People stories

Perak Food Trail, Going Places, May 2009

What's the greatest thing about being a writer?

Is it the travel perks? The free food? The schwag?

"Lexicophilia," I used to answer without hesitation. I did go into writing because I loved words. As much as I enjoy word-play, these days I've uncovered an even more powerful dope - the chance to live vicariously.

During an interview which will be published in October, I found myself saying, "Every time I meet someone for a story, I learn something new," when he asked me why I chose to write, rather than say, sell computers for a living. (My old job, if you didn't know)

You don't just write stories about people's lives - in the process of coaxing the story out of them, you LIVE that person's life. When you talk to people who are still madly in love with their work/craft/pursuit, you get the privilege to relive their highs and lows, see through their eyes, walk in their shoes.

The heroes from my favouritest burger stall in the world :), Thum's Burger

What other job provides you with this window of opportunity, over and over again?

....

Sorry for lack of updates. Byline also made recent appearance in:

The Star Weekender Last Saturday of every month

Going Places June 2009 Rustic Rendezvous; August 2009 Renewed Wows

Quill (Jul-Sept '09) That's the way the cookie crumbles The Hard Life of Writers

Millionaireasia (Sg & Malaysia) Personality Profile Tiah Joo Kim, TA Group's Heir Apparent

Malaysian Insider Numerous. Please visit http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/blogs/category/food-blog/

The Iron Horse Driver & Ipoh's Mother-lode of Liew

Food, Weekender, The Star

For the full story, please click here

On lucky occasions, writers stumble upon stories they feel an instant affinity for: stories they enjoy exploring, reliving, and in some cases, eating.

These were two such stories :)

Above is my ode to an all-time Ipoh favourite - liew! Be still my wagging tongue :D

On the same day, this came out:

Scratching post, Weekender, The Star

For the full story, please click here

By now, I already know that these kind of low-wattage pieces about everyman don't register nearly as many hits, but my ode to Abang Azmi of KTM surely ranks as my favourite of all time for now, next to the jungle rain piece I did for Going Places in March 2009.

I must have met Azmi in January or so. After getting down from the train, I jotted down my experience in one breathless rush as soon as I could get my hands on a pc, and filed it away with the dozens (maybe hundreds?) of other drafts I've written and tucked away in my computer.

While I knew his story was too compelling to reserve for my own enjoyment, I just couldn't hit the perfect final note. Even after dozens of drafts, I felt none of them were good enough to do justice to him, nor stand up to public scrunity. At one point, I despaired of it ever seeing the light of day.

The day it came out, I duly sent Azmi an sms in the morning, citing page, section etc.

One of his replies was: "I dah war-war kan artikel you pada kawan-kawan I."

Wow. Don't you think that single sms captured the zeitgeist of his personality, far more eloquently than my 1K whopper?

That man sure has a way with words ;)

Me, cook? Never!

You know what they say: Never say never.

Bunny, who has an almost paralyzing phobia of
a) getting her digits fried in an oven
b) falling facefirst into a wok of scalding hot oil
c) burning the kitchen in the midst of crafting the perfect sunny side up ....

.... whipped up Malaysian style pasta aglio olio!

And, it was not just edible *cough*. Proof: Me, cook? Never!

By the time I remembered to record this epoch-making moment for posterity, the last morsel had been devoured, so sorry folks, no pix.

What can I say. Wonders never cease ;)

*rolls up sleeves and flips open recipe book*

PS I enjoyed the writing almost as much as I enjoyed the cooking ;)

PPS Have been lax in updating my food blogs in Malaysian Insider.

This was a food review I did of Rajah Brooke Cafe.

Contact me

Email alexandra.lywong@gmail.com

(Not quite a ) Weary Writer

Scratching Post, Weekender, The Star

For the full story, please click here

To be perfectly honest, I hesitated at the Send button. This was such an awfully personal piece after all. 

In the end I decided to go ahead anyway, becauseI had a feeling that it would strike a chord with many people. I've just seen it happen so many times. Not just to me, but to my friends and loved ones - people working themselves (and their health by default) to the ground because they didn't know how to get off the rogue locomotive. 

Like me, they forgot that they were controlling the steering wheel. 

I wrote this about 2 months ago. Since then, other things have happened. Not necessarily bad things, just things that made me reevaluate life from a different slant. I've come to the conclusion that nothing is really over until YOU decide it's over. 

To those who asked, yes, I am better now. Much, much better. 

Thanks for caring. I am a blessed girl :)

XOXO

Bunny

Pondok of goodness

Food, Weekender, The Star
For the full story, please click here

What do I love about mom and pop shops? Everything! The down-to-earth prices. The unpretentious service. But most of all, the soul in the food.

For parents aka lovable perfectionists, every detail is a matter of fierce beating pride. Whether it is a hearty bowl of kon loe min, or seasoning for onion rings, no culinary endeavour is too insignificant to be left to chance.

So much as SUGGEST that their standards for the day, are less than sterling, and I'll bet your kitchen artiste (Because that's what they are, no less) would turn ashen, accept your assessment with trembling lips, escape into the kitchen before thumping their chests Tarzan-style, and proceeding to dump the whole fleet of sauces and with a vengeance.

Proof can be found no further than The Headmaster, who once bellowed at his trembling assistant, "Don't leave the potatos exposed to air! Now cannot use already. You have to dump the whole tupperware!"

Oklah, one swallow does not make a flock, but you get my point :)

Make no mistake, for a parent, every epicurean endeavour is a fierce commitment to love.

And Pondok, you will find upon entering its heartwarming premises, is another passionate testament to this philosophy.

The tomato queen

Scratching Post, Weekender, The Star
For the full story, please click here

How can I not be proud of this woman?

Her gung-ho, her resourcefulness, her never-say-die attitude: these are but the tip of the iceberg. Damn. Should I have suggested "My mum the wonderwoman" as the headline? Oklah, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to get away with it :P

As I write this, she's outside, pottering in the garden and humming to herself. I guess she's, umm, pleased? :)

You might be surprised to know that I've never been really close to my mum until recent years, after I quit my job and had more time to spend with her, and learn from her, and enjoy her. Every day, I'm peeling off new layers and finding out that she's got so much more in her bag of tricks and ideas.

Friends who read the article would probably be nodding in agreement all the way. I may be her daughter and proud as hell about her, but I'm not exaggerating one whit.

Because my mum, incredible as it may seem when you lay eyes on her perky, petite frame for the first time, really is larger than life.

KL City Tour

Only two words to describe my reaction when I got my April 2009 copy of Going Places: Shock and awe.

That was before I flipped to my article and went Holy crap.



















12 Hours, Going Places, April 2009

I walked past this building, went inside, gabbed excitedly about it to the editor, waxed lyrical about it and yet never in my wildest would expect it to look this good in print.

I guess this is what separates the wannabe (photographers) from the already-theres.

Righto. Back to (amateur) photography 101 for me :(

On the bright side, I never knew buildings could be so exciting.

I perambulated through Dataran Merdeka. Soaked up the atmosphere at Sin Seng Nam over a plate of Hainanese chicken rice. Witnessed the abhisega ceremony at Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, during which Lord Murugan, Lord Ganesh and Seri Mariaamma's figurines are showered with buckets of unguents (yoghurt, milk, saffron, coconut water, honey etc) in individual stalls. Absorbed fascinating historical trivia about Yap Ah Loy and gang at the Taoist Sze Ya temple, named after his “Tze Ya” (an honorific for Yap's subordinates who were killed during the civil war) - one of whom was said to ooze white blood, hence cementing his deity status.

In other words, I played tourist to the hilt and enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks to KL boy, practising architect and ardent conservationist Lim Take Bane, for his invaluable input in helping me plan the itinerary.

Most importantly, this walkabout changed my perception about buildings. I finally understood what my passionate historian and architecture buff friend, H, meant by "Buildings are repositories of history. All human stories have an indisputable connection with different buildings."

The happy side effect?

These days I drive my friends batty when they drive me around and I go, "Hey, that's art deco" or "Oh look Moorish architecture"

The Chinese will say, "Sik siew siew pan toi piew" (Know a little but pretend to be an authority on the subject) :P

Ok, H, what were you saying about a crash course in architecture?

An angel in Chow Kit

Scratching Post, Weekender, 28 March 2009

For the full text, please click here

Cartoon credits: a certain Ms Charmaine Hon, brilliant writer and artist friend :)

A friend summed it up best: "There are Alberts in many parts of the world whose work go unnoticed and unrecognized all the time."

How does this sound (as a book title): "To all the Angels I've met before"

or

"To all the unsung Alberts in the world..."

Okok, no more cheese for the benefit of the lactose intolerant :)

This morning, I called Albert to apprise him of his 15 minutes of fairly anonymous fame. He didn't know I was going to do it of course.

I didn't either, up until last week, when I felt the story had matured sufficiently. A lot of encounters reside and percolate indefinitely - sometimes for too long - in my mind as half-baked stories, before they're eventually fleshed out and published. Anymore dithering and this one would probably gotten buried under other abandoned because yours truly got her knickers in a bunch over yet another fresh encounter ...

Albert, on the off chance that you're reading this, I hope this made your day.

Candy colours galore

I can't draw, paint, or design to save my life, but I love eye candy as much as any other girl.

I generally don't use this space to plug anybody - more so if they're unsolicited - but I really want to share these dangerously addictive sites that I recently got introduced to.

http://diaryofane-shopaholic.blogspot.com/

I probably can't fit into 90% of the stuff that's reviewed in here, but the gratuitous eye candy and the slick copywriting is really something. The writer, whoever she is, can match any professional copywriter, IMHO. Good thing that she updates every day too. Now I'm a hopeless e-shopaholic-holic (Comprehende? :))

Viv, it's all your fault! :D

http://dianarikasari.blogspot.com/

Flicked this off Tongue-in-chic (great name, by the way) I am a sucker for short punchy names.

Through which, I found this. http://poop-art.deviantart.com

I know what my friends will say. Eh, aren't you a little over-the-hill to be ogling at such sites?

Like ingenuity, works of art are works of art, right - age has nothing to do with it.

Now excuse me while I go back and ogle some more. The girl deserves a break after a titanic assignment.