Hakka Connexion

If you are in Penang, try not to by-pass Hakka Connexion specialising in Hakka dishes. This restaurant is situated in Jalan Bawasah, just behind Penang Plaza at Jalan Burmah and Dorsett Hotel at Jalan Anson. You may look for Peter Wong or his wife Careen Lim.

Allow me to be a food critic, writer and restaurant critic all in one. I am critical by what I will be eating, and my priority goes to spicy dishes, the hotter the better. I am referring to food at this moment otherwise my mind will stray just as quickly as I can gulp down any delicacy.

So you see, I was not keen to try Hakka food. And since the consensus was to try, I guess why not!

I left the ordering to them with a heavy sceptism that the food would not be any good without spices. As a good cook myself (this is serious) specialising in baba-nyonya cuisines, I thought what was there to offer with the usual Chinese style of cooking.

The first dish reached the table and it was pork leg vinegar.

My god! Priscilla and Dave (Dave is the greatest eater among us but just as thin as a bamboo) were slurping the soup away. They sighed with satisfaction and unable to stop complimenting how good it tasted. The rest followed like sheep to a Shepherd, but not me.

Hesitantly, I tried with the tip of the spoon touching the soup and lifted to my tongue to taste. Well, the rest was history!

You know, the choice of food is rather personal - one man’s meat is another man’s poison. The bottom line is just plain simple. It is either you like it or not, be it the flavour, taste or the price that comes with it.

It is still unfathomable how people will say that no matter how far or expensive the meal will cost but as long as the food is satisfying, they don’t mind. I would rather say no matter how far, I will be there but with reasonable charges.

It is like tossing the coin in the air and if it lands on the side you expect it to be, then it is to your favour. It is the same with cooking whether it is cooked to the way you like it or not. No matter what, when the food is served, just eat it!

As usual, the menu lists the variety of dishes with the usual fish porridge, bitter gourd, fish, meat, and etcetera. However, the way they are cooked and the ingredients used will definitely make the difference.

This dish is unique. Abacus balls fried with a sprinkle of some peppers, garnished with spring onion and red chilli is salivating indeed. It is called abacus balls because it is copied from the abacus seeds used in the conventional counting device.

The food served in Hakka Connexion will go down well with a glass of nutmeg juice. This is where you can be pampered in Penang.

We were tickled by Eric when he said that he was synonymous to MBPP (Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang) when he nibbled everything, leaving every plate free from wastages. We love him!

The environment is conducive despite a little congestion. The colonial building blends well with the classical Hakka songs echoed in the air. It could easily transport me back to yesteryears where I was still running around half - naked in my kampong.

So my friends, when you are in Penang do drop by Hakka Connexion – a culinary nirvana of Hakka food, so to speak. The price is reasonable and what else can we ask for? Yes, the address is, 3, Jalan Bawasah.

From the connecting door, the adjacent building houses a photo gallery. Peter Wong is one of the sons of the late Tan Sri Datuk Wong Pow Nee, the first Chief Minister of Penang.

The legacy of Penang’s first Chief Minister Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee is showcased here in a special gallery.

The gallery in Jalan Bawasah features hundreds of photos from the late Wong's private collection of his patriotic past.

His humble beginning was a simple school teacher from Bukit Mertajam and became a man of great responsibility and repute.

Even when he became the chief minister, he was a staunch supporter of the scouts movement, starting his first jamboree in 1966. Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee, Penang's first Chief Minister, was born in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, on October 7, 1911.

He received his early education at the Anglo-Chinese School, Bukit Mertajam, Penang, before he continued his studies at St Xavier Institution, Penang, where he passed the Cambridge School Certificate examination in 1932.

Penang's first Chief Minister, Tan Sri Datuk Wong Pow Nee, died at his residence in Jalan Macalister at 6.60 am. He was 91, leaving behind his wife Elizabeth Law Siew Kim, 10 children and 17 grandchildren.

Peter Wong operates this restaurant, Hakka Connexion offering traditional cuisine and maintains the prized gallery - the legacy of his late father.

Lembah Bujang ( Bujang Valley)

We will be amazed by the wonder of Malaysia’s earliest civilization at Lembah Bujang Archaeology Museum.

The Bujang Valley heritage existence was known when Colonel James Low, a British Resident reported the discovery in the 1840s. The archaeological research at Bujang Valley has been a continuous process since 1960s.

Among the archaeologists involved in conducting research at Bujang Valley were Quaritch Wales and Dorothy Wales, Alesteir Lambs, B.A.V. Peacock, Leong Sau Heng, Nik Hassan Shuhami and the Department of Museum and Antiquities.

To discover the mysteries of Lembah Bujang is to visit and see with your own eyes. Lembah Bujang Archaeology Museum is located at Bukit Batu Pahat, Mukin Merbok, Sungai Petani, Kedah.

This museum is a treasure house of recovered artifacts from historical sites dating back as early as 14th century AD. It was the Arab, Chinese and Indian traders as well as maritime traders from the Malay Archipelago who had made Lembah Bujang Southeast Asia’s central trading port.

The exhibition of the archaeological collections that serve as evidence to the existence of a vibratnt trading centre in Southeast Asia from the 3rd to the 14th century AD. Bujang Valley was also know as Nusantara, “seat of all felicities” was the bustling centre of a prosperous kingdom.

Items include inscribed stone caskets and tablets, metal tools and ornaments, ceramics, pottery, and Hindu icons.

The technique of using pile-dwelling was a characteristic of South-East Asian architecture in the prehistory period. It is still used in the construction of traditional Southeast Asian houses today.

Various types of pottery shards of Sung Dynasty dated to the 13th century.

These tiny colourful particles are also known as “manek” that can be strung as necklace.

Those refine and cut “manek” can be sewn into cloths to use as shoes as seen worn by the baba-nyonya in the later years.

Tamil Poets, Arab merchants of the 4th century and I-Tsing, a monk who sailed from China to India, knew of the existence of this civilization in Lembah Bujang. The Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (Tales of Merong Mahawangsa) calls it “Langkasuka”.

Offering items with idolism symbols contained in a stone casket reliquary. It was found through archaeological excavation and reconstruction of Bukit Pahat Temple, Bukit Batu Pahat, Merbok, Kedah.

Architecture and culture artifact connected to religion are the proofs to the existence of a Hindu/Buddhist civilization using Lembah Bujang as an entreport.

The spread of Islam resulted in the decline of Hindu-Buddhist influence and the port consequently became less important.. The emergence of new ports such as Malacca and other cities throughout Southeast Asia also contributed to the deterioration of the port at Lembah Bujang.

The surrounding area of Lembah Bujang Archaeology Museum is an ideal place for families as there are recreational activities available. The tropical rainforest landscape is full of flora and fauna unique to the region and is perfect for picnics or hiking.

The serene ambience, except for the hisses of water running downstream is ideal for relaxation.

Todate, more than 80 heritage sites of those rulers were discovered in Bujang Valley. Some of them were found in a large and strategic area.

The areas well-known for their archaeological sites that can be described as complexes are Sungai Mas, Bukit Batu Pahat, Merbok, Bukit Pendiat, Bukit Choras and Pengkalan Bujang Temple complex.

Around the vicinity, the “petai” trees grow sporadically. From a distance, the fruits hang down vividly even the green leaves could not camouflage.

The contents are taken from the pamphlet.

Bukit Selambau and Gantang Here We Come

We set off on 04 April in our " Blogmobile – The Cybernetic Legionnaire”. Our travelling companions were Paul Wong, Robert Choo, Eric, Elaine Cheh and yours truly finally arrived at Taiping around 7.00 pm.

To venture into the two by-elections is actually a “buy-eat-lection” for us, as what Dave put it precisely about the gluttonous revellers wanting to support the by-elections for Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang. We ate all along the way!

We met up with our buddy Noh who came with KH Yoh and Dave Low with his wife. Then, we adjourned for dinner in the rain.

We literally gulped our dinner down, and we wanted to head to Trong where Tok Guru would be speaking. However, we could not find the way and settled for Simpang.

The wet weather did not deter our spirits, and we went around the town which lies in the rain shadow area.

By the time we arrived, the crowd about one thousand swelled to about two thousand five hundred curious supporters when we reached the ceramah site just behind the mini expo.

As usual, the trend was akin to Parmatang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu. The enthusiastic crowd is the yardstick to tell a story about what is to come. But it was still too early to tell because there were 48 hours left hanging in the air before the final surge.

Then, we headed to Bukit Merah for the night.

This is what Paul Wong has to say. Despite the heavy downpour, being the norm in Taiping, it did not deter the crowd from converging to the mud-trodden field where it was an exciting night of speeches by the likes of Azmin Ali who virtually pounded Barisan Nasional and our newly elected PM. The gods were kind enough to stop the rain as the speeches got under way.

We stopped at Bukit Merah for a quick bite before heading for the resort. The crowd was birds of a feather and we acknowledged each other presence.

I had a friendly conversation with this Pak Cik who proudly showed me his cute six months old grandson. He attended the ceremah too, starting at a young age.

When our stomachs stopped grumbling, we rested and looking forward for a good night sleep, but instead we talked until five in the morning before calling it a day.

PY Wong reported fom Batang Ai saying that 14 ballot boxes to be transferred to Lubok Antu sports hall for counting. SPR does not allowed Mafrel nor PKR agent to accompany the boxes after the casting of votes end.

Azmin Ali had announced this at Simpang too.


April 05

The following afternoon, we headed for Penang. And before that, we paid our courtesy call at Bukit Tambun for our seafood lunch.

By noon, we left for the hospital to visit Angela Ooi who was recuperating after an operation. As usual, her bubbly personality took away the anxiety from everyone.

Our plan to head to Bukit Selembau in the evening was hampered by the heavy downpour. We settled for Penang foods instead. The thunderstorm lashed its wrath and the consensus was to leave the following day.

That night, we visited Gurney Drive in the drizzles and savoured what were there waiting for us. We took a slow drive to Batu Ferrenghi and “sapu” as many DVDs as we could selling at RM4.00 each, yet one free with each ten DVDs bought.

April 06

We landed in Hakka Connexion specializing in Hakka foods. The lunch was palatable and with the Frenchman around, nothing was left unfinished!

The connecting door led us to a mini museum displaying the historical information about the late Tan Sri Datuk Wong Pow Nee – the first Chief Minister of Penang.

Note: I will be writing a separate article about this mini museum soon.

We took the ferry for the mainland in the afternoon. It was a nostalgic ride to many of us and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Since we had the time, we headed for Lembah Bujang at Gunung Jerai as suggested by Eric. It was an educational visit because we got to know the 1500 years old heritage and civilization.

Note: I will be writing about this wonders of Malaysia’s earliest civilization which is practically unknown to many of us in the coming posting.

At dusk, we reached the PKR operation centre situated in the most romantic name that I know of, Jalan Cinta Sayang. We met some KLites and we were told that the night before, there was a confrontational exchange of words with the MIC supporters.
The strangest thing was that, in a row of shop houses, Barisan operation centres occupied three units a stone’s throw from one another. The third one was just two doors away from Pakatan’s. Imagine if all were to have ceramah together!

The Light Force made their presence felt by setting up a police pondok facing the two operation centres. It looked intimidating indeed!

Our intention was to catch up with DSAI who was going to the Bandar Baru ceramah. We set off with the help of landmarks given by a local.

He took a rest and was ushered to the canopy as the crowd gathered on the soggy ground.

Despite a crowd at the pasar malam opposite to the field, those present at the field were miserable. I wondered what could have become if the ceramah was cancelled at last minute.

I strayed into the field to enjoy some karaoke Hindi songs sung by local artistes. Soon, a commotion was felt when DSAI arrived.

Like a magical spell, DSAI held the crowd with his messages why the people should vote for Pakatan. The crowd was easily at three thousands or more.

DSAI left for his next stop at Sungei Lallang and we headed back to Jalan Cinta Sayang hoping to catch some actions there.

We were right on time seeing the FRU alighting from their trucks. The crowd refused to disperse and traffic was almost at a standstill. Hardly ten minutes, the siren wailed when a platoon of FRU came for reinforcement.

The nearby restaurant was filled to the brim and the FRU surrounded the vicinity. The police told the waiter to close the shutters but the people refused to move. The people threatened that if the shutters were down, they would leave without paying their bills.

Nothing could be done except to wait for another thirty minutes before the time of ceramah was up.

On the road, the drizzles stopped and people converged along the road again while the helicopter hovered above.

Suddenly, a group of youths was seen running away and stopped a short distance away like a cat and mouse game with the police. Judging from the event, for sure the police would not leave empty handed. Sure enough three were arrested at that point of time.

The people on the ground were annoyed by such incident and their anger were clearly seen on their faces be it Malays, Indians or Chinese. “We are going to vote for Pakatan tomorrow!” was their clarion message.

By twelve, the curious crowd dispersed leaving those who still wanted to hang around the operation centres.

April 07.

From the feel we had from the ground, it was crystal clear that both the bukits would sail through comfortably.

We decided not to stay for another night because the battle was just as good as won. On the way back, we passed through Simpang to catch a glimpse of the votes casting centres.

The Barisan side was lack-lustre while PAS stole the limelight.

Anything Is Possible

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT TWO HINFRAF DETAINEES WILL BE RELEASED TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER ELEVEN.

THE BAD NEWS IS THAT THE OTHER THREE HINDRAF DETAINEES AND THE OTHERS ARE STILL IN KAMUNTING.

THE WORSE POSSIBLE NEWS IS, WILL THE TWO HINDRAF DETAINEES TO BE SET FREE SAY THAT SAMY VELLU MADE IT POSSIBLE?