Join the quest to build BIG LEGO Dragon!

 

Come join in the fun at Legoland Malaysia Resort to help build a BIG LEGO Dragon, brick-by-brick to complete this mythical creature using 275,000 LEGO bricks.

 

The partially-completed BIG LEGO Dragon
at The Beginning invites guests to complete it

From now till September 18, guests can join the LEGO Big Build activity which is part of the “Play Unstoppable” celebration, by lending a hand to build the BIG LEGO Dragon that stands 7.5 meters long, 2.3 meters tall and almost a meter wide.

 

When I arrived at The Beginning, I could not miss seeing this partially-completed structure made with LEGO bricks in a range of 14 vibrant LEGO colours.

 

Nearby, a miniature completed LEGO Dragon was a model to guide guests to shape the BIG LEGO Dragon’s body, design its scales and add in unique features.

 

Don't miss your chance to lend a
hand and become part of history

The LEGO Master Builders have given guests a head-start by presenting the completed dragon head that used 45,599 LEGO bricks that weighed 123.9 kg and which took some 240 hours to build.

 

Now guests at Legoland Malaysia are invited to join in the fun under Community Creation and help complete the dragon’s body and tail with 230,000 LEGO bricks.

 

It was interesting to observe that many guests could not resist snapping photos with the colourful BIG LEGO Dragon head…

 

Then in a simple ceremony, the Build-a-Dragon project was launched by Divisional Director of Legoland Malaysia Resort, CS Lim, who welcomed guests to join in the fun to build the BIG LEGO Dragon brick-by-brick.

 

“Our mission at Legoland Malaysia has always been to nurture young minds,” said CS Lim.

 

One for the album: CS Lim and Ms Thila
with LEGO mascots and young guests at
the launch event, Legoland Malaysia Resort


“With “Play Unstoppable,” we are doubling down on this commitment by creating an environment where children and families can explore, learn, and grow through imaginative play. Our goal is to inspire a lifelong passion for building and discovery,” he added.

 

With a target to complete this BIG LEGO Dragon and unveil it in September, guests should not hesitate to approach the Legoland building team to learn LEGO building techniques and have fun in contributing to this epic dragon-building project.

 

Remember: For every brick that you add to the BIG LEGO Dragon, you are not only helping to create a monumental LEGO masterpiece that will be enjoyed by guests at the resort but you will also be contributing to Legoland Malaysia history.

 

And that is not all.

 

A miniature LEGO Dragon as a model to
guide guests to build the BIG LEGO Dragon

Tech-savvy guests who are familiar with Legoland Malaysia’s social media channels are invited to join an online contest to name the BIG LEGO Dragon.

 

Just submit your ideas for dragon names through the official Legoland Facebook and Instagram pages now.

 

Share your ideas to name this dragon online and the most creative name chosen for this magnificent BIG LEGO Dragon will win exclusive Legoland Malaysia merchandise and tickets to the resort.

 

LEGO builders helping guests to build bricks
to add to the BIG LEGO Dragon

With a packed calendar of events and attractions, Legoland Malaysia is the ultimate destination for families seeking adventure, learning and endless fun.

 

When you buy an annual pass, guests can maximize their playtime and experience all the excitement throughout the year.

 

For Malaysian citizens who purchase a one-day ticket to Legoland Malaysia, their tickets will automatically be upgraded to an annual pass, giving them unlimited access for a whole year to all the building and playing excitement.

 

Visit Legoland Malaysia Resort official website or social media pages, Facebook and Instagram for details and tickets.


Wowed by A Confluence of Cultures

 

I read with interest, the bi-lingual print in English on the poster that announced: ‘Suvarna Fine Arts and JB Drums present A confluence of cultures – An endeavor to translate Indian classical rhythms through traditional Chinese drums.’

 

From L to R: Master Ajith Bhaskar, Lim Shao Xi
@ Sreehari and Lim Yu Kai @ Eshwar
presenting, A Confluence of Cultures
The promotional poster featured three Chinese young men – Lim Shao Xi, Lim Yu Kai and Gan See Shyan – who trained with Dr Ajith Bhaskar, the principal and artistic director of Suvarna Fine Arts and an Indian classical dance virtuoso in the art of Bharatanatyam.

 

Under the tutelage of his Master Ajith, Lim Shao Xi excelled in performing the art of Bharatanatyam. His Master gave him a stage name, Sreehari, which sounded like his Chinese name and matches with the first and last syllables of his Chinese name.

 

The event promotional poster

In May 2024, I had the pleasure to witness the Rangapravesham presented by Shao Xi, a debut performance of a student of Indian classical dance after years of training with his Master.

 

I first met with Shao Xi in March 2023 when he was with Ajith to enjoy the Drum Up JB! show presented at the Permaisuri Zarith Sofia Opera House.

 

We met again at the Coffee Talk in June 2023, an event organized by JB Drums in conjunction with the anniversary celebrations for the art of 24 Festive Drums, where Ajith was part of the panel of speakers while I was moderator for the Talk.

 

This Coffee Talk was also where Ajith met with Lim Yu Kai and Gan See Shyan of JB Drums and had their first conversation about a collaboration of the Chinese drums with the art of Bharatanatyam.

 

Introduction presented in Mandarin and English

I was, in fact, not aware that arrangements were made for the Chinese drummers to meet with Ajith and his students at Suvarna Fine Arts for their first experience of Indian classical dance to the beat of Chinese drums.

 

This experience developed into something that Ajith and Lim were keen to show me and in July 2023, I was invited to join them at a lesson with Master Ajith at Suvarna.

 

Lim Shao Xi in his element, dancing
classical Bharathanatyam


Fast-forward to August 2024, when Lim had completed 20 lessons with Master Ajith and mastered the art of playing Indian rhythms on the Chinese drum, that Suvarna and JB Drums were ready to present a showcase in, A Confluence of Cultures.

 

Incidentally, the 24 Festive Drums were holding their National Drum Competition in various regions over these few weeks and senior drummers with more than 20 years of drumming experience, like Lim and Gan See Shyan, travelled to oversee these regional competitions.

 

Shao Xi [Left] and Lim [Right] demonstrating
how the tala system works

It happened that Gan was travelling back from the competition held in East Malaysia and was enroute to Johor Bahru for this showcase but he was unfortunately, delayed.

 

Meanwhile, guests trickled in and suddenly, the back of the hall at Suvarna was packed while many youngsters sat down comfortably in the front row on the parquet floor, waiting for the event to start.

 

Among the invited guests were familiar people like co-founder of the art of the 24 Festive Drums and cultural activist, Tan Chai Puan, and supporters of Indian art and culture, Datuk L. Krishnan and Mrs Thanam Visvanathan-Suresh.

 

Tan Chai Puan sharing his comments

When the event opened with a brief introduction, Lim explained that Gan was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances but the show will go on as planned.

 

It was interesting to observe that at the start of the showcase, not just Shao Xi but also Lim, paid their respects to Master Ajith, keeping the Indian tradition of how students paid respects to their Master at the start of each performance.

 

Datuk Krishnan giving his comments

Lim shared that he trained under Master Ajith since June last year and even though it was challenging, had completed some 20 lessons in drumming Indian rhythms on the Chinese drum.

 

He was also pleased to share that Master had given them stage names, Lim Yu Kai @ Eshwar and Gan See Shyan @ Shyam.

 

Lim and Gan who started drumming since they were in Primary School, were used to drumming the Chinese drum in rhythms quite similar to Western rhythms. But they soon discovered that Indian rhythms were interesting but complex because Indian rhythms were counted in odd numbers and in colourful rhythmic patterns.

 

Madam Thanam managed to elicit laughter
with her sincere comments

As Lim spoke in Mandarin with a smattering of English, Shao Xi helped to translate into English for the audience that comprised a mix of Chinese and Indian Malaysians with one English young lady, my niece Melanie, who was visiting from the UK.

 

It was an eye-opening session for many in the audience as the tala system of the meter in classical Indian music was explained and demonstrated by Shao Xi and Lim.

 

A tala literally means a clap, tapping of a hand on the arm or a musical measure in a rhythmic beat that measures musical time.

 

A section of the audience at the back of the hall

Master Ajith clarified that instead of using a metronome, in Indian classical music they were the human metronomes who kept perfect time in various cycles and patterns.

 

The beats were typically counted by hand clapping, waving, touching fingers on the thigh or the other hand, verbally, and the striking of small cymbals or a percussion instrument.

 

In this showcase, the Chinese drum was the percussion instrument used to demonstrate the Indian rhythms.

 

A few words of encouragement from me...

I believe, many in the audience (like me!) were in absolute awe as we observed how the drummer (Lim) played Indian rhythms on the Chinese drum while the Indian classical dancer (Shao Xi) gracefully danced the Bharatanatyam steps.

 

I could not help having flashbacks to my first experience of watching Lim at his early lessons with Master Ajith, and how the Master guided him to envision numbers and to turn the counting into poetry.

 

Ajith later clarified that it was not only the Chinese but also many Indians in the audience who were unfamiliar with hearing, “Tak Kit Ter” or “Tak Kit Ter Dim,” the repeated recitation of the Indian classical rhythms being counted verbally by the human metronome.

 

One for the album: A Confluence of Cultures
was a milestone event recorded in history!

As I witnessed Lim drumming Indian rhythms and Shao Xi translating the beats into graceful dance movements, I was choked with emotion and my eyes filled with tears of joy.

 

At the close of the performance, there was a brief Question & Answer session followed by feedback comments invited from honoured guests like Tan Chai Puan, Datuk Krishnan, Madam Thanam and a few words from me.

 

I was encouraged when Tan declared that he was deeply moved by this performance where [and I quote]: “Chinese drums spoke the Indian language!”

 

A special memento: My niece,
Melanie Mullard with
Lim Shao Xi and Lim Yu Kai

Tan emphasized that cultural communication was very important and looked forward to more such collaborations to stage for a wider audience to appreciate.

 

Datuk Krishnan agreed with Tan on the beauty in such diversity but lamented that art and culture activities in this city was not administered by people with passion.

 

Thanam, who was familiar with Non-Governmental Organisations in her role as Chairperson of the Iskandar Malaysia Social Heroes Award (IMSHA), agreed that funding was sadly lacking for art and culture activities.

 

She was however, very pleased to have witnessed this showcase and hoped that the authorities as well as audiences will have a more educated view of the arts.

 

As for me, I was proud to witness this milestone event along with Tan Chai Puan of the 24 Festive Drums and Ajith Bhaskar of Suvarna Fine Arts, two Johor personalities whom I featured in my 2017 MPH Non-Fiction Bestseller, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage.

 

I congratulated Ajith, Shao Xi, Lim and Gan for their achievement through a clever collaboration to present such an entertaining and educational showcase in A Confluence of Cultures, and was looking forward to their next performance.

 

Suvarna Fine Arts is located at Nong Chik Riverside, No. 17, Level 2, Jalan Kolam Ayer 2, Kampung Mohd Amin, 80200 Johor Baru, Johor.


More menu choices at Hop Sing

 

While Hop Sing, the Chinese Restaurant in Ponderosa Golf & Country Club, caters mainly to golfers and club members, this restaurant remains popular with walk-in diners, not just from the neighbourhood but even from Johor Bahru city.

 

Entrance to Hop Sing on Level One of the
clubhouse at Ponderosa Golf & Country Club

Ponderosa Golf & Country Club is an established resort with an 18-hole golf course, a 16-room Mediterranean-style lodge, sports and recreations facilities, a spa as well as a café for casual dining and a Chinese restaurant named Hop Sing.

 

Fans of Bonanza, a long-running television series (1959 to 1973), will be familiar with fictional characters in the ranch called Ponderosa owned by Ben Cartwright and his three sons, Adam, Eric “Hoss” and Joseph, better known as Little Joe.

 

Their cook, Hop Sing, a Chinese man who always appeared dressed in traditional sam-foo and sporting a pigtail, was another character in this popular TV series.

 

A serving of Double-boiled Watercress Soup

It was charming that the Chinese restaurant in Ponderosa Golf & Country Club was so named after Hop Sing, a fictional character from a TV series in a bygone era.

 

The culinary team at Hop Sing has earned a fine reputation for serving up Chinese cuisine in homestyle cooking that I had the pleasure of savouring in both dine-in and takeaway banquet meals.

 

To cater to diners in our multicultural community, Hop Sing prepares food using ingredients sourced from Halal food suppliers in dishes with no pork and no lard.

 

A serving of Beancurd topped with chai poh

The culinary team makes every effort to perfect recipes to add into the restaurant menu. A recent addition that is popular with diners was Mango Salad Prawns, a cold dish where prawns are served deshelled yet presented whole with its head and tail.

 

Mindful that traditional Chinese cuisine may not be familiar to people in our multicultural community, so the culinary team aims to introduce the taste of various ingredients and food preparations to the Malay and Indian palate.

 

Stir-fried sliced Beef with Garlic

For instance, the goodness of double-boiled soup is presented in individual bowls of Double-boiled Watercress Chicken Soup. The pieces of chicken with skin removed are brewed with watercress, a soothing recipe recommended to cool the body in such warm weather.

 

Diners who are familiar with Laksa Johor know that chai poh or preserved radish is an essential ingredient in the original recipe for this noodle dish, so Hop Sing is pleased to introduce another simple dish in Beancurd topped with chai poh.

 

While diners may be familiar with salted eggs and century eggs, the latter may be an acquired taste so Hop Sing made the effort to fry pieces of the eggs and served them with Chinese Spinach in Superior Soup.

 

A serving of Kuey Teow Bulan

There are many ways to prepare and serve cuts of beef but the stir-fried sliced Beef with Garlic served at Hop Sing turned out to be a hit with diners as the tender slices of beef quickly disappeared from the platter.

 

In addition to golfers, diners at Hop Sing include office workers at lunchtime who often preferred to dine on personal portions of noodles.

 

Some popular noodle choices are prepared with Kuey Teow, flat rice noodles or Hor Fun (in Cantonese), or Bee Hoon, rice vermicelli, in Fried Bee Hoon and Cantonese Fried Hor Fun, also known as Wat Tarn Hor, flat rice noodles in silky egg.

 

Hop Sing also serves a noodle dish dubbed, Kuey Teow Bulan, a literal translation of Moonlight Kuey Teow, also known as Yuit Kong Hor (in Cantonese).

 

Deep-fried banana and sweet potato 
served Johor-style with a side of sambal dip sauce

This dish was so-named because a raw egg is served in the center of the platter for diners to toss the warm noodles in the egg to enjoy its silky and savoury tastes.

 

In a recent renovation to the clubhouse, a dumbwaiter was installed to link Hop Sing with Cafe@Ponderosa on the Ground level so that menu items prepared by either of the kitchens, may be conveniently served to diners in either of the two restaurants.

 


Cool treat of Cendol

Golfers have enjoyed this convenience when they dined at either Cafe@Ponderosa or Hop Sing so now diners may also request for popular staples like Pisang Goreng or fried bananas and slices of sweet potatoes, served Johor style with a side of sambal kicap dip.

 

Another popular choice must be the cool treat of shaved ice on Cendol, threads of green flour swimming in coconut milk, flavoured with Gula Melaka or palm sugar.

 

Hop Sing, the Chinese Restaurant is on Level One of the main clubhouse of Ponderosa Golf & Country Club at No. 3 Jalan Ponderosa 1/1, Taman Ponderosa, 81100 Johor Baru, Johor. Open from 11am to 3pm for lunch and from 6pm to 10pm for dinner.

 

For reservations or to order, Tel: 019 – 728 8464 or 019 – 779 9841 or email: enquiry@ponderosagolf.com.  For more info, visit website: ponderosagolf.com

My Johor Stories at Rotary JB Sentral

 

Friends at the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru are familiar with me and My Johor Stories probably because over the years, many of my reports on the Club’s activities were published in Johor Streets, a pull-out section of The New Straits Times.

 

With Club President, Dr Maria Fernandez

Since the first My Johor Stories book was launched in 2017, I had the privilege to be guest speaker at their meetings, not once but three times.

 

At the recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru where I was their guest speaker, I met with Rotarian John Cheah, an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru Sentral who did not hesitate to invite me as guest speaker to share about My Johor Stories with the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru Sentral.

 

I was delighted to accept his kind invitation as it was yet another opportunity to introduce My Johor Stories to another group of people in Johor.

 

Incidentally, this club holds their regular meetings in the premises of the Johor Area Rehabilitation Organisation or JARO, a Johor brand that I had featured among other proudly Johor brands in the third and final instalment of My Johor Stories.

 

In the week prior to the meeting, I received a promotional poster prepared by the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru Sentral that was circulated among its members.

 

That evening, I arrived at JARO for the meeting and while walking from the carpark, I was greeted by a JARO staff who was familiar with me. This was proof of the many years that I have been working with JARO to share about this award-winning NGO and their activities with the community.

 

A section of the meeting room

When I entered the meeting room, I was warmly welcomed in by my dear friend, Dr Maria Fernandez, who was Club President for the Rotary year 2024/2025.

 

As members and their guests trickled in, it struck me that other than Rotarians John Cheah and Dr Maria, I was unfamiliar with everyone gathered in that room. To me this was indeed an excellent opportunity to introduce My Johor Stories to them.

 

Another view of the meeting room

While the Club meeting started with its formal opening and welcome address by the Seargent at Arms, I was pleased with how the members sat back comfortably and paid keen attention to my storytelling.

 

I later learnt that many attendees at this meeting were not from Johor but have adopted Johor Bahru as their home, and there was much they did not know about Johor even though they may have lived here for many years.

 

It was good to tell them that in its first week since My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage, was launched on 15 July 2017, this book went to the Number One spot of the MPH Non-Fiction Bestsellers list.

 

Photographs on the screen to engage the audience

I was more than pleased when this book was counted among the Best of MPH at end 2017 and this success led to the publication of its sequel, My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People, in December 2018.

 

Work on Book Three started in 2019 but its publication was unfortunately delayed by the arrival of the global pandemic.

 

The unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic also caused all the MPH bookstores to be closed in Johor Bahru. As such, I have permission from MPH to keep a small stock of my books for sale to readers who do not like to buy my books online.

 

The Rotary Club meeting opened formally

So it was my pleasure to share briefly with them, some details on the contents of My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, the final instalment that completed the trilogy of My Johor Stories, launched in December 2022.

 

When the economy reopened, Think City Johor Bahru wanted to bring life back into the city. I accepted their grant and was hosting monthly book-reading sessions and heritage walks in Downtown Johor Bahru for a few months from January 2023.

 

Then in December 2023, when I was asked to conduct a heritage walk specially for foreign students and their host families in Johor, I was happy to oblige.  

 

I had the pleasure to autograph my books

When Rotarian Vijendran saw the group photographs flashed on the screen, it dawned on him that it was me who was leading that particular heritage walk because he was responsible for sending one of the students, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Johor Bahru Sentral, to the meeting point for the walk.

 

“No wonder you looked so familiar!” declared Vijendran, when he realized this.

 

In the Question & Answer session at the end of my presentation, the audience were invited to ask their questions and I did my best to respond to their queries.

 

Then Rotarian Howard asked, what I most missed about the Johor I once knew.

 

Group shot with some of the Rotarians
and their guests at the meeting

A great deal had changed in Johor Bahru since our childhood days and there was much to miss about old Johor. But I did not hesitate to tell him that one thing I missed very much was our grandfather’s house at No. 154 Jalan Ngee Heng.

 

The site of this double-storey bungalow with an adjacent badminton court was acquired to construct the Tun Abdul Razak Expressway and the bulk of this site is now part of the expressway.

 

What was left of our driveway was occupied by an enterprising warung operator who ran a successful food business for many years but recently vacated that spot which has since turned into an overgrown grassy patch.

 

When the meeting came to a formal close, refreshments were served.

 

After the meeting, some members approached me to ask for the complete trilogy of My Johor Stories for themselves and to present as gifts to others.

 

I was more than happy to autograph their books and thoroughly enjoyed chatting about the Johor we all know and love.

 

The Rotary Club of Johor Bahru Sentral meets regularly at the Johor Area Rehabilitation Organisation (JARO), No. 18 Jalan Sungai Chat, Sri Gelam, 80100 Johor Bahru, Johor.