Racing Aces swoon over their Mean Machines

(L-R) Lars Erik Nielsen, Mokhzani Mahathir, Sven Herberger

MillionaireAsia, Nov-Dec 2008

We all like fantasy. Everybody wants to read about the powerful, the rich, the glamorous. Even if we can't all imbibe champagne on a yacht or zip around in maseratis all the time, at the very least, we can live the good life vicariously.

Thus, as writers, sometimes our JD includes trafficking fantasy.

Though I've met my fair share of datuks and tan sri's who think they're God's answers to mankind's prayers, these guys defied the usual stereotypes.

They were charming, professional, and always gracious. Lars Erik-Nielsen, the silver-haired one on the left, even obliged to playing photographer, while this giddy journo posed disbelievingly in the cockpit of their Porsche!

You can buy fame, but admiration has to be earned.

Of trains and making friends

Out and About, Weekender, The Star
For the full article, please click here
For the background of this article, please click here

Insider Food Corner

I've recently started contributing food articles to The Malaysian Insider

Pork knuckle at Ming Chun Kee Seafood, Petaling Jaya

Chee cheong fun at Kedai Kopi Yei Lock, Ipoh (pic above)

Hearty kopitiam fare at Joy Cafe, Happy Garden, Off Jalan Klang Lama

Slurp away :)

Perak Good Food Guide

Not a word whatsoever of sar kok liew?

What a travesty.

Many a balmy morning, my homies and I would be sitting in a coffee shop and munching on our umpteenth piece of sar kok liew and tearing our hair out in frustration. Why, in the name of the Kitchen God, hasn't this delicious snack been recognized, nay, celebrated in any food tome of note?




















That oversight has been corrected - FINALLY - in this shiny new food guide by Flavours, which yours truly had a part to play in :)

So go on, hotfoot it to the nearest good bookstore and find out how something so simple as flour, water and yambean, can taste oh-so-divinely sublime (ok, ok, cliche overload)

I'd like to say that the most rewarding part about doing this book is rectifying this oversight, but but that is only the tip of the iceberg of satisfaction I felt, when I ran my fingers through the leaves of the finished product for the first time.

I hope this book will do fabulously well :)

Not just because I had a part to play in it, and it leads you to over 180 hugely satisfying eats, from the famous Ipoh white coffee and sar hor fun to the yummy, but little known sar kok liew, but more importantly, the Perak Good Food Guide has tried to give a face and recognition to the people who contribute to the vibrancy and diversity of the Ipoh culinary scene.

Eat your heart out :)

Hug those you love

Scratching Post, Weekender, The Star
For the full article, please click on this link
To read some readers' responses, please click here

This was such a difficult article to write: could you tell?

I still keep Pakcik Norhuda's last sms to me.

Laidback Charm

Town Break, Going Places (MAS in-flight magazine), October 2008

If there was ever an article borne out of serendipity, this must be it.

Last year, Philip and Siew Ee read an arty I wrote about Sungai Petani and asked on a whim: would I like to follow them to her hometown Kluang for a weekend getaway?




















This travelogue is the result of that spontaneous trip :)




















I love the quaint town, non sequiturs, anomalies, quirks and all: Every shop seems to display the Malaysian flag alongside the Johor one! Somebody dish out a patriotism award, quick!




















Everybody was so lovely. How can I ever repay all of them for their generosity?

From the Lims who were my hosts, to the Kluang Tourism Department secretary who gave a lift to a stranded stranger with little persuasion, to the enigmatic Mansor Poh, a Johor icon I got to know under completely serendipitous circumstances, Kluangites are shining beacons of true Malaysian hospitality.

To Philip, Siew Ee, Uncle Lim, Li Poh, Jit Pang, Barney, Jit Chiang, Ash, Mansor, Kelvin Oon (for those fantastic photographs!), and anyone else I may have inadvertently missed out:

Thank you for reminding me why I love travel writing. As a writer, I am occasionally privileged to enjoy the perks of the job: glitzy hotels, five star restaurants, and glamorous itineraries.

But nothing could ever match the heartfelt warmth of the people who make going places such an joyful affair.















Must cam-whore lah! (Hamming it up with cobbler Ng Chen Lim, of Kedai Kasut Guan Kim)

If anybody wants the full text, you're welcome to write to me at alexandra.lywong@gmail.com

Skypark at Subang

The latest jewel in Malaysia's aviation crown
MillionaireAsia, Issue 3, Volume 1, 2008

A Simple Life

Local Traveller, Going Places (MAS In-flight Magazine), May 2008

Sometimes, life just sneaks up on you and whisks you away on an adventure.

Well, Pulau Ketam - a quaint, quirky little island that is entirely road-less (i.e. carbon-monoxide free!!) - was serendipity in motion, and one of the reasons I love what I do for a living: travel, eat, and partake in other people's lives.

Oh and my folks were spot on: Good manners always take you far. So the next time you see an old man, remember to give up your seat.

You never know where it will lead you :)

Here are some pixels from my personal collection:




















Yes, everybody - from two-feet-tall pipsqueaks to adults, pranced around brandishing these strange umbrella-cum-hats, while nobody bats an eyelid!















They maximise every inch of their real estate, all right.















Aww. No words required.















My venerable host (can you guess which one?) and his homies :)















Playing tourist, ahem. On my return visit, to hand out copies of the magazine when the article was printed.

*If you'd like to view the full text, please email me at alexandra.lywong@gmail.com and I'll be most happy to share it with you.

Nostalgic over Nosh

Scratching Post, Weekender, The Star
To read the full article, please click here
To read some readers' responses, please click here

On track for adventure

Scratching Post, Weekender, The Star
To read the full article, please click here