Crime Busters x 2 叮当神探

I've just started watching Crime Busters x 2 叮当神探. I thought it's a thriller like C.I.D. But it's not. It's quite comedic, even with a gruesome murder occurring.

The first episode had me in stitches. Lol.

Tay Ping Hui's character Lu Daxiong was hilarious. His exaggerated acting, especially when capturing the lingerie thief, and when he and his partner encountered the Surgical Maniac, was really funny. Lol.

Dawn Yeoh's Piglet was really bubbly and cute. It's such a joy to watch her.

The characters' imaginations were often depicted and these were often really funny too. Dawn Yeoh pictured herself fighting a crook on the very first day she reported to work. While Daxiong fantasized close proximity with Yu Jie, she caught him pressing his lips with his eyes closed against the glass. So embarrassing. Lol.

I think I'm going to enjoy watching this series.

I Don't Like La Femme 绝对佳人

I don't like this drama. To me, the story develops at a really crawling pace, and only starts to pick up after episode 9. Moreover, most of the characters annoy me.

Ok. First of all, the characters keep BUMPING into each other. Mani bumps into Jiajie and Baoyu everytime and everywhere, whether in Singapore or Penang. Baoguo bumps into Weiqiang in Penang. Watch where you are going, people!!!!!

The character I dislike the most is Minmin. She obviously takes Xingxiong for granted. She keeps rejecting him because of her own insecurities. And yet, she can't do without him. Make up your mind, woman!!! You are so selfish and annoying.

Minmin is shameless enough to keep Xingxiong wrapped around her little finger, and he stupidly lets himself to be under her control. What a silly couple. He gives and gives, and she takes and takes and takes. It's so tiring to watch them. If I were Xingxiong, I'd dump her in a sec! Jual mahal punya perempuan!!! So annoying!!!

I don't like Tingting either. She's a spoilt brat who likes things her way! She even contemplates to kill her unborn child! How can she even think that?

I don't like Mani. She's like a fake. She had to be in trouble everytime she bumped into Jiajie - lost her wallet, drunk and tummy pain.

I don't like Jiajie. Ok. I don't like MCPs in general. Serves him right for failing in his business and his marriage. I'd prefer Baoyu to end up with Weixiang.

I like Tay Ping Hui and Ann Kok, and I like to watch their segments in this drama to find out how their story develops. But it's quite tiring to watch conflict from beginning until the end. I pity their kid.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like the actors in the other dramas, but I just don't like them here. I do like Shaun Chen in C.I.D. But in La Femme, hmn. Boring. I like San Yao in Housewives' Holiday. But in La Femme, hmn. MCP, I don't like. I like Nat Ho in The Little Nyonya. In La Femme, hmn, don't like.

In general, it was a real CHORE to finish this drama. Though I'm a sucker for happy endings, in this drama series, I don't really care at all.

Neighbouring School Closed

Wow. A neighbouring school was closed for a week due to H1N1.

Hmn. We heard that a student from that school is in ICU because of the complications from H1N1, and is currently in coma.

In my school, many students have contracted fever in the last 2 weeks. In a class, there can be up to 8 or 9 students absent, and their absence from school seemed genuine.

In my Form 5 science class today, 12.5% of the students were absent - all sick!!

During this morning's roll call, we informed the students to report immediately if they were not feeling well. In a bid to control the spread of any illnesses, we want to have any sick child sent home ASAP.

My weapons

Meanwhile, I'm arming myself to fight influenza by taking these supplements. Hope they work!!

Tarts From The Tart Shop

I walked past The Tart Shop at Bintang Plaza Megamall, and saw freshly baked tarts in the display rack.

Three enterprising young men were making and selling those tarts in the outlet itself.

I decided to try those freshly-baked tarts. But I could not decide which ones to buy.

Do you know what is the difference between an ordinary egg tart and a Portuguese egg tart? I didn't know so I asked one of the young men. According to him, the Portuguese egg tart had milk in the custard, while the ordinary egg tart didn't.

Having got that sorted out, I decided to buy both an ordinary egg tart, and a Portuguese egg tart.

Egg Tart

My friend doesn't like egg tarts. But the outlet sells Cream Cheese Tarts. My friend, being fussy, doesn't like blueberries, even if it's just swirled on the surface. The young men managed to convince her to try it.

Portuguese Egg Tart

The verdict? The ordinary egg tart had crumbly crusts, but the egg custard did not stand out. Where as the Portuguese egg tart tasted more "egg-y" but the crust was harder. I did not really like the egg tarts. I guess my ideal egg tart would have to have a crumbly pastry with a richer egg custard.

My friend, on the other hand, liked the Cream Cheese Tarts, which she said was "cheese-y" ;p.

Cream Cheese Tart

The young men did mention that they were still experimenting with other flavours. Besides egg tarts, also sold in the outlet are deep-fried skewers of fish balls, and also the dragon beard candy.

My Office

I just moved. I used to sit in the staffroom with nice, modern workstations. Now I am sharing an office with another senior assistant. I'm using old furniture - old table, old cupboards from the olden days.


Luckily the room was air-conditioned not long ago.

Hmn. I moved my things last week from my workstation in the staffroom into the office. Over the years, I've accummulated a lot of things. And it took many students to help me move.

Anyway, I was so busy last week I did not have time to settle in. So as it is, I don't feel very comfortable with the new set up just yet.

Furthermore, I feel like I'm intruding into another person's space. The other senior assistant was occupying the whole room by herself. But now she has to share it with me. She said she doesn't mind, but then I just don't feel good about it. Furthermore, she's often in a bad mood. Just now a colleague came in to ask for something. She did not even smile or say a word. Eeeee, so scary ah ...

I'm also isolated from the rest of my colleagues. Sigh.

Sunday Dinner : Beef Stew & Stir-fried Spinach

For Sunday dinner, my friend and I decided to cook our own. She cooked a hearty beef stew. What she did was boil minced beef with whole onions, carrots and potatoes.


Then I stirfried spinach with garlic and anchovies.


Such a simple, but a really satisfying homecooked meal.


I haven't had homecooked food for ages. So it was a pleasant change from the greasy and msg-laden food that we purchase from outside. ;)

Seng Guan Cafe : Ban Mian 板面

My friend and I went to Seng Guan Cafe at Pelita Commercial Centre, Miri this morning for breakfast. It is my first visit to this coffee shop.

I'd heard that the ban mian 板面 here is good, but I'd never tried it. Till this morning, that is.

I ordered a bowl of dry-tossed ban mian. From my table, I could see the vendor lady rolling the ban mian dough through the noodle machine, before cooking it in a boiling pot of water. In no time, my ban mian was ready.

Dry-tossed ban mian @ Seng Guan Cafe

The ban mian is slightly different from the one at Happiness Cafe. Like Happiness, the ban mian comes with julienned black fungus, cangkuk manis, minced flavoured pork, and deep-fried anchovies.

However, the noodles are softer in texture, compared to Happiness and the vendor is generous with the cangkuk manis. It is also topped with slices of boiled pork, unlike Happiness.

What do I think of the ban mian at Seng Guan? It is not bad at all. I would say that it is indeed more flavourful than the one at Happiness. I don't need to add chilli sauce to my noodles to improve the flavour. I only wish that the vendor puts more black fungus and maybe adds strips of shiitake mushrooms to the noodles.

The ban mian vendor serves this chilli sauce, but it is not really needed.

I would go back to Seng Guan Cafe to try the other food items - like the Penang Fried Kueh Tiaw, Mee Sua, and Laksa.

After Watching C.I.D. 刑警二人组

Hmn. Finished the drama, C.I.D. 刑警二人组. I feel sorry for Qi Yuwu's character, Tang Siwei. Everyone around him seems to die. First, his sworn brother was murdered. Then, his wife was kidnapped, tortured, and fell to her death in the midst of her escape. Later on, his mother too died, killed by her half-sister.

(Pic source :http://archive8.mediacorptv.sg/shows/drama/view/739/1/.html)

Hmn. If I were Tang Siwei, I would be psychologically drained, and I would probably end up institutionalised in some mental hospital. Would I be able to bear the guilt of the death of my spouse? Would I be able to accept a murderer for a mother? Hmn.

Anyway, I liked the moment when Siwei and Sijie were talking in her old bedroom. It was really poignant on his part when he recalled his memories of childhood, while she feigned amnesia. Anyway, I thought Qi Yuwu portrayed the nostalgia very well.

Generally, I thought Jeanette Aw did a pretty good job as Tang Sijie/Fang Jiayi - innocently vindictive. What a little schemer she was, and not someone I would want to mess with in real life. At the same time, I do sympathise with her, being a victim of circumstances and all.

Next drama to watch, Housewives' Holiday 煮妇的假期.

Air-flown Burgers

A**** came back to Miri from KL last night. So my friend and I requested that she help us buy burgers from Burger King. And so she kindly did us a favour and brought back our favourite burgers.

I'd asked her to buy me a Whopper.

My Whopper

Unwrapping my Whopper . . .

Tada!!!


Yummmm ....


Okie, I last ate my Whopper in March when I went to KL. It's really sad that there's no Burger King in Sarawak. Sigh.

Yong Le Coffee Shop : Fried Noodles

There is a stall at Yong Le Coffee Shop that cooks delicious fried noodles. Today, I ordered Fried Zhao Cai Bee Hoon 糟菜粉干炒.

The Zhao Cai Bee Hoon is really full of flavour. It is smoky, savoury and sour at the same time. Thick bee hoon 粉干 is used for this dish. The fresh vegetables and the zhao cai 糟菜 bring a crunchy texture to the dish. The uncle who fries the noodles is very generous with the ingredients, as they are pork strips, fresh prawns, and fish cakes in the noodles. Uncle also cracks an egg into the noodles, and the combination of all the ingredients make this dish really divine.

Delicious Zhao Cai Bee Hoon 糟菜粉干炒

The Fried Bee Hoon has the same smoky and savoury flavour, minus the Zhao Cai. It is equally as delicious as the Zhao Cai Bee Hoon.

Delicious Fried Bee Hoon

Yong Le Coffee Shop is at the Boulevard Commercial Centre intersection, and is often packed with customers.

Jioufen 九份

C.I.D. was filmed partly in Taiwan, and many scenes were shot in Jioufen, 九份. I've also seen Jioufen in On Air, a Korean drama which was released in 2008.

Well, I went to Taiwan in May last year, and I managed to visit Jioufen. It sits high on the mountain top near Taipei.

I had liked this quaint little place. The weather was really cool because of its location at high altitude. We reached there in the early evening and were dropped off at the entrance to a long narrow street.

Entrance to Jioufen Shuchi Street

There were many shops that flank the street, and vendors sold trinkets, tea, and local delicacies. Tourists and locals alike crowd the narrow streets to purchase souvenirs to bring home.

Shoppers inspecting interesting merchandise

At the end of this street, there is a deck where you can admire the scenery below.

View from Jioufen

The view is simply breathtaking!!

At Jioufen, I bought some magnets, packets of tea for my family, and also dried tofu. I also sampled some candied yam and sweet potatoes. Yummilicious, indeed!

Jioufen is indeed worth a visit the next time you are in Taiwan.

C.I.D. 刑警二人组

C.I.D. Ok. This is an old Mediacorp drama, broadcasted in 2006. And admittedly, I'm watching this drama only because of Qi Yuwu. But I must say that I'm quite impressed with his acting in this drama. I think he's better in C.I.D. than in The Little Nyonya. Well, that may be my humble opinion but it's what I sincerely think.

(Pic source :http://archive8.mediacorptv.sg/shows/drama/view/739/1/.html)

In this drama, Qi Yuwu's character was a cop, Tang Si Wei. At first, I thought he's a gangster. But in fact, he's an undercover cop. I could sense his turmoil when asked to kill his best buddy. And afterwards, when his buddy was brutally murdered by someone else, I could see his anguish and torment.

Qi Yuwu portrayed the burden of a brother who shouldered the blame for the abduction of his younger sister very well. I could see that he carried the whole weight of the blame on his shoulders. Very good acting there.

I found the second part - the story of Steve-Dawn-Xiaofen-Liwen - a bit more boring. Perhaps maybe it's because the Steve-Xiaofen characters didn't have much chemistry, and so the Steve-Dawn relationship didn't have much impact on the former relationship. Yawn.

In fact, the baddies were quite predictable in the first two parts - I could tell straight away that Fly had something with the murders even though I didn't know his motives; and then I could tell straightaway that Steve had to be homosexual.

Anyway, Yuwu's scenes with Apple Hong were really cute and sweet - particularly when they'd just embarked on a relationship. I'm halfway into the drama. I look forward to see how their relationship unfolds. I also wonder why Si Wei's sister was kidnapped in the past, and I wonder what is his mother's role in the whole incident.

Well, whatever it is, I'd been fascinated with Qi Yuwu since watching The Little Nyonya. I'd even watched Painted Skin 画皮 and Protege 门徒. Hmn. Did not like him in Painted Skin. And he was too insignificant in Protege, ;p.

Beef Noodles With A Little Drama On The Side

Nancy’s at 28 Food Centre sells beef noodles, laksa, and seafood noodles. While her beef noodles and laksa are quite well-known, I have yet to try the seafood noodles, which costs a hefty RM10 per serving. I have observed other people eating this, though. The noodles are tossed and served separately with the seafood broth. The seafood broth comes in a little wok.

Again, this stall is the reason why 28 Food Centre is so packed in the morning. The beef noodles sell off really fast. I was there one time at 10.30 a.m., and upon ordering was told that there wasn’t any more beef noodles. I was really disappointed.

Today, my friend and I went to Nancy's before 10.00 a.m., and were delighted that beef noodles were still available. We had to wait for about half an hour for our food to arrive as there was a big crowd.

A normal serving of beef noodles set customers back by RM6.00. The noodles are tossed in a concoction of beef gravy and onion oil. The noodles are bouncy and chewy, and the gravy fragrant. Today's noodle servings seemed quite generous.

Dry-tossed beef noodles

Accompanying the noodles is a bowl of soup. It has blanched bean sprouts, salted vegetable strips, tripe, and slivers of beef in it. The soup is topped with some cilantro. The tripe and beef were tender, the vegetables crunchy and crisp, the soup was really robust with flavour.

Delicious beef soup

Nancy's beef noodles is served with a blend of chilli-garlic-ginger sauce. This spicy and sourish sauce goes very well with the noodles.

Chilli sauce

Now, having patronised Nancy's for a long time, I've seen the evolution of her beef noodles over time. She used to sell dry beef noodles and beef noodle soup. But now, there is no choice. All noodles are tossed and served with soup. In the past, she had beef balls in the soup, but today they appeared to be missing. Once, she even served a beef bone in the soup. My friends and I often made fun of the bone. Lol.

What never fail to amuse me every time I eat there is the bickering between the couple and their daughter. They are always loud as they argue back and forth, perhaps in good nature, as they cook their noodles and serve the customers. Nevertheless, I am always amused.

Well, if you want to eat good beef noodles, and perhaps care for a little drama on the side, Nancy's is worth a try.

Teaching and Learning Open Forum 2009 : Engaging Learners

I was at the Curtin University Sarawak campus today for a Teaching and Learning Open Forum with the theme, "Engaging Learners".

Well, a lot of learning took place for me today. So much so that I was mentally exhausted when I got home. In fact as I'm typing this post, my mind is only functioning partially.

In her keynote address, Prof. Joan Gribble mentioned that teachers need to enthrall learners by getting them involved mentally, physically, and emotionally. Well, I do agree that the emotion plays a very important role in learning. There is a difference between learning for the sake of learning, and learning because of the passion you have for something.

I also listened with interest when the other speakers shared their experiences about engaging learnings in L2 vocabulary develpment, creating different classroom and engaging diversified student groups. Lots of practical ideas shared, and I do look forward to applying them in my own classrooms.

In the afternoon, I attended a workshop by Shamsul Kamariah Abdullah, the Dean of the School of Business on "The Art of (Super) Teaching". Now, Sham did manage to engage the participants with very unorthodox teaching techniques. They piqued curiosity, and enticed participants to come back for more. Very interesting indeed!!

Soft toys and race cars?

Sham had all these curiosities placed on the table in front of the lecture room. How interesting. Bring those into the classroom and I'm sure students would be interested!!! And they would probably remember you for life!!! Lol!!!

Me!!

A very interesting activity which involved drawing people's faces on balloons. That's me, drawn by a member in my group!! Thankfully I look prettier in real life!!! Lol!!!

Flowers In My Garden

I dislike gardening. I have never pottered about the garden before. I have never even watered the plants. None of us tends the garden outside the house. When the grass gets too long, we call Uncle Grass Cutter, and he comes and cuts the grass for us.

This evening, I was sitting in the porch, waiting for my friend to pick me up. She texted me to say she was caught in a jam.

While I was waiting and waiting, I wondered why the grass grew long so quickly. We only got it cut last Friday. It's been only a week, and I can see that it has grown by at least 2 inches.

Then I noticed a solitary stalk of flower on the ground. It looked small and fragile, but it stood straight and proud. It was pink and pretty, so I could not resist snapping a shot of it.


Then I looked around the garden and realised that they are more flowers!! Ok. I have no idea what the flowers are called. My knowledge about plants is really limited.



I only know that this is the 富贵花.


And this is bougainvillea.


Well, I love flowers. It's a shame I have never noticed the flowers growing in my own backyard before this!

Dragon Fruit 火龍果

Mom tells me to eat fruits every day. So, I do try my best to eat at least a piece of fruit a day. My staple is apples and oranges.

I usually eat apples and oranges

But sometimes, I try to eat other fruits as well. One of the fruits that I sometimes like to buy is the dragon fruit.

Dragon fruit

It used to be quite expensive here in Miri, but as more and more people cultivate it, harvest becomes plentiful and the price drops. I bought 2 big pieces this week for only RM4.50. Well, maybe it's because they're bought from a friend of a friend of a friend, who has a dragon fruit orchard or something like that.

There are two types of dragon fruit sold here in Miri, with the red-fleshed one being more popular than the white-fleshed one. The flesh is akin to the kiwi fruit, because of the tiny black crunchy seeds. The flesh is sweet, but can be tasteless sometimes.

Halved dragon fruit

I like to eat the Dragon Fruit chilled, as it brings out the flavour.

Cut dragon fruit

Another thing I love about this fruit is the bright colour. I don't know how to describe its shade - somewhere between cerise and magenta, but definitely pretty.

Well, I won't say that I'm crazy about this fruit, but it does provide some variety to my otherwise boring apple-and-orange staple.

Steamed Tapioca Parcels

Until today, I never knew this kuih existed.

Steamed grated tapioca parcels

My colleague and I went to the canteen this morning, and she squealed when she saw this kuih on the tray.

"What's inside?" I asked her.

"Grated tapioca," she said. "I love it. My sister loves it too. We always make it at home."

That was enough to interest me. So I bought one parcel, while my colleague bought all the others. There had to be at least half a dozen that she bought.

Unwrap a parcel . . .

I unwrapped my kuih and bit into it. It was sweet and had the distinct taste of tapioca, and perhaps a bit of coconut milk to make it lemak.

Well, I do like this kuih, and won't mind having it with a cup of hot coffee.

I'm Watching My School Daze 书包太重

Pic Source : http://wiki.d-addicts.com/My_School_Daze

Well, I am watching My School Daze 书包太重, albeit at a crawling pace. It is a pretty lighthearted drama, especially, after the angst the Little Nyonya gave me.

In My School Daze, the children are all pressured by their parents to achieve excellent results - by attending tuitions classes for many subjects, and by doing exercises after exercises. All other activities such as sports and games, deemed unimportant or irrelevant, are discouraged. I really pity the children.

My School Daze questions the current education system in Singapore. Is academic pursuits everything? I remember vividly the character of the Uncle who says he doesn't know whether it is the parents, or the children, or the education system is sick.

Well, I do relate the teacher, Mr. Tan. His students are uninterested in learning Chinese, and some are rather nasty and disrespectful. Hmn . . . there's nothing more demotivating than to have students who are not interested in your lessons. As for all the disrespectful students all over the world, I would really love to knock them all senseless! I bet Mr. Tan would too!

In one scene, Xiangfeng scrawled some Chinese characters on the board, and requests for the students to copy them down. I laughed. Teachers don't scrawl on the board like that!! They need to make sure what is written on the board is clear enough for the students to copy down. Lol.

My favourite character is Fatty Bon Bon - I think he's just so cute. He comes out with very interesting excuses about why he should not study so hard and looks for ways to skip a tuition class. In addition, I do look forward to watching the story of his family unfold. His is really a hilarious family.

Well, I do wonder if all Singapore schools look as good as they do on television - they look so bright and so clean!! My principal did suggest we visit schools in Singapore. Now with Airasia flying Miri-Singapore direct, maybe we should take up the idea!!

Holes and Peaches

This year, I’m helping one of my students to study for SPM Literature in English. One of the books that we are reading is Holes by Louis Sachar. Well, this is really a good book, and I would recommend it to everyone.

My copy of "Holes"

In Holes, Miss Katherine Barlow made the most ‘fabulous spiced peaches’ in Green Lake – peaches preserved in cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and other secret spices. She gave 16 jars of spiced peaches to Sam, the onion picker in exchange for his services repairing the schoolhouse. But as fate would have it, Sam’s boat sank in the middle of the lake. The lake dried up and there would be no rain for the next 110 years.

Fast forward 110 years, Zero, who ran away from the Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correction Facility seeked refuge under the sunken boat, and lived on the very same jars of spiced peaches he called Sploosh. It looked like mud, but “it was a warm, bubbly, mushy nectar, sweet and tangy.” It felt “like heaven” and “was too good to resist”.

Okie, so my student and I revised the book this week. I always loved discussing the issues and themes in the book with her. But after that, the description of those peaches lingered in my memory and left me with a strong craving for peaches. Lol.

So out I went to buy a can of peaches. I was at Boulevard Hypermarket, and they were a 2 - 3 brands to choose from. I ended up buying this can. Well, I had reservations about this brand of peaches because the label said, "Made in China". I really haven't eaten Made-in-China peaches before.

I decided to buy a can of peaches

Besides, it said "Premium", and then it had a "Superbrands" logo on it. And so I decided to give it a try. I squatted down at the aisle for a long time, because the peaches were at the bottom of the shelf. Most of the cans were dented, and I picked up can after can to find a perfect one.

At home, I chilled my can of peaches in the fridge. Tonight, after dinner I persuaded my friend to have peaches for dessert ;p.

I opened the can and was satisfied to see the peach halves, golden yellow in colour.

Perfect peach halves

Excited, I bit into a piece, and was immediately disappointed. Why? It was sweet, but it wasn't tangy at all. I thought peaches were supposed to be sweet and tangy at the same time. What a big disappointment.

Well, contrary to the description in the book, my peaches neither "felt like heaven" nor "was too good to resist". After a few bites, I gave up and shove the peaches back into the refrigerator. What do I do with them now. Make peach cobbler?

Exotic Snakeskin Fruit

My friend just got her new car, and today she wanted to take it out for a drive. So, the both of us drove all the way to the Batu Niah Township. It took the both of us about an hour and a half to drive there from Miri.

My friend's brand new car . . .

We stopped at the Tamu by the roadside, where vendors sold local produce.

The busy Tamu . . .

Local produce at one of the stalls

One of my favourite vegetables is the pucuk midin. It is a variety of fern found in Sarawak. Pucuk midin is characterised by its curled tip, and has a crunchy texture when cooked.

Pucuk midin for sale at the Tamu

I think it is the corn season now, as there are number of stalls that sell corn on cob. A bunch costs RM5.00.

Corn on Cob

One of the stalls had durians.

Durians

Buah salak is abundant at the Niah area. It is a species of the palm tree and the fruits grow in clusters.

A cluster of snakeskin fruit

The skin is reddish-brown in colour, and is akin to the scales of snakes, and thus sometimes, Buah salak is referred to as the Snakeskin Fruit.

Scaly skin . . .

Buah salak is the shape of a fig. Peel off the scaly skin, and find the pulp in lobes.

Buah salak pulp

The taste is sweet and tart at the same time, the texture crumbly and sometimes crunchy. Its taste is distinctive, and not many people like it.

I ate my first buah salak when I came to Miri years ago, and I grew to like it over the years. I cannot resist buying a kilo or two whenever I go to Batu Niah.