Gone are the days of laughing in the rain

The weather in Penang has been very hot lately. It did drizzle once in a while, but it did nothing much to the heat. Plants have been drying out fast.

Just not too long ago, it rained almost daily in the afternoon and throughout the night. I am aware that excessive rain resulted in flood, but what I want now is just some moderate downpour, nothing extreme. Some cooling moments after work will definitely make my days better.

More homegrown edibles

So what else is edible on the balcony? There are pots of my favorite basil, which has been extremely handy. If not mistaken, what I have is Chinese basil. The most distinguish feature of this species with holly basil and sweet basil is that it has pinkish flowers, while holly basil has larger dark green leaves, and sweet basil has got green colored flowers. Fragrant and fresh, it blends especially well with meat dishes. Besides that, it also adds extra zest to tom-yam friend rice as well pastas.

I absolutely adore sour and spicy food. That is the reason why I cannot live without Thai food. Green curry has been one of the best known dishes originated from Thailand. Ever noticed the small round and green vegetable? Yes, those are aubergines, or rather better known as eggplants or brinjals. The plant I have is still pretty young. According to a Thai friend, it has to be taller than a human being before any harvesting can be done. I guess I won’t be getting anything out from the tree for a while. Hopefully it will survive the heat.

VC Apartment – affordable lodging in Haatyai

Me and friends made our second trip this year to Haatyai with the sole intention to hunt for good food. As usual, it was not super fulfilling (in terms of locating mouth watering local delicacies), however we faired much better than our last attempt.

We upgraded our stay from the previous 450 Bhat  to a 500 Bhat apartment this trip and the place was surprisingly pleasant.  VC Apartment is located just a few  blocks away from the town’s hotspot.


Just a few minutes walk from the Lee Garden, the price we paid for our lodging is quite reasonable. 500 Bhat for 1 and 750 Bhat for 2 queen size bed, especially affordable for those who love to squeeze everyone into a single room.

Lee Garden is located on the opposite right, few blocks down the street from this place. The van who took us from Penang to Haatyai had some trouble findings this apartment at first, but luckily the locals knew it quite well and was able to provide useful directions. The rooms at VC were brightly lit, spacious, and most important of all very clean. Even the bathroom was impressively big. Most of the streets here are one-way. It can be difficult for you to drive around if you are not familiar with the town.

Though crowded with bargain hunters during weekends, the jams are not as bad as in Penang. There can still be times when the streets are empty, with just a couple of motorbikes zooming by.

Getting around here is never difficult. Road signs are all over the place, better still if you can read Thai. I strongly recommend you to get a map of the town from any Hotel you pass by. These maps are available free of charge, and with one in your hands, you will know exactly where everything is. 

All the place you will want to visit is within walking distance, and if you are in the mood for some light exercise, why not take a tut-tut. The price normally ranges between 10 Bhat to 20 Bhat.

More homely-style gardening

Honestly speaking, I had totally no idea how to grow melons and still do not have any. Perhaps that was why the winter melon plant did not work out. There was not much planting for this in fact, as it just grew out of no where. My best guess is the seed came from one of the kitchen rendezvous, and the water was subsequently used to water my other plants. It was transferred out to an individual pot after a while, and started growing everywhere on the floor. The leaves were one of the largest ever existed on my balcony, and its flowers pretty bright yellow. However sad to say, it did not work out well . The leaves kept drying out despite of constant watering. Perhaps the whole plant needed soil, not only at the root.

Ever tried planting bitter gourd at home?

It can be done using a normal pot. All you need is something for your baby gourd plant to climb. Feed your plant regularly with organic fertilizer and lots of water, remember not to put it under direct sunlight. This plant bore 11 gourds before finally making way for new ones. It survived 1 whole week with unsupervised auto-irrigation system. OK, it was a small PVC pipe with holes drilled in it, connected to the tap. Not much of an irrigation system, but it provided a slow stream of thirst quencher. Boy did they taste good!!

Tesco Extra – value added goods & services

If you have been to any Tesco outlets, you would have recognized this. Yes, this sounds like a very inspiring promise made by the business, however what you are about to see might make you squirm. OK, I might be going a bit overboard. But bear in mind, you might already have served what you missed.

Goods are to be neatly arranged on shelves, with the correct price tags printed and displayed in a clear fashion. That’s what we all perceived as the correct practice. For the Tesco Extra outlet I visited yesterday, they are doing something much more innovative. 

The section for fresh bean produce was a warzone. Items were chaotically stacked on top of one another. Customers who walked past this particular shelf was disgusted and none of them lifted their fingers on the goods, except me of course. My investigation produced horrific findings which made Stephen King’s best sellers looked like paperback romance novels. Perhaps hardcover, but nevertheless still romance novels. Based on the outlook of the produce, you can vividly imagine dinosaurs stomping around them, during an era when men were a part of the food chain. If I have thrown a piece of the bean curd at another person, I would have been a convicted murderer.

Packed prehistoric bean curds were put into the same dish as some loose prehistoric tofu, or at least what are left of them. The container was half filled with milky looking liquid which I doubt was there for less than 3 days. There was also something which looked like a durian seed inside there, happily taking a bath with its friends. Makes me wonder what the tofu tastes like…

A closer look at a pack of tofu puffs showed signs of life. An intelligent life-form has started to build colonies on the yummy puffs and I am pretty sure they were having a good time. After rummaging through the shelf, it was concluded that there many more micro colonies mushrooming elsewhere.

Being a civic minded person, I showed a customer service executive my findings and much not to my surprise, he just threw the packet of puffs I showed him back onto the shelf and said “Ok-lah, you write a complaint form, our store manager on duty will call you”. He then returned to the customer service counter without taking any action. When I left the place half an hour later, he was chit chatting happily with his friends while the tofu pieces sat quietly enjoying their milk spa.

So do you want to know what the tofu tastes like?

Tesco - where people with good eyesight shops

The promotional price tag clearly stated $1.89 for 1.5L Mirinda Strawberry soft drink, however the price displayed on the shelf was $2.70 and customers are being charged the higher price. This is not the only instance, but the only one captured and posted. Be a wise consumer and remember to go through your receipt carefully for any discrepancies after checking out. Shop smart, be alert, save money!!