Good Malay Food ... FOC?!

Yeah, you read that right. 6 meals a day provided, as usual. Highly suspicious that the government has a hidden agenda of sinister nature, intending to fatten all the civil servants, probably in an attempt to make human foei gras out of us. (In case of doubts, read HERE).

Juicy (don't judge a book, or in this case, a chick by its appearance!) & marinated, deep-fried goodness. No dippings required ...

Amazing daging masak merah (beef in sweet and spicy sauce)

Worth mentioning here include the yummy fried chicken, and the marinated beef in sweet/sour/spicy gravy, aka a darker version of Daging Masak Merah. Me and KYT had seconds, and many others as well. Oh, and the kerabu mango kicked major a$$ too, creating a balanced flavour of spiciness, and just right sourness. Salivate, baby ... =)

Deep-fried squids - sadly, not so crispy. Forgettable ...

~~ Tea Break Special ~~

For something completely out of the book, the management served DURIANS (!!!) and accompaniments of pulut (glutinous rice), roti jala, and kuah durian (a type of sweet soup made from concoction of durian flesh and coconut milk).

The moment I got to snap a pic of the insides, the fleshy bits have been stolen ... =(

The sides of pulut, roti jala and kuah durian at the background ...

Some hits and misses with regards to the king of fruits. Kampung Gajah nearby is famous for its durians after all. But all of us were pleasantly surprised when we walked into the dining hall for tea break, but instead served durians and such. Clever marketing ploy? ;)

In a matter of minutes, our group (yup, we were divided into groups, not unlike kindergarten kids ... hehe), the famished ones, completely devoured the fruits and left a trail of terror (refer pic above) Muahaha .... ^@^

So there, was the journey worthwhile? We learnt the right way to walk the walk, and talk the talk, as well as equipped ourselves with various motivational skills. To top it all off, our team spirit was blazing HOT !!! And we get to know a lot of other colleagues from all over Perak. To me, the workshop was a success, and I certainly won't mind attending more of these! =)

For TallGal's opinions, laments, and brickbatz, hop over to HERE.

Boot Camp @ FELCRA Training Centre, Changkat Lada

Huh ... The days leading to the eventual workshop at Pusat Latihan FELCRA in Changkat Lada (say where?) were torturing, to put it mildly. Overwhelmed with sense of regret for joining the workshop, and fear of feeding potential mosquitoes, we were prepared for the worst.

A mosque in the middle of nowhere, literally.

The journey was not long, surprisingly, only a mere one hour+, and the roads are not those off the beaten track type. The scenery spoke volume of the tranquility of the rural areas, from Bota Kanan to Changkat Melintang and Kampung Gajah. Passing by Kompleks Sejarah Pasir Salak, a short distance away is this FELCRA settlement. If you're scratching your heads wondering where in the world are these spots, they're small towns in Perak, that had not bowed to civilization. Hehe ...

Finally ....

One terrifying ordeal was when KYT parked his car,both of us discovered an abundance of, or rather, an army of HUGE red fire ants swarming the parking lot, and some even fell on our necks! =O Needless to say, it somewhat 'enhanced' the experience ....

Imagine in the middle of the night, standing at this very corridor ... eerie?

Patriotism at its peak? Nah ... I bet most did not notice the poles

Dorm-like environment dampened our spirits even further ... =(

Oh, at least TV was provided, though reception was poor, and no cable channels ...

Comfortable beds with clean sheets ...

Fortunately, the room was bearable, even to the point where we dozed off to slumberland in mere minutes everytime, cooled by the air-conditioning system. Blankets and pillows provided adequately, at no extra charge. Our only gripe? Look below ....

Yup, the classic squatting delight, tailor-made to practise your kung-fu stance

No hot shower, sadly. And waking up at dawn to prepare for classes did not deter us from chilling ourselves to the bones. Somehow, the water here is not icy cold, unlike usual 'kampung' area's water supply, eg. Sungkai etc. Oh, and the bathroom was infested with red ants, symbiotic relation established, we do our business, they mind their own. =P

~~~ The Breakfast ~~~

Toasts with half-boiled eggs, and fried beehoon kampung-style.

Nasi Goreng Kampung and Toasts

I did not hold much anticipation for the food, just keeping my fingers crossed for something worth swallowing. However, we were pleasantly overjoyed when not only were the meals delicious, the kampung-style dishes opened my eyes in categorizing Malay cuisine into the "same old, same old" category.

Breakfast was a simple affair, but the fried rice and beehoon were delicious in their own rights, slightly spicy, but still good nevertheless. Even KYT who normally avoids Malay food like the plague threw positive comments. =)

(to be continued ... )