DIRTY WEEKEND

The TNP Masthead

A new chick round the block

Flower Power Rulez The Nite

The Wacko Team as the winner for the most creative outfit

With Rod Monteiro

The Suvec Team

Our new found friends

Friendship built over the dirty weekend

At Sepang off road track

We completed the obstacles with flying colours

A durian is a must as a stopover

The kayaking event at Putra Jaya Wet Theme Park

Getting the riddle around an oil drum

Nasuha herbs and spice garden

The giant goat at UK Agro Farm Resort

Must be Rod's lucky morning...with the women

The guys and Rod at SPH

SUVived

It's time for adrenaline junkies to show off their navigating and off track skills in an annual fun-filled event - the The New Paper SUVival Challenge 2011. It's the ultimate off-road experience where you need to strategise your destinations to earn the maximum points, crack some codes and test your grey cells to answer quiz questions..

It was our fourth year of joining the event with other intrepid adventurers on the road in our mission to conquer over 700km across four Malaysian states within 10 hours behind the wheel. Along the way, off course we had to solve riddles, answer quiz questions and take photos of the designated stopovers as evidence. Fast and furious were the order of the day as we counted every minute to reach the pit stops. Throw in a kilogram of short tempers, 500g of stubbornness and 1 litre of impatience from the four of us and what do you get? Lots of tense, crazy and mad moments in our Terios but that was our winning formula for we had stuck in the competition for four years.

A briefing was held a week before the flag off, informing us of the competition rules and how to use the Holux 62 GPS. We met some familiar faces and made new friends too.
We immediately cracked our brain on how to do up the event T-shirt creatively. We had eyed the the top prize for this competition.

Bleary-eyed and body deprived of caffeine, we reached SPH at 4am on the event day. After the registration, we grabbed the quiz booklet and tried to answer some of the general knowledge questions. Families and friends grouped together while the Iphone was punched mercilessly for answers and clues. Someone even lugged a laptop to surf the questions for clues.

Rod Monteiro of FM 93.8 greeted the contestants before we zipped out of Singapore Press Holdings along Braddell Road in search of our driving trails. Our first stop was Dataran JB where the tower clock was. After snapping a photo at the clock at 6.23am, we set the GPS to bring us to the UK Agro Farm Resort, Kluang. The farm has the reputation of being Malaysia’s largest goat and sheep farm, with 100 acres of grazing land for 4000 sheep. It is a self-sufficient integrated farm practising the most modern techniques in goat and sheep rearing.

We had to hit for the Nasuha Herbs and Spice Garden at Pagoh, Muar next. The farm covers an area of over 3200 acres, known to be the largest Herbs and Spices farm in Asia, producing 6 to 10 metric tonnes of raw herbs and spices each day. The farm is planted with 135 types of herbs collected from all over the world. The farm practises organic fertilization technique to prevent chemical contamination.

Our next pit stop was the Tropical Village at Machap by 9.00am. We were there by half an hour earlier. The Taman Mini Malaysia and ASEAN was our next stopover where we had to check the size of the park and take photo below the Singapore flag. It is a cultural park located a few kilometres outside of Melaka, near the town of Ayer Keroh. If you have an interest in traditional architecture and ways of life, this is a great place to go exploring. Each of the homes represents the architectural style of the 13 states in Malaysia and is furnished with various items, arts and crafts which depict the culture of each state.

Without breakfast and lunch, we pressed on to Wet World Air Panas before navigating to Nilai of Negeri Sembilan for more head-breaking problems to solve.

We skipped the Taming Sari Tower in Malacca and Freemason Hall Negri Sembilan simply because we must reach Putra Jaya Wet Theme Park before 2pm for a kayaking event. Clearing that, the ultimate off road driving skills test for the men was next. The five stations required concentration and maneuvering skills to conquer the obstacles. The men did us proud for we passed all stations with flying colours and got our coordinates to reach the final destination; the Klana Resort where we would stay for the night.

Though eating durian was not part of the itinerary, but I could not resist stopping along en route to our resort to put a few seeds into my mouth. The roadside durian sellers were hawking the kampung durian from RM5.00 to RM40.00 per kilo. The fruit tasted so 'syiok' with the milky soft and sweet flesh sliding down my throat. It was my breakfast and lunch at one go. So heavenly!

It was already 4.00pm and with no food at all since we started and almost limped like a rag doll, we headed for the coffee house for a decent meal. With renewed energy, we freshen up for dinner where we planned to take everyone by storm. The Afro wigs were donned, the cut-up SUVIVAL tees were worn and we were all set to create history and bring back the Hippies or Beatniks era that night.

All heads turned the moment we swaggered at the lobby and into the ball room. Wolf whistles and loud clapping announced our arrival. We were declared the Wacko Team winner for the night and won SGD $500. Our heads couldn't get bigger than our Afro wigs.


The New Paper SUVival Challenge 2011 – Coordinates to all locations Road Challenge

1 UK Farm Resort (Latitude)N 1⁰58’28.4” (Longitude)E 103⁰13’47.7”
2 Nasuha Herbs & Spices (Latitude)N 2⁰6’58.9” (Longitude)E102⁰42’29.2”
3 Tropical Village Machap (Latitude)N 1⁰53'45" (Longitude)E 103⁰12'22"
4 Dataran Bandaraya Johor Bahru (Latitude)N 1⁰27'37.8" (Longitude)E 103⁰44'31"
5 Taming Sari Tower (Latitude)N 2⁰11'26.5" (Longitude)E102⁰14'50"
6 Taman Mini Malaysia & Mini Asean (Latitude)N 2⁰16'57.3 (Longitude)E 102⁰18'13.3"
7 Wet World Air Panas Pedas (Latitude)N 2⁰37'55" (Longitude)E 102⁰3'9"
8 Freemason Hall (Latitude)N 2⁰43'10.1" (Longitude)E 101⁰57'12.2"
9 "Grand Canyon" Seremban (Latitude)N 2⁰43'58.9" (Longitude)E 101⁰56'59.3"
10 Nilai (Latitude)N 2⁰51'23" (Longitude)E 101⁰48'20"

The sticker on our bonnet

On all fours for a dirty weekend

At the briefing

Going up the stage to claim our prize

SMILE AND THE WORLD SMILES WITH YOU

CLOWNING AROUND

Razak and Naruto bringing cheer to the shoppers

I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician. ~CharlieChaplain~ All the world loves a clown. A clown's makeup and character, that's all he has to sell. He loves and believes in that character. I was doing some grocery shopping at Kipmart Tampoi when I heard children shriek with laughter in great joy. My sharp ears pulled me to a stage in the middle of the building. Instantaneously, I knew what had caused the commotion and the wolf whistling. Two clowns were entertaining the shoppers with their balloon craft, monkey faces and Chaplain-like antics. I wasted no time in cornering endearing Razak and Naruto into taking photos with them. They are involved in organising events and also manage Animax performances which include Naruto, X Man and Sailormoon. The guys also provide MC and DJ services besides cooking demo and planning for weddings. Beneath the guys' one-inch thick make-up, lies two men who believe in the art of entertaining and making others laugh with them. People may think that the clown is often a deadpan person, but he is actually a connoisseur of laughter. Like a magician, he conjures mirth and invokes gaiety and fun-filled moments to his audience. I haven't seen a clown who has made someone cry. Have you? But people have asked to send in the clowns in their lowest dipped point. Frank Sinatra and Barbara Streisand have sung 'Send In The Clowns' to ease the pain of losing someone. I remember a line from Groucho Mark which says, "Clowns work as well as aspirin, but twice as fast." I guess that's why we love and welcome the clowns to be around us. They take our pain, misery and problems momentarily and hide them with their big smiles. Probably some anguish and affliction go into their pair of prodigious shoes too. When the clowns are gone and the smile fade away, the ache and malaise are bestowed back to the rightful owners. Dark humour? Wonder to whom does the clowns pass their pain and tumultuous feelings to? To truly laugh with the world, you must be able to take your pain and play with it. Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone. Being a clown is not an easy pursuit then! You are confronted with your own feelings all the time and may struggle on how to subdue or shun them away in front of people whom you have to bring cheer to. I love what Lord Tennyson has penned, "By blood a king, in heart a clown." Thanks Razak and Naruto for the short respite with us. They also presented mum with a blue teddy bear. It was so sweet of the two gentlemen. I promised to post their contact on my blog. If you are interested in engaging them, you can e-mail to blackkakoi@yahoo.com. They love mum and took a photo with her

ICE SHAVER

The traditional and classic 50-year old ice shaver machine

A modern version of ice ball, unlike the round-shaped ones sold by Guan

A rudimentary ice shaver that serves the same purpose

Instead of ice-balls, the ice is shoved into a plastic bag before syrup is added

The two youths who allowed me to take the pictures of their ice shaver machine

The wheel and axle machine. No motor is used.

Green technology. No carbon fingerprints.

Bolt, nuts, gear and wheel and axle to shave off the ice

The once blue- coloured machine is now steel-coloured after 50 years

SNOWY ICE BALLS

It shaves the block of ice thinly and leaves behind a mound of white fine strands of flakes in the bowl. The wheel has to be turned manually for the ice to be shaved off by the blade. That's the traditional and classic ice machine of yester years. It has been replaced by electric ice shavers, which make faster ice mounds like fluffy white snow at most of our hawker centres nowadays.

Its stature, its age and durability caught my attention the minute I walked past it. I asked the youth who was selling the chendol how old the machine was. He couldn't give me the right age but estimated that the machine was easily over fifty years. It's original bright blue colour had faded, leaving behind a grey metallic surface instead.

When I was young, I remember Guan, the ice-ball seller would shave a block of ice using the same type of unmotorised machine. He sold the ice-ball for 10 cents each. He would trudge and push his cart up the slope of Jalan Eunos and the kampung children would queue for him to buy the ice-balls. He was the most eagerly waited man on hot steamy days. Not many households had a fridge back then in the 60s, so Guan's ice balls were like gifts from heaven to quench our thirst.

Like a precision clockwork, Guan would appear in front of my grandma's house daily and ring his bell to announce his arrival. Blocks of ice were wrapped in gunny sacks and kept below his cart. The ice shaver machine was the centre piece of the cart. Next to it would be transparent glass bottles storing red, green and brown syrup. Two bowls containing boiled red beans and rice flour green chendol were placed on the cart too.

For 10 cents, your ice ball would be coated with red, green and brown gula melaka syrup which hid boiled red beans and chendol in the centre of the ball. Guan would take some of the shaved ice, create a depression and scoop some beans and green chendol into it. More ice was taken to shape the ball with his hands. He compressed and compacted the ball further so that it became solid and would not break easily. The final stage of making the ice ball was to coat it with the colourful sugary syrup. Voila and you are ready to roll your tongue all over the cold surface of the sweet ice ball.

I would suck and slurp the sweet sugary coat of the ice slowly because you did not want to end too early with just the tasteless white ice ball once the red, green and brown gula melaka coat was gone. Then you had to manoeuvre your tongue slowly and deeper into the ball in search of the beans and chendol in the mass of ice.

You have to make sure that the ice ball remained in its perfect round shape and it did not break while you did your act of slurping the ice for it could be messy once that happened. Not only that, you might lose some ice and filling when they fell to the ground. That would be a total loss of all your 10 cents worth of hard earned saving!

Every slurp and bean count and were precious to a young girl like me. Thanks Guan for that sweet memories.

THE GOLDEN MOMENT

Gold, gold and gold everywhere
See this solid piece of metal
Me and my haul of gold for the boys

CHERISH THE GOLD

Our Takraw boys did us proud by becoming the champions in our zone and emerging runners-up in the national zone. They played their heart out to be at the tops. Congrats boys!

The efforts from Fahmy, Zainal and Umaizy have paid off.

AWESOME CUPCAKE

A is for Awesone Azizah

The team showing off their cakes
Rachel can't wait to chomp off her way thorough the cake
Awesone Azizah is spelt on the cake
I smile like the face on the cake


SUGARY SWEET

Had a personalised cupcake with my name on it. Everyone in the department received one from Faizah. Amidst sharing our personal experiences, we eyed the sugary gift before admitting defeat and sinking our teeth into the chocolate spongy texture. The round-about-table sharing unveiled many things which we do not know of each other though we had been working together for many years. Dark secrets, sweet memories, fears of the unknown and getting face to face with your age were spilled out unashamedly like marbles rolling out from a tin.

What a way to bond and get to know one another beyond our professional scope as a warm individual person.

STAY ALOFT

This kite costs RM500. It's awesome!

Tiger, Tiger burning bright

Toy Car racing down the hill

The luminous orange coloured gold fish kite

Yusuf trying to fix the kite he finally chose

A friendly shark that lives in the sky

The Kite Runner packing for home

With the kite vendor and his bountiful kites

In the woods with Winnie andEyor

Soar like an eagle

With a kite seller on Bukit Layang-Layang

I am not Madame Butterfly

The black eagle has landed

The kites welcoming their visitors

The tattered fringe kite must be graceful up in the sky

The shape of the kites reminds me of Townhouses

The wau kites displayed in the museum

At the entrance of the museum

The Bukit Layang-Layang Museum

FREEDOM TO SOAR

He has been bitten by a bug called 'kite-flying' and we ended up as his victims. My brother is currently crazy over kites (don't k now how long this craze would last) and he is searching every nook and corner for a perfect kite to suit his pocket and budget. In simple economics, a perfect kite has no budget. In fact it stretches and bust your budget because your expectations and specifications for the kite are so difficult to meet.

To lay our hands on a perfect and huge kite, we drove to Johor Bharu searching for one. One place to head for is the Muzeum Layang-Layang at Pasir Gudang. The museum has an array of kites and a variety of materials related to kites. The place was built as an appreciation towards the contribution of Malaysian and International kite fliers. It was first opened to public in February 2002 during the 7th International Kite Festival. About 200 traditional Wau kites which once hailed as the kings of the sky are on display. The museum has been built in an effort to preserve and uphold the cultural heritage and crafts of Malaysia.

It was almost closing time when we reached Bukit Layang-Layang. The hill has a panoramic view of the green surrounding and the air is cool and refreshing, especially after the rain that fell before we reached it. Judging by the many number of cars parked at the lots, Bukit Layang-Layang is a favourite haunt for families and children to fly kites or simply tuck in the 'celup-celup' for tea. Celup-celup is like having steamboat on satay sticks.

We climbed up the hill. Doraemon, Hello Kity, Sponge Bob, Donald Duck, Astro Boy and Sharky were waving and calling me for a fun time. Actually a kite-seller was hawking his colourful and cartoon characters kites. He had hung his kites on poles and with the breeze caressing the light-weight nylon kites, they seemed to come alive with their flapping and movement. It must be a bewitching site for any kid to be surrounded by so many characters from the square box.

We tried a few kites before purchasing one. Every kite was screaming at us to be picked and flown. There were too many to pick. The vendor was kind enough to wait for us to choose even though it was getting dark. I ended up with a sting ray fish kite with a long tail and a fearsome body.

My brother fell in love with a huge bright orange gold fish kite. It was a perfect kite for him - it suited his budget and his pride of owning one of the biggest kites being sold that evening.