Just like Beetrice, I was down in JB at the awful Hyatt Regency Johor Bahru hotel on the weekend. I went down rather late on Friday evening, and forced a pit-stop at the rest stop at Pagoh for a toilet break and some food.
I was very surprised to see the state of the women’s toilet at the Pagoh rest area off the highway. IT WAS CLEAN!! And not only was it clean, it was dry and airy with a bright air-well filled with plants and even the toilet stalls were clean and dry. Unheard of (and hitherto unseen) in Malaysia.
Since I was already in my home state of Johor, I was quick to scarf down 2 of my favourite foods - Mee Rebus Jawa (RM2.50) and Nasi Lemak Bungkus (RM2.00). So sinfully delicious and so CHEAP!!
Nevermind that it was rest stop food, I enjoyed every single morsel. The nasi lemak at Pagoh rest stop is one of the best (and cheapest) I’ve tried, to be honest. I first tried it when I took the bus down to Singapore and they stopped for a bite. The sambal is spicy and tasty and it comes with a whole hard boiled egg wrapped up in traditional banana leaf and waxed brown paper into the traditional pyramid shape.
So the next time I head down South, I know where I’m stopping for my toilet and tea break!
The siblings and I got up bright and early on Chinese New Year eve to make our trip down south to the town we call home. The plus point about leaving KL at 6am means smooth sailing traffic all the way home! That was of course, after we had packed up the car with the requisite box of kum (mandarin oranges) for the parents and goodies for us to munch on.
Chinese New Year isn’t the same without pineapple tarts or love letters or bak kwa (barbequeued meat) or preserved fruits in gaudy colours. 3 out of 4 made it into our shopping lists. I guess we’ve outgrown the gaudily coloured preserved olives and plums. That isn’t to say that there weren’t any! 
We just stayed away from the ones that came in shades of the traffic lights. I call them kiam seng tni (hokkien for salty sour and sweet) and for me, Chinese New Year just isn’t complete without some form of preserved fruit around.
We were in for a treat this Chinese New Year because we managed to catch both a Lion Dance AND Dragon Dance performance! (Update: Photos taken by Pink Elle 
)
Lion Dances are common around town where the acrobatic “lions” will help usher in the new year with good tidings and lots of tong tong chiang noise. But dragon dances are more rare. Its been ages since I witnessed a Dragon Dance so I was quite shamelessly excited to watch this one.
There was of course, lots of food and more food, when we returned to visit the grandmother and relatives in KL. The thing about grandmas is that they try to please everyone by cooking what everyone wants to eat, which makes for a huge meal! We ended up having to eat and pack away the rest of the food to bring home with us. Relish eating leftovers? Erm… maybe in a couple of days… burp!
And of course, what is Chinese New Year without collecting ang pows from the relatives?! I’m enjoying collecting the lucky red packets while I can, while sis is savouring collecting the last of her CNY ang pows before she gets married. This time next year, maybe I’ll have an extra ang pow from her! hehe…
Pickings do get leaner as the years go by and I did get the annual statement “This better be the last year you are collecting the ang pow from me!” and “When are you finding someone and getting married?” both of which I tend to ignore Why spoil a good thing eh?
So, with a whizz and bang of virtual fireworks (it was real and very noisy fireworks where I come from) we usher in the Lunar year of the Rat. Here’s hoping it’ll be a good one for all of us!!
