Shine on, America!

Damn it feels good to be back.

Beating Nostalgia: It's the Next 5 Years or Never

In 1999, after having won his 6th NBA Championship, Michael Jordan retired for the second time. Recognised nearly universally as the greatest basketball player of all-time, His Airness had exited the game on the grandest stage and in the most amazing of circumstances - hitting the game-winning shot to win an NBA Championship for the Chicago Bulls. What a bookend to a career. At that press conference, he said that there was a 99.9% chance that he would not come back to the game of basketball.

Fast forward 2001. His Airness returns for the second time, this time to the Washington Wizards. When quizzed on why he chose to return to the NBA, his answer was quite striking. He said, "It's an itch that still needs to be scratched here, and I don't want that itch to bother me for the rest of my life." Essentially, it's something he knew he had to do or he would always regret it (goes back to my belief that it's always better to regret having done something than to regret not having done something) and, more pertinently for the purposes of this post, that either he did it then or he would never do it.

[NB: On his first game back, I actually left school at 8.30am or so to go home and watch the game - full disclosure. It was against the New York Knicks in New York, maybe a month and 3 weeks after the September 11 tragedy. His Airness donated his entire salary for that year to the rescue efforts in New York. Granted, it was only about $1 million dollars - he made $34 million in 1998 - but still.]

So, what does this have to do with nostalgia? Well, yesterday, I met a couple of friends of mine for dinner (it was at a Brazilian buffet in DJ - I forgot to take pictures for my supposed food blog, thereby proving once again that I am an utter failure of a food blogger). These are friends with whom I took my very first road trip and the friends with whom I made a gentleman's agreement to take a cross-country road trip in the US before we all turn 30.

The problem with meeting these people, even if they are two of the best people to travel with that I know, is that they always make me feel nostalgic. We all studied in the US together, we went through INTEC together (i.e. We've been through a lot together), so it's only natural that we would reminisce about the past and, in particular, our time in America.

We each have our own store of memories on America. The country or things within the country, not even the people we know just yet, hold so much meaning for us. For me, it'd be the road trips, the pizza, the libraries, the buses, autumn time, thanksgiving, Christmas. There are really some things you experience just for yourself that make that particular place your own. I could go on and on but you get the point. And from this, for all of us, comes the itch to return to the US for at least an extended period of time to scratch the itch that we have. To really get it out of our system. Or in other words, to feel what and how we felt when we were there the first time. To build new memories, with a baseline of amazing memories at the initial stage.

But we recognise that there are constraints to this itch-scratching. If we don't do it some time over the next 5 years, given what our individual goals are, we probably won't get to do it again. And so, defeating nostalgia has to be done over the next 5 years or it'll never get done. Which is why the road trip becomes even more critical. A road trip from one coast to the other (and perhaps return) would be a candidate for a trip of a lifetime.

It'd be filled with stories which we, or I at least, would remember for as long as Alzheimer's doesn't ensnare me. It could be while driving late in the night through a lonely road listening to "A Song for Milly Michaelson". It could be while stopping at dawn or dusk at the side of the road to see the sun go up or go down over the Rocky mountains. It could be having a transcendental-type moment across the great plains. It could be while listening to the Dead Poet's Society theme while driving through the red-orange-yellow leaves of Vermont in the fall. It could be while seeing the infinity of stars illuminating the night sky while driving across the deserts of Arizona. To feel infinite in a given moment. I don't know. But they're all possible. And as long as they're possible, even probable, I think I'd be cheating future me of a lifetime of memories by not scratching this itch.

I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately,
I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life,
To put to rout all that was not life,
And not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived.

The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began,
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

Americana Round 2

As you all would know by now, assuming you've read posts on this blog (or if you know me), that I'm a massive fan of most things Americana, or at least a stylised/idealised version of it. When I think Americana, I think of 1960s Americana with

a) Ice Cream Shops (Pop's Chocklit Shoppe from Archie Comics)

b) Diners

c) Roller skating discos

d) Small town America (like in Super 8)

e) Hamburgers and Fries

f) Cookouts

g) Tire Swings hanging from trees

h) Hammocks

And so on.

But there's another part of a culture which is also crucial. Its folk songs. Like for Malaysians, I'd argue that something that unites us, or rather, something that we're all familiar with is a song like Rasa Sayang. Or Anak Ayam. Or Lenggang Kangkung. Or Geylang Si Paku Geylang. You get the point. At the very least, it would be super difficult for me to believe that there is a Malaysian, who grew up in Malaysia, who has not heard of Rasa Sayang.

Well, if you haven't, here's my favourite version:-

I recognise that this can be counted as propaganda but still.

Anyway, over the last few days, I have been, looping, besides Blink 182, American folk songs. I don't know why. I guess the Americana I have in my head is a very idealised one which probably no longer exists and the only way I can experience the 'Americana' feeling is through these songs. Lol, just kidding. No psychoanalysis required here. I just like these songs. Anyway, this is an American folk song that I think most people would know. I'm not so sure if most people have heard it being sang as a real song rather than a children's song.

Oh my Darling, Clementine



It's actually a rather morbid song. And having been called as 'dark' before, of course I love it. Check these lyrics out:-

"She drove ducklings to the water
Every morning just at 9
Hit her foot against the splinter
Fell into the foamy brine

Ruby lips above the water
Blowing bubbles soft and fine
Lest for Clem, he was no swimmer
So he lost his Clementine"

Basically, it talks about a miner's daughter (49-er) who drowned. As a side note, I think 49-er is the best hidden phrase to refer to the type of person of whom Kanye West and Jamie Foxx sang about. "Damn, your girl's a 49-er yo!"

Tom Dooley

Another really cool folk song I like is a song called Tom Dooley, again, about death. And hanging. Brilliant eh?



Excerpts of lyrics:-

"Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die

Met her on the mountain
There I took her life
Met her on the mountain
And stabbed her with my knife

This time tomorrow
Reckon where I'll be
Down in some lonesome valley
Hanging from a white oak tree"

500 Miles Away From Home

In keeping with the trend of darkness and doom and gloom, here's another song I like. In fact, I play this song quite often. It feels melancholy. And a 'never look back' kind of song, I suppose.



Comes down to this:- "If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone."

Anyway, I think it's really difficult to get to know a culture if you don't explore their folk music as well. I mean, there's got to be a reason why the stories in these songs were handed down over the years right? I don't think it's just the music; I mean, come on, this is basically country music even for the country musician.

Americana, baby. Americana.


Well, not all Americana.

Betty's Midwest Kitchen

I recognise that I haven't updated this site for a long, long time. In your defense, yeah, one month is a bit too long. In my defense, I've suddenly found myself indispensable to Lord and land. So there.

Usually, when someone mentions the word/name "Betty", I think two things. Betty Cooper from the Archieverse and Betty Draper from Mad Men. In the spirit of Betty, I shall provide a twist on this review. Yes, that's a deliberate attempt to keep you reading for at least a little bit.

For the record, I'm clearly biased about my Betty's, as you will surely figure out.

So, firstly location. Betty's is located at Jalan PJU 1/43, Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Basically, head towards Tropicana from Bandar Utama, but before that short short tunnel just before Tropicana, hit a left and it's on the row of shop houses on your left. It's pretty simple to find. Rating: 6/10 Betty Coopers.

Next, service. Apparently, on weekends, you can't make reservations which is fair, but you can on weekdays. I have, in the spirit of human-hood, generously provided the phone number for the place:- (603) 7880-0196, should you want to go on weekdays. Anyway, we went there for He Xiang's belated birthday dinner. It was meant to be a surprise, but as per usual, our most reliable friend, Cheap Shit Chew wrecked the whole operation. Anyway, there were 10 of us, which meant a really long wait for a table given that the place is pretty popular. As I remember, we waited for about an hour, which you know, just isn't really that awesome. So, I'll have to give this 7/10 Betty Drapers.

Ambience. See, I love all things classic Americana. Malt shops, diners, Elvis, the 'idea' of baseball, Archie comics etc. So, it's nice that they try to decorate the place Americana style. But, if you really think about it, a 'real' Americana feeling wouldn't try too hard to be Americana. While I have to give them props for effort, I'm taking some Betty Coopers away for trying too hard. 4/10 Betty Coopers.



Eventality. This is a word I just made up to mean "Event Versatility". Basically, what this is is a measure of what sort of event would be appropriate to have at this place. So, I really like that it's a very family-and-friends sort of feel, but it's probably not somewhere you want to bring a date, unless of course, you're like my college roommate. Overall, 8/10 Betty Coopers.

Of course, I realise I've made you read something like 500 words without mentioning anything about food, which would be fine, except this is a food blog. Now, we'll go through this in ascending order.



Meatloaf. I didn't have this so I can't really say too much about it but word from my Asian correspondents (we're all Asian, so I guess the Asian there was redundant but still) was, "We should've got something else." Fair enough. Just like how Don Draper should've gotten someone else, I'll give this 7/10 Betty Drapers.



Country-Fried Chicken. Okay, this I had. And it was a particularly facepalm moment. See, I thought I was ordering Country-Fried Steak which I hadn't had in some time. But well, I guess I've wired my brain to see everything as steak. So when I realised that, "Oh, crap, I'm having Country-Fried Chicken instead of Country-Fried Steak", it was way too late. Anyway, the Fried Chicken itself wasn't too bad. It was just average. Granted, I'm clearly biased towards KFC so it was never going to be a winner here. The mashed potatoes were fricking awesome, texture and gravy just perfect but y'know, you don't go to a Laker game to see Derek Fisher do well. So, I'll give this 4/10 Betty Drapers, only b'cos the mashed potatoes redeemed it somewhat.



So, apparently this place is famous for its ribs. Natcherly, we had to try it out. We ordered 2 sets of ribs to share between us. And I'd say the ribs are fairly decent. But that's just it, it's only fairly decent to the point there's not much to say about it. It's like the Steve Finnan of ribs (In fairness, I love Steve Finnan, but let's just say I had to learn to love him). So, this gets 2/10 Betty Coopers.



Now, I'm not the best judge of this one since it's called "Dogfood" on the menu. It really is just cheese fries, but given its moniker on the menu, the final ranking can only be appropriately given by my buddy CCW. Nevertheless, I thought this was brilliant stuff. I miss good ol' cheese fries. Sure, it probably shortened my life by half a year, and increase the probability of me having heart problems in the future, but hey, it was worth it. As much as I would like to give this 10/10 Betty Coopers, Betty Cooper wouldn't shorten my life by half a year and increase the chances of me having heart problems. So, this gets a 8/10 Betty Coopers on the Betty Cooper scale.



This last one is pretty much the bomb. Pigs in a blanket. So unhealthy, but so damn good. It's basically a sausage (pig) wrapped in a slice of bacon (blanket). This in itself makes it worth going to Betty's. It really is an explosion of everything that's good in this world when it enters your mouth. You know that speech the Sam Gamgee made at the end of the Two Towers about how...ah, screw it. I'm typing it out. Chokes me up. Every single time.

"I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."


Sam Gamgee.

Anyway, I think it's fair to say that when Frodo asks him, "What are we holding on to, Sam?", one of the appropriate answers to this question is "Pigs in a blanket from Betty's Midwest Kitchen." So, while this is superbly unhealthy, but it's probably illegal to give this anything but 10/10 Betty Coopers.

Deserves a second picture tbf.



Look at the cute little piggies, about to be devoured by the big bad wolf.

So, aggregating it all up (leave the Math to me, unless, y'know, you do macroeconomic modeling for a living - yes, I'm smirking at you now), this gets a very nice 8.5/10 on my scale (we've left the Betty Draper and Betty Cooper scale behind now). It's let down by the Betty Drapers, but as usual Betty Cooper saves the day. Price wise, it's a Mid-Level Exception, about 20 bucks per person (we did split the check though). Also, I'd suggest that if you come here, you're better off ordering the sides and sharing them rather than ordering individual dishes. It's just more fun this way and the sides are better anyway as shown by Dogfood and Pigs in a Blanket.