Chinatown Walk

After dinner with friends in Chinatown, we decided to take a stroll around the area to walk off the excess calories.

It was a Friday, this restaurant in the heart of Chinatown was doing great.

As with any tourist attractions, there are many gift shops, and eateries.

It was nearing the end of the business day. Some shops have closed for the day, while others were about to close.

It was a nice walk. We stopped every now and then, when something caught our attention. We did not buy anything. Just window shopped. At the end of the walk, we all felt so much better. We didn't feel stuffed any more.

Chinatown Hawker Center

I was out dining with friends on Friday at Chinatown Hawker Center. For those who are not in the know, hawker centers are places or locations where there are many food stalls selling cheap and good local food. (Well, there are also some which are cheap and not good, as well as expensive but good, and expensive yet not good.)

Nowadays, the new breed of hawkers go for exotic foreign food. So, you will also find Thai food, Japanese food, Korean food, Western food... at these centers as well.

I wrote about hawker centers a few months back. Have a read to understand more about hawker centers, by clicking Here

The hawker center is a good place to go to when you want something cheap and fast. Some of the stalls open for breakfast and some stalls open until the wee hours in the morning. So, the locals can eat at any time of the day, as long as they know which hawker center is still open.

The Chinatown Hawker Center is quite a big place, and if you were there for the first time, you could get lost easily while checking out the numerous stalls selling all kinds of food. You will find that you are spoilt for choice, and you may have a difficult time deciding what you want for dinner – unless you have already decided what you want to eat.

My friends and I knew what we want to have for dinner. The next thing was to decide which of the stalls to patronize, for there are many stalls doing the same kind of dishes. We decided on a ‘zhi char’ stall that we haven’t tried before. ‘Zhi Char’ is a local term loosely translated into ‘cook by stir fry’. As the name implied, most of the dishes would be stir fried.

Anyway, the reason we picked this particular stall was, they were always very busy – an indication that the food must be good. Then there were newspaper clippings about the stall on their signboard – indicating that some foodie or bloggers must have patronized it and given their approval.

Here’s what we ordered.

Steamed Fish Head with bean paste.

Seafood Roll.

Fried Kangkong with Cutter Fish, stir fried with dried prawn.

Bitter Gourd with Spare Ribs in black bean paste.

Were they any good then? Here is an indication.

You will noticed there were some leftovers. That is because, we couldn’t squeeze in any more food. I, for one don’t believe in wasting food, but if I eat the leftovers, my tummy will explode.

The Seafood Roll was very good. We all enjoyed that. The Kangkong with Cutter Fish was good. A generous amount of dried prawn and not too salty. The same goes for the bitter gourd with Spare Ribs. The fish head was comparable to the other stores. Overall, they are slightly a cut above the rest. Would I go back to the stall? Sure, if they are not too busy. I am not one who would queue for a table.

Here are some shots of part of the hawker center.

The rush period is over and they are slowly packing up for the day. This is one side of a section we were in. Now if you multiply that by twenty times, that will roughly be the size of the Chinatown Hawker Center.

Quote Worthy

An educated guess is just as accurate and far faster than compiled errors. - George S. Patton

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs. - Karl Marx

It is a great mistake for men to give up paying compliments, for when they give up saying what is charming, they give up thinking what is charming. - Oscar Wilde

It is amazing how complete is the delusion the beauty is goodness. - Leo Tolstoy

Let no man imagine that he has no influence. Whoever he may be, and where he may be place; the who thinks becomes a light and a power. - Henry George

Someone who thinks the world is always cheating him is right – he is missing that wonderful feeling of trust in someone or something. - Andrew V. Mason

The obstacles of your past can become the gateway that lead to new beginnings. - Ralph Blum

The pleasure we derive from doing favours is partly in the feeling it gives us that we are not altogether worthless. - Eric Hofler

They can because they think they can. - Virgil

They that won’t be counselled, can’t be helped. - Benjamin Franklin

When we have provided against cold, hunger and thirst, all the rest is but vanity and excess. - Seneca

More Quotes Here - And the book Quote Worthy

Attitude of Gratitude

Attitude is one of the most important attribute of a person’s character. With the right attitude, one can turn a negative situation into a positive one, a bad day into a good one. One can turn their lives around with a good attitude.

Instead of groaning and moaning about what you missed out, what you do not have, we should be grateful for what we have.

Right attitude combined with gratitude will get you anywhere.

The image is not mine. I downloaded the image from one of the Facebook pages I was following. I tried to look for the source, but the message said - "Content not found."

Life - Quotes

If I were to begin life again, I should want it as it was. I would only open my eyes a little more. - Jules Renard

There is much in life that doesn’t have to be done instantly. There are phone calls that don’t have to be returned immediately. There are many difficult problems and decisions that actually improve when they are left to simmer a little while. The rhythm of life is intricate but orderly, tenacious but fragile. To keep that in mind is to hold the key to survival. - Marshall Berges

More on Life Here, and the book The Mystery of Life - a collection of quotes on and pertaining to life.

Laughter - The Best Medicine

Laughter cures a multitude of ills, and is so important for the health that these days, doctors, and physicians prescribe a dose of laughter together with their medicine. So, laugh as heartily as you can, as often as you can.

If, for whatever reason, you are finding it difficult to laugh at the moment, maybe the following jokes will bring on a chuckle, or a smile a least.

These jokes are not mine. They are stuff I collected over the years. Where the source is available, I have included it.

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A moving, beautiful story of friendship, betrayal, and salvation brilliantly woven, and told... set in Afghanistan, from its pre-Russian invasion glory through the terrible reign of the Taliban.

I finished reading this novel recently. It was my second read. A beautifully written story which thoroughly moved me, for the second time. I read it some years back, and I remembered only the bits that stood out. On my second read, so many important details surfaced which I have completely forgotten that was in the book.

The book was published in 2003, and made into a movie in 2007. Sometimes, the movie does not do the book justice, and sometimes the movie is better than the book. I haven’t seen the movie, so I can’t compare the movie with the book. Incidentally, the movie was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Have you read the book? If you are looking for a novel to read, I recommend The Kite Runner.

Costa del Sol - Coast of the Sun

Costa del Sol – the heartbeat of Malaga. 150 km of sand, sun and beaches, of hotels and apartments and shops, cafes, bars and eateries. No wonder it makes up 35 % of the tourist dollars.

The Costa del Sol is a region in the south of Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the coastline of the Province of Málaga. The Costa del Sol is situated between two lesser known coastal regions, the Costa de la Luz and Costa Tropical. Formerly made up only of a series of small, quiet fishing settlements, the region has been completely transformed during the latter part of the 20th century into a tourist destination of world renown. - Source

Click Here to read more about the Costa del Sol

My holidays are drawing to a close, after nine weeks here on the Costa del Sol. It is time to sum up the Costa del Sol.

This is more or less what meets the eye on the 150 km of Costa del Sol. Kilometer after kilometer of apartments, hotels, shops, cafes and restaurants.

The beach on one side...

Apartments, hotels, shops and eateries on the other, with the promenade in the middle...

Beach umbrellas. They are many sections of these beach umbrellas.

A restaurant on the beach. There are quite a few of these, and they usually do brisk business.

This is one of the many restaurants on the beach promenade. For some reason, this one is always very busy. They must be doing something right.

Seagulls - a common sight on the beach, and also in Benalmadena.

Pictures of other sections of the beach...

Espetos - These are skewed Sardines cooked over charcoal fire. A specialty of the restaurants on the beach. And it seems very popular, because the whole promenade smells of barbecued sardines.

A common sight on the promenade is African hawkers selling imitation goods like bags, shoes, wallets, belts, tee-shirts...

And African ladies braiding hair...

The evenings on the Costal del Sol is another wonder. So many people strolling, walking along, after the day’s baking in the sun. Hawkers, and street artists set up stalls on the promenade, hoping to cash in on some tourist dollars.

Every walk on the Costa del Sol is different. Even though the scene may appear the same, if you pay attention to the little things, you will always find something interesting.

I have done a few posts on the Costa del Sol. If you missed out on them, or if you would like to read them again, here are the links to the posts. They will give you a more in dept look at the Costa del Sol.

Castillo de Bil-Bil

Benalmadena Marina

Costa del Sol – Part 1

Costa de Sol – Part 2

Costa del Sol Promenade

Costa del Sol in the Evening

That more or less wraps up the Costa del Sol – Coast of the Sun

Mijas - The Village on the Mountain Side

Mijas is an Andulusian municipality in the province of Malaga.

According to Wikipedia, “Mijas has 80,630 inhabitants, which makes it the fourth municipality in the province in terms of population. This is concentrated in three main urban centers: Mijas Pueblo, located on the slope of the Mijas mountain range, constitutes the histroic center of the muicipality; Las Lagunas, located in the area called Mijas Costa, is part of the urban continuum of the city fo Fuengirola; and La Cala, a coastal town.”

The Mijas Pueblo is a thirty minutes bus ride from Benalmadena. That’s where we went to have a walk about yesterday.

Spain is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. Therefore, there are many of these villages on the slope of mountains. Mijas is one of the more popular ones. So there are many tourists.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday.

These are donkey taxis. They are for rent. They will give you a ride of the village. Or you can rent, just the donkey itself for a ride of the village.

This is a horse carriage. I guess this is more comfortable compared to the donkey taxis, unless you want the experience of riding a donkey. Of course, they will cost a bit more too.

Or you can rent one of the tuk tuks.

Here are some panoramic views from the top of Mijas.

Slopes. This is to be expected, since the village is on the side of the hill.

Shops and eateries. There are many souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants.

A restaurant with a nice courtyard.

A frog pond. Very unusual. I don't know the significance of it.

A church.

A bull ring, where bull fighting was held. There are no more bull fights now. The place is used on occasions for certain events.

More views from the top. This I believe is a hotel, and on the edge are restaurants.

It would seem that almost all homes have a pool.

Mijas is a quaint, interesting and beautiful place. It is definitely worth a visit.