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| Johor brand, Hwa Tai's Luxury crackers that I nibbled with cheddar cheese in my in-flight meal on board MH |
Whenever I’m travelling
abroad, I’m always delighted to catch a glimpse of something from home. On our family’s recent trip abroad, the flight
stewardess distributed our meal trays and my eyes usually found the dessert
first before going on to check what else was served. Besides the tiny salad and main course, there
may be crackers with cheese so you can imagine the pride I felt when I
discovered that the crackers packet on the tray was Johor’s very own Hwa Tai brand Luxury crackers!
This biscuit
manufacturing company had its humble beginnings in Batu Pahat in 1962 and is
now a public listed with worldwide distribution of its range of quality
products. I remember Hwa Tai was one of
the pioneer companies that started to sell individually wrapped packets of
crackers within a retail pack and I always enjoyed these handy packets which
kept the crackers fresh. It was like
meeting an old friend again when I ripped the packet open and rounded off my
meal by nibbling the Hwa Tai Luxury crackers, held in one hand alternating with
a bite of cheese, held in the other.
Mmm…
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| Lingham Chilli Sauce on the table in Giraffe! |
In Bath, we decided
to have a meal before exploring the historical city and Melanie, our English
niece, picked Giraffe, a café that she
liked. After studying the menu, we made
our orders and sat back to wait for our meal to be served. I usually make good use of idle moments like
this to explore the café [and its mezzanine floor] to check out its interesting
décor and creative fittings.
While checking out
the condiments tray on the table, we were pleasantly surprised to discover
Lingham Chilli Sauce – a household name in our country! I quickly turned the bottle around to read
the label and confirmed that it was truly a product by Lingham & Son
(Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. I don’t know about
the others but I was filled with pride and nostalgia.
This product was created
in 1908 to meet the tastes of the colonial expatriate community in then Malaya
and was still going strong. The distinct
sweet and spicy taste of this chilli sauce recipe has been around for more than
100 years and the English community probably couldn’t get enough of it. I just felt good to know that now this
Malaysian chilli sauce is being enjoyed by customers in the Giraffe group of
restaurants throughout the UK!
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| My family and I were thrilled to discover Malaysian brand, Lingham Chilli Sauce in Giraffe, Bath in the UK! |
In London, we went to
Trafalgar Square to see how it looked starkly different because the trademark
pigeons that used to roost there have been removed. It was certainly much cleaner so we did the
touristy thing, posing for photos and capturing various shots of Nelson’s
Column, the fountains and those majestic lions.
After snapping the mandatory shots for my brother and his family, I
suggested to drop in at the Tourism Malaysia office located just across the
road.
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| I opened the page to Riders Lodge in Sedenak, Johor! |
The familiar Tourism
Malaysia (TM) logo with an iconic red hibiscus beckoned and I hoped to meet
with any Malaysian tourism officers there because I have a working relationship
with TM. However, the staff behind the
counter told us that their personnel had left for an event and she would be
joining them soon. That was
disappointing but it did not stop us from browsing around, soaking in a bit of
Malaysia in London and taking a look at the promo materials.
When I picked up a
promotional booklet, I was delighted to discover a beautiful 2-page pictorial spread
on the facilities at Riders Lodge in Sedenak, Johor! The booklet was filled with various Malaysian
destinations but I was thrilled to see Riders Lodge listed under The Southern
Gateway section as I’m a friend of the owners, Agnes and Sennet Tzinberg. Started in 1999, Riders Lodge is an
award-winning, family-oriented leisure getaway for pleasure horse riding and
training in professional riding courses.
The resort’s hallmarks of personalized service and great food in Agnes
Café have kept regulars coming back, not just for riding on jungle trails and
through palm oil plantations but as a retreat from the pressures of city
life.
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| That's me signing the visitors book at the Tourism Malaysia office in Trafalgar Square, London |
Malaysia,
in particular Johor, has a host of interesting destinations for international
travellers to enjoy – especially cultural festivals and heritage sites – that
will give them a deeper insight into our city and its people. A great deal more can still be done to draw
tourists to Johor Baru and with a concerted effort among TM, hotels and tour
agencies, I’m sure a sustainable framework is already in place to show visitors
both the new and old attractions here.
Elated by the experience of what was fond and
familiar, I decided to leave my mark in London by signing the visitors’ book in
the TM office.
A version of this article was published in The New Straits Times, Streets Johor on 11 Sept 2014
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