I found a cool variation of the Kuching tomato fried noodle just yesterday. Most Malaysian noodle aficionados are well-versed in the classic Cantonese style - the “wad tan hor”. Sometimes I can’t decide between a Cantonese style or a tomato fried. But I didn’t have to worry. This new place does a tomato fried Cantonese style noodle bonanza that’s above average in taste and gigantic in portion. The taste of tomato is pleasantly subtle; the egg adds a smoothness to the noodles and the overall slurp factor is pretty damn good.

Plus, the people are friendly, try very hard to please, and they’re a struggling new business. Worth checking them out. Their out at Green Road, right opposite Chonglin Plaza, and they’re called Sunshine Corner, next to Tay’s Drugstore. Open for breakfast and lunch.

Eggplant Salad_wordsmith

I used to hate eggplant. Brinjal, as we call it here. It was mushy and squishy, like a mashed up lizard or frog, or snail. And it was tasteless. And a yucky purple when cooked. Who eats yucky purple not-quite-vegetable thingies? So I grew up not liking it very much. Until I learned to like the taste of belacan. Then, I didn’t mind squishy yucky purple because anything cooked in belacan pretty much rocks, big time.

But then I came across this eggplant salad a couple of months ago, and it pretty much blew my mind on eggplant and its possibilities. Lightly grilled, tossed with cashew nuts, onion, stirfried pork mince, lemon, with a  light sprinkle of dried chilli flakes and egg hard boiled to an orangey perfection; what really surprised me was the burst or flavour and texture. Kinda like a well-behaved, classy yet fun party happening in the mouth. My gosh. I was completely in love with eggplant. How is that possible?

Culinary creativity. Nothing beats the diversity that exists in Asia. I had this lovely little secret surprise in Bangkok, in a completely unassuming, almost mundane eatery where the waiters spoke no English. On that trip, the shopping was overshadowed by the quality of the food. I love the splashes of colour, tangy flavours, sour tones, spicy and light nature that pretty much characterises Thai food.

This eggplant salad is not quite typical Thai and yet is as Thai as you can get at the same time. All I can say is, viva la purple squishy almost-vegetables.

1. Gets lost even with those girly organizer bag-inside-a-bag systems.
2. Prefers something that doesn’t scream “YOU’RE SUCH A GIRL”
3. Prefers to have all her things stuck to a medium like Velcro so she can rip them off and put them back easy-peasy.
4. Has a weakness for functional things which are really cool-looking at the same time.
5. Likes to be a little different. Just a little.

This thing fits everything from my hand cream to my back-up portable charger. There’s also my eye drops, Thai hot oil for reviving fainting yoga buddies, fountain pens, refills and adaptor wires. How much can a girl (or guy) ask for? The system comes in various sizes, from pen and key-holder size to mine, which is the ideal size I reckon; to really big, almost A4 sized.

No, the enjoyment of yuppie joints like Living room comes purely from the company I go with. Whether it’s family or friends whose company I enjoy.

I was at Living Room two weeks ago with old friends from KL. I had a good time because these are friends worth spending time with. Isn’t that why these places exist? If the food is good, that’s a plus.
When I strip it all down to basics, this is what I know.

I wanted to be a vet because of Snoopy. He was just so…grown up. He taught me how to plan grown up stuff.

And then it was Shandy and Brandy. Both dachshunds. Shandy was named for the colour of his fur, a rich golden brown. He was such a girlie dog, even though he was male. He would go under grandma’s flowers at 2pm sharp, ‘cos it was hot; and come out at 5 with tiny flowers stuck to his head. Like clockwork.
Brandy was a boy dog, very macho, a bit overweight. He had a brother, Whisky, who lived with my cousin.
Charcoal was a little black dog with a hip problem. We believe he was dognapped. He looked like a Rottweiler. But he wasn’t one.

Butch and Dozer were brother and sister. A lovely lovely set of German pointer-boxer mix. They were truly intelligent. Butch would wait for my sister everyday after school. Dozer could open doors. She used her brains to get food. And because she was so smart, she got really fat. In those days, a man would come in his van and sell fresh meat and vegetables out of it. He would wrap it in paper and tie it with string, and grandma would saunter back from the van to the house. Butch would walk her out. More than once, by the time she got back, the lovely fresh piece of meat would disappear from her packet. Without a trace.

I was about in college overseas, about to get into university. I couldn’t go through with veterinary science. Couldn’t even bring myself to euthanise a living creature. Couldn’t even think about it.
When I started work, Sheba was the newest addition. She was a furry black fluffy ball. A Rottweiler but with long curly fur. We suspect she had a hint of retriever in her. She learned how to open doors from Dozer. And then she taught herself how to sing, especially when there was food around. She loved to eat buah langsat. She would take them out of the plastic bag, one at a time, peel it and eat the sweet fruit inside. We would buy her her very own pack of buah langsat and sit around the TV, eating it together. One time I caught her taking a nap next to mum, her head on the pillow. She had stolen in and decided she wanted a share of mum’s headrest. That’s what I call, a dog living dangerously.

My friends, cousin and I would give her hair cuts once every couple of months. She loved them, and she loved baths because her hair was so thick. Sheba recovered from paralysis caused by tick fever. We made her a wheelchair, gave her daily therapy, got in a TCM practitioner to massage her. She was the catalyst that brought my uncles closer to us, a closeness that remains strong today. She died of bone cancer and is buried with a gravestone.

Sheba taught Pepper about car rides and how to be queen of her domain. Pepper sings a little too, though a different song. She came to us at nine months old, given away because her first humans did not have time for her. She rules over her boy dogs now - Obi, Max and the others. She even has her own bed. Spoilt silly because if there’s nothing else in the world, her humans know that dogs love unconditionally.

I believe dogs teach each other things, little behavioural idiosyncrasies like opening doors, singing and car rides. For me on a very personal basis, that’s how my dogs pass their heritage on to the next generation.

Henghua Pak Mee at Meng Kui. My favourite place for it. I’ve mentioned Meng Kui in so many places, from Going Places to Tiger Tales to dragging friends and family to the place.

But, it’s not about Henghua Pake Mee today, though it centres around it. This was where I started to chat to Liew Suet Fun, author and life adventurer.

She’d been at the office on a different project a day or two before. I’d been busy with my own thing and hadn’t really made time to get to know her. She bought lunch and Meng Kui was the perfect place. They have such good local specialties.

I enjoyed talking to this woman who has travelled much, thought deep (you’d have to be, to be a writer; and a published one, at that). And fun. She was fun.

The next time she came, we had conversations over pansuh manok, tapioca leaves and terung assam. I still don’t know her as well as I’d like to, but I think we’ll get there. And I think we’ll do that over a lot more food and fun. And most importantly, little to do with work.

I went back there after dinner. Took a nice long stroll. The only camera I had was the one in my BlackBerry. I just had to take a few shots. I’m coming back here with the dSLR the next time I am in Kota Kinabalu.

The site was that of the old Department of Welfare that burnt down. It was to have been an art museum. When that did not happen, students from an art school turned the remaining pillars into pieces of art as they stood - a street art museum unsanctioned but original and rebellious as art should be.

I took a slow stroll back to the hotel, thinking how perfect this place would be for street theatre and gritty art shows.

Packed the little Olympus and left it on my desk at home. D’oh! Been here a few times but have always enjoyed the place. Makes me feel like home. Only thing is, the bike is not with me and I’m bemoaning not being able to cycle. MoanMoanMoan.

I’d been to a few of ther RPM classes as a guest in the last couple of months, when laziness saw me abandoning my bikes and the road. And I enjoyed the classes a lot. So I moseyed along to support Kenny and a few good friends who are pretty active there.

They now have a dedicated RPM room with many many bikes lined up. Perfect for that rainy day when cycling on the road is out of the question. Nothing compares with riding on the road. But RPM is a pretty decent substitute when I’m feeling lazy and want someone to push me (enter the RPM instructors), or if it’s raining cats and dogs.

There’s a new bigger group fitness room where they do Body Combat, Body Pump and other classes.

There’s a dedicated Keiser fitness room, more machines, more space; and just basically more of Level Up.

There was a demo of Body Combat on stage. I like Body Combat, TKO, Taibo, that sort of classess, more than others. I didn’t get to see the demo. Emergency run. So I’m going back tomorrow (Sunday) to try it out.

I remember when it first opened, and I did a blog entry about it, with some questions in my head. Seventeen months into the business, the place is going strong.

When it’s been over 20 years since you leave high school, you tend not to keep in touch with most of your mates way back then. That’s true for me at least. Gratefully, the few that I do keep in close contact with keep in touch with the rest of them and keep me updated on the comings and goings of these men and women I used to run around the playground with.

I was still pleasantly surprised when I heard that one of the boys from my class went around the world, got married and came back and is now the proprioter of the Railway Cottage Café at the Bormill area along Keretapi.

We had our reunion at Chiang’s joint this month. We had a buffet style layout, specially for the group, so Chiang does do catering for home parties if that’s your preference. My personal favourite was the black pepper chicken, although I must say the vermicelli is not too bad either. But that’s just the special menu Chiang put out for us. On any one day, Chiang reckons his best sellers are the mixed grill, heng hua pak mee and a few others.

What really caught my eye was Chiang’s collection of collectible figurines. Zowee! I’m not a serious collector myself but I love these things. His Bruce Lee series is completely swoon-worthy. He’s got Jackie Chan, Pirates of the Caribbean and more. Every Sunday afternoon, a gaggle of collectors congregate at Railway and talk shop. So if you wanna get into this as hobby, this is the place to start your obsession.

The Railway Cottage Café is located on the ground floor of Studio 23 fitness centre, a few doors down from Little Hainan, one block away from the Gingerbread House. Just walk in and tell Chiang Cyn sent you to try his stuff out so make it extra special.