BananaRama- I run for bananas!

Pictured above are Pisang Keling or Pisang Rastali.

Pisang. Banana in English. These are fruits that most love and some may not like. I love, love bananas. I started to learn the different names when I was a "banana runner" for my late Great grandmother. She would ask me to run to the small stall to get bananas just for her. Hmm...I love running errands for my mom, running back and forth just for for fun of it. As a 7-8 year old, what the heck. My mom said to obey the elders so I did. In my mind, I would get my "fruitful" reward:)

My great grandmother says bananas. I run! To the stall of course. She would say, "Get me Pisang Madu" - Honey Banana, a small pinky finger sized banana that is super sweet. As sweet as honey. Hence the name. Or Pisang Keling (Pisang Rastali in Bahasa Melayu ) a dark dotted banana which is almost with a slight tartness to it, my other favorite, or Pisang Embun (Embun is Dew in Malay) the closest to most banana species sold in most supermarkets around the world. Then there is Pisang Otel (Pisang Lemak Manis in B. Melayu with English direct translation as Creamy & Sweet Banana) my true favorite. It's small & sweet. Smooth yellow skin, when ripe with a green tip and almost has its own sweet fragrance.

Pisang Pisang. This banana mostly use for baking, is very good for Cekodok Pisang - fried banana dumpling. Made with just flour, mashed banana & a pinch of salt fried to perfection & Lepat Pisang - a banana kueh, made with mashed ripe banana with flour and a bit sugar and sometimes with grated coconut, wrapped in banana leaves, steamed till cooked. Yes, Add a pinch of salt to enhance the sweetness of this fruit.

Pisang Nangka - A banana species that taste like that of Nangka - Jackfruit. Interesting enough. Pisang Tandok (Plantain) - Tandok/Tanduk is Horn in Malay as most of these bananas are the size of a water buffalo horns. It is mainly use for cooking, frying will be best. Fried ripe plantain, where its sugar caramelized when fried, oozing through the crunchy fried flour batter. You can see small stalls selling these in the afternoon near roadsides and do ask for Pisang Goreng (Fried Banana.)
Pisang Mas - Sweet but not as good as Pisang Otel to my taste bud, also known as Baby Banana in most Western supermarkets.
Pisang Kapok (Pisang Kapas in B Melayu & kapas is cotton in Malay) Like that of Plantain and Pisang Pisang, this is best for cooking and be made into fried banana.

There are about 9 names of bananas that I knew and can differentiate when I run banana errands for my late great grandmother. I thank her for this knowledge she had given me, yet I know, even after all these errands, she do not like me much. I assumed of my mischievousness :)
Pictured above are Pisang Otel or Pisang Lemak Manis.

Feastication III: Fruits & more Food.

Roll over and/or click on images for more:)
Day 11th. Eid 9th day. Thursday. I was browsing real fast yesterday at the Market when I spotted these. Chempedak. So I thought. Opened them up and oh how I cannot wait to get my hands on these big succulent fruit! Sweet and juicy! hmm..its a bit different but who cares. Its good! Shove it to my sisters face to let her get a taste. she is not too keen on chempedak unless its made into a fritter. Fritter or fresh, I am diggin' it! She got a taste and said, " its Cenangka. A mixture of Cempedak and Nangka."
"Oof..whaaaa?!Wahaaaat?! hmm..oh yummm....whatever! its good anyway you name it " The aroma of both this super sweet fruit was as mix as the breed. Cempedak is known to be mushy but sweet and Nangka, very sweet and crunchy. a mix even made it better:) I cannot complain. How do I describe this fruit? It almost have an aroma of Mango when its ripe with an almost a mix of vanilla and mango. The fruit itself are amazing. How it holds all those fruit within a fruit and what I meant is that the fruit holds the fleshy (the part that you eat) covered seeds in a casing that should be an inspiration for most fragile product packaging design. Click on the image for a more detail picture and drool:)

Brunch at Sri Shan Curry & Such.
This place screams Yummy Good Food! Indian food to be exact. Ahhh...Putu Mayam. My, how I long for this dessert cum breakfast food:) Clean noodle created from rice flour steamed and sprikled with fresh grated coconut and sugar. Oh, how my sweet palette dance with glee. It is such a delectable dessert. Next come Vadai. A fritter made of Dhal - yellow lentilof the legume family, mixed with chilli, cumin, onion and other goodness and spices.

Then, Thosai or Dosai to some. A flat almost crispy yet soft bread served with coconut chutney and curry. My father & I went with the plain. My mother didn't come along as she is fasting today. Bummer:( My sister with something that sounds more interesting than mine. Dosai with Planta (margarine) and sugar. Then my other sister, Dosai Vege. What? did I miss all the goodness? Those two are so good! Anyone who orders Dosai, do the Vege and Planta & Sugar. Oh so good! Even dipped with Curry! Fish Curry to be exact. Man...I miss so much all these time.Wash this all down with Teh Tarik! hmmm...should I write more or let you discover this yourself. This place offers more than what I wrote above.

Sri Shan Curry & Such
No. 383, Persiaran Ban Hock,
93100 Kuching
Sarawak, Malaysia.
Tel: 6082-244118, 6082-421008

My Eid "Feastication" at Home, Oct 2008.

Roll over and/or click on images for more:)

My excitement started the day I got my ticket to fly home. That was about 1 month before my 24hrs flight to Malaysia. uuurgh..that's the only part I do not like. long flights, but my anticipation of being back home overpowered my tiredness.

Day 1. touchdown in KUL at 11.47pm Sept 28th. My 5th sister startled me from behind at the luggage area covering my tired eyes. Slept only a few hours from Friday night. Too excited to sleep. I can't help tearing happy tears seeing very familiar face. Gave her a good hug.

Got at her place, showered, rest up a bit before leaving early morning at 7am, left for KL to do some document before my real vacation.

Day 2. Left for Kuching the next day the eve of Eid, the day all Muslims celebrate the holy month of Shawal after the holy month of Ramadhan, where fasting is observed, from sun up to sun down.

Oh, how I miss the air, the humidity, the aroma of food cooked for the feast in the morning. Mmmmmm.

Day 3. Eid 1st day. Wednesday.
Family & Food. There's emotion, happiness & sadness all in one on this very day. meeting them after so long was truly an event for me to absorb and observe.

Day 4. Eid 2nd day. Thursday.
Family, Friends, Food. Met my old classmates, Jean, Angela and Rita. Oh how good they looked! Reminiscing the high school days! Then my closest friend and ex colleague, June came, and I went to my first house visit, an old colleague, Azlan, a fellow schoolmate too!

Day 5. Eid 3rd day. Friday.
My 2nd sister's housewarming. Food prep - Lontong. That was one of the best I've tasted. More family! more FOOD! No images taken as I am helping prep & absorbing my many, many food experience that I forgot my camera!

Day 6. Eid 4th day. Saturday.
Aaaaah...a breather. Had KFC. yup..I got KFC. just because:) they have the new lime flavor. yumm. with my 7th sister for a haircut. Ooof! the hairdresser is not listening, doing his thing!

Then at nite, more FOOD!!! this time, the ones that I have longed for. the ordinary food, nothing fancy, but dang good! Dabei - an olive like fruit, oh so good, so creamy almost taste like avacado and Engkalak - a pinkish, soft flesh fruit , both prepared with just pouring hot boiled water, when soft, drained and sprinkled with salt. Oh so good! Both only found in Borneo. Had salted fish with hot rice. Heaven! Sorry, no images here as I am so engrossed with Food I have with my mom!

Day 7. Eid 5th day. Sunday.

Sunday Market! my favorite day when I got to go to the local Farmers market.Pictured here from L to R, Top to bottom are Kedondong, Purple Yam, Okra (aka lady finger), Tapioca, buah kepayang (local only to Borneo), fresh Bamboo shoot, Asam Macang, Kacang Botol, Red chillies, Rozelle, Engkalak, Papaya, More chilies, Curry & Kefir Lime leaves and Jering. Click on the images for a bigger view. Drool:).


Had Mee Kari ( Curry Noodle) for breakfast! yes, breakfast! went with Mom, my eldest sister, my three brother-in-laws at Kaya and Toast. I must say, that is very good Mee Kari! oh yes, with Teh Tarik.

Got back to help my 2nd sister get ready for another open house. Sorry, no images (which I should have taken as its Laksa Kedah made by my 7th sis! ) here either as I was helping to prep for her big day and also heading out after all is set with my girlfriends..Man..my schedule is so tight!
Then off I go. My girlfriends, Idah, Has and Elon picked me up for my other friend Madinah's for the Eid visit. Upon arrival, all of us became high school girls again! screaming and giggling talking about old times.

It is also today, at night, on my full swing schedule, that I had my first Durian Feast after 3 long years! ooohh...come to Mama!

The owner of a tree who bears this fruit, my eldest sister's husband's buddy, Zul. I am not shy but JUMP to the invitation with just one word. DURIAN. Thank you Zul, for those delicious Durian and Rambutan!

I managed to have a taste of these sweet Rambutan at his house.

Day 8th. Eid 6th day. Monday.
Another personal thing I need to do.
Lunch at my 6th sister's place. Man, its Jering, Kacang Botol ( direct translation, Bottle Nut - yet it doesn't look any like a bottle) Oooh...tiger prawns, Yam leaves with another rare family eggplant, Terung Asam or Terung Dayak as we called it, which I only saw and found in Borneo. Pictured here from L to R, Top t bottom, are Sambal Udang, Sambal Halia with Jering & Kacang Botol, Engkalak with sprinkled salt..yummm, Sayur Keladi, Udang Galah ( Tiger Prawn), Pisang Otel aka Lemak Manis, Mussel, Ikan Tongkol (local Tuna) with Terung Asam and more Jering.

Well, actually, its Durian again, but I am having dessert before main meal:)

Day 9th. Eid 7th day. Tuesday.
Pick up my renewed passport. Bought and made eyeglasses and lunch - Mee Kolok* - oh so good!, ABC** [air batu campur] and CucurUdang*** (shrimp fritter)!

Taken with my eldest sister's blackberry camera phone and in her own words. -
Local breakfast fare - the infamous kolok mee, authentically Sarawak Chinese dish, which some Singaporeans don't mind to fly home with kilos of them. Oh, of course to other overseas destinations where there are diaspora of Sarawakians, regardless of their race.
More of this will continue in another blog entry.

Right now as I am writing, its Laksa Sarawak at my 6th sister's place for another dinner. Tell me if this is not feastication!:) Pictured here are Udang Galah; in row btm to top, cilantro, kalamansi lime, small shrimp, sprouts, shredded chicken, jullienne egg omellette ; Laksa Sarawak Gravy, on other serving plates; Lamb with cumin, more buttered shrimp, and potatoes. Drooling yet?

My trip didn't end there just yet. To be continued...

Petronas Raya (Eid) Ad - The Seven Sons

First time when I saw this Ad, I was laughing so hard that I was literally crying! This Ad was on Malaysia airwaves during the Eid, a celebration after the fasting month of Ramadhan, about the love of seven sons who would go all the way to not hurt their mother's feeling, following the sayings, "For Heaven lies at a mother's feet."



I will be breaking down the shots and you will understand why. Kudos to the brains behind this Ad.

- “For Heaven lies at a mother’s feet."

Note: 1 catty is equivalent to 1.323 lb or 600 gms (*Catty is the English word for a traditional Chinese unit of mass called a jīn)

Petronas Merdeka Ad 2008

Petronas never failed to make me laugh and cry at the same time in one Ad. Enjoy!

Beauty & the Beast

Whoooaaa! What humongous horns you have!

what are you looking at?!

leave me alone...I'm eating here!

What you see is Watusi*:)
Then...these. Its breathtaking...sigh...




090808: Was at Domino Farms today to look for a beautiful sight of sunflower fields and we came across those beautiful animals! Just got an info that those animals above were *Watusi, a rare breed from Africa and looks almost like Texas Longhorns. Enjoy!

My dad's cat named Girl & the Anniversary Cake

My Dad loves to send short message (sms) from his cell and tell me about the happenings back home and the latest that just melts my heart was about Mom & Dad's 48th Anniversary celebration.

Before I continue, in his sms, he said that the celebration will be at my eldest sister's house and the so called cake would be made of *lemanta' which he said also known as **Tumpi' , which makes me smile when I read it, groggily , will be serve, glazed with baby prawns and special meat gravy and all delicacies and drinks from palms such as coconut and ***nipah juice. ("oh how is my sister going to produce this?" I thought.)

Tumpi', he said, feeds him growing up during the WWII.

He said that he had invited his friends... (O-Oh! wait till my sister finds out because he had said to her, a family affair only...oooh my! ) ... his message continues, "including my cat named Girl" who waits for him outside the bathroom door when he shower or getting ready for his prayers, and runs out the door when she hears his motorbike outside. - Ooowh...

I must say, Tumpi' is one delicious delicacy to me till now. How my mom and my late grandmothers would make it is with Sago and shredded coconut with a bit of salt. Mix together and lay the ingredients flat on a flat pan. No oil. Coconut produces enough fat so the flat cake would not stick. My mom would put a banana leave on top of the mixture, then , another flat pan or a kettle to press it down. Almost like the panini press technique.

I smiled when he sms me this. That was about 1.30 am last July 30th, 2008.

Notes:
*Lemanta' - pronouced as luh-mahn-tak (silent the "k" ) ; aka. Sago flour, can be substitute with any starchy flour, eg., tapioca or corn flour, Tapioca would be closest.
**Tumpi' - pronounced as 'toom-peek' - again with no emphasize on the letter "k"
***Nipah - pronouced as 'nee-pah' - a Nipah palm that produces juice from its sap. Sweeter than coconut juice.

Below are pictures of Piper and Zeus, Naomi's cats she got from the Humane Society last month.

Piper, the active one, trying to reach my phone and sitting at his spot behind Naomi's laptop.


Zeus ( below) at his 2 favorite spot, Naomi's bag and his CatCouch.

Li'l Teddy chillin' on a Big bike*!

Last Saturday, we spotted and saw this on the highway and I thought that this was the cutest thing! A very cute teddy bear riding as a passenger on a beautiful big bike* ! oooowh ...:) My cameraphone did not do justice, but I'll share it with you anyway:) click on it to see more.

* my brother-in-law, Boh, who is a bike aficionado, whom at this moment in a diving chamber, told me its a Japanese bike, which I thought was a Harley:) Thanks Boh! shows how much I know about bikes:) Boh, you have to come here one day:) bring your girls!

Dive Safe, bro!

click on the images to enlarge

Sleigh ride! Cést la vie! wheeee....

yeayy!...Cést la vie! Mummy, i love my ride!
I took this of an adorable little girl, who melts you every time she smiles, pulled by her mom. 2 image were super imposed or would I say collage? Taken with my cellcam.

A deer and its bambi

Last Thursday, June 12th, I spotted a doe, at least I think it is & its baby nearby and I just have to take a picture. mmm...yummm! Corn field of gold!

My Coke Memoir & I scream IceCream.

My very first Coca Cola was when I was about 5 years old. How I remembered this very well. I was at the door of my father's office which was on stilts. Yup, the very sturdy wooden office building was built on stilt near a river mouth northwest of Borneo island, a place call Kuala Lawas. The surroundings? My father and his colleague, they were intrigued of what I would do next to the glass bottle in my two little hands. Never had the luxury of anything like this, I shook the bottle, before my father finished saying, "Don't shake the bottle," and you know what happened next, bubbles poured out of the glass bottle when my dearest father popped the Coke cap. It was the most memorable taste I have ever had, fizzy and strange, but very good, very, very good!:) Almost like the fizz of young coconut juice. Ever had a fresh one? Natural fizz, I tell you. Other than this natural fizz, nothing beats the taste Coca Cola, not even pepsi can take over the very first taste of Coca Cola, in it's classic glass bottle. I am a fan of Coca Cola till now. Not changing it for another. I would know the difference between the ones from a can, a glass bottle and a plastic bottle. It's just different.

Fast forward 20 some years later, on a research trip for design and symbols into beautiful highland of Bario, main transport - my two feet with a group of scientist and I'm the only one doing Arts. With guides and camera equipments on my back, this had been the most memorable and wonderful experience - walking both in the rain and sunshine, crossing a two 6"-7" diameter, tied together side by side, bamboo bridge about 10-15ft high which feels like 15-20ft above the clear rocky river below, what was I thinking, keep going, keep going and look straight and don't look down. Then men will be always be boys...evil! They shook the bridge! Arrgh! Be brave and walk straight! Phew!!! and the thought of having to walk on it again on our way back! Urrrgh!

during these walk, leeches waiting to jump on any part of your body. If you can hear them say, this would be it. "Wowhooo! human passing through! Partay!" It's like, if I am gonna exaggerate, you'll see it jump like a human thirsty after a long walk on a dry dessert without water, saw a lake and jump in! Yeah! Like that! Those blood suckers, yup, literally speaking, will jump after the first sense of human that passed by, and after knowing that, I wanted to walk in front of everyone every opportunity I get, that is if I am able to catch up. After 7 hours of walking, we rested in a small hut, washed ourselves basically in the rain. All I want to do is sleep but was forced to eat for energy the next day. Whaa...I can barely eat a cup of those delicious clean tasting Bario rice. WHAT? The next day? Yup, another 7 hours. No fear, as I brought with me with a Snicker bar (my favourite) in my bag, this time uphill! Almost 3 hours uphill! Arrgh! We finally got to this beautiful sight at the bottom of the hill. The Village. That was the spot when I first saw a Clove plant, wow! Yup, THE spice.

We then went downhill, lived at the longhouse for a few days with beautiful work of art and very, very nice hosts, working. During these research I lifted, with permission, an old lady's sarong to draw and copy her tattoo, shot beautiful local art and crafts including beautiful old carvings. This is when I notice that the men have beautiful earrings then the women, but women's tattoos from this area are the most beautiful I have ever seen. After all work was done, we walked back about more then 10 hours (shorter because of downhill trips) straight to our headquarters and two broken toenail later, thirsty and hungry with all the tiredness, all I can think of was 'when I get there, all I want is COKE!' I don't care how much it cost, I want Coke. Ahhh! nothing can describe the taste of a warm coke! I don't care! ~ Oh wait, I think I saw Anthony Bourdain experiencing warm beer when he traveled in Borneo! I think he knows how that would taste like. No, soft drinks only for me.

These clear memories of food leads to another, I scream ICECREAM! Uhuh! you got that right. In my dark blue dress, my round curious 5 year old eyes were looking up at this strange shape of soft white cottony cloud-like looking thing on what they call a cone. A cake cone. Pale yellow. I am at awe and drooled. Oh so yummy! This is food, I thought. From then on, ice cream was and has been a wonderful treat my Mom and Dad would get for us, bought them and put them in thermo flask from a local ice cream store, SunnyHill, brought home for my siblings and I to enjoy. Ever had ice cream sandwich in a soft bun? yummm...

Those were my first memory. Now, I would go to this mom and pop store, Washtenaw Dairy, to get rid of my crave. Yeah right, crave. I would think of anything just to have a reason to go there. Hence the name, FreezerNinja. I was caught having icecream one night:) sneaky!

From Borneo to US. My food memoir. to be continued...