No beef

Weekender, The Star, Scratching Post

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No, I didn't write this headline but it was worth a chuckle anyway.

Wonderful friends ...

...and wonderful pizza :)

... Sepuluh ringgit sahaja! (Obviously I like eating here very much, and not just because it's eminently affordable)

Though the question was at the back of my mind the WHOLE time when I called Frank on Sat night, I waited till the end of our phone conversation before asking timidly, "Where did you go for dinner?"

"AJ. Ta pau."

"Were there anybody who came because of the article?" Gulp. Nervous. Sweat.

"Got."

Phew.

He continued grimly, "A LOT of people. Some cancelled their orders. What to do? He said philosophically. They all came at one shot."

This is one of the reasons I didn't want to write a full-length feature about AJ's Pizza and Pasta. Having tasted the consequences second-hand at Vary Pasta (the writer was so traumatized that he ate his pork knuckle dinner in quiet terror, while the waiters dashed about in a tizzy attending to the avalanche of customers), I knew the consequences of a review in a major national newspaper: pandemonium.

A two-man show like AJ's wouldn't be able to handle a crowd of such mob-like proportions.

All said and done, I was ecstatic when Khan sent me this message: "God bless you. You care for us."

Ah, food for my stomach, heart and soul :)

The Neophyte Writer - Oct-Dec 2009 Quill

Pei Ling oh Pei Ling,

Beloved friend/much adored little sister/exceptional writer, thanks for reminding me about this article.

That's The Way the Cookie Crumbles, my now-defunct story-driven column in Quill (replaced with the more pragmatic Survival Tricks for the Freelance Writer) chronicled valuable lessons that may not be that obvious to wet-behind-the-ears freelance writers like myself.

Like this one dispensed by a Malaysian icon at an MPH event in 2006.

While purists ("What, how dare you equate writing to selling?") may balk, it still ranks as the best piece of advice (i.e. practical as opposed to hopelessly idealistic and not applicable to real life) I've ever received about freelance writing.

Reading this again, I detect decidedly Cinderella-esque overtones hehe.

Would you believe it - until now, I have not plucked up the nerve to tell him about this article?

To Eric Forbes and May Lee, thanks a million for the opportunity to write for Quill!

Latest articles

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Haven't had time to do my regular cataloguing cos have been occupied with work, play, and .... jeng jeng jeng ...

INDIA!!!!

So was that 18-year-old foaming-at-the-mouth wait worth it?

Hell yes.

To quote this quaint restaurant in Mysore that a rickshaw recommended to me (yes, and I use the word quaint most legitimately! Check out the menu below!), it exceeded my every expectation.

I love the hospitable people. The vivid colours. The tongue-singeingly spicy food. The eye-popping OTT-ness.

For proof, just check out the menu below.

Quaint kan?

I'm already planning my next trip back.

Chennai? Calcutta? Bombay?

Going Places, August 2010 - The Malaysian Issue

Say triple whammy, somebody!

Not only did I have three stories in GP, two of them got a cover mention. Thank you so much Vivian. I was walking on air for most of yesterday - still am, I think. Pinch me, somebody ;)

More background details later but for now, may I present (ahem ahem) ...

On the trail of Tunku Abdul Rahman

Thank you Sharifah Intan, Kim Gooi, Cikgu BK Yap, Anthony Law, Lubis and Tan May Lee for your invaluable input. Without you, the story wouldn't have been possible.

Town Tales

Thanks so much for your tips Rabani Ayub (who also has a photo byline in this month's issue), Anthony Law, Kelvin Egay, Boon Tan, Uncle Lim, James Tan of Motormouth fame, Mr Chong Sun Yit ... Pardon if I have accidentally missed anybody out.

Biz Talk: Personality - Jeevan Sahadevan

It was a pleasure working with you, Jeevan :) And thanks Noelle for the introduction.

I just looked at the list and ... oh boy, I owe a LOT A LOT A LOT of people coffee :P

I'm in heaven

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I thought this was a rather strange title - no, I didn't supply it - until a friend pointed out it could have been extracted from an old pop song:

Pity the picture didn't come out too well in print.

Here's the haul for the rest of the day:

The institutional yong tau fu stall in Madras Lane

The out-of-this-world linguine carbonara I was salivating over a few hours later at Carmen's. Thanks for the tip, Samantha Fong!

All in all, a great day that kind of paid off for itself, although I DID haul myself out of bed at 7.30am and only got back home at nearly midnight after squeezing in 7 appointments in a single day.

Who says freelance shake legs only?

Spunky Madam

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In all honesty, I was never a huge fan of duck until I ate at Madam Heng's. Restaurant Hong Kong was merely another name in my litany of must-visit restaurants for the Perak Good Food Guide, which I was commissioned to write in 2008.

It was lust at first bite - the juicy-fleshed, crispy-skinned duck was simply otherworldly.

Since then, I've been a regular visitor, if not to eat, then just to drop by and shoot the breeze with the amiable auntie who runs the shop.

This story took a while to crystallize. It really is a tapestry of numerous events that seemed random and unconnected and unimportant save for their entertainment value, until the final piece - that dinner that I didn't want to happen but happened anyway - fell into place.

Unanticipated. That's how they all happen right - whether it's the right moment, the right story or the right person? :)

...

To give you an inkling just how good her roast duck is ...

By the way, credits to Wang Shao Ming for the "I am fine, you are fine, we are fine" photo. My bad for forgetting to submit your name, no fault of The Star. Roast duck on me, ya? ;)

Winsome Pekan

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Part II, and some of my other pix that ended up on the chopping floor...

That room which reminds me of my grandma's old house :) At RM55 per night, you can't beat Chief's Rest House for bumper value.

I managed to sneak a quick walking tour of the Royal Quarter before heading back to Kuantan. It was postcard-pretty traditional houses galore :)

My favourite animal - after dogs and cats and goats ...

If you've never seen opor daging in your life - nah!

The Abu Bakar mosque, a majestic sight even against the overcast sky backdrop

Now. Where next? Betong? Gopeng? Dungun .... Just randomly rattling off places that have been suggested to me.

To be continued ;)

Point me to Pekan

Article is here

Taken at Chief's Rest House.

Of course I didn't make it all up :P

I used to go off on off-the-beaten-track jaunts like this ALL the time, before age and its attendant paranoia kicked in .... well, no more!!!

I've resolved to hit the less-trodden road at least once a month (ok lah make that two. Have to cari makan mah. How can I go off charging to obscure little towns so often?)

But I WILL make it a fixture in my schedule. I was lugubrious before I hit the road, and after I came back from Pekan, I was like a new woman!

And if there's anything that Pekan proved, there's nothing like the promise of adventure to put a spring in my step and rekindle the fire in my belly :)

*a thousand anguished editors scream CORNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY*

Excuse me while I go eat a cup of Nelson's buttered kernels :P

Toodles,

The Flouncy Bouncy Bunny

In case anyone is wondering, I'm working on the sequel to Point me to Pekan right now, hold your horses ya. Not sure if it is going to end up on Navel Gazer or as a travel piece. Will see where the stars lead me.

*And a thousand editors shudder in horror at this shameless use of cliche*

Biz Talk: Personality

February 2010, Going Places (MAS inflight magazine)

Sporting, gentlemanly, and one of the most articulate chaps I've had the pleasure to speak to. In other words, a dream interview candidate!

Seeking more interesting business personalities to interview for the same column. If you know of any, drop me a mail at alexandra.lywong[at]gmail.com :)

Misunderstood

(Pic filched from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/)

So what if the movie was universally panned?

Fact is: I glided out of the cinema itching to shout from the rooftops: "What a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious piece of work!"

Mind you, I am NOT deliberately trying to be contrarian.

True, the first hour was a painful plod (Pacing CAN be improved).

I did have a hard time swallowing this grown-up Gwyneth-lookalike galumphing around in a state of deshabille (or close to it - her off-shoulder dress threatens to fall dangerously any moment).

Then she falls into the rabbit hole and Tim Burton hurls a fast and furious volley of characters and special effects ... ok, I'll let the eloquent Dana Stevens finish the job:

" .. the CG effects start coming so thick and fast that neither she nor we have time to experience much wonder at all. Look, there go Tweedledum and Tweedledee (voiced by Matt Lucas)—but before we've had a chance to witness their unique sibling dynamic at work or hear a single line of "The Walrus and the Carpenter" (the recitation of which was one of the high points of the 1951 Disney version), Alice and the egg-shaped twins are being chased through the animated underbrush by some sort of giant saber-toothed beast as Danny Elfman's score throbs and swoops. The feeling, in this movie, is always that of being frantically rushed to the next thing: the Mad Hatter's tea party hasn't even gotten truly barmy before it's broken up by invading soldiers led by the menacing Knave of Hearts (a digitally stretched-out Crispin Glover)."

Uh huh.

Too much muchness, Tim! How can we appreciate the genius of your imaginative if warped mind if we don't even understand what's going on?

I was all set to lie back and drift into an afternoon siesta when Helena strutted into the scene, her giant orb of a head abobbing.

Helena totally PWNED it, in netspeak.

From thereon, my attention was held in a vice-like grip.

Whatever bone I might have to pick with the plot or pacing evaporated quickly. Mind you, I'm not a blind idol of either Tim Burton or Johnny Depp. I thought the latter's turn in Pirates 3 was too hammy to be effective (too much muchness again), and I didn't like Public Enemies. (one big snoozefest. The characters didn't engage me).

But here, Johnny was sublime. Well you could say that he can probably sleepwalk through these custom-written characters by now but what made it more interesting was the development between the hatter and Alice. As unlikely, and even faintly disturbing the whole idea might seem at first, I like how Tim prepares the audience for it, by easing us gently into the realization so that the development feels utterly natural.

Tim has taken liberties with the script, yes, but these are reverential liberties.

Beyond his attention to visual detail and how "pulled together" the palette looked, he really is a sympathetic storyteller who knows how to create characters that we can care about.

A pivotal scene which captures the zeitgeist of the entire movie (SPOILER) takes place when Alice gazes at Hatter in wide-eyed wonderment (yes!!!) and breathes, "You must be real."

In the end (ANOTHER SPOILER), it wasn't just the mad hatter's heart which broke when Alice decided to go back to Upperland (well if one's Under, logic dictates there must be an Upperland right??)

*Sighs and melts*

Bottomline, they felt real. The blue caterpillar, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Red Queen's smarmy right-hand man, even the annoying dork who gets shanghaied at the gazebo ...I love how Tim Burton invests every character, even those with limited air-time, with such complexity and compassion. I could actually feel sorry for, and yes, understand why the Red Queen ends up so bitter and vengeful. It could happen to any one of us *gulp - reminds self*

Or maybe it's just me.

As long as I remember, I've always been able to relate better to the outcasts and misfits who tiptoe on the fringe of so-called normal society.

After the movie, I walked into Borders and headed straight for the children's literature section.

Enough said.