Coming back for more (2)…

Originally, there was word going round that my daughter and the rest would be leaving for New Zealand on the 16th of February – two days after Chinese New Year. I was worried that we would not be able to get the tickets to fly Sibu-KL as there would be a mass exodus of people going in that direction after spending the festival at home here in Sibu.

Then, my daughter contacted somebody in the ministry and was informed that the date was the 11th of the same month. So I got down to business and booked the air tickets and the hotel – going on the 10th and my missus and I would be stuck in KL till Chinese New Year’s night – the 14th as all the flights were fully booked…and the fare on the cheap airline was unreasonably astronomical – enough to pay for the hotel room for so many nights!

At the pre-departure briefing, they were informed that they would be flying over in two groups – one on the 8th and the other on the 10th and I could not understand why they could not reveal who was on which list at the briefing. Finally, my daughter received word that she would be leaving on the 8th of February, Monday.

I got down to work immediately – made fresh bookings and also changed the hotel reservation that I had made earlier. However, I could not cancel and ask for a refund on the air tickets online, so my daughter and I went to the MAS office in town. We stopped by for lunch at the Y2K Restaurant, located a stone’s throw away, and had my daughter’s favourite – the sweet and sour fish fillet…

…and the cangkuk manis fried with egg…

That was on Friday…and the next day, ah^kam_koko’ was in town, so I asked him out to dinner together with my missus and daughter and I also invited Nicholas to join us. We wanted to go to Mum’s…but it was full and so was Ruby…and at the Malay restaurant, Kasturi, they did not have most things – no curry, no masak merah, no masak hitam…and no beef even! Just a couple of miserable items like ayam masak halia. Excuse me! If I wanted that, I could jolly well fry my own at home! Tsk! Tsk!

In the end, we went one complete round, back to Y2K – which is actually right next door to Mum’s…and we had the sweet and sour fish fillet again…

Yes, it IS that nice. My daughter thinks that theirs is the best in town. Other than that, we had the lemon chicken…

…which was superb! I think they used roast chicken and hence, the crispy skin unlike the usual ones fried in batter that get soggy once the sauce is poured onto the meat. The braised pork leg that we had was really good this time around…

…compared to the last time I had that sometime ago. For the veg dish, we ordered baby kailan fried with salted fish – the same as what my daughter and I had in KL. The lady boss was caught by surprise as nobody had ever ordered it like that. I just told her that it would be the same as cooking bean sprouts (taugeh) with salted fish except that they would have to use baby kailan instead…

It was nicely done and everybody loved it. We also had the Foochow-style thick tofu soup…

…and with rice (the two boys had doubles) and drinks, it came up to only RM76.00.

For one thing, we managed to get quite a bit of information from ah^kam_koko’ about going to New Zealand in general and to Wellington in particular – information that would be useful for my daughter when she goes over in a few weeks’ time.

Bring it on home…

I didn’t go on a shopping spree when I was in KL with my daughter. We just strolled around the complexes in the vicinity of the hotel in Bukit Bintang where we were staying. I had to go to a shop at Jalan Alor, however, to buy some of those bak kua (barbecued meat slices) back for my sister. Actually we can buy them here at our local supermarts but they’re more expensive by some RM3-5.00 per 500 gm.

And while I was at the shop, I browsed around the other things that they were selling and ended buying a few packets of these heong peah…

I love heong peahs a lot and this brand is really good! The pastry is so nice and flaky…and the filling is savoury, not sweet.

The lady at the shop kept telling me that these were very good…

She said that they used brown sugar and thus, they would not be so sweet. It turned out that it was not true. Firstly, the pastry paled miserably in comparison and the filling was hard and very sweet! I definitely would not buy it again!

One thing that I like about these brands is that the pieces of heong peah inside are individually packed, so I do not have to find an airtight container to store them.

Then, while my daughter and I were browsing around at the Japanese section at Giant in Sungai Wang, we saw this piece of unagi or eel…

My daughter loves unagi but she did not want to buy it as it cost RM25.00. She’s always very careful with money…but I insisted on buying as she would not be eating that for a long time once she goes over to New Zealand, and if she were to go and eat that there, it would probably cost a bomb, I’m sure.

So that was all that I brought home to Sibu with me. Not much, eh? I probably would not be able to say the same thing about my next trip though…considering that my missus will be tagging along! LOL!!!

On my way back home…

While waiting for our flight back home to Sibu, my daughter and I decided to have a bite at one of the food outlets at KLIA. She had this beef pie…

I tried a bit of it…but in my honest opinion, the pastry came nowhere near mine! The filling is all right though…

As for me, I just had an egg sandwich myself…

…and needless to say, if you eat at any airport in Malaysia, you should expect to pay through your nose as nothing is cheap there!

On the flight back, my daughter had this beef rendang with steamed rice set for dinner…

…while I had the chicken kuzzi with tomato rice…

We were given the usual packs of Ferrero Rocher and fruit cake…

…but unfortunately, they did not serve any Baskin’ Robbins’ ice cream this time around. The fruit cake was very nice though, not too sweet and really moist…

We arrived home safely amidst the pouring rain. Too bad they did not divert the flight to Kuching owing to the bad weather – then, we would get a free one-night stay with breakfast in one of the hotels there before coming back to Sibu the following morning. Sigh…

This used to be my playground…

Well, not mine actually…but my daughter’s. I remember when she was still small, we stayed at the Shah’s Village Motel in Petaling Jaya and nearby was an A&W outlet…

…with a children’s playground right beside it. We had to eat there every day and take her to the playground to play until one day when she lost hold of one of those rings and had a fall. That was it! She never wanted to go near the place ever again.

As a matter of fact, I can still recall the first time I set foot at an A&W Restaurant myself. That was in 1969, I think…in Singapore and I had their “chicken in a basket” which incidentally is no longer on their menu. And if I’m not mistaken, they had an outlet at the old KL airport in Subang and I ate there a couple of times.

Well, they have a new outlet now at Jalan Bukit Bintang – just opened last week. My daughter and I dropped by on the morning of the 14th which was the day it opened….or perhaps it was the following day as when we walked past on the 12th, the place was still blockaded and renovation works were still going on.

Of course when you stop by an A&W, you must have its signature root beer…

…and my daughter wanted the curly fries with her fish burger. I opted for the double fortune burger (beef – I don’t know why they ticked chicken instead)…

…hoping that it would bring me double the good luck…

…in the year ahead.

For one thing, the place was somewhat orange in colour and that certainly did not help one bit as far as some of the photos I took were concerned.

Another problem that I had was with the high stools that they provided for people eating there. It was fine for my daughter…

…but imagine me perched precariously on that thing and trying to keep my balance. Should I happen to tip over, it would definitely cause an earthquake of no small measure on the Richter scale. However, they have another level upstairs…

…so they probably have better seating up there. I would not know as I did not go up to check.

So, there you are! If ever any of you should happen to drop by the place, remember…

…I was there first! LOL!!!

2 become 1 (2)…

When I went with my daughter to KL, we stayed at this hotel along Bukit Bintang Road and we were even two breakfast vouchers each morning to eat at the cafe.

The first morning we were there, my daughter had to rush off to Putrajaya at 6.30 for her “pre-departure briefing”, so I was stuck with two breakfast vouchers. In the end, I decided to ask them for TWO American breakfast sets on ONE plate. Good grief! They piled up the toasts like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and there were four eggs – sunny side up/bull’s eye…but only three sausages. I think they shortchanged me but I didn’t complain as that was way too much for me, so much so that I decided to skip lunch that day. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the room, so I was not able to take a photo of that!

The next morning, my daughter decided to sleep in and refused to get up for breakfast which was served from 7.00 to 10.00 only. Thus, I had to go alone again and this time, I asked for the nasi lemak…

…with two eggs, or two halves, to be exact…

…and two servings of chicken…

But I told them I did not want two servings of the rice as I would not be able to finish.

My next trip will be in February when I will be going with my missus and my daughter who will be flying off to Wellington, New Zealand – transit Auckland on the 8th. Just imagine how it would be like if BOTH of them would not want to go down to the cafe for breakfast…. LOL!!!

Have a Blessed Sunday, everybody!

Second time around…

This was my second time at the Pavilion in KL but my daughter’s first…

She had never been there before. It looked like they had put up the Chinese New Year decorations…

…and thank goodness they did not play those rowdy songs that would drive me up the wall – or at least, not much…and not at the Pavilion. For one thing, I did not see very elaborate festive decors at most places unlike those that they had for Christmas…

At the Federal Hotel, they only have one miserable banner, that’s all! I wonder if that is an indication of the severity of the economic downturn. Perhaps Chinese New Year is not so grand in KL as everybody would be heading home eventually when the time draws near, leaving behind an almost deserted ghost city?

Well, it was my second time too and my daughter’s first time at Pappa Rich along Jalan Bukit Bintang…

I was here once before with my ex-students, Walter and Dudley. I went there again, this time for dinner, on our second night in KL with my daughter and her friend, Soleha. My daughter had the kway teow th’ng with shredded chicken (RM8.90)…

…while Soleha had the same but with prawns (RM9.90)…

…I had the steamed bread with curry (RM6.50)…

…though I was sure that in the menu, they had a drumstick in the photo – not breast!

I also ordered the vegetarian lor mai kai (RM4.80) to try…

…and the taufu fua (RM4.50)…

Business was good and there were quite a lot of people and there was one table that was somewhat noisy. Other than that, everything else was ok and the food was to our satisfaction…but when I wanted to settle the bill, I was told that they did not accept credit cards. Good grief! Not that it was some kind of coffee shop or roadside stall!!! Luckily I had enough cash on me.

One thing to their credit though was that the waitress took the trouble to run after us to return the umbrella that Soleha had left behind. Come to think of it, they were all very nice and friendly at that place. If not for the 10% service charge, I would have left them a generous tip! Hehehehehe!!!

This old man…

In case you’re wondering, the post title does not refer to me…but to that fatty old man aka ah-nel who comments quite regularly on my blog. Actually, he’s working in Singapore but he went to KL on a one-night trip around the same time when I was there and we got to meet face to face. Sorry, he’s camera shy, so with due respect for his wish for privacy, I did not take his photo. Well, he brought me these all the way from Singapore…

…Ferrero Rondnoir! I’m not a fan of Ferrero Rocher because I’m not crazy about the nuts inside…and in an earlier post, I mentioned that someone (Gerard, my ex-student/godson) gave me a box of Ferrero Garden. I did not try it but my daughter said it was very nice. I wouldn’t know whether those have nuts inside of not. But these that I got from fatty old man do not…

…and they’re described on the box as a “crisp dark chocolate-covered specialty with a smooth filling and a dark chocolate center…

My verdict? In just one word – HEAVENLY!!! Thanks a lot, ah-nel and thanks also for taking your time off to meet me even though it was just a brief acquaintance. I certainly hope we’ll get to meet again some time.

Well, on our first night in KL, my daughter and I and her friend, Soleha, from Trengganu, went for dinner at this halal Hainan chicken rice shop a few doors away from the hotel where we were staying. I had gone past the place many times but never stopped to eat there, but I did notice that it had always enjoyed very good patronage. That should be evidence enough that the food there would be quite nice. We had the chicken rice, of course – a roast chicken drumstick each with rice and complimentary peanut soup…

…and for the side orders, we had these prawn fritters…

…and this dish of kailan with salted fish…

True enough, the food there is pretty good…and at around RM50 for the three of us, inclusive of drinks, I would think it is quite cheap…by KL standards. What do you all think?

Happy…

The last time my daughter was in KL was in 2007. She had just reported at the teacher training institute in Sungai Petani, Kedah in July and they had a week’s holiday in August. Since she had just gone over, I told her that there was no point for her to come back to Sibu and suggested that we spent the one-week break in Kl instead. And so we did. Ever since then, she had gone home for the holidays…and in August, 2008, I went to Sungai Petani while last year, 2009, we were in Penang.

She had to attend a one-day pre-departure briefing in Putrajaya before leaving for New Zealand next month in February, so I went over with her. We arrived at the hotel around 10 but the room was not ready – not until noon, so I took her to the Pavilion. We walked around the place and then decided to have lunch before going back to the hotel. Gosh…there were so many to choose from but she finally settled for this one…

I had this lunch set (RM13.50) as I love sandwiches and was drawn to the club sandwiches…

It came with this mushroom soup…

…and complimentary iced tea. The sandwiches were great while the spaghetti were…as spaghetti has always been and always will be.

My daughter had this (RM13.50 – with complimentary iced tea, but no soup)…

…as she had her eyes on the macaroni salad…and the tacos! She likes tacos a lot…and loved Taco Bell in Singapore, but we have not been to the island republic for a long, long time. Needless to day, she really enjoyed it…

Now being at a pancake place, it would not make sense if we did not have any, so we ordered one for dessert. My daughter chose the banana variety (RM8.50)…

…and it was absolutely out of this world. She kept saying, “It’s so nice! So soft!” whilst grinning from ear to ear…and of course, nothing pleases a father more than seeing his daughter so very happy!!! I certainly was…

Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep…

The other morning, my daughter and I went for breakfast at the Mei Le Cafe somewhere in my neighbourhood. It seemed that the stall where I usually had the tom yam mihun had something new – the mouse/rat-tail noodles…

…but they did it differently from the kampua-style version that I had recently. For this one, the noodles were tossed in some sauce and garnished with sliced home-made fish cake, minced meat, fried ikan bilis (anchovies) and chopped Chinese celery…

It was VERY nice and I certainly would go back there again for more. My daughter had the meat porridge with century egg…

The one here isn’t too bad but personally, I prefer the meat porridge special with slices of liver and pig’s intestines at that coffee shop in Sungai Merah.

While we were enjoying ourselves, I noticed something interesting. They actually had a Chippendales’ mug…

For the uninitiated who do not know what or who the Chippendales are, you can click the link below and watch the video but do make sure that you are over 18 years of age…

Thankfully, the photo on the mug did not show a sexy hunk doing the full monty…

Now, now…do I hear some sighs of disappointment? ROTFLMAO!!!

You showed me…

Nope, I did not show him but after seeing my pie posts here and here and also on Facebook, my friend, Richard decided to make something too – and he made these char siew sio pao (baked buns with barbecued meat) over the weekend and he gave me a few…

The pastry is different – more of the flaky type that the local bakeries here use for their sio paos. Personally I would prefer the shortcrust pastry or something like those from Kai Joo Lane in Kuching…

But it was nice…and the filling was good too…

…definitely better than any sio pao that I can get from any bakery in town. Thumbs up, Richard! Well done!

And over the weekend too, Alex sent these pulut panggang to my house…

For the initiated, these are glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves and barbecued over an open fire. I think there’s santan (coconut milk) involved too.

I do not know where exactly these came from – Alex’s mum asked somebody’s somebody in the kampung to make…and they’re really nice! I have had some good ones here and there but Alex’s are really very long! Oops! I mean the panggangs he gave me! ROTFLMAO! However, they were a bit too thin and broke very easily…

So who says the longer the better? Hahahahaha!!!!