* New Villages represent a type of settlement that is unique to Peninsular Malaysia. They were originally established by the government as roadside relocation settlements for rural Chinese during the Malayan Emergency (1948–60), a period of intense conflict between the British administration and a (largely Chinese) communist guerrilla insurgency that arose after World War II. With the end of the emergency in 1960, some of the New Villages were abandoned, but most of them became permanent settlements.
"Words are like bees – some create honey
and others leave a sting."
Budae Jjigae aka army stew was created shortly after the Korean War ended when food was scarce and many Koreans were starving.
Processed foods such as spam, hot dogs, baked beans, cheese, ham, etc were scrounged or smuggled from U.S military bases and the locals threw the American ingredients into a large pot together with an assortment of Korean vegetables, spicy seasonings and other leftovers to create a stew of sorts.
Thus, through ingenuity and resourcefulness, Budae Jjigae was born!
My first time making the stew.
All you need is kimchi and some American processed meats and viola — it's Budae Jjigae!
There really is no right or wrong way to make army stew because you can create hundreds of combinations with whatever ingredients you have on hand.
Steaming hot and bubbling and wonderfully hearty
Totally unhealthy but absolutely worth it! And especially perfect on a cold, rainy night.
A video to share
Thursday, June 3, 2021
gallimaufry
/ˌɡalɪˈmɔːfri/
noun
a confused jumble or medley of things.
And that is exactly what you'll find here — a gallimaufry of unused photos from my phone.
A bird I spotted in my garden
Soft shell crab sushi
Pink Mexican petunia
A stray kitty
Sunset from my balcony
A stall selling steamed peanuts
Choy Sum — literally translates as "heart of the vegetable"
Lotus root
A bug with big ass feelers. Eeeek!
Allamanda
Unused photos in your phone make good blog fodder when you are under another lockdown and can't go out and about.
I left my hometown for the bright lights of the city almost 40 years ago.
Although I regularly visit my parents who still live in the town I grew up in, I've been walking the same way I did before — rushing about on an errand and missing out the historic landmarks that tourists flock to visit.
Sharing the gems of my hometown that I always see but never noticed ....
Looking through the eyes of my phone...
Our very own Trafalgar Square
That's our town hall in the background. Note the colonial architecture.
The Birch Memorial Clock Tower
Part of the neo-renaissance facade of the Hong Kong & Shanghai building — it was once the tallest building in town
You can't leave Ipoh without toting a bag or two of our legendary Heong Piah , literally translated as fragrant biscuits.
Heong Piah has a flaky crust encasing a sticky sweet filling made from malt and shallots
I was traipsing around my hometown looking for a coffee shop when these murals stopped me in my tracks.
Gotta love Marilyn Monroe.
... and Charlie Chaplin...
“We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.”
― Charlie Chaplin
