Jay Han’s Shiznit Blog

Who would have guessed…having Malaysian food right smack in the middle of Boston City. Yerp folks, original Malaysian food…I’m talking about Roti Canai + Curry Chiken, Laksa Asam, Kang-Kong Belacan, Ayam Madu and loads more! Authentic Malaysian food! Where? Right here…The Island Hopper Restaurant.

Island Hopper’s menu caters various delicacies which originates from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam as well as Idonesia. Well, as a Malaysian myself, and having being away from home for almost a month now…of course I got all greedy and tucked into the Malaysian gourmet section!

Stepping into Island Hopper will immediately take you away from the busy streets. Its a very much fusion like interior decor, with artistic paintings being hung from the walls…to some wau bulan (Malaysian kites), and some balinese mask carvings. The music soothes your ears and creates a very relaxing vibe - just what I have always wanted.

The staffs are all friendly, dressed in some Hawaiian shirts which makes them even more loveable. Anyway, lets get down to the food. Here goes some of the stuff which I manage to shoot at this nice cozy restaurant.         

Well, when the food was served…The rest was history! Manage to indulge myself in the Malaysian food fair! Being really one of its kind in the vicinity of Boston City…one can be assured that they will have a great South East Asian food experience. I also came to understand that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is just around the corner… prolly a couple of blocks away from where Island Hopper is. So, for you Malaysian students down there who feel a lil’ home sick and wanted to have some really good "home" cook food… drop down to Island Hopper. Bear with me for stressing on the "Malaysian" word, cuz after all… this lovely outlet is in fact being operated and owned by a Malaysian.

Buurp… excuse me. But I gotta finish up this Laksa for now.

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

Well I havent update my blog for quite some time now… so I guess its about time to do so.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Anyway, lets take a peek back to about a week ago. It started snowing sleet last Friday. Was driving back from Norwich City at night time when it took place, and gosh… it was difficult to drive in such condition. Kinda reminded me of how it was in the video games. Was driving at prolly around 30mph, and the snow just kept on coming at you. Cant see a thing more than 10m in front.

I flew over to Boston on 24th. Flight was kinda allrite…but it took a hefty 8 hours to get from Amsterdam to Logan Int. Airport, Boston. I wasnt in the mood to be snappy and all that since the security was freakin tight. I was even subjected to a random search…took off my belt, shoes, body search etc etc.

Anyway here I am now, in New Hampshire…and snow’s everywhere.

Again… Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I miss my Bubu. Makes me wonder how is she now. I guess she must be awake by now since it should be almost 8am now back in Malaysia. I miss my Bubu… wish she’s next to me now.

Wait…lemme unbuckle my belt a while… pheww… there. I can breath now. English food portions are HUGE. Anyway, since its kinda cold out there, I have decided not to go out for dinner. So, into the hotel restaurant I went and to get myself some stuff to munch down.

Anyway here are few of the shots I took of my dinner last night, right here at the Abbey Hotel’s Restaurant.I had some kinda melon sorbet for starters. It came with some bread as well as some berry jam. And as for the main course, I had roast turkey and potatoes, plus some steamed veggies.          

Well that was for last night. My colleagues and I went down to Norwich again today…just wanted to have a quick look around the house we’re gonna be staying in this coming Wednesday. So, we ended up having lunch at this Italian restaurant called Bella Italia in downtown.         

There wasnt much of a choice of restaurants around for us to choose from, and furthermore we’re dead hungry. Ambience was great in the restaurant. I started off with some Ceasar Salad for starters. Tasted fresh and good…not too heavy. Then it was followed by Linguine Carbonara with sliced ham, a cup of cappucino and a cafe latte. And boy…I am FULL!                   

Came back to the hotel rather early…about close to 4pm. The sun was setting and I decided to take a stroll down the Abbey burials. Was kinda misty too. Clicked and manage to capture some more shots of the Abbey. Well, I’ll go into the church one day and try take some pics cuz an ol’ fella told me its really beautiful inside.             

Thats all for the first weekend here in Norfolk. Until then. Cheers…

Well I have been here in Norfolk for a week with my colleagues. Just got a car of our own 2 days ago. A proton Gen2 car to be more specific. Its kinda good cuz we could drive it for a year and consider it a test drive before deciding if its gonna be a good buy back in Malaysia… hahah. Anyway, since the day gets dark very early during winter, so we hardly venture outside after office hours. (Its dark like 9pm by 5pm). 

Yesterday (Friday) was half day for us. So, decided to to go and do some shopping in Norwich City. Wyndham is about 20 minutes drive away from Norwich City. Anyway, there’s this thing called "Park & Ride" here : where you park your car at a huge parking ground, and you pay the parking fees (1 GBP on weekdays after 12noon; and 3.50GBP on weekends and daily before 12 noon), and you get on the bus. Its a great system I’d say. Prevent traffic congestion and avoid parking hassle down in the city itself. Such stations are located on the verge of the city outer ring roads. I’ve seen a few of them already.

Anyway, the city was congested with people - obviously. And, what I liked about it is that it has a lot of very very old architectures. Old buildings. Churches. Cobbled steps and walkways. Just a great spot for my trigger happy fingers…with my camera of course.

Came across this very old church in downtown Norwich. It was being build back in the 1300’s though I cant recall the exact year cuz I was busy taking candid shots around and in it. Didnt know if camera was allowed in there or not, since its still a functioning worshiping place. It was a quick stop-by-and-shoot session. Doubt these pics turn out great.       

There was this Norwich Castle which we did drop by for a sight seeing. Didnt shoot much as it was getting darker. But, I’ll go back again - thats for sure.

Spent half day here in the city. Bought myself 2 neckties for just 4GBP’s which is dirt cheap I would say. And also got myself hooked up with an O2 prepaid line. Apart from that, didnt get much chance to do anything else. So that’s all for a semi-exciting first time into Norwich City.

I’ll be back… Hehe…

Had some Morrocan food here in Wyndham a couple of nights ago. I ordered some kinda chicken in a white creamy sauce plus a Morrocan min tea. Well the food tasted kinda weird. Its not that it tasted bad…much more like weird, and I doubt I’d be going back to eat there if I were to have choices.

The service was excellent. Well, since restaurant services here are of the same standards so its not much of a surprise. With all the thank you’s everytime the waiter leaves the table etc etc…Well here’s some pics I took during this dinner.

Some description of the food now. As shown, its a big piece of chicken…which was roasted with some berries and spices I think. Then they had that white creamy sauce on top which also tasted fruity. And ontop of it is a slice of orange. Weird combination if you’d ask my tastebuds This dish was served with some oiled rice, which also tasted weird - thanks to the spices added into the cooking process of it.

And as for the mint tea…hrmm… what can i say…Just "daun pudina" plus some tea bags and add a little sugar = waaalaaahhh you get Morrocan mint tea! I bet my grandma can do this as well back in Alor Setar! Hahaha… anyway the whole meal costed me about 9 pounds.

Thinking of trying out some Italian dishes later this week. We’ll see… Until then…

Abbey Hotel - Thats the name of the hotell which I am currently staying in. It’s most prob gonna be my base for the next 5-7 days or so. Depending on if my project secretary could find a place for us to reside in, then this hotel has gotta be my home for yet another week.

Anyway, Abbey Hotel is in this small town called Wymondham (pronounced Win-dhom). It’s a very old town. A small and old town – very old. How small? Well, there’s only like just 2-3 rows of shops consisting of some groceries, football betting outlets, restaurants, hotels, bars etc. Nothing branded or exquisite here. How old? Well the hotel I’m staying is was built in the 17^th century. So you be the judge to that.

The oldest inn/bar in the whole Norfolk county is also here in Wymondham. The structure of this little bar consists of approx an area of 10mx8m. Not that big if you’d ask me. The name : The Green Dragon – Kinda reminds me of the Prancing Pony Inn from the movie The Lord of The Rings. Here’s some pictures of it :

Now, there is a very old church right next to the hotel. Its called The Abbey, and like many other churches I’ve seen so far, it does have a ground of cemetery around it. Its kinda surprising to see a wedding photoshoot going right smack in the middle of the cemetery, when I first arrive. I doubt any sane couples would wanna do that back in Malaysia. Very interesting…

The winter here is kinda wet. No news of snow as of now. The outside temperature could be anywhere from 3-5 degrees C in the day time, and prob drop to about –3 in the night. I hardly get much sunshine since the day gets dark pretty quick right now. The only bits of sun that I do get could most prob be those that is hardly felt in the mornings… around 7.45am – 8.00am when I’m travelling to my office in Potash Lane. Travelling time to office is around 15 minutes drive. Very near.

I haven’t venture up to Norwich city centre yet. Might be going over there for an apartment hunt tomorrow. My colleagues and I were given a pool car as for now – a Vauxhall Corsa. Quite a nice car and economical since its only 1.3l and running on diesel. It wont be until Monday that we’re gonna get our own car, which is most likely a Proton Waja.

Until then… I’m gonna start thinking of my next post about food here. Gotta start taking pics as well cuz my photo library is running low now. Wouldnt want my postings to be boring and plane - hahah…

What a big relief it was. I’m finally here in the UK. Norfolk to be more specific. After a gruelling 12 hours and 20 minutes of flight time from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam; and then another 30 minutes flight into Norfolk - and here I am. Pheew.

Well, parting was inevitable, and it was all that more hard to bid farewell to my loved ones. So now I know KLIA is definitely a place where tears do drop. Anyway, the flight wasnt that pleasant. The plane I took which was a 747-400 operated by KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) does not really live up to a standard which I expected. I’ll spare the details.

Anyway, I reached Amsterdam Schipol airport around 5 something in the morning. Since my connecting flight into Norfolk was 10.30am, I had ample time to roam around the airport. Now take this : I came across 2 contest which the ultimate prize was - guess what? - a car. And its not any kinda ordinary car…at least not ordinary for a typical Malaysian like me. Here they are, so take a guess what car they are: 

The long wait at Schipol was kinda worth it, I guess. Somehow managed to actually take out my camera and became shutter-happy for a couple of hours. I certainly felt sleppy for a while until the Dutch coffee kicked in and started pumpin’ up the adrenalin. It didnt come cheap though. A cup of coffee, and a cup of Cappucino plus a hot chocolate muffin costed me about 7 euros.

Anyway, flight into Norfolk was operated by KLM Cityhopper - a similar version of our AirAsia. I boarded the Fokker D70 and boy, the view atop the winter sky on bright daylight was splendid. About 30 minutes later, a smooth landing and I was stepping on English soil. I was admitted within minutes without any form of hassle. Could be a possibility that I am being employed by Lotus and that I am on a business trip.

Frankly, this city is really something which I didnt expect it to be. Its really a old city. Anyway, I was being greeted by my fellow colleagues which is really warming. Not the weather of course! It would have froze my arse (English people dont say ass) off if I didnt prepare my winter clothings.

Well… I got checked into a hotel called The Abbey, which is located in a small town off Norwich City called Wymondham (pronounced Win-dhom). I’ll talk about this later cuz this is really one small but very interesting town with a whole load of historical values.

For now… I gotta call it a night.

More than 50,000 - That’s the staggering number of Chinese citizens who overstayed in Malaysia. Most of them are on social visit permits, tourist visas and also student visas. This is among the latest and hot issues that’s being printed on the local newspapers within these few weeks. "Thankfully" to many,  the Immigration Dept. has pledged to do their job and hunt down these people.

However, I could not appreciate these hunt-down-and-clean-up statements when I start to wonder what about the millions of illegal Indonesians who wade into our shores ever since like decades ago. What about them? What makes them so different that they even manage to establish openly a so-called Kampung Indonesia right smack in Klang Valley under the "tight scrutiny" of local enforcements? What kind of system allowed these overtstayers to successfully transform their shaddy and run down squatters into concrete bungalows. What kind of system allowed them to manage and escalate their own economical benefits? And what kind of system allowed them to mushroom their own establishment in our country?

I cant seem to find the answers to these…

There is no doubt that the illegal immigrants issue poses many social problems here in Malaysia. Talk about prostitution in Klang Valley and many would link it to the term China Dolls. But wait a minute… try ask yourself this: walking down a backlane with some Indonesians lurking around. Now, what’s the picture that will come into your mind? Robbery, Rape, Murder, and to sum it up in a word - Brutality. Of course such immagination of mine is a very general perception. But its a very good perception on what makes them different.

Of course I do not deny that there are many other illegal immigrants, both from China and Indonesia, who try to make a proper living here in Malaysia. Such are those in the construction field, petty traders etc. Many of them are taking up jobs we Malaysians do not want to work on. And as time will pass, these vacancies will be filled up by them. And it will come to a point, where a sudden action on crack-down and deportation will result in local economic chaos. Think about it: When we wanna enjoy the air conditioned environment in offices, who’s gonna build them? Who’s gonna clean the restrooms? Who’s gonna be in Chow Kit?

I’m not gonna go and touch on that. What really makes me wonder is: Why stress on the 50,000 figure when the whole big picture of Illegal Immigrant’s issue is more important to our nation’s stability and security?

On a lighter note: I can bet the Immigration enforcement department can get a better haul by conducting an Operasi in the so-called Kampung Indonesia, rather than going around KL City and start rounding up people in nightclubs in search for China Dolls and GROs.