Month: March 2017

Opium For Nga Nga

Elizabeth Chong being the nice person and cat (and dog) lover she is, brought a calling gift to my house. She told my mom it is Meow’s Ah Phian in Hokkien; meaning cat’s opium. Haha.

In Chinese it is known as cat mint or catnip in English. It is really addictive like a drug to cats, it seems. When I was out, my cat Nga Nga raided the pouch, tore it and ate half of it. But then, he is a compulsive glue sniffer all along and has always been attracted to any glue smells such as adhesives on envelope flaps and stamps. He even licked a jar of Tiger Balm once.

Catnip is a plant, organic and herbal. I read that it can trigger hallucinations and cause cats to be high. Let’s see if Nga Nga makes drunk calls (drunk dialing) to his ex girlfriends at 3 am tonight as many of us intoxicated guys have done, at one time or another. 🙂

What do cat owners with experience think?

#catnip #catfood #cats #cat #catmint #nganga

Laksa Johor

Here is another view of Johore Laksa as served on the table at Warong Mak Tim. That is before we cleared the garnishing and lifted the noodles to uncover it for photography. See earlier pic and post titled Women’s Day Treat.

As legend has it, the then Johor ruler, Sultan Abu Bakar, also the first Malay ruler to visit Europe in 1866, instructed his royal chefs to use spaghetti instead of the traditional rice noodles. The royal recipe caught on.

Panasonic Lumix GM-1, ISO 500, f3, 1/60 sec.

#localfood #malayfood #johorfood #johor #laksa #spaghetti #noodles #warung #maktim #setiawangsa #muar

Nasi Tomato Ayam Masak Merah

I love tomato rice. At Warong Mak Tim, I ordered a plate of Nasi Tomato Ayam Masak Merah (with red cooked chicken). Not sure if it is of Johor origin but it is nice that they used long grain Basmati rice. Mak Tim also serves Nasi Beriani Gam and they most likely use the same long grain.

Mak Tim, comes from a family of cooks and is now 75 years young. She started the business in the late 1970s to cater to weddings and corporate functions. She still oversees the business, albeit from home. Picture of Mak Tim (inset) sent by her daughter. The area I know as Setiawangsa is Taman Desa Keramat, it seems.

On Facebook, their address is given as 23 Jalan AU1A/2B Taman Keramat, 54200 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 016 226 5939

Panasonic Lumix GM-1, ISO 200, f4, 1/80 sec.

#localfood #malayfood #johorfood #johor #warung #maktim #setiawangsa #muar #rice #nasitomato #ayammasakmerah #tomato #tomatorice #red

Women’s Day Treat

It is International Women’s Day and a nice woman took me out for lunch at a woman’s place. When I was lamenting recently about friends letting me down when I needed help to go run errands, Elizabeth Chong, was one few empathetic people who contacted me to tell me she can help when necessary. It cheered me up greatly, on that day. Since we have not met in person, I suggested we meet up for a “trial run” in the form of a meal or drink.

She suggested the Johorean place Warong Mak Tim, operated by the mother of her former colleague at The Star. I like Muar and Johorean food and it was a wonderful suggestion. It bills itself as “Sajian Asli Warisan Johor” (original Johor heritage fare). Picture is of the famous ‘Johore Laksa’ that Elizabeth had today. Incidentally, Elizabeth is from Muar and can attest to the authenticity of the food at Mak Tim, whose family also originates from Muar.

Mak Tim is now at Setiawangsa and not, where it used to be, in Jalan AU2C Taman Desa Keramat, three months ago.

Panasonic Lumix GM-1, ISO 200, f5, 1/200 sec.

#localfood #malayfood #johorfood #johor #warung #maktim #setiawangsa #muar

Happy International Women’s Day

Happy International Women’s Day, today.

Re-posting an image of Bonda Emma in conjunction. She’s the very successful woman lemang entrepreneur, mother and matriarch of a big extended family. Yet she behaves with humility and is down to earth always. She giggled like a bashful teen when she saw me walking in

Original post : Motherly Emma.

Bonda Emma appeared genuinely happy and excited when she saw me walking towards her. I was surprised she didn’t do a double take nor was there delay in recalling or recognising me. She has thousands of repeat customers, after all.

She giggled like a teen and asked me what I like as she will give me a treat. I last met her during Hari Raya and she told me subsequently she will treat me after seeing her lemang pics and the ensuing publicity.

I normally don’t accept free stuff from places I reviewed as a matter of principle and ethics. Nevertheless, receiving lemang as a festive gift is a tradition like how we give lemang to relatives, friends and neighbours during festivals. I accepted it in that spirit.

The Malay word Bonda in her moniker is old world, palace usage and an affectionate term for mother. Bonda Emma may be motherly but she is no ordinary woman. She runs a very big operation with 20 or 30 staff and her turnover is higher than that of many other sole-proprietorships.

I complimented her on being active on Facebook. She comes to like many of my daily posts and not just of those that featured her. She blushed and said it is to kill time after work. She even remembered my recent Penang trip posts.

So much humility and ‘humaness’ from a very successful and busy entrepreneur. Awe and respect.

Behind her in red shirt is the chain-smoking, firestarter. chef and family friend Hamdan who I interviewed during the Hari Raya feature.

When I was leaving and as parting words, Emma told me she will share my upcoming posts when it is published 🙂

To be continued…

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 4000, f4, 1/60 sec.

#streetphotography #documentaryphotography #lemang #lemangbonda #bondaemma #emma #harirayahaji #eidaladha #eid #festival #stall #entreprenuer #candid #night #sonyalpha #a7r #zeiss