THE DRAGON IS HERE

WOW What a day it's been. I was privileged to have been one of the people invited to the official launch of Dragon-i in Gurney Plaza this morning, so it was all very red and busy and lots of tall models with legs coming out of their armpits.

On top of that I got to meet violin virtuoso Dennis Lau, who is one of Malaysia's foremost up and coming musicians. There's him signing his CD for me.

It started at 11am when YB Danny Law, who was standing in for the CM who unfortunately had to be in KL, arrived to the sound of Chinese drums which greeted him, together with Henry Yip. A stage and seating area had been set up just outside the restaurant, with permission from the management.

It all looked very swish. MC Kevin was easked CEO Henry Yip to go up on stage to give his speech, which was informative but relatively short.

After than YB did his bit, followed by Dragon-i's CSR bit: they donated RM30,000 to three Penang charities: SMK Moh Ghee Pusat in Lorong Perak, the Chinese school which needs complete refurbishment as it was built in the 1950s (which if you think about it is over half a century old ... gulp); Shan Children's Home in Mount Erskine which helps to keep abandoned or needy children and give them guidance and training for a better life in the future, and the WCC (Women's Centre for Change) in Jalan Jones which helps battered and abused wives and their children. It was very good of them to donate what was effectively their first day's takings to these good causes.

Then Dennis Lau stepped up to electrify the crowd with his performance and WOW, was he incredible. He's only 25, but is the first instrumentalist to be signed under Sony Music Entertainment Msia and Singapore, fantastic musician and stage presence. His electrical violin was an amazing instrument too, specially made for him. What I liked most about him was the guy has no airs and graces, despite the fact that he hit the big time in 2006 and now performs all over Asia. Just imagine how young he was then. And good looking too.

He kindly gave me a copy of his CD "DiversiFy", and signed it as well. Look out for this guy, he's going places. One of his performances was with Jimmy Sax, Malaysia's top saxophonist, who looked uber cool with his hat and jacket. They were both fantastic, and performed very well together.

After that there was the requisite Lion Dance, very loud but of course the evil spirits had all to be scared away, and very cute too - one of the lions was sprawled out on the floor (of course the guy was busy peeling the oranges underneath) but his tail kept wagging. They pay attention to such detail. I received two oranges - consider myself lucky!

Henry, YB and Dato Douglas Cheng, one of the Board of Directors, then lined up and cup the ribbon simultaneously, after which YB signed the commemorative plaque.

Then of course we all trooped in to lunch of Dragon-i signature dishes including the Xiao Long Bao, one of my favourites. The prawns in spicy sauce were crunchy and excellent, but I was a bit disappointed we didn't get a chance to try their lamian this time. Never mind lah putting on weight!

After that Dennis kindly gave me a few minutes of his time and I was able to interview him about his favourite foods. As he's from Teluk Intan I found it quite interesting cos everyone always talks about Penang food so this made a change.

All in all, a most satisfying day!

NO MONKEYING ABOUT ...

This is a copy of the article I wrote for online newspaper The Malaysian Insider (www.themalaysianinsider.com) recently

Since the closure of the Mutiara Beach Resort in Teluk Bahang a few years ago, there hasn’t really been much to entice me to drive all the way there in the evenings, unless someone fancied some seafood. However, on Friday evening, there was cause to venture out: it was the launch of one of Penang’s latest outlets, “Tree Monkey”, so called because of the cute little grey Dusky Leaf Monkeys with their white circles round their eyes – apparently called lutong –which roam freely jumping from tree to tree.

This “back to nature” restaurant is set on a solid wooden platform amidst the green and lush plant-filled Tropical Spice Gardens, from which there is a gorgeous view of the Andaman Sea, so close that the waves seem almost at your feet. It looks like it will become a must-visit place for both locals and visitors alike.

It’s all delightfully cosy and rustic; the hardwood tables and chairs which dot the place come from Thailand, and the bar is positioned under a gazebo which has an impressive thatched roof made of alang alang grass from Bali. The place was constructed using as natural and traditional methods as possible – no trees were cut down, and there are very few nails and wires visible.

The menu consists of mainly Thai food, Pad Thais, Green Curries and in particular north-eastern Issan dishes with barbequed meats and spicy salads: unless you’re a masochist, don’t try their mind-blowing Nam Prik Mak Wang eaten with raw ulam (vegetables) – it’s a green mango kerabu with minute pieces of green dynamite (chilli padi) in it; sour and delicious but phew,

packs a real punch!

Tree Monkey opens with breakfast from 9am, after which there are set lunches and simple a la carte dishes like Fish ‘n Chips and pastas available throughout the day. Eventually, the pork-free menu will feature food which will make use of herbs which are actually grown in the gardens.

Whether you stop by for a snack and drink during the day, perhaps after a relaxing amble round the gardens, or go there just to enjoy the good food and ambiance, it’s a wonderful place to chill. Me, I’d go for the gorgeous sunset whilst tucking into their special Thai Tapas appetisers like Pandan Chicken and Spring Rolls which will go beautifully with any one of the large range of drinks, preferably alcoholic, although non-alcoholic, is available. It certainly brings back memories of warm summer nights in Phuket … However, there are a couple of things to be prepared for: the possibility of mosquitoes although quite honestly, I didn’t get a single bite all evening, and on a still, balmy night, you might want to have a fan to hand!

They also cater for private functions on site and can seat up to a maximum of 70 pax.

Tree Monkey

Tropical Spice Garden

Teluk Bahang

Tel: 04 881 3494

Opening Hours: 9am to 10pm.

WRITING AND ALL THAT ...

OOPS ... so sorry for the long silence. Things have been, as usual, busy, but I've also been rather lazy and just not in the mood to blog. On top of that I write for so many publications that if I blog on all the places I go then it will be old hat by the time it comes out in the papers.

So things are going rather well. I've finally hung up my hat with The Expat magazine, after 4 1/2 years as their Northern Region Representative. It was getting a bit same old, same old, and I felt it was time to move on to something new. And so something HAS turned up - Expatriate Lifestyle, their rival publication, has approached me asking if I'm interested in writing for them. And I will seriously consider it, because their magazine is quite upmarket.

Of course I am still doing my fortnightly column for The Star's Sunday Metro, and I've started writing regularly for online newspaper The Malaysian Insider (www.themalaysianinsider.com) which will all keep me quite busy, esp the latter because they have given me a bit of leeway to write about any outlet I like so if you have something interesting, anywhere at all, not just Penang, please let me know.

With No.2 Son back it's been quite nice too having him for company during the day. His stint in Perth and Darwin have done him good; he's learnt self sufficiency and independence, although he will soon be leaving for his first year at uni. Ahhhhh, I hear you say. Yes, it'll be quite sad with just the two old fogeys back home alone again. Luckily Mummy is quite independent too (he must get it some SOMEWHERE) and I can keep myself quite busy, thank you very much.

Apart from that I've been busy judging, eating and writing. And not necessarily in that order. Many new places are continuing to open up, and more will be doing so especially when the E&O development opens up which I'm told will be some time late autumn. Penang is definitely going places, with national players coming in. The downside will be it will be even more difficult to get staff.