honky tonk haven cafe

my friend Dennis took over a cafe in the Jonkers Street area in Melaka recently, & yesterday he invited some of his friends & CG members to a New Year's dinner. the wall facing the bar was pasted with record (called LP) covers of the artistes of the 50s &60s...

& there was a little stage presumably for live music..
we dined at the back of the cafe, which has been transformed from a dirty river bank to a alfresco-style water-hole, where the Melaka River Boat Cruise plied.

it was really pleasant.

much of the food was catered since there was going to be a crowd of about 50 - there were varieties of curries, meats & veggies. & he gave a little bonus stage show....

now, we don't have to go to Thailand for this anymore. just a stone's throw away is the famed night market of Jonkers St

which was still in full swing at 10pm. brightly-lit trishaws await customers...
...while a street musician showcased his trade at the
entrance.

he turned out to be an ex-neighbour when i was staying at the previous place. you can get almost almost any knick-knacks here.
now i know where i can source a screen protector at street prices. but a sign of the times that modernisation has arrived at this quaint market...

....credit cards accepted!

this is definitely worth another visit. if you're ever in Melaka, check out Honky Tonk Haven Cafe - the ambience will be worth it! if not, give me a call & i'll have a word with Dennis!

;-)

change #2 : the move

my parents finally uprooted themselves & came over to stay with us for good. well, actually they are staying in a rented single-storey terrace less than 5mins away from my place. my father is unable to climb stairs, so we decided they are better off with their feet on the ground, literally. furthermore, there's an old chinese saying that you can't have 2 tigers on the same mountain, if you know what i mean. ;-)

it was quite easy to get a house at the residential estate adjacent to ours. wasn't it ironic that the landlord is a patient i had treated just a week earlier?? & his sister helped me open an account at a bank she used to work for?? seemed like this house is meant to be. got my cleaning lady to tidy up the place in time for the move. 

on the appointed day, the movers came early in the morning to help pack/load stuff while my brother drove the folks up. by late afternoon, almost everything has been unpacked & arranged around the house.

the wet market, pasar malam, shops are all within walking distance, so i hope they'll settle in quickly. they've already made friends with the neighbours & even the phone line was connected just 2 days after application. 

and, for the 1st time in over 30 years, we will not need to travel for the reunion dinner. this Chinese New year should be a breeze!

new for old?

didn't we learn from the Aladdin story that it was in the old lamp that the genie resided? & it was the evil uncle who tried to exchange Aladdin's old lamp for new?

so, we stand at the threshold of a new year, & by convention, bidding farewell to 2008 while hoping & wishing that the outlook for the NEW year would be better or brighter. will it? certainly not if we were to believe the economic naysayers. read here and here

that we have made enormous scientific progress is not in doubt, but has human life made the corresponding improvement? people still suffer illnesses & die. medical science has prolonged our lives & devised new treatments for many common ailments but life still has a beginning & ending. hence, January is named after the Roman god of beginnings & endings.

BUT no science known to man has been able to decrease the amount of greed, anger, jealousy or cruelty to the world.

older isn't always worse, but newer, improved or advanced aren't always better either. find out what has gone before & compare the new to the old. & if the new seems like shallow attempts to be hip or relevant, stay with the ancient path that believers have walked for millenia.

This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls."
Jer 6:16

blessed year ahead, one & all!!

**image** Roman bust of Janus, Vatican Museums

penang #2: kampung folks in the big city

where we come from, there isn't a proper airport or railway station. neither do we have Swensen's nor TGIF.

so can you blame us when we got all excited over this...?

because i believe, inside all of us, the icecream-loving gene is dominant. so while the boy is yet to appreciate good ice-cream..

.......we chose 5 of our favourite flavours....

........yummy!

& to make the city-trip worthwhile, we had lunch at...


it's mostly burgers all around...


& they don't serve in small portions...


i settled for the 3-course meal.....with starter...

main course....

& dessert.....ooh, more ice cream!


a few observations made during this trip...
(1) penangites love to eat (not that you don't already know) - this restaurant was still full at 3pm!!

(2) penangites love coffee - there seemed to be a home-grown cafe at every nook & corner...




(3) clowns making balloons seemed to be a popular act for festive promotions...


one more thing, on the north-south highway the cops now place decoy cardboard pictures of themselves manning speed-trap cameras. they are located at the underpasses of km317.9 northbound & km287.2 southbound. believe me, they look real!

still, it can't be over-emphasised to drive carefully, kampung folks or otherwise.

penang

it can be a pain to drive up to Penang during public holiday weekends but i had to do it because it's our annual ritual. traffic was heavy but flowing & the big bottle-neck was inevitable - at the penang bridge, where 10 lanes of traffic tried to squeeze into 2. kids have the least care in the world....


we did break journey though, at Ipoh where we met up over lunch with cousins who visited from UK....


1st order of business after breakfast the next day had to be .....the famous Penang Road cendol, where there's always a crowd...

for me, 1 bowl is never enough.....

can you blame me? just look at the big beans & cendol screaming,"Eat me! Eat me!"

all for just RM1.60 a bowl.

after a late afternoon hike up penang hill, it's time to check out the latest steam-boat joint at McAllister Rd...

the varieties were just mind-boggling....

with choice of clear or tomyam soup, or hotplate....


then, there's the fried kuay teow stall....

it's NOT penang without lap cheong....

& the lok lok stall...

& the ais kacang....

all for RM17.90 per pax, this looked a good deal - just see the crowd...


& this is just 2 days into penang.....burp! excuse me.

the musical

there was a time when Sweden was famous not for her Volvos, Ikea or even Bjorn Borg, but for the musical exploits of Abba. although their Eurovision hit Waterloo passed me by without much ado, it was S.O.S, their hit of 1975 that meant something to me. i was doing my MCE exams (nowadays rebranded as SPM) & was torn between studying & getting distracted with a new-found pen-friend. it was dire straits....


fast-forward to 1999 & multiple hit songs later, their music have come to life again with the debut of Mamma Mia! the musical. i was fortunate to get complimentary tickets for the show at Istana Budaya on tuesday & i came away with this verdict - much, much better than the movie (pierce brosnan couldn't sing to save his life) & you just can't stop stomping feet with the beat.

thank you for the music, guys!!

the reason

you just know tis' the season to be jolly...tra..la..la...la....

shopping malls adorn themselves with all manner of colourful & shiny trappings, as if trying to outdo each other by the size/height of their christmas trees....

....radio-waves bombard your senses with yuletide songs & promotions....

...and churches showcase their efforts in spreading the message of love & salvation.

the Sunday School children at my church had their simple event yesterday...




....& i was given the task of presenting a skit for the kids &
i thought the idea of Christ's birth in a modern hospital was....

.....refreshingly different.

later in the evening, the Youths had their own program...

....& from the photos my daughter took, the theme was obviously very Starwars-like....

...the battle between Good & Evil...

no matter how the message is communicated, as long as we can look beyond the glittering tree decorations, the presents & santa clauses, & remember that we are the reason He suffered & died, it would have been a story well told.

blessed christmas, one & all!!

grey's anatomy

i had a middle-aged patient who underwent 3 surgeries without improvement. it's unfair to pronounce judgement as to whether the patient should have been subjected to the traumatic experience, based solely on hindsight which we all know to be 100% accurate.

so how do doctors make crucial decisions? consider the facts:

1) the patient had a fall which resulted in multiple blood clots on both sides of the brain;

2) doctor#1 told his family that there's severe brain injury & survival is slim, even with surgery;

3) the family sought a 2nd opinion & doc#2 concurred with doc#1;

4) it was commendable that the family undertook to consent for surgery, & subsequently 2 further procedures, but in the end, it was futile;

doctors are not God, although some may behave like one. however, we do well with our God-given knowledge & skills when we provide the available treatment options & explain each on its own merits, so that the patient and/or the family can deliberate & make an informed decision.

in medicine, results can go either way - the same treatment given to different patients can end in different outcomes. it's never an exact science (or art). there are always grey areas where the unknown & unexplained thrive.

it just occured to me that maybe, just maybe, that's why the TV series is called Grey's Anatomy. could it be that it's never about Meredith the intern-now-turned-resident but rather about the uncertainties the patients & their doctors encounter daily? that sometimes even with the top experts, high-end diagnostic tools & most advanced drugs, the patient dies while another, left on his own may miraculously survive?

i pray for wisdom & discernment as we deal with our patients' fear & concern.

amen.

"Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.

If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak up, for I want you to be cleared.

But if not, then listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

Job 33:31-33

change #1 : the decision

changes are generally well-received if they are for the better. but if we have to move out of our comfort zone to accomodate it, then we may confront change with mixed feelings.

not having lived with my parents since leaving home for varsity, it took some time to face reality when they decided to move out of JB, where they were born & bred, to come live with us. they have been stubbornly independent all this time & i think 2 events finally prompted them to do so:

1) my father is gradually deteriorating from parkinsonism, which has afflicted him since 2002. my mother, being the primary care-giver, is getting on in years as well, & the Lord has blessed her richly with good health & a cheerful spirit;

2) the next-door neighbour has offered to buy over the house in JB - the same one we've lived in for over 40years, which of course held abundant memories for all of us, both better & sweet.

they will move at the end of this month. it will be a change for all of us. but then, perhaps it's not so much about changes as it is about responsibility.

and filial piety.

If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Tim 5:8

wisdom

my colleague JR & i regularly discuss current affairs over coffee or lunch, usually focussing on politics & finance. yesterday, we were again lamenting at the credit crunch/recession/bankruptcies that's gripping the world, when we realised that there's limited sound investment opportunities now.

that's when he asked : what we need now is wisdom.

but before i could reply, he continued : and wisdom is fear of the Lord.

i was down for the count, because JR is not exactly the God-fearing type although he has attended a few CG events i've invited his family to, & has a personal copy of the bible in his office.

good for you, JR, & while we're at it, can i also add this:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well
matt 6:33

**image** Judgment of Solomon. 19th century engraving by Gustave Doré.

just another day?

8.00am : woke up

8.30am : started work. SMSs began to come in.

10.00am : reminded wife to get some ASM units launched
today

1.00pm : skipped lunch because work needed to be done

6.30pm : back home. wife out at pasar malam. kids watching
TV.

7.30pm : went out for dinner

9.30pm : home again.

pretty much an ordinary day, except that in between....

i get this birthday card from the kids....


which opened up to this...

(and the numbers "50" actually popped out)

my daughter used her pizza hut voucher from a school project.....


to buy dinner......


and my wife specially made a trip to Cold Storage so that we can have this for dessert...


maybe, like the beatles proclaimed, love is all you need....


.....to change just another day into a not-so-ordinary one.