A Place I Would Recommend to Have Nonya Food

Continuing from the previous post.

My friend and I dropped by Malacca for dinner before heading home. Malacca is full of the peranakan heritage. It is probably the best place to try nonya food.

We went to Makko. This place needs little introduction because it is very popular there. It opens at 6pm, and we were lucky to have a place for us because we waited outside the shop 10min before it was opened! By 6.15pm it was all packed. There were reservations that filled about a quarter of the tables there.

Well from the outside, it already gave me the rustic look. Here's some pictures of the inside.

Yup, stained glass, very old looking furnishing. There were some newspaper cut-outs on the walls too.

Since there was only the two of us, we only managed to order a few dishes. Here goes:

Chinchalok Omelette (foregrouind) and otah-otah.

Some chicken dish which I forget the name... my bad!

Nonya Chup Chye, or mixed vegetables.

Prawn with pineapple (ananas) and tomato sauce.

We also had Chendol which was awesome. Total damage? About RM$90. The dishes were not rich foods, but they were flavourful, very typical of nonya food.

Just some observation. Around the area there are also several eateries selling nonya food, but they were empty when we walked past them after the meal, and Makko remained busy with patrons patiently waited for seats. Some left their contacts and went for a walk because the wait was about 45mins.

So, if you happen to be in Malacca, do give this shop a try, but do go early. It is not difficult to find this place though.

~ZF

Some Tips on Photography That Will Put You A Cut Above The Rest

So you have a camera and probably have read any photography books you can get your hands on. But you are still not satisfied with the photographs that you took. Well, I hope to share some photography tips (3 to be exact) here based on my personal experience!

1. See in Lines

Seeing your object's surrounding in lines and how they both interact helps in composition. Lines can be symmetrical line, segment lines. Symmetrical lines divide your picture and/or object proportionally and equally, whereas sector/segment lines divide your picture into segments, so you can decide which segment to place your object. The rule-of-third grid is an example of a set of segment lines.

Lines may intersect and these points of intersections can be considered as vanishing points.

More importantly, lines can be use to guide viewers to the object of interest.

Here's some examples.

There are many lines in this photography. The centre pillar acts as a symmetrical line. This creates a mirror effect. Also the additional use of vanishing point adds some dimension to the picture. Can you identify the vanishing point?

Here, I attempted to use the tram lines as a segment line. I took this photograph with a tram in the middle to add some flavour too. There is also a symmetrical line too. Can you identify it?

Here's an example to guiding lines. The stair as a visual guide to draw the viewer's attention to the viewing pod, the structure that looks like an onion.

2. Use Creative Frames

Extending on Tip #1, lines can also be used to frame up your object. 

Here are some examples.

This is not so obvious, but I have used the trees as a frame. 

Parapets or walls along the corridors make good framing lines. Sometimes they make photographs look interesting.

3.  Observe, Observe

This may seem obvious enough. Being observant helps you pick up interesting perspective, and may make your photography trips fruitful.

I managed to spot this heron peering, as if waiting for a train on a platform. heh~

Well, I did say three tips. But here's a bonus one: Keep Shooting! Practise, practise, practise. Observe, apply lines and snap away! 

Also, it is important to have fun!

Alright, hope these help!

~ ZF

Hoi To (Hong Kong) Roast Meat/Noodle House

Now, here is one roast meat shop you can try if you are craving for some savoury roast meats. We ordered some for last Christmas' Eve lunch. The roast pork is something to die for!!

You know how some roast duck meat is hard and tough? I am always wary about that. But the roast duck meat is juicy and tender, the skin is crispy. Says a lot about the culinary skills.

Roast Duck.

We also ordered the Soy Sauce Chicken. Juicy, soft and not salty!

Soy Sauce Chicken

Finally, the roast meat is AWESOME. The skin is crispy, despite being packed and transported for about half an hour from the shop back to the office. Most importantly, it does not taste oily.

Roast Meat.

If you are interested, here's the address:

Hoi To (Hong Kong) Roast Meat/Noodle House
BLK 133 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 ST 12
#01-1635
Singapore 560133
Tel: 6453 3304

~ ZF

How To Buy Stuffs From Taobao (淘宝) - Part 1

Taobao is a Chinese website for online shopping, very similar to eBay and Amazon. 

I've been asked many times about buying things from Taobao. They are namely the few:

1. How do you find things in Taobao?
2. How do you know if a merchant is reliable?
3. How do you pay?
4. How do you ship?
5. How is the quality?

I think most people are overwhelmed with the Chinese in the Chinese website, and by our limited vocabulary in Chinese. Also most people do not have much faith in things Made-in-China. (Note: Google Chrome provides auto-translate for the website, but I have tried and found that it is not that accurate.)

So I am writing now to share some of the things I know, and give some tips along the way. It's not everything, just things I know, because I have bought things many times from Taobao (I will share some loots in future blogs). But I hope it is useful, or at least it make shopping less daunting for you. 

I will breakdown the writing into a couple of posts. This will avoid over-information. I will start off with buying things in Taobao. This should address most of common the questions I listed out earlier, and so at least those of you who has an account with Taobao can start shopping already.

Here goes.

Click to enlarge!

First I hope you can see the screenshot. I have boxed and numbered the areas I want to describe alittle. 

1. At the top right hand corner is the search bar, like the one you see in web browsers. The search bar in Taobao has autosuggestion and it recognises English. I do not know if this browser dependent (I am using Google Chrome, by the way).

2. This is the shopping cart. If you shopped online in websites like Amazon before, it is similar. Here you will see a list that consolidates your loot.

3. This is where you see the things you bought. You can also track your items here too.

4. This is where you can view shops or items you have bookmarked (收藏).

Now, back to searching for items to buy. Here's a tip, you can always search in English, preferably by brands, or model numbers. The search result normally will show the description in Chinese.

The example here is I want to search for a camera bag, so I just type "camera bag" in search bar. Notice the suggestions are also in English.

Click to enlarge!

Now that I have searched for something, the website will auto-generate a list of items that may match my search. Browse through to see if the things you are looking for are available! Otherwise, you might have to find the Chinese equivalent description from the search results. 

Some things on the website that I wish to describe more:

5. There are filters, such as price range, to refine the search. In this case, the filters actually include external features and internal features of the bag!

6. Here the website will suggest some searches.

7. Here you will find some items that are probably on sale, best selling items, or the like, that are related to your searches. Some times you might find good deals here! 

In Part 2, I will share what I know about putting a purchase for the items. Stay tune!

BTW, I am not in anyway affiliated to Taobao, Like most of you, I like online shopping and I like to share knowledge. I hope this has been helpful in some ways.

- ZF