Tit Bits Malaysian Style

WHEN I made the decision to buy my condo unit in the Tropicana Utara area about six years ago it was purely based on the condo’s aesthetic value. I did not take into consideration the traffic woes the residents in the area have suffered over the years. It’s too late to make changes now as uprooting would be a bigger problem for me.

However there is one good thing about being in this location. I am surrounded by eateries! That solves a lot of problems for someone like me who doesn’t like spending much time in the kitchen.

When it comes to food I’m a fussy-pot. I never finish my food because I’m a small eater and the average serving for a dish in any eatery is still much too big for me. The other most important reason that attracts return customers is of course the taste factor. And taste is a big thing for me.

 Cheechah and its nice blue white and blue ambience.

For the past four months or so I have been frequenting a reasonably new outlet located in Kota Damansara, which has developed so rapidly as a thriving commercial area. Two of the most prominent businesses in the area are eateries and fashion outlets.

Being just a 10-minute drive from my place makes Kota Damansara a convenient favourite haunt for me. It is easy to find me whenever I’m not where I should be. Cheechah with its clean blue-white facade has even become my place for meet-ups with friends.

 

  Nice interior and furnishings at Cheechah.

The first time I was at Cheechah I ordered its Nasi Impit with Serunding Daging (Meat Floss) and Kuah Kacang (Pressed White Rice served with Peanut Gravy). This dish has become my regular order ever since. On the following visits the Tauhu Bakar (Stuffed Baked Tofu), Tahu Sumbat (Stuffed Tofu) and Chee Chung Fun, which is steamed flat noodles served with red sauce and sesame seeds have been added to the list.

My favourite Nasi Impit served with Serunding Daging and the traditional Kuah Kacang.

You may have noticed that the dishes I mentioned were mostly side dishes. That is because the servings are small and just enough to satiate my appetite during brunch.

My preferred drink to complement these dishes is my all-time favourite Hot Nescafe with milk although Cheechah boasts original, authentic Kemaman coffee brought fresh from Hai Peng Shop in Kemaman.

I am familiar with Kemaman, a district in Malaysia’s East Coast state Terengganu but I do not know where Hai Peng is or how famous it is among those who know of its popularity.

Chee Cheong Fun accompanied with a delicious Mango Smoothie.

Cheechah is based on the concept of a Malaysian lifestyle – enjoying afternoon tit bits with friends over good conversations. This is perhaps one of the reasons for its extensive menu, which features over 120 dishes and drinks altogether.

You get to eat at Cheechah all day as the opening hours stretch from 8am right up to midnight. So if you feel a rumbling in your tummy an hour before midnight you know you can still make it there to enjoy the offerings, which the owners dubbed the “authentic Malaysian Tapas”.

For me, it’s still THE outlet with the good old Malaysian recipes served in little but satisfying portions. One thing though that the people behind Cheechah need to do is maintain the consistency and quality of its dishes. That is still slightlyt lacking but which I’m sure is already seriously looked into by its enterprising owners.

Goreng Pisang served with Chilli Sauce.

As a parting note would Cheechah consider bringing back the authentic Malaysian Goreng Pisang we normally find at Goreng Pisang stalls – crisp and crunchy as well as that traditional Karipap recipe only found in the kampungs?
 

CHEECHAH
No. 2-1 Jalan PJU 5/4
Dataran Sunway
Kota Damansara
Petaling Jaya

Tel: +603 6148 3360
E-mail: host@cheechah.com
Sites: www.cheechah.com / www.facebook.com/cheechah

Biz Hrs: Mon-Sun (8am-midnight)

Quote for Day 23

Cliparts: Greedy Man-Johnny Automatic / Money 02-ART FAVOR

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I like slave drivers who are good paymasters - Anon

Free the Chicken of Germs

Can you say "food poisoning"? Well, goood for you. I can too, but I certainly hope I don't have to.

I was in a well-known hyper store last night, where among other things they sell "fresh" meat. I put "fresh" in inverted commas, because honestly, when I look at it, there is nothing fresh, or safe, about it. You guessed it! This Sunday’s bitch is about food hygiene standards.

I am continuously appalled to see chicken displayed on ice in the middle of aisles for sale. It's not that there is anything wrong with the chicken per se, it is the unsanitary way in which it is displayed.

Imagine this, that yummy piece of chicken you're nibbling on has been touched by hundreds of hands, sneezed over by tens of people, and kept in temperature conditions that are not ideal for a meat that is not supposed to be exposed to different temperatures.

By the time the plethora of people has passed your piece of chicken, you finally get to have it to take home and cook.

Cliparts: Germ_3C-J ALVES / Chiken-PLACIDOAPS

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Tiny little hands grabbing it and squeezing it (yes, I've seen that, and yes, parents should take much more responsibility for their kids in supermarkets), grown adults sneezing (stray bits of snot marinating the chicken to perfection), and who knows what else.

Isn't it time for better quality food hygiene standards?

How about starting with a temperature-controlled refrigeration device that keeps the chicken at a reasonable temperature rather than buckets of ice which get replenished every so often?

And how about keeping our chicken out of the reach of everyone who passes by?

It’s simple common-sense - have one person serve it.

Ok, that doesn't stop all that I've mentioned, but it does go a long way to reducing the possibility that your next meal is being contaminated by others because of their poor cleanliness.

Honestly, I can't buy chicken from the supermarket like this. It's too unhealthy and it poses too many risks. Once you've had food poisoning from bad chicken, trust me, you never want to have it again!

Quote for Day 22

Hand 21-ART FAVOR

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My biggest weakness is waiting - Anon

My Baby+Her Baby=My Grandchild

My eldest daughter turns 30 on the first week of February this year and she's pregnant after a year of trying to conceive. I felt jubilant over the news and at the same time shocked (only in many small ways).

Imagine; the first baby in the house is now carrying a baby. How time flies. And how the passing years failed to make me realise my daughter is now a woman with her own career, her own husband, her own in-laws, her own home and now her own baby.

My baby isn't a baby anymore.

When I conceived her I was 21 years old. I didn't know I was pregnant until my mother noticed I was constantly craving for mangga muda (unripe mango).

Pregnant-ANONYMOUS

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I was married in February 1979. She was conceived in June 1980 and born in February 1981. Her baby will be borned between Aug 12 and 24 this year. So there are a lot of memorable dates in Nek Yong's life, for which I am blessed.

My eldest daughter was born a day from the date of my wedding and shares the same birth date as my closest "adopted" sister.

When my daughter found out she had conceived she was already about three to five weeks pregnant. My daughter had a suspicion she was pregnant on the day we celebrated my birthday (Dec 5).

My grandchild, my daughter's child, would probably be either a Leo (Jul23-Aug24) or a Virgo (Aug23-Sep22). But my logic is my grandchild was conceived in November, meaning she or he is ACTUALLY a Sagittarius (the things I'd do to add to my team!).

Take it from me, if my grandchild has huge doses of my tendencies I for one will encourage she polish and buff and shine those tendencies. What better gift can there be for your first grandchild then grandma's traits?

With loving care - Nek Yong 

Quote for Day 20

Waved Horse (Spring Version) 2009-TOUCHSTONE

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The simplest thing in life should always be treasured - ET

Cheap Tactics Waste Time

Malaysia has this really cool thing - we can change mobile phone provider whilst keeping our same number.

In theory this is great, but the process to go through seems more difficult and painful than pulling teeth.

I have spent the last three weeks trying to change away from one provider, let’s call them M, to another provider, let’s just call them C.

So far M have come up with three different excuses for not releasing the lines, provide different information depending upon who is spoken to at the customer service line, and to date, still have not facilitated a smooth transfer.

HandPhone_TOM BROUGH

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Don't they realise that they have already lost the customer, and by tactics such as this, they are just ensuring that we tell more of our friends (and frankly anyone who will listen) about our experience.

I love the concept that you can keep your number, and yes, that is a frustration for the provider, but hey, when you're beat, accept the fact, bow out gracefully, and don't irritate your former customer further. That shows a lack of professionalism more than anything, and will stick in their mind, as they are sure never to consider you again.

Personally, I'm looking forward to my new service provider. Not because I've heard they are good or anything like that, but simply because they haven't put me through this "waste of time" exercise that my former provider did.

Brain dead

Human and animal ashes taken for Class A drugs? What’s happening to people these days? Can’t they tell the difference between anything anymore?

Yahoo! News reported early this morning how five teenage burglars ran away with two urns containing these ashes because they thought the ashes were either cocaine or heroin. And for the next few days, before they were nabbed by the Police, they spent their time getting “high” on these ashes.

HOW the heck do they get HIGH on human ashes?

Cliparts: Skull_CHARLES MCCOLM & Interrogation_MD

 

This to me is a simple case of the mind does what the mind believes even if it defies logic.

But what would be a more interesting report to me is if Yahoo! News had carried a sidebar story interviewing these kids on HOW they felt when they snorted the ashes!

It just goes to prove that you don’t need drugs to get high. Just rely on your imagination because you know what the saying is: you can do anything if you set your mind to it.

To read the news go to http://uk.news.yahoo.com/38/20110120/tod-gang-snorts-ashes-they-mistook-for-d-045b8e8.html

Death and Love

I woke up one morning thinking; how will my children and my grandchildren know, let alone remember me, should I die before them?

Yes I just said “die” and no I do not think it is a harsh word to describe someone leaving this life for good.

There’s “birth” and there’s “death”. One person is born another dies so “die” is a good word in my vocab. It is not a bad word.

Die, death, dying – it’s all about an ending. Every ending is a start to a new beginning. So yes, die, death, dying – they are all good words to me.

My eldest daughter doesn’t think so, especially when the words are associated to me.

At 30 my eldest daughter still have pools of tears in her eyes whenever we discuss the topic of dying – mine.

At times when she’s feeling a little bit more sensitive than usual she would quickly place her palms tightly onto her ears and say in our native tongue: "Tak nak dengar! Tak nak dengar! Tak nak dengar!" (which when translated in English means: Not listening! Not listening! Not listening!).

I know. Some of you reading this are rolling your eyes while you look to heaven. And no, it is not about her being childish.

My daughters (I have two) are my friends and I am theirs. We are so tight we appear to have been bonded with UHU (to the oblivious, UHU is a brand for a glue, which works wonders on anything).

Image by Dimitri C

Death, on any one of us, is such a painful thought, let alone if it were to really happen. We “can’t” live without each other. We are each other’s pillars.

My second daughter, the baby of the house who behaves more like the big sister in the family, has a different way of reacting to “die, death and dying”.

She doesn’t have pools of tears welling in her eyes. Instead, she has a fixed stare. The stare can be on anything – the floor, the scatter cushions or the food on our dinner table where we gather for "family time". And the stare has similarities to the way she speaks: "If it’s time what can we say".

But that “coldness” isn’t really coldness. It’s her being strong and accepting and trying to make the best of things (at this point of my post, if my girls are reading it, they will be giving each other hugs if they happened to be at the same place at the same time).

Yes, Nek Yong is thinking a lot about death lately. It might come sooner or later but it is coming and is making its way here.

But, I'm not afraid, or unhappy, or happy of the thought. I'm just busy making preparations for something that might come tomorrow or even years from now.

Why?

Because Nek Yong really love her girls and she wants to always be there for them.

And that's how the idea to write this post came about. Nek Yong will write and write and write and when it’s time to go, my girls, and my grandchildren and my son-in-laws will always have lots of things to remember me by.

Just flip the pages to Nek Yong’s postings (if I do write regularly here) and we will always be there for each other, through our memories, which we keep dear in our hearts and minds.

Look through these pages where I write day and night about my love for my girls, my grandchildren and my sons-in-law.

These pages will be the strength that “replaces” me when it is time for me to go.  

“Weep not, cry not
Just shed a single, silent tear
For that is the strength
Of our clan.”

            

                     Nek Yong

Sunshine All The Way

Nice start to the day…at first the sun was shining bright and suddenly it went into hiding behind thick clouds. Oh well, it looks like another gloomy weather. But for as long as the weather isn’t affecting our mood we will survive another crazy, hectic day, wouldn’t we?

NewsFlashMedia lost out on one Quote for the Day (Jan 19) due to our server being down for most parts of yesterday. So it looks like we have broken the “cycle” – our hope to feature one post per day. But all’s good as we put our feet forward and prepare to jump and make the most of what we have and can.

Our quote for today goes out to all those who have despaired, are in despair, going through some kind of sadness, sorrow, remorse – all the pain that life has to offer.

We are saying; all of us have a missing piece in our heart. Fill it up, no matter how tough, and we will get there just like everybody else who have been in that same situation that we are going through now.

On a happier note, NewsFlashMedia will feature today another writer who hopefully will be a regular on the site. However, time will tell as Nek Yong (the writer) has too many things in her hands and can’t promise anything. For now, we will be contended with a piece she wrote that delves into her most intimate thoughts – death and her two “pillars of strength” – her girls.

NewsFlashMedia is looking for people who love writing, don’t have the time to manage a personal blog but would love to see their works used in some ways or another for others to read. If you are that person, we welcome your contributions. Sadly it will be an unpaid contribution as we are too small an operation for now.

And, if you are keen on music and books and would love to share here what you’ve been listening to and reading, we would love to feature your reviews under our Music and Book Reviews tag.

Till then, think positive and all the good vibes will come to you.