Memory Lane 懐かしい... Japan

There are many things about Japan that I love.

Memory Lane 懐かしい ... Monkeys

I LOVE animals with a passion!

They're cute, they're cuddly!

But NOT fuckin' Monkeys!

Nasty beggars that seem sad and vulnerable until you fall for their ruse and then they go for the kill!
...Not literally, but you get my drift.

Don't trust those cute furry faces because they know hot to use their good looks against you.

Case and Point:
I was in Malaysia and I had bought a coconut to cool down during the hot part of the day.

There's my Coconut.

After I drank it, I got it cut up and put into a bag.

There were tons of monkeys where I was and one was standing next to me and I offered it one.  Trying to do the nice humanitarian thing.

Thieving Bastard that's very distantly related  

Well, the little thief saw I feel for its act and climbed up my leg and grabbed at my bag o' coconuts!  I pulled for a bit but then I realized, I didn't want this think biting or scratching at me because who knows why kind of disease it had: Rabies, HIV, Ebolasyphilitis A-Z!  WHO KNOWS?!

Long story short.  Don't feed those greedy bastards!  They just take take take and if they give you something, it's probably something you don't want.

Word!

Memory Lane 懐かしい...Malaysia Hop on Bus

If you have a free day with nothing particularly planned, hop on the City Tour Bus

I forget what it's officially called, but it was such a brilliant idea, I wondered why more places didn't do this.  You pay a single fee for the day or for a single trip.  If you have a day pass, you can get on and off when ever you like at any of the stops.  This idea only made it to my home town last year and I did this trip back in 2008.

Check out some of the great things I got to see from the Bus!

I can't wait to go back!

Memory Lane 懐かしい... Cendol and other goodies from Malaysia

I LOVE Cendol!

I first had it in Malaysia and it was my go to dessert to cool down.  In fact, it has to be my favorite sweet from Malaysia.

This is what I would call the food for the Gods or Ambrosia but better!

I just love it and there are so many different ways to make it!

I was looking up the recipe and found this site. 

Here's one that I found online:

Cendol Batter Recipe

5 Tbsp Hoen Kwe flour (mung bean flour)
4 Tbsp rice flour
1 Tbsp tapioca flour
½ tsp salt
625ml water
A few drops pandan concentrate

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well.  Cook on low heat, stirring constantly until the batter thickens and turns translucent.
2. Prepare a bowl of iced water.
3. Put a small amount of batter into potato ricer and squeeze into iced water.  Repeat until all the batter is used up.
4. Transfer cendol into container. It’ll keep in the fridge for about 4 days.

Cendol Drink Recipe

This is the recipe I used for my restaurant cendol drink, and it’s heavily modified from what you can expect to get in Malaysia.  That’s because I don’t have access to fresh coconut milk; I use packet coconut milk and add a bit of evaporated milk to it.

3 TBS cendol
60ml clear sugar syrup*
80ml coconut milk
20ml evaporated milk
½ cup shaved ice
30ml palm sugar syrup **

1. We put the cendol in a glass, then add all the other stuff and top up the glass with cold water. Feel free to experiment with sugar amounts and adjust to taste.

* made by dissolving 2 cups white sugar and pinch of salt in 375ml water, then cooled. Store in fridge.**made by dissolving 2 logs Indonesian Gula Jawa or Gula Aren in 4 cups water, then cooled. Store in fridge.

On a side note,
I wanted to post other pics of food that I enjoyed over in Malaysia

Very delicious pineapple tarts that I got from Chinatown in Melaka.  It was still warm!

My lovely couch surfing host made a lovely spread of food for us

Here is more from our lovely host!

I have no idea what this drink is but I LOVED IT!

And now, for something different:

A chicken stew with lemon sticky rice and a lovely limeade.

I like checking out franchises in international settings to see what they do to accommodate local tastes and food and this Micky D's did such a great job I think!

I was eating an egg sandwich but I ordered a HUGE cup of Mile (I LOVE Milo!) and I had to take a picture of the paper menu with a Chicken Pita sandwich and Azuki bean sundaes

Memory Lane 懐かしい... Malaysia KL

I've been feeling very nostalgic about Malaysia and really freaked out when I couldn't find the pictures I took there; especially those of the Petronas Towers.

Long story short...I found them!

This was a really cool building and I think the look out was only at the 40th floor.  Something like that.

I took a panoramic picture....but that I can't find.  The view from the look out had a great view of Kuala Lumpur.

You may have seen these towers featured in the movie Entrapment with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones - I think that was the film that put her on the map.

Well, I didn't know what to expect when I went inside but if you want to know....

....A shopping mall!  Granted, those are only the first few floors but I definitely wasn't expecting that!

I'm sure there are more businesses in all the other floors but I was just shocked.

Other buildings that I saw but had no clue what the are (at the time I did, but that was over 5 years ago)...

Memory Lane 懐かしい... South East Asia

All this thinking about Cambodia has gotten me nostalgic for S.E.A..

I can't help but remembering that trip as one of the most defining moments in my life.  Honestly.

Granted, that year was very big for me because I've never left home and I decided I was going to leave home and moved to Japan for the year.  

Kawagoe, Japan.  One of my favorite places in Japan.

Then I started my journey in Thailand

At the base of Tham Seua or the Tiger Temple in Krabi.

1,200 steps later, the top of Tham Sua and my fear of heights gone!

Melaka - A cultural hub that was once a huge trading port in Malaysia

Dutch influenced

Ankor Wat at Sunset

 Ankor Wat at Sunrise - some of the oldest most beautiful temples I'm ever set foot on

\

Market Place in Viet Nam

Beautiful hotels and commercial area

Cu Chi Tunnel

Very small and a place where I discovered claustrophobia for the first time.

Motorbikes EVERYWHERE!  They even ride on the sidewalk!

These are just snippets of things that I've seen but I feel like this trip was an eye opening experience that I'll carry with me the rest of my life.

Memory Lane 懐かしい...Japan - Vending Machines

Japan is a very curious place and has many fun and interesting aspects in their everyday life.  One of my favorite aspects is their vending machine - Jidouhanbaiki or JiHanKi.

I know it sound ridiculous but I kid you not, their vending machines are off the hook (meaning, they're bitchin'!)

You'll have your standard soda and energy/vitamin machines that are awesome!

Soda Vending Machines also feature some very familiar faces.

(top: Oguri Shun    bottom: Tommy Lee Jones)

Cafe Machines (Tea & Coffee to go...but on Crack!)

I LOVE the tea and coffee machines because there are so many different varieties but best yet...They can be Cold or HOT!

I loved winter in Japan because they would have selections of drinks that were not just warm but hot.  I love their hot drink selection.  It was seasonal and very fun to see them change from all cold drinks to having soup in the vending machines - corn chowder etc.

If you're in Japan during the winter, TRY a Hot Cocoa or coffee!  It's so fun and delicious!

And then you're run into latte or fancy cafe machines:

Don't feel like Coffee, check out the Milk Machine with different types of Milk - also Coffee flavored and various others:

I know you may be thinking..."Ew!".  Honestly, Japan is so on top of most of their shit that I wouldn't be shocked if they regularly change the inventory once a week on the same day at the same time every week.

I'd totally feel okay drinking milk from a vending machine!

Japan is also cute in personalizing vending machines for places!

Then you have the odd vending machines:

The Notorious Alcohol Vending Machines (it checks ID) as well as Cigarette Vending Machines 

And the Rice Vending Machine

This machines only takes 1000 yen bills (roughly $10.00 USD) 

(Roughly - Left: 5kg $18.00 USD, Left Middle: 5kg $20.00 USD, Right Middle: 1kg $5.00 & Left: 5kg $35.00

Not Bad!

Then you hear about the legendary Panty Vending Machine in...Shinjuku...Shibuya...?  Still haven't found it but if I did, it would be in this blog.

No, no, friends.  I found yet another odd vending machine, and it takes the cake!

Ta-DA!

...And that's a dead fish.

I know, I know, it's more than just a dead fish in a bottle vending machine but when I was passing by this thing, I looked in the bottles and STOPPED!

'what the heck is that?!' I thought to myself as I saw something within the bottle.

Lo and BEHOLD!  It was a dead fish...in a bottle...in a vending machine!

Major WTF Moment but read it and it said "dashi" or soup base/noodle base and then it clicked.

Wow.

I'm actually impressed because if I didn't know how to read the basics, I would have been puzzled beyond belief.  I probably would have had a major inner dialog as to WHY would they have dead fish in a bottle for sale...En Mass, no less!

Not only that, probably regularly cycled out, too!

Granted, I think my husband may have had that dialog in his head or even mentioned some of this to me because he was confused why anyone would buy soup base in a vending machine. 

I say, it's convenient.  

Why not?

Sure, if I was busy and I had shit to do, I don't have time to stop by the grocery market and grab shit, but Hey!  I do know of a vending machine on the way that will provide it.  In this day and age, more and more people turn to that logic which gave rise to the very idea of having a basic home necessity in a vending machine like that, as odd as it sounds.

Kudos on them for figuring this shit out!