‘Good old mind’ and ‘No mind’

Creative shop at Chatuchak Market, Bangkok

Bangkok. I am always attracted to woodwork. I have wood carvings from Java, Bali, India, Taiwan, Thailand and even a few pieces done with my own hands. A recent trip to Bangkok, I found that those guests came with me shared the same attraction to woodwork. Hand made photo frames, small furniture and also an entire set up of a stall from re-cycle wood. That’s why I enjoy Bangkok as there are many creative ideas that will inspire you to work hard and smart. Hand work of old woods were truly good at Siam@Siam with all bare and raw finishes with dark tones. Just like work done incomplete but completed. Rated: Good Old Mind.

At Arsom Silp Institute, I was impressed by design simplicity without leaving the environmental complexity. Architect Khun Joy told me of their design to incorporate re-cycle of sewage water, a walk by the lake side and no vehicle to drive right into the institute. I enjoy architecural approach that are culturally correct, environmentally acceptable and design practical. That is The Ashram…. or Arsom Silp about 30 mins drive from central Bangkok. Rated: Good Mind

Say NO to Stupid Ideas!

Back in KL… and talking about care for environment, I received a big plastic bag which my wife finds it very useful. It is big enough for everything except the message printed on the plastic bag..” Say No to Plastic Bags“. It is like offering someone a cigarette and tell him not to smoke! Why in the first place the organiser distributes plastic bags to send such message? This is truly out of mind and how to say no to plastic bag that is suppose to carry a message printed on it! Rated: No Mind.

Old Story.

I walked into an old dental clinic. I was told to sit on the chair with lamps and mirrors everywhere. Then, the hand shaking dentist asked me to open my mouth so he can get a good view of my teeth.

The dentist said, “One of your tooth is crooked!”

“Can you straighten it or should you extract it?” I asked.

He replied, “I need to twist your jaw to straighten your tooth!”

Say NO to Stupid Ideas!

Welcome to Ayer Matahari office at 29-3

Veloo .. stretching to make all white....green

Green… a colour associated with nature, Islam, the incredible Hulk and of course Eva Green. Green also reflects naivity.

Our new office at Taman Serdang Perdana welcomes guests with a cool creamy green surrounding. As you enter, leaves in bronze, right out from a hand thrown ceramic pot from Burma, can be seen breezing and floating along the wall to the ceiling. Large fan-like leaves of Egyptian Fan plant closely shielded the sun rays from the setting sun. The one and only white pot moulded from white cement sits strikingly between the leaves and at time receiving the afternoon sun rays. Right in the middle of this tropical room is the meeting table in dark blue representing a body of water. Yes, this is the description of our meeting room and not our garden.  On the other corner of the room stood the Pallava Indian Prince posts proudly with a beam of light over his head. With a contrasting aged and dark brown back drop, this piece of art takes you to our operation studio where we work.

For almost a week, picking up old practices with wooden planks, saw and nails, we hammered through from morning till night to create a comfortable working environment from empty spaces.   We are still a long way to complete designing our office but it is opened. Next in our operation list, if time permits, will be a sitting lounge for guests and staffs.

Setting sun-rays, lush green leaves, creamy green surrounding, Indian sculpture and exotic garden pots described our office entrance.

Ayer Matahari welcomes all to 29-3, Tkt. 2, Jalan SP 2/2, Taman Serdang Perdana.

Office new address…

Old address at 1999.....

AYER MATAHARI SDN BHD.

NO: 29-3, TKT 2, JALAN SP 2/2,

TMN SERDANG PERDANA,

43300 SERI KEMBANGAN,

SELANGOR,

MALAYSIA.

Our new address effective from 10th October 2009.

For more than 10 years we comfortably worked our ways in the old address at Taman Sri Serdang. In the 90s and early 2000, that place was very popular among students from UPM. Not to miss these opportunities, fast food chains like McD and Kentucky were the first few to be there. These students are not money earners and therefore the only surviving bank is Maybank and no other.

The one and only Dr Lee Fong Beng finally retires and so goes along Kim Loy and Taikaly, the convenient stores once served the residents at Taman Sri Serdang. Familar names are gone but new names arrived. So, I decided to move along to a place that suit me better.

Taman Serdang Perdana, the location of my new office happens to be my choice. It is known for its many food stores and restaurants. Though the shopping mall South City Plaza remains solemn but it just never dies. An active place with a middle eastern food restaurant, the best mutton curry at Keluarga Ahmad,  Curry Fish Head and our favourite Aheko Hot Soup Restaurant. So much more to explore if you are one of those who eats as hobby, try Taman Serdang Perdana.

Drive along the Seremban highway heading south from KL and turned into the slip road to Mint Hotel (closed). Continue on and turn left after the Hotel and turn right at the traffic light. There ahead is Taman Serdang Perdana.

“Jerusalem is easy to find. You come to where the men speak Italian, continue until they speak something else.” Sir Godfrey to his son Balian. Kingdom of Heaven.

Catfish…once from the drain?

Asian catfish, ikan keli

Ikan Keli or catfish, one that is not truly attractive and the Chinese once called it, ‘the fish from the drain’. This slimy scaleless fish began to be a part of the Chinese restaurant menu somewhere in the late 80s. During that time, the demand for catfish shot up due to economic downturn and those eating out couldn’t really afford the pricy prawns or crabs and therefore opted for catfish as the cheapest form affordable for the plate.

Clarias macrocephalus, the freshwater walking catfish was very common in Malaysian market in small towns and villages. Mostly trapped in padi fields and sold in the market at a very low price. This specie has a slightly larger head length than the other specie Clarias batrachus which is the common one in Thailand.

Due to a very high price for a plate of cooked prawn, the demand for catfish in the restaurant prompted us to breed more catfish instaed of udang, the giant freshwater prawn. That was the year 1989 when I was still a farmer.

Breeding catfish is not for anyone. Catching them with bare hands can be a very painful experience at times. Accidental jabs followed by excruciating pain from the catfish spiky spine while handling this fish can truly make a devil out of you. Artificial breeding requires some hormonal injection to the female fish and later, stripping them out for thousand of eggs is nothing attractive but mainly for the purpose of production and profitability. Not very nice.

Later when there was a limitation to production of local catfish, one easy to breed and fast growing specie was brought into Malaysia, the Clarias gariepinus from Africa. This specie is fast growing and gigantic if compared to the local ikan keli. Once cooked and tasted, I can assured you that even hell broke loose, will never ever eaten this fish again.

Today, I still have Clarias macrocephalus on my plate cooked with chilly paste and fried hot and deep enough to give you a heart attack. Once the so-called fish from the drain is actually a good source of  protein for the diet particularly those from the wild rather than from the farm. Beware to choose smaller and slimmer ones and not the fat and fleshy one when you are going for a catfish dinner party.

Catfishes are not recommended for garden ponds or even in recreational lake. Maybe they are meant to be in the drain.