Melaka Trip (6-7 Sept 2013) – Part 6

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Last part of Melaka trip. We finally found Rong Mao Dim Sum (32, Jalan Tukang Emas, 75200 Melaka) after asking the local people there. We almost gave up and just wanted to go to any Nyonya eatery for breakfast.

It’s located opposite Masjid Kampung Kling. This mosque doesn’t look like a mosque, more like Chinese temple that’s why we didn’t notice it even though we passed by it so many times! Also, it’s undergoing restoration, many constructions signboards were setup around it, so we didn’t see the name of the building.





The food we had, don’t quite remember what they were. Only remember some of the names tofu skin, lotus leaf rice (RM2.80), cha siew pao (RM1.20), buttermilk/custard pao (RM1) and various type of dim sum. The dim sum starts at RM2/plate.

You get free flow of Chinese tea in pot and you can refill it as many time as you want, self-service, RM1/person. There’s different type of tea leaves to choose from too.

Overall experience, it wasn’t bad. Great place for family to gather. Even though the shop is old, it’s quite clean and well-maintained. Very friendly people too.


Left: This is the mosque opposite Rong Mao Dim Sum called Masjid Kampung Kling. Make sure you find this mosque then you will find the dim sum place.

Right: Another temple found at Jonker area. In fact, there’s many temples around the area.


Various Chinese associations are there too.


For lunch, we decided to give the shop next to Jonker 88 a try. They are definitely overshadowed by Jonker 88. It’s called QQ Ice(86, Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200, Melaka, Melaka, 75200).

Left: Nasi Lemak with Rendang Chicken (small – RM5). Hmmm… I don’t know… I had better ones in Kuching and Adelaide before. Maybe I’m not used to Melaka styled nasi lemak.

Right: Yong Tau Fu Mee (small – RM4), this is really… I just can’t put it in words. Can’t stand the yellow mee, so bitter. Had hard time finishing it. Never like yellow mee being cooked this way.


Left: Wantan soup (small -RM3), edible but nothing special.

Right: Mango Cendol (RM4), ah… Ok… Don’t think I want to repeat what I said in previous posts about the ice dessert. At least of all the dishes in this shop, this is the best *LOL*


Lastly, some Nyonya kueh (RM1/each) found at one of the Nyonya eateries near our hotel.

That’s the end of my Melaka trip. Next up will be Port Dickson.

Food Porn, Going Places, Melaka, The West Side

Melaka Trip (6-7 Sept 2013) – Part 5

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Evening approached, the night market at Jonker Street started.

Bought this coconut shake, refreshing, tasted not bad but I think they’re using old coconut for it. The bits and pieces of the coconut flesh was quite tough. Don’t remember how much it was.This is not the original one. I was expecting it see scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and made on spot but they just took it from the back of the stall. Rather disappointing. The original one is at Klebang.



Some views of the market, very happening, lots to see and eat.


We decided to have our dinner at one of the shops. I did not take note of the name but shouldn’t be too hard to locate as it’s located along with other food stalls.


This is the only place selling Portuguese-Style Sambal Lala and other seafood (I think…) which they cook it outside of the shop. Tried the fried chicken wings too. All the food was not so bad, not ultimately tasty but they’re good enough. The sambal lala was spicy enough, sour and sweet too while the fried chicken wings was tender and juicy.


We also tried the little crabs. Don’t mistaken it for soft-shell crabs. The crabs were deep fried and sprinkled with chili powder, great to go with beer. Very crispy.

Price wise, I don’t remember how much were all of them as I wasn’t the one who made the order. Rest assure that it’s reasonably priced.

Basically we just spent our the whole night walking around the market and bought some local produce and souvenirs.

The next morning, we went out for a walk and tried to locate the dim sum shop which I read online. The followings are places we’ve passed by in order to locate Rong Mao Dim Sum.





MY GOSH! I couldn’t believe that we went round and round and round for I think more than 5 rounds trying to locate it yet it’s just on our right side but we kept taking the left turning. Why on earth none of us thought of the right turning? Anyway, we found the place and will blog about it more in the next post.

Food Porn, Going Places, Melaka, The West Side

The Journey, Coming 30th Jan 2014

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on The Journey, Coming 30th Jan 2014

Aiks… The 4th day of November, 2013 is ending real soon! Was rather occupied last week. Finally get to update this post now.

Last Friday, I was invited to interview The Journey’s director and watched the documentary of The Journey known as End Credits at GSC CityOne. It was also one eventful night that got me so damn stress out and almost cried my way home while driving. Long story cut short, I was not only lost in CityOne but also when I was on my way home. ARG!! That moment, all I think of was if only I have a bf then I don’t even have to be so lost! I know… I know… Crazy thoughts… Totally unrelated *LOL*

Anyway, back to the main topic.

This is Director Chiu Keng Guan and I with the novel inspired by the movie, The Journey. You know how usually movie is made based on a novel but this is the other way round.

Let’s talk about the making first, End Credits. Was lucky to be one of them to watch it.

The making of the Nation Movie tells a remarkable tale of how a group of golden-agers with no professional experience in acting ended up playing leading roles in the much-anticipated movie, which is directed by Chiu Keng Guan. To keep a record of their life-changing experience, Astro is pleased to present “End Credit”, a 90-minute documentary directed by Bak Chee Hong. The documentary captures the behind the scene moments of how the elder actors, namely Uncle Frankie (an art enthusiast in real life), Uncle Khong (an avid bird photographer), Uncle Meng (a sports enthusiast) and Uncle Huat (an owner of beef noodle stall), acted out their roles with passion and heart.

Film production might seem like a wild dream to most of the people, yet, there was this group of elders chose to go beyond their age limits, and marched on to realize their aspirations. Most of the retirees have never involved in acting or film production before. Their dedication and perseverance were highly driven by their hearts filled with passion. Their over-brimming energy serves as the best testimony showing that age is nothing but a number.

It’s so heart-warming and close to our heart. Tears inducing too! I am very sure Malaysians will be able to relate to it very well. I’m sure the movie would be even more awesome! Looking at how everyone, young and old, all involved in the movie making, it was amazing! Kudos to all those who took part in the production.


Now, let’s go to the movie, The Journey.

The movie incorporates motifs such as family, friendship and cultural values in a light-hearted and heart-warming approach for audiences of all ages, featuring 73-year-old amateur actor Frankie Lee, winner of Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant 2007 Joanne Yew, and Australian stage actor Ben Pfeifer.

The story revolves around a conservative father who reluctantly agrees to his daughter’s marriage to a Caucasian man and insists to host a traditional Chinese wedding for the sake of his reputation to celebrate this union. Together with his son-in-law to-be, he then embarks on a road trip around Peninsular Malaysia to send invitation cards by hand. Along the journey, their strained relationship undergoes a subtle change.

While setting against the backdrop of picturesque landscape at Cameron Highlands, Penang, Kedah, Melaka, to name a few, The Journey also intersperses portrayals of uniquely local Chinese culture and lifestyles such ‘Pai Ti Kong’ (Worship of Heaven) at the Clan Jetty, Penang, and the Chingay Parade in Johor.

Chiu also revealed that Astro has a plan to host gala premieres for The Journey in each and every state of the country simultaneously in January 2014.

The highlight of the movie is the hot air balloon. It’s handmade by all those in the production and guess what it’s made of? Plastic bags and cellophane tape!

In End Credits, looking at their perseverance and dedication just to make the balloon fly moved me to tears! They failed many times. Imagine such hard work, making the balloon and when you wanted to get it to fly, it was torn while going up and damaged even more when it got hooked on the basketball net and tore even further when they brought it down. The balloon is 80 feet tall and with the width of 50 feet! 100% handmade by common people! At the end, finally when it can be flown, two uncles managed to take a ride on it for the sake of the movie.

All the settings were not just setups but it’s real events (Pai Ti Kong in Penang and Chingay Parade at Johor), there’s no rest for them during Chinese New Year too. The shooting went on in order to capture the real atmosphere of Malaysia’s unique celebrations.

If you would like to watch it, be sure to mark your calender, 30th January 2014, CNY’s eve, at major cinemas in Malaysia. I highly recommended it.

Entertainment Snippets

Melaka Trip (6-7 Sept 2013) – Part 4

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Melaka Trip (6-7 Sept 2013) – Part 4

This trip sure take a long time to complete *LOL*


The view from St. Paul’s Hill. Can you see a ship there? It’s a replica of Portuguese ship called Flora de la Mar that which sank in the coast of Melaka while on its way to Portugal. This is The Maritime Museum (Jalan Quayside, 75000 Melaka) of Melaka. Didn’t go there though…


St. Paul’s Church is a historic church building in Melaka.


It’s a very sacred place, there’s many tombstones in there. A bit spooky I must say. It was originally built in 1521.


The famous A-Famosa is among the oldest surviving European architectural remains in Asia.



Some old transportation near A Famosa. These are the very first train, fire engine, and plane of the country.


Left: Another transportation commonly found in West Malaysia long time ago. Should be able to see them in the village nowadays too. I don’t think we have such thing in Sarawak.

Right: Not so sure of this building but it’s also painted in the distinctive red that you can find in the area. There’s a small gate that allow you to go up to St Paul’s Hill.


Another river view.


Jambatan Tan Kim Seng.

After so much of walking, it’s more walking again, Jonker Street Night Market it is! It will be in next post.

Going Places, Melaka, The West Side

Phone Interview with Khan Lee

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Few weeks back, I was invited to join a phone interview session with Khan Lee. So… This is how phone interview works, interview with phone! *LOL*

Who is Khan Lee? I’m sure most people don’t know who he is. Do you know Ang Lee? Khan Lee is Ang Lee’s brother. However, Ang Lee is not as HUGE as his brother who has made a name in Hollywood. Khan Lee is also a director but not for the silver screen. He is more well-known for directing and producing Taiwan’s telemovies. He prefers to venture into this genre as he found satisfactions in doing telemovie. Besides, it doesn’t require very high cost unlike the usual movies or dramas. He also doesn’t need to worry about whether the movie will sell or not in the box office.

Khan Lee has background in shipping and navigation but he later discovered his interest in producing movies. He had also tried his hand on novel writing but it didn’t do well. His film-making career started in 1994 when he won the Excellent Screenplay of the Year Award which was organized by the Taiwanese government. By then, he was already in his 30’s.

As with the conservative Chinese family, parents hope that their children can work in a more stable field such as doctor, lawyer, teacher, and so on rather than venturing into the more artistic fields such as acting, dancing, singing and so on. His dad objected it due to that while his brother, Ang Lee, objected him to be in this field was because he knew too well about this industry and wanted to protect Khan Lee from the industry’s cruelness. Nevertheless, at the end he succeeded.

The following movies were inspired by the lives of immigrants in Taiwan especially Vietnamese and Mainland Chinese brides are getting more and more in the society nowadays. These are some of the movies by Khan Lee:

– The Happy Life of Debbie 黛比的幸福生活

Debbie used to live on a coffee farm in Indonesia and dreamed about becoming a barista. Such a dream was interrupted by an accident and Debbie was forced to leave her hometown and her first love.

Debbie came to Taiwan and married to a retired soldier. For 15 years she has worked as a coffee bean picker to support her family and coffee is the sole comfort to her mind. Her son Han now is a teenager with distinguished facial features and dark skin. He often gets teased and bullied because of his Indonesia mother and drunken father. Han has a secret crush on a girl in school and one starry night he decides to reveal his feelings for her. Her husband Lu is jobless because of his drinking problems. Debbie and Han are disappointed in him because he always makes promises but never puts his words into practice. One day a mysterious Indonesian man shows up. A big family secret is about to be exposed…

No matter how hard life gets, how strong the yearning grows, when the coffee aroma fills the air, everything will find its place.

– Moonlight In Jilin 吉林的月光

Weiwei often dreams about her hometown Jilin and her childhood friends. Despite the sweet memories, she cannot go back. To get the substantial betrothal money, Weiwei dropped out of school, came to Taiwan to marry a man she’s never met before. Weiwei promised her friends and relatives that she would lead a happy life in Taiwan. Surprisingly her husband turns out to be gangster and suddenly absconds. Weiwei has no choice but to make a living in a massage store in which some”special services”are offered but Weiwei insists on being a professional masseuse. One day the police makes a raid and a junior officer Jiahao falls into love with Weiwei at first sight…

– My Little Honey Moon 野蓮香

Meinung, southern Taiwan, the present day. Hsiao Tien-hsin (Hung Chi-yang), eldest daughter of the Hsiao family, marries Tzu-chiang (Chang Chung-jui) and leaves the village. Left behind are her younger brother Tien-fu (Chen Chu-sheng), his Vietnamese wife of six years Chiung-e (Helen Thanh Đào), their young daughter Yu-ping (Teng Chih-hsuan), and Tien-fu’s mother Huang Wei-mei (Chiang Ching-hsia). Chiung-e helps her husband in their small vegetable farming business and is resisting family pressure to have a second child as she thinks they can’t afford it. At school, Yu-ping is uncommunicative but shows a talent for drawing; she’s encouraged by one of the teachers, aboriginal Sun Ming-chen (Yangui’e Yasiungu), whose hobby is photography and who befriends Chiung-e as a fellow “outsider”. Feeling pressure to earn more money now he’s head of the family, Tien-fu considers starting up a prawn-breeding business and, when he borrows the house’s title deeds one day as a guarantee, his mother accuses Chiung-e of stealing the documents. Some time later, their fields are heavily hit by a typhoon and, when Tien-fu discovers Chiung-e has been taking contraceptive pills, tensions explode. Chiung-e sets out on the road with Yu-ping to visit Ming-chen, who’s moved to Taitung.

– The Golden 金孫

In a village in Taiwan, Lehue is a traditional housewife who spends her life taking care of her paralyzed husband and her children. In order to ease her burden, Lehue arranges a marriage between her only son Kam and a young Vietnamese woman. To Lehue, all she wants from Kimki is to share the domestic chores and to bear a grandchild. However, such a simple plan leads to unexpected dismay and surprises – having the chickens that live around her house as strange witnesses.

– Yang Yang

Cheng Yu-chieh wrote and directed this story of a woman whose broken family history leads her down an unexpected path towards self-acceptance. Chang Ching-yang (Sandrine Pinna), nicknamed Yang Yang by her friends and family, was born to a Chinese mother (Yu Tai-yan) and a French father, but her parents divorced when she was a baby and Yang Yang has never met her dad. 20-year-old Yang Yang is a gifted athlete who runs track, and her best friend Xiao-ru (Her Sy-huoy) is a fellow runner as well as the daughter of her coach (Chu Lu-hao). When Yang Yang’s mother marries Xiao-ru’s father, at first she’s delighted — Yang Yang finally has the father she’s always wanted, and her best friend is now her sister. But love changes all that when Yang Yang falls for Xioa-ru’s boyfriend Shawn (Chang Ruei-jia), and their clandestine relationship drives Yang Yang and Xiao-ru apart. Yang Yang gives up athletics to follow a new dream as an actress and fashion model, and she finds herself exploring a side of herself she’s never cared to acknowledge when she lands a role playing a woman who is partly French and searching for her long-lost father.

Would you like to watch these telmovies that Khan Lee produced? If you do, do subscribe to Astro A-List channel via a monthly subscription of RM 15 for 8 titles for Astro Byond pay-TV subscribers in Malaysia and Brunei as well as ala carte purchase of titles at RM8 per title via Astro Byond VOD. For more details on how to subscribe to A-List, please log on to http://www.astro.com.my/A-List or go to Channel 200 or contact 1300 82 3838.

Entertainment Snippets