Beijing - Part Two , "Kun-Kun".

This was overdue days ago.

*****

Nama English orang Beijing Chinese nii kenkadang pelik. Nama yang tak pernah aku dengar. Macam Oasis, Efdlinger, Jarsoya, Road, Salulu, Laref, Skyer and Flora. The weirdest one so far is Pussy.

Touring agent aku kali ni nama dia Rose. The heard Beijing-er pronunciation is Ro-ser. Dialah yang bawak kami segroup merata-rate dari Great Wall (entry point Ba-da-ling, pronunciation pat-ta-ling street) sampai ker Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and tiring shopping (kwan memang dork ghrok2 part nyopping nih).

At Forbidden City, she tried to explain her very possible best with her Beijing-er Engrish on the details of the City, Gardens, Artifacts, Architechture, pepatungs, pavement, fengshui and colours. Hapa-hapalah..

Not to forget about the Emperors, his many concubines and the Eunuchs. According to my customer, in ancient China, the khunsas are called "Kun-Kun"s. While listening attentively on the details of the eunuchs, one of our customers is excitedly wanting to know how the emperor made a normal man an Eunuch.

Haiyoo..! Teruja betul mamat Macau nii..

Where’s do they cut ?
Is sit just the balls ?
What about the shaft / or rod ? (I'm sorry, rods & shaft are normal words in our industry. Rotating rods, interphase shafts, interconnecting rods and shafts, etc.)

Was it the whole thing ?
How do they cut ?

By slitting with scissor ?

Or was it knife ? Mebbe a Machete ?
Swiss knife ? No ?

Haiyooooo.. Tak sensor lansong mala'un nii.

Ro-ser explained it carefully. Adding that, every year they have a period when they inspect the Eunuchs' shafts and rods, to see wether it grows again. (Entah betol ker tidak, aku pun tak tahu).

If it does, then they’ll re-cut.

Then come soalan cepumas from our colleague from Macau.
“Do they cut it when it is hard or soft.?“
Everybody was so quite, concentrating on the Macau-nese question.
Ro-ser just stood there, terkedu..

Then came help from one of our Hongkie colleague. With his thick Hongkie Engrish
“Harro Jen, you cannot ask her that question.. Ro-ser is still wirgen..”

Everybody was stunned. I think they had too much of free flow Tsingtao, during the lunch..

Summer Palace lake.

Bridge @ Summer Palace

Beijing - Part One - Eating Orgy

Dalam beberapa hari singkat aku kat Beijing, pada pendapat (sontot) aku, ada dua budaya berlaga. Budaya orang China dari China. Budaya Melayu (or semi Melayu) dari Malaysia.

Kalau orang China China disini, mereka kerap akan menyajikan seberapa banyak dishes seboleh- semungkin kepada pelanggan mereka. Lagi banyak lauk-pauk-mauk yang mereka pesan, lagi bagusla , pada pandangan mereka. Lagi banyak LPM yang tidak habis, lagi gembira la mereka.

Tapi, pada orang Melayu (or semi-melayu) Malaysia macam aku nii, aku rasa laa, lagi licin aku sapu dishes yang mereka hidangkan, lagi bagus. (Bolehkaa ini macam ?) Pada aku, licin tuu bermakna, makanannya enak. Really appreciate the dishes being served. OK dak gitu ?

Masaalah sekarang nii pulak, lagi licin aku sapu, lagi banyak orang China China nii order. . Aiseymann, this is a loose-loose situation.

Hari yang terakhir aku kat sini, aku beritahu Willie, our Beijing-er colleague,

“Yo Willie !

You must make a promise not to order as many dishes as before. You're one Great Host !, but I'm gaining few kilos already.. that's baaad man..”

Willie, being a glo-bo-locally travelled salesman he is, agree. Tapi, aku tengokkan dia order untuk dia seniri, still macam pulun habis-habisan. We went to an upscale Iranian Restaurant. He had One huge plate of Palao, One big plate of salad, and a pinggan dara or hummus, with several Arab Breads

Mebbe, he's like me, a decade back. Bila customer datang Malaysia ajer, mula la aku heret diaorang (at that time) to Kelana Seafood. Ordered like there's no tommorow.

This time, no more laa. Kwan Dok ghorkk..

******

I hope y'all won't get sick looking at these .jpgs. yaa.


I do.


******

Pan-fried pecans (or was it almonds ?) with fresh sprout. Not too crunchy, yet not too lembek. Smoooth

Mixed Salad and nuts, served as an appertizer with sweet kicap. Macam Kicap Habhal cap kipas Udang.

Broasted chicken in mint sweet and sour sauce. Amek ser-cebis ajer buat rasa.

Timun laut in clear soup. The non muslim customers were served with Pumpkin soup with Lentil. Apparently, some on the Hongkie Customers said they'd rather be muslims getting this soup. Kuat btol men-teke-daghah ma-laun tuu..

Litely Boiled & Peeled seawater prawns. Boleh laaa. Kena jaga sket. Gout tuuu.

Halal Lamb version of Peking Duck, in a bun. Not in a paper thin damp tortillas. Best Bang. Yang ini Sedap mendongak ke Langit.

Look at the cute luscious Burger !!

Scallop with watercress and Shandong nuts. Look at the flower motifs. Tengok seketika untuk menikmati carikan bunga ituu.

On the right, is panfried Daun bunga Matahari. Cruncheeeeh.

Look at the Spread. It's meant for 3. Okay laa make it 3 and a half. The other half is my portion.

Haiyoo,. membazir betol.

This is interesting..

From the left, shrimp with Lemon Grass stick. Put inside schnafglas, topped with extra virgin olive oil, & mashed spinach.

In the middle, wasabe jelly.

On the right hand, vacuum-chilled susu tepong. Yes, you heard me rite. SUSU TEPONG !!

Take out the shrimp from the glass, the mashed spinach and olive oil will stick on the shrimp.

Once the wasabi jelly hit the nose, take mouthful of this chilled susu tepong.

Aged mushrooms with udang kering. The udang kering looks like bacon bits. Yuck !

Siakap goreng tepong masam manis. I have no clue what-so-ever, how they made the tepong look like durian ?

Crunchy Lotus flower in coconut milk.. Ni sedap. Simple.

Escargot in cheesy creme. Ubat Gout No 1. !

Baked Baby Lobster with Garlic, peppercorn and kuchai. Ubat Gout No 2 !

Slightly baked scallop with Shrimp paste. Sunggoh kenyal dan yummeeh. Take a-bite and you can feel the scallop melanton balek. Ubat Gout 3 !!!

Sweet aged mushroom with Kicap. Another simple yet satisfying dish.

Salmon Pizza for the first nite appetizer.

Me with Bassam Al-Jub*ri from Saudi.

Look ! Halal Lamb in a cute Bun ala Peking Duck.

Beijing - Part Jeloh

Sebelum aku bertolak, ada juga browse Weather.com.

The weather com forecasted- Beijing – High of 16 degree low of 1 degree. Sunshine. Aku rasa, kalau 16 degree tuu dengan matahari bersinar, it'd be purrfect. Jalan-jalan tak berpeloh. Rasa sejok, dudoklah bawah matahari. Rasa panas, duduk bawah pokok. It's gonna be Very nice.

But, Sampai aje kat BCIA (Beijing Capital International A-port), we were hit cold by “a high of 7 degree, with a low of 1 degree.”

Tuboh kwan belom sempat aejah lagi. Hmm. Tambah pulak, angin menderu-deru rancak menyusup tulang sum-sum. Rasa nak tercabot telinga aku.

Anyway, Beijing is one clean, huge, Modern and Ancient City, but a bit dusty. Agaknya sebelum Beijing Olympics tuu, memang the Chinese Government habis-habisan cleaning up the city. Landscaped roads. Beautiful Parks.

But How dusty is dusty ? Hmmm,. Kalau kat Mesia nii, aku punya Index Kekerapan Perlombongan Bijih (IKPB) sekali seminggu., di Beijing mungkin sampai ke tahap sekali-sehari. Tuu pun, most of the time, aku dok dalam. Indoor. Kalau kat luar, masa di Great Wall, or Forbidden City, masa aku jalan2, mebbe dua kali sehari. Pakai kasut opih, sejam dua dah berdebu dah.

That dusty.

Makan ? No-hal-what-so-ever. Alhamdulillah. There were also 5 important Saudi Customers tagging along. In fact, we were fed waaay too much by our colleague. The food orgy, that’s good for one entry by itself.


eh ? ada kiblat sign in the Hotel. That's how Global this city is.



He he. Swiss Co equipment is everywhere in the Olympic Park..

Gate M

It's Cold outhere..

Giant video screen at The Place

BT

Rules # 8.

Bila takder idea,. tempek ler apa-apa gambar yang patut.

*****

For the past few weeks, I was here...

1. For some teambuilding and merapatkan hubungan sesama pekerja. It was tiring but enjoyable. Yelah aktiviti orang-orang muda. Go kart. Paint Ball. Halangan Berentas. Abseiling.. Adoooi, saket kopek deltoid aku, 3 hari tak hilang.

Biasalah, makan free lagi beb. Tapi, baru aku perasan kali nii, walau pun free, takder ler aku nak belasah tak tentu hala. I just sample few choiced salads. Lots of Timun. Cherry tomatoes. Canned Longans. Nenas. Romaine Salad. And Rojak sans kuah.

Kalau tak jaga, tentu pasal kang, tak boleh jalan pulak..

2. For some product approvals and presentations. Beserta, pekena Makanan Utara India.

How come for the last 3 visits, di NBB* ni, customers dok ajak pekena Northern Indian Cuisine kat depan Warisan Mall nii ? Restaurant Kohinoor.

Not even one time aku pekena fresh seafood... Aku ikotkan ajer.

* Negeri Bawah Bayu

3. For sending Maam for some Courses. We dipped ourselves in the pool until everything turns blue. Anak dara yang dah besar, dua orang tuu dok dalam bilik ajer, computeringg.

The highlight of the day, is discovering Ajim's just like me ! He loves to be in the pool. Badak Comel Berendam.

Bbudak yang lain semua dak naik, me and Ajim ajer dok dalam pool sampai pukol 7.

From 5 o'clock .

Alhamdulillah. Still able to enjoy this MMmmmaterial World..

*****Look at Ajim. That's how I'd normally pose

Supermaann yang tak fokus. Gambar tuu laaa.

Banana Curry

You should try this. Banana Curry. Yes..! Kari Pisang. Aku tak pernah rasa. Tuu yang buat aku teruja.

Agak-nya-la-kan, kari tergolong dalam group mana di alam makanan ? Dessert ? Appetizer ? Main Dish ? Pencuci Mulut ? Hmmm.

In this case, it's soup. Hot Soup. Hot slurping in. Hot staying in, and definitely hot, oozing out. (Buasir aku dibuatnya..)

And Yes, it's Kari yang dalamnya ada Pisang. Entah pisang Chiquitta from Sud Amerika. Or pisang montel from Kota Tinggi. Rasanya lebey kurang macam tuu laa.

Apparently, Ning, the Phillipino owner told me, it's a normal, ordinary Curry they serve in Europe. Ordinary Curry ?. Betol ker ? For me this is something interesting. Sikit2 mencecah ker sempadan pelik. Aku tak tau, tapi hatiperot ku berkata..

"Bedo'oh Makcik niii..and, plus, how come a Phillipino, nama dia Ning ?" Kerr memang aku yang tak tauu/

Anyhow, ntah apa Ning tarok dalam Kari tuu pun aku tak tauu. Aku boleh rasa kari tuu masuk dari mulot sampai tembolok, dan terus ke dalam perot. Slithering hotness all along the way. Hmmm..

Dalam bercerita-ngomel, habih jugak ko..

BT Cum H - Part Four

Perjalanan dari Zurich ke Warsaw mengambil masa lebih kurang 2 jam. Hmm, Lebih kurang sama dengan masa penerbangan dari KL ker Miri laa.

Sampai sahaja di Warsaw, kami ter~lekat di counter Immigresen selama lebih 50 minit. Aku udah rasa resah semacam, ingatkan nii Poland nii bekas negara Kominih. Silap-silap kang kena strip search pulak. Ada pulak beberapa malaun pelawat ntah dari India ker atau Nepal yang ditahan oleh pehak Immigresen. Kena tarik masuk bilik lagii.

Tengokkan pegawai immigresen nii yang tak senyum, yang tak ada emosi, yang tegaak, terpacak semacam nii, buatkan aku tambah saspen..

***

Cuaca lebih kurang sama saja seperti di Zurich. Cuma, boleh dapat rasakan udaranya kurang nyaman sedikit. Berkemungkinan, kurang negative ion.

Baju-dalam, singlet saiz 42, Brand Pagoda aku, udah kehabisan, stok yang bersih. Yelah. Pakai-sidai, pakai-sidai, selama seminggu, walaupun dalam cuaca nyaman~kering, pun boleh bacin-harum-masam gak baju tuu.

So, aku ingat nak laundry ajer. Hopefully, it would cheaper that $witzerland. But, Help me God.Tengokkan laundry price list tuu, tergamam kejap. Satu singlet (nearly kusam, berlengan, Mydin-sourced) kena RM39 nak basuh. Ser-he-lei pulok tuu.

Kalau 2 helai,. kira dah dapat baju T shirt golf yang baru lagi. Purgh..

Look at the PriceList.

Setahu aku, 1 zlotny is equivalent to 1.7 ringgit.

Anyway, Alhamdulillah. Company bapak aku nii do cover these kinda miscellaneous expense. Balek nanti, kena belikan sikit coklatlaa kat assistant controller.

***

First day, I went to Przasnysz (cam mana nak sebot niii, aku pun tak tahuuu) for factory visit. Its about 2 hours away by driving.

On the way to Przasnysz

Scenery was okay, but the road was a bit less quality than Malaysia. Jalan Lama balek Kontan tuu lagi steady..

Maam pusing2 laa around the surrounding areas near the hotel.

***

Haperkernama Park nii.

The 2nd day, my coworker, Grzegorz Syska took us around at the old town. Agaknya Grzegorz nii part time kerja jadi touring agent kot. (mebbe he brings a lot customers from all over the world to Warzawa)

Old Town. Alahaii,. Loving tak ?

Towards the end of the day he brought us to this Tex Mex American Southwestern-Style restaurant., where the waitresses dress skimpily (sp?).

No gunong or lurah jpg here. Just the simple menu
Hmmm, Segala Macam gunong-ganang terpapar. Gunong Banang ada. Gunong Tahan sepasang banjar pun tak kurang. Lurah dendam terletak. Jengka tiga segi tertebar.

Nak tengok, Maam ada sebelah.

Tak tengok ? Bedo'oh laa a'ok Jo. Maam pun perasan. Ingat sangat nak amek gambar. Kang naaaampak ser-loak sangat.

But I think she's a good sport, that day laa. Hee.

***

The Next day, Maam went back alone to Mesia, via Zurich. I continued the tiring journey to Geneva for one day short stop at our factory, before heading to London. For a short break.

After sometime being together (Ohne Die Kinder), sedey tau jalan sorang-sorang..

BT Cum H - Part Three

Mimi's Fren, m&m (mimi und maam)


Mana perginya Fill-in- Flash ? Gelap pun gelap laa..

Ondeway to Pilatus..
Aku ingat Baden dan Zurich udah kira cukop bagus. Cukop menarik. Cukop lawa..

Puurrgh,. Lucerne lagi lawa.. SubhanAllah. Kalau bawak Dilla sekali, for sure dia shakap..." wuuuuuuuu shanteeeeeknyer.. wuuuu shanteknyer....."

From Baden, we took the SBB train. We met Mimi and her friend along one of the Bahnhof. Olten ker haper ntah..

Mimi dok panggey aku Ayah Chik, Ayah Chik. Dan Mamat se-kor niii,. dah start panggey aku Pakcik! Aiseymann.. Ok, ok,.. I must admit, I'm old. Tapi bila panggey aku Pakcik !, lagiii la confirmkan ke-tua-aan aku nih..Hmmmm.

But he's a nice boy man. A man you could bring back home, for parent's interogations.

***

At Lucerne, we bought a combined ticket going to Mount Pilatus. 90 minutes on a Ferry. 40 odd minutes on a steepest train in world, and we are on top of Pilatus.

On the way down, 5 minutes on Big, Standing-only-Cable Car. Stop for Lunch. Another 25 minutes, in an intimate smallish-4-passengers-only, Genting-like size cable car. Wonderful.

The scenery all the way from Lucerne until the end of the journey is simply breathtaking. Wow!.

Cuma satu menda yang aku regret. My point and shoot camera.

I should've bought a better camera. Hmmm...

On the way down. Near the summer park.

On top of Pilatus.

Near the Summer Park. (Angkat Jo,. angkaat).

BT cum H - Part Two

Eastern view of our room

Unlike me, Maam arrived safely, with no drama. No luggage lost. And everything's intact. Alhamdulillaah..

Seeing Maam arriving, ohne Die Kinder, I feel like 15 years, 4 months, and 9 days ago. Masa baru2 kawen dulu.. Uuuurgh. Whoa..He he. Better stop here, before things getting lurid.

Southern View of our love nest room

But then, apakah perkara sepasang suami isteri bercerita., apabila tidak bertemu selama 4 hari. Dan bertemu pula di tempat asing, yang lawa, dan membe-ran-sangkan ini. Wooops... Hmmm,.

Cerita pasal anak2 laaa. Apa Pipa buat ? Camaner dengan Pipa's Competition baru nii... Apa Anne tengok. Arip suka makan apa. Dilla senang tidor ker. Etc.

***

Like any other small town in Switzerland, Baden is picturesque. Small town 25 minutes from Zurich. Nice clear crisp air. Weather is also super. Sejuk2 nyaman bermatahari. Perfect 22 degree. Kalau rasa panas sikit, dudok la dalam shade. Kalau rasa sejok, berjemorla.

Menapak 30 minit pun, ketia* maseh kering. Harumm.

U-kno-whada-mean-laa.

Sungai bersih. Tasek clear.

M&M (maam and mimi) inside Zurich BH

And guess whom we met during this Euro 08 ?. Michael Ballack and Peter Cech. Hmmm..

And who's the bloody Dutch Player wearing #17 Jersey ? Apakernama ?

***

Zuerichsee..