You can…

Yes, you can! As a matter of fact, anybody can…and with Melissa leaving for Wellington sometime in February next year, I have to make sure that she can too. Well, I’m talking about cooking…and the other day, I cooked a few simple dishes for a balanced meal in the hope that she will be able to whip up something like that anytime she wants when she is over there.

For the vegetable dish, I cooked bitter gourd that I had cut into thin slices after removing the seeds inside…

These are the ingredients that I used…

After I had browned the ginger strips in a bit of oil, I added the minced meat (optional or may be replaced with shrimps e.g.) and the black beans and after a while, I added the bitter gourd. To cook the vegetable, add a little bit of water to boil it for a while and add salt and msg (or chicken stock granules) according to taste. Lastly, I broke an egg into the wok and scrambled it, mixing it with everything else inside. Then it is ready…

As for the meat dish, I opened a can of corned beef and mashed it…

In the meantime, I peeled some potatoes and cut them into chunks/cubes and boiled them until they are cooked/soft…

I cut one Bombay onion into thin slices…

…and using a non-stick pan, I heated up the corned beef before adding the onions. Once the onions have softened, I added the cooked potatoes and mixed them well with the beef…and sprinkled a pinch of msg for extra flavour. Then, it is ready to serve…

Note that I did not use any extra oil the way some people do to sauté the onions first. This is because the corned beef itself contains a lot of fat and I did not want to add any more oil to it.

Finally, the soup. I decided upon the Foochow-style tofu soup and these are the ingredients one would need…

…and of course, you will need some tofu, cut into cubes like this…

Brown the ginger slices in a bit of oil in a wok before adding the minced meat and canned oysters. Add water and let it simmer for a while to bring out the flavour of the ingredients. Then you put in the tofu and simmer a bit more. Add salt and msg or chicken stock granules according to taste.

The soup is ready and when serving, sprinkle some chopped spring onions or Chinese celery on top…

Some people may want to add a bit of Foochow red wine to it…or cornflour to make it thick like sharks’ fins soup…or even black vinegar for a bit of sourish taste. Personally, I prefer it clear like this.

It’s really so simple. Don’t you think you can do it?

Look what you’ve done…

My missus and I flew Malaysia Airlines (MAS) all the way on our trip to KLIA/Penang and back when we went to Sungai Petani and came home together with our daughter.

We went earlier as the fare was cheaper from Sibu to KLIA on Tuesday, 17th November, 2009 by almost RM200 and for two persons, I could save around RM350-400 and that could help cover our hotel expenses. On that flight, MH2713, departing at 7 in the morning, there was an all-female cabin crew. Breakfast was a choice between nasi lemak or fried noodles and chicken…and it was served with a piece of Kit-Kat and fruits. Service was good, true to the MH = Malaysian Hospitality tagline. They even served another round of drinks before landing.

On our connecting flight from KLIA to Penang – MH1140, however, there was a steward who just stood there and did not even bother to offer to help when he saw me trying to put my bag into the overhead stowage compartment, never mind that I was an old senior citizen! Perhaps I did not look THAT old to him? Later, a lady came and asked, “Can you help me with my bag?” Now, now, lady…whatever happened to “please”? And I did not hear her saying “thank you” either. The steward promptly replied, “Yup!!!” I think the airline should look into the training and teach them to say things like, “Of course, m’am!” or “Certainly, m’am!” After all, they seem to be SO proud that they are the World’s No. 1 cabin crew…unless that kind of service is solely reserved for their international flights…and those foreign passengers.

On our return flight from Penang to KLIA on Sunday, 22nd November, 2009, I was very impressed by the ground staff at the Penang International Airport. The lady directing the people in the queue was very pleasant and the man at the counter that I went to check in was really the best. When he saw me approaching with the bags, he actually stood up to help me put the bags on the conveyor belt…and he took great care in checking us in and making sure everything was correct. I saw from his name tag that his name was Fauzi. This certainly was a far cry from the snooty lot at KLIA and at other airports.

On board the aircraft, however, there was this Indian air steward who wore spectacles. I did not know that they allow that now? And he looked so unhappy as if the whole whole was against him and did not even smile one teeny-weeny bit throughout the whole flight. The ones on our KLIA-Sibu flight were totally different – very nice and friendly. That was on MH2718 departing at 1930 hours.

For dinner, I had the chicken kurma with tomato rice which the stewardess cheerfully said was “very nice”. Well, it was indeed nice enough; after all, I never expect very much from airline food and for dessert, we had this slice of fruit cake…

…and Ferrero Rocher…

…and as if that was not enough, we were served Baskin Robbins’ ice cream too…

When the stewardess was distributing that, I remarked, “Oooo…Baskin’ Robbins, no less!” Later, she asked me whether I was from Sibu – I wonder why! Sibu people don’t know Baskin’ Robbins? Later when I went to the washroom, I saw one of the crew with a tray and on it were two cups of Häagen-Dazs. Hey! We didn’t get that!!! LOL!!!

All in all, except for the little glitches here and there such as the around 40 to 45-minute delay on our Penang-KLIA flight,  we had a pleasant trip. But upon arrival at Sibu airport, this horrendous sight greeted me at the baggage reclaim area in the arrival lounge…

…and this…

That Mont Blanc bag contained my daughter’s books and notes…and was VERY heavy but that was absolutely NO reason at all for them to manhandle and ill-treat it like that until it was completely damaged. Well, if I’m not mistaken, I can go and claim compensation but when you have been travelling all day and have finally reached your destination in the later half of the night, all that anyone would want to do would be to head on home and hit the sack instead of going through all the hassle.

This is not the first time as there have been previous cases in the past where my bags were opened…torn…or damaged in other ways and so on and so forth. Perhaps this is one MAJOR flaw. a real thorn in the flesh, that the airline people should look into if they wish to…stay GOLD!

Save the best for last…

Last Sunday (22nd November 2009), my good friend, Eng, drove over to Sungai Petani (SP) from Bukit Mertajam to take us over to Penang island for our flight back to Sibu. We were quite worried that we might not be able to make it as the Penang Bridge Run was held that same day and the bridge was closed from 2.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. Thank goodness, by the time we crossed the bridge at around 11 something, traffic was smooth and there wasn’t any jam at all.

Eng took us for lunch at this Lorong Selamat place, noted for its extra-expensive char kway teow (fried flat rice noodles). My niece, BDQ, wanted to take me there when I was in Penang in August but it was closed owing to the Hungry Ghost Festival at the time. It certainly was popular and the man…

…warned us that we might have to wait for a long time. Well, it did not really matter as in the meantime, we had some of the many other things available  like this or chian (oyster omelette), for instance…

We also had the lor bak…

…and the jiew-hu eng-chai (cuttle fish and kangkong)…

…and even the or koi (yam cake)…

I think the yam cake at New World was much nicer – firmer and it had hay kor (prawn paste) and fried hay bee (dried prawns) sprinkled on top. This one was kind of on the mushy side.

And then, the char kway teow came…

The moment I cast my eyes on it, it dawned on me as to why it was much more expensive than at other places – RM6.00 a plate. The prawns were humongous! But that was about it. The kway teow itself was of a lighter shade than what I had had elsewhere and tastewise, it was pretty much the same…or perhaps, those at some other places could even be better.

There were other things available from the stalls at that shop and I was told that the ABC and cendol was very popular but we were simply too full to have anything else. Another time perhaps…

We went straight to the airport after that for our flight to KLIA and then home to Sibu. It certainly had been a most wonderful and enjoyable trip to SP/Ipoh/Penang and I would like to thank everyone concerned once again for everything! Till we meet again…

On the street where you live…

On our way back from Ipoh that day in the heavy downpour, it turned out that the weather was fine towards Penang side and Mandy stopped at Prai where she used to live when she was growing up as she wanted to take us to this street – Chai Leng Park, otherwise known as Haw Chiak Kay (which probably means Tasty Street).

The whole street, some 200 metres long, was lined with nothing but food stalls.

My missus and I had the char hor fun (fried rice noodles)…

…from this particular stall…

…and we also had the ikan bakar (grilled fish – stingray) and these very delicious spicy clams…

My daughter and Mandy had the koey kah from this stall…

…which, it seemed, was in fact what we know as carrot/lobak cake or chai thow koi…and Mandy insisted that we must try the Tiptop fried chicken…

…which was so popular that there was a long queue of people lining up to buy. I really loved these paper-thin apom…

…which had the taste of kuih sepit/kapit (love letters) except that they were not hard and crispy. The lady at the stall had to keep going non-stop to keep up with the bulk orders that kept pouring in…

Well, that was our dinner before we headed back to SP (Sungai Petani)…and I really enjoyed it a lot. Personally, I feel that whenever I go over to the peninsula, it is much nicer to go and savour the myriad of tantalising dishes at stalls like these than to dine in fancy restaurants. They really have so much to offer over there…

Castle in the air…

That day when we were in Ipoh, after the heavy and hearty lunch, courtesy of the very amiable and generous Ipoh-blogger, Claire, we could not possibly eat anything else even though she insisted on taking us for some local desserts. In the end, we decided to do a bit of sightseeing and after the food had settled, we could go and hunt for some other nice things to eat.

That was how we ended up going to Kellie’s Castle with Ivan as our guide as Claire and Elin had to go back to the office. I went in Ivan’s car and led the way while Mandy with the rest of my entourage in her pick-up truck tailed us from behind. Probably Ivan and I were so engrossed in our chitchatting that we missed the left turn and ended up getting “lost” and had to turn back after a while. Eventually, we managed to get there…

“It was intended to be the hub of social life for the area’s wealthy colonial planters and administrators – this grand mansion with a six-storey tower…

…a wine cellar, stately columns, Moorish arches…

…and walls embellished with Greco-Roman designs. But the building was never to be completed. Work halted in 1926 with the sudden demise of its owner, William Kellie-Smith.”

According the the brochure, Kellie was actually his mother’s name. Smith died of pneumonia at the age of 56 and his wife sold the estate and with the passing of time and the end of colonial rule, the castle soon faded to become a mere memory.

We had to pay RM4.00 to cross the bridge to the compound of the castle where there was this interesting tree – the Pokok Beruang (Bear tree)…

The younger ones went to explore the castle and went all the way to the top…but not me! I just sat in the shade of the gazebo, enjoying the cool air, the  serenity and also the breathtaking scenery all around.

And of course, everyone was clicking away…capturing shots from all angles for remembrance. This one of me sleepwalking was taken with Ivan…

According to some, the spirit of Old Man Kellie still wanders around at the castle…but I am pretty sure it was not because of his ghost that it started to rain VERY heavily. In the end, we had to abort all plans of any further tours and head back to Sungai Petani.

Thus, on our brief visit, we did not get to eat any of the delicacies that Ipoh has to offer at all. Ain’t that simply tragic? LOL!!!

Made in India…

There is an Indian restaurant round the corner from Bali Bali in the Lagenda Heights vicinity in Sungai Petani. The name is the Chennai Curry House…

I know that’s the name of a place in India but I had to google to find out that actually, it was originally called Madras. I was teaching Geography in the 70’s and 80’s when Mumbai was known as Bombay…and though my mum and aunties were crazy over Raj, Shammi and Shashi Kapoor…and others like Dev Anand or Joy Mukerjee or a very young Amitabh Bachchan, the name “Bollywood” was still non-existent then.

Anyway, to get back to this restaurant, the following evening after that day when we had our dinner at Bali Bali, we went to this place for the Indian cuisine there. I told my missus to try the banana leaf as she had never had that before in her entire life…

My daughter had the mutton bryani…

…and her friend, Soleha, a very nice and sweet girl from Trengganu, had the naan chicken masala set…

I opted for the lamb bryani in a claypot special (RM18 something)…

…which was served in a claypot with the lid sealed airtight using some kind of bread or dough…

All in all, it was a delightful meal and everyone enjoyed what they had ordered. My bryani was very fragrant and tasty…and the meat was very tender. It certainly was a more satisfying dinner than the one we had at Bali Bali and the bill, inclusive of drinks, came up to slightly over RM50.00 only.

After the dinner, we headed to the Secret Recipe outlet at the Village Mall nearby for cakes. Melissa and Soleha…

…shared a slice of their very popular Chocolate Indulgence while I had their Durian cake.

Then we went to the karaoke joint on the 2nd or 3rd floor of the mall for some karaoke singing…

They sang songs ranging from Miley Cyrus’ The Climb or Lady Gaga’s Just dance to Richie Blackmore’s Temple of the King or the Eagles’ One of these nights…and closed the evening with Jon Bon Jovi’s It’s my life.

It certainly was a night well spent and the next day, all of them had to go their separate ways – everyone to their respective state and home…until February next year when they would be meeting again to leave for Wellington, New Zealand for their 2nd year in their pursuit of a TESOL (Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages) degree.

Bali Hai…

My missus and I arrived at Sungai Petani in the afternoon on Tuesday, 17th but our daughter was still tied up with things in the institute…and she also wanted to pack some of her stuff to bring over to the hotel. It was not till around 6 in the evening that she finally caught a cab and showed up at the hotel with a close friend and coursemate of hers, Soleha, who was so kind as to accompany her and help her carry all the bags and boxes.

Since it was dinner time, we went looking for a nice place to eat and we saw this in the vicinity of the hotel in Lagenda Heights…

From the name, I was expecting some Indonesian cuisine…and ever since that time in the early 70’s when I was in Singapore, I had been a fan of their nasi padang especially at the Rendevouz Restaurant along Bras Basah Road. So we went in…

…and ordered the dinner set for 4-6 persons which, if I can remember correctly, was RM65.00 per set which consisted of this Bali-style prawn dish…

…which was not all that great and did not tickle my fancy. This special homemade fishcake was nothing to shout about either…

It was…fishcake, that was all. The ayam rendang was likewise a disappointment…

They added some kind of leaves to it and I found the strong fragrance somewhat offensive.

We ordered the fish curry or to be more specific the kari bawal hitam (black pomfret) and in the end, we got the fish head curry instead…

There were only a few bits of fish inside, so much so that we could not even tell whether it was the head, the body or the tail…and it was not even curry. I would think that it was more like assam fish.

There was also a vegetable dish but I did not bother to take a photograph of it and we were also served this bowl of soup…

All in all, I would say it was quite all right…but there was nothing that was so very nice that would make me want to go there again.

In comparison, I would much sooner go to that Indian restaurant round the corner…but that would have to wait till the next post! LOL!!!

Wuthering Heights…

Well, it definitely wasn’t Wuthering Heights…but Lagenda Heights, the commercial area in which the hotel where I was staying in SP (Sungai Petani) is located.

Just round the corner is one coffee shop where I had this cendol pulut (glutinous rice) special for RM3.00…

It was not bad but I thought it would be nicer if it had been richer with thicker and creamier santan (coconut milk) like those yummy Thai desserts. Even mixing in the melted ice cream did not help very much…

I also had the cucur udang (prawn fritters) for only RM2.00. It was quite nice and I was given peanut gravy/satay gravy to dip the fritters in…

One thing that you should have if ever you’re in SP and in the vicinity is the puffs at this shop…

The puffs are HUGE, for instance this one…

…which is bigger/longer than the palm of my hand. They have different varieties…

…such as curry chicken and potato, curry chicken and potato with egg, black pepper chicken, sardine, yam, durian and sweet and sour crab (sticks). I love the curry chicken and potato best (RM1.40)…

…with the very delicious pastry and generous meat and potato filling.

The ready-made puffs are kept warm so when you buy one to eat, you can be sure that it is nice and hot…

For one thing, the pastry is extra flaky so be prepared to make a mess while eating.

There are a lot of other food outlets including a few Chinese and Japanese restaurants but I only noticed two coffee shops. One of them, named Lucky, has a lot of hawker stalls that operate from 7.30 a.m. until 4.30 p.m. daily and at night, it is a seafood restaurant.

We had the char kway teow (fried flat rice noodles) there for RM2.50 (small) and RM3.00 (big) which was pretty good…

…while the wan tan soup was just so-so…

My daughter had the kway teow th’ng (flat rice noodles in clear soup) which was a far cry from what we had at that old and murky coffee shop along Penang Road on the island. I tried the mee sua (string noodles) and it was a total disappointment as it was, in fact, just the kway teow th’ng minus the kway teow…and replaced with mee sua instead. That was absolutely nothing compared to the Sibu mee sua in Foochow red wine chicken soup, believe you me!

We were not there very long, so we did not manage to try what the other stalls had to offer…but staying in the hotel in the vicinity was for sure a good choice. There are also Old Town and others including two that I will feature in my future posts, and in the Village Mall, they have Secret Recipe, Pizza Hut, the Chicken Rice Shop…and TESCO‘s located right next to the mall and there is a food court in it too.

When it comes to the question of food, at Lagenda Heights in SP, you’re bound to be spoilt for choice…

Ipoh mali…

You would know already from an earlier post that I went to Ipoh on a whirlwind visit…

Nope! We didn’t eat here and neither did we have ayam tauge and koitiau for lunch. Claire very generously treated me and my entourage to lunch at the Sin Hup Kee Restaurant along Jalan Leong Sin Nam there.

The braised pork was really something to die for…

…and the assam ikan bawal hitam (black pomfret) was simply out of this world…

I would think that there are very few Chinese restaurants around that can really do a good job with such Malay dishes but this one can rival any of them anytime. It was simply perfect and the fish was very fresh and sweet.

This is supposed to be the signature dish of the house…

…but I can’t remember what they call it. It seems that like in KL, there are more Cantonese in Ipoh and they usually use those names that are Greek to me. Anyway, to get back to the chicken, it was nice but I did not think it was anything to shout about – something like a variation of the meat cooked in soy sauce.

This one’s a steamed dish comprising three types of eggs – fresh eggs, salted eggs and century eggs…

I tried a bit but felt it was somewhat bland. Somebody said that I should go for the salted egg for a much stronger taste but I did not seem to see any…and besides there were so many other nicer dishes and I was practically gorging myself to my heart’s delight – especially the pork! I certainly hope Claire was not shocked by the sight of this “tham chiak” from Sibu, Sarawak! LOL!!!

I knew there was a nice veg dish as well but somehow earlier, I could not seem to find the photo anywhere. I thought I must have deleted it by mistake but eventually, I managed to locate it among the maze of photographs that I took during my trip. It does look good, doesn’t it?…

We also had this clear and refreshing soup…

…and for dessert, we had this kuih talam…

…which was just nice – lemak (rich with coconut milk) enough and not too sweet.

I did not notice Claire slipping away to pay…and I really thought I should have been the one to foot the bill as I brought along so many people and I even invited Ivan to join us. The poor boy actually had his lunch already but Mandy used her aggressive sales expertise on him and made him finish all the leftovers! She was so good at it…and Ivan was left with very little choice. Hahahahahaha!!!

All in all, the food plus the rice (including refills) and drinks came up to RM108.60. I thought that was extremely cheap for 8 persons and the food was absolutely great. The restaurant was crowded though…and somewhat noisy. I thought we only get such noisy crowds in Sibu! LMAO!!! It certainly looks like a very popular place so if anybody wants to go and eat there, perhaps they should call first to make a reservation. The telephone number is 05-242 3128.

Thanks again, Claire for the sumptuous treat! I will reciprocate next time I go to Ipoh…but that will probably have to wait till 2012 unless I have an excuse to go over – one of your sons getting married perhaps? Hehehehehehe!!!! Or perhaps you, Elin and Ivan and Mandy too, plus anybody else eager to tag along, can pay a visit to Sibu sometime in the near future? What say you all?

(I’d be a) Legend in my time…

When I was in SP (Sungai Petani) in August 2008, I was staying in another hotel but the location was not very convenient as it was a bit too far to walk to the town centre for meals and shopping and a bit too near to take a cab (And they charged RM10 for that short distance!!!) But while I was there, I went to a new commercial area – Lagenda Heights where TESCO and the Village Mall were located and spotted this hotel – the Casa Lagenda.

This time around, I stayed there…

…initially in a twin-double room (RM78 per night) and later in a triple room (RM98 per night)…

…when my daughter had checked out of the institute and was able to join us there. They also have double rooms with a queen-size double bed (RM68) and a family room with two queen-size double beds (RM108). There is a RM10 surcharge on weekends and for the uninitiated, in Kedah, the weekend is on Friday and Saturday.

By the time I remembered to take some photographs of the room, we had already made quite a mess especially with the things my daughter had accumulated over the two and half years in SP. I even had to make the beds look presentable enough to take the one above.

Anyway, the rooms are spacious and comfortable enough unlike some hotels these days but the bathroom/toilet is extremely small especially in the double room that we stayed in on the first two nights. When I sat on the toilet bowl (which was placed sideways instead of facing the door as in most hotels), my knees were already against the wall…and taking a shower was one helluva tight squeeze. Thankfully, the one in the triple room is not half as bad.

Be forewarned also that this being a hotel set up in two shoplots, there are rooms that do not have any windows. So if you are claustrophobic, make sure that you insist on those with a view. This is the one from our window…

One plus point about this hotel is the multitude of eateries in the vicinity so you will not encounter any problem at all when it comes to food. Even on a rainy day, you do not have to worry as there is a coffee shop serving Malay/Thai cuisine two or three doors away in the same block…

We had lunch there – which was actually nasi campur buffet style. You just help yourself to what you want and later, they will calculate based on what you have taken and charge you accordingly. The food was VERY nice and reasonably priced (unlike at some nasi kandar shops that I’d been to! Tsk! Tsk!!!). We had nasi lemak for breakfast there…

…and both my wife and I had an extra fried egg each. For two plates of that and two drinks, the bill came up to only RM5.00 plus. In Sibu, all that would be around RM10.00 at least! And the nasi lemak was VERY nice, better than anything we can get here in Sibu and perhaps, even elsewhere!

I will be featuring other food options available in the area in my subsequent posts…so do come back for more! You will, won’t you?