Fish Maw - Sand or Salt?

At first I was shocked when I saw these pebbles like stuff in the fish maw that I bought from a vendor in Chai Leng Park, Butterworth. The first thought that came to my mind was the supplier might have put in pebbles into it to increase the weight because the fish maw alone is very light.
But when I investigate further, the pebbles like stuff is actually sea salt. Did they put it in to preserve the fish maw? This is the first time that I encounter this after buying fish maw for many years!
Have you come across this before?

Crab with Cross Like Mark on its Shell

I was about to work on my Curry Crab with Prawns posting when I noticed the distinct cross-like mark on the shell. Then I remembered reading in The Star about this species of crab causing a stir among Malacca Christians in Sept 2011. The photo of the crab in The Star has a cross like mark with black background on the shell. The one I have is of a lighter coloured shell, probably a close family to the Charybdisferiatus.

According to The Star, during the 16th century, Sir Francis Xavier was sailing from some Indonesian islands to Malacca when he was caught in a storm. He then dipped his crucifix into the sea and pray to God to calm the raging storm. Unfortunately, the crucifix slipped from his hand and dropped into the sea. He prayed to god that he could get it back. When he landed in Malacca he saw a crab on the beach clutching the same crucifix in its claw.Sir Francis was surprised and he knelt down to retrive the cross from the crab.
He then blessed the crab and the cross appeared on the crab shell.

So, next time whenever you are eating this species of crab, remember to look out for its distinct cross mark!...........
.....errrrr, if you spot any numbers on the shell, please let me know.....so I can go and bet on some 4D or Toto....lol!

Cooking Hazard

If I don't write something soon in my blog, Bananaz would be calling 911 as he was wondering  whether I was still stuck in my room because of the spoilt circular door lock.  LOL!

Actually I was still a little busy and didn't update my blog or blog hop. Sorry ya!

Most of the time, whenever I was rushing to cook for my kids before going out for an appointment with my customers, I got a little careless and burn my arm with the hot oil from the wok.  This is one the common hazard we have to face for the love of cooking. ouch ouch!

I guess cooking is more dangerous than playing around with my metal nunchaku. ha ha ha!

A 'Whole' Bunch of Fresh Shallots

   I bought this whole 'bunch' of shallots (scallions, Allium cepa var. aggregatum) from a Malay vendor at the Kepong Baru Wet Market. This is the first time I came across shallots being sold with the leaves (aka spring onions) still intact. However the leaves are already dried up.

Anyway, these shallots are very fresh. You can see the shinny, clean and brightly coloured skins in the first photo, unlike those that are sold loose (without the dried stalks).

Ok, gotta go.....now can cook  fried bihun (rice vermicelli) with crispy fried shallots as garnish! Yum Yum!

Discovery of Habitable Rocky Alien Planet Gliese 581d and Prediction of 21 May Doomsday

I read in delight this morning that scientist might have discovered a habitable planet, Gliese 581d which is 20 light years away. Considering that 1 light year is the distance that light travel in one year and the speed of light is 299 792 458 m/s. Therefore 1 light year is about 10 trillion kilometers (10¹⁶ metres). 20 light years is really very very very far away! The spaceship carrying humans to this destination would take a long long time before reaching planet Gliese. Unless we can travel through space time tunnel or 'wormholes'  which can shorten the journey, it is rather impossible to reach this planet. LOL!

Then another headline news reported that a religious group in USA predicted that tomorrow, Sat 21 May 2011 will be doomsday! They claimed that a major earthquake would hit and destroy earth and mankind.

???????????!!!!!!

Well, doomsday or just normal day; tomorrow, I am going to Kepong Baru Wet market to enjoy my usual dim sum breakfast and weekend marketing rounds.....LOL! Oppps, maybe not dim sum, takut (scared) of rubbish pork! ha ha ha!

Japanese Fukushima Nuclear Reactor - Dumping of Radioactive Waste water into the Sea

I have been following the news of Japanese Fukushima quake hit reactor closely and greatly saddened by the fact that they have released radioactive tainted water in to the nearby sea. The Fukushima Japan Nuclear Reactor is still not stable and the danger level was raised to level 1 yesterday. This level is equivalent to Chernobyl disaster level.

I was a little concern during the early stage of the disaster when I heard that they are using water to cool down the reactor. It is very hard to contain water and it flows freely everywhere easily. No one knows how much of these tainted water have seeped into underground water system. Now they are dumping all the radioactive water in to the sea and fishes around the areas are contaminated.

The whole thing is getting out of hand! They should have entombed the whole plant with sand and concrete in the first place! Please don't destroy our sea!........so, Pete can continue fishing...

PS : Gosh, looks like I am turning into anti Nuclear activist! No lah, I am still a Foodie at heart! Nuclear and Particle physics happened to be my major and favourite subject. Because of my personal interest, I still keep track of latest nuclear and particle physics news all these years after leaving the university. LOL!

How will Rare Earth Processing Plant Effect Us?

The controversial rare earth plant that is being built in Gebeng, Kuantan has been making headlines in the news these few days. So, what is actually Rare Earth? IUPAC defined rare earth as elements or rare earth metals are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the 15 lanthanide plus scandium and yttrium. Rare earth elements are scattered around the earth crust and are normally not found in concentrated area. Thus, due to this scarcity, the name rare earth came about.

There is great demand for rare earth especially in the electronic industry. It is widely used in computer memory, car catalytic converter, fluorescent lights, mobile phones, night vision goggles, hard alloy for military usage and in many more modern devices. China is the largest producer of rare earth but due to tight export control, many companies are finding alternative location in other countries to set up their plant.

Many residents in Kuantan are voicing their disapproval and concern over the Rare Earth plant being built in Gebeng. I love the sea areas in the east coast, so I hope they can keep these places free from contamination!

Questions!
How will the radioactive and waste generated effect our health?
How well can our DOE monitor the radiation emission?
Do our DOE have the right equipment to monitor and check the waste produced?
Can they guarantee 100% that the plant is safe? Words only, don’t count!

What say you?

Fake Eggs Discovered in Penang- How they make fake eggs, grapes and pig intestine

Looks like fake eggs from China have found its' way into our country or maybe some of our unscrupulous locals had learned the way to make it. The discovery of these fake eggs in Penang was published in the newspapers today. Actually, fake eggs were discovered in 3 China cities in Jan 2006.

Fake eggs contain industrial chemicals like Alum which causes dementia, calcium choride causes liver deseases and benzoic acid is harmful to our nerves & brain.

How do we identify fake eggs? Fake eggs have rough shell, a little irregular in shape and they don't have the spiral or thin string liked chalaza (plural chalazae) commonly found in fresh eggs. Chalaza holds the egg yolk in place, thus protecting it.

At first I thought that the process of making these fake eggs must be rather complicated but after watching the video below, it seems very easy. One just need a few chemicals and coagulant to manufacture these fakes. The video below shows how fake eggs are produced in China. This video also has a short coverage on how fake grapes and pig intestines are made using almost the similar method as the fake eggs. What will they think of next?

When was the last time you ate candy floss (cotton candy)?

I bought this candy floss for my daugther at Sunway Pyramid Shopping Complex

Candy floss is made from sugar that is spun at high speed in a large metal container where the sugar container walls are slightly heated to melt it. Due to the centrifugal force, the sugar form tiny strands which would be collected using a thin bamboo stick or a paper rolled into a shape of a cone. Artificial flavouring and colours are normally added to enhance the taste. The candy floss machine was invented by William Morrison and John C. Wharton in 1897. It became a hit when it was first introduced to a wide audience at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. In USA it is called cotton candy and in some part of the world it is also known as fairy floss. The USA National Cotton Candy Day falls on 7th December. This sticky and sweet amorphous solid treat dissolves in your mouth. The sugar strands will hardened once it gets into contact with water or water moisture in the air and it will no longer be fluffy. Cotton candy is commonly sold at fun fair, although nowadays you can find them being sold in shopping complexes. When was the last time you ate cotton candy?

Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Post Number Four Hundred and One – Thank You For Your Support!

I have been blogging for around one year and four months. This is my post number four hundred and one. Apart from being able to share my experience in cooking, eating out, jokes and many more things, I have made lots of nice Cyber friends. I would like to sincerely thank you all for your support! This is a list of my favourite posts. 1) Recipes Penang Curry Mee Recipe, Penang Hokkien Mee Recipe 2) Jokes My American Friend Got Chased Out From A Restaurant

3) Dessert Thab Thim Krab

4) Remedy Natural Cure For Cough Using Betel Nut (Pinang) 5) Restaurant Chaw Choon Dim Sum 6) Hawker Food Good Hokkien Mee in Bdr Sri Damansara 7) Family Outing Haruan Hunting and Siput Digging 8) Travel Memories from Korea 9) Festival Kow Ong Yah (Nine Emperor Gods)

10) Animals Papaya Bird. This one is also Cleffairy’s favourite. She always think of this post and laugh!

11) Ghost Story Real Ghost Story

12) Childhood Memories Preparing My Daughter for RLC Champs Concert

Cheers and have a nice day ahead!

Fishing????? At Desa Park City Carpark????/

One Sunday afternoon.......................................

Is this man fishing at the field next to Desa Park Citys' commercial center carpark? Looks like he has caught a big fish! Come on, reel in slowly, release the drag, don't let the line breaks! Here comes the big one! Someone please get a landing net. The fish is fighting and making a last minute dash to escape!...............wait, he is actually not fishing............

He is flying a series of large Malaysian Flags kite. Wow, what a way to fly a kite! Using a fishing rod! LOL!

Volunteer Firefighters of Raja Uda, Butterworth (Pasukan Bomba Gotong Royong Raja Uda Butterworth)

The Community Fire Station on Raja Uda main road, Butterworth.

(Pasukan Bomba Gotong Royong Raja Uda Butterworth)

Raja Uda, Butterworth used to be known as a notorious place. It was very common to hear stories of gang fight and extortion from this area. However, the Raja Uda I knew in the past is no longer notorious and businesses are thriving in this area. This place is a shopping heaven for ladies! There a lots of boutiques, clothes vendors and ladies accessories along the whole stretch of Raja Uda Road. All items are sold at very reasonable prices. I have heard that people from nearby town and also Penang Island would travel all the way to shop here. So, if you don’t mind shopping at a crowded area near a wet market, then head for this place if you happen to visit Butterworth. The food here is good too! Many years back there are many attap (palm leaves) and wooden houses in Raja Uda, so during Chinese New Year, while playing with fireworks brought joy to some, it often set off uncontrollable fires to houses here! During that time we only have one fire station that serve the whole Butterworth district. Therefore, it was very common that by the time the fire engines arrive at the scene most of the houses were already burned to the ground. Some of the businessman and residents in this area came out with the idea of starting their own private fire brigade. Most of the volunteers are hawkers, pork sellers, normal working residents and other business owners. Whenever there is a fire, these volunteers will drop whatever they are doing and rush to their community fire station, don the fire fighter uniform and protective gears. They will then drive their fire engines to the scene and put out the fire. Their response time is faster because their private fire station is located in the heart of Raja Uda. Today, this fire station is still operating and fully supported by everyone here. Bravo, to all the contributing residents and businessman!

Chinese Door Gods (Mandarin: Men Shen, Hokkien: Mui Xin)

Door Gods at Raja Uda Tow Boo Kong Temple

Chinese door gods are used to symbolically guards houses, temples and buildings. They are actually portraits of China olden day’s military men. The most common door gods are Tang Dynasty generals, Chin Xu Bao and Yu Chi Ching Ter, who are loyal guards to Emperor Tang TaiZhung. Chin Xu Bao has pale skin and often carries a sword and YuChi ChingTer who has dark skin carries the baton. Other common door gods are Xhen Tou and Yu Lei who are brothers that lives during the Five Dynasties era. They fought against an evil prince that eat humans but was killed. The village folk honored them by placing their portraits on their doors. Sometimes you will see a single door god, which is very likely to be Zhong Kui who lives during the Tang Dynasty. Zhong Kui is a bearded fat man with a fierce appearance and is a scholar turned exorcist (chinese ghost busters).

My Old Faithful Raleigh Rangler Bicycle

My sister bought this bicycle for me 30 years ago. The Raleigh Rangler bicycle has a horse logo, just like the Ferrari Sports Car. It was my ‘Ferrari’, when I was a young boy. My dad still keeps it in good shape and once a while when I am back in my hometown, my kids will use it to ride around the neighborhood. Seeing my kids riding it brings back loads of memories in my mind. This bicycle was my best friend when I was a kid and I spent countless hours riding it. I used it to look for fishing spots in rivers and estuaries near Prai. I even went on my first date with my childhood sweetheart on it, ha ha. LOL. That reminds me of the late Sudirman song, ‘Orang biasa, basikal tua........’.

Cooking For My Mom

My mom went for surgery to remove her cataract and also treatment for her glaucoma. She was unable to see because one of her eyes has been damaged by the effect of glaucoma. Therefore after her operation to remove the cataract on her other eye, she was unable to see for a few days. I was back to my hometown, Butterworth to visit her. I took over her kitchen and cook for her for several days, until her vision returns to normal. These are some of the dishes that I cooked up. 1) Steam pomfret with kei chi (wolfberries). Kei Chi good for eyesight. 2) Steamed grouper with ginger. 1) Grouper with bean paste, ginger and garlic. 2) Chinese herbal six taste soup (Lark bi) to improve appetite. 1) Steamed okra, my mom's favourite..........2) My mom grew tired of eating fish, so I cook Bak Kut Teh for her. Tofu fried with sweet soya sauce and spring onions. And for the rest of the family. Sambal udang (chili prawn) with cucumber and the roast pork I bought from the morning wet market.

My mom taught my maid to cook this jui hu char (nyonya fried turnips)

Bollywood Movies – Old Classic, Haathi Mere Saathi

I am sure many of us are familiar with some of the Bollywood movies and stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Karisma Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta and many more. Our local television channel screen many classic Hindi movies when I was a kid. There were not many other programs during that time and I practically grew up watching Bollywood movies. Let’s sing together! Chal Chal Chal Mere Saathi * Chal chal chal mere saathi, o mere haathi Chal le chal kharaa chee check ke Chale yaar, dhakka maar Bande hai mortar kaar Chale yaar dhakka maar (2 x) Chal chal chal mere saathi Hey hey oho ho..... Phoolon si naazuk hai vo, motaru mein baithi hai jo (2x) Aahista aahista chal, ush ko na takaleef ho Hai hai, kha na jaye Hai hai, kha na jaye in naazuk kamariya bal, chal (repeat *) hai hai oho ho ... Khidamat teri kaama te, shaayad vo inaam de (2x) Kar us haseen ko salaam, aankhon se paigaam de Paas aja, o sun raaja Paas aja, o sun raaja Aisa mauka na jaye nikal, chal (repeat *) Tu yaaron ka yaare hei, kitana vafaadaare hei (2x) Jhootha hai saara jahaan, sachcha tera pyaar hei Tu pagalaa, na badalaa, Tu pagalaa, na badala Sari duniya gayi hai badal, chal (repeat *)

Ready For War.........??? Will be back soon. Auto Mode now.

My faithful survival knife all ready........................................................ Weapons.........................

Heh heh, just my fishing equipments; my Berkley rod and baitcaster, 9" Okuma rod and big Jarvis reel for sea fishing, my old faithful Shakespeare rod for small fish, Rapala fishing lures and all the other stuffs.

Fish, fish here I come!

My Blog is on Auto Mode. Tried dial up, but too slow. Will be back to reply your comments and check out your blog posting soon. Thanks........

Camel Humps and Cameltoe - Aiyo, 'Hump Sap' Lorrrr

Ha Ha, some of you guys thought that I meant different type of ‘humps’ when I published my post on Camel – One Humps Or Two Humps?. I found out that Cameltoe is a slang with ‘xxx’ meaning when I was gathering information for my Camel post. I do not wish to publish adult content here but if you want to find out the meaning of Cameltoe (Caution Adults only, sexual content, 'Hump Sap' Content!), you can check at your own risk at Wikipedia using this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameltoe. (Please note that I have no intention to offend any ladies)

Nokia 7900 Prism or Nokia E71, Which One to Get?

It time for me to change my old beat up Treo 650 for a new handphone. I am zooming on these two Nokia Model. I am a bit outdated on handphones technology. Not sure to get Nokia 7900 Prism or Nokia E71 Pda phone. Any comments? Nokia 7900 Prism Cutting-edge design with anodized, diamond-cut patterns on an aluminum back cover Fascinating light effects – customizable with 49 different colors – when phone is turned on and off, or in idle mode Marvel at a living wallpaper that animates new, dazzling patterns unique to each phone Enjoy fast web browsing, quick downloads and 6 bands coverage with 3G capabilities Capture stylish photos or videos on a 2 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom and flash Store more pictures, videos and music on a 1GB internal memory Synchronize data and contacts with PC applications using high speed USB connection or Bluetooth Experience superior color clarity with16mil color OLED display Volume: 55 cc Weight: 101 g Length: 112 mm Width: 45 mm Thickness: 11 mm OLED display 16 million colors 240 x 320 pixels display Integrated 2 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom Flash modes: on, off, automatic Video recording and playback in QCIF, 3GPP H.263 and MPEG4 format Stereo music player for MP3, AAC and eAAC+ 1 GB internal user memory Text messaging: Supports concatenated SMS, picture messaging, and SMS distribution list Audio messaging: Record your own voice message and send to compatible devices Nokia Xpress audio messaging: Send a spontaneously recorded voice clip via MMS Predictive Text Input: Support for all major languages in Europe, Asia Pacific, China, Middle East and Africa and Latin America Java™ MIDP 2.0 Over-the-air (OTA) download of Java™–based applications Over-the-air (OTA) downloading: graphics, games, ringing tones, themes and wallpapers Bluetooth 2.0 MicroUSB connector for charging and data transfer with USB 2.0 Local and remote SyncML data sync WAP* 2.0 xHTML/HTML multimode browser OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) DRM (digital rights management) 2.0 for secure content downloading EDGE*: Class B, multislot class 32 GPRS: Class B, multislot class 32 WCDMA with simultaneous voice and packet data CSD (Circuit-Switched Data) for browsing and as data modem Battery Talk time Up to 3 hrs Standby time Up to 9 days Nokia E71 Form: Monoblock with full keyboard Dimensions: 114 x 57 x 10 mm Weight: 127 g Volume: 66 cc Full keyboard High quality QVGA display Size: 2.36" Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA) Up to 16 million colors TFT active matrix (QVGA) Two customisable home screen modes Easy email set-up Support for Active Sync for Microsoft Exchange via Mail for Exchange Supported protocols: IMAP4, Microsoft ActiveSync, POP3, SMTP Support for email attachments IMAP IDLE support Support for Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email Integrated Nokia Mobile VPN Full keyboard Dedicated one-touch keys: Home, calendar, contacts, and email Speaker dependent and speaker independent voice dialling Intelligent input with auto-completion, auto-correction, auto-punctuation, and learning capability Accelerated scrolling with NaviTMKey Notification light in NaviTMKey Available in-box colours:- Grey steel- White steel Micro-USB connector, full-speed 2.5 mm Nokia AV connector BP-4L 1500 mAh Li-Po standard battery Talk time:- GSM up to 10 h 30 min- WCDMA up to 4 h 30 min Standby time:- GSM up to 17 days- WCDMA up to 20 days- WLAN idle up to 166 hours Music playback time (maximum): 18 h microSD memory card slot, hot swappable, max. 8 GB Approximately 110 MB internal dynamic memory E71-1 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 900/2100 HSDPA E71-2 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/1900 HSDPA E71-3 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/2100 HSDPA Offline mode CSD HSCSD GPRS class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 100/60 kbps (DL/UL) EDGE class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 296/177.6 kbps (DL/UL) WCDMA 900/2100 or 850/1900 or 850/2100, maximum speed 384/384 kbps (DL/UL) HSDPA class 6, maximum speed 3.6 Mbps/384 kbps (DL/UL) WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g WLAN Security: WEP, 802.1X, WPA, WPA2 TCP/IP support Nokia PC Internet Access (capability to serve as a data modem) IETF SIP and 3GPP SMS Multiple SMS deletion Text-to-speech message reader MMS Distribution lists for messaging Instant messaging with Presence-enhanced contacts Cell broadcast Supported markup languages: HTML, XHTML, MP, WML, CSS Supported protocols: HTTP, WAP 2.0 TCP/IP support Nokia browser- JavaScript version 1.3 and 1.5- Mini Map Nokia Mobile Search Nokia PC Internet Access (capability to serve as a data modem) Integrated A-GPS Nokia Maps application 3.2 megapixel camera (2048 x 1536 pixels) Autofocus LED flash Image formats: JPEG/EXIF CMOS sensor 4 x digital zoom Focal length: 3.8 mm Focus range: 10 cm to infinity Macro focus: 10-60 cm Flash modes: Automatic, On, Red-eye, Off Flash operating range: 1 m White balance modes: automatic, sunny, incandescent, fluorescent Centre weighted auto exposure; exposure compensation: +2 ~ -2EV at 0.7 step Capture modes: still, sequence, self-timer, video Scene modes: auto, user defined, close-up, portrait, landscape, night, night portrait Colour tone modes: normal, sepia, black & white, negative Full-screen viewfinder with grid Active toolbar Share photos with Share on Ovi Main camera 640 x 480 at 22 fps 320 x 240 (QVGA) at 30/15 fps 176 x 144 at 15 fps (QCIF) Digital video zoom Front camera- Video recording at up to 128 x 96 pixels (QCIF) and up to 15 fps- Up to 2x digital video zoom Video recording file formats: .mp4, .3gp; codecs: H.263, MPEG-4 VSP Audio recording formats: AMR Video white balance modes: automatic, sunny, incandescent, fluorescent Scene modes: automatic, night Colour tone modes: normal, sepia, black & white, negative Clip length (maximum): 1 h RealPlayer Video playback file formats: .mp4, .3gp; codecs: H.263, H.264 ,Real Video and MPEG-4 Video streaming: .3gp, .rm, mp4 Customisable video ring tones Software platform and user interface S60 3.1 Edition, Eseries Symbian Os 9.2 Two home screen modes with customizable active standby views Voice commands Personal information management (PIM): contacts, clock, calendar etc. Advanced contacts database: multiple number and e-mail details per contact, contacts with images Support for assigning images to contacts Support for contact groups Closed user group support Fixed Dialling Number support Clock: analogue and digital Alarm clock with ring tones Reminders Calculator with advanced functions Calendar with week and month view Converter Active Notes To-do list PIM information viewable during call Applications JavaTM MIDP 2.0 Flash Lite 3.0 Chat and instant messaging Nokia browser- JavaScript version 1.3 and 1.5- Mini Map Dictionary Quickoffice (Quickword, Quickpoint, Quicksheet) PDF Viewer ZIP Manager Download! File Manager Nokia Search Nokia Maps Adding more applications:- Use the Download! client- Over-the-air (OTA) downloads

The Indian Saree - Lovely Traditional Dress, How to Wear

The Saree (Sari, Shari) is a very lovely Indian female garment and has been around for hundred of years. It consists of a strip of unstiched cloth that is draped over the body. The sari is worn over a petticoat (Pavada, shaya) and with a blouse (cholo, ravika). There are many styles of wearing the saree. Some of the commons ones are Tamil Nadu Nivi, Gujarati, Dravidian, Bengali, Madisaara, Maharashtrian, Kodagu and also tribal style. The nivi is the most popular style today; the drape starts with one end of the sari tucked into the waistband of the petticoat. The cloth is wrapped around the lower body once, then hand-gathered into even pleats just below the navel. The pleats are also tucked into the waistband of the petticoat. The loose end is drape over the shoulder after one turn over the waist. My wife bought this beautiful saree(Not a saree actually, Sameera says that it is a Ghagra. Thanks for correcting me, Sameera) for my daughter on one of her trips to India. My daughter looks cute in it but she is shy and does not want me to publish her photo here. Here is a cute video showing how to wear a saree.