Saturday, June 30, 2012

Applying Visa at Japan Embassy, Malaysia. June 2012

Entrance of the Japan Embassy. 

Get your IC ready. Having a pen would be convenient. Get a form, fill in and hand over your IC for a security tag. Then enter the door on the left. You will go through a bag screening. Mobile phone and camera will be kept by security officer and returned when you exit, through the turnstile on the right hand side (see photo)
After the security screening, walk towards your right side to the entrance in front of you. Press for a queue number and wait for you turn.
There is no parking available. Park on the left or right along Persiaran Stonor.
The visa application is free of charge.

Visa Application Requirement Information

Embassy of Malaysia, Tokyo, Japan. 
20-16 Nanpeidai-Cho, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo 150-0036.
Telephone +(81-3) 3476 3840
Fax +(81-3) 3476 4971
Email: maltokyo@kin.gov.my
Work day: Monday to Friday
9am to 1230pm & 130pm to 5pm
Holiday: Weekend & PH.

White Oven Brick, Kubu Gajah, Sg Buloh Selangor 10 June 2012

The address : 1675a-1 Jalan Gajah 14, Kg Kubu Gajah
(look for TNB pole 96)

A walk onto this lane brings you to Mardia and Mustafa home and a bakery attached next to it. 

The cozy but a bit too warm dining area at the bakery.

We came for tea and scones.

Heavenly! 

The stone mill that Mustafa used to grind the wheat.
Below is the video of the process.


The different sizes of sieve.

The wheat is from Australia or United States. 

The flour grinded from the stone mill. 

Sour dough 200 grams.

Add 750grams of water.
Sprinkle some himalayan rock salt.

800 grams of wholemeal flour. And add some white flour.

Mix it by hand. 
We're told, 5 basic ingredients of making bread, that is flour, water, salt, yeast and TIME. 

Pour some oil on the table and mix the dough on the oily surface. See video below.

Leave it for an hour and mix again. Repeat this sequence 10 times!

A loaf of Gardenia Bread takes 45minutes to bake but Mustafa takes 2 days to bake one! 

The making of macro-biotic yeast, using apple core and skin.  I gotta "google" for more info on this.

The brick oven which Mustafa uses it sometimes. He has electric ovens as well.

A peep into the brick oven.

The smoke chimney of the brick oven. 

Limited freshly bake of the day for sale.

Our pre-ordered bread, fresh from the oven. 
You have to order two days in advance and it can be in any quantity.



For a visit, contact Mardia and Mustafa

Transit of Venus 2012 with Solar Eclipse/Transit Viewer 6 June 2012

It was awesome witnessing the  transit of Venus this morning from home.

The kids used this piece of transit viewer SGD6, bought from the shop below in Singapore.
It enabled us to see the Sun clearly and protect our eyes from intense sunlight.

This shop is located at Omni-theatre, Singapore. 

Camping at RS Campsite, Gopeng, Perak 2 June 2012


The kids miss their malay friends so much and so we came back to RS Campsite

Mouthwatering food carefully barbecued to perfection by Sim.

Making "Milo" aka playing mud.

In the morning. 

Over here, the kids do not seem to play in the river. Perhaps Sungai Kampar looks a wee bit overwhelming.

Heritage Trail at Batu Gajah, Perak 2 June 2012

After visited Sybil Kathigasu's clinic at Papan a year ago, we came to see the prison which Sybil Kathigasu was imprisoned and tortured. Besides her, Lim Bo Seng was an inmate here as well.
 
 Another place which of interest to the kid, is this Tudor-style court house museum. 
It only opens on weekdays! 830am to 4pm

The back of the wooden structure of Wah Onn Theatre which has been burnt down.
Only the front ticket office remains which is now a mee rebus restaurant.  
The cinema used to show black and white movies to local townsfolk. 

Old fashioned playground at Batu Gajah.

I remember hiding in these hollow cylinder when I was young. 

I want to eat MANGO and palm fruit too. 

For a detail heritage trail map info, check this link.

Kg Cendrong, Batu Gajah Perak 2 June 2012

Cendrong village along the road to the Tin Dredge.

We stopped by to have lunch. The restaurant is very much like the one Lat drew in his comic book.

Dad said "The coffee is interesting"

The kids' bowl of noodle. It is not bad.

 Driving around the small village.

Buying biscuit at a grocery stall.


This was how I bought biscuit when I was little.

The Last Tin Dredge, Batu Gajah, Perak 2 June 2012

KM9, Jalan Tanjung Tualang, Batu Gajah.
Tel : 05-370 2253

To get here from KL - Take Gopeng exit at North South Highway. Turn right at T-junction after toll. Go straight and follow the left turn to Kellie Castle. Pass Kellie Castle on your left. From here, it is about 30 minutes to Tin Dredge. Go straight on, till the end. Follow signs to Tanjung Tualang, which is a right turning. Then, drive on to Tanjung Tualang. The Tin Dredge is visible on the left, by the road side.

 RM6 for adult. RM3 for kid. 
Open daily. 830am to 6pm

There is a very small tin mining museum at the ticket counter.

The tools and tin ingot.

One of the many photos that were hung on the wall. 

We were awestrucked by the colossal metal dredge. 

  
Visitors are allowed to view the ground floor.
After reading Lat's comic book which talked about this metal monster, the kids were excited to view a real one.

At your own risk.

Old life vests.

Rusty crew lockers.

Wide starboard.

Looking at the series of solid metal buckets were awesome.

The wire cables and pulleys.

Huge rusty spanner seen hung at the side.

The view from top floor.

The many levers.

Tin ore sifters. The dredged soil are sifted here among the arrays, where heavier tin ore are submerged into the rectangular compartments for further process.



"Maximum production at low cost and no trouble" a tagline on the wall of the operation office room upstair.

 From this view, the kids said "It does look like a metal monster"


Such enormous and beautiful machine.

You can walk around it.