Merepek

Chinese New Year is round the corner and now we are experiencing Chinese New Year weather….blue, cloudless sky, terrible headache-inducing scorching heat. The sun is relentless…it is very, very hot outside and I am all cooped up inside the house. A quick dash outside to bring in the crisp laundry is enough to cause momentary blindness the minute I stepped into the house. So instead of going out jalan-jalan and look-see-look-see, I stayed home and just laze around…upstairs to downstairs to upstairs to downstairs…..It’s sooooo hotttt…..makes me so lethargic. And I am bored to my eyeballs.

And yesterday evening, I thought of taking a drive up Gentings for some cooler air. In my haste, I dropped my handphone….OOOOPSSSS…..into water. Arrrrrghhhhhh…….it is not water-proof....

Okie, mood spoiled liao…..sour-faced already......like 'kalah mahjong' lidat....don't want to go anymore..........just stay home and mope.

My friend would make hell of a lot of noise each time her car is due for road tax and motor insurance renewal….not so much for the road tax and insurance itself but because that would be the time when she finds out the value of her wheels. Noise or no noise, the issue is usually forgotten soon enough and she continues her love affair with those beauties. …changing to new models whenever she gets tired of the old one.

Those early days, she moved around in Japanese models but is now into German technology. She bought new a 2006 model in February 2007 for close to RM270,000, discounted RM20,000 from the original selling price of about RM290,000. What a steal! Now, just a mere 11 months down the road, she discovered that the current market value is nothing more than RM225,000.
**gasped...** A whopping RM60K+ loss in value for a 11 months old car! Adoooiiii.....sakiiiitt....!

"Ada betul kah?" she asked in disbelief.

Betul…more than betul…she was told. In the motor trade, cars are valued based on model-year and in her case, Year 2006, is now considered 2 years old eventhough she has been driving it for 11 months only. Based on an average of 20% depreciation rate per year, the RM60K+ loss is about right – [RM290K x 20%] x 2 years.

She can afford the car but it is painful nonetheless ….”RM60K wor!” she wails.

I know...I know.....buying and maintaining a car has burnt many holes in my pocket too. **sighs…** If only I am brave enough to learn to ride a motorbike.

hmmmmm…..something to chew on.....

* This agency is set up by Bank Negara Malaysia to provide free financial education, credit counseling and debt restructuring services to individuals. To help individuals who wittingly or unwittingly fell into the deepest end of the debt pool.

Easy-payment schemes, zero-interest plans, 24-hours approval soft-loans and flexi-financing, wallet-full of credit cards and the most creative of what-have-you plans for anything and everything tempt us and it is just not too difficult to go overboard and spend beyond our means. Oooohhhh….that pair of the most lustrous pearl earrings…. that elegant pair of stilettos that sure made us walk taller …..that sexy number that accentuate our curves at the right places….. that classy handbag that complement so well….that watch that we must have on the wrist……gifts/angpows for that big gang of relatives and friends…..that new set of wheels to replace the old-banger….a vacation to places far and wide that we have only dreamed of visiting…..new pad at a nice address, if not, to re-style our current nest….a new this and a new that. Wahhhh…..all also want…..

It is so easy to spend and spend and spend more. Every item, edible or not seems to be calling out to us to buy, buy and buy. At the malls, you see people walking with arms laden with shopping bags….at the food outlets, you see tables fully taken and it is so common to have queues waiting for seats, snaking out onto the walkways….at the hypermarkets you see people pushing overflowing trolleys and waiting patiently in line to ring up their purchases. We are being enticed left, right and centre and it sure takes great effort to reign ourselves in….and a steely resolve to only spend the money available in the pocket.

For starters, I think will I need to learn to go out with not more than RM30 in my purse.

“Errr…no lar. Kitchen's closed today.” I answered.

“Then how come so busuk? Smells like dirty socks or something….hmmmm…” he continued

“Err…maybe neighbour’s cooking lor…”, I replied and then carried on with my reading. A couple of paragraphs down and I too, began to sniff something unsavoury. I walked to the kitchen, opened the back windows wide but there was no ‘fishy’ smell. I then walked back into the living room and instantly, that funny smell wafted into my nostrils…something a bit burnt and something kinda putrid.

No mood to continue reading already…..I must go look for the source of that offending odour, same time praying that not another rodent has decided to commit suicide atop the ceiling boards. I recalled a horrible experience years ago when, after enduring a few days of horrible stench coming from dunno-where, live maggots started to drop through tiny crevices on the ceiling boards into my bedroom….ewww….geli betul….I was home alone at that time…kids were in school and I had just woken up bleary-eyed and all and was toddling towards the bathroom when I saw small white clumps along the floor skirting. I walked closer, bend down and rubbed my eyes and I freaked out. OMG….help…tolong…..kiew miah…kow meng….Aitelyu…..I raced down the stairs, reached for the phone and practically dialed all the numbers that came to mind for help, short of calling 999!

An inspection up the ceiling boards revealed more crawlies and a huge clump of hair and a long tail….yucksssss…..the carcass had rotted away. Don’t ask me how they cleaned the place….I was outta house by then and only returned home late evening when confirmed 201% that everything is betul-betul bersih and thoroughly disinfected.

And back to my story of the latest episode of putrid smells. I checked the whole house…drawers, cupboards, the pantry, the fridge, behind the chairs, underneath the beds and just about any other place that I can think of but was unable to locate the source. However, I noticed there was no smell upstairs…somehow the smell was stronger in the living room. I turned out the shoe cabinet to check for any unwashed socks but nopes….it's not there either.

Woke up the next morning and the minute I opened my bedroom door, I was instantly greeted by that offending smell. I quickly went down to the living room, opened the door and switched on the ceiling fan at full blast to blow out the foul air. Standing near the switchboard I sensed the smell was stronger...more pronounced…..some kind of a funny burning smell…..I reached out to touch the ELCB and gosh! it felt warm and then I saw this....

Melted ELCB cover on the outside and a burnt ELCB on the inside.

**shudderssss...**My whole family could have been roasted alive, no thanks to slipshod work done last year by a supposedly reliable and qualified wireman.

We left PJ at about 8.00pm, thinking that the afterwork traffic would have eased up by then, but we were soooo wrong. Main roads and highways were chocful of vehicles after the earlier downpour and a couple of fender-benders along the way only made the crawl worse.

So after something like an eternity, we finally arrived in 'mum-mumland' and by that time the tummy was already growling. Heard that it is not uncommon to have to stand around and wait for seats but we were lucky…managed to get a table along the five-foot way so, it was alfresco dining for us. I quickly waved the chap over to take our orders. Err...not too friendly…no smiles…no hellos, no menu, just stone-faced, so I just asked him for recommendations. He mumbled something and I thought I heard him speak Cantonese that sounded kinda foreign. Not too sure if he is an orang asing from Myanmar, Tibet or Vietnam, I switched to bahasa pasar, only to have him respond loud and clear in Cantonese. Ahh….so he found his voice. And I thought I saw him rolling his eyes too..hehehheee…

As we were already very, very hungry by then, I looked to the table next to us and simply indicated to Mr Stoneface that we shall have just that. Service was reasonably fast and the food arrived soon enough…..piping-hot fried fish cake, a plate of sweet-and-spicy lala, a plate of greens and of course, the hokkien-mee. Then I eyed another dish….not sure what it was but it looked delicious so, I signaled to Mr Stoneface that we shall have that as well. Ahhh….I was pleasantly surprised……

This is pek-kueh fried hokkien style and it has been ages since I last tasted it. I like its chewy texture and I think it is made from rice and tapioca flour dough, cut into thin, thumb-length strips and then boiled. The cooked strips are then fried hokkien-mee style or served soupy-style with minced meat, gizzards or seafood.

3 of us cleaned out the plates and bowls in no time at all…**burrpssss….**

Already famished by then, we walked in and were happy to find an empty table. A smiling waitress plonked the menu down, mumbled something and then bolted off to help clear the other tables. An ‘Excuse Me’ with a wave of the hand brought Ms Waitress running back to take our orders and she rattled off in rapid-fire Mandarin. Aisehman….”Sorry, I cannot understand Mandarin.”, I said in Cantonese. Ms Waitress gave a toothy grin and signed to me to wait while she go get someone else.

Another lady came by but before I could even say 'Hi', she mumbled something and just as quickly, she walked away to attend to another table....wrong order or something like that. I needed help with the menu as I can’t read Chinese and the English translation, well….left me scratching my head. How do you read this word on the menu….’Teared'’?

And what in heaven’s name is item no. 204....‘LOR TEARED NOODLES’?

Addendum 1:

Farang Teared Noodle.....errrr....."HAIMEHLEIKAR?" hahahahaha......

Angeles is right...'Farang' in Thai, refers to orang putih/angmoh. And according to Chev, the Chinese words read 'Kuei Lou Pan-Meen'....so, I think it is pasta or something similar.

Addendum 2:

Pan-Meen shops are sprouting like mushrooms after the rain around the Damansara area and last weekend, I saw one shop appropriately named 'MEE PAPAN'. I should have taken a picture of it.

Addendum 3:

I went to the famous Kin Kin Restaurant in KL for chilli pan-meen today....and endured a 'hot' tummy for the whole afternoon resulting from an overdose of chillies. :P

I was kinda incredulous when I read the above until I read something else…of a hawker’s helper by the name of Hong who actually called up the Press to find out where to buy the used/soiled panties. He was reported to be willing to fork out RM690 to buy a pair of worn and unwashed panties in the hope that it would change his luck. Apparently, his friend had won RM230,000 in a lottery after putting such panties on his head (this takes the cake!) six years ago. The friend spent RM460 to buy the panties.

Tolonnnnnggg....gua mau pengsanssssss liao........kedeboommmm....

“Congratulations! Anda memenangi WANG TUNAI RM15,000 from Celcom prepaid. Info sila hubung Perkhidmatan Celcom prepaid. 006 285880339216 http://www.xpax.com”

“Pengumuman dari PETRONAS MAS. TAHNIAH SimCard anda bertuah memenangi undian hadiah cek RM14000. Sila hubungi esok pagi 00628157018729 Terima kasih.”

Wah…..A windfall!!!! Durian Runtuh!!!! Money for nothing!!!! Sounds too good to be true lar! Then I remembered my momma’s wise counsel, ”If it is too good to be true, then it can’t be true.”

***”She works hard for the marneyyyyy…so hard for it honey...she works hard for her money...so you better treat her right...."*****