Ich bin eins mit der Natur and Coffee

Spiffy-looking mobile shop for ZUS Coffee at Seremban Southbound R&R

I've been an admirer of ZUS COFFEE brand from quoting them as a case study for my reflective essay on Corporate Innovation & Entrepreneurship subject under my Online Distance Learning MBA program and always looking out for the nearest outlet whenever I am in Johor, Selangor, KL or any other states in Peninsular Malaysia in order to complete the written assignments for the subjects under my MBA program whilst I sustain my momentum with a cup or cup(s) of Americano. It is after all, one of Malaysia's homegrown brand of coffee shop outlets, expanding beyond their outlets to selling off-the-shelf beverages in Familymart chains, supermarkets and hypermarkets competing with the likes of established brands such as Starbucks. One of the strategic marketing collaboration ZUS Coffee did was with Niko Neko on their Matcha Macam campaign back in June 2024 which you can read about HERE. Their marketing video featured a cat licking the screen of the poster featuring the Matcha-flavoured drinks such as their latte series which can be viewed HERE. What goes well with coffee? Pastries & puffs, of which I am reminded of a lovely cafe along Old Klang Road called Le Pont which is also a bakery. Love their cream puffs which contain both strawberry and chocolate fillings. I use to buy these for my niece and nephew. Le Pont Patisserie website can be viewed HERE      

Cream Puffs at Le Pont with KKs

Further up north along the borders of Selangor (Hulu Selangor) and Perak (Tanjung Malim), rivers flow with crystal clear waters where one can peer into the bottom filled with sand, pebbles, stones, rocks and leaf litter. The first spot where I encountered such a clean flowing river was in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Alexandra Vasiliu (Romanian writer) wrote a book entitled "Blooming: Poems on Love, Self-Discovery and Femininity" which included a poem about the river as part of   as below:-

My heart is a river.

Come closer,

dive into my waters,

and quench your thirst.

I am giving you all my love

According to the Germans Ich bin eins mit der Natur is to be one with nature. More Waldeinsamkeit moments are captured in the next blog.

River flows quietly and serenely which makes me feel likewise

A small wooden plank leads one towards the river

Of Gulls, Terns and Sweet Childhood Memories

Seagulls or terns are mentioned in a soulful song Awan Yang Terpilu (Lonely Cloud) sang by Ning Baizura. An extract from the first lines of that song:-

Kerana cinta

Aku kembara

Bagai camar melintas laut

Mencari pohon untuk berteduh

Full lyrics are available HERE.  

Seabirds portal (screenshot below) with an interesting seabird life history database which reflects the global population trend of species such as Whiskered Tern (stable), Chinese Crested Tern (decreasing), Little Tern (decreasing), Little White Tern (stable) etc.

I would be transported back to my childhood in Kedah whenever I tasted the Nian Gao which were made by Aunty Yong (the sweetcakes as pictured below). She has a sister who lives in Kedah whom she visits often. I bought two of Aunty Yong's Nian Gao earlier this year hoping to relive the days when my late grandmother would cut a thin slice of the Kedah homemade sweet-cake for me when I requested to have some during my stay with her in my maternal family home in Lunas. I discovered the Permatang Pauh ricefields are located close to Lunas when I birded around that area with friends back in 2016, which can be read HERE.  More information about Permatang Pauh can be read HERE.

During my legal practice days, my taxi driver Mr. Khoo would stop by Yong Peng, Johor for morning breakfast, before we reach Johor Bahru. The journey to JB from Segamat started at 5am for both of us. We'd have a good breakfast in Yong Peng before I hit the courts and land office in JB for a day of non-stop work. On our way back to Segamat, Mr. Khoo recommended a local pastries shop called Eng Hin. It was a happy moment for me to learn that Eng Hin is still running their pastries business (their shopfront as pictured below). Their traditional Chinese biscuits are chewy and not sweet. The iPackTravel website blogger's yummy review of Eng Hin biscuits can be read HERE.  

A well-hidden noodles manufacturer was discovered recently in Yong Peng. Mee Hock Chew signage was plastered against a nostalgic-looking wooden house and it was this signage that led me to the location of this one-storey noodles shop-lot. The delicious smell of the freshly boiled noodles stopped me in my tracks. Who says one can only get free smells of cookies:) I could not resist buying their home-made mee suah and yee mee varieties. It looks like Mee Hock Chew is a major supplier to a number of restaurants according to their Facebook page HERE. A scene from the first Kung Fu Panda movie about Mr. Ping, the duck/goose character who just want to make the wonderful noodles and who wants to learn how to make tofu concludes this post.  

Lion Dance Brings Festive Cheer To Bernama

Lion Dance Brings Festive Cheer To Bernama: Lion Dance, SEA Limited, Bernama, Terence Siau, Ch

OCBC Chinese New Year 2025 themed red packets featured the lion head, gold fish, orange and flower - quirky and colourful. The front portion of the ang pow packets as pictured above. The flip-side of the ang pow packets features pairs as pictured below:-

OCBC Chinese New Year greetings can be viewed HERE. To digress, the Malaysian ccTLD operator introduced a virtual keyboard popup when Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) were introduced back in 2011 for .MY where users could register three scripts which were Jawi, Chinese (Simplified) and Tamil at the second level of .MY. Registrations were free of charge back then. The operator has since stopped accepting new registrations. However, the early registrants of IDNs could still use the virtual keyboard (as pictured below) to find out about the status of the previously registered IDN domain names. 

A website which also featured IPv6 address shortener as well as an IDN punycode converter tool, amongst others can also be explored HERE. Am grateful my sister from Singapore could spend CNY this Year of the Wood Snake in KL and Johor. She wouldn't approve of me posting pictures of her in my blog so I'd like to just share a picture of a macaroon with the auspicious character "Prosperity" below which reminded me of a short morning break we had at the Mill Bakery cafe in Desa Sri Hartamas before we resumed the hectic preparations and chores to be done. This will be the final post on CNY 2025 from yours truly. Here's to more adventures and memorable moments to be experienced for the year ahead. 

MORE Lion Dance performances, China's Spring Gala performance and Selangor State-level CNY Celebration

Celcom Digi commissioned this acrobatic lion dance performers (in blue & yellow colours of the telco brand) to welcome Chinese New Year 2025 with an emphasis on 5G network. I happened to catch the lion dance whilst doing grocery shopping at Lotus Kepong. The telco's personnel were on the ground giving away nice-looking ang pow packets to the shoppers. The ang pow packets were designed by creative students from the One Academy.

I stumbled across a very traditional lion dance performance on Day 2 of CNY 2025 at a Chinese Medicines Shop. There was a solo lion dancer (Kid-size) accompanying the "mother" and "father" lion which was unique to me. The solo lion dancer was a young girl (see video below).

China's CMG Channel Spring Festival 2025 performance featured Donnie Yen (who played IP Man in the movies). The choreography showcased the art of Chinese Calligraphy with fluid Kungfu movements. It was one of the most beautiful performances I have seen. My sister and I stayed up until past midnight to watch China's Spring Gala performances. 

Selangor will celebrate their State-level CNY on 8th February which you can read about at Selangor State-level CNY Celebration In Jenjarom On Feb 8

Spring is here Reunion beckons as Wood Snake arrives

Menu display of a Chinese restaurant in Cyberjaya

Raw fish slices on Yee Sang dish are abundantly available whenever Chinese New Year is around the corner. The auspicious sayings behind each of the ingredients that are poured into the tray are explained as below:-

年年有餘 (nián nián yǒu yú) To always have more than enough; symbolizes abundance and prosperity.

Shredded vegetables

青春常驻 (qīng chūn cháng zhù) May you be youthful and vital always; represent vitality and growth.

Crushed peanuts

金玉滿堂 (jīn yù mǎn táng) May your home be filled with wealth and treasure.

Sesame seeds

大小平安 (dà xiǎo píng ān) Peace and safety for all in your family.

Crispy crackers (pok chui)

黄金满地 (huáng jīn mǎn de) May wealth and prosperity be everywhere; signifying a prosperous year filled with joy and laughter.

Sweet plum sauce

甜甜蜜蜜 (tián tián mì mì) May your life be sweet like honey; binds the ingredients together, symbolizing the sweetness of life.

Touch N Go SSSlay Chinese New Year with style can be read HERE. Speed limit decreases announced by Ministry of Transport and JPJ can be read HERE whilst Paul Tan automotive portal has a comprehensive listing of lorries which are banned from Malaysian roads which can be read HERE. Paul Tan also covered the reduced speed limit for vehicles which you can read about HERE . These are useful guides as the Chinese community return home to celebrate the coming of the Wood Snake with family & friends. A mini-mart chain in Sarawak has a festive theme for their website which you can view HERE. Their CNY story about the importance of family reunion retold in video below:-

Pudu Ria Florist Chinese New Year 2025 performances including their lion dance was held earlier on 26 January 2025. 

SAYS portal has a dedicated page for the Year of the Snake. Google introduced a "fruit-friendly" version of their Snake-themed game in 2025. Below is the screenshot of the CNY Snake game that Google introduced 12 years ago:- 

Blast from Past Google Game

Year of Wood Snake Game

The mobile phone screenshots of the red-coloured snake & blue-coloured snake eating the oranges & apples are as below:-

Google blog's guide to a festive Lunar New Year celebration can be read HERE.

Goodbye 2024 and Welcome 2025

It's that time of the year for LION DANCES as the Malaysian Chinese community welcomes the Wood Snake into our new year of 2025. Goodbye to 2024 which personally for me was one full of painful but invaluable lessons learnt. I completed my final subject for my online MBA program which according to my lecturer involved mathematical formulas. It was a nightmare for me since formulas and calculations are not my cup of tea. I studied law and I've been a legal practitioner since I graduated from University and the English Bar. The last subject which involved calculations was Accounting and I took that at A-Levels. It didn't help that I panicked the first time I took this subject whilst maintaining a full-time job. Long story short, I completed this subject, passed my written assignment on the listing of 99 Speedmart in the Bursa Malaysia and now I await the results of my final exams which should be out before the Chinese New Year holidays begin from 29th January 2025 onwards. Back to preparations for Chinese New Year, it is always interesting to know what's in store for my Chinese Zodiac sign which can be read HERE. There's also the July 2025 Lion Dance championships at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands to look forward to since I would have missed the National Lion Dance championship 2025 at Pavilion Bukit Jalil that ends on 5th January 2025 (see poster above). Penang is welcoming the Year of the Snake through a grand celebration on 1 February 2025 which is the 4th day of the Lunar New Year. The Penang Miaohui festival website has the Chinese zodiac animal signs from 2020 onwards. One has to bear in mind that Malaysia went into lockdown from 2020 onwards so participants would have probably celebrated the festival online during lockdown phases. 

Pudu Ria Florist where I usually buy my potted plants from, has started selling lime and lemon trees, and has an active marketing channel via Xiao Hong Shu (as pictured below). The latter is China's social media rival to Twitter/X and Instagram. Meanwhile, spring is coming to China and the largest exodus of human from cities to their rural hometowns will once again take place soon by end of January 2025. Could not resist watching episodes of A Bite of China documentaries on food and how it reflects our culture and rich heritage. For example, the famous mitten crabs of Yangcheng Lake 阳澄湖 which you can read about at China Daily website HERE. The birdlife from the South Shore of this Lake which is designated as a hotspot in Cornell Lab's eBird portal can be viewed HERE  

Shoppers are thronging hypermarkets including Lotus Kepong to stock up for CNY reunion dinners as well as stocking up for the week-long celebration. Interesting pop-up booths include this one from 100 PLUS which has a lion dance costume customized out of cardboard material. Very clever use of materials by F&N indeed.   

8TV channel Chinese New Year of the Wood Snake's music video can be viewed below.