Straight from the heart…

It never rains, they say – it pours…and pour it did when I was in KL. No, I’m not talking about the rain but the kindness and generosity showered upon me by my awesome friends there.

  Annie-Q gave me these Portuguese egg tarts…

…for supper on our first night there. I guess she knows that I love eating those…and I certainly enjoyed the ones she bought.

She also gave me these…

I’m keeping the sambal rolls for Chinese New Year but I’ve finished what was in the tin. I had to as unfortunately, it did not survive the flight back to Sibu – very thin and crispy love letters (kuih kapit/sepit) with meat floss filling. They were so very nice even though we had to eat it with a spoon. I managed to salvage a few and gave to my parents and they enjoyed it a great deal too.

Annie and Elaine (who so very kindly gave me her hotel privilege discount vouchers to use during our four-night stay in KL) gave me some packets of heong peah too…

…but knowing that my parents love these very much and I did not go and buy any this time around, I gave two to them…and the other two, I gave to my mother-in-law. My in-laws like them too.

Elaine also gave me her out-of-this-world fruit cake again…

Last year, she gave me one through Annie when we were in Penang and I served that at my Christmas party. Everyone praised it to the skies. This year, I am not holding any party for Christmas so I will reserve the cake for Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, I don’t think her chocolate chip cookies with a very strong butter fragrance will last till then as there has been more than one hand sticking into the cookie jar each passing day.

These came from smallkucing…

– Ferrero Rocher, no less and I got these Scottish shortbread from Yee Ling…

I still do not know what is in the smaller packet inside as to date, I’ve yet to find somebody to read what is on the box – it’s all Greek to me. All I know is that it is some kind of aloe vera product, this much I can tell by looking at the picture outside.

Quay Po gave me these macarons with butter chestnut filling that she made herself…

I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel to eat them as I had heard everyone talking about macarons, flaunting the ones they had made or bought in their blogs or on Facebook…and we do not have any here. If I’m not mistaken, it was ahkamkoko who had some somewhere and I asked him to buy me a few to try. He told me that it was very sweet, nothing great…and children would love them. Hmmmmm…I don’t know whether that was an excuse not to buy me any or those that he had really sucked big time. Quay Po’s macarons, on the other hand, were sheer ecstasy, I tell you…and I’m not saying this just to flatter her. My only complaint was there were too few in the box! Muahahahahaha!!! Truth be told, Quay Po, we had to eat each piece so very slowly, taking teeny-weeny bites at a time, savouring and enjoying each little crumb… Ahhhh!!!! Heavenly, absolutely heavenly!!!

As for the molasses sugar cookies that she also gave me…

…I’m saving that for Chinese New Year too. Quay Po said that if they have turned hard, all I have to do would be to put a piece of bread inside and they will become softer again.

I also got an autographed CD from Quay Po – her son, Nick, is in a rock band – Rosevelt…

…and they have just launched their first CD not too long ago. I’ve given it a spin and they sounded very nice – I would say that they’re something a little heavier than Linkin’ Park, maybe something like The Killers. Good luck to you, Nick and your band, all the best.

Quay Lo, Quay Po’s hubby – the one who’s too big for the Big Dog t-shirts (which, of course, is a blessing for me…as I got all of them in the end), copied some songs on two CDs for me…and my missus and Melissa were delighted as they got presents from Quay Po too…

She also gave me these heong peahs…

I kept these and ate them myself as I had not had them before…and I must say they were very good indeed. Unfortunately, there was neither brand nor manufacturer’s name and address on the label. I guess those must be from some bakery – made on a small-scale basis.

If you think that was all, then you’re sadly mistaken for Quay Po also gave me these bak kut teh spices from Klang…

There were three packets so I gave one to my parents and one to my mother-in-law. I’ve yet to cook it so I cannot say much about it right now.

Isaac Tan gave me one big bag of fruits when he dropped by to give us a lift to the wedding dinner we were attending. There was so much that we could not finish and had to take them back to Sibu with us. No worries, they’re all gone by now, Isaac. LOL!!!

Last but definitely not the least, Mandy, gave me these…

I’m saving the chocolate ones for Chinese New Year…but I do not think those pineapple rolls will last till then.

Gosh! Seeing is believing, they say…and it is indeed true. This trip to KL, I did not have to buy anything myself as all those gifts almost completely filled the suitcase already. I did stop by Marks & Spencer at KLCC to buy the wonderfully-rich all butter Viennese cookies that Elaine sent me sometime ago…and I really really loved them so much, that’s all.

It’s New Year’s Eve today – another year has come and gone and I do think that it has been a super remarkable one for me – a wonderful year of love and friendship with loved and dear ones, old and new – praise the Lord, a year of happiness and beautiful memories to cherish and remember for always.  To all of you, all I can offer in return would be my most sincere thanks from the bottom of my heart and my prayers that God will bless you all abundantly in the coming New Year, 2012 and in the years ahead.

Birthday girl…

Basically, we went to KL recently for a short break and to attend the wedding reception on the 18th but since my dear friend, Mandy, would be celebrating her birthday the following day on the 19th, I extended our stay till the 20th so that we would be able to go out and celebrate together.

I told her I would prefer some place simple, not far from the hotel as I would not want to be caught for ages in the horrendous KL traffic…and suggested that we could go to the Muar Restaurant at Tengkat Tong Shin…

…that we had gone to before for some delightful home-cooked cuisine. I understand from a cousin of mine who lives in KL that it is very popular and she also likes the food there…and Mandy herself had been there another time after the first time, bringing her friend from Holland and the friend certainly enjoyed everything there.

Of course, dinner could not begin until I had said grace – “Grace!” Ok…done! LOL!!!

*Mandy’s photo*

The restaurant is well-known for its golden crispy fried egg, the way mum used to do it in the old days…

…and I love their sambal prawns and sotong (squid) with petai (stink beans)…

…which was simply out of this world. Even Melissa who would not touch petai with a 10-foot pole loved it!

I also love their Muar-style otak-otak (fish cake)…

…which is different from the Penang nyonya-style ones.

What the assam (tamarind) fish lacked in appearance…

…it certainly made up for it in taste. It was good and the soup went well with the rice.

Everyone loved the kangkong (water spinach) fried with belacan (dried prawn paste)…

…but not me. It was good but I felt there was a problem with the belacan used – it tasted…well, let’s just say it was different and not as nice and fragrant/smelly as the Bintulu ones that we have in Sarawak so personally I would think that one can have much nicer vegetable dishes fried with the belacan here. Come on over and try if you don’t believe me…or ask my friend in New Zealand. She had that with the midin at Ruby and they literally licked the plate clean.

We also had the butter seafood dish…

…which was nice but it did not get me jumping up and down in ecstasy.

And of course, we had the RM1 cendol for dessert…

– diners who opt for the set dinners would be entitled to have that at that ridiculously-low price.

We certainly had a wonderful time that night – dinner was superb and the company was awesome – the three of us with Mandy and our good friend, Zee. I think the bill came up to RM102.70, if I remember correctly, for the five of us inclusive of rice (6 altogether as Zee had an extra bowl) and drinks – I think that is very reasonable considering that the food was good, service was prompt and things do not come cheap in KL, that’s for sure.

After dinner, Mandy drove us to this place called the Look Out Point at Ampang for the captivating bird’s eye view of Kuala Lumpur by night…

The rest of them scrambled up the stairs to the viewing tower at the peak…

…but I think I will wait till they fix an escalator at the place first. Hehehehehehe!!!!

This certainly was a fitting end to our most delightful break recently in KL – good friends, good food and all. We all had a really great time.

Pamper me…

My cousin living in KL asked me, my missus and Melissa to lunch with her family on the Monday when we were in the city as  her mum, sister and nephew had flown in from Kuching the day before, Sunday. We went to Harrods…

…at Suria KLCC. The butter and whatever the other thing was were for the buns that they served – a softer wholemeal bun and another harder one that Melissa liked. Most of the rest of us had a preference for the softer of the two.

My aunt had the lobster…

…while most of the rest had their roast beef with Yorkshire pudding…

Melissa and my cousin from Kuching had their fish and chips…

…which my daughter said was among the best she had ever had.

One of my nephews had the breaded sole…

…while another one had their roasted turkey…

You can get this over the month of December for their Christmas set lunch. If I remember correctly, the set is priced at RM70++ with soup, dessert and what not – the whole works for a typical western meal.

I asked for iced water, like I always do everywhere…but they only serve mineral water at the place…

…and that did not come cheap, I am quite certain of that – RM15.00 without the plus-plus, I think. The bottle looked so nice that after the lunch, we took it home with us. If you see it at my house, with a flower or two sticking out of it, you would know that it came from Harrods, no less. LOL!!!

These came with my order…

– garlic butter, ghee and some tomato thingy.

I had the mixed grilled kebabs with bryani rice…

The chunks of meat (with a  piece of liver as well) came on a skewer but they removed them onto the plate before serving so I could not take a photograph of that. The meat was tender and tasted good and I enjoyed everything a great deal though I would not say the same about the rice.

Nobody had dessert except my niece…

That looked like Christmas pudding but I don’t think they served it with white brandy sauce (for obvious reasons).

For one thing, the service was excellent with the waitress(es) ever ready to be by your side at every beck and call. No doubt everything was quite expensive but I think what I saw in the menu at the hotel where I was staying was even more so.

Thanks so much, coz, for the most delightful lunch. It was great to see you all again…

Walk hand in hand…

I got to know nyonyapenang a long time ago when she was a blogger and I wasn’t but I would drop by her blog (and a number of others) very regularly to comment. Everyone was wondering who this suituapui was, male or female, why he/she did not have his/her own blog and yet they would see his/her comments all over the place. By the time I started my own blog, she had already stopped blogging but we still kept in touch…and in 2008, when my missus and I went to spend Chinese New Year with Melissa in Penang, she and her husband were in town and we met for the first time. Later that year, when Melissa and I went to KL to spend her one-week August break, we met again for lunch and in September 2009, I was in KL again, she and her hubby took me out for yong tofu and then on a tour of KL Pac.

Then sometime back, I received a phone call from her and she told me that she would like to invite me to her son’s wedding. I could not promise anything but I told her that I would try my best to attend. Eventually, I received her invitation card and since Melissa would be home by then, I thought we could just go over for a short break and at the same time, attend the wedding reception. As soon as I had booked my air tickets, I RSVP-ed (something that many Malaysians are not at all bothered to do) via sms…and got a call from her right away. She was so delighted that I could be there to share the joy on this very happy occasion.

That day, Isaac was up in Genting but subsequently, I received an sms from him saying that he would be down by around 4 or 5.00 p.m. I said that would be good and asked him if he could give us a lift to the venue of the banquet…

*Melissa’s photo*

,,,at the Oriental Pearl of the Tai Thong group of restaurants located at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian, Golf and Country Club and that was what he did. Thanks so much, Isaac…and so sorry for troubling you and thanks a lot also for the fruits – so very sweet of you. Of course, I would not tell anyone how you were misled by your GPS (I think I could give better directions to places in KL than that darn thing) and we went on a merry-go-round before we finally got to the place via the old-fashioned way – stopping and asking someone by the roadside. Oops!!! Muahahahahaha!!!!

This was the backdrop on the stage that evening…

…and this was the main table for the bride and the groom and their parents and distinguished guests…

There were door gifts for all the guests – a Tai Thong mooncake in a very nice red and gold pouch…

…and also a pair of chopsticks, prepared by nyonyapenang‘s older sister, also a retired teacher like me…

I was reminded of my MUET lesson one year where I asked the students to brainstorm and list the things that a solitary chopstick would bring to their minds. A pair of chopsticks, of course, would symbolise togetherness – one would be quite useless without the other.

The menu for the evening had all kinds of fanciful, somewhat pompous names for the dishes and this first one was the Oriental Pearl Four Season Hot Combinations…

In Sibu, we usually have more than four…and when it’s supposed to be hot, it is served steaming hot. When it is something like this, we would call it the “cold dish” (leng pua).

The Braised Shark’s Fin Soup with Seafood Treasures sounded promising…

…but at best, I thought it was just so-so. Melissa enjoyed it tremendously though as she had not had that for a long time – especially now that I would not have it at our sit-down full 8-course Chinese dinners. Hmmm…treasures? What treasures? I don’t see no treasures?

I loved the duck in this BBQ Roasted Duck & Roasted Chicken dish…

…but the fish was a let-down…

It was supposed to come in third according to the menu but was served fourth instead and it wasn’t so bad that it was not piping hot – the so-called Steamed Australian Grouper with Soy Sauce was hard, not soft and sweet…and the ladies at the table said that it had been overcooked.

Thankfully, the Chef Special Two Varieties of Prawns was good…

The steamed ones with mayonnaise were ok but I particularly loved the Nestum/cereal ones. I think I had quite a lot of that.

I wasn’t really into the vegetarian Braised Assorted Mushrooms with Vegetables…

…and I wished they had all glutinous rice for their Fried Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaves dish…

– there was no sign of the lotus leaves though when it was served. On the contrary, the ladies at the table quite liked it that way though – mixed with ordinary rice so it was not really that sticky.

Lastly came the desserts – the Sweetened Longan Sea Coconut with White Fungus…

…and the Two Double Pastries…

– thus named owing to the two different types of filling in the Chinese deep-fried pancake.

I hear that a table like this in KL would cost over RM1K at a place like Bukit Kiara or in the hotels. Good grief! We can have a RM350 table in Sibu and get stuff a whole lot nicer, believe you me.

At my table was a mummy blogger, Laundry Amah, who turned out to be a friend of Annie-Q and Elaine. Gee! Small world indeed! Then there were others such as willphua and King’s Wife and another one named Matthew – I didn’t quite catch the name of his blog but if I’m not mistaken, like nyonyapenang, they are all no longer active. The blank looks on their faces when I introduced myself by my real name told me that it did not ring a bell but when I said that I was suituapui, one of them exclaimed, ” Oh! The famous suituapui!!!” Blush! Blush! I would have scrambled under the table to hide but I think I would be a bit too big to do that without knocking everything over. LOL!!!

Well, on the whole, it was a delightful evening. The food may not be anything to shout about but still, I had quite a lot that I enjoyed and had my fill but more importantly, I sure am glad that I could be there to share the joyous occasion of a friend and I did find the songs played by a trio in attendance very entertaining – when the bride and the groom entered the hall, they sang “Walk Hand in Hand”, a golden oldie by Engelbert Humperdinck. Good grief! It had been so long since I last heard the song and throughout the evening, there were nice songs like this one, old and new.

Thanks so much, nyonyapenang and hubby, for the invitation and congratulations once again and all the best to your son and your daughter-in-law. Cheers!!!

Looking forward…

It’s amazingly unbelievable how I have been able to make friends with such wonderful people through blogging and I always look forward to meeting them in person. One of them calls herself Quay Po and though we had not met in person before, it was as if we had known each other for a long time. The very generous lady had sent me those Big Dog t-shirts, not once but twice…and they’re so nice and comfortable to use that I’ve been using them again and again. My cousin in KL asked me where I got them from and I proudly replied, “New York!” and noticing the raised eyebrows, I quickly added that my friend bought them for her Quay Lo hubby but they were too small for him so she sent them all to me. Ain’t I lucky?

And my good fortune does not end there. On my trip to KL, I managed to meet THE one and only in person and she took me, my missus and Melissa for dim sum at the Xin Cuisine Chinese restaurant at the Concorde KL. The first time I was there was in 1987 when I was attending the official launching of the new KBSM syllabus for secondary schools in the country at Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB) at Genting for two weeks and on that Sunday in between, my friends and I took a cab all the way down to KL to this place for the dim sum – it was already widely known then and at that time, the hotel was the Merlin. Quay Po said that they have maintained the high standard of their dim sum and is still as popular today.

There were a number of items not usually served at other dim sum places like this one with smoked duck, for instance…

Ooooo…it was so very nice and as I love anything smoked – smoked ham, smoked bacon or smoked whatever, I really enjoyed it a lot.

The one with rolled bacon was very nice too…

…and there were these siew mai ( dumplings) as well…

*Melissa’s photo*

…and the egg tarts…

…among the many that we ordered from the selections available. That baked pastry in the background was also yummy but I do not know exactly what that was.

Quay Po’s mum had the so-called “phoenix claws” but I’m sure everybody knows by now that I always steer clear of those – no, thank you. I wanted to try their lau sar pao, my favourite when going for dim sum…

…and it left me speechless. After eating that, I don’t think I’ll be ordering that again at my usual dim sum haunts in Sibu. Theirs are definitely a class above the rest.

I did not take any snapshots of the other things that we had as I did want to embarrass Quay Po and her mum. Picture this country bumpkin clicking away at everything with his miserable digicam – it wouldn’t be so bad if it had been an expensive, impressive-looking DSLR, don’t you think? Besides, I would rather spend the time enjoying the sumptuous food and chatting with my new-met friend and her mum who’s just as friendly and nice and a real live wire for somebody in her mid-70s…

Gosh! You will never believe that things that Quay Po gave me. There were simply so many that I’m afraid I will have to blog about them in another post. In the meantime, thanks so very much once again, Quay Po, for the dim sum treat and for everything. Meeting you in person was certainly an honour and a pleasure well worth looking forward to…

State of mind…

Annie-Q insisted on taking us out for dinner again on our second night in KL and since we were at the Mid Valley Mega Mall the whole day, she said that she would pick us up from there and we would go to a place in PJ (Petaling Jaya) State as it would be easier for her to do so and we would not have to make our way back to the hotel to wait for her…and since we had Indian the night before, we would go Chinese this second time around.

She ordered the stewed pork belly…

…which was very nice but I think  the ones we have in Sibu are nicer. I really must take Annie to try when she next comes back to Sibu…so, when will that be, Annie? Make it soon, eh!

The braised pork ribs were very good too…

…and so was the steamed chicken…

It seems that the place is famous for its chicken…and this is one of its signature dishes.

Everyone loved the deep fried tofu…

…especially Melissa who really liked it a great deal. I think they had a lot more ingredients in their own-made bean curd and that made it a lot tastier than the ones we have in Sibu.

The fish maw soup was very nice too…

…but I was wishing they would give us those small soup bowls to help ourselves to it.

The kangkong with belacan was nicely done as well…

I don’t know, however, how much dinner cost and I don’t think Annie did either for it so happened that her father-in-law also dropped by the same place with friends for dinner and he so kindly took care of the bill.

Thanks, Annie for this dinner and the one the night before and for all the things that you gave me while I was in KL. I will  be blogging on those soon in another post…

Happy Christmas…

So this is Christmas
And what have you done

*@ Mid Valley KL*

Another year over
And a new one’s just begun

*@ Mid Valley KL*

And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

*@ Mid Valley KL*

A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

*New Zealand United Buddy Bear @ Pavilion KL*

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

*United Buddy Bears @ Pavilion KL*

And so Happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let’s stop all the fight

*@ Pavilion KL*

A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear

*@ Pavilion KL*

War is over
If you want it
War is over
Now…

A BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO ONE & ALL…JOY, PEACE & GOODWILL TO THE WORLD…

Keep me company…

Many people, students especially, seemed to have a problem and would use “accompany” instead of  “keep (someone) company”…and regardless of how I tried to explain, they would keep on making the same mistake again. Sigh!!!

Well, the first day in KL on our recent visit, I accompanied Melissa to Mid Valley as she wanted to meet some friends of hers there. The mum tagged along, of course as she would have the opportunity to do some shopping at the mall. Normally, I would give the place a miss as it was always so crowded and going and leaving would be such a hassle owing to the massive traffic jam all around the place.

When we got there, we stopped for breakfast here…

My missus and daughter had the Penang assam laksa…

…which they did not like as being more like the real thing, both of them were quite put off by the strong fragrance/stench of the herbs/leaves used.

I was somewhat disappointed when they served the mee siam that I ordered…

It was not the mee siam that I used to have and loved in Singapore in the early 70s…but I changed my mind at first bite. I don’t know how they cooked it but it was absolutely delicious tasting something like tom yam plus herbs and spices added. I must try to cook something like this at home one of these days.

I also had one of the nyonya kuehs that they were selling…

It was good but at RM2.50 for that little piece, I would think twice about going for the other types of kuehs that they had to offer at the place.

I did not intend to do any shopping so I just loitered around the place on my own. I sent messages to some people but all were too busy to come and keep me company…except Bananaz. He was at a meeting when he got the message but he came over as soon as he could get away. Many have sung praises of this place…

…so I suggested that we could sit there and eat and chat.

Bananaz had the Penang curry mee…

…which looked all right but he did not seem too excited about it so I guessed he could get much better (and cheaper) curry mee elsewhere.

I had the Penang har mee (prawn noodles)…

…which was good but not something that I would go back for.

Wile we were there, Philip happened to pass by and we invited him to join us. Bananaz could not recall who he was until it dawned on him that THIS was the Guitar Man! LOL!!!

Philip ordered this lor bak to share…

…and it was all right – how much can one expect from chicken? I think my missus’ ngor hiang is a whole lot nicer.

He had their cendol…

…that he had had the day before at this same place while I gave their pulut hitam (black glutinous rice) a try…

We sat there and chatted for some time and then, Philip had to leave as he had some things to do…so he left. But before he did so, he quietly went and settled the bill. Philip!!! I should have known you would do something like that. Thanks a lot – that certainly was so nice of you but you shouldn’t have.

Bananaz stayed till around 5 something when I got news from Annie-Q that she was on the way to pick us up and take us out for dinner…so we went to sit at the Secret Recipe outlet at that place for drinks before she came. I think it was around 6 when she arrived and off we went – not a moment too soon, I would say, out of that crowded place.

Thanks, Bananaz, for taking the whole afternoon off to keep me company. It was great seeing you again…

First night together…

No worries, folks! This isn’t going to be an X-rated post. Rancangan ini sesuai bagi semua lapisan masyarakat…most of the time. Hehehehehehehe!!!

Well, I guess many of you know that I’ve been to KL and back with my missus and Melissa…and on my first night there, Elaine and her hubby and daughter, Amber, picked us at the hotel and took us to meet Annie-Q and her twins, Fearles & Cruz at this Mahbub Indian Restaurant at Bangsar.  We all had the nasi bryani with ayam madu (honey chicken)…

…that Annie strongly recommended. It certainly was very nice and I loved the acar timun (cucumber pickles) that came with it too. They had this…

…as well as this…

Before these were served, Annie kept asking us to go to the “buffet spread” to pick anything that we wanted…

They selected a bit of these lovely brinjals…

…and the ketola…

…and these deep-fried bitter gourd that everyone loved so much…

I thought it was just so-so as I’m not really into this kind of deep-fried stuff.

I could not resist the tempting-looking assam fish curry…

…so I ordered a little bit which I thoroughly enjoyed – including the vegetables in it.

Annie also ordered some of this tandoori chicken…

…and while we were eating and chatting among ourselves, all of a sudden, lo and behold…smallkucing and Yee Ling appeared out of the blue…and later Cleffairy came too. It seemed that Annie-Q had conspired with them to meet at this place to give me a surprise…and it certainly was and a pleasant one at that.

Good food, great friends…and one delightful evening. Who could ask for more?

In my dreams…

I would not have been able to stay at a place like this, not even in my dreams…if my blogger-friend, Elaine, had not so very kindly and generously let me use her hotel privilege discount vouchers so there I was, with my missus and Melissa, basking in luxury at the Renaissance, Kuala Lumpur…

27 storeys high, I think it is taller than the tallest building in Sibu…

The room that we were given was really big…

…with a king-size bed and everything else…

The bathroom/toilet was probably bigger than some of the bedrooms in the present-day condos and apartments…

…with a bath tub and a shower as well.

This was the view from our window – the swimming pool…

…and a glimpse at the Kuala Lumpur city centre…

You could tell it was high-class hotel when they would tell you not to do things in such a pleasant manner…

…and even the dustbin had the hotel logo…

…and mineral water was available at RM23.00 a bottle…

We stayed there, indulging in the comfort for four wonderful days but all too soon, it was time to go back to reality… Sigh!