Thursday, February 24, 2011

14 months

Most of Aelig's 13th to 14th month were spent in Malaysia. The most important purpose for this trip was to spend times with my family there.


Family gatherings always come with food. This time we gathered at a mamak stall.


On a day trip to Teluk Intan and Pangkor Island, we stopped by enjoying some durians.


Gathering at a friend's house, she got to meet some of the little friends.


Meeting her cousins, she plays a lot with her cousin "Princess".

Beside meeting with family and friends, she got to try out some Malaysian cuisines.


Enjoying her roti canai, Malaysians and her dad's all time favorite.


Discovering her grandma porridge. She ate a full bowl each time, I hope she gained some weights from this trip.


Trying out Agar-agar, one type of Malaysian desserts, the French hate it.


Savoring durian, the stinky fruit. She accepted it well.

She also got to simmer in Chinese New Year celebrations' atmosphere.


Curious about the lion dance.


Stayed up late to join our praying ceremony. I think she went to sleep around 1am. We continued the feast until 3am. She was happily running around, watching everyone preparing for the praying moment, didn't scare at all the firecrackers around.


She was greeted by the Money God but she refused to let him get closer. Too bad she could have gotten an ang pao from him.

It is unlikely that she would remember all these adventures in Malaysia but hopefully this experience exposes her to her other half of roots.

Back to France

We are back to France since Tuesday morning.


Arrived at the airport. Aelig was tired, I bet grandma's shoulder was very comfortable.


When she saw the huge airport, she wanted to run around.


Passing through the immigration.


While waiting for our flight, a new friend approached her.


Voilà! Arrived home after around 19 hours of traveling.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Happy anniversary

While enjoying dinner with my family yesterday, I realized it was our 4th anniversary. Four years ago, we had our Chinese style wedding in Malaysia.

While reminiscing the paths we had gone through, I suddenly thought of a book I read recently. Three women were talking about their prince charming and here are their conclusion about how their prince should be: Tall and handsome; has professional knowledge, strong, willing to bear responsibilities, manly, knows how to cook French cuisine, loves dancing, adores women.

I told hubby: Gosh, these women are talking about your! :-)

Happy annivesary!

PS: Flying back to France tonight.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

White man drinks beer

We were visiting my cousin when this incident occured.

Cousin: Do you want some beer?
Hubby: No.
Cousin came with a glass of Tiger Beer and put it in front of hubby.
Hubby starring and whispering to me: But I said no!
Me: Yah, in Chinese culture, when someone says no, sometimes it means yes. They are just trying to be nice. Since you are white man, we presume all white men like beer.
Hubby: Then how do you express yourself when you really want to say NO?
Me: I don't know actually...

It is so normal for me to refuse something and still get it and I will just eat / drink whatever people offer me without giving much thought...

I discussed this with some people and the conclusion, if you really want to refuse something, you need to come out with some excuses. For example:
A: Do you want some beer?
B: No thanks, I'm on medicine.
A: Do you want to try this?
B: No, my stomach is complaining...

Ok, it seems like we need to lie to be able to get away...

Burned down

One of my relatives' house was burned down on the 4th day of Chinese New Year. 10 houses in that village were thoroughly destroyed. Luckily, there have been no casualties.

The unthinkable, unbelievable and untoleratable thing was: the fire flighters arrived within 5 minutes WITHOUT water and couldn't find any sources of water to put the fire down. Residents were witnessing their houses being burned down and were found in a completely helpless situation.



After the incident, some politicians arrived and handed over some financial helps to the victims. The government provided temperaly housing. However, according to my relatives, the housing were located in a neighborhood with high crime rate, nobody dares to move in there, most of the victims were staying with their close relatives.



During the fire, residents were trying their best to save their valuable belongings. Unfortunately, they had to face another dilemma: the thieves! Things gathered on the roadsides were taken / stolen. In the chaos, there exist these cruel people!


After the fire, victims stayed around with hope to grab anything left. Some people dipped through the ground and managed to find back their jewelry. My relatives gathered some burned iron equipments, thinking that they could sell them later, but all these were grabbed / stolen by some Indians and foreign workers, and they were too afraid to fight them off...


Through this incident, it really shows the urgency to ugrade the effectiveness of the government agencies. Besides, the government needs to instill the concept of good citizenship, those stealing behaviors are just not accetapble.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Malaysian pastries


Hubby discovered this Malaysian version of kouign amann and he loved it. For me, I like it better because it is less heavy compared to the Brittany version.


Aelig enjoying her Malaysianized kouign amann.


Malaysia has a lot of western pastries customized into local taste. This pastry is a combination of bread and cake.


French croissant selling at RM0.99 = 0.25€.


Bread stuffed with tuna. Hubby was not getting used to having meat in the pastry but now he accepts it. He is Malaysianized too :-°.


A traditional Malaysian pastry: curry puff.


Malaysians love their bread stuffed with hot dogs, something that amazed hubby too at the beginning.

Hope to see more Brittany pastries being sold in Malaysia. Brittany boleh!

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Dear All,

Gong Xi Fa Cai and happy Chinese New Year!


Aelig participated her first Chinese New Year with my family. Everyone was surprised that she was not scared by the enormous sound from the red firecrackers. We wonder whether she is too young to feel the fear or her ears have some problems.


First day of Chinese New Year = wearing red. My mother gave her this cloth.


Receiving ang pao (red envelope stuffed with money).