Agnes is our housemaid who has been with us for past 2.5 year. She is hardworking and trustworthy ... the most important factor that allows us to travel freely.
All work and no play makes Agnes a dull helper.
So we took her for an outing yesterday (12-9-2012) to Genting and Bentong. It was an adventure to Agnes and us too.
My wife has not been to Genting for... about 15 years!!
It was misty in Genting.
We visited the casinos and were surprised by the 'free and easy" entry into them.
"Baccarat", "Tai Sai", "3 card poker", "French Doule", "Mini Dice", "Roulette".... were alien to us ... tried to figure out how they were played.
I saw mostly women gamblers... middle and old aged.
The so called "City of entertainment" was a "city of noise, distortion and hell" to us.
We spent about 3 hours walking around and left after lunch for Bentong at about 2:00 pm, to visit our friend Lim Chee Keong.
We have a "positive mental correction" upon arrival of Bentong.
Bentong is slow and easy, fresh and natural ... and the afternoon tea is great.
By chance, we followed Lim Chee Keong for an photography assignment at a Chinese new village about 10 kms from Bentong.
Kg Baru Sungai Penjuring ( New Village) was accorded the winner of 【Prosperous Village - Chinese New Village Category】 contest organised by Ministry of Rural and Territory Development in conjunction with 55th Independence Day celebrations. The prize - RM 1,002,500.00 (Ringgit One Million and Twenty Five Thousand) - RM 25.000 cash and RM one million worth of projects.
Health Minister and also Member of Parliament of the area, Liow Tiong Lai, was there to handover the mock cheque to the village committee.
According to information I collected, the contest winners were picked based on criteria such as Merdeka celebration programmes, flying the national flag, existence of landmark, billboards, posters, independence monument as well as features of an excellent village including leadership strength, the economy, education and cleanliness ....
At the village, I did not see much of the criteria above for the village being picked as the champion ....
Anyway, congratulations to Kg. Baru Sungai Penjuring for winning the million-ringgit "Prosperous Village" Contest. I bet not many of you are aware of such award and the winner.
Who cares ?!?! It is one of the many ways the government channel monetary rewards to The Selected People.
What we cared most were to fill up our stomach. The late arrival of VIP made us very hungry.
Chee Keong brought us to an old restaurant for dinner. We were feted with authentic local Guangxi 3 treasure dishes - Steamed chicken, Braised pork with yam (Kao yok) and Yong Taofu .... and more !
What a great day and adventure !!!
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| Guangxi 3 treasure dishes 广西三宝 |
依妮丝是我们的家佣，来自菲律宾，已经工作了两年半。她非常勤劳及可靠，这是我们能够很自由的除外游玩的重要因素。
只工作，没有休闲，是很沉默的。
所以，我们在昨天(12-9-2012)，带她到云顶及文冬一游。对爱妮丝来说，她没到过这些地方，所以是一项寻幽探秘之旅，该是非常大新奇。
对太太来说，也是如此，因为她已整十五年没到过云顶高原了。
当天早上，云顶被浓雾笼罩着。
我们进入赌场参观。我非常惊讶的见到，那么容易及自由的进入赌场，不像以前般的要讲究穿着，现在短袖，长袖，无袖都可以进出自如。
“百家乐”，“大小”，“三张牌扑克”，“轮盘”，“迷你骰子”。。。等，我们停下来，观察了整半天，看不出是怎样玩的！
这里赌博的人，大部分是中，老年的妇人。
云顶自称为 “娱乐城”，对我来说，这是喧闹，假象，地狱之城。
我们逗留了大约三个小时后，用了午餐，前往文冬去拜访林志强。
到了文冬，我的心神马上来个积极的调整。
文冬的步伐慢而轻松，空气清新自然。。。玻璃口新村咖啡店的下午茶，喝了齿颊留香。
机缘巧合，林志强接下了到一个到新村拍照任务，我们就跟着去凑热闹。
宋溪本祖令新村，离开文冬大约十公里，获得由乡村及地方发展部主办的『繁荣和谐新村』全国冠军荣誉，得到现金马币二十五万，及价值马币一百万元的工程项目。这项比赛，是为迎接国庆五十五周年而举办的。
卫生部长兼劳勿区国会议员廖中莱，特地到来主持支票移交仪式。
根据我搜寻到的资料，这个比赛的遴选条件有好多方面，如国庆日庆祝项目，悬挂国旗，新村的地标，告示牌，招贴，独立纪念碑，新村的特出素质，包括领袖才能，经济，教育，清洁卫生。。。
我在这个新村看了看，从这个冠军村，看不到以上大部分的素质及优点。。。
无论如何，我恭喜这个新村获得这百万奖金的『和谐繁荣新村』荣衔。我很肯定，你们许多人不晓得有这个比赛，及这个新村的所在。
谁会去理会呢。。这是国阵政府发放金钱及奖励给那些“被挑选”的途径之一。
我们当时要理的是该填饱我们的辘辘饥肠。大人物的迟到，已经拖延了我们的晚餐。
志强带我们到玻璃口新村的一间老招牌餐馆，享用了当地的『广西三宝』 - 味念滑香鸡，广西酿豆腐，广西扣肉，还有道地空心菜，美味非洲鱼。。。。
真是美好的一天！
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