buy love, health and happiness. That is what many advice me. To me, money might not be everything but money is definitely something.
If you don’t have money, how can you buy roses for your love one on valentine? Without money, who is going to pay for hospital bills and how are you going to buy iPhone to cheer up yourself?
Let me show you what I do with my money. Nowadays, with money, you can do just about anything. And that includes becoming an Emperor for few minutes.
I am not talking about wearing the emperor costume for photo shoot. All I am saying is to experience a lavish spread of imperial Chinese cuisines in Fangshan Restaurant, Beijing.
As soon as you enter the main entrance, you get to experience a truly unique ambiance and real ancient décor signifying numerous ruling Chinese dynasties in the past.
The dining hall is adorned with beautiful royal painting on the ceiling and even traditional Chinese art. Of course you are greeted with waitresses wearing original imperial dresses.
Gold and yellow used to be the Emperor’s color. If you are spotted using those colors, you will probably behead instantly but that was long long ago. The historic setting with yellow and gold in dining hall surely add the imperial effect into it.
As far as food is concerned, you get to experience truly sumptuous dishes as long as you are willing to pay the bill. As for me, I go for the set of RMB 298/per person (~RM 150). If you are richer, there are also set of RMB 2880/person (~RM 1440).
What I get as a start are Appetizing Cold Dish, Mashed Peas Pudding and Rolls of Kidney Bean Flour, Stir-fried Scallops and Brocolli and Ginseng Red Date and Deer Tendon Soup.
Despite the place is very congested, I personally give 9/10 to the waitresses as the services are pretty efficient. As soon as I almost finish my dishes, they instantly served me with new one.
This time I get Braised Sea Cucumber with Quail Eggs, Braised Camel’s Paw with Scallion, Sautéed Prawns with Spicy Garlic Sauce, Deep-fried Duck Rolls and Pork Rolls. Yes, you got it right! CAMEL PAW!
I must say I get to savor the authentic flavors of former imperial’s meals. Some of it might look exotic to me but hey, no harm to give it a try right? Besides, this is the finest dining you will ever get.
On top of what they served earlier, here are the remaining from the menu, Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish, Sautéed Vegetables with Mushrooms, Sesame Cakes with Minced Meat, Assorted Palace Dim Sum and Mixed Fruits.
If you have some spare time, try to visit the “Imperial’s Toilet”. I must say, now I know where the emperors did his big and small business.
The bills cost me about RMB 952. It might appear to be slightly on the expensive side but it is definitely an experience that is worth trying. Money is not everything? Think again!
Fangshan Restaurant
Inside Beihai Park’s south gate, Beijing, China
TEL: +86 10 6401 1889, +86 10 6401 1879
Opening Hours:
Lunch: 11 am – 1:30 pm (Mon-Fri); 10:30 am – 1:30 pm(Sat-Sun)
Dinner: 5 pm – 7:30 pm (Mon-Fri); 4:30 pm – 8 pm (Sat-Sun)
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Tags: braised camel paw, Broccoli, ChewSS, chicken, chinese, Chinese Art, cold dish, deer tendon soup, delicious, dessert, dim sum, dinner, drink, duck roll, egg, emperor, food, fried, fruits, ginseng, Gold, imperial cuisine, imperial's toilet, iphone, kidney beans, lunch, mandarin fish, mashed pea pudding, minced meat, money, mushroom, non halal, pork, pork roll, prawns, quail egg, royal painting, scallops, sea cucumber, sesame cakes, soup, spicy, steam, stir fried, vegetables, yellow
Back in 1400, Parameswara decided to land in a place called Malacca. In 1511, Portugese also planned to rule this place and then followed by other big boys such as Dutch and British. Did you question why?
If you remember, few weeks back, many start to debate on Hang Tuah real existence. FYI. Hang Tuah is famous legendary Malay warrior in Malacca. Is he real? Or just a myth?
Come on guys, don’t ask me such questions. I don’t have genuine answers for you. If you want to know more, you should read your history books or follow latest updates in newspaper. (LOL..you thought I will give you a history lesson here :p ?)
The sole reason I drove all the way to Malacca despite my tight CNY schedule is not because of history lesson but for Malacca Chicken Rice Balls instead! The authentic version one!
To ensure that my international readers did not get slaughter for rocket high price, here I include some of the pricelist for your perusal. From the look of it, this is just a spot you should at least make a trip.
Due to many customers, even on normal days, you have to pre-order what you want. N sorry, there is no pictorial menu for you to finger point it. So you can either walk away or follow what the waitress suggests.
But hey, you should feel lucky when you read my post as I managed to snap few photos to at least show to you what you are about to get as I ordered pretty much everything on menu such as cabbage, assam fish, whole chicken and chicken rice balls.
To me, I think the steam chicken is comparable with Kedai Kopi 18 and Restoran Onn Kee (Taugeh Ayam) and all taste good. If you want something original, try the rice ball too.. DUH.. that is the whole reason why I was there!
Hoe Kee Chicken Rice
4, 6, 8, Jalan Hang Jebat,
75200 Melaka, Malaysia
TEL: +606 – 283 4751, +6012 – 623 8431
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Tags: assam fish, british, cabbage, chicken, chicken rice ball, chinese, delicious, dutch, fish, food, Hang Tuah, legendary, Malacca, myth, parameswara, Portuguese, vegetables
One fine day condom meets up with sanitary pad. Both of them fight like cats and dogs on who are more important. This is not the first time they are arguing about this matter but it just continues to go on and on for countless times.
While in a heated discussion, the conversation below was recorded.
Condom: I work in confine space and sometime in dirty place.
Sanitary pad: What so special about it, I work in bloody environment.
Condom: But I am guy best friend.
Sanitary pad: Well, I am girl best friend and sometime confuse guy like me too.
Condom: I work with health department to mitigate harmful diseases and virus infection.
Sanitary pad: I also work with health department to maintain female hygiene and preventing virus infection.
Condom: I have the capacity to contain fluids that potentially bringing another newborn.
Sanitary pad: I have bigger capacity to contain more fluids than you to prevent embarrassment.
Condom: I am quite trendy, come in different size, color, flavor and design.
Sanitary pad: Nothing to be proud of, I come with different thickness, color, design and more importantly bigger size than you.
Condom: Ok.. since you think you are the greatest. I shall stop operating for a month.
Sanitary pad: Well, the world will not miss you much as every time, you only get to work when I am not working.
Few months after that, sanitary pad bumps into condom. She looks rather down and upset.
Sanitary pad: I want to apologize. I don’t think I am the greatest afterall.
Condom: Why? I didn’t do anything, did I?
Sanitary pad: Yea, I know. After you stop operating for a month, I stop operating for the following nine months. Can you start working again?
Lesson Learnt: Like mom always said, “One mountain got one mountain high!” (一山还有一山高）.. it means, if you think you are great, there will always be someone greater than you. AND normally, I will rebelliously answer, ” What about mount Everest?”
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Tags: color, condom, design, HIV, humor, jokes, pregnant, sanitary pad, size, virus
Hello, can I call for room service? Ok.. What service do you want, sir? We provide all kind of services to our customers including some special one.
I am curious about the special one but let’s not get there. This is a typical type of conversation you will have when you call front desk in hotel. Nothing special about it.
Try again if either of you do not speak English. The conversation will become as challenging as what Chinese said, like chicken and duck speak.
Believe it or not, a simple mushroom soup will turn out to be the most difficult soup to order. If the soup turns out to be tasteless, the effort just goes to drain. Luckily, it did not happen to me this time.
By right, most menus should be numbered. It simplifies the communication between the guest and the hotel when in urgent need. When come to this, pictorial menu is completely useless.
Imagine how I ordered Sirloin Steak with Tiger Prawns and Fries, medium rare? The waitress for sure is patient and polite but probably in her mind, she will say this “What the F*** are you talking about?”
In normal circumstances, I will order a soup, main course, desserts and a drink. Now, the conversation is not only testing her patience but mine too.
The Banana Fritter and ice cream is one of the tough one. I know how to describe banana and ice cream but definitely not fritter in foreign language. I nearly fainted when I ordered strawberry milkshake and turned out to be orange juice.
All the hard works did paid off when the dinner was finally sent to my room but 30 minutes late. This is really a milestone for me and in fact one of my biggest fear in foreign places. Imagine if they sent “something special” and not food!
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Tags: banana fritter, beef, ChewSS, delicious, dinner, fine dining, food, french fries, ice cream, king prawn, mushroom soup, orange juice, sirloin steak, soup
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