Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

---

Serving up Teochew food for 112 years Posted: 08 Jul 2011 06:25 PM PDT The shop is often packed but no one minds waiting KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Walking into Setapak Teochew Restaurant in Jalan Pahang is like stepping back in time. Explore the row of wooden containers in the shop and you will find old-fashioned Chinese biscuits like hup to so bundled up in plastic bags, the sticky sweet eggy sart kay mah and other biscuits. This is also where people come and order their wedding biscuits, those flaky ones in pink and yellow filled with sweet red bean paste.  I half expect to see an abacus, but of course now there's a calculator on the counter. There are old nyonya baskets on top of the glass cupboard where cakes of pu er tea are displayed. The restaurant is after all 112 years old, and run by the same family who started it... now in its fourth generation. You can find delicious old fashioned biscuits here as well We had come for a noodle lunch on a public holiday, and the place was packed to the rafters. We managed to find a table outside after a little waiting. We took turns to go inside and find out what was available to eat. We peered into the kitchen where all the action was, amidst the hissing steam and flames from the wok.  The crispy fu chook with fishpaste is a must-have Service was fast despite the crowd. We enjoyed slices of Crispy Fish Cake made from ikan parang. The Crispy Fu Chook which was layered in between with fishpaste tasted so good — thin crunchy fu chook breaking up at the bite, contrasting with the bouncy fishpaste.  A truly Teochew dish is the Handmade Big Fishballs with Vegetables and Seaweed Soup. It was lavish with seaweed and the fishballs were smooth and springy.  The main event was definitely the noodles — Hokkien Mee, Teochew White Noodles and White Fried Kwayteow. Glistening Hokkien noodles... very yummy. The Hokkien noodles glistened with the black sauce they had been stewed in, and had the usual slices of pork, lard crisps and vegetables. Many people have raved about these Hokkien noodles with all the requisite flavours and texture.  The Teochew White Noodles may not look attractive but they were "crazy good" according to my friend M. who had whisked me there. Indeed they were. Lots of fried garlic, minced pork, prawns, beansprouts, egg and fishcake tangled with the moist beehoon fried with light soya sauce, contributed to its appetizing aroma and amazing flavours. I picked out bits of choy poh or radish pickle in these very tasty noodles. The White Fried Beehoon here is "crazy good." "White" seems to be the flavourful colour here. Again we could not resist the White Fried Kwayteow. The noodles had been fried with dried prawns, cili padi, lard crisps, lots of garlic and slices of fish cake. They were simply scrumptious. It seems there more concentrated, delicious flavours in both types of white fried noodles. White seems to be the flavour colour here... White Fried Kwayteow. For such an old restaurant, it has a very modern printed menu as we discovered later. All the noodles we had were priced at RM7, RM10 and RM13 (for small, medium and large portions).  The Crispy Fish Cake is RM4, Crispy Fu Chook RM7.  The restaurant is definitely worth more than one visit; just don't go at 1pm. I've got my eye on the Teochew Style Handmade Wantan Soup (the wantan skin is made with fish paste), the Spicy Pork Roll, Claypot King Prawn Mee, Fishhead Meehoon, Sang Mee with Pork Ribs (RM22), and even the Claypot Pork Porridge.  Restoran Setapak Teochew is located at 283 & 285, Jalan Pahang, Setapak, 53000 Kuala Lumpur, Tel: 03-4023 8706. Watch out for it on your right, after the Tawakal Hospital. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Food To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

---

West Ham boss blames Thatcher for British football’s decline Posted: 09 Jul 2011 07:52 AM PDT LONDON, July 9 — West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has blamed former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for "killing football" and creating a modern-day generation of unfit, obese children in the United Kingdom. Allardyce says that all UK sports, not just football, are suffering because of policies adopted by Thatcher's Conservative governments throughout the 1980s. In a scathing attack in The Sun newspaper today, Allardyce (picture) said: "Since Margaret Thatcher stopped teachers being paid extra money for coaching sports after school, all sporting activities have diminished on a competitive basis. "Kids are now more obese and unfit than ever. All the prime young athletes we were ready to develop just aren't there, so we get a lesser quality of player. "It has not just undermined our game, it has undermined many sports in this country and created an unhealthy child. Thatcher killed football, there is no doubt about it." A recent report stated that one in three children in Britain is obese or overweight and that 32 per cent of children play less than an hour of sport a week. In the last 20 years, around 5,000 school playing fields have been sold off or built over as England's men's national team have continually floundered in attempts to repeat their 1966 World Cup triumph. Allardyce, a keen student of sporting education, continued: "Look at how little kids do to what I did. I was a 200 metres runner, a 4x400m relay runner and a triple jumper. "I was a batsman in cricket, a freestyler in swimming and swam for the town. I did the pommel horse in gymnastics and I was really good on the trampoline, as well as being a footballer. "Kids don't do any of that now. All of that sporting activity allowed me to play in the top division in this country." Allardyce, who recently took over at English second division side West Ham, maintains the consequences of Thatcher's policies now mean clubs are having to sign up children at increasingly young ages to ensure they have opportunities to flourish. "This was a working-class game but it's only at private schools where the children get the sports opportunities I had — and even then a lot of them don't play football, it's mainly rugby," said the ex-Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers boss. "Despite putting in place all sorts of advanced academy systems at clubs we are only producing half the players the school system used to." The Football Association estimates it takes 10,000 hours of training and education from the age of about seven or eight to be able to be good enough to play professional football — accepting a child has the talent to begin with. Allardyce added: "Even a club like Manchester United can only provide 4,000 hours at the moment. It's hard to do more because parents have to drive their kids there four nights a week as well as on a Sunday. "Until we wake up and realise how important school sport is to our kids we will never repair the damage," he concluded. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Webber beats Vettel for British GP pole Posted: 09 Jul 2011 06:25 AM PDT Webber waves after qualifying in pole position for the British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 9, 2011. — Reuters pic SILVERSTONE (England), July 9 — Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber roared back to form and denied world champion team mate Sebastian Vettel a third successive British Grand Prix pole position at a damp Silverstone today.  It was the team's ninth pole from nine races this season and Webber's second in a year that has yet to see him beat Vettel on a Sunday.  The German, 77 points clear of McLaren's Jenson Button and Webber with 10 races remaining after Silverstone, extended his run of successive front row starts to 14 with second place on the grid.  Webber was keen to put sport back into the limelight after a morning dominated by team meetings and arcane argument about engine regulations, and whether Red Bull had been disadvantaged by a fresh directive before final practice.  "Seb and I just concentrate on the driving," said the Australian, who won last year's race after Vettel took pole, of all the technical polemic.  "Every year we have a new thing to talk about, this last few weeks has been about this (the engine and exhaust regulations), so let's hope everyone can find their common ground.  "It's incredibly boring also for the fans. I think they cannot understand 0.1 per cent of what is going on. Even for us it is sometimes difficult. Let's get on with the racing and keep the rules as simple as possible.  "From my perspective for tomorrow, I'm in great shape and have prepared well."  Ferrari filled the second row, with double world champion Fernando Alonso qualifying third and Felipe Massa fourth ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button, hoping for his first home podium finish in F1.  McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, dominant winner of his home race in 2008, qualified only 10th on an afternoon of changing conditions and with the risk of sudden showers complicating strategy decisions.  "I don't think the position is too bad but the pace is," said Button.  "It wasn't a perfect lap, we lacked balance. I don't know where our pace has gone; I can have a guess but we haven't built a car that's 1.3 seconds slower than the Ferrari."  Hamilton was equally disappointed.  "There's not too much to say. The fans here are fantastic. The support we've had has been magnificent. Hopefully tomorrow we can do something special for them, get some points at least," he told the BBC.  "I've probably got a couple of people in front who I might be quicker than. Overtaking here is difficult but we could still have an exciting race."  One Briton who was delighted with his afternoon was Force India's Paul di Resta, qualifying an impressive sixth for his first British GP.  Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado did a good job for struggling Williams with seventh place on the grid, ahead of Japan's Kamui Kobayashi in a Sauber and Germany's Nico Rosberg for Mercedes. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Features

---

Palpitating fiction: Are romantic novels bad for women? Posted: 09 Jul 2011 01:23 AM PDT A British medical journal has said romantic novels are an invisible yet potent threat to women's sexual and emotional health. — AFP/Relaxnews file pic PARIS, July 9 — It's all innocent stuff: square-jawed boy meets doe-eyed girl, they fall in love, encounter a few rocky moments but ultimately seal their union with a kiss or a vague hint of sex. Wholesome yarns like this form the heartbeat of romantic fiction, a genre that has been in existence since the mid-18th century and today sells by the bucketload. But, according to a debate launched on Thursday by a medical journal in Britain, romantic novels are an invisible yet potent threat to women's sexual and emotional health. A commentary blasts these formulaic books for failing to promote safe sex and encourage patience in achieving female orgasm — and for defining the success of a relationship as the ability to crank out babies. "If readers start to believe the story that romantic fiction offers, then they store up trouble for themselves," says British author and relationship counsellor Susan Quilliam. "Sometimes the kindest and wisest thing we can do for our clients is to encourage them to put down the books — and pick up reality." Quilliam, writing in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, says that, according to a survey, only 11.5 per cent of romantic novels mention condom use. "And within these scenarios, the heroine typically rejected the idea because she wanted 'no barrier' between her and the hero," she notes. Even the steamier offerings of romantic fiction are dismal failures when it comes to sexual health, she contends. The typical bodice-ripper ends "with the heroine being rescued from danger by the hero, and then abandoning herself joyfully to a life of intercourse-driven orgasms and endless trouble-free pregnancies in order to cement their marital devotion." In fairness, says Quilliam, romantic fiction today has broadened its spectrum. Standard characters such as the brutal count and apple-cheeked maid have been supplemented by single mums, sensitive men, partners who each have to juggle daily jobs or cope with addictions, disabilities and even domestic violence. Even so, these books fail miserably when it comes to sexual pleasure and dealing with the ups-and-downs of relationships, she says. "We want women to be aware of their own desires rather than be 'awakened'. We aim to reassure our female clients that their first time may not be utterly joyful and that they may not gain reliable orgasms through penetration, but that they themselves are none the less existentially valid and that with affection and good humour things can improve immensely. "We warn of the stresses of pregnancy and child-rearing, and we discourage relentless baby-making as proof of a relationship's strength." According to figures cited by Quilliam, romance accounts for nearly half of all fiction bought, and some fans read up to 30 titles a month. For all its popularity, the genre has only been rarely explored to see how influential it is on its readers, says Quilliam, who suspects though that it could have massive clout. "What we see in our consulting rooms is more likely to be informed by Mills and Boon than by the Family Planning Association," she says. — AFP/Relaxnews Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Features To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

---

Cancelled soaps get new life online Posted: 09 Jul 2011 06:53 AM PDT 'One Life to Live' and 'All My Children' will continue to run online with the same cast and crew, including 'All My Children' star Susan Lucci. – AFP pic LOS ANGELES, July 9 – When One Life to Live and All My Children end decades-long runs on ABC-TV, the popular soap operas, which were cancelled in April, will live on – online, the network announced on July 7. The iconic shows have been licensed to Prospect Park, a production company that intends to produce new episodes and programme the soaps for loyal fans to view on an upcoming new online network. "We are privileged to continue the legacy of two of the greatest programmes to air on daytime television, and are committed to delivering the storylines, characters and quality that audiences have come to love for over 40 years," said Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz and Rich Frank in a statement. Prospect Park produces the series Wilfred, starring Elijah Wood and based on the Australia hit show, on cable channel FX. According to the New York Post, the shows will pick up where they leave off – All My Children ends September 23 and One Life to Live will end in January 2012. The new producers plan to keep the same cast and crew, including the star Susan Lucci. Plans include delivering the soaps via "additional emerging platforms," such as internet-enabled television sets. Both soaps cost about US$50 million (RM149.70 million) a year to produce and attract about 2.5 million viewers each on television. The hope is that they follow onto the internet. "It takes a lot of living to make a soap opera a serial, and the wonderful teams on both shows have done just that," Agnes Nixon, who created both soaps, responded to the news in a statement. "Together, we are a big family that keeps going, and I'm looking forward to working alongside these wonderful people." – Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Katy Perry cancels concerts after food-poisoning Posted: 09 Jul 2011 02:31 AM PDT The singer was also said to be suffering severe dehydration. — Reuters file pic LOS ANGELES, July 9 — When Katy Perry opens her mouth to sing, something beautiful tends to come out. When she opens her mouth to eat? Maybe not so much. The "Teenage Dream" singer was forced to cancel a pair of concerts for yesterday and today after suffering a bout of food poisoning and severe dehydration, according to her official website. The concerts, which were to occur in Chicago and St. Paul, have been rescheduled for next month. Perry fought through the illness to fire up her Twitter account and announce the new dates yesterday, writing, "Chicago and St. Paul — I'm so sorry to have to postpone today and tomorrow's shows. But I'll be back 8/21 (CHI) and 8/23 (St. Paul)!" Perry noted in a statement, "I am going to return in a few weeks to give them the very best show ever!" Perry's next concert is scheduled for Regina, Saskatchewan, on Wednesday. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

---

284 reasons why Bersih 2.0 must be remembered Posted: 08 Jul 2011 05:23 PM PDT JULY 9 — A few generations from now, budding Malaysian historians will no doubt expound and deliberate over whether July 9, 2011 was the beginning of the end for the Barisan Nasional regime. Although by then the name "BN" will have long disappeared from the lexicon of public discourse, those seeking to trace the roots of the thriving democratic polity in Malaysia would certainly recognise the day of the Bersih 2.0 rally as a watershed moment for the country, and indeed, a day of inglorious infamy for the incumbent government. Future Malaysians will find it difficult to comprehend the series of tumultuous events leading up to this day. They will wonder incredulously at the capricious flip-flopping of the government, and question how their forefathers could have put up with it for so long. They will appreciate the struggle against systemic injustice, but they will also ask why it took so long for the nation to wake. Views will be many and varied. Political analysts will theorise and speculate upon the power struggles that took place, both between the opposing political forces and also those within the ruling coalition. Perhaps they will even single out the stupendous rebellion by the home minister and police chief as key catalytic factors of the crisis. Some will undoubtedly attempt to dissect the semi-feudal dynamics encapsulating the process catalytic the intervention of the King and the open defiance of the royal word by an embattled regime and its overzealous cohorts. Social scientists will also find parallel in the regional context, perhaps even christening the saga with a moniker as they did the "Arab Spring" or "Jasmine Revolution." A few books will invariably be spawned, maybe even a blockbuster movie following the de-politicisation of our film industry. For politicians, it will become the ultimate lesson catalytic how not to run a government, or give me a gun and I'll shoot myself repeatedly. Grandfathers would regale their kin with stories of arrests, roadblocks and how Kuala Lumpur was brought to a virtual standstill. And almost everyone will find it ironic that a mass movement promoting "clean" and fair elections had brought out the dirtiest machinations of the authorities. There are plenty more reasons why people will remember this day, and many more variants in which they will choose to rationalise it. But more than that, more than the possibility of hundreds of thousands of Malaysians taking to the streets, more than the bare exposal of the ruling party's weaknesses and insecurities, is the fact that in the last two and a half weeks, Malaysians have watched in utter disgust and disbelief as the rights of their fellow citizens were flagrantly disregarded for no good reason. Two hundred and eighty four times. This includes the McCarthyistic detention of Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, A. Letchuman, Sukumaran Munisamy, Sarasvathy Muthu, Sarat Babu and Choo Chon Kai — six Malaysians who care — under the Emergency Ordinance purportedly for "waging war against the King", a treasonous crime punishable by death. This is in addition to the arbitrary arrests of 187 Malaysians since June 22, 2011 for speaking publicly about Bersih 2.0, and in some cases simply for donning a yellow T-shirt. And then we have the 91 Malaysians who have been served restriction orders and warned of consequences if they choose to exercise their basic human right to assembly. July 9, 2011 may well turn out to be the cul-de-sac for the BN regime. Yet whatever happens and however we choose to interpret this episode, there are 284 reasons why we must never forget it. Two hundred and eighty four Malaysians stripped of their rights. Two hundred and eighty four cases of abuse of power. Two hundred and eighty four memories that will haunt the ruling regime. These 284 reasons will ensure that the Barisan Nasional will be, in the near future, a thing of the past. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

‘It’s in the bag’ Posted: 08 Jul 2011 05:06 PM PDT JULY 9 — Players are back in training, the start of the Premier League season is less than a month away and the thoughts of fans all over the world are turning to their team's prospects for the forthcoming campaign. But what do those fans think? To find out, I'll give you a break from my own opinions (stop cheering) and, in the style of Plato's Republic (ok, I'm overselling it now), I present to you Dom and Dave's dialogue. Dominic and David are Manchester United fans. Formerly season ticket holders at Old Trafford, work and family commitments have now restricted them to occasional visits and weekly stints in front of the television. So it's fair to take them as a representation of the average United fan. And it appears they're feeling pretty good about the forthcoming Premier League season. Dominic: As you said to me last year: it's in the bag! I think we'll have a really good year again. The central spine of the team will be unchanged — we've lost Scholes but he only played irregularly last season, and with the signings we've made to embellish the team we're only going to get better. Now we've got the record number of titles, I'm feeling very relaxed about the new season. David: True, the team should be better than the one that won the league last season. With Jones coming from Blackburn and Smalling looking good, we've got long-term replacements for Vidic and Ferdinand, and Hernandez should keep on getting better up front. I think our biggest rivals this season are City. They don't concede many goals, and when you've got that defensive solidity in place you just need to make a couple of tweaks. Although that may go against Mancini's nature, they don't need to change much to really challenge if their manager gets a bit braver. Dominic: I'm not sure, Dave. I think City have got a lot of work to do. They're still throwing spaghetti against the wall and hoping it sticks. I agree they will break into the top three at the expense of Arsenal, but I don't think they'll win it. Chelsea are our biggest threat again. David: No way, Dom — Chelsea are going to have a transitional year. That new guy in charge might install some confidence but he's a risk because he's unproven. They've still got the Torres problem, they should sell Drogba and their midfield is pedestrian and old. They haven't got a number 10 — somebody who can create something and put the ball on a plate for the strikers. Dominic: But they've never had that kind of player, and they've won three titles without it... David: Yes, because they've been able to rely on the battering ram approach with Drogba, and Lampard coming in behind him. But they're both past their best now so they've got to change their approach because Torres just isn't that kind of player. He needs service, and that's why they're trying to get Modric because he can create. Dominic: Apparently they bid £22 million (RM105 million) for Modric but Redknapp says that's a joke. I'm not sure about him — he doesn't seem robust enough. Look at the great Premier League midfielders — Vieira, Lampard, Keane... he's not as imposing as they were. And Spurs have set their stall out now by saying they won't sell him. David: That's just a bargaining tool, isn't it? They've publicly dismissed a bid of £22 million so their fans will accept it more when they talk the price up to £40 million. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is proud of getting big transfer fees — there's a story about how he cranked up Berbatov's fee at the last minute. He's doing the same with Modric. He ran the game when we played them at White Hart Lane last season and would be a good signing for Chelsea. I hope they don't get him. Dominic: What about Arsenal, Dave? I think there's a real rot at that club. Clichy's already gone and if they lose Fabregas and Nasri as well, which looks likely, they'll be a lot weaker than last year. David: You know what, Dom – I tipped Arsenal to win the league last year. Everyone laughed but for six months they were always in the top two. But Wenger failed to replace Vermaelen and the keeper and they faded away again. Dominic: Lots of people in the Arsenal world seem to think that Wenger's untouchable and can't be challenged — "Arsene knows" and all that. That's probably not very healthy. David: And how the hell have they let Nasri get down to just a year left on his contract? They should have either re-signed him to a longer deal or sold him by now. Like we did with Ronaldo when it was obvious he wanted to leave. Dominic: What about Liverpool? They seem to be on the rise again under Dalglish and have made some decent signings. David: No, don't worry about Liverpool, Dom. They might break into the top four at Arsenal's expense, but they won't win the league. They were starting from a zero position when Kenny came back last season and the pressures are very different when you're actually trying to win something. Dominic: So Dave, we're saying that United will be strong again, Chelsea are too old, City and Liverpool aren't ready to challenge and Arsenal are fading. Looks like we're going to win the league again! David: Yep, I'll go along with that. Dominic: But we're fans, so we would say that... * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com