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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The sago worm delicacy . . .

Somewhere on the island of Borneo, one can find the sago worm. Most Sarawakians love sago worms as a traditional delicacy. They are found on sago trees.


Sago worms, when they are alive, look just like what you would expect a worm to look like - fat, wrinkly, moving their bodies in a worm-like way, and so on. Basically, you wouldn't give a second thought at popping one into your mouth, of all places.

But yes, into the mouth the sago worm goes in Sarawak. Sometimes it is placed into the mouth and eaten - ALIVE!!! You hold it by the head and bite, then chew, then swallow. But you'll never get me trying that!

But I did, however, try a COOKED sago worm the other day! If it wasn't for the fact that I was video recording the entire cooking and eating process, I don't know whether I would have so eagerly put a sago worm in my mouth.

And I must admit, after some frying, a little salt and black pepper, the sago worm tasted not too bad, a bit like potato wedges. Following is the video of how we prepared the sago worms and ate them. Hope it will be a fascinating watch for you!


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Jessie Loves Pink

You may be wondering who Jessie is and why she likes pink, seeing as almost every single female on the planet adores that colour.

The truth is, I'm at a manicure and pedicure place called "Jessie Loves Pink" in Tabuan, Kuching.



We have touched down in Borneo and I'm writing this post while my sisters get their nails done and Leah disturbs everything on show!








My sister Florianna will be having her engagement party on Friday night at Damai Beach Resort, which we are looking forward to a lot.

My wife asked me in the car just now how it feels to be the only man amongst five sisters-in-law. I responded that I feel very lucky! I'm enjoying being their photographer!











Have a great day wherever you are. Do you ever go all eccentric and splash out on some pampering?

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Our children having fun in KL

Travelling with young children is of course difficult. Friends and neighbours agree. This month of June we are travelling a lot. Recently we went to KL to buy our new car, and while the children weren't too well for most parts, we did however, manage to give them some fun times.

Here they are having fun around KL during the few days we spent there last week:


Leah with her aunty Urai


We paid RM3 for 5 minutes driving around on this toy. Lauren loved it!








Leah had a great time on the slide! Thanks to her aunty Urai for helping out so well!


Lauren posing at the children's playground


Urai and her nieces, Leah and Lauren


Having fun at Sunway Pyramid. My wife and her sister Urai are pushing the children. Our friend Sarah stands in the middle.


Another group photo at Sunway Pyramid


Eating Goat's Milk ice-cream




Leah giving Lauren a hug!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Proton Saga FLX

We are back in Kuantan with our new car, a Proton Saga FLX. We've been trying for a long time to buy this car so it's a relief and a very happy moment to finally have it!



Proton is a Malaysian brand car. I've liked the look of this Proton Saga for quite some time now. Above is our first picture with our new car outside the Proton dealership in KL.









We love the exhaust pipe on our Proton Saga. We saw other Proton Sagas around and not all of them have this beautiful exhaust pipe! Maybe we are very lucky?!



Old and new . . .





A few accessories which came with the car . . .



We secured our new car with an immobiliser, making it impossible to start the car without the key. It cost us RM350 and it's a good investment.





This final image shows our battered old Daihatsu Charade in the background, and our new Proton Saga FLX in the foreground. We've come a long way in the last 6 years. It's taken a lot of hard work since starting from scratch in 2006, but now the fruits are showing.


Friday, June 8, 2012

Travelling with a family around Malaysia

So my family have been travelling around Malaysia recently, to Kuala Lumpur from Kuantan.

Travel around Malaysia is a great adventure.The buses are usually very good. I've travelled with Transnasional, Plusliner and Bulan Restu and have all been very good. I've also travelled by car from Kuantan to Melaka via Segamat. It's a 5 hour ride and goes through the jungle where all you see is tree after tree after tree, which makes it even more interesting when you see a lone house or shop or roadside stall etc.

However, add 2 or more young children to the travels and things can become very difficult.

Taking our children around KL has been challenging this week. The hot weather is of course the main factor on the list of difficulties. Another, particularly in KL, is the awful traffic jams all around the city, seemingly at any time of the day or night.

The next point is illness. Children, especially very young ones, are a lot more susceptible to illness when travelling. Lauren, our 4-year-old daughter, never seems to eat well when we travel. And because she doesn't eat well, her stomach is always painful. However, we have found that she will eat the "oat krunch" biscuits, a McDonalds Happy Meal, or KFC mashed potato!

Our 1-year-old Leah doesn't appear to have any eating problems while travelling, but she did pick up a fever, which was the result of shared bacteria from Lauren, who picked up a cough. So travelling with young children can be an unpleasant experience at times. 

To counter this as much as possible, we always take a large medicine bag with us containing everything we've collected from recent trips to the clinic and pharmacy. Included is fever medicine, panadol, runny nose medicine, stomach pain pills, diahorrea medication, nose inhalers, Caffox for my headaches, various creams for skin allergies, gripe water, cough medicine, tiger balm, vicks vapour rub etc etc.

Obviously, baby wipes and nappies are absolutely essential for babies. Where possible, a pushchair would be very helpful too. Napkins and handkerchiefs are a must as babies seem to get runny noses quite often when travelling.

If travelling by plane, like we sometimes do from KL to Kuching, you might need a lot of empathy for the young ones. Lauren's ears get painful on the descent, whereas Leah sleeps for the entire flight! You must know how to calm your children, and show a lot of love. Be ready for a lot of carrying as young children get extremely tired and bored very quickly when waiting for extended periods of time, like at airports.

We want to make our children's travel experience as sweet as possible. It's occasionally quite tricky to distinguish what is worthy of correction, and what simply needs a hug and a kiss. A lot of things we deem as wrong in our children's behaviour is actually just them being children. A travelling outing can become extremely hard when we get in the trap of scolding our children, just because they are bored or tired. If we allow that boredom to fester, then they will start doing irritating things, like Lauren complaining continuously, or Leah pulling Lauren's hair, nose and ears!

As a  result of this, we have to take a lot of small toys and other bits and pieces to keep our children occupied and interested in something. At times it feels as though we are packing everything including the proverbial kitchen sink, even though we try to travel as light as possible with 2 young children.

We dreaded taking our young children travelling around Malaysia for the first time. However, if you are well prepared, it can be a good and positive experience for a young family travelling round Malaysia.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

KL KL, why are you so . . . aaahhh!

This is the 2nd time we've been to KL this month. We'll be here for a third time in a couple of weeks in transit to Kuching. We stayed with our friends in Ampang a week ago and now we're in Puchong with my mum-in-law and 2 of my sisters-in-law. The good news is that we'll be driving back home to Kuantan tomorrow in our brand new car! On the other side of the coin, travelling to KL is taking its toll on us. Lauren doesn't eat properly whenever we travel and Leah has been a little unwell. What irks me the most is the terrible traffic jams around KL where it takes one longer to get somewhere than than the time spent there when you arrive! My children got so bored and irritable in the car - my wife and I concluded that we'll never live in KL! Last night we were driving from Puchong to Bukit Bintang in the heart of KL. I'm always amazed when I see the stunning Petronas Twin Towers. They stood taller and taller as we drove closer and closer along the highway. They look fantastic all lit up at night and make any trip to KL worth it. I managed to buy a lovely new tripod for my camera last night at Bukit Bntang, just before te shop clo0sed at
Anyway, I'm having a little trouble composing this post from my Samsung Android so I'll stop for now. Photos will be coming later when we get back home to our computer!

Friday, June 1, 2012

KL Bird Park




The KL Bird Park is located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur at Jalan Cenderawasih, Taman Tasik Perdana. It is set in the scenic Kuala Lumpur Lake Gardens and is just a 10-minute drive from the city centre. (It's notable that KL Bird Park is also accessible via KL Hop-On-Hop-Off bus - station 14 is at the KL Bird Park Main Entrance).

Boasting the world's largest free-flight, walk-in aviary, the KL Bird Park is a must-visit place in Malaysia. If you love birds like me, you will love the KL Bird Park for it's beauty and wide variety of bird species. The best part is that they all roam around together and are tolerant of humans.

The KL Bird Park opened in 1991 and covers 21 acres of land, divided into 4 zones. We managed to walk around the entire park, though we would have stayed much longer if it wasn't for our children feeling under the weather.

I was amazed by how friendly the birds were with humans. I even managed to crouch just a few feet away from birds so I could take a picture, without them moving an inch!

I hope you enjoy the images I captured of these beautiful birds:


The first area after entering is the Love Aviary. These love birds were colourful to say the least. One flew from behind me, right past my left ear, which gave me quite a shock, but they did pose nicely for pictures!








These little birds were all over the place, following us around, easy to photograph. They were Lauren's favourite birds!







The majestic peacock





Ready for photographs...


My favourite bird...





Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Flamingo Pond any closer


I love the look on this bird's face!


A yellow orchid grows at KL Bird Park





A peacock stands majestically at a waterfall at KL Bird Park


And here's Fidelia's favourite...


I love these super parrots at KL Bird Park!











Taking a few moments to cool off under a waterfall at KL Bird Park


A scene at KL Bird Park



Leaving you with the royal peacock...