30 Aug
Malaysia © 550ml jar of faith (http://aftergiovanni.blogspot.com)550ml jar of faith writes: The recent company jaunt to Langkawi, while painfully condensed, somehow managed to uplift some heavily sodden spirits. It helped that we parked ourselves for most of the two days at the very agreeable Westin resort. Before I go on to... uh, showcase a sampling of the fine hotel food within, can I just say that the massages at the Heavenly Spa in the resort are phenomenal? Well worth the $$. Having rolled out of bed at 4AM to catch first flight out of LCCT, by the time lunch rolled around, I was practically tranquilized ...
15 Aug
Malaysia © 550ml jar of faith (http://aftergiovanni.blogspot.com)550ml jar of faith writes: To me, rituals often present themselves as a bunch of obligatory chores which have been put to reinforce some expired logic from the past. Recently, however, I joined a choir singing a different tune. Having concluded that we were constipated by a whole host of soul-sapping habits, a few friends and I decided to create a new ritual of purging. The idea was we would make handwritten personal lists of the nasty forces we'd foolishly allowed to infiltrate our little lives, recite them to one another as some sort of a poetic and serious pledge and then conclude by burning lists in a bonfire (or well, in the interest of containing the threat of open burning, ...
550ml jar of faith writes: To most, Taiping is this quaint little sleepy town in middle Malaysia with lovely green lungs but to me, it is a romantic birthmark of sorts. SourceMy parents met, courted and fell in love here under trying circumstances and if their current seasoned-couple disposition is anything to go by, Taiping mined enduring love and passion, apart from tin in its heydays.We chanced upon Taiping Ho Chiak when in the vicinity for the SS2 branch of Super Kitchen Pan Mee last year....
30 Jul
Malaysia © 550ml jar of faith (http://aftergiovanni.blogspot.com)550ml jar of faith writes: Found myself at the receiving end of a thorougly unexpected and isolated ambrosial weekend, thanks to a perplexing benefactor. To complement the activities which yielded some serious Q&As of this sticky organ we call the heart, it made sense to take time out to drive to Indon joint Surabaya in the unfamiliar territory of Sunway Mentari to challenge our threshold for spice. The Lontong Cap Gomeh was a jerky start to Surabaya's liberal lashings of nerve-numbing chillies. The chicken stew, cushioned by dense rice cakes and sliced root vegetables were a winning and reassuring broth in milky, ...
25 Jul
Malaysia © 550ml jar of faith (http://aftergiovanni.blogspot.com)550ml jar of faith writes: Bangkok's been a foolproof escape for the longest time - proximity's a dream, the city's a glorious mess, the food binges always magnificent, the alcohol cheap and flowing. It was timely that in the depth of KL ennui, a trip to the city that had previously fixed it all was planned and administered. Except, this time, it didn't fix it all. The travel time took longer than anticipated, thanks to Air Asia's infamous delay, we found ourselves in the thick of Sukhumvit disorientated and disappointed, we didn't drink or eat anything mind-blowing and we engaged in an absolutely dreadful exercise of weeding out our respective skeletons in the closet.But let us not discount Bangkok as ...
02 Jul
Malaysia © 550ml jar of faith (http://aftergiovanni.blogspot.com)550ml jar of faith writes: Rationale, how I've missed you! I have been hiding in my nostalgic soft-focus cloak of despair while you, my friend, have escaped me in harsh, functional reality.So having finally come to grips with the fact that I had been oblivious to some jarringly bad elements of a gig turned sour, preferring instead to assume foetal position of idealized despair, I now seek you out, face to face, beyond my comfort zone. Welcome to Pandan Indah!We had been disillusioned for a while with the Thai offerings in our neighbouring ...
27 Jun
Malaysia © 550ml jar of faith (http://aftergiovanni.blogspot.com)550ml jar of faith writes: Come crunch time, we tend to forget the things that mattered or meant something just yesterday. Like neglecting your parents when you're deeply lodged in some silly emotional tribulation. Or how the routine session with friends gave you a new lease on life when you were relentlessly fixed on wallowing in despair. An apt case in point: a late-night conversation with a friend recently discounted a relationship which had been intensely intimate to obliteration, simply because he couldn't deal with it in, granted, his galling circumstances. "(It) wasn't even a real relationship, I don't know what it was!" he stammered, when confronted with how he had abruptly upended it....
22 Jun
Malaysia © 550ml jar of faith (http://aftergiovanni.blogspot.com)550ml jar of faith writes: "How about that Pudu Hakka Mee place?" was the response from my dear Father on Father's Day, when asked what he wanted for breakfast. Wrapped up in reckless, unwarranted grief over an unexpected disappointment, I had turned up at the start of the day of my parents' rare visit to KL sullen and unyielding, completely oblivious to the blessings for which I was so fortunate.The established Hakka Mee institution of Chun Kee in Pudu set the pace for the major mind methamorphosis for Father's Day. Dapu is part of Meizhou City, located in Guangdong Province and where the standard Hakka dialect congregates. It also happens to be where Dad was born and raised through rough and ...
17 Jun
Malaysia © 550ml jar of faith (http://aftergiovanni.blogspot.com)550ml jar of faith writes: The Saturday Mission: Some fiscal damage at Digital Mall Section 14, but before that, to fill the gut, we sauntered over to nearby Hai Keng Coffee Shop.Zoomed in on the bright cheery sight of the signboard bearing Fushou Lou Nyonya Seafood Curry Mee. The guy operating the stall was to our utter dismay, devoid of a fushou (moustache). But then we eyed the peace offerings in the form of additional optional toppings for your bowl of noodles like stingray, clams, long beans, cuttlefish and we were appeased....
09 Jun
Malaysia © 550ml jar of faith (http://aftergiovanni.blogspot.com)550ml jar of faith writes: We gather here today to wish you well. And to be well, you need to eat well. No scrimping on the things that matter most to a bride-to-be - joy and liberation from loving, being loved and entering into a life-long contract of uhh.... bondage and protective custody? We kid, we kid. We love people in love and we love weddings!Ma Maison offers a RM30 nett meal of a myriad of emancipation from stuffy and restrictive diets and starters. There is plenty ot chew on, from garlic toast to toast with caramelised onions & cheese and egg mayo ...