Not the same…

I love kolo mee and I cannot imagine going to Kuching and not eating that before coming back!

Gerrie kept asking when we could go to eat the Old Oriental Cafe kolo mee, located where the old Cathay Cinema was formerly…but the problem was my daughter wanted to sleep late and I would rather let her so that she would be able to make the most of her holidays to rest, relax and enjoy before it would be time for her to go over to New Zealand and by then, it would be back to the grind for her. And by the time she got up, it would be too late for breakfast and too early for lunch.

So, on that day when we were coming back to Sibu – Sunday, while she was still sleeping, I sneaked off to a coffee shop next door to have a bowl of kolo mee. The Melanaus have this superstition that when people keep asking you to eat something and you do not, some untoward incidents/accidents may happen. LOL!!! Anyway, I thought what I had was pretty nice until Gerrie dropped by the hotel room with this…

She had tapaoed two packets of THE kolo mee for me (the way I used to when she and her siblings were kids…much to the distress of their parents as they were worried that they would all grow so fat! LOL!!!) and I just had to eat one of the two packets there and then. There was a world of difference between this one and the one I had earlier, believe you me! You may think you can just go to any stall and have your kolo mee but I can tell you in all honesty that it’s simply not the same. You will need to know where the good ones are and where to go!

I took the other packet home and my missus microwaved it to heat it up for dinner. Horror of horrors! It was really horrible!!! Tsk! Tsk! I am never a fan of the microwave and I just do not understand why people would use it to heat up food and ruin it completely! Try heating up kompia in one and throw it against the wall after that to see which one will crack first!

We also brought home some chai thow koi (Chinese carrot cake – which is something like the koey kah that we had in Prai) that I had bought for my daughter as she did say she wanted to eat that when in Kuching but never had the chance to do that…

Thankfully, my missus heated this up in a frying pan, so it did not share the same fate as the kolo mee! This one’s from a stall outside the coffee shop right next to the hotel where we were staying and was quite all right. The other one at the coffee shop at the far end of that same block was not open in the morning. I would think that one would be better as I noticed that it always enjoyed brisk business everytime I passed by the place.

Sophia picked us up at around noon and before she dropped us off at the airport, we went to this coffee shop…

…next to Central Inn for the Penang char kway teow. Sophia had the special…

…while my daughter and I had the so-called “normal”…

I couldn’t possibly eat a lot then, not after the bowl and the packet of kolo mee that I had had earlier.

Well, I thought the two were more or less the same and if you asked me, I would say in no uncertain terms that it was definitely not the same as the authentic stuff that I had had before on the island and in the surrounding areas. The kway teow, of course, was different and I very much prefer the smoother, thinner and translucent ones that they have in the peninsula…and tastewise, it paled in comparison too – very much so, despite the fact that the people operating the place actually originated from Penang!

In a nutshell, if you want to eat Penang char kway teow, you’ll just have to go to Penang…or the kawasan-kawasan yang sewaktu dengannya! Period. LOL!!!

I believe I can fly (2)…

They were telling me the other day that soon an overweight passenger will have to buy two tickets if he or she were to fly in a plane. What the ****!!! Discrimination! I protest!

For one thing, we do not have a choice! Our so-called trans-Sarawak/Borneo highway comes nowhere near those that they have in the peninsula…and if I’m not mistaken, it would take around 8 hours to drive from Sibu to Kuching and only 40 minutes or less by air…even if it means flying in a dilapidated Fokker (*correct spelling) being held together using masking tape…

Well, I chose MASwings on our return flight from Kuching to Sibu last Sunday as the timing was just right and the fare was only RM28 (exclusive of airport tax and all that stuff). The air-conditioning was not switched on when we boarded and it was scorchingly hot inside the plane.

What’s worse was that when I got into my seat, I discovered that the safety belt was kind of short, way too short for me! So I had to press the bell to call the air stewardess to ask for an extension belt…

She got me one all right…but luckily I’m not the type to resort to violence! Otherwise, that cynical grin on her face would have resulted in her losing her two front teeth and with Christmas still 11 months away, she can’t jolly well be singing that silly song – “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!” at this time of the year.

So there I was…going home to Sibu with two buckles…

…and don’t you dare laugh or you’ll get two knuckles, see if you don’t! ROTFLMAO!!!

Well, I was NOT occupying two seats (even though it WAS a “perfect fit”) and surely they cannot expect me to buy TWO tickets just because I need an extension belt!!! And just in case the idea happens to cross your mind, NO…my predicament was definitely NOT the consequence of all that feasting in Kuching. Tsk!!! Tsk!!!

Hotel room service…

I prefer staying in hotels. Every time I travel, I will gracefully decline any invitation to stay at someone’s house, never mind whether it’s a relative or friend. Maybe it is because I used to travel a lot when I was still in government service and I stayed in hotels all the time…and I enjoyed the freedom and the privacy. Now don’t waste your time and energy asking for I will not divulge any further details beyond this. LOL!!!

I do not usually call room service but I may do so once in a while when I feel too lazy to go out in search of some chow or do not fancy the trouble of dressing up nicely and going down to the cafe downstairs. But sometimes when there are coffee-making facilities in the room, I would make myself a cuppa…

…and enjoy that with a cookie or two…

My daughter loves these Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies that we bought the other day at the Kuching International Airport…

She can recall those days when I used to travel a lot and each time I came home, I would buy a bag for her, together with the chocolates and toffees sold at the airport outlets.

Moving away from the topic of discussion, somebody was asking me the other day whether I bought any of the kek lapis Sarawak (Sarawak layered cakes) when I was in Kuching. Well, I bought two kek hati parek which I had had before and thought was very nice. I wouldn’t know whether these that I bought are nice or not as I have not tried them yet. Saving them for Chinese New Year!

I also bought this kek sisik ikan (fish scales cake) which I have not tried either…

That was all I bought – only three…unlike this guest at the same hotel from Cheras in Selangor…

He/She had two huge boxes of kek lapis Sarawak…and another box of God-knows-what – probably ikan terubok masin or the salted roe of the fish. They’re very popular among West Malaysian visitors to Kuching. I love them too…but unfortunately, I have to control myself and refrain from buying and eating too often.

It’s Friday and the weekend’s here…and to get all of you in the mood, here’s the video clip of the song from which the post title is taken, to set your feet a-tapping…

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!

With a little bit of luck (2)…

If you’re going to Gerrie’s pot luck party, you certainly do not need a little bit of luck for there will be so much to choose from that there is bound to be something that you would like to eat. Well, we had a pot luck gathering at her house the 2nd night my daughter and I were in Kuching and Gerrie cooked these rempah (spice) chicken…

…and this baked fish…

…and if I’m not mistaken, the mum brought these steamed drunken prawns or perhaps she bought the crustaceans but it was Gerrie who cooked them as well…

…and all of them were really yummy! Sophia came with one huge Philippine pork leg…

…which was very nicely done – just perfect and not very fat and oily. She also brought the fried mihun…

…which was a hit with everybody as it was really delicious and what everybody liked about it was that it was fried with udang kering/hay bee (dried prawns). Lindy and her mum came with these roast pork ribs…

…which tasted really good too…and for dessert, Gerrie made this carrot cake complete with icing and all…

…and this Chocolate Indulgence from Secret Recipe was my contribution to the dinner…

…plus the array of mouth-watering nyonya kuihs that Sophia bought for everyone to relish.

As in the previous night at the Junk, once again, we had a delightful dinner and enjoyed the great time we got to spend together. Thanks, Gerrie, for hosting…

So much…

Last Saturday afternoon in Kuching, Vivien whom you’ve met in an earlier post, took my daughter and me to this restaurant named Chef’s Delicious (near Timberland Medical Centre) where an old and good friend of ours, Mary, was waiting. Mary wanted to give me a treat as her eldest daughter would be getting married soon in Australia.

We had the Mongolian lamb chops which were very nice…

…and the roast duck that I, being quite toothless now, found to be a bit too tough for me to chew…

The crispy oyster omelette – the way they do it in Kuching, was very nice and comparable to the ones that I used to have at Buntal, near Damai Beach…

…but there did not seem to be a lot of oysters in it though! The hot pot tofu was all right, nothing to shout about…

…and I thought the french fries in their Three Treasures stuck out like a sore thumb as we usually would have those with western dishes or at one of those fast food restaurants…

I think the bean combination dish at Ruby in Sibu is a lot nicer – all the beans fried with pork belly and a hint of belacan (dried prawn paste).

My daughter loved the thick crab meat with sweet corn soup…

…and a word of warning to anyone planning to dine there – do not order the medium, just stick to the small as the servings were so big we had to struggle half dead to finish the food. Luckily, Clare and her chipmunk (Alvin) dropped by to see me…and they helped a bit with the food. Even then, there were a lot of leftovers…so we had to ask for a doggie bag!

All in all, it was a delightful lunch…for  around RM120, inclusive of rice and drinks. It certainly was nice seeing my two very dear friends again and thanks, Mary, for the treat. I guess congratulations in advance are in order. Woman, you’ll be a grandma soon! Muahahahahaha!!!!

Naked…

The English expression “in the buff” actually means naked or as one of the online dictionaries puts in – bare-assed or completely unclothed. Don’t worry though…as this is not going to be a post on nudity nor are you going to see any revealing photos of any kind. Now, now! Are those sighs of disappointment that I hear? LOL!!!

Well, it’s just that Gerrie gave this to my daughter…

…and the first thing that caught my attention was the brand name. I wonder why they call it thus, considering the fact that it is not some kind of undergarment or something that is used to cover one’s nether regions. Hahahahaha!!!

They call it “the original multifunctional headwear” and one can used it in all kinds of ways and styles…

But the moment I caught sight of the price tag, I gasped…

$30!!! And I reckon that’s in Singapore dollars which would be around RM75.00!!! *faints!!!

No complaints though! After all, as the saying goes, the best things in life are free! Thanks, Gerrie…on Mel’s behalf! And thanks also to all those who gave her ang-paos for soon-hong (Bon Voyage)! Nobody gave me any…so I could not get on my “Nay-ah! Nay-ah!” (No need! No need!) routine with my hand outstretched! ROTFLMAO!!!

Again and again…

This is my favourite restaurant in Kuching…

…when it comes to western food and I’ve been dropping by there for dinner again and again.  It’s not too high class till you feel chokingly uncomfortable. As a matter of fact, the place is pretty casual…and they even have a bar where yuppies would gather…plus I love the lamb shank there A LOT…

…but when my daughter and I went there with all my cousins aka The Gluttons’ Club, I was so disappointed that it was not served on a bed of mashed potatoes. I cannot remember how many times I’ve eaten there and each time, without fail, the mashed potatoes would be there. Now I must make a mental note that should I ever go and dine there again, I would insist on the mashed potatoes! Tsk! Tsk! Four of us – KNB (Kpg Nangka Boy), Gundot and Annisa and I – ordered that while my daughter had the soft shell crab salad…

…which was really very nice and their fettucine carbonara…

Sophia and Lindy shared the baked prawns which were superbly done too…except that the serving as too huge for the two to finish…

…and Gerrie had the salmon gnocchi…

TheOtherCousin had a light meal – their pizzas…

…as he had eaten something earlier. His sister, Sabrina, joined us later as she had a wedding dinner to attend. We had cheesecakes for dessert, their tiramisu…

…and what they called their “original baked cheese cake”…

It certainly was a delightful meal and the cousins took care of the bill for my daughter and me as it was some kind of a farewell treat from her aunties and uncles. And we had a whole lotta fun talking about anything and everything and laughing till we almost brought the roof down. My daughter enjoyed herself tremendously and was smiling from ear to ear when we made our way back to the hotel. There! Life should be like that – a time for everything with lots of joy and laughter thrown in!

Together again (2)…

Auntie Vivien has known my daughter ever since she was a baby. She calls her my kim kia (golden child) and when she was a baby, she used to buy some very nice outfits for her – some skimpy, sexy ones too! LOL!!! She had always been there somewhere as my daughter was growing up and since we were in Kuching, I decided to call Auntie Vivien so that they could meet for old times’ sake…

She took us to Main Bazaar, right across the junction from the hotel where we were staying…

…where they have all the souvenir shops…

…and stalls selling kek lapis Sarawak (Sarawak layered cake)…

The Kuching waterfront is right opposite, across the road and from there, you can have a nice view of the Sarawak River and across the river, the majestic Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Assembly) Building aka the lemon squeezer…

…and the other historical buildings around it.

We went to this Deli Cafe…

…which served very nice coffee…

…and really good chicken pies…

…while we had a good chat, catching up on the days gone by. How time flies!!!

Here I am again…

My daughter would be leaving for New Zealand pretty soon in around a fortnight’s time…and since she had not been to Kuching for a while, she was keen on the idea of dropping by over the weekend. Initially, I had wanted to stay at this new hotel in town for the experience and to pamper her a bit…

I heard that they were currently having a promotion on their rooms but their RM180++ ones were all fully booked and the next best thing would add up to almost RM300. In the end, I decided to stay at another hotel in the vicinity.

Gundot and her daughter, Sam, picked us up at the airport and took us to Peterson Corner…

…which is located right next to the Satok Market…

You can see the back portion of the Regal Court Hotel, formerly Regalis, along what was formerly called Palm Road (I understand it has a new name) in the photo, so one can safely say that Peterson is right behind the hotel next to the market.

There is a stall in that coffee shop that sells hay pia (prawn fritters) and other fried stuff like tau kua (tofu cake), fish balls, sweet potatoes and yam. Some people will swear by the Old Rex tofu somewhere along Nanas Road but to me, it pales in comparison with Peterson’s…

What it fails in presentation, it certainly makes up for it in taste. After all this time, it is as good as ever and my daughter loved it so much.

Gerrie bought us some really yummy Kuching po piah (spring rolls)…

…and we had those too, and that was our lunch! I would say that was a good start to our trip to Kuching.

We checked in at our hotel which was in a way right next to the one where I had wanted to stay…

Never mind! At least I could get a good view of it from my hotel window! LOL!!!

It’s a heartache…

In my previous post, I mentioned that the ministry changed my daughter’s date of departure to New Zealand to the 8th of February instead of the 11th. Because of that, I had to make fresh air ticket bookings…and go to the MAS office in town to cancel the earlier ones, paying a cancellation fee of RM100 per booking – and that actually meant per person, so you would have to pay RM300 if there were 3 passengers in a booking. All in all, I had to fork out RM500 and be thankful that I did manage to get the rest of the money back. Still, that certainly was one BIG heartache! Imagine the things that I could do with the RM500!!!

As for the hotel, I had to change the dates and the trouble was that I had got a friend to book through a travel agency in Kuching as it was cheaper. For instance, a triple room would cost RM180 if you book direct but only RM165 through the agency. They charged RM35 for amending the initial reservation and I had to ask Gundot to go and get the revised voucher from the agency and send it to me.

Thankfully, she was able to help me do that…and the other night, Tom, Gundot’s hubby who’s working in Sibu, dropped by my house to pass the voucher to me. He also brought me some fruits from his orchard including this buah terap…

…which if I’m not mistaken, belongs to the buah cempedak and buah nangka (jackfruit) family. I gave it to my mum and she enjoyed it very much.

He also gave me these hard-skinned rambutans, whatever they are called locally…

…and these with yellow-skin…

They’re both very nice and sweet but I prefer the ones with the yellow skin. They’re bigger and comparatively sweeter.

So now, everything’s settled…and all we have to do is to wait for the time to come – which is actually only a couple of weeks away. In the meantime, there are still some loose ends to tie, errands to run…so I have been pretty busy these few days. But I did manage to stop by my regular kuih stall at Bandong the other day and I bought these kuih jala at RM1.50 for three…

…and they came with the chicken curry to eat them with. I also bought these kuih dhall at three for a ringgit…

…and these bergedil at that same price.

Now don’t ask why there were only two of each in the photos – you can jolly well guess where the missing ones had gone to! LOL!!!