Small plates served meat, sashimi and salads with soup and rice .
I didn’t
know about this new place in Ipoh .. Tonkatsu Kiso or Ton which means pork tenderloin, Katsu or cutlet
and Kiso meaning kiss which putting it together says PorkCutlets with a Kiss.
.
Of course a young resident suggested this place or I would never have found it. It is the equivalent
of a pub (I googled it) or izakaya restaraunt (is a type of informal Japanese barthat serves alcoholic drinks and snacks. Izakaya are casual places for after-work) ... that served small plates of very delicious meal served with rice and their soup.
In our case
we had tonkatsu, a sashimi plate (salmon, tuna and scallop ++ with a generous portion of wasabi) with salads. In short it was light,
refreshing and very delectable with all the wasabi, mustard, soy sauces…something
different.
Pork tenderloin ...
Sashimi platter
shredded cabbage ...
tofu
pumpkin
It was
situated in a wonderful part of town, Jalan Lau Ek Ching, that had lovely town
houses in the day.
situated at Jalan Lau Ek Chin
A rainy evening
with a lovely meal to end the day. So nice.
Mesmerizing..the grounds of the old College General@Pulau Tikus
The old
College General in Pulau Tikus Penang was the first Seminary in the Malayan
Diocese. I took these photos of the seminary, which must have been in the late
70’s, and realized we have a big Church. I made up a group who attended the event to
video (it was the thing at the time) the event.
We arrived
late so it was a rush setting up. When I got to the place I was mesmerized with
the place. It was large and imposing and had these large trees on the grounds.
The event
was the Silver Jubilee though I don’t remember what it was in commemoration of . Apparently the whole clergy of the Penang Diocese was present. A section of the garden
was decked out in white by the clergy. I recognised Bishop Soter Fernandez who
was the main celebrant and was that also Fr Ken Williams.
Bishop Soter Fernandez was the main celebrant ....
Congregation (right) and the clergy
... the whole of Penang Diocese was present ....
Amongst the
non-clergy crowd was a distinguished looking elderly gentleman in a uniform
that clearly wasn’t military. Thirty years
later, I discovered that it was a uniform of a Papal Knight and the person
donning the suit was the late Dato James Francis Augustine.
Standing at extreme right was Papal Knight Dato James Francis Augustine
( About Augustine …for his services to the Catholic Church in Malaysia ..
earned him the Bene Merenti Medal in 1953 and a Papal knighthood in 1959 when
he was made Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Sylvester. Papal Knight’s are appointed by the Pope.)
I recently
took it out from my album (yes these were prints). It was faded and the glue
from the album had penetrated into the prints forming orange smears. Thanks for
digital repairing for it made look presentable. One more sharing to reflect on the
heritage of the Catholic Church in the country.
I somtimes see this old Chinese woman on my morning rounds.She scavenges for recyclabes. Today she had an enormous load for the recycle shop. It reminded me of what our old Mahathir said of the Chinese recently. ...irrespective of their age......
Old shop serving roti canai at breakfast. Soldiers from nearby camps getting their breakfast
One of the
oldest mamak stalls that serves real good roti
canai is undoubtedly Restoran Habib at Canning Garden. Its been run by two brothers Syed and Abu (don’t take
my photo please) for decades. Probably was handed down by their parents.
This place
is popular during breakfast because a couple sells nasi lemak and bihun but
only at breakfast till it’s finished usually by 10am. This couple too has been
selling here for over 20 years.
This couple has been selling nasi lemak & bihun for 20+ years
Old shop, regular customers ....
At this time
the crowd can be seen queueing and waiting for their meals mostly takeaways.
One thing about Habib is it is an old shop and with regular customers such as
the soldiers from the nearby camps and old residents with their grandchildren
patronizing the place.
After 10am
the place is less busy and the brothers prepare for lunch. I like this place, quiet, peaceful
and where you can a get a genuine roti.
Security guards at the Perak Turf Club salute Evert Van Breukelen as his hearse drives by the PTC
It was the
last journey for Dutch-Malaysian horse trainer Evert van Breukelen as the van
carried him on his final farewell the management and staff of the Perak Turf
Club (PTC) staged a fitting farewell for him.
The management and staff, trainers, syces and security of the Perak Turf Club
2nd from left are trainers Peter Lee and V. Sivan followed by Chairman of PTC Dato John Lim Ewe Chuan. 2nd from right is GM Mr Lai Hah Wan.
Standing in
a straight line at the verandah the management, staff, fellow trainers and
syces bowed and saluted him as his cortege passed by and proceeded to the
stables the family had occupied for over 70 years.
Evert's request - to drive by the family stables one last time
The funeral mass was said earlier at the OMPH Church. It was a solemn affair and the mass was said in BM by Fr Patrick Massang and Fr Robin Lomangkok before proceeding to PTC.
It was a very solemn funeral mass
Evert was
the last Van Breukelen that has used the stables at the Perak Turf Club for
training their horses. The family first started with the PTC when granduncle
Marinus Van Breukelen first came though it wasn’t confirmed if he came before or
after the war.
Later he
brought his two nephews Rinus and Eddie to join him. Eddie had three sons Hans,
Pieter and Evert who were all trainers.
The Van Breukelen's. L/r: Pieter, Evert, dad Eddie Van Breukelen and Hans
Pieter and Evert at their stables celebrating Everts win circa 2010
Evert won the Rm1mil Yang di-Pertua Negeri Gold Cup, Penang 2009
Pieter took over the stable from his father and in 2005 Evert was
handed the stable from Pieter. Since that time Evert has saddled 350 winners
in 18 years. On the last weekend before he died Evert scored a double win with Tilsworth Mali and
Trinity Honor.
Perak Turf
Club GM Lai Hah Wan said that Evert was a survivor. Horse racing in this day
and age is a tough business. However Evert has toughed up to it and stayed in
the game because he came from a racing family and had a passion for racing.
He was a fixture
in the club and although he had physical mobility issues he treated people well
and was generally well liked and was called the “Gentle Giant’.
In his later
years Evert was very much a family man who enjoyed tending to his small garden
after his workday. His birthday was due in September and his twin sister Manja,
who lives in the US, had made plans to spend two months with him and the family
come this August.
Left. Evert with his twin sister Manja. (R) The family man. Carl, Evert, Sonia and Margret.
But alas with
the passing of Evert all has come to an abrupt end without any warning leaving
his wife Margaret and family and the end of a Racing Family.
Goodbye my
friend. Gone forever but never to be forgotten.
Ching Boon Tat outlining the hills and caves in the Kinta Valley
Had a very fulfilling 2 Sundays ago when I attended
Cave & Karst Day at Tin Alley, Ipoh. Kinta Valley Watch (KWV) that enthusiastic caving and karst
group had organised a talk and exhibition on the ‘wonderful, though now being decimated’
Kinta Valley.
Limestone hills and quarraying throughout the Kinta Valley
Central Kinta Valley in 2020
Same place in 2023...Ching Boon Tat showing the audience the impact of quarrying
The exhibition featured a video on the hills in the valley which was narrated by Ching Boon Tat of KVW. For a clearer understanding KVW also included a talk on the location of the hills on a geological map of the Kinta Valley with the location of each limestone hill placed
on within each respective district.
Besides the map they also had graphic photographs of
the cave interiors. KVW members over the last four year had explored and collected alot of documentary evidence.
Photos showing the 'treasures' of the Kinta Valley - cave paintings, fossils, karst land scapes and more
Overall it was a great effort on the part of KVW. The
leader Ching Boon Tat spoke only Chinese but there were volunteers on hand to
assist with translations.
What I learnt from this exhibition was these hills were located in 3
districts and then there was the Geopark. I always thought the Geopark was a touristy kind of department and did not oversee the management of the districts which was for generating income. In summary i do not forsee any add value to the future of the valley.
My main concern is for the future of Gunong Lanno.
Lanno still has its remaining hill outcrop mostly intact. History has it that
the pair of Charles Alma Baker and his Chinese partner Chew Boon Juan who mined
the unlikely vein of tin in the hill had struck it rich in 1903. They became rich and subsequently contributed handsomely to
the British WWI war effort with a contribution each of $1,000 each.
Beside that fact there was a pipeline which "should have been constructed by Osborne
and Chappel" through Gua Gatsch, G. Lanno to pipe water to the open cast mines west of
the hills.
The jewel that is Gunong Lanno. A tin mine within at Gua Gatsch, evidence of industrial heritage
...the pipeling through the cave ......
Kinta Valley Watch members exploring Gua Gatsch. The pipeline had long been removed.
Now the hill is slowly but surely being encroached and
that is so unacceptable to all except the quarry operators. Can the state do anything
out-of-thebox to preserve this very historical hill and leave a legacy of this Tin Mining heritage of a wonderful industry in the Kinta Valley. I guess the fate of the Gunong Lanno is slowly a goner sooner
if not later.
The steel grating over the manhole at the junction of Lebuh
Bercham Selatan / Lebuh Perajurit 3 has been repaired. The grating was replaced
on 28 May 2023 ..6 weeks later. It is a very busy junction and glad it has finally
been repaired for the safety of all motorists.
