Fun begins in Ubud-Day 2

Waking up in the morning was the hardest thing to do as you tend to laze , roll and find every excuse available to not wake up against the comfort of soft pillows and a nice lovely bed that cushioned the very abuse of your body. Somehow, I've gotta tell myself that I have a full day of fun ahead of me and I should embraced that finally I lumbered off the bed, stumbled into the tub ( Yeah, they have a tub in the toilet area! ) and freshened up. 

By the time, we arrived at hall, our breakfast was ready and it was a good breakfast for me though I realised that the portion is quite small. I guess, these are Balinese standard size. I do love my breakfast to be hearty and in big portions but I guess, I'll have to respect what is being served to me. My consolation was that there was a fruit platter of pineapples, papaya, watermelon and dragon fruit at the end of the meal. That's absolutely fantastic, really. As usual, I had my local nasi goreng fare and I do like very much. After breakfast, we were off to our first place of interest - Alas Harum.

Alas Harum is a popular agrotourism park located at Jalan Lunga Tegalallang around 20 minutes ride from Central Ubud. This place offers luwak coffee ( the coffee seeds that comes out from the behind of the civet cat, yunno! ), ziplines, swings, picture perfect scenery , birdnest structures, terraced coffee house, dancing bridge, big curve of a gorilla face and pekak brayut. Lovely place to take nice photographs and to enjoy the morning walk. Climbing the stairs in an undulating terrain can be quite a challenge but the RC staircase makes it easier, actually. 

The cool early morning air was a welcome change,actually. It is just so cool and breathtakingly lovely view. SYuen was game enough ti do the extreme swing and so, I decided to let her have her day by trying out the extreme swing ( Rph 200,000 ride ! ) But I must say, it was worth it. She enjoyed it so much as I snapped photographs of her. I must thanked the Royal Rangers commanders for instilling that confidence and bravery in her when she was young. It most certainly paid off and she took to the flights of the swing expertly without fear or nervousness!  It was such a joy for me as a father as I saw her braving the swing ride with confidence and grace too. 

Then it was off to the birdnest and what an ingenious work of art, actually. Suspended over 4 to 5 feet off the ground, these birdnest creation against the terraced greenery background of the park gives it a lovely photography effect. These birdnest are generally safe and really works of art. I really salute the artist who thought of these birdnest. Entwined twigs, rattan and magnificently hidden strong cables and holders made it all so authentic and real. Even the shape and construction of it was rather precise of a birdnest. We had a gala time of posing and model like photography sessions. The rich experience of the terraced terrain helped make it a wonderful morning work out for the lungs and heart! Absolutely a brilliant park. I must admit that I do love coffee but not luwak coffee as they can be an expensive experience and this place is no different. I also must admit that there is far too many luwak coffee shop attractions at the Tegalallang area. If the purpose of luwak coffee is to popularise it then the prices should be attractive too and definitely not at exhorbitant prices. Anyway,  Bintang coffee , 434 coffee or even Sing Sing coffee tasted just as good as far as I am concerned. I guess, Bali coffee is equally nice as I had it in my villa just that morning. So, nothing to shout about, really. 

I am not trying to be a wet blanket when it comes to coffee because there is so much you can do with the coffee beans. A very good barista and a great coffee beans proprietor once told me that if you treat the coffee beans right ( roasting, temperate, treat and take care of details ) , the right flavour will come out and you will get the full body taste of it. I am sticking to the ideals that good coffee comes from the expert hands of the roasters, the farmer and the barista. However, it is good to have a different view, right?

We then managed to get a quick bite at D'Alas Warong near Tegalallang area. Filled with orange trees, this warong serves Indonesian meals but we opted for coconut drinks, crepes and banana fritters. Lovely delights and I realised that there is so much creativity when it comes to the bananas in Bali.

Pura Tirta Empul was our next destination. Tirta Empul means Holy Spring in the Balinese language. Located in the village of Manukaya in the town of Tampaksiring, the temple is one of the busiest Hindu Balinese temple in Bali. Legend has it that the sacred spring was created by the god Indra. His forces had been poisoned by Mayadanawa, so he pierced the earth to create a fountain of immortality to revive them. Tirta Empul temple was founded in 926 AD during the Warmadewa Dynasty ( 10th -14 th century ). 

Ever since, for more than a thousand years, the Balinese people and people from all over the world have come to bathe in the sacred waters for healing and spiritual merit. The temple is divided into three sections namely Jaba Pura ( front yard ) , Jaba Tengah ( central yard ) and Jeroan (inner yard) . Jaba Tengah consists of 2 pools and 30 showers which are named accordingly : Pengelukatan, Pebersihan, Sudarmala and Pancuran Cetik. It is relaxing and calm as one sits or moved around the temple. 

The sight of seeing men and women lining up for a piece of blessing as one takes a dip or takes a handful of water to be douse over the head  is humbling sight indeed. It is quite humbling too to see many men, women and children devotees who offers nice small coconut leave baskets filled with flowers and incense to their gods. Our driver, Kartika informed us later when we were in the van that Balinese people prays three times a day. Such piety to their beliefs and culture. As you exit the temple, the koi pond greets you. Big, fat and colourful koi fish swims lazily around the pond and would not hesitate to take food pellets offered by the tourist and locals alike. 

As the stomach calls for refilling of food, we decided to get to Babi Guling Ibu Oka in Peliatan , Ubud for our lunch. I must say, it wasn't a good experience at all. As always, you win some and you lose some. The food wasn't as what was expected while the prices are really deafening indeed. It wasn't good and all the hype was just hearsay, I guess. Yeah, I was expecting like some "siew yok" stuff but instead there wasn't any of it while the hard pieces are really hard. The crunchies were really teeth breakers, actually. I shudder at the thought of swallowing a piece of my own chipped tooth! 

Tegenungan Waterfall is located at Tegenungan Kemenuh village in Gianyar,  This is a beautiful waterfall. This is an isolated waterfall that had since become a popular tourist attraction. The view of the waterfall is spectacular. From the entrance area, tourist and local take easily 600 - 1,000 steps to reach the bottom section of the waterfall. Loud music, ladies in bikinis, jam session, buffy guys and party goers await those who venture right at the bottom area of the waterfall. To me, I am safe and well enough to be at the top section to take photographs. Again, the birdnest structure attractions make it such a wonderful place for photography session. What a day! I guess, the pictures says it all very eloquently on the beauty of such places.

After a disastrous lunch, we decided to pack some dinner back to our villa. We felt it would be more meaningful to fellowship and eat at the same time. We stopped at Bebek Joni at Jalan Raya Goa Gajah in Peliatan , Ubud to wet of bebek appetite ( by the way, "bebek" means duck ) and got ourselves some bebek treats and gado-gado ( a platter of boiled long beans, sliced carrots, sliced cucumber, beans sprouts, fried tempe and drizzled with peanut sauce - lovely ! ) while we stopped at a nearby shop to get some fried  mahi-mahi fish cuts, BBQ tuna ( ikan tongkol ) , BBQ chicken,  BBQ mackerel ( ikan kembong ). what a feast we had that night! Topped up with the clanker of Bintang beer, locally produced beer, it was a satisfying dinner indeed. That night, we slept like babies and we were all looking forward to the next days program and many sweet dreams of Ubud...................

Enchanting Bali

"Ladies & gentleman, we have just landed in Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. Please be careful as you take out your items from the overhead compartment. Thank you for flying with us." This was what boomed over the airline speakers and woke me up after a 3 hours flight from KLIA 2. Finally, my family and I, together with our dear friends, Richard, Teresa and Hwe Shean are in Bali, Indonesia. As we came off our plane, we had to take a bus to the terminal to go through the immigration and the rather new looking arrival hall. The immigration processing and baggage collection were smooth and easy.  We were greeted by our driver, Kartika and after a brief but formal greetings, we were off to some chow as the rumblings in our stomachs seemed quite obvious or was it just mine. Hmmmnnnnnnn...I wonder. 

Anyway, we were ushered into Ayam Tulang Lunak Malioboro restaurant for their famous chicken delight. Well, what do we do ? Whenever you are in Rome, do as the Romans do, right? We ordered two lovely chicken dishes namely salted egg fried chicken and honey chicken with vegetables (kangkung ) plus some kick-ass fresh chilli sambal and eggs fried beancurd. Lovely dishes for hungry people but it ain't cheap. I have learnt over the days that food prices ain't cheap in Bali. Manageable if you plan properly and do your homework or else those Balinese knives can be quite sharp when it comes to food prices! Please, put away your knives, my dearest Balinese people and know that the truth is the truth. We are not cheap people but we ain't Australians, Kiwis, British or even orang putih asses who would pay you anything because it is peanuts money to them. 

To us, these are very real hard earned monies and spending it required lots of thinking......please mind my punt. I believe I need to be objective when I write about my travels and I intend to do that with utmost truth, integrity and respect. Like I said, I don't intend to insult anybody but I just want to say the truth as it is. Hence, the ugly side of what I write. Now that we got that cleared up, our travels to our accommodation was about 1 hour and 40 minutes drive from Denpasar to Ubud  in the tight and busy streets of Bali. Travel was horrendously busy but I must say, I enjoyed the journey there. It is like I was having a preview glimpse of what is life about in Bali. Mystical, intriguing and definitely enchanting as we rode along the highway and roads towards our destination - Ubud Virgin Villa in Ubud. So many gifted and artistic people which are reflected in their shops, houses and temples. 

As we passed the districts and villagers, I noticed that the paddy fields had been harvested and I came to know from our driver that the paddy (rice) had been harvested a month earlier prior to our arrival. Nevertheless, the scenic terraced paddy rice fields were evident and easily indentifiable of Bali. My eyes were constantly peeled to the "pura" or temples along the roads we had travelled. So many of them and so beautifully constructed. In my inquisitive nature, I had asked our driver , Kartika and I was informed that these are individually built temples while each district had a distinct temple. Guess that's what unique about Bali. Another plus point at the beginning of the journey. 

Our driver, Kartika is a nice fella, doesn't speak much but I guess, he is a driver and not really a full pledge guide. After some sharp turns and road bends plus passing through some extremely small roads, I was relieved that I did not pee in my pants for some harrowing closeness between two vehicles. I always believed God might have wanted me to experience such experience so that I can kiss the ground when I actually arrived at our destination! Yes, the roads are extremely small like 4' on each travel path and vehicles expertly averted knocking into each other by horns and signals. When I was told that there ain't much accident as each one knows their vehicles, I almost fell off our Suzuki van ride that day. 

When we finally arrived at our accommodation, Ubud Virgin Villa, there were these four young chaps and Dewi, our contact person from the villa helping us to our accommodation for the next two nights. My jaw literally dropped to the floor when I saw our accommodation. It was a lovely three bedroom villa with a hall and swimming pool in that private villa. I mean, really private villa while our own entrance and swimming pool!!!!!! What a heavenly start to our holidays, really! Absolutely beautiful villa and I couldn't wait to get into the room, changed and dipped in the pool. Dewi and Hwe Shean handled our check-in and then the staff left us to our own folly and delights. Nice Mango welcome drinks were given and then we were already ordering our breakfast for the next morning. 

As it was getting late and while we were in the pool, we decided to stay in the villa and get our dinner from the resort. We ordered our dinner to be served at 8.30pm and it was only about 5.30pm when we started swimming. I must say the dip in the cool breeze and cold waters refreshes the body a lot while it was really a great start to the holidays and surprisingly, by 6.00pm, it had started to get dark that day. I must mentioned my special thanks to Hwe Shean for picking out this lovely private villa. I was really happy. In fact, I was very happy with both our accommodations in Ubud and Seminyak. 

I must say that Richard , Teresa and Hwe Sean had been a real blessing to the family with their humorous, cool and calm demeanor and ways. My family and I are so proud, blessed and happy to have such lovely friends to travel with. It was hilarious all the way, fun while the fellowship was great. 

The night scene was even more lovelier with the lights and the Balinese set up of furniture and arrangements. I really love it a lot and I see lovely crafts and artisan works all along the route to our resting place. What a unique town indeed. This is truly artistic, peaceful and calm Ubud, Bali.

Welcome to Bali, Indonesia!

Old Colonial Fun.....Taiping

Serenity and peace are what most of us sought for as we continue our arduous life walk each day and yet, sometimes, these two values are so real and near to us if we take the time to plan for a short trip,actually. I will always be grateful  to my sister, Lee Lee for taking the time to take us to a trip to Taiping during the last holidays. It was at this time that I realized how good it is to have family and places to go to relax the body, mind and soul. Technically, only GOD gives us that comfort but He certainly will put the right people in our path to strengthen us and to show us the beauty of his Creation.

I must admit too that my sister, Lee Lee was as drained out as I am but she is such a strong character and a good hearted woman. I love her for her talent in cooking ( she inherited much of it from mom! ) while making us all feel at home when we are down in Penang for a break. This time, she planned a trip for us to go to Taiping and Larut/Matang. It was truly a great outing and one that we enjoyed very much.

That early morning, Soon Ling, SYuen, Felicia, Molly, Lee Lee and myself took our travel down to Taiping. It was a bright and sunny morning. The fellowship was awesome and there was much laughter around. Our first destination – Taiping Museum. As I have been to Taiping Museum before, it wasn’t a real surprise for me but it was always a welcome site for me. Afterall, I am a sucker for museums, actually. We posed for pictures and had a lot of fun in the museum. We also got to see the renovated top floor for the Orang Asli artifacts which was interesting indeed.

 

With slight stomach rumblings and an ever ready storage, Taiping Food Court was our second destination. Upon arrival at the food court, I immediately sought out the big leaf char kueh teow ( fried flat noodles ) but the uncle was nowhere to be found. Instead I was told of a certain stall number that sold the best Taiping char kueh teow and I readily tried. I must admit that it was different than what I used to taste but it is alright, really. Then it was coffee and ban cheng kor or apam balik Taiping style. Now, this one was differently good as the combo of peanuts, sugar and jagung (maize) made it all a succulent treat. Drown down with a cup of kopi peng ( iced coffee ), it was pure heaven! Luckily, the pig stomach soup stall was closed or else we would have gobbled that up too. Yeah, yeah, must have sounded barbaric to foreigners who are not accustomed to our way of eating but they are far better than fried chicken and hamburgers,ok?

Armed and filled with food and drinks, we were off to Taiping Lake Gardens…. What serenity and peace. The scenery by the lake was awesome and inspiring. I guess, I could sit here all day and do absolutely nothing but paint a picture of it. It was so…….calm, peaceful and quiet. The occasional water break on the surface of the calm waters by the fishes are the only disturbances you can find. Other than that, it was so peaceful. We took lots of photographs there and it was just so heartwarming to see everyone having a good time- laughing and resting, I guess. Reminding me of Saturday afternoon Hindustani movie love scenes! After all the fantasy and posing were done, we snapped back to reality and we were off to our next destination. 

We are off to charcoal factory in Kuala Sepetang. Now, this was an interesting place as far as I was concerned as mangrove trees are cut and used as charcoal. It was interesting to see the huge kilns used in charcoal making process. I was told that it took several hours and days for the production of good charcoal. Yeah, I managed to see how a worker sealed the entrance of the kiln after filling it up with sawn mangrove wood. Never knew there was such a market for charcoal! 

We, Malaysians, are one helluva unique people lar! If we can sell charcoal to foreign tourists, we are really champion one lar! We then moved on to Kuala Sepetang village to get some dried ikan bilis ( anchovies ) and some fish stuff while I wandered off and got us some prawn crackers and some drinks to counter our rather heaty day! That day, we declined the offer to take a boat ride to feed the eagles as we were really on a short trip and it was blistering hot that day. Maybe, we shall feed the eagle some other days. From here , we travelled back to Taiping to get the green mee koo buns from Plaza Perbandaran Taiping!

Haiyooh, it was just some colored plain buns which seemed to be the talk of the town. In fact, many would recommend that this mee koo bun be eaten with crab curry and all types of gravy like dishes and it taste heavenly wor…… So, we jammed pack our car with mee koo buns and it was hilarious as we try fitting the buns in the car. I wouldn’t know if the buns stayed as buns or became head rest and pillows for the passengers…..hahahahahhahahahahahaaaaaa……..Honestly, the mee koo buns tasted really good when I tasted one the following morning for my breakfast. 

Now, we are off to our next destination – Trong Leisure Farm & Resort. I guess, we were told that it would be fun being here but silently, I was thinking to myself, “ how much can you do at a duck farm, right ? “ Well, for starters, it was obvious that the lake with pedal wheel boats were an immediate attraction. Secondly, I love to eat ducks! And, this is the place for good duck dishes. Indeed, before we go onto our duck farm exploration, we had an early dinner  of pipa duck and one more special duck dish together with some vegetables and tofu. Wow! It was a nice meal and I really enjoyed that very much.

After the meal, we travelled by a bulldozer and attached cabin seat transporter and taken into the duck farm area. Well, the ladies chased the ducks, played with the ducks and fed the ducks. It was a wonderful experience plus you need to stand the smell of what’s coming out from the duck’s end. The white colored ducks were everywhere while the brown colored ducks were located at the right side of the farm. There are two huge fish ponds available in the farm and so far they are not opened to the public. I was told that the ducks were mainly readied/prepared for the export and local market while foie gras were also prepared here for export too. Interesting indeed. I imagined myself having a plate of duck liver parfait or duck liver pate or even foie gras with garlic laced bruschetta and some greens! Mamma mia! That would have been heavenly, huh?

Well, we cut short our duck feeding and headed to the lake to do our boat ride. Yeah, somehow, the yellow duck boat seemed so alluringly penchant to be rode on. It was fun riding it but with an old man like me, it was like huffing and puffing  plus pure MZ11 ( the legs lar ) power. The best part - no one in the boat fell off the boat nor did the boat turned turtle! That’s the good part. Everyone seemed happy enough and had a full day indeed.

On the way back, it was the quietest ride ever with occasional musical nasal notes being hit at the lower and higher end of the pitch. All in all, it was a great day of travel and I know that it was really fun. I really cherished the times spent not forgetting our “shopping spree” too. It was so much fun and a good time of fellowship with Felicia and Molly ( Felicia’s mom – truly an awesome and fun lady!)

That evening as Joa Wee unraveled the packed pipa duck, he asked “ So, was it a good day?”. I just smiled and replied, “ It was an awesome day, son. Awesome day!” There was no other words best described the day, actually.

Chronicle of a day's work......

Today, the day started well enough for me after my daily roti canai, teh tarik and fellowship with my buddy, Errol Gan. Somehow, the day did not turn out to be well enough as the drama of the day unfolded. Not that I am superstitious or any of that sort but somehow, my tempers flared, anger consumed me , my mind got distorted and my disposition just went down south and all wrong. So , how could a day that started out well, ended up as messed up and then back to being well again? I guess, God works in a mysterious way,huh? Don't get me wrong. I am a firm believer in my GOD , it is just that I am flawed, man.

Well, it all comes down to the fact that it is still " This is the day that the Lord had made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." I guess, today is one of those days when things don't get good as the day progressed. I guess, I got out of the mid-day with not the right spirit at work and somehow, I just got mad at people at work and some things that happened in the office. It has been a long time that I've felt down over the days and the ridiculousness of things happening at work whereby unhappiness, bad work ethics and unfairness had slipped in. It seemed so ridiculous but somehow, people put up with it all for the sake of "not rocking the boat" and "stay at peace." I am constantly reminded of how I should act and react for the day lest I stand accused of "going against the grain". 

Anyway, I picked up two works today and my misery started as I was looking for my first place of work. I was driving round in circles as the client did not give me an accurate address. In the blistering heat of today, the heat and weather can fry your brains!  It took me nearly two hours to figure out and endless driving seeking the place. When I finally got there, it was hard work and fielded a lot of questions. The place was sooted, stuffy and no electricity supply. Glass fragments were everywhere but luckily, I was already wearing safety boots for work. Just when I thought the day couldn't get worst, it DID! The second job was also a horrendous pitch dark, stuffy and no electricity supply place. Double whammy this time! 

Then, the inevitable happened. I had a slip and fell to the ground like some rotten cempedak ( jackfruit) ! I landed on my bums and luckily, I cushioned the fall with my right hand while still holding the company's  iPhone while taking pictures. My elbow hurts while my bum landed on a pile of chili flakes, chili paste,  turmeric powder and grounded poppy seeds. I could have sworn that the client tried helping me out but not reaching out his hands as my right arm was covered with chili flakes and paste! He probably just sympathized but not really reaching out his hands. It was as though he didn't want anything to do with me. Worst of all, he called me "uncle" and he was almost as old as I was! Rats! I tell you , it was hilarious sight, actually. I fell swat like some fat ass idiot on the floor covered with chili flakes, paste, turmeric and grounded poppy seeds ( kas kas as they are known ). 

As I picked myself up from the fall, I could have sworn that the Nepali workers were smiling and choked up their laughter seeing a wide Chinaman fall swat on his ass! Gosh, it was the most embarrassing thing that had happened to me. "Really, Ivan?" was all I could tell myself. So, here I am with my pants ( back section ) covered with the chillies and what not while the most significant embarrassment of all, my ass was virtually on fire and hot because of the chili flakes /paste juices. Boy, not just the cheek of the bums were on fire ; so were the thighs, inner thighs and nuts too, if you get the drift! So, here I am , steadying myself, trying to do my job the best I could, finished it  and then went to the toilet for some washing up. I was touched when the Nepali workers used toilet papers and cloth to help me clean up but I do smell like chili paste, man! Like some pork chops marinated with chili paste and ready for some BBQ grille! Worst still, I realized that the Nepali workers were in their slippers and they did not fall while I, who was on safety boots,fall mercilessly on my ass! Oh! How bad can the day get, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh all you want but it wasn't funny for me as the pain and the burning sensation are real, man. Then the proprietor told me that they do use a lot of bird's eye chilli ( cili padi ) for their paste formula and it doesn't take a genius to guess where the burning sensation is coming from and how long it is going to be! Yeah, yeah, very timely of him and the irony to inform me of their secret formula paste! My God, I would have to take the shame and pain for quite some time! Nope, I did not walk bow-legged as I was very composed about the entire episode. I stayed dignified, calm and composed but smell like chili paste for sure. Luckily, I have some PP banner at the back of my car and I laced it over the front seat. At least, I won't stained the car seat. 

As I drove back home, I was just laughing at myself. What turned out to be a horrendous day was actually a real silly day for me. At least, I could laughed at myself and be at ease with my heart. When I told Soon Ling, my the other half, she laughed too and told me to see if we could save the pants tainted with chili paste! Yeah, I love that pants as it was comfortable though it wasn't an expensive one. By the way, all my work clothes are inexpensive but comfortable. 

I realized that with the medical condition, I could have died by the fall or worst still, could have knocked my head against the plastic pallets and die. Now, that illustration wouldn't look nice of my tombstone tablet, isn't it? Imagine, " Here lies, Ivan Foo, beloved husband, father and son,  the one that fell on his ass while at work and DIED! " Sounds corny, right? So, I am ever thankful that I did not sustained any serious injuries nor had any broken bones nor fractures! Maybe, just a bruised ego and a very hot...... ass!

Just be thankful for whatever day you are having. Be thankful that there is breath in your lungs and you are ALIVE just as I AM! Sure, a bruised ego and a string of abusive laughter but nevertheless, it is still a good day to be ALIVE!    

Simran's Sangeet....a delight.....

The only Chinese in the crowd.....

Last night, my family and I attended a Sikh pre-wedding celebration. What an enriching experience indeed! It was our very first Sikh pre-wedding celebrations and I was totally floored by the rich cultural and historical ways of the Sikh community. Yeah! The very story of Datuk Amar Singh retiring is kinda big to the Sikh community these days but to me, last night’s music, dance, speeches and the atmosphere were simply far bigger, nostalgic and magical in many many ways. Last night’s celebration kinda outstripped some of the cultural events I had ever attended in my life. The evening was such a pleasant change in our daily mundane life and brought out an explosion of colours and immense upspringing of joy in the heart. 

Opening acts...all the relatives and family.....ladies only...

The vibrant colors of lehengas, kurta lehenga, saree gowns. Peplum kurtas, cape gowns and Punjabi suits are just an explosion of colours and together with the adornment of blings makes it all such an exquisite and explosive affair. The music and lights were blindingly tasteful and delightful indeed. What else - Bangra music lar, man! The curves, the bare flesh and the gratifying but graceful moves were there as the music were played but it was done tastefully and in much tradition and culture of the Sikh community with a little modern twist. It is all good and very hip indeed if I must say so. I know that we are such a multi-racial society and if ever, we lest forget who we are as Malaysians, we should take a good hard look into our neighbours’ culture and ways of life and embrace them for our differences and yet made us all so diversely beautiful and in unity. You bet, I had a very good lesson of culture last night and I am so blessed by it, truly.

Opening act of songs and dances....

Never mind, if my family were the only Chinese family at that function filled with the Sikh community but never for  minute  have I ever felt left out or sidelined by the people. A smile, a hello, a hand shake, a hug is never far away. I felt so blessed and truly enriched by the occasion. The occasion was simply  “Simran’s Sangeet.” Among the many pre-wedding events that occur prior to the Punjabi wedding ceremonies, the Sangeet is where the party begins. The word Sangeet translates to 'sung together' from Sanskrit. The word “Sangeet “ also means  music, but when it is used as a term to describe a celebratory event during a Punjabi wedding, it translates to Music Night or Musical party.

 

SLing, me, Ragu, Ragu's wife and two daughters...

Sangeet Ceremony is an occasion when the bride is blessed by her elders which is then followed by merrymaking, songs and dance. The Sangeet is an important event to celebrate Sikh and Punjabi culture. This is almost like the eastern version of a bridal shower. It is hosted by the bride’s family and can take place over one day, or over multiple days. Proceedings take place in a banquet hall, women sing traditional songs and only a few close members of the family are invited. Punjabi folk songs and traditions were methods of storytelling, passed down through generations. I found out that originally, the Sangeet was only for ladies, as they sang and played music together. However, men now enjoy the modernized event of dancing, singing, and DJ music. So now, ladies & gentleman, we all can enjoy that time of celebration and get together with our Sikh community.

The whole family in a dance.....

Peeling back the events, my best buddy from my teaching college days, Santokh Singh called me up one day to inform me that his second daughter, Simran was getting married and I am not to miss her wedding events. We also met up in one of those Sikh prayers in Melaka and we managed to talk a bit and enjoyed some coconut shakes! It was at that time that my buddy, Santokh Singh gave me a growl and mean dirty face look to threaten me! Hahahahahahahaaaaaa…..! This Punjabi fella really looked sinister enough! Hahahahahahahaaa! I had promised myself that I would not miss Simran’s wedding celebrations as I had missed her elder sister’s wedding earlier in the year due to CNY celebrations. So, when Santokh a.k.a Toki ( I called him that when we were in college as that was his childhood name ) told me of Simran’s wedding, I told him I would not miss it if I could help it.

Me, Ragu, Gopi & Raj

Honestly, initially SLing and I wanted to spend the full three days to celebrate Simran’s wedding but I only had a days’ leave as I had to get back to work as there were some unavoidable matters in the office. So, I was determined to attend Simran’s Sangeet and enjoy the night thoroughly and I DID and so did SLing and SYuen last night.

I must say that last night, my buddy, Toki and Jane looked absolutely fabulous. Dressed in lovely and fabulous orange Punjabi suit/gown with the adornment of jewellery, both of them looked marvelous, royal and grand. What a lovely couple and it was such a delight meeting up with them after such a long time. 

Me, Naga, Gopi & Raj.....

When they danced together, they looked like newlyweds and ever graceful with their moves. Their four daughters were also dressed up lovingly and beautifully in their Punjabi gowns and adornment. Two of his daughters were in white Punjabi gown with beautifully splashed flower motives while the other daughter was in light pink with floral motives Punjabi gowns while the limelight was on the daughter with the light golden gown with purplish blue top and sash.  What a beautiful sight! So rich culturally and in fashion too.

I realized that it never an easy task for an honorable Sikh man in Toki and Sikh woman, Jane to bring up four daughters. It is truly an enormous task and deserved the applause and accolades. The responsibilities and burdens are heavy on their shoulders especially in the Sikh community and just like any community for that matter. I truly respect and marveled at my friend’s ( Toki & Jane ) tenacity, love, patience and kindness to their children. Their daughters are truly a gem too. Both Toki and Jane had taught them well. I am so very pleased and happy to see their humble and respectful daughters. Yunno, last night, I saw the glow of Toki & Jane’s daughters and this is the reflection of their good upbringing and love from the both of them.  What a lasting impression and reflection!    

 

Santokh & Jane ...lovely people...

As we sat there for dinner that night, we were entertained by the songs and dances by the family members, relatives and friends. The event started off with the ladies ( family members, relatives and senior ladies ) singing songs and I was later told songs that the family members and relatives giving away the bride or something to that extent lar….Hey, I ain’t no specialist for the Sikh language lar…….sikit lebih kurang like that lar………. Then there were performances of dances from relatives, friends and Toki’s family. To me, the performances by the daughters, Toki & Jane were truly so heartwarming. I guess, you can see the warmness, the playfulness, the closeness and the bond of the family. It was like watching the two elderly swans guiding the younger swans in play, in love and in family unit. The Bangra music beat made it a body moving, steady and swaying flow plus it is truly very upbeat lar. I like the entire night’s dances and celebrations.

Me, Santokh, Ragu, Raj and Gopi....

To top off the wonderful evening, I had the opportunity to meet up with my teaching college days friends namely Ragu, Gopi, Raj and Nagaiah. It was truly a wonderful night getting to meet up with these fellas. I am truly a blessed man. We spoke, laughed, catch up on our lives and I felt truly blessed seeing them again. Yeah, we may be aged over the years but good laughs are never far away when with good friends. I truly miss to have a beer with the guys and just to have a great time together. Guess, we shall meet up another time and get some Chivas or Johnny Walker moving along the way some day!

Santokh and his daughter, Simran.

I sat a little while longer to enjoy the performances before having to start our journey back home to Melaka as SYuen and I have to work this morning. It was indeed sad to go while enjoying the evening, that I must admit. That night, all along the way, as I drove back from Klang to Melaka, while cruising the highway, the pulsating beat of the Bangra music rang loudly in my ears. It was a good thing as it kept me awake throughout my drive back home this morning. ( arrived at about 1.00am ). Yeah, the Bangra music has evolved and so did the Sikh community too.   

I take away lovely memories of last night’s event. Simran looked every bit of Jane  and very apt in her lovely golden gown, purplish bluish top and golden/purplish sash. To Simran, All the best in your life journey with Peram. It would take a very special man to deserve this beautiful lady, I must say.

To my lovely buddy , Santokh & Jane, thank you so much for the invitation to be a part of this cultural celebration and we , SLing, SYuen and myself, are so blessed.

Dhanwaad Ji ! Dhannvaad ! Shukriya ! Meharbaani ! Sat Sree Akaal ! ~  

Of Cupcakes, Waffles and Kid's Camp 2018

“Uncle Ivan, would Aunty Soon Ling and you be able to provide us cupcakes and waffles for the Children Church Camp this coming Saturday?” That was the message from Daniel Teo, our illustrious and hardworking church worker sometime on Monday night who together with a team of dedicated teachers, parents and helpers planned for an awesome camp for the children. It was always an honour being able to help out in whatever way we could and it was a DEFINITE YES from our family.

For this endeavor, Soon Ling and SYuen seemed exasperated if they could remember the right recipe for the cupcake and it was hilarious seeing mother and daughter racking their head looking for the right recipe for the cupcakes. Yeah, though it looked as though I got the waffles batter in the bag, I was also cracking my head if I could remember the recipe as well. Yeah, no need to have 3 persons in calamity and panic mode in a house, right? 

So, I acted cool as though I have the recipe in my head while the two women finally got their acts together and went into baking mode. Well, they came up with chocolate cupcake and it was a surprisingly good one. Trial cupcake baking days before the actual baking made sure that I had some mighty fine cupcake to eat. It was moist, choc-filled and nice. There were big smiles all the way at the ladies faces for a great trial baking done before the actual crunch of baking approximately 70 pieces of cupcakes for the children.

On Friday afternoon, SLing and SYuen started the ingredients preparation works and actual baking. Each batch of cupcake batter produced 12 pieces of chocolate chip cupcakes. SLing merticulously scooped in the batter and arranged the Hershey teardrop chocolates on the cupcakes while SYuen prepares the cupcake batter. I must admit that I was away at work while these two ladies hammered it out at the kitchen. 

When I got home that evening, I had bought dinner for the two ladies and the entire household permeates sweet smelling butter and freshly bakes cupcakes. What a delight indeed! I knew that SLing and SYuen would do their best for the children and I have told them many times that when the hearts are at ease, happy and giving, the end result of the cupcakes will be good too.

When the last cupcakes rolled out from the oven, I had the distinction of tasting the moist, succulent and fluffy little chocolate chip cupcake! Nice, really nice.

As SLing and SYuen headed out to the camp site with the cupcakes on Saturday morning, I was up early to search on the family’s trusty recipe book for the waffles recipe which I had kept for some time. I found it after some time and it was preparation time. Got the ingredients ready and by afternoon, I started my waffles ingredients process. I guess, I had over-estimated the portions and did 9 portions which I later came to know to be quite a lot. 

But never mind, the most important thing is to keep the children, teachers and helpers to be happy and well fed. Slowly but steadily I managed to churn out the batter and soon, I‘ve got to have SLing’s help to pour the batter into the container. After getting it all done, I slumped on the sofa and watched a Korean movie on TV before getting ready to leave for the campsite.

Soon, it was time to set up my battle station to churn out the waffles. With help from Jarren, SYuen and SLing, it wasn’t long before we started making the waffles laced with PB&J (peanut butter & jam ) It was fun and felt good feeding the children and adult alike. 

But as the children and adult had dinner earlier, it wasn’t easy to feed the children with more food such as popcorn, cupcakes and waffles for supper before they go off to bed! They would be hyper-active with sugary overload, man!

Anyway, SLing and I just rolled out the waffles as fast as we could while it seemed incredibly suspicious that the waffles pile did not seemed to be piled up even though we have got them out at a rather okay speed! Ahahahahahahaaa……Never mind, the adults and helpers deserve their share as they have worked very hard and very dedicatedly, I must say. 

There were a lot of laughter, teasing and fun going around as we prepare the waffles. That’s what good fellowship meant. After seeing the children and adult eating the waffles and so on, it was a perfect way to end the day. We started out of the day with a smile and we ended it with a greater smile. Even though, we can’t do much to help in the camp but we gave our best in our cupcakes and waffles. I guess, that is what makes our hearts feel lighter and happier.

I guess, we were just too tired after reaching home that night but happy that we can serve in whatever capacity to make the camp a more meaningful one. Yeah, I do miss the Royal Rangers days…..a lot.  It just goes to show – once a Ranger; always a Ranger! PEACE, all.

Simple Basic Waffles Recipe

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 cups of full cream milk

2 cups of cooking oil

3 eggs ( beat the eggs )

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoon of baking powder

2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

How to get the batter done:-

Mix the ingredients into a big bowl, mix them well together with love and a big smile on your face. Keep your fingers crossed and pray that the waffles will come out just as beautiful!~