It’s my turn…

My dear friend, Mandy, was in Sibu for a couple of nights on a working trip but unfortunately, I did not get to see her while she was here as she and her colleagues stayed at a hotel in town and in the early morning, they would drive off to their work site somewhere along the Sibu-Bintulu road and would not be back till late evening or night. She was here before though so she did take them to Payung and also to Ruby, now that she knows jolly well where they are located.

We only managed to get to meet her at around 3.00 p.m. that day when she was leaving and we went for something to eat here…and after that, we dropped by my house to sit and chat. Then, we went here for an early dinner before sending her off to the airport to catch her flight home that very night itself – on her last trip to Sibu, it was closed for the Gawai holidays so she did not get to try some of the great stuff that they serve here like this pork belly dish, for instance…

…served with mantao (steamed buns). I wanted her to try our version of something similar that we had when she took us all for dinner at  Dengkil…and she loved it very much! She said it was definitely different and the meat was softer but both were good in their own ways.

Of course, I had to order the midin (wild fern) fried with belacan (dried prawn paste) for her…

…as she loved it so much and simply must have that! If I’m not mistaken, she had it for every meal in those two days plus that she was here.

I  also ordered their creamy version of the butter prawns…

…which would be different from the salted egg ones that are found elsewhere and she loved it too. I particularly liked how the prawns were firm and so very fresh.

My daughter wanted the lemon chicken…

…and as always, her wish is my command even though personally, I can jolly well live without eating that. No doubt it was very nice but then again, we can get that dish everywhere, can’t we?

This is a Foochow soup – the chao chai (preserved vegetables) fish soup…

…but though it was very nice and they used very good fish for this, I personally felt that it was not exactly like how that soup should be like. It just was not sour enough and I did not detect the fragrance of the traditional Foochow red wine in it.

Dinner did not come cheap though – it came up to around RM97 but they all had buah kedondong juice, unadulterated and undiluted…

…which would be at least, RM3-4.00 a glass and if we deduct that, it was probably around RM85 for 4 persons, inclusive of rice.

For one thing, the servings were very big – probably for 4 and we had to struggle to finish everything. I had forgotten to tell them to cook for 3 or maybe even 2…in which case, it would probably cost much less.

Mandy was furious and gave the poor lady boss (who was only following orders as she had specific instructions from me not to accept payment from anybody that I bring there to eat) a good piece of her mind for refusing to accept payment from her. Muahahahahahaha!!!! It’s my turn lah, Mandy – you picked up the tab at Dengkil so this round is on me. Fair and square!

And actually, I do feel that if I go some place, the people there would be the hosts and it would only be right that they foot the bill – though not all the time. Shy lah…like that! I should get to pay sometimes as well…and likewise, when anybody comes here, I’m the host so I should be the one paying, right or not? Come! Come! Let’s hear your honest opinion on this…