Saturday, September 30, 2006

Pasar Malam

Today I had a look at the Pasar Malam... in Bahasa Indonesia (same as in Bahasa Malaysia) it means Night Market... it's a yearly event, a market specialized in Asian goods...

So here I am, looking right and left at the stands... at the entrance gate, the first stand is for the Board of Tourism of Malaysia... now, everyone that truly knows me, also knows that I love Malaysia... the images, the posters, all the merchandise was great... great places, great views, good eye-catching commercial... but for crying out loud, it's time to change this old "Malaysia truly Asia" slogan... it's been there for ever, I know they tried to produce a name which would stick to the country, immediately recognisable... but, my personal opinion, it's getting boring... Malaysia truly Asia... ok, I know, what else?

Anyway, the market is made up mainly by Indonesian products... pretty obvious, given the ties between Indonesia and the Netherlands... so you have basically anything, from wooden craft to batik clothes, from bamboo furniture to silver juwels... some stands were really nice, nice stuff... if only I had already my apartment in Hong Kong, I could start thinking of buying stuff for it... but then again, wouldn't it be better if I buy that kind of stuff in Asia so I don't have to carry it around the world twice? I guess it makes sense, after all....

Anyway, I saw nice vases, lamps, plates.... all decorated in batik style... I got myself a couple of them, as a start... the prices are relatively fair, I have to admit... also the Thai and Chinese stands were nice... I bought a sculpture of Buddah's hand at the Thai's stand, very nice and peculiar...

After wandering around a little while, observing as well the incredible moltitude of races present at the market site, with some Indonesian music played live in the background, I found my way to the food department... You can buy anything, from fresh to canned food... you can get special imported chili sauce (well, at least 30 different kinds... with dry fish, spicy, very spicy, super spicy, burn your tongue spicy, burn your butt spicy)... or go for some papayas, little bananas, rambutan
, starfruit, mata kucing, longan, lychee, anything... even durians! Gosh, they stink! And they are sticky too... I never liked them, but who likes them, normally is crazy about them... it's a love them or hate them situation, nothing in between...

Finally, the food court... happiness sometimes is made up by little things... a flower, a smile, a memory... or... satay ayam with lontong! Simple, can find anywhere in Indonesia or Malaysia
(better if sold at the roadside...) but that's what I call yummy... Yummy? I never used this silly word, well, stupid word before in my life... so I would say this is what I call tasty, good food, even if simple... the real satay, not the Dutch satay... and to finish, some pisang goreng... you always finish with dessert... and a cup of kopi-o or teh tarek... the only pity is that no one knows or cooks my absolute favourite nasi lemak (coconut rice, fried mini anchovies, fried or boiled egg, sliced cucumber, roasted salty peanuts, sambal, possibly fried chicken wing with curry sauce...sometimes otah otah too, all served on a banana leaf), laksa, Norm's favourite and ais kacang... infact, I love desserts with red bean too, like the ones I got both in Malaysia and Taiwan :) they are more Chinese specialities.... Well, I guess I will have to pay a visit to the East to get my favourite food... ehm, in fact, I will ;)

Friday, September 29, 2006

M3-Lite

WOW.... Driving the brand new BMW 335i was really impressive... the torque, the acceleration, the deep noise, the beauty, the smoothness, the sheer power... it has the whole package to be THE car... I love it... This car is like the devil, takes your soul and never gives it back... it's the baby wonder of Munich... there, they called it the "M3 light", and this nickname is well deserved... driving it, you get totally absorbed by the power erogated both smoothly, if you chose so, or abrubtly, for some serious sport driving... sure, this car gives you the comfort of a BMW, and the feeling anything could happen anytime from under the hood.... people were looking, and the next thing, they were watching my registration plate disappearing at the horizon... and, another one bites the dust... Holy guacamole... the 335i .... did I already mention that I love it?? The vital numbers, from smaller to larger:
2
turbos,
3 liters, 5.5 sec 0-100km/h, 6 cylinders,9.5 l/100km, 24 valves,


225/35R19 (front), 250 km/h the max speed (limited), 255/30R19 (back),
306 HP, 335 the name, 400 Nm,
1600 Kg,
5800 RPM,

68.000
Euros.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Champions League

I'm running a bit late... many things have happened, maybe too many and too little time to keep up with the pace of events...

I will have to review few things... let's start with the easiest to get back on track...

Two weeks ago I have been to Eindhoven, the Netherlands, to witness one boring Champions League game between PSV and 2005 champs Liverpool...

Oh gosh, PSV hit the cross bar in the first half, and Liverpool the post with time winding down... two flashes in a boring, eventless, scoreless, almost meaningless game... luckily it was 8 or 9 of us, we had lots of fun taking the piss out of every one on the pitch... but damn, why does it always have to be a boring scoreless game when I attend? Few years back, I went to watch Aachen against a lowly Icelandic team in the UEFA cup... Aachen won 4-2 (if I'm not mistaken) on the road, so everyone was expecting a show of goals at home on the return leg... yeah, right... that was pretty crap too...

In the past, it could have been entertaining watching Korea's Ji-Sung Park, but he plays no more in the low lands... he is seeking good fortunes in ManU... one that resembles being asian is Lee Nguyen, but I guess he is a fake, I am not too sure, but he should have American passport... yes, he is American with Vietnamese origins... anyway, he didn't play against Liverpool, so...

You know, I think I better stick to basketball... :) Yes, this is a pretty good idea....