灰色地带

是对是错, 是黑是白, 是好是坏. 都没有答案, 只有灰色的无奈...

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Just another statistic


According to the statistics published by the U.S. Dept of Transportation, there's been an increasing trend in lost luggage among airlines in the U.S. See the May 2007 report here.

For UA specifically, it was 4.53 reports per 1000 domestic passengers in 2006 (Jan - Mar); and in 2007 same period, it jumped to 7.77 reports per 1000.

Understandably, there were no numbers for international passengers; but I doubt I missed the mark much if I assumed similar rates.

Why the sudden interest over missing bags? Well, mine never came back with me from Chicago. My new Levis, my new Black Diamond headlamp, Weng's brand new runners and Cranium. I hope it was only delayed. Not lost.

Of all the joys and fun of travelling, losing your bag can be is a real pain.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Thai fish mousse

Another of my favorite Thai dish found on the internet. Recipe here.

I sampled this delectable dish on the streets of Hatyai in 2005, enroute to Krabi. At that time, I was immediately hooked on the mysterious fragrance emanating from the springy texture of the steamed fish. Today, I know that came from kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil. And today, Thai basil leaves are my favorite ingredient in Thai cusine, more so than lemon grass. It has a subtle frangrance when you sniff its un-assuming raw leaf form. But when you chew it, the aroma simply explodes with surprising vigor. It's a must-have in Thai green curry, Thai beef kway teow soup and of course, my dinner tonight - Thai fish mousse.

Mum got mackerel as the base fish ingredient. The preparation was rather laborious, requiring the frying of the curry paste which Dad obviously did not approve - because it smoked up the house and that meant him having to mop the floor. The recipe called for banana leaf cups as the holder for the fish mousse, which I realised was a tricky item to fabricate. The leaves kept tearing as soon as I folded them. From a process point of view, it was a high yield loss process.

Eventually, 7 cups of exciting reddish paste of fish made it into the steamer, accompanied by much anticipation.

The verdict? Flavour and aroma was there, similar to what I have experienced. However, the fish texture was different, so very different.

Instead of a soft mousse like steamed eggs, it was bouncy and springy! Had I made the paste into a ball, I am sure I can play ping-pong with it. Mum thinks that it needed more 'wet-ness'. Fresh fish tastes like this, she said. I had to 'dilute' the 'toughness' with water probably.

Ah well, no on-sight, but the dinner's still good.

Next time, just add water.

Thai Fish Mousse

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Eat and Climb

Noticed that eating came first before climbing?

This was what I went through for long weekend of May day. It has been a long time since I last went on a road trip like this one...

We left Singapore on Friday night, reached Ipoh on Saturday morning. Spent Sat and Sun climbing the insanely long routes at the Lost World of Tambun, interviewing taxi driver for the origins of 芽菜鸡 and 怡保河粉. Savoured the juicy 叉烧包 and 猪肠粉 of 富山茶楼. Left for Kangar on the 8pm bus, arriving at midnight. Headed to Bt Keteri late Monday morning, climbed 4 routes there, returned to Kangar and broked my 6-month abstinence of fast food by having KFC . Then, it was heading south for KL on the 10pm bus, starting Tuesday morning with another dim sum session in Jalan Petaling, pampering ourselves with foot massage at Bt Bintang, finally finishing the KL leg with 2 bowls of delicious beef hor fun.

In the 4 days, we traversed almost the entired length of Pennisular Malaysia, in search of good climbing. At the end, the good company and even better food was all that I remembered.


Lost World of Tambun & Bt Keteri 2007 Apr