One two three…

First, there was this one…

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…with the very nice and pleasant Madam Toh at the helm, one of the oldest hotels in town. They have refurbished the place and everything is good and new now. The last time I dropped by, I noticed that they even had new lifts to replace the old ones. I love having buffet parties there as they are very affordable, the food is good and they have a very impressive karaoke system, one of those that make you sound so good even though your voice is not all that great. They do get mixed reviews on Trip Advisor though and once, my friends who stayed there shared the same comment as one in the website – it can get rather noisy at night with all the karaoke pubs and clubs in the vicinity. Otherwise, according to them, it was all good.

As for the room rates, they’re the same as/similar to their sister hotel, their No. 2, at the Sibu Bus Terminal here, ranging from RM65.00 to RM90.00 depending on the type of room you choose…and the rooms are as nice as any 3 or 4-star hotels anywhere, minus the carpet. They have Italian tiles for their floors instead. Friends who have stayed there loved it very much but there are no lifts at No. 2 so you will either have to book early and reserve your room(s) on the first floor or do a bit of exercise throughout the duration of your stay there. Other than that, this one is not in the town centre so it may not be as convenient as No. 1 unless you have your own transport to get around…but of course, there are lots and lots of shops, eating places and bakeries included, all around and one very big supermarket right across the road.

Now, they have their No. 3…

…which, like No. 2, is also not in the town centre. My cousins stayed there that day when they came to town so I took the opportunity to drop by and have a look at the place…

It is very nice, simple but very neat and clean…and there are two lifts, right behind the reception counter…

…with their very friendly staff, ever ready to flash a smile like when we walked past. The rooms are more or less like the ones at their No. 2, near identical, I would say but the tariffs are a bit higher – RM98.00 nett for a room with a queen-size bed or RM108.00 nett for two single beds. If I remember correctly, one with two queen…or was it king-size beds would put you back by RM128.00 per night. The rooms come with a complimentary breakfast…

…though I do not see that as essential considering that you would be spoilt for choice if you spend a night or longer here with all the popular eating places and shops all around that area, just like No.2.

Back to back with the hotel is the Medan Mall…

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…where there is a departmental store and supermarket, hair salons, a renowned foot reflexology centre and other shops and stalls including this outlet of the one with the very nice Sarawak laksa, my favourite in town, and ang tao peng…

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Among the many shops in the vicinity is this one…

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…where you can enjoy western cuisine at very very affordable prices but it only opens at night and be forewarned that it can get very crowded…like the crab and seafood place opposite, also famous for its Philippine pork leg, right beside this cake place…

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….or perhaps you would like to check out this fusion place instead…

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You can also drop by here…

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…for their Foochow fish balls and other dim sum stuff from their array of selections…or if you prefer the simpler local stuff like the kampua noodles, there are lots of coffee shops around here and I enjoyed the one I had here with the “raw meat” soup, something that they say originated from KK, Sabah…

The Korean fried chicken franchise is right around the corner…

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…and there are bakeries too like this one…

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…or those in the mall and you may want to browse around the 100¥ shop a stone’s throw away or perhaps, the ladies would want to check out the clothes shop and boutiques in the mall or those all around the vicinity of this hotel.

Anybody planning to come to town soon?

You choose…

My cousin from Brisbane, Australia was in town for one night only and she brought me all these…

My girl loved the Macadamia Nut Bars that I got recently from one sweet silent reader of mine in Perth, Australia so when I heard that my cousin was coming, I asked if she could get me those…and good grief!!! She bought me one bag full! Oh dear! That must have cost a bomb! She also brought me a box of Aldi Stores‘ “Jumpin’ Jelly” to try and Tim Tams – Adriano Zumbo’s red velvet and salted caramel, no less…and the new peanut butter flavour. Yummmm!!!! My girl would be the happiest, of course, as she enjoys these so much. Personally, I have never been a fan of Tim Tams as they are too sweet for my liking and like I’ve been saying again and again, as I grow older, I seem to have lost that sweet tooth that I used to have when I was younger. But that did not stop me from opening one of the packs of the red velvet variety…

…to try and OMG!!! It was so so so very nice! Much as I was tempted to have another one…and another…and another, I had to resist the temptation as I was reserving them all for my girl to indulge in and enjoy back in her school for some therapeutic relief as and when the need arises plus it is not all that good for people my age, I guess everybody knows that well enough. Just one, once in a long while, should be fine.

Another cousin of mine, her sister in Bintulu, came with her and she brought me a BIG bottle of Ghee Hiang sesame oil that she had carted back all the way from Penang. Their brother and their sister-in-law from Miri were here too with two of their children but they had a prior engagement so they were not able to join us for dinner that night.

I asked them to choose the venue depending on what they would like to have and without any hesitation, they said they would like some jelly pisang (RM7.00)…

…and the uniquely-special Payung rojak (RM12.00)…

…and their mushroom roll (RM8.00)…

…that they enjoyed so very much when we had our family reunion at this place in September last year and they would love to have a go at those again this time around.

So there we were that night at this cafe in town…

…that is all too familiar now to all my regular readers.

I had their tik tek once and I loved it so much that I specially requested for that for our family reunion party there. I sure was delighted that luck was on my side that night as it was available – they had just enough left for one serving (RM8.00)…

If I’m not mistaken, this is an Indonesian dish of tapioca leaves and pumpkin…and needless to say, all of us enjoyed it to the max and licked the bowl clean. I do wish they would put that on their regular menu so that I can just drop by anytime I feel like having that.

That evening, I also ordered their kacang ma chicken (RM16.00)…

…their Bangladeshi lamb curry (RM18.00)…

…and their otak-otak (RM13.00)…

…and after all that, we were all so very full and in the end, my cousins decided that they would be able to manage one jelly pisang only between the two of them but I insisted on ordering the khalua ice cream (RM10.00)…

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…as well with a special request for extra liquor. Everybody else just tried a bit and insisted that they just could not have anymore and no prize for guessing who had to finish the rest…and ended up feeling a little bit tipsy the rest of the evening! LOL!!!

An ex-student of mine happened to drop by this same place – she now owns an exclusive boutique right next to this place on the other side of the town centre…and she remarked, “You do come here often, don’t you?” Oh dear!!! Maybe I should stay away for a while but like all of us that night, I do enjoy what they serve here and the people are very friendly and service is always excellent – fast and efficient…so needless to say, my cousins and my missus and I had a great time there, chatting away and enjoying our dinner, that one night on their brief stay in Sibu.

Thank you so much for the goodies, ladies – it sure was nice to see you all again.

My favourite…

I’ve tried the ones from three different full-fledged bakeries in town now and my daughter bought some from another one. She did not like hers very much but then again, she isn’t really into these Korean mochi buns as she is not all that fond of its chewy texture. One that I had was tough and very difficult to bite and chew and the other two had the right taste and texture but they lacked the awesome fragrance and the very nice crusty surface that these…

…have.

I’ve blogged about them once and I did buy some for some friends to try here in Sibu and even as far as KL and they all loved them very much. Well, if anybody is interested in getting some to savour, they’re RM1.00 each – a bit more expensive than elsewhere (80 sen) but they’re a bit bigger and in my opinion, the taste would more than make up for the price difference.

These are sold outside a cake accessories shop at the corner of this building…

…in the Jalan Apollo area at the back row of those blocks of shops across the road from Su Lai Primary School…

Initially, all I was told was that they would bake the buns upstairs on the 1st floor and every hour, there would be fresh supplies piping hot from the oven. However, when I went at around noon, they were all sold out and a girl at the shop told us that we should go before 11.00 a.m. We did not have any problem getting those buns the next time when we went at around 9.00 a.m. but I have heard complaints that they went after 10.00 a.m. and they were all sold out and there would not be any more for the day. Well, it’s the early bird that catches the worm, I guess.

Anyway, I was real early that morning – past 7.00 a.m. and yes, they were available already, still hot/warm but half of the tray of those delightful buns had been sold out and these were all they had left…

…of the first batch for the day.

On the way home, the wonderful fragrance filled the whole car and I had to resist grabbing one from the bag and eating it while driving. As a matter of fact, my missus did go over to buy some a week earlier and after she had finished one, I saw her going into the kitchen to get another…and another. She said they were so very nice that she just could not resist going for more.

Incidentally, they do sell these muffins as well – chocolate and vanilla (RM1.00 each)…

…and I did buy one each to try. Yes, they were nice but no, they did not sweep me off my feet and you would not catch me making the beeline back to the place to get more of these…but I certainly would be going back there again for those Korean mochi buns, and of that, I am pretty sure!

Incidentally, while you are in the vicinity, perhaps you may wish to check out a kueh (local cake) stall straight ahead to the right from this corner shop to the other very end of the lane at the corner of the shop directly opposite/right across the road from the primary school there. I hear that you need to go early in the morning as everything will be sold out pretty quickly. The old lady (well, she’s not young anymore, that’s for sure) makes most of what she sells at home and sells them there. That morning, I bought some of her tee peang…

…that actually had the taste of the pek tao (soya bean) used, unlike most that we find around these days, and she certainly had a lot of chives in hers too plus they were big and were selling for 40 sen each. I hear they are selling these at 50 sen elsewhere and of course, there are those selling at 3 for RM1.00 at some places but those would be much smaller and do not taste as nice. I thought these were very good but I would prefer a litttle less msg in them. The chai peah is different from elsewhere – to me, hers seemed like a very thin version of the tee peang and between the two, I think I enjoyed her chai peah more – crispy by the side with a bit of the tee peang taste in the thicker middle and I did not feel the msg as much in this one. Her deep fried or koi (steamed yam cake) was great too, very much to my liking and also priced the same at 40 sen a piece.

I certainly will drop by again someday to check out the rest of the things she sells at her stall – there are simply too many to buy all and try at one go.

I am, I said…

…going back to that coffee shop again…and I did!

The kampua lady seemed to be in a very much better mood. She was smiling and did chat a bit with the other customers. I guess on our previous visit, we caught her at a bad time and I thought she was kind of aloof and did not look very happy. Anyway, we did not go back for the kampua noodles. Like what I said then, I would want to try the chu car (cook/fry) place at the back so this time around, we ordered some stuff from there.

A major attraction in Sibu these days seems to be the prawn noodles, the ones with the gigantic freshwater udang galah (bamboo prawns) or what we also call tua thow (big head) or chia chui (freshwater) prawns. They do not come cheap, of course. It was only RM8.00 a bowl when they first started serving that here a long time ago (when it was at another location) and then it went up and up and when it went over RM20.00 a bowl, I never went for it again. The last I heard, they were charging RM35.00 a bowl…and in the meantime, there have been others jumping on the bandwagon. I’ve been told of one place where they would charge according to the sizes of the prawns used ranging from RM25 for the small ones up to around RM45.00 for the big ones. Then there is another place here serving tom yam prawn noodles in a coconut like the ones in Sarikei, going for RM35.00 each.

Nope! I am not one to go out of my way to feast on those noodles even though I have gone for them here and there a few times upon the insistence of family or friends especially those coming home from abroad. Well, I guess for them it is extremely cheap – imagine a bowl with those gigantic crustaceans going for only SIN$/AUD/US$10.00, more or less. Not only is that dirt cheap to them but they cannot get anything like that there and even if they can get noodles with other similar forms of seafood there, it will never ever be at that price, that’s for sure. But if I were to sit down to eat one RM45-a-bowl prawn noodles, I would not be enjoying it very much as on the back of my mind, I would be thinking of how I could take my whole family some place for a nice meal with one meat, one veg and one soup plus rice…and pay that much or perhaps even less. Besides, I would be a lot better off taking the money to buy a kilo of the prawns at the wet market to cook and enjoy to our heart’s content at home – they’re selling the medium-sized ones, not small but not those huge ones with the very big heads, at around RM35.00 a kilo…depending on the season. The other day, it went up to around RM60 a kilo though!!! Tsk! Tsk!

Anyway, back to the coffee shop I was talking about, I had their prawns noodles for RM10.00…

…and it was very nice! Nope, they did not use those not-too-affordable freshwater prawns but instead, they had some pretty big seawater prawns or what we call pek hay (white prawns). Of course, these aren’t all that cheap either. That day, I bought some about this same size for RM35.00 a kilo or maybe they were a little bit smaller. But the heads are not as big and the shell not as heavy so you can actually get quite a lot for a kilo. Roughly, it would work out to RM1.00 for one…or maybe a bit less than that.

Personally, I prefer these to the freshwater ones and what they had in the noodles that day were really fresh, very firm and succulent…

– around six of them and I would say that I enjoyed it a lot. The noodles were the Foochow-style ones, the soup version and with the added prawns, naturally, it was much sweeter and tastier. It probably would be nicer though if they had added a bit more greens – after all, those are not all that expensive and they could easily have thrown in a handful more.

My missus had the usual Foochow-style fried noodles (RM3.50)…

…and yes, they do it pretty well here but surely they could have used a kitchen towel or something to wipe the gravy off the side of the plate. Yes, it is quite obvious that they are not bothered very much about presentation here but it wouldn’t take a lot of effort, I’m sure, to just make what they serve look a bit more presentable.

Well, we’d probably go back there again but no, I would not have the prawn noodles again. Even though that was very nice, I do not think RM10.00 is all that cheap. However, I would want to try something else to see what is good. Each time I approached the stall on my previous visits, a very friendly young man with a pleasant disposition would come out to ask what I wanted and tell me what they had on their menu. Somehow, at places with people like that, one would feel nice and would surely go back again especially if the food is good.

There is also the Indian stall on the other side but it was not open that day, probably because it was Friday and my guess would be that they are mamaks, Indian-Muslims.

Bitter…

It seems to be getting more and more popular these days – bihun, hung ngang or kway teow served in bitter gourd soup…and I seem to see it being served at a number of stalls all over town now. Usually, the vegetable is cooked in soup with minced meat but the other day, I decided to use the fish cakes that my missus made sometime ago. After all, they do sell bitter gourd stuffed with fish paste in the middle at those yong tofu places and I do enjoy that.

First, I boiled three cloves of garlic and two slices of ginger in some water…

You may want to fry them in a bit of oil first for a bit of extra fragrance but I did not fancy the extra oil used. For one thing, my missus had deep-fried the fish cakes so there would be some oil from there already.

I let it simmer for a while before adding the fish cakes, thinly sliced…

…and once done, you may wish to add some salt and msg or some fish sauce, according to taste but I just threw in half an ikan bilis (dried anchovies) stock cube and a sprinkling of ground pepper. As you can see, there were a lot of air holes in the fish cake – probably my missus did not slam it enough in the making, I wouldn’t know, but it did not really matter as it would taste the same, just as good, and it was for our own home consumption.

Then I put in the bitter gourd, thinly sliced…

…but just the amount that I needed at that point in time. I had intended to keep the rest of what I cooked for our soup to go with the other dishes for lunch and dinner later that day and for that, I would add the bitter gourd slices later when heating it up as I don’t like the bitter gourd over-cooked and soft. In fact, it’s the same with any vegetable soup that I cook, be it sawi or cabbage or one of those leafy ones that would turn all soft and soggy when over-boiled.

There wasn’t any bihun nor hung ngang nor kwayteow in the house so I used noodles instead…

…and topping them with the bitter gourd and the fish slices…

…and a bit of chopped daun sup (Chinese celery), that was what I had for my breakfast that morning.

Yes, it was very nice – I certainly enjoyed that…

…and of course, if you wish to add your own ingredients – some chopped spring onions and fried shallots…or even a poached egg, perhaps, that is all up to you. I would say that I was quite happy the way it was but no, the bitter gourd was not bitter at all, not even a little bit. I wouldn’t mind a bit of bitterness…actually.

Can’t keep a good man down…

…or a good woman, for that matter. This lady…

…used to run her kampua noodle stall here but then she retired and her grandson took over, a university graduate who has chosen to carry on the trade instead and in fact, he has also gone into the manufacture of those packs of instant kampua noodles.

I sure was surprised that she now has a stall at a coffee shop that I used to frequent sometime ago. I quite liked what the lady, originally at this kampua stall there, used to serve at the time but eventually, she wrapped up her business and the ones who took over were not all that great. I also liked the fried stuff from the chu char (cook/fry) place at the back…

…and many a time, I had stopped by there to tapao their Foochow fried noodles home…but the last time I went there, it seemed they had different people running the place and what we had was not good so we never went again. This time around, however, there are new people there too and I would say the one who came out to talk to me was very nice and friendly….and what they dish out are pretty good, so  I’ve been told.

Well, when I heard that this lady had set up her business here now, I decided to drop by and check it out. I would not say she was one of those who would snap at you once you make a wrong move or ask one question too many but I felt she was kind of reserved, not one to flash you a cheerful smile and a lady of very few words. My missus wanted pian sip, dry (RM2.70)…

…so I asked if that was available but she said that she would need to wrap some more. Upon hearing that, I just ordered two plates of kampua noodles for the two of us.

Then I saw her taking out the pian sip skin and minced meat to wrap and cook for a lady at the next table and another lady from another table came to change her initial order for a plate of bihun – she said that she ordered that as what she understood was that there was no more pian sip and now that she was making fresh ones, she would like to have those instead of the bihun. No, I did not bother to change my order for fear that it might confuse her more so I just left it at that.

When she was about to cook our orders, out of the blue, she asked if I wanted the pian sip dry or in soup – our table was right beside  her stall and that was why I could take her above photograph. Oh? It seemed that she heard me the first time so I just told her that my missus would like it dry. Next, she asked me if I wanted my kampua noodles white (RM2.70)…

…or black and I told her I would prefer the white…and we were served in no time at all. However, there was one guy who walked out from inside the coffee shop and told her that he would want to cancel his order and he left. I was not too sure if she did not hear him…or she heard but had forgotten all about it but the man was quite pleasant about it so I thought that was very nice of him. In cases such as this, some people can be quite temperamental and nasty and of course, one should be more understanding considering that the lady was no longer all that young.

Her pian sip seemed to have a lot more meat inside…

…and my missus said they were all right and I would say the same about her kampua noodles…

…that were served with stewed pork instead of those boiled ones, coloured in that radioactive shade of red on the outside…but the next time I drop by, I probably would want to try something from the chu char place at the back. The prawn noodles look pretty good…

…and are a lot cheaper than the highly-acclaimed ones at some places here, going for some RM35-40.00 or more these days but of course, if you look closely, those aren’t the much-coveted udang galah or freshwater prawns but never mind! I do think one can’t go wrong with prawns, whichever type they may be and actually, even if they’re seawater prawns or tiger prawns, they do not come cheap either. The ones I had for my Sarawak laksa that day were RM35.00 a kilo!

There is an Indian stall there too and if I’m not mistaken, there is a burger stall as well but that probably only opens at night. For one thing, parking is a breeze here, especially compared to the lady’s former location, and if anyone is interested in checking this place out,  it is located in one of the two blocks of shophouses right BEHIND the Delta Public Swimming Pool (GPS coordinate: 2.307942,111.825264) – Lorong Delta 10, the third left turn (not including the back lane that goes around those shops) if you are coming from Queensway (now Jalan Tun Abg Hj Openg).

Dazed and confused…

Have you ever tried googling for a recipe only to find different people telling you different ways to cook the same thing? That was exactly what happened when I went in search of the way to cook nasi lemak kukus (steamed coconut rice). There was one that had three or four 10-minute steps and then I came across another where the rice was steamed first before the santan (coconut milk) was added. Of course, the less-complex latter sounded a lot more attractive to me since it would be a lot simpler so I thought I could give it a try.

I had some santan (coconut milk) left in the fridge left over from when I cooked the Sarawak laksa a while ago. It said on the pack that it should not be kept in the freezer and could be stored in the fridge but one would have to use whatever was left within three days. Gosh!!! That was almost two weeks ago but since it seemed all right still, I decided that I would just go ahead and use it and be done with it. Waste not, want not!

I got the ingredients ready – a few thin slices of ginger, one shallot, peeled and sliced, two stalks of serai (lemon grass), bruised…and a pandan (screw pine) leaf cut into short 2 or 3-inch lengths…

…and a bit of salt and mixed them with some leftover rice that I had in the fridge that morning…

Then, I poured in the santan but ooooopsss!!!! There was too much of it for that little bit of rice…

…but what the heck!!! I decided to just go ahead with it and steamed it for some half an hour or so.

I also had two half-eaten tubs of sambal ikan bilis in the fridge from God-knows-when. We can buy that here, very nice ones, in those little plastic tubs that they use for homemade kaya (coconut jam), for only RM5.00 each. I remember I bought two as I thought my girl would want to take one back to her school to eat with rice or whatever sometimes but somehow or other, she never did. I did eat half of what was in one tub and I had no idea who had a bit of what was in the other one. Well, they probably were shoved into some obscure corner in the fridge and were conveniently forgotten until that day, when I decided to do a little bit of cleaning and found them. It seemed all right still so I heated all of it and served it with the nasi lemak kukus…

I also cooked one egg, hard-boiled for the purpose and since there was no cucumber in the house, tomatoes would just have to do…

Hey!!! It sure didn’t taste too bad, really! Hmmm…since that was the case, I probably would want to try cooking this again – starting from scratch this time and with all fresh ingredients, no more leftovers.

Hey brother…

I was in the vicinity of the Rejang Park shops here that day as I had to go to the mini-post office there to send some stuff and I stopped by this coffee shop…

…that I’ve blogged about several times before, here and here, for instance.

Sometime ago, there used to be a stall here selling fish noodles and it was very popular. Long queues were the order of the day and after you had asked for what you wanted, you would have to stand there and wait. Once it was ready, you would have to take it yourself, self-service. The tom yam was everyone’s favourite but when I went once, I had the clear soup fish bihun and I thought it was all right – it certainly did not get me running back for more. Well, the lady has moved elsewhere and no, I have never gone to check her out at her new place but I hear the situation has remained unchanged. For one thing, she certainly is no Miss Congeniality and I certainly have no intention of patronising places with people like that. We pay them money, they make a living out of us so they should show us at least a little bit of respect. Surely it does not hurt one bit to be a little bit nice to people and I just cannot understand why people would want to keep going to such places at the risk of being scolded. Real silly, don’t you think? There are things that I can live without and I certainly can do without those things sold by this kind of people.

Well, I heard that her brother has set up his own stall at the old place selling the same things and no, he will serve you at your table – you will not have to do it yourself. Since I was around there that morning, I thought I would just check it out…

…and yes, the guy was very nice and friendly. Who says the fruits from the same tree are all the same?

My missus would probably want the zhao cai – she loves that with its sourish preserved vegetable soup and somehow, I could not get myself to go for the tom yam. Boring ol’ me, I just asked for the chin tan or clear soup with hung ngang, the big bihun (RM6.00)…

…which was nice even though I had a problem with eating the noodles using a pair of chopsticks – I’m not very good at using those. I wasn’t exactly fond of the fish either. If I’m not mistaken, it was just those frozen fish fillet, usually Dory, that isn’t my favourite. Preferably, he could  use some of the local fish fillet and he can always charge more should anyone asks for that.

Other than that, the soup was very much to my liking – light and tasty and I enjoyed the minced meat balls…

…that came with it.

There used to be an old lady at the stall next to this one…

– she used to dish out some pretty nice stuff and I remember specifically her char kway teow and her pek koi. I did not see her that morning and I was not sure if these people were related to her or they had taken over that stall.

For one thing, I think the coffee here is cheaper – my kopi-o-peng (iced black coffee) was only RM1.60 compared to RM1.80 elsewhere and besides, I enjoyed the old Mandarin favourites that they played not too loudly at the place! Ahhhh!!! What sweet memories those songs bring!!!

FOOTNOTE:
I have received a series of anonymous comments, using an email address that led me to one of those food groups on Facebook but I am not sure if that Facebook page and the person concerned here are indeed related.

Well, according to one of the comments,
“…the owner have long change; The foods there is pretty delicious already; You should actually try the new foods there instead of commenting…” [SIC]

In another comment, the commentor said:
“just to add on–>I just cannot understand why people would want to keep going to such places at the risk of being scolded ; you really should find out next time before posted this…I mean I believe not only me but people that live around there like me certainly knew that the owner have change, so….do visit the place at the its busiest time: when I meant busy, it is very very busy…” [SIC]

…and in yet another comment, the person remarked:
“…I really suggest that you go and try that place again since the owner have changed totally; I am certainly surprise by the way you wrote it without finding out information as this actually decrease my credibility towards your blog… even the one who whom do the drinks for this shop have changed -.- ; For goodness sake, please go and try again…I am actually surprise and disappointed =( by the way you insult the new owner…” [SIC]

From the latter comment, as I understand it, it seems that what he/she meant is that somebody else has taken over the noodle stall and somebody else has taken over the selling of the drinks in the shop. The comments are kind of vague and I am not even sure but it seems he/she is talking about this particular shop in my post. Yes, I did notice that there are new people running THIS coffee shop – Happy Hours…and the food stalls (not too sure about the kampua stall in front and the chu char place at the back which was not open that morning)…and I did say I liked what I had and the guy was nice and friendly, the coffee was cheaper than elsewhere and I enjoyed the Mandarin songs played. Well, if we are talking about the one and the same, then I do not know what the commentor is going on and on about since I did not say anything not too flattering about this place, the place, the people nor the food.

Nonetheless, thank you for your comments whoever you are but if I may add, “It is not so much what you say but how you say it.” I am indeed thankful for any added information, correction and even personal opinions contrary to mine that anyone would like to share but it would be nice if people can try and put them across nicely or in a more pleasant manner instead of just barging in and scolding away – just like the kind of people aforementioned in the post. Thank you.

I’m only human…

A car is like a human being too. When it is new and flashy, it will look great and will be the envy of all. People will admire and sing its praises and everything will run smoothly. However, it will grow old too – time will take its toll and problems may crop up time and again. However, if one takes good care of oneself from young and eat the right diet and have proper nutrition, stay away from all bad habits, go for regular check-ups and keep oneself active, one should be in pretty good shape once one grows old. Many people do not take good care of their cars – as long as it runs, it’s fine. In Hokkien, they refer to this as oo cho, boh ciak (direct translation: got do/work, no eat) and of course, it would come as no surprise that trouble would come knocking on one’s door.

I drive to Selangau and beyond once a week and very often, I would see cars breaking down, stalled by the side of the road and some of them are actually very new…not to mention, those with a flat tyre! I guess they feel it is not too far, just an hour and a half away (even though there is nothing much all along the way other than a few longhouses and jungle, trees, trees and more trees), so they never bother to make sure their cars are in tip-top shape before embarking on the journey. Every week, I would make it a point to fill up the petrol tank, check the air pressure in the tyres including the spare in the boot, check the engine oil, the battery water, the water in the radiator and the storage tank for the wipers/windscreen…and of course, every 5,000 km, I would send the car to the mechanic to change the engine oil and get him to look at everything to make sure everything is in perfect running order.

Humans have the daily ritual of keeping clean and may go out once in a while to pamper oneself – go to the salon for a hair wash or go for a massage, a manicure and a pedicure or something. Likewise, cars need to be pampered too…

…like this old car of mine, already 20 years old and is in pretty good shape, I would say. Of course, it’s a manual but that is not a problem here. People tell me that it would be tough not driving an auto-gear vehicle in KL with all the horrendous jams all over and having to shift gear all the time for hours on end when they get caught in one.

Humans fall sick too once in a while and so it is with my car. There may be some problems cropping up once in a long while – a flat battery, the plugs need to be replaced, the treads are all worn out so the tyres need to be replaced…stuff like that. In fact, once I feel that something does not seem right, I would drive to the mechanic right away to have him look at it. A stitch in time saves nine, they say. If you ask me, I do think it does not look too shabby really, with its original paint and all, but of course, there will be people who will sneer, “Aiyor!!! Get rid of it lah, this old junk! Go get a new car! Don’t be so kiamsiap (stingy)! What for you save all your money? Can’t take it with you when you go!” Bla…bla…bla!!! True, how very true – that last bit especially but I do not see a need to get a new one when it is running well, no problems cropping up and no need to spend and spend on regular visits to the mechanic and it gets me from here to there and back through the sun and the rain…

…so I really have no complaint whatsoever plus an old man like me sure doesn’t need to show off and drive a flashy car, zooming down our two-minute streets (yes, it takes two minutes or less to drive from one end of our roads to the other unless you go out of town, like me…and I can’t for the dear life of me understand why they need to go so fast) and parking the beauty illegally by the road side outside the coffee shops, flaunting away for all to see.

Yes, yes, I know. Old cars have no resale value. Neither have humans. Imagine if I were to go and ask for a job now, people would just laugh it off saying, “We can’t afford you lah!!!” when deep down inside, they’re actually whispering to themselves, “Who wants to employ you, you old goat?” Just look at the recent Budget, for instance – civil servants will get a bonus, 50% of their salaries, but sorry, no 50% for pensioners. We will get RM250.00, that’s all, and even that, we will have to wait till January! It is pretty obvious, isn’t it? They think we are not actively contributing anymore, never mind what contributions we might have made during our years of service…and it does seem quite clear that they can’t wait for us to kick the bucket and join the heavenly choir so they will not have to pay us our measly pensions anymore. Tsk! Tsk!

I would want to sell off my other car…

…though – my 24-year old 1st generation Saga. No, no, there’s nothing wrong with it…just that, both my missus and I are no longer working so we do not need two cars anymore and this one is hardly ever used (since it’s parked on the inside of the car porch all the time) except when I have gone out and maybe my missus would need to go out for some reason, usually to the shops round the corner to get something. As I did say earlier, humans need to stay active, both physically and mentally or the body tissues and muscles would waste away and they will start becoming forgetful and eventually, senile…and similarly, if you do not use your car regularly, it is not good for it at all.

I had a problem with this one as like all those national cars from that time, they would rust…badly and it did not help one bit that my missus used to work shifts so it was left outside in the sun, moon and rain day in, day out. The guy at the paint shop said it was like cancer, eating you up inside out and I had to replace the top/cover of the boot as there was a hole going right through it when I got it resprayed two years ago, after my missus retired. It’s the same with humans, isn’t it? If there is a cancerous growth, you may need to go for surgery to remove that problematic part of your anatomy.

Actually, between the two, I think this one has more power and the body is much stronger, more solid…but I am more used to the other one since I’ve been driving that one all the time. I went and asked my mechanic and he too told me that I would not get much for it and since it is running well and is not causing any problem, I might as well keep it as a spare. Sigh!!! I guess I will just hang on to it…or both, actually, till they decide for whatever reason to call it a day and then I can sell it off as scrap metal or something. It’s the same with humans, isn’t it? Once the time comes, they will just send you off to your new home and it’s adios…bye bye!!! Life’s like that, I guess.

A little too late…

It was past 12 noon when we went out for lunch last Saturday and that seemed to be a little too late as I noticed that many of the stalls at many of the coffee shops in town were already closed. This seems to be the case around here these days especially on Saturdays and Sundays because probably, many would go out for breakfast or brunch in the morning and once they have sold out everything, they would just close shop and call it a day.

Melissa wanted fried noodles, Malay-style so we stopped by this coffee shop – the stall was still open but the lady said that they were already out of noodles and kway teow and all she lad left was bihun…so that would just have to do…

It was all right, I guess but from what I could observe, it really wasn’t anything that was all that great.

I cannot remember how much that was, probably RM4.00 or RM5.00 but this was RM6.00 – the beef noodles that my missus had…

…which I had tried before and I thought it was very nice. Melissa sampled a bit and promptly declared that she would have that the next time should we happen to drop by this place again.

I did not really have anything in mind so I just ordered myself a plate of kampua noodles…

…and this bowl of soup…

…with some pian sip, fried fish balls, meat balls and liver. If I remember correctly, the total for both came up to RM6.20…and that was lunch.

On our way home, we stopped by this bakery…

…in a brand new block of shops (where this cafe is located) along Brooke Drive on the left if you’re coming from town, past Sheraton Restaurant. It has just opened not too long ago…

…so we decided to check it out.

There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, I’m afraid – just the usual bread and buns and cakes. In the end, I decided to buy their “signature egg tarts” (RM1.50 each)…

…to try.

They were good, despite the slightly wrinkled surface…

…but I can get something pretty much the same at the other bakeries in town and seeing that there is nothing here that’s special to pull in the crowd, I guess I’d probably drop by again, if at all, to pick up a loaf of bread or something out of convenience since more likely than not, I would be driving past there on my way home from town.

Incidentally, I noticed this signboard a few doors away…

It is not very clear due to the choice of font used but I think that’s direct translation. I don’t think the Chinese characters mean the same though or it would have looked something like this – 天天好. Enlighten me, somebody, please! I can guess, however, from all that double happiness character in the sign that this place has got something to do with weddings. Ah yes! I can see that now on the glass, bottom left.

So that was our lunchtime outing last Saturday – nothing really fancy this week, I’m afraid.