Ta Chi House @ Malaka

Ta Chi House is located in Melaka town (opposite the Catholic church - can't remember the name of the church now). it's a corner lot. this place belongs to the family of one of the Melaka CHOICEes. we came here for lunch the minute we touch down in melaka. :) u can imagine how hungry we were!

for starters we had asam beehoon (i think). some of us didn't like it, some said it was ok. this shows that the Penang tounge is quite different from the Melaka tounge! :D

then we had the mains... lovely!! and this was my first time eating paku-pakis!!! O_O we were sooo hungry we whacked everything!! AND had space for CENDOL!!!!

chicken ponteh

sambal petai and ikan bilis

lemak paku-pakis

asam (gulai) fish

cendol with DURIAN!! they were quite generous that day!

normal cendol - still as delicious!

bubur cha cha

nyonya chang!!! YUMMY!!!

the prices for food here are reasonable and it's at a location where u can have your 1st meal in Melaka or your last meal.. cause it's situated on the main road coming in from the highway. that's how we did it, it was our first meal coming in, and on the way out we had our last cendol!

so yea, come here if u want simple home cooked nyonya dishes. great way to start/end your journey! :D

my 1st trip to THAILAND yo!! (Phuket) - DAY 1

i've always wanted to go to Phuket, since i don't know when, thought i'd go there for my honeymoon but looks like that's not likely to happen.

anyway, it all came about when mum said she wanted a holiday, we were planning for Bali, but her BBF said it's kinda boring there... hmm.. i thought Bali would be interesting... so, we decided on Phuket. so i went online to FireFly and did intensive research on the available hotels (had to have by the beach) and shopping/nightlife area, and found that Patong would be the one. managed to get a package for 2pax, RM1100+ which includes, flight, acc (junior suite mind you) and buffet breakfast for 3D2N. i thought it was a good deal! mum's friend joined us as well!

i also managed to get a driver for us to pick us up to/fro airport and hotel, and booked my Phi Phi island hopping trip with him. found him through an aussie couple who did a review on him online. you can check him out, his name is SAM.

also, because mum will be hanging out with her friend, i'll be on my own most of the time, so can say, 1st time traveling alone (in a way). so first things first, got to find out what the singles do in Phuket and my my what i found out was quite overwhelming. u really got to have an open mind to hear what they have to say and what happens in Phuket / Thailand...

found this forum where it's moderators are mostly whites (they are called "falangs" in Thailand) and been reading their threads and posts and they sounded like a lovely bunch! half of them lives there and half of them married thai girls! and members of this forum always hang out at a specific bar in Patong. this bar is like the meet up point for all the members of the forum who goes to Phuket to meet each other. so i joined the forum, and started to make friends, one even voluntered to bring me around Phuket but it didn't happen as he was sick. but it was ok, i had fun, just hanging out with them, all they do is play cards, UNO, dice games and drink! LOL

so the 1st day was not much, by the time we reached and checked in and changed to come out, it was nearly dinner time, so the 3 of us (me, mum and her bff) went walking along the beach road, finding for food, looking at stuff and finally found a place to eat and they serve pork openly!! oh my!! lovely! also i tried McD's pork burger! yum yum!!

after dinner, we got ready to go for a ladyboy-lipsynch-cabaret show, it's called Simon Cabaret! it's where they wear big huge feathers, costume and perform on stage with hit numbers in english, chinese, japanese, thai... they were quite good, as if they were actually singing!!! after the show, we then walked up and down Bangla road to see the night life coming to life! saw soo many ladyboys in sexy dresses and makeup, live bands playing, millions of bars left and right, massage parlours!! you'll get a headache taking all this in!!

we couldn't take pics of the show in the theater that's why i didn't have any. here is where after the show, the performers will come out to the side of the building where u can take pictures with them, but mind you, they'll expect a tip from you. i took these pics at a distant! :P

mum and her bff went shopping abit at a mall nearby i went to get my BRAIDS done!!! so excited!! so i found this decent saloon (didn't really trust the ones on the side of the road/by the beach) and got half my head done for 400 Baht. yea i think it's abit expensive but guess there was quality in a way, and it's a saloon, nice chair and air-con! lol then met up with the ol ones and continued our journey down Bangla Rd and back to the hotel

then when the ol ones are tucked in bed, i headed towards the bar where one of the forum members own :) just sat there, had some drinks, made friends, recognise some nicknames and now see their faces, played UNO and just chilled out till nearly closing time (i was soo dead by then). i didn't go around exploring the bars/clubs cause i was alone. i knew i would be "safe" at this friends bar so that's where i stayed. on my way back to the hotel, there's this karts/stalls at the side of the road selling grilled meat-on-sticks... just had to try some, and they had PORK!!! heaven i tell u!!! imagine, having a pork grilled stick at the side of the road!! sweeet!!! didn't know how much it costs cause the lady took all the coins i had (wanted to get rid of it... ) it wouldn't come up to 50Baht (RM5) or so.. correct me if i'm wrong. after a few sticks, i went back to the hotel and slept like a pig... had to get up early the next day for the Phi Phi trip. the van was to pick me up at 8am!! O_O

this is Soi (lane) Eric, where it has many mini bars on both the left side and right and extra tables in the middle incase it gets crowded. my friends bar is on the right side, somewhere in the middle... i haven't seen a mini bar before, quite impressive

hiatus?

nah, it's more like busy...

kinda hate my current shift, work alt wed, thurs - sat, cause that's when my social life starts!! (hahaha yea right social life pppfftt).. i mean... ppl start to ajak you out for dinners, movie, meetings, church outings and all around thurs - sat.... and i'm always going for it LATE because i finish work at 9pm.. sheesh... and when i meet them so late > get home late > sleep late > no mood to work next day...

why not go out on my off day? u may ask.... heck who goes for outings during sun- tues?? sunday would usually be family day so no play play with friends, then monday is first day of work, no mood to go out and then there's tues.. so fun begins wed - sat and that's when i work!

damnit!

no wonder i'm soo tired...

and Marco, it's my blog and i want to rant about being tired even if i cari my own pasal to make myself tired... so dun bother ok

Leslie J. Frankfort - the final walk

here's a brief account of the final leg of grandad's journey with us. the wake was held in the Immaculate Conception Church in Pulau Tikus. and the whole event took place for about 8 days.....

here's a picture of grandad that i printed (our printer was not too good). this picture was when he was having a great time at my cousins (Laura) wedding in KL about 4 years ago - he was 90!

the flowers on the coffin were from all 3 daughters and the other one was from the Green family.

this is from Mon Cherie (behind Convent GreenLane) home,
the old folks home my grandad was staying - nice people :)

these are from my fellow CHOICEes!
am very grateful for your support, thank you lots and God Bless! *hugs*

these are from the Yew family (left) and the Devan family (right)
love the roses!

Here's the prayer group from the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit leading the prayers, they came nearly every other day for support. they have their own booklets, guitar and even portable speakers (check out the white speaker like box on the floor) and headset-mics (the guitar player)! canggih!

the day of the funeral, the journey starts from the wake to the church, just round the corner...

Funeral Mass

my dad saying a reading



final prayers



then to the hearse - it was quite a nice car/van, was too busy to take a pic of it (oh, you can see the white car in the pic below - right side)

i was getting the car to pick up the others for the convoy


at the crematorium @ Mt. Erskine

then the everyone went their own ways home to rest, have a quick nap, and change for evening prayers and dinner with family. i'm not sure if it was decided on purpose or it was pure coincidence, that the venue for the dinner was held at grandad's favourite restaurant! even the head waitress recognised him - though i'm not sure if anyone told her what had happened. it was obvious everyone was tired, from 8 days of the wake, 24hrs flying from US and UK and driving from KL to Penang, but we tried to put on a smile and made it a light, happy moment to be meeting everyone again.

Godma (Aunty Lottie), Aunty Shirley, Aunty Yvonne, Mum (Merle)



Laura, Aunty Gaik Sim, Godma

Uncles Eustace, Cosmas, Ritchie, Gerard

dad (Terry), me and Laura

on the 7th day, it's important to have the 7th day prayer and we had it upstairs of the PEA (Penang Eurasian Association). We said the rosary and everyone had a chance to say what they remembered about grandad, it was interesting as i got to know somethings about grandad i didn't know as he spent most of his life in America. it was quite a simple, intimate moment for all of us to remember him that way.

his ashes behind the picture


then of course dinner downstairs :D

when we finally arranged for the burial of the urn, we went over to my nanny's grave in St. Anne's Cemetary where she's laid to rest there. there's already prepared two lots in her grave and grandad's taking one of them.

and so this was the very looong week for all of us. it took a toll on us physically and emotionally, it's been 3 weeks already, mum and dad has recuperated, but i've yet to, as i went straight back to work after that.. and still working

anyway, grandad, hope all's well "up there" and i'm sure you're laughing and dancing with nanny, and all your family that has gone before you. remember us and pray for us here. Lots of Love :D

do you know what tired is?

tired is when...

you have to tend to family issues when a grandparent passed away, the wake, the layan-ing of people coming to pay their respects and attempt to do the "night shift" with dad, and that failed as you only managed to stay up till 3am by watching your mum play cards with her friends and watching reruns of tv sitcoms on your laptop. do that for 4 days + 2 days after working hrs. then comes the funeral mass in church, the crying at the crematorium, the dinners and tour-guide responsibility of being a cousin and niece to your overseas relatives and sleeping at 1-2am in the morning... EVERY morning

next traveling 500+ kms away, doing about the same thing, layaning people and sleeping late and driving around and traveling 500+ kms BACK again....

AND go to work the next day for 7 days in a row, and when you have only ONE day off, you still need to get up early to meet your own personal appointments and service your car AND back to work the next day for 5 days straight!! before you have ONE day off to pack for your phuket trip the next day..

wait, it still doesn't end, once you're back from phuket, u're back to work the next day for 3 days!!....

AND then, only then, you'll get 3 days off with NO plans whatsoever, at that time, you can only HOPE that no one calls you back to work.....

tell me.. tired or not?

May you Rest In Peace, Granddad

Leslie J. Frankfort
1915 - 2009

Passed away peacefully in Mont Cherie Home on the 2nd Oct 2009 in his after-breakfast nap.
The wake is at the church of Immaculate Conception Pulau Tikus (IC Church).

Gonna miss your stories, your jokes and laughter and you of course.
Now you are together again with nanny in a more peaceful place.

Love you!