Celebrating The Jade Emperor's Birthday a.k.a. Pai Thnee Kong

When a tradition gathers enough strength to go on for centuries, 

you don't just turn it off one day.

Chinua Achebe

Nigerian novelist, poet

"Pai Thnee Kong" to celebrate the birthday of the Jade Emperor.

Born into a mixed parentage with Chinese, Sinhalese and Thai blood, I am glad that I get to experience a diverse culture and tradition in my family. I spent my first seven years living at my paternal grandparents place, and I guess the exposure I got during the early years gave me deep interest on the Taoism culture and traditions. "Thnee Kong Seh" ("Seh" means "birthday" in Hokkien) is undoubtedly the main highlight every time we celebrate the Lunar New Year. It falls on the ninth day of the Lunar New Year (LNY) to celebrate the birthday of the Jade Emperor. 

To the Hokkiens like me, this day is the biggest and most important day; it even beats the first day of the lunar calendar, throughout the 15-day long LNY celebration. "Thnee Kong" is a Hokkien term which literally translates as "Heavenly God". It is known as "Tin Kong"  in Cantonese or "Tian Gong" in Mandarin. In English, it is more commonly called the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor is regarded as the supreme deity in the Taoist pantheon, reigning above all the other Taoist deities, and is in control of all things. He is the Supreme God of the Chinese folk religion, the ruler of all Heavens (over 30 in Chinese mythology), Creator of the Universe, Emperor of the Universe, and Lord of the Imperial Court. The birthday of the Jade Emperor is an important date for the Hokkien community.

People will throng the market to get fresh fruits and flowers to be offered.

Traditional cakes to be offered; the pink ones are called the "huat kueh", whereby the more cracks it has on the top of the cake, the better it is.

The orange ones are called "ang koo", "ang ee" and "ang than".

These are a few other cakes; the pink one resembles the shape of peach.

There are actually a lot other varieties of the cakes for offerings.

Readily-made joss papers which are folded into the shape of pineapples.

Roasted chicken. It is common to offer a whole chicken, symbolising prosperity, togetherness of the family and joy>/span> 

(note: chicken with its head, tail and feet symbolizes completeness).

Roasted pigs. The whole pig does not come cheap and people usually just get a portion of it.

Joss papers, which are to be folded.

There are many ways to fold the joss papers, or "kim chua" into various shapes, but I usually use the most simple one like this.

For the cakes, we usually buy home-made ones from this aunty who lives nearby our house.

She has been making these cakes using traditional method for the past 30 years or so.

For the sugar canes, we got it from this uncle who plants his own sugar canes. The good thing about getting it from him is that

we get to choose the sugar canes ourselves and he will help us to chop them off.

Legends has it that during the Ming Dynasty, the Hokkiens from the Fujian province were once attacked by General Tang Lu Lang of the Sung Dynasty on the first day of the Lunar New Year. They took refuge and hid in a sugar cane plantation in order to escape the attack. On the ninth day, which coincided with the Jade Emperor's birthday, they emerged unscathed and found their enemies gone. They believed they had been protected by the deity and saved by the protective cover of the sugar cane stalks. Ever since, the Hokkiens have regarded this date as symbolic to their survival and celebrate "Thnee Kong Seh" (birthday of the God of Heaven) as their 'real' new year.

Preparations for the "Thnee Kong Seh" is a labour of love and devotion, which usually starts a week earlier. Traditionally, most of the offerings are prepared from scratch but over the years, everyone is so busy and occupied that we would just buy them. However, I always make it a point to prepare the offerings by myself as much as I could.

Putting red decorative papers on the food offerings. In the past, we used to buy red colour papers and cut them into beautiful motifs but these days, only self-adhesive type kind of red papers are sold and personally I do not fancy these modern type ones as they do not stick properly on the food.

It is also an important point to wash the floor of the area where the prayers will be done, usually the front porch of every household.

As midnight approached, the altar will be brought out and the sugar canes will be tied to the both sides of the altar.

Dad helped out in making the sweetened glutinous rice, or "bee koh".

One of the main thing for "Pai Thnee Kong" is the sugar canes. A pair of sugar cane is a must-item when celebrating Thnee Kong Seh. It is normally tied on both sides of the altar. Some prop up or lean them against the gate or door of their houses. The sugar canes play a significant role in this celebration because the Hokkien ancestors were saved by Thnee Kong's help when they were attacked by the bandits during the olden days. Also, sugar cane ("kam chia"), which in Hokkien is homophonous to thank you ("kam siah"), is also offered as a form of thanksgiving, to their supreme deity, the Jade Emperor. Today, they are seen as a symbol of peace and prosperity. The leafy part of the sugar cane head is taken and burnt along when we burn the gold paper at the end of the prayers and offerings.

Next would be the "kim chua" or joss papers (literally gold paper in Hokkien). They are very much like origami folding, folded into gold ingots and many many interesting shapes, which promotes a better burning. The worship of the Jade Emperor entails specific items, among them Imperial Gold, or "Thnee Kong Kim", the only paper money of legal tender in the Jade Emperor's heavenly realm. This is often folded up to take on auspicious shapes, such as that of the pineapple. They have to be fully burnt in order from Thnee Kong to fully receive everything. Some people put in firecrackers when they burn these gold papers, but my grandma never allows us to do it, because according to her, the loud noise from the firecrackers will scare away the Thnee Kong when he is here to collect the gold papers hahaha!

Joss papers which have been folded into pineapple shapes to be offered to the Thnee Kong.

This is the "leng hiao" or giant joss stick with dragon motif. It is among the praying paraphernalia used for the Thnee Kong Seh. The story was that after buying this joss stick, I suggested to Mom that we give a name to our dragon. In less than 1.45 seconds, she replied me, "Dragon Ball!!!" So, meet our leng hiao and his name is Dragon Ball hahahaha!!

Various food items offered to the Jade Emperor carries specific meaning, often based on homophone. For example, the pineapple is offered because its name in Hokkien, "ong lai" is homophonous to "heralding auspiciousness".  The food offerings are normally arranged in a certain order on the altar facing the main gate, which will be wide open to allow smooth flow of all the good things.

The altar table is usually draped in red tablecloth or red paper and then elevated with benches or tables. This is to signify the highest ranking of the Jade Emperor, as there are different status and tiers in Heaven. Pure vegetarian offerings will be placed on the higher or upper tier as those are for the Jade Emperor, who is believed to be a vegetarian. For those who offer roasted pig, duck, chicken and liquor, the offerings will be placed on a lower tier table as those offerings are meant for the heavenly generals and guardian soldiers. Another custom is to place a stack of "kim" beneath the altar table, to signify the separation of Heaven and Earth/ground as the Jade Emperor is considered the Pure Ones.

The dried vegan series. From clockwise from top left, starting with black fungus, glass vermicelli ("tang hoon"), dried bean curd sheet, black moss ("fat choy"), dried lily buds :"kim chiam"), red dates ("ang zho"), longan, shiitake mushrooms. Nowadays, there are readily packed ones, where these dried vegetables are packed into one big packets. However, I still prefer to stick to the traditional way and buy them individually.

Next would be five types of fresh fruits. The common ones are pineapple, banana, mandarin orange, lime, pomelo, watermelon, pear, peach, grapes, etc. All offerings are usually washed, arranged on the plates and finished off with beautiful red papers to give it the auspicious look and for colour contrast. One important point to note is that all offerings must be placed in bowls that are not chipped or cracked. All offerings have their own bowl and vegan series especially are strictly used to hold vegan stuff only. 

Traditional Thnee Kong cakes. The orange ones are red tortoise buns ("ang koo" and "ang ee"). The skin of the ang koo is made of glutinous rice flour which is coloured red with edible colouring. The filling is made of peanuts, green beans or mung beans. The ang koo are moulded into the shape of a tortoise to signify longevity and its red colour symbolises luck. The pink round one is Chinese steamed cake ("huat kuih") and the pink oval buns are "mee koo kuih". The offerings are usually placed in multiples of six such as 12, 24 or 36 because the number 6 is considered an auspicious number in Chinese culture, in the hope that he will bless the people with good fortune and prosperity. 

Other prerequisites worship offerings would be raw "mee sua" bundled in red thread, and red hard-boiled eggs as both are traditionally served during birthday. Mee sua signifies longevity and red eggs symbolizes prosperity and is auspicious looking. The number of the red eggs offered changes every year, depending whether it is a leap year or not, which happens 7 times in a span of 19 years. My grandma will know if it is a leap year by looking at the traditional lunar calendar. However, as we are not staying with her anymore now, we usually offer 6 red eggs, to signify the 6 members in our family. By the way, 2014 is not a leap year and the next one would be in 2017.

The sweet glutinous rice or "bee koh" is also another must-have item for this occasion. It is usually decorated with red dates and longan around the bee koh. These ritual offerings are made in the hope that the sweetness from these cakes will leave a sweet taste in the mouths of the deities and they will bless the people with a prosperous year ahead. We also made a butter and chocolate layer cake since it is the Thnee Kong's birthday.

The setup for the prayers is completed.

A closer look at the arrangements of the food offerings and prayers paraphernalia. As you notice, a delicate hand-sewn table banner dedicated to the Supreme is hung at the front of the red table. 

Ariel shot of the altar. 

Took some time for photos while waiting for the midnight to come. 

Lunar Calendar is a little different from the daily calendar we based on. According to Hokkien tradition, time is marked by two-hour blocks. So, midnight encompasses the time block from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.. Technically, the worshipers may start the rites at 11:00 p.m. as it signifies the border between the eighth day and the ninth day of Lunar New Year. Therefore, most people would offer praying paraphernalia to Thnee Kong at 11 p.m. on the eight day of Lunar CNY; but my family would wait until 12 a.m. sharp.

As midnight approaches, things start to get burning. You will hear fireworks and firecrackers being lit to welcome the New Year and to mark the beginning to the 9th day of the LNY. As the Thnee Kong Seh is considered a more grand occasion than the first day of the LNY, you will hear more fireworks and firecrackers on this day compared to the eve of LNY and any other day within the 15 days of LNY. Bright sparks and loud booms filled up the dark night and it continuously goes on all night long till approximately 4 a.m.. It is literally fire everywhere and a first-timer may think that he is in a war zone hahaha!

Mom kicked of the prayers.

Meanwhile I lighted up the Dragon Ball, who was ready for take off lol! 

Joss sticks and candles are all up.

With Dad and Mom.

Parents with my two younger sisters. One more sister was away, hence not in the picture.

Mom is learning fast in taking good photos for us *hehehe*

Sisters caught red-handed taking selfies.  

Pai Thnee Kong, from the smartphone perspective. 

The head of the family will take the lead in the prayers followed by the rest of the family members. The candles and small and big joss sticks with the dragon motif ("leng hiao") are lit. Each family members burn incense and say only good words and ask for Thnee Kong's blessing for good health, better luck, safety, money, love and generally a smooth sailing for the year ahead.

After about half an hour, we will perform a ceremony called "puak puei". We use two coins and put it onto our palms, pray and request for the Thnee Kong's approval to burn the joss papers. When the two coins show two different sides, the green light is given. However, when they show the same sides on both coins, it means the Thnee Kong is "laughing and still feasting and enjoying his time" and we should wait a little while more until we puak puei again.

The joss papers are all ready to be brought outside to burn after seeking blessings from the Thnee Kong.

Breaking the head of the sugar canes to be burned together with the joss papers.

 Burning the joss papers as offerings to the Thnee Kong.

  

Once we get the "okay" we will start arranging the joss paper and burn them, followed by the sugar cane head and finally the tea offered will be poured around the area. As the burning end, the tribute to Thnee Kong is completed. However, the night does not stop there as it is our turn to celebrate. We would feast on the food offerings as it is believed that eating this offerings will give us blessings from the Thnee Kong. A common dish is to cook "pat thin" herbal soup and add the red eggs and mee sua into them. "Ang choe teh", made of longan and red dates will also be prepared as desserts.

Nowadays, people tend to keep the celebration as simple as possible. In fact, not many from the younger generations have much interest in this occasion, yet alone knowing the significance of each do's and don'ts adhered during the prayers. However, I believe this is a very beautiful occasions which forms part of the Chinese culture that should be preserved for the future generations.

  Lots of beautiful and colourful fireworks to celebrate this special occasion.

With that, it sums up the "Thnee Kong Seh" celebration, which is considered bigger than the first day of Lunar New Year among the Hokkien community. Thank you for reading.

A Long-Awaited Homecoming

"There is no home as comfortable as your father's arms 

and no bed as soft as your mother's lap." 

Faraaz Kazi

Lots of flights there from India, but no, I was from Haneda in Japan.

Hello everyone! As you may noticed, I have changed the header of my blog, which I have used for n years. Mom actually commented on it recently, and asked me why I still used that header with my sexy squatting pose while holding to a mineral water bottle. The reason is very simple - I was too lazy to make a new header hahaha! So, tell me, how is the new header? It was taken at Henderson Waves during my Singapore trip last October. At least the header now shows the latest photo of myself and no longer holding to a bottle lol!

I was browsing through my blog entries and for many many months already, it has been all about Chiba Kun, Chiba Kun and Chiba Kun. No wonder everywhere I go, people will relate me as the Chiba Kun Ambassador more often than Calvin Ong haha! So, yeah, I will try to put a balance to it from now onward, by blogging about my life (as if you guys are interested to know about it lol!) from time to time.

First meal upon arrival, what else but mamak at Murni Taipan.

Speaking of which, as many of you may have known, I have left Japan for good. Like, finally, right? I started this blog a couple of months before I first stepped to sakuraland in early 2007, mainly to document my journey in a new country. And now, the Japan chapter may have ended but this journey will continue and carry one. 

I used to have quite a number of loyal and also silent readers in the past (sorry-lah, let me be a bit thick face a bit here lol!) but lately, the comments have dried off. So, to you, and you and you, yes you, I would really love to hear from you guys again.

  Went to the centennial celebration of the establishment of my high school and managed to catch-up with some of the teachers, friends, juniors there too. Lovely!

You know, to bloggers, comments are like drugs to us hahaha! The more comments we get, the happier we become, the more crap entries I can come out with to entertain you guys out there.

So, you may ask, what am I doing right now. Well, I am officially unemployed now. So, my daily routine is wake up, go for a morning run, take my breakfast, check emails, take lunch, go online, tea time, evening nap, dinner and occasional catch-ups with friends. So, you tell me, how not to grow fats like that right? Sigh...

Went to KL on one of the weekends. And guess what, I will be flying again next week wohooo!! Anyone wanna guess where am I going?

You may think I am just like a cow doing nothing at home at the moment, but actually besides eating and sleeping, at least I have been helping my parents cleaning the house, washing the cars. You know, especially those high up spots where they get to utilise my height for free hahaha! And after spending more than a week, I have successfully regained my room. Yea, it was turned a warehouse ever since I left home many years ago and imagine the few-inches-thick dust that covered the cabinets. Now, it is not the best-looking room you will find, but at least it looks very much tidier and most importantly, clean!

Besides doing those house chores and cooking for the family, I also managed to pay visits to both my grandmas and even took them out for dinner. I guess at such age, they aren't looking anything much but to spend such quality times with their kids and grandchildren.

Ah Mah and Calyn my eldest sister having dinner at one of the few happening night spots in Taiping.

Side track a little bit, I was showing my Mom that I received a text message from an unknown mak cik. Must be from the previous owner of my number as I just got my Malaysian mobile number recently. So, she told me her story, where there was one day, some unknown fella texted her, which goes something like this, "Nak ikan keli tiga kilo", which literally translate as "I would like to have three kilogrammes of catfish".

You see, my mom has been teaching for decades and she never sells fish before. So, obviously that fella had gotten the wrong person. Mom replied and told him she doesn't have any catfish. And guess what? That clown texted Mom again like five minutes later, again asking for three kilogrammes of ikan keli lol!

Asked Mom to accompany me to attend a dana session on one Saturday morning at Taiping Insight Meditation Society (TIMS).

Another incident happened this noon when I was getting lunch with Mom. The shop guy noticed my obvious height and commented that to Mom. He then asked me if I had just finished school.

"Boy form what now arh?" was his question, and I replied, "Form 5, uncle ^_^" lol!

Iftar With Marina Mahathir In Tokyo

 I am dying for someone to go to my Dad to say, 

"How does it feel to be Marina's Dad?"

on question about her relationship

with Dr. Mahathir

Malay Asian Cuisine, a Malaysian restaurant which was opened early this year and recently officiated by Tun Abdullah.

I first come to know about Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir through her bi-weekly column in The Star newspaper when I was in high school. At the same time, I also enjoy reading her articles on her blog at Rantings byMM. This bubbly, vivacious woman has no problem talking freely about sex, drugs or religion. That was more than a decade ago. Last night, I was lucky enough to join about 80 other Malaysians for a buka puasa (breaking fast) and dialogue session with this towering Malaysian at Malay Asian Cuisine, in Shibuya, Tokyo.

So, who is Marina Mahathir? Below is an excerpt of her biodata, taken from the website of Sisters in Islam (SIS), whom Marina is one of its Board Members since 2009.

Cute orange elephant and Mandarin duck at the reception.

The proboscis monkey, which is the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 mascot.

Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir began her career in advocacy in the HIV/AIDS sector. A graduate of the University of Sussex, she was president of the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) for more than a decade, and was also chairperson of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF). Through her work with the MAC and MAF, Marina came into contact with numerous vulnerable groups, such as the transgender community, drug users, sex workers, migrant workers and people with HIV. After leaving her position as MAC president in 2006, Marina went on to focus on issues related to Islam and gender. She was voted into SIS’s Board in 2009. 

Marina is also a prolific writer and has contributed regularly over the past two decades to Malaysian English-language daily The Star. Her current column, Musings, runs fortnightly on Wednesdays. She is also a popular blogger and her writings have also appeared in numerous other print and online publications. Marina is co-executive producer of the award-winning young women’s television series, 3R - Respect, Relax, Respond. She also co-produced the critically and commercially acclaimed Malaysian film Gol & Gincu, released in 2005, and which went on to spawn a successful television series.   

Marina is the daughter and eldest child of Malaysia’s fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

And so, we were there for this rare event with our special guest - Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir.

Marina with Siew Fong, who was the main organiser for the evening.

Marina arrived at the restaurant just before seven, and the first thought I had when I caught the first glimpse of Marina was, "Wow, Marina is so beautiful with her sweet smile, greeting each and everyone there". She seems unpretentious and utterly ordinary. Light chattings continued for a while, followed by the buka puasa sessions.

The menu for the night was one of the best I have had in any Malaysian restaurants in Tokyo. One plate set of our national dish - nasi lemak with rendang ayam, ikan bilis sambal, hard boiled egg, ayam goreng, samosa, sotong sambal. And we also have keropok, acar, banana cake, bubur cha cha as side menus. The ikan bilis sambal and fried chicken was simply out of the world.

The menu of the evening. One word - fantastic!

Once everyone was full, the event officially kicked off with a brief introduction of our special guest by Iqbal, followed by a short (10-seconds) self-introduction by everyone there. Finally, it was the climax of the evening - the dialogue session with Marina, who used to spend 2.5 years in Kobe, Japan in 1987. She started of her speech with, "Minasan, konbanwa".

To summarise her talk, Marina basically talked about the civil society movements in Malaysia, anecdotes of her involvements in various non-govenrmental organisations (NGO), how these movements and organisations raised funds to repair a Catholic cemetery in Kuantan, helped to introduced a Protestant church and Catholic church to work together, the recent issue about the soup kitchen in KL, the introduction of the Wall of Hope for MH370, her participant in BERSIH, how she felt about the current state of education in Malaysia, her relationship with her Dr. Mahathir, her hope to reclaim back Malaysia for Malaysians, etc.

Marina in action, speaking her minds out on various issues.

A candid expression of Marina taking a question during the Q&A session.

Here are some interesting quotes from Puan Marina on the evening:

A couple nights ago, the PM and the FT Minister, and the Women's Minister, who actually started it all, went on a SURPRISE tour of the streets - soup kitchens. Must have been terrifying for them; such alien territory.

Apparently, the PM Tweeted up like, "Wow, the poor really appreciate the soup kitchen." And someone said, "Well, duh...."

I think at the moment, we have a big issue in leadership; as if we don't have one.

The fact that you can even have the discussions is wonderful. It doesn't matter if you disagree or it gets really heated. The fact that you can have it is wonderful; because at home we can't. We really can't. 

Somebody had the idea to bring flowers along (to the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Klang). It wasn't my idea, I just went along. And turned out to be my picture on the front page, handing out these flowers.

After that, we thought, hey look, there are things that Malaysians can do, which are very simple, which represents a different face of Malaysia. Instead of seeing these angry faces all the time, spewing really a lot of hatred, we (Malaysians for Malaysia) wanted to present a different face. So, we started something called "A Walk in The Park".

We got Marina a little present - a cute Wajima nuri (lacquer art from Wajima, Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa)

and two small cute plates with gold fish and water ripple pattern.

In the mainstream national  school very near where I live, the kids, when it comes to sports, they are stereotyped and they cannot get out of the stereotype. They are told to play games according to their stereotype.

So, the Malay kids play football, the Chinese kids play basketball, the Indian kids play hockey.... How to win, like that?

And they wonder why they never win anything. They are not choosing by talent, they are choosing by race. Gosh... You always thought the Brazilians all can play football, right? And now we know they don't necessarily (referring to the 1-7 semifinal lost to Germany). I've been watching a little bit... I know where to hit where it hurts.

Our secondary school kids are in the same level as the primary school kids in Vietnam. It's incredible.

She (Marina's second daughter) started looking at everyone (within few months of enrolling into her school), in terms of what race and what religion they are. And she wanted to know, always.

In the end, we took a very difficult decision, which was to take her out there. The day I had to take her out, I actually cried. I felt so sad because I believed in the (education) system so much and it was really disappointing.

But there are problems with international school too, because it's simply not Malaysia enough.

Her Malay isn't very good. I don't think any of those kids can even name the 13 states in Malaysia. And that is very sad.

 Marina's Tweet on the event on her Twitter at @netraKL.

In many of the (court) cases, if someone overstepping, making a mistake, and overstepping, and then having too much ego to want to step back. And that (Borders bookstore manager, Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz pending court case) is a very typical of a lot of cases that is happening in Malaysia these days, where people (the authority) have made a mistake; they know they have made a mistake but they can't backtrack because they feel that they will lose face. It is all terlanjur sangat dah; cannot pull back already.

If you tell me that it will only gain traction if I talk about it, you are dis-empowering yourself, and that's the problem. Because we keep wanting to put power in the hands of a few, whereas the power is among everybody, it's in everybody. So, everyone needs to take responsibility for their own cause.

Malaysians really got to learn that democracy is not every five years. It is not something you just do every five years. It has to be an ongoing, living process, all the time, all the time.

My husband (Tara Sosrowardoyo, a renown Indonesian professional photographer) blames it (failed in their application to get a Malaysian PR) on me going to BERSIH twice.

I think what we really want is for some sort of sense of rationality, calmness and civility to come back to Malaysia because we cannot carry on like this.

Sleep! And being with my family. (on question about what Marina does to unwind herself)

What's my favourite book? Well, you know, it takes me forever to finish a book because every five minutes, and then I'm asleep.

Actually I think the best way to relax is to turn off Facebook, turn off Twitter.

I was brought up by my father to think, and I think if I didn't think, he would get mad with me. So, it's not been an issue for us. It's been less of an issue for us, than it has been for everyone else.

I get all sorts of nasty things, like, "How can you be like that?" (and I go) "Yea...? (what would you expect?)"

We are so similar. We are both opinionated, we both read a lot, we are concerned about issues; so I think we are very similar. The fact that we have different approaches to things, to me is normal. So it is not an issue at all, we have no problems, we have dinner together, we go on holiday together. It's not such a big deal, but it is a big deal for other people.

They get really like, "Huhhhhh, awat dia buat macam tu???"

I remember once, I just started at the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC), few years in and I had an interview with a business newspaper. We were supposed to talk about the business on running an NGO. And this guy came in, obviously very resentful of having to come and interview me because I'm not some hotshot business person. When he came in, and he sat down, and the first thing he said was, "How does it feel to be the PM's daughter?" And I said, "Get out".

Why? You all have to run home is it? (on calling a close to the dialogue session)

Marina actually left a comment on my Facebook personally. This tells you so much what this towering lady is made of.

I tell you one funny story. My brother, Datuk Mukhriz, he was the Deputy Trade Minister, had a meeting with some foreign trade minister from some other country. And this foreign trade minister said, "Haiz, you know the problem is with my sister. You know, she works in NGO and she's always you know, saying things that are a bit difficult for me and all that". And my brother (Datuk Mukhriz) goes, "I now how that feels".

Malaysians, no matter how far away, or how long they stay away from home, there's a string there that is attached to home. And occasionally that tucks back.

I think, you know, Insha'Allah, one day, I think we will get Malaysia back, but it needs to have everybody working towards it.

It was a great pleasure to meet Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir in person and listening to her inspiring speech.

She is simply a down-to-earth person and there's never a lack in smiles on her face.

Fresh Sumptuous Seafood From Choshi

"The treasure house of fresh seafood 

from the Pacific Ocean."

Choshi city of Chiba

The restaurant where the Chiba Kun Ambassadors had our lunch.

Choshi is a fishing port located in the eastern most tip of Chiba prefecture. The city, which has its three sides surrounded by the ocean, is located in a region with mild climate and many tourist spots and has developed as a port town since ancient time. Choshi fishing port is proud to have the highest catches in Japan for three consecutive years since 2011.

The highest catch in Choshi fishing ports is iwashi or sardine. During the raining season in June, the sardine caught are known as nyubai-iwashi (入梅いわし) for its richness in delicious fats during this time of the year. There are also sardine festival during this season when various stalls offers a wide variety of cuisine made of sardine.

You can tell this is a popular restaurant based on the reviews it got from famous celebrities who had dined here before (photo credit: Masataka Ishizaki).

The first floor of the restaurant, which has a huge aquarium in the middle.

A board that welcomes the arrival of the Chiba Kun Ambassadors.

A magnificent dining hall, where we get to enjoy the breathtaking view of the sea while having our meal.

Besides that, Choshi is also famous for its high quality red snapper or kinmedai (金目鯛). Just like sardine, the locals also hold a festival for this fish annually during summer. It is estimated that this festival attracts approximately 20,000 visitors every year to try on the freshly caught seafood. It makes me wonder, it must be lucky to be a fish in this city lol!

We dropped by one of the many restaurants which line along the coastal beach of Choshi to have our lunch. Ichiyama Ikesu is a restaurant which specialises in seafood. The Chiba Kun Ambassadors had the privilege to dine at the private room on the second floor, which offers a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean. On the first floor, there is a huge pool called ikesu (生け簀) or aquarium, where diners get to enjoy the living sea-creatures while enjoying their meal.

 Our sumptuous lunch set.

With Tridat, who others think we look like brothers lol!

The first dish was fresh sashimi, which has tuna (まぐろ), Olive flounder (ヒラメ), octopus (イカ), and shrimp (エビ). The second dish was tenpura, which consists of tiger prawn and bell pepper stuffed with meat. The next dish was some kind of fish cooked with soy sauce, which tasted really good. And to complete the meal was a hot bowl of lobster miso soup.

My honest verdict - the food here was not bad but what was special about this restaurant is the fact that diners get to enjoy the beautiful scenery outside while having their meal.

Having a group photo outside the restaurant after our satisfying lunch (photo credit: Ayako Uchiyama).

|| INFORMATION ||

Ichiyama Ikesu (一山いけす)
Opening hours: 11:00 - 15:30 (lunch time); 16:30 - 20:00 (dinner time)
Tel: 0479-22-7622     Fax: 0479-22-7624
Parking: Available
Address: 7387-5, Kurohai-cho, Choshi-shi, Chiba Prefecture, 288-0003, Japan.
Website: http://www.ichiyamaikesu.co.jp/ (Japanese only)
Access:
① Train: From JR Choshi station (JR 銚子駅):
# Take Chiba bus (千葉交通バス) (20 minute-ride) (for Kurohai・Ashikajima 黒生・海鹿島方面), get down at Tonbiiwa bus stop (とんび岩停留所), 1 minute by foot.
# Choshi Dentetsu (銚子電鉄) (20 minute-ride) (for Togawa station 外川行き), get down at Kasagamikurohae station (笠上黒生駅), 15 minute by foot.
# Taxi (15 minute-ride) for approximately 1,300 - 1,500 yen.
② Car: From Tokyo
# Kanto-Higashi Expressway (関東東自動車道), exit Sahara・Katori IC (佐原・香取 IC), take Route 356 to Choshi station (approximately 1 hour), and then to Ichiyama Ikesu (10 minutes).
# Kanto-Higashi Expressway (関東東自動車道), exit Itako IC (潮来 IC), take Route 124 to Route 356 via Choshi Ohashi Bridge (銚子大橋) (approximately 1 hour), and then to Choshi station, and then to Ichiyama Ikesu (10 minutes).# Keiyo Road・Togane Road (京葉道路・東金道路), exit Matsuoyokoshiba IC (松尾横芝 IC), take Route 126 to Choshi Inubosaki (approximately 1 hour), and then to Ichiyama Ikesu (5 minutes).
③ Express bus: From Hamamatsucho bus terminal (浜松町バスターミナル) or Tokyo station Yaesu Exit (東京駅八重洲口)
# Board bus for Inubosaki Hotel (犬吠埼ホテル行き) or for Choshi・Inubosaki (銚子・犬吠埼行き), get down at Kosoku Kurohai (高速黒生); bus ride takes approximately 2.5 hours and one-way ticket costs 2,500 yen.

Siti Nurhaliza At ASEAN-Japan Music Festival 2013

“Ehh, tinggi-nyer. Umur brape?”

first comments from Siti

upon meeting her

 The program book of the evening.

There is a saying that dreams sometimes come true when you least expect it. And indeed it happened to me a fortnight ago. Thanks to ASEAN Youth Network in Japan (AYNJ), I had the privilege to attend the ASEAN-Japan Music Festival in NHK Hall in Tokyo. This music festival was held in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of friendly relationship between Japan and ASEAN countries, and also to support the Japan-ASEAN Special Summit to be held this month in Tokyo, where the state leaders from all the ten ASEAN countries are invited to discuss about political and economic, as well as cultural exchange between Japan and ASEAN countries.

As such, top artists from participating countries were invited to this music festival, which was more than just music entertainment. The unique culture and traditional costumes of each representing countries were introduced to encourage further understanding between one another. Among the VIP present was the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Shinzo Abe who gave a welcoming speech at the opening of the music festival. This is the second time I saw a Japanese Prime Minister in real-life, after Mr Yukio Hatoyama several years back.

The best of the best artists from ASEAN countries and Japan graced the stage on the special evening (photo source).

Representing Japan in this music festival were EXILE, w-inds and AKB48. As for Malaysia's representative, it was none other than Siti Nurhaliza, one of the most successful artists Malaysia has ever produced. To watch these world class artists (read: EXILE and Siti Nurhaliza) performing on the same stage is not something you get to witness often. Besides, part of the ticket donation collected would be used to invite junior and high school students from the tsunami affected regions in Tohoku to this music festival, and also to promote the Japanese boom to the international community.

To get the ticket however, was much more difficult than I thought. It was a lottery system and only lucky individuals will get the chance to attend this festival. My entry was did not make the cut. However, AYNJ was my saviour as they have 30 free limited tickets for representatives from ASEAN countries to attend this music festival.

 

The ticket is sold at 6,000 yen, but the experience was unforgettably priceless.

The opening was AKB48 but to be honest, I am not a fan AKB48. Sorry all AKB48 fans. Well, it was great to see them performing live with quite extreme level of kawaii-ism but that was not the show I was anticipating on the evening.

After the artists from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Laos entertained the crowd with their respective songs and performances, finally it was Siti's turn to grace the stage. Light on the stage were dimmed and moments later, Siti stepped into the stage, wearing an elegant-looking dark blue kebaya. I have seen her gracing the singing stage down the years, ever since the years where she ruled the Juara Lagu in the late 90's and early 2000's, but that evening was the first time I saw her live.

 I was lucky enough to get Siti to personally autograph this page for me!

That very moment, you can feel the powerful charisma this singer holds, that people surrounded her are enlightened with her presence. For the next ten minutes, we were entertained by this talented singing queen who belted three songs - "Biarlah Rahsia", "Koibiyo Yo" and "Nirmala". I may sound biased here, but she certainly blew the stage. It just get people of the seat and wanting to hear more from her. With no disrespect to the other singers from other countries, which I thought they were good. However, Siti was simply a par above them. She was simply great.

I am proud to say that Malaysia can boast to have produced such internationally recognized talent in Siti, which is not only limited to singing but she is also a composer and producer, and occasionally a host for talk shows. Yet, despite her immense success, Siti is well-known as a simple and down-to-earth person. Siti presents herself in a moderate manner in public but she still invokes an elegant and powerful charm. Her dressing sense represents the eastern values she holds dearly.

 Havoc at the backstage as we intruded the place in search for Siti after the show lol!

It may sound exaggerative but getting to watch Siti performing in Tokyo on that evening was one of the beautiful things that I will treasure for a long time. But the evening did not stop there. 

Presenting ourselves as the representatives from the Embassy of Malaysia in Tokyo, we managed to sneak into the backstage to meet Siti personally. That was one thing that was not in our plan. And despite not knowing who we were, Siti greeted us with a sweet smile and we managed to have a short conversation with her. As I approached her to have a photo taken, she smiled and commented, "Ehh, tinggi-nyer. Umur brape?" ("Wow, you’re so tall. How old are you?").

 Siti whispered to me, "Hey lets pose for peace sign!" as we were to take this shot hahaha! (photo credit: Cliff)

Thank you Siti for the wonderful performance and arigato AYNJ, especially Ruiz, Chi Wern and Watanabe-san, for giving me a chance to witness a wonderful show on the evening of November 28, 2013.

Ossan Power Won Us Third Place In Futsal

"Orera ha mada genki de 

wakaimono ni ha makezaize!!!"

Nizam

sweeper of Kanasara FC

My first medal in futsal in my life!

So, the story started a fortnight ago. I got a Facebook message from Lai my junior, inviting me to join their futsal team in the annual MSAJ All-Japan Sports Tournament 2013, organised by the Malaysian Students' Association in Japan (MSAJ). As the organiser's name suggest, this tournament is mainly meant for students, but as the rules stated, it is open to all Malaysians.

It has been many moons since I last kicked a ball, yet alone play a proper futsal game. My stamina level is at its lowest point. Yet, I agreed to join team Kanasara FC for this tournament because I just cannot stop my urge to kick some balls haha. The team got its name from a combination of two words - KANAgawa (because almost all of us live and work in Kanagawa prefecture) and SARAriman (salaryman, a common term to refer to white-collared employees in Japan).

Team Kanasara FC. Front row: Lai, Boon, Mohan (GK), Chen Zhun; back row: Nizam, Nantha, Calvin, Nik.

We went into this tournament, not only without a single practice session, we did not even know who our teammates were until the very morning of the tournament lol! But like how Nizam put it, all we got was ossan (wife) power. Well, not all of us 'coz there are still some who are single and *ehem* available (read: me) haha!

Anyway, we had nothing to lose and to be honest, the furthest I thought we would go is to play all three group games, and that's it. Lets face it, we are working salaryman who hardly work out, and would be up against our opponents who are all students and much younger than us. In terms of stamina and skills, we are not match to these kids who are fitter and faster than us. So, in this kind of situation, what would you do?

 Mohan, probably the best keeper of the tournament. Playing handball during his student days certainly gave him an advantage.

We used our experience and played with our head, which worked to our advantage in the end. In the three group games, we won one (3-1) and drew the other two (3-3 and 1-1). In all three games, we conceded first and later played the catching up game. That lead to Nantha suggesting that perhaps we should concede first in our next game since we are that good in coming back in a game lol! 

Our group games put us second in our group, and we got the champions two years ago - the Embassy of Malaysia team in the quarterfinals. Again, we were the underdogs and conceded the first goal in the first few minutes after the whistle was blown. However, it was team Kanasara FC who progressed to the semifinal match at the final whistle, winning the game 2-1.

One of our group matches.

At that point, we started to believe that perhaps, perhaps we could just go all the way to the final after all. However, we lost by a single goal, but that was not the end of the road. We still had the third-placing match, and it was against Tsukuba FC, the team we lost in the quarterfinals last year. Revenge was part of the theme in that match. It was a tight game and both teams went all out, wanting last medal on offer.

Miraculously, for the first time in the tournament, we scored first and led 1-0. We went into the second half trying to protect the slim but precious advantage and everything was looking like it was going according to our plan. But you know, it is always at these kind of situation that I tend to make things turn dramatic. With only thirty seconds to the final whistle, the winger of the opponent team crossed deep into the penalty box, which was missed by Mohan our keeper. I slid in, in a desperate attempt to clear the ball away from the danger zone, mistimes my slide and the ball ended up at the back of the net. Yes, I just scored a goal. An own goal. A goal that took away victory from my team with less than a minute to go.

 When it comes down to penalty shootout, the goalkeepers will either be hero or zero.

I knew I would never be able to concentrate on the game and I substituted myself out off the game immediately. And about twenty seconds later, the final whistle was blown and we went into the penalty shootout. It was the best of three and the first takers scored from both teams scored from the spot. Chen Zhun was our second taker and he confidently put the back at the back of the net. The second kicker of our opponent then hit the bar, giving us a 2-1 lead. Nantha was our third and final taker and he knew he will be the hero if he could score from his kick. Unfortunately, his kick went straight to the middle of the goalmouth and the keeper pushed it away. 

The scored remained 2-1 to our advantage and it was the third and final kick for our opponent. We will go into the sudden death if our opponent scored and make it 2-2. While some of us had started to whisper among ourselves, who to take the forth kick, I just told them confidently, "We don't need a forth taker. Lets believe in Mohan". And I think he heard us, and he saved the last kick! We were in jubilation! Our third place was confirmed and we celebrated as if we have won the tournament. 

The knockout phase of the upper bracket. We never thought we would ended up in this half lol!

Indeed, it was a great experience with such a lovely team members. Everyone did their part. Boon the hardworking caption, Nik who scored in every single matches, Mohan with his incredible reflex saves, Nantha the controls the engine room (and who will forget his inch-perfect loop to Nik), Nizam who manages the dynamic of the team from inside and outside the field, Lai who made that brilliant assist for the winning goal in the quarterfinal, Chen Zhun with his tireless run along the wing, and finally, yours truly who scored the own goal in the final game to give some drama to the match lol!

Actually, I scored the equalising goal in the first game as well, and it was actually a great goal; a cannon to the top right corner from a corner kick. Haha, vain I know, praising myself here but really, it was a good goal lol! Lastly but not forgetting, special thanks to our beloved manager, who was our time-keeper, pom-pom girl, kit man, and make sure we get refreshments during the break.

I think our team was the most excited when we step to take our medals and hampers lol!

Terima kasih daun keladi, 

Tahun depan kita menang lagi!