Kebaya in Vogue!

Kebayas have been worn since the early 1900's and it was accepted for its ability to enhance the womans figure, making every woman thin or fat SEXY! over the years , the kebaya has evolved, from the straight edge lace lining to a tapered "sulam" blouse.

Unfortunately, the modern day "Designers" who try to re design this creation have almost always failed. their creations destroy the purpose and the practicality for the garment.

Pair of Silver Gilt Gelang Tangan.

This Pair of silver bracelets are of reseonably good workmanship. . There are no chinese hallmarks visible but the quality of silver is quite good as the color and plyability of the metal is evidant of the quality of silver. I would say they are of chinese workmanship because of the repose and chase work that is detailed, neat and clear. The designs are floral, evident that they were made for either the malay market or the tribal market of Java. Never the less, this is a beautiful set of bracelets and would look very good when matched with modern day clothes . Please leave a comment if you are interested to purchace it.

Small kain Baldu, beads, and metal wire pouch.

This little pouch has a very unusual shape. I believe its used as a cover for something probably a magnifying glass?? Sarah with the pouch ...u can see the size here... biscuite size..hahahah ...

the two faces(front and back) is layered with cardboard and finished on the inside with a orange brocade lining and for the outside, Velvet. on one side, there is maroon , green, and yellow Velvet. on the other side green, maroon, yellow, and red .

on one of the faces, gold threads are used to create the patterns of creeping foliage and a peony in the center.

on the other face, gold threads and beads are used. The beads are lime green with one facet and are used to create an inner and outer border . The main design is a bouquet of flowers, (looks like a daisy). The border design is made up of interlocking leafs or buds. cant really be sure but i think they are buds because each of the ellipse shaped design is filled with different coloured threads.

Up For Adoption.....

Teak table with circular glass top, its a classic Art Deco piece. it is in very good condition with no major scratches and cracks or stains. Very good patina and age. It is very sturdy and makes a good table for afternoon tea or breakfast.

the table has 2 teirs, one the table top , and the other the shelve below. it really is a good design as it is really user friendly because of its ample of leg space and stream lines(easy to clean)

This table is made of burmise teak. You can tell the type of teak from the golden brown shade with outstanding veins.

Indonesian teak has fine veins and has a darker shade of brown when compared. Both the woods are easy to work with because of its medium hard and fine grain characteristics.

Personally i prefer the indonesian teak because of its rich color.

How are you concidered PERANAKAN?

The very word Peranakan means a child born as a result of mix marrages. There are many types of peranakans in South east asia, in Singapore , indonesia & Malaysia it self, we have quite a few types. The main types found here are the Chinese Peranakans, Indian Peranakans AKA Chitty, Jawi Peranakans, and the Eurasians.



The way i identify my self as peranakan is :-



1. my family background is peranakan, so im peranakan

2. i cook ayam buah keluak and other peranakan dishes with family recipes.

3. my grandmother owns very old sets of diamond and gold kerosangs.

4. there are pictures of my ancestors in baju kebaya and baju panjang.

5. grandmother knows the right way to wear the sarong.

6. i speak malay and teochiew and english

7. i make sambal the old way, pounding spices with the mortar and pestel .

8. i see kebayas hanging in my grand mothers cupboad

9. granny has kasut manik.

10. we have a long history that can be traced back??

11. we are asociated with prominant people in history??

12. i have a batik shirt that i wear on special ocassions.

13. my family goes to the straits chinese church,Prinsep Street .
14. my family has a special ointment for aches and pains. Its called 'Minyak Urat' and i have the recipe!i think i do at least.. have to dig it out ...oops..



Being Peranakan is special to me. I feel proud to be a peranakan because i feel its very special, 'ROJAK' (mixed up) vibrant and unique culture!

The Monkey God

I recently obtained a Taoist Diety of a Monkey GOD. He is commonly known as Sun Wu Kong in the chinese classic Journey To The West. From the Peranakan Museum Guide, he is also known as Qitian Dasheng, The Great Sage Equal To Heaven by chinese. The Peranakans call him Tai Seng Ya. Further reading can be found from the Peranakan Museum Guide.

Many collectors do not collect Dieties because it is regarded as 'Pantang' as they fear spirits inhabit the statue. Some collectors who are muslim or christians, it is purely because their eligion forbids them to have idols. For me, i collect them purely because of the good work of art. these pieces are of exceptional good workmanship because they are very important in the taoist belief and rituals.

After much observation, I have concluded that it is made entirely of moulded plaster. He stands up 26 cm high and holds a staff in one hand and his other hand bent backwords framing his starry GOLD eyes. His eyes are important as belivers say he can see through evil in every form as a result of failur from being destroyed by the Gods Of Heaven.

Unfortunately, his red hair that comes out just at his temples on both sides have mostly fallen out. Only a few stringy red pigmented strands remain.

His robe is in excelent condition, with beautiful details of a Dragon in the front and frills all around. He is heavily gilt from head to base. There seems to be a thin layer of brownish red lacquor protecting the gilding.

At the base, there seems to be a partial relief design of the Buddhist 'Wheel Of Law' its also gilded. In Sanskrit known as Dharma Chakra, this symbol represents the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Paths, the fundamental teachings of Buddhism. These teachings were preached by the Buddha in his first sermon after he achieved enlightenment in the 6th century bc. This sermon is known as “The Turning of the Wheel of Law.”

A Wheel Of The Law from a chinese tapestary.

The base has a wooden panel, probably ply wood. I belief that it was placed at the base to cover the plaster and to create a smooth and stable surface.

The designs on this statue is concidered quite detailed and despite its age, its in very good condition.

Over all i believe this statue is a remarkable work of art and im lucky to have obtained it. Unfortunately i didnt get the job in the conservation center, thus , he remains quite dirty and grimey. Please let me know if any one is willing to conserve him! hahaha.

Unusual wooden hairpin-

I have always been collecting peranakan hairpins. I have seen many pretty ones , usually in gold or silver. This particular one was found on one of my aqusition trips to West Malaysia.

This unusual piece is 9 cm long. Like all hairpins, it tapers from the crown to the point that is relatively flat and thin. It is relatively light compared to silver or gold pins. It has diamond shape facettes near the crown and 3 horizontal bands above the diamond shaped facettes. I believe that its made of iron wood, because of its black color. From close observation, it seems to be well used, the designs have been well rubbed and the overall hair pin is smooth and shiny.

I have no idea what these wooden hair pins were used for but they may be used by very poor Nyonyas? or for the dead? no idea.

The most interesting about this piece is that i have a twin that is made in silver. The Silver one was purchased from an antique shop in Singapore. They are almost identical! if any one knows what the wooden hair pin was used and by who, please leave a comment.

Ayam Buah Keluak.... Yummy

This is the most amazing plant that I know of. Its fruits are so poisonous and yet they are eaten as delicacies from Southeast Asia to the Pacific Islands. I am talking about Pangium edule. Locally, we know the fruits of this plant as Buah Keluak, and the seeds are used as a significant ingredient in the nonya dish - Ayam Buah Keluak.
There is an old tree in the botanical gardens in Singapore. It flowers and bears fruits regularly, but in small quantities. The fruits are like papayas, but are harder, more rough-textured and more brown. Inside the fruit, embedded in yellow pulp are the large seeds. Each seed has a hard shell.

The raw seeds taken from the fruits are highly poisonous. Native people apparently have found ways to detoxify the seeds before consuming them. One way apparently, is to boil the seeds without their shells in several changes of water before leaching them in flowing streams or rivers for a few days. Another way is to boil the seeds with the shells intact and then burying the boiled seeds in ash for over 40 days. The seeds that we can buy in our markets in Singapore are apparently detoxified by the latter method.

After being processed by soaking in running stream water and smoking for weeks, the colour darkens. its now edible ! the processing is done in indonesia, where majority of the nuts come from. Remember if the nuts are not dark and look like the picture above, DON'T EAT IT.

In my family, Ayam Buah Keluak is usually a special dish and i usually prepare it for our reunion dinner during the Chinese New Year celebrations. This is because of its intensive and time consuming manual scrubbing, peeling, pounding, frying andboiling!

My family has our own unique style of buah keluak! compared to the ones on sale in town, ours is very fragrant and tasty because of its presiced mix of buah keluak, spices and meats.

Cooked Buah keluak....Yummy ...

I have been cooking with this recipe for years and when ever i serve it, its yummy all the way ! i have even had comments that its the best buah keluak they have had ever eaten!

Ayam buah keluak as we all know is a very difficult dish to prepare. personally it takes about a whole day to prepare, not including soaking and scrubbing the nuts that take a week!!!

I usually start of by soaking the nuts in grand mothers 'kiam neng ang' which is filled with rain water collected from the gutters! from then , its scrub scrub scrub... I have tried to use shortcuts in preparing this dish and found out that the full flavour doesnt come out as compared to the traditional way, thus its manual work all the way, from peeling the shallots to pounding the rempah. I use only top grade fresh ingredients so the flavours are pure and full flavoured.

This is how rempah is made traditionally!

The outcome of the labor shows when you take the first mouth full of buah keluak with steamy hot rice! Yummy.

please call or email me for orders of this yummy family dish! I need at least one week to get the dish started.

Photos courtesy from:
http://www.nparks.gov.sg/
http://www.foodlah.com/
www.mykitchensnippets.com/
http://www.flavours.com.sg/

Out for grasps... peranakan silver belts...these belts are classic Nyonya silver belts that were used from the 1930's till now.

Typical silver belt with 3 'tingkat' or layers.


These belts are typically made in silver. Ocasionally the buckle was gold. The belts were fabricated from a network of interlocking rings superimposed on which are small diamond hearts, circular silver domes and circular rings and prunus or plum blossoms with chased details, soldered together creating amall panels. these panels are then joint to form a soft flowing belt.

The buckel has open-work and has chased work of the typical pheonix amids foliage Qi Ling's or Lion Dogs are also common. The typical shape is ogival but rectangle shaped buckles were also found. The belts are usually made by chinese silver/gold smiths. (refer to picture below)

Detail of belt panel and buckel.

The belts, if silver, usually have silver hallmarks. There are usually 2 sets but sometimes 3 sets (2 chinese characters per set)Ocasionally, there would be numbers or initials. These hallmarks tell you the quality of silver ( usually 'zu yin' in chinese characters or 'pure silver' ) the belt is made of and the name of the silver/gold smith's shop. Unlike the English hallmark, the chinese ones do not have symbols of animals, crowns, numbers and such.

Typical chinese hallmarks

Typical English hallmark


From stories heard, the number of layers or 'tingkat' ( Layers in malay) the belt is, shows the wealth of the Nyonya who wears it, the thicker, the richer, as more silver was used. The tickest belt i have seen is 6 and the thinnest i have seen is 2 layers. The typical and most common one consists of 3 or 4 layers.

Traditionally, these belts wer cleaned using a kind of cake powder(ama hoon). another way was to soak the belt in a pot of water filled with green beens. im not sure how that works but my grand mother told me to do it to clean her belt. Depending on the degree of shine you want your belt, (some people like me prefer it not so shiny to preserve the old look )you may want to send your belt to the goldsmith for cleaning and re-firing. This will really shine your belt up .

The draw back is the belt will be tarnished again soon and the more you fire and clean it, the lighter and weeker the belt gets. This is because you are taking of layers of tarnish , that is the oxidation of the silver. Besides weekening the belt, the firing would cause the engraving of the buckel to get shalower and after a few firings, probably parts of the design would be not visible.

the best way to preserve your belt after cleaning is to wrap it in a soft cloth(a cotton handkerchief would be good) and place it in a zip lock bag and then into your jewellery box or trinket box. Its ok to fold or coil your belt. Never force the belt or twist it with force. (silver is pliable and under ofrce, it will bend and eventually crack or break!)

Beware of fakes (non silver belts made to look like silver)! There are many fakes out there, they are usually made of brass and plated with silver or some shiny metal. The thing about belts that are not silver is that they will tarnish and when cleaned, the plating will come off and the base metal would be exposed. Hallmarks are USUALLY not visible, but sometimes good fakes have them.

The prices for the belts are based on how well the belt was made and the weight of silver.

Pictures from:

http://www.michaelbackmanltd.com/696.html

http://www.silver-collector.com/topic819.html

The Candle Nut

The CandleNut (TCN) is born!

After the rejection fron the heritage conservation board, my sister suggested i creat a blog to show what i've got! hahaha im trying this out but dont know how long it will last... here goes nothing

Then CandleNut(TCN) is a blog to showcase the peranakan food and heritage. Some of the items here are for sale and you can place an order for special peranakan delicacies fratured here. These recipies were handed down from generation to generation from the Tan family.

The Candlenut

The 'CandleNut' like its name, is a nut. It comes from a tree, Scientifically known as Aleurites moluccanus. The candlenut is a very hard and oily nut. Being very bland and tasteless, this modest but very important ingredient is always overlooked. In Peranakan cooking, this nut is pounded together with the spices; chilies, shallots & belacan(prawn paste) to create a rempah, the most important part of a good peranakan dish. The purpose of this nut is as a thickening agent!

My grandmother and her sister in the 30's