Ms Loo Chinese Restaurant at Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru

Ms Loo Chinese Restaurant (N1 34.373 E103 46.008) is located at Jalan Setia 9/17, Taman Setia Indah, Johor Bahru.

Ms Loo Restaurant

We had visiting this restaurant for dinner few time ago. My main purpose here is to taste the One & Only "Camphor Tea Duck" around Johor Bahru area. There other restaurant which also has this dish is at Pulai Spring Golf Resort.

This time I decided to snap some photos to share about it...

The indoor environment

Some customers like to sit at the outdoor area which is along the street, but we prefer the indoor area...the environment was just like normal restaurant at Johor Bahru area.

Our order for the night :-
1) Curry Fish Head
2) Hakka Yong Tau Foo
3) Vegetable cook with chili
4) Camphor Tea Duck (Signature Dish)

Curry Fish Head serve in aluminium foil to preserve the heat

Hakka Yong Tau Foo

Vegetable

Camphor Tea Duck

Curry Fish Head
The curry was thick and delicious! Nice taste.

Hakka Yong Tau Foo
Special and good. I think this was the first time I started to Love the Hakka Yong Tau Foo.

Vegatable
Above average.

Camphor Tea Duck
This duck was marvelous! And also our purpose here! The special recipe was really tasty and the duck was gentle enough!

The Damage :-
Total of MYR78.00 for 6 adults and one kid (Included drink). Very reasonable! Right?
The Camphor Tea Duck only serve in 2 sizes : MYR19.00 for small and MYR38.00 for big.

Food rated : 4.5/5
Camphor Tea Duck : 4.9/5

If you haven't taste the duck before, I suggest you give a try! You will like it. :)

Ms Loo Chinese Restaurant
 

The Restaurant is closed.

Location map of Ms Loo Chinese Restaurant

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My article on Holocaust acknowledgment, memory and commemoration

 Monument at Belzec Death Camp, Poland. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Here's a link to my JTA article on Holocaust recognition, acknowledgment and commemoration in post-communist Europe.

By Ruth Ellen Gruber, October 28, 2009

ROME (JTA) -- A row of empty shoes where Jews were shot dead on the bank of the Danube River in Budapest. The image of a grand synagogue chiseled into stone at the place it once stood in Bratislava. A museum, a wall of names and a vast symbolic field of ashes at the site of the Belzec death camp in Poland. A giant menorah and the statue of a tortured figure at a corner in the Ukrainian city of Lviv.

These are just a few of the monuments to victims of the Holocaust that have been erected in Eastern Europe in the 20 years since the fall of communism opened the way to a dramatic, often painful and still ongoing confrontation with history in that region.

Under communism, Jewish suffering in the Holocaust generally was subsumed as part of overall suffering during World War II. Most Holocaust or World War II memorials in communist Europe -- even at death camps such as Auschwitz and Buchenwald -- honored generic "victims of Nazism" or "victims of Fascism."

But over the past two decades numerous new memorials have been built, countless plaques have been affixed, educational programs have been instituted, Holocaust museums have been established, and a number of countries have adopted an annual Holocaust Remembrance Day to serve as a focal point for study and commemoration.

"Education is a slow process, and changing inherited and accepted concepts and beliefs is a difficult task in any context," said Samuel Gruber, president of the International Survey of Jewish Monuments. "In this light, I think we can look at amazing progress over the past two decades."
But the process has been far from smooth, and far from complete, and it varies widely from country to country and locale to locale.

"The way that the Holocaust is remembered is a good indication of the health of a nation," said Warren Miller, chairman of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, which has sponsored a number of Holocaust memorial projects.
"When the Holocaust is denied, freedom is under assault," he said. "Where the Holocaust and its victims are remembered, freedom is secure."

Some states, particularly those that were themselves victims of the Nazis, have taken many measures to confront their history and recognize local culpability in the deportation and murder of Jews.
In Poland, for example, the memorials and museums at Holocaust sites such as Auschwitz and Belzec have been revamped to provide both factual information and context. New memorial plaques have been put up throughout the country, and numerous public and private education projects on the Holocaust and Jewish history have cropped up.

"But when the subject focuses on questions about the Polish role as collaborators with the Nazis or merely Polish self-expressions of anti-Semitism, it is still quite controversial," said Rabbi Andrew Baker, the American Jewish Committee's director of international Jewish affairs.
In some countries, nationalism, local pride and complex political and other legacies have put up obstacles to an honest evaluation.

"Progress is relative," Gruber said. "These are still fledgling democracies. Some countries are much further along the path to historical accountability and sincere commemoration than others, but many have had further to go."

In countries such as Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, which were allied with the Nazis, honest evaluation of the past means acceptance of direct local participation in the Holocaust.

Education is vital, said Maros Borsky, director of the Slovak Jewish Heritage Center. "The evil that happened in society will not be healed, but the next generation must learn about it," Borsky said.

In the countries that once formed part of the Soviet Union, the problems are compounded by other issues. In the Baltic countries in particular, nationalists long have regarded the Nazis as the lesser of two wartime evils -- "liberators" against the Russians who occupied their countries.

In 2002, for example, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga had to intervene directly to ensure that the inscription on a monument to 25,000 Jews killed in the Rumbula Forest near Riga included mention of Latvian collaborators as well as Nazis among the perpetrators.

"She said this is a place of national shame," Miller said. "It was a huge step forward and an example for other European leaders to follow."

In Ukraine, nationalist aspirations after decades of Russian domination have eclipsed the memory of Jewish suffering, particularly in western Ukraine, which before World War II was part of Poland and had a complex multiethnic profile.

"Generally speaking, Jewish issues, including the Holocaust, are still not seen as part of one's own history," said Tarik Cyril Amar, academic director of the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe in Lviv.

The high-profile dedication Oct. 8 of a national Holocaust memorial in the Romanian capital Bucharest illustrated many of these points.

Under Marshal Ion Antonescu, Romania was an ally of Nazi Germany, and deportations of Jews ordered by Antonescu resulted in the deaths of some 280,000 Jews. Even after the fall of communism, this fact was largely ignored or minimized, and Antonescu is often viewed as a hero by Romanian nationalists.

"Six years ago there was no difficulty in getting Romanian leaders to acknowledge that there was a Holocaust in their country, but they only understood this as what Hungarians did to Jews in Romanian territory under their control," Baker said.

Construction of the monument and marking Oct. 9 as Holocaust Commemoration Day were mandated by an international commission on the Holocaust in Romania, headed by Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, which released a 400-page report in 2004 as Romania was preparing to enter the European Union.

Political dignitaries, Holocaust survivors and religious leaders from Europe, Israel and the United States attended the ceremony, and Romanian President Traian Basescu spoke.

The Romanian state and Romanian society, Basescu declared, "reaffirm their decision to assume the blame for the past and to uncover the historic memory in the spirit of truth."

The memorial, said Baker, who attended the ceremony and is a member of the Holocaust Commission, can be seen "as a culmination of the process of getting Romanians to confront their own Holocaust history."

Nonetheless, he added, "It was still ironic that while President Basescu spoke very clearly in his dedication remarks about the role of Antonescu in the Holocaust, he told me later that same day that he believes over 50 percent of the Romanian population still views Antonescu positively."

"So much has been done,” Baker said, “but there is still much to do."

Read full article at JTA.org

I was unable in an 800-word story to incorporate all the material I obtained in interviews for the piece.

But -- Sam Gruber has now posted on his blog his full responses to my questions. We have discussed these issues many times over the years, and in some ways, his responses mirror a lot of my thinking (but expressed much more eloquently!). We come to the topic from different directions, too.

You can read the full text of the interview by clicking HERE.

14 Breathtaking Castles - A Must See!

In my journeys, very often I like to plan the route considering the castles or palaces I can find along the way. Some of them are hidden in old forests or placed on top of a hill mysteriously covered with fog. Others - built on islands - seem to float on the water, guarding the city nearby. All of those spectacular buildings, most of them still remembering the medieval times, are certainly worth seeing. Each of them has their own story to tell, filled with mystery, ghosts and treasures...

Mont Saint-Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel is is a rocky coastline island located in Normandy, France. This majestic castle is one of the first places to obtain UNESCO World Heritage listing. It is also one of the most frequently visited castles in France.


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Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle is one of a kind in the world. It was built in 19th-century in Bavaria, situated on a rocky hill near Hohenschwangau in southwest Bavaria, Germany. You can see that the design of this castle is breathtaking: arched portals, all the arcade windows and high towers, columns and pinnacles. It looks like a fairytale castle. Rumor has it, that it has been an inspiration for Walt Disney and the famous castle in Disneyland.


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Matsumoto Castle
Matsumoto Castle is one of the unique four japanese castles, which are listed as national treasures of Japan. Next to Himeji-jo, Matsumoto-jo, this was the next best existing castle donjon (a tall and sturdy defense and observation tower) in Japan. Built by Ishikawa Kazumasa and his son Yasunaga in  the year 1590.


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Castle of Coca
Castle of Coca was built in the 15th century for Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca I. It is considered as one of the best castles in Spain, definitely worth seeing. The castle's characteristic turreted structure of plaster and red brick is surrounded by a deep moat. In spite of this defensive traits, the Castle of Coca has been more of a palace than a castle.


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Isola di Loreto
Isola di Loreto is a neogothic castle, which has been rebuilt around 1910, being based on the fortified structure of the castle dating further back than 15th century. This castle was built on island L’isola di Loreto, the smallest island of the lake Iseo. It is located on the north side of Montisola, Italy.


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The Potala Palace
The Potala Palace is located on the Red Hill of Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. It was originally built in the 17th century by King Songtsen Gampo. The Potala Palace was a winter palace and the main residence of the Dalai Lamas until the 14th Dalai Lama had to escape to Dharamsala, India (he resides there until now).


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Predjamski Grad
Predjamski Castle is a suprisingly placed renaissance castle built within a cave mouth in southwestern Slovenia, with lots of natural tunnels and smaller caves existing underneath, being a safe haven for many centuries for people living nearby. It is located approximately 11 kilometres from the famous Postojna Cave.


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Hunyad Castle
Hunyad Castle was originally built as a fortress in 1212. Many believe that this castle is the place where the unfamous and terrifying Count Dracula was held as a prisoner for 7 years after he was overthrown in 1462. The castle is situated in Hunedoara, Romania.

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Malbork Castle
The Malbork Castle’s construction began in 1275, along the river Nogat in Poland. This castle was made from red brick and became the world’s largest brick gothic castle. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997. Today, it is well-preserved medieval gothic castle and a museum.


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Prague Castle
Prague Castle is the Czech Capital City's premier tourist attraction. It was largest medieval castle complex in Europe and the ancient seat of Czech kings throughout the ages.

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Eltz Castle
Eltz Castle is a medieval castle placed in the hills above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier, Germany. This castle is still owned by a branch of the same family (for 33 generations!) that lived there in the 12th century.


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Palacio da Pena
Palacio da Pena is one of Europe’s most magnificent and uniquely designed palaces. It was built on the top of a hill above the town of Sintra, Portugal.


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Löwenburg Castle
Löwenburg Castle was built around 1800 as a country residence for Count Wilhelm IX (Germany). This castle was intentionally designed to look like a medieval castle.


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Bodiam Castle
Bodiam Castle is a quadrangular castle, surrounded with a huge moat, located in East Sussex, England. It was built in the late 14th century by a veteran of King Edward III’s wars with France. The purpose of this castle was to be a strategical point of defense from a possible french invasion and also - a peaceful and quiet homestead for its owner.


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If you find any other castles you've seen or feel they should be mentionned here - write a comment, please! :)


Source: http://pixzii.com/

Thamara Cafe at Taman Bukit Indah - Skudai, Johor.

The Local Indian Western Cuisine - Thamara Cafe. (N1 28.781 E103 39.839)
It's located at Taman Bukit Indah of Skudai, Johor (next to Taman Nusa Bestari). Just opposite the Tesco Hypermart between the single storey shop lots. You can refer from the map below...

Thamara Cafe in Taman Bukit Indah

This cafe is selling popular western cuisine (all day) and also Indian food (during lunch time).
Me and my family visited this cafe one of the evening for dinner, and we had ordered :-

1) Seafood Fried Rice
2) Black Pepper Chicken Chop
3) Lamb Chop
4) Tomyam Soup

Seafood Fried Rice

Black Pepper Chicken Chop with mash Potato

Black Pepper Chicken Chop with french fries

Lamb Chop

Tomyam Soup

The foods was Superb!

The Damages :-
1) Seafood Fried Rice - MYR4.00 each, we had it double.
2) Black Pepper Chicken Chop - MYR9.00
3) Lamb Chop - MYR14.00
4) Tomyam Soup - MYR5.00
Total was MYR39.00 included drinks (for 4 adults and 1 kid). The price was reasonable!

The Seafood Fried Rice was just nice. Rated : 4/5The Chicken Chop was Delicious and Succulent! And it served in quite big portion. Rated : 4.9/5
The Lamb Chop was Marvelous! It's not too dry and well marinated! Rated : 4.9/5

We were satisfied with the foods here!

I had a chat with the Chef - Mr E S Mani (one of the partner), he was actually a Chef in one of the restaurant at Singapore sometimes ago, and now...he would like to serve the similar quality food from S'pore in Johor Bahru. Anyway, I'm convinced!

The clean environment of the Cafe

Mr Kumar (the boss) will take care the cafe, and preparing the drinks for customer. He made a very good Mango Lassi!
"In various parts of Pakistan/India, mango lassi is a cold drink consisting of sweetened kesar mango pulp mixed with yoghurt, cream, or ice cream. It is served in a tall glass with a straw, often with ground pistachio nuts sprinkled on top. Mango lassi is most commonly found in Pakistan/India. It is widely available in UK, Malaysia and Singapore, due to the sizable Pakistani/Indian minority, and in many other parts of the world." Source from Wiki.

I missed the Lassi but ordered a Teh Tarik and it's equally good!

I did recommend to some of my friends to dine in this cafe, one of them was also a owner of a Thai Restaurant before, he commented the Lamb Chop was Perfect!
Other friends also gave their Thumb UP after tasted the foods.
Do give it a try if you happen in this area, I believe you won't regret! :)
Hurry! Their special price gonna end soon!

Others dishes from Thamara Cafe :-

Lamb Chop with Blue Cheese Spaghetti

Red Snapper with Home Recipe Sauce and Mash Potato mixed with garlic.

Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce

Salmon Fish with Citrus Sauce

Fillet of Lamb Loin grilled medium served with lamb gravy with a side of beetroot and brie cheese salad, mashed potatoes and drizzled with balsamic glaze (Weekly Special)
(Pre-order is needed)

Grilled New Zealand prime Striploin with beef jus served with mesclun salad & mashed potato

Blue Cheese Spaghetti

Spicy Masala Sotong (Squid) with rice

Related post :
*  Series of Steaks from Thamara Cafe, Taman Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru

Thamara Cafe
14, Jalan Indah 16/7,
Taman Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru.
Tel : +6012-7373103 / +6016-7171343

THE CAFE IS CLOSED SINCE FEBRUARY 2012, SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE!

Location map of Thamara Cafe


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Poland -- Heritage Seminar coming up

 Zamosc synagogue, 2006. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Hertiage in Poland (FODZ) reports that on November 6th, a Polish-French seminar on cultural heritage and local development will take place at the French Embassy in Warsaw. The encounter is organized by the  Embassy  and the Association of Historical Cities in France. Europea

The aim of the meeting is the exchange of experiences between French and Polish institutions in the field of best practices for protecting the cultural heritage and the importance of benefiting from it.

A representative of the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland and representatives of town participating in the Chassidic Route project will also take part in the seminar. 

A FODZ statement (on Facebook...) adds:

The European Union is also a chance for better cooperation in the field of preserving and exposing our multicultural experiences from the past. The French are especially interested in the Sephardic motive of Zamosc, since some French towns also had post-inquisition immigrant Jewish communities. Is this a step leading to broader [cooperation] for European preservation of material traces of Jewish history?

Poland -- TV report on degradation in a Warsaw Jewish cemetery

Polish TV runs a report about the neglect of the Warsaw's Brodno Jewish cemetery, in the Praga district.

Click HERE to see and read it (in Polish).

Ukraine -- A New Plan to Restore All Jewish Cemeteries?

Jewish cemetery, Busk, Ukraine, 2006. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

I'm posting this little article from the Federation of Jewish Communities in the CIS, stating that the Chabad-linked Jewish community in Zhitomir, Ukraine, headed by the very energetic Rabbi Shlomo Wilhelm, has "begun a massive project to restore and preserve approximately 1,500 Jewish cemeteries scattered throughout Ukraine." According to the article, an office for this project opened this past week. But it doesn't look to me, from what is reported, that there is real funding.

It says that a "detailed inventory" of all Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine will be prepared "with information as to the degree of neglect, damage and defacement."

Jewish cemetery, Brody, Ukraine, 2006. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

It is not clear to me if this initiative has any connection with the cemetery inventory that the Lo-Tishkach organzation is carrying out in Ukraine. This is what Lo-Tishkach describes as "a three-year FSU educational project to catalogue all of the Jewish cemeteries and mass graves in Ukraine and the Baltic states." It says that surveys of 216 Jewish burial grounds have now been performed in eight of the Ukraine’s 25 regions, and that data from these surveys in now being processed.

Participants, who are drawn from local youth groups and universities, carried out comprehensive surveys at each location, illustrated by detailed photographs, and gathered vital information on the areas’ Jewish life, history and culture. The data collected from these surveys is currently being updated to the Lo Tishkach Database (see the list of recently updated records on the homepage) and will shortly be presented in a series of publications providing an up-to-date record on the situation of Jewish burial grounds in Ukraine. 

Many sites urgently in need of care were identified during the surveys, details of which are available here. Contact us at info@lo-tishkach.org to find out how to help save these sites.

Co-ordinated by the Lo Tishkach Foundation and supported by the Genesis Philanthropy Group, the project seeks to practically engage young Ukrainians with their culture and history, encourage reflection on the lessons of the Holocaust, develop values of volunteerism and civic responsibility and collect valuable information for the Foundation’s database.

The Zhitomir-project says that funding has come from the "well-known 'Chevra Kadisha' organization." But there is no indication of methodology.

The funding for this ambitious project is coming from the well-known "Chevra Kadisha’ organization. Many of the Jewish cemeteries that will be part of this project are located in towns and villages where there is no longer a local Jewish population or where there are very few Jewish residents. These cemeteries contain Jewish graves that are currently in a terribly neglected state and are often subjected to attacks by local vandals.

The office from which this project will be managed opened this past week. In the first phase of the project, a detailed inventory of all Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine will be prepared, with information as to the degree of neglect, damage and defacement. The staff will attempt to compile lists of famous individuals who are buried in these respective cemeteries.

The second phase of the project involves putting the cemeteries back in order and organizing their regular maintenance.

The initiators of this project are hopeful that the World Zionist Organization will provide financial backing and organizational assistance in implementing this project. According respect and honor to the deceased is an important part of Jewish tradition.

Read article at the web site

It is important to recall how vast, complex and difficult an operation it will be to again survey the Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine. A survey was carried out -- to determine threats and status, and also to identify the sites -- in the 1990s, overseen by the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. It was published in 2005 and can be downloaded by clicking RIGHT HERE. Dozens of people were involved, and the Commission's list and report remains the most inclusive to date.

Jewish cemetery, Sadhora, Ukraine, 2006. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Stone Tree Forest - Yakutsk, Russia

I'm sure that after looking at those magnificent pictures, you will aggree with me when I say that this stone forest (called locally "Lena's Stone Forest") is one of the most amazing places on our planet.

Photo: A. Butorin

These magnificent natural stome formations are placed near a city of Yakutsk, located in the Asiatic part of Russia. It's a breathtaking experience to see them with our own eyes, so the place is very popular among scientists (geologists, paleontologists) and tourists alike. One "tiny" problem with this place is its location. It takes about four days to get there from Moscow: a very long flight and then a three-day-long boat ride, which costs "only" $500 if you're lucky. But once you get there - it's certainly worth seeing.

Photo: V. Grigoriev

 

You can check the location of the Stone Tree Forest on Google Maps - here.

Source:  English Russia
Photo Credits: A.Butorin, V.Grigoriev