Atlantic City

Last weekend was pretty hectic for us. We took Dad & Janet (F.i.L. and S.i.L. respectively) to Atlantic City (AC) on Saturday. The weather was super warm & humid; just perfect for beach goers. It was an easy drive as we started early & arrived there at about 10.45 a.m.

Papa with Caesars' four white horses

A huge statue of the casino's namesake

Salt water taffy - an AC sweet staple & everlasting favorite

Click here for the true story of the salt water taffy.

In Malaysia we have rickshaws and trishaws. Here in AC, you have the pushed version instead of the pulled ones. These fellas were waiting for tired customers and some business opportunity.

Vulturesss..!

Boardwalk Yongs - Adrian, Papa & Janet

The Pier Shops at Caesar's is a new fixture at the Boardwalk. It certainly wasn't there when I visited this place 4 years ago.

Two beach front views of AC from the Pier Shops. The wind was so strong, I could feel myself almost blown away! Luckily I am so chubby these days, hence more anchorage ;)

Summer is always a good time and an excuse for men of all shapes & sizes to fool around the sand while trying to impress some beach babes ;) These two were playing football by the Bikini Beach Bar but only the men were looking. *snigger, snigger*

The bold & the beautiful by another beach bar

Papa's various poses around AC

As we were about to go home, we saw a lady and her pet iguana along the Boardwalk. The poor iguana looked like a prisoner. I just had to take a photo of her pet to show how cruel it looked. Tsk! Tsk!

A Nostalgic Reflection

Reading uber popular Kuching blogger Kenny Sia's recent trip to Indonesia brought back memories of my trip there a little more than a decade ago. After being in E.C.U. for a couple of years & having explored both the west and east coast of Australia, I was yearning for a little adventure elsewhere.

In the southern hemisphere winter of 1996, I signed up for a three week cultural & business exchange program at Universitas Sanata Dharma in Yogjakarta. Universitas Sanata Dharma. Now doesn't this name ring a bell every Wednesday nights on ABC???

Together with a bunch of crazy (in the fondest way, of course!) Aussies and other international students, I jetted off via Air Garuda to Bali and thereafter to Yogjakarta. Yogja as the locals call it, is a student/educational town with over 10 universities and a huge bicycle population to match. It is the only province in Indonesia that is governed by a Sultan. Sri Sultan Hamengkubowono X is the present Governor of Yogja. The water palace (tamansari) surrounding the Sultan's palace or kraton is a popular tourist spot.

I'm really kicking myself right now because I left my photo album of Bali & Yogja in Malaysia. I've always tried to avoid doing a text post only. It's so boring after paragraph one and I hate to put my mere handful but dear readers to zzz... I'll try my best. This is the only ones that I have with me in NJ...*sobs*


My memories of Bali & Yogja in no particular random order:

1.
Pesky peddlers pleading with us to have our bodies massaged and hair breaded along Kuta Beach, Bali. A Rasta-look on an Asian girl spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. We stayed at Aneka Beach Hotel. It's a very nice, clean and reasonably priced hotel at the heart of Kuta Square with plenty of food and entertainment outlets within walking distance.

Kuta Beach photo from here

2.
Picked up Bali belly even with careful avoidance of tap water *sigh*. My best friends, Immodium & Norit @ charcoal helped me through this painful and shameful condition :(

3.
My friend, Seraph scalded her shoulder when the flight attendant spilled hot tea on her *gasps*. I could have sworn an incoming lawsuit for Garuda if the victim was an Uncle Sam native.

4.
The local professors thought that I looked like Mia Audina. Mia who?!! Of course, I knew who she was. I was secretly offended :( but pretended to be thrilled because she was the darling of Indonesia's badminton world.

5.
Visited 2 UNESCO World Heritage sites: Chandi Borobudur (Buddhist) and Chandi Prambanan (Hindu). After touring both temples, we watched a beautiful ballet performance based on the epic Ramayana at sunset. It was the most gorgeous display of colors and artistic talent. The Prambanan Open Air Theater became alive with dancers accompanied by mystical gamelan music.

Chandi Borobudur - one of the seven wonders of the world in the Middle Ages
[Photo courtesy of Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan & Ratu Boko]

Prambanan at night

[Photo courtesy of Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan & Ratu Boko]

6.
Took a day trip to Mount Merapi; the most active volcano in Central Java. Merapi means Mountain of Fire. It truly lives up to its name till this very day. When I was there in 1996, Merapi's most recent eruption was 4 years before. However, the lava dome finally collapsed in 1994 and the subsequent flow of gas, ash and everything lethal killed about 37 farmers & villagers. Nearly 100 people where hospitalized. Our guide informed us that many suffered severe burns and had to undergo plastic surgery. When we approached the foot hills of Merapi that day, we could hear its faintly rumbling belly. It was an awesome experience. I remember standing there quietly, in awe with a sprinkle of fear at the sight of this sacred mountain.

Merapi courtesy of Wikipedia

7.
I was put in an advance Indonesian language class at Universitas Sanata Dharma. Malaysians were not allowed to take beginners or elementary level Bahasa Indonesia due to the "bahasa serumpun" factor i.e. sharing the same roots - Malay being the lingua franca of the said archipelago. Even though this is the case, the two languages are dissimilar in certain grammatical rules, sentence phrasing and construction, etc. Some words were totally alien to me whilst many words have Dutch influences as well. It was challenging but fun to be in this class. I loved every minute of it. The lecturers were all young, approachable and funny; in comparison to my University's Director of Studies who was about to kick the bucket!

8.
The main street of Yogja is Maliaboro Road. Indonesians love to sit (or lepak, as Malaysians say) by the road side ala Mat Rempit/Mat Konvoi groupie style and people watch. Staring is a norm for them. They've no qualms staring at everybody including tourists. It's uncomfortable and a culture shock to most Westerners but you've to respect their behavioral quirkiness. Most of the time I was a Jepang to them. Sales associates would come up and talk to me in fluent Japanese. Wow! They got me at "hello". When I told them that I'm Malaysian, they would scream out loud "Siti Nurhaliza!" or "Sheila Majid!" Siti & Sheila are both famous Malaysian singers.

This photo of Maliaboro Road is sourced from Fairy Mahdzan's website

Unfortunately, this is an unfinished entry. When I get the chance to retrieve my photo album from home, I will update it with photos from my personal collection :)

Papi, O Papi...

Seeing Adrian & his sister with their father made me miss my own these days *sniffs*. My Papa isn't much of a traveler. I think he has flying anxiety/mild claustrophobia. Nevertheless, he did try his best to provide some enjoyment for our sake. I remember our first family trip to Singapore. I was about 6 years old and excited beyond words. I was so hyped-up like a Mexican jumping bean. Looking back, I must have annoyed the hell out of everyone.

It was also my first-time on the plane. Mom & I were upgraded to first class while my Hiah-hiah (brother) was seated in coach with him. Of course, it's nothing to shout about but I was an impressionable child back then. The flight attendant gave me a box of crayons and coloring book. I was such a happy camper that day. To a child, the food looked so quaint in little serving containers. Ironically, air-plane food puts me off these days. I think it must be coach class syndrome.

It was the most memorable one week in Singapore. Our family friends and grandma's first cousins (Tua Ee Poh & Say Ee Poh) were with us most of the time. We did all the touristy stuff, eating & some shopping. Back then, Lego, Star Wars merchandise, Philips walk-man, the original Michael Jackson (sans rhinoplasty & vitiligo), classic Care Bears, bubble-gum, fizzy candy & Kalkitos were all the rage. Ah...the retro 80s.

Papa nearly gave us a heart attack one day when he accidentally cut himself on the palm of his hand while paring an apple. We had to rush him to the Singapore General Hospital for a considerable amount of stitches. I remembered there was blood everywhere. While we were waiting for him, my brother & I saw an old Indian man sitting on a wheelchair. Being kids and having nothing to do, we started examining him from top to bottom. He seemed placid, quiet and then our eyes traveled down to his feet. He had the biggest swollen hallux we had ever seen; 3 times the original size! Being the awful children that we were, we started laughing uncontrollably. We tried to be discreet but I think he was in too much of a numbing pain to even notice us silly tots.

Anyway, back to Papa. He had to spend the rest of the holidays with a bandage over his left hand. To avoid getting the wound/stitching wet, he wrapped a plastic bag around his hand when showering. Hmm...poor him.

Father's Day is June 17th. At least we have one daddy from Kuching to have a real celebration with this year. While we fete Adrian's father to a nice day out and Chinese dinner next week, I shall be thinking fondly of my own Papa back home.


I love this photo very much; taken ad-hoc while everyone was looking at me for some particular reason. I cropped the people out a bit in this photo, hehe! Look at the hairstyle ;)) *lol* Nevertheless, I like it a lot because Papa looked very natural in it. He wasn't trying to smile for the camera; instead he's looking at me. It's all about him. This post is for him.

Dearest Papa,

"Happy Father's Day!"

xoxo

Missing comments apology

For no apparent reason, some comments in this blog were not sent to my in-box for moderation *gasps*. I only discovered it today. OMG!!! I prefer to moderate because one fine day, I received a comment from a person asking me to repent and seek forgiveness from Allah for being an infidel. I mean no disrespect here [to Muslims] as I certainly didn't take offense. I just thought of it as a spam message.

Anyway, these outstanding comments needs to be replied. Alas, they don't think that I am some kind of a snob ;)

cooknengr: local green version Mochi balls is called ondeh-ondeh. unfortunately, my Pa (in-law) or F.i.L. isn't stopping by LA. truly, you gotta say something else other than "ngai tee, ngai tee". haha!

Ondeh-ondeh
[Photo courtesy of Singapura Daily Makan Photo]

kayatan: yes! those Jeff de Bruges are to die for. about your Dad, may he find comfort during this testing time. being far physically doesn't mean you're not near spiritually. hard to grasp but it's good that you have understanding siblings. we all wouldn't mind the ability to manipulate space time continuum, in this case. Yatta!

Sorry fellow bloggers. It shouldn't happen again. Fingers crossed!

Papa's Day Out

Touched down...6.45 p.m. at Newark Liberty Airport. We're doing above speed limit on the I-95. Papa was all immigration and customs cleared in a jiffy! He was already waiting for us at the arrival hall. Shame on us for being late :( Anyway, Newark has always been the most efficient in comparison to La Guardia & JFK.

After a restful night, we took him for dim sum at Silver Pond Restaurant. It was a hot & humid day yesterday. There was an arts festival at Fort Lee, so we took a leisurely stroll around the main street. There's the usual arts and craft stalls, flower stalls and food & drink stalls selling bread, pickles, honey, etc.

Beautiful flowers for sale

Then, we chanced upon a Harley-Davidson exhibit around the bend. A very mediocre collection, I might add. Nevertheless, a photo op for Papa to remember by.

Well, sort of!

A family affair

I've been away from my blog for a couple of days to attend to the routine and the not-so-routine. Anyway, everything is in order now and I can at least take a breather to post an entry, albeit a muddled one. Incoherent rambling is not my style but some days one's mind just works that way ;)

I've been busy getting our apartment spic & span for the arrival of my F.i.L. this Saturday. Another guest, S.i.L. will be arriving 2 days later from London. It's been a while since we had visitors staying at our place. The last being my two lovely cousins - Evelyn & Elaine from Canada. A welcome change to our otherwise placid routine! By the way, Evelyn has just returned from a fantastic European vacation. Hey E, did you bring back that masskrug from Munich's 400 beer halls?

Meanwhile, I haven't forgotten that it's Gawai or Harvest Festival for some of my close friends back in Kuching, Sarawak. Yup, I am thinking of the "ngabang" or open-house (a very Malaysian concept of inviting friends and families over to one's house for lots and lots of eating & drinking; like an extended Thanksgiving of some sort). Helping to fuel the rigorousness of Gawai merry-making and its rhapsody of activities is the popular home brew called "tuak" . Tuak is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice, yeast & sugar and is consumed in massive amounts during the first week of the month long celebration. These days, it's very schickimicki to make tuak out other exotic, tropical fruits.

So! To my Gawai celebrating friends, plus one in Ohio...

xoxo