Confessions of a City Slicker

I had dinner at this steamboat restaurant located in Tanjong Tokong last week.  If you are coming from town, just head up Jalan Tanjong Tokong until the traffic lights junction near the Malay Kampung and Tari Cafe (don’t know if that place is still around) and make a U-turn.  Xuan Xin is just a short distance from there on your left.  It is a far cry from the other steamboat restaurant we used to frequent downtown.

• The restaurant is CLEAN and most importantly, AIR CONDITIONED.  Yeh, no more makeup meltdown!
• Whereas we had to bbq the various meats ourselves in the other place, here, there is a tapenyaki corner where we just choose the food we want to bbq, attach a marker to our plate and hand it over to the chef who will do it for us.  No more getting our hands burned with oil splatter and our hair and clothes smelling of smoke.
• There are 4 varieties of stock to choose from - clear fish soup, spicy prawn soup (thats Hokkien Mee), Tomyam and porridge.  A tip - if you want to make your soup sweeter, add some seaweed into it.  There are plenty available in the buffet.
• There are other stuff that we can order as sidelines like quail eggs, fresh oyster, scallop, abalone, some kind of spiced minced meat (really yummy).  Guess these are the more expensive variety, therefore not included in the buffet.
• There is a small section in the buffet with already cooked food like fried rice/koay teow, hashbrowns, chicken wings, chicken feet, fried man tou, in case patrons are too hungry to wait for their food to cook.
• Steamboat ingredients are really fresh.  The prawns are so sweet!  Have to thank Hamster for peeling them for us
• Free flow of drinks - orange juice, black currant and green tea.
• 3 varieties of dessert - ice cream (3 flavors with crushed nuts for topping), jelly and foo chuk (don’t know what they call that in English)
• Their compound is quite small but they have car jockey service for us, so parking is not much of a problem.
• If like me, you have a MyBonusWin card, you get a 5% discount.

So folks, if you want to have a nice, comfortable steamboat dinner, minus the sweat and smelly clothes/hair at the end of it, give this place a try.

The price: RM21.90 ++ per head (I think)

One disadvantage of not knowing how to read in Chinese is that you miss out on the more fun dates in the Chinese calendar.  One of them being the annual "Chang Festival" which is today.

Since chang making is predominantly a cottage industry, you have to know people who know people to be able to order good ones at reasonable prices.  Restaurants like the ones featured in Ho Chiak! will probably charge the earth for one chang, but they usually have additional yummilicious goodies as fillings in addition to the basic chestnut (compulsory or I won’t eat the chang), salted egg yolk, Chinese mushroom and pork.

Although changs are available all year round, it is during this time that the more creative and delicious varieties make an appearance.

I missed my chance to order my changs this year because my parents are not very big fans and I usually get my heads up on the arrival of the Chang Festival from neighbors and colleagues.  Ordering changs by the dozens is a yearly affair for me and I will be on a chang diet breakfast, lunch and dinner for about a week at least.  I used to get to order these HUGE changs from my ex-colleague’s Grandma, but since I lost touch with her, had to find other sources which are not as good.

I remember one particular year when I ordered about 50 changs and did not inform my family about.  Then my brother brought home about 20 and my aunts each gave some too, so the whole family ended up eating changs for weeks.  Ha ha….not that I was complaining.

The Chang Festival originated in China when some scholar, heartbroken about the state of the country committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea.  The citizens, who love him very much threw changs into the sea so that the sharks will not eat the scholar.

HAPPY CHANG FESTIVAL, EVERYONE!

Lately I have been experiencing an ache on my lower back especially after standing still for long moments.  It comes from a lifetime of bad posture, I guess.  I tend to arch my back or slouch.  Even my comfy position when sleeping is with an arched back.  This has taken its toll on my spine and I find it difficult to sit or stand with good posture.  Hey, I’m a laid back kinda person ;)  Well, either that or I’m getting old (OMG Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!)

Then during a casual conversation with Suzzanne (from my church choir), she introduced the Oshima stool to me saying it had helped strengthen her back and many other benefits.

Basically, the Oshima stool is a wooden contraption with one surface slanted at a 45 degree angle.  One is supposed to stand on it, toes pointing upwards, for about 10 minutes a day.  I stand for the length of one commercial break ;)  After that, do some stretching and forward bending.

Beginners are advised to hold on to something for support.  When standing on the Oshima, it is very important to keep the legs and back straight with the butt tucked in.  The benefits include slimming, flattened tummy, elimination of excess fat, smoothen stretch marks, improved blood circulation, accelerate cell metabolism, improved imunity, better posture and better spinal alignment.

Suzzanne gave me a flier about the stool and here’s a list of all the benefits depending on which group you subscribe to:-

Medical - It is a one of a kind physiotherapy to stretch the muscles and straighten the body posture.  Overlapping vertabraes can have a wider space in between and free the attached blood vessels which gradually achieve self healing.

Traditional Chinese Medicine - It can help to improve blood circulation.  When Qi is circulating well, it helps to avert many diseases.

Yoga - Stretches muscles and stimulate the sluggish, to improve hormonal secretion and achieve self healing.

Well, I don’t know much about the above.  All I know is that since I started using the stool, the backache has disappeared!  Anyone interested in trying out the Oshima Stool, feel free call me.

NTV7 should do something about its transmission problems (which is not so bad, but definitely more frequent than other channels).  Watching CSI last night was like watching a rookie driving a stick shift.

It was still OK for New York.  The frequent interruptions started just before Miami and by the time Vegas came in, it was so bad, half the story line was missing.  Imagine, you are watching Catherine using technology to recreate the make up of a clown from the picture of his corpse so she can identify him, or Grissom, upon seeing something giving that thoughtful frown that means he’s on the brink of breaking a case, and then…………….BLANK SCREEN!

Aaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!!!!!  Not surprisingly, the only time when the transmission was smooth was during the commercial breaks, the only thing on TV that nobody watches.  It’s like being rudely awaken from a pleasant dream by construction work, or running out of gas when racing down the open road, or your mother dropping by just when you are about to have the biggest orgasm of your life!

Quoting the very popular Malaysian adage - POTONG STIM

Our housekeeper introduced me to "Simone", the exotic looking potted fern with the feather like leaves which resemble the tail of some bird with a Chinese name I can’t remember :p  I chose Simone because she was the baby of the bunch, the one that has not developed a lot of leaves yet and I like to nurture my plants from young so I can see them grow.  Also, Lucy was looking quite lonely, especially during the long weekends when Mommy is away from the office and can’t give her any TLC.  So it is good for her to have another plant for company.

Then the next day, I saw "Missy", a mini version of Lucy.  Everything about Missy just scream of cutesieness, don’t you think so, from her adorable little leaves to her little pot.  OK so I was more attracted to her cute little pot.  It’s such a cheerful yellow color!

So that’s how I ended up with my little garden in the office.  My girls are relatively easy to take care of.  No pruning, weeding, etc required, just water, lots of love and lively conversations.  I think the first rule of thumb when choosing your plant, is to make sure they fit your personality.  Like their Mommy, these girls do OK with just the artificial lighting and airconditioning in the office and don’t require sun which suits me just fine since I am no sun worshipper myself and insist on the airconditioning turned on at full blast at all times.