Zheng He Tea House and another day in Malacca

A couple of months ago, Leong T. asked if I could host some visitors from the UK office. They were coming to Malaysia for a holiday. I figured, sure. No problem. So I started communicating with one of them, Tracey B via email to make the arrangements. They took me up on an offer to do a 1 day tour of Malacca.

When 26th Sept came around, I was to pick up the party of 4 (Tracey B. Paul C, Mark and Helen) from Traders Hotel. Couldn't believe that I was so careless. I had NO idea what they looked like. I called Traders to check if Tracey had checked in and was told " she had reserved a room in June, but.... had cancelled". Cor Blimey!!

Luckily Tracey did ask Leong for a photo of me, so she could recognize me. Phew!! Turns out they had booked in under Paul's name. not Tracey's. In addition to the party of 4 from UK, I had also invited Alexandra W to tag along if she wanted to get material for a Malaccan writeup. She accepted and so, including my son, we had 7 for Malacca that Saturday.

I had written about Malacca in general just a couple of weeks ago and so this time, I would like to highlight Zheng He Tea House (pronounced as Jerng Her). The tea house is part of a complex of the Zheng He Cultural museum, the Tea House and a Mazu Temple adjoining the museum.

2 weeks ago, we kind of stumbled upon the tea house when we were walking along Jonker street. We came across this strange entrance that was less than 1m wide, with the grilled locked up. Strange entrance, we thought. There was even a thought that this was an entrance to a brothel or something similar. The narrow walkway stretched about 50m in, with high walls lined with creepers. By the evening at 6pm, the grills are unlocked and a tiny Indian lady invites anyone passing by to step in. And that's how I made a new friend in Malacca - Bianca.

As you walk in, you will pass a room made up like the ship hold, with urns on one side for storage of food and a very tall giraffe on the other (or as one of my friends wrote - "come face to face with the BUTT of a giraffe"). This was to represent the ship that Admiral Zheng He used in his voyages to discover the world in 1421. There is a guided tour of the museum (fee not free) that is arranged by the museum people.

Bianca Pak, her husband, Mr. Laiand 3 kids run the Tea House on behalf of the museum and also takes care of the Mazu temple too (again on behalf of the museum). Unlike that very narrow entrance at the back, the front is a very normal entrance with 2 stone lions guarding it. The entrance to the Mazu temple is locked from the street and entrance is only via the Tea House as the Mazu statue is an antique.

Within the ground floor, you can find a 600 year old well, a huge bronze bell in the courtyard, a puppet theatre which shows the voyages of Admiral Zheng He and another area upstairs that exhibits photos and pictures (free not fee).

For a small fee (RM20 or RM30), you can get a pot of tea, with Bianca and family showing you how to prepare and indulge in Chinese Tea drinking. If you have been like many tourists, walking all over the Stadhuys and Jonker Street for a better part of the day, the Tea House offers a short respite to rest your weary legs while enjoying quality Chinese Tea.

I have just learnt on this visit that there is a 2nd floor (3 floors in total) and neighbors of the museum had only just recently fedback that they have been hearing children playing in the museum past midnite. There had also been instances when the drums were beaten around 3am. BUT...... nobody stays in the museum or tea house when it close for the night!!! The Chinese 7th month (also known as the Month of the Hungry Ghosts) just went by. You go figure.

And for this visit, Alex also made a new 'friend'.

Chooi and Stephen's visit - part 1

Finally...... after more than 10 years, Stephen and Chooi is back in Malaysia for another visit (their second in infinity!). The last time my younger sister came back, we were having a bad case of the HAZE. Malaysia was suffering from El Nino with water shortages. Anwar was sacked and charged with sodomy. And Commonwealth games were just around the corner.

This time, we did have slight haze (many times better than 10 years ago). NO water shortages (touch wood and knock head). And of course we have another sodomy charge against Anwar. Some things never change!

I had invited both Stephen and Chooi over for Madeline's wedding, but they could not make it, even though I was paying for their return tickets from London. This month, August, another event was coming up - mum's birthday. So I extended my invitation again. This time, they were available. It also happens to be Stephen's birthday on 18th.

Stephen arrived on 12th morning. Good flight and he looked almost rested. After taking him on a whirlwind tour of KL and PJ - recce my new house in Denai Alam, dropped into the office, dropped into Shirley's house, popped into 1 Utama - he was pooped for the day.

Next day, I took Mum and him up to Cameron Highlands for a 3 days 2 nights trip. The highlands almost behaved themselves. Nights got as cold as 15 degrees and it only drizzled in the late afternoons when we were resting after morning trips to various places. Stephen was really "fatt far tin" - literally meaning mad about the flowers. Almost every place we went to with flora and fauna - he would be exploring almost every corner, identifying many that he thought could not have existed in Malaysia. There was some differences in how the flora and fauna grows in Camerons compared to England.

For example, he was asking one farm - how many crops of strawberries could they harvest from a plant before the strawberry plant died. Apparently in England - only 1 harvest. That's more due to the weather than anything else. It took a while to convey to him that the strawberry plants in Camerons gives and continues to give throughout the year since we do not have Winter to contend with. He certainly enjoyed the trip and so did Mum. In all her visits, she had always been stuck in the kitchen preparing food for the family that brought her up there.

This time, she got to see a tea bush for the first time in her life. While we were buying honey from the farm near to Equatorial Hotel, she had a very lively conversation with the owner - a youngish looking 60 year old who told us that the business was started by her grandparents and passed down the generations. She swore she recognized me from previous visits. Thank goodness that I chose the straight and steady path in life. Any other path, and I would be the most recognizable wanted person around.

Chooi flew in only on 16th. She had a bad flight. Plane took off late and just when they were about to land, some idiot who probably drank too much vomited over her and a couple of other passengers. By the time she cleaned up and got to her bags, some gifts she had packed in her baggage had been pilfered!! I was waiting at the arrival hall for almost 3 hours!! I called up Malaysian Airlines to make sure she had boarded. I called Immigration to see if they were holding any UK citizens in there (she has taken up UK citizenship after marriage). I went to the security office to see if they would allow me a security pass to enter to do a search. All to no avail!!.

That night, we had a dinner to celebrate Mum's birthday (as well as Stephen's). Mum kind of liked Jun Kee in Taman Midah. In addition to the usual dishes we ordered (Curry fishhead, steamed fish, Ku Lo yoke and others), we also had sharkfin soup - just for Chooi since she had not had this for ages. As you can see, we polished off almost everything on the table!

After dinner, we adjourned to my house where we had a make-up tea ceremony for Vincent and Madeline. Stephen couldn't figure out what in the world we we doing. He held on to his cup of tea and had to be told to sip the tea - not finish it. Actually Chooi had to be told the same too.

Well, I have to be off to Singapore for business visit for 2 weeks. Stephen will join me from 23rd to 28th. Chooi goes back to London on 21st.

Tired!!

Sis and Brother-in-law will be visiting in August 2008

Towards the end of August, my mum will be turning 69!! She is already having mobility problems due to the drying of her knee joints and it is unlikely that she would be able to stand another trip to London to visit my younger sister, Chooi and her husband Stephen.

So this year, I am paying for my sister and brother-in-law to come to Malaysia in conjunction with my mum's birthday. Unlike an advertisement currently running on the idiot box, I do not have to borrow money from the bank to finance their travel. The photo above was taken in Nov 2004 the last time mum traveled to London. Due to some scheduled activities, both of them will be coming and going back on different days. Stephen is scheduled to arrive KLIA on 12th morning and Chooi on 16th morning. Chooi leaves on 21st and Stephen leaves on 2nd Sept. And to complicate matters, I am in Singapore from 17th to 29th August. Bummer!!

Regardless, I am still squeezing some time for them by taking leave on 12th to 15th, before I go off to Singapore on a business trip. I have already booked an apartment in Equatorial Hotel in Cameron Highlands from 13th to 15th Aug.

And I am also planning for a trip to Ijok for beggar chicken when I am back from Singapore (before Stephen departs home).

The last time they were in town was 10 years ago. That was when the Indonesian haze was the heaviest. That was when KL was seething with unrest due to the Anwar sodomy trial. Looks like not much has changed. 10 years later, Anwar is again facing allegations of sodomy. The difference today is that with wide access to the internet, more people are able to get both sides of the news instead of relying on the Government controlled media. And the opposition controls 5 states!

2 more weeks of waiting!!

Pham's visit to Malaysia - updated and reposting

Pham survived Bangkok and this morning, I saw an email from him

"How are you? I have not heard from you since we left Malaysia. Were you exhaust after took care all of us while we were there? I hope you are well and still are happy. Anyway, I copied your article from blog and added more pictures to it. The pdf file is attached to this message. It is a very good report which can be added to Malaysia travel brochure. If you don’t mind, I would like to send your report to my relative and friends, just in case they want to visit Malaysia. Please let me know."

Gee, Pham thought that writeup was good enough for a Malaysian Travel Brochure! (face RED, RED!!). Pham edited some of my entries and also combined 2 entries into one, so I thought I should repost the narration of his trip here. Apologies to Lynh for mis-spelling her name. I write it as I hear it.

The weekend of 10th May turned out to be one of the longest that I have had for sometime. I had starting preparing for it almost a week ago. I had a couple of guests coming to Malaysia. Pham Phan and wife were arriving on 10th May, landing in KLIA at 10.50am. This was their first visit to Malaysia. I have been meeting up with Pham all over Asia in the course of our work. Pham had been absolutely helpful in helping to raise the technical capability of the Support teams in Asia Pacific. And I have known him for uncountable years!! So when I heard that he was making a trip here, I offered to take him around for the weekend.

Upon their arrival, I whisked them off to One World hotel next to 1 Utama. After checking in, my family (wife and Alex) joined in for lunch - local Malacca food. Then we were off to Ipoh. My intentions were to show them a little bit of rural Malaysia. I turned off the highway at Tapah, took the trunk roads all the way to Ipoh. Along the way, we stopped at Gua Tempurung as I was looking for information to plan an outing there. Main objective of the Ipoh trip was to visit the Sam Poh Tong caves. But we arrived late (5.30pm) and the darn temples along that stretch were all closed!! What a wasted journey. We ended up buying pomeloes and tidbits at the pomelo stalls just outside of the temple caves. Luckily my uncle lives in Ipoh. So I brought my guests (unannounced) to his house to show them how a relatively well off family lived. Being Americans of Vietnamese descent, they were in 2 minds. On the one hand, the American in them says you don't show up unannounced at anyone's home. On the other hand, the Asian in them knows that this is an accepted practice. In any case, my Uncle (Dr. Tham) and Aunt were at home and welcomed them. In front of Dr. Tham’s house

We had dinner in a restaurant recommended by my uncle (Sun Marpoh Restaurant - look for the captain - Ah Yew and say Dr. Tham asked me to go there!!). Good food and even better prices!! Took less than 1.5 hours to get them from Ipoh back to the hotel. It was also an opportunity to test my new Camry. Regular town driving so far had been 8.6km/ lit. The journey to Ipoh and back saw my consumption improve to 11.8km/ lit ((about 16.3 sen per km). But Saturday 10th May was not very productive.

Sunday 11th May - told them to wait at 10am in the hotel.

Showed up on time and first stop was Selangor Pewter in Setapak. Selangor Pewter

Then I took them to my former landlady's house (unannounced again) to show them how the average Joe lived. From there, we visited the Hot Spring in Setapak before moving onto Batu Caves Batu Caves Batu Caves is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples, located in Gombak district, 13 km north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. After climb up 273 steps, we finally reached to the top of the cave After that it was Thean Hou temple and then to my house. All that completed by 2.30pm. At 3pm, we left my house to go back to the hotel. They needed a breather and I needed to catch up with my second guest - Angela Ong who was suppose to arrive at One World before 3pm. Her flight was delayed and she ended up checking in around 4pm. The night ended with a trip to Ijok to the New Beggar Chicken Restaurant. I was supposed to have 7 people for the meal. One of my other guest was my E-pal (like a pen pal, except that we had been communicating via the Internet) Alex Bunny. Unfortunately she had been having digestive problems and could not make it. Most people in the office declined the invitation due to Mother's Day. One who did accept did an FFK on me at the last minute as she went back to Malacca and could not make it back in time. SO we ended up with 5 - Pham and Wife, Angela, Ian Sik and me!

The food was worth it. I had to reserve the table and at least 3 of the main courses almost ONE week before the planned event. Right after we were seated, a wheelbarrow was pushed near to our table and the baked clayey thing lifted out. A couple of workers started the process of removing the clay covering and then serving the dishes to us. We had Beggar Chicken Beggar Rice Beggar Pig Trotters (which was a mistake in the order. I ordered Pig Stomach Soup, but Pham took one look at the pig trotters and wanted it anyway. Boiled Lettuce garnished with fried onions and Oyster Sauce and Fried sizzled prawns.
And to end the day, a last minute addition to the itinerary was to look for fireflies. All 4 of them went for that. I had been on the sampan before so I ended up looking after the bags. What a night!! Pham Phan told me that his kids were keeping up with his travel through my blog!! Gee, if I had known earlier, I would have updated everyday!!. In any case here are the updates and photos.

14th May – Twin Tower Finally convinced Pham and Lin to let me take them around KL. Lynh was planning to pay for a tour package to go to the Petronas Twin Towers, Chinatown and visit a night market. First of all, Chinatown in KL is nothing like Chinatown in San Francisco. For one thing, it does not even look and feel like Chinatown. Many of the vendors in KL's Chinatown are Bangladeshis or some other immigrant workers. Another thing is that tours of these sorts tends to bring you to selected shops/ outlets where they try to convince you to buy things that you do not want at exorbitant prices with the tour guide getting a cut of the sale.
We started the evening with a short visit to the KL convention centre (KLCC for short) to get pictures of the Petronas Twin Towers - which are still the tallest TWIN towers in the world, but not the tallest building anymore. We arrived as dusk was setting in. Light was fading fast. So the shots were a little underexposed. But the night shots of the twin towers from the park were great!! As for Night Markets (or Pasar Malam, as the locals calls it), they have them all over town on every night of the week. Everyday, a different location has a night market. So for this night, I took all my guests (Angela included) to eat Pork Rib Soup (or Bak Kut Teh). This is an herbal soup which is cooked with any variety of meats (e.g. pork ribs, pig stomach, intestines), champignons and mushrooms (oyster, straw, etc), Chinese cabbage and served with rice of in our case rice cooked with yam. This stall was near my house and they also served pig trotters in vinegar - which had Pham and Angela salivating!!. After dinner, all of us went to one of the longest night market in KL, i.e. the one in Taman Connaught. Angela managed to get smelly tofu to satiate her watchamacallit.

15th May – Durian night This was the night that I had promised to get them durians (thorny Asian fruit which Westerners liken to smelling like shit and taste like heaven)!! But the durian season has only just started and the varieties and offerings were mediocre at best. A regular site that I go to did not have anything available until 20th May - which was too late as all my guests would have gone home by then. So we had to settle for whatever we could get - which was pretty bland stuff.
When we finished, we went to one of my friend's house, parked the car there and went to explore yet another night market. This time, the experience was much better. The night market of the previous night was so packed jammed full of people that it was stifling and difficult to walk through all the stalls. We dropped by an Indian Muslim restaurant and had something called a roti tissue - which is a tissue thin piece of bread (or prata). Look at the length of that!! Well - that's another night of Malaysian experience for Pham and Lynh and Angela.

Pham's visit to Malaysia 14th and 15th May

Pham Phan told me that his kids were keeping up with his travel through my blog!! Gee, if I had known earlier, I would have updated everyday!!. In any case here are the updates and photos.

14th May
Finally convinced Pham and Lin to let me take them around KL. Lin was planning to pay for a tour package to go to the Petronas Twin Towers, Chinatown and visit a night market. First of all, Chinatown in KL is nothing like Chinatown in San Francisco. For one thing, it does not even look and feel like Chinatown. Many of the vendors in KL's Chinatown are Bangladeshis or some other immigrant workers. Another thing is that tours of these sorts tends to bring you to selected shops/ outlets where they try to convince you to buy things that you do not want at exorbitant prices with the tour guide getting a cut of the sale.

We started the evening with a short visit to the KL convention centre (KLCC for short) to get pictures of the Petronas Twin Towers - which are still the tallest TWIN towers in the world, but not the tallest building anymore. We arrived as dusk was setting in. Light was fading fast. So the shots were a little underexposed. But the night shots of the twin towers from the park were great!!

As for Night Markets (or Pasar Malam, as the locals calls it), they have them all over town on every night of the week. Everyday, a different location have a night market.

So for this night, I took all my guests (Angela included) to eat Pork Rib Soup (or Bak Kut Teh). This is a herbal soup which is cooked with any variety of meats (e.g. pork ribs, pig stomach, intestines), champignons and mushrooms (oyster, straw, etc), Chinese cabbage and served with rice of in our case rice cooked with yam This stall was near my house and they also served pig trotters in vinegar - which had Pham and Angela salivating!!. After dinner, all of us went to one of the longest night market in KL, i.e. the one in Taman Connaught. Angela managed to get smelly tofu to satiate her watchamacallit.

15th May
This was the night that I had promised to get them durians (thorny Asian fruit which Westerners liken to smelling like shit and taste like heaven)!! But the durian season has only just started and the varieties and offerings were mediocre at best. A regular site that I go to did not have anything available until 20th May - which was too late as all my guests would have gone home by then. So we had to settle for whatever we could get - which was pretty bland stuff.

When we finished, we went to one of my friend's house, parked the car there and went to explore yet another night market. This time, the experience was much better. The night market of the previous night was so packed jammed full of people that it was stifling and difficult to walk through all the stalls. We dropped by an Indian Muslim restaurant and had something called a roti tissue - which is a tissue thin piece of bread (or prata). Look at the length of that!!

Well - that's another night of Malaysian experience for Pham and Lin and Angela.