I could live here. I love the movement of the waves in the sea.
In Starbucks, relaxing after the drive.
The drive up from Subang Jaya was crowded with traffic on the highway, right up until after Seremban. Then, it was clear right up to P. D. town.
The last time we were in P. D. was in February. Jeannie and I had a great time then. We are looking forward to a great weekend here.
One of the first times we noticed when we got in was that the town seemed pretty quiet for a Saturday afternoon. After all, this is supposed to be a tourist and holiday getaway for people around this area. However, we are not complaining. It is more comfortable this way.
We drove around town, remembering the places we visited in our past trips here. The town is growing in size. There are more modern amenities and eateries available now. Our favourite, Billion Supermarket is still there, going strong, faithfully serving the needs of the people of Port Dickson. We have purchased things from this establishment on several of our trips in the past. It is the place to go to. Probably to be seen at, too.
There were several cafes other than the usual Starbucks. However, Starbucks offers a great view of the sea, while sipping on our coffee beverages and pastries.
We (meaning Laura, though she let us decide) chose Starbucks at the Waterfront. Starbucks is one of Laura’s favourite cafes.
Starbucks at the Waterfront has a really nice view of the open sea of the Straits of Malacca. After ordering a coffee beverage, Jeannie chose a table next to the café’s wide frontage view.
The view was good from here. The sun was blazing, the reflection of its rays from the sea helped it look hotter than it was. All the same, it was very hot on its own, not needing help from the sea.
The sea was greenish / brown, coming in to shore, calmly. The smell of salt water in the air (OK… That’s a bit of exaggeration. Haha. My sense of smell is not tha-a-at sensitive) was over-powering, where clean, clear air, escaped my attention. However, it in no way deminishes the fact that this was a welcome scene instead of the gigantic (in some cases) concrete buildings structures that seem to block out the skies in the cities, the traffic and so called urban modernisation of transport, leaving behind it’s harmful emissions, as well as unwanted noise crowds.
There were a couple of tug boats anchored, lazily about 100 metres from the shore; looking very Mexican siesta type, not in an immediate hurry to change the pace of their current lifestyle. If they had a choice, this would be it, year in, year out.
In the distance, over the horizon, we could see ships going up and down the Straits.
We spent a bit more time enjoying the comforts of Starbucks before we made a move to our hotel.
We got to the hotel within a few minutes. Our rooms were comfortable and inviting that the next thing we thought of doing was nothing. However, the white beach was beckoning us for a walk on it. Later… Maybe.
Brr-urr-r-urr-rrr! Not sure if it’s spelt correctly. It is meant to indicate that the weather has been quite chilly today. For a short while (yes, just a teeny weeny time 😉), I thought it was just me. My resistance to cold and extreme cold weather is wearing off. The excuse…er.. reason would be , is because I am getting older?
I am not the only one feeling the colder – than – it – ought – to – be weather. Jeannie felt that the weather was a bit more chilly than usual. It rained quite heavily in the afternoon. It has been raining heavily about an hour on the average over the last few days. The weather, when the sun is up, was humid hot, but not blazing hot.
I was back home at about half after eight this morning; after dropping Jeannie at work. Traffic was alright, not too much of a concern.
Then, I took time to check and reply emails and social media. I am trying to make it a habit to bring myself up to speed on all the platforms I am on. I try to limit 1 hour first thing in the morning, half hour during lunchbreak (Lunchbreak? What is that?), and about 15 minutes before 5.00pm. In that way, I don’t get consumed with the ever lively social media platforms. I definitely cannot cover all the platforms within the said time. However, I do work towards clearing all of them before the day is up.
My next calendar event for the day was my 10 kilometer daily walk. By the time, I got ready and started my walk, it was after 10.00am, earlier than usual. The sky was a mix of morning sun and light clouds. The clouds did provide some shade. It was a pretty good walk session. I completed a 10.33km walk in a time of 1:59.01, averaging a speed of 5.2km/hr. I liked the above average speed that I clocked in.
Speed
Overall info
VO₂
bpm
The above shows my health tracking on my Samsung watch. I am diligent at keeping pace with my health tracking. I am working at hitting at least the normal targets. I still have a long way to go.
Showered. Then got down to writing. One major thing that I learned fairly recently about writing: I have to write, everyday; for at least an hour. Whether I have an idea or not, about what I am to write about, just write. The whole process is to make it a rule or habit. There are no if(s), but(s) or maybe(s); just write. And, that is what I do. Writing for more than an hour, or at any additional time of the day is a bonus.
Before I knew it, was time to make my way to Laura’s (my daughter) office to pick her up. Being Friday, they knock off from work at 4.45pm. Traffic was good all the way. Then, we had Jeannie (my wife) picked up from her office. Laura and Jeannie had some grocery shopping to do. We stopped at KK Mart, a popular neighbourhood grocer in SS12, Subang Jaya (1); to get the groceries Jeannie and Laura wanted.
Then, Laura went to meet with Praga. Jeannie and I were in our usual predicament, “What to eat?” I suggested that we have our dinner at the T23 “chap fan”(2) restaurant in Taipan USJ as I wanted to pick something up from the pharmacy next to it.
When we got near the restaurant, traffic was a lot more civilized than usual – not much of a traffic jam. We managed to get a parking slot just before the restaurant. Well, maybe about a hundred meters (U.S. spelling of “metres”. They spell it as it sounds. Makes sense.) away.
We got in line. “Tak mau nasi” (Don’t want rice), and the server handed me an empty plate. I started choosing the food I liked from a wide selection of dishes. The choice of dishes today seemed like 10% – 15% less, as there was a few empty spaces for the food trays.
My meal: Left to Right at 12 o’clock: sliced potatoes in brown gravy sauce, a slice of luncheon meat (spam), egg omelet and steamed egg (white in colour) with mince meat. Somewhere underneath all that is curry-ed potato. And underneath all that is the sweet chilli sauce.
My today’s selection first started with a sweet chilli sauce because it was amongst the first dishes. The chilli sauce was meant to go for another dish; a chicken dish, I think. I got a few pieces of potato from the chicken curry dish, steamed egg with mince meat, a slice of luncheon meat (spam), potatoes in a brown gravy sauce and fried egg omelet.
The potatoes in a brown gravy sauce is a must try. Not spicy. When dipped in the sweet chilli sauce for an added, different flavour; ooo-la-la! The steamed egg with mince meat is a Chinese dish, I think. Unusual, it tastes pretty good.
The finale of my meal was the curry-ed (or is it curri-ed?) potatoes because it was under the pile of food.
Jeannie’s meal was more of a set bet for those who are not adventurously daring for spicy food. Not that Jeannie does not eat spicy food. Her meal was more vegetables and rice with a black hard boiled egg made in a dark brown sauce. The hard boiled egg prepared in this way is very popular with the Chinese.
We found a couple of seats at one of the long tables. The meal was enjoyable. Either we are taking more dishes than the normal amount (which I don’t know how much the normal amount is), or the meal is getting more expensive. The meal is still reasonable but not cheap. Free hot soup and hot or cold water is available. Any amount.
We headed to the pharmacy a couple of doors (not blocks, as the shops here are in a terraced row) and got the item that I needed. We got home a short while later.
It was more eagerly to get home so as to pack for our short holiday tomorrow. Golden sands, blue, green, murky seas, sun (hopefully not too hot). Clothes, food, cables to keep my gadgets going when their batteries run low… Did I mention clothes and food? Jeannie likes to over-pack. Laura is joining us, too; on this central, south western state of Negri Sembilan’s city of Port Dickson and its beaches.
Happy Weekend!
NOTE: 1. Subang Jaya is a thriving city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. 2. Chap fan which is pronounced as “chup fun”, means economy rice in English.
The distinct shrilling voices of the Bee Gees can be heard softly, filling a tiny space of the room’s overall quiet, singing “More Than A Woman”.
The other sounds include the whirling of the ceiling fan (It was advertised as “extra quiet”. I daren’t think what it would be like to be “normal noisy”. ) and the whirling of 6 tiny fans from the computer laptop cooling pad.
“Daren’t” – that’s an English word that has not been used in a long time. I think the last time I heard that word used was when I was in school, over 40 years ago. If my memory serves me well, it was used quite often by my Standard Four class teacher, the late Mrs. Mun (Bless her soul).
Is it just me or is each day that goes by seems drastically shorter than a year ago. Here, shorter does not mean a few milliseconds or even a minute. It just feels like I am not getting enough hours in a day.
If I break down my average work day, it would be something like this: 6 hours in traffic on roads 4 hours sleep 3 hours brisk walks / exercise 3 hours replying emails, / social media / reading 1 hour miscellaneous 17 hours total, leaving me with only 7 hours to work. During these 7 hours, I have multiple (I would have preferred using the word “loads” as it emphasizes the intensity. However [instead of “but”], “multiple” is a word that people seem to understand more, from what I gather).
As I am about to put my fingers to keyboard typing, converting the clickety-clackety sounds that the individual lettered keys make as they are thumped upon on the mechanical keyboard, making and forming words that mysteriously appear on the 24-inch monitor screen, I become hungry. I start thinking of what to eat. Procrastination? You think? Maybe…
When the words come, they just come, and there’s no stopping. And if they aren’t there, they just aren’t there. So, I usually like moving around a lot, getting a different view of things, even for a fleeting moment. Unlike some people who get distracted from what they are doing if they move onto something else, I get refreshed. Perhaps, it is the “dreamer” in me.
This is an odd-shaped table. The plate looks un-uniformed in shape, too. A different perspective perhaps? Is this the whole picture? Picture taken using my Samsung S23 Ultra
On a recent coffee visit to Good Ground Bakery, I was in one of those “dreamer” moods. I ordered an iced Americano and a scone with a side of butter and strawberry jam from Joanne, the one whose smile puts the twinkle in stars in the sky. I chose a table at the corner near the entrance. I pulled out my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 512GB (that’s quite a mouthful) and started to continue working on one of my articles. “Started to continue?” Does not seem to make much sense.
In this context, it does. It means that I started working on an article that I had not completed yet.
As I sat there, absorbing the moments in time that was going by, I thought to myself that it sure would be a whole lot more complicating if we had a fisheye or 360º view of life. Which would be the start and which would be the end of each scene? I am trying to view the scene based on what we generally understand, where each snapshot of a scene or a story has a beginning and an end.
What if instead, we were just there, like showing up in a scene. No explanations…It is still the beginning from the context of at the point we showed up. Gosh! I can’t begin to imagine what it was like when John Lennon wrote his timeless song, “IMAGINE”. Was his imagination on “free flow” mode, just like mine is now?
This is the whole picture – a panoramic view. This was taken on one of my many visits to Good Ground Bakery for coffee and scones.
I am overly tired, I think.. What a day today was. It is not over…yet. The time is only 11.30pm. I am yawning all the time, so much so that when I yawn , it does not seem to be in sequence. Before I can finish one yawn, another one comes.
I was working on 5 new articles for my upcoming book over the past few days and I was falling behind. This was on top of my usual daily tasks to do…one of them is an article everyday. So far, I have had an article published each day, every day; over the last 488 days. Whose keeping count? Not me. WordPress is.
WordPress keeps tally and has been sending me notifications each time I publish an article consecutively, each day.
The Batik Influencer (My wife, Jeannie) and I, the Hatted Writer; set up a booth at first floor (F1.08) in Amcorp Mall this weekend. I could not get an article out in time to inform our friends, families, customers, readers and followers that we would be in Amcorp Shopping Mall. The details of our booth are below.
It was a good day at our booth. We met many people who came over for different interests. I met with a lot of people who were giving me advice for the book. I will definitely try to take everyone’s suggestions into consideration. Many fantastic ideas. A close friend suggested that I write an article about him. I’m not sure if he meant it.
I took a short break from manning our booth, to go visit a good friend, Mahmud and his wife; and see their new hats on sale. Mahmud is the guy I buy all my hats from.
I came across a green and red flat cap. It really looked stunning. The colours of the cap “called out to me”, “Take me, take me”😁. I was trying not to hear the “take me” pleas. Hahaha.😂
My short break time ran out rather quickly. I told Mahmud that I will come back and see him tomorrow. I like this flat cap.
Funny thing happened a couple of times while I was trying on this red and green racer flat cap. I was wearing my tweed newsboy cap when I went to see Mahmud. I removed my newsboy cap and put it on top of the other caps on display as there was no where else to put it while I tried on the new hats. Twice, people came up and straight away went for my tweed newsboy cap. I told them that that it was my cap. Both the guys said that my newsboy cap was very nice.
A bit of new information. The newsboy cap is also known as a baker’s cap. I will inform Sarah and Joanne of Good Ground Bakery the next time I go there, wearing this cap.
JEANNIE’S OWN label Batik Cape Creations had the “wow!” factor that drew many people to our booth. Most of the pieces were sold, with only a couple remaining, which will be sold by tomorrow.
It was a fun day today. Looking forward to meeting more people tomorrow. You may want to suggest what subjects I should write about for the 3 articles I have outstanding to include in the upcoming book. It will be fun to meet with you all. See you there.
Me, wearing the New Yorker newsboy cap.
Amcorp Shopping Mall, Booth 1.08, 1st Floor, , 8, Jalan, Persiaran Barat, Seksyen 52 Petaling Jaya, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia Date: October 26th & 27th 2024: Time: , 10.00am to 5.30pm (can be extended to 7.00pm)
Another day has gone by. For multiple (not “many”. The word “many” may seem like a word for the commoners. haha😀😂[1 emoji for each “ha”]) people, the countdown to Christmas has begun. They are just short of putting on their Santa Claus or Santarina outfits. Our house has half the Christmas decorations up already. (It is beginning🎶 to look a lot like Christmas♪♪🎵) I’ll let you in on a little secret: whisper (come closer so you can hear…er… see) – We’ve not taken them down last year…or the year before that. They’ve been up all this while.
We (my wife, Jeannie; and daughter, Laura) were stuck in the usual traffic jam on the Federal Highway, on our way back to Subang Jaya, after I picked them up from their offices. Today seemed unusually slower than other days. This time in the car, with the family; is generally quality time.
The first thing on our “day-on-day” meeting agenda was “how was your day?” Laura and Jeannie will share the going-ons and stuff like that. There is always lots to share about. I find this interesting because we become involved, to a certain extent in their daily activities, even though we were not physically there at that time. We do this every evening, after work. It is a bit different in the mornings, on the way to work. Both, Jeannie and Laura will start their work, sort of; thanks to technology – using their laptop computers and mobile hotspot technology.
Laura was dropped off at the gym. Jeannie and I continued on our way home. The usual, “Dinner – what shall we will eat?” statement / question came up. We both thought, “chap fan” (pronounced “cha-p fun”) at T23. Chap fun or jaahp faahn is mixed rice (dishes). It is quite common to hear it referred as “economy rice” as the prices are reasonable.
The other day, I heard my mother-in-law refer to this restaurant as “723”. I thought that all this while we must have been reading the sign wrongly as “T” instead of “7”, more so because the first character is stylised. It made sense as many Chinese restaurants are named in numbers. This is evident in Klang for example, along the Persiaran Raja Muda street. However, when searched on the internet for the actual name, it is stated at “T23”.
When we got to T23, we got into the queue (not “lined up” – that’s for schoolchildren😀) and waited our turn to get a plate with rice served, first. As I don’t eat rice, I got an empty plate. Jeannie got a plate with rice. Then, we walked along the aisle, served ourselves (self-serve) from a choice of about 100 different dishes. Once we picked our choice of dishes, we paid at the cashier at the end of the aisle. He calculates the price of your meal and charges you accordingly.
Then, we went to the adjoining room, the dining room; where we chose a table to sit at, and comfortably had our meal there. There are fans and air-conditioning to keep the temperature cool and comfortable as you enjoy your meal. At times, it can be quite cold which makes it uncomfortable to sit in that dining hall.
There are also people who will “tapau” (to pack back or takeaway) their meal, too.
My meal: Beansprouts with beans, lady’s fingers, baked beans with fried egg, white tofu with mince meat, Japanese tofu and curry potato.
At the back of this dining hall, there is usually a pot of hot soup, for customers to self-serve free. There is also hot Chinese tea and hot & cold water that customers can help themselves to.
The meals as always, were delicious. I am quite sure that all the dishes they offer are delicious. Eating here does take away the chore of having to cook at home, especially if you want a variety of dishes. Another thing is that you don’t have to wash the dishes. This is a very ideal set-up for those coming back from a tiring day at work, possibly having to go through traffic jams and wanting to have dinner without having to be involved in cooking and washing dishes.
T23 is opened throughout the day until 10.00pm, everyday. They have many outlets in the major cities and towns. We can come here everyday and eat different dishes as there are so many to choose from.
Jeannie’s meal: rice, brinjal, lady’s fingers, sweet sour pork and white tofu.
For dessert, we popped in to Berry’s cake house next door, and bought a loaf of chocolate layered sponge cake, sprinkled with lots of chocolate rice on top. Yum.😋 Couldn’t wait to have a go at it. It was a long 5 minute drive home. Then, not 1; but 2 slices of the cake. 😋Tomorrow, exercise to work off the calories.
At the dining hall. Rows of long tables and chairs.
Chocolate rice sponge cake.It tastes as good as it looks.
It was T23
NOTES: 1. Also spelt as jaahp faahn (Chinese: ‘mixed rice’) in Cantonese
What is life? That is the question, not the one that thinks it is the question, or the people the world over make it to be, “To Be Or Not To Be?”, a quote from William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”. When you ask anyone, even some random (my daughter uses this word quite often. Though it is a common word, you will hear from the generation born just after the turn of the century [this century, not the last; in case you were wondering], “flaunting” that word around) people walking on the street, “What is Life?”; they probably will give you their version of it, everyone with a different answer; all correct because it is their version of it.
Try asking them the “To Be Or Not To Be?” question, You probably will get stares, or “Whatcha talking about?”, or ‘”To be or not to be” what?’. Don’t mess around with them, literature people. They will know the answer or may think they know the answer. And you will have to know Hamlet and more.🤔😀
Crafted by barista Joanne.
I was at my favourite coffee bakery, Good Ground Bakery (G.G.B.); several times this week (and the week has not ended yet😀). Each and every time I visit G.G.B., the experience I get is different. The experience is always new… always fresh. Sure, the bakery structure and its physical contents are the same. However, every visit seems to be refreshing, a refreshed, welcoming, comfortable invitation without it being dramatic. It has genuine-ness about it.
Sarah, Good Ground Bakery’s awesome owner; Joanne, G.G.B.’s bright and creative barista, whose smile puts the twinkle in stars in the sky; Monique, the public relations ambassador (whose “Hi, welcome” is warmly given to each and every person that enters the door, and “Thank you, come again” as guests leave that same door); and the bakery crew who put together an amazing array of pastries and bread, all together put the freshness in “fresh” each day.
Not forgetting that we get older as each moment goes by, factually meaning that we change and get older as each of those moments arrives us.
I am a firm believer and try not to take for granted of this fact. In the movie, “Star Trek” – Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise – to boldly go where no man has gone before! Each moment that has yet to present itself to us, is an opportunity for us to boldly go where no one has gone before – new adventures.
Dalgonacrafted by barista Joanne.
That’s the gist of this story. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we have to be thankful for each new moment, each hour, each day; to give the very best of ourselves to ourselves. This is reflected when we give the very best in what we do, to others.
We don’t have control as to when our lives begin (at birth) and when our lives end (our last breath). What we do have control of, is the in between. That is absolutely, incredibly awesome!
We have our own story, our own bestseller to tell. We can choose to write it in the past tense (a journal or a diary) or we can choose to write a novel, how we picture our lives to be and work towards it. Me? How am I going to write my story? The way I see it, I have volumes to write about. My past alone has 65 over years to talk about. I am excited about the present and the future… Page 1, Chapter 1…Year 2093…The next phase…
Is it the weekend already? You’re supposed to answer the obvious. Unless your weekend starts on a Sunday or Tuesday.
I’m on my one of my 10km walks. The sky is billowing with black clouds, looking like it is about to burst at its seams. A strong drizzle is already coming down and I, cowering under an opened umbrella; must complete my 10km distance. A couple of people pass by. “Raining” one said. while pointing to the sky. Again, it is the obvious. I smiled and replied, “Yes, it is”.
On another of my walks, a neighbour sees me walk by at a fairly brisk pace? “Jogging, ahh?” That got me thinking about the word, “jogging”. Off the bat, I consider jogging as a run, mostly slow run. Small steps, moving 3km/h to 5km/h faster than a general brisk walker like me. Not too fast, but faster than the casual walk. It turns out that Wikipedia agrees with me. 😀(1)
So, the neighbour is quite correct when she asked if I was jogging, because I was not running. However, I was walking faster than my usual pace (which is in itself, quite fast, above the average).
There are multiple other incidents similar those mentioned above. Many are strangers to me. The message. People are kind. People are friendly. People want to make conversation, even though just for a few minutes.
Just a few days ago, as my wife, Jeannie and I were leaving Sunway Pyramid after some light shopping (I did not find the the item I was looking for). Our car was parked on CP3 (Level 3). So, we walked up to the pay machine as we usually did, keyed in our vehicle number, flashed the credit card to clear the transaction, but it failed. After a couple of attempts to make payment, I saw a small sigh above the machine stating that it now only accepts debit cards. We were going to walk one level down to pay with our credit card, when a young couple asked us to key in our vehicle registration number into the payment machine again. When we did, the lady used her debit card to pay. The payment cleared. I tried to pay them back but they did not want to accept it, saying that it was a small amount.
Is this kindness, or caring, or any one of the good words or statements you can think of? I would say a little bit of each. People just do what comes naturally to them, without a second thought.
I am grateful for people. I find them fascinating, don’t you agree? The more I think of it…the more I ask questions…and get answers…, they lead to more questions. Am I becoming philosophical (I can hardly get the spelling right)?💭🤔
Musings
People: Top picture, Left to Right: my late Uncle David Nellaiah, Dad (Eustace Anthony Atkinson) and my late Uncle Joseph Gomes. Picture taken probably in the 1970s. Bottom picture, Left to Right: My cousin, Christopher Nellaiah, my late brother, Nigel Edward Atkinson and my cousin Dato Ronald Gomes. Picture taken around 2020. The bottom picture are of the sons of the gentlemen in the picture above. Both pictures are of men with amazing people’s skills, friendliness and kindness.
NOTES: 1. Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods of time. Performed over long distances, it is a form of aerobic endurance training. Wikipedia
A quiet morning start. No traffic snarls, no long traffic jams on the road, weather looks like it is giving the sun a chance to do its thing, that is to shine brightly and give meaning to, “It’s a bright and cheery morning, with the sun darting its not-so-hot rays”.
The quiet morning start with no traffic jams is due to the long weekend holiday here in Malaysia. We are into the last of a 4 day weekend. I hear people say, “I can get used this”. Well, maybe a week…or two. A month. Then, you will start fidgeting around. You have been used to a full work day, some stress-filled… but that’s o.k.. Not, this “don’t know what to do with the time on your hands”. We can go into that on another write-up.
The weather has been humid – and that’s putting it mildly. Last night was quite uncomfortable. Towards, the early morning, it let up a bit. Now, it is back at it again. It may be something that we will never get used to since we are living more in an air-conditioned world.
When we mention “air-conditioner”, the picture of the rectangular, average-size 3ft long, by 1 ft wide, boxed machine on the wall comes to mind. However, in its true meaning, air-conditioner would mean “conditioning the air, either cold or hot”. However, when in a country, which has the winter climate, you would say, “Turn on the heater”. You don’t say. “air-conditioner”. So, in Malaysia, you may expect people to say, “Turn on the cooler(?)”. Many people won’t understand what you asked. However, if you say, “On the air-con”; (2) perfect.
Whatever the situation may be, it can always be resolved over food. And, we must eat. Jeannie, my wife and I; decided to take a short drive to Taipan, the “town area” of USJ (1). It is where one has a wide selection choice of what to eat and where to eat; from fast food restaurants to local Chinese, Indian, Malay, western, Japanese, Korean and other cuisines. With such a wide selection to choose from, the proverbial question is still asked; “What to eat?” (2)
Jeannie wanted something “soupy”. Here, she was referring to the food, not the weather (3). Yes, we were having a soupy day, with it being humid as it was. We decided to go to “Taipan City Kopitiam”.
Jeannie ordered “wor-tan-hor” or kway teow with gravy and soya bean cin cau ice for her drink. I went for the wonton noodles and kopi ice.
You can be forgiven to think this place as a fast food restaurant, minus the fancy ordering system because the food arrived before we could say “Road Runner” (with the “beep! beep!).
We were soon enjoying our meal. But, not without a couple (or more) of pictures first.
We sat next to the drinks seller, whom we suspect was the main guy of the restaurant. Interestingly, their stall, which was like an island by itself because it was in the centre, with tables for customers all round it. It was quite a big, stall and ran the length of the restaurant.
The couple, ready to tuck into their meal.The front of the restaurant, looking out to the shops across the street.
Jeannie enjoyed her wor-ton-hor (if you notice, I have mentioned this word multiple times. I think it sounds…cute(?) hor.)😁 Jeannie put some of it on my plate for me to taste. I have to agree with her. It was definitely delicious.
Our meal order.
Her soya bean cin cau (It is a black jelly) (4) ice drink looks unusal. It is a nice, cooling drink, popular with the Chinese.
My wonton mee noodles came with a generous serving of char siew. The noodles were prepared in a black gravy sauce. Included in this meal was a small bowl of wonton soup with three pieces of wonton. This meal was topped of with a few leafy green vegetables and a little container of cut, pickled green chilis.Note the cin cau series menu.
My wonton noodles were as good as always. This stall, like many others in this restaurant, is always consistent with the food quality, their preparation, and delivery from order to reaching your table. My expectations are always met. The noodle meal was lovely.
Wor-tan-hor (in Cantonese) or kway teow with gravy (in English). It looked so good.
The soup with 3 pieces of wonton side dish.
Now, how did that get onto my plate? Jeannie put some of her wor-tan-hor on my plate for me to try. Yum!Wanna know a secret? (That special word that loses its meaning when it is told to everyone😂). It does not only look good and appetizing, it (the secret) tastes good, too.
I ordered the super strong iced coffee; a new coffee variant on their menu. The coffee was nice, I liked it. Though I was expecting “super strong” but I felt that I didn’t get it. Maybe, my coffee tolerance is much higher than most people.
Maybe…just maybe, our meal tasted extra nice because traffic in and around Taipan was light, and parking was almost a synch. Just maybe…
This was my iced coffee. The coffee was good. I wouldn’t say it was “super strong”, it was above average. Maybe, if it came in the glass as in the picture, instead of the take away, plastic drink container; it could have been more appealing to my taste buds as “super strong”.
Over and above our meal, Jeannie and I managed to spend a little bit of time together, without work related issues creeping into our space. It was time spent in the “present”. We left the past to the past, and the future to itself. Totally enjoyable.
Many a time, people don’t know what to do with themselves in the present. Maybe, they are afraid. They have never consciously experienced it. Being in the present means that you are in control of your time. Being in control also can be quite scary for the inexperienced.
We were back home within an hour and a half.
NOTES: 1. USJ and Taipan are in the bustling and thriving city of Subang Jaya, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. 2. “On the air-con” and “What to eat?” can be commonly heard in the way people speak English in Malaysia. It is accepted as “good(?) English”. Is it unique to Malaysia? Perhaps. However, a fair observation to note is that we do not speak like that in our household. 😁 3. “Soupy” is generally thought to refer to food. It can also refer to humid (the air or climate). Oxford, Cambridge dictionaries 4. Cin cau or grass jelly, also known as leaf jelly or herb jelly, is a jelly-like dessert originating in China. It is commonly consumed in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Wikipedia
