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.