Not what you think it is…

Well, this certainly was not what I thought it was…

My friend, Jimmy, from Bintulu gave me these and I thought they were those pineapple cakes from Taiwan (currently on clearance sale at Ta Kiong, Sibu at over RM3.00 a box). The box certainly looked very impressive and to my surprise, it was from a bakery in Bintulu itself (Oopsss!!! Pardon the spelling error there! LOL!!!)…

The pineapple cakes were very nice, very generous with the soft and moist pineapple filling…

My missus loved them a lot – she said they were really very nice but personally, I would prefer more cake and less filling as it was a tad too sweet for my liking.

Jimmy also gave me this jar of cincaluk (fermented shrimps)…

I thought he had bought it from somebody he knows in Bintulu or one of his students’ mums like those that he had given me before. These would usually be of a higher quality and a whole lot cleaner than those sold at the market. Boy, was I surprised when he told me that he made it himself and instead of plain water, he used air kelapa (coconut water) instead…

It tasted nice – it was different somehow but I only tried a teeny weeny pinch that day – maybe if I really take it and eat it, I will be able to say more about it.

Now if you’re guessing that I got these from him too…

…then I’m afraid that it isn’t what you think. LOL!!! They’re from my friend, Clare, in Kuching – she was home for the long weekend and she brought me a HUGE pack of these rempeyek. They were nice – lots of ikan bilis (dried anchovies) and peanuts and very fragrant with all the spices used in the making…but they’re a bit hard though compared to the ones here. Ours would be thinner and so brittle that they may crumple easily, even upon touching…but for one thing they’re much kinder to my old gums. Wink! Wink!

Now, after my post on the Hokkaido cupcakes the other day, Annie-Q commented that her mum got some that were cheaper – at 3 for only RM4.00 and eventually, she told me that she got them from the shop where I would go and get those yummy chicken pies.

Of course, I wasted no time in dropping by there to grab a packet to try but it seemed that they called them “Bavaria cupcakes” and they did not have any “snow” or the sprinkling of sugar on top like those Hokkaido ones…and they looked somewhat sunken, don’t you think?

Comparing the two, there was less cream in these…

…but I thought they tasted a little bit nicer. The texture of the cake was nicer too than those previous ones that I tried…but all things considered, though they were pretty good, to me, they were both nothing more than just cakes with cream inside…with or without the sprinkling of sugar on top and I wouldn’t think I would be going back for more. I would much sooner go for their chicken pies instead…