Shantytemple Surprise May 12, 2009

The thing I love most about KL is the randomness and incongrous buildings that sit side by side each other. Like the Hindu temple that sits under a shopping mall called Mid Valley. Or this Chinese temple I spotted today whileI was waiting around for my sister to finish in a meeting.

This shanty temple stood out next to the highway in vermillion and had a little one-stop bike thing filled with joss sticks, statues of deities, Malaysian flags and a sack or two. I walked into the smokey interior and witnessed a ladymonk/nun going about her business on a side altar and an older man rushing around the main altar which was filled with about what seem like a thousand gods.

Note the little altar that’s been propped to the side of that tyre complete with joss stick that’d been burnt.

InstaParty Dinnerware April 15, 2009

Today Guy sent me a link to a Handful of Plates. They sit on the palm of your hand in ergonomic equilibrium and look like paper plates. You know those paper plates that you bought when you had a party, usually found on a buffet table. This brings back  memories of children’s birthday parties and open houses in Malaysia. These plates designed by AMT who are also responsible for the neon diamond rings made me think of the crushed cups by Rob Brandt.

This cheeky design is available in all good design shops and would work very well with the plates for an instaparty vibe. Just add water.

Quiver, quiver my heart! March 25, 2009

The most delicious find of the week is Bompas & Parr and their beautiful creations!

I remember a time when every party you went to featured jelly or agar agar (mmm, I miss the taste of coconut and pandan flavoured agar agar).  Tinned fruit cocktail was very popular in early 80s Malaysia. And they were normally set in jelly so it looked like you had bits of cherry floating in this quivering delight. No kitchen was complete without the colourful plastic jelly moulds.  I like the look of these vintage jelly mould pendant lights and think it’s a really lovely way of recycling objects.

I am very excited about discovering Bompas & Parr. Just look at these magical creations! You can order customised jelly moulds to create just about any shape in any colour.

All this crazy jelly business made me wonder what else was out there? Who else was into crazy creations? What other fun is there for jelly-lovers?  I stumbled upon this. I wished I had been about to see this wonderful installation by Nigel Peterson and Deborah Walsh in Suter Gallery in New Zealand.

And if you ever wondered what is the sound of jelly wobbling have a listen to the result of the experiment held by UCL.

Pandan: A magic ingredient May 28, 2008

My uncle came over the other day with a carrier bag full of pandan leaves for my mother. He picked these leaves from his garden where his one plant has truly grown in abundance.

I remember being a kid and spending Sundays in my uncle’s coffee shop, where he would make kaya for the week. Kaya literally translates from Malay to mean rich. Like a jam, it is a spread made from coconut milk, eggs, sugar and pandan leaf juice. My sister and I would fight to hold the giant wooden spoon to stir the mixture while my uncle cracked the eggs in.

Pandan leaves emit a superfragrant smell. For this reason it is used to perfume many of my favourite dishes. Added into cooking, the kitchen is rich with the aroma. Used with coconut it enhances the taste and smell of coconut and turns food a light green colour.

Knotted and added to cooking rice with coconut milk, you get nasi lemak, Malaysia’s favourite breakfast. Juiced and marinated with chicken, then used to wrap the chicken, you get Pandan Chicken, a Thai/Malaysian dish.

Pandan as a magic ingredient does not stop at savoury food. In Asia, it is also used in making cakes. I spent this trip in Kuala Lumpur looking to buy some Pandan Layer Cake, a chilled cake, sometimes topped with dessicated coconut. Last week, I found 2 different types of layer cake. The Indonesian variety, a dense cake made of many layers and the one I love, which is chilled and is made up of layers of sponge and pandan flavoured jelly. Another favourite is kuih bangkit, a cookie that is flavoured with pandan and a staple treat during Chinese New Year. I found some being sold in Chinatown the other day and snacked on the fish-shaped cookies, pretending that it was still Chinese New Year.

Pandan leaves are available to buy from the Chinese supermarkets in the UK. I remember seeing it for sale in Pat’s Chung Ying on Leith Walk in Edinburgh. Although available to buy from the Chinese supermarkets, once I head back to London, I am going to miss seeing the many foods made with pandan on menus and in bakeries. Before I leave, I will be clutching on to some leaves and soaking in the wonderful fragrance.

The Roti Man May 16, 2008

Like the jingle of the ice-cream man van, kids growing up in Malaysia are also familiar with the Roti Man’s beep. In the days before giant supermarkets and 7-Elevens, the Roti Man served communities. Housewives would buy their roti (or bread) while their kids would eye packets of Twisties or cream buns.

I guess I never really quite noticed how strange the concept is. The Roti Man rides a kapcai filled with a variety of bread, crisps and sweets. Everything is packed in plastic sacks and tied to a steel frame attached to the back of the kapcai. As you can see below, more plastic sacks filled with baked goods are tied to the handlebars.

Not unlike the ice-cream man, when the Roti Man beeps the horn, the ladies and the kids run out of their houses with some small change. They skip back to their houses, armed with all sorts of goodies: raisin bread, buns filled with vanilla or chocolate cream, roti kelapa (sweet dessicated coconut) and fairy cakes, smiling to themselves.

Redouble Check Confirm May 8, 2008

I say man. We got to redouble check confirm if this has been preponed or not. After, you have to gostan if not korek. You think abourrit and tell me after you think youlah. Thanks you.

Glossary

abourrit – about it

gostan – to go astern

I say man – an expression of surprise

korek – correct

preponed – to bring forward, the opposite of postpone

redouble check confirm – confirm

thanks you – thank you

you think you – think for yourself

If you want to arm yourself with some Manglish you should learn these words.